When I had woken up I was staring into complete emptiness. As I started to get up, I soon realized that I was back in the dirt pit, but the person who was with me was not John, but someone else. This man was covered in darkness, was tall and had long hair like mine, and had a curved horn sticking out of his right temple. He was sitting down on a dirt mound, facing the wall in front of us. As soon as I took a step forward, the man turned to me, his eyes goat-like and red as blood, but quickly blinked, turning into normal, blue eyes.

“Hello, who are you?” The man asked with a voice just like mine.

Upon studying his face, I realized that it was exactly like mine, excluding it being covered in darkness of course.

“Uh, I'm Trevor, and who might you be?” I asked nervously.

“My name's Trevor too, but only to those out in your world. Everyone who knows me, the real me, calls me Rix.”

“And what is the real you?”

He gave me a large grin.

“I'll show you, but I have to ask, are you a good fighter?”

“I don't know. No one's ever gave me a re--”

Within the blink of an eye Rix was right next to me holding a scythe, which was now sticking halfway in my stomach. Rix swung the scythe like a baseball bat, throwing me to the wall with a loud thud. I fell a few feet to the ground, landing face first. As I slowly got up, I saw Rix holding the scythe with the spear end pointed towards me. When I was on my knees, Rix threw the spear toward with a mighty throw and aimed it towards my heart. I moved my torso to the right and the spear missed my heart, but pierced my left shoulder and nailed me to the wall, letting out a cry of pain as I tried in vain to pull it out. Rix walked over to me, laughing sadistically as he looked at me with a mischievous look. When Rix was in front of me, he grabbed me by the throat with his right hand, grabbed the scythe with the other, and placed his left foot on my shoulder. He ripped out the scythe, making me scream louder than the last time, and lifted me a foot off the ground, bringing my face close to his.

“You are so pathetic!” He loudly mocked.

“Let me go and I'll show you how I really fight,” I bluffed.

Rix began laughing like a hyena. When I thrust my head towards him for a headbutt, he brought his head back and retorted with his own successful headbutt.

“I watched you take on those timberwolves and manticore, and I was actually quite impressed, given how you've barely been in any fights. But seeing you fight me is such a disappointment.”

I felt his grip tightened around my throat, nearly choking me. I threw a left punch at his face, and it connected to his right cheek. But, Rix didn't move, not even closing his eye when the strike was slowly moving off his face. He laughed at my attempt to get free and pointed the scythe to my forehead.

“I won't kill you, not yet. Instead, I'm gonna give you an offer you can't refuse. I can give you power beyond that of any human, all for the simple price of--”

Rix was suddenly interrupted by three consecutive gunshots, all hitting Rix's chest by the way he flinched. I looked over Rix's shoulder and saw John pointing a pistol at Rix, smoke coming out of the barrel.

“Put him down, Rix. Now,” John sternly ordered.

“John... quite the timing you have.”

“Rix, you know we're not suppose to directly interfere, it's against--”

“Enough with your rules! God brought him to us, didn't he? I think we have a right to 'influence,' don't you?”

“Whether he's here with us or not is none of our concern. Leave him be, or else I'll have to break a few rules myself.”

“We both know you won't. You're too much of a good little soldier to disobey daddy now.”

“One last chance Rix.”

“Than you better make it count.”

Rix threw me to the wall and spun his scythe in a circular rotation.

“Trevor, get out of here, now!”

John fired his pistol at Rix's head and Rix stopped his scythe in front of him, the blade sticking towards his face. I heard the bullet get cut by the scythe and felt the two pieces graze the top of my ears.

How am I suppose to get out!?

The words from my mind echoed throughout the entire pit.

“DEUS! ADIUVA!”

John fired another shot, this time hitting Rix in his right leg, causing him to flinch.

“God does not exist here!” Rix yelled

“Trevor...”

“What!?” I nervously asked.

“I'm sorry.”

John pointed the gun at me, and before I could yell out any defiance, he pulled the trigger. The flash from the barrel of his gun was the last thing I saw before everything went black. I didn't hear Rix or John yelling or battling, nor could I move my body, feeling paralyzed. Minutes slowly passed before my body would let me move a single nerve. I opened my eyes and saw the ceiling of Twilight's house. Needless to say, I was a bit glad that I out of that place. More specifically, I was away from Rix.

But are those two really demons and angels inside of me? It wouldn't be too far fetched, given what's happened to me thus far. Plus what John said makes some sense. I wonder if Fluttershy know anything about the berries in that forest, or maybe Twilight would know. Though it would probably be best if I just pretend that whole ordeal was a dream, for now anyway.

I got out of bed, got dressed, and went downstairs. Twilight and Spike were in their usual places at the table, eating breakfast, a glass of water and apple waiting at my spot.

“Good morning, Trevor,” Twilight greeted,

“Mornin',” I replied.

I took my seat and too a big bite out of my apple, drinking the juice from it as I chewed.

“So, guess who agreed to make you a dress.”

“I hope you mean suit, and would it be Rarity?”

Twilight nodded with a hum of approval.

“Nice. Any idea when it'll be ready?”

“You and I will check on her after you're done with breakfast.”

I nodded as I swallowed the first bite and took another. Me and Twilight began to walk to Rarity's about ten minutes later and saw the rest of the six outside, waiting patiently.

