The Ballad of Xyclone

Chapters

Chapter 1: My So-Called Life
Chapter 2: Am I Dreaming?
Chapter 3: Secrets
Bonus Chapter 3.5: Untrust
Chapter 4: Friends & Foes
Bonus Chapter 5.5: Dashie and the Rainbow Factory
Chapter 6: The Adventure Begins
Chapter 7: Something Went Right
Chapter 8: A Terrible Sense of Direction
Chapter 9: Are You Feeling It Now, Miss Rarity?
Chapter 10: Lesson Zero
Chapter 11: The Ships Have Sailed
Bonus Chapter 11.5: The Break-Up
Chapter 12: Ponies In Love
Bonus Chapter 12.5: The Team-Up
Chapter 13: The Kiss
Chapter 14: Dash's Guilt
Bonus Chapter 14.5: A Nightmare Come True
Chapter 15: The Scouts
Bonus Chapter 15.5: Under The Stars [RariJack]
Chapter 16: One Of Us Is The Killer
Bonus Chapter 16.5: Idle Gossip [TaviScratch]
Chapter 17: Return Of The King
Chapter 18: Help From An Unlikely Ally
Bonus Chapter 18.5: Sombra's Suggestion
Chapter 19: Death Of The King
Bonus Chapter 19.5: Chrysalis' Question
Chapter 20: Old Friends & Friendly Foes
Chapter 21: A Vengeful Queen
Chapter 22: Closure
Chapter 23: My Name Is Xyclone
Epilogue: The Wedding [RariJack]
Prologue: The Portal
Chapter 5: Welcome To The Internet
Bonus Chapter 9.5: Heeeere's Twiley!

Chapter 1: My So-Called Life

My name used to be Skyler Wilson. I was a 16-year-old dude from Vancouver, Canada and I resided in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

And I was a brony.

I hated my life. I was made fun of all the time. I was bullied for having a girl’s name, “Skyler”. I was bullied because of my appearance. I was bullied because of my opinion on things. And then, later in life, I was also bullied most because of my infatuation with the television program “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic”. Hey, it wasn't my fault the show was so damn awesome. Every single day, I would get called “faggot” and “queer” because of this reason. It used to not be like that; I once had a wonderful life before that. But my life entered a downward spiral eight years before, after the best friend I ever had, Veloci, died in a tragic…let’s say “accident”. He was the best friend a guy could have, he was so cool, he was—and you’re gonna get a kick out of this—he was a velociraptor. That’s right; I was best friends with a talking dinosaur. I know it seems wacko, but I swear I’m not even kidding. See, my father was an inventor at the time, and he’d invented this cool time machine where he went back to prehistoric times and met this extremely intelligent velociraptor, so intelligent that he had the ability to speak. While my father attempted to do experiments on Veloci—that’s the name we gave him—when he brought him to present times, he became really good friends with me, my father, and my brother Devon. We all went on cool adventures in my father’s time machine. However, my father was often put in danger by the time machine because of its dysfunctionality, and he often had to make modifications to it—although, none of them worked, and my father still somehow ended up in trouble every time. One day, though, there was a huge problem with the time machine—that I don’t really want to go too much into because it’s hard for me to talk about—that caused Veloci to be vaporized into thin air. Anyway, shortly after that, my father finally perfected the design of the time machine, discovering that the best design was a British police box. He named it The T.A.R.D.I.S. Don’t ask me what it means, because I really don’t know, not even to this day. He even invented a remote control for it: a modified pen which he named The Sonic Screwdriver. My father started acting strangely then. He started calling himself The Doctor—even though he had no PhD—and described his profession as a “timelord”. Anyway, my father started ignoring me and not paying any attention to me after Devon was institutionalized. You may ask, “Why was he institutionalized?” Well, Devon suffered through some…“traumatic experiences” during our adventures with Veloci. He tried to tell everyone that he knew a talking dinosaur and, well, need I say more? Everyone thought of him as crazy. Who wouldn’t? If some dude just walked up to you on the street and said that he knew a talking prehistoric reptile, what would you say? You may also be wondering where my mother is in all this. Well, she left my father when he started making crazy inventions. I don’t know, nor do I care where she is. Anyway, that’s when everything went downhill. That was eight whole years ago. Afterward, it was just the same routine every day: I'd wake up, take a shower, watch an episode of MLP, go to school, get harassed, go home, and get asked the same generic questions from my father—the quote-unquote “timelord”. Well, there you go. That was my previous back-story. Now…enough of me rambling on about past incidents. It’s time for the real story. The story of when everything changed.

Chapter 2: Am I Dreaming?

Nashville, Tennessee, early morning

It was just a normal, boring morning at my place. I was lying back on my bed eating breakfast and listening to music. All of a sudden, a huge, blinding flash of white light appeared next to my laptop. I was so taken aback by it that I rolled off my bed. Massive storm-force gales came from the light, blowing my schoolwork and homework papers everywhere. I struggled to get up and approach the light. The winds grew stronger and pushed me back farther as the light began to flash and distort violently. I had absolutely no idea what was happening and almost started to panic. After several seconds, the light calmed a little bit, but it was now several times wider than it was before. Through the haze, I could clearly see a room that looked exactly like that of Twilight Sparkle’s library, but I still was unsure. Suddenly, I could have sworn I saw the mane 6 come into view. I thought to myself, I must be seeing things. This must be a dream. Then I heard a voice:

“H-Hello? I-Is anypony there?” It was Twilight Sparkle’s. She began to come closer through the light. “S-Sunset Shimmer? I-Is that you?”

I was beyond words. The alicorn princess Twilight Sparkle was standing in my room.

“Who are you?” she asked.

I said nothing.

Suddenly Pinkie Pie came bouncing through the light into my room, followed by the rest of the mane 6. “Ooh, you’re the strangest-looking pony I’ve ever seen! As a matter of fact, you don’t look like a pony at all! What are you? Are you a chimicherrychanga? I love chimicherrychangas! It’s such a fun word to say! Just like pickle barrel kumquat! Pickle barrel kumquat, pickle barrel kumquat, pickle barrel kumquat, chimicherrychanga!” Pinkie started hopping in circles around me.

“…” I still said nothing.

“…Pickle barrel kumquat, pickle barrel kumquat—”

“Pinkie!” yelled Twilight, silencing the hyperactive pink pony. “Uh, excuse me, sir. I asked who you are?”

“T-T-Twilight…S-S-Sparkle…” I stammered.

Pinkie gasped. “Your name’s Twilight, too?! Did you hear that, Twilight? He has the same name as you! What a coincidence! BUT WAIT! Two Twilights?! How am I going to tell the difference?!”

“T-T-Twilight S-Sparkle is s-s-standing in m-my r-room…” I said, shivering in disbelief.

“Yes, but—"

“Ohhh…” I groaned as I fainted, collapsing to the floor with a deep thud.

As I began to regain consciousness, I heard a familiar voice:

“…Hey! Yo! Wake up! Hello…? Dude, seriously! Get up!”

I slowly began to open my eyes. “Ugh…what happened…?” I asked.

“I asked for your name and you passed out,” I heard Twilight say.

I finally opened my opened my eyes. I could not believe what I was seeing. There, glaring down at me, was DJ PON3, Ponyville’s finest DJ. “O-Oh, my God! Y-You’re DJ PON3!! OH MY GOD, I LOVE YOU!!!” I fangirled so hard.

“Why, yes, I—”

Before she could even say anything, I started touching her just to see if she was real, that she was really standing in my presence. I inspected her coat and ran my fingers through her neon blue mane. She suddenly jumped back. “Hey! Whoa! As least take me out to dinner first, dude! Jeez!”

“Oh, my gosh, I’m so sorry! Did I hurt you?!” I panicked. I didn’t want to upset her. She was my favorite pony, after all.

“Naw, don’t sweat it, dude, I’m fine. And please, call me Vinyl Scratch!” she said. “I assume you’ve heard of me, huh?” she asked sarcastically. I nodded. “But wait…how do you know me? What the hay are you, anyway?” she asked me suspiciously.

“That’s what I—” Twilight began, walking up to me. But before she was able to finish, she was interrupted by yet another familiar voice:

“That’s what I would like to know.” There, gliding through the light into my room…was Princess Celestia. Accompanying her was her sister, Princess Luna. Everyone, both on my side of the light and the Equestria side, bowed. Even I bowed.

I began thinking, Am I dreaming? They seem so real! “You’re Princess Celestia! A-And you’re Princess Luna!” I said.

Celestia began to speak to me with her wonderfully majestic voice. “Yes, you are correct. But now it is time for me to ask the questions.”

I stared in awe at the princess.

“Who and what are you? Why are you here? And how do you know me, Luna, Twilight, and Vinyl Scratch?”

“Oh, I don’t just know you four; I know all of you!” I replied. I then named off all the ponies I could see. “Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity…” I noticed Spike and what looked like Octavia in the back. She must have come here with Vinyl, I thought. “…Spike and Octavia,” I finished.

Vinyl suddenly got angry. She got all up in my face and yelled at me. It…was…awesome!

“HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO OCTAVIA IS?!” she screamed at me.

“Yeah, you better explain yourself pronto, or else!” said Rainbow Dash, finally speaking up.

“Well…?” interrogated Princess Celestia.

“Okay, here’s the story…” I began. “My name is Skyler and I…I am not from your world. I’m not even from your universe. I am from a planet called ‘Earth’. I am part of a race of beings called ‘humans’. I’m sure Pinkie has—” I suddenly heard a pony in the distance shout something that I could barely make out:

“DID SOMEPONY SAY ‘HUMAN’?!”

“Lyra, wait!” another voice called out.

I ignored it and continued with my explanation. “Um…I’m sure Pinkie has mentioned humans before but you probably thought she was ‘Just being Pinkie’. Well, I assure you that humans are real. And I am one of them.”

Then Pinkie Pie spoke up and said something. “Well that word does sound familiar…I think I heard it from another pony, her name was Lyric or Lawnmower or something…”

“Lyra?” I asked.

“Yes! That’s her name! I knew I heard that word before—"

“HUMANNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” A turquoise flash suddenly darted into view. It knocked some of the ponies over as it flew into the library and through the bright light. Before I had a chance to move out of the way, the flash hit me right in the chest, pushing me back a few feet. I hit my head on my bed frame.

“Oh, my goodness!” Fluttershy cried. “A-Are you okay, Skyler?”

I groaned painfully. “Ow…yes, I’m fine, but—” I paused, looking up at what had hit me.

It was Lyra Heartstrings. She was standing on my chest, panting like a dog. “Are you a human?” she asked me.

“Uh, y-yes? L-Lyra? I-Is that you?” I asked back.

Lyra froze for a moment.

“Um…are you okay, Lyra—?” I asked again.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” she squealed. “OHMIGOSHOHMIGOSHOHMIGOSHOHMIGOSHOHMIGOSH!!!!!”

“Hey!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “That’s my line!”

“OH, MY GOSH!! A HUMAN!! THEY’RE REAL!! IN YOUR FACE, BON-BON!”

“Uh, Lyra—?”

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! A HUMAN KNOWS MY NAME!!!!!! THIS. IS. SO… AWESOME!!!”

“HEY!” Rainbow Dash cut in again.

“Oh, my gosh, can I have your autograph?!” Lyra continued on, holding a notepad up to me.

“Uh…s-sure…” I grabbed a pen and signed my insignia on her notepad. I then gave it back to her. The look on her face when I gave it back to her was that of a 12-year-old’s at a Justin Beiber concert. Seeing her look so happy made me feel happy…happy in a way I’d never felt before…strange. I pushed the weird thoughts out of my head. I was so lost in my daydreaming that I didn’t even realize that Lyra was trying to pull me through the portal.

“…Oh, my gosh—” Lyra looked at her notepad to see what my name was. “S-Skyler? That’s your name? Wow, humans have even girlier names than us ponies!”

Damn it, I thought. Even in Equestria I have a terrible name.

As Lyra started pulling me through the light, I started feeling really strange. It’s impossible for me to explain. It was a unique sensation I’d never felt before. As Twilight’s library became clearer and clearer, I could feel my body changing. I felt myself start to grow...fur? I felt my nose and mouth begin to elongate. I could feel a horn growing on my forehead; My eyes widened. When we finally entered the library, I lost the ability to feel my hands and feet. I began panicking. What was happening? What was I becoming? I looked down and saw that both my hands and feet had turned into hooves. Hooves! I suddenly lost my balance and dropped down on all fours, as if habitually. I turned around and saw that I had grown a beautiful blue and yellow tail. Then it all came together.

I was now a pony.

I looked past my tail and saw that the other ponies had followed me and Lyra back through the portal. I turned around to see Lyra staring intently at me, not saying a word. I looked down at my hooves. I felt the horn on my head. “Am…A-Am I a…p-pony?” Lyra still didn’t say anything. I looked back up at her. I then felt something else. I had never felt this feeling before either. I stared at Lyra, inspecting her with my eyes. It felt like something was different about her, but I know she was still exactly the same as she was just moments ago. Yet something was still different. It was like she had somehow become way more attractive. I looked her up and down. I stared at her beautiful turquoise mane, her wonderful golden eyes, and her magnificent sea-foam-green coat. What was I thinking?! “Beautiful turquoise mane”? “Wonderful golden eyes”? One thing was for sure: I had never felt this way about any human girl before. I opened my mouth and began to speak. “U-Uh…y-you’re m-mane looks r-really n-n-nice t-today, L-Lyra,” I said, my words stumbling. Lyra grinned softly and began to blush. Had I embarrassed her? I actually started feeling terrible about myself. I suddenly heard Celestia clear her throat, freeing me from my thoughts.

“Now,” she said, “You were explaining yourself to us?”

“O-Oh, yeah. Right,” I chuckled nervously. The mane 6—as well as the princesses, Spike, and the others—sat down as I continued my story. “Yes, I am, in fact, a human…” I looked at Lyra as I said that, and she smiled giddily as I did. “…From the planet Earth. See, my world is very different from yours.” I looked at Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. “In my world, the weather isn’t controlled by Pegasus ponies. It happens due to the planet’s position in the solar system and the rotation of the Earth’s axis.” I then looked at Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. “In my world, the sun and moon aren’t raised and lowered by magic. They, too, are controlled by the Earth’s position and planetary rotation.” The ponies ooh’d and aah’d at my story. I was surprised they were actually believing it. Eventually, I finished my story, leaving the ponies speechless.

“So lemme get this straight,” said Applejack finally. “You mean t’ tell us that in your world, our lives are just part of a popular television show called ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’?”

“Yep,” I replied.

“…A-An’ the show is intended for young-uns, a-a-an’ you’re a member of an adult male fanbase of th’ show?”

“Yep."

“An’ you’re called a…‘brony’?”

“That’s right.”

“O-Oh my…So you know all about our lives?”

“Correct. Ever since the day Twilight first came to Ponyville.”

“Whoa, dude, this is just plain trippy,” said Vinyl Scratch. “I need to stop smokin’ those poison joke flowers.”

“I’m telling you all the honest truth, I swear,” I said. “And I know what you’re all thinking. I know why the princesses are here.” The ponies looked confused.

“You think of me as the enemy. But I assure you, I mean no harm to you or your world. I promise. I…” I looked over at Pinkie Pie with a reassuring look on my face. “Pinkie promise.”

Pinkie still looked unsure.

I walked—I’m sorry, trotted—up to her and hugged her. “Please, Pinkie? Give me a chance,” I begged her. She smiled.

“O-Okay,” she said. “But don’t be getting any bright ideas!”

I chuckled. “You got it!” The two of us continued hugging for a few more seconds. Then I asked, “Now…who wants to give me a tour of Ponyvile?!”

“ME!” shouted both Pinkie and Lyra at the same time. The two of them glared angrily at each other.

“Come on, both of you can do it. The rest of you can come, too!” I said happily. Everyone except for Twilight and the princesses cheered. Twilight was hesitant.

“Come on, Twah, aren’t ya comin’?” asked Applejack.

“Yes, do come on, darling,” said Rarity. “Let us give a warm welcome to our new guest!”

Twilight looked up at Celestia. “Go with them,” Celestia said. “I don’t trust this Skyler character any more that you do. Keep a watchful eye on him.”

“You got it, Princess!” replied Twilight. “I’ll bring the Elements of Harmony just in case.” With that, Twilight ran out of the library after me and the others.

Chapter 3: Secrets

Ponyville, Equestria, mid-morning

I couldn’t believe this was even happening. I was a pony! I was in Equestria! It was just…so…awesome! Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all showed me their homes and introduced me to their friends and families—even though there really was no need to; I already knew who their families were! I only asked for a tour so I could get closer to Lyra. Whoa, wait a minute. Did I really just say that?! I thought to myself. No, Skyler, stop thinking that! You’re not even the same species! But…I *am** a pony now…* I didn’t get it. I kept thinking about Lyra. It creeped me out. I was—key word, “was,” a human. And she was…well, a pony; It was weird. I continued to try and push those crazy thoughts out of my racking brain. It was late in the afternoon when the ponies and I started heading to Rarity’s Carousel Boutique when Lyra suddenly pulled me away from the rest of them. She started dragging me to her place.

“Oh, d-don’t worry, Rarity, it won’t be long! I just want him to meet my friend Bon-Bon,” Lyra called out.

“Uh…o-okay…?” said Rarity.

“Come on, Vinyl, Octavia. I want to show him your house, too,” Lyra called out to Vinyl Scratch and Octavia.

Both of them shrugged and followed reluctantly.

“Oh, my gosh, I just can’t get over how awesome this is! I’m with a real-life human!” Lyra continued. I didn’t know if she was talking to me or if she was just thinking out loud.

“But I’m not a human anymore—” I tried interrupting, but Lyra wouldn’t listen.

“I can’t wait to see the look on Bon-Bon’s face when I introduce you to her!”

When we got to Lyra’s cottage, she turned around and kicked the door open with her hind legs. “BON-BON!” she shouted. “PREPARE TO EAT YOUR WORDS!”

When Bon-Bon finally entered the living room, she had an unamused expression on her face. She sighed. “What is it now, Lyra? And who is this?” She pointed at me.

“THIS,” Lyra said. “THIS, my fair Bon-Bon, is a human. A real-life human!"

Bon-Bon facehoofed. “Lyra…that’s a pony.”

“No, he’s not! Well, right now he is, but he just turned into a pony when he came to Equestria! I’m telling the truth! Honest! Tell her, Skyler!”

Bon-Bon glared at me. “I’m afraid she’s telling the truth this time, Bon-Bon,” I said. “I am a human from another world, another dimension,”

Bon-Bon’s look changed from unaffected to confused. “Wait…how did you know that there were other times?” she asked. This time I was the one to facehoof.

“It’s a…long story,” I said. “Now, Lyra, why don’t you give me a tour of your place? Your house was never shown in the show.”

“Show?” I heard Bon-Bon whisper under her breath. “What show…?”

As Lyra gave me her tour, I grew happier and happier. It was like her presence was comforting to me. I felt as if I was growing more attracted to her by the moment. After her tour, she directed me over to Vinyl’s and Octavia’s living arrangements. I personally loved this; Vinyl Scratch was my all-time idol. I squealed like a little filly when she showed me her room and DJ equipment. I was just like Lyra earlier that morning when she first met me in my human form. I wished I could’ve stayed there forever! It was amazing! It was late in the evening when we—yes, we. Lyra followed me. Although, I didn’t really mind. It was a nice gesture—met up at Rarity’s boutique. When we knocked on the door, Rarity and her little sister Sweetie Belle greeted us warmly. In the middle of the tour, my stomach started growling. It was just then that I realized that I hadn’t eaten anything since my small breakfast that morning. I was so encompassed in the ponies’ lives that I had forgotten all about food.

“You want me to make dinner?” Sweetie Belle politely asked. “I could make some dinner, if you like?”

“NO!” I and Rarity shouted simultaneously. Lyra stifled a giggle.

“I mean…” I and Rarity said together…again.

“Uh…you go,” We both said, chuckling awkwardly.

“Yes, well…” Rarity began. “Uh, you have school tomorrow, a-and I wouldn’t want you to stay up too long and be late. S-So, why don’t you be a dear and go to bed, won’t you darling?”

Sweetie Belle sighed. “Okay…” she said dejectedly.

“Now…” continued Rarity. “Why don’t I make you two a proper dinner?”

“That would be nice,” I told her.

“So, Lyra…” Rarity asked during our dinner, “How does it feel to finally meet a human? From what Pinkie has told me and what I saw this morning, it seems you’ve been waiting quite a long time for this moment.”

“Oh, yes, it’s wonderful!” Lyra replied. “It still feels like a dream!”

“I know!” I cut in. “Just this morning, I was living a boring old life as an ugly human, and now I’m a pony! It’s my wildest dream come true!”

“Well,” said Rarity, “I find it hard to believe that you were ugly, because you’re one of the most handsome stallions I’ve ever met! Maybe even more handsome that that spoiled brat, Prince Blueblood—that jerk!”

I looked off to the side and blushed.

“Y-You know, she’s right,” Lyra whispered to me delicately, but loud enough for Rarity to hear.

Rarity then looked at us sarcastically.

“O-Oh, d-d-did I say that out loud?” said Lyra, chuckling awkwardly. Both she and I began to blush, looking away from each other.

Rarity chuckled playfully. “Well, what is this?” She said. “Is this a budding romance I’m sensing here?”

Lyra and I quickly denied it. “No, no!” I said. “We’re just friends!”

“Yeah!” Lyra said, laughing. “T-That was just a general compliment!”

“Yeah!” I said. “Besides, w-we just met each other, like, this morning!”

Lyra and I continued laughing uncomfortably. We then started sinking under Rarity’s dining table, trying to make ourselves smaller.

“Oh, please,” Rarity continued. “I know when two ponies are in love. You know how I know?” Suddenly, she began blushing.

“How?” I said.

“If you tell anypony about this, I swear to Celestia, I will kill you.” Rarity warned us.

“What? What is it?” Lyra asked.

“I…kind of have a crush on—ahem—on Applejack.”

“…” Lyra froze. She was absolutely speechless.

Rising back up, I started to snicker. “…What?”

Rarity stood up. “I…have a crush…on Applejack.”

“What…?!” I started laughing harder.

“…” Lyra still said nothing.

“I think her southern drawl is...uh...adorable…” continued Rarity.

I started dying with laughter. I fell out of my chair, rolling on the floor. Lyra, however, was still frozen. “SERIOUSLY?!” I cried between bouts of laughter. “OH MY GOD, MY SIDES!!”

“Hey!” cried Rarity. “It’s not funny!”

“You’re right, you’re right,” I said, calming down, wiping tears from my eyes. I returned to my seat. “So the shippers are right…” I mused out loud.

“What’s a…shipper?” asked Rarity interrogatively.

“Oh…sorry,” I said. “It’s a bit hard to explain. I’ll show you and the rest of the ponies tomorrow. Anyway, back to what we were saying…I don’t have a crush on Lyra, and she doesn’t have a crush on me! We literally just met!” I looked over at Lyra. She somehow was still frozen. I shook my head.

“Whatever you say, darling, but you can’t hide your feelings forever.” Rarity advised.

I then began yawning. Then I realized; I had nowhere to sleep. I was too tired to go back to the portal, and I was enjoying being a pony rather well.

“Would you like for me to make you a bed, darling?” Rarity asked warmly.

“Could you?” I asked groggily. “That would be grea—”

“WAIT!” cried Lyra all of a sudden. “You can sleep at my and Bon-Bon’s house!"

“I’m terribly sorry, Lyra, but I’m much too tired,” I said, yawning. “Now, you go on home to Bon-Bon. I promise you, I’ll be just fine here."

“A-Are you sure…?” asked Lyra worriedly. Before I could say anything, Rarity spoke up.

“Yes,” she said reassuringly. “I am positively sure.”

“Oh,” said Lyra sadly. “O-Okay.” She slowly trotted out the door.

“Now,” began Rarity, “Why don’t we get you to bed?” I nodded tiredly. “I’ll put an extra mattress in Sweetie Belle’s room. You can sleep there.”

“Thank you for this, Rarity. And…I’m sorry about earlier. I shouldn’t have laughed at your feelings like that.”

“Oh, it’s quite alright, darling.”

“And don’t worry,” I said comfortingly. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Thank you, dear. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight to you, too, Rarity.”

I slowly drudged up the stairs. When I trotted into Sweetie Belle’s room, I could see she was already fast asleep, snoring happily. Guided only by the dim moonlight, I found the extra mattress Rarity had laid down and, as quietly as I could, slumped into it and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Bonus Chapter 3.5: Untrust

Ponyville, Equestria, midnight

It is midnight in Equestria. A shady figure in a cloak makes its way towards Twilight's library. When the figure reaches the library, it knocks on the door. Twilight quickly opens the door. She had been reading every book she had to try and find out more about the humans and was wide awake.

"Who are you?" she asks the figure.

The figure removes its hood and reveals herself to be Bon-Bon, Lyra's best friend and roommate. "I need your help," she says.

"With what?" asks Twilight.

"The stranger," Bon-Bon says. "The so-called 'human'."

"Say no more," Twilight says, letting Bon-Bon in. The light of the portal still shines brightly in Twilight's library. "So, how do you know this Skyler character?" She asks Bon-Bon.

"Lyra brought him to our house, claiming that he was a human, some type of creature she's been obsessing over since we were fillies. You know, most of the time I wouldn't mind this obsession of hers. It's one of the things that are special about her. It's why I love her. But sometimes, it's just too much."

"Like this time," Twilight interjects.

"Yeah. A-And now this strange Skyler character comes along, claiming he's from 'another world'...I'm just worried for Lyra is all, worried about what would happen to her. I love her like a sister. We've been friends since our fillyhood."

"Well, Princess Celestia advised me to keep a close eye on him. I really do hope he's telling the truth like everypony thinks he's been doing, but I personally don't think he is. That's all Equestria needs: another serious problem on our hooves."

"What do you mean, 'another serious problem'?" Bon-Bon asks Twilight.

"Well, yesterday morning, in Canterlot, the princess woke me and my assistant Spike up in lieu of some type of 'emergency meeting'. When we got to her, the look on her face was that of pure terror."

"Princess Celestia, terrified?" Bon-Bon laughs. "I'll believe that when I see it!"

"Well, believe it or not, I sense that something horrible is soon to happen. Anyway, you say you need my help confirming the identity of this Skyler guy. Well, just before you arrived, I was about to go to Princess Luna and ask her to enter Skyler's dreams and see what she can find. She and Celestia already searched his room on the other side but didn't find anything incriminating or suspicious, but I'm still unsure."

"Okay," Bon-Bon says, "Let's do this!"

Shortly after midnight, the three princesses (Luna, Twilight, and Celestia) and Bon-Bon meet up at Rarity's Boutique in Sweetie Belle's room for the operation.

"So, do you think you can do it?" Twilight asks Princess Luna.

"I can try," Luna replies.

"Please don't hurt him, Princess," worries Rarity.

"I'll try." Luna's eyes begin shining bright with white light.

"Please be careful, sister," Princess Celestia warns her. "We don't know what his foreign mind holds."

"SILENCE!" booms the Princess of the Night. "I need to concentrate!"

Skyler, in his human form, walks through the center of Ponyville. There is something walking next to him. It's some sort of prehistoric reptile.

"I'm telling you, Veloci, you're gonna love her! She's such a goofball!" Skyler says.

"I disappear for nearly a decade, and this is what you're fascinated with now?" The reptilian creature says. "Magical colorful talking mini-horses? Jeez, you humans just keep getting weirder and weirder." The reptilian creature walks in front of Skyler, revealing himself to be a velociraptor, a well-known prehistoric dinosaur.

"W-Wait," says Luna. "I-Is that—?"

"Who? Who is it?!" inquiries Twilight.

The duo arrives at Lyra and Bon-Bon's house.

"Can you introduce me to her already before I change my mind and eat her?"

"God, you can never be patient, can you, Veloci?"

"I just want to get this over with so I can have some lunch. I'm freaking starving over here!"

"You're always hungry! You haven't changed a bit since you left!" Skyler looks down. "You know, I miss you. It's been a hard eight years." A tear rolls down his cheek.

Veloci puts a claw on his shoulder. "Well, I'm here now aren't I?"

Rarity looks down at Skyler sleeping. She smiles when she spots an elated grin spread across the stallion's face.

Skyler smiles. He then knocks on the door. "Lyra! Are you there? I want you to meet someone!"

Lyra opens the door. "Oh, hi, Skyler! And who is—AAH!" she screams when she sees Veloci. "S-Skyler," she says, hiding behind the door, only the top of her head peering out, "W-What is that thing?!"

"Hey!" calls out Veloci, "I find that offensive!"

"This," Skyler says, "Is my best friend Veloci. He's a dinosaur!"

"A d-d-dinosaur?" trembles Lyra.

"Velociraptor, to be exact," says Veloci. "Don't worry, I don't bite...well, actually, I *do** bite...a lot. But I'll make an exception since you're Skyler's friend!"*

"O-Oh...well...n-nice t-to m-m-meet y-you, V-V-Veloci," says Lyra, still trembling in fear.

"By Odin's Beard!" exclaims Princess Luna, "That looks like..."

"WHO?!" panics Twilight, "WHO DOES WHO LOOK LIKE?!"

"It looks like...The Scaly One!" cries Luna.

"Oh, dear..." trembles Princess Celestia.

"NO! NOT THE SCALY ONE!!" cries Twilight. "Uh...one question: WHO THE HAY IS THE SCALY ONE?!"

"The Scaly One is an evil creature that is half-pony, half-lizard," Luna speaks, still enveloped in her dream-entering state. "My sister and I first discovered this monster a few months ago. Because of his razor-sharp teeth, we thought he was a changeling. So we banished him to the unknown. We didn't know whether or not he survived. It appears that Skyler was once great friends with this menace when the both of them were in another form."

"I've heard enough," calls Celestia. "Quick, sister, we must go to Canterlot. We shall return in the morning so we can..." She glares down at Skyler, who is still sleeping soundly. "'Discuss' these matters when he wakes up." Celestia and Luna both glide off into the night, leaving Twilight, Rarity, and Bon-Bon in disbelief.

"You can go on back to bed, Rarity, but keep a watchful eye on Skyler," Twilight tells Rarity. She nods, concerned. "Come on—I'm sorry, what's your name again?" Twilight then asks Bon-Bon.

"Bon-Bon," she answers.

"Come on, Bon-Bon, we'll get together everypony who was there when Skyler came to Equestria and rendezvous here in the morning when Skyler wakes up."

"You got it," Bon-Bon replies, heading back to her and Lyra's cottage.

Chapter 4: Friends & Foes

Ponyville, Equestria, early morning

My eyes burned as the sun's rays hit them. It was a beautiful sunny morning...in Equestria. I was feeling relaxed and refreshed this morning, something I hadn't felt in a long time. I had the most amazing dream that Veloci was still alive and I was introducing him to Lyra. I smiled as I got up out of the mattress, brushing my unkempt bedmane out of my eyes. I slowly drudged down the stairs to Rarity's kitchen, where she was making breakfast. I saw her at the sink and greeted her politely. "Good morning, Rar—" I paused as something caught my attention: my reflection in the mirror. I suddenly realized that I hadn't even really seen what I looked like as a pony in detail. What I saw made my jaw drop. "I...I'M MY O.C.!!" I cried frantically. I ran my hooves through my neon blue and yellow mane. I inspected my grey-blue fur. I rubbed my new horn on my forehead. I looked at my flank and saw that I even had a cutie mark: A big black-and-white letter 'X'. "OH MY GOSH, COULD THIS GET ANY MORE AWESOME?!" I squealed.

"What's an O.C.?" I heard Twilight say.

"That's kind of hard to explain, Twilight—wait, Twilight?! What are you doing here?!" I suddenly noticed all the ponies in Rarity's kitchen. It was everypony that was there when I discovered the portal to Equestria: Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Lyra, Bon-Bon, and Spike. "What...what are all of you doing here?" I noticed that all of them looked sad, except for Twilight and Bon-Bon, who looked angry. Lyra looked worried. "W-What's going on?"

"We're here to ask you some more questions," A booming voice echoed throughout my ears. It was Princess Celestia once again. But this time, instead of just bringing Princess Luna, she brought Princess Cadence as well. Her husband Shining Armor and the rest of the Canterlot Royal Guard arrived also.

"Questions? What questions? What, d-did I do something wrong?" I had no idea what was going on, but I began to panic. I don't remember breaking any laws. And even if I did, I wouldn't have known better; I was a stranger to this world, after all.

"Darn tootin' ya did somethin' wrong!" Applejack shouted. "From what Twilight told us, yer best buds with one of th' evilest enemies in Equestria!"

"What?!" I asked, confused as ever. "What the heck are you talking about?!"

Princess Cadence then came up to me. "Luna went into your dreams last night," she told me firmly. "She saw everything."

I really started panicking now. "H-Hey, uh, w-what do you mean by 'everything'?" I asked her, chuckling nervously.

"What she means is the dream you had about The Scaly One," intervenes Celestia.

"'Scaly One'? Nope, I still have no idea what you're talking about..."

"Oh, fer Pete's sake, the one with th' lizard!" Applejack yelled. She began crying. "How...how could you, Skyler? We thought we could trust ya." Rarity walked over to Applejack and hugged her, trying to comfort her and calm her down.

"What, you mean the one with Veloci? He's no enemy! He's my—well, was my best friend. He died 8 years ago."

"Eight years ago?" Twilight asked. "But Princess Luna, you said you and the Princess found The Scaly One a few months ago..."

"I can't believe this," Luna said. "Could I have been wrong? But I'm never wrong! How could this be?!"

"Oh, dear me," exclaimed Princess Celestia. "I am so terribly sorry, Skyler. I'm afraid we were mistaken. I apologize we created such a ruckus. These things don't normally happen."

"Yes," Luna said. "And I shouldn't have invaded your personal privacy like I did. I'm sorry too."

"Can you ever forgive us, Skyler?" Celestia pleaded.

"Oh, don't worry about it!" I replied. "It's nothing, I'm sure! And please...call me 'Xyclone!'"

The princess chuckled happily. "Now that I can do! And while you're here in Equestria, feel free to make yourself right at home! My and Luna's treat!"

"Will do!!" I replied ecstatically.

Celestia turned around, about to fly off, when Twilight stopped her. I eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Princess, what the hay are you doing?!" Twilight whispered angrily to her. "You're gonna let him off the hook just like that?! He could still be dangerous!"

"Oh, lighten up, Princess!" Celestia told her sarcastically. "How bad could he possibly be? He's one of the nicest and friendliest stallions I've ever had the pleasure of meeting! We searched his room and found nothing incriminating, except for a few t-shirts with us on them, which was a bit strange, I admit. He even taught me and Luna a lesson about friendship! Now, who can do that?! Just give him a chance, won't you please, Twilight? Now, I must return to Canterlot. I have important matters to attend to."

"Princess Celestia, wait!" And with that, she was gone. Twilight seethed in anger and frustration.

Applejack trotted up to me afterward. "Hey, look, Ah'm really sorry fer bein' so overdramatic earlier," she said to me.

"Oh, don't worry, it's fine," I replied. I noticed another tear falling from her eye. "Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong?" I asked her.

Applejack wiped the tear from her eye. "Oh, it's—it's nothin', Ah've just been really stressed out lately. Ah—Ah feel like Ah don't know who Ah am anymore. Ah feel like Ah'm losin' mah grip on reality."

"You can tell me anything, AJ, I wanna be your friend here," I told her.

Applejack sniffled. "Can...can Ah tell you a secret?"

"Sure," I said.

"C-Can you promise not ta tell anypony?"

"Yeah."

"Pinkie promise?"

"Cross my hoof and hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye."

"Well—Ah, uh, kinda like Rarity..."

"Well, that's not a secret. Everyone knows that you and Rarity are the best of friends."

"No, Ah mean Ah like like her. Like, really like her..."

"I...don't follow..."

"Gosh darn it, Ah got the hots for Rarity!" Applejack immediately gasped, realizing how loud she had just yelled that. Luckily, no one heard her.

"Oh, Applejack..." I hugged her tightly. "Don't you worry, I won't tell a soul."

"Oh, thank you, thank you! You have no idea how much this means ta me!"

Oh, I think I do, I thought mischievously to myself.

"Thank you, Sky—" I looked at Applejack sarcastically. "Xyclone," she said, correcting herself. "Thank you, Xyclone. Thank you fer bein' a friend."

I froze. She called me a "friend". I never really had any "friends". The only friend I had was Veloci, and he'd been dead for 8 years. That really struck a chord with me. Friend. It made me feel good inside knowing that I was someone's friend. Tears began to run down my face as I hugged my friend Applejack tighter and tighter.

Bonus Chapter 5.5: Dashie and the Rainbow Factory

Ponyville, Equestria, midday

As Xyclone leaves Twilight's library with Lyra and Bon-Bon for lunch, everypony says goodbye to each other and splits up. Even Twilight leaves to eavesdrop on Xyclone and Spike goes upstairs to take a nap. The library is completely empty. Suddenly, a few minutes later, the door to the library swings open again. A rose-eyed pony donning a ninja uniform then enters the dark library.

It's Rainbow Dash. She quietly sneaks over to the portal and walks into it. She soon arrives back in Xyclone's bedroom. She spots his laptop and dashes over to it, opening it up. "Okay, let's see here..." she says to herself. "'Rain...bow...Factory..." She fumbles to type as her huge hooves clack on the small keys. "Aha!" she says finally, clicking on the first search result she finds. "This can't be that bad..." Rainbow Dash says to herself, beginning to read. As she quickly reads, her expression slowly changes from excited to shocked. "'I did love you! But you failed me!'?" Tears begin to run down Rainbow Dash's horrified face as she continues to read. "''We find that the machine works better if the limbs are broken,' Rainbow Dash says menacingly'?!" Rainbow's face turns pale green with nausea and she begins to retch. "'Suddenly, the rose-eyed Pegasus bursts through the pile of ponies, her blue fur now the color of crimson'?!?!" Rainbow grabs a nearby garbage bin and holds it under her head. "Ugh...BLEHHH!!!" she groans as she vomits into the bin. "Who...ugh...would write something like this?!" Rainbow cries in between dry heaves. "This is terrifying!!" She vomits again. Then she continues reading. "''Any last words, you miserable whore of a foal?' Scootaloo groaned weakly. 'You have beautiful eyes.''?!?!?!"

Rainbow Dash loses it. She begins blubbering like a filly who just lost her mother. "NOOO!!!!" she wails. "NOT SCOOTALOO!!! WHYYYYYY?!?!?!?!?! WHO THE HAY WRITES THIS STUFF?!?! I WOULD NEVER DO THAT TO SCOOTALOO!!!!"

