Dead on the inside

Chapters

The first incident
The second incident
The empty shell
The never-ending dream
The never-ending nightmare
The magic of friendship
A good start
No chance
No time
No hope
No smile
A change of plans
The real dream
Guardian
Prologue (Short version of first 3 chapters)
Epilogue

The first incident

On a late but calm evening, a lone man sat in a hospital's corridors. Not exactly the place for smiles, but the man was smiling, nevertheless...Worried, nervous and sweaty, but happy, still. His eyes were covered by dark sunglasses, but they could not hide his joy. He sat right in front of the door from which he was expecting a nurse to come through any moment and deliver great or even greater news. His wait was nearly at an end.

The sound of the door opening lifted his head sky-high and doubled the wideness of his smile...The nurse's expression, however, did not bring joy. The man didn’t pay much attention to that at the moment and asked right away, "So?...Is it a boy or a girl?”

The man's excitement rapidly faded with each second the nurse lingered on her answer. Only a shade of a grin remained in the corner of his lips when the nurse finally spoke up. "I’m sorry, Sir...I'm afraid your wife isn’t doing too well...”

Whatever was still left from a smile had faded from the man's face entirely now. "W-what do you mean?"

The nurse sounded rather unconfident for a moment. "Sir...uhm...I-I don't know how put this..."

"Just give it to me straight, please! Don't keep me in the dark!"

The man's tone gave the nurse the confidence she needed to finally speak up. "Sir, as much as it pains me, it is my duty to inform you that..." She paused one final time as her expression grew ever more grim. "You're going to have to make very painful decision..."

A brief moment of silence struck the room. Only the noises coming from inside the operation room were the only sounds even remotely close to the corridor with the man and the nurse. The heart rate monitor beeping, the doctors discussing something that could not be heard properly from their angle, and of course, the moaning maiden on the table.

The man hung his head ever so low...He already knew exactly what choice was the nurse talking about. "I...see...” the man whispered, engulfed by his self-scolding inner thoughts. I knew she wasn’t ready for this...Why, oh why did I make her go through with this? Inhio, you idiot!

"Sir?...”

The nurse's voice rang through his ears like a church bell and cleared his mind of the unwelcome thoughts...Despite the long pause, he did not need much time to realize just what answer he wants to give. "Her...Her, of course! My wife!” Inhio got up from his chair as he spoke up and walked closer to the nurse. His words, undeniable and clear as day, left the nurse a bit confused.

"Sir? A-are you sure? I was only about to just state the choice I mentioned, but you’ve already...”

The nurse's loud speech got cut short by a voice three times as loud and fierce. "As sure as the moon that watches over us in this dark night and as clear as the seven seas...Yes!...The only thing I’m not sure about is raising a child that came into this world through the death of my other half!”

Inhio stepped closer and closer to the nurse as he spoke, up to the point where another step taken would’ve led to stepping on her feet. The nurse backed up a bit, avoiding the frustrated man, and although she was a bit scared of his tone, she more than understood his attitude. "Yes, Sir.” The nurse obediently walked back into the room to give the verdict to the doctors who had already begun the process to extract the dead fetus from Inhio's wife without waiting for the nurse. It’s no wonder they had heard the decision from Inhio's own mouth. For all they knew, half the hospital did.

Inhio slowly walked up to the window of the operation room, took off his shades and looked upon his saddened and weakened wife. As she turned her head to look back at him, a waterfall of tears rained down upon the ground...It was unclear whether her expression meant "I’m sorry!” or "How could you?”

Inhio lifted his hand up to the window and placed his palm against it, still maintaining eye-contact with his wife, Angela. For a brief moment, he lowered his head and pushed his forehead against the window and gripped his hand into a half-fist position. He then raised his head again and restored eye contact, after which he opened his gripped hand and drew a heart-shaped figure on the window.

Angela knew Inhio inside-out and perfectly understood each of his motions. In the order as they were, they meant "I’m with you.”, "I feel your pain.”, and as for the last three words...Lets just say that they didn’t even need any additional explaining.

Despite Angela's expression carrying nothing but misery and agony, Inhio found comfort inside himself. For his love for her was undying. As insanely outrageous as it may sound, he’d use his own two hands to strangle this and a dozen other babies just to see his wife still breathing...even if it meant not being there to breathe by her side.

***

The couple left the hospital in Inhio's car, early on the next morning. Angela needed a lot of rest after the horrid evening, and Inhio gladly waited for her, all night. She still had little strength left after the night and didn’t feel much like talking, and the man didn’t feel much like bothering her either.

Unfortunately for the couple, all the parking spots near their house were filled, so they had to park a good bit from home and walk through a not-so-safe neighbourhood. Inhio held his wife strongly by his side as he walked her home, hoping that they wouldn’t run into any trouble along the way...Alas, trouble found its way to them.

A crowd of dangerous-looking people crossed their path. Inhio wasn’t really a fighter, nor would he feel much like fighting, even if he was, not while his wife needs him, more than ever. Naturally, he tried to resolve this conflict through words...but it wasn’t long before both of them realized that words were of no use here.

"Please! For the love of decency, she needs help! Just let me take her home, first...” He resorted to begging, but not even that helped. Inhio threw himself towards the bandits in a desperate attempt to hold them back, or at least keep them away from his wife until help arrives. Sadly, it wasn’t long before he found himself beaten and lying on the ground, only able to watch over as the bastards moved closer and closer to his wife.

The people here were the very embodiment of evil, that became clear to Inhio when he saw their leader pull out a knife while approaching his wife. "Oi, hero! Keep yer head up, eh? Wouldn’t wanna miss out on the show, now, would ya?” their leader taunted the man in a mocking tone.

Feeling helpless, Inhio did the only thing he could. He crawled towards the man holding the knife and silently prayed to the god he never believed existed. He didn’t rely much on god, he was just hoping to claw at the bandit's leg in a desperate attempt to keep his wife alive for as long as he could.

The cruel man laughed wickedly as he raised his arm and swung his knife towards the trembling woman who had already begun to faint from too much stress.

His fun, however, was cut short. The man's arm stopped in midair, and his face froze in shock from the sight he just witnessed. The beaten man who was far away from him and was still barely crawling just seconds ago, was now standing proudly and holding his arm so firmly that he could not move it right or left.

The bandit , still a bit dazed from the sudden shock, added another taunt as readied his free arm for a blow. "Oi, lads, would ya look at this, now. We got ourselves a true family man here! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Inhio didn’t budge. He ignored the bandit's laugh entirely. It was as though he was no longer himself, for the moment, but a force of pure light, here to purge the unjust. His will to defend his wife to the death woke up strength the likes of which he had never felt before.

"Seems like this one has some trouble staying down!” As the bandit launched his free arm towards Inhio's sides with all his might, he ended up being the one taking a heavy blow to the ribs, instead.

The man moaned in pain. The powerful blow forced him to bend. A single hit so vigorous was enough for him to yield the fight, he would probably do so too, if he could only find the strength to breathe. Unfortunately for him, Inhio was not done with him, and before he could realize what was going on, another blow sent him flying through the air and landed him unconscious at the feet of his gang.

The gang first stared at their fallen leader, but soon turned their attention to the man that dealt the blow, right after hearing a small, black, plastic object drop to the ground. Inhio's eyes were exposed as he stared back at the criminals and shouted "Leave!" Whether it was the one hit KO, or the man’s burning gaze, it did not matter. The cowardly dogs fled like hens from a butcher's cleaver.

After calming himself, Inhio looked at his own hands, and then at the unconscious bandit, still barely believing what had just happened, himself. He would stay and ponder on this question for longer, but he had his priorities sorted. He picked up his shades and walked up to his passed out wife. He picked her up gently in his arms and carried her home.

He Carried her up the stair case and put her in bed, and the only words he said to her since she walked out of that hospital came now, and those were just an offering for a glass of water. She didn’t seem to recall anything of what had happened on the street, just minutes ago, so Inhio decided to not bring it up. Besides, he probably wouldn’t be able to explain even half of it, anyways.

He sat and watched over her for hours. Seeing her unable to get some proper rest hurt him, and every time she turned to try and find a more comfortable position, Inhio felt a spike impaling his heart. After a couple hours of the same grim situation, Angela switched to sitting on the bed and quietly asked if he’s mad, to which Inhio replied without much thinking, "At myself...or the baby? At the man who was responsible for putting you in this painful state, altogether, or the thing that tried to take your life for a chance to walk the Earth?”

A question that sounded so full of sarcasm could only sound like the clean truth to someone who really knew Inhio...he’d never joke like that. "After all that...” Angela burst into tears in the middle of her sentence. "You still try to pin all the blame on no one but yourself...”

She covered her eyes as she wept loudly. Inhio didn’t hesitate to rush over and wrap his arms around her. "And who else should I blame?”

With the way she cried, it was difficult for her to keep a sentence uninterrupted "Me...you know damn well...that I wanted that baby more than anything...you can’t tell me you’ve forgotten how I practically begged for it...I...” She took her hands off of her face to look upon her husband as she finished. "I’m the only one to be truly held responsible for this mess, and you know it!...Me and my...”

"Hush!" he interrupted her. "Rest now...you’ve had a long day...try not to think about it.” Inhio calmed her as best he could. He hushed her and held her tightly in his arms, and she soon responded with a hug just as tight.

***

The couple recovered seemingly soon enough, and had their life back on their feet. They tried as best they could to forget that fateful day. Although they never spoke of it, the thoughts were still always there...such deep wounds don’t heal so easily.

Inhio still regretted his decision ever so dearly, and he never stopped blaming himself for putting his wife through so much pain. Nevertheless, he was still ever so glad that it was all behind him and would never happen again...or so he though.

In one early autumn morning, half a year after the incident, the couple found themselves in a position similar to the one nine months before the painful day.

"No! I will not let you go through this again!” Inhio had to resort to yelling at the one person he’d protect until the day his bones began to rust. He calmed himself, sat down and continued in a quieter voice. "I’m sorry...Mayhap you have recovered from that day, but it seems that I still haven't...”

Angela sat down next to him and put her arm on his shoulder. Inhio turned towards her and looked her in the eyes before speaking again. "Seeing you in that state...that...I...I’m not sure I could go through with that again...I...I just don’t...” He hung his head and covered the sides of his head with his hands.

His wife slowly leaned on him and whispered in his ear, "I’ll be fine. I know it, this time. Please, I need you to trust me on this.” She put her arm on his cheek and turned his face towards her own. "Do you not trust me?”

"I do...I always have.”

The tides had turned...this time it was the woman that smiled while the other was frowning. "Then prove it.”

Inhio cursed himself a thousand times before agreeing...with a face about as happy as that of a boy who had just lost his hamster, he replied. "Only if you prove it back.”

"W-what do you mean?” Angela was slightly confused about the reply. Inhio then got off the bed and got down on his knees and grabbed her hands and held them firmly as he asked, "I want you to promise...no...I want you to swear to me...”

"Anything, my love! Just say the word!” She answered his grip by also holding his arms tightly.

"Swear to me...that if the event from half a year ago repeats itself...”

"It won’t!” with a fierce shout, Angela interrupted.

"If" He placed a special emphasis on that one word. He also hoped that it wouldn't happen again, but he had to be sure. "If it does...I want you to swear one thing to me...do you remember how the last time they made me make the decision between you an the baby?”

Angela paused a bit, not sure about where this was heading.

"I just want to be sure, that if the past repeats itself, and this time, it’s you, instead of me making that choice, for some reason...I want you to swear to me that you will save your own life instead of the child’s.”

Angela didn’t want to keep the man waiting, so she gave her reply after just a short moment of thought.

"I swear.”

The second incident

And so it came to pass. The couple decided to go through with it again. However, Inhio insisted on waiting at least a full year after the tragic day. Nearly 15 full months had passed since the day Inhio had made his wife make the vow, and so they returned to this dreaded place that was still giving Inhio nightmares up to this very day.

Just as last time, it was evening, and a man was sitting on the chairs in the corridor and waiting for someone to finally enlighten him on the situation, only this time, the man was more stressed than happy.

The process was starting to take long...too long...certainly longer than last time, and last time was no joke. Inhio could wait no longer. He walked up and peeked through the window. The sight seemed almost too good to believe. His wife was smiling as she looked back at him. Her smile brought joy to his mind...the look on the faces of the doctors, however, did not.

One of the doctors noticed him peeking through the window and ordered someone to take him away with a swift movement of his hand. After a few seconds, a nurse came through the door and spoke to the man at the window in a rather frightened voice. "Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to step away from the window.”

"Sure...Everything seems to be going well, so I see no further reason for standing here.” Inhio gladly did as the nurse asked and sat down with a smile on his face. Oddly enough, the nurse still stood next to the door, looking a bit...pale.

"You don’t know what’s going on, do you, Sir?”

"Well, not exactly, but I’m guessing everything's going well and I’ll soon get to hold my son or daughter, ain’t that right? Angela sure looks happy, she’s not moaning at all.” He stopped to think for a while and then looked back at the nurse again and asked. "Isn’t she supposed to be in pain if the baby’s still in?”

"Not in this case, Sir.”

The color of the man’s face was starting to match that of the nurse's. "And what exactly is this case, if I might ask?”

"The same as last time, Sir...Well, almost.”

"I...I beg your pardon?”

"Last time, you got to choose the fate of the child.”

Inhio reclined in his chair and sighed loudly. His thoughts started punishing him again. Damn it, damn it, damn it! GAAAAAH!!! I knew this would happen! I f***ing knew it! And I still let her go through with it, again!

Inhio almost succeeded in convincing himself that Angela’s better off without him. He then remembered that nothing is more important to him than the fact that his wife is still alive. This thought helped him cleanse his mind from the thoughts trying to break his will.

"Oh well...I just pray to all the saints and divines that she won’t try to convince me to try this again...Hell, there’s nothing on earth that could make me put her through this, again, anyways...I...I’m not sad...this day is nothing but a repeated tragedy, but you know what? I’m not sad!” Inhio pushed his back against the chair again and made himself comfortable. The night was going to be long, so he figured he’d may as well at least keep a cool mind. A few things, however, would not let him achieve peace at mind- two rather intriguing questions, two things that seemed out of place, when compared to the last time.

Why was Angela so happy, this time...and why is that damned nurse still standing there with that stupid expression and pretending like she doesn’t know I fully comprehend the current situation. "Why...” He was about to ask that for himself, but it then occurred to him. His jaw reached for the floor, his face instantly painted itself into a ghostly color, his shades dropped, and it looked as though half his hair was about to go with them.

"Sir...” The nurse barely got to say a word before Inhio rocketed out of the chairs, somehow managing to drop half of the entire row of chairs behind him, and then storming through the door and nearly injuring the nurse in the process. "Sir!”

Inhio pushed the curtains aside and startled all the doctors. He dropped on his knees and grabbed the cold hand of his wife who was still smiling at him.

"Hey!” One of the doctors shouted at him in a violent tone. "What’s he doing in here!? I told you to make sure he doesn’t find out!” the doctor kept shouting at the nurse.

"Don’t stop, we need to keep the operation going if we want at least one of them to stay alive!” one of the other doctors calmed the doctor in charge. The annoyed doctor directed an angry gaze towards Inhio, but quickly realized that it would take a tractor to get a man in his state out of here, so without much thinking, they resumed the operation.

"No...please tell me this isn’t what I think...please tell me you didn’t break my promise!” Inhio cried next to his wife while she just smiled back at him. Once again, the tides had turned.

"I love you,” Angela whispered to her desperate husband.

"No...no, no, no, no, no! How...how could you...” He held on to her arm ever so tightly, hoping to warm it up and to feel life in her veins again, but it only kept on getting colder and colder, right before he heard her whisper one last time.

"I love you...”

As Angela's head dropped on the pillow, and her hand lost whatever was left of its grip, Inhio screamed so loud that the doctors nearly dropped their instruments.

Inhio's soul mate was dead...and it felt like she took his soul with her as well. He dropped on the ground, his vision started to fade, and he could barely still hear anything. Only barely audible noises still echoed through his ears, the only sound he heard clearly was the heart monitor that was now producing a single long beep without end. The last thing he heard before completely losing consciousness was someone shouting.

"Get him out of here!”

The empty shell

The man that had earlier fainted was now lying in the middle of the corridor he was previously sitting in. He was awake, even though he did not move, but not because he was tired, but because he actually felt like he was dead. Someone’s hand slipped past his eyes and then came back. It rapidly repeated the sequence until the man grabbed the hand.

"Aah!” The voice of a surprised female was the response of the sudden grip.

"I told you he’s awake.” A quiet, manly voice was heard from behind the woman.

"Say, nurse, why’d you bother putting his shades back on?” another manly voice asked.

"I-It’s hard to explain, Sir. Th-there was something about his eyes that seemed...unsettling.” the startled nurse tried to explain her motives as best she could.

"I’d say, hah! A man weeping like a baby in a cradle, can’t say I’d want to look someone like that in the eye, either.” A very arrogant-sounding man was heard laughing.

If Inhio had still cared for anything at that moment, he probably would have torn the man's throat out with his bare hands.

"Sir, please! This man’s been through enough, I think he deserves a bit of kindness!” The nurse was shocked by the incredibly rude attitude.

The arrogant man seemed to want to add something, but didn’t bother. After shutting him up, the nurse directed her attention back to the man on the ground, who seemed to be ignoring the conversation completely.

"Sir...” She struggled to free her wrist from his grip "If you could just...”

And all of a sudden, he released her hand and put his arm back on the ground as if nothing had happened.

"Thank you!”

The man neither moved nor spoke, the woman felt like letting him be the one to say the next thing, no matter what that might be, but it soon became clear that he could most likely go on like this for longer than they could bear. "Please, Sir, you need to get up, we...”

The man got up the instant he heard the order. He brushed the filth off his clothes and looked at the nurse, who all of a sudden felt like she’s in charge of the emotionless man in front of her. She felt confused, she wasn't expecting him to respond in such a way and didn't know what to say. "I...that is...I thought you should know, Sir. It’s a girl.”

Her words were nothing but wind for the man. He kept on staring at the woman like a robot awaiting orders. The woman tried as best she could to break the awkward silence. "Have you thought of a name for the baby? Every child needs a name. Your wi...” She froze up in fear of what could happen as soon as she reminds him of the now deceased person that seemed to leave a brutal impact on the man’s attitude. "Your wife, she...she never said a name.” The silence was upon them again. "Sir, I...”

The man leaned closer towards her and spoke in a tone no one had ever heard him speak in before, "Murderer.” After saying a single word, he leaned back into his previous pose and stood still.

"Sir, I really don’t think that’s an appropriate name for anyone.”

"Killer,” The man said with the same voice as before.

"Not better...”

His voice got louder with every word. "The matricide.”

"Sir!” The nurse tried to reason, but had to resort to shouting eventually. Not even that helped.

"Hellspawn!”

"Enough!” one of the doctors interrupted the charade with a loud shout. "I don’t care if he names the child Fluffy, the purple, bunny-eating monkey that smells like ten months old cheese! We’re all about as dead from working this late as that man is from his crying session! I’m outta here!” The grumpy old doctor walked away, and most of the doctors saw this as a chance to get away from the unpleasant situation and followed him. In fact, the only doctor left was the one holding the baby.

The very same doctor was still just a trainee and wasn't too confident about his skills as a doctor. He walked up to Inhio and handed him the baby and said nothing more than, "Here, please be gentle with her.” Before running off to follow the rest of the pack.

The nurse was the only one left to watch over the father that was now holding the crying child. She cringed from disgust seeing all the doctors just leave like that. She realized that she did not feel even the slightest part of the pain that the man next to her must have been feeling, but she still wanted to make it better, as best she could. She was no less tired than any of the leaving doctors, but she couldn’t really think about her exhaustion right now.

"So what do I do with this thing, now?” the careless man asked. He looked ready to throw the baby out of the nearest window, if only the nurse had told him to do so.

His level of carelessness is off the charts. The nurse thought to herself. She kept thinking whether it’s safe to leave a child in the hands of a man who would probably drop her just to free an arm to scratch his own behind with...although that thought really didn’t need much thinking. The long night eventually took its toll on her. "Like it or not, Sir, that baby is now yours to take care of...I’m not about to give any parenting advice, but I beg you, please, don’t let your hatred get the better of you. It’s clear to me, now, that unless you recover soon, you won’t make much of a father...No offence.”

"None taken, your words hold nothing but the truth.”

That response was as calm as it was emotionless. The nurse sighed loudly and continued. "If you’re not going to take care of her, yourself, then there are always others who will..." She wasn't sure if Inhio understood what she meant, so she decided to clarify, "Leave her at an orphanage. It’s not the best life, but at least it’s still a life. From the look on you right now, I’d have to say that the baby wouldn’t make it farther than the next trash can.”

"You read me like a book.” Another quick response in the same tone followed.

"Please, Sir. I might not know how you feel, but I know you’re a good person, and even though the good side of you is suppressed right now, I hope it can hear these few words.” The nurse walked closer to Inhio and gazed right through his eyes that were covered by the very shades she had put on him earlier. "One life got taken today, another ruined...another need not be taken.” The tired nurse slowly turned around and walked away and didn’t look back. After she had walked a good distance from Inhio, she whispered just loud enough for him to hear it.

"The choice is yours...You can save a life.”

***

The nurse had vanished from sight, and the hospital seemed deprived of all and any life. Just one, lone man stood in the middle of a corridor as the echoes of a crying baby girl rang through the empty halls. It was unclear whether the man was thinking or just waiting for someone to give him a direct order. He probably would have stayed there until the staff came back on the next day if it weren’t for the lights behind him beginning to go out, one by one.

It wasn’t fear of the dark, more like some deep instinct that moved the man towards the staircase to the lower levels of the hospital. The lights faded almost at the instant the man stepped from one lighted area to the other. At first he walked through the light, leaving a darkened path behind him, but the dark eventually caught up to him, and by the time he got to the staircase, the entire corridor had already turned pitch-black.

Nevertheless, the man kept walking as though he could see through the dark as if it were clear daylight to him. His steps were silent, and his movement stable and slow. The baby found comfort in the surrounding atmosphere. By the time the man had walked out of the facility and started his car, the baby had already fallen asleep. He put the baby in a cradle that he brought with him for the occasion, although he had already bought it more than 21 months ago.

The man drove off silently into the night, trying not to wake the screaming menace in the back of his car. Either it was whatever was left of the man’s conscience, or sheer dumb luck that the orphanage just happened to be on the way home, no one knew, but somehow the cradle found its way to the front door of its future home. The man left it and walked off as if he was a mail boy delivering a newspaper. Only the soft voice of an elderly woman caused him to look back before leaving, for good. The head nun herself had come out to pick up the child.

"Pardon me, young man, but you don’t quite seem to know how things work around here.” The man stared at the nun and awaited further explaining. Her words meant less to him than the wind surfing through his hair. "I can see that you have little desire to come in and file any papers and give the child away in a formal procedure...That’s fine, you’re not the first.” The woman turned her attention towards the baby that she was now gently swinging in her arms.

"But you could have at least left a note with the baby’s full name, even just a family name would suffice, i’ll think of the name myself, if you so wish.”

The man didn’t care much for the nuns slightly annoying tone, but then again, he didn’t care much for anything, at the time being. He barely kept himself from giving the same names he gave the nurse back at the hospital. He spent a while thinking of a name. He had no particular wish to name her after anything or anyone, the only thing he thought about was naming her to sound as far from the name Angela as possible. He even thought about giving her a boy's name, a few times.

"Josephine.”

The man finally spoke up, but the nun still didn’t look too satisfied. Of course, the man knew the reason for that, he was just having trouble deciding whether he wants to reveal his real family name. He sure as hell did not want the name to be carried by the only thing that still makes him feel something...Because the only feeling still residing inside Inhio was a burning hatred. Perhaps my family name is actually the perfect one for her. Was his final thought before he said the next word, "Hellbridge.”

"I beg your pardon?” The nun wasn’t sure if she heard the odd name correctly.

"Hellbridge,” the man repeated. "Should I fetch my passport? I left it in the car.”

The nun would have asked most people to do just that before agreeing to bring in a baby with such a disturbing and uncommon family name, but there was something about the man in front of her that made her have little or no doubt about his trustworthiness. Something even aside from his unchanging stance and proud accent. The two maintained eye-contact for another half a minute or so, before the nun took the baby inside. Her wide eyes and surprised expression gave her away. If she had not turned around, then Inhio probably would have went for his passport without being asked to do so.

"There will be no need for that, kind Sir. Thank you, and have a nice day.” the nun spoke fast, as though she wanted nothing more than to leave the somewhat frightening conversation partner.

"Josephine Hellbridge. Hmph...Now there’s a name I’m going to have trouble saying out loud to someone looking to adopt her,” the still dissatisfied nun whispered as she walked through the dark corridors of the orphanage, bringing the child into its new home.

As the large doors closed behind her, Inhio took the chance to finally leave before getting delayed, again. Despite wanting to get away as soon as possible, he walked slowly as he remembered his own past with the non-mundane family name he carried so proudly.

Inhio Hellbridge...Yes, that’s what they called him. The name might seem strange, but Inhio never hid it from anyone, and aside from the occasional "Inhio Hellbridge? What kinda name is that?”, he never got mocked for it, either. Not in school, not at work. Neither by his friends, nor foes.

***

"Inhio is dead” Were the words the man had set as his motto, and just by looking at him, it would have been hard to deny them. His body seemed to take everything over, by itself, repeating all his every day actions that he once did, step by step. Someone who only ever saw him with one corner of their eye, every day, would have probably said that he hasn’t changed a bit...Only the people that actually knew him thought differently.