“You girls waiting too?” I asked as we approached Rarity's house.

“Yes,” they monotonously said in unison.

Figures.

I approached the door and knocked on the door three times with the back of my fist.

“Rarity, you have an audience waiting for you.”

“One moment please. I've already finished the dresses for the girls, I just need to put on the finishing touches for yours,” Rarity said.

I hope you mean “suit.”

“Sure thing, no problem.”

With a sigh, I sat down right next to the door, somewhat near the rest of the girls, and noticed three small ponies playing about a yard away. I focused on who in the world that could be, and as soon as I figured out it was the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they noticed me and began dashing to where I was at.

One of the things I swore I would try to avoid if I would ever come to this world, and now I have to suffer through it. Curse you, cruel fate.

The three of them stopped running when they got close and stopped entirely when they were next to me.

“Hello. Is there something you need?” I asked with a look that obviously showed that I didn't want to be bothered.

“Are you the human that every pony’s been talking about?” Scootaloo asked, either ignoring my look or was completely oblivious of it.

Well, let's see. I don't hooves, I'm about three times bigger than you, and I don't have fur, excluding my hair. What do you think!?

“Yep, that's me.”

“Awesome, where did you come from?”

“You wouldn't know even if I told you.”

“I dunno, we're pretty smart,” Applebloom retorted.

What are my vague and/or sarcastic options here? Hash tag 'Mercia, Mother Russia, The Garden of Eden. The list goes on, but I best get to the point.

“Earth.”

“You're from the ground?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“No, I'm from the planet Earth, as in one of those stars you see in the sky is my home.”

“Whoa, so you're an alien?” Scootaloo asked.

“Don't be silly Scootaloo, there's no such thing as aliens,” Sweetie Belle informed.

“But there's one standing right next to you, you even spoke to it.”

I was tempted to correct them out of pure instinct, but I held myself back so that they wouldn't focus their vocal attention to me.

“Just because he looks different from us doesn't mean he's an alien.”

“That's exactly what an alien is!” I loudly thought aloud.

“No it's not! Zecora was different and everyone thought she was an alien, but she was just like everyone else.”

“That's because zebras have a very similar genetic structure to ponies. I am a human, I stand on two legs, have five fingers, and able to think up complicated strategies and mathematical equations.”

“That sounds a lot like a monkey.”

“And many scientists where I come from think that all of humanity came from monkeys. I don't exactly believe that, but our likeness is pretty high.”

“So you're a mutated monkey?” Scootaloo asked with a small smirk.

“Oh no, I'm not gonna play that game. If I play that game I will most likely lose, so, I'm just gonna say no and call that end of discussion.”

“So if yer from another planet, why don't you ask Celestia to use her magic to take you home?” Applebloom asked.

If I had a dollar for every time--

“Indeed I did, and before you ask, no she's not going to.”

“Because you broke into the castle in Canterlot,” Scootaloo said.

“Where did you hear about that?”

“Rainbow Dash told me that you fought off a bunch of royal guards and barged into the Princess's throne room.”

I look to Rainbow Dash and gave her a cold glare, and she replied with a sheepish grin.

I could still accept or deny this, but who would I be if I didn't boast a bit in my fighting successes.

“Well, yeah, I did do those things. I was having a bit of a mental breakdown moment.”

All three of the raised an eyebrow, wondering what exactly a mental breakdown was. I was half-tempted to explain, in great detail, what happens when a person has a mental breakdown, but Applejack, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy were there, which would earn me a few hits to the skull, glares, and making a certain someone cry.

“Come on girls, we have some crusadin' stuff to do,” Applebloom said.

“Oh yeah, CUTIE MARK CRUSADER FORE--” Scootaloo began to cheer.

Sweetie Belle quickly covered her mouth with a hoof and shushed her.

“Not right now,” she whispered, barely audible to me.

That peeked my interest a bit. Usually those girls would announce to the world what they were going to do to get their cutie marks, but actually keeping it a secret sounded like a mere myth.

At least I won't be bored today.

The three ran off towards the woods when Rarity opened the door.

“Alright, I have everything ready. Now close your eyes and follow me,” Rarity instructed.

I stood up and closed my eyes, facing the sound of Rarity's voice.

“How are we suppose to follow you if we have our eyes close?” I asked.

“Just walk ahead.”

I did as Rarity had said, feeling the flooring change from grass and dirt to granite flooring.

“That's right. Keep them closed. Don't look,” Rarity said.

“Okay you can look now.”

We all opened our eyes and I heard the five gasp. Their dresses were the cliché princess dresses. It fit their personality’s to a certain point, but it was bland, all in all. The dresses were set up in a straight row, and at the end was mine, at least I assumed it was, underneath a white cloth.

“These are your new outfits. What do you think of your old duds now, Applejack? Pretty swanky, are they not?” Rarity asked.

Swanky? When did people ever use that?

“Twilight, I made this dress for you, and I designed each outfit theme to perfectly reflect each ponies unique personality. It took me forever to get the colors right on this one, Rainbow Dash, but I did it, and it turned out beautiful, don't you think? And I know you're going to love yours, Fluttershy. It just sings spring. Pinkie Pie, look, Pink! Your favorite.”

