New Dawn

  I walked slowly along the trail behind Twilight and Rainbow with my eyes locked on Fluttershy. Tears streamed down my face and a surge of fear shot through me. The gravel crunched beneath my feet as I held Fluttershy in my arms. I tried not to move around to much in fear of hurting the poor mare. I looked down to to see a scar replacing where her wound used to be. This made me feel even worse than I did before. But knowing that she's still alive and will continue living on, made me even more determined to keep going.

  I was going to help this mare.

  And there's nothing on this planet that's going to stop me from accomplishing that.

Chapter 6: Recovering

  We weren't very far from the castle at this point. My arms grew tired of carrying Fluttershy, but I pushed on. As I said many times before, I'm not going to lose anyone else, not while I'm here. My eyes still stayed locked on Fluttershy. My tears had stopped about half an hour ago, but I still fear for her. I looked forward and caught up with the two mares ahead of me.

"Xavier, are you alright?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied.

"Xavier?"

  I stopped instantly. I looked at Fluttershy and was relieved to see those bright blue eyes staring back into mine. I laid her down on the ground gently. Fluttershy coughed a few times, before fixing her gaze upon me.

"Xavier, where are we?" She asked.

"We're on our way back to Canterlot Fluttershy, we're going to get you some help." I replied.

"O-oh. Okay..." She said.

  This reaction from her made me... chuckle... I didn't know why, I guess it was just, unexpected. But, I had never experience humor or laughter before, not even the slightest bit. I mentally shrugged it off and gently picked her up again. She wrapped her fore hooves around my neck and clung to me as we continued down the gravel path to Canterlot.

"Xavier?"

"Yes Fluttershy?"

"Thank you, for helping me. You went through all of this trouble and you still managed to never give up on us. And also I'm sorry. I didn't want you to have to go through seeing me in pain. I know it hurts to see your friends in pain, but you never gave up on them, you kept your faith and you continued on for us. So again, thank you." Fluttershy said, resting her head on my shoulder.

  I felt my heart skip a beat as those words left Fluttershy's mouth. She... She considered me, a strange creature from another plain of existence, her friend. And it wasn't just Fluttershy who considered me her friend; Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Celestia and Luna, they all considered me their friend. I thought that I would never experience this kind of feeling before, to be loved, to be cared for, to have friendship... As I walked my eyes stayed glued to the path we currently walked down, nearing Canterlot, the guards noticed us and let us pass.

  Our pace quickened slightly as we searched for Celestia or Luna so we could help Fluttershy. We entered the throne room and saw Celestia sitting atop her throne with a worried and saddened expression on her face. When she caught a glimpse of us she galloped towards us at full speed.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright! What happened?!" She asked.

  I explained everything that had happened, the train wreck, how Fluttershy got to her current state, and how we traveled from the wreckage to Canterlot. Celestia nodded lightly before turning to one of her guards. She must've done something that I didn't catch because the guard took off running to a different location. Celestia looked back at us, then to Fluttershy.

"I'll see to it that she's taken good care of." She said levitating Fluttershy out of my arms.

  I felt a bit saddened as I felt Fluttershy's soft, warm yellow coat slip from my arms. But at least she'll be taken care and hopefully back on her hooves soon. Celestia carried her off to another room, leaving Me, Rainbow and Twilight standing in the throne room. I sighed and went back towards our room. The two mares followed me close by as worriedly walked back to the room for some much needed rest.

  I opened the room door to find Luna, sleeping in my bed. All snuggled up closely with her blanket and a faint smile on her face. Knowing that I would not like the consequences of what would happen if I woke her up from her sound sleep, I decided to go and sleep on the couch. I removed my armor and put it in the closet then slumped down in the couch with a content sigh. I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't stop thinking about what Fluttershy said to me...

I know it hurts to see your friends in pain, but you never gave up on them, you kept your faith and you continued on for us.

  Those words echoed through my mind like a broken record. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the door creak open. I looked over the couch to see one of the Royal Guards looking at me.

"Princess Celestia wishes to speak to you." He said sternly.

"Alright, just give me a minute." I replied.

  The guard gave me a nod before leaving and closing the door behind him. I stood up from the couch and looked out the window to see the sky begin to darken as the sun began to fall behind the horizon. I left the room and saw the guard waiting there for me. He saw me and turned around and began to lead me to where I was supposed to go. After a while of walking, we finally reached our destination. The guard nodded once more before leaving me by the door. I walked towards the door and opened it slightly, not wanting to walk in and interrupt something important.

"Princess Celestia?" I called. No response.

  I entered the room and walked forward trying to find Celestia. There were no signs of her nearby, and I was beginning to wonder of what she wanted from me. I looked to my left to see a set of golden doors with a sun carved into it and rubies all around it. I approached the door and knocked on it lightly.

"Princess?" I called.

"Yes, Xavier. Come in." Celestia replied.

  I opened the door and entered her room. She stood at the balcony, looking out to the city of Canterlot. I walked to her side and she looked over at me. Her expression was heart wrenching. Celestia's face was the most saddest expression I've seen on anyone's face before. I cringed at the sight of it.

"Is something wrong Princess?" I asked.

"No, nothing's wrong Xavier." She replied. "I'm just worried, and fearing for the worst. I don't know what to expect, this is unlike anything else we've encountered before. This organism cannot be reasoned with, it cannot be taught the ways of friendship nor magic..." Celestia's voice began to crack, "I just don't know what to do. Look at the state Fluttershy's in, and we've never seen anything that bad before."

I walked over to Celestia's side and put a hand on her shoulder. "I know this must be hard for you. Trust me, I've dealt with not knowing how to solve a problem. And Fluttershy might be incapacitated, but she's a tough little mare. She'll pull through... I promise." I said... but soon regretted it.

  I began to take a dislike for the word, "promise". Because every time I would promise someone something, something always goes wrong. Celestia turned and looked at me with a reassuring smile, still with a few tears in her eyes.

"Thank you Xavier. So very much." She said.

  What caught me off guard was when Celestia wrapped her fore hooves around me and pulled into her with a tight hug. She rested her chin on the crook of my neck and squeezed me tighter. I simply stood there, with my arms to my side, not knowing what to do. I've never been hugged before in my whole life, so I'm not very experienced with them. I tried my best and wrapped my arms around her and returned the hug. After a few minutes, we finally let go of each other.

"Thank you again Xavier, you can go on back to your room and get some sleep." Celestia sighed.

  I nodded and turned around and started walked to my room. As I walked through the massive halls of the castle, I continued thinking about the hug that I was awarded with from Princess Celestia. I don't think she's done that to anyone else but her parents. I pushed the door to my room open slowly and saw the mares sleeping soundly. I sighed with relief and headed for the couch. I grabbed a blanket and lit the fires to the fireplace and laid down on the couch. I rolled onto my side and stared into the flames of the fireplace. As I did I felt my eyelids becoming heavy, so I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.