It really did feel like the man they saw now was a completely different person. Truth be told, not everyone could freely call him human, anymore. His face was constantly stuck on one, unchanging and expressionless image. His body may have been fully functional, still, and it did whatever he once did, but his soul was missing in action. Some called him a robot, some - an empty shell, and some even - a walking corpse.

Needless to say, he never smiled or laughed, nor did he cry or cringe from either disgust or pain. The only thing that still kept him his job was the good relationship he once had with his boss. Thanks to that, his boss was willing to let him keep working til one of them dropped dead, even though not all of his co-workers approved.

The situation with his friends was similar. The people that once loved nothing more than sharing both a drink and a tale with him, now slowly began to resent him, but it was long before they decided to switch tables and leave him sitting alone. He let them leave without a second glance. Only his best friend still remained at the same table with him for a while longer, but even he soon gave up on any hope of seeing his friend the way he used to be. As he got up from the table, ready to leave, he put his arm on his shoulder, brought his head down to the same level as that of the sitting man and whispered, "You’re just not what you used to be, Inhio.”

"Inhio is dead!”

He got a reply so quick it almost seemed like the last word of his sentence and the first one of Inhio’s sentence were one, whole word.

"You know...you might just be right.” His friend walked over to the table that the rest of his friends had just moved to, but seeing his life-long friend like this wouldn’t let him enjoy what was left of the evening. He apologized to his other friends, saying, "Sorry, guys. Another time.” And left the bar. The slightly drunk company respected him, and his friendship with Inhio, so they had no problem understanding him wanting to leave them after what had just happened. All they hoped for was that he wouldn’t end up like Inhio.

When he left the bar, something surprised him a bit. Inhio was already out of the bar, just standing there and aimlessly watching the street. He was about to say something, but decided not to. It seemed like Inhio didn’t realize he was even there, even though he clearly did. Inhio’s friend walked away, soon enough, pretending to not know him. And saying that wouldn’t exactly be a lie, either, for the Inhio he once knew no longer existed.

His friends walking out on him like that left Inhio with extra time. Usually by the time he left the bar, all that was left for him to do that night was find his bed, but messing with his usual schedule seemed to have interfered with the way his empty shell operated, now. He stood there for more than an hour without moving, staring into a puddle right in front of him, as if trying to find his own reflection.

This is what a walking corpse looks like. Were the only words on his mind. His body went into a state of an unbreakable trance that might have lasted for god knows how long if it weren’t for the rest of his friends leaving the bar. That seemed to wake him up. He ran off with his friends barely only managing to catch a glimpse of him.

Strange. They thought. This was the first time anyone had seen him running in over 8 years.

***

On the next day, Inhio did yet another thing he had not done in 8 years - he revisited the place he left his daughter at. It didn’t take a genius to realize that something woke up in him on that fateful night...Something that had been sleeping for far too long.

On his arrival, he was greeted and welcomed in by the same head nun that took in his child 8 years ago. The nun recognized that look right away, her memory was something to admire. Before long, the two were walking through the corridor, side by side.

"The years sure have been kind to you. You look no different than you did on the day you first came here...I wish the same could be said for me.” The nun coughed a few times before continuing the conversation. "Somehow I had a feeling I’d be seeing you again, one day, even though your attitude suggested the exact opposite...Tell me, what exactly brought you back here?”

"I just wanted to make sure the girl is doing alright.”

"So, you care for her, after all, then?” The nun got into a slightly more cheerful mood. She wasn’t wrong about the man, she always knew there was more to him than just ice in his veins.

"It’s not for myself, I made a promise to someone, and I aim to fulfill it.”

"Mmm, that must have been quite the someone, then.”

"Aye...he was indeed.”

He? The nun wondered. That seemed surprising to her, seeings how she was sure that the someone he was talking about was a woman. Only Inhio alone knew that the man he made the promise to was none other than he, himself. When he gazed at his reflection, late on the last evening, he saw himself from the past, and the past him had a message he wanted delivered.

"Be as it may, you’re in luck. A happy couple has been visiting her a lot, lately, and from what I’ve seen, I’d say that the next time they arrive they might do more than just say hello.” The nun started looking for the keys to the orphan play room as the two had nearly reached the door to it. The thought of the people visiting his daughter didn’t seem to faze Inhio, at all. Just when the nun thought she had him figured out, he started proving her wrong, again and again. The time for thoughts was at an end. The nun unlocked the door and let the man in, but still kept an eye on him while he was inside.

As Inhio walked over to the middle of the room, he took a single look around the giant room full of children. He hadn’t even finished a full circle and had already set his sights right on a lone girl sitting at a table and playing with some animal toys. He started walking towards her. His actions left the nun stunned and standing at the entrance with a half-open mouth and wide-open eyes that followed him on his every step.

There was, without a doubt, a strong connection between the two. Strong enough for the real Inhio to feel it and guide the empty shell right towards his child. He sat down next to the girl, right away, and tried to start a conversation immediately with a hearty "Hey”.

Alas, the girl's attitude towards him was about the same as his attitude towards the rest of the world. "I see you’ve learned how to not talk to strangers.” He may have kept on trying to get the girl to speak to him if it weren’t for something drawing both their eyes back towards the door. It was the happy couple, here to visit the girl for what might just prove to be the last time. Any doubt got cleared from Inhio’s mind as he saw the wide smile on the girl's face. "Good girl,” he whispered his last words to the child before leaving the table. He walked right up to the man and woman near the door. They seemed a bit startled by the cold-looking man walking up to them. He looked more serious than a chief of police walking up to a criminal.

"Oh, uhm, please, take your time. We didn’t want to pull you away.” the man near the door began to explain himself.

"You didn’t. I took no less time than I wanted to.” He looked back at the girl that sat at the table, shaking her knees from excitement. "And it looks like she’s much more eager to talk with you than with me, anyways.” He stepped aside, so that the couple and the girl could see each other, freely. Both of the parties smiled and waved at each other. "I’ll be on my way, then.”

The smiling man couldn’t help but still feel like they had interrupted the man that seemed to be avoiding a conversation. "Wait!”

Inhio turned around and faced the couple.

"Before you go, I just want to know one thing. Were you in any way close to the girl?” The man continued after getting no response, for some time, "Because if you were, now’s a good a time as you’ll get to say goodbye.”

Inhio didn’t stand silent for much longer. "Aye...I was the one that left her here.”

The nun had stepped out of the room, a while back, to avoid interrupting. She wouldn’t regret it, either, if she could only see the faces of the couple after they had realized the true identity of the man in front of them.

"You mean...”

"I am her biological father," Inhio picked up from his sentence. "Her mother passed away right in front of my eyes, earlier that day, and since I wasn’t sure I had it in me to give her the care she deserves, I had no choice but to leave her here.” The truth rained down with nothing held back. Right after the two had heard he was the girl's father, they had little wish left to badger the man with any further questions...They never imagined that they would hear this much.

"Oh dear...” The woman was at a loss of words, so the man spoke for both of them.

"I-I’m sorry...really sorry, we never meant to interrupt so rudely...please, take all the time you want with her. We-we’ll come back tomorrow, if you haven’t taken her.” The woman only nodded on every word the man said and had no intention of staying any longer, she would have followed her husband to the door if it weren’t for Inhio raising his arms sideways to block their path.

"No...Take her...Please.” Inhio kept his head lowered. All of a sudden, he dropped down on one knee. He seemed to be having an inner struggle with the Inhio he had thought dead. The woman gasped from seeing the man act like this, and her husband seemed rather surprised, as well.

"Sir...what are you...”

"Please...” The sunglasses that had not left Inhio’s eyes for 8 long years, now finally decided to fall off, right before he raised his head to face the couple, once more. "I beg you.” Inhio’s desperate stare, alone, was enough to change the mind of a hungry wild bear. It was like the day when he stared into the eyes of the bandits assaulting his wife, only this time, the stare was full good intentions.

"I am a broken man...I’m not fit to raise anyone or anything, anymore...Please...Help me do what I could not.” Now not only the couple was breathlessly staring at Inhio, but nearly every child in the room was, as well, despite not being able to hear a word he said.

"Yes...Yes, of course...we’ll take good care of her!” the man reassured Inhio, whose head was lowered once again.

"Thank you!” Inhio released these two words as if they were said with his dying breath. He then raised his head and got up from the ground, after picking up his shades and swiftly stormed out of the door, nearly scaring the living daylight out of the nun standing right outside. He realized she had listened in on his conversation, but didn’t bother saying a word. The nun felt slight shame about her actions, so she couldn’t push herself to speak to the man, right away, either. She thought she would speak to him after just a few deep breaths, but that was all the time Inhio needed to be halfway towards starting his car.

Inhio drove fast at first, but slowed down over time as his face lost all expression, once more. He didn’t spend much longer staying awake. Soon after arriving home, he went to sleep and forgot everything that had just happened.

What happened with him today could only be explained in one way - the real Inhio had woken up and taken control of his body, once again. After the death of his wife, a dark presence must have taken over him and controlled his life until now. Although it wasn’t entirely evil, it still kept Inhio’s good side suppressed, all these years. Today, it finally broke free, again.

Inhio’s spirit was strong, all he needed was the motivation to keep his darker side from taking over, and the chance to be able to rest assured, knowing that his daughter is in good hands, was all the motivation he needed. Sadly, there didn’t seem to be anything left that could bring Inhio’s good side out, again. For all we know, that might have been the last time anyone got to see anything other than an icy glare on his face.

The never-ending dream

By the time Inhio woke up on the next morning, his more cheerful side had already vanished without a trace. He woke up at the same time he always did. He never relied on anything to wake him up. Not his alarm clock, not the noisy neighbours, and not even the roosters outside...Wait...the what?

Inhio switched from sleeping to sitting on the bed and gazed out the small window that was on a level as high as his head was while sitting. He would have tried to spot the loud animal that woke him up, if only it weren’t for the other multitudes of things that were out of place. He had awoken in a place that looked nothing like his apartment. He began to wonder whether he got kidnapped by a bunch of dwarves or was simply dreaming... Luckily, the tiny, purple, winged unicorn had just entered the room to answer that question for him.

Without a doubt, there was only one man alive on planet Earth that could sit there without even raising an eyebrow...Little did he know, that he was no longer on that planet. After the equine had cleared her throat, the famous phrase followed. "Good afternoon. My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

The silent man didn’t seem too amused. Apparently this wasn’t the weirdest dream he had seen before. After a brief moment of silence, he decided to greet her back, "Hey."

Funny. Who would have thought that out of the two living beings in this room, the only surprised one would be the animal that seemed to already know of the man’s whereabouts before entering the room. Clearly, Twilight had something to do with this. At first she thought that she would definitely wait out until the man starts asking questions like "Where am I?”, "What do you want with me?”, "What are you?” and others of the sort, but oddly enough, the man seemed to have no intention of ever doing so.

"Umm...Aren’t you...curious?”

"No.” The man’s quick and solid response was almost scary for the young pony. She was at a loss of words.

"Aren’t you at least wondering why are you here?”

The pony seemed a bit unsure, Inhio picked up on that right away. Clearly, although she had something to do with him being here, she was not the one in charge, so Inhio decided that he should at least have a little fun with this dream. This was one of those few, rare dreams where he actually felt like he was in charge of his own actions. "What makes you think I don’t already know the answer to that?”

Twilight grew less and less sure of herself after every word the man said, she began to stutter on nearly every word. "Wh-what? B-B-B-But how? How could you possibly know that?”

"Enough talk!” The pauses between Inhio’s sentences grew shorter as his conversation partner's words began to distance from one another with every passing moment. He got up and spoke as he walked towards the confused pony blocking the exit door, "Go ahead. Take me to your leader.”

Twilight stepped back to free the way out for the man, though she did it as much from her sense of duty as she did it from fear of the person who seemed to know more about what was going on than she did. Twilight came here to greet the guest and answer his questions, but instead, she had ended up being the one in need of answers. What? No...There’s no...Could he possibly know about Celestia, as well? But how?...Why do I get the feeling that he summoned himself here?

Twilight turned around to prevent the man from seeing her unsettling expression. She didn’t want Inhio to realize that she was not so much in control of the situation as she probably should be. It didn’t really matter, however. Inhio realized that early in the conversation. He began to question the integrity of her mind the moment she said "Good afternoon” right after both of them had heard the rooster's morning call.

"Oh, uhm, yes...Right this way, please.”

Twilight led Inhio outside, into the streets of Ponyville. It was difficult to keep all the ponies on the streets in line to witness such an event. This...What did they call him? A Hyu-men, was it? Equestria had never seen the likes of a such a creature, before. It was nearly twice as tall as your average pony and stood on its back hooves like it was born that way.

"Is it dangerous?” Was one of the first and most commonly encountered questions among the minds of the ponies. Right after "Why is it here?” and "What does it want from us?”

They stared at the Hyu-men without end, paying attention to just about every one of its movements, and getting slightly startled each time it turned its sights towards one of them. Everything about it seemed strange to them - Its size, its skin color, its hair and clothing, its pitch-black, glass-covered eyes, the things on its feet, and most importantly - the disturbing way its front hooves seemed to split into 5 smaller parts, right where they should be having horseshoes instead.

Naturally, the ponies weren’t the only ones looking at a new species, Inhio seemed rather curious, as well. These miniature horses that were half the size of even the seemingly small ponies back at home, and that’s just the grown ones. There were younger ones, as well. They were no bigger than a common house cat. And as if their size wasn’t enough, there were also no less than 3 times the colors of a rainbow amongst them, he even saw one that had all 7 in her mane and tail.

Oh, and that was but he beginning. There were multitudes of all types - pegasi, unicorns, just regular ponies, and of course, the one, winged unicorn leading him through the crowd. He still wasn’t certain whether to call her a winged unicorn or a horned pegasus.

What’s so special about this one? He wondered. Why does this one have both of these natural privileges while some of the ponies here don’t seem to have any?...Strange.

Oh, and one more thing. What’s with the tattoos on everyone’s backsides? They resemble all kinds of things, starting from the most simplest things, like an apple or an hourglass, or a piece of candy, to slightly more sophisticated things like stars and clouds.

Do these symbols mean anything? They probably do since some of the younger ones don’t have them, so it’s obviously not a thing they’re born with. Mayhap it’s some sort of mark that symbolizes one’s coming of age, or something like that? Heck, even people on our world do stuff like that.

But if that’s the case, then what’s with the many varieties of marks? Do they get to choose what they want drawn on their backside? Because I sure as hell know I wouldn’t choose something like a common indoor tool when I could choose something as neat-looking as that star on the purple one in front of me.

GAAH! Why am I so damn concerned about this matter? I’m just going wake up any minute and forget any of this happened, anyways...Hmm. Inhio began to notice the way they gazed at his hands. May as well have a bit of fun while I’m here. He thought to himself.

He raised his right hand, moved his fingers around and waved to the crowd, showing that he, without a doubt, had full control of all 5 of the small parts his front hooves were divided in. The ponies watched in awe. Inhio didn’t intend to leave the left side without a show, either. With a swift turn, he moved his head and shoulders to their side and snapped his fingers in the air as loud as he could.

He slightly overdid it, though. Instead of being amazed by his performance, many of them got scared, and some even covered their heads as they fell to the ground. A few screams were heard among the crowd, as well. The ones that thought at first that he had come to cause them harm, had just received all the proof they needed to be sure of that. "Aaah! He’s shooting at us! Run for your lives.”

Some of the ponies in the crowd began to panic and tried to move through, further from the mean Hyu-men. The crowd was unstable for a moment, but got back into shape, quick enough, once everyone had realized that no one got hurt from the loud, sudden bang. Nothing seemed to come out of the creature’s paws either when he did that. Must have really been just for show.

A reproachful question followed from the purple pony ahead of him after that. "Having fun?”

An instant reply followed. "Sorry...It’s not every day you get to do something like this.”

Inhio bowed to both sides of the crowd, apologizing for his behavior. He followed the purple pony outside the borders of the town, still gazing back at the ever-so-curious and confused crowd that he left behind himself. The pony in front of him stopped soon after they passed the last building in the town.

***

"We’re here.” Twilight stepped aside to let Inhio see what was their destination...Quite the sight, really. The golden carriage led by two proudly standing white pegasi with the same color armor as the carriage, that was but a diversion, compared to the real eye candy.

Inhio lived in a time without kings or queens, only presidents and ministers that people would usually only formally greet, stand in attention or salute them, but if there ever was a moment when he’d just want to get down on his knees and say "Your Majesty”, then it was now, for the equine that stood before him now took the word Majestic up to a whole new level. This one was tall enough to stare him in the eyes without looking an inch upwards.

All white, herself, but with a mane and tail so bright that they just radiated with pure light, both in the same 4 colors- blue, light blue, light green and pink. Her horn was nearly 3 times the size as that of the purple pony, and also looked much sharper. It looked like it could prove to be a weapon deadly in both close and ranged combat.

Her wings alone were larger than most of the ponies he saw on the way. Why does she bother getting brought here with a carriage was something Inhio was unsure about. Surely, not even the eagles back home could catch her in open flight, she could probably cross any distance at the blink of an eye, if she only wanted to.

So far, she and the purple one were the only two winged and horned creatures Inhio had encountered. The tattoo on her backside was a sun, together with the purple pony’s mark, the two would make the sun and stars. The only conclusion Inhio could come to was that the purple one was her daughter, it all made sense - the sun and stars, both winged and horned, and her being sent personally to fetch him. Her, and none other...Yes, she must be her daughter. The big one must be the queen of this place, and the small one - the princess.

Why do I get the honor of personally meeting the almighty ruler of this lovely, little place of sunshine and rainbows? Inhio wondered.

This dream had intrigued him like no other, but the time for thoughts was at an end, the queen herself was slowly approaching him. He didn’t feel like offending her, so he did just as his gut told him to - he bowed low.

"Your Majesty.”

The unexpected way he cooperated and seemed so content with everything, amused the queen, she even slightly giggled before speaking to him.

The same, however, could not be said for the smaller princess. From the very beginning of his visit, she seemed rather worried about his attitude. He acted so naturally, as though he had foreseen this event, ages ago, and had been preparing for it ever since. She never let her eyes off him, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the queen is in danger while this man is here.

"Arise, Sir Inhio. You are not from my lands, so you do not need to kneel for me at any time, but your actions are appreciated.”

Inhio got up and matched the queen's eye level with his own. "Thank you, my queen.”

"Oh, and please, call me Celestia. Princess Celestia, if you so wish.”

Princess?! Does this mean that even she isn’t the queen of these lands? Inhio seemed surprised, but still maintained a face that wouldn’t indicate that in any way. "Of course, Princess Celestia.”

The way he spoke to her almost saddened Celestia. She had hoped to bring him here to feel like a guest of honor, but here he was, kneeling before her like any other one of her subjects. A quiet laugh was heard from her once more. She decided to not prolong this any longer, and tell him what’s this all about before he has to ask for himself, but not before officially welcoming him to her lands. She spoke loud and clear, fit for such an occasion.

"Sir Inhio of planet Earth, it is with great honor that I welcome you into our magical land of Equestria!”

"The honor is all mine, Your Grace.”

The princess switched to a slightly less formal tone, her voice softened and got quieter. "You are no doubt wondering why have you been brought here, am I not right?”

Inhio’s responses were quick, he changed neither his tone, nor expression, or the loudness of his voice or talking speed. His voice was always warm and somewhat quiet, but also clear. Despite not being loud, no one ever missed a word Inhio said. He didn’t want to keep the princess waiting, so he kept the intervals between his sentences short, he never needed much time to know just what he wants to say. "Indeed I am, Your Highness.”

I wonder when will he finally run out of ideas for titles to address me by. Celestia wondered. She didn’t mind, though. In fact, she was constantly amused by his choice of words. Sadly, she could not enjoy the moment for long. Her following sentence required a more serious tone. "Before I answer any of your questions, I want you to answer just one of mine.”

"Of course, princess. Just name it.”

The princess walked even closer to him, so close that Inhio could feel her horn above his head, it felt like it radiated with a magical aura. She stared through Inhio’s sunglasses with a piercing look, it felt rather overwhelming for Inhio. Nevertheless, he did not stutter.

"Who are you?” That was the question the princess wanted to ask him. To most people it would sound like a joke, they would all wonder about why is she asking that after she had already called him by his name, multiple times...But Inhio was not like most people. The princess was no fool, and Inhio knew exactly what she meant with those 3 words. Inhio emptied his lungs with a heavy exhale and disengaged from the eye-contact he had maintained with the princess until now.

With a swift motion of his right hand, he removed his shades. "I believe you already know the answer...” He raised his head and reestablished the previously broken connection between their eyes. "Your Majesty,” he ended the sentence he previously began.

Twilight stood a good distance behind Inhio, but she still couldn’t help but wonder what was it that Celestia saw in his eyes that made her so suddenly change her cheerful expression. Naturally, she couldn’t see Inhio’s eyes for herself, but she noticed that one of the royal guards near the carriage turned his attention towards him for just a split second, and instantly turned away as a small drop of sweat slowly slid down from his right temple to his cheek, and eventually reached his chin.

These guards were masters of their work, and not many things could make them budge even the slightest bit, let alone, start shaking from fear. This really didn’t make Twilight feel any better.

"Yes...I see,” Celestia spoke, at last, to the ghost of a man in front of her. She closed her eyes, unable to gaze any longer, at whatever it was that made her feel so uneasy. Her tone now was neither a loud official one, nor a serious one, and most certainly not a cheerful one, but rather the tone of someone barely drawing breath and begging for mercy. "Please...cover them.”

"At once, Your Highness.” Inhio closed his eyes and covered them with his shades, right away.

Only once Celestia was sure that Inhio’s demonic stare was no longer pointed at her, did she dare open her own eyes again. "Thank you,” she continued in the same tone as before. Inhio’s gaze seemed to have drained her of her strength. "Your eyes...You are not like other men, Inhio.” Celestia began to regain her just lost strength. Inhio’s stare had only affected her for a short period of time. Her voice became more energetic, and she no longer spoke as though she was on her death bed. "Your eyes have always resembled the way you feel inside. Is that not true?”

That statement was true, and Inhio wasn’t about to deny it, but something troubled him, from the inside, making him slightly hesitate to answer, which was highly unlike him. He was troubled by the fact that this Celestia knew so much about him. Every one of his instincts still kept telling him that this is nothing but a dream, and that he’d be waking up at any moment...But that feeling never left his mind. That small itch at the back of his brain...Could this actually be reality?

"Right you are, Your Highness. This is the very reason I tend to never take off my sunglasses...” Inhio hung his head while remembering some of the less pleasant moments of his past. "In short, when I was younger, I sometimes couldn’t control my feelings and ended up scaring some people I never wanted to hurt. My open sight was dangerous to the people around me...That caused problems, so I chose to hide it.” Inhio sighed loudly. Celestia took a few steps back. She felt like the man needed some room.

"I still remember the day when I arrived home, exhausted from sitting for hours, trying to explain to the principle something I simply couldn’t. That day, my mother told me the truth about my gift, as she called it.”

Every open ear close enough to hear Inhio’s story was now focused directly on him, ignoring any other minor noise that was present in the air. Twilight had taken a few steps forward to be able to hear the conversation a bit better. Celestia herself was standing still as a statue, and even the guards seemed rather curious. The poor souls had no life other than serving their princess, and had none to tell about their day to. Nothing too interesting ever happened on their average day, so they looked forward to every little thing like the one currently going on. Inhio didn’t hold back, he kept telling his story without pause.

"She told me how when I was born, the doctor holding me couldn’t let his eyes off me, and that my father had to practically pry me out of the doctor's hold. When my mother finally got to hold me for herself, she said that those few seconds that she spent looking into my eyes were worth more to her than her whole life put together. In my eyes, she saw the very essence of life and all things good and holy, because at that moment, they were resembling life itself, for a new life had just arrived upon Earth.”

Not even the ponies close to Inhio, but even the ones still near the edge of the town were curiously looking at the small crowd so far from them. Of course, they couldn’t hear a word any of them were saying, but they were still curious as to what could be so interesting to make Celestia herself listen to with such a passionate interest that could commonly only be seen on a child, first setting foot into school.

"And now...” Inhio raised his head to once again make eye contact with the princess. He didn’t mean to insult her by not looking at her for so long, it simply felt easier to recall his past that way. Celestia understood his sorrow and wasn’t bothered by this act that may have seemed offensive to a more strict ruler. Despite being emotionless, as always, Inhio still felt hurt inside talking about these things.

"The eyes you looked so deeply into, yourself, just now...I’ve had that look for far too long...Do you know why are they like that?” Inhio raised his voice for the first time during his visit here. "Do you know what’s the feeling they’ve been expressing, all this time?”

Silence claimed the air around them. Not a single cricket or buzzing fly was heard for some time. The roles between the two had changed. Now Celestia was the one who was having trouble keeping her head up. She felt as much sorrow from seeing Inhio this way, as Inhio did while telling his story. All eyes were focused on them. Twilight and the two guards eagerly awaited for one of them to say something, wondering if even Inhio himself knew the answer to the question he just raised.

"Yes...” A single tear dropped from Celestia's face as she mustered her strength to say what had to be said. She raised her head, ready to speak the next word, and Inhio said it out loud, with her, hoping that it would make it easier for her.

"Death!” they shouted out together as they stomped their foot and hoof on the ground.

The never-ending nightmare

"Death!” Celestia repeated. This time, without her voice conjoined with Inhio’s. Her expression was painful to look at. Her eyes were both full of anger and full of tears, at the same time. Her mouth half-open, revealing her teeth that were gritted tightly together.