She went over to the hidden mannequin pulled off the cloth. The shirt was black with a red, spiral tie stitched in it. Three red lines on the left arm, most likely representing scars, connecting to a white cuff with a gray peace sign on it, while the other cuff had a brown cross on it. The pants were also black with gray scriptures in a language I didn't know.

“It took me a while to do yours, Trevor, but I able to show your personality. Aren't they all amazing?”

Uhhh.

I thought the suit was nice, but not great, but yet me and the rest of the girls all hesitated for a while until Twilight finally spoke up.

It needs a different style for the tie. A different color for the pants or shirt. And change the peace sign to something else.

“Wow. They're...,” Twilight said, trying to think of a nice word to use.

“Yeah, they're...” Rainbow Dash added.

“They sure are, uh... Somethin',” Applejack commented.

“Yes. Something,” Twilight agreed.

“I love something. Something is my favorite,” Pinkie Pie said.

“It's... Nice,” Fluttershy said.

“Interesting design,” I said.

“But what's the matter? Don't you like them?” Rarity asked.

“They're very nice,” Twilight said.

“And we're plumb grateful because you worked so hard on them,” Applejack said.

They're just trying to soften the blow.

“Mine's just not as cool as I was imagining,” Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight and Applejack looked at her with a scowl.

“She asked,” Rainbow added.

“I guess what we're saying is that they're just not what we had in mind,” Twilight said.

The rest of the girls and I agreed with Twilight.

“That's okay. Not a problem. There's plenty more where that came from. They were only a first pass. You're my friends, and I want you to be 110 percent satisfied. Not to worry, I'll redo them,” Rarity said.

“Oh, Rarity. You don't have to do that. They're fine,” Fluttershy said.

“I want them to be better than just fine. I want you to think they're absolutely perfect.”

“Are you sure? I mean, we wouldn't want to impose,” Applejack said.

“It's no imposition. Really, I insist.”

“Well, in that case. Thank you again, Rarity,” Twilight said.

Me and the girls left Rarity so she could redo the clothes. When we got out, it was just me, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack.

What to do now? I wonder what those crusaders are doing in the woods? Best check it out, could find the girl who was with me that night.

As the girls were in mid-conversation about how they think their next dresses were going to look like, I slipped away unseen from them and headed towards that cursed forest. There was no sound of cheerful or terrified screaming, which put me to some ease, and then I sprinted in, headfirst of course. Even though the sun was fully out, it felt like the beginning of dusk within the forest, thanks to all the thick trees. Memories of the ambushes and chases crept in my mind, but quickly shook them away, assuring myself that it was still daylight out so no predators would be seen for quite a while. As I was searching through the woods for several minutes, only seeing small woodland creatures, I noticed a raven sitting on a log, staring at me.

“Hey raven, you wouldn't happen to see three small ponies or a mysterious person or pony, would you?” I asked.

The raven let out a short “caw” and flew further into the woods.

Ravens. You're like the bigger and more bloodthirsty version of a crow, but you're still the better of the two. Now where could those girls be at?

I began walking west of where I was at and felt the cool wind blow on my face, and also heard a very faint sound. Following the wind and the sound, it soon became clear that it was the sound of children laughing.

Found 'em, excellent.

I ran towards the wind, the sound of the laughter slowly growing louder and louder. As soon as I saw the three through the trees, I stopped, climbed the nearest tree to me, and slowly climbed to where they were at. I had to stop a couple feet away from them since they were on the clear road and not in the actual forest. Apparently they were laughing with joy as they were following some sort of map, which currently resided in Applebloom's mouth, going further up the road.

Now what are you three doing?

Following them quietly and sticking to the shadows of the leaves, they soon came to a short fork in the road.

“Where do we go?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Check the map,” Scootaloo replied.

Applebloom spat out the map and the three unraveled it on the ground. I tried to maneuver myself around so I could see the map as well, but I was either too far or the girls' head were blocking the map.

“Let's see, the map says that we should go right.”

“But here isn't suppose to be another road connected to it, it's just suppose to go right.”

“Let's just take the right path, if it's wrong then we can just go back.”

But where are you going is the what I want to know.

As they began to move, the map back in Applbloom's mouth, I followed them as they walked on the right road.

“So what do you think this temple will have?” Applebloom asked through her teeth.

“Probably gold, jewels, and gems that are piled as high as houses,” Sweetie Belle guessed.

“Or some super cool mirror that can tell the future.”

Gorlog I could really use one of those mirrors.

My eyes searched the woods to the left of them and only saw birds, bushes with berries, and lush trees. However, there was one tree that was about half the size of the rest and didn't have any sticks or leaves on it at all. I shortly wondered what happened to it, but quickly came to the conclusion that a storm probably took the rest of it. But as soon as I took my eyes off it and onto the next tree I would climb on, I heard a loud shrill from one of the girls. I quickly looked at where the girls were at and saw that Scootaloo was now in the hands of a living, humanoid tree. When it opened it's mouth I saw that it had sharp human-like teeth, and sharp green eyes above it. I jumped out of the tree and expanded my wings, gliding towards the monster, and put a forceful hand on it's chest, pushing forward and down as I went even further. The monster, a wendigo if I know my monsters correctly, and I fell down to the ground, the wendigo accidentally tossing Scootaloo as it fell.

I was kinda hoping that I wouldn't have to fight, but some things never change I guess.

