Keys of My Destiny

Chapters

Chapter 1: A New Arrival, Vashta Nerada
Chapter 2: Cookies Are Eternal
Chapter 3: When Time Flies
Chapter 4: Bookville
Chapter 5: What Goes Up, Must Come Down
Chapter 6: Party Rock Is In The House Tonight
Chapter 7: Towering Apples Of Destiny
Chapter 8: Blaze Of Glory
Chapter 9: The Devil Wears Stripes
Chapter 10: Sleep Is For The Weak
Chapter 11: Find The Music In You
Chapter 12: Words Of Wisdom, Words Of Power
Chapter 13: Am I A good Pony

Chapter 1: A New Arrival, Vashta Nerada

I shook my head and looked around. I couldn't really remember what happened, or for that matter, anything at all. What I saw seemed to surprise me though. I was laying in a clearing in a forest, surrounded by old, dark, and foreboding trees. They were tall, casting shadows all over, and packed close, leaving little room to see the secrets they hid in the shadows. A small winding path led away from the clearing, disappearing into the forest. I shook my head again as I tried to remember what happened. Suddenly, I remembered the sound of a gun-shot and a wave of pain hit me. I looked down and saw that there was a bleeding streak cutting a path across my body, oozing my lifeforce at an alarming rate. Suddenly I realized something. I'm supposed to be a human! And last I remember, humans don't have medium-length pale orange hair all over their bodies. I looked down at my body again, reeling in shock, and completely forgetting about my wound. Ok, I know humans don't have four legs. Or hooves. And... Is that a tail? I looked back and swished my tail, smiling before another wave of pain reminded me that I was in the process of dying.

I looked quickly around again, and for the first time noticed just how damaged the clearing looked. It seemed like some of the trees had recently been broken apart, there were branches and bunches of leaves all over the place. There were also a bunch of scorched pieces, leading me to think that whatever brought me here was not gentle on the environment. Suddenly, I heard the sound of small, light hooves pounding quickly across the earth, and I spun my head around to see a small yellow filly with red hair and a large pink bow running up to me. Knowing that I was in no condition to get away, no matter her intentions, I told myself that a little filly wasn't likely going to hurt me, and I lay on my side and waited for her to reach me.

"Oh mah goodness! Are ya ok? Ya should be dead!" She said as soon as she reached me, panting through her words as she stopped next to me, standing on the side that wasn't bleeding profusely.

"Funny you should mention that." I said as I nodded with great effort towards the side of my body that was currently being stained red from my blood. She frowned and walked around me until she could see my side. She gasped, one of her hooves flying up to cover her mouth, and stared at my side in shock.

After a few seconds, and several glances from my injury to my face, she looked back at me and said: "Do ya think ya could walk if Ah helped ya? There's more help on the way, but Ah'm not sure ya will make it that long the way ya are bleedin'."

"I suppose I don't really have much of a choice; I don't really want to die here." I said as I struggled to get up. She rushed over to me and helped nudge me onto my feet, allowing me to lean on her for support. I could barely feel my right legs from blood loss, but with the little filly's help I was able to stand. I started hobbling in the direction of the path, not wanting to go too fast and fall, but not going any slower than I needed to.

"By the way, what's your name?" I asked her as we worked our way down the path at a painfully slow rate, both in a literal and a metaphorical sense.

"Mah name's Applebloom. What about yours?" She asked, looking up at me.

"Well, to be honest, I don't remember. I don't really remember anything. I must have hit the ground super hard... I used to fall out of trees all of the time, and I've never had problems with brain injury or amnesia..." I said, trailing off as I tried again to recall what happened to me.

"Ah can imagine ya'd fall, ponies ain't meant to be in trees, silly. Still, ya got that right. Mah sis and Ah saw a huge hole open up in the sky, then ya fell out. Lucky it wasn't higher, or Ah don't think ya would've made it." She said with a concerned smile on her face. I looked at her in shock, but she didn't seem to think much of it. What kind of world is this where you help strangers who have just fallen out of massive portals and are bleeding like they've been in a war without a second thought? I wondered, my focus returning to the path. We continued slowly along in silence for a little while, before suddenly everything started to go black, and I felt myself falling to the ground.

There was the sound of a gunshot, and I heard a scream. All around me there were fires burning, and I could barely see. Suddenly, I heard another gunshot, and the screams stopped. The world started to fade, and I just remember someone appearing in the doorway, holding a gun. Suddenly, my eyes snapped open, and I shot up out of bed. I immediately gasped as I felt the wave of pain that rolled over me, and I remembered that when I was last conscious, I was bleeding to death in the forest, with Applebloom trying to help me to safety. The pain, combined with my curiosity at my new situation, quickly made me push the dream to the back of my mind. I looked around the room I was in and was shocked at what I saw. I had expected primarily to not wake up at all, but barring that, I never imagined when I saw myself in the middle of a forest that I would end up in a place like this. This was the nicest hospital room I had ever seen, with all the equipment necessary to heal a dying pony. Wow, I actually just thought of myself as a pony. I hardly remember anything of the other, human world I came from, so I guess it's fair. I thought with a mild laugh. I held up my fore-legs to inspect them, and noticed what looked like white stickers, one on each leg. They looked like they would otherwise have been attached to heart rate monitors and machines of that sort, except instead of wires, there was a faint purple glow at the center. What are... No, I'm not going to question it. They're probably just some fancy tech that I don't know about.

I eventually sat further up in bed and pulled the blankets off to inspect my side more closely. I had been fully bandaged up, the bandages wrapped, and the wraps fully secured, as though I was meant to run a marathon in this condition. Despite the new pain from jumping out of my nightmare, I actually felt pretty good. Not stellar, but well enough given the state I was left in. I saw large windows on either side of the room on the far sides of the medical equipment, but the blinds were closed. Judging by the light streaming in anyway, though, I guessed it was about mid morning. I thought about how funny it was that I was a pony, and yet still in a bed under blankets like a human. I'm just going to assume, given everything I've seen, that these ponies are a little more advanced then the ones I know. I chuckled to myself as I slid carefully back down under the covers and pulled the blankets up to cover me better. After what felt like only a few minutes I had nodded off again.

"Applejack said he just fell out of the sky? Did she say exactly what she meant by 'Out'? Like, did he fall from way up, or was he just suddenly there, and falling? Did she see the whole thing? Did she say if he knew what happened?" I heard a voice ask hurriedly as I began to come about. There was a quiet response that I couldn't understand in my grogginess, and then the voice started talking again.

"A portal? How unusual. I've never even heard of such a thing occurring, I'll have to talk to Celestia before I can even begin to guess what happened to him though. I wish we had been able to get more from him before he lost consciousness. I hope he wakes up soon too, I've got so many questions." The voice said. Again, I heard the quieter voice, but the pony must have been whispering and turned away from my bed, because I still couldn't understand them.

"Oh no, I don't think I'll scare him. They're just questions! I'm sure he's used to those, if these portals are a regular thing for him." The voice said, gradually getting quieter.

"Oh, OK. Well, um, I think I'll sit with him for a little while then, just encase he wakes up. If that's OK." The quieter voice said, finally understandable.

"That's fine with me, Fluttershy, I'm sure he'd be glad to have some company after such a trying experience. I'll see you later?" The original voice said, followed by the sound of a door quietly opening.

"Oh, um, yes. Yes I think so." The voice, which apparently belonged to a pony named 'Fluttershy,' said. There was the sound of hooves and then the quiet click of the door closing. Knowing that I was not alone this time, I was careful not to jump up out of bed like last time, as the sight of a pony whom one suspects is asleep suddenly diving out of bed would likely terrify any sensible soul. That, and it would hurt like heck. I thought as I slowly opened my eyes and yawned, apparently still scaring the pony sitting next to my bed, judging by how she jumped. Well, apparently I'm just a terrifying individual. Goodness me that was easy...

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I- I didn't mean to disturb you." She stammered out after she collected herself.

"It's fine, I was awake anyway." I said, smiling warmly at her. She smiled a tiny bit back, but still looked guilty. I glanced at the window blinds and saw that I had slept a long time, as it was a bit dark out. Assuming a bunch of ponies hadn't come to visit me super early in the morning, that meant it was dusk.

"I'm sorry to be intruding, would you, um, would you like me to leave?" She said quietly as I looked back over at her. For the first time since I woke up, I noticed what she looked like. She was a soft yellow, with a beautiful flowing pink mane and tail. She also had three butterflies on her flank, which I assumed were some sort of tattoo. I wondered how that would work through copious amounts of hair, but I wasn't about to ask a pony I didn't even know. Then I remembered the question she had asked.

"No, you're fine, it's nice to have someone to talk to." I said to her, remembering what the other voice had said as I yawned again.

"Well, um, OK then. Is- Is there anything you would like? Any family or friends that we should notify about your condition?" She asked, again expressing her ability to be quiet and still be clear. For some reason, the mention of family sent a stab of pain through my heart, but I couldn't place why. I shook my head, both as a no, and trying to clear away whatever it was that I was feeling. I changed the subject, hoping to distract myself.

"So what's your name? I'd introduce myself, but I'm afraid I still don't remember my own name." I said, laughing slightly at myself. I did, of course, already know her name, but she wouldn't know where I had heard it, and calling her by name when I shouldn't know it would almost defiantly make the conversation more awkward. She took me completely seriously though, and replied quickly.

"I'm really sorry you can't remember, if there's anything we can do to help, please ask. And, um, my name is Fluttershy." She said as she looked at me with a concerned look on her face.

"I'm sure I'll be fine, it'll probably just take some time for it all to come back to me. I hear I tried to fuse with the ground. Also, nice to meet you, Fluttershy." I said with a chuckle and a smile at her. She smiled a little back before asking if I was hungry. I said I was fine, and she looked down at her hooves in embarrassment. Feeling bad for her, I changed my mind.

"Actually, now that you mention it, I am a little hungry. But I'll be fine for now, I can have food in the morning." I hoped she wouldn't feel obliged to do anything for me, but she jumped up out of her chair anyway.

"We can't have you hungry when you're healing from such a bad injury, I'll go get you some food. Um, is there anything in particular you would like?" She said, slowing and looking back at me. I wanted desperately to roll my eyes, but I resisted, smiling instead.

"Uh, surprise me? I'm not at all fussy, I'll eat anything. And thank you, you don't have to go to all that trouble." I said to her, and she smiled a little more before quickly disappearing from the room. It was a few minutes of waiting, and I had started to doze off again when Fluttershy came back in, carefully carrying a sandwich on a small plate in her mouth. I smiled as she walked over and placed it on the small table next to my bed.

"Um, will you need help sitting up?" She asked cautiously, watching me with concern.

"I think I got it, thanks." I said, slowly pulling myself up into a sitting position. My side burned the whole time, but once I got settled again it reduced to a dull ache. I looked over at the plate sitting on the table and realized how very far away it seemed, but I was determined to reach it. Slowly reaching over, I winced as pain shot through my body again. Fluttershy saw my trouble and went to help, but right as I was getting close to reaching far enough my balance gave out and I tipped over, brushing noses with her as I fell over sideways onto the bed. She squeaked and her face turned bright red as she covered her nose with her hoof. She grabbed the plate with her other hoof and gave it to me once I had sat back up. Laughing a little and blushing a bit myself, I said 'sorry' quietly as I grabbed the sandwich off the plate. I feel like I should be more concerned then I am that this sandwich is apparently filled with daisies and hay. I thought as I went for my first bite. As I begin eating, she tried to cover her embarrassment by asking why I didn't use my magic to lift it. I paused and looked at her with a questioning look.

"I'm sorry, I meant your unicorn magic." I gave her another look, this one mixed with curiosity, as I munched on my sandwich, now over the unusual filling.

"Oh, um, hang on..." She said slowly as she ducked down and dug around under the table somewhere. She came back up with a mirror and held it up for me to see. My jaw dropped when I saw that I did, indeed, have a horn. It was the same dull orange as the rest of my body other then my orange tinted gold mane and tail, and maybe four or five inches long. I noticed my mane also got much more orange and less gold towards the edges.

"And because I'm a unicorn, I can use magic?" I asked Fluttershy, putting down my food to carefully feel my horn. She nodded and waited until I was done before putting the mirror back.

"Um, as far as I know, most unicorn foals learn to use their magic when they're relatively young. Since it seems like you don't know, maybe you should ask my friend Twilight Sparkle. She's really good with magic. She will know how to help you better. Or whatever you want to do is fine..." She said, trailing off.

"That sounds like a great idea! Probably not until I can walk around again though." I said, finishing off the sandwich. I reached over to put the plate back down on the table, but before I got too far Fluttershy grabbed it for me. I jokingly covered my nose and smiled at her and laughed as she blushed again.

"Thanks again for the food, I definitely needed that. Although now I feel like I could sleep for a moon..." I said, trailing off as a huge yawn took over.

"Oh, OK then, I'll go and let you sleep." She said, grabbing the plate again and standing up. Just as she was heading out the door, it was my turn to be shy, and I called to her again.

"Hey, um, do you think that, um, maybe you could come back tomorrow? It'll be awfully lonely on my own all day." I said, hoping not to sound too awkward.

"Oh, sure! Maybe tomorrow you'll remember more about yourself!" She said happily. She carefully closed the door behind her and suddenly the room was quiet again. I smiled as I settled down to sleep, hoping that I had made my first friend in this insane place.

"Mom, Dad, wake up," I said, slowly opening the door to their room.

"What is it, sweetheart?" My mom asked in a sleepy voice.

"I think I just heard a crash, like something breaking. I think there might be someone in our house." I said quietly, looking frequently around as though I expected someone to jump out of the shadows. Then, as though on command, the fire alarm began going off. My parents quickly jumped out of bed, and my dad grabbed the baseball bat he had hidden under the bed. Slowly, my mom and I followed him to the stairs, where we all looked down. Nothing was obviously damaged, but it was clearly starting to get smoky. Knowing that the door was right around the corner at the bottom of the stairs, we decided to risk it. We crept down as quietly as we could. Terror raced through my body, however, when we reached the bottom and saw a man in all black with a mask standing in front of the door, as if guarding it. He had a gun in his hand, and he held it as is he knew exactly what he was supposed to do with it.

The hallway where we were was narrow, and across it from us was the dining room, which led to another door. The source of the fire seemed to be near the dining room, but at this point there was no other choice. We heard someone bark out a command to the man at the door, and for a moment he looked away from us. I felt my mother give me a light push, and I knew I had to cross the hallway. As quickly and quietly as I could, I scampered across and then hid around the wall, holding my breath to try to keep as much smoke out of my lungs as possible. I heard another bunch of talking, and I felt slight trembling through the floor as my mother and father tried to cross the hall as well.

My mother made it, covering down next to me on the wall. My father must have been almost across when suddenly I heard the snapping explosion of a gun being fired. My mother and I sat there, frozen, until after the longest instant of my life we heard a loud grunt and the sound of something large hitting the floor. Slowly, as if an ironic final message, the baseball bat rolled slowly through the doorway. The whole world froze around me, even the smoke seemed to stand still. Somehow, I just couldn't believe my father had just been shot. I felt like I kept expecting him to come through the doorway, and then we could all escape. A second ticked by, and I realized my mother was screaming next to me. Suddenly, I truly realized what happened. My father had just been shot, and probably killed. He's not coming through. Get out. Get away. Run. I went to grab my mother's hand and pull her with me, but she had already dived back through the doorway, as if she thought she could save the love of her life by dying with him. I still heard her screams, but they sounded so far away, like the bottom of a well.

I reached out as if to grab her, but she was already gone. Suddenly, I heard another gunshot and her screaming abruptly stopped. My instincts must have taken over by that point, because instead of jumping out after her, I got up and tried to run for the door. However, fate showed its distaste for mercy when I tripped over the very baseball bat my father was going to protect me with, and I came crashing to the floor. The pain must have woken me up a little, because I turned around just in time to see the man with the gun walk through the doorway, over the bodies of my parents. I couldn't see any of his face, but I knew in my heart that he was smiling as he raised to gun to point at me. I heard the gunshot, felt the searing pain of a thousand suns, and then lost consciousness.

Suddenly, I was awakened by somepony gently shaking me awake. I looked over and saw Fluttershy standing next to my bed with a seriously worried look on her face.

"I'm so sorry I woke you up, but... You were screaming. You sounded like you were in so much pain. I... I thought you would feel better awake..." She trailed off, staring at her hooves. I started to respond, when I remembered what I had woken up from. Tears instantly began to stream down my face, and I looked away from her. Too late, however, to stop Fluttershy from seeing, and she immediately started blurting out apologies again.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry! I... I didn't know. I... I'm so sorry I woke you up. Please, please forgive me!" She stammered, starting to tear up herself. I raised a hoof up to tell her to stop, and after a few seconds, I managed to speak again.

"It's not you, or your fault, Fluttershy, what you did actually was very kind and saved me from something terrible in this case. I... I just..." Suddenly I couldn't hold it in anymore, and I broke down in tears again. I sat there crying for a few more seconds, not caring that Fluttershy was standing there in complete shock, a look of terror plastered on her face, before I brought myself under control again. Then, I carefully finished my sentence.

"I just had a dream, no, it was definitely a nightmare, and my memory of what happened came back to me. And... Could I have some alone time?" I said haltingly, trying to keep my composure for as long as possible in front of Fluttershy. She nodded solemnly, and then walked slowly back over to the door. Just as she was about to leave, she turned and asked quietly if I would like her to come back later. I nodded as enthusiastically as I could, and then she left. Finally, I let go of all my emotions and lay back on my bed, sobbing. I had never before shed a tear that meant something in my life. But now... Both my parents are dead. Dead. Never again will I hear the sounds of their voices. And somehow, I'm not dead, even though I should be. I wish I had died, so that I could be with mom and dad. I continued arguing within my mind as I sobbed myself into a mess. The final images of their lives, playing over and over again in my head. I could remember everything I had ever done wrong by them, and how now I would never be able to apologize. A thousand times I watched them die before my consciousness was swept away from me and I fell asleep, ready to face a new kind of hell in my dreams.

Chapter 2: Cookies Are Eternal

Slowly, I saw the world around me come into focus. it was like the whole world was covered in fog, and slowly the fog was fading, reveling the world it hid. I was expecting to be back in my burning human home, seeing some variation of my parents' death, but this was a very different place. As best I could recall, this was the clearing where I first fell into this world. I looked down, and saw that I was in my pony form, an orange body with a spiky mane and tail. After a few seconds, I realized I was able to form coherent and rational thoughts, which doesn't often happen when I dream; I usually only have lucid dreams when I'm sick. I didn't have long to consider the implications, however, because across the clearing from me a cloud of purple smoke had begun to gather. I stared in awe as the smoke quickly thickened and then formed into the shape of a tall, regal alicorn. Suddenly, the smoke hardened into an actual form, and in front of me stood a purple mare with a lighter purple mane and tail that was flowing on some invisible current. I stood in shock for a few seconds, before she broke the silence.

"Hello, young one. My name is Princess Luna. I co-rule this land with my sister, as well as I control the moon and all things night. That is why, as I am sure you're currently wondering, I am in your dream. I am sorry for the intrusion, but my sister requested I find out more about you after your less-then-regular arrival, and we have much better chance of not being interrupted this way, assuming nopony wakes you." I stared at her, taking everything in for a few seconds before nodding. A thought then came to my mind, and I spoke up angrily.

"If you can enter dreams, then why didn't you last night? I wasn't exactly having the best time, I think you could have figured that out!" I was pretty sure yelling at royalty was a bad idea, but I did it anyway. I swear, it she says something like 'it was necessary for you to experience' I will literally strangle her, dream or not. I thought as I glared at her.

"I am again deeply sorry, but last night your mind was blocked from my reach, and there was nothing I could do. I could not even see into your dream last night, I presume because of the emotional turbulence." She said quietly, looking genuinely sad about what had happened. I immediately felt bad and apologized for my outburst.

"I'm sorry, that wasn't justified. I'm just a little emotionally temperamental right now." I said, hanging my head in shame. Then, another thought occurred to me, and I looked at her suspiciously.

"Wait... If you couldn't see into my dream, how do you know what happened?" I asked.

"Simply stated, I observed. You were angry about an emotional experience you were forced to live last night, you are still emotional right now, and dreams, nightmares in particular, are almost always made of images you have seen at some time, which means whatever you saw almost certainly actually happened to you, especially because random nightmares don't linger in the mind for that long." She said calmly. Again, I responded in shame.

"I should really stop questioning you. I am sorry." I said quietly, looking away.

"Do not apologize for speaking from your heart in this time of hardship. You had every reason to believe that I could have helped you, given what you knew. However, let's put that behind us and focus on the more pressing issues." She said, smiling again. I looked at her in concern.

"Sure, but I'm afraid I don't understand, what pressing issues? Have I done something wrong?" I said, smiling uncertainly back.

"Nothing specifically; at least, not that we know of yet. My sister and I, however, have a duty to protect this land, and your arrival was beyond anything we have ever seen. We need to make sure that nothing bad will happen because of it. That is why I have to ask that you tell me everything you can about what happened." Luna said, looking more somber and serious now. I carefully considered her story for a few moments before I began mine.

"I came, as far as I can tell, from another world. Maybe from another dimension entirely. On my world, the dominant species are called humans. We walk on just our back two legs, straight up, and we didn't have any hair on our bodies." I thought about how terrible a description that was, until I remembered that I was actually dreaming and could probably show Luna. I closed my eyes and imagined myself back in my human form. Much like what I saw when Luna first arrived, I felt my form changing and shifting. When I opened my eyes again, I was tall enough to look Luna in the eyes. I looked down at my body, and my face immediately went bright red as I realized that I had failed to consider clothing, and was completely naked. I quickly spun around and faced away from Princess Luna, closing my eyes and trying to focus on some sort of clothing, despite my embarrassment.

"Why do you turn? You... Humans are a little strange, I'll grant that, but I see no reason to hide your form so readily." She said from behind me. I ignored her, focusing on not being naked. A few seconds later, I felt a layer of clothing surround me, and I opened my eyes to see a simple white shirt and blue pants. I let out a sigh of relief, and turned to face Princess Luna again. She gave me a look of amusement, and I glowered at her.

"First, that never happened. Second, humans never go around naked; to be unclothed around another is considered extremely intimate by most, and I guess old habits die hard. I hadn't actually even thought about the fact the ponies are always naked..." I said, trailing off. It didn't bother me nearly as much as I expected it would, likely because every other pony was simply so confident in their way of life that it didn't seem out of place. My attention snapped back to the princess when I heard her laugh, and I looked at her in shock.

