Your Wings Were Made For Angels

Chapters

Dangerous New Foe
The Seventh Element
Past Future Friends
Dead Race
Friendship Is Magic
Questions And Answers
The Art Of Sacrifice
Revelations
Finding Hope
Jokers At Heart
Don't Know What You've Got Until It's Gone
Beseeching Promises
Paranoia
Forgive And Forget
Oh, Those Summer Nights
An Average Year Of Onslaught
Live And Let Die
Epilogue
The Calling
An Unnexpected Arrival

Dangerous New Foe

Chapter 2: Dangerous new foe

The six ponies gathered at the door to the library, each arriving at nearly enough the same time, except for Rarity, who was fashionably late of course, though still keeping the urgency of the letter in mind and arriving after no more than two minutes with Pinkie Pie after the two pegasi turned up. There was an awkward and electric tension that hung in the air, five of the friends congregated in a tight circle around Twilight Sparkle, who had her head bowed low and whose horn was glowing intensely, and getting brighter with every second. She had been working on a mass-teleportation spell in what little spare time she found in her day after her studies. This happened after the Discord incident, if and when, just like now, Twilight and her five friends needed to be in Canterlot as soon as possible, which would be instantly if she could pull this off. The fastest non-magical route into the city was by the train that ‘bounced’ between Ponyville and Canterlot once every hour, constantly keeping the two settlements connected as best they could. The train ride itself only took twenty five minutes, but Twilight could cut that down to five with the right amount of power.

She practiced multi-body teleportation with spike numerous times in the short couple of years after Discord, and each session they would teleport further away from their previous record. However, Twilight had yet to practice with another pony, let alone five! This would be the furthest distance with the heaviest payload she had ever attempted. This thought made Twilight nervous, even though her calculations were accurate to less than a two percent probability of error. Thinking this helped her to relax a little and focus more on her powerful spell.

“What’s she doing?” Rainbow Dash turned and whispered loudly to Spike.

“Sshhhh!” Scorned the purple dragon just as loudly. After he shot Rainbow Dash a silencing look, they both turned simultaneously towards Twilight, who was frowning intensely at the ground, eyes sealed shut. “Twilight’s gonna use a spell to send all of you to Canterlot instantly, she just needs to build up the energy first, sort of uh, ‘charge’ it.”

“What about you?” Rainbow asked.

“Twilight said I should stay here and look after the house while you’re gone. In case any customers turn up.” Spike replied.

“Customers?” Asked rainbow Dash, confused.

“Well it is a library, after all…” Spike answered, very ‘matter of fact-ly’, trying to embarrass the blue pegasus as least he could.

“Oh. Oh right…” Said Rainbow Dash, falling quieter, maybe to let Twilight concentrate.

“Well how long is it going to take?” Asked the impatient as always pegasus, who was fidgety, yet trying her best to remain quiet.

“Twilight said it’ll take about four or five minutes to get the right amount of power.” Reported Spike.

“Is that important?” Commented Rainbow.

“I guess.” Replied the baby dragon with the best false intelligence dismissal he could muster, refraining from saying “Well obviously!”, for he knew more about magic and books from the lavender unicorn's studies than he did about himself and his own kind.

It was true though, thought Twilight as she listened in to her friends' conversation, she had a margin to work with, even though it was a relatively thin one. She did have to get just the right amount of magic behind the spell, too little, and they wouldn’t teleport far enough, or, in the worst case scenario, leave a pony behind. Too much power and… Well, Twilight didn’t exactly know what would happen, but it couldn’t be good, and she didn’t want to risk it: magic was a mysterious and incredibly destructive force when used incorrectly.

Twilight Sparkle focused her mind on building power, beads of sweat starting to form on her forehead. Her horn grew even brighter as she summoned the power of her soul and channeled it into the bright horn via a sequence of symbols and incantations. Her magical anatomy was so bright now, in fact that nopony – not even the strong-willed and resilient Rainbow Dash could look directly at it for more than a couple of seconds.

“Whadd’ya suppose is going on?” Whispered Applejack openly.

“I’m not entirely sure.” Replied Rarity solemnly from under her hat.

“Oh, why do you guys think it’s something bad?” Pinkie piped up, “So what if it’s not as happy as we,” she giggled, “Or at least I had imagined?”

“Pinkie’s right!” Rainbow Dash chimed in, forgetting very much to whisper, though it didn’t matter, Twilight had shut off her sense of hearing to be alone in her head with her thoughts. “What if it is something bad? Can we do anything to stop it anyway?” She asked, looking around the group, all of whom’s eyes fell to the ground the moment Rainbow crossed them with her own. “And that doesn’t matter at all. Even if it is something dangerous like Discord or Nightmare Moon, if we come together, nothing can stop us!” Rainbow concluded her short pre-battle speech and gazed around the group.

“Yeah,” Applejack was the first to speak. Rainbow Dash brought her eyes to meet Applejack’s as she looked back up from the floor. “If we all stick together, nothin’ can stand in our way, y’hear!” She cried triumphantly, a frown of determination framed on her face as she maintained the empowering eye contact with her rainbow-haired companion. “I’m in!” she declared.

“Me too!” Chimed Pinkie Pie.

“Me three!” Called out Rarity.

“Oh, um yes, I’ll do it too.” Fluttershy added. “Um, woo-hoo’!’” She cheered softly. Apparently not all pegasi have a natural war cry.

The five ponies giggled at Fluttershy, who was blushing and trying to hide her rosy cheeks behind her mane until they were silenced by Twilight’s voice.

“It’s ready.” She declared, unmistakable traces of self pride and satisfaction in her heavily labored voice.

The five friends closed in on Twilight, looking anywhere but her face to avoid that blinding light. As they drew closer, even in the heat of the day, they could feel intense warmth radiating from Twilight’ gifted horn.

The purple unicorn in question was breathing quite heavily, as if she had just sprinted a lap around an Olympic circuit. In-between gasps, she managed to speak out “Everyone… touch… my back…” The other ponies complied, each placing one hoof on Twilight's heaving back.

“Together?” Rainbow Dash said, looking at Pinkie Pie for whatever reason. Perhaps she found confidence in her bright blue eyes, and hoped Pinkie did the same.

“Together!” The five replied almost simultaneously.

Twilight Sparkle began to pant rapidly, emitting brilliant white light that caused all of the ponies to seal their eyelids shut, even Spike, who now stood at a considerable distance from Twilight shielded his sensitive young eyes from the bright light with his forearm. Twilight cried in what sounded a lit like pain before showering the group in a copious field of purple sparks, followed by a loud explosion that shattered the windows in the library and knocked spike to the ground, making him smack his head on the floor, baked hard by the hot sun.

After a short moment, the young dragon climbed to his feet and shook the spinning world still, trying to focus his blurred vision on where Twilight had been standing. Nothing remained except for a small crater, probably caused by the shock wave.

Spike sighed contently, before a little worry invaded his nerves. “Twilight,” he said aloud to himself, looking into the distance in the general direction of Canterlot, his vision back to normal, but obscured by snow-capped mountains and valleys. “Please be okay.” He asked fate with genuine concern. He looked upon Twilight as his sister as she was the only family he really had. Or at least knew he had. He found himself calmed by his great trust in his carer’s magic. He could tell she was okay. His happy thoughts transformed into annoyance the moment he realised that he was going to have to be the one to clean up all this glass…

The six ponies flashed into existence just outside Canterlot’s city walls, luckily just before the moat as the drawbridge was closed, revealing a steep, slippery bank that receded into clear, blue water. There was a loud explosion at this end of the line too, which, due to being on a mountain echoed loudly around the cliff faces for a good twenty seconds after the group appeared in a flash that would have blinded any poor individual who was unfortunate enough to be looking directly at it when it happened.

Five of the six friends appeared standing, holding Twilight’s back, just as they had done at the library, except here, just outside of Canterlot, Twilight finished her scream of agony that lasted only a second before she collapsed under her friend’s hooves out of severe exhaustion from her intense energy purge.

Alarmed, twilight’s friends rushed to her aid in the form of lots of “Are you okays?”. Twilight was on the verge of unconsciousness, both from the searing pain she had felt when exerting so much magic so quickly, and also from how drained it made her feel.

“Yeah… I’m fine…” Whispered Twilight, barely audible as she tried to force back tears that the pain brought about, which was now mercifully starting to feel much better, though the spell had left her with a slight headache. “I’m fine.” The purple mare whispered again, barely any louder than before. She opened her eyes half way, still immensely tired from the wicked spell. She was pleased to see that it had worked.

“Ah, Twilight Sparkle, I presume…” Came a voice, strong but at the same time somehow gentle from one of the city battlements. The guard had seen the flash out of the corner of his eye, and he sure as hell heard the explosion, barely audible now, but still echoing around the valley like a distant rock slide. He released his ears from the back of his head and awaited a response.

Twilight managed only to groan.

“Uh, yes, sir, we’re here to see the princess.” Applejack informed the guard.

“I know.” He replied, signalling to the guard in the battlement on the opposite side of the drawbridge to lower the immense wooden door.

As the eccentric drawbridge tilted to grant the ponies access to the city, the guard who spoke first piped up again: “I must say, I’m impressed.” He said lightly. “Being a pegasus, I can’t confide with the strains of magic, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a pony teleport herself and five of her friends simultaneously. And judging by your state, I’d say you worked damn hard. Good on ya’!”

Twilight released a second groan, which was more of a happy sigh towards the compliment.

The heavy drawbridge lowered with a thud that made the ground tremble a little as it kicked up some dust from the dirt path which quickly settled on top of it.

“Twi, can you walk?” Asked Applejack, concerned. Twilight tried, and failed, only managing to place her right foreleg on the ground beside her head and apply pressure, which only resulted in trembling. She continued to push to no avail until Fluttershy placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder to steady her.

“Please don’t push yourself, I’d hate to see you get hurt.” The worried yellow pegasus said calmly.

Twilight stopped pushing and closed her eyes and sunk her head to the floor. She felt awful. She felt defeated.

“Would you like some help, Sugarcube?” Asked Applejack, eager to assist her friend who had taken it selflessly upon herself to bring them all to Canterlot, resulting in the unicorn injuring herself in the process.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to be a bother.” Replied Twilight weakly, which was the polite way, in her mind of saying: “Yes, please”.

“No bother!” The orange Earth pony insisted with a smile. Who then proceeded to slide her head under Twilight’s stomach and scoop her exhausted friend up, down her neck and onto her back.

Twilight felt like nothing compared to the cartfulls of apples she ferried around endlessly day to day. Many ponies would turn their noses up at such a life, but Applejack didn’t shy away from a bit of hard work and relished every day of it. She enjoyed the fresh air and family-orientated workload. Barely a day went by when she wondered why she’d ever even thought of leaving her family’s farm for Manehatten. Even to this day, she kicks herself for being so foalish.

“Okay, there, Twi?” Applejack called out, looking up at Twilight as best she could from underneath her friend. Twilight’s legs hung loosely at Applejack’s sides and swung in a pendulum-like manner as she walked.

“Thank you, Applejack.” Twilight said softly into her carrier’s ear. “You’re a good friend.”

“T’aint nothin’.” Replied the strong workpony as her load gave in to exhaustion and fell into a motionless sleep on her back with a sigh and a smile.

The walk up to the castle was a pleasant one, though nopony forgot entirely about why they were there, or rather finding out why they were there, they couldn’t help but admire the beautiful city. The cobblestone roads that connected streets and shops were much different to the dirt tracks they were used to in and around Ponyville, both aesthetically and how they felt underhoof. The whole city seemed to speak for its self; clean, elegant and expensive – Rarity’s kind of town. There weren’t apple and cake stands littered around the white cobbled streets, instead, expensive-looking jewellery and coffee carts stood uniformly at each side of the road, each with fancy sounding names in an unfarmiliar language and skyrocket prices that seemed perfectly reasonable for the many well-established unicorns that inhabited the city.

All of the ponies, except for Twilight and Rarity felt very out of place here, and Pinkie Pie was too awe-inspired by pretty much everything to care. But the most uncomfortable, by far, was the country born and raised Applejack. And not just because she had a sleeping pony on her back. Everypony was giving the group looks as they walked up the straight and long road to the castle. Applejack received most of these looks, or so she thought, making awkwardly apologetic eye contact and nods with various ponies who looked down their noses at her. Wait, apologetic? Why did she feel apologetic? She was sorry that the other ponies had to look at her? Not on. She started to become offended before overriding that assumption with the one that ponies were staring at her because she had an unconscious pony draped over her shoulders.

“Could we uh, pick up the pace a bit, y’all?” Asked Applejack, forcing a very fake sounding laugh into her voice and looking around at the disapproving faces. What were they all thinking?

“What’s wrong, A.J?” Rainbow Dash responded.

“Well… I don’t like being the centre of attention, and Everypony seems to be starin’ at me.” Said the out of place pony. “I feel uncomfortable about it. I think they’re judgin’ me…”

To her friend’s defence, the brash pegasus stepped in front of the orange pony and turned to a large group of ogling unicorn stallions who were whispering amongst themselves and pointing.

“If you have something to say, you’d better say it to my face!” She said this loud enough to not be shouting, but for other eavesdroppers to hear as well. The stallions and many others who were staring turned away and went about their business they should have been doing in the first place.

“Rainbow!” Applejack growled loudly and angrily through gritted teeth.

“Yeah?” Replied Rainbow Dash, turning around as she walked, so she was walking backwards, facing the embarrassed orange pony.

“What’re you doin’?” She asked in the same tone through her teeth, her cheeks burning crimson.

“Well, I could see they were getting to ya', and I just wanted to make you feel better… You know, I didn’t have to say anything at all.”

“Well it’s embarrassin’.” Said Applejack, who had calmed down a little by now.

“Look at it this way, at least nopony is giving you looks anymore.”

It was true. Though it was embarrassing at the time, Rainbow Dash had spared her from the icy stares she was getting.

“Feel free to thank me whenever you want.” Said Rainbow Dash, giving Applejack a playful punch on the shoulder.

“I’ll think about it.” She joked, shaking her head and smiling. She was right, though. Everypony seemed to be going about their daily business, sure she still got looks, but they were legitimate ‘what’s going on?’ looks, rather than cold, judgemental ones. And those who did turn their gaze soon returned to their crowded schedule.

As the six, well, five conscious ponies made their way to the castle, they noticed less and less ponies around as business and residence were scarce out here, and as it were in the big cities scattered throughout Equestria, few ponies took time to enjoy nature and stroll around their local parks. This could be said for the path the five were walking down now. Dappled sunlight leaked through the canopy and cast droplets of light onto the path that had changed rather suddenly from white cobblestones so sandstone slabs to dirt tracks they were happily familiar with. The five ponies found themselves wandering the castle gardens, still making their way hastily to said castle, but allowing time to enjoy the nice change in scenery and the peace and quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the patting of hooves on the pathway and the wind rustling through the green leaves, stirring up the foliage and making an ambient hiss above.

Everything seemed more elegant in Canterlot, even the blossom petals that littered the roads in Ponyville were somehow nowhere to be seen out here. Occasionally, the group would pass another pony or a couple out walking in the park, who somehow always seem to carry a friendlier aura than the other Canterlotians in the city. There was light conversation between the group as they walked. Fluttershy was saying something to Rarity about the life cycle of phoenixes; after taking care of Philomeena, she had become fascinated with the creatures, taking out several books defining mythical beings at a time from Twilight’s library and returning them only a few days later, asking for more. Once again, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were having a heated discussion about who was faster, stronger and pretty much the better athlete out of the two.

“Alright then.” Declared Applejack, “Next Applebuck season, let’s see who can collect the most apples. Bruised and broken ones earn minus points.”

“You’re on!” Said Rainbow Dash fiercely, “I could do it in half your best time with my eyes closed!”

“And your wings tied?”

“With my wings tied. And one of my forelegs too if you want to.”

“Y’know, Rainbow,” Applejack started, “T’aint just about speed. Buckin’ apples requires technique-“

“Power!” Rainbow Dash interrupted.

“Not necessarily.” Replied the Earth pony, shaking her head. “I’ve got a technique that’s been perfected from since I was just a little filly. Y’know, after I decided to uh… stay…” She finished speaking solemnly. Whenever she thought about what she did, she always managed to confide with the point that if she didn’t do it then, to come back when she was young, she would still be wondering whether the farm was what she wanted. She may not even have her cutie mark! But alas, fate works in mysterious ways.

She didn’t like to think much more about the topic, she was afraid she would change her view and complicate things. No. She had a happy life and she didn’t want to change that.

Rainbow Dash could see that Applejack was lost in thought, and was frantically trying to think of something that didn’t sound too strange to break her out of her own mind.

Rainbow’s efforts, however, were cut short by a stirring and groaning from Applejack’s pony accesory. The work-orintated earth pony had grown used to the added weight and grew comfortable with Twilight sleeping on her back, enough to ‘forget’ about her entirely. Twilight had become comfortable too, yawning loudly and turning all of the pony’s attention towards her. They all fell silent as they watched the purple unicorn wrap her forelegs around Applejack’s firm neck and bury her face into the ‘taxi-pony’s’ blonde mane.

A moment was allowed to pass before Applejack said with a grin: “Uh, Twi, y’ mind loosening yer grip a tad?” Her comment was followed up by eruptions of laughter from the other ponies, all at Twilight’s expense.

The five ponies laughed hysterically at Twilight, who was looking all around her into the grinning faces of her friends, embarrassed beyond belief that she had snuggled down into her ‘bed’ made of pony as if she were at home. Twilight said a very grateful “Thank you” to Applejack before sliding from her back, who stopped to let her down once the others had all slowed to a stop to have a good laugh.

“Okay, girls.” Said Twilight, her cheeks still burning from the incident, “We need to see the princess, remember.” Twilight was feeling much better than she had been a while ago, yet her head still throbbed softly with every heartbeat.

She waited for the other ponies to calm down until they were nearly silent, allowing the odd scoff or snicker to escape their mouths.

“Gee, out cold for three weeks and when she does come round, all she can-“ Pinkie Pie was cut short by a very worried Twilight.

“THREE WEEKS!?” She exclaimed. She remembered falling asleep, but had she really been out for three weeks?

The pink party pony started laughing once again before saying in between waves of laughter. “No!... More like… Twenty minutes!”

Twilight looked completely lost and concerned before realizing she had fallen straight for another of Pinkie’s typical jokes. The purple bookworm let a smile slip through her lips. It was genuine. She did find Pinkie Pie amusing most times, however it became a little tedious at others. Happily, Twilight found the situation that of the former.

They carried on walking down the quiet path before it opened out onto a great clearing, the dirt path being crushed by heavy marble slabs, polished to a high shine but enchanted to provide grip somehow. There was a little hedge, about knee-height, running along the length of it. The castle rose up in front of the team as they drew closer to it. Even after seeing it several times in the past, the great white masterpiece jutting out from the side of the near vertical mountainside still never lost any of it’s breathtaking beauty. Huge spires of gold and purple glistening in Celestia’s gorgeous sun, accompanied by fluttering pink flags that frantically beckoned the six towards the awe-inspiring building. The grand front doors were open in anticipation of the group’s arrival and there were two guards under strict instructions not to let anypony in unless it was Twilight and her friends.

“Come on, girls, there’s not a moment to lose!” Twilight encouraged, breaking into a gallop across the marble floor.

One of the guards had already begun inspecting a portrait of Twilight and her friends the princess had given him when he saw the colourful team emerge from the tree line. The white pegasus, layered with high karat, finely polished gold armour kept glancing from the paper to the approaching ponies. He could see instantly that these were the ponies his princess wanted to see, but better safe than sorry, that’s how he’d gotten himself into the royal guard anyways.

Before she had a chance to speak, the guard on the right said to Twilight “The princess is expecting you. Go ahead in.”

His statement caused the sensible purple unicorn to recoil, reasons being both in that she had intended to address the guard first, and also because his voice didn’t match his appearance in the slightest. It was very deep and rather hoarse, but compared to his age, which Twilight would have put at around seventeen years, part of Twilight assumed he had been affected by some freak magical voice-altering accident.

“Oh. Thank you, sir…” Twilight said awkwardly. “Come on, girls. Let’s go see the princess!” She called to her comrades with some regained confidence as she returned to a gallop and entered the castle courtyard, closely followed by her friends as they made their way to the throne room, where the princess could relive them, and explain what the hay this was all about.

Twilight and her friends ran into the throne room. It was lined with spectacular stained glass windows separated with colossal stone pillars, some windows depicted the history of Equestria, others showing great battles in the past. Including the events where the six had used the Elements of Harmony to save Equestria twice before. All of them – especially Twilight – were taken back by what they saw. The princess wasn’t sat atop her throne and there were no guards in sight. Instead, she was pacing back and forth in front of the large gold steps that led up to it. She walked just off of the red carpet that seemed to split the room in half before turning and walking in the other direction. Twilight didn’t like the whole atmosphere that hung in the room. It felt so heavy, maybe there was a physical presence. No, that was silly. But the biggest thing that filled Twilight with fear was the look on her dear princess’s face. Twilight had seen Celestia shocked, confused, even angry sometimes… but she had never seen the princess scared before, and right now, the regal white alicorn appeared terrified.

Twilight instantly made the assumption that something catastrophic had happened, or, she swallowed nervously at her own thoughts, was about to happen. She called out after seeing her princess in such a way. “Princess Celestia! What’s wrong?”

“Ah, Twilight!” Sighed the princess, relieved that her go-to team had arrived, but also dreading what she knew she now had to say…

She procrastinated the time by asking how they got there so fast, she was expecting to wait another twenty minutes at least before they showed. This calmed her nerves ever so slightly: she had a little more precious time to explain herself.

Applejack was keen to sing twilight’s praises. “She used the most powerful spell, I ever did see, our Twilight here!” Twilight blushed. “Teleportin’ all six o’ us here to Canterlot took all the energy out of her, though. But she got back up and kept soldierin’ on!” Applejack finished telling her friend’s story for her and shot a grin at Twilight, who looked to Celestia out of embarrassment. She wasn’t used to having other ponies big her up, but to say she didn’t enjoy it would be a lie.

“I’m very proud of you, Twilight sparkle.” The princess spoke up. “But there is something I need to talk to you about, all of you, and I’m afraid I- we don’t have much time…” Celestia said, the solemn tone returning to her voice.

The six ponies now grew worried. What was so serious that princess Celesta, ruler of Equestria, who possessed power strong enough to raise the sun and the moon every day was… frightened. Of course, recently, princess Luna had resumed her role in controlling the moon. Though she had been stripped of her dark powers by the Elements of Harmony, Celestia still kept a discerning eye on her sister, just to be on the safe side.

“What do you mean?” Asked Twilight, who was sceptical as to whether this was a drill or not.

“There’s something I haven’t told you…” Celestia started. She took a deep breath, quiet and gentle, before speaking again. “There is an old folklore that has been passed down countless generations through my family. I still remember the time when my mother first told me. I just took it as an old mare's tale, but the story had signs that went with the climax. Firstly, the weather will become much hotter than usual, without the influence from my sun. Next, the stars will flee from the sky. Which, I never thought were possible until last night. I wrongly guessed my sister was up to something when I saw no stars in the sky. I unfairly assumed that it was her who took them away, I just didn’t want to believe…” Her voice cracked ever so slightly.

Twilight and Celestia herself noticed this as soon as the last word was uttered, and she quickly turned away from the young pony’s disbelieving eyes before she lost all dignity. “I - the last sign is something that the story called ‘the Kerous Being’.” Before Twilight could ask, princess Celestia answered for her, “I’m not sure of what that means, or what it might be, all I’ve ever had was the line from the prophesy…”

The princess closed her eyes and paused to take breath, and gazed to the heavens as if she was trying to recall the memory from the dark depths of her mind. But she wasn’t, that story had been eating away at her subconscious all her long life. And recently, it was all she could think about.

“The ghosts of gods shall flee the sky,
never again to guide the young ones by.

Though hope was planted, it shall bear no fruit,
before the time comes when it is severed from its root.

Do not have fear in death; rather accept her cold embrace,
and all the love shall vanish without a trace.

To a time before all is lost, a savoir shall rise and bring forth the Rife,
true to all, practicing the art of sacrifice.

Fail he may, but succeed he might,
and return the silence to the dead of night.

Owed nothing but his life, consumed in dormant, eternal fire,
the champion of your heart will never tire.

With not but a prayer, and compassion like no other,
the core of passion may tear many a lover.

When all is over, and the meadows be calm,
the patron of the light shall weep her own balm.

In the fall of the world in time and after,
the Kerous Being shall rein disaster…”

Princess Celestia finished. She slowly opened her eyes and just as slowly turned to face her subjects, who were hanging on every word she spoke. There was silence for a short lived moment. That kind of dead, meaningless silence where the brain refuses to accept what has just happened, like when a close friend or loved one dies. All ponies looked hopefully into Celestia’s deep purple eyes for some glimmer of emotion. She gave them nothing. Strangely, Rainbow Dash was the first to dare to break the moment.

“What… what’s ‘the Rife’?” She asked with as little emotion in her voice as there were in Celestia’s eyes.

“The Rife is a conduit of pure power in pony form. He holds the potential to wield the magic of a god.” Celestia explained, her voice growing more cogent as she spoke. The other ponies stared at the princess in confusion. So many questions still need answered.

“But you’re our god, princess.” Twilight argued back, in a tone which could have been mistaken for a whine.

Celestia smiled and walked across the room to gaze out of one of the clear windows, overlooking her kingdom. “I merely share a role with my sister in bringing about day and night, raising the sun in the morning, and lowering it in the evening. To create seasons, I bring the sun closer to Equestria and make it travel slower across the sky in spring and summer and the reverse for autumn and winter.” She spoke with false modesty: the cycle of the sun and seasons were essential for life to thrive throughout Equestria and she knew this, but she wasn’t one to brag.

“But, you’re the only pony with magic powerful enough to do such a thing!” Exclaimed Twilight, growing irritated with the princess for being so modest and light-hearted with a subject as meaningful to her as life and death.

“Granted, we alicorns are the only ones who can control celestial bodies, but that comes down to species, not power. No matter how strong a unicorn becomes, he or she will never be able to posses the instinctual power of an alicorn.” Celestia said in response to Twilight’s gush of emotion.

“And what about a god?” Rainbow Dash demanded.

“Well that’s different.” Celestia replied bluntly. “A god is a being who can create matter from absolutely nothing, and life from the most unlikeliest of places. Such an act is impossible… even for me.”

“What’s actually going on here, princess?” Rainbow Dash asked eventually out of nowhere.

“The prophesy went on to give a date in which this event would occur. That’s why lately, it’s all I can think about.” She confessed. “I had hoped it wouldn’t happen during my rein, as the prophesy foretold, but it seems as though it has it has.” The princess finished, disappointment and hopelessness in her voice.

"Well what day is it?" The rainbow maned pegasus pried, taking one step closer to the princess.

Celestia's eyes seemed to lose some of their spark as she solemnly mumbled the response. "...Today..."

“And what exactly is going to happen?” Asked Rainbow Dash, who wasn’t paying much attention earlier.

Princess Celestia turned to look Rainbow Dash straight in the eyes and answered blankly, “The end of the world…”

There was a short pause before Rainbow Dash, and only Rainbow Dash, started to laugh.

“Oh! Ya got me there, princess!” She scoffed. “For a moment there, I thought you were serious!” This comment received an intense glare from Celestia, which Rainbow thought was still part of the ‘fun’. “I didn’t take you for a prankster, your majesty!” She continued, wiping a small tear from the corner of her eye.

“You think this is a joke?” The princess asked in a voice that held nothing but a sense of disbelief in what she was hearing.

“Oh boy…” Twilight thought silently. She had seen the princess like this once before. She never found out what is was over, but, given circumstances like now, it can’t have been something petty.

“Do you think I’m joking!?” Celestia repeated, this time, her voice was flooded with anger.

Rainbow Dash stopped laughing immediately, realising that the princess was in fact, very serious. It took only half a second to sink in, but before she could start making her sincere apologies, Celestia invaded her senses by expressing just how upset she was.

“You think this is FUNNY!?” The usually calm and collected princess screamed as she raised her mighty wings and stormed towards Rainbow Dash, forcing her into a cowering mass in the corner or the great hall. The scene had shocked the five other ponies into disbelief and all they could do was stand there and watch.

“All my life, that damn rhyme has haunted my mind, and now, when it is coming true, all you can do is laugh at me!?”

Rainbow Dash made a squeak that was supposed to come out as “Sorry.”

The enormous alicorn towered over the little blue mare as she continued her rant.

“I’ve lived for thousands of years! Any time I felt even close to serenity, that damn prophesy was always there to bring me back down! THAT, and..." She trailed off, biting her bottom lip to stop herself from saying what could have been a horendous secret or dark memory.

She began another point a little more quietly than the previous one, yet her words still pulsated with rage. "I had to send my sister, my own sister, to the moon for a thousand of those years because of something she tried to do that was half as dangerous! How do you think that made me feel? You think I was eager to seal away the only pony who I have known forever, who was always there for me since my parents DIED?” Rainbow started to squeal again, but was cut short by the furious alicorn, her eyes pinpricks as she glared at the mass of blue feathers and rainbow coloured hair. “NO! I WASN’T!”

She ambled away, practically glowing red, leaving the pegasus who had curled into a tight ball and was now quivering like a traumatised little filly to recover on her own. As the princess neared the center of the room, she slammed her hoof hard onto the marble floor and let out one last venting scream. “DAMN IT!” And with that, a shock wave erupted from her horn, shattering all of the beautiful windows lining the high walls into thousands of shards of colour.

The only sound that could be heard for a solid minute was the sound of the last pieces glass falling from their frame and smashing on the floor and of two frightened pegasi cowering on the ground sobbing. Twilight’s quick brain was still trying to process what had just happened when her thoughts were interrupted by a single, quiet but deafening sniff from princess Celestia. A single tear ran down her white cheek and fell to the cracked floor.

“Princess Celestia?” Asked a sorrowful Twilight, gazing over to her princess for any sense of explanation.

Celestia took a long, deep breath and held it in, clearing the worst of the gloomy clouds from her head, without the help of a pegasus. “There is but one hope…” She said. This is what everypony wanted to hear. Their ears pricked up and their attention turned instantly to the princess. Even Fluttershy stood up and wiped her eyes.

“The Elements!” Exclaimed Twilight. Newfound hope in her eyes.

“No.” Replied Celestia. “Against The Kerous Being, the elements on their own are effectively powerless.”

As soon as the hope had appeared, it drained from Twilight.

“The prophesy talked about The Rife – a god in pony form…” Explained Celestia.

“And where is The Rife?” Asked Rarity, who had been listening to the situation carefully from the start, assessing every piece of information given before providing an answer or an opinion. Or in this perspective, asking a question. That’s how she did things, and that's usually when things worked out.

“Pinkie Pie.” Celestia said.

“WHAT!” All the ponies and Pinkie Pie cried simultaneously.

Rainbow Dash looked up from the safety of her own arm at the surprised cry.

“I understand you have encountered trans-universal interaction…” Celestia enquired.

“Trans – what, now?” Asked Applejack, finding herself lost for not the first time today.

“You know, other universes!” Replied Pinkie. Everypony stared at her in disbelief towards the statement. “What?” She asked, clocking the stunned faces.

“Pinkie!? What are you talking about!?” Asked Twilight, ever so slightly envious of the pink Earth pony’s extended knowledge.

Before Pinkie could reply, Celestia spoke up. Though she had calmed down a lot from her outburst, the glass still continued to fall around them as a reminder of the violent moment they (quite ironically) once displayed in their frames. “As I assume you are aware, Twilight, our universe has many neighbours…”

“Yes…” Twilight said slowly, keeping up - barely - urging the princess to go on.

“Well think of each universe as a bubble floating around in nothingness.”

“Whadd’ya mean, ‘nothin’ness’?” Asked Applejack pointlessly. She knew that she would get no simple explanation, but she also knew that that was what everypony was thinking, and she thought she might as well contribute to the conversation.

“You see…” Started the princess. Applejack forced a false frown in fake thought, and made out she was concentrating on what the princess was saying. “In the space between these universe… bubbles…” The princess was interrupted by Pinkie Pie.

“Oh, oh! Can’t the universeses be balloons?” She asked, bouncing on the spot.

Celestia turned her attention to the leaping Earth pony. The four other ponies recoiled, expecting the same response from Celestia towards Pinkie as it were towards Rainbow, who was silently watching from her corner.

However, learning about how outlandish she had been beforehoof, the princess simply shook her head and sighed.

“Everything’s always about having fun with you, isn’t it, Pinkie Pie?” She asked.

“Life’s a party!” Replied the bubblegum earth pony, ecstatic. Rarity shivered; a serious case of déjà vu.

“Commendable attitude, I must admit…” Celestia commented with a smile. Pinkie went one further and beamed in response. “In the space between the universes, there is literally nothing, no time, no air, no physics and no magic. Now, these, ‘balloons’ of other universes contain multiple ‘layers’. This is known as the multiverse theorem, a chain of alternate universes where every possible eventuality exists. As one decision in the past is made, the course of time splits into two or more of these ‘layers' to accommodate the possibility of each outcome…” She paused from her lecture to see how the ponies were following. When all she received were blank faces, she decided to continue anyways. “Think of it this way: in our own universal balloon, this:” She motioned all around her with her right foreleg in a big arc, “is a path created when you and your friends stopped nightmare moon. There is another layer, or plain, parallel to our one where you failed.”

“Ya' lost me.” Said Applejack, utterly bewildered.

“I think I understand…” Twilight noted, stepping closer to the princess and drawing her friends’ attention to herself. “You’re saying that our universe is littered with thousands of other realities, and our universe has thousands of other universes surrounding it.”

“Yes, however you’re missing one detail.” Replied the princess. “There are billions of other universes next to ours.”

“Wow.” Twilight remarked in incomprehensive awe.

“Our closest universe, known to me as Proximare Centaur can easily be entered through telepathic unacceptance. Uh – ‘breaking the fourth wall’, if you will.”

“What does that mean?” Asked Twilight, feeling something she seldom felt, a misunderstanding.

“If one can open their mind to the possibility of such an act as not a physicality, but something in the brain to overcome, like pain for example, then one would be able to communicate with, and even enter the other neighbouring universes.”

“So, what do you need Pinkie for?” Twilight asked.

“Because I need her to teach me how to do such a thing. In Proximare, there must be the solution to our problems...” Answered the princess. “It’s a long shot, but I... I just have a feeling…”

“There is!” Chimed in Pinkie Pie.

“There is!?” Celestia echoed.

“Yeah, they call that universe ‘Earth’.”

“How do we get to it?” Asked Celestia desperately.

“Like you said, you have to have ‘telepathic unacceptance’.” Replied Pinkie, starting to hop lightly on the spot.
“Can you teach me how?” The princess asked.

“Right,” Started Pinkie Pie, growing serious for a brief moment, her light frown still failing to relinquish her comical nature, however. “It’s like this, every so often, the edges of these universes overlap and when they do, you can pass into the other universe. Simple!” She finished with a big grin. "Oh, I could have said you can pass through! Then it would have rhymed!" She added with unrivaled glee.

“How can we know when one of the universes touch?” Princess Celestia felt like an interrogator, churning out questions a mile a minute. But she kept the fact that it was all very necessary in mind.

“When you see those pretty lights in the sky.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, Pinkie…”

“You know, those big green spiky lines that look really beautiful!”

“Auroras?”

“Yeah! That’s it! The only thing in the sky that pegasus-es-es can’t control! Whenever I see them, I'm always like: 'Oh! Oh! They can see us!'” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing up and down all the while, her cotton candy styled mane whipping her in the face. "But even though they're there for like, twenty minutes, nothing ever looks back..." She added with a breath of remorse.

“Of course!" Celestia gleefully cried. "Forever, I’ve wondered what auroras were! I never even thought about them being universes crossing over! That’s why we can’t control them, because they’re not actually part of our universe! Thank you, Pinkie Pie!” Princess Celestia galloped across the room in delight, the little pink pony had rekindled her hope and possibly helped save Equestria! She bowed her neck, allowing Pinkie to hug it tightly. The rest of the team also formed in the group embrace, and Twilight light-heartedly corrected her pink friend from earlier,

“I think you mean Pegasi, Pinkie…” The group laughed in the happiness of the newly burning hope, before an innocent sound was heard from behind Celestia.

She raised her head up and looked over her shoulder at a small blue coated pegasus staring at the floor, standing a small distance away from her.

“Rainbow Dash?” The princess asked.

“Princess…” The rainbow – haired pegasus started, looking up at the large alicorn, “I’m so sorry for earlier…” Her eyes were still slightly bloodshot from crying and she couldn’t find anything else to say other than “Can you ever forgive me?”

There was a thoughtful silence before anypony spoke. And it was princess Celestia who broke the silence. “Rainbow Dash…” She started, “Do you remember when you won the best young flyer’s competition?”

“Yeah.” Rainbow replied.

Celestia turned around to face her subject with her full form. “Do you know why I chose that it was you who should have won?”

“Because I did the sonic rainboom?” Dash answered in monotone.

“No, it was because you showed true loyalty to your friends. The sonic rainboom was only necessary for giving you a burst of speed in which to save Rarity and not one, not two, but three of the wonderbolts. And you knew that... That is what true friendship is all about, and nothing can take that away from you.” This being said, Rainbow Dash raised her head as if a heavy weight were being lifted from it. She looked deeply into Celestia’s dark eyes and let her continue. “You are a wonderful, bright, beautiful and amazing young mare, Rainbow Dash, and by far the best flyer in Equestria in everyone's eyes…” A heart-warming smile grew on Rainbow’s face as this was spoken with passion. “And I’m not just saying that. I only hope that you can forgive me for acting like such a tyrant…”

Rainbow’s eyes welled up again, but this time, tears of joy flowed forth. “Oh, Princess!” She cried, running over to enrol in a second group hug. And as the connection was made again with her friends, and her princess, the magical warmth of friendship filled her soul with happiness. And while the love coursed through her veins, and the gentle breeze wafted through the empty window frames, carrying with it the scent of spring, between the seven friends, that negative event was erased from the past…

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. How… Touching…”A disembodied voice descended and shattered the moment. The sky became a blood red and grew ablaze with auroras.

“Wh – what’s going on?” Asked Fluttershy, cowering behind Twilight, though her purple friend was none the wiser.

“What’s going on, princess?” Twilight echoed the timid pegasus’ words with more strength and concern.

“I – I don’t know…” She lied.

“Oh, princess… I was hoping for far more of a warm welcome than this…” The voice continued, echoing slightly after every word it spoke.

“Who are you? Sh – show yourself!” The princess demanded.

The voice chuckled lightly, “Hmhmhm. I think you know all too well who I am, your majesty…” The voice emphasised its last words, mocking Celestia’s title.

Just then, a cloud of dark smoke ripped through the hall, causing everypony to cough and shield their eyes. When the air cleared, princess Celestia turned to face the owner of the voice. She focused her attention to the enormous dark blue being stood atop her throne.

“Kerous.” The word came out as a shaky whisper.

“Oh, so you do know who I am!” Replied the creature with very sarcastic - sounding pleasure. He was huge. Easily twice the size of Celestia, and the throne could barely support him. “I’m glad you were expecting me, it gets ever so lonely these days.”

He took a step down one of the solid gold stairs. They groaned under his weight.

“So, what now?” Celestia challenged, “You just kill us all and wander off in search of more victims?”

“Ahhh, you would not believe the amount of times I’ve heard that, Celestia. It’s not going to work…” Kerous quickly and easily batted away Celestia’s guilt trip and grinned evilly through those piercing yellow eyes.

“How do you know my name?” Celestia demanded angrily. It was a stupid question; Kerous knew everything, which he quickly let the princess know.

He pretended to examine his claw. “You know, I quite like this world. I may keep it for a while longer than usual, have my fun... play my games...” Said the dark blue... something. He looked like a stallion, but had razor-sharp talons and a very dark blue – nearly black mane that fell from his body in rigid, untidy spines. And those eyes, they were the very definition of evil. They were entirely yellow, with a slight de-colouration to indicate where his ‘pupil’ was.

“Why do you do these things?” Asked Celestia, waiting for an opportunity to teleport.

“Everything has to end eventually.” Kerous replied, tired of saying that same line hundreds of times before. “I see a world that I believe to be worthless and merely put a stop to it.” He finished, turning his attention from his claws back to princess Celestia.

The alicorn wrinkled her nose. “Spoken like a true devil.”

“Humph,” Kerous frowned, “A god or a devil? Such petty differences…”

“I’ll let you know the difference between a god and a devil, or rather, The Rife will!” Celestia said triumphantly, pointing her gold - clad hoof at a place behind the dark blue demon.

“WHAT!?” Kerous bellowed, rotating on the spot to look at whatever the princess had motioned towards.

“I’m sorry, my little ponies.” The princess rapidly called out before bursting into a shower of white and gold sparks as she teleported into the aurora, and into Proximare.

“NO!” Shouted Kerous, realising he had been distracted by the oldest trick in the book.

The six ponies looked at each other, exchanging expressions which were a mixture of fear, confusion and dispear. The princess had… left them. They exchanged the worried glances before their attention was stolen by the devil when he spoke.

“No matter…” He said darkly, his voice returning from concern to that sarcastic evil. “I can still have some fun with you…” Kerous glared over his shoulder at the terrified ponies, a sinister smile curled over his face, revealing jagged, and no doubt razor-sharp teeth.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and started to cry. Rainbow Dash stepped in front of the group and opened her wings as wide as possible.

“You’re not getting my friends!” She shouted at the enormous being, her fear and hopelessness transforming into anger and courage.

“Ahhh, Rainbow Dash, if I’m not mistaken…” Enunciated Kerous, starting to amble over towards Rainbow and her friends, who all except Fluttershy stood at her side and faced that monster.

“I don’t want you.” He announced in a bored monotone, waving his claw in a sweeping motion, causing everypony but Rainbow Dash cascading into the corner where she had been crying earlier. “I want you.”

His crooked smile increased as he brought the five ponies from the corner and levitated them in the air against the wall, disallowing any of them to move. Not even to blink. Twilight tried and failed to use her magic. This was some form of mind power she had never even heard of. Kerous didn’t need a horn to summon magic; somehow he did it in his head. The five ponies watched helplessly from the sidelines as Kerous picked Rainbow Dash up by her wings. She tried to regain control, but even with the strong wings on a pony like her, it was useless compared to Kerous’ powerful magic. She began to panic as she felt her wings slowly start to bend the wrong way. She flailed her legs and shook her head madly in some hopeless attempt to wriggle free. The pain intensified until a sickening snap was heard. Rainbow Dash stopped struggling and her eyes widened in pain as she was released and fell the short distance to the floor. She crumpled on the hard marble surface with a heavy 'thud'. She let out a scream that only went as far as a muffled whimper as the fall winded her. Kerous allowed the other ponies to blink once to prevent their eyes from drying out. This wasn’t a problem however, for Fluttershy and now, it seems, Pinkie Pie.

“Stop this NOW you sick bastard!” Rarity screamed at Kerous, who heard her, but chose not to listen.

He picked up the shaking pegasus from the floor by her neck, just under her head with the tips of two of his talons. He was careful not to spear the pony through the throat, but rough enough to draw blood. As the two lines of bright red life fluid slowly made their way down Rainbow Dash’s neck and onto her body, Kerous brought her up to his eye level and glared into the rose coloured pinpricks. He waited for her to say something. Rainbow’s eyes brimmed with tears, slightly from pain, slightly form fear, but mostly because of the frustration and hatred she felt towards this brute.

“I’ll never let you hurt my friends!” She said through clenched teeth as bravely as possible, the sound of her voice pulsating with hatred. He stared into her angry eyes, and she stared right back.

“I wasn’t planning on it…” He replied as he slammed the pegasus into the floor and made a scoop with his left claws. Rainbow was frozen with shock, and all she could do was watch as the razor-sharp hand dug into her body just above her waist and continued to slice until it hit the floor. The other ponies screamed in pure terror and Rainbow would have joined them, but the only sound that came out of her mouth was a watery gurgle, accompanied by a spurt of blood that covered her chin in red. Kerous forced the screaming ponies to continue watching the horror as he made a second scoop with his right claws and dug them into Rainbow Dash just below his left hand. He scraped his right hand across the floor, taking with it Rainbow Dash’s hind legs. The five ponies’ screams intensified as they were released from Kerous’ tight telekinetic grip and fell to the floor in a heap. He picked up the gasping half of the pegasus and threw her into the pile of her friends, showering them with blood. Rarity’s dress was ruined, but she didn’t even notice.

Satisfied that his work was complete, Kerous disappeared into a plume of black smoke and rushed out of the wide open doorway.

“Rainbow!” Pinkie cried as she crawled on her knees towards her quivering friend. The pink pony cradled her blue friend’s head in her forearms as her eyes brimmed with fresh tears. “Dashie?” She asked, looking into those beautiful rose eyes.

Rainbow Dash looked up at her best friend and shakily, but forcefully said “L-life’s a p-party, P-Pinkie… never f-forget th-that, okay?” Pinkie pie nodded as she felt Rainbow’s hoof against her cheek. She brought her own up and held it there as her best friend sunk into, and died in her arms.

Pinkie sobbed and pushed her muzzle up close to Rainbow’s head. Her usually bouncy mane had deflated to a straight, lifeless mess. “I love you…” She whispered into the deaf ear and went on to heave uncontrollably into her friend’s colourful mane, muffling her screams of emotional agony. The rest of the group cried together in an embrace. Applejack remembered back to earlier, when the very pony she saw now broken in front of her had stood up for her in Canterlot. She had joked with Rainbow Dash, and thought she knew that she was grateful. However, she had never actually told her how grateful she was. And now she never could. She collapsed into tears and joined in the hug. The friends sobbed quietly in the fading light, their hopes and dreams shattered, much like the stained glass all around them.

The Seventh Element

Chapter 4: The seventh element

“Where are we?” Jak asked, staring at nothingness. Nothing but total blank whiteness stretching out endlessly in all directions.

“The space between our two universes.” Celestia confirmed.

“Wh- what do we do now?” Asked a slightly nervous Jak. He felt scared by the enormity of what they were both doing, but found much strength by Celestia’s side. If he were alone, the case would be very different.

“Now… we wait.” The princess gently replied, turning her head to check for something that blatantly wasn't going to be there.

“For what?” The human enquired, following the large mare's gaze with an off frown of confusion as to what exactly she was staring at.

“For the two universes to cross." Celestia replied, promptly turning her head back to face the teenager. "Then we can enter Equestria.”

“Well how long will that take?” Jak asked with a sense of urgency, not because he was impatient, even though it was in his personality, but because he felt rather ill from his very first teleportation experience and didn’t want to have to do anything like that for some time. Also, the two appeared to be… floating. Not weightless, but standing on… nothing… To say the least, the experience was odd; only adding to the mix of uneasy feelings within his stomach.

“Honestly… I don’t know…” Answered Celestia glumly. “It could be a couple of minutes, maybe a couple of hours. It may even take a few days!”

“A few days!?” Jak repeated, then he sighed loudly.

“At a worst case scenario. I estimate we will have to wait two or three hours at the most. Auroras are quite frequent over Equestria.”

“Wait, what? Auroras?” Jak asked, half confused, but balanced with relief that he had enough time to get all of his questions answered, or at least the ones that mattered anyway.

“Ah, yes. You see, when our two universes cross, auroras are seen in the sky-“

“Wait, wait, wait. Auroras are created by solar winds hitting the atmosphere.” Jak interrupted, butCelestia didn’t take offense. After all, their two worlds were very different and there was much to discuss: the two were very alike. Strange, how they became instant friends after knowing each other for barely an hour. Both Jak and Celestia enjoyed greatly conveying their ideas of a ‘larger perspective’ of life and what mysteries could never be answered, but it was still nice to wonder.

“Solar… winds?” Celestia asked, puzzled by this new terminology.

“Yeah. Do you not have those in Equestria?”

Celestia shook her head. “What are they?”

“Well,” Jak started, unsure as to why he felt like such a preacher, “A solar wind is where magnetically charged particles hit the planet’s atmosphere and collide with other particles in the atmosphere, causing coloured lights in the sky. These are the auroras on Earth, anyway. But they only really appear to the North of the planet...” Celestia stared blankly, and Jak stared back, slightly at his knowledge on the subject. “Is that not how it works in Equestria?” only after saying it did he realise what a stupid question it was. For one, Celestia had already declared her lack of knowledge concerning the Northern Lights and judging by her expression, had no idea what he was talking about in the first place.

Before she could reply, Jak answered bashfully for her. “I guess not, huh…”

Celestia chuckled softly. By now, it was dawning on them both how astounding all of this seemed; conversation, breathing, existing. But no matter, trying to understand something like this was way out of both of their leagues.

Jak found himself aware of what a majestic moment this was to begin with: standing here, next to a creature of mere fantasy. There were countless others who would give their lives and more to be where he was right now; he probably didn't deserve this - yet the solitary young man had refined being left alone - in a sense, practiced being on his own on regular occasions.

This thought delta was becoming too vast for Jak to handle, so the conversation quickly turned back to its source.

“So,” Celestia began, her voice spiking to redraw attention to the conversation. “What questions would you like to ask?”

“Uh, well…” Jak thought only for two seconds – or what two seconds would be, if time existed – before consulting: “What will happen to me when we get into Equestria?”

“What do you mean?”

“Will I stay like this, or will I change into a pony?”

“I can’t be sure. But, if such a thing were to happen…”

“Yes…”

Celestia looked down – or was it up – in thought. “You’re The Rife.”

“The Rife?” Jak looked puzzled

“I am sorry. I’ll explain everything…”

The princess recited the story in depth before explaining the legend in a dialect somepony could actually understand. She then told him what had happened the day she left.

“But… they’re okay, Twilight and her friends I mean, or they will be when we stop that… what was it?”

“Kerous.”

“Kerous. Right.”

“Well…” The white equine muttered. Here comes the multiverse theory again, Celestia thought with a sigh...

...

“So… Equestria was destroyed?” Jak asked sorrowfully.

“Yes and no.” Answered Celestia nonchalantly. “In another reality Equestria was destroyed. But we’re going back to a time way before that. To change the future of the reality that will survive.”

“And just when is that?” Jak enquired.

“A little over a year before Kerous arrives.”

“Is that before, or after Discord?”

Deciding not to grill Jak over his knowledge about one of the most devious foes Equestria had encountered, Celestia . “Just short of a year after Discord. It’ll be mid-Autumn, personally my favourite season.” She smiled, remembering the colours, smells and harvest that her fall delivered.

“What kind of pony will I be?” Asked Jak with the anticipated excitement of a child on the eve of their birthday.

“You’re The Rife. Most definitely, you will become an alicorn like me, that is, if you change at all.”

Jak gasped in amazement. He would be… a god! Celestia was happy that he was overjoyed about the whole situation. SHe was self-assured that the human would deteste losing his current body with which he had become rather accustomed, but judging by his reaction, the situation was clearly that of the opposite.

“That reminds me…” Celestia used her magic to withdraw some sort of beige garment from her flowing pink, green and blue mane.

“What’s this?” Asked Jak, eyeing the piece of material shrouded in a pearlescent aura accusingly.

Celestia went to laugh, but reminded herself that articles of quadruped clothing were slightly different to the ones… He was used to. “Pardon me for asking, and please don’t take offence to this but… what actually are you?”

“Huh?”

“What I mean is; I’m a pony. And you’re a…”

“Oh. I’m human.”

“Hm, interesting…” The princess stared thoughtfully at another corner of nothingness. “Anyhow, another alicorn sighted in Equestria will certainly turn some heads, and maybe some of the wrong ones, and I won’t be there when you arrive... I’m sorry.”

“You won’t be there?” Jak asked dumbfoundedly.

“I’ll be in Equestria, but we won’t have met.” The princess explained.

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m from the future; I don’t ‘belong’ in the past.”

“So, where do I go?” Jak asked, taking the piece of equine clothing from Celestia’s magical grasp.

“That is a vest.” Said the celestial mare. Jak held it at arm’s length and inspected it, rotating it to different angles as if he was trying to expose its secrets. “It’s elasticated, as I don’t know how big you will be. I had a pony named Rarity make it for me: it is of the highest quality. If you change, put it on to cover your wings. If one of my guards saw another alicorn anywhere near Canterlot, he may think you are threatening my throne.” Jak furrowed his brow in the fact that he would never even dream of doing such a thing.

“As for where you go when you arrive…” the princess put together a plan quickly. “Go and see a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. She lives in an enormous hollowed out tree that serves as the library in a town called Ponyville. You can’t miss it.” Jak didn’t need to be told this; “Go see Twilight” would have done. “She’ll point you in the direction of my castle and could maybe get you inside.” Celestia finished.

“Right. Got it.” Jak replied, satisfied. “I just have one more question…”

“Anything.” Celestia answered.

“What if I don’t change?”

The princess frowned thoughtfully, though her eyes were narrowed and her pupils were sharp, she still maintained a persona of the kind and caring princess everypony knew and loved. “Go with the same plan. Twilight Sparkle will want to bring you to me. Let’s just hope that you do transform into a pony; it will save a lot of confusion and hassle.”

And it would be awesome… Jak mumbled in his thoughts.

What felt like two hours of deep conversation had passed before a sound that wasn’t the princess, or her companion was heard. It had probably been a lot longer, but neither of the two characters seemed to notice.

“What was that?” Asked Jak, shaking slightly in lieu of the unusual sound.

“It’s time.” Celestia replied sharply, becoming alert to her bleak surroundings. The sound in question was the single, sweet chime of a crystal bell. The chimes became faster and faster, like the timer on a bomb before becoming a single ringing noise. It was deafening, and at a ridiculous frequency. Both Jak and Celestia covered their ears to prevent the pain increasing on both sides of their head.

Jak’s Earthly clothes panicked in a strong ‘wind’ that blew towards them, at each side and behind them. Other sounds like hushed whispers in the night joined their thoughts, almost inaudible over the screeching of that damn bell.

“WHAT’S GOING ON!?” Jak screamed towards Celestia, failing to become louder than the sounds that bombarded both their heads.

All of a sudden, the voices, the bell and the ‘wind’ stopped. Dead. There had never been such a silence. The human and the pony released the hands and hooves that were clamped as tight as vices against their heads and looked questionably at each other, trying to find answers in one another’s eyes.

Just then, before either of them could say a word, two enormous scars of colour and light ripped across the space in front of them, making both Jak and Celestia recoil at the proximity of the slashes.

Not allowing Jak to awe at the beauty of the view inside the rips in space, Celestia forcefully pushed him towards, but not into the reality.

“What do I do!?” Jak cried, turning to face the princess as the wind that had sprung from the gap scratched at his clothes once more.

“Find yourself! You’ll know exactly what to do once you’re there! Speak to Twilight!” She shouted over the roaring of the rushing wind as she drew herself up level with Jak. “On three, jump!”

“WHAT!?” Jak cried.

“Trust me!” The princess shot back dramatically.

A moment of tender eye-contact was shared. Jak could see the truth behind Celestia’s eyes. He said nothing, simply biting his lip and nodding nervously in agreement before turning his gaze back to the huge rip in front of him.

“One…” Celestia began. Jak tensed, ready to jump through the hole.

“Two…” She continued. Jak raised his arms into a fighting stance, grasping the thin vest tightly in his right fist.

“Three!” both Jak and Celestia leapt into the tear as it proceeded to re-seal it’s self from the other end. His white trainer barely made it through before the opening shut tight behind him, leaving nothing the way it was.

From white to black, he found himself falling. Or at least, that similar sensation. He looked to his right, and then to his left. Celestia was nowhere to be seen. After a while light and air began to materialise around him. He could see the stars, the enormous white moon and a rolling landscape, blanketed by a shroud of night. Only after marvelling at the feeling of flight, the human realised he was in fact falling. And fast. He tried to slow his decent the best he could; spreading out eagle to try and glide or ‘float’. This was a futile attempt and he quickly convinced himself that he was going to die. As the earth below quickened on him, he could faintly make out the pathway separating what looked like trees into a grid like formation. If he were to land in one of those trees, maybe he would have a chance.

As he tried his best to position himself above one of the larger looking trees, he felt a strange sensation atop his back. Well, rather two strange feelings, as if someone was lightly pulling on his skin. He turned his focus from the tree line to the sky and was barely able to question to himself: “Wings?” before he plummeted head-first into the top of the tree.

Branches snapped and twigs whipped at his entire body he felt his decent painfully slow down before feeling a heavy smack on the back of his head. And everything went black.

His eyelids peeled open to reveal lush green grass, amber leaves and sticks everywhere. The sky above him boasted early signs of dawn, a powerful pink glowed over the horizon, forcing the purple night to retreat to the west. These beautiful colours stretched across the sky, uninterrupted as there was not a cloud in sight. He could feel a throbbing pain to the rear of his brain and his body felt heavy with post-unconscious tiredness. He groaned, shaking the sleep from his head and trying to remember what happened. But when he tried to stand, his arm collapsed underneath him and crumpled under his weight.

He allowed a “What the-?” from his lips before examining his hand. He almost feinted out of shock when he found himself looking down upon a brilliant-white, fingerless hoof!

Jaw agape, he darted his eyes over to his other arm. The same sight as his right hand greeted him. That was all the wake-up call he needed. And a memory jog was complimentary too. He remembered leaping through a tear in total whiteness with Celestia. And then he was falling. And then everything went dark. Celestia wasn’t here now though, he confirmed as he scoured his surroundings. He remembered the conversation they had had before she left him. “She didn’t ‘belong’ in the past.” That’s what she told him. It wasn’t the first time he felt alone. But it was one of the rare times he felt bad about it.

He attempted to raise his body from the soft, but prickly grass again, and this time, with much more ease. He carefully placed the flat side of his… hoof… on the ground in front of him and the other beside it. Then he started to push and ‘walk’ with his back legs until he was standing. Just. Other debris from the fall and bits of leaves fell from his back as he raised himself from the floor. It felt strange to be on all fours, but at the same time, so natural. He then went one step further and tried to walk forward. Right foreleg out… left back leg in… left. Right. Left. Right. He stopped after another three steps. Walking, done. Though there were many improvements to be made.

Step two, what was he? He craned his neck around and gaped in awe at two enormous wings that fell carelessly at his sides and dragged along the floor. Though strewn with orange leaves, and collapsed limply, he still found himself very proud of them. Now, if he could just… yes! Somehow, he found the muscles required for movement in his wings and he raised them valiantly as high as they would go. To say they were ‘big’ would be a huge understatement. These wings were gargantuan! They easily rose three times the height of the pony they belonged to and stretched further than he ever imagined possible.

Lord knows how long he stood there, admiring his two new appendages before he remembered what Celestia had said: “You’re The Rife. You will most likely be an alicorn, like me.” He let his wings deflate and they naturally fell into a neat fold on each of his pure white sides. He felt atop his head, searching for a third, magical appendage, remembering that another alicorn sighting could get him into big trouble.

After several moments rummaging through a forest of scraggly light-brown hair atop his forehead, and a few times, returning his front hoof to the stability of the ground to prevent himself toppling over, his fingerless hoof struck something as hard as bone. With wonder in his eyes, he brought his white hoof along the length of his ‘horn’ from the base to the tip. It was rather large, no less than a foot – or was it a hoof here? – long.

The reality finally dawned on him, as did the orange ball of fire as is peeked over the side of a mountain on the horizon, spreading its first beams of warming light across the land and dying the sky a rich red. He, stood there by the side of a broken tree, gazing at the sunrise of an alien world, no, an alien universe.

He had finally done it. He allowed a tear of serene happiness and joy to run down his cheek – something he hadn’t done for a long time – and thought things through. He was in Equestria. He was a pony. He had no more mortal things to worry about like school and homework and his frustrating home life. He was living the dream as a brony. But dreams didn’t come true...

Did they? Maybe they do. Maybe everyone has their heart’s desires granted, whatever that may be. Was it down to destiny? Luck? Or was it a need? A longing. The desperation to be somewhere where you felt you belong…

It was true. He felt more at home here in the few minutes he had been awake than he did in the sixteen long years he spent on Earth. He always felt like he didn’t belong. Maybe it was because he didn’t…

Recalling Celestia’s warning, he remembered the vest she had given him. He hadn’t dropped it when he fell. He remembered clutching it tighter than anything as he plummeted to the very ground he stood on. He returned to the tree he landed in only a few moments ago. It wasn’t hard to tell which one it was. All the trees formed a long, uniform row, except for one that had a huge path of broken branches straight through it, nearly all of the leaves were missing and it had splintered at the base ever so slightly where the human-pony had landed on it. His eyes scanned the area before resting on a high branch a little out of his reach. Perched on the end of it was the light coffee coloured vest waving carelessly in the breeze.

He gingerly walked to the tree, stopping right underneath the garment and eying it up. What he did next was ridiculous. He had barely learned to walk and now he was standing on his hind legs frantically making swipes at the vest. Walking on two legs was involuntary for a human and it was one of those things you do without thinking about it. The same can’t be said for ponies unfortunately, as after four or five failed snatches his weight shifted behind him and he fell backwards, outstretching his wings as all of his limbs a they sought something to grab hold of. There was nothing that could be done to prevent the fall, and he landed on his back on the floor with a thud and an “Oof!”

The vest continued to flutter in the wind, staring down onto the white pony, mocking him with its inaccessibility. The pony grunted, rolled over and returned himself to all fours. If he was going to get this thing to cover his wings, he first needed to use them.

Anxious, and indeed a little excited, the alicorn flapped his enormous wings gently at first, to get the feel of the muscle alignment and how much force was needed. Surprised at how his body felt significantly lighter with even the faintest wing beat, he pushed a little harder next time and caught a few inches of air before falling softly back to the dirt. He looked up menacingly at the article of clothing.

“You’re mine…” he affirmed playfully. Harder, he flapped his great wings, and every time, he became closer to the vest until, finally, with one hard push of his wings, he batted the simple fabric from the tree branch. He landed again, following the garment as it fluttered peacefully to the floor. “Yes!” He cried triumphantly to himself, slowly walking over to his defeated opponent. Now, how to put it on…

Most ponies with magical abilities would dress themselves with magic – or that would seem the logical thing to do, at least. But he only had one vest. And he didn’t want to risk breaking it with a new ability that he didn’t have the slightest clue how to use. He slid the tip of his hoof underneath the vest and brought his left arm up in front of his face, letting it drape halfway down it. Forgetting how to stand, he brought his other foreleg to meet the vest, falling flat on his face as a consequence.

Shaken from the unexpected fall, and amused at his own clumsiness, he returned to his feet. He retried picking the vest up, first rotating it on the ground so he knew he had it the right way up. He then slid his hoof into the waist of the fabric. Happily, he could feel soft cotton on both sides of his hoof and he continued to slide his right foreleg deeper into the garment.

To his amazement, he pushed his hoof through the correct sized hole, designated for a foreleg.

With his right shoulder buried in the ground, he stood up, remembering to keep his clothed arm raised so as to prevent it from slipping off. Though classed as a vest, the article had very short sleeves that clung tightly around the top of his right foreleg. Next in was his head, along with his other arm. He found doing this easier sprawled on the floor. Soon, his head popped through the tight opening and he breathed a sigh of relief as he guided his left forearm into the other sleeve.

Right. That was that done, now just to cover the wings… easier said than done. The waist of the vest had become bunched up around the front of his wings. He rubbed at the brown material uselessly before eventually finding grip on the right side of his body somehow. As he slowly, but surely pulled the garment over his right wing, he pressed both of the feathered appendages tightly against his back, the left side of the vest fell to the halfway point of his wing as he smoothed the vest over his right flank, that he only just realised now that it was bare; he had no cutie mark. That may also turn a few heads: a sixteen year old stallion with no cutie mark.

“Well, at least the vest covers part of it…” he thought to himself as he dragged the piece of fabric on the left of his body and smoothed it down over half of his blank flank.

His wings felt restricted, uncomfortable in being compressed to the side of his body. He examined his hide. Two thick lumps sprouted from his back, they could be easily passed off as some sort of pocket or cushion, he was sure he would find some sort of excuse, the white pony was a fast thinker like that.

After somehow managing to waste ten minutes putting on a single article of clothing, the disguised alicorn was finally ready to set off into a proper adventure! First of all where actually was he? It didn’t take him long to realise that the woods he stood in was Sweet Apple Acres, judging from the rows upon rows of grid like Autumnal trees.

Down the pathway he stood in the middle of, no matter how hard he squinted and leaned forward from the spot he was standing in, he couldn’t possibly see the other end without at first walking. So that is just what he did. Taking care not to step on rotting apples, smothered by late wasps and bees, he set off in a straight line.

"Every great journey begins with a single step" He mused to himself as he begun. Unsure as to who actually said that, the white coated pony became self-assured of the quote's significance, and promptly took his first step.

It mattered not where he went, just that he found some sort of civilisation. But not the farm. If Applejack or any of the others saw a strange new figure skulking around their orchard… He gulped nervously as the thought of being chased by a tank like Big Macintosh washed over him. He had barely learned to walk, let alone run for his life. Though he was sure Applejack and the rest of her family would be keen to make friends, the princess specifically told him to see Twilight first; she would know what to do. He would need to find a hill, or a valley; any glimpse of Ponyville would be a massive point in the right direction.

And as the sun rose and brought out ever-lightening shades of pink to pale blue in the morning sky above the amber leaves, the white alicorn stopped in the orchard pretty much before he had even started. Something was chafing the front of his firm neck… pulling the elastic collar out with his right forehoof and bowing his head to see what was causing the problem, he let out an annoyed, but still humoured “Damn it!” as he gazed down at a little silver tag, the opposite side to where it should be, and the simple grey fabric smiled straight back at him. Mocking him…

Past Future Friends

Chapter 5: Past – Future Friends

Twilight Sparkle was still sleeping. Though her day started early as she liked to prepare a checklist for the day’s events beforehoof and allow time to double check the list, occasionally it would take several crows of the rooster that perched atop the fountain located in the town square, set only a few houses away from Twilight’s open bedroom window to wake her.

Peacefully, she stirred in her warm bed, cushioned by the soft duvet, covered in silver moons and golden stars. On the fifth or sixth blast of the rooster’s screeching “Cock-a-doodle doo!”, Twilight groggily opened her big lavender eyes and willed herself to get out of bed. Any other pony would deem it ridiculous to rise at such an early hour, but not Twilight, she had important things to do. This is how she could find the will to get out from her toasty bed pretty much every day. And in the Winter months, she would be going to sleep and waking up in the dark. She groaned as that thought crossed her mind; ever since she was a filly, she had been wary of the dark.

The odd fact that a mare educated enough to explain how to weigh shadows was somehow scared of them went overlooked most of the time, but sometimes it caused her enough upset to instill temporary insomnia in her system. The next thing she knew, she'll be thinking 'monsters' exist...

It was Autumn time; there were only a few more weeks of waking up in the glorious daylight to enjoy before winter, once again, would be upon her. Celestia’s sun shone through the open window, carrying with it one of the last breaths of warm air from the previous Summer.

Her magic was unpredictable when she was tired or ill, so she would not use it until she had fully woken up, which didn’t take long fortunately. She threw the thick sheets from herself and slid out of her bed onto all fours. Groggily, she walked over to her mirror and squinted at the reflection, trying to bring about enough focus to raise the carefully placed bush from where it laid on the table; The monotonous task would help her to wake up. Twilight raised the brush to her head and ran it through her mane, returning it to its usual straight cut one rather than a scraggly purple mess.

When she was satisfied that her hair was no longer an animal, she set the brush down on the tabletop again, exactly where she had picked it up from; laying perpendicular to the edge of the surface. With a gentle, confident nod to the reflection in the mirror, Twilight quietly made her way down the curving stairs into the main room of the library, being careful to not wake the sleeping dragon that lay curled up and still fast asleep in the basket at her bedside. Mouth, sticky and dry from sleep, the first place Twilight went to was the kitchen to get a glass of cool water.

After loudly gulping down every drop of the refreshing liquid, not removing the glass from her lips the moment she started to the instant she finished with a loud sigh and gasp for air, Twilight refilled the glass and took a single sip before placing her drink onto the wooden work surface.

From another desk, located against one of the curved walls of her home, Twilight brought out several sheets of paper, a feather quill and a pot of ink with her magic. She placed them neatly about the desk, which until now was clear of any and all articles. Twilight took a seat before the desk and rested her forehooves on the front of the oak table for stability before going to work.

Twilight valued this part of the day. Of course, she loved spending time with her friends and socialising with others, but she still relished these occasional moments of silent solitude where she was allowed to think straight.

After the first few duties had been listed, Twilight read what she had written back to herself. “Get up. Check.” She didn’t think it unnecessary to write down something she had already done because she liked to keep a record of anything and everything she did every day, from the very first thing to the very last. “Breakfast…” Twilight frowned at the paper when her stomach growled viciously, begging for food. She sighed and stood up, swivelled and returned to the kitchen. She slipped two slices of whole-wheat bread into her glossy lilac toaster and pressed down on the plunger. For not the first time in her life, she found herself completely lost towards what to do with herself whilst her first meal was being prepared, so she just stood there, redundantly taking in all of the features of a library's kitchen she already knew like the back of her hoof.

Very soon, the toaster told Twilight that her toast was done in the form of a soft 'ding' emanating from a miniature bell within and she removed the slices of stiff bread that hadn’t changed much in colour from when they entered the machine. The purple unicorn levitated the two slices of toast onto a plate she had just removed from an overhead cupboard and began to spread a low-cholesterol butter onto each. After the butter had melted into the warm bread, Twilight carried her plate of steaming toast over to her table with magic, setting it down next to her short list that only just covered for an hour of her day.

Re-seating herself on the cushioned chair and taking a slow bite of the start of her day, Twilight enveloped the red quill with magic, dipping the tip into the black ink once more. “Breakfast… Check.”

The white alicorn had discovered cantering by the time he made it to the outskirts of what he assumed to be Ponyville. Breathing heavily, he leaned up against the back of one of the beautiful thatched houses that populated the small town. It was still very early, however nopony would be up, or at least not about. He hoped. Wait, why? He just looked like a normal unicorn, granted, an uncomfortable one carrying two massive bags of something at his sides. If anypony saw him, they would simply just wave and carry on their morning. This comforted him until the thought of running into a certain pink female crossed his mind.

The white stallion shuddered and quickly surveyed the area to ensure there was nopony about. Even though they would think nothing of it, it was better to be safe than sorry. Happy that he was alone, he darted from the rear of the residence and into a alleyway between another two. When he emerged, he was faced with a clearing, nothing there except a pathway surrounding a large fountain. As he crossed the centre of town, a thought dwelled on him: ”Are all the fan fictions true as well? Were most ponies female, or is that just some fantasy of the community or at best a fabrication of the truth? And did whatever happen in the horror fics really happen? Were there once humans in Equestria that kidnapped ponies and forced them to become like they were, and destroy the ones who refused? What monsters we once were,” the disguised unicorn stopped in the middle of the street and delved deeper into thought, “What monsters we still are…”

He was taken back by how much he remembered being human. Here he was, stood in the middle of an animated town, in a different universe, walking on all fours, with a horn and two enormous wings that he was barely able to shuffle under his tight vest… and he still felt… human. He shook the feelings from his head. It wasn’t as if he didn’t enjoy being a pony, if anything, it was far the opposite! But what he was… a human mind in a pony’s body, he had inside knowledge of these pony’s lives and he was going to have to keep hush about who he really was.

Starting to walk on again, the stallion looked to his left to see what he recognised as Sugarcube Corner, home to the ecstatic pink mare. He smiled genuinely at the thought of befriending Pinkie, and indeed all of the others. Maybe… hopefully he could take off this charade and show them his true form. Then he could soar in the sky with Rainbow Dash, that is, of course, if he could keep up! All the future plans for him and his ‘friends’ flooded his mind and made him overjoyed with excitement and happiness. He felt as if he were flying already!

He knew he really should keep his mind clear, and his excitement to a minimum, but being who he was, to do such a thing would be... difficult.

Beaming towards the future, regardless of how 'fairytale' this all seemed, he continued his search for the ‘tree-house’. How hard could it be? An enormous hollowed-out tree, fitted with a cacophony of balconies and windows. He recognised the town hall located just at the edge of the clearing, a large circular hall where formal gatherings were held. Staring and analysing every possible path between houses that could lead to Twilight’s home. His gaze fell upon a tall wooden sign, overcrowded with wooden arrows jutting out in all directions from a thick central beam. “Thank God.” He muttered in relief.

Actually, he was going to have to get used to referring to the big guy upstairs as ‘Celestia’. “Thank… Celestia.” He corrected himself as he made his anticipated way towards the sign.

“Uhhhhh…” he droned as his eyes drifted down the directions and then back up again to the top. Not really paying any attention the first time, he repeated his search. After a second, more intense search of the crude wooden arrows the alicorn was becoming impatient at still not finding the sign marked ‘library’ maybe it didn’t have one. “One more check, just to be sure.” He sighed. He drew his eyes to the top for the last time and began reading aloud…

Quite humorously, perched at the top of the signpost pointing upwards and at a slight angle, there was a sign that read “Cloudsdale.”

The first sign that pointed to the left and slightly behind displayed: “Town hall.” The white pony looked over his shoulder in the direction the sign gestured at the obvious building sat completely in the open. “Really?” He muttered under his breath.
“Sugarcube corner bakery.” The impatient stallion continued.
“Carousel Boutique.”
A black sign under the previous one pointed feebly to the right with the words “Everfree forest.” Shakily etched into the wood and painted white.
“To Canterlot.” Another, more well-maintained looking sign pointed towards the mountains, the letters spelled out in thin bent gold. It was obvious a lot of time and care was invested into glamorising the upper class city through the use of a simple sign.
An arrow that proudly looked directly behind him in the direction he came from read “Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Post office.”
“Farmer’s market.”
“Town centre.”
“Library.”
“Swimmi-“
“Library!?” The stallion exclaimed and took a step towards the sign. Upon further examination, the arrow indeed, proclaimed the library was located ahead and slightly to the right of where he stood now.

The white pony assumed that he was simply slow and declared that the “Third time’s a charm.” He then made off in the direction the convolute sign had pointed him in at a quickened pace. Surely enough, the large tree house came into view just several doors away. How he missed it, he didn’t know. Approaching the tree, he tried to see any signs of life, but through the bits of windows all he could find were books and blank parts of wall.

Before he knew it, he had reached the small wooden door, harbouring a candle carved into the upper section of it. Before knocking, he slowly rolled around the window frame, increasing his vision into the room inch by inch to see if anypony was awake. He immediately jerked his head back well out of sight when he saw a purple unicorn sat on a small chair staring intently at something on the table in front if her. Only a glimpse was needed to recognise this pony as Twilight Sparkle and the white alicorn outside felt relieved to see another pony. And privileged that the first he saw in this world was Twilight.

He slowly and anxiously made his way back to the red door of the tree. Swallowing nervously, he raised his hoof so the base of it was facing him and with a confidence-building snort that spoke “No turning back”, he rasped four times in quick succession upon the wood and eagerly waited the reply.

Then, after a second or two, he heard a ‘chink’ of porcelain and the unmistakeable sound of metal chair legs scraping across wooden floor and a slow clopping sound that grew increasingly louder as the purple mare made her way to the thick piece of tree separating them.

Twilight sipped at her morning tea that she had brewed herself shortly after finishing her toast. She sighed quick, and contently as she finished planning the first half of her day. Another twenty or so minutes and she would be done. She began reading back through her list from the very top once again. “Get up, check… Breakfast, check… Morning tea?...” She said as she raised the teacup to her pursed lips again. Another sip. Perfect; very hot, but not so much so that it burnt her mouth. “Definitely check.” She said, scribbling at the check box with the quill, a content smile on her face.

She read the next five or so duties and was just about to take another sip when a quick tapping was heard from behind her. Startled out of co-ordination for only a second or two at the unexpected sound, Twilight soon collected her thoughts and set the teacup down on the saucer that rested on the left hoof corner of the table. And slid the chair out from under her, starting to walk slowly towards the door as she grew ever so slightly worried as to who would be so early to visit the library and disrupt her always uneventful morning.

She unlocked the library door by magically turning the key positioned at the left of the larger door, which sat atop two smaller doors below. The key always hung from the keyhole unless Twilight was going out for an extended amount of time. She stood to the side of the door and opened it a crack, not yet releasing the sliding chain to keep the door open only enough to be able to see who was waiting outside for her, without jeopardising her safety.

She peeked through the opening and gazed up at a pair of kind, yet un-nerving orange eyes.

“Y-yes?” Twilight said, forcing a very convincing false smile.

“Are you… Twilight Sparkle?” Asked the stallion, as if he needed to.

“Yes…” Replied the purple unicorn, becoming quite a bit more edgy.

“Um, I was told you could perhaps help me.” Asked the larger white pony that stood in the cold of morning outside Twilight’s warm home.

Re-installed with affirmation in this mysterious visitor’s voice that he meant no harm, Twilight relaxed a little, speaking: “Hold on one second.” before shutting the door.

The next sound heard was of metal sliding on metal, followed by a rattling of a chain and then the door opened again, not much further than it had done before and Twilight looked into the other ‘unicorn’s’ fiery eyes through the small gap. Any fears about the newcomer she once had were gone; even though this stallion’s eyes were hot and harsh, there was something about the kind way he looked at her that made her feel not only at ease, but also safe.

The door slowly opened fully to reveal an inviting looking home, the floor was one massive circular piece of wood and nearly all of the walls were lined from top to bottom with colourful – looking books, a short wooden ladder was propped carefully against the bookshelf to the far right. To the rear of the room, there rose a case of squared-off stairs leading up to what seemed to be a bed. The staircase continued higher into the tree, where at the mid-point of the room, it gave way to a platform that circulated the entire trunk, granting access to the upper balconies of the tree.

The stallion stood there, waiting for the smaller unicorn to invite him in. This reassured Twilight even more so; if he were here for violence, he would have jumped at the chance to barge in. Instead, he waited patiently to be let in.

“You… can come in.” Twilight beckoned with an amused smile. The white ‘unicorn’ returned a grin of his own before carefully stepping over the smaller doors and ducking to avoid striking his horn on the top of the doorframe. Once he was inside, he turned and pushed the door closed again with his right hoof. As it gently made contact with the frame, a quiet ‘click’ was heard form the catch.

The white pony turned to look at his host, only to be taken back by the look of mild alarm plastered onto the purple one’s face. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Are… you okay?” replied a concerned Twilight.

“Uhhhhh… I think so…” He replied, giving his figure a once-over. “Why do you ask?”

“It’s just… Never mind.”

“No, go on… If something’s bothering you, I'm happy to help.” Replied the stallion, pleased with himself at how kind and polite he came across simply by instinct.

“I’m sorry, but… What are those lumps on your back?” Twilight inquired. It was not out of her nature to ask a general question, but she couldn't help but feel a little imposing to ask in the first place.

“Oh, these?” He asked, desperately trying to come up with a cover story. “They’re… scar – type things... from an accident.”

“Accident?” Twilight replied.

“Yes, when I was young, a stagecoach ran me over…” Twilight met this story with a startled gasp. “These lumps on my back formed a week or so afterwards, and they’ve grown with me. I’m quite self-conscious about them, so that’s why I wear this vest…” His lame idea of a cover-up seemed to work, however, the alicorn in disguise failed to convince himself with the ridiculous story.

Twilight looked down. “I’m sorry.” She mumbled.

“Don’t worry about it, I’m fine.” He replied, shooting Twilight a reassuring smile, which, once again, restored Twilight’s confidence.

“I didn’t catch your name.” Twilight spoke, easily firing up another conversation.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry, I’m-“ He stopped. His mind had hit a brick wall. He was human. He knew that. He knew what he liked and didn’t like. He remembered being a brony. He even remembered what he had for breakfast the morning Celestia arrived. He remembered everything. Everything, except his name. “I – I don’t know…” He replied solemnly. He didn’t mean to say it it with such a macabre tone, but he was so bewildered, he just didn't notice.

Twilight laughed before noticing that he was not as amused as she was. “You’re serious?” She asked.

“Yeah…” The white unicorn replied, scared towards how this conversation would play out.

“Wh-what?” Twilight asked humorously.

“I… don’t have a name.” He paraphrased.

“How can you not have a name?” Twilight questioned with disbelief, still finding the topic laughable.

“I – I don’t remember.”

“Well, where do you live.”

“I don’t know…” The alicorn knew this conversation would create trouble in the very near future.

“Where do your parent’s live?” Twilight interrogated.

The white pony shook his head. “Both dead. As all of my family.” He replied harshly. To an extent, this was true. He had no family in this universe, and maybe this bombshell would shut off Twilight's constant flow of jeopardising questions... All too well.

“I’m- I’m so sorry.” Twilight gasped, feeling awful for being so insensitive.

The nameless stallion saw that what he had said had struck her hard. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so blunt.” Both found massive interest in the floor as they waited for one of them to break the silence. However, a loud snore from a certain baby dragon upstairs seemed to do the job just fine. The two ponies quietly laughed at the innocent sound. And they both felt something. A ‘spark’ in both of their hearts that told them they were going to be the best of friends. Strange, how something so sad and tragic could bring the best out of somepony. And what better gift than friendship?

“This is a library.” The stallion commented.

“Uh… yeah…” Twilight Sparkle responded, looking around at the multitude of books lining nearly every wall from top to bottom.

“Do you have a... ‘name’ book?”

“’Name’ book?” The female unicorn asked in slight confusion, cocking her head slightly.

“Yeah, you know like popular babies’ names.”

“Babies?”

“Foals.” He corrected himself.

“Oh yeah, right over here! Sp-“ Twilight started to call the name of her assistant, but cut herself off when she remembered he usually rose an hour later from now.

“Heh, heh…” Twilight awkwardly giggled, making her way to the “Expecting parents” section of the library. Withdrawing a white covered book titled simply “Popular foals’ names, 3487.” She read the title as she levitated the book towards her new friend, who focused on the thick book as it floated in front of him. He reached out to take it and when Twilight’s magic was released, the book suddenly became repulsive towards his clumsy hooves. Juggling a book with no fingers was one of the hardest things he ever had to do. He threw the book in the air multiple times before clamping it between his hooves, ensuring it never escaped.

He looked up from the book to Twilight, an expression of accomplishment worn on his face. Twilight shook her head in amusement and smiled. Though the whole incident was entertaining, she found it strange that a unicorn didn’t choose to carry things with magic. Rotating on the backs of her hooves, leaving her friend to fondle the pages of the book around, she headed back over to work on her list. “Who do you think I look like?” The stallion asked.

“Who do you… look like?” She echoed, with confusion.

“Yeah,” Replied the other ‘unicorn’, looking up from the book to meet Twilight’s gaze. “As in, if you saw me, and didn’t know me, what would you think my name was, purely on looks?”

Twilight cocked her head and furrowed her brow in analytical thought.

“Craig.” She finally said.

“...Yeah, I’m gonna pick a name out of this book…” Remarked ‘Craig’ with a dole tone.

Twilight chuckled and returned to her list and the library fell silent again. The only sounds were of the scratching of a quill on paper and the occasional turn of a page. The white stallion flicked through each page, finding nothing particularly interesting, though there were many names that sounded familiar to him. Names like ‘Andrew’ and ‘Billy’. He found it ironic that a suggested name in the ‘A-section’ was ‘Angus’ as in the type of cow. Whether or not ponies did in fact, eat meat, the idea of one being named after a cow bread for meat was amusing.

After about five minutes of scrolling through names, the stallion had reached the ‘C-section’. The book was set out like a dictionary, going in exact alphabetical order. Progress was slow, and he had dropped the book several times now, even though he was parked on a sofa at the edge of the room, the book laying next to him.

His eyes drifted down the columns…

“Calum.”
“Cameron.”
“Carla.”…

His eyes automatically fell from the top of each page to the bottom and then returned to the top. A couple of pages and dropping the book for the eighth time later, the stallion’s hot eyes rested upon one name that stood out from the rest. He didn’t know why; this name wasn’t special, but something about it just seemed… right…

“Twilight?” he called across the room.

“Yes?” Came a distracted reply from the mare.

“How do you say this name?”

“What?” Twilight asked, turning around in her chair, resting her left foreleg on the back of it.

“Is it ‘Can – tor’ or ‘Canter’?”

“Let me see it.” Twilight said, beckoning him over to her with her right hoof.

The stallion looked around for something he knew he wasn’t going to find before gingerly picking the book of names up in his mouth. It felt really weird to carry something like this, but, that was how everypony else did it, and so would he.

“Why don’t you do things with magic?” Twilight enquired when the white ‘unicorn’ reached her side.

“I’m uh, not that confident with magic…” He said with forced humour, barely able to speak fluently around the wedge of a book he held loosely between his teeth.

“Oh, well uh… okay then...” Twilight took the book from the stallion’s mouth and asked him to point out the word.

“Yes, that’s Cantor, pronounced as if you were saying ‘canter’. Why, do you like it?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, I kind of do.” He smiled, “Actually, I was hoping it would be spoken like that; Can – tor sounds kinda weird.”

Twilight gave a cute little chuckle and asked: “So… Do I call you Cantor from now on?”

“Yeah!” Replied the recently identified newcomer. “My name's Cantor!” He declared, quietly, but with an air of pride.

Cantor watched as Twilight finished her schedule, for some reason, finding great interest in the act. Once she had written in the last entry: “Sleep”, she re-filled her cup of tea. She offered Cantor a cup, and he politely declined. Mainly because of the drama he'd had with the book, that now rested back in it’s place among it’s rarely-used friends; he didn’t want to be responsible for something more fragile.

“So why are you here?” Twilight called from the kitchen.

Cantor listened to the sound of a metal spoon stirring the tea before replying. “I need to see the princess.” The sound of stirring stopped and Twilight poked her head out from the doorway to the kitchen.

“What?” She asked, marginally concerned.

“Well, there’s something important we need to talk about, but I can’t tell you what it is.”

“Why not?” Twilight asked accusingly, becoming protective over her teacher.

Realising how this must sound, Cantor turned on the defensive. “Oh, it’s nothing bad…” Yeah, right. The end of the universe wasn’t an issue. “I just need a few questions answered.” “Shit.” He though as he realised how that must sound: a large, powerful – looking unicorn turning up seemingly out of nowhere, with no name and no recollection of where he came from, wanting to see the princess to have ‘his questions answered’. He was digging a hole, and if he wasn’t careful about what he said, he may not be able to get out and his adventure would be over before it even started.

“I was hoping you could show me the way…” Good. That would show ignorance, and throw off some of Twilight’s mental accusations. “If you’re not too busy, that is.”

Twilight locked him in a glare, reading his thoughts with a complicated spell that she discovered when trying to learn about hypnotism. There was definitely something strange about this other pony. He had no intentions of harming anypony, to her relief. But she couldn’t seem to crack into his memories, fantasies and dreams. She found that only very powerful ponies were able to resist that spell, like the princesses and the less than satisfactory prince Blueblood she had tried to read to understand why he was such a jerk to her other unicornian friend many nights ago.

“You’re not from around here... Are you?” She asked.

“You could say that.” Cantor replied cockily.

“Where are you from?”

“I’ve already said, I don’t remember.” He became confident in how he spoke. He felt Twilight inside his mind just then, and he knew that whatever she was looking for, she couldn’t find.

“I have some spare time around lunch.” She smiled. “I could come with you to Canterlot then!” she finished speaking and beamed. Falsely.

Cantor saw this easily. Whatever she was feeling now, there was also unmistakeable fear in her eyes and the way she spoke. Was he the reason for that? Of course. There were no reasons other than that.

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to mess up your plan.” He said and nodded towards the desk which now held only the day’s plan, the ink quietly drying into the paper.

“Yeah. I’d be happy to help.” Twilight answered, returning to the kitchen to finish making her tea. “Are you sure you don’t want one?” she called out.

“Really, I’m fine, but thank you.” Cantor replied.

After a minute, Twilight joined Cantor on the soft, furry cream sofa carrying the cup with her magic. The stallion watched the beverage longingly as it was set down on the coffee table in front of them both. Twilight caught her friend’s gaze and asked once again: “You did want one, didn’t’ you?” with a trace of shame in her voice.

“No, no. It’s just…” Cantor sighed, “how do you do that?”

“What?”

“Use magic.”

Once again Twilight laughed. “You really are unconfident with magic, aren’t you?” Cantor stayed with his expression. The purple mare cleared her throat and looked around for something sturdy to practice with. She levitated a wooden doorstop into the centre of the room and set it neatly on the floor. “Levitation is easy!" SHe scoffed, amused by her own relaxed voice. "All you have to do, is trace a circle with your mind's eye and focus on the object you want to move. Simple!" She clasped her hooves together happily.

“That’s it?” Asked Cantor.

“That’s it.” Twilight echoed.

“Right…” The male pony said, rising from his seat and making his way over to the small doorstop.

He focused on the wedge of wood, traced a broad, clear, fabricated circle around it and imagined it lifting into the air. His horn lit up and a silver aura surrounded the doorstop. Watching in amazement as it drifted higher from the floor and sustained a height at his eye level, all he could do was awe at what he was doing, and at how easy it was.

“See? Not that hard is it?” Twilight chirped in.

“This is amazing!” Cantor replied, becoming more excited at this mind-boggling defial of nature… a little... too excited.

Just then, the doorstop burst into flames and the magical grasp was released. The piece of wood began to fall, but Cantor caught it in his hooves and smothered the flames, falling onto the floor in the process. Thank Go- Celestia it didn’t set the house on fire!

Cantor sighed in relief and looked at the singed doorstop he held in his hooves. “I’m so sorry, Twilight.” He said turning to see his friend who’s property he had just incinerated. But the look he received from her scared him far more than any expression of anger possibly could. On her face, Twilight bore a look of pure horror.

“I’m really sorry, Twilight.” He said again, getting up and clutching the charred shape close against his chest to disguise the damage. Twilight remained speechless.

Silently, a small purple dragon appeared at the top of the stairs panting. “What’s all that noise!?” He called. Only saying this as an introduction, the baby dragon did his best to analyse the scene below him. The first thing his eyes fell upon was his guardian’s horrified expression. And then he saw who she was staring at. A white unicorn stallion holding something black and glaring at Twilight. “Who are you!?” He shouted angrily. The question wasn’t necessary for his reaction; whoever this newcomer was, he was scaring his family and nopony hurt’s Spike’s friends.

He sprinted down the stairs, charging full-pelt at the larger, stronger pony who threatened his home. However, all his momentum crashed when the stallion turned and looked at him with those fiery, deep amber eyes.

“I take it you’re Spike?” The stallion asked in a friendly tone.

“Um, yeah… wh-who are you?” The dragon replied nervously.

Hearing her assistant’s voice, Twilight broke free of her trance. “Spike!” She screamed. “Get away from him!” She proceeded to teleport herself to spike’s side and touched her head onto his and teleported both of them up to her bedroom’s opening.

“Twilight?” Was all Cantor could say to the outburst.

“Stay away from us!” Screamed Twilight from her inner balcony.

“What’s wrong?” Cantor asked, taking a step closer. Twilight shot some sort of offensive spell from her horn that charred the ground where he stood. He moved his front hoof away just in time. “What the hell was that!?” He cried angrily.

“I should have known you were trouble! Get out! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!” She screamed at the top of her lungs before scribbling a note down on some parchment. “Spike!” she yelled. “Send this!”

Instantly, Cantor made the assumption that all magic was based on imagination and fabrication. He pictured himself by Twilight’s side, closed his eyes and focused intently.

For an amount of time so short, it was immeasurable, Cantor felt total weightlessness before appearing by the side of the shaking purple unicorn with a crackle of sparks. All of his confusion and upset had turned into frustration and anger. He made peircing eye contact with the mare not for the first time today and saw she had nothing in her soul except fear and panic. Uncaringly, he snatched the scroll from the dragon’s grasp with magic and leapt from the top of the stairs and landed in the middle of the circular room.

“NO!” Twilight gasped as she jumped in his hoofsteps. Her soul intention was to collide with that monster in her living room. But then he outstretched his hoof and pointed directly at Twilight, not taking his eyes off of the scroll hovering in front of him.

The white stallion gave a single word order: “Stop.” And Twilight felt her body slow down to a halt in mid-air. She continued to stay there, motionless halfway through her jump as Cantor unrolled the scroll and read it’s contents aloud to the room:

Elemental in library.

Send help.

-Twilight.

Cantor finished reading the short letter and turned his attention back to Twilight, speaking dryly before he looked at her face. “You have some explaining to do.”

He was still fuming from before, but all those negative feelings left him as instantly as they had arrived when he saw the young purple unicorn sobbing quietly, tears streaming down her reddened face and making dark patches on the floor. Her whole body shook uncontrollably from fear under his white glow. His emotions were so mixed up, he didn’t even notice Spike gnawing on his back leg viciously enough to draw blood.

His teeth returned to normal after sharpening a barely noticeable amount during the struggle.

“Twilight.” Said Cantor sorrowfully as he set her down as gently as ponily possible. Though when she landed, she collapsed into a heap on the floor.

Perfect. His first day, no, his first hour in Equestria and he had already hurt somepony. “May as well jump into that hole and cover yourself up with dirt.” He thought, furious with himself.

He went to take a step, but a sharp pain rocketed through his left back leg. Silently gasping in pain, he looked down to see the bottom half of his leg drenched in blood. His own blood. There was a small pool of it forming at the base of the leg and a purple dragon still violently tearing at it with his teeth and claws.

“Spike.” He said firmly. When the little dragon didn’t react instantly however, Cantor picked him up with magic and raised him eye-level. He burned his eyes into the baby dragon’s green lizard ones and spoke. "I'm not here to hurt anyone." Was all he said.

Spike fell silent in understanding. Even though this pony’s eyes were sharp and glowed like fire, he somehow found no hatred in them. None whatsoever, and they told him everything he needed to know to become lifted of his rage. With a nod of understanding from Spike, he was soon set down soundly onto the floor. He felt a trickle of liquid on his scaly chin and wiped it with the back of his hand. When he examined his arm, all he saw was blood. His entire hands were caked in it up to his elbows and they shook at the sight. He suddenly felt his stomach churn and ran to the safety of the bathroom, leaving a trail of bloody dragon footprints in his wake.

Slamming the door behind him, he leapt and heaved into the toilet. Not having eaten anything today, all he unloaded into the basin was pure dragon acid that burned his insides and began to melt through the porcelain. Dowsing it with water quickly, spike wiped the burning solution from his lips before examining himself in the thin full-length mirror leaned against the wall. He had never seen such a horrendous sight: his mouth, cheeks and chin were covered with the blood of a pony and it had started to run onto his chest. His arms were completely saturated with red up to his elbows, and beads of the fluid formed on the tips of his razor sharp claws. His moth fell agape, revealing dagger-like teeth, again, drenched with blood. Pieces of flesh also hung from his young canines. He could feel the fire creeping up inside him and he barely made it to the toilet when he started heaving again. Flushing a second time, the baby dragon leapt into the bath and blasted out the first tap he reached and began to scrub at his arms and face with scolding water that he couldn’t feel. All the time weeping in fear and post – anger regret.

Cantor limped over to Twilight and gingerly laid himself down beside her. He could hear her sobbing quietly into her soaked forearm that covered her eyes.

He was at the brink of tears himself when a quiet sniffle from the amethyst pony pushed him over the edge. As the tear ran down his snout and perched on his lips, he turned his head to the sky and took a long inhale. To take his mind off of the sorrow, he turned to his lacerated leg, which to his surprise was sealing itself shut remarkably quickly for a wound that size. A hefty scab had already formed and was beginning to crack. Cantor exhaled quickly through his nose before resting a comforting hoof on Twilight’s still back.

“Twilight?” He began. “Twilight, look at me.” As he said this he gently rubbed her back, causing her to sway a little. The mare complied, raising her head to meet his deep eyes. The whites around her lavender discs were bloodshot and glistening. Another tear ran down Cantor’s face at the sight. Twilight blinked, sending another two drops of sadness down each fair cheek and onto the floor.

“Whatever you think I am. Whoever you think I am: I’m not. I would never even imagine dreaming about causing the slightest bit of harm to you or your friends. In fact, it’s quite the opposite; I’m here to help.” Twilight stared blankly, absorbing every ounce of truth that flowed from the stallion’s mouth and eyes. “If you need further convincing, take a look.” He raised himself from Twilight’s side, stepped in front of her and stood side on. Twilight released a shaky breath and calmed down a little. Cantor then slid his right hoof under the back of the vest and pulled it forwards, enough to reveal the tips of his cramped wings.

Twilight gasped and Cantor quickly covered it up. “You’re… You’re a-“

“I know.” Replied Cantor. That word needn't be spoken. “I don’t know why you reacted like that, but I’m sure you have a good reason for doing so.”

Twilight sighed and looked down. Calming herself with breathing exercises, she looked back up to see the stallion standing closer than he had been before. She hadn’t heard him approach, but now he stood broadly above her, reaching out with a hoof towards the little mare. She hesitantly took it and pulled herself up. The stallion and the mare’s hooves dropped to the floor at the same time and Twilight clocked the horrendous state his leg was in. And then she noticed the floor.

“What happened?” She asked feebly, afraid of the response.

“That was Spike.”

As he said this, Twilight’s eyes grew wide with fear. “Where is Spike?” She queried.

“He’s in there,” Cantor said, gesturing at the trail of dragonprints leading under a door to the right. “He did this.” Cantor wavered over the wound on the back of his leg.

Twilight gasped and raised her hoof to her mouth in shock. “Are you okay?”

Overjoyed and relieved that Twilight felt not only comfortable around him again, but also concerned about his well being, Cantor shook away the question. “Don’t worry about me. I’m just sorry about bleeding all over your floor!” He finished with a smile, in which Twilight returned. “I’m also sorry if I hurt you in any way. Let me help you clean up this mess and then I’ll be off. I’m sure I’ve ruined too much of your morning already.” He dropped his eyes to the floor.

“Of course not…” Twilight spoke up. “Far from it. This has been one of the best mornings of my life. Because… because I met you…” She blushed and turned away.

Dethatched from his mind by very strong feelings of relief, affection and surprise at how quickly these ponies made social connections, and at this degree, all Cantor could think to say was “So, does that mean we’re still friends?” He wore a docile smile on his face.

“Of course it does.” Twilight replied. “How could we not be?”

Dead Race

Chapter 6: Dead race

The blood was mopped up rather quickly and Twilight’s sorrow had calmly dried up and she was now humming a cheery tune as she carried the mop with magic in front of her. It slapped loudly on the wood and sent water cascading over the red stain. Effortlessly, the blood withdrew from the wood fibres thanks to some sort of strong cleaning solution. The two didn’t speak while they worked. Cantor had made his discomfort about discussing his story clear and Twilight was happy to comply, though a little worried her assistant hadn’t exited the bathroom yet.

Once all of the red had been cleared, twilight emptied the tinted water in the bucket outside through the window. Who knows, maybe alicorn blood would be good for plants. She replaced the empty pale inside her utilities cupboard in the kitchen. “Thanks for helping me.” She spoke as Cantor poured a second bucket of his own bloody water onto the garden.

“No worries!” He called as he watched his life fluid soak into the soil.

Twilight nodded and drew herself up to the door to the bathroom. The sound of water sloshing could be heard from inside.

“Spike?” she called, pressing her ear up against the door… no reply. “Are you okay in there?”

“Yeah, twilight, I’m fine.” Came a voice that was a mixture of relief and shame.

“Can I come in?” She asked.

“NO! Don’t come in!” He answered quickly.

“Is something the matter?”

“No, Twilight, I’m okay, really.”

“Well… okay then… Enjoy your bath.” Twilight started away from the door and towards Cantor.

Spike mumbled some kind of response as he dabbled his purple claw in the cold, deep red water.

“You look like you could use a bath too.” Twilight said to Cantor. The way she spoke made it seem like more of an order than a suggestion.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, Twilight. I don’t want to use all of your hot water.” The white stallion replied, his left leg and the end of his tail matted with congealed blood.

“No.” Twilight replied sternly. “If I’m going to take you to Canterlot, especially to see the princess, I don’t want you to be seen covered in blood.”

“I guess so…” Cantor replied, uncomfortable about using somepony else’s waterworks. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Replied Twilight humbly. “Spike should be finished soon though.”

After showing Cantor where the mop bucket lives in the cupboard in the kitchen, Twilight returned to the door of the bathroom. “Spike?” She called “Are you done in there? Other ponies need to use the bathroom too.” She hadn’t used the toilet all morning and was beginning to feel desperate. When there came no reply, she became irritated. “Spike! I really need to use the toilet. Are you going to be much longer in there?” Again, there was no reply, just the sound of dabbling water. “Spike!?” She moaned, when all of a sudden her impatience gave way to worry. “Are you okay?” When silence greeted her once again, she instinctively unlocked the door from the other side with her magic and tore it open. She gasped in shock. More blood. Everywhere, all around the sink, splashes of it up the wall and at the end of the small room, her baby assistant remained motionless, staring into space in the bathtub filled with the redness.

She screamed and ran out of the room. Cantor quickly appeared in the doorway to see what the matter was. His reaction was drawn more to the cowering dragon in the bathtub. “Spike!” He yelled in shock. The dragon hid his face with his claw and turned away to face the wall. “What the hell happened!?” He shouted breathlessly.

“I’m sorry!” Pleaded Spike. “Please don’t hurt me!”

Cantor was taken back. Spike thought he was angry about what he had done to Cantor’s leg, even though it didn’t hurt in the slightest now, and even if it did, could find no room for hate in his heart. “I’m not going to hurt you!” He couldn’t say this fast enough.

The purple dragon looked up at him. “Y-You’re not?” He asked meekly.

“Of course not.” Cantor replied softly. Something in his voice dispelled Spike’s fear.

Cantor craned his neck around the corner and peeked into the long, thin kitchen where Twilight stood pressed up against the back wall. He returned his head to the bathroom to see spike watching him with anticipation. “I think we’d better get this place cleaned up.” He said as he watched the purple dragon pull the plug from the tub, causing yet more of his blood to drain away to Celestia knows where.

Spike clambered over the side of the bath. For the amount of time he had sat in the blood-water, Cantor noticed a congealed line around the dragon’s chest, similar to the one that coated the rim of the bath. He could only pray that the young dragon didn’t pick up some sort of disease from his blood.

“Let’s clean this room, and then I think you should have a second bath.” Cantor spoke, leaning down to Spike’s height.

“Okay.” The dragon replied. “...I’m really sorry I bit you.” He added after a pause.

“Pft! An understatement!” Thought Cantor privately. “It’s okay, you were just defending Twilight. I commend your heroism.” He replied aloud. Spike smiled childishly at the compliment. “Now. What should we use to clean up the bathroom?” Cantor asked Spike, genuinely not knowing what you use to clean sinks and walls. Without hesitation, the baby dragon dove into the cupboard and brought out some rags and a bottle of bleach.