"Yes...Death...” Inhio picked up from where she left off, but something was really off about him. "Death!” he shouted out again. This was no ordinary shout. Inhio was not himself during this shout. Not only that, he was neither the Inhio he used to be, nor the emotionless version of him that had taken over his body for 8 long years...No...This Inhio was something different. Ferocious, bloodthirsty, mad...evil. His voice changed so dramatically that it sounded rather demonic now, and his eyes began to burn with such a searing hellfire that not even the dark glass in front of them could hide it from the eyes around him.

This sudden outburst sent shivers down the spines of every creature that heard it. Celestia herself jumped back and spread her wings as a result of a natural reflex.

"Death is the only things that still resides in this empty shell! Do you not see? Inhio is not here!” His gaze was set right on Celestia, who was trying avoid eye contact at all costs. "You! You stared right into these two hollow gaps in the middle of my head. How do you not yet realize? You can look as deep and as long as you wish, not even the most penetrating gaze could see the slightest signs of life still left in this body! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!”

That laugh was the kind that no one in Equestria had ever heard before. It sounded like the screaming of a thousand tortured souls. It echoed not only through the streets of the town, but half of Equestria, as well. Packs of birds flew up from both the town and the Everfree forest and began to scatter across the skies while causing a loud racket.

The ponies in town started to panic. Loud neighs were heard all over the place. All doubts were suddenly cleared, the creature that arrived here this morning was no less evil than Tirek or king Sombra, and he definitely means harm to everyone around him. Everyone ran to their homes, grabbing their children off the streets and barricading their doors and windows.

Twilight’s friends rushed over as soon as they suspected something wasn’t right. By the time they all got there, a very grim scene took place before their eyes. The princess seemed paralyzed by the gaze of the creature in front of her. They weren’t sure whether to attempt to stop the evildoer, or rush to the aid of the princess. Luckily, something stopped the creature from causing further harm. He had fallen to his knees and was barely still drawing breath. One of his hands was on the ground, he was helping himself keep his own body from collapsing completely. However, the princess wasn’t in much better shape.

"Princess Celestia!” her once beloved student shouted out as she ran over to the princess who had just fainted and was falling to the ground. Twilight’s friends rushed over as well, and even the guards at the carriage had freed themselves from the bind of the carriage and were running to the aid of the princess.

Celestia was the direct victim of the raging flames bursting from Inhio’s eyes. The very chill of death could be felt around Inhio when his most darkest presence broke free. If even for just mere seconds, it was still more than enough to break the will of even the strongest spirit. Inhio himself also got drained of much strength while this darkness had taken hold of his body.

Celestia had nearly hit the ground, but Twilight and her friends made it to her in time to save her from falling. Twilight ran right under her and used her back to catch the falling princess. Rainbow Dash was the first one of her friends to reach them. She helped Twilight balance Celestia back on her hooves.

A bright surge of dark-blue light suddenly appeared near them all. The light dispersed quickly, and in its place appeared an equine no less majestic than Celestia herself, but this one was of darker colors, and with a moon tattoo on her backside. "Sister!” she shouted out, worried for the safety of her beloved sibling. She rushed over to the small crowd trying to aid Celestia in whatever way they could. They were all worried sick for the life of the princess, for she had not shown any signs of life for a while now.

At long last, a slow and barely-audible moan slipped through her lips. Odd, how this unpleasant sound, normally meaning nothing but bad news, came like a gift, lifting a boulder off the hearts of the ponies around her. "Oh, thank the heavens, you’re alright!” Her teary-eyed younger sister rejoiced, knowing that she was still breathing. Rainbow Dash and Twilight freed up some room to let Luna hold her weakened sister in her hooves. Celestia answered her hug with the same kind of gesture.

"I’m fine,” Celestia whispered, still in a rather quiet and fragile voice.

"You sure didn’t look fine,” Rainbow Dash said in her usual tone.

"Rainbow Dash!” A reproachful glare from Twilight made Rainbow Dash realize that her choice of words was poor.

She began to stutter as she tried to explain what she really meant by that. "Oh, aah...I mean...” She rubbed the back of her head before finishing her sentence, ”You really scared us for a second there, is all I meant to say.”

"You had us all worried, princess.” Twilight added in a sincere tone.

"Uuggh...” a weak moan was heard from the broken man that was now breathing heavily.

"I knew he was dangerous!” Twilight’s worrying indeed proved to not be for naught. Just when everyone had started feeling bad for the man with the sad history, he openly assaulted their ruler when she least expected it.

"Foolish mortal!” Luna let Celestia stand on her own, Twilight and Rainbow Dash wanted to help her stand, but she rejected the offer with a swift gesture with her right foreleg hoof. "How dare you come into our land and repay the hospitality of our almighty ruler by attacking her in plain sight!” Luna’s eyes filled up with white light, her wings spread into the air, and her voice was loud and fierce - it was her famed Canterlot voice.

She approached the man that was on his knees, ready to defend her sister to the end. The man did not budge, he just kept on breathing heavier with each second. It seemed like he was about to beg for mercy. "Do not expect mercy from me, wicked one! Your disguises do not fool me!”

Suddenly, another flash of dark-blue light appeared next to Luna, and from it, she pulled out a deadly, curved weapon of the same color shaft, but a blade as white as the moonlight. Luna raised the massive scythe into the air with her magic. She held it at the ready to deliver the final blow to the already beaten foe. Her eyes returned to their normal state as she said her last words to her victim, "You had your chance.” Her tone was no longer in her Canterlot voice. It was now softer and quieter, but fierce, nevertheless, without a speck of mercy in it. The scythe had already begun to pull itself down towards Inhio.

"Stop!” A last second shout saved the man from imminent death. Luna lowered her weapon and looked back towards the caller.

"Sister?” she asked in a tone no longer fierce, Curious as to why would she want this wretched creature spared. Perhaps she wants him in chains? She wondered.

"Twilight is right.” Celestia was at the top of her strength, once more, and spoke in her usual, regal tone.

"I am?” Surprised was the young purple pony, and not sure about what exactly did Celestia mean.

"Yes...He is indeed dangerous. More dangerous than you know.”

"Then let us put an end to his miserable existence, dear sister! Let us rid Equestria of the threat he poses to everyone in it!” Luna’s tone was neither fierce, nor demanding. She wanted to convince Celestia that such a creature had no place in Equestria, not even in chains.

"No!” Celestia was serious about her decision, she had made up her mind long before any of this even took place.

"But why? Sister, please!” Luna approached Celestia and spoke to her sincerely, almost desperately.

"A prison might not hold this one if he truly is as dangerous as you say. Spare him from chains! Spare him from banishment! I do not wish to continue sleeping while fearing that one of our arch foes might break free at any moment! I’ve been suffering from that feeling long enough!” Luna’s voice got louder, but still had the scent of despair in it.

"No...I will not have him in chains, nor will I banish him away.”

"Oh, thank you, dear sister! I knew you would see reason.” Luna felt relieved, the stress had vanished from her voice, leaving behind only serenity. Alas, she would not stay calm for long, for the next words from her sister came like storm on a sea.

"He will walk free!”

***

"What?!” The conjoined voices of Luna and the mane six let out a shout full of doubt. They still weren’t sure whether they had heard their princess right.

"Do you jest, sister of mine? This is no time for jokes!” Luna’s voice regained its anxiety, only to be followed by more despair as she still attempted to convince her sister of the error in her ways. She even started sounding rather angry with her sister. "Please, just say the word and I shall have his head!”

"He he he he he...” A mocking laugh drew the attention of the ponies back towards Inhio. "Yes...go ahead...” He raised his head and looked at the ponies with one of his eyes revealed. His shades had slipped off the right side of his head, revealing part of his dreaded gaze. "Kill me!...Make my day! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...” His laugh became less and less audible with each Ha. Up to the point where it wasn’t clear whether it got too quiet to hear or if he simply stopped laughing.

His laugh was nowhere near to as sinister as the one that arose the racket around all of Ponyville, but it was still rather powerful, in a way. It was so mocking that it sounded like a challenge to a few individuals.

"Silence, you fool! Silence, or I will...” Luna’s performance got quelled, once more, by the same voice as last time.

"No...By all that’s holy, cause any further harm to that man and you risk him running out of breath for good.”

"But sister...Is that not what we should be aiming for? To vanquish the evil, for good?”

"It is, it always has been.” Celestia’s tone stayed firm and regal, while Luna’s was fragile and full of uncertainty.

"But then why do you linger, dear sister? I don’t...”

"Luna...” Celestia formed a strong eye contact with her sister, she needed her to hear her out now, more than ever. "I need you to realize one thing.”

"Name it, just name it, dear sister! I wish to know what you really have in store for this creature!” Luna nearly burst into tears. She was finally about to find out what was it that Celestia had such trouble saying out loud, but only after a moment of silence while she prepared her voice.

"I cannot imprison the darkness you see before you, for it has always carried its prison with it.”

Luna froze from curiosity. She had too many question she wanted to ask, and had trouble deciding which one to ask first. She had hoped that she would find all the answers she needed from Celestia’s long-kept statement, but it only aroused more questions. "Sister...I don’t understand. What ever do you mean?”

Celestia’s voice grew softer, once more, as she addressed her sister, personally, rather than everyone around her. The rest could do nothing but eagerly listen in on the conversation from the start, anyways. "You see, Luna, the man in front of us is not our true enemy.”

All of a sudden, everyone noticed that the heavy breathing could no longer be heard. They turned their attention to the spot where it originally came from, only to see that the man had already stood up and no longer looked so weak, and had regained the icy glare he arrived here with. Both of his eyes were covered again.

Inhio had just realized something very unsettling - This was no dream, but one heck of a nightmare. Not only that, but he saw that his deepest fears had come true...Another presence lurked within him, and it was now stronger than ever. It started growing on the day he lost his wife. The emotionless face he had carried for 8 long years was but a holy spirit, compared to the real demon dwelling deep down within him.

Talking about his past had weakened Inhio, letting the darkness break free for the first time in 8 years, and Celestia was its first victim. If just a short moment of direct eye contact with such an evil could make one so mighty lose conscience, then there’s no telling what it could do at its full power. "Aye...Her Majesty speaks the truth,” Inhio continued speaking in his usual, emotionless tone while brushing of the small traces of dust that got on his clothes while he was down on the ground. "The me you see now is more of an ally to you, than an enemy.”

"You will never be my ally!” Luna threatened the deluded man.

"Easy, sister. Your anger is misplaced.” Celestia tried to calm her younger sister. Luna didn’t look pleased, but chose to keep the harsh words she had saved for the man for a later time.

Her voice might have calmed a bit, but her eyes were still locked on Inhio with a very unwelcoming glare. "Explain yourself...Human.”

Luna’s voice was full of reluctance, especially on her final word. She finished her sentence much more quietly than she started it. The word "Human” came off her lips so unwillingly and had such a bitter taste to it that most people probably would have preferred to be called a creature, instead. Inhio didn’t seem to mind, though. He wasn’t expecting much kindness after what he had just done, even if it wasn’t really him.

"Allow me to apologize to everyone I have offended here today.” Inhio bowed to the ponies in front of him, and maintained this position for some time. His tone was rather convincing, he sounded like he really meant what he was saying. "And my most sincerest apologies to you and your sister, princess Luna. I am truly sorry for putting her in harm's way. That was never my intent.”

Luna didn’t seem too convinced, so her reply was rather cynical. "Please...” She rolled her eyes. Her expression clearly showed utter distrust and disrespect. "Do you really expect me to believe that your intentions were ever noble?”

"Hush, sister! He has got no reason to lie to us.” Celestia’s attitude was a bit less sincere towards her sister this time. She almost seemed ashamed of her childish way of treating Inhio.

Luna yielded to Celestia, but she was still far from trusting Inhio. "Hmph...Fine.” Her quiet and repulsion-filled voice suddenly switched to a loud and impatient one. "But let him do so quick!” She addressed the man, once more, this time - in a strict and demanding voice, a tone fit for a princess. This was no warm pep talk, but was still a step up from the tone with which she spoke to him the last time. "Spare us your apologies and say what you must!”

Inhio’s reply was instant. He did not expect a tone any milder than that. "Straight to the point, eh? Very well, then.” Inhio straightened his back and switched to a more blunt approach. "You see, there’s a growing darkness inside of me that will only remain suppressed as long as I draw breath. However, should I cease breathing or lose enough strength for it to overtake me again...”

Celestia finished Inhio’s sentence for him. "Equestria would surely fall!”

***

"Do not speak like that, dear sister! We’ve bested enemies more fearsome than this before, and we can do so again!” Luna spoke, assured that what she said was true.

Twilight was encouraged by her confident words, as well. "Luna’s right! The magic of friendship will pull through! It always has!” Twilight was excited, she was more than ready to prove herself to the princess, once again, and her friends were ready, as well.

"Not this time, Twilight.” Celestia’s voice was so oppressive that Twilight lost her fighting spirit right away.

"Why, princess? I don’t understand...What’s so different about this one?”

Celestia continued in a more regular tone that still had a slight touch of despair to it, "Our magic would have no effect on this darkness, for it is not from our world.”

Luna forcefully jumped to argue, her tone being rash and merciless. "Then let him go back to his own world! Let the people of Earth deal with him as they see fit!” She turned to speak to her sister directly after her voice had lost its force. She was still rather unsure of her sister's motives. "Why do you welcome this most unwelcome guest, dear sister?”

"Because, dear sister, should such a darkness break free, there would be no known weapon against it, not on our world, nor theirs.”

Luna imagined a rather bizarre idea of Celestia’s true plan. She most certainly wasn’t content with it. "So is this your real plan, then? To doom our own world, instead of theirs? To make Equestria suffer for the sins of humanity?”

"Luna!” Celestia yelled at her younger sister. Her impatience and rash thinking had finally made her lose her temper. "The ponies of Equestria have always been known to care for others no worse than they care for themselves, but I would never hand all their lives over to the darkness like that!”

Luna was finally ready to really listen to what Celestia was about to say. Her outburst had convinced Luna that she was at a full mind. Although Celestia had good reason to be mad, she still felt sorry for the way she had just treated her sister. "I am sorry, Luna, but if you would just listen to me...”

"You need not apologize to me, sister, for it was my own actions needed correction.” The two sisters both felt bad for the way they had treated one another. They shared a warm smile after they had made amends to their attitude. "Please, speak on, dear sister. I shall not interrupt you again.”

"Thank you, Luna.” Celestia smiled at her sister, once more, and Luna returned the favor. Once that was settled, Celestia spoke in her regular tone again, "As I already stated earlier – should this darkness break free, then it would mean the imminent doom for our world, as well as theirs.” Celestia held a short pause. She hadn’t made any new smiles with her last sentence, but regardless, everyone stood silently and waited for her to finish. "And it is because of this exact reason that I have brought him here today – to make sure this darkness not only doesn’t break free, but gets suppressed for all eternity!”

Twilight was the first one to let her curiosity get the best of her. "But how are we going to accomplish such a feat, princess? Didn’t you yourself say that our magic is powerless against him?” Twilight wasn’t sure what to think. She was uncertain, in contrast to the princess who sounded as confident as ever.

"I never said that the magic of friendship would have no effect on him, personally. I only said that it could do nothing against the darkness within him.” The way Celestia spoke in never-ending riddles was starting to get on the nerves of a certain few of Twilight’s friends. Celestia, of course, suspected this and tried to keep the intervals between her sentences short.

"You see, Twilight, the man before us was not always the cold-hearted, emotionless being you’ve thought him to be since the moment he arrived. No...He was once a cheerful man with a happy life. Every morning he would wake up and go to bed with a smile on his face, and ask for no more than that which he already owned. All seemed well for the man, but alas, one day, a horrid incident stripped this man of the one true love of his life!”

Inhio didn’t feel any better from knowing that this Celestia knew so much about him. Having your every move monitored by a white, unicorn/pegasus hybrid princess out of a universe full of tiny, rainbow-colored equines...That’s not exactly a thought that could help anyone sleep at night.

"Having lost the one person most dearest to him, he felt like he had also lost part of himself, leaving behind only the emotionless shell of the man you see before you now.” The ponies listening to Celestia’s tale turned to set their eyes on the man with the tragic history, once more.

Best look the part. Inhio thought to himself as he yawned loudly and sat down to get into a more comfortable listening position. "For some reason your princess knows me quite well, so i’ll just leave the telling to her.”

"Wow...He really is emotionless.” Twilight seemed surprised about how could someone just listen and remember such a sad event without even moving one corner of their mouth.

"As you can see, the day Inhio lost what was dearest to him, he lost his very will to go on, and let this side of him take control of his life...But more than just one other presence awoke in Inhio that day. Something much more ominous saw its chance to start growing in him that day, as well, and ever since that day, it has been feeding off of all the negative emotions that this side of Inhio had provided for it.”

"Oh sure, so I’m the bad guy now, then!” Inhio’s voice was full of sarcasm, he didn’t really care much for what was going on. Oddly enough, Inhio was not bothered by someone else telling his tale, although, just moments ago when he told it himself, he seemed a bit...uneasy. As though he was struggling with something. Mayhap Inhio’s good side isn’t as dead as he himself might think?

His words drew everyone’s attention to him, once more, but not for long. Celestia kept talking since she didn’t want them to lose focus on the matter at hand. Her tone got much more serious as she was nearing the end of her monologue. "Now, after eight long years, it seems that Inhio’s darkest side has risen in strength and is already at the brink of escaping! The only thing that can stop it from escaping is the real Inhio!”

"You mean his good side?”

"Yes, Twilight. Inhio’s good side is hidden from the world because after he lost wife, he didn’t see anything left in his world that would be worth living for...Which is exactly why I’ve brought him here.”

Luna’s eyes widened a bit after hearing Celestia’s last statement. How could she ever doubt her sister, she thought. It was foolish of her to think that Celestia wasn’t thinking right "I See...Since we can’t use the magic of friendship to battle the darkness itself, we use it to bring out the lost light instead! We make use of that which would normally have no effect! A Sound plan, dear sister, truly brilliant!” Luna was almost too confident, she cheered at her sister as though victory was already at hand, despite not even hearing what Twilight and her friends had to say about all this first – the ones who would have to be the ones to set this plan in motion. Twilight certainly wasn’t as sure about it as Luna was.

"But princess!” Twilight protested. "Are you certain that friendship is the thing that will bring back this man’s will to go on? He lost the love of his life, after all, not his friend...Maybe princess Cadence and Shining Armor would...”

"No, Twilight. For you see, this man gave his very heart to his one true love...Unfortunately, I don’t think he could ever love anyone as much as he once loved his wife. We can only hope that friendship will prove to be a force no less stronger than love!” Celestia spoke so assuredly that even Twilight regained her lost confidence just from listening to her talk.

Still a bit unwillingly, Twilight accepted this ordeal. She had not failed Celestia, before, and had no intention of doing so, now. "Yes, princess Celestia, of course! We’ll do what we can!” Twilight’s friends stood proudly beside her. They too did not wish to look bad in the eyes of the princess.

"I have faith in you, Twilight. Trust in the magic of friendship and you will succeed, as you always have!” All of them bowed as one as they saw the princess about to take her leave. Celestia stepped back into her carriage. The royal guards had already gotten back into their positions. "One more thing, before I leave, princess Twilight.” Celestia called Twilight over to her carriage.

"Yes, princess?”

Celestia whispered something quietly in her ear and warned her not to tell Inhio about it in the end. Twilight seemed quite surprised by the words Celestia shared with her. "Time is of the essence, princess Twilight! The fate of Equestria rests on your shoulders, once again! I wish I could help, but I fear you might already know more about friendship than me.”

And with that, the two guards neighed loudly and ascended to the sky with the carriage behind them, leaving Luna behind with Twilight, her friends and the man who had not said a word for quite some time now. Luna felt rather awkward. She thought she should say something, but couldn’t quite figure out what, but at the same time, she didn’t feel like she should just fly away with just a last second farewell "This is no easy task you’ve been left to carry out, princess Twilight.”

"Tell me about it.” Rainbow Dash agreed completely. "I mean, look at this guy!” Rainbow Dash pointed at the man in question, who only politely waved back. "We’d have better luck dragging Gilda back here just to apologize to Fluttershy for the way she treated her, last time!”

Since the beginning of Celestia’s monologue, Inhio started feeling like he was just a tool in someone’s hand. He didn’t mind, at all. In fact, he even seemed rather amused, and tried to amuse the ponies as they amused him. Inhio lifted his right hand up to his chin and held it in a loosened fist position while wrapping his beard around his thumb repeatedly and gazing upwards with a fake puzzled look. He imitated a hard-thinking man. "Hmm, this Gilda sounds like my kinda...” Inhio stopped for a moment. He just remembered that he’s not in his own world, and the word girl or woman might not fit the scenery. Should he say pony? or horse? or equine, maybe? He decided to go with a more universal word. "Female...”

That came out wrong. He thought to himself, without breaking his position or stopping his hand gesture. "Perhaps we could go meet her, hmm? I think that would be wonderful!”

After yet another moment of awkward silence, the somewhat rudely interrupted princess of the night continued. "Right...Well, that one sure looks eager to cooperate.”

Luna’s statement didn’t seem to faze anyone. The princess arrived to the field with the best of intentions, but since the moment Celestia just stepped out without any warning, Luna was left to battle her own way out of the most awkward situation. She was doing what she could to get away and spare herself from any further embarrassment. "Khe khem. Forgive me, but I too must be taking my leave now. I am truly sorry for leaving you in this rather difficult position, but I simply cannot think of any way I could be of assistance to you in this matter.” Luna wasn’t just saying this to avoid staying here any longer, she really meant what she said. Her expression had a touch of regret and sadness in it.

"It’s all right, princess Luna. You needn't worry. We can handle it from here.” Twilight smiled warmly at Luna, and she returned the smile, right away. Luna felt like she had to give at least some advice before taking her leave. It didn’t seem right for her to just abandon Twilight and her friends like this. She said the only thing she could think of.

"One thing, Twilight Sparkle. I suppose each of you will attempt to bring back the good in this man by showing the things that you each think are worth living for the most...” Luna walked closer to Twilight and whispered something in her ear. "I suggest you save the pink one as a last resort, should all else fail. I believe that one could make a solid brick wall pop a smile.” Both princesses shared a heartfelt laugh, after which Twilight raised her hoof to her forehead and saluted the princess.

"It will be done, princess Luna! You can count on us!”

"I know I can. Farewell, princess Twilight. May the moon light your path!”

And with that, Luna finally felt like she could take off without something eating away at her conscience. She spread her wings and flew off in the same direction her sister had flown off in in her carriage earlier.

***

From looking at Inhio’s stone face, no one could even begin to imagine that right now he’s practically going mad inside his mind. There it is again! Princess! Princess! PRINCESS!!! How many princesses do these guys have? I saw three here today, and I’m pretty sure the small one mentioned another one...princess key-dance, was it? Something like that...And where in the blazes are all the kings and queens? And how can this small purple one be the same rank as those two who are clearly her superiors!? GAAH! Ah well...Here they all come now. I guess I’ll just have to ask that myself if I ever wanna find peace at mind.

Inhio got up and walked a few steps towards the pack of six ponies who had nearly already reached him themselves. After both parties had stopped, they gazed at one another for some time, both waiting for the other to say something. Twilight’s friends started implying that one of them should speak up already, as well. Not directly, mind you. They just started doing small, not-too-eye-striking actions, like scuffing their hooves on the ground, swinging their eyeballs around, whistling or brushing the back of their heads. Inhio’s gaze was set on Twilight. He stared at her like a mother stares at a child when demanding an explanation.

That eventually broke Twilight, forcing her to speak first, although she was full of uncertainty and her first words were just gibberish. "Right... He he...So...”

"Before we begin,” Inhio interrupted her. "I would like to ask a few questions.”

Twilight and her friends seemed surprised. They ceased their meaningless actions and widened their eyes, which were now all set on the same target. "Questions? From you?...Huh...I always thought you knew everything.” That last sentence almost sounded sarcastic, but Inhio knew better.

"Yes. Lets start with an easy one.” Inhio asked away without much waiting. "First of all – what do they call someone like you?”

Now Twilight seemed even more confused than before. The question Inhio just asked almost sounded insulting, and her first thought was that he was about to make a stupid joke about her. "Umm...I...”

Inhio ignored Twilight’s stuttering and just gave it to her straight. "Coz I know that a winged equine is a pegasus, and one with a horn is a unicorn...but you...You’re something more than that. So what exactly do they call one with both wings and a horn?”

Twilight was delightfully relieved that the man wasn’t just planning to embarrass her in front of her friends. "Ohh, that’s what you meant!” She gladly answered his question without much thinking, "An alicorn.”

Inhio wasn’t expecting it to be something actually neat-sounding. He was expecting something rather childish, like pegacorn or unigus. "Catchy...right, time for a more...” Inhio paused a bit before saying the next word with more emphasis on it. "Spicy question.”

Oh boy... Twilight thought to herself, getting ready for the worst.

"The white one who calls herself Celestia. Is she your mother?”

Twilight seemed nowhere near as surprised about this one as her friends were. I should have seen this one coming. Were her first thoughts on the matter. Her answer was as simple as it gets, but it wasn’t the one Inhio expected to hear. "No.”

"Really? Coz your relationship with her, you two seemed rather...close.”

"Celestia has been my beloved mentor ever since I got my cutie mark, and I her most faithful student. I think it’s no surprise that-”

The last part of what she just said didn’t Interest Inhio too much. Something else out of her words caught his interest. He cut in on her sentence by raising his palm up to the same level as her mouth, about half a dozen inches away from making contact. "I’m sorry, did you just say Cutie mark?”