"R-Rainbow Dash? I-Is that you?" a voice says.

"H-Huh?" sniffles Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy, wearing the spy outfit Rarity had made for her when Trixie returned, looks at Rainbow Dash with a concerned look on her face. "A-Are you okay?" she asks.

"Here...g-get over here and read this," cries Rainbow Dash in between sobs.

"W-What is it?" Fluttershy asks.

Rainbow Dash sniffs. "J-Just read it!" she cries angrily, taking off her ninja uniform.

Pretty soon, Fluttershy has the same facial expression as Rainbow Dash. "O-Oh...m-my...C-C-Celestia..." she whimpers, her voice quivering. Fluttershy's sadness suddenly turns to anger. "W-Who?!" she shouts, her voice still trembling. "Who would write such a story?!?!" Her anger returns to sorrow as tears fall down her face like a raging river of heartache and pain. "Who would do this?!" she screams.

Rainbow Dash hugs her tightly. "I know, Flutters, I know," she says, her voice cracking. "We need to remember, though, this is just a story. This will never happen, okay, Flutters?"

"Oh, Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy wails. "It scared me so much!"

"Shh...shh...it's okay, it's okay. It's just a stupid little story."

The two horrified ponies buried their tears in their embrace as they both continued to sob.

A short while later, they both return through the portal. They both look horrible. Fluttershy's mane is soggy and damp from her and Rainbow Dash's tears.

The same goes for Rainbow Dash, except her mane is slightly more unkempt. "We can't tell anypony about this, understand?" she says. "They can't know about this horrible story."

Fluttershy nods in agreement. "I...I've got to go," she says, removing her spy outfit. "I need to wash myself off. I'll...I'll see you later."

Rainbow Dash waves goodbye and waits for her to leave the library. Then she looks down. She begins to cry again. She runs out the door, tears streaming down her face. Rainbow Dash spots Apple Bloom alone in the middle of Ponyville and approaches her. "H-Have you seen S-S-Scootaloo?" she asks her, her voice breaking.

"She's over at th' Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse, takin' a nap," Apple Bloom answers. "Hey, are you okay? Ya look terrible."

"No time!" Rainbow Dash calls back. Rainbow Dash runs as fast as her hooves can take her, forgetting that she had wings. The tears in her eyes begin to cloud her vision, but she ignores it. When she spots the clubhouse, she refuses to slow down. She breaks down the door and sees Scootaloo lying fast asleep in a sleeping bag. Rainbow Dash pounces on her, instantly waking her up.

"Rainbow Dash, what the hay?!" Scootaloo yells. "I'm trying to sleep here!" She sniffs. "Ugh, and why do you smell like sadness and vomit?"

Rainbow Dash pulls Scootaloo into a tight embrace. "Oh, Scootaloo, I'm so sorry!" she sobs.

Scootaloo just looks at her. "Um...what?"

"I'm so sorry if I ever did anything to hurt you!"

"Rainbow Dash, what the hay are you talking about? You could never do anything to hurt me! You're my idol! You're too awesome to hurt anypony!"

Rainbow Dash says nothing; she just beams and hugs Scootaloo tighter.

"What's wrong with you today?" Scootaloo asks.

"I just realized the wonderful opportunity that's been hiding right under my nose this entire time," Rainbow Dash replies, her voice delicate. "Scootaloo, I-I want to adopt you."

Scootaloo's jaw drops. "Wh...What?!"

"I want you to be a part of my family. Scootaloo...I-I want to be your sister."

"You really mean it?!" Scootaloo asks ecstatically. "For real?!"

"Yes, Scootaloo, I mean it. I love you, Scoots. You're like the awesome little sister I never had. I want you to be the awesome little sister I do have. I want to be by your side. I want to watch you grow. I've ignored you your entire life, failing to notice all the potential that you have. I see so much of myself in you, Scoots. I can't believe I've let this opportunity slip through my hooftips for so long. Well, no more! I never want to leave your side. Tomorrow, Scootaloo...I'll sign the adoption papers tomorrow."

"Oh, my gosh, Rainbow Dash, you're too awesome!"

"Don't tell anypony, though. I want to surprise them!"

"Oh, you got it, Rainbow Dash! I...I love you, big sister."

"I love you too...little sis." Rainbow's voice quakes as she speaks.

The two of them begin to cry happily, dampening the wooden floor of the clubhouse with their tears of happiness and joy.

"I'm so sorry, Scootaloo..." Rainbow Dash whispers silently.

Chapter 6: The Adventure Begins

Ponyville, Equestria, midday

"Wow, Lyra, I didn't know you were such a good cook!" I said at lunch. I'm not one for salads, but this one is amazing!"

Lyra blushed. "Well, I learned everything from that pony over there!" She pointed at Bon-Bon, who smiled. "She taught me everything I know! We've been best friends since we were fillies, you know!"

Bon-Bon blushed. "Lyra, stop it, you're embarrassing me!"

I smiled at both of them. I tried picking up the fork to get another bite, but I kept dropping it. "ARGH!" I yelled frustratingly. "HOW THE HAY ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO PICK THINGS UP WITH THESE DAMNED HOOVES?!"

Lyra snickered.

"Use your magic," said Bon-Bon unaffectedly. "You are a unicorn, you know...or are you 'humans' too stupid to notice something like that?"

Lyra gasped. "BON-BON!" she scolded.

"Hey!" I yelled back at Bon-Bon. "Hey, you know, you're right," I said, looking up at my horn. "I am a unicorn. But there was no reason to be a jerk about it, though, Bon-Bon!" I shot back at her.

"Well, there was no reason for you to come barging into our lives, expecting everything to be fine and dandy!" Bon-Bon yelled at me.

"Uh, guys?" Lyra said, trying to stop my and Bon-Bon's bickering.

"You know, you've been on my flank ever since I got here. What is your problem?!"

"My problem is you!"

"Um, guys...?"

"What do you mean, 'your problem is me'?! I've done nothing to you! Or anyone here, for that matter!"

"Oh, don't give me that!" Bon-Bon continued. "I know what you're planning! Twilight knows it, too!"

"PLANNING?! PLANNING WHAT?!"

"GUYS!!!!!" Lyra screamed at the top of her lungs. Bon-Bon and I both shut up. "Enough arguing, please! Now apologize to each other, both of you!"

"...Sorry, Bon-Bon," I muttered.

"Sorry, Xyclone," Bon-Bon mumbled.

"Good," Lyra said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go to the little filly's room." Lyra trotted down the hallway to the bathroom. Both Bon-Bon and I waited until she was out of sight, then we began quarreling again.

"This isn't over!" she whispered to me.

"Oh-ho-ho, not by a long shot!" I retorted. We both snarled angrily, shooting evil looks at each other until Lyra returned. Just as she did, Vinyl Scratch suddenly burst through the front door.

"Yo! Celestia wants to see you!" she shouted. "All of you!"

We all looked at each other worriedly. "Well, that was fast!" I said.

"Come on, let's go!" Vinyl continued.

Following Vinyl Scratch, Lyra, Bon-Bon, and I galloped to Twilight's library. When we got there, everypony else had already arrived, watching Princess Celestia pace back and forth with a concerned look on her face. Doctor Whooves was still asleep.

Princess Luna was there also. She attempted to calm her panicked sister down. "Sister, please calm down. I don't like seeing you this way..." Celestia ignored her.

"What's going on?" I asked as the four of us entered.

"Oh, Xyclone," called Princess Celestia. "Thank goodness you're here." She then turned to Twilight and sighed. "I can't hide it any longer. Twilight, I must reveal to you a secret I've been keeping from you and your friends for about the past week."

"What is it, Princess?" Twilight asked her, worried.

"An old enemy has returned; an enemy that you have already defeated numerous times."

"Who? If we've already defeated them, we can do it once more! Right, girls?" Twilight looked at her friends, who all nodded in agreement. "With the Elements of Harmony, we can—"

"It's Chrysalis," Celestia interrupted, her voice trembling. "She has once again returned for vengeance."

I could have sworn I saw a tear stream down Twilight's face. "W-We can defeat h-her again, c-can't we...girls?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Celestia went on. "See, I've gotten word from my representatives in other cities...and there have been reports of changeling raids everywhere from Vanhoover to Appleloosa."

"A-Appleloosa?" Applejack spoke up, taking off her hat and holding it over her face. "Braeburn..." she said, her voice trailing.

"I put off telling you because I thought it was nothing; you all have defeated her twice already. But I then started hearing reports of changelings being able to use magic."

"Magic?!" Twilight exclaimed.

And not just any old magic; they're using dark magic. The same type of magic that King Sombra used."

Rarity fainted. Applejack spotted her and caught her before she hit the floor, blushing as she did.

Twilight sat down, in disbelief. "D-Dark magic? B-But how is that even possible?!"

"I'm afraid I have no idea," replied Celestia, gazing out the window up at Canterlot above.

"Well, then why'd you call us here?" asked Vinyl Scratch.

Celestia turned back around to face Vinyl. "Queen Chrysalis' army is extremely powerful," she replied. "Twilight and her friends will need all the help that they can possibly get; Especially Xyclone here." She then spoke to me directly. "Xyclone, with your unbelievable knowledge of this world, I think you could give Princess Twilight and her friends the upper hand."

"I...I'm honored," I told her, bowing down. "I'm honored that you would let me help you. This is an all-time dream of mine, to go on adventure with you ponies." I looked at the mane six. All of them smiled. I could have sworn I saw Twilight reveal a smile as well.

Princess Celestia put a hoof on my shoulder, gesturing me to stand back up. "Just be careful," she said, concerned. I nodded in agreement.

I saw Twilight walk up to Spike. "This could be too dangerous for a baby dragon, Spike," she told him.

"Aw, come on, Twilight, I wanna help!" Spike begged. "I won't get in anypony's way, I promise!"

"No means no, Spike!" Twilight told him firmly.

"You will need to approach Chrysalis' kingdom," Celestia interjected. "You will need to report to me your findings. I'm sorry, Twilight, but Spike is coming this time."

"Yes! Aw yeah!" exclaimed Spike.

Celestia then stood up majestically and spoke to all of us collectively. "I wish you all luck. Now go!"

In a mere matter of seconds, the library was clear of ponies, except for Celestia and Luna. I looked back to see that Celestia laid down and tears had begun to stream down her royal face.

"Please, have faith, my sister," I heard Luna say, comforting her frightened sister. "We can always hope."

I heard Celestia say something, but I was now so far away that I could barely hear it. "I hope..." Her voice trailed. "I hope you are right, Luna." Celestia sniffled. I turned back around to see that I had lost track of the group and had fallen behind.

"Hey! Wait for me!" I called to them.

Chapter 7: Something Went Right

Ponyville, Equestria, midday

"Guys, wait up!" I yelled, trying to catch up to the group. "Slow down!" When I finally caught up, Vinyl Scratch said something to me.

"Hey, wanna race to the edge of Ponyville? I betcha 5 bits ya can't beat me!"

"Oh, you're on!" I said back. We then darted past the rest of the ponies, almost knocking Rainbow Dash over in the process.

"Hey!" she yelled. "Watch where you're going!"

"Heh, sorry!" I called back. In no time, I reached the edge of the town. I reared up onto my two hind legs victoriously. "Hah! In your face!" I called to Vinyl, who was still a good distance back. "Ha-ha! Victorious—!"

"LOOK OUT BELOW!!!!" I heard a voice call, interrupting my victory dance. I looked up to see a blonde-maned, gray-furred pegasus pony heading straight for me.

"Oh, shi—" I started to say, but was unable to finish. "OOF!" I grunted as the pony slammed into me.

"OOPS!" the pony said. "MY BAD!"

"D-Did anyone get the number of that truck?" I asked goofily. "The muffins are under the washing machine!"

"MUFFINS?!" exclaimed the pony on top of me. "WHERE?!"

I started returning to normal. "What the—?" I asked. I saw Lyra galloping up to me.

"Oh, my gosh!" she cried. "Xyclone! Are you okay?!"

I nodded dizzily. Lyra turned to the gray pegasus pony on my chest.

"And you!" she scolded. "What in the wide world of Equestria do you think you're doing?! Running into other ponies like that! You're a pegasus! Don't you know how to fly?!"

"Sorry!" the gray pony responded. "I was flying perfectly fine, and then I started falling! I just don't know what went wrong!"

"Wait a minute..." I said. "Where have I heard that phrase before?" Then it hit me. "Holy crap! You're Ditzy Doo!"

The pegasus nodded. "That's right!" she said. "Although, you don't have to call me that! Nopony else calls me that. Everypony calls me Derpy Hooves! I don't know why. Actually...now that I think about it, no one's ever called me by my actual name. And I've never seen you around here before! Who are you? How do you know my name?"

Lyra sighed. "It's a long story," she said. "Now if you'll excuse us, we're trying to help Princess Celestia with a problem she has, and—" As Lyra started walking away, Derpy interrupted her.

"Ooh, can I come?!" she asked ecstatically.

"NO!" shouted Lyra. "You'll just slow us down! What with your clumsiness—"

"HEY!" I stepped in front of Lyra, staring her down angrily. She backed up as I approached her. "You do NOT talk to Derpy that way! Just because she's clumsier than the rest of us and her eyes are messed up does NOT mean she's any lower on the social ladder than the rest of us!" I gasped suddenly. I didn't mean to yell at Lyra like that; she looked guilty.

"I...I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "I-I didn't know you were so fond of her." She turned to Derpy then. "I'm so sorry," she said to her. "I didn't mean to be so brash."

"Oh, it's fine!" Derpy replied, smiling. "It's happens to me so much, I've grown used to it!"

"Uh...Okay?" said Lyra, confused. "Anyway, can you forgive me?"

"Of course!!" Derpy beamed adorably.

"Thank you," continued Lyra. "And you're completely welcome to join us on our journey! Celestia said we'll need all the help we can get! And anypony who's cool with Xyclone is cool with me!"

"Yay!" cheered Derpy.

"Alright," I spoke up finally. "Now that that's cleared up, let's get going, shall we?" Everyone nodded in agreement. As we began walking again, Derpy came up to me.

"Thanks for standing up for me back there," she whispered to me.

"Oh, don't even mention it!" I replied back. "It's nothing, really!"

"Oh, but it is something!" Derpy continued. "Nopony's ever stood up for me like that, not since Rainbow Dash did to some bullies once, but that was way back when we were fillies. I don't know who you are, but I feel like I can already call you one of the nicest ponies I've ever met!"

I smiled and blushed at the same time. "Xyclone," I told her, holding out my hoof to her. "Just call me Xyclone!"

Derpy then held out her hoof and we shook them. "I'm Ditzy, but everyone calls me Derpy," she said, then laughed. "But I guess you already knew that, huh?"

I laughed as well. "You know, Derpy, I have a feeling that we're gonna become great friends one day."

"Hey, what're y'all standin' around for?" I heard Applejack call back from ahead. "Aren't y'all comin'?" she asked.

I then realized that I was behind again. "Coming!" I yelled.

"Hey, wait for me too!" hailed Derpy.

Chapter 8: A Terrible Sense of Direction

Edge of Ponyville, Equestria, midday

I quickly caught up to the rest of the ponies, taking the lead. As I continued walking ahead of the group, I suddenly stopped abruptly. Everyone bumped into me.

"Xy', what th' hay?!" cried Applejack angrily.

I turned around to the rest of them. "I just realized something. I have no idea where we're going. I don't know where Chrysalis' kingdom is. Shouldn't you guys know where she is? I mean, you fought her twice."

Bon-Bon facehoofed. "If you didn't know where to go, THEN WHY DID YOU TAKE THE LEAD?!" she screamed at me.

"Well, you certainly didn't do anything to stop me!" I retorted.

"That's because I didn't feel very comfortable helping THE ENEMY!" continued Bon-Bon.

"HEY!" shouted Applejack to us both. "Would y'all please stop arguin' fer one gal darn second?!" She turned her attention to all of us then. "Okay, from what Ah remember, it was a bunch o' miles past th' Everfree Forest."

"T-T-The E-Everfree F-F-Forest?!" trembled Fluttershy.

"Where is it?" I asked Applejack.

"Nearby Fluttershy's cottage," continued Applejack.

"Oh, yeah!" I remembered. Then my ears dropped. "And w-where is her cottage?"

"Back...that way," sighed Applejack, pointing to the other side of town.

"Damn it!" I cursed. "I've never had a good sense of direction. I'm sorry, everypony." Whoa, did I just say that? I thought to myself. I had been living around the ponies for so long that I was starting to talk like them.

And so began the awkward trek back through the town of Ponyville, as we got weird looks from all the ponies who had just cheered us onward. When we finally reached the entrance to the Everfree Forest behind Fluttershy's cottage, she was shivering as if she had just seen a ghost.

"I-I-I d-d-don't w-want t-to d-d-do th-this, i-if t-that's o-okay w-with y-y-you..." she stammered, dropping to the ground in fear. I just looked at her.

"You know, I don't get it," I said.

"You don't get w-what?" asked Fluttershy.

"You," I went on. "You've been to the Everfree Forest countless times to help your friends, yet you're still frightened of it. Shouldn't you have gotten used to it by now?"

"W-Well..." mused Fluttershy. "I-I s-suppose you're r-right..." I held a hoof out to her to help her up.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy, it'll be fine," I told her comfortingly. "I'm here to help you. I wanna be your friend."

"Oh...o-okay," said Fluttershy uneasily. She grabbed my hoof and I pulled her up.

"Okay, here's what we'll do," I said to everyone. "I have a plan. We'll journey through the forest until we find an open space big enough to set up a camp. Twilight, Rarity, Lyra, and Vinyl then can produce some tents for us all by using their magic collectively. That's my plan, at least. I just hope we don't get attacked by any timber wolves. Does everypony understand?"

Everyone nodded, including Twilight and Bon-Bon. "Sounds mighty fine ta me!" said Applejack happily.

"Alrighty, then!" I continued. "Onward we go!" As everyone began walking, I slipped back to where Lyra was. I had to speak with her. She looked scared. "What's wrong?" I asked her. "Are you okay?"

Lyra suddenly noticed me, and was brought out of her daze. "Oh, yes, I'm perfectly fine!" she said. "I could never be scared with you here." She suddenly blushed, realizing what she had just said. "I-I mean...I love having you around! NO, WAIT, THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!"

This time, I blushed. I then cleared my throat to speak. "Well, um...a-anyway, I came here to ask for your help with something."

"W-What is it?"

"I've been thinking about what Bon-Bon said the other day, and I-I...I want you to teach me how to use magic." I stuttered as I spoke.

"Really?!" asked Lyra ecstatically. "B-But why me? Why not Twilight, Rarity, or Vinyl?"

"W-Well, I'd only feel comfortable with you teaching me." We both blushed again. "W-Wait! I-I mean...I feel like y-you would know the most about magic." I had never felt this nervous asking for help before. I still didn't get it.

"Oh...w-well, if it's really what you want, I-I'd be honored to teach you, Xyclone. In fact, I can start tutoring you tomorrow, if you like!" Lyra smiled.

"Thank you so much, Lyra! I will never forget this!"

Lyra still continued to blush. "Oh, d-don't mention it!"

I trotted away from her, beaming happily. Then I started thinking. Why did I say that? Lyra really was the only one I wanted to teach me magic. She was the only one I wanted, period. I couldn't get the image of her face out of my head. Was Rarity right? Was I...falling for Lyra? Every time I tried to talk to her, I stuttered and stumbled through my words. No, it's not possible, I thought to myself. She's a pony, I'm a human. Well...was a human. Anyway, it would never work out between us. We're just really great friends!

I was still deep in thought a few hours later as I suddenly tripped on a loose root and face planted on the cold hard ground. Everyone (except for Twilight and Bon-Bon, of course) galloped over to me to help me up.

"Oh, gosh, Xyclone, are you okay?" I heard Derpy ask.

"Yes, you hit the ground awfully hard, dear," interjected Rarity.

"Yeah, I'm good," I replied. "I was just lost in my thoughts." I looked around where I had fallen. We had reached a break in the forest. For about another 30 feet, there were no trees or brush. It was just a wide open space. I looked up to find that there was even a break in the tree canopy, as I could see the dim orange glow of the setting sun through the opening. "This place is perfect for a camp!" I exclaimed. I gestured towards Lyra, who then gestured to Twilight, Rarity, and Vinyl. I watched in awe as the four of them combined their magical powers to create some tents. With the help of the pegasi and the earth ponies, we quickly set up the tents. We then set out to gather firewood, which we found in no time. In about 20 minute's time, we had a full-fledged campsite set up. Suddenly, Derpy yawned loudly.

"Well," she said. "I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm beat. I'm calling it a day. 'Night, everypony. See you tomorrow." With that, she disappeared into one of the tents as we all wished her a good night's sleep.

One by one, pony after pony went to bed. Some of them went into the same tent. First was Twilight and Spike, second was Vinyl and Octavia, third was Rainbow and Fluttershy, fourth was Lyra and Bon-Bon, and fifth was Pinkie. Rarity was the last one to hit the metaphorical hay. As she entered her tent, Applejack, who was still wide awake, holding a marshmallow over the campfire, suddenly spoke up after barely saying a word after we made the camp.

"G-Goodnight, R-Rarity," she stammered. "S-S-Sleep well."

"Oh...why, th-thank you, A-Applejack," replied Rarity nervously, blushing slightly. When Rarity vanished into her tent, it was only I and Applejack who stayed awake. After about a minute of silence, I spoke up.

"Hey, Applejack?" I asked, trotting up to her.

"What is it, sugar cube?" Applejack replied.

"Something's been bothering me since this morning. I've been thinking about what you said, when you were, you know, telling me about your thing with Rarity..." As I sat down, Applejack looked away, her face red. "You said you don't know who you are anymore, that you're 'losing your grip on reality.' W-What did you mean by that?"

Applejack looked down. "Well, it's...Ah don't know, it's hard ta explain. Ah always thought Ah was attracted ta stallions, but there's just somethin' about Rarity...it's...she's..." I saw a tear fall down Applejack's face as she spoke, but I didn't say anything. "Ah guess Ah've just always thought she was beautiful. That flowing violet mane, that pristine white coat...i-i-it's just so amazing. Ah can't get 'er out of mah head. All Ah ever think about is her. Ah'm...Ah-Ah'm crazy 'bout 'er, Xyclone. Ah want to tell her how Ah feel about her so much, b-but Ah just can't." Applejack was crying now.

"Why?" I asked her. "Why can't you tell her?"

Applejack sniffled. "She would never go for somepony like me," she said. "Ah'm just an dirty ol' farm pony, and she's...she's a magnificent fashion model. We're nothin' alike. Ah could never tell 'er. She and everypony else would laugh in mah face an' call me a filly-fooler!"

"A...'f-filly-fooler'?" I asked her, confused.

"Oh, that's what ya call mares who like other mares," explained Applejack. "If anypony found that out, I'd become a pariah fer the rest o' my life! A laughingstock!" Applejack dropped her marshmallow into the fire and buried her face in her hooves, sobbing softly. "Y-Ya see?" she asked, sniffling. "This is what Ah meant by 'losing my grip on reality'. Ah just don't know what ta do! You probably wanna laugh at me right now fer actin' like this! Well, go ahead and do it! Nothing else matters ta me anymore."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing," I said sympathetically. "I've never seen this vulnerable side of you. And I would never laugh at you! You're my friend! You really love Rarity, don't you?"

"Yes!" cried Applejack in between sobs. "Ah can't believe I even told you this," she said. "Ah've literally not told a soul about this, not Twilight, not Princess Luna or Celestia...Ah've even kept this a secret from my own family! Yes, Xyclone, Ah love Rarity! Ah can't really say the same fer mahself, though."

"You know what I think you should do?" I asked Applejack, pulling her into a hug.

She sniffled. "What?"

"Just tell her!" Applejack looked up at me.

"B-But what if she—?"

"You know, there's a popular saying in my world," I said, interrupting her. "'Sometimes opposites attract'. You can always hope, AJ. There's always hope."

Applejack started to smile a little bit. "Thank you, Xyclone," she told me. "Thanks fer bein' here fer me. You know, I'm glad you came through that portal."

"Me too," I said, looking over at the tent where Lyra was sleeping. I smiled. "Me too..."

Chapter 9: Are You Feeling It Now, Miss Rarity?

Everfree Forest, Equestria, midnight

After a while, Applejack started yawning.

"Y'know, if you're tired, feel free to go to a tent," I told her. "There are plenty of them. And don't worry. If any timberwolves attack, I'll hold them off!" I joked.

"Thank ya kindly, Xyclone," replied Applejack, yawning wearily. "Thanks fer the advice. G'night."

"Goodnight, Applejack," I said to her as she entered a tent. "We'll continue the journey tomorrow." With Applejack having gone to bed, I turned back to the fire to roast another marshmallow. I was the only one still awake; I was glad. I finally had some time to think; some time to reflect on all that had happened within the past few days. I was still somewhat in disbelief. I kept thinking that I was going to wake up at any second, revealing this all to be a crazy dream. I shook my head. One week ago, I was just a ugly boring human teenager living an ugly boring human life with no ugly boring human friends. Now I was a handsome stallion in Equestria with some really great friends. How could this have even happened? I didn't even know how the portal appeared. Although, I was awfully glad it did. I never would have met Lyra if the portal hadn't showed up. Lyra, possibly the most wonderful girl I'd ever met. There I went, dreaming about her. I started to realize the truth: I really did have a crush on Lyra. Everything Applejack had told me about Rarity was just like how I was feeling about Lyra; I couldn't stop thinking about her. My mind automatically turned its attention towards Rarity and Applejack then. Applejack had just revealed to me that she really, really cared for Rarity. Even Rarity told me that she herself has some feelings for Applejack. I wanted to tell them so bad about how they feel about each other, but I couldn't. I'd made a promise to both of them not to tell anyone; a Pinkie Promise, no less. I had to figure out a way to get them alone together so that they could tell each other how they both feel. I pondered this predicament for quite a while, when I suddenly heard rustling coming from Rarity's tent. After about a minute, she exited her tent. She was wearing furry pajamas, her mane was frizzled, and she had bags under her eyes. She looked horrible.

"X-Xyclone?" she asked me. "You're still up?"

I nodded.

"I-I can't sleep," she whined. "Something's been on my mind and I haven't been able to concentrate on resting."

"Is it Applejack?" I asked sympathetically.

Rarity looked over at me, then back down at the ground. "...Y-Yes..." she stammered nervously. "How did you know?"

"Oh, just a wild guess."

Rarity then dragged herself over to me and sat down. "Xyclone, she's all I ever think about. Never before has a pony been on my mind so much. When I was obsessed with meeting Prince Blueblood, it was faint, but once I got over him, Applejack became my main fascination. When I'm working, I think of her. When I'm eating, I think of her. When I'm sleeping, I dream of her. I dream about that darling orange coat, I dream about those beautiful emerald eyes, I dream about that fine yellow mane...Xyclone, darling...I-I think I love her." Rarity looked concerned.

"Well, what's wrong with that?" I asked her.

"'What's wrong?!'" she cried. "'What's wrong?!' Xyclone, do you know what happens to a mare when they're found out to be a filly-fooler?"

"...W-What?"

"They're banished, Xyclone," she said.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I didn't know that homosexuality was such an abhorred act here. This place is like freaking Russia! Applejack just told me that filly-foolers would become outcasts. She didn't say anything about banishment. "I didn't know Equestria was so harsh with that kind of stuff. I thought this land was all about love and tolerance...a-and friendship..."

"It's sometimes not as happy as you think, dear," continued Rarity. "Most ponies here think the only acceptable relationship is between a mare and a stallion. It's the reason that marriages between two mares or two stallions, whom of which are called 'colt-cuddlers', are illegal here."

I was literally speechless. I lost a little respect for Princess Celestia then.

"A-At least...that's what I've heard," Rarity went on. "I actually don't know if any ponies have been banished, I just overheard it somewhere. But even if it was legal, I could never tell Applejack how I feel for her. She would just laugh in my face and call me a filly-fooler!"

This is starting to seem uncannily similar to what AJ told me, I thought to myself.

"Not only that," Rarity went on. "She would never love somepony such as me. She would think I'm too fancy, too prissy, and too...'persnickety', as she herself so adorably puts it. I just really love her honesty. Her soul is just magnificent."

I didn't know what to say. I never would have guessed that ponies could be banished just for being gay. I looked over at Rarity. Like Applejack, she, too, began to cry. I had to tell her something. I wanted to help her. "W-Well, you know, there's a popular expression in my world," I said.

"Oh? And what's that, dear?" asked Rarity.

"'Opposites attract.' Just tell her, Rar'. Who knows? Maybe AJ carries some sentiments towards you as well!"

Rarity sniffled, drying her eyes. "Oh, that's really nice of you for trying to cheer me up, darling, but we both know that's not true. Applejack may be a tompony, but she's in no way interested in other mares..." Her voice trailed off and broke. "...Unfortunately."

I hugged her comfortingly. "Hey, hey, don't worry! Everything's gonna be alright, okay, Rarity? Now, just go back to bed and try and get some sleep. We're packing up and moving on tomorrow."

Rarity sniffled again. "Th-Thank you, Xyclone. I swear to Celestia, darling, I think you're probably the most kind and caring pony I've ever had the pleasure of speaking to."

"Thank you, Rarity; I try."

As Rarity returned to her tent, I returned to the fire. I laid down on one of the wooden logs we had set up as benches and gazed into the night sky. I sighed deeply as I inspected all the stars that were within my vision. I began to think about my own mortality. Would I ever make it back home? Do I even want to? Then I thought about Rarity and Applejack again. I never knew that gay marriage was banned in Equestria. I also never knew that Rarity and Applejack adored each other so much. It was ridiculous; All that fan-art I saw of Rarity and Applejack kissing and loving each other...they were all right. I didn't even realize that I had begun to yawn. My vision slowly grew darker and darker as my eyelids became heavy and I drifted off to sleep after a very long, crazy, and adventurous day.

Chapter 10: Lesson Zero

Deep in the Everfree Forest, early morning

I didn't even realize that I had fallen asleep. I woke up to the "soothing" voice of Vinyl Scratch.

"HEY, BRO, GET THE HECK UP ALREADY!"

I groaned sluggishly as I sat up. I noticed that I had fallen off the log and was sleeping in the dirt.

"You know, this wakin' you up thing is startin' to get old, dude!" joked Vinyl.

I discovered that it was about 7:30 in the morning. I turned around to see that everyone was awake. Rainbow Dash, Lyra, and Applejack were rolling up the tents while everypony else (Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Octavia, Rarity, Bon-Bon, and Derpy) was eating breakfast around the campfire. They were all laughing at Pinkie Pie, who was telling a funny story to the ponies; All of them except Rarity. She was too busy ogling Applejack, a dreamy look on her face, smiling shyly. Seeing these two ponies in love was adorable. It was too bad that they couldn't be together.

"You were so deep in sleep, we started to think you'd died!" joked Vinyl again.

I suddenly realized that Twilight wasn't around. "Where's Twilight?" I asked Vinyl. "Oh, she's over there," she replied, pointing to Twilight's tent, in which Twilight herself was sitting in front of.

Something seemed...different about her. She had a deranged look on her face. Her eyes were wide, her mane ratted, her smile psychotic. She looked just like she did in the episode "Lesson Zero", when she was obsessed with getting a letter to Princess Celestia.

She was rubbing her hooves together like some sort of maniac.

"We don't know what the hay's wrong with the girl," Vinyl spoke up. "She's been staring at you like that ever since she woke up. We tried asking her what's wrong, but she hasn't said anything yet. She's just sat there, menacingly, twiddling her hooves and giggling crazily. She's really starting to worry us. Anyway, Lyra's been wanting to talk to you. Something about magic lessons. She's over there, helping take the tents down."

I trotted sleepily over to where Vinyl Scratch pointed me to, and Lyra and Applejack greeted me warmly. Rainbow didn't say anything. She was lost in her thoughts, a melancholy smile on her face. I didn't know why.

"Well, good morning, sleepyhead!" Lyra said playfully.

"Hey, Lyra," I said shyly.

"Are you ready for your first magic lesson, Xyclone?"

"What, already?" I whined.

"W-Well, i-if you don't want to, w-we can always wait until later," interjected Lyra, blushing.

"N-No, that's fine, you can t-teach me now," I replied, also blushing.

Lyra smiled effeminately. "Just let me finish taking down this tent and we'll start, okay?"

"O-Okay." I went and sat down next to Rarity. We both gazed dreamily at our crushes. I was then interrupted by Pinkie Pie.

"Hey, Xyclone?" she asked me, a serious tone in her voice.

"Oh, hi, Pinkie. What's wrong? You look worried."

"I-I am worried...about Twilight. Nopony knows what's wrong with her. I even asked Spike, but he doesn't know either. She hasn't stopped glaring at you, so I thought you might know what's wrong."

"I-I'm sorry, Pinkie, but I haven't any clue."

"I just wanted to ask you if you knew. Just keep an eye on her, okay?"

"Don't worry, I will. Thanks for the head's up. And cheer up, why don't you, Pinkie? I don't like you being all serious and stuff. It's just not you."

Pinkie smiled in agreement. "Okie-Dokie-Lokie!" she replied. "Hey!" she called back to the other ponies at the campfire. "Who wants to hear another story?!" she asked. Everyone cheered.

A short time later, Lyra finished helping Applejack and Rainbow with the tents and trotted over to me, and we began our lesson.

"Now, let's start with something simple. You see that twig there?" she said pointing to a small stick nearby.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Okay. Now, I want you to concentrate on that twig. Picture it in your head; Picture it lifting up."

I closed my eyes, focusing all my attention onto the twig.

"Are you doing it?" asked Lyra. "Are you concentrating?"

"Yes," I said, grunting with effort. "I'm...trying..." I opened my eyes. The twig hadn't moved a single inch. "It didn't work," I told Lyra.

"That's fine. It doesn't usually work on the first attempt. Now try again. Remember; focus all your concentration on the twig."

I closed my eyes and tried again. I began to sweat as I once again attempted to move the stick with magic. I never knew this would be so difficult. I once again opened my eyes to see what I had accomplished. The twig was still in the exact same place. "Oh, come on!" I panted. "Why is it so hard to move such a small object?!"

Lyra stifled a chuckle. "Calm down, Xyclone. Practice makes perfect. Keep on trying." I sighed and tried again. "HNNNNNGGG!!!" I groaned, my face reddening from the heavy amount of effort. Still, the stick refused to budge. "Oh...this...is...hope...less!" I panted in between breaths.

"Again," went Lyra.

Try after try after try I attempted to move the twig. And try after try after try I failed at doing so. Disappointed, I looked up at Lyra. I felt like crying. I was just about ready to quit.

"Don't worry, Xyclone! These things take time. You can't learn everything in a day! Just keep on trying; You'll get the hang of this eventually!"

There was something about Lyra's comforting voice that drove me to continue. I once again tried to move the stick. My legs trembled as I started to feel something I'd never felt before. I didn't know what it was, but it was exhilarating. Sparks flew from my horn as I then collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

"Oh, my goodness, Xyclone! Are you okay?!" exclaimed Lyra.

I struggled to turn my head toward the stick. It still didn't move. "This...this...is...im...possible!" I wheezed.

"No, it's not!" corrected Lyra. "I saw your horn! I saw sparks! You almost had it! Sparks flying from your horn is a good sign! We've made some progress!"

I was unable to speak; I was out of breath. I just panted heavily.

Lyra laughed. "Well, I think that concludes our lesson for today!"

I dropped my head to the ground, relieved. I was glad that I had at least made a little progress. I just laid there on the ground for the rest of the morning while everyone else packed up.

A little while later, I awoke to the calming voice of Applejack. I didn't know that I had fallen asleep...again.

"Hey, sleepin' beauty, wake up! It's time ta go!"

I noticed that it was the middle of the day. "Jeez, how long was I asleep?" I asked.

"About four hours," Vinyl spoke up. "You're such a sound sleeper, dude. How do you do it?"

I smiled jokingly. Then I yawned again. "I'm still so sleepy. Lyra's magic lesson sapped all my energy."

Applejack smiled understandingly. "Well, if you'd like, you could ride in mah cart with all the tents and campin' stuff."

Are you sure?" I yawned. "Would you be able to pull all that weight?"

"Of course!" replied Applejack. "Xyclone, Ah kick trees fer a livin'. Don't y'all worry 'bout me! I insist!"

"Well, if you insist..." Applejack strapped on the cart and I crawled into the back of it. I curled up into a little ball and quickly dozed off. As I slept, I dreamt about Lyra again. There was no doubt in my mind anymore; I was falling in love with her.

I woke up a few hours later. It was now the middle of the afternoon. I moaned quietly. I felt refreshed now. Applejack turned around to see me starting to stir.

"Oh, welcome back, Xy! Y'all feelin' better now?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Thank you for the ride. I can move on my own from now on!" I joked, getting off Applejack's cart. All of a sudden, Twilight appeared right in front of me, blocking my path. She still had a psychotic look on her face.

"HELLO, XYCONE," she said to me, giggling frantically, her face twitching. "HOW ARE YOU?" Twilight tilted her head in a direction I didn't think it could go and smiled creepily, then she started chuckling again.

"Um...f-fine?" I stammered, trying to move around her.

"GOOD, GOOD," said Twilight. She was really starting to creep me out. "IT'S NICE TO SEE THAT EVERYONE'S FRIEND IS DOING FINE!" She once again started giggling maniacally. "WELL, I'LL TALK TO YOU LATER...BEST FRIEND! HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE!" Twilight slipped out of my way and finally let me by. She watched me as I trotted past her, that same psychotic grin on her face.

"Well, that sure was weird," I said to myself. I thought about the dream I'd just had with Lyra. I had to talk to someone. Unfortunately, nopony here was in a serious relationship, so they couldn't really give me any advice. Then I realized: There's a popular headcanon in the MLP fandom saying that Derpy Hooves and Doctor Whooves are married. And when Lyra introduced me to Doctor Whooves, he implied that he and Derpy live together. So I trotted up to Derpy, who was walking on the ground, due to her clumsiness at flying. "Derpy, can I ask you something?" I said as I approached her.

"Of course! What is it?"

"I need some advice, and you're the only pony who can help me."

"Wow, you want my advice? Nopony's ever asked for my advice before!"

"Really?! I'm surprised; you're a whole lot smarter than everyone thinks you are!"

Derpy blushed. "You...you really mean that?"

"Heck yeah I do!"

"It's just that a lot of ponies think I'm mentally deficient just because my eyes look like this and because I'm really clumsy. It's not my fault I was born this way!" Derpy began to get emotional.

I put a hoof around her shoulders and hugged her. "Well, I think you're fine just the way you are, Derpy."

