A New Hero: Awakening

Chapters

A Rare Walk in Town
An Uncalled Responsibility
It's...Just a Ticket...
Stubborn as a Mule

A Rare Walk in Town

The sudden cackle of thunder startled me awake. I was gasping and breathing roughly for only a moment. My head was already facing the window, where I saw the dark gray clouds fill the sorrowful sky. Rain was pummeling towards the ground, indirectly shooting at my window. I sighed deeply and decided to turn around to remove myself from bed. I didn't think I was going back to sleep anyway.

I dragged my hooves towards the bathroom. I didn't even feel like keeping my head up. I only stared my hooves unintentionally as they led me one by one to my usual routine. I turned to my sink and ran the water through, closing the drain so it could fill up inside. Once an icy body of water was awaiting my move, I dug my hooves inside and brought back a wave of frost upon my face.

I felt somewhat more alert, but I wasn't actually sure if it really did anything. And I really didn't care whether it did or not. Once I was finished, I allowed the water to drain back and leave me. I stared at the water swirl down for a moment. After a moment of silence and even slight hesitation, I forced my head upwards towards the mirror.

I didn't know if I liked what I saw. I only kept staring at this strange pony presented in front of me. There was nothing that really stood out from him. Nothing that immediately allowed others to know he had something special. He had no horn. He didn't even have wings. He was already a plain and useless stallion who really didn't have anything special to offer. What could any pony like about him?

Despite the long mane that usually hung over his eyes, which he sometimes combed or brushed to the side, he also carried a blue coat and even blue eyes. Regardless of the mane, it was a cluster of blue, but it made sense. I mean…you could really tell he can't remember the last time he's ever been happy…or if he had ever been happy for that matter. But why would anypony care? It's the truth. In reality, everypony really only cares for themselves. You don't see even one going out of their way to help another. Maybe in novels…but that's just it. Authors write ponies doing these out of the ordinary tasks to bring the reader's attention, because it's not too familiar and anything new brings interest to others.

The pony in front of me is already blathering in silence. Even I can feel annoyed by his soundless presence. I looked towards the ground, realizing how much unintentional damage I caused to both of us, and gloomily turned around, facing away so I couldn't see him anymore.

I just wanted to douse the fire that burned deep within me, hopefully before it could expand any further. I cooled myself down by allowing myself to be drenched from the water in my shower. I rested my forelegs on the sides of my bathtub. I didn't feel like making the slightest movement. Even the thought of turning off the shower and stepping out made me tired. But I couldn't stay in and have my entire body get pruned up.

Before I was finished, I washed my body and hesitated over my mark. Of course, everypony is supposed to be proud for who they are and their mark. But I always wondered about mine. A wolf. A lone wolf… A lone wolf… What's so special about that? Now, every time a pony sees me, they can laugh at my insecurities and at the emphasis for my lack of a social life? I don't exactly see how it's a talent either. Hey…maybe I can break the world record for the world's loneliest pony.

After I finally shut myself up and ceased the water, I shook myself in my best effort to dry as much as I could, and walked out the bathroom, keeping my eyes off the mirror. Thunder and rain continued to sound outside, but I didn't really pay attention to any of it. I merely motioned my hooves side to side to make my bed. Then, I placed them back on the ground and walked off, heading to the first floor of my home.

I had nothing to do, and I really didn't have a clue on what I could do either. I usually slept a lot, or spent some times on my own.

I was in my kitchen, sitting in front of my window. I was deep into my own little world. I only stared out at the empty streets of Ponyville, eyeing the splatter of water droplets on the ground. Realizing how boring others would find my behavior, I turned to my table and stared. I didn't exactly feel like drawing, but I didn't have anything else to do.

I grabbed the pencil nearby with my mouth and planted my hooves on the sides of the paper. I stared in silence. I was sure anyone could have known that I didn't know what to draw. I looked out the window and back at my paper. I surrendered myself and just drew what came to mind.

Of course, the finished result wasn't really interesting. It was only the weather outside, only instead of any ground; there was a deep and large ocean. And in the smallest hole on the top right corner, there was a little peak of the sun. I couldn't help but feel reminded of her, however… I felt my mood lower into even worse depths. The thought of this occurring angered me. I dropped the pencil on the table and stormed out of the kitchen.

I decided to hopefully release this anger by performing some exercises in my living room. I breathed heavily and roughly and I pushed myself up from the floor and lowered myself once again, repeating the process several times. It wasn't until my legs were shaking, and I was breathless. I clenched my teeth and pushed myself off the ground, sitting down instead.

Next, I just allowed myself to rest by staring out the window in the living room instead. There were flashes of lightning and booming of thunder, but I remained sitting there unaffected.

After minutes, I grew irritated with staying at one place doing nothing, so I walked out of the living room and through the hallway connecting the stairs and kitchen. The flashes from the lightning lit the empty portraits hanging on my walls. I only eyed hesitantly at each one of them. Even though it seemed I didn't care much for it, I sighed quietly at the thought of what I longed for so much.

Reminding myself on how hopeless it was, I dragged myself back in the kitchen. However, something different occurred. I looked up and noticed the sky being cleared. The light from the sun was now beginning to shine down upon me. I noticed two pegasi removing the darkened clouds of rain while one gray pegasus grinned cheerfully at them.

At the sight of them, my head turned towards the door. My head told me not to, but my heart wanted to do it…

My body walked towards the door and my eyes stared at the door handle for a moment. My hoof hesitantly raised and aimed for the handle. But as soon as it drew itself near its destination, it began to shake fearfully.

I was scared. But I just…needed to do it…

After forcefully mentally pushing my hoof down, I finally felt it touch the handle and quickly open the door as swift as possible. My head was turned to the side and my eyes closed flinchingly. Once I felt no harm from the sunlight that presented itself in front of me, I gently turned my head back forward and slowly lifted it up towards the sky. I couldn't help but...gaze a little at the sunlight, but it was expected that I'd be brought down again.

What was the point of that?

I sighed again and turned around to head back in.

Feeling hungry, I headed towards the kitchen and opened the fridge…only to realize that my month's supply of food was gone. Figures. I closed the fridge and looked out the window behind me.

I had to go out there again…

But I couldn't complain. Complaining doesn't do anything; it just wastes your time.

I went into the living room to retrieve my saddlebag, along with the bits to buy my breakfast, including food to stuff into the fridge. On the table with my saddlebag, I first turned my attention to the huge sack of bits. I wasn't rich, but it was enough to keep me going by without getting a job. Of course, I only used those bits on stuff I really needed…which was essentially only food.

When I looked into the bag, I noticed how it was eventually all going to run out. I probably will have to get a job sometime in my life anyway… I just hope my fears are somehow cured or suspended by then. Nonetheless, I pulled out around twenty bits and placed them in my bag. After, I strapped it on and headed out to the front door.

I was surprised when I reached the door though. I noticed a letter that had slipped through the letterbox. I picked it up with my mouth, sat down, and tore it open with my teeth. It was a letter from her…

Dear Alex, I know you haven't been able to attend those other past meetings I've wanted to have with you…but I'd really love it if you could show up to the Summer Sun Celebration and watch me raise the sun. It's really been so long since the last time I've seen you…and I would really love to see how much you've grown or experienced. You must have so many things to share, and I can't wait to hear them all… Love, Princess Celestia.

That's exactly it. I have nothing to share. I even feel especially bad for making up excuses to escape her invitations for these meetings she wanted to have. I didn't even respond to some of them. Disrespectful, I know…but…I just don't even know what to do with myself anymore.

Placing the letter away and leaving an undecided decision, I took in a deep breath and released it in front of the door.

Just…try to ignore everypony…don't even look at them…just keep walking.

I couldn't describe how much of a chore this was for me. Just going out and trying to make myself believe no one was staring at me was one of the reasons why I really never went out. I absolutely hate when others stare at me. It's one of my huge pet peeves. I don't know why I have to… I just do… When ponies stare at me…it just feels like…like they're laughing at me behind their back or hiding it behind their faces. I can't stand the thought of that…

"Hi again!" A high-pitched and cheery voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked in front of me, but I didn't see anypony. "Over here!" I looked to my right, but still didn't see anything. "Noo. Over here!" I turned my head to my left to see her just about to bounce back on my front. "You found me!" She giggled. Ugh…it was this one again… "I hope you didn't forget my name!" She exclaimed as she continuously bounced in front of me, retrieving narrowed eyes and a lowered head in annoyance from me.

"How could I not…? You told me like a hundred times the last time I saw you…" I responded, continuing my way through town.

"Of course!" She bounced over to my right. "That's because I want to make sure you know who I am!" I merely scoffed at her statement. "Sooo…I'm so glad I found you! You see, I've always wanted to throw you a party, but you never seem to have time, so I thought at the very least you can at least join me at a party so we can become best friends! And then we can laugh and play and smile all together! Isn't that wonderful?! Tell me that's wonderful! Come on! You know it's super fun!"

"Sorry. Not interested." I answered briefly and increased my speed a bit to hopefully have her leave me alone.

"What?" She asked, catching up to me while continuing her bouncing. "But I never see you with any other ponies. Don't you have any friends? I'm more than willing to be your friend! I'm friends with everypony here in Ponyville! Everypony deserves a friend! And I am that friend!"

"Look, I'm not a social kind of pony, alright? And I plan to keep it that way because it's the only thing that works now." I replied without looking back and keeping my eyes straight forward.

"Why? Just come to a party with me! I promise that you'll want me to be my friend when you do!"

"Yeah…right…" I mentioned under my breath. "Look, why don't you get that party ready?" I asked her, wanting to get her off my back. "I'll go later."

She immediately gasped and raised her voice in pitch. "You promise?!"

"Yeah, whatever." I returned without thinking.

"Oh, thank you!" She screamed out loud and suddenly tightly wrapped her forelegs around me.

The nerves inside me tightened and tensed up. I felt highly uncomfortable with this action, but I didn't want to push her off or anything. I didn't really know what to do from this. All I knew was that my entire body was locking up and I did anything but return the hug. Just another reason for a pony to hate me; I don't exactly like touching others in any matter or case.

Pinkie must have noticed my odd behavior. She kept her forelegs around me, but slightly pulled away to look at me. "What's wrong? Don't you like hugs? Hugs are the best!"

Feeling my teeth clench in fear rather than anger, I quickly responded, wanting for this tense uncomfortable feeling to end. "Don't you have a party to take care of?"

She gasped excitedly. "You're right! I can't wait to you see you there!" She turned around and began skipping happily as she hummed along the way.

I sighed and shivered lightly, allowing myself to walk on to get food and return to my boring and dull lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, I've always wanted to be the pony to handle social interaction perfectly, have lots of loving friends, and even have and return a lot of hugs and the sort. But…it's just…too late for all of that… I've seen what ponies can really be and do to you. Is there really such a thing as a true friend? I honestly don't even know who to trust anymore… Frankly, I don't really trust anyone at all. Maybe the Princess…just a little, considering everything's she's done for me… Besides that, I've seen it all. Ponies may come off as being the nicest kind of pony, but it's all an illusion. Once they get what they want, whether it is material possessions or mental satisfaction, they'll turn on you… And unfortunately…that's just the way it is…

"Howdy." She greeted with her usual country accent as she tipped her hat towards me. It looked like she was waiting for me as she leaned over by the white gate in front of the farm.

"…hey." I answered back as I glanced at her for a second from staring at the ground.

"Back for your months' worth of food again, I reckon?" She asked as she walked by my side with a smile.

"Yeah." I returned, keeping my eyes front.

"If you don't mind me askin', why do you always come here instead of food stands back at the market in town?" She brought her head a little closer to mine as she closed her eyelids halfway with a sly smile. "Is it our apples and friendly smiles?"

I was silent for a moment. "It's never crowded here…"

"I see…" She pulled back from my answer. "Well, I already packed your meals, so they're ready to go!" She led me towards a wooden table outside with a cloth wrapped tightly, which must have been holding the food. She raised a hoof and presented it in front of me. "It's all in there. Fritters, Bumpkins, Strudels, Tarts, everything to take your taste buds on a tastastic adventure!"

"…thanks…" I expressed and pulled out the bits for her from my bag and placed them near the food. I grabbed the wrapped part of the bag and managed to fit it in my saddle bag.

"For a month's supply, it sure doesn't look much." She commented, noticing the small size of my order.

"…I don't eat a lot." I answered and then turned to begin walking away.

"Hold on a minute there…" She spoke, stopping me and causing me to slightly turn around. "You've been coming here every month for quite a while now…but I've never really gotten to know you. Why don't you stick around for a bit? My entire family is over for a reunion right now and I'd love it if you stay by. You seem like a nice pony, and I'd like to get to know you, if that's alright."

"Sorry…" I already had my answer set. "…I'm kind of in a hurry right now."

"Oh, uh…" She felt a little surprised by my response. "Um, okay. Well, maybe some other time? Like…next month…"

I wasn't sure if she was actually disappointed, but that's what I sort of…sensed from her tone. I have nothing against her, but I don't exactly believe she really wants to get to know me for me. Either way, I wasn't going to take her up on her offer. If I can't avoid her request the next time I see her, then I'll just have to unfortunately decline it again.

"Maybe…" I answered, my voice lowering in volume. After that, I turned my head back and continued walking.

Outside the gates, I saw a pony coming my way. There was something else by her side, but I wanted to quickly ignore the pony before she could notice me spotting her. I looked straight ahead and did my best to ignore her. My body tensed up and my legs almost even began feeling like jelly when I noticed her stop in my peripheral vision. For whatever reason, it seemed like she was looking back at me. I definitely wasn't looking back to see if this was true or not. I was already nervous enough as it was and I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I quickened my pace a bit just enough to where I was finally out of her sight.

"She quietly has every single pony's attention right on her… No pony knows what other awesome performance she'll put up. Little do they know…she's about to become a part of the most amazing band of pegasi ever…" I heard a voice announce softly, almost to a whisper, as I was returning back in town, causing me to look around curiously. "Wait! What's that? She's licking her lips! Oh, she's about to do something no pony has ever seen before!" Afterwards, there was a sudden whirl of air that rushed past me, and I could see a quick flash of rainbow. Looking up, this flash of rainbow twisted around, maneuvered expertly in the air, and performed what appeared to be extreme aerial acrobatics. Finally, this pegasus brought herself to the ground and strutted faster than my eye could keep up, passing me and ending not too far from me. "The crowd cheers!" She exclaimed and then lowered her voice to a hushed but loud tone. "Aaaah! Aaaah!" She moved her head side to side, most likely simulating a crowd's cheer.

However, I only stood there behind her, completely silent. She continued cheering until she turned my way and noticed me looking at her oddly. She cut her cheering off there and looked at me in silence. After, she cleared her throat and laughed a little embarrassingly. "Sup?" Nonetheless, I moved around and walked past her. She lifted herself in the air and joined me by my side. "What'd ya think?! Awesome, am I right?"

"…sure." I mentioned.

"Say." She tapped her hoof on my shoulder, receiving a lightly bothered look with a raised eyebrow from me. "How would you like to see me, the next pony to join the Wonderbolts, perform my amazing tricks and tell me how awesome they are, huh? You'll have the best seat in the house!"

Feeling a little offended by her request, I merely looked forward and responded. "I'll pass."

"Come on!" She encouraged loudly. "Who wouldn't want to see me, the one and only Rainbow Dash, in action?!"

"Apparently me…" I muttered under my breath. I looked up towards the sky and noticed there were still many clouds overhead, despite the other areas like outside my house. "Shouldn't you be clearing the clouds or something?"

"I got time. That's how amazingly fast I am!" She boasted as she continued flying upside-down by my side, which was really starting to get on my nerves.

"Look. I don't have time to watch you, alright? Just…do whatever you want to do…"

"Geez." She answered back. "What's with the tone? You mad or something?"

"You could say that…" I responded a little quieter.

"I know what'll make you feel better!" She flew towards the front of me, stopping me from walking any further. "A race! Any kind of competition makes me feel better! Well..." She placed a hoof on her chin in thought. "That's if I win…but then again I always win. But don't worry; I'll go easy on you!" I only sent her an unamused expression that clearly stated I wasn't interested…but apparently not clear enough for her. "Ready?" She asked as she pulled up her forelegs in preparation while staying in flight. Before I could get in a word, she already exclaimed out. "1, 2, 3 GO!" She dashed away as soon as she announced those numbers in a second, leaving a streak of rainbow that was ever so familiar.

At least I didn't have to find some way to escape from her. I tightened my saddlebag and continued walking on.

Only before I could actually gain any distance from the area I met the pegasus called Rainbow Dash, I bumped into another mare. As soon as I was able to analyze her, I already immediately noticed a few things. Her coat was a color of pure white, she was a unicorn, and she presented herself out a lot more than any other average mare did.

"…sorry…" I apologized a little hesitantly.

"No, no, it's quite alright." She answered in this very…elegant and even quite formal tone, as if she wasn't even from around here. Using her magic, she was holding up bags filled with different pieces of cloth and décor. Once she recovered from our collision, she looked up to see me. "Why…I don't think I've ever seen you before…" She held up a hoof below her chin and eyed me closely. "You haven't stopped by my boutique before, have you?"

"What boutique?" I asked.

She immediately gasped and widened her eyes. "You don't know about the Carousel Boutique?! How is that possible?!"

I slightly flinched as if I had done something almost terribly wrong.

"I…don't really know everything about this town…"

She cleared her throat and patted her expertly styled mane. "My apologies for the sudden outburst. I am Rarity." She held out her hoof towards me, but not for an average hoof-shake. Her right foreleg was lifted up, but her hoof angled downwards.

My heart began beating faster as my nervousness returned, considering that I wasn't comfortable with touching others at all. But I didn't want to make myself look like a fool. After all, she was requesting this and it'd be far worse if I just completely didn't answer it. I hid my gulp and raised my foreleg. Next, I somewhat wrapped it around hers and we both shook ours lightly. "Alex…" I answered softly. She wore a bright smile as she closed her eyes happily. I attempted to hide most of my nerves inside. I may have been blank on the outside, but I sure was panicking on the inside.

"Say, would a fine gentlecolt, such as yourself, assist me with carrying these supplies over to Town Hall?" She held up several bags that she was carrying.

"Um…" I couldn't believe I had gotten myself in this… I only stared at her as she held up her bags with a smile. I couldn't refuse this. I didn't want to be a jerk… But then again, that's what made me so scared of others in the first place… Others that just took advantage of it… But I couldn't go home feeling guilty and worse than I already do… I held in my sigh but looked at her. "…sure…"

She grinned and happily placed her bags over my head and on my neck while allowing me to carry the rest with my teeth. Afterwards, she remained by my side, leading me to Town Hall and walking in a very civil manner.

She noticed my silence and turned her head to face me. "It's a glorious day, Alex. The Summer Sun Celebration is right around the corner! Why isn't there a big smile on your face?"

Being vague with her question, I turned and observed her for a moment, including the way she spoke. "You don't happen to be from Canterlot, do you?"

She gasped once again. "Canterlot?! Oooh." She groaned in delight. "I've always dreamed of living there… I completely adore the glamor and sophistication…but sadly…no,I am not from Canterlot. Why?" She immediately revealed interest in me. "Are you?!"

"…not exactly…" I answered cautiously.

"Whatever do you mean?" She pursued.

Really not wanting to talk about it, or anything for that matter, I tried to come up with very brief answers. "You can say I just…stopped by."

"Is it as remarkable and incredible as I believe it is?" She questioned, clearly fascinated with the city.

"I don't know…" I returned. "I didn't really explore the city…and even then it was a long while ago…I don't remember."

"Ooh…" She now groaned a little disappointingly. "If I could ever receive a chance of doing so…"

After that, I began feeling like…like if I wanted to talk with her more, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I learned to keep my mouth shut unless I needed to open it. In other words, don't talk unless spoken to or you absolutely need to. Despite that rule, in certain situations, like this one, where I just can't help but feel like wanting to talk, I form the words in my head, but I just can't get my body to transfer and release the words from my mouth… I don't know why… It's one of the easiest things in the world but…I can't do it.

"We're here!" She announced out delightfully, bringing me to the huge building. "You can go ahead and place those bags on the grass, darling…unless…you'd be ever so kind to help me with the decorations inside? I'm handling the décor all by myself, which I really don't mind. However, I could use some company, and you don't appear to be one of those…rough and tumble stallions." She spoke those last few words with slight disgust.

Once again, my insane fears prevented me from wanting to accept that offer. Being in a room with another mare for a possibly long time? I don't even talk… What if I make things awkward? And then she'll be another mare I can't even face…

"S-Sorry…" I apologized and turned my body slightly to prepare to walk away. "I can't."

"Why not? If I may ask?" She inquired, stepping closer to me.

"I uh…" I backed a bit away. I then remembered about my saddlebag and looked at it. "I need to go home and…unpack some things…"

"Oh! Well then… It's completely fine!" She assured. "I very much appreciate your assistance with my bags. Shall I see you around soon in town perhaps? Ooh! Maybe the Summer Sun Celebration?"

"Yeah…maybe…" I responded and began walking away, seeing her lightly wave.

Before I could get out of there completely, I ran into another obstacle. In front of my way out, I saw Rainbow Dash. But it wasn't just her… there was another pony with her. Her coat was lavender and she had a baby dragon with her. After standing there motionless, I had a second to think to myself. I wasn't absolutely sure, but I had a feeling that that lavender pony was the pony that was passing by me near Applejack's farm. In that case, noticing how she seemed to stop by me, I didn't want to risk having an interaction with her too, so I turned away and headed out the long way, sending a glance every now and then a bit fearfully.

Closing in towards my home to finally receive my rest in peace, my walking was yet again interrupted by Pinkie Pie, who found me who knows how in the streets. "Hi!" She greeted loudly and cheerfully.

"…yeah?" I asked, wanting to get whatever she had in store out of the way.

"Sooo, I found the perfect opportunity for us to go to a party together! You see, there's this new pony in Ponyville and as soon as I saw her, I got this super duper great idea! I should throw a welcoming party for and then invite everypony including you! And guess what? We'll become the bestest of friends and you'll make a ton more of friends too! You see, there's Fluttershy, Ap—"

"Sorry. I don't like parties." I cut her off, unwilling to talk about the subject anymore.

She then gasped loudly. "Not like parties!? How can you not like parties!? Besides, you're coming with me! I promise you, it'll be really fun!"