"I'm nearly two thousand years old and a dreamwalker. Do not fret, I've seen my fair share of intimate things, and they do not bother me. I will not mention this to any living soul, if you so wish." She said, trying to hide a grin.

"That'd be great, thanks." I responded. She shook her head and took a deep breath before looking back at me seriously.

"Anyway, you should get on with your story. The night is waning, and I imagine there is still much to tell." She said. I nodded in response, collecting my words before continuing my story.

"This is what we looked like. We didn't have wings, and more importantly, we had no magic at all. We didn't have anywhere near the scientific abilities to make a portal to this world, so it can't have started with us. Right before I lost consciousness and was sent here, I was about to be murdered by a human who had broken into our house. That's where the massive gash in my side came from." I paused again as I realized I had been talking very quickly, and I didn't want to confuse Luna any more then necessary. The mention of the attack brought a flood of emotions back, and I began to remember the details about my parents' deaths. Not wanting to show weakness in from of Princess Luna, I quickly suppressed the emotions, and was shocked to find that they simply went away. While can't it always be that easy? I wondered sadly.

"Because it is our emotions that shape our characters; without them, we wouldn't be any more alive then a tree or a flower. We must all push through times of hardship; for if we don't know sadness, how can we truly know joy?" I heard the princess's voice, and turned my focus to her in shock, realizing she was responding directly to my thoughts.

"Don't tell me you can read my mind too. That would be too much." I said, staring at her with worry, bordering on fear. She began to shake her head, then paused.

"This entire world is a part of your mind. Your conscious thoughts echo about it like the wind or the rain, hearing what you think is as simple as knowing what to listen for. But I have no access to your memories, nor can I understand complex thoughts that are fashioned like memories; images, sounds, tastes, smells, these things are all barred from me. All I can hear are simple sentences; have no fear." She said. I nodded slowly, suspicious, but willing to believe her.

"Right... I don't remember actually coming here, I just woke up in a scorched and battered clearing in the forest some days ago. However, the filly who found me, I think her name was..." I trailed off, I never was very good with names. Focusing on what she had looked like, I searched my mind, and suddenly her name appeared.

"Right, her name was Applebloom. She said I fell out of a giant hole in the sky. The problem is, I was conscious for only a few minutes, and that's all I know. Since then I've been, as I'm sure you are aware, in my hospital room." Princess Luna didn't respond, she simply stood quietly, deep in thought. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she spoke again.

"Thank you for your help. That wasn't as much as I had hoped, but I will relay all important information along to my sister, and together we will do our best to unravel these mysteries. One more thing before I leave though; I'm afraid I never caught your name." She said, looking at me brightly.

"Uhm... Name? My name is..." I trailed off. I knew my human name, but from all I had heard of this world so far, it would never fit. I thought for a few more seconds, being careful not to form complete thoughts that would give away my lie. Realizing she would be waiting, and the longer I took the less likely she was to believe me, I quickly made up a name that felt good and that I would not mind being called for the foreseeable future.

"My name is Blazing Star, known by my friends as Blaze." I lied, hoping she wouldn't question it. I wondered why I was so desperate to hide my real name, but I couldn't dwell on it.

"An interesting name, but it suits you well. Thank you for your time, Blazing Star. The night is ending, and soon our paths must part. I feel that I will see you again though." With that, she began to fade. In a few moments, far less time than she had taken to arrive in the first place, she was gone. I looked around, wondering what happened next, until the entire world around me began to fade as well. I assumed that meant I would be waking up soon, and as I slipped away from an active consciousness, I wondered what the new day would bring.

I woke up to bright, warm sunlight streaming in the window. I groaned as I realized that despite sleeping all night, I was still tired. It turns out that even if the body is still, an active mind can still wear you out. I thought, sighing. Outside, birds were singing happily, and I couldn't help but smile, even despite the pain, both physical and emotional, that I was feeling. Considering how close to death I was only a few days ago, I actually felt pretty good. I lay in my bed, savoring the warm morning sunlight for a few minutes before carefully sitting up. I let out a large yawn and stretched, glancing over at the small table next to my bed. I looked over in surprise when I saw that somepony had set of a vase with flowers, as well as a plate of cookies. I thought about what happened last time I tried reaching out that far, laughing to myself about it and shaking my head. That was the closest to a girl that I wasn't related to I had ever gotten.

This time, however, I was determined to reach those cookies, and Fluttershy wasn't here to help, so that left me on my own. I carefully reached over, until, after a painstakingly long time, I reached the plate. I carefully grabbed it, counter balancing with my opposite leg to keep from crashing again, before tipping back over into a sitting position. Greatly satisfied with my work, I began to munch on the cookies. They were a sort of sandwich cookie, with a sweet apple layer in the middle. I had gotten through about half the plate when I heard a very quiet knock on the door. Smiling, already knowing who it was, I called out.

"Come on in, Fluttershy!" I said, before beginning to munch on the next cookie. Except for the sandwich Fluttershy had gotten me, I hadn't eaten in at least 80 hours, and now that I was feeling better I was incredibly hungry. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the door open and Fluttershy walk in. I looked up see her walk over with a plate and a muffin. For a moment, I was disappointed that I would have a reason to stop eating the cookies, but that part of my brain was heavily overruled by the rest of me that didn't care what food it was eating, so long as there was lots of it. She walked over and put it down on the table, and it was then that I decided to speak.

"Part of me knows I should be polite and say something like: 'Oh, you shouldn't have!', but honestly I couldn't have asked for a better thing to wake up to. Thanks!" I wasn't sure if I would still come across as rude, but I hoped she would understand. She smiled at me and responded in her usual, quiet way.

"Oh, it's fine. I know you haven't had a chance to eat much recently, and I hoped you would be feeling well enough this morning for breakfast. And I'm glad you are. Although, I hope you still have room after those cookies." She said, looking down at the mostly empty plate on my lap. I grinned in response as I finished off another cookie.

"Ya... Sorry about my... Condition when you woke me up yesterday. I can explain most of that, as well as more about myself now, if you'd like. It's the least I can do for all the time you've spent on me recently." I said, rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment. She looked at me carefully, maybe trying to judge whether my cheerful attitude was just an act to cover my feelings, and then responded carefully.

"I... I would be happy to listen anything you want to tell me, but... Don't feel you have to say anything, I don't want to pry." She said, looking away for a moment, like she didn't want to admit she was curious.

"Well, in that case, you might want to grab a seat, I imagine this could take a while." I said, not really sure how to respond to such a non-committal answer.

"Do you mind if I continue to eat while I'm sharing my story? I know its not proper, or polite, but..." I said as I slowly went to reach for the plate. Fluttershy responded with a smile, as though she had expected as much, and said it was fine. She pulled the spare chair closer to the bed and sat down. I grabbed the muffin plate, slid the remainder of the cookies off my old plate off onto the edge of my new one, and stacked the plates on my lap. I then began my tale.

"I'm not too sure where to start. Actually, before I start, would you please promise not to tell anypony this stuff unless I say it's OK? Others knowing wouldn't, say, hurt me, but I'm not sure I'm totally comfortable with my history being common knowledge just yet." I said, knowing that she clearly wasn't the type to gossip about such things, but taking a cautionary path none-the-less.

"Oh! Of course! I... I wouldn't ever even consider sharing such personal information without permission." She said, actually sounding kind of hurt.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't accusing you, I was just asking. Where I'm from, privacy seemed to have lost its value, and I wouldn't trust others with personal information. I do trust you though." I said apologetically, hoping she wasn't actually hurt, that would not be a good way to begin the day.

"Oh, ok... Well, I'm sorry too. I certainly can't say I represent a majority of the population, but I like to think that here you can trust nearly anypony to be considerate." She said, back to her usual shy self.

"I'm glad to hear that. So, where should I start? I guess the most important thing is, I'm not native to this world, maybe not even this universe. My home, a planet called earth, was pretty similar to this one biologically, as well as geologically. I wasn't a pony there, I was something totally different looking. It's hard to explain, but my kind, called humans, were much taller then ponies. We didn't have hair on our bodies, only on our heads, sort of like a pony mane. We only stood on our back legs, and instead of hooves, we had highly developed groups of digits called hands, which we could use to manipulate small things." I paused then, trying to comprehend what I was trying to describe.

"I think this takes the cake for weirdest story I've ever told. I never realized what it would be like trying to describe a human to somepony who has never seen one." I said with a laugh. Fluttershy giggled, and I looked over at her with a smile.

"That's OK, I've had to describe all kinds of strange creatures before, I know how you feel." She said warmly. I nodded, and continued.

"Hopefully that's a good enough description, maybe I can draw one later as a better example. We had evolved to the point where we lived in great huge cities, and there were billions and billions of us. Sometimes though, humans didn't get along all that well. Actually, come to think of it, I'm not sure humans were ever nice to each other... Anyway, some of them stole from others, and some of them actually killed for fun." I shuddered at the thought, and looked over at Fluttershy, expecting to see a look of horror on her face. To my surprise though, she just had a look of understanding.

"There are times when I think that maybe the world is becoming a nicer place, but then I read the news, and I see foals bullied in the streets, beaten half to death, and I just wonder if this is really the perfect world Princess Celestia assures us it is..." She said solemnly, trailing off.

"Exactly. Every day, you hear about these terrible things, you can't help but think, at least it happened to somepony else, and my family is still safe. The problem is, we're all somepony else to somepony else, and terrible things can happen to us." I hesitated at this point, feeling the sadness well up inside again. I was determined to finish my story though, and I continued.

"Three nights ago, in the human world, I woke up to sounds in my house. I awoke my parents, and together we tried to go see what was going on. We found out that at least two humans had broken into our house. They had weapons, and it was clear that could kill us at any moment. We knew we had to sneak out of our house. However, on the last step, something went wrong with our plan, and..." I felt tears began to stream down my face again, but this time I didn't turn away, but instead continued my story. "And... My father was killed. He had insisted he go last, because he cared for my mother and I and wanted us to be safe first. But it cost him his life." I was startled to feel a hoof on mine, and I looked over to see Fluttershy, who at this point was also tearing up. I managed a tiny smile before continuing again.

"My mother and I were pretty much safe, we could have made it out of the house with our lives. But my mother couldn't leave her husband to die alone, and she sealed her fate by jumping out of hiding to join him. I remember her screaming, and the worst part was, suddenly the screams stopped, and I knew she had been killed too. My brain sort of snapped then, and I tried to turn and run. But I tripped over something, and by the time I had turned around again, the man was there in the doorway, with his weapon pointed at me. I thought it was the end. I thought I was going to die. But somehow, I got sent here. I had been shot all right, that's where the massive gash in my side came from. But I was alive. A filly named Applebloom found me bleeding to death in the woods, and she helped make sure I got to safety. Since then, I've been here, under yours and this hospital's excellent care." I finished with a small smile at Fluttershy, and she tried to smile back before responding haltingly.

"I... I'm so sorry for you. I... I had no... Idea. I'm so sorry..." She then did something that amazed me, and she hugged me and began sobbing into my shoulder. This had never happened to me before, nor had I ever felt in necessary to do to someone else. Still, I hugged her back, as well as the pain in my side would allow. After a few minutes, she let go of me and sat back down. Trying to appear like the strong one, I smiled at her and asked if she was feeling better. She laughed a little, and smiled at me before nodding.

"You're one to talk." She said defensively, but still smiling. I grinned, wiping the tears out of my eyes.

"So ya, that's my story. Also, I remember my name now. Well, my human name was Joseph, but I didn't think that would fit in this world, so I've decided to call myself Blazing Star, or just Blaze. I'm not sure why, I just felt that it was the right name for some reason. Not really sure..." I trailed off, thinking to myself.

"I... I think it sounds nice... Blaze... Can I call you Blaze? I mean... I don't really know you very well..." She said quietly, looking at me.

"You know me better then anyone else in this world, I think that qualifies. And, I mean... If we're friends... Then it's fine too..." I said, trailing off in embarrassment and looking away. She blushed a little, then looked down at her hooves as she replied.

"Oh... I was hoping we could be friends, so... I guess that works out... Thank you, Blaze." She said, still looking down at her hooves.

"For what? I mean, you're welcome, but..." I was slightly confused, as I wasn't sure I had actually done anything.

"For... For accepting me as a friend. Some ponies don't really like me, or they think I'm weird, because... Because I'm so shy..."

"That's terrible! I can't believe they would do such a thing! Of course I'll be your friend Fluttershy." I said, maybe with a little too much conviction, because I appeared to startle Fluttershy. After she settled back down though, she smiled happily.

"Thank you. Um... Is there anything you would like me to get? I see you must have been pretty hungry, you did eat the entire muffin and all those cookies..." She giggled a little and nodded towards the now empty plate on my lap. I looked down, and was dismayed to discover that the cookies were, indeed, gone.

"I think I'm good on food for now, but do you happen to know how long it'll be before I can get out of this bed? I'm sorta getting tired of sleeping all the time..."

"Oh, um, I could, uh, go find the doctor for you and ask. If you'd like..."

"If it's not too much trouble, that's be great." I replied, looking at her hopefully.

"Of course it's not! I'll be right back." She said, getting up from her chair and trotting happily over to the door. The last I saw of her was her tail disappearing around the door, before I heard the door click closed and the faint sound of her trotting away. Man, I'm lucky that she didn't freak out when I said I wanted to be friends. That could have gone very badly... As I settled down to wait, I day-dreamed about finally being out of bed and of the adventures I would have in this world.

Chapter 3: When Time Flies

I heard a gentle knock on the door, and then the voice of Fluttershy quietly from the other side.

"Um... Blaze? I um... I'm back with the doctor, and I also brought my friend Twilight Sparkle. She's really been hoping to meet you, and now that you're feeling better, she asked if she could come say 'hi.' Should... Should I bring them in?" Fluttershy asked haltingly.

"That'd be fine Fluttershy," I said, shaking off my daydream. I looked up to see the door swing open, and Fluttershy walked in, followed by first a light brown stallion with a darker mane and tail, presumably the doctor Fluttershy was talking about. He was wearing a large white coat that covered most of his body. Behind him slightly was a purple alicorn, not as large as Luna had been, in fact, this mare, whom I presumed was named Twilight Sparkle, was only a little taller than Fluttershy. The three walked over to the side if my bed, and then the doctor spoke.

"So how do you feel? As badly as you were hurt, it's a wonder you're sitting up and not in pain." The doctor said, looking at me with a mix of curiosity and concern.

"Well, unless I really stretch, I actually feel pretty good. A little sore, but like you said, better then I should." I agreed.

"Amazingly, none of your bones were broken, so if you would like to try and get up, the worst that could happen is that it would be painful." The doctor said, smiling.

"Sounds good to me." I said, pushing my blankets off, and turning towards the side of the bed. The three ponies standing next to my bed all backed up to give me some space. I slid carefully off the bed, landing first on my hind legs and then onto my front. I winced in anticipation of the pain I expected to come, but it barely hurt at all. I was a little wobbly from my lack of experience as a pony, and from spending the last three days in bed. I smiled and looked over at the doctor, who was nodding approvingly.

"That truly is impressive. I've never seen such a quick recovery before. So it doesn't hurt too badly? You haven't fallen over, so it must be pretty bearable." He said with a slight chuckle. Fluttershy smiled as well, and I saw Twilight Sparkle had a look of wonder on her face.

"I've felt better, but I've also felt worse. This is kinda painful, but I just suspect that's just from all the unusual movement." I said, carefully stretching different parts of my body to test. The doctor watched me, and he seemed to be judging the way I moved, before he spoke again.

"That may be true, but I think I'd still like to see you taking it easy for one more day. I certainly don't want you to have to come back here because you went gallivanting off too soon and hurt yourself." He said in a kind but firm voice. I nodded at him, and carefully clambered back up onto the bed and under the blankets.

"Thank you. Now, unless there is anything specific you need from me, I should go check on my other patients." The doctor said, looking mainly at me but also glancing at the other two. After we all nodded and I said my thanks he turned and left the room, leaving just the three of us again. After a few awkward seconds of silence, Twilight Sparkle decided to officially introduce herself.

"Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, as I think Fluttershy already told you. Please feel free to call me Twilight though, my full name just feels too formal for friendly, casual social interaction." She said, holding out her hoof. I shook it as I responded.

"Nice to meet you Twilight. My name's Blazing Star, but Blaze is fine. Fluttershy told me that you might be able to help me with magic?" I said, glancing over at Fluttershy, who was just standing off to the side, staring at her hooves. She looked up when I mentioned her though, and smiled. I looked back over at Twilight as she replied.

"Well, I can try. I mean, my talent is magic, but I've never tried teaching someone from scratch before..." She said, sounding doubtful. She was silent for a little while, as if she was deep in thought.

"I am certainly willing to do my best; I just don't know how well it will work. I don't even know what kind of magic to help you learn besides the basics like levitation, since you don't have your cutie mark yet. Forgive me for intruding, but how is it that you've never used magic before, and have made it to your age without getting your cutie mark?" She asked with a looked of curiosity and wonder, but no anger in her voice.

"I'm not sure what a cutie mark is, but..." I glanced quickly towards Fluttershy. "I'm from a very far off land, so I've never really... Learned..." I said, knowing as soon as I said it how bad an excuse it was.

"You don't want anyone to know you came from another world, do you Blaze?" She said, watching me with concern.

"I... How did you know?" I said in shock.

"Well, when you were first brought here, a friend of mine and Fluttershy's said you fell out of a giant hole in the sky. You were unsteady standing up, like a young foal, leading me to believe you haven't used your pony body much. You didn't know you could use magic, and you don't know what a cutie mark is. That and I tend to read too much, so I'm familiar with things like this. However, even I have never heard of something exactly like your experiences happening before. I'm sorry I'm rushing, I do that when I'm in science mode." She said with a laugh. Then she looked back at me, and the look of bewilderment on my face, and her smile shrank. I looked over at Fluttershy again, who mouthed, "It's ok" to me. I looked back at Twilight and decided I could trust her with my secret, considering she had pretty much figured me out anyway.

"You're right, I am from another world. I'd rather not think about it too much, but my world was very different. That's why I'm so out of the loop of things here. Right before I came here, I had just lost my parent and was about to be killed, so I didn't exactly notice how I was sent here. But... Cutie marks?" I quickly changed the subject at the end, trying to keep my emotions in check. This time it was Twilight's turn to look at Fluttershy, who just shrank a little away from us.

"I won't pry into private details that you don't want to share, even though I have so many questions I would love to ask." She smiled a little, but when Fluttershy and I were both quiet, she quickly stopped. I realized I was being unfair to her, because she really was trying her best to help.

"It's fine; I would probably be the same way in your situation. I'm sorry I seem so grumpy; it's been a crazy past few days. I really don't know anything about what happened, so I'm afraid we'll all be stuck with guesses for now." I said, giggling at myself. She smiled again, and even Fluttershy looked a little happier. Twilight was quiet for a moment, and then she began explaining cutie marks to me.

"When a foal is born, they are born without any cutie mark. Cutie marks then appear on their flanks when they discover their special talent, the thing that makes them who they are. The cutie mark they get shows what they're good at. For instance, Fluttershy has butterflies to represent her skills with animals." Twilight pointed at Fluttershy's flank, at the picture I thought was a tattoo before. Fluttershy turned a little so I could see better. Twilight then continued her explanation.

"My cutie mark, on the other hoof, represents my magical talents. That's why I was surprised you didn't have one yet. It's very unusual for a pony your age to not have a cutie mark. It means you still haven't discovered your special talent. Although if you came from another world, I guess it makes sense. Do you remember being particularly good at anything before? Anything at all?" She looked at me with that look of curiosity that she was so very good at.

"Now that you mention it, no, I don't think I was. I mean, I was ok with animals, good with math, pretty good at hoof-to-hoof combat... But nothing serious. So I guess it makes sense. Do I just have to live life normally until I figure it out then?" I asked her, considering the implications of having not special talent.

"That's how most of us do it. I mean, the Cutie Mark Crusaders spent almost every waking hour trying things out, but that's almost normal life for them." I was surprised to hear Fluttershy speak up without sounding as shy, but when I looked over at her she was still standing like she wanted to be tiny and disappear. I chuckled to myself and looked back at Twilight as she spoke again.

"Exactly as Fluttershy said. Hopefully, you get yours without too much trouble, and then you can work on more advanced magic related to your talent. But until then, I'd be happy to try to teach you whatever I can. I'm often busy these days unfortunately, one of the side effects of being a princess it seems..." She said with a longing sigh.

"Wait, you're royalty?!" I said, shocked that she still spent time on someone mundane like me.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I can't still find time for my friends." She said, almost reading my mind. She smiled warmly, and I saw that she really did feel like we were friends.

"Thanks. It's amazing, in my world, people barely cared that I existed. But here, everypony has been so kind... Thank you." I was tearing up again, but this time they were tears of happiness, and I wiped them away.

"Aww, I'm sorry Blaze. As longer as you're in Equestria... You'll always be able to find a friend." Fluttershy spoke up this time, smiling happily at me. Twilight nodded in agreement, before continuing where she left off.

"I have some free time tomorrow afternoon for a few hours, since you'll be able to get out of bed then, would that be a good time?" She asked me.

"You're the one with the busy schedule; I'll be available whenever you need me to be. Tomorrow sounds great. Is there somewhere in particular you planned to meet?" I replied.

"I was thinking outside in the small castle courtyard, that wait there's less stuff to break encase you... Have trouble." She finished her sentence with a laugh, as if it was typical of beginners to break things.

"That sounds fine; although I'm afraid I have no idea where that is." I admitted.

"Fluttershy, do you think you could show Blaze where the courtyard is tomorrow around 2:00? I know you're waiting for that animal food delivery, but since they had the trouble with lightning I think they're a few days behind." Twilight looked over at Fluttershy, who picked up her head quickly when she heard her name.

"Oh, um, sure. I think I'll be free then..." Fluttershy said, sounding again like her normal self. I ignored my curiosity at her short attitude change and focused on Twilight as she started talking again.

"Well, it sounds like that's settled. I'll be looking forward to tomorrow. I hate to have to leave so soon, but I should really get back to my duties. I can't wait to get to know you better, Blaze!" She said as she turned away from the bed and walked over to the door. Fluttershy and I watched her go and then were both quiet for a while before I spoke up again.

"I forgot to ask the doctor's name, do you happen to remember? I just wanted to put in a specific thank-you for all the work he's done to keep me alive." I said, deep in thought.

"I... I think it was Whooves. The mare at the front desk called him Doctor Whooves. She said he's the very best at strange and unusual cases. Apparently, you fall into that category. Not that that's a bad thing, I was just..." She trailed off.