I began punching the wendigo across the face a few times before he grabbed my arm and threw me into the air. As I began to fall down, I formed my body into the a pencil and dive-bombed him. When I got close, I brought back my right arm and rocketed forward when in range of the wendigo. It made full contact, my fingers cracking and the wendigo screaming as I tried to push my fist further to crush it's skull. Unfortunately I wasn't successful in doing such and received a hard punch to the left side of the ribs for my troubles, throwing me off the wendigo and sending me into a tree, my spine letting out loud cracks upon impact. Thankfully nothing was broken, so I got up and ran towards the wendigo while it was getting up. I charged right into it, carrying him forward with my left shoulder, slammed it into a tree to see how it felt, and punched it across the right side of it's face for good measure. Before I could add another punch, the wendigo kneed me in the stomach, making take a few steps with my upper half a bit hunched over, and earning myself a clubbing from both the wendigo's hands to the ground.

Looks like I'll have to use a bit more strategy than just brute force.

I quickly got up and got in a defensive stance, facing the charging wendigo, arms and mouth opened for grabbing and devouring. When the wendigo swiped it's arms, I rolled to the right, making a rough quarter-circle around him, jumped up and planted both my feet on his spine, sending him on all four. I walked to his left side and kicked him in the stomach, sending him to his back, and grabbed his throat choking him.

“P-Please, h-h-help me,” the wendigo stammered with a distorted tone.

I let go of the it's neck, confused and surprised that a wendigo actually knew how to talk and was asking for my help of all things.

“Why would you need my help, besides being your next meal?” I asked accusingly.

“No. I c-can barely k-keep control of the m-monster inside me. Please, k-kill me, b-b-before I continue.”

“Alright, I'll help you, but only if you answer me one thing.”

To be honest, I was gonna kill him whether he agreed or not, but if I agreed and if there would happen to be a witness, or in this situation three witnesses, we could confirm it as a mercy killing.

“I will, b-but please b-be quick.”

“Were originally human before you became this or no?”

“What's a h-hu-human?”

“Good enough answer for me.”

Grabbing the wendigo's head, one hand on top of it's scalp and the other on the tip of it's chin, and did a violent twist to the left. Hearing the brutal-sounding crack, I took a few steps back from the wendigo, and when it didn't get up for about half a minute, I looked around to see if the Crusaders were still there. There had been no sign of them in the area, however I quickly found a few sets of tiny hoof prints heading towards the exit, and that the map was also left on the ground.

Smart ponies, childish and annoying, but smart to know when to run, but you could at least quickly take inventory as you are running.

I left the body where it laid, not knowing whether the birds and/or monsters would have use for it or not, picked up the map, and followed the path of hoof prints. Thankfully I was correct in my theory that the girls had ran to the exit of the forest and ran towards Twilight's house as quickly as I could, not wanting to be ambushed by creatures hiding at the edge of the forest. When I opened the door, I saw Spike eating some ice cream, straight from the carton. As soon as Spike saw he, his eyes widened and hid the carton behind his back with a sheepish smile and light-hearted chuckle. That's when I understood what was going on.

“Don't worry, I won't tell. Just make sure you finish it quickly. Speaking of which, where is Twilight?” I asked.

“She's at Rarity's, getting her dress remade,” Spike replied between chews.

“Alright, thanks.”

I went upstairs to my bed and unrolled the map in front of me. The first thing that caught my eye was the the name written the top left corner. It was written in small, very neat cursive that I couldn't read worth the life of me, but all I could tell was that it started with an “A,” I think. The starting position was at the very heart of Ponyville, leading the Everfree Forest, and makes a sharp turn the the right a bit afterwards, leading to the destination, marked with an “O.”

“Now what do you lead to? And who made you?” I whispered to myself.

Usually a map has a signature on it so that way people could see how much weight of truth the map held, and if it didn't than it usually came from some famous navigator, but that didn't seem to be the case. There was also no indications of what the treasure might be.

Either this was once a very famous map, or this was a personally made map, not one to be shared with others. I'll go with the latter.

“Trevor?” I heard Twilight asked.

I rolled up the map and turned my head towards her.

“Yes?” I replied.

“Rarity wants you to visit her about your suit.”

“Really now? Thanks.”

“You're welcome.”

She went back downstairs and I placed the map on my bed, hoping that Twilight wouldn't get curious and read the map.

I'll deal with you once I'm done with my suit.

The walk over to Rarity's place was actually peaceful and quiet. The only ones that were in the streets were vendors and some regular customers, with the occasional pair of best friends or couples walking around. Yet, there was someone who broke that peace with their mere presence, and that someone was Doctor Whooves, looking at me with expected eyes.

Oh Gorlog no.

As soon as I was parallel to him, he called out to me. I very quietly let out a curse of regret and turned to Whooves.

“Hey, what's up?” I asked.

“I thought you would be here and wanted to give you this, given your living conditions,” he replied.

He grabbed something under his left front hoof with his teeth and I took it out of his mouth for him. It was was small circular disk made out of fake gold, having two sides of it closed with a small switch at the bottom and had a thin chain on the other side of the disk. Knowing it could have been one of two things, I opened it up and saw that it was a working watch, telling the time to be currently half an hour after three P.M.

“Wow, thanks. This should come in handy.”

“Glad I could be of help, be safe.”

No promises there.