"Th-Thank you, Xyclone. Now what was it you needed my advice on?"

"Do you promise not to tell her?"

"Tell who?"

"Just promise, please."

"Okay, I promise. Now who is it?!"

"It's Lyra. I think I may have a crush on her."

"Oh, silly!" laughed Derpy all of a sudden.

"What?"

"I kinda already knew that!"

"WHAT?! ...I-Is it really that obvious...?"

Derpy put a hoof on my shoulder this time. "I'm afraid so," she smiled. "The way you act around her...you're clumsier than I am sometimes! And judging from the way Lyra acts around you, I think she may have a crush on you, too!"

"No, that's impossible," I said. "We're just friends; really...good...friends."

"Oh, sure!" said Derpy sarcastically. "Trust me, Xyclone, I know these things."

"I should've known you'd see through my feelings."

"Oh? And how is that? Why did you need my advice anyway?"

"You're married to The Doctor, aren't you?"

"...Yeah, but how did you—?"

"Oh, I have my ways of knowing things," I chuckled confidently. "Anyway, the reason I wanted your advice is because I figured, since you're married to Doctor Whooves, you'd know how to help me with my problem."

"Well, I can try," said Derpy. "How does Lyra make you feel? Does she make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Does she fill your stomach full of butterflies? Does she make you feel glad to be alive?"

"Yes. Yes to all of those questions. She's one of the most caring souls I've ever met. Ever since the day we met, I knew we had some sort of special connection. I look into her beautiful golden eyes and I feel...I feel like I'm home." I sighed dreamily.

"Yep. You're in love, all right. That's almost exactly how I felt when I first met The Doctor."

"I just don't know what to do. I'm terrified of telling her. I'm afraid of what she might say."

"You know what I think you should do? Just go up to her and plant a big, wet, sloppy kiss on her face. That's what I did to The Doctor; Worked like a charm!"

"Are you sure?" I asked Derpy.

"Yes, I'm sure! Come on, Xyclone, have I ever been wrong before?"

"Um...yes, actually. Lots of times."

"Please, just trust me on this one," said Derpy.

"Okay, I will." I hugged Derpy then. "Thanks for the advice, DH. I knew you could help me."

"No, thank you, Xyclone. Thank you for being so nice to me when nopony else has. Thank you for having faith in me." The two of us hugged once more.

Chapter 11: The Ships Have Sailed

Deep in the Everfree Forest, late-afternoon

We reached another open area that evening. We decided to set up another temporary camp there for the night. Lyra thought it was time for another magic lesson while everypony else set up the camp. But before we did that, Lyra forced me to eat dinner first so that I would have some energy. She tasked me with the same test: levitating a small twig. I did exactly the same thing I did earlier this morning; I focused all my concentration on the stick. Although I was once again unable to move the twig, my horn sparked again. Before Lyra could even say anything, I was trying again. I didn't want to disappoint Lyra; I wanted to impress her. I groaned with effort, but even though I was in excruciating pain, I didn't give up. My horn once again started sparkling; I refused to let it break my concentration. Suddenly, my horn stopped sparking and started shining with a bright blue glow. Something was happening, but I didn't quite know what it was. I opened one of my eyes, and there, at my eye level, was the twig, hovering in midair with the same blue glow my horn had.

"X...Xyclone, you're...you're doing it!!" exclaimed Lyra giddily. "You're doing it! You're using magic!"

Finally, I could no longer put up with the struggle, and I broke my focus on the twig. Both I and it collapsed to the ground. "I...did it," I panted heavily. "I can't...believe...I actually...did it..."

Suddenly, Lyra glomped me into a massive hug. "Oh, Xyclone, I knew you could do it!" she cried, tears welling up in her eyes. "I knew you could! I never lost hope!"

"Yeah," I wheezed. "But...I...wouldn't have...been able...to do it...without...you...!"

"Oh, Xyclone! I love you!"

We both started staring at each other uncomfortably; we retracted our hug immediately and both blushed.

"I...I-I mean..." sputtered Lyra. "I'm...I-I'm gonna go o-over there..." Lyra ran off.

Never before had I felt so awkward. She just said "I love you" to me. She probably didn't mean it, I told myself. It was just a slip of the tongue! She doesn't love me! There's no way! I tried to forget that awkward moment ever occurred and returned to thinking about the other thing that had just happened. I was finally able to use magic! I knew it may have seemed like a small accomplishment, but it was a huge step ahead. I trotted over to the new campfire, where some of the ponies cheered. They had just seen me finally use magic. Rarity was the most overjoyed.

"Well done, darling!" she told me. "I am most impressed! You know, it took me quite some time just to learn the simplest magic, but you've made quite a fair amount of progress in a single day!"

"Really?!" I asked her. "Th-Thank you, Rarity!"

"It sometimes takes even the most skilled of unicorns at least a week to learn something like that!"

I started blushing. I didn't think that moving a tiny twig was such a big deal.

A few hours later, the routine was the same as the previous night: one by one, the ponies went to bed. Except this time, Lyra and Bon-Bon went to bed first, and Twilight and Spike went to bed last. Rarity, Applejack, and I were the only ones who remained awake. It was very uncomfortable for the both of them, what with me knowing about both of their biggest secret and both of them having huge crushes on each other. I still felt unsure about Lyra. I just had to tell someone else. I figured since I let them both tell me their secret, I should tell them my secret. They were 2 of my absolute best friends here, anyway.

"Uh, g-girls, c-can I tell you a secret?" I asked them.

"Oh, but of course, dear!" said Rarity.

"Yeah, what is it, Xy'? Y'all could tell us anythin'!' said Applejack in response.

"Can you please just promise not to tell anypony?"

"Xyclone, darling, you know you can trust us with anything."

I looked around suspiciously. "Well...h-here's the thing; I-I...have a crush on Lyra."

Both Rarity and Applejack started laughing.

"OH, COME ON!! IS IT SERIOUSLY THAT DAMN OBVIOUS?!"

"Uh, yeah! A little bit!" joked Applejack. "When you're around her, you're more jumpy than me when Ah'm 'round Rarity!" Applejack immediately bit her tongue. Rarity looked at her, both of their faces red. "Ah...Ah mean..."

"U-Uh...let's get back on topic, shall we?" said Rarity uncomfortably.

"C-Can you please promise me not to tell Lyra?"

"Of course, Xyclone. Don't y'all worry none, we won't tell a soul."

"Yes, darling, your secret is safe with us, dear."

"Thank you both. I can't get Lyra out of my head...I-I just had to tell someone."

"We understand completely, Xy'," Applejack held Rarity's hoof and looked up at her with an endearing smile on her face.

"Y-Yes, we know exactly how you feel, dear," said Rarity.

I smiled at both of them. "Thank you two for being so sympathetic. You're the best friends a guy could have." I yawned abruptly. "I'm getting sleepy. I'll see you tomorrow," I told them, heading to my tent. Once I entered it, I turned back around to see if anything was happening between Applejack and Rarity. I listened in on their conversation.

"Hey, uh, y'know, y-you could sleep with me in m-mah tent tonight, i-if you'd like..." Applejack told Rarity.

Rarity grinned shyly. "Y-Yes, I-I would like that, darling."

I smiled as I watched the two of them walk each other to their tent.

Bonus Chapter 11.5: The Break-Up

Deep in the Everfree Forest, midnight

"Bon-Bon, I can't sleep," says Lyra in her tent, waking Bon-Bon up. "I can't stop thinking about him; about Xyclone. I think I might be falling in love with him. I didn't think that he would become so handsome when he turned into a pony. I even accidentally told him I loved him today. I didn't mean to say that; i-it just slipped out!"

"I honestly don't know what you see in him," says Bon-Bon. "He's a moron. He can't do anything right. Not to mention he's probably the worst villain in Equestrian history."

"Bon-Bon!" screams Lyra. "How DARE you say that about Xyclone?!"

"Well, it's true..."

"What the hay is wrong with you, Bon-Bon?! You've never acted this cruel before! Xyclone is the nicest, kindest, most caring pony I've ever met! Why don't you realize that?! WHY ARE YOU BEING SUCH A JERK?!"

"It's because I love you."

"Bon-Bon..." says Lyra guiltily.

"Lyra, you're my best friend," Bon-Bon continues. "As a matter of fact, you're more than that. You're like a sister to me. We practically grew up together, Lyra. I'm trying to save you!"

"FROM WHAT?!?!" screams Lyra, raising her voice again. "I DON'T NEED SAVING!! WHY WOULD YOU THINK I NEED SAVING?!"

"I'm just trying to protect you, Lyra! I don't want anything bad to happen to you!"

"Bon-Bon, I already told you! I'm fine!"

"No, you're not! You may think so, but you're not! Xyclone is using you, Lyra!"

"NO HE'S NOT!!!" screams Lyra at the top of her lungs, her voice cracking. "I know Xyclone! He's nice! I don't know why you can't accept that!"

"Lyra, he's going to betray you, I just know it!"

"And just how the hay do you know that?!"

"I...I-I don't know, it's just a hunch. But believe me, it's a really good hunch!"

"Just...a 'hunch'? Just a hunch?!"

"Lyra, please calm down..."

"JUST...A...HUNCH?!?!"

"Lyra, if you'll just listen to me..."

"NO! NO, YOU LISTEN TO ME, BON-BON! I DO NOT NEED SAVING, XYCLONE IS NOT EVIL, AND YOU...! I...I don't know what to say about you..." Lyra's voice trailed off. "You've changed, Bon-Bon. You used to be such a nice pony, but this obsession you have over Xyclone, it's...it's turned you into a monster."

"Lyra, I'm not a monster! I'm trying to help you!" Bon-Bon says, crying.

"I DON'T NEED ANY HELP!!! You know what? We're done here. I'm sleeping in another tent tonight. Come and get me when you grow a heart. Goodbye."

"You know what, fine! I don't need you!"

"Fine! I don't need you either!"

"Fine!!"

"FINE!!!"

"FINE!!!!" As Lyra storms off, Bon-Bon returns to her tent, pouting. Her angry look quickly weakens, and she begins weeping softly. "Why won't anypony listen to me?" she sobs into the night sky.

Chapter 12: Ponies In Love

Deep in the Everfree Forest, early-morning

When I woke up that next morning, I was given another magic lesson by Lyra after I ate my breakfast. But, before she did, she tested me to see if I could still lift up the twig. In only one try, I lifted the stick. I was improving. This time, she taught me how to actually make it move.

"You see, magic is all in the mindset," Lyra said. "You just have to think in your head where you want it to go, and it'll move. Basically, it's like telepathy. Now, act as if you were going to lift it and move the twig over to the campfire."

With almost no effort, I easily transported the stick to the fire pit.

"Wow!" exclaimed Lyra. "Either you're a fast learner, or you have some powerful magic! I've never seen a unicorn learn this much in a day! I am very impressed!"

I blushed. Lyra saw that I looked tired, so she called off the rest of the lesson. I may have known how to lift a stick, but it still took all my energy.

Suddenly Lyra looked away from me. "L-Listen, about yesterday...what I said...i-it just slipped out, okay? I-I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Oh, i-it's fine," I said. "I-I understand."

"Let's just put that awkward situation behind us, okay?"

I chuckled. "You got a deal." All of a sudden, I heard Bon-Bon's voice:

"Lyra?" Lyra said nothing, an annoyed expression appearing on her face. "Lyra, come on, I just wanna talk! Lyra?"

I looked at Lyra. "Um, you do know that Bon-Bon's calling you, right?"

She still said nothing.

"Lyra!" I yelled.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Xyclone, but I'm afraid I don't know **who* you're talking about!"* said Lyra, turning around to yell at Bon-Bon.

"What's your problem?" I asked her.

"Her!" she shouted as Bon-Bon trotted away sadly. "I'm sorry, Xyclone. Me and Bon-Bon got into a huge argument last night..."

"Over what?" I asked.

"Over you." Lyra looked up at me. "She went on rambling about how you were evil and that you were gonna betray me. I told her that you would never do that...would you, Xyclone?"

"Are you crazy?! Of course I'd never do anything like that to you! You're all my friends!" I put a hoof on Lyra's shoulder. "Relax, okay? As long as I'm here, I won't let anything bad happen to you...or to any of you."

Lyra smiled adorably. "Thank you, Xyclone. I love Bon-Bon, but sometimes...sometimes it's just too much."

I looked at her, puzzled. "W-What do you mean by 'love her'? Do you...love love her?"

"No!" exclaimed Lyra. "When I say I love her, I mean it in platonic way. You know, like how a sister loves another sister. Heck, we've been friends for so long, she's like a sister to me."

"Well, I'm sure you two'll make up eventually," I told her, making her smile. "There's that wonderful smile I know and love! Come on; let's help the ponies pack up the camp."

"I thought you said you were tired."

"Oh, yeah..." I said, yawning. "That's fine; I'll help anyway!"

"Are you sure?"

"Oh yeah! Don't worry about me, Lyra; I'll be okay."

I was wrong. By the time we finished packing up, I was wiped out. Before we even started moving again, I was asleep, passing out on Applejack's cart again. I didn't wake up until that evening, when we reached the next campsite, an opening in a cave. It looked familiar to me; then it hit me. "Hey, isn't this that place where you, Rarity, and Rainbow camped out with your sisters?" I asked Applejack as I exited her cart.

"Hey, you're right. Good eye, Xyclone!" she said.

"Oh, yeah, I remember this place," spoke up Rainbow Dash. "This was where Scootaloo had a mental breakdown." She sighed, a single tear streaming down her face. "This was where I 'promised' her to take her under my wing." Another tear fell down Rainbow's face as her facial expression turned to anger.

Suddenly Fluttershy spoke up. "R-Rainbow Dash? A-Are you okay?"

Rainbow Dash sniffed, wiping the tear from her eye. "Y-Yeah! I'm fine!" she stammered, feigning a smile. "N-Never better!"

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie looked at each other, concerned.

"That was one heck of a night here!" said Rainbow Dash to Rarity and Applejack, trying to change the subject.

"Y-Yeah," said Applejack, smiling sweetly at Rarity. "Crazy." Rarity blushed, shuffling her hooves on the ground.

"Well, this seems like an appropriate time for a scary story," I said. "Anypony got one?"

Rainbow Dash raised her hoof. "I think I've got a good one," she said quietly.

"Go on, tell it!" exclaimed Pinkie and Derpy happily.

"Well, o-okay, but it's pretty scary..." warned Rainbow.

"Oh, just tell it, darling," said Rarity. "How bad could it be?"

"Well, okay. You asked for it." Rainbow Dash began her story. "Once upon a time, there was a young mare, waiting in line for her test at flight school..."

Something was very familiar about this story, but I couldn't quite put my hoof on it.

"...After the snobbish drivers dropped the three rejected pegasi off in the middle of nowhere, they were ushered in to a large structured building by mares in suits in masks. One of the mares looked very familiar to the pegasus who failed her test..."

As Rainbow continued her story, most of the ponies began screaming in terror at what was happening in the story. Even Rainbow Dash looked as if she were about to throw up. What was so familiar about this story?

"...The scared little filly ran as fast as her hooves could take her, away from the psychotic mare whom she used to love, who was now drenched in blood..."

By the end of the story, some of the ponies were crying.

"...'Any last words, you miserable whore of a foal?' said the deranged mare. With her last breath of air, the poor filly weakly said, 'You have beautiful eyes.' The...End."

Lyra screamed with fright and suddenly hugged me tightly. I looked over to see that Applejack and Rarity were doing the same. Derpy, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were blubbering like little fillies. Twilight and Vinyl just stared blankly at Rainbow Dash. Spike and Octavia were hugging each other, shivering in terror. It was then that I noticed that Rainbow Dash was crying as well.

"I...told you so," she sniffled. "I told you it was scary..."

"Wait a minute..." I said to Rainbow Dash, realizing what story she had just told.

"Was...was that 'Rainbow Factory'?"

"W-What? What are you talking about?" asked Rainbow nervously.

"That sounded very similar to a gory fan fiction I read once called 'Rainbow Factory'."

"Oh, really?" Rainbow chuckled nervously. "W-What a coincidence! I-I got this story from Gilda!"

"Oh," I said. "I guess I was mistaken." I looked down at Lyra, who was still holding on tightly to my chest, trembling in fear. "Shh, shh," I told her. "It was only a story, Lyra. It never happened, nor will it ever happen, okay?" She tilted her head up to me; She looked beautiful. But why? Why was I so attracted to her? Why was she so adorable? I couldn't stop looking at her. I ran one of my hooves through her turquoise mane and gazed into her entrancing golden eyes. I felt like kissing her right there, but I didn't.

"It's gonna be alright, Lyra," I said to her. Saying nothing, her mouth just quivered and she once again buried her face in my chest. I smiled down at her. To this day, I don't get why I didn't kiss her at that moment.

Afterwards, everybody slowly and reluctantly went to bed, hoping to not have any nightmares about the story Rainbow Dash had just told them. This time, even I decided to go to bed. I had stayed up late so many times, I figured a change would be good. As I trotted to my tent, I was stopped by Lyra.

"Uh, X-X-Xyc-clone...?" she stuttered. "W-Would you m-mind if I slept w-with you tonight? Bon-Bon and I still aren't on speaking terms."

My eyes widened and I started to blush. "O-Of c-c-course n-not! I-I-I d-don't m-mind o-one b-bit!" I sputtered.

"Th-Thanks, Xyclone."

And with that, I showed her to my tent. The both of us quickly fell asleep in each other's arms.

Bonus Chapter 12.5: The Team-Up

Deep in the Everfree Forest, midnight

After Xyclone goes to bed, Bon-Bon sneaks over to Twilight's tent. She and herself were the only ones still awake. She needs to ask a favor of Twilight. Bon-Bon had noticed Twilight acting very strange recently, so she is slightly afraid of entering her tent. "Uh, T-Twilight?" Bon-Bon asks. "A-Are you here?"

"HELLO, BON-BON!" Twilight says suddenly, appearing in the middle of nowhere with a schizophrenic grin in her face. Her eyes are wide and her pupils are drifting apart; Her mane and tail are unraveled. "HOW ARE YOU TONIGHT?!"

"Who, m-me? Not that well. But you look like you should be asking yourself that question. You look horrible!"

"OH, *I'M FINE!"* twitches Twilight. "I'M JUST PEACHY!"

"You sure aren't acting fine..."

Twilight giggles insanely, blinking intermittently.

"Anywho, I'm here to ask you a favor. I need your help again with Xyclone—"

Before Bon-Bon could finish, Twilight gets up in her face. "XYCLONE?! YOU MEAN THE MONSTER THAT'S BEEN STEALING MY FRIENDS FROM ME?!"

"What?! He's stealing your friends too?!"

Twilight starts looking slightly less crazy. "Yeah..." she says. "Spike and I got into an argument the other night about Xyclone. I told him that I was starting to have second thoughts about him, that I was actually starting to like him. I was thinking that maybe he really isn't a bad guy. Then Spike got all mad at me, saying that he was sick of me obsessing over him. Then I realized that Xyclone has been doing something horrible this entire time: he's turning my own friends against me."

"Wow, this is uncanny," Bon-Bon says. "Just last night, Lyra and I got into an argument about that exact same thing. Lyra said that she was developing a crush on Xyclone. That really hurt me when she said that. I don't want her to fall in love with the enemy! But anyway, the reason I came here is because I need you to help me get rid of him...if you know what I mean..."

"OH, YEAH," raves Twilight crazily. "YOU MEAN KILL HIM."

"What?! NO! I was just gonna say get him lost somewhere or something. Although...now that I think about it... That bastard stole Lyra. Nopony takes my little Lyra from me." A crazed look now begins to appear on Bon-Bon's face as well. "NOPONY."

"JOIN ME, BON-BON," says Twilight, holding out her hoof to her. "JOIN ME AND WE CAN BE RID OF THIS MENACE *ONCE...AND...FOR...ALL."*

Bon-Bon looks unsure, but as the insanity begins to envelop her mind, she has a change of heart. She chuckles unstably. "Murder..." she says. "You know, now that I think about it, THAT'S NOT A BAD IDEA!" Bon-Bon violently shakes Twilight's hoof. "YOU'VE GOT A DEAL, TWILIGHT!"

Suddenly the two of them start giggling madly, which quickly turns to laughter, which then escalates to psychotic cackling.

Chapter 13: The Kiss

Deep in the Everfree Forest, early morning

That was probably one of the best night sleeps I'd ever had with Lyra there with me. Although, when I woke up the next morning, Lyra was gone. I exited our tent to see that she had made me breakfast. After eating, just like every morning, Lyra taught me another magic lesson while packing up. She once again asked me to move a stick, but this time, I struggled a bit.

"Don't worry, Xyclone, you're just having a bad morning," Lyra said to me, trying to console me when I started to get angry.

If it were anypony else, it wouldn't have worked. But Lyra actually managed to make me feel better. I just didn't quite know what it was about her voice that made it so calm and soothing. As I went to help everyone pack, I saw Rainbow Dash. Something was off about her, she looked like she was...guilty of something. I trotted up to her and asked her what was wrong. "Rainbow Dash, are you alright? You look scared, frightened."

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, Xyclone!" she denied. "I...I just...I just had a bad dream last night, that's all."

"Are you sure? We could talk about it, if you'd like."

"Xyclone, I mean it! I'm fine!!" she snapped.

"Jeez, Rainbow! Okay! Calm down! There was no reason to yell!" I angrily trotted off.

"Xyclone, wait!" I heard Rainbow Dash call back to me. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that!"

I turned back around and looked at her.

"I've just been really...stressed lately," she said sadly.

"Don't you wanna talk about it?" I repeated.

"N-No. I'm sure everything will work out fine. I'm sorry I snapped at you like that."

"It's okay, Dash. I know how it feels to be stressed, trust me." Rainbow Dash smiled meekly and I helped her roll up the tent.

Not too long later, we set off for another camp, leaving the cave behind. For most of the trip, I gazed at Lyra. She was just so beautiful, I couldn't stand it; Not to mention how nice she was. There were just so many amazing things about her, I couldn't name them all. Something else puzzled me during that trip: Twilight and Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon looked just as crazy as Twilight now. It was as if they were sisters, as if they'd teamed up or something. I shook it off. We reached the next campsite earlier than scheduled, so I decided to take a nap.

When I woke up, it was the middle of the night and everyone had gone to sleep. I decided to roast a marshmallow for a midnight snack before I went to bed. As I put a marshmallow on a stick, I thought heard something. I didn't know what it was, but it sounded like crying. After a few seconds the sound vanished. Being away from civilization is beginning to get to me, I thought to myself. I returned to staring hungrily at my marshmallow. Then, several moments later, I heard the noise again. This time I was positive I heard it. I trotted around the campsite, inspecting it to see where the crying was coming from. I eventually reached my tent. When I came around to the back of it, I couldn't believe what I saw.

There sitting behind my tent, was Lyra, sobbing softly. She sat in a pool of her own tears, revealing that she had been crying for a while. Her mane and fur were sopping wet, and her face was buried in her hooves.

"Lyra?!?!" I exclaimed.

"Wh-What?!?!" she gasped. "X-Xyclone?! W-What are you doing here?! I thought you were asleep!"

"I-I was...but then I woke up and I heard crying...WHAT IN BLAZES IS GOING ON HERE?!"

"Just-Just go!" cried Lyra. "L-Leave me alone!"

"Lyra, what's wrong? Why the hay are you crying?"

"I-I d-don't w-wanna talk about it," she quivered. "P-Please...just leave me be."

"Lyra, please tell me what's wrong; It makes me sad to see you sad." I placed my hoof on hers. She gasped at the gesture. "Lyra..." I continued. "Tell me, please. I'm your friend here. I want to know what's wrong so I can help you. Lyra..." I felt a tear flow down my cheek. It killed me inside to see her like this. "Please..."

Lyra sniffled. "O-Okay...My entire life, I've been bullied; B-Because of my obsession w-with creatures like you...humans."

"Really?" I asked.

"Y-Yes," she sniffed.

"B-But I'm not a human anymore! I'm a pony now, remember?"

"No, you're not! Inside, you're still a human!"

I didn't respond.

"Anyway, they would always call me a creep and a weirdo. They-They played countless pranks on me, p-pranks that hurt me emotionally. Eventually the bullying got too serious, I...I started cutting myself."

That statement felt like a dagger to my heart. I wanted to murder whomever hurt my darling little Lyra.

"...The-The self-inflicted abuse didn't work. The bullying j-just got worse and w-worse. I gave up cutting myself and started attempting s-s-suicide."

This time, I started to cry. I never knew this side of Lyra. I didn't know she had so much in common with me. It made me love her even more.

"Unfortunately, none of my suicide attempts worked. That's when I met Bon-Bon, one of the very few ponies who never made fun of me. She liked me for who I was, for being...different. She taught me that it was okay to stand out from everyone else. We became the best of friends, all the way to the point that when she bought a house, she asked me to move in with her and be her roommate, to which I gladly accepted. But even after that, the bullying never stopped. I continued to try and prove to everypony that humans existed and-and...!" Lyra began sobbing again. She suddenly reached over and pulled me into a tight embrace. "I'm just so glad I met you!!" she wailed. She then retreated, burying her face in her hooves again and sobbing uncontrollably.

"Oh, Lyra..." I said.

"Y-You know, S-Sometimes I still w-wonder..." she said. "I wonder...if I suddenly d-disappeared...w-would anypony miss me?"

I held up her head. "Lyra!...Lyra, look at me. You don't have to worry about that stuff anymore, okay? You have me! I'm here for you! I don't wanna go back to Earth, not when I've made friends with all you wonderful ponies! If I see anypony hurt you ever again, I'll bash their miserable little faces in! Now, I don't ever want to hear you talk to me about committing suicide ever again! Okay?"

Lyra dipped her head back down and continued to sob. "Why are you so nice?!" she bawled. "You're the nicest pony I've ever met!!"

"Oh, but I'm not a pony..." I said suavely.

Then I leaned in and kissed Lyra right on the lips.

She gasped, blushing heavily. "X-Xyclone, I..."

I moved away from her abruptly. I couldn't believe that I had just done that. "I...I-I'm sorry..." I said, embarrassed. "I've...I've k-kinda been w-wanting to do that f-for a long time..."

"D-Don't say sorry..." said Lyra, starting to smile. "I-It's not like I didn't e-enjoy it..." she blushed. "It just took me b-by s-surprise, That's all."

"D-Did I at least cheer you up?"

"I am feeling a l-little better now... Th-Thank you. It's just that sometimes everything all becomes too much, it just piles up and I just...I just break down. Bon-Bon was the only one who kept me going...b-but now we're separated..." Tears welled up in Lyra's eyes as she once again began to cry.

I held her head up to me again. "Hey, hey, come on, cheer up. I told you, the problem will work itself out. I'm positive that you two will make up eventually. And also like I said, you have me now. I won't ever let anything bad happen to you. I know how you feel."

"W-What do you mean?" she sniffled.

"I was bullied when I was younger, too."

Lyra sniffed again. "You were?"

"Yes. I was bullied for having a girly name: Skyler. I was bullied for how I looked, how I spoke, everything. I was even bullied for liking you ponies. Just like you, the bullying got to the point where I tried killing myself too. But eventually, with the help of my horrible family and time, everyone stopped bothering me and I got over it."

"That's another thing that puzzled me," said Lyra.

"What?"

"You never told me about your family; about this Veloci character!"

"Oh..." I said awkwardly. "Yeah. Well, firstly, there's my father. He used to be an inventor. He created some crazy contraptions, but probably his best/worst one was a dysfunctional time machine. When he first used it, he went back to prehistoric times, the age of the dinosaurs."

"I've heard of dinosaurs. They came up quite a bit in my intense study of humans."

"Anyway, while he was there, he found an immensely intelligent velociraptor; so intelligent that he actually had the ability to speak. My father brought him back to present times and introduced him to me and my older brother Devon."

"Tell me more about Devon."

"I'm getting to it; calm down! We named the velociraptor Veloci, because we have absolutely no creativity whatsoever. Veloci shocked all of us with his unfathomably high metabolism. He was hungry all the time! My father would go back in time and capture other dinosaurs for Veloci to eat. But here's the kicker: Veloci wouldn't rip his prey to sheds like normal dinosaurs."

"He wouldn't? Well, then, h-how'd he eat?"

"He devoured his prey whole...like, I mean, he'd literally open his jaws insanely wide and completely swallow his prey whole and alive."

"W-Wouldn't that hurt?"

"Didn't seem to harm him any. In fact, he seemed to enjoy doing it. It never ceased to creep me out."

"Now can you please tell me about your brother? I'm curious!"

"Fine! Okay! Jeez, you're pushy!" Lyra smiled girlishly. "But how could I ever say no to that beautiful face?" I bit my tongue as we both blushed again. Clearing my throat, I continued my back-story. "Okay, my brother Devon. He was your typical jock; He loved football and video games. He wasn't very smart, although he was unusually technologically savvy."

"Ah, I see."

"Now can I finish my story?!"

Lyra giggled. "Sure!"

"Okay! Now, where was I? Oh, yeah! Veloci had some...considerably strange eating habits. He and my father soon became really good friends. And, as crazy as it sounds, Veloci became really good friends with me and Devon. Now, at the time, I was only about 9 years old, so I thought this was the coolest thing in the world. Veloci was awesome; He was the best friend anyone could ever have, he...he was the only friend I ever had..." I looked at Lyra. "...Until I met you." She blushed. "We let Veloci live with us, hiding him in my father's laboratory. He lived with us for so long, he started to act just like a human. He often helped us on adventures into the past with the time machine."

"Ad-Adventures?" Lyra questioned.

"W-Well, because of the sheer unpredictability of the time machine, my father was almost always put in danger, and me, Devon, and Veloci had to go in and rescue him..." I sighed nostalgically. "Ah, those were good times..." I sat in silence for a few moments, until Lyra spoke up.

"S-So...w-what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"What happened to everyone? Your father, Devon, Veloci?"

"Oh. Well, one day, we had a serious malfunction with the time machine..."

"S-Serious malfunction?"

"You know, I really wish you'd stop interrupting me," I joked.

Lyra giggled again. "Sorry!"

"Anyway, Veloci was standing partly into the time machine. He was going to help my father perform some experiments in the Mesozoic Era. We don't know what or how it had happened, but sparks began flying from the controls of the time machine. The portal where Veloci was standing began to warp and ripple. All we heard..." I started getting choked up again. "A-All we heard was Veloci's blood-curdling cries of excruciating pain as he was slowly vaporized into thin air. The time machine then shattered into pieces."

"O-Oh, my..." said Lyra.

"We were in denial at first; we thought Veloci had just been trapped in prehistoric times. My father fixed the time machine and searched for the next two years for Veloci, but he never found him. We concluded that the only explanation was that Veloci was...d-d-dead."

Lyra saw that I was crying and reached over to comfort me. "I'm...I'm so sorry," she said comfortingly.

"It's fine; there was nothing you or anyone else could've done," I sniffled. "Anyway, after he gave up on looking for Veloci, he returned to improving the time machine once and for all. He said it's what Veloci would've wanted. He eventually did perfect it, and got quite a bit of recognition for it. But he soon let the power go to his head. He became a jerk, and he started ignoring me and Devon. Meanwhile, Devon was having problems of his own. He slowly lost his grip on reality and went insane. He tried to convince everyone that he was friends with a talking dinosaur and everyone thought he was crazy. His psycho-babble eventually got so annoying to the point where my father had him committed. In other words, he sent him to an insane asylum. After that, my father sold his lab and we moved into an apartment complex. He gave up inventing and got a job as a college professor. He started wearing trench coats and calling himself 'The Doctor.' Over the next couple of years, my father has improved. He's no longer a jerk anymore, but he still ignores me."

"Wow," said Lyra once I finished my back-story. "Your life is so fascinating."

"Wait, you mean you actually believe me? Whenever I told people that I was friends with a dinosaur they would just laugh in my face."

"Xyclone, do you realize who you're talking to?" She smiled at me sarcastically. "Don't you remember that I'm the pony who keeps going around trying to convince other ponies that strange creatures called humans exist?"

"Oh, yeah..." I chuckled. I looked at Lyra then. She wasn't crying anymore, to which I was glad. She looked so much prettier when she was smiling. She had a look of wonder on her face. After a few moments of silence, she finally spoke up.

"Xyclone...what's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"Being a human; I've always wondered what it was like."

"Oh. Well...really, it's not that different from being a pony; except for the fact that you walk on two legs instead of four and you can actually pick up things with appendages!" I glared frustratingly at my hooves; Lyra laughed.

"Heh, not only are you nice, but you're funny too!" she said.

"Oh, go on!" I said, blushing confidently. "No, seriously, go on! I wanna hear more!" We both laughed. Then we stared at each other, the both of us smiling sweetly. "You know, Lyra, I'm really glad we met."

"Yeah, m-me too." We hugged then. "Hey, Xyclone?" she suddenly said.

"Yeah?"

"C-Can you teach me...y'know, how to be a human? I-In exchange for my magic lessons?"

"O-Of course, Lyra! Anything for you!" I started heading back to our tent when she stopped me again.

"Oh, and just one more thing..." she said, trotting over to me.

"And what is that?"

Lyra suddenly swooped in and kissed me on the cheek. "That's for cheering me up. Thank you, Xyclone. You're an amazing friend."

As Lyra entered the tent, my heart sank. She called me her "friend", I thought to myself. Oh, damn it, Xyclone, you've gone and done it now. You moved too fast.

My thoughts were interrupted by Lyra's soft voice: "Xyclone, aren't you coming?"

Damn it, damn it, damn it! I thought in my head as I entered the tent with Lyra.

Damn it.

Chapter 14: Dash's Guilt

Deep in the Everfree Forest, early morning

I had some weird dreams that night. I still couldn't believe I kissed Lyra. I still couldn't believe she friendzoned me. I wanted us to be more than just "friends". I guess I was right, though. Lyra would never have feelings for me. When I woke up that next morning, Lyra had once again made me breakfast.

"Well, good morning, sleepyhead!" she joked at me playfully as I exited our tent. "No lesson today; I know that they really take a lot of energy from you. You're doing well, though, don't get me wrong!"

"Heh, thanks." I had a depressed look on my face. I was still thinking about what happened last night.

"Are you okay, Xyclone? You look sad..."

"Oh, yeah, sure! I'm just fine!" I said, faking a smile. Without saying a word, I helped the others with the tents again. I was still fascinated by Rainbow Dash. She still looked like she was guilty. As we continued our journey, I kept a close eye on her, along with Twilight and Bon-Bon. They both seemed to grow weirder and weirder each day. They even kept close to me. It was as if they were...stalking me. During the trip, Dash kept having crying fits, and when we reached the next campsite that evening, it appeared to get even worse. Lyra decided that evening that it was time for a magic lesson. She sat me down at the fire after everybody had gone to sleep.

"Are you ready for a challenge?" she asked me.

"Bring it on!" I cheered.

"I want you to try and move that log," she said, pointing to a tree stump next to us. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and waited. After a few moments, I started my attempt. My horn began glowing blue, so I knew that something was happening. I felt huge gusts of wind blowing through my mane as I grunted with effort.

"Uh, X-Xyclone...?" I thought I heard Lyra say, but I wasn't paying any attention. I was too deep in focus.

I suddenly felt the ground begin to vanish from beneath my hooves. What was happening? I began to panic.

"Xyclone!" I opened my eyes to see that Lyra and I were both levitating off the ground.

"Am...Am I doing this?!" I called out to her.

"Yes! Yes, this is all you! I'm impressed! Terrified, but impressed nonetheless!"

I smiled, then I slowly began to bring us back down.

"Whoa..." said Lyra. "That...was...awesome! How the hay did you do that?!"

"I...I have no idea... How did I do that?"

"I don't know either, but I'll tell you what I do know: You have very powerful magic abilities, Xyclone. Are you sure that you didn't mean to lift us both up like that?"

"I'm-I'm positive. I was just trying to lift the log."

"This is fascinating," Lyra mused. "We'll have to inform Princess Celestia about this when we get back to Ponyville."

Ponyville! I had completely forgotten! We were on a mission to find and defeat Queen Chrysalis...again! That's why we were in the freaking Everfree Forest! We had to be getting close to Chrysalis' kingdom. "That reminds me," I told Lyra. "How far are we from Chrysalis' place?"

"I don't know. You're gonna have to ask Twilight or her friends about that. I didn't go with them the last time they defeated her. I completely forgot why we were here, though. Thanks for the reminder!" I smiled, and then Lyra yawned. "I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight, Xyclone."

"Good night, Lyra. I won't stay up for too much longer.' I once again prepared a marshmallow to roast. I had seriously gotten addicted to these marshmallows ever since this long trip began. They were all I ever ate; I never touched the other food we had. I wondered to myself if Chrysalis had really returned again. If she had, I'll give her one thing: she is persistent. Every single night I sat there at the campfire roasting a marshmallow, everything suddenly sank in. So much was going on in my head, I couldn't concentrate on anything. One thing I couldn't get off my mind no matter how hard I tried was Lyra. I kissed her; she shot me down. Never before had I been embarrassed in all my life. My mood now ruined, I decided not to eat my marshmallow. I threw it on the ground and headed for my tent, where Lyra already was. Just as I was about to go in it, however, I saw and heard painful moans and cries coming from Fluttershy's and Rainbow Dash's tent. I immediately thought one thing: that they were expressing their..."friendship" towards each other. I trotted slowly over to their tent because I was curious (and because I'm a pervert) and peeked inside. I was relieved to see that I was wrong. Fluttershy was dead asleep and Rainbow Dash was thrashing about in her sleeping bag violently.

"I'm...sorry..." she groaned within her sleep. "...Please...forgive me...please...I'm so sorry..."

"Then it hit me: she was having a nightmare. "Rainbow Dash!" I whispered to her, pushing her shoulder, trying not to wake Fluttershy up. "Rainbow Dash, wake up!" Then I got an idea. I focused my magic on Rainbow and closed my eyes. I tried to enter her mind to see what she was dreaming...like what Princess Luna does. It was difficult, but I was surprisingly able to do it.

Rainbow Dash is speaking to Scootaloo in the same place where Rainbow promised her she'd take her under her wing. "I'm sorry, Scootaloo, but it was an emergency! I'm sorry I never notified you!"

"No!" yells Scootaloo at her. "It's too late now! You've *never** been able to keep a secret! YOU'RE THE WORST BIG SISTER EVER!!!" Scootaloo gallops off.*

"Scootaloo, please! Wait!" Rainbow starts chasing after her. "I'm sorry!!"

Scootaloo finally stops at a giant cliff and prepares to jump.

"Scootaloo, what are you doing?! Get down from there!!"

"Goodbye, Rainbow Dash. This is all your fault."