"It's fine Fluttershy. You've got to not feel so bad about everything you say. You have to stand up for what you say, or people won't take you seriously. So... Doctor Whooves. Why does that name sound familiar? Maybe he did tell me his name was I wasn't paying attention..." I felt bad for Fluttershy, but I also wanted her to be more sure of herself, at least around me since I would never take anything personally. Now that's something I'm good at, keeping a level head. Can I get a cutie mark for that? I wondered to myself.

"I'm sorry, I just... I don't want to be rude or anything. Because then maybe ponies won't like me as much." She said quietly.

"You're not rude if you believe in what you're saying. No pony should like you less for it." I said to her.

"Thank you, Blaze." She said, looking up at me with a smile.

"No problem, that's what friends are for." I said reassuringly. She blushed slightly and I smiled. Curiosity then dawned on me, and I decided to ask her about her special talent, which apparently was animals.

"Well... I care for all kinds of different animals at my home in Ponyville. I feed them, care for them when they're sick or hurt, and I help them get along with each other and with the ponies of Ponyville. Any time there's an animal problem, I get to try and fix it. I... I can also communicate with them, or at least understand them. I think it's the best job in the whole world." She said happily, looking out the window at the birds flying by.

"Wow. That's amazing Fluttershy." I said, amazed.

"Thanks." She blushed and looked away, but I saw the smile on her face anyway. I grinned and laughed, then flopped back down onto the bed so I was lying flat out. Fluttershy turned and looked at me.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, looking at me with concern.

"No I'm fine, I'm just bored. Do you happen to know what time it is?" I asked her, wondering how much more time in this bed I would have to endure. She giggled and pointed to the wall behind me, and I face-hoofed when I saw that it actually had a clock, and I had just never looked. After a few seconds of embarrassment, I figured out it was a little past two in the afternoon. That left at least six hours in which I had to find something to pass the time. I let out a long sigh, and then spoke up again.

"Do you have any ideas what I could do for the next few hours? I mean, you're great, but I bet you'll go insane if you're stuck in my company for that long, plus I bet you have to go soon anyway." I said, looking over at her.

"Well, you're right, I do have to go do some errands soon, but I could get you some books or something like that first, if you'd like." Fluttershy suggested.

"If you wouldn't mind, that would he wonderful. Do you think you could manage a book on equestrian history, and..." I thought for a second about my other choice.

"And a random book that you think you would find interesting. As a surprise. I always enjoy learning new things, so it should be interesting." I said, looking over at her. She nodded and turned to leave.

"Hey I just, um, I just wanted to say thank you. I know I've said it before, but... I wanted to say it again..." I looked away awkwardly. Fluttershy blushed and whispered 'You're welcome' before carefully walking out of the room. A huge smile spread across my face, and as I settled down to wait, I noticed a warm feeling in my heart that I don't remember having felt for a long time.

Chapter 4: Bookville

"A brief guide to Equestrian History." I read aloud, looking at the first of the two books Fluttershy had brought. Clearly, someone has a different definition of 'brief' then me. I thought to myself, noticing the book was almost two inches thick. I pushed it off to the side and looked at the second book, the one inspired by Fluttershy's interests.

"Notable Pets Throughout Time." I read. I stared at the cover for a few seconds, before shrugging and opening it up. The table of contents listed a number of different regions and times, from as long as 3000 years ago. I opened up to the first pet and began reading. Firethorn, a dragon who was born in the year 1382, lived for almost 300 years. He was owned by a family of earth pony miners, and saved them from cave collapse multiple times. It is said he could produce a flame so hot, it melted stone. No one knows exactly when he died, as he disappeared when he was 297 and was never seen again. I read onwards, learning about his famous abilities and skills at moving rock.

Much to my surprise, the book was actually quite interesting, and before long, the sun began to set. I switched on the lamp on the bedside table and began reading about Glythious the fierce. More of a family member then a pet, he held off a changeling invasion for an entire day while the ponies of his town escaped. In the end, it cost his life, but he helped save over 500 ponies, and has been memorialized in a statue carved in his honor, which now resides in the Canterlot palace. I read several more pages, then I decided to switch to the book about history, which was no doubt less interesting, but likely far more useful.

It was long past sunset, and in all reality nearing midnight when I slid into slumber. I had gotten through the first age, the medieval time of ponies. I had just started the next section on the rule of somepony named Discord when I fell asleep. The book slid slowly out of my hooves and over onto the side of the bed. Sometime later, I awoke with just enough brainpower to remember to turn the lamp off, and then I slipped off again, into the world of my dreams.

After many hours of skipping in and out of various dreams, none of which were terribly interesting, I finally awoke. I yawned, stretching and sitting up. After a few seconds sitting in the bed, I glanced out the window. My heart sank when I saw that it was no longer nice out. It was dark and dreary, and raining heavily. I yawned again, and then remembered that today I was allowed to get out of my bed, and that later I would be meeting Twilight to began my training with magic.

I sat in the bed for a few more minutes, before I stretched again and decided I was getting up. I pushed the covers off, and clambered over to the edge of the bed. I gripped the edge of the bed and slid down onto the floor, smiling at the feeling of standing on my hooves again. I took a cautious step, and then another. Soon I was walking around the room, although it wasn't much of a place to walk. After a few laps around the room, I still felt fine, and I decided that I would be ready when Fluttershy came. After a few seconds of thinking, I remembered that she had failed to tell me when she would actually come get me, although I hoped it would be soon. My physical exploration of the room had made me realize the fact that in terms of entertainment, it wasn't much better than the bed, as it too was fairly boring. As I wandered back over to the bed, I glanced back to my side, to where the gunshot wound was. It was still wrapped over, which I decided was most likely to stop infection. I jumped when I heard a knock on the door, but with a smile, I walked over and opened it.

"Hello Flutter- Oh. Or not. Hello Doctor." I said, seeing that it was not, in fact, my brightly colored friend, but instead a stallion of a much more reserved complexion. He looked me over and grimaced before responding.

"I do wish you could have waited for me before deciding to go running about your room." He said sternly.

"I'm sorry; I was bored out of my mind. Also, you said I was allowed to walk around 'Tomorrow', and it is now that." I retorted. He let out a long sigh, and then shook his head, as if in despair.

"I guess that is technically true, but you know what I mean. It is my job to make sure you are healed when you leave, not that you had a fun time. Now, since you have clearly already gone and tested your body out, how much does it hurt? I have a guess already, but it's always good to ask." He said, looking me over again.

"I feel great! No pain at all. A little stiff, but that's fast wearing off." I smiled; glad he wasn't going to continue to complain about my exercise. He nodded thoughtfully before replying.

"Ok then. If you are not in any pain, then there is not much else to be done. Although I do need to change those wraps." He said, pointing at my side. I nodded and backed out of the way, letting him in.

"I was hoping to be able to leave later today, although I'm not sure exactly when. Is that ok?" I asked as he rummaged about in the bag he was carrying. He nodded as he grabbed the things he needed and looked up again. Within a few seconds, he had the old wraps off, and I heard a gasp. I looked back and saw what had so thoroughly shocked him. The gash, which I remember being almost two inches wide and deeper than I could easily discern, was closed to the point of being only about half an inch wide, and much shallower. He shook his head in amazement as he began to re-wrap the wound, which despite being much better, would be a major health hazard if left uncovered. I stood patiently for a few minutes while he finished up, until finally he was done.

"Well, now that that's all done, you're set to leave. Feel free to check out whenever you are ready. I've done all I can, now you just need to stay out of trouble and you'll be fine." He said as he packed his things back away into the bag.

"Thank you so much, Doctor; I never would have made it without you." I said, smiling. He nodded and said 'You're welcome' before walking out of the room again. With the click of the door closing, my room was once again plunged into silence. I spent a few seconds standing there, wondering how I could have healed so fast, but my attention soon wandered off. I walked back over to the bed and climbed up, wondering why they built the beds so high off the ground. I settled myself back into the center of the bed and grabbed the history boom from its resting place on my bed. I flipped it open to where I was, and then after I finished that page, I turned it away to reveal a horrible scene. The next page, along with what looked to be the dozen after it, were all torn out and missing. Wondering who would do such a thing, and more importantly, what they were trying to hide, I checked to see what the next available page was about. It was the next section of the boom, about the history of various villages and settlements of the early Midwest. Annoyed that I wouldn't get to learn more about this 'Discord' character, I began to read again. I had barely gotten down the page, however, before there was another knock on my door, as though fate was determined that I don't get to read more.

"Come on in." I said, still reading. I heard the door creak open, and I looked up to see the familiar smile of Fluttershy. I smiled and closed the book, giving it up as a lost cause.

"Thanks for the books, Fluttershy, they've been a huge help. Especially the one about pets, that was really cool. Although this book has a big chunk of pages missing from the section about 'The age of Discord', which made reading it difficult." Her smile grew when I mentioned her book, but she looked worried when I told her about the missing pages.

"I'll make sure to let the library know it's damaged." She said, avoiding the question that she no doubt knew I was asking about the cause for their disappearance.

"Ok, thanks. So anyway, are you here to come get me out of this place?" I said jokingly, and she smiled again.

"Um, well, yes, if you're ready." She said happily.

"Never been readier." I responded, climbing back off the bed again. I glanced around the room to see if there was anything I should bring with me. I didn't own anything at that point, and I had no food to keep with me. I grabbed the books off the bed and turned back to Fluttershy. She nodded and turned towards the door, leading me away from the prison from entertainment that was the bed. Out in the hall wasn't any better, the walls were plain, with nothing the various doors on the walls to detract from the monotony. We walked to the end of the hall, then turned and traveled down three flights of stairs. My amazement at the view from my bed suddenly gained more meaning when I realized how high up we were. At the bottom, as we approached the main desk, Fluttershy slowed so she was walking next to me.

"Are... Are you still feeling all right? I'm sorry there were so many stairs." She said in an apologetic tone. I nodded and responded cheerfully.

"No need to apologize about the stairs, you didn't do anything wrong. Nothing hurts, I'm just a little tired, I haven't really done a whole lot of walking on these legs." I said with a laugh. She smiled and slowed up as we reached the front desk.

"Hi, I'm just here to check out, I was in room..." I trailed off, looking over at Fluttershy when I realized that I never checked the room number. She giggled and finished my sentence.

"He was in room 317. I believe Doctor Whooves was taking care of him." She said. The mare behind the desk looked down at the list she had, and after a few seconds we heard an 'Ah hah!' as she found me on the list.

"Here you are. Now that you're conscious, can I please have your name for the records, Sir?" She said, looking up at me again.

"Blazing Star." I said, looking around the room.

"Ok, thank you. Have a nice day!" She said cheerfully.

"You too." I responded, heading towards the door. The rain had slowed down by this point, but I saw that we were still going to get soggy pretty quickly. I looked over at Fluttershy, who was walking up beside me.

"Is something wrong Blaze?" She asked, looking at me with worry.

"No, but I think we should probably drop these books off wherever you got them first, because unlike us, I don't think they can handle the rain for long." I said, looking down at the books I was holding.

"We'll first stop by the library then, it's only a few blocks off." Fluttershy said, taking the lead again. She pushed open the door and we headed out into the rain, sticking close to the cover of buildings when we could. After a few minutes plodding along in silence, I spoke up.

"So did you happen to check what it time it was when we left? I kinda forgot again..." I said in embarrassment. I heard Fluttershy giggle again.

"It's about half past eleven. That means we have around two and a half hours until you need to be at the royal courtyard up there." She said, nodding her head up towards the massive castle that loomed in front of us.

"The courtyard isn't on the ground floor?" I asked in amazement.

"Half of Canterlot, particularly the castle part, isn't actually on the ground. It's bound to the mountain with amazing building skills and a fair amount of magic. As such, much of the city is designed without really much thought to 'ground level'. They just put things where they would look good and work well. That's the marker where it stops being on solid ground." She said, pointing towards a line of black stone built into the roads several blocks off. I shook my head in amazement, wondering why humans with all of their technology couldn't manage this kind of city. After another minute or so of walking Fluttershy turned and entered a building, which I decided with its particularly ornate architecture and large size must be the library. I gasped when I saw the inside. There were more books then I could imagine, with bookcases everywhere. I did a quick count, and found that on the bottom floor where we were, there were six rows, each going 20 cases back. Then there was another four levels above us that I guessed would have almost as many books.

"Blaze? Are you all right?" I heard Fluttershy say quietly. I nodded slowly, but I was still doing the math. About 60 books per shelf, times six shelves per case, time 20 cases per row, times six rows per floor, times five floors... I got lost a little in the middle, but after a few more seconds, I got my answer.

"Nearly 220,000..." I said, trailing off.

"I'm sorry? Nearly 220,000 what?" Fluttershy said in confusion.

"Books. In this library. Sorry, I've just never seen so many before." I said, looking away from the rows of tightly bound paper. I smiled, and Fluttershy smiled back, although I could tell she was trying not to giggle at me. I blushed and spoke again.

"Forgive me for being sheltered; I'll do my best not to show my lack of familiarity with city scenes from now on." I said, pretending to sound insulted, but with a huge smile on my face.

"Oh I'm sorry; I didn't mean to insult you, I... I was just remembering when I first saw this place. I reacted the same way. We don't have anything nearly this large in Ponyville." She said quietly.

"I'm not insulted Fluttershy. Oh right, I had forgotten you said you lived in Ponyville. I was kind of wondering how an animal expert would be able to work in a city like this." I said, now laughing at myself. She nodded, agreeing that it would be difficult. I walked up to the desk with the books, but as best I could tell behind the piles of books on the desk, nopony was there.

"Um, hello?" I said, thinking maybe I just couldn't see them. Sure enough, a few seconds later a head popped around one of the stacks, then disappeared again. We heard hoof-falls and then the book-pony appeared with a panicked look on his face. I tried to ask what I should do with the books, but before I finished he grabbed them and disappeared behind a stack again.

"Um, are you ok? Is there something we can help with?" Fluttershy asked, peeking around one side of the pile.

"No... Well... It's been a slow day, so I was slacking off about getting books organized and put away. Then one after another, a dozen ponies came in with a stack of books, and then Princess Twilight came in with her pile... And my bosses are gonna be here soon to see if I have been keeping up with the workload, and..." The three of us heard the door open, and I turned around to see two official looking unicorns walk in, who were no doubt the 'Bosses' in question. I heard him gasp and he started working like crazy again. The two unicorns walked over, both with looks of anger and disappointment on their faces. I walked back over to Fluttershy's side as they reached the desk.

"What is this mess?! Have you been working at all today?!" The taller of the two said.

"Y-y-yes sir, it's just-" He started to stammer out.

"Just what?!" The shorter of the two demanded.

"Princess Twilight and some others came in a little while ago and dropped off a huge amount of books all at once, and I've been working since then, there's just so many..." He was visibly shaking now, and I felt sorry for him. Before they could reprimand him again, I spoke up.

"It's true. My friend and I came in a little more than an hour ago and saw the pile then. He's done an amazing job. We were just offering our help, but he said this is his job and that he should be able to do it all." I said to the two with my best attempt at a straight face, and the looks on their faces softened.

"Well I guess it's not fair to fire you over that. But we still want to see these cleaned up, and quickly." The taller one said, turning away. His partner quickly followed, and soon they were out the door. Fluttershy and I heard a huge sigh, quickly followed by a thud, and we looked around the corner to see him flat out on the floor. He lay there for a few seconds, then suddenly shot up and ran over to me. I didn't even have time to brace before he hugged me, crushing the wind out of me.

"Thank you so much! You saved my job! You are a very convincing liar by the way. Please, is there anything I can do to repay to?" He said in a blur of words.

"First, you're crushing me, and I don't want to go back to the hospital just yet. Second, I was just helping out someone in need, so don't worry about it." I said, wincing at the pain in my side after he let go.

"Hehe, sorry. Well, my name's Quilted Page, and seriously, if there's anything you need book related, just ask and I will be happy to help." He said, going back to one of the piles, working again.

"Will do. Oh, and my name is Blazing Star, and this is Fluttershy. So, do you want some help? We've got a little while." I responded, impressed at his sudden motivation.

"No thank you. You were right, this is my job and I should be able to do it." He said, picking up a stack.

"Well, if you're sure. See you later, maybe!" I said as he disappeared into one of the rows with the pile.

"Maybe!" We heard him say loudly, followed by a number of 'Shhh' emanating from various sources. I chuckled to myself, then looked back over at Fluttershy, who had stayed fairly quite the whole time. She smiled at me, and I laughed again.

"Anyway, where to next? I don't know what's in this city, so I don't know." I said.

"Well, if you're hungry, we could go get lunch." She said, looking at me.

"Oooh, like a date?" I said jokingly, with a big grin on my face. Fluttershy then turned the deepest shade of red I had seen in a long time, and began to stammer out a response.

"I was joking about the date, of course. But I don't exactly have any money, so I'm not sure how I'd pay for mine." I said, as if nothing had happened. Fluttershy began to return to a normal color, and she finally managed to respond.

"Well... I- I could pay for yours. I mean, if that's ok..." She looked down at her hooves, and I felt sorry for picking on her.

"Hey, I'm sorry I said that Fluttershy. It was out of line. I'm just in a really cheerful mood, I couldn't resist." I said, nudging her gently.

"No, it's fine. I... I've just never been on a date before, so I wasn't really sure how to react." She said slowly.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I've never been on a date either." I said to Fluttershy, blushing a little. She looked up at me, and I saw a small smile on her face.

"Really? I thought I was the only pony in the world who hadn't at my age..." She said, sounding less sad now. I put hooves around her and hugged her, and to my surprise, she actually hugged me back. After a few seconds, I let go and looked at her again.

"Nope! But let's stop worrying about that for now. Lunch?" I said, smiling warmly.

"Lunch." She replied, smiling back.

"Then lead on, because I have no clue where the good food is in this city." I said, and she began to walk towards the door. I followed her, knowing now what the warmth I felt before was. The feeling of having a close friend.

Chapter 5: What Goes Up, Must Come Down

It was about 1:30, and Fluttershy and I were on our way to the castle courtyard where I was supposed to meet Twilight. Fluttershy and I had just finished an excellent lunch at a small corner café, although we did have to eat inside as the rain had picked up.

"I think I may have forgotten to say it earlier, but thank you for lunch, Fluttershy. I'll be sure to pay you back once I find a way to earn some money in this world..." I said with a smile as we worked our way from the overhang of one building to the next.

"Oh, you're welcome. Don't worry about it, it's not like you were taking advantage, and I couldn't have you starve." She replied as we got back under cover. There weren't many other ponies out in this rain; many of them wisely choose to stay indoors. In fact, as I looked around, I noticed we were the only ponies in the area. Looking forward again at the castle, which was now looming in front of us, I wondered what Twilight had planned to try and teach me. From what I'd seen, nearly every unicorn was able to levitate things, regardless of their cutie mark, so I assumed that would be one of the things she would try. I must have been distracted for longer than I thought, because suddenly I ran into Fluttershy from behind, and I realized she had stopped outside the gate to the castle courtyard. I muttered 'Sorry' and looked around her, where I saw a pair of guards.

"Oh, hello Fluttershy, what brings you to the castle today?" The guard on the right said.

"Princess Twilight requested that Blazing Star here meet her in the courtyard at 2:00 for magic training. May we be allowed entry?" She said. I looked at the gate I front of us. It was definitely solid; it would be hard to break through. I wondered if two guards would really be enough, but I wasn't about to tell them that.

"Of course. Here you go Fluttershy, and Blazing Star." He said, opening the gate and letting us through. The courtyard was large, yet not unnecessarily so. Off to the side under cover, there were a pair of guards sparring with their spears, but other than that, it was pretty quiet. Also sitting under the under-hang was Twilight, who had a look of worry on her face. We had begun to walk over to her when she looked up and saw us. Her expression became more cheerful, and she stood. We finally made it over, and out of the rain.

"Thank you Fluttershy. Blaze and I shouldn't be too long, a few hours maybe. Do you know if the delivery you were waiting for has come in yet?" Twilight said, looking at Fluttershy.

"It has, I was planning on picking it up then coming back here when I was done, that way I might catch a bit near the end." She responded.

"That sounds good with me. Any objections Blaze?" Twilight asked me.

"Sounds fine, although I don't know how interesting this will be later." I said, looking over at Fluttershy. She smiled and then turned back towards the gate, back out into the rain. We watched her go, before Twilight looked back at me and spoke.

"So Blaze, do you have any questions before we start?" She asked cheerfully.

"Well... How hard do you think this will be?" I said apprehensively. She got a thoughtful look on her face, then she responded.

"I guess it depends on how much of an inclination for magic you have. I mean, some ponies find it easier than others." She said. I nodded slowly, considering what she had said. After a few seconds, she began her lesson.

"Now, when it comes to magic, to most important thing is focus. If you find you're having a hard time with something, don't let your nerves get to you, because that will just make it harder. Find somewhere nice and quiet, free from other distractions." She looked at me intently, and I nodded.

"Next, when you're doing spells, simple ones at least, all that's involved is imagining what you want to happen. Imagine power flowing from you, through your horn, to do whatever task it is you want. Eventually, you won't think of it quite so literally, but for now that'll do." She said, glancing out into the courtyard with worry. I thought about what she said for a few moments before speaking.

"So, if I wanted to levitate, say, that rock, I would imagine it floating and channel my power into that thought?" I nodded over at a small rock that was sitting next to us. She smiled and nodded, backing up to give me space. I looked at the rock, then back at her. She nodded encouragingly, and I again switched my attention to the rock. I closed my eyes, holding the image of the rock in my mind. For an agonizing few seconds, I couldn't ignore the sounds of the rain splattering on the ground next to me, but I soon blocked that out.

Next, I imagined the rock slowly rising into the air. As I did, I began to do my best to channel energy into that idea. I focused intently, to the complete ignorance of everything else, even breathing. After a few more terrifying seconds, I heard Twilight speak again.

"Yes, that's it! You're getting it!" She said happily. I peeked one eye open, and saw that it was indeed rising wobbly off the ground, surrounded by an orange field of magic. The excitement from my success broke my concentration though, and suddenly the rock shot straight up and bounced off the ceiling, cracking in half and falling to the ground. I grinned sheepishly as Twilight smiled and shook her head, grabbed another rock from the courtyard and brought it over, setting it in from of me.

"That was pretty good for a first time. This time though, don't let your excitement break your focus." She said, nodding to tell me to do it again. I closed my eyes and brought the image of the rock again into my mind. Remembering the feeling from last time, I tried to move the rock upwards.