“...Good as new!” Spike declared, standing with his fists on his hips, a blotchy red rag hung from his right. The pair checked around the bathroom, satisfied that it was as clean as it was that morning. The red line had been wiped from the sides of the bath and it was already running with steamy water and soap that produced wonderfully pink and fragrant bubbles.

The two stood in silence for a few minutes, watching the water level rise in the tub and the population of suds multiply. Cantor interrupted the sound of running water and said to Spike, without looking at him: “I’m gonna go check on Twilight.”

Spike waited a moment, examining the last source of blood that clung tightly to the stallion’s leg before replying “Okay.” with a little nod of approval.

Cantor turned and left the baby dragon to watch his soak build. As he crossed in front of the mirror, he glanced at his lower leg. “Oh, boy…” He thought. His leg really was in a state. The blood wasn’t consistent on the limb like spike’s was, instead it formed blotchy splashes and trails that infected his long tail. He stepped through the doorway to the kitchen and noticed Twilight was now stirring a cup of practically black tea with a teaspoon glowing purple. She was staring intently at the cup and ignored her visitor. Cantor picked up on her worry and relieved her by explaining that Spike was fine, given a little shaken.

Twilight sighed heavily and her eyelids dropped as did her head. The magical aura dispersed form the metal spoon, leaving it dead in the cup. “You really like your tea, huh?” Cantor joked, seeing how down Twilight looked, he gave a miserable attempt to make her laugh. The plum coloured unicorn shook her head slowly, her straight fringe gently swaying with it.

“What’s wrong?” Cantor asked.

“It’s all my fault.” Twilight replied after a quick sigh. “If I hadn’t overreacted, none of this would have happened.” She let out another, painfully long sigh.

Cantor stepped closer to Twilight, her eyes remained closed. He placed a gentle hoof on her tender cheek and turned her head to face his. Not realising what he had done until he had done it, cantor lost where he was going with this. It just seemed like the right thing to do… something a friend would do…

Twilight’s eyes slowly opened halfway, revealing those beautiful violet circles, allowing just enough of the stallion to fill her vision.

Cantor smiled ever so slightly, but it showed so much care, especially when he spoke. “It’s nopony’s fault. Things like this just… happen…” Twilight’s eyes widened as the deeper meaning of that line sunk in, her eyes sparkling in the daylight.

What Cantor had done just then... Twilight couldn't help but fell a heightened level of affection for her new friend, something she had never really felt before, of course, she never really gave a matter such as this much thought before turning back to her studies. And now there was this new stallion in her life, filling her heart with emotions she wasn't sure if she liked. She was lost in deep thought, she concluded that the best thing to do would be to allow time to play it's mysterious part.

Cantor then broke the moment. “Bathroom’s free.” He announced, jerking his head backward towards the doorway.
Twilight quickly collected herself and rushed past Cantor out of the long kitchen. “Spike!” She called, in a lightly threatening tone as she approached the doorway to the room of relief and pulled the it open to reveal the room exactly how she was used to it.

After another basin of steaming water had been run, Cantor shut off the tap and slowly submerged his blood-covered leg into the piping hot liquid. Almost instantly, the blood started flaking off into the water and settling on the bottom of the tub. He sighed in pleasure as the hot moisture soothed his muscles. He took his turn of the bath last, insisting that Twilight should take the time to relax after her ordeal.

He proceeded to place his left foreleg into the water at the head of the bath, followed by his right rear leg and finally his other foreleg. He stood there, shin-deep in scolding water – just the way he liked it – and gradually extended his wings as far as they would go without knocking ornaments from shelves. He had forgotten just how big his wings were until he removed his vest and carefully placed it onto the closed lid of the toilet. The room could barely accommodate half of his wingspan and he felt the tips of his outermost feathers brush the green striped walls.

He sighed in comfort as he slowly and gently flapped his enormous appendages, agitating the air a little before folding them back onto his body and lowering himself into the bath. He rolled over onto his back awkwardly and let the water run over his body. For a moment, he lay there, eyes closed, soaking up the moisture that tugged at his bloody fur.

Cantor lifted his left leg, so he could see the base of it. Already, it was starting to look much better; the crusty black pieces of scab had mostly fallen off and his fur was died a healthy-looking pink. He sat up, the bathtub could barely contain his body; it was fine for twilight, but Cantor was easily twice her size. Returning his leg to the water, he began to rub softly at the injury, slowly but surely, his leg became as brilliantly white as it had been before. The discolouration of a scar formed a seven inch jagged line down the back of his cannon. Cantor then set to work on his tail, this one was a little harder, the blood had stuck large clumps of hair together and it took some soaking and whatever was in one of Twilight’s green bottles in the cabinet above the sink to loosen it up.

Before long, Cantor was clean and all of the blood had died the now cooler water a pale scarlet. He raised himself from the tub and, with a playful salute, pulled the plug on the last reminders of his conflict as they swirled into the black plughole. He stood there for a while, slowly drying his body and hair with a pink towel. How all this femininity didn’t rub off on Spike, he didn’t know. He admired what he could of himself in the floor-to-ceiling mirror on the wall. He liked long hair and his was very long, indeed. It hung from his neck in scraggly light brown – nearly orange – spikes, not that short of brushing the floor when he stood. It genuinely looked ‘cool’. Half of his face was hidden behind an equal degree of messiness that fell to one side in sharp bangs. To his rear, the tail was less impressive; it took on the same traits as his mane, but it was nothing special, though any other style would make the stallion look ridiculous.

He slid his vest on over his head and forearms at the same time using the magic he was now much more confident with. Twilight had explained that magic only went wrong when you lost control. Nothing really bad happens unless you want it to.

After his clothing was successfully fitted, and the right way around, Cantor unlocked the bathroom door and opened it to reveal an eager-eyed Twilight.

“Ready!?” She asked excitedly, bearing something on a plate which floated beside her.

“Right now?” Cantor questioned in response to the mare’s strange enthusiasm.

“Well… I made you some breakfast. I didn’t know if you’d already eaten, but I made some for Spike anyway.” She beamed.

Cantor’s eyes fell upon what was laying on the plate. Two pieces of brown bread, golden with butter and cut diagonally into large triangles steamed invitingly on it. Being the over-polite person that he was, Cantor declined, his stomach however, cried out in protest, making the two ponies laugh.

“Where’s Spike?” Cantor asked before taking his first ever bite of food in Equestria.

“He’s just upstairs with his breakfast. He doesn’t like eating his proper meals in front of anypony.” Twilight replied. Cantor continued to chew the toast for a moment, swallowed and then took a second bite. Whatever that bread was, it was damn good. He would have to ask Twilight where she got it from.

“So, what do you want to talk to the princess about?” Twilight queried.

Cantor finished chewing and swallowed, setting his glowing toast down on the plate which sat on it’s own on the coffee table.

“Well,” He began, wiping some crumbs from around his lips. “I’d like to know what an ‘Elemental’ is.” Twilight looked away, ashamed. “There has to be some sort of reason why you reacted like that…” He was genuinely curious and hoped he wasn’t making Twilight feel uncomfortable or pressured.

“An Elemental ,” Twilight started, “is an extremely powerful pony. There were few of them, but enough.” She turned back to Cantor, who was listening intently. “There were four types of Elementals, they each controlled their own element; air, water, Earth, and fire.”

“So what’s the problem?” Cantor asked.

“Well, princess Celestia told me about the last Elemental, he controlled air.”

“What about him?”

“She said he was power-hungry and incredibly violent, just like the other Elementals… Oh, but not you…” Twilight blushed.

“Did he die?”

“Yes. The princess-“ Twilight stopped herself from saying it, but the damage of the unspoken words had already been done.”

Cantor looked down. “Oh, so I guess she doesn’t really take kindly to the likes of me?”

Twilight grew pitiful. “Of course not!” She cried. “I’m sure the princess will understand when we explain everything.”
“I sure hope so…” Replied cantor, taking another soft bite of toast.

The trio left the tree house and Twilight locked the door behind her and tucked the key with the shape of a heart at the end into her striped mane somehow. The morning had grown old whist they got better acquainted with one another and Twilight’s plan had mostly gone out the window. It pained her to say it, but she didn’t care. Other ponies had ventured outside by now and were tending to their duties. Though ‘working’ was at hand – or at ‘hoof’ – it seemed to be rather pleasurable tasks such as watering gardens, cutting grass or working at various street stalls. Everypony seemed happy: for they had no reason not to be.

Cantor walked by Twilight’s side as they crossed the town centre. A line of brightly coloured ponies queued out of the door to Sugarcube bakery, the alicorn pony spotted a light blue unicorn in the queue. Her mane and tail were thick stripes of blue and white and she had an hourglass cutie mark glowing in the sun. “Is her name really Colgate?” Cantor asked himself silently as he watched the line of patient ponies take a step forward.

Overhead, some of the pegasi were arranging the clouds into a casual fluffy field with no particular pattern. He hoped he would see Rainbow Dash up there, but she was probably asleep somewhere instead! For late autumn as Celestia had said, it was a really nice day, the sun was shining, there were birds singing and everypony wore a genuine smile, which radiated warmth in themselves, a nice touch to the general mumble of the town which rose above the bustling streets.

The two ponies and the dragon were heading out to Canterlot. They would travel by train. Twilight offered to pay for Cantor herself and he would have refused, if he had any money, he kept promising Twilight he would pay her back however he could, whenever he could. She insisted that it wasn’t necessary, but Cantor explained how bad he felt about using her money. When they reached the train station and Twilight booked two adult tickets and one child one, Cantor reassured her for the millionth time that she would get the money back… somehow…

“Ah!” Cantor gasped in surprise as the steam train abruptly pulled out of the station before falling into a constant, comfortable speed alongside the empty fields and forests. Twilight could easily see that her new friend was nervous, after all, she had implied the princess finished off the last of his kind, but she would definitely listen to her ‘faithful student’. She reassured him with this notion and he perked up a little. Other passengers on the train kept giving the group mixed expressions, some gave Cantor the wary eye, others looked scared at his size; his horn nearly touched the roof of the train from where he sat. some ponies looked alluringly at the well – built stallion to which he gave them an unamused smile and nod, acknowledging their movements, but discarding them as well.

“Sooo…” Twilight Sparkle said, trying to think of something to talk about in the duration of the twenty-five minute ride. “When…” She started, “When we get back, would you be able to help me with some of my jobs? If you don’t mind, that is.”

“Of course.” Replied Cantor. “It’s the least I could do.”

“Think of it as payment for the ticket!” Twilight joked.

The pair giggled to themselves. Over the din of the other passengers, conversation was still fairly easy.

“Whoa!...” Cantor awed when an enormous city made of clouds rose into view when the train emerged from a tunnel carved through the mountain.

“That’s Cloudsdale; a city inhabited entirely by the pegasus ponies.” Twilight lectured like a tour guide. Cantor wasn’t really paying attention to her, rather marvelling at the jet black storm clouds that crowded one side of the city, occasionally rumbling with lightning when just next to them, waterfalls of rainbow hued liquid cascaded from the edges of the clouds and faded into the sky below. It was definitely a sight to be seen, as most of the other passengers were gaping at the city themselves, all except one older – looking male pony, who had fallen asleep on the short journey and another one, a dark blue unicorn stallion who wore a tight business suit and held a paper in front of his face with magic.

“I can’t wait to see Canterlot!” Exclaimed Cantor enthusiastically, he felt like when he took the tube into London back home, some people were tourists, others were joyless businessmen and women who only cared about mortal things. Home… this was his home now, in Equestria. And he would never go back, even if he had the chance…

“It’s quite a city…” Explained Twilight. “Though the ponies there are a little…. ‘different’ to the ones in Ponyville.”

“How do you mean?” Cantor asked.

“Well, let’s just say that they don’t see differences as a form of uniqueness, rather something that is… wrong.” Though she tried to pick her words carefully, the message was clear.

“Oh…” Cantor said with a dole tone.

“Don’t let them get to you.” Twilight added, drawing her eyesight to the bulges at his side. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t extinguish the fact that they were wings, making this pony a god in her eyes.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Cantor smiled at twilight before turning his head to the window once more, seeing nothing but clouds and sloping valleys streching endlessly into the distance.

Before long, the train had begun to slow until it drew to a stop at the Canterlot station. The train would be departing in five minutes again to Ponyville, so the platform was bustling with busy ponies rushing to and from work on business errands. Cantor was shoved and pushed more than enough times to cause aggravation and he was sure one time that a jumped-up little brown Earth pony was about to say something before he frowned down at him through his piercing orange eyes and made the short pony think that confronting somepony nearly three times his size wasn’t a good idea and scurried along, even though Cantor wouldn’t have done anything anyway.

Spike was riding on Twilight’s back as he could easily become lost or trampled under the frantic hooves. Gradually the trio cleared the station and approached the city gates, the drawbridge was already lowered and a couple of unicorns were crossing it. Twilight shot a friendly smile towards the familiar guards that stood in armour atop the battlements, returning the greeting. The same, however could not be said for Cantor as the guards frowned down upon him while he crossed the huge wooden door. He grinned foalishly and stayed close to Twilight’s side. The cobbled streets underhoof felt strange, slightly uncomfortable and he admitted that he much preferred the dirt roads around Ponyville, both for comfort and rustic aesthetics.

A few discerning stares from ponies around didn’t make the alicorn feel unwelcome or embarrassed, rather, it made him feel peeved at the fact that these ponies had nothing better to do than to gawp at other ponies brave enough to be individuals. As the disapproving gazes burned into him, he met them with an equally fiery stare, making the upper class look anywhere but the discs of amber that stared them down. His pleasure that other ponies saw him as a ‘power figure’ was countered by the thought that he may also be being viewed as a potentially dangerous individual, which was far from his intention.

Once the trio had ambled down the cobblestones and into the gardens, light conversation was established. “So, Cantor...” Spike piped up, being unusually silent until now. “Where do you live?” Twilight and Cantor both sighed simultaneously and also spoke for the stallion at the same time.

“He doesn’t have a place.”

“I Don’t have a home.”

Cantor’s way of putting it made it sound much more grim than it actually was, he was perfectly happy to sleep out under the night sky, watching the stars make their journey around the Earth. In fact, thinking about it, he kind of looked forward to that concept unit Twilight broke the illusion.

“You can stay at the library if you like.” She said, facing Cantor.

“That’s awfully kind of you, Twi… light, but you’ve already done so much for me.” He replied.

“Well what else were you going to do? Sleep outside?” She laughed.

“Actually, I was kind of liking that idea.” He replied seriously. Spike and Twilight met his statement with even more laughter until they realised that he was sincere.

“Seriously?” She asked, cocking her head and frowning. Cantor simply closed his eyes briefly and nodded to the question.

“Are you sure?” She asked compassionately. “You can sleep in my bed.” She finished with half-closed eyes.

“OH, WELL – Uh!” Cantor said loudly, raising his head above the unicorn, “I, uh… have always been a fan of the night sky. It’s umm… it’s rather beautiful to stargaze, don’t you think?” His voice slowly returned to it’s regular volume, but sustaining a certain degree of embarrassment. His cheeks glowed red as he tried and failed to force ‘ideas’ out of his mind.

Twilight caught on to his discomfort and said with the slightest note of disappointment in her voice “I guess so… Well, okay… if that’s what you want…” Cantor wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. It may have been from the heat, but the teenage stallion knew otherwise.

Approaching a long marble pathway lined with a shin – high hedgerow, the three broke free of the dappled tree line and into the hot sun. As they walked down the smooth path, Cantor grew wary of the two white pegasi laced with shiny golden armour sceptically watching them approach. Twilight whispered upwards to cantor “I’ll do the talking, okay?” Cantor replied with a stiff nod and turned his attention to the magnificent castle. Before Twilight could say a word, the guard on the left spoke up.

“Hey, Twilight. Good to see you. Who’s your friend?” Simply by the way he spoke, Cantor could tell he was a likeable pony; he came across as kind and seemed genuinely happy to see the purple unicorn.

“This is Cantor, we need to see the princess on a highly important matter.” She spoke for him.

“Well, pleased to meet you, Cantor!” The guard said happily, extending a hoof.

As Cantor took it and shook gently, he knew he wanted to get to know this pony better. He wondered if there were pubs and bars in Ponyville, and indeed if there was an age restriction. Cantor mimicked the guard’s welcoming smile as the one in gold said “Go right ahead, you guys. I’ll notify princess Celestia of your arrival.” He pulled a lever behind him and the metal gate slid up into the stone, revealing sweeping white walls and spires that stretched out over the valley, as if the castle were trying to reach the other side.

Twilight graciously thanked both armoured pegasi and stepped trough the archway. Cantor went to follow her and Spike when the Guard who looked around his age drew him into eye contact. The younger guard poked his head through the doorway and eyed Twilight’s pert flank. Cantor noticed this and was about to say something before the white pegasus returned his blue eyes to Cantor’s lively orange ones and raised his eyebrows so they briefly disappeared into the top of his golden helmet as if to say “What do you think?” Cantor narrowed his eyes into a disapproving and disgusted glare, and the pegasus was forced to avert his eyes. The white alicorn turned away and stepped through the doorway and brought himself up to Twilight’s side. Sure, he was as immature as anypony around his age, but he wasn’t a disrespectful pervert. Especially towards a pony with such natural and inner beauty.

“Twilight Sparkle! What a lovely surprise!” Said princess Celestia contently. “And who is this?” she asked looking towards the larger white stallion who followed trough the partially open door. He was roughly the same height as her sister, but more well built.

Seeing Twilight and Spike bow down to the floor, Cantor quickly followed them before returning to stand with Twilight. “This is Cantor, he only just showed up this morning.” Explained Twilight in an overly ‘calm’ voice.

“Hello there, Cantor.” The princess addressed the white ‘unicorn’

Cantor just stood there, smiling stupidly until Twilight gently jammed a rear hoof into one of his back legs. “Oh, uh… Good morning, your majesty.” He replied shakily. The princess chuckled, nopony except her guards had called her ‘your majesty’ for a while now.

“So what brings you two here?” Asked the princess.

“Uh, what about me?” Spike piped up, feeling left out.

“Of course, Spike.” The princess corrected herself, “What brings you three here today?” Spike placed his hands proudly on his hips.

“Well princess,” Twilight started, “it’s about Cantor here.”

“Is that so?” The white female alicorn replied peacefully.

“Yes, you see…” She paused, thinking whether this was a good idea or not. She quickly decided that is was and continued: “See, when he arrived at my library this morning, he didn’t know where he lived and he couldn’t even remember his name.” Twilight hoped she didn’t have to bring about the topic of what he was, she much preferred to talk about who he was instead.

“I see.” The princess replied.

“So we were wondering if you could help him out.” Twilight finished.

“And what would you possibly need help with?” Celestia asked.

“Well, he-“ Twilight began before being interrupted by the princess.

“Twilight Sparkle,” She said softly, not coming across rude at all. “Let the young gentlecolt speak for himself.”

At this point, cantor felt himself turning red but at the same time, really quite nervous. He reassured himself that this mare was a caring and gentle creature and wouldn’t hurt a fly. “Oh, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t.” He thought to himself as he began to speak. “W – well, your majesty-“

“Please, you’re a friend; call me Princess, or Celestia, or both if you so desire!” She started chuckling at her own little joke but it was severed short by what Cantor said next…

“What about Tia?” He asked.

Celestia stared in shock. “What?” She asked in disbelief.

The word “Fuck.” Appeared so vividly in Cantor’s mind that he could have sworn he saw the text fly across the room. He didn’t know why he said it, why he even thought of it, it just… came out.

“Only my family know that name, absolutely nopony else knows me like that.” The princess started with a harsh and accusing tone as she raised herself from her throne

. “Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit…” Were the only thoughts rushing through Cantor’s head as he desperately tried to force out some form of reasonable excuse.

“How do you know of that name?” She frowned as she said this.

Cantor, being as hopeless as he is let another stupid thing escape his lips. “Lucky guess?” He answered. The princess frowned more intently, instilling great fear into Cantor.

“Look, can we just get some help, princess, he doesn’t mean any harm.” Twilight chimed in before shooting a reassuring glance at Cantor.

“What’s wrong with his back?” The princess asked accusingly.

“They’re from an accide-“

“Let him speak for himself.” The princess interrupted.

“There from an accident when I was a colt.” Cantor answered dryly.

“What kind of accident?”

“Stagecoach. It wasn’t pretty.”

“Let me see.” Demanded Celestia.

Cantor froze and broke into a cold sweat. “I – I can’t.” He replied.

“Do you have something to hide?” Celestia asked, backing Cantor into a theoretical corner.

“N – no.” He replied shakily.

“Then show me.” Demanded the princess a second time.

Cantor eyed Twilight hopefully but she gave him a look as if to say “Might as well.”, in all fairness, Cantor didn't know what else to expect to do. He slowly felt around behind his vest and lifted it from atop his right wing and equally as slowly drew it forward until all of his wing was visible. Spike gasped and Celestia somehow glared even more.

“Who are you?” She asked bitterly.

“The one who’s going to save your ass.” The alicorn replied just as coldly.

“How dare you?” Celestia growled, rasing herself from her throne with an air of impending doom.

“WAIT!” Came a cry from a certain purple unicorn as Celestia took a menacing step towards Cantor. “He’s special.” She said.

“In what way?” the princes forcefully asked. By now the four guards in the room had surrounded Cantor, but the only thing concerning him was the princess. This wasn’t the same one he’d met; this princess was quick to anger and unwilling to listen calmly.

“He’s an Elemental.” Twilight replied in defeat, her last option exhausted and the outcome could go two ways, and it took a turn for the worst.

The princess’ horn began to glow and Cantor felt a strong invisible clamp around his neck as he lifted off of the floor and was thrown with great force into one of the stone pillars at the edge of the wall. Cantor sunk to the floor, but managed to steal a glimpse of Twilight being forced from the room by the two grey unicorns’ magic. She struggled to free herself from their grasp to no avail. “Princess! Please! Listen!” She cried as Cantor hopelessly watched his fearful friend get dragged through two large doors at the end of the room, her assistant clinging tightly to her neck as she screamed to be released. Cantor raised himself from the floor and barely lifted a hoof in the direction of the doorway Twilight was pulled into before he was tackled to the ground by two solid white pegasi.

Cantor just saw the two doors slam shut behind Twilight, but he could still hear her screaming. Celestia stepped in front of his vision and bent her neck down so she was staring straight into Cantor’s soul.

“You’re all the same.” She snarled, her usually sweet voice replaced by some gruff monster. “You're not going to make me remember, and I’m not taking any chances.”

She raised her head and began walking away from the pinned alicorn. Knowing what would come next, Cantor played his last resort.

“I’m the Rife!” He spoke loudly, not quite a shout, yet loud enough to show the desparation.

Princess Celestia froze in place. “What?” She asked slowly, her voice instilled with fear and disbelief.

“You heard me.” Cantor snapped back.

A torturous few seconds of silence past before the princess finally spoke, yet when she did, Cantor failed to judge whether he would be more or less scared now. “Guards, you are dismissed. Please leave this room. Now.” Celestia’s words carried an unrelenting sense of pressurised rage.

“But – your majesty-“ One of the guards started to speak.

“Get. Out.” Celestia interrupted with a voice that shocked even herself. Cantor barely felt the pegasi move from on top of him before the main door to the throne room was forcefully shut, sending a loud echo ricocheting off the stone walls and stained glass windows. The room fell silent, both ponies allowing the roaring echo to cease before Celestia spoke.

“What do you know of the Rife?” She asked, her hatred replaced with deep concern.

“I know that it has something to do with the end of the world.” Cantor replied softly, gazing up at the princess from his spot on the floor. His anger had been quelled too. “I’m from the future, from my world; parallel to yours. The future version of yourself came and took me away and told me the basics of what I needed to know.”

“And did she – I tell you that my name is Tia?”

“No, in my universe, your entire world and it’s inhabitants are characters made in the hearts and souls of writers and dedicated fans. Princess, there is so much more to everything you or I understand. I know nearly every detail about this world, only having been in it for a few hours. I understand you may have had some conflicts with these ‘Elementals’ in the past. But I promise I’m different.” Celestia closed her eyes and a single tear fell from each, landing on the polished stone floor with a quiet ‘splash’, her lifelong fears finally confirmed. “Princess, I am willing to do anything to save this paradise, but I still need your help to tell me everything that is going on.” Celestia sighed deeply. “Can you accept my friendship?” Cantor asked heartfully, extending a shaking hoof from where he laid on the floor.

He closed his eyes and rested his head on the cold ground. He opened them slowly and brought his head back up when he felt a gentle pressure on his outstretched limb. He gazed up into the understanding purple eyes of the princess, they were glistening with tears, as were his.

“Cantor,” She started, “Can you ever forgive me for how I acted earlier?” Cantor couldn’t help but beam into her forgiving eyes.

“Princess,” He declared, “I already have…”

Twilight paced in the room she was being held captive in, her anger was overpowering her sorrow. Anything could be happening in that room. Her princess could be torturing her friend that instant, she could have already killed him and moved onto the next thing in her day. Or, they could be making friends, discussing the questions he wanted answered. She could only hope that the latter was true. Spike sat on the edge of the bed and watched his thumbs chase each other in the cup of his claws.

The room was some sort of spare bedroom, one of the many hundreds scattered throughout the castle, very seldom occupied. It contained little furnishings, simply a tall four-poster bed, a wardrobe and a desk, as well as a few ornimental pleasantries like large gold-framed mirrors and an on-suite bathroom to the right of a rather fetching balcony. Twilight glared at the grey unicorn standing at the side of the door, and he glared back. She continued to pace, mulling over thoughts and assumptions which gradually became worse over time. She paced some more, and some more until the feint sound of clopping came through the closed door somewhere down the hallway. She stepped closer to the door and the unicorn stepped in to block her path. She listened to the hoofsteps grow louder and she could hear muffled voices, one definitely belonged to the princess, and the other, sounded like a young male’s voice. She hoped and prayed that it would be Cantor and then she heard his distinct voice.

She didn’t know what he said and she didn’t care, but it was definitely him! Upon hearing the voices himself, Spike hopped from the bed and joined Twilight at her side. The hoofsteps grew louder and louder until they stopped. The large wooden door opened a fraction and the guard raised his ear to whomever was talking from the other side. He nodded and closed his eyes, opening both doors fully with his magic to reveal princess Celestia and Cantor both smiling.

Twilight let out a cry of joy and relief as she charged over and flung her arms around Cantor’s neck. He returned the embrace. “What’s all this?” He asked as Twilight squeezed him.

“I – I thought you-“ She began, though she knew she could never find the words.

“Hey, it’s okay. Don’t worry about me!” Cantor replied gently, letting go of the purple unicorn.

“It turns out that our friend here really is special.” Celestia commented. “He is something called a ‘perfect Elemental’.”

“What’s that?” Twilight quizzed.

“Somepony who can control all of the worldly elements. Maybe even at the same time…” The princess replied.

Twilight gazed at Cantor and he scuffed at the floor as if he was hiding something. “So what happens now?” The purple unicorn asked with a spike of regained confidence in her princess.

Celestia and Cantor met each other’s eyes and the princess nodded softly. Cantor turned back to his violet friend and said with affliction: “I’m sorry Twilight. You too Spike.” As he cast the dragon an apologetic look.

He turned to leave after the stone – coloured unicorn guard, but as he did, looked back to the princess and mouthed “Yeah” silently to her. She closed her eyes and nodded. She waited for the door to close behind her before she opened them again. “I’m sorry Twilight Sparkle, but this is for the best.”

“What’s going on?” Twilight panicked as the princess’ horn began to glow. A brilliant white light erupted into the room and a loud booming explosion was heard. Twilight and Spike screamed as the blinding light forced them to seal their eyes closed and a pain echoed around their heads. Cantor could hear the commotion from the outside and grimaced as he heard an anguished cry of pain from both Twilight and the baby dragon cut short.Once the light had faded and the dust had settled, The princess watched her faithful student as she slumped to the floor in a heap with her dragon compadre.

Friendship Is Magic

Chapter 7: Friendship is magic

Cantor re-entered the room after hearing the explosion. He watched sorrowfully as Twilight and Spike crumpled into a heap together on the floor. The drapes were still billowing from the explosion. Celestia turned her attention towards the other alicorn. “It was the right thing to do.” She muttered.

“How long will they be out for?” Cantor asked, observing Twilight’s chest slowly rise and fall.

“Around an hour. They’ll forget everything that happened during the last two hours.” The princess answered softly.

Cantor sighed. “Well, I’d best get her home.”

“Of course.” Celestia added. She proceeded to clear her throat softly and instantly the two white pegasi that had assaulted Cantor appeared at the doorway. Needless to say they were about as happy to see Cantor as he was to see them.

“Yes, your majesty?” One of the guards spoke.

The princess turned to face them and said: “Please could you prepare a carriage for my subjects to depart within ten minutes?”

Looking into the room, the guards noticed the purple unicorn and a baby dragon sleeping on the floor. Cantor outstretched his chest to partially block their view. “At once, your majesty.” They replied simultaneously as they backed out of the door.

“Thank you, princess.” Cantor declared.

“For what?” she replied, looking down towards the stallion.

“For giving me a second chance.”

“Everypony deserves a second chance.” She acknowledged in return.

Cantor nodded in agreement and picked Spike and Twilight up with magic and placed them gently onto his back. He managed to stay standing. However, Twilight was a lot heavier than he expected.
The princess sighed contently through closed lips; “Mmmh” and both alicorns left, leaving the room completely empty.

The carriage lifted off smoothly and Cantor gave a farewell wave to the princess as it dove under a layer of clouds, obscuring the castle from sight. The fancy box was being drawn by two different pegasi to the ones who assaulted him, their great muscles of flight hardly having to exert any effort at all as they soared through the open sky. The alicorn turned his attention to the other two sleeping passengers in the transport with him. Spike slept soundly by himself on the opposite end of the roofed carriage, snoring gently in a little ball with his head rested upon his arms. Cantor was glad about being boxed in; it made the whole ride a lot warmer and… cosier. Twilight slept to Cantor’s right and when the carriage jolted, she stirred and her head fell onto Cantor’s warm chest. The stallion froze before slowly reached behind Twilight’s neck with his right forearm and began gently stroking her striped mane over her soft ear as she slept. And he didn’t stop until they landed.

The carriage touched down gently just outside of the library. The impact shook Cantor from his trance and he hastily carried the two sleepyheads out of the golden carriage on his back, Twilight’s legs pressing into the soft cushions of his wings under his light-brown vest. He thanked the pegasi who pulled the carriage and said he would repay them. They politely declined and explained that it was part of their job. Cantor found the key located inside Twilight’s mane and unlocked the wooden door. He waved the pegasus ponies farewell before stepping inside the library. He gently set the unicorn down on her sofa before carrying the dragon up the stairs to his small basket beside Twilight’s perfectly made bed, draping the soft blue blanket over Spike and left him sleeping peacefully in the sunlight.

Cantor tip-hoofed his way down the curved stairs – which was actually a lot easier than it sounds – and returned to the side of the dozing unicorn on the two-seater cushy sofa, observing her eyes flitting around under her thin lids. He stayed there for a while, watching her sleep peacefully, a serine smile etched onto her face. This made the alicorn smile too; whatever she was dreaming about, it was pleasant.

After what felt like twenty minutes of watching the mare slumber, Cantor began to feel like some sort of a creepy weirdo. He relayed the room. No trace of the struggle was evident and everything was as it was when the two were sat on the sofa with tea. Cantor glanced at the coffee table at the cold cup of muddy liquid atop it. Looking from Twilight to the tea and back to the sleeping mare, Cantor decided to make her another, carrying the cup with his magic, he poured the cold tea down the sink and watched it disappear with a gurgling sound. He replaced the cup on the work surface and searched for the kettle. It was sat, looking lonely on a gas hob. He half-filled it with water and set it neatly back down. Impressed with how quickly he was learning this magic malarkey, Cantor flicked the gas onto the number 6 setting and pressed the spark button with his hoof. A blue flame burst into life under the kettle.

Assured that the water was beginning to heat up, Cantor leaned through the doorway and stole a peep at Twilight. She still slept soundly in the same position he left her in, her forelegs still limpat her sides. Drawing himself back to the kitchen, Cantor gazed out of the four-pane window. It was truly a beautiful sight. There were fillies and colts playing outside in the sunshine; all mannerisms of physical entertainment like hide and seek and tag. It wasn’t hard to see why everypony looked so fit and healthy all the time; no X-boxes or computers, just innocent, childlike fun. A year away, he remembered Celestia saying, this world was due to end. Cantor opened the kitchen window and allowed a soft, fragrant breeze carry with it the sounds of young laughter. He leaned on the windowsill and observed the world. This is what he was here to protect; he must, at any cost… Failure, was not an option.

The kettle began to whistle loudly, taking it from the hob in a silver aura, freezing before he noticed that temperature didn’t matter when using magic, Cantor placed it on the opposite burner and opened all the cupboard doors at once, seeing whether Twilight had teabags or leaves. His eyes rested on a lime-green box that read “Bridlewood Green Tea”. Closing all unnecessary cupboards, Cantor drew out the box and flicked the lid open to reveal no more than five pouches with dark leaves nestled inside. The porous paper sprouted a tail of thin string with a thick paper tag at the opposite end. Cantor dropped the teabag into the white cup which bore a repulsive floral design and draped the string over the rim. He carefully poured the still piping hot water into the cup, followed by a splash of some sort of weird ‘yellow-capped’ milk.

He let the flavours of the tealeaves infuse with the water for a moment, watching the colour gradually darken to a suitable shade of bronze. He lifted the saturated bag with more magic and compressed it, releasing a stream of amber liquid into the cup. “Sugar or not?” He asked himself in a voice just above a whisper. He decided not to as Twilight seemed like the kind of sophisticated girl who only really drunk this sort of stuff and water; if she wanted something sweet, she would go to the other end of the scale and have a soft drink. The cliché phrase sprung to mind: “she was sweet enough already…” Cantor stuck his equine tongue out at that cheap line and slowly guided the cup back towards the saucer resting alone on the bulky wooden table.

Cantor hoped the tea he made was to Twilight’s liking. He found humour in the fact that the sole reason he was here was to prevent global collapse and he was concerned at whether or not the tea was good. He smiled and watched Twilight breathe deeply for a few more minutes, although it could have been longer as before he knew it, the mare stirred broadly, stretching out her limbs before opening her eyes to find herself slumped on her sofa staring at the ceiling.

“Wha- what happened?” She asked, sitting up drearily. Cantor held his breath. If the spell hadn’t been executed correctly, she would wake up to find another – much larger male unicorn sat next to her in her house. Twilight turned to face Cantor and repeated with eyes half opened: “What happened?” After she said this, Cantor sighed in deep relief. “I was just talking to you and then… I was down here.” She finished, looking completely bewildered.

“I don’t know…” Cantor replied in mock surprise. “You just stopped talking and fell asleep!”

“But… why?” Twilight asked.

“No clue.” Cantor shrugged. “Maybe you’ve been overdoing it lately…”

Twilight frowned at the floor. “Not that I can think of…” She pondered all the seemingly plausible questions, tapping her hoof on her chin, staring at the floor.

Her gaze suddenly shot towards the clock on the wall when it chimed and cuckooed once. Cantor jumped at the unexpected sound. Twilight didn’t notice though; her eyes were wide with panic. “Is it one o’ clock!?” She cried, standing to attention, nearly knocking the whole coffee table over in the process. “Oh, Celestia! I’m so late!”

Cantor stood up as well, a lot slower and calmer than the other pony who was now frantically galloping from one end of the library to the next shouting for her dragon – assistant to “Get up now!”.

“Would you like me to-“ Cantor started.

“How long was I asleep!?” Twilight interrupted, stopping to ‘converse’ with Cantor in the middle of the library.

“Uhhhhh…” Cantor thought as he counted the numbers on the clock. “About three hours.”

“THREE HOURS!?” Twilight bellowed and returned to her frenzied pacing, muttering to herself adaptations to her list such as “Well, I could skip lunch; that would bump up the time for surveying the food storage for today. Oh, and I’d better leave enough time to make dinner. Maybe I could change dinner. Ah, but today is vegetable stir fry: Spike’s favourite dish that doesn’t contain gemstones, did you know?” She asked, directly addressing Cantor, stopping in the middle of the room again some distance from the stallion, giving him an unnervingly wide smile.

“Umm, okay.” Cantor replied, watching Twilight closely with mild anxiety. “I could help you with some-“

“Speaking of which, where is that lazy dragon? SPIIIIIKE!”

“Twilight!” Cantor snapped, causing the unicorn to fall still and silent. “I’m sorry” He started, “Look, if you need any help, I’d be happy to lend a ha- hoof.”

“Ahhh! You’re a lifesaver!” She sighed.

“Of course!” Cantor joked. “So what’s first on the list?”

Twilight and Cantor hurried out the door, leaving the purple dragon on his own to tend to the library. The second introduction to the small reptilian had been a lot more successful – and a lot less painful – than the first, both boys striking up easy conversation about things that only apply to guys. Twilight insisted they left once the conversation topic turned to girls; once Spike got going about his 'secret' crush, it could be hours before he stopped. Cantor bid farewell to the dragon as Twilight was practically shoving him out of the door, reassuring him that they would catch up later. The front door slammed behind Twilight and caused several books to plummet noisily from their shelves. Spike sighed and set about cleaning up the mess, not expecting Twilight to be back any time soon.

“So what’s first on the list?” Cantor enquired as Twilight levitated the ridiculously long plan in front of her. The bottom duties of the day dragged along the floor.

“Check on harvest.” Twilight relayed, prodding the empty checkbox with her hoof.

“Sooo… Sweet apple acres?”

“Yes. As it is the end of Applebuck season, my friend Applejack and her family has to get in this years harvest of apples for the winter.” She replied.

“What? You live on apples for the whole season?” Cantor asked in mild shock.

“Of course not!” Twilight replied as if it were obvious. “There’s carrots, flowers, and as you know, hay is available all year round. Apples are really only used as ingredients in other recipes like pie and cake.”

“Apple… cake?”

“Yeah, have you never tried it?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“You have to try some, it’s to die for.”

“Yeah… I bet it is…” he replied with a hint of remorse carried on his voice.

“I think you’ll get along with Applejack; she’s one of the most likeable ponies I know.” Twilight insisted.

“Okay.” Cantor replied, he seemed rather distracted, but neither he, nor Twilight could pinpoint what it was.

A long moment of silence passed, and it was only when the two ponies left the outskirts of the town and began to trek down the slightly less well-kept track that led to Sweet Apple Acres before either of them spoke again.

“Twilight?” Cantor asked, “What would you say if I told you I had certain… Abilities?”

“Abilities?” She repeated raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

“Yeah, umm…” Cantor couldn’t think of the right words. “If… Maybe, uh…” Twilight held the confused look. “Don’t worry
about it, just forget I said anything.”

“Umm… Okaaay…” She replied, turning her head back to the trail. She had more pressing matters to occupy her mind with than strange friends. After all, she already had one of those…

The two continued in silence, but it was an awkward silence, not the nice, ‘nothing needs to be said’ silence. Cantor sighed, even the violent and emotional meeting they had worked out better than this, and now, Twilight hadn’t experienced any of it.

“Well.” Thought Cantor, “I’ll just have to build this from the ground.” The foundation had been planted, now all he needed were the bricks.

“So, Applejack, everything going well?” Twilight Sparkle asked as she observed her Earth pony friend forcefully smack a tree with her hind legs, somehow causing plump apples to fall into carefully-placed buckets.

“Fine and dandy, Twilight!” The orange pony replied, picking up a stray apple by the stalk in her mouth and dropping it into the bucket. “Who’s ya’ friend?”

Cantor was intrigued by how different all their accents sounded; the new orange mare in front of him had a medium-intense southern American accent, which suited her character perfectly, all topped off by that wonderful Stetson. Twilight had the standard, sensible ‘American schoolgirl’s’ accent, and Cantor retained his English heritage, even if a little more gruff, in his opinion, the perfect voice. Cantor pondered to himself: “Do the ponies in Equestria have similar countries where these accents originate from? Must do. Rarity had nearly the same accent as Cantor, but much more well-pronounced.

“His name’s Cantor. He turned up only this morning.” Twilight spoke, once again, speaking for him. He didn’t mid it, it would just be nice to introduce himself for a change.

“Pleasure to meet ya’, Cantor!” She beamed as she shook his hoof violently.

“You too, Applejack.” Cantor returned.

“Hey! He sounds jus' like Rarity!” The cowpony exclaimed in amusement.

“Uhhhhh… A little…” Twilight remarked.

“Anyhow, I got a story that’ll interest you two.” Applejack began.

“Get ready.” Twilight quietly said to Cantor, turning her head to his ever so slightly and speaking from the side of her mouth.

“So last night, something landed in my west field. None of us heard it, though, but me an’ Applebloom came across the scene pickin’ up the no good apples for the pigs. Damn thing killed one a’ mah apple trees.” She started.

“Oh, fuck.” Passed through Cantor’s mind for the second time that day.

“What was it, a meteor or something?” Twilight asked.

“Dunno,” Applejack replied, “But, there was some hair on the broken branches, thinkin’ about it, it was exactly the same colour as yours’, Cantor.”

“Huh, weird…” He commented, hoping the conversation would change topic.

“Well,” Applejack sighed as she spoke, “It’s a little more than ‘weird’; I’m down one apple tree!” There was a hint of anger in her voice.

“Umm…” Cantor said, looking at his surroundings, “Don’t you have enough?”

“Well yeah, but every tree is special to me. It’s my whole life.” She said, looking sadly at the floor. Cantor was taken back by how much she cared for her trees, and even more so by how genuinely upset she was. He decided to change the topic himself, though not entirely off of the subject.

“Where do you keep all those apples?” He asked, “I mean, you must have easily over one hundred-thousand trees here!”

“Six thousand, eight hundred and twenty one- oop, twenty trees to be exact.” The earth pony confirmed.

Cantor gaped in shock. Even Twilight, who was renowned for her organisation was taken back slightly by the statement.

“Seriously!?” Cantor asked in amazement. “You know exactly how many trees you have?”

“Sure do!” Applejack replied with great pride. “We keep the harvest in silos near the back a’ the farm.”

“How many silos?” Cantor asked, drawn in by the sheer enormity of the task she and her family succeeded in every year.

“We got ‘bout twenty a’ ‘em.”

“Chri- Go- … Celestia. How big are they?”

“Each holds around two hundred an' fifty thousand apples each.”

“Two hundred and fifty thousand!?” Cantor replied, astonished. “How many do you use?”

“Every year?” She pondered for a moment before coming to a conclusion, “we get about fifteen, sixteen, maybe seventeen silo-full’s worth a’ apples.”

“Wow.” Cantor was amazed. That meant easily several million apples each year! “Have you ever filled up all twenty?”

“Once, a few years back, we got enough money for that to fix up pretty much everything on the farm, an’ then some!” She replied beaming.

“You sell the apples?”

“A' course.” She said blankly. “It doesn’t take a million apples to feed Ponyville!”

“Who buys all those apples, then?”

“Buisnessponys from pretty much ever’where in Equestria. Here at Sweet Apple Acres, we got the best quality apples ever! Period!”

“Awesome!” Cantor commented, very impressed with the success of the humble orange pony. Who would have thought that such a... rustic girl could be involved in an enormously successful buisness.

“Try one!” She added, tossing two plump red apples towards Cantor and Twilight who each caught the fruit with their magic.

Cantor took a bite. “Oh, my God!” He thought as juice erupted from the apple, filling his mouth. It was like eating an apple, and drinking one at the same time! It tasted amazingly sweet, but not too much to make it sickly. All rounded off by an ever so slightly bitter aftertaste. It was absolutely perfect…

“Wow… You weren’t joking…” He complimented Applejack, hastily taking another juicy bite which happened to be just as good as the previous.

“I can never tell a lie.” She replied proudly.

“So, I take it you’ve got everything under control?” Twilight checked, halfway through her own apple.

“Yup!” Was all the earth pony said, making her way towards another tree that sheltered several empty buckets.

“Well, I suppose we’ll just get out of your hair…” Twilight called, starting to turn away with hesitation as the earth pony
forcefully slammed her hind legs into the tree, causing a downpour of more apples.

“Twilight, wait.” Applejack called out. “I’ve been mighty rude with y’all haven’t I?” She finished with disappointment in herself.

“Not at all.” Twilight reassured, “I can see that you’re really busy,” She giggled “As you are every day!”

“Thanks Twilight.” Applejack replied, bowing her head so the Stetson threw her face into shadow. “I’ll be free at the weekend.” She said looking back up with a smile, “We can hang out some time then!”

“That’ll be nice.” Twilight spoke, feeling reassured. “Actually, when Pinkie finds out about Cantor, no doubt she’ll invite us all to a welcoming party.”

“Welcoming party?” Cantor asked.

“Yeah, pretty much everypony who’s new to Ponyville gets some sort of welcoming party from our friend, Pinkie Pie.”
“Oh, that sounds cool…” Cantor replied weakly; he really didn’t like to be the centre of attention, but perhaps now it would be different.

“See ya’ ‘round, Twilight!” Applejack called, strongly bucking another tree as the two other ponies left, carrying their apples in front of them with magic. The orange cowpony stood motionless for a moment, watching them amble off into the distance.

“Hmmm…” Thought the element of honesty: she could tell something was off with the newcomer, probably not in a bad way, but still, something about him was just… different… She shook the thoughts from her head and returned to work. After all, it was late Applebuck season, and she still had a few silos to fill…

“Next task, Twilight?” Cantor asked, peeping at the unicorn’s list, failing to find the last box checked off.

“I need to pick up a dress my friend Rarity was fixing for me.” Twilight answered, marking a small box next to the note: “Check on harvest.” With a swift tick.

“Alright…” Cantor returned. “Fixing a dress?”

“Yeah…” Twilight sighed sleepily, though the day was young, the heat and stress had taken a little of the energy out of her.

“It happened a couple of days ago, see, I keep this dress she made for me as a keep-safe, a memoir of when we all attended the Great Galloping Gala the year before last.”

“So what happened?”

“All that happened is I took it out to look at it – I sometimes just like to do that – and it caught on an out of place nail in my doorway and tore a little.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Cantor said with sympathy.

“Oh, it’s fine.” Replied Twilight. “Rarity said she can fix anything fabric.”

“That’s good. Hey, do you go to the gala every year? I heard it’s spectacular.”

“Well,” She started, “The first year my friends and I attended the gala, it sort of… wasn’t.”

How come?” He asked, trying to sound clueless.

“We all did our separate things, and it kind of ruined the whole party.”

“How?” The stallion asked slowly, a smirk creeping onto his face.

“It’s a long story… I’ll tell you later, I’m really sorry, but I have so much to do today.”

“It’s fine,” Cantor said happily, “I understand.”

The walk to the boutique involved crossing the centre of town where, of all the ponies to run into, Pinkie Pie was the one to erupt from seemingly nowhere, causing both ponies to jump out of their skins.

“Hey, Twilight!” The party mare yelled ecstatically. “Who’s this?” She asked pointing a forceful hoof at Cantor from where she stood in the fountain.

Still startled from the shock, Twilight remained silent. Cantor ceased the opportunity to introduce himself for a change. “I’m Cantor. Nice to meet ya, Pinkie.”

Pinkie gasped. “You know my name! That’s great!”

Cantor hoped Twilight wasn’t paying attention. Unfortunately, this was Twilight.

“How do you know her name?” She asked accusingly.

“I, uh…” Pinkie clambered out from the high fountain wall and landed with a splattering of water on the ground. The pink pony’s coat began to dry almost immediately in the hot sun. “She’s pink, and she knows you… I just put two and two together and well… Pinkie Pie.” He finished, gesturing his hoof in the direction of the party pony.

“You’ve got a quick mind. I like that.” Twilight said proudly.

“Damn quick.” Cantor thought, silently congratulating himself.

“How long have you been in Ponyville? I’ve never seen you before. OH! I’ve got to throw you a welcome party!” She exclaimed, her voice growing in pitch and volume as she spoke the last two words.

“Actually, Pinkie, I just came here this morning.”

“Would you like me to show you around?” Her sky-blue eyes were full of wonder; she loved making new friends and giving tours. Both at the same time would be bliss.

Cantor looked at Twilight for answers. He didn’t care what he did, he would be happy to help Twilight, and felt in debt to her. However, he would love to spend more time with this hyperactive mare. “Well, it’s up to you, Cantor…” Said Twilight.

“Damn it.” Thought the stallion. He hated that phrase. He always relied on others to make decisions for him. He didn’t want to disappoint anypony. “I don’t mind.” He said.

“Do you mind showing him around, Pinkie?” Twilight asked.

“Of course not! I’d love to!” Pinkie answered almost instantly when Twilight finished talking.

“Well, I guess you don’t have a choice!” Twilight joked towards Cantor.

A wave of relief washed over him, followed by a content smile. “Sounds good to me! A-are you sure you don’t need help?”

“Cantor,” Twilight sighed. “I’m collecting a dress; if there were something that involved monotonous heavy lifting, however, the story might be a little different.”

“Oh, thanks.” Cantor replied sarcastically. “I’ll try to meet you back at the library.”

“Take your time, Rarity and I are having a spa session, so it should be around dusk by the time I get back to the library.”

Cantor gagged. “Ugh, a spa!?” Twilight nodded happily with closed eyes. “What… I don’t even… You know what? I don’t wanna know; girl stuff.” He proceeded to hang his tongue out.

“Oh, please.” Twilight spoke up. “I would try to explain, but I wouldn’t expect a colt to understand!” She began to laugh, closely followed by Pinkie, who’s infectious giggling started Cantor off too.

The group continued to chortle manically for a solid minute before Cantor asked between gasps for air: “What are… we even… laughing ab-… laughing about!?”

“I don’t know!” Pinkie cried, drawing several pony’s heads. Their joyous laughter only intensified.

As their cackles simmered down to rapid breathing, and snorts of small amusement, Cantor spoke first. “Well, that was… different…” his cheeks were burning from the smiling, yet he continued to press them in a wide, beaming grin.

“Ahhh…” Twilight sighed in felicity before declaring her ‘tardiness’ and making her swift way towards carousel boutique, leaving Cantor and Pinkie Pie to explore Equestria… Within reason, of course…

“And over here’s the river!” The pink mare said excitedly. “And that concludes the tour!”

“Wow. That was quick.” Cantor commented. It had taken the pair no more than seven minutes to cycle through all the main attractions in Ponyville and Cantor had to gallop continuously to keep up with the bounding Pinkie Pie, who rattled out her words just as fast as she moved. The two now stood one side of a stone bridge which curved over a bubbling stream. Cantor felt more at ease with Pinkie; she wouldn’t question him when he gave inside knowledge about their lives like Twilight would.

“Does Fluttershy live over there?” He asked, remembering hearing about how the timid pegasus lived on the outskirts of Ponyville with many hundreds of animals. He thought it strange how somepony so scared of pretty much everything could live at such close proximity to the Everfree Forest, a place famed for it’s mystery, unnatural biology and above all, it’s danger.

“Yeah, you wanna go see her?” Pinkie asked with her standard level of enthusiasm.

“I’d like to… she doesn’t usually do anything throughout the day, does she? I’d hate to disrupt her afternoon.” The disguised alicorn asked, not wanting to get off on the wrong hoof with anypony – especially Fluttershy because she would be too shy to say she was busy, even if she was.

“Uhh, I don’t think so. Usually she just stays at her cottage, looking after all her animals, aaand that’s pretty much it.” She explained, beginning to cross the bridge with Cantor at her side.

“What does she actually do? As in, how does she make money? Is she a vet or something?”

“Yeah. Ponies take their sick pets to her and she’s never not been able to fix them up!” Pinkie replied, praising her friend.

“That’s cool.” Cantor remarked.

“Her house isn’t far from here; we’ll be there in no time!” Pinkie reassured, even though Cantor was more than happy walking down the tree-carved pathway, spattered with dappled sunlight.

As promised, the cottage adorned with birdhouses and leaf – covered windows jutting from the roof rapidly came into view. It looked remarkably like Twilight’s tree house, only a lot less ‘tree-like’, resembling more of a bewildring mushroom. Another, smaller bridge made from wood arched across a stream. A large tree, bearing a few extra ornamental bird boxes stood to the right, swaying gently in the breeze. Cantor clocked his surroundings with an eyebrow raised, it was certainly peaceful, except for the sweet sound of somepony’s singing wafting through the air. Though the sound wasn’t exactly distinguishable from something that was natural as life. “It must be Fluttershy.” Thought Cantor, listening to the beautiful sound. He and Pinkie crossed the bridge and made their way towards the humble wooden door. The singing only intensified, it became apparent that the song had no specific words, yet it still hit the ear beautifully. Only very special ponies can pull off something like that.

Pinkie was the one to rasp loudly on the door. Instantly, the angelic singing was cut off and the sound of hurried shuffling ensued. The door cracked open, revealing a feeble aquatic eye.

“Y-Yes?” Came a timid voice from behind the door, causing Cantor to smile.

“Hi there, Fluttershy, my name’s Cantor.” The stallion said soundly.

“How do you know my name?” She asked shakily.

“I’m here with Pinkie Pie.” He said looking towards the pink pony, quickly realising that Fluttershy couldn't see Pinkie at all and could be fearful of an unfarmilliar face.

The door opened wider to reveal the bubbly pink mare. “Hey, Fluttershy!” She beamed.

“Oh, hello, Pinkie Pie.” The butter – coloured pegasus answered. “Would you like to come in?”

“Yup!” Pinkie answered, bounding into Fluttershy’s home and planting herself on the attractive moss-green sofa to the far wall, leaving Fluttershy respectively on her own with the large ‘unicorn’.

The pegasus let out an “Eep” and backpedalled until she struck the sofa and landed on her behind, falling into the cushion.
Cantor gently stepped through the door, closing it as quietly as possible behind him with magic. “Sooo, uh…” He said, rolling his eyes in an attempt to find a topic to talk about.

“What have you been up to lately, Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked openly. A valid question, none the less.

“Not much, Pinkie.” The pegasus answered meekly, turning her head to hide behind her light pink mane.

“Wow.” Thought Cantor, he knew this pony was shy, but this was ridiculous. Was it because he was there? Maybe if he laid down, it would make her feel more comfortable… he did just that, lowering himself onto the floor and crossing his forearms out in front of him, now only a metre or two from Fluttershy. The act seemed to ease her – though ever so slightly – enough to come out of her hiding place and meet the alicorn’s compassionate eye again.

“Just the usual,” Fluttershy continued, her voice returning to ‘normal’, even if that ‘normal’ was very soft and quiet. “Just caring for the creatures, housework, cooking. You know… the usual.”

Cantor’s ears perked up. “Cooking?” He asked, knowing his way around a kitchen himself. “You cook?” To some that would be a silly question: of course she cooked, who else did she have that would do it for her. But to bring it up in conversation showed she didn’t feel out of place in the culinary workshop either.

Fluttershy turned to face her visitor and blushed. She could tell he cottoned on to her passion for cookery and didn’t like to show it. “Y-Yes. I cook…” She answered, returning to her dampened voice.

“What sort of things do you cook?” Cantor enquired.

“Oh, nothing much.” She replied, it was plain to see that she felt uncomfortable around Cantor. This made him feel empty. He knew they would come to be good friends, but he also knew he would have to work for it and watch what he said… and did around this sensitive mare.

“Oh, alright.” Cantor trailed off, not wanting to throw the sweet young pegasus into nervousness, or even fear. However, he noticed that no matter where Fluttershy looked, her eyes would always glance back to the bulges on his side before quickly looking away again. The next time she looked, Cantor caught her glance by narrowing his eyes ever so slightly, enough to make the pegasus keep eye contact, but hopefully not to instil fear.

“Something the matter, Fluttershy?” He asked as respectively as possible from where he laid on the large rug that nearly filled the entire room.

“Um… No, it’s nothing.” She replied submissively.

“Really?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. He knew what she wanted to know, but he wanted her to ask it. “Is it about these?” He prodded the bump on his left side with a hoof, causing a shooting pain through the entire appendage which hadn’t moved for over four and a half hours now. Cantor decided strongly against doing that again.

“No…” She replied, her voice becoming more quiet with everything she said.

“Yeah, what are those things on your back?” Pinkie chimed in. She gasped “Are they ‘hidden balloons’!?”

“Astounding.” Thought cantor; even the slightest hint towards something comical got this pony excited. “No Pinkie,” He answered, humouring her a little. “They’re the result of an accident many years ago…” He assumed it best to stick with his story.

“What kind of accident?” Pinkie asked, a seldom sense of true care was very noticeable in her tone, and so was the delightful enthusiasm only Pinkie Pie could manage to constantly pull off. From only this mare could a mixture of concern and excitement be deemed acceptable.

“Not a very nice one.” Cantor warned.

“Please tell us?” The Earth pony insisted.

“Well, when I was a colt, no more than three or four, I was dropped under a stagecoach.” The alicorn explained as abstract as possible.

“Oh, you poor thing.” Fluttershy commented with her usual caring voice.

“What made… those?” Pinkie Pie quizzed, gesturing in Cantor’s general direction.

“I’m not really sure…” He answered. Though he could imagine a few things, tumours sounded too ominous and cysts were cringe-worthy. “They just appeared after about a week and grew with me.”

“Do they… hurt?” Fluttershy asked with deep compassion.

Cantor felt relieved that he and the timid pegasus were already getting off on the right hoof. But why wouldn’t they? She had a very likeable character. “No, not at all.” He said with a smile. That also was a lie. His wings had been bound for so long that discomfort was beginning to stretch into the realms of aching pain.

“Would you like me to take a look?” The veterinary pegasus asked.

“Actually, I’d rather you didn’t…” Cantor replied.

“Oh… Okay…” Fluttershy murmured.

Satisfied that they had conversed long enough to become more comfortable around each other, Cantor brought in the next topic.

“So, Fluttershy,” He started with a light-hearted tone. “What are you cooking now?” He paused and thought of something to add that would make her feel more at ease. “If you don’t mind talking about it, that is…”

“Not at all.” Replied Fluttershy. Cantor smiled. “It’s just a little something for dinner. See, me and my bunny, Angel are eating together tonight. He loves eating with me. I wish I could do it more often…” She trailed off, slightly disheartened.
Just then, a small white rabbit with beady black eyes hopped broadly into the room. Upon catching sight of the large stallion in the room, he was taken back slightly before gathering himself and leaping onto the sofa to join his owner by her side.

“Angel, bunny,” Fluttershy began, “this is… oh, um…” She hid from Cantor behind her mane.

“Cantor.” The stallion finished her sentence for her. “And you must be angel.” He continued, throwing the rabbit a warm look.

Angel stayed motionless at Fluttershy’s side, unable to work out whether he should be cold towards the newcomer or fear him. Fortunately, Cantor’s kind glow eliminated both of those approaches, replacing them with a steady acknowledgement. He hopped from the sofa and met Cantor’s outstretched hoof with his paw. “It’s nice to meet you.” The stallion added as a small footnote. He smiled, slowly breaking the hoof – paw shake. Angel whirled around and bounded back up the thin flight of stairs he came in from, not acknowledging Pinkie Pie. The three ponies in the large circular living room sat in silence and listened to Angel’s pitter-patter of paws on the second level of the cottage. It soon became apparent to Cantor that Angel was not the only non-equine inhabitant of the house as his hearing became sensitive to a cacophonous drone of scratching in the walls.

“God, Fluttershy,” Cantor began. He assumed it would be acceptable to say ‘God’ as the ponies of Equestria looked upon Celestia and Luna as just that, and the habit of using the lord's name in vein had become somewhat of second nature. “Just how many animals do you have living here?” He asked, gazing around at the uncomfortable sound.

“Oh, I don’t actually know,” Fluttershy started, returning from her hiding place, relieved by the fact that even though she had forgotten Cantor’s name, it didn’t bother him one bit. “Definitely hundreds. And the only time I see them is when they come out if they’re feeling poorly.” She finished, gazing upon a ridiculously undersized doorway cut into the skirting of the room; the home to one of many families of mice who had an injured member.

“Doesn’t looking after all those animals get a bit much?” Cantor returned.

“Not really… They gather their own food, make their own homes and I’m usually always around to help them. There’s no real incidents that make it hard work; usually it’s just broken bones and…” She gulped, “lacera- lacer- cuts…” She couldn’t bring herself to say such a violent word, even if it did happen to be the correct terminology to a vetinary student.

“Oh, okay.” Cantor remarked, his eyes dropped to the floor for a moment before looking back up when Pinkie Pie spoke.

“Hey, do you know what Rainbow Dash is doing?” The pink mare blurted with unsubtle enthusiasm.

“I can’t say I do, Pinkie…” Fluttershy answered, turning to her friend. “My guess is that she would probably be practicing some sort of new trick.”

“Either that or sleeping!” Pinkie added, throwing the three into fits of giggles.

“Why? Do you two have things planned?” The meek pegasus asked, a hint of benign disappointment in her tone. Fluttershy usually didn’t get visitors, and whenever she did, they either only wanted something from her, or wouldn’t stay for very long at all.

“No, I was just wondering, that’s all.” Pinkie pie said, smiling.

“Oh, that’s… nice…” Fluttershy replied with a smile of her own.

“Do you like reading, Fluttershy?” Cantor addressed Fluttershy. He was fishing for topics by now, after hearing the disappointment in her voice.

“Well, um… a little…” She answered, shy as always…

“What type?”

“What?”

“You know, like adventure, romance, comedy…” Struggling to come up with more, he began reciting the few tags he knew. “Uh, shipping… Cr- crossover?” He raised both his eyebrows quickly, “Horror?”

The very word made Fluttershy feel uneasy. “Um, no. Definitely not…” She replied shakily.

“How about you, Pinkie?” Cantor asked, turning to face the Earth pony, who was being unusually quiet until now.

“Well, I don’t really read by myself, but sometimes Rainbow Dash reads her “Daring Do” series to me when she’s bored, but I don’t really pay attention so much to the stor-“ She stopped herself before revealing too much. But Cantor knew exactly where she was going with that. “Yeah, I do like reading!” She tried again, this time adding a dismissive giggle at the end.

“Actually, I’ve heard a lot of good things about Daring Do.” Cantor commented, slightly changing the subject as he noticed the party pony’s face somehow becoming a deeper shade of pink. “Is it any good?”

“IIII'mm not so sure, uh,” She stumbled for the right words to close the topic on her ‘best friend’, “You’ll… You’ll just have to ask Rainbow Dash. I don’t really have an opinion.” Cantor nodded in understanding. “Careful, though. Once Dashi-… Rainbow Dash gets started on Daring Do, she doesn’t usually stop.” The three ponies laughed at this point. Mainly because it was true.

“Well, I guess we’d better be going.” Declared Pinkie, pretending to stretch broadly and standing up from where she sat on the plush lime coloured sofa.

“Oh, but you’ve only just got here.” Fluttershy squeaked in weak protest.

Cantor made no effort to get up from the floor. “Yeah, Pinkie Pie, we’ve barely been here for five minutes.”

“Yeah, but I’ve still got a lot of Ponyville to show you.” She argued, stepping to Cantor’s side.

“Wh- I- Uh…” He was stuck between a rock and a hard place; he didn’t want Fluttershy to think she was boring Pinkie, but at the same time, and he didn’t want Pinkie Pie to be bored. But- he didn’t want to leave Fluttershy on her own and feeling discarded. "Oh… What should I do?” He yelled inside his head.

“That first tour I gave you was too quick. I’ll show you round better now.” She chimed, struggling to pull the heavy stallion to his hooves. He cast Fluttershy a helpless look, attempting to show that he did care about her friendship. There was no doubt that Pinkie Pie was also her friend, and she loved her. Unfortunately, the party pony was simply too lively for the quiet little pegasus most of the time.

“Uh, we’ll come visit again soon, okay?” Cantor called out as Pinkie was practically shoving him out the door.

“Oh, yes… that would be lovely…” Replied Fluttershy contently.

Pinkie shoved Cantor fully out of the cottage and turned to face a desperate-looking Fluttershy. “See ya soon, Fluttershy!” She beamed, reaching for the doorknob.

“Oh, yes, bye Pinkie Pie… Bye Cantor,” She silently rewarded herself as she said this. “I’ll see you guys soo-“

Her sentence was cut short by the slamming of her front door, causing an unfamiliar bang to rock throughout her body. She sighed deeply in her empty, secluded cottage and slowly walked across the front room to her kitchen. She stepped up to the stove, unnecessarily stirring a creamy stew and snapping her head away before a glistening tear was added to the recipe.

Questions And Answers

Chapter 8: Questions and answers

Later that evening, Pinkie and Cantor parted ways at the library after a more detailed scope of the town. Who knew that Rarity’s boutique dated back hundreds of years to a time where ponies still believed that “The mare in the moon” was a story of indubitable realism. And, even though it was proven to be true a couple of years ago, anypony who doubted it at that period of time would have been deemed insane. That was the past, though, and now the future was at stake. Cantor hated thinking about it, and he was rather successful in pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind. To the back of his mind; the troubling assumptions never truly left him. That night, he would travel to back to the castle. This time alone. And this time, in flight.

“So, I’ll see you some more tomorrow?” Asked a certain pink pony who bounced joyfully on the spot in front of the library where they both bid farewell for that day.

“Of course, Pinkie.” Cantor answered with a content smile. He did bond with Pinkie during their eventful day. He was a little disappointed in not meeting Rainbow Dash, and still hadn’t properly ‘forgiven’ Pinkie for how short she had been with the sensitive Fluttershy. And like the gnawing thoughts in the depths of his subconscious, he hoped Fluttershy didn’t take it to heart.

“See ya later!” She beamed and bounded towards the centre of town. The alicorn’s gaze followed her until she disappeared from sight around a corner. He looked up into the blazing sky. Was Celestia showing off?

“Maybe…” He quietly remarked and stepped through the door to the warm glow of the library’s pale lighting.

“Back so soon?” Asked Twilight, peering up from a plate of colourful vegetables and noodles, resting next to a dark blue book on her side stand. A crystal tumbler shallow with a deep golden liquid perched carefully was swiftly hidden by the book.

“I knew it.” Thought Cantor: “This girl was one of… refined tastes.”

“Hey, Twilight.” He spoke up and upon noticing her spa-pampered face and shimmering mane, he made sure to point out how… ‘nice’ she looked.

“Thank you, Cantor!” She sighed heavily. “At least somepony noticed!” She continued, shooting a glance in the direction of where Spike was washing up, making her voice easily loud enough to show her displeasure in the dragon’s insensitivity.

“Yeah, yeah…” Came a distracted reply, along with the clatter of cutlery.

“Anything you need help with, Twilight?” Cantor asked, taking two steps closer.

“Thanks for offering, but” She went to take another sip of her liquor before assuming the stallion may find the act… unattractive. The opposite couldn’t have been more the truth though. “but I’ve got everything under control.” An elaborate “Ahem!” Was heard in the kitchen. Twilight and Cantor chuckled. “Well, Spike’s got everything under control!” She laughed.

“So, where are you staying tonight?” Asked Twilight, tilting her head slightly as she levitated another slice of cucumber into her mouth.

“I’m uh, camping…” Cantor replied.

“Camping?”

“Yeah, I… like camping?” The statement came out as more of a request than a statement.

“Whereabouts?” Twilight asked, swallowing and raising a carrot to her face.

“Outside… somewhere…” He replied weakly.

“Don’t you… don’t you want to stay here?” She asked, biting down on half the carrot and loud, muffled chomping ensued.

“I’m grateful, really Twilight, but I feel as if you’ve done so much for me already.”

“Done so much for you?” She asked, sounding surprised. “What have I done for you?”

This was the first time Cantor had to really try not to tell her the truth. He wanted her to know so badly, but at the same time, knew that it would create too much hassle. “Even just allowing me to be inside your home, close to you is more than enough.” This statement caused both ponies to fall silent and blush gently. The silence hung for a moment. And to Cantor’s relief, it was one of those blissful ‘nothing needs to be said’ silences.

“Well,” Cantor declared, breaking the mood, “I’d better get going, I can see you’re having dinner.” He smiled and turned around.

“Wait!” Twilight called out in a voice a little louder than usual, though far from a shout. “Aren’t you hungry?”

Cantor was, but he felt it necessary to decline. “I’m fine, but thank you, twilight.”

“A-are you sure?” She asked, leaning forward slightly in her armchair.

“Yes, thank you, Twilight.”

“Oh.. well, okay…” She replied, disappointed.

“I mean, if you want me to stay longer, I’m more than happy to.” He smiled, now actually feeling like he wanted to spend more time here. Not because he was hungry, nor was it because it was cold outside, but because he would be with Twilight. “Stop it, Cantor!” He scolded himself in his mind. “You’ve barely known her for half a day, and you already have… feelings?” He shook the clashing emotions from his mind.

“That would be lovely.” Twilight sighed.

Cantor smiled. He was warming to the idea of staying with Twilight a while longer, even though he still needed to go to the castle, but that could wait. What mattered now was the present.

Nightfall came soon after their meal. Cantor knew Twilight was happy to feed him, but he still couldn’t get over the fact that he felt as if he was ‘using’ her. She offered several times into the evening if he wanted to stay the night. And as always, Cantor passed. After another glass of her strong drink, which turned out to be an expensive single malt, simply named “Dawn”, Twilight became rather intoxicated, yet not enough to be noticeable unless you were close enough to her so you could catch the scent was on her breath. Cantor loved that name; ‘Dawn’. If only he liked strong drinks like that. He desired to be the kind of gentlecolt who sits in a red velvet room surrounded by old books with a cigar in one hand – or hoof – and a shallow glass of something expensive in the other. Warmed by a fire, chilled by his heart.

He shook the image from his mind and accompanied the unicorn up her stairs and into bed. She asked one last time if he wanted to stay and he laughed it off, making some crude comment on her being a lightweight. She giggled and rolled over in her bed, pulling the covers depicting the sky outside over her shoulders, burying her face into the pillow. Cantor smiled warmly as he observed the mare’s sheet’s ‘rise and fall’ motion gradually begin to slow. He went to step out of the room and down the staircase, but then he noticed an empty glass on the nightstand. With care in his eyes, he focused his power. A pearlescent glow with the slightest hint of magenta was the only light source, partially illuminating the darkened room. The glass began to softly bloom the same colour and fill with crystal-clear water. The alicorn filled the glass halfway and left it there, filtering the moonlight that flooded through the window. “Goodnight, Twilight.” He whispered as he turned to leave and he could have sworn he heard the same response towards him from the sleeping unicorn… But that would have been ridiculous…

“Hey, Spike,” the alicorn called out in a hushed voice, “need any help?” By now, he was fighting to not groan in agony as with every heartbeat, his bound wings grew more and more painful. That session with Twilight a minute ago did him no favours.

“No thanks, Cantor. Everything’s sorted.” He replied, hopping to the floor from a stool in front of the sink. He finished drying his claws on a dish cloth and discarded it on the counter. Cantor followed him over to a section of wall under the stairs. As the dragon seemed to slip his clawtips into the wall, exposing a feint line, he pulled, exposing a hidden draw filled with dazzling gemstones of all hues. Deep violet, blood red, rich sapphire, brilliant amber. The whole box seemed to glitter in the minimal light that populated the room.

“Wow!” Cantor gasped in awe. He observed Spike root around his stash before he withdrew a rather large pale orange topaz. He cringed as the dragon forced his dagger-like teeth through the gem and proceeded to crunch it up. It sounded as if he were eating glass.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” He asked the dragon who unsettled him even more by swallowing.

“No.” Spike replied, taking a second bite and talking with his mouth full. “Ih a ragon hing.”

“Okay then… I’ll see you tomorrow, Spike.” Cantor spoke, beginning to walk towards the door, attempting to remove the theoretical sensation of glass shredding his insides. Spike followed closely and chose to take his last opportunity to talk when Cantor opened the door with a slight flick of his head.

“Cantor?” He asked.

“Yes?” The stallion answered, turning round and arcing his neck down to bring his head just above Spike’s.

“Um… Do you know… uhhh, what I mean is um…” Cantor could see where this was going. “Do you have any tips on…” He paused.

“Girls?”
“Girls?”

Both boys said the word simultaneously. “Yeah.” Said Spike, beginning to blush.

“Well what do you want to know?” Cantor asked openly.

“What do you say to a girl on like… a first date.” His face only became redder as he spoke.

Cantor chuckled quietly. “Well,” He started, becoming ‘professor love’. “one thing that’s a definite is some sort of gift, you know, flowers, chocolates. Preferably both…” Spike pulled out a notepad and quill from seemingly nowhere and jotted down these instructions. Cantor watched him with a curious look until he finished and looked back up to Cantor with eager eyes.

“Next…” the alicorn said slowly. “Next you need to do something romantic, depending on who it is; a walk through a park or along a beach. Dinner in a quiet place is quite nice too.” Spike furiously jotted down this 'priceless' information. “And above all,” Cantor said, raising his voice a little and drawing his face closer to Spike’s with every word that followed, “Make. Her. Laugh.” Spike returned to his note-taking.

“Of course, those things work for more… sophisticated girls…” Cantor smirked and turned to face the outside world. “Like Rarity.” Spike’s scribbling ceased instantly and he looked up at Cantor, Face practically on fire. “Good night, Casanova.” Cantor joked. “Sleep well…” He stepped forward and out of the door into the night. He heard the sound of an embarrassed voice call “Night, Cantor!” followed by the sound of a door shutting hastily behind him. He smiled to himself, feeling that his first day in Equestria couldn’t have gone better any other way…

Cantor kept walking until he was right on the outskirts of town. Looking back, he could still see several windows radiating the soft glow of a table lamp. Fillies and colts would all be in bed and their parents would be enjoying the time they had together in front of a warm fire. The alicorn sighed. “What a perfect world…” He uttered as he walked. By now he had pretty much cleared the town and was stood atop an empty hill overlooking the sleepy village. The enormous moon watched over him; the brightest thing in the night sky, always there, watching over the world, only admired by ponies such as him. Cantor realised that he was quite tired himself, but, “No rest for the weary.” He thought.

As Cantor pulled the back of the vest from his wings with magic, they instantly sprung open and the most intense pain he had ever felt washed over his entire body, causing him to collapse into the soft ground. He rolled around, desperately trying not to scream in agony as the feeling of hours of blood deprivation thundered through his huge wings like a flamethrower. He bit hard onto his forearm and slammed the back of his head into the ground repeatedly in some feeble attempt to balance the pain. The stars above him seemed to flash brightly as the periphery of his vision pulsed red. He continued to writhe on the floor for another two minuses with the vest choking him around the neck until the searing pain finally began to subside.

Cantor lay there on his back, panting heavily on the moist grass. The only sound to be heard was the hammering of his heart in his ears. “Oh, God…” He whispered to the sky and rolled over with a heavy groan. He continued to lie there on his stomach, waiting for his heartbeat to return to normal, always fighting the urge to fall asleep. He blew out his breath through pursed lips and got to his hooves. He pulled the vest the rest of the way over his head and dropped it to the floor. Groaning, he stretched his wings as far as they would go until a pleasurable ‘pop’ loosened them up. But the bones still felt like rubber when he moved them.

“How hard can it be?” He questioned to himself, raising his wings above him. “Just flap and go, right?” Upon hearing silence, he swallowed nervously and forcefully pushed his wings down, sending the inexperienced flyer high into the air. “Yes!” He triumphed as his leap reached it’s peak. “No, no! no, no, no, no, NO!” Followed this as he fell upside down and plummeted back to Earth. He landed with a ‘thud’ on the ground, wings splayed out beneath him. “Right,” He began, comforting himself with his own words, “Let’s try that again!” Cantor furrowed his brow in concentration, a strong gust woke him up a little and the world became more in focus. He stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth and raised his wings a second time. With great confidence, he bent his knees, threw his wings underneath him and rocketed into the sky. Focusing on keeping balance, he raised his wings a second time and flew even higher into the night sky.

His grin widened as he noticed the ground getting further away beneath him. A third pump, and a fourth, sending him higher into the air. “Now let’s try something new!” he growled in excitement as he leaned his body forward ever so slightly, keeping his feathered limbs outstretched horizontal. He began to move forwards slowly. He tilted forwards even more, increasing the speed. “No wonder Rainbow Dash spends her life in the sky!” he yelled happily; this was the best sensation in the world! Nothing to hold you back; just you, and the entire sky.

He levelled out again and banked to the left. “Flying is easy!” He thought as his view changed from fields and trees to the small village he came from. He swooped lower, not realising how fast he was actually going until he saw the ground racing towards him. He pulled up and sailed across Ponyville, screaming “WOO-HOO!!!” as he roared over rooftops. Cantor didn’t care if anypony saw him because all they would see would be a silhouette of a pony with enormous wings flying over the town.

Before he got too carried away, Cantor decided to begin making his way to the castle. He had agreed with Celestia that he would meet her that night to make everything clear and she had explained that she would tell her guards she was expecting a visitor and assured him that they would let him pass without any trouble. “Right.” Said Cantor, drawing himself to a halt in mid-air by turning his wings horizontal, then proceeding to hover badly until he found the correct amount of power to hang relatively still in the air. “Train station…” He muttered, scoping the town below. Last time he visited it with Twilight, there had been so many twists and turns that finding it again in the daytime would have been difficult, let alone in the dark!

Sighing, Cantor noticed he was hovering just a way away from the town centre; he could see the large dome of the town hall. During the tour he had a few hours ago, he was able to steal a peep inside. It was huge! Much bigger on the inside than it was out; a tardis in it’s own right…

He glided down and landed not so gracefully in a heap on the ground in the clearing. He was directly next to the fountain that ran through the night, helping the ponies sleep with it’s ambient trickling. Cantor relocated the overcrowded signpost pointing in all directions. An idea flashed across his mind; the ‘Canterlot’ sign was made from gold, it would be the easiest one to find out of them all. Grinning at this great idea, Cantor crossed over towards the tall, spiky post. Running his eyes down the arrows and then back to the top, he was met with the same clueless feeling he felt that morning. “Damn it…” He muttered under his breath. Cantor sighed as a very bad idea came to his mind. He frowned to his left, then to his right, making sure there was nopony hiding in any alleyways. Finally, he checked behind him, and satisfied that he was alone, imagined a small flame in front of his face.

An impossible fire burst into life in front of him and to his relief, was as small as he intended. Checking once more quickly around, Cantor raised the flame to the top of the signpost. It hadn’t even reached the top before the bent gold letters glinted in the flickering light. “Got it.” Said Cantor, clocking the direction in which the sign was pointing.

“Hey, you!” Came a strong male voice from behind Cantor. Faster than he thought possible, Cantor shot off into th night, extinguishing the flame and racing off towards the mountains, beating his wings so fast that the air whipping at his face was harsh enough to cause tears to form in the corners of his eyes. He turned around to see if anypony was following, but to his surprise, he could barely see Ponyville. He had flown so fast that he had covered easily a mile in a matter of seconds.

He paused for breath before climbing higher to scale the vertical mountain. “That was too close…” Cantor said, angry with himself for being so ‘un-stealthy’.

He crested the tip of the mountain and could just make out a beacon in the distance that Celestia had set up to show him the way. Cantor set off at a comfortable speed, still rather surprised at how easy flying was. Maybe it was thanks to his gargantuan wings, maybe because it simply wasn’t hard, like magic. These thoughts made him feel as if he was ‘cheating’ and he turned his mind back to cruising the refreshing night sky. Remarkable; flying has proven to be one of the most intense, exhilarating and awesome activities imaginable. But right now, Cantor felt more relaxed than he had done his entire life.

Princess Celestia paced back and forth in her royal bedroom with her sister laid on the bed watching her. The night air wafted around the room from the open balcony doors, causing the curtains to dance softly around. The room itself was cavernous: the ceiling much higher than it needed to be and windows covering one section of the far wall streched from the floor to the very high ceiling, creating a sort of 'natural painting' of the world outside, the view showing where Celestia's sun crested the horizon every morning without fail, now filed with deep blue sky with a plethora of milky white stars. The symbol of noght, a slighty cresent moon had completed half of it's journey across the sky and was the main provider of light for the world below at this moment in time.

“Sister, it’s fine. I know the Elementals were trouble in the past but if what he says is true, then he could be-“

“Trouble!?” Celestia interrupted, “Quite an understatement, little sister; the Elementals nearly destroyed the world!”

“And this one could save it!” Luna snapped back. “I’m… I’m sorry…” She added, hanging her head in shame.

Celestia sighed, “It’s okay, Luna. I understand your desperation, but you have to remember that if the two other perf-“ She was cut off by the sound of a fluster of feathers and orange hair crashing onto the balcony. Both sisters looked in alarm towards their visitor who began pulling himself to his feet shortly after ‘landing’.

“Sorry, your majesty,” Cantor apologised before noticing Luna and adding ‘ses’ to his sentence. “Next time I’ll try to- oof! -try to be a little more sophisticated when visiting.” He smiled weakly and bowed towards both the other alicorns.

“It’s quite alright.” Celestia replied. Cantor returned to standing and nodded in understanding. “I’m sure you’re wondering why we summoned you here?”

“Well… yeah, kinda’…” Cantor answered.

“We need to have a little talk,” Celestia smiled disarmingly, “about what’s going on, so we’re on the same page, so to speak.”

“Okay…” Replied the stallion, stepping into the room and folding his wings away.

“First time flying?” Luna chimed in when she saw how dirty and scuffed he was.

“Yeah, takeoff didn’t go so well the first time.” He said, matching the night – princess’ enticing smile.

“So what would you like to know?” Celestia spoke up.

Cantor turned his attention back to Celestia. “Um, well… I’d like to know what I have to… do…” He asked weakly, he already knew the response, he just wanted Celestia to confirm it for him.

She sighed heavily. “In the story, I’m sure you’re familiar with it, it mentions The Rife, that’s you, “Practicing the art of sacrifice”, that’s…” She turned her gaze to the floor.

“I understand.” Cantor said in monotone. “I was kind of expecting that, I just… needed definition.” He wasn’t sad, or scared. Actually, what scared him more was the fact that he was so unfased by it.

“Well,” Celestia sighed again, “I’m glad we’re getting on the same level.” She brought her indigo eyes up to Cantor’s fiery ones. “What other questions would you like answered?” The solemness was rapidly leaving her voice, making Cantor feel more at ease.

“I’d like to know more about these ‘Elementals’.” He replied. Celestia’s expression twisted into a scowl. Obviously even that word carried a lot of weight. “I’m sorry.” He added sadly.

“It’s okay.” Celestia returned, “It’s not you…” She scuffed the floor forcefully with her golden shoes, scratching it ever so slightly. “The elementals were the most powerful breed of ponies ever to have lived. They could create tsunamis, cause volcanoes to erupt, whip up deadly tornadoes and form great land masses, all from nothing but thin air.”

“Wow!” Remarked Cantor, “They sound pretty cool! Why did you hate them?”

“They were good. In fact, the ‘Base Four’ that is, the first four ponies ever in existence who created Equestria were very benevolent, indeed. They each controlled one of the elements, Earth, fire, water and air.”

“So, what made them go bad?”

“They became power-hungry and jealous of one another, each saying how their element was more necessary than the other, how the fire from the sun was needed for life to thrive, etcetera…” Cantor nodded, willing the princess to continue. She levitated a glass of water towards herself and offered Cantor a drink. Usually, he would decline, but the flight over had left him remarkably thirsty. After a moment, Cantor became suspicious: he had been offered a drink and he had accepted. Now all Celestia was doing was quietly drinking her own. He watched the last bit of water flow from the raised glass and became nervous when Celestia looked at him through half-closed eyes.

“Yes, princess?” He asked with a slightly scared tone.

“I was hoping you’d say yes to a drink…” She spoke softly, bringing out a new, empty glass from a cupboard somewhere.

“Now we can see your power…” She smirked, hovering the immaculate glass in front of him.

Cantor eyed the cup suspiciously before realising what the princess meant. “Oh,” he said, taking the hovering cup with his own magic. Celestia clocked the colour of his aura and smiled.

“Go on…” She insisted, and Cantor slowly filled the glass with invisibly clear water. “Incredible…” Celestia remarked, motioning for him to drink the water he had just ‘made’.

It looked like water, tasted like water, hell, even smelled like water! Because it was water. He had just performed an act, which for eons had been impossible.

A miracle.

“So what happened to the four elements?” Cantor asked after taking a long drink and setting his glass down on a nightstand next to Celestia’s. Luna was now at the foot of the bed, hanging her forehooves over the wooden footboard. He found that pose ridiculously cute, especially accompanied by the look of wonder she wore on her face.

“They were also the founders of the Elements of Harmony.”

Really?”

“Yes. They decided that the feud between which one of them was ‘better’ had gone on for far too long and they decided that the best option would be to form ‘rules’ or ‘guidelines’ to live by.”

“But I thought the Elements of Harmony were like magical… things?” Cantor added, feeling slightly lost.

“They are.” Celestia confirmed. “But the Base Four created them as kind of ‘physical echoes’ of what their law meant, lasting forever as a reminder to the world what was really important in life: Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty and Loyalty…”

“What about Magic?” Cantor asked.

“Ah, now magic refers to the magic of love and friendship. Two of the most basic and easy forms of magic around, but by far the most powerful.” She paused to let her words sink in. “The element of magic only came around when the four found love amongst other ponies. They returned to the shrine where they kept the Elements at the end of their lives and found the sixth element, Magic, at the centre of the five other elements. Nopony knew the whereabouts the sixth element, or even what it was until recently; it disappeared when the Base Four… changed.”

“Changed?”

“Yes. The Elements of Harmony sort of… ‘connected’ the four Elementals, creating the first ‘perfect elemental’, known only to my family as ‘Requiem’.” Celestia spoke with a heavy heart.

“So what happened then?” Cantor asked, eager to find out more about ‘what’ he was.

“Requiem hid for thousands of years, sealed himself away in heaven knows where, afraid of what his infinite power could do to his mind. Eventually, the loneliness in his heart caused him to try to take control of the world, but a second perfect Elemental stopped him.”

“Who was that?” Cantor questioned, this story was beginning to sound good, he thought, despite all the chaos.

“Nopony knows.” Celestia replied coldly. “He never said his name, he showed up out of nowhere. He sacrificed himself to defeat Requiem and the two were never seen again. That’s where you come in.”

“What!?” Cantor yelled in alarm, “You think I’m the other perfect Elemental!?”

“No.” Celestia returned, calmly, finding a little amusement in the stallion's statement. “There hasn’t been another perfect elemental since that event, and there have only been a small hooffull of Elementals since then.”

“What happened to them?”

“Killed. Each one became drunk with power, as if it was an inevitability; you were an Elemental, you were a bad pony. Simple as that.”

Cantor felt insulted, “I would never do anything to hurt anypony!” He cried.

“I believe you.” Celestia quickly said in response. “If you truly are The Rife, you will save us all.”

“Hold on, princess…” Cantor said, raising his hoof. “I mean, I know I’m an alicorn, but saving the world? I’m not nearly that powerful!”

“You’re the most powerful pony I’ve ever met. I can see it in your eyes…”

“Wait, you can’t be serious. What about yourself, and Luna there?”

“You just haven’t had time to show your true potential.”

“And what about the last Elemental? Twilight said you-“ He stopped when he saw in her face that, princess Celestia’s heart had been ripped apart. He had just torn open a very deep wound.

When she next spoke, her voice was slow and trembling. “Yes. I… killed the last Elemental, severing the bloodline.” She walked over and perched on the edge of her huge bed. “He was a colt, living in what would come to be Manehatten.” Her eyes began to pool with tears. “I was called to the area because of ‘unnaturally fierce tornadoes and hurricanes’. It was him, powerful magical purges, like all baby unicorns and alicorns have. But this was different. He was an Elemental. Have you ever seen a hurricane the size of a continent?” She shot towards Cantor, her eyes were shimmering and she was desperately trying to hold onto her dignity. Her sister gently stroked her back as she continued. “He was so scared, so alone; they evacuated the city. He didn’t know what was going on but he was endangering so many lives.” Her voice at this point cracked, “He was so young… he was so helpless…” Her eyes gave way to a waterfall of tears and she cried out in agony “He was just a foal!” The princess of the sun then proceeded to collapse onto her pillow and sob loudly into it.

Nopony said a word for a large number of minutes, the muffled cries of the princess were the only sounds around. Cantor and Luna sat at her side, trying to comfort her as her broken heart slowly began to piece itself together another time.

“Princess, there was nothing you could do, you said yourself, all Elementals went crazy under their power, you just… stopped something even worse from happening…”

“But he was so young… he was so scared… I didn’t have the right!-“ She choked on her words and continued to cry into her soft, comforting pillow.

“No, you didn’t have the right.” Cantor spoke firmly, causing Celestia to look up weakly. He looked deep into her dark violet eyes and finished. “It was your duty. One of the many unpleasant burdens of being a leader.” Her eyes widened at his words. “Everypony has done things they aren’t proud of in their lives, but if you keep replaying the past, you might miss a wonderful opportunity in the future.”

“What are you saying?” She asked calmly.

“I’m saying that no matter what kind of terrible thing happens, it always happens for a reason, and is therefore the right thing to do, even if the right thing to do is not always the best.”

The light seemed to return to Celestia's eyes. He had done it. He had finally fixed her broken heart with this realisation. She had let that moment fester in time for so long she had never talked to anypony about trying to help her. “Thank you, Cantor.” She said joyfully. “Thank you so much.” She flung her arms around his neck and Luna joined in, her new tears – tears of joy – soaked into his coat.

“It’s alright, princess. After all, I am here to help.” He replied in a serine tone.

Both Luna and Celestia realised the time on the large pendulum clock that stood proudly in the room and nodded in understanding to each other. They broke the embrace and stood up from the bed. They looked at each other once more and then turned to Cantor. “Cantor, if you would like to do the honours…”

“The uh, honours?” He puzzled.

Celestia beamed warmly. “Raise the sun.” She spoke with the deepest level of sincerity.

“WHAT!?” Cantor shrieked in disbelief. “You can’t be serious!” Celestia said nothing but raised a majestic eyebrow. “Oh, you are…”

“Don’t worry, my friend. It’s easier than it seems.”

“A-are you sure? I don’t want to damage anything…” Cantor asked solemnly.

“Go on, I’ll be here if you need me…” The larger alicorn smiled.

“Okay…” Said the stallion as he stepped out onto the balcony overlooking a huge expanse of Equestria. The two royal sisters joined him by his side.

He looked out into the horizon and hesitated. “Go on…” Celestia encouraged.

“Right.” He said, more to himself than anypony else. Cantor focused his magic and cast out an invisible beam towards the gap in the mountains. He could feel the sun. a huge ball of burning gas millions of miles away. He could feel it was there, but he couldn’t actually reach it with ease. Eventually, he wrapped his power around the burning orb of day and pulled it over the horizon, causing the night to begin it’s retreat. He kept raising the sun slowly, sending pale pink flecks of light to reflect off of the few clouds that hung lazily in the sky. Luna played her part too, pushing the cold, stoney moon under horizon to make way for another day. The orb of light continued to rise until he felt the connection snap and he stumbled backwards but didn’t fall. “What happened!?” He cried in alarm at the unexpected jolt.

“You…” Celestia said, placing her hoof on his back, “Just raised the sun…”

“Wow…” He sighed in self – accomplishment, awing at the rainbow-coloured sky he had created “What a day!” He thought. “What a day…”

The Art Of Sacrifice

Chapter 9: The art of sacrifice

“Well, I’d best be heading back now…” Cantor said, taking a step towards the edge of the balcony.

“Wait.” Celestia called, causing the stallion to stop in his tracks.

“Yeah?” He asked.

“Are you not hungry?”

Cantor really was hungry. He’d been up for twenty four hours and had raised the sun, who wouldn’t be? “A little.” He replied.

“Well we’re just going to have breakfast now. There will be plenty of time to make your way back to Ponyville.” The larger princess explained. Luna was making her way through the door towards their dining room, leaving Celestia and Cantor on their own in Celestia’s bedroom. Cantor stared longingly out over Equestria in a humble silence.

“Don’t worry about it, Cantor.” Celestia said in a comforting tone. “You still have the whole year… Now lets get some food in us.”

Cantor sighed, the princess' last statement failing to make him feel any better, and followed her to the large table in which Luna was sat speaking to a slate coloured unicorn dressed in formal attire. Cantor guessed that he was a waiter.

“What would you like for breakfast, Cantor?” Celestia asked as they walked.

“I’m not really sure, princess, not something too complicated, maybe just some toast…” Celestia smiled. “If that’s okay…”

“Of course.” She cleared her throat and out of nowhere a second burgundy unicorn with pale blonde hair and tidy
moustache appeared in front of them.

“Yes, your highness?” He spoke with his eyes closed in a droning voice.

“Could I please get an Autumn salad and two slices of toast for the gentlecolt, here.”

The other stallion opened his eyes and lost his composure for a second. “Certainly, princess.” He said, sizing up Cantor through his dark green eyes. “If I may be so bold, princess, may I ask who is our guest?”

Celestia looked at Cantor, urging him to speak. “I’m Cantor, nice to meet you.” He said, extending a hoof.

“Quite.” Replied the unicorn who then trotted off to a door in the corner of the room.

Cantor took a seat next to the white princess on an unnecessarily long oak table with a long red strip of fabric down the centre opposite the midnight blue mare who had recently received a plate of thin, golden pancakes which were steaming ambiently.

“Your wings are rather large.” Princess Luna brought up from nowhere.

“They are quite a lot bigger than most pegasi I’ve seen.” Cantor replied, stretching his wings vertically out behind him to display his feathers. “Though I must say, they’re going to take some getting used too.”

“You didn’t have wings before?” Luna asked. Celestia, meanwhile just sat eating her salad, listening to the conversation.

“No,” Replied Cantor, “neither did I have magic powers.”

“So what were you before you became like us?” She asked. Cantor had to try really hard not to say ‘a monster’ and instead opted for “Just a… different thing…”

“Oh, okay…” Luna remarked, taking another bite of her honey-covered crêpes.

After breakfast, Celestia bid farewell to Cantor as he went to take off from one of the many balconies that were scattered throughout the castle.

“I’m glad our second meeting went better than the first.” Celestia remarked, smiling broadly. “I hope to see you again soon.”

“So do I. Thank you very much for breakfast, your majesty.”

“Please, Call me Princess, or Celestia. Whatever takes your fancy.”

Cantor smirked and winked at the princess, “What about Tia?”

“Oh, go on, you!” She said playfully, smiling through a frown.

Cantor grinned even more and turned to take off. That’s when the realisation hit him. “Oh. My. God.” He shuddered.
“What’s wrong, Cantor?” Asked Celestia, rushing to his side.

“I left my vest on the hilltop. I’ve got to see if it’s still there!” he spread his wings wide and bent down low. “Thanks, princess, I’ll see you round.” And with that, he took off with alarming speed for a pony his size and build, his wings creating powerful winds that blew Celestia’s mane backwards for a change. When the gusts subsided and the princess’ hair returned to normal, she watched Cantor fly out of sight towards Ponyville. Her deep thought was interrupted by her sister’s voice coming from behind her.

“Well, sister, what do you think?” Asked Luna, drawing up to her much larger sister’s side and gazing in the direction of Ponyville with her.

“I think he can be trusted, but let’s keep an eye on him… just in case…”

Cantor rocketed through the air. He vividly remembered the view from the hill he stood on last night. Nopony could see him. The castle knew who he was, but if Ponyville found out he was an alicorn, they would go berserk! Another alicorn spotted on his own? That wouldn’t go down well. For now, he realised, he would just have to hide in plain view of everypony, using his stagecoach story as a cover-up.

“There!” He shouted as he spotted an empty hill quickly approaching him. As he dove downwards, he prepared to land successfully this time. When he was a foot above the ground, he tilted sideward and rolled along the ground. “That’ll do.” He said as he got up and raced to where he remembered taking the vest off from. “Were is it!?” He cried desperately. The view was the same, so was the one tree in the field. But no vest. He became very worried. “No matter!” Cantor fretted, “I can always get another one.”

On the second frantic search, he found that the brown garment lay in a pile at the base of the hill; it had blown around in the night. Feeling a wave of blissful relief wash over him, Cantor trotted down the hill to his vest. Though it had caused him so much pain already, Cantor knew it would save him from worse. He pulled it over his head with magic and, saying ‘goodbye’ to his wings, folded them up and smoothed the vest over them. Though it was uncomfortable, this was the sensation he was used to the day before, so he just accepted it.

At peace that now nopony would suspect him, he slowly began his way back to Ponyville. His body felt three time as heavy as it should as the extreme lack of sleep set in. He trudged through the outskirts of the town, knowing that he would probably have to go another twelve hours at least before he was allowed to sleep again. Groaning, Cantor wondered whether Red Bull existed in this world before realising he still wouldn’t be able to pay for it.

As he crossed the town centre, a few ponies were already out and about, observing the town around him, he wasn't looking streight ahead and he ran into a certain mail courier mare. “Oh,” Said cantor, a little surprised to have walked straight into somepony. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t really watching where I was going.” The grey mare remained silent, facing the letterbox. “Hey, are you okay?” He asked, tapping the young mare on her flank.

“Hi!” She said, pivoting around instantly, causing Cantor to stumble backwards.

“Derp-!” He began to say before covering his mouth with a hoof.

“Hi! My name’s Derpy Hooves! Nice to meet ya’! And don’t worry about me, no harm done!”

“Oh, well uh… It’s… very nice to meet you, Derpy hooves!” Cantor remarked, extending a hoof. “My name’s Cantor.”

“Great to meet ya’, Cantor!” the cross-eyed pegasus practically yelled in her coltish voice, furiously shaking Cantor by the hoof.

Derpy quickly scooted around Cantor and pulled the velcro strap over the bag on her side, “I’m sorry, but I have to go; lots of letters to deliver!” She called, slapping her saddlebag and taking off into the sky with a gentle wave. Cantor waved back.

“Bye, Derpy!”

“See ya’ round!” She replied, flying further across the town a little lop-sidedly.

“Wow…” Remarked Cantor to himself. “Everypony’s so nice…” He continued to walk, a little more power in his step after the delightful encounter with Derpy Hooves.

Cantor crossed the town square, waving and smiling towards anypony who did the same. But when he turned to go down an alleyway as a shortcut to the library, in which he needed to consult the sign only once to find the way, he drew himself around a corner to come muzzle – to muzzle with a coffee-coloured stallion. Being the over-reactive pony that he was when it came to ‘jump-scares’, Cantor only stood there, screaming in the other stallion’s face until he realised that he wasn’t a monster.

“Oh, God. Sorry, I wasn’t expecting anypony to be here.” He apologised, starting to make his way around the smaller, brown Earth pony. The other stallion made no attempt to move. “Oh, um… excuse me, please, I’m just trying to get to the library…”

“I saw you last night…” The smaller stallion answered.

“What?”

“I saw you flying.”

“You must be mistaken. I wasn’t flying.” Cantor lied badly.

“No. it was you, alright. I can see it in your eyes… They’re exactly the same…”

Cantor could swear he knew this voice from somewhere. “So, what would you say if I told you it was me flying?”

“Nothing.” Replied the dark-maned stallion. “I simply wish to ask you a few questions.”

Cantor paused for a long moment before replying. “You’re not… you’re not… are you?" He asked half in disbelief, half in fear.

“That’s what I thought...” The smaller brown stallion said, walking away from Cantor and as he turned, he showed his hourglass cutie mark. “Come with me.” He ordered, and Cantor obeyed. They crossed through many more alleyways until they reached a dead end. The light brown stallion drew a complicated looking device from his mane and held it in his mouth. The end glowed brightly and it made an annoying buzzing sound. In the corner of the alleyway, something Cantor had never seen before, but instantly recognised materialised. The words ‘Police Box’ were inscribed on the top.

“Wait, wait, wait. How can you be here!?” Cantor cried.

The other stallion turned to face him. “How can you?” He asked with piercing blue eyes.

“I – I have to save this world…” Cantor replied hesitantly. “Why are you here?”

“I'm on holiday.” He answered cockily, stepping inside the blue box. He caught on to Cantor’s wonderment. “Want a look?” He asked openly with a proud smile.

“Really?” The alicorn stared in disbelief.

“Of course.” Said the other stallion, stepping further inside.

It was not the first time in his short stay in Equestria that he gasped in awe. “Wow!...” He sighed, gazing around the huge room. "It’s bigger on the inside!”

The coffee coloured pony chuckled. “Yep, that’s what they all say…” He then leapt up onto the main terminal and began switching a variety of levers and buttons, causing the machine to make all kinds of strange noises.

“Where are you going now?” Asked Cantor in a raised voice above the whirring.

“Wherever I fancy…” He replied cockily.

“I’m gonna stay here.” Cantor replied, backing out of the doorway.

“What made you think I’d let you come with me anyway?” Asked the Earth pony, draping his forehooves over the handrail, a childish smirk plastered on his face.

“I don’t know, you’re a strange man.” Cantor remarked. The other stallion turned around and flicked a few switches, silencing a horrendous crunching sound that had started.

“Wait, just who exactly are you?” Asked Cantor, who was now stood on the outside of the box and looking in.

The brown stallion’s ears pricked up and he turned around slowly, and obviously trying to be as dramatic a possible. A cheeky smirk crept onto his face and he began to speak. “I’m the Doctor.”

“Of course.” Cantor remarked, shaking his head dismissively.

“Could you get the door?” Came a cry from inside the Tardis.

“Yeah. I’ll se ya’ round, alright!” Cantor replied as the air around him became excited.

“Yeah! See you later!”

Cantor pulled the door shut with magic just as the big blue box wheezed its self from existence. As the papers that littered the alleyway fluttered to the ground silently, Cantor was left alone once again. “Wow…” He uttered once more, “What a morning!”.

He dragged his heavy hooves along the ground as he approached the library. He strode towards the inviting tree-house and peeked through the window. As he was hoping, there was Twilight, hunched over a desk, scribbling away with a feather quill. And as usual, a small brew lay steaming in the corner. Sighing in relief to finally be… back at Twilight’s, Cantor drew himself up to the heavy wooden door bearing it’s lit candle engraving.

Tap, tap, tap, tap. Cantor knocked four times on her door, trying to refresh himself as he heard her approach. The door opened to reveal a Twilight that didn’t look massive amounts better than him. “What happened to you!?” She cried in alarm at the sight of the dirty, zombie-like pony stood in her doorway.

“Rough night.” Cantor replied, waiting to be let in. “You look tired as well. Did you sleep okay?”

“Well, yes and no.” Twilight said, walking back inside, ushering Cantor to follow. “For the most part, that is…”

“What do you mean?”

“Well I went to bed at about one in the morning, right?”

“Right…”

“And as I remember, I woke up at five.”

“Oh, god.”

“So I’m feeling really sleepy…” Twilight groaned, swaying a little.

“And then I remembered!” Twilight began, seeming a lot less tired all of a sudden, “I was supposed to take you to see princess Celestia! I’m so sorry! It completely slipped my mind! It- It wasn't on my list.” She looked angrily at the floor.

“Hey,” Said Cantor, “It’s alright. Actually, I’ve already seen the princess.”