**"NO!!"* screams Rainbow as Scootaloo hops off the cliff. "PLEASE, NO!!" Rainbow runs after her and jumps off of the cliff to give chase. Rainbow Dash falls and falls down the abyss until she lands onto a gray metal table, where chains and shackles lock her to it.*

A much older-looking Scootaloo suddenly enters the room wearing a white lab coat.

"Why, hello there, Rainbow Dash!" she says, an evil tinge to her voice. She suddenly pulls out a sharp dagger and points it at Rainbow. "You look like the perfect pony to be turned into Spectra!"

"Wh-What?! W-What are you going to do with that knife?! Scootaloo?!?!"

"You've hurt many ponies, Rainbow Dash. But most importantly, you hurt *me.** Now it's time for you to see how it feels when somepony hurts YOU!!"*

"No! Scootaloo, please!" pleads Rainbow. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!!"

"No, *I'M** sorry, Rainbow Dash, but I'm afraid it's too late for apologies now! Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAA!!!"*

"Please!! No!!"

"Huh...wha...?" moaned Fluttershy sleepily. Damn it. "X-Xyclone? What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night!"

"It's Rainbow Dash!" I whispered, pointing to her. "Something's wrong with her!"

"Oh, no," whimpered Fluttershy. "She's having the dream again."

"W-What dream?"

"I think it'd be better if she told you." Fluttershy turned to Rainbow and shook her.

"No...!" Rainbow squeaks. "Please...no..." Suddenly, she shot up out of her sleeping bag. "I'M SORRY!!!" she cried. Realizing it was only a dream, Dash sank back down and sighed. She started sobbing.

"Oh, Rainbow..." said Fluttershy sadly.

"I was having the dream again, wasn't I?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Y-Yes," went Fluttershy.

"Can somepony please explain to me what 'the dream' is?!" I asked finally.

Rainbow Dash gasped. "X-Xyc-clone?!?! What are you—?!"

"I was about to go to bed, when I heard you screaming. Are...are you okay?"

Rainbow Dash sniffed. "N-No..." she said. "I keep having these crazy nightmares..."

"About what?" I asked.

Rainbow Dash began crying again, so Fluttershy spoke for her: "About Scootaloo."

"Why?"

Rainbow spoke this time. "Y-You remember that s-scary story I told the other night? Well, I didn't actually hear it from Gilda. I-It was 'Rainbow Factory'...word for word."

"I knew it! But...how do you know what 'Rainbow Factory' is?"

Rainbow sniffed. "B-Back in Ponyville, when y-you were showing us what the...'internet' was... Afterwards, Flutters and I s-snuck back to your room and looked up 'Rainbow Factory'. What we saw h-horrified us. It made me realize how much I never cared for Scootaloo. It's just that I was so preoccupied with other things..." As Rainbow once again began to break down, Fluttershy spoke again.

"Rainbow used to have a huge crush on Applejack." She said.

"Fluttershy!!" cried Rainbow Dash. "I told you that in confidence that you wouldn't tell anypony else!!!"

"You did?" I asked her.

She sighed. "Yes, okay? I had a crush on her...had. It was a long time ago...I eventually got over her."

Whew! I thought. That would've been awkward for everyone if Rarity or AJ ever found that out.

"Anyway, she distracted me so much th-that I wasn't able to keep up my promise to little Scoots that I would take her under my wing. After reading that story, I felt so guilty. I flew as fast as I could to find Scootaloo. Once I did actually find her, I apologized for every wrong I'd done her. I made her another promise then, a promise I swore on my life I'd keep."

"What'd you promise her?" I asked.

"I promised her that, the very next day, I would adopt her as my little s-s-sister."

"Well, that's wonderful, Rainbow Dash! Why are you so sad then?"

"Because later that day, Princess Celestia sent us on this mission, and..." Rainbow sniffled. "I never got to say goodbye to her. I pushed the thought away. But when we reached that cave where Scootaloo revealed her deepest secret to me, I began having these nightmares about 'Rainbow Factory', and the bad thoughts came flooding back. I feel like I let her down again by leaving with no warning. She probably hates me now." Her voice trailed off, choking with sobs.

"Rainbow Dash, listen to me," I said to her, catching her attention. "Did Scootaloo say anything when you told her you were sorry for any past pain you caused her?"

Rainbow sniffed. "Y-Yes. She told me that I never hurt her, that I was 'too awesome' to hurt anypony." Rainbow Dash smiled as she said that.

"Well, there you go right there!" I said. "Rainbow, you may not think so, but Scootaloo loves you. You're literally like her big sister in her eyes. I'm sure she would understand why you left so suddenly. Now cheer up, okay?"

Rainbow Dash smiled. "Thank you so much, Xyclone. I just wish I I'd stop having nightmares."

"Wait, you said you had the same dream a few times. Is it the only dream you've been having?"

"Yeah, I don't really want to describe it, though. It's really scary to me."

"I understand. I think I might have an idea on how you can stop having that dream."

"Really? What is it?"

"Have you ever finished the it?"

"N-No...I always wake up right at the part where Scootaloo starts to murder me."

"Wait, what?!" said Fluttershy suddenly.

"Here's what you should do," I continued. "Finish the dream."

"W-WHAT?! Are you crazy?!" yelled Dash.

"Just trust me on this one. Who knows? Sometimes, the ending might not be as bad as you think. It might even give you closure." I smiled at her reassuringly.

"Thank you so much!" cried Rainbow, hugging me. "You're the best!"

All of a sudden, Lyra peeked into the tent. "What's going on?" she inquired. "I heard commotion..."

"There was," said Rainbow Dash, still hugging me. "But it's all better now."

Lyra chuckled sweetly. "I'm glad! Now, won't you please come back to bed, Xyclone? I'm tired!"

"Sure thing, Lyra!" I laughed. I turned back to Rainbow and Fluttershy. "You two sleep well now, okay?"

"We will," said Rainbow. "And...thanks again for the kind words, Xyclone. Th-They really helped."

"Wow, it seems like you're nice to everypony here!" said Lyra as we headed back to our tent. "You have a gift! How do you do it?"

"I was raised to be as nice a soul as I could be."

"Your kindness is an inspiration to me."

"Oh, stop!" I blushed.

Bonus Chapter 14.5: A Nightmare Come True

Ponyville, Equestria, early morning

Scootaloo sits at the front door of the local Ponyville orphanage, gazing out the window with a dejected look on her face. The supervisor of the orphanage approaches her suddenly.

"Scootaloo, why don't you get some fresh air?" she asks her. "You"ve been sitting here for days."

Scootaloo sighs and slowly walks out the door and away from the orphanage. She walks to the park to think. It's been 5 days, she thinks. Where the hay is she? Scootaloo stops at a pond and looks down at her reflection. She closes her eyes and a single tear falls down her face, rippling in the pond below. Moments later, the reflections of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle join Scootaloo's as she looks up.

"Are you okay?" asks Sweetie Belle.

"Yeah," says Apple Bloom. "We haven't seen ya around fer a couple o' days."

Scootaloo sniffles. "Rainbow Dash promised she'd adopt me 5 days ago."

"Scootaloo..." says Apple Bloom.

"A-Am I really that unbearable to be around? That she had to break another promise just to get away from me?"

"Scootaloo, come on!" says Sweetie Belle. "Don't say that!"

"Why did she do this to me?!" Scootaloo cries. "I thought she was my friend! I thought she was cool! I...I thought she loved me!"

"Scootaloo, I'm sure she had her reasons fer not showin' up!" says Apple Bloom, trying to comfort her.

"I asked everypony who knows Rainbow Dash. They said they haven't seen her for days either."

"Maybe Rainbow Dash is on a mission for Princess Celestia with the rest of her friends. That's where Applejack and Rarity are. A-At least...that's what I heard..." Sweetie Belle speaks up.

"And run off without a warning? That's typical. She's never been loyal to me. I thought she was the only one who actually cared for me, but I guess I was wrong...again. Nopony likes me. Nopony's ever liked me. I'm a loser."

"That is not true, Scootaloo!" yells Apple Bloom at her.

"Yeah!" agrees Sweetie Belle. "We're your friends! We're your best friends!"

"Yes, but neither of you are my sister!" screams Scootaloo, running off.

"Scootaloo, wait!" cries Apple Bloom, but to no avail. "Oh, Sweetie Belle...what're we gonna do?"

Scootaloo runs off, sobbing, and eventually stops at the park bench.

A short time later, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom approach her with their teacher, Miss Cheerilee. "Scootaloo, is there something wrong?" she asks. "Sweetie and Apple Bloom brought me here. They said it was an emergency."

"Please..." sniffles Scootaloo, her voice cracking. "Just leave me alone."

"Scootaloo, come on, we're here to help..."

"I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!!" Scootaloo screams at the top of her lungs, her voice squeaking with sadness.

Feeling rejected, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Miss Cheerilee slowly trot off hopelessly. Scootaloo continues sobbing.

Shortly after, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon approach Scootaloo, who is still sulking on a park bench. "Well, well, well," taunts Diamond Tiara. "If it isn't the homeless blank flank orphan, Scootaloo!"

"Leave me alone...please..." Scootaloo sniffs, refusing to look up.

Silver Spoon takes over the taunting. "What, you gonna go cry to your mommy? Oh, that's right! You don't have one! She abandoned you like everyone else in your pathetic little life!"

"Shut up, Silver Spoon! I said leave me alone!"

Diamond Tiara takes over again. "What, have you finally realized how much of a loser you are?"

"Shut up!!"

"What? It's the truth! Isn't that right, Silver Spoon?"

"Yep!" agrees Silver Spoon.

"Let's see..." Diamond Tiara goes on. "You're a pegasus who can't fly, you still haven't earned your cutie mark, your grades are terrible, you have no parents...you'll never amount to anything in society, you know! You're nothing but a flightless bird, a...chicken."

Scootaloo twitches. "What did you just call me?"

"You heard me. You...are...a...chicken. You're such a scared little chicken that not even Rainbow Dash will take you—"

Diamond Tiara gets blindsided as Scootaloo punches her as hard as she possibly can in the face, so hard that it knocks her several feet away.

"She's right, you know," says Silver Spoon, helping Diamond Tiara up, who now has a huge red mark on her face from where Scootaloo punched her. "Assaulting us isn't going to change the fact that you're a loser. No one cares about you, Scootaloo. If you died tomorrow, nopony would ever notice or even care. As a matter of fact, Equestria would be a much better place without social nuisances like you." She smiles maliciously at Scootaloo. Both she and Diamond Tiara trot off, laughing evilly.

Scootaloo shoots an angry look at them.

"Whoa, she really got you good!" Scootaloo overhears Silver Spoon say to Diamond Tiara as they walk off. "We better get that cleaned up before our date tonight..."

Scootaloo's look of anger quickly fades. She looks down and sighs. "They're right," she says. "I am a loser. I am a weak little chicken. The world would be a better place if I never existed." Scootaloo slowly trots away from the park. As she walks through Ponyville, she spots the tall cliff where Rainbow Dash saved that runaway baby carriage that one time. "That's it, then," she sighs, her voice quivering. She then proceeds up the tall hill leading to the cliff. When she reaches the top, she looks down at the long drop below and sighs shakily. "I'm...sorry, Rainbow Dash..." And with that, she jumps off.

During her freefall, Scootaloo begins to chuckle. "Hey...look at me, Rainbow Dash. I'm flying..."

"Oh, my Celestia, what is that filly doing?! Somepony catch her!!" A pony says in the background.

"I'm...finally...flying..." A single tear streams down her face as she crashes to the ground with a large thud.

She had never even opened her wings.

Paramedics clamber around Scootaloo, trying to get her to wake up. "I have a pulse!" one of them says. "Repeat: I have a pulse!"

I'm flying, Rainbow Dash. Do you see me? I'm...flying...

"We're losing her! Clear!"

Ah, freedom...Such sweet freedom...

"We have lost her pulse! Repeat: We have lost her pulse!! Clear! You are not gonna die on me! Not on my watch! Clear!!!"

Goodbye, Rainbow Dash...

Chapter 15: The Scouts

Deep in the Everfree Forest, early morning

I woke up late the next morning, at about 10 a.m. When I opened my eyes, Twilight and Bon-Bon were both staring me dead in the face, smiling creepily.

"GOOD MORNING, XYCLONE," Twilight greeted me.

"Um, hi?" I said uncomfortably, awkwardly scooting around the crazy ponies.

Lyra saw me and greeted me properly. "Good morning!" she said. "Don't ask me about Twilight or Bon-Bon. They've been staring at you like that since they woke up. I tried telling them to leave you alone, but they refused to listen. Anyway, I made you breakfast again!"

"I can see that!" I said, licking my lips at the sight of the huge breakfast Lyra prepared. "Difficult magic lesson?"

"Yes, but this one's a special one," she continued. "Since you obviously have a unique magical ability, I've decided to teach you...the memory spell."

"What?! Already?! But I thought that was, like, the last lesson a unicorn ever learns at magic school!"

"It is. But, like I said yesterday, you have a very powerful magic ability, so I figured I'd go ahead and teach you now. Who knows? It could come in hoofsy one day. It could very well save your life. Are you ready?"

I ate my breakfast as Lyra explained how to perform the spell. "Yep!"

"Okay...a memory spell is a lot more complex than just focusing your mind on something. With a memory spell you have to focus both your memories and your mind on a living thing. And living things are harder to control with magic than inanimate objects. The spell is difficult to learn, but once you get the hang of it, it's fairly easy. I think you're ready."

"But wait...one question..." I asked.

"Yeah?"

"Wouldn't I need someone to perform this on?"

Lyra sighed. "You...you can perform it on me."

"What?! What if I botch the spell and end up hurting you somehow? I would never want to hurt you..."

She smiled. "Xyclone, don't you worry about me. I promise you, I'll be okay."

"W-Well, alright...h-here g-goes..."

I closed my eyes again and began. I delved deep, deep into my memories; my fondest memories, my worst memories, my most embarrassing memories, my memories of my family and Veloci...even my memories of Lyra...and I attempted to channel them through her. It was extremely difficult. It was like trying to push a rock face several times heavier than you.

Once I channeled everything I could, I collapsed, exhausted. Lyra fell over as well, overwhelmed.

"That...was...a lot...of memories..." she gasped. "You have had a difficult life!"

"I...told you so..." I said, panting.

"I saw myself in there..." Lyra continued. "Y-You...you think about me?"

"Y-Yeah," I said nervously, smiling uncomfortably. "A-All the t-time..."

"That was amazing...How did you complete that spell in the first try?! I thought that was impossible!"

"Oh, trust me," I panted. "I couldn't do that again even if I wanted to. Besides, that wasn't all of my memories..."

We both sat in awkward silence for a moment, until Lyra spoke up again: "Y-You know, you've yet to teach me anything..."

"Teach you? A-About what?"

"A couple of days ago, when you—ahem—when you kissed me...you promised me you'd teach me how to be a human in exchange for my magic lessons..."

I felt like an absolute moron. I had completely forgotten. "Oh, my God, I'm so sorry, Lyra! I totally forgot!"

"It's okay..."

"No, it's not okay! I want to make it up to you! You know what? I'll teach you now! How's that?"

"Aren't you tired?"

"Y-Yes, but I broke a promise I made to a friend, and I never break promises to friends." I smiled at Lyra.

She smiled and blushed back. "Th-That's really sweet of you, Xyclone," she said.

"Besides," I continued. "There really isn't a lot to learn." I attempted to stand on my two hind hooves. "All you gotta do is stand on two legs—W-WHOA!!! OOF!!!" I fell over hard onto my back, which then caused Lyra to laugh. I was so used to being a pony that I had forgotten how to be human. It was...humbling. "Ow..." I groaned. "That didn't go quite as expected..."

"Heh...Are you okay?" Lyra chuckled, pulling me up.

"Y-Yeah. But all you have to do is the opposite of what I just did," I joked. "Just try and keep your balance while standing on your two hind legs."

Lyra slowly reared up on her back legs. She wobbled uneasily, but before she fell, I grabbed her hips and caught her. She gasped at the movement.

"Don't worry," I said to her. "I've got you, Lyra." She blushed.

"Th-Thank you," she said, smiling sweetly.

"Alright, now, I'm gonna let go and you're gonna have to try on your own, okay?"

"O-Okay...Wh-Whoa..." Lyra wobbled a little bit, but was successfully able to keep her balance. "I'm...I'm doing it!" she cried. "I'm walking like a human!"

I cheered her on. "Whoa, nice job! It seems like I'm not the only one here who's a fast learner!"

Lyra giggled, blushing even more. Unfortunately, it proved too much of a distraction for her, because she then lost her balance and fell right on top of me. "Whoops! Sorry!" she chuckled.

"It's...okay..." I groaned from beneath her. "Good lesson." Lyra giggled adorably. She stood and allowed me to get back up. We both stared at each other, smiling. I was thinking about kissing her on her beautiful cheek when her smile suddenly faded to panic.

"Xyclone, look out behind you!" she cried.

I turned around to see Twilight hurdling towards me, wielding a giant log with a murderous expression on her face; I ducked just in time to avoid being hit. As soon as Twilight realized she'd missed, she tried to hide the log behind her back. "Twilight, what the hell?!"

"W-WHAT??" asked Twilight nervously. "W-WHAT'D I DO?"

"'What did you do?!' You just tried to knock Xyclone's head off with a tree!!" said Lyra angrily.

"N-NO I DIDN'T!"

Groaning frustratingly, I looked back up at Lyra. I saw something behind her; I squinted to see what it was. It was coming towards us...fast. It kinda looked like a...changeling? My eyes widened; it was, in fact a changeling, and it was heading straight for Lyra. "LYRA, GET DOWN!!!" I screamed as I dove towards her, tackling her to the ground. The changeling soared right over us. Realizing it overshot, it immediately turned around. When it saw our faces, it hissed angrily. Suddenly, two more changelings flew in and invaded our campsite. Several of the ponies scattered, hiding in their tents.

"We've been looking for you poniessss." One of the changelings said.

"They're scouts!" cried Applejack suddenly.

"Yessss, the orange one issss right. We/re here to take you to our queen..."

"CHRYSALIS," snarled Twilight.

"Well, aren't you ssssmart?" one of the other changelings said.

"We're not going anywhere with you!" yelled Lyra.

"We thought you'd say that," said another changeling. "But really, it'ssss not like we gave you any choicccce!" As I and Lyra began to get back up, one of the changelings swooped down and knocked me back over again as it started to harass Lyra, trying to kidnap her. The second changeling dove down and attacked Rarity, while the third and final one got caught in between the two psychotic ponies Bon-Bon and Twilight. Bon-Bon grabbed a giant log similar to Twilight's and the two of them smiled crazily as they began to face off with the changeling.

I couldn't believe that one of the changelings was messing with Lyra. I grew madder and madder the more it harassed her. Never before had I been so angry. My face red with rage, I furiously charged into the changeling. "RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I roared as I head-butted the beast. I collided with it so hard that I sent it tumbling several feet, dark sparks flying from its horn. I ran over to where it had landed and proceeded to violently pound its face in. "DON'T...YOU...EVER...HURT...MY...LITTLE...LYRA!!!" I screamed in between punches. I was so angry that Lyra had to pull me away from the poor little changeling. I couldn't believe what I saw when she pulled me away. I had completely mangled the changeling's face. He was almost unrecognizable as a changeling. I tried to calm down. I looked over to see how the others were fairing against the invasion of the changelings.

Applejack was knocked over several times as the changeling proceeded towards her crush, Rarity. The monster started to corner Rarity against a large tree. "AAAAAHHHHH!!! HEEELLLLP!!!" she shrieked.

Infuriated, Applejack got up once more and ran up to the changeling. "Y'all best step away from her if ya know what's good fer ya," she growled.

"Or what?" laughed the changeling.

"OR THIS!" roared Applejack furiously, rearing up on her front legs and angrily bucking the creature in its sides, sending it flying into the morning sky. She then approached Rarity, who was still cowering and trembling in fear at the bottom of the tree. Applejack offered her hoof to help her up. "Did he hurt ya any, darlin'?" she asked.

"N-No," went Rarity, getting up. "Th-Thanks to you, dear." They both smiled at each other.

I then turned to Twilight, Bon-Bon, and the final changeling as they all squared off. The changeling looked back and forth between the two crazy ponies, sizing them up. "Bring it!" it suddenly said. Twilight and Bon-Bon both charged towards the monster with their weapons. They swung hard, both of them hitting the changeling in the face. Dizzily, the changeling said, "O-Okay, I...wassssn't expecting that..." Twilight and Bon-Bon backed up and charged again. Like last time, they both swung simultaneously at the creature. Except, this time, the changeling dodged them and flew up into the air. "Ha! Can't get me now, can you, you inferior poniessss!"

Fuming, Twilight dropped the tree she was using as a weapon and flew up after the changeling. "WHAT, DID YOU FORGET THAT I HAD WINGS TOO, YOU FILTHY CRETIN?!?!"

"Oh, darn..." went the changeling. "Uh...hey, look, a disssstraction!" he hissed, pointing behind Twilight.

"WHAT?! WHERE?!" asked Twilight, looking away. The clever changeling darted away while Twilight was distracted. "GGGRRRRRR!!!" roared Twilight in frustration, flying after the changeling. "GET BACK HERE, YOU PATHETIC WASTE OF LIFE!!!" she screamed.

I watched the spectacular display of aerial acrobatics that were performed as Twilight furiously chased after the monster. I eventually lost sight of them as they disappeared beyond the trees. I heard distant shouting and, a few moments later, the changeling came crashing to the ground right in front of us. We all gasped, taking a few steps back. Twilight suddenly reappeared and gently landed on the ground behind the changeling. She looked down at its mangled body as it twitched and convulsed, unconscious. She smiled creepily and giggled insanely. "He laughed at my friends. WELL, WH-WHO'S LAUGHING NOW, HUH, MOTHERBUCKER?!?! WHO'S...LAUGHING...*NOW?!?!"* Bon-Bon trotted up to her and they both began to cackle madly.

I, Lyra, and the rest of the ponies who didn't head for their tents backed away from them slowly. The two of them scared me more than those three changelings combined. I looked at the changeling Twilight shot down, then over to the one I pummeled into the dirt. There was no sign of the one Applejack hit.

"We're gettin' close," Applejack mused out loud, looking up into the morning sun. "Ah jus' know it."

Suddenly, Vinyl Scratch came out from her and Octavia's tent. "Those dudes must've been sent here to look for us by Queen Chrysanthemum or whatever the heck her name is."

"We need to get out of here, now," I said firmly. "Those two are gonna regain consciousness soon and that third one is gonna eventually find his way back here. They're going to come looking for us. And I don't want anypony here to get hurt." I looked back at Lyra, who was adorably hiding behind one of my hind legs. I smiled gently at her. "Anypony." Lyra smiled back at me, blushing.

All of the ponies swiftly packed up and left no trace of any sort of campsite (Well, except for the two unconscious changelings.), then we disappeared into the forest. We quickly moved on to find another campsite. Although, I couldn't get over what I had done to that changeling. I couldn't get the image of his mutilated face out of my head. Why was I so angry? It's like all those memories of being bullied came flooding back with a vengeance. I absolutely pulverized him. I didn't think I had that much power. I felt sorry for the little guy; He was just doing his job. I thought hard about this, so much that I didn't even notice when we reached the next camping area that evening. I was so tired that I was the first one to go to bed. For the first time in quite a while, I didn't dream about Lyra for once. Instead, I had nightmares about that changeling I nearly murdered.

Bonus Chapter 15.5: Under The Stars [RariJack]

Deep in the Everfree Forest, midnight

It is the middle of the night; everyone has gone to sleep. Once again unable to sleep, Rarity decides to go out to the campfire to think. When she exits her tent, she is surprised to see Applejack there, lying on the ground and gazing at the stars. "A-Applejack? Wh-What are you doing up?" she asks.

"Oh...h-hi, Rarity," Applejack stammers. "Ah-Ah'm just out here, gazin' at some stars. Th' real question is, why're you awake?"

"I...I-I can't sleep. I've been going through a bout of sleep apnea lately."

"Well...y-ya wanna come lay n-next ta me? Ah-Ah mean...if ya want to, that is..."

"S-Sure," stutters Rarity. She slowly trots up to Applejack and lies on her back right next to her. Rarity remembers what Xyclone told her several days ago:

You know, there's a saying in my world: 'opposites attract.' Just tell her, Rar'. Who knows? Maybe AJ carries some sentiments towards you as well!

"S-So..." says Rarity nervously, trying to spark up a conversation. "Wh-What's up?"

"W-Well," begins Applejack, a nervous tone in her voice as well. "T-Th' real reason Ah'm out here i-is to talk to mah parents."

"Y-Your p-parents...? I-I don...t understand..."

"Ah never told y'all 'bout mah parents, didn't Ah?"

"I don't remember you doing so, darling."

"W-Well, when Ah was just an itty-bitty filly, long before I met you or Twilight or any o' y'all, mah parents just up and vanished one day. Me and Big Mac asked Granny Smith where they were, an' she told us that Princess Celestia had personally chosen mah parents to work on a beautiful farm in th' stars. She said that they accepted the offer 'cause it would make the farm lots o' money. She told us that if we looked up into the stars on a clear moonlit night, they would wave back at us. Now, Ah eventually discovered that mah parents had actually been killed in a terrible stagecoach accident; But every now and then, Ah come out at midnight and just lay here, gazin' up at the stars and hopin' that mah parents are lookin' back down at me and smilin'."

"Oh, my goodness," Rarity sniffles, wiping away the tears that were welling up in her eyes. "Applejack...that was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard you say. I'm...I'm so sorry, dear."

"Oh, i-it's fine," sniffed Applejack as a tear begins to run down her face as well. Xyclone's advice keeps running through Rarity's mind:

Just tell her, Rar'...Just tell her...Tell her...**

She inches closer to Applejack. "L-Listen, Applejack...w-what you did earlier today...with the changeling...I really want to thank you for that. Y-You s-saved m-my life, darling."

"Oh, don't even mention it, sugarcube," replies Applejack. "Ah-Ah'd do anythin' fer you, Rarity..." she rolls over to look at her and smiles sweetly. "Anythin'..." Applejack immediately bites her lip, rolling back over. "Ah-Ah mean...that's not what Ah meant! Well, Ah mean, that is what Ah meant, but—"

"Applejack, th-there's something I need to confess to you!" Rarity blurts out.

"There's s-somethin' Ah need to tell you, too, sugarcube..." says Applejack, rolling back over to face Rarity.

"Y-You go first!" they both say simultaneously. "No, you!" they say again. "I secretly have a crush on you!" they continue to speak at the same time. "What?! You do?!"

"Y-Yes..." says Rarity on her own finally. "I do, it's true. I have a huge crush on you, Applejack. Do...do you really have a crush on me as well?"

"Y-Yeah...yeah, Ah do..."

"Wow, this...this is awkward..." says Rarity. "I'm...I'm sorry I never told you, dear. I was...I was just afraid of what you might say."

"Ah'm sorry, too, darlin'," says Applejack. "Ah should've told you in the first place." She grabs Rarity's hoof and kisses it.

Then Rarity pulls Applejack into a tight embrace and kisses her long and passionately on the lips.

Applejack gasps. "Rarity, Ah—"

"Shh..." says Rarity, putting a hoof over Applejack's mouth. "Please, no words. We mustn't tell anypony about this, okay?"

"Oh, Rarity!" cries Applejack, hugging her. The two of them kiss again.

Rarity sighs as she and Applejack gaze back into the stars again. "Oh, I wish this night would last forever!" she cries. Tears of joy stream down her face as the two ponies continue hugging.

Chapter 16: One Of Us Is The Killer

Deep in the Everfree Forest, early morning

I woke up at about 6 a.m. that next morning. I was awake before Lyra for once. I wearily trotted out of our tent and to the campfire. I was surprised to see both Rarity and Applejack lying there, fast asleep. They were hugging each other tightly. I smiled; I wondered if they told each other their true feelings for each other. I decided not to wake the two little lovebirds up; I didn't want to ruin their beautiful moment. Instead, I just pulled out another marshmallow to eat and I just thought about other things. Seeing Applejack and Rarity like that made me think about the relationship between myself and Lyra. I wanted to tell her badly how I felt about her; I was growing more in love with her every day. I wondered if she still felt something for me, because whenever I complimented her, she always blushed and acted flattered. For some reason then, the image of the changeling I battered the previous day randomly popped into my head. I know he was the bad guy, but that still was no reason for me to hurt him so badly. I just wished there was a way for me to apologize to him.

All of a sudden, I heard rustling behind me. I turned around to see what it was, but I found nothing. As soon as I turned back around, I heard it again. I once again whipped around to see what it was but still nothing. Then, as I continued to search for where the sound was coming from, I heard another whoosh from the other side of me. "What the heck is going on?!" I screamed as I turned back around again.

"YAAAHH!!!" I heard someone yell from behind me. I jerked my head around to see that Twilight was once again swinging a giant log at my head. I ducked just in time.

"Jeez, Twilight, you have the worst aim ever!!" I heard someone else yell. I turned around, seeing Bon-Bon sitting there, a malevolent look on her face, also wielding a large tree stump.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing?!" I screamed at both of them. "You could've hit me!"

"That's the point," snarled Bon-Bon evilly.

I gazed at her with a confused look on my face. Suddenly Twilight blindsided me, cold-cocking me on the back of the head with the log. It made a loud crack upon impact and split in two. I groaned as I collapsed to the ground with a thud.

As I began to regain consciousness a few hours later, I heard Lyra's soothing voice: "Xyclone?! Xyclone, wake up! Oh, please, wake up!"

"Oh..." I groaned. "What...happened?"

"Oh, Xyclone! You're okay!" cried Lyra, hugging me tightly. "Thank Celestia you're okay!! I was so worried!"

Suddenly, I felt intense pain in the back of my head. I touched it with my hoof and felt bandages and something wet. I brought my hoof back to see blood on it. "Ow...my head...what the hay happened?"

"Them," growled Lyra, pointing to Bon-Bon and Twilight. They were both glaring at me unstably. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Spike were all yelling at them, but the two psychopaths weren't paying any attention. Lyra then trotted off to yell at Bon-Bon. "And you! Who the hay do you think you are?! You could've killed him!"

"Exactly," said Bon-Bon, smiling malevolently.

"WHAT?!?!" screamed Lyra.

"He's the ENEMY! I just don't get why you can't see that!"

"He ain't done nothin' wrong!" Applejack spoke up suddenly.

Bon-Bon ignored her and turned back to Lyra. "Lyra, I've known you all my life! I've seen ponies walk all over you, bullied you!" Bon-Bon turned to the rest of the ponies. "In case you all didn't know, Lyra was made fun of a lot as a filly." She turned to me and spoke in a mocking tone. "But Xyclone's stupid, undeveloped mind would never have guessed that. He probably doesn't even know what it feels like to be bullied. I bet he used others as his slaves."

I started fuming. Bon-Bon returned to Lyra.

"Anyway, I supported you through those hard times! And that's what I continue to do today! I'm trying to protect you! I'm trying to protect you from this..." Bon-Bon once again gestured at me in disgust. "This monster, this evil cretin—"

"HEY!" I yelled suddenly, shutting everyone up. I'd heard enough of Bon-Bon's rambling. "You think you know me? Huh? You think I'm the bad guy? You haven't the slightest idea about what I've been through!" Struggling to get up, I started walking toward Bon-Bon.

"Xyclone, dear, please save your energy..." warned Rarity. "You're injured..."

"NO!!" I yelled. "She needs to know this. You all need to know this." I turned to speak to everyone, not just Bon-Bon. "When I was younger, I was a victim of bullying as well; harsh bullying; Bullying that was so intense, you'd be amazed at how I'm even still alive. I was made fun of for pretty much everything except for being alive—wait, no, scratch that, I was bullied for that too. I was joked at for my name, I was joked at for the clothes I wore...you know, it would be easier for me to say what I haven't been made fun of for. It eventually just became too much for me; I crumbled under the pressure. I began...'harming' myself, if you know what I mean."

"H-How so?" squeaked Applejack.

"I tried to commit suicide numerous times...but in elaborate ways. I tried starving myself, I tried to get myself ran over...several horrible things. The starving thing was probably the most painful; I was eventually just skin and bones. I still find it hard to believe, that I survived that."

"You remind me of Scootaloo," Rainbow Dash said abruptly.

"W-What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Scootaloo's had problems with depression before," Rainbow continues. "She's tried killing herself in the same ways you did. It's because her parents abandoned her when she was just a baby."

"Oh, w-wow..." squeaked Fluttershy then. "I never knew that about Scootaloo..."

"Whoa, me neither," I said.

"W-Well, what happen'd, Xy?" asks Applejack.

"What?"

"How'd ya git over yer depression? Did ya git over it?"

"Yeah, I eventually got over it. I became very introverted; I never talked to anyone, never sat next to anyone. I figured if I avoided them, they'd go away. They did; the bullying finally stopped. But it left me traumatized..." I realized how much I had trailed off and returned to Bon-Bon. "So there ya go, Bon-Bon; there's my happy life of using others as slaves." As I started walking back up to her, I scoffed. "You still think I'm the bad guy now?! Huh?! You still think that avoiding others in fear of them tearing you down if you say a single word is a quality of a sadist?! Well, if your idea of a bad guy is someone who tries to starve themselves because of pressure from bullying, then I guess I am the worst enemy Equestria has ever freaking seen!" By now, I was a mere inches away from Bon-Bon's face. All she did was glare at me. "What do you have to say about that?!"

Suddenly, she held out her hoof, as if to shake it with mine.

"Aw, I knew you'd come around eventually!" I said happily, holding out my hoof to her as well.

Right then, Bon-Bon raised her hoof high up in the air.

"Uh...w-what are you—?"

Before I could even finish, Bon-Bon slapped me harder than I had ever been slapped before right on my cheek. The impact was so great, I slid back a few feet.

All the ponies gasped. Lyra couldn't believe her eyes. "BON-BON!!!" she screamed.

I felt my face and groaned painfully. My cheek was as red as an apple. I could already feel it swelling up. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" I cried as Bon-Bon trotted up to me menacingly.

She had a crazed grin on her face. She kneeled down to me and whispered in my ear: "You shouldn't have come here, Xyclone..." She stepped back a little, then she rammed her hoof into my face again, on the exact same cheek she slapped me. All the ponies collectively gasped once more as Bon-Bon began to repeatedly punch me over and over again viciously.

"Bon-Bon, stop!!"cried Lyra.

"He's already hurt enough as it is!" reciprocated Applejack.

"Bon-Bon...please...stop...!" I groaned in between punches, Bon-Bon refusing to listen to reason.

"We've got to do something!" yelled Derpy.

"Yes, but what?!" exclaimed Octavia.

"Yeah! Whoo-hoo!" cheered Twilight. "Go, Bon-Bon! Kick his flank!"

"You're not helping!!" screamed Rainbow Dash at Twilight.

Bon-Bon was not letting up on her assault on me. "Stop! Please!" I whimpered.

"Ohh...!" moaned Rarity as I saw her frantically searching for something to aid me with. She suddenly looked up at her forehead, remembering her horn. "Oh!" she exclaimed. Tilting her head down and aiming her horn toward I and Bon-Bon, Rarity generated a force field to barricade me from Bon-Bon's rampage. The flash from the force field took Bon-Bon by so much surprise that it blasted her into the air. She landed headfirst several feet away. Twilight immediately stopped her cheering. Although, no one paid any attention to either of them; all the ponies galloped over to me to see if I was alright.

"Oh my dear Celestia!!" wailed Lyra as she knelt down and ran her hoof across my battered and bruised face. I was unable to speak; All I could do was groan painfully. I liked the feel of Lyra's hoof on my cheek. It was so soft, so soothing. I suddenly felt something wet. I opened my only eye that hadn't been punched closed and saw that Lyra was crying again. She abruptly got up then, a fiery blaze of hatred and tears clouding her eyes. She turned to Bon-Bon, who was still halfway buried in the dirt after being thrown away from me by Rarity's force field. "WHAT IN THE WIDE WORLD OF EQUESTRIA DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?!?!" roared Lyra at the top of her lungs. Birds and animals scattered from the booming sound.

Bon-Bon slowly undug herself. "I was only trying to help," she said, groaning from the painful impact of landing in dirt.

"HOW?!?!?!?!" continued Lyra. "BY TRYING TO MURDER MY BEST FRIEND?!?!?!"

"I thought I was your best friend..." said Bon-Bon, almost mockingly.

Lyra froze for a moment, her face twitching. I'd never seen her this pissed off before; It was frightening. She turned away from Bon-Bon, covered her face with her hoof, and let out a huge stressful sigh. What happened next blew my mind. When Lyra turned back around, she gave Bon-Bon a taste of her own painful medicine and slapped the living hell out of her. It even looked like she slapped her harder than Bon-Bon slapped me! Bon-Bon was once again sent tumbling several feet.

"Ow..." muttered Lyra, holding her hoof. I could see that it was throbbing and covered in blood. I didn't know if it was Lyra's blood or Bon-Bon's blood. She walked over to Bon-Bon's new landing spot as she struggled to get up. "You think I wanted to do that?" the turquoise pony asked, tears beginning to flow from her wistful golden eyes. "You think I want to hurt you? You're like a sister to me, Bon-Bon..." her voice trailed off. She returned to her assertiveness. "Give me ONE good reason why we shouldn't kick you or Twilight out of this group!!"

"Because you need us," said Bon-Bon, smirking evilly. Twilight's an alicorn princess now, remember? She has powers that the rest of us don't. And you need me, Lyra. You know how I have an extensive knowledge of castles and labyrinths? I could help you infiltrate Chrysalis' kingdom. And by now, we must be getting close. I'm afraid you really don't have a choice."

"What are you talking about? We can always get somepony else here to guide us through!"

"I'm in an alliance with Twilight," Bon-Bon continued, gesturing towards Twilight as she got up and approached Lyra. "If you kick us out, Twilight can alert the royal guard. They can arrest you for treason and imprison you for the rest of your natural lives. We're staying, and there's nothing you can do about it!" Bon-Bon began cackling madly, quickly being joined by Twilight.

"What happened to you, Bon-Bon?" sniffled Lyra. "We used to be the best of friends; I could trust you! Now you're...NOW YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A SADISTIC, SOULLESS MONSTER!! WHY—"

"Lyra...leave her alone..." I said all of a sudden.

"X-Xyclone??" she replied, turning around to see me starting to get back up.

My legs wobbled a bit as I slowly got back up on my two feet—er, I mean...four hooves.