"Yes, but keep focusing. See if you can make it less shaky. And you might as well open your eyes, you're to need them open eventually if you want to see what you're doing." She said, giggling. I slowly opened my eyes, keeping the image of the rock in my mind, but holding it still. Once I was ready again, I began to move the rock up further. I did as Twilight asked, and slowly made it shake less. Soon however, I was again at the ceiling.

"Erm, now what?" I asked, looking quickly over at her before looking back to make sure the rock was still in place.

"Now, move it down. And sideways. And wherever else you like. Just not at me!" She said with a laugh as we both remembered my first attempt. I smiled and began lowering the rock. Next, I began moving it side to side. Soon after, circles. I decided to see how far out I could make it go, so I turned to the courtyard and sent it out. After a few seconds though, I found that I had lost it in the rain.

"Erm... I think I'm going to need a new rock." I said in embarrassment, looking around on the ground for another. I saw Twilight's horn light up, but didn't think much of it until she yelled out.

"Here, catch!" She said, sending a small rock sailing quickly at me. Thinking fast, I let my human instincts take over, and my head snapped around. I saw the rock was aimed towards my shoulder, and I reached my hoof out. My reactions were rewarded with a soft thump, and I grinned when I felt the rock in my grasp. I looked over at Twilight, who had a look of mild frustration. She blinked a few times in shock, before sighing and shaking her head slowly.

"Well, that was impressive, but I was hoping you would catch it with magic." She said, looking at the rock in my hoof. My smile faded, and I apologized.

"Sorry, I haven't had a lot of experience with magic; my human instincts still seem to take priority." I said. She smiled warmly, and I could tell she wasn't really annoyed.

"Here, I'll show you what you can do with levitation magic if you work hard enough. Or, I'll try at least." She walked out into the courtyard, until she was in the middle, getting soaked by the pouring rain. I watched intently and she stood, eyes closed, deep in concentration. For almost a minute, nothing happened. Then, I saw her horn begin to glow again, until it was enveloped by a layer of magic. The rain in the courtyard seemed to slow in its descent, but I just pushed that off as part of my imagination. Suddenly, another layer of magic formed on her horn, and I realized that it wasn't my imagination, the rain was actually slowing. A grimace formed on her face, and another magic layer formed, this time accompanied by small glowing sparks. The rain around her slowed to a crawl. Then it stopped, and after a few seconds, actually began to move back up. I watched in utter awe as she forced an ever-growing sphere of rain away, forming a shield of water around us and much of the courtyard. Underneath it was dry; there was no rain left that reached the ground. Suddenly, Twilight quivered, and the outer layer of magic on her horn faltered and broke away, the pieces fading from existence. I saw cracks from in the water shield above us, and just barely heard Twilight yell 'Watch out!' before it broke, sending a huge amount of water crashing to the ground. Just before she was hit, Twilight ducked to the ground to lessen the impact. I, however, was not so wise, and was hit by all the water that had splashed back up from the ground after it hit. In a feeling that was akin to having several buckets of water thrown at me at once, I was knocked over, landing in the pond that had formed from Twilight's spell. I got up in time to see Twilight rise shakily to her hooves, and walk back over to the overhang with me. She smiled, the exhaustion clearly evident on her face. I smiled back, looking around at all the water before responding.

"That was incredible! I never even imagined that would be possible! But... what do we do with all this water?" I asked, looking at the ever-persistent pond.

"That's a good question. Erm... Would you please go warn the guards at the gate? I think I'll just send it out that way." I nodded, and splashed over to the stairs. I clambered up, and found myself at the gate again. The guards jumped in surprise, but quickly regained their composure.

"I'm here to warn you that there's about to be a lot of water coming through, we seem to have run out of space in the courtyard." The guards looked at each other in confusion, until they saw the water that was pouring up the stairs and over to the gate. They scooted out of the way of the gate, and I turned just in time to be hit in the face with a hundred gallons of water for the second time today.

We had finally gotten all the water out, and the rain had actually started to let up when Fluttershy came back. Twilight had been helping me practice my precision by having me hit targets that were further and further away, and I was taking a break. Fluttershy walked up wearing a pair of saddlebags, each of which appeared to have a package in them. I jumped up in excitement when I saw her, and immediately started talking about our 'adventures' with the water, with particular emphasis on Twilight's spell.

"And look what I can do now!" I said, looking around for something to use my magic on. I spotted hoof sized stone next to one of the support columns, and decided it would work. I closed my eyes for a moment, focusing on the stone. I opened my eyes again and brought the stone over, until it was floating in-between Fluttershy and I. I then sent it around in a circle in the air, then I put it down again. I heard a giggle from behind me, and looked over to see Twilight holding a hoof over her mouth, trying to keep from bursting out laughing.

"What's so funny!?" I demanded, wondering why she was laughing at me.

"You're like a little colt, since you're new to magic, and the way you're so excited is funny." She said, grinning and shaking her head again. I glowered at her a little before Fluttershy interrupted.

"I think it's very nice Blaze. That seems like a huge improvement from not even knowing you had a horn a few days ago! I'm proud of you." She said, defending me. I blushed a little and said 'Thanks' quietly before another giggle sounded from Twilight and she spoke up.

"You two are adorable. But Fluttershy is right; you have made huge improvements Blaze. We'll have to get together for more magic training sometime." This time it was Fluttershy's turn to blush. I smiled and nodded in agreement, silently wondering if all of her magic involved as much cleanup after. Suddenly a thought dawned on me, and I wanted to face-hoof.

"Uhm, I never actually thought about this before, but... Where am I staying tonight? I uh... I can't exactly afford a hotel yet." I said, looking from Twilight to Fluttershy and back again. The two mares looked at each other, and I got the feeling they hadn't thought about it either. A few seconds full of blank stares later, Fluttershy spoke quietly.

"Well, the room that Princess Celestia provided for me is pretty large. You could uh..." She blushed deeply. "You could stay with me... I mean, unless Twilight has a better idea..." She looked away; clearly embarrassed at the idea but feeling she had to offer anyway. I looked over at Twilight, who nodded and responded.

"I'm afraid there are no more spare rooms in the castle right now, so that seems like it would be the best option. Are you sure though, Fluttershy? I mean, all things considered, you don't actually know him that well. He seems pretty trustworthy, but you never know... No offense intended, of course." She finished off looking at me, and I just shrugged it off. Fluttershy looked up in determination, and she responded confidently.

"I trust Blaze, far more than I trusted Discord at least, and I let him stay with me. That turned out well in the end, so how badly can this go?" She said with a small laugh.

"No exactly the best example, but if you're sure, it's your choice I guess. But remember Blaze, I'm watching you..." Twilight picked up one of the buckets of water that was still sitting around, and glared threateningly. After a few seconds, she began laughing, and soon all three of us were giggling, remembering how many times I had gotten soaked during my training. I held out my hoof, pretending to hold her away.

"I'll be good, you can be sure out that. There's no way I would do anything to Fluttershy considering how nice she's been to me these past few days." I said solemnly. Twilight nodded, and I turned back to Fluttershy.

"Now where to? I assume you're going home tomorrow, now that you've gotten what you need. It's about 4:30, so I doubt you'd be leaving tonight, but I don't know." I said, looking at her expectantly.

"First, I was thinking of dropping some things off at my room, but after maybe we could take a walk around Canterlot? I didn't get to show you much when it was raining, but it should be more fun now." She said, looking at me brightly.

"Sounds like a good time! Thank you so much for your help Twilight, I would never have figured all that out and seen some awesome magic without your help." I said gratefully, turning to look at Twilight.

"You are welcome. I hope we meet again sometime soon. And don't forget to keep practicing. Now if you'll both excuse me, I should be returning to my royal duties." She sighed and took off into the sky. I watched her go, wondering what it would be like to have wings. I shook off my curiosity and motioned for Fluttershy to lead the way, and soon we were off, in search of Fluttershy's room. The castle was huge; we had to go through several doors and up several more flights of stairs before we arrived. She grabbed a key from one of her bags, and unlocked the door. She paused before she opened it, turning to me.

"I'm sorry for the mess, I... I haven't been tidying up as much as I should." She said as she opened the door. She walked in, and I followed her through. Pausing once I was in, I looked around. I did a double-take a what I saw, for Fluttershy's idea of 'A mess' apparently meant some clothing on the floor on one side, a few boxes on the other, and an un-made bed.

"I... I know, it's pretty bad. I'm sorry." She said, hanging her head in shame. I smiled, and laughed.

"Seriously, this doesn't even begin to describe bad. My mother would have..." I trailed off, my smile fading as I remembered what had happened. Shaking it off in an attempt not to start crying again, I finished my sentence.

"She would have been ecstatic if I had ever kept my room this clean." I looked down at the ground, unsure of what to do next. To my surprise, I felt Fluttershy nuzzle me, and I looked over to see her standing next to me, a caring look on her face.

"I'm really sorry. If it helps, I bet she would be happy to know that you're still thinking of her, and that you still care." She smiled a little, and made it very difficult to be sad. I smiled back, admiring her ability to spread happiness.

"Thanks, I'm sure she would." I said. I looked around the room again, and I noticed that other then the bathroom, this was the only room, and it was devoid of furniture other then the bed and a small dresser. Realizing what that would mean, I blushed a tiny bit, much to Fluttershy's confusion.

"Is... Is there something wrong Blaze?" She asked curiously.

"No, nothing really. Erm... Where am I sleeping? Usual I'm fine on a couch or something to that degree, but there doesn't appear to be any other furniture." I said, still blushing.

"Well, I... I had assumed we would share the bed, but if you want, I can certainly sleep on the floor for tonight." She said, looking over at the bed, then back to me.

"No, I couldn't have you offer your room for me to stay in, then make you sleep on the floor. And I probably shouldn't sleep on the floor either, considering my side hasn't fully healed yet. So... I guess sharing the bed will be fine. But let's worry about that later. If you're done here, we should head back out before it gets dark." I said, swallowing my embarrassment. She nodded and grabbed a small bag, very similar in design to a purse, which she put on over her head so that it hung down her right side over her shoulder. She nodded, and I walked over to the door. I held it open for her, and with a laugh she walked through. Before I got to ask about the door lock, she had already started answering.

"Don't worry about locking the door; it automatically locks whenever you close it." She said, and I closed my mouth. After shutting the door carefully behind us, I followed Fluttershy back out of the castle. The sun was getting lower in the sky, and was two or three hours from setting. I looked down just in time to avoid running into Fluttershy again, and had to make a mental note that when going on a walk for fun, I needed to walk slower or I would run into things. As we go further into the city itself, I saw how it looked far more beautiful when it was not raining.

"Ah yes, we made it. Usual I'm alone, and I can just fly up to this point. This is where I like to sit and watch Celestia's sunsets. And I think we're just in time!" Fluttershy had shown me all around the city, from her favorite places for tea to the parks she likes to sit and read in. We had stopped back by the library, and to our mutual amazement, Quilted Page had actually cleaned up the entire pile. Now, Fluttershy and I were on our last stop, which she said was her favorite place in the city. It was a quiet balcony high above much of the city, on one of the high-rise buildings. The sun was quite close to setting now, and the sky had just started to turn from blue to orange. Wordlessly, we both sat down on a bench to watch the sunset. Fluttershy had picked a good place, the view was breathtaking. A pony could see the land far below stretch on for miles and miles, until it reached the horizon, where the sun now gracefully lay, setting. Not a word passed between us the whole time, for neither of us wanted to break the perfection. The sky was burnt the color of autumn leaves, with streaks of blue dashing in at the edges. Further behind, the darkness of night had started to creep in, like a wave of shadows that was spreading over the world. It felt like the world was on fire, and slowly the fire was burning itself out. We sat for almost half an hour before the sky was dark, and the stars had begun to shine. Only then did I speak.

"That was incredible, Fluttershy. Thank you for sharing this place with me; I can't imagine a better way to end the day." I said, looking over at her. She looked back with a smile, then responded as she stood up.

"Everything is more fun with a friend, and I felt like you were the kind of pony who would appreciate a good sunset. Some of the colors even matched your coat!" She said with a giggle. I looked at the hair covering my body, which was actually very close to the colors in the sunset. I smiled as I got up from the bench as well. We worked our way back down to the street, where Fluttershy stopped and turned to face me.

"Now, are you hungry? It's been quite a while since we last ate, and you were working pretty hard earlier." She said confidently.

"Uhm, I guess so? Ya I guess I am pretty hungry." I responded slowly.

"Then it's settled. We'll go grab dinner somewhere before we head back to the castle for the night." She said.

"Are you sure? I mean, it's very kind of you to offer, but you really don't have to keep paying for my food. I'm sure I'll be fine until tomorrow." I replied, trying in vain to change her mind. It was weird hearing her talk with such confidence.

"Quite sure. You don't eat very much, and I was planning on going out to get food anyway, so it coincides nicely." She then seemed to notice the look of shock and confusion on my face, because she shrank down a little and returned to her normal way of talking.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just trying to sound more confident, like you and my friend Rarity have been telling me to." She said quietly.

"No, it's cool; I was just a little bit surprised. I guess if you're so sure, I might as well stop arguing. Where did you want to go?" I asked, looking around for nearby restaurants.

"Um, ok. In that case, follow me." She said. We walked for a few blocks before she turned abruptly left in through the door of a little restaurant that reminded me of an Italian restaurant. As soon as we got in, and I smelled that place, I realized it was an Italian Restaurant, or at least the Equestrian equivalent.

"This place is one of my favorites. They have something called pizza here, and it's delicious. Did the human world have pizza?" She asked excitedly. A huge smile crept onto my face. This world may be a little strange, but it has pizza. I thought as I nodded, mouth hanging open.

"Well that's good; I can imagine somepony who has never eaten it before might find it a little odd." She said, walking over to the counter. We were only waiting for a few moments before a stallion appeared from the kitchen.

"Hello, may I take your order?" He said with a smile.

"I'll have a slice of cheese pizza with... Olives and Onions please." Fluttershy said happily.

"Nice alliteration." I said with a laugh. She looked at me in confusion, and I just shook my head with a smile.

"And you sir?" The stallion said, looking up from his note tab.

"Uh just a slice of cheese pizza, please." I said, still smiling.

"Sounds good, feel free to grab a table." He said as he disappeared back into the kitchen. Fluttershy walked over to a small nearby two-pony table and sat down. I sat down across from her to wait, but was soon bored. By the time he brought out our pizza about ten minutes later, I had already counted all the ceiling tiles and started on the walls. The pizza looked good, and tasted even better. It was gone in far too short a time, but it always is. When we were done, we got up and walked back over to the counter. Like clockwork, the stallion appeared again.

"How much will it be?" Fluttershy asked.

"Seven bits." He said. She handed him seven copper colored coins, which I cleverly deduced must be worth one bit each.

"Thank you kindly. Have a nice day!" He said as he put the coins away.

"You too!" I said as we headed out the building. Once we were out, I looked down both streets, trying to remember the way. I face-hoofed, however, when I relined that I could see the castle, and it should be pretty easy to figure out the way back. Taking the lead, I began walking back. We weren't far off, only a few blocks, and were just passing through a street that was filled with many different music-related shops. Suddenly, we heard a door open quickly and then slam closed, and looked across the street to see a light gray earth-pony mare with darker gray mane and tail storm off, back the way we had come from. Fluttershy and I looked at each other in confusion, then slowly resumed walking. Not long after, we heard the door open again, and looked back to see a white mare with a multi-shade blue mane and purple glasses run out. She appeared to scan the area in disappointment, when she saw us. She quickly ran over, and began talking rapidly.

"Hey, did you guys happen to see a gray mare wearing a pink bow-tie leave the building I just came from? She asked.

"Uh, ya. She went that way." I said slowly, pointing down the street.

"So she's probably going back to her apartment... Thanks!" She said before galloping off.

"Uhm... You're welcome? I think?" I said, seriously confused. I heard Fluttershy giggle and looked over at her, confusion persisting.

"They probably just got into a fight or something like that." She said, shaking her head in amusement.

"Ya... Probably..." I said slowly. I knew I recognized the white mare from somewhere, but I couldn't place it. Slowly, I began walking again, still deep in though. A few minutes later a realized my hooves had indeed led us back to the castle. We had finally worked our way back up to Fluttershy's room, and she was about to unlock the door when a pair of guards turned the corner at the end of the hall, deep in conversation.

"Ya, I heard she's playing at the place down the street, near the record store tonight. Wanna go after our shift's up?" The first one said, oblivious of Fluttershy and I, who had stopped and were watching him. Suddenly, something clicked in my mind. I began mentally re-tracing our path. Just before the incident with the dance club, I remembered looking over at a record store as we walked past. And on the wall, there was a poster...

"I GOT IT!" I yelled, making the two guards jump and scaring Fluttershy nearly to death.

"Uhm... You got what, exactly, sir?" The second guard asked.

"You guys are talking about DJPon3, right?" I asked quickly.

"Uh... Ya, we are. Why?" The first guard asked, a look of curiosity on his face. I spun around to face Fluttershy.

"That's who the white mare was! I knew I recognized her, but I couldn't figure out where from. I had seen her on a poster." I said to Fluttershy. The look of terror on her faced changed to understanding, and she straightened back up. The two guards looked at each other, then the first one ran over to me.

"Dude, you met DJPon3, like, outside the club?!" He asked quickly, a look of amazement on his face.

"Ya, she came over to ask a quick question, that's all though." I said.

"So then you probably didn't get her autograph or anything..." He said, the disappointment clearly showing on his face.

"No, sorry. But I know she's defiantly there tonight, and depending on how long she's out and when your shift's done, you might be able to catch her still." I said, trying to cheer him up. His face lit up again, and I could tell he agreed.

"Hey, we should really finish our rounds." The second guard said to the first, grabbing his attention again.

"Ya, sorry. Thanks!" He said to me before trotting back over to his friend. Fluttershy and I waited until they were gone again before entering her room. Suddenly, it felt like the day's activities caught up with me, and I felt exhausted.

"Hey, which side of the bed do you want?" I asked Fluttershy.

"Uhm, well, I usually like sleeping closer to the window side, but you can have whichever side you want." She said.

"This side's fine." I said, flopping down onto the side further from the window.

"Ugh, I feel like I could sleep for a moon." I said through a face-full of pillow. Fluttershy giggled as she put down her things on the dresser.

"Well, I'm afraid you'll have to get up a little sooner, if we're going to leave in time for a reasonable return to Ponyville." She said as she pulled on her pajamas. I felt her climb onto the other side of the bed, and for the first time since I arrived in Equestria, I was worried. Am I even going to Ponyville with Fluttershy? I'd hate to leave her, and it really does sound nice there, but I'm starting to like Canterlot. That, and if I stay, I can probably get more magic training with Twilight. Oh Celestia, help me... I though as my exhaustion took over and I fell asleep.

Chapter 6: Party Rock Is In The House Tonight

After a long time of restless tossing and turning, around one in the morning I finally fell into a deep sleep. Several hours later, which I decided was not enough time, I was slowly awoken to the sound of Fluttershy packing. I lay in the bed for a few minutes, dreading the end of my chance to sleep, before finally I opened my eyes and sat up. Fluttershy had almost finished with the room; there was only a few pieces of clothing left is the dresser, and one empty bag. As she walked over to grab the bag, she noticed I was awake.

"Oh, um, I hope I didn't wake you up." She said apologetically. I blinked a few times, then yawned and stretched before responding.

"Nah, it was about time for me to get up anyway." I said with a smile, clambering carefully off the bed. She smiled back as she grabbed the bag and walked over to the dresser to begin packing its contents up.

"The truth is, I'm glad you're up. I'd hate to have to be the one to wake you up, but it's almost time to go if we don't want to be late for the train." She said as she gathered everything up and stuffed it haphazardly into the bag. My smile faded as I thought about what I was going to say next to her.

"Well, you see, the thing is..." I trailed off, not sure how to word what I wanted to say next. She looked over at me happily, but when she saw the look on my face, hers was replaced by one of worry.

"What's wrong, Blaze?" She asked, coming over to me. I opened my mouth, about to speak, but then I stopped to think again. Why am I giving up a friend like her, just for a chance at a sophisticated life, and the ability to learn about magic? Why, when the best part of this world is the ponies that live in it, am I choosing something other than the ponies? Suddenly, I made up my mind and looked confidently up at Fluttershy, much to her confusion.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm glad I got up on time. Need any help?" I said cheerfully, causing her to blink a few times and continue to stare worriedly.

"Are you sure? I mean... I guess you don't know me super well, but I'd be happy to listen if you have a problem you want to talk about. She said caringly.

"I just wasn't sure I wanted to go to Ponyville, but, when I thought about it, I just couldn't leave you." I said, looking into her eyes. She blushed a deep red and looked away quickly, but with a small smile on her face.

"Well, I, Uh... I'm glad you're coming." She said, still looking away. I laughed and looked around the room. There were four bags total, including the one that Fluttershy had left at the dresser. As I looked back over at Fluttershy, who had at this point headed back over to the dresser in question and grabbed the bag.

"Do we need to stop anywhere else, or is it straight to the train?" I asked following her over to the bags.

"I didn't have anywhere else planned, but if there's somewhere you'd like to stop first, that's certainly fine as long as it's quick, we don't have a ton of spare time." She said, trying to grab all of the bags unsuccessfully. I coughed conspicuously, but when she failed to notice I was forced to speak up.

"You know, there are two of us." I said with a chuckle. She continued to try to balance all the bags in her hooves, but to no avail.

"Oh, I couldn't ask you to carry my luggage, that wouldn't be fair." She said as she finally got them all stacked up. I watched the stack slowly tip over, and right as it was about to fall I grabbed the smaller bag with my magic and the larger one with my front legs.

"Well then it's a good thing I'm not waiting for you to ask. And besides, I wouldn't be a very good friend if I made you struggle all on your own." I said, settling the big bag on my back. She smiled as she grabbed the two remaining bags.

"Thanks Blaze, I don't know where I'd be without you." She said with a short laugh.

"Since you probably would have left yesterday, I'd say back in Ponyville!" I said as we headed out the door. She chuckled as we made our way down the stairs and out into the courtyard, where it was significantly drier then when I that saw it. The train station wasn't too far from the castle, about a two minute walk from the gate. As we were nearing the station, a stallion that I soon recognized as the guard from last night, now off-duty, approached us.

"Hey, so I rushed out as soon as I could last night after I talked with you, and I actually caught DJPon3 right as she was heading back to the club, and I even got her autograph!" He said as he held up a record with 'To my #1 fan - DJPon3' scrawled across the label.

"Awesome! I'm glad you were able to get there in time!" I said with a grin. Fluttershy laughed as the guard and I started chatting away about music. After a few minutes though, she quietly interrupted.