Twilight wasn’t happy about the fact that he didn’t even let her finish answering the question he himself had so willingly asked, but she wasn’t surprised about it. It was only a matter of time before he had to ask about cutie marks. Twilight let out an unpleasant "Uggh!” before explaining. "The marks on the back of our bodies, you must have noticed them, already.”

Inhio was right, he had a feeling that the weird tattoos on the backsides of these ponies were the same marks Twilight had just mentioned, and he wasn’t wrong. Now the only thing he still wanted to know was their purpose. "So what do they mean then? What purpose do they serve?”

"Ponies get their cutie marks on the day they discover their true talent, the thing they’re best at, and on the day they find out their true talent, they get their cutie mark. If you’re asking for a purpose, well, then, I guess you could say that they serve as a reminder about their talent to the pony.”

What in the?...that can’t be right... After finding out the truth, Inhio suddenly started wishing he had never asked the question in the first place. He recalled some of the so called cutie marks he saw along the way here, and just couldn’t understand how in the world could some of them symbolize talents. Alright, I get that a gardening tool might mean you’re a hard worker, and a harp might mean that you're a musician...but what in the blazes do these other ones mean? Do apples mean you’re good at eating apples? I doubt the same thing applies for butterflies or gems...Maybe that star on the purple one means she’s good at astronomy or something?...Smiling flowers...an hourglass...a cloud and lightning...what the? GAAAH!

The more Inhio thought about it, the less sense it made to him, so he just decided to leave that question for pondering on for later. The long pause Inhio held spoke of uncertainty, but his face didn’t give him away. "Weird,” he quietly muttered.

"What was that?” Twilight asked, unsure of what Inhio had just said.

"Next question.” Twilight might not have heard what he said earlier, but she heard enough to know that wasn’t what he said. She was about to ask something, but Inhio kept on talking before she could say a word. "What’s with all the princesses? Ever since I arrived, I’ve heard nothing but princess, princess, princess...Who’s the real ruler of these lands?”

This question made Twilight both a bit irritated and confused at the same time. Was the man just being sarcastic? How can he really mean what he’s saying after he himself had just spoken to their ruler? "Umm...Are you seriously asking that?”

"Why wouldn’t I be?”

Weird. Up until now, Twilight seemed to think that the man in front of her was quite intelligent and had admirable deduction skills, and yet, here he was, asking a question that a three year old could probably answer, given the circumstances. "Umm...Princess Celestia...Alicorn, white, tall – about your height, has a sun as a cutie mark, ever heard of her?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

The answer wasn’t what Inhio wanted to hear, but was not unexpected either. "So I thought, but then why is she just a princess, by rank?”

Irritation aside, Twilight was now a hundred percent confused. "W-w-what? Why such a question? Was she supposed to be something else, by your mind?”

"Yes...don’t you have kings and queens? Back from where I’m from, princes and princesses are the rank below those. Has your land never had kings and queens?”

Inhio was at a full mind, after all, that was for certain. Twilight seemed rather puzzled when remembering the only king and queen their lands had ever seen. Why were they of such a rank when all the other highest ranking rulers were princesses, that was something Twilight could not explain. She could only say one thing about the topic. "You know, we did, but...” Twilight rubbed the back of her head while trying to figure out how to best explain her thoughts. ”Well, lets just say we don’t have the best history with kings and queens.”

"Really?” Inhio asked, not as though he was surprised by the answer, but as though he was rather unconvinced that what Twilight was saying was even remotely close to the truth.

"Yeah...To put it bluntly – The king enslaved his own people and got banished for it, and the queen got kicked out of her own wedding for bad behavior.” Twilight kept staring at Inhio with a sheepish grin, while Inhio stared back with a raised eyebrow. Again, the answer almost made him wish he had never even asked the question. He was almost afraid to ask the last question.

"Sounds legit enogh...Anywho, last question.”

Finally. Although Twilight only thought that to herself, in her mind, her expression gave Inhio a pretty clear idea of what she was thinking. Inhio didn’t mind the attitude. On the contrary - he understood her quite well. If not for the insatiable curiosity, he would not even bother asking, but this chance was just too precious to let pass by.

"Why are you the same rank as the ruler of your lands? Shouldn’t a kingdom have only one ruler?”

This one clearly has a different system of ruling from where he comes from. Twilight thought, and Inhio thought about the same about them, as well. "Well, in Equestria, being a princess only means ruling over a certain thing. For example – the two princesses you saw earlier - Celestia and Luna - were princesses of the sun and moon. There’s also princess Cadence – the princess of love, and of course, yours truly,” Twilight said with a proud smile on her face as she raised her hoof and held it up to her chest. "The princess of friendship!” Twilight felt something slightly resembling pride on the inside when she introduced herself like that. That was the first time she got to introduce herself to anyone as a real princess of Equestria. Needless to say – it felt good.

Out of all the answers Inhio had gotten, this one was, without a doubt, the most satisfying one. Not because it was a clear, straight-forward answer with no strings left hanging, but because it just plain seemed funny to him, and at the same time, he almost felt sorry for this place.

The sun, the moon, love and friendship?...I could bet my shades that the blue one is next in line to become the princess of rainbows. Inhio decided to keep his thoughts to himself. Despite wanting nothing more than to see the faces of the ponies after he had said something like that out loud, he still felt like it would be just plain too evil.

The real deal hadn’t even begun yet. Inhio had only just gotten answers to a few questions, and it already seemed like he was just single step away from bursting into laughter "Right then, as I already said – that was the last question. Not that I haven’t got anything left to ask, it’s just that I fear that your answers will only make me have even more questions than before.”

Twilight didn’t know what to make of the statement just now. It almost felt as though Inhio was just trying to offend her. Of course, that was never his true intention, although he did slightly feel like making fun of her for a moment, now he almost felt sorry after he had wiped away her proud smile so quickly with one quick sentence. He decided to not prolong this whole thing any more. "Right, well, I think we’ve wasted enough time.”

"Gee, you think?” Apart from sarcastic, Twilight’s tone was also rather harsh. Frankly, she was having a hard time forgiving him for the way he responded to her earlier. The way Twilight introduced herself as the princess of friendship might have seemed like a small thing to Inhio, but it actually meant something special to her. Inhio completely ignored her unpleasant tone.

"I do believe so, yes. So, without further ado...” Inhio felt like his next sentence should have a bit more pizzazz. He leaned backwards a bit with the upper part of his body, bent his knees forwards a little, and held his arms widely opened to the sides as he faced the sky with his eyebrows raised high and his mouth wide open from fake excitement. He spoke in a soft, almost childish tone. "Show me the magic of friendship!”

The magic of friendship

And so, another chapter in Twilight’s book had begun. This was the first time ever that she and her friends would have to use their magic of friendship on something not from their own world. The task was not an easy one, and the stakes were high, everyone of them knew that, and it was exactly that feeling that drove them to try their best, for the only alternative would be an Equestria covered in darkness...a fate that nopony could ever wish to see.

Despite sometimes being a bit hard to tolerate because of his sense of humor that tends to mock others from time to time, Inhio was really cooperative. Ever since he lost his wife and let this darker side of him take over, he has been very content with taking orders. It didn’t really even matter who was giving them. He was not a weak-minded coward, he simply had nothing to strive for himself, so the word of others was where he found guidance.

Following Luna’s advice, the mane six decided to try and cheer Inhio up, one by one, saving Pinkie Pie for last, since she was undoubtedly the most fun one of them. Rainbow Dash insisted that she be the last before Pinkie, all that was left now was to figure out the order of the remaining four. Twilight’s friends insisted that she be the first one to go. Although convincing her that it is only fitting that she be the first one, since she was the princess and all that, they secretly talked behind her back and all agreed that Twilight was surely the most boring one of them all.

Even though the occasional laugh did pop out while they were discussing this, they generally still felt bad for talking behind Twilight’s back like that and dubbing her boring. Funny thing, they still hadn’t gotten used to her having her own castle now, and while they were talking about her, they were still talking as though she lived in a giant tree full of books, and the most interesting thing in it being a baby dragon. They only remembered this when they had already convinced Twilight to be the first in line.

At first, they each facehoofed themselves (except Fluttershy, who was actually the one to remind them of Twilight’s castle) once they had realized that Twilight might actually not be as boring as they had initially thought, but later they actually felt glad about how things had turned out, since this might just mean that this will all be over quick, and the man would be back to his normal self before the rest of them even got a chance to warm up.

At any rate, even if they were almost certain that Twilight would be the one to give Inhio a reason to live for, the order still had to be named for each of them. They convinced Rarity to go right after Twilight, since it really didn’t look like Inhio was a man of fashion. She wasn’t all that enthusiastic about the idea at first, and in the end, she only agreed to it with an unsatisfied: "Fine...At least it should be over quick, if my turn even arrives.”

That left only two ponies without a number – Applejack and Fluttershy. No one felt like offending any of them by implying that one of them is more boring than the other, and since the two were also good friends with one another as well, they didn’t want to say anything themselves either, especially Applejack, who knew damn well that Fluttershy was a gentle soul. The choice was indeed - not the easiest one. Luckily, Fluttershy herself offered to go first. She thought this whole fiasco with this order was just silly, and that true friends shouldn’t let numbers get between them. That thought made the other five rub the back of their heads as they started feeling slightly ashamed after they realized how silly this whole thing actually was, and yet, they had almost let it go to their heads.

The ponies that had previously pointed the hoof at each other, insisting that they were more fun than the other, were now staring at that pony with a slightly sad smile that had sorry written all over it. The sadness slowly turned to warmth, and the mane six all joined together for a warm, heartfelt hug.

"Aww, well ain’t that cute.” This time, they didn’t let Inhio’s mocking attitude get in the way, not many things could ruin this moment for them, and Inhio was not one of them. The order had been established, and the ponies were fueled up and ready to begin and end this thing.

***

And so it came to pass, and Her Majesty, princess Twilight herself, was the first in line. She had only just barely finished making her castle feel more like home just recently, let alone hang out there with her friends. So this first trip should prove to be as thrilling for Inhio as it will for Twilight’s friends...Or so they thought, at first.

Imagine that - the first human to ever set foot in Equestria, and instantly being welcomed into a giant castle of pure crystal by Ponyville’s own newest princess and her friends. One would think that even someone as emotionless as Inhio would feel honored about something like this. Although his face did not show it, he did indeed feel honored, he even said it himself as he bowed to Twilight for the first time since his visit here. "It is an honor to be welcomed in here, Your Majesty.” That almost made Twilight blush.

Unfortunately, honor and happiness are two different things. Twilight personally guided Inhio through every corner of her castle, letting him walk right beside her while her own friends were left walking behind them. Twilight got a bit more desperate after passing every room that didn’t make Inhio even raise an eyebrow. She had gotten it in her head that it was more the way how she presented it that left Inhio so unimpressed, rather than the things she was showing, so she decided to alter her attitude a bit after every room. Still, nothing fazed him at all, not the giant masterfully decorated hallway, not the throne room, not the balcony from which they could see more than just all of Ponyville, and certainly not the library she herself had only just recently installed in the castle.

By the time they had gotten to the last room, Twilight was already acting so crazy that her own friends began to wonder if she’s feeling all right. She was sane, she was just trying so hard to impress Inhio that she had completely forgotten what it meant to be a princess, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and when the fate of Equestria itself was at stake, acting a bit kooky was the least Twilight was willing to do. The last room that was left to visit was a chemistry lab - another one of Twilight’s personal installments. Certainly, a chemistry lab could prove to be quite a breathtaking sight for anyone, but at this point, Twilight was just acting so damn crazy that not even the most focused minds could keep their sight on the true purpose of this room.

The way Twilight danced, laughed and flew around the room in circles, standing on her head as much of the time as she spent of her hooves, tossing vials and flasks around the room and catching them so easily without even letting a drop of whatever dangerous chemical they might have contained fly over its edges, always maintaining that bizarre look on her face and those few loose strings of hair from her mane...Twilight’s friends probably would have long since burst into laughter by now if only they weren’t so concerned about her.

It no longer felt like she was the owner in charge of the laboratory and the guide for the rest of the group, but rather a young filly that had just seen anything outside her own home for the first time in months. She mixed a lot of chemicals in a desperate attempt to amuse Inhio. Although she knew exactly what would happen when mixing the ingredients, she tried to make it look like she chose them by accident. She sure didn’t leave the impression that she knew what she was doing as she constantly kept shouting out phrases like: "Ooh, look at this one. What do you think this one does? What do you think happens when we mix these two? Oh, would you look at that! Ha ha! Nothing happened! We all got worked up for nothing!” Always maintaining a childish tone, fit for such an act. Even Pinkie Pie could learn a thing or two from this encounter.

"Princess Twilight.” Twilight’s excitement got halted instantly by a calm, yet loud and clear voice. All eyes and ears were now on Inhio, who still hadn’t the slightest shade of a smile on his lips. Twilight’s right eye twitched a few times as she had just realized that all her efforts were in vain. "Please, princess Twilight,” Inhio continued. "I understand that you want nothing more than to bring me joy, but this is no way for a princess to behave.”

Twilight was still a bit dazed, but her wide eyes soon turned half shut, and her high raised eyebrows followed them downwards, as well. She put down the chemical containers she was still holding, climbed down from the table she was on and walked back to her friends and Inhio with a strongly disappointed look on her face. "I...failed.”

The purple pony walked back to her friends with her eyes not even partially open anymore. She seemed so sad that just by looking at her, anyone would feel a bit sadder themselves. This was not the first time Twilight had felt like this – like she had failed the assignment Celestia herself had entrusted her with, and this was not a feeling she could so easily get out of her mind. Her friends had already opened their mouths to try and cheer Twilight up somehow, but someone had already beaten them to it.

Five warm fingers slowly wrapped themselves around Twilight’s chin and lifted her head to be face to face with the owner of the hand. As Inhio knelt for the princess on one knee, a single tear from Twilight’s eye reached his index finger. "As long as I’m still breathing, you haven’t failed," Inhio said softly and quietly. No one had heard him sound so caring since he arrived in Equestria. Twilight still gazed at Inhio ever so sadly. She found some comfort in Inhio’s words, but clearly not enough.

"But I...”

"Or do you not trust in the strength of your own friends?” Inhio interrupted her.

"What?” Twilight exclaimed, surprised by Inhio’s way of making sense of her despair. She had never even thought of such a thing. "No, no, of course not! It’s just...”

"Then why despair?” Inhio interrupted Twilight, once again. "You are only one out of six, and a princess of friendship can only be as strong as her own friends.” Twilight listened to Inhio carefully, and so did her friends. "When one falls, another will always be there to lend a helping hoof. Don’t you see? All six of you are actually one whole, and as long as at least one of you still stands...” Inhio’s words had really intrigued the ponies around him, especially Twilight, who seemed to be past her sudden moment of sadness. After a few second pause, during which Inhio noticed a spark returning to the purple pony’s eyes, Inhio ended his sentence, "There can be no talk of failure.”

Twilight was no longer sad and teary-eyed, but still very much surprised. Neither she, nor her friends had ever expected to hear such wisdom from the same man that seemed to care about nothing and had a tendency to mock them, from time to time, with jokes that might have only seemed funny to him, if he could even laugh. Twilight’s frown had turned to a wide-eyed shock, but got replaced by confident smile, just as quickly.

Inhio released her chin and stood up, still keeping a straight line between his own shaded eyes and those of Twilight Sparkle. The princess looked at her friends that were standing behind Inhio and eagerly awaiting her with firm smiles on their faces. Twilight looked back at Inhio for a brief moment, only to see him make a gesture that suggested she should go and join her friends. Inhio quickly shifted his head halfway towards the side where Twilight’s friends were standing and then threw his head back to its initial position. This gesture only took a split second, but it was easy to understand.

"Thank you,” Twilight whispered to Inhio as she started walking towards her friends. Inhio did not answer, he only followed the pony with his eyes, turning around after a short moment, so he wouldn’t have to keep his head in a ridiculous angle only to still be able to keep the pony in his sights.

Twilight’s part in the fight was over, but she still stood ready for battle, and ready to guide her friends til the bitter end. "Lets go, girls,” Twilight addressed her friends in a confident tone as she she raised her hoof in the air. Each and every one of them were just as battle-ready as she was, herself. "It’s not over yet!”

A good start

And so, Twilight’s part in this ordeal had been played, and it was time to pass the role onto another pony. The only thing that she could do now was rely on the strength of the magic of friendship and her own friends, and pray that they don’t let her down. They had never failed before, so there was no reason to doubt them this time either.

Rarity was the next one in line. Although she walked inside her boutique with a proud smile and great trust in her own abilities, the rest of the group did not share her enthusiasm, as they saw the luxurious and multicolored establishment being entered by a grim-looking man without a single piece of non-black clothing on his body.

Black shoes, black jeans, a long, black, leather jacket that stretched slightly past his knees. Not to mention - the black shades constantly keeping his eyes safe from the bright world...or rather – the world safe from them. Twilight and the rest of her friends stood by the wall, further away from the Rarity and Inhio. Rarity did love some extra room when accepting new customers, especially first timers.

Without much introduction, aside from some happy, melodic humming, Rarity accepted her visitor with about the usual routine, in spite of him not looking anything like her usual customers. She started in her typical, appealing and ladylike tone. "Oh, no, no, no, darling. That outfit simply won’t do.” She started to shake her head in disapproval. "Here, let me fetch you some...umm.”

Rarity froze from shock after taking a few quick looks around her own boutique, full of dressed up pony mannequins. She had only just remembered that just about all of her clothes were designed for female equines, even finding a piece of clothing fit for a male pony would have been a challenge, let alone a human. However, Rarity did not let the sudden shock state last long. She sighed loudly and changed her tone to a more serious and determined one. "Right...” She turned to Inhio to try convince him that she’s still got everything under control. "Not to worry, everything’s as it should be...In fact...” Rarity rubbed her chin. "Even better!”

It then occurred to Rarity, that this was not so much a challenge as it was an opportunity. Her friends already recognized that passionate look on her face, the one she gets when she’s overjoyed with the chance to do what she does best. Rarity was once again, so to say In the zone and ready to create.

"Oh yes! I can already see it! „Rarity - The best fashion designer in Equestria and beyond!”” The spark in Rarity’s eyes was shining brighter than ever. Her right hoof was raised and her sights were set to the sky, which, in this case, was blocked by the ceiling of her boutique. Right now, Rarity herself could see only her own name amongst the stars. Her gaze was fixed on the roof of the room for so long that Inhio had to look up just to see if there’s not a spider or something on the ceiling, that just plain wouldn't let her look away.

"And you’re going to help me achieve it!” Rarity suddenly set her eyes on Inhio and spoke in a slightly-less-friendly, almost demanding tone. Inhio didn’t exactly seem pleased about her attitude. "Oh, ha ha ha, where are my manners?” Rarity laughed and returned to a more welcoming tone. "The customer is always right, and your interests should come before mine.” At this point, Rarity was expecting Inhio to speak up and say just what kind of outfit would he like made. She mistook his silence for failure to understand her hint and decided to clarify.

"So, what will it be then, hmm?” She leaned towards Inhio with the right side of her head, hoping to hear him make an order. He didn’t say a word. Rarity thought he wasn’t sure himself, so she decided to give a few ideas. "A new jacket, perhaps? Brighter jeans, warmer shirt? Or simply a whole new outfit, altogether? You look like a serious man. A neat, luxurious tuxedo would fit you perfectly, don’t you think?”

Rarity smiled at him widely. Her teeth shined, as did her eyes, but Inhio only answered by gripping the inner edges of his open jacket and straightening it without releasing his hold on it. "I’m good, thanks.”

That wiped the smile right off of Rarity’s face, although it did not keep her from giving more ideas. "Some accessory, maybe? A hat, a bracelet, a necklace, something of the sort, perhaps?” The confidence and excitement in Rarity’s voice slowly seemed to be getting replaced with despair.

"I’m fine, really, there’s no need for any of this,” the man replied, remaining calm, which was more than could be said for the eager fashionista, who wasn’t about to take no for an answer.

"Hmph...Well, if you won’t tell me what kind of outfit you’d want, then I guess I’ll just have to make one without your approval.” Rarity walked over to her work table in a huff.

"This should be good,” Inhio whispered so quietly that no other soul heard him say that.

"Now...lets see.” Was the phrase with which Rarity began sorting through all her materials. She kept looking through all her fabrics, all colors and lengths, comparing them and measuring them, and looking back at Inhio, once every few seconds. She kept saying small phrases that only made sense to her, and repeating the word no, way too often "Hmm, no, this won’t do...Aha!...no...no...Oh heavens, no!” She didn’t seem to be making any progress, and the longer it went on, the more she kept looking back towards Inhio. She herself wasn’t too pleased at how things were turning out either.

"Bah! I’m not getting anywhere like this! I need something to work with...Hmm. Aha!” Rarity seemed convinced that she was onto something good. Rarity took her measuring tape and walked over to Inhio. "Now, if you would please hold still...” The eager mare jumped right to measuring the length and width of Inhio’s body, one limb after another. Inhio didn’t mind at all, he even released his jacket and straightened his hand so that Rarity wouldn’t have such trouble measuring it.

Rarity thanked the man and happily walked back to her work post while humming the same melody that she was humming when she first walked in here. Rarity walked passed her work table and faded from everyone’s view for a while, but everyone could still hear her working from where they were. They heard sounds of both metallic and wooden origins. Something being sawed, nails being hammered in, as well as some heavy objects clashing together or being dropped, it was impossible to tell from there.

The ponies got a bit bored after a while of waiting on Rarity. Inhio wasn’t too entertained either, but still seemed quite patient. A few minutes later, something gave the ponies something to smile about and raise their heads in hopes, but those hopes vanished as quickly as they appeared. Rarity came out of the cover, but left again after picking up a few materials from the table, mostly green fabric. And so, the insufferable waiting continued.

Everyone could still hear Rarity working, but heard no distinct sounds. Nothing wooden or metallic could be heard anymore, in fact, nothing could be heard at all, for most of the time. They heard something that sounded like a roll of paper being unfolded, but that’s as far as it went on any sound that’s origins could be told from just hearing it from the other room.

At last, it seemed like the wait was finally over. It sounded like Rarity was about to come out of her cover, but something came before her. A human-sized mannequin on wheels rolled out of the place Rarity was last seen entering. A human mannequin in a land full of tiny horse is a big enough surprise, but the costume on it was still the most interesting sight in the room. The outfit was no less a surprise for Inhio than it was for the five other ponies. In fact, his was the most surprised face in the room now...for he had seen clothes like these before.

The mannequin nearly rolled right into Inhio, stopping just inches away from his feet. Inhio stood and stared at it with an unsettling gaze and a raised eyebrow. The entire mannequin was covered in green clothes, from feet to head. A green jacket which was only half as long as his own, green trousers that ended short, revealing striped socks and brown shoes with a raised tip, and a green top hat that had a belt with a golden buckle around it, as did the trousers. The jacket also had a yellowish shirt and a green bow tie underneath it. Inhio maintained his confused stare on the outfit until the moment the overly-excited white mare ran up to him and nearly shouted out, "Well, do you like it?”

After a few more seconds of staring at the confusing sight, Inhio turned to the pony and replied in a tone not as calm as his usual one, "Do I look like a freaking leprechaun to you? Or even remotely Irish, for that matter?” Those words left Rarity no less confused than Inhio himself.

"I’m sorry, dear, what was it you said? A umm...eye-rish? A...lepricon?...Sounds like some strain of a unicorn, but I still have no idea what ever could you mean.” Rarity’s eyes held no lies, but that only made Inhio twice as confused as he was at first.

There’s no way... He thought to himself. How?... Can it really be true? Do these ponies know nothing of leprechauns and the irish? But...but that can’t be! This costume is the spitting image of every irish fairy tale!

Inhio stood still and gazed at the costume with an unforgiving glare without breathing a word. Although it seemed like he was heavily displeased with the outfit Rarity had made for him, it was not so much displeasure as it was just plain difficulty gathering his thoughts. Rarity’s face had an awkward smile on it as she rubbed the back of her head. She seemed certain that Inhio was so disgusted by the costume that he was having a hard time trying to figure out how to say he doesn’t like it as politely as possible. "Ehe he he...I take it you’re not too pleased with this one,” she muttered quietly, as though she didn’t want Inhio to hear that part. "I just thought that green might be your color.”

While still speaking, she took the mannequin and drove it back out of everyone’s sights, this time snatching some white fabric on the way. "Not to worry, I’m not about to give up that easily!” She left the room, still looking rather enthusiastic about this opportunity.

Only when both Rarity and the mannequin had left the room, did Inhio shake his head and leave his state of trance. Alright...I guess that could have just been dumb luck. Was the only thought that helped Inhio remain calm. She did do a pretty great job, considering it was her first ever time making something for someone that isn’t a horse-shaped being, I have to say. Mayhap she could actually make something that I would fancy wearing, after all.

The five other ponies seemed eager to see Inhio try the costume on. None of them seemed to dislike the outfit even one bit, and all as one, they were rather surprised about Inhio’s impolite reaction to it. Rarity could not be seen or heard, and the waiting resumed, once more. All of them could only hope that Inhio wouldn't be as unhappy about the next one as he was about this one. Inhio had seen enough to know that this one was quite the capable designer. To think that she could not only make a human-sized mannequin, but even a costume to go with it in such a short period of time...Quite astounding, really.

Inhio had only barely stopped dwelling in his thoughts when the mannequin reappeared once again, though seeing what it carried nearly made Inhio drop off his feet. The suit on the mannequin had all the colors of the american flag on it, in addition to a pinch of gold. A thin, white jacket with a red lining and very wide sleeves, and white trousers that split near the feet, revealing red lining on the inside. The outfit also came along with some fine, white shoes and was thoroughly sparkling with red, blue and gold colored decorations, mostly around the chest, sleeves and belt area. From a distance, it seemed like the suit had a belt made entirely out of gold. The only thing this picture was missing was a black wig on the head...Indeed, Inhio was now gazing at what seemed to be an exact replica of one of the stage costumes of the very king of rock and roll himself.