"X-Xyclone, please just stay d-down," stammered Fluttershy, worried. "You're very hurt. You need to—"

"No!" I snarled through gritted teeth. I didn't even notice my horn starting to glow as I took one shaky step. I also didn't notice one of the bloody scars on my face clear up as I did. I looked up and fixed my eyesight on Bon-Bon. I then continued to make slow steps towards her as the wounds on my face slowly disappeared.

"Xyclone!" Lyra gasped. "Your wounds! Th-They're healing!"

"Step...away...from Bon-Bon..." I growled at her, ignoring her comment. My focus was on one pony, and one pony only: Bon-Bon. Lyra slowly stepped out of the way as I approached Bon-Bon, who was smiling smugly. When I stopped walking, my horn stopped glowing. All the wounds on my face were completely gone. The only injury that remained was the massive head wound I had obtained from when Twilight clocked me in the back of the head with a tree stump. I glared at the monster that lay before me. I said nothing; I just stood there staring at Bon-Bon.

"Well, would you look who it is!" mocked Bon-Bon, chuckling crazily. "If it isn't the dumbest moron Equestria has ever seen: Xyclone!"

Infuriated, I still said nothing. My eye twitched slightly.

"Oh, what's the matter?" Bon-Bon teased. "Stupidity got your tongue? Or are you just not speaking 'cause you're afraid I'll kick your flank again?"

I looked down at the ground; I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. "I don't exactly know what the heck your problem is..." I said once again through gritted teeth. "But I am downright sick of it. You better change it or I'll change it for you."

"Ooh, I'm soooo scared!" Bon-Bon ranted on. "Oh, please! Not only are you a doofus, but you can't fight for jack squat! Heck, you couldn't hit the side of Applejack's barn, even if you tried! You're such a weakling! It's no wonder you were made fun of as a...'hoo-mann', or whatever the buck you were!"

I closed my eyes once again, phasing out Bon-Bon's...'criticism'. Memories of the times I was bullied began playing through in my head. Suddenly, I felt that snap I felt before I mangled that changeling scout the other day. But this time, it was worse. I felt my blood begin to boil. Something was happening; I had no idea what it was, but I liked it. It was exhilarating! Right then, my hair turned bright red and my laid-back mane flared out upwards, knocking off the bandage that was wrapped around my head. My now bright-red-and-yellow mane flowed through the wind, making it look like my head was on fire. My eyes, my clothes, and even my cutie mark turned bright red as well as the intense flame of rage and hatred flowed through my body.

"And another thing—" Bon-Bon froze when she saw my transformation into Rageclone.

"RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I roared as I tackled Bon-Bon to the ground (again) before she could say another word. Everypony gasped (again). I began treating her like I did with the changeling; I pummeled and battered her into the ground.

"Xyclone, dear, stop it!" I heard Rarity say. "Calm down, darling! I know she's mean, but please! Stop!"

I couldn't hear her. Rage had taken control of my body, filling me with an intense bloodlust I had never felt before. I was intent on damaging Bon-Bon severely. "I...WILL...KILL YOU!!" I shouted out loud.

"Xyclone...! I'm...sorry!" begged Bon-Bon. "Please...stop! I...didn't...mean it!"

"IT'S TOO LATE FOR THAT NOW!!" I yelled at her.

I reeled back my hoof, gearing up for another punch. Then, when I threw my hoof back in, Bon-Bon put hers in as well, blocking me and separating us. We both rolled backwards and then onto our hooves again.

"Oh, you wanna dance?!" yelled Bon-Bon maniacally. "LET'S DANCE!"

"Bring it, Bon-Bitch!" I replied angrily. The two of us started circling each other, sizing each other up.

"You can't win," taunted Bon-Bon. "You can't defeat me. I'll have you know that I studied Mixed Pony Arts for 3 years!"

"We'll just see about that!" I said. Moments later, we both charged at each other. We tackled each other to the ground and began wrestling in the dirt, splattering our coats with sod. During the fray, I looked up and caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash's wings unfurling as her face turned red, biting her lip. Inside, I let out a chuckle. Heh, wingboner, I thought. Dash *likes** this, doesn't she?*

Whichever pony had the upper hoof switched a lot during the fight. First it was me, then it was Bon-Bon, then me again, then Bon-Bon again, then me, then Bon-Bon, me, Bon-Bon...it was very confusing after a time. "APOLOGIZE!!" I screamed at Bon-Bon, biting her ear.

"NEVER!!" retorted Bon-Bon.

After the tussle had dragged on for several minutes with no signs of stopping, Lyra finally got fed up. "Come on, guys, that's enough! Break it up!"

Nothing happened.

"Guys?!"

Still nothing.

"Guys..."

Still nothing happened.

"GUYS!!!" screamed Lyra finally. Bon-Bon and I froze in between the midst of punching each other. "THAT...IS...*ENOUGH!!!* Have you two forgotten our goal?! We're supposed to inspect Queen Chrysalis' castle to see if she really has returned, and if she is, we're supposed to defeat her!" Lyra separated Bon-Bon and I with her magic. She lowered her voice slightly. "We don't have much time," she continued. "We need to do this fast so Xyclone can get back home..." her voice trailed off as a tear fell from her glorious golden eyes. "...As much as we'd all dislike that..."

Home! I had forgotten all about it! So much had happened since I had come here to Equestria...I'd grown attached to all these ponies...I didn't really want to go home...

"...And as much as I hate to admit it," Lyra continued. "Bon-Bon's right. She does actually have an extensive knowledge of castles and labyrinths."

Bon-Bon grinned smugly. Seeing this, Lyra got up in her face.

"But trust me," she growled. "The minute we get this over with, you and I are THROUGH! Is that clear, Bon-Bon?!"

"Crystal," snarled Bon-Bon angrily.

My body cooled off and returned to normal. My hair and clothes layed back down and went back to their bright blue-and-yellow hue. As some of the ponies began to walk ahead again, Pinkie came hopping quickly by us out of nowhere, singing. "On the road again! Just can't wait to get on the road again...!" In just mere seconds, she had passed everyone and was far ahead of us. I never understood how she'd even heard of that Willie Nelson song.

As I started walking with them, Bon-Bon suddenly yanked me aside. "Okay, you listen here and you listen well," she growled crazily. "If you ever pull anything similar to what you just did to me..." she giggled psychotically. "I'LL SLIT YOUR THROAT IN YOUR SLEEP! DO...I...MAKE MYSELF...*CLEAR?!"*

"C-Crystal," I gulped.

"GOOD!" squeaked Bon-Bon, letting me go. I galloped frantically to catch up to everyone and to escape Bon-Bon's wrath. Then I heard Pinkie say something with an uneasy tone in her voice:

"Uh, g-girls...?"

"What is it, Pinkie?" asked Rainbow Dash as she flew up to her.

Pinkie's voice was shaky. "I-I think we're h-h-here..."

As the rest of us caught up, we stared in awe at the hulking structure that was Queen Chrysalis' castle.

We had finally made it.

The castle was massive, a lot larger than what I was expecting. "Um, w-was her castle th-this b-b-big when you guys were here l-last?" I asked, my voice trembling with fear.

"N-No..." replied Applejack, gulping.

"It seems that somepony's been doing some...redecorating," went Rarity.

"W-Well, m-maybe she's not here," said Fluttershy all of a sudden, in denial. "Maybe s-someone else lives there now..."

"S-Someone else, huh? Look!" said Octavia, pointing to the bottom of a long entrance walk-up, where Queen Chrysalis herself stood, barking out orders to her armies of changelings.

"It's her!" whispered Lyra frantically, hiding behind one of my hind legs again. "It's Queen Chrysalis!! I've never seen her so close before!"

I looked around for a safe spot to set up a camp that was out of her view. I found one behind a collection of high brush and trees."There," I whispered to everyone. "We can set up a camp there for the time being."

We quietly set up camp, so it took quite a while. We had to take our time in order to keep from alarming the changelings. When we were finished setting up, we all just sat there in melancholy silence for the rest of the day until we went to bed.

Things just got real serious.

Bonus Chapter 16.5: Idle Gossip [TaviScratch]

Entrance to Chrysalis' kingdom, midnight

In Vinyl Scratch's and Octavia's tent, Octavia giggles at Vinyl's antics as she goofily tries to straighten out her sleeping bag.

"Gah! How does this stupid thing even work?!" Vinyl exclaims.

"You need some help, dear?" Octavia laughs, jokingly.

"Oh, ha-ha, very funny!" Vinyl retorts sarcastically. "I got this, 'Tavi!" Vinyl once again attempts to straighten the sleeping bag out, failing comically in the process. "ARRGH!!" she roars frustratingly.

Octavia snickers.

"Oh, buck it, I'm sleeping on the ground," Vinyl says, finally giving up.

Octavia giggles again. "Oh, Vinyl...you...re so cute when you're angry..."

"Would you just drop it already?!" She says, blushing. "Forget that stupid sleeping bag! I swear, it's out to get me, I just know it!"

Octavia continues giggling.

"Hey, 'Tavi, can I ask you something?" Vinyl says suddenly.

"Yes, what is it, Vinyl?"

"How do you feel about this Xyclone dude? Do you trust him?"

"Yeah, he's a really nice pony. Why do you ask?"

"I keep thinking back to when he came here to Ponyville, when I gave him a tour of our apartment...he went crazy when I showed him all my DJ'ing and producing equipment...I wonder...maybe he wants to be a DJ like me! He said that he was my biggest fan ever when we first met...And the way he marauded that changeling the other day, that's just the kind of energy to rock a crowd full of hyped-up ponies! Maybe I can take him under my proverbial wing; you know, show him the tricks of the trade..."

"Become your apprentice is what you're trying to say, right?"

"Yeah. I bet he'd love that! At least I hope he loves it...right now, it seems like he's too busy drooling over Lyra."

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't noticed? You haven't see the way those two act when they're around each other? They're both real nervous, they blush a lot...They're obviously in love with each other."

"I suppose you're right. You know, those other two ponies, Jappleack and Clarity I think their names are...they act like that when they're around each other. I even thought I saw them cuddling the other morning!"

"Those two? Filly-foolers? That's not good; if anypony finds out, they could be banished by Princess Celestia!" Both Vinyl and Octavia sit in silence for a few moments until Vinyl speaks up again. "You know, I'm kinda jealous of Lyra. That Xyclone is...hot dang, that is one sexy stallion!"

Octavia looks away sadly. "A-Are you saying you like him more than me?"

"What? No!" Vinyl pulls Octavia into a hug. "Relax, 'Tavi, you're the only pony for me!"

"Th-Thank you, dear. Hey...c-can I ask you something, Vinyl?"

"'Course, 'Tavi! What is it?"

"Do...do you think we'll ever make it back to Ponyville...alive?"

"What?! Of course we will! What makes you think somethin' like that?"

"I don't know, it's just...Queen Chrysalis is back again, and I can only imagine how furious she is with Twilight and her friends, what with them having defeated her twice before..." Her voice trails off.

"Octavia..." Vinyl says sympathetically.

"I'm—I'm just so scared!" cries Octavia, breaking into tears.

Vinyl goes over and gives Octavia a caring hug. "Come on, 'Tavi, cheer up." She grabs Octavia's hoof and kisses it gently. "You know I'd never let anythin' hurt you. You're my best friend; you've always been my best friend and you always will be my best friend, okay? I'm sure Xyclone knows what he's doing."

"Okay..." Octavia sniffs. "I'll t-try and have a better outlook on things."

"That's my girl. How 'bout we get some shut-eye now, huh?" Vinyl says, nudging her.

Octavia smiles and chuckles as she wipes the tears from her eyes. "Sure. But first let me help you with your sleeping bag!"

In a couple of minutes, the two friends are all set up. They enter their sleeping bags and go to bed. Then Octavia says something:

"H-Hey, Vinyl...?" she asks.

"Yeah, Octi'?"

"I-I love you."

"I-I l-love you t-too, 'Tavi," replies Vinyl, blushing.

Within a few minutes, the two of them are fast asleep.

Chapter 17: Return Of The King

Entrance to Chrysalis' Kingdom, Equestria, early morning

I woke up early the next morning. I exited my tent and just stared in awe at where I was.

We had finally made it.

After an incredible journey, we had finally reached the headquarters of the sadistic Queen Chrysalis. It felt like it had been months since we left Ponyville, even though it had only been about two weeks. I finally remembered what our mission was: Find out if Chrysalis really has returned, and if she has, to stop her at all costs. And it was pretty obvious that Chrysalis has indeed come back for revenge. But I had a plan...a good plan. I waited until everypony else had woken up so that I could reveal it to them. Thankfully, everyone woke up within 30 minutes. I wasn't surprised; after all that happened the previous day, I would imagine it was pretty hard to sleep. As Bon-Bon came out of her tent, I approached her.

"What do you want?" she asked me coldly.

"Look, I know you and I don't exactly 'get along'—"

"Heh, that's for sure," Bon-Bon scoffed.

"I don't like you, and I know you don't like me...but we really need your help here. I need your help." I held out my hoof. "That's why I want to ask you for a temporary truce. I promise not to annoy you as long as you promise not to make fun of me. How's that sound?"

"I don't know...I don't really feel comfortable forming an alliance with the enemy..."

I let out a frustrated sigh. "Do it for Lyra," I blurted out. Bon-Bon's facial expression weakened. "I know you, Bon-Bon. I know that deep down, you still care deeply for Lyra. All of that yesterday, when you were mocking her...I know you didn't really mean it."

Bon-Bon looked past me sadly at Lyra, who was just getting out of our tent.

"So will you trust me just this once?" I asked again. "For Lyra?"

"You have yourself a deal. But as soon as this is over..."

"Oh, yeah, I know," I said angrily. "Never...again!"

She and I angrily shook hooves. Then I went back over to the campfire we had set up and called everyone to gather around.

"Okay. Listen up, ponies!" I began. "I have a plan. Bon-Bon, do you have any idea where a good entrance to the castle is where we won't be detected by any of Chrysalis' changelings?"

"Well, I noticed yesterday when we got here that her castle has a long inclining walk-up..." started Bon-Bon. "I also noticed that there are quite a few arches supporting it. I saw that there is a small trapdoor exit just under the final arch..."

"Okay, good. Here's what we'll do: I will lead the way to the arches, with Bon-Bon behind me. I'm going to trust that you're not going to try to assault me again...right, Bon-Bon?"

She grinned smugly. "You have my word, Xyclone."

"Anyway, we will quietly tip-toe—er, I mean 'tip-hoof' our way to the arches, ducking into bushes or behind tree stumps, should any changelings come into our view."

Everypony nodded their heads in understanding of my plan.

"We must be quieter than a field mouse, though," I continued. "Any slight sound could alert the changelings. Okay, is everybody ready?" Everyone nodded. "Okay, then. Let's do this thing!"

Everything was quiet...well, almost quiet, what with the vast collections of changelings flying around. I poked my head out from behind a tree, followed by the rest of the ponies. Stealthily jumping out, I started "tip-hoofing" my way to Chrysalis' castle. Bon-Bon was right behind me. I kept looking behind me to see what she was doing. Even though we called for a truce, I still didn't trust her. Behind Bon-Bon was, in this order: Lyra, Applejack, Rarity, Spike, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Derpy Hooves, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, and Twilight. I turned around and spoke the plan to them: "Okay, we're going to slowly make our way to the castle. We'll sneak through the arches under the entrance bridge and when we get to the last one, I'll let Bon-Bon take over and—OOF!!" My speech was cut abruptly short as I tripped on an exposed tree root and face-planted into the earth...again. Every single changeling froze in their spots to turn around and stare at the other ponies and I. "H-Hi, everyone!" I stammered nervously.

Bon-Bon facehoofed. "Xyclone, you moron..." she said under her breath, but still loud enough for everyone to hear.

Suddenly Twilight rushed up to me. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE JUST DONE?!" she cried frantically.

Right as she said that, the changelings began swarming, flying around us and the castle, shrieking shrilly.

"Uh, g-guys...?" I stuttered. "W-What's going on?!"

"Oh, you've done it now, Xy'..." Applejack said.

"WHO DARES DISTURB ME?!" a voice boomed loudly all of a sudden after a few moments.

"Uh, w-who is that?" gulped Lyra, her voice quivering with fear.

Before anypony could say anything, I noticed a dark figure appear atop the huge balcony of Chrysalis' palace. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the unicorn Twilight Sparkle and her little friends!" the voice boomed again. "By the way, congratulations on your coronation, PRINCESS!" As the figure came closer into view, the morning sun shone on it, revealing it to be the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis. "Oh, and I see you've brought others!" she said, switching her attention to Lyra and the other background ponies. Then she looked at me. "And who might this handsome stallion be?"

I froze, blushing slightly. "Uh..."

"I said, WHO ARE YOU?!?!" the Queen roared loudly.

"Uh, Xyclone, ma'am!" I blurted out. "Ma'am"? I asked myself. Why the hay did I call her "ma'am"?

"'Ma'am"? My, what nice manners you have! I might just let you live!" Chrysalis looked back inside. "Honey, you've simply got to see this!"

"'Honey'?" all of us asked simultaneously.

Suddenly, an even darker, shadowy figure approached the balcony. "What issss it, my dear?" it asked. When the light shone onto it, it was revealed to be simply a shadow with eyes on it.

"A shadow...?" I asked out loud. "What is—"

"No..." Twilight said suddenly, interrupting me. She trotted up closer to the castle. "No...i-it can't be..." she continued. "No, that's—THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!"

The shadow then began to solidify into a pony-like shape. In mere moments, the shadow was replaced by the one and only...

King Sombra.

Twilight began to step back. I could see tears in her eyes. "No..." she whimpered.

Well, that explains the changelings' abilities to use dark magic, I thought.

"Oh, haven't I introduced you all to my fiancé? How terribly rude of me! This is King Sombra, but I think you have all met his acquaintance once before.” She grinned evilly. Then she kissed Sombra...ON THE LIPS.

"...WWWWWHAT?!?!?!" I screamed, my face twitching. I don't think I'd ever been so shocked in my entire life. Chrysalis? With Sombra?! Are you freaking KIDDING me right now?!

I looked back over at Twilight. She was curled up into the fetal position on the ground and was rocking back and forth, shivering crazily. "Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra are back...and they're...d-d-dating..."

"How in th' name of Equestria did y'all two meet?!" asked Applejack in disbelief.

"Ah, yes, I suppose I should explain it to you all before I kill you," replied the Changeling Queen.

Sombra took over the explanation. "Do you perchancccce remember the day I returned to take over the Crysssstal Empire? Do you remember when you thought you had killed me?"

All of us nodded reluctantly.

"Well, when the influencccce of the reinvigorated empire hit me, quite the oppossssite happened. You ssssee, it simply threw me out of the empire with exxxxtreme force. The powerful blast sent me hurdling through the land, eventually placcccing me on the outsssskirtssss of Equestria. My body was in shamblessss. I began my trek to sssseek revenge on you horrible poniessss, but I was very weak. After 3 long and enduring monthssss, I reached an old abandoned castle that wassss falling apart. Little did I know that this was the home of my dear Queen Chrysalissss." Sombra gazed up dreamily at Chrysalis as she continued the story.

"It was early in the morning; my changelings and I were all starving. Our home was still in horrible shape from the last time you ponies bested me. I heard somepony enter through the front gates. I sent my changelings after whomever had just broken in, as I thought it was you 6 ponies coming here to rub your victory in my face. My changelings returned to me carrying a much weakened Sombra. They dropped him on the floor right in front of me. He tried to stand up, but he hadn't the energy; he passed out right there. I felt so sorry for him. And somehow, I knew that it was the doing of you vile ponies."

Sombra resumed. "Chryssi here took me in and nurssssed me back to health. Her caring kindnessss gave me comfort; it gave me power." The two villains then started staring intently at each other.

"And in turn, he gave me strength as well. We slowly began to fall deeply in love with each other through the passing months. We both became stronger and more powerful. He gave me the confidence to start taking over towns and cities again..."

"...While sssshe gave me the power to sssstart healing mysssself with my own magic." Their faces grew closer and closer as the both explained their returns in tandem.

"You ssssee, poniessss, our livessss are now interdependent. She gives me the strength to improve my dark magic abilitiessss..."

"...While he gives me the love on which I feed upon. We even finish each other's—"

"—Sentences," went Sombra. Their lips finally touched again and they began passionately making out with each other. I could've sworn I saw tongue.

"OKAY! Whoa! I did not want to see that today!"

Ignoring me, the two lovers continued their speech, finally ending their wet kiss. Chrysalis spoke first. "And now, in just one year, we have become..."

"THE MOSSSST POWERFUL BEINGSSSS IN ALL OF EQUESSSSTRIA!!!" roared King Sombra, his eyes flaring green and purple as dark magic surged through him.

"And combined, we now have the ability to destroy you and your friends once and for all! SEIZE THEM, MY CHILDREN!" commanded Queen Chrysalis.

Suddenly, all the changelings that were swarming around turned their attention to us. King Sombra tilted his head toward them and reinforced them with dark magic. They all pounced then. We were all taken aback by them.

It was utter chaos. I had no idea where to go. I just blindly ran into a bunch of changelings, assaulting them. I was actually faring pretty well, until I saw something that caused me to freeze in my tracks: There, through a break in the swarm, was the changeling that I had beat up as Rageclone back in the forest. He was being carried on a stretcher into the castle. He was covered in bandages and blood, and some of his ligaments were twisted in directions they weren't supposed to go. "It's...it's him..." I said to myself. Unfortunately, I was distracted so much that I didn't have enough time to avoid a changeling that was hurdling towards me, and it tackled me to the ground. It was about to stab me with its newly-grown horn (which I assume is from the influence of Sombra's magic, because I don't ever remember hearing of a changeling with a horn) when Lyra saw me and bopped the changeling on the back of the head with her hoof. Before I could give thanks, another changeling snuck up behind her and captured her in its hooves. "No! Lyra!" I cried hopelessly as the changeling began to fly off with her. I looked around in horror. The numbers game was finally catching up to us. We tried to fight back, but the changelings were just too powerful. One by one, the ponies were captured by them. Eventually, it looked as if I was the only one that hadn't been captured. The changelings began to swarm around me now. I began slowly backing up. Suddenly, it felt like I had bumped into someone.

It was Bon-Bon.

"You?!" I said to her. "What are you doing here?! I thought you were caught!"

"Not yet!" replied Bon-Bon. "But I probably will now because I'm here with you!" I turned around to face her. "Hey! What about the truce we made?!"

"It was off when you decided to be a retard and plant yourself in the dirt, alarming all the changelings!"

I saw the changelings carry everypony else into the castle, followed by a cliche order from Chrysalis: "Throw them in the dungeon, with...The Scaly One!"

"Scaly One?!" Bon-Bon, Twilight, Rarity, and I said at the same time.

"Oh, and leave Lyra in my quarters. I would like to...speak with her." Lyra gulped.

"And leave Twilight in my room," said King Sombra. "I would like to assssk her ssssomething as well."

Bon-Bon turned her attention back to me. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" she screamed at me. "If you never came here in the first place, none of this would have ever happened!"

"What, you think I'm behind this?!" We continued arguing even as the changelings picked us up and began to carry us into the castle.

"Oh, look, now we've been captured! That's just greeaaaat!"

I was once again fuming.

Bon-Bon lowered her voice and tone. A sad frown appeared on her crazed face. "Now we're all gonna die because of you. I'll never get to see my little Lyra again." She began to cry.

Then my face reflected Bon-Bon's. This is all my fault, I thought. Everyone would've been safer if I'd have just stayed at home.

As the changelings flew us through the huge entrance doors to Chrysalis' kingdom, I could hear her and Sombra on the balcony above: "I love you, my Sombra-wombra baby!"

"No, I love you, my Chryssi-sissy-poo!"

I struggled to keep myself from vomiting all over the castle's marble floor.

Chapter 18: Help From An Unlikely Ally

Chrysalis' castle, Equestria, mid-morning

Queen Chrysalis' palace was actually very nice. Mosaic windows and archaic wall patterns complimented the shiny marble floor. I wouldn't have minded living here myself. I came back to reality. Because of me, everypony had been caught. Bon-Bon was right; we were all gonna die. I looked down at the floor sadly. I felt like crying too. Right at that moment, I noticed something: the changelings were carrying Bon-Bon and I by our front legs. Not only that, we were only a couple of feet off the ground. I looked over at Bon-Bon, who seemed like she realized the exact same thing as me at the exact same time. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I whispered to her.

She looked back over at me and we both smirked mischievously at each other. "If we are, then you might be smarter than I thought," she whispered to me.

We nodded in agreement and started counting. "On a count of three. One...two...THREE!" On three, Bon-Bon and I swung our hind legs as hard as we could up and over ourselves. We both hit our mark; the two changelings let us go as they lost focus from the kick. Bon-Bon flipped like some sort of karate master and landed perfectly on her hooves on the marble tiles. I face-planted hard on the floor.

Bon-Bon shook her head. "Idiot..." She said under her breath.

"Hey! I heard that!" I said, my voice muffled, as my face was still glued to the ground.

"Just get up, genius," she mocked again.

I finally dusted myself off just in time to see the two changelings starting to recollect what had just happened and start heading towards us.

Bon-Bon was attacked first. She suddenly became Bruce Lee reincarnated as she dodged and weaved past every punch the changeling threw at her.

In awe, I tried to copy her when the other changeling attacked me.

I couldn't dodge a single blow.

I was punched in the face, jabbed in the stomach...(And kneed in the crotch).

Bon-Bon saw what was happening to me and, surprisingly, attempted to help me (for once). "Xyclone, watch me!" She performed her demonstration on the changeling attacking her. "Step, duck, block, punch! Try that!"

I tried her advice and failed miserably; the changeling punched my face so hard I fell over on my back.

"No! You're doing it wrong! It's step, duck, block, PUNCH! Not, step, duck, block, kick!!"

"Ohh..." I groaned as I began to get back up. Before I could even do anything, however, the changeling punched me again and I was back on my flank.

"Arrgh!!" groaned Bon-Bon in frustration. "Holy Celestia, why are so stupid?!" Bon-Bon ignored her attacker and approached mine. She then used the powerful upper right hook that she used on me the other day on the changeling and sent it flying back to the two big entrance doors. Then, just as her attacking changeling was about to tackle her, she whipped back around, spun, and then performed an amazing roundhouse kick on the changeling. It, too, went flying over to the entrance. Both of the changelings were unable to move. Bon-Bon then approached me and offered her hoof to me. "Get up, wimp," she ordered me.

I was in complete awe of her. "How...How did you—"

"I told you; 3 years of Mixed Pony Arts."

"B-But why did you save me? I thought you hated me."

"Oh, I do; believe me, I still do. But as much as I hate to say it, I'll need your help to bust everypony out. Now, come on, let's go. I heard Sombra say he wanted to talk to Twilight in his room. We need to find her."

"Why are we saving her? She's tried to kill me several times on occasion—" Bon-Bon stopped me to give me the stinkeye. From the display I just saw, I didn't think it was a good decision to make her angry, so I complied. "O-Okay," I stammered nervously. "You're the boss."

Bon-Bon and I searched room after room trying to find Twilight, but to no avail. At one point, we were galloping down a long corridor. There was a section where it broke off into another long hallway. When we ran past it, I looked down it to see if there were any changelings around. What I saw made me freeze again: It was him. Once again, I saw the changeling that I felt so guilty about beating up a week ago. He was still being carried on a stretcher by a couple of other changelings.

Bon-Bon saw me not moving and tried to get me to go on. "Xyclone, what the hay are you doing?! We've got to go!!"

I didn't budge; my eyes were still fixed on the changeling. "My God..." I whimpered. "What have I done? That poor thing!"

"XYCLONE, LET'S GO!!" demanded Bon-Bon through gritted teeth, pushing me on my flank, trying to get me to move.

Blatantly ignoring her, I started trotting over to the changelings.

"XYCLONE!! YOU'RE GONNA GET US DETECTED!!!"

"I...I have to make this right...I feel so horrible." Right as I said that, the changelings finally noticed me. They hissed angrily, flying towards Bon-Bon and I. Two of them tackled me to the floor, banging my still-wounded head on the hard marble flooring. The third changeling flew off frantically with the injured changeling. "No..." I whimpered.

Just like that, we were in another scuffle with the changelings. Luckily, though, we were able to easily fend them off this time. Scared, the two of them flew off in the same direction the other two had gone. I watched them leave with a concerned look on my face.

When I turned back around, Bon-Bon greeted me with another hard slap to the face. "WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND THAT CHANGELING?!" she roared. "WHAT, DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON HIM OR SOMETHING?!?!"

"I feel guilty, okay?!" I shot back suddenly. Bon-Bon reeled, a look of disgust on her crazed face. "The other day, when those changelings invaded the camp, I almost massacred that one they were carrying on a stretcher. I couldn't believe that I did that. I would never hurt anyone like that. I...I just want to make things right with him."

"Ugh, you are such a baby!" said Bon-Bon angrily. "Jeez, why'd I have to get stuck here with YOU, of all ponies?! Not even Pinkie Pie is this annoying! Why can't you—"

Bon-Bon's rant was interrupted by the sound of booming evil laughter.

"It's coming from over there!" I said, pointing down the long hallway we were stopped at. "Come on, let's go!"

Bonus Chapter 18.5: Sombra's Suggestion

Chrysalis' castle, Equestria, midday

"Welcome to your final ressssting place, poniessss!" the changeling guard says as he and the other guards shove Rainbow Dash through the giant stone door leading to the castle's dungeon.

"Hey! Watch it!" she complains.

"Issss that all of them?" the guard asks the changeling lieutenant.

"I think sssso," he says.

"Enjoy your sssstay!" the guard laughs, slamming the huge door shut and locking it. "Because you're going to be here for a loooong time!" He and the other guards leave, laughing evilly.

"Well, this is just great," whines Vinyl Scratch once the guards leave. "Now what the hay are we gonna do?"

"There's gotta be some way outta here..." muses Applejack, looking around.

Rarity suddenly trots up and begins to hug her. "You know, darling, I don't care where we are, just as long as I'm here with you."

Applejack smiles and blushes, embarrassed. "Rarity, please, not in front of mah friends!"

Spike walks up to them then, followed by Rainbow Dash. "What's up with you two?" he asks them.

"Yeah, you two have been acting all lovey-dovey recently," says Rainbow Dash.

Applejack and Rarity quickly break their embrace and inch away from each other, both of their faces flushed with red. "N-No, w-we're not!" stammers Applejack.

"Uh, you kinda are," continues Rainbow.

Applejack and Rarity stare nervously at each other. "Uhh..."

A strange voice suddenly slices through the room: "Why, hello there!"

Silence fills the room. Everyone looks over at the dark shadow where the voice came from. All they see are two eyes.

"How nice of you all to join me for dinner!"

Rarity hugs Applejack again. "W-Who is that? Who's there?!" Applejack asks nervously.

The figure begins to come out of the shadows. "Well, my real name is Veloci, but you probably know me as...The Scaly One!" The figure enters the dim light of the dungeon's only window and reveals himself to be a very muscular earth pony. He has brown fur with black markings splattered all over his body, reptilian eyes, and razor-sharp teeth. Everypony gasps.

Rarity hugs Applejack even tighter. "Hold me, AJ," she whispers.

Applejack gulps. "Y-Y-You're the Scaly One..?"

"O-Oh, my..." squeaks Fluttershy.

"Yes, and I haven't been fed in so long..." The Scaly One licks his lips and glares at the ponies menacingly. "...And you all look delicious! Oh, I'm gonna have a feast today!"

"Celestia help us," sobs Applejack softly, holding on tightly to her crush, Rarity. "Celestia help us all."

Twilight sits alone in a large room. Her face and body twitch sporadically. "XYCLONE IS GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!" she raves madly. "ONCE I'M DONE WITH HIM, HE'S GONNA LEAVE EQUESTRIA IN A BODY BAG!"

Twilight's plotting is interrupted by the loud creak of a door. "Hello, Twilight Ssssparkle," booms a voice behind her, echoing throughout the huge room. Twilight turns around to see King Sombra there, slowly approaching her.

"SOMBRA!" she growls. "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"Pleasssse, Princess, calm down, I am not here as an enemy."

"'NOT HERE AS AN ENEMY'? YOU KIDNAPPED MY FRIENDS AND THREW THEM IN A DUNGEON WITH A TERRIFYING MONSTER!"

"Thosssse were the orders of Chrysalis, not of mine. I am only here to make a propossssition to you."

"PROPOSITION? WHAT ARE YOU GETTING AT...?"

King Sombra starts to pace around Twilight. "You ssssee, Twilight, I, like Celestia, have been watching you since the very beginning."

Twilight calms down, lowering her voice. "Wh...What?"

"I've watched you; I've watched your skillssss improve. I've watched your magical abilities get better and better..."

"Cut to the chase already."

"You are an incredibly talented unicorn, Twilight Ssssparkle. I alwayssss thought that you would make a wonderful apprenticccce."

"Wait, WHAT?!"

Sombra stops in front of her and offers his hoof. "Join me, Missss Sparkle. Join me, and together with Chrysalis we can rule all of Equestria with an iron hoof! You could be in control of powerful armiessss, you could control entire citiessss!"

Twilight looks down and closes her eyes. "No," she says.

"What?!"

"I said no!" yells Twilight, getting angrier. "I would never in a thousand years associate with a pony like you!"

"I'm afraid it'ssss an offer you can't refusssse. See, you and me? We're not too different from each other."

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!" shouts Twilight, raising her voice again.

"You have dark magic deep within you, I know it. I saw you use it very well the lasssst time I was here and tried to take over the Crysssstal Empire."

"No..." gasps Twilight, crying. "No, it can't be...You're lying!"

"You can't hide what'ssss insssside, Twilight Ssssparkle. There's a dark magician inside of you jusssst waiting to break out."

"NO!" screams Twilight, getting up. "SHUT UP!!" Twilight's eyes begin to glow purple and green. She tilts her horn towards King Sombra and dark sparks explode from it, pummeling him with evil spirits and sending him hurdling towards the furthest wall.

Panting heavily, Twilight glares at Sombra with her newly sprouted fangs.

Sombra groans as he gets back up. "Ssssee...?" he says. "Not that different!"

Twilight drops to the floor in shame. Her fangs retract back in. "Oh, Celestia..." she whimpers. "What have I become?"

"How did that feel, Missss Ssssparkle?" asks Sombra as he once again approaches Twilight. "How did it feel to use dark magic?"

"It was...it was incredible. I can't really describe it..."

"Doessss this mean you'll take me up on my offer?"

"No!" says Twilight once more. "No matter how amazing it felt, I would never bring myself to hurt other ponies!"

"Oh, really? What do you think Xyclone would ssssay to that?"

Twilight stared in disbelief at the king. "WHAT? HOW'D YOU—?"

"Like I ssssaid: I've been watching you."

Twilight's eyes start to return to normal as the craziness slowly begins to leave her body. "Oh, my gosh...you're right. Spike was right. Everypony was right; I am a monster."

"Alongside me, nopony would think of you as a monsssster. You'd be revered as a queen!"

"How many times do I have to say it?! I refuse to be your apprentice!!"

"Ssssuit yoursssself. I had a feeling you'd decline my offer. That'ssss why I came prepared. I'll just FORCE YOU INTO SUBMISSION!"

"What?!"

Sombra's eyes glow with dark magic. Then a bunch of shadowy coils fly from his horn and grab hold of Twilight's neck. The coils lift her high up off the ground and begin to tighten. Twilight's face turns a pale blue. She stares helplessly into King Sombra's sadistic grin as he slowly strangles the life out of her. "WHERE ARE YOUR FRIENDSSSS NOW, TWILIGHT SSSSPARKLE?!?! WHERE ARE YOUR FRIENDSSSSSS?!?!?!?!"

"Stop...right...there!" a voice shouts. Twilight barely is able to turn around and see two ponies standing at the opened entrance to Sombra's quarters.

"Put her down!"

"XYCLONE?! BON-BON?!" Twilight chokes out. "IS THAT YOU?!"

Chapter 19: Death Of The King

Chrysalis' castle, Equestria, midday

I arrived at Sombra's room just in time to see him attempting to rip the life out of Twilight by strangling her. I know she and I hated each other, but I had to do something. I couldn't just let her die there in vain. "Put her down!" I yelled with fake confidence at King Sombra.

The King retracted his shadowy coils abruptly, letting Twilight drop to the floor. "You musssst be Xyclone," he said. "I've heard a lot about you from the changelingssss."

Ignoring his comments, I quickly ran over to Twilight. She was still trying to catch her breath back from where Sombra nearly choked her to death, so she was unable to speak. When I held out my hoof to her all she did was stare at me with a look of awe. As a tear rolled down her face, I noticed how different she looked. Her eyes had returned to normal; they weren't drifting apart anymore. She was no longer twitching or giggling madly. She grabbed my hoof and I ran her back over to Bon-Bon, who was still standing in the doorway of Sombra's bedroom. "Get her somewhere safe," I told her when I reached her.

"Xyclone, I—" Twilight gasped out, but I was already facing Sombra again.

"What do you mean you've heard a lot about me?" I asked him, finally acknowledging his statements.

"A couple of dayssss ago, a changeling returned to us in critical condition. We assssked him who had injured him so badly, and you fit hissss description perfectly."

I froze again. "Well, is...i-is he alright?" I asked, concerned.

"Oh, I don't know," replied Sombra with dark sarcasm. "You damaged him fairly well..."

I gulped.

"Anyway, I would like to ask you a quesssstion, young Xyclone."

"What do you want, Sombra?"

"Well, I've just been declined by Twilight, which, as you can ssssee, didn't turn out well for her...but you are very much like her, Xyclone."

"What are you talking about?"

"From what I heard from the three changeling sssscouts we sent to find you all, you are extremely skilled in magic, but you don't know how to control it."

I reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Not jusssst that, you anger very easily. You become even more powerful when you're angry."

"Where the hell are you going with this?!" I asked the Dark King impatiently. "Get to the freaking point already!"

"I want you to join me by my side to rule Equestria!"

I scoffed at him. "You must be joking, right? Who in their right mind what want to team up with you? I would never betray my friends like that!"

King Sombra turned around and began trotting away. He sighed. "I thought you would be smarter than Twilight..." He whipped back around suddenly. "...But it seems I thought wrong!"

Out of nowhere, he charged at me. Not having enough time to react, he made contact and it sent me flying towards the back wall. I dented its smooth marble surface. The bloody bandage that was wrapped around my head from when Twilight hit me the other day finally came flying off. I was a bit surprised; I forgot I was still wearing it. As I attempted to get up, a spearheaded staff from a hanging armor uniform up above me fell and bopped me on the head before landing in the centers of my hooves. A clever smirk appeared on my face.

Sombra trotted up to me. "I really didn't want to have to do this," he said to me. "But it seems I'll have to kill you. It's quite a shame, really. We could've been teammates."