"I'm not going."

"What?" She asked, lowering her excitement. "But you promised you'd go with me if I made a party!"

"Sorry…" I apologized again, finally stopping in front of my house and looking back at her. "But I guess I have to break that promise."

"But, but… You…you just can't break a promise! It's a promise!" Pinkie Pie tried to reason.

"Well, that's reality." I answered as I opened my door. "There's no…sacred or magical bond that makes a promise unbreakable. I'm sorry I can't keep my promise, but I just can't go to any party whether it's with you or not… Sometimes… promises are meant to be broken. A pony makes one…and your hope raises…only to be crushed when they really just lied to you… That's something I had to learn the hard way…"

"But…" she raised her hoof towards me, flopped down her ears, and pouted her shaky lips.

"Sorry, Pinkie Pie…" I prepared to finish the conversation before I locked myself back in my home. "…but no matter how many times you plead…I just can't…party…" Afterwards, I walked in and shut the door behind me.

Oh…how horrible I felt for doing that…

A case only sleep could relieve for a limited time.

I was truly sorry for how horrible I treated her wish, but I just didn't even understand myself sometimes. Sometimes, I did things even I don't have the reason for doing. This is why I pretty much…just want to avoid social interaction all together. I mess up things. I would have felt worse at the party because I probably would have done something stupid because I am just so socially inexperienced. It's already too late to even try to make friends. And even if I did make some "friends"…they'd probably just turn against me in the end too…

I sighed heavily and tiredly placed all my food in my fridge. I left my saddlebag on the floor, not having the energy to place it back away. I just dragged myself back upstairs and planted myself on the bed lazily.

I still felt bad for what I did to Pinkie Pie, despite her stubborn nature. Ugh… I just wish it would go away, but only sleeping could do that for a few hours… If I'm lucky, I can probably forget what happened today…but I'll probably just end up remembering in pieces again…

I felt this sort of…warm nudge wake me up. But when I opened my eyes, I really didn't understand why. I was alone in my bed and when I turned towards my window, I saw a full moon that was lit over a seemingly chilly night. As soon as I observed outside for a moment, I suddenly remembered about the Summer Sun Celebration. I raced towards the downstairs and stopped near the door. I turned my head over to the letter Princess Celestia had sent me.

Glancing over it once more, I hesitated. I really didn't want to go…but I felt bad enough as it is… I didn't want to disappoint Princess Celestia. Considering her huge heart and generosity, I felt I should go to see her. But I don't want to be around so many ponies… Just the thought of it made my heart begin to race in nervousness.

Sigh.

Maybe if I just focus on her...I can forget everyone pony else.

I took in a deep breath and then finally opened the front door to head out.

I made it just in time to hear birds singing in a choir directed by one pegasus. I know really haven't seen any pony at all because of my lack of a social life, but there was something about this certain winged pony. When I laid my eyes on her, I knew I didn't know anything about her. She was beautiful, I'll admit that. But for some reason…I felt…kind of…attracted to her. Not exactly a…romantic attraction but just…interest. I didn't know how to explain it. Besides the point, I couldn't let myself get distracted. I looked around and picked a spot in the back of the room. I wanted to try to be as far from anypony as possible, to be honest.

"Fillies and gentlecolts," The spotlight lowered to shine on the mare in the front of the stage. "As mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!" At this point, everypony in the building cheered. I remained quiet, silently looking around and placing a hoof on my foreleg. "In just a few moments, our town will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year! And now, it is my great honor to introduce to you the ruler of our land, the very pony who gives us the sun and the moon each and every day, the good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria..." She paused for a moment, allowing me in attempts to wonder if Princess Celestia still appeared the same way as she did the last time I saw her. "...Princess Celestia!" She presented, signaling the mare above to pull the rope. I happened to notice that that mare was actually Rarity!

However, when the curtains opened and the spotlight moved to reveal Princess Celestia, there was actually nothing to reveal. Rarity was the first one to notice this as she was deeply surprised. "Huh?"

Everypony in the crowd began chattering quietly but nervously.

"Remain calm, everypony, there must be a reasonable explanation!" The mayor tried to assure.

"Ooh, ooh, I love guessing games!" A familiar voice exclaimed out. After the pony bounced up and down in excitement, I noticed it was Pinkie Pie. "Is she hiding?"

Rarity came out of the room Princess Celestia was supposed to be in. "She's gone!" She announced, receiving a group of gasps.

"Ooh, she's good!" Pinkie Pie released, believing it was all a game. However, she was cut short on her fun when a sudden blue mist appeared on the balcony, causing her to gasp. Everyone else gasped as I looked around, having no clue on what was going on or even what was supposed to go on.

The blue mist enlarged until it finally spread out and revealed a tall blackened pony. A pony that was as large as Princess Celestia, but clearly an important pony I've never heard of before!

"Oh, my beloved subjects…" She announced calmly before us. "It's been so long since I've seen your precious, little sun-loving faces."

"What did you do with our Princess?!" Another spoke. It was revealed to be Rainbow Dash, who tried to fly up but was held back by Applejack.

"Whoa there, Nelly..."

This unfamiliar, I believe they're called Alicorn, laughed. "Why, am I not royal enough for you? Don't you know who I am?" She asked, changing her tone into a slightly irritated one.

"Ooh, ooh, more guessing games!" Pinkie Pie continued to take unseriously. "Um, Hokey Smokes! How about... Queen Meanie! No! Black Snooty, Black Snooty—"

She was immediately silenced when Applejack forced an apple in her mouth.

"Does my crown no longer count now that I have been imprisoned for a thousand years?" She asked as she frightened the yellow pegasus with the birds, causing her to flinch back. What? Imprisoned for a thousand years? "Did you not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?" She continued as she moved to Rarity. What is she talking about? Like I'm supposed to have this in mind?

"I did!" Another pony suddenly announced out loud for every one of us to hear. "And I know who you are. You're the Mare in the Moon – Nightmare Moon!" It was that lavender unicorn I had saw earlier in the day…

Everypony gasped again.

"Well well well, somepony who remembers me. Then you also know why I'm here." Nightmare Moon stomped a hoof down, expecting an answer.

"You're here to... to..." The unicorn stopped and gulped, unable to finish her sentence for some reason.

Nightmare Moon chuckled loudly, smiling deviously. "Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!" As soon as she ended her sentence, her voice emerged into a loud cackle as thunder boomed and lightning flashed above her.

As she stood fearlessly below this intimating show, I could only stand in the back from the others. I was completely speechless. I didn't know what to think. I didn't know if this was some joke or some show I didn't know of. Apparently, by the reactions of the others, it wasn't. But I still didn't know what to think. I didn't know what to do.

I just stood there motionless, my thoughts on block.

To be continued…

An Uncalled Responsibility

Nightmare Moon continued to cackle loudly as, what was supposed to be her mane, clouded up the air space above her, which also served as a nesting site for thunder and lightning.

"Seize her!" The Mayor ordered, pointing viciously towards the seemingly hostile pony. "Only she knows where the Princess is!"

Princess Celestia's royal guards quickly ascended and headed towards Nightmare Moon.

"Stand back, you fools!" She shouted intimidatingly and shot out lightning towards them, hitting each target. She continued to laugh at her chaotic behavior.

Afterwards, her transparent mane surrounded her, and she suddenly vanished in a flash.

Everypony immediately began panicking and even screaming in fear. I could only look around in alarm as some others even pushed and shoved me in a hurry. Becoming irritated from this behavior, I pushed and pulled myself out in light aggression until I was near the doorway. I arrived at this spot just to see that same lavender unicorn escape and flee out the building in a rush.

How did she know about this pony? Does she know about the situation with Princess Celestia too? I have to know…but…I can't bring myself to talk with her…

I looked up and noticed Rainbow Dash had already been out. She was flying after the unicorn.

I could follow them…as long as I'm not seen… It's better than sitting and doing nothing. I want to do something for once… I hate doing nothing. And this is my chance… It's for the Princess…

I grunted in slight conflict that was occurring inside my mind and nonetheless forced myself to run after them, preparing to stay out of their sight.

"And just what are the Elements of Harmony?!" I heard a muffled exclaimed voice while passing by a lit tree. I stopped and looked to my right, noticing a window. There, I saw Rainbow Dash and that unicorn that seemed to know about Nightmare Moon. "And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh?" Rainbow Dash inquired about suspiciously. "Are you a spy?" She questioned harshly before Applejack pulled her away by her tail. "Whoa!"

Even though I knew it wasn't exactly the ethic thing to do, I planted myself on the lowest part of the window and tried to hear through as much as possible. If I was going to prove any help towards this disaster, I had to have an idea of what to do…

"Simmer down, Sally." Applejack intervened. "She ain't no spy. But she sure knows what's going on." She and the others, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and the yellow pegasus, walked towards this unicorn. "Don't you, Twilight?"

Twilight… So that's her name… I analyzed the unicorn closer. I'd never been able to look at a pony this long, but since they were unaware of my presence, I was able to actually…see her. I don't know why…but that name sounded familiar. I don't think I've ever seen this pony before but…why? Why does that name sound so familiar? After having that name float around in my mind, the color of her coat and mane soon familiarized with my brain. I started feeling like I have seen this unicorn before…

After the moment of silence, Twilight lowered her head and began explaining. "I read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't know what they are, where to find them, I don't even know what they do!"

"'The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide.'" Pinkie Pie mentioned from a shelf behind them.

Twilight rushed towards the shelf, indirectly pushing Pinkie out of the way. "How did you find that?!"

"It was under 'E'!" Pinkie Pie bounced cheerfully passed her, answering in a sing-song voice.

"Oh…" Twilight merely reacted. Nevertheless, Twilight brought out the book with her magic and opened it to read it. "There are six Elements of Harmony, but only five are known: Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty. The sixth is a complete mystery…" As she continued speaking, I couldn't help but feel a sudden chill run down my spine. I quickly looked back, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. I hesitantly looked back in. "It is said, the last known location of the five elements was in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters. It is located in what is now…" Twilight paused for a moment and brought the book down. "…the Everfree Forest…"

The yellow pegasus placed both her hooves to her mouth and gasped lightly. "That's too dangerous… We can't go in there…"

Rarity tapped her hoof on her chin for a moment and began speaking afterwards. "Why don't we bring another pony with us? There was a nice stallion that helped bring my bags to Town Hall for the décor. Alex was his name. I believe it'd be more comforting if he were to accompany us."

Pinkie Pie's ears flopped down and she shook her head sadly. "I wouldn't count your hopes up. He wouldn't come to Twilight's welcoming party with me…"

I flopped my own ears down and looked away sadly, remembering the scene.

"Wait a minute." Applejack brought up. "You aren't talking about the quiet fella, are you? The blue one?"

"Quiet?" Rarity questioned, placing some thought in it. "Well, when I met him, he wasn't so cheery or talkative. Definitely not like Pinkie Pie."

"I think I know who you're talking about!" Rainbow Dash added. "Yeah! I was going to let him see me do some amazing tricks, but then he seemed to get mad over it or something…"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did." Applejack returned, sending her slightly bothered eyes. "Poor guy seems to want to keep to himself. It certainly doesn't help if some boasting pony comes bragging to him."

"Hey, I—" Rainbow Dash suddenly gasped. "Oh gosh! I totally forgot that me and him were having a race! I think I might have ditched him when I met Twilight!"

"Calm your nerves." Applejack reacted. "I highly doubt he was racing with you."

"Yes." Rarity included. "He doesn't seem like one of those roughhousing stallions. He's more…calm and collected, if you say so."

Applejack sighed. "It's not just that… He doesn't really seem to want to spend time with other ponies. I mean… I invited him to stay over at my farm for a while…but he didn't really seem like he wanted to…"

"You said his name was…Alex?" Twilight unexpectedly asked.

"Yes, why?" Rarity answered. "Do you know him?"

"I…I'm not sure…" She returned, looking at the floor a bit. Then, she shook her head to focus. "We can't be talking about this right now! The Elements of Harmony need to be found!"

"But what about the Everfree Forest?" Applejack reminded.

"Well, you don't have to worry about going. I'm going alone." Twilight stated, beginning to walk towards the door.

"No way. We're going too!" Rainbow Dash returned, flying above her confidently. "We can't just let you go stop Nightmare Moon all by yourself!"

"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie shouted. "Maybe she wants some pie!"

I heard the door open, causing me to quickly hide behind a bush.

"I don't think she's lookin' for pie, Pinkie Pie…" Applejack's voice responded.

Afterwards, I only heard a deep and long sigh, from which I assumed to be Twilight.

I placed my hoof on the bush and slowly pulled myself up. It wasn't until I saw a pink flowing mane and light yellow coated pony flying towards my location, causing me to quietly gasp and duck back down. Her wings were flapping and they sounded as if they were getting nearer and nearer. My heart was racing and I was desperately hoping she wouldn't find me.

"What are you doing here…?" She spoke at my direction, causing my heart to release a sharp pierce in fear. I was caught, and she'd probably tell the others of my suspicious presence. "Aw… a cutie like you shouldn't be out here all alone by yourself…" I furrowed my eyebrows confusingly and opened my flinching eyes. I peeked out and noticed her holding out her hooves towards a spot near me. "Don't worry little bunny, I'll take you back where you belong."

She began flying back, holding that bunny on her back. I was left to release a sigh of relief. However, after a second, I gasped, knowing I couldn't lose these girls if I wanted to get some answers and possibly clues to help find out what happened to Princess Celestia.

I jumped out of the bush and galloped towards where they were headed.

They stopped at the front of the forest. I don't think I'd ever been in there, so I wasn't exactly sure what was so scary about it. However, I had to keep myself hidden using nearby scenery, and only poked my head out when it was safe to do so.

Nevertheless, they seemed to continue staring frightfully into the depths of the forest.

"Well…there it is…" Applejack mentioned, keeping her eyes forward.

"Whee!" Pinkie Pie cheered, shoving any fear away from her body. "Let's go!"

She began walking in an upbeat manner until Twilight stopped her.

"Not so fast. Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really rather do this on my own." Twilight suggested.

"No can do, sugarcube." Applejack refused, already beginning to walk forward. "We sure ain't lettin' any friend of ours go into that creepy place alone." The word "friend" caused Twilight's face to shift suddenly for some reason. Hmm…friend… "We're stickin' to you like caramel on a candy apple." She continued trotting towards the forest as the others joined behind her.

"Especially if there's candy apples in there!" Pinkie Pie added, receiving a blank look from Twilight. "What? Those things are good!" She released before trotting into the forest as well.

Twilight only released a soft sigh before joining them.

I felt a little saddened now. I turned around and rested my body behind the bush I was at. My eyebrows furrowed and my mouth became slightly agape.

Wow… Risking their lives to help her… They must really be some true friends to her… If…if I actually tried getting to know them…would they do the same for me?

I stared towards the ground in silence. It wasn't until I realized that I actually had to keep up with them. I quickly pushed myself off the ground and ran off into the forest.

However, when I was inside, there was a high and thick fog surrounding me. I couldn't see or hear any trace of them. I begin panicking. I couldn't have lost them… I just couldn't. I quickly looked around, almost desperately.

"No…no, no, no, no, no!" I exclaimed to myself. "That was my chance to actually try to help!" I felt a deep anger wrapped in a shroud of sadness. "To make a change…" I stopped any further movement and stared gloomily at the ground. "To even…help and probably find the Princess…"

The temperature around me slowly began getting chilly. I looked around and noticed the fog becoming even thicker.

"Why, are you lost, little pony?" A voice echoed and whispered around, frightening me a little, especially since I was alone. I couldn't answer, so I only remained silent. "Don't worry… Just sleep… Sleep…and let your true nightmares awaken…" My eyes began feeling weary and droopy. They were closing by themselves, and I didn't even feel any need to fight them. My body planted itself on the ground and before I knew it, I was already being engulfed by slumber. "Sleep…"

I felt my eyes slowly opening. I was lying on a hard surface…but it wasn't the ground. When I was able to look at my surroundings, I noticed everything was dark. There was only this…small light in front of me. I only stared at it for a moment, unsure of what to do.

Walk towards it.

A voice inside of me told me. I was lightly startled, and still unable to move for a moment.

You can walk, can't you?

I remained silent, and only pushed myself up slowly. I turned my head towards the light and then began walking towards it in a hesitant motion. However, as soon as I entered this small light, I felt immediate warmth that radiated from within it. I stared up to see where this light came from, but its source was unexplainable.

After, I felt a sudden disturbance behind me. In the darkness, there were a group of ponies. Their colors were visible, but darkened and shaded.

"Oh, look…" One told another, keeping sinister eyes on me. "Look how dumb he looks all by himself."

The pony receiving this comment snickered. "Wow. Seriously. How sad is it to be without friends?"

The last smirked smugly. "He's so boring. That's why nopony talks to him. Look. He just looks so stupid."

My heart felt like it dropped. This was a nightmare… I only stepped back a few and began huddling away. I wrapped myself almost like a ball. I closed my eyes, desperate for this to go away and leave me. I hated this so much. Others judging every little thing about me, which is the only time they do notice me… Why can't I ever be happy? Why must I have to suffer through this every day? Why can't there just be one little thing I can do that can just…make me happy?

The warmth from the light began disappearing, and the light itself was dimming.

Focus. Don't let anything distract you. It is only you that's important. Believe in yourself.

"…I can't…" I spoke to myself, keeping my head buried in my forelegs, desperately not wanting to look back up. "…no matter what I do, it always bothers me…"

Find that guiding light! Retain your confidence! If you really want to succeed, you must push away fears and distractions!

I squinted my eyes really hard, beginning to feel tears form inside. I wanted all this pain to stop. Whatever this voice was…it was right. Sitting here and crying by myself wouldn't do anything. It would only make things worse. If I wanted this to stop, I needed to try to do something about it!

Keeping my eyes closed, I looked inside myself and tried to push away this nightmare. I told myself it wasn't real, and that it was just my fears trying to stay attached to me. Mentally repeating this thought, I felt something immense come out from inside of me. I opened my eyes and noticed the surface beneath me was lit. I looked up and noticed that those ponies were gone as well. The light and warmth returned, but the walls around me were still darkness.

I released a sigh, relieved that those…despicable ponies were gone, but then scoffed at the reason for listening to a voice in my head.

"Look at you, Alex…" I told myself. "Not only are you filled with social anxiety…but you're now becoming crazy…listening to some weird voice in your head."

"I am not just some… 'weird' voice." This was now outside of my head. It was behind me. I gasped and quickly turned around.

I couldn't believe it.

Right in front of me was the Princess herself. Princess Celestia.

"Princess?!" I tried to speak or question, but I couldn't really form any words.

She placed a delicate hoof on my cheek and gently moved my head around for her to observe me. "You hold something very important…do you know that?"

I looked towards the floor with my eyes. "Not if it's important…"

"Look at me…" She called tenderly, catching back my attention. "You can't let anything distract you…your heart… It's…very special. Believe me."

"I… I don't understand."

She lightly released her hoof from my cheek. "Your heart, Alex." She then placed her hoof on my chest. "It's more special than you think."

I scoffed. "I think you have the wrong pony…"

"Listen to me, Alex." She requested my full attention politely. "You always wanted to know the reason why I helped you, brought you, and even had you stay with me personally for several years. I didn't want to just help a poor little colt…I could see and feel the importance you had within you. I also needed to protect you…because you're very special whether you think so or not." I only remained silent as I looked away once again. "Although you weren't comfortable with answering my questions back then…I'm hoping you trust me enough to answer just a few simple ones I have for you right now…"

"…what kind of questions?" I asked a little uncertainly.

Princess Celestia sat down by me and placed her right wing around me, hinting me to sit down with her as well. Shaking a little, I did so.

"Do you trust me?" She asked.

I didn't really know how to answer that. I didn't absolutely completely trust her, but I wasn't for the other option either. I looked away in hard thought. Then, I sighed heavily with my closed eyes, still uncertain of the answer I was about to give her. "I do…"

She placed her right hoof on my left shoulder. Normally, I would have reacted nervously, but since she was actually a pony I've known for quite some time, this wasn't the case. "Tell me…" She began. "What would you like in your life's journey?"

Wow. I hadn't really ever thought about that… It actually took me a moment to think about my answer for that. Well…

"I…" I hesitated and then unintentionally lowered both the volume of my voice and my head. "…I just want to be happy…"

"What is it…that really scares you?" She asked, bringing her head a little closer to me.

I clenched my teeth a bit, my anxiety wanting to prevent me from sharing such information with her. "…Being alone…" I slipped out.

"What's really most important to you?" She continued.

Well…there's really only one thing I've always wanted…and if I had it, it'd most likely be the most important thing to me in the world…

"…friendship…" I finally spat out.

Princess Celestia closed her eyes and nodded, indicating that she was done. "If you trust me, Alex, I promise you, you'll receive what you've been looking for for so long very soon. As of right now, I trust that you are responsible for the essential piece you hold."

"Responsible?" I focused my attention towards that word. "Princess, I don't think you could trust me to be responsible with anything! I just screw everything up…"

Princess Celestia placed a warm hoof around my shoulder. "This is why I told you that you need to believe in yourself… And don't worry, Alex. You will not be alone… Even if you think you may be alone in certain times, look back into your heart." She stood up as if she was preparing to leave. "I must go now. Don't worry; we'll see each other again in no time."

I quickly stood up, not wanting her presence to leave me. "Wait, Princess, don't leave me!"

She looked back and then faced me. She only released a silent warm smile. "Don't be afraid." She placed a hoof on my chest. "If I'm not with you outside, I will always be with you in here." Afterwards, she appeared to begin fading away. Actually, everything around me grew brighter, filling my vision with just pure white. "Now…go and help your friends…"

I was then blinded for a moment.

Once the flash of light faded away, I was back in the Everfree Forest. But for some strange reason, it still felt…bizarre. I then began hearing crying from a not too far distance. I listened closely for the sound and walked a little hastily towards it. Once the sorrowful vocal expression was very near, I looked around, but I didn't really find anything connected with the sound. It wasn't until I saw something small motioning slightly behind a tree. I cautiously stepped forward this tree, noticing that it was actually a tail…a small tail.

I walked until I was finally able to see this source of the wailing sound. It was…a little filly… She was sitting down, holding her front hooves to her eyes as tears slipped out from each one. What was she doing out here…? She shouldn't be all by herself…

She was just a filly, so I really wasn't so afraid of her.