"That’s not possible...” Inhio muttered quietly to himself. This has got to be some kind of joke...Celestia might have tipped her off or something, she may have already had these costumes made before I even arrived here...Or I could even still be dreaming.

While Inhio was making up different kinds of theories on how can the current sight be real, the five other ponies stood and stared at the costume with amazement. Rainbow Dash was the first one to say a word. "Woah!”

And then Twilight added "You’ve really outdone yourself this time, Rarity!” The other three only nodded and agreed with a sound of approval that didn’t require them to open their mouths. "Mmhm.”

When Rarity finally caught up with the rolling mannequin that had stopped at Inhio’s feet again, she seemed excited and had already opened her mouth to say something, but then she saw the expression on Inhio’s face. That instantly sealed her lips shut. It was hard for Rarity to see him that way, she put a lot of effort in making this costume, which she thought any prince would love to wear, and yet, Inhio looked as though he had just seen a ghost. The quiet staring and waiting continued for no less than half a minute, until Rarity became desperate and nearly begged Inhio to say a word with her eyes full of disappointment. "Why, what ever is the matter, darling? I put my heart and soul in this costume! Please, say something! Anything! Please, don’t keep me wondering!”

Inhio still didn’t speak.

"What’s his problem? That costume is awesome!” A voice was heard from one of the five ponies standing by the wall at the other side of the room. All of a sudden, Inhio started shaking his head quite vigorously, not like the kind of shake of disapproval, but more like the kind you’d see a girl doing when trying get a spider out of her hair.

"All right, just to be completely sure,” Inhio finally spoke. "Do the words Elvis Presley mean anything to you?” After only seeing Rarity raise her hoof and utter an unconfident "umm.” Inhio instantly continued, "No, of course they don’t...Then how about the king of rock and roll? Ring any bells?” Without much thinking, Rarity looked at her friends, who only tilted their shoulders or rubbed the back of their heads without saying a word.

"No, I don’t believe I’ve heard any of those phrases before,” Rarity spoke after turning her eyes back to Inhio. "But I would love to know what does any of that have to do with the costume I’ve just made...if you please.”

That was the only answer Inhio expected to hear. Either she was lying or really was on an unbelievably incredible streak of dumb luck. Either way, Inhio could not figure out the truth behind this uncanny situation. The only thing he was wondering about now was whether to tell these ponies what was so special about the costumes Rarity had just created.

"Are they really that bad?” the saddened fashionista interrupted Inhio’s thoughts and got a quick reply from him, that, despite sounding unsure and being full of intervals, sounded like the truth.

"No, they’re not bad....It’s just...I’ve seen them before...Back at my world.” Inhio was having trouble keeping his sentence uninterrupted since he was still battling with his own thoughts in his head.

"what!?” All as one, the six ponies exclaimed, unable to believe what they had just heard. "Are you sure?” Asked the white mare, which was also the one most surprised out of the six ponies.

"Positive,” a quick and confident reply followed.

"B-b-but how?” Rarity stuttered, still unable to believe her own ears and Inhio’s lips.

"I have no idea, that’s exactly why I was so shocked from seeing them for myself.”

The two stared at one another for a while. One unable to believe his eyes, the other – her ears, but nevertheless, the facts were undeniable, and none of them looked like they were lying, nor would any of them have any reason to do so. After a brief moment, Rarity hung her head once she realized what this meant. "So...If you were to wear any of these costumes back at your own world...”

"I’m afraid so,” Inhio interrupted, already being certain of what the pony was about to say. Rarity seemed very sad, even though no one could actually see her face since her head was facing the ground. Inhio had already gotten down on one knee and was about to try cheer her up like he did with Twilight, earlier that day, but before his hand could reach her, Rarity suddenly turned around and took the mannequin back to her workshop with her. For some reason, she looked very confident for someone who seemed like she was about to burst into tears, just moments ago.

"I need a moment.” Were the last words anyone heard before she had left their sights again. Her sudden departure from the scene left Inhio baffled. He looked at the other five ponies still in the room with him, but they seemed just as confused about it as he did. A few of them even looked worried about their friend. As they listened more carefully, it started sounding like Rarity was working again.

Could she be making another costume? Was the thought on the minds of all the ponies. Only Inhio alone wondered something slightly different.

An irish fairy tale, the king of rock and roll, what’s next? Ezio Auditore? Inhio almost got excited from that last thought. Heck, I’d wear that! Inhio was pretty eager to see what else was Rarity about to cook up. If sheer dumb luck made her stitch together such masterpieces, then surely her next outfit should be worth seeing.

"Umm, pardon me, over here!” a voice called Inhio over. He turned his attention to one of the five ponies that was now waving her hoof at him. "Yeah, right here. Just a quick question.” Rainbow Dash flew closer to Inhio before continuing, "Did I hear you right, earlier. Did you say – king of rock and roll?”

"Aye, your ears do not deceive.”

"You have a king of rock and roll at from where you come from?” A single word from Inhio wiped the wide smile right off of Rainbow’s face.

"Had.”

"Oh...” Rainbow Dash hung her head and slowly lost altitude, reaching the floor in a few seconds. "What was he like?” she asked, raising her head up again.

"I never got to meet him in person, but I hear he was...” Inhio hesitated, trying to figure out a proper single word to describe the man. ”Great...To say the least.”

"Sounds like quite the man.”

"Aye, that he was.” Their conversation got cut short, it sounded like Rarity was about to enter the room again. Without a word, the blue pegasus darted back to her friends and pretended like nothing happened between her and Inhio. Right as she landed, the mannequin reappeared in the room for the final time. Inhio wasn’t nearly as surprised about the costume on it this time as he was with the last two. In fact, the clothes on the mannequin seemed to be rather appealing to him. Following the mannequin, Rarity emerged from the same place as it did, this time breathing quite heavily.

Rarity was so exhausted that she pushed the mannequin too hard and didn’t slow it down enough, and was now running after it to stop it. She wasn’t nearly fast enough to catch it. Luckily, Inhio stopped it by placing his foot on one of the wheels. As Inhio stared at the clothes on the mannequin, the panting voice got closer. Still trying to catch her breath, Rarity spoke up. "There...this is...the last one...I’ll be making.” Rarity stopped her short interval heavy breathing and took a long, deep breath instead, continuing afterwards, uninterrupted, "Consider this a parting gift.” Rarity had made this last one much faster than the last two, but it didn’t seem like she put any less effort in this one...Out of all three, this one seemed like the most meaningful to her.

Inhio looked upon this one without a mind full of bizarre theories. He turned the mannequin around to get a good look at the costume. This one was much simpler, the only thing that was different about his own jeans and those on the mannequin, was the color, and also, they were split near the lower edges, just like the last costume, except that this time, the split was on the outer side of the legs, not the inner, and it didn’t have linings of a different color as itself.

As for the upper part of the body, there was a black shirt with somewhat short sleeves, and a small, brown leather vest with no sleeves and boots of the same color. The boots also had a spur - a tiny, sharp, water-wheel-shaped gear at its back. As for other accessories, there was a golden sheriff star on the jacket, a brown serape and a black cowboy hat with a low top and barely curved edges. It almost looked like a flamenco hat. This whole set might not have seemed all that weird for Inhio, especially after seeing the last 2 costumes, but Rarity’s friends knew that she had no particular love for this sort of style, and were a bit surprised about this outfit. Nevertheless, it was a true work of art, and the way Inhio looked at it, no one could ever say he seemed displeased.

"Well, do you like it? Please tell me you like it! I really thought this might suit your style, you did seem the type to me.” Rarity suddenly got the feeling that the way she said the type may have offended the man. "Umm, no offence intended, of course.” Of course, Inhio wasn’t offended at all. On the contrary - he gently took off the hat and spoke up as he held it between the index fingers of both his hands.

"You know...I’ve always held a lot of respect for all things country.” That put a smile on the face of not only the maker of the costume, but a certain farm pony, as well. Rarity asked if he’d like to try it on and was delighted after hearing a positive reply. Inhio took a quick look around the room, but then remembered something when looking back at the ponies. "Right...I don’t suppose you’ve got any dressing booths around here?” The expression on Rarity’s face was a better answer than Inhio could possibly ask for. "Right, of course, why would you even need one, seeings how there’s nothing wrong with being clothless around here.”

"I’m guessing it’s not alright for one to walk around naked in your world, then?” Rarity asked out of sheer curiosity.

"Short answer – yes.”

"Well then, umm...” Rarity rubbed the back of her head while trying to figure out a solution. "If you’re shy, then I suppose you could go get dressed in my workshop, we promise we won’t peek.”

"Oh, umm, that won’t be necessary. That might have been a problem if I had to change underwear, but I guess it’s a good thing you didn’t make any, eh?”

"I’m sorry, dear, what was that? Underwear, was it?”

Inhio got a bit dazed from that reply, which was also a question. Idiot, why would they need underwear? He thought to himself. "Nevermind, forget about it.” Rarity was still rather curious about what that word Inhio mentioned meant, but she didn’t ask again, since Inhio said to just forget about it. It’s only natural that these humans have different traditions, she thought.

Without saying another word, Inhio began to switch clothes right in front of the twelve prying eyes, starting with the jacket and shirt first. Some thought that it would be more polite to turn away while he gets dressed, but their curiosity got the better of every one of them. It was quite the interesting sight for them, seeing Inhio from the front when he took his shirt off. Inhio was no fighter, but he was still rather well-built. He kept himself in shape, even while his darker side was in control of him.

The ponies were very intrigued about his body form, the chest and stomach, the part where the ponies had a smooth, flat surface, the man had several shapes and lines. He even had one long line across his entire chest and stomach. The chest also seemed split into two parts. These two, peculiar-looking square shapes with round lower edges and a couple of weird looking darker spots of skin, right in the middle of each of the shapes, they almost looked like wounds of some sort. Much like the chest, the stomach was also split, but instead of two squares, it was six smaller ones, and he also had a tiny hole at the lower part of his stomach.

The front part of his body was interesting, if not disturbing. Some of the ponies looked at it with wide eyes, and some looked a bit unsettled and almost wanted to look away, but when Inhio turned around, they all gazed at him with both their eyes and mouths wide agape. Inhio had nearly already put his black shirt on when an already familiar voice interrupted him, "That...is awesome.”

Inhio turned his head towards the crowd of ponies. "Huh?”

"Your cutie mark...It looks amazing!” If all six of the ponies weren’t staring at him so excitedly, Inhio probably would have thought that they weren’t talking about him.

"My what?” Inhio asked, utterly confused about the joke these six were trying to pull on him.

"Your cutie mark, on your back. I thought humans didn’t have cutie marks,” Twilight clarified, still leaving Inhio confused.

"Wait what?...Ooooh! That!” Inhio just remembered about the tattoo on his back. It was a beautiful angel that stretched all over his back and even slightly covered his shoulders, as well. "You mean my tattoo.” Yet another word that none of the ponies recognized and repeated, just to be sure they heard it right.

"Yeah, a tattoo. I suppose the easiest way to explain this is to say that it basically looks just like one of your cutie marks, a drawing that never disappears from your body, once it appears. There’s just a few differences. It doesn’t appear by itself, but is painted on by a person who makes a living out of making these marks. Also, not everyone gets them, people can choose if they want one or not, and they can also choose the exact spot on their body where they want it on. Oh, and one more thing – it’s kinda painful to have it drawn on you, since it’s not drawn by a pencil, but a special sort of sharp contraption, meant just for this occasion."

Inhio spoke that out so fast that it left most of the ponies even more confused than before they found out. "Riiiight...” Was the only thing anyone of them could say.

Inhio kept on talking as he was getting dressed. "I devoted this drawing to my wife, Angela...” Inhio spoke out the last part of his sentence very quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear it, "She was always my angel.”

The six ponies looked at each other with a sad expression on their faces. They had just remembered that Inhio lost his wife long ago, and knew just how much he loved her. The way he just called her his angel struck a chord in each one of them. As they looked at each other, trying to think of some cheerful words for Inhio, they didn’t notice that Inhio had already put on both his shirt and pants, and was now just putting on the final pieces. Twilight had already raised her hoof and was about to say something, when Inhio walked up to them, already dressed up as a born cowboy. The way he slowly walked up to them with loud steps, it was a cheerful sight, especially for Rarity.

"Howdy, y'all!” Inhio spoke in a western accent rather well, it seemed like he had done this before. His black hat was covering his eyes, he raised it for a short second while greeting the ponies. Inhio walked back towards the mannequin that was now holding the clothes he walked in here with. He brushed his hand against the sleeves of his black jacket, as if saying goodbye to it. He shifted his head backwards, all of a sudden. "Hope you won’t mind if I leave this here, for now,” he spoke while looking at Rarity.

"Oh, no, not at all! I’ll keep it safe for you.” Rarity was still overjoyed about the fact that Inhio liked the outfit she had made for him.

"Thank you,” he said the two words very sincerely, like he really meant it. "Ah reckon we’d best get a move on, then.” Inhio started walking towards the door without even waiting for a reply, and the six ponies gladly followed him, without hesitation. They figured that it would be best to just let Inhio enjoy this moment.

No chance

Although Inhio’s face was still missing a solid smile, the ponies were still happy about the way things had turned out so far. Rarity had done a great job at putting Inhio in a seemingly good mood. No one thought, even for a second, to be unhappy with the fact that she didn’t succeed in actually making Inhio smile. Two out of six ponies had finished their part in this ordeal, and the time for the next one to take their place was at hand.

As the gentle pegasus with the soft voice guided the cowboy and her friends to her cottage through the streets of Ponyville, a lot of ponies were seen unbarricading the doors and windows they had previously sealed shut in fear of the evil creature. Most of them had turned a blind eye towards the way he behaved earlier, but quite a few ponies still looked at him with a rather reproachful scowl. Some even with a touch of fear in it.

As Fluttershy gathered all of her animals around her, her friends found a more comfortable spot to watch from. They had seen her do this plenty of times before, and saw nothing fazing in her performance, even though Inhio still seemed rather intrigued. The way all the animals followed her call like she was a mother to each and every one of them, it was rather amazing. It felt like Inhio was looking at a pony version of Gaia herself. Birds and animals of all kinds alike, from the smallest hummingbird and cutest bunny, up to the most majestic eagle and fearsome bear, an animal most people with a brain would play dead when seeing, he bowed to this gentle soul - less than one fifth of its size - as though he was bound to her by nature.

All of this seemed twice as intriguing for Inhio, since his own wife was quite a gentle soul and a passionate friend to all animals...Of course, not the kind of friend like this one, though. She would no doubt love to be in her shoes. To bend the will of the animals around her as if it were her own, not for ill purposes, but for the sheer privilege of being around them without scaring them away. Inhio felt like he could spend the whole day and more here, just watching and listening to the way she talked and sang for the animals. He never thought that he could have these sorts of feeling towards such a creature, but, despite it not feeling right, he didn’t feel ashamed.

Inhio even started feeling rather uneasy. It felt like the more time he spent around her, the more she started reminding him of his wife. He did not want to sit and wait to see what these feeling lead to, so he decided to cut in and somehow get the chain to move towards the next link. "You have quite the talent for dealing with animals, Miss Fluttershy.”

Talent, that word made Inhio remember something. He remembered about the definition of a cutie mark and the butterflies on this one’s backside. He seemed to have figured out the connection here - The butterflies must have symbolized her talent of being good with all sorts of animals, just like the diamonds on the white ones flank meant she was a passionate fashionista. He was now, more eager than ever to reach the next link in the chain. The cloud and colored lightning on the blue, rainbow-maned one's flank had particularly intrigued him. What could it symbolize? he wondered.

"Oh, thank you, Sir. I do try my best.” Fluttershy smiled at the man, hoping he would smile back.

"Believe me, as much as I would love to stay here longer, I fear we must move on.”

"Oh? But you’ve only just arrived. I’ve barely even shown you anything, and we haven’t even stepped inside my cottage yet. Are you sure you don’t want to come in for some tea?” Fluttershy felt like she wasn’t even given a chance to prove herself. She wasn’t the only one surprised about Inhio wanting to leave so early. Her friends had only just found a comfortable sitting spot when Inhio was already getting up.

"I’m sorry, Miss Fluttershy, I do not wish to offend you in any way.” Inhio knelt on one knee before the pegasus. "But despite feeling comfortable here, I fear I cannot see myself getting a smile over my lips while sitting here, and I was never really one for loving tea parties either.” His tone was sincere, and his voice clear and without pause. He, no doubt, truly meant what he was saying. Nevertheless, the ponies still couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t telling them everything, but none of them dared to ask him anything. The sadness in the eyes of the young pegasus was a painful sight for Inhio.

"I understand.” Fluttershy descended to the ground with closed eyes and a remorseful expression. "I’m sorry,” she whispered.

She’s not making this easy... Inhio thought to himself. "Please, do not despair. This was in no way your fault. If anyone is to be sorry here, then it’s me...” Fluttershy looked at Inhio with wide eyes and a half-open mouth, wondering what could he possibly be sorry for. "I’m sorry for not giving you a proper chance, I’m sorry for cutting this visit short, I’m sorry for just plain being so damn insufferable and putting all of you through this...I’m sorry for everything, that’s what I’m sorry for.”

All of the ponies looked surprised about Inhio’s sudden apology streak. None of them realized that he actually felt sorry for anything, let alone, so many things at once. Something about him seemed out of place. Only Twilight alone realized what exactly wasn’t right with Inhio. He was breathing heavily, as though he was suffocating. It almost seemed as though he was unable to stand up for some reason...He looked weak, and the way he kept apologizing just now, it was as though he wasn’t himself. Out of the six ponies, Twilight was the only one who had seen this before. Inhio began to shake and sweat like he had suddenly caught a fever.

"Inhio!” Twilight shouted out to him and walked closer, but stopped when Inhio raised his hand towards her, holding his palm straight, clearly ordering her to stop. The shaking and heavy breathing continued for another few seconds before Inhio rose up to his feet again.

"We must go!” Inhio exclaimed, but the ponies around him still looked a bit dazed. "Now!” he added. That shook the ponies up a little and reminded them what this moment really meant – they were running out of time. There was no time for talking left, and everyone looked at Applejack for further guidance. Her only response was a loud, nervous-looking gulp. Needless to say, she no longer felt anywhere near to as enthusiastic about this plan as she did at the beginning.

No time

No longer in a slow walking motion, but rather trotting, the ponies led the man - dressed up as a cowboy - through the streets of Ponyville, straight to Sweet Apple Acres. All of the barricades were now gone from the homes of the ponies in town, but wide eyes still followed the man and six ponies during their entire journey through the town.

The ponies over at Sweet Apple Acres had only heard so much as a few words from Applejack, saying that she was going with Twilight to welcome some fancy guest into Equestria. Naturally, they expected the guest to be nothing more than a common pony. An alicorn or a griffon at the very best. At any rate, nothing like the tall, serape-wearing creature with a black hat covering its face. The way the metal gadgets on its feet clang against the earth with a metallic sound on every step, that alone was enough to make one get a bad feeling in their gut.

Applejack ran ahead to get to her family before the others. A last second warning is better than no warning. Big Mac, Granny Smith and little Applebloom had already gathered outside and were gazing at the approaching creature in awe. The oldest one told the youngest one to run inside. "That won’t be necessary, Granny Smith.” Applejack arrived right in time to convince the old granny to let Applebloom stay and meet the extraordinary guest. "We’ve got nothing to fear from this one,” she added once she had come close enough to not need to yell to be heard.

Applejack stood between her family and her friends, but as she heard their footsteps, right behind her, she stepped out of the way to stand in one line with her family, right next to her younger sister. "Apples, I would like you to meet Inhio.” Applejack raised her hoof in the air, pointing at the creature that slowly walked right up to them.

"Howdy!” the man said in a friendly tone and tilted the front of his hat. His face could be seen for a short moment, but his eyes still remained behind a black glass. No one else spoke. Applejack’s relatives stared at Inhio with an expression no less surprised than when they first got him in their sights.

"Inhio’s from another universe, see, that’s why y’all have probably never seen anything like him before. Dun worry, he doesn’t bite.” The apple family still didn’t look too convinced. There was no response from either party, it felt like Inhio was in a one-against-three staring contest. Inhio didn’t mind at all, he thought he should give their brains the time to process this "Well, go on...say something!” Applejack whispered to her family with the corner of her lips, as if unaware that Inhio could hear every word no worse than they did.

"Howdy, mister!” a loud and clearly friendly greet was finally heard from the youngest and most excited of the three. She jumped in the air, eager to make a new friend. Right after her, a "Eeehowdy!” followed from her older brother, as well as a "How do you do?” from the elderly pony.

"Just fine, thank you very much! And how are you, if I might ask?” Inhio replied right away, to keep the awkward silence astray.

"Just fine, thank you very much!” the young filly replied to the man with his own words, still jumping in one spot from excitement.

The other two replied after her as well. They replied at the same time. "Eeyup!” and "Just fine, yes, thank you for asking.” Were the two phrases that crossed one another, but both still remained audible. For the next ten seconds, the only thing still breaking the silence was the sound of the young one happily jumping. Applejack realized that this conversation isn’t going anywhere, so she decided to act.

"Alright, everyone! Apple family meeting time!” Applejack shouted out and backed away from Inhio a bit. Her family followed her right away. The four ponies formed a circle and whispered quietly enough for no one else to hear, but Inhio still knew what they were talking about, all too well, and so did the other five ponies. "Alright, Apples, listen up!” Applejack addressed her family members in a firm but quiet tone. "Sorry, but there’s no time to explain. All I can say is that this is bigger than you might think, and we gotta do all we can to keep that man entertained!”

"Man? Is that what he’s called?” asked the curious, little filly.

"Human, to be exact, but man is acceptable...it’s sorta like a short term for it, I guess,” Applejack clarified with a sense of uncertainty in her own voice. "Anywho...” She continued to keep the others from growing suspicious. "As I already said, we gotta do all we can to make him enjoy this visit! If we don’t, then not just us, but all of Equestria might suffer for it!” After such a brief, lackluster explanation that slightly resembled a strict order, one can’t help but grow curious.

"Gosh, he sure sounds like one important po...umm...man!”

"Eeyup!” Big Mac agreed with Applebloom.

"Too important, if you ask me,” Granny Smith added with a tone that spoke of little faith in Applejack’s words. "Who or what in the hay is he, exactly?” The three apples turned towards Applejack as if demanding an explanation.

"Like I already said, I don’t have time to explain!” Applejack’s relatives didn’t look like they were about to settle with an answer like that. "I’m sorry, but we’re just low on time and it’s a very long story, but I promise, I’ll explain every little detail once this whole thing is done!”

"Come on, Applejack! We ain’t got all day!” Applejack’s temporary answer - as well as a shout from her friend, Rainbow Dash - was enough to convince her family to go along with the plan. The impatient yelling from Rainbow Dash came at the nick of time, and served like a witness to Applejack’s statement of them being low on time, but they still expected Applejack to stay true to her word and give a full explanation afterwards, and of course, the element of honesty had no intention of breaking that promise. Just a few short moments after Rainbow’s shout, the Apple family were already walking back towards the group with confident smiles on their faces.

This wasn’t about to be an easy challenge for the Apple family, since they’re not exactly what you’d call amusing. They welcomed all guests with open hooves, they’re hospitality knew no bounds, but none of them ever really had to keep someone entertained. Nevertheless, they weren’t about to give up without a fight. "Right this way, Sir,” Applejack called Inhio over and began the tour right away.

Applejack and Big Mac decided to kickstart the show by doing what they do best – applebucking. Inhio gladly watched them work their way through the orchard. Applejack’s friends were already used to the way she bucks the apple trees, but for someone new to Equestria, it was no surprise that the sight was rather amusing, especially for someone who’s used to picking apples, one by one, and having considerable difficulties reaching the apples at the very top, and having to resort to either beating them down with a stick or climbing the tree to get them down. Inhio could only wish that he could do it the way these ponies did it... A single kick, and every single apple fell down, right into the already prepared baskets. Quite miraculous, really.

Applebloom called her friends - Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle over to try amuse Inhio. Despite the fact that it was more like the other way around for the fillies, it was still a happy sight seeing the tiny, cheerful ponies jumping around and laughing, and trying out all sorts of little tricks just for Inhio’s amusement. Inhio even applauded a few times, and the fillies proudly bowed, afterwards checking their flanks for a cutie mark, which - unsurprisingly - wasn't there.

Unfortunately, that was about as far as the fun part of the trip went...It was now Granny Smith’s turn.

It’s only natural for an old timer to not be the best source of entertainment. She herself only saw this as a good opportunity to show off some albums and tell a few stories. Luckily for her, Inhio proved to be quite the patient listener. If Inhio was back on his own world, then he would surely consider these stories to be well-sounding lies, but in this happy universe of candy and rainbows, that was still full of secrets for him, he just plain didn’t know what to think. Although Inhio seemed rather interested in the stories, it was more than obvious that they weren’t about to make him smile, so the Apples moved on to their final, almost desperate move. One that they could all be a part of.

Inhio got seated down at a lone table, and before long, the table got pilled up with all sorts of delicious-looking treats that all had the same core ingredient – apples. The table looked about the same as it did on the day they welcomed Twilight Sparkle to Ponyville. Applejack was hoping that the only thing keeping Inhio from smiling was an empty stomach.