"I uh... I don't want to be rude, but we should really be heading for the train, Blaze." She said, looking over at the train sitting in the station. I nodded and waved goodbye to the guard as we walked over.

"All aboard the train for Ponyville! Have your tickets ready please!" A stallion shouted from the platform.

"Oh no, I totally forgot, I don't even have a ticket! What am I gonna do?!" I said, panicking. Fluttershy smiled and rolled her eyes, reaching into her bag. She pulled out two tickets and waved them in front of me. I blushed a little and grinned in embarrassment.

"I probably should have known you would have taken care of that." I said. She nodded as we walked up to the stallion that was checking tickets. Fluttershy handed him the tickets, and he glanced quickly at them.

"Yup, looks all set. Have a nice trip!" He said, handing them back.

"Thanks!" Fluttershy said as we boarded the train. We headed towards the back, to a quieter part of the train and sat down. A few minutes later, we were on our way. Unfortunately, for most of the trip we were on the wrong side to see much of a view other than the cliff face. After about half an hour, we came out onto a bridge-like path that we could see out of. It wasn't as high up as the castle had been, but the view was still impressive. We quickly descended to ground level, before coming into the Ponyville station.

"How are you with parties, and surprises?" Fluttershy asked as we gathered up her bags again and worked our way towards the exit.

"Well, surprises are fine, and I don't really know about parties, I was never invited to one back in the human world." I said sadly. A thought then occurred to me.

"Why?" I asked in reference to her question. I put on a face of mild disbelief as we exited the train. When we got outside, I took a quick glance around. What I saw shocked me. I had expected a sparse collection of small, boring buildings. What I actually saw were tightly packed streets filled with ponies, and almost every building was different, built in its own style, but all melding together as a cohesive whole. Focusing on closer objects, I noticed something bright pink out of the corner of my eye. I looked over to see a pony with seriously curly mane and tail, which sported a very similar color to her body, bouncing happily on the station, looking around as though waiting for someone. When she spotted us, or as I later decided, Fluttershy, she ran over, and in the blink of an eye, she had Fluttershy in a death grip hug.

"Oh my goodness, I missed you so much Fluttershy! I know it was only, like, five days, but it just felt like forever without my bestest buddy around!" She said, almost too quickly for me to understand. When she saw me, she gasped and let go of Fluttershy, and I got the feeling I would need to pay attention again.

"Oh my gosh, I don't think I've ever met you before! Are you a friend of Fluttershy's? If I never met you before, that means I don't know you. And if I don't know you, that means I've never seen you before! And that means you surely haven't had a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party yet! Which means... PARTY!" She said, dashing back off into town. I was going to point out that she could have skipped a few steps, but she was gone long before I could say it. Instead, I looked over at Fluttershy, shook my head, and laughed.

"I guess I understand now." I said. She smiled and headed into town.

"I'm sure we'll get our invitations in a few hours. For now, we should start by dropping off this stuff at my house. We'll figure out what to do after that, well, after that!" She said with a chuckle. I smiled and followed her through town. Her house was a little cottage in the woods, set a small distance away from Ponyville, likely because of the animals. She grabbed the house key out of her bag and unlocked the door. Immediately she was greeted by a variety of happy animals, who chattered, squawked, and meowed at her, and to whom she responded readily. She disappeared inside her house, leaving me standing outside with her other bags, slightly confused. A few seconds later, her head poked back around the door, looking at me curiously.

"Aren't you going to come inside, Blaze? I mean, I'm sure all these critters will be extra nice, since you're a new guest." She said, with the last part more directed to the animals then to me.

"Oh, well, uh, I didn't just want to enter your house without asking, and you left before I could ask..." I mumbled as I walked inside. To my amazement, it was actually really nice inside, not a mess of animal habitation as I had expected. Sure, there were animals everywhere, but I expected that. Looking over at Fluttershy, I saw that she had put her bags next to the doorway to the kitchen, and I put the two I had there as well.

"So you really live here? I imagine it's difficult to do things like, I dunno, sleep with all this chaos." I said with a laugh. Suddenly, a tiny white rabbit hopped up and sat in front of me with a glare. I scowled back at him, then laughed.

"You can't deny it; even you see how it's pretty crazy in here." I said to him, not thinking about it. He rolled his eyes and hopped off, clearly not content with my answer but too lazy to persist. I live looked over at Fluttershy again, whose jaw was almost on the floor.

"What did I do? Did I step on somepony?" I said, checking the bottoms of my hooves.

"No! It's just... You can understand them? You know what they're saying?" She asked, obviously infatuated with my newfound ability.

"I mean, I guess. I don't really hear words, just... Ideas. Emotions, expressions, basic stuff, just enough that I could tell I insulted him." I said apologetically. She shook her head quickly.

"That's still amazing! I... I've never seen another pony with ability even close to either of us. And that fact that we happened to meet, by chance... That's pretty impressive. I know you're going to fit in just fine around here." She said, blushing a little at the end.

"I take it you wouldn't mind having me around then?" I asked teasingly. She blushed even more, and I laughed a little. I knew it was kinda mean, but she was just so adorable when she blushed, and the way she smiled, I wasn't sure she really minded.

"So, uh, speaking of which... Did you guys happen to plan where I can stay until I find a job and can get an apartment?" I asked, wondering if such a thing was even available here in Ponyville. She had almost turned back to a normal color, but when she heard my question, she turned bright red again.

"Well, I, Uh... I have a, um, an extra bedroom. You could, uh, stay... With... Me?" She said quietly, stumbling over some of the words. I blushed too, at the thought of living with another pony, let alone a mare, LET ALONE Fluttershy. I mean, I was rather fond of the idea, but...

"Are... Are you sure? I wouldn't want to invade your privacy even more than I have been recently." I said, looking away.

"Well... I, uh, I really enjoy your company, and if you can understand animals, at least a little, then maybe you can help me with some of my animal things, and maybe discover your special talent." She said, nodding at my blank flank.

"Sure you won't die of awkwardness?" I asked with a giggle, trying to lighten the mood. She smiled and laughed.

"I won't if you don't." She said confidently.

"Well then I guess it's settled. Fluttershy, I would be most grateful to accept your offer. Thank you." I said happily. She smiled warmly, and I realized she really did enjoy my company.

"So, uh, when do you think that bouncy pink pony is planning the party for? And come to think of it, who is she?" I asked, since she had come and gone so fast I never got to ask.

"Oh! That's my friend Pinkie Pie. She's pretty much in charge of Ponyville's happiness. She throws parties, surprises, and general cheerfulness. She lives in a bakery in town, called Sugarcube Corner. I know she seems weird right now, but I think she's a really nice pony." She said, defending her friend.

"Nah, it's cool, I was just wondering, since she sorta failed to tell me." I said apologetically.

"Oh, ok. Well if I know Pinkie, she's going to try to have it ready as soon as possible. So I suspect she'll be by in an hour or so, and the party will probably start early this evening. Don't worry about it though; Pinkie never forgets to tell people in a timely fashion." Fluttershy said, heading towards the kitchen.

"Are you hungry? I usually don't eat much in the morning, but I know not everypony is like me." She said.

"Actually, I'm the same way. But thanks!" I said with a smile. I glanced over at the clock, which I had been sure to locate quickly this time, for fear of appearing incapable. It showed 10:37, and that meant that we still had most of the day before the party. I looked over at Fluttershy, who at this point was playing with the white bunny from earlier. Not wanting to interrupt, for fear of facing bunny-wrath, I simply sat down where I was and listened to all the animals nearby. To the ear, nothing could be discerned amongst the endless chatter. In my mind though, I could tell that they were all very happy that Fluttershy was back, as that seemed to mean the food quality would go back up, but they were also fairly apprehensive of me, as was evident by the fact that they all avoided me, discounting the one bunny. Suddenly, a few minds got much louder than the others, and I opened my eyes to see a family of mice standing in front of me. I could tell that they were worried they wouldn't get Fluttershy's full attention anymore, and they were coming to see how much trouble I would cause. They didn't; however, seem to know that I could understand their rudimentary thoughts. I slowly reached out my hoof, while talking to them.

"Hey little ones. I promise I won't steal her away, she's still all yours. She's just giving me a place to stay, for now." I said. The mice looked at me in shock, and I felt their surprise in my mind. The largest of the bunch sniffed my hoof, then scampered up onto my leg, worked his way up, and sat on my shoulder. I could tell he was pleased with his achievement. The others looked at each other, then suddenly ran off. I looked over at the mouse on my shoulder.

"I wonder where they're off to in such a hurry." I said. I got an image of a group of animals around me, which I assumed meant that they were telling the others I was ok. I laughed to myself as suddenly the mice came back, this time with many other animals following. I smiled and thought: Ya, I can definitely see myself fitting in around here.

It was almost two hours later when Fluttershy came back into the main room from her chores. She had been getting everything back in order, cleaned, and organized, while I entertained the animals. My buddy the mouse was still on my shoulder, although I could tell he was getting bored.

"Come on little ones, it's lunch time! Since I was gone so long, I made you an extra special meal." Fluttershy said, hooves full of various serving containers. She put down the food dishes, each one in front of their respective animal groups, until she had only one left. She looked around, trying to find its owner.

"Angel! I have your lunch!" She yelled, when suddenly the bunny from earlier showed up. She handed him the bowl, which he began to scrutinize very carefully.

"They had one bag left of the special jungle lettuce you wanted in Canterlot, and I got it for you, so that I could make this exactly as you wanted. So won't you please eat it?" She begged. Angel continued inspecting it for a few more moments before briskly nodding and sitting down to eat. I heard a long, satisfied sigh from Fluttershy as she walked over.

"That one's fussy I take it?" I asked, chuckling. She rolled her eyes.

"Goodness, I love him to bits, but sometimes... His food has to be exactly perfect or he won't eat it." She said with a tense laugh.

"Then it's a good thing he has you! I'd probably never get it right..." I said, looking at the finely crafted salad Angel was eating.

"I'm sure you'd do fine. Now that I'm done here, how about we go see the rest of Ponyville? I can give you a tour like I did in Canterlot." She offered her hoof to help me up. With a grin, I grabbed her hoof and she helped pull me up onto my legs.

"Sounds good!" I said enthusiastically. We headed out of her house, careful not to attract too much attention from the animals, and quietly closed the door behind us. When we turned away from the house, we both nearly died of surprise, because where there was not perhaps five seconds ago, there was now a Pinkie Pie.

"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry I scared you; I was just coming to say hi! Have I said it yet? Hi! Oh, right, and I also wanted to tell you that there's gonna be the most awesomest 'Welcome to Ponyville' Party EVER for Blaze here at Sugarcube corner at 8:00 sharp, and I was hoping you could attend! 'Cause it'd be a super silly 'Welcome to Ponyville' party if the pony we wanted to welcome wasn't there!" She said, bouncing the whole time. I watched her in concern.

"Oh! Of course we'll be there Pinkie! We wouldn't miss one of your 'Welcome to Ponyville' parties; we wouldn't be very welcoming then!" Fluttershy said happily. I had a burning question for Pinkie though.

"I have to ask, how did you know my name? Because I don't think I ever told you..." I said, looking at her in doubt.

"Uh... Lucky guess?" She said, with a look that suggested she had no clue herself. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Ya, we'll be there. I can't wait to see one of the legendary Pinkie Pie Parties!" I said, and she looked like she was about to explode with pride.

"I won't let you down! Now I got a party to go set up!" She said, before bouncing back down the road.

"Nice alliteration." Fluttershy said, causing me to look over in confusion. I then remembered the incident at the pizza place, and I burst out laughing. She jumped in surprise, but then she started giggling too. After a few seconds, the moment passed, and we started our trip back into Ponyville. It didn't take long before we entered the outskirts of the town. The first place we stopped was the library, where Twilight lived before she moved back to Canterlot. It was tiny compared to the one in Canterlot, but it felt far more inviting and homely. It was, however, in a bit of a mess, which Fluttershy explained was because the town hasn't found a replacement for Twilight to run the library yet. We stayed there for a few minutes while I looked through some of the books, then we moved on.

"Where to next?" I asked as we exited the library.

"Well, the next closest place is the boutique, where my friend Rarity works. Although I should warn you now, she may try, and probably succeed in getting us to model for her clothing making. Especially you though, she doesn't get as many male... Subjects for working from, as fewer come in her store." She said.

"I'll keep that in mind." I said as we walked off to the boutique. It was only a few minutes away, closer to the center of Ponyville. As we approached, I took note of the building's radically different architecture, which is probably why it stood alone from other buildings. As Fluttershy pushed open the door, a small bell rang at the top of the door.

"Be right with you, darling!" Somepony said, their voice floating down from the upper level.

"Don't worry about it! It's just us!" Fluttershy called back. We heard the pony above pause, then hurriedly finish what they were doing and come trotting quickly down. The mare in question was perfectly white, with a finely groomed purple mane and tail. She was, by usual standards, beautiful. A simple, refined beauty, but beautiful all the same. She looked over at me in surprise, by then changed her attention back to Fluttershy, hugging her tightly.

"Oh, I missed you so much Fluttershy! Going out for tea isn't nearly as much fun when one is by one's self. However, you must tell me, who is this dashing young stallion? A 'Friend' of yours?" The mare asked, with a wink and a playful nudge. Both Fluttershy and I turned a deep shade of red, and she stammered out introductions.

"N- No! He's j- just a friend! Rarity, this is Blazing Star. Blaze, this is my friend Rarity." She said, and I swallowed awkwardly and tried shake away my embarrassment.

"Nice to meet you, Rarity." I said, holding out my hoof to shake hers.

"Oh, you're too much like Applejack. A friend of Fluttershy's is a friend of mine." She said, hugging me too. I struggled with whether or not to reciprocate, but fortunately, she let go quickly. She took a step back and faced us both.

"So, what brings you two to my fabulous Boutique today? Need outfits for something?" She asked, suggestively but not outwardly so. Fluttershy didn't seem to pick up on it, so I let it go.

"I was just giving Blaze a tour of Ponyville, and I figured this was an important place to visit." Fluttershy said with a smile. Rarity nodded, and gestured to the various displays around the lower level.

"Please, feel free to browse around; I've developed some wonderful new lines recently. Please, do excuse me though, I have a large order that I should be finishing." She said, bowing her head apologetically.

"Oh, please do! We wouldn't want you being late!" Fluttershy said, and I nodded in agreement. Rarity said her thanks and headed back upstairs to finish her work.

"I guess we're safe today." Fluttershy said with a small laugh. I grinned in response and looked around. There were several racks, and a handful of mannequins with outfits on them for more realistic display. One common theme that stood out though, was that nearly all of the clothing had gems on it.

"I take it the gems are the reason for her cutie mark, then." I said, making the connection.

"That's right. She does beautiful work without them, but they're her specialty." Fluttershy said, inspecting one of the simpler looking dresses. A few moments later, she walked back over to me.

"Sorry, we can head back out, if you'd like." Fluttershy said.

"No rush, I'm just not the fancy clothing type. If you want to stay and look at things, I'll be fine." I responded.

"I can look some other time." She said, and we headed back out of the Boutique. We only walked a few more blocks before Fluttershy halted again. She pointed across the street, to a brightly colored building that looked like it was inspired by a gingerbread house.

"Let me guess, Sugarcube Corner?" I asked with a smile and Fluttershy nodded. There were already signs of a party being set up.

"I think we can probably skip there for now, after all we're going to see plenty of it later. I was thinking we should go Sweet Apple Acres next. Unless you really want to stop here, that's fine too." She said, looking over at me.

"No, that makes sense. Lead the way to Sweet Apple Acres!" I said, looking at back at her with a smile. She nodded and we were on our way again. This time, we were walking for a fair amount longer, as the farm was a distance away from the town. As we approached, I could smell the apples, and my mouth started watering. Swallowing and keeping my mouth shut tightly, we walked through the gate and into the farm. There were rows and rows of apple trees, spanning out as far as the eye could see in almost every direction. Not far from the gate, there was a large, classic style red barn. Suddenly, a bright orange mare towing a cart of apples turned the corner. She appeared not to see us, and she parked next to two large bulkhead doors in the ground, opened them, and began carrying crates of apples down the stairs to put into storage. A few seconds later she appeared again, grabbed another crate, and disappeared into the ground again. Fluttershy and I walked up and watched her unload all the apple crates. After her last trip, she finally took notice of us.

"Howdy Fluttershy; Sir." She said, tipping her hat in greeting.

"Hello Applejack. I hope we're not slowing you down, I was just showing Blaze around Ponyville, and there was no way we were skipping Sweet Apple Acres." Fluttershy said happily. Applejack nodded, then she suddenly recognized me.

"Wait... Y'all're that stallion that fell out of the sky a few days ago, aren't ya?" I smiled and nodded, holding out my hoof. To my satisfaction, Applejack actually shook it.

"Yes, my name is Blazing Star. I hear you and your sister Applebloom are pretty much the reason I'm alive today. Thank you. I will forever be in your debt." I said, bowing slightly. She waved it off.

"Don't ya fret about it none, anypony would have done the same, mah sis' and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, mainly because ya nearly hit the farm." Applejack said. I picked my head up in surprise.

"If... If you're not too busy, do you think... You could show me where I landed? I mean, if not, that's fine." I asked slowly. She thought about it for a second, then nodded.

"I was just about to go on mah lunch break; I think I can manage a quick detour." Applejack said, turning towards the rows of apple trees. I paused for a moment, looking at Fluttershy.

"You don't have to come, if you don't want to. I'll be quick, I just... I need to see for myself." I said. She looked into my eyes, perhaps searching for something. After a second, she responded.

"No, I'd like to come, if you're ok with that. I want to see as well, and you shouldn't have to remember... That without a friend by your side." Fluttershy said, smiling slightly. I felt tears began to form in my eyes, and I quickly hugged Fluttershy. She was surprised, but hugged me back. It only lasted a few seconds, as I knew Applejack would be waiting, but it was enough.

"Thank you, Fluttershy. I couldn't have asked for a better friend then you." I said as I began to follow Applejack. Fluttershy quickly fell into step just slightly behind me, and before long we were at the edge if a dark, imposing forest. There was a path cut into it, which we entered. In a surprisingly short amount of time, we were at the clearing. It was almost exactly as I remembered it, although a little muddier from the recent rain. Applejack and Fluttershy stayed at the edge, but I walked in to the circle. I looked around, awash with emotions. The trees were burned, broken, and generally destroyed. The ground was torn up; a fair amount of dirt was pushed away from the center. Across the clearing, where the rest if the trail should have been, trees now covered. I collapsed down to my knees when I reached the center, and began to cry foe what felt like the hundredth time that week. This was the closest I would ever be to my mother and father, who had been killed in a world so far away it might as well not exist. I heard Applejack start uneasily over, but Fluttershy quietly stopped her. I heard her murmur something, and Applejack grumbled in reply. A few more minutes, and I heard them talk again, followed by the sound of hoof-falls slowly fading away, then a set getting much closer. Suddenly, Fluttershy appeared next to me, and also settled down on her knees. She nuzzled me caringly, then sat next to me comfortingly while I finished crying.

"I promise I won't do this too many more times." I said with a weak laugh after a long time.

"Don't worry about it. You should never stop feeling, and I will never stop being here when you need me." She said, still sitting so close we were touching when one of us breathed in. We sat there in each other's company for a few more minutes, before I shakily began to get up. Fluttershy quickly followed, and within a moment, we were both on our hooves.

"Well, I think I'm done with this place, so I'll be heading out." I said. Fluttershy nodded and quickly followed me out of the clearing. I remembered the first time I traveled this path, and how gruelingly long it had felt when I was bleeding to death. In reality, it was only a few hundred feet to the edge of the forest. We made our way out and back over to the barn, where Applejack was just reaching with another load of apples. This time, she saw us immediately, and she looked as if she had been waiting for us.

"So ya'll have taken care of your business then?" She asked, in reference to the fact that we were finally back.

"Yes, I'm all done. Sorry about taking your time, but..." I started, looking at my hooves. She held up her hoof, cutting me off.

"Don't worry about it, whatever your reason for going was yours alone, no need to share." She said. I smiled thankfully and stopped talking. Applejack grabbed one of the cases and brought it down into the storage, then came and got another, until she was left with one partial crate.

"Want an apple? I was just going to bring these in to turn into pie, but if you'd like you can have some." She said, gesturing towards the crate. Fluttershy shook her head, but I nodded, realizing how hungry I was. Applejack tossed me an apple, which I gratefully began eating. Applejack grabbed the crate and turned towards the farmhouse, then paused and turned back to us.

"Well, it was nice meeting ya, Blaze. Can't wait to get to know you better. And Fluttershy, good to see you again. Now if ya'll might excuse me, I have to go back to work." She said, before turning away again, and walking off. Fluttershy and I looked at each other.

"Well, it's about 1:30, and we've pretty much seen everything of importance in this town, except maybe the school and the town hall. Any ideas what you want to do now, Blaze?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, I was hoping to find some sort of job, so that I can pay for my own food, else I think I might eat you out of house and home." I said with a laugh. Fluttershy had a thoughtful look, then her face lit up.

"I know! We can stop by town hall and ask the mayor. She'll know if there's anything that needs doing." She said, and I nodded in agreement with her plan. We headed back off to Ponyville, in search of the mayor. It took Fluttershy a little longer to find the town hall, as it wasn't a place that she went to as much, but eventually we were there. We found the mayor outside, talking to a pair of official looking ponies. We stood back and waited while she finished her conversation. When she was done, we walked over.

"Um, Mrs. Mayor? Could we perhaps steal a minute or two of your time?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"Certainly, Fluttershy my dear. What do you need?" The mayor asked, looking from Fluttershy to me and back to her again.

"Well..." Fluttershy looked at me.

"I've just moved into town, and I was hoping that you might know of available jobs that need filling, as I won't last long without a source of income." I said honestly. The mayor put her hoof on her muzzle, looking thoughtful, then suddenly appeared to get an idea.

"How are you with books and organization? Because I don't know if you've seen, but the library is getting out of hand with Princess Twilight no longer living here. I'm afraid I can't offer residence, as we like to keep it free encase she does visit, but you can stop by the town hall here for your weekly paycheck. All we would really need is for you to make sure everything is in order so that everypony can find what they need." She explained. I thought about it for a few seconds, then smiled and held out my hoof. She shook it with a confused look.

"That definitely sounds like something I can manage. I'll start tomorrow!" I said happily. The mayor smiled, and even Fluttershy had a smile on her face.

"I can't wait to see the library back in order; it always was one of my favorite places. Now if you haven't anything else you need me for, I should be back to the monotony of my job..." The mayor said, looking at us both. We both nodded, and she walked off, over to another group of important looking ponies.