"Hey…" I held out a hoof towards her, immediately feeling remorseful for her. She moved her hooves away from her eyes and only looked at me a bit fearfully. "What are you doing out here all by yourself…?"

She sniffled a bit as she began responding to me. "I'm lost… Can you… Can you take me back home?"

She must have been from Ponyville… I didn't know where I was either…but I definitely couldn't leave her by herself. "I…I can try." I answered. "Here…" I offered. "Why don't you stay close with me?"

She managed to return back a small smile. "Thank you…"

I nodded and gestured forward with my head as she accompanied me. "Come on."

Then, I began walking ahead, where ever this dangerous road led us.

As she walked by me, she was sure to stick by close, seeming to be only inches away from me. She looked towards the floor for a moment and then up at me. "…thank you again…for helping."

"It's fine…" I answered. "A little filly like you shouldn't be here in the first place…"

She didn't respond for a moment. "Hey…want to hear some jokes?"

"Jokes?" I questioned, squinting my eye a bit in confusion, especially since we were not exactly in the right place for such an occasion.

"Yeah! Look…um…" She thought for a moment. "Oh! Why is six afraid of seven?"

"Um…" I couldn't really think about that. "…I don't know, why?"

"Because seven eight nine!"

"Huh?"

"You know? Seven eight nine? Like ate, but it's the number instead?"

"Huh." I couldn't tell if I actually got it or not.

"Here, how about this one. Knock knock."

"…who's…there…?"

"Says."

"Says who?"

"Says me, that's who!"

"Oh…"

She noticed my unchanged expression and frowned lightly. "I'm sorry. My jokes are bad, aren't they?"

"What?" I looked over to her. "No… It's just…" I paused and tried to think. "I'm just not really a laughable pony…"

"What do you mean?"

I remained silent for a while. "It's complicated."

The rest of walk was silent. It wasn't until we came upon a fairly large river to cross. I continued to walk towards this body of water until another pair of hooves stopped behind me. I halted as well and looked back to see the filly hold a worried expression.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's a little high…" She answered a bit shakily. "…and I don't really like the water too much…"

I glanced over at the water, lifted up my hoof, and revealed it to her. "It's fine. It's not going to hurt you." She only looked over to the ground beside her and sucked in her lip fearfully. I sighed and turned back to meet up with her. I sat by her and left my eyes forward. "Get on."

"Huh?" She asked in puzzled manner.

"Get on my back." I clarified. "I'll take you across the water, and you want have to be afraid of it. I'll keep you safe."

She gasped lightly. "Really…?"

"Yeah. We should hurry." She understood and jumped on my back, planting her hooves firmly on my shoulders as I entered the water. I could feel her body tremble a bit, signaling me to release a few words of advice. "Try not to look down. Just keep your eyes at the land over there, and we'll get to it in no time."

"Okay…" She answered in a muffled voice, due to her hooves in front of her mouth.

I felt each splash of the water as my hooves moved us across the body of water. It really didn't take long, but considering the silence, it felt a while. After we finally made it across, I looked across my shoulder at the filly. "It's safe now."

She looked back and noticed that we had passed the water. She released a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much…" I lowered myself for her to be able to jump off. "Let's keep going! I can feel home getting closer!"

I released a look of confusion and looked in front of us. There were still many trees and fog in sight, and I wasn't so sure she was right. Nonetheless, I didn't want to upset her, so I remained silent at the comment and continued walking, bringing her along with me.

The next new area we encountered was…tricky… We came across a rickety old bridge. I arrived at the start of the bridge and looked down. The drop was so deep, the end wasn't even visible. However, to my surprise, right on the other side of the bridge were ruins. I had a good feeling that these were the ruins the girls were talking about… But the bridge and the depth below kept me from moving without hesitation.

"…I don't know about this…" I mentioned a little fearfully.

"Maybe we should turn back? Maybe there's another way?" The filly suggested.

I remained silent for a while. I studied the bridge and the area on the other side. "I'm not so sure about that either… We might just get even more lost… Besides, I need to get you home as quick as possible…"

"…so…what do we do?" She asked.

I thought about it with a significant amount of effort. My mind was telling me not to go. It was too scared of the drop below. But then I remembered Princess Celestia's words. My heart… I placed a hoof on my chest. I need to follow my heart… and it's saying…

"Let's go." I stated.

"What?" The filly was surprised. "Are you sure you just don't want to turn back?"

I shook my head. "I don't want to be a coward anymore… I want to do anything I can to help for a good cause… That means getting you home safe." I gestured my head towards my back. "Come on." I lowered my body for her to jump on top.

"Wow…thank you so much…" She expressed and then climbed on. "I believe in you, you know…"

My eyes widened at those words she sent me. Somehow…these words even gave me the strength to be confident about my choice. I slowly looked back at her and nodded. "….t-thanks…for that…"

She nodded and was actually able to smile, despite the possibly great danger we were about to embark in. I turned back to the front, inhaled, and then exhaled a heavy breath. I looked down at my hooves and placed my first on the first wooden board of the bridge. Afterwards, I slowly and cautiously moved my hooves forward one by one until they were all on the bridge. However, the bridge itself began swaying lightly. I looked below me and notice the far drop, causing the muscles and nerves in me to shake and tense up.

"Don't look down." She told me. I looked back at her and noticed her smiling. Wow… I nodded and looked back, doing my best not to do so. This filly…she seems to be handling this way better than I am… She's counting on me…

Step by step, I carefully progressed through the bridge, greatly eyeing the safe land across. Instead of thinking about the deadly depths below me, I actually thought about my goal. I continued mentally encouraging myself by realizing how closer I was getting and that I would be there in no time.

"You're almost there!" She shouted out in joy.

I released a light breath. "Right…"

I continued stepping forward, having the small hope inside me push me forward.

Finally, when I felt that soft grass touch my hooves, and I was no longer able to feel the creaky wooden planks, I could leave my eyes opened. My body relaxed and I released a sigh of relief.

"You did it!" The filly exclaimed, jumping off my back. "We're here!"

"Yeah…" I returned. "But we still need to get you home."

"What?" The filly questioned and turned back to face me. "This is home!"

"Huh…?" I became puzzled.

"Thank you…" The filly smiled warmly with almost teary eyes.

Then, this bright light covered my vision, just like when Princess Celestia faded away.

When the flash was gone, I removed my hoof from in front of my face and opened my eyes easily. The ruins were still there, but the little foal was gone…

I stood there in utter confusion.

What just happened…? Was that actually real? Was I just imagining things? …so strange… I just…can't…

My thoughts were interrupted when I saw another huge flash of light, but it was coming from somewhere else. In the distance, a little behind the ruins in front of me, was this continuous flashing light. I immediately remembered about the girls and their quest to stop Nightmare Moon, leading me to quickly run into the ruins.

I looked around for any sight of them inside, but it was empty. It wasn't until I heard some noise and looked to my left, noticing a window. I placed my hooves there and looked outside, immediately spotting them rushing towards the nearby ruins with the flashing lights! In a blaze, I took off and chased after them.

"Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty!" I heard when climbing up the stairs of the second ruins. As soon as I reached this huge room, I immediately spotted those six mares, who were confronting Nightmare Moon. These apparent crystals had surrounded Applejack. "Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of... kindness!" The announcer continued, who actually was Twilight. I didn't really know what was going on, but I only stared at the top of the stairs and out of sight. Crystals also surrounded that yellow little pegasus with her. "Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... laughter!" Pinkie Pie hopped excitedly in the air as crystals joined with her as well. "Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of... generosity!" The same occurred with Rarity, the pony who really greeted me voluntarily… "And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire represents the spirit of... loyalty!" Twilight added, continuing to talk to Nightmare Moon. "The spirits of these five ponies got us through every challenge you threw at us."

I wonder what kind of challenges…

"You still don't have the sixth Element!" Nightmare Moon brought up. "The spark didn't work!"

"But it did! A different kind of spark!" Twilight explained and faced the others before her. "I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all... are my friends!" Her speech was nice…but it did hurt me as it was exactly what I wanted for so long… However, this sudden flash appeared above her. It was a completed sphere with a symbol on it. "You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of... magic!" As soon as she stated this, the sphere flashed brightly, blinding me as well. When I was able to see once again, there were new accessories worn by these ponies. Each of them wore a golden necklace while Twilight wore a crown instead. They began levitating in the air, as if some great power was about to commence, leaving me quite surprised.

Was this it? Were they about to defeat Nightmare Moon? They did it without my help… What use was I?

However, this light that was growing in them began flickering on and off. Their power drained and they all fell harshly towards the floor.

"Huh?!" Twilight reacted to their sudden and unexpected failure.

Nightmare Moon only laughed out loudly. "How foolish you all really are… You think you have all the elements…"

"But we do!" Twilight exclaimed. "We did our research! We have all the elements we need!"

Nightmare Moon shook her head and continued chuckling. "Do you know who writes your 'research'? Average little ponies! And average little ponies wouldn't know the one little element you're missing. This element… has only been known by a couple of royal sisters… but it all won't matter! You've failed! You've all failed! Your futile attempts won't stop this everlasting night!" She then focused her magic towards the six of them and created an aura around them. After, she began picking them up off the ground as they struggled to free themselves. "Now, let me see to it that none of you ever intrude on my plans no more!"

My heart began racing and I felt like I was hyperventilating. Shortly, I began to panic. I had no idea what to do. I felt my body was frozen where it was right now. I couldn't think straight…but then…I remembered Princess Celestia…

Listen to your heart.

I really didn't have to focus my heart to know what to do. I already kind of knew that I had to do something about this… I had to go help them. I didn't know how, but I still had to go. I took in a quick deep breath and released a word from my mouth. "Okay…" I slipped out and then quickly pushed myself to begin running in there.

Nightmare Moon continued cackling with closed eyes; too distracted to see me running in there. Attempting to push away any fears or distractions, I aimed right for her and smashed into her, pushing her several steps away and causing for her spell to be interrupted. The girls were released and fell back on the floor. She grunted and shook her head. "What is this?!" I stood my ground, unable to return any words because there was really nothing I could say. "And who are you supposed to be?!" She questioned angrily about my presence. "You dare challenge me?!" I still remained silent. "Speak, you imbecile!" She commanded.

I bet my bottom lip tightly, afraid to reveal my answer, especially since I didn't know if it was true. "I'm here…" I felt myself tensing up again. "…here to help my…" My teeth would be clenching if they weren't already on my lip. I closed my eyes and strained them due to the stress in my mind. Finally, I blurted it out. "I'm here to help my friends!"

Nightmare Moon chuckled. "Surely you're not the one who bears the pure heart, are you?" Pure heart…? "Preposterous! A pony like you couldn't hold it!"

Believe in yourself.

Did I…? Princess Celestia… She was always talking about me holding some special thing… And she was always telling me to follow my heart… Could it really be…?

Believe in yourself… Believe in yourself! You can do this. You can help!

"You're wrong." I returned. "I think- I mean, I do hold it! I can help them!"

"Stop wasting my time! Be gone!" She focused her horn and tried to work my magic on me. I flinched, holding my head back and closing my eyes. But nothing happened. I slowly opened them back up and noticed Nightmare Moon looking back in terror. I turned my attention to my chest and noticed a glow presenting itself clearly.

"…the seventh element!" I heard Twilight from behind me. "It's you!"

"No! This can't be!" Nightmare Moon released fearfully.

"Quick! Everypony, get your elements together!" Twilight exclaimed.

I looked back to see the other girls begin levitating in the air. The glow in my chest grew brighter. As soon as a rainbow of color shot out from within them, my own color came out from my chest and joined in their assault against Nightmare Moon.

"NOOO! Nooo!" Nightmare Moon shouted out loud as the elements surrounded her. There was nothing she could do.

Afterwards, there was yet another very bright blinding light.

Finally, everything calmed down…and it felt like there was finally order.

"Ugh, my head…"

"Everypony okay?"

"Oh, thank goodness."

"Why Rarity, it's so lovely."

"I know! I'll never part with it again."

"No. Your necklace. It looks just like your cutie mark."

"What? Ooh. So does yours."

"Look at mine! Look at mine!"

"Aw yeah."

My eyes slowly opened after hearing those voices. As soon as I was able to see clearly, I was greatly started when I saw all six of those girls staring at me. I gasped and jumped back. Instantly at that moment, I wanted to just…get away from them any way possible.

"You okay, sugarcube?" Applejack spoke, offering her hoof towards me.

I was hesitant in silence. I only stared at her hoof. Nevertheless, she eventually lightly grabbed mine, helping me up onto my hooves.

They all continued looking at me, leading me to look away from them.

"How in Equestria did you get here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"And how is it that you seem so familiar to me?" Twilight inquired, causing me to glance over at her enough to see that she was staring at me curiously.

"Why, I can't believe you'd be the one to fill this…element…" Rarity mentioned, recalling our first meeting.

"Gee, Twilight!" Applejack continued on that topic. "I thought you were just spoutin' a lot of hooey, but I reckon we really do represent the elements of friendship."

"Indeed you do." A familiar voice suddenly protruded out of nowhere, along with a ball of light that appeared before us. To my surprise, it was revealed to be Princess Celestia.

Twilight gasped as every pony else bowed in her honor. "Princess Celestia!" She trotted towards her.

"Twilight Sparkle," They both greeted each other warmly. "…my faithful student. I knew you could do it."

"But... you told me it was all an old pony tale." She brought up.

"I told you that you needed to make some friends, nothing more." Princess Celestia responded. "I saw the signs of Nightmare Moon's return and I knew it was you who had the magic inside to defeat her, but you could not unleash it until you let true friendship into your heart."

"Well…that explains that but…what about…" She turned towards me. "…him?" She lightly startled me and I began feeling a little nervous when their attention was on me. "I didn't know there was another element… I read that there were only six!"

"Of course…" Princess Celestia answered, keeping her warm smile. "You see, Twilight… Alex's element, his pure heart, otherwise known as the Element of Purity for short, is not tangible and not exactly visible either. Ponies who have studied these elements were only able to study those that they could see…" Princess Celestia turned her attention to Twilight's crown. "Such as that crown on your head."

"So…" Twilight replied, remaining in thought for a while. "What you're saying is…only a princess like you would know of his element? Because you were technically the only one who knew it ever existed?"

"Well…that's another thing." She turned her head where Nightmare Moon used to be standing. "Princess Luna…" She began walking towards this other pony that was lying defeated across the room. She opened her eyes and gasped at Princess Celestia. "It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this." Princess Celestia laid herself down in front of her as she flinched back. "Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister."

Huh…?

"Sister?" The others questioned simultaneously.

Princess Celestia stood up before her. "Will you accept my friendship?"

Every of the girls began leaning forward in suspense, leading Pinkie Pie to fall.

Princess Luna looked down in silence for a moment and then suddenly rushed towards Princess Celestia in an apologetic manner. "I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!"

The two princesses shared tears with each other.

"I've missed you, too." Princess Celestia responded in their embrace.

Pinkie Pie blew her nose and began crying out loudly until she suddenly shifted her gloomily expression. "Hey, you know what this calls for? A party!"

Princess Celestia stretched out her smile slowly and looked towards her sister. "Yes…I think the ponies in Ponyville would love to see their new Princess…"

Princess Luna returned a look of worry. "I tried to make them live in eternal night… They'll hate me…"

"That's all in the past, my sister… Trust me…" Princess Celestia encouraged.

Princess Luna remained silent to think for a moment. However, she hesitantly nodded her head, forming a small smile. "…Okay."

"Come, all of you." Princess Celestia told us as she began walking out with her sister by her side. "You all deserve this celebration as much as we do." They exited as the rest of the girls followed them.

I remained sitting, not wanting to take participation in this celebration as it would require involvement of social interaction. But at the same time, that felt the wrong thing to do…

"Hey." A voice surprised me. I quickly looked over to see it was Twilight. "Are you coming?" She asked.

"…I don't know…" I merely returned back.

Nonetheless, she grew closer to me to speak. "Well, you are our friend, aren't you?" She asked in a friendly and content manner.

"I am…?" I questioned.

"You said it yourself, didn't you?" She recalled, keeping that light smile on her face.

I looked back in thought, and began to possibly feel a slight regret. "Yeah… I guess I did…"

By the time we arrived in Ponyville, everypony was strangely already there. I guess Pinkie Pie worked her…odd…ways into making this into a party…

Besides that, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were taken by a carriage led by the royal guards back into the town. The same small dragon that was accompanying Twilight before came out from the crowd and hugged her, most likely due to her return.

On the other hoof, Princess Celestia presented her sister, to whom everypony else bowed with respect. Nevertheless, Princess Luna looked towards the ground in sadness for some reason. However, a couple of pegasus fillies flew by and placed a necklace composed of roses on her. Princess Luna revealed an expression of surprise and looked towards her sister. Ironically, even she was able to smile, despite whatever conflict arose between her and her sister.

I looked around and noticed everypony celebrating, leading me to feel loneliness drop in for a visit again. I looked by my side and spotted no one. I sighed and then faced my attention towards the ground.

"Why so glum, my faithful student?" I heard Princess Celestia in front of me, causing me to lift my head back up. She was confronting Twilight who was also gloomy for some reason. "Are you not happy that your quest is complete and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?"

"That's just it..." Twilight responded, sharing a glance at us. "Just when I learned how wonderful it is to have friends, I have to leave them."

After a moment of silence, Princess Celestia answered to this distress. "Spike, take a note, please." The dragon pulled out a empty scroll and quill. "I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria." She announced as the others gazed at her in awe."She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville."

The girls immediately gathered around her, laughing and cheering for her stay.

"Oh thank you, Princess Celestia! I'll study harder than ever before!" Twilight returned gleefully.

Immediately after, everypony, including around us, cheered loudly as confetti and streamers fell from who knows where. That wasn't important me. I stood away from the spotlight, looking back with my eyes in sadness.

"Isn't this exciting?" Pinkie Pie suddenly confronted me, startling me for a moment. She was right in front of me, expressing her absolute excitement while I could only remain silent and do the opposite. "Are you excited cause I'm excited I've never been so excited, well, except for the time that I went-" She gasped sharply after pummeling me with those quick paced words. "But I mean really…" The sounds of her words drained out when I chose not to listen to them. I was already upset about not being able to be joyful as any of them. I didn't even know what I was doing here in the first place. Whatever occurred, I just had to distract myself from it…

After I had managed to slip myself away from the celebration, I released a breath of relief and stared out at the lit moon. I was able to hear the crickets outside. This sound of silence was actually pleasing to me…a lot more pleasing than what was going on in the party… Is that normal…?

The more I thought about whether the stuff I did and the reasons for them was normal, the more I almost wanted to hate myself. I just couldn't be like any other pony…and thus…an outcast…

"Heya." A voice startled me, causing me to gasp and quickly look back.

I noticed it was only Twilight. "Oh…" I relieved myself from my fears. "…hey Twilight…"

She actually took the liberty to walk towards where I was at and sit by my side.

"Watcha doing out here? The party's in there." She asked me with a small smile, as if she was trying to joke with me or something…

Even though she had her eyes on mine, I couldn't quite do the same for her. "Um…" I tried to think, unable to come up with quite a believable excuse. "I came out here for some fresh air… I don't know if that's okay…"

"Of course that's okay!" She seemed to have no trouble speaking to me. "But with a party going on as crazy as Pinkie Pie's, I don't think anypony would want to waste a second of it out here!" I slightly flinched, perhaps taking that too much that it was needed to be. "Come on! Let's go back inside."

I was silent for a brief moment. I didn't want to go back inside, I didn't. But I couldn't let her fun be ruined by me. I'm tired of that. "I think I'm fine out here." I could only return.

Twilight studied me for a moment while I could only continue to keep my eyes off of her. "…are you okay?" I didn't answer. "…come to think of it… I haven't seen you smile. I know I've only seen you for only a short while and…" She paused. "Wait, no. I think I have seen you before, but I can't just put my hoof on it!" I only managed to glance at her a little confusingly before she looked back at me. "Okay, listen…just…forget about that right now… What's going on? Is everything okay?"

Even if I did have the courage and the "non-trust issues" to tell her, she still wouldn't have understood.

"It's nothing, Twilight."

She couldn't really say anything to that. She slowly looked back towards the ground, possibly in thought. "Alright… Look…" She stood up and held out a hoof towards me. "Come on. Let's get back." I didn't accept her offer. I only answered with silence. "Come on." She included a little playfully and friendly. "Come party with Pinkie and me! I bet that'll cheer you up!" She looked back at the direction of where the party was. "You could talk to the other ponies and—"

At that moment, I had already walked up and started leaving. I had realized that she was already going to start pushing and indirectly attacking my comfort zone.

However, she noticed my leave as I heard her trotting towards my direction.

"Wait!" She called, stopping me when she reached the front of my body and blocked my path. "Why are you leaving…?" She asked. I was able to hear disappointment in her voice, just like with… Pinkie Pie…

I looked away, disappointed with myself. Was this unicorn actually saddened by my absence in the party? I can't even tell… Either way…her grief was instantly getting into me. I began feeling horrible for my behavior and actions…and if I don't end this soon…I'll feel absolutely even worse…

"Sorry…" I managed to say, attempting to form more words after. "…but I don't belong in that party…" She raised a hoof up and tried to bring a line in, but I stopped her. "It's not any of you. It's me. It's always been me. I'm just a different type of pony, Twilight. I'm not like any of you. If I go in there… I'll just make everything worse…" I sighed and looked back at the ground, shaking my head. "You ponies are having a good enough time as it is... I don't want to ruin it…" My ears flopped down sadly after this statement. I continued walking, passing Twilight.

"…but…" She tried to speak, but she seemed to be too puzzled as she was unable say anything else to stop me.

Sorry… I really am…

I finally shut my door and was immediately welcomed by the only thing that has been there for me. As I felt its welcoming grasp, I wanted to push it away and walk upstairs to bed. I hated this so much.

As soon as I was near my bed, I fell on it harshly and sighed angrily.

In my mind, thoughts swirled violently.

Apparently, I'm an important pony, right? This "secret" element or whatever that helped defeat an old princess that wanted night to reign forever? Yeah, and guess what? I'm still unhappy and alone as ever! If that can't make the smallest change, then what can?!