“You have!?”

“Yeah, last night.”

“You got the late-night train?”

“No, I f- walked.”

“You walked to Canterlot and back!?”

“Yes.”

“Have you not slept since last morning?”

“No. I’m actually really tired. I don’t usually get this tired.” He continued with drooping eyes.

“Do you want to sleep here now?”

Cantor wanted to say no, but the thought of sleep was too appealing. “Actually, do you mind if I had a nap on your sofa?”

“Not at all!” Twilight replied cheerily.

“Thank you…” Cantor sighed as he made his way over to the soft, inviting, furry couch. He climbed aboard it and laid down, resting his head on his front hooves. No sooner had his eyes mercifully closed, they were violently torn open again by ear-splitting screams of pure terror.

“What the HELL is that!?” Cantor asked, pulling himself up from the softness, his voice laced with fear. Not at the situation, but towards that horrendous sound.

“It sounds like Rarity!” Twilight cried, leaping from her seat and rushing to the door. She flung it wide open with tremendous force to see her white unicorn friend galloping towards her, her mane a mess and her eyes were streaming tears.

“TWILIGHT!!!” She screeched as she tripped and fell at the purple mare’s hooves.

“What’s wrong, Rarity!?” Twilight gasped. By now, Cantor was in the doorway too and Spike followed quickly after.

“Rarity! What’s the ma- AHH!” The baby dragon toppled from the top of the staircase and landed with a crash on the floor. But that didn’t deter him. “What’s the matter!?” He cried, sprinting and leaping onto his carer’s back.

“My boutique!” She yelled, more at Twilight, rather than simply telling her. “It’s on fire!”

“WHAT!” All three, Twilight, Spike and Cantor cried at once.

“Please! Help me!”

“I can’t do anything! Have you called the fire bigade!?”

“Of course!” Rarity screamed. It was obvious she was distraught and on the edge of a panic attack. “But they’re on the other side of Ponyville! It’s going to take four or five minutes for them to get here!” The three ponies and one dragon had by now bolted from the library towards the flaming boutique. Twilight didn’t lock the door. She didn’t even close it.

Rarity’s flow of tears increased dramatically, streaming her perfect face with black mascara. “I’m so sorry, Rarity.” Twilight said sorrowfully. “There’s nothing I can do!”

“PLEASE!” Rarity screamed in desperation. “The children are in there!”

Cantor replied first this time. “What!?” He yelled in dispair. “Not lives.” He thought. “Not children…”

“Please help!” Rarity pleaded again, still keeping hold of her desperate tone.

“Where are they?” Cantor fired at the white unicorn.

“In the cellar!”

“Why are they there!?”

“I DON’T KNOW!” Rarity bellowed, her voice carried more anger than terror. “Just please, DO something!”

“Alright” Cantor spoke calmly and definitively. “I promise.” He didn’t know how he was going to stop this blaze, but what he did know was that no lives would be lost this day.

The huge carousel towered in front of them, fire roaring and crackling loudly as the inferno engulfed the building.
Rarity roared in horror as one of the windows on the upper floor blew out, causing a massive flare to lick the sky. “Come on… Come on…” Cantor urged in his head for the fire to extinguish, but when faced with a fire of that size, only after experiencing small embers at the will of his magic, a wave of overwhelming pain shot through him. He dropped onto one knee before standing strong again. “Water won’t work. Neither will wind; the building is too structurally unsound.” The stallion thought helplessly to himself. He didn’t know what to do until he heard the deep sound of bowing rafters that he grabbed Rarity firmly by the shoulders.

“Where’s the basement!?” He spat, causing Rarity to recoil. “WHERE!?”

“Through the front, the first door on the left.” She replied in submissive fear.

Cantor dropped Rarity and raced towards the inferno.

“Cantor, wait!” Cried Twilight as the white stallion thundered, quite literally, through the front door. The heat was far too intense, where Twilight was standing to even look at the fire for more than a second, let alone to charge straight at the source.

Inside, the boutique was filled with smoke and the white alicorn quickly became a dirty shade of grey. He could hear muffled screaming and crying from somewhere below. “Hang on, kids!” He shouted as loud as he could without screaming, his voice barely audible to himself over the roar and hiss of the fire. Nearly instantly, he began to sweat, the temperatures in the room reaching well above 300 degrees Celsius; enough to instantly kill any ‘normal’ pony. He took a massive lungful of air, only to be greeted by searing heat and soot. He choked violently and stooped low to the floor, taking in gulps of what could be classed as ‘fresh air’ in these conditions.

Snapping his vision to the left, he noticed the outline of a door under the smoke. Cantor clocked the direction and stood up again. He galloped the short distance across the room to where the door was. To his surprise, the door was shut. “Clever foals.” He remarked, before taking it back when he realised the door was also locked. With his magic, he turned the door into splinters and rushed through, falling down the staircase on the way. He landed in a heap at the foot of the first step.

The air down here was much cooler, relative to the temperatures upstairs: it was still pretty ‘toasty’. Very near by, Cantor could her the sound of fillies crying.

He galloped round the corner, past rows of colourful fabrics. When he heard the loud bowing sound again, followed by a deafening snap that seemed to shake the whole house, time seemed to slow down. He leaped towards the three fillies huddled together as the roof above them caved in. his mighty wings ripped apart the fabric binding them and he opened them up as wide as they would go, circling over the quivering fillies like a feathery umbrella. Just when he had landed, the first piece of floorboards struck his wings, causing great pain as they bent the wrong way.

Upon the new entity, the orange filly Cantor recognised as Scootaloo looked up with her innocent, but terrified violet eyes.

Somehow, under the bombardment of flaming wood and sharp mannequins that had splintered and gouged deep holes in Cantor when they struck him, the alicorn found his voice. “Keep your heads down, kids!”

Scootaloo obeyed, pulling her two other friends closer in a fearful embrace.

The debris continued to plummet, lacerating his wings, ripping out feathers and gouging chunks from the stallion. Ripples of intense pain rocketed through his entire body, especially when the weight of the house balanced on his wings caused the bone to break. The stallion was not deterred, though. He held his wings open, only his muscles supporting them. The seven seconds he stood there felt more like seven hours. The house smashed to pieces around him, deafening him. But he heard nothing; he was alone in his head, grinding through the nearly unbearable pain.

The pain was only just tolerable up until he heard a massive crashing above him, much louder than the usual crashes and bangs. A heavy metal oven landed right in the middle of his back, creating a loud snap as his spine broke in two and the tension of his skin loosened worryingly. He writhed in pain and screamed in agony as his legs nearly gave in underneath him, but he stood strong as the house finally began to stop falling apart. Protecting these younglings was his only concern.

His body swayed due to the lack of alignment. The pain was so nearly unbearable, he didn’t even notice the warm, pleasurable sensation on both of his flanks.

Cantor drearily looked behind him when he heard a muffled and frantic voice shouting “et’s – ome water – this thing!” He turned his attention back to the girls and brought his heavy head, stained by smoke, sweat and copious amounts of blood down to the foals. He pretty much choked out the words, but they were clear, never the less.

“Girls, you’re gonna be okay.” And with that, summoned all of his power to within an inch of his life and blew the tons of wood, brick and metal from atop his wings with a final eruption of powerful magic, scattering the debris for miles around.

With every last piece of his being gone, the dirty alicorn collapsed forwards, finally being allowed sleep after the ordeal. His bloody wings still covering and protecting the screaming fillies as several pegasi rushed into the small crater that Cantor had made of the boutique’s foundation. The last thing they expected to find were any survivors, much less a beaten-up dead alicorn smothering them.

Revelations

Chapter 10: Revelations

He was brought about from the blackness by a steady electronic beeping. His eyelids peeled open, and shut again when an intense light dazzled him. The stallion turned his head to the side and opened his eyed ever so slightly once more and noticed he was on a small, darkened room. He tried to sit up from the hard surface which he lied on his back, but he couldn’t move his forelegs. Looking down, he was faced with the biggest phobia in his life.

Straps.

Leather belts were holding his arms to some sort of table. The electronic beeping became much more intense as he struggled desperately to wriggle free. He was still filthy, covered in blood and soot and he reeked of smoke and the metalalic stench of blood. A second light source came to Cantor’s attention, accompanied by a new presence in the room. A pony. As this newcomer spoke, cantor felt something simmer inside of him and begin to make it’s way to his head.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” The dark stallion remarked. That pushed Cantor’s rage over boiling point. He screamed in fury as his right foreleg tensed. Veins were visible, even under his bloody coat and the strap restraining him gave way. His hard hoof sailed through the air at incredible speeds and didn’t stop, even when it collided with this imposing stallion’s face.

The dark figure stumbled backwards with a shriek and Cantor ripped the left strap from the table. He found the little concentration to summon the magic to break the restraints on his legs. He shot to the floor, snarling through his teeth that had turned into interlocking fangs at the dark shape rubbing the end of his nose with his front hoof and moaning in pain. In an instant, Cantor was across the room and had the other stallion pinned to the wall by his neck. The alicorn’s left foreleg pressed into the stallion’s windpipe, causing him to choke.

“Where the FUCK am I!?” Cantor demanded through bared fangs.

The other pony was suspended a few feet from the floor and he clawed hopelessly at the iron arm that cut off his air. “Sir… sir…” he squeaked.

“WHERE AM I!?” Cantor bellowed in a voice that wasn’t his and punched straight through the wall to the side of the other stallion’s head with his free hoof, missing his head by inches, leaning even more forcefully into the stallion’s throat to stabilize himself.

It was only after the pony under his unusual strength began to loose power in his struggling that Cantor’s mind cleared instantly and he released the suffocating stallion. The smaller pony, who turned out to be an orange-coated unicorn gasped for air on the floor, clasping his throat.

“Oh, my god! I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” Cantor asked hastily, rushing to the unicorn’s side to help him to his hooves.

“It’s-“ The unicorn’s voice came out no more than a hoarse whisper. He cleared his throat and began again. “It’s quite alright.” He said. “We shouldn’t have tied you down.” He brought his hoof back to his nose, which was dripping blood.

“I’m really sorry…” Cantor said meekly, like a foal who had just broken something belonging to his parents.

“It’s okay; I’m a doctor.” Replied the unicorn.

“Are you?” Asked Cantor, squinting at the shadowed figure. “Am I in a hospital?” he asked, looking around the dark room.

“I’m sorry…” Began the unicorn. He had quite a boring voice whenever he spoke. “We seem to have gotten off on the wrong hoof.” The horn atop his head glowed dimly and several strip lights flickered on above. Cantor was dazzled and he shut his eyes for a moment. He slowly opened them and could now see that he was in what looked like an operating room.

“Good evening. My name is Dr. Stable. I hear your name is Cantor.” Said the unicorn, extending the hoof that was not covered in blood. Cantor could now see that he was wearing a long white coat and he had frameless glasses perched on the tip of his nose, one of the lenses now shattered. He also had a stethoscope draped casually around his neck.

Cantor took the doctor’s hoof and shook firmly. He noticed his foreleg which should have been white was a disgusting mix of black soot and dried-on blood. “You are a remarkable specimen, Mr. Cantor…”

“How do you know my name?”

“Your friend, Twilight sparkle arrived at the hospital not long after you-”

“How did I get here?” Cantor interrupted.

“Look, let’s at least sit down in my office so I can get some tissues for my nose and I can explain the whole thing.” He walked over to the open door. “Please follow me.”

Cantor followed Dr. Stable down several long corridors. Along the way, near the security room, the two passed a brown Earth pony stallion dressed in a tight light-blue shirt that showed off his muscles. He wore a utility belt around his waist and a thin black tie around his neck. Along his head, his grey hair was cut into a short mohican, that spoke for itself. He brought his hoof around and rested it on one of the instruments on his belt. The doctor looked at him and shook his head disarmingly and the guard stallion complied, returning his hoof to the floor and giving Cantor a look as if to say “I’m watching you.” And Cantor gave a look back that said “Try it.”

Cantor and Dr. Stable continued down the hallways. It was all very confusing to Cantor, his head still ached from… from…

“Why can’t I remember?” He thought. “There was a fire and… then I…” A sudden flash of remembrance flew across his mind.

“The girls!” He shouted. “Where are they!”

“You mean the three fillies?” Stable asked, stopping and turning his head slightly, but not actually making eye contact with Cantor. “They’re fine.” he answered, and Cantor sighed in relief. Now he remembered: Rarity’s house collapsed on him and he had protected three young ponies. “A few cuts and bruises, and they’re a little shaken, but no real harm done.”

“Good.” Sighed the alicorn.

“All thanks to you.” Said the doctor.

“What?” Cantor asked, picking up his pace to walk alongside the doctor.

“Sir, you have saved three innocent lives. You should be very proud of yourself.”

“Awesome!” Cantor replied, obeying the doctor and indeed feeling pretty good about himself just then.

“Quite.” Remarked Stable. “Ah, here we are.” He opened the door to his office with magic and stepped inside. Cantor followed. He looked as if he had been killed in a house fire. Except he was walking among the living. Nearly everypony he walked past gaped at his horrendous appearance.

“Take a seat, Cantor.” Dr. Stable said, gesturing towards a bench to the far wall and drawing several tissues from a box atop a filing cabinet for his nose. The alicorn complied, planting himself on the wooden seat.

“So… How did I get here?” Cantor asked, leaning forward in his chair, resting his aching head on his hoof.

“You were rushed here by the ambulance pegasi. When they found you, they said you were in pretty bad shape.”

“I was?” Asked the burnt, dirty blood-smeared stallion.

“The way they described it, it seemed as though you shouldn’t actually be alive.”

“Oh…” Was all Cantor could say.

“Another curiosity is why you are an alicorn. Are you… related to the princesses an any way?”

“No. I’m… I’m not…” Cantor replied weakly. The doctor looked dissatisfied. “Look,” Started Cantor, “We’re on the brink of something big and I really don’t want to go into it… so can we please move onto the next question?”

Dr. Stable narrowed his eyes. Behind him, the moonlight filtering through the window was cut off by the powerful hospital lights flooding the room. “Alright. I suppose that will have to do…” He slowly spoke. And Cantor sighed in relief inside his head, trying not to show it. “Mr. Cantor, if I may call you that.”

“Actually, I prefer just Cantor.” The alicorn replied, smiling.

“Alright.” Stable responded. “You certainly are remarkable, Cantor.” The doctor said, flicking through pages on a clipboard he levitated in front of him. “Torn ligaments, wing fractures in multiple places, fourth degree burns!?” Stable looked up in surprise at Cantor, and all the alicorn did was cough nervously. Stable returned to his sheet. “Deep lacerations to the back, neck, head and wings.” He paused for breath, not taking his eyes off of the paper. “Feathers torn from roots, splintered all four of your shin bones! You broke your back!”

“Well, something really heavy did land on me…”

“Cantor,” Said the doctor in astonishment, removing the broken glasses from his nose with his hoof and setting them down noisily on the table, leaning forwards in his chair. “If anypony else had even half of these injuries on the ‘lesser’ side, for them to be alive would be nothing short of a miracle. For them to be conscious is out of the question. But for them to go through something half as bad as that and be able to walk and talk is…” He thought about his next words for a second “medically impossible!”

Cantor couldn’t think of a response. Instead, he just shrugged sheepishly. “I don’t know any more than you, doc…” He answered eventually. “But why did you tie me down?”

Dr. Stable brought the bundle of tissues, already soaked in blood up to his nose again. He would later have to check if it was broken. “We knew alicorns were powerful. We didn’t want to take any risks.” Cantor frowned. “When the paramedics found you, your life signs were at a bare minimum, but by the time they got you to the intensive care unit, the gouges in your body had… begun to close…” The doctor frowned deeply in thought.

“How deep were these ‘gouges’?” Asked Cantor.

Stable had to think about how to word his response. “Think about it as if somepony got an ice-cream scoop and dug it through your flesh.”

“Ouch…” Cantor remarked.

“Indeed…” Replied Stable. A small red light blinked on the desk he was sat behind, accompanied by a female’s voice: “Dr. Stable, the bath is ready.”

“Thank you, Miss Goodall.” The doctor spoke into the speaker, pressing down on a black button with his right hoof. “Um, Cantor, you may want to get yourself cleaned up, you’re… quite a sight…” The alicorn looked down his filthy body. “We’ve run a hot bath for you, to get yourself cleaned up in. Now, if you would please follow me…” Dr. Stable said, rising from his swivel chair. “Would you like a drink?” he asked as he neared the door.

Until now, cantor hadn’t realised just how thirsty and hungry he was. “Yes, please.” He answered gratefully and the orange unicorn opened up a fridge disguised as a cabinet and withdrew two bottles of water using his magic. He floated one towards Cantor and the grateful alicorn took it with his own pale lilac aura. He tried to unscrew the cap, but that proved futile as it was far too intricate to do with the magic he had learned. He pulled the cap from the bottle, destroying the thread inside and downed three quarters of the bottle in only a few seconds. It was so refreshing; the fridge had made it ice cold and the blackened stallion could feel it’s chill running through his body.

Cantor drew the bottle away from his mouth with a loud gasp for air. “Thirsty?” Asked Dr. Stable.

“I was.” Cantor answered, wiping his mouth with a dirty foreleg. “Thanks, doctor.”

“Don’t mention it.” The dark maned unicorn replied. And with that, Cantor finished up the last of the refreshing liquid. “Would you like another?” Asked Stable, opening the fridge door again.

“Thank you, but I’m fine now.” Cantor declined politely.

“Great.” The doctor responded, taking a shallow sip from his own beverage.

Cantor and Stable walked slowly down the corridor, the sight of Cantor turning more heads. “I guess everypony knows I’m an alicorn now, huh…” Cantor asked.

“Oh, yes.” Replied the doctor. “News spreads fast. This sort of story will become global by tomorrow.” Cantor shuddered. Everypony in the world would soon know his face. He hated to admit it to himself, but. It actually felt kind of good...

“What time is it?” Cantor asked, noticing the abundance of nurses and doctors wandering around, but no patients; they were all asleep in bed.

“Uh…” Stable sighed, pulling up his left foreleg and staring at a golden watch with a brown strap fastened tightly around the leg. “Two-fifteen.”

“In the morning!?”

The two stopped walking in front of a window. They both looked outside into the night sky. “Unless the dear princesses are playing some sort of practical joke, yes, it’s two-fifteen in the morning.

“So I was asleep the entire day?” Cantor asked as they began to move again, thankful that he finally got some sleep.

Stable simply replied: “Yes.”

The two continued to career along corridors and down one anorexic flight of stairs, which proved very difficult for Cantor; he nearly tripped and fell head over hooves, much to the doctor’s stifled amusement. “Ah, here we are.” Declared Stable as they neared a closed door. “You go in and get yourself cleaned up. I’ll meet you in forty minutes.”

Cantor nodded facing the door. “Okay.” He opened it with magic and a fragrant plume of steam drifted out, moistening his coat. “I’ll see you later, doc.” He said as he walked through the doorway and into the humid bathroom. “Oh, sorry again about your nose.”

It’s quite alright.” Replied Stable, turning and trotting off down the hallway. “See you in a little while!” He called.

“Bye!” Cantor called back as the doctor disappeared through some swinging wooden doors at the end of the hallway.
Cantor gladly climbed into the piping hot bath, letting the water wash away all the grime. He slid down into the water, the oils in the soaps soaking into his body, releasing all his aches and pains.

“Ahhh…” Cantor sighed in pleasure as he raised his wings out of the water and the moisture ran down his feathers and fell back into the bath when it reached the tips. They felt just like new; the bones had fully healed themselves and the muscle that had been shredded to pieces by the bone fragments had reformed. He allowed himself several wing beats, sending pink bubbles flying into the air. Cantor returned his wings underwater and rubbed the crusty blood out of the feathers, returning them to a gleaming white. He then set to work on his body, starting with his face. He rubbed all around his head and hair with a soft round sponge, causing foam to overtake his head and soon he had to dive underwater to clear it up. This bath was much bigger than Twilight’s. “Perhaps it was a maternity bath?” Thought cantor. It was a lot wider and deeper than a regular bath and it had a more circular shape.

Cantor cleaned his chest, legs and back and thought that he was clean before he noticed one last patch of filth on his left flank. Sitting up in the tub, he rubbed at it fiercely with the sponge. Nothing happened. He tried again, and the same outcome ensued. Cantor stared at the mark for a moment before he gasped in wonderment. He held his breath as he looked at his other flank, and sure enough, there was another mark and upon closer inspection, appeared identical to the one on his left side. Even though he couldn’t tell exactly what this mark looked like, he was sure about what it was. “Oh, yes!” He shouted, hoof-punching the air. His excitement died though the moment he heard a tapping on the door.

“Everything alright in there?” A mare’s voice came.

Cantor blushed furiously in embarrassment at what that outburst must have sounded like from outside. “Yeah. I’m fine…”

“Actually, I think I’m finished.” He called out. “Why the hell did I say that?” He whispered to himself afterwards.

“Oh. Okay… I’ll be waiting outside…” came the reply. It was obvious that the pony on the other side of the door was trying to hold back laughter. Cantor sighed humorously and pulled the plug in the bath, sending the maroon coloured water racing into the drains. He watched it and listened to the gurgling for a moment before turning to find towels, hoping this kind of thing wouldn’t occur too frequently.

After drying off, Cantor left the towel folded neatly on the toilet and watched the last of the bloody water trickle away. He couldn’t help but salute playfully, for old time’s sake. He unlocked the door and opened it broadly, to reveal a certain purple unicorn sat on a hospital bench and blushing fiercely. Her eyes told Cantor exactly what she was thinking.

“Look,” The stallion started, “That didn’t happen. To be honest, I actually don’t know how it would…” He said, examining the underside of his hoof and making a pained expression.

“I didn’t say a word.” Said Twilight through an immature grin.

“Twilight…” Cantor began, lowering his hoof to the ground. “I’m… I’m…” He raised his wings halfway.

“I know.” She replied, her smile dying as she spoke. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” She asked. Her tone was desperate.

“I thought it might cause complications.” Replied Cantor, honesty evident in his voice.

“I really don’t like ponies keeping secrets from me. Especially-“ Her eyes grew in the moment she paused, “you…”

“Well it’s out now.” Cantor replied with a sigh. “Do you think we can still be friends?”

“Of course.” Twilight answered, a picturesque smile worn on her tired face. "How could we not be?"

“I can’t believe you waited for me. It’s like, what? Three in the morning!” Cantor commented as the two ambled between wards, trying to keep their voices just above whispers.

“I couldn’t possibly sleep.” Twilight responded, gazing into those orange eyes. “When they pulled you out-“ She choked and held back a sob, stopping and turning her head to the floor. “When they pulled you out,” She tried again. By now, she was crying silently, however, her tears didn’t affect her voice in the slightest. “There were… bits of your body… missing.” She sniffed “You were covered in blood and soot and your bones were sticking out of your knees. You weren’t moving. I thought… I thought you…” She sniffed again, hung her head low and let out a shaking breath. She couldn’t bring herself even to say it.

Cantor quickly checked up and down the hallway. Nopony was around. “Here.” He said, placing his foreleg around Twilight’s waist, proceeding to guide her towards another, rather conveniently placed bench. The unicorn was wiping her eyes, trying to stop herself crying. She sat down and cantor sat opposite her, but so that they were facing each other, even though Twilight looked away. He firmly held Twilight’s smaller hoof in his own. “Twilight.” He said. The mare took in a trembling breath, still covering her eyes with her other hoof. “Twilight, look at me.” He ordered, but not with the slightest hint of aggression. She complied, bringing her foreleg down and allowing Cantor to guide her face towards his. She tenderly gazed into Cantor’s deep eyes and he burned into hers.

“I will never leave you.” He spoke firmly with his brow furrowed. Not intimidating or angry. Instead, this expression showed that what he was saying was the pure truth. “I promise.” Twilight’s tears stopped and their faces drew closer to each other’s. Cantor’s hoof stayed just below Twilight’s cheek as he leaned in. Their eyes began to close and the world around them faded as in an unexpected moment of passion, a feint voice came from somewhere distant. The hallway became clear again and Cantor turned around to see who had spoke. Twilight, with her eyes closed, crashed into his solid neck.

“There you are! I went to the bathroom – like we promised…” The orange stallion spoke, his nose now clean, making his way rapidly towards Cantor. “To find an empty room!” It was clear that he was angry, but all Cantor did was smile deeply. He turned back to face the small mare. She was gently blushing, her hoof still clasped over his and she was gazing into his eyes, and he gazed right back. They could both see what the other was thinking: “This was a special moment. Even if nothing happened…”

“…And then I find you wandering around the maternity wing!” Dr. Stable continued his rant. “Miss sparkle, I don’t know if you are expecting, but until that time comes, will you please let the new mothers get their rest?” Twilight’s face reddened and she turned away smiling.

“Aw, come on, doc, we weren’t loud enough to disturb anypony!” Cantor replied.

“Never the less…” Stable continued, “I became worried when you weren’t there. And Twilight Sparkle! I thought I told you to stay in the waiting room.”

“Sorry, sir…” Twilight apologised, still wearing her wonderful grin. “It won’t happen again.”

“I should hope so…” Commented the doctor.

“Actually, Miss Sparkle, would you mind going home? I needn’t remind you that visiting hours ended… yesterday, and you should get some rest.” Stable said when the trio reached the main entrance.

Twilight first looked for answers in Cantor. “Go on, Twilight. I’m honoured that you’d wait all this time, but you do look really tired and I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?” Twilight hung her head. “I promise.” He added. Twilight looked back up with a wonderful expression of understanding. She nodded firmly. “Do you need any help home?” the gentle alicorn asked, taking a step closer to the purple mare.

“No.” Said the doctor sharply. “Cantor has to stay here. We need to run a few tests.”

“Tests?”
“Tests?”

Both Cantor and Twilight asked simultaneously. Cantor raised his leviathan wings. The tips brushed along the roof, bending the feathers horizontal. “What kind of tests?” Cantor asked, turning away from Twilight, he was large to start with. With the addition of his wings, he looked enormous and the doctor took a step back.

“Just some blood samples, maybe an x-ray.” He replied shakily. “Nothing too… sinister.”

“Alright…” Cantor replied slowly, deflating his wings and folding them behind his back.

“We’ll let you go in the morning.” Stable assured, readjusting his spare spectacles and turning to face Twilight. “If you need any assistance getting home, I could get-“

“No, no. It’s fine.” Twilight interrupted politely – if there were such a thing. “I’ll make my own way home; it’s not too far from here.” She said cheerily.

“Are you sure?” Asked Cantor.

“Positive.” She replied.

“Alright. See you tomorrow, Twilight!” Cantor called as she pushed the main hospital doors open with her head and disappeared into the night.

“Come now, Cantor,” Dr. Stable said abruptly, turning and making his way down another corridor. “We are just going to-“

“I just want you to know that being restrained like I was earlier is my biggest phobia…” Cantor whispered from behind Stable, just inches away from his ear in a horrifying voice he wasn’t sure he was even capable of. “If you ever try something like that again,” He exhaled loudly and moved even closer so his lips were almost touching the doctor’s ear, “I’ll tear this place to the ground… okay?”

Dr. Stable shuddered and swallowed nervously. “Of course…” He answered in absolute fear.

“Good.” Replied Cantor in his usual voice. “I’m glad we’re clear on something…” Though it was an empty threat, Cantor would have made the doctor’s life hell; he seemed to loose control when he was tied down, unable to move. The two stallions made their way to the room in which these ‘tests’ would be held. In silence.

Cantor sat on the examination table of the doctor’s surgery. Dr. Stable was processing the blood sample he took in another room. The alicorn’s eyes searched the room lazily. On the bight blue walls, there were posters on certain diseases and diagrams of parts of the equine body. Nestled in the corner was a tall potted plant that had clearly seen better days. The room was small. There was enough space for an examination bench and a desk opposite it. Framed certificates of Stable’s education hung proudly behind the desk and each showed some sort of large, fancy-looking signature.

“Alright, Cantor,” Said the doctor, walking through the doorway at the back of the room carrying a clipboard in front of his face with magic. He read it as he walked. “your results are back, and I must say I’m impressed…” He stopped moving and looked towards Cantor for a response. The alicorn just smiled foalishly and shrugged. “You’re the, how should I put this?... ‘Cleanest’ patient I’ve ever seen.

“What do you mean?” Asked Cantor.

“Well, there’s not a thing wrong with you. Blood sugar levels are normal, sufficient insulin, your blood pressure is regular, even after all that blood you lost. There are no impurities; no drugs of any kind. Your blood is… perfect!” Cantor clopped his hooves together. “I do hope you’ll be more careful; we don’t want to be loosing much more in house fires do we?”

“No, doctor.” Cantor replied. “If you want to take some as like a ‘donation’, I’d be happy to comply.”

“Actually, would you? You see, your blood type is also the rarest; AB negative – only one percent of the population of Equestria has it.”

“Do you have any at all?”

“No. not a drop. It’s so rare that we don’t think we need it. That changed three months ago.”

“What happened?” Cantor enquired. The doctor turned away and run his hoof around on the floor. As he spoke.

“There was a carriage crash. All the passengers and the driver were pegasi; they flew out the windows. There was one Earth pony mare on board. Nopony came back for her.” He took his glasses off and placed them on the edge of his desk. He massaged the bridge of his nose with his hoof. “She was ten months pregnant.”

“What happened then?” Cantor repeated.

“The carriage plummeted from a cliff. No survivors were expected, but the search and rescue team found her with crippling blood loss, but she was alive… only she was alive…” He brought out a box of tissues and dabbed his eyes with one as he continued. “If we had any stores of AB negative, we could have saved her.” He cleared his throat and stuffed the tissue into his coat pocket, turning around to face Cantor.

“That’s terrible.” The alicorn replied solemnly, his eyes dropped to the floor.

“Is it?” The doctor asked. Cantor looked back up and met his intense gaze. “I actually think it was for the best.” Cantor frowned in thought. “So she could be with her foal…” Doctor Stable finished.

“I see…” Cantor replied in understanding.

“Anyway!” Stable began abruptly, dispelling some of the negative vibes from the small room. “Let’s get that blood!” He then trotted to the side room and brought out an unnervingly large clear bag which sprouted a thick tube with a needle at the end.

“So, I can go in the morning, right doc?” Asked Cantor, holding out his left foreleg.

Dr. Stable took the limb and parted the hair, revealing the pale skin below. “Of course.” He said, pushing the needle into a vein. Almost instantly, the bag began to fill with blood. “My, my…” Remarked Stable. “You certainly have a pulse.” He admired the bag filling with the rare life fluid, all the while Cantor tried desperately not to burst out laughing at the doctor’s unintentional innuendo.

...

“That was fast.” Stable commented as he pulled the needle from the alicorn’s arm and gave him a small round plaster for the pinprick. But by the time Cantor had unwrapped the small bandage, the tiny hole had already closed up and the bleeding had stopped. He slapped the plaster over it anyway and stepped down from the table. Dr. Stable carried the bag of blood into a freezer room and set it down in an area marked: “AB-“ It was the only bag there.

The doctor exited the room shivering. His teeth chattered as he closed and locked the door behind him.

“Cold?” Cantor joked.

“Very.” Stable replied humourlessly. He looked to the clock. “What do you want to do?”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s five past five in the morning… You can stay here until sunrise, or if you like, you can go…”

Cantor quickly made his decision. “I think I’ll practice flying; I still need to learn how to land without falling over! Thank you for looking after me…”

“Not a problem. Just one more thing,”

“Yes?”

“We need to get your age… For insurance reasons…”

“Oh, okay. I’m sixteen.”

“Sixteen!?” Echoed the doctor in astonishment. “You’re six-teen!?”

“Yeah…” Cantor replied. “Is that a problem?”

“No, it’s just… You put your life on the line. To save the children?”

“Of course. It’s the right thing to do…”

“I respect you a great deal, Cantor. Such bravery is scarce nowadays…”

“Oh, stop!” Cantor said, his face beginning to heat up.

“I mean it.” Replied Stable. “I hope I see you again soon…” He smiled – something seldom seen from this particular pony.

“I don’t know how to take that sentence, doctor…” Cantor joked, turning around awkwardly in the small room and exiting into the bright hallway. The sky above was already beginning to brighten towards the east as the night began it’s slow retreat once more.

“Just stay out of trouble, okay?” Dr. Stable called out as Cantor ambled down the tiled floor.

“Will do!” Cantor called back. “See ya’ ‘round!”

“Goodbye, Cantor!” He replied, waving and closing the door to his office. The unicorn stallion re-read one of the parasite posters aloud to himself before dropping to his seat, exhausted. He sighed and rubbed his temples in a circular motion with the tips of his hooves, resting his elbows on the desk in front of him. “Hm.” He laughed contently in his throat. “Sixteen…” He murmured before returning his spare glasses to the end of his muzzle and began flicking through pages of paperwork in the dawning twilight of the new day.

It felt so great to be up in the sky; soaring without limits, wind pelting at his face, being in control. His back still ached from where it had broken, but given that was just under a day ago, Cantor thought it wasn’t so bad. He pulsed his wings hard, increasing the speed of his flight. He closed his eyes and opened his arms wide. They looked nothing more than stumps under his ridiculous wings. “Oh, yes!” He cried in ecstasy as a massive updraft sent him rocketing into the air, the resulting g-force sending shivers through his entire body. He soared at the height of clouds, the morning sun sending them a blazing orange colour, making them seem alive against the peachy sky above. His long orange mane and tail fluttered behind him like fire and he dove down with rapid speed.

He was still thundering over Ponyville, despite being airborne for nearly an hour. The alicorn soon became tired and instead of landing on the ground, hovered gingerly above a cloud, prodding it a few times, astonished that he could actually touch clouds. He gradually lowered himself onto the fluffy white surface. The feeling was as remarkable as flying. It was like standing on feather pillows. “It’s so soft…” Remarked Cantor in awe. “No wonder Rainbow Dash sleeps a lot.” With that said, he came over unusually drowsy. Maybe it was due to the influence of the cloud. Maybe because he hadn’t actually slept for two days, just that time where he was unconscious. He laid down atop the cloud. It was cool. Not uncomfortably cold, but refreshing… he gently closed his eyes, staring into the rising sun and sighed peacefully.

Cantor awoke abruptly, his back slamming into something hard. “Well, that’s one way to wake up.” He muttered after opening his eyes a crack and seeing clouds wafting above him. He made the quick and obvious assumption that he had fallen off of the cushy mattress. “Ogh!” He groaned as he sealed his eyes shut and returned to his feet, bringing his chest close to the ground, receiving an audible ‘crack’ from his new back that barely ached anymore. He stretched out his enormous wings, receiving not only the relaxing popping sounds, but also gasps from what sounded like a crowd of a lot of ponies.

The alicorn’s eyes shot open. All around him were ponies gawping wide-eyed at him. He did a full three-sixty degree turn and returned to where he began. There was a hushed silence among the ring of ponies stationary around him and they all held their breaths as Cantor took his. “Uh… Hi.” Saying this, the crowd erupted into gasps of astonishment and one-by-one, they began to bow. The ponies fell in quick succession until they all were facing the floor, heads bowed low and awaiting a response. “You don’t have to bow… I – I’m nopony special…” The crowd rose to standing simultaneously and instantly the moment he said this, the act creeped him out a little.

Without expectation, the great crowd of ponies rushed towards him, they became a roaring wall of questions and shouts. Without hesitation, Cantor took off into the sky, raising himself out of reach, but still able to commune.

“Who are you!?” Seemed to be the most common question heard.

“My name is Cantor!” He shouted, quelling all but two voices. He glared at the two teenage mares, destroying their conversation the instant one of them caught his gaze. “Finished?” He asked, sounding intimidating. The two mares nodded their heads rapidly, as if they were being shaken.

Several pegasus ponies were flying above the crowd that had lost it’s shape and now formed an untidy mess below. “One question at a time… please.” He asked, opening his arms out as if he were trying to embrace the air. As expected, the inaudible din started up again. “GUYS!” He yelled sharply, silencing everypony instantly. “Tell you what, I’ll ask you…” He felt kind of bad for taking the situation like this, but they deserved answers.

A multi-coloured army of forelegs raised instantly and Cantor contemplated which one to pick. Eventually, he decided on a pale orange earth pony who was waving frantically at him, to which he referred to as: “You, the pale orange pony!” He called whilst pointing.

“Um, yes…” She replied in a voice that didn’t differ too much from Fluttershy’s. “I thought the only unicorns with wings were the princesses… are you like a prince or something?”

“Well, no. I’m not a prince, but I don’t actually know about the first thing… there have been other winged unicorns, called ‘alicorns’, in the past, but I don’t know if they were all royal. Sorry…” Another barrage of hooves shot up and Cantor spoke without choosing anypony. “Look, I’m just a normal pony like you. Are there any questions that aren’t related to me being an alicorn?” A few hooves fell. “Or about where I came from?” Several more forelegs fell. “Or, about weather or not I’m related to the princess…” A vast majority of the hooves disappeared, leaving only a few ponies with theirs raised.

“What would you like to ask, dear?” Cantor said, turning to the only pegasus in the sky with her arm up, waiting patiently.

“Didn’t you save those three fillies in the fire yesterday?” The brilliant white pegasus asked, her electric blue mane bobbing up and down with her wing beats.

“Yes… that was me… actually, do you know where the owner of the house is? I’d like to talk to her.” Cantor replied softly.

“She passed out after the house exploded. The ambulance rushed her away to the hospital. I think she’s still there…” Answered the white mare.

“Thank you…” Cantor replied, turning back to the ground to see a large number of ponies had re-raised their hooves. The alicorn sighed. “Oh,” He remarked in surprise as he noticed a blonde pegasus standing out from the crowd. “You, dear,” He said towards the grey mare. She began to speak but another dark blue unicorn next to her interrupted, rattling off her question with her eyes closed and her nose in the air. The pegasus’ crossed eyes fell to the floor in disappointment and her happy smile died. The sight broke Cantor’s heart.

“Do you know whether-“

“Sorry, not you.” Cantor interrupted abruptly, his intention was to sound as rude as possible. The mail courier looked back up hopefully.

“What?” The royal blue unicorn asked in surprise, opening her eyes so she could see more than just herself.

“I meant Derpy.” He replied, looking the grey mare in one of her eyes and winking.

Derpy spoke in that adorable voice he could listen to for hours. “Did the fire make the ‘boom’ I heard yesterday?” Cantor started to reply, but his voice was drowned out by laughter from the crowd. Derpy’s face reddened and her eyes shimmered before she shut them and hung her head. The feeling of unnaceptance greeting her again like a disease, reminding her just how much of a useless pony she was.

“What’s so funny?” Cantor asked with a sincere face.

“Don’t listen to Derpy! She’s just an idiot!” Cackled the dark blue unicorn who had spoken in Derpy’s turn beforehoof.

Even though he was far away from her, Cantor could have sworn he saw a tear form around Derpy’s eye and run down her cheek. He could feel that burning sensation spitting inside him again.

“Excuse me?” He asked in disbelief. A few of the ponies below caught onto his tone and shut up immediately.

“Half the time, she doesn’t even know where she is!” The unicorn continued to bellow with laughter. Cantor was close to the brink when he saw Derpy begin to tremble. That pushed him to boiling point.

Faster than naturally possible, Cantor disappeared from the sky with a strong blast of his wings, smashing into the floor just next to the crowd of ponies who instantly stopped their shameful laughter when they saw the snarling alicorn. He landed with such force that the ground shook and four small craters appear under each of his hooves. He kept his gargantuan wings raised and stormed through the crowd, treading forcefully and snorting. Ponies parted as fast as they could as the huge alicorn thundered towards the blue bully.

The two made eye contact, Cantor’s disks of fire burned into the mare’s dark crimson ones. She backed up, out of the protective shell of ponies until her rump hit a tree slightly off the path. Her rear end stayed pressed up against the tree as Cantor pushed her face into the dirt just by glaring at her much like the effect that occurs when placing two of the same side of magnet near each other.

“Careful, I – I know self defence.” She said, putting on a brave voice.

“Well I know self offence!” Cantor snapped back, oblivious to how ridiculous that sentence sounded.

The mare’s horn lit up in an aura of deepest midnight. Cantor felt ripples of electric pain shoot through his body, making his hooves tingle. He frowned more intently and growled deeply like a dog. He felt the pain intensify, but he held on, for Derpy’s sake. This sensation lasted another four seconds before the mare stopped. Exhausted and terrified, she panted and covered her head with both of her trembling hooves. “I’m sorry…” She whimpered. Cantor calmed down at this notion; she had clearly learned her lesson.

“Don’t tell me you’re sorry.” He replied sharply.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Derpy…” She murmured. The teary-eyed pegasus stepped out from the crowd.

“I don’t think she heard you.” Cantor insisted.

“I’m sorry Derpy.” Said the mare a little louder than before, making her sorrow clear in her voice.

“Sorry for what?” Cantor asked.

“For… For calling you… an – an idiot…” She began to cry. Cantor smiled, satisfied that he had reduced her to as low as she could possibly go, destroying her self-centred ego.

“It’s okay.” Derpy simply said, her eyes showed kindness.

“I don’t think you’re an idiot, Derpy.” A light grey stallion said.

“Neither do I.” An orange maned Earth pony added.

Soon the whole crowd was chattering in agreement with one another.

“Thank you, Cantor.” Derpy said softly, nuzzling Cantor’s chest.

“Don’t worry about it.” He replied, resting his head on hers.

“Does anypony know which direction the library is?” He asked, looking back at the crowd. The white pegasus in the sky he spoke to earlier pointed to the left and shouted “That way!”

“Cheers!” Cantor replied. He flexed his wings, but before taking off, cast his gaze towards the dark blue unicorn, who was embracing Derpy and whispering something into her ear. He smiled contently, crouched down and leapt into the air, flying softly in the direction the pegasus pointed him in. Some of the other pegasi began to follow him. He turned round and smiled, though it was a hollow one. “Please don’t follow me.” He instructed softly, sending the nosy pegasi on their way. He hung in the air for a while, waiting for the ponies to disperse. “I’ll see you around, Derpy!” He called, waving goodbye to the grey mare.

“See you soon, Cantor!” She replied.

The white alicorn went to fly away, but stopped when he remembered something. He flew down to just above Derpy, blowing her mane around with the draft he was creating. “I never answered your question, did I, Derpy?”

She turned around. “Oh, no. I guess you didn’t!” She grinned.

“Well to finish,” Cantor said, “yes, that ‘boom’ was because of the fire.” Technically, this was true, but nopony needed to know any better.

“Okay, thanks…” She continued to smile. “I was just wondering because it made me drop my letters.” She scuffed at the floor whilst saying this.

“Knowing you, those letters were still probably delivered on time.” Cantor remarked with a smile of his own. “Bye, Derpy.” He called, then flew higher into the sky.

“Bye!” The blonde pegasus called back as he disappeared over the tree line, leaving Derpy the postal worker to chat with her new friends.

Twilight paced back and forth in her library. Once she had returned from the hospital, she found she couldn’t sleep. She kept trying to reassure herself that everything was fine, but she just couldn’t be certain. Her baby dragon assistant still slept soundly upstairs, though he had tried to stay awake, his little body simply couldn’t resist his rest. He snored loudly, but the thoughts flooding Twilight’s brain cancelled all noise. To try and refresh herself, Twilight had opened the windows on the ground floor, hoping to let a breeze in. however, this had been a rather still morning.

“Okay…” Twilight sighed and her pacing ceased. “Maybe a drink will calm me down…” Usually, she objected to drinking in the morning; it was something associated with the scum of society. She poured herself a very small amount of her whiskey from a bottle she kept in a cupboard out of Spike’s reach. She pursed her lips and raised the glass to her mouth when a voice from behind her made her jump.

“A little early for that, don’t you think?” Came a familiar male voice. Twilight whirled around to see Cantor leaning on the windowsill, resting his head on his hooves.

“Cantor! No, no… I was just…” She paused and stared into the golden liquid. “I had nerves…”

“Alright.” He simply replied with a smirk. “May I come in?” He asked, gesturing in the direction of the house.

“Oh, right. Sure.” Twilight responded. It was plain to see she had something troubling on her mind.

The door quickly opened and Cantor stepped inside. “Morning, Twilight.” He said looking down at the mare.

“Good morning.” She replied, returning a smile.

“So… I was wondering if you would like to come and see Rarity with me today?” He paused for a moment. “How is she?”

“She’s fine…” Twilight replied. “The explosion sent her flying backwards and she hit her head on a tree.”

“Oh… Sorry…” Cantor apologised, sending his eyes to the floor.

“Sorry… sorry for what?”

“That explosion was kind of… me.”

“You did that!?” She cried. “How?”

“I don’t know… I just sort of… did it with magic…”

“That was some really powerful spell! Why did you do it?”

Cantor looked back up, still wearing the apologetic look. “I could feel myself about to… break…” He snorted angrily. Frustrated that his actions hurt somepony. “If I had’ve gone then, the first thing to land on those fillies and kill them would have been me.” He dropped his eyes to the floor and scuffed it angrily.

“Please say I didn’t hurt anypony.” Asked cantor, feeling lower and lower the more things he said.

“Well… all of us watching fell over and Rarity hit the tree… but other than that, everypony was fine.” She smiled, this made the alicorn feel a lot better. “You know, it’s funny,” She began, still smiling, “It was raining debris for like five minutes afterwards.” She giggled, bringing Cantor further out of the dark. “Everypony in town heard it. And most importantly, you put out the fire with that explosion!”

“I did?”

“Yes!”

“But… Rarity’s house, I destroyed it.”

“It was on fire, Cantor; it was destroyed already.” She leaned in closer. “The important thing is that nopony was hurt.”

“Well, that’s good, I suppose…” Cantor murmured.

Twilight’s belly grumbled loudly. “Listen to that!” She said comically, “Are you hungry?” She asked as she made her way to the kitchen.

“Actually, I am, Twilight.” He replied.

“Would you like some breakfast?”

“Oh, yes please!” He sighed gratefully. The last thing he ate was the toast at the castle, and that was nearly a day ago. He was absolutely famished.

The white alicorn followed Twilight into the kitchen with a very heavy conscience. “I’m living a lie.” He thought. “The truth will come out sooner or later… If I don’t tell her now, will it hurt later on?” He observed as twilight placed two slices of bread into the toaster with a magical aura that was slightly more pale than it should be.

“I could’ve sworn I had more than this.” She complained, staring into the nearly empty bag.

“Fate has a way of playing things. And they always seem to turn out alright in the end. Just let things run their course; forget about the future and live for the moment. You’ll know what to do when the time comes.” Taking his own advice, Cantor felt the shroud around his soul lift.

Twilight pressed down on the lever, causing the bread to fall into the little purple box. She turned to face him. Her innocent eyes dispelling the rest of the apprehension. “There are no other secrets, are there Cantor?”

She was too innocent to know the truth. The alicorn felt a twinge of pain when he said “No.” as every cell in his body called him a liar.

“So, Twilight,” Cantor said as he, the unicorn and the dragon started on their way to the hospital. This day was colder than the one before. The sky had grown overcast, in preparation for a scheduled downpour. “Do you think all the hype will die down?”

“Hype about what?” She asked.

“About me.” The alicorn responded, looking at her.

“I’m sure it will. After all, nopony really talks about the princess, except from when she comes to town.” Her tone was reassuring.

“I hope so.” He said, returning his gaze to the dirt road ahead.

The small group walked along in silence for a few minutes as they made their way to the hospital. “Should we pick up the pace?” Asked Twilight as above them, the heavens rumbled forebodingly.

“Sure.” Cantor agreed as they increased their pace to a brisk trot. Spike hopped onto Twilight’s back as he struggled to keep up with his short legs, otherwise.

“My friends are all meeting us at the hospital to see rarity.” Twilight informed as her mane bobbed up and down with her movements.

“Right, so I think the only one I haven’t met is Rainbow Dash.” Cantor replied.

“I think you’ll like her; she has quite a feisty attitude and she’ll probably want to do some sort of flying stuff with you.” The two ponies faced each other. “Fluttershy doesn’t really like flying, so she’ll be itching to show you what she can do.” She rolled her eyes. “As she does to pretty much everypony!”

The group fell silent again and in only a few minutes they reached the hospital’s main entrance. “That was close!” Remarked Twilight as the small splattering of raindrops grew into a torrential downpour. The two ponies stood under the shelter which proceeded from the roof above them and watched the water hammer into the ground. Secretly, this was one of Cantor’s favourite weathers. A few lightning strikes later, the last one a little too close for comfort sent them scurrying inside, Spike hopped from Twilight’s soft back onto the hospital’s shiny tiled floor.

It was warm inside the hospital. Not sticky, uncomfortable-hot, but just… warm. There were nurses of all types of ponies pushing around wheelchairs with sickly-looking passengers in. All of whom gave Cantor unsettled looks. He walked by Twilight’s side as she approached the reception desk. “Can I help you?” A light gold mare with streaky blue and light blue hair, tied up quite ironically in a ponytail behind her head asked from behind the counter.

Twilight answered the question, even though the receptionist was looking directly at Cantor when she said it. “Yes, we’re here to see my friend, Rarity.” She answered. The other mare kept looking straight at Cantor, who tried to make himself look as disarmed as possible, even bending his knees to appear slightly shorter.

“Of course.” The receptionist said, still locked on to cantor and forcing a smile. “But visiting hours start in fifteen minutes.”

“Oh, do they?” Twilight asked, slightly surprised. “I was sure they started around about now.”

“Sorry, dear, they changed last night.” Said the pale gold mare, who sounded identical to the voice on the intercom Cantor heard in Stable’s office, finally looking at Twilight. “Personally, I think it’s silly to change it to such a small difference, but what can be done, right?” her smile changed to genuine as she turned to address Cantor, who had forgotten to set a limit to how low he was going to make himself and was now nearly touching the floor with his belly. The receptionist peered over the counter, looking confused and slightly humoured as Cantor smiled sheepishly and rose to his normal height.

“Hey,” She spoke. “Aren’t you the alicorn who arrived last night?”

Cantor felt like saying “Nah…” Just to humour her, but that would make him look like a real jerk. “Yes, that was me.”

“How in Equestria did you recover so quickly!?”

“I know just as well as you do, Miss…”

“Goodall. Mane Goodall.” She quickly said, nodding her head briskly.

“Miss Goodall…” He finished. “It must be something to do with me being alicorn or something…”

“Those pictures in the paper were just… ghastly!” The Earth pony said, wincing.

“Pictures?” Cantor asked, curious.

“Yes. There’s today’s paper over there.” She added, pointing towards a cluster of chairs, each small group of them pulled around a stubby coffee table. There were about four groups of chairs and tables in the large entrance room. Several magazines and newspapers lay in a neat pile atop each coffee table. “If you three would please take a seat over there and wait for the hospital to open to visitors, that would be great.”

Cantor looked towards the ‘waiting section’ where there sat nopony else. “Thank you.” Said the stallion as he, Twilight and Spike made their way over to the quiet area.

“Not a problem.” Came the reply from Mane Goodall as she returned to the paperwork on her desk.

The three visitors took their own seat around the coffee table in the far corner. The firm blue cushions on the armchairs were prickly to the bare hides of the ponies; the type of chair that quickly absorbed heat and became the most comfortable thing to sit on. The same thing could not be said for the dragon, though. His metal-hard scales feeling none of the prickles of the cheap material, but he still dented the soft sponge like the ponies.

Cantor’s eyes fell to the headline of the neatly folded paper atop the pile. ”Breaking news! New alicorn-“ But that was all he could see of the big, bold letters as the fold cut it off halfway. “No way…” Cantor remarked towards the name of the paper in the top – left corner, “Equestria Daily.” He picked up the light paper with his pale lilac – coloured aura. His humoured smile died, however, when he saw the rest of the headline. “Breaking news! New alicorn uncovered in Ponyville!” However it was not the title that made him frown; it was the letters in red beneath it.

“WARNING: Graphic images in article. Reader discretion is encouraged.” Cantor swallowed and looked to Twilight with an expression that showed a little more than ‘nervousness’. His eyes pleaded for help. The unicorn closed her eyes and nodded, shifting from the seat opposite Cantor to the one on his right.

She rested her hoof on his foreleg as he turned the first page. Twilight gasped in horror and looked away instantly, sealing her eyes from the grotesque set of pictures. All cantor could do was gawp at the double-page spread. He was petrified. Not necessarily because of the gore, but because of the fact that it was his gore. “Oh...” He winced in disgust as he saw the picture of the burnt, blood-covered face that was supposed to be his. The vibrant orange hair was matted with blood and sweat. His face, frozen in a state of pure agony, eyes sealed and mouth slightly agape was streaming with blood from a large gash that ran from his forehead, over his eye and partly down his cheek. More blood saturated his mouth and ran the length of his chin and part of his neck. Scuffs of black soot marked all down his nose as if somepony had thrown coal at him.

His face contorted in imaginary pain and he bit his teeth together when he saw an image of his front forelegs, skin completely shredded, revealing glistening muscle and sharp-looking bones erupted from where the knee joint should be. The picture showed half of his chest. It too was covered in blood, soot and matted hair. His eyes drifted to the last picture in the article at the bottom-right of page three. He gagged and shielded his eyes with his left foreleg as they began to water.

“Oh, God…” He whispered in a shaky voice. He only caught a glimpse of the image, but he saw every gruesome detail as if he had been staring at it for hours.

It was a full-body picture of the stallion laid out on his side on an operating table. The entire mid-section of his body was one-hundred percent saturated with a mixture of blood and black soot, dying his coat a disgusting shade of deep maroon. His face still held the tight expression of pure pain and his body was singed all over. But the worst part of it was that the lower half of his body was facing the opposite way to the top, his skin split open and peeled like a crimson banana, the snapped ends of his spinal chord were at either side of his body. The only things holding him together was the thin piece of skin along his belly, muscles and his digestive tract. All of which could be seen clearly as they spilled onto the table, casting their red liquid all over the surface of that too.

Cantor shivered and he felt a small hoof rubbing up and down his back, making a very good job of comforting him. Cantor remembered where the picture was on the page and covered it with his hoof, slowly returning his eyes to the article and flipping it over and resting it on his lap so the vile image was being shown only to his rear leg. He fully opened his eyes, the sight made Twilight’s heart fall apart. He had tears pooling at the bottom of his eyes and his pupils were shimmering. As he leaned forward to read the summary paragraph in bold print, a teardrop fell from his face and Twilight continued to comfort him as he read aloud:

“Early this morning, in the wake of a blazing house fire in a small town named Ponyville, an unknown alicorn – that is, a winged unicorn – was found poking death with a very short stick. As you can see from these graphic images, Dr. Stable’s quote of “He shouldn’t be alive” is easily understandable. The alicorn was rushed to Ponyville’s intensive care unit where he astounded doctors by beginning to recover at a medically impossible rate. The stallion’s back had been snapped clean in two during the fire and his body became twisted. When skilled surgeons readjusted his broken spinal chord, they were astonished at the rate in which the mysterious stallion healed. Several gouges – some as deep as two inches into his flesh – had already began to seal themselves closed and bone matter seemed to ‘melt’ to reattach the spinal column. The trained surgeons deemed it best to let the alicorn heal on his own. Equestria Daily is currently awaiting an interview with both the head doctor of the hospital and the elusive alicorn himself. Tracy Flash reports:..”

“Huh.” Cantor said, having calmed down a lot when reading the first part of the article. He levitated the newspaper away from him, keeping it facing downwards as he refolded it and placed it carefully on the pile of others. He reached around behind him and felt along his back. Strong as ever, though there was a hefty scar along the middle of it. “I’m so sorry, Twilight.” Cantor apologised to the mare who had stopped rubbing his back and now awkwardly played with her hooves.

“For what?” She asked, casting her gaze from her lap to Cantor.

“I’m sorry you had to see that… It must’ve been awful.”

“It was.” She replied solemnly.

“I can’t imagine what it would be like to see that happen to you.” His face dropped at the thought. “But everything’s fine now. Let’s just focus on Rarity.” He smiled, to his delight, Twilight returned the expression.

“It’s rainin’ harder than a monsoon in Mexicolt out there.” Declared a sopping Applejack as she stepped through the door, splashing water onto the floor. The first thing she saw was the large white alicorn. “Oh, Cantor, you’re…” Three other ponies followed and copied her astonished expression.

“I know, I know… But I’m still the same pony you all met.” He got to his hooves and approached the four colourful ponies, each of them looking clueless as how to react. “But I don’t believe I’ve met you, Rainbow Dash…”

“How do you know my name?” She asked, turning on the offensive.

“How could anypony not know the name of the fastest pegasus in Equestria?” He said with a mischievous grin.

The comment instantly put Cantor in Rainbow’s good books and she beamed with pride. “My name’s Cantor.” He said, offering his hoof to her. She took it and shook, not necessarily rapidly, but with great strength that showed her athleticism.

“Nice to meet ya’!” She chuckled.

“Are y’all like… related to the princess or somethin’?” Asked Applejack, impressed with herself for having a feeling that something about the new arrival was different, and this turned out to be true.

“No… I’m just… different…” He replied.

“So, those um… things on your back under your vest were wings?” Fluttershy then asked.

“Yes. I’m sorry I lied to you all.” Cantor replied apologetically. “But I’m sure we’re going to be good friends.”

“Of course!” Pinkie Pie yelled. “Making friends is like the best thing in the world EVER!”

“Pinkie’s right.” Applejack commented. “Look how different we all are. And we’re all friends. Aren’t we?” Everypony agreed amongst each other. Twilight and Spike now joined the group.

“Excuse me, ladies?” The receptionist piped up. Cantor raised his head above the group, looked Goodall in the eye and raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yes. And you, sir.” She added, blushing ever so slightly.

The five mares around Cantor giggled softly. Even Fluttershy.

“The hospital is open to visitors now. Do you need any directions?” She asked, leaning forward over the counter.

“Yes please. And a couple of towels would be great, thanks!” Rainbow Dash joked. The six ponies and the dragon laughed as the receptionist exited through a door from the information desk into a store cupboard. She returned to the group with four neatly folded white towels on her back and a warming smile on her face.

“Girls! I’m so glad you all could make it!” Cried Rarity from under some thin hospital blankets, raising her forearms above her head in glee. the ward she was in was not a single room, but she was still the only pony occupying one of the six beds in the room. A large vase of white lilies stood on her bedside table behind a ‘get well soon’ card. It was completely unnecessary; the injury she had received was a small knock on the back of her head that required two stitches and a bandage. That was all.

The lilies made the room wonderfully fragrant and Rarity found the smell of her favourite flowers relaxing. She needed it. Especially after the ordeal of loosing her home, her work, and nearly her sister. Cantor, being the gentlecolt he is, held the door for the five mares and Spike, closing it behind him when he entered the room. Upon catching sight of him, Rarity leapt from the bed and threw her arms around his neck, smothering his face with affectionate kisses.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you so much!” She exclaimed between pecking the stallion’s face, making him blush intensely. Cantor’s eyes widened as Rarity bear-hugged his neck. He looked to the group of mares for help, but all they did was nudge each other in a joking manner. All ponies except Twilight and Spike found the event hilarious. “Thank you so much for saving my little Sweetie Belle!” She cried, giving Cantor one long, loud final kiss on the end of his nose.

She let go and leapt back into bed, Cantor gasped and held his neck.

“That reminds me.” Said Applejack, stepping closer to Cantor and pecking him lightly on the cheek, a much more enjoyable means of thanks than the previous one. “Thanks a whole lot.” She said gratefully, taking her hat off and holding it to her chest as she spoke. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost Applebloom.” She bowed, returned the Stetson to her head and stood back at Rarity’s bedside.

“That leaves just one more.” Thought cantor as he shot a glance towards Rainbow, who suddenly pretended to be fascinated by the lilies. “Perfect…” He said in his head as a small grin crept onto his face.

“So, uh, how ya holdin’ up there, Rarity?” Applejack asked, leaning in to muzzle her friend in bed.

“Oh… I’ve had better days, girls.” She clocked Cantor and Spike. “And boys.” She added.

The rain hammered onto the window. This kind of weather seemed to depress everyone, but storms made Cantor appreciate being inside even more; made it feel cosy…

“Do you know when you’re getting out?” Asked Twilight.

“The doctor says I can go today.” The bedridden unicorn answered.

“Are the kids here too?” Cantor asked, plans and ideas already beginning to formulate in his head.

“Yes.” Replied Rarity.

“Whereabouts are they?”

“Just in the next room.”

“Why not in here?”

Rarity shook her head. “That was my reaction too, the doctor said that they like to fill up the beds progressively.”

“I see…” Cantor replied. Thinking about it, that wasn’t a bad system.

“How does it feel, huh?” Rainbow Dash queried, flying just above Rarity’s bed and poking her gently in the face.

“Whatever do you mean, darling?” She asked, batting away Rainbow’s hoof.

“Now you’re the one who’s stuck in bed, and I’m the one who’s free!”

Rarity gazed out of the window at the end of the room. “I’d really rather be inside, Rainbow Dash.” She said, returning to the blue pegasus, smiling mischievously. Rainbow groaned and landed next to her bed and stepped out of the way to make room for a colourful box on wheels Pinkie had rolled into the room.

“What are you doing, Pinkie?” Rarity asked, not awaiting a response before starting to examine the contraption herself.

“It’s my ‘I hope you get well soon surprise’!” The pink mare beamed and slammed her hoof down on a button resting on top of the yellow and pink box and a ticking sound ensued.

“Oh. Please. No.” Rarity winced as the ticking coming from the machine inches from her face intensified. She prepared herself for the unpredictable event that would surely make a mess.

All of a sudden, streamers erupted from somewhere inside the small rectangular crate, sending red and blue ribbons flying into the air accompanied by the sound of a party horn. Rarity sunk her head into the pillow as around fifty bright orange cupcakes somehow poured fourth from the front of the box.

The streamers landed and Pinkie beamed at Rarity for a response. “Actually, Pinkie Pie, that did kind of cheer me up.” The white unicorn chuckled as she took a bite from one of the cupcakes. They tasted of oranges. Another fragrant taste Rarity enjoyed. The taste reminded her of summer, as did the light that filtered through the dense clouds that were now being dispersed by the weather pegasi.

“Shouldn’t you be helping with that, Rainbow?” Twilight encroached, taking a bite of her own cupcake and levitating one over to the lazy pegasus.

“Yeah, but cheering up Rarity is more important to me.” She replied, taking a bite of one of the worst flavours of things imaginable. Orange. Her face contorted in displeasure for only a second before she forced an expression of delight, chewing as few times as possible before swallowing. “They’re… great, pinkie!” She lied. Everypony and Spike who were at Rarity’s bedside took a cupcake of their own, except Cantor, who still waited by the door.

“Cool! I’m glad you like them!” The Pink mare replied before taking the remainder of the cupcakes in her arms and shovelling them into her mouth. Her cheeks looked as if they were ready to burst and then she swallowed some forty cupcakes at once. Cantor was going to ask how that was possible, but then he remembered one of the main laws in Equestria: “Whatever can’t be explained by science, chalk it down to magic. Whatever isn’t feasible even by magic… Pinkie Pie.”

“Pinkie!” Cried Twilight. “Cantor didn’t get one!”

Pinkie looked at Cantor, appalled with herself before he shook the accusation away. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not much of a fan of cakes really anyway. Especially ones with lots of frosting.” Everypony and every dragon laughed at this statement.

“No, I’m dead serious.” Cantor replied, causing the laughter to cease. “Far too sickly for my liking.” He explained.

“Wow!” Exclaimed Pinkie. “You’re the first pony I’ve met who doesn’t like cupcakes!”

“Not necessarily ‘don’t like’… but… even looking at that frosting made me feel ill.”

Everypony looked curiously at each other. Rainbow still held her once-bitten cupcake in her hoof and sought a solution.

“Yeah,” She said loudly, breaking the awkward tension. “I think I’m a little the same on this one. I’m feeling ill now. Ogh!” She clutched her stomach, making out a cramp which was barely acceptable. “You want it, Pinkie?” Rainbow asked, suddenly sounding a lot better and holding the orange sweet up for the pink mare.

Pinkie narrowed her eyes. “Throw it.” She said with a daring grin.

Rainbow Dash heaved the cupcake into the air, sending it flying down the room. Pinkie rocketed after it like a dog would for a tennis ball. She kept her eyes focused on it as she leapt high into the air with her mouth agape.

The soft cupcake fell neatly into her mouth, which quickly closed, trapping the poor desert. Pinkie Pie landed, however, not so neatly on one of the perfectly made hospital beds, sending the sheets billowing around her like a cocoon and launching the thin pillow from the mattress onto the ceiling, hitting the fan which sent it flying straight into the face of a very tired-looking Dr. Stable who had just entered the room.

“Miss Pinkie Pie!” He shouted angrily, though the threat was destroyed by the rapturous laughter from Cantor. His legs bowed and the only reason he stayed standing was because he backpedalled aimlessly around the room, obviously not trying to hold onto his fits of laughter. The alicorn soon set off the others laughing. Even Fluttershy, who had initially been scared by the doctor, began to giggle. Though it was short lived.

“ENOUGH!” He bellowed, his pupils tiny behind the frameless spectacles.

“I’ve been up all night looking after you, Cantor. I’m exhausted. I haven’t slept for thirty six hours, and I’ve got seven pages of reports to fill out. I don’t need you ponies running the risk of breaking things! Thank you kindly for the blood, Cantor, but will you all keep it down so the other patients can get their sleep!? I don’t expect to send a nurse in here to make the bed when the visiting period ends in forty five minutes.” He said through barred teeth, glaring at his wristwatch, urging it to speed up. For one reason or the other, Cantor found this whole scene absolutely hilarious and tried desperately not to erupt into laughter again.

“Now, I have to attend to the three fillies in the other room who keep using hospital equipment to try and find their cutie marks. Miss Rarity, you are free to leave with your friends when the visiting hour is up, just place your hospital gown neatly on the bed which I hope you will make and come back in a week from today to have those stitches removed.” He backed out the door, only his head remained in the room as his arm rested on the door handle. “One more thing to remember…” He said in an unnervingly calm tone, “DON’T MAKE A MESS!” He shouted and slammed the door behind him, shaking several empty glasses that lay on a trolley at the far side of the room.

“What a dick.” Cantor remarked with a lopsided smile.

“I HEARD THAT!” Came a muffled reply from the other side of the door, sending the seven ponies and young dragon into fits of carefree laughter. For that moment, Cantor forgot about the past and the future and lived for the moment.

“I would thank you… To watch your language… Around sensitive ears!” Twilight scorned light heartedly towards Cantor in-between laughs and gasps for air, referring to Spike, who was laughing just as hard as the rest of them.

“Whadd’ya mean, ‘sensitive ears’, Twilight? I’m plenty mature for all kinds of 'language'.” He protested joyfully.

“Hey, Spike, you wanna learn some new words later?” Cantor joked
.
“Yeah!” The ‘baby’ dragon replied excitedly, the laughter in the room had died down enough to be able to form decent – length sentences.

“No, he does not!” Twilight replied with a smile, though Cantor caught the subtle hint of sincerity on her voice.

“I think It had better wait ‘till much later, Spike.” Cantor returned in agreement with the purple unicorn.

“Awww!” Spike huffed as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

The group continued to laugh as they observed Pinkie’s failed attempts at making the bed. It was rather tragic watching an Earth pony with next to no patience fondle around with a duvet and mattress. Eventually, Cantor stepped up, announcing “Let me help you, Pinkie.” He lifted the mattress from the bed’s thin metal frame and keeping with the spirit of things, stretched the bice-coloured duvet across it so tightly, it made the ‘twang’ of a lower note on a bass guitar, generating more laughs from the crowd. “Let’s see them untuck this” Cantor grinned as he lowered the tight square back onto the frame and placed the pillow at the headboard.

“You’re a laugh, Cantor!” Pinkie exclaimed, beaming gleefully. “I’m really glad we’re all friends!”

Cantor bowed modestly at the statement and his face glowed slightly pink. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask something.” Cantor spoke, returning to a serious tone. “To you, Rainbow Dash.”

Fear flashed across Rainbow’s face before she shook it away. “What about?” She asked.

“Nothing bad or anything,” Cantor replied, smiling, “just something that only applies to you.”

“Okay, what is it?” The cyan pegasus enquired, stepping closer to Cantor.

“We should go somewhere more private, unless you don’t mind talking about it in here.” He answered, his smile slowly fading.

“Well what’s it about?” She asked, beginning to sound a little fretful. Cantor simply raised his eyebrows, but it took Rainbow a little longer than most ponies to work out what he was implying. Her eyes widened when she realised what he was saying.
“Oh, right, yeah. Okay.”

“Let’s go on the roof.” Cantor declared, walking over to the window, looking out over a damp and sunny Equestria.

“The roof!?” Rainbow exclaimed, laughing slightly.

“Oh, I’m serious.” He replied, pushing the window open as far as it would go, soon realising that it would be quite a squeeze.

“I… I suppose…” Rainbow responded, casting a wary look towards her friends.

Cantor climbed through the window and perched perilously close to the edge. He looked back into the room and towards Rainbow. “Are you come-AAH!” The scream was short lived as it faded to the ground when the alicorn lost his footing on the slippery windowsill and fell backwards and plummeted two stories into the bushes below. When Rainbow peered through the wide-open window, at the foot of the hospital she saw the alicorn howling with laughter, the biggest wings she had ever seen in her life splayed out underneath him.

She began to laugh herself as Cantor flew back up to the window. “Let me try again.” He said whilst hovering with slow, powerful wing beats. “Are you coming?”

Rainbow laughed and flew out of the window, gloating back towards Cantor by saying “That’s how you do it.” With a sly grin.

“We’ll just be a minute.” Cantor assured the five other ponies and Spike with a calming smile. Twilight nodded and Cantor flew up to the rooftop where the Rainbow-maned pegasus waited nervously for him.

The rooftop was very windy and noisy. Air conditioning units hummed loudly, sending waves of hot exhaust air washing over the two ponies. The torrents of rain had saturated the land and now the sun was beginning to evaporate the remaining water, the smell of wet tar wafted up from the roof. Raised voices were used to overpower the hum of the air conditioners and the sound of wind rushing through their ears.

“So what’s this about?” Asked Rainbow, standing at a fair distance from Cantor so she nearly had to shout to be heard.

Remembering he was an elemental, Cantor eased off the wind to a gentle breeze. But his long orange mane still flowed past him, resembling the style of the princesses.

“Oh, I think you already know the answer to that, Rainbow.” He replied in his normal voice, very slowly approaching the blue mare.

Rainbow Dash looked to the floor, which was now the roof before replying. “It’s about Scootaloo, isn’t it?” Cantor closed his eyes and nodded, still walking towards the pegasus. “Ahhh,” She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I just don’t know how to approach her.”

“We’ll go together if you like.” Cantor commented warmly.

“What should I do?”

“I think you know the answer to that, too.”

She sighed once more. “But what if she isn’t… you know…”

“An orphan?” Cantor finished for her.

“Yeah.”

“Well there’s only one way to find out.”

“But what if she does have parents? What if they think I’m some kind of sicko who wants to… do things with their daughter.”

“And what if she doesn’t? Hm? What if she’s living outdoors somewhere, out there, cold, with no knowledge of anypony caring for her.” By now, Cantor had stopped walking as he had come close enough to be able to touch Rainbow Dash, who hung her head sadly. “It must be heartbreaking for her, you know.”

“How do you mean?” Rainbow asked, raising her head and becoming rigid for a second when she saw how close this large stallion was.

“Well, Sweetie Belle has Rarity. And Applebloom has her sister…” He looked Rainbow Dash deep in the eyes. “Who does Scootaloo have?”

“…Nopony.” Answered Dash after a pause.

“That can change.” Cantor began in an empowering voice. “I can tell you care about Scootaloo more than just a friend; you want to protect her.”

“That’s true.” Rainbow admitted.

“And the longer you leave that question, you’ll never know if she’s safe.” Rainbow hung her head once more, she began to loose her tough exterior and show her true, caring heart. “What if something like this happens again, but Scootaloo’s on her own. What if something happens?” Rainbow began to tear up. “And you could have stopped it?”

“It’d feel awful.” She replied shakily. “I… I don’t think I… could…” She began to tremble.

Cantor felt sorrowful for the young mare, though he knew they would set things right. “Come here.” He said, opening his right foreleg to which he slowly wrapped around Rainbow as she drew her own arms around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder in quiet little cries. “It’s alright.” He whispered, stroking her brightly-coloured mane. “You can make this work.”

By the time Rainbow’s eyes had cleared up and the two had flown back through the window, a little more successfully this time, visiting hour was nearly over and Rarity had removed her gown and was now flicking through a magazine on her bed with Twilight. “Well that took longer than expected!” Applejack declared as Cantor shut the window manually.

“We just cleared some things up.” The alicorn replied, softly nudging Rainbow Dash on the shoulder and winking.

“Rarity’s going to be staying over at the library while they build her a new house.” Twilight called, looking up from an article about the new big hairstyle in Manehatten.

“Ooh! Like a sleepover!” Cried Pinkie Pie. “Can I come?”

Twilight pondered with her hoof on her chin for a moment before replying. “You know, Pinkie, that might actually be a good idea.”

“You know me! I’m full of good ideas!” The pink pony replied with excitement.

“In fact, how would you all like to come over? That way we can all get better acquainted.” The lavender unicorn informed, turning her gaze quickly back to the magazine article as Rarity turned the page.

“I haven’t had one a’ your trademark sleepovers fer months!” Remarked Applejack enthusiastically. “I’d love to come!”

“Rainbow Dash,” Rarity called, looking up from the magazine to the shifty-looking Pegasus. “I trust you won’t be participating in the makeover?”

“Makeover?” Cantor asked, feeling as if this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

“Yes, darling, makeovers are a must for sleepovers…” Rarity affirmed.

“She called me darling…” Thought Cantor.

“Well, it does say that in the guide…” Said Twilight.

“I thought you weren’t usin’ that book anymore.” Applejack said, sounding a little annoyed.

“I’m not.” Twilight replied. “It’s just I remember a lot of what I read; that’s why I read so much. But after a few sleepovers, I realised that, for once, doing things ‘by the book’ isn’t always the best.”

“I never thought I’d hear you say that, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash laughed.

The large group of friends chatted for a while longer until the visiting period was up. Dr. Stable, who looked a little more calm now entered the room and asked everypony to leave. He explained that the hospital needed to keep the fillies in for one more day, just to be sure that they were all fine. The conversation in the hospital continued outside, Rainbow, Fluttershy and Cantor were talking about pegasus anatomy, which the young alicorn found far too interesting. Pinkie, Twilight, Applejack and a slightly damaged Rarity spoke about the sleeping arrangements that night and the baby dragon listened adamantly to the pegasus’ conversation, trying to pick up tips as he was nearing adolescence, where his own pair of wings would grow.

“Is it only you that can make a sonic rainboom?” Cantor asked the blue pegasus who was flying slowly above them.

“I’m the only pony who has.” She replied, gloating when she added “Twice.”

“Surely it’s just a speed thing. How can the colour of your hair affect physics like that?” He asked, beginning to warm to the idea of creating a rainboom of his own.

“Spitfire, one of the Wonderbolts, is the fastest pegasus alive in Equestria.” She coughed before adding “Well, fastest recorded pegasus in Equestria. She broke the sound barrier, but only I made the rainbow!” She finished with a smug grin.

“I’ll have to see if I can make something cool happen.” Cantor replied, lifting his legs slightly higher as he walked.

“Wanna try now?” Rainbow Dash asked enthusiastically.

“No. I need to get better first. A lot better, I can barely land without falling over.” Said the alicorn.

“What?” Rainbow asked, beginning to laugh.

“Well I’ve always hidden my wings. Alicorns are… Huh, I don’t actually know. Hey Twi-“ He silenced himself when he saw that the unicorn was already speaking. “I’ll ask her later. I don’t suppose you know whether alicorns can only be like royals or… gods?”

“Actually, Cantor,” Spike piped up from behind, “Alicorns aren’t only royals, but just really rare ponies. Apparently, there are five or six alicorns known about that aren’t the princesses. And now you.”

“And what do they do?” Cantor asked.

“I don’t think much…” He answered, scratching his chin. “I suppose they just want to fit in…” He looked up at Cantor to see a very confusing expression. His face showed a smile with traces of forbidding and his eyes failed to hide a glimmer of sorrow.

“Okay, then…” Cantor returned his head to the road in front. “Actually how old are you, Spike?”

“I’m fifteen.”

“Fifteen!?” Cantor gasped, reminding himself of the reaction he received from the doctor for the same sort of answer. “I don’t think the term ‘baby dragon’ really applies.”

“Oh, it does,” Spike insisted. “Dragons live for thousands of years.” He began to grow excited when thinking about theoretical ‘duties’ in life. “Twilight says in a year or so, I’ll have my wings! Then I can fly with you guys.”

“Well you’re gonna have a hard time keeping up with me!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, executing a quick loop in the air.

Fluttershy swallowed nervously. “Um, Spike?” She asked, taking a step towards the dragon. “Will you stay a… nice dragon?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, turning to face her.

“Well, what I mean is. is that… you know that I… you know how I feel towards dragons… and I was just hoping you wouldn’t be… like other dragons…” Spike looked offended and Fluttershy looked away. “But uh, you know… I think I’ll be able to manage…”

“Fluttershy!” Spike groaned with a smile. “You’re my friend, I would never be mean to my friends. And besides, who’d want to turn out like those dragons I met in the migration?” He shuddered. “No thanks…”

“Remember the other time all of us slept over?” Rarity complained, “We slept on the floor, which I’m fine about, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just… it was a bit of a squeeze.”

“That’s because, Rarity, you took up nearly the entire floor with your cushions!” Twilight argued back. “Do you have to be so… sensitive?”

“Twilight, darling, sensitive is the wrong word… I was merely… uh, I didn’t want my curlers to become loose with all you others around me, thrashing around in the night.”

“Don’t y’all think you could perhaps… not wear curlers?” Asked the orange Earth pony. “Is it really that important?”

“Why, Applejack! I can’t see how you can be so naïve!” The white unicorn scoffed. “To keep such a manedo, one has to pay massive attention to… to…”

“Detail?” Applejack asked humourlessly.

“That’s… one word…” Rarity replied coldly. Applejack smiled.

“So what kinds of games are we gonna play?” Pinkie asked, jumping softly on the edge of the pathway.

“Well, I don’t know about games, but I suppose we could play truth or dare…” Twilight affirmed.

“Oh, great! I love that game!” The pink party pony replied. “Let’s go!” She rushed off in a pink blur before returning almost instantly when she saw that nopony was following her. “Come on!” She insisted.

“We’ve got the rest of the day to play truth or dare, pinkie. There’s no need to rush.” Said Twilight with a smile.

“Ooh, I can’t wait!” The easily excitable mare declared, bouncing slightly higher as the others walked.

“I think it-“ Twilight started, but upon noticing her two friends who she had at her first sleepover bickering, she stopped.

“And I think my mane suits me!” Applejack angrily returned to Rarity.

“I never said it didn’t!” the unicorn hissed back. “I merely implied that it as unkempt!”

“Girls.” Twilight’s attempt to break it up failed.

“An’ what’s that supposed to mean?” Applejack growled, taking on a slightly aggressive air.

“GIRLS!” Twilight shouted, attracting the attention of all the ponies present and Spike. “You know what, let’s just work out the sleeping arrangements when we come to it, okay?” Applejack and Rarity glared at each other. “Okay?” Twilight repeated.

“Alright.” The orange Earth pony and white unicorn agreed in unison.

“Good.” Said Twilight. “Let’s get going…”

By the time the seven ponies and Spike had returned to the library after gathering all the supplies ‘necessary’ for a sleepover, the day had faded to dusk.
The birds had retired to their nests to feed their chicks, most ponies were at home, or travelling home to be with their family and the sun itself was drooping over the horizon, casting it’s final rays of the day and setting the sky ablaze with powerful colours of orange and peach. The seven ponies had settled down on the floor and were conversing the past few days, and the days to come. Cantor felt happy; this was the first day in Equestria where nothing bad, dangerous or hurtful happened. He was with his new friends, he was healthy and he had a lot of time to get to know them better. Everything was perfect, and what harm could come from a sleepover anyway?

The conversation topic had drifted from general gossip, to favourite books, which Twilight sparked and surprisingly Rainbow Dash joined in adamantly, defending the Daring Do series with her life as “The best books ever written by anypony ever”. Right now, the hot topic had changed to makeup, hair, and generally all the ‘girly things’ Rainbow Dash took about as much interest in as Cantor did.

“You don’t notice unless you look really close or somepony tells you.” Twilight said to Fluttershy, who hid behind her long pink mane.

“But since Gabby Gums wrote about it, everypony knows!” The shy pegasus cried in return.

“What does it matter, darling?” Rarity asked, putting a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Your tail looks magnificent and everypony thinks Gabby Gums wrote lies anyway!”

“But it’s true!” Fluttershy replied, forcing herself into a corner, her voice a little louder than intended.

“Come now, sugarcube, that whole Gabby Gums thing happened nearly a whole year ago. Nopony probably even remembers her, or them, let alone what they wrote! Jus’ let it go.” Applejack said, trying to reassure and comfort her.

“Yeah, Fluttershy,” Twilight began her part. “so what if Gabby Gums wrote about your tail extensions? Big whoop! It just goes to show that if that’s the only thing she could find out about you to write about, it shows just what a nice mare you are, since tail extensions aren’t even something to be ashamed about.”

Fluttershy turned back around with a real smile on her face. “Well, when you put it that way…” She lowered her head in a quick nod, but was intended as a grateful bow. “Thank you, girls. You always seem to know how to make me happy.”

“What are friends for?” Applejack asked, happily slapping her knee when she spoke.

Like before, the conversation had split into two main groups; one talking about girly things and the other talking about… pretty much everything else.

“I hear you two have had a lot of experience.” Cantor asked openly towards Rainbow Dash and Pinkie when the talk about parts found only on a pegasus’ body became too explicit, well, for this early on in the evening, anyway.

“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked worriedly.

Cantor looked over at the other group of mares and leaned towards the two he was talking with. “Pranks.” He whispered.

“Ohhh!” Rainbow sighed loudly whilst leaning back – too far and she toppled backwards onto the hard oak floor. Pinkie giggled from her spot. “I get ya’.” Rainbow answered, sitting back up. “What makes you say that?”

“Well I just thought we could talk about some of the pranks we’ve pulled over the years. I hear you two are quite the little tyrants…” He replied, grinning cockily.

“Well there was this one time me and pinkie both made exact replica front covers of Twilight’s most prised books, something about the history of magic. We made the front covers look just like the original ones, but then we put them over another book-“ As she spoke, her smile grew wider and wider. “Then we tore out some of the pages, glued others together and burnt a few so they looked like they had been absolutely destroyed, then we swapped them for the real ones when Twilight was out.” She burst out in rapturous laughter. “You should have seen the look on her face!” She bayed, swaying on her rear and beginning to water at the eyes. “I think she actually would’ve killed anypony who was responsible!” She went into another fit of laughter, accompanied by Cantor and Pinkie.

“What’s so funny?” Twilight demanded calmly from the other group.

Almost instantly after she said this, Rainbow heaved forward and almost shouted “Remember that time when you thought your magic books got wrecked!?”

“Very much, Rainbow.” She replied, frowning, yet trying to hold back a smile. “You two nearly gave me a heart attack!”

Rainbow began to laugh harder, by now she was running out of breath and gasping for air whenever her body allowed.

Twilight’s grin broke free. “You’ll never learn, will you?” She asked, shaking her head. The blue pegasus continued to writhe on the floor.

Twilight then returned to her conversation, subconsciously listening to the yelps of laughter gradually fade to foalish snickers and scoffs, still smiling.

“So uhhh,” Rainbow sighed, her cheeks and sides aching massively in the post-hysteria. “what kind of pranks have you done, Cantor?”

“Not many,” He replied, his own cheeks still rather sore from the laughter. “And few have actually worked.” He began to grin, “You know when you put a bucket of something on top of the door?”

“Yes?” Pinkie and Rainbow said in sync, before bashfully looking one another in the eye.

“Well I tried that one once… and it didn’t work out too good…” He continued.

“What happened?” Pinkie asked, looking back from Dash’s rosy eyes.

Cantor thought about it for a second, “Let’s just say I forgot I set it up…” He could see the gears turning behind the two mare’s eyes before Pinkie Pie burst out laughing.

“What?” Rainbow asked, looking at her pink friend.

Pinkie was too busy laughing to respond, so Cantor answered for her. “I accidentally set the trap off on myself.” He started to chuckle as Rainbow joined Pinkie laughing on the floor.

This session of laughter lasted only half as long as before, but it was still enough to make the two mares begin to feel pain from the overused lungs, their relief unaided when Cantor referred to the two as “Working their laughing muscles”, to which all three began to howl at until they were panting on their backs for oxygen. “Oh, my god!... Phew!” Said Cantor, wiping tears from his eyes.

“We gotta – we gotta teach you some stuff, Cantor!” Rainbow just about managed to say in one breath.

“Lets us three, go out on Nightmare Night and prank everypony!” Pinkie proposed. “Best prank wins!”

“Sounds like fun!” Rainbow agreed, starting to get her breath back.

“Hey, when actually is Nightmare night?” Cantor asked, receiving a puzzled look from Rainbow.

“Huh?” She asked.

“Like a day, or month…”

“The thirty-first of October, come on! Don’t tell me you didn’t know that!?”

“Oh, so months are the same…” Cantor thought aloud.

“What?” Asked Rainbow Dash, becoming even more confused.

“Nothing.” The white alicorn quickly replied. “Say, what day is it today?”

“Seventeenth of September.” She responded.

“Thanks, I’m actually so forgetful!” Cantor remarked with a nervous laugh. “Sounds good! Count me in!” He returned.

“Great!” Pinkie Pie beamed, happy that everypony liked her idea.

The conversation continued on into the rapidly approaching night, the sun had since dipped below the horizon and the night was quickly blanketing the land, marking the end of the day and making way for the birth of another. It was half-past eight in the evening and the group had huddled in a circle around a single glass bottle. The only light source came from candles burning softly around the room, casting shadows of dancing ponies all over the walls. Even Spike joined in despite his bedtime being in around an hour, he and Twilight both knew he would be far too excited to sleep.

As the empty ‘Colta-Cola’ bottle span noisily on the wooden floor, reflecting the candlelight from it’s shiny surface. Rainbow Dash intently stared at it, willing it to land on Pinkie Pie. As expected, the neck of the bottle gestured to just after Pinkie, to the worst possible pony for truth or dare: Fluttershy.

Rainbow stifled a groan. “So, Fluttershy… Truth or dare?” she asked the other pegasus, forcing a smile.

“Oh, um… I don’t know…” She replied in her adorably innocent voice.

“That’s what you always say!” Rainbow Dash cried, leaping into the air from where she sat.

“Oh. I’m sorry… Can somepony else take my turn?” She asked, bringing her head closer to the floor.

“No, Fluttershy, those are the rules.” Rainbow protested, landing on he flank softly and folding her wings away. “Just say one or the other, come on!” She urged.

“But-b-but I…”

“Come on! Truth or dare?”

“I-I don’t know.” Fluttershy said with a pleading tone, beginning to turn a powerful red.

“Just go out on a limb and pick one!” Rainbow insisted.

“Can’t somepony else-“

No!” The impatient pegasus cut off. “Truth or dare! Pick o-“

“TRUTH!” Fluttershy hollered, startling everypony there and silencing Rainbow Dash. “I’m sorry…” She apologised.

“Don’t worry, it’s my fault.” Said Rainbow, trying to reassure the shy pony laid opposite her.

“So, truth, huh? Hmmm…” She thought, pawing at her chin whilst gazing into space. “Do you… no…” She thought a little more, trying to come up with a question that wouldn’t embarrass her too much. “Have you ever… kissed another mare?...”

Fluttershy winced and hid behind her mane, blushing so intensely that the room seemed to heat up.

“Come on, RD; don’t ya’ reckon it’s a little too soon for questions like that?” Applejack sprung to Fluttershy’s defence. “How would you like it if I asked you that same question?”

“I wouldn’t mind, because we all know that I already have.” Rainbow replied composedly, discretely nudging Pinkie Pie who laid next to her.

“Well some a’ us aren’t as… outspoken… as you.” Applejack responded, pointing a hoof accusingly at Rainbow Dash. “Why not have a question like… Fluttershy,” She turned to face the yellow pegasus. “Do you favour walking or flying?”

Rainbow looked horrified. “What kind of Truth or Dare question is that!?” She cried.

“A simple one for more innocent ponies.” Applejack replied. “Well, Fluttershy?”

“I um… prefer walking, I’m not a very good flyer…” She spoke, coming out from behind her mane.

“Okay! Next question!” Rainbow declared, pulling Pinkie forward for her turn.

The pink mare slapped the bottle, sending it spinning on it’s side, each pony watched it nervously as it began to slow to a stop, the neck pointing directly at Rarity. The white unicorn sighed.

Pinkie Pie asked almost instantly. “Have you ever stuffed yourself so full of cake that you feel like your gonna explode?”
“I didn’t say truth, Pinkie…” Rarity replied. “In fact, I want a dare.”

“Okay.” Pinkie said, quickly thinking of a deviant little dare. “I dare you, to drink this entire milkshake-“ She said, pulling a ridiculously large glass of pink milk from somewhere within that unfathomable mane and placing it on the floor loudly. “All in one.” She finished, grinning evilly.

“Oh, please, you call that a dare?” Rarity scoffed, getting up and somehow grasping the glass with her forehooves. "I was rather hoping for something a little more... my style..." Everypony looked awkwardly at each other, none of them attempting to suggest what that could have meant, while still managing to assure themselves that they were all thinking in the same ball park. So to speak...

“Ready?” Rarity asked the group and everyone leaned inwards as She fell to her flank and began to guzzle the milkshake, making loud snorting noises into the rapidly emptying glass, her ladylike persona being destroyed by her seldom seen competitive side.

Cantor turned to the rainbow-maned mare beside him, who had a level of maturity that was even less than his and whispered directly into her ear: “Wow, she’s good at swallowing…” This comment drew another laughing fit from Rainbow Dash, making her clutch her sides in joyful agony.

“Damn it, Cantor!” She cried. “My muscles just stopped aching from laughing.”

“What muscles?” He asked.

“Laughing mus- Ah HA HA HA-!” She laughed even harder and punched Cantor in his arm.

“Ow, that hurt!” He complained, playfully making a pained face.

“Good!” Rainbow replied amongst laughing. “It was supposed to!” She then hit him again.

Rarity exhaled loudly in a way that sure wasn’t even the slightest bit ladylike as she finished the drink, slamming it back down on the floor and wiping the excess from her mouth. Everypony cheered softly and Rarity took a deep bow. “Thank you, thank you…” She said, regaining her refined voice, but still breathing heavily.

“Wow, Rarity!” Twilight exclaimed. “I didn’t know you had that in you!”

“I have many talents that one may be surprised to find out about…” she replied proudly, returning to her space on the floor in-between Pinkie Pie and Applejack, the former of the two ponies gently nudged Rainbow as Rarity said this, causing the immature pegasus to snort into her hoof to avoid another outburst.

“Me next!” Rarity called, leaning forward from where she sat, extending her body and reaching out with her right foreleg and just managing to strike the end of the bottle, sending it spinning once more. This time, the neck of the bottle pointed towards Cantor and he focused instantly, already deciding what he was going to choose.

“Truth or dare?” Rarity asked, looking towards the stallion who sat two ponies away from her.

“Truth.” Cantor answered indefinitely. “Who knows what kind of thing a group of girls would have me doing as dares? On the other hoof,” He thought, “Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing…”

“Alright then,” Rarity replied, half closing her eyes. “Do you have a crush on somepony?”

“Well, uh…” Cantor stammered, desperately trying not to look at The mare to his left. “Yeah, sort of…”

Everypony in the room and even spike made an “Oohhhhh!” Sound to which Cantor’s face went bright red.

“Who is it!?” Rarity demanded, leaning forward so she was as close to Cantor as possible without getting up.

“Now, now…” Cantor replied, batting the question away with his foreleg. “You asked did I have a crush, not who do I have a crush on.”

Rarity huffed and fell back to her place on the floor and Cantor smiled in relief. The bottle span many times and once Pinkie was dared to eat all of the stale bread in Twilight’s kitchen, which she did, making references to it “Just being toast.” And for the rest of the game, Cantor never requested a ‘truth question’, resulting in him being covered in makeup and his hooves were painted a brilliant red. All of this was worth it to avoid saying how he felt towards a certain purple unicorn.

The night had grown old, it was eleven-thirty in the evening and Spike had fallen asleep soon after truth or dare and was snoring in his basket beside Twilight’s bed that wouldn’t be used since it was decided that everypony would be sleeping on the floor. Not only had Spike protested about not being able to stay with the ponies downstairs, but also why he couldn’t use Twilight’s bigger, softer, warmer bed. They both knew the answer, it was because spike shed. A lot. Spike grumbled himself to sleep, which didn’t take long and soon he was in the deepest realms of his subconscious. Whilst the baby dragon slept, the ponies downstairs continued their long conversation and the topic had turned entirely to Cantor.

“So, how do you have wings and a horn?” Applejack asked, feeling slightly jealous.

“I’m an alicorn. It means I’ve got lots of power to do… pretty much anything with.” He replied, trying to think about how to bring the conversation around to him raising the sun; a feat he was rather proud of...

“Well,” Twilight said, “nearly everything...”

Something within Cantor snapped; he was fed up with living this lie and it pained him to lie to this specific group of ponies.

“Girls:” He said firmly, except he stared at Twilight as he spoke. “I’m going to show you all something, but you have to promise to listen to what I have to say afterwards.” Everypony agreed. Everypony, except Twilight. “Twilight?” Cantor asked, looking her even deeper in her beautiful purple eyes. “Do you promise?”

The purple mare closed her eyes and nodded. “I promise.” She said sincerely, but still fearfully; to hear this particular stallion talk in such a way meant he was very serious about something. She just hoped it was a good thing.

Cantor levitated a candle into the middle of the tight circle of friends before saying “Watch…” Enthusiastically. The mares complied, watching the flame of the candle extinguish and re-light. Cantor took away the flame and gave it back just as easily. Everypony watched in awe apart from Twilight, who looked as if she had just seen a ghost. The white elemental then turned to the purple unicorn, leaving the flame burning and trying to look as submissive as possible. “I know what you’re thinking, Twilight…” Her mouth was agape, forming a large ‘O’ and her eyes, still fixed on the candle, were trembling in fright. “Listen, Twilight. Whatever princess Celestia said about ponies like me, it’s true. But listen… hey.” He said, raising his voice ever so slightly to draw Twilight’s eyes back to his. Twilight turned slowly, and Cantor could tell exactly how she felt. He could see in her eyes that she was indeed terrified, but also that she was keeping her promise really well. “Listen… I. Am. Different.” He spoke with the most intense sincerity, burning his truth into Twilight’s mind.

She simply accepted him and nodded calmly. “I believe you.” She replied. “I… Believe you…” She repeated, letting Cantor know she was as serious as he was.

Cantor sighed in great relief, closing his eyes and looking to the floor. “Thank you.” He said, still looking towards the floor, watching the flame dance by itself.

Twilight nudged him and he looked back up. “But… why?” she asked, hopefully looking into Cantor’s discs of fire.

The alicorn shook his head dismissively. “I’m just… different.” Twilight looked hopeless. It wasn’t the fact that he was something that she had been taught were evil, despicable ponies, but the fact that he hadn’t told her sooner. “Listen, under that, and the fact that I am an alicorn, I’m just a normal pony.”

Twilight sighed. “Alright. But I still think we need to speak to princess Celestia…”

“Of course.” Cantor replied, “Whatever you want…” The stallion smiled.

“'scuse me, but, what the hay was all that about?” Asked Applejack, who, as well as everypony else, Cantor and Twilight had forgotten about. Both ponies chuckled.

“Should you tell them, or should I?” Asked Cantor.

Twilight smiled back. “I think you should.”

Alright…” Cantor started, taking a breath, ready to enlighten the group on his tweaked story about what he was.

“So, you can control the elements?” Rarity asked.

“Yes.” Cantor simply replied.

“All of them?” She asked again.

“Yes.” Cantor repeated.

“And this is a problem because?...” Asked the white unicorn, turning towards her purple friend.

“Princess Celestia said that the elementals – that is, what Cantor is, were extremely powerful ponies and were also very evil…” She hated herself after saying that.

“Don’t worry about it!” Cantor sighed, trying to clear the dense air. “Personally, I see it as just an extended form of magic, rather than… ‘godlike’ powers.”

“I suppose so…” Twilight agreed. “You know, that could come in very useful.” She smiled, aiding Cantor in clearing the tension.
“Exactly. This is supposed to be a sleepover, and I don’t think this is how one is supposed to go!” The stallion declared.

“Cantor’s right.” Applejack agreed. “So what if he has different magic, he’s just a normal pony and I think it’d be straight up wrong if he was excluded for it.”

“I agree with that…” Fluttershy added, casting a friendly smile towards the alicorn.

“Who wants to tell ghost stories!?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed out of nowhere.

“Actually, that’s a great idea, Pinkie.” Twilight said, climbing to her hooves and stretching out after being laid down for an hour. “Does anypony want a drink?”

“I thought you’d never ask!” Pinkie sighed.

Twilight made her way to the kitchen and asked if anypony else wanted one. A flurry of hooves shot up and initially, Cantor didn’t raise his, but seeing everypony else raise their forehooves, his biggest downfall kicked in, and he copied what the rest of the group were doing. Twilight nodded and disappeared into the darkened kitchen, reappearing a few seconds later, carrying seven bottles of pale yellow liquid in her lavender aura.

“Thanks.” Cantor said, along with the other ponies as he took one of the bottles with his own magic that was nearly the same colour as Twilight’s, only slightly more pale. “Hey, what’s this?” He asked before he looked at the label.

“Pineapple Bacolti.” Twilight replied, snapping the cap off with her magic. She brought in a bottle opener for the non-magical ponies to use.

“I’m sorry… Ba – colti?” Cantor asked, far too amused by the name.

“Yeah…” Twilight responded slowly. “Is that a problem?” She proceded to sip from her bottle.

“No, no…” Replied Cantor, “it’s just the name… it’s… interesting…” Then the alicorn swigged his drink, his mouth immediately exploding with a strong pineapple flavour, followed by the sweetness of the Alco pop and enjoying the sharp, sour aftertaste.

“That’s nice.” He commented, examining the image on the label more intently. The thin piece of paper glued onto the glass showed a red circle with a stencilled black and gold pegasus in the centre. How something like this existed in Equestria, Cantor didn’t know. He would simply need to learn to accept it, the same way he would have to accept that the day and night cycle were controlled by magical horses that made the sun and moon orbit the world. “Strange world…” He thought. “But still a perfect one…” He took another sip.

After a second and third round of the pineapple beverages with the ridiculous name, Cantor found out another one of Rarity’s ‘secrets’: This girl was a total lightweight. Though he chocked some of it down to attention seeking, she seemed slightly out of it; she was starting to slur the longer words and he thought it was hilarious. After the last round of Bacoltis, the time had passed into the early hours of the morning, but nopony seemed to notice how it flew by.

A few of the ponies had told ghost stories, to which Cantor thought were merely foal’s tales. And upon making his opinion clear, was challenged by Applejack, who so far had the best story (even though it was about the connection between strange lights in the sky and missing pigs), to “Tell a better one.”
The thought of telling ‘Cupcakes’ with different characters came to mind, but that was just sick. Instead, he told one of his favourite small ghost stories of all time…

“So you want a better ghost story, huh?” Asked the alicorn, throwing his head back and finishing off the last of his pineapple drink.

“If ya’ think ya’ can!” Replied the farm pony, shooting him a wink.

“Alright…” He replied, trying to make the following story as casual as possible. “Did you uh… did you ever hear about that thing in the papers a couple years ago?”

“’Bout what?” Asked Applejack.
“The uh, ‘incident’ at a hotel in... Bultimare?”

“No. What?”

“Well... Cantor began, thankful for the puns revolving round Earthly towns and cities being accurate. His horn lit up and all the candles in the room dimmed except for one which he levitated under his chin, casting ominous shadows across his face. “There was this family, right; the very image of a ‘happy family’: a mother, a father, a colt and a filly… Now, one day they were out travelling and got lost.”

Cantor furrowed his brow and smiled gently, creating the image of a plotting serial killer. He scanned the group, looking to see if they were falling for it. And they were eating it up. “It was getting dark and they were fearful of the streets at night, so they booked into the closest hotel they found. It was completely full apart from two rooms. Happily, the family took the booking, but the lack of space meant the parents had to share one room and the foals had to share the other.”

“Why didn’t one parent sleep with one foal?” Asked Twilight, making the logical assumption.

“I don’t know…” Cantor replied, turning to her. “They probably had some sort of problem sleeping with their young.”

“Oh…” Twilight returned.

“Anyway…” Cantor began again, “The parents had to sleep in a separate room to their kids but in the kid’s room, there was an appalling smell.”

“What smell?” Pinkie asked, her voice unusually quiet and serious.

“I can’t describe it... just… an atrocious smell.” Cantor replied. “This made them think twice about the room, but then they were faced with the choice of the bad smell and wandering the streets, full of rapists and thugs, hopelessly trying to find the way back to the hotel they initially booked.”

“What, were they like on holiday?” Rainbow Dash enquired. “In Bultimare!?”

“Yes. They lived in the countryside and wanted to know what the big cities were like…”

“So!” Cantor continued, “The family chose the hotel, but they called upon the manager to try to do something about the smell. But when he came down, he couldn’t pinpoint the stench either. He chocked it down to a bad case of damp and offered the family a discount, which they gladly accepted.” The alicorn licked his dry lips and swallowed before continuing.

“So that night, after a can of air freshener, the family eventually went to sleep and woke up early in the morning to set off and find their other hotel where they had left the majority of their money. The stallion of the family made it his duty to finally uncover the mystery source of the smell.” Cantor’s horn grew brighter as he began to wrap several pillows up in bed sheets, making a dense lump of softness. “He set about trying to find whatever was making that stench. He thought he had looked everywhere, but then he had the idea to look on the underside of the mattresses as that would be a prime place for damp. He lifted the filly’s mattress from her bed; it was clean…” The mass of pillows wrapped in blankets about the same size as a pony came into position above the group and stayed there, waiting…

“However.” Cantor spoke ominously. “When the father lifted the colt’s mattress..." Cantor chuckled darkly in his throat. "he found the source of the smell…” He extinguished all of the candles in the room except for the one under his face, which he made burn brightly, casting light over the circle of ponies but no further.

“What was it!?” Rainbow Dash begged.

Cantor delivered the punch line of his story. “The father peeled back the mattress and through the slats in the bed, he stared straight into the cold, glassy eyes of a decomposing dead mare.” With this, Cantor released his hold on the bundle of bed sheets and in the second it took to strike the floor, he noted the looks of terror on the faces of all the ponies.