"I'm so glad she was able to find a job you liked, Blaze." Fluttershy said. I nodded, thinking about how I was going to organize my time now. I would probably get up fairly early, that had never been a problem for me before, head to the library for several hours, then I would pretty much have the rest of the day to do as I pleased.

"Ya, I can't wait to be able to buy you lunch, instead of the opposite!" I said with a laugh. She blushed slightly, but smiled anyway. We then wandered back off into town, to see if we could find a way to spend the next six hours.

It was nearing eight now, and Fluttershy and I were on our way to Sugarcube Corner for the party. It was getting darker, but it was still bright enough out to see without difficulty on the road from Fluttershy's house. Once we got into town, it was easy to find our way again, because the music could be heard a fair distance out, and various colored lights could be seen flashing not long after. We rounded the corner to a very party-fied Sugarcube Corner. There were balloons, streamers, ribbon, lights, everything a pony could want. There was also quite a crowd, as it looked like much of the party was set up outside. We worked our way through the crowd until we found Pinkie, who was mixing something in the punch bowl, or perhaps just mixing it. She jumped in excitement when she saw us, and yelled out to everypony else that was there.

"Ok everypony! Our special guest is here, you know what to do!" She yelled, grinning. She appeared to count something off, and suddenly from every direction ponies yelled out.

"WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!" They yelled, much to my amazement. I waved, and everypony cheered. With a smile on my face, I turned back to Pinkie, who was now drinking punch through a straw, out of a balloon bowl. I shook it off, and decided on a spur-of-the-moment hug, much to her surprise.

"Thanks for making my first party one I'll never forget." I said happily.

"Aww, I'd never plan a boring party, silly! Especially not for one of my new bestest friends!" She said happily, hugging me back. Suddenly she pulled another balloon out of somewhere, and handed it to me.

"Feel free to have some punch, it's extra good tonight!" She said, bouncing off into the crowd to mingle. I shook my head and laughed, turning to look at Fluttershy, who was still partially hiding behind me.

"Well, I guess we should start with that, then." I looked over at the punch table. There were two large bowls of punch, a blue one and a red one. The blue bowl much getting much closer to empty, although I had no doubt Pinkie would refill it. The red bowl, however, was still much closer to full. I decided to help balance them out, and grabbed my punch from the red bowl. Skipping the straw, I slurped it out of the bowl directly. It was really good, but there was some undertone to it that was really potent, something quite strong. Deciding I liked it anyway, I continued to drink out, and Fluttershy followed my example, grabbing a cup-full from the red bowl. The punch table was up higher off the ground, and I could see around quite effectively. I saw a tail that looked a lot like Rarity's disappear inside the bakery, and I decided to head that way first. I topped off my balloon bowl of punch and worked my way off the platform. We finally got inside, and I saw that Rarity was indeed inside, over in the corner with Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and floating above them, a blue mare with rainbow colored mane I didn't recognize. We slowly made our way over, then finally broke through the crowd. Fluttershy gasped and ran over to hide behind Applejack instead.

"Not much of a party person then?" I asked with a laugh as I walked over. She peeked out from behind her orange shield, and responded quietly, so I almost didn't hear her.

"That's not it, there's just so many ponies here..." She said, looking cautiously around. I smiled and laughed, watching her drink almost her entire cup of punch in embarrassment. She made a funny face, but I figured she was just reacting to something somepony was doing behind me. I took another gulp of my punch, noticing the warm feeling it left in my throat. Remembering the ponies in front of me, I lowered my punch away from my face in embarrassment. Rarity smiled warmly, Applejack laughed, and Pinkie Pie did her usual bouncy thing.

"So uh, hi again! Seems like I just saw you all!" I said, then remembered the blue pegasus.

"Oh ya, well, except for you. What's your name?" I asked, noticing how difficult it seemed to be getting to construct sentences.

"Come on; don't tell me you don't know me. I'm like, the fastest, most amazing flyer in Equestria!" She said, sounding slightly annoyed. I thought about it, then realized that I wouldn't know considering I barely knew anything about this world due to my general lack of existence in it. I shook my head. She rolled her eyes before responding.

"I'm Rainbow Dash. Nice to meet you." She said, with a lazy salute. I did my best attempt at returning it, but something about the looks on the faces of the ponies in front of me told me that I failed. I took another gulp of punch to cover my embarrassment, and they looked at each other worriedly.

"Darling, which bowl did you get your punch out of?" Rarity asked. I thought about it, but found it hard to remember.

"I... Uh... I have no idea." I said with a giggle.

"I'm gonna take a guess, it was the red bowl, wasn't it?" Applejack asked. I looked over at Fluttershy to see if she had any idea, but she was just standing there blissfully, her face taking on shades of pink. Suddenly a scrap of insight floated into my head, and I remembered.

"Ya, ya I guess it was. Is that... Is that bad?" I said, stumbling over some of the words. The four ponies in front of me, excluding Fluttershy, looked at each other in amusement.

"Not exactly, darling. Although I'm afraid with as much as you two have consumed, you're both going to have a pretty bad headache in the morning." Rarity explained, just before my memory flickered out.

I woke groggily up, face full of something that felt feathery. I opened my eyes, but that didn't help much, as my eyes were still covered. I brushed the thing off my face, and noticed that I was no longer at Sugarcube Corner, but I appeared to be in some sort of wooden cottage. I noticed there was something mildly heavy on top of me, and I looked down to see a sleeping Fluttershy flat out, wings spread, across me. I then realized that this was Fluttershy's cottage, and since this didn't look like the spare room she had lent me, this must be her bed. I flopped back down on the bed, trying to remember what had happened. Suddenly a thought occurred to me, and I blushed redder then I had in a long time. We didn't... Did we? No, no, no! We can't have! I said to myself. I thought for a few more minutes, before I realized that my lower legs were really numb. I carefully shook Fluttershy, trying to get her to wake up. After a few seconds, she groaned, yawned, stretched, sending her wing back into my face, then probably after realizing that she wasn't actually lying on her bed, opened her eyes. We locked eyes, and after a few seconds, I broke the silence.

"Hey, what happened last night?"

Chapter 7: Towering Apples Of Destiny

"Hey, what happened last night?" I asked. Fluttershy looked at me in confusion, then looked around, then at where she was laying. Suddenly, something appeared to click in her head, and she jumped off me, turned as red as blood, and screamed all at the same time. She ran out of the room, looking like she was about to burst into tears. I shook my head, then sat up and looked out the window. It was still early enough that I wouldn't be late for my new job at the library, and I had a little time to try and sort things out with Fluttershy. I climbed off the bed, and went looking for her. As I searched, I tried to remember what had happened. I got glimpses of the party, then of Fluttershy and me stumbling home, with... I focused on the last bit. I then remembered that Rarity and Applejack had walked us home. As I pondered that last revelation, I turned the corner and almost ran into Fluttershy. She was slightly more normal colored now, and looked less terrified, but she was still pretty shaken up.

"I... I think... Everything is ok... Blaze." She stammered, staring at her hooves.

"How do you... Actually, I don't want to know." I said, blushing. Then I remembered the other thing I had to tell her.

"I remember Rarity and Applejack walking us home last night, we could ask them what happened." I said, with a small smile of confidence. She slowly and cautiously looked up, as if something bad would happen if she weren't careful.

"Hey, I know we were pretty drunk, but I swear to you, I would never do anything like that to you while I had breath in my body. I can tell you now, you're safe." I said, looking warmly but seriously into her eyes. She slowly nodded, looking away again.

"Look, I should be headed to the library, don't want to be late for work. But if you'd like, once I'm done I can stop by Sweet Apple Acres and ask Applejack what happened. And while I'm gone, you can find Rarity and ask her. Sound good?" I asked. She looked back at me and nodded, her face slowly returning to a normal color. Then she seemed to remember something.

"Oh, and, um, I have a... Thing... Later, so I won't be home until late afternoon. Will you be ok?" She asked quietly. I looked at her with curiosity, wondering what this 'thing' was. I decided to drop it though.

"Ya, I'm sure I'll be fine. See you later then!" I said, as I walked past her and towards the door.

"Bye, Blaze." She said, still sounding scared and shocked, but less so then before. I opened the door and stepped through, waving to Fluttershy as I closed it behind me. I began my long walk into town, which seemed to get longer as my alcohol-induced headache began to grow. I was kinda... Cold with Fluttershy back there, wasn't I? I mean, I guess I was just as worried that something had happened, I'm just better at hiding it. I hope she even lets me stay with her after this... I thought as I walked. A little while later, I found myself I front of the library. Shaking off the thoughts of last night, I pushed open the door and walked inside. It was even worse than when we had last been through, despite the fact that it had only been a day. It was as if ponies were determined to make my first day as difficult as possible. I sighed, walked over to the first pile, and sat down next to it. I then changed my mind, stood up, and grabbed the pile. I carried it with me to the selves, where I began to work back and forth, putting books back on the shelves when I found their proper homes. Half an hour later, the first pile was done, leaving only a dozen or so left. The small smile of satisfaction melted off my face, and I decided it was going to be a long shift.

"I'm finally done! I can't believe it! And in only... Five hours!" I said, looking around at the room that I was standing in. There were no more piles of books; everything was back on the shelves it belonged on. I was tired, hungry, and nearing exasperation, but I wasn't about to let the books win. I grinned and prepared to leave, when the Belle above the door rang, and I heard the door swing open. I spun around, ready to tackle somepony foolish enough to bring more books in, but was surprised to see the mayor. She looked around the room in awe, clearly pleased with the improvements.

"This place looks amazing, Blazing Star! Just like when Princess Twilight lived here. Thank you so much for accepting this job. Oh! And that reminds me, I have something for you." She said, peering back into one of her bags. I heard an 'ah hah!' and she turned back with a small mouthful of coins. She grabbed them with her hoof and counted them, before handing me the five silver coins and seven copper ones. I looked at them in disbelief, before looking up at her with a grin. The thought then crossed my mind that I had nowhere to put them, and I mentally made a note to go buy some bags when I was done.

"I hadn't expected to get paid so soon, thank you!" I said, offering my free hoof for a hoof-shake. She shook it with a warm smile.

"I remembered you saying yesterday that you were a little tight on money, and so I decided I could manage part of your paycheck early." She said. I nodded in thanks, and she made her way out of the library. I looked around one more time. There weren't any obvious problems or books left out, so I figured it would be safe to leave. I headed out the door, holding tightly onto my newfound money. I walked up to the first pony I saw to ask for directions, when I saw that he looked familiar. I hadn't seen him without his coat, but as best I could tell, the stallion that stood in front of me looked exactly like Doctor Whooves.

"Uh, Sir? Could you perhaps tell me where I find go to find a store that sells saddlebags? I'm fairly new here, and have not yet learned the town." I said with a smile. He appeared to be mildly started when he saw me, but quickly recovered.

"Of course! If you follow this street, then take a left, then a right, you'll end up within viewing distance of '_ saddlebags'. It's got a big sign, you can't miss it." He said with a laugh. I grinned before responding.

"Ok, thanks. Oh! And do you, by chance, happen to have, like, a twin brother named Whooves who lives in Canterlot as a doctor?" I asked. He clearly looked worried, and he nervously started backing away.

"I uh... I have no idea who that is, sorry. Now if you'll excuse me, I uh... I gotta go." He said before running off. I shook my head in confusion, wondering what that sudden change in mood was all about. I turned and followed his directions, until I came upon a medium sized glass front store that had a large sign hanging above it labeled '- saddlebags'. The front displays showed a few fancy bags on mannequins that were no doubt far beyond my price range. I pushed open the door and walked in. I headed over to a rack of simple bags in more natural colors. I stood at the rack for a little while, trying to find the cheapest ones, when a mare walked over.

"Can I help you, sir?" She asked. I was quiet for a few moments, before I spoke up.

"Ya, I just moved into town and don't have a ton of money, so I was hoping to find a relatively cheap pair of bags for now, at least until I can afford something nicer." I said, looking over at her. She smiled and nodded, then pointed to a pair of brown cloth backs with simple silver colored buckles.

"If I may make a suggestion, I think you'll find these to be quite satisfactory, and easy on your budget. They're strong, but still light, and have a medium capacity." She said happily. I picked them up off the hooks that they were resting on and inspected them. They were a light brown, with two darker straps running from one back to the other in a partial loop. I checked the price, and saw that they were 32 bits. I thought back to when Fluttershy was paying for the pizza in Canterlot. She paid for a seven bit bill with seven if the copper coins, so logically the next step would be that the silver were ten. I had five silver and seven copper, so I did indeed have enough money. I smiled and looked over at her.

"I'll take them!" I said.

"Excellent, that'll be 32 bits, please." She said with a smile, holding out her hoof. I dropped three silver and two copper into her hoof, before looking up with concern.

"Is that the right amount? I'm afraid I'm new to the currency system." I said apologetically. She nodded, tucking the coins away into her own, small bag.

"Have a nice day!" She said before walking back behind the counter that I had failed to notice on entry. I put the bags on, and smiled. Wow, I actually just did something on my own! It's odd being treated as an adult, despite being only sixteen. I guess it's probably just because I look older. I tossed my remaining coins into the bag on my left and walked out of the store. It was nearing one in the afternoon, and my stomach suddenly growled in hunger, and brought to my mind the fact that it had been since yesterday that I last ate, since I was in such a rush that morning. I looked around, trying to see if there were any nearby places to eat. I saw mostly shops, and so I decided to head further along the street I was on street, which I hoped was further into town. I began to hear sounds of ponies talking, and I turned and walked in that direction. After a little while, I came upon a small market, where a hoof-full of ponies had set up stands and were selling various things. I spotted Applejack on the other side, and began to work my way over. Her stand was running low on apples, and I guessed she had been doing fairly well.

"Selling a lot of apples?" I asked, walking up to her stand. She grinned in response, and laughed.

"Best day for apple sales of the year so far! I'm gonna have to go get more apples myself, if Big Mac don't show up with more soon. But what can I do for ya? Need a help gettin' rid of a headache?" She said with a wink, then she laughed again. I grinned, remembering the night before.

"Actually, I do have a question for you. You and Rarity walked us home last night, didn't you?" I asked, my smile slowly faded. She nodded, a more serious look on her face.

"So, uh... Do you have any idea what happened once we got home? Fluttershy and I woke up in... Well we'll just say a less than ideal position, both of us on her bed, and I'm trying to make sure nothing... Happened." I said, blushing and looking away. She shook her head, and my heart sank.

"Sorry partner, all I did was see y'all to the door. Rarity went inside with y'all, so I guess asking her would be better." She said, looking at me apologetically. I brightened up a bit then.

"Well Fluttershy was going to ask Rarity, and honestly she's the one who needs reassuring, so that's fine. Thanks for your help!" I said, smiling again. She shook her head slowly and laughed again.

"No problem, glad I could help. Wouldn't want anything to happen to Fluttershy, after all." She said with a smile. I pretended to be offended by her last comment, and made an insulted face.

"What about me? Aren't I worth worrying about?" I asked. She grinned back at me, and I knew she didn't believe my anger.

"Not really, ya look like you're pretty good at helping yourself, and ya ain't quite as fragile as Fluttershy." She said. I glowered for a few more seconds, then I smiled again.

"You're probably right. Anyway, can I buy an apple or two? I haven't eaten in a while and I don't really want to spend my entire paycheck today." I said with a laugh. She nodded, then motioned to the different varieties she had on display. I grabbed three different apples, a green one, a red one, and one that was halfway in-between. I was able to tell her I was done, when I noticed a small pile of mini apple pies. I must have started drooling, or at least was otherwise obvious in my desire, because she chuckled and grabbed one off the pile, holding it out to me.

"And one of these, I take it?" She asked with a smile. I nodded slowly, reaching out to grab it. I tossed the other three apples in my bag and inhaled the smells of the pie, with only a passing thought to how I used to only moderately enjoy apple pie, and it now smelled like the best thing in the world. The sound of Applejack's voice finally broke through to me though.

"That'll be three bits total." She said, and I grabbed the money out of my bag. I gave her the coins and walked off with my newfound treasure, impressed by the affects of hunger on tastes. I sat down next to a building a little ways away, and began to rapidly devour the pie. In what felt like an instant, it was gone, leaving me with only sticky hooves and a slightly more happy stomach. I stood up and brushed the crumbs off, then looked around. I didn't have anything else to do, so I decided to go exploring the town. I began munching on the greenest of the apples as I walked, as I was still hungry. I hadn't gotten very far, however, before I heard several young voices yell something out.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS TOW-" Followed by a large crashing sound.

"Or not..." I heard the follow up statement, and chuckled to myself as I walked around the corner and saw a large pile of wooden crates, haphazardly settled on the ground, a few of them broken. I shook my head and looked over at the instigators of the commotion, three young fillies. There was a white unicorn with a light purple and pink mane, an orange pegasus with a purple mane and tail, and a yellow earth-pony with a bright pink mane and a slightly lighter pink bow. Suddenly I recognized the last filly.

"Hey, you're Applebloom, right?" I asked as I walked over. She turned and looked at me, confused for a moment, then she realized who I was.

"Oh, ya! And you're that pony who fell-" She started, but I cut her off.

"Please, I'd like to keep that from spreading for as long as possible. But I'd like to thank you for your help; I probably wouldn't have made it without you." I said with a smile. She nodded solemnly, looking over at her friends, who were in turn watching the two of us.

"Oh, and my name's Blazing Star, by the way. Since I couldn't tell you before." I said with a laugh.

"Nice to officially meet ya, Blazing Star. You clearly already know my name, so I'll skip that. This is Scootaloo, and the filly on the end is Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo saluted quickly, and Sweetie Belle waved.

"Pleasure to meet you two. Now if I may ask, what in Equestria were you three doing?" I asked, looking from the fillies to the boxes, then back again. They looked at each other, then slowly Scootaloo spoke up.

"Well... We were trying to get our cutie marks in tower building, but it turns out we're not very good at it. It took all three of us to lift the boxes, and we had to stagger them like steps to get them high enough, so they fell over. So ya..." She said, looking sadly at the boxes. I grimaced and nodded understandingly.

"Sorry about that. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Be careful that they don't fall on you though." I said, starting to turn away.

"Wait a second..." I heard Scootaloo say, and I turned back around.

"You don't have your cutie mark either. So, you could help us, and maybe we'll get our cutie marks in tower building!" She said excitedly, bouncing in excitement at the idea. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked at each other, then they too began bouncing excitedly. I almost responded and said no, but then I paused and thought about it. Well, if I'm helping, they're less likely to get hurt, which is good. And I don't really have anything else to do today...

"Sure, why not." I said, sliding my back off where they wouldn't be under hoof.

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS TOWER BUILDERS! YAY!" They cheered, high hoofing each other. I laughed and shook my head slowly, walking over to the group.

"So, where do we start?" I asked, looking over at the pile.

"Well, first we should probably clean up the old ones so that we've got space to work." Sweetie Belle said, walking over. The rest of us followed her, and soon we had organized all the intact boxes and gotten rid of the broken ones.

"Now, how about we do a few layers that are two by two, so that the ones further up will be more stable." I suggested, looking over at the others. They nodded, and we each began pushing a box over to the spot where we were building. We pushed them together, then took a step back.

"Looks good so far, but that was the easy layer." Applebloom said. We all nodded in agreement, then we went back and grabbed more boxes. We pushed them over to the edge, then one at a time, lifted them up and put them into place. We got them up without a hitch, and looked at our work again.

"Still looks pretty solid, so let's do one more layer of four boxes." I said, and they nodded in agreement. We pushed our four over, then stood looking at the task in front of us. The two rows we had were now taller then I was, so it wouldn't be as easy.

"Ok, so how about Sweetie Belle and Blaze go up on top of the tower, and pull the boxes up, while Applebloom and I lift them from underneath?" Scootaloo asked, looking around at the other three of us. I looked over at Sweetie Belle, who nodded. She clambered up on top of the boxes, using the ones we hadn't yet placed as steps. I followed her up, then turned and prepared to grab the box that Applebloom and Scootaloo were hoisting up. They were definitely struggling, and I grabbed it as soon as I could reach. They then pushed it a little further, until they couldn't reach, then it was all resting in my hooves for a little while. I dragged it up most of the way, until Sweetie Belle could finally reach, and together we pulled it the rest of the way and placed it. We looked over the edge, and motioned for the next one. The process varied little for the next three boxes; the last one just involved lifting it up twice. We were three rows and about ten feet up when Sweetie Belle and I looked at each other and realized that we were soon going to have a problem. It wasn't such a long jump down for me, but for Sweetie Belle it would be a little more difficult. I looked over at her, then down at the ground again.

"Hey, guys, can you move a box over for Sweetie Belle to jump down onto? That way she can help you move boxes up, and I can stack them the rest of the way." I said, motioning behind me. They nodded and pushed a box over, onto which Sweetie Belle jumped.

"Now, if you three can get a box up onto that one, then up as high as you can reach, I should be able to grab it." I said, pointing at the box Sweetie Belle was standing on. After a bit of a struggle, they got it up, and I was able to grab it. I was barely able to pull the box up on my own though, and dragging it up the side of the tower was difficult because of all the edges. Finally, I got it in place at the top of the tower, in the middle. Breathing heavily, I looked over at the three fillies, who were waiting anxiously below. I grinned at them and waved, as if I was towering high above.

"I got it, but I'm not sure how many times I can do that." I said wearily. They looked at each other in concern, then Applebloom got an idea.

"I know! Why don't ya just use magic ta lift 'em instead? I'm sure that'll be much easier." She said happily. I nodded in agreement.

"I'll use magic, but you girls are still going to have to bring them as close as possible, I'm not very good at magic. Also, as soon as you feel the box lift off, I want you to get out from under it, encase I drop it." They nodded and ran over to get another box. A minute or so later, they were holding it up, within physical reach.

"Please hurry Blaze; I'm not sure I can hold this much longer!" Scootaloo said, her voice wavering. I concentrated on the box, and soon it was surrounded by shimmering orange. I began to slowly move it up, and I saw the three fillies run out from under it and stand back to watch. When they let go, it was as if somepony had made the box twice much work to lift, because suddenly I felt like I could actually feel the energy draining out of my body. Upon realizing this, I rushed the box upwards, determined to get at least one of them with magic. Once it was high enough, I moved it over the previous one, and was about to start lowering it when I noticed it was getting scorched and starting to smoke. I promptly dropped it the rest of the way, releasing my magical hold on the box. I pushed the box, which was hot to the touch, into place, aligning it straight on top of the previous one. I looked down at the three fillies again.