I had so any emotions swelling within my right now, but it made me angrier that I was unable to express them properly. I wanted to yell so badly, but I figured it wouldn't help and anyone able to hear it would think I'm crazy so…no…

I stared angrily at the ceiling until I turned my head to the desk nearby. I noticed the stack of papers and group of pencils on it. I looked away and slightly moved my lips in thought for a moment.

…I guess it's better than nothing…

I got myself up from the bed, even though I felt like I didn't want to at the same time. I planted my rear on the floor in front of the desk and stared at the empty space between the papers and the pencils. Using my two front hooves, I grabbed one slip of paper and one pencil and pushed them together. I looked up in thought and finally grabbed the pencil with my mouth, beginning to scribble words that escaped my mind.

As I'm writing on this crummy piece of paper…there's something I have to share about these six mares I met today… I have no one else to talk to so…

I even scoffed a bit in an almost laughing way at myself.

…what's to lose about sharing my feelings to an inanimate object? …Apparently…these girls are supposed to be my friends, as said as the Princess herself, but I'm not so sure about that… To be honest, I feel something much different about them…but…my head just doesn't want to accept that. So…what am I supposed to do…? Just wait to see what happens?

Yeah…that's kind of what I've been doing my whole boring life…

I dropped the pencil on the paper. I turned around and headed towards my bed. I planted myself on it and thought again for a moment as I stared at the ceiling.

I guess that helped…a little…

I don't know what to do. I mean…I did feel something different for those girls. They did feel like different ponies…ones that I want to try and start over with… But my head… My head is just telling me to not trust them, that they'll just hurt me like the others. They'll push you towards the darkest depths ever…

I sighed.

So much to think…

So much to do…

So little time.

It's...Just a Ticket...

"Hey there, Alex!" Twilight greeted, approaching me happily.

"Oh… Hey…" I returned hesitantly.

She lifted up her forelegs and stretched them out. As soon as I saw this, I immediately became nervous as my heart pumped faster. She noticed my unresponsive behavior and commented. "C'mon. I'm not going to bite!"

I looked away for a moment, biting my lip.

Have confidence… She's your friend, right…?

I exhaled my heavy breath.

I slowly lifted my hooves to accept her offer.

However, just before I could place them around her, I felt a sudden forceful push. I was knocked backwards to see a disgruntled Twilight holding a glow around her horn, indicating that she was the one who pushed me.

"Ugh!" She expressed, angrily looking down at me. "You really think I'd want to touch a pony like you?!"

Afterwards, the rest of those girls joined her by her side, all having irritated moods and complaining to me about the same issue.

This expectedly led me to look away and hold my hooves over my head. Are you serious…? I thought they were supposed my friends… I…I don't even understand anything anymore…

And I sat there in grief as I was pummeled with hurtful words from the girls themselves…

I breathed in a quick heavy breath as I heard a knocking from downstairs. My heart was beating a little fast and I was still ill with that sickening feeling I sometimes got from a bad dream. I sat up and placed a hoof to my head. Then, I inhaled a calming breath and exhaled when I was ready.

I wondered about who was knocking on my door as I walked downstairs. I never got any visitors, and I wasn't really comfortable with having any either.

I placed my hoof on the door and stood there for a silent second until I opened it. I widened my eyes at her appearance, especially since she was the star of my latest nightmare.

"Hey…" Twilight greeted with a soft smile.

"Hey…" I returned in the same manner she did, except the smile.

"If you don't mind, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to Sweet Apple Acres…" She looked out to the weather above. "It's a beautiful day outside, and I thought you might like the fresh air there. I'm also helping Applejack with her apples if you wanted to help as well…"

You thought…? I looked away in disengaging thought. If she really did think about me, then…that's a really nice thing of her to do… However, as soon as I looked back to my dream, my feelings changed for her. I immediately began feeling fear strike into me. I looked towards the floor sadly and placed my hoof on the back of my door. "…I don't think so…" I began closing the door until she stopped it with her own hoof.

"Come on." She encouraged with her smile. "It'll be fun."

I was stuck in thought once again. I really didn't know what to do… I couldn't have any more disappointments on my back… I guess I can go with her…

I sighed lightly. "Fine…"

"Great!" She exclaimed in light joy. "Come on!"

As I began walking with her outside, I couldn't help but notice that she had that small dragon on her back. She then spotted me realizing his presence, initiating her to talk. "Oh! I forgot to introduce you two to each other. Alex, this is Spike. Spike, this is Alex."

"Alex, huh?" He questioned. "What kind of a name is that?"

"Spike!" Twilight instantly scolded, furrowing her eyebrows angrily.

"What?" He raised his claws and shrugged.

"That's really rude of you to say!"

"I'm just saying. I've never heard of a name like that."

I merely looked towards the front of the road and narrowed my eyes.

"What about Princess Celestia? Or Princess Luna?" Twilight returned.

"Well, they're princesses. Besides, it still sounds a little weird."

Twilight sighed and then faced me. "I'm really sorry about that, Alex… He's just a baby dragon."

"It's fine…" I added briefly, leaving myself silent afterwards.

This led her to look back at Spike and continue giving him a scolding look.

I had begun feeling uncomfortable during the walk to Sweet Apple Acres. My nerves would just tense up when I walked with Twilight and her little dragon. There was this sometimes awkward silence between us, but I really couldn't tell if it was just me that was feeling that. I didn't bother to look back if Twilight still appeared her cheery self. All I could safely use was my peripheral vision, which wasn't exactly reliable.

Applejack greeted us warmly when we arrived. It appeared as if she was actually already expecting us, sending me the message that Twilight made this arrangement earlier.

"Howdy Twilight!" Applejack released vibrantly out loud. She drew her eyes toward me, where I had to slightly look away in a result from this. "I see you brought Alex with ya!"

"Yup!" Twilight nodded firmly.

"And me too!" Spike called from Twilight's back.

"Of course, little bugger." Applejack returned with a smile. "We better get a move on. I'll explain everythin' when we're done." She lifted up her legs and began walking towards a seemingly endless field of trees.

Twilight followed after her, leaving me to figure I should walk their way as well.

Applejack tossed us each a saddle that carried woven baskets on each side.

"Job is easy as making apple pie!" Applejack explained. "Just shake a few trees, catch some apples, and take em' back to the barn! I personally like to buck em' straight off the branches!"

"Great!" Twilight answered in confidence. She faced her companion and spoke. "Spike, you catch, I'll shake!"

"Alrighty." He crossed his claws behind his head and laid on her back, appearing as if he wasn't going to work at all.

"Well, let's get to work y'all!" Applejack encouraged before they began to do their own thing.

I remained heavily silent as I looked around. There were many apple trees to work with… No problem there… I turned around and faced this one that stood amazing tall before me, rather appearing as if it was hovering over my head. I didn't really know what was keeping me from beginning to remove those apples and place them in my basket. I just…couldn't help but stare blankly at the completely normal apple tree.

"Need some help, partner?" Applejack was summoned to my side, most likely due to my idleness. Once again, I really didn't make eye contact. Rather, I slightly looked away and shook my head. "Aw." She expressed in response. "Don't be shy. Ask for help when ya need to! Is it getting the apples off the trees?" She glanced over to the top part of the tree, where the apples roamed stilly. "Just give it a good shake! They'll come off, don't worry!" She seemed to glance over to my back legs. "But, I'm sure you'll do just fine giving a good buck!" I didn't offer back any words. I shared a look at her for a second and then returned my sight to the tree. "Go on! Try it out!" She tried to motivate me friendly.

I didn't want to try kicking the tree like she did. I felt too self-conscious. The less problematic thing I could get out was shaking the tree with both my front hooves.

A few apples fell out, and Applejack smiled brightly. "There ya go! Keep on at it, partner!"

Afterwards, she turned around and tended to her own. I stared at her walk off for a bit, keeping my eyes on her as I slowly picked up the apples with my teeth and placed them in the basket.

"Spike, what are you doing?!" Twilight shouted out angrily when she discovered Spike throwing out apples from her baskets as we walked with our own baskets full of apples.

"Just trying to find the yummiest looking one." He answered, continuing to be unaware of how furious Twilight seemed to be getting.

"Do you know how much work it took getting all those apples you're throwing out into this basket!?"

"Hey, I helped!" Spike countered.

Twilight appeared to give up as she sighed and looked back to the front. "Yeah…sure you did…" She slipped softly.

"It's mighty fine, Twilight!" Applejack managed to express cheerfully. "We can just come back for those later. Besides, I wanna thank y'all in helping me get this work done. I bet Big Macintosh I could get all these Golden Delicious in the barn by lunchtime." She had given a little hop during that statement, lifting the apples in her baskets in the air for a moment before they returned back down. "If I win, he's gonna walk down Stirrup Street in one of granny's girdles." She chuckled while I could only return a silent but puzzled look with my eyebrows.

Of course, voluntarily remaining out of the conversation, Twilight was allowed to respond. "No problem at all, Applejack. I'm glad the goal is lunchtime. All this hard work is making me hungry."

"I know, right?" Spike asked, accidentally throwing an apple back and bonking Twilight's head with it.

Twilight turned her head and glared over to him, causing him to return a nervous and wide grin. For some reason, it didn't seem like this was the first time something like this happened between them.

"Puh-leez, Spike, you've been lounging on my back all morning while we worked!" Twilight explained while Applejack could only send me a look that revealed she enjoyed their little argument as if Spike and Twilight were relatives.

"Exactly. You all were taking so long, I missed snack-time." Spike tried to reason with a shrug.

Twilight's stomach then coincidentally rumbled. She laughed nervously in a reaction. "Eh, I guess we better get some food."

Spike returned to his action from earlier, throwing out certain apples while Twilight looked back with no effort to stop him anymore. "Nope. Worm. A-ha!" He suddenly cried out, holding a big, red, attractive, and juicy-looking apple.

"Oh Spike, that looks delicious!" Twilight commented delightedly. However, her emotion was cut short once Spike shoved the entire fruit in his mouth and gave a big chomp. "Spike!" She scolded.

"What?" He questioned again, not realizing his behavior.

Twilight rolled her eyes and continued her walk again.

"So…" Applejack startled me as I had been staring back at the scene between Twilight and Spike. She didn't address me directly, but she was obviously talking to me as the two behind us were having their own thing. "You've known Twilight for long?"

Being extremely careful with my words, I took a brief moment before I answered. "…not really… I had only met her during that whole…Nightmare Moon thing…"

"Ah. Yep. I met her when she was checkin' on the food preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration." She gave a little chuckle. "Speakin' of that… I didn't see you at the party. Did you leave home early?"

"…y-yeah…" I answered a little nervously.

She transformed another small chuckle into a warm smile. "Must've been tired, huh? Long night."

I didn't want to repeat my answer. I was already beginning to feel uncomfortable as I wasn't really contributing to the conversation. "…yeah…"

Applejack was also silent for a moment, as if she had to think of something else to say since I didn't bring myself out, making myself feel even worse. "Well…I'm glad to be seeing you around as a friend instead of just a customer…" She lowered her head and rubbed the back of it as she spoke the next sentence. "I was startin' to think that maybe you didn't like me or somethin'."

My eyes widened. Really? What am I supposed to say to that? All my mind could conjure was silence. If I remain silent, she'll think that I really don't like her. But it's not like that… But I can't say that I do like her… What if she takes it the wrong way? I don't even know how I truly feel about her. What am I supposed to say…?

I struggled with my mind, desperately trying to find a way through this social deathtrap. Any wrong move could metaphorically kill me…

"…I—"

Fortunately, there was a loud and interruptive burp that altered the subject. It came from Spike, which surprised me because it was the first time I had ever seen such a thing. His breath seemed to swirl into the air and transform into this letter.

"It's a letter from Princess Celestia!" Twilight exclaimed as she observed it float down.

Spike caught it with his claw as Applejack walked closer to the circle we created. Well…I unintentionally took part of it… Anyways, Spike turned away, cleared his throat, and then looked back at the letter to begin reading out loud. "Hear ye, hear ye. Her Grand Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce The Grand Galloping Gala to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot, on the 21st day of…" He squinted his eyes on certain words. "…eh, yadda yadda yadda," Afterwards, he widened them once his eyes were attentive. "…cordially extends an invitation to Twilight Sparkle plus two guests!"

Once he finished speaking, the girls by my sides gasped and looked at each other excitedly. "The Grand Galloping Gala!" Immediately after, their faces brimmed with joy and wide grins. They hopped hastily in the air and shouted out the same four words. "The Grand Galloping Gala!" Cheers from the both of them followed, all while I could only stand motionless between with a blank look at each of them. Spike had opened his mouth to point his finger inside in disgust, but it was interrupted with another sudden belch from inside. Three golden tickets appeared from thin air.

"Look, three tickets!" He pointed out.

"Wow, great!" Twilight continued. "I've never been to the gala. Have you, Spike?"

"No, and I plan to keep it that way." Spike retracted, flipping away his claw. "I don't want any of that girly frilly frou-frou nonsense."

"Aw, come on Spike. A dance would be nice." Twilight reasoned.

"What exactly is the Grand Galloping Gala?" I rather asked out loud. I actually didn't mean to, as I wanted to stay away from the conversation, but I must have been too curious that I mentioned it outside of my mind.

"You've never heard of the Grand Galloping Gala?!" Twilight and Applejack asked me in unison, somewhat putting the spotlight on me.

"I…" I tried to speak, but I couldn't really form any words.

"It's only the major dance in Canterlot!" Twilight explained. "It's an annual royal ball that's extremely hard to get into if you're not a high class pony!"

Something about her statement rang a bell in my mind. This started to sound familiar… I swear I've actually heard of this…ball…before…

"I'd love to go…" Applejack spoke, continuing on their excitement from the announcement. "Land sakes, if I had an apple stand set up, ponies would be chowin' our tasty vittles till the cows came home. Do you have any idea how much business I could drum up for Sweet Apple Acres? Why, with all that money, we could do a heap of fixin' up 'round here. We could replace that saggy old roof, and Big McIntosh could replace that saggy old plow, and Granny Smith could replace that saggy old hip!" Applejack sighed as she stared up in astonishment. "Why, I'd give my left hind leg to go to that gala…"

"In that case, why don't the three of us go?" Twilight asked enthusiastically, catching my attention. "Spike obviously thinks it's too girly. That leaves a ticket for each of us!"

Applejack allowed her jaw to be dropped in joy. However, I wasn't so mutual with the idea.

"Whoa!" We heard an almost distant cry hurl towards us. Something landed roughly on the ground in front of us. After she had shook her head and recovered, she looked up and joined in on the excitement. "Are we talking about The Grand Galloping Gala?" Rainbow Dash questioned.

"Rainbow Dash, you told me you were too busy to help me harvest apples!" Applejack brought up, showing a hint of suspicion. "What were you busy doing, spyin'?"

"No!" Rainbow Dash quickly stood up and turned around. "I was busy napping." She directed towards the tree above us, which held a blanket and pillow. I looked up and tilted my head, covering my left eye with my bottom lid a bit in order to show my confusion. How do you sleep on a very thin branch like that…? "And I just happened to hear that you have an extra ticket?" She asked with a wide grin as she flew upside down in front of Twilight.

"Two." Twilight corrected. "Sorry, Applejack and Alex are already coming with me."

"Actually…" I answered, catching their sight. I slightly looked away towards the ground and fumbled with my hoof a bit on the ground. "…Rainbow Dash can have the other ticket… I don't really feel like going…"

"What?" Twilight immediately inquired. "Why not? It's the most fantastic night of the year in Canterlot!"

"I…I just don't feel like I'm going to enjoy it, alright?" I shot back, both intentionally and unintentionally.

"But…"

"YES!" Rainbow Dash cheered nonetheless. "This is so awesome. The Wonderbolts perform at The Grand Galloping Gala every year. I can see it now. Everyone would be watching the sky. Their eyes riveted on The Wonderbolts, but then in would fly Rainbow Dash!"

I was already feeling excluded out, mainly because of the start of Rainbow Dash's story. I removed the baskets full of apples off of me and gently placed them on the ground. "Here…sorry… I should get back home…"

Twilight appeared as if she wanted to say something, but Rainbow Dash stopped her when she continued her story as if my excuse didn't really matter. "Anyways…" She spoke as I turned around and walked away. A little rude…but whatever.

I stared at my hooves as I walked in town. I never could figure why I couldn't really hold my head up high like other ponies. Maybe it's because I didn't really want to look at anyone else… I don't know…

"Ooh!" A soft voice grunted lightly as I felt the surface of another warm body against mine. "Please… Excuse me…"

I lifted up my head to suddenly meet the delicate eyes of another. They were right in front of mine, and I was frozen. It wasn't until she widened them and quickly drew her head away. I could feel myself move again…but for some reason… I was actually able to look at her… Why…? Was it…because she was the one who actually shied herself away from me?

"Oh… I'm sorry… Um…" This small faint of scarlet began glowing all the way from her left cheek to her right. "A…A…" She couldn't finish.

"Alex…" I answered. As she continued to glance once in a while at me, but kept her sight away, I decided to speak. "You're…Fluttershy. Right…?"

She made a small mumbled noise. And then she nodded her head, looking towards the ground. "Mm-hm."

"I…I haven't spoken to you before…" I stated, really clueless of what to bring up.

"Mm." She repeated again.

It was like if her lips were snapped shut… But…her behavior somehow made me less nervous than she was…

To think I was bad before, she was absolutely reluctant to toss any words back. The conversation was going nowhere as she just continued to look away as I softly stared at her. The blush in her face would slowly grow and spread to the point where she might just bolt away.

"Alex!" I heard my name being called from a distance.

I looked back to see Rarity trotting my way.

"My, what a nice surprise to see you here!" She greeted as she confronted me. "You see, I could actually use your help. I was wondering if you might be interested in helping me with my shopping for new materials."

"Huh…?" I returned, beginning to feel confused.

Before she could answer my question, she noticed Fluttershy behind me, who was now looking my way. "Fluttershy? Why, hello. Were you here chatting with Alex?"

"Um…" She merely responded.

There a moment of silence before Rarity continued on that expression. "I see… Well…" She turned to me. "Come along! I can't wait to show you some of my new designs!"

"Designs…?" I questioned again, being left to follow her to find out on my own.

"C…can Angel and I…tag online?" Fluttershy spoke very carefully and softly.

"Of course!" Rarity answered. "But please keep a closer eye on him this time, Fluttershy."

"O…okay…" Fluttershy agreed and began walking cautiously behind me. I looked back to notice that there was a bunny riding on her back. He was small, so he wasn't very easy to see. However, Fluttershy spotted my awareness and quickly looked down at the ground.

Hm… I turned back to face Rarity's direction. I wonder why she seems so fragile… I don't think I've ever met a pony like that before…

"So…uh…" I tried to strike up a conversation with Rarity using what she was talking about before. "…you were saying something about materials for designs…?"

"Oh, yes!" She immediately answered. "You see, I'm a fashion designer here in Ponyville. However, I've always had these personal dreams of becoming known all over Equestria!" She waved her hoof in the air above, emphasizing her point. However, she surprised me with a long drawn out sigh. "Alas… I am only beginning my humble beginnings here. But I'm sure with a little hard work, I can get there, don't you think?" She ended by turning her head to face me.

"Oh…um…" Not really knowing what to say to that, I just spoke with whatever I had. "Sure…"

"What about you?" She asked. "Do you have an appreciation for the arts?"

I didn't really know what I liked.

"…I draw a little…"

She paused and turned her body towards me. "Really?" She questioned in an interested voice. "Why, I don't think I've met any other stallion who's an artist."

"…I wouldn't know if I can be really clarified an artist…"

"Please," Rarity continued, walking on forward again. "I may have not known you for too long, Alex. But based on our past conversations, I wouldn't be surprised if you've produced some fine works of art yourself."

"I don't really think I've ever talked about doing any works at all…"

"Trust me. An artist herself can sometimes tell the potential of another in sight."

"Hm…" I merely expressed and looked towards the floor. Her statement provoked me to think about it. And I did, along with some of the curiosity that was building up from Fluttershy's silence behind me.

It was only a short moment before Rarity suddenly stopped in her tracks, startling me a bit.

A loud gasp was heard, and then her words sounded in a surprised manner. "Are these what I think they are?"

I looked up to see her pointing at three golden tickets. Holding them was Spike, and Twilight was right behind him. Pinkie Pie was standing by her.

"Uh—"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Twilight had tried to speak, but Pinkie Pie immediately interrupted with an excited hop. "Twilight's taking me to The Grand Galloping Gala in Canterlot!"

As soon as she said this, I was instantly puzzled. I thought she was taking Rainbow Dash and Applejack?

I wanted to ask about that, but Rarity and Pinkie Pie were already striking up this joyous conversation about the Gala. I couldn't be able to speak through it.

"The gala?" Rarity questioned with raised eyelids. I design ensembles for the gala every year, but I've never had the opportunity to attend. Oh, the society, the culture, the glamour! It's where I truly belong," She gave a short giggle as she pushed up the loose part of her mane gracefully. "…and where I'm destined to meet him!" Her eyes sparkled as they reflected off the sky.

"Him!" Pinkie Pie shouted out and looked in the same direction, but became confused once she didn't understand. "...Who?"

"Him." Rarity repeated dreamily and began explaining through a long daydream. "I would stroll through the gala, and everyone would wonder, 'Who is that mysterious mare?' They would never guess that I was just a simple pony from little old Ponyville. Why, I would cause such a sensation that I would be invited for an audience with Princess Celestia herself, and the princess would be so taken with the style and elegance that she would introduce me to him, her nephew: the most handsome, eligible unicorn stallion in Canterlot. Our eyes would meet, our hearts would melt. Our courtship would be magnificent. He would ask for my hoof in marriage, and of course I would say, 'Yes!' We would have a royal wedding, befitting a princess, which is…" She released another giggle. "…what I would become upon marrying him, the stallion of my dreams." She sighed happily and then looked at the tickets Spike held. "Twilight, I don't suppose that third ticket is for me…?"

"Actually…" Twilight returned. "I haven't decided yet…"

"You haven't?!" Rarity and Pinkie Pie asked simultaneously in both interest and shock.

"I thought you were going to give them to Rainbow Dash and Applejack…" I mentioned from the thoughts.