The mass of sheets and pillows hit the floor with a loud thud and all the mares screamed bloody murder and scattered into the darkness. Cantor began whooping with laughter as he rolled back and shook on the floor, his cries of joy drowned out by the ear-splitting screams of the six mares who were bumping into each other in the darkness. Cantor somehow found the concentration to re-ignite all of the candles, making the pitch-black house a dim glow of yellow. After a few seconds, the screams died down and Cantor was still giggling furiously.

Spike came charging into the room, exclaiming “What’s going on!?” receiving nothing but a laughing alicorn, shortly followed by the other two pranksters in the room, collapsing and congratulating Cantor on the good story.

Cantor rose to his hooves and Twilight surged over to him and, in all good frames of mind, bucked him hard in the side, making him topple to the floor once again. “Damn it, Cantor!” She yelled, smiling uncontrollably. “That’s not funny!”

“Then why are you smiling?” He replied cheekily.

“I’m not!” Twilight shot back, forcing the grin from her face. “And Fluttershy really didn’t find it funny!” She continued, pointing to the trembling pegasus who had her face buried in the corner and was sobbing loudly.

Cantors amusement and ridiculous grin died as he got to his hooves once again and quickly made his way to the terrified pegasus. “Hey…” He said softly, laying down next to her and stroking her quivering back. “Hey, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to scare you like that…” His tone was kind and comforting. “It’s just a ghost story, it’s not real...” The timid Fluttershy stopped crying and shaking and let out a muffled breath into her foreleg. “I’m so sorry, Fluttershy… I didn’t mean to make you upset…” He apologised, continuing to rub her back softly.

Fluttershy looked back up to Cantor and he smiled warmly, she said nothing, but cast her gaze back to where they had been sitting. Nothing sinister was there except a pile of brightly coloured pillows and some sheets. The pegasus smiled and turned back to face Cantor.

“It’s okay…” She sighed, wiping her bloodshot eyes. “I just get scared really easily…” she stood up and joined Twilight’s side, wiping her eyes and sniffling, but still smiling.

“I really am sorry, Fluttershy…” Cantor apologised again.

“I know.” Fluttershy replied. “I know you didn’t mean it…”

“Thanks…” Said Cantor. “I guess that means I win?” He asked, turning to Applejack who stood next to the door.

She laughed briefly. “Yeah! You win…”

By now, it was three – thirty in the morning and everypony’s eyelids felt like sandpaper. Twilight declared this was a good time for them to go to sleep and they all settled down to bed once Twilight had reassured Spike that “nothing was wrong; just a scary story…” The candles flickered gently on their stands and everypony except Twilight and Cantor had fallen asleep on their individual mattresses.

Cantor was keeping himself awake by making fire out of nowhere, seeing how big he could make it before it became too much. As it turned out, this wasn’t a far – away limit as he thought: his biggest flame no larger or hotter than a small campfire. The alicorn was unaware Twilight was watching him lie on his back, impossibly burning the air in front of his troubled face. The fire he had made flickered out when he heard Twilight, who lay on the mattress next to his say his name.

“Yes, Twilight?” he replied, turning to face her and hoping that she wasn’t now scared of him for his abilities.

“I- Because I’m not in my bed like I'm used to, I um, I'm quite cold...” She answered.

“Would you uh… would you like my blanket?” The alicorn asked, pulling the dark green material from his body with his hoof.

“Actually, I um…” She replied, “…Don’t worry about it.”

“No, go on…” Cantor insisted.

“Well, I was just wondering if… If it’s okay with you… that… would you sleep… next to me?...” Even in the dim light, Cantor could see the extra blood being pumped into her cheeks.

He smiled warmly. “Of course…”

Cantor then rose quietly from his bed, careful not to wake the other sleeping ponies. He pushed his own mattress up so it was touching Twilight’s before laying down again, as close to the beautiful mare as he could get without actually laying on top of her. He met her soft eyes with his and peered deep into her wonderful mind. “Good night, Twilight…” He whispered.

“Good night, Cantor…” She returned, then proceded to roll over so she was laying facing away from him. The stallion began to put his arm around Twilight’s neck when he had a much better idea. He lowered his arm to his side and extended one of is huge wings across the mare who had already fallen asleep, the heat from her rising chest warmed every feather and he relaxed his muscles, allowing his protective wing to cover her body like a blanket.

“Sweet dreams, Twilight…” He spoke so quietly it was barely a whisper in his own head before slowly dimming every candle until only one remained. Soon though, it too went out, sending a thin stream of smoke into the pitch – black tree house.

Finding Hope

Chapter 11: Finding hope

A week later, and Cantor had already become rather accustomed to his new body, he had mastered takeoff and landing, and Rainbow Dash had taken it upon herself to be his stunt coach. He could feel he was getting stronger, not only physically in terms of flight, now being able to fly faster than he thought possible, but also with his magic. One time he had made a fire as large as a bonfire and he would practice every day forming bigger, brighter, hotter flames. For some reason or the other, Cantor favoured his ability to control fire; he found it the easiest. And not only that, but he had no idea exactly how to control ‘Earth’, and he didn’t want to try, and run the risk of triggering any earthquakes.

After the sleepover, Cantor had taken to sleeping inside Twilight’s house, nowhere in particular, just on the floor. As always, Twilight kept trying to persuade him to sleep in her bed, thinking that he wanted to. The alicorn kept reassuring her that he was perfectly happy spending the nights on Twilight’s wooden floor and, as always, Twilight tried to change his mind.

Rarity’s house was nearing completion and Cantor found it remarkable how fast the ponies worked. It was a perfect replica of the previous boutique, except for a small balcony on the second floor. After speaking with the three fillies, who thanked him greatly for saving their lives, Cantor discovered that the source of the fire was from a hot iron that had fallen to a pile of dresses after the crusaders had checked to see if their special talent was ironing. Rainbow Dash had yet to speak to Scootaloo about ‘you-know-what’, but she was warming to it. Cantor decided to let her approach the filly at her own rate, say the things that she wanted to say.

“Morning, Twilight.” Said Cantor, rising from the floor and stretching out his back and wings until they clicked.

“Good morning Cantor, did you sleep well?” The unicorn returned, slowly walking down her stairs.

“Good, thanks… You?”

“Yeah…” She replied, reaching the last step and allowing Cantor to follow her into the kitchen. “Can I invite you to a cup of tea?” she asked, pulling a fresh box of teabags from the cupboard.

“Don’t you always?” Cantor answered, drawing a pleased smile from Twilight.

She took it as a yes and proceded to make two cups of tea. After she set the kettle on the hob and turned on the heat, she turned back to face the stallion. “So what are you going to do today?” She asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Hmmm… I don’t know…” He answered, peering out of the window to the early birds that flittered about catching their breakfasts.

“I think I should get a job. You know, be able to spend my own money instead of mooching off you all the time…” Declared Cantor, turning back to Twilight when he had finished talking.

“First of all, you’re not ‘mooching’ off of me; you know I’m more than happy to let you stay here.” She replied, shaking her head. “What sort of work did you have in mind?”

“I was hoping you could tell me.” Cantor sighed. “I mean look at this:” He said, turning to face Twilight side on and gesturing towards his cutie mark.

“Oh, yeah. I’ve been meaning to ask you about that…” Said Twilight, taking a step closer to the intriguing mark. “It looks as if it means something, rather than showing a special talent…”

“Yeah…” Cantor agreed, not really listening but trying to decipher the curious symbol. “Actually, that’s what I might do today.” Decided the stallion.

“What?”

“Go and see Celestia, maybe she knows something about it…”

“Should I come with you?”

“If you want to…”

“I think I should… After all, you will be living in my house, I need to know how to take care of a ‘wittle ewemental’.” Twilight replied, scrunching up her face and pinching cantor’s cheek as if he were a foal.

“Uhhh… okay…” Said Cantor slowly, sounding slightly scared towards Twilight’s strange behaviour.
The purple mare turned and raised the whistling kettle from the hob and poured the water into the two cups and was astonished when it leapt back out and into the kettle. After staring in disbelief at the phenomenon, the realisation hit Twilight who humorously sighed and dropped her head to the floor.

“You’ve been practicing, haven’t you?” She asked with a smile.

“Yeah…” Cantor replied casually. “And get this: I can sort of… ‘combine’ the spells.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, bringing her eyes back up, looking genuinely intrigued.

“Watch this.” The alicorn proposed, turning the handle on the tap of the sink to his left with magic. A thin stream of water fell from the pipe and formed a crystal-clear orb of water about the same size as a grapefruit. No matter how much Twilight had seen him practice, she never could get over the amazement of this manipulation of the elements.

If Cantor had known his host was spying on him on the edge of the Everfree forest practicing this forgotten magic, he would have stopped a lot sooner, but he didn’t know and Twilight hoped to keep it that way.

“Now this water is cold right?” Asked Cantor, hovering the clear ball between them both.

“I… I suppose…” Twilight replied, before Cantor broke off a droplet and splashed her face with it. “Yes… it’s cold…” She added whilst giggling.

“And fire is hot right?” Cantor continued.

“Yes…” Twilight said, willing her friend to continue.

“So if the two were to come together…”

To anypony who may have been watching from the outside, their view would have been obscured by the cold glass of the kitchen window instantly turning foggy.

Back in the library, Twilight stumbled from the kitchen, hyperventilating from shock. She wobbly made her way to the sofa, her coat damp from water vapour soaking into the fabric of the chair when she sat. Cantor took a seat next to her and genuinely asked if she was alright. The purple mare slapped him in the face for it, which hurt considerably more than a regular slap as it was with a rock – hard hoof.

“I am sorry, Twi-“

“Next time you’re going to do something like that, will you PLEASE warn me beforehoof!?” Twilight interrupted angrily.

Cantor’s mood fell as the realisation that he had hurt her set in. “I’m really sorry, Twilight.” He began, rubbing the sore spot on his cheek where The purple unicorn had slapped him. “I won’t do it again, I promise…”

Twilight sighed. “It’s okay… I know you only wanted to demonstrate it to me...” She put on a convincing smile that made Cantor feel a little better too. “Now how about you demonstrate that spell and boil some more water?” She snapped, jerking her head playfully towards the kitchen doorway where steam still drifted from the top of the doorframe.

Cantor took the hint and got up to finish making the teas. “Do you take sugar?” He called back to twilight, who sunk into the soft cushions, basking in the first rays of sunny warmth in a week and replied “One, please.” Cantor nodded and walked completely into the kitchen. He went to turn the tap before realising that water could be ‘made’ and simply generated two cupfuls of boiling water from thin air. He carefully guided the scolding liquid into each cup, accompanied by a teaspoon of sugar for Twilight and himself. After adding the milk and removing the teabags, Cantor carried the cups into the main room of the tree, seating himself next to the unicorn.

“Thank you…” She sighed gratefully, trying to take the cup with her magic, but unsure weather it was her who actually had control. Both auras from both ponies were exactly the same hue.

“What’s going on with this?” Cantor asked, bringing the cup to the table and setting it down. “Go on, now try…” He said, watching the mare pick up her cup of steaming tea with a magical aura identical to his. “Our aura’s look the same.” He stated, watching Twilight nervously take a sip. “Why is that?”

“I don’t know…” Twilight replied, giggling slightly as she felt her face heat up.

The two drank their cups in silence that felt a little awkward, nevertheless, it was filled with the sounds of birds chirping above. (It was a tree-house, after all.)

Cantor saw an opportunity to break the silence, but Twilight beat him to it. “So, Cantor…” She asked, setting the teacup down on her coffee table, “Are we taking the train again?”

“I… I mean you can; I don’t want you to have to spend more bits on me.” He replied.

“Well, whatever you want, you know…”

“Damn…” Thought Cantor. “If,” He began, “if you want me to come on the train with you, that’s fine, but I’m sure there are other ways to get to Canterlot other than the train.”

“Unless you have a pegasus-drawn carriage, or are willing to walk, there’s really no other way.”

“What about teleporting?”

Twilight was taken back. “That would require some seriously powerful magic!” She exclaimed.

“I have ‘seriously powerful magic’…” Replied Cantor, tapping his horn.

“It… It wouldn’t hurt to try, I guess…” she muttered. “Let’s have breakfast, first; I’m starving!”

As always, the breakfast consisted of that delicious seeded toast as it fitted right into a routine. The whole morning, Twilight looked lost; she had no duties to attend to for the rest of the week, and it was Friday that day. The talk at breakfast was based around the kind of job Cantor could get.

“Well I mean you could do pretty much anything…” Twilight said after taking a bite of toast.

“What do you think would be the best thing?” Asked Cantor, not wanting his powers to go to waste, but at the same time, not wanting to put anypony out of a job. “I’ll just ask Celestia, she’ll probably know what I should do…”

“Good idea.” Twilight agreed. “Let’s just wait for Spike to be up and then we’ll set off…”

“And stay out of the ice cream!” Twilight ordered, causing the baby dragon to recoil slightly.

“Okay, okay, you don’t have to yell!” Spike replied.

“Good. I just wanted to make sure you heard.” Smiled the unicorn. “Now,” She started, turning to face Cantor as Spike walked back into the house, closing the door forcefully behind him and shutting the two ponies outside.

“Are you sure you can teleport to Canterlot?” Twilight asked, drawing herself to Cantor’s side.

“How hard can it be?” He asked, looking into the distance in the direction of the city, the strong wind sending his mane billowing behind him.

“Very. As it happens…” She replied, following his gaze.

“Maybe my magic is a lot stronger than other ponies…” He pondered, beginning to visualise the entrance to the castle. His horn lit up lilac and began to grow brighter. “Why is this taking so long? Usually I can teleport instantly…” He asked.

“You need to sort of… ‘charge it up’ first; you’re going such a far way with me as well…” Confirmed Twilight, who was standing on her hind legs with her forehooves pressed into his side.

Cantor continued to try and visualise the castle gate: the spires in the background, the tall white wall, the two guards stood next to the metal gate and the marble floor. All of a sudden he could see what he imagined in great detail, as if he was actually stood there, but something was different, only one of the guards stood at the door, aimlessly looking around.

He could feel the place tugging at his magic, willing him to come. “Ready, Twilight?” He asked, looking behind him to meet the shocked expression of the mare.

“Are you serious!?” She asked in alarm. “That was quick!” She cleared her throat and shook away her awe. “Yeah, I’m ready…”

Cantor let the tugging sensation consume him, feeling his body dissolve and fly through the air for less than a tenth of a second. One moment he was outside the library, the next he was stood on a marbled surface, feeling slightly out of breath. A loud explosion echoed through the valley and the gold – plated pony in front of him yelped in surprise and branded a razor sharp trident inches from the alicorn’s nose.

“Who are you!?” Demanded the guard in a horrendously rough voice. It was as if he had eaten glass at some point in his life.

“Sorry to have… Scared you, but I’m Cantor, I’m here to see the princess…” Cantor said, catching up with his breath rather well and pushing the weapon gently from his direction with his hoof.

The guard noticed Twilight dismount Cantor’s side and drew himself back to his original position. “Oh, uh… yeah, sorry about that…” He said with a weak chuckle, unable to take his eyes from Cantor’s. “It’s ummm… nice to see you two again…”

“Nice to see you too…” Cantor replied. “Can we go in?”

“Of course.” Answered the guard, stepping to his right and pulling the lever, causing the metal gate to rise.

“Hey, where’s the other guy?” Cantor asked, noticing the absence of the other guard who he wanted to get to know better.

“Oh, Wingbeat?… He died three days ago…” The guard spoke with not an ounce of remorse in his voice.

“That’s terrible…” Said Cantor, looking at the spot where the other pegasus once stood. “If you don’t mind, may I ask… how?”

The guard sighed before speaking. “He flew home one day and caught his mare – friend in bed with another stallion…”

“Oh…” Said Cantor.

“Yeah.. he killed himself…” the guard replied solemnly.

“That’s awful!” cried Cantor.

“Yeah, but that’s just the way life goes, I suppose…” The pegasus added.

The gate slid upwards into the great white wall and stopped with a clunk when it had fully disappeared. Cantor and Twilight thanked the guard and stepped into the castle courtyard. The sun shone brightly onto the brilliant stone walls, making them difficult to look at. As the two ponies walked, Cantor glanced back over his shoulder, just long enough to see the guard admiring Twilight’s behind. He caught the other stallion’s stare and shook his head before looking up into the sky and pointing upwards.

When the guard craned his neck skyward, he was drenched with ten gallons of water that appeared out of nowhere, seeping under his tight armour, making the rest of his day very uncomfortable. The alicorn thought it was strange that this pony hadn’t learned his lesson last time, and hoped he wouldn’t have to be told a third.

“Cantor and Twilight! This is unexpected!” Beamed Celestia from her spot on the throne. Her technicolour mane flowing graciously past her face and her tail billowed around her hooves, giving the appearance of a colourful cloud.

“Good afternoon, your majesty.” Cantor said softly, falling to his knee in sync with Twilight.

“And how are you two doing?” The princess asked, smiling down at the two.

“Very good thank you, princess.” Twilight spoke up.

“That’s wonderful…” Celestia replied, still smiling as the two ponies returned to standing. “So what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Well, princess,” Cantor started, turning to face the princess side on. “I was wondering if you could tell me what my cutie mark means.”

Cantor saw the other alicorn choke on air before regaining composure. “Oh, so you have your cutie mark… when did this happen?”

“Just last week when Rarity’s house burned down.” Cantor replied, that image of him in the hospital still stained in his mind.

“Mhhh…” The princess hummed a short sigh. “I saw the news article…”

“Oh, you saw that huh…” Cantor said, hanging his head slightly.

“I must say, I’m amazed at your heroism; selflessly sacrificing your body for those three fillies. I respect you greatly for that…” She smiled with closed eyes.

“Thanks…” Was all cantor could manage with a bashful giggle.

“So, anyway,” He started, “do you know anything about this cutie mark?”

Celestia began to pretend to think, staring intently at the floor and drawing her hoof delicately to her chin. It was all very convincing, until he heard the princess’ voice in his head: “Come back to my bedroom tonight. We’ll talk then.”

Cantor tried not to react to this more than a discreet nod. “Alright.” He thought, hoping Celestia could hear that. The princess drew her eyes back up to the pair. “I’m sorry, I can’t tell.” She lied very convincingly.

“Alright…” Sighed Cantor. “I guess I’ll find out sooner or later.”

“Is there anything else I can try to help you with?” Asked Celestia kindly.

“No…” Replied Cantor, almost instantly coming back around and saying “Yes! Actually…”

The princess nodded and Twilight watched him as he spoke. “Spike said there are other alicorns, but who are they and what do they do?”

“Well…” Celestia began in a thoughtful tone, tilting her head to the side, disrupting the perfect flow of her mane. “There are five other alicorns alive at the moment apart from myself, my sister and you. They’re scattered all across Equestria, their names are Quick Silver, Whip Lash, Ember Storm, Trinity and my own niece, Princess Cadence. And now we have you to add to the list: Cantor.”

“And what do they all do?” Cantor enquired. “Do they have as much power as you?”

Celestia chuckled. “No, no… I think not. They are certainly powerful in terms of magical abilities, but, if you’ll excuse my immodesty, each one of them combined could not match half the amount of power I have at my disposal.” Despite this out of character self – promotion, Celestia couldn’t help but smile.

“Wow…” Cantor remarked. “So what do they do? Surely not just what any other pony does?”

“You’d be surprised; every one except Cadence leads a relatively normal life, though they do get some hassle for being what many ponies consider a ‘god’.” Celestia replied.

“So what does Cadence do?” Asked Cantor.

“Never mind that…” Celestia replied dryly, obviously protecting her niece’s privacy, no matter how harmless Cantor’s intentions were.

“Okay.” Complied the stallion.

“Is that all?” The princess asked, leaning back in her throne as if to say ‘I have all day.’

“Ummm…” Cantor thought for a while, really thinking about the things he should be able to ask around Twilight. "Do you know what sort of job I could get?" He asked. "Something that will make use of my power."

Once again, Celestia frowned in thought. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in civil services, Cantor?"

"I may be." The orange maned stallion answered. "Why, what would you recomend?"

"Have you ever thought about joining the weather team, or something along similar lines?" The princess asked, her serine expression still holding through the look of thought.

"Well to be honest, this is really the first time I've thought about it... Thanks, princess, I'll have to look into that..." Cantor confirmed, drawing a microscopic smile from Celestia.

"Any more questions?" Princess Celestia asked peacefully, slouching back slightly on her throne.

“I don’t… think so…” Cantor slowly returned. “Nope.” He shook his head. “You have a question?” He asked, turning towards the purple mare on his left side, her eyes already focused on him. She shook her head. “Should we be going then?” Twilight nodded in reply.

“So, ummm… goodbye for now, princess?” Cantor asked, turning to leave the cathedral – like throne room.

“If you wish.” Princess Celestia replied. “I hope to see you soon…”

“You too, princess.” Cantor agreed, bowing quickly before following Twilight out of the door who only gave a small, casual “Goodbye, princess.” And hurried outside.

Cantor had already begun visualising the library, and found it remarkably easy to ‘connect’. “Come on, Twilight…” He said coldly. “Lets go…” The lavender unicorn pressed herself up against him and in a flash, they were gone.

The two appeared at the door to the library, and Cantor immediately asked the question that was bugging him. “Twilight, you seem unusually quiet. Is something wrong? Are you upset?” He asked this with the deepest sympathy, not touching her in any other way apart from letting her stand next to him, keeping both their bodies warm in the chilly breeze.

“No,” She sighed… “Nothing’s wrong, it’s just… seeing you use magic that powerful; I was wondering, did you have any special training?”

Cantor pouted and looked towards the sky, becoming gradually more overcast as the Pegasi planted a gloom over the town. “No…” He slowly replied, shaking his head a little.

Twilight sighed heavily again. “It’s just I’ve been practicing magic all my life, a spell like that, teleporting that far, and not having to build it up for more than ten seconds. It’s… unbelievable!” She tried to smile, but Cantor saw straight through it.

“Hey, listen…” He began in a comforting tone. “I’m different to other ponies, it’s a natural thing that my powers are strong, that doesn’t make you any less of a pony. Not to your friends and especially not to me…”

Twilight’s smile returned. “You mean it?” She asked.

“Of course.” Cantor replied.

Twilight wiped away a disheartened tear that had begun to form in the corner of her eye and turned to her door. She expected Cantor to follow, but he said that he needed to ask Rainbow Dash some things, and maybe help out with the storm. Twilight said that she understood and bid farewell to the alicorn as he took off gracefully into the air, flying towards the gaping hole in the middle of the blue sky where the pegasi were filling it in with as many storm clouds as they could produce.

Above the layer of clouds, Cantor searched for the most important looking pegasus in charge. His eyes rested on a beige stallion wearing a reflective vest and waving his arms about frantically. Cantor hastily flew towards him, drawing the attention of most of the pegasus ponies as he went by. He came up behind the dark teal – maned pegasus and started to ask a question.

“Is there-“

“Yeah, yeah, hold on a sec, pal.” The stallion interrupted before turning to face a pair of mares in their late teens. One a vivid purple, the other a dull pink. “Hey! You two!” The two mares turned towards him instantly. “I’m not paying you to hang around and talk; back to work!” the girls hurried off and returned to hoisting clouds around. The stallion spoke once more to the entire team before turning to Cantor. “Keep up the good work, guys! We’ll be done in half an hour!”

He rubbed his stubble-covered chin before turning around in the air. “Hello sir, what…” He trailed off and his cyan eyes widened at the other stallion in front of him.

“Ummm… hi?” Said Cantor, sending the beige pony’s unbuttoned vest fluttering around in his wing’s gusts.

“You’re… you… Are you the pony that was in the paper last week?” He asked, eyes affixed on Cantor’s horn.

“Oh, you saw that did you?”

“Yeah I saw it! By Celestia! I thought you were dead!” His eyes dropped to come level with Cantor’s “What are you doing here?” He asked, checking behind him to make sure the weather team were still working.

“I was just around and wondered if you needed any help.” Cantor answered.

“Well, we do need all the help we can get…” The stallion said with a pause. “But,” He continued, “I’m afraid I can’t pay you…”

“Oh, that’s fine!” Replied the alicorn. “I’m just really happy to help!”

“Well aren’t you the good Samaritan!” Said the worker joyfully. “The name’s Al, pleased to meet ‘ya!” he added, taking Cantor’s hoof with his own that came exposed from his fur.

“You too. My name’s Cantor.” He replied. “Sooo, what should I do?”

“Just get the storm clouds scattered around and fill in this hole. Simple!” Replied Al.

“Can I uh… Can I use magic?” The alicorn asked, tapping the tip of his horn with his hoof.

“Of course, whatever’s easiest for you.” Al said with a smile.

The beige pegasus flew off to yell at a group of mares and stallions taking an unannounced break. Cantor chuckled and stood atop a dark grey cloud that was nearby. He positioned his magic and moved the cloud under his hooves around.

“Clouds feel like nothing.” He thought aloud to himself. “Alright then. Let’s do this…” He continued, concentrating on every stray cloud he could see. One by one, they began to glow with a lilac field, then proceded to adjust themselves around the large opening, slowly but surely filling it in. Everypony gasped when the cloud they were carrying drifted away from them. They watched in wonderment as the wisps of grey spiralled towards a single white stallion stood atop a small cloud, his the horn atop his head glowing brightly.

“And what are you all gawking at!?” Demanded Al, facing the group of lazy ponies before turning around to match their gaze and then their expression. Cantor stood in the middle of an inverted tornado of slate coloured clouds, ribbons of purple light joining in the swirling motion. Cantor had his eyes closed in concentration, his light rust coloured hair billowing around him, every now and then, giving off a fleck of flame. As the last few clouds reached the top of the spiral, the light around Cantor’s horn began to fade. The last little puff in his power fell into place, leaving a small hole in the middle. The aura around Cantor’s horn disappeared, as did the ribbons of light that spiralled into the sky and slowly faded away. Cantor opened his eyes and peered below him. The entire ground was now covered with a blanket of grey, all except for one small spot in the middle. The alicorn grabbed the cloud from underneath himself and fluttered to the layer of clouds below. He pressed the ball of soggy softness into the opening, and with a grunt, forced it in, sealing the gap and finishing the job in less than a minute.

He stood there for a while, gazing around. Though it was just a storm, there was something oddly beautiful about it; the layer of clouds was dead flat. Grey below, uninterrupted blue vastness above. Empty except for that big ball of white fire. Cantor’s gaze soon turned to the astonished ponies surrounding him. He was becoming tired of being stared at. “Come on, guys, did you really expect anything different? I mean really?”

“That was amazing!” Spoke a young tanned stallion, not much older than the alicorn himself.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen anypony do something like that before!” A lime green mare called out.

Soon the group around him were chattering amongst themselves. Cantor felt really uncomfortable, but then he heard a familiar voice which made him turn around.

“Hi, Cantor!” Called a mare from behind.

“Oh, hello, Rainbow.” He replied. The two had to shout to be heard over the chatter of others.

“Wow!” She remarked. “How did you do that?”

“Just… magic…” Cantor simply replied.

“Well we could certainly use you on the weather team!” She replied, giving him a prod on the shoulder.

“Thanks…” He smiled bashfully.

“Come on, ladies!” Came another familiar voice from behind Cantor. He turned around to see Al come splitting the crowd in two as he walked. One by one, the ponies around him quickly silenced and the beige stallion stood in front of Cantor. A moment of silence occurred before Al spoke.

“Want a job?” He asked, sending ripples of laughter through the entire crowd, including Cantor and Rainbow. “I’m serious; for somepony to make a storm that quickly could make the weather branch of Cloudsdale that much more profitable.

“But…” Cantor started, “Won’t that put these ponies out of a job?” asked the alicorn, gazing around.

“Uhhh… no.” Replied Al as if it were obvious. “The weather team deals with more than just clouds.”

“Really?”

“Yes! Somepony's still got to make the weather, your job will just be to assemble the clouds. If you take this job, you’ll just get their combined share of money.”

“What? If I do the job of all these pegasi, you’ll give me all the money they would have earned put together?”

“Yeah! Surely that’s an offer you can’t refuse!”

Cantor thought for a moment. “Actually, I do refuse.”

“WHAT!?” Al and all of the other pegasi cried at once, causing Cantor’s ears to clamp to the side of his head.

“What do you mean ‘you refuse’!?” Asked Al in disbelief.

“Well,” Cantor replied, “How many ponies do you have on the weather team?”

“Eighty.” Al answered. "...ish."

“Eighty. Right. And how much does each of them get monthly from creating storms like this?”

Al pondered the maths with his hoof on his stubbly chin. “It’s more of a seasonal rotary. Now and in winter, filling the sky with clouds earns each pony on average fifteen bits a month. But this is just one branch of the factory and there is always work to be done.”

“So fifteen bits, times’ by eight... ish ponies i- OH MY GOD!” Exclaimed the alicorn, taking a step back at the figures. “Twelve hundred bits a month!?”

“Yes.” Al simply replied.

“I don’t need that sort of money!”

“Well what were you expecting?” Al asked.

Cantor turned to Rainbow Dash. “How much do you earn a month, Rainbow?”

She thought about her last pay check. She remembered every month fondly. “Well last month I got a hundred and seventy two bits.”

“Right.” Said Cantor. “So could you just pay me like… I don't know... two hundred bits a month?” He blushed in light of asking for money, but found himself somewhat in the right for inflicting such a large pay-cut on himself.

“We- I…” Al stammered. “A- are you sure? I mean… You'd have earned it.”

“Yeah, but I don’t need any more money than that…”

“But what should I do with the other thousand?”

“That’s your call.” Answered Cantor, taking another step back and bowing slightly. “I mean… you could share it out amongst the weather team, use it to better Cloudsdale. Hell, give it to charity, I don’t know! Just make sure it goes to a good cause…”

“Are you sure, Cantor?” Al asked again.

“Positive.” Replied Cantor with a content smile.

“Well okay then!” Al beamed. “Great to have you on board!”

“Thank you, sir.” Cantor replied. “It’s good to feel involved!”

“There’s just one thing left to do…” Said Al, taking off into the air, closely followed by some two hundred pegasi. Cantor opened his wings to follow, but Al halted him. “No, no… You have to make it rain…”

“And how do I do that?”

“Hit the cloud as hard as you can…”

“Just… ‘hit’ it?”

“Yes.”

“As hard as I can?”

“As hard as you can…”

Cantor hesitated before rearing up on hid hind legs, building power in his upper body and proceeding to slam his front hooves into the soft grey surface. When nothing happened, murmurs of giggling rippled throughout the herd of pegasi. “Hold on, I got this…” Cantor declared, taking off into the air. He brought himself level wit Al who was in the middle of the group.

“You may wanna stand back.” Informed the alicorn. Al complied, instructing the other ponies to do so as well. At the peak of his ascent, Cantor looked back down to see the cloud layer and a ring of two hundred colourful ponies hovering around beneath. Cantor blew out a lungful of air through pursed lips and leaned backwards, wrapping his wings around him and plummeting downwards. The ex-weather team watched as the large alicorn shot through the middle of the ring and slammed his shoulders into the storm, sending a radial shockwave across the entire cloud, accompanied by the loud rumbling of thunder.

Cantor lay on his back, watching the thick doughnut of pegasi whoop and cheer as the patter of rain could be heard. “Did I do it? Did I make it rain?” Cantor asked, flying up into the middle of the ring of ponies to be crowded and rubbed affectionately all over.

“Yep, you’re gonna do just fine in this business.” Al congratulated, scruffing up the already scruffy tan hair atop Cantor’s head. He was hoisted into the air by a sea of pegasi all chanting his name. He felt embarrassed, he felt put on the spot, but by Celestia, he felt good…

Exactly one month later...

Torrential rain hammered onto the plate glass window of the café in Ponyville. The few diners spoke amongst themselves, occasionally pausing to count the seconds until the thunder when a lightning strike illuminated the café for a split second. Cantor was overwhelmed with the feeling of ‘cosiness’ as the warm glow of the ceiling lamp cast pale beams over his table situated in the corner next to a window. He scanned the horizon and was forced to shield his eyes when an unexpected fork of lightning appeared straight in his field of vision.

He sat in the plastic red, ‘leather feel’ booth watching his thunderstorm saturate the land. He leant on the table with his right foreleg and sipped his creamy milkshake through a straw.

“So how’s the one – colt weather team doing?” Asked the rainbow maned pegasus sat opposite to him in the booth, holding her own banana milkshake firmly between both her hooves.

“Not bad…” Cantor answered after taking the brief sip. “I’ve just got too much money now… I can’t spend it all.” Rainbow replied by just taking a long drink from her milkshake. “If you see the others before me, could you tell them if they need anything, just give me a shout.”

Rainbow let go of the straw in her mouth and a thin stream of pale yellow dribbled down her chin, to which she quickly wiped away with a little giggle. “Will do, Cantor. Hey, thanks for this milkshake, by the way.”

“Don’t mention it.” He smiled, taking a sip of his own vanilla one. “I suppose you’re wondering why I invited you here. Heh, heh... I've always wanted to say that in all seriousness!”

“Actually, I had an idea, but I just wanted to clarify something first.” Said Rainbow.

“Oh?” Cantor responded.

The pegasus opposite him scanned the room, checking to be sure nopony was in earshot. As it happens, the only other diners were three ponies each sat at their own table, quietly reading a newspaper or a book and a group of around six older colts, about twelve or thirteen, each noisily throwing hay fries at each other, much to the café owner’s dismay. It was evident that they weren’t listening, though Rainbow Dash still decided to whisper. “I go for fillies over colts…”

Cantor felt a mild shock. Partly because he wasn’t interested in her more than a friend in the slightest. And partly because of how open she was being about it. Though this wasn’t strange; the pegasus sometimes told lies to protect her honour, however she was quite open to certain aspects of her private life when asked.

The alicorn smiled and lightly chuckled in his throat. "Would you be offended if I told you I had a feeling you were like that..."

Rainbow Dash's smile faded slightly. "Is... Is that a problem?"

"Not at all, Rainbow!" Cantor laughed. "You don't have to say, but... are you one-hundred percent... you know... or would you go both ways?" A heavy blush came across Rainbow Dash's face and her eyes fell to her drink. "Oh, you don't have to say, I was just curious..." Cantor hurriedly added.

"No, no." The fun-loving pegasus answered, "I don't mind one bit..." She took a breif gulp of her yellow milkshake before answering. "I've had my fair share of... a stallion's 'love muscle', but I find the workings of a mare far more..." She half closed her eyes with an air of playful seduction. "...intriguing..." She finished her philosophy with a slow slurp of her milkshake, her wings raised above her head as she remembered her past experiences. Now it was Cantor's turn to become red.

He scratched his head awkwardly. "Love the terminology, Rainbow..." He admitted, amused by the new word he could add to his collection.

"Is this why you brought me here, Cantor?" Rainbow Dash asked accusingly.

"No." Sighed the alicorn, now preparing himself for the conversation that would follow. "This wasn't the reason I invited you here today..."

"Well what is it?" The young pegasus asked, her bright pink blush and feathery arousal now beggining to fade.

“Scootaloo.” Cantor replied softly and definitively, steering the conversation away from the steamy topic and showing that he truly cared.

“Oh… right…” Rainbow returned, suddenly finding great interest in the bubbles atop her milkshake. “I have been looking into it, and I casually brought up the matter and yes, she is an um… she doesn’t have parents…” She spoke into the glass, and when she had finished, she drew the white straw back into her mouth.

“Anything else?” Asked Cantor, sliding his milkshake to the side and leaning forwards slightly.

“No… that’s it.” Rainbow said once she finished drinking.

“Well at least now you know for sure.” Cantor proposed, trying to get her to look on the bright side. “Do you know where she is living?”

“Sorry, I left after asking her that. It just… made me feel so... terrible.”

“Why’s that?”

Rainbow looked up from the safety of her cold drink and into the caring, hot discs in the middle of the face of the stallion who sat opposite her. She didn’t say anything, but Cantor knew exactly what she was thinking.

“Oh… I see…” he turned to gaze out of the rain – streaked window and watched the mare’s view return to her drink. He looked back around and saw the damp – spirited pegasus’ eyes staring blankly into space. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be.” Rainbow sighed, then taking a deep, calming inhale through her nose.

“If it’s any consolation… I understand…” Said Cantor, a comforting smile woven onto his face. Rainbow turned her head upwards, meeting the already – smiling face of the alicorn. If the smile didn’t dispel some of her sadness, then the gentle wink of trust he gave her certainly did, sending a small grin onto her face.

“Thanks…” She meekly replied. Something unusual to hear from this particular pony.

“Anyway, I have a pretty good idea about where Scootaloo is living.” Cantor spoke, breaking the tension.

“You do? Where?” Asked Rainbow.

“Their little Crusader’s clubhouse. But I don’t know where that is…”

“It’s Applejack’s old clubhouse. Are you sure about that? How do you know?”

“I just... have a very good feeling…”

“Well, let’s go!” She cried, downing the last of her milkshake. “If she is there, she might be really frightened of this storm. I know I was when I was a filly.”

Cantor guzzled the rest of his too, leaving four bits on the table, with an extra one as a tip. He then rushed out the door behind Rainbow Dash, following her into the dark sky.

This was a full on storm; he had been instructed to make one hell of a downpour to saturate the soil, ready to uproot all the dead and ruined crops of the past year. As he flew, Cantor cursed himself for doing that job so well. The wind battered him, throwing him slightly off course, even though by now he was a really strong flyer. The rain hammered down in great waves of droplets, forming intriguing movements as they were carried on the wind. Visibility didn’t stretch more than four or five metres; after that, there was nothing but heavy grey, making it look almost night time.

At one point, he nearly lost track of Rainbow Dash, but she must have sensed he was falling behind and he soon caught up with her, flying by her side and following her to Sweet Apple Acres.

In less than two minutes from their initial takeoff, Rainbow dove downwards and came to a halt on the sopping ground. Up ahead, Cantor could just about see a feint yellow glow. “Come on!” Shouted Rainbow Dash, galloping towards the light source with Cantor quick at her heels. As the pair neared the glow, a small house built around the trunk of a tree came into view. It became apparent that the glow was being emitted from the window at the top of the clubhouse, above the doorway.

“SCOOTALOO!!!” Rainbow screamed, not out of desperation or panic, but she literally had to scream even to hear herself over the roar of the rain and the howl of the wind. The window remained lifeless. “SCOOTA – LOO!!!” Rainbow screamed again, receiving the same result.

“Let’s just get inside!” Cantor shouted, rushing up the slippery slope, the only things stopping him from falling off were the shallow slats his hooves caught on as he climbed. The slope to the door took a ninety degree turn which Cantor saw at the last moment. He stopped and swivelled round, but the rain had made the surface far too slippery and his back legs slipped from under him.

He fell the short distance to the muddy ground and landed on his right wing, causing it to sprain. The alicorn chocked in pain and he saw Rainbow Dash hovering over him.

“Are you okay!?” She yelled.

“I’m fine!” Cantor returned, rubbing the mid-section of his drenched wing where it had twisted.

“Let’s just slow down…” He said quietly and calmly as his horn flared, emitting a warm glow. Slowly, the rain eased off until it was a rough shower. Cantor always had immense trouble when controlling the rain, so he never practiced; after a few seconds of holding the rain off at the rate it was going at caused him physical pain. “Let’s just get to the house…” He winced, turning back to the base of the slope.

Their ascent turned out much more successful than before. Cantor immediately released his hold on the water with a fast moan of relief when they reached the porch. Panting, he went to open the door, but it was locked from the inside. The alicorn felt the other side of the door with his magic, scanning for any differences in the wood. Soon enough, he located a deadbolt and tore it across. The gushing wind tore the door inwards along with some dark leaves and small branches. “In!” Cantor ordered and Rainbow complied.

He shut the door behind him and sunk to his haunches, breathing heavily. “Scootaloo! Are you here?” Rainbow Dash called out.

Cantor watched her make her way to the small, thin flight of stairs. He hated to admit it to himself, but her soaking wet multicoloured mane that clung tightly around her dripping neck looked extremely attractive. He didn’t see anything in Rainbow, he just 'very much' liked the style and was impressed that the fan-art was this accurate…

The sound of frantic clopping on floorboards was heard from above as a small orange filly jumped down the stairs into the open arms of her idol. Both ponies toppled backwards and lay smiling at each other. “What are you doing here, Rainbow Dash!?” Squeaked Scootaloo. It was plain to see she was on the edge of crying from relief.

“Cantor told me you might be here.” Answered Rainbow, causing Scootaloo to cast her gaze to the white stallion slumped at the door to her ‘home’.

Cantor had regained his breath after the intense flying session followed almost immediately by holding tons of water above the treehouse as they entered. “Hey, Scoot.” He sighed as he got to his hooves, sending muddy water splashing onto the floor below.

Scootaloo opened her mouth to speak, but a flash of lightning accompanied immediately by an echoing boom that shook the entire treehouse caused her to clamp onto Rainbow Dash tightly.

“Scared of lightning, huh, kiddo?” Rainbow asked, scruffing up the filly’s mass of purple hair. Scootaloo peered up from the blue pegasus’ chest and appeared to by crying. “Hey, what’s the matter?” Rainbow asked, smoothing the mane of the filly down her little neck.

“That one was really close…” The filly sobbed. It was obvious to both Cantor and Rainbow to see such a strong, bright little girl reduced to tears was only partly due to the storm.

“Hey, Scoot,” Rainbow started, “Do you… live here?”

Scootaloo looked her friend in the eyes and nodded with a hum of clarification. “Mmh hmm…”

“Would you like to… stay with me for a little while?”

"Really?..." The purple maned filly croaked.

"Of course!" Rainbow replied happily, still smoothing her wet foreleg across the filly's neck.

Scootaloo’s eyes widened in wonderment, her tears flowed more with the overwhelming happiness and she nodded energetically. The sight cracked even a hard mare like Rainbow Dash and she teared up herself.

Cantor didn’t shed a tear, but the scene definitely moved him greatly. He watched as the two young ponies embraced each other in the start of a new chapter in both of their lives. Rainbow was certainly too young and carefree to have a foal to take care of, so it was a good thing that the little orange filly could pretty much take care of herself. She just craved guidance, somepony to come to whatever her problem was, somepony to give her everything she needed. Somepony to love. Scootaloo took sweet refuge in Rainbow’s heart as her tears of joy overwhelmed them both. This was the happiest Scootaloo had ever felt in the entirety of her short life.

She had everything she had ever dreamed of: the protection from a friend, a home to live in. And now, after all these cold, bitter years, after all the covered up heartache and lies she could finally tell her friends that she had a home, a warm bed, a family.

A mother.

“I love you, Rainbow Dash.” Scootaloo sobbed with heartfilled happiness.

“I love you too, Scootaloo.” Replied Dash, already looking forward to the life ahead of her, with the first family she had known for years. Rainbow and Scootaloo were both alone in the world. They had friends – friends that they loved and held dear to their hearts. But now they could fill the void in their souls that opened when their parents left them. They had a future. They knew true love again. They had each other.

Jokers At Heart

Chapter 12: Jokers at heart

One month and six days ago…

The cool night air whipped around the soaring alicorn’s face. The silvery fur of his coat dropped below freezing. He was flying high and very, very fast. He plummeted downwards, throwing off layers of atmosphere as the air condensed around him and he could feel his cheeks being pulled backwards as he dove. Even to himself, it was unclear as to why he was travelling so fast. Maybe it was his excitement that he had taken on the task of the entire weather team to fill and clear the sky of different types of weather, and now there was absolutely nothing in his life to bring his spirit down. He smashed through several thick clouds, drenching his body in water, which quickly dried off in the mindboggling speed. The ground approached quickly and he was forced to pull up, spiralling into a large helix as his speed decreased to something he was more used to.

Breathing heavily from the adrenaline coursing through his veins, being pumped around his body from his hammering heart. He saw the princess’ castle in the distance. And again, only one room was illuminated, the princess’ bedroom in which he was in just over a week before. This was a night to enjoy, for he had no troubles, he had just secured a job in which his immense power was required and he was on his way to speak to the pony he didn’t have to watch what he said around. In fact, she knew more than him.

The stars twinkled in the sky above and the moon shone brightly. The ground was a patchwork quilt of fields and trees, blanketed with silver from the sun of the night. The balcony came into view and he glided down onto it he trotted into the princess’ bedroom and bowed inches from Celestia’s long, slender legs.

“A far more developed entry than before, I must say…” The princess of the sun commented.

“Thanks, princess.” Replied Cantor, returning to a standing pose. He scanned the room. “Hey, where’s Luna?” He asked.

“Attending to some extra work. Though she did ask me to tell you that she really wanted to see you again.” Celestia said, still unmoving except for her mane and tail that cascaded from her body in long, graceful locks.

“Aww, I feel flattered, princess…” Said Cantor, looking up at Celestia’s indigo eyes.

Celestia chuckled and turned to leave, instructing Cantor to follow. He obeyed, snuffing out the candles that littered the small room.

The pair of alicorns ambled down the hallway speaking about what had happened during the last week. Nopony was around, not even the guards, or at least, Cantor didn’t see any. “And Rarity can’t hold her drink whatsoever!” Cantor exclaimed.

“Really, now?” Celestia asked, genuinely slightly amused.

“Well, sort of…” Cantor replied. “I think it’s mostly for attention, but she’s a whole new pony in that mode.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah…” Cantor answered, followed by a hefty pause. “Oh, yeah, did you know what my cutie mark means?”

“I believe so, but we need to go somewhere I haven’t been in well over a hundred years.”

“Where’s that?”

“Right here…” Said Celestia, stopping dead in the middle of the long hallway.

Cantor looked everywhere, behind him, all he saw was the rest of the wide hallway with another branch to the left in which they had come from. In front, the hallway stretched on for at least another twenty metres before a wall with another heavy looking wooden door at it’s base. The moon set in the night sky dyed the concrete around the two ponies a pale, silvery blue. To Cantor’s left, columns forming archways held no glass, allowing the cold air of night to waft in and pool around their hooves. Beyond the archway – like windows, laid a small garden / courtyard. Bushes and hedges lined the paths and strong ivy climbed the walls. Usually vibrant flowers were transformed into varying tones of blue, accentuating the coldness in the outside world.

On his right – hoof side, where Celestia stood, there was a long, detailed portrait of the princess herself. Cantor turned to the other alicorn and asked: “Princess, don’t you ever get… creeped out, having pictures of yourself hanging around?”

Celestia simply smiled. “Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror, Cantor?”

“Yeah…”

“Do you get, as you put it: ‘creeped out’?”

“Only what my imagination makes me scared of.”

“And what’s that?”

Cantor vividly saw the scenario of one of his biggest fears; turning away from a mirror whilst the reflection stayed staring out. “I’d rather not say, if that’s alright…”

“I see…” Celestia replied, her horn glowing and the picture copying the aura. It slid upwards into the roof, revealing a small hole in the wall.

“What’s that?” Asked Cantor, turning in unison with Celestia to face the intriguing slot.

“Something not even my dear sister knows about.” Answered the regal princess, taking a step forward and inserting her long horn into the hole. Cantor erupted into fits of laughter as his teenage mind forced scenarios into his head. The area around the hole glowed a powerful, electric blue, forming symbols which looked like some kind of language. Around it. Cantor quickly lost his immaturity and focused on the beautiful colours and the majesty of the situation.

The wall split into several hundred pieces and fell back into the sides of the wall, revealing a darkened room, light filtering in from a series of mirrors and tiny corridors through the entire castle. “I don’t know what you’re laughing about, Cantor, it’s your turn in a minute.”

The orange maned alicorn exploded into more rapturous laughter before seeing Celestia’s only slightly amused face. “You- you're serious?”

“Yes.” Calmly replied Celestia. “Is something the matter?”

Cantor chuckled deeply. “Your majesty, have I informed you that I am sixteen years of age?”

“I don’t believe you have…”

“Well, I hope you understand that I am… rather immature.” He began to blush.

“I understand, Cantor…” She replied, her smile growing. “I was young once…” She snorted and her smile reached it’s maximum without showing teeth. “My sister, on the other hoof, isn’t as mature as I would hope…”

“We should get on just fine, then!” Cantor joked.

“Indeed.” Celestia returned.

The two alicorns had reached the end of the room where a golden seal bearing six gems of the elements of harmony was etched into the stone. The piece of amethyst in the middle had a hole bored straight through it. “What’s this?” Cantor asked Celestia, who was staring at the floor. The stallion followed her gaze and noticed he was stood atop some sort of mosaic. Gasping, he turned from the image on the floor to the image on his flank, then back to the floor, then once more back to his flank. His cutie mark was identical to the mosaic on the ground beneath his hooves; a slate coloured shield with a golden rim, cracked halfway through starting from the right – hoof side and disappearing behind a purple circle in the centre of the broken shield. Orbiting the purple circle were five other orbs of colour: red at the top followed by orange, green, blue and finally pink in a clockwise order.

“It… It’s my cutie mark…” Stated Cantor.

“Yes.” Replied Celestia, the single word carrying a lot of thought behind it.

“What happens now?” He asked.

“Now,” Celestia said, placing a gold clad hoof on his shoulder, “Now it is your turn…”

Cantor’s eyes shot back to the hole in the beautifully cut amethyst and he shook his head.

“What’s wrong, my child?” Celestia asked kindly, bringing her head level with his.

“You want me to put my horn in there?”

“Yes.”

“But… What will happen?”

“Oh, nothing bad, Cantor!” She laughed, catching on to the other alicorn’s nervous vibes. “In fact, quite the opposite.”

“What do you mean? What’s going to happen.”

“Doing this will be quite a pleasurable sensation.” She removed her hoof from his back and stepped closer to the opening.

”Would you feel more comfortable if I demonstrated what to do?”

“Actually, it’d make me feel a lot better. That is, if you don’t mind…”

“Not at all.” Replied the princess, who proceded to insert her very long horn only halfway into the gap.

Nothing happened.

“Is something supposed to happen?” Asked Cantor, knowing the answer before he even asked the question.

“Not with me…” Replied Celestia, removing her unicorn appendage from the wall. “If everything is right, which given the clear evidence, it is… then this door will only open for you.”

“But.”

“But what?” Cantor asked, now fearful again.

“This door hasn’t been opened since it’s contents – whatever that may be – was installed.” Celestia said, stepping backwards and allowing Cantor to approach the dark hole. "I have absoutely no idea what lies beyond this door."

“How long ago was it closed?”

Celestia carried an obvious sense of awesome wonderment in her voice when she spoke. “Cantor, you and I will be the first living things to gaze upon this room in over thirty seven thousand years.” She beamed, eyes twinkling.

“Wow!” Cantor gasped once again, leaning over not too much so it felt incredibly comfortable, as if the position of this hole was made for somepony of his exact height.

“Ready?” Celestia asked.

“Ready.” Declared Cantor. He slowly pushed the horn atop his head into the wall and felt no resistance until the stone struck his skull. Almost instantly, he felt something pulsing inside him. He felt it travelling up his body from deep within his belly into his chest. His horn glowed, sending an intricate pattern across the surface of the door in glowing blue light. Celestia grew wild with excitement as a mystery that had been with her for over two and a half thousand years was about to be exposed.

“It feels funny…” Cantor Called out.

“You’re doing fine, Cantor! Keep going!” She encouraged.

The stallion was merely conveying information, he had no intention of stopping; this sensation was something he had never felt before: it was as if a warm ray of sunlight was penetrating his soul, filling him with happiness and life. The stallion leaned into the wall, supporting his body as his back legs began to give in to the rising waves of pleasure. He scraped his right hind hoof along the scar on his left canon and snorted in ecstasy, keeping his unicorn anatomy firmly pressed into the slot.

He could feel his horn pulsating as immense amounts of pure energy flowed into the wall, turning gears that hadn’t moved for millennia. With every passing second, the waves of pleasure emanating from his horn and flooding over his body grew more intense. By now the throbbing feeling that began in the pit of his stomach had reached the top of his throat. His body rocked as it travelled upwards and into his brain.

“I feel… Ohhhh!” The stallion groaned as the unusual mass of energy reached his horn and a legendary magic flowed forth. His body shivered a little in the sensuality of the moment and his eyes became disaligned. He stayed inside the wall for a few moments until the feeling began to subside. As the vibrations left him, he pulled out from the door and staggered to the floor, just about noticing the beautifully detailed design that spanned the entire wall, illuminating the two alicorns with it’s azure glow before he fell. The door clunked and millennia year old air rushed out, blowing it’s stale smell across the two alicorns. The wall split in two, bisecting the wondrous hole in half and opening into the ancient room.

Celestia placed herself at Cantor’s side, merely watching and blushing immensely as she watched the twitches of pleasure leave what she was sure of now would be the savoir of her world. The young stallion’s eyes opened and in catching the embarrassed expression on the princess’ face, he too flushed completely red. “Oh, Princess… I, uh…” He was panting and his tongue was still flopped lazily from his mouth. He drew himself up as best he could, though he still breathed heavily and was still blushing violently. “Did what I think just happened… just happen?”

Celestia nodded.

“I’m sorry, princess, I guess I just… got a bit carried away… Though it’s incredibly embarrassing to say… that was the best feeling I’ve had in my entire life!”

Celestia laughed in amused joy towards his excited frame of mind. “Oh, Cantor… any doubt I had about you is now gone. I believe you are a wonderful pony and I am honoured to call you my friend.”

Cantor’s face lost some of it’s colour as he realised he had befriended the most respected pony alive. “Thank you, princess.” He said with a bow. “Now… should we?” He asked, nodding in the direction of the open doorway.

“Oh, yes!” Celestia cried in immense excitement, the sound of her fillyhood reminding her that, even now, there were still mysteries to be uncovered.

“Did you know that was going to happen?” He asked, playfully accusing the princess as they approached the doorway.

“I didn’t expect you to react in such a way, no…” she replied, still blushing intently. “Though I must say I’m envious…” Her sensual side flashed through her consciousness before she forced it back into it’s cage.

“Don’t be, princess. I feel as if I’ve lost my virginity to a wall…” Cantor laughed.

Celestia giggled too. “Young sir, I don’t expect I need to tell you that that doesn’t count…”

“Okay, princess…” Cantor replied, his heavy blush returning.

“Oh, my…” Gasped the princess as she peered through the doorway. A seemingly infinite void of darkness stretched out in front of her. She looked down towards the gold plate beneath her own golden shoes at the inscription. To Cantor, it was simply a jumble of scratches and symbols, but Celestia knew the ancient tongue.

“What does that-“ Cantor started, but was interrupted by Celestia.

“The Rife shall banish the darkness from within thyself.” She frowned, puzzled by what that sentence could mean. “What do you think, Cantor?” She asked, squinting into the darkness.

Cantor cringed at the void; the thought of spindly creatures sprinting from the cover of black, screeching the agonies of hell filled him with anxiety. He forced those thoughts out of his mind, replacing them with the knowledge that he had extremely powerful magic with which to defend himself.

“There’s only one way to find out, princess…” He sighed, looking up at the princess’ wise eyes.

Celestia took in a breath through her nose and held it there. “Let’s go.” She said.

The two alicorns stepped into the darkness and could faintly see something rising from the floor. Cantor hurried over to it and looked down upon it. It looked like some sort of bird bath, but really shallow, and not filled with water.

“Hey, princess, what is this?” He asked, pointing to the liquid barely visible in the small basin. Without hesitation, princess Celestia dipped the tip of her hoof in it and gave it a smell.

“And?...” Cantor asked, watching the princess’ face twist at the stench. “What is it!?” Cantor shrieked.

“It’s emulice.” She replied quickly, removing the golden shoe she had touched it with using magic and placing it carefully outside the dark room, into the one they came in from. "I expected that."

Cantor wondered how many ponies had seen the princess’ bare hoof other than herself. “What is… ‘emulice’?” Asked Cantor, puzzled.

“It’s the rarest resource known to ponykind; it’s extremely flammable and a single drop can burn for years.” She answered.

“The Rife shall banish the darkness…” Cantor echoed the message on the plaque below the ancient door. “We got a lot of darkness; gonna need a big fire…”

Before Celestia could react, Cantor lit the emulice in the dish and the flame travelled down the column the bowl stood on. Both the princess and Cantor stepped back, watching as the fuel ignited and spread out across the room in a spider web design from groves filled with the precious liquid cut into the floor. The fire moved into the room, lighting the walls and banishing the darkness from the place. The trail of fire reached the end of the room and appeared to climb the wall, creating a tribal design as more emulice burned. The fire circulated and presented proudly a stone orb on a short pedestal cut into a box in the wall. Celestia’s mouth fell open and her eyes were fixed on the large stone ball.

“What’s that?” Cantor asked as he trotted with Celestia towards the ’treasure’.

“Good heavens! The legend was true!” She awed.

“Wait, what legend?” Asked the stallion.

“It’s only a short one; legend has it that among the six elements, there is a seventh.”

“Wait, wait… So you’re telling me that the sixth element, ‘magic’ was the most elusive element around before Twilight discovered it…”

“Yes…”

“And that now there is a seventh!?”

“I believed the legend as much as I knew the element even existed.” Celestia replied. “I suppose it would have made sense, you know, seven being the most powerful magical number.”

“So… you didn’t even know it existed until now?”

“There was only the legend to go by, rumours, a myth, if you will.”

“What was the legend?”

“That there was a seventh element.” Celestia replied blankly. “That’s it.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it… You can probably see why I was sceptical…”

“I do, princess…”

“So what is this element?” Asked Cantor, examining the stone ball around the size of a watermelon, a broken shield carved into the front of it.

“I think you already know the answer to that…” Celestia replied, the fire burning around them caused her eyes to flicker as brightly as Cantor’s did even in the dead of night.

“I do know what it is…” Cantor replied, his eyes reflecting the fiery passion in his soul as he turned to face the princess.

“Sacrifice.”

Present day…

“You can’t go out like that.” Twilight Sparkle protested from under a dark grey hood.

“Why not?” Asked Cantor from the other side of the red door.

“Because, Cantor, there are foals out tonight, and you look horrendous…”

“Well you’re carrying a weapon!”

“It’s a scythe. It’s part of my costume. And for the record, it’s a tool, not a weapon.”

“It’s sharp, it’s pointy, it’s a weapon.”

“In that sense, anything can be a weapon.”

“That’s true. And on another note, you’re worried about me scaring foals, what about you? All the old ponies are gonna think the grim reaper has come to collect their souls.”

“It’s just a costume. They’ll know that.”

“Well won’t everypony know mine’s a costume too?”

Twilight sighed. “I suppose so…”

Cantor smiled in satisfaction that he had won. “But,” Said Twilight, “you’ve been hanging around with Rainbow and Pinkie a lot the last week. I think you’re plotting something.” She half closed her eyes and smiled softly.

“So, we’re… going to do a little prank… that’s what this whole night’s about.” Replied Cantor, putting on his most convincing grin.

“Who are you going to prank?” Twilight demanded, leaning towards the alicorn slightly.

“It’s uhhh… a public prank…”

“So this ‘little prank’ is going to be on the entire town?”

“In a word, yes.”

Twilight became thoughtful for a moment before accepting that it was all just fun and games.

“Alright. As long as nopony gets hurt.”

“Of course not. We’ve even rehearsed it!”

Twilight giggled into her blackened hoof.

“Spike! Are you ready yet!?” Yelled the unicorn towards the bathroom door, the sound of flushing ensued and out ran a large, bright orange pumpkin with a dragon’s head, arms, legs and tail protruding from the appropriate holes. It was a squeeze through the door and the costume deformed at the sides a little before the humorous creature popped through the doorway.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Spike called as he waddled towards the two ponies. “Do you know how hard it is to pee in this thing!?”

“Spare me the details…” Said Twilight, holding up a hoof and turning away. She was dressed as the grim reaper, scythe and everything. She had borrowed the ‘tool’ from Applejack, who would be running certain apple – orientated games on this night.

Fluttershy had barricaded herself inside her cottage and nopony could find out why she didn’t accept that they were merely costumes. Celestia knows what Rarity was up to. The posh unicorn probably didn’t want to partake in such degrading activities. Though if she did want to, her costume would be the best by far in terms of quality. Cantor however was definitely a sight to be seen… he was slashed with fake blood. It dribbled from his mouth and covered his rump, obscuring his easily recognisable cutie mark to any police ponies that may be in the area at the time.

“All set?” Asked Twilight, opening her door to reveal a partially cloudy night. Luna had done a fantastic job of the night sky, lighting every star as brightly as she could and drawing the moon close enough to appear massive, but still rather far away so as to not disrupt Equestria’s gravity.

“Alright, let’s go!” Said Cantor, motioning for Twilight to exit first. The unicorn left her house, flicking the light switch on the way out, throwing the library into total darkness, causing it to blend into the rest of the town. Twilight locked the door after Cantor left and Spike shut it harshly.

“I’ll see you later, Twilight.” Cantor called as he opened his huge, scraggly wings for flight, they too were drenched with ‘blood’.

“Be careful, Cantor…” Twilight replied as the alicorn too off into the night, quickly becoming absorbed into the darkness.

Twilight smiled to herself. “Let’s go, Spike.” She said as she turned and walked slowly towards the centre of town where she would probably spend the night chatting with Applejack. Her long, grey hooded cloak trailed behind her and as she pulled the heavy hood over her head, her face was thrown into shadow and her costume looked really genuine. The humorous pumpkin bounced along behind her. Still not grasping the concept of ‘Nightmare’ night.

Cantor silently cruised through the air, flapping his wings only three or four times in his entire journey to Rainbow Dash’s home. Along the way, he admired the night sky and relished in the cool night breeze that blew his rusty, blood coated mane behind him as he flew. The blue pegasus was stood on the edge of her cloud home, eagerly awaiting one of the biggest pranks she had pulled in her life. She rocked on her hooves and stared out across the pitch blackness. Most ponies’ lights were out and she lived above an unlit pathway. It was needless to say visibility was poor. A more suitable word would be blinding. The biggest light source was the town centre where a bonfire burned brightly, thrashing the thatched houses around with flickering images of ponies. The thump of a base speaker could be heard, but the music it was playing was unclear.

She was so focused on looking for an enormous winged alicorn approaching her house that she didn’t notice him creeping up silently behind her until he breathed demonically into her ear, to which she reacted involuntarily and bucked him with the strength of an athlete in his chest.

“Oohhhhh…” He groaned as the blow had knocked some of the wind out of him.

“Oh, Celestia! I’m sorry Cantor!” She fretted whilst still laughing.

“It’s alright, Rainbow, at least we know that I’m good at scaring ponies.” Replied the alicorn, rubbing his chest better.

Rainbow laughed some more before speaking. “So, ya ready?”

“Ready, let me just put my teeth in.” Cantor replied. Popping a pair of plastic fangs into his mouth and slipping his real teeth in-between the plastic gap. “oh-hay” He managed to mumble around the dentures.

Rainbow simply chucked and showed off by back flipping off of the cloud and soaring towards the town. Her spectral hair containing considerably more red through it. She landed just outside the town centre and began galloping towards it, allowing one of her wings to fall limply at her side. Blood covering the joint between the base of her wing and her back, leaving a long trail that rolled down her side to under her belly. She put on a limp and forced herself to cry.

As Cantor flew silently above, he admitted to himself that she was an incredibly talented actor. She looked like she had just been attacked by a wild animal. Which was good as everypony else would buy it instantly, even on a night like this if she screamed well enough. The blood strewn alicorn took his place on a cloud he had positioned beforehoof and waited for his cue. His deep red hooves dropped over the edge of the cloud and he peered downwards adamantly at the show.

The town centre was filled with happy, dancing ponies. There was special Nightmare Night music blaring from two large speakers on stage. It’s tempo upbeat and light-hearted, but with an eerie echo in the background. Ponies in all mannerisms of costumes bobbed up and down in time with the beat while others merely chatted and laughed with one another. It was around ten at night and the occasional wisp of cloud passed across the enormous moon, making them appear brown against the great stone in the sky.

“HEEEELP!” Came a horrific cry from somewhere outside of the town. The music silenced and everypony turned to where the incomprehensive screams were resonating from. “SOMEPONY PLEASE HELP ME!!!” Screamed a blue pegasus bolting into the town and stopping beside the large bonfire. Tears streamed from her panicky eyes and she seemed to not be putting pressure on her right foreleg.

“What’s wrong, dear!?” Asked a frantic mare dressed as a witch, rushing to the pegasus’ side and supporting her. The rainbow haired pony’s breath sounded raspy and panicked as she spoke.

“Please! Please help me!” Pleaded the frantic pegasus.

“What happened!? Who did this to you!?”

“HIM!” She screamed before spluttering and dribbling copious amounts of blood from her mouth all down her chest. The amber coloured witch jumped backwards and into the crowd of ponies that had gathered. The blue and red pegasus chocked for two more seconds before collapsing to the ground, eyes frozen open in pure horror.

“Rainbow!” Cried a hysterical pink mare who pushed her way through the crowd and threw herself onto her dead, blood – covered friend and sobbed loudly into her ruined mane. The whole crowd felt sympathy for the pony as she wailed.

Suddenly a large red and white being slammed into the ground from seemingly nowhere, causing the earth to tremble. The ring of ponies huddled around the earth pony and dead pegasus gasped as he looked up with burning orange eyes, accentuated by the bonfire and filled with rage. He turned to the pink pony and bent his ears behind his head. The bouncy – maned pony turned around and made eye contact with the creature. His eyes infiltrated her soul and burned through her eyes like red-hot needles.

The white beast raised his wings above his head, making him as tall as three ponies stood on each other’s back. The out of place and bent feathers too were covered in blood, dipped his head to the floor and growled like a dog, baring large white fangs set into raging red gums. The pink mare squealed in fright as he made the five metre gap between the two in one great bounding leap. He soared just above the two, landing just far enough to be able to build up a decent speed to smash into the terrified pony, sinking his large canines into her soft neck and tearing her away from her embrace with her rainbow – maned friend.

She screamed for all it was worth as the large white stallion gnawed fiercely at the smaller pony’s throat, making all the savage growls and snarls a rabid dog would make as he dug his teeth further inside the mare. The crowd did nothing but watch helplessly in petrified fear and disbelief as blood flowed like a fountain from the gashes in the Earth pony’s neck. Her screams of terror and pain grew more intense as her hooves scrambled uselessly at the face of her attacker. He scraped her along the ground, twisting and shaking his head violently, whipping up a dust cloud with the young pony. The muscles in his powerful neck became defined as he bit harder. He placed a large hoof on her heaving chest and pulled his head back forcefully, tearing out the entirety of the mare’s throat, leaving the blood gushing out of her as she lie gagging on the floor before falling silent herself, covered in her own arterial blood.

The blood-splattered alicorn turned slowly around the group, making evil eye contact with everypony there, sending them galloping into the night, wailing out of intense fear for their own lives. The bloody creature dropped the piece of flesh from his mouth in a horrifying glaring smile, thick red liquid pouring from his mouth and dripping to the floor below.

The ponies darted into their houses and bolted their doors shut. The messy alicorn strode over to his kills. He bent down to where the pink one lay on the ground and laughed manically. The two dead ponies also burst out in fits of laughter. The only inhabitants of the centre laughed on the floor together, their bodies warmed by the tall fire in the otherwise chilly night.

They laughed hysterically for a solid minute. Clutching their stomachs that ached from the strenuous laughter. As the stallion’s laughs began to lessen, his attention was drawn to the looks of horror worn on his now standing friend’s faces, their wide eyes focused on something behind him. He immediately lost his humour and rolled onto his hooves to come face to face with an unamused looking unicorn.

“Oh, hi Twilight…” He said sheepishly.

“It’s been less than five minutes... LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES!” Growled the purple unicorn through gritted teeth. “I let you out of my sight for FIVE MINUTES and already I see a pony rush past me screaming that you were killing everypony!” It was plain to the alicorn that she was not impressed. “What in Equestria were you thinking!?”

The stallion had no idea how to respond. His intention was to give the entire town a fright, not throw Ponyville into widespread panic. “It was just the prank…” Was all he could manage to say.

“That’s the prank. THAT’S THE PRANK!?” She asked, voice rising to new levels of danger and anger.

“Yeah.” Replied the bloodstained alicorn.

“Cantor! Everypony’s barricaded themselves inside their homes. I can’t stress how lucky you are that the foals were in the forest with Zecora! They would have been scarred for life! I can only imagine what happened here!” She yelled, clocking the two mares behind him. “And you two! Don’t think I’m any less angry with you!” She shoved Cantor out of the way, glaring at the two fearful mares in front of her. “I am furious with all of you! Think of what Luna is going to-“

The raging unicorn was silenced by regal chuckling behind her. She turned around to see who was finding humour in this dire situation. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw a dark blue alicorn smiling and laughing as her mane which resembled the night sky flowed in front of her. “Princess Luna?” Asked Twilight as the spirit of night approached the other four ponies.

“You three!” She exclaimed in glee. “You three really had me going for a second!”

Cantor, Pinkie and Rainbow looked nervously at each other, none of them knowing how to react to Luna’s expression.

“With all due respect, princess,” Twilight started, by now she had removed the hood from her head and it hung limply over her shoulders. “The whole town is in panic! How can you laugh at that!?”

The princess ignored her question and spoke to the three blood splattered pranksters. “I’ve pulled some practical jokes in my long time, and few could compare to what I have witnessed tonight! Well done you three!”

The jokers gazed up at the princess and smiled. Cantor was the first to address her. “Well, thank you, princess.” He gave a slight bow of his head. “I guess we should tell everypony everything’s alright though…”

“Indeed.” Replied Luna as she turned and bellowed with the royal Canterlot voice: “HEAR ME VILLAGERS! THERE IS NO NEED TO BE AFRAID! PLEASE RETURN FROM YOUR HOMES SO WE CAN ENJOY THE REST OF THE NIGHT!”

As she shouted, a wind picked up from nowhere and the ground shook.

“Maybe Luna’s an elemental too…” Thought Cantor to himself.

One by one, the doors of the Ponyville residents opened slowly and their inhabitants gingerly peeked out. When they noticed the princess smiling next to the pony who they thought was on some kind of rampage, the two ponies he ‘killed’ stood behind and laughing too, their fear dispelled slightly and they exited their homes. Gradually, a crowd gathered in a horseshoe shape around the princess.

“Villagers,” Spoke Luna in her normal voice. “I wish to point out that the scene you just witnessed was simply a Nightmare Night 'show' performed by these three ponies.” The residents of Ponyville turned their attention to the smiling alicorn, Earth and pegasus team and were sceptical before Luna added: “Let’s give them a round of applause!”

Everypony cheered and stomped their hooves on the ground, clearing the fear and returning the spirit to this night. Cantor turned to the two mares who were also involved and beamed. They too smiled at the appreciation. “Now let’s get this celebration resumed!” Declared Luna, yelling into her night as the cheers of the ponies increased and the music restarted, returning electric joy to the air.

“See, Twilight?” Said Cantor. “Everything turned out fine…”

Twilight groaned in her throat. “I suppose…” She murmured.

Her face suddenly grew a smile. “You three look awful – but awful in a good way; those costumes are… gross…” Her attention was drawn more to the gaping hole in Pinkie Pie’s throat. “How did you do that to your neck?”

“Cantor did it with a spell.” She replied.

“Oh, and what spell would that be?” Implored the unicorn, her tone becoming foreboding.

“It was in a big book of black magic I found in the restricted section of the library.” Cantor replied, hatching a scheme in his mind for when the conversation got dangerous.

“You went in the restricted section!?” Twilight exclaimed, beginning to redden around her cheeks.

“Well, yeah, I mean it is a library…” Reasoned the white alicorn. “And besides, I’ve seen you let ponies go in there before…”

“Yes, Cantor, but those ponies were…” She couldn’t think of another word, so she just went all out and said it. “...Perverts.”

“Ah, yes… While I was looking for that magic book, I came across some very interesting titles…” Cantor returned, raising an eyebrow.

“You didn’t!” Twilight asked in huge embarrassment and shock.

“I didn’t read any, no, but they sure looked interesting.”

The stallion cast a glance towards the princess before continuing. “’Futa gash splash’… I’ll have to give that one a go…”

“Don’t you dare!” Growled Twilight, blushing even more intensely.

“I think I just might…” Replied Cantor, dropping his eyelids halfway. Pinkie and Dash were in fits of laughter behind him.

“Don’t worry, Twilight… I wont…” He gave a trusting wink.

“Please don’t. I’d hate it if Spike found anything like that.” Said Twilight, her face returning to purple.

“I promise I’ll only go in there if I have to…”

“Which shouldn’t be ever.”

“Okay…”

“Anyway, you never did tell me what that spell was…”

“Yeah… it was something about making artificial flesh, with blood and everything!”

“That’s really dark magic!” Cried Twilight in mild protest. “What if it had’ve gone wrong? You could have killed pinkie!”

“I thought of that. She’s wearing a metal neck brace so I couldn’t bite her real neck.”

“Okay… Well I’m glad you thought it through…” The unicorn sighed in relief. “Let’s just enjoy the rest of the night…”

“Yes, lets!” Added Luna from in front of the fire.

The group of five ponies spent the rest of the night together, engaging in all the activities like apple bobbing, where Applejack winced at the sight of the three ponies. For the orange Earth pony had set up her stall slightly after the prank took place and it was a lot of fun to relay the reaction they received to her.

“Well I’m not surprised everypony reacted like that!” She yelled. “That sounds a tad too gory, even fer me!” Though she sounded distressed, she couldn’t hide her laughter. “I must say, you did a good job! I don’t reckon this town’ll be forgettin’ this Nightmare Night for a long while!”

The celebration aged on into the early hours of the morning. Many ponies had already gone to bed, but a few stayed back to help out, interested in talking more with the male alicorn who still only ‘recently’ arrived in their town.

“All things taken into account,” Said Twilight aloud as Pinkie Pie pulled her head from a bucket filled with Icy water, a crispy red apple grasped in her teeth, “This has been a really great night!” Everypony agreed and went about their conversations. The music had long since ceased and the only sounds were the gentle ambient crackles and pops from the glowing embers at the bottom of the once raging bonfire.

Don't Know What You've Got Until It's Gone

Chapter 13: Don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone

The next moth flew by so quickly for Cantor; he lived each day to it’s fullest, kept his job up and even started paying rent to Twilight. Everything in his life was pointing in the right direction, and as he stood there in the dressing room in Rarity’s boutique with his seven other friends in the afternoon before the Grand Galloping Gala, he became excited towards the night that quickly approached.

“I still think it’s a little awkward to have him in my dressing room with us…” Rarity whispered to Twilight as she tapped at her face with a powder puff. "I mean Spike's bad enough... But he's a stallion..."

Twilight cast her gaze from her vanity mirror to the one Cantor was looking into, practicing different types of smiles. “Rarity,” She started, “Look at him. Does he look like the perverted type?”

The white unicorn turned also to look at the alicorn posing in front of the mirror. “I guess not…” She replied with some sense of gratitude.

“Besides,” Twilight added, “We don’t usually wear clothes. If he was going to look, he would have done already.

“Ahhh…” Rarity sighed in charmed understanding. “A true gentlecolt, nothing like Blueblood; he was just a… a…”

“Dick?” Asked Applejack.

“That’s… one word…” Rarity replied, casting her eyes back to her mirror.

“Jus’ let it go.” Applejack spoke, trying to reassure her unicorn friend. “I mean sure he treated ya bad for one night two years ago, think yourself lucky his ‘I get my own way because I’m prince’ attitude didn’t reach a worse level.” She tipped her head and raised her eyebrows to empower her point.

“Whatever do you mean, Applejack?” Asked the white mare.

“You know what I mean…” The tan Earth pony spoke with a danger filled tone, like a mother would speaking to her daughter about the world she had tried to protect her from. “You know what stallions are like…”

“Hey!” Cantor, who had been idly listening to the conversation whist pretending to do important things in the mirror piped up.

“Sorry, Cantor…” Applejack replied with a chuckle. “You know what A LOT of stallions are like…” Cantor smiled and returned to idly amusing himself in the mirror to which he had been doing for the past hour.

“Let’s just do what we think is fun this year, okay? None of these ‘opportunities’ we all fell for last year and the year before that.” Rainbow chimed in from her hair-dryer.

“Rainbow’s right. If we all jus’ stay in our group, this time, we’ll all have a darn good time!” Declared the farm pony.

“Agreed.” Said Twilight. “Are you going to be staying with us for the night, Cantor?”

“Um…” Said the stallion, turning from his mirror to face the unicorn. “Sorry, but princess Luna said she has some ‘fun things’ planned for tonight…”

The girls all stifled laughs and turned bright red. It took Cantor a second to catch on. “Oh, not like that, you immature little fillies…” he said, blushing a little himself.

Applejack took it upon herself to close the conversation. “Okay, well you two have fun.” She scoffed, “Whatever you end up doing…” The ‘baby’ dragon and all of the ponies, even the innocent little Fluttershy laughed at this point until the room returned to the peaceful state it was in before.

“Hey, guys, have you seen this!?” Asked Rainbow Dash peering up from her gossip magazine.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash, don’t believe anything you read in “Oh, Hay!” magazine, but if you must, please try to bear in mind that the articles in there are just over-exaggerated pieces of nonsense.” Rarity conjectured, waving a painted hoof in the air.

Everypony stared at her and Twilight announced the elephant in the room. “Rarity, you read Oh, Hay… how can you criticize Rainbow for reading it too?”

“I merely read it for it’s entertainment value! It’s so fun to get an insight into celebrity ponies’ personal lives!” Rarity replied, grinning and making a ‘squee’.

Again, everypony looked at each other in disbelief. And again, Twilight was the one to speak. “How can you say that Rarity? Do you remember Gabby Gums?”

“Oh, how could I forget!?” Cried Rarity in mock distress.

“You should think yourself lucky that everypony thought she wrote lies, otherwise they would all know about your fantasies with Fancy Pants.” Scorned Twilight.

The white unicorn’s face flooded with redness as she was accused of writing filth. “Now THAT was a lie.” She protested. “The false eyelashes, getting my teeth whitened, hell, I’ll say it: my hair’s not naturally purple. Those were all the embarrassing truth. But I would NEVER write down my desires with anypony, not even in my diary. My fantasies are locked away up here.” She angrily made clear, jabbing her hoof in the direction of her head, but not actually making contact.

“Wait a sec, are you tellin’ us that three fillies wrote about somethin’ like that!?” Cried Applejack in mild outrage.

“To her defence, Applejack,” Pinkie Pie spoke up, “The article I read wasn’t that… Explicit… I don’t think they quite knew what they were writing about…”

“To be honest with ya’,” Said the blonde earth pony, “I only read mine an’ Big Mac’s article… so I can’t really criticise…”

“Trust me, AJ, it was very… ‘misinformed’…” Pinkie added.

“Well alright. But seriously, Rarity, you don’t like ponies reading about your personal life, so don’t take so much enjoyment out a' reading 'bout theirs.” Said Applejack as if she were telling off her foal.

“I see…” Rarity replied, dropping her eyes to the sink below the mirror. “I’m sorry…”

“T’aint nothin’ Rarity, we all do things we ain’t proud of…” Applejack said, giving the white unicorn a warming glance when she looked back up. “Sorry, Rainbow,” The orange mare continued, “What was that article about that you said?”

“Oh, nothing really,” The blue pegasus replied. “Just something about the primitive parts in a pony’s brain that makes us attracted to each other.” She said this looking at Pinkie, who shyly met her gaze. “Nothing important, really… It just looked… ‘sciencey’…” she licked the tip of her hoof and turned the page.

“By the way, Rarity, I can’t thank you enough for that suit you made me. It’s absolutely perfect!” Cantor said, looking into the mirror at the reflection of the white unicorn seated behind him.

“Think nothing of it, dear.” Replied Rarity. “I made all of my friends’ outfits for the gala and you are no exception.” She and Cantor exchanged smiles before he turned back to the mirror, taking a nice, long look at the handsome black and white suit that hung in a plastic bag from the rim of the mirror.

Cantor gasped in astonishment as the six mares followed each other out of Rarity’s doorway, all adorned in earrings, jewelled necklaces and flowing ball gowns. “You look stunning!...” He said with wonderment to the group, drawing bashful giggles from each lady.

“And I must say, Cantor, you look rather dashing yourself…” Rarity commented, admiring the well-built stallion wearing her work of art.

“It feels great to be wearing something that had wing – holes.” Thought Cantor gratefully, not missing the cramped sensation that old vest bore. His time in Ponyville, eating nothing but vegetables, flying nearly enough everywhere and keeping a demanding job had made him rather fit. His muscles were slightly defined, even when they were relaxed. But the alicorn had nothing on Big Macintosh. He had met the stallion twice before and he certainly lived up to his name; he was built like a tank, his legs, back and neck were rock solid when he relaxed and when he tensed to buck an apple tree, his entire body bulged with mighty muscles.

The alicorn turned to face their transport. “How are we all going to fit inside that!?” Exclaimed Cantor, an expression of shock worn on his face as he observed the small white carriage.

“You’d be surprised, Cantor; these things are huge inside.” Replied Twilight with a sly wink. The seven ponies and one dragon stood outside the carriage and stared into the distance. They could see the tips of the cliffs being illuminated by flashes of colour, accompanied by the distant rumbles of magical fireworks.

“Right, shall we go?...” Asked Rarity, looking around the group who were all checking their own dresses.

“All set, I think, girls?” Asked Twilight, eager to get going.

“Yup!” Answered Applejack. “You ready, Rainbow?”

“Ready.” She answered. “Pinkie?”

“Ooh I can’t wait!” Exclaimed the pink party mare. “How about you, Fluttershy?”

“I’m looking forward to tonight.” Softly, but in no way shyly answered the butter coloured pegasus.

“Ladies?” Said Cantor, standing on his hind legs and holding the slender door open for the mares. They each thanked him as they entered. “Come on, Spike.” He beckoned to the small dragon, wearing a rather fetching tuxedo himself, differing from Cantor's in that he wore a red bowtie around his neck and unlike the alicorn, his outfit didn’t have a bottom half. Cantor also felt lucky it wasn’t customary to wear neckties, this way he could breathe more easily and show off his muscular neck which rose from the shirt above the three unbuttoned points.

“Thanks, Cantor.” Spike delivered as he hopped inside the carriage. The alicorn quickly followed him inside. Shortly after signalling to the… horses to begin the journey, Cantor closed the door and turned around to find a large round room, easily five metres across.

“But, what does, how’d you, it’s bigger… huh!?” The stallion stammered as he took in the impossible surroundings. The walls were a bright red, adorned with mirrors and shelves filled with books. The only window was the one set in the door behind him, allowing a refreshing breeze to cruise through the warm room. Three ponies each sat on the velvet sofas on either side of the room. Rarity, Twilight and Applejack perched on one, chattering excitedly amongst themselves. Pinkie and Dash sat next to each other on the opposite red seat, engaged in quick conversation. Fluttershy watched from the side, smiling broadly as an attempt to look included.

Two wingback armchairs rested at the back of the room. It would have been dark inside the impossible carriage, but the honest to Celestia crystal chandelier suspended from the ceiling threw light over the entire room. Gawping in awe, Cantor awkwardly placed himself in the armchair closest to Fluttershy, muttering "I love magic..." at the same time as Spike who settled a lot more easily into the chair next to the glamorous Rarity.

After several minutes of gazing around the dazzling scenery, Cantor finally found his voice and turned to Fluttershy. “This is a gorgeous cabin, isn’t it, Fluttershy?”

“Huh?” Asked the pegasus who had become engrossed with her own silky smooth mane. Before the night, she had quietly sat in the corner of the dressing room brushing her mane. By the time the other ponies were ready, she had counted one thousand, two hundred and sixty six strokes of the brush. Her hair was as smooth and shiny as it could possibly be and it fell over her shoulders and spread out over her back like a long pink waterfall, accentuating the delicate petals and jewelled hairpins with which it was adorned.

“I said this carriage; it’s beautiful…” Cantor repeated.

“Oh, my yes it is…” Replied the pegasus, now enjoying herself even more that somepony was talking to her. “Actually, I’ve been looking forward to the Gala for a long time now. The castle is such a nice place to be…” She closed her eyes and sighed contently at the memories.

“I hope it’s not… too fancy… I don’t think a pony like me would fit in around really up-tight ones.”

“Not really, everypony just stays in their own little groups and talks to their friends…”

“Oh, that’s good." The stallion said with a relieved and proud sigh. "Well, I’m sure we’ll all have a great time tonight!”

The echoes of explosions wafted through the air accompanied by showers of crackles. Cantor found himself hanging out of the window gazing in awe at the colours and lights bursting in the beautiful night sky.

“You’ve outdone yourself yet again, Luna…” He remarked happily to himself as the carriage began to slow. The horses whinnied and reared a little when they stopped. Cantor pushed the door open and hopped out, standing on his hind legs and using the door as a support. He held it open as the girls stepped out.

“Can horses talk?” He asked the carriage pullers. When he received a powerful snort as a response, he assumed the answer to be no and turned his attention back to the mares who now stood in amazement at the brightly lit castle. Magical spotlights illuminated it’s walls and every single spire in a brilliant white. The wind was gentle, but strong enough to make the flags flutter carelessly atop their poles.

“Wow! This is the third time I’ve been at the Gala, and I never get tired of seeing that!” Twilight squealed in excitement as the group merged in with the other approaching ponies along the cobbled pathway to the Castle’s main entrance. Cantor hastily withdrew an expensive cologne from his jacket’s inside pocket and sprayed two quick squirts on either side of his neck. The fragrant smell of cut grass hit him again as he took a long inhale and slipped the glass bottle back into his pocket. This particular scent stood out from the rest in the shop for more than one reason. One of those reasons being it reminded him of Spring. He didn’t know if that was considered appropriate for early December, and frankly, he didn’t care; he liked the smell, it suited him and that was mainly all that mattered to him.

Putting on his best smile – which wasn’t too hard to do on this night – he caught up with the mares, watching the fireworks explode into cacophonous showers of coloured sparks, delivering with them the most amazing crackles and booms. To his surprise, Fluttershy seemed unfazed by the loud noises, but he didn’t question it, maybe she was putting on a brave face, or maybe she just wasn’t scared at all. Humming “At The Gala”, Cantor observed the areal acrobatics team Rainbow Dash had been talking about non – stop for the last three weeks. And he had to admit, they truly were a sight. The Wonderbolts pulled into extremely tight turns at ridiculous speeds, leaving a trail of thick smoke and white electricity behind them as they flew.

The night was perfect; the temperature was cool and refreshing for ponies who needed a break from the party to stand outside and breathe the fresh night air. The castle itself was somehow really warm, whether that was air conditioning or some kind of spell, it didn’t matter. It was as if the castle was greeting the guests with it’s warmth as princess Celestia was, stood at the top of a small flight of stairs, a red carpet stretched tightly beneath her. Somehow, she looked even more beautiful than Cantor had ever seen before. Not cute – beautiful, or sexy – beautiful, just… beautiful.

“My little ponies!” Exclaimed the regal princess as the couple in front if their group made their way to the right and into the ballroom. “So lovely to see you all again!”

“You too, princess. Thank you for inviting us.” Replied Twilight, bowing gracefully along with her friends.

“It’s my pleasure, Twilight.” Celestia beamed, her face radiated compassion and serenity. “Enjoy the night.” The seven ponies and Spike turned to the right to approach the ballroom where all the main events would be held. “Oh, Cantor.” Came Celestia’s voice from behind the stallion.

“Yes, princess?” He asked softly.

“My sister is waiting for you in the royal booth overlooking the ballroom. Just take these stairs to the left, first door on the right.” She instructed, waving her hoof in no helpful manner inches from the floor. “That will take you to another hallway: the royal booth is the third door on the right.”

“Got it.” Replied Cantor with a nod. “Thanks princess…”

“Don’t mention it.” She replied, her expression unchanging. “Welcome to the Gala, I’m so glad you could join us…” Celestia spoke to the next pair of guests as they watched the other alicorn cross behind Celestia and ascend the other flight of stairs.

He noticed the ponies staring at him as he walked. Cantor stopped halfway up the stairs and gave a firm nod to nopony in particular, accompanied by a greeting and farewell at the same time: “Evening.”

Cantor climbed the flight of stairs. The corridor cut to the right and an ominous darkness flowed out. Candles and chandeliers illuminated the parts of the castle the quests were allowed access too. Though the darkness made him a little wary, this was dampened by the fact that he felt like a V.I.P. (Very Important Pony) Amused with this notion, he crossed the hallway to a door on the right. Compared to other doors in this castle, this one seemed tiny in comparison, even though it was built large enough so that Celestia could enter without having to duck. Cantor opened the dark, very old looking door with his magic. He expected the old black rivets in it to creak with age, but they remained silent. Cantor couldn’t work out whether this would have made the sight on the other side of the door creepier or not.

The alicorn stood there for a moment, staring down the nearly pitch black hallway, the only light coming from the entrance he stood in. He lit a small flame just in front of his face and entered the corridor, shutting the door behind him, dampening the sound of the classical band to that of a muffled whisper. The only light was his own, and it didn’t light the way any more than a few feet in front of him. He counted one door on his right, then another, then the stallion crossed a mirror. He screamed like a filly at his own reflection and the light went out. In the second he was squeezed by the darkness, he could have sworn he heard footsteps – not hoofsteps – footsteps.

He set another larger portion of air on fire and looked all around him quickly. In front, behind, left and right… he hesitated before looking up. But nothing was there, no monsters, no ghosts, just a darkened roof. He sighed in relief before turning to the door Luna was waiting in. Cantor gripped the door with magenta magic, and as soon as it cracked open, the sound of relaxing classical music met his ears once more. The room in front of him reminded the alicorn very much of the carriage he had taken to arrive here. There lay a small wall blocking his view of the dance floor and an entry at either side of the candlelit divider. He turned right and, extinguishing the flame in front of him, peeked his head around the corner to see a radiant princess Luna sitting on her haunches, smiling and looking out at a particular point in the ballroom.

“Good evening, princess.” Said Cantor, causing the princess to jump at the unexpected intrusion.

“Oh! Hello there, Cantor.” She replied, rising to her hooves upon which she wore her shimmering silver shoes.

“You’re looking even more gorgeous than usual tonight, princess.” The stallion complimented with a royal bow.

“Thank you, sir…” She replied with a blush. “And please, call me Luna.”

“Alright.”

“So I suppose you’re wondering what we’re going to do tonight?”

“Um, yeah… kind of…”

Luna giggled. “Hard for a white pony to hide his blush, isn’t it?”

Cantor hadn’t noticed his face heating up when the princess asked that. “Oh, come on, Luna…” The white alicorn replied bashfully, partly because of her approach, but also because she was one of the princesses and had great social power in which he didn’t know how to safely retaliate to.

“Cantor, come here!” She beckoned with her hoof eagerly. Her excited tone reminded him of the kind of way Rainbow Dash or perhaps Pinkie would talk to him in. Cantor complied, coming over to her side and looking out over the scene. The band of four ponies, two of which he recognised instantly, were magnificent; the most astounding classical musicians in Equestria, hoof picked by a panel of experts to play at the most prestigious party in Canterlot. Their delectable music wafted over the entire cathedral – like ballroom, so wonderfully emotional you could almost see the notes flooding from the spectacular instruments. Several couples danced slowly on the dance floor, gently swaying each other from side to side. And even one or two pegasus couples were intertwined in defined areal swoops in time with the ambience.

Everypony looked spectacular, even the stallions, most of whom were just wearing collars looked suited for success – probably because they were – and every mare looked drop dead gorgeous in their luscious dresses. Three epic crystal chandeliers, which given the circumstances could have been made from pure diamond, making each cost a small fortune, most ponies wouldn’t see in a lifetime hung from the high ceiling by thick platinum chains. The couple hundred dinner tables which massed below the booth were partially empty, having around one hundred or so ponies accompany around fifty of them. A luxury bouquet of red flowers of many breeds stood proudly out from the perfect white tablecloths which draped in thick ruffles to near the floor.

Everything to the smallest detail was absolutely perfect. Cantor felt as if he could watch the scene for hours before another thought crossed his mind. Even though he preferred less ‘high class’ events, to be here now, stood next to his royal friend, watching this magnificent sight, he couldn’t have felt happier.

“It’s quite something, isn’t it, Cantor?” Asked Luna, peering down at the room through half closed eyes.

“It really is…” Replied the stallion, still staring in wonderment at the Gala.

Princess Luna sniffed briefly. “What’s that scent you’re wearing?” She asked turning to the stallion on her right.

“Cut Grass by Narricious. I didn’t really know what to look when I was buying it. I just liked the smell.” Replied Cantor, remembering trying on multiple fragrances which all smelled the same apart from this one.

“Expensive?” Asked Luna.

“I’ll say. It was like thirty bits for this bottle.” He replied, withdrawing the aquatic blue bottle from his jacket pocket. It was nearly full, but only big enough for one hundred millilitres tops. “I got it because I hardly ever wear these things, except tonight, I feel I can make an acception, and besides: Twilight said she really liked it.” He slipped the bottle back into it’s pocket and returned to Luna’s eyes, which just happened to be virtually the same colour as the glass vile containing the fragrance.

The princess cocked her head and smiled alluringly. “You… like Twilight, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” replied Cantor with a slight shrug.

“I mean, you really like her?” She leaned closer. “Don’t you?”

Cantor coughed and his face flushed again. “Well, I uh… wouldn’t say I don’t want to get to know her better, but at the moment, no, we’re just very good friends…”

Luna’s smile lessened into a smirk. “Okay, I understand…”

“Hey!” She began again, clearing the awkward atmosphere. “You see those two mares over there?” She asked, nodding towards a table in the far corner.

Cantor Followed her gaze to a table where two familiar mares sat next to each other, adamantly watching the small orchestra play, speaking without making eye contact.

“Hey, I know those two!” Exclaimed Cantor.

“You do?”

“Well… I’ve heard of them, but I don’t actually know them. Why, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, it’s just they were here last year… they were doing pranks on the other guests.”

“No way!” Remarked Cantor, mostly because he couldn’t believe the story he read that one time on the internet influenced this universe. “I wonder what other fan fictions are true?” He thought to himself.

“I know, right!” Replied Luna, who was also watching the two ponies. “We’re gonna go have some good old fun with them!” She fell to her flank and clopped her hooves together in a foalish manner.

“Celestia was right,” Thought Cantor, “She really is immature…”

“Alright.” The stallion agreed.

“You should have seen it; they put wing poppers on the cupcakes and the wonderbolts ate some! It was hilarious! I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time!” She sighed, reflecting on the joyous moment. “I’ve got my own supply right here!” Luna continued, reaching round behind her mane and presenting a small powder shaker containing a substance comparable to talcum powder from the cosmic locks.

“What’s that?” Asked the stallion, intrigued by the strange substance.

“This is the most potent wing popper you can buy.” Replied Luna, stowing the small jar back into her starstruck mane.

“Wing popper?”

“Yeah, you know it makes your wings… you know…”

“What?”

“Are you serious? Do I need to say it?”

“Say what!?” Cantor laughed.

Princess Luna sighed. “Wing-boners.” Both ponies turned bright red as she said this.

“Wing- They’re real!?” Cantor exclaimed.

“Of course! Do you know nothing about pegasus anatomy!?”

“No. As I said, I wasn’t a pony before I came here.”

“Well what were you?”

“Human.” Cantor blurted out without thinking.

“And what do humans look like?” Luna asked, fascinated.

“Well, they don’t have hair covering their bodies, they walk on two legs and they certainly don’t have wings or horns.” Cantor informed, glancing back to the ball. When he returned, Luna's face was bound by a troubled delta of curiosity. “Princess, what’s wrong?” Asked the stallion, becoming worried.

"Once again, nothing is wrong, but..." She noted, her expression ridiculously hard to read.

"But what?" The amber-eyed pony insisted, the likelihood of humans in Equestria all too possible, and the probability of their negative mannerisms even more definite.

"I would prefer for us not to trouble ourselves over manners such as this on a night like tonight." Luna answered curtly, her supreme authority overtaking her improvised and filly-ish demeanour all of a sudden.

A very awkward silence blew through the booth. Nopony said a thing for at least a minute. “Come on, princess: tonight’s supposed to be happy. Just forget about the past!” Cantor spoke finally with a reassuring smile.

“Yes, Cantor… you’re right…” Luna replied, returning a more delighted expression.

“So Luna, enlighten me on the pegasi organs…” Cantor began, returning to the tender subject beforehoof.

“Ah, right. Well, I won’t go into the deep biological stuff, but basically, there’s a hormone in pegasi and alicorn blood called alae erectus-“ Started Luna, to which Cantor snickered. “Indeed.” She continued, beginning to redden around the face again and becoming more intense as she spoke. “Now just like when testosterone makes a stallion… ‘happy’ sometimes, this hormone applies to both genders…” By now Cantor had stopped giggling like a little colt and was genuinely fascinated by this information. Luna took a breath and continued her science lecture. “The um… ‘sensation’ in a pegasus’ wings will uh… 'intensify' the feeling in the other um… ‘organs’… when they feel like this.” By now she was practically glowing red and Cantor himself was no different.

“Please tell me you understand… I really don’t want to say the… correct terminology…” Asked Luna jokingly in a pleading tone.

“Oh, no. I fully understand. Thanks for telling me about how it works… Rainbow Dash told me about the ‘spot’ in-between the wings…” Replied the young stallion.

“Oh, and uh, have you ever… um…" The deep blue princess began, but halted herself once she decided that the particular question she had on her tongue just might be offensive to a pony she had rarely seen. "You know what, never mind. Let’s go down there and make some trouble!” Proposed the princess, stepping towards the door and opening it with her midnight aura. Cantor nodded before he took one last look back over the ball, his eyes scanning the room until they rested on only one thing; the pair of enchanting rubies which stared back up at him from the quiet corner of the floor.

“Hello, ladies.” Cantor said as an introduction. He and Luna stood before the two mares who they had seen in the corner of the room.

“Oh, um… hello.” Replied the white unicorn with the well-groomed blue and cyan mane. “Um, good evening, princess Luna.”
The two young mares bowed gratefully towards the princess as best they could from their sitting position at the table. “Oh, please!” Said the princess of the night. “Call me Luna!”

“Oh, alright!” Replied the electric maned unicorn happily. “And you would be?” She asked, extending a hoof towards Cantor, her dazzling red eyes making him feel giddy.

“Cantor.” The stallion simply replied, taking the mare’s hoof and shaking once gently.

“My name’s Vinyl Scratch, and this here’s Bon Bon.” Said the unicorn.

“Hi there!” Added the butter coloured earth pony in a rather annoying nasally voice. Though she seemed sweet enough.

“We were just wondering if we could sit here?” Asked Luna, already stepping around the table before awaiting a response.

“Yeah, sure. Go right ahead.” Vinyl said, waving a hoof over the table as if to say “Anywhere you like.”

Luna took her seat on the opposite side of the white table and Cantor sat next to her. “So. Last year you two had some fun with the food?” Asked the princess, leaning on the table with both her forelegs and resting her head on her hooves.

“Uhhh…” Said Vinyl nervously, looking at Bon Bon for help. “We… might have done…” She finally answered, her vibrant red eyes filled with fright.

“Are you going to be doing that again tonight?” Asked Luna through half – closed eyes.

“Oh, no. not at all, your majesty.” The unicorn replied hastily, shaking her head violently, sending her spiky mane whipping through the air.

“Hmmm… shame…” Muttered Luna. “I was really hoping to do some of these with you…” Said the princess, bringing out the powder shaker and an assortment of clear bottles, displaying vividly coloured liquids inside. Vinyl and Bon Bon gawped at each other wide – eyed before returning to the princess.

“You what!?” Bon Bon exclaimed.

“Ha, ha… You serious, pr- Luna?” Asked Vinyl, reaching into her pocket and drawing out a small vile of liquid in her dark grey aura.

“Oh, yeah…” Thought Cantor as he vacantly watched Luna and the other two mares converse. “A unicorn’s aura turns the same colour as the pony they care deeply about… does that mean I have… real feelings for Twilight?”

“Cantor... Cantor!” The voice of Luna snapped him from his daydream.

“Huh?” He asked, still slightly absent from the world. “Sorry, Luna, I was miles away.”

“I said do you want to get started?” Replied the princess impatiently.

“What, already?” Asked Cantor, looking back at Vinyl and Bon Bon who had already made their way over to the bowl of punch.

“Yes. Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah… I’m fine, I was just thinking…”

“What about?”

“… Don’t worry. Come on, this’ll be great.”

The long table of entrées spanned the entire length of the hall, there were heaps of exquisite food on silver platters and yet more bouquets of flowers to which Cantor couldn’t work out if they were for eating or to look at. The table Vinyl and Bon Bon had been seated at laid directly next to one of the ends of the spread, the one farthest away from the orchestra. Only a few tables down and the group were at the front of the dining area, stood next to a crystal bowl holding a vibrant pink liquid, a metal ladle jutting out from the rim.

He noticed Vinyl Scratch gazing towards the stage where the orchestra was performing a song with a slightly faster tempo than the previous one. Cantor followed Vinyl’s line of sight to the grey mare stood on her hind legs playing the cello next to a spearmint green unicorn plucking away at a lyre. “Friend of yours?” He asked, gently smiling.

“Ahhh, a little more than a friend…” The unicorn replied, smiling and looking down upon her left foreleg at a polished golden band, bearing a solid amethyst treble clef.

“It’s beautiful…” Remarked the stallion.

“I know she is…” Replied Vinyl, turning her head back to her wife on stage, playing as one with her instrument, eyes closed and in the deepest frame of concentration. Vinyl could have watched her peacefully draw the long bow across the beautiful cello forever, but she was broken away by Bon Bon’s beckoning.

“Vinyl, come here.” Called the pink and purple maned Earth pony. The love struck unicorn obeyed, and Cantor followed. Luna and Bon Bon were stood behind the elongated table staring at the bowl of drink in front of them.

“Ready?” Asked Luna, raising the shaker over the bowl after checking to see that nopony was looking. The glass container was nearly horizontal before a low droning voice from behind Cantor and Vinyl caused them to turn around instantly.

“Well, hello… my name is pri- AH!” Cried a white stallion with a floppy golden mane and extremely fancy frontal attire, consisting of a large blue bowtie and golden buttons. “Ugh! Not you, again!” The well-groomed stallion groaned before adding: “I thought we’d gotten rid of your type.”

He turned around in a huff and went to storm off but stopped when Vinyl Scratch told him to “Shove it up his ass!”, to which Cantor exploded into fits of giggles on her left.

“How dare you speak to me like that!?” Demanded the stallion, marching up to Vinyl’s face, pushing out his chest and glaring at her. “Do you know who I am!?”

“Yeah,” Began Vinyl dryly, pushing him away slightly with her forehoof. “You’re prince Blueblood, but I hear all the mares call you ‘Blue Balls’…” Cantor’s laughter intensified at this notion.

“What are you laughing at!?” The prince growled towards Cantor, who rapidly became quiet, not out of fear, which was what was intended, but out of what little respect he felt he needed to have for the prince.