"Well, it worked, but I appear to have almost set the box on fire from all the force I was channeling to it. I swear, that felt like almost as much work as picking the box up directly. But I can probably manage that one or two more times, if I move quickly." They quickly got the next box into place, and I wasted no time with inching it around. I grabbed it with my magic and pulled it up as hard as I could, sending it shooting up. I then brought it over and slightly aligned it on the stack, lowering it just far enough that I wouldn't crush the previous two when I let go. It crashed down the last two feet, landing at a diagonal to the others. I straightened it, then we repeated the process again. By then end of the forth box, I was feeling pretty tired, and decided to call it there. I jumped carefully down, and we all stood back to look at our nearly two story tower.

"Well? See anything?" Scootaloo asked, looking at her flank, which appeared to persist in its cutie mark-less state. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle were facing the same problem, as was I, but I expected as much.

"Nope. Darn..." Applebloom said sadly.

"Oh well. At least it was fun! Right?" I asked with a smile. They nodded, smiling a little.

"I'm sure you'll find it eventually, you just have to be patient." I said, as I walked over and put my bags back on.

"Ya, ya, ya, but that's boring! I know! Let's go see if Applejack needs our help! Maybe we can get our cutie marks in apple selling!" Scootaloo said excitedly. I laughed and shook my head, walking off into town.

"But I already tried that, before I met you guys, and didn't get anything..." Applebloom said, gradually getting quieter. I looked around, trying to see if there was a clock nearby. I didn't see anything, but I guessed it couldn't be much later then three in the afternoon. I wonder how late Fluttershy will be out, she didn't really say... I thought, wondering what I should do next. As I wandered further, I could swear I saw a blue, and then a yellow streak above me near the clouds, but when I looked up, I didn't see anything.

Chapter 8: Blaze Of Glory

"I must be seeing things." I said to myself as I shook my head and kept walking. Soon, I found myself at Sugarcube Corner. Deciding I had nothing better to do, I walked inside. Pinkie was behind the counter, organizing baked goods on shelves. She looked up when she heard the door bell, smiling happily.

"Hia Blaze! Did you have fun at the party yesterday? I hope so! It wouldn't be a good party if someone didn't have fun!" She said quickly, before I had a chance to think. I blinked a few times as the information crawled through my brain, and then finally was able to reply.

"Hi. Yes, I had fun. I hope I didn't cause too much trouble after the incident with the punch..." I said with a laugh. She shook her head, her mane poofing in every direction.

"Nope, you were fine! Oh, and those colors are the same with all my parties, just so you know next time!" She replied, giggling. It was my turn to shake my head, although my mane was far less entertaining. I looked at the display case that stood in front of me, then looked up again.

"So what do you recommend? You're the tasty food expert; I shall rely on your superior knowledge in this department." I said, with a mock fancy accent. She fell right into step, adding her own degree of loftiness.

"Mmm yes... Normally, I might say a cupcake, but on a day like today, one would be best served by something cool, perhaps a milkshake. Would that suit your tastes?" She said, trying in vain to hold in a laugh. I smiled before responding.

"It would indeed. Might I inquire as to the possible flavor selection available to me?" I said, keeping up the act, and smiling at Pinkie. She giggled, then collected herself.

"We have a variety of available flavors, including: Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Mint, Apple, Cinnamon Bun, Caramel Swirl, Coffee, and Cherry. Does one of those sound as though it would suffice?" She asked, this time keeping a straight face. I thought about it for a few seconds, trying to decide.

"I do believe that 'Caramel Swirl' would be satisfying to no end, might I get a milkshake of that variety?" I said. She nodded and disappeared into the kitchen, where I heard the sounds of a mixer. ! Wow, now that I'm finally in control of my own meals, I am doing a terrible job eating healthy. Eh, gotta live a little, I suppose. ! I said to myself as I waited. A few minutes later she came back and handed me my milkshake. I took a long slurp, contemplating the flavor.

"I'm not sure how to say this all fancy like, but this is amazing! Exactly what I wanted. How much will this be?" I asked with a chuckle as I continued to slurp.

"Two bits." Pinkie said, still smiling. I fished two out of my bag, then, thinking better of it, grabbed a third, and handed them to her. She counted them with a puzzled look as I turned and walked over to one of the table.

"Keep the change, I got paid today." I said, sitting down at one if the single pony tables. She nodded in thanks, putting the coins somewhere hidden. I spent the next ten minutes sitting peacefully at the table, slurping at my milkshake and watching the ponies outside go by. Soon, however, it was gone, and I was left with an empty glass. Sighing heavily, I walked the glass over to the dirty dish return, which at the moment was empty. I placed my glass down, and headed out of the shop, noticing that the clock above the door said it was 2:50. Let's see if I can make these last 19 bits last long enough to pay back Fluttershy, at least. I said to myself as I looked around for some excitement waiting to happen.

"Or not..." I said out loud as I saw the quiet, calm street. As I tried to decide which way to go, I heard a sound like rushing wind above me, and looked up to see the blue and yellow streaks from earlier. I followed them visually down until I lost them behind some buildings. Determined to find their source, I head off in the direction that they went at a fast trot. A few minutes later, I found myself at the age of town. Ahead of me there was a peaceful meadow, filled with flowers and other interesting plants. I heard familiar giggling nearby, and found a small path leading into the meadow. I slowly crept along it, taking care not to be seen. Soon, I was at the edge of a small clearing with a lone tree standing in it. Suddenly, the air around me was very cold, like someone turned off the sun, and my mind felt a little hazy, but I ignored it and focused on what I was looking at. Resting up against the tree was Fluttershy, and next to her...

"Oh Rainbow, I'm so glad we could get together today. I really missed you while I was gone." She said, with none of her usual shyness.

"I missed you too, Flutters." Rainbow Dash said, leaning in towards Fluttershy. Fluttershy responded by kissing her lightly, then leaned back again with a happy sigh.

"I was so worried when Rarity told me you had brought a stallion with you from Canterlot; I thought you were leaving me." Rainbow Dash said, looking over at Fluttershy, who responded hastily.

"Of course not! Blaze is just a friend..." She said, and Rainbow Dash seemed to believe her. I thought I heard the tiniest bit of uncertainty in her voice though.

"Ya, but did you really have to invite him to stay at your house? I mean, what if he gets the wrong idea?" Rainbow Dash asked. Fluttershy was silent for a little while before responding.

"I couldn't just leave him on the street, could I? And besides, he's smart, he'll be fine. I promise I won't let my new friendship with him affect our relationship, ok?" Fluttershy said, kissing Rainbow Dash on the cheek. Rainbow Dash sighed, before quietly agreeing. I began to slowly back up, then after a few seconds, turned around and ran full speed away from them. I slowed only once I was back inside the town, leaning on a wall to catch my breath. OK, so Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are in a relationship. Totally fine with that, it's their choice. Rainbow resents me because she thinks I'm going to steal Fluttershy. Good to know. Fluttershy doesn't seem to be entirely sure that I'm not interested. Fortunately for her, I don't think I am so that solves that. Question is, do I let Fluttershy know I found out? The last question stuck out in my mind. On one hoof, things were already pretty uncomfortable with her from the incident last night. On the other, I didn't want to hide the truth from her, especially because I could see it making life difficult. Ok, you win. I'll tell her that I found out by accident today when we meet up later. I said to myself as if there was somepony else I was talking to. I walked back into town, this time heading towards The Boutique. I entered carefully, knowing how expensive everything was. This time Rarity was on the first floor, and she spun around when the door opened.

"Ah, hello darling. What can I help you with?" She said, walking over.

"Well, uh, has Fluttershy come by already?" I asked carefully, pushing off thoughts of my recent discovery.

"No, I don't believe so, unless she came through while I was out getting lunch." She said thoughtfully. I shook my head.

"That wouldn't make any sense. So uh, you and Applejack walked us home last night, and you actually came inside with us, right?" I asked apprehensively. She nodded.

"So, uh, do you have any idea what in Equestria happened once we got there. We woke up... Suggestively on her bed, and if anything happened I'll never forgive myself." I said, blushing. She nodded understandingly.

"Unfortunately, I can't help you. All I did was get you two some water so that you wouldn't want to die this morning, and make sure you didn't crash into anything when going to bed. I have no idea what happened after." She said, and my heart sank. Now we'll never know... I thought before responding.

"Well, thanks for your help anyway. If Fluttershy comes by, please don't tell her you don't know. I think I can handle the slim possibility that something happened, but she shouldn't have to deal with that. And don't tell her I was here, please." I said sadly. Rarity nodded and brushed up against me comfortingly.

"Of course dear. But I'll tell you, you seem pretty honorable and responsible, I don't think you would have let anything bad happen, even drunk." She said, turning away. I sighed and picked my head up.

"I hope you're right." I said, turning back towards the door.

"Feel free to let me know if there's anything else you need help with!" She said as I opened the door.

"Will do." I said before exiting onto the street again. I decided to go somewhere quiet and practice my magic some more, since clearly I still had a long way to go. I turned back down the street, in the direction of the meadow. Instead of entering where I had before, though, I walked further along until I found another path. This one led much further down, until finally at the bottom it met up with a small pond. Nearby, there was a group of overhanging trees dipping down to the pond. I put my bags down under those trees, then walked over to the edge of the water. It was very clean, as much as any pool I had ever seen. I looked around to see it there was anyone else nearby, then I slowly worked my way into the cold water. It was refreshing on so warm a day. I was about to jump the rest of the way in when I remembered the wrap around the hole in my side. As quickly as I was healing, I can probably safely take this off. I said to myself as I began to unwrap my bandages. As the final layer fell off, I was amazed to see that I had almost completely healed, and the only indication was that the hair where the cut was had gained a softer texture and was lighter. I piled the old bandages next to my bag and jumped in the pond. The water against my hair was odd, but at the same time, comfortable. I slowly paddled around, not really sure how to swim with hooves and legs. After a while I got used to it, though, and was soon back to swimming like a fish. I must have spent much longer in the pond then I had thought, because by the time I got out I actually found it difficult to stand. With a laugh to myself, I shook off, spraying water everywhere. It was every bit as satisfying as I had always imagined it to be.

"If I'm going to practice magic, I should probably get started, before I liquefy in the pond." I said with a laugh to myself. I looked around for something to use my magic on. I spied a flat, round stone, and got an idea. Using my magic, I brought it over, then I focused on it differently. In this case, I wanted it to spin, not move. I imagined it rotating, and soon it was spinning away. Now the question is, can I do both? I wondered. To my satisfaction, I was capable of both. I brought the spinning rock behind me, tipped it slightly, then threw it forward at the water as hard as I could. My efforts were rewarded with a solid 'Thunk' as the rock hit and promptly sank. Determined not to give up, I grabbed another rock. I repeated the process, but this time I tipped the rock even further up. I sent it speeding forward again, and this time it hit the pond once, bounced, and cleared the rest of the pond with the second jump. I stood with a puzzled look on my face, trying to figure out what I just saw.

"Does... Does that count? Did I win?" I asked jokingly with a laugh to myself. I grabbed more rocks and slowly improved my precision and accuracy, at the cost of most of the rock on the side of the pond I was standing on. By the time I was done, it was getting to be late in the afternoon, bordering on evening. I grabbed my bags and the old bandages, stuffing them into my non-occupied bag. I headed back into town, where it was starting to get a little busier. I looked around, but didn't see anyone I recognized, so I began to work my way slowly to Fluttershy's house. I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to say to her, but I knew I'd figure it out when I got there. A few minutes later, I was standing in front of her door, contemplating whether to knock or not. I decided to, since I had really been lived there very long. I knocked, and heard the sound of hooves rapidly drawing closer from the other side. The door opened, and around it peeked Fluttershy. I smiled, and she opened the door then rest of the way.

"Hello Blaze. There's no need for you to knock, since you're living here after all." She said, smiling back.

"Ya, I just don't want to be rude or anything." I said as I walked in. She closed the door, then spoke again.

"So, um, how was your day? I see you got some new bags." She said. That reminded me of my debt, and I grabbed a sliver coin from my bag and gave it to her.

"I got paid a little today; that should be about what you spent on me in Canterlot." I said, motioning to the coin. She looked at me in shock, then spoke quietly.

"Are... Are you sure? It really wasn't all that much money, and I can't imagine you have much to give away." She said with a concerned look at me.

"Well you're sorta right, I only have nine bits left, but I'm not giving it away, I'm paying for my meals. Late." I added with a laugh. She smiled a little.

"Well, if you're sure..." She said, putting the coin on the counter behind her. We were silent for a little while, so I decided to ask her about her time with Rainbow Dash.

"So, did you have a nice day with Rainbow Dash?" I asked, as if it was totally normal. She looked at me in shock, her face turning a light shade of pink.

"I... I uh... I did, yes. But... How did you know?" She stammered, still looking confused. I grinned before responding.

"I was walking by the meadow and happened to see you guys... Together..." I said, trailing off. I had just remembered something from Canterlot. When we were in the library, she said she had never been on a date. And yet... Anger began to grow inside me, and I glared at her. She shrank down, clearly aware something was wrong.

"You... Lied. You lied to me. How could you? What had I done to deserve that?!" I asked, nearly yelling. Tears were forming in her eyes, but at that moment I didn't care.

"I... I don't understand..." She said, as tears began to roll down her face.

"You lied to me, at the library. You said you had never been on a date, and considered the only time you saw her yesterday was at the party, where we were both very drunk, I doubt that today was a first date. How could you? It meant a lot to me, that I wasn't alone. And you had to go and ruin that!" I said, furious now. Beneath me, the floor was starting to smoke, but I paid no attention. She sat down on the floor, crying heavily now.

"Wh... What do... You mean? We... Aren't dating..." She said shakily. I glowered even more, and responded through clenched teeth.

"You're trying to tell me that you kissed her, but aren't dating? What the Hay kind of excuse is that?" I said, and the smoke around my feet grew thicker. She looked up at me, her face showing her confusion through the tears.

"What..? I didn't kiss... Her..." She said slowly. I took a step back in surprise. But... I know I saw her!

"That can't be possible. I know what I saw!" I said, less angry and more confused now. I heard Fluttershy sniffle and looked over to see her still crying, but less so now.

"Are you sure... It was actually us... You saw? Did you feel anything... Strange before, that might have given away... A magic spell or something like that?" She said, collecting herself a little. I looked down at the floor to think, and that's when I saw the marks. I had, sometime during my fit of rage, burned hoof shaped marks into her floor where I was standing. I... I didn't cast and magic though... I thought. Shaking it off, I tried to remember what happened. I remembered the cold feeling, and the haziness.

"Ya, I guess. I mean, right before, it got super cold, and my head felt a little hazy. Does that mean anything?" I asked. She sniffles again and wiped some of the tears off her face.

"Well... It sounds like the effects of a magic creature I read about once. I don't remember the name, but it infected the mind of its victims, and makes them see something that will cause them grief or anger, then it feeds on those emotions. I think you might have gotten infected by it." She said quietly, looking away from me. I took another step back, horrified. She didn't... Do anything wrong? BUCK!

"Oh my... I can't believe I yelled at you! What the buck is wrong with me?!" I said, anger at myself forming. She looked at me with concern.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Blaze. I'm ok." She said, trying to keep me calm. It didn't work, and I spun to look at her.

"How can you say that? I'm such an asshole!" I said, before I rapidly dashed for the door, flung it open, and ran off into the rapidly approaching night. Behind me I heard Fluttershy call out, but I soon lost her voice. After a minute or so of running, I slowed in a darker part of the forest. I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. I had never been out here, and Fluttershy's house was long out of sight.

"Shit, now I'm lost. At least nopony will miss me, now that I've pretty much told Fluttershy that she's worthless." I said, trying to figure out where I had just come from. Every direction looked the same, and I soon gave up. I sat down, tears forming in the corners of my eyes.

"How could I yell at her? Why couldn't I have even considered other options before being terrible? WHY?" I yelled into the night, before punching the ground in anger. To my amazement, my hoof began to glow before it hit, and upon impact, sparks were thrown in every direction.

"What is it with fire? I keep setting things on fire..." I said, looking at my hoof, which was normal again.

"I wonder..." I stood up, then focused intently in front of me. Twilight said all I need to do is imagine what I want to happen, and channel energy into that idea... Suddenly, about a meter away, a small flame appeared, floating in mid air.

"Ok, now THAT is cool." I said, channeling into it more, and watching it grow.

"If anyone is going to find me, a flare is a good place to start." I said. I closed my eyes, calming my mind, then with a flash I opened them and shot a narrow, but bright pillar of fire into the sky. I released the spell with a gasp and collapsed to my knees. Above me, it flickered out, then died. I sat on the ground, breathing heavily, hoping somepony would show up. After almost ten minutes of silence in the darkening forest, though, I realized it didn't work. I stood up, determination setting in. Stood silent, eyes shut, gathering strength from every part of my body. I slowly opened my eyes, then looked up. First, a small flame. Then it rapidly grew into a huge ball, almost two meters across. It was burning up my reserves too quickly, and I almost lost it. I gave it a spin and launched it flying up, holding it for as long as I could. Just when I felt it slipping, I ripped it apart, causing a massive explosion and trails of flame in every direction. I fell to the ground and passed out, my energy completely gone.

"Do you think he's still alive?"

"I hope so, but he shouldn't be, after a display of magic like that. That would easily have killed any normal pony."

Chapter 9: The Devil Wears Stripes

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 10: Sleep Is For The Weak

"Stop!" The voice rang out like a bell, and nearly everypony, even I as I neared unconsciousness, turned to seek out its source, save the panting zebra across from me. Standing in the road where Fluttershy and I had first entered the square was another zebra. This one, a mare, was mostly white, but still had a large number of darker stripes on her body. She wore a number of brass rings around her left fore-leg, as well as around her neck. She also had two large earrings of the same material. Slung over her back was a simple bag with a few bottles and a bunch of herbs sticking out of it. Her face was stern as she inspected the two of us. Giving me a quick inspection, she seemed satisfied, yet at the same time disappointed. Sweeping her gaze over two my attacker, who was standing shakily on all fours, leaning on his swords for support. At first, she gained a look of disdain, perhaps due to their shared race, but this expression was quickly replaced by a mixture of curiosity and disbelief. Next, shock took its turn, revealing her evident surprise seeing the figure before her, who still hadn't looked at her.

"Trahern?" She asked, her voice wavering slightly. His eyes opened wide, and for the first time he turned and looked at her. Simultaneous joy and horror showed themselves in his expression as he looked at the newcomer.

"Zecora? This can't possibly be true, but... Is it really you?" He asked, staring at her in awe. She blinked slowly a few times, mouth hanging open for a moment before replying.

"Does this world now deceive my eyes and ears? I haven't seen you for nearly 30 years!" She said, walking slowly over to him. He looked keenly at her, as if he expected her to disappear at any moment.

"No my dear, it is true that I am really here. It's been too long since I saw you last, since several decades have now past." He said, reaching out a cautious hoof to her. She hesitated in returning the gesture, looking at him with suspicion.

"What has happened to the zebra I once knew, to turn him into the monster you tell me is true? You've attacked and beaten one of the pony-folk down, even in front of the entire town!" She said, anger showing on her face. He lowered his hoof in disappointment, and then slowly and painfully walked over to his beastly pet, grabbing a scroll out of one of the many bags hanging off the saddle. Limping back over, he wordlessly handed her the scroll, which she snatched out of his hand and began to read. Her face softened slightly as she read, and Trahern smiled a tiny bit. With a snort, Zecora walked over to me and knelt down beside me. I wasn't able to do much other than tip my head to look at her as she smiled and me and grabbed two small bottles from her bag. Giving me the first one, a thick looking red mixture, she motioned for me to drink it. Using what strength I had left, I used my good leg to pop open the bottle and down its contents, which tasted like an iron-heavy protein smoothie. A sudden revelation hit me, and I gagged in disgust.

"Is this... Blood?" I asked her, looking with horror at the now empty bottle. She shook her head, placing one hoof on each side of my head and closing her eyes.

"Firstly, I'm sorry about the mental intrusion, an ancient curse has forced my kind to rhyme in any and all speech, but when writing and talking through the mind we are limited no longer. Second, that wasn't blood, although that is an admirable guess. It's a potion that's designed to boost and accelerate blood production for a short amount of time, as well as increase the body's natural ability to clot blood and stop bleeding. That being said, take it easy for the next day, or blood flow to various parts of your body will stop and you will lose control of them. The next potion will reduce your pain and give you an energy boost, and no, it doesn't taste so bad." I gasped as she removed her hooves from my head and her voice stopped echoing around in my mind. With a chuckle she handed me the next bottle, which I consumed readily. The light purple potion tasted first like mint, then it rapidly took on an iciness that spread through my entire body, nullifying the pain. As that wore off, the potion began to heat up, as though it was a tiny flame, catching alight every part of my body, filling me with energy. The heat got to an almost unbearable level before fading away, leaving me highly confused.

"Fire and ice... What was IN that thing?" I asked with a giggle as I stood up, overjoyed that I actually could. She smiled and paused a moment before responding.

"Of Frost Berries and Fire Salts it was made, which is actually just what I came to trade!" She said with a laugh. I deadpanned, then face-hoofed. It's official, the universe hates me. I started to walk over to Trahern, but Zecora stopped me and handed me the scroll she had previously been reading. I unrolled it and began to read.

Firstly, I'd like to apologize for explaining all of this in a written note instead of in person, but zebras like me... I skipped over the part about zebra speech patterns, jumping ahead to important information. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm so cruel as to take your friend and/or family member away. The answer, unfortunately, is pretty bias for my side, but it's to save the life of someone I love. I've been contacted by an unknown source saying that they have in their power a zebra known as Zecora. And, I hate to say it, but the life of this mare is more important to me then the well-being of some pony I don't know. I'm sure Blazing Star is great, but he doesn't mean enough to me that I would choose him over her. Take solace in the fact that I don't think Blazing Star will die, unlike Zecora if I don't save her, and you may even see him again soon. That's all I have to say, and may you be blessed by his expedient return. I rolled the scroll back up, thinking about what I had just read.

"Zecora, could you please give him something for the pain as well? I wasn't the only one who got hurt badly in that battle." I asked, motioning towards Trahern. She nodded wordlessly, and gave him a bottle of the purple mixture, which he promptly consumed. He handed her back the bottle, and I walked over to him. Suddenly, he felt less threatening, probably because he wasn't almost twice as tall as me and swinging magic swords. He almost looked scared, as though his fate was nearly in my hooves. Oh wait, it kinda is... I thought, grinning. He began to smile back, until I stopped grinning and began glowering at him again, at which point he shrank down a little.

"So let me get this straight. You were told to bring me somewhere, or she would die?" I asked, summing up everything I had learned. He nodded, looking guiltily around and avoiding my eyes.