"Feel free to try anything that looks good to you! There’s plenty more where that came from!” Applejack persuaded Inhio. She stepped back, and all of them eagerly waited for Inhio to dig in. Inhio did love apples, no doubt about it, but for some reason he hesitated to try anything. He stared at all the various goodies on the table until the moment he noticed a basket full of fresh apples standing next to the table.

"Thank you,” the man replied as he grabbed one of the apples from the basket and took a bite from it. He didn’t seem to have any intention of taking anything from the table. He just reclined in the chair and kept on eating the apple with a satisfied expression. He noticed that the family didn’t seem too happy, and he had a good hunch about the reason. "Please don’t take this too hard, I don’t mean to offend your cooking in any way. It’s just that there’s nothing I love more than a fresh apple, straight from a tree.” Inhio took another bite before continuing. The ponies still seemed a bit down, but not as much as before.

"I still remember how I used to climb every apple tree I could find, when I was still little. I would always eat them all up on the spot. Never took a single one back home to be baked into apple pie.” Inhio said one more sentence before taking the final bite out of the apple, one that left the Apple family smiling, even though they knew they had used every weapon at their disposal and still failed to make the man smile. "I sure do love apples.”

Inhio got up from the table and thanked the family for their time and their hospitality. He also apologized for the way he didn't try out a single one of the goods they baked for him. Applejack’s part in this ordeal was done and it was time for another to take her place, so Inhio began to walk back towards the other five ponies that had been only watching them without interrupting, up until now. Applejack hurried to follow Inhio after promising her family to return soon and tell them the full story. She thought it would be best to keep them in the dark, for now. They only knew that they had to keep Inhio entertained, not make him smile, and as far as they were concerned, they did their job, better than duly. It wouldn’t feel right to just tell them that they hadn’t really accomplished their intended goal.

The six ponies and the man were right back at the familiar situation from which they started. "Right, so who’s next?” Inhio asked since not one of the ponies ever actually explained the order to him.

"That would be me.” Rainbow Dash stepped forward. Inhio didn’t even need to look to already know who it was. He had heard that voice more than any other today, even though her time to really talk had only just arrived.

"Ah, I was wondering when I’d get the chance to see you in action!” Inhio seemed more intrigued by this pony than the other five. He was still curious about what exactly does her cutie mark symbolize. "So where do we begin?” Inhio asked, ready to run through the streets of the town, once again.

Rainbow Dash stomped her hoof on the ground. Her expression was overflowing with confidence as she got into position for takeoff. "Right here!”

No hope

Without another word, Rainbow Dash rocketed up to the skies so fast that the manes of her friends started fluttering from the breeze she caused. She flew so fast that one could even see a trail behind her. She kept soaring through the sky in every direction, Inhio could barely even keep track of her. Just by seeing her in action for less than half a minute, Inhio instantly realized just what her talent mark symbolized. As fast as lightning...This one is one heck of a speed demon.

After a few acrobatic spins, she started kicking the clouds, one after the other, making them all disappear into thin air with just a single blow. In just a moments notice, the sky was clear, with nothing but blue color, no matter where they looked. I only wish it worked that way back at our world, as well. Was the only thing Inhio could think about at the current moment. Her speed in the air could still be achieved by american jet fighters, but when it comes down to something that could be so fast while maintaining perfect maneuvering capabilities, her talent remained uncontested. The show was already enjoyable enough, but the best part was yet to come. Her friends already had a hunch of what the finale of her performance might look like.

"Get ready!” Rainbow Dash shouted out to the crowd as she flew by, after which she switched her flight direction and started rapidly gaining altitude.

"GO RAINBOW DASH!" Pinkie Pie shouted, only when Rainbow Dash was already too high up in the air to hear it.

This should be good. Inhio thought as his eyes followed the rainbow trail upwards, eventually making him turn his head upwards, as well. At this point, Rainbow Dash looked like an ant up in the sky, just inches away from fading from view completely. Even Inhio began to suspect what was about to follow as soon as she stopped in midair, and he was right. If the speed at which she was just gaining altitude seemed high, then it was nothing compared to the one at which she was reaching for ground level now, and it only got higher. Not only them, but even some of the townsfolk on the streets of Ponyville had gathered around to watch the amazing sight which was about to follow.

As she progressed, a sort of a cone of light started forming around her. Inhio knew she was playing around with dangerous speed, he even slightly feared that her overconfidence might get her hurt, but his worries were for naught. Suddenly, the cone of light disappeared for a short moment, only to reemerge as something much brighter and more colorful. A loud explosion echoed across the skies and the streets of Ponyville, and the sky got ignited in more colors than one could count. From the spot at which the cyan-blue pegasus disappeared into, a massive, rainbow-colored circle formed and reached for the edges of the sky in every direction.

Along with the edge of the rainbow circle, Rainbow Dash herself flew over her friends and Inhio. This time, causing more than just a slight breeze to shake their manes and tails. The leaves of the nearby trees decided to ditch their owner and follow Rainbow’s trail instead, and Inhio nearly got knocked out of balance himself. His serape fluttered loudly, and he held his hand on his hat so it wouldn't fly up along with the author of the swift gust. When the massive breeze was past, they could all open their eyes again, only to witness the rainbow circle already gone, leaving only the single rainbow trail dividing the sky. "Well, I’ll be damned,” Inhio quietly said, without closing his mouth after the last word.

After the trail behind her tail had faded away, Rainbow Dash returned to her friends, but not before flying through the town for a round of applause from the cheering crowd. She trotted back to them with a proud smile on her face. There weren’t many things Rainbow Dash loved more than showing off her signature moves in the sky and getting revered for it, and no matter how she tried, she simply couldn’t hide her excitement. "Well, whatcha think?” She looked at Inhio as she trotted by him.

Inhio’s first response was a solid applause, not slow enough to make one think that they’re being mocked, and not as fast as you might see a young child in an audience, clapping after his favorite artist's performance. "I’m gonna be a bit of a copycat now.” Inhio cleared his throat before continuing, "That was awesome.”

"He he he. Thanks! I knew I could cheer you up.” While there might not have been reason to worry about her safety, Inhio was still right about her being overconfident. She just stood there with that proud smile on her face, as if waiting for either her friends to gather around her to celebrate their victory, or even for Inhio himself to throw himself on his knees before her and thank her for giving him his life back. Unfortunately for her, there was neither cheering nor thanking, only awkward silence. Rainbow Dash had failed to notice that - despite sounding happy - Inhio’s face was still without the slightest grin.

"Umm...Hate to rain on your parade, Rainbow Dash, but...” The proud pegasus opened her eyes and looked at Twilight, who was now pointing her hoof at Inhio. "Look!”

One look at Inhio’s expression and her own face turned from a smile to a disappointed frown. "Huh? But I thought you loved my performance!” The frustrated look dedicated to Inhio almost made him feel bad for not being able to smile.

"Rest assured, your performance was breathtaking, and I would gladly watch and feel it again, if given the chance.” Inhio quietly sighed. "But I’m afraid it’s just not enough to give one a reason to live for.”

None of the ponies felt too happy about how things had turned out, Rainbow Dash in particular. Twilight walked up to her and placed her hoof on her shoulder. After seeing her friend so down, she just couldn’t help but try and encourage her somehow. "Cheer up, Rainbow Dash. We’ve still got Pinkie Pie.”

"Hang on, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash brushed Twilight’s hoof off of her shoulder. "I’m not through with this guy yet.”

"Huh?” The five other ponies gasped, curious of what could their friend still have up her sleeve.

"I’ve got an idea.” Rainbow Dash faced Twilight with an expression that was no longer sad, but it was not a cheerful one either - it was a serious and determined one. "But I’m gonna need your help.”

At first, Twilight got a bit startled by Rainbow’s words, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t ready to do everything she can to help her. "Of course, Rainbow Dash! What did you have in mind?”

"I was wondering...” She rubbed the back of her head, trying to figure out the best way to say what she had in mind. "Remember that spell you used on yourself and the others to make you able to walk in Cloudsdale?” Twilight looked confused, but also seemed to be wondering about something. "Yeah, I think you get the idea.”

"I see...” Twilight rubbed her chin. "Well, everyone else got to show Inhio their home, so I guess it’s only fair that you get to show him Cloudsdale...I just pray to Celestia that this works on him and he doesn’t fall off of a cloud.”

"Speaking of Celestia,” Inhio interrupted. "Didn’t she say something about your magic having no effect on me?”

"Right...” Rainbow Dash hung her head, giving into sorrow once again.

"Wait, Rainbow Dash!” Judging by her tone, it seemed like Twilight had an idea. Her friend was all ears, and so was Inhio. "We might not be able to make him walk on clouds, but that doesn’t mean we can’t show him Cloudsdale!”

"Wait a minute...You’re right!” Having picked up on Twilight’s plan, Rainbow Dash regained her excited look again.

"Someone mind filling me in here?” Confused, Inhio interrupted the two cheerful ponies, drawing their attention to him for a short moment, after which the two ponies smiled at one another.

"We’re going for a ride!” Rainbow Dash and Twilight replied simultaneously.

***

The trot through the town took place, once again. Only this time, the ponies were all smiling rather confidently, leaving Inhio as the only one with an unsettling face. What do these two have in mind for me, now? Inhio wondered. It almost seemed as though they were about to let me fly on their backs, but now it looks like we’re going straight back to Twilight’s castle. Inhio wasn’t wrong about the direction they were heading in. Before long, they were already near the castle. The only thing Inhio could think of was that Twilight was about to pick something up from her castle that would help them get him up in the air. Inhio wouldn’t deny that he was rather eager to see this so called Cloudsdale, which, by the sound of it, should have been a city in the sky.

Strange. Inhio thought as the ponies in front of him simply ran past the castle itself. At this point, Inhio was completely clueless about what their true destination might be, but that feeling did not last long, for the area behind Twilight’s castle was the place where she had her personal hot air balloon tied down at. "You are certainly full of surprises, Miss Twilight Sparkle,” Inhio said in an admiring tone. Twilight thanked the man for the kind words, and before long, all of them were already up in the air. Three of them on their own wings, and three more, along with a single man, were comfortably sitting inside the balloon and slowly ascending into the sky.

Twilight’s balloon wasn’t exactly renown for its high speed, so the journey took a while. As the guests in the balloon got into positions more comfortable for them, only Inhio was tall enough to see over the edge of the balloon while still sitting. As soon as the man whistled, they knew it was time to get up. Despite it not being a loud whistle with a sole purpose of waking the ponies up, but rather one of those that someone usually makes when seeing something breathtaking, it still got the job done. In all of Equestria, there probably wasn’t a single soul alive that wouldn’t say that Cloudsdale isn’t an amazing sight for someone seeing it for the first time in their lives.

The balloon circled around the city in the sky, slowly enough for everyone to have a good look at all of its features. Inhio might not have been able to get out of the balloon and walk inside the cloud and weather factories, but the amount of sights to see around here, aside from those, was still no small number. No doubt, the thought of being able to walk on clouds did seem quite appealing to Inhio. He inspected every cloud, pillar and rainbow with great interest. To him, it almost seemed wrong to call this place a city in the sky, because it seemed more like this place actually made the sky itself, as though this was the center of the sky in this realm, and the sky itself was the city around it. The way it merged with the sky, the way its floors were made of nothing but pure clouds that somehow stuck together without moving an inch, and the way it still had massive pillars sticking out everywhere, while at the same time, any wingless pony to set hoof on one of the platforms underneath them would fall through its floors.

Even the ponies that had already been here before were still thrilled about the chance to be here again, even if it was only as a view from the balloon. Cloudsdale – the city in the sky, the palace of clouds and the city of dreams for anyone not from Equestria, truly a sight that could just about give a reason to live for to anyone. Sadly, by the time the balloon had landed and everyone had stepped out of it, Inhio’s face was still lacking a smile.

"Ugh!” Rainbow Dash slumped to the ground, fairly unsatisfied about the outcome. "I give up.” It didn’t seem like she was in need of cheering up, because she wasn’t really sad, she was simply exhausted, and out of moves and ideas on how to possibly cheer someone else up. A few more moments and someone would have said something to try and cheer her up, if she hadn’t said something herself, "Can we just keep this thing going? I bet Pinkie’s dying to get her turn.”

It was quite clear that Rainbow Dash had simply given it her all and had simply accepted the fact that bringing joy back to Inhio’s life was a task above her degree of skills. No pony dared to say anything about her just giving up like that, because none of them expected anything more from her. "Don’t blame yourself, Rainbow Dash.” No pony dared say anything, but a certain man sure did. "I went on for eight long years without a single smile, so you can only imagine the true difficulty of the task you and your friends are to carry out.”

"Eight years...” Rainbow Dash quietly whispered. "Hey, Pinkie Pie! You hear that? You’ve got your work cut out for you!” she shouted out to one of her friends.

Pinkie didn’t seem worried at all. She just kept on happily skipping in one place. "That’s eight years without a good party!” She giggled.

No smile

And so, after giving it her all, Rainbow’s part in this ordeal was over, and it was time to pass the role to another, to the last one in line, this time. That’s what the element of laughter is for, after all, isn’t it? For making smiles out of frowns. The six ponies were at the end of the line and had all of their hopes riding on the last one of them. Nevertheless, they were all no less confident than Pinkie Pie herself. After all, this wouldn’t be the first time Pinkie Pie would have succeeded in bringing a cheer to someone that seems to have lost their way in life...If she succeeds, that is.

Luckily for them, the balloon landed not far from Sugarcube Corner, so they didn’t have to walk far or fast. It wasn’t long before they heard Pinkie’s cheerful voice, once again. "We’re here!” she shouted right as everyone stopped near the entrance with Inhio at the front of the pack. "Are you ready?” the eager pony asked Inhio.

"Ready for whatever comes, aye,” he quickly replied.

"Then lets get this party started!” Pinkie Pie opened the door for everyone. Her friends were pretty sure about what was about to follow, but Inhio had no idea. Just as every special guest Pinkie Pie throws a party for, Inhio was about to have a song dedicated just to him. As soon as Inhio stepped inside, he could already hear the instruments playing, (wherever they were coming from) and Pinkie’s voice joined in soon afterwards.

When there’s someone in need of a smile,
The best cure is always a party.
When there’s someone that’s lost their way,
Just place a cupcake in their hand and say:
Just take a hop and a skip and a jump,
And if that frown won’t turn around,
Then just turn yourself upside down.
And even if you might not look like a pony,
It doesn’t matter...

Because a party’s still a party.
And your appearance matters hardly.
You can always be my special guest.
Take my hoof and don’t worry bout the rest.

Come on in and lets have a blast.
Make yourself at home, my parties don’t end fast.
Just be ready to stay for a while,
Because you’re not leaving until I get that smile.

But sometimes a cup of a cake just won’t do.
That’s never a reason to let your sadness show.
Why settle with a cup when you can have the whole thing?
With a cherry on top and strawberries on the sides.
There’s a smile inside of everyone of us,
One just needs to know just where to press.
And even if you don’t have your party hat,
And you refuse to keep a grip on that balloon
It doesn’t matter...

Because a party’s still a party.
And your appearance matters hardly.
You can always be my special guest.
Take my hoof and don’t worry bout the rest.

Come on in and lets have a blast.
Make yourself at home, my parties don’t end fast.
Just be ready to stay for a while,
Because you’re not leaving until I get that smile.

But a party can never be a real party,
If there’s still one left that doesn’t even giggle.
When all else fails, then it’s time to get serious,
And call in the heaviest of cavalry.
Introduce them to your party cannon.
And make that frown go away with a blast.
But what happens when your mind’s just all outta tricks?
And your party cannon’s running low on ammo?
Then it matters...

Because a party’s still a party.
And your appearance matters hardly.
You can always be my special guest.
Take my hoof and don’t worry bout the rest.

Come on in and lets have a blast.
Make yourself at home, my parties don’t end fast.
Just be ready to stay for a while,
Because you’re not leaving until I get that smile.

Of course, Pinkie wasn’t an all bark and no bite type of pony, swift actions followed her words, along with the song. It was surprising for Inhio, how this party for him seemed like it had been planned for quite some time, when she only ever found out about him just earlier today and had no chance to run back here for extra preparations between then and now. Pinkie Pie turned upside down plenty of times, but Inhio didn’t really feel like following her instructions. Instead of a single cupcake, he got seated in front of a whole pile of them, and the cake she mentioned, it stood so tall than none could even tell if it had that cherry on top or not. Just as the song suggested, the party did last quite a while.

Pinkie Pie started her song off with such enthusiasm and so full of energy, but already after she had sung out the second chorus of her song, one could hear that her voice lacked the spirit it had at the start. After she had blasted her party cannon off right in front of Inhio, it started seeming like she was about to be the one in need of cheering up. Her so called heavy cavalry move had somewhat backfired on her. If Inhio was in a good mood by the beginning of the song, then he sure didn’t seem too happy after he had finished wiping away the streamers from his body and spitting out the ones that got in his mouth after Pinkie’s cannon had painted him half-pink.

"Because a party’s still a party,” Pinkie repeated the words from her song once more, but at this point, it sounded more like a lament than a party song. "A party’s still a... ” Pinkie Pie fell to the ground, exhausted just from seeing her special guest with the same icy glare on his face as he had at the moment she first saw him. ”...party.” Pinkie Pie slowly blew the party whistle she still had in her mouth, letting it just drop from her lips and roll away afterwards. Nothing made Pinkie happier than being able to cheer up her friends, and at the same time, nothing made her sadder than knowing that cheering them up is not a task that she can accomplish. Seeing her like this was a sight enough to make anyone sad.

"Come now, Pinkie Pie, there’s no need for both of us to be down.” Pinkie Pie shifted her eyeballs to the corner of her eyes, as close to the man speaking as possible. She didn’t stare for long. No sound came over her lips aside from a loud and sad sigh, and all of a sudden, her mane and tail just straightened itself at the blink of an eye, as though she just had an invisible water bucket poured on her. Inhio knelt down on one knee near Pinkie, nearly speaking directly into her ear now, in hopes that she could hear his words better. "Your friends have enough trouble with me alone, don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

Pinkie Pie didn’t even bother looking at Inhio this time. Her friends looked nervous, not just because they were worried about their friend, but because they had realized exactly what this meant. "What’s the point?” Pinkie replied. "If none of us could make you smile, then it means the end for more than just this party.” Pinkie’s tone sounded nothing like her usual one. She kept her eyes half-shut, and her voice sounded like she didn’t even care if she got heard or not. Her friends had only ever seen her like this once before, and had hoped to never see her like that again.

"It’s only hopeless if you don’t try.” Pinkie might have given up on Inhio, but he wasn’t about to give up on her. "Never forget that you are not alone in this fight.” Inhio got up and took a few steps backwards to move into a position where he was facing Pinkie Pie, as well as the rest of the ponies. "Mayhap you have all failed at this, one by one, but you needn’t do this one by one when you have each other!” Inhio’s preaching had finally gotten to her. She widened her eyes and raised her head to face the man that had been looking right at her all along. "I remember you promised you wouldn’t let me leave without a smile on my face...You’re not about to break your promise to me, are you?” Inhio’s last words may have seemed like a cheap shot, but they were effective, nonetheless.

Pinkie’s mane sprung back into its cotton candy form right after Inhio’s last comment. "No, Siree!” she shouted back at the man and got up, looking battle ready, once again.

"Then what are you waiting for?” That almost sounded like a challenge. One that Pinkie was just about ready to accept, if she had not been interrupted.

"Inhio’s right, Pinkie Pie.” Both Pinkie and Inhio turned their eyes towards the one interrupting them. Twilight continued after catching their attention "You don’t have to do this alone. We were always at our strongest when we are together!” The four ponies next to Twilight agreed with her and nodded in approval. Pinkie Pie could only smile back at them and rush over to join in for the warm hug.

"Thanks, guys. I don’t know what came over me,” Pinkie said in a tone both thankful and apologetic at the same time.

When the times seem dark, it’s always good to know that you’re not alone in your fight. One can accomplish more than they might think, if they only believe in themselves, and Inhio knew this. He had always relied on this thought whenever he was trying to inspire someone with his words, and it seemed like these ponies needed inspiration now, more than ever. After giving them a good taste of the trouble they’re facing, pulling them all together for the real fight seemed like the best solution, but Inhio had a different plan in mind.

"But what ever shall we do?” Rarity asked, in a tone that had a touch of both despair and curiosity in it.

"Yeah.” Rainbow Dash wanted to know as well. "Just because we’re all together now doesn’t change the fact that we’re fresh out of ideas.”

"Hmm...” Twilight rubbed her chin and pondered on the question.

"With all due respect, Miss Twilight Sparkle,” Inhio interrupted. "I’m afraid there’s only one thing you can do.” By Inhio’s tone, it almost seemed like he was expecting them to know what he had in mind, when in fact, they had no idea.

The ponies stared at Inhio with wide eyes until Twilight decided to quell their curiosity for them. "And what might that be?”

"Send me back.”

A change of plans

"Send me back,” Inhio said, as if sure that it was the only way.

"What?” The surprised ponies all shouted out as one.

"My curse is of my own world, your world doesn’t need to suffer for it.”

"And you would simply go and doom your own world in order to save ours?”

"Aye, without regrets.” A brief silence took over. Inhio’s tone never really changed, and he never seemed to lie.

"Why?” Twilight asked, surprised at how a man that sometimes seemed to not even have a heart, could be so benevolent at the same time.

Inhio hesitated to answer, but not because he had trouble thinking of what to say or because he was uncertain. He slowly walked up to the window, moved the edge of the curtains aside and gazed outside at the streets of the town as they slowly began to darken. The day was nearing its end. "Because there’s much more to this world than there is to ours...I can say that much after spending just less than a full day here.” Inhio released the edge of the curtain and turned around to face the ponies again. They hadn’t moved an inch and were carefully listening to every one of his words. Inhio could speak on uninterrupted for hours, it seemed.

"The sky is bluer and the grass is greener,” Inhio said those words out in hopes that they wouldn’t sound like too much of a cliche in this world. "The way peace and harmony rules here...Your world has everything our world dreams of and strives for every day.” The ponies couldn’t even begin to imagine what Inhio’s world was like, they stood and kept staring at him as surprised as ever. "Peace and harmony, yes, those are the things your world is built on...Do you know what our world is built on?” There was no answer, only guessing in the ponies' minds, but not one word out loud.

"Things that your world doesn’t even know, we see them around each and every corner.” Inhio tightened his fists more and more with each dreaded word he named. "Lies, anger, violence, treachery, hate, disorder, war...and death.” Inhio took a step closer to the ponies with each word, bending down and whispering the last word to Twilight, so close that she could almost feel his breath. "Those are the things our world is built on.” Inhio straightened his back and returned to a less dramatic tone. "Imagine if those villains of yours, that you defeated before. Imagine if they had never been banished, but instead, your rulers would have formed an alliance with them.”

That was quite the wicked thought Inhio gave the ponies to think about. What if it really was like that? They wondered. What if Celestia and Tirek sat on the same throne?

"Imagine if your own ruler never cared for her own land, imagine if she only ever cared about lining up her own pockets...” Inhio stumbled as he remembered that the phrase he just said might not be so clear to the ponies. "Forgive me, what I meant to say is - what if she only ever cared about herself? I’m not saying it is like that, I’m just saying imagine if it was like that!” Inhio added, as he saw Twilight raising her hoof, ready to protest. "Imagine if while she was so busy tending to her own needs, that everyone could do what they want and no one could stop them.”

The ponies began to wonder if Inhio is really referring to the things in his own world or if he’s just making this up as he goes...Surely, it couldn’t be that bad...could it?

"Imagine if those big, strong workhorses used their able bodies to rob the elderly ponies. Imagine if there was someone lying on the street, half-dead, and not a single soul would even ask him if he’s all right. Imagine if the entire town was starving, and it would all be happening right under your ruler’s nose, and she would do nothing to prevent it!” If not for Inhio’s dead-serious expression and fierce tone, the ponies would have denied his every word right away, but looking back at him and calling him a liar would be a damn near impossible thing to do. "And the list goes on,” Inhio added, as a final remark.

If it’s really as he says in his world, then no wonder he couldn’t find a reason to smile for eight whole years. They all thought, but none dared say that out loud.

"Of course...” Inhio spoke again, with words loud and sudden, startling some of the ponies as a result. "It’s not all bad. Naturally, I doubt our world would even still exist if it was only bad. Good still resides in the hearts of men, but that good side of them is put to the test, each and every passing day. The things that happen on our world every day, the things we have to witness...It’s no wonder that someone who started off as a good man would eventually start to question his own ways and spend every day wondering if there’s any point left in still being one of the good guys when all the good he does is in vain...It doesn’t take a genius to realize that a single soul, no matter how noble, can’t change the world...That’s a thought that drives men to succumb to the darkness."

Inhio gazed out the window, once more. By now, the sun had faded away, and the darkness on the streets matched that of his story. "It’s true what they say, I guess. You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.” The ponies listened to Inhio like fillies during story time, only without asking any questions. "But the thing is...that’s not always true. Sometimes all it takes is just one kind-hearted person at the right time and place, just one good deed that everyone sees...Sometimes that’s all it takes for some people to be reminded that good still exists...Sometimes, the only thing one needs is a chance.”

Inhio turned away from the window. "But the problem is, one doesn’t need a chance to prove their cruelty, and one can go on for years without a chance to show how kind they truly are...For this reason, people keep thinking that evil rules the world. They choose to close their eyes to the good and see only the bad." Inhio turned his sights to the ponies again. They were rather calm now, after getting further insight on Inhio’s world. They weren’t surprised or shocked anymore, they were just patiently waiting for Inhio to finish.