“I’m just… really immature…” Cantor snickered as a response, wiping a small tear from the corner of his eye.

“A word of advice, my friend:” Blueblood began, “don’t involve yourself with harlots such as this.” He grimaced at Vinyl, who took the insult to heart.

“Don't involve yourself with dicks like this, Cantor, he'll just be bitchy all the time because of his 'one-inch-wonder'.” She spat, anger coursing through her veins. Cantor began to bellow with laughter once more.

“How DARE you speak to me in such a way, you- you… you cheap WHORE!” He barked as he raised his hoof intending to make contact with vinyl’s face. She screwed her eyes shut and winced as the hoof shot towards her.

Like a bullet, Cantor’s own hoof shot out and caught Bluebloods, inches from Vinyl’s face. The unicorn slowly opened her eyes and saw Cantor forcing back her attacker, their hoofs still locked together and both stallions straining to try and prevail over the other. Blueblood was a lot stronger than Cantor had anticipated, but he just had the upper hoof. With one last, strong push, Cantor made Blueblood stumble backwards into the middle of the dance floor where the couples had stopped dancing to watch. Even the band had recently silenced their music.

“Hey, what do you-“

“Listen here!” Cantor snapped, grabbing the prince by his collar and locking eyes with him. “I don’t care what kind of dick head you are, but one thing you NEVER do is strike a lady… Understand?” The alicorn growled through gritted teeth which quickly lost their ferocity once he had finished. “If you’re going to hit somepony…” Cantor pulled Blueblood close so the lengths of their muzzles were aligned. “Hit me.” Cantor finished his threat by shoving the prince away, his ironed collar all crumpled and creased.

The prince stood there for a moment, sizing up his opponent before deciding he ‘didn’t want to get his hooves dirty’.

“Humph!” Huffed the Prince as he stormed off down the gangway between the dining tables.

“You alright?” He asked Vinyl who nodded a ‘thanks’. Cantor looked towards the Black maned cellist on stage. She gave him a soft wink with one of her pale lilac eyes before drawing her bow and closing her eyes fully and begun playing again. The rest of the band followed soon after and the other guests continued dancing and chatting as if nothing had happened.

“I’m glad that’s out of the way.” Cantor sighed, turning back to his little group to see Luna stirring the punch bowl with her magic wrapped around the top of the ladle.

“My sister’s not going to be impressed you threatened her son.” Luna said, shaking her head and clucking her tongue.

“Blueblood’s her SON!?” Exclaimed the alicorn, before coming to an assumption. “Actually, I don’t think he’ll tell her; he won’t want to say he tried to hit a mare and you can’t really lie to Celestia…”

“That’s correct…” A familiar mare’s voice came from behind Cantor. He turned around to see Celestia stood right behind him.

“Ah! Princess!” He exclaimed, dropping to one knee. “What did- why are you here?”

“Oh, I’m just checking on the party: everything seems to be going fine.”

“That’s… Great…” Said Cantor through a very wide toothy smile.

“And don’t worry about prince Blueblood; I saw the whole thing and I’ll be having a little chat with him later…” Celestia said, casting a disapproving gaze in the direction of where her son had exited the ball room. She then turned her attention to Vinyl. “Are you alright, dear?”

“Yes, your majesty.” She replied.

“Are you having a nice time?”

“Yes, your majesty.” She repeated with a modest curtsey.

“Wonderful.” Said Celestia, ending the conversation with a small smile and nod to her sister before gracefully turning around and exiting the room.

Cantor sighed a long exhale of relief. “Whew… I thought I was screwed then. Though it wouldn't really be a party if there wasn't a fight!” He stated, picking up a cup and ladle with magic.

“Don’t worry, Cantor, Celestia wouldn’t- actually I don’t think you should-“ Luna began, but failed to halt Cantor before he guzzled the punch, which turned out to be nothing more than fancy cranberry juice. “-Drink that…” Luna finished. He put down the glass next to the punch bowl when he had finished.

“What’s that, Luna? Sorry, I was lust having some before you put the wing poppers in. It’s actually quite nice…” Declared the stallion, bending his head forward a little towards the navy blue princess.

“That’s the thing, Cantor… I already sort of… did.” She replied, blushing violently, and trying not to burst out laughing.

“What?” He asked, the enormous embarrassment removing any expression from his tone as Bon Bon and Vinyl began to laugh hysterically.

“Yeah, you just... took the wing poppers…” Luna explained to the horrified alicorn.

“But- but my wings are huge!” He protested as he felt his pegasi appendages, much longer than any other pegasus’ or alicorns’ wings as they didn’t just rest at his sides when folded, but crossed each other behind his back begin to steadily pulse from his sides. By now, his wings had already half inflated and were rapidly increasing in width and stature as the nature of the drugs kicked in. Unlike a pegasus' regular areal arousal, where much of the sensation and stiffness came from uncontrollable muscle spasms, the wing poppers purged every possible drop of blood into the wings in order to achieve this 'phenomenon'. A side-effect of this for any normal winged equine may be light-headedness and possibly a shallow headache thereon after. However, with a wingspan of over ten metres, Cantor was less than eager to try out this new perverse form of entertainment.

He tried to ask for help, but the massive blood loss has already begun to take hold of his mind. After another five seconds of masses of blood being pumped into his enormous wings, they were fully erect and as hard as a rock, both due to blood pressure and the muscle contractions. He began to breathe heavily in a feeble attempt to supply adequate amounts of oxygen to the little blood that stayed in his veins.

It took Luna only a brief moment when she opened her eyes after laughing to realise something was seriously wrong. Even though Cantor was white, somehow his face had lost even more colour. He swayed precariously on his hooves, his eyes rolling back into his head as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Luna began to panic as she realised that soon he would pass out and if his brain remained starved of oxygen, he could actually die. And it would be her fault.

She leapt over the table and landed right next to Cantor on the other side. She quickly placed her neck under the stallion and supported him, all the while, Vinyl and Bon Bon had become caught up in the panic and helped Luna guide him to a table. Vinyl levitated one of the beautiful bouquets of flowers onto the edge of another table and Luna lifted Cantor with her magic and laid him over the edge of the table so his wings and head hung towards the floor. His wings bent at a painful angle along the tiled floor and as the little bit of spare blood began to trickle from his legs and body into his head. He found the mental capability to breathe again. He gasped for breath and tried to sit up, but Luna kept his face pointing to the floor and he was too weak to resist.

“Oooowwww…” He managed to groan in agony as he looked up at one of the chandeliers. Instead of the waves of pleasure and pain cancelling each other out, they made each other twice as bad. “Wha’s going on?” He slurred upside down.

“It’s okay, Cantor, just lie here for a moment; you’re going to be fine.” Said Luna trying to comfort him.

For the next minute or so, Cantor simply lay groaning on the table, drawing disapproving looks from the other party guests. Twilight and all the other ponies had rushed over when they saw Cantor lying upside down on a table surrounded by three mares. “What happened?” Asked Twilight who carried a more than adequately sized glass of rosé wine by her side with magic, her eyes focused on Cantor’s closed lids as she spoke.

“He ingested some wing poppers, and this, well… is the result…” Explained Luna, to which Rainbow Dash began to giggle into her hoof.

Cantor’s Wings began to subside after around another minute and the blood returning to his body felt like a godsend.

“Don’t try the punch…” Were the first words to come out of his mouth, making all the ponies around him laugh. He groaned again as he slid himself off the table and rolled onto his hooves, his wings falling flaccid at his sides, dragging along the floor behind him like two wedding dresses. “Oohhhhh, my head…” He groaned as he felt the blood hammering around his aching brain. “I thought wingboners were supposed to be nice…” He complained, drawing more giggles from the girls.

He had a mighty headache, but mercifully, that began to subside too. He gazed around the group, highly embarrassed, showing how he ironically had excess blood in his face. “Sorry, guys…” He apologised.

“It’s okay…” Said Twilight, taking a step closer to Cantor to be able to smell his wonderful fragrance. “But this proves my point, doesn’t it?...”

“What would that be?” Asked the stallion, tilting his head and looking into Twilight’s deep eyes.

“I just can’t leave you alone for five minutes, can I?”

Two and a half months, one bouquet of twelve red roses, a box of chocolates, a small plush bear and thirty bits worth of perfume later and it was the fabled Hearts and Hooves day. Cantor trotted through the town centre at dusk, the sky blazing orange and the clouds jet black against the slowly setting sun. the alicorn’s heart was singing and he couldn’t be happier; today was the day he would finally tell Twilight how he felt about her. He had high hopes as when he told Rarity, she squealed in delight, and she nearly feinted when he told her he would do it on Hearts and Hooves day.

“Oh, how romantic!” She cried, clasping her hooves together at the side of her head and gazing longingly into the distance with stars in her eyes.

Cantor remembered having a heart-to-heart discussion about finding love with her. He had told her that “There’s at least one pony in the world who you have a special connection with, even before you’ve met them. Fate assigns the two to meet at some point in their lives. No matter how many you let into your life, thinking they might be your ‘very special somepony’ just to have your heart broken in disappointment, it’s all worth it for that one day with that perfect pony you were made for.”

Revelling in his own philosophy, Cantor grinned even more as he neared the library, already seeing the couple in the future, their peaceful home in Ponyville, the wonderful friends they would make together… He stopped walking at his third thought…

Foals…

Could he really have children with an equine from a different universe? He already knew the answer before he asked the question. Yes. Because he loved the equine from the other universe, and tonight he would let her know that. Though he preferred calling her ‘Twilight’ other than how he previously referred to her in his thoughts.

He resumed his gleeful trotting towards the library, carrying the gifts for Twilight behind him in his purple / magenta aura. Anxiety grew as he approached the big red door. He ignored it though, replacing it with giddy excitement.

He reached the door all too quickly and slowly opened it with a big glowing smile on his face. But when he peeked through the entrance into the room, the shock that faced him was so great, he didn’t even feel his heart being ripped slowly in two.

Twilight brought her lips away from the dark green stallion’s when she felt the new presence enter the room.

“Oh, good evening, Cantor…” She said awkwardly as the unfamiliar stallion also turned to face Cantor. The shock had stolen his breath, but he somehow found it again after a second of disbelief. He kept the gifts outside the house as he miraculously found his voice as well.

“Um, evening, Twilight… sorry to um… interrupt.” As he said this, he felt the pain of his broken heart rip into quarters. “Who um, who’s your friend?”

Twilight went to speak, but the stallion opposite her answered Cantor in a soft and deep voice: “I’m Storm Surge,” Cantor’s heart tore into eighths. “I know you: you’re that alicorn who showed up last September…”

“That’s right.” Confirmed Cantor, a serious lack of emotion in his voice.

“His name’s Cantor.” Twilight spoke quietly.

“Is that right?” Asked Storm, placing his dark foreleg around Twilight’s shoulders between her neck and the back of her sofa Cantor had ‘claimed’ as his bed. The sight divided Cantor’s heart once again. “Twi’s my very special somepony.” The alicorn’s heart lied in thirty two pieces now, and the pain only worsened each time it broke. Cantor had only ever called Twilight ‘Twi’ once, and that was an accident; ‘Twi’ was far too intimate for him to call her after such a short period of friendship.

Clocking the bright little daises in the vase on the coffee table, Cantor’s broken heart split into sixty four.

“I guess I should leave you two alone…” Cantor said, his crippling pain and severe sorrow masked through monotone. He took a step backwards out of the doorway.

“Would you? You’re kind of imposing…” Asked the murky green pegasus stallion in a bored sort of tone, eager to get back to Twilight.

“Yeah, of course.” Said Cantor as he backed away from the happy couple, his eyes still fixed on Twilight’s. Usually, he could tell what she was thinking when he looked at her this way, but this time, she gave away nothing. Or maybe she had a mix of emotions too scrambled to read.

He just couldn’t tell. Was she even thinking about him? She simply watched him back out of her home. Storm Surge pulled Twilight across the sofa onto his shoulder, but she still kept her blank expression on Cantor. He slowly ambled backwards out of the door, whispering goodbye just loud enough for both of the ponies to hear.

“Bye, Cantor!” Called Storm, waving briefly to the stallion leaving the library before turning back to Twilight. She said nothing. But instead, watched the last little bit of her closest male friend's orange eyes fade away as he closed the door when he left with a quiet ‘click’ of the latch.

The alicorn sighed silently and tears began to sting at his eyes. He trudged past the outer houses of Ponyville, dragging his hooves all the way. And, reaching a nearby hill, he lost the will to carry on and simply collapsed under the now night sky into the dirt, the useless gifts dropping beside him as he sobbed silently into the cold, damp grass. To say his heart was broken would be an understatement; it lay in a deep pit in his chest, shattered into hundreds of pieces, along with the love it once thought it held. As his sorrowful tears streamed down his face, the idea of a future with Twilight slowly began to fade as well. Living together, learning about each other…

Having a family…

All just dreams that could have never come true…

“Storm, I think we should take it a little slower…” Twilight asked, breaking away from an uncomfortably sensual kiss. She and Storm Surge were the only inhabitants in the library as she had requested Spike go out and see a movie to leave the two alone for the night. As per usual, he had invited Rarity, and despite Cantor's tips on love, and his talk with the unicorn about very special someponies the night before, the purple maned mare still declined.

“Come on, Twilight…” Storm said in a chilled sort of tone, leaning back in for another kiss. Twilight looked away. “Come on, twilight, lighten up.” Repeated the pegasus. “Tonight is Hearts and Hooves day: the most romantic day of the year…”

They had another kiss. Twilight’s eyes stayed open.

“What’s wrong, Twilight?” Asked storm, taking her cheek in his hoof and turning her head to face his.

“It’s just…” She started, turning her head away. “It’s just… I’m not sure about this, I mean, I’m not one hundred percent comfortable, so I don’t think we should take things too far…”

“Okay, Twilight.” Agreed the pegasus hastily, drawing her in to another kiss in which never broke.

Their hooves rubbed gently on each other’s backs and they both had their eyes closed in the moment. One of Storm’s hooves drifted round to Twilight’s stomach, to which she replaced on her back with one of hers. Almost immediately after her forearm returned to embracing Storm, his hoof strayed back around her side. She quickly put her other hoof on top of it, but to her dismay, it didn’t move. Her eyes shot open as the strong hoof carried on down her body.

“Storm, no…” She softly said into his mouth. He Ignored her. “Storm, I said no…” She repeated, a little more forcefully this time.

“Come, on, Twi: Let’s just do it tonight.” He replied eagerly.

“I really feel uncomf-“

“Oh, Twilight.” Sighed Storm sensually.

“Please.” She whimpered desperately, now having both her hooves pulling on Storm’s, yet it still fell lower down her body.

“I love you.” He whispered gruffly.

Twilight started to panic and her breathing quickened, images of rape and pain thrashed her mind. “I don’t want-“

“Let’s do it!” Storm growled, bringing his hoof between Twilight’s thighs.

The young purple mare began to protest again until she felt a wave of the most wrong feeling imaginable shoot through her body when the large, dark green hoof brushed against her virginity.

“NO!” She screamed as she pounded her hooves into Storm’s face. He reeled back, his bright yellow hair flailing as he shook.

“What the fu-“ He started, but was cut off by another purple hoof slapping him across the face.

“No means no!” Twilight shrieked, remembering the self defence class she had taken last summer as she teleported herself up to her bedroom. She peered over at the stallion clutching his face and returning to his hooves after toppling over from the unexpected shock.

“Please leave now.” She ordered shakily, desperately trying to keep her cool, though her voice clearly showed how absolutely terrified she was. All she wanted was for Cantor to be there to protect her. How could he leave her alone like this?

“Twilight, I-“ Storm began, before being cut off again.

“Leave or I’ll scream.” She threatened, knowing that’s the last thing any stallion would want.

“Okay, alright, I’ll go…” He replied, slowly backing away towards the door.

“Don’t come back.” She added.

“Are you sure you don’t-“

“No.”

“Okay, I’m going…” The perverted stallion then turned and ran out of the door, not closing it behind him as he took off into the night sky.

Twilight made a quick lap of her home, making sure to lock all of the doors and windows, turning off all the lights and drawing all the curtains in case he decided to come back with his friends. She guessed that wouldn’t be the case, but better to be safe than very, very sorry. She felt tears of anger well up as she tore the flowers from one of her favourite vases, not noticing it topple over and smash, spilling it’s liquid contents all over her prised coffee table. She stormed into her kitchen and tossed the enraging bouquet into the trash. Galloping across her living room and up the stairs to her bedroom, her tears began to increase until they were nearly bursting at the corners of her eyes.

She threw herself onto the chair at the desk where several sheets of blank parchment sat as well as a pot of black ink. She drew out a quill with her magic and tried to calm herself to no avail with sharp, shaky breaths.

“Dear princess Celestia,” She said through clenched teeth as she wrote, “Today… I learned that…“ She broke, and the first tears of many streamed down her face. She gagged on sadness and threw her head back to scream at the heavens: “ALL STALLIONS ARE BASTARDS!!!” The broken-hearted mare then covered her head with her hooves atop a pile of parchment, wailing loudly into her fur in frustration, feeling violated as she slowly and painfully cried herself to sleep.

Twilight Sparkle was awoken by the frantic banging on her large round bedroom window. She shook the excess sleep from her as she remembered what had happened last night and why she was dozing on her desk. She looked over to the window to see her baby dragon assistant on a ladder hammering at the window. “Twilight! Let me in!” Came the muffled pleas of the dragon from the other side of the slightly misty glass. Groggily, Twilight rose from her chair and could have sworn she actually heard her bones creaking from the awkward position she had slept in.

She rounded her still made bed and passed her mirror without taking a peek at her reflection. She flipped open the latch with her magic and Spike practically shot indoors and under his blanket. The purple unicorn quickly shut the window again, keeping the cold February draft out.

“Spike! What’s wrong!?” She asked in deep concern at the trembling dragon wrapped up in sheets.

“F- f- f- freezing…” Stuttered Spike as a response. “What h- h- happened t- to you?” He asked, peeking his head out from under the covers, trembling like a leaf.

“Me? I- I uh…”

“L- l- l- look in the m- m- mirror.” Spike instructed before returning to his warm bed, the chilliness of the winter outside already beginning to disperse into the soft sheets.

Twilight strode around her bed to the desk that held her mirror. She froze when she caught sight of the horrendous unicorn staring back at her. It’s eyes were bloodshot, it’s mane was a tangle and it had black mascara rivers down it’s face: evidence of much crying. She brought a trembling hoof up and tried to rub away the sorrow, but only succeeded in smudging it across her cheeks. Twilight ran away from the monster in the mirror, but it followed her into the bathroom. She opened up the cold tap and scratched at her face until she was sure all the blackness was gone. She also rubbed her forelegs as they too, were streaked with the black mess.

Turning the tap back off, she frowned at the wet face in the mirror. “Oh, Twilight…” She muttered, bringing a towel over to dry her off. The warmth and softness of the fabric felt somewhat comforting to her. “Why didn’t you just ask him like you were going…” She brought her face away from the towel and stared at the reflection above the sink. Yes. That was her again. “Cantor…” She mumbled to herself before dropping the towel and rushing out of the still open bathroom door. She turned her attention to the sofa where he always slept, expecting to see the caring white alicorn; he was always there, always happy to help. She needed somepony to comfort her right now… But he was absent. “Cantor?” She called out on her way to the front door. She unlocked it with magic and opened it up, nearly blinding herself with the bright sunlight that flooded into the dark house.

“Cantor!?” She called out a little louder, scanning the sky and the hilltops for the unmistakeable pony. She went to take a step outside, but stopped when her hoof hit something on her doormat. “Huh?” She asked as she looked down, A bouquet of red roses lay on top of a small box and a note. She raised the small piece of paper and skimmed over the first line. Her eyes widened and she turned around without a word, closing the door behind her. She set the box and flowers on her table. “Oh…” She squeaked as she noticed the pretty little white vase smashed on the surface.

She slid the large pieces of porcelain to the side, trying to look on the brighter side, as Cantor had taught her and thanking that it hadn’t shattered everywhere. She placed the bouquet next to the little red box and opened the lid. Inside were various items that she didn’t really pay attention to, naturally, all she was interested in the little note that came with it. She opened the paper up again and her eyes skimmed across the contents, it became quickly apparent that this was Cantor’s style of writing: as if he were actually talking. She couldn’t believe what she had just read.

“No… no, I have to have made a mistake…” She muttered to herself, returning to the very top of the letter…

The first words were: “Hello, Twilight…”

“Hello, Twilight…

Rather, a more appropriate intro would be goodbye…

Look, I’m not that good with words, so I’ll make it short. Last night, when I saw how happy you were with Storm, I’m not going to lie, it made me feel… bad. What I’m trying to say is… we’re good friends, right? And I was hoping we could be… a little more than that… but after finding out you were with Storm, I knew that wasn’t going to happen…”

This spot on the letter was dappled with many dried spots of moisture. Twilight let out the breath she had been holding in from when she started reading and sucked in another.

“With this note, I’ve put some little things I picked up for you for… for yesterday. Also in that box, you’ll find a cheque. That’s all the money I have, and I hope- no, I know you’re going to spend it on the right things.”

At this point, the ink had smudged a little into the increasing quantity of dried droplets, but it was still fairly legible…

“Even if… even if you forget about me, I’ll always remember you… We will meet again. I’m certain of that, just, I don’t know when that will be. I can’t tell you where I’m going… I don’t want you to try and follow me… you don’t have to forgive me; I don’t expect you too… I just… wanted to let you know…

I just want to say thank you. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me over the past months. When I look back to when we met in September, I never thought I’d feel this way towards you, but... I do.

My power… my magical abilities have gotten so strong since I’ve lived in Ponyville… so strong you can’t even begin to imagine… With such a force, I can help change so many ponies’ lives. In fact, the only reason I stayed in Ponyville after discovering what I can do with my magic was because of you…

Listen to me! I’m going off on one again, like I always do!”

Twilight smiled at this point as the tears poured from her eyes, joining Cantor’s on the page.

“Good bye, Twilight… I hope you’ll keep the money and the gifts, as a ‘thank you’ for letting me be a part of your life…”

Under the last line, amongst all of the dried tears, there was a short sentence written, no more than three words long, and then furiously scribbled out, rendering it absolutely unreadable. Below this, in the bottom left of the page, lay a single word that spoke farewell itself…

“-Cantor”.

Twilight read the note a second time, and then a third, still refusing to accept what it had said. She reached into the box which now lay open on the table. She pulled out the first thing her hoof rested on: an emerald green box with the words “Cut Grass. Narricious.” Written on the front. On the side was a little note which read “I know you liked this one!” Followed by a smiley face. Twilight bit her lip when she read the smaller text beneath the fragrance’s title: “For her.” She took the small teal bottle from the box and sprayed a little into the air in front of her. A more feminine smell of the scent Cantor used to wear wafted over her. She smiled happily at the thought he had put into the present.

Next to the perfume rested a small grey teddy bear. It was sat on it’s behind and in it’s arms, held one of the most painful things she had ever seen in her entire life: A big red heart with white stitches in the middle, spelling out the most wonderful of phrases… “I love you.” Twilight let out a fluttering sigh, ending in a sob. She sniffed loudly, alerting a certain basket-dwelling dragon to her whereabouts.

Her assistant, who by now had risen from his bed and was making his way down the stairs spoke. “Twilight?” He asked as he clocked his depressed looking carer. “What’s wrong?” His tone was soft and willing to comfort as he slowly made his way towards the heartbroken mare resting on the white sofa.

With her head still hanging heavily, staring into the cold, beady eyes of the small plush, she spoke to Spike without acknowledging him. “Could you make me some tea, Spike?” She asked in a voice that came out as a little more than a whisper.

“What was that?” Asked the dragon, still approaching her.

“Tea please.” She asked, not in anger or impatience, but she was trying to speak as little as possible to try and hide her crippling sorrow.

Spike said nothing but obeyed, disappearing into the kitchen to prepare Twilight’s drink. The unicorn sat on the sofa, and spoke softly to the bear. “You can’t go, Cantor…” She whispered. “You can’t… you can’t leave me… you…” Her tears flowed openly as she begged for this all just to be a horrible nightmare. “You… you promised…” She pulled the soft toy to her shoulder and held it there. Oh, how she wished this were the real stallion.

“…You promised…”

“Please, don’t do this!” Squealed a brown Earth pony mare as she fought against the lime aura of the stallion who was pushing her further into the corner of the pitch-black alley.

“Ooh! I love it when they scream.” Replied the pale green unicorn as he backed her further into the darkness. Somewhere in the distance, police sirens flared through the dark city; truly an evil place at night.

“Why are you doing this!?” The mare pleaded, continuing to back away until her large round rump hit the cold masonry, preventing escape as both the walls on her left and right were made of sturdy – looking bricks too. Tears streamed from her eyes, carrying with them heaps of eyeliner she had plastered under her big green eyes.

“Because you look like a whore, and I want a nice piece of your whore ass.” Replied the stallion, his dark brown – nearly black eyes glinting in the moonlight.

Intensifying his magic, he began to edge her towards her. She scrambled at the dirty, litter covered ground as she felt herself being rotated to face the wall. She screamed. A true scream of terror and also a desperate cry for help. “Scream all you want, bitch: nopony’s gonna help…” She took the assailant’s advice and screamed for what felt like hours until her voice became hoarse. She finally gave in, sobbing out of anguish as she tried to prepare her body for the brutality that would soon ensue.

“Please don’t kill me…” She begged quietly from her place in the floor. “I don’t want to die…” She continued to blubber incoherently into the dirty newspapers which invaded her nostrils with a vile smell she couldn’t even imagine what diseases it held, though that was the least of her worries.

“I haven’t decided if I’ll let you live, yet…” The stallion remarked, pretending to examine his hoof. “It depends how you do…”

“Please… please, I beg you… please don’t do this, I’ll give you money!” She said, trying to find some way in which to spare herself the inevitable agony.

“I don’t want your money, I want your ass!” He growled, slowly forcing her hindquarters apart. The young mare tried
desperately to keep her legs together, but even against her earth pony strength, his magic was just too powerful.

“Let’s see what we're working with here…” He rumbled, approaching the mare from behind, still keeping her head firmly pressed into the ground with the lime green field.

He slid his sturdy hoof under the base of the mare’s purple and red streaked tail. Her petrified trembling only excited the brute more. He lifted her tail high, the straight – cut strands of hair draping over her back. “Ohhh…” She moaned in the greatest of discomfort as she felt the cold air pass between her flanks.

The stallion laughed evilly. “Heh, heh… Yeah, this’ll do nicely.” He remarked. The brown mare felt her tail drape across her left flank. She didn’t try to hide her marehood as she screwed her eyes closed and waited for the pain to begin.

...

“Let her go.”

The spearmint unicorn turned his head around to see an enormous pair of wings, silhouetted by the dazzling white street lights. The magical aura dissipated from the mare, and as soon as she was free, she scurried into the corner and curled into a foetal position, covering as much of her body as possible.

“What?” He slowly asked in disbelief as the biggest pair of wings he had ever seen began making their way down the smoky alleyway. At first, the scoundral suspected the new arrival was a griffon. It was only when the newcomer grew closer did the unicorn notice he too had a horn atop his head. “Who the fuck are you?” he barked in a tone that was supposed to scare the alicorn.

“That is none of your concern.” He replied, folding his huge wings behind his back. They were so large that the tips of the outermost feathers crossed over each other at his rump.

“You getting’ funny, boy?” Demanded the unicorn in an equally unthreatening tone.

“Not at all, sir. I simply wish to not engage in conflict with you…” Replied the white alicorn in a strong male voice. He noticed the quivering mare in the shadowed corner. “Your… marefriend I take it?” He asked casually.

“No. Just some slut.” The unicorn snapped in a disgusting tone.

The alicorn had to bite his lip to not just end this bastard right here and now. He leaned in towards the unicorn and brought his lips right next to the green ear and whispered: “I’m going to give you a chance: apologise to this young lady and walk away now. Or, face the consequences if you resist…” He trailed off, elongating the last vowel sound of his last word.

The unicorn grinned and turned his head in the direction of the alicorn’s ear. “You picked the wrong day to be a hero, boy.”

He jerked away, reeling back to attack. The alicorn remained motionless, even when the unicorn shot through the air at him. Suddenly, a brilliant white aura flared the length of the new stallion’s horn, shrouding the unicorn in an identical colour. “Hey, man! What the fu-“ He began to shout before the alicorn cut him off.

“Let’s see what we’re working with here…” He drew the unicorn closer and examined the subtle muscles under his coat. “Yeah… this’ll do nicely…” He grinned as he began to tug at the layer of skin on the side of the pony.

“What the hell are you doi-“ He was silenced by the stinging pain that resonated from his left side as a long slit came down from his shoulder to nearly the bottom of his chest. He cried out in pain, but could do nothing as the powerful alicorn had all of his limbs in a tight magical grip. He squirmed as best he could as another slash began at the top of the other one. Blood was beginning to pour out from the lacerations and the unicorn was screaming in pain.

“I’m sorry alright!? I’m sorry! Just stop!” He pleaded before releasing another agonised wail.

“Too late!” Growled the alicorn. “You had your chance, and now you face the consequences!”

Another minute full of screams and wails emanating from the canary yellow maned unicorn later and the work was completed. His entire left side was sopping with blood, and by the time the scars healed and the hair refused to grow back, everypony who gazed upon him would see the word “RAPIST” in large capital letters, and they would all know his disgusting life.

The white alicorn released his magical vice and the rapist fell to the floor. To see the street thug in tears let the alicorn know his work was done. With any luck, he wouldn't try anything like this again.The unicorn sprung to his hooves and galloped off out of the alleyway and around the corner, leaving a trail of dark red blood behind him as he ran.

As with the leaving of the rapist, the alicorn’s hate left him as if a shroud had been pulled from his body. He smiled and turned to look at the mare who was still cowering in the corner. He slowly and quietly approached her trembling form.

“Hey.” He said softly, declaring his presence. The mare looked up, her fear – filled eyes relaxing when she saw the comforting kindness radiating from her saviour’s bright orange eyes. “Are you okay?” He asked just as softly, reaching out with a hoof and allowing her to take it in her own time. She pulled herself to her hooves using the alicorn’s foreleg as a support and brushed herself off. He was so sturdy it was as if his arm were made of steel.

“I’m fine…” Her sceptical frown turned into a great beaming smile. “Oh, thank you! You saved me!” She cried gratefully.

“Any time, miss…”

“Tricia.”

“Miss Tricia…” His smile lessened. “Do you need any help getting home?” He asked, staring into her emerald eyes.

“I… yes, please…” She replied timidly.

“Alright, then…” Replied the alicorn, raising his wing and beckoning her to stand under it. At first, the chocolate coloured mare was sceptical, but after realising that he wouldn’t have just saved her from being raped just to rape her himself, she decided that he was genuine. She wasn’t certain about it, but somehow she felt safe by his side.

Still keeping eye contact with the stallion, she walked to his side. She felt the enormous pegasus limb embrace her and warm up her body.

“What’s your name?” She asked as the alicorn walked her out of the alleyway and followed her lead towards her apartment.

“I… I’d rather not say…” He explained, quite relieved at the fact that she hadn’t criticised or rejected him for being an alicorn.

“I see…” She replied, looking down at the feathery appendage which encased her. She revelled in the feeling of the hundreds of silky smooth feathers brush against her skin.

Many blocks of silence later, and the two had reached a rather tall tower block.

“Thank you so much again… I- I might not be here if it wasn’t for you…” She smiled back at the stallion. “Would you… like to come inside?” she asked, a small blush appearing over her black streaked cheeks.

To say he wasn’t tempted would be a lie; if he couldn’t have that perfect unicorn who lived in Ponyville, then shouldn’t any mare do? He asked himself this, but couldn’t bring himself to say yes.

“Sorry Tricia, but I’ve got other ponies to look out for…” He replied with a modest bow.

“Will I ever see you again?” Asked the Earth pony, brushing a bang of hair out of her eye.

A warm smile appeared on his face. “I'll be around...” He replied. And with that, took off into the night, nearly instantly becoming invisible amongst the stars as he became part of the beautiful Manehatten skyline.

“I guess he’s really not coming back…” Muttered Twilight as she soaked in the lake-sized bathtub in the spa.

“Oh I feel so sorry for you, darling.” Replied Rarity, who perched on the small ledge under the water opposite to the purple mare. “If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know…”

“Oh thank you for the offer, Rarity, but I don’t think you can help me…”

“Well what do you need?” Asked the white unicorn.

Twilight sighed sadly. “I need Cantor back, Rarity…” Her blinking became more rapid as she fought back the tears. “I need him.”

Twilight made out that she was itching her face with her forehoof, but really, was trying to cover her rapidly moistening eyes.

“Oh, sweetheart…” Rarity muttered, sliding herself around the edge of the wooden bath towards her friend. Rarity’s tone caused Twilight to start bawling. All Twilight could see were the backs of her eyelids as her breath came out in short, shaky stabs. She felt a comforting arm wrap around her shoulders and pull her into an embrace. She did all she could not to sob into Rarity’s fur.

The white unicorn looked out over the tub and motioned for the pink spa pony to leave. The bright blue maned earth pony said nothing but nodded briskly and scurried out of the room.

“Twilight?” Rarity began. “Can you please tell me why Cantor left?”

“I haven’t told you?” Twilight replied, looking up at rarity’s big blue eyes.

“No. Every time we ask, you’d always… break down like this…” She answered.

Twilight let out a hefty sigh and breathed in and out through her nose a few times, somehow calming her down a little.

“Cantor thought I was in a deep relationship with Storm Surge.” Said Twilight. To her, it sounded like more of a confession.

“And who is Storm Surge?” Asked Rarity, looking puzzled.

Twilight sighed loudly again. “Just some stallion who asked me out on Hearts and Hooves day…”

Rarity’s eyes grew wide and her pupils dilated. “What?” She asked shakily. “I- I thought you and Cantor were together…”

By now, Twilight had stopped crying and was now feeling relieved to get the burden off of her back. “I think Cantor felt that way too…” She replied.

“Then why did you go out with Storm Surge?” The white unicorn questioned with raised eyebrows.

“Because Cantor never told me he loved me!” Twilight snapped. “He- he never told me… he loved me…” She repeated herself, a lot softer the second time. She kept her dampened tone as she spoke. “Storm… said the right things…” Her face fell to the perfectly still crystal clear water. She pulled her legs together. “But he was only interested in one thing…”

“Darling!” Rarity gasped, astonished. “You didn’t!?”

“No, no… I told him to leave when he got too… close…”

“Twilight! Sweetheart, Cantor informed me that he was going to tell you how he felt on Hearts and Hooves day!” Rarity exclaimed.

“He was?” Asked Twilight, gazing back up at Rarity.

“Yes!” Exclaimed the white unicorn, who now wasn’t embracing Twilight, but holding her at arm’s length with both of her hooves on her shoulders. “He was being romantic!”

Anger was detected in her voice as Rarity said this; she was so disappointed and frustrated that all the stallions, and admittedly mares, she had been with weren’t half as charming as Cantor, and they had all left her. And now somepony in front of her had caused her one true love to walk away!?

“Twilight! He told me that he loved you!” Rarity yelled.

“Really?” Twilight meekly, feeling the burning depression she had felt for the past two weeks well up inside her again.

“Yes! And now he’s Celestia knows where, probably killing himself all because of you!” Right now, Rarity was shouting into Twilight’s face, the frustration of a lifetime of loneliness coming out at her friend.

“Don’t you DARE say things like that!” Twilight growled back, shoving the other unicorn away from her. “Cantor would never be so WEAK!”

“Don’t talk to me like that!” Rarity snapped back. “You don’t know what it’s like!”

“What what’s like!?”

“To be alone!”

“To be alone!?...” Twilight started, felling the deepest hatred towards this mare she, for some reason called her friend. “You had friends growing up. I had nothing. All I had were books and some rag doll. Have you ever felt the pain when you realise your only friend when you were growing up was simply an inanimate ball of material!?”

“NO! No I haven’t because I had REAL friends!”

“Well what about the time I had to talk you out of killing yourself because your whole life was devoted to that... th- that cunt, Blueblood and when he wasn’t what you’d dreamed of, it broke your pathetic little heart!?”

That was the first time Rarity had really heard Twilight swear; it made her realise just how upset she was about this whole fiasco and instantly, her anger left her. “Twilight…” She began softly.

“NO! Not ‘Twilight’!” The purple unicorn interrupted, still spitting venom. “You’re right: you’ll never have anypony who cares about you! Because you’re just a sad, oversensitive little bitch who would go as far as to want to kill herself because her shallow, gold – digger dream went unfulfilled!” Rarity did nothing but listen, mouth agape and astonished, tears stinging her eyes as the very element of friendship sat opposite destroying her. “You know, maybe it would have been best if I never talked you out of it! Because that’s all that’s gonna happen in the future! You should just do it right now! In fact, let me give you a hoof!”

With that, Twilight’s horn exploded into an intense purple glow as she grabbed Rarity around the neck with magic and pulled her under the water. Rarity’s first reaction was to scream, but after a long second of silence and a plethora of bubbles, she stopped, holding on to what ever little breath she had. All of a sudden, Twilight wrenched her out of the water. Rarity just managed to gasp “Twilight!” Before she was plunged back into the treacherous soak. The world around her exploded into bubbles and the hammering of her heart in her own head as the adrenaline coursed through her veins. She pushed with all her strength against Twilight, but her experienced magic was just too strong. She pressed her hooves onto her mouth to stop her from sucking in the water. She had about ten seconds, maximum. Her lungs felt as if they were going to burst. She found out that day that you can cry underwater as the fear of the fact that she might never see her family again sunk in. She was weak, but still she tried and tried to push her head out of the water for the air she desperately craved. Her pampered hooves flailed uselessly along the smooth enamel surface of the tub as her eyes shot open and her world began to pulse black.

“Is everything alri- OH, MINE GOSH!” screamed one of the two spa ponies who had just entered the room. Without hesitation, they galloped up the steps and grabbed a hold of Twilight just as Rarity couldn’t take it any longer. The two spa mares heaved Twilight out of the water and over the edge of the bath, causing her to land on the hard tiled floor with a wet slap. The white unicorn felt the strong grip around her neck release and instinctively gasped for air. Instead, all she received were two great lungfuls of water. She only felt the pain of drowning briefly before her eyes rolled back in her head and she sunk to the hard bottom of the tub.

Beseeching Promises

Chapter 14: Beseeching promises

“Hey you, yeah, you!” Came a voice from behind the white alicorn as he strode down the street, unaware of the large crowd of ponies that followed him until he turned around to see who it was had spoken.

“Yeah?” He asked as he turned, eyes widening as he saw the mass of ponies behind him.

“You! I mean… It’s you!” Yelled the dull yellow pegasus as he fought his way through the sea of ponies.

“Hey, watch it buddy!”

“Look where you’re goin’!”

“Keep your dirty hooves off me!”

These were the angered cries of the other Manehattenites as the pegasus stallion barged his way past them towards the alicorn.

There were two reasons Cantor came to Manehatten: one being that the city’s crime rate was rather high compared to the rest of the large cities. The other being that he absolutely adored the accent the ponies spoke with. It amused him how everypony seemed to be in a rush or angry in this cold and windy town.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Asked Cantor as the pegasus came and stood in front of him. The height difference was quite minimal; this pony was a lot taller than most others and his head was practically the same height as Cantor’s.

“Nothing’s wrong!” Answered the yellow pegasus. The colour of his coat reminded Cantor of a friend he once had. “You’re the guy from the paper, aren’t you?”

“Huh?” Replied Cantor, striking an expression of bewilderment. “What paper?”

Instead of answering, the pegasus thrust a rolled up newspaper into Cantor’s face.

“What’s this?” Asked the alicorn, taking the paper with his white aura. He shifted his hooves, they were freezing cold in the thick blanket of snow that coated the city. Heavy grey clouds hung over the city, partially blocking the sun’s light. Cantor unravelled the paper and experienced a feeling. The first actual feeling he had felt in the two weeks he had been away from… home.

The entire front page, except for the title of the paper: the very humorously named “Equestria Daily” was covered in events of him that had happened during the six months he had lived in Ponyville.

The amount of emotions running through his broken heart overwhelmed him and he felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes. He couldn’t help but allow a genuine smile creep onto his face and he forgot to breathe as the wondrous memories poured back into his mind. The time when he and Rainbow Dash were racing and he lost. Badly.

The day when he and Fluttershy shared their cooking expertise, finding out that the shy little pony deserved far much more than she was credited for. His eyes flew over more pictures: That day Luna had allowed him to rearrange the stars into pictures to scare everypony.

They laughed so much that day.

Good times.

There were also pictures of him and Twilight. Not even special, romantic ones, just pictures of him stood next to that spectacular mare. All except for one which showed him laid behind Twilight, his enormous wing protecting her from the darkness of a sleeping library.

Who had even taken those?

All the wonderful happy memories printed onto paper for the world to see started to bring the pieces of his heart back together again.

In the centre of the page, amongst all of the precious photos were the two most relieving, wonderful and tear – inducing words he had ever read:

“Come home.”

He laughed with joy as his heart came back together and pumped the blood around his body once more. He dropped the paper and tore into the air, an enormous grin on his face as tears of happiness streamed down his face. With three powerful flaps of his wings, he was above the skyline and soaring back towards Ponyville. He needed no directions; he didn’t need any sort of advice as to where to aim for on the horizon.

He knew where he was going because the town was calling to him, home was calling to him, and above all, Twilight was calling for him.

One day ago…

Twilight lay on the wet floor, her fur slick to her body as she heard the grunting of the spa ponies from atop the surface of the bath.

“What’s going on?” Asked the purple unicorn. When there came no reply apart from frantic screaming and more grunting, her pupils became pinpricks with remembrance. “Oh, Celestia, Rarity!” She gasped as she struggled to her hooves, falling over again on the wet tiles. She eventually found footing and scrambled up the short flight of stairs. The sight that greeted her stole her breath. Her best friend lay on her back, eyes closed and not breathing with the bright blue earth pony furiously pumping at her chest and the other pink one screaming and crying in horror.

Instantly, Twilight shook the emotional anguish from her mind and the logical part of her brain fired up. She found Rarity’s lungs inside her body with magic and squeezed them hard. A fountain of water erupted from Rarity’s open mouth and dribbled across her chin and neck. Twilight anticipated the coughing and spluttering, but no such sound came. “Oh, Celestia, no… please, no...” She whispered as she stared at her still inanimate friend, mane a mess and spread out underneath her like a purple explosion.

The cyan spa pony had joined the other pink mare in crying, not knowing what else to do to save the pony’s life. Thanking the books on emergency first aid, Twilight fell on top of Rarity and cupped her lips around the white unicorn's. She let out a long, powerful breath before straddling the unicorn and pumping at her chest with a strong and steady rhythm.

Twilight had barely reached the sixth compression before Rarity lurched forward and heaved another mouthful of water onto the floor. Twilight climbed off of her and begun smacking her in the back as Rarity wretched more water from her lungs, making gargling gasps for air. She continued to violently hack up more water until she was finished for now and she laid on her back, her chest was heaving up and down as the only thought going through her mind was: “get air.”

Rarity’s breathing softened a little, but she was still panting like a dog on a hot day. She sat up so quickly, it made Twilight flinch. “Twili- Twilight!” Rarity stammered before going into another violent coughing fit.

The purple mare began to rub her back hard, telling her to “Shhh, shh, shhhh…” like a mother would to comfort her terrified child.

Rarity finished coughing and flung her arms around Twilight, making loud, long, grieving cries into her shoulder. The mix of dopamine, affection, near death experience, oxygen starvation and great love overwhelmed Rarity and she passed out on Twilight’s shoulder, her body still heaving for air. Twilight said nothing, but allowed Rarity to sleep on her as she herself began to cry. The two brightly coloured spa ponies rushed to both the unicorns’ aid, picking them both up onto their backs and rushing them through the doors to some sort of small spa clinic.

For way over an hour, Twilight sat on the bed opposite Rarity, silently watching her doze peacefully.

“What did I do?” She asked herself in her mind. “How could I ever try to kill my best friend?” She didn’t feel sad, nor did she feel angry. Not with herself or Rarity… Rather, she felt nothing, empty, devoid of purpose. She had lost all consciousness of time; for all she knew, she could have been there for days, her mind buzzing with thousands of thoughts at once. She brought herself to avert her eyes from the sleeping unicorn and eyed the simple clock on the wall. Twenty to five in the evening. The sun had been tempting the horizon for some time now and it was finally beginning to set. She remembered how she never feared the dark anymore when Cantor was around. She gave a slight content smile at the happy memory of Cantor saying goodnight to her. Every night. He would always stay with her until she had begun to drift off into sleep. Every night. She had become used to the protective entity that stayed in her house… every single night…

“And now what?” She thought. For the last two weeks, she had taken herself to bed, she had longed for the firm, yet comforting “Good night, Twilight…” and every night for the last two weeks, she had cried herself to sleep. She had forgotten how violent the nightmares were until Cantor left and they came back, the early winter darkness making her edgy, fearful of the shadows. She had experienced three night terrors over the course of Cantor’s absence, and every time, she had woke up, screaming Cantor’s name for protection. But he would never come. Twilight was thankful for Spike; he would always offer his sympathy to her. And to some degree, it worked. But… as she said, she needed Cantor. She would have to get him back.

She didn’t know how he did it, whether it was some sort of magical presence that flowed out of him, destroying the monsters and letting her know love, or whether it was the fact that he did love her…

“Did he?” She asked herself ‘aloud’ though it wasn’t even a whisper in the room; she simply mouthed the words whilst exhaling slowly. “Did he truly love me like Rarity said?” Twilight cast a glance towards her friend. She could see her eyes moving behind her lids. “Sweet dreams, Rarity…” Whispered Twilight, something Cantor occasionally said to her whenever she was at the most peaceful. And do you know what? Twilight always obeyed. Right now, she remembered all of the wonderful long dreams she had about… him…

The purple unicorn’s lavender eyes widened at the realisation: she had dreamed about him… Twilight never paid any attention to dreams “Merely excessive brain activity during sleep.” That’s what she’d always said. Then… why did she dream about Cantor? It was as if… Her eyes widened even more at this even deeper layer of realisation. “It was as if… I wanted to be with him… even when I was asleep…” She murmured to herself. Her eyes faced in the direction of Rarity, but her brain only processed one image: the stallion’s face. Twilight didn’t move, just gazed into those wonderful, deep, warm, kind, beautiful orange eyes.

She reached out to touch him, but all she received was the small clinic coming back into focus. She tried to remember his eyes, but it was no use. She needed the real thing. She just had to get him back.

The stirring of Rarity beneath her line of sight caused her to snap back into reality. She groaned and her eyes slowly began to open, then shot all the way up when she realised she wasn’t in her bedroom and the last thing she remembered was being underwater, bubbles, pain and then darkness. She began to breath quickly.

“I’m dead.” She thought. “I’m dead.” She couldn’t shake the assumption from her mind as she struggled to sit up. Suddenly, she felt two warm hooves wrap around her mid-section and hoist her onto her flank. She turned around to see two lavender eyes gazing back at her. Rarity froze, she was at a mix between seeing Twilight as the pony who had tried to take her life away and her best friend. Though she could see in her eyes that not an ounce of hatred was present, though they did show heaps of remorse.

“I’m so sorry, Rarity!” Exclaimed Twilight, pulling Rarity over her shoulder at a really awkward angle. “I don’t know what came over me but it’s alright now I know what I need to do to make everything alright I have to get Cantor back and I have an idea how oh Rarity I’m so, so sorry for trying to hurt you but it’s alright now and I suspect you’re going to hate me and never want to see me again but I just want you to know I’m so, so, SO sorry!” Twilight broke down into tears and hugged Rarity tighter than ever. For all she knew, she would never be allowed to hold her friend like this again. All of her sorrow turned to joy as she felt Rarity’s hooves wrap themselves around her back and heard Rarity begin crying too.

“It’s okay, Twilight… I forgive you…”

That sentence was like music to Twilight’s ears and she happily listened. The two cuddled each other for another five minutes until their tears had dried up. They brought their faces from off of each other’s shoulders and looked each other in the eye.

“I’m so sorry, Rarity…” Twilight repeated.

“It’s alright…” Replied Rarity. She had stopped crying, but her voice was still a little croaky. “I know you must hurt a lot now.”

“B- but I tried to KILL you! I’d never do that! So why did I try!?” Twilight wasn’t crying, but she was feeling incredibly remorseful.

Rarity gave the most unsuspected reaction Twilight was waiting for: she chuckled. “That’s the effects of heartbreak, my dear…” She smiled.

Without another stray sentence, Twilight beamed and blurted out loudly into Rarity’s face her brilliant plan: “I know how to get Cantor back!”

“So, an entire planet’s worth of front page news, for one day, in the hopes that he’ll see it?”

“Yes. If that’s not too much to ask.”

“I don’t know, Twilight… What if he doesn’t see it? Something like that would take so much magic to put the page in every editor’s mind.”

“But can you do it?”

“I can, but I still need your help…”

“What do you need me to do, princess?”

“I need you to think of all the happy memories you and your friends shared with him. Picture them as clearly as you can in your mind and think about nothing else. Also think of the message you want to give to him.”

“Oh, thank you princess!” Cried Twilight, throwing her arms around the mighty alicorn before realising what she was doing. She let go and backed away. “Sorry…” She mumbled.

“Not at all.” Replied Celestia. “Now think. Think back through your times with Cantor, Twilight. Think about nothing else except what you and your friends did with him and think about what you want to say.”
Twilight nodded and closed her eyes. Her horn began to glow a bright pearlescent white, with just the tiniest tint of violet as she concentrated her thoughts onto the memories.

She remembered the good times they shared so vividly, it was as if she was actually there watching them unfold. She saw herself curled up next to Cantor as they all slept on the library floor. She looked back on the time where they were all playing with Cantor’s power to manipulate the elements. She giggled when she remembered Spike telling Cantor to send a gust up the skirt of a young skittish mare.

She remembered slapping him hard that day, but it was all in good fun.

She remembered watching him stand up for a pony he had barely known ten minutes at the gala. She remembered the night they almost kissed in the hospital. One time, a mare who was giving Twilight a hard time had about fifty buckets of icy water land on top of her, destroying her self – centred ego in front of everypony watching. Twilight remembered the look of absolute trust and friendship he had given her shortly after doing this, making her tears at the harsh things said go away.

“Come home, Cantor.” Twilight whispered. “Please come home…”

The entire length of Celestia’s horn blazed with the pearlescent aura and she released the immense spell, sending a thin white shockwave around the entire world. Bells chimed and birds fluttered away from the unsuspecting sound.

The global editors the message was directed at instantly froze, no matter what they were doing. They immediately stopped the presses and drew up a quick image onto paper, picture perfect to the one they had in their mind. Even the most artistically challenged of ponies picked up a pencil and drew the images they saw.

Somewhere above Manehatten, on the tallest building he could find, a certain white alicorn peering down over the grid like roads looked up when he could have sworn he heard that purple mare he thought he loved whisper to him: ”Come home…”

He shook the voice from his head and chocked it down to the depression that covered the shrapnel of his heart, making him desperate for everything to go back to the way it was. He took in a breath of high altitude air, reminding himself that a life with Twilight was never going to happen. And, bored with the gloomy sky, cleared every single cloud with the slightest flick of his horn, allowing himself a beautiful view of the setting orange sun.

Celestia’s right foreleg collapsed slightly before she regained her strength. She breathed heavily; the global spell had taken much energy out of her, even more so than raising the sun did. Twilight was unaffected by the spell and she rushed towards Celestia.

“Did it work!?” She asked frantically. Celestia pretty much ignored the question. She stepped past twilight and towards a balcony which protruded from the side of her throne room. The younger – much younger – purple mare followed her outside.

The pair overlooked the blazing orange horizon as the enormous red ball stopped just above the point where the sky met the world. The princess’ horn lit up again and she closed her eyes. With an expression of peace and serenity on her face, the sun dipped into the horizon and the alicorn mare stumbled back slightly. The pair watched the sun slowly set, dispersing the entire spectrum of colour across the sky, slowly filling with little points of light.

“You know, Twilight…” Princess Celestia started as the bottom quarter of the large red disc disappeared from view. “Cantor raised the sun once…”

“He did!?” Twilight gasped in wonderment.

Celestia merely hummed an amused ‘yes’ before turning to face her student. “What I like to think is that somewhere out there, he is watching the very same sunset…” She blinked once and for some reason became aware of Twilight’s rate of breath.

“I like to think of that too, princess…” Twilight replied as the very tip of the sun disappeared for another day.

“Every single night…”

It had taken him a whole day – an entire day's worth of flying to finally reach the peak of the mountain in which he could see the beautiful gem of a town in which was undoubtedly his home. Ponyville. His wings felt as if they were on fire. He could have sworn he didn’t need to exert himself this much when he… left.

He dove towards the town at ridiculous speeds, going as fast as he possibly could to return to the one he loved. He shot through clouds which drenched his body and soaked his mane, but the only thing on his mind was the glowing tree in the centre of the settlement.

Twilight had requested Spike left her in solitude for the night, adamant that Cantor would show up, but even though it was just passed midnight, she didn’t feel at all tired. However, even with every light in the library turned on, she could still feel the vulnerability of being left alone. She sat on her sofa, which used to be the stallion’s bed and had drawn the curtains too; she kept seeing shadows skim across her periphery and was becoming very distressed at the pale faces she thought she could see leering in at her.

“iiiiiiii”

She heard the sound of something distant, quieter than a whisper to her, but the sound carried urgency with it. Before she could think about all the scary things it could have been, another sound, much louder than before came from outside.

“Twiii – liiight…”

It was calling her name, whatever it was. She listened, and sure enough, she heard the extremely distinct male voice shouting her name. “Twilight!” It shouted. She instantly recognised the voice she had been begging to hear outside of memory for the past two weeks and as soon as she heard him, the fear and anxiety left her as if it were a flame that had just been snuffed out.

“Cantor!?” She asked, although she already knew the answer, much to her overwhelming joy.

“TWILIGHT!” Came a desperate cry from the other side of the door, when, without warning, it burst open, revealing the scratched, dirty, exhausted looking alicorn. He looked a right state, but to Twilight, he was the most handsome pony she’d ever laid eyes on.

“Cantor!” She squealed in glee before charging towards him and squeezing him as tight as she could; for she would never let go again. Both ponies had tears of reunited joy brimming in their eyes. Twilight pulled out of the embrace and looked up at Cantor. She bit her lower lip and brought her hoof up.

Smack!

The loud echoing sound ringed through the alicorn's head as her hoof made direct contact with the side of his face. He didn’t touch the sore spot on his cheek, instead, stared bewildered at the purple mare.

“That’s for leaving!” She snapped before throwing her arms back around Cantor’s neck and locking her lips around his.

Allowing Twilight to take lead, Cantor opened his mouth, closed his eyes and improvised with her, their tongues dancing inside each other’s mouths. They kissed with all of the missed passion that had been brewing for months for what seemed like hours, but in reality, only lasted a few minutes.

Twilight eventually stopped, pulling away from the perfect feeling. Cantor saw her eyes streaming with tears. The sight caused him to show all of his emotions as well.

“And that’s for coming back.” She said, leaning in for another kiss. Cantor didn’t protest: this was what Twilight wanted, and he wanted nothing more other than to give her what she wanted, which graciously fell in line with what he wanted as well.

Cantor raised Twilight off of the floor in a shroud of her own coloured magic, shut the door and locked it at the same time. He rotated Twilight so she was upside down, being very careful not to upset the delicate moment of intimacy. He began making his way up Twilight’s staircase, still locking lips with that astounding mare.

Not once did it occur to him that she was not from the same world, not once. Because he loved her, and that’s all that mattered.

He approached the edge of Twilight’s soft, cushiony bed. A small part of him just wanted to snuggle down next to her and go to sleep, but the rest of his being wanted to show her just how much he cared. He very slowly laid Twilight down on her back atop her mattress and pulled his head back. He gazed longingly into her perfect lavender eyes and she stared right back up into his. There was something about them now, a new element nestled in his subconscious.

“I love you, Twilight Sparkle.” He spoke forcefully, showing that every single atom in his body knew that this was the truth.

Twilight’s half closed eyes blinked once as she opened her mouth to speak. “I love you too, Cantor…” She sighed. Her mouth remained open, even when she had finished speaking. The stallion pressed his gentle lips back onto hers and allowed himself to melt into her. Twilight wrapped her arms tightly around Cantor’s solid neck and in a wild moment of deeply growing passion, making up for months of lost love on this night. She pulled, dragging him on top of her. He didn’t resist, neither did she, they both simply allowed the magical moment to unfold by itself, as they finally began their beautiful relationship…

Celestia’s bright sun had long since peeked over the horizon and was now flooding Twilight’s bedroom with light. It was nearly noon, and the sheets around the alicorn lay in a mess. The winter morning was silent and surprisingly hot; condensation had formed on the large circular window at the edge, blurring the otherwise perfectly round white ball of fire in the sky. Cantor’s eyes opened quickly and stayed in his signature tiny frown of determination which only left his face when he laughed. He realised he was laying horizontally. In a bed. Twilight’s bed. His eyes widened and a great smile crawled onto his face. He turned over to see the empty half of a bed. His smile dropped and he furrowed his brow in thought. Sitting himself upon his flank, resting his back against the headboard. His sucked his lips inquisitively, they tasted… unusually sweet, with a most destinct taste on them.

His eyes scanned the room. He was alone, although he could hear feint coughs and mumbles coming from downstairs.

Drearily, he clambered from the soft bed and landed on his hooves. He was still rather groggy, but he also felt immensely refreshed after a night's sleep in a proper bed. Cantor re-made the bed for Twilight as he tried to remember last night, but he just couldn’t. maybe it was because he was distracted by the act of bed making, “Yeah…” He thought. “That must be it…” he continued to make the bed manually; he couldn’t find the concentration to use magic.

Once the bed looked perfect again, just how Twilight would want it, pillows plumped and all, Cantor sat on the edge of it, indenting the starstruck duvet a little. Last night began to replay in his head. He already knew he had… bonded with Twilight he chuckled softly to himself in his throat, remembering how he could now add the most intimate of memories to the list. His eyes widened when he remembered how the session had finished… falling asleep in each others arms, and one of the two’s pair of wings.

However, this had come shortly after Twilight had replaced her bedsheets. “Oh, God...” He mumbled in absolute embarrassment as he remembered just how much there had been – six months worth of… ‘resources’. That’s how much.

Twilight had seemed completely fine with it, but Cantor needed to know if she was really comfortable. His face a beet red, he made his way downstairs and spotted the gorgeous purple unicorn flicking through a newspaper on her couch. His attempt at tip-hoofing came to an unlucky end as he misplaced his foreleg, overstepping one step and nearly having a heart attack as it hit the one below it. He lost his balance and toppled forward, making Twilight practically jump out of her seat as the alicorn fell down the rest of the stairs in a tangle of legs and a mass of feathers. Instead of rushing to Cantor’s aid, she merely giggled at his clumsy nature. Another thing she had greatly missed.

“Morning, Cantor.” She said as he lay in a ridiculously awkward position on the hard wooden floor.

The stallion quickly drew himself upright and replied. “Good morning, Twilight…” The two remained in awkward silence for a moment before Cantor spoke again. “Look, Twilight… Ab- about last night…”

Twilight hummed peacefully. “Last night was amazing, Cantor…” She sighed.

“But my- I mean, I… your bed…” He began to blush horrendously, his face taking on the colour of Big Macintosh’s. “I’m so, so sorry Twilight; I didn't know what else to do... I just don’t know what came over me…”

“Well I sure did…” Replied the unicorn seductively. It took Cantor only a second to realise what she had said, before exploding into immature, rapturous laughter.

“Don’t worry about that…” She giggled childishly and blushed herself. “Actually, it was quite fascinating…”

Cantor let out a heavy sigh, ending in a wide smile. “Everything’s fascinating to you, Twilight, isn’t it?”

“Yes, well… I’m always willing to try new things…” She replied, glancing back to her newspaper.

“Your first time?” Asked Cantor, tilting his head slightly. Twilight nodded without looking up. “Mine too.” He added.

Twilight brought her eyes to his. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped in her tracks. “What is it?” Cantor asked.

Twilight shook her head vigorously. “Nothing. Don’t worry…”

“Go on.” He insisted.

“Well…” She began, a redness flowing across her features and increasing as she spoke. “You know alicorns are really rare?”

“Yeah…”

“And not much is known about them?”

“Yes…”

Twilight held herself back. “No, just forget about it.”

“Go on,” Replied Cantor, beginning to walk towards her.

“You see…” The unicorn continued, her blush now bright red. “I’d really like to… ‘study’ you…”

Cantor gave her a wary look, though her sentence didn’t deter him from taking the seat to her side. “How do you mean?” He enquired.

“I mean… I’d like to find out just how powerful your magic is; what it could become... among other things…”

“Like what?”

“…Genetics…”

“Oh…" Cantor mumbled, a little lost. "OH!" He re-enforced as the implied intentions became clear. "Oh, well um what do you mean by… gen- genetics?”

Twilight smirked; he knew exactly what she was getting at. “Well I’d like to find out, statistically, the likelihood of an alicorn being born when there is a single alicorn parent in a couple…”

The white stallion’s head turned downwards, away from Twilight’s. “Do you know why I… finished like that last night?” He asked the ground.

Twilight giggled, her blush refusing to go away. “No, but I’m sure not going to forget it!” She laughed.

Cantor remained staring at the floor. He sighed. “Do you… do you want a- a… family one day?”

Twilight drew back slightly, eyeing her empty teacup which rested on the edge of the coffee table. She exhaled loudly, though it wasn’t intended as a sigh. “One day… yes… But now I’m far too young to have to worry about foals!” She giggled and Cantor returned his eyes to hers. “And especially after last night! We’ve still got so much to try…” She fiercely replied, her eyes changing to those very seductive half – closed jewels. “Anyway…” She muttered, “Why did you um… yeah…”

“I just wasn’t sure if you wanted to get pregnant, you know, especially since it was your, actually both our first times…” The stallion answered admittedly.

“Well I would have been, no doubt!” She cried in excitement. “There must have been a litre of the stuff at least!” She was finding much fascination in the situation. Cantor, on the other hoof, found the talk about this lusty little act incredibly… inspiring… “I didn’t know there was that much involved!” She exclaimed.

“Neither did I…” He muttered. “It was, ah, how to put it… ‘pent up’…”

“Pent up?” Twilight quizzed.

Cantor chuckled foalishly. “Remember when we met, back in September?”

“Yeah…” The mare replied.

“Well not since then…” He felt the blood begin to pool in his cheeks once more.

“Not what since then?” Asked Twilight in genuine misunderstanding. Cantor just raised his eyebrows and waited for her brilliant mind work it out.

“No!” She gasped. “You haven’t… for…” She briefly thought about the time. “Six months!?” She exclaimed in astonishment. “Even I-“ She brought a hoof to her mouth before she could say anything else. The Purple hoof also aided her in obscuring her horrendous blush.

Cantor could see her eyes were filled with the upmost shame, but when he smiled knowingly towards her, she released some of her awkwardness. “I didn’t know about this side of the innocent young librarian, Twilight Sparkle!” He joked.

“Oh, stop it!” She giggled.

“No wonder there’s so many of ‘those’ books in the restricted section…”

“Cantor, stop it!” She replied, giving him a playful punch in the shoulder.

“So ‘that’ sort of stuff is in your fantasies, hm?”

Twilight threw her arms around Cantor’s neck and once again, pulled him on top of her.

They laid there for a minute or so before the wonderfully tender kiss broke. “I like this new side of Twilight…” The large white stallion commented, his wings broadly extended behind his back.

That ridiculously sexy look Twilight gave with the half – closed eyes had just been taken to the next level as she bit softly on the tip of her hoof. “Same thing again tonight?” She said softly and alluringly.

Cantor smiled warmly and, looking into her deep lavender eyes, simply replied in a voice as equally sensual: “I really like this new side of Twilight.”

They slowly began to draw closer again before a young, husky voice called in behind them “Are you guys talking about… what I think you’re talking about?”

Cantor slowly turned away from Twilight and looked towards the intruder. “That depends, Spike,” He said whilst turning. The dragon gasped in delight as he clocked who it was. “What did you think we were talking about?”

Spike squealed in joy and bounded across the room towards the friendly white alicorn. “Cantor!” He cried as he landed on the stallion’s back. “I really missed you!” He enthused.

Cantor chortled in agreement. “I’ve missed you too, Spike…” He replied, nuzzling the dragon quickly.

Spike revelled in the moment of being reunited with a close friend. What also lit up his soul was the first truly happy smile Twilight had worn on her face in the fortnight Cantor had been away. His attention suddenly snapped back to the position the two ponies were laying in.

“Wait, were you talking about what I think you were talking about?” Asked the baby dragon again, climbing off of the stallion’s back from between his flared wings.

Cantor shot a trustworthy smile towards Twilight before returning to look at Spike. “Might have been…” He answered meekly, pumping fake embarrassment into his tone to make the dragon edgy.

Spike turned bright red again and asked: “You mean you… you know… with Twilight?” Cantor nodded softly, attempting to steer the conversation away from his as Twilight's intimate persuits. “What’s it like!?”

“Spike!” Protested Twilight, squirming from beneath Cantor and bringing herself to stand upright on the thick wooden floorboards and scowling at the youngling. “That’s personal! How would you like it if I asked you what you fantasised about when I leave you alone for a couple hours?”

“I don’t do anything when you’re not here!” Spike retaliated, defending his ‘innocent’ appearance.

“Oh please, Spike, every adolescent being capable of comprehension does that at every chance they get.” Twilight continued. Cantor shuffled awkwardly on his hooves as Twilight said this.

All three fell quiet and a very awkward silence descended onto the room. The electricity in the air was tangible as it would only take one of them to say the wrong thing and an angry argument would explode right after Cantor had come back. Cantor took the risk and said what he hoped Twilight was thinking too.

“Look, Spike… What we’re trying to say here is that you’re… old enough to understand the um… ‘mechanics of desire’-“ His eyes widened and he turned towards the purple mare. “That’s a pretty good scripture, don’t you think?” Before Twilight could reply, Cantor turned his head back to face Spike. “Yet… you’re not mature enough to talk about it openly…”

“Well are you?” Spike asked back sharply.

The alicorn replied with a great whooping laugh. “Oh yes, Spike…” He let out a few more loud waves of laughter. “All the time!”

Twilight sighed overdramatically. “Ugh! Boys!” She raised the teacup from the table in a brilliant white aura. The sight shocked her, nevertheless, it made her feel very happy and content with life. “Could you get the door, Cantor?” she asked the stallion. He instantly obliged and the door, surrounded by the same blazing purple as his horn shut. Twilight’s smile broadened significantly as the thick red door left open by her dragon assistant closed near to silently, separating the warm contents of her home from the frigid February air, “Can I interest you in a nice cup of tea, Cantor?”

The scruffy white alicorn turned away from the door to face Twilight, a mischievous and nostalgic smirk carved into his loveable face. “Don’t you always, Twilight?...”

His return felt like a parade, everypony in town greeted him with great waves and friendly smiles. As he, Twilight and Spike peacefully walked through the centre of town, ponies everywhere who weren’t horrendously busy rushed over to say hello.

Cantor felt so welcome, so happy. This place was his home, and he wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else on the entire planet for all the bits in the world.

“Welcome back, Cantor!” Called Derpy Hooves as she flew over him, letters and parcels poking out of her saddlebags.

“Thanks, Derpy!” He replied, watching the pegasus disappear between two houses.

“Hi, Cantor!” A pink mare with a bright green curly mane called out from across the street.

“Hi!” Replied the alicorn, not having the faintest clue who she was, but feeling very grateful that she did.

“CANTOR!” A furious sounding male voice came from behind him.

Cantor halted and turned around quickly to come muzzle to muzzle with the ex-weather team leader. “Hi, Al!” He said cheerfully.

“Hi? HI!?” The fuming pegasus yelled before compressing his rage. He sighed before continuing, “Welcome back. But one thing I have to ask you is um… what do you think is wrong with this town?” He asked in an overly sweet and inquisitive manner.

“Ummm…” Thought Cantor.

“What month is it?”

“February…”

“And what is the typical weather this time of year?”

“Ohhh…” Cantor groaned, peering up at the sky. It was completely void of clouds, just the winter sun failing to heat up the planet enough to make it summer, but still giving the appearance of a warmer season without the signature grey winter clouds.

“I’m really sorry, Al…” Said Cantor, dropping his ears to the sides of his head.

The coffee coloured pegasus sighed in defeat. “You really fu- um, messed up the weather patterns by leaving; we’ve got two weeks worth of snow piled up and we need to get it falling pretty much now.” He tried to sound sympathetic towards Cantor, but he just sounded disappointed.

The alicorn thought it was a little strange that the voice of his supervisor was so comforting to hear. “Right now?” Asked Cantor.

“If you would…” Replied Al.

“I’ll see what I can do, sir…” Said the alicorn.

Cantor had an attempt at bringing in the snow clouds, but the extreme weight of nine days worth of gentle snowfall massed to way more than Cantor was used to put way too much strain on his magic. He had made snow fall for three days in early December, but those had been relatively light dustings, and now he needed to bring together four feet of snow for today.

His horn lit up indigo before quickly fizzling out. Cantor lurched forward at the unexpected jolt. “What happened?” Asked Twilight, looking up at Cantor.

The alicorn chuckled. “Oh, nothing much, it’s just there’s a lot more than I expected… Could you just… hold on a moment, Twilight?”

“Of course!” She happily exclaimed, stepping away from Cantor slightly. He spread his griffon – like wings and hoisted himself into the air. He remained just above the roofs of houses and hovered there, locating the spec in the stark sky that was Cloudsdale.

He brought his forehooves up in front of him to help shape the clouds. He grinned at the epic moment he was about to perform. Most ponies in Ponyville had craned their necks to the sky, seeing the angelic form rise above the rooftops and extend his arms like some sort of mage. Cantor closed his eyes and concentrated on the city tens of miles away. His serine face contorted to a straining grimace as he pulled millions of tons worth of snow towards the small town of Ponyville. The workers at the weather station in Cloudsdale cheered when they realised the clouds moving at such a rate could only mean one thing: Cantor had returned.

The clouds drifted closer, starting off slowly but then increasing dramatically until they circled around the outskirts of Ponyville and began to fill in until there was only a small patch of blue sky remaining a few hundred metres across. The alicorn slowly rotated his right forehoof in great circular motions, creating a whirlpool – type effect in the formation of the clouds. Cantor could feel the strain that magic on this scale put upon him, and he nearly gave up right at the end, but a collective roar of cheers and stomping from below spurred him on to finish the job. The last grey cloud squeezed it’s way into the little hole in the middle of the sky, throwing the whole town under a blanket of darkness.

Having exerted every ounce of strength he had, Cantor’s wings failed him and he plummeted downwards into a collection of wooden barrels, causing them to shatter and spill the water they were holding all over the floor.

Twilight, and everypony watching gasped and rushed over to where the stallion had landed. By the time they had closed in around him, he had crawled out from under the splintered wood and was lying on his stomach, breathing heavily. By now, Twilight had come to expect this sort of thing from Cantor and merely laughed among all of the concerned looking faces.

Twilight bent her neck down so her head was nearly touching Cantor’s horn. He bought his eyes to meet hers, but refused to lift his chin from the ground.

“If I had one bit for every time you’ve ended up hurt, bleeding or in some kind of general trouble for doing something stupid,” Twilight started, smiling down upon him, “I’d be a very rich pony…”

Cantor shut his eyes, shook his head and grinned before trying to bring himself to his hooves. He placed a tired foreleg out in front of him and, as expected, received trembling as a response from the disobedient limb. What happened next filled Cantor with a variety of happy feelings: four other ponies whom he had never met stood at each of his quarters and hoisted him upwards.

“Thanks guys.” He returned, standing gingerly in one spot, fighting just to keep his balance, still rather unfamiliar with the kindness exerted by the ponies in this town.

“Why is it not snowing?” Asked Spike, staring upwards at the dark sky. It was so dark in fact, that one could mistake the time of day as dusk, rather than one o’ clock in the afternoon.

“I just gotta… get it started…” Replied Cantor, breathing deeply. “Just let me… catch my… breath…”

“Wow, Cantor, I’ve never seen anything like that before!” Exclaimed Twilight. She too, was scanning the sky. “I love snow.”

“Me too, Twilight. It’s my favourite… my favourite type of weather…” The alicorn responded, his breathing rapidly becoming more stable. “Just give me a minute... and there’ll be snow…”

After said minute, Cantor stepped into a large clearing in the town centre with a perfect shot at the middle of the heavy snow cloud. He turned to the ponies stood behind him.

“You may not want to be there…” He warned with a smirk. Almost instantly the ten or so ponies behind him cleared the gangway and shuffled around to his sides. A few more ponies were standing in their doorways after venturing outside to see what had happened to the sky. It must have seemed strange for them to go from a bright blue day to nearly night time in less than two minutes.

Readying himself for another magical purge, Cantor lowered his head to the floor and closed his eyes. His horn glowed brightly to start with and quickly grew to a brightness which would be painful to look directly at. After the twenty second mark, Cantor’s horn was layered with thick helpings of magical charge and the sheer enormity of the point of energy was confusing the very laws of physics and making sounds that without tweaking would otherwise be impossible. With one final push, the alicorn reared up and released the energy spike. The blast was so powerful that he was blown ten feet backwards, leaving two small trenches in the dirt where his back hooves were. Simultaneously, a crack of thunder could be heard as loud as if a bolt of lightning had struck where Cantor had been standing. The blast had made the journey across hundreds of metres of sky instantaneously and struck the bottom of the cloud, causing a magenta shockwave to ripple across the surface.

Everypony craned their neck up hopefully and began cheering in delight as the first few snowflakes came into sight. Cantor had just finished filling in the grooves he had made in the ground when the cheering started. He too joined the ponies in gazing up at the sky. For some reason, snow seemed always the ‘happiest’ weather; a lot of fun can be had in it for all ages. Cantor had made it snow three times before, but they were only light dustings, this snowfall would be the one to last several days. The alicorn reached out and caught a snowflake on his hoof, melting it almost instantly. The ground of Ponyville looked like it had a disease: white spots all over the surface as the snow had just begun to fall.

Spike suddenly belched out a large green flame, causing Cantor to flinch at the unexpected outburst. A small scroll materialised from the fire and Twilight picked it up with her magic and began to read aloud. As soon as she started reading, a beaming smile exploded onto her face.

“I’m glad to see Cantor is back.
-Princess Celestia.

P.S: Me too!
-Princess Luna.”

“Well I Think the princess just saw that show!” Declared Twilight, stowing the letter inside her mane. “I’m proud of you, Cantor.” She continued with a bow. “That sort of magic is so unbelievably powerful; I’m glad you’re using it for good rather than evil.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Twi… LIGHT!”

The unicorn giggled. “It’s okay, Cantor, You can call me ‘Twi’ if you like…”

Cantor smiled and gave a short, content snort from his nostrils. “Thanks, Twi…” His smile grew until his teeth showed and by now, the snow had already formed a very thin layer over the roofs and streets of the town. The snow falling beneath the entirety of the cloud blocked out any direct sunlight from the sides, making the light from the sun above dampened and giving the appearance of night time to the ponies below. Several pegasi were lighting old – looking street lamps, causing the snow around them to glow a dim yellow. The lamps didn’t do much, but they helped, and besides, they did look absolutely marvellous.

“I love the snow…” Cantor murmured to Twilight.

“It really is the most beautiful weather.” She added.

“But not half as beautiful as you.”

“Oh, that’s so cheap!” Twilight replied.

“I know, I’m full of cheap ones.”

“I’ll let you try again.” She said, meeting his eyes.

Cantor thought for a moment before replying. “Anypony can write poetry to try and describe their love, but one glance can speak more than any sonnet possibly could, especially when I look at you.”

The young purple mare tittered again. “That’s a little better…” She returned, unamused, meeting cantor halfway for a quick peck on the lips.

“Ugh, gross! Are you two lovebirds done?” Spike protested, raising his hand as a shield towards the scene. “Can we just go along now? My scales are hard, but they do let the cold in!”

“Alright, Spike.” Twilight replied, “Come on…” She then motioned for Spike to hop onto her back. The trio then set off for Sweet Apple Acres through the thick, but still rather gentle snowfall.

“So why are we going to the farm again?” Enquired Cantor as he trotted briskly by Twilight’s left side.

“We’re helping Applejack paint the barn,” Started the mare, “but… I don’t think that’s going to happen because of all this snow…”

“So why are we still going?” The alicorn asked.

“Because it’s nice to visit, Cantor…” She answered, sounding as if she were scolding him slightly.

“Yeah, I agree, I’m just saying that… being anti-productive is out of character for you…" He frowned. "And Applejack, come to think of it.."

“I don’t have any work to do anyway…” She muttered in response. “Besides, I’m sure Applejack is dying to welcome you back.”

“Really?”

“Of course! We all missed you so much while you were gone… especially Pinkie and me.”

“Pinkie?”

“Yeah, you know how she is with friends…”

Cantor dropped his head to the freezing white ground and sighed sorrowfully. “I’m so, so sorry I just upped and left without saying goodbye; I just thought it would hurt less…”

“It’s okay, Cantor, I forgive you.” Twilight replied with a comforting expression.

The stallion gazed upon her and she smiled, amplifying her care and trust.

“Thanks, Twi,” (though he felt it now acceptable to call this mare ‘Twi’, actually saying it to her still felt rather strange.) “I promise I won’t do anything like that again.”

“Good.” Twilight responded with a nod. “Because I’m not going to let you!” She laughed, pecking Cantor on the cheek.

The two ponies and one dragon continued trotting through the snowstorm. At first, the wind had been minimal, even perhaps absent when the snow had started, but now, it had picked up dramatically and the snow now whirled around in the air in untidy swoops. Visibility was on the verge of nothing and the small group would be certainly lost given that this particular snowstorm was comprised of nearly nine days worth of snow ready to fall until next morning. Twilight sent out a powerful beam of light from her horn, casting a cone of yellowish light through the blizzard. The torch spell didn’t help much at all, only illuminating the snowflakes further away. Beyond that, there was nothing but darkness.

“Can’t you hold off this wind?” Groaned Twilight, shivering in the intense cold.

“I can for a little while…” Cantor returned, illuminating his horn with a soft purple glow. The wind slowly died down until it was nothing more than a gentle breeze to keep the snow falling in front of them. “But after about five minutes, I’m afraid I’m going to have to stop…”

Twilight sighed in relief of not having to put up with the bitterly cold winds. “Why’s that?” She asked, light still being cast from her horn.

“After about five minutes, of any element, it starts to hurt… like… like a vice on either side of my head being tightened really quickly…” Cantor replied glumly.

“Well just stop whenever you feel uncomfortable.” The unicorn announced with a hearty smile. “But we should be at the farm by then…”

After a couple of minutes more gentle trotting along the barely visible path, the small group spotted a feint silhouette of the Apple family’s great barn amongst the white storm.

“Over there!” Called Twilight as she and Cantor picked up their pace and gained on the barn before the energy draining air – control spell could take it’s toll on the alicorn. The trio of friends had reached the large doors to the cavernous barn in under thirty seconds. “Come on, let’s wait out in here until the wind dies down a little.” Twilight proposed, nudging the door open just enough for the two ponies to slide through.

“Are you sure Applejack won’t mind us being in her barn?” Asked Cantor, his ears and hooves burning from the sudden change in temperature.

“Oh, yes, Cantor…” Replied Twilight slyly, “I’m sure she’ll be fine with it…”

…

“SURPRISE!!!” Was the momentous cry of some ten ponies as the big lights overhead blasted on, erupting with light and illuminating the hidden inhabitants of the barn as they leapt from their hiding places. At this outburst, Cantor shrieked and his wings shot from the side of his body, sending the young dragon flying from Twilight’s back and into the wall where several lengths of rope hung. Spike fell to the floor and the ropes landed on top of him, creating a strange knotted mound. Everypony except Cantor and Spike had been sent into laughter. The stallion scanned over the friendly faces of the crowd. His five other friends were there, along with their siblings, including Big Macintosh all laughing as the little purple dragon clambered out from under the ropes.

Cantor, now processing what had just happened, beamed happily around the faces of the ponies he had greatly missed in his time away.

“Sorry, Spike…” He chuckled, casting a glance across to the baby dragon as he stood up and brushed himself off.

Swaying from the post – impact dizziness, Spike managed to mumble a response. “It’s okay, Cantor…” He said, trying to walk straight, “Glad you were surprised…”

The alicorn nosed around the decorated barn, streamers of bright and happy colours like pink, yellow and green were strewn across the rafters along with balloons and shimmering confetti. To the rear of the room, a table, composed of several hay bails with a simple pale spearmint cloth covering them presented a large, impressive buffet consisting of many sweets such as sponge cakes, chocolates, boiled sweets, nuts, fruit and even more brightly coloured cupcakes. At the centre of the table rested several bottles of fizzy liquid, the words ‘Colta-Cola’ were written across the labels of a couple. As well as this, there were clear bottles filled with lemonade and a luminous red one that looked very intriguing, being named rather fetchingly: “Pegasus revive”.

“Welcome back!” Everypony cried in almost perfect unison.

“Wow…” Cantor awed, an enormous grin on his face and tearing up ever so slightly. “Is this for me?”

“Of course, silly!” Replied Pinkie pie. “Do you like it?”

Cantor was slightly breathless. “I- I love it… I don’t know what to say… Thank you all so much!”

“Anything for a friend.” Replied the bright pink mare, her mane bouncy and full of life.

The six mares then closed in on Cantor, embracing him in a group hug. The stallion could feel himself welling up, but he managed to keep his cool and breathe deeply through his nose. “I love you all so much… Why the hell did I ever leave?”

“Aww, that doesn't matter now; that’s in the past… the important thing is that you’re back.” Answered Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah,” Added Applejack, “it jus’ weren’t the same without you around, but as Rainbow said, you’re back now. That’s all that matters.” She then proceded to tighten her grip around his strong neck.

“Thank you. Everyone…” Cantor murmured.

The group soon released him and set about talking to each other. A great red stallion strode up to the alicorn. He punched him on the shoulder, intensions for being gentle absent. “Good to see ya’ back, kid.” Big Macintosh said in his deep southern voice.

“Thanks, Big Mac.” Replied Cantor, rubbing his aching shoulder blade.

The red stallion then rotated on the spot and made his way towards Fluttershy, who was laying down on some hay bails next to Applejack, crudely arranged to look like a couch. Out of nowhere, music began to blare out of some hidden speakers.

“Come on, everypony!” Cried Pinkie from the centre of the dance floor, “Leeeet’s Party!” She immediately began her ecstatic series of moves on the dance floor, which was simply a clearing in the middle of the room. She was quickly joined by Rainbow Dash and the three fillies. Cantor, Twilight and Rarity remained close to the door.

“I cant dance for shi- uh, I mean at all…” Remarked Cantor, watching Pinkie’s ridiculously precise areal acrobatics.

“Don’t worry,” Twilight started, “neither can I.”

“Well there’s more to a party than just dancing.” Stated Rarity. “Let’s sit over there.” She said, pointing a hoof towards
another hay – sofa. Her two friends accompanied her to the seat and sat down beside her, Cantor to the right of Twilight, and Rarity on the left. Seeing as there was no room for him on the chair, Spike jogged over to the dance floor, joining Sweetie Belle in some strange, uncoordinated, yet still amusing dance.

“Where did you go?” Twilight asked, turning her head from the show to her stallion beside her.

“Manehatten.” He replied. Rarity ‘oooh’-ed in wonderment. “And not the nice part…” Cantor added, a slight sense of bitterness in his voice.

“What do you mean, ‘not the nice part’?” Asked the white unicorn, her face dropping in mild disappointment.

“The back alleys; bin fires, street fights, muggers, rapists, the full deal…” He answered.

“What did you do?” Twilight contributed.

Cantor sighed before replying, the buzz from the surprise quickly wearing off as he remembered some of the things he had done in the vile city. “Helped.” He said bluntly.

Twilight and Rarity met eyes and exchanged a look of mild concern towards the alicorn as he watched Big Mac and Fluttershy meekly making a shy attempt at light conversation.

“What do you mean… ‘helped’?” Asked Twilight, becoming concerned and echoing Rarity’s previous question.

“I helped… stop the… bad guys…” Cantor answered hesitantly.

“How so?” Twilight interrogated.

Cantor sighed heavily again. “I… I hurt some ponies, Twilight…”

The lavender mare’s eyes widened. “Cantor you… you didn’t…” She cast a glance towards the rest of the party scene, the music was so loud, the two more active mares in the room were dancing vigorously with the fillies and Spike, and Applejack had joined in her brother’s and Fluttershy’s conversation, quite forcefully, by the looks of things. “You didn’t… kill anypony did you?...”

Once again, Cantor exhaled deeply. “Whatever happens in that city, would never make it here, this little town is so perfect and excluded from the horrors of the world, everypony is so nice and friendly and kind… the things I’ve seen: they’re no horror show, but they certainly make you take a step back and appreciate your sheltered life here…”

“That still doesn’t answer my question, Cantor… Did you kill anypony?” Twilight asked bluntly, staring up at Cantor’s eyes, though he didn't match the stare. She already knew the truth before he answered. That’s what that new element in his gaze was when she peered into his mind last night.

Cantor closed his eyes. “Yes. Yes I did.”

Twilight seemed surprisingly unaffected by his reply, Rarity, on the other hoof, simply listened, slightly in shock towards the reply, but still believing every word she was hearing.

“Two, as a matter of fact…” The stallion added, unable to look Twilight in the eye.

“Why?” She asked, bringing her soft purple hoof to Cantor’s thigh.

“Are you sure you want to know?” He asked, which was more intended as a warning.

“Yes.” Twilight answered sternly, not angry, not sad, not excited… but curious. Well, that’s Twilight Sparkle all over!

Cantor blew the air from his lungs in a long, slow exhale through his nose before starting in a solemn tone, unable to hear the happy music that would have been deafening at any other time. He kept his eyes closed as he allowed the scene to replay in his mind.

“It was last Wednesday… about ten in the morning; the shops had been open for around two or three hours…”

Three days ago…

“Just put the money in the bag… and nopony gets hurt. Got it?” Was the shaky demand from one of two desperate souls, he wore a woven black balaclava, covering his main features. Accompanied by a stab-proof vest which covered over his cutie mark so as to avoid detailed enquiries. His partner in crime wore similar attire, except his balaclava had a hole torn in the top of it, in which a light blue horn protruded. Both bandits branded long, sharp, shiny street knives at ponies who got too close. The shaky gold coloured pegasus pointed the knife straight at the receptionist’s throat, the razor sharp point just inches away from her fur.

“Okay, sir…” Said the baby blue Earth pony mare who sat behind the bank’s large oak desk, actually trembling with fear, yet she kept remarkably calm. “Just… don’t hurt anypony.”

“We wont if you hurry up and put the money in the bag! NOW!” Exclaimed the light blue unicorn from under his balaclava, a knife of his own surrounded by a sky blue aura. “And don’t think about callin’ the cops! Because if you do…” He prodded the pack of explosives strapped around his waist “…boom…”

At this notion, several of the customers in the shop cried in anguish, to which the unicorn barked at them to “Shut up!” And they promptly obeyed. For it was worth their lives.

The receptionist gingerly took the brown sack from the gold coated pegasus and turned around, her whole body still trembling as she opened the first draw of a filing cabinet and begun scooping bundles of fifty notes depicting 50 bit value each, the first draw of the four-draw filing cabinet contained somewhere near a hundred of these, making the whole cabinet worth nearly a million bits: a life changing amount of money.

“A bank job?” The words of a new male entity were followed by a short, fake chuckle. “How cliché…”

Everypony in the bank turned to where the sound had come from. One mare in particular gasped as she saw the great white wings spanning three metres across, sinking into a sturdy white stallion with long rusty hair and intense orange eyes.

Her fear was dispelled instantly, but she remained on the floor so as to not provoke the bandits. The light blue one was the first to move, snatching a little pink unicorn filly from her mother’s arms with magic and holding the knife edge to her throat.

“No!” Cried the pale rose coloured mare as she shot from the ground to save her baby. The blue unicorn’s horn glowed brightly as the mother’s body was forced backwards until she was a safe distance away. He then bent the mare’s right foreleg inwards with magic until it snapped.

“Mommy!” Cried the filly as she watched her mother crumple to the carpet. The mare cried out in pain before she was silenced with her daughter’s death threat from the stallion. Her cries of pain subsided to soft whimpers. She took a peek at her arm and nearly feinted when she saw the bone sticking out the back of her knee.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the fuck!” Cried the alicorn, taking a step towards the unicorn robber.

“You watch yourself, too!” Ordered the light blue stallion, scraping the knife edge along the filly’s throat at a ninety degree angle, shaving off some of the hairs and displaying the full with of the blade to Cantor.

The new stallion stopped dead in his tracks, even taking a step backwards and folding his wings away. “Take it easy, man… she’s just a child… she’s a child!” He emphasised his point.

Taking his ‘boss’s’ lead, the golden pegasus grabbed a peachy coloured mare from the floor and pressed his knife against her throat. She cried silently and pleaded with Cantor’s orange eyes, begging for a chance. Cantor could easily see that the pegasus was uncomfortable with doing this, and decided he was the best one to reason with.

“Don’t do this; you know you don’t want to do this…” The alicorn pleaded, trying desperately to get at least this one to see clear.

“I have to, man. You don’t understand, I need this money!” He was breathing rapidly and beginning to panic. He spoke with a slight eastern accent, not oriental, but from another more ‘rough’ country. “I need this money, man…” He repeated.

“Keep it together!” Growled the unicorn, keeping his watchful eyes on Cantor.

“You don’t have to do this, either of you.” Cantor reasoned. “I know it may seem like the only way out, but I can help you, I promise. Just let the girls go.”

“That sounds like a cop!” Exclaimed the blue stallion. “Do it!” He ordered.

“What?” Shakily replied his pegasus accomplice.

“FUCKING DO IT NOW!” Bellowed the unicorn viciously.

The dull gold pegasus whimpered and obeyed, throwing the peach mare to the floor and reaching under his belly. Cantor’s horn burst into life, snatching the blades from both ponies, drawing them up and away from the hostages before arcing them back down towards the thieves. The pegasus’ hoof had just reached the ripcord that would trigger his pack of explosives, when his blade was stolen. He froze for a split second, but that’s all it took. The expensive street blades buried themselves into the eye sockets of both robbers, only stopping when the tip struck the back of their skulls. Cantor released his grip on the knives and the bandits sunk to the floor. The unicorn fell onto his side, but the pegasus lurched forward before he died, landing on his face and jamming the rest of the blade through his skull and the gleaming red tip of it poked through the top of the balaclava when the last piece of the handle was driven all the way into his face.

The little filly had fallen down and landed on her small hooves when the knife sunk home and the magical grip was lost. She begun to turn towards her attackers, but Cantor grabbed the back of her head and pushed her face into the inside of his right foreleg. He instructed her: “Don’t look.” And she didn’t resist, but wailed openly into the alicorn’s soft fur. “Why don’t you come over here with mummy. What’s your name, sweetheart?”

The filly mumbled three inaudible syllables into Cantor’s coat. He decided against asking again and instead led the filly to her mother, who clutched her tightly against her chest.

Cantor swivelled on his heels and touched the bare legs of the two dead ponies before teleporting them out of the bank to the rooftop where he slept, he would think of what to do with them later… in less than ten seconds, the alicorn had teleported, laid the bodies down in a dignified pose and found some old newspapers to wrap around their faces. With a gracious bow, respecting the dead, even though these stallions were scoundrels, Cantor still felt that he had performed an abominable act. The alicorn returned to the scene of the crime for one last job.

The ponies inside the bank were breathing a collective sigh of relief when Cantor returned. He flashed back into existence in the middle of the room, standing in the small pool of blood which had flowed from the now deceased robber’s eye sockets.

Cantor turned to the pale rose coloured mare with chestnut hair, made his way towards her and laid on his belly beside the filly. “What’s your name, dear?” He asked in a soothing voice, stroking the mare's thick mane.

“J- Jessica.” She answered, breathing heavily to try and keep the pain at bay.

“Do you mind if I take a look?” The alicorn asked, staring at the bone which protruded from the back of the mare’s knee.

Jessica gingerly used her other hoof to rotate her destroyed foreleg around so it was facing the roof.

Cantor gave a pained expression, sucking air through his teeth. “You were very brave, Jessica.” He said, hoping to get her confidence up. The mare said nothing, but gazed into his orange eyes, she found comfort and sustenance in them; he had just saved the lives of everypony in the bank, including her own foal, and hadn’t asked for a ‘thank you’ yet was still trying to help. Jessica smiled over the pain at this notion.

The stallion examined the break at the top of the bone, it was a relatively clean break; no jagged edges and it hadn’t torn up her flesh on the way out. “Now,” He begun, “this may hurt for a tiny moment, but I promise it will feel better in less than five seconds…” Cantor looked back up at the mare’s bright purple eyes. She was hesitant at first, but decided to let him do whatever it was he would do. She nodded firmly and stared down at her broken limb.

“Ready?” Asked Cantor, to which the Earth pony briskly nodded again. With that, the stallion set to work as fast, but still accurately as he could. The mare writhed in agony and tried to pull away, but cantor held her shoulder tightly with magic.

She constantly screamed in pain for the quick operation, the bone sunk back into her leg, realigned with the other break and the stallion created more bone matter to hold them together.

As promised, the spell was over quickly and the mare grasped her foreleg gently, looking into the deep wound. “There’s just one more bit.” Said Cantor, drawing the mare’s attention back to his eyes. He could see the incredible pain in her tear – filled eyes, although they showed copious amounts of gratitude too. Cantor chuckled softly. “Don’t worry, this bit wont hurt at all…”

Jessica nodded again and like before, presented her foreleg to cantor. His horn lit up white again, his appearance changed and the sensation of warm water being poured onto her leg met the teary - eyed Jessica as the hole gradually closed up and left no trace of scarring or a scab. She unexpectedly leapt from the floor and flung her arms around Cantor, crying into his shoulder.

“Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you!” She cried, her words muffled yet still distinguishable. “You saved my baby! Oh, thank you so much!”

“It’s… oka-“ Cantor begun, putting his own forelegs around the mare’s back when she pulled away from him and looked him in the eye.

“If there’s anything I can do for you, anything at all, just ask.” She interrupted.

Cantor pushed her away gently and helped her to her hooves. “Your thanks is reward enough…” He humbly replied, trying his best not to burst into laughter at how cheesy that had sounded. "Listen, that leg will be okay to walk on until it's fully healed, just don't go too hard on it, and you may want to see a proper doctor about whether it needs a cast..."

Jessica thanked him greatly again – twice – before Cantor turned to the rest of the bank. “Is everypony else okay?” He asked openly, slipping a small, discreet wink to a certain coffee coated mare with emerald eyes and streaky purple and red hair, to which she blushed and smiled at the ground. The stallion waited for a response, but when none came, he simply bowed graciously and teleported hastily back to his cold, windy rooftop.

Present day…

“And then, two days later, I saw the front cover of the newspaper with pictures of our memories…” Cantor finished, the dim barn coming back into focus, along with the music, although it was now much quieter and only the beat of drums could be heard. The rest of Cantor’s friends had gathered around his seat on the sofa, listening adamantly to his story. “Guys… I’m so sorry…” He sighed, noticing the astounded expressions on the other ponies’ faces.

“About what?” Asked Rarity, leaning around Twilight and drawing his gaze.

“Well… I’m a murderer…” He replied solemnly.

“You’re not a murderer, Cantor…” Twilight replied.

“But I… I killed those ponies…”

“And in doing so saved how many?” Applejack contributed.

Cantor pouted as he thought. “I don’t know, probably… fifteen, maybe twenty…”

“And a foal.” The orange mare added.

Cantor sighed once more. “I know, and I keep telling myself that, it’s just… I can’t help but feel it could have gone a better way…”

“And what if it couldn’t?” Asked Twilight in the deepest sympathy. “Not only could they have blown up twenty ponies, including a filly, millions of bits, possibly killed ponies on the street, but…” She leaned in towards Cantor and lowered her tone. “I could have lost you…”

Cantor couldn’t find the words to reply, he just sat there, gazing at Twilight before he turned to the floor with a heavy sigh.

“You couldn’t have changed them…” Came a deep voice from directly in front of Cantor, surprisingly, it was Big Macintosh who had spoken.

“What?” Asked Cantor, bringing his eyes from the straw covered floor to meet the big red stallion’s green eyes, his sudden out of character statement leading cantor ever so slightly into confusion.

“You heard right; fer a pony to be driven into killin’ themselves to get outta’ a’ situation...” Big Mac shook his great head. “Ain’t no changin’ somepony like that.”

“He’s right,” Twilight added. “Even if you’d stopped them, let them go, or maybe even turned them in to the police, they’ll wind up in exactly the same situation…” She pulled him closer to her face so their noses were almost touching. The mare’s loving lavender eyes filled Cantor’s vision. The next time she spoke, she spoke with definition and order.

“You can’t change the world, Cantor... the world changes us…”

The alicorn frowned and blinked slowly. “Your right…” He accepted. “There really wasn’t any other thing I could have done, is there?” The whole room shook their heads. “And anyway,” He declared, his voice raising to it’s regular cheery volume, “That’s in the past; can’t change the past… so lets make the future one to remember! Come on, guys, this is a party, get the music up!”

Everypony cheered and Pinkie disappeared, almost instantly, the music began blaring out again and the party returned to it’s previous happy atmosphere.

“You didn’t just say that to get everypony away, did you?” Twilight asked, still looking at Cantor.

“No,” He replied with a happy little sigh, “no, I… I actually mean it… thanks, you always know the right things to say, Twilight…” He replied, a legitimate smile on his face.

“The feeling’s mutual…” the purple unicorn returned. “Now, this is a party, as you said… care for a dance?”

“Wh- I can’t dance… like, at all!” Said Cantor, shaking his head.

Twilight grinned broadly. “Don't worry... neither can I.” She leapt up, yanking Cantor to his hooves and tugging him towards the straw – covered dance floor to give this ‘dancing’ malarkey their best shot.

“This snowstorm’s really… violent, now…” Remarked Rarity, poking her head through the broad door at the whirling wind and vicious cold that followed.

“What, what? You want me to make it stop? Okay!” Replied Cantor, who now after guzzling nearly half the two litre bottle of Pegasus revive, which he was later informed was one of the most potent energy drinks on the planet, appeared literally buzzing with energy, and the caffeine levels and high sugar content only caused his heart to beat faster and his respiration rate to subconsciously grow with every passing minute as the drink sunk into his bloodstream.

He began to trot on the spot, igniting his horn in a strong magenta glow and the snowfall stopped dead. It didn’t even ease off or begin to stop, instead, each snowflake froze perfectly where they were falling in mid air. Bouncing up and down with his steps, Cantor scanned his audience. Their mouths were agape and their eyes were fixated on the strange world outside.

Even Pinkie Pie seemed astonished. “Come on guys! Let’s go out!” He exclaimed, bolting through the door in a white and orange blur.

Applejack turned to Twilight, though she hesitated before she spoke. “…Is this… safe, Twilight?” The Earth pony asked, joining Twilight’s side and watching the alicorn stir up the frozen snow with his wings.

Twilight herself had to pause to think of a suitable response to the question. “This level of power? Yes. Extremely dangerous… What he’s doing with it?…” She watched him line up a long trough of snowflakes before running the length of it with his mouth open, swallowing the long train of snow. “I don’t think so…” Twilight finished, shaking her head in amusement as Cantor took off into the sky at a speed Rainbow Dash could be proud of.

“Where’s he goin’?” Growled Rainbow playfully, taking off out of the barn doors in hot pursuit.

She had just flown a small distance into the snow covered orchard when a spotlight appeared in the sky, illuminating every snowflake it hit on the way down. She bared her teeth and pulled up at an alarming angle, climbing towards the tiny pinprick in the clouds. The microscopic hole soon grew to a much more suitable size for an alicorn stallion. Rainbow shot through the circular break in the grey clouds to come to a vast plain of pale slate clouds with a small image of a pony running at a ridiculous speed along the surface.

“Hey, Cantor! Wait up!” She yelled in a voice not nearly strong enough to span the distance between them.

The blue pegasus took off flying, soon catching up to the hard galloping alicorn. Though he was hammering at a cloud, his thunderous footsteps still caused mild vibrations in Rainbow’s teeth. “Cantor!” She panted, and upon hearing her voice, the white stallion skidded to a halt, small mounds of clouds building around his hooves. Rainbow Dash collided with his rump at around forty miles per hour without warning. She had just enough time and distance to brace herself and crash into the alicorn with her shoulders. She crumpled to the soft, mattress-like cloud with an “Oof.” And shakily climbed to her hooves.

Cantor swivelled round unsettlingly quickly and came face to face with Rainbow Dash. Catching sight of his appearance, the young pegasus fell to her haunches, intimidated.

“Hi, Rainbow!” He snarled through interlocking, dagger-like teeth his ears pulled behind his head. Rainbow could see her scared reflection in the stallion’s eyes, the whites of which had glazed over a glossy black. The strong contrast between the vibrant orange and the unnatural jet black filled Rainbow with anxiety. “You wanna see somethin’ cool!?” The alicorn grinned, his lips revealing the teeth to the sides of his head.

“Yeah… I gue-“

“GREAT!” Shouted Cantor, snapping his head towards the sun and looking directly at it. By now the energy drink was working at it’s peak, sending unimaginable amounts of power throughout the stallion’s entire body.

When he turned away from Rainbow to look at the sky, the mare noticed his great wings un-furrowed broadly from his sides, the end feathers just touching tips to create a perfect circle surrounding his head in a very recognisable fashion. She started to smile immaturely at the alicorn’s excitement until she saw what he was doing. The violet light from his horn was plastered so thick that it looked to be well over three foot long and easily a foot wide. Though the alicorn didn’t seem at all phased as the sun slowly began to move across the blank sky.

Rainbow gazed half in awe, half in fear as she squinted at the orb of fire increase in speed across the sky, sinking into the horizon as the moon came out and followed it. “Day… Night…” Said cantor, sounding like a crazy maniac as the sun set and the moon arose from the east. The speed of the cold, stony celestial object grew as it flew across the sky. “Day… Night… Day, night,” Cantor continued as the two heavenly bodies whirled above, growing ever faster. “Day, night, day, night,” he continued to chant, his entire head following the sun and moon across the sky, which was now changing from navy blue to a pale cyan once every second.

“Day, night, day, night, day night day night day night AhahahAHAHAHA!!!!” Cantor began to laugh manically as his horn grew blinding, forcing rainbow to shield her eyes, two days and nights passing every second, the sky now not too far off of a strobe light, the sun and moon leaving white trails across their paths. The stallion continued to cackle until he heard the little whimpering voice behind him.