Doctor Whooves left without another word and I did the same, heading towards Rarity's again. When I got there I knocked on the door three times with the back of my fist, as I usually do. A blue aura surrounded the door and it swung open, Rarity looking at me in the room. Her hair was completely unkempt, and messy, and big gray bags hung under her eyes.

“Ah, Trevor. Please, come in,” she said.

I did as she said, though I was somewhat hesitant given her current look, and she closed the door behind me with her magic.

“Did Twilight tell you why I wanted you?” She asked.

All I could really think to do was nod slowly, trying not to invoke any unwanted emotions.

“Good. I want you to help me design your suit.”

“How so?” I asked.

“I want you to tell me what you want it to look like.”

“Hmm. The base of the suit you can keep the same, but instead of having it black, change the color to purple. Instead of a spiral design, keep the tie in a straight line, and the peace sign needs to be changed to a circle. Other than that, everything was good.

Seem seemed to be shock by my answer, but in a good way, and quickly changed her expression to relaxed yet confident.

“Is that all?”

“That's it.”

"Excellent. I'll come get you and Twilight when your dresses are done."

Suit...

"Alright, thanks."

“However, I must ask, why purple?”

“In my world it's a symbol for royalty.”

“Really? How interesting."

I didn't comment on that and went back to Twilight's house when she began to start sewing again. When I got there, Spike was dusting the books, and Twilight was most likely upstairs.

What to do now?

The only thing I could think to do is re-look at the map, so I went upstairs and saw a raven on my bed, the map in it's left talon and a window open right behind it. The raven looked at me, giving me a cold and grim look.

Don't. You. Dare.

I slowly looked around me, hoping that I could find something to smack the raven with, and found a decently-sized book and grabbed it.

Okay raven, this is how it's gonna go. I'm gonna smack you and you will drop that map and go away.

As I was beginning to aim the book at the raven, it quickly flew out of the window and into the sky.

“No!” I yelled.

I ran to the window and looked out, seeing the raven too far out of my throwing range to attack it.

“Blasted raven!”

“What's going on?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing. Just some cursed raven stole something of mine.”

“What did he steal?”

“Nothing important,” I lied in a sigh.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, just a note to myself.”

"Hunt every raven you see."

“Well at least it wasn't something important. So how did it go with Rarity?"

“Went good, I think my new suit will look marvelous."

“I bet it will too."

“What about you? Do you think your suit will turn out well?”

“Knowing Rarity's sewing skills, I know that she'll do her best.”

“Indeed.”

Having no map to study and too frustrated to do really anything else, I sat in my bed and tried my best to take a nap. Instead of having a dream as I usually did, I slept in a very deep and dark sleep, until I was interrupted by a few shakes on my right arm. I slowly opened my eyes and turned my head to see Twilight looking at me with a somewhat-sheepish smile.

“Rarity came by a little while and told me that she's ready top show everyone's dress,” she said.

Suit.

“Alright, let's get going,” I replied as I got up.

The two of us traveled over to Rarity's house and saw the rest of the girls near the front door.

“Hey, Trevor and Twilight,” the girls greeted.

“Hey girls,” I greeted back.

“Why are you girls waiting out here?” Twilight asked.

“Rarity wanted us to wait outside while she does the finishin' touches,” Applejack said.

Why am I not surprised.

“Hey Trevor, I just remembered that I haven't shown you how to fly,” Rainbow Dash said.

“No, you haven't. We should probably fix that.”

“Well, since we're waiting out her--”

Rainbow Dash was suddenly interrupted by Rarity slamming open the door and triumphantly said, “Please, come in.”

And with that, the six of us walked into Rarity's boutique, seeing the girls dresses and my suit worn by mannequins. I will admit, I know little to absolutely nothing about fashion, and I have a very slight fashion sense, but even I was able to tell that the girls' dresses looked completely terrible. Even Rarity's cat hissed at the dresses.

“OK, I did exactly what each of you asked for. Now don't hold back, tell me what you really think,” she said.

The girls and I contemplated on what to say about our new fancy clothing. Personally, I liked it, and was probably the only piece of clothing that didn't look abysmal. But then again, Rarity only had to edit a few things on my suit while she had to completely remake the girls dresses.

“It's exactly what I asked for,” we all said.

Rarity let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you Rarity,” Twilight said.

“Are you as happy with them as we are? Huh huh huh?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Well, I'm happy that all of you are happy. I'm just relieved to finally be done” Rarity said.

Don't be so sure of yourself, yet.

As if on cue, Spike burst open the door and then top to catch his breath. I swear I'm not some sort of psychic.

“You are never gonna believe this,” Spike said between breaths.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard that.

“You've heard of Hoity Toity?” He asked.

The sound of that name raised a fire of hate inside me, but I didn't really know why. I was pretty sure that it wasn't because he was some snobby fashion critic, but it was something else, something that I had obviously forgotten.

“The big wigged fashion hot shot in Canterlot?” Twilight asked.

“Ah huh! He heard about your fashion show, well, maybe I happened to mention it to him. He's coming here all the way from Canterlot to see your work Rarity!”

You did what!? Blast it all to bitter oblivion! I can't see this ending well in the slightest.

All the girls let out a gasp while I just face-palmed and sighed.

“Whoa nelly. You could sell a ton of dresses to this guy. You're business will be booming,” Applejack said.