"Well…" Twilight rubbed her head as she thought of how to answer that. "I was going to stand with taking you and Applejack with me to the Gala… But then Rainbow came and you wanted to back out and then I got hungry. I just couldn't make an official decision on an empty stomach. Honestly… I felt bad when you said you didn't want to come… I thought Rainbow Dash might have pressured or pushed you into not going and…I don't know…"

I couldn't figure out if what she was trying to say was true or not. It was almost hard to believe. As I was trying to think of a sentence to respond with to that, Fluttershy unexpectedly added in to the conversation. "Um, excuse me, Twilight." She brought up timidly, poking her head out. "I would just like to ask, I mean, if it would be alright, if you haven't given it to someone else…"

"You?" Rarity suddenly intruded with a skeptical look. "You want to go to the gala?"

"Oh, no." Fluttershy quickly dismissed her interest, but her pet bunny tapped his foot angrily on her. "I mean, yes, or, actually, kind of. You see, it's not so much The Grand Galloping Gala as it is the wondrous private gated garden that surrounds the dance. The flowers are said to be the most beautiful and fragrant in all of Equestria. For the night of the gala, and that night alone, would they all be in bloom... and that's just the flora! Don't get me started on the fauna. There's loons and toucans and bitterns, oh my! Hummingbirds that can really hum, and buzzards that can really buzz. White-blue jays, and red jays, and green jays, pink jays and pink flamingos!"

During her own adventurous reason, she had held Angel closely as she flew up, smiling at the thought of attending the gala.

"Gee, Fluttershy, it sounds... beautiful?" Twilight commented.

"Wait just a minute!" We heard a voice echo.

We turned to see Rainbow Dash standing firmly on the beam of a building.

"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight inquired of the appearance of her.

She landed on the ground to confront Twilight. "I thought you were taking Applejack and me to the gala?"

"Twilight's not taking us the gala?" Applejack appeared in the group as well.

"H-Hold on…" Twilight tried to stop the subject on its tracks.

"But Twilight's taking me!" Pinkie Pie argued.

Before we knew it, every pony was arguing with each other, wanting the chance to go to the gala. These arguments from everypony seemed to pummel her physically, as she slid towards the floor fearfully. I wanted to step in, but I was too afraid to speak up. I needed to help Twilight, because it was her decision to make, not any of the others. In fact, this is what fueled my energy to help her when she needed it. I was getting angry to the thought of these ponies wanting to take away the liberty of Twilight making the choice with the tickets she rightfully owned. I couldn't stand the idea of that at all.

"Hey! Stop it!" I shouted out loud, but not too loud.

They all suddenly stopped talking and looked towards me. The only reason I believe this actually happened was because the only time they've seen me talk is when I was really nervous and quiet. In other words, this was the first time they've actually seen me speak out this loud.

"It's Twilight's decision on who to take to the gala, so stop trying to force the right to go for yourselves for Celestia's sake!" My anger exclaimed scoldingly.

It was silent until Twilight pushed herself up from the ground. "He's right… Stop trying to take the extra tickets for yourselves or no one is going." She asserted calmly but boldly.

"But Twilight—"

"Eh!" Twilight quickly flashed a hoof in front of Rarity, cutting her off. "This is my decision, and I'm gonna make it on my own, and I certainly can't think straight with all this noise..." Her stomach rumbled, just how it did back at Sweet Apple Acres. "…not to mention hunger. Now go on, shoo." She pointed them in the other direction, leaving them to grumble as they walked away with heads held low. Even Spike left, probably being mistaken along with the others. "And don't worry, I'll figure this out!" She added out loud. "…somehow." She finished quietly.

Of course, my anger had already burnt out. I was just…back to my normal self… I didn't really know what to do anymore, so I just decided to head home or somewhere else. However, just as I was about to turn, Twilight called me.

"Hey."

I turned in her direction to notice her looking at me.

"Thanks…" She expressed as she calmly walked towards me. "…for helping me out there. I really appreciate it…"

She stopped in front of me. My nerves returned, and I looked mainly anywhere but at her eyes. "…it's…nothing…"

"Listen…" She began. "I know I said that I would make the decision on my own…but I would really like your help." She caught my attention, but I didn't really look up. "You're the only one who seems to understand my feelings about this, and I really don't want to do this on my own." She moved her head closer to me and tilted it slightly as she lifted her foreleg upwards. "Do you mind…?"

I suddenly felt something different. I felt something…warm my heart… I don't remember ever being counted on like this before. In fact, I don't think any pony has wanted what I had to offer in a time of need like this before at all. I wasn't entirely sure what was going on or why I felt so…warm. Normally, I would have tried to find a way out of her question, but…I just…actually…wanted to help her.

"S…sure…"

It was all I could really push out.

"Thanks a lot for coming with me." Twilight expressed herself once again as we walked by each other's side in the town streets. "I really appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to help."

I scoffed quietly and looked to my other side. "Don't mention it…" I released almost under my breath.

"I want to go get a bite at the café, but I also want to bring Spike with me, otherwise he'll get cranky." Twilight smiled, as if she wanted me to lighten up as her. I didn't really react much. Nevertheless, she stopped in front of a huge tree and placed her hoof on the door within. "This is where I'm staying now." She mentioned. "You weren't here when Pinkie Pie brought everyone else for my 'welcome' party, so this is the first time you'll be seeing my new home."

Right…

"Spike." She called out after she opened and entered through. "Spike!"

"What?" He returned from deeper inside.

"Hey, Alex and I are going out to eat. Want to come?"

"I don't know, are you going to choose on what I have to eat too?" He answered a little bitterly.

Twilight released a drawn out sigh as she wiped a hoof on her face. "Spike, that was just for those girls that kept arguing about who got the tickets."

"Huh… Well, I am kind of hungry…"

"So, I take that as a yes then?"

"Yeah, let's go!" He popped out and ran out the door.

Twilight shut the door and signaled me to continue following her.

But she really just seemed to enjoy being friendly about it to me.

She eventually led me to the café in Ponyville. It was a restaurant that was capable of serving indoors or outdoors. I suppose Twilight liked the weather as she stopped at one of the tables just outside the building. Spike took the seat across from her and I only stared clueless at a problem that was simply solved.

Continuing to smile, she looked at me and patted the seat in the middle between Spike and her. "C'mon." She encouraged.

I wasn't completely eased as I would have preferred, of course. However, I obeyed and carefully claimed the stack of hay for my position at the table. During that time, I couldn't help but think, seeing as I never talked anyway, why Twilight continued to smile at me when she was clearly facing a problem much greater than me. Why was this?

"So, did you decide on who you're going to give those two tickets to, Twilight?" Spike asked as he continued to look among the interior of the menu, leading my eyes to drift at the one placed in front of me.

This removed Twilight's smile and replaced it with a frown of distress. She placed a hoof on her forehead and allowed her head to slowly fall towards the top of the table. She released a very exhausting sigh, recalling the stressful issue. "What am I gonna do? All of them have really good reasons to go to the gala." She focused her attention towards a vase of flowers standing at the center of the tabletop. She then worked her magic to peel out petals one by one. "Applejack and Rainbow Dash? Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy, Rarity... Oh… Who should be the ones to go with me?" Her stomach rumbled as she looked up in question. Then, she turned to the individual pedals on the table and just licked them off from hunger.

Another stallion walked by, obviously being the waiter. "Have you made your decision?" He asked in a very formal accent.

"I CAN'T DECIDE!" Twilight suddenly yelled out in an outburst, gaining the attention of everypony in the area for a few seconds.

"Twilight, he just wants to take your order?" Spike managed to return, pointing at the menu.

"Oh." Twilight expressed, realizing her mistake. "I would love a daffodil and daisy sandwich." She answered casually.

Next, the waiter looked at me, which I pathetically dreaded. "I'll have the same…" I answered in a soft and almost mumbling voice as I looked away. Fortunately, he must have heard me as he did not request a repeat of my hesitant statement. I actually really wasn't hungry, but I didn't want to look like an idiot for coming and being here but not eating at all.

"Do you have any rubies?" Spike questioned in a much bolder voice than mine. However, the waiter gave him a silent and unamused look, leading him to retract. "No? Okay. I'll have the hay fries, extra crispy." He partially demanded as he threw the menu behind him.

"What do you think, Spike?" Twilight asked as the waiter was left to walk away.

"I think we have to try another restaurant." He returned, retrieving the wrong premise of the question. "I mean, I like grass just fine, but would it hurt anybody to offer some gemstones?"

"I mean about the gala and the tickets and who I should take!" She corrected.

"Oh." He rolled his eyes backwards and pressed his nose with pressured eyes. "You're still on that?" He asked, not being sympathetic with the pony he's seemed to have a long friendship with.

"Listen!" Twilight jumped partially on the table, indirectly tossing the vase of flowers away from her. She was already frustrated enough. "How do I choose?" She sat back down after proving her serious take on it. "And when I do choose, will the other three be mad at me? I mean, I could give up my ticket and give away all three of them, but that would still leave two disappointed ponies! But I…" For some reason she glanced at me, and then returned towards the table, sighing heavily.

I wanted to help her, but I just couldn't bring myself up to it first…

"Alex…" I heard her call softly. "Do you have any ideas…?"

Actually…I kind of did… I wasn't really sure if it was a good one, but it was really the only one I could think of. Can she just politely ask Princess Celestia for some more tickets for her friends? Knowing her, I'm sure she wouldn't mind…probably…

As I looked at Twilight, I then began to hate myself in being unable to offer it. I was too afraid that she might think of such a thought as a ridiculous and stupid idea.

"Not really…" I muttered and grew frustrated over the coward I really was.

"Ah, your food." The waiter announced, breaking Twilight's tender stare at me. He had placed each of our plates down in front of us, which Spike immediately began chugging down his.

"Oh thank you." Twilight expressed, appearing to be greatly relieved. "This looks so good! I'm sure everything will be much clearer once I eat."

As soon as she could take a bite of her sandwich using her magic, ponies around us immediately began galloping past us.

"Em, madam?" The same waiter spoke up as he held the door to the restaurant open. "Are you going to eat your food in ze rain?"

"It's not raining." Twilight mentioned before she got a good look around us. Thunder boom and water showered, but for some reason, our specific and particular spot was clear as any other sunny day. "What's going on?" She asked as she looked up.

"Hi there best friend forever I've ever ever had!" Rainbow Dash's voice sounded from above. "Enjoying the sunny weather?"

"Rainbow Dash, what are you doing?" Twilight inquired in a suspicious tone.

"Whaddya you mean? I just saw the smartest, most generous pony about to get rained on, so I thought I'd kick a hole in the clouds to keep her dry so she could dine in peace, that's all." Rainbow Dash's explanation obviously spelled out her true intentions while Twilight returned a silent annoyed expression.

"Rainbow, you're not trying to get extra consideration for one of the two extra tickets by doing me extra special favors, are you?"

"Me? No no no, of course not."

"Uh-huh." Twilight merely mentioned skeptically to Rainbow Dash's denial.

"Seriously, I'd do it for any pony." She included, leading us to analyze the ponies around to continue galloping in search for cover from the rain. "Heh heh, eh." Rainbow Dash laughed nervously at the contradiction she was brought upon.

"Why care about her behavior?" I managed to mention to Twilight, being slightly annoyed with what Rainbow Dash was doing as well. "Just let her know that whatever she does won't make any difference in your decision."

"She probably wouldn't take me seriously…" Twilight returned. "I want her to know that I don't condone these gestures just for what she wants." Afterwards, she lifted up her head to look at Rainbow Dash and spoke out. "Rainbow, I am not comfortable accepting unwanted favors, so I'd appreciate it if you close up that rain cloud right now."

"Ugh, fine." She responded in a defeated way and every bit of the light left disappeared.

"That's better!" Twilight grinned as she lifted up her sandwich to take a bite, only to be literally soaked by her choice. Well… I was too… Spike only snickered at Twilight's drenched body and mane.

"Twilight! Alex!" We heard Rarity's voice not too far from us. "It's raining." She stated the obvious.

"No, really?" Twilight sarcastically added with an already irritated look to her face.

"Come with me before you catch a cold!" She exclaimed and immediately pulled Twilight out of her seat.

I lifted a hoof and tried to step in, but suddenly I was brought out of the picture as well. Another pair of hooves were placed on me and pulled me out of the area.

Before I knew it, I was indoors. I no longer felt the pummel of the rain on me and it sounded different as I was enclosed inside sturdy walls to keep the rain out. However, I couldn't really see anything besides the slight light from the window outside. I tried to find out where exactly I was, but it was too dark. It wasn't until the light suddenly turned on and I was greeted by a large wide grin on a pink pony. This…startled me.

"Hi there!" It was Pinkie Pie. "Saved ya from the rain, huh?!"

"Uh…" I was pretty speechless.

"So, I saw ya with Twilight at the café! Are you getting one of the tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala?" She asked.

Seeing how Rainbow Dash tried to pull off a similar stunt, I slightly squinted my eyes. "No…"

"Well…Twilight was having lunch with you. If you're not getting one of the tickets, you must be helping her choose the lucky ponies!"

"Or maybe I was just having lunch with her…" I attempted to bring in a very realistic scenario.

"Come on, Alex!" Pinkie Pie now seemed to be pleading, regardless of what I was saying. "I'll give you whatever you want if you can get her to take me to the gala with her! Cake! Pies! Candy!"

"No, Pinkie Pie!" I quickly asserted, being fed up with all this nonsense from the girls. "It's her decision! You can't make her choose you because you want to go!"

She threw herself to the floor and placed her hooves on mine, giving me this very pleading look. "Please, Alex!" She begged.

"No, Pinkie Pie."

"Please!" She requested again.

"No, Pinkie Pie!" I stated louder.

"Please!"

"No!"

"PleeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSEE!" She suddenly strained out her word so much that it became quite horrid and painful to the ear.

"You know, you're not going to get me to convince Twilight by just repeating the same word over and over." I commented on her actions.

"PleeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…"

She repeated her action again, and it didn't seem like she was stopping. I had just held a squinted and almost disgusted look on my face and walked out as she was too busy with…whatever she was doing.

I hurried back to the spot I previously was in before she could notice that I slipped out. Then, I headed in the direction I last remember Rarity pulling Twilight towards. While it was still raining pretty heavily, I searched for the location Twilight could have been. My strongest guess was that Twilight had to be in that boutique Rarity talked about last time, but I had no idea how it looked like or where exactly it was.

However, as I continued to walk in the direction they left, I noticed Spike running out of a large fancy building in a very dashing pace. That definitely has to be where Twilight is.

I pushed open the front door in the middle of a conversation between Rarity and Twilight.

"Wait, The Grand—" Twilight was saying suspiciously before Rarity cut her off with a loud gasp.

"And oh, my goodness," She stared at an outfit that was presented with a dress form as I walked in and closed the door behind me. "What a coincidence. I happen to have an ensemble of my own that matches yours to a T." She dashed over to Twilight, who was wearing the exact same outfit in front of a mirror, and placed a hoof around her as she spoke of her daydream at the gala. "We would be the belles of the ball, you and I. Everyone would be clamoring for our attention. All eyes would be on us, and then everyone would finally know, the most beautiful, most talented, most sophisticated pony in all of Equestria is Rarity the unicorn!" She exclaimed out loud as she stared up, her eyes shining brightly at the thought of it. I narrowed my eyes as I knew exactly what she was doing. "Ah," She laughed nervously when she noticed Twilight catching on to her trick. "…and Twilight Sparkle, of course…"

"I see what's going on." Twilight outstretched a hoof towards her as she backed away sheepishly. "You're just buttering me up so I give you one of the extra tickets. Well it's not gonna work. You're going to have to wait for my decision just like everyone else." She assured as she threw back the garments of her outfit at Rarity. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've been trying all day just to get some lunch." She noticed me as she walked towards the door to exit. She sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "These mares!" She opened the door, walked through, and shut it angrily behind her.

I didn't know if she was expecting me to follow her, but I had other plans. I've about had it with these mares as well for the very same reason before. Of course, I wouldn't and couldn't yell at them, but I just had to speak up for once…

Rarity cleared her throat a bit and slowly inched towards me. "Alex…would you be so kind and try to convince Twilight to—"

"No." I interrupted.

"No?" She withdrew in a surprised manner.

I sighed as well, using my anger and frustration to fuel my words. "You don't get it, do you? Let me try to put it in a way you'll understand." I looked around the interior of boutique and noticed all the designs and dress forms within, immediately catching that she must have been some fashion designer. "Okay," I began. "Two friends each want you to wear a certain dress out, but how could you possibly decide on which dress to pick from the both of them?"

Rarity placed a hoof on her chin and looked back in thought for a moment. "Why should I need to choose what they want me to wear when I can rather pick out something I want to wear for myself?"

"Exactly." I pointed out with an outstretched hoof. "But you girls aren't allowing Twilight the freedom to make that choice." I explained as she seemed to begin to be slowly realizing my message with her shifting facial expressions. "All you have are your friends shoving their opinions down your throat."

"Oh my." Rarity expressed in somewhat disbelief. "Is that what I've been doing all this time? Attempting to force Twilight to what I want her to wear? Why… that's not customer service at all!"

"Uh…" I returned in a flinching sort of a manner at her words. "In a metaphorical sense…yes…"

She placed a hoof to her forehead in dramatic shock. "I've been so blind!"

Before I could add anymore to that, the door opened to reveal Applejack walking in.

"Ugh." She expressed in slight frustration. "What does it take to get a little consideration for a ticket?"

I narrowed my eyes once again, glanced over at Rarity, and then to Applejack. "Let me explain." I began as I approached Applejack. "You see… Two friends each want you to eat a certain apple…"

I had to use the same method with Applejack, but only change up the scenario a bit to allow her to understand clearly. However, Pinkie Pie had bounced by, as she had been looking for me to wail and plead again with. Knowing what I had to do, I also explained to her the situation with cupcakes.

"Wow… I never thought about how stressed I would be if I had to choose between TWO cupcakes! I want to eat them all!" Pinkie Pie reacted nervously in her thoughts.

"Yeah, well… I hope you all see what I'm trying to say here. Twilight doesn't like what you all are doing, and she can't make her decision when you do it. If you all were true friends and really wanted the ticket, then you'd know to wait until she makes it."

Applejack removed her hat and held it as she looked away a little worried. "I suppose we should go and apologize to her…"

"I agree." Rarity returned.

"Me too!" Pinkie Pie added.

"Thanks for havin' us come to our senses, Alex…" Applejack stated as we began heading towards Twilight's home, which was where we were guessing she'd be at. Thankfully, it wasn't raining anymore, which caused me to wonder whether Rainbow Dash had made it rain for the favor purpose only or not.

"Yeah, I was about to grab everypony in Ponyville for a party just for her! But it'd be a party for only the ticket…" Pinkie Pie included.

"Well…it's best that that didn't happen…" I answered, relieved I wouldn't be having to convince so many ponies. "If you girls are already so worked up about tickets to the gala, who knows what would happen if everyone else found out…"

I was wondering whether we'd come across Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy on the way towards her treehouse, which was highly likely as they apparently wanted to really go to the gala as well. Nevertheless, we found Fluttershy in the middle of the walk, sitting and thinking to herself.

"Fluttershy?" Applejack asked, catching her attention.

"Oh!" She answered, lightly startled. "Hi, Applejack…" She moved her head to see the rest of us. "Rarity…Pinkie Pie…A—"

She suddenly stopped when she noticed me and quickly looked away, severely repeating the behavior from the time we met earlier.

"Fluttershy…" Applejack continued. "You haven't been bugging Twilight for a ticket, have you?"

"Well…" She became hesitant with her words as she continued looking away. "…yes…but…Angel just wanted to help me. He knew how much I wanted to go…I don't blame him. It's not his fault…"

"So…" Rarity offered. "Are you saying that you're not trying to get one of the tickets anymore?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "No… I feel awful about what I did…but I do really want to go…"

"Come with us!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed out loud cheerfully. "We're going to go apologize to her right now!"

"O-oh… Um…" Once again, she seemed as if she was scared or nervous. She carefully stood up and walked towards us, making sure to avoid looking in my direction. "…okay…" She finished quietly.

Well, I suppose I was relieved that I didn't need to repeat my short and simple speech to her, but I somehow felt she wouldn't really be difficult to convince either way…

It was nighttime by the time we arrived at Twilight's home. The lights were on, signaling that she was home.

"You think Rainbow's in there with her?" Applejack questioned to us.

"Only one way to found out…" I placed my hoof on the door and lightly pushed the door open.

The first thing we saw was Twilight turn quickly in our direction in a frantic manner. Rainbow Dash was behind her and Spike, flying near the window with a wide grin. After Twilight observed us for a moment. She placed her hooves on her temples and released a stress-induced scream. "Yaaaargh! I can't decide, I just can't decide!" She explained, clearly displaying her frightening frustration. "It's important to all of you and I just can't stand to disappoint any of you, and giving me gifts and doing me favors won't make any difference, because you're all my friends and I wanna make you all happy and I can't, I just can't!" She placed herself on the ground with her hooves covering her head as the girls around me looked at each other with frowns and guilty looks.

Applejack was the first to approach her. "Twilight, sugar, I didn't mean to put so much pressure on you, and if it helps, I don't want the ticket anymore. You can give it to somepony else. I won't feel bad, I promise."

"Me too." Fluttershy offered next. "I feel just awful that I made you feel so awful."

"And me too." Pinkie apologized loudly. "It's no fun upsetting your friends… and eating only two cupcakes…" She spoke the last part softly.

"Twilight, it was unfair of me to try to force you as I did." Rarity finished to their pile of regrets.

"Yes!" Rainbow Dash suddenly interrupted the moment. "That means one of the tickets is mine! Ha ha!" She proceeded in a sing-song voice. "I got a ticket, I got a ticket!" She turned over to us to spot us holding angry glares at her. "…you know, I haven't perfected my signature moves for The Wonderbolts anyway. I don't need a ticket either…"

"We all got so gun-ho about going to the gala that we couldn't see how un-gun-ho we were making you." Applejack explained.

"We're sorry, Twilight." They all apologized in unison, leading Twilight to remove her frown and replace it with a smile of relief.

"If there's any pony that deserves to go to the gala, it's Alex." Rarity pointed out, bringing the attention towards me.

I felt a little hot and looked away so I wouldn't have to make eye contact with any of them. I could only helplessly hear the conversation with the spotlight on me.

