Chapters Twilight was reading a book titled the 'Old Order', having something to do with the prophecy that never came true.
"How interesting…" Twilight said to herself.
"What's interesting?" Spike popped up behind Twilight, making her jump.
"Agh!" Twilight screamed. "Spike! What did I tell you about sneaking up behind ponies?"
"Sorry, I just wanted to know what was interesting."
Twilight sighed and turned to her back as she answered, "Well, if you must know, it's a book about the original protectors of Equestria before the Elements of Harmony, and there are even spells used by them a long time ago."
"What do they do?" He asked Twilight.
"Well, I know this one here says, 'To save the ponies life.'"
"So…it does what exactly?"
"I'm not sure…For some reason, they aren't very specific." Twilight stated.
"Well, maybe we should leave that book alone for now and go hang out with the others like we planned." Spike suggested.
"Oh! I almost forgot about that!" Twilight recalled. "Thank you for reminding me! We should get going then."
Twilight then turns away from the book, making a page turn as the two left. The page revealed of another world the book called, 'Champions of War.'
Meanwhile in a town called Apple Wood, a town in the human world had a four boys spending time with each other.
"Ready…set…go!" Shade yelled out, signaling the other three to race on.
The three boys who were racing was Aleu, Drew, and Mark. Aleu had blonde hair, blues eyes, blue jacket, and long gray pants with blues sneakers. Mark had brown hair, green eyes, green long sleeved shirt, brown shorts, and green wooden sandals. Drew had brown hair, brown eyes, orange headphones, an orange sweater, long blues pants, and orange sneakers.
The race had ended with Drew winning the race, Aleu in second, and Mark in third. Drew was cheerful and started to boast.
"Ha! I totally ran you guys down dry!" Drew bragged in a jocks tone.
"Whatever Drew, it's no big deal." Mark scoffed.
"Oh, big talk coming from someone who got last place." Drew insulted Mark, making him angry.
"Oh, whatever you pompous computer!"
"You want to bring it you Lego builder?!"
"Hey!" Aleu grabbed their attention. "Does it matter that much?"
"SHUT UP!" They both told off Aleu, pushing him back to Shade who had caught up with them.
"I see, so acting like children really does matter to you two." Shade implied as he glared at the two, making them both nervous.
Shade had white hair, black eyes, a purple samurai robe, sandals, and a black katana with gold edgings.
"Sorry…he started it…" Mark and Drew said to each other. They soon started fighting again as they immediately notice that they blamed the other.
"What do you mean I started it!? You were the one brewing up our word battle!" Drew yelled to Mark.
"Only because your bragging went too far!" Mark stated.
"Enough!" Shade yelled at the two as he grabbed their heads and bonked them together, easily defeating them both. "Maybe if you two acted the same way you do towards Aleu, you might actually get along."
"As if I could even sympathize with this guy." Mark inquired.
"Same to the house freak." Drew said back to Mark, making the two glare at each other again.
"Hey, if you stop fighting, then I'll make you guys some smoothies, alright?" Aleu bribed the boys.
"You mean…your milky way smoothies?!" They both said excited.
"Only if you guys stop this arguing."
The two exchanged looks of uncertainty, but gave in and said, "Fine, I'll hold it in."
He and Shade smiled and they all head on over with Aleu to his house.
Back in Equestria, Twilight had just arrived with the others as they were walking in town.
"Hi girls! Sorry we're late!" Twilight apologized.
"Twilight! You're here!" Pinkie pointed out.
"About time! What took you so long?" Rainbow questioned.
"Sorry! I guess time slipped by since I was reading this book, it was really interesting and-" Twilight said before Rainbow groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Of course you were." She said sarcastically.
"Oh, can it Rainbow!" Applejack defended Twilight. "So she's into another book, it's never bothered anypony."
Rainbow and Applejack glared at each other while Fluttershy stepped back a bit from the two.
"Oh you two should stop fussing with each other, we don't want to waste time here bickering about such childish matters, do we?" Rarity suggested.
The two turned away and rolled their eyes. "Guess not." They both said.
"So what are we doing?" Twilight asked all of them.
"Well, I was thinking we could all go to the spa!" Rarity suggested.
"Aw! Are you serious!?" Spike, Rainbow, and Applejack complained.
"Well of course I'm serious, it's a trip everypony has to take once in a while." Rarity replied.
"I am not going to let anypony touch my hooves." Rainbow declared.
"Well, what do you suggest?" Rarity questioned the rainbow mane pegasus.
"Well, we could all play some sports." Rainbow suggested pulling out a football.
"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Applejack replied liking her suggestion.
"Sounds fun!" Pinkie said gleefully.
"Count me in!" Spike joined in as well.
"I guess we can give it a try." Twilight said slowly, knowing her below average athletic skills.
"Um…okay?" Fluttershy said somewhat quietly.
"What? You expect me to play on the dirty ground?" Rarity questioned them.
"Sorry Rare, but that's 5 ponies and a dragon overruling one pony~." Rainbow pointed out. "So let's go!"
They all headed to the park while Rarity followed them still dreading the idea.
Meanwhile, back in the human world, Aleu was in the kitchen making the smoothies as promised. Drew, Mark, and Shade were also in the house as well. Mark and Drew held their breath as they tried to see who can hold their breath the longest.
"…Pfft, gah!" Drew lost his air as Mark grinned finally letting himself breath.
"Well, that was fun." Mark replied.
"Oh shush!" Drew back lashed.
Shade laughed a bit before saying what was on his mind. "If you two remember correctly, you two are neck and neck at the strongest."
Mark and Drew looked at Shade surprised he was bringing that up so casually.
"Do you remember the order?" He asked them.
"Of course." Mark replied. "You're first, then it's me and Drew, then Aleu."
"Yeah, we all know Aleu isn't as strong as us." Drew pointed out.
"Even so, you two could still learn a thing or two from him." Shade replied to them.
Back in Equestria, the ponies were playing football while Rarity was laying down on a picnic blanket. Rainbow had the ball and was being chased by Applejack.
"Twilight! Catch!" Rainbow called out as she threw it over to Twilight. She attempted to catch it, but was intercepted by Pinkie, as she brought the ball to the other side with Spike.
"And~ TOUCH DOWN!" Pinkie cheered as she did so.
"And the crowd goes wild!" Spike cheered as well.
"Aw man!" Rainbow groaned. "That's no fair! You have Pinkie and Spike on your team!"
"So what?" Applejack replied. "You have Twilight and Fluttershy."
Rainbow still glared at Applejack and said, "Trade teams with me!"
"No way!" Applejack replied.
"Excuse me?" Twilight cuts in to the two bickering. Applejack and Rainbow looked at Twilight with a guilty expression, and looked away saying, "Nothing!"
"Um, do we have to play anymore?" Fluttershy asked. "I'm getting a little tired."
"Yeah, I guess we could all use a break." Applejack suggested.
"Yeah, better take a break now before I whoop you next round!" Rainbow said pompously.
"Oh, is that a fact?" Applejack questioned.
"Oh boy…" Twilight said quietly as the two bickered again.
Suddenly, a rumbling on the ground caught their attention. Looking up, they all see the massive stone creature before them, rampaging about.
"What the hay is that?!" Applejack questioned the monster.
"I think it's a golem!" Twilight answered. "But this form of the golem can only be summoned by…ancient magic."
The golem had roared and loomed over to Rarity who was a bit farther than the others. They all widened their eyes as Rarity screamed, being taken captive by the massive monster.
"AAH! Somepony help me!" Rarity squealed.
"Don't worry! I'm coming!" Rainbow told Rarity as she zoomed right into the golem. In an attempt to shatter it, she tackled the golem, actually making a dent. Rainbow however went dizzy and was knocked away by the golem's hand as she was too dazed to move away in time.
"Rainbow!" Twilight called. She looked back to the golem regenerating its body from the impact.
"Somepony! Help!" Rarity pleaded.
"Don't worry Rarity!" Spike told her as he ran at the golem. The golem raised its hand and threw it down at the baby dragon.
"SPIKE!" Twilight yelled out.
Before Spike was crushed, Applejack lassoed him away, saving him from being squished.
"Thanks AJ…" Spike said to her.
"Just don't do that again." Applejack replied.
The golem had just grown even more chaotic as it slammed the ground, causing it to shatter the flooring the ponies were standing on. Tripping over, all them were lying down from the fall. The golem had loomed over Fluttershy and Pinkie unable to move away in time.
"Oh no!" Twilight gazed at the situation. "What should I do, what should I do!?"
Suddenly, an idea had taken place in Twilight's mind. "I could use that spell! It might just work!"
She casted her magic and focused on the spell. It took so much energy, Twilight grew a bit hazy doing so. After doing the spell, her horn sparked and stopped…Nothing happened and the golem still was readying his arm to smash Fluttershy and Pinkie while Rarity was held captive in the other arm.
"It didn't work!?" Twilight said in fear as she could do nothing but watch.
Back on Earth with Aleu, he had just finished the smoothies. He carried a platter of them over to the living room the others were waiting in.
"Guys! I'm done!" Aleu called them.
"Sweet!" Mark responded.
"Awesome!" Drew said as well.
As the boys waited for Aleu to come through the hallway, they hear glass breaking and a flashing noise. They run to the kitchen to see a dropped platter of smoothies and Aleu nowhere to be found.
"What the…!?"
Back in Equestria, time took its seconds slowly as the golem's fist raced down towards the two ponies. Before anyone knew it, a massive light shot the golem's arm holding Rarity right off, and Rarity had landed on the floor safe and sound. The golem flinched, stopping his attack on Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Twilight looked to see that they were all safe.
"The spell worked! But it made me so…tired…" Twilight said slowly as she could barely stand.
"Where the heck am I!?" Aleu called out.
All the ponies and Spike got up to see Aleu the human. He was standing taller than any of them and was looking around the scene.
"Talking ponies and a gigantic golem thing…weird day." Aleu pointed out.
Aleu was looking at the tall and massive Golem regenerating his body. The others gathered up at the picnic blanket where Rarity was.
"Who is that!?" Rainbow asked. "What is that!?"
"I think Twilight brought him here." Applejack inquired.
"Wait…where is Twilight!?" Spike questioned.
They all see Twilight in the same spot as she was. She seemed to be too tired to move.
"Twilight! You have to get out of there!" Pinkie told her. "That big stony monster is gonna get you!"
"I-I can't!" Twilight responded. "The spell made me…too weak to even move…"
The golem had loomed over to Twilight now. The others panicked while Aleu who was nearby noticed what was going on. The golem pulled a fist this time and launched it at Twilight. She flinched as the others screamed to her.
"TWILIGHT!" They all cried.
When the golem's fist had reached Twilight, everyone was silent.
"T-Twilight?" Fluttershy said slowly.
They started to cry thinking the worst had happened. It wasn't until they saw the fist slowly raised by Aleu's leg, stepping upward at its colossal fist.
"Hey, you alright?" Aleu asked Twilight with a grin.
Twilight was completely dumbstruck, seeing something so small stop a gigantic attack like so. Aleu turned his view to the golem and kicked his arm off as if it was paper. The golem screeched as it started to try stepping on the two instead.
"He's going to crush us!" Twilight pointed out. "We have to get out of here!"
"I can't…" Aleu replied.
"What do you mean you can't!?"
Aleu pointed at his other foot digging into the ground. "I'm stuck." He bluntly shows off. "I think this happened when I kicked his arm to stop it, but he ended up pushing my other leg down to the ground."
Twilight gave a straight face to Aleu as she sighed helpless in the situation they're in. As the Golem smashed his feet to the two, Aleu stopped the attack once more with his two hands and throws the golems leg to the side. Twilight was once again impressed by Aleu, not believing such strength in one so small compared to the golem. However, since Aleu was stomped on by the golem, both his feet were now in the ground deeper than before.
"So, what's that things problem anyway?" Aleu asked Twilight.
"I don't know…" she answered unsure. "It just came and attacked us."
"So basically, it's a mindless monster with no regards of anyone else." Aleu said with a straight face.
Rainbow Dash flies over to Twilight and takes her away from the battle between Aleu and the golem.
"Wait! Rainbow! You forgot him!" Twilight pointed out.
"Oh, right, hold on…" Rainbow replied. She drops off Twilight with the others and flies to Aleu. She attempts to pull him out, but it doesn't seem to work.
"Ow, ow, ow! You're hurting me!" Aleu pointed out.
"Well, SORRY! I'm trying to get you out, but you're stuck pretty tight." Rainbow replied.
Aleu looks up to see the golem this time using both his arms, pulling them back and aiming at Aleu.
"This thing is persistent!" Aleu said annoyed.
He then grabs Rainbow and throws her away from him as the golem got ready for a third strike. Aleu blocks the attack again, but now only his upper waist was the only part not in the ground. He looked up as the golem grinned evilly as he decided to do a full jump to squash Aleu. Twilight looked up and felt worried for Aleu. When the golem landed on Aleu, all the ponies were frightened.
"I-Is he alright?" Applejack questioned.
"He is pretty strong but…" Rarity stated.
Silence took its time until the golem got up and shows the knocked at Aleu. They all gasped as the golem turned with a grin. It wasn't over though, as Aleu got out of the rubble from the crater the golem made after stomping the ground he was stuck in. The ponies looked closely as Aleu started to bleed through the nose.
"Ow…" Aleu said loud enough for the others to hear.
"He only got a bloody nose!?" Rainbow pointed out.
The golem was definitely surprised as Aleu turned to it and grinned.
"You're pretty tough, I'll give you that!" Aleu stated. "Too bad you don't have a good fighting spirit, otherwise you could have won!"
Aleu ran to the golem and climbed up its edges. The golem tried to grab him, but Aleu eventually made it to his head where he jumped up a bit in the air and then kicked down shooting his body through the golems body from the head. Aleu's attack digs through and lands underneath the body of the rocky monster, where he collapsed and became nothing but stone and rubble. The ponies and Spike gazed at the ending of such a battle, where the smallest fighter easily took down the enormous golem.
"That was amazing…" Applejack said slowly.
"…Awesome…" Rainbow quietly cheered.
"That was super duper off the roof!" Pinkie complimented the scene.
"But where's the creature who helped us?" Fluttershy questioned.
Twilight looked closely and saw Aleu under the pile of stones. "He's stuck over there!" She quickly said, signaling them to immediately help out.
They pulled the stones off of Aleu and see him resting with shut eyes as if he was really in pain.
"He doesn't look so good." Rarity pointed out.
"But he was fighting so flawlessly, why is he hurt now?" Twilight wondered until she inspected Aleu.
From looking at his body, his hands were scraped from the stone, his feet were bruised and dirty, and he seemed to show a frustrated expression keeping the pain inside.
"We need to help him!" Twilight told the others, nodding in agreement.
They carried him to Twilight's house a while later and lied him down on the couch. As they let Aleu rest, Twilight was reading the book to see what was going on.
"Well…this is new…" Twilight stated as she turned to the others.
"What does it say? What is he?" Applejack questioned.
"I think I summoned him here…" Twilight guessed.
"Wait, you mean that spell you got out of the book?" Spike asked.
"Yes Spike, I used the spell that reads, 'to save a ponies life', but apparently it meant to summon a warrior from another realm."
"And what in the world is he?" Rainbow questioned.
"It says he's a human, a being from another world." Twilight answered.
"Human?" Rarity repeated. "I never heard of such a creature, have you?"
"No, I never seen an animal like him before…" Fluttershy replied.
"If he's an animal, I hope he's a party animal!!!" Pinkie said as she puts on a party hat on Aleu and popped streamers around him.
Twilight levitated Pinkie away from Aleu and brushes off the decorations.
"Stop it Pinkie, he's really injured." Twilight stated. "As surprising as it seems, he almost broke his arms and legs and has a lot of scars."
"I wonder how he could take all that with such a scrawny body." Rainbow chuckled.
"Scrawny…?" Aleu mumbled as he started to slowly wake. The others back up from Aleu as he rose from the couch and yawned.
"Yaaaaawn~" He said while awaking. As he looked around, he saw the six ponies and Spike again. Aleu looked at his body to see his condition.
"…Agh! That stings a lot!" Aleu yelled out loud.
"You kept that in for that long!?" Applejack pointed out the length of time for how long Aleu didn't express his pain.
"Well, I was so focused on the battle that I didn't notice." Aleu replied.
"That's interesting…" Twilight admitted. "It's almost as if you somehow ignored all that pain and stress during the battle somehow."
"Or maybe he's a little, *Whistle*" Rainbow tweeted as she moved her hoof in a loop near her head signaling, 'screwball'.
"That's a bit offensive…" Aleu told Rainbow as she gave a sly smile.
Twilight came forth to Aleu levitating a potion. Aleu stared at Twilight's horn glowing and takes noticed.
"Are you levitating that bottle?" Aleu wondered.
"Yes, why?" Twilight asked. "Haven't you ever seen magic before?"
"Magic? I never seen the real thing until now." He admitted.
"Well, all unicorns have the ability to use magic." She explained to him
"Really?" Aleu thought aloud. He looked over to Rarity and asked, "Does that mean you know magic?"
"Just a few tricks, yes." Rarity answered.
"Cool~!" Aleu said amazed.
Twilight smiled and levitated the potion onto Aleu's hand. "Here, drink it."
"What for?"
"It's a potion to speed up your healing." Twilight explained. "You have a number of scars and other injuries."
"Oh, thanks you." Aleu replied as he took the potion and chugged it down. "Ooh! Tangy."
"So, I would like to thank you for helping us." Twilight started off. "We all appreciate everything you've done."
"No problem!" Aleu replied as he grinned. "So, you're…"
"I'm Twilight Sparkle." She introduced herself.
"I'm Applejack, nice to meet ya!" The orange pony took off her hat and showed her respect.
"I'm Rainbow Dash." The rainbow mane pegasus said proudly.
"I'm Rarity." she greeted with an elegant tone.
"I'm…Fluttershy…" She said quietly.
"I'm Pinkie Pie! Welcome to Ponyville!" she welcomed Aleu.
"Ponyville?" Aleu asked.
"That's the town you're in." Twilight explained.
"Oh, okay then…My name is Aleu." He introduced himself. "So, can any of you tell me why I'm here?"
"Well…" Twilight started off. "I kind of summoned you here…"
"Why?" Aleu asked, until he remembered the golem from earlier. "Was it just to fight the rocky monster?"
"Well, yes…exactly that." Twilight admitted.
"Okay then…you can send me back now, right?" Aleu asked. Twilight looked down as she gave a guilty expression.
"I-I'm sorry, but I didn't know what the spell would do, and there's no more information about it." She explained.
Aleu tilted his head with a disappointed expression. "Well, aren't you a bit unprepared." he sighed.
Twilight scratched her head apologizing again. Aleu stopped her as he said, "It's alright, if I'm gonna stay here a while, so be it. Besides, if there's a way in, there's a way out, right?"
Twilight smiled as he happily grinned at her. Aleu then yawned and looked a bit sleepy again.
"Tired sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
"Yeah…I need to find a place to stay…" Aleu pointed out.
"You're more than welcome to stay here." Twilight offered
"Really? Thanks!" Aleu gratefully said to Twilight before yawning again.
"Wait! We can't go home yet!" Pinkie told the others. "We didn't throw him a welcoming party yet!"
"Welcoming party?" Aleu wondered.
"She throws a party for anypony new to Ponyville." Rainbow explained.
"Well, I think that golem or whatever was a welcoming party enough." Aleu sarcastically joked.
"He's right, Aleu here is probably exhausted from fighting that monster. We should all take a break." Twilight suggested.
Pinkie sighed as she and the others left home. Aleu lied on the couch again and quickly fell asleep. Twilight smiled as he quickly slept away the night.
In the middle of the night, Twilight awoke and notice someone by the balcony. Slowly walking up to the silhouette, she sees Aleu looking up at the night sky.
"Aleu?" Twilight called out. "What are you doing up late?"
"Oh, sorry Twilight, didn't mean to wake you up." Aleu replied. "I was just thinking is all."
"What were you thinking about?"
"…My friends…"
Twilight looked at Aleu with an uncertain expression. "Is there something wrong?"
"I guess I'm just worried for nothing. I know their strong and all, but I wonder how they'll feel knowing I just…disappeared."
Twilight looked down guiltily until Aleu pets her head.
"Don't worry about what you did. I actually kind of respect you for doing that."
"Y-You do? but why?" Twilight stuttered.
"If you're willing to do that for your friends, then I have a feeling you must be a good pony." He explained with a grin. "I do miss them, but I'm sure they'll understand."
Twilight felt slightly reassured, yet still felt guilty. As she left, she said to Aleu, "Make sure you get plenty of rest until those wounds heal."
Aleu nodded as he continued to gaze up to the stars.
Twilight had awoken from her slumber. She felt somewhat tired since she woke up in the middle of the night to check on Aleu. As she went downstairs, she saw what was mistaken as a banquet. She looked around to see waffles with chocolate chips, syrup splattered on top, and a nice butter piece spreading itself to sweeten the taste a bit further. She looked around expecting her friends to jump out and surprise her, even though she had no idea why they would. Going up to the breakfast, she saw Aleu come out of the kitchen with Spike.
"Oh, hi Twilight!" Aleu greeted. "Glad you're up for breakfast!"
Twilight looked at the table with a raised eyebrow. "Are we expecting…more ponies?"
Aleu looked at the table, then replied, "Too much?"
"No way! This is just enough!" Spike told Aleu as he ran up to the food and took a big bite out of the waffles. "Oh~, so good~!"
Twilight raised an eyebrow at Spike. "Oh come on Spike, no matter how delicious it may be, there's no way we'll finish-" Before she finished, she took a bite of her breakfast. Her eyes widened and quickly took another bite making sure what she had just tasted was real. "This…is amazing!"
Aleu grinned as he sat down with them. "Thanks! I'm glad you like them!"
As they all ate, a knock came at the door. Aleu got up to open it to see Pinkie awaiting for it to open.
"Ah, Pinkie, right?" Aleu made sure.
"Hi Aleu! I'm glad you're awake! I wanted to-, Oh my gosh! What's that!?" Pinkie stopped focusing on Aleu and to his homemade breakfast. The smell caught her attention as she dove right in and ate all the waffles in one swoop. Twilight and Spike had only finished their first plate before Pinkie engulfed the rest.
"Ah, that was Delicious!" Pinkie expressed her satisfaction.
"W-Whoa, you just ate, like, a breakfast for five in one second." Aleu pointed out.
"Well, that was great while it lasted." Spike spoke sadly as there were no more waffles.
Pinkie was just so excited after eating the food. "What was that stuff anyway!? I thought it was waffles, but it had chocolate, and apple syrup, and sweet butter!" She then held Aleu's cheeks and quickly asked, "Did you make it!?"
Aleu nodded as she gave a sparkly look in her eyes of amazement. "Oh my gosh! You have to give me the recipe!"
Aleu grinned and responded, "I'll be more than happy to."
Twilight went up to Pinkie and wondered, "So, what brings you down here so early?"
"Oh! I almost forgot! Aleu, when's your birthday?" She questioned me with a happy expression.
"My birthday?" Aleu repeated.
"Oh, well, Pinkie tends to ask everypony when their birthday is." Twilight explained.
Aleu tilted his head with a grin. "Sorry, but I can't say."
The two ponies and the baby dragon seemed a bit confused.
"What do you mean you can't say?" Twilight questioned.
"I really mean, I can't say." He said again with his small smile.
"Oh, I get it! Your trying to keep it a secret, but don't you worry! I'll figure it out." Pinkie said as she slipped into a bush and vanished.
"H-How did she do that!?" Aleu questioned as he checked the bush. "So cool…"
Twilight giggled and said, "It's just Pinkie being Pinkie."
After cleaning up the breakfast table, Twilight suggested to Aleu, "Hey, you wanna take a walk outside?"
Aleu looked at her with uncertainty. "That depends, is there gonna be another golem or something? That monster freaked me out when I saw it."
"Really?" Twilight said surprised. "You looked almost as if you weren't even threatened by him."
"Hmm? No way! I was scared that he was gonna crush me to bits!" Aleu expressed his confrontation back then.
"Ha! Looks like he isn't so high and mighty as he seems!" Rainbow's voice said as she herself came in. "Hey Aleu, just came to see if you're okay and all."
"Aw, thanks Rainbow." Aleu replied.
"So, you really were afraid of that big guy, huh?" Rainbow made sure.
"Yeah, weren't you?" Aleu replied casually.
"Please! I could have taken care of that guy in 10 seconds flat!" Rainbow boasted.
Twilight was about to rebuttal, but Aleu looked down and replied, "Oh…I guess Twilight didn't need me after all…"
Remembering Aleu did get pulled out if his world just to help them, Rainbow backed up a bit somewhat guilty. "Well, I guess if you weren't there, my friends would have gotten hurt so…" She reassured Aleu.
Aleu held his head up with a smile. "Oh, okay then!" The two bumped fists and hooves regaining both sides of pride. Twilight smiled at the two getting along.
"Well Aleu, what do you wanna do?" Rainbow asked.
"I don't know." Aleu replied. "Usually, my friends invite me to do whatever since I'm often open every day."
"Really?" Rainbow grinned. "How about we do a little contest?"
Aleu raised an eyebrow as she said so. "Contest? What kind?"
"Follow me, we'll go to Applejacks for some extra space." She told me as Aleu complied. Twilight gave a slightly worried look as she lead Aleu to Sweet Apple Acres.
A while later, Aleu and Rainbow Dash accompanied by Applejack went to an open field, vast enough to do anything your active heart could ever desire. Along the area was a stick digging into the ground and some other small details like stones and small grass patches.
"Okay, so what are we doing?" Aleu questioned again.
"Let's have a race!" Rainbow Dash said with a smirk.
Aleu noticed Applejack sighed as she said, "Now you're just taking advantage of him."
"Advantage?" Aleu repeated.
"Nah, he'll be great! You saw how he took down the golem, he's probably fast." Rainbow assured the unsure Applejack.
"Alright, I'm down with it! Where to where?" Aleu asked readily.
"Great! We'll start here and head to that wooden pole, ready?" Rainbow Dash asked as she readied her position.
Aleu got into his ready position and replied, "All set!"
"Then…GO!" Rainbow Dash took off with an amazing head start. She had reached the pole and headed back in seconds.
"Ha! Did you see that?" Rainbow asked to the missing Aleu. "Uh, hey, where'd he go?"
Applejack looked to the tree to see Aleu blown all the way up on it. Rainbow couldn't help but laugh as Applejack bucks the tree bringing Aleu along with a few apples down.
"You alright sugarcube?" Applejack asked Aleu.
Aleu brushed off the leaves on his head and glared at Rainbow. "Okay, that explains the name, but does that really mean you have to blow me away!?"
Rainbow Dash still laughed as Aleu sighed. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry dude!" Rainbow apologized to the pride loss Aleu.
"Sorry won't cut it." Aleu said as he pointed his finger to Rainbow. "I want another challenge!"
Rainbow replied with a smirk as she spoke, "Alright Aleu! You ready to lose two times in a row?"
Aleu pointed to the wooden pole again. "This time, whoever can smash that stick wins, alright?"
Rainbow again gave a pompous look as she said, "Dude, we all know I can reach the stick before you can, so what makes you think you can break it before I can?"
Aleu didn't answer the question as he stood in a battle pose this time. "Ready?"
Rainbow Dash shrugged and got into her starting position. "Ready!" She replied.
"Go!" Aleu yelled, signaling Rainbow to go. She flew at a high speed yet again. Applejack noticed Aleu this time stood his ground from where he started. He simply raised a foot and stomped it on the ground. All the way over by the pole, a small quake was felt and the wooden pole simply shattered into pieces of bark. Rainbow and Applejack were completely shocked that Aleu was able to break the stick so far away before Rainbow could even touch it. Rainbow flew back to Aleu with a bewildered face.
"Wha!? How did-!? When!?" Rainbow stuttered with a hundred questions upon her lips.
"Guess I got you pretty good, huh?" Aleu grinned as he bumped fist to hoof with Applejack.
"Gotta say that was mighty impressive! Don't think I've ever seen anypony do something like that before!" Applejack complimented Aleu.
"Ha, ha! Thanks!" Aleu responded.
Rainbow flew up to Aleu with a disappointed look. "Well that's no fair! I didn't know you could do that!"
"Well I didn't know you were fast enough to literally blow me away!" Aleu rebuttable.
"Yeah, well…" Rainbow stopped as she had nothing else to reply with. Aleu looks closer to notice Rainbow's wings a bit different than the other.
"Hey, what's with your wing?" Aleu asked.
"Huh?" Rainbow looked at Aleu inspecting her wing.
"It looks a bit bent." He pointed out.
"Rainbow, how'd your wing got like that?" Applejack questioned.
"Probably one of my exercises, no biggie- ow! What are you doing!?" Rainbow yelled as Aleu poked the wing.
"Uh, Aleu, I don't think-" Applejack stopped as Aleu kept rubbing the wing with both hands. Rainbow was about to hit him until he stepped back to see the wing brand new.
"I massaged a birds wing before, so this wasn't so hard." Aleu informed the two as Rainbow flapped her wings.
"Hey…feels good as new…" Rainbow expressed the smooth feeling of her wing.
"Well I'll be, I didn't know you were a masseuse." Applejack inquired.
"I just use the pressure points." Aleu explained. "If you battle a lot, you can find all kinds of pressure points, regardless of species."
"So basically, you turned what you know that could be used to hurt others into something that can help others." Applejack deduced. "That's pretty smart of ya!"
"Hey, I think he's perfect for Twilight!" Rainbow joked as the two ponies laughed. Aleu felt a bit uncomfortable talking about such a topic.
"Right…anyways, it's already near sunset, I think I'm gonna go back to Twilight's." Aleu told the two.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Applejack agreed. "See you later!"
"Bye dude! Hope to compete with you next time!" Rainbow said as she too flew away.
Aleu smiled and went on home. Heading back to the library, Aleu opened the door and noticed the room was completely dark. As he turned on the lights, all the hidden ponies inside jumped yelling, "SURPRISE!" Aleu jumped and fell down with the sudden surprise. He got up and saw all kinds of ponies that were in the library before him. Somehow Applejack and Rainbow made her way there before Aleu did. Well, Applejack anyways.
Pinkie hopped over to Aleu as he got up and asked him, "Well? Were you totally surprised!?"
Aleu nodded as he scratched his head. "So, this must be that welcoming party I've been told about yesterday."
Pinkie nodded very fast while saying, "Yep! You got that right!"
Twilight went over to Aleu and brought him over to the center of the room.
"It's the least we can do for what you did so far." Twilight said to Aleu.
Aleu nodded no as he said, "You really shouldn't mind about that kind of stuff. I am grateful for all of this though."
Aleu grabbed a cup and yelled out to all in the room, "Party Time!"
They all cheered as Aleu scooted next to Vinyl and started to mix the tunes. Cakes were eaten and drinks were drank. Dances Aleu had made often involved him doing a few flips and going on his head while spinning. Ponies have never seen anyone more energetic than Pinkie, but at least he didn't eat all the food like her. In the middle of the party, everyone were taking the time to have some small talk. Aleu was taking a drink near the punch bowl and up came the six.
"So, you loving the party?" Pinkie questioned.
"Loving it to the fullest!" Aleu grinned as he chugged the rest of his cup.
"I must say, you do know how to make a party last. Even if this is one of Pinkie's parties, never have I seen so much more pizzazz!" Rarity complimented Aleu's personality.
"So Aleu, why don't you tell us more about yourself?" Applejack asked.
"Like, where you're from?" Fluttershy added.
"Or how you learned to fight like that!" Rainbow added as well.
Aleu's smile seemed to have shrunk. It was still present, but not as wide as earlier.
"I learned how to fight because I was…well, alone back then." Aleu explained.
"Alone?" Twilight repeated. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I used to live alone. That's why I can cook, read, and all that stuff. I always had to do it for my survival." Aleu continued. "I admit it may have made me supernatural compared to other people, but it also helped me get by."
The girls looked a bit sad for Aleu. He then moved on with the story with his grin returning.
"But then I met them. Drew, Mark, and Shade. My friends really showed me how to live, you know?" Aleu stated.
Twilight began to remember a similar feeling when she first moved in to Ponyville. "So…how was it like when you first met them?"
Aleu tilted his head as he huffed. For this moment, he had an annoyed face. "Well, Drew did electrocute me on accident, Mark let a construction beam crush me, and Shade accidentally cut all my clothes clean off!" As the girls tried to hide their laughter, Aleu regained his smile as he said, "But it was funny!"
The girls and Aleu laughed as he continued to mention things that went to his mind.
"So, where did you live?" Fluttershy questioned.
"In a town called Apple Wood." Aleu answered.
"Apple Wood?" Applejack became interested in the name. "What gave it the title?"
"Well, our town's main crop are apples. We have all kinds of them too. From red, to green, to orange, and of course we shouldn't forget all those products we have. Apple Wood merchandise would often hold up apple juice, apple soda, apple sauce, apple cider-"
Rainbow's eyes went up at the mentioning of cider. "Wait! You have apple cider!?" Rainbow questioned. Aleu nodded 'yes', making Rainbow squeal in excitement.
"Do you have any right now?" Rainbow asked.
"Well, sorry, no, but I can make you some." Aleu offered.
"You know how to make cider?" Applejack questioned.
"Oh yeah, like I said, I know how to cook." Aleu proudly said.
Pinkie jumped at Aleu and quickly asked, "How many recipes do you know?"
Aleu started to think. "Around…one…two? Around 250."
They all had their jaws dropped as Pinkie bounced in glee.
"Are all those dishes made of apples?" Twilight questioned.
"No, thanks to our apple crops popularity, we get other fruits from famous places, best of the best. I have all kinds of recipes for apples, cherries, pumpkins, potatoes, oranges, all kinds of foods really." Aleu explained.
"Aleu, do you plan on opening a restaurant someday?" Rarity wondered.
"Well, I'm not old enough yet, but if I could, I'd love to take that chance!" Aleu smiled once more.
Pinkie crept behind Aleu and jumped on his head. "Alright! Now when's your birthday?!" She demanded to know.
"I can't say, sorry." Aleu said again.
"Darn!" Pinkie yelled as she slid off of Aleu.
"Why can't you tell us your birthday?" Rainbow wondered.
"Yeah, just tell us. It's nothing to hide you know." Applejack assured Aleu.
Aleu's smile now disappeared this time as he slowly said, "If it's really nothing to hide, then how come no one has ever told me?"
The girls were a bit shocked. Aleu sighed and looked down deeper. "You see, I lived alone for a very long time and…no one told me when I was born."
Not knowing his birthday? That was ridiculous. But his reason was as simple as can be. Being alone for so long has made him completely forget his date of birth. Pinkie patted Aleu on the shoulder as she said, "Sorry to bring it up."
Aleu's smile came back very quickly and said, "No problem! Now let's go back to having fun!"
He jumped out of the corner and continued the party's rushing hour. They all seemed to have a great time before midnight, as they finally went home. As Twilight closed the door, she turned to Aleu sleeping on the floor. She levitated him to the second bed upstairs and lied him slowly as he rested the night away.
Twilight awoke for the morning. She went downstairs to see another banquet breakfast served, but no Aleu. Spike was already eating as she went down the stairway.
"Spike, where's Aleu?" Twilight questioned.
"Oh, he wanted to go out a bit earlier, so he made us breakfast before he left." Spike replied as he ate through the waffles. "I'm glad he made these again! I couldn't enjoy it last time because of Pinkie."
Twilight giggled remembering yesterday.
Meanwhile over by Aleu, he was walking through town with Rainbow Dash.
"So when are you going to teach me some of those awesome moves?" Rainbow questioned.
"What? Why would you wanna know that? Aren't you a flyer?" Aleu questioned.
"Hey, we can be two things at once! I mean look at you, a fighting chef?" Rainbow replied.
"True, true…" was all Aleu could say to that statement. Their conversation was interrupted by a scream for help. Aleu and Rainbow ran for the voice's direction and saw a massive storm of imp like creatures, covered in a black liquid and having creepy blue eyes.
"Help!" The voice yelled again coming from the pile of monsters.
Aleu and Rainbow went in to help. Rainbow dashed through the wave, knocking them all away clearing the path for Aleu. He ran into the pile attacking the victim and with his hands on the ground and feet in the air, he spun on the floor and kicked with his legs up in the air.
"Twister Kick!"
The monsters were blown away and Aleu managed to save the victim.
"Hey, are you alright?" Aleu asked, only to stop as he saw that it was a little HUMAN girl. She wore a short pink dress, a pink bow, and had orange hair with light blue eyes.
"Y-Yes, thank you." She replied.
"Y-You're a!" Was all Aleu could say before he realized another wave came to attack them. Before Aleu got up, another human figure jumped through the air and with a pulled punch, he knocked away all of the monsters in one blow.
"Stay away from my sister!" He yelled at the monsters.
"Another one!" Aleu pointed out to the male human. He had a red college vest, clean brown pants, dark brown hair, and red eyes.
The monsters had surrounded the three humans. Rainbow jumped in by the little girl, and together they attacked the left, Aleu kicked, the guy punched, and Rainbow bashed to their left, making a tornado like attack.
"Triple Technique Combo!"
Blowing all the monsters away, they all crashed onto the floor and melted away defeated. The three took a break and took the time to get to know each other.
"Thanks for your help, my name is Balkin." The boy introduced himself. "And this girl right here is my sister Lucy."
"Hi there!" She smile like any other innocent child.
"Well, good to see you all safe." Aleu grinned as he said so. "My name is Aleu, and this is Rainbow."
"Sup!" Rainbow greeted.
"So, you have any idea why we're here?" Balkin questioned.
"Not really, in fact, the way I came here was because this unicorn ,Twilight Sparkle, summoned me here. As for you two, maybe some other pony did it." Aleu replied.
"Well, if that's the case, so be it." Balkin sneered a bit annoyed there is no explanation. "Anyways, is this world really filled with ponies?"
"To my knowledge, they take the place of humans compared to our world." Aleu answered. "They're like us, so no need to worry."
Balkin checked on Lucy as she looked around at the town around her.
"This is so cool! I always loved ponies!" She stated.
Aleu smiled and lowered himself to Lucy's level. "Really? Want to meet more of my pony friends then?"
Lucy gleefully smiled and said to Aleu, "Really!? Oh, Balkin, can we go?!"
Balkin was tugged by his vest as he smiled and replied, "Alright, we got nothing better to do then be stuck here forever."
Aleu laughed at Balkin's sarcastic reply. The four of them went to Sugarcube Corner. There to greet them was Pinkie.
"Hey guys! What's up?" Pinkie greeted.
Lucy's expression was in total awe as she quickly hugged Pinkie as she squealed, "Oh my gosh! A pink pony!"
Pinkie smiled greatly as she saw Lucy and Balkin. "Oh my gosh! Are they your friends Aleu?" Pinkie wondered.
"We just met today actually, but I do like them." Aleu laughed after saying so.
"So, you look pretty…energetic." Balkin pointed out. "Let me guess…your name is Pinky."
Pinkie jumped up to Balkin and said, "Wow! You're close, but my name is spelled with an 'I' and an 'E' at the end, no 'Y'."
Balkin tilted his head with a surprised expression. "How'd you know that…?"
Rainbow puts her hoof on Balkin and informed him, "She's random, you'll get used to it."
Balkin nodded taking down the note in his mind for later references. He turned to Pinkie and introduced himself.
"Anyways, my name is Balkin."
"And I'm Lucy!"
Pinkie looked at the two and wondered, "Are you two brother and sister or something?"
Balkin again surprised asked, "Okay, how'd you know that!?"
"Just a hunch." She shrugged.
Balkin seemed a bit suspicious of her 'hunches', but decides to let it be. Turning to Aleu, he then asked, "By the way, are you the only other human there is?"
"I've only been here for a few days, but from the looks of it, I'm pretty sure you won't find another one so soon."
Balkin sighed while Lucy and Pinkie were playing patty cake. Aleu seemed to enjoy the day pretty well until Balkin went up to him with a stern look.
"Alright, I want to go home."
"Uh…sorry, but I already asked. No one knows a way back yet." Aleu replied.
Balkin groaned and then demanded, "Alright! I need to punch something!"
Aleu looked at Balkin in shock. "What!? You just suddenly want to hit something!?"
"Anything." He replied with a frightening gaze. Aleu glared back in defense.
"You look pretty strong." Balkin pointed out. "In fact, I think you're way stronger than you look."
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" Aleu replied feeling uneasy about Balkin's sudden urge to fight.
Like an explosion, the two were emanating a fire from their body's. Their heads bashed each other as the red fire of Balkin and the blue fire of Aleu clashed as they started to run outside with fire on their trails. Rainbow watched them go and excitingly follows them with Pinkie and Lucy. Although, Lucy was a bit worried more than excited.
The two kept running as they eyed each other with the temptation to smack the other. Aleu was only being cautious with Balkin if he was more dangerous than he ought to be. As they ran, they passed by the library, the cottage, the boutique, the shops, the restaurant, the farm all the way until they stopped at the opened fields. The clashing fire of the two exploded and they backed up from each other.
"So, why lead us way out here?" Balkin questioned.
"If you need to punch something, let's make sure no one gets hurt." Aleu explained.
"Smart." Balkin complimented Aleu as he cracked his knuckles. "Now, let's go Aleu!"
Balkin rushed in at Aleu with both fists behind him. When close enough to Aleu, he punched with both hands up to Aleu's stomach.
"Dual Fist!"
The impact blew Aleu away up to a tree. Rainbow, Pinkie, and Lucy arrive on cue along with the other girls.
"What's going on!?" Twilight questioned the scene. "And who is that!?"
"That's Balkin!" Pinkie happily answered. "And this is his sister, Lucy!"
The girls looked at Lucy who was focused on the battle. Aleu jumped off the tree and stared at Balkin. He then ran up to him, then kicked in the middle of his run. The results of this was Aleu's leg flying at Balkin and hitting him on the stomach as well.
"Aerial Stomp!"
The impact blew Balkin to a tree, knocking a few apples onto his head. Balkin got up winding up his arm. He ran at Aleu and soon his winding arm spun fast as it raced towards him. Aleu got a glimpse of what he was going to do, and then jumped as his attack smashed and dug into the ground.
"Flailing Fist!"
Though the attack missed, it did leave a crater behind. Balkin looked around to see Aleu had not yet landed. He then found out and dodged before Aleu launched his foot down at the ground with a powerful thrust.
"Quaking Kick!"
The ground shook and all the apples in the orchard fell. Applejack seemed a bit pleased to see that attack. The fight then went on with basic techniques. Balkin punched Aleu while Aleu kicked Balkin. As the fight went on, The girls were a bit distressed on what to do.
"Shouldn't we stop them?" Twilight questioned.
"I'm sure Aleu's got this one in the bag." Rainbow Dash assured Twilight.
"But, wouldn't it be better if both of them were okay?" Fluttershy suggested.
"Well, even though this fight did buck all the apples already, I rather have these boys intact." Applejack stated.
Before the ponies helped, Lucy stopped them with open arms.
"It's no use." Lucy implied. "Boys like my brother tend to fight no matter what. We should just wait."
"But won't they get hurt?" Pinkie questioned.
"They're not really trying to kill each other." Lucy told them.
And she was right. Though each attack seemed painful, they only seemed tired without much of any bruises. Only sweat and panting as the two stood still.
"You…had enough yet?" Aleu questioned tired.
"Not…Not even close!" Balkin stated tired as Aleu.
The two ran at each other once more, but fell once they got close enough for another hit. They panted but smiled as they started to talk.
"Okay! I admit! Those were some pretty strong punches!" Aleu complimented Balkin.
"Alright, your kicks were hardcore, too OP." Balkin admitted.
The girls seemed a bit confused at the two having a good time after a fight. Running up to the boys, they immediately check on them.
"Aleu, are you okay?" Twilight asked.
"I'm fine. I was lucky that he decided not to punch me so hard." Aleu stated.
"Same here." Balkin added. "Woo! All my stress is now gone! Aren't I relieved."
"That's the reason why?" Rarity said with a uptight tone. "A bit of a ruffian are we?"
"Can't say I'm not proud." Balkin joked.
Lucy sighed and said to the girls, "I'm sorry, but my brother does like to rough house sometimes. If he gets stressed, he'll feel like hitting something."
The ponies backed up a bit until Lucy says, "But he doesn't hit anyone unless, like Aleu, challenges him."
"So he does have a bit of sanity." Twilight remarked.
"Thank goodness…I thought you were a bad human." Fluttershy sighed in relief.
"But that was AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash cheered.
"Yeah, you even got down all the apples down with a few of those moves!" Applejack commented.
"And it was super duper exciting!" Pinkie added.
Balkin took a quick look at all of them then started his little speech.
"Okay, from the looks of it…you’re a bookworm, you're athletic, you're hardworking, you're energetic, you're fancy, and you're…shy? Yeah, I think you're shy." Balkin deduced.
Rainbow and Applejack seemed a bit pleased with their stature while Pinkie giggled. Rarity flicked her hair with a smile obviously agreeing with Balkin's deduction, and Fluttershy seemed to have hid behind her mane. Twilight glared at Balkin as she asked, "What made you think I'm a book worm?"
Balkin smirked as he said, "You have that look in your eye as if you wanted to analyze me or something. Also, I have a feeling you go to the library often, maybe even live there by your standards."
Twilight backed up as she said with a annoyed voice. "I…do live in a library."
Aleu laughed while Balkin gave a childish face onto Twilight.
"So how'd you know that anyways?" Twilight questioned.
"Elementary my dear purple unicorn." Balkin stated. "As a college graduate, I can analyze and answer. As for the library, I saw you reading in one through the windows as I passed by."
Twilight blushed in embarrassment by his findings and annoyed to find another being as smart as her having to be so immature. Aleu couldn't help but laugh as he said to Balkin, "Alright, enough! So where are you going to stay anyhow?"
Balkin looked up and replied, "I don't know. I surely haven't made any plans since we've arrived."
Aleu turned to Twilight and asked, "Hey Twilight, can they stay with us?"
Twilight jumped hoping they didn't hear that. Before she could tell Aleu no quietly, Balkin had walked over to Twilight with something to say.
"As much fun as it would be to live on a bookshelf, Lucy already asked Pinkie a while ago during my fight with Aleu." Balkin informed the two. "I would like to come over sometimes to see what this, 'Equestria' Pinkie told me about. If the land really is filled with ponies instead of humans, you must have accomplished many things with these abilities you all have not to mention you ingenuity."
Twilight was looking up to Balkin with a newfound respect for her childish genius rival. She held out her hoof and said, "You're welcome anytime at the library!"
As they shook hoof and hand, Pinkie popped up between the two and said, "You know what this calls for? Another welcoming party!"
The scene quickly changes over to Sugarcube Corner, and they all did what they did last time. Balkin seemed to enjoy the ponies company while Lucy had befriended Pinkie better than anyone else. Aleu and Balkin seemed to have eyed at each other from time to time.
"Yeah…he looks like a rival to me."
Again, Twilight awakes. she trotted downstairs expecting the same usual day. opening her eyes, she was right. Another big breakfast with Aleu, Spike, and…Balkin and Lucy!? Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash too!? She moved to her seat and couldn't help but ask.
"Um…what are you all doing in my house?" Twilight questioned.
"Having breakfast." Balkin answered in a smart alec tone.
"Wow Aleu, these are the best pastries I've ever had!" Applejack complimented Aleu.
"Who knew you kept getting the good breakfast all this time?" Rainbow Dash inquired to Twilight.
"Trying to hide a perk to having Aleu live with you isn't very generous." Rarity added.
Twilight seemed a bit annoyed at their comments, but was then lifted as she took a bite of what seems to be blueberry pastries with a sweet powder dousing over it. Her smile had arrived thanks to a simple dish. Aleu seemed to be pleased with the results and came back with another platter. Everyone was having a nice morning together with a great meal to go along with it.
"So Aleu, what do you plan to do today?" Applejack asked.
"Like I said, no plans made by myself." Aleu answered. "I'm up for whatever right now."
"You have fun with that. I'm gonna stay here with Twilight and do some research on this world." Balkin planned.
"I think I'll go with Aleu. Is that okay?" Lucy asked Balkin.
Balkin sighed and responded, "Alright, only if Aleu promises on his grave he won't let anything happen to you."
Aleu held his hand to his heart and vowed, "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick the knife in the eye."
The girls and Spike looked at Aleu with such a vow.
"Is…is that how you do promises in your world?" Pinkie asked.
"Yeah, why?" Aleu wondered.
"Well, Pinkie has a similar saying, but that…was a change of pace." Applejack quoted.
Aleu shrugged as Pinkie walked up to him as she giggled.
"You're funny! Hey! If you're not busy, wanna hang out?" Pinkie asked hopefully.
"Sure! What do you say Lucy?" Aleu passed on the question to her.
"Yeah, sure!" Lucy responded.
"Alright then!" Aleu said as he ran out the door with the two right behind him. "Adventure!"
"Yeah!" the two girls yelled as they followed Aleu into town.
Balkin sighed as he said, "Does that mean these are the last of the pastries?"
The girls looked at what was left over. though plentiful, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Balkin grabbed as many as they could. Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy sighed as they are quickly taken away.
Aleu was marching with a whistling tune with Pinkie and Lucy in that order following right behind him. They stopped following at one point as Pinkie's tail started to twitch.
"Uh oh! Twitchy tail! Watch out! Something's going to fall!" Pinkie alerted the two.
Aleu looked up and saw an anvil upon them. He gets Lucy and Pinkie to safety under a nearby roof, then jumped to the anvil, kicking it way back up into the air. it had went all the way to a flying cart with pegasus nearby and it landed right on the back of the flying vehicle carried by clouds.
"Whoa! That was amazing!" Lucy commented.
"Watch out! Twitchy tail!" Pinkie warned Lucy again.
"What? What else can fall-" Before she realized it, Aleu fell down a bit farther than expected, over by a block. They ran after his location fearing his safety.
Aleu awoke in the crater he had made. He looked up and saw three figures. These three figures had made Aleu widened his eyes with a great smile. Pinkie and Lucy had caught up to the already standing Aleu. He was walking up to the figures until he saw the two come by.
"Oh good! You're here!" Aleu said. "Look! You'll never believe who's here!"
Pinkie and Lucy looked at three humans in front of Aleu. Aleu then said who they were.
"That's Drew on the right, the one on the left is Mark, and the one in the middle is Shade!" Aleu informed the girls.
"Oh my gosh! This is great Aleu! Now you don't have to worry about them anymore!" Pinkie mentioned.
Lucy looked at the three and began to step back while pulling Pinkie with her as well.
"A-Aleu…they look…a bit frightening." Lucy expressed.
"Really?" Aleu turned back to the three. "Hey, you guys alright?"
As Aleu stepped closer, Shade pulled out his sword and cut Aleu across the stomach. The girls gasped shocked at the sight, but not as much as Aleu as he fell down weakened by the cunning attack.
"W-What? Why'd you do that?" Aleu questioned weakly.
"Our mission was to gather the all the humans sent to this world. Your coming with us." Shade demanded as he pointed the sword at Aleu.
"ALEU!" The girls screamed. Drew looked over at Lucy and stepped forward onto her.
"There's another one." Drew spoke.
Aleu's eyes widened, and with enough strength, he got up and kicked Drew to a building. Standing by Pinkie and Lucy, Aleu defended the two.
"You're not gonna lay a finger on them!" Aleu declared.
Mark stepped forward and went after Lucy while Shade attacked Aleu. Aleu escaped Shade's slash and kicked down Mark, then knocked him to Drew, who was getting up.
"Aleu! Keep going!" Pinkie yelled to him.
Aleu fought off Mark and Drew, who then backed up. Shade was the last one still ready to fight. As Aleu readied himself, he shed a tear Shade attacked. Aleu was about to counter it, but an arrow strikes him onto the shoulder, making him collapse. Lucy and Pinkie look up to see a girl a bit older than Lucy, but younger than all the boys. She had red hair, orange eyes, a yellow shirt, and orange pants with yellow hunting boots. She pulled out her bow and aimed at Lucy. After firing, Aleu pushed Lucy out of the way in time.
"A-Aleu! Are you okay!?" Lucy quickly asked him.
"No…they're too strong!" Aleu alerted them. "Go to the others! It's way too dangerous here! Pinkie, go with Lucy and make sure she safely gets there!"
"But what about you!?" Pinkie questioned his planning.
"I promised Balkin Lucy would be safe, and I well intend to die rather than let you get hurt!" Aleu declared.
Pinkie was struggling to leave Aleu behind, but either way, he would die if Lucy were to get hurt. She brought Lucy onto her back and ran to the library while Aleu slowly got up and tried once more to fight off the four attackers.
"I just don't want to fight you…I just don't!" Aleu yelled as the four attack him again.
The scene blacks out and now goes back to Twilight and the others. They were all cleaning up the massive pile of dishes since they had to get so many pastries. Rainbow, Applejack, and Spike were washing dishes, Balkin and Twilight read, Fluttershy and Rarity were chatting.
"What do you think the others are doing?" Twilight wondered.
"Knowing Lucy, anything. But with that Pinkie, everything." Balkin said with an unsure tone in his voice.
Right on cue, Pinkie with Lucy on her back opened the door in a frenzied matter.
"Pinkie! Lucy! We were just talking about you. What's wrong?" Balkin noticed their frantic expressions.
"It's Aleu! His friends and he was all happy, but then one of them attacked him, and, and-" Pinkie stuttered as all she could think about was Aleu, about to die.
"Aleu is in trouble! We need to help him!" Lucy quickly told them.
They all heard Lucy and ran to their side ready to lend aid. Running out to town, the see the end of the battle. Aleu fell while the archer girl and Shade was all that's left.
"Aleu!" Pinkie screamed as she went by his side. "Aleu, are you okay?!"
Aleu coughed before looking up. "Pinkie? Is…is Lucy safe?"
"Yes, we're all here now, so don't worry!" Pinkie assured Aleu.
Balkin went forward to Shade and the archer. He took Aleu's place for the fight.
"I heard there were four of you, what happened to half your team?" Balkin questioned them.
"The bodies they used were not adjusted very well, so I sent them back to make sure everything was in order." Shade replied.
"Let me take care of this one." the female archer suggested.
Shade glared at the girl. "Careful you, if you mess up, I'll have no choice but to kill you too."
"I'm sure it'll be fine." she replied.
Shade stepped back and the battle between the archer and Balkin began. The girl pulled her bow out and shot a stream of arrows. Balkin managed to dodge them and then go in close with his two fist behind him delivering a blow to the girl.
"Dual Fist!"
The girl was pushed back, and the impact had surprised her. She took out her bow again and aimed for the sky. She shot tens of arrows up, confusing Balkin until he looked up to see them all falling back down.
"Raining Arrows!"
The multitude of the arrows struck down all around Balkin. He was unable to block them, but he did manage to survive the attack.
"I can't win if she does that again…" Balkin thought.
The girl aimed her bow at Balkin again, but this time she pulled out an orange arrow with a black stick, and gray feathers. After shooting it, the arrow hits the floor upon Balkin and explodes.
"Blast Arrow!"
The blast indeed pushed Balkin off his feet. Everyone looked to see Balkin seemingly defeated, but he got back up seeming a bit more annoyed.
"Okay, now those arrows are just bothersome!" Balkin said to the archer.
The archer didn't hesitate to shoot another group of arrows into the sky showering over Balkin.
"Raining Arrows!"
Before they hit the floor, Balkin was suddenly wrapped by an energy. The arrows landed on him without leaving a scratch. It was Twilight protecting Balkin from the arrows. The girl was shocked and soon Balkin came in with a flurry of punches going all around. They had soon reached to the archer as she was too late to pull out another arrow.
"Fist of Fury!"
The attack had hit her multiple times with the flurry of punches going everywhere. The punches had beaten her out of consciousness and she fell down defeated. Balkin sat on the floor tired.
"Okay! I won! Good…" Balkin stated.
The girls and Spike sighed in relief as Aleu rested alongside with them. The relief was over as the girl awoke and stood back up again.
"W-Where am I?" She wondered.
"W-What the!? I just beat you down! How are you okay already!?" Balkin said shocked to see her okay.
The girl was suddenly stabbed by Shade as he came in and said to her, "You lost…like I said, now you have to die."
They were all shocked at the turn of events. their enemies turned on each other.
"Aren't they…comrades?" Twilight muttered at the insane moment.
Aleu awoke, and suddenly with a sudden burst of energy, Aleu jumped to Shade and kicked him down, blowing him to the floor.
"It doesn't matter what happened…" Aleu said to Shade. "You can't ever turn against your friends!"
Shade got up with a sore cheek. He looked at Aleu feeling uncertain he could win. Shade decided to retreat. A black goop from a bottle Shade pulled out splashed the floor, which then released a massive smog covering his escape.
Aleu fell down exhausted with the girl nearby. They rested from their serious wounds while the others checked on them immediately.
"I think he's alright!" Twilight said reassuringly.
"What do we do with her?" Rainbow questioned the girl nearby lying next to Aleu.
The archer was bleeding and lying on the floor unconscious. Both attacks from the battle and Shade had wiped her out.
Balkin looked at her for a while and said, "Let's just take care of them both."
Twilight looked at Balkin a bit surprised. "Are you sure we can trust her?"
Balkin shrugged as he said, "Well, we could help her, or let her die on the sidewalk. It's not up to me since I think you should take charge."
Twilight looked at the girl one last time and sighed. "Alright, we'll help her." She said unsure. "But we should keep an eye on her, or else she might get us while we're not looking."
Agreeing, the girls brought the injured to the hospital. Injuries like these were too serious for any first aid a house could provide. As the six ponies, Lucy, and Spike awaited in the guest room, the doctor came out with the clipboard.
Rainbow jumped up and quickly asked, "Hey, are those three okay?"
"They seem to be fine. I can't say the same for the blonde one though, he's had it the worst." the doctor informed them. "If any worse, well, I don't know what would happen."
They all sighed and Lucy came up to the doctor asking, "Can we go see them?"
"You can see the boy and the girl, but the one I just told you about is asleep. Whatever he went through must have tired his mind out." The doctor explained before leaving the girls to check on the humans.
Inside the room of the patients, Balkin and the girl were talking.
"So…you were captured?" Balkin made sure.
"Yes…" the archer responded.
"Then they took control of your mind?" Balkin continued.
"Yes…" She responded again.
"And your name is…?" Balkin continued.
"Eris."
Balkin sighed as he crossed his arms while tilting his head. "So that's why his friends attacked him…but who would do that?"
Twilight and the others came in on cue with happy faces seeing the humans alright.
"Balkin! Good to see you're okay!" Applejack said before giving him a hug.
"Thanks, by the way, have you met Eris? Apparently she told me what's going on and what happened to Aleu's friends."
They all turned to Eris who seemed as if she was sick. Twilight approached her with steady carefulness.
"Are you…alright?" Twilight asked.
"I'm fine, thank you…" Eris said with a pleasant smile, but turned back into a frown.
Pinkie turned to Balkin quickly remembering something.
"Oh! Balkin! I almost forgot! Aleu was protecting Lucy really, really, REALLY good!" She inquired.
"Really? How good?" Balkin asked.
"He was willing to die for your promise!" Pinkie said surprising Balkin. "He really meant it too!"
Balkin turned to the sleeping Aleu as he gave a saddened look.
"You…kept your word…" Balkin said quietly.
All of the humans seemed a bit out of balance. It was a day where everything turned for the worst.
Aleu had been taken out of the hospital and back to the library. Things weren't the same as all Aleu did was look through the balcony as he took care of his wound. The injury stung not because it was there, but the fact that Shade, his best friend, had made that wound. Aleu could no longer cry as he now accepted the fact that his friends had betrayed him. What he hoped for was Eris's information. She said she was being controlled by someone….something. Aleu was thinking about all kinds of curses to the one behind this, while fearing the fact if his friends were really being under control…or not.
Downstairs, Balkin came in with Pinkie, Lucy, and Rainbow.
"Oh yeah! I'm starving!" Rainbow said as she rubbed her stomach.
"I don't know why you came with me." Balkin said. "I was really just going to read."
"Come on Balkin! You know you want that great break-" Pinkie stopped as she saw the breakfast table had only Twilight and Spike with a simple as can get breakfast.
"Hey…" Rainbow Dash started to complain. "Where's all the food!?"
Balkin sighed as he went to the shelves, grabbed a book, then read.
Twilight glared at the three for their intentions.
"In case you've forgotten, Aleu needs more then rest as he's handling the fact that his friends had turned against him just yesterday!"
The three girls looked down shamefully. In surprise, Aleu came downstairs maintaining a fake smile.
"Don't worry Twilight…I think…I can still do something." Aleu said somewhat slowly.
Twilight felt worried for him while the other three jumped for joy. "Are you sure Aleu?"
Aleu could only give the faint smile and nod yes as he headed his way for the kitchen. Pinkie, Rainbow, and Lucy were awaiting by the table gnawing at the imaginary food Aleu would be sure to cook. It was shattered however as a loud clanking and clattering noise fell into the room, grabbing Twilight's attention to help. The others were too hesitant and surprised to get up and check. Twilight entered the kitchen as Aleu groaned and shed even more tears.
"Man, I really am useless…" Aleu said hopelessly.
"Don't say that Aleu! It's alright! Accidents happen!" She attempted to comfort him.
Aleu cried a bit more and lied his head onto Twilight.
"I miss them!" Aleu said to Twilight. "I…I really want to see them! But they want to kill me!"
Aleu was beyond sad. Twilight could see how lost he was knowing he had just lost his best friends. Placing her hoof onto Aleu's shoulder, she said, "We’re here to help you."
Aleu stopped crying and got up slowly. "I'm sorry…I guess I really can't make breakfast right now." he said with his fake smile as he sat down on a chair.
Balkin came in closing the book he just started reading. Walking up to Aleu, he said, "Don't kid yourself."
Twilight looked at Balkin shocked to see him use such direct words.
"Your friends wouldn't act like that. Even if I never met them, I know you wouldn't have befriended a monster like that."
Aleu looked at Balkin and his strong will.
"Their brainwashed like Eris, but if we beat some sense into them, then they'll be back to normal." Balkin reminded him.
Aleu looked down as he slowly regained his composure and looked back up with a small grin.
"Y-Yeah…your right." Aleu said now more sure of himself. "If we try, maybe we can get them back."
Though still weakened by his thoughts, Pinkie came on right when she was needed with her upbeat attitude.
"Don't worry! We'll still be your friends!" Pinkie said to Aleu.
"…Yeah, you're right…" Aleu grinned. "I guess I should go out and do something then."
Rainbow Dash then flew in next to Aleu's shoulder.
"Hey, how about you show me those cool kicks?" Rainbow suggested.
Aleu chuckled as he said, "Foot work is something you need to get ahead on. I watched a certain anime, which showed me how to fight like that."
Aleu showed both his hands to his friends. "As he said, a chef must be careful not to lose his hands, therefore, the only way for him to fight is his legs."
Twilight seemed a bit interested in his fighting style. Pinkie jumped up at down at the thought of his style.
"Wow! That makes sense! But us ponies have four legs anyways." Pinkie pointed out.
"Then you use your hind legs to fight if you do my techniques." Aleu explained.
Rainbow then turned to Balkin as he looked back to Rainbow directing his attention on him.
"How about you? You seem to fight with your hands." Rainbow pointed out.
"I'm a boxer. We throw strictly punches, no kicks." Balkin explained. "Our feet are only used to move and dodge, but our hands are what we use to go into the offensive."
Rainbow couldn't decide what to go with. As she was thinking what style she would rather have, Pinkie then had an idea to Aleu.
"Oh! I know! Aleu! You should show Applejack your moves!" Pinkie suggested.
"AJ? Why?" Aleu replied in curiosity.
"That's…actually a good idea." Twilight agreed. "Applejack often bucks apple trees, so it would only be natural if she had your techniques."
Aleu tilted his head at the information. "Really? I guess I should pay a visit to her."
"What!?" Rainbow complained. "What if I wanted to learn how to fight by kicking!?"
"Well, you could come with us." Aleu suggested. "Or you could learn to fight hand style."
Balkin gave a small wave at Rainbow as she looked over. Unsure what to do, she kept looking back and forth.
"Ugh, choosing sucks!" Rainbow complained.
Aleu laughed as he headed for Sweet Apple Acres with Pinkie. Entering the farm, they see Applejack nearby the orchard. She turned to see her friends had come over.
"Howdy Aleu! Hey Pinkie!" Applejack greeted. "What brings you over?"
"Well, we were helping Aleu feel better earlier, then we were talking about kicks or punches, then I thought you would like Aleu's fighting style since you kick every day, then we came over so he could show you! Right Aleu?" Pinkie explained too fast and too much in less than a minute.
"Um…I think?" Aleu responded unsurely. "So, anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to learn how to fight by my style."
Applejack smiled. "Well, your abilities did save us many times. I think I could find some use in that." she replied.
"Alright then! When should we get started?" Aleu questioned.
"Hold on, I still gotta buck all these apples until their all in the barn." Applejack replied.
Without any warning, Aleu jumped up high, then thrust his foot onto the ground.
"Quaking Kick!"
The quake of his attack had knocked all the apples off their trees. Applejack was once again stunned by that technique. Looking back to him, he then asked, "Alright, let's gather all these apples so we can hurry up on our training!"
A while later after collecting all the apples, Aleu stretched his legs before starting off.
"Okay, if you can answer this, then I'd say you're halfway through your training already." Aleu told Applejack, which surprised her a bit.
"What body part do you use everyday no matter what?" Aleu questioned.
"Uh…your mouth? To breath?" Applejack replied.
Aleu laughed as he nodded no. "Though that is technically true, it's not the answer I'm looking for." He pointed at Applejack's legs. "Your legs! You have four, so it's only natural that you use this the most. walking, holding, hitting, all kinds of things! If you keep your feet off the ground like pegasus though, then you're not getting the everyday exercises for your kicks."
Applejack grinned and nodded. "Well, I'm not a pegasus, so I can assure you that I'm a walker."
Aleu grinned then turned to the open space. "Well, it's important to give the strongest push with your foot. If you do that, then you can get around anywhere." Aleu explained to Applejack. "For example…"
Aleu kicked the floor and suddenly he bounced up in the air.
"Push your foot onto the ground hard enough, then the reaction you'll get will be the ground pushing back on you, making you fly up in the air, the recoil effect" Aleu informed her as he then looked down again. "Now if you kick in the air hard enough…"
Aleu pushed out his foot to the ground and was sent flying to the floor incredibly fast.
"Your leg will lead you to wherever your kicking at, thrust effect." Aleu finished his demonstration.
Applejack was very impressed that such skills came so simple. She then started to prepare herself to do the same tricks as Aleu.
"So, I just kick the ground hard enough?" She made sure.
"Remember, you need a lot of power! Don't hold back until you get this technique mastered." Aleu warned her.
Applejack kicked the floor with her hind legs, and shot up into the air. Pinkie who was nearby was astounded, but Applejack seemed to be uncertain as she couldn't do the second technique.
"Whoa! H-How do you do the second one again?!" Applejack called out.
"You have to kick where you want to go!" Aleu answered.
Applejack kicked over and over, but she was not going anywhere except down. Aleu managed to jump and grab her before she fell down. Putting her on the ground gently, she tapped her hat with a bit of frustration.
"Aw shucks! I really thought I got it down." Applejack spoke. "Why didn't it work?"
Aleu held his chin and responded, "Those kicks were kinda flailing. If you don't pull your leg back enough, you won't be able to use all of your power, and without enough force, you won't be going anywhere except where the gravity takes you."
Applejack looked at Aleu with determination. "Alright Aleu, if I got the first one down, then I'll be sure to get this one too!"
She again started with the recoil effect. After flying in the air, she tried to keep calm and put her hind legs in then during her flip, she kicked. The technique actually worked, sending her flying to a tree. After hitting it, she fell down with the tree shaking a lot, which would have definitely dropped apples if hadn't for Aleu already taking care of them.
"Wow!" Applejack applauded. "I can't believe I did that!"
"Twilight was right, you have the perfect kicks for this!" Aleu stated to Applejack. "I have a feeling you still need a bit more versatility on your moves, but for now, it'll work whenever you need it!"
Applejack smiled and said, "Thanks Aleu! You really know how to make a pony smile!"
Suddenly out of surprise, Applejack give a small kiss on Aleu. Immediately, they step back a few feet. Pinkie Pie gasped and jumped into the scene.
"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" Pinkie said again and again.
"I-I didn't mean that! It was just- out of excitement!" Applejack inquired as she blushed.
"Are you sure you're just not in l-o-v-e~?" Pinkie said slowly.
"No way! Aleu just became my friend for a few days, and I have not made any feelings further than that!" Applejack claimed.
"Then why'd you kiss him?" Pinkie questioned.
"I told you! It was a reflex from the excitement!" Applejack answered.
Aleu laughed at Applejacks answer. "You're so weird! If you don't want to kiss, then just don't do it!" He said as he continued to laugh hysterically.
"Is it uh, okay if you two don't tell anypony?" Applejack asked sincerely. "Even if it was an accident, I don't want them to make a fuss about it."
"Alright, sure!" Aleu casually responded. "If you don't want anyone to hear about it, then I know nothing about it."
"Me too!" Pinkie said as she gave the expression, 'zipped tight'.
Applejack gave a small grin as Aleu snickered at her. He had no response to what just happened whatsoever, almost as if it never happened.
A while later, Aleu had walked backed to town with the two walking alongside him.
"So, what are you planning to do now?" Pinkie asked.
"Hmm, maybe we can go get some grub?" Aleu suggested.
"I don't mind to that." Applejack replied.
"Alright then, let's go eat at that restaurant." Aleu pointed to the building.
The restaurant had tables outside with other ponies sitting at a few. The three sit down on by the table and opened up their menus. Aleu was having a troubling time sitting down on the floor, because the table would be too high. Standing up was no good for when he did so, the table was too low. Applejack and Pinkie giggled as Aleu tried to find the right height.
"This is annoying…" Aleu said. He then looked over to a hay pile, then pulls it over to the table making a seat. It was the right height and now Aleu was able to focus on his menu.
"Alright, now-" Before Aleu could read, a hand grabs his menu and takes it away. Aleu looks up to see Balkin checking out the menu.
"Wow, of course they have 'hay fries', as if there were any real fast foods." Balkin belittled the menu.
"Dude! I was reading that!" Aleu groaned.
Balkin snickered as he politely hands it over to Aleu. Aleu then sees all the others coming to the table, especially Eris. They all sat down and looked over the menu.
"What is this stuff?" Aleu questioned. "Dandelion sandwich? Aren't they toxic to your stomach due to the high levels of potassium and magnesium?"
The others had their heads twitched except for Balkin, Twilight, and Eris.
"Well…Maybe, how do you figure?" Twilight questioned.
"A chef should know toxic ingredients when he sees one." Aleu replied as he looked down further into the menu.
Balkin looked up from his menu and up to Eris, then asking, "Where were you?"
"I was resting at the hospital." Eris answered. "Rarity and Fluttershy were kind enough to offer me to eat with them."
She seemed to smile a bit but was insecure about all of them. Aleu then asked, "What's with you? you don't look happy at all."
"It's just…I never have been able to spend time with people like this is all." Eris explained. "Back where I came from, all we did together was practice our archery and go to class."
"What kind of school was it?" Lucy asked.
"It was a private school. Our skills would excel to let's say, Balkin's and Aleu's skill level at a young age. The only drawback is that you never spend time to be yourself, not even in class since you had to be silent."
"Sounds like a boring school." Rainbow thought aloud.
"Well, why didn't you leave?" Rarity questioned.
"I had nowhere else to go. My parents left me there and never came back for four years." Eris replied.
The news shocked the ponies and Lucy. Balkin seemed a bit angry at her parents just doing such a thing. Aleu crossed his arms as he then said, "What a bunch of jerks."
"B-But they can't be all bad." Eris said to Aleu. "Maybe there was a reason, or-"
Aleu sighed as he said, "No, I know how you feel because…I went through living alone a couple years too. Probably the worst time too!"
Eris looked at Aleu believing what he was saying was true.
"So since you're out of that place…" Aleu continued. "We'll be you new friends and show you how to have a good time!"
Eris widened her eyes as she asked, "Y-You really mean that?"
They all grinned and nodded yes. Eris seemed to shed a small tear as she said, "Thank you…I…want to know how to be a good friend, so…please teach me along the way."
Aleu laughed as he said, "If you just stick by us, you'll learn on your own!"
Eris seemed to have smiled greatly as she could now embrace her first new friends.
Twilight was writing a letter on her desk with Spike awaiting her call.
Dear Princess Celestia
A few things have happened here which is the reason why I couldn't write you a letter earlier. One of the things to happen is that I have made a new human friend, a being from another world from a spell I used. He wasn't the only one however as we now have up to four humans in Ponyville! It's very exciting with them around, and I hope you meet them soon! They're really nice to have as a friend.
From your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle
Levitating the letter over to Spike, he blew a green flame onto the scroll and the dust of the flame was sent outside towards Canterlot.
"Well, that felt refreshing to send another letter after all this time." Twilight stated.
"Hey, you wanna hang out with the others?" Spike asked.
"Yeah, sure! They might be doing something exciting again." Twilight said enthusiastically as they left downstairs.
Meanwhile, Balkin and Rainbow were having an arm to hoof wrestle during a visit to Rarity's boutique. Eris, who was living with Rarity, was looking at all of the clothing around her.
"Do you like it?" Rarity asked coming up from behind.
"Oh! Rarity! Yes, they all look amazing, but I do wonder…" Eris started.
"What is it?"
"Why doesn't anyone here wear clothes that much?" Eris questioned.
"Well, it's not required since we all have a nice coat. I was actually wondering why you wear clothes all the time." Rarity responded.
Eris blushed and simply said, "Well, let's just say we don't have a coat like you ponies."
Rarity slowly nodded understanding what she meant. "I…see…"
Balkin was winning in the arm to hoof wrestling until Rainbow slipped her wing under Balkins sides, making him laugh and lose focus. Rainbow took the chance and pushes his arm down, winning the contest. she started to fly lightly in the air and boasted.
"Oh yeah! In your face!" Rainbow told pompously to Balkin.
"You cheated!" Balkin complained.
"Excuse me!? How in the world did I cheat?" Rainbow questioned.
"You used your wings to tickle me just now!"
"It's not my fault that my wings happened to be where it was."
"Well then, I guess this isn't my fault either!" Balkin pounced on Rainbow and started to tickle her, causing her to flail around laughing.
"Heheh, H-Hey! S-Stop that- Hahaha!" Rainbow stuttered as she laughed.
"Sorry! My hands just happened to be here!" Balkin replied.
Eris walked up to the two and giggled.
"What's so funny?" Balkin asked as he finally stopped tickling Rainbow, giving her time to breath.
"You two just look so cute together." Eris said with another small laugh.
"W-What are you talking about!?" Balkin and Rainbow replied with a red face.
"I'm sorry, it's just that you two look so happy, and…well, I guess it's just me." Eris stated.
"Y-Yeah, it's just you." Rainbow replied.
"Totally." Balkin added.
"So, what would you like to do today?" Eris asked the two. "Surely, we can do something fun."
Balkin nodded as he said, "Yeah, we can find a little game we can all play."
"Why don't we all go to Cloudsdale?" Rainbow suggested.
"Cloudsdale?" Eris and Balkin repeated.
Rarity pondered in the conversation explaining, "It's Rainbow's hometown, the name was given because it’s a town in the clouds up in the sky."
Balkin gave a worried expression. "Wait, how can we even stand on them? They're clouds."
"Twilight can help you with that. She has a spell that can let you all stand on them." Rainbow informed the two.
"Why don't we all invite the others?" Eris suggested.
"Then lets gather them up!" Rainbow declared to the others.
With the four in agreement, they head on out to meet up with the others with their plans. Splitting up, Rainbow and Balkin went alone and Eris went with Rarity since she was new to town still.
Rarity and Eris went to Sugarcube Corner and met up with Pinkie and Lucy.
"Hey Rarity! Hey Eris!" Pinkie said in that order.
"What's up?" Lucy asked.
"We were planning to go to Cloudsdale, wanna come?" Eris asked them.
"That sounds like fun!" Pinkie said.
"What kind of place is that?" Lucy asked.
"A town on clouds in the sky dearie." Rarity explained to Lucy. "Now, once we get Twilight to help us with a spell to get on clouds, we'll be able to pay a visit to Cloudsdale."
"A town in the sky!? Oh my, that sounds magnificent!" Lucy said gleefully as her eyes sparkled at the thought.
"What are we waiting for!? Let's go meet up with the others!" Pinkie commanded in excitement.
Over by Sweet Apple Acres; Aleu, Twilight, Spike, and Applejack were at the orchard while Aleu trained Applejack with her new skills. She demonstrates the new high jump technique she made with the recoil effect.
"Alright, ready?" Applejack asked the others for their undivided attention.
"Ready!" The other three said in unison.
Applejack bucked the ground, and soon she flew up all the way to the sky reaching even a cloud and Rainbow Dash who happened to arrive.
"Howdy Rainbow!" Applejack said before she used pulled both her hind legs back and thrusts them toward the ground.
"What the!?" Was all Rainbow could say.
Applejacks double hind kick made her dive down at the speed of Rainbow Dash, and then landed with a loud impact.
"Quaking Buck!"
The energy of the technique was used to make a small quake around the farm, soft enough not to cause collateral damage, but enough to send all the apples down like Aleu's Quaking Kick. The attack also managed not to leave a crater. Twilight, Spike, and Aleu applauded for her new skill.
"Amazing! You're as strong as Aleu now!" Twilight commended Applejack.
"Nice one Applejack!" Spike added.
"You certainly got the hang of it!" Aleu grinned with the pleasing results.
"Aw shucks, thanks Aleu. It means a lot coming from you ya know." Applejack replied to her tutor.
Rainbow flew down to the four with a confused expression.
"AJ! How in Equestria did you do that!?" Rainbow questioned her.
"Awesome, huh?" Aleu responded for Applejack. "Taught her a couple of tricks, and she made her own too! She even bounced off the ground even higher than me, and got down way faster too!" Aleu boasted Applejacks skills.
"Well, I wouldn't say I'm better than anypony." Applejack blushed at the compliment.
Rainbow's expression was somewhat annoyed. She then puts her forelegs on Aleu and demanded, "Okay! Aleu! You have to show me those moves!"
"What?!" Applejack reacted to the demand off guard.
"Well, sure, but when? We're done with practice today…not to mention apple bucking." Aleu smirked at the great accomplishment of using a single kick to buck all the trees.
"Tomorrow! At noon!" Rainbow replied quickly.
"Alright then! We'll do it here with AJ." Aleu responded.
"Okay…Oh yeah! I almost forgot! Me and the others were planning to go to Cloudsdale today." Rainbow remembered. "Do you all wanna come?"
"Cloudsdale? What's that place?" Aleu questioned.
"It's a town on clouds." Twilight informed him. "We'll need my spell for the non pegasus to go on the clouds."
"Why don't the pegasus need the spell?" Aleu wondered.
"We can naturally touch them like a solid object." Rainbow informed Aleu.
"Why? Is it that your coats are different from the others in which it allows you to feel them?" Aleu wondered.
The others exchanged looks at such an intelligent question.
"I…never really thought of it like that." Twilight admitted.
"That would certainly explain a lot." Applejack said as she poked Rainbow's coat.
"Hey! Knock it off!" Rainbow scolded as she swatted away Applejacks hoof.
"Geez, you're like Twilight dude." Spike stated.
"Eh heh, right. So anyways, we should meet up with the others so we can get going!" Aleu suggested.
"We're already here!" Balkins voice said to Aleu's group.
They all gathered and met up at Sweet Apple Acres. All of them, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Lucy, Balkin, and Eris.
"Balkin told me what you're all going to do today, and I'm…pretty excited…" Fluttershy spoke softly.
"Alright! Everypony line up to get your cloud spell!" Twilight told the group. Nodding in agreement, they made a waiting line. Spike was first and the glittering aura went around him. After finishing, Twilight leaned over to him and said, "Okay, go get the balloon ready, I think it's all in the closet."
"You got it!" Spike assured Twilight that he understood.
After he left to get the balloon, Twilight went on with the others to give them the spell.
Over by Spike, he entered the library and got out the balloon and the large basket. He pulled all of it out slowly since it was pretty heavy. As Spike went outside with the equipment, he bumped into someone behind him. Spike turned around to apologize.
"Sorry about that! Didn't see you-"
Spike looked up to see Mark. Spike was about to scream, but his mouth was covered by Mark's hand. Mark then pushed Spike to a wall and threatened him.
"I'm not going to kill you as long as you don't scream. I'm not even going to capture you, got that?" Mark said in a dark matter.
Spike nodded with fear in his eyes. Mark grinned as he said, "Good. Now listen carefully. I was planning to just sabotage the balloon ride you were going to have, but then that's be a waste on a capable fighter like Aleu."
Spike's eyes widened hearing of that name. Mark leaned in closer as he said the next words more clearly. "Now, all you have to do is lead Aleu to the Wonderbolts coliseum after it finishes its closed. I don't care how you do it, as long as he's alone so I can capture him, got it?"
The dragon only glared at Mark. Mark's grin disappeared and then threatened. "Okay then, I'll just kill that unicorn you live with. Are you alright with that?"
Spike's eyes widened again and nodded 'no' rapidly.
"Then you bring just the boy and you'll be fine. Don't warn the others, don't get in our way, and everything will be peachy." Mark explained. "Oh, and if you wondering if you could tell them by whispering or whatever, I'll have you know I'm gonna be nearby you at all times, whether you think so or not."
Mark then pulled out a bottle with black goop. He splashed on the ground and jumped into it like it was a hole in the ground, then disappearing into the black goop along with it.
Spike sighed as he said, "I don't want to go to Cloudsdale anymore…"
"Oh, but you have to!" Mark's voice was heard from the basket. Spike took a look inside it to see no one there.
"How are you doing that!?" Spike questioned.
"I doubt your puny mind could comprehend dark matter's abilities! Now remember our deal." Mark's voice said to Spike as he now became quiet.
Spike sighed as he readied the balloon. He was kept at a tight spot on choosing to betray Aleu or lose Twilight. Either one would be awful, but what could he do now? For now, he chose to think as he readied the trip. On time, the others came with their Cloudsdale preparations done. Twilight seemed to be tired.
"Twilight? Are you alright?" Spike asked.
"I just used the spell one too many, that's all." Twilight replied.
"Sorry Twilight, I didn't want you to lose all your energy on all of us." Eris apologized
"M-Maybe you should stay here! Get some rest before you tire yourself out too much." Spike suggested hoping to save Twilight on this one easily.
"No way! If I leave her out of this friend bonding experience, I would never forgive myself!" Aleu stated. "We all need this time to get closer as a group. Perfect for Eris since we're all teaching her how to be a friend, right?"
All of them nodded. Eris walked over to Twilight telling her, "I really don't want you to get hurt, but I think…if you don't come with us, you'll feel even worse."
"She's right on that." Balkin then said. "You'll just regret it, so you have to come with us. I'll even carry you around."
Twilight looked at her human friends compassion. She smiled grateful for their advice.
"Thank you…I think I will go with all of you…" She said somewhat weakly.
Her friends cheered and got her in the basket safely. Spike moaned as he was that close to getting Twilight to safety.
On the balloon heading to Cloudsdale, the group were having a colorful time together.
"Balkin! Scoot over! I can barely move!" Aleu complained.
"Well, don't move him over here!" Applejack scolded as she nudged Balkin somewhere else.
Balkin moved over to Fluttershy, accidentally bumping her head, making her say, "Oh! Ouch…"
"That's it! I'm jumping off!" Balkin declared.
"What!? But we're so high up!" Lucy warned her brother.
Twilight and Eris giggled as the group tried to handle their space problem.
"How about I just meet you there?" Rainbow Dash suggested.
"And how are you going to do that?" Aleu asked, receiving Rainbow's wings flapping as an answer. "Oh…right."
Rainbow jumped off and flew ahead. There was now enough room to move around a bit.
"Alright, now I can finally relax a bit." Balkin sighed.
Twilight looked over at Spike noticing he still had a worried look on his face.
"Spike, is there something wrong?" Twilight wondered.
"Hmm? I'm sorry, I was just thinking about you and…" Spike stopped in the middle of his sentence.
"Aw, what a great assistant. You're lucky Twi, having someone like Spike to watch over you too." Aleu commended.
"Yes, he's certainly a great baby dragon, isn't he?" Rarity added.
Spike couldn't feel any guiltier as Aleu had just complimented him. His expression didn't change and soon they reached Cloudsdale. Upon reaching it, Rainbow waved at them to get in closer. Harboring the balloon on the edge of the clouds, Applejack tied the rope to a pole to prevent the balloon from leaving. They enter the town which was BIG. The kind of big that would match up to the city, as there were stores, restaurants, tall buildings, even some were on their own cloud. The humans were beyond belief as if this was the closest thing to a city in heaven. Of course you wouldn't call it heaven if you could just fall off and plummet to your doom.
"Okay, this is beyond cool." Aleu stated.
"I can't believe it…" Balkin said slowly.
"It's…just…wow…" Eris could hardly speak.
Lucy and Pinkie hopped around as they asked, "Where should we go? Where should we go?"
Twilight giggled at the baffled humans as Rainbow flew in front of them and declared, "Alright, since you're all new here, I'll be your official tour guide of Cloudsdale!"
They all nodded in agreement to Rainbow's plan. She grinned, happy to know they were all following her. Spike was still worried. If he chooses to save Aleu, then Twilight would be targeted. If he chooses to save Twilight, then Aleu might get captured. It was a pretty difficult situation, and even if he chooses to let Aleu get captured, how would he do it without the others noticing?
"Spike? Spike!"
He turned to the direction of the voice with a simple, "huh?"
"I was worried. Are you okay?" Lucy asked somewhat worried.
"I'm fine. I was just thinking about something…" Spike replied.
"…You're not fine…"
Spike jumped thinking Lucy had figured him out. Lucy took a moment looking at Spike, then her smile returned.
"Oh! I figured it out!" Lucy stated.
"Y-You did!?" Spike panicked.
Lucy went in close and whispered, "You're in love with Rarity, aren't you?"
Spike fell to the ground. A little girl finds out that secret when he wasn't even thinking about it.
"Don't worry! Your secret is safe with me!" Lucy giggled as she skipped over to Pinkie.
Spike was hanging his head low until Aleu came by next to him.
"You okay bro?" Aleu asked with a grin.
"Y-Yeah, just having some trouble on the clouds." Spike lied.
"Well, better get used to it! We should all have some fun!" Aleu suggested. "Rainbow! Let's speed up the tour! Take us somewhere awesome!"
Rainbow grinned at the request. "Now you're speaking my language! Follow me!"
Rainbow flew to the clouds and ran making sure the others followed. They all ran, but Rarity, Fluttershy, and even Twilight fell behind a little. Then the three humans came up behind them and picked them up giving them a piggyback ride. Eris carried Rarity, Balkin carried Twilight, and Aleu carried Fluttershy. They raced over to the next destination as quickly as possible.
They were taken to the Rainbow factory where rainbows were being produced.
"Rainbow Factory?" Aleu pondered at the falls. He took a sip and had a shaky feeling. "This stuff is gross!"
the girls laughed as Rainbow flew over and said, "Look, it's just to bring rainbows around, not for drinking!"
"Oh I get it! You let this evaporate and then let it out of the sky to produce a rainbow!" Aleu deduced.
Once again, awestruck by the complex mind of Aleu. Twilight seemed to have enjoyed this.
When shopping, they saw all kinds of wares and products.
Aleu seemed very interested in the red cloud cooker. He toyed around with it as it was like a microwave. You can stuff your food in the red cloud, then press the button to make the cloud cooker heat up your food. Aleu enjoyed it most of all because it did not require electricity and was toxic free. Twilight who was with him enjoyed the talk about such technology differences with him.
Balkin, Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, and Lucy were at the arcade. They all played some games like bowling or basket toss. One of the most memorable was the two on two fighting arcade game. Lucy was cheering the four on while Balkin and Pinkie went against Rainbow and Applejack in this two on two videogame. Surprisingly, Balkin and Pinkie had won against the two. Rainbow and Applejack gracefully accepted defeat…well, Rainbow said it was Applejack's fault at one point.
Eris was with Rarity looking at the many fabrics, looking at the many lovely designs while outside Spike, Fluttershy, and Aleu were eating ice cream.
"Hey, Spike, can you give this one to Rarity?" Aleu requested dragon as he gave him the ice cream.
"Uh, yeah, sure." Spike replied.
He got up and went to Rarity. getting her attention, she looked to see her gift.
"Oh Spike! Did you get that for me?" Rarity questioned.
Before Spike could reply, Aleu came in interrupting his answer. "Oh! that's why you bought two cones!"
Spike was confused until Aleu gave him a wink. "Spike, what a nice dragon you are!"
'Does everypony know I have a crush on Rarity!?' Spike thought in his mind.
Rarity levitated the cone and took a taste. "My, that's very kind of you Spiky Wikey~!"
Rarity gave a kiss to Spike, making him blush redder then cherries. Aleu laughed as he went back outside. Spike was only feeling guiltier on letting Aleu go into the coliseum.
Speaking of the coliseum, Rainbow had conveniently lead them there. Spike started to panic.
"W-Why are we going here!?" Spike questioned.
Rainbow stopped and flew up to Spike saying, "What do you mean why!? We're here to see the Wonderbolts!"
"Wonderbolts?" Aleu repeated.
"Yeah! They're like the top fliers, in Equestria!" Rainbow praised them.
"That's funny…" Aleu thought aloud. "We have an air force in our world called the Thunderbirds."
"Really? There are humans that can fly?" Twilight wondered.
"No, no human can fly on their own, so we have a vehicle called a plane or a jet, which can be driven or maneuvered. Basically, it's like riding a gigantic speedy pegasus." Aleu explained.
The ponies were impressed to hear such technology.
"Wow Aleu! Your world sounds amazing!" Pinkie commented.
"Thanks! But enough of that! I wanna see what these top fliers are all about." Aleu stated.
They all went in and bought their tickets. Going deeper into the stadium, the roar of hundreds of ponies cheering for the pegasus flying leaving smoke and thunder for their trails. As the ponies scooted in for their seats, Aleu remained standing as he let the breeze of the stadium blow through his hair.
"Aleu?" Fluttershy called out. "Is there something wrong?"
Aleu awoke from his daze and blushed as he apologized, "Sorry! it's just…they kind of remind me of the Thunderbirds."
"You…actually know them!?" Balkin reacted surprised.
"Well, not really. I got a little face time, but nothing else." Aleu said as he stared at the Wonderbolts. "You're right Rainbow, they're simply superb."
"See? What I tell ya!?" Rainbow shouted to Aleu.
Indeed, they all loved it. The spectacular tricks cannot simply be imitated without teamwork as perfect as theirs. A while later, the show had finally ended and the crowd took its time getting out. Upon being outside, the day had almost ended. Spike knew what he had to do. Painfully, he walked over to Aleu.
"A-Aleu…!" Spike stuttered as his shoulders were raised up high and his face was scrunched and in frustration.
"Spike? What's wrong?" Aleu asked worried for his health.
"Do you…Can you come to the coliseum with me?" Spike asked.
"Oh sure!" Aleu happily said. "Listen, just between us, that Spitfire was totally off the hook! I wanna get her autograph before we leave, you think we can do little run back and forth?"
Spike couldn't believe how easy it was. Aleu was going to enter the coliseum either way. As Aleu held his claw and brought him close to the entrance, Spike would at times try to stumble or trip to slow them down.
"Dude, you okay? You're dizzier than Twilight." Aleu pointed out.
"N-Not really." Spike admitted.
"Oh shoot…How about I carry you?" Aleu suggested, doing so without hearing an 'okay' from Spike.
They entered the coliseum grounds and no one was there. Spike started to sweat as Aleu got closer to the center.
"Hello!? Hello!?" Aleu called out hoping to hear an answer.
"Maybe they're not here anymore, we should turn back!" Spike suggested.
"Hold on, I want to stay just a bit longer." Aleu replied.
Suddenly a black goop appeared behind Aleu. Mark stepped out of it and then pulled out a few nails and a hammer. Like a tennis racket, he used the hammer to hit the nails launching them to attack Aleu. Spike notices immediately and warns Aleu.
"Dude! Behind us!"
"Nail Shot!"
Aleu notices in time and jumps away with Spike dodging the nails making a dent to the non cloud structures. Aleu glares at his brainwashed friend.
"Mark…" Aleu growled.
"Ah, nice to see you Aleu." Mark replied. "Thank you Spike for leading him here."
Spike started to sweat as Aleu asked, "What do you mean Spike lead me here? He only came with me so I can get an autograph."
"You idiot! I told Spike to lead you here so I could capture you." Mark informed Aleu.
"Spike, is this true?" Aleu asked the shameful dragon.
"I…only wanted to save Twilight…" Spike replied.
After a moment, Aleu sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness! I though you hated me!" Aleu stated.
"What? Y-You're not angry at me?" Spike questioned.
Aleu grabbed and hugged Spike as he said, "Thank you Spike…for helping the others…"
Spike noticed he cried in joy as he sets him down and readies himself to fight Mark.
"Alright Mark! Bring it on!" Aleu called out.
"What, do you really think you can beat me? You said it yourself that you were the weakest of us three. What makes you so sure you can defeat me?" Mark questioned.
Aleu simply grinned as he said, "Cause I'm not a mindless puppet!"
Mark blew a fuse and rushed in at Aleu. Mark's attempt to bash missed, as Aleu managed to jump away in time, but then a hammer struck his back.
"Hammer-Rang!"
The hammer struck Aleu down and it went back to Mark. Spike was shocked to see a technique like that. Aleu got back up as he groaned, holding his back.
"D-Dang…Just like back then!!" Aleu recalled the fight with Mark back then.
Mark then pulled out a drill and puts a few bolts on it. He aims it at Aleu and out comes the bolts, heated due to the friction of the customization of the drill.
"Bolt Flare!"
The bolts were hot and singed at Aleu's arms. He screams in pain as it burns his skin. As Aleu fell to rest, Mark walked up to him. In the moment of terror, Spike's bravery puts himself between Aleu and Mark.
"Move…!" Mark commanded the dragon.
"N-No way!" Spike rebutted.
"Move or else!" He said again with a threat, pulling out three nails.
"No! I'm done taking orders from you! I…I…rather die with my friend than hand him over to you!" Spike declared.
Mark only looked down as he pulled out his hammer and tossed the nails up, about to hit them.
"Little fool…" He said lastly.
"You're the fool!" Eris's voice called out, as an arrow pierces through Mark's arm.
Mark fell down as he saw his right hammer arm bleeding.
"D-Dang it! Who did that!?" Mark called out.
"I did." Eris revealed herself upon the bleachers of the coliseum. Mark pulled out his drill and shot the heated bolts.
"Bolt Flare!"
The bolts were shot, but then stopped in midair. They were levitated by Twilight who stood by Balkin ready to back her up.
"You…you're all here, aren't you?" Mark deduced. "Was this a trap for me?"
"No, it wasn't!" Applejack called out to Mark. "But when you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!"
Mark was surrounded. The ponies had him in the middle, making him at a disadvantage. Mark gritted his teeth as he glared at all of them.
"You think you won!? I still have one more trick!" Mark told them all as he pulled out two hammers, both having a golden mallet on top. Aleu looked up to see, making him panic.
"Everyone! Off the stadium grounds!" Aleu warned all of them.
Mark slammed both hammers to the ground and the entire coliseum cloud surface was no more. everyone managed to get to higher clouds while Aleu, Spike, and Applejack were on one lone cloud.
"He busted the surface cloud in one slam?" Rarity pointed out surprised.
"But, where is he?" Lucy wondered.
Aleu pointed to the boards hanging off the clouds. Looking closer, Mark was building a pathway with wooden two by fours towards Aleu.
"Boardwalk!"
Aleu saw that his leftover cloud shared with Applejack and Spike made them an open target. Mark stopped building the platform, and jumped to the three.
"What do we do!?" Spike panicked.
"Hold on! I got this!" Applejack claimed as she kicked the flooring. however, as she did, she busted her part of the cloud and fell off with Spike.
"Whoa!" The two screamed.
"Hold on! I got you!" Rainbow declared. "Fluttershy! Get Spike!"
"R-Right!" She replied.
The two pegasus flew down to save the falling duo. Aleu was left alone on the cloud, and was bonked on the head by Mark's two hammers.
"Double Hitter!"
Aleu fell off the cloud as Mark took his place on the platform.
"ALEU!" They all screamed as he plummeted down to the very earth of Equestria. Rainbow and Fluttershy couldn't help since they were saving Applejack and Spike, and he was too far down.
Mark sighed. "You made me kill him. Great."
Balkin glared at Mark. "I swear if you weren't brain damaged right now, I'd beaten you dead!"
Mark turned his gaze over to Balkin. "I'll have to kill all of these bystanders so I can just round up the humans and get a move on."
"Oh no! Ponies! Take cover!" Eris warned them.
They all did as told and found something to hide behind. Mark pulled out his drill and this time had a clip of nails. he then shot it all over the place like a machine gun.
"Rapid Twister Nails!"
It was like a mafia shoot down. The nails were breaking clouds and structures. Balkin and the other humans had no choice but to take cover as well.
"Dang it! Are all of Aleu's friends this insanely strong!?" Balkin cursed.
Marks shoot out soon came to an abrupt stop by Spitfire who came from underneath the cloud coliseum. Mark glared at Spitfire stopping his attack like that.
"You just have a death wish, don't you?" Mark said to Spitfire as he pointed his drill at her.
"Hey! Don't forget about me!"
The voice sounded like Aleu, but it couldn't be. Looking down, Balkin and everyone else were in disbelief. Aleu was…running on air!? They couldn't believe it, not even Mark. He took only deep breaths seeing Aleu's new skill.
"I gotta say I was coming to save the kid until I saw…this!" Spitfire explained.
"H-H-How are you doing that!?" Mark questioned frantically.
"Heheh, I have no idea!" Aleu admitted. "I was just trying to save my friends, so I tried running after them, even though it did me no good running on air…well, that's what I thought."
Mark stood back and was about to run, but the lone cloud had sealed his fate. Aleu rushed in before Mark could react, and with Spitfire, the two lunged at Mark in the air with Spitfire spiraling around Aleu, creating a tempered kick.
"Kick of Spiraling Spitfire!"
The flaming kick knocked Mark out of the stadium and onto the bleachers, creating a cloud crater. Aleu ran on the air and to the now unconscious Mark.
"Mark! Please wake up!" Aleu cried out.
No response.
"Please! You gotta! I…need to know…did you…really want me dead?" Aleu said quietly.
"…..Of course not dummy…" Mark replied in his sleeping state.
"Mark!?"
Mark opened his eyes slowly and held his head.
"Oh man…what happened? I was just about to drink some Milky way Smoothies and then…Aleu!? What happened!? Why are you burned…by my bolts!? What did I do!?" Mark started to panic.
Aleu slowly smiled s he started to laugh. He then hugged Mark crying once more.
"Thank goodness…this is the real you…" Aleu gratefully said.
"Um…mind telling me what's with all the ponies? And why we’re on clouds?" Mark questioned.
"Maybe later…" Aleu replied. "For now…can you take me to the hospital?"
"Eh?"
Aleu fainted on Mark. He then started to panic.
"Oh man! Someone! Get a doctor! He needs medical attention!" Mark pleaded.
All of them got up and ran to his aid. A while later, Aleu awoke in the hospital of Cloudsdale. It was much softer than the one at Ponyville. With all of them awake, Mark was informed of what's been going on so far.
"Grr… Whoever did that is totally gonna pay!" Mark growled. "Again, I'm so sorry of all the trouble I caused you, let alone the pain I gave."
"It's alright dude." Balkin replied. "But your right on one part. This guy is going down! I'm gonna beat him until his face looks like nothing but bumps!"
"Aleu, are you alright?" Twilight asked.
"I'm better than okay! This was the best day ever!" Aleu cheered. "Not only did I get Mark back to normal, but now I can literally run on air! Applejack! Once I get this skill handled, be prepared to fly high!"
"Really!? Alright!" Applejack cheered as well.
"Oh, what!? But I can already fly!" Rainbow pointed out. "This isn't good news for me!"
"Hey, Rainbow mane, it's not all about you ya know." Mark remarked.
"What'd you say Marker!?" Rainbow scolded.
"Marker!? You're one to talk clown wig!" Mark yelled back.
The others laughed while the two were bickering at each other. Suddenly, Spitfire came in the room. Rainbow was shocked and breathing heavily. She walked over to Aleu with a smile.
"That was some pretty sweet running out there kid." Spitfire commended him.
"Thanks!" Aleu replied. "Oh hey! Can I get your autograph?"
"My autograph? Sure, but I think I should be the one asking you that!" Spitfire chuckled.
"Really? Why?" Aleu wondered.
"Come on! You gotta admit those were some pretty sweet moves out there!" Spitfire explained as she signed her name on a note, then handing it over to Aleu. "Here you go kid."
"Alright, now hold on a second…" Aleu replied.
He wrote his name on a note as well and handed it over to Spitfire, the two then traded autographs.
"There! Now I have a memory of you, and you have a memory of me!" Aleu casually grinned as he said so.
"Well, thanks kid! What was your name?"
"Aleu."
"Nice to meet you Aleu. See you later!" Spitfire said farewell as she left the room.
Rainbow flew to Aleu and said, "You're so lucky! you just fought alongside with her, and you got an autograph from Spitfire too! Oh my gosh!"
"Is she…that much of an idol to you?" Aleu questioned.
"Of course she is!" Rainbow stated.
"Then…can you take care of this for me?" Aleu requested as he gave the autograph to Rainbow.
"You…you want me to hold on to it?" Rainbow replied.
"I think you can do it better than me. So can you watch over it? Please?" Aleu asked once more.
Rainbow blushed knowing Aleu was actually giving it to her. "Alright then…Um…thanks!"
"Says the clown wig." Mark scoffed.
"What's you say!?" Rainbow scolded again.