"You're not killing anypony today!" I responded confidently. I suddenly jumped back up and jabbed my scepter at The King. He dodged it just in time; then he chuckled.

"Aw, that's so cute!" he said. "Now it's MY TURN!"

He aimed his horn at me and shot dark lasers out of it. Out of pure reflex, I blocked my face with the spear and it deflected the beam, sending it shattering through a stained-glass window. Sombra yelped in disbelief. "Are you kidding me right now?" I said, looking down at the staff. "Oh-ho, hell yeah!" I shouted. I then held on to it with both hooves and swung at Sombra. It smacked him in the face, and the shock forced him back a few inches. The sharp tip of the spear sliced his cheek, leaving him with a bloody gash on it. He groaned in furious frustration as crimson liquid began dripping from the wound onto the marble floor before him. Laughing maniacally, I stuck the spear tip of the javelin into one of the grooves between the floor tiles and pole-vaulted over King Sombra. I did a couple front flips before landing successfully behind him. "Bring it!" I challenged the King. It was then that I realized that I had been standing on my hind legs the entire time.

Sombra didn't say a word. Instead, he just charged me again. Dropping back down to four legs, I reciprocated his actions by charging after him as well. "RAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" we both roared. I held the staff in my left hoof and prepared to strike, when King Sombra reverted back to his shadow form and I ran right through him. Before I even knew what happened, Sombra solidified again and stomped his hooves hard on the floor. It caused me to lose my grip on the scepter and I fumbled it in my hooves. The point swung up and scratched me in the face, giving me a cut similar to that of The King.

"There," he snarled. "Now we're even!"

"In your dreams!" He shot another beam and I blocked it again with the staff. Then we charged yet again. This time Sombra tried to rip me to shreds with his sharp teeth. I blocked him with the scepter.

"You're making a mistake!" growled King Sombra. "We could be partners! You don't know what you're doing!"

"Oh, I know exactly what I'm doing!" I yelled at him. I pushed the King away from me using the spear, then prepared to charge once more. I decided differently and smacked him again with the butt of the staff. It ,surprisingly, had a powerful affect on him, because he reeled in confusion, covering his mangled face with one of his hooves.

This was my chance; Sombra was weak. I had to end this; I had to end this sadistic ruler's oppressive dictatorship. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I moved back a couple of steps, and then I ran; fast. Once I was close enough, I dove high into the air. Invigorated, I let out a massive battle cry: "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" I soared so high into the air, I felt like a pegasus. It felt like my entire life was in slow motion. During my time in the air, Sombra gazed up at me. He was in complete disbelief. It was then that I noticed a vulnerable point in his chest armor. What with him looking up so high, it made it an easy target. I dove down towards him. This was it; my moment of glory. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!" I exclaimed as I plowed the spear through King Sombra's armor.

I must've hit my mark, because all I heard next was a deafening cry of excruciating pain emanate from Sombra's mouth. Blood splattered everywhere as the spear punched through his chest cavity and into his evil heart. I tried to pull my lucky little staff out, but it was literally stuck inside Sombra. I retreated a few steps, then kneeled down to face him. "In case you were wondering, the answer to your offer is 'No.'" I said softly to the disgraced King.

King Sombra smiled. He chuckled weakly. "You foolish, foolish colt. Do you have any idea what you have just done? Chrysalis will—"

I stopped him. "I know just what I've done. I know we never knew each other. I know we never had any problems with other, but I know a sadist when I see one. And I hate sadists. I know that your rule was one of the worst things to possibly happen in Equestrian history. It's time someone finally brought it to an end. It seems it had to be me. I couldn't care less what Chrysalis does to me. Whatever happens, it'll be worth it to finally end your oppressive reign off terror."

The dying King Sombra laughed again, this time coughing up blood. "You...you would've made a great king."

"Where is Chrysalis' room?" I asked him, stonefaced.

He continued to cough up more blood. He smiled despotically at me. "What does it matter? You all are already dead."

I angrily grabbed him by the armored collar and shook him violently (I'm surprised I was even able to lift him up off the ground.). "WHERE...IS...THE QUEEN'S...ROOM?!" I growled at him through gritted teeth. "WHERE...IS...*LYRA?!"*

The King started cackling. He cackled louder and louder, the sound echoing throughout the huge room. After that, he dropped to the floor, vomited more blood...

And then there was silence.

Enraged, I snapped off a piece of the staff and shoved it down his bloody throat. "Filthy bastard," I muttered, trotting away from The King's lifeless body. It was then that I noticed Twilight and Bon-Bon hiding in the shadow of the huge entrance doors to Sombra's room. They had been standing there the whole time and saw everything. They both stared at me, speechless.

"Wh-Where's L-Lyra?" stammered Twilight shyly.

Not looking up, I said, "He didn't say. Chrysalis' room shouldn't be too far from here. Come on, let's go."

"That...was amazing," said Bon-Bon incredulously. "You really hated him, didn't you?"

I ignored her, still refusing to lift my head up. I started running; I had to find Lyra. I missed her so much, even though we had only been separated for a few hours. Concerned, Twilight and Bon-Bon followed. I was glad; I was probably going to need their help.

Bonus Chapter 19.5: Chrysalis' Question

Chrysalis' castle, Equestria, midday

Lyra worriedly paces about Queen Chrysalis' bedroom. "Oh no, oh no, oh no!" she panics. "What am I gonna do?! My friends have been captured! I should've just told Xyclone my true feelings when I had the chance! I'm probably not going to survive this! I'll never be able to tell him! And who knows what they've done with him?!"

"Done with who?" a voice asks behind Lyra.

She whips around, frightened. "Wh...Who's th-there?" she asked.

Queen Chrysalis reveals herself as she comes out of the shadows once more. She smirks evilly at Lyra.

"What have you done with Xyclone?!" Lyra screams at the Queen.

"I threw him in the dungeon with the others. They've all probably become The Scaly One's lunch by now!"

Lyra falls to the floor and begins to sob. Xyclone was gone. "No..." she squeaks softly. "Why? H-He did nothing to you!"

Chrysalis just chuckles maliciously.

"He can't b-be d-d-dead," Lyra gasps. "Not n-now...I never got to tell him how I t-truly felt about him."

"How you truly felt? Ooh, please tell! I do love myself some juicy gossip!" says Chrysalis, beaming.

Lyra glares up at the Queen, and then she looks back down sadly. "I was g-going to tell him I loved him and that I wanted so badly for us to be together..."

Queen Chrysalis stares at the turquoise mare sarcastically. "Love?" she laughs.

"...But now I can't!" choked Lyra, trying to stifle her tears.

"Love?! Ha!" goes on Chrysalis. "You don't love him! You're just saying that!"

Lyra gets up and faces the Queen angrily. "You shut up! That's not true!" Her voice trails off. "I do love him...a lot. Ever since the first day we met, I knew we had a special connection."

Chrysalis suddenly perks up. "So you really love him, don't you? Like, really love him?" She opens her mouth, revealing her fangs. Her tongue droops out and she starts to drool, preparing to feed off Lyra's love for Xyclone.

"Yes, okay?! Yes, I love him! Why are you even asking me this?! Shouldn't you already know what love is?! You're with Sombra, aren't you?!"

This gets Chrysalis' attention, and she freezes up. "Yes, but I—"

Lyra doesn't let her finish. "Then you should know how it feels!"

Queen Chrysalis stares blankly at her.

"You should know how it feels to get those little butterflies deep in the pit of your stomach! You should know that dreamy feeling you get when you're around him! You should..." Her voice drops again as she stares sadly down at the marble flooring. A lone, solitary tear falls from her eye. "You should know how it feels to be completely worthless and lonely when he's gone. That's...that's how I feel right now."

A sad frown appears on the Queen's face. She quickly corrects herself and shakes off the feeling. "You miserable foal. You think you know what love is? HA! You're nothing but a pathetic little filly!" The queen starts walking up to Lyra as she collapses to the floor in tears, distraught that her beloved Xyclone was dead. Chrysalis once again opens her mouth and drools. "I've lived for over a millennium. I have experienced love firsthoof several times. Only with Sombra, the feeling is much stronger. I feel like we were made for each other. He makes my life so much happier. You are slightly right, though, Lyra. I don't know what I'd do if my Sombra-wombra died. But he's never going to die; as we are the most powerful rulers in all of Equestria and absolutely nothing can stop us now!" The Queen lifts Lyra's head up and makes contact with her dampened eyes. "You, on the other hoof, Miss Lyra Heartstrings, are nothing but a simpleton; a common unicorn pony. You're not special. You never were special. Nopony would ever love you!" The eyes of both of the mares begin to glow as Chrysalis starts siphoning all the love out of Lyra's heart.

Before the Queen takes complete and utter control of her mind, Lyra is able to say one thing: "Xyclone would. Our love...was different. Our love was special; a lot more special then yours and Sombra's will ever be." And with that, Lyra is under the full influence of Chrysalis. She just sits there blankly as The Queen performs her operation.

Suddenly out of nowhere, a brain-rattling roar echoes throughout the room. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Then a gray streak comes barreling into Chrysalis, knocking her on her side and breaking her link with Lyra. "Get...your filthy hooves...off of her..." growls the blue-gray pony as he stands there watching Chrysalis on his two hind legs.

Lyra shakes her head as she comes to. "What...happened...?" She is shocked to see Xyclone standing there, an angry grimace of rage on his face and a bloody gash running down his cheek. She can't even believe her eyes.

Chapter 20: Old Friends & Friendly Foes

Chrysalis' castle, Equestria, midday

"XYCLONE!!" exclaimed Lyra at my arrival. She dove over to me and hugged my two hind legs. "YOU'RE ALIIIIIIIVE!!!!" I was still standing infuriated in front of Queen Chrysalis. I blushed slightly at her reaction. "CHRYSALIS TOLD ME YOU WERE DEAD!!"

Chrysalis herself then started to get up. "How...How did you—?!"

"She said you had been eaten by The Scaly One!" continued Lyra.

"Huh?!" I asked, confused. Then I spoke to The Queen. "I managed to escape your changelings with the help of Bon-Bon..." I pointed over to Bon-Bon and Twilight, who were once again standing in Chrysalis' doorway. "...And then I saved Twilight from your husband-to-be." I stated smirking evilly then. "By the way, Sombra is...'waiting' for you in his room."

"Oh, I'm so glad you're alive, Xyclone!" Lyra said to me, hugging me even tighter and sobbing.

I smiled back at her gently. "I'm glad you're okay, too, Lyra."

"How did you even manage to find me?"

I grinned. "I followed my heart and it led me to you."

"D'awwwww!!!!" I heard Twilight swoon in the background. "That's soooo cute!"

Bon-Bon stared at her with disgust. "What's gotten into you? I thought you hated Xyclone!" She looked around shiftily. "I thought the plan was to kill him, remember?" she said under her breath.

"Well, yeah, that's what I wanted to do at first, but Sombra made me realize how absolutely horrible we've been to Xyclone; how horrible I've been to him. When I get the chance, I really would like to apologize. I want to make amends. He's not a bad guy; he's been so nice and helpful to pretty much every one of us. I should've realized that in the very beginning."

"Are you kidding me? Please tell me you're kidding, Twilight!"

"I'm not, Bon-Bon," replied Twilight stoically, not looking at Bon-Bon. "This is iron-clad."

"So you're telling me that I'm the only pony here who still believes that he's evil?! ARGH, WHY WON'T ANYPONY LISTEN TO ME?!" She turned away suddenly. "It seems like I'll have to take matters into my own hooves..." she said under her breath again.

"SILENCE!!" boomed Queen Chrysalis, finally standing back up. "ENOUGH NONSENSE!" She approached Lyra and I (we were still hugging) and began smiling, which I did not like the looks of. "Well, isn't this just wonderful?" she said happily. Lyra and I stared blankly at her. "The two lovers reunited!" continued The Queen.

"'Two lovers reunited'?" we asked simultaneously.

"Miss Heartstrings here just finished pouring out all her emotions on me! She loves you dearly, Xyclone! Isn't that fun?"

I looked back down at Lyra in awe. I don't think I'd ever seen her face look so red before.

Chrysalis began walking closer to us. "Although, in reality, it's more wonderful for me than it is for you! Combined, your love should keep me and my changeling children sustained for months!"

I then reared back up onto my two hind legs and stepped in front of Lyra. "You lay a single hoof on her, I swear I'll—"

The Queen cut me off. She opened her mouth to once again reveal her fangs, and she drooled as her tongue stuck out. "Oh, relax! It won't hurt! You shouldn't feel a thing!"

"I SAID DON'T TOUCH HER!!" I yelled, impulsively aiming my horn at Chrysalis as she approached and shooting a laser beam out of it. She slid backwards from the force.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed in awe, gazing up at my forehead.

"Didn't that hurt?!" Lyra asked me.

"I barely felt it!" I answered. Not to be outdone, The Queen angrily started shooting beams back at me through her horn. Unsure of what to do, I remembered the advice Bon-Bon had given me earlier that morning: step, duck, block, punch. As those thoughts kept replaying in my head, I jumped back, dodged one of The Queen's beams, deflected another with my horn, then sent a very powerful one through my horn again, which easily hit its target. Chrysalis was knocked onto her back. I was about to finish the job, just like what I had done to Sombra, when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of my head. Bon-Bon had snuck up behind me and karate-chopped me. "AAAGH!!" I cried out in pain as I collapsed to the floor.

"BON-BON!!!" shrieked both Twilight and Lyra.

Wait, why is Twilight mad at her? I thought to myself.

By this time, Queen Chrysalis had gotten back up and was walking towards me. She once again opened her huge gaping maw. "Well, well, well," she taunted when she got up to me. "So much for being a hero." She then planted both her front hooves on either side of me, pinning me down. Opening her mouth even wider, she slobbered all over me. This was probably one of the most humiliating moments in my life: being slobbered on by a hungry insect in the form of a pony. Licking my face with her sharp tongue, she said, "Forget that worthless little green pony; I'll get to her later. But you, on the other hoof, look much more...tantalizing."

"A-Are you going to...eat me?" I asked her, terrified. "I th-thought you changelings only fed off love!"

"Oh, we do," slurped Chrysalis. "But I'm always open to trying new experiences, so I figured what the hay?"

This is it, I thought. This is how it ends: being devoured alive by a giant bug. Just terrific.

Lyra's voice suddenly brought me out of my thoughts: "Your magic, Xyclone!" she called out to me. "Use your magic!!"

I felt so stupid. I had completely forgotten about my magic for a moment. I looked around the room and saw several armored uniforms, exactly like the ones in Sombra's room. Every one of them also had the exact same speartipped staffs I used to kill King Sombra with. I remembered all of Lyra's magic lessons and focused all my energy on the staffs, successfully levitating them from their origins. I blended that concentration with that of Queen Chrysalis'. Then I sent all the spears flying towards her.

"What the—?!" she yelped, noticing the soaring daggers. She was able to duck her body, but she didn't have time to retract her wings, and the spears easily ripped into them. They lifted her up off me and carried her by her wings to the far wall. The scepters stuck Chrysalis' paper-thin wings into the marble, pinning her to the wall. She started thrashing and flailing about, but to no avail; the staffs held their grip. "RELEASE ME, YOU FOOL!" commanded The Queen. "I DEMAND THAT YOU RELEASE ME RIGHT THIS SECOND!!"

Lyra galloped over to me and helped me up. "I buried those spears deep into the marble," I told Chrysalis. "You won't be getting out anytime soon!"

"AARRRRGH!!!!!!" she roared. "LET ME GO!!!"

Ignoring her, Lyra and I ran over to the door to meet Twilight and Bon-Bon. Twilight looked angry, and she refused to look at Bon-Bon. Bon-Bon, however, just smirked evilly at me and twitched and giggled unstably. I gave her a dirty look.

Lyra spoke then. "Those spears won't hold her there forever. We need to find that dungeon fast." She looked over at Twilight. "I know your friends. They're not just gonna let themselves get eaten by that monster. They must still be alive. Does anypony have any idea to where the dungeon might be?"

None of us had any clue. We started looking around for anything, maybe a hall or some sort of pathway leading to it.

"Wait...what is that?" asked Twilight, gesturing to a large stone padlocked door in the distance of one end of the hall.

"That looks like it could be it," Lyra said. "Good eye, Twilight!"

The alicorn princess smiled. Then we all ran down the hall, hoping to not get detected. Although, we were probably going to, what with Queen Chrysalis back there, refusing to shut the hell up:

"YOU'LL NEVER GET AWAY WITH THIS, PONIES!" her voice echoed in the distance. "MARK MY WORDS, I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!!!!"

We all ran faster. Just then, Twilight ran up to me.

"Xyclone, I...I have something I'd like to say to you—!"

"Oh, what?" I replied coldly. "How you and Bon-Bon plan to kill me when this is over? Just leave me alone, you psychopath!" I ran even faster to avoid her.

"Xyclone, no! Wait! I wasn't going to say that! Stop!" I ignored her.

When we finally reached the end of the seemingly endless hallway, we found the door. I trotted up to it and pressed my ear against the huge object. I could faintly hear the ponies' distinctive screaming. "This is it," I said, backing away from the door. "This is the dungeon. The ponies are still alive in there, but they're in trouble. We need to figure out a way to open this door. Now, I know how to pick locks, but it's going to be nearly impossible to do with hooves—"

"RRRRAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!" Bon-Bon suddenly pushed me aside and violently kicked the massive stone block open.

"Or we could just kick the door down, that works too, I guess." The four of us all ran through the opening and started descending a long flight of spiraling stairs leading to the dungeon. I was really surprised that there were no guards blocking the entrance. The terrified screams of ponies got louder and louder as we ran. I was a bit frightened by the atmosphere; it was dark, and I could see what looked like bats hanging from the staircase. One of them in particular really scared me. I saw a glowing pair of upside-down orange eyes glare at me as I ran down. It was a huge creature. I didn't know what the hay it was, but it definitely was too big to be a bat. When the long staircase finally ended, we were in a huge room, about the same size as King Sombra's and Queen Chrysalis'. And towards the back of the room, next to a wide window, we saw a huge cage. The cage had several ponies cowering together and screaming in the corner as a buff brown earth pony harassed them.

"Somepony help!" I distinctively heard Applejack say. "Fer Celestia's sake, somepony help us!!"

"GUYS?!" I blurted out suddenly.

"Xyclone, is that you?!" asked Rarity frantically. "Oh, thank heavens! Please, save us from this vile ruffian!"

"What's going on?! 'Ruffian'?" asked Lyra.

Just then, the pony that was antagonizing the others turned around, revealing his face to me and the other three. He had razor-sharp teeth, and the eyes of a lizard. His face looked so familiar to me for some reason. "Who the hell are you?" he asked.

Wait a minute, I thought. That voice, that coat color, that attitude...he looks like— "No...No, it can't be..." I said out loud.

"What's wrong?" Lyra asked me.

"That pony, he...he reminds me so much of my old friend Veloci...he's like the ponified version of him..."

"Veloci? But you told me he died!"

"He did die...or...at least, it looked as if he did..." I took a few steps forward, not laying my eyes off of the familiar-looking pony. "E-Excuse me...what is your name?"

"The Scaly One," responded the brown earth pony.

"No, not your nickname...what is your actual name?"

The stallion looked a little creeped out now. "Uh...V-Veloci..." he said. "Why do you ask?"

I felt like vomiting right there. I grew weak at the knees and I dropped to the ground.

"Xyclone, what's wrong?" Lyra asked me.

"It's him..." I gasped, biting my hooftips. "It's Veloci...he's...he's alive...and he's a...pony?"

"Oh my goodness..." said Lyra.

"Veloci," I said, my voice quavering. Tears began to fall. "You're alive. I can't believe you're alive!" I started walking closer to the cage.

"Uh, d-do I know you?" Veloci asked. "Because whoever you are, you're really starting to weird me out—"

I ran up to the cage to meet my old friend. "Veloci! It's me! Skyler! Don't you remember?!"

"How do you know who Skyler is? He was my best friend from long ago."

"THAT'S ME! I'M HIM!"

"No you're not, you're..." he looked me up and down. "You're, you're a...horse!"

"Well, so are you!"

"Oh. Well, I suppose you're right on that one," said Veloci, inspecting himself. "Look, buddy, I think you're mistaken, 'cause I—"

"VELOCIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed with joy, breaking through the bars of the cage and pouncing on my old best friend. I was absolutely positive now that it was Veloci. I just had to prove to him that I was still Skyler...just with a different appearance and name. Then I remembered: the memory spell! I could perform the memory spell and bring him back! I once more remember Lyra's lessons. I tried my best to hold Veloci down so I could perform the spell on him.

"Jeez, get the heck off me, you psycho! I'll have you know that I'm—!"

I finally wrestled him into submission, and our minds locked together. I injected all the memories of us together back into his head, then I showed him the memories of how I got here. It took about a minute before I finally finished the spell. By the time it was done, I was sweating. I got off Veloci and rolled over onto my back on the floor, exhausted. Derpy Hooves greeted me by trotting over to my position and fanning me with her wing.

Veloci was slow to get up. He stared at me in utter awe and amazement. "Skyler...i-is that really you?"

I sat up and looked at him. "Yes, Veloci. It's me. I'm here."

"You look so...different." He came over and hugged me tightly. "Oh my God, Skyler, it's been so long."

The both of us were sobbing at our emotional reunion. "I've missed you so much, Veloci," I said, my voice cracking.

"D'AAAWWWWW!!!!!" went Twilight again. Bon-Bon punched her on the shoulder.

"Okay, seriously, stop it. It's beginning to get annoying."

"It's been a rough eight years since you left, Veloci," I sobbed.

Veloci pushed me away suddenly, ruining our beautiful moment. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the phone. 'Eight years'? I've only been here for about 5 months."

"What?" I asked him, confused as all hell. "But you disappeared 8 years ago. Actually, how did you get here in the first place."

"You know, I don't know. It's a weird story."

"Please explain, because I'm confused."

"Well, I—"

"Start from the last day you saw me; the day the time machine malfunctioned."

"Oh yeah, I remember that fateful day. Well, uh, the last thing I remember was seeing your face along with Devon's and Renaldo's fading away. I was being sent spinning into a brightly-colored vortex. Terrified, I kept screaming—"

"Which is what I heard..." I said, continuing to interrupt him.

Veloci glared at me, to which I just smiled at him. I can't believe he's still alive, I thought to myself. This is just too awesome for words!

"Anyway, I was so scared that I passed out. When I awoke, I was in a strange new world; a very beautiful new land. Before I had even figured out where I was, I was approached by two really tall...horses. Both of them had horns and wings, one was white, one was blue—"

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!"

He glared at me again. "You know, I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop interrupting me."

"Heh, sorry," I chuckled. "I'm just so happy that you're alive!"

"Well, Princess Tuna and Princess Molestia, or whatever you said their names are, looked at me angrily, as if I had done something wrong. They called me a...'changeling', and banished me from the land. I hadn't even done anything! I started walking, looking for a place where I might be able to find refuge. Eventually I came across this castle. I met someone named Queen Chrysalis, and she said she would help me get by. I happily accepted her offer to stay here. Instead, once I did accept it, she just threw me down here in this dungeon, and this is where I've been for the past couple of months."

Everypony gasped. By now, Twilight, Bon-Bon, and Lyra had reached the busted-open cage.

"So it sent him into the future and into another dimension? That time machine was actually an early version of The T.A.R.D.I.S...My father had perfected his design eight years early!" I thought out loud.

"A Tar-What?" Veloci asked.

"It's hard to explain..." I replied.

"Being trapped in here isn't all bad, though," continued Veloci. "The changelings come and throw captured ponies in here for me to eat a lot!"

I backed away from him, slightly more scared. "S-So wait..." I gulped. "Y-Y-You eat ponies n-now? You know I'm a p-pony now, r-right? You're not gonna eat me, a-are you?"

Veloci playfully punched me on the shoulder. "Now, come on, why would I do that to the best friend I've ever had?" He smiled at me, and I smiled back at him. Then he looked around at everypony else and licked his lips. "Everyone else here, though...now that's a different story..."

Everybody took a few steps back, a scared expression on all of their faces. "Y-You wanna hear how I got here?!" I blurted out, frantically trying to change the subject.

"Actually, yes, how did you get here? As a matter of fact, could you tell me about everything that's happened during the eight years you said I was gone?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story..."

"You were the one who suggested it!"

"Well, okay...here it is..." I tried m hardest to try and accurately explain how I got here.

I finished my long and epic story about half an hour later. "...So, I changed my name to Xyclone..."

"I have so many questions," said Veloci, interrupting me this time.

He realized his mistake, then shut up and let me finish. "...And I became friends with all these awesome ponies." I gestured towards everyone around me and listed off their names. "Veloci, I suppose I should finally introduce to everypony. This is Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Derpy Hooves, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Pinkie Pie, Spike..." I smiled dreamily at my secret crush. "...And this amazing pony is Lyra," I finished. She blushed again.

"Wait a minute," Veloci said. "All of these ponies are your friends? And I was about to eat them?! Oh my God, Skyler, I'm so sorry! I never knew!"

"I don't think I'm the one you should be apologizing to." I gestured at the ponies again. "And it's Xyclone now, okay?"

Veloci nodded and turned to the ponies. "Look, guys, I'm...I'm really sorry I almost ate you a minute ago." He chuckled nervously. "Well, eh-heh, this is a bit awkward, isn't it? Hey, anyone who's best friends with Skyler—I mean Xyclone—is best friends with me!" Veloci smiled, and then he collectively shook the hooves of everypony there.

"Well, aren't you nice all of a sudden!" said Vinyl when Veloci shook her hoof.

"Yeah, he's really just a big softie," I replied to her, smiling. "He just gets a little crazy when he's hungry...which is a lot." I chuckled sarcastically.

"Wait," said Veloci suddenly when he reached Twilight and Bon-Bon. "Who're these two? You never introduced me to them!"

I frowned at the two ponies. "Oh, that's just Twilight and Bon-Bon."

"We don't really take too kindly ta them anymore!" growled Applejack.

"Yeah, seeing as how they both have tried to kill Xyclone every chance they get!" yelled Rainbow Dash.

Twilight shuffled her hoof awkwardly and stared at the ground, a depressed expression on her face. Bon-Bon just twitched. "GUILTY!" she exclaimed crazily.

"You two ruffians sicken me," said Rarity, angrily shaking her head.

"C-Can...can I just say something?" asked Twilight nervously.

"Oh, can it, traitor!" shouted Pinkie Pie at her.

"You should be ashamed!" scolded Lyra.

Everypony started screaming and shouting at Twilight, making her sadder and sadder. "I'm sorry, okay?!" she screamed finally, her voice cracking. A melancholy silence fell over all the ponies. "I'm...I'm sorry...honest."

"Ah'm afraid a simple 'I'm sorry' ain't gunna cut it, Twilight," said Applejack stonely.

"Could you all just please listen to me for once?!" screamed Twilight. She started walking into the group. "Look, I know...I know that what I tried to do was wrong. I'm really sorry that I never realized that until today. I get it now; King Sombra made me look deep down inside myself. The way I've been acting, that wasn't me. It's just that becoming an alicorn princess has just proven to be too much for me. I was so caught up in being a good princess that I let my awareness consume me." The ponies looked confused. Twilight turned to her friends. "Girls, we all have defeated so many powerful enemies together; Nightmare Moon, Discord, King Sombra...we defeated Queen Chrysalis twice already! I love all of you ponies; I never want anything bad to happen to a single one of you!" She turned to me then. "Xyclone, the reason I was so hard on you is because you're from a world that's alien to us. I didn't know what evils you could've possibly brought into Equestria! I let the fear go to my head; I became a monster." She started crying. "I-I feel absolutely horrible about what I did. I'm surprised I could even sleep at night." She turned back to everyone else. "I understand that none of you will ever want to see me again. I just hope that one day, someday, you all would be able to accept my sincerest apology." She walked back over to me. "Especially you, Xyclone." She dropped to the floor in front of my hooves. "I'm so sorry!" she bawled pitifully, dampening my front legs with her tears. "Please! Can you forgive me for all this?!"

I didn't know what to say. A disgraced alicorn princess who tried to murder me is groveling and begging me for mercy. I was speechless. Everyone was speechless.

Twilight got back up. "I...I understand," she sniffled. She walked to the edge of the crowd. "I can't live on like this anymore, knowing how much I've hurt you all deep down inside...That's why I'm surrendering myself to Queen Chrysalis. I want her to let you all go safely while I sacrifice myself to her." She began sobbing again. "It's for the best."

"Twilight, wait!" I said, stopping her as she turned to leave. I trotted up to her and put my hoof on her shoulder. "You're not surrendering to anyone." She gasped, stifling back tears.

Applejack walked up and put her hoof on her other shoulder and smiled. "Yeah! We ain't lettin' our friend die so easily!"

Twilight's lip quivered, and then Applejack and I pulled her into a tight embrace. Everypony else soon followed and we all gave the princess a massive bear hug. "I'm so sorry, everyone! Thank you all so much!" sobbed Twilight.

"It's great ta finally have ya back, Twilight," said Applejack.

Veloci and Bon-Bon were the only ones not included in the hug. Veloci sniffed, wiping a tear away from his eye. "That's so adorable!" he cried.

"This is B.S.," muttered Bon-Bon to herself, crossing her hooves and pouting.

"Oh, quit ruining the moment!" Veloci said to her.

Bon-Bon glared at the reptilian stallion with a fiery gaze. "Shut up talking to me, lizard." Veloci frowned at her.

Eventually, the hug ended. "Okay, now that we're all caught up, we need to figure out how to escape this dungeon without being detected," I said.

"Yeah, that and find me some food!" whined Veloci. "I'm still starving!"

"Veloci, you're always hungry!" I laughed at him.

"How...could you?" A voice suddenly snarled, echoing throughout the dungeon and shrouding the happy mood in a veil of silence. Just then, Queen Chrysalis came into view, descending the long spiral staircase. She had tears pouring from her eyes. "HOW COULD YOU?!" she screamed at us. We were all confused. "HOW COULD YOU KILL HIM?! WHY DID YOU KILL HIM?! WHYYYYYYY?!?!"

"'Kill him'?" Applejack whispered in my ear, slightly shocked. "What th' hay is she goin' on about? Who did y'all kill?"

I winced, suddenly remembering what had happened. "King Sombra," I replied.

"Ah'm sorry, Ah didn't quite hear that. It sounded like you said King Sombra."

"That's because I did."

"Oh...well, then, this ain't good."

"HE DID NOTHING TO YOU!! WHY WOULD YOU KILL MY SOMBRA-WOMBRA-BABY?!?!"

I sank, trying to make myself smaller.

"I—I loved him," whimpers Chyrsalis, lowering her voice. "H-He loved me. He proposed to me; we...we were going to get married. We were going to get married and have two beautiful foals together!"

TMI, Queen Chrysalis, I said to myself. TMI.

"All I wanted was to be loved," continued The Queen sadly. "I-Is that too much to ask for? IS IT?! HUH?! I've been so lonely for such a long time..."

I suddenly felt a lot more guilty.

"Oh, my poor Sombra...why? I miss you so much already." Suddenly, her depressed face turns into that of furious rage. "CHANGELINGS!!" she shrieked all of a sudden as more and more tears began to fall from her eyes. Her voice was still broken. "GET OVER HERE! NOW!!" Her minions were quick to report to her. "KILL THEM!! KILL THEM ALL!!!! MAKE THEM PAY FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE!! MURDER THEM LIKE THEY DID MY POOR SOMBRA!!!! GO!! NOW!" Floods of changelings began flying towards us.

So much for a happy ending.

Chapter 21: A Vengeful Queen

Dungeon of Chrysalis' castle, Equestria, early-afternoon

"KILL THEM!! KILL THEM ALL!!!!" screamed Queen Chrysalis at the top of her lungs. Salty tears flowed from her distraught face like a waterfall. "MAKE THEM PAY FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE!! MURDER THEM LIKE THEY DID MY POOR SOMBRA!!!!" Out of nowhere, it seemed, a sea of changelings flew towards the ponies and I.

Twilight smirked confidently. "Alright, girls, you know the drill! We've been through this many a time!" As she and the rest of the mane 6 charged towards the changelings, the monsters quickly and easily deflected them, pinning the ponies against the walls of the dungeon. Soon after, the beasts did the same to me and everyone else. They even got a hold of Veloci.

"Ha!" laughed Chrysalis, cheering up slightly. "You really think that'll have any affect at all whatsoever?! Sombra may be gone, but the influence of his dark magic will continue to live on in the changelings! You make me laugh, you pathetic ponies!"

Things did not bode well for us, it seemed.

After a few minutes of nonstop fighting, we didn't seem to be getting anywhere. The changelings still had us up against the wall...literally. Although, in a small window of hope, Veloci managed to protect himself along with Vinyl Scratch and Octavia by locking themselves in the cage once more. "They're too strong!" Applejack shouted, wrestling with a changeling. "They're too powerful! We're outnumbered!!"

"I think I can help with that!" a voice said suddenly. Everyone (even the changelings) turned around to where the voice came from to see who it was.

When I turned around, I saw a strange-looking pony. It had deep-purple fur, a pitch-black mane (very similar-looking to Rainbow Dash's) and bright-orange reptilian eyes. The pony's ears were pointed at the top, and huge bat-like wings sprung from her back. Then I realized: this was the strange creature I saw hanging upside-down when I was descending the dungeon's staircase with Lyra, Twilight, and Bon-Bon!

"Who...Who are you?" Chrysalis asked when she saw the odd pony. "What are you?"

The pony smirked mischievously. "I'm your worst nightmare," she said.

I noticed that, in the cage, Veloci was staring intently at the strange purple pegasus.

"Whoa..." he said, almost dreamily.

Suddenly, the pony let out a shrill, deafening call. Then, out of the darkness, an army of pegasi who looked just like the her flew out. "Come on, everyone!" she shouted to the odd ponies behind her. "You know what to do! All they are is giant insects!" Almost immediately after she said that, the weird-looking pegasi charged, attacking the changelings that were attacking us.

I could not even believe my eyes at what I saw next: the purple mare who challenged Queen Chrysalis flew up to one of her changelings and opened her mouth wide, and then she closed them around the changeling's head and swallowed it whole.

Bon-Bon twitched. "DID...DID SHE JUST—?!"

"No...freaking...way..." I said, in absolute disbelief.

"Oh, my God..." Veloci said, his pupils turning into red hearts. "I'm in love!"

The crazy purple pegasus gulped, sending the changeling down her throat and into her stomach, where it formed a large squirming bulge.

Applejack choked, accidentally letting the changeling she was wrestling tackle her to the ground. "H-How...how did she even d-do that?!" she yelled.

The strange-looking pony belched loudly. Suddenly, the lump in her middle got smaller and smaller. She was as if she was actually digesting the changeling right in front of our eyes. This was insane; she was eating just like Veloci did when he was still a dinosaur and I was still a human. It once again brought back all the fond memories of Veloci and I on adventures with each other. It may sound weird, but for me, this was a very beautiful moment. A nearly shed a tear.

"MARRY ME!!" shouted Veloci dumbly in the cage.

Vinyl looked at him, disgusted. "Dude...you have got some serious issues."

The purple pegasus flew down to Applejack and kicked the attacking changeling away from her, then helped her get back up. Applejack stared in amazement at her. "How...?" That was all she was able to say.

By this time, the swollen part of the purple pegasus' belly was almost back to normal. "A magician never reveals her—URP!—secrets!" With that, she flew back up to face the changelings, leaving Applejack sitting there dazed and confused.

She flew past the cage Veloci, Vinyl, and Octavia were in. "Y-You're, like...really cool..." said Veloci dreamily as the pony flew by.

The unknown pegasus smiled, blushing slightly. "W-Why, th-thank y-you!" she stammered.

"Can somepony please explain ta me what th' hay just happened?!" exclaimed Applejack.

"I don't know, darling, but whatever it was, it's working. Look!" replied Rarity, kicking away an attacking changeling and pointing upward.

The strange ponies were holding back the army. Some were eating the changelings just like the purple one did; some were assaulting them with their hooves.

Suddenly, the purple pony looked back down at the cage to see Veloci gazing at her dreamily. She flew down to meet him. Veloci eagerly opened it and let her in. "H-Hi..." said Veloci goofily. "I-I'm Meet, it's nice to Veloci you!" he stammered nervously, shaking the the other pony's hoof. "W-What's your name?"

The purple pegasus giggled. "I'm Violet Dawn, but all my friends call me either just Violet or Dawn."

"Th-That's a n-n-nice name...Dawn."

Dawn blushed, giggling some more.

A look of sheer terror appeared on Chrysalis' face as she watched her army slowly deteriorate. "My changelings..." she said, starting to panic. "My poor changelings..." A psychotic expression replaced her sad one. "No," she raved, grinning maliciously. "Not again...I am not going to be defeated for a third time!" She began giggling madly, just like Twilight had done for so long. "NO! NOT THIS TIME!" Her crazed eyes darted around, looking for something to attack. She suddenly came up with a plan. She ordered one of her changelings after me when I was distracted with fighting another one.

Lyra suddenly saw the changeling barreling towards me at extremely high speeds, and she leaves the changeling she was fighting to rescue me.

Everything was in slow motion then. "XYCLONE, NO! LOOK OUT!!" Lyra shouted, diving into the changeling's path. Little did she know that she had just fallen right into Chrysalis' trap. "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" she screamed. Just then, the changeling flew off in another direction. Chrysalis tilted her head towards Lyra and fired a laser beam from her horn.

The laser hit its mark: right on Lyra's chest.

"AAAAAGGHHH!!!!" Lyra cried out in pain as she was sent flying to the nearest wall. She smacked on the concrete so hard that she cracked it and left a huge dent. She slid back down the wall like a bug on a car's windshield and collapsed to the ground with a dull thud. Everypony gasped.

"LYRA!!!" I exclaimed, pushing the changeling away and running towards my injured crush. I lifted her head up off the ground and shook her softly. "Lyra!! Wake up!! Say something to me!!"

She didn't move.

I shook her even harder. Tears began to well up in my eyes. "Lyra! Please! Speak to me!! Do something!!"

Still nothing.

I felt her chest and my heart sank. "She...She's not breathing," I whimpered, my voice quavering. "She's not breathing!" All of the ponies, even Bon-Bon and the mysterious purple mare who came to help us, had concerned looks on their faces.

"How does it feel?" Queen Chrysalis asked coldly, tears beginning to reappear in her eyes as well. "How does it feel to lose a loved one? HUH?! HOW DOES IT FEEL?!?!"

"NO!" I screamed back at her. "No, she's not dead! I know she's not! She's stronger than that!" I looked back at Lyra and shook her some more. "Lyra...please...wake up...I-I need you."