"Yeah," Applejack agreed. "Out of every one of us, he pushed some sense into us to see what we were doin' to you."

"I don't even want to go…" I managed to spit out.

"Oh, you absolutely should!" Rarity exclaimed. "You deserve it! And perhaps…you can take…me along…?"

I didn't say anything to that. Fortunately, Twilight was there to prevent any awkward silences.

"Spike, take down a note." Twilight requested from her dragon companion. He pulled out the required materials for a letter, allowing her to speak. "Dear Princess Celestia, I've learned that one of the joys of friendship is sharing your blessings, but when there's not enough blessings to go around, having more than your friends can make you feel pretty awful." She clarified as she glided the three tickets in the air, passing them by each of us and ending its destination inside the letter. "So, though I appreciate the invitation, I will be returning all of the tickets to The Grand Galloping Gala."

"What?!" The girls shouted out loud simultaneously.

"If my friends can't all go, I don't wanna go either." Twilight stated simply.

"Twilight, you don't have to do that!" Applejack responded with a slight guilt to her tone.

"Nope. I've made up my mind. Spike, you can send the letter now."

Spike opened the window and did so.

"Now you won't get to go to the gala either…" Fluttershy pointed a bit gloomily.

"It's okay." Twilight assured. "I couldn't possibly enjoy myself without my best friends there with me," They all united and surrounded Twilight to hug her in merry cheer. "So I would rather not go at all."

Yeah…she must not mean me…

On the other hoof, Spike was to my side, pointing down his throat in disgust. But he quickly retracted when he appeared as if he was going to be sick.

"Well wallop my withers, Spike." Applejack headed over to Spike, appearing to be irritated with Spike's childish behavior. "Isn't that just like a boy? Can't handle the least bit of sentiment." Spike suddenly belched, releasing most likely Princess Celestia's reply. "Whoa Nelly!"

"A letter from the princess?" Twilight commented once her eyes met it. "That was fast."

Spike grabbed hold onto the letter and read it out loud. "'My faithful student Twilight, why didn't you just say so in the first place?'" A group of tickets unexpectedly appeared from within the letter. "Seven tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala!" He waved the golden flashing tickets in the air in surprise.

"Now we can all go!" Twilight joyfully released, leading the other girls to cheer out loud. Rarity walked over to Twilight, just when her stomach rumbled once again. Twilight reacted with a nervous laugh.

"Allow us to treat you to dinner." Rarity proudly offered.

"What a great way to apologize." Rainbow Dash stated as they all happily walked out, each receiving their ticket from Spike.

"And to celebrate!" Pinkie Pie added. "Come on everyone, the cupcakes are on me!"

I had been standing back where I already was as the girls left. Spike began walking off and yawning as he still held the ticket.

Huh… I guess it was for him… Well, it doesn't surprise me… I didn't want to go anyway…

However, I was caught off guard when the ticket floated over to me. It continued to float right before my very eyes, as if the ticket itself knew it belonged to me…

"How come I don't get a ticket to the gala?" I heard Spike ask, having me see him sulking a bit before he burped out another letter. "'And one for you, Spike.'" Once he noticed there was another ticket in his letter, he then immediately began running out with it, holding it firmly in his claw as he giggled giddily. He instantly stopped when he noticed Applejack staring at him smugly with a crossed leg. "I mean, gross, I have to go too?" He asked with a feign expression of disgust. As soon as he passed her, he continued dashing out and giggling out loud.

Applejack only chuckled as he walked after him.

I stood there in silence, looking at my ticket.

I don't want to sound like I'm ungrateful…but I guess it isn't a surprise that Princess Celestia sent me a ticket too… She's been really wanting to see me for so long… But that's the thing… What exactly am I going to do at this…dance…? Oh, I know. I'll be a wallflower. Of course.

"Hey!" I heard a voice, leading me to look over the ticket to see who it was. It was Twilight, who was smiling very brightly at me. "Come on!" She immediately trotted over to me, grabbed my hoof, and pulled me hurriedly out of the library.

That…was a surprise.

She took me to Sugarcube Corner.

I really wasn't expecting it at all. I had already felt that they were heading off without me. They didn't need me right? What could I possibly offer that could make any difference? But Twilight took me anyway. She went out of her way to come galloping all the way back to her library and take me along with them. Why? I really want to know why…

The girls were circled around one of the largest tables in the building. Twilight plopped me down on a seat next to her. Was there a reason for this? Even if it was a good thing, that didn't help on how anxious I got around everypony else. They were all talking and doing their own thing with each other while I only sat there by myself. I felt as if I was making things worse. It was just like I was a hole that was making their circle empty and incomplete. But they didn't seem bothered by it…

Either way, anytime they tried to talk to me or even possibly want to add me into the conversation, I could only cope with it as much as I could. I really wasn't good with this kind of thing.

After what felt like hours, even though I excused myself several times to go to the bathroom or outside to do nothing but stall, the girls appeared to be preparing for their departure. Applejack talked about bucking apples, Rainbow Dash needed to manage the weather and practice more on her stunts, especially since they finally knew they were all going to the Grand Galloping Gala. The others had their own excuses for shuteye.

"Sleep? Who needs sleep? I'm wide awake! Woohoo!" Pinkie Pie bounced around energetically.

"Pinkie Pie, you're going to wake the whole town!" Twilight tried to shush her.

"Aww… I guess I could try to go to bed with hot cookies and warm milk…"

They ended the night with the common expression and began walking out. Pinkie Pie walked into the kitchen to possibly make herself the treat she mentioned before.

I continued sitting at the table in silence, feeling a little…empty… I couldn't really figure out if I really filled in the space that was left for me tonight. I felt like I really didn't do anything at all…but I can't pretend to be sociable or whatever I'm expected to act nowadays…

"Hey…" I heard that single word once again. It was by the same pony. Twilight hadn't even left yet and I was startled to know she was still in the room.

"Twilight?" I questioned, looking back at her. "…shouldn't you be taking Spike home?" I wondered after seeing the baby dragon on the floor napping.

Twilight chuckled softly for a moment, taking a glance at Spike.

"I just wanted to… thank you." She mentioned, but I wasn't really affected.

"For what?" I merely inquired about while resting my head effortlessly on the tabletop.

"You really helped me out today." She responded.

"Did I?" I unaffectedly asked again.

"Mm-hm!" I heard her hoofsteps towards my position.

They stopped near me, and there was a brief silence. I turned to her in wonder of what she wanted. She only continued smiling at me in this…appreciative manner.

"What?"

She didn't answer with words.

Instead, I was completely surprised when she squeezed me joyfully as she wrapped her hooves around me. She couldn't see my face, but my eyes widened and I felt myself starting to panic. My nerves immediately tensed up and I couldn't say anything. My heart began beating fast and felt as if it wanted to come out of my chest. This seemed to grab Twilight's attention and catch her off-guard as she had released a small sound of surprise.

"…are you okay?" She asked me, but I couldn't bring any words out. Afterwards, she lightly pulled away to where she could see me but kept her hooves on my shoulders. I felt embarrassed that she could see me in such a state that I was in, so I turned my head away towards the floor. I don't know what gave her the need to, but she placed a hoof on my chest as if I was some foreign object from nowhere. "…your heart… It's beating so fast… Why?" I still couldn't. After some silence, she gasped and pulled off her hooves. "Oh my gosh… Are you… Are you Chiraptophobic?" I stared at her a little in silence from her…long word. "I…I didn't know. I'm sorry!" She immediately apologized.

"…It's not like that…" I tried to explain, but it was quite hard to.

"What is it?" She asked, patiently but worriedly wanting to know.

"…it's…" Images of Twilight from my recent dream formed in my mind. If she could see what I was seeing inside of me…she'd know why…

"It's…?" She wanted me to continue, tilting and inching her head closer to me.

An intense battle commenced in my head on what decision to make. Do I try to force myself to speak out to Twilight? Or do I just keep my mouth shut? What if she laughs at me or doesn't want to speak to me again after I tell her the truth? I can't handle another humiliation like that… But…I feel like I want to tell her… But…I can't…

"…I can't…" I barely spat out.

"I'm sorry?" She returned.

After, I could only feel my mouth remain shut, and the closest I could make out to words were muffled noises.

She slowly began bringing out a hoof towards me as she formed a worried look on her face.

I didn't want to be in the current situation I was anymore. It was horrible. I looked over to Spike and figured I could try to end the issue by referring to him. "You should take Spike home…"

Twilight stopped her hoof and glanced over to Spike. "Oh… Okay…" She stood up, looked at Spike, and used her magic to pick him up lightly and place him on her back. "I'll…see you later, okay?"

"Yeah…okay…" She walked towards the door hesitantly. I began feeling immediately bad as soon as she placed her hoof on the door and pushed it open. I needed to do something, but I was too afraid to do anything really… It wasn't until she was about to completely leave when I called her. "Twilight…"

"Hm?" She turned her head back to me.

Shakily, I stepped up to her until I was close enough. Then, I looked away and brought up my right hoof to her sight. She appeared to be slightly confused when staring at my hoof and at me. However, it appeared she got the message when she brought up her hoof and shook it with mine. I wasn't brave enough for an embrace. A hoof shake was all I could really do. I also wanted to show her that my fear of touch wasn't exactly a full blown out phobia, but it was more of something I was afraid of screwing up.

"Goodnight…" I stated softly.

Taking a moment of silence, she repeated it as well. "Goodnight, Alex…"

When she managed to turn back outside, she continued her walk to home. As I stared at her walk off, I couldn't help but feel as if she was disappointed. I don't want to mess up things again…

"Cookie?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in the form of a question as she popped up behind me, holding up a plate of hot cookies.

"No thanks." I blankly answered.

"Okie dokie! Bye bye!" She cheerily returned and most likely raced off to her room.

I sighed and had no choice but to exit the closed shop.

I dragged my hooves against the road, kicking a few rocks depressively but a little angrily as well. I always felt like I hated myself for the way I was. That conversation with Twilight was going to be on my mind for at least the rest of the night.

However, as I was grumbling mentally to myself, I came across something soothing. There was this singing that I've never really heard before. It was really soft, but nevertheless strong. I curiously searched for it nearby until I met with this gentle stream of water. The singing became louder as I had grown closer to it. I turned towards the source, soon realizing it was actually Fluttershy. Feeling like I just…had to interact with her, I began stepping towards her until I planted my hoof on a twig and created a loud crunching noise.

She instantly gasped in a great startle and turned to notice me. She flinched significantly at the sight of me and clearly revealed intimated body language, indicating she wasn't so likely to welcome my company.

"Sorry…" I quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you. I'll just be going now…" I turned and wanted to walk away as fast as I could to avoid any awkwardness.

"Wait." She surprisingly called, stopping me in my tracks. I slowly turned around to try to face her. "…A…Alex…right?" She questioned a little nervously.

"…Yeah." I answered briefly. I was still shocked as this was the first time she was actually talking to me.

"…sorry…" She apologized for a reason I really didn't know why. "I…haven't really talked to you…"

I felt a little push in me, as if something was trying to encourage me to get closer to talk with her. I really didn't feel intimidated by this pony, so it was easier to fulfill this wish. I managed to walk closer and even take a seat next to her. "That's alright…" I assured.

Staring at the body of water in front of her, she continued conversing lightly. "No, no. It isn't… I'm just…" She paused, seeming to be unable to finish her sentence.

"…shy?" I finished for her, seeing as I was already knowing exactly how she felt.

She slightly scrunched her eyes and looked down a bit shamefully. "…yes…"

"That's okay… I understand…" I responded as I looked away at my own spot as well.

"…you do?" She asked with the same low volume of her voice.

"Yeah…"

After that, there was this kind of…disturbing silence, well to me at least. I couldn't tell if Fluttershy was looking around with nothing to say as I didn't want to take a glance at her in case she freaked out.

I didn't know what to do at this point. I couldn't back out like a wimp this time… Not again, and not to her. Scrubbing my right hoof with my left a little roughly, I finally managed to speak out to her.

"…so…what do you do?" I questioned.

"…what do you mean?" She continued to look away, but glanced over to me. I actually managed to notice that same light shade of red across her face, despite the lack of light.

"Do you…take care of animals…?" I asked but then lowered my volume in the case I got it wrong. "…or something…?" It was the only idea I had from my past experiences with her. The night of Nightmare Moon and earlier today.

"Yes, I do!" She began showing some soft excitement, but then quickly retreated from it. "…I really like animals… They're…really sweet."

Feeling a little embarrassed and hesitant, I decided I could take a look at her flank. "…is that how you got your cutie mark?"

Instead of trading back words, her blush lightly grew and she nodded back. I didn't feel like I could bring anything else back up, so I looked back at the water and remained silent. "…what about you?" she asked.

"Me…?" I replied a little confusingly, being caught off-guard.

"Yes…" She rubbed her hoof on the ground. "…what do you do?"

I began feeling uneasy. What exactly did I have to say to her? Nothing, right? "…I don't know…"

Fluttershy found the strength to glance at my flank as well. "…what about your mark? Do you…like to help animals too?" She asked after noticing the similarity with her own.

"…no…" I answered, seeing how that definitely wasn't it. Especially after how I got it. Fluttershy seemed to be waiting for another answer to her other question. I didn't really want the attention on me anymore, so I gave her a response that I would have to anypony. "It's long story."

"…long…story…?" She tried to ask about it.

But it was something I definitely couldn't talk about at all.

"Don't worry about it. It's nothing." I unfortunately lied about in a rapid manner.

"…are you…?" She tried to speak and raise a hoof while looking at me, but it seemed too much for her.

In order to prevent anything to make the conversation…well…bad, I decided I should leave. "I should get going… It's getting really late anyway…"

"Oh…okay…" She looked back at the ground and rubbed her hooves timidly together. "…maybe…I'll…see you…tomorrow…? …if that's okay…"

"Okay." I stated as I stood up. "Goodnight…"

"…goodnight." She ended with her hoof rubbing against the ground.

Feeling as if I had failed another conversation, I reluctantly turned around and began walking home.

As I stared at the ceiling while lying on my bed, I couldn't fall asleep. Everything about today bothered me. They always do. I end up desperately hoping that I actually hadn't screwed up anything I interacted with. It was a confusing process even to me.

My eyes drifted towards the desk nearby. The same area where I wrote that little note or paper or whatever from last time. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to write something else…? Just something to hopefully get my mind off things…

I rolled off bed and walked a few steps towards the apparent writing station. Seeing my paper below the pencil from the other night, I grabbed a new blank piece of paper and picked up my pencil to write. I wasn't in the mood to begin with an amazing intro, so I just decided to write whatever was on my mind. It was for me anyway, not to share with anyone else. Absolutely not.

These mares. I'm so confused. They fought over each other for those two extra tickets to some big dance and later just got over it like it was nothing. I don't understand. I thought when ponies fought over something, they keep a grudge about it? But these mares forgave each other. Does this have to do with what Princess Celestia mentioned about? The whole deal with friendship? Well…maybe it has to do with those different feelings I have for these certain mares. Though their actions seem different from the others, my own remain the same. I can't change and I can't tell whether I should hate myself for it or just deal with it. So much confusion… I can't even think right now… Before I give up this writing, one more question I have to ask is…why do I feel like I'm able to…well…relate and talk more to Fluttershy? But still feel nervous at the same time?

My pencil created a sort of nonsensical line and then it just dropped on the paper. I didn't feel like writing anymore. Simultaneously, it felt useless…but also kind of made me feel better.

Forget this. I don't even know if I'm talking right.

With my eyes, I looked over to my right and still noticed that dumb ticket following me.

"Ugh." I grabbed the ticket with my hoof and placed it on the table.

I would have thought it was my crazy imagination for a minute there.

Feeling the absolute need, I fell on my bed and closed my eyes.

I don't want to think anymore.

Stubborn as a Mule

I stared blankly at the empty piece of paper in front of me. The bottom of my head was resting silently on the wooden table in same area. The noticeable but undisturbing ticking noise of the clock in the room rhythmically sounded.

I couldn't think of anything for the party that was being held for Applejack after she saved the town from a surprising and odd stampede led not by creatures you'd think would host a stampede but by cows. A herd of cows. I've never heard anything of the likes and never expected so. But it happened.

My mind was blank, and as soon as I tried concentrating on what to think of, my wondering thoughts would immediately interrupt. I only continued staring at the fresh piece in silence.

Afterwards, the pencil slowly escaped from my lips and onto the table. Then, I only allowed gravity and my head to shift in movement and plant my face on the table instead.

As I stepped outside my home, I was pretty dazed in astonishment after seeing how much the town worked to get the decorations up everywhere the eye could see. They did all this work for one single pony. She did save the town after all…

I walked through town, analyzing every piece of décor as ponies continued to joyfully do their work. To me, the décor already looked like it was enough or finished, but I guess the ponies in Ponyville really appreciated Applejack to go above and beyond. It's as if she has done this so many times, it's like the usual thing for Ponyville to do. There were just bunches of balloons, banners, and large ribbons everywhere.

"Alex, there you are!" Rarity spotted me and grabbed my right foreleg with her hoof.

"Rarity?" I questioned her sudden appearance.

"Come with me!" She pulled me across towards another part of town with no warning. She led me to this area near the town hall. There was a tree in front of us, but beneath the branches were decorative supplies. "What do you think?" She asked me, leaving me no clue on what exactly she was talking about.

"What?" I merely asked.

"The décor, darling." She mentioned, flipping a hoof towards the stuff on the ground. "How should we use our fabulous artistic skills to make this bare place a wondrous beauty?"

…she was really asking the wrong pony.

"I don't know." I looked blankly at our surroundings. "I only said I drew a little."

"O-o-oh, Alex." She expressed as she laughed, finding my response funny for some reason. "Everything begins in your mind, and the tool you use is to create it into a living thing!" She cleared her throat and lightly bounced the loose part of her mane with her a hoof a bit. "Figuratively speaking of course…" Giving no response, she continued to speak. "Look at this tree, Alex." She brought my attention to the regular old tree in front of us. "How could you possibly liven its beauty? You can't place a dress on it. You can't give it a makeover. You can't even wrap this large banner around it." She presented the banner she was talking about with both her front hooves. It was larger than the average banners I found among Ponyville. "What can you do?" She asked as she tapped a hoof on her chin, eyeing the tree analytically. "Ah, but think of things that make you happy, or whatever fits the occasion." She placed a hoof on the bark of the tree. "Gifts always make me happy. Ah, there's an idea!" Using her magic, she received a spare of silky soft red ribbon. She gracefully wrapped around the tree and tied the end into an elegant bow. Tightly securing it, she pulled on it with her teeth. "Voilà!" She presented it with an outstretched hoof. "See how beautiful it looks? One little thing can make up a whole lot!"

I didn't take Rarity's message for granted. I know I didn't look like I was shockingly amazed…but I was.

"Hey, you two!" Twilight approached up with a heartily greeting. "We all ready?" She asked as Spike sat on her back.

"Just one last thing." Rarity returned and levitated the humongous banner she presented earlier with her magic. She managed to hang it across the top of Town Hall, giving it an absolute decorative look along with the balloons around it. "Now we're ready."

"Is Applejack all set?" Twilight questioned.

"Actually, I haven't seen her all week." Rainbow Dash flew in and landed by me in the group.

"Not since the stampede." Pinkie Pie joined as well, nonetheless having a cheerful look to her face.

"But she'll be here for sure. Applejack is never late." Rainbow Dash assured.

"Well then, I better get ready for my speech." Twilight excused herself. "I'll see you all at the ceremony!"

They waved her off as they headed for their own activities, leaving Rarity and me.

"Take a walk with me." She pleaded politely. Silently, I obeyed so. "I hope you've learned something new with that little demonstration from me." She mentioned to me.

Honestly, I did, I think. She somehow made me look at something in a different way. She kind of made me realize that it is possible to be good at something, as long as you're capable of accomplishing the little steps between. In short, what looks like a huge leap can really be taken with baby steps.

Of course, I couldn't really express these emotions into words, so I could only give…well…a probably unappreciative sounding answer.

"Yeah…I guess…"

"You should come over to my boutique and see me in work sometime, darling." She offered. "My designs are a perfect example on how everything starts with a touch of a pencil!"

I didn't want to give a straight answer to that, as I didn't want to guarantee anything. I merely looked slightly to the side and held my head down a little low. "Sure…" I spoke softly.

Rarity and I had rejoined the others in front of the stage where the speech was to be announced. A massive group of ponies had formed behind us, leading me to believe that this may have been every single pony in Ponyville. Wow…

Twilight began walking towards the podium and straightened out her note cards. I was really impressed with her ability to walk in front of all of us like it was nothing. I probably would have melted where she was standing. With a bright smile, she greeted everyone from Ponyville.

"Welcome, everypony! Today we are here to honor a pony we can always count on to help in matters great and small." She placed the first index card in the bottom of the stack and lifted up the next one. I don't know why she had them if she didn't even really seem to be looking at them. I suppose she just loved being organized… "A pony whose contributions to—"

Rainbow Dash suddenly flew in uninvited, joining Twilight on the podium in an excited manner. "Did you see Applejack's slick moves out there? What an athlete." She continued exclaiming out her exhilaration while Twilight could only look back in annoyance. This week she's gonna help me with my new flying trick, and I know it's gonna be so awesome!" She squealed, pressing her cheeks inwards with both of her hooves.

"Exactly." Twilight pushed Rainbow Dash away in order to try to regain control. "And..." She announced, continuing from her speech until Pinkie Pie zipped into stage.

"This week, I get to run Sugarcube Corner for the first time!" She gladly broadcasted.

"What does that have to do with Applejack?" Twilight inquired.

Pinkie Pie returned a series of blinks in silence until she remembered about the subject. "Oh. Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me. Applejack makes everything great, so free samples for everypony!

The crowd cheered. Twilight allowed this for a few seconds until she shoved Pinkie Pie off of the podium. "Oh-kay, that's great. Now if I could just make a point without being inter—"

"Twilight?" Fluttershy surprisingly revealed herself from below the podium.

"-rupted." Twilight nonetheless scooched over to allow the tender Fluttershy to reveal her announcement.

"Twilight, I'm so sorry," Fluttershy apologized in acknowledgement. "…but I just wanted to mention that Applejack is also helping me this week with the official bunny census, where we count up all the new baby bunnies that were born this season. She's gonna help gather them using her wonderful herding skills."