The rest of the ponies began to talk to Rarity or themselves about how surprising or cool it would be to have an actual crowd for their little fashion show.

“Hoity Toity? He's coming here, to see these dresses?” Rarity asked.

“So it seems. He'll be here in person, er, pony I guess,” I confirmed.

Rarity's right eye began twitching nervously, reflecting most of her face.

“So, wait. How in Gorlog's name are we gonna get this place ready for a high quality fashion show?” I asked.

The multiple sounds of hooves trampling and wheels turning came from outside and looked out the window to see a team of builder ponies. Male and female, earth, unicorn, and pegasi ponies.

So that's how.

It took a few hours, but everything was set up thanks to our “special help.” All in all, the set was looking good. The spotlights shined along the catwalk, backstage was set up behind the curtains, everything seemed to be flawless, except for the huge crowd of ponies around the end, and that Hoity Toity at the very front of it all.

It's show time. Welcome to curtain call.

I went to back stage, grabbed my suit and headed for the changing room, but heard Rarity started heavily breathing as she peaked from the curtain.

“Don't worry, things will go well,” I assured her.

She looked over to me.

“Are you sure?” She asked.

“Indeed. Even if things don't go as well, you'll still have your friends.”

That seemed to calm her down, enough to stop her heavy breathing anyway.

“You're... you're right. Thanks Trevor.”

“Mm hmm.”

I went into the dressing room, thankfully not occupied, got into my suit, and join the rest of the girls directly behind the curtain, hearing the jazzy classical music playing beyond it. The spotlights turned on with a click, and Spike stood to the right of us, holding a microphone in his claws.

“Since the beginning of time,” Spike began.

Someone please give me a gun so I can shoot myself in the foot.

“The elite of Equestria have longed for pony fashion that truly expressed the essence of their very souls. Patiently waiting decades, no, centuries, for the perfect pony gown. Today, at long last Equestria, your wait is over. Let's hear it for the breathtaking deigns of Ponyville's own, Rarity,” Spike finished.

So cheesy and cliché.

As soon as the curtains opened and the spotlights shined on us, the crowd gasped in horror.

I can see this ending badly already.

Twilight walked out first, then Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and me at the end. We all looked out at the crowd on the slow moving circular platform, noticing Lyra as one of the ponies in the crowd. After a full circle, I was sure that everyone in the crowd did not like the outfits.

“Why's everypony looking at us like that?” Applejack asked in a hushed tone.

Twilight looked at her dress and then her ridiculous butterfly antennae-like headpiece.

“Oh dear,” she said.

“You think we overdid it?” Rainbow Dash asked in a hushed tone.

“Maybe just a wee bit, lassies,” I replied quietly.

“Oh, those amateurish designs look like a piled on mishmash of everything but the kitchen sink,” Hoity Toity loudly remarked.

As the crowd laughed as what Hoity had said, more scorn and hatred raised up within me just by the mere sound of his voice, yet it still left no explanation as to why in my head.

Perhaps it has something to do with his voice, but what?

“It's a travesty is what it is. Those outfits are the ugliest things I've ever seen, oh for shame. Who is responsible for subjecting our eyes to these horrors? Not to mention, wasting my valuable time.” Hoity Toity said.

I wonder if anyone would judge if I gave this guy a Colombian necktie.

“Come on out and take a bow, Rarity. You worked really hard for this,” Spike urged.

Weren't you listening to what he was saying at all, Spike?

I could hear Spike cheering for Rarity. The spotlights were taken off of us and shined on Rarity, walking in front of us to face the crowd. The crowd began to whisper, nothing good I imagined. Needless to say, the fashion show was a disaster. After everyone left and the catwalk was taken down, me, Twilight, and Spike went home after Rarity went into her room to cry... her words, not mine. I changed back into my regular clothes and went directly to bed.

A few days have passed since then. Nothing really happened, except me and the girls constant failings at trying to get Rarity out of her room. We tried negotiations, more negotiations, extreme negotiations, but we never tried force. Or violence, mostly because the girls had turned down my idea via majority vote. After the third day filled of failure, at about four in the morning, I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep despite my constant attempts to just close my eyes and relax. So, I got up and walked towards the balcony.

Perhaps some star gazing will put my body at ease.

On the balcony I looked at the stars from the north, south, east and west, not seeing any easily recognizable constellations.

“This night is mine and those who are awake with me,” I nonsensically rambled.

“Does that include me?” Twilight asked from behind me.

I looked to Twilight, confirming with my eyes that it was really her and not some eerie copy like from my dream, and looked back to the stars.

“Sorry, did I wake you?” I asked.

“No, I just couldn't sleep.”

“Same.”

She walked to the side of me.

“See any constellations?”

“Nope. Don't know any of these, though I've always preferred to just look at them anyway.”

“What about the moon?”

“Some consider it a star.”

She looked up at it.

“Do you know about Nightmare Moon?”

“Nope,” I lied.

“She's Celestia's younger sister. Me and the girls fought her with the Elements of Harmony when I first arrived here in Ponyville, and changed her back to Princess Luna.”

“Interesting.”

“So do you have any stories?”

“About what?”

“About adventures you had from where you're from.”

“Not much to tell. It's pretty boring where I'm from.”

“What is it like?”

“It's like any other old and small village. I didn't really go out and talk to people, nor did I really like the people themselves.”