She still didn't budge.

"C-Come on, Lyra..." I said as I started to sob. "Lyra, please...d-don't leave me..." My tears were starting to dampen her beautiful turquoise coat. "Lyra...I love you," I said finally. "I love you, Lyra...okay? I said it; I love you. And I mean it. I knew there was something special about you from the second I first saw your beautiful face. I don't know what I'd do without you, Lyra. You're my best friend. I've never had a friend exactly like you in my entire life. You are my everything. You're all I ever think about, Lyra! This past few weeks has best the best I've ever had...because you were always right next to me, lifting me up when I was down, being there for me when things got tough..."

I never laid my eyes off of Lyra, but I could hear crying in the background.

"Th-That's why I need you to wake up, Lyra!" I said, raising my voice higher and higher. "We've come too far for it to end like this!! WAKE UP!!" I once again began to shake her violently. "WAKE UP, DAMN YOU!!! WHY WON'T YOU WAKE UP?!?! YOU'RE STRONGER THAN THIS!!! I KNOW YOU ARE!!! SAY SOMETHIIIIIIIIING!!!!!!"

"Enough already!" boomed Chrysalis. "Don't you get it?! She's dead!" As much as I hated to admit it, the Queen was right. Lyra was gone, and there was absolutely nothing I could do. I stopped shaking her; I laid her lifeless body back down to the ground. With tears clouding my vision, I leaned in and gave Lyra one last huge kiss. "Goodbye...my love..." I choked. "I will always love you, Lyra. Always."

"Well, now that I've destroyed you emotionally, I suppose it's finally time to be rid of you once and for all!" snarled Chrysalis.

Twitching, I glared back up at her, tears still fogging my eyes. I felt that feeling again, but this time, it was stronger than it had ever been before. Not only did I remember all the horrible memories of being bullied, but all the memories of Lyra being hurt or in pain rushed back too. My blood boiled and my eyes turned red. My slick blue mane shone a fiery red as it spiked up. Something different happened this time; a long straight plume of flame shot out of my back. I stood up, my face creased with rage. My eyes rolled back into my head as I trotted up to the queen. She started to look more frightened than sad. "YOU...WILL...PAY...FOR WHAT...YOU...HAVE JUST DONE," I seethed. "YOU WILL ALL *PAY!!!!!!!!!!"* I roared at the top of my lungs. The flames on my back intensified in a cyclone of rage. "RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Ch-Changelings!" stammered Queen Chrysalis. "G-G-Get him!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LYRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The changelings that attacked me never stood a chance. I refused to let them touch me. I punched, kicked, bit, and pulverized my way through the Queen's few remaining changelings. I snapped necks and broke bones. I ripped changelings clean in half; the entire time, letting out huge battle cries. "RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" In mere minutes, every single one of Chrysalis' army was either stacked up on top of each other unconscious or random parts of their bodies were scattered all throughout the dungeon. Blood was everywhere. When it was all over, I stared psychotically at the Queen, breathing heavily.

"All my changelings..." she whimpered. "HOW COULD YOU DO SUCH A THING, YOU MONSTER?!"

Saying nothing, I slowly began approaching her. Terrified, she began backing up.

"W-What are you d-doing...?" she asked.

Without reply, I charged at the Queen. I leaped high into the air and went into a karate-like pose. "RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" My hoof made contact with Chrysalis' face, and the force sent her flying to the wall, just like what she had done with Lyra.

"Ohh..." she groaned painfully as she slid back down to the ground.

I closed my eyes and faced the floor. As the fire in me began to slowly subside, I turned back around to where Lyra had fallen. I noticed that a pool of blood had now formed around her chest. When I walked towards her, I began sobbing again as my body cooled off and returned to normal. I kneeled down by her and buried my face in her fur, wetting it even more with my tears. "Oh, Lyra..." I said. I felt someone come over and put their hoof on my shoulder. I looked back and saw that it was Bon-Bon. She was crying almost as much as me. I turned around and we hugged each other tightly, sobbing uncontrollably. Yes, me and Bon-Bon, hugging. I know it sounds hard to believe. Ending our hug, I looked back over at Lyra again. I closed my eyes as my horn began glowing; I had an idea. It was my last resort, and there was only about a 50/50 chance it would work. I relaxed my mind, body, and soul. Taking deep breaths, I began my..."operation". The bright blue glow from my horn enveloped Lyra and lifted her up off the ground.

"Wh-What are you doing..?" sniffled Bon-Bon.

Saying nothing, I grunted with effort. I began sweating profusely. Then, after a few moments that felt like an eternity, I set Lyra back down again. My horn stopped glowing and I panted heavily.

Just then, Lyra opened her eyes. "Oh...wh-what happened...?" she groaned, scratching her head.

Everyone gasped; Bon-Bon especially. "L-Lyra!! You're alive!!" She hugged her.

"I...am?" Lyra asked, confused.

Bon-Bon looked down at me. "Xyclone! You saved her!!"

"Well..." I panted, smiling. "I...I guess I did...didn't I?"

Lyra lifted me up. "Oh, my gosh, Xyclone!! Thank you so much!! I—!" She froze as she and I made eye contact. "Uh..."

"U-Uh..."

I faintly heard Applejack in the background. "Come on, you two...kiss already!" she whispered.

"H-Hi..." said Lyra.

"Hey..." I said back. Then, we both leaned in and kissed each other romantically.

"D'AAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!" went all the ponies collectively.

"I have one question, though, Xyclone: How did you revive me? I never taught you any spells about bringing anything back to life from the dead..."

"Heh, f-funny story," I chuckled, blushing."I just transferred some of my energy into your heart, to...'jumpstart' it, so to speak. I saw it done in a movie once. I couldn't just let you lay there and die! I had to do something! I love you too much to let you go—I mean, I don't love you...well, no, that's not true, I didn't mean it like that—"

Lyra stopped me by kissing me on the cheek. "Oh, shut up!" she said, punching me playfully. "You can't deny it! You love me, don't you, Xyclone?"

My face turned even redder. "N-No I d-d-don't!" I stammered in denial. "H-How would you even know that?!"

She held my face towards her with her hoof. "Because I feel exactly the same way about you." She said gently. Then she kissed me again.

"Well...isn't that...just...ADORABLE!" grunted Queen Chrysalis as she slowly got back up on her hooves. She looked rougher than she ever had looked before. "I...am NOT...giving up...so easily!! You...are not...going...ANYWHERE!"

"Oh, yeah? And who's gonna stop us?!" shouted the mysterious purple pegasus suddenly. "Your vast army of changelings?!"

"G-Granted, this is a bit of a...setback...You know what, shut up!" Suddenly, she began charging towards us, preparing to stab us with her huge horn. Unsure as of what to do, Lyra and I huddled with each other. When the Queen got close enough, she suddenly flew back towards the wall randomly. "WHAT?!" she shrieked.

Just then, we realized that Lyra and I's love had created a force field. Sensing a plan, I kissed Lyra again, surprising her. The force field grew bigger. I then called back to Rarity and Applejack."Hey, help us out a little here!"

At first, the two of them looked at each other with a puzzled look on their faces. Then they realized the plan. They smiled gently at each other, and then they kissed. Both Spike's and Rainbow Dash's jaws dropped to the floor when they saw that.

"YOU FOOLS!" screamed The Queen. "YOU REALLY THINK THAT WILL STOP ME?! SHINING ARMOR AND PRINCESS CADENCE ALREADY TRIED THIS! EXCEPT I'M PREPARED THIS TIME! CHANGELINGS—oh, right."

The force of the barrier grew stronger and stronger. It began to push Chrysalis and her hoardes of unconscious changelings away. "NO! NOOOO!!!! NOT AGAIN!!!!" Finally, the force field powered by the ponies' love finally broke out past the castle. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Queen Chrysalis as she and her changelings were once again sent flying into the outskirts of Equestria.

Realizing that the room was finally clear of changelings, Lyra and I, as well as Rarity and Applejack, stopped smooching. I looked around the dungeon and saw Fluttershy cowering in a corner. "I-Is it o-over?" she squeaked.

Looking at Lyra, I replied. "Yeah. Yeah, Fluttershy, it's over." I smiled as Lyra and I hugged each other. It was over; it was finally over. We had defeated Queen Chrysalis...and King Sombra. What now? I thought.

Shortly afterward, I, Lyra, Bon-Bon, and the rest of the ponies rendezvoused inside the cage to meet the weird purple pony who helped us. "I don't know who you are, but we really appreciate the help!" I said to her.

"This is Violet Dawn," said Veloci, hugging her. "But she prefers that ponies call her Violet!"

"O-Or Dawn," stammered the purple mare nervously.

"She's kinda shy," said Veloci.

"I see you two have already met!" I said to Veloci sarcastically. He nodded. "You know, you're possibly the oddest pony I've ever met'you look like Rainbow Dash, yet you act like Fluttershy; you eat just like Veloci; and you look more like a dragon than a pony.

"Oh, Th-That's because I'm a...b-batpony," squeaked Dawn.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that?"

"Batpony. I-I'm a batpony."

"Oh!" This was cool. I only read about batponies back when I was a human. I'd never actually seen one.

Just then, Rainbow Dash flew up to her. "I've never met a batpony before," she said. "You're pretty talented...the way you defeated those changelings...and how you devoured that one whole and digested it in less than a minute...that was awesome!"

"Th-Thank you," Dawn said. "I-I think...but I don't think it's me you should be thanking..." She gestured up to all the other batponies who were with her. "Those were the ones who did all the work!"

The lead batpony blushed. "Oh, stop!" he said. "It wasn't nothin'! You would've done the same for us! Remember, if you ever need anything, we'll be here waitin', Dawn! See ya later!"

"Goodbye, Indigo! Thanks for everything!" Dawn replied. With that, all the other batponies flew off into hiding.

"I have one question: why did you decide to help us?"

"I don't like Queen Chrysalis; I've never liked her. She's an evil, abusive temptress. I just thought that this would be a great opportunity to get back at her."

"Well, we all still appreciate your help." Dawn grinned confidently. "I suppose we should probably get out of here," I said then.

"Veloci, Dawn, would y'all two like ta come back ta Ponyville with us?" Applejack asked. "Ah'm sure we could find y'all a place ta live together...'cause it seems you two have already become great friends!" she said sarcastically.

"Well, I don't exactly have food source anymore...I suppose I have no choice!" he said happily. "What about you, Dawn? You wanna come with?"

"I wanna go anywhere you go," she said flirtatiously. She immediately blushed as some of the ponies (including me) blushed. "Did I say that out loud?" she stammered, giggling nervously.

"We should probably get going now," I continued. "I'm sure Ponyville misses you guys—" I was suddenly interrupted by the sound of eerie whimpering.

"What the hay is that?" Vinyl Scratch asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "But I'm about to find out." I followed the whimpering to find where it was coming from. It eventually led me behind the spiral staircase near the entrance. Using the glow from my horn as a flashlight, I peered behind the it. Everypony else followed me. There, I saw a changeling. But not just any changeling; it was the young changeling I had pummeled into the ground that one day. He was still covered in gauze and bandages. He had somehow been able to survive the blast from the force field. "It's you!" I yelped.

The changeling trembled even more when it saw my face. "S-S-S-Stay aw-w-way!" it whined. "I-I-I'm w-w-warning y-you!"

"You can talk?"

"O-Of c-c-course I can t-talk! I'm a changeling, not a d-d-dog, you m-moron!"

"I can't believe it's you! I'm so sorry!"

"S-Sorry? F-For what?!"

"For what I did the other day, when I damaged you so badly! I've felt guilty ever since that happened! I would never hurt a soul like that, even if you are a changeling!"

"It's g-g-gonna t-take a lot m-m-more than a-a simple 'I'm sorry' to regain m-my trust!"

"Okay, how about this: How about I take you back to Ponyville with me? You know, give you a home?"

Lyra suddenly punched me in the shoulder. "Are you crazy?!" she whispered. "He's a changeling! He's evil!" I ignored her.

"H-How?" asked the scared changeling. "Won't Chrysalis capture you?"

"Chrysalis is gone," I said awkwardly.

The changeling suddenly perked up. "Wh-What?! Sh-She is?!"

"Y-Yeah..."

Suddenly, the broken changeling grabbed my front legs and hugged me tightly. "Oh, th-thank you! Thank you so much!!"

"Uhh...I'm confused. Chrysalis is practically your mother. Why are you so happy she's gone?"

"Why am I so happy?! She was horrible! She was the evilest, vilest being you would ever meet! She abused all her 'children'! She doesn't care whether or not you're a filly, a colt, or an adult! She'll send you to fight no matter what! I'm only 15 years old!"

My eyes widened. Jeez, he's younger than me! I thought. "Oh, my..." I said. "I feel so sorry for you! What's your name, little guy?"

"S-S-S-Shadow," trembled the young changeling. :S-S-Shadow S-S-Storm. And don't call me 'little'! I'm 15, not a baby colt!"

"Well, Shadow Storm, you don't have to worry about Chrysalis anymore. If you come with me back to Ponyville, you won't have to worry about anyone hurting you. What do you say?"

"Okay, I'll go." He smiled. "And thank you. Thank you so very much."

I held my hoof out to Shadow and helped him up. "Oh, don't even mention it!" I looked back behind me at the other ponies. "Okay, does anypony have any idea on how we can quickly get back to Ponyville?"

Lyra looked at me. "There's a teleportation spell where, if everyone holds hooves with each other, you can transport all of them to a specific space."

"Let's do that, then. We probably don't need to get our supplies outside, since we're going directly to Ponyville. Alright, everypony huddle up!"

"WAIT!" exclaimed Bon-Bon suddenly. "Before we go, there's something I need to say!"

Everyone looked at her. Then she looked at me. "Xyclone, I would really like to apologize...for everything. I was acting like a monster." She turned to everyone. "I apologize to you all. I'm sorry for causing you so much stress." She turned back to me. "That touching monologue you said to Lyra, the fact that you literally saved her life...it made me finally realize that you're not such a bad guy after all. You brought my best friend Lyra back to life, and for that I will be eternally grateful. How can I ever possibly repay you?"

"You can repay me by not being such a psycho all the time!" I joked playfully. "Now give me a hug!" I and Bon-Bon gave each other an endearing hug.

"Thank you, Xyclone. From the very bottom of my heart, I really am sorry."

"It's okay, Bon-Bon. Apology accepted."

Bon-Bon smiled. Then she approached Lyra. "S-So what do you say, Lyra? Could you find it in your heart to forgive me for being such a drama queen?"

"I don't know..." said Lyra, joking with her.

"Please, Lyra, I really mean it this time!"

"Do you promise never to turn into a sociopathic serial killer ever again?"

"Yes, Lyra! Please!" She dropped to her knees. "I'm begging you, please give me another chance!"

Lyra smiled. "Of course I will, Bon-Bon," she said sincerely. Then the two reunited roommates hug it out.

"Okay, everypony!" I said. "Now you can huddle up!" As I began the spell, I struggled.

Seeing my issues, Lyra put her hoof on my shoulder and smiled. "Please, allow me," she said gently.

Twilight approached as well. "Please, let me help too," she said generously, smiling sweetly at me.

"Me too," said Rarity, walking up.

"Me three!" exclaimed Vinyl Scratch, joining us.

"Thanks, you guys," I said to the four of them. "Alright, here goes nothing!" Then, with the combined magic of us five unicorns, the 16 ponies transferred themselves back to Ponyville.

The view of the dungeon faded as it was slowly replaced by the view of the town of Ponyville. Although, we reached the city, it was in complete and utter chaos. There were ponies running around frantically, screaming in terror. "What th' hay is goin' on here?!" asked Applejack.

Bon-Bon gasped suddenly. "Everyone, look!" She pointed to Twilight's treehouse, where a blinding flash of bright light shone through it. It was much, much larger than it was the last time we were here.

"MY LIBRARY!" shrieked Twilight. She started running in panic to her library. "OH, MY BOOKS! MY PRECIOUS BOOKS!!"

"Twilight, wait!" yelled Spike, chasing after her.

Just then, a pony whom I recognized to be Golden Harvest ran up to me and the others.

"Hey! Are you Xyclone?" she asked me.

"Um, yes?"

"The Doctor has been looking for you everywhere! He's in Princess Twilight's library!"

"What?!" cried out Derpy suddenly, after not having uttered a single word for hours. "Doctor!!" Then she, too, ran towards Twilight's library.

She was followed swiftly by a worried Pinkie Pie. "Derpy, stop!"

"Something's not right here," I said. "Come on!" Followed by the other twelve ponies, I headed to the library to see what was wrong. As we got closer, the wind gusts got stronger and stronger.

When the entrance came into view, I saw Doctor Whooves standing in the doorway. "Ah, Xyclone! There you are, thank heavens! Come! Quickly, quickly!"

I entered Twilight's library to see her, Spike, Derpy, Pinkie, and Princesses Celestia and Luna already there. Pages from Twilight's vast collection of books were flying everywhere. Twilight was frantically trying to save them. The portal bridging Earth and Equestria together was spasming and contorting profusely.

"The portal is closing!" said The Doctor.

"Do you have any idea as to what is happening?" Princess Celestia asked me.

"I-I'm sorry, but I haven't the slightest clue," I said.

Suddenly, a figure began to appear on the other side of the portal, but I couldn't quite tell who it was, due to the instability of said portal.

"Hello?" a voice said. "Who is there? Hello! Skyler? Are you in there?"

"I recognize that voice," Veloci said, thinking out loud. "It sounds so familiar..."

Suddenly, the face began to grow clearer as the portal calmed down a bit. The person I saw almost made me pass out. Yes, person.

"Someone answer me!" the voice continued. "Is anyone there?!"

"DAD?!?!" I exclaimed in shock.

Chapter 22: Closure

Ponyville, Equestria, afternoon

"Dad, is...is that you?" I asked the figure of my father in the portal.

"Who are you? And what have you done with my son?!"

"Renaldo...?" asked Veloci, in awe. "I can't believe it's actually you..."

"Wait...is that Veloci...?" My father asked. "What the hell happened to you? Why are you a horse?"

"Okay, first of all, I'm not a horse. I'm a pony. There's a difference. Second of all, this is Skyler!" He put his hooves on my shoulders and shook me.

My father looked surprised. "Son, is...that really you?" he asked.

Before I had a chance to answer, Doctor Whooves interrupted. "Purely fascinating," he said. My screwdriver says that your father, Xyclone, is the human equivalent of me!

My father notices The Doctor and gasps. "Is-Is that me as...one of you?"

"That's what my sonic screwdriver says."

"Wait, you have a sonic screwdriver as well?!" His face lit up suddenly. "Okay, I think I understand the whole pony thing, but what on Earth is that on your head?"

Doctor Whooves beamed confidently. "Oh, it's a fez. I wear fezzes here. Fezzes are cool."

"A fez though? Really?" My father asked. He then returned to me. "But is that really you, Skyler?"

"Yes, Dad, it's me. Not that you would've cared either way!"

"Skyler, what—What are you doing in there? Come back to Earth, you don't belong in that world! You're not a...pony!"

"Oh, give it a rest, Dad!" I replied angrily. "Cut the crap! You don't care whether or not I'm here or there! You never cared!"

"Skyler, that's not true! You're my son! I love you!"

"No, you don';t! You love Devon! You love Veloci! You don't love me! Actually, now that I think about it, you didn't really love Veloci here either, seeing as how you so quickly gave up searching for him all those years ago!"

My father interrupted me, raising his voice. "You think I wanted to stop looking for him?! I had no choice, okay? I had other priorities in my life! Trust me, if I could've continued my search much longer!"

"Whatever," I replied coldly.

"But that doesn't matter anymore, Skyler! Because both you and Veloci are still alive! And if my calculations are correct, you both should revert to your original forms if you go through this portal! Please come back to Earth, you two! We can go on adventures again!"

I had been staring at the ground. After a few long moments I looked back up. "No," I said to him.

Everypony gasped. "What do you mean, 'No'?!"

"I'm not going back to Earth," I repeated.

"Why not?!" my father asked.

You've changed, Dad," I said. "You're a bitter old man. You used to be so carefree and happy. This whole 'timelord' thing has ruined you."

"Skyler, please! Just give me another chance! I can change! I swear!" he begged. The portal slowly began going crazy again.

"No!" I yelled. "That's not the only reason I refuse to go back. The truth is, I love it here; I love being in Equestria. You know why? Because I actually have a life here." I looked back at all the other ponies whom I had just been on an epic adventure with. I gestured to them as I spoke. "I actually have friends in this world; friends whom I know would do anything for me to help me out." Looking at Lyra, I smiled softly. I lowered my voice. "In this world, I have someone who loves me; I have someone whom I love right back." I returned my gaze to my father. "I never loved anyone in the human world. I never had friends as a human. And being back there with Veloci won't change anything. And another thing I like about this place: I'm actually cared for; I'm loved. That's something you never gave to me. You never cared, father!" I began to cry. "You say you'll change...but how do you fix something that's damaged beyond repair? Those eight years that Veloci was gone...those were the worst years of my life! You never helped me with homework! You never helped me with my bullying problems! You were too busy, quote-unquote, 'Saving the world from daleks and cyber-men'! You were too busy 'being a timelord'!"

My father looked down dejectedly. "You're right, son. I know; The guilt haunts me to this day. The guilt that you never got to have a childhood because of my obsession with time traveling. You may think I don't care about you, Skyler, but it's quite the opposite. I love you just as much as Devon, maybe even more. You are my son, Skyler. Why would I ever want to neglect you? That is why I now understand your decision to stay here in...Equestria. I can see it in your eyes. You would be much better off here. Are you really happy here, Skyler?"

"Yes," I replied as the portal began to shift more and more, slowly obstructing my father's face. The portal was closing up. "Yes, I am, dad."

"So be it," he replied. The view of his face deteriorated as the portal began to finally shut down. "Goodbye...my son..." I was in tears now. I didn't think I would cry so much over not seeing my father again. "I'm sorry..."

And with that, the portal quickly expanded again, blinding me and the ponies with bright light, before it contorted more violently than ever, suddenly vanishing into thin air. The portal was gone forever. My father was gone forever. I collapsed to the ground in tears. "He's gone..." I choked. Lyra and Bon-Bon trotted over to help me up. Then I smiled at Lyra. "But it's okay," I sniffled. "It's for the best."

She tilted my head towards her. "Don't you worry any, Xyclone. You have me now, remember?" We both smiled then she romantically kissed me.

After a few minutes to recollect all that had just happened, the Princesses flew off to Canterlot (the news of Chrysalis' defeat had not yet reached them) and everypony exited Twilight's library, including Twilight and Spike themselves.

"Wow, what a day this has been, huh?" Lyra said.

"Yeah!" I agreed. "Just this morning, Twilight and Bon-Bon were still psychopaths, Sombra and Chrysalis were still together, and I had no clue that Veloci was still alive!"

Bon-Bon continued my recap. "Yeah, and Lyra died, you revived her..."

Just then, she was interrupted by Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, who were running towards us. "Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Dash!" they called out. "We've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Hey, girls!" Dash greeted them warmly. Applejack and Rarity also did the same for their little sisters. "Say..." Rainbow continued. "Where's Scootaloo? I really need to speak with her!"

The two fillies said nothing. They just shuffled their hooves and stared at the ground sadly.

A look of concern spread across Rainbow Dash's face. "Uh, g-girls? Wh-Where's...Scootaloo?"

Tears appeared in both the fillies' eyes. "Scootaloo tried ta commit suicide a couple o' days ago," Apple Bloom said.

I don't really know how to describe the look that was on Rainbow's face then. It was like a mixed blend of fear, terror, disbelief, shock, sadness, and awe. "Where is she..." She was barely able to get the words out of her mouth without choking.

"She's in real bad condition—"

"WHERE...IS...SHE," snarled Rainbow Dash, pulling Applebloom and Sweetie Belle up by their collars.

"She's at the local Ponyville hospital—" As soon as the words left Sweetie Belle's mouth, Dash was gone, flying faster than the speed of light to meet Scootaloo.

Bon-Bon and I looked at each other, concerned expressions on our faces. "Lead us to her," I told the fillies. Then we ran after Rainbow Dash to the hospital.

When we got there, Rainbow Dash was still stuck at the receptionist's desk, trying to get in.

"I'M TELLING YOU, IT'S AN EMERGENCY!" she cried frantically.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but visiting hours are over! You'll have to come back tomorrow morning!"

"AARRGH!!" roared Rainbow Dash in frustration. I walked up to the desk, followed by Lyra and the others.

"Listen, Lady, we really need to see her!" I said to the clerk. "It's literally a matter of life and death!"

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."

I suddenly got angry. Not laying my eyes off the clerk, I went, "Veloci! Shadow Storm!" The pony and the changeling hopped upon the receptionist desk and snarled at her evilly.

"I-I'll n-notify N-N-Nurse R-Redheart!!" stammered the receptionist, trembling in fear. She guided us to the room they were keeping Scootaloo. Before anypony could enter, Rainbow Dash darted through the doorway to the room.

When I and the others entered, we could see some of Scootaloo's classmates, along with Miss Cheerilee, already there. All of them were crying. What surprised me, though, was the fact that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were also there. Silver Spoon was holding Diamond Tiara's shoulders as she leaned over on Scootaloo's hospital bed, holding a handkerchief and sobbing uncontrollably. As a matter of fact, she was crying more than all the rest of the students combined.

"Oh, Scootaloo..." cried Rainbow Dash, running her hoof across the critically injured filly's face, tears streaming down her blue face.

Nurse Redheart's voice cut through the sadness. "She was D.O.A. but we were able to stabilize her. She's still alive, but barely. It would be best if you go ahead and say your goodbyes. It doesn't seem like she's going to survive this. Her injuries are just much too severe. I give her about a week."

Just then, Scootaloo's eyes slowly opened. "Oh...h-hey guys..." she said weakly to her classmates. Then she noticed me and the others. "Wh-Who are y-you all...?"

I was so sad; I couldn't bring myself to say anything, so Rainbow Dash spoke for me. "T-That's Xyclone," she sniffed. "He's new here."

Scootaloo gasped weakly. "Rainbow...Dash! I-Is that...you? You finally c-came!"

"Yeah, squirt, I'm here," she sniffed, feigning a smile and crying even more. "How are ya?"

"W-Well...I've been better..." Scootaloo chuckled weakly. "Ow...it hurts to laugh..."

"Oh, Scootaloo...Why? Why did you do this?"

"Diamond Tiara pointed out to me how little I meant to everypony. No one really cares about me. I mean, you couldn't even keep up your promise to me!"

Dash looked away with guilt and covered her mouth to stop herself from sobbing. Meanwhile, everyone else glared at Diamond Tiara. "You did this?!" growled Veloci.

"I'm sorry!" Diamond wailed in between sobs. "I honestly never intended for her to get hurt!"

"I don't know who you are, yet you already disgust me," said Veloci, shaking his head.

"Scootaloo..." continued Rainbow Dash. "That's not true and you know it! If nopony cares about you, then why are we all here? Scootaloo, everypony in this room loves you! I love you! And I am so terribly sorry for not keeping up my promise! There-There was an emergency! Princess Celestia needed our help! I would've come if I could! Honest! I'm so sorry if you're mad at me!"

Scootaloo put an IV-covered hoof on Rainbow's foreleg. "It's...It's okay, R-Rainbow Dash..." said Scootaloo, her voice squeaking. "I...I forgive...y-you...Now that I know the..." she began coughing sickly. "Now that I know he reason why you never showed..." She continued coughing loudly. Her heart monitor began beeping as well.

Nurse Redheart trotted over to inspect it. "There's an irregularity in her pulse," she said. "This isn't good."

"Rainbow Dash," choked Scootaloo, tears beginning to fall down her face. "It's like I t-told you...y-you're way too...*cough*...awesome to hurt anyone, no matter how hard you might try. I...*cough, cough*...I know you, Rainbow Dash...."

"Her vitals are dropping!" exclaimed the Nurse. "Somepony get me a doctor, NOW!"

"...It—*cough*—was fun while it lasted...Rainbow Dash..."

"Don't say that, Scootaloo!!" cried Rainbow Dash finally. "You can live through this!! I know you can!! Don't give up!!!"

"I...I see a light..."

"NO, SCOOTALOO!! LEAVE THE LIGHT ALONE!! DON'T GO INTO THE LIGHT!!"

"It keeps getting brighter and brighter..."

"SCOOTALOO, NO!!!!!" screamed Rainbow Dash.

"Goodbye...Rainbow Dash...you were the best big sister a filly could ever have..."

"SCOOTALOO, PLEASE!!!"

"I...love...you...goodbye..." The heart monitor slowly went from beeping sporadically to just one long monotone beep.

"S...Scootaloo...?" whimpered Dash. A doctor suddenly pushed her aside with a defibrillator.

"Clear!" he said, shocking Scootaloo's lifeless body with the machine. "Clear!" he said again after nothing happened. After nothing happened again, he tried once more. "Clear!!" The doctor shocked Scootaloo with the defibrillator at least five times, but to no avail.

Finally, Rainbow Dash pushed him aside. "Oh, for Celestia's sake, you're not doing it hard enough!!" She started pounding on Scootaloo's chest. "Come, on...wake up, Scootaloo! Wake up!" Her pounding offered the same effect as the defibrillator, in which there was no effect. She pounded on her chest harder and harder. "LIVE! LIVE, SCOOTALOO! YOU ARE NOT GONNA DIE ON ME! NOT TODAY! DON'T GIVE UP ON ME, SCOOTALOO, PLEASE! I'M WON'T GIVE UP ON YOU!! I REFUSE!! LIVE, CELESTIADAMN YOU, LIVE!!" Tears began to shield her vision. "WHY WON'T YOU WAKE UP?!?! DON'T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS!!!" she sobbed. "PLEASE!!!!" Finally, her tears got the best of her and she stopped pounding violently on her chest. Applejack and Twilight walked over to her and put their hooves on Dash's shoulder and shook their heads.

"Dash, please...just stop," said Twilight. "There's nothing you can do."

"Yeah" agreed Applejack. "C'mon, RD, you're causin' a scene."

Dash turned to me. "What about you?!" she asked. "Can't you perform that restoration spell on Scootaloo, like the one you used on Lyra to bring her back?!"

"I...I wish it was that simple, Dash. But it was only a 50/50 chance that it would work. We were lucky that it worked on Lyra. I don't know if I even have the energy to perform it again if I could. I'm...I'm so sorry, Dashie."

Her mouth quivering, Rainbow Dash turned to look at the dead body of her almost-sister Scootaloo. A melancholy silence fell over the room. The only sounds that could be heard were that of crying ponies and the long droning flatline of Scootaloo's heart monitor. Dash just sat there, staring in sad silence at her. Suddenly, she angrily whipped around. "YOU DID THIS!!" she screamed at Diamond Tiara. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!! IF YOU HADN'T EGGED SCOOTALOO ON LIKE THAT, WE PROBABLY WOULDN'T EVEN BE IN THIS SITUATION!!!"

"I'm sorry!!!" bawled Diamond Tiara again. "I was just messing around!! I was playing with her!! I didn't think she'd actually kill herself!!!"

Dash twitched. "YOU THINK THAT TELLING SOMEONE TO COMMIT SUICIDE IS JUST 'PLAYING AROUND'?!?!?!?!" She lunged towards the filly, causing her to jump back. Both Twilight and Applejack had to hold her back. "YOU'RE BOTH EVIL MONSTERS!!!! YOU'RE SCUM!!!!" she roared. "I HOPE YOUR PARENTS DISOWN YOU!!! I HOPE YOU PAY FOR YOUR VILLAINY!!!!"

"Rainbow Dash, please! Calm down!" said Twilight, struggling to keep her from assaulting the young filly.

"AAAAAAARRRRRGHGH!!!!! LET GO OF ME!!!!!! LET ME AT HER!!!!! I'LL SHOW HER WHAT 'PLAYING AROUND' IS!!!!!!"

"Dash, no!"

Applejack glared at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. "I think it's best that you two leave, now," she said firmly.

"But—B-But—!" stammered Diamond.

"NOW," Applejack growled.

"O...Okay..." sighed Diamond dejectedly, sniffling. With that, the two evil fillies slowly drudged out of the room.

Rainbow Dash tried to calm herself down. Applejack and Twilight released their hold on her and she once again faced the orange filly, of whom she loved so dearly. "Oh, who am I kidding? I did this; this is my fault. If I just kept my promise, none of this would've ever happened! Scootaloo!" she wailed, burying her face in Scootaloo's chest. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!!"

What happened next was nothing short of a miracle. "R...Rainbow...D-Dash...?" groaned Scootaloo suddenly. Everyone froze, their eyes wide. They all looked up in shock to see the little orange pegasus open her eyes once more. We all gazed up at the heart monitor as the long droning flatline was replaced my rhythmic beeping.

Scootaloo had somehow come back to life.

"SCOOTALOO?!" shrieked Rainbow Dash, lifting her head up. "YOU'RE...YOU'RE ALIVE?!?!" A joyous, elated grin spread across the blue pegasus' face. "YOU'RE ALIVE!!!!!" She hugged Scootaloo tightly. "YOU'RE ALIVE!!!!!"

"Ow...hurts...pain..." gasped Scootaloo.

Rainbow stopped hugging her. "Oh...right! Sorry!"

"Rainbow Dash, you...you saved my life! But how?!"

"I don't know and I don't care!" smiled Dash, hugging her again. "I'm just glad you're back!! Today, Scootaloo! No procrastination! I'll sign the adoption papers today! And that's something you can count on!!"

"Adoption papers?" asked everypony simultaneously.

"Oh, yeah!" remembered Dash. "Everyone, I have an announcement to make! I am going to adopt Scootaloo here as my sister! I actually had planned on doing so weeks ago, but I wasn't able to because of the mission. But now I'm here to stay." She looked back at Scootaloo. "I promise to never break a promise to you ever again," she said, before giving Scootaloo a light kiss on her forehead. "You're a part of my family now, and I will always be loyal to my family."

"Scootaloo had tears in her eyes by this time. "I love you, Rainbow Dash..."

"I...I love you too, sister," sniffled Rainbow. The two siblings hugged each other again.

I looked over at Veloci, who was standing next to me and I laughed at what he was doing.

"I'm not gonna cry," he sniffed. "I'm too masculine to cry...WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S JUST SO FRIGGIN' ADORABLE!!!!!! AGH!!! MY HEART!!!! I CAN'T TAKE IT!!!!" he cried. With that, he fell to the floor. "H'NNNNNGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!"

"Oh, get up, you big baby!" I laughed at him.

Suddenly, another voice entered the room: "SCOOTALOO!!!!" It was Diamond Tiara.

"DT, wait!" said Silver Spoon after her.

They both barreled back into the crowded hospital room. Diamond Tiara made a beeline for Scootaloo's bed. It looked as if she hadn't stopped sobbing since Applejack asked her to leave. She closed her eyes as she spoke. "Scootaloo, I'm so sorry! I know you can't hear me, but I feel horrible about what happened! I just wish I could've apologized to you when I had the chance, before you..." Her voice shook. "...D-Died."

"I'm listening," Scootaloo said to her.

Diamond Tiara gasped, opening her eyes. "What!? YOU'RE ALIVE!?! But I thought—!"

"You said you wanted to apologize? I'm waiting."

"Oh my Celestia, Scootaloo...I'm so, so, soooo sorry for what I did! Ever since I did that, I started to feel guilty. I thought to myself that maybe I've been too hard on you, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle. I tried looking for you later that day, to apologize, but you had disappeared. It wasn't until school the next day that I found out from the other students that you had&...jumped off a cliff. As soon as I heard what happened, I rushed to the hospital, but they wouldn't let me see you because I was without parental supervision. And my Dad, Filthy Rich, was apparently too busy to come to the hospital."

"I-Is...Is this true?" Scootaloo asked.

"Yeah, I can vouch for her," replied Silver Spoon. "I kinda felt the same way she did. I guess I'm really sorry, too."

"C-Can I tell you a secret, Scootaloo?" Diamond asked the orange pony.

"O-kay...?" replied Scootaloo, confused.

"I've...I've always kind of liked you...a lot. I've always wanted to be your friend. I guess that's why I pick on you and the CMCs so much. I-I guess it's kinda my way of...f-flirting." Her face turned red from embarrassment. "But I know you probably don't ever want to see us again after this, and I understand. I'll...I'll just leave you alone." She began to leave when Scootaloo stopped her.

"You really sound sincere about this...you really have changed?"

"Yes! Yes, I have! I'm a totally different pony now, I swear to Celestia!" She didn't even realize that she was begging on her knees.

"Well, I suppose I could give you one more chance. You better mean it, though!"

"Oh, I do! Honest! I just feel horrible about all this! I just want closure!"

"As long as you apologize to Sweetie and Applebloom, we'll be fine, okay?"

"Oh, you got it!" Then Diamond and Silver approached the other two members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Listen, I know we haven't exactly gotten along over the past few years, but...could you find it in your hearts to forgive us?"

"Well..." pondered Applebloom. "Ah believe if Scootaloo can be friends with y'all, so can we!"

"Oh, thank you guys! You won't regret this, trust me! I am a changed mare!" With that, the two reformed fillies leave the room. "We'll come and visit you later, Scootaloo! First, we gotta let everyone know that we're friends with the three coolest fillies in Ponyville!"

The Crusaders all smile. Then Rainbow Dash hugs Scootaloo again. "I'm so glad you're okay!" she exclaims.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I spoke again. "Well, I think it's about time to get out of here. You can stay here, RD. We'll let you and your new sister catch!" Followed by everypony else, I turned to leave.

"Oh, and Xyclone?" Rainbow Dash said suddenly. I turned around to look at her. "Thank you...for everything. You're the coolest friend a mare could have."

"You're totally welcome," I said, before turning back around to leave. Lyra walked next to me as we left the hospital. I gave her a little smooch on the cheek as we did. When we got outside, though, we saw Princess Celestia and Princess Luna standing there, their wings unfurled. I gasped, quickly bowing down to the ground. "Celestia! Luna! What are you two doing here?!"

"They both smiled. "We just heard the news," Celestia said. "They said that you, Xyclone, single-hoofedly defeated both Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra!"

I looked away and blushed. "Well, it wasn't just me! I had the help of all these amazing ponies! Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Vinyl Scratch, Derpy Hooves, Octavia, Bon-Bon, Lyra, Violet Dawn, Veloci, and Shadow Storm. Rainbow Dash is back in the hospital with Scootaloo."

The princesses cringed when they saw Veloci and Shadow. "AAH! The Scaly One! And a changeling?! What have you done bringing them here?!?!" panicked Celestia frantically.

The two ponies in question stepped back a little. I stepped in front of them. "Hey, it's okay! They're cool! The Scaly One is actually my friend Veloci, whom I thought died eight years ago!"