Twilight seemed to have enough, as she sent her a glare that appeared to softly frighten her away.

"Anyone else?" She asked bitterly in frustration as she stared among the crowd. "Anyone?" There was a cough as everyone looked around awkwardly. "No?" She picked up the cards to where she left off. "Well then, as I was trying to say..." She looked to her side to notice the mayor excitedly wanting to the take the stand. "Urgh!" She threw out her cards angrily and walked away. "Never mind."

She took a place near me and sat down forcefully while crossing her forelegs furiously.

"Sorry…" I apologized in a gentle voice. I felt like I wanted to at least place a hoof on her in comfort, but the thoughts of the negative reactions that might be displayed prevented me from doing so.

"Ah-ahem." They mayor cleared her throat. "And so, with no further ado, it is my privilege to give the prize, Pony of Ponyville Award, to our beloved guest of honor, a pony of the utmost trustworthiness, reliability, and integrity. Ponyville's most capable and dependable friend: Applejack!" She presented the area where the curtains opened, but there was no pony there.

The crowd had cheered once again, but immediately died down once they realized Applejack's false appearance. However, Spike didn't seem to notice this as he continued to cheer.

"Cool! Way to go, Applejack. That was awesome! I mean—" He stopped when he realized the others were staring at him, forming a blush of embarrassment afterwards.

The mayor rubbed her head and cleared her throat once again as if she was signaling Applejack to come out from hiding behind the curtains. "Ah-ahem."

"Awkward." Spike mentioned before Applejack's voice suddenly sounded from around the crowd.

"I'm here! I'm here." She yawned loudly and sighed as she walked through the crowd. "Sorry I'm late—whoa—I was just... whoa... Did I get your tail?" I noticed she was carrying a basket full of apples, but a lot of them seemed to drop onto the ground nonetheless. "Miss Mayor." She made her way onto the stage, but something about her looked an awful lot different. "Thank you kindly for this here... award thingy." She yawned again. "It's so bright and shiny and, heh, heh heh, I sure do look funny heh. Ooo-ooo." She released while staring at the reflection on the trophy.

"Woo-ooo!" Pinkie Pie joined her energetically.

They continued making this sound until Twilight walked on stage to finish the ceremony. "Okay. Well, thank you Applejack for saving us from that scary stampede, and always being there for everypony."

Beginning with yet another yawn, she answered to Twilight. "Yeah. I like helping the ponyfolks and…" Another yawn. "and stuff." Her eyes had been closed for longer than they should have and led her to begin snoring all of a sudden. Twilight looked back in confusion while Pinkie Pie remained unaffected. Applejack woke up in a jolt. "Oh, uh, yeah. Uh, Thanks." She grabbed the side of the trophy and literally dragged it across the stage and on the dirt, leaving us with a quite momentarily uncomfortable sound.

"Was it just me, or did Applejack seem a little—"

"Tired?" Rainbow Dash mentioned after Twilight.

"Dizzy?" Fluttershy offered.

"Messy?" Rarity completed, but received weird stares from the others. "Well, did you see her mane?" She pointed out.

"She seemed fine to me!" Pinkie Pie bounced in. "Woo! Woo!" She repeated, leaving Twilight to stare back at Applejack's direction in curiosity.

"Hmm." She began walking off the stage. "I'm going to go have a talk with her."

Everypony seemed okay with it, but for some reason, my foreleg pulled me forward and I spoke up unintentionally. "Wait."

"Huh?" She looked back in question.

I didn't even know why I was saying what I am saying now. "I want to go talk to her…"

"Oh. Um…" Twilight seemed surprised. "Okay. Can you make sure she's alright?"

"…yeah…" I merely returned as I walked past the others, including Twilight, and headed off in Applejack's direction instead...

As I walked towards Sweet Apple Acres, I was stuck wondering why I did what I did. Why did I push myself so suddenly? Was there a reason to? Did I really want to know why Applejack looked the way she did? Maybe I did… Maybe it's because for how long I've technically known her, but never really treated her more than a pony I did business with…

Back to reality, I was relieved I didn't stray off too much in going after Applejack, otherwise I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to find her in so many acres of trees. I heard sounds of grunts, yawns, and sighs, leading me to follow them easily. There were also sounds of slow paced bucks and apples falling to their place. In only a short amount of time, I was able to see Applejack tiredly attempting to buck a specific tree, but she had already previously taken down the apples from it. She moved to the side and kicked over a bucket of apples instead.

"Whoops." She expressed before continuing on.

Is she supposed to be doing all this by herself?

"Uh…" I released and tried to slowly confront her. "Applejack…?"

Instead of answering, her head fell forward and her eyes flopped down. She began snoring quietly.

"neigh…neigh…" She sounded as I cautiously approached her.

It wasn't until I had the guts to place a hoof on her when she finally woke up startled, leading me to quickly retract my hoof. "Oh!" She shook her head wildly. Afterwards, she stared intently at me as if she was trying to figure out who I was. "Howdy, Alex."

That was all she said. Usually, she would have wanted to be much more interactive with me, but instead, she didn't have the energy to.

"…what's going on?" I asked.

"Just buckin' some apples." She answered, walking past me towards somewhere else.

I looked around to notice the buckets full of apples. "It looks like you've worked enough…" I decided to follow behind her. "You look like you need to sleep."

"Can't. It's Applebuck Season." She faced her back legs at a tree and kicked it, bringing the apples from the tree into the buckets down below.

"Huh?" I continued to follow her, hoping she wouldn't find it bothersome.

"It's what the Apple family calls harvestin' time." She explained. "We gather all the apples from the trees so we can sell 'em." I noticed her eyes could barely keep themselves open.

"Do you…usually do it alone?" I asked, remaining cautious to my choice of words.

"No, my big brother helps me, but he hurt himself. So… I gotta make up for his work." She approached another tree, aimed her back legs at it, and gave it another strong kick. "Ugh."

I looked around for a moment in a slight nervous thought. I wasn't too afraid with her conversation, as she seemed too tired to return any emotions at all. But, I couldn't help but feel bad at seeing her do all this work… I had to at least offer her some help.

"…can I help you?"

"Help?" She stopped in her tracks to shake her head in a determined manner. "No way, no how."

"But you look in terrible shape. You can't possibly continue to do all this." I tried to reason.

She turned around and seemed to glare at me with an irritated mood. "Are you tryin' to say something?"

"N-no…" I tried to answer, feeling my fears take over. "I didn't mean anything bad by that… I-I just…"

She released an angry sigh and turned around, walking away. "I've got to get back to buckin' apples."

I didn't dare try to approach her again. I felt my heart sink as I've already done something horribly wrong. As I turned away sadly to head back to town, I desperately hoped she didn't hate me for what I did.

As I arrived back in Ponyville, Twilight seemed to find me and approached me by my side. "Hey! Did you find out what was going on with Applejack?"

"…yeah…" I answered unenthusiastically, feeling too down to say anything at all.

"What is it?" Twilight noticed my sulky behavior, lowering her head to meet with mine. "Did something happen?" I honestly couldn't really answer truthfully on that, so I only continued to walk and remain silent. There wasn't really a word from Twilight for a moment either. "Hey… Why don't we go to my place? You can explain there."

I wasn't sure whether I would be comfortable with that offer, but I couldn't leave her hanging and it was a more private place after all…

"…okay…" I accepted.

"Make yourself at home!" She encouraged as she walked inside with me trailing behind her. I stared at the massive amount of books in each shelf standing at the sides of the room. "I just hope you don't get bored. I usually tend to read most of the time."

"…it's fine." I returned.

Twilight grabbed a few books off the shelves and walked up towards the balcony. There was nothing for me to do here, so I decided to take her company.

As I reached the balcony, I noticed her cracking open a book and lying it on top of two others for support. Silently, she began reading. This slightly made me feel better. The fact that she wasn't demanding the information about what happened from me was…warming. She actually appeared…sensitive to my emotions and patient for when I decided to talk about it. Either way, it was more like she invited me so I could get myself together and tell her then. She didn't mind waiting.

I didn't want to trail it on though. I didn't want to make her wait because I'm too stupidly emotional to say anything. Was it anything to get so worked up over anyway? I figured it'd be better just to get it out of the way as soon as possible.

"Applejack isn't doing too good…" I finally announced, surprising Twilight.

"Huh?" She looked away from her book at me.

"She's like…bucking all these apples because it's the time that her family harvests apples to sell them." I explained as I stared at the wooden floor. "She's doing it alone because her brother hurt himself and now she has to work twenty-four seven to make up for his work."

"That's horrible." Twilight expressed with a worried expression.

I hesitated for the next part. "…I tried to offer some help…but she got angry at me. I guess she wants to do it on her own."

"We should go talk to her." She suggested, but I shook my head.

"Trust me, she's going to say no, and I don't think it's going to change anytime soon."

Twilight sighed and nodded her head lightly. "I just hope she's alright. She also supposed to help out the others with…whatever they're doing."

I didn't know what to say, so I just acknowledged that. "I know."

After, I rested myself, not in boredom, but in slight sadness. I faced away from Twilight, so she couldn't really see my face. It was silent, but fortunately not awkward silent as she seemed more into her books. However, at one point, she decided to speak.

"Hey…" I lifted my body up and looked at her. "You know…this time shouldn't be spent on me just reading my books. We should talk."

Uh-oh…

"…about what?" I asked.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I'd like to get to know you more, if you don't mind."

I kind of mind, but I'll try not to.

"…okay…"

She patted the area in front of her, leaving me to worriedly follow her request. I had nothing to say, so she began the conversation.

"So, tell me about yourself. Is there anything you want to be when you grow older?" She asked with another small beaming smile on her face.

Wow. I've never really thought about that actually.

"Well…" I answered without making eye contact too much. "I guess… I've always…kind of…wanted to be an artist but…" I shrugged. "I don't really know if that's anything I'm good at."

"I'm sure you are." She assured. "I'd love to see some of your stuff sometime, if that's okay."

"…yeah…" I merely said. "…what about you?"

"Boy, well…" She placed a hoof on her chin and thought. "I don't really know how to answer that in a straightforward way but… I pretty much want something to do with my studies and magic. I don't have an exact career in mind…but you know…somewhere around that area."

"Oh." I became silent. That other night when Twilight hugged me was beginning to really bother me. I just feel like I needed to bring closure to it after being right in front of the same pony. "Ugh." I grunted lightly and stood up to turn away.

"What? What is it?" She asked of my sudden change of emotion.

"I'm sorry." I apologized.

"For what?"

I was hesitant in my answers. "…that other night…when I freaked you out…I didn't mean…" I sighed and stopped myself, as I didn't even plan on what to say.

"Hey, it's fine. I understand. We all have our comfort zones." Twilight responded understandingly.

"Yeah…" I nodded my head. Thank you. "…but I still feel bad."

"Don't be. I just don't want to make you feel uncomfortable…"

I stared down at the floor for a moment and then turned towards her. "…thanks."

She answered that with another smile.

I placed my hooves on the railing surrounding the balcony and looked out at the ground a certain distance below our current location.

Do you ever get the feeling that if ponies knew how pathetic you really were, no one would ever talk to you? That's what I wanted to tell her. But, of course this wasn't directed at her. I wasn't describing her, I was indirectly describing myself. There was so much I wanted to share with someone I could trust, but I'm just so afraid to talk to anyone…even a professional…

A distant scream that grew louder by the second interrupted me from my thoughts. Before I could know what was happening, I was knocked backwards, falling on my back near Twilight.

She gasped, noticing my condition. "Are you okay?!"

I sighed lightly. Perhaps just a little humiliated… "…yeah."

She turned to see what the source of the problem was. We both noticed it was Rainbow Dash, who was leaning over the railing exhaustedly and disordered.

"…Can I help you?" Twilight asked in a casual but puzzled tone.

"I...think…somepony else…needs your help…" Rainbow Dash returned in a jumbled state with pauses between almost every word. It was as if she could barely string together a sentence.

Twilight turned towards me, and then back at Rainbow Dash. "Applejack?" She asked, most likely recalling her part in the interruptions of her speech and how they related to Applejack's condition.

"Yep." Rainbow Dash connected sterningly before passing out on Twilight's railing.

In silence, Twilight looked down and closed her book firmly. She levitated them with her magic and stood up. "Come on." She stated as she turned around to head back into the library, as if she was completely oblivious to the fact that Rainbow Dash was unconscious on her balcony railing.

"Is she going to be okay…?" I asked as I followed Twilight but glanced over at Rainbow Dash at the same time.

"I'm sure she will." Twilight answered with no hint of worriment as she organized the books into the shelves without even looking.

"You're…sure…?" I questioned with a hint of doubt.

"Hey, for a pegasus who loves practicing her daredevil moves instead of doing what she's supposed to, I don't even think I need to prove that this isn't the first time that this has happened."

"I guess you got me there…" I mentioned before we left out the door.

It actually took me a while before I realized what I did. I was going back to see Applejack, despite our little…conversation. I had completely forgotten for that moment because of Rainbow Dash's unconscious state. She probably didn't mean what she said, but I still couldn't really see her face-to-face after that. I couldn't back out now, though. I probably could, but I'd have to say something stupid to make an excuse. Ugh… What is wrong with me?

"Where'd you see her the last time you were here?" Twilight asked me as we were already deep into the sunny orchards.

"Um…" I looked around and tried to remember if there were any familiar objects and obstacles besides trees and apples. I didn't really seem to recall anything that helped, but then I spotted this white long wooden fence. I believe I did see that in the background from my last visit, but it wasn't anything promising. I wasn't too sure about saying this, as I didn't want to be wrong, but then I realized something else I could use to my advantage. The area we were in were already bucked. All the apples in the buckets were from the now empty trees. But the trees around the white fence were still filled. She had to be somewhere nearby. "I think she's here." I spoke. "Those trees haven't been picked yet." I pointed.

Twilight scanned across until we heard multiple thuds on the ground from a distance. Around the same area, we spotted Applejack staring motionless at an unbucked tree.

"What on earth is she doing…?" Twilight questioned. Of course, I definitely didn't want to offer any more words, so I greatly allowed Twilight to walk ahead of me and approach Applejack. "Applejack, can we talk?"

Applejack reacted by turning, squinting her eyes at Twilight, and flopping her ear with her hoof as if she was attempting to translate Twilight's normal words in her brain.

"CAN BEES SQUAWK?! I DON'T THINK SO." She stated out loud like if she was talking in a super noisy environment.

"No. Can we talk?" Twilight repeated calmly.

"TWENTY STALKS? BEAN OR CELERY?" Applejack now shouted at the same volume.

"No! I need to talk to you!" Twilight now began to raise the volume of her voice to get Applejack to hear her clearly.

"YOU NEED TO WALK TO THE ZOO? WELL, WHO'S STOPPIN' YOU?"

"I need to TALK to you!"

"OH! WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO? WHAT YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT?"

"Rainbow Dash dropped in to see me today."

"THAT'S QUITE NEIGHBORLY OF HER."

"Yes, except that she crashed onto my balcony after you launched her into the air."

"Oh, yeah…" Applejack finally lowered her voice after I had been flinching a bit from the bothersome volume. "I wasn't feeling quite myself this morning." She explained as she held her head down tiredly, lightening me up a little.

"Because you're working too hard and you need help." Twilight greatly recommended.

"What? Kelp? I don't need kelp. I don't even like seaweed." Applejack responded, retrieving the slightly altered messaged again.

"HELP! You need HELP!" Twilight corrected very loudly, stinging my ears a bit.

"Nothin' doin', Twilight." Applejack expectedly answered. "I'm gonna prove to you," She glanced over to me, noticing that I was brought along as well. "…t'everypony," She included, most likely because of our last talk, which brought me back down again. "…that I can do this on my own." She began walking away but then struck her head directly against a branch. "Ow!" She expressed and looked back with both her eyes in odd directions. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go help Pinkie Pie." She declared as she stumbled across the grass in a dizzy manner.

Twilight sighed and groaned out loudly. "Now I see what you mean…" She told me. We made our own way out of Sweet Apple Acres while I remained silent along the way. I could feel Twilight looking at me at certain times. "Listen…whatever she told you before…just remember it's not her. She's just being a stubborn pony and all this work with no rest is making her almost delirious! Don't take it personally if she sounded a little mean."

Twilight's words of encouragement wanted to help, but it still was unable to change my mood entirely. "Yeah…okay."

I spent most of the time returning to Ponyville thinking. Anyone could have easily believed I thought too much over little things. I don't know if they would be right, but nevertheless it's who I am. I have to admit, thinking did have its benefits…which led me to one thing…

Applejack, one of the best bakers ever, is gonna help me. Applejack makes everything great, so free samples for everypony!

Rainbow Dash already became unconscious because of Applejack's behavior, but what if she's in charge of food for the entire town?! If she's not focused on her baking, what if she practically poisons everypony?!

"Twilight…" I mentioned with a face struck with fear, as if I had forgotten something terribly important.

"Huh?" She returned.

"I've got to go to Sugarcube Corner."

"But…isn't that where Applejack is heading?" Twilight questioned, unaware of what I had just thought of.

"Exactly. Applejack isn't in the condition to bake samples for Ponyville!" I explained frankly.

Twilight lightly gasped. "You're right! Want me to come too?"

"No thanks…" I answered, feeling better off on my own. "I'll take care of this."

"Okay." Twilight understood, nodding her head. "Good luck, alright? Remember what I said."

"Yeah…" I'll try… "…thanks."

Afterwards, I hurried off to the sweet shop.

I didn't run or sprint. I rather just walked hurriedly with an occasional trot between.

After walking in and hearing the doorbell ring, I heard Pinkie Pie's voice from the kitchen.

"Now that's gonna be delicious!" She exclaimed happily, leading me to begin hurrying in.

"If you say so…" Applejack answered in an unimpressed and tired manner.

"Let's get them in the oven!" Pinkie Pie stated just as I arrived inside the same room they were in.

I spotted Pinkie Pie just about to pour some weird green goop with…worms…into the holes of the muffin bake pan.

"Wait!" I held up a hoof to stop her.

She stopped in a bit of surprise while Applejack only stared with half-lids at me. Nonetheless, she grew glad to see me. "Oh hi, Alex! Are you here to help us bake muffins too?!"

"Yeah…" I cautiously answered as I walked in. "In fact…I wanted to take Applejack's place to help you."

Applejack's ears flopped down and her eyebrows furrowed angrily at my sentence. "Are you sayin' I can't bake?!"

I closed my eyes tightly and thought for a quick second. She doesn't really mean it… She doesn't really mean it… "N-no." I quickly responded. "I was just thinking… you already have enough on your plate, wouldn't you rather spend more time wanting to prove to everypony about harvesting your apples?"

Applejack rubbed her hoof below her chin. "I suppose you've got a point. All right. Fine." Applejack began walking outside the kitchen, leaving us in silence, which wouldn't last for long.

"That's great of you to help, Alex!" Pinkie Pie included. "But, all we really need to do is put these bad boys in the oven!" She directed at the bowl with the obviously spoiled inedible paste.

"Right…uh…" I carefully retrieved the bowl from Pinkie Pie and began heading towards the back door to dump it out. "Why don't we start over?"

"What for?" Pinkie Pie shrugged a little confusingly.

I didn't want to tell her what Applejack did bluntly, so I just had to try to come up with something else. "You want those who eat the free samples to love them, right?" I asked as I finished dumping out the bowl.

"Of course!" Pinkie Pie beamed brightly as I walked in to wash any remainder in the bowl.

"Well, we should get these in the oven as soon as possible so they taste the best." I wasn't exactly sure what I was saying, but it's not like I had all the time of the world to think of what to say. "They kind of stayed in the bowl too long when I came in." I dried the bowl after thoroughly cleansing it.

"Ooooooh." She returned as if she completely understood. "Okay!"

"Right." I placed the bowl on the counter and stood in front of it. "So what did we need?"

"Chocolate chips!" She began.

I looked around, spotting the open fridge with a couple of sodas inside. However, hidden in the shelf of the door were a bag of chocolate chips. I grabbed them, tore open a hole, and began adding them into the bowl. "Alright."

"Now, baking soda!" She listed next.

"Baking soda…" I searched in a cabinet nearby to find various boxes of such the item. I grabbed one that seemed to already be open and emptied out the rest which seemed plentiful. "Okay."

"A cup of flour!"

"Flour…" I spotted a bag of flour sitting on the counter to the side of the room, near the fridge. Grabbing a measuring cup, I dipped it in using the opening on top and scooped up a cup of flour. I added it into the bowl.

"And the last thing is wheat germ!" Pinkie Pie finished.

"Right…" I confirmed and rummaged among the fridge to eventually find it. I finally included the reasonable amount and returned the wheat germ inside the fridge.

Pinkie Pie noticed I was finished and quickly retrieved the bowl. She stuck her tongue out and rapidly mixed everything in the bowl. When she was finally finished with the preparations, she poured the batter into the holes of the muffin pans and quickly stuck them into the oven. She grinned brightly and expressed her thanks. "Thank you, Alex!"

"You're welcome…" I returned, feeling rather relieved that a disaster was prevented after seeing the previous mix.

"You want to stay and help me give out the samples?!" She offered.

I thought about the crowd of ponies and shook my head politely. "No thanks… I actually have to go somewhere…"

"Oh, okay. Well, see you!" She waved her hoof energetically.

I raised my hoof and lightly waved it, taking my leave after.

I decided to tell Twilight the news, so I walked along over to her home. Once I was at her doorstep, I knocked a few times and waited patiently for a few minutes. There was no answer, so I allowed myself to knock once again. After waiting some time and still receiving no answer, I assumed she wasn't home.

I found it pretty pointless to go out and look for her, so I figured I should wait until she got back.

I then sat there in front of her home with nothing really to do. Of course, I really didn't mind. It gave me time to just be to myself without any disturbances. As long as there were no crowds or noisy environments, it didn't bother me at all.

I stared at my surroundings but mainly at the ground most of the time. I would shuffle my hooves every now and then and poked my hoof at the dirt. I drew pathetically on the ground at first, but then rubbed it off all in slight anger.

After a moment, I placed myself on the ground and rested my head on top of my front hooves. I noticed a small rock in front of me and just meaninglessly placed one of my hooves on it. I dragged it on the ground every few inches within my reach. Finally, I just grew tired of doing the task and flicked it away from my sight.