“Cantor… I’m scared…”

Bang.

The sound of a sharp, heavy collision rocked the entire cloud as the light from the stallion’s horn dissipated into the air. The day – night cycle stopping exactly where it had started.

“Wh- What?…” Cantor asked, turning towards Rainbow, looking pained as if the energy had been ripped out of him. The blackness in his eyes receded to the corners on the opposite side of his tear ducts and his teeth shrank to their regular size, quickly being covered by his lips. His raging wings began to deflate slowly as he took a step closer to the shaky pegasus.

“I- I said… you’re scaring me…” Rainbow repeated, breathing heavily, her voice a little stronger, however.

Cantor lost his breath. He couldn’t believe he had scared his best friend like this. “I’m- I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash…” He apologised solemnly, dropping his large head close to the floor, the cloud.

The pegasus rose from her flank and stepped up to Cantor. “I guess you just got a little excited, huh?” she giggled, prodding his half – inflated wings.

Cantor laughed nervously too.

“Well…” Started Rainbow, her voice back to normal and her breathing settling down nicely. “No harm done!” She finished with a broad smile, which the alicorn awkwardly returned. Rainbow Dash dug a hole in the surface of the cloud and dove through into the blizzard below. Using the energy he had wisely this time, Cantor re-stopped the snow and followed the rainbow haired Pegasus towards the ground. Though the Pegasus energy drink was very evident in his body, his heart pounding like a jackhammer and his breathing faster than usual, he now at least had a clear mind about what he was doing and what he was going to do.

The pair returned to the barn where Cantor was instantly met with Twilight Sparkle, a troubling expression of concern and fury on her face.

“What’s wrong, Twilight?” He asked, taking a step towards the unicorn. But before he could get any closer, Twilight thrust a scroll into his face, surrounded by her brilliant white aura.

“What?” Asked Cantor before he read the letter, more intended as a response to the sudden movement than an actual question. He quickly scanned over the three letters written entirely in capitals in the centre of the scroll and he felt his heart sink. The words were very defined, threatening and to the point:

“CANTOR. HERE. NOW.”

Paranoia

Chapter 15: Paranoia

Cantor swallowed hard and dramatically, reading the order another three times before replying. “I um…” He began, then shook the apprehension from his mind. “I’m sure it’s nothing.” He said.

“This!” Twilight replied sharply, jabbing the letter accusingly with her hoof. “This, not signed, not addressed by the princess,” panic was heard in her voice. “Isn't ‘nothing’!”

“Ummm… I’ll be right back…” Cantor grinned foalishly before teleporting nearly instantly into Celestia’s throne room.

He flashed rather quietly into the room, just in front of the two huge wooden doors which separated the brisk, late winter air from the toasty castle interior. “Hey, prince-“ Cantor began before violently cut off by princess Celestia.

“YOU!” Celestia screamed at her visitor.

Cantor sunk to the floor at the outburst. “Me?” He whimpered, trying to be a comedian and hoping the princess would lower her tone.

“YES, FUCKING YOU!” She bellowed, Cantor felt tears in his eyes; the princess was either scared or VERY angry with him. Grievously, the situation was that of the latter. “I am FURIOUS with you!” The usually regal princess continued her petrifying rant.

“Why? What did I do!?” Cantor argued back, finding his footing a little.

“The sun, the moon… DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT FELT!?” Celestia screamed again.

“Sister… please calm down…” Luna pleaded, obviously as scared for Cantor as he was towards Celestia.

“No! I will NOT calm down!” Celestia shot back. “Cantor,” She breathed fiercely, “I don’t know what the HELL was going through your mind, but you nearly gave me a FUCKING HEART ATTACK!!!”

“How!?” The stallion asked, regaining his posture and raising his wings above his head. Even if Celestia strained her own wings, she could never hope to be as tall as Cantor now was. Never before had he seen the princess like this, and he wasn’t one to make assumptions, but hearing the princess swear was probably as rare as finding a rock that bleeds.

“I lost control!... I thought… I… I…” Her train of speech derailed and plummeted off a cliff and she broke down into tears.

Cantor rushed to the princess’ side, but halted when Luna shot him a disgusting look. The princess of the night cuddled her sister as she groaned into her chest, her enormous horn barely making it over Luna’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, princess, but you haven’t told me what’s wrong, so I can’t help this time.” He said sharply.

Celestia turned her head out of Luna’s comforting breast. “I thought… it was happening…” Her eyes were bloodshot and her lips trembled as she drew in and out broken breaths. “…The end of the world…”

Cantor sighed heavily and shook his head. Celestia watched him from where she lay, his form now standing above her. “If I may refer to you as ‘Tia’, princess?” Celestia nodded and held her breath. “Tia, you know as well as I do that you have nothing to fear when that day comes… And neither do I… the one we need to look after, Tia, is Twilight…”

The princess’ breaths were deep and fast, her whole body heaved as she calmed herself down slowly. “I just… It was so unexpected…”

Once again, Cantor sighed heavily. “I’m so, so sorry, Tia. I’m sorry I scared you so much, but understand this:” Cantor sank to his belly as he came level with Celestia’s beautiful face. “Whenever I’m around, you have nothing to fear. I will never let anything harm this land and you know I would gladly die if any of my friends were in danger.” Celestia’s eyes shuffled around nervously before falling to the floor. “Look at me.” He ordered, the princess complied without hesitation, meeting the stallion’s paralysing orange eyes. “You know this is true…”

Tia simply nodded, unable to break the bond between the two discs of fire burning brightly with passion and truth. “I… I believe you, Cantor…” She said, a content expression appearing on her face, her rate of breath still rather rapid, but a lot calmer none the less. “I put my heart and my trust in you. I know you will do great things…” A short moment of understanding was held. Cantor could see the fury leave her indigo eyes as her lips curled ever so slightly at the sides.

“Well, I’m glad that’s out of the way!” Cantor spoke, clearing the atmosphere of any tension and heaviness, getting up quickly and turning around. “I’m pretty sure you had something to do with the papers yesterday?” He asked cheerfully, striding slowly and dramatically to the balcony overlooking the horizon.

“The idea was Twilight Sparkle’s” Replied the princess, allowing her sister to help her to stand.

“Speaking of which…” The stallion added, standing on his hind legs and resting his forearms on the balcony’s raised edge. “I’d better let her know everything’s okay; she seemed really apprehensive towards your message.” He was speaking loudly and far more quickly than she was used to.

“Is everything… ‘alright’, Cantor?” She asked, beginning to walk slowly towards him.
“Never better!” He shouted, swivelling one hundred and eighty degrees to face the other two alicorns.

“It’s some energy drink: “Pegasus revive”. He confirmed, his blood still fizzing with the high levels of adrenaline the drink contained, the shock of Celestia's outburst wearing off now allowed the drink's effects to return.

Princess Luna looked distraught. “Pegasus revive!?” She exclaimed. “How much did you drink?”

“Uhhh, about a litre.” Replied the stallion, beginning to bounce on his hooves gently.

Luna turned to her sister, horrified. “Is that bad?” Celestia asked generally.

“I’ll say!” Cried the princess of the night, “That’s near lethal!” She turned back to Cantor. “Don’t drink any more, okay!?” She asked, the stallion’s wings now flared up behind his back. The two regal sisters giggled like fillies at the unique format of feathers giving away the stallion’s ‘mood’.

“Why not? It’s great!” Cantor argued back, now beginning to catch a few milliseconds of air as he trotted on the spot.

“For me?” She asked, batting her eyelids, knowing there would be few other ways to convince the stallion from going into hyper drive.

“Alright… For you, Luna.” Cantor agreed, now beginning to jump. “Forgive me, princess… es, but am I allowed to go now?”

Celestia smirked. “Very well, Cantor, you are dismissed…”

With that, without so much as a goodbye, Cantor disappeared in a flash of purple sparks, causing the princesses to squint slightly. The sound was relatively quiet for teleporting such a distance with a rather large pony.

Celestia turned to her sister. “What, in all good manners of heaven was that!?” She cried.

“What was what?”

“’For me?’” Celestia mimicked, her eyelids fluttering just as her sister’s did.

“Oh, stop it!” Luna returned, blushing ever so slightly. “You know he probably wouldn’t have stopped if I had just asked.”
The white mare sighed with a little smile. “I suppose you may be right, Luna.” She cast her gaze in the direction of Ponyville, just seeing the edge of the gargantuan grey disc which would provide a most impressive snowfall.

The barn was full of idle mumbling before the white stallion fizzled into existence right in front of Twilight, causing her to jump.

“AH!” She cried as she reeled backwards a little. “What was it?” She asked once she quickly regained her posture.

“As I said, Twilight, nothing serious, just… alicorn stuff. You probably wouldn’t understand…” Cantor returned, waving off the accusation with his hoof, his horn still rather bright as he influenced the weather outside. Once again, he was trotting on the spot, yet was now a lot more in control of his mind. “Should we get going? It’s quite late…”

“Late!?” Exclaimed Pinkie Pie, stepping into the conversation. “It’s only like… five o’ clock.”

“Yeah, but this snowfall is gonna be going overnight and a little into the morning at this rate. If we don’t all get home soon, we’ll be snowed in and I don’t think this barn has central heating.”

Everypony seemed to agree with this statement, mumbling amongst themselves fears of catching a nasty cold. “Hey, thank you all again so much for this party! I really appreciate it!” Cantor mentioned again, drawing a broad smile from the pink mare. “How did you set this all up so quickly?”

“That was Spike.” Twilight answered quickly. “He was outside in the morning when I got up. I told him to tell everypony you were back, but the party was Pinkie’s idea.”

“Really, pinkie?” Cantor asked, turning to the sky blue eyed mare. “You set all this up this morning?”

“Yup!” Pinkie chirped proudly. “And everypony helped!” She threw her arms above her head and turned to face the other barn’s inhabitants, who smiled to him in return.

“And all so quickly… Thanks again guys, this has been…” Cantor thought for a moment, yet decided to go with his cop out. “Indescribable…”

“Well…” Rarity spoke, clearing her throat a little to remind everypony of her presence. “We’d best be setting off; we don’t want to catch colds now, do we?”

“’corse not.” Replied Applejack, stirring up a little loose straw with her forehoof.

“Does anypony need help getting home?” Cantor asked openly.

“Let’s all stick together until we have to part ways at least.” Twilight suggested, nosing out of the barn door at the dark, frozen world outside. The decorations and food had been packed away, the latter of the two mainly by Pinkie Pie, letting as little of her baked confectionaries, though there were few left, go to waste. The barn looked as it had done before the party mare had arrived with the other girls and set to work like a mad thing, transforming the humble storage shed into a party hall to be proud of.

Big Macintosh closed the door behind the group as they set off into the alien world. Though it was still technically Equestria, the billions of ice crystals, frozen where they fell, created a beautiful, all be it a little eerie new world. The path was non – existent beneath the ponies’ hooves and they had to rely on memory to find their way back.

Applejack, Big Mac and Applebloom were the first to depart from the group, waving goodbye and receiving another thanks from Cantor for the wonderful afternoon, though in this frame of weather, the time of day could easily be mistaken as late night.

Even though this snow was frigid to the groups hard hooves and in some spots hid dips and potholes in the ground all too well, the huge change of texture underhoof made it seem as if they were walking on mattresses. Either that or clouds, Cantor thought the fluffy airborne structures were much softer, but after consulting memory, found that assumption to be debateable. There was no wind whipping at their coats, and even though the snowflakes which had frozen in time in front of them were easily dispersed by a simple gust from a pony’s breath, the air still felt remarkably cold, no doubt in the negative digits.

Cantor had lit a campfire in the centre of the group, and to some degree, it provided adequate warmth, but all in all, it made little difference.

“It’s s-s-so c-c-cold.” Fluttershy shivered. Cantor had subconsciously been tracking Fluttershy the entire night, and she had been… unusually quiet – even by Fluttershy’s standards.

“I know, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash comforted her, pulling the yellow pegasus closer to her body with her wing, jerking Scootaloo, who was riding on her back around a little, nearly knocking her off.

“Hey! Careful!” Scootaloo said, rather harshly.

“Whoops!” Rainbow chuckled. “Sorry there, Scoot.”

“It’s cool.” The little orange filly replied, hugging Rainbow’s neck tightly.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be home and warm by the fire soon.” The blue mare continued. The meek pegasus sighed contently: though she got lonely at times, there were few things she found more satisfying than watching a small fire gently crackle and pop in her secluded cottage with all her woodland friends. Even having the thought of being warm in her mind made Fluttershy feel cosy snuggled under the wing of her friend.

By now, the eight ponies and their reptilian compadre had reached the outskirts of Ponyville and were just crossing the bridge into town when the energy drink in Cantor’s body died and his system shut down, causing him to collapse into the snow. If it weren’t for the sudden rush of coldness that followed, he would have stayed there until he was rested, but the other ponies around him dragged him upwards to his hooves.

“Oh,” He sighed heavily, a massive headache starting to set in. “what… what happened?”

Twilight answered his question after helping him to stand. “The drink must’ve worn off… You’ve crashed.”

Cantor being Cantor, his initial reaction was to get everypony to safety at the sacrifice of his well being before he lost control. He grunted as his horn flared up and the snow stopped falling once again. In the short time he had been down, the snowstorm had progressed much too far to be walking the streets.

“Rainbow! You and Scootaloo get back to your house. How long will that take?” He barked, turning to the pegasus.
“Uhhh, about a minute if I hurry. Why?”

“Just go. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up for.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Got it. Come on Scoot, hold on tight!” And with that, she took off with the little filly clinging tightly to her back as Rainbow rocketed through the sky towards her cloud home.

“We’ve got a minute to be sure she’s home safely. Pinkie, Once again, agh, thank you for organising the- ngh, party. Can you- can you get home?” The alicorn asked, now struggling to keep his powerful magic under control.

“Sure thing, Cantor.” Pinkie answered definitively. “Oh, and you’re welcome!” She beamed and galloped off into Ponyville towards Sugarcube Corner. Momentarily, Cantor’s magic slipped from his grasp and the blizzard picked up again before the stallion halted it, growling as he strained all of his energy into his horn.

Fluttershy was now beginning to panic, her wings had clamped to her sides and she was shivering. And not just because of the cold. “You three, let’s go!” Cantor instructed, leading the three mares, one filly and Spike towards Twilight’s treehouse. Fortunately, Ponyville was an extremely small town and nothing was ever a five minute walk away, or in this sense, a half-minute gallop. The group assembled outside of Twilight’s library and Cantor dished out his next set of orders. “Twilight, get inside and get warmed up. Rarity, will you and Sweetie Belle- Agh! God DAMNIT!” He snapped as he reinforced his horn with what little magical energy he didn’t have. “Can you make it to the boutique on your own!?”

Rarity, still slightly shocked from the stallion’s outburst had to take a second to collect her senses. “…Oh, yes, Cantor… We’ll- We’ll be fine.” And with that, the white unicorn took off to the left, diving down an alleyway, also with her sibling clinging tightly to her back.

Cantor then turned to Fluttershy, who was now cowering on the floor. Before addressing the trembling pegasus, he nodded to Twilight and Spike to get inside. She nodded in acknowledgement, unlocking the door and stepping into the darkness. She turned around before closing the thick red door. “Be careful.” She instructed, pecking Cantor on the cheek before returning to her house and flicking the lights on, bathing the entire ground floor with yellow light.

“Fluttershy, get ready, you’ll feel a tingling sensation.” The alicorn warned.

“Wh- what?” The pink maned pegasus whispered right before Cantor touched his horn to Fluttershy’s head and the two erupted into purple sparks.

Even though he had the ability to teleport to Canterlot in just over a second, the strain on his magic still caused him to grimace in pain as he appeared inside Fluttershy’s cottage. He gasped for air before turning to where he guessed Fluttershy was laying. “Okay?” He asked frantically as he felt the small trail of blood roll out of his right nostril. Suddenly, the lights in the cottage flashed on and he saw a panicked looking white rabbit at the bottom of the staircase holding his paw to the little light switch.

Fluttershy brought her head from between her forelegs and stared around at her brightly lit house. “I’m home…” She asked, slightly confused.

The alicorn’s head was swimming with a deadly mixture of pure pain, forced concentration and the will to protect his friends. “Take that… as a… ‘yes’…” He strained, his teeth clamped together and his eyes wound shut. Without awaiting a reply, he quickly enveloped himself in a shower of loud sparks, leaving the cottage silent for a brief moment before the wind began to howl through the shutters.

As soon as he reappeared in the library, Twilight was already sitting nervously on her sofa, awaiting his inevitable return. When the alicorn flashed into the middle of the room, spraying out sparks like a firework, Twilight gasped half in surprise, half in glee. She wore a huge grin on her face until he began to sway unsteadily, not correcting his footing on the third pendulum-like swing and falling onto his side with a heavy ‘thump’. Somewhere miles away, Rainbow Dash had just slammed her cloud door shut when the alicorn’s grip on the weather was released and the wind and snow began to scratch at the walls of her home. She sighed contently as she joined Scootaloo on the large, three – seater sofa and chatted for the rest of the afternoon and into the early hours of evening about the marvellous party, all the while, listening to the banshee-like air outside.

Scootaloo thought about being in that clubhouse still. About being in this snowstorm. She cringed as the notion that if it weren’t for Rainbow Dash adopting her and giving her a proper home, she might not have woken up in the morning, never been able to tell the blue pegasus how she felt about her, and in fact, the same could be said for Dash herself.

Scootaloo shifted closer to Rainbow Dash, hugging her tightly and burying her face in Rainbow’s chest. “I love you, mommy…” She sighed as she began to slowly fall asleep in the arms of her best friend. No. More than that… she was right the first time; her mother.

Cantor’s face contorted as the post-unconscious nausea set in. Everywhere was dead silent and his entire body ached with even the slightest movement. His eyes peeled back to reveal the dozy purple face of Twilight Sparkle laying on her side staring at him.

“If I had one bit… for every time you did something stupid…” She began, causing her stallion’s expression from a scowl to a hearty smile. “I’d be a very rich pony…” She finished, wearing a large grin of her own.

Cantor chuckled with his breath before rubbing his eyes with a hoof. He felt remarkably warm under the sheets of Twilight’s bed, but the real heat was coming from the stunning mare opposite him.

He reached behind Twilight and pulled her closer, having to only exert his mortal strength a little as she weighed hardly anything to him. He kissed her. The two ponies now as close as they could possibly be without…

“Hey, Twilight?” Asked the stallion, pulling away from her mouth just enough to be able to talk without biting her tongue. “What time is it?”

“About… four in the morning. Why?” She answered, her eyes still closed from their tender moment.

“No reason, I just like to know how long I was out for.” He chuckled softly again. “I guess that’s something I’m going to have to get used to…” He smiled before Twilight leaned across and kissed him again.

Twilight giggled softly herself. “I suppose so…” she pressed her lips to his once more.

“Is it still snowing?” Cantor asked, still far too tired to turn over and stare out the window.

Twilight quickly glanced to the large circular window at the end of her bedroom before her eyes returned to the stallion. “It is…” She confirmed as Cantor lost his battle with consciousness and fell to sleep almost as soon as his eyes closed.

The purple unicorn kept her serine smile as she herself began to slip away into her subconscious mind. She gave one final notion to the sleeping alicorn in the form of “Good night, Cantor.” Just as her eyelids closed and she joined him in the realm of the mind.

Cantor woke up once more, his eyes dreary and his mouth caked with a disgusting, sticky taste in it. It took the alicorn only a moment or two to realise he was no longer in Twilight’s bed, but instead, laid uncomfortably on his back with his four limbs outstretched and…

Cantor’s breathing became erratic and his heart beat faster. His pupils became tiny as he confirmed that he was lying on a hard metal table.

With restraints.

He began to thrash, but there were so many points of his body held down. He hated being held still this way, especially when the restraints were leather belts; four holding each hoof to the table and another four nearer the top of where each limb connected to his torso. On top of that, there was a leather strap around his groin and neck, disallowing him to sit up properly, whilst still leaving his white chest and stomach exposed.

By now he was in a state of panic, but he found confidence in his powerful alicornian magic. He breathed deeply a few times before willing the straps holding his body down to break. When nothing happened however, the panic came back, though now twice as bad. His rate of breath quickened and his voice came into his exhales. His eyes, now tiny pinpricks darted to the top of his periphery, he noticed the horrifying contraption clamped tightly around his horn: undoubtedly the most sensitive part of unicorn anatomy by far. He pushed with all of his might, and he could feel the familiar sensation of channelling the magic, however now it bred no results.

His eyes started to water as the confusion, phobia and helplessness set in. He scanned his surroundings, (if you could call them that), finding nothing but darkness all around except for a blinding operating light above and a trolley of sick – looking surgery equipment to his right.

“Hello? Anyone!? Where am I!?” He cried, his orange eyes brimming with tears. He tried his luck against the straps again, but was still faced with the same horrific result.

His heart stopped and he held his breath when he heard a steady clopping over his right shoulder. He turned his head as much as he could, straining his eyes upwards and trying to look past the vice over his horn. Suddenly, the room went quiet and the silence invaded Cantor’s ears once more. The only sound was the beating of his heart thumping in his chest.

“HIYA!” A bright pink mare cried, leaning over the stallion’s head and looking into his eyes.

Cantor replied with a blunt shriek before exclaiming: “Pinkie! Thank God you’re here! Please can you get me off this thing? I’m so scared right now.” He wore a great relieved smile across his face as he followed the pink pony around his right side. She jumped up and rested her front hooves upon the tight strap around his forehoof.

She examined it closely before replying. “Hmmm… I don’t know… I don’t want you running away when I get to work…”

Cantor furrowed his brow in confusion. “What are you talking- …no… god, please no…” He pleaded, his pupils becoming tiny and lost amongst a sea of orange. “No. Pinkie, if this is some sort of joke: it’s not funny. This is actually my phobia. I'm so, so scared, Pinkie. Please untie me.”

The pink mare laughed manically as the room lit up and various atrocities were revealed. The heads of unrecognisable ponies hung from their manes by rusty chains bolted to the ceiling. There was a collection of blood covered instruments of torture against the walls. The alicorn could almost feel the adrenaline dump as he identified an iron maiden stood menacingly in the far corner. “TWILIGHT! CELESTIA! ANYONE! HEEEEELP!” He screamed, thrashing as much as the chilling restraints would allow.

“What’s the matter, Cantor?” The demonic Pinkie Pie asked, picking up a scalpel and straddling the white alicorn’s chest, leaning towards his face. “Aren’t you having fun?”

“Pinkie, please… don’t do this…” He pleaded once more, giving in to his phobia and beggining to cry.

“I have to do it, silly; it’s my job!” She giggled again, true to herself, but only terrorising the already petrified alicorn even further.

“Your job!?” Cantor yelled, exasperated. “What kind of sick FUCK would do this!?”

The evil mare just chuckled again and ignored his question. “Ohhh, we’re going to have so much fun!” She beamed a wide, horrifying toothy grin. “You’re my first alicorn!”

Cantor lost all hope. His fear remained, but he thought as though he should go down fighting. “FUCK YOU, you sick, twisted FUCK!” He yelled, then proceeded to spit in Pinkie’s face, making her recoil.

A grimace flashed across her face as she wiped the saliva from her eye before she returned to that satanic smile. “Oh, you’re going to wish you hadn’t done that…” She said in a deep, raspy voice. She dismounted the stallion and threw her scalpel down loudly on the trolley, causing several other instruments to clang. Cantor laid and watched her pull open a draw in a desk at the end of the room, under a banner with the words: “Life is a party” Sprawled on the dirty fabric in a black colour, not to be mistaken for anything other than stale blood.

Pinkie swivelled around with an Ice cream scoop in her mouth. “I been ‘aiting ko use ris!” She spoke around the stainless metal handle.

“Sounds like you’ve had a lot of practice talking with shit in your mouth; is that why you do this? Hm? Because you were some stallion’s play thing in the past?”

Pinkie leapt back onto the table and snarled like a wild animal in Cantor’s face, now holding the scoop in her right hoof. Now it was the alicorn’s turn to be snide. “I bet I’m not the first guy to be in this position.” He spat with a deviant smile of his own.

Cantor saw something behind Pinkie’s crazed blue eye snap as a tiny trail of sadness crept into her mind. The stallion saw this as his opportunity to make a possibly life saving move. “Pinkie Pie, I’m sorry about that… this isn’t you: where’s the fun loving, happy, caring mare we all know and love?”

The pink mare atop him shook the memories from her head before laying atop his body and forcing his upper eyelid open with her hoof. “I’m glad you’re a fighter, Cantor…” She sighed seductively, “I can tell already this is going to be a long one…” Cantor didn’t see the humour in that comment as all his eyes focused on was the sharp metal edge of the spoon approaching his left eye.

Once again, his breathing picked up as he realised he was as good as dead. He wasn’t afraid of dying alone, however he had really hoped it wouldn’t end like this. He could already feel the coldness of the metal seeping into the back of his eye socket and he began to hyperventilate, every neurone in his brain telling him to run away, but try as he might, he couldn’t even budge the straps around his limbs.

The edge of the scoop touched the sensitive back of his eye as he woke up screaming for the first time in his life. He sat up in Twilight’s bed, staring forward into the pitch black room, taking heaving breaths like someone who had nearly drowned. He was paralysed, the feeling of the tight straps still very evident on his limbs. He swallowed and gasped again before turning to his left to see the empty half of a bed. Frowning out of curiosity, he looked back towards the end of the bed where he came face to… well… no face; Twilight Sparkle, or at least a creature with Twilight’s purple horn and navy blue mane was straddling him, her face completely blank; no muzzle or mouth, just two gaping black holes where her beautiful eyes should have been.

Cantor screamed and sank back into the cushion as the demon slithered up his body and let out a muffled wail of anguish as blood poured from the two huge orifices in the middle of it’s face, landing all over the white stallion’s own, splattering red inside his mouth as he screamed his life out.

He woke up crying and screaming a second time, hyperventilating as the tears poured from his eyes. His breathing was filled with his terror. He was frozen in place, the horrendous image of the mare he loved, her perfect lavender discs gone and replaced with two portals to the lemantable pits of hell stained within his mind. Suddenly, he felt two forelegs wrap around his heaving belly and a soothing “Shhhhhh… shh shhhhh…” in his ear as the arms began to cradle him.

He took in several long breaths, calming down as much as he could as silently as possible whilst he allowed Twilight to comfort him.

“Sorry.” He whispered, wiping his eyes and craning his head down to look at Twilight. Her features were back and so were her sparkling eyes as she looked up at him.

“Sorry for what?” She asked, resting her tired head on the stallion’s tensed chest and closing her eyes.

Cantor turned and hugged the mare back. “About waking you up… Sorry, that’s the first nightmare I’ve had since I came to- …for a long time…”

He slowly laid back down, his eyes darting around the room to check for monsters. His head hit the already warm pillow and he felt a small trickle of sweat roll down form his forehead. He stared upwards at Twilight’s bare ceiling, listening to Spike’s heavy snoring and noticing how he whistled a little on the exhale.

“Do you want to talk about it?” The purple unicorn asked, releasing the stallion from the one sided embrace and propping herself up on one elbow. “I always find it helps me to talk to somepony about it whenever I have a nightmare.” She thought for a second about when she experienced her ordeal in the time the stallion spent away, and now she felt employed to help him feel better as a returned favour. “I never had nightmares when you were here, Cantor.” She whispered. “So I want to help you not be scared…”

The alicorn sighed and turned to face Twilight. He closed his eyes and held his breath when he next spoke. “There’s just one more thing I need to tell you about…” His expression was serious, but his eyes still begged for understanding.

“What… do you mean?” Asked Twilight cautiously.

Cantor sighed heavily once more. “This applies to all of us; to the other girls as well…”

“What is it?” Twilight insisted.

“I’ll have to tell you all tomorrow…” He replied solemnly.

“Can’t you tell me now?”

“Sorry, Twilight, but as I said, this applies to everyone. What time is it?” He turned over just after asking this to the window where he could see the feint pink rays of the sun tempting the sky and finding their way around the black window frame and into Twilight’s bedroom.

“Probably about five, half five in the morning…” The purple mare answered, following the stallion’s gaze towards the perfectly round window. Cantor rubbed his eyes again before he drearily yet calmly turned back to face Twilight.

“So do you want to talk about it?” She asked, laying down herself and pulling the covers up over half of her head until only her eyes and up remained exposed.

Cantor copied her, except he pulled the covers only up to his neck. “Not particularly…” He replied blankly, not sure whether to be confused, scared or disgusted at the previous night terror, or whether he should dismiss the idea of such a ridiculous fabrication. “I don’t think it means anything; it was just a bit weird…”

Twilight’s eyes fell under the covers for a second before returning back up. “Do you… mind if I take a look?” Cantor’s pupils shrunk. “I’m always interested in the workings of the mind; it’s such a marvellous thing. Especially if I’m helping out a friend at the same time…”

“What do you mean… ‘take a look’?” The alicorn replied, now fully awake and knowing he probably wouldn’t sleep again for the rest of the day. He wasn’t really a heavy sleeper, even if and when he stayed up to the early hours of the morning.

“You know, the dream reader spell I was talking about a few weeks ago.” Twilight said, her voice coming across exaggerated beneath the duvet.

Cantor thought for a minute, and through searching back in his rather groggy mind, he did remember hearing Twilight say something about re-watching ponies’ dreams while they were awake, though it would take a much more powerful force of magic, such as Cantor’s, to pull off the spell whilst the target is wide awake.

“No, Twilight… Seriously don’t. I’d hate for you to see that.” He cringed as he said this, still somehow feeling the weight of Pinkie on top of him, the straps around his limbs, and the cold, sharp edge of the ice cream scoop touching his eye. He shivered again and attempted to relieve the stress by stretching his feathers and ruffling them inside the warm bed. Twilight Sparkle remained silent. “Seriously, Twi, I really don’t want you inside my head: what you find there could be…” He chose his next words very carefully. “…Unnatural…”

The purple mare’s eyelids dropped unexpectedly but she quickly shot her hoof up form under the sheets and rubbed her tired eyes.

The sun had now crested the valley to the east, yet the world was still rather deeply in sleep, and Twilight’s poor body was still requiring at least an hour before she could find the willpower to get up. A little smirk made it onto Cantor’s face as he observed the mare rubbing her eyes, brushing the back of her hoof across the top of her nose, much like a newborn child would. Once again, Cantor Pulled her close, nuzzling her neck and speaking softly: “Go to sleep, Twilight.” But she had already fallen under.

The stallion was more than pleased to watch the love of his life doze peacefully in the growing light of day, hearing her peaceful breathing and watching her bed sheets rise and fall in sync with her breath as she slept. He could have lied here forever, right here, next to this astounding, fantastic, perfect mare.

Being as careful as possible, he brushed a few stray strands of navy hair from her face before kissing her on the forehead gently. The time seemed to pass so quickly to the stallion, the only thing filling his vision and his thoughts was of the magical unicorn in front of him. Cantor had always seen ‘love’ as something overrated, some of his classmates in his previous life had become distraught at loosing their ‘heart’s desire’ that they felt as if their world was going to end. Right before moving on to the next person they were ‘in love’ with.

“Call it trial and error.” Thought Cantor, “I don’t believe in such things. Such shallow relationships weren’t even something to be acknowledged, rather something to be frowned upon for taking something so tender with such little care.” The alicorn sometimes found himself thinking about loosing Twilight, he tried not to, but that, he also thought, must have been a coincidence of experiencing the power of love. He couldn’t tell what would be worse, if the mare stopped loving him or if she died. By the time his train of thought reached that far, however, he distracted himself by thinking about the happy times he had spent with Twilight, and indeed, the many happy times to come.

Twilight suddenly stirred ever so slightly, causing Cantor’s mind to break away from the blissful memories of her and allow him to observe the real thing, which was undoubtedly a thousand times better.

“Good morning, sleepyhead…” He softly spoke after the mare’s eyes had serenely opened to reveal the stallion already gazing back at her with those passionate orange spectacles.

Twilight let out an almost non-existent chuckle and murmured a quiet reply of “Morning, Cantor…” Accompanied with a most satisfying smile.

Until now, the stallion hadn’t realised, but the room was full of light. He hadn’t been conscious of time, and had been watching Twilight sleep for getting on for three hours, continuously mulling over the memories they had, and still had to come. He rolled over and peered out of the large window, seeing the bright sun made even brighter by the completely stark sky, the thick snowfall below reflecting it’s light and making it seem as though there was a floodlight aimed into the bedroom.

“What time is it?” Asked Cantor, turning back around after feeling the bed dip to the left. He could still hear Spike snoring, so he assumed it hadn’t passed noon, although he reminded himself about the fact that dragons could sleep for hundreds of years at a time, but he dismissed the thought, given that Spike was still a baby in dragon years, and therefore couldn’t hibernate for such a vast period of time.

Twilight had already risen and was tucking the corners of her side of the royal blue duvet under the spongy mattress. Cantor followed her lead, taking his sweet time tucking his own side of the bed in. this particular morning was quiet… eerily quiet, as if foreboding something sinister. However, Cantor batted away the apprehension, convincing himself that it was all an effect of the dampening snow which piled high upon everything in it’s graceful decent to the ground.

“What was that you said about talking to all of us last night?” Asked Twilight, finishing with her side of the bed and moving onto a little wooden brush placed neatly on a side table in front of the mirror. She then proceded to carefully brush her navy mane until it was straight again, something Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Cantor all deemed pointless.

“I just need to tell you all… a lot of things… nothing sinister so it seems, but… important.” Said Cantor, looking at the reflection of Twilight in her mirror. Even though she was dragging the wooden brush through her hair, across her face and obscuring her eyes, Cantor noticed unmistakeable elements of worry etched into her otherwise carefree eyes. “Honestly Twilight, don’t worry: nothing’s going to change, I just… need to make a few things clear.”

Twilight blinked once slowly and gently reset the brush on the table, brushing her hair to the left with one quick swipe from her hoof.

“This involves everyone, so please, don’t trouble yourself over it. How about some breakfast, hm?” He asked, smiling at Twilight’s reflection. Her face, to his dismay, remained blank, even as she began to walk away from the table. Her mind was obviously racing with assumptions and possibilities, all of them negative. She felt a hoof airily tap her flank. Turing around, she was met with the stallion’s eyes, different, but containing all of the honesty, passion and subtle dominance which made her fall in love with him.

“You know I love you, Twilight? Don’t you?” He slowly said, ambling towards the unicorn at barely a snail’s pace until the two were nose to nose.

Twilight gave another exaggerated blink before replying. “Of course I do, Cantor… And I love you too.”

“Good.” The alicorn responded. “Because that’s one thing you and me both know is never going to change.” He pecked her lightly on the cheek then proceded to step around Twilight, being careful not to break eye contact. “I love you, Twilight Sparkle… I know I’ve said that before, but I just want you to know it’s true. You matter far more to me than anyone else on this planet, even myself…” His eyes narrowed at the mare, imprinting the words onto her mind.

Twilight just nodded with closed eyes, understanding completely what that meant. Cantor giggled gently, re-capturing Twilight’s attention. “Come now,” He spoke up, taking the first step down Twilight’s staircase. “It’s too early in the morning for such a deep conversation. Let’s go downstairs; I’ll make us breakfast-“ He gasped. “Oh!” Cantor exclaimed, before wincing as he remembered the sleeping dragon. He shot a glance towards Spike, still sound asleep and snoring heavily with the thin blue blanket draped across his back. “Oh.” He repeated in a whisper, “I’ve got something new to show you, you’ll love it!” He sustained his whispering volume, though it happened to fall at the opposite end of the scale, being as loud as a whisper could be, illustrating his enthusiasm.

Twilight smiled genuinely, nodding contently and following Cantor’s lead down the soft wooden steps. One thing troubled her, she wasn’t sure exactly what it was, yet she could feel the electricity in the air. It was as if something was about to change, or something was going to happen that she wasn’t sure if she was going to like or not. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind, not dismissing it completely, but removing it from her active side all the same.

“What is it, Cantor?” She asked the white stallion after he came to a halt by the cream sofa perched against the wall behind Twilight’s shallow coffee table.

The alicorn motioned for her to sit and she complied, shifting around the right of the coffee table and perching on the edge of the seat, a pleasurable shiver ran through her body as the unusual, but still refreshing sensation of the cold material connected with her toasty coat.

“What would you like for breakfast, Twi?” He asked, beginning to pace back and forth. “Anything you like.” He added, slipping Twilight a knowing wink.

“Ummm…” The unicorn pondered, her hoof tapping at her chin. “…Waffles.”

“Waffles?” Cantor responded dryly.
Twilight giggled. “Yes please.”

“Anything… with your waffles, madam?” Asked the stallion, stopping his pacing and heading towards the kitchen.

“…Blueberries.” Twilight replied definitively, sinking further into the sofa, becoming swallowed up in the cushions.
“Ohhh, good choice, Twilight…” Grinned Cantor as he entered the doorless frame to the kitchen.

“But I don’t have the ingredients to make waffles.” Twilight called out in a voice that could have been heard as a protest.

The stallion’s head poked back out and around the door, his left eyebrow raised inquisitively. Nopony spoke for a moment, and when the exchange of confused and knowing expressions was done, Cantor disappeared into the kitchen and returned with two plates, a pair of teabags, and a couple teacups floating behind him in a veil of violet. He planted himself next to Twilight on the sofa, and set the plates and cups down appropriately.

“Now,” Began the stallion, staring intently at the cups and sitting on his haunches atop the seat. “would you like some tea?” he cast his attention to Twilight, who didn’t answer immediately as it didn’t register to her as a real question.

After a few seconds of silence, the purple unicorn looked at Cantor and answered. “Oh, um, yes please… I… I always have a tea in the morning…” Cantor smiled: she sounded confused, and in all fairness, she had the right to be. For one reason or another, Cantor found it really cute whenever Twilight misunderstood something, to see a mare who usually had an answer for everything lost for words, stammering various letters as the supercomputer inside her head raced to work out what it had just heard. The stallion was reminded of the time when he tried to explain temporal causality loops to her, (granted, his memory of the subject was fuzzy, he was still able to outline the gist of it) illustrating the dangers of travelling backwards in time.

“Okay…” Cantor replied to Twilight’s statement, turning back to the teacups and producing two orbs of boiling water just above the table. Twilight, always intrigued by Cantor’s mystical power, observed in wonderment, sitting herself up straighter as the boiling water fell into the cups. Cantor then lowered the teabags into the water, for some reason, seeing water boiling made it look a lot cleaner than it normally appeared in a glass or likewise container.

“Now for the hard part…” Cantor declared, his horn glowed bright purple and his mane transformed. It went from being a limp, scraggly rust coloured one to a flowing golden one, shining like the sun and billowing out in front of him, resembling that of one of the princess’. Twilight’s mouth fell agape as she observed the godlike form of her friend staring intently at a blob of milk which materialised in front of him. He was focusing intently, yes smiling at his miracle.

The collection of smooth, white milk then split into two smaller ones, each no bigger than a small plum, and descended into both of the cups. Cantor’s mane and tail continued to billow with golden light as another pair of substances appeared, two pieces of sugar, about the same size as a plump grape made their way to each steaming cup. Cantor’s celestial mane continued to flow as the plates illuminated with a similar golden light and brown and blue dust particles began to swirl around each. The alicorn frowned in deep concentration as two servings of waffles and blueberries materialised in font of him.

Twilight continued to gawp, astounded as her bare white plate suddenly had two steaming waffles placed atop it with a small mound of bright, plumb blueberries. Looking at the second pair of waffles sat next to her own, one, without paying much attention to the little details, could have deemed the two dishes identical.

Cantor’s mane deflated, lost it’s shimmer and returned to the regular rusty orange colour it always had. He couldn’t help but produce a cocky grin as he turned to the mare on his left.

“Impressed?” He asked, not expecting a response from Twilight Sparkle as she remained staring wide – eyed at the plate of delectable looking food.

Very slowly, Twilight turned her head to face Cantor.

“It’s perfectly safe to eat.” The stallion declared, fetching two sets of knives and forks from the kitchen around the corner and placing one of them on the lip of Twilight’s plate.

She ignored the gesture. “Cantor!” She exclaimed, finally finding the words to express her astonishment. “That’s… not possible!”

“What’s not possible?” He asked, still keeping his smug look.

“Ah- This!” She said, sounding as if she were complaining. “Making food out of thin air!”

“Well I can make the elements out of thin air. Well, except air, that already kind of-“

“This is different! We’ve talked about this! Being an Elemental is just a lost, or at least very rare form of magic, but doing things like this is on the same level as… as...”

“Go on, you can say it.”

“…A… God.”

Cantor chuckled, cutting a corner of his breakfast off with the edge of the small knife. “It’s just something I learned in Manehatten; the ponies there tend to frown upon others eating their park, so I just kind of… discovered I could do that…” He popped the morsel of hot, steamy, slightly crunchy, but otherwise moist waffle into his mouth with a couple of blueberries. Definitely one of the better recipes if he did say so himself. “They’re nice, Twilight… Try some.”

Apprehensively, Twilight too took a mouthful of her artificial breakfast, the sweet smell of the waffle and the fragrance of the blueberries hitting her nose before she ate it, and once it was in her mouth, she began to chew eagerly, savouring the taste, no doubt one of the best breakfasts she had eaten recently.

“One thing about making food this way, Twilight…” Cantor began, swallowing his first bite and beginning to cut another. “Is that, if you know what you’re doing, they’ll come out pretty much perfect every time…” He smiled in spite of himself, before taking another mouthful. “It’s not a problem for you this way, is it?” He asked, watching Twilight’s unjustified expression.

“No, no. Not at all.” She answered, relieving Cantor slightly. “It’s really good, just… This isn’t natural, Cantor: you can’t- there isn’t- it’s-…” She stammered until she gave up and said what was on her mind. “You’re a god, Cantor. I don’t know how to feel about that.” At this point, all she was focused on was the alicorn, she had completely forgotten about her breakfast.
Cantor allowed his eyes to fall shut before swallowing his food, the throaty sound echoing loudly inside his head.

“Has anything changed?” He asked, his eyes still shut.

“What?” Replied Twilight.

“Am I any less of a stallion than the one you fell in love with?” Disallowing Twilight the time to respond, he re-opened his eyes and burned intently at her. “Or a better question would be: ‘Am I any more’?”

This question in particular hit Twilight hard. Thoughts and conclusions rushed through her mind, yet she could not steer away from her definite answer. “No.” She said, “No, you’re no different than when I first met you; still as caring and loveable as ever. I don’t care who or what you are, as long as you’re you, nothing else matters to me, because I love you.” Cantor’s face changed to an expression of pure bliss and happiness.

“I love you too, Twilight. More than words can describe.” He replied, gently leaning towards the mare. “Whatever happens in the future, good or bad, remember that I’ll always be here for you no matter what. Don’t ever forget that, Twilight. When you’re with me, you have nothing to fear, and whenever I’m with you, neither do I.” He stopped moving when the two ponies’ noses touched. “When I was gone, You never left my thoughts, not even for a second. Honestly, I tried to forget, hoped to never have to say ‘what if’, but I thought you had said that for me already. And it tore me up.” He grabbed Twilight’s hoof and squeezed it tightly, yet not enough to cause pain or discomfort. “I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I love you, Twilight Sparkle… And I always will.” Twilight closed her eyes and Cantor followed.

“No matter what…”

Their lips brushed against each others before a distant sounding voice shattered the silence. “Hey, did you guys know it’s like, half ten in the morni- oh…” He stopped once he caught both of the equine’s unamused faces. “I didn’t know you two were um…”

“You know, Spike,” Twilight began, shooting Cantor a knowing smile. “there’s ‘killing the moment’, and then there’s that…” She said, pointing an accusing hoof at Spike.

The baby dragon turned to face the wall, then looked back to the unicorn, finding, as expected, nopony behind him. “Who, me?” He asked, placing a claw across his scaly chest.

“Yes!” Cantor and Twilight both cried at once, sending the pair into giggle fits.

“Oh…” Spike replied, a slight blush across his cheeks. He took a step forward and made his way across the room to the pair of ponies, giggling like foals. “Hey, waffles! I didn’t know we had waffles, Twilight!” Spike decreed, taking a long inhale through his nostrils, savouring the delectable smell of the golden brown batter cakes.

Twilight winked at Cantor and the stallion nodded. “What uh, what would you like for breakfast, Spike?” He asked, looking down at the dragon from where he perched on the cushion. “Anything at all.”

“Anything at all!?” The purple reptilian replied, sounding half excited, half in disbelief.

“Anything you desire…” Cantor spoke, peering up at the tip of his horn.

Spike rubbed his chin and put on a devious little grin. “Diamonds.” He answered.

The alicorn didn’t react any more than turning to Twilight for confirmation. “Go for it.” She replied cheerfully in a tone that was rather testing itself.

Cantor furrowed his brow and gave a face of sheer determination as his horn lit up bright purple and his mane and tail billowed around him, casting out it’s golden light.

Spike jumped back with a gasp as a ball of intense light appeared at the far end of the room, the ball soon took shape and formed an odd shaped cube-like impression. Cantor’s magic continued to flow from his horn as he appeared to float atop his majestic tail. All of a sudden, the shape became clear – crystal clear, yet was still surrounded by a purple glow. The light from the aura shone through the curious shaped object and lit up the entire library with bright violet light. The object was smoking and for a while, it hung there in mid air whilst it cooled down. Cantor’s hair had since returned to normal and he was suddenly feeling incredibly tired.

Whatever he had made, it certainly was heavy, and, despite it’s shape, still rather beautiful. It cooled for a moment before Cantor was certain it wouldn’t damage the clean wooden floor and he set it gently down, slowly removing his magic from around it. It certainly was a strange shape: some sort of lopsided cube with a queer lump sprouting from one of the top corners. It was as clear as glass, there was no distortion of colour from the object to the other side of the room; it was purer than glass – but Cantor still needed a dragon’s approval.

“Well, I… I think that’s diamond, I mean, it’s quite simple to make, just carbon, right?” He asked, looking to Twilight, who promptly nodded, still ogling the weird shape.

Spike trotted across the circular room until he was next to the transparent block. It stood nearly as tall as he did, and even though he was still unsure, Spike couldn’t hide the wonder in his eyes. He gave it a small testing prod with the tip of his tongue and a unique taste aroused his senses and his tail whipped back and forth as the sensation no pony could ever understand consumed his body. “It’s! It’s! It’s diamond!” he exclaimed, gnawing at the bulge in the side. “It’s so hard, too!” The dragon gushed, to which both ponies exchanged glances of immaturity and burst out laughing.

Spike looked back up at the couple, Twilight had collapsed onto Cantor’s belly and both ponies were causing each other to laugh even more, only partially entertained by the original innuendo.

“Laugh all you want, guys, this diamond’s perfect! Thanks so much, Cantor!” Yet the dragon’s praise went unheard as the unicorn pushed the alicorn further into hysteria and vice versa.

Cantor chose the wrong moment to open his eyes again, seeing Spike furiously licking the end of the deformed part of the cube. “LOOK WHAT HE’S DOING!” The alicorn shrieked in a shrill, ecstatic voice which was far from his familiar low one, pointing a hoof directly at the excited dragon, adoring to no end the second taste of diamond he had ever had in his life.

Twilight copied Cantor’s stare and began to howl with laughter herself. “I can’t! Can’t! Breathe!” she wheezed as he fell off of the sofa with Cantor who had been sliding perilously closer to the edge of the seat since the laughter began, landing on top of him and jabbing him in the chin with her horn. Cantor held Twilight tightly as their laughs of ecstasy subsided to gasps for precious air, aching sides and painful jaws.

“Are jewels even nutritious to dragons?” Asked Cantor, Seeing that Spike had now chipped off a lump of diamond and was suckling noisily at it, stirring up a suppressed laugh from the stallion.

“Don’t ask…” Twilight replied, looking behind her at her assistant and giggling herself. “All the books in this library make it unclear at best about dragon anatomy.”

Cantor squirmed out from beneath the unicorn and got to his hooves, extending his right foreleg for Twilight to take. She used the extra limb to drag herself upwards, never breaking eye contact as she rose.

“Now… where were we?” He asked through half lidded eyes.

Twilight lowered her own eyes and smiled warmly. “Right about here…” She answered, leaning forwards towards Cantor.

Their mouths were millimetres apart when a thunderous hammering at the front door occurred.

“Oh, what now!?” Yelled Cantor, turning away from the mare and glaring at the source of the noise. Without warning, Pinkie Pie burst through the door, a frigid air flooding into the house.

“Hi, guys!” The pink pony cried, bounding into the room, leaving a small trail of snow on her wake. The loose, brightly coloured wool – lined saddle she wore bobbed atop her back with her strides.

“Pinkie! Close the door!” Twilight ordered, observing the pink mare leap across to the entrance, slam thee door with her hooves and return to stand directly in front of her.

“Hi!” The party pony repeated, beaming into Twilight’s face with some unsung excitement in her eyes.

Twilight stepped back, allowing herself some space to breathe. “Um, hello, Pinkie… Why are you here?” the unicorn asked, eyeing up her visitor.

“Duh, Twilight: Today’s a snow day! You know what that means!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Ugh…” Twilight sighed. “Snowball fights?”

“Well… yeah, but what else?” Pinkie Pie implored.

“Frosty igloos?”

“Yeah, but what first?”

“Ice skating?”

“Ooh! That’s a great idea! I hadn’t thought of that one but I sure am now! But that’s still not what I meant, Twilight. Wow, you’re bad at this game!” Shortly after saying this, Pinkie Pie began to giggle merrily to herself.

Twilight pondered for a moment, her logical mind racing through possibilities; knowing Pinkie Pie, what she had in mind could literally be anything. “Tell me, Pinkie.” The lavender unicorn asked with a sigh of defeat. “I haven’t a clue.”

“Winter cupcakes!” The Earth pony exclaimed.

Cantor froze, images of the darkened room, blinding lights and tight leather belts coming back into view. He could imagine the pain caused by the dreaded ice cream scoop and he didn’t intend to think about being skinned by the satanic mare, however his paranoid mind had different plans; he could already feel the thin skin layer being torn from his muscles, while he screamed and Pinkie Pie laughed.

“No.” He thought. “It was just a dream: she would never do that… but... that’s what Rainbow Dash thought in that damn story…”

“Ohhh! I have to admit, I love those seasonal cupcakes you make, Pinkie!” Said Twilight. “What are these ones like?”

“Ahhhh, you’ll just have to wait and see!” Pinkie replied, tapping the side of her nose with a hoof.

“Well, I’ve got nothing else planned for today. What about you, Cantor?” Asked Twilight, turning to look behind her at the shifty alicorn, already certain of his answer.

“Come on.” He scorned himself inside his head. “Pinkie would never do that; that story was fake, anyway…”

“Uhhh, yeah, I’ll come. It sounds like fun!” Cantor confirmed, yet still finding that he had to force a smile.

Cantor, Spike, Twilight and Pinkie Pie left the warmth of the library and entered a different, yet still rather welcoming world; icicles hung from the roofs of houses and large snow mounds lay on either side of the street where some ponies had come and cleared the paths. The sky was bare: empty from everything apart from the sun slowly making it’s way across the pale blue expanse. Everywhere, foals and some older ponies (though mainly stallions) were engaged in vicious looking snowball fights, small orbs of compressed snow were raining down on both sides and the sound of laughter and screams of joy echoed throughout the new scenery.

The town of Ponyville looked nice in the warmer weather, but compared to it’s appearance now… It was absolutely stunning. The sunlight bounced off of the virgin snow and gave the ground the appearance of glowing. Every inch of every tree, now relieved of their leaves, too, was coated with snow, yet each individual branch was still distinguishable from the others.

The trio of ponies and their dragon comrade had reached the centre of town after a few minutes of walking, enjoying the scenery, and the usually consistent fountain had frozen and been turned off for the first time in months. The spectacular town hall stood out more than usual from the other houses, every single inch of it’s great dome roof was covered in snow, making the windows which surrounded the roof in a large ring jut out and give the appearance of little gems imbedded into the snow.

Pinkie Pie was wearing her bright blue and yellow saddle which adorned a diamond pattern across her whole back, brilliant white wool plumed around the edges, nearly identical to Twilight’s own cosy back protection, however the unicorn’s saddle adopted a one – tone light blue across hers. As an added bonus, a pink and white scarf was tied loosely around her slender neck. And despite the fact that he was paranoid about his dream last night, the instinctual part of Cantor’s brain was able to overpower the fear with the stallion-induced observation of “the more clothes somepony wears, the more attractive they become…” Cantor wore nothing, not even a scarf – mostly because of the feminine collection Twilight kept in her closet, but partly because he was perfectly fine to walk in the sub-zero temperatures with nothing but the feathers on his back to keep him warm. Surprisingly enough, they did an astounding job of doing just that.

They were now approaching the bakery and Cantor’s apprehension had returned. He allowed his legs to carry him towards Sugarcube Corner alongside Twilight and the innocent enough Pinkie Pie.

“So are um… are the others coming to help out too?” The stallion asked, sounding convincingly unafraid.

“Yeah,” Answered the pink mare. “I asked them all if they wanted to come today before I got to you, Twilight.” Pinkie scanned her surroundings, checking every alley and pathway. “They should be here by now…” She muttered.

Just then, a high velocity frozen projectile came flying through the air, striking Cantor on the end of the nose, splattering snow up his nostrils and into his eyes. The stallion sneezed loudly into the ground and brought his head back up to see who the culprit was. His eyes fell upon a group of ten or so teenage colts pointing and laughing at him. A sly grin spread across his snow covered face as his horn flared violet. A large patch of snow behind him glowed a similar colour as it lifted into the air and settled above him. He tore off a piece of the snow with his magic, and seeing the colts still hysterically laughing, began to squeeze the mass of snowflakes with the magical grip.

The first attempt turned out to be a fail as the first ‘snowball’ was crushed to oblivion, stopping when it became no bigger than a pea. He tore off another amount of snow and compressed it gently. Through the precision of magic, the snowball became a perfect spherical shape and a reasonable density. Cantor tested it’s weight to make sure he didn’t throw it to hard and decapitate somepony. Flicking his head quickly to the side, he released his hold on the ball of snow, sending it slightly to the right of the group, gorging the settled snow on the ground and forming a long trough until it lost it’s momentum and stopped.

The young stallions turned to the impact before turning their attention back to the alicorn. They soon matched Cantor’s expression, the two unicorns in the group compressing snow into several snowballs of a rather worrying size, cantor, meanwhile, picked up a nearby field and separated it into several hundred more snowballs, the snow which levitated behind him fell to the floor and landed with a muffled thud atop the ground.

The group of two unicorns, seven earth ponies and one lone pegasus heaved their collection of ammunition into the air. The wave of infantry arced in the twenty metres the two ‘teams’ stood apart, and gathered speed on the downfall. Cantor did nothing except stand there as a couple of snowballs fell short, one hurtled straight over the alicorn, landing in a skeletal tree, sending it’s load of snow falling to the ground below. Most of the other mortars landed in an untidy scattering around the stallion, causing Twilight to skip to the side to avoid being hit squarely on the tip of her horn. Every snowball except one missed, the one good shot striking Cantor on his rump and exploding with a most impressive spread.

Cantor furrowed his brow and uttered “My turn.” And with an effort laced grunt, heaved the couple of tons worth of snowballs across the battlefield, blotting out the sun. He grinned and craned his neck to the sky. The gesture was promptly mimicked by the colts; gazing up to see where the sun had gone. Their pupils shrank and they hit the deck, covering their heads with their hooves and bracing for impact. The snow came down like missiles, pelting their fuzzy saddles with soft – packed balls of snow, after only the first quarter of ammunition was exhausted, the opposing team were already buried under a respectable mound of snow, and it was piling higher by the second.

He quickly deposited the remaining snowballs onto the soft ground, each one disintegrating as it fell, adding another inch or so under where they flew.

“Ha ha!” The alicorn laughed as he observed the colts emerge from the pile of snow and wander off in search of another area to have their snowball fight.

“Cantor,” Twilight began, sounding highly unamused by the display. “They’re foals.” She stated, “Very old foals, but still, don’t you think you overdid it?”

“Well… I…” He stammered, looking anywhere but at the unicorn mare. “They started it!” He eventually declared.

“Oh, please…” Sighed Twilight in a dismal tone. “That’s one of the worst excuses imaginable. How old are you?”

“Sixteen.”

“Six- Really?” Twilight asked in exasperation. “You’re…” She cast a glance towards the pink Earth pony and her dragon assistant who both stood idly listening to the conversation. “Ummm, you guys go ahead, I need to ask Cantor something personal.”

“Okey dokey lokey!” Replied the excitable party pony, offering Spike the opportunity to ride on her back to the bakery. “Come on, Spike,” Pinkie continued, “Let’s leave these two ‘lovebirds’ alone to chat.” She added before bolting off into town before either pony could protest.

Twilight turned to Cantor and blushed gently, keeping her head buried in her neck as much as possible without breaking eye contact.

“I’m… what?” The stallion enquired.

“I didn’t know you were… you know… under-age…” Her blush increased dramatically, so much so, that the still oblivious Cantor felt the air around her heat up.

“Under age for what?”

Twilight looked back up and raised her eyebrows. “You know…” She mumbled, her entire face red from the still rather new concept.

Her huge blush gave it away. “Oh…” Cantor simply replied. “Did… did I really not tell you I’m sixteen until just now?” He asked, joining Twilight in thinking back to when they met.

“I-“ She started, “I don’t think you did…”

“Yeah, I can’t remember either…” Cantor commented. “Wait, there’s an age restriction?” He asked, a little surprised, yet still agreeing that it was a little necessary.

“Yes, you have to be eighteen at least.” She answered with a little nod.

“Well how old are you?” Cantor asked quizzically.

“Cantor!” Twilight cried out quietly in mock disapproval. “Don’t you know it’s rude to ask a girl her age?” She scorned playfully, failing to hide a foalish smirk.

The alicorn, slow towards the concept of sarcasm quickly apologised, receiving a hearty giggle from Twilight.

“I’m nineteen, Cantor…” She bespoke, her blush subsiding, her face changing back to a tickled lavender.

Cantor blinked once and raised an eyebrow. “Well that’s hardly what I’d call ‘old’, Twilight.” He enunciated with respect in his tone.

“Thanks…” The purple mare replied with a cute little smile. “You’re such a rebel, Cantor: ‘messing about’ under-age…” She giggled and turned away from Cantor, swishing her straight cut tail up so the tip of it brushed across his nose.

The stallion froze as he himself began to glow the revealing colour of crimson. After a second or two of stunned silence, Cantor caught up with Twilight who had already made her way several paces down the frosty path. Paranoia from the nightmare almost completely wiped from his memory until the ominous bakery rose up in front of him. Much like the rest of the town, the roof of Sugarcube Corner was heavily plastered with snow, giving it the appearance of an enormous cupcake.

“Should we wait for the others, Pinkie?” Twilight asked as she strode into the bakery with Cantor in tow, the door gently clicked shut behind him, causing a little brass bell to jingle quietly above.

Cantor took one last look outside at the playing ponies before turning back to the bakery with an abrupt sigh.

“Yeah…” Pinkie agreed in a very unusual bored tone, “I guess we should…” She peeked out of the window and cast an observant glance up and down the heavily populated streets. Alas, none of the four other mares could be seen. Pinkie pie scurried from the windowsill and flung her loose saddle over her head to land on a hat stand in the far corner of the room, nearly causing the skeletal piece of furniture to topple over before she dove into a cupboard under the tiled work surface and began rummaging noisily.

Mr. and Mrs. Cake were in the nursery, attending to the pair of two year old foals who had become rather troublesome during the past few months. The cries of the tiny ponies were muffled greatly by the walls and thick floors of the bakery, yet the dull sound of hooves clopping on floorboards could easily be heard.

Spike was assisting Twilight with the task of removing her saddle whilst the unicorn took her thick boots off and placed them carefully in the corner at the base of the ‘hat’ stand harbouring Pinkie’s mislaid piece of clothing.

“Come on, Cantor…” The alicorn scolded himself, rubbing his left temple hard with the tip of his hoof. “You’re being ridiculous. After all, in the story, Pinkie Pie-“

“I already made a batch!” The pink Earth pony cried gleefully from behind the counter, a case of twelve large cupcakes with copious amounts of dazzling white frosting, sprinkled with sapphire coloured strands of sugar at a perfect ratio resting on the surface in front of her. At any other time, the treats would have been an astounding work of art: time, care and dedication poured into each one. Unfortunately, the sequence of events had kicked Cantor’s panic receptors into overdrive.

“Oh, no! No, no, no, no, no!” The stallion stuttered, his eyes locking onto Pinkie as she took a cupcake from the selection and offered it to Cantor. He winced and backpedalled until his rump hit the wall and his head sunk to the floor. His usually placid eyes held noting but distress as the bakery’s top mare loomed over him with death in her hand and evil in her eyes.

Pinkie giggled, as did Twilight, Thinking that Cantor was simply playing some sort of game. “Come on, Cantor! These things are like, the best cupcakes ever!” Pinkie laughed, thrusting the cupcake even closer towards the mortified alicorn.

“Pinkie, really, no.” Cantor insisted in a voice barely more powerful than a whimper. His breathing became irrational as his heart thundered inside his chest. His brain was telling him to run, but his legs wouldn’t obey. He could feel the evil seeping from the satanic pink mare as she tormented him with the thing he feared the most.

Twilight still regarded the whole performance as a joke, chuckling along with Spike and Pinkie at Cantor’s grievous expense. The unicorn observed in amusement, finding great entertainment in her stallion – friend’s emotional torture. Her laughs immediately ceased and turned stale, however, when she saw the cowering alicorn begin to cry. Her heart skipped a beat and she found difficulty breathing when she clocked the expression of absolute terror fixated in the stallion’s eyes. She had seen her stallion upset before, albeit benign, she had seen him shocked, even a little angry before, but never had she seen Cantor absolutely petrified. The only time she could remember was last night when he woke up screaming.

A gentle cry of “Oh, no…” Escaped her lips the instant she forged the connection, yet she struggled to find her voice to speak out from the shock caused by the heart-wrenching look the alicorn was giving Pinkie as she did nothing but brandish the perfect cupcake in front of his face, driving his head lower into the ground.

“Pinkie…” Cantor sobbed, “Please don’t…” He continued to whimper as his heart began to ache from filling his muscles with adrenaline.

Pinkie Pie was laughing too much to hear the desperate plea and continued to wave the sweet around in the air just above his head.

“Aren’t ya gonna eat it?” Pinkie Pie pouted, still not noticing what horrific pain she was causing one of her best friends. “I worked really hard on them too…” Her playful pout erupted back into whooping laughs of amusement as her mind refused to open her eyes and see; she was having far too much fun…

Cantor hacked up a scream which caught inside his throat and came out as a gag of intense emotional anguish.

His ‘fight or flight’ reflex was failing miserably, the ‘flight’ option completely gone as long as Pinkie kept him held down, and despite all the horror, he would never attack Pinkie Pie…

Would he?

Unfortunately for the pink one, the ecstatic Earth pony made this decision for him by proclaiming “Here comes the choo-choo train!” And burying the winter treat into Cantor’s muzzle. The unwelcome gesture instantaneously transformed all of Cantor’s fright to blood-boiling rage, that of a new level he had never felt before, nor could he control his actions fully after Pinkie made that fatal error.

A low growl rumbled in the back of Cantor’s throat before it exploded into a full-blown roar of animosity. “GOD DAMN IT!” He roared, turning the tables and forcing Pinkie to stumble backwards as The alicorn rose from the floor and stretched his wings behind his back, now appearing three times as tall as the pink mare. Her pupils shrunk and her eyes widened as all of her amusement was sliced and diced into fear.

Cantor stabbed his hoof downward at an incredible speed with the force of a boxer to back it up onto Pinkie’s muzzle, resulting in a very audible crunch followed by a high-pitched whimper from the distraught mare.

“I SAID NO!” Cantor bellowed once more towards the party pony, a thick stream of deep crimson trickling from both her nostrils and into her mouth, frozen agape in a silent scream. Her eyes streamed tears of a lethal mixture of searing pain, fear, panic and confusion, disallowing her brain to control her legs.

The white alicorn’s teeth had rapidly sharpened to razor-sharp interlocking points and his once understanding, kind, emotional eyes had been consumed by a rich blackness, covering the entirety of both of his eyes with a shiny, evil, death – like darkness. Without warning, the infuriated alicorn lunged forward and sunk his needlepoint teeth into Pinkie’s right shoulder. The flesh being sliced like butter until the teeth struck bone and stopped abruptly.

The new sensation of pain overpowered the shock inside Pinkie’s mind and she screamed her life out as Cantor growled deeply into her flesh and vast amounts of blood rocketed from the wound, into Cantor’s mouth and down the length of her leg. The stallion bit even harder into the bone before turning around with Pinkie and bending his head to the floor. Pinkie Pie fell, and ripples of the most intense pain she had ever felt rocketed endlessly through her body, growing more intense with every quickened heartbeat.

Cantor, or whatever the foul creature he had become, then put all of his weight in tossing the feeble pink mare into the air. His hide and neck tensed as he spun around and launched Pinkie Pie with much momentum through the frosty glass window of the bakery, tearing a long strip of skin from her shoulder, making her wail in grief all the way until she hit the snow outside, landing beneath the hooves of Rainbow Dash and her four other friends, splattering the snow under her with bright red blood.

The searing sensation of the ice cold floor against her gaping wound was too much for the poor mare to handle and she lost control of her voice, emitting screams of indescriptable agony which tore through the otherwise peaceful town.

Rainbow Dash’s eyes darted from Pinkie’s bloody, scrunched up face to the smashed bakery window. With alarming speed, Cantor’s enormous white bloody form pounced from the break, lunging straight for the crippled mare on the floor, her cries only fuelling his bloodlust. Both Rainbow and Applejack reacted instantly, catching the alicorn under both forelegs and halting him from his target. They had to pull with all their might to prevent the monster from ripping their friend apart.

He hissed and snarled like a rabid dog in the two ponies’ tough grip just when his searing hatred began to subside to where it belonged. His teeth blunted once more and he felt as if he could see more clearly again.

“Wh- What’s going-“ Was all he could manage before he felt a hefty blow beneath the chin, cutting him off mid-sentence.

Rainbow Dash sought her chance and full body tackled the stallion to the ground, straddling him and pressing her back knees forcefully into his shoulder blades.

“You! Fucking! Bastard!” She cried, pounding her strong right hoof into his face with every word until Applejack pulled her off of him.

“Let me go! Let me go!” The infuriated Pegasus demanded, her sudden gush of hatred turned to remorse when she saw what she had done to the stallion’s face. He quickly climbed to his hooves. Blood flowed from his nose in torrents and he bent down and spat out several broken teeth onto the floor below, the rarest of blood staining the white ground a chilling red.

“Why!?” Rainbow Dash pleaded, not removing her eyes from Cantor’s bloody face.

His eyes finally became clear and he had full control over his body once more. He touched the tip of his nose with his hoof, the movement sending a spike of searing pain through his muzzle and around the front of his brain, making his eyes water. He stared down at the motionless Pinkie Pie and the sobbing yellow pegasus beside her. Just then, Twilight burst from the doorway of Sugarcube corner, the bell’s cheery chime unheard amongst the crowd of ponies which had briskly gathered around in a large circle.

Twilight faced Cantor in horror and shock when he looked over his shoulder at her. Her eyes struggled to take in the whole scene. All around, ponies were muttering and gasping amongst themselves. Twilight’s gaze rested upon Fluttershy, who was huddled over Pinkie Pie, sobbing inaudible words into the pink mare’s lifeless mane. Rarity sat behind the butter coloured pegasus, fighting back tears of her own as she stroked Fluttershy’s quivering back and gazed upon Pinkie’s face, frozen in a perfect representation of pure pain. Rainbow Dash had broken down into tears in Applejack’s arms and the orange Earth pony was shooting Cantor a piercing look of disgust, though it was not noted.

Twilight was all Cantor could see and hear right now, and her bright eyes were brimming with pained tears and denial. She shook her head slowly as she asked: “What have you done?...”

The purple unicorn blinked lightly and a small tear rolled down each cheek as she spoke.

Cantor’s breath was stolen. For the life of him, he couldn’t find the right thing to say.

“I… I don’t…” He stammered before sealing his eyes shut and exploding into a field of purple sparks, stunning the crowd into silence. The only sounds to be heard was the agonised sobbing of two heartbroken Pegasi as they lay there in the reddened snow.

Forgive And Forget

Chapter 16: Forgive and forget.

Thunder rumbled across the surface of a great sphere of slate coloured clouds. It was the only object in the sky, high up in the Equestrian stratosphere where no regular pony could ever survive. It was so silent, so peaceful. Not a single sound could be heard, especially inside the cloud dome, for it blocked out all of the wind, secluding it’s contents. Inside the curious cloud formation, nothing existed except a dampened shade and the sound of a heartbroken alicorn sobbing quietly on his side.

Tears refused to cease rolling down the stallion’s face as he stared blindly at nothing, devious thoughts refusing to leave him alone as he wallowed in sorrow. He gently brushed his tongue across the backs of his teeth which he had allowed himself to grow back after being shattered by a certain blue pegasus he thought was his friend…

“They were all my friends…” He muttered dully, his voice unaffected by the sorrow. “And now… they all hate me.” This being said, the alicorn winced as a wave of crippling emotional pain washed over his body.

More tears came in torrents from his eyes and he painfully rolled over again.

“I’m so sorry, Pinkie…” He mumbled, allowing himself a small sniffle. “I’m so, so sorry…” He didn’t know what to feel… Angry? Upset? Hopeless? He just had no idea. Somewhere… Somewhere down there, tens of thousands of metres away, many, many ponies were preparing for the funeral of one of their most beloved citizens. One who could make any of them smile in an instant, one who delivered laughter wherever she went, one who had been stolen by him.

The alicorn hated himself. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that he had to save the world, he would have killed himself long ago, and as painfully as possible: it was as much as he deserved. He rolled over onto his back and began sobbing again.

“Rainbow Dash… hates me… Fluttershy… hates me…” With every name given, his heart sank deeper into the pit of despair inside his soul. “Applejack… hates me…” He began to choke with every word he uttered, yet he pressed on. He needed to make these things clear to himself. “Rarity… hates me… Pinkie Pie…” He gouged a huge chunk out of his hide with magic, the piece of meat no smaller than a pineapple falling through the cloud and blood began to gush from the wound, but compared with the anguish felt inside his emotions, the stallion felt nothing. “…If she were alive… Would hate me…” He wiped his eyes and became aware a little of the searing pain atop his backside. “Even Pinkie Pie… She hates me…”

Cantor then turned grey. His rusty orange hair, the many colours on his cutie mark, his coat, albeit white, lost all of it’s colour. Then finally his eyes, his kind, powerful, intelligent, fun loving, faithful, warm, comforting amber eyes became void of all personality as he uttered the final name.

“Twilight Sparkle…” He croaked, rolling over and burying his face into his arms.

“Sh- She h… She hates me…”

The alicorn lost all restraint, crying openly to himself, wailing in anguish as once again, his heart broke. For the last time. The pain inside ripped him apart. Nopony could bring him back from his secluded mind. Nopony could restore his heart to what it once was, and what it could have been. Not even Twilight Sparkle; she would never want to see him again. Nopony could ever hope to show him the light. Nopony, except-

“Cantor…” A soothing voice came from the other side of the ten – metre dome, the voice unmistakeable for one of the most understanding mares on the planet. The stallion stopped crying instantly when he heard the unexpected sound.

“What in Equestria happened?...” The soft voice cooed again.

Cantor ignored it as best he could, trying to focus his scrambled thoughts onto what a monster he was.

“Cantor, please speak to me…” The mare asked kindly, drawing herself ever closer to the stallion, the light emanating from her horn illuminated the cloud dome in a soft yellow glow. She suddenly caught sight of the stallion’s backside, a huge chunk carved out of it and it was sopping with blood, as was the cloud around it.

“Cantor are you okay?...” No reply. “Cantor, please tell me what happened.”

“I KILLED PINKIE PIE!” He barked back, making the regal alicorn behind him wince.

“What!?” She asked, taking a step back at the unwelcome statement.

“You know what’s great?” Cantor asked, still not turning over. “A year from now, I’ll be dead. That’s the best thing that could possibly happen; then everyone can go back to the way they were before with me out of the picture…” He sobbed again, furious with himself.

“Cantor! Pinkie Pie’s not dead!” She exclaimed.

Cantor’s suffering stopped dead in it’s tracks, yet he didn’t react any more than turning his head slightly and feebly asking “What?”

“Pinkie Pie’s not dead, Cantor!” The voice cried in gleeful exasperation. “She’s in the hospital right now! The girls told me what had happened, but that they didn't know why!”

Cantor rolled over to meet eyes with princess Luna. Cantor was faithful to Celestia, but Luna was far more of a ‘friend figure’, so the sight that met her caused her own heart to sink. Before her laid the grey apparition of her once vibrant friend – truly one of her very few friends except the elements of harmony and her sister she had as she didn’t really converse with others.

Her face twisted, and she herself began to tear up rapidly. “Oh, Cantor…” She whispered, rushing over to the stallion’s side and laying beside him, nuzzling his neck with her soft, slender one.

“What went wrong, Cantor?” She asked, tears rolling down her cheeks as she stroked his rock hard neck with her head.

“It’s a human thing, princess…” He answered slowly. “There’s a show, back on earth, a show called My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic…” He gave out a heavily exaggerated sigh before continuing, pouring the whole truth into Luna: the first pony he had ever told about the show. Not even princess Celestia knew of this…

“A… ‘show?” Asked Luna, joining Cantor in his lessened state of sorrow as he opened his heart. “A performance?” She asked.

Usually, Cantor would have found humour in a statement like that, but right now, he was simply telling the truth.

“No.” He answered deeply, his voice more than a whisper, yet as quiet as it could possibly be. “It’s something in which your world came to be… Through the hearts and souls of the people of my world, Equestria came into existence… Now, there are followers of the show, they call themselves 'bronies'. One of them... some sick, twisted fuck wrote a short story about Pinkie Pie sedating Rainbow Dash with a cupcake, tying her down and torturing her to death."

"That's horrible!" Luna exclaimed. "Why would sompony write something like that!?"

"Now see, I had a dream in which I was basically Rainbow Dash... I... It was awful... That's why I attacked Pinkie, I thought... I thought that the dream was like... a warning..."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Cantor..." Luna muttered, realising how trapped he must have felt, whatever had happened that morning.

"...Princess..." Cantor began. "This world isn't perfect, but compared to mine, it's a paradise." He simply stated, remembering all the petty wars and fights on Earth. "But..." He started again after a hefty sigh. "If it weren't for my world, yours wouldn't have come into existance..."

“How is that possible?” Asked Luna, not entirely lost, yet still a long way from understanding. “How long ago was this?”

Cantor briefly thought about the time difference between the two universes: whether both of the time in the universes flowed at different speeds relative to each other, or whether they were similar. Nevertheless, Cantor decided to think of the time that of the latter.

“About two and a half years ago…” He answered.

Luna pulled herself away. “But…” She started, “But Equestria started tens of thousands of years ago… It- it was created by elementals, you know that! How… how…” Her royal mind tried and failed to come to a conclusion and she promptly gave up.

“Princess…” Cantor began, gazing intently at the teal eyes of the princess of the night with his own cold, stony ones. “The best explanation I have is simply the power of love; you can’t fight it so why try?” As he spoke, the tip of his tail began to glow orange again, and a ripple of light slowly travelled up his body, refilling him with glorious colour. “It’s something throughout the entire world that both of our planets share. It is the most powerful force never to be reckoned with, and it still burns brightly long after death.”

The ring of light had reached his mid-section and was now making it’s way up his neck. Cantor closed his eyes before continuing with a far more empowered voice. “This world is perfect: well worth saving. And as I've said before, no matter what happens a year from now, one thing will never change, one thing will never leave my heart!”

The wave of light passed his face and sparked out at the tip of his horn. He opened his eyes, revealing two orbs of deepest amber, burning intently with spicy passion, the very epiphany of the fire of love.

“I love Twilight Sparkle!” He declared forcefully, the gloomy cloud around him dissipating immediately into the otherwise blank sky. The princess fell unexpectedly, yet found her bearings after only a second of freefall. She had forgotten, in the short time she had been inside the dome with Cantor that the pair were pushing the boundaries of space. She was hit with the unrelenting cold she had not missed once inside the slightly warmer dome as the curvature of Equestria came into view.

This was the first time she had been up here to be able to marvel at the sheer beauty. When she had noticed the small blot in the sky she somehow knew was Cantor, that was all she had focused on, and now she couldn’t take her eyes off of the alien world below, nor could she divide her attention to the blackness above, the stars usually visible only in her night time regime were now bright and large. Princess Luna had recalled Celestia teaching her about space once, a long time ago, though her mind had shut off once her mentor had said the words ‘quantum astral de-calibration’ and she simply blanked any more information which was conversed there on after.

The strange shape of the patch of land she lived on was easily visible below. She had in the past seen it on maps, but nothing could have prepared her for seeing the real thing, now, with her own two eyes. She stared down in wonderment, and it stole her breath away. As did the ridiculously high altitude. She became aware towards her shortness of breath and dove quickly to the world miles below. With every second, the air seemed to get thicker and thicker as the wind pelted her face more and more. She was breathing relatively normally by now, but the lunar mare found her lungs unresponsive once again as she saw the unmistakeable sight of the backside of a large mach cone.

Cantor’s eyes were watering and his lips were being pulled backwards to the side of his head as he pumped his wings as hard as he could, reaching ridiculous speeds as he plummeted towards the Equestrian soil. He was frowning furiously, his only intention was gaining speed. As he accelerated even more, through his intense frown, he noticed the air in front of his outstretched hooves begin to condense. Harder and harder he strained his wings, now feeling heat from the giant mach cone forming around his body. An electrical discharge sent the pressurised air into a fine point over his body.

“Come on… Come on!” He growled as the funnel of water vapour began to compress all around him. Cantor screwed his eyes shut and gave one last, hard thrust of his immense wings as he tore through the sound barrier.

BOOM!!!!!!!

Came a cataclysmic explosion generated by the enormous sonic flame-boom as the speed of sound was obliterated, sending the alicorn rocketing forward at mind-bending speeds, leaving a large trail of blazing air behind him as he darted downwards at thousands of miles per hour.

Still miles above, princess Luna became awestruck at the enormous ring of flame generated by another of the alicorn’s surprises. The circular shockwave of fire made itself many miles in diameter before dissipating and fading into the sky.

Cantor opened his eyes and panicked as he noticed the huge expanse of Canterlot castle grow in size as he fell from the sky, his mane and tail a conduit of the mighty blaze which left a great trail of fire behind him as he began to slowly pull up, now becoming horizontal to the ground, which was a hell of a lot closer now, yet still a few hundred feet down.

Celestia’s royal guards noticed the huge ring expanding in the sky and alerted the sun goddess immediately. She stepped out onto her large balcony just in time to see a white blur whip past silently, a blazing trail of fire in tow. She instantly knew what, or rather who it was. She gave a humbled smile until the sound caught up with him and the deafening ‘boom’ shook Celestia to her flank. She landed heavily on her rump and it took her a moment to raise herself, holding a golden shoe up to stop the many guards from aiding her in her climb upwards. She blushed gently as she rose to her hooves, gently massaging her bruised flank as she peacefully strode back to her tall throne, seating herself with the image of the grinning stallion stained in her mind.

From when the sonic flame-boom first occurred four seconds ago in the sky, Cantor had already crested the valley and could see Ponyville hurtling towards him. He opened out his great wings, which instantly tore open like a parachute, slowing Cantor’s decent from mach five to barely over one hundred miles per hour in six seconds. The stallion screwed his eyes shut as they felt like they were going to shoot out of his skull with the resulting g-force. He kept his wings flared out to the sides and strained his muscles to not allow the wings to snap behind him.

When his eyes reopened, Cantor found himself on the outskirts of town. Rainbow Dash’s house was about a five second flight from where he hovered now. Underneath him was Ponyville hospital. He gracefully flew downwards to the main entrance where he folded his great aching wings behind him and lit up his horn. He was able to see the damaged pink mare lying peacefully in bed through the walls and ceilings. He nodded his head once: she was on the first floor, surrounded by her five other friends.

Smiling contently to himself, Cantor pushed the doors open with his head and stepped inside the hospital, where inside, The mare behind the desk known as Mane Goodall gasped in fright. The front of Cantor’s body was still covered in blood and he looked a mess. He was smiling, but it wasn’t an evil smile as one would expect, given his current appearance. Instead, this particular grin radiated nothing but kindness and peacefulness. Everypony in the waiting room and other patients gawped at him as he went on by, but Cantor didn’t care. His only goal was the bright pink mare, the best friend somepony could ask for, the element of laughter who lay sleeping in hospital bed on the next floor up.

“You’re saying Cantor did this?” Asked Dr. Stable, who stood at the foot of Pinkie’s bed shaking his head.

Rainbow Dash said nothing except nod in confirmation. Stable sighed heavily and closed his eyes, dropping his head to the floor.

“And when I see him next… I’ll make sure he never gets up.” The rainbow maned pegasus threatened, much to the astonishment to everypony else in the room except Twilight, who had become disgusted with the comments which had been emitting from Rainbow Dash ever since they arrived.

“Firstly, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight began, trotting across the room to where the pegasus slouched in the seat next to Pinkie’s bed. “You don’t stand a chance against Cantor if he wanted to fight you: he’s far too powerful.” She continued, pressing her face into Rainbow’s a she spoke, defending her stallion until he was proven guilty.

“Secondly,” Said Twilight, “If it weren’t for Cantor’s blood donation, Pinkie would have been dead.”
By even saying this, Rainbow Dash appeared pained.

“Thirdly, you know Cantor… We all do…” She pulled herself away from her blue friend and scanned the other diminishing faces of the ponies. Dr Stable looked back up to meet Twilight’s eyes. “It is not only I who knows Cantor wouldn’t do something like this intentionally. All of you know him better than that…” At this notion, everypony cast their eyes to the floor in agreement.

“If you could have seen his face before he attacked Pinkie…” Twilight started, even just remembering the look of absolute fear on his face stirred up her emotions. “He was crying…” Fluttershy looked back up. Other than Rainbow Dash, Cantor was the bravest pony she knew; to make him cry would take something morbidly horrendous or heartbreaking. The yellow pegasus gave a little sob as a response.

“I have never seen anypony so scared in my life. Whatever Pinkie Pie was doing, she definitely didn’t mean it, the same way Cantor never meant to hurt her, she was scaring him to death. And by the way things were going, if he didn’t react, I think he could have actually died of fright. That’s possible you know.” Twilight felt a twang of pain, even at the thought of loosing Cantor. “He’ll come back, he’ll explain himself… he… he promised he’d never leave…”

Rainbow Dash gave a very heavy sigh, rubbing her hoof across her eyes. “I know what you’re saying, Twilight…” The blue pegasus motioned, locking the unicorn in a spiritual embrace. “I…” She exhaled loudly once again, “I believe you… And… I’m sorry, for being so… harsh towards him. I just never thought one of my best friends would do something like that…” Her rosy eyes dropped. She felt empty, in need of answers. No longer was she angry or upset, yet she felt as if she needed to accept the fact that no matter how much she wanted, there were some things in life she just couldn’t control. And as she slouched there on the spongy hospital chair, she searched back through her brief life; she realised that if it weren’t for life being the unpredictable force that it is, she wouldn’t be even half the mare she was today.

After Rainbow’s statement, Twilight cast Rarity, who stood to Pinkie’s right, a knowing glance. If the two unicorns could put their conflict behind them, then anypony could, especially the lightning quick pegasus, who, despite what she would usually protest, had the tendency to forgive and forget. This fiasco would be no different, Twilight was sure of it, and the thought put her mind at ease.

As if he were as silent as the night itself, the bloodstained alicorn ambled into the room. It was only Twilight Sparkle who turned to face him when she ‘felt' the new presence arrive.

“Oh, Cantor!” She cried, rushing over to fling her arms around him, yet the stallion simply closed his eyes and frowned, holding out a hoof to stop the mare from coming into contact with him.

Twilight took a step back, and before she could protest, Cantor began to speak, his voice godlike, accentuating his flowing golden mane. “Not now, Twilight… There’s something I need to do first…” As he spoke, his words echoed ever so slightly after he said them, as if the ponies were in some sort of cathedral.

All Twilight could do was nod in agreement, stepping to the side to allow Cantor access to Pinkie’s bedside.

“Thank you.” Cantor spoke, still with his eyes closed. He strode across the room until he was at the foot of Pinkie Pie’s bed. His eyes opened and once they had, were already staring intently at Rarity, who promptly backed away to stand next to the idle Applejack. For once, the farm pony found herself lost for words, struggling to piece together thoughts, let lone sentences. Cantor’s intense orange eyes stayed upon the fair white unicorn until she had stopped. He blinked once more, moving his eyes in the fraction of time they were closed so he could burn himself into the wary blue pegasus’ mind when they reopened.

After a moment of the searing eye contact, Cantor spoke up. “You want to stay by her side?” He asked Rainbow, who promptly nodded and clutched Pinkie Pie’s hoof.

The alicorn nodded ant turned back towards Twilight Sparkle. She met his eyes, but this time, his face was unreadable, he showed no emotion and whenever he spoke, it was something somehow even more dry than monotone. “I see…” He answered, turning his head back to the pink mare, his mane refused to move any more than an inch when he turned his head around, only adjusting itself slightly whenever he moved.

Once again, the alicorn closed his eyes, and like the morning sun, Pinkie Pie began to glow a gorgeous shade of gold, her body rising slightly from the bed as waves of sunshine washed across her body, restoring the broken flesh and chipped bone as the stallion worked his trademark miracle.

Her snapped rib reattached to it’s source and her punctured lung closed back up, the breathing of the mare returning to normal after the long session of quiet wheezing. Fresh flesh was restored to her foreleg where it had been torn clean and pulled taught as the soft pink fur instantly sprouted. The procedure lasted a few minutes, and for what seemed like hours passed before the glow faded and Pinkie slowly descended back into the soft folds of her blanket.

The warm glow of Cantor’s healing power faded, much like the anguish inside his heart as his mane and tail deflated to a manner in which everypony was used to. He opened his eyes slowly, observing the young mare’s chest rise and fall. The silence was tormenting, the only sound was the shrill bleeping of the heart monitor, the green line skipping regularly, leaving a thin flashing mountain before it would bleep again and form yet another valley. Cantor’s sight drifted from Pinkie’s steady chest to the blood-sodden bandages wrapped around Pinkie Pie’s shoulder, the taste and texture of the pony’s meat still vivid within his mouth and his mind. The mask which was strapped around her muzzle produced a nearly opaque plastic bag which inflated and deflated in rhythm with her respiration.

Her eyes suddenly shot open in a wild state of panic, causing everypony except Cantor to jump. The first thing Pinkie Pie knew around the bag at the bottom of her periphery as those two intense orange eyes; the last things she saw before they vanished behind a veil of darkness, hate and pain. She tried to speak, however she discovered her voice was muffled: contained within the plastic bag in front of her. The heart monitor began to race, the numbers in the bottom corner soared past the treble-figure mark as the pink mare struggled to take in all of her surroundings at once.

Tubes and needles were stuck in her arm. Something was tightly clamped to her mouth and her right foreleg tingled with an unsettling sensation. She was tired, she was in somewhere unfamiliar. She had no idea how she had arrived, how long she had been there, or what had happened in the time she was asleep. The last thing she could remember was the searing pain with which she could not control. She had fallen unconscious in unending agony, screaming until she could no longer breathe. And now she had awoken in a state of panic.

Pinkie’s wild eyes darted around the room until her mouthpiece was torn away and she felt a pair of hot lips press down on her own, as well as a mass of rainbow hued hair falling across her eyes. It was plain to everypony in the room that Pinkie’s heart quite literally ‘skipped a beat’ as Rainbow Dash melted into her mouth. Gradually, Pinkie’s eyes closed in bliss and she slowly brought her forelegs up and around her best friend’s neck as she kissed her.

Something concerned Pinkie Pie. It was not as if she hadn’t kissed Rainbow Dash before; that would be an understatement! But right here, right now, without the haze of alcohol to make memory misty and the heart filled with lust, Pinkie and Rainbow were connected in more ways than one. That one time, a few months ago, when the pair were simply having fun, like young couples do, neither Pinkie, nor Rainbow felt compelled to take their relationship any further than what had happened that night. They had been with other ponies, been in relationships where they had felt as if their world was complete, yet every time they saw each other, they seemed to want to try and make things work. For both of their young minds, ‘loving somepony’ meant sharing moments of intimacy with them, yet it was clear to both of them right now, that that was only the surface; the affairs of the heart dove deep into the soul, forging a connection not to be unbound even by death.

Sex is just a physicality, simply a way of displaying how much you care about someone, and up until now, the two mares couldn’t fully comprehend the mechanics of desire; to love someone enough to share something that is so much more than a good feeling… to come together in the wonderful act is to not only show your love for somebody, but to offer them everything you have, and to accept everything they give to you. Not only would one need to feel this way at the time, but to feel the same way in a year, ten years, a thousand years! A time when death has long consumed your mortal body and your soul has returned to the sky, to be with, or to wait for that one special somepony you spent your whole life dreaming about ensuing the art of making love.

Rainbow Dash kissed Pinkie, and Pinkie kissed Dash right back, their gentle jaw movements drawing silent, awesome smiles and a few small tears from the audience. Once the moment had passed, the two ponies separated, their eyes opening. In that moment, it became clear that the colour-transfer was similar for non-magical couples as well as a unicorn’s aura: Rainbow Dash saw her shimmering reflection in Pinkie’s eyes, which happened to be the same colour as the pegasus’ body, and the Pink mare beneath her could see her smiling self reflected in rainbow’s rosy eyes, nearly enough the colour of her own coat.

“Dashie?” Asked Pinkie Pie, gazing up at herself in the pegasus’ glistening eyes as she herself began to tear up.

“Shhhh…” Said Rainbow, gently touching Pinkie’s moist lips with her hoof. The blue pegasus then pulled Pinkie into a tight embrace, letting her hidden tears of relief and joy soak the pink one’s shoulder. “I love you, Pinkie Pie.” Dash sobbed. “I always have.”

Pinkie sniffled, her floodgates opening onto Rainbow Dash’s own shoulder. “Me too…” She sucked in a shivering breath. “I love you too, Dashie.”

The two mares gave their emotions to each other in the form of sobs and mumbles of appreciation. Everypony allowed the two their moment as they told each other they loved one another over, and over again. The four other mares, two stallions, and one dragon just observed, awestruck by the public act of intimacy being displayed. Though there was only one other patient in the long room, he happened to be very elderly, and also asleep.

Once Pinkie and Dash had given each other another passionate kiss, they rapidly turned to their blushing audience, but Pinkie’s eyes fell directly to Cantor. She was lost for words, but happily, the alicorn spoke for her.

“Pinkie…” He sighed, “Firstly, I’m so sorry about what happened, it just wasn’t me… Secondly, I um… I understand if you… hate me… Third-“

“Hate you!?” Exclaimed the pink mare, propping herself up in the hospital bed, the thin bice sheets pooling in her lap. “I don’t hate you, Cantor!”

“You… you don’t? Cantor asked, standing completely still – not even his eyes were moving in the slightest; they were fixated upon Pinkie’s sky blue orbs.

“Of course not!” Cried Pinkie. “You’re one of my best friends: how could I even think about hating anypony? Much less you!” She was beaming broadly, much to Cantor’s delight in that he would be able to give a smile of his own.

“Really?” He asked through teary eyes.

“Really.” Pinkie echoed, her smile faltering as she tried hard not to burst back into tears. Though the effort was futile. No sooner had Pinkie answered, her tears cascaded from her eyes. “Come here.” She shook, holding her arms open for an embrace.

Cantor couldn’t hold back his own joyous tears anymore either, and began to bawl as he trotted to Pinkie’s bedside and flung his arms around the sitting mare’s neck.

“I love you.” She uttered into his ear before burying her face in his mane, the spicy scent of cinnamon swept over her, causing her great beaming smile to widen even more.

“I love you too, Pinkie… All of you…” The alicorn returned, taking in Pinkie’s own smell of cotton candy wafting up from her luscious pink hair.

The rest of the ponies in the room had become moist eyed at the moving scene too, even Dr. Stable took out a handkerchief and dabbed his eyes under his glasses. The other five other mares closed in on the two ponies, their eyes streaming with tears throughout the touching moment, whatever the future may hold, no matter what the past would hurt them with, nothing else mattered other than the present. True harmony was blindingly evident then. Once again, they were reminded what true friendship was, they could only think of the good, spent or to come. No words needed be uttered as none of the hundreds of thousands of words in existence could possibly begin to describe the joy in all of their hearts at this precious moment in time.

The elements of harmony simply cried their felicity into each other, as between the seven friends, that negative event was erased from the past…

Around seven o’ clock, night had fallen across Ponyville. Many of the town’s inhabitants were settled inside their homes with their families, eating their diners and conversing their previous day. Twilight Sparkle and her friends were no exception, each pony either taking comfort on the purple unicorn’s sofa, or seating themselves on the floor. They all had a steaming mug of hot chocolate which Cantor had conjured from thin air, much to everypony’s great astonishment. And once Pinkie Pie had asked for marshmallows, all the ponies insisted that the gooey white pillows were a necessity in their sweet drinks.

A certain white unicorn in the room tried and failed to hide a prestigious blush as Pinkie went into great detail outlining how marshmallows “went all creamy and sticky and slimy when they got hot”, confirming several rumours he had heard about the purple maned unicorn which he had been pondering for some time.

Pinkie Pie and Dash occupied the cushy white sofa, yet the pink mare eagerly made room for Twilight Sparkle by hopping onto the blue pegasus’ lap and drawing her forelegs around her waist like a safety belt. Rarity and Fluttershy were sitting on their haunches beside each other, quietly blowing the steam from their mugs of cocoa before every sip they took. The tan coated farm pony was laid several inches away from the base of the sofa, which had been pulled across the room to come to rest a small distance away from the fireplace which harboured a most delightful warmth. Cantor had ensured all of his friends were as comfortable as possible, and the evidence suggested that task was accomplished. Even though the night was still fairly young, the heat of the fire making made their cheeks rosy and the creaminess of their hot drinks made them all rather drowsy.

Each pony’s eyelids were half closed and they failed to support their bodies where they sat. Spike was curled up next to Applejack and she had begrudgingly allowed him to use her blonde tail as a makeshift blanket, though she had forgotten about it already and was happily basking in the heat of the fire. Fluttershy was in her element; this was her idea of a perfect evening. Even though her day had been rather ‘eventful’, this evening had made up for it by far. She ruffled her feathers for the third time that night, blushing ever so slightly at the little nips of pleasure pricking her wings where every single feather connected, trapping more warmth in-between each yellow quill.

“As you all have probably guessed… I’m no regular pony…” Cantor began, drawing the nearly full mug to his lips, staring just over the top of the rim, a truly spellbinding look, aimed directly at Twilight. The unicorn had only ever seen the alicorn look at her this way three times before, and each of those times, it had thrown whatever thoughts she had at that present moment completely out the window. Twilight Sparkle could not tell the difference between his eyes and the very fire he stood in front of. Ironically enough, the blazing glare chilled her to the bone, she didn’t know what to do or say: Cantor was staring right into her soul, and to say she wasn’t a little frightened by this side if him would be a lie.

Mercifully, Cantor took a sip from his mug, the muscles in his neck pulsing every time he swallowed. “Ahhh…” He sighed as he dropped the steaming cup from his mouth, feeling the boiling liquid travel through his body until the sensation quickly vanished. Once he looked back up, Twilight was relieved to find that his eyes had returned to ‘normal’ despite still being as spicy as the fire behind him.

“What do you mean by ‘no regular pony’?” Fluttershy put forward, in her relaxed state, it was impossible to guess that she was the shyest pony anyone could know, she didn’t feel the need to be careful about what she said: she was so peaceful and content sitting by this fire that there wasn’t much that could distract her from her own snugly warmth.

“Well, Fluttershy…” Cantor started, peering down at the pegasus from where he stood, only now becoming aware of how her aquatic eyes sparkled in the light of the fire. She met his stare with tender eyes and a serene face, one of the sweetest things Cantor had ever seen in his life. So cute, in fact, that his train of thought juddered slightly before continuing to it’s inevitable destination.

“What I mean is…” He sighed heavily, the sound waking the drowsy ponies up slightly. “I don’t know how to tie a ribbon around this, so I’ll just come all out and say it…” He took a long inhale through his nose and shut his eyes. And then told the truth…

“I’m not a pony… At least, I wasn't until a short while ago… The fact that I can control the elements – all of them – is no coincidence… You see… I’m from a legend, a legend long ago, something only princess Celestia knows about - well… I’m not sure whether Luna knows about it or not, but Celestia knows a lot more than me… Anyway, I’m The Rife – a ‘god’ in pony form." He paused, briefly taking a reassuring drink from his mug of hot chocolate. "In… In a little over a year from now, there is going to be someone – or something – that is going to try and destroy not only Equestria, but the entire universe surrounding it as well…”

Cantor slowly opened his eyes. The serene faces of the ponies were askew, they didn’t know whether to believe the alicorn or not, nevertheless, Cantor continued his story. “I’m a human from a different universe, I’ve come to Equestria to save the world, no… to save this universe from total annihilation. I know it’s hard to believe, but you have to trust that this is all real. And it may seem sinister, and I don’t really like to ‘big myself up’, but, when I’m around, nothing’s going to happen to Equestria. Nothing’s going to hurt my friends. And if anything even tries to, it’s in for a world of pain…”

He cast a glance to the slightly sunken spot on his rump where he had gouged his flesh out as some sort of futile punishment for when he thought he had hurt Pinkie Pie. He could have healed himself, but he didn’t deserve such mercy, he still hadn’t fully forgiven himself for doing that, even though they had all agreed it was an accident.

“What?” Asked Applejack, utterly bewildered, speaking what was on the minds of all of the others present.

Cantor snorted a little and shook his head. “It’s true, Applejack, I’m going to save the world from a monster, his name is Kerous and if what Celestia has told me is right, he means serious business…”

The farm pony frowned at the crackling orange fire for a moment before looking back up. “So you’re sayin’ that… a year from now, the world is gonna end and you’re the only one who can stop it?” She asked, her face completely in shadow from her Stetson pulled right across her brow. “And that you’re not a pony?” She added.

“Technically speaking, I am a pony, but my mind is human.” The alicorn answered, glancing nervously towards Twilight every now and then to see if she was reacting.

“What’s a human?” The butter toned animal lover asked, fascinated by this new creature she was only just hearing about.

“…Never mind, Fluttershy.” Said Cantor, a touch of forbidding heard in his voice. “Besides, I don’t really know how to describe them…”

“Can’t um… can you… try?” Fluttershy asked, the meekness visible in her voice as she spoke out for herself.

“No.” Cantor replied deeply, slicing off the conversation there, causing the shy pegasus to recede back into herself a little.

Cantor sighed sadly, seeing how he had frightened the adorable Fluttershy with his harsh tone. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but I…” He sought out an ingenious tweak of the truth… “I just feel really uncomfortable discussing this matter, even with the princess, but she needed to know…” He felt proud of himself for thinking of a way to steer the conversation away from the grim topic without having to full – out lie to his best friends. The real reason for his unwillingness to explain himself any further was that of the rapid mental speculation that humans in Equestria was all to possible. And knowing human nature, the outcome of that was most likely a negative one.

“I understand.” Fluttershy returned, taking a long sip of her chocolate drink and finding confidence in the fire once again.

Cantor opened his mouth to speak again, but promptly closed it. “Do they need to know?” He asked himself. “Will telling them that everything they knew was a fabrication, a dream, a mere 'T.V show' do any good? In fact, will it do me any good?” Everything he thought here on out passed in an instant. “A year from now, when I die… Twilight is going to be heartbroken. She will be heartbroken then, if I told her now, she would be heartbroken. It’s a loose – loose…” He thought. “She doesn’t need to know now… none of them do. Who am I to make them hurt? Would it dampen the blow? Would they not care as much when I die? Is that what I want?” His thoughts quickly became hurtful. “I… I don’t want them to forget me. I don’t want to upset them. But, at the same time, I don’t want to come to expect something like that from them. What do I do!?” He yelled, thankfully, he kept the outburst inside his head and managed to find the words to say.

“I… Your reaction… I must say isn’t what I would’ve expected…” Cantor mentioned, addressing the group as a whole.

“Well what were you expecting, Cantor?” Everypony turned to who had spoken. It was Twilight. “Why should you?” She repeated. “Remember what you said this morning: ‘nothing will change’?” She asked, leaning forward slightly, keeping her hind legs folded underneath her atop the sofa. “Has anything changed, Cantor?”

“Well… Ummm…” Cantor began, but Twilight answered for him.

“Nothing’s changed, Cantor.” She spoke definitively. “I see you in exactly the same light as when I first fell in love with you, that was a while ago. The only thing that is going to change is we will grow older… I love you no more, and definitely no less than last night. And believe me, Cantor: nothing is going to change that.” She finished, reflecting the passion Cantor spoke with in her eyes.

Cantor’s dim expression twisted into a scowl of sheer determination. “You’re right, Twilight.” He proclaimed. “Nothing's going to change: nothing needs to. I love you. And always will. I believe every word you say and let me tell you something: whatever the future throws at us, what – EVER hurdles we have to face, we’ll do it together. And NOTHING is going to stop us.”

He finished his ‘mini-speech’ by rearing up on his hind legs, shuffling backwards as he rose as tall as two ponies stood on each other’s shoulders. He landed with a thud, exciting the other ponies a little, enough to cause their sleepy eyes to open wide and modest smiles to form across their faces. “No matter what comes our way, I’ll always be here to defend you. Kerous…” He threatened to the ceiling, “…You don’t stand a fucking chance.” His own will empowered him, generating a great stir amongst his audience.

“For Equestria!” He declared, taking his mug of chocolate from his violet aura in his hoof and hovering it over Applejack.
“FOR EQUESTRIA!” The group shouted, chinking their mugs together before taking a long swig of the liquid contents.

Between the eight inhabitants of the library, the fire in their souls burning brighter than the fire inside the fireplace, they all knew that from that day forth, their lives would grow increasingly better. Especially for Cantor, his heart and soul staring death in the face and laughing, challenging it to try it’s best. He would never leave his friends: He loved them all far to much and right about now, the extra-ordinary stallion knew, without any shadow of a doubt that he would save this world.

And not even death would stop him.

(!NOTE!) I have nothing personally against Sergant Sprinkles (The author of 'Cupcakes'), It's just like "Seriously man... Why?..."

"Yay! Cantor's back and everypony is happy!"