"And instead of telling me the problem, and what you needed from me, you decided to attack me and attempt to knock me out?" I asked, still staring at him.

"Well..." He started slowly.

"Well what?" I returned, possibly cutting him off. What does this whole thing remind me of? I feel like I've seen this before... I though as I waited for his response.

"I didn't hide the truth from you, I asked you peacefully to come with me too. You started the fight, but the last part you said was right." He said slowly, daring to look into my gaze. I opened my mouth to speak, then closed it again. Blinking several times, I realized he was right; he did start by asking me to come with him.

"Oh. Ya, I guess that's true, sorry." I said, backing off a little. Suddenly I realized why it felt so familiar. Oh crap, this is exactly like what happened with Fluttershy! What would she have me do right now? I though, staring off into space. I know what I need to do.

"Well, since Zecora is clearly not within the grasp of some crazy pony, you won't have to take me anywhere. And since I'm pretty sure you've suffered as much as I have, I think we can call it even. You were acting from the heart in a difficult situation, and you did the best you could with what you had, so I forgive you. But please, consider more than one possible outcome of your actions in the future." I finished, wrapping up my little speech. Ah, you'd be proud of me if you'd heard that Fluttershy.

"I am proud of you, Blaze. You've come so far already." The all-to-familiar voice came from behind me. I jumped in shock, spinning around to see Fluttershy standing next to and slightly behind Zecora, who was grinning wildly.

"AGAIN WITH THE MIND READING! WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME?!" I yelled in exasperation. They turned and looked at each other before bursting out laughing. I then heard Trahern begin to chuckle, and I stormed off in mock anger.

"To heck with you all, making fun of me like that. With friends like you, who needs enemies?" I said over my shoulder as I walked away quickly.

"Wait, Blaze!" I heard Fluttershy say, before the sound of hoof-falls told me she was running to catch up with me. I slowed slightly, and she appeared beside me.

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, none of us did." She said quietly.

"I know, and you haven't really. Honestly, I just needed an exit, because as much as I have a billion questions I want to ask those two, what I really need is real medical attention, food, and sleep. Hopefully in that order, and hopefully all in large quantities. That potion she gave me for pain and energy is wearing off quickly." I said, wincing as I noticed the growing pain in my blood soaked legs.

"Oh, goodness! We need to get you to the hospital!" Fluttershy said, as if for the first time noticing the numerous cuts and copious amounts of blood on my body.

"Ya, that- Ow- sounds good." I said as a bolt of pain shot through me again.

Hey, that nurse was kinda cute. No! Bad brain! No objectifying mares! You can't resist, Blaze. Give in to your true nature. You know you like it. I heard talking nearby, and shook my head to clear away my mental argument.

"Sorry, what was that?" I asked, looking at Fluttershy as we walked out of the hospital, my cuts cleaned and bandaged and most of the blood washed off my legs.

"I... I was asking if you were OK, you sorta seemed... Distant." She said, looking warmly back at me. I nodded, looked forward again as I responded.

"Ya, I'm all good, I just got distracted." I said with a smile. Speaking of which, you know who else is cute? I'll give you a hint, she's right- Don't you dare, brain. I thought, continuing the argument my subconscious what determined to have with the rest of me. We walked quietly for a little while before I spoke again.

"So, uh, how was the rest of your afternoon? The part I wasn't around for, at least." I said with a chuckle.

"I didn't actually go that far, even as scared as I was I couldn't leave you all alone out there. I was so worried I was going to lose you, Blaze. I'm glad you're OK." She said quietly, brushing comfortingly against me. I affectionately returned the gesture before replying with a chuckle.

"Mmm, me too. I would hate to miss out on more food." I said, smiling. Fluttershy giggled a little at my comment, causing me to smile wider.

"It would be kinda nice to have a few days where I'm not hurting myself or pushing my body past its limits in a row though. Or, any at all, now that I think about it." I mused, feeling the rhythmic tension then slack of the bandages as I walked.

"I'm sorry you got hurt again, Blaze." She said caringly.

"Hey, don't apologize; it's not your fault that I got attacked. Again." I said defensively. She didn't respond, walking quietly next to me as we made the slow trip back through town. As we were passing a narrow side street, we heard a trio of laughs, before a yellow, orange, and white blur shot out as raced past us, only to skid to a stop and turn our way. I recognized the three fillies from two days ago, the ones that called themselves the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'.

"Hiya Blaze, Hi Fluttershy!" They said in unison. I looked at them, from one to another, trying to remember their names.

"Wait, hang on, I got this. Applebloom I know, but you two... Sweetie Belle and... Scootaloo?" I said, pointing first at the young orange pegasus, then at the white unicorn filly. The pegasus rolled her eyes while Applebloom and the unicorn giggled.

"Wait, no, that's backwards. You're Sweetie Belle and you're Scootaloo, right?" I said, switching the order. The three of them nodded in almost perfect sync, to my moderate amazement.

"Wow, that was pretty good. Still, you've got to give me some credit, I'm terrible with names." I said with a laugh. Fluttershy smiled and was about to speak when Scootaloo piped up, cutting her off.

"Wow Blaze, what happened? More bandages? You're worse than us! Have you been crusading for your cutie mark too?" She asked, tipping her head slightly in an adorable way, the way a puppy might. I smiled and shook my head before responding.

"Not quite, I got into a fight." I said, knowing she would want details and trying to decide best how to describe what happened.

"Really? Awesome! With who?" She asked excitedly, while her two friends looked at her in concern. I chuckled again before responding.

"You really shouldn't use me as a role-model, don't go getting into fights for the fun of it." I said, doing my best to sound stern. She looked sadly at the ground, and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw Fluttershy nod in agreement. The young filly then picked up her head and looked at me again.

"Fine... Still, who was it?" She asked, looking at me curiously.

"A bipedal sword-wielding earth-alchemist zebra with a massive pet tiger." I said, realizing in retrospect that they probably didn't know what 'bipedal' meant.

"Bipedal means he walked on just his hind legs, upright." I said, answering their unspoken question.

"Ha, ya, right. Seriously though, was it like, Lyra? She gets kinda angry sometimes..." Scootaloo said with a laugh, clearly not believing what I said.

"I'm afraid he's telling the truth girls, I was there." Fluttershy said, backing me up.

"Oh, wow." Three voices said in unison again as the fillies looked at each other. Then Sweetie Belle looked up at me excitedly.

"That must mean you won! Wow, that's awesome! You're so cool!" She said, bouncing in place like Pinkie Pie.

"No, it was very defiantly a draw. How have you girls not heard any of this yet? I'm sure it's all over town at this point." I said, looking at them with worry and curiosity.

"We've been, uh..." They looked at each other, then back at me.

"We've been crusading. Yes, that's it." Scootaloo said, grinning at me with a look that completely gave away her cover-story. I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh, shaking my head.

"Just, don't get hurt, don't hurt anypony else, and don't break anything you can't fix, OK?" I asked, looking at each of them in turn. They all nodded, before the group took off again, back in the direction they came from. I laughed, looking at Fluttershy, who was peering down the street where the fillies had disappeared with worry.

"Ah, to be that young again." I said as we resumed our walk. The rest of the trip passed rather uneventfully, until we were nearly to her house and I remembered something.

"Oh shoot, the salt! I forgot it in the town square! I'm so sorry; I'll pay you back when I get the money." I said apologetically to her. She laughed and shook her head.

"Don't worry Blaze; I didn't want you overworking yourself, so I had it delivered. It should be waiting when we get there." She said happily. I sighed happily; glad I didn't lose her 20 bits worth of salt that I nearly payed for with my life. We finished the trip quietly, and soon found over selves at her door once again. The salt sat off to one side of the stairs, right where Fluttershy said it would be.

"Well, that was quite a trip. I'm not sure I'll look at errands quite the same way ever again." I said as she opened the door. We were immediately greeted by a multitude of happy animals, and more importantly, the smell of something amazing cooking. As I walked in, shutting the door behind me, I inhaled deeply, breathing in the smells.

"That smells incredible, Fluttershy! I never used to be a fan of carrots, but they smell so good now, it's amazing!" I said, following her into the kitchen. She laughed as she walked over to the small wood stove and poked about in the stew-pot, likely checking if it was done cooking.

"Stallions are always easy to impress when it comes to food, especially ones as hungry as you. That's what Rarity tells me, at least." She said with a wink. I grinned and walked over, peering into the holy grail of food that stood before me. It was bubbling away happily, small pieces of apple and carrot visible among various other ingredients. She went to the cabinet and grabbed two wooden bowls, which she proceeded to fill with stew.

"You want a large portion, I presume?" She asked, looking at me. I nodded happily.

"If that's possible, that'd be great." I said as she filled one bowl and started on the other. When she was done, she gave me the larger of the two bowls and walked over to the small table she had set up in the corner with two chairs. I followed her over, sitting down at the table.

"I get the impression you don't often have guests over for meals." I said, looking across the small table at her.

"No, not often. You're the first in a while." She said, beginning to slowly eat her food. I did likewise, carefully tasting it at first. When it easily and amazingly meant up to my expectations from the smell, I had a hard time not gulping the whole thing down, not at least until Fluttershy was much closer to finishing. The meal was quiet, and we were soon done. I helped wash the dishes as best I could with my restricting bandages on, then we walked out into the living room. I glanced at the clock on the wall, doing a double-take when I realized it was already half past six in the evening. Right on cue I yawned, and suddenly the day came crashing back down on me, and I felt like I had never slept before.

"Hey Fluttershy, would you mind if I went to bed? Tired doesn't even begin to describe me right now, I think I might sleep through all of tomorrow as well." I said, literally struggling to keep my eyes open and stand upright.

"Of course not! We'll have plenty of time later for spending together." She said happily, looking at me with a smile.

"Cool, thanks. Goodnight!" I said as enthusiastically as I could before trekking over to the stairs.

"Goodnight, Blaze." She said, and I began to make my way up.

Chapter 11: Find The Music In You

"Mmm, what day is it?" I asked groggily as I stumbled down the stairs. Fluttershy was in the kitchen, cooking something that smelled wonderful. She looked at me and smiled warmly.

"Saturday, August 25th, 5173." She said, looking back to her cooking. I opened my mouth, paused, and then closed it again.

"So...what day did I go to bed?" I asked, realizing I didn't actually know what the date was. She laughed a little and continued stirring.

"Only yesterday, silly. Although you have been sleeping for almost sixteen hours, and I was starting to get a little worried," she said happily. I shook my head and looked at the clock on the wall. It was a little past ten in the morning, and the sun was streaming in the windows. The house was fairly empty at this point as many of the animals had headed out for the day. I wandered back into the kitchen, peering into the pot she was tending.

"Oatmeal?" I asked, looking up from the bubbling mixture. She nodded happily, grabbing some bowls from nearby.

"Hungry?" She asked with a smile as she portioned some into one of the bowls. I nodded, and she wordlessly placed the first bowl down and grabbed a second one, filling it too before handing it to me. She grabbed another bowl, raising it up so I could see.

"Blueberries?" She asked, an innocent smile on her face.

"I'll pass, thanks." I said. She shrugged and grabbed a small handful, tossing them in her oatmeal before sitting down. I followed her and took my place at the table like I had the previous night, and we ate our breakfast silently, finishing quickly. I again helped her clean the dishes, and before long we were standing in the kitchen awkwardly, both unsure as to what to do. I coughed, then, realizing she was probably expecting me to start speaking, struggled through a sentence.

"So, uh... Do you... Have any, uh, plans for the day?" I asked, wishing I could face-hoof at my lack of ability to speak.

"Not until two, which is when I'm supposed to meet Rarity in town for my first concert with the Ponytones. And that'll only go for an hour at most, so I'm free most of the afternoon as well." She said quietly, looking at her hooves. I looked at her with worry.

"Is something wrong? You seem... Down." I said compassionately. She looked back up, meeting my eyes for a moment before looking away.

"No, it's just... I'm scared about going on stage. I don't want to let everypony down." She said, staring out the window. I hugged her gently with a fore-hoof, speaking softly.

"No matter what happens, you will be the envy of everypony simply for having the courage to face your fears. Don't think about them, just think about you, and how much you enjoy what you do." I said, smiling at her. She looked back at me and smiled a little, tears just barely forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Thank you, Blaze. You'll be there too, right?" She asked. I nodded.

"Of course! I wouldn't miss it for the world!" I said, letting go of her. She smiled, wiping away her tears.

"Thank you." She said, walking into the living room. Following her I found myself noting every little detail of the room, comparing it to what I remembered and seeing what had changed. The stand with the lamp had moved slightly, no doubt from when it had fallen over. The books on the bookshelf were a little straighter, there was almost no evidence of animal residence around, and everything was carefully and thoroughly dusted.

"I see you've been up for a while." I said with a small laugh. Fluttershy smiled and opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by firm knocking on the door.

"Excuse me." She said, walking across the room and pulling open the door. It was just out of view, and curiosity took over as I walked to see who it was.

"Hiya Flutters, I was just wondering if you'd like to- Oh, him." A familiar voice said, changing abruptly when its rainbow-maned source caught sight of me.

"Sorry, what was that, Rainbow?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, nothing. I was just going." Rainbow Dash said, turning and taking off abruptly. Fluttershy looked at me with worry.

"I think it'd be best if you went after her and figured that out." I said reluctantly. Fluttershy nodded, stepping out the door and preparing to take off herself. She looked back over her shoulder at him sadly.

"Sorry, Blaze. I'll be back as soon as possible. If for some reason I'm not back by showtime, head to Rarity's Boutique." She said, launching off into the sky.

"Will... Do..." I said aimlessly as I watched her fly off. What the Hay was that all about? I totally understand her not liking me, but if anything that'd make her want to take Fluttershy away from me MORE, not less. Weird... I thought as I looked around, wondering what I was supposed to do while she was gone. I wandered outside, heading behind Fluttershy's house where the largest opening in the forest lay. It felt good to be outside, away from the busyness of the town, and not dying or lost, all at the same time. I made my way across the yard, watching various different animals scurry about their business. I passed a chicken coop and paddock, in which several chickens clucked happily while digging at the ground for stray bugs. Next, a large oak tree with several bird nests, where the tweeting of baby birds could be heard.

"I can see why she loves it so much here." I said to no pony in particular. My comment was greeted by yet more sounds of animal life.

"Although I can see why she might get lonely sometimes." I said, following up my previous comment. My oddly one-sided conversation was interrupted by chattering and a gentle tapping on my hoof. I looked down to see my mouse-friend from my first visit to the house staring keenly up at me.

"Oh, hello little guy. What's up?" I asked him, reaching out a hoof slowly. He sniffed it, and then jumped on and scampered up my leg onto my back, where he sat while squeaking and chewing on a nut that he had acquired... Somewhere between the ground and my back. I don't want to know. I thought as I listened to him. Nothing he said seemed of particular value, he had an aura of general contentedness.

"Ya, I know the feeling." I said as I continued walking, after which he squeaked once, finished his lunch, and then jumped off my back and ran off to do whatever it is mice do in their spare time. I found myself thinking about the previous days events as I walked, particularly my encounter with Trahern, and the advanced magic we apparently were both capable of, although far more he than I. I tried again to remember what the word I had used for my final spell, and was rewarded only by a staggering sense of power, something so foreign and yet so familiar, and at the same time, terrifying. I turned my mind away from that and thought instead about all the useful lessons I had learned about life.

"One: if it takes magic to make, it's expensive to buy. Two: haggling for someone else is a bad idea. Three: don't pick fights with zebras. Four: stop getting hurt. That sounds about right..." I said as I laughed at myself. I wandered about for a little while longer before propping myself against a tree trunk and dozing off, knowing that with my luck, I wouldn't get to sleep for a day or two and I needed all the help I could get.

I awoke to the gentle flapping of wings a little while later. I slowly opened my eyes to see Fluttershy land softly on the ground not far away. I yawned, and then stood up and shook myself off, blinking several times in the bright sunlight. She had a small smile on her face and she was looking away from me, up at the sky.

"What's up? What was the deal with Rainbow Dash?" I asked, walking over. She looked at me, her smile growing as we locked eyes.

"She was furious that you were around, especially that you were still living with me. She said that you were a bad influence, and that you were only going to hurt me more. She wanted me to send you away." She said, somehow still smiling. I looked at her, baffled.

"I reminded her that if we never forgave our friends for when they messed up, and if we judged them solely on a single mistake, she would never have made the friends she has. I told her that you deserved just as much of a chance as anypony else. She then seemed to change her mind about you, and agreed to give you another chance. I don't really think she's changed her mind, I don't even think she would talk to you, but I'm pretty sure she won't assault you again." She said cheerfully. I laughed and smiled, a little shocked at Fluttershy's forwardness.

"Well, I appreciate the honesty, brutal as it may be." I said, smiling.

"Applejack would be so proud of me." She said with a giggle.

"So, did you ever figure out what she wanted?" I asked curiously. She nodded.

"She wanted to invite me to a Wonderbolts performance tomorrow. Except, there's one problem..." She said sadly, her smile fading.

"Well, what is it?" I asked, looking at her thoughtfully.

"The performance... It's in Cloudsdale." She said, looking at me unhappily.

"And? Is Cloudsdale really far away? Remember, I've only lived in this world a week now." I said with a laugh.

"Well, no, you can actually just see it in the distance from Canterlot. But it's made of clouds, and if you're not a pegasus, you can't stand on clouds, you fall right through. Twilight has a spell and a potion for cloud-walking, but unless we go to Canterlot first in the early morning to get you enchanted, it's very unlikely we'll find another way to make that work." She said, looking at the ground. I nodded, finally understanding.

"That's OK. I'm pretty sure- No, I'm really sure Rainbow Dash wouldn't want me there anyway, and I don't want to interrupt your... Date?" I said cautiously. She looked at me in surprise, blushing the tiniest bit.

"That's not... She didn't..." She stammered, clearly flustered. I grinned and laughed.

"Hey, I'm just picking on you, Fluttershy. That, and I couldn't figure out what else to call it." I said, shaking my head. She nodded hastily and turned back to the house, walking away. I quickly followed her, still grinning.

"So, uh, what is it exactly that ponies DO on weekends?" I asked as we reached her house again, heading inside.

"Well, most ponies do pretty much the same things every day. That's what happens when you get to have your dream job." She said, not looking back.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked suddenly, feeling that she was avoiding me on purpose. She turned and looked at me, a smile on her face. I did a minor double-take as she responded.

"No, why would I be mad? You've done nothing wrong!" She said, almost defensively. I shook my head in confusion, and then simply rolled my eyes and looked up at the clock impatiently. Ugh, it's barely noon. I'm not going to make it... I though, wishing it could suddenly be two.

"Do I look OK? Is everything clean? How is my hair?" Fluttershy asked, pacing back and forth backstage, clearly panicking. I stood slightly off to the side, trying to figure out how to calm her down.

"You look fine, Fluttershy. You sound like Rarity- worrying about your looks so much. You're always pretty, you don't have to worry about that changing now." I said, watching her travel back and forth. She paused and blushed at the end, looking over at me with a wavering smile. She attempted to take a big breath and calm down, but ended up hiccuping instead. I rolled my eyes when she wasn't looking, standing up and walking over to her. She looked at me again, her eyes watering, a look of near terror on her face. I smiled warmly at her, and then wrapped my fore-legs around her, hugging her close.

"Fluttershy, everypony is proud of you. They know how hard this is for you, and the fact that you even agreed to try is amazing. No matter what happens, we will always be proud of you, and we will always have your back. That being said, we especially don't want to hurt you. If you really feel like you can't do this, we all totally understand. It's up to you- Either you can go out and show us the amazing mare we all know and love, or you can pass and we all know you're amazing anyway." I said, letting go of her and stepping back. She sniffled and nodded, determination on her face.

"Now, are you ready?" I asked, smiling at her. She nodded briskly in response.

"Good. I think Rarity will be right back, I'm going to head out front and see if I can find a good spot to stand, OK?" I asked, turning slightly away. She nodded again before going back to her breathing exercises, most of which could just be described as barely breathing. I trotted off to the stairs before making my way around to the front. As I turned the corner I stopped, amazed by the crowd that had appeared in the last 30 minutes. There were at least 300 ponies in the crowd, probably closer to 400 total. I shook my head, any hopes of this going over well and Fluttershy keeping her cool vanishing into the air like smoke. I hugged the wall of the stage until I got to the front of the crowd, where I stood in anticipation. A few minutes later, the curtain slowly opened, and I saw Fluttershy standing on the stage with Rarity and Applejack's brother, Big Mac, along with two ponies I didn't recognize. Fluttershy started out at the crowd in shock as they cheered, and she looked like she wanted to run away. I looked away, expecting her to be gone when I looked back; however, she was still there, and Rarity was whispering something in her ear. Fluttershy looked over at her, and Rarity nodded. Fluttershy then looked down at the others on the stage, who also nodded. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Big Mac then counted them off, and they began their song.

The songs were amazing; I had never heard music like that without instruments before. Everypony cheered at the end, and the look on Fluttershy's face made my entire day worthwhile. I had only ever seen her so happy a few times, and certainly never in public. As the Ponytones bowed and headed backstage again, ponies began to disperse, and I smiled as I walked away as well. She actually did it. I thought as I headed back behind the stage where they were no doubt talking about the performance. I stayed out of sight while they talked, not wanting to interrupt.

"But that was amazing, Fluttershy! I'm so proud of you!" I heard Rarity say as she finished her statement.

"Eeyup." Agreed Big Mac in his usual way. I heard two more voices of encouragement from the other members, and Fluttershy's normal quiet voice.

"Thank you all, but Blaze is really the one who convinced me to do it; you should thank him." She said. I heard an assortment of laughs and chuckles from the group, and I grinned to myself.

"Oh no dear, that's your job. He may have helped you gain the courage to stay, but only you could be the one to sing, and you were incredible." Rarity responded as she finished laughing.

"Oh, ok. Well, um, thank you all." Fluttershy said quietly.

"Not at all, dear. Are we still on for the 8th?" Rarity asked. Fluttershy must have nodded, because suddenly Rarity was speaking again.

"Wonderful. You really were magnificent, Fluttershy, you have such a beautiful voice. I just can't wait to sing with you more." She said, her voice suddenly getting louder. I panicked, realizing they were coming towards me, and I was just sitting and listening to their conversation. I looked around quickly, seeing nowhere to hide. Instead, I dove backwards as far as I could, and then began walking calmly and slowly towards them, trying to appear as if I was just coming over. The group turned the corner when I was still I small distance off. None of them said anything to me, but when Rarity saw me, she grinned at my deviously and winked, to which I replied with a