My eyes were already drooping downwards, most likely serenaded by the sound of the calm wind, until I heard a voice lightly startle me.

"Alex, there you are." I lifted my body up, regaining my energy. I turned around to see Twilight standing near me. "I've been looking for you."

"You have?" I questioned. "Why? I was waiting here for you."

"Sorry about that…" She apologized. "After I saw Applejack leave from Sugarcube Corner, I wanted to see if I could convince her about the dangers she might cause in her condition. But of course, she didn't want to listen." Twilight ended with an irritated sigh. "I swear, you can't get a word in without having her refuse to listen out loud." She took a pause before she returned to me. "What about you?" She asked as walked past me and opened her door to head inside. "What happened?" She held the door open with her magic to invite me in.

"I'm relieved I got there in time…" I accepted her offer. "…I don't know what Applejack used, but it was this…really disgusting green goopy paste that somehow had worms in it."

"Eww!" Twilight reacted by scrunching her flinching face a bit, but managed to add a short laugh in there. "And then? What did you do?"

"I made up an excuse to have her leave and another to throw it out. I ended up helping Pinkie Pie remake the whole thing."

Twilight smirked and lightly nudged me. "I hope you didn't throw in a few bugs of your own, did you?"

"…no…" I answered a little seriously. "I wouldn't do that…"

"I know you wouldn't. It was just a joke." Twilight explained with a surprisingly warm smile.

"Oh…" I looked away a bit embarrassingly of my failure of a sense of humor. "…right…"

For another moment, we stayed indoors this time rather than the balcony. Twilight was lying on her back on the ground while she levitated one of her books in the air in front of her. I couldn't find myself reading, at least not for the moment, and headed up to the balcony instead, specifically to see if Rainbow Dash was still there.

However, I found out that she wasn't, which was sort of expected. But I was curious to what she thought after she recovered from her crash. I returned downstairs to wait in peace. I guess it was better than being home by myself.

"You don't have to stay here if you don't want to." Twilight assured, catching my attention. "I don't know if you have important things to do."

I shook my head silently, showing no emotion. "Don't worry about it."

"Oh, okay." She tapped a hoof on her chin. "If you're really sure, then how about a bite to eat? I'm pretty hungry."

It felt only right to go along, as I really had nothing else to do. "Sure…" As she began trotting towards the door, I realized that her baby dragon wasn't around like he usually was. "Hey, where's Spike?"

"It's a free day." Twilight explained as I caught up with her. "He's probably running around Ponyville or something." She opened the door and walked out, continuing to hold it open for me. "He deserves it anyway. Poor little guy is always helping me on my intense study days, almost to the point where he does nothing but help and then fall asleep right after. I try to tell him he doesn't need to help me so much, but…" She shrugged lightly. "He just tells me he wants to."

"Oh…" I could only reply with. Talking about Spike somehow reminded me of something else. Something I wasn't sure in worrying about or not. "Hold on… I just remembered… Didn't Applejack have to help Fluttershy with something? Something to do with bunnies?"

"Oh right." Twilight answered, continuing to smile and be seemingly unaffected by it. "I wouldn't really worry about that."

"Why not?" I had to ask.

"Making food was one thing, but rounding up some baby bunnies is another." She returned. "Applejack is too exhausted to focus on using the correct ingredients, but with the bunnies, it probably won't make too much of a difference. The worst she can do is probably fall asleep on the job, but that's better than poisoning a bunch of ponies, huh?"

"Oh yeah." I understood her reason. "I guess so…"

"Don't worry." Twilight assured once again. "Fluttershy's going to be with her."

I nodded, feeling a little surer.

Afterwards, Twilight began trotting lightly and humming joyfully.

I analyzed her carefully as I walked by her side. I couldn't help but wonder how she could easily just take the day in and be so…bright about it…

She suddenly came to a stop and gasped.

"What?" I asked before I turned and noticed a few ponies on the road. They appeared to be struck down by something fierce, and I wasn't sure if they were okay or not.

"The horror, the horror!" One of them screamed out loud, leading me to come to the conclusion that they were, in fact, perfectly fine in health.

"It was awful!" Another cried.

"A disaster. A horrible, horrible disaster!" The last one exclaimed in distress.

Twilight and I could only look around and notice everything appear fine as it was.

"I don't get it." Twilight returned with an expression of confusion.

"Our gardens, destroyed!" One of them directed at empty gardens.

"Every last flower, devoured!" Another presented what was left of the flowers in pots.

"By... by... THEM!" The last pointed out horribly at a specific location.

Twilight and I finally realized where she was pointing and saw a plethora of bunnies rummaging around and eating almost everything edible in their sight.

"Oh my. Oh... Please stop, little bunnies. Oh no! Please, let's go home. Oh my goodness!" Fluttershy was desperately trying to gather them up, but for some reason, the bunnies just wouldn't listen.

Twilight and I stood there with our mouths slightly agape for a short moment. We turned to each other and closed our mouths. Twilight narrowed her eyes and spoke seriously. "All right. Enough is enough."

Twilight turned around and began trotting angrily back to Applejack's location. I caught up with her, feeling rather worried instead. "Are you sure Applejack did this?"

"Fluttershy would never lose control of the bunnies. I don't know what Applejack did, but she must have done something to scare the bunnies off like that." She explained as she continued storming ahead.

"…I guess you have a point…" I returned softly.

"Must…keep…buckin'...just…a few…more." We heard Applejack express exhaustedly, significantly gasping between each word. "Must finish harvestin'."

"All right, Applejack." Twilight confronted angrily. "Your applebucking hasn't just caused you problems, it's over-propelled Pegasus', potentially poisoned plenty of ponies, and terrorized bushels of brand new bouncing baby bunnies. I don't care what you say. You. Need. Help."

Applejack gave one last grunt and kick to the tree behind her before responding. "Ha! No, I don't." She answered smugly as dozens of apples fell in her baskets. "Look, I did it." She presented an orchard with harvested trees. "I harvested the entire Sweet Apple Acres without your help." She panted lightly for air. "How d'ya like them apples?"

Applejack's brain must have been starting to fail because not too far away was another orchard full of unharvested apples. "…what about those apples?" I pointed hesitantly towards the easily visible area.

Once she got a good view of the area for herself, she began mumbling beneath her breath. "Where'd all the apple...?" She continued mumbling in an incoherent way before she finally lost her balance and fell to the ground, passing out.

My heart dropped, as I felt it was my fault. "Maybe I shouldn't have said that…" I stated fearfully.

"It's fine." Twilight assured to me. "She had to know the truth and see it for herself." Twilight walked over to her to make sure she was okay. "Applejack. Applejack." She called her name repeatedly.

"Huh…?" Applejack answered in weak voice, as she was most likely still recovering from the blackout.

"Oh, good, you're okay." Twilight became relieved with a soft grin, but shifted into a serious furrowed expression. "Now Applejack, I completely respect the Apple family ways. You're always there to help any pony in need, so maybe you can put a little of your stubborn pride aside and allow your friends to help you." She attempted to convince as Applejack looked around worriedly.

Finally, she broke.

"Okay, Twilight."

"I am not taking 'no' for an answer—what?" Twilight expressed in surprise, being unexpected of Applejack's answer.

"Yes, Twilight. Yes, please." She practically begged. "I could really use your help." She turned over to me in an apologetic look. "Both of yours…"

Twilight both chuckled softly and sighed in great and content relief. Next, she turned to me. "Alex, do you mind staying here and helping Applejack home? I'm going to go get the others so we can get this done before the end of the day."

"Alright." I understood.

"Great! I'll be right back!" Twilight ran off into the distance, leaving just Applejack and me.

Now… How was I going to get her home?

I noticed the empty apple cart near the lone tree. She must have meant to use that to place the apples in before she passed out… Nevertheless, I brought that cart over to her and then confronted her. Without sparing a word, I held out a hoof towards her. With a small but tired smile, she accepted it and allowed me to lift her on her shaky hooves. She chuckled softly. "What are you gonna do? Carry me back to the barn?"

"I don't know if I could…" I returned. "…so just in case, I'll take you back in this cart." I looked over towards the transportation method. "That way, I can take your apples back too."

"You sure it won't be too much?" She asked a little worriedly. I didn't really care, so I just shrugged. "Alrighty then."

"Can you walk?" I questioned due to her appearance.

"Yeah…I'm fine…" She wobbled over to the cart. She looked like she could fall to the floor at any moment, so I carefully placed a hoof on her. Now was not the time to worry about my fears. When she was able to, I helped her get into the cart. She sat down with an exhausted grunt as I picked up the basket of apples from the floor, including a few stray apples that fell. Finally, I attached myself to the cart and began to carefully work downhill.

There was silence for a few moments as I speechlessly brought the apples and Applejack in the cart.

"Thank ya, Alex… You're…very kind." She expressed softly.

"…it's not a problem." I answered.

Applejack placed her hooves over the edge of the apple cart and managed to lean a little closer to me. "You know… I'm really glad to be your friend…as well as have one for you."

That…kind of stunned me. I continued walking, but my mind wasn't on the same page. I only thought about those exact words. She didn't hate me… She liked me… Apparently…enough to be her friend. I guess…I really am more than just a customer to her…

"Is something wrong, Alex?" She asked me, leaving me to even further realize that she used my name instead of 'partner'.

"…no…I'm okay…" I responded and finally reached the barn, which ended the road from Ponyville.

Once I reached the front door, Applejack stopped me. "Right here is fine." I unstrapped myself and moved over to Applejack, helping her off. Her legs weren't as wobbly as she managed to slowly head over to her home. Before I attended to her, I removed the basket of apples and placed them in the cart instead. Then, I trotted over to Applejack and held the door open. Once she was inside, I joined her and assisted her to the comfortable couch in what appeared to be her living room.

She grunted lightly and rested her body with her eyes closed. "Thanks…" She coped to express.

"Do you need me to get you anything?" I asked her considerately.

"I'm fine, thanks." She almost whispered out, but then seemed to have something else to say. "Well…actually…some water would be good."

"Okay." I nodded.

"Kitchen's right next door." She lightly pointed.

I followed her direction and entered the room. I took a nearby glass and filled it with the water from the faucet. I brought the glass carefully over to Applejack. She noticed my arrival with half-closed eyes and slowly brought herself up to a sitting position. I gave it to her as she accepted it with both of her hooves. "Thank you." She expressed before she closed her eyes and lifted her head to chug down the water. She must have been really thirsty.

After she finished her glass, she pulled it away from her lips and released a sound that greatly revealed her satisfied thirst. She placed the empty glass on the floor and then rested her hooves on her stomach, closing her eyes again. I decided to walk over to the couch and take a seat next to her, but I remained silent.

I waited for the next thing to do as I looked around the room.

"Hey, Alex…?" I heard her call my name, leading me to look at her. Her eyes remained half-closed. "…can I…ask you a question…?"

"…I guess..." I answered, not sure if the question was something I'd be comfortable with.

"How come…I've never seen you smile?"

She figuratively bucked an apple straight into my heart. She didn't intentionally try to hurt me…but that question made me remember and realize how pathetic I really was. I don't believe I've ever been able to smile like other ponies, and maybe that's one reason why they never really liked me… But I can't complain… I've never been happy, thus having no need to smile… I don't even know if I've at least smiled once in my life…I don't…

"I…" I was speechless… I couldn't just break out everything to her… "I don't know…" I stared at the ground gloomily and a bit embarrassingly.

"Alex…?" She asked, lifting herself up a bit in concern.

I didn't want to talk about it anymore. I just wanted to change the subject. "Listen." I quickly stated as I removed myself from the couch. "Twilight and the others should be getting here in a few seconds. I should go out and help them. Just stay here and rest up."

Applejack didn't say anything. Instead, she only continued to look at me worriedly.

I excused myself and walked out the door.

As I arrived outside, I looked back with my eyes and felt horrible for how I left.

"Hey there!" Twilight's voice surprised me, snapping my attention towards her. "Where's Applejack?"

"Oh…" I felt the scene from a few seconds ago being played in my head again. "She's inside resting…"

"Something wrong…?" She must have noticed my expression.

"I'm fine." I answered with a hint of nervousness. "Let's just get to work."

After hesitating for a moment, she finally agreed.

There weren't that many trees with apples left, so we were divided and worked in sections to get the job done fast and efficient.

"Do you need any help?" I asked Twilight as I approached her.

"No thanks. Magic makes this job a lot easier!" She stared down the trees and focused her magic. Her aura literally surrounded ever single apple from the tons of trees in front of her. Then, she easily picked them off and filled the large buckets nearby with the fruit.

"Wow…" I commented in astonishment. Those amount of trees would have taken at least half an hour to pick and collect…

"See how much trouble we could have prevented had we been able to help?" She giggled. "Why don't you go see if another pony wants the help?" She suggested. "I'm sure they'd appreciate it."

"Okay. Thanks…" I returned and walked around to do so.

I came across a tree that no pony seemed to be occupying. I stared at it for just a moment until I heard something rattle inside. The branches shook and apples fell to the ground, startling me a bit. I looked back at the branches to see Fluttershy come out in sight. She spotted me and slowly landed on the ground while slightly looking away. "Oh. Hi, Alex…"

"Hey…Fluttershy…" I returned, almost beginning to feel like I was getting sucked into a trance. I snapped out of it and asked her the question. "Um. Do you want any help…?"

"Okay." She nodded and then turned her head to one of the empty buckets close by. "Could you get one of those and have it ready down here to catch the apples?"

"Sure." I responded and did as she asked.

Being the silent type as well, we didn't really talk as we worked, but I actually felt like…I really wanted to talk to her…

When the sun was just about to start setting, we all heard Applejack from the barn.

"How about y'all take a little break?" She caught the attention of everypony. "I got some fine apple juice waitin' for ya!" She released a relieved sigh, as she must have felt a lot better. "I can't thank you enough for this help." She expressed as we gathered around the table in front of her. "I was acting a bit stubborn."

"A bit?" Twilight asked in a skeptical but light-hearted manner.

"Okay." Applejack admitted. "A mite stubborn, and I'm awful sorry." She apologized and then turned to me. "Especially to you, Alex. I was awful mean to ya…but I really didn't mean any of it. I…I hope you can forgive me."

I only stared at the ground for a moment and nodded my head. "I do…"

She turned towards the others and continued speaking. "Now, I know the town gave me the Prized Pony award, but the real award is having you six as my friends." She finished, leading the girls to drink their apple juice.

"Phew!" Rainbow Dash released. "That applebucking sure made me hungry."

We heard another sound of steps approaching us. Twilight turned her head and noticed Spike walking this way. "Spike? Where have you been all day?"

"Just exploring around Ponyville." He explained. "Plus, I was really lucky today! I found something yummy near the sweet shop! I don't know why anyone would throw it away. It was delicious!"

"Uh…what's he talkin' about?" Applejack asked in curiosity.

Twilight noticed my slightly disgusted expression at Spike and then chuckled, answering Applejack for me. "You don't want to know."

"Well then…" Applejack brushed that subject off and looked towards the others. "If it's food you're hankerin' for, why don't y'all come inside, I've got a heap of treats for ya!"

"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash lifted her wings and began flying eagerly to follow Applejack.

"Sounds good!" Twilight included, ready to eat.

The rest of us followed Applejack back to the barn, the girls talking among each other about the food they'll eat.

I was able to meet Applejack's sister, Applebloom, as she happily assisted Applejack in making her apple treats. Applejack had introduced all of us before she dispersed the treats. When everypony had their first bite, they immediately moaned in pleasure.

"Mmm!" Twilight expressed joyfully. "Applejack, these are amazing!" The other girls strengthened this by heavily agreeing.

"Aw, shucks." Applejack responded modestly, crossing her front legs. "Nothing to it…"

"Hey, Spike…" Twilight turned over to him as he was in the middle of finishing an apple fritter. "I think now would be a perfect time to send a letter to the princess." He wiped off the crumbs from his face and quickly pulled out his writing utensils. "Dear Princess Celestia," She began. "My friend Applejack is the best friend a pony could ever have, and she's always there to help any pony. The only trouble is, when she needs help, she finds it hard to accept it, so while friendship is about giving of ourselves to friends, it's also about accepting what our friends have to offer. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." She finished, allowing Spike to send out the letter.

Applejack lightly chuckled and raised a bottle of apple juice to the air. "How bout a toast to friendship?"

"To friendship!" They all cheered and exclaimed out loud, tapping their bottles together and laughing.

I wasn't exactly as motivated as they were…but I suppose I did have somewhat of a warm feeling inside of me…

When everypony except Twilight and Applejack had left, Applejack began cleaning up while Twilight approached me.

"It's been great hanging out with you today, despite what's happened." She told me.

"Yeah…you too…" I answered, not really sure what to say.

"Maybe we can do this again sometime? Without all the trouble, of course." She offered.

"Sure…"

"Great." She sent out a soft smile. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay."

"Goodnight." She expressed as she readied herself with Spike to leave.

"Goodnight." I returned, seeing her walk out the door.

"Thanks for helping me out, Alex…" I felt a hoof suddenly touch my shoulder, sending a quick shiver through me.

"You're welcome…" I replied, realizing it was Applejack.

"I'm grateful, I really am." She picked up her other hoof and placed it on her chest to emphasize her point. "So…if you ever need help… Don't hesitate to come to me, okay?"

I remained silent for a moment, thinking about what she said. It was…warming to hear that…but I wasn't sure if I would actually take her up on her offer.

"…thanks, Applejack." I answered. "I'll…keep that in mind."

She smiled and patted my back with her hoof. "Goodnight, Alex." Afterwards, she turned and headed towards the stairs.

"…night…"

Once I headed out in the night sky to finally get home, I was surprisingly confronted by Fluttershy. I really didn't expect her to be waiting…for me, I think.

"Um…" She began, staring away again, but managed to glance over to me once. "Hi, Alex…"

"Oh. Hey, Fluttershy…" I answered.

She picked at the ground with her hoof shyly as her eyes wandered around. "…um…I…I was…wondering…if…if you…wanted to…um…help me feed my…baby bunnies…"

It was almost completely dark out…yet she was asking me to do this. Was there a certain reason behind this? Or am I thinking too much into it? I should probably stop that…

Nevertheless, it didn't change my feelings on the subject. Whatever I thought…I couldn't help but feel like…I really wanted to do it.

"S…sure." I returned.

"R-really?!" She almost actually exclaimed with widened eyes, but she quickly brought it down a notch. "I…I mean…" she expressed with blush forming in her face. "Let's go."

She brought me to this place I've never been. It was also on the outskirts of town, just like Sweet Apple Acres. However, it was on a different side. What caught my interest was that her homeland contained different areas with different animals. There were nests for birds, houses for chickens, rivers for otters. There was just so much of the variety, it was all too much to list. Meanwhile, Fluttershy had retrieved several carrots to bring.

"So…how exactly many animals do you have here, Fluttershy?" I asked as I looked around.

"I have so many!" Her excitement grew again, but it still remained with a soft voice. "I have chickens, bunnies, butterflies, squirrels, birds—" She spotted me looking at her and noticed how she allowed her excitement to get the better of her. She immediately blushed a little. "Well…you know…a lot…" She continued escorting me to the area the bunnies were supposed to be, but I didn't see any. "Here we are."

I looked around, scanning to see if I had missed any. "…where are they?" I asked.

"They're just hiding. You have to call out them very gently so they won't get scared. After they get to know you, they won't be afraid anymore." She flew softly over to their apparent hiding spots and called them as she advised. "Come on, little ones. It's dinner time… It's time to come out…"

After a few seconds, they slowly crept out, staring at Fluttershy.

"There you go…" She rewarded them with each a carrot and petted them when they began nibbling on it. She managed to turn her head to me. "Do you want to try, Alex?"

"Well…" I looked away in thought, but figured I should at least try to do this without being afraid of messing up. I released a sigh. "Okay."

She gave me a few carrots and led me to another area where a group of bunnies were huddled together hiding. I turned to her to receive a confident nod. I closed my eyes in preparation and then finally looked out to the bunnies. "Here…uh…baby bunnies…there's some…delicious carrots for you…" Despite my struggle in speaking the same tone Fluttershy held, they slowly poked out to look at me. "Nothing to be afraid of…" I continued encouraging. "…it's just food…"

Their noses twitched in smell and they slowly lurked out. They seemed to finally trust me and began nibbling on the treats I gave them.

"That was great, Alex…" Fluttershy complimented softly.

As soon as I took the time to notice her sweet…and…soft…smile, this feeling quietly erupted in my heart. My body felt weird and I couldn't explain it. Other than that…it felt…really good.

However, Fluttershy noticed the silence I returned and blushed once again. "I should probably…head to bed now…" She looked out to the night sky that seemed to become beautiful now for some reason…even though nothing about it changed. "It's…getting really late…"

"Oh…" I responded. "…alright, then."

"Maybe…we could…um…do something else…tomorrow? If you want…" She offered.

"Y-yeah…" I quickly accepted. "…that sounds great."

She managed to smile as her mane covered her right eye a bit. "Okay… Goodnight, Alex."

"Goodnight…" I answered…feeling somehow entrapped.

Afterwards, she began flying away into the cottage ahead, leaving me to only gaze at…beauty…

I had this…weird but good feeling the whole time I walked home. Arriving home, I could only feel the need to place a hoof on my chest. That's where the feeling seemed to be the strongest. I almost walked weakly up the stairs to my bedroom and took a seat on the side of my bed. I stared at the wooden floor, my head feeling both empty but full at the same time.

My head lifted to see the stack of papers in front of my desk. Without question, I brought myself towards it and lifted up my pencil. I drew out a blank piece of paper and stared at it.

What is wrong with me? Why am I feeling so weird? These girls are something else… I can't explain it… Mind too blank right now… A lot of feelings… Friendship… When all of us were gathered together at the barn eating those apple treats… It all felt good… But Fluttershy is keeping me from thinking. Why? Why is she the pony I don't feel so nervous around? Why is she the one pony that…I actually feel like interacting with more? I don't understand. Too many things going inside my head but nothing I can explain…

Not exactly knowing what to write, and seeing it heading into a weird direction anyway, I dropped my pencil and headed to bed.

I laid there with my eyes stuck on the ceiling, but my mind reviewing my thoughts.

My heart began to pump just a little faster…