“How come?”

“Let's just say my personality isn't really liked where I'm from because they're so closed-minded due to their... 'traditions.”

“Why?”

“Because they don't really want people who are out of the norm.”

“That's mahogany.”

I chuckled at that.

“Seems like you're learning from me.”

“I meant what I said because you have great personality.”

“Thanks, but you're about four years too late. Actually, I probably would have chased you with my pocket knife four years ago,” I joked.

Twilight let out a quiet giggle at that.

Let's try and not be haunted by the past, shall we?

“Come on, let's get back to bed. We have to get Rarity out of her bad mood tomorrow,” I said.

“Okay,” she said.

The two of went back to bed and actually managed to get some sleep this time, most likely thanks to my kinda heart-to-heart with Twilight. When I woke up I went downstairs, Twilight and Spike already eating cereal when I got to the table, and heard my stomach grumbling at the sight of it

How long has it been since I ate?

Twilight got a bowl, poured in some cereal and milk, and put it in front of me. I thanked and took a bite out of the cereal. It was actually pretty good. The cereal itself was brown and tan balls, kinda like Cap'n Crunch's Peanut Butter Crunch except with a different color. I ate the cereal and drank the milk in the bowl the same time Twilight had.

“Let's get Rarity back in spirits, shall we?” Twilight asked confidently.

“Let's do it,” I replied, matching the same tone as hers.

The rest of the girls had already arrived when we got there, waiting outside of Rarity's bedroom door.

“So how are we gonna try to get Rarity out this time?” Applejack asked.

“Let's try talking to her again,” I suggested sarcastically.

“We tried that already. Three times!” Rainbow Dash said.

“Four can be considered a lucky number as well.”

“Let's try Trevor's plan again. If it doesn't work then we can think of something else,” Fluttershy said.

“Fine,” Rainbow Dash said.

Pinkie Pie knocked on the door six times.

“Rarity, you okay in there!? You haven't come out for days!” Pinkie Pie shouted.

“I'm never coming out! I can't show my face in Ponyville ever again! I used to be some pony, I used to be respected. I made dresses. Beautiful, beautiful dresses. But now, every pony is laughing at me. I'm nothing but a laughing stock,” Rarity stated, weeping more after she did.

“You're not a laughing stock, Rarity,” Twilight said.

“She kinda is,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Silence, you're not helping,” I commented.

“Come on out and talk to us,” Twilight said.

“Leave me aloo-oo-o-one. I want to be alone. I want to wallow in... whatever ponies are suppose to wallow in. Do ponies wallow in pity? Oh, listen to me. I don't even know what I'm suppose to wallow. I'm so pathetic!” she loudly whined.

She's far in sorrow. Doesn't mean we can pull her out though.

“Now what do we do?” Twilight asked.

“Panic?” Fluttershy suggested.

“That's your answer to everything,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Well we can't just leave Rarity like this,” Applejack said.

And who says we can't? I'm joking.

“Yeah, she'll become a crazy cat lady,” Pinkie Pie said.

“She only has that one cat,” I said.

“Give her time.”

Twilight looked into the doorknob and gave a slight hmm.

“I know what we'll do,” Twilight said.

“And that is?” I asked.

“We'll finish Rarity's dress for her.”

“How will that make Rarity come out?”

“It won't initially, we'll have to lure her out somehow.”

“How about the cat? She seems to care enough about it that Rarity would come out for Opal.”

“Perfect. Rainbow Dash, you'll get Rarity's attention by using Opal. Trevor, you'll get Hoity Toity to come back here for our next fashion show.”

“Wait what? Why are we gonna have another fashion show?”

“To show off our dresses, and to cheer Rarity up.”

At least you have your priorities straight I guess.

“He's in Canterlot, yeah?”

“Yep, that's where he lives at.”

Figures. The one place I'm not liked at is the place I have to go to end this episode.

“Alright, I'll get him. It'll probably take me a while though.”

“Don't take too long, I'll have Rarity outside in no time,” Rainbow Dash bragged.

“Don't be too quick, you gotta give me a little chance to talk to him.”

Or knock him out, depending on how things go.

That's when I left the boutique and headed for Canterlot, taking my time by walking there. When I got to the gates of Canterlot I still didn't have a plan of how I would negotiate with a pony like Hoity, if he would even give me a chance to talk before criticizing me of my clothes or about my species's genetic code. As I past the gates I felt the eyes of the guards ever judging me as if they had nothing else better to do, and it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case. The first place that I decided to check was the most obvious and first place that one would look for a pseudo-celebrity, downtown. But once I turned a right corner five blocks from where the gate was, I saw that my task would be more difficult than I expected. There was a plethora of ponies down the almost-cramped road, restaurant tables set up outside and fancy-looking traveling food carts helped well with filling it up.

How am I gonna find a specific pony in this madness?

There were only two ways I could think of, taking to the rooftops and finding him assassin style, or just walk, listen, and watch. In the end I chose to just walk, knowing that it would probably be too much work just to find someone like Hoity. I searched through the seas of faces, none of them the one I wanted, and some of them staring back with either fear or confusion. But about halfway downtown, I found him eating alone at a restaurant called “The Golden Stable.” He had just paid the bill and began to walk forward, his back towards me.