Oh, Those Summer Nights

Chapter 17: Oh, those Summer nights

It quickly became apparent that time was an expendable resource in Equestria. Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, and six of those months later, the ponies of Equestria found themselves at the rear end of summer, late August, pushing the boundaries of September and the back – breaking apple harvest that would soon follow. Though this was routine for Applejack and her family; her workload was her life, and she loved it, even if it meant bucking several thousand trees each day.

The blazing summer sun bore down on the seven ponies as they lie on their backs in a large circle atop a knoll in a clearing in Applejack’s orchard. The smell of cut grass wafted from somewhere in the nearby town of Ponyville, distant, yet distinct, exciting Twilight’s senses as she lay on the prickly grass, the likes of which needn’t be cut in Sweet Apple Acres: the ground was worn down to dirt around the orchard itself as the tanned Earth pony and her brother went about their rounds And any other patches of grass outsude of the cover of thr trees seemed to hold itself back somehow, as if the positive energy around the farm was keeping the grass perfect. It was peaceful up on the hill. Not a sound could be heard except for the gentle breeze caressing the many hundreds of trees, stirring up a flurry of hisses from the lush green leaves, the bright red orbs hanging from the branches swayed carelessly, ripening in the sun and eagerly waiting to be collected to spread their joy to ponies across the world.

“That one looks like a cupcake!” Yelled an excited Pinkie Pie, throwing her hoof to the heavens at an oddly shaped cloud drifting idly by.

“They all look like cupcakes to you, Pinkie…” Rainbow Dash said, following Pinkie’s hoof to, she must admit, a rather accurate representation of one of Pinkie Pie’s baked confectioneries.

Everypony laughed and the pink one reached for the last seasonal cupcake she had packed for their picnic. Once again, the colour composition was spot on for summer: A bright yellow frosting which could have been cast as a new substence on it’s own; nopony was sure whether something could be that yellow. The frosting had an overly sweet banana taste, yet was held back by the vibrant red sprinkles, each one bursting with a spicy chilli flavour. An unorthodox combination one had to admit… Nevertheless, a truly spellbinding concoction everypony who’s tongues were lucky enough to get a taste of instantly fell in love with. Drawing attention from near and far to sample the limited treats baked by the truly astounding mare who resided in an unsung town bustling with talent named ‘Ponyville’.

“How do they make the clouds different shapes, Rainbow?” Asked Cantor, rolling his eyes to the top of his head to look at the blue pegasus behind him, though when he saw she wasn’t catching his gaze, he returned his amber eyes to the sky.

“What?” The pegasus asked, sounding confused. “You mean you don’t know?”

“Well, no… I never went to... 'pegasus school', or whatever…” He answered, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Rainbow sighed. “The clouds are smashed together in a giant collider up in Cloudsdale, no real reason other than to decorate the sky…” She answered very matter-of-factly.

“I’ll have to get a tour one day…” Cantor decreed, eyeing a peculiar shaped cloud which resembled an outstretched hand.

The group lay there in the middle of the afternoon, soaking up the sun’s warm rays. Cantor hadn’t really anticipated just how good lying in the sun with his best friends could be. He always seemed to want to be doing something – anything – standing still was ridiculously boring. Though he wasn’t standing; he was laying. On his back, with the best circle of friends he could ask for, the gorgeous summer sun beating down upon his bare chest. The only sensation which could top that was curling up with these ponies under the shade of a tree on those really hot summer days. Peacefully dozing… Not a care in the world…

The alicorn sighed contently. His eyelids grew heavy. Once they fell closed, he had a tough time to get them opened again.

“It’s days like this…” Applejack started, speaking in a hushed tone around the stalk she gripped between her teeth, her Stetson pulled way over her face, allowing just enough room for the thin stem of timothy grass to poke out. “That make you love life…”

“Agreed…” Said Rarity, her eyes, like everypony else’s in the group were gently closed.

Twilight gave a light snort. “Hm. Rarity and Applejack agreeing on something…” The sleepy purple unicorn commented softly. “There’s a first…”

“Mind yer manners, Twi…” The orange pony replied in a soothed voice, the stalk of grass becoming lost in a serene smile.

Twilight, as well as the other ponies giggled to herself, everyone joined in, except Fluttershy, who had already fallen asleep.

Cantor knew he couldn’t stay awake for too much longer now – even if he wanted to, which he didn’t. As he slowly slipped away into the comfort of sleep, the last things he felt were the hot rays of light rubbing warmth into his fur, the gentle breeze ruffling his folded feathers and the softness of the checked cotton blanket his head rested on like a pillow. Eventually, sleep consumed him and he gratefully drifted off into total darkness, the soothing glow of Celestia’s sun still felt amongst the overwhelming feeling of serenity…

The drowsy alicorn awoke on his own terms. His eyes remained closed as his consciousness quickly came back. Two hours had passed in what seemed like two seconds, yet the sun’s warmth still caressed his body and lit a fire in his soul. He opened his eyes halfway to see an utterly perfect sight: Twilight had her head resting on the side of his chest, her eyes were shut and she was actually smiling whilst asleep, personifying tranquillity to a tee…

His ear turned behind his head, and the docile breathing of his five other friends were heard. With a smile, he let his eyes fall once more, returning his world to darkness. He felt rested, therefore had no intention to go back to sleep, his mind, however had different ideas, sending him straight back into unconsciousness nearly instantly as his eyelids dropped, once again being greeted by the soothing sensation of blissful sleep.

The next time he was awoken, the method used was a little less… ‘serene’ than the one before. He was brought back from the sleeping world by Twilight Sparkle propping herself up on his stomach, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hoof after her session. It sure was safe to say that there were worse ways to be woken up. How charming that he woke to two kinds of twilight; the one spanning the entire sky and the even more adorable spectacle leaning on his stomach, dreary eyed from her session of sleep.

“Well hello there, sleepyhead…” Said Cantor, causing the unicorn to gasp at the unexpected sound.

“Oh… Cantor…” She murmured, taking her hoof away from her eyes for just long enough to allow the couple a sweet moment of eye contact before she returned to rubbing her eyes.

“You’re so cute when you do that.” Said the stallion, observing the purple mare as if she were a tired little filly, disorientated and helpless after a nap.

Twilight responded with a cheery little smile which appeared just below her petite hoof.

Cantor cast his eyes to the blazing sky above, the wispy clouds were dark, transparent ghosts waiting to play in the coming night. The once blazing sun had dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the entire apple orchard, making the many thousands of trees blend together into the black mountains and valleys which made up the astounding horizon. The next thing he knew was Twilight Sparkle kissing him.

The gesture was unexpected, unprovoked, a surprise. Yet it certainly wasn’t dismissed… Twilight cupped her lips around Cantor’s mouth, her sweet breath filling him up, touching every sense the alicorn possessed. The smooth feeling was unending, unbreakable. The two ponies slowly caressed each other’s tongues in both of their mouths. After months of practice, both of them had gotten quite ‘accustomed’ to each other, began learning what the other desired, what made them complete.

Cantor brushed his tongue over Twilight’s back teeth, generating a giggle from the mare as she began to redden at the cheeks. His firm hooves massaged her small shoulders as his enormous wings wrapped tightly around her, squeezing her gently in a protective embrace. Twilight was far from idle, however, she gently made small circles around the base of Cantor’s horn with her hoof, causing him to shiver in delight as the entirety of his unicorn anatomy tingled dimly.

Twilight slowly pulled her hot lips away. She pressed her hooves into cantor’s strong shoulders and drew herself up enough so that her hair fell straight down, accentuating her glorious half – lidded eyes and tempting smile.

“Love you, Twi…” Whispered Cantor, his own serene smile reflected in the huge blacks of Twilight’s eyes.

“You tell me that every day…” She sighed.

“Well that’s because it’s true.” He replied, rubbing his wings along Twilight’s back and neck, smoothing down her navy mane with his silk like feathers.

The purple unicorn’s smile broadened to a grin. “I love you too, Cantor.” She said, closing her eyes, leaning forward and opening her mouth ever so slightly, inviting the stallion for another tantalising smooch.

“Awwww….” A soft little sound came from the right, like the cooing of a dove. The sound broke the lover’s trance and they simultaneously turned to the source of the noise. The ‘culprit’ happened to be a certain yellow pegasus, her hooves clasped over her mouth and a mighty blush across her entire face.

“I’m… so… sorry…” The little pegasus whimpered, realising that she had just disturbed an emotional moment between two of her best friends. Tears were brimming in her eyes as she squeaked more inaudible apologies.

“Fluttershy…” Said Cantor, looking at the mare with kind eyes. “It’s perfectly fine.” The stallion then turned back to The tender unicorn sat atop his chest. “After all…” He began alluringly, “There’s plenty more where that came from…”

His comment was met with a firm peck on his lips from Twilight, drawing yet another sigh of awe from Fluttershy.

“How uh… How are you and Big Mac doing, Fluttershy?” Asked Twilight before hastily adding “If you don’t mind me asking, of course…”

“Oh, not at all, Twilight. We um… Macky – I mean! – Big Macintosh and I are… doing fine…” She replied, blushing furiously and swapping her vision between the cuddling ponies and the still dozing Applejack.

Twilight and Cantor exchanged knowing glances before turning back to Fluttershy. “’Macky’, huh?” The white alicorn asked, playfully raising an eyebrow towards the pegasus. “What does he call you?”

The butter coloured mare chortled like a filly into her hoof before answering, her large blush refusing to go away. “He… He sometimes calls me ‘Flutters’, but… usually he just sticks with Fluttershy…” She said, her voice powerful, (for Fluttershy at least) as if the bravery of her stallion was inside her heart.

Fluttershy and Big Macintosh had become rather well acquainted at Cantor’s ‘welcome back’ party: finding out they had many things in common. Remembering a few months back, to when they had their first proper kiss, Fluttershy’s heart went into meltdown. She vividly remembered how utterly unexpectedly perfect it was: the pair were nestled snug inside her cottage, watching a crackling fire slowly burn through dim eyes. Fluttershy had stalled for time for far too long, receiving a sturdy, passionate kiss from the great red stallion when she had asked which type of cloud he preferred. This was the first time in her entire life she had been with anypony like this. Sure, she had kissed her friends before, but never like this… Never had she felt a feeling so undoubtedly right that with every fibre of her being, against all she knew about herself, she found herself pushing back with as much force as she could, knocking Big Mac onto his back. The pair did nothing else other than kiss the night away, Fluttershy, swept up in a whirlwind of love and affection found the new experience exhilarating, whilst at the same time very scary. But she sought safety and protection in Macintosh as much as Twilight found fascination and majesty within her stallion.

Though the pair had never bonded physically any more than the kisses, Fluttershy was satisfied enough by their regular evenings of love and late night candle lit dinners. However, the pressing matter of taking their relationship a step further was beginning to grate at her subconscious mind, and lately, barely a minute goes past without her wondering what it could possibly feel like to…

“T- Twilight, um… And Cantor…” The pegasus asked meekly, desperately rewording her question many, many times in her head as she waited for a response.

“Yes?” The two ponies answered in sync, sharing a quick, subtle glance at each other before returning their eyes to the shy pegasus who sat lazily on her rump atop the picnic blanket. By now, the sun had disappeared halfway below the horizon and was dying the sky a deeper and deeper shade of orange with every passing second.

“What’s… What does it… um… feel like?” She asked, not hiding her glowing blush, nor was she trying to hide the fact that the situation in hoof mattered a lot to her. She wanted to make her stallion happy, but she needed to know whether she wanted to get herself into something she possibly wouldn’t like.

“What does what feel like, Fluttershy?” Asked Cantor, still stroking his wings along Twilight’s back.

“Uhm……….” Fluttershy murmured, scooting towards the pair on her butt, being careful not to disturb the three other sleeping ponies, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie. The speedy cyan pegasus had flown off unannounced sometime when they were all asleep. Presumably to get back to Scootaloo, who must’ve been wondering why her mother had been gone for so long.

Fluttershy brought her head as close to the two as she could without actually touching them. Cantor had to blow a strand of silky pink hair away from his nose before it made him sneeze. The meek pegasus edged closer, and then spoke the one short word which had been plaguing her mind for the past month.

“Sex…” She whispered. Even mentioning the word stirred up the many butterflies in her stomach. That word had been taunting her for so long now, and even though she was now the same colour in the facial department as her lover, Fluttershy felt great relief as she finally got it off her chest… So to speak…

Cantor and Twilight locked each other in an amused stare, wondering who should speak first.

“What do you mean:… ‘what does it feel like?'” Cantor asked, struggling to believe that the mare was still ‘pure’, especially after being deeply in love with Big Mac for getting on five months now.

“I mean… What does it feel like?…” Fluttershy repeated, being as outspoken as possible, trying not to sound nervous and it was working! The other two ponies hadn’t laughed at her like she thought they would! She felt a little pulse of confidence within herself at this fact, her heavy blush fading a little, yet still far from gone.

“Are um… Have you never... 'done it' before, Fluttershy?” Cantor asked, the thought of how shy she was labelled tipping his judgement to the now more likely outcome.

“No…” Fluttershy answered, sounding a little apologetic.

“Well it’s nothing to be scared about, sweetie…” Twilight said in a comforting tone. “Just think about how normal it is… Think about all of your animals doing it.”

“Though not at the same time, Fluttershy.” Cantor chimed in. “That’s a little weird.”

Twilight shot Cantor an icy stare. “What?” He asked.

“Remember that time you let me search your mind?” Asked the purple unicorn, still keeping her scowl up.

“Yeah…” Cantor answered, fearful as to where this conversation could lead.

“You’re hardly one to comment on ‘weird’…” She scolded. Cantor avoided her piercing eyesight and turned to watch the very tip of the sun drop below the horizon. “I found six fetishes in there.”

“Leave it, Twi…” Cantor laughed nervously.

“I thought you were scared of being strapped down-“

“Twilight…”

“Okay, okay…” The unicorn giggled, adding her own glowing face to the other two ponies around her.

“In all seriousness though, Fluttershy,” Cantor began, turning to face the bright teal eyes of the adorable pegasus. “It’s perfectly normal to feel scared on your first time, but what you have to keep in mind is that the longer you wait, the longer you’ll wonder, and the longer you’ll be missing out…”

“How do you know that mares like it, Cantor?” Asked Twilight, smiling seductively down upon him. Her blush brightened when she felt the wings tense around her.

Cantor raised an eyebrow. “I can think of several examples, Twilight…” He said, doing his best to mimic Twilight’s enchanting stare, not even coming close to half as cute as the purple mare was being now.

Twilight ignored his statement; simply turning back to her blushing friend, proceeding to whisper something silently into Fluttershy’s ear, causing the young pegasus’ eyes to light up in glee.

“Like that!?” Fluttershy cried, a little louder than intended.

Twilight nodded. “Yup.” She added cheerfully.

“Does it… hurt?” Fluttershy asked, causing both Cantor and Twilight’s hearts to melt. She was such an innocent little filly, so gentle with an unparalleled level of kindness. Nopony could hate her: it was physically and scientifically impossible.

“Sweetheart…” Cooed Twilight, reaching out with one foreleg and smoothing Fluttershy’s mane away from her face. “I’m not going to lie: for the first few seconds, for the teeniest amount of time, it does hurt just a tiny little bit.” The fragile pegasus’ face fell in a heartbreaking disappointment. “But, after that,” Twilight quickly continued, seeing how down the pegasus looked, “I can’t stress enough how it is so much more enjoyable than anything else you’ve ever felt before!” Twilight grew excited, passing on knowledge of something still rather new to her. She felt like a teacher, something she one day hoped to become.

“The one thing you have to bear in mind, Fluttershy…” Cantor began, contributing his part of the ‘pep talk’. “Is that they don’t call it ‘making love’ for no reason. Neither of us are trying to push you into doing it if you’re not ready, but once the time is right, you and Big Macintosh will both know exactly what to do…” He finished with a respectful smile, empowering Fluttershy by a large degree, her great beaming grin stretching from ear to ear, her wondrous eyes twinkling in what little light was left.

And then she did it.

Fluttershy made that distinctive, impossible noise. Fluttershy did the ‘squee’… Cantor’s heart exploded with the sheer overdose of adorableness being pumped into it. “Group hug!” He shouted before pulling the beaming pegasus in towards himself and Twilight, basking in the unbelievable cuteness Fluttershy seemed to permanantly radiate.

“Wh- What’s goin’ on?” Came a southern voice from behind the three embracing ponies. Even in the now very dark dusk, Cantor could see Fluttershy’s awkwardness.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” He whispered so that only her and Twilight could hear him. “This conversation will be our little secret, alright?” He smiled, which Fluttershy promptly copied, nodding her head briskly.

“Whoa! Night time already!?” Applejack exclaimed, rolling over onto her hooves and standing up, stretching her legs. “I didn’t reckon we’d be out for that long.” She began walking towards Fluttershy, who was already standing. Twilight soon followed, rolling off of Cantor and standing up.

“Hey… Where’s Rainbow?” Pinkie Pie asked, scanning the trees and hilltops in search for her mare-friend.

“She must’ve flown home to look after Scootaloo.” Rarity sighed, Gazing up at the darkening maroon sky. “It’s been so lonely with Sweetie Belle not here…” The unicorn sighed again, casting her eyes to the soft grass beneath her hooves.

“Chin up, Rarity!” Applejack confided, glancing at the white mare. “You said she’d be back next weekend, anyways.” The farm pony chuckled. “Lil’ Aplebloom’s got herself all excited already!”

Rarity sighed once again, but this time in agreement. “I suppose you’re right, Applejack…” Said the white unicorn, allowing a little smile at the thought of seeing her little sister again after two weeks. “After my parents left to see the world, leaving Sweetie with me for the whole year they were gone, I became… accustomed to her living with me…” Her smile slowly faded to an empty, glum face. “It’s so quiet nowadays. Peaceful, and I should say I prefer it, but… I miss her…”

“Cheer up, Rarity,” Twilight soothed. “Like Applejack said, she’ll be here next weekend.”

“Yes, Twilight, but I expect she’ll want to spend the days with her friends and not me…” Responded Rarity, still holding the gloomy air about herself.

“Well… Why not go out for the day, just you two?” Proposed Twilight, hoping to share her happy smile with Rarity.

“Yeah! Do something fun!” Squealed Pinkie Pie, the grogginess of post sleep absent from her mind.

Rarity pondered the suggestion for a short moment before smiling and replying. “I suppose I could take her to the aquarium…” She said, already beginning to visualise the pair’s future day out. “Sweetie Belle loves sea life!” Rarity declared, finishing with a hopeful smile upon her face.

“That’s the spirit!” Twilight said, nudging Rarity on her shoulder with her hoof. “Today was lovely.” She continued, folding up the blanket with her magic and placing it inside the picnic basket. “Thanks Pinkie, Thanks Applejack.”

“Our pleasure, Twi.” The orange earth pony replied, shooting twilight a wink.

“Yeah, no problem, Twilight!” Pinkie added to her friend’s sentence. “I love picnics! We should do it again some day!” she declared, scooping up the wicker basket containing empty plates and a few morsels of cake.

“Count on it.” Confirmed Twilight, grinning peacefully in the late afternoon dusk as the last deep red rays left the sky, opening up the night time and causing the stars to blink into life. They walked back through the fragrant orchard. The evening had grown still and the night air was mild. Gladly, though maybe a little too soon, the group reached Applejack’s farmhouse. They bid farewell, and Applejack disappeared into the warm glow of the humble little house.

Just then, via the unpredictable power of love, Fluttershy felt a pulse of confidence. “Um… Applejack?” She asked, causing the farm girl to stop closing the door and peer outside for a second.

“Yeah, sugarcube?” She asked with an inviting smile.

“Is um… Is Big Macintosh there?” The petite pegasus asked meekly, peering past Applejack and into her home.

“’Coarse. Hold on a sec’.” She answered, fully opening up the door and walking further inside the domain.

“Big Mac!?” Came a call from within, followed by a deep voice replying “Yeah, sis?”

Hushed whispering could be heard. And before long, Applejack returned to the doorway beside her huge red brother.

“Evenin’, Fluttershy.” He said in his docile tone. “What brings you here?”

“Well, I um…” She began, blushing heavily and seeming to shrink a little. “I was just wondering whether… If- if you want to, that is… um… would you like to come to my house tonight?”

Big Macintosh’s tired eyes seemed to light up at this notion. “Sure thing, Fluttershy.” He said with a warm smile. “What’s the occasion?”

“Oh, oh… um…” She stammered before once again finding her confidence and answering definitively without fault: “There’s something I want to show you.”

“What’s that then?” The large stallion asked, generating an extremely intense blush across both of her fair cheeks.

“I… You’ll have to wait and see…” Fluttershy answered, her voice coming out relatively strong, albeit really rather bashful.

“Fine by me.” Big Mac decreed, casting a glance towards his little sister. “I wasn’t doin’ nothin’ anyways…” He smiled, the kind of smile that made Fluttershy’s heart glow.

Big Macintosh, also known to some as ‘Macky’, plodded outside, instructing Applejack to “Not wait up” Before she closed the thin farmhouse door with one last wave and farewell to her friends.

Applejack turned around and planted herself onto a comfortable brown armchair perched at the side of a much larger loveseat. She amused herself for some time with the thought of her brother and her best friend snuggling up next to each other in the secluded woodland cottage. Slowly, everypony around her seemed to be finding love, Pinkie Pie and Dash shared a very memorable and dramatic love story, as did Twilight and Cantor. And now, even her shy brother and her even more skittish friend, Fluttershy were opening their hearts to each other.

She slid down in the chair, forming an impossibly comfortable slouch as she thought about herself. She didn’t ask for much, and whatever she did want for herself had remained rather menial in terms of spiritual bettering. She had never known this ‘love’, but seeing how content and happy it made her friends, she knew that sooner or later she would have to find somepony for herself. Twilight Sparkle had told her that ‘a match was made in heaven’. And that she believed in ‘love at first sight’. Applejack smiled at the thought. She was twenty years of age, she had been with other ponies in the past, they had all let her know pleasure and happiness, but from what she could see in her friends’, and now her brother’s eyes, ‘love’ was so much deeper than that. And from the evidence all around her, her very special somepony could be right under her nose and she wouldn't even know it.

“One day…” She said aloud to herself, reassuring herself that she would eventually feel the joy her friends felt. “But not yet.” She added. She was content enough with the life she led; her work was her life and right now, the workload of Applebuck Season was pressing down as the September harvest was nearly upon her and her brother, and much preparation still needed to be done. Once again, her thoughts turned back to her work, distracting her from matters she thought otherwise fruitless, at least at the present moment.

“Let’s see…” She mused, “Tomorrow I can finish up readyin’ the south field, then I can make a start on the east next week…”

Eventually, two more ponies left the herd, Pinkie Pie disappearing inside her darkened bakery and Rarity heading back to her boutique, rather looking forward to the rest of her evening which she would spend most of which soaking in the large hot tub she had had installed when one of her dress contractors ordered a huge shipping of some fifty of her most expensive dresses, landing her a huge sum of money in which she spent nearly a quarter of on the exquisite jacuzzi, giving the remainder to the hospice she felt strongly about; the one which saved her older brother from cancer when she was young. She never usually donated money to charities as she never felt her feeble amounts were ‘good enough’. When she found herself not knowing what to do with 8,000 bits however, this situation changed, the hefty donation landing her a spot on the front page of ‘Ponyville Confidential’.

“And remember, Fluttershy…” Twilight whispered to the slightly apprehensive pegasus, “You’ll know exactly what to do…”

“Thank you, Twilight…” Fluttershy replied with a bow of gratitude. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

And with that, the sweet, young Fluttershy left with her great big Macky, ambling off into the night together, whispers of affection passed between them through the still air. They gazed into each other’s heart-warming eyes as they slowly made their way to the start of their legacy.

"There goes two young lovers to the beginning of their lives together." Cantor said, standing next to Twilight, observing the tender couple amble out of sight. “I’ve got high hopes for them, Twi…”

“Me too, Cantor.” The unicorn mare agreed. “Today was just perfect…” She sighed.

Cantor simply let out an amused hum of satisfaction. “Hey, Twilight…” He asked, casting his head skywards to the many constellations up in the heavens.

“Yeah?” She replied, meeting his gaze, awing at the astonishingly clear night.

“How about some stargazing tonight?” He asked, causing the purple mare to gasp in delight.

“That’s a great Idea, Cantor!” She exclaimed, her astronomical mind becoming dizzy with one of her many passions. “Just let me get my telescope!”

She turned to dart inside, yet found herself halted by a soft hoof on her flank. She rotated once more, completing a three hundred and sixty degree circle in just a second. She turned to see Cantor smiling broadly, if in fact a little mischievous glint I his eye.

“Oh, ye of little faith…” He muttered before turning around and ambling away.

“Wait. Cantor…” Twilight called out, trotting to bring herself up to the stallion’s side. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see…” He answered slyly, shooting Twilight a knowing wink.

The bright little star on earth named Twilight Sparkle couldn’t stifle her own little amused grin as her fabulous mind raced to all the possibilities that this mystic stallion could be contemplating in his head.

The couple slowly walked for five minutes until they came to the bottom of a large barren hill, all the while marvelling at the many shooting stars which streaked the sky.

“I suppose you’re wondering what we’re doing here, Twilight?” Cantor asked, facing the hill with a blazing horn casting indigo light over the pair, deepening the purple in the mare’s coat.

“I am wondering, Cantor.” She answered, slightly annoyed. She hated it when Cantor teased her, but that’s what made him all the more loveable. “But I have no clue as to what it could be…” She added.

“We’re here to go stargazing, Twi…” Cantor confirmed.

“Yes,” The exasperated mare began. “But my telescope’s at the library!” She shouted. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!”

“I… do have a telescope on me, but I’m not sure if it will cater to your needs…” He clarified, the purple around his horn dissipating and his spectacular creation became visible atop the hill.

“Well… where is it?” She asked, scanning the stallion's body before catching him focusing on something behind her.

She warily turned her head, keeping eye contact with the suspicious alicorn until her unparalleled curiosity got the better of her and she whipped her head around.

Her mouth instantly fell agape and she only just managed to keep her bladder from releasing as her vision became filled by a sizeable dome producing an enormous telescope sat atop the crest of the dark hill.

Cantor stepped around her and watched her astonished expression for a moment before he put his hoof under her chin and pushed her mouth closed. “Breathe, Twilight.” He instructed. The mare complied, Taking a huge gasp of air after the sight had quite literally stolen her breath, disallowing her even to breathe through the marvel.

She allowed a shivering breath to escape her lips which were curved into an enormous beaming, toothless smile. “For… For me?” She asked, the blood in her veins transformed into pure joy.

Cantor gave a modest bow and closed his eyes. “All yours…” He answered.

Twilight gave another short stab of breath and her eyes filled with tears.

Cantor gave Twilight a moment for her blissful emotions to build, speaking only when the first two tears fell from her eyes. “Are you alri-“

“I LOVE IT!!!” Twilight yelled, her unrelenting happiness coming out in great leaping bounds around the alicorn. “I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT!!!” She continued to gush, causing Cantor’s heart to sing. “I LOVE YOU! OH, THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!” She squealed, still skipping around the alicorn.

“You’re quite welcome, Twilight.” Cantor said modestly.

“How did you do it? What’s it in aid of? How can you afford it? When did it get here? Is it open to the public? Does-“

“Twilight, Twilight, Twilight…” Cantor rapidly said, calming down the ecstatic mare. “...Twi… Calm down.” He instructed, a beaming smile of his own worn across his face.

Twilight stopped bouncing and took several breaths, as Cantor said, trying to calm herself a little: enough to compose basic thoughts, but the ecstasy in her heart kept her from thinking too much.

Cantor wiped the tears from her still rather moist eyes and said with a hushed tone: “Because I love you, Twilight…” His voice was soft and warm, bringing Twilight’s buzz down, yet not at all making her any less happy. “I know how much you love stargazing, so I got you… pretty much as good as it gets…” He turned breifly to the vivid night sky before looking back at Twilight. "A perfect end to a perfect day..." He proposed.

“But how can you afford it?” She asked, turning back to the huge observatory perched silently atop the hill she could have sworn she heard calling to her.

Cantor began walking and Twilight huddled close to him, unable to limit how high she lifted her knees as her stallion drew her in with his large wing, folding it into Twilight as if it was her own. Once again, Twilight began to cry out of how much better than perfect this night was turning out to be.

“Remember the time when I said I had to aid the weather team in amplifying a super cell?” He asked, brushing Twilight’s tears away once more, leaving her perfect lavender eyes unsoiled by the glistening tears.

“Yes…” Twilight croaked, More tears of serenity pouring from her eyes to which Cantor promptly gave up trying to clear.

“In reality, I made this.” He wafted his hoof towards the great dome they were rapidly approaching. It was around five or six metres in diameter and stretched another five into the sky. “It took me a whole day, especially when trying to get the mirrors at exactly the right angle.”

“It’s a reflector?” Twilight asked, looking up at Cantor with teary eyes.

“Now see, this is where it gets interesting, Twilight.” The alicorn stated as they approached the large steel door leading into the observatory.

“You see…” He began. “I got the idea to do this when we first went stargazing in June. After weeks of researching and experimenting, I came across a combination of the two types of telescope, reflector and refractor.”

“That’s not possible!” Said Twilight in exasperation. The two had reached the entrance to the dome, yet Cantor still held Twilight tightly under his wing. She had ceased her crying, yet her cheeks remained sodden.

“See, that’s where it’s fascinating: I found out the correct ratio of angles, measurements and densities of the lenses to make a perfectly working scale model… I used those figures to make this beast.” He said, gesturing towards the humungous black dome.

“But all the parts… All the materials… How did-“ Twilight began to protest before Cantor tapped his horn, silencing her.

“I can do anything, remember?” He said smugly. “The only thing I needed to find out is how to put everything together, and that was pretty easy, since it was my own working concept.” He pulled Twilight close with his foreleg and looked into her eyes. “And because it’s my concept, I know how it works…” He smiled warmly. “You will be the first pony not only to use this telescope, but the first pony EVER to use a full size one that adopts my special ‘reflaction’ design, allowing you to see objects much further away in perfect clarity.”

“You did all of this… just for me?” Twilight sheepishly asked, now feeling as if the brand new telescope was physically calling her name.

“Of course, Twilight. You mean the world to me, and I just want to make you happy.” He answered.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say that goal was achieved!” Twilight laughed, causing Cantor to chuckle himself.

“Shall we um…” He asked, presenting Twilight with a little metal key he had been keeping inside his mane. He didn’t know how it was possible, nor how the items stayed there, but, like one of the many mysteries in Equestria, the stallion merely choked it down to magic.

“As I said before, Twilight: It’s aaaaallll yours…” The stallion said again, stepping to the side, leaving Twilight directly in front of one of her many dreams she never thought she’d achieve. A fire silently began to burn above the door, throwing light across it’s dull brown surface, illuminating a solid gold handle bearing a little slot beneath it for the key.

In a haze of giddy excitement, Twilight slowly pressed the sharp key into the lock until it stopped. She turned it anticlockwise once and the door clicked, then as she began turning again, a most satisfying ‘clunk’ could be heard from within. The key lost it’s friction within the door and turned the rest of the way in the lock until it was back where it started. The mare cast Cantor an affectionate glance. The stallion merely gave a little bow and motioned for Twilight to enter. With all of her filly-like fascination, she nudged the door open a crack, and golden light washed over her. Slowly but surely, she pushed her head inside.

With the contrast of darkness to light, it seemed to Twilight as if she were being born into a fabulous world she never wanted to leave. The observatory was much warmer than the night air outside. Her legs subconsciously carried her inside as she gazed around at her new surroundings. Great, empty bookshelves lined the walls at shoulder height, creating an ideal resting ground for ornaments. Each blank bookshelf stood there, waiting, anticipating the day that their first book would be added. The walls above the empty shelves too, were completely void of all personalisation, just a creamy white paint before they separated into overlapping iron slabs. The manner in which the roof was designed reminded her of the anatomy of dragon scales, each one folding over the last ever so slightly. At regular intervals, bright light bulbs jutted out from the wall, covered by a cream lampshade, illuminating the room just enough to make it cosy whilst still holding some air of practicality.

In the very centre of the room was the wondrous eyepiece, a conduit of mystery and marvel, a whole new world – or many – just waiting to be discovered.

“One thing, Twilight.” Cantor spoke, stepping into the observatory and gently shutting the door behind himself. “Notice how everything is empty…” He began, joining the starstruck mare in tracing the baron walls with his eyes. “This room, Twilight… If you choose it to be, can be your sanctuary, your legacy.”

“What do you mean?” She asked turning around to come face to face with Cantor, who stood barely two feet away from her.

“I mean make this telescope live, Twilight. Let it live through you. Pour your heart and soul into it. Fill these bookshelves with your findings, decorate the walls with your beauty. Leave an unending mark on the world, something other ponies will look at and say “Yes. Twilight Sparkle did that.” Let them know just what you can do.”

He took a step closer and brushed her fringe to the side, revealing her gorgeous face to his eyes. “I know I’ve said it before, and I’m definitely going to say it again, and will never stop saying it for as long as I live: I love you, Twilight Sparkle.” Her face flushed a little when he said this. It had become somewhat of a motto for him. “You are the most astonishing, beautiful, intelligent, kind creature I have ever had the greatest pleasure even to see. You, Twilight Sparkle... are perfect. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You’re the very element of love and friendship and Celestia strike me down if you don’t become the greatest pony ever to have lived.”

The blushing purple mare began to tear up once more as he spoke, looking at her the way he always did when he was burning her with the purest of truth. “I love you, Twilight Sparkle.” He said. “Never forget that. Because I will never stop.”

An Average Year Of Onslaught

Chapter 18: An average year of onslaught

“Aagh!!” Cantor bleated in pain as he slammed his rear hooves as hard as he could into the tough bark of his first apple tree of Applebuck season. The apples fell carelessly into the already prepared buckets below. Cantor fell untidily to the floor, landing on his flank, breathing heavily and clutching his throbbing hooves.

Upon further inspection of one of her many trees, Applejack soon cried out in great alarm.

“How the hell can you do this two hundred thousand times!?” The white alicorn exclaimed, his poor hooves feeling as though they were going to burst.

“Cantor!?” Applejack started, sounding astonished. “Are you wearin’ horseshoes?”

“What? No, we never wear horseshoes!” Cantor exclaimed dramatically, the pain in his back hooves mercifully subsiding.

“We do when we gotta buck thousands a’ apple trees every other day!” She yelled back. “I thought it was obvious!”

“Well you don’t look like you’re wearing shoes either!” Cantor argued back.

“That’s because they’re the same colour as my coat!” She proceded to thrust the underside of her hoof right under Cantor’s face. Sure enough, there was a tanned orange ‘U’ shaped piece of metal attached to her hoof.

“And… You’re all wearing horseshoes too?” Cantor addressed his group of friends, the five other mares and Big Macintosh. They all simultaneously showed the underside of their hooves, and sure enough, wore iron semi-circles the same colour of their fur upon their hooves, except for Big Mac; he didn’t much care for colour correction, favouring the practicality over aesthetic quality. And besides, being a cart pony by breed, his fur came a little short of his hooves anyway, exposing the great cloppers and displaying his mature breed to all onlookers.

“Well… What do we do?” The white stallion asked, returning to Applejack for answers.

She let out a gruelling sigh. “I can get ya’ some horseshoes…” She muttered. “But now we gotta go all the way back to the farm to fit 'em.” She was quite obviously flustered, even though they had begun Applebuck season a day earlier than usual, she was as eager as ever to get started.

“Heeeey…” Said Cantor, getting a brilliant Idea. “Couldn’t I just use magic? I could harvest the-“

“No.” Applejack and Big Mac scorned simultaneously, though it was Applejack who explained herself.

“Here at Sweet Apple Acres, we do things traditionally, without magic, and preferably without flying.” The last notion was directed at Rainbow Dash, yet she was somewhat oblivious to the threat.

Cantor sighed and scuffed the dirt. “Ahhh… Sorry, Applejack. I’m just a hindrance.”

“No, you’re not, Cantor.” The farm girl replied, switching to a more comforting tone. “Ya' just don’t think.” She smiled, putting Cantor slightly at ease.

“Thanks, Applejack.” He said softly. “Look, I know you said you don’t use magic, but can’t we just teleport to the farm to put these horseshoes on and then back again to get started quickly?”

Applejack glanced at her brother and he nodded slowly with closed eyes. “I suppose that’s alright…” She answered, stepping over to Cantor and giving a little nod of confirmation that she was ready. Cantor touched her forehead with his horn, and instantly, the two were enveloped in showers of purple sparks. The next second, they were gone.

“Did ya’ tell him they hammer them on?” Asked a grinning Rainbow Dash towards Twilight.

“No…” The purple unicorn explained solemnly. “I really hope he’s brave about it…” Rainbow met her glance with confusion. “It’s another one of his fears. One of the really bad ones: not nearly as bad as the restraints thing, but… he hates even the thought of, as he described it: ‘brutal pain’.

“Ha, ha!” Rainbow laughed. “Pussy…” She muttered.

Twilight responded to the comment with a disgusted scowl. “You know, Rainbow…” She began, arousing Dash to her displeasure in her attitude; intended merely as a joke, she wasn’t aware that Twilight had had to calm Cantor down multiple times each night during the last week due to the onslaught from that horrific accident…

One week ago…

“So this is the weather factory, huh, Rainbow?” Asked Cantor as he slipped into the white lab coat, following the sky blue pegasus mare through a door made entirely of clouds, matching with the cloud walls, cloud floor and the cloud ceiling. In fact, everything was made from clouds, or at least based on the fluffy white objects, but what could one expect in a city named quite provocatively: ‘Cloudsdale’?

“Yup!” The rainbow maned pegasus replied, a slight hint of pride in her tone. “Let’s start the tour with the simple stuff: ‘varying degrees of storms’.” She read aloud from the little plaque next to the entrance to the catwalk overlooking the stations in which increasing severities of weather would be generated.

“This is bay 1,” Rainbow began, “the sort of weather made here is light, misty showers, mainly used for adding frost to winter mornings, no real purpose other than that…” Explained Rainbow Dash.

On the platform, Cantor could see very few ponies doing nothing really distinctive. There were two or three who looked like they were doing maintenance work, one had his head buried in a large machine which, it seemed to Cantor, was being repeated. Another two ponies were simultaneously mopping the floor with amazing efficiency. Obviously the weather factory of Cloudsdale was very modernised and ran like clockwork.

“Over here we have bay 2…” Rainbow continued as the only two ponies on the catwalk came to a second observation window. They didn’t stop moving, though, seeing as this room was completely empty. Not a single pony was seen on the soft cloud floor, yet there were some different machines. There was one in the far corner, very similar to the one in the middle of bay 1, only, it was a little bigger and four great steel pistons jutted from the side instead of two.

“Bay 2 is basically very light showers.” The blue pegasus explained. “The reason there’s nopony here is because… well, it’s Summer; there’s no need for ‘light downpours’.”

Cantor looked back down to the factory floor. The observation platform they were standing on must have been about twenty feet off of the floor, and even though ‘bay 2’ was deserted, three large strip lights illuminated the room very well…

“That brings us on to bay 3…” Said Rainbow Dash. No sooner had she pushed open one of the two swinging doors which cut off that section of the walkway for one particular room, that the pair were hit with a mild uproar of voices. Cantor and Rainbow both peeked through the ‘window’ to see the bustling station below. On the floor, there were some thirty pegasi, all rushing around to either check on machines or flip switches and levers.

“Here!” Began Rainbow Dash, having to raise her voice to be heard over the din. “Is where we’re making a downpour for tomorrow afternoon!” She continued, not looking at Cantor as she spoke, but rather observing the pegasi clear themselves from the wall at the far end of the platform.

“What are they doing?” Asked Cantor, not having to shout as the noise of the pegasi had become a low murmur.

“Just watch…” Dash replied with an air of eagerness.

No sooner had she said this than the entire wall at the far end split in two horizontally across the middle. One half of the door sunk into the floor and the other half disappeared into the ceiling. Out of the new opening came a howling wind which reached the two ponies on the catwalk almost instantly, lashing their bodies with damp, chilly winds and fluttering their lab coats around them. Beyond the huge door was a pitch black room, but Cantor could just about see something swirling within it. All of a sudden, the huge copper boiler – type machine expanded before belching out a huge trail of wispy slate coloured cloud into the dark room. The two huge doors hastily slid closed again, silencing the wind and allowing the pegasi workers to return to their business as quickly as they had stopped.

“That’s the heavy downpour you’re going to be setting up over Sweet Apple Acres tomorrow,” Rainbow explained, “Just to give the Apple family’s trees one last drink before we harvest em’.”

The pair began walk onward again, passing through onto bays 4 and 5, the likes of which resembled the very first room they observed, three or four ponies checking up and / or cleaning the far more complicated looking machines. Rainbow Dash explained how bay 5, which generated complicated and violent forms of weather such as tornadoes and super cells, was really only used in ‘cleanup situations’. These types of weather would only be needed to be used if there was some type of emergency: a forest fire or what not…

“And that concludes the tour of the ‘varying degrees of storm’…” Said Rainbow Dash, quoting the sign at the start of the tour. “What do you think?” She asked eagerly, an expectant smile etched onto her face.

“It’s fascinating, Rainbow.” Answered Cantor, making the blue pegasus’ smile broaden. “It’s great to see where it’s all made.” He added, looking down to the many machines, conveyer belts and glass spheres which made up nearly the whole floor of bay 5.

Rainbow giggled with pride for her home town’s praise. She fluttered her wings a little and motioned for Cantor to follow her. He obliged, following Rainbow Dash off of the main tour line, which given the fact that it was Summer, would be deserted and really rather boring.

“Now this station isn’t included in the tour…” Said Rainbow mischievously as she pushed open another cloud door, which opened up into a room of dazzling rainbow – hued waterfalls and puddles.

“Whooooa…” Cantor awed in the majesty of the place. This new production line boasted a much larger area than any of the five storm bays. Cantor estimated that it was a tiny bit bigger than four of the previous rooms joined together in a big square, not by much, but definitely no less.

“This is the rainbow factory…” The cyan mare beside him proclaimed, rather unnecicerally however, and the two ponies made their way across the soft white floor to a conveyor belt, where tiny globs of colour were being manipulated by several ponies into small mounds right in the centre of the rubber belt. There was no real reason for doing this except to make the machine cope with the curious material a lot smoother.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash! Long time, no see!” Was the call from an unannounced mare behind the two ‘tourists’.

Upon turning around, Rainbow instantly recognised the mare as the supervisor for the rainbow branch of the weather factory. The light pink mare also happened to be one of Rainbow Dash’s friends since they were both young.

“Airheart!” Exclaimed Rainbow as she embraced the other pegasus tightly. “I haven’t seen you in years!” She added as she pulled away from the chestnut maned pony.

“I know, right!” Airheart agreed. “How have you been?”

“Great, thanks! How are you holding up?”

“Really well, thank you, Rainbow Dash.”

“Great!” Rainbow Dash beamed.

“You must be Cantor.” Airheart said kindly, turning to the white alicorn. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“You have?” Asked Cantor, somewhat expecting that response. After all, he was 'the' weather team.

“Yeah, how are things in Ponyville?” The friendly mare asked, her bright blue eyes sparkling. It was plain to see that this mare was obviously extremely likeable, and indeed that was probably a main factor in her supremacy in this business, as well as being seemingly mature for such a young age. She appeared to be about twenty or twenty one and how she carried herself made her seem like such a ‘genuine’ pony, radiating natural beauty, inside and out.

“Things are going pretty well in Ponyville, ma’am.” Cantor answered politely.

Airheart giggled into her hoof cutely. “You can call me Airheart, Cantor; no need to be polite!” She smiled and giggled once more.

“So, Airheart,” Rainbow began, “Do you want to go and see a movie sometime?” She asked, but upon catching her friend’s troubled expression, quickly clarified. “Just as friends, you know. To catch up.”

“Oh, right! Yeah, Rainbow, that sounds great!” Replied Airheart, giving a happy flutter of her wings.

“So anyway, Air,” Rainbow Dash started, “I’m taking Cantor on a tour of the factory and just thought we’d swing by the rainbow sector.”

“We already have a rainbow sector right here!” Airheart joked, throwing a hoof in the direction of the multi-hued pegasus, drawing laughs from both the girls.

“You’re so dirty, Air!” Rainbow giggled, blushing slightly as she giggled with her childhood friend like a little filly. Some sort of inside joke Cantor was pretty sure he understood, yet decided to dismiss the thought.

“How are you liking the weather factory so far?” Airheart asked, turning towards Cantor, using a slightly raised voice over the enormous heavy cogs clunking behind the stallion.

“It’s fascinating, Airheart.” Cantor praised. “Especially here.” He said looking towards the many blobs of glowing colour making their way along the conveyor belt. “What uh… what’s going on here?”

“Here,” Air began to explain, “We are compressing the photonic hue plasma into a nucleonic state in preparation for pressurisation of the spectral refraction process.”

A moment of relative silence passed.

“…Whoosh.” Cantor replied, skimming his hoof over his head.

Airheart laughed. “We’re getting the colours ready to be made into rainbows…” She paraphrased, chortling a little again.

“Now see, I can understand that.” Cantor smiled. “Can I… Can I touch some?” He asked, seeing a gorgeous glowing purple roll past into a large box sprouting two huge metal cogs.

“Yeah, go right ahead!” Air openly asserted, gesturing for Cantor to go ahead to the conveyor belt.

He waited for another one of those spectacular purples to come past. He didn’t need to wait too long before he scooped up a little hooffull of the glowing substance. It felt remarkably like jelly, yet it was runny, and slimy, Not quite as thick as syrup, but not nearly as thin as water. He leaned against the unmoving edge of the conveyor belt and rubbed his hooves together, slathering the strange glowing substance all over his hooves.

“What is this stuff?” The enthralled stallion asked, absolutely mesmerised by the vibrancy of the colour, the glow and that very curious consistency.

“It’s a very long process, Cantor…” Airheart began to explain, “First of all, we take in light from right at the top of the factory using solar-“

“You!” Came a strangely familiar male voice from across the room. Cantor turned to where the sound had come from to see a dark green stallion surging through the other workers towards him menacingly.

“Storm?” Asked Cantor, watching the stallion’s dangerous golden eyes approach rapidly.

“Storm Surge, what are you doi-“ Airheart began to ask before the infuriated pegasus swung his hoof through the air, which Cantor ducked to avoid just in time.

“The hell are you doing!?” Cantor protested, raising his leviathan wings above him.

Airheart looked astonished, raising her own wings which were a little over half the size of Cantor’s. “Storm! Get back to your sta-“

“You stole Twilight from me!” The murky green pegasus shouted into Cantor’s face.

“What!?” The alicorn exclaimed. “I didn’t ‘steal’ Twilight from you! And how dare you say that you owned her! She owns herself!”

“Don’t raise your voice at me!” Storm Surge growled, squaring up to Cantor, despite his wing – aided size. “I’ve heard about you!" He threw his gaze skyward, and continued in an uncannily cheerful tone. "Ooh! You and Twi reunited after two weeks of loneliness and instantly proclaimed your love for each other…" His heavy scowl re-surfaced. "What foal’s tale bullshit!”

“Storm!” Airheart snapped, her eyes wild with anger. “My office, now!" She intensified her frown, sucking in air violently through her nostrils. "You’re lucky I’m nice…”

The envious pegasus grumbled some profanity under his breath, but felt as though he hadn’t shaken Cantor like he had intended to. With one last outburst to show his disgust for the alicorn, Storm Surge leaned forward and bucked Cantor hard in the chest, causing the white stallion to stumble backwards, the very tip of his wing catching in the great metal cogs.

Cantor went to pursue Storm, but those plans changed once he felt the stinging pain through his entire right wing as it was sucked into the teeth of the machine. Cantor yelped in pain and horror as the powerful metal jaws relentlessly ate up his wings with petrifying speed, eliciting a gruesome churning noise as the cogs became dis-aligned. Cantor was yanked off of his hooves as even more of his wing was crushed to oblivion in the great metal maw.

“Rainbow!” Cantor cried out in desperation, his panicked tone easily distinguishable over the loud din of the many other workers who had abandoned their posts to watch.

The speedy blue pegasus was right on it though, dashing to the top of the machine where a huge red button labelled ‘stop’ was openly positioned. Rainbow shot towards it, slamming her hooves down upon it, stopping the great steel cogs just in time as Cantor’s body was being pulled into the centre. Cantor screamed as he felt the last sliver of his wing become crushed in the giant mechanical vice, when all of a sudden his torture stopped. The machine ceased instantly, the next set of teeth inches away from his chest.

Blood was pooling around the base of the gears, and was rapidly increasing, drawing anguished gasps from everypony who looked, which just so happened to be everypony. The trapped alicorn was panting heavily through clenched teeth to halt himself from crying in the agonizing pain and dopamine dump.

“Reverse it. Reverse it!” Airheart ordered, and an old grey mare hurried over to the centre console and flipped a switch.

To Cantor’s great dismay, the machine slowly whirred back into life, the cogs drawing him in once more, the sturdy iron teeth like great metal bricks coming down on his ribcage. Once again, Cantor screamed as a deadly concoction of pain, fear and helplessness racked his mind as his ribs splintered and snapped, creating a sound like somepony stamping on bubble wrap inside his head.

Once again, Rainbow Dash slammed the emergency stop button at the most dire time. If only a fifth of a second more was wasted, the gears would have crushed cantor’s lungs and heart, and if one second had passed, the unstoppable cogs, which were about two feet wide would have effectively churned Cantor into mincemeat.

“I said reverse it, you stupid mare!” Airheart scorned with fury in her voice before she twisted a knob to the left and restarted the machine.

Cantor groaned and emptied his stomach as the sensation of the steel jaws spitting him out became overwhelming. Upon the slightly tarnished cogs, Cantor’s blood was clearly evident as his machine of torture unwound, throwing a crying teenage alicorn onto the floor. He landed with a fluffy puff on the cool, comforting cloud floor and lay there for a moment while the pain and tears faded to a throbbing nuisance rather than a crippling agony.

He lay on the ground and peered over his shoulder at what could no longer be described as a wing. Rather, the thing poking out of his back was just a bloody piece of meat with some smashed bones and feathers stuck through it. The sight made Cantor vomit again. Rainbow Dash rushed to his side and knelt down beside him.

“Are you okay?” The rainbow maned pegasus asked softy, obviously on the verge of tears from panic - even Rainbow Dash was nearly in tears.

Cantor looked over his shoulder at his ruined wing, the sickening sight doing far less to his stomach now as he knew what to expect. He took in the sight of the shredded flesh, nearly complete baldness of feathers and the large pool of blood forming around him.

“Yes, Rainbow, I’m perfectly fine!” He groaned sarcastically.

Rainbow Dash gave his joke a tiny laugh before he continued. “In all seriousness though, Rainbow Dash,” He began, still laying on his side, fearful of what the broken ribs which were floating around inside his body could puncture. “You saved my life… I… thank you, Rainbow Dash… Thank you so much.” He lifted his head a little and Rainbow embraced it. The gesture was the best Cantor could muster with his broken ribs. Even just lifting his neck elicited great pain.

“Well what would I do if you died, Cantor?” Rainbow laughed. “None of the others can fly and Fluttershy’s afraid of heights!” She joked, to which Cantor chuckled lightly, causing pain to flare up around his entire mid section.

“Are you… Going to be okay?” Rainbow asked, stealing a peek at her friend’s mauled ‘wing’, beginning to feel queasy herself.

“I’ll be fine, Rainbow…” Confirmed Cantor with a little nod as he began to heal himself.

“Cantor! I’m so sor…” Airheart began to apologise for Storms actions as the stallion had already flown off, but she stopped once she caught sight of the new pony lying on the ground before her. His rusty orange mane and tail were now great golden plumes of cloud, billowing around him as his body was enveloped in a lustrous glow.

Slowly but surely, the mangled piece of flesh straightened out again before an intense point of light ran the length of it. Cantor had his eyes closed in concentration: wings were rather complicated structures as it turns out. Once the tiny light had reached the tip of the wing, the blood began to peel off, revealing pale skin sprouting a couple of scraggly feathers. With a judder of pain, Cantor plucked the rest of the feathers from his fleshy appendage before, like some kind of white moss, the hair climbed from the pit of his wing and rapidly made it’s way along the great spindly arm to the top.

No sooner had this happened then the enormous primary flight feathers erupted from the very tip of the wing. Seeing as though these feathers were the largest and longest of all the feathers, their size seemed to be enhanced as they were momentarily the only quills on the new limb. All of the onlookers had forgotten about the conflict as they observed the spectacle with awestruck eyes, holding their breath as the alicorn effectively re-grew a wing in the space of three minutes. The feathers layered themselves, after the awesome primaries came the still rather large secondaries followed by the stubby little tertials. The next layer of coverts came, soon to be topped by two more, and finally, the tiny little scapulars nestled in around the base of the new wing, completing what could not be described as anything less than a work of art.

Cantor relaxed as the next stage was much easier than the previous one. He realigned the ribs, which fortunately hadn’t strayed too far from their proper places, and closed the break up.

Like a sunset, the light emanating from his mane faded and began to collapse and lose it’s shine. The alicorn climbed to his hooves, cracking his new wing and giving it a few test flaps.

“Good as new.” He confirmed as it folded neatly to his side.

“Now you’re just showing off…” Rainbow commented with a sly little smirk.

Cantor chortled softly in agreement. “Maybe a little…” He replied.

“Listen, Airheart… I’m really sorry about-“ Cantor began, looking around him at the massive crowd of ponies and the utter catastrophe all over the cloud floor, stained a putrid colour by a combination of bodily fluids. “About this mess…” The alicorn finished, hanging his head shamefully.

“Sorry!?” The pink mare managed to blurt out. “If anything we should be apologising to you!” She took several steps closer to Cantor. “Don’t fret. Storm Surge won’t get off lightly for this…”

Even though that stallion had nearly been the cause of his death, Cantor couldn’t help but feel like he understood how Storm felt. “Thank you, Airheart…” Said Cantor. “But let him keep his job… He’s just love struck.” The stallion smiled as the image of the lavender unicorn came into his mind once again. “Twilight is one amazing mare…”

“Twilight?” Airheart asked. “Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic?”

Cantor’s body flushed with shock: Airheart was the first pony he’d met except for the elements of harmony themselves and the princesses to mention the elements. He quickly collected his thoughts and answered swiftly. “That’s right.”

“Wow…” Airheart sighed. “I hope you two go a long way.”

“I know we will, Airheart…” Cantor replied, gently smiling.

Air then proceded to slide her hoof under Cantor’s wing and pull it out. It was as if she was stretching out a long thin screen made from feathers. “How in Equestria did you grow your wing back!?” She exclaimed, examining the crisp new feathers of the limb.

“It- it’s uh… It’s an alicorn thing…” He finally answered. “Just a special type of magic…”

“I see…” Muttered Sky, folding the appendage back in and smoothing the feathers down.

Air looked apologetically into Cantor’s eyes and begun a second apology. “Once again, I can’t describe how sorry I am for the way storm acted. You're our guest in the weather factory, and please know that all of us are outraged at Storm Surge’s behaviour. We would sack him, but since you seem fine about the situation, he can keep his job. But don’t think he’s getting away scot-free: no sir! I’ll be having a very strong word with him about his actions and he’ll receive a fine.”

Though Storm effectively nearly caused the end of Equestria, Cantor couldn’t shake the thought that this ‘justice’ was unfair.

“Thank you, Airheart.” The alicorn replied with a smile. “What are we going to do about-“ He turned to see two pegasi wearing tight – cut royal blue overalls and caps discreetly mopping up Cantor’s mess.

Airheart turned and took off into the air slightly, her long brown bangs whipping behind her as she addressed the workers. “Alright, fillies and gentlecolts, back to your stations, we’ve got a factory to run!”

...

The first day of Applebuck season…

“So this looks like a…” Applejack mused as she examined Cantor’s right forehoof, allowing it to rest on her own so she could see the dusty underside. “…A thirty six.” She confirmed, dropping the hoof and meandering towards a corner of the broad red barn.

“Is that big?” The stallion inquired.

“Uhh… It’s about average…” Applejack said as she rooted around in a storage cupboard.

She swiftly discovered what she was searching for and turned from the knee-high unit. She turned around with four metal horseshoes in her mouth and wandered back towards Cantor. The dusty barn harboured a much more comfortable heat than the great outdoors, yet due to it’s ridiculously dry atmosphere, both ponies were eager to get back outside and into the hot afternoon. There were many particles of dust and hay fragments being illuminated like thousands of tiny fireflies buzzing around in the shafts of light filtering in through the barn’s high windows. Warm gusts wafted in through the open barn doors and unsettled the loose hay on the ground, bringing with them the powerful aroma of Sweet Apple Acres’ impending harvest.

“Perfect…” Applejack hummed as she cupped one of the heavy iron shoes over Cantor’s hoof. She left it hanging there and scurried around behind where Cantor was sat on a stout bale of dried grass and reappeared almost instantly bearing a small metal hammer and a hooffull of short metal nails. She rested the nails down on the ground next to the shoes and sat on her rump, taking Cantor’s iron-clad hoof and inserting a nail into one of the holes at the top.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Cried Cantor, pulling his hoof away.

“What!?” Asked an alarmed Applejack.

“Were you going to nail them into me!?” Cantor continued to protest.

“O’ course! That’s how you do it, see?” The earth pony replied, holding up her own hoof. Sure enough, there was the orange piece of iron and five nails of an identical colour worn on her hoof.

“Does it not hurt?” Cantor enquired, being filled with a lot more confidence by the farm girl, even going as far as giving his hoof to Applejack again.

“It does if I get it wrong.” She answered. This statement didn’t help ease Cantor’s anxiety. “But that won’t happen if you hold still…”

Cantor released some of the fear in the form of a long exhale through pursed lips, as if he were a train letting off steam.
Applejack leaned backwards, prodded the tip of her Stetson to give her a clearer view and pulled Cantor’s hoof into her lap, clamping her rear legs around his foreleg.

Cantor blushed perversely as he realised how perilously close to the mare’s heat his hoof was. This notion distracted him, until he noticed the strong earth pony take aim with the hammer. She swung. Cantor reacted involuntarily and attempted to pull his hoof away. The orange mare’s knees gave a little and his hoof slipped a bit, but Applejack’s swing was already in full motion and she hit the nail with perfect precision, driving it straight into the middle of Cantor’s hoof.

“AAHHHHH!” Screamed the stallion, pain searing through his entire right foreleg like lightning. He wrenched his hoof out of Applejack’s clamp and clutched his injured hoof with his good one. “Fuck me!” He cried again, the initial stinging sensation now a harsh throb in the lower part of the limb. “You said it wouldn’t hurt!”

“You moved, ya’ bloody fool!” Applejack snapped back.

“Ahhh… I’m sorry, I’m just ‘jumpy’ towards this stuff.” Cantor admitted, pain still laced in his voice. He clasped the misaligned shoe between his chest an his left hoof. Cringing, he tore his right hoof from the shoe, the wound emitting a spurt of blood.

“Gosh, Cantor…” Applejack sighed, “You gotta keep your hoof still, ‘else I’ll keep missin’…”

Cantor observed the blood still pulsing out of the small, but deep hole as he replied. “Try again, Applejack, I won’t move this time, please… let’s just start working: I’ve wasted too much of your time already…” He said apologetically, holding out his pierced hoof to the orange pony once again.

She swiftly took it, replaced the horseshoe over the hard hoof and relocated the nail. Even though he had every confidence in his strong orange friend, he still screwed his eyes shut and turned away. A second of torturous silence passed before the sound of metal striking upon metal made Cantor flinch. He jerked his foreleg back, but Applejack had anticipated this. She kept her knees clamped like a vice around his quivering hoof.

“It’s okay, see?” She stated quickly, drawing Cantor’s attention back to her. She released him and he hastily peeked at the underside of his hoof. He felt an enormous wave of pride as he noted the little flat circle of metal punched into his outer hoof.

“Applejack was right!” He mused to himself. “That didn’t hurt at all!”

“Thanks, Applejack.” Said Cantor humbly, giving his hoof back to the cowpony who already had four more nails between her lips.
“Ron’t nention it.” She replied around the iron needles, placing one to one of the four other holes branching from the first one she inserted at the peak of the shoe.

After she had securely nailed in the first horseshoe and Cantor had grown amused by the new weight of his hoof, she placed the second iron shoe over his left forehoof. Only this time, she began to question him as she worked.

“So what’re you not tellin’ us?” She asked, presumably enticed by her hammering, but her whole mind was focused on drawing the truth from Cantor.

“Huh?” Asked the stallion, not afraid, but still flinching a little as the earth pony drove the nail into his hoof.

“Cantor, I’m the element a' honesty.” She said blankly, stopping what she was doing and attempting to stare Cantor down. “I know you’re not tellin’ us somethin’ an’ I think it’d be best if ya’ jus’ told me right here an’ now.”

Cantor ceased up. He remembered exactly what Applejack had uncovered. He had so successfully forced the future out of his head that it no longer became an issue. But now Applejack had gone and made him remember.

Cantor sighed gloomily. “Applejack… There’s just some things that are better left unsaid.”

“But why? What is it?” She insisted, staring Cantor right in the eyes.

The stallion shook his head slowly. “Nopony needs to know.”

“But… what if it’s serious? What if we can help?” She implored, her green eyes pleading.

Cantor sighed once again. “When the time is right… I’ll tell you. For now, let’s just get Applebuck season done.”

Sceptically, Applejack placed a second nail over Cantor’s hoof and began to gently tap it in. Pretending to focus on what she was doing, but it was plain to see that she had other things on her mind; she was a horrible liar.

“So how long do you think it’ll take us to get all these apples in?” Asked Cantor, speaking casually in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“Dunno.” Applejack grumbled in response.

A frown climbed onto Cantor’s face and stayed there. “Applejack, you’re a terrible liar…” The stallion commented, still undecided whether to be humorous or sinister.

Applejack smirked. “Sorry, Cantor, I just… care ‘bout ma’ friends…” Her voice faded and her eyes dropped to the golden hay beneath her.

The next thing she knew was an iron – clad hoof under her chin drawing her face back up to the most chilling set of peepers she had seen for some time. Whatever Cantor was doing, he had caused her mentality to fail miserably, her entire being was enveloped in the stallion’s impossible stare.

“I care about you all as well.” He said, watching Applejack absorb his veracious truth. “So much…” His hypnotic stare faltered a little and tiny little tears welled in the corners of his eyes as he saw Twilight’s heartbroken face when he left her. “I can’t even begin to describe how much I care about all of you.” He blinked his tears away and intensified his stare, paralyzing Applejack into acceptance. “I love you. All of you. And if you didn’t know that before, you know it now. This is the truest thing I can ever tell you, and accept it or not, none of you should know the truth about what I must do until it’s the right time.”

The orange mare blinked for the first time since Cantor had begun speaking.

“Do you understand me?” The alicorn asked, still propping her head up with his heavy hoof.

Applejack nodded as best she could with Cantor’s hoof in the way. Satisfied, Cantor drew back his hoof and broke eye contact with the mare. “So as I was saying, Applejack,” Cantor began, clearing the dense atmosphere and re-alerting Applejack to her surroundings, the heat from the open barn door beating down on her sweaty back. Cantor allowed her to take his hoof back and continue the nailing before he finished his sentence.

“How long will Applebuck Season take us?”

A substantially shorter amount of time than it seemed later...

“Oh! That’s so… Good!” Cantor exclaimed in pleasure as he slowly lowered himself into the herbal bath in Ponyville spa amongst the six mares, the day after the six-week long apple harvest had joyously finished. Between all of the ponies, they had gathered enough apples to fill seventeen silos, which, according to Applejack’s calculations, would bring the farm thirty eight thousand bits for the next year! Everypony was pleased with themselves for giving it their all. Even the reclusive little Fluttershy showed her strength bucking the trees and causing the apples to fall. That is of course, after she apologised in advance for hurting them.

The two spa ponies, who clearly knew what they were doing, had concocted a heavenly soak of all mannerisms of soothing salts and herbs. Rarity being Rarity, had treated everypony to a session at the spa, a sort of ‘reward’ to herself and her friends for exerting themselves during the long, hot harvest.

Cantor had had some pretty awesome baths before, but this feeling was completely extra-terrestrial, who would have thought that some salts and some leaves could make a simple hot tub so divine. The powerful scent of the water infiltrated Cantor’s nostrils with a ridiculously pacifying aroma of rosemary and eucalyptus. Several pink petals floated about the surface of the tub, doing little more than scattering the surface of the water with little points of serenity.

“Uhhhooohhhhh….” Cantor whined as he sunk into the tub, only his eyes and up remaining in the humid air, the groan of tension release dissolving into bubbles.

Every mare in the bath had their heads rested on pillows, their eyes peacefully closed behind a face pack and two slices of fresh cucumber.

“Isn’t it just heaven?” Rarity asked, drawing mumbles of agreement from all of the other bath occupants.

They all lay there for a moment before somepony dared to speak. It was Pinkie Pie.

“Why couldn’t big Macintosh come with us again? Oop… I mean ‘Macky’…” The pink mare teased, making everypony giggle like foals.

Cantor opened one eye a fraction, clocking a smiling Fluttershy staring up at the ceiling behind her cucumber spectacles. Under her lime-green face mask, she concealed a meek blush.

“He said he wasn’t fit fer all this girly pamperin’.” Applejack answered, not hiding the humour in her voice. “I just suppose some colts are more stallion than others…”

Each mare laughed at this statement, and in his watery tomb, Cantor gave a little snort into the pocket of air he had created around his muzzle. Sure, he wasn’t as masculine as one would expect from a stallion of his height and build. Nevertheless, Cantor thoroughly enjoyed the treatment he had received at the spa the past day. In the four blissful hours they had been there, the two earth pony mares, later discovered to be named Aloe and Lotus, had catered to their every desire and made it clear how well they knew their job. Which mare was which however, Cantor kept becoming confused, relying on calling each ‘miss’ so as to avoid any more unnecessary awkwardness.

…

The session had began with a hooficure, to which Rainbow Dash and Cantor immediately declined, opting instead for a wing massage each. As much as it was relaxing, the two winged ponies who had objected to having ponies touch their hooves both found humour in the reality that the beauticians had to enrol two extra chairs for Cantor’s oversized wings.

The pink one, Aloe, and another unannounced cream earth pony attended to one wing each, caressing every feather and causing an increased rate of breath in both ponies when their soft hooves drew close to the bridge of their wings.

Rainbow simply hated the feeling of anypony touching her hooves in any way, shape or form, and Cantor – albeit a slightly feminine Cantor – was still a stallion who presumably didn’t enjoy having his hoofs painted strange new colours or tampered with in any way after the tight iron shoes had come off for the first time in six weeks. Even applying a little pressure to them caused them to throb with pain.

The tantalising massage ended when both of the youngest ponies present had their wings flared up behind their back and were twitching uncontrollably as if they had a bad case of the hiccups. The effect was presumably not intentional, but how could they resist?

The three spa ponies asked the group if they would like anything before they left, whispering to each other like a bunch of schoolfillies about the awkward experience with the two winged ponies, leaving the six mares and lone stallion to chat amongst themselves. Cantor became tipsy from the slight loss of blood, saying things he wouldn’t usually say unless he'd had a few drinks. Apparently, this type of arousal, Twilight Sparkle explained which Cantor found far too interesting, didn’t make him pass out because it focused more on muscle contractions rather than causing the heart to thunder blood into the two great appendages.

Cantor and Rainbow’s feathery excitement faded at identical rates as they spoke adamantly with each other about what happens when they shatter the sound barrier. Both agreeing without a shadow of a doubt that the rainboom was at least twenty percent cooler than Cantor’s version. The five other mares were engrossed with their own conversations about anything and everything from general gossip to extremely philosophical topics such as ‘the usefulness of the skin on grapes’.

Next, the ponies filed into a small sauna, by far one of Cantor’s favourite rooms in the world: dark, steamy, and full of mares! Some would call him perverted for thinking in such a way; others would simply call him a colt. He would definitely have to take Rarity’s offers for her weekly spa visits with Fluttershy. In fact, the only reason he had come to this particular trip was because all of his friends were going and besides, he was feeling utterly beat from the hard month’s work.

The conversation in the sauna turned just as steamy as the air inside it – especially once Pinkie Pie had casually scooted into Rainbow’s lap, declaring the gesture was to give “Everypony more room.”

“Yeah right!” Was the thought passing through each ponies’ mind when the pink mare asserted herself, and they could all see it in each other’s eyes, even in the darkness and haze of the wooden room.

Cantor became a conduit of answers for the mare’s unfathomable questions. Even Lotus – or was it Aloe? – asked the occasional ‘mare question’, having to repeat herself several times due to her heavy accent. It soon became apparent that Rainbow and Pinkie were becoming a little too ‘intrigued’ by the conversation, and all of the ponies agreed to move on before a different type of union began in the room of verbal lust.

Cantor was also made aware that the spa must be some sort of sexual orientated one: the filing of the unicorn’s horns eliciting a new feeling amongst Cantor’s many heightened alicorn senses. Among the feeling of tiny teeth sharpening his unicorn anatomy, the sensation of the task was so close to pain it was uncanny, Cantor found the words to talk more about facts and figures, strategies and profits with Applejack, the two ponies finding endless points to make about how to raise a business from the ground up. Cantor began talking about a theme park, stressing the fact that he could make one out of thin air in a week, visualising it in his head and ending up pleading Twilight Sparkle to talk him out of doing something stupid, short-minded and expensive.

…

“Leave it, Applejack…” Cantor mumbled, his lips just above the surface of the water as he blushed a little at the cowpony’s comment. Applejack giggled to herself and scratched the tip of her nose as delicately as possible to avoid spoiling the mud pack. The seven ponies laid there for several long moments, allowing their aches and pains to leak into the water. Cantor was relaxed as he could possibly be. The water was steamy, hot and fragrant, yet not scalding, or so aromatic that he found it hard to breathe. It was just perfect… An ambient record played in the background – the sound of a babbling brook drifted from unseen speakers and into Cantor’s ears. Not too loud to be distracting, yet not soft enough to be unheard.

Perfect. Just… perfect…

…Pomf.

Cantor’s eyes opened slowly, falling upon where the sound had come from. All the other mares took the cucumber slices off of their eyes and joined the stallion in observing the only two ponies in the tub unaffected by the sound. Even through the mud packs, everypony could swear they saw the cheeks of Rainbow Dash and her pink accomplice boldly blushing.

“You had to bring the sexuality to the tub, didn’t you?” Cantor asked, frowning at the two lovers, not amused by the shameless display in front of the spa beautician.

“Yeah,” Applejack added, “There’s a time an' a place for… whatever you’re doing, and now is not the time, nor the place.”

The blue pegasus removed the cucumber from her eyes, her foalish smile fading as she clocked the peeved faces of the ponies around them.

“You were all talking about it earlier!” Rainbow Dash shouted to her defence.

“That’s because, Rainbow,” Twilight began, “One thing led to another, and we found ourselves talking about… stuff…”

“Ahhh… You worry too much, Twilight!” Dash sighed, eating one of the cucumber slices off of Pinkie’s face and chewing deliberately loudly.

Everypony exchanged troubled glances before deciding that this talk about lust had gone on for far too long.

“The thing is, Rainbow Dash…” Rarity began, shedding her opinion on the subject, waiting for the situation to unfold before coming up with a response. “Some of us… most of us aren’t really one hundred percent comfortable about talking about… ‘that’ and none of us want to…” Her voice faded as she had many attempts in her mind at what to say to not seem as though she was trying to stir up the conversation any more.

“None of us want to… ‘engage’… If you know what I mean…” Rarity finished, embarrassment very evident in her royal blue eyes.

“Let’s change the subject!” Cantor cried out suddenly, dispelling the constricting air around them and sinking back into the wall of the tub next to Twilight.

“I agree.” Fluttershy affirmed, her weak voice barely audible above the sloshing of water.

Everypony sat back into the hot tub, resting their cucumber slices on the surface behind them as they awkwardly thought of different topics to chat about.

“Uhhh…” Thought Cantor before having a brilliant Idea. “So, Twilight? Have you made any interesting discoveries in your observatory yet?” He asked, looking towards the purple mare, seeing her eyes light up as she spoke of her most prised finding.

“I found…” She paused, trying to build suspense. It worked, to some degree, Pinkie and Dash who sat opposite her leaned forward on the little ledge they perched on jutting from the wall of the tub and surrounding the entirety of it like a ring. “…A new planet.” Twilight Sparkle finished.

“Really?” Asked Cantor, a little shocked to find out there were more worlds than Equestria in this universe.

“Yeah, but unlike the other planets I’ve found, this one’s-“ Twilight began, but was interrupted by an awestruck Cantor.

“Wait, there’s more!?” The stallion asked, raising his eyebrows high in surprise and wonder.

“Yes… I’ve found…” She pondered for a moment, idly watching one of the light pink petals drift over her, silently mouthing numbers as she recalled them in her head. “Sixty.”

“WHAT!?” Came the uproarious cry from the bath inhabitants, each one wide-eyed in shock.”

“You’ve found SIXTY planets!?” Asked Cantor, absolutely stunned.

“Well, sixty one if you count the new one…” Answered the purple unicorn, who giggled at the gawping ponies around her, all but one had their faces plastered with mud.

“That’s…” Cantor started, scouring his dictionary for the word to describe the overwhelming sense of pride he had for Twilight right now. “…Astounding!” He said, beaming uncontrollably from ear to ear.

“Heavens, girl! I didn’t know you found other worlds. Heck, I didn’t even know there were other worlds!” Applejack added, wearing her own little impressed grin.

“That’s the thing.” Replied Twilight, rubbing her back with a hoof. “I didn’t until I found the first one.”

“When was this?” Asked Rarity.

“Ummm… A few weeks ago. Not long after Cantor gave it to me.” The other unicorn answered, shooting Cantor a little wink.

“Anyway, as I was saying…” Twilight started again, “This new planet, the sixty-first one, by my calculations, as in, it’s distance from its sun, it’s a likely candidate for harbouring life.”

Once again, everypony found themselves speechless, the idea that they were not alone in the universe filled them with excitement.

“What?” Applejack managed to choke out. “Its ‘own’ sun?” She asked, cocking her head to the left.

“It’s fascinating!” Twilight said, then began to gush. “It’s like the planet orbits around the sun, not the other way around like normal. But, it has two moons, well, two moons that I’ve counted, that orbit it like in Equestria, but it just seems so strange that some of the physics apply, and some don’t. Oh, and if it weren’t for that new type of telescope Cantor made, I wouldn’t have even found it, well… I would have needed a much bigger telescope, but that doesn’t matter. Ohhh! It’s so exciting!”

“So… what does it look like?” Cantor asked, the most intrigued of all the ponies.

“Like uhhh…” Twilight pondered, “It’s brown. Even with that amazing telescope, it still looks really small, like a little brown marble.” She said, visualising the sight through the eyepiece once again, the memory allowed her to re-experience the joy she felt at the time. Once she had judged the distance between the sun and the planet, discovering that it was a potential bearer of life, the little purple pony had leapt around the observatory several times like a certain Pinkie Pie would.

“Hey, you’re from another planet aren’t you, Cantor?” Pinkie Pie asked, turning from Twilight to the stallion.

“Well, yeah… kind of…” Cantor replied.

“What’s it like!?” The pink mare asked, enthusiastic as ever.

“Well… ponies can’t talk and everyone hates each other.” Cantor answered, before adding more and more to the list while gazing blindly at the ceiling. “The Earth turns which causes night and day, it orbits around the sun, magic doesn’t exist, there is constantly war, barely a day goes by without someone being killed, we had a weapon system that would destroy all life if set off, basically, if you didn’t have talent, looks, or a good story, you were useless…”

Cantor continued to rattle off problems and violent events, from the tragic 9/11 incident, which he went into great detail outlining what an atrocity it was, his words stirring emotions in all the ponies, especially Fluttershy, to all the kidnappings and street crime that plagued his world.

“What a horrid place!” Cried Twilight, trying to imagine living in such a place.

“Well…” Sighed Cantor, his eyes dropping to the water as he continued light-heartedly. “It’s not all bad, in fact, there were some pretty nice people doing really nice things like devoting their entire lives to the benefit of others and sometimes huge groups of people would get together and have a party, just like here.”

“But… all that violence… all the killing… the wars…” Twilight stammered, staring at Cantor. “How could they all sleep at night?”

The alicorn sighed, and then met Twilight’s eyes. “Because it was what was considered ‘normal’… What would be stranger would be if there was no war at all. Which goes to show just what a careless world it was.” He scanned all the other ponies in the room, their minds failing to comprehend such a place. “I love Equestria so much. And everypony in it… Know that I will never let it become even one percent of what mine was.”

“I trust you wont.” Said Twilight, casting a peaceful smile. “I can tell how much you care.”

“Thanks, Twilight.” The stallion replied, mimicking the unicorn’s content expression.

“…I love you, you know that, right?”

“Of course I do!” She answered, giving a shallow sight which ended in a giggle, her face reddening due to her friends all watching. Through the corner of her eye she could see them all smiling under their face masks.

“…Of course I do… You tell me every day…”

…
…
…
…
…

“……………………………………………………..”

“…………….Rather mystifying, isn’t it?”

“It is…”

“It’s also strange… It feels as if a part of me is missing…”

Cantor sighed as he and the two princesses gazed out across the expanse of the pitch black sky, the only object was the single bright chunk of rock lost in the sea of inky darkness. The three alicorns all stood on the most elevated balcony of Canterlot castle, the one which pranced from the sun goddess’ private quarters. No guards would interrupt them for as long as there wasn’t an emergency. The night was hot – unusual for this time of year. Well, Celestia no longer had control of her sun, nor did Luna have control of her moon, the great grey object was destined to endlessly roam the sky in search of guidance.

A gentle breeze wafted over the three ponies, bringing a chill to their bodies and blowing their lifeless hair across their faces.

Tia’s pink hair flicked at her eyes and Luna’s milky blue mane draped over her shoulders and partly across her back. Cantor’s mane remained as everypony knew, long bangs of rust falling untidily from his body, nearly touching the floor.

“I think I prefer your hair like that, princess…” Cantor commented, forcing a weak looking smile.

She returned the gesture, though hers was much more genuine.

“Thank you, Cantor.” She said, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight, her crown and heavy neckpiece also glinting in the minimal silver light which poured over them all. “You know,” Tia continued, flicking her hair to the side slightly. “I haven’t seen my hair like this for a good couple of millenniums…”

Cantor chortled, again, the movement was blatantly forced. He returned his eyes to the black valleys below and the glow of Ponyville to his left, knowing that somewhere down there was his little pony, sleeping soundly in a warm bed, unknown to what was going on.

“What’s on your mind?” Luna asked, joining Cantor in staring towards the little gem of a town nestled between two mountains.

“I just…” Cantor sighed, turning to Luna, then Tia. “Thank you.”

“What for?” Asked the once omnipotent goddess, her fragile smile still drawn upon her porcelain – like lips.

Cantor shook his head, feeling a searing heat at the bottom of his eyes. “Everything.” He answered. “You have given me the opportunity to find friendship, love… And I have found them both... In abundance.” He felt his eyes begin to well up. “You say in two weeks, that’s when Kerous comes. That’s when I…” He trailed off. For the first time unable to finish that particular sentence.

Tia simply nodded, letting her eyes close briefly.

“Will it…” Cantor continued, blinking rapidly to hold his tears at bay. He sniffled and gave a little pant of fear. “Will it… hurt?” His voice faltered and he burst into silent tears, his breathing slow, heavy and trembling.

Both Luna and Tia locked each other in a concerned glance before joined the stallion in crying, resting their heads upon his body, sinking to the floor with him where all three lay there sharing in the sorrow for five long minutes.

“I’m so sorry, Cantor…” Tia whispered, receiving only a whimper as a response. “No… it, it… it won’t hurt…” She added.

Cantor continued to lie there crying as Luna gave her notion. “I’m going to… I’m going to miss you, Cantor.” She wiped her eyes on her forearm and sniffed. “You’re my best friend. And I… I’ll… I’ll always… love you.”

“Believe me, sweetheart,” Said Tia, fairing no better than her sister, her eyes streaming tears down her face, “you will not be forgotten. Not by me, not by my sister and certainly not by your friends.”

Cantor squeaked something in response. And both mares’ hearts tore in two. He was so scared, so young. In the brief time he had been living in Equestria, he had forged unbreakable bonds. He had always been so disregarding of death, never afraid, but now he could see it close up, the thought of what would happen to him afterwards eventually had the desired effect.

But what terrified him more than being tied to something, being skinned alive and tortured, was the thought of leaving Twilight Sparkle alone. He had said so much about their future, spoken in such detail about their lives ahead of them. He just wanted to love her. He realised now that he would never grow old with her, never be able to raise a foal into a proud stallion or mare, never be able to comfort her when she was sad or scared, never be able to touch her ever again, never again would he serve her breakfast in bed, massage her shoulders, stroke her mane, lie next to her.

He would never kiss Twilight again.

Never tell Twilight Sparkle that he loved her.

“I…” The stallion choked out, keeping his head buried in his arms. “I- I don’t want t- t- to die…” He sobbed again, returning to the fearful blubbering mess.

Something inside Tia snapped, and she had a new sense of understanding, she brought her head away and spoke sternly.

“Cantor…”

“…”

“Cantor, look at me.” She ordered.

Cantor obliged, meeting the two dark indigo eyes with his own amber ones. He sucked in a quivering breath, held it and listened.

“Why are you afraid of death, Cantor?” The white mare asked, her tone void of emotion.

“I- I don’t w- want to le-eave Twilight.” Cantor croaked shakily, making Luna grip him tightly, trying to protect him from the harsh thoughts she was certain he was having.

“And why is that?” Tia asked.

“Because I… Lo-ove h- her…”

“And does she love you?”

“Mmh hmm…”

“Cantor…" Tia began profoundly. "You will not die. You will live on in the hearts and souls of the ponies who love you. Twilight, me, Luna, and indeed the entire world will never forget the one young, brave, inspiring pony who gave everything he had to save everything else. You’re so young… You haven’t had a chance to live. And I’m… I’m so sorry it has to end like this. You and I both know that it will hurt us all for a while, but just because we will stop hurting in time, don’t think for a second that we will forget you. I owe you my life, Cantor, we all do. I love you as if you were my own blood, and no amount of pain can make that thought go away… I love you, Cantor… I-… We always will…”

The princess’ little speech ended with a light peck on Cantor’s cheek; her mark of everlasting love for the stallion who would give his life for his friends.

“Thank you, princess…” Cantor sighed, his soul lifted from the pit of despair by the mare’s beautiful words. “Thank you for making me see the light. I… I just want you to know that… whatever… whatever happens to me… I’ll never forget you either, both of you.” He smiled genuinely for the first time that night. “I love you, princess… and once again… thank you…”

The princess of the sun gazed deep into his accommodating eyes and said in a voice no louder than a whisper: “Please…” She began, her divine lips curving her features into a serene smile. “…call me Tia…”

Live And Let Die

Chapter 19: Live and let die

It was the most intricate batch of cupcakes she had ever made. Out of respect for her talents, most of the flavour that accompanied the usual little sponges came solely from the magnificent spectrum of coloured frosting that sat atop a mild vanilla essence which delivered the exact flavour they promised to hungry eyes. No, these were the first cupcakes she baked to have ingredients infused with the mixture. The fruit in question, kumquat, a personal favourite of the baker. Sugarcube corner was unusually quiet for the time of day, and despite the lack of business, the bright pink mare kept churning out cupcakes from her new line of experimental deserts like there was no tomorrow. Partly because she was exited from her newly discovered creation, but mostly because she enjoyed eating them on a regular basis, often for breakfast as a matter of fact.

As she began icing the third kumquat-cake with a neon orange frosting, the door to the bakery swung open with a mighty crash, almost sending the bell suspended above it flying. And making the young pony squirt a huge line of bright orange across the bakery’s floor.

“Wassup, Pinkie Pie!?” called an exceptionally loud Rainbow Dash from the faded wooden doorway. Pinkie pie instinctively grabbed a mop and started for the icing that lay over the floor with little acknowledgement for her long distinguished mare-friend in the form of an “Oh… uh, hi, Rainbow Dash…”

Upon noticing the iced floor, Rainbow Dash quickly calculated that it was the outcome of her eccentric entrance. She lowered her wings and slowly walked over to pinkie, who had already nearly cleaned up all of the colourful cumquat-flavoured frosting.

“Sorry about that, Pink.” Dash said a little awkwardly.

“Oh, it’s alright, Rainbow Dash. Accidents happen!” Pinkie Pie said light-heartedly, finishing up the rest of the cleaning then trotting off to try and find a ‘wet floor’ sign. Again, rainbow Dash slowly made her way over to her friend, who had her head buried deep in the utilities cupboard under the stairs.

“Pinkie, good news!” Rainbow started. “Canto-“ She was cut short by a firm slap round the face from a bright yellow sign that caught her off-guard and knocked her to the wet stone floor, accompanied by a triumphant “Got it!” from Pinkie Pie.

“Ughhhhh…” Groaned Rainbow Dash as she raised a hoof to her sore cheek.

“OH MY GOSH! I’m so sorry Rainbow dash! I- I didn’t know you were standing behind me!” Said a truly apologetic Pinkie Pie, dropping the sign and rushing over to help her injured friend to her hooves, then preceding to plant a gentle kiss on her lips to make it a great deal better, something she usually did when Dash had hurt herself in some strange manner, crashing into a tree or, on more than one occasion, another pony.

“It’s okay, Pinkie. I know you didn’t mean it.” Rainbow said with a smile. She bent down and picked up the wet floor sandwich board in her teeth and handed it to Pinkie. She took it from Rainbow’s mouth with a casual “Thanks.” She then turned and placed the sign carefully over the patch of slippery tiles before returning to her rainbow-maned companion who instantly snapped her hoof away from her cheek to save her ‘tough-filly’ persona.

Trying to put the incident behind them, Pinkie Pie broke the silence by asking Rainbow Dash “So, what were you saying before I assaulted you?” with a humorous tone in her voice which, between the two lovers, erased that negative event from the past.

Rainbow started once more… “I just came over from Twilight’s to tell you that Cantor says we all need to go to Canterlot right away.” She giggled at her sentence. “Heh, ‘Cantor’ and ‘Canterlot’ they sound so similar!” A pointless nugget of information.

Nevertheless, it made Pinkie laugh, which was Rainbow’s intention.

“Why? Why do we need to go to Canterlot?” The pink mare asked, quizzical to the strange request. Out of nowhere, all seven of them needed to travel to Canterlot for some unsung reason.

“I don’t know… he didn’t say, just that it was really important.”

“Okey dokey lokey!” Pinkie yapped, beaming once again. “Do you think it’ll be a party!?” She asked, excited as ever.

“Mmm, I doubt it. I mean, knowing Cantor, it could be pretty much anything!” Rainbow replied, beginning to wonder herself. “He’s…” The pegasus started, looking puzzled at the floor. “He’s been… pretty vacant recently… I hope everything’s alright…”

“Oh, I’m sure everything’s fine.” Pinkie Pie answered, idly icing the orange cupcakes with the luminous orange frosting. “If it could be anything, it could still be a party!”

Rainbow chortled in agreement. “Life’s a party, right, Pinkie?” She strode over to the pink mare and kissed her over the counter. “Love ya’ Pink.” She said.

“I love you too, Dashie…” They shared another short kiss before they were interrupted by a crackle of lilac sparks bouncing round the bakery floor. Pinkie and Dash gasped at the noise, but instantly relaxed once they saw all of their friends, including a certain white alicorn.

“And now… We’re all together…” Said Cantor, closing his eyes peacefully.

“What- why… why are we here?” Applejack asked, staring at the bakery around her.

“Yeah,” Twilight began, “Out of nowhere, you say we need to visit Canterlot and then round us all up in less than a minute. What’s going on, Cantor?”

The alicorn opened his eyes, his serene expression causing Twilight more concern rather than less.

“Let’s pay my good friend princess Celestia a visit. I’m sure she would be happy to see us all together…” His gentle voice definitely unsettled the ponies, whatever was going on, it was definitely affecting Cantor to the point of mental instability. “Shall we take the train?” He asked, looking down at Twilight through half – lidded eyes.

“I- What’s going on, Cantor?” The purple unicorn asked, her eyes filled with worry.

Cantor paused for a second or two before he shook his head, and when he next spoke, it was in a voice everypony was used to. “I’ll tell you when we get to the castle. Right now, I just want to spend time with my best friends.” He smiled, soon followed by the six mares, though Twilight’s expression appeared very forced.

They all departed the bakery, but before Twilight left, she tapped Applejack on the flank. The orange pony turned around slowly, meeting Twilight’s fearful expression with a concerned frown.

“What’s wrong, Twi?” She asked, tilting her head so the unusually hot sun was obscured by her hat.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Applejack…” The unicorn answered after a brief pause. “A really, really bad feeling…”

The train ride was fraught with more anguish; Cantor became nostalgic, reciting in perfect detail the seven friend’s fondest memories they had shared together. Everypony except Twilight Sparkle had found laughter and enjoyment in their stories.

The young purple unicorn found herself delving deeper and deeper into the mindset of a looming tragedy. She said nothing about the matter, though, deciding to allow the stallion to explain himself in time, as he had done many times in the past.

As they ambled slowly through Canterlot, they observed the usual townsfolk enjoying the heat wave Equestria was experiencing. Not typical for this time of year, but no one complained. They talked amongst themselves about more memories, stories that would last a lifetime. They mused at the scenery, the blossom covered trees, the tiny little buds of future leaves, ready to burst into life once more and repeat the lifecycle of one of the simplest, yet significant organisms in the entire world.

Rather too quickly for comfort, the group had reached the long marble stretch to the castle, the hedges to either side of the path looking spongy and, despite the fact that they were mere plants, appeared happy; content with their basic lives. They made their way through the castle’s gate, through the large open courtyard, under the high archway, and ascended two flights of white stairs.

Now in the shade of the castle, all but one pony felt far more comfortable as the doors to Celestia’s great throne room swung silently open, revealing both of the princesses gently conversing with each other about something presumably menial.

Everypony was taken back by the state of the two alicorn’s hair. Neither of their manes flowed like watery light, instead, they both wore mortal hair atop their head, not trying to hide their forms which had now lost all control, yet had not lost hope.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight cried, rushing towards the strange looking mare, yet stopping in her tracks when the princess raised her gold – clad hoof.

“Please, Twilight Sparkle, call me by my birth name: ‘Tia’…” The princess decreed, her smile even more serene and content than ever.

“What happened to your mane!?” The purple unicorn persisted, franticly trying to piece together the snippets of information, only failing to come to a conclusion about what was going on.

Cantor stepped in front of Twilight and looked at Tia. She gave a gentle nod, and right there and then, he knew what needed to be done.

“My friends…” He started, motioning for Twilight to return to the five mares he stood in front of. Once she had nestled in between Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, Cantor took a deep breath and began his final explanation…

“Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and Rarity… Today, this world ends.” All six mares gasped, but before they could fire their questions, Cantor raised a hoof, returning the room to silence. “Today, this world ends…” He repeated, returning his hoof to the tiled floor. “…If it weren’t for me.” He added, sending sighs of understanding through the elements of harmony. “Any moment now, Kerous should be arriving, and he will try to destroy the world. He will kill everypony. Stallion, mare and foal alike. And the only one who can stop him is me. Now, you know I don’t like to big myself up, but in this sense, I will... Twilight. You’ve seen how strong my magic is: it made your machines run off the charts!” The stallion gave a little laugh. “And that was months ago! By now I’m easily ten times as strong!” He laughed loudly again, smiling as he spoke. “You have nothing to fear, girls! You’re all going to live!”

“Then why did you bring us here?...” Twilight asked weakly, taking a fraction of a step towards Cantor.

The stallion’s excitement died, as finally, after all this time, he could tell his closest friends the one secret which had been darkening his subconscious for as long as he had been in Equestria. “I… I’m going…” He spoke softly, still unable to say the words on his tongue forcefully enough, even after practicing it multiple times in his head on the journey there.

He crossed the small distance between them and peered down at Twilight with dark eyes. “I’m going to die, Twilight.” He said finally, already feeling the weight taken from his shoulders and replaced with a knot in his throat.

“What?” She asked quietly, the other elements of harmony simply stood and listened to what was being said. “What do you mean?” The unicorn asked again, her eyes filling with tears as she already knew.

“In order to save the world, Twilight… I need to… die…” The stallion tried to speak with a more powerful voice, yet try as he might, he couldn’t raise it more than a loud whisper.

“No. No that’s not true!” Twilight gasped. “You’re lying!”

“I wish I was, Twi.” Said Cantor, brushing her fringe out of her face. “But I’m not.” His eyes watered even more as he said this, bringing him close to tears. “You see, my cutie mark represents sacrifice, that’s the whole reason I’m here: to sacrifice myself so that the rest of the world can live.”

“But… you said- you said you would love me for- forever!” The purple mare whined, her quivering tone caused Cantor to burst into tears.

“Come here, Twilight.” He said, throwing his arms around the mare, both ponies crying into the other’s shoulder.

The two just stood there, crying into each other for several minutes as the fact that Cantor was actually dying sunk in.

Twilight was at a loss of thoughts: she didn’t know whether to feel scared, upset, angry, safe, peaceful… She just couldn’t find the right thing to feel, the jumble of emotions stirred up pains in her stomach that made her feel sick.

“I don’t want you to go!” Twilight screamed into Cantor’s shoulder, her agony felt through his entire being. “I can’t- why do- can’t- you said… Oh, I don’t know what to say!” She screamed again, her breath coming in and out in long heaving groans, sobs of depression echoing through her short breaths.

“Twilight… stop…” Said Cantor, pulling away from Twilight, her tears staining his fur. The unicorn looked at him with lost eyes, for once, he couldn’t see those two lavender orbs of love, but instead, saw the two panicked eyes of a heartbroken mare. Her face was a mess, her eyes bloodshot, her nose runny and her cheeks drenched with tears. There was nothing more Cantor wanted right now than to comfort her, tell her everything will be alright. But that would also be a lie, and there were already too many lies in their relationship.

Twilight continued to take heaving breaths, the pain in her stomach turned her legs to jelly and she promptly fell to the floor crying. She buried her face in her arms and continued to wail. Everypony turned from the purple mare to the stallion, not knowing whether to try to comfort their friend or to let him do it himself. But Cantor was already on top of this. With several calming breaths, he wiped his eyes and laid down before the broken mare.

He paused over her for a second, listening to her sobs quieten, he could tell from this that she knew he was close, and this notion helped him find his voice.

“Twilight?” He asked gently. The unicorn only sniffed. Cantor felt rested as this would be the last time he needed to do this. He felt the memories of previous experiences where he had spoken these two phrases, but never had he said them one after the other.

“Twilight, look at me.” He ordered, and as usual, the lavender mare complied, raising her head from the floor, gazing into the lustrous orange eyes, full of hope, life and love. Cantor took Twilight’s chin in his hoof and drew his head close, making sure Twilight caught a good look at the passion in his eyes. “I love you, Twilight Sparkle.”

Then he pushed forward, showing the tender unicorn just how much this was true. He gently kissed her, and despite the situation, Twilight Sparkle kissed back, sharing their last day together in an absolute perfect feeling of peace. Then the kiss broke with Cantor reaching round behind him and plucking a sizeable feather from his right wing. He returned to the half-lidded Twilight Sparkle and slipped the pure white quill behind her ear, amongst her hair. He pecked her on the forehead and whispered once again: “I love you.”

Twilight sighed, her voice still weak and shaky, but she knew with every fibre of her being that this was the right thing to do, even if most of the time, the right thing wasn't always the best.

“I’m really going to miss you, Cantor.” Twilight sighed, rubbing her head along Cantor’s strong neck.

“I’ll miss you too, Twilight. But I’ll never forget the times we've had.”

“Neither will I.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too. And I always will.”

The couple cradled each other again in painful acceptance, knowing that everything will play out as time intended. The five other Elements of Harmony surrounded Cantor, soon followed by the princesses; none of the ponies in the room had dry eyes as they all bid the final farewell. Despite the sorrow, Cantor felt at peace; he knew that these ponies cared about him as much as he cared about them, and he also found himself in the frame of mind to want to have his friends remember him as he was in life: kind, brave and cock – sure.

…

“This is it?” A raspy male voice came across the air, carrying with it a sense of death and demise. “This is The Rife? ‘A god in pony form’, the only thing powerful enough to stop me? And look at this: he’s crying on the floor like a little filly…”

Cantor raised his head and stared behind him at the great blue beast stood at the foot of Celestia’s thrown.

There he was. The pinnacle of the end of the world. He stood three times as tall as Cantor, his dark navy – nearly black ‘hair’ curled around his head and neck like thick spines of darkness. What was most unsettling about him, though were those eyes, those piercing, yellow eyes glowing with the spite of thousands of years of hate and depression.

“Oh, you better believe it.” Said Cantor, unafraid of the monster stood at the other end of the room. The alicorn stood up with his friends and stepped in front of them, spreading his wings wide in order to protect them.

“You think I’m intimidated by you!?” Kerous chortled evilly, pointing a dagger – like talon in Cantor’s direction.

“It would make sense.” Answered the stallion, raising a cocky eyebrow at the devil. “I’d be scared of me.”

“Well aren’t you the little firecracker?” Kerous mused, returning his claw to the tiled floor and giving a short laugh.

“Why do you do this?” cantor asked, trying to reason. “Why can’t you just let us live in harmony?”

“Harmony!?” Shrieked Kerous before bursting out laughing. “You think you live in harmony!?”

“I know we do. Why? What’s your take?” Replied the alicorn, unable to see where this monster was coming from, or indeed where he was trying to go.

“You tell me.” Said Kerous. “Look at how much violence there is in this pathetic world. You think the magic of friendship can outshine such darkness?”

“No. No it cant.” Answered a very empowered Cantor. “But it’s a damn good start.”

“It’s good to meet you, Celestia…” The beast hissed with a broad grin, turning toward the tall white mare. The princess merely sneered at him.

“Leave her out of this.” Said Cantor, ruffling his feathers to outstretch his wings even more. “This is between you and me.”

“And the lovely Twilight Sparkle, element of magic…” Kerous began, a cruel simper on his lips. “I must say I can see why Cantor fell for you…”

“Shut up.” Growled Cantor as he felt Twilight press up against him in fear. “You don’t have the right to say her name.”

“I am the end of all days, the bringer of death, the one who will rain hell upon you all and cast shadows upon the sun! I am Kerous! And you are nothing in comparison to me. You will fear me and plead for me to end your suffering at the breast of my infinite power!” Kerous bellowed, unnafecting the stallion who saw it as all hot air.

“Ha, ha, ha…” Cantor giggled. “You said breast!”

“I WILL HAVE CONTROL!!!” Kerous yelled deeply, causing the walls and floor to tremble. “Why do you not cower and run!?” Growled the monster, slamming his fist into the throne, causing sparks to fly out from behind him. “How can you speak so surely in a world which is about to end? Why are you not begging for mercy at the hand of the most powerful creature ever to have lived!? How can you stand there and know your own death is imminent, with, or without your victory!?”

“You know…” Cantor began with an astute voice. “Just because you can kiss your own ass doesn’t mean you should…”

“How can you be so careless about your demise?” Kerous interrogated with a forbidding voice and a heavy scowl. “Do you not care that your efforts are fruitless? Do you not know that in attempting to defeat me, you are causing yourself worse pain!?”

“Sorry, Kerous…” Said Cantor with a mighty grin, his horn blazing a deep violet. "I don’t give a fuck.”

Without warning, he released a blinding torrent of light from his horn, the beam hitting Kerous square in the chest and blasting him backwards through eighteen stone walls, each over a foot thick with enough force left over to send the demon careering straight through a mountain outside.

Cantor’s magic stained the room, the powerful blast leaving little points of light aimlessly buzzing around in the air. It felt amazing to Cantor to not have to try and hold back his power anymore. No sooner had Cantor clocked the gaping hole in the castle walls, seeing the sky outside blazing blood red with bright auroras then Kerous reappeared in front of him, his eyes wild with excitement and rage.

“And here I was thinking this was going to be boring!” The dark creature stated with an evil smirk. He picked Cantor up in both hands, and before the alicorn could react, he slammed him through the floor.

Cantor fell the long distance into the cold cavernous floor below, opening his wings too late and colliding with solid stone. He heard his back crunch and cried out in pain before he noticed two yellow eyes plummeting towards him. In a split second, Kerous was on top of the stallion, pinning his neck to the floor with enough force to crush his windpipe. Cantor’s back legs flailed uselessly while his forelegs scrambled at the clamp around his throat. His vision began to flash as the blood pressurised in his brain. He felt like his eyes were going to explode! Kerous looked Cantor right in the panicked eye and said, in the most evil way as possible:

“You know what I’m gonna do?” He asked, capturing Cantor’s attention. The young alicorn stared up at the demonic eyes and pushed as hard as he could to try to free himself from the iron grip which was very quickly causing him to suffocate. “I’m going to fuck every hole on Twilight’s body.”

This being said, Cantor stopped struggling and glared up at Kerous, his eyes hotter than the furnaces of hell, filled with the deepest hatred for this brute. “And when I’ve run out…” Kerous continued, drawing himself closer to Cantor so the alicorn could feel his putrid breath on his skin. “I’m just going to keep making holes to fuck.”

Cantor’s growl reverberated into a low pitched roar, the walls of the cavern shaking as he blew Kerous off of him with a blast of intense magic: enough energy to raise the sun and moon for years exerted in half a second. The shot tore through the castle, sending Kerous high into the upper atmosphere. Both the sun and the moon were visible in the sky amongst all the auroras, like two spectators observing the fight for their planet. Cantor teleported instantaneously, faster than the speed of light to catch up with his target and slam his hoof into his face, sending him rocketing to the ground below.

He gave chase, accelerating faster and faster downward until Kerous met him in the face with a fist, their closing speed was six thousand miles per hour, and if Kerous’ aim was any more accurate, his fist would have gone straight through Cantor’s head. The dark blue monster clipped Cantor’s jaw, instantly tearing it from his skull, sending it flying into the air.

Cantor watched his bottom jaw fall back to Earth, his tongue flopped from his mouth and the front of his coat became drenched with his own blood. The next thing he felt was Kerous’ claws digging deep into his rump, striking bone, grabbing as much flesh as possible before tearing the entirety of both of his flanks away.

Cantor screamed in searing pain as his skin tore away. He plummeted through the air, wailing in agony as the wind pelted at his sides. It felt as if his entire backside was on fire. The blood gushed out, leaving a long stream of red in the air as he fell.

Suddenly, Cantor’s mane and tail bloomed golden like the sun, and just as soon as he had started, Cantor had completely healed himself and began pumping his wings as hard as he possibly could. He saw Kerous hurtling towards him and outstretched his hooves.

Both creatures collided in the air, sending a shockwave across the sky. Somehow, Cantor had ended up on top of Kerous during the impact, and now he was plummeting downwards into the world, his arms clamped around the demon’s neck, twisting with all his might and hoping for a snap.