"You see now, don’t you? Our world looks all bad, when in fact, it’s actually more or less in balance. Because the thing about noble and cruel is that the cruel aren’t afraid to show their true nature. On the contrary, they consider it their sworn duty to show it off, so that the world would know that they’re still a force to be reckoned with, and the only reason we don’t see so much good is because the truly noble souls do not brag about being good!”

Another moment of brief silence took over. It no longer mattered if Inhio was done with his story or not, because Twilight had heard all she wanted to hear. "I see...” She started off in a rather fragile voice. She knew what she had to say, but still felt like she was interrupting. "I see now, why you said that our world is everything your world dreams of...”

She hesitated to continue. "Go on,” Inhio encouraged her.

"Because the good isn’t afraid to show itself in Equestria!”

"Exactly!” Inhio clapped his hands a single time. He was glad to hear that his words weren’t wind for the ponies "Couldn’t have said it better myself!” Why did I ever question the smarts of this one? Inhio secretly wondered. "But you know what this means, right?” Inhio squatted down to match Twilight’s eye level. "The real reason you need to send me back, I mean.” Twilight didn’t answer, she only slowly hung her head to hide her sorrow. "You can deny it as much as you like, but you still know it as well as I do.”

Twilight’s friends still looked clueless. Apparently, Twilight was the only one of them that knew what Inhio meant. "What does he mean, Twilight?” one of her more worried-looking friends asked. "Twilight?” she asked again after getting no response. Twilight still lingered, but the answer came this time.

"He said it himself...This place is his dream world.” That wasn’t the most enlightening answer one could hope to hear. It actually sounded more like something one should be happy to say, but then why was Twilight so sad? "Don’t you see?” Twilight raised her head. "Men like Inhio have spent their entire lives in naive hopes of seeing a world like this, but if after a whole day of seeing and feeling what seems like a dream come true, Inhio still couldn’t even smile once...that can only mean one thing.”

Twilight went through enough trouble to say as much as she did. Inhio decided to relieve her a bit, by saying the most difficult words, "Inhio is dead.”

***

After saying those three words that left the small crowd speechless, Inhio didn’t feel like there was anything else that had to be said. He got up and started slowly walking towards the door. Only by the time he had already begun to reach for the handle of the door, did he finally hear the word that he was expecting to hear, eventually.

'Wait!” Twilight shouted out to the man about to leave. Inhio turned around and put his hands up in the air. Not all the way up, only up to his shoulder level. He lowered them after a few seconds. He wasn’t trying to mock anyone, he was merely showing that he was being cooperative. "You’re not going anywhere!” Twilight’s serious tone was inspiring for her friends. It sounded like she had a plan.

"Can’t a man go out for some fresh air? I’ve always been a fan of the night.” Inhio wasn’t joking, but his tone still had a touch of sarcasm in it. Naturally, he knew damn well that Twilight wasn’t just stopping him from going outside, but from leaving Equestria. Twilight almost seemed irritated by such a reply. "It’s not like I could just teleport my way out of your world, anyways, so why worry?” Twilight’s irritation swiftly turned to a slight state of embarrassment. She had just remembered how Inhio got here in the first place, and felt rather awkward realizing that he couldn’t have gotten far, even if he had left the building. "Go on, say what you will.”

Twilight ran over to Inhio, leaving her friends a small distance away, just enough to be able to whisper without being heard. "I’m afraid we haven’t been all that honest with you.”

"We?" Inhio asked and reproachfully stared at Twilight, and then at her friends, who only gazed back at him with surprised expressions, clueless of what could he be mad at them about.

"No, no, no! Not them!” Twilight got a bit nervous after making a mistake that gave the wrong idea to Inhio, and to her friends, from him. Inhio immediately turned his gaze away from Twilight’s friends and faced Twilight.

"What’s she telling him?” Rainbow Dash quietly asked, but got no reply from the equally as confused ponies around her.

"I meant myself and Celestia.” Twilight explained.

"This should be good,” Inhio muttered.

"You see, the darkness in you, the one that broke free for a moment earlier today...it’s not from your world.”

This is getting interesting. Inhio thought. "And I suppose you’re about to tell me about it’s real origins, am I right?”

The question had an obvious answer. Twilight sighed and began to explain further. "It was after we defeated an ancient foe, right here in Equestria. We thought we had banished him for good, but somehow, a fragment of his soul still survived.”

Wait, Sauron was in Equestria? Inhio suddenly thought to himself as a joke.

"Ever since our foe lost his material form, he started searching for a new host. It had to be someone emotionless and careless, someone who wouldn’t have the will to fight him off. There was no such soul in Equestria, but somehow, he found a way into your universe...and then it found you.”

"The perfect host!” Inhio added in a faked poetic tone.

"Not quite...” Inhio raised an eyebrow and wondered what Twilight had meant by that. "You see, when his soul merged with your own, he was expecting to take over your body instantly, and judging by the kind of power he wielded, he should have been able to do just that...but there was something he did not foresee.”

"Another presence?” Inhio asked a question that he already knew the answer to. "Is that what you were about to say?”

"It’s the only reasonable explanation! That’s how I know there’s still hope for you! Your good side is the only thing keeping the darkness in you from breaking free, and as long as it keeps up the fight, the evil can’t take over! All we need to do is stack the odds in its favor by giving it something to live for.”

"Lets assume we succeed for a moment, what happens to the darkness then? Won’t it simply escape and search for a different host?” Twilight looked uncertain, she hadn’t given a thought about the aftermath, but then again, none can really blame her for focusing on the more important matter for the time being. "Right, right, we have our priorities, lets focus on beating him first, then we can think about banishing him for good.” Twilight nodded in approval. Inhio let out a sigh that could have only meant either him being displeased or tired. "It seems like I have no choice but to stay here and hope that you and your friends know what you’re doing, because when I think about what you’ve just told me, I’d say that by going back to my own world I wouldn’t be saving yours, but only delaying it’s downfall. Ain’t that right?”

"Yes. He found a way to travel between worlds once already, I doubt he’d have trouble doing so again. Especially after having regained full strength.”

There was nothing left to say. The goal was clear, all that remained was to find a way to achieve it. Inhio noticed that one of Twilight’s friends was trying to hide her yawning, probably because she felt that it would be fairly rude to look bored at a moment like this, but apparently, the long day was finally beginning to get to them. Funny thing about yawns is, they sometimes work like a chain reaction, and this time was no exception. Even Twilight herself didn’t seem so full of energy anymore.

"You know now what you must do, you know how hard your task is, and you know what are the consequences for failing it.” Inhio stopped whispering and turned to talking loud enough for all six of the ponies to hear. "It has been a long day for all of you. You are all tired and fresh out of ideas. Rest for the night, spend some time to gather your strengths and think of a new plan.”

"No!” Twilight tried to protest, despite being tired. She yawned against her will, trying to hide it as best she could. "We don’t have that much time, we need...”

Inhio squatted down and gently silenced Twilight by placing his finger against her lips. "A tired mind can get desperate when forced to work against its will, and no good can possibly come of that. I need all of you to be at your best if you hope to succeed in this ordeal.” Inhio got up and was about to reach for the door handle again. "Get some rest, all of you, and don’t worry about me. Tonight is not the night I let the darkness take me.” Inhio opened the door and had almost closed it behind himself already when Twilight asked.

"How do you know?”

"Trust me, I wouldn’t lie to you,” he answered and closed the door behind himself. Twilight was left standing with a bewildered look and half-open mouth, ready to ask something.

The ponies spent some time staring at the door the man had just left through. "Inhio’s right, Twilight.” Twilight shifted her head backwards to where her friends were standing. Applejack yawned loudly without attempting to hide it any longer. "I don’t think any of us are up for another round.” The four other ponies agreed with either a nod or an "Mmhm.”

"Yeah.” Rainbow Dash yawned as well. "We’re not gonna get anything done at this rate. Besides, Inhio seemed to know what he’s doing.”

Twilight rubbed her chin and slowly answered with a touch of uncertainty in her tone, "I suppose it couldn’t hurt to spend more time to figure out just how are we going to get this done.” Twilight’s friends were happy to hear that. They started walking towards the exit. "But I want all of you to actually spend some time to think about this. Remember, this is no joking matter!”

"Of course, sugarcube. Don’t worry about it.” The ponies walked outside with Twilight at the very back. She didn’t seem to pleased about how lightly her friends were treating this.

"Oh!” Pinkie Pie laughed. "I Forgot I was already home, ha ha!” She rushed back inside and closed the door behind her. "See ya tomorrow, girls!”

"Right...Well, I guess there’s not much left to do here right now, so...”

"Psst,” Applejack interrupted Twilight and directed everyone’s attention to something that was barely visible through the dark. It was a cowboy, sitting quietly and comfortably on a bench and reclining against the walls of Sugarcube Corner. Both his legs and arms were crossed, and his hat was covering his face. He seemed so at peace that it would almost seem not right to disturb him. He seemed to be asleep, but the ponies still felt like it would be wrong to just leave him out here through the night.

Rainbow Dash was the first to respond, "Huh...You know, I was kinda wondering where did he wander off to after leaving. "

"Not too far, it seems,” Twilight added. They all started slowly walking towards Inhio. He wasn’t really asleep. He had heard every word they said since the moment the door opened and they walked outside. He knew it was only a matter of time before they spotted him. They tried to walk quietly, but hiding the sound from an equine’s hooves wasn’t as easy as it was for one that could walk on fingertips.

"The night is simply divine, wouldn’t you agree?”

The ponies got a bit startled by Inhio. They hadn’t expected him to acknowledge their presence. "Yeah...sure,” Twilight replied, trying her best to sound unsurprised. They slowly walked up to Inhio. Trying to hide their presence would have no point now. They stopped and stood right in front of the sitting man as if expecting him to say something, but Inhio didn’t feel like anything had to be said. "Are you...all right with staying out here all night?”

"More than just all right. I might never get another chance to see a night this beautiful again.” After another moment of silence, one of the ponies felt like she should say something, seeings how Inhio clearly wouldn't say a thing.

"Well, in case ya change your mind, there’s always a warm bed waiting at Sweet Apple Acres!” Applejack wasn’t the only pony to offer Inhio a place to stay for the night, but he rejected everyone of them by simply not showing any signs of interest.

"I suppose you could stay at my boutique, if you know how to behave yourself...Just for the night, that is.”

"You could always stay at my cottage...if you’d like to, that is.”

"I’m sure there’s a big, royal bedroom somewhere in my castle, if that’s more your thing.”

The only pony present that didn’t offer Inhio a place to stay for the night was Rainbow Dash...Well, what did you expect her to say? Plenty of clouds in the sky?

"I wouldn’t feel warmer in any bed than I would under the veil of the night. I wouldn’t find beauty more explicit in any boutique than I would under the white light of the moon. I wouldn’t find a place more quiet in any cottage than I would in the calm and empty shadows. And I certainly wouldn’t find a place more regal than the one right under the nose of the moon goddess herself.” Poetry aside, Inhio’s mind was clearly made up, and he wasn’t about to move by his own will, that was as clear as his own words. "In all of my life, I have never felt so at home. The nights here in Equestria...they seem so...magical.”

"Magical or not, I sleep outdoors almost every night and see nothing wrong with that, so just give it a rest, you guys. I’m out. Good night, everyone!” Rainbow Dash flew up and chose a cloud not too far from their sights as her place to stay for the night.

"Right...Well, I’m not about to try and force him over to my castle, so I guess we’re done here.” No one else seemed to protest, so the ponies all separated and said their farewells to each other for the night. Fluttershy also said good night to Rainbow Dash as she passed by, since the cloud she was on was on the way to her cottage. Rainbow Dash politely replied with the same kind of gesture. Applejack was the slowest to leave the area, she wasn’t in a hurry, since she was wondering on how to best explain the situation to her family back at Sweet Apple Acres. She had promised to tell them everything, earlier today, but secretly, she still hoped that they would have all gone to bed by now. She wasn’t in the best mood for talking right now.

Applejack looked back for a moment, only to see that she was the last one still within Inhio’s sight, even though he clearly wasn’t looking her way. "Goodnight, Inhio!” she shouted from afar.

"Goodnight, partner!” Inhio kindly replied.

Inhio was left alone in the middle of the night. It was calm, quiet and warm. There was a slight breeze, but it only made Inhio feel even warmer. The only nearby soul he could spot was Rainbow Dash, whose tail was hanging over the edge of a cloud. For some reason, Inhio still felt like he was being watched. He slightly raised his head and gazed forward, right into the open second floor window right in front of him. He waved to the curious little filly that was staring at him with wide eyes. She smiled at him and waved back. Who knows for how long she would have kept on staring if her mother hadn’t pulled her back inside and closed the window shut. Inhio lowered his head again and let his hat slide over his face.

The real dream

Quite some time passed. Inhio didn’t exactly count the minutes, but he had hoped to be asleep by now, and yet he could still feel that delightful breeze blow past his neck every now and then. He was sitting comfortably and didn’t even consider moving. He wasn’t all that tired, but he would have still liked it if he could get some rest before he gets to see the six eager ponies again and see if they had actually come up with a good plan to bring back his good side. Inhio did have his doubts about this whole thing, but not because he thought that the ponies lacked the required skills for it, but because he felt like he just plain wasn’t meant to ever smile again.

His mind switched from pondering as he heard the steps of a single equine coming towards him. Who could possibly be out at a time like this? He wondered. Hoping that the anonymous equine would simply pass by would have been naive. Just as Inhio expected, the sound of hooves hitting the ground stopped as they came close enough to Inhio. He didn’t think that any of the ponies that had just left would have any reason for coming back, so he just assumed that it was just another curious soul. "Isn’t it a little too late to be taking a walk at this hour?” he asked and got a reply from a voice he recognized well enough, and couldn’t forget, even if he tried.

"No hour is ever late for me, mortal. For your night is my day,” Luna spoke in her usual, fit-for-a-princess kind of tone.

"Your Majesty.” Inhio raised his head and lifted the front of his hat. He did not do so in order to know who he was speaking to, but because he felt like it would be rude to speak to her without showing his face. "I am honored that you would take your precious time to visit me, but to whom do I owe the favor?”

"And why is it that you think I would come here by any will other than my own?”

"Oh?” Inhio seemed surprised. "Forgive me for sounding rude, I just hadn’t thought that one such as you would have any reason to see me again.”

"You are right, mortal one. I had little reason to visit you, and if it weren’t for the natural order of things in Equestria, I doubt we would be having this conversation right now.” Luna realized right away, that these words would mean little to one not from Equestria, so she explained further, ”It is my charge to watch over the dreams of all my subjects here in Equestria...even if they’re not actually from Equestria.”

Something didn’t seem right to Inhio. Could I really be dreaming? He wondered. He looked at the cloud he saw Rainbow Dash fall asleep on and realized that she was no longer there. Luna picked up on his eye motions.

"You did not know you were asleep, did you?” Luna said in a slightly amused tone.

"I won’t lie, Your Highness, I did not.”

"Do not feel ashamed, Inhio.” Inhio was delighted to hear her speak his name out for the first time. "I must admit, I myself have never seen someone dreaming about the exact same situation they were in the moment they fell asleep. Strange...” Luna wondered. "It’s almost as though you can’t really dream, so your mind just imitated your surroundings during your sleep.” That thought may have seemed hard to believe for some, but to Inhio, that seemed like the most obvious answer.

"Aye, that might just be the case, when I think about it...” Inhio hung his head again, but without letting his hat cover his face this time. "I have not seen a single dream in eight long years.”

Luna suddenly felt sorry for the man. Her tone got a bit more sincere. "Tis a large burden you carry on your heart, Sir Inhio.”

SIR Inhio? That’s new. Inhio thought to himself. The last time we met, she had trouble calling me a human, and now, I’m suddenly a Sir? Funny.

"A burden that should not have never been yours, in the first place.”

"Hmm? I thought it was just Twilight and you sister that knew the truth about the darkness within me.”

"I only found out about this from Celestia herself, after we parted ways. To think, that she would hide this from me...” Luna didn’t look too happy.

I wonder if these two have trouble getting along... Inhio wondered.

"Khe khem, well, at any rate, it’s a shame to still see you in the same state as before, but it brings me joy to see that you seem to be enjoying your stay here.” Luna changed the subject.

"Aye, I have never felt such comfort in the dark of the night...There’s just something magical about the nights here in Equestria.”

"I suppose one such as you could say that. From what I’ve heard, your world has no magic in it.”

"You are well informed, Your Majesty.”

"Not as well as I’d like to be.” Luna was referring to the way her own sister kept her in the dark earlier. "Oh!” Luna got startled by something. "I fear I must be on my way now, someone is having nightmares.” Luna had already turned away from Inhio and was ready to leave.

"Wait!” Inhio stopped her. Luna turned towards him again. "A moment of your time, please, Your Grace.”

"Speak what you will, but do so quickly.”

"Forgive my curiosity, Your Grace, but I wish to know if you think Twilight and her friends can truly hope to succeed...They have already wasted a day without any luck.”

Luna did not answer right away, but there was no sign of uncertainty in her words when the answer finally came. "I have faith in Twilight and her friends. It might take some time, but those ponies have prevailed in seemingly hopeless situations before. I wouldn’t worry if I were you.” Luna’s words brought some hope back to Inhio. He thanked the princess for her time, as well as her honesty. "Now, if you don't mind, I really must be on my way.” She turned around, spread her wings, and faded into the dark. "Fare thee well, Sir Inhio!” she shouted from afar.

"Farewell, Your Majesty! And thanks again!” Inhio shouted back, unsure of whether she heard him or not. Inhio got back into the same position as he was in before falling asleep. He felt better after having the short conversation with princess Luna and was at peace now. Before he fell asleep, he felt like the night couldn’t be any calmer, but it still did. Inhio was now sleeping in his dreams, as well as in reality.

Guardian

By the time the first light of dawn reached Inhio, he was already wide awake and was watching and listening to everything around him as the ponies around town started waking up, one after another. Inhio hadn’t slept this well in ages. Who would have ever thought that he could get such a good night's rest from just sitting on a bench? Inhio was more than ready for whatever was to come. After the pleasant night he had a good hunch that this would be the day he gets to smile again.

A few ponies had already begun to walk through the streets. As expected, not one passed by without looking at the cowboy that seemed to be watching each and every one of them. Some still didn’t like the thought of him being here. Some wondered if he’s here to stay for good. Some didn’t really care and some just plain didn’t know what to make of all of this, but either way, none were really afraid of him anymore, even though parents still held their fillies and foals close to them whenever they walked by him.

All of a sudden, a door next to Inhio slammed open. The loud slam was followed by an even louder shout. "Top of the morning to ya, Rainbow Dash!”

Rainbow’s tail was still hanging over the edge of a cloud. It disappeared for a moment as she turned around. She rubbed her eyes and let out a loud yawn, followed by some stretching. "Morning, Pinkie.” At first, the sleepy pegasus thought that the man next to Pinkie was still asleep. She stared at him for a moment and saw him wave to her. "Morning, Inhio.”

Pinkie Pie hadn’t even noticed that Inhio was sitting on a bench right next to her. She turned her head towards him when she heard her friend greeting him. "Oh! Hey Inhio, didn’t see you there!” She giggled.

"Morning,” Inhio returned the greeting. The four other ponies started appearing, one by one, soon afterwards.

"Morning, Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash greeted her friend as she saw her flying past her cloud.

"Oh, good morning, Rainbow Dash!” Fluttershy was expecting to see Rainbow’s tail hanging over the edge of the cloud as she passed by, and had just assumed that she wasn’t on it anymore after not seeing it.

Fluttershy greeted Pinkie and Inhio and got greeted back. Applejack arrived right after Fluttershy, and after her, Twilight and Rarity practically arrived at the same second. After everyone was done greeting each other, the ponies grouped up a small distance from Inhio in order to discuss their further course of action.

"Right, so, we’ve wasted some time, but we can still make up for it!” Twilight began the conversation by jumping straight to the point. "So, what have you got?” There was no response, only eyes swinging around and every pony expecting another to say something. "Come on, girls! You must have thought of something during the night!” Again, there was no response. The ponies only kept rubbing the back of their heads and awkwardly staring at each other, feeling too ashamed to admit that they haven’t got a clue on how to solve their current problem. "Really? None of you have any ideas? You had the whole night to think and none of you did a thing?!” the displeased pony shouted at her friends.

"Hey, I don’t see you having any bright ideas! And you don’t exactly look like you’ve been up all night, either!” Rainbow Dash replied in a tone just as displeased.

"I, uhm...” Twilight rubbed the back of her head and blushed in shame as her friends reproachfully stared at her. "I’m sorry.” Her tone filled up with regret. "I couldn’t think of anything and put all my hopes on you girls...I came here already assured that you would have figured something out...I got so carried away, I’m so sorry!” After the way Twilight nearly begged her friends for forgiveness, it was hard to hold it against her, even though her friends did seem a bit mad at her at first.

"Aww, it’s all right, sugarcube.”

"No...it’s not alright. Don’t you see? We’re running our of time, we have to think of something, quick!”

"Calm down, Twilight! I mean, look at the guy.” Rainbow Dash directed everyone’s attention towards the cowboy on the bench. "Does he really look like he’s about to snap at any moment?” Rainbow’s words seemed to calm everyone but Twilight.

"Maybe not, but did he also look like he was about to snap the last time he did?”

"Umm...I guess you have a point.”

"Wait a minute...That’s it!” Twilight shouted.

"You figured it out?” Rainbow Dash asked in excitement.

"Sorta...”

"Sorta?” Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"I don’t yet know how can we make him smile again, but I think I have a lead,” Twilight explained.

"Better than nothing. Lets hear it!” The ponies listened carefully. They were eager to hear whatever Twilight had to say.

"If I remember right, we saw Inhio snap twice during his visit here, right?” The other ponies nodded. "Now then, if we could somehow figure out what both of those times had in common, it could not only buy us some time, since we would know how to prevent that from happening again, but it could also give us a good idea on just how to reverse it!”

"Wait, what do you mean – reverse it?” Rainbow Dash asked. The other four ponies seemed curious as well.

"I mean make it work in a different way. Because, if a certain something was causing Inhio’s darker side to gain control, maybe the exact opposite thing could make his good side grow stronger!”

"Of course!” Applejack exclaimed in approval.

"Now we just need to think...Think. What was Inhio doing both of those times.”

"Well, umm...” All eyes were suddenly on Fluttershy. "Oh, was I interrupting? I’m sorry.”

"No, no, go right ahead. What did you want to say, Fluttershy?” Twilight encouraged her friend to keep talking.

"Well, umm, you were asking about what he was doing both of those times.” The soft, fragile voice stopped for a moment, and another voice insisted she kept talking.

"Yes...?”

"Well, the second time that happened, he was talking to me, and, umm, he felt really sorry for the way he treated me and the rest of you.”

"That’s right!” Applejack added. "He knelt and just kept on apologizing to Fluttershy, and then, all of a sudden, he just got all sweaty and started shaking.”

"Right...” Twilight rubbed her chin. She was unable to figure out the exact emotion that made Inhio become weakened. She thought she should first make both of the moments clear before trying to find out the emotion chaining them together. "That sounds about right for the second time, but what about the first one?” There was no reply, but Twilight’s friends all stared at her as if awaiting something from her. "What, why is everyone looking at me like that?”

"Umm...sugarcube? Ah think none of us were actually present when that happened.”

"Oh...right.” Twilight blushed. "Well...” She cleared her throat. "The first time this happened, and let me just remind you that it was way worse that time than it was on the second one. Right before you all heard that laugh that brought you all to me, he was telling Celestia the story about his childhood. About how he first found out that he was not like others.” That still didn’t seem to clarify anything, so Twilight continued. "While he was telling his story, he seemed rather troubled. It looked as though he was having a hard time recalling his past.”

Twilight kept on thinking, and so did her friends, but none of them could find even a single link between the two moments. They both just seemed like two completely different events without a thing in common. ”Wait...There is....something about those two moments,” Twilight spoke up after quite some time spent thinking. She didn’t sound too sure, but none of her friends had any other leads, so they were ready to hear her every word. "Both of those times, when Inhio was recalling his childhood, and when he was apologizing...Both of those times, he already seemed to be unlike himself.”

Twilight noticed that none of her friends seemed to realize what exactly did she mean by that. "Don’t you see? Remember the moment Inhio dropped on his knees and started apologizing...Didn’t he already seem to be...not himself? If so, then we might not be on the right track.”

"Huh?” Her friends got confused again.

"If so, then we need to think about what he was doing before he got like that, not during it.” Twilight’s explanation seemed sound, and none of her friends had any better ideas. They agreed completely. "Now then, if I remember correctly, right before Inhio became like that the first time, he had taken a long pause, during which he tried to recall his past...Hmm...”

"What is it, Twilight?”

"I don’t understand...The second time that happened, right before Inhio started apologizing, there...there was nothing. He just kept on staring at Fluttershy as though he was in a trance, and then, all of a sudden, he just gets up and says that we should move on...strange, it’s almost as though...” Twilight paused for a moment. She had a thought, but wasn’t quite sure if it would lead to anything.

"Almost as though what, Twilight?” Applejack, as well as the rest of her friends, all seemed eager to hear whatever she had to say. Twilight continued.

"As though he himself had felt like he was about to lose control...but why, and how?” Twilight looked to her friends for answers, her lead seemed like a dead end to her.

"Hmm...” Applejack rubbed her chin.

"What is it, Applejack?” Just like that, Applejack became the pony with all eyes on her.

"You know how earlier you said that Inhio was remembering his past before the first time he lost himself?”

"Yes...Why?”