Well, at least he won't complain that I was ruining his lunch.

As I followed Hoity I had to gently push a few ponies out of the way to make sure I wouldn't get any further from Hoity than the fifteen feet I already was. But then he suddenly jerked to the right into an alleyway without anyone but myself noticing, or caring. That's when I picked up the pace from a walk to a near-jog and turned into the alleyway which had another right corner about twenty feet ahead of me.

Now where did he go?

I kept up my jogging pace until I heard Hoity yelling something undecipherable from where I was at, and that's when I began running. As I turned the corner I saw a stallion with golden fur and toxic green mane looked with fury at Hoity Toity.

“Oi!” I called out.

The stallion looked at me with eyes of fury and death for interrupting whatever he planned to do with Hoity and charged straight towards me. I smiled at the simple approach, already knowing how I was gonna retort against an attack like this. When the stallion was six feet away, I took a quick step to the left and extended my right leg low enough to trip him. But instead of running into my leg, he jumped and slammed me into the ground, crushing my chest when we were both on the ground. I slammed both hands on his right side and shoved him off to his side, got on top of him, and began to punch the left side of his face. When I struck my fist down for my fifth punch, the stallion moved his head back, making me hit hard stone, grasp my hand with his teeth, and bit down hard.

“You little bugger!” I yelled.

I raised up my right foot and began stomping on on his face, making sure the ball of my foot slammed on his eye. After a few good kicks, the stallion swung his back legs around like crazy, almost hitting me in a place I would rather leave untouched by hostile blows, and I backed away to make sure a lucky swing wouldn't hit there. The stallion then got up quickly and ran off, hissing at me as he did like a cat or snake before I could grab his mane or tail, and got away without any attempt of chase from me.

“Git,” I muttered as I spat.

I may not be British, but I knew the slang quite well, thanks to some friends and online entertainers who live there. Something suddenly tightly wrapped itself around my left ankle and was about to punch or kick whatever it was, but then saw that it was Hoity on his belly wrapping his front hooves on me.

“Oh, thank you so much! I thought that brute was going to kidnap me!” he yelled with glee.

“Why would he want to do that?” I asked, mostly to myself.

“I have no idea, but I'm sure he was just some crazy fan, or some pony out for revenge for my critique on their disgusting clothes.”

“Yeah, that might do it.”

“If there's anything I can do to repay this kind favor...”

“Actually, there is. About three or four days ago you were in Ponyville for a fashion show, remember?”

“You mean those awful--”

“Yes yes. Well, she's remade her dress, brand spankin' new and good dresses that make a mockery of the original.”

“What about the suit?”

“The suit stays the same.”

“Oh. Well, that's the only one I liked anyway.”

“Good to know. Anyway, she wants you to critique these dresses, guaranteeing that they will impress you.”

“Well... okay, I'll do it.”

“That's the spirit, now come on, we got a bit of a walk ahead of us.”

“Can I at least have a drink first?”

“Sorry, we don't have time,” I lied.

Hoity managed to stay quiet during the entire walk back to my surprise, and seemed to look pretty calm despite what happened to him and what I expected his psyche to be. When the two of us got to Rarity's house, the girls were all outside surrounding a true princess's gown.

“Alright, I haven't got all day,” Hoity Toity stated.

That's when I finally figured out the question that I had been asking myself for days, why I had detested Hoity so much, excluding the obvious.

His voice actor has the same first name, that was it! Knew I would figure it out eventually, but I guess I can forgive that reason for detesting him.

The eight of us went inside the boutique, the girls got inside a small platform that was in another room in Rarity's house I hadn't bothered noticing before.

“Take two,” Hoity announced.

The room got darker, a little light shined through the curtains, and Twilight was the first to go on stage, wearing her original dress that Rarity made.

“Hello. Well this can't be the same designer.”

Well guess again.

Next to the stage was Applejack.

“Simply magnificent. And I suddenly have a fierce craving for some Dutch apple pie, candied apples on a stick, apple turnovers, apple cobbler.”

The Dutch are in the world?

Pinkie Pie hopped on the stage.

“Brilliant!”

Rainbow Dash flew in on stage as soon as Pinkie Pie was out of sight.

“Oh, spectacular.”

Fluttershy was the final pony to go up.

“Now this is a fashion show. Oh these dresses are absolutely amazing. Who is responsible? Step forward, show yourself.”

Rarity went up with the rest of the girls and they all did a court bow.

“Bravo! Bravo! Magnifico! Encore!”

“Thank you. Thank you. Oh, thank you so much,” Rarity said.

After the had officially ended, Twilight had written her letter to Princess Celestia and Rarity was offered to have her dresses shown in Hoity's best of the best show. She would have accepted, until he wanted a dozen of each dress by next Tuesday, about eight days from now, to which she humbly refused the offer. But in the end, I still had no interest in fashion, but earn appreciation for what Rarity did and has to do for what she loves to do.

Author's Note

Almost two months and this bane of my existence of a chapter is finally edited and posted for you to either love or hate. Now I have a small announcement to make. Chapters will be coming out a bit less frequently since I'm going to try and -write- the chapters that are needed to end the story so that I can later focus on editing everything else. I hope this does not discouraged you in thinking that this story will be abandoned, because I can once again assure you that it will never be abandoned or forgotten. Thanks you and have a nice day/afternoon/evening.