The princesses calmed down a bit.

"And the changeling is Shadow Storm! He actually hated Chrysalis! He claims she once tried to disown him!"

"Are you positive they don't want to destroy Equestria?" asked Luna worriedly.

Then Veloci spoke on his own. "Lady, I didn't even know what 'Equestria' was until this morning."

Then Shadow spoke. "Yeah, and I'm only 15! I'm too young to take over Equestria, even if I wanted to."

"Well, I am going to trust you with this one, Xyclone," continued Celestia. "Anyway, the reason we're both here is to personally thank you for saving our world! Not only that, but to formally welcome you to Ponyville!"

"Thank you but there really is no need—" I began to say, but was cut off.

"But there is! Xyclone, Sombra and Chrysalis were two of the worst enemies Equestria has ever had, and the fact that you defeated them both is not something to shake a hoof at! On everypony's behalf, we are eternally grateful!"

I looked away again. "Stop it, you're making me blush!" I said.

"Well, my sister and I must return to Canterlot now. Farewell, Sir Xyclone! Thank Odin for that portal!"

After the two princesses were out of sight, I kissed Lyra yet again. Then I suddenly realized something. "Well, I guess I should try and find somewhere to live..." I said.

Right after the words left my mouth, a pony walked up to me; a pony I had never met before, or seen on the show, yet still looked familiar for some reason. He was a pegasus; he had dark-green fur; he had a brown mane, and he was wearing golden glasses. He actually looked like a ponified version of Harry Potter. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear about your predicament," he said.

"What...predicament?" I asked the random pony.

"You just said you had no place to live..."

"Oh. I'm sorry, but do I know you? You just look so familiar to me for some reason..."

"No, I don't believe we've ever met. Anyway, I just bought a new house, and I've been looking for some roommates. I was wondering if you'd be interested?"

I looked at Lyra for approval; she nodded. "Go ahead," she whispered to me. "I'll be fine at Bon-Bon's!"

I shook the pegasus' hoof. "You've got yourself a deal—I'm sorry, I never got your name?"

"It's Digital," the pony said. "It's Digital Pwny, but my friends call me Digi for short!"

"Well, you got a deal, Digital!" I then looked back over at Veloci, Dawn, and Shadow. "Actually," I continued. "Do you think you might be able to spare some room for my friends here? You know, until they can get back on their hooves?"

"I don't see why not!" Digital replied. "The more, the merrier!"

"Thanks a million, Digi! I'll come by later! Hey what's the address, by the way?"

"Oh, I live right next to Bon-Bon and Lyra."

Both Lyra's and my face lit up. "Oh, even better!"

"Well, I should get going. It was nice meeting you..."

"Xyclone," I finished. "The name's Xyclone!"

"Okay, see you later, Xyclone!"

Right after Digital left, both Vinyl Scratch and Octavia suddenly trotted up to me. "Hey, Xyclone! I've been wanting to ask you somethin' ever since we got back to Ponyville!"

"Well, what is it? Shoot!"

"I've been thinkin'...about when you first came here and I gave you a tour of my place...you looked so happy. You really like music, don't you?"

I nodded immediately. "Oh, yes! Music was one of the only things that kept me sane during all the bullying. I've always wanted to be a DJ or a music producer. It's been one of my all-time dreams!"

Vinyl smiled happily. "Well, if you're gonna be stayin' here in Equestria, you'll need a job!" she said, chuckling. "I think I've got one for ya! How'd you like to become my apprentice? I could show you the tricks of the trade; how to make music and DJ in front of huge crowds!"

A wide grin spread across my face. I darted over to Vinyl and squeezed her tightly. "WHAT?! ARE YOU SERIOUSLY ASKING ME THIS RIGHT NOW?!?!"

"Y...Yes..." choked the snow-white mare, trying to pull herself off me. "How's...that...sound? You wanna...be...my protege?"

"'HOW'S THAT SOUND?!' OF COURSE I WANNA BE YOUR APPRENTICE!!!" I exclaimed giddily, not loosening my grip on Vinyl.

"C-Cool..." she coughed. "Now...will you...please...LET GO OF ME?!"

"Oh," I chuckled nervously, finally releasing her. "S-Sorry. I'm just so happy!"

"You know what, Xyclone? So am I. This'll be good for both of us. It'll be a good chance for us to get to know each other better...if you know what I mean..."

"W...What's that supposed to mean?"

Vinyl punched me playfully. "Oh come on, Xyclone! I'm just messin' with ya! I know you're with Lyra now!"

"Oh..." I said, chuckling awkwardly.

"We'll start havin' sessions whenever you feel ready, Xyclone. Well, me and Octi' gotta go; we got some business to handle at home. I'll see ya later, dude!"

"See ya!" I called back as the two ponies walked off. "Oh, this is gonna be so! Awesome!"

After Vinyl and Octavia left, I looked back at all the ponies who I had become friends with over the past month. Everything suddenly sank in. I was here. I was really here. I was a pony in Equestria! No more boring human school, no more emotional abuse from my father...I kept biting myself to make sure that I wasn't dreaming (I couldn't pinch myself, I had no fingers!). Thank God that I wasn't. I just stood there in the middle of town while everypony went back home to their normal lives. I just let it all wash over me. Twilight, though, stayed with me until everyone was gone, and then she surprised me by kissing me on the cheek. Shocked by the gesture, I touched my cheek and blushed. "W-What was that for?" I asked the alicorn princess.

"That's for forgiving me after how much I mistreated you," she replied girlishly.

"S-So you decided to kiss me?" I stammered, my hoof still on my cheek.

"W-Well, it's for that and it was because I...always th-thought you were k-kinda h-hot..." she stammered nervously.

"Oh...Th-Thank you..." I said to her.

"Bye, X-Xyclone," she said to me as she walked off.

Returning to my thoughts, I was still in disbelief. I smiled to myself and started thinking about what the future held for me.

I used to wonder what friendship could be...until they shared their magic with me...

Chapter 23: My Name Is Xyclone

My name is Xyclonic Berry Wind. I am a sixteen-year-old unicorn stallion from Vanhoover, Equestria…

And I am a pony.

It’s been about 3 months since all that happened, and my life has never been better. Lyra and I are dating now, and our relationship is still going strong. I became really good friends with that pegasus, Digital Pwny. We actually have quite a bit in common. As it turns out, his parents abandoned him when he was young, too. What was really cool about Digi is that he actually has a computer at his house, the only pony in Equestria to have one. After about a month, I moved out of Digi’s place. Bon-Bon had an additional room built into her and Lyra’s cottage for me to live in, so I could be closer to Lyra. Veloci and Violet Dawn started dating too and eventually got their own place in Ponyville, moving out of Digi’s house. Copying me, Veloci even changed his name as well. He goes by simply “Velocity” now. Shadow Storm is still roommates with Digi, since he’s too young to get his own place (only being 15-years-old and all). Applejack and Rarity secretly dated for several weeks, until Rarity dumped her for Prince Blueblood, who returned, claiming that he was a changed stallion (To this day, I have no idea why the hell Rarity would do something so cold. Applejack was heartbroken. She’s still heartbroken). Rainbow Dash visited Scootaloo in the hospital every chance she could. And she did keep up her promise this time around; she signed the adoption documents, making Scootaloo her legal sister. Scootaloo herself defied the odds; she made a full recovery, even after the doctors told her she wouldn’t live past a week. I think it was because of Rainbow Dash’s love for her that kept her going. After she was checked out of the hospital, she moved in with Rainbow Dash in her mansion in Cloudsdale. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both kept up their promises too; they and the Cutie Mark Crusaders are the best of friends now. The two of them never bullied a single pony ever again. Although it's still pretty awkward...you know, since Diamond Tiara admitted her secret crush on Scootaloo. And as for me, Lyra retired as my magic tutor and she passed the torch to Twilight, thinking that she could help me contain my magic better than herself. I’ve been making great progress, too. I've also been doing well with Vinyl Scratch. She's been teaching me how to make music and deejay. As it turns out, I'm a pretty fast learner! I already have a bit of a catalog of songs I've produced on my own! It has been an amazing three months as a pony. I wouldn’t change it for anything; although, I’m still trying to get used to having hooves instead of hands! I grow more and more in love with Lyra with each passing day. I don’t know what I would do without her. I really am going to enjoy spending the rest of my life here, it’ll be my all-time dream come true. I know that as long as I have Lyra, I'll be perfectly fine.

The End.

Epilogue: The Wedding [RariJack]

Canterlot, Equestria, midday

Mid-level volume chatter is heard throughout the party at Rarity's wedding. Xyclone, wearing a fancy tuxedo, his long neon-blue-and-yellow mane combed back, is standing next to his friend Twilight. She too is dressed with sophistication. Xyclone glares at Rarity's fiancé Prince Blueblood, who is talking to a few other classy ponies at the salad bar. "So...remind me why Rarity is marrying this jerkface again?" Xyclone asks Twilight.

"Well, don't you remember when he came back a couple of months ago?" the purple princess replies. "He approached Rarity on his hooves and knees, begging for her forgiveness and he claimed that he was a changed stallion. He gave her a couple of generic, cliché compliments and Rarity was putty in his hooves. She was so touched that she decided to give him another chance, and here we are."

"He works fast," says Xyclone. "He already proposed to her and everything. I say that's suspicious."

"Yeah, that is a little fishy..." ponders Twilight.

"Although, he seems like he's telling the truth...he's been really nice both to Rarity and everypony else."

"Yeah, but...I still sense that something's not right here..."

"It can't be that bad," assures Xyclone. "I mean, it can't be as bad as Queen Chrysalis and King Sombra dating, right?!" he jokes.

Twilight chuckles. "I suppose you're correct!" she says. "Something else I've noticed, though: Applejack has been acting strangely ever since Blueblood returned. Look at her over there." Twilight gestures over to where Applejack is. She is wearing a depressing black dress, like something you would wear to a funeral. She covers her face with her hat, choking back tears. "She looks so sad."

Xyclone chuckles nervously, his eyes darting around skeptically. "Y-Yeah. Sh-She has been acting pretty strange!"

"Rarity's been acting pretty weird since the Prince's return, too..." wonders Twilight.

Xyclone begins to sweat. Numerous thoughts run through his head: "If you tell anypony this, I swear to Celestia, I will *kill** you."*

"Everypony here has been acting crazy lately," continues Twilight.

Xyclone keeps grinning nervously. "Can you promise not ta tell anypony?"

Just then, the organ begins playing and Princess Celestia approaches the end of the red carpet. "Ooh, it's starting!" exclaims Twilight giddily. "C'mon, Xyclone! Let's find our seats!"

With Twilight's help, Xyclone finds his seat, right next to his marefriend Lyra. Xyclone stares sadly at Applejack as she approaches the stage. Rarity had chosen her to be her bridesmaid. Xyclone could see that Applejack had put her hat back on, revealing her running mascara, sloppy from her sobbing. Prince Blueblood, who was already standing there waiting for Rarity to come up the aisle, smirks evilly at Applejack. She glares angrily back at him.

That didn't look good, Xyclone says to himself, noticing the altercation.

Just then, the organist starts to play "The Bridal March." Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle hop down the walk-up, placing flower petals as they do. Then Rarity, accompanied by her father, makes her way down the aisle. Xyclone looks back at Applejack, who watches her ex-marefriend come down the aisle, a sweet smile on her face. She wipes her eyes with her hoof to clear away the tears. Rarity and Applejack make eye contact when Rarity reaches the stage. They both smile and bush at each other when they do. Rarity then turns to face Prince Blueblood. Applejack suddenly leans in and whispers into Rarity's ear: "Y-You l-look absolutely s-stunnin', darlin'," she stammers shyly.

"Thank you, dear," replies Rarity.

Princess Celestia then recites the vows: "We are gathered here today to join Little Miss Rarity and my nephew, Prince Blueblood, in heavenly matrimony..."

By the time the Princess reaches the end of the vows, Applejack is once again struggling to keep herself from crying. She takes her hat back off and recovers her face with it. "The rings, please," says Celestia. Button Mash (also dressed in a nice suit) trots up and presents Celestia with the rings. She turns to her nephew. "Do you, Prince Blueblood, take Miss Rarity here to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, until death do you part?"

"I do," grins the Prince smugly.

"And do you, Rarity, take Blueblood, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, until death do you part?"

Rarity hesitates. A concerned look on her face, she looks out towards the crowd. Then she looks back at Applejack, quietly sobbing behind her hat. Rarity closes her eyes and stares at the ground. "N-No," she stutters finally. The crowd gasps. Blueblood and Applejack stare at her blankly.

"No?" Princess Celestia asks, confused.

"I'm-I'm sorry, Prince Blueblood, but I can't marry you."

"What?! Why not?!" asks the Prince angrily.

"There...There is another."

The audience gasps again. "What do you mean, 'There is another'?!?!"

"I love someone else!" blurts Rarity, looking down again. "I've kept this a secret for far too long, and it's time ponies knew. I just can't hide it anymore." Rarity turns around and wraps her hoof around Applejack. "This!" She proclaims loud enough for everyone to hear. "This pony right here! This is the mare I love!" Applejack gasps and stares at Rarity in shock. "I love Applejack!!"

Prince Blueblood takes a step back, a look of pure disgust on his face. "B-But...you're both mares..." he says, followed by a huge gasp. "YOU—YOU TWO ARE FILLY-FOOLERS!!!" he cries aloud, pointing to them. The guests gasp yet again.

"Is this true?" booms the Princess, walking up to the two ponies.

Rarity holds Applejack. "Yes, Princess, this is the pure truth. I love Applejack and she loves me..." she looks over at her and smiles sincerely. "At least...I hope she does..."

Applejack smiles and gives Rarity a quick little peck on the side of her cheek.

"You do know that such types of behavior are not tolerated here, right...?" Celestia glares.

"Y-Yes...Yes I do..."

"...And you do know what must be done to ponies who exhibit these types of actions..."

Rarity's eyes well up with tears. "Yes...I-I do. But I don't care what happens or where you send us! As long as I'm with Applejack, I know I'll be okay." Applejack beams and once again hugs Rarity tightly.

"I can't take it anymore," Xyclone says to Lyra. "I can't just sit here and watch my friends get banished! I've got to do something!" Suddenly, Xyclone gets up and runs down the aisle.

"Xyclone, wait!" Lyra calls out after him.

"Well, then, I'm afraid I have no other choice," Princess Celestia says to Rarity and Applejack as she unfurls her wings. Her eyes start to glow bright white.

"H-Hold me, darlin'..." Applejack whimpers, hiding behind Rarity.

"STOP!!!" shouts Xyclone as he reaches the stage. Celestia pauses, and Xyclone steps in front of the two homosexual ponies. "Stop right there!"

"Xyclone, I going to need you to step aside," warns the princess. "This matter does not concern you."

"As a matter of fact, it does," responds Xyclone. "You see, I was the first one these two told when they couldn't hide the fact that they had crushes on each other anymore. I knew they loved each other even before they themselves did!"

Celestia's eyes return to normal and she retracts her wings slightly. "R-Really...?" she asks in awe.

"Yeah! Look, when I first came to Equestria, I thought this land was all about love...a-and friendship! I quickly discovered that that wasn't entirely true when Rarity told me that ponies that are seen loving the same gender are banished, and that homosexuality isn't legal here. And that's what I don't understand! I love Equestria, I really do. I'm glad I came here. But why would you want to taint such a wonderful land by enforcing such a ridiculous rule? Why must you put limitations on love? Love is still love! Whether it's between a mare and a stallion, a mare and another mare, or a stallion and a stallion! I must admit, when Rarity told me that, I lost a lot of respect for you then, Princess. I thought you were better than that." After his speech, Xyclone glares stoically at the Princess.

Celestia finally retracts her wings. She has a look of horror on her face. "By Odin's Beard...you're-you're right. What have I done?" The Princess looks as if she is about to cry. She turns around and trots over to the nearest stained-glass window and gazes out of it. "My whole life, I always thought that same-sex marriage was sinful...and wrong. Our ancestors included it in The Book of Harmony. But the entire foundation of this land is love and tolerance towards each other...not hate and prejudice! What sorry excuse of a leader am I to not realize that?" The humbled Princess stares downward sadly. "I feel so guilty; I'm such a monster. How can I even sleep at night knowing that I'm setting a bad example for the future leaders like Twilight?"

Xyclone feels guilty now. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to make you feel so bad—"

"No, Xyclone, you're right," interrupts Celestia. She turns back around and trots back over to Xyclone. "In fact, I should thank you. Your words have brought me to my core. I am truly humbled." A melancholy moment of silence suddenly follows. The Princess stares down again. When she looks back up, she turns to the audience of sophisticated pony guests. "My loyal subjects!" she booms. "I have an announcement to make! I, Princess Celestia, hereby lift the ban on homosexuality!"

The crowd cheers. Applejack and Rarity smile elatedly at the Princess. "You do?!" they both cry, before running up to Celestia and hugging her front legs. "Oh, Princess! Thank you!! Thank you so much!!" I smile at the two ponies as well. Rarity stops hugging her and turns to Applejack. Celestia steps out of the way. "Well, in that case..." begins Rarity, holding Applejack's hoof. "There is only one thing left I have to do..."

Xyclone gasps.

"Applejack, we've been through so much together. We've known each other since we were only fillies. Somehow, I knew...from the very moment I first met you...that you were going to be one of the most amazing ponies I would ever meet. And I now feel comfortable saying that I was right. I'm going to tell you something I never told you before: I...I've actually had a crush on you since that day we found each other. Every time we would cross paths, I was shy around you because I didn't have the courage to talk to somepony as beautifully radiant as you."

"Rarity..." smiles Applejack, her eyes twinkling. "Could Ah tell you somethin'? Ah've actually had long-time feelin's fer you fer a while too...ever since th' day Ah first saw you. In reality, Ah was scared ta talk ta you 'cause Ah didn't think somepony of your level of magnificence would ever want anythin' ta do with little ol' me."

Touched by her kind words, a tear runs down the lovely face of the fabulous white unicorn. She then closes her eyes and lets out a huge sigh. "Applejack...I've wanted to ask you this question for such a very long time..."

Xyclone's eyes widen. He's knows what's about to happen. No, he thinks to himself. No way...she's not gonna—

Rarity kneels down on one front leg. She reaches into a hidden pocket on her dress for something. Applejack's eyes expand then.

No! continues Xyclone in his head as he watches on. It—it can't be! She's—!

"Applejack," begins Rarity. "Would you do the honors of making me the happiest mare in Equestria?" She pulls out a small felt box and opens it, revealing a beautiful crystal ring. "Will...will you marry me, darling?"

Applejack covers her mouth with her hooves, in complete disbelief. Salty blue tears begin pouring from her eyes, once again causing her mascara to run. She is unable to speak.

"Please, AJ," pleads Rarity. "I need you more than a flower needs the warm rays of the sun. I can't live without you. I...I love you, Applejack, and I really want you to be my wife. Please?"

Applejack removes her hooves from her face, showing an ecstatic smile of elation. "Oh, yes, Rarity! Yes! A thousand times, yes! Of course Ah'll marry you!"

The two ponies run up and dramatically kiss each other. "But..." Applejack interrupts, her voice cracking. "Why did you randomly have an engagement ring in yer pocket?"

"Well, I sort of already had a feeling that I wasn't going to marry Blueblood." The two smile once more. The rejected Prince Blueblood just stands there staring at Rarity and Applejack, his mouth agape.

Princess Celestia then re-approaches the two lovers. "I hate to interrupt you two," she jokes, smiling warmly. "But I still have a wedding to finish!"

Applejack and Rarity smile at each other. "I think we can help with that, Princess," Rarity says smiling.

"...We are gathered here today to join unicorn pony Rarity and earth pony Applejack in heavenly matrimony. The rings, please?"

Button Mash trots over to Prince Blueblood, who had already placed the ring on his horn. Button kicks him violently in the foreleg, forcing him to give up the ring. "HEY!" he exclaims, his leg red and throbbing. "Get back here, you little ruffian!"

"Thank you," says the Princess elegantly when Button gives her the rings. "Now, do you, Applejack, take Rarity to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, until death do you part?"

"I do," smiles the orange earth pony, almost automatically.

"And do you, Rarity, take Applejack to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, until death do you part?"

"Yes," replies the purple-haired unicorn. "Yes, I do."

"In that case...you may now kiss the bride!"

Rarity removes her veil and the two mares once again kiss each other passionately. Xyclone, replacing Applejack as Rarity's..."bridesmare"...smiles at the two of them. Then he smiles at Lyra across from him, who is Applejack's bridesmare.

The crowd erupts into applause. Somewhere within them, Velocity (formerly known as Veloci) stifles back tears. "I promised myself I wasn't gonna cry, I promised myself I wasn't gonna cry..." he stammers to himself. Dawn, who is seated next to him, giggles at his actions. "WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!" bawls Velocity finally. "IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!"

A second outburst soon follows, this time by Prince Blueblood. "OH, COME ON!!!" he shouts. "THEY'RE LESBIANS!!! AM I THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO IS OFFENDED BY THIS?!?!" Everyone just glares at him, even Celestia. "But Auntiiiiiieeeeee!!!!" he whines loudly at her. "I wanted to get married todaaaaayyyyy!!! This isn't faaaaaaiiiiiiiirrrrrrrr-uh!!!!" He starts hopping up and down and throwing a childish temper tantrum. "I NEVER GET ANYTHING I WAAAAAAAAAANT!!!!!!" he cries.

"Jeez, I almost married him?" says Rarity, disgusted. She follows with a shudder. "What a disaster that would've been!"

"Y'see, this is why Ah prefer girls," says Applejack, thoroughly annoyed at Blueblood's antics.

Later that day, at the reception, Xyclone, Lyra, Bon-Bon, Velocity, Dawn, Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Spike, Scootaloo, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, Derpy, and Xyclone's newest friend Digital Pwny all meet up. Xyclone and Lyra are holding hooves, and Dawn and Veloci are doing the same. They all smile at the newlywed ponies Rarity and Applejack over at the salad bar. A collective "D'aaawww!" reverberates through the group when the two of them kiss again.

"I've known Applejack since she and I were only fillies," starts Digi as the two ponies trot away from the snack bar. "But I don't think I've ever seen her happier than she is right now!"

"Yeah," says Lyra, looking up at Xyclone. "And I hope that'll be you and me someday." Smiling warmly, Xyclone kisses his marefriend on the lips.

Rainbow Dash frowns. "Ugh!" she exclaims. "All this lovey-dovey stuff is starting to really annoy me!"

Scootaloo nudges her sister playfully. "Oh, come on! Don't tell me you weren't at least a little touched by it!"

Rainbow smiles and musses up her little sister's mane. "I guess it was a little cute!" She looks away and frowns again. "Oh, what I wouldn't give to be Rarity right now..." she says under her breath, not loud enough for anypony to hear. She blushes lightly.

Just then, Prince Blueblood trots up to the punch bowl where Applejack and Rarity were just standing in front of. He is now much calmer than he was before, but he has a saddened expression on his face. Spotting the ponies, he rapidly turns away from them. He quietly sobs. Suddenly Bon-Bon pulls out a hairbrush and fixes her mane, grinning confidently.

"Bon-Bon, what the hay are you doing?" chuckles Xyclone at her.

The cream-colored pony laughs back confidently. "Well, what does it look like? I'm playing rebound!"

"What...?" Xyclone asks, confused, but Bon-Bon was already trotting towards the disgraced Prince. Intrigued, all the ponies watch in suspense as Bon-Bon tries to pick him up.

"So...I hear you've recently been dumped...I can fix that."

"Uh...who the blazes are you?" asks the Prince.

"I'm the best wedding gift you've ever received," says Bon-Bon seductively, flicking Blueblood's face with her tail.

"Um...I'm not sure if I—"

Bon-Bon all of a sudden grabs and pulls him up by his collar. "Okay, you look here, punk. I'm doing you a favor. I'm actually giving you a chance!" Her pupils dilate and drift apart creepily. "I SUGGEST YOU TAKE THAT CHANCE!"

The ponies' eyes widen. So does Prince Blueblood's. "H-How about we go to my r-room and t-talk?" says the Prince nervously.

Bon-Bon calms down almost immediately. "I like the way you think, Prince," she says sensually, fluttering her eyelashes flirtatiously. The two walk off together. As they do, Bon-Bon turns back around to the rest of the ponies and winks. They all laugh.

"Oh, Bon-Bon!" chuckles Lyra.

"Let's go back to the party," Twilight interjects, looking over at Rarity and Applejack as they make out with each other in the guests' chairs. "Besides, I think we should probably let these two lovebirds have some much needed...'alone time'."

All the ponies agree, and they disappear into the hustle and bustle of the wedding reception.

"I love you, Applejack," says Rarity, continuing to kiss her newlywed life partner. "Don't you ever leave my side, dear."

"Oh, Ah won't dream of it, Rarity. Never in a million years would Ah ever think o' doin' that."

Never in a million years.

Prologue: The Portal

Ponyville, Equestria, early morning

Twilight Sparkle runs through the town square of Ponyville in the land of Equestria. Spike the dragon sits atop her back as she runs, holding the Elements of Harmony in his claws. Twilight ignores the welcoming calls of the other ponies as she makes her way to her library in the near distance.

“Wow, it’s so great to be back home in good old Ponyville,” Spike says. “It feels like an eternity since we’ve been here, even though we’ve only been gone for a couple of weeks. I didn’t think we’d get such a welcoming return, either.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Twilight replies. “But we don’t have time for greetings. We need to get the Elements of Harmony somewhere safe, pronto.”

“Yeah, we probably should. I didn’t like the look on Princess Celestia’s face when she woke us up at 3 a.m. this morning for an emergency meeting. I’ve never seen her look so paralyzed with fear.”

“Well, I’m sure it’s nothing. Nothing I, my friends, and the Elements of Harmony can’t fix!” says Twilight confidently.

“Yeah, but still…” worries Spike, his voice uneasy.

When the two of them reach Twilight’s library, Twilight uses her powerful alicorn magic to barge through the door. The room is pitch-black dark.

“Shoot! Where the hay are my candles?” Twilight says frustratingly, squinting her eyes trying to find a light source.

“SURPRISE!!!” exclaims Pinkie Pie as the lights come on, illuminating the library.

Twilight is so…er, “surprised” that she bucks Spike off her back, flinging him back onto the entrance door. “Oh my gosh, Spike! I’m so sorry!” Twilight exclaims. “Pinkie! What—”

“Oh Twilight, you’re so silly!” interrupts Pinkie. “I’m throwing you a ‘Welcome Back to Ponyville’ party! You’ve been so caught up in your duties at Canterlot that I haven’t been able to throw you any parties, so…”

“Pinkie—!” interjects Twilight.

Pinkie continues rambling on. “…So I decided to throw you a ‘Welcome Back to Ponyville’ party! Isn’t that fun?!”

“Pinkie—”

“Oh, my goodness! You should’ve seen the look on your face!”

“Pinkie…”

“…I was all, ‘SURPRISE!’ and you were all, ‘AAH!’ and Spike was all, ‘YAAH!’ and—”

“PINKIE PIE!!” screams Twilight, causing Pinkie to finally shut up. “Pinkie, this is serious business! Princess Celestia sent me to put the Elements of Harmony in safekeeping!”

“…B-But why…?” Pinkie interrupts again.

“I DON’T KNOW!!! I’M TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT, BUT YOU WON’T LET ME GET A WORD IN EDGEWISE!!!” Twilight screams at the top of her lungs.

“Well, jeez, Twi, there’s no need to yell,” Pinkie mutters into the air.

Twilight overhears her and turns around. “Um…Pinkie? Who are you talking to…?”

“Them, silly!” she replies. “See, guys? I think Twilight’s starting to lose it…” Pinkie whispers to the air again.

“Who is ‘them’?!” yells Twilight, walking up to Pinkie.

“THEM! The bronies, silly-billy!"

“’Bronies’? WHAT THE HAY IS A BRONY?!”

Pinkie starts backing away slowly.

“PINKIE, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR—” Twilight is suddenly silenced by a blinding flash of light that shoots out the top of her library. The blast sends her hurdling to the front door where Spike was just now regaining consciousness. Twilight lands right on top of him. “Ooooo, shiny!” exclaims Pinkie, mesmerizingly. “Twilight, lookie!”

“W-Wha…??” asks Twilight groggily. She slowly gets up and walks toward the light.

Spike once again tries to get up, but is once again knocked over as the door flings open and Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash enter.

“Twah? Wha-What’s goin’ on?” asks Applejack as she enters. “Ah was buckin’ some apple trees when Ah saw this huge flash of blindin’ light, an’--” She stops, as she finally notices the light.

The mane 6 all stare silently at the light for a minute, in complete awe and disbelief. After a minute, the light begins to flash and contort violently until it eventually starts to reveal some sort of room.

“O-Oh my, it looks like…some sort of portal…” muses Rarity aloud.

Twilight gasps. “Oh, no!” she cries. “Not again!”

Chapter 5: Welcome To The Internet

Ponyville, Equestria, mid-morning

After I finished my breakfast, I told Applejack, "Get the others. I'm gonna try to explain everything to you all. Everything."

"Okay," she agreed. "Come on, y'all, Xyclone here says he wants to show us something."

Everyone cheered—except for Twilight, that is—and followed me to Twilight's library. "I know I've been confusing you all with what I've been saying, so I wanna try and explain it to you," I called back to the ponies as they followed me. "But in order to do so, I'll need to go back through the portal and you'll all need to come with me. Is everyone okay with that?" Everyone reluctantly nodded. When we got to the library, the portal was still there and wide open. "Hmm..." I mumbled as I looked at the portal. Lyra trotted up to me.

"What's the matter?" she asked me.

"I don't trust this portal with my life," I told her, "Or with any of our lives, for that matter. Is there someone in Ponyville who could help us with this?" I asked everyone.

"Oh, I think I know just the pony!" said Lyra, "Come on everypony, follow me!"

"Wait, are you talking about who I think you're talking about?" I asked her.

"You'll see," she said.

We all followed Lyra to this one house in the middle of Ponyville. She knocked on the door. A light brown pony wearing a fez opened the door.

"Hello? Oh, Miss Heartstrings, how are you doing this fine morning?" The pony spoke with an eloquent British accent. My suspicions were correct. This was, in fact, the timelord Doctor Whooves.

"We need your help...with a two-dimensional portal," Lyra continued.

The Doctor chuckled confidently. "Well, you came to the right timelord, my dear! Luckily, Derpy is on an outing with Dinky, so I'll be free all day. Oh, and who's your friend here?" he asked, noticing me.

"Oh, this is Xyclone, f.k.a. Skyler, he's from the other side of the portal. He's a human!"

"Was," I corrected her sarcastically.

"Oh, I've met the humans before," The Doctor said. Lyra's jaw dropped. "Strange creatures, those humans; Very strange indeed."

Lyra tackled him. "WHY DIDN'T YOU EVER TELL ME ANYTHING ABOUT THE HUMANS?!" she exclaimed.

Unaffectedly, The Doctor calmly replied, "Because I knew this would happen." Lyra silenced herself. The Doctor smirked. "Now, if you'll get off me, I will gladly help you with your predicament."

"Hee-hee, sorry!" said Lyra, chuckling awkwardly.

When we returned to Twilight's library with The Doctor, he inspected the portal with his Sonic Screwdriver. I was in awe. "Doctor Who" was one of my favorite television shows as a human. Watching the pony version of him work made me giddy.

"It seems safe to me," The Doctor finally said. "But I'm not getting a lot of readings from the Sonic Screwdriver, which is strange. I'll need to do more inspections on it. But as far as I know, it's safe. You all can go ahead and proceed through it. I'll let you know if anything goes wrong."

"Thank you, Doctor," I told him. "Okay, everyone, let's go! Darn, and I really liked being a pony. Now I'm gonna become a human again."

As I and the 11 other ponies went through the portal, I felt my body returning to what I was used to. When we all reached my room, I was back to my old self. I sighed, then looked at Lyra. She was somehow uglier to me. Even she looked at me with a disappointed and disgusted expression on her face. It did feel nice to have opposable thumbs again, though.

"Okay, we're here," Bon-Bon said sarcastically, "Now, what is it you wanted to show us, O Great One?"

"Shut up, Bon-Bon," Lyra said to her.

"Oh, right," I remembered. I walked over to my laptop and opened it up. I immediately got on deviantART.com. "My little ponies," I said playfully, "I present to you...THE INTERNET."

They all ooh'd and aah'd, especially Pinkie, but not at what I said. She was more fascinated with the laptop. "OOOOOO! Shiny! What does it doooo?!"

"Well, I was about to explain—"

"What does this button do?!" She started pressing button after button.

"Pinkie, wait!" She giggled as she pressed more buttons. "Pinkie—!" She still wouldn't listen. "PINKIE! ENOUGH! JUST...STOP, PLEASE!" She backed away. "Now...I was going to explain before I was so rudely interrupted..." I glared at Pinkie.

She laughed nervously. "Heh-heh, sorry!" she said.

"This is a computer," I continued. "It's a source for all kinds of information and a place where people all over the world can communicate with each other. It's also a place where fan art of you guys is shared."

"U-Us?" Fluttershy trembled. "S-So you're not the only one from this world who knows who we are?"

"Nope," I replied. "Like I told you yesterday, there's millions like me everywhere. Let me explain to you all the things I confused you with." I brought up a vector of my original character.

"Th-That's you!" exclaimed Lyra. "A-As a pony!"

"Yes, that's my OC, Xyclone."

Vinyl Scratch put a hoof on her head. "This just keeps getting weirder and weirder," she said.

I went on and showed the confused ponies pictures of other people's OCs. I then went to the search bar. "Rarity, come here," I called to Rarity. "I'll explain to you what 'shipping' is. What shipping is is when two ponies are randomly paired together as a couple. Quite a few people hate it because they think it's weird and creepy, but I happen to fully support it." I began trolling the ponies by pulling up pictures that involved every popular shipping there was and thoroughly embarrassed all of them. It was hilarious! I made them all feel awkward! Especially with Twilight and Rainbow Dash, Lyra and Bon-Bon, and Vinyl and Octavia. But probably the most awkward was when I brought up a RariJack picture. Applejack happened to walk up right as I did. Both Rarity's and Applejack's faces turned bright red as they blushed, looking away from each other. I stifled a snickering laugh.

"Well..." Rarity stuttered, looking up, "This is awkward..."

"Y-Yeah," replied Applejack, shuffling her hooves, "Heh, awkward. Ah-Ah'm gonna go over there..." She reluctantly and awkwardly trotted to the back of the group.

"C-Can we please change the subject?!" demanded Rainbow Dash, both hers and Twilight's faces still red from the TwiDash picture I showed them.

I figured that was enough joking around for the day. I finally started showing them just the normal, harmless fan-art, which calmed them down, and even made them laugh. I played them fan-made music; one song in particular: The remix of Eurobeat Brony's "Discord" by The Living Tombstone. Vinyl Scratch especially loved it. She was nodding her head the entire time. I then told them about the fan fiction. "There's even stories written about you guys," I said.

Twilight suddenly perked up.

"Although, I'm not gonna show you any of that because most of it is either sad or gory; Like 'Rainbow Factory', for example.

Rainbow Dash jumped up. "Did you say 'Rainbow Factory'?!" she exclaimed ecstatically.

"Yes, but trust me—you do NOT want to read it. It made me nauseous."

Rainbow Dash dropped back down. "Oh," she said dejectedly.

Next, I showed them the toys and the clothes and all the other merchandise as well. Eventually, I thought I'd traumatized/fascinated them enough and decided to call it a day; Besides, I was missing being a pony. Once again, I and the eleven other ponies left the human world through the portal and returned to Equestria. I was starting to get accustomed to my body changing so much, but boy, did it feel good to be a pony again! It felt...I don't know...it felt "natural". When we returned to Twilight's library, I felt someone hug me.

It was Lyra. "Yay! You're pretty again!" I just stared at her blankly. She was beautiful once again as well. I just didn't get it. "WAIT, THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT! Y-You were always pretty—I mean, no you're not! Well, no, I mean you are, but I'm not attracted to you or anything—" I stopped her by putting my hoof over her mouth. We both smiled, and then continued hugging.

The Doctor suddenly brought us back to reality. "I'm afraid I've yet to figure anything else out about this portal. It's going to take some time."

"Oh, th-that's fine, Doctor, take all the time you need," Lyra told him.

Lyra then asked me if I wanted to have some lunch at her and Bon-Bon's place, to which I happily agreed to, much to the dismay of Bon-Bon.

Bonus Chapter 9.5: Heeeere's Twiley!

Deep in the Everfree Forest, midnight

"Spike? Are you awake?" whispers Twilight in her tent, late at midnight.

Spike moans sleepily. "Ugh...I am now. What's wrong?"

"It's Xyclone," continues Twilight.

Spike groans, annoyed. "Seriously, this again?"

"What's your opinion on him, Spike? What do you think of him?"

"Well, I don't think he's the worst enemy in all of Equestria, as you keep boldly emphasizing. I think he's a cool dude. He seems like he'd be a good friend."

"I think I'm starting to have second thoughts about him..." continues Twilight.

"Good!" exclaims Spike. "Does this mean you'll stop acting so darn crazy?"

"That's the thing. I wish I wasn't having second thoughts about him. I still don't trust him..."

Spike groans frustratingly. "Why can't you just accept that he's a good guy?! You know what? We're done here. I refuse to have this same conversation again." Spike returns to bed, wrapping himself up in blankets.

"B-But Spike--!" Twilight cries.

"No!" yells Spike. "I'm sick of you acting like this! You've changed, Twilight. You used to be nice, but this obsession over Xyclone is turning you into a monster. I miss the adorkable pony Twilight Sparkle who loves to read, not to spy!"

"I'm just trying to be aware in case anything bad happens!" Twilight shoots back. "I'm trying to help Equestria!" "Equestria is *fine!"* screams Spike. "The only thing you need to worry about is yourself right now!" Twilight looks down, feeling guilty. "Wake me up when you have some common sense, Twilight. Goodnight."

Twilight turns away from Spike with tears in her eyes. "I'm...I'm not a monster..." she whimpers under her breath. She looks outside at Xyclone sleeping soundly on a log. She closes her eyes and looks at the ground sadly. Something inside Twilight snaps then. She looks back up and her look of sadness suddenly turns into anger. "He's turning me against my own friends," she growls. "He will never get away with this. No more Miss Nice Princess." Suddenly Twilight's pupils dilate and drift apart, and a malicious grin spreads across her face. "I'm not a monster," she says, giggling madly. "H-He's the monster!" She tilts her head up into the sky and cackles evilly. "GUESS WHO'S BACK?!" she laughs menacingly.