"I just thought that...The way Inhio stared at Fluttershy on that second time...He didn’t move at all, he just stared like he was in love...Do you think...” When Applejack paused, the first thing her friends thought was that she was about to suggest that Inhio actually fell in love with Fluttershy. Fluttershy herself even blushed from the thought. "Maybe Fluttershy reminded him of someone from his past? Maybe he sat so still because he was also remembering something that time.” That seemed like a bizarre idea to Applejack herself, but she had no other ideas and decided to share her thoughts, since no one else seemed eager to talk. The eyes of her friends suddenly widened as they considered her words. Applejack thought that they were about to say that it was a stupid idea, or even laugh. "I’m sorry, I just thought that...” she spoke while rubbing the back of her head and smiling wryly.

"Applejack, you’re a genius!” Twilight’s face lit up as she happily shouted.

"Uh...I am?”

"Yes! That has to be it! That’s the only way to make sense out of all this! There’s no other way the two situations could be linked together!”

"Aww, shucks.” Applejack smiled modestly. "Thank ya, Twilight.”

There was no time for being sentimental, so Twilight continued right away. "I think I got it now.” Twilight seemed very confident now.

"You mean you know how we can get him to smile again?”

"Yes...but it won’t be easy, and there’s a lot at stake, so I need all of you to be with me on this.”

"Hah!” Rainbow Dash laughed. "If it’s not easy, then we’ll just make it look easy, just like we always do!” Twilight's rainbow-maned friend was confident and ready to stand with her until the bitter end.

"And you can count on us, Twilight. We’re always with you!” Applejack added in a tone just as assured.

"Friends forever.”

"Friends together,” Rarity and Fluttershy added.

"Group hug!” Pinkie Pie shouted out at the end, and the others felt obliged to comply. Inhio noticed the ponies joining together for a group hug. Naturally, he assumed that it meant that they had figured something out. Luna was not wrong about them, it seems.

"Thanks, guys.” Twilight smiled, knowing that her friends can always be counted on.

"So tell us, sugarcube. What is this not easy plan of yours ya had in mind?”

"After we gave it our all to try and cheer up that man, I think it’s safe to say that there’s nothing we can do to cheer him up. But what if we were simply trying to cheer up the wrong man? What if this side of Inhio just can’t smile, no matter what?” Twilight’s friends seemed utterly confused for a moment, but they realized what she was talking about, quickly enough.

"Ohh! I see what you’re getting at there, Twilight!”

"But then you also realize just why is this so dangerous, right?”

"Yeah, I’m quite sure I got it,” after a short pause, Rainbow Dash replied in a not-so-convincing tone. "But just in case, you should still explain it to the rest of the girls.”

"Ugh!” Twilight sighed loudly. "If we can’t make this side of Inhio smile, then we have to make him smile while his good side is in control, but this is very dangerous, because whenever Inhio lets that side of him take over, there’s also a risk that his dark side might break free, as well! You’ve already seen that nearly happen, remember?” Twilight seemed impatient, she started sounding more and more annoyed with each sentence. "While he was apologizing to Fluttershy, his good side was in control, but right after that, when he started sweating and breathing heavily, that’s when his dark side tried to come out! Every time Inhio recalls his past, he becomes weaker!”

After shouting out the last two sentences, Twilight took a deep breath and calmed down. Rarity thought that her friend had spoken enough, and felt like she should finish her monologue for her. "I see...So, what you’re trying to say is that we need to make Inhio recall something from his past, after which we will only have a few short seconds, during which we have to make him smile somehow. Is that right?”

"Exactly.” Twilight continued after her tone became calm again. "But we might only have one shot at this, so we need to be a hundred percent sure that we can give him a reason to live for during that time. Otherwise, we risk Equestria falling into darkness.”

Twilight’s friends started looking at each other without saying a word. "So...any ideas?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow Dash had a suggestion, right away. "He looked very amused when we took him to Cloudsdale and when I made the sonic rainboom...How about I make a sonic rainboom while we’re at Cloudsdale?” That thought sounded good enough to work, but one pony didn’t seem to agree.

"Nuh-uh!” All eyes turned to the pony shouting. "We all agreed at the start that I should be the last to go coz I’m the most fun one! Because what could be more fun than a party?” Pinkie Pie asked and blew a party whistle that no one quite knew where she got from.

"Puh-lease.” Rarity gained everyone's attention. "If I recall correctly, he was the most displeased I’ve seen him after you blasted off your cannon, right in his face! I’d have far better luck making him smile by showing him a brand new and spectacular outfit I’d make just for him, right as he switches to his good side!” Rarity fell into a state of trance from imagining the situation.

"An outfit? Is that your solution to everything?” Applejack wasn’t about to agree with that plan. She wasn’t about to protest about the party or the sonic rainboom, but she thought that going with Rarity’s idea would be like just digging their own grave, right away. "He’d be more likely to smile during one Granny Smith’s stories!”

"Ah! How dare you!” Applejack had knocked Rarity out of her state of trance, right into a burning rage, directed right at her.

"Girls, please! We don’t need to argue about this!” Twilight tried to reason with everyone.

"Oh, so you want to be the one to do this, then? What, are you going to bring him back to your library, again?”

Twilight never even wanted to suggest such an idea, but Rainbow’s arrogant tone had really gotten to her. "Maybe I will!” she retorted. "Just to show you that a book can make one smile just as well as a sonic rainboom!”

That was the last straw for everyone of them. Single suggestions turned into an all out argument where not a single voice could be heard clearly. Everyone was assured that their idea was the best one, and they were all willing to argue about it until everyone else agrees with it. All, except one. Fluttershy didn’t want to argue, nor did she like the fact that everyone else was arguing. She tried to convince them to stop arguing, but her voice was too soft and quiet and was not heard amongst the loud arguing. She would have kept on trying if not for something catching her attention.

As she turned around, she noticed a mother duck and her ducklings desperately trying to get through the crowd of ponies walking around the town. They kept on getting scattered. The little ones kept getting scared by the ponies walking past them, and the mother duck kept losing sight of them and ran around, trying her best to pull all of them together. Fluttershy sneaked away from her friends to help out the poor, lost critters. She quickly gathered them up in a line with the mother duck in front and slowly guided them away from the crowd. She backed away without seeing where she was going so she could always have the ducks in her sight.

Inhio had let his hat slip over his eyes again and was expecting the ponies to come to him with a plan at any moment...Oh, what an unexpected sight it was for him when he lifted the front edge of his hat. Five of the ponies loudly arguing about something, and the sixth one leading a pack of ducks out of town...If someone would have asked Inhio how could it have turned from a happy group hug between six best friends to this in just a few minutes...Inhio would have just tilted his shoulders without saying a word.

The ponies arguing didn’t catch Inhio’s attention as much as the one right in front of him. It was almost funny how this one could just look past the troubles of the world and still be willing to help out those who cannot help themselves...That was something Inhio could admire. "What the?...” Inhio suddenly saw something that he hadn’t seen before during his visit here.

Fluttershy guided the ducks away. "Right this way, little ones. That’s right, gently now. Not too fast, please...” She bumped into someone. She turned around to apologize, "Please excuse...Aah!” Fluttershy gasped in shock. She seemed even more surprised about the one she bumped into than Inhio...In fact, she even seemed scared.

"You and your ducks again!” Fluttershy recognized the furious voice she had hoped to never hear again. And no wonder. The last time she did, it was quite the unpleasant encounter, and it left her running away in tears. For some unknown reason, history liked repeating itself, and Gilda had somehow stumbled across Ponyville again. She was mad enough the last time Fluttershy bumped into her, and she seemed to be in an even less forgiving mood this time.

"What the?...” Rainbow Dash turned her head away from the arguing ponies for a short second and found herself speaking out the same words as Inhio.

"I swear by Celestia herself, this is the last time you’re going to bump into anyone with your clumsy moonwalking!” the vicious griffon yelled at the poor pony for seemingly no reason, whatsoever. Her eyes filled up with rage, and she raised her right claw up, ready to sink her talons into the pony that was now down on the ground, covering her eyes and begging for mercy.

"No, please, don’t!” Fluttershy trembled in fear, unable to stand up for herself. She could only pray that Gilda would show mercy, but that wasn’t likely to happen.

"Hey!” Rainbow’s sudden shout had also caused all of her friends to look at the scene of action as well. She dashed towards her friend as soon as she saw her in trouble, but she stopped halfway after realizing she was already too late. She and her friends all gasped loudly after witnessing the next sight with their own eyes.

"Ugh...Gah! What the?” The griffon struggled to break free from whatever had suddenly grabbed her claw right before she could finish the job.

The slight touch of something cold and metallic against Fluttershy’s hooves had caused her to open her eyes and gaze upwards. Up until the very last second, she had thought that she had just seen the sun for the last time in her life. She had no idea why someone she barely knew would rush to defend her like this, but as she saw daylight again, she knew that it was only because of the man in front of her.

"Look, buddy...gngh...gah...” Gilda still struggled to free herself, but her efforts were in vain. Inhio’s grip was unbreakable. Inhio had only ever felt this sudden strength only once before in his life. That was when he was defending his wife against the bandits, more than nine years ago. "I don’t know who or what you are, but if you don’t let me go this instant! I’m gonna...” Gilda stood up on her back paws and was about to claw at Inhio with her other talon. Before she could reach his face, he grabbed her second claw and pushed her forwards, all the way up until the moment she got slammed against the wall of a building.

"Hey! What’s the big idea?!” the furious creature kept on shouting and struggling to break free. She didn’t stop until the moment she heard a small, plastic object drop to the ground. Right after that, Inhio raised his head up, and Gilda stared directly into his uncovered eyes. She froze solid, and her entire body went numb. Inhio’s burning stare pierced right through Gilda’s eyes, leaving a permanent scar on the heart of her mind. Inhio put every bit of his hatred into this single stare, and he let it all out, right into the eyes of the creature in front of him. Not just Twilight and her friends, but half the town had also gathered around to see what was going on. Some remembered the griffon currently getting confronted, but none had any good memories of her.

"LEAVE!" The shout echoed through the town louder than thunder, and it sounded so wicked that it sent shivers down the spines of everyone that heard it. Inhio released his hold ovn the griffon, and as soon as he did, she darted off without a second thought. She was completely numb and unstable from the sudden event. Her claws scratched the ground time and time again as she tried to run. She stumbled on her own tail and fell down a few times, instantly getting up and attempting to get away again. She gasped for air loudly on every step.

When she finally spread her wings and started ascending, she couldn’t control herself. It was as though she couldn't see. Inhio’s burning stare got planted into her mind, and it was the only thing she could see for some time, and she still had the word LEAVE! ringing through her mind like a church bell. It also helped to dull her senses, so she practically had to fly off both blind and deaf. She crashed into a few walls before getting out of town, and even then, she still crashed into a few trees, scaring the already frightened birds even more. Everyone watched her fly away, but no one really knew if she was flying back to where she came from, to the place she had initially intended to fly to before stopping at Ponyville, or if she was simply trying to get away and was going to figure out where to go once she’s a good distance away from here.

Either way, no one had ever seen anyone so frightened in their lives. While the matter with Gilda was still something that Twilight and her friends would have liked to know more about, their minds were concerned about someone else. They had heard Inhio’s voice this way before, and they quivered as they began to think that this meant just what they thought it might. Was it all over? Was Equestria about to find out what eternal darkness feels like?...Had they failed? The only thing they could do now was cover their mouths, watch and wait for the man to turn around. He was breathing heavily, just as the other two times this happened.

Fluttershy was still lying on the ground. She was watching Inhio’s every movement very carefully and didn’t seem intent on getting up. She was also the one closest to Inhio right now. The whole town was in a state of unending silence. A silence that only a single man could break. All questions were about to be answered. Inhio began to turn around. His shades were still on the ground, right beside his feet, so this meant that Inhio’s eyes would reveal his true condition as soon as someone could get a look at him. Inhio stopped turning his head right when his eyes met with the eyes of the pony he had just saved.

The strangest thing about him was...that there wasn’t anything strange at all. His eyes were perfectly normal, they looked the same as those of any other living being. One could stare into his uncovered gaze for hours without feeling even the slightest bit of unease. Despite Inhio still breathing heavily, this was still a happy sight for Twilight and her friends...and it was about to get even better. At long last, Twilight could finally see that long desired look she wanted to see on Inhio’s face since the moment he arrived here.

While his eyes were still set on Fluttershy, Inhio stopped his heavy breathing and finally smiled for the first time in eight years.

***

As soon as Twilight realized that their mission was a success, she immediately took off and went to report this to princess Celestia. Before long, the golden carriage had arrived with a sole purpose of getting Inhio over to Canterlot, right away. Flutteshy wasn’t even done thanking Inhio. Rainbow Dash wasn’t done wondering what reason could have Gilda had for being here, and everyone else wasn’t done questioning the existence of everything and everyone around them, but Inhio still had to take his leave from Ponyville, for the time being.

Upon Inhio’s arrival, he was guided straight to the castle, right over to Celestia herself. She still had an important matter to settle with Inhio, so she asked everyone to leave, even her own sister and the royal guards. Twilight obediently complied, but Luna left a bit more unwillingly.

Inhio walked up to Celestia’s throne and bowed to her. "Arise, Sir Inhio. I believe you already know that you need not kneel before me.” Inhio got up and looked right at the princess. His bright eyes were a pleasant sight for the princess. "It brings me joy to see you like this.”

"Oh, you have Rarity to thank for that, Your Majesty. This outfit she made for me is just wonderful.” Inhio made a joke to lighten up the already lit up atmosphere.

The princess giggled. "It pains me to ruin the bright mood, but I fear that there’s still a matter that cannot wait.” The two suddenly turned to speaking in more serious tones.

"Aye, Your Majesty. I already know about the true origins of the darkness that found me, you need not explain this to me, so allow me to just ask right away, if I may...Do you think it’s gone for good?”

Celestia had told Twilight not tell Inhio about this, but she wasn’t disappointed when she found out that he already knew. She was actually quite glad, since it saved them some time...But she wasn’t glad to find out that Inhio himself didn’t know whether the darkness had been banished for good or not. "I do not know, I was actually hoping that you would have the answer to this question.” Inhio hung his head. "But after seeing you now, I see that there is no need to ask this question anymore.” Celestia’s mood was a lot brighter than Inhio's.

"If you were about to say that the answer is in my eyes, then I’m afraid I must disappoint you, Your Highness.” Celestia seemed surprised, and a little bit confused, at the same time. Inhio had taken the words right out of her mouth. After seeing his eyes so crystal clear and full of life, Celestia thought that it could only mean that Inhio was free of the dark spirit in him.

"Why so?”

"Because, Your Majesty, it might be clear by my eyes, that this demon no longer resides within me, but what if it lives within another now?”

Twilight had given Celestia a full report of everything that happened since the moment they parted ways, but Celestia had forgotten one part of the story. The one that she just remembered thanks to Inhio. "Gilda...”

"Exactly, Your Majesty.”

"You believe that the darkness within you could have decided to switch hosts during your outburst?”

"Yes, Your Highness...I put all of the accumulated hatred within me into that one single stare...What if...” Inhio couldn’t find the words to say what he wanted to say.

Celestia smiled at him. "You need not worry about that, Sir Inhio. The spirit that was trapped inside you couldn’t leave your body, no matter how hard it tried, else it would have done so long ago.” Inhio raised his head to hear Celestia more clearly. "Recall what princess Twilight told you about the spirit.” Hope reignited in Inhio’s face as he remembered a single detail he had forgotten earlier. "Were it not for another presence already inside your body, the darkness would have taken control of you, right away.”

"Yes...of course! That answers so many questions! I see now...” Inhio got a bit carried away as he had just found the answers he had been looking for some time now. He simply couldn’t keep it to himself. "That spirit must have latched on to the good side of me, that would explain why whenever this side of me tried to come out, it would also bring out the darkness!” Inhio felt a bit awkward after seeing Celestia smiling at him while he was having his moment. "Khe khem. Forgive me.” He calmed his voice.

"Do not worry, Sir Inhio. I am as happy about this as you are.” The two engaged in a quiet laugh. This was more than just any mere laugh, it was a victory laugh. The unpleasant part of the conversation had been settled, and the darkness had once again been stopped, and more than just Twilight and her friends had played their role in making that happen...Who would have ever thought that Gilda could end up helping them instead of making things worse? "Now that that’s settled, there’s one more thing I wish to talk to you about, Inhio.”

"Yes, Your Majesty. What is it?” Inhio didn’t think there was anything left to talk about, so this came as a surprise for him.

"It is no secret that your life back on Earth must have changed a lot over these eight long years.” Inhio did not answer since the answer was already obvious, he only awaited Celestia’s next words. "I fear that the events that transpired since that fateful day that changed you forever might have ruined your life.” It was very nice of Celestia to care about Inhio in such a manner, but where was this conversation leading, was still rather unclear. Nevertheless, Inhio already had a hunch.

"I do not know what kind of life will await you once you’re back on Earth, if there even still is a life for you to have there. So I want to make you an offer now.” Inhio was quite sure he already knew the words Celestia was about to say next. Her tone was sincere, but also serious at the same time. "Since a spirit from our world ruined your previous life, I offer you a chance to start a new life, right here in Equestria.”

Inhio had the right idea from the start. It was a generous offer indeed, and one that was hard to refuse. Inhio didn’t really need much thinking, and there wasn’t really much to consider, either. Go back to the ordinary, unchanging life he knows all too well, only without his beloved soul mate by his side this time. He did miss the good times he once shared with his friends at the bar, but that was about as far as the fun part of his life went. And after all this time, it might just not be all that wise to just walk back up to them and shout, "Hey, guys! I’m back!”

Should he go back to that life, when on the other hand, he has a chance to start a brand new life, full of surprises, empty of worries, in a true, candy-colored heaven many people could only ever dream to even see, let alone live in...No, this was not something Inhio needed to think about any further, but Inhio did need some time to recall all the experience he’s had in this world and his own. Celestia took this pause as a sign of uncertainty. "Just say the word if you wish to leave, right away. You needn’t rush your answer, take all the time you need to decide.”

Inhio realized that he had been thinking for too long. He gave his answer while trying to hide his true excitement. "I think I’ll stick around for now. Even if I decide to leave, then I don’t want to leave without letting those six ponies know the more joyful side of me. Not after they had all tried so hard just for my sake.”

The two smiled at each other. Celestia decided to go ahead and make this official. "Then from hence forth, you shall be known as a citizen of Equestria!” she said in her regal tone.

"Thank you, Your Grace! And now that I am part of your lands...” Inhio politely bowed to the princess.

Celestia laughed. "You sure are an amusing one, Inhio.”

"I aim to please, Your Majesty.” After one last bow, Inhio was about to take his leave from the throne room.

"Oh, one more thing before you leave, Inhio.” Inhio turned around, back towards the princess. "Now that you’ve decided to stay here in Equestria, there’s one last thing I wish to know about you.”

"What is it, princess?”

Celestia knew that the matter she was about to discuss with Inhio wouldn’t be easy for him, so she paused for a moment before talking. Inhio thought she had just forgotten some minor detail, but her expression almost began to worry Inhio. "Twilight told me about the way you looked at Fluttershy. She mentioned that she may have reminded you of someone.” Inhio didn’t like where this was going. "She reminds you of...her...doesn’t she?”

Inhio had a feeling Celestia was about to mention that the very moment he arrived at her castle. It really wasn’t easy remembering that, but at least it didn’t come as a surprise for Inhio. He had already come prepared. "Aye, Your Majesty...That she does.”

"I’m sorry for reminding this to you, Inhio, I know how hard this must be for you...But I need to know one thing.”

"Name it, Your Grace.”

"I need to know if the memories of your lost lover will somehow influence your relationship with Fluttershy.” It seemed like it was harder for Celestia to say those words than it was for Inhio to hear them. She couldn’t help but feel like that question was rude, and mayhap even uncalled for, but she still had to know the answer for sure. Inhio nearly laughed about the thought.

"Nay, Your Majesty. You needn’t worry about that,” Inhio answered so easily, it seemed like he barely gave it any thought before answering. Celestia wasn’t too pleased with an answer like that. "I won’t deny that I might still remember her nearly every time I see Fluttershy, but I wouldn’t worry too much about that.”

Celestia was still curious about that reply. "Please, explain.”

Inhio gazed at one of the stained glass paintings on the windows of the castle, but not because it caught his eye, but because it seemed easier to tell his story without constantly staring right into Celestia's eyes. "For you see, the way I loved my wife, it was not like others might define love...I didn’t need to know that she belongs to me, I did not need to feel the warm connection between our lips, and I did not need to feel her next to me every time I would sleep at night. All I ever wanted was to know that she’s all right...that she’s happy...All I ever wanted to do is keep her safe...Do you see now, Your Majesty?” Inhio moved his head and made eye contact with the princess, once more. "I never really wanted to be her lover...I wanted to be her guardian.”

That was a better response than Celestia could have hoped for. Celestia wasn’t just happy to have Inhio stay in Equestria, she was honored. "I see...” She stood up from her throne to personally escort Inhio outside. "You are quite the man, Sir Inhio...I believe that Equestria is the right place for you.”

The two had already approached the door that led outside of Celestia’s throne room. Twilight and her friends were all eagerly awaiting the chance to meet the real Inhio.

"You know, I always have been a dreamer.” Inhio smiled as he placed his hand on the door, standing ready to open it at any moment.

"But now that I’m here...I feel like I don’t need to dream anymore...”

Prologue (Short version of first 3 chapters)

A tragic event takes place in a hospital and the doctors are forced to make a man named Inhio make a difficult decision - To either save his wife, Angela, or have her give birth to his child and pass away in its stead. The man chose his wife over the baby. After the couple leaves the hospital and are on their way home, they get attacked by bandits on their way home. The man tries to reason with them, but ends up fighting for his life after realizing that words are of no use here. After getting beaten, he finds himself helplessly watching as the bandit leader tries to murder his wife in cold blood, but the man's will to defend his wife proved to be stronger than anything, and the man was able to drive the bandits away.

After carrying his wife back home, the couple tries to put the past behind them. After half a year had passed, the wife tries to convince the man to try for a baby again. Inhio doesn't want that and strongly protests against it, but Angela manages to convince him that everything will be fine, but not without swearing to him that she would make the same choice he did if the situation should repeat itself, only with herself being the one to make the choice. The couple wait until a full year passes since that tragic day.

Nine months later, the couple finds themselves at the hospital, once again, and the situation is the same as before, only this time, the wife is the one to make the decision. The husband is certain that she isn't about to break the promise she made to him, but, unknown to him, she does, and the man rushes into the operation room, only to have the hand of his wife run cold in his arms. After letting out a loud scream, the man falls unconscious and is dragged out into the corridor, where the nurse hands him his child, once he had regained consciousness. The man had lost any will to go on, and was completely emotionless and careless. He did not care for the baby, but the nurse managed to convince him to drop his daughter off at an orphanage. After that, the man carried on with his life as if nothing had happened, only he never laughed, smiled, cried or cringed again for 8 long years.

He kept his place at work, only because he had a good relationship with his boss who understood the pain he was going through, but his co-workers still didn't care much for the way he acted. The friends Inhio used to share a drink with at a bar every now and then, they also decided to switch tables after realizing that Inhio just wasn't the same as he was. After 8 years, Inhio decides to visit the orphanage to see if his daughter is doing all right. He finds out that a certain couple has shown interest in her, and begs them to take her, hoping, that they would raise her well. After that day, Inhio goes to sleep and acts as if nothing had happened.

Epilogue

The mane six welcomed Inhio to Equestria with open hooves and were happy about his decision to stay here. Before long, Inhio already started to feel like at home. He got his own house in Ponyville and seemed to have forgotten all about his tragic past, even though he was still sometimes seen sitting on a bench near Sugarcube corner and wondering about something. Deep inside, he had hopes that he could somehow see his daughter, just one last time, or even simply find out if she was living a good life.

After a few nights spent wondering, Inhio decided to throw his past away completely and get the chance to feel Equestria's magic on his own skin. He asked to be transformed into a pegasus pony. A request that princess Celestia gladly fulfilled. Inhio felt reborn. The only thing that still reminded him of his past was the black shades he decided to keep. He did all the things that only a pegasus of Equestria could do. He visited Cloudsdale again, to see it from an angle he couldn’t before. He spent hours just dashing through the sky every day, hoping to one day fly as fast as Rainbow Dash, and sometimes he just plain loved to spend the night on a cloud. And of course, he never forgot about his friends!...Well...almost never.

Dear princess Celestia

Today I write to you for the first time since my arrival in Equestria.
I write to you because I nearly lost my way today.
I nearly forgot about the one thing that matters more than any other.
I nearly forgot that I would never be here without your help,
Or the help of your precious student and her friends.

After I became a pegasus, I was so excited that I forgot about the world around me.
I thought I was at the top of the world and wanted to feel all that it can offer.
I felt twenty years younger. No! Actually, I felt completely reborn!
I wouldn’t leave the skies for days. I nearly forgot about my friends completely.
I thought that I couldn't have anything more than what I had right then...
But I soon realized that I already had more than I could possibly ask for,
And I had it all even before I had these wings on my back.

Today I finally felt the ground under my hooves again.
And I didn’t walk it alone. I had all my friends right beside me.
After I had realized what a fool I had been for neglecting my friends,
Neglecting them just to have more time to spend up in the sky...
I was ready to swear I would never take to the sky again!
Luckily, Twilight and her friends stopped me from doing that...

But now that I’m back on solid ground again with my friends,
I finally see what really matters more than anything else.
As long as you have friends, it doesn’t matter if you’re young or old.
As long as you have friends, it doesn’t matter if you can fly or not.
As long as you have friends... You don’t need to dream.
My eternal gratitude to you and my friends!

Yours faithfully

Inhio Hellbridge.