The ground approached far too quickly, and Cantor found himself just enough time to let go of Kerous and kick him as hard as he possibly could into the landscape, putting all his strength into the kick. Kerous dug into the mountain, sending planetary debris up into Cantor’s face. The alicorn allowed himself a breath before he felt the iron claw around his neck once more. The next thing he saw was the terrified faces of his friends come into view, as did the castle’s destroyed walls.

“You, Cantor!” Kerous bellowed into Cantor’s face in his grim voice, strangling Cantor in the air. “You and I are great beings! Together, we can conquer and rule over the entire universe!”

“THERE’S A DIFFERENCE!” Cantor screamed back. “There’s a difference between conquering and ruling! I wish to do neither, rather protect it from bastards like YOU!”

Kerous recoiled at the outburst before his features transformed into a grimace.

“Then you die!” He growled back, throwing Cantor into the corner of the throne room.

The stallion hit his head on the wall, stunning him for just a second, but that’s all it took for Kerous to charge a powerful attack. Cantor’s vision came back just long enough to see the bolts of lightning hurtling towards him. Time seemed to slow down as his unresponsive body waited for death to strike him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Twilight Sparkle entered his field of vision. She leapt through the air, her eyes screwed shut. Cantor could do nothing but watch in horror as Kerous’ attack struck twilight in the back, allowing cantor the fraction of a second necessary to dodge the other bolts.

Twilight soared across the room and into one of the curved stone pillars. Her body curled around it and a sickening crunch echoed through the room. Twilight’s body unwound from the pillar and slid to the base, where the little unicorn lay completely still.

Everypony there, even Kerous turned towards the smouldering mare at the bottom of the pillar. A large pool of red was quickly growing under Twilight’s body. Cantor found that his breath was stolen. He just managed to gulp down a lungful of air as he crawled across the room to his beloved mare.

Luna, Tia, the Elements of Harmony and Kerous simply observed Cantor crawl towards the pony on his knees. He reached Twilight quickly, her blood soaking into his fur as he rolled her over into his lap.

Cantor gazed down at her peaceful face, her eyes closed, and her lips curled into a mellow smile. A trail of blood trickled from both corners of her lips and one side of her body was a dark purple / red. Her chest remained still as Cantor cradled her head in his arms.

“Twilight…” Cantor began to sob. “Twilight, please no…” His bright orange eyes filled with horrified tears as he could no longer feel Twilight’s warmth, her life. Her face was unfaltering as Cantor pleaded in his head for this ordeal to not be happening.

Everything. Her whole life, gone in an instant. She would have had to live her life without her stallion, but she still had her irreplaceable friends who cared deeply about her and to comfort her. She was Cantor’s world; she had changed him into the stallion he was now. She had shown him what true love could feel like and she gave him everything she had. She would never see the sunrise, never feel the wind through her mane. Never again would she spread her love across the world. And it tore Cantor apart to know that.

“Shame…” Came Kerous’ raspy voice from somewhere behind the couple. He continued with a dull tone. “Such a pathetic waste of good power…”

Something inside Cantor snapped that day. Whatever it was, he felt a darkness flood his senses like nothing he had ever felt before. His power… It grew to something more than a god. The darkness consumed his heart, blackened his soul. He became lower than a devil. Cantor dissolved into a tragic monster, no better than the one who had taken Twilight away.

He became nothing but a conduit of unrivalled evil in it's purest form.

With a shrill, banshee – like scream, Cantor tore Kerous off his feet with a swipe of his magic, ripping him through the mountain like nothing. The devastated creature’s teeth became fangs of wolves, interlocking daggers sharpened to needle points. His eyes glazed over completely black and his mane and tail erupted into flames. Cantor obliterated the roof of the castle, crushing the ceiling to dust. He flashed out of existence and reappeared in the sky, hanging there without using his wings. The pure, blood boiling rage in his head sending the blazing hair screaming from his body in huge plumes of fire.

He pressed Kerous into the soil, his face snapping due to the unbelievable pressure. Cantor’s horn flared up, not purple, nor was it white. Instead, Cantor’s aura was as dark as death itself, like a shadow upon ink. The moon turned black and a sound like ice bowing over a huge lake could be heard. Cantor outstretched his arms and crossed his legs like he was upon a crucifix as his impossible power poured from him with enough force to make the ground tremble. Eventually, the celestial being gave in to the strain. And snapped. Luna screamed in horror as she observed her life’s symbol split right before her eyes.

The moon tore in half, the chilling cracks ringing throughout the world as Cantor eviscerated the goliath stone ball into thousands of enormous boulders. Without hesitation, Cantor emitted another feral wail as he set stone on fire and sent chunks of the moon hurtling downwards to Equestria. The first enormous slither hit home, plunging Kerous deep into the planet as more and more molten pieces of moon rained down like unholy fire.

The chunks of moon ripped into the mountainside, crumbling to glowing dust as they pushed Kerous further into hell where he belonged. The strenuous bombardment lasted for minutes until Cantor had exhausted his resources and the moon had sunk into the world. However, he still had masses of outraged power to spare after the onslaught.

He scoured the huge crater with magic, the initial doom which had consumed him had gone, but he still sought vengeance on Kerous with every fibre of his being. And then he found him. The small dwindling life buried in the core of the planet. Cantor’s eyes had returned to ‘normal’, despite now being the size of pinpricks, his heart still pumping ferociously and fixated upon ripping that atrocity apart. His mane and tail extinguished themselves with a flash, once again becoming the rusty orange tangle.

Cantor pulled Kerous from the dirt and grimaced at his bloodied body. His jaw was hanging crooked, he appeared to be crying blood, his nose had been shattered and was crumpled like a tin can. His eyes appeared dimmer, and Cantor could see, even though Kerous was once the most powerful being ever to have lived, he had reduced him to nearly nothing: Kerous’ dim yellow eyes were faltering, struggling to stay open. His left arm was missing, seemingly crushed into oblivion by the moon, but Cantor had not an ounce of sympathy for the vile monster.

He threw Kerous downwards, headfirst into the ground at literally ‘breakneck’ speeds before rapidly descending down onto him. The crater Kerous’ limp body had made was only a few metres in diameter and rather shallow in terms of the crater next to him where the moon had collided with the planet.

Landing with a huff next to him, kicking up dirt, Cantor stormed towards Kerous and punched him across the shattered cheek, causing the dark blue atrocity to sink back into the dirt.

“On your feet.” Cantor ordered. “Get up, you vile fuck!” He bellowed. Kerous growled and dragged himself upwards, receiving another paralyzing blow from Cantor’s bloody hoof.

Once again, Kerous collapsed into the ground, groaning in anguish as Cantor beat the life out of him. Cantor rolled the beast over and straddled his chest. He placed both front hooves on Kerous’ large face, squeezed hard and screamed with all of the frustration and rage in his heart.

“I’m going to FUCKING! KILL YOU!!!” He proceded to pound his hooves into Kerous’ head, bludgeoning his features to unrecognisable.

The beating halted abruptly and Cantor was screaming into Kerous’ ears once again. “BEG ME TO STOP! BEG ME TO STOP KILLING YOU!” He seethed in a voice that wasn’t at all his. He allowed Kerous a moment to suck in enough gargling breaths to respond. The response which came, however caused Cantor to freeze.

“Cantor…” Came a soft voice from somewhere amongst all the mangled flesh of Kerous’ face that didn’t at all sound like the evil harbinger of the apocalypse. Instead, the voice of a young stallion came out, frightened and pleading. “Cantor… please help me…”

Cantor’s right foreleg which was curled into a coiled spring ready to lash out again relaxed a little and his pupils dilated. All of a sudden, he found himself surrounded by darkness, standing before a shivering teenage stallion on the floor, not much older than himself.

“Who… Who are you?” Cantor asked softly, his teeth a normal degree of ‘bluntness’.

The stallion peeked upwards, his bright eyes looked exhausted and his bottom lip was quivering.

“I’m… My name?” He asked, looking up into Cantor’s warm eyes.

“Yes.” Cantor replied, his rage and hatred forgotten in this place.

“My name is… Eden.” The blue coated earth pony answered, brushing his navy blue hair out of his face. “Who are you?”

“Cantor.” The alicorn replied, bewildered as to what was going on. “Where are we?” he asked, staring around into the darkness.

“Inside Kerous’ mind.” Eden replied weakly, his head returning to the floor.

“What!? How!?” Cried Cantor, becoming vigilant to every corner of the endless darkness.

“Don’t worry.” Eden continued, recapturing Cantor’s attention. “That… thing can’t get us in here…”

“What are you talking about? How did I get here?” Asked Cantor as he stood over Eden, concentrating on his rushing thoughts.

“Look…” Eden began with a hefty sigh. “I’m Kerous. Well… A better way of putting it would be that Kerous is me…”

“I… I don’t understand…” Cantor replied, settling himself down opposite the blue pony.

“I’m the one who stopped Requiem, the first perfect elemental…” Eden spoke with an air of shame. “And then… I turned into this…” He returned his head to his arms, but he didn’t cry. If he could have done, he would: but his tears ran out eons ago.

“But… Why am I here?” Cantor asked, making the earth pony look back up at him.

“Because I need to tell you that you can’t kill me with violence. You have to be content.” Answered Eden.

Cantor frowned. Before him lay a pony, not a monster, not Kerous. “I’m not killing you.” He said softly. “I’m killing Kerous. And what do you mean, ‘I have to be content’?”

“I mean you need to use your element. Sacrifice yourself: don’t turn out like me…”

“Like you?”

“Yes. I killed Requiem with… I killed him very violently, and because of that, my hatred grew until it turned me into that monster outside…”

“I still don’t fully understand.” Said Cantor. “If we’re inside Kerous’ mind, and you say you are Kerous then… What’s going on?” Asked the alicorn, utterly bewildered.

“Are you aware that people are not born evil?” Eden asked, staring Cantor straight in the eyes. “And are you also aware that people are not all destined to be heroes?”

“You know, Eden…” Cantor began, smiling a little. “You’re not helping me understand this a whole lot better…”

Eden laughed a little before justifying. “What I’m saying is that no matter what you feel you need to do, think about not only what will be a consequence in the future, but also if that consequence was decided in the past.” He paused, allowing his words to sink in before continuing. “Time runs along a fixed path. It can be changed, and it does change. Even as we speak, the fabric of this universe is splitting into billions and billions of alternate realities.”

Cantor remained confused, but felt a little more sure than he was a moment ago. “You make a decision to kill someone now. What happens?” Eden asked, pointing a dry hoof at Cantor.

“I… The timeline splits-“

“No, no, no…” Eden interrupted, shaking his head. “I mean what are the physical repercussions of your murder?”

“Well, I go to prison.” Cantor answered dryly.

“What else?”

“The pony’s family are heartbroken.”

“And?”

“And nopony would like me ever again.”

“An-“

“And I’d die alone, not knowing how it felt to be loved...”

Eden smiled. “Or, you could not kill them…” He lowered his hoof and grinned at Cantor. “What would happen then?”

“They would get to go home to their family…”

“And?”

“And… so… so would I…” Cantor’s eyes widened as he said this. “I could… go home to my family…”

“Very good, Cantor…” Eden commented, shifting uncomfortably where he lay. “Now tell me… What is the right choice?”

“The latter.” Answered the alicorn.

Eden smiled once more. “A word of friendly advice, Cantor… Regret is the harshest torture anypony can face. You spend the rest of your days saying ‘What if?’ And trust me, Cantor, when ‘the rest of your days’ is all eternity, it gets pretty unbearable…” Cantor stared blankly, absorbing the words like water to a dry sponge and seeing how hurt this poor pony felt. “You have the choice, Cantor. Make the right choice. Because there are those rare moments in this journey to the grave we call life where the right choice is the best one...”

Cantor rose to his hooves and bowed graciously, head low to the ground. “Thank you, Eden.” He sighed peacefully. “Can… Can I have a hug?”

Eden simply laughed. “A great strapping stallion like you going around hugging everypony?” He laughed again. “They’re going to think you’re on the other side of the street!” Once again, Eden burst out laughing, and Cantor joined in for a while.

Amazing how with all that was going on, two ponies who had barely known each other for a minute still found humour between themselves.

Eden’s bout of laughter ended in a sorrowful sigh. “For the record, Cantor… I haven’t moved for thousands of years… If my bones aren’t gone, they’ve ceased up for sure…”

“Everypony enjoys a nice hug…” Said Cantor with a smile, laying down next to Eden’s rigid form. He laid on the floor, his rear legs underneath him and his front ones outstretched before him.

Cantor settled to Eden’s right, wrapping his wing around the pony. Once the feathery appendages connected with his body, however, cantor shrieked in shock.

“What’s wrong?” cried Eden, trying his best to look behind him at what had happened.

“Nothing…” Cantor uttered, gingerly relaying his wing across the blue pony. “You’re just so cold…” His wing reconnected with Eden and it felt as if he was laying it across a block of ice.

After a few seconds, Cantor had become a little accustomed to the feel of Eden’s ice under his wing. Minutes passed before anypony spoke. Discreetly, Cantor felt Eden’s body with his wing, the earth pony was right. It was as if his entire back had calcified; it was as solid as a rock and had no means of moving ever again.

No matter… soon, neither of the two ponies would ever have to move again anyway.

“Thank you, Cantor…” Eden cooed, resting his head on his only two moving limbs.

“What for?” Asked the alicorn, looking down upon the back of the pony’s head, his inky blue hair falling from his head in long bangs.

“For giving me a little reminder of hope before the end.”

Cantor smiled, slowly rising up from where he laid, folding his chilly wing back in. “Don’t mention it…” He replied, returning to stand in front of the grounded pony. “See you on the other side, my friend…”

“Yeah…” Eden agreed, his peaceful smile fading with the pony into total darkness.

Once the innocent blue pony had disappeared, Cantor regained consciousness of his surroundings, he heard Kerous’ frantic and painful snarls beneath him and his eyes shot open, coming face to face with the growling animal.

He stared into the evil yellow eyes, knowing that somewhere in there was Eden’s lost soul. With a smile, Cantor clambered off of Kerous and drifted winglessly up unto the air with the tormented soul by his side.

Once they had cleared a substantial amount of sky, Cantor did something he didn’t have to do for a long while…

Focusing his magic, Cantor searched his mind, gathering the power of acceptance. He felt a warm glow inside his heart as a brilliant white orb of light appeared above him.

Slowly drifting upwards, his body and soul fixated on the glorious light, Cantor rose next to Kerous. He remembered back to months ago, when he had killed the two bank robbers to stop them from killing over twenty ponies. He saw what he was doing now in the same sense as ever slowly, the light descended upon him.

Cantor pulled Kerous into an embrace, gripped him tightly and whispered into his ear. “Rest in peace, Eden.” And even in the ruckus the great light was causing, the wind whipping their hair around their bodies, Cantor could have sworn he heard Kerous utter a “Thank you”…

The light was just inches away now. Cantor closed his eyes and awaited the contact. His mind was at peace… He no longer feared death, rather was accepting her cold embrace. His last thoughts were of Twilight Sparkle. He knew that when this was all over, all of the madness would be undone and she could return to her life with her friends. Ever closer the ball of light grew, and Cantor could hear indistinct whispers from within, beckoning him towards them. With a serene smile, he tipped his head forward, making contact between the light and the tip of his horn.

Power cascaded through him like an unstoppable freight train. His eyes shot open but he could see nothing. Cantor felt no pain, but the purge of his inner power caused his heart to explode in his chest. The alicorn’s eyes shrunk and suddenly, he felt nothing, not the surge of magic coursing through his body, not the wind tugging at his mane. Just… nothing… Silence… But then, he began to see images of his equine life flash before his eyes as if he was watching them all unfold again.

“Are you… Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yes, that’s Cantor, pronounced as if you were saying ‘canter’. Why, do you like it?”

“Does that mean we’re still friends?”

“Of course it does. How could we not be?”

“It’s nopony’s fault. Things like this just… happen…”

“Good night, Twilight… Sweet dreams…”

“Twilight… Twilight, look at me…”

“I will never leave you… I promise…”

“Well, I was just wondering if… If it’s okay with you… that… would you sleep… next to me?...”

“Good night, Cantor…”

“I love you, Twilight Sparkle…

… I always will…”

BOOM!!!

An epic explosion sent a shockwave screaming around the globe. The princesses and the Elements of Harmony noticed the huge white wave racing towards them. It washed over their bodies, blinded them and knocked them to their flanks. The white tsunami of light filled up the surrounding valleys with it’s purifying glow and rapidly spread across the whole of Equestria.

The heavenly white descended upon the world and destroyed all evidence of Kerous’ influence. One by one, All of the ponies in the destroyed castle fell unconscious. The last to go was princess Celestia, her final sight was an angelic apparition standing over Twilight Sparkle’s body. Whoever it was, they were smiling.

And then, like flicking a switch, everything went from white to black, and she passed out.

“Oh…” Came a shallow groan from a groggy Princess Celestia. Drearily, she sat upright, pulling herself to her flank where she sat for a while and caught her breath. Her sister soon followed, but instead rose to her hooves, panting and gazing around.

“Is… Is everypony okay?” Applejack asked softly, aiding Rarity upwards.

“I… I think so…” Rainbow Dash answered, staring at the two princesses. “Hey, princess.” She addressed both at the same time. “Your mane, it’s… back.”

Celestia and Luna gazed at each other, then observed their own luscious sparkling locks flowing all around them with overjoyed smiles.

There was dead silence everywhere, nothing but the sound of thundering hearts and heavy breathing filled the room. Strong sunlight filtered through the stained glass windows, dappling the white and black tiled floor with shards of colour. As usual this time of year, both the balcony doors and the main entrance doors were wide open, beckoning the gentle spring breeze in, carrying with it the scent of blossom and wildflowers. The distant sound of birds chirping happily in the castle gardens could be heard, yet was not acknowledged.

Cantor gingerly touched down onto the tiled surface as princess Celestia rose from the floor to a proud standing pose. The stallion gazed around the room, and to his enormous relief, Twilight Sparkle was on her hooves. Wobbly, but standing, and very much alive.

Unable to speak over joy, Cantor began to move as quickly towards the mare as possible, though this was diminished to a snail’s pace due to the waves of pure happiness coursing through his body.

“Wha… What happened?” Asked the purple unicorn, looking up at her princess, delighted to see her how she was used to.

“I think Cantor just saved the world…” Replied Celestia, her happy smile fading as the realisation hit her. “Oh…”

“Hell yeah, I saved the world!” Cantor cried, finding his legs and trotting to Celestia’s side. “Go on… give me your praise.” He joked, unable to control his ecstatic smile.

“Where… Where is Cantor?” Twilight asked, scanning the pristine room.

Cantor’s beaming grin faltered and sunk a little. “Twilight… I’m… right here…” He answered, staring at the mare.

Everypony fell silent, their despair and heartbreak slowly coming back to them. Celestia began to speak, but was rudely interrupted. “Twilight… Sweetheart, I-“

“Cantor!?” The purple mare called out, searching the room with desperate eyes.

“I’m right here, Twilight!” Exclaimed Cantor, Stepping in front of the unicorn. She stared straight through him, looking to the ceiling, the balcony entrance and every corner of the unscathed room.

“Cantor!?” She called again, breathing heavily, remembrance coming back hard.

“Twilight!” Cantor yelled, becoming scared. “I’m here!” He reached out to touch the mare, but his hoof passed straight through her. Cantor examined his foreleg, his eyes shrinking in horror at the sight that greeted him. Looking upon his transparent mint green limb, he could see the tiled surface through it. “I’m…” He began, his eyes filling with tears. “…Dead…”

He didn’t feel scared, nor was he horrendously upset, rather the shock of the reality of what was going on drove him to tears.

He reached out to touch Twilight Sparkle, and grievously, he was met with the same result. His hoof passed through her head like it was nothing, like a warm gust lost in a sea of fog.

Twilight was now openly crying, running around, calling Cantor’s name, refusing to believe. She had been so acceptant towards this outcome when Cantor was still alive… Because he was still alive… And now he was gone, she didn’t know what to do. All the answers she wanted, everything anypony needed to say to her to bring her back from her sorrow died with Cantor.

“TWILIGHT!!!” Cantor was screaming by now, bucking the air and rearing up with his wings beating furiously against nothing. Tears of frustration stung his eyes as he desperately tried to get somepony to hear him.

“Cantor!? Cant-“ Twilight continued to call her stallion’s name, until Celestia silenced her with a gentle hoof on her flank. Twilight swivelled round, her eyes fit to burst with tears.

“I’m so sorry, Twilight Sparkle…” Celestia uttered with a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder, not coping with holding back her own tears too well. She too felt at a great loss for somepony she regarded as family. “But… As much as we all hate to admit it… Cantor’s gone…”

“No! No, he’s not!” Twilight protested, shoving Celestia’s hoof from her shoulder and staring with desperate panic into the princess’ dark eyes which had now begun to flow with tears. “He’s not dead, he can’t be! He… He promised he’d never leave me! He promised we’d always be together!” The purple mare sunk to the floor and buried her face in her arms, begging for Cantor to come back.

Celestia lowered herself down beside Twilight and an invisible Cantor and rested her hoof on Twilight’s back.

“Twilight… Once again, I’m so, so sorry for your loss, but please understand that Cantor saved us all, and you should be grateful.” The only white alicorn alive in the room spoke with care and unparalleled sympathy, not trying to hide her sorrow from the other mares. They too, even the hard as nails Rainbow Dash were sobbing in the sunlight for their shattering loss.

“Twilight… Twilight, please, I’m okay…” Cantor pleaded into the deaf ear, hoping with all of his heart and soul that Twilight would hear. “Please don’t cry…” He continued, unable to control his tears. “You know I... hate it when I see you cry…”

Though Twilight didn’t listen. Instead, she just lay there by Celestia’s side, heaving into her arms from the pain of shattered dreams. She kept trying to tell herself that he was in a better place, but in saying that, she realised how far away from her he was. She would never hear his voice again, never feel his touch. Never again, would he tell her he loved her.

“Please, Twilight… Look at me.” Cantor begged, nearly unable to form words around the tremendous lump in his throat.

“Look at me, Twilight.” He ordered, but to no avail. Once more… Just one more time, he tried to touch her face, and once more, his hoof passed straight through her.

“No…….” Cantor sobbed, his face resting on the floor.

Before he could continue any longer though, he uttered one last sentence.

“I love you…” Cantor sniffed, his already dead heart breaking again. “I love you… Twilight Sparkle…” But the mare was deaf to this… She didn’t even hear a whisper and Cantor’s bitter tears dissolved into pure sorrow as he lay next to Twilight on the cold floor, sobbing his heart out with no one to comfort, and no one to comfort him.

The funeral was held the very next day, and despite the sunny weather, it was the most heartbreaking thing Cantor had ever seen. The air was perfectly still and the sun shone warmly, but not so much so that it was uncomfortable. Cantor stood upon the small hill overlooking Ponyville. He decided that of all the places, he would rather be buried here, so that his spirit could watch over the town for all eternity and he could always see Twilight Sparkle’s library. The whole town of Ponyville had turned up to bid farewell to ‘the greatest hero they would see in their lifetime’ as Celestia had decreed. Yes, even the two celestial princesses; the rulers of the world had turned out to say goodbye.

Of course Cantor attended the funeral. How could he not? The open casket lay empty above a deep pit in the ground with an enormous wreath of ruby red roses draped over the top and Cantor was standing over it, looking in.

The box itself was beautiful. Hoof – crafted by experts in Ponyville from great oak trees and waxed a most glorious tone of gold. It had a cream silk lining with a little lilac pillow resting where the stallion’s head should be. It was unsettling, yet it felt so right to see his name carved in humble stone above the hole, the birth date read ‘unknown’ and the date of death read ‘April 20th, 3489’. Despite all that was going on around him, Cantor couldn’t help but smile at his date of birth. He would be forever laid to rest with an air of mystery about him, the thought of such a thing made the stallion feel… peaceful.

He stared into the coffin for so long that he didn’t notice that everypony around him had retreated to cushions placed on the floor around the casket until an old stallion began to speak.

Cantor was alerted to the solemn-dressed gentlecolt when he cleared his throat. He continued to stand over his own coffin as the pale blue stallion dressed in black formal attire (much like every other pony there) gave an introductory speech to the ceremony.

“We are gathered here today to mourn the death of truly one of the most noble stallions to have lived…” Several sniffles could be heard from behind Cantor and he turned to see who it was. Sadly, it was Rarity, dabbing under her eyes in true Rarity fashion with a pure white handkerchief.

The grim stallion continued in his low, sad, husky voice, looking from the headstone to the two solemn looking princesses.

“It’s always such a terrible tragedy when somepony so young leaves us. He was just seventeen years of age at the time of his passing.” The white – maned stallion sighed and shook his head. “For such a young pony to leave us is never easy to accept and even though I have never had a chance to get to know him better, I can see by the ponies around me that Cantor was truly an exceptional young stallion.”

Cantor sunk to his transparent haunches and gazed drearily at the old wrinkly stallion stood behind his coffin, using it like some kind of podium. The milky blue eyed pony could have easily been five times Cantor’s age and had experienced all that life had to offer twice over.

The ghostly alicorn sighed, no longer feeling heartbroken and traumatised, rather, he felt completely lost – as if there were still things that needed to be said.

“Now I understand that some of Cantor’s closest friends would like to say a few words?” Asked the aged stallion, eyeing the front row of mares and fillies, the only stallion with them was a great red brute, his muscles bulging from his black suit.

All of the mares and Big Macintosh looked up and nopony moved until Applejack hoisted herself and her brother onto their hooves with their young sister, Applebloom and slowly made their way to Cantor’s coffin-side.

As he approached, Cantor could see Big Macintosh holding back tears as best he could, but even though he had the power of ten ponies rolled into one, he couldn’t hide the fact that he too was devastated by the loss.

"Oh, Mac..." Cantor sighed sympathetically as the devastated stallion shuffled past with dark and mournful eyes.

The sibling trio approached the casket. Inside, there lay the feather Cantor had given to Twilight upon the pillow, completely motionless.

Applejack wore a solemn face as she placed her Stetson over her chest, giving a light bow before returning the hat to her blonde hair. The farm pony was wearing a short black skirt and blouse, yet she still had her wonderful Stetson atop her head and her hair was still bound with those bright red ribbons of hers.

Macintosh simply stared at the feather, trying his hardest not to cry, but a little sniff from his orange coated sister caused the tears to flow unendingly. He hadn’t uttered a word in the fear that the sound of his own voice would push him over the edge, yet now that he had let himself go, he whispered sadly into the box

“I’m gonna miss ya, buddy.” He sniffed powerfully, his huge nostrils flaring as he sucked in calming air. “Thanks for all the work ya did ‘round Applebuck season…”

Applejack placed her foreleg over Big Mac’s shoulders and led him back to their seats once Applebloom had taken a good long look at the pristene white quill resting on the pillow.

Her question of “Where is he?” Set Applejack off crying as well. Applebloom was far too young to fully understand death. She knew that Cantor was gone, but what she didn’t know is that he would never come back.

Next up was Fluttershy, and even though the stood with Rarity, the only word to make it out of her mouth was a barely audible “Um-“ before she too burst into torrents of silent tears, propping herself up on the top of the coffin and crying into her arms. The sight, like all of the times Cantor had seen Fluttershy cry, broke his heart, yet his attention was drawn to the grim looking unicorn before he could shed a tear.

Rarity stepped close to the edge of Cantor’s coffin with something draped across her back. Her sister, Sweetie Belle removed the article of clothing – which Cantor instantly recognised as the suit he wore for the gala the past two years.

The stallion had gone into great detail about how much he loved the garment, how perfect the stitching was and how grateful he was towards Rarity for making it. And he hadn’t exaggerated his points; he absolutely loved that suit. It made him look handsome, it was a perfect fit, and above all, Rarity’s work ethic, her blood, sweat and now tears were poured into that extravagant piece of designer clothing.

“I um… I know how much you said you loved this suit…” The well – pronounced unicorn started, her voice quiet from crying, yet Cantor heard every word crystal clear. “So I just thought that you would… like to… keep it…” As she said this, two sparkling tears rolled down her cheeks, which she quickly wiped away with the back of her hoof.

Rarity very gently, and with as much grace and precision as she showed in her life, laid the garment inside the coffin, to sleep with Cantor for all eternity.

Rarity gave a little ladylike chuckle, and with a petite smile added “Well we don’t want you looking scruffy in heaven now, do we?” The comment made Cantor himself laugh, as well as begin crying, yet these tears were not entirely because of loss this time.

The still smiling and, despite this, crying Rarity walked a heartbroken Fluttershy and her deeply upset sister back to their cushions on the lush green grass, planting her covered flank on the soft fabric and beginning to remember all of the good things Cantor had done in his short time in Equestria.

The next three to step up to the rich gold coloured box was Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and her adopted daughter, the young Scootaloo, who was already sobbing into her mother’s coat as she ambled by her side. The pink mare’s mane had lost a tremendous amount of it’s ‘oomph’ and the thought of Pinkie Pie being depressed – Pinkie Pie being depressed – shook up all of Cantor’s negative emotions into a deadly cocktail if grief and all he managed to utter was “ I'm so sorry, Pinkie…”

The apology, once again, went unheard, as did all of his comments, questions and statements.

The three young mares reached the opening to the casket, and all at once, peered in at the crisp feather lying above a delicately folded piece of black clothing. Pinkie and Rainbow had no kind of funeral wear, and instead, they wore simple black bowties around each of their necks. To Cantor, he didn’t mind. In fact, to see these two particular ponies wearing what made them feel comfortable made him happy that they hadn’t stressed themselves out buying dismal dresses or shrouds.

Of course, both mares would have worn more formal attire if they owned it or could afford it. Even between themselves, they had just enough money to treat each other to a nice dinner or a movie once a week. And Cantor’s death had been so unexpected, they had no time to save enough money they needed. It made them both feel remorseful, yet the white stallion this whole ceremony was in aid of didn’t mind one bit.

“Hey, uh… Hey, Cantor…” Rainbow Dash began, putting on her best smile. “I um… We just wanted to say thank you, me and Scootaloo, that is… Thank you…” The sprightly pegasus gave a modest bow, and the little orange filly copied her, lowering her little head along with her mother, her eyes closed, yet still streaming with tears of remorse. “If… If it weren’t for you, well… You and I both know that Scootaloo might not be here, let alone be here with me…” Rainbow smiled down towards Scootaloo, and the filly met her stare with a weak smile before she raised her eyebrows towards her blue role model and only family, as if asking a question.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and nodded, and with a quick flick of their heads, they each plucked their largest feather from their wings. The two pegasi then placed their bright coloured feathers on either side of Cantor’s. The cyan one came to just over half the length of the sharp white one, and the tiny little orange quill wasn’t even worth comparing.

“Goodbye, Cantor… I… I hope…” She began to cry as she finished her sentence. “I hope that you’re remembering all those tricks I taught you up there!” She craned her neck to the sky and forced a smile to the clouds. “I know that you’ll be showing off to the other pegasi up in heaven!”

Cantor chuckled as the tears refused to stop. He always used to show off when anypony challenged him to a race, especially when he discovered that he could accomplish the sonic flame-boom. But the one pony he could never beat was Rainbow Dash. She still had the title of fastest flyer in Equestria. (Well, to that particular circle of friends anyway…) As far as they knew, her place in the Wonderbolts was dangling above her, and another rainboom or two could land her in a tight blue lycra suit and a pair of goggles. Her dream. Cantor felt unlucky to not be there with her when that happened, yet he felt settled by the notion that he was certain, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was going to be great.

Pinkie Pie stepped up next, and without a word, withdrew a huge, delectable looking cupcake from her flaccid mane accommodating Cantor’s colouration. The frosting was thinly applied, the pink mare bearing in mind Cantor’s distaste for heavy, creamy icing. Atop the swirly frosting, were a perfect scattering of bright orange sugar strands, reflecting the vibrancy of the stallion’s intense eyes.

She silently mouthed the words “Goodbye” before turning with her mare friend and returning to their soft spots on the ground. Scootaloo clambered into Rainbow’s arms and continued to sob quietly into her mother’s fur. Out of all three crusaders, Scootaloo fully understood the concept of death: the last of it she knew was when her parents died, and even though she was too young to remember how she felt at the time, the thought of loosing a close friend tore her apart.

Once again, the hilltop fell into an adverse silence once again. The absence of air made everypony’s sobs, even the tiniest of whimpers easily heard. Princess Celestia had proclaimed that her faithful student, Cantor’s closest companion and lover should give the final verse, and now all three alicorns present, living or not had their eyes focused on the purple unicorn as she slowly rose, her black dress falling over her hooves as she trudged the short distance from where she sat to where her stallion’s cadaverless coffin lie suspended above the deep hole in the soil.

Her perfect eyes had lost their shine. They no longer appeared to sparkle. The purple mare slowly reached the bereaving coffin and her eyes fell to it’s contents. Rather, the one item inside which belonged to Cantor. Twilight Sparkle did not cry. Instead, her face depicted so little emotion it was as if she had died on the inside. Who knows? Maybe she had.

She returned her dim eyes to the crowd of ponies also watching, she clocked all of their depressed eyes and solemn frowns and slowly drew in a breath, bringing the words she had been mentally reciting all day and all night, finally saying the things which needed to be said.

“Cantor was… Well, what wasn’t he? He was kind, loyal, honest, generous, he uh… He enjoyed a good laugh…” A tiny smile flashed across her face before it faded away again. “And I just wanted to let you know that Cantor loved me with all of his heart, he made a point of telling me every single day… And I loved him… more than anypony can ever imagine…” She allowed her eyes to fall to the white quill resting upon the soft lilac cushion and a single tear fell from each eye, rapidly rolled down her cheeks and fell into the coffin. “Every day… he told me he loved me, and every day, I knew it was true…” A smile crept onto her face as another pair of tears welled up and fell from her eyes, and to the delight of the male alicorn, her sweet little smile stayed there.

“Thank you, Cantor… If it wasn’t for you… I… we’d all be gone…” Her smile disappeared as she continued. “I… How can I feel that good again? I can’t just get another stallion: I can’t just find another you.” Her flow of tears increased until they were a constant stream of despair. “I don’t want you to go, Cantor… I… I need you… I…” She sighed and took several deep breaths to calm herself down and to prevent herself from totally loosing it in front of the entire town. “I’m sorry…” She uttered to the silky feather. “I made this for you -hic- last night…” The purple mare sniffled as she drew out the small woollen object from her mane.

It was a couple of tiny replica dolls of Cantor and Twilight, made out of white and purple wool. Their eyes were each a small cross of their colour, Cantor's a powerful orange, and Twilight’s a deep violet. The two plushies were adorable, their manes spot on, Cantor’s, a scraggly rust coloured tangle and Twilight’s was her straight cut navy blue. She had even got the delightful little pink and purple streaks as well. The mare had stayed up all night long making the two dolls by candle light and Cantor had been by her side the entire time. He was given hope as Twilight often looked behind her chair in Cantor’s general direction, yet she simply stared straight through the stallion into the endless darkness of her sleeping library.

Slowly, she lowered the two ponies into the casket, manipulating them so that the purple one was wrapped in the white one’s huge wool wings and strong, soft arms. Cantor smiled as he watched Twilight plant a gentle kiss on the woollen alicorn’s side. His unblinking orange eyes stared straight up at her as she drew herself away. She blinked again, and two more teardrops landed atop Cantor’s feather. Despite this movement of love, albeit in the worst form, Cantor felt nothing.

Twilight slowly raised her head back up, still staring at her wool stallion as she gave one final farewell. “Good night, Cantor.” She chocked on her own sorrowful quivering breath as she spoke. “Sweet dreams…”

She turned away, her face the pure depiction of heartbreak as she ambled slowly back to her friends, seeking comfort she knew she would never find, not in harmony, nor in the bright sunshine or perfect sky which marked the end of an era of fear and threat and began a new one of pain and loneliness.

As it was tradition to fallen pegasi in battle, the mass of ponies rose to their hooves and placed their right hooves over their hearts.

Everypony there, even the fillies and colts joined in with paying their last respects to their savoir as his coffin was slowly lowered into the ground. In beautiful unison, some two hundred ponies began to sing the slow, sorrowful tune of the pegasus:

“I have not wings to follow you, and I know not where you go.”

“I cannot fly to heaven far, to ever let you know.”

“That your wings were made for angels, irreplaceable in their worth.”

“And now goddesses have taken an angel, back from Earth…”

“Twilight, please eat something…” Pleaded the little purple dragon who stood at Twilight’s bedside, brandishing a plate of perfectly roasted vegetables, even the mare’s favourite, parsnips, was regarded as disgusting as she plainly explained for the fifth time that she had “Lost her appetite.”

Twilight Sparkle lay alone on her side on top of the starry blanket covering her soft bed, completely void of any motivation to do anything more than blink and breathe. No thoughts ran through her head. The only things she could see were shattered dreams and her own broken heart. Her tears had dried up hours ago, but she still felt lower than low. Her breath was long and subconsciously exaggerated and she felt monumentally tired, yet the pain in her heart kept her wide awake, agonised, exhausted and starving.

“Twilight… eat… sleep… you’re so tired…” Once again, Cantor’s pleas went unheard as once again, he forgot that he was dead. At that moment, he had had enough. He sighed angrily and turned to the grey mare standing in a shadowed corner of Twilight’s bedroom. “What do you want?...”

Surprised to hear that the stallion was finally acknowledging her presence caught her off guard, and she found herself speechless for a moment before finding her old voice and stepping out into the light. The ancient mare was an alicorn, her mane a short, straight white cape hanging from her aged head and neck. Her wings bore no feathers, just spines where feathers should have been and a soft, fuzzy down stretching the length of her folded appendages, and even then, those seemed to lack in consistency. The mare’s deep brown eyes radiated a kindness like no other, yet somehow at the same time, bore a sinister truth nopony wanted to hear.

In scanning her body once, Cantor’s fiery eyes became fixated upon the snapped horn atop her head. The dull grey mare closed her eyes and established a long sigh, the kind of sigh one is only able to make after an eternity of suffering and sorrow.

“Cantor…” She began in a voice which looked older than she did. “I’m so sorry…” She continued, shaking her head ever so slightly as she spoke just a little louder than a whisper.

“Sorry for what?” The stallion asked, causing the mare’s eyes to open tiredly. “We both knew this day was coming and from the start, there’s nothing we can do about it…” He spoke with affirmation, acceptance, yet all he wanted was to stay by Twilight’s side.

Once again, the grey mare sighed, exhausted with her sordid job. “You are a very special pony, Cantor… do you know that?”

Cantor turned back to Twilight. Spike had given up on trying to feed her and had finally given in, obeying her request to leave her alone. She now stared into nothingness, broken under the strain of her own misery. The white alicorn stroked his hoof just above Twilight’s mane, unable to face the feeling of nothing to remind him that he was dead.

“I’m not special…” He muttered, taking his hoof away and turning back to the decrepit mare. “This is what I have done.” He affirmed, casting a stray hoof in the general direction of the heartbroken unicorn.

“Cantor… If you had told her you were going to sacrifice yourself to save the world, I ask you three things: one, would that lessen the pain Twilight feels now, or would it in fact make it worse?” She wasn’t trying to be harsh, but the way she carried her voice made it seem as though she was.

“Two,” She continued, dragging her tired old legs towards Cantor. “Do you really think she would have believed you?”

“Well… I…” Cantor began, unable to break free of the alicorn’s icy stare. “…No…” He eventually admitted. “I… She wouldn’t have believed me…”

“Three,” The mare said in her soft, chalky voice. “And perhaps the most important: do you think she would have fallen in love with you?”

Cantor stared long and hard at the wooden floorboards for a good minute before casting his reply. “No… And that would have been for the best…”

“Nonsense!” The mare cried with a tiny chortle. “Any amount of love is better than no love, and seeing Twilight now, I can tell that the love you shared was strong and true…”

“I know, but… now I’ve left her with a broken future. I mean… just look at her:” Said Cantor, turning to observe the mare’s glassy, lifeless eyes stare into nothing, her little mind, brilliant though it was, failing to comprehend just what had happened.

The grey mare followed Cantor’s gaze and noted that, even in her long time, there were very few occasions where she saw a pony look so void of life, yet was still classified as living. Twilight’s blank expression stirred feeling she hadn’t felt for a long time, and once again, she turned to Cantor, just as he began to speak.

“Why did I promise? Why did I lie? I just wanted to make her happy, and now… now I’ll never get to see her grow up… never grow up with her…”

The old mare frowned. A different kind of frown. Not a frown of disgust, disappointment or anger, rather, a frown of determination, of willpower.

“Yes you will.” She spoke strongly, staring at Cantor in a way nopony had ever before. The glance chilled his bones and blocked all other thoughts. Coupled with that sentence, Cantor didn’t know what to feel.

“…Huh?” He managed to choke out, feeling as though he had heard wrong or had misinterpreted what the mare had meant.

The ancient, bony alicorn smiled warmly to herself in the stallion’s confusion. “Cantor…” She started, ushering Cantor to lay on the floor with her. The stallion obeyed, slowly sinking with the mare, hearing her tired old bones creak under her frail skin. She stared deep into his eyes, and finding no other possible place to look, Cantor stared straight back, now knowing what it felt like to be on the receiving end of one of his captivating looks.

“Twice.” She said, burning her dull, yet truthful eyes into Cantor’s. “Twice before, I have let my job slide, and now I can say I’ve let it slide a third…”

“What… Are you talking about?” Cantor enquired warily, unsure whether what he was hearing was true, or at least what he thought he was hearing…

The old mare chuckled a little, a soft, ladylike laugh; something you may find in upper – class society. “My name, Cantor… My name is Death… And my job is to bring death to ponies who’s time has sadly run out.” She spoke with a lopsided smile, and Cantor wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. Regardless, the mare continued.

“But sometimes, ponies have far more to live for than to die for…” She finished, hoping that Cantor would understand. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

“What do you mean?” The stallion asked, still not entirely believing the ancient alicorn.

“Twilight, Cantor!” She practically yelled, causing Cantor to flinch a little. Death didn’t intend to cause alarm to Cantor, yet she forgot to apologise, knowing that she was about to fix the lives of so many ponies. Fate works in mysterious ways, and sometimes, fate throws you a bone. Just sometimes…

“You, and Twilight!” The mare continued. She cleared her antique throat and calmed down a little, taking several breaths before going on. “I’m saying I’m going to give you a second chance…” Upon saying this, Cantor’s eyes lit up with life and brimmed with liquid bliss.

“Really!? You mean I can… live?” The stallion asked in pure happiness, his broken heart instantly fixing then and there, knowing that this alicorn wouldn’t joke around at all… let alone with a matter she knew was so tender to him. Images of himself and Twilight together again, reunited flashed vividly into his mind. He saw all the promises, all the future memories forging together before his eyes. And it was beautiful…

The time-honoured mare nodded her head peacefully with an air of satisfaction. “Yes, Cantor… You are one of the ponies who has far too much to live for. A lot of the time, death is right; what ponies need at the end of a long and prosperous life; all they want then, is to fall asleep and never wake up… Others, well… aren’t so peaceful or justified…” She clarified, staring deep into Cantor’s soul. “But I can think of only three occasions where death has actually been wrong… You, Cantor, you and Twilight’s legacy far exceeds death and I can tell that you two are going to be together for all eternity…”

Cantor couldn’t find the words to say, he merely broke down into tears of overwhelming joy on the floor, uttering endless thanks to the grey mare for giving him everything he had ever wanted… and more…

“But…” She added, recapturing Cantor’s attention and lashing his body with fear.

“But?” Cantor gasped, horrified about what could ensue.

The mare paused briefly, collecting a very thoughtful face before asking: “How do you feel towards immortality?”

“…What?” Cantor asked, bewildered.

“Do you see living forever as a positive thing, or a negative thing?”

“Well, I… It’s horrible. I’d hate to live forever!” Cantor exclaimed, drawing an overjoyed smile from Death.

“That’s perfect Cantor…” She mused, rising to her hooves, slowly and painfully.

Cantor quickly followed her stance, asking “Why?” several times.

“With your response, Cantor… You have nothing to fear…” She answered, her dull voice laced with happiness and light.

“You’re one of the rare ones, Cantor…” She continued, her broken horn glowing a very dim yellow. “Live your life, Cantor… Live your life as a normal pony with all of your love for Twilight….” Her horn continued to glow as she spoke.

“…Thank you…” Sighed Cantor, bowing his head low to the ground with peacefully closed eyes. “Thank you so much…”

Once more, the alicorn’s smile grew substantially as she replied in her sweet, soothing, kind voice: “No, Cantor… Thank you…”

It was eleven o’ clock over Ponyville and all of the townsponies had fallen into a sorrowful sleep, all hurting after the loss of their dear friend. In his life, Cantor had helped each of them in some way. Whether that be involving himself with their buisness, running errands for them, or sacrificing his life to give them the rest of theirs.

Everypony had fallen to sleep, trying to get over their sadness. Everypony except one – the young librarian, Twilight Sparkle, who was in far too much emotional anguish to even think about sleep. The darkness over the town was cast in the shadow of the void from the pit in Twilight's heart. Everything was dead silent, deafening in fact; Twilight was so wrapped in sorrow, that she didn’t hear the lock turn in her door, nor did she hear the hoofsteps creep through her dead house and up her silent stairs into her bedroom.

Slowly, and even more silently than the heavy mist that loomed in her bedroom, the newcomer entered Twilight's place of rest. The heartbreak was tangible as the entity neared the motionless purple mare. She was totally unaware of the new presence…

All until it spoke.

“I heard there was a young unicorn at this address in need of some cheering up…” Came the voice from behind her. The one voice she had to tell herself she would never hear again – she just heard.

With a gasp, the first sign of emotion she had given for hours, Twilight Sparkle spun around, locking eyes with that perfect stallion, with those huge feathery wings, that muscular neck, and those impossible orange eyes staring at her from the other side of her bed. Instantly, her eyes began to pour with a mixture of relief and pure happiness. She scrambled from her bed, scurried towards Cantor and the first thing she did was give him the hardest slap she could muster.

Before he could even think about what to say, or how to react, Twilight pointed a hoof forcefully at his face.

“That’s for keeping secrets!” She scalded.

Slap!

“That’s for making me cry!”

Slap!

“That’s for leaving!”

And without giving Cantor a chance to breathe, she flung her arms so tightly around his neck he couldn’t breathe if he tried.

The next thing he felt were Twilight astounding lips pressed against his, her movements faltering over her enormous sobs of ecstatic releif.

After five solid minutes of passionate kissing, Twilight finally pulled away, and with all the dizziness of her reunion passed, she drew Cantor close and quietly whispered into his ear all her heart told her she needed to say.

“And that’s for coming back…”

-The End

Epilogue

Epilogue:

A dash over a year after Kerous’ futile attempt to destroy the world, Equestria has almost fully accepted the arrival of another alicorn. One who, despite never showing it, was infinitely more powerful than both of the celestial princesses combined. Though many couldn’t believe that he had died to come back the very next night, he was there, and in the flesh. And very much alive.

Cantor was a simple pony with simple ambitions and one rule to live by: Protect. Although he wasn't the bravest of ponies, still being relatively scared of the dark, the young stallion set aside his abundance of free time to better the lives of everyone and everything he possibly could.

Actually, this is a lie. He first and foremost spent all day dreaming up innovative methods of getting himself hurt, and encouraging a choir of 'I told you so's from all but one of his friends, who encouraged the act in the first place. Regardless, through all the bumps and bruises, and the occasional dismemberment, he was happy, and content with a life that could ever be spoiled.

The hype about Cantor quickly dimmed within the first two weeks of his return, yet nopony forgot what he had accomplished, especially with the stone statue of him in Canterlot gardens. He made requests for a stained window instead, and despite his best efforts of persuasion, which in no way reflected pestering, Celestia's answer remained a firm 'No', and the statue quickly became part of the landscape, along with other prestigious ponies of the past. Making the frequently inappropriate stallion feel very out of place.

The study of extra-terrestrial worlds had begun to peak Celestia's interest to the highest extent in recent times. She made a point of saying how she was certain of life outside of Equestria, but now that the possibility for finding out for definite was visible thanks to a one-of-a-kind telescope on the outskirts of Ponyville, she had initiated a deep space programme, which Cantor eagerly took the offered position of being captain of an exploration and research team to the new planet. As for Cantor himself, he simply couldn’t wait to zoom out into space to see close up the very object he had observed many times through Twilight’s high powered observatory that he had made many months ago. And though the official launch date was five months away, Cantor was counting down the weeks like a foal waiting for his birthday.

Time, as always, flew by in Equestria, but one thing he was sure of was that he and Twilight were scheduled for a very long and happy life together, readying themselves for years and years of peace and happiness. With the occasional dismemberment...

The lavender mare had taken Cantor’s gift of the observatory straight to heart, doing exactly as he had said and transformed the little telescope into her legacy, filling the walls with her beauty and in the quick year, she had already crammed a bookshelf and a half with her endless recordings from beyond the stars. A simple explanation was in order: astronomy, second only to the give and take of knowledge, was Twilight’s largest hobbyist passion, and no matter how much she had discovered, there always seemed to be something just over the horizon that caught her eye, often the cause for several pages of information about the curious lights Twilight found, none of which shining as brightly as her.

Both Cantor and Twilight still kept finding out so much about each other that they both found absolutely fascinating. Cantor discovered Twilight was quite the experienced painter, often sitting for hours in front of her observatory, overlooking the mystical horizon at the deep purple sky through stunning purple eyes and painting. Hours of sitting there on the grass next to Cantor, watching the moon journey across the infinitely vast expanse of sky, flicking a small brush over a large Canvas, creating picture-perfect landscapes to hang on her observatory walls. Cantor could sit forever and watch Twilight paint. And in fact, he did. The alicorn would snuggle close to Twilight, wrapping an enormous wing around her like a huge feathery blanket, watching her many masterpieces come to life right before his deep amber eyes.

After some time, Cantor had urged the young mare to show the books to Celestia, explaining how her new literary expertise would carry Equestria far to new fantasies and wonderful worlds waiting to be explored. Twilight Sparkle and her friends still kept up their weekly friendship reports – and now, seeing as how they had all found love somewhere along the line, their hearts were open to all the beauty in the world, and their content souls added much to it.

It was early Summer in Equestria, and the weather was gradually becoming warmer. The hot and lazy days were in view and everypony in town was eagerly waiting to use their new pools which had been installed by Ponyville’s favourite alicorn. The acts of magical prowess explained to want-to-be wizards all throughout the world, who travel for months to get a glimpse at the one who could supposedly introduce new matter to the universe from thin air, with the words "I dunno, I just do it, I guess..." Earning him a bad rapport with a large faction of powerful, scorned unicorns.

Today was scheduled to be a mildly sunny day, with a light shower towards the end of the afternoon. The pale morning glow shone through Twilight’s closed windows, throwing large squares of light onto the wooden floor below. The new spring chicks resting in their wicker nests could be heard chirping in uproar every now and then as one of their parents returned with food in their beaks. The day had begun perfect – much like every day in Equestria really… Cantor had awoken to find Twilight already staring at him, her eyes half – lidded and an enchanting expression worn upon her face. Not for the first time, Cantor woke up smiling, barely able to utter “Morning” before Twilight wrapped her lips around his. It was more of a life than he could ever ask for, and he was sure that if there was heaven on Earth, Twilight Sparkle would be his sanctuary.

As Cantor had promised, nothing had changed; things had only got better. He still told Twilight Sparkle that he loved her every day without fail and every day, she would blush profusely and say the same to him. And now, as Twilight Sparkle always did every morning with Cantor before she got to work, sitting on her small sofa with a cup of tea resting on the table and a magically prepared breakfast beside it, something was obviously on her mind. It was bothering her, and whenever that happened, (albeit rarely), the white alicorn made it his duty to find out what it was so that he could fix it.

After taking a shallow sip from his cup, Cantor turned to the uncomfortable purple unicorn and asked with expectant eyes: “Something on your mind, Twi?”

The young mare quickly shook her head, her straight mane whipping about her face as she picked up a buttered crumpet with her magic and took a feeble bite. She finished it a lot sooner than she had expected and upon swallowing, turned to face her stallion who was still burning into her eyes. She sighed a little as a response, knowing that once this particular stallion had you in this kind of eye contact, your mind was as good as his.

“What?” She asked, raising both eyebrows, the warm, creamy taste of butter still evident in her mouth.

“Oh, please, Twilight…” Cantor began, smiling warmly in the humble morning light. “I’ve known you for over two years… I know when something’s bothering you…”

“Well…” Twilight started, her eyes shifting from her plate back to those paralyzing amber eyes, hotter than fire and more attractive than gravity. “Do you remember… last weekend?” She questioned, her cheeks becoming rosy with fillyish remembrance.

Cantor’s smile widened from content to amused. “Oh, yes…” He started, taking on a light blush of his own. “I remember ‘last weekend’, Twilight…” He said with a chuckle.

“I um…” The mare began, her eyes fixated on Cantor’s, unable to break away, but also unable to shake her apprehension. “I don’t want to say… I don’t know how you’ll feel…” She finished, her eyes trembling from fright. Cantor saw this and placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

“Twilight… whatever it is, you know I’ll be fine with it.” He stated, giving the mare the courage she needed to say exactly what she wanted to say in the most blunt, basic and easiest way she knew how.

“Cantor…” Twilight started, taking Cantor’s sturdy hoof in her own and grasping it tightly as she looked deep into her stallion’s eyes and finished:

“…I’m pregnant.”

The Calling

[DISCLAIMER: first of all, let me say that anyone who is reading this, first off, thank you :), but you may pick up references to other fanfics throughout the story. These are merely references as they comply with the nature of the story’s universe, by no means am I trying to plagiarise my peers. Please also bear in mind that this story was written before the end of season 2, so the events in the last episode ‘never occurred’. ALSO! This is the first fanfiction I have ever written; it is the first 'serious' thing I have ever written in my life, so please don't be too harsh in the comment section… Right. Now that’s out of the way, I hope you enjoy the fic! ;) ]

You live your life for a purpose. Some sort of ‘duty’ fate assigns you. No matter who you may be, or where you are from, everyone has a dream. Something to aspire to and hope for in the challenges you face in life as you struggle towards it. For some, it is easier than others; finding out not only what you want to achieve, but how that knowledge shapes who you are in your uncertain life. But one thing we must remember, is that our fate is our own, and luck is our legacy. This world is flooded with anger, hatred and suffering, yet some hope eviscerates through the darkness, refusing to give in to the lurid calls of failed dreams. And these are the individuals that have the destiny to change the world.

To set an example.

For all of us.

Chapter 1: The calling

Sugarcube Corner was unusually quiet for the time of day, and despite the lack of business, the bright pink mare kept churning out cupcakes from her new line of experimental deserts like there was no tomorrow. Partly because she was exited from her newly discovered creation, but mostly because she enjoyed eating them on a regular basis, often for breakfast as well - an odd diet to those who were unfamiliar with this particular mare, but for her friends, this was taboo.

As she began icing the third kumquat-cake with a neon orange frosting, the door to the bakery swung open with a mighty crash, almost sending the cheery brass bell suspended above it flying and making the young pony squirt a huge line of bright orange across the bakery’s floor.

“Wassup, Pinkie Pie!?” called an exceptionally loud Rainbow Dash from the faded wooden doorway, putting her hoof to the corner of her mouth to amplify her voice's volume.

Pinkie pie instinctively grabbed a mop and started for the icing that lay over the floor with little acknowledgement for her baby blue prank buddy in the form of an “Oh… uh, hi, Rainbow Dash…”

“Heh... Sorry about that, Pink.” She said a little awkwardly after an embarrassed chortle.

“Oh, it’s alright, Rainbow Dash. Accidents happen!” Pinkie Pie replied light-heartedly, finishing up the rest of the cleaning then trotting off to try and find a ‘wet floor’ sign. Again, Rainbow Dash slowly made her way over to her friend, who had her head buried deep in the utilities cupboard under the stairs.

“Pinkie, good news!” Rainbow started. “The prince-“ She was cut short by a firm slap round the face from a bright yellow sign that caught her off-guard and knocked her to the wet stone floor, accompanied by a triumphant “Got it!” from Pinkie Pie.

“Ughhhhh…” Groaned Rainbow Dash as she raised a hoof to her sore cheek, propping herself up from the cold ground with her other forehoof.

“OH MY GOSH! I’m so sorry Rainbow dash! I- I didn’t know you were standing behind me!” Said a truly apologetic Pinkie Pie, dropping the sign and rushing over to help her injured friend to her hooves, then preceding to plant a gentle kiss on her cheek, which her seldom seen mother always did when Pinkie was hurt or (very rarely) upset, to ‘make everything alright’.

“It’s okay, Pinkie. I know you didn’t mean it.” Rainbow said with a smile. She bent down and picked up the wet floor sandwich board in her teeth and handed it to Pinkie. She took it from Rainbow’s mouth with a casual “Thanks.” She turned and placed the sign carefully over the patch of slippery tiles before returning to her rainbow-maned companion who instantly snapped her hoof away from her cheek to save her ‘tough-filly’ persona.

Rainbow started once more… “I just came over from Twilight’s to tell you that,” she paused, “Princess Celestia wants us all to attend a ‘special get together’ she’s having at the castle.”

“A party!?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed in her anticipative tone, the slightest hint towards her favorite of favorite pastimes eliciting the usual feelings of joy in her heart.

“Maybe…” Replied Rainbow Dash. “But Twilight told me that the letter the princess sent said it was of the upmost importance that all of us be there.” She said, quoting the message.

“That still sounds like a party to me.” Pinkie replied with a wry view of her friend. "You don't think the princess wants a party?" She added, sounding a little disheartened.

“No,” said an apologetic Rainbow dash, “I doubt it…”

Pinkie Pie said nothing and scuffed at the floor with her hoof, not knowing what to think of the situation, her bright little mind whizzing through all of the possibilities that could have been such an importance as to be summoned on such short notice to the castle. All this happened in less than a second before Pinkie Pie remembered, inevitably, that she was Pinkie Pie and said joyfully, and in true Pinkie Pie fashion: “I’ll pack my party cannon, just in case…”

Rainbow Dash gave a small giggle at the randomness she enjoyed most about her pink friend.

“Twilight wants us all to meet up at her library and then we’ll head out to Canterlot.” Rainbow dash informed Pinkie. “I’ll go tell Fluttershy and Applejack, you go and get Rarity.”

“Okey dokey lokey!” Replied Pinkie Pie as the blue pegasus tore out of the bakery’s still wide open door, causing the welcome bell to jingle loudly once more, leaving a feint rainbow in her wake as he flew at ‘Rainbow Dash speed’ over the horizon in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Pinkie bounced off towards Rarity’s boutique, closing the door gently behind her and humming her new, but still work-in-progress song about the incredible anatomy of different 'species' of cupcakes loudly and gleefully to herself as she went along her merry way…

“What in tarnation!?” Exclaimed Applejack as Rainbow Dash thrust a scruffily written note on the back of a shopping list at her face.

“Read this! No time to explain. Got to get Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash ordered impatiently. She went to take off from where she hovered in the air.

“Hold yer horses, now.” Applejack quickly said, halting the pegasus with words. “What the hay here’s this note?” She asked, looking up towards Rainbow Dash.

“Ugh!” Replied the curt pegasus. “Just read it on the way! Like I said, there’s no time to explain if we want to get to Fluttershy’s house in time.” She went to take off again, but was caught, mid - flight by a confused Applejack.

“Hang on a sec there, Rainbow.” Called Applejack from the ground below.

Rainbow Dash sighed loudly to make her impatience clear and let her legs hang heavily underneath her, hovering in the air and staring out over the endless apple orchard that waved peacefully to her in the gentle afternoon breeze of the perfect late spring day.

“Carrots. Bread. Celery... Birdseed?” Applejack read aloud, her voice becoming increasingly lost in confusion as she read the list.

“No, no, no.” Rattled Rainbow Dash, who was becoming notably more irritated with every second that was wasted. She flew down to the baffled Applejack who wore a bewildered face and held the note loosely in her hoof, all the while keeping eye contact with the exasperated pegasus as she landed, but did not fold her wings. She then proceeded to snatch the note from Applejack and flip it over several times in the air before catching it and handing it back to her still lost companion and said with boredom “That’s my shopping list. This is the note.” wavering over the scruffily written sentence with her right hoof.

“Whad’da ya need birdseed for?” Asked the orange Earth pony with genuine curiosity with just a little grin for herself.

“I – ahhh” Rainbow Dash sighed heavily, “It’s a long story. Can we please just go now?” She whined, spreading her wings, ready to take off. She flew only a few metres into the air before being stopped once again.

“Meet up at Twilights house…” Applejack started reading, much to the great annoyance of Rainbow dash. She hovered uncomfortably in the air, crossed her forelegs, rolled her eyes and groaned. The orange pony noticed Rainbow Dash’s new level of impatience, yet decided it would be more entertaining to elongate her suffering.

Applejack continued with a smirk, “…som’mn about an emergency trip to the castle...” Applejack’s tone grew alarmed at the last word. “P.S. We need to be…” her voice trailed off at the end of the post script sentence. “Uh, Dash?” She said to the fidgety pegasus, “What’s this last word say?”

“Quick. It says quick. Something I wouldn’t expect you to understand!” Rainbow Dash said, with the slightest hint of anger in her voice.

“Oh, I see.” Replied Applejack, her smirk growing to a broad grin.

“What’re you smiling about?” Asked Rainbow Dash in an interrogative manner.

“Oh, nothin’” said Applejack, still grinning, “This thing about the castle seems important. We’d best be hurryin' along.” She said, trotting past Rainbow dash at a comfortable pace, much to the pegasus’ relief.

“Thank you!” She exclaimed grievously, making hastily for the sky.

“One more thing, R.D.” Applejack teased.

“WHAT!?” Screeched Rainbow Dash, who by now was just about ready to carry Applejack all the way to Fluttershy’s cottage herself.

“You don’t spell ‘quick’ with a ‘K’.” Uttered Applejack smugly, before bolting down the dirt track that cut through the fragrant orchard, dappled with sunlight and littered with pink blossom petals from the year’s future harvest.

“So you’re telling me that we are expected to attend a... a ‘surprise get-together’ at the castle-” Rarity started with a face that gave away no emotive clues as to how she felt towards the request, which would have made no difference to how the anxious pink earth pony reacted anyways.

“Yeah! I love surprises, don’t you?” Asked Pinkie, tilting her head slightly and locking eager eyes with Rarity.

“-as soon as possible?” Rarity finished.

“Oh, it sounds super-duper fun!” Exclaimed Pinkie pie, who then began bounding around the boutique, catching remarkable air and miraculously missing the fibreglass mannequins and half-created dresses that lay in ‘organised chaos’ around the room.

“Everything’s always about having fun with you isn’t it, Pinkie Pie?” asked Rarity, smiling gently as her eyes followed the ecstatic, leaping pony she often used for inspiration around her bedroom.

“Life’s a party!” Answered Pinkie abruptly, but still with all the truthfulness and philosophic meaning as a longer, more informed answer.

“I see…” Rarity commented, her mind returning to the unusual request. “And this really can’t wait?” She asked Pinkie with hesitance.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no! The princess herself asked us. You wouldn’t want to disappoint her would you?” Pinkie replied with wide eyes, positively shocked, partly because Rarity would even think to question such an order, but mostly because she, and only she was offended at the fact that her friend wasn’t all that fussed about finding out what sort of ‘surprise’ the princess had in store for them.

“Well…” Rarity said, looking for answers in Pinkie’s bright blue eyes that proceeded simply to batter their eyelashes at the skeptical white unicorn. “Okay. If princess Celestia needs us, who am I to refuse?” She asked, not looking for any particular answer at all. Pinkie Pie however, was slow to cotton on to rhetorical questions.

“Well, I guess it would make you a ‘bad subject’ or something. Princess Celestia wouldn’t be amused at all. She may even banish you to the moon for a thousand years!” she replied, growing worried by her own ridiculous ideas. “Or maybe she’ll even-“Rarity cut her off by closing her eyes and raising a hoof level with her horn.

“It was just a figure of speech, dear.” She sighed, turning around as she walked casually towards her large, wooden wardrobe. She opened the doors as slowly and carefully as she had ambled over to them. From the wardrobe, out drifted somewhere near twenty beautifully hoof-crafted dresses shrouded with Rarity’s pale blue aura, some simple, but elegant, others embroidered with all mannerisms of rare gemstones that screamed for attention, without the host having to say a word. These were the type of dresses Rarity loved; being able to achieve the center of attention simply by being present.

Her smile at this point quickly faded, then grew to a worried frown as she ran each dress in front of her in the full-length mirror she valued so. Her attitude was ‘what’s the point in only being able to see your beautiful face, when you have a stunning body?’ The fact that it may be useful for business came as a second priority to her.

“No... no... no, no, no, no, no!” she cried as the last dress flew away from her onto the pile of its rejected comrades which lay in a steep mound on top of Rarity’s four-poster bed.

“Wacha doin’?” Pinkie enquired, leaning in towards Rarity, who had a plethora of materials, pins, sequins, thread and a variety of other strange and funny-looking sewing equipment orbiting her and a blank mannequin, though it was quickly becoming layered with neutral colours and interesting patterns.

Pinkie asked a second time, “Wacha doin’?” Leaning even closer towards a concentrated Rarity who was frowning through a pair of fashionable red spectacles perched at the tip of her nose.

“Creating.” Rarity answered quickly. She was highly engrossed in what she was ‘creating’ that she didn’t have the time or multitasking abilities to converse with the pink pony and create a fabulous piece of fashion at the same time.

“What are you creating?” Pinkie insisted.

“A new dress.”

“Why are you making a new dress?”

“Pinkie, I really need to concentrate on this. I don’t have time to explain the details” Rarity replied, becoming irritated. If there was one thing she enjoyed and expected on demand, it was peace and quiet, something that was nothing less than a miracle when Pinkie Pie was around.

“Can’t you just tell me what you’re doing?” Pinkie pleaded.

“I’ll explain when I’m finished. Now would you please let me get on with this ensemble?”

“Okey, dokey, lokey!” Said Pinkie Pie happily.

“Thank you.” Said Rarity, sighing. No more than four seconds of blissful silence had passed before the excitable pink pony piped up again.

“Now that I’ve let you 'get on', can you tell me what you’re doing?” Asked Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie, I really must-“

“Oh, oh! Are you making another dress for the Gala?”

“I – no, Pinkie-“

“Did you get a sudden burst of imaginative flare?”

“Well-“

“Are you making a dress for me?!”

“Pinkie.” Said rarity sharply, her voice becoming laced with frustration.

“Do you like kumquat?” Pinkie Pie insisted.

“PINKIE!” Screamed Rarity, the silk and cotton planets grinding to a halt in their orbit around the mannequin. The white unicorn turned to face Pinkie Pie, her cheeks glowing a vivid rose. She narrowed her royal blue eyes at Pinkie’s own sky-coloured ones and pouted.

“What?” Beamed Pinkie Pie, oblivious.

Rarity sighed a deep, ‘given up hope’ sigh. “What do you want from me, Pinkie?” She asked, defeated.

“Wacha doin’?” Asked Pinkie Pie a third time, still grinning eagerly at the stressed Rarity whilst rocking back and forth on her springy hooves.

Rarity sighed again, this time letting a little of her fair voice seep into it. She turned back to the mannequin, the fabrics and needles returning to their orbit, much slower this time, as she explained to Pinkie: “One cannot be expected to make an audience with the princess, without first making an effort to look presentable.”

“Yeah…” Replied Pinkie Pie, willing Rarity to continue.

“What I mean is, I can’t be seen by the princess wearing paupers’ rags, or even worse, nothing at all.”

“Why not?” Enquired Pinkie.

“Because it’s the princess!” Exclaimed Rarity, as if it was something obvious at a pre-school level. “The most elegant, beautiful and important pony in all of Equestria!”

“So?” Replied Pinkie.

“So? SO?!” At this point the dress was nearly complete, a summery yellow cotton vest with a transparent white silk cape, followed by layers of cream coloured cotton ruffles. Ideally not the most comfortable thing to have to wear in the heat of Spring, but after all, this was all for the princess.

“So!?” Rarity repeated. “Not only is it rude to not show dignity and grace in front of royalty, but you must learn to also respect yourself, and try to look as glamorous as possible at all times.” She said, finishing the dress by sewing daisies into the cape and affixing a daffodil behind her left ear. To complete the look, she added a butterfly-shaped broach made from beautifully cut orange topaz crystals to her shoulder, before planting her large spring-themed hat on top of her head and standing to admire herself from many different angles in her full-body mirror, pulling various fashion model poses and facial expressions.

“Uh, Rarity, shouldn’t we be going now?” Asked Pinkie Pie after a moment's private modeling, waving towards the door with her right foreleg.

“Gracious!” Cried Rarity, snapping back to reality from her world about… Her. “You’re right!”

“Opal?” She called for her white feline and scanned the room, her eyes falling onto the pile of dresses Opalescence was clambering out from underneath, unamused that her catnap had been interrupted. “Opal, I need you to be a good girl and watch the house while mummy is out.” Said Rarity in the motherish tone she talks to her cat with before pecking her lightly on the forehead and swiftly dodging a swipe from Opal’s sharp claws.

Rarity Followed Pinkie Pie out of her bedroom door, giving one last look back at her feline ‘friend’ as she settled down on top of the pile of Rarity’s dresses, closing her eyes and wrapping her bushy tail over her face, not watching her owner leave, and close the door behind her.

All of the windows in Fluttershy’s cottage were opened widely, the sound of graceful singing, which was relaxing to listen to even though there were no particular words drifted through the air, accompanied by the strong scent of tomato soup which seemed to speak: ‘get well soon’ all on it’s own. Fluttershy always valued her cooking skills, and admitted to herself that she wouldn’t feel out of place in the kitchen at the café in Ponyville. If only she were more outgoing... She took a long inhale through her nose over the soup before saying quietly as always to herself “Nearly…” She then made her way over to her herb garden that hung on the outside of her open kitchen window, a gentle breeze blowing through, carrying with it the scent of fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme and the one Fluttershy needed, consequently one of her favourites, basil.

She carefully selected a sprig of the basil and snapped it from the stem with her mouth, the smell of the fragrant ingredient filling her nostrils. She carried it over to the gently simmering soup and tore it up, sprinkling in the soft green leaves. She stirred it for a minute or so before tasting it again. She scooped up a tiny amount on the tip of a spoon before gently and silently blowing the fragrant steam from the smooth red liquid. She placed the spoon in her mouth and focused on the flavours the soup possessed. It was perfect. Just the right balance of tomatoes and basil to give it a strong enough taste for the lucky diner to know it was indeed tomato, all the while being complimented by a wonderfully slight peppery aftertaste – if she may say so, herself.

She replaced the copper-bottom saucepan with an old kettle, filled with water and engraved with a shallow floral design. She poured the soup into two bowls and then strolled carefully into her living room, balancing the soup on her back and carrying a bread roll atop her nose. No sooner had Fluttershy set the bowls down on the low, heavy coffee table and broken the roll precisely in half, when a poorly white rabbit waved a dark red rubber hot water bottle at Fluttershy, which was now cold, exhausted in carrying out it’s duty as a bearer of soothing heat.

“Okay, Angel, here you go.” Fluttershy said as she pushed her pet rabbit’s half of the roll to meet his bowl of fabulous soup which lay steaming on the edge of the table in front of him, longing to be enjoyed. “I’ve put the kettle on now, it’ll be a couple of minutes before it’s ready.”

Angel dropped the hot water bottle to his side where he was seated on Fluttershy’s sofa. He crossed his arms, sunk back into the cushion and pouted, staring past the soup but at nothing in particular.

“Now, Angel...” Cooed Fluttershy as she seated herself beside the sulking rabbit, “You know you really should eat something. Especially something like this soup, it’s got lots of vitamins and other good stuff in it. Not to mention how lovely it tastes.” Fluttershy blushed at her own self-promotion. “You could say it’s ‘good and good for you’.” She finished, remembering she had said the exact same thing to princess Celestia’s pet, Philomeena, which bore much less positive results than it usually did for her other patients.

Although Angel behaved like a spoiled child most of the time, even more so when he was ill, it took a very strong will to resist some of Fluttershy’s home cooking. Angel hopped onto the table and stared at the red liquid in the white porcelain bowl. He took a sniff before picking up one of the two spoons Fluttershy had set down for them. He dipped the spoon into the soup and carefully raised it level, trying hard not to spill any, even though it would have landed back in the bowl, angel didn’t like failure. Of any kind. He blew the steam off the top of the puddle of red, sending ripples across the surface, proceeding to place the entire spoon into his mouth. Pleased with the taste and perfect temperature, he sighed happily before returning the spoon to the well of goodness for another mouthful.

Angel enjoyed eating with Fluttershy for two reasons: one, that Fluttershy’s rustic cooking was to die for, and two, because it was one of those few things he and Fluttershy did together nowdays, given the fact that her vetinary carrer had skyrocketed over the past few months.

As he enjoyed his late lunch, which Fluttershy made especially, knowing how big a fan of all soups Angel was, he thought about this point carefully, occasionally looking at Fluttershy, who had her own bowl of soup perched on her lap with a spoon held in one hoof. Upon noticing Angel’s gaze somehow every time he looked at her, she would always stop whatever she was doing or looking at to make tender eye contact with her pet bunny and smile, which made these rare moments he shared with her all the better.

As he went to dip a piece of bread he’d torn off the half-roll into the soup, a loud knocking, which was more of a hammering at the front door broke the serene silence of peaceful swallowing and metal spoons ‘chinking’ on bowls. It was the kind of silence rarely heard most places, where the cliché “you could hear a pin drop” really made sense. Fluttershy jumped, very nearly spilling the warm, but now not steaming soup over her stomach. Angel simply looked in the general direction of the door, ever so slightly disheartened that his quiet lunch with his caring owner was interrupted so abruptly and violently. Though he showed none of this. As per usual.

The hammering continued, this time coupled with “Fluttershy! Are you home!?” from Rainbow Dash.

Upon hearing her friend’s voice, Fluttershy collected her mind, stood up and slowly walked towards the cottage entrance, speaking as she went: “Oh, um yeah. Coming Rainbow Dash.” at an almost inaudible level due to the knocking and yelling.

Angel popped the soup-saturated morsel of bread into his mouth and chewed slowly, standing on the table next to his half-empty bowl and narrowed one eye towards Fluttershy as his gaze followed her towards the door.

Fluttershy opened the door to a Rainbow Dash who was knocking on one thing, but focused on something else behind her.

A few taps onto Fluttershy’s forehead made Dash stop; the sudden change in what the door was made from and the shrill, all be it quiet cry from Fluttershy returned her attention to the timid pegasus.

“Oops, sorry, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash apologized.

“Oh, it’s quite alright, Rainbow.” She replied, “What do you need? Angel and I were just having some home-made soup because the poor little dear is feeling under the weather…” Fluttershy looked back into the living room where Angel stood on the table, tapping one foot impatiently; arms folded all the while chewing on another piece of soup-logged bread.

“Well…”started Rainbow Dash, “The princess has called us all over to the castle and hasn’t provided much more information other than it’s important. Pinkie Pie has gone to tell Rarity and I’ve already let Applejack know, so we need to hurry and meet up with the others at Twilights library.” She listed off all the main points of the message using a mental checklist, learning her lesson the hard way from the last method she used in the form of hastily writing a note ‘explaining’ the situation.

“Oh, that sounds… bad.” Spoke Fluttershy solemnly.

“Yeah, but it’s the princess, so… Let’s go?” Asked Rainbow Dash hopefully. Anticipating a much faster response than the Applejack fiasco.

“But I can’t just leave Angel; he’s sick.” Fluttershy replied, gazing into her living room where Angel had been standing on the table, now at her side, still with his arms crossed and tapping one foot heavily and meaningfully on the unvarnished wooden floor.

“Can’t he look after himself?” Inquired Rainbow Dash, who could already see where this was going.

“Well…” Fluttershy started, looking down at Angel, who closed his eyes and shook his head, reopening them into a frown. “I really think he needs me with him.”

“Oh, for crying out loud!” Moaned Rainbow Dash, “He’s just caught a cold! It’s not like he has some sort of terminal illness or something.” Her eyes widened with realization as to what she had just said to the sensitive animal lover as she saw Fluttershy’s aquatic green eyes glisten with tears. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy... I was just saying…”

“………..”

Rainbow sighed, “Angel’s going to be fine. It’s just this could be really important. What if we need to use the Elements of Harmony again? We need you, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy withdrew her tears somehow. “Angel…” She calmly said crouching down to just a higher level than the rabbit, whilst maintaining eye contact. Angel closed his eyes and turned away. “This is really important and I’m sorry I have to leave you, but my friends need me.” She paused. “Do you understand?” She asked Angel, who after hearing this turned to face her, one eyebrow cocked. “Pleeeease?” She asked, looking deep into the rabbit’s eyes.

After a good ten seconds, Angel rolled his eyes and hopped off back into the living room and jumped onto the sofa. “I think he’s alright with it.” Fluttershy reported peacefully.

“So, can we go now?” Asked Rainbow, pleased with herself for making this recruitment so successful compared to Applejack’s one a little earlier.

“Okay.” Said Fluttershy, “Let me just say goodbye to Angel.” She went to take a step back into her cottage, when she stopped, nearly stepping on the small white rabbit who held a maroon rubber bag in his hand. “Oh, my.” Fluttershy winced as she turned her attention to the now screaming kettle which was filling her kitchen with steam.

She hadn’t noticed it before, but now it was clear, she gingerly backed into Rainbow Dash, who was staring at the thing she had been beforehoof, which turned out to be the large variety of colourful birdhouses dangling from a spindly - looking tree beside the path that she had somehow never realised were there.

“What is it?” Asked Rainbow Dash as she turned to face a trembling Fluttershy. She instantly became alert and defensive, stepping into Fluttershy’s house and standing strong in front of the pale yellow mare. After a short while, Rainbow asked what the problem was and Fluttershy replied shakily.

“K – k – k – kettle…”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Mm-m-make it stop!”

Rainbow Dash lowered her wings for the second time that day. “Is that all?” She asked, “Turn the kettle off?”

“I-it’s screaming.” Mumbled Fluttershy. “C-could you f-f-fill up Angel’s water b-bottle, please?”

“What?”

“Please?”

“Oh, alright…”

Rainbow took Angel’s bottle from him and unscrewed the top as she went, noticing that it was already full of cold water.

She took the cap off and set it down on the kitchen worktop and made her way over to the kettle that was turning Fluttershy’s kitchen into a sauna. When she entered the kitchen, she noted shelves on the walls constructed especially for potted plants. She also recognised the unmistakeable smell of the delicious soup Fluttershy made for her that one time she invited her over for dinner. Rainbow Dash kept the memory close to her; the dinner was a disaster, yet it gave her a chance to get to know her timid friend better. And she did just that.

Rainbow Dash first poured away the cold water down the sink next to the hob, then proceeded very carefully to pour the boiling liquid into the small hole in the top of the bottle. A few drops splashed up and pricked Rainbow’s arm, but luckily there were no major spillages. Rainbow turned the gas hob off and retuned the cap to the top of the water bottle. She walked over to the recovering Fluttershy and gave the bottle of fresh, hot water to Angel who hugged it close so that the heat penetrated deep into his chest.

“Why are you afraid of a kettle, Fluttershy?” Asked a puzzled and slightly compassionate Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, it’s not the kettle itself, it’s just the noise it makes when it’s boiling.” Replied Fluttershy, a little of her usual level of 'boldness' coming back.

“But the water bottle was already full when I refilled it. Surely you boiled the kettle at least once before I got here.”

“I did. Twice actually…”

“Then why didn’t you fill the water bottle yourself?”

“I put on a brave face for Angel. Whenever any of my animals are sick, and nopony is around to help me, I will go out of my way to help them, even if that means facing my biggest fears!”

“Like a boiling kettle?”

“Yes.” Fluttershy said with a firm, proud nod.

“I just don’t get how you become so worked up over, no offense but, such a silly thing.”

“It… It reminds me of... bad memories... From years ago” Said Fluttershy, wincing at her unforgettable past.

“Like what?” Asked a benevolent Rainbow Dash.

“I-I don’t want to talk about it…” Replied Fluttershy, who was frowning and turning away slightly to try and force the memories out of her head.

“I understand.” Said Rainbow Dash, smiling peacefully at her pegasus friend and placing a reassuring hoof upon her shoulder, which helped tremendously to get the dark and scary thoughts out of her mind and back into the darkest depths of her subconcious where they belonged.

“Thank you.” Fluttershy added with serenity backing up her voice.

“Now,” Fluttershy turned to Angel, “I’ll be back later tonight, okay?” Angel hopped over to the coffee table before bounding on top of it. He stood and waited for his owner (and only parental figure) to say more. “There are some carrots in the fridge in case you get hungry, but really, try to catch some sleep to let your body fight off the cold better. I shouldn’t be back too late, Angel.” Fluttershy said, watching Rainbow stroll out the door. “I’ll see you soon. Love you.”

She blew a kiss towards her pet before waving goodbye and shutting her door behind her and Rainbow Dash. The two pegasi then flew off into the cloudless sky together, leaving Angel alone in the house with a bag of hot water and half a bowl of cold tomato soup.

An Unnexpected Arrival

Chapter 3: An unexpected arrival

“Love and tolerance.”

“Stop saying that! Do you realise how gay it sounds?”

“Nope. Love and tolerance.”

“What does that even mean anyways?”

“It’s a brony saying, it insinuates that no matter how much stick we get from the haters, we will still show them the love and tolerance all bronies should show and expect...”

“Well I still think it sounds gay.”

“Love and tolerance.”

Jak was in another argument about ponies with his friend. It was friendly banter, but interesting none the less. You see, Jak was a brony, and his friend, a hater. And Jak could see the message behind the situation; they were opposite, but still good friends. It reminded him, as pretty much everything did, of My Little Pony. He often wondered how a show intended for young girls appealed so much to people of his age group and gender. Lauren Faust was God, that was the simplest and most justified conclusion he could come to.

There were twenty minutes of lunch left before they would have to trudge over to English and deal with an hour of torture at the hands of one middle-aged woman who had very much seen better days, all whilst under the constant threat of homework. Usually, Jak didn’t mind English; he was quite a creative writer, though he didn’t like to show off his work, and would never admit he was in the process of writing a pony fan fiction. First of all, his other friend, Chris would think he was trying to ‘convert’ him again, Which was far from the lone pony-boy's intention, yet still wsn't entirely fabrication. And his other similarly - named friend, Jack wouldn’t even know what a 'brony' was! The intellectual head of year would merely pass the title on as something to not even consider finding a place with his love of Facebook and Formula 1.

The four friends would hang around together every day. When one of them wasn’t in school, for whatever reason, it never felt the same. However, Jak didn’t believe his other friends felt the same way, but then again, he had never asked.

Sometimes things could get quite confusing, having two ‘Jacks’ in the group. Legally, (If one were to apply such a word) Jak’s name, like his buddy, was spelled ‘Jack’, but since playing the phenomenal Jak and Daxter series, he realised how much better the name Jack looked without a ‘c’, and took it upon the liberty of himself to change it. Without need for explanation, this character trait did not do wonders for his already rather 'intriguing' demeanor.

Sleep, go to school, bum around on the internet, maybe attempt some failed fan art and then go to bed.

...And repeat.

Many people would go insane with boredom leading a life such as this. But Jak loved it. He had fallen into a routine of wake, school, YouTube, sleep, repeat. When he thought about how insignificant his life was, it often reminded him of ‘My Little Dashie’. He hoped that one day he would find a box containing a little cartoon pony, but he knew that was a dream. Dreams don’t come true. They just never do.

The familiar routine he was trapped in was all he knew; if something happened or changed, he would find himself lost. He had no clue what he would do once he started college, and god forbid when he started work. But one thing he had learned in his pointless life was that planning ahead only leads to disappointment. “Live for the moment and face your challenges head on”. Jak laughed at his attitude in his throat whilst he waited for his mother to pick him up from school. When he thought about his life that way, it really seemed more than it was. Never the less, he was happy.

It was a Friday. Everyone loved it, but for Jak it was more so. He could do what he did everyday, but cut out the school part. That was another thing he had learned in life; “don’t wait on miracles, they would never happen and you will get distracted from reality. No matter how much nicer the dream world looked than the real one”. This was one of the reasons he loved My Little Pony so much. It was paradise. There was no hate and true friendship was much easier to come by. If he were prime minister… Thought Jak, off again on one of his thought diversions about how he would make the world a better place… he would make the world a lot more like Equestria. The brony way was very simple; give everyone a chance, because if you look close enough, you may see one or two poppies on a ravaged battlefield. “Love and tolerance.” That would be his campaign title. And everyone would love him and value his opinion. No. just another fabrication, another dream that would never come true.

A wild flash appeared over an English field, causing the pylons to buzz madly and electrical surges occurred for miles around. The white alicorn mare burst through the boundary of her universe and into this one. Her search for The Rife had officially begun.

“What is this world?” She asked herself, hoping for an answer. She received nothing but thoughts about what a bad pony she was for abandoning her friends. Alas, it was the right thing to do. It’s just sometimes the right thing isn’t always the good thing to do. She had never visited this world before and it was certainly different. The clouds and the sun moved by… themselves! But who was she to question a place where she didn’t belong?

Jak was very observant. Though the flash was bright and the explosion was loud, he was the only one in the car to see it; his mum wasn’t paying much attention. He was in disbelief when he saw the large winged horse come flying out of it. Had he finally lost it? He frequently talked to himself when he was alone – ‘the first signs of insanity’ as many would say– maybe he was becoming crazy… unless… no... that would be ridiculous.

In his routine internet journey, he tried to shake the image from his mind. But he couldn’t. He never just ‘saw’ things. Imagined things, yes! One astounding imagination this human had; often left alone for hours on end, amusing himself with epic and funny scenarios once all the electronic devices had been exhausted. Things were always there. They always existed. The very idea of princess Celestia in his world was ludicrous. Fantastic, but ludicrous. The thought stayed with him as he fell into a dreamless sleep and awoke five minutes before his alarm was due to go off. Jak loved that. That was another lesson he learned; “Be thankful for the little things” that way when something good happens, it will feel spectacular.

Jak had forgotten by now about the incident on the Friday afternoon by the time Monday came back around, all far too quickly. As he started on his paper round that fell a few years ago quite nicely into his routine, though at times it felt like a hindrance, things seemed different. He couldn’t pinpoint why, they just did. The air felt ominous, like something not necessarily bad, but still something… unexpected was about to happen. He liked to think of himself as quite ‘as one with the universe’. He laughed at this point. It was true though, he always said that if he were to join a religion, it would be Buddhism. That was of course, before he became a brony, which he treated as a religion.

But no amount of universal tuning could prepare anyone for walking around a corner to find yourself face to face with an enormous white horse with an impossibly long flowing mane.
Before he reacted involuntarily, Jak took in just enough of the creature to realise it was princess Celestia. He flew backwards through the air, sending the newspaper he held flying and by some miracle, not scattering the pages all down the street.
“Whoa!” He shouted as he stumbled backwards, but was caught by some unknown force that returned him to his feet. He stood there and stared at Celestia. None of them said a word as they both couldn’t find the ones to say. Of course, princess Celestia was the first to speak. She began to explain herself.

“Greetings, my name is princess Celestia…”
“…………………………....princess Celestia… Yes, I know…”

Jak finished her sentenced for her. Receiving a confused and shocked look from the white pony. She was still a pony, despite being much bigger than most earth horses.

“You seem to know who I am.” Celestia asked, looking at Jak’s eyes which were darting from Celestia’s horn to her wings, to her shoes, to her ‘necklace’ and then back to her horn. He didn’t dare look at her eyes. For he knew if he did, he would not be able to break the contact.

Celestia cleared her throat loudly. “Look at me.” She ordered in a non-agressive, yet still somewhat shap tone.

“I kind of am…” replied Jak, slightly in awe. After a few more laps of the princess’ body, he raised his eyes to meet hers. She smiled as she knew she had him now. She looked around to make sure nopony, or in this case nobody was around before coming up straight with Jak.

“I need you…” She started. “Equestria is in trouble and I need you to help me…”

Jak stared right through Celestia. Was he hallucinating? Was he crazy? Might he be dreaming? He eliminated the first and last possibilities. He would never do hallucinogens and he certainly didn’t have time for dreams. He was crazy. He had finally snapped and he showed this through how he reacted.

“Okay, princess! I’ll help you out!” He said happily. Too happily.

“Oh, thank you! You don’t know how much-“

“Yeah, I gotta finish my papers and then I’ll go and ride a magic Carpet around the world! Then I’ll be free to help you.” Jak interrupted the princess mid sentence.

“Excuse me!?”Said the princess, astonished.

“Yeah, maybe later I’ll show you around my uncle’s farm; there’s some stallions there you might be interested in.” Jak continued on in a bored – sounding tone. He was talking to a cartoon horse after all, and he had to keep telling himself this, to distract him from the possibility of what was really happening.

“I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but this is important! You have to listen!” Pleaded the princess. “Please... help me!”

Jak picked up his newspaper and went to pass Celestia before a large wing blocked his path. It was real. He was physically being halted by a large wing of a fictional character from a children’s T.V programme.

He didn’t recoil, though. Rather he simply stepped back to hear what the alicorn had to say.

“I can tell this is confusing for you.” Started Celestia. “But I have to tell you what is going on.”

Jak cast his gaze thoughtfully at the ground, then to the roll of dead tree he held loosely in his hand. “If you are real. And you’re really here. I only have one question.”

“Go on…” Celestia insisted.

“I don’t know if you can answer it, but here it is… How?” Asked Jak.

“How?” Celestia echoed.

“Yes. You say you’re from Equestria. Just how is that even possible? I mean, you exist in this universe, but as a fictional character in a children’s T.V programme.”

“T.V programme?” Celestia asked. T.V didn’t exist in Equestria. Neither did electricity. Everything was controlled and powered by magic.

“Think of it as like moving pictures behind a piece of glass.” Despite the situation, Jak couldn’t hide a smirk at what he was saying. It was as if he had gone back in time and was explaining television to a Tudor.

“That’s not important, though. What is important, is how can you even exist. You were created by people in my universe!”

Celestia smiled. “Hm… No, I… I don’t know how that is possible… but…”

“Buuuut?” Asked Jak, leaning towards the princess slightly.

“If my universe was created through the hearts and minds of the pon- uh, ‘people’, is it? In your universe, maybe the love and care shown by the people was enough to create another universe parallel to your own…” Celestia’s eyes widened as she realised why this ‘breaking of the fourth wall’ was possible. “That’s why we can access your universe! Ours was created in your universe and therefore holds a unique connection with yours as it’s neighbour! It all makes sense now!” Celestia said with glee.

Jak smiled, realising that somewhere out there, everything the show had depicted had really happened! All the adventures, all the friendship... all the magic. It was all real! But why was the princess here again?

“Uh… with all due respect, your majesty,” He didn’t know why he was acting so calm and composed around this magic, mythical, talking pony when he had finally realised everything was real, but maybe he really was special… “I forgot what you’re here for.”

“I’ve been observing you for two days-“

“You have!?” Interrupted Jak, astonished that his usual observant nature was destroyed by this creature. When he was met by an icy stare, he quickly apologised before allowing the princess to continue.

“Yes. And I’ve seen that you have seen what has happened in Equestria. How is this?”

“What, you mean ‘have I been observing YOU’?”

“Yes. The ‘moving pictures’ you speak of were moving on some sort of device. There were lots of buttons on it too. They looked like letters. Is this a… ‘T.V’?”

Jak laughed. “No, no! That’s a ‘laptop’!”

“There were pictures of my subjects – Twilight Sparkle and her friends on it. How can you see us?” Celestia asked.
“Well, that’s just it. You exist in my universe as we created yours. Ever since you’ve existed, our universe has helped to dictate what happens in your universe.” Jak had watched a few episodes of My Little Pony over the weekend. And Celestia had watched him, intregued beyond belief.

“Oh…” Said Celestia, sounding a little disheartened.

“What’s wrong, princess?” Asked Jak.

“So you’re saying that everything in our universe has been a lie?” She replied.

“Of course not!” Jak answered, feeling sorry for how the princess must feel right now. “Free will exists in your universe, I suppose... it’s just maybe by a huge coincidence, the produce- uh, people who make the show got lucky about some things...”

Celestia grew contemplative. “Hm, hm..." She chuckled - lacking a particular sense of humour. "I suppose so. But I shouldn't imagine it would be my place to pass judgement on this world... Now, back to the reason as to why I am here…” She affirmed, refreshing her mind and trying to begin again with the strange creature she was conversing with.

“Mum!?” Called Jak from the open doorway to his small home.

A mumble was heard from one room down the corridor. It took about twelve seconds to amble from one end of his house to the other, so clearly audible communication wasn’t a huge issue.

“Can I bring my talking alicorn sun goddess inside please?”

“Yeah. Go on, whatever…” Came a weak reply. Jak’s mother simply thought her son was being strange – this was normal – she shoed the weird request from her consciousness and tried to go back to sleep. She was awakened instantly when she heard the sound of clopping on the wooden floorboards.

She practically leapt out of her bed like a spring and threw on her pink dressing gown. She tore open the sliding door to see an enormous horse with a mane that seemed to flow like water. She went to scream before Jak jammed a hand over her mouth.

“I know what this looks like. I can explain everything, but you can’t scream!” Saying this, Jak now knew how Twilight felt when she was introducing princess Luna to Pinkie on Nightmare Night. He removed his hand from around his mother’s mouth. And waited for a reaction.

“What is this!?” She asked, half angry and half scared.

“Her name is princess Celestia. She’s from a different universe that is pretty much the ‘My Little Pony world’.” A blank face forced Jak to explain further. “I am going to go with her to Equestria. She says she needs my help saving her world.”

“What do you mean you’re going with her?” asked his mother, who had calmed down enough to respond, but not take in any information.

“Apparently, her world, no, her entire universe is in disarray because of some sort of monster.” Jak explained briefly.

“And why do you need Jak?” Demanded his overprotective mother accusingly. Directly addressing the huge white winged horse, who until this point was turned away from the conversation. Jak’s mum wasn’t expecting the animal to be able to talk, but neither was she expecting to see a huge horse with wings and now, it seems, a horn.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. As Jak here already mentioned, my name is princess Celestia.” Said the alicorn in an incredibly friendly manner, raising a hoof towards Jak’s mum, who backed away at the gesture.

Celestia lowered her hoof and made an obvious face of disappointment to show the other female she meant no harm.

“I have been observing your son for a couple of days and I must say I was impressed at how frequently he showed all of the Elements of Harmony in such a short time.”

“Elements of Harmony?” Jak’s mum asked, not having a clue what was going on and beginning to think she was dreaming.

“Yes. Honesty, kindness, generosity, definitely laughter,” Celestia said with a smile, “Even loyalty.”

“How loyalty?” Asked Jak, trying to recall the events of the weekend.

“You were with that machine of yours with the moving pictures most of the time you were awake. That shows true loyalty…” Celestia beamed. Jak turned away, embarrassed.

“What’s going on?” Jak’s mother asked, her eyes moving from Celestia to Jak like she was watching an energetic tennis match.

“My world is threatened, and may have already been destroyed by a legendary being named Kerous. Now, your son, I believe, playes the role of the savior in the prophesy, uh, The... Rife?" The female human's expression didn't falter much further than a slow, dissmisive blink. "Because of this child's ability to easily channel the elements of harmony, I need him to help me defeat this monster and return harmony to my land.”

“Why can’t someone else do it?” Asked Jak’s mother, sounding slightly desperate.

Before Celestia could reply, Jak too had a question. “What do you mean your world has already been destroyed?”

“My universe, by now has probably ceased to exist, but we can travel back in time during the process of crossing over universes.”

“Just like that?” Asked Jak.

“Just like that.” Celestia responded.

“Surely… you’re not going… with her?” Asked a worried sounding mother.

“I was planning on it…” Jak replied.

“But you can’t just… leave.” His mother responded, becoming emotional.

“I don’t see why not…” Replied Jak blankly.

“What do you mean ‘I don’t see why not’?” pleaded his mother. However, Jak couldn’t care less. He had lost massive amounts of respect for his mother after she kept crawling back to that evil whom she called a ‘boyfriend’ who had caused their family to fall apart. Jak understood the forces of friendship and love way better than most people. These things are the most basic, but two of the most powerful forces of magic throughout both of their universes. But Jak seriously lacked them in his life.

“I kinda feel like I need to announce this.” Jak stated, turning to Celestia.

“What do you mean?” She replied, not knowing what else to say to resolve the situation.

“Today’s Monday… I have assembly today…”

“So that’s it?” Jak’s mother said, returning the focus to herself. “You’re just going to go?” She finished angrily, trying to install guilt in Jak.

“Um… Yes.” Jak replied definitively. “Shall we go, princess?”

Princess Celestia said nothing, as nothing could be said. When Jak declared something opinionative, he was not easily deterred. She struggled once again through the small entrance, it seemed as though entering the domain was much less necessary than intended.

Jak went to leave too, but turned as he was half outside, half inside his home that had been his prison for the last two years of his life that he knew he would never see again. Or at least, not for a very long while.

“Oh, yeah… Thanks for… you know, the life…” He said, turning towards his mother who he was barely related to past blood. He was met by cold remarks.

“Fine. Go. See if I care.” His mother said trying hard to replace the anguish with a dismissal of care. Jak saw straight through her barriers. It was a skill he had developed that came in useful when trying to see weather one was serious or not.

“Good. The feeling’s mutual then.” He declared with the solemness his mother failed to pull off. And with that, turned and walked out, shutting the door carefully behind him, and joining Celestia in the middle of the road under the pink sky, illuminated by the early Earth sun.

“Right, everyone. Settle down…” Came the drone of possibly the most boring and dull person in the country as the din of the Monday – morning assembly hall fell to a silenced attention. “As you know, your exams are coming up this month. So be sure to revise and I wish you the best of luck in the upcoming weeks.”

Pathetic. Jak could make a motivational speech to his friends and acquaintances on the spot a hundred times better than that poor attempt. But what could be expected from a grey man who was so devoted to his work that every other thing that came out of his mouth was about some exam or another test. Sometimes Jak wondered weather this dull man actually wanted to live for life, in that he pushed towards achievements and goals, rather, he only lived because he had to. Ponies would be a good edition to his life, as they would be to anyone, but especially him. Though he may be blinded by the bright colours and happy sounds.

Before the hushed whispers could rise again, the headmistress who you got the impression of being everyone’s bitch when she was younger and was now returning the favour to the world spoke up.

“Right. Listen. As you are aware, the school is undergoing maintenance to have a new boiler fitted. Now, there will be builders wandering around and making noise, but please don’t let that distract you from your studies.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “Now, I have a presentation planned, but the sound isn’t working so-“

“Sorry to interrupt your riveting lecture, Miss, but I believe I have a far more impressive presentation…”

Everyone turned their attention to the voice that was coming from backstage, and there were gasps of amazement, fear and confusion as an enormous white pony with a massive horn and equally gigantic wings, raised proudly, emerged from centre left. Being ridden bareback by Jak, who couldn’t stop grinning at how awesome this felt.

The teacher positioned at the sides of the room didn’t have a clue what to do, but when Jak spoke, they could do nothing but listen.

“Everyone!” he called the whole of the year to attention. “This is princess Celestia.” Whispers from everyone in the room, except for three, caused a loud, inaudible sea of ‘husshh husshh’ sounds. “Listen.” Jak said sternly from atop his steed.
“Some of you may know about her. She is the princess in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Now, she says that her world is in trouble and she needs me to help out.” Like Jak’s and his mothers first reactions, the two hundred-odd students thought this was some sort of set up, a joke or some sort of weird dream. But is couldn’t have been. None of the people in the entire room dreamed about school. Well, perhaps the dull ‘exam-man’ did. That is, if he dreamed at all.

“I know what you’re thinking.” Said Jak, noticing some or the lost faces in the audience. “I had the exact same thoughts when I first saw her too!” He chuckled lightly.

By now, everyone had stopped asking unanswerable questions amongst themselves and were all listening avidly to what Jak had to say.

“I uh… probably won’t be seeing you again.” He said to no one in particular. “I just wanted to say goodbye to you all, so the few of you that actually care will know what happened.” This line was spoken towards the group of popular girls sat together at the back of the hall. One of Jak’s pet peeves was vein people. These girls would spend hours on their appearance by plastering on layers of makeup and fake tan that made them look ill. How could they believe that made them look even half attractive? And you could bet that once Jak was gone, they would be furiously texting one another about menial things. Maybe even in the same day. Now, once again, if they had ponies in their lives, they may have a better understanding of the world of relationships; that it wasn’t skin deep and it wasn’t about money and other mortal things.

“Guys…” Jak bespoke to his three friends, who, despite being in two different form groups were still sat quite close to each other. “Thank you. These past few years have been the best of my life and I owe it all to you.” He looked back up and around the room to indicate that what he was about to say would be addressed to the entire year. “My Little Pony delivers some wonderful messages. Now, some of you may object to taking life lessons from a children’s show, but these are some true lessons that could better the world in so many ways. And to those who care, I urge you to watch the show. Give it a chance. That also happens to be a lesson in one of the recent episodes.” Jak continued, half smiling with satisfaction. “I will remember all of you. And I hope you will do the same.” He turned slightly pink at this point. Ever so slightly shocked at how immodest he was being. “I’ll leave you with one last message:

"Never stop dreaming."

"Never stop believing in yourself. No matter what it is, taking an exam, telling someone you love them, or simply trying something new, never just give up. Because dreams do come true. And any time in your lives you are feeling sad, alone or frightened. Remember the lessons in that wonderful programme and think about all the good stuff your life still has in store for you. Thank you for the best years of my life. You have given me friendship. And that is more valuable than any sum of money or material possession.”

Jak finished with a content smile as he dismounted princess Celestia and said quietly “I’m ready.” And with that, the princesses’ large horn glowed bright and Jak stepped closer and put an arm around her neck as he felt lightened by the magical connection they were sharing.

Looking back at his friends one last time, he managed a large sweeping wave farewell before the duo on stage erupted into a cacophony of white and gold sparks, filling the dull hall with colour and light.

And as the last of the sparks blinked themselves out and fell to the stunned crowd below, the explosion still softly reverberating around the dim walls, the attention of everyone returned to the empty stage. Both Jak and Celestia were gone. Leaving nothing behind except a powerful lesson that would stay with the young ones for the rest of their lives and several more bronies and pegasisters in the world which desperately needed it.

Author's Note

Hey, all, future Still Breeze, here :3

...

Oh my goodness... I am ~so sorry for this... Please understand that this story is my first serous work, and that it picks up in the succeeding chapters - and I use that term in a literal sense in this context... :/

Thank you for bearing with it thus far: I feel as though I should offer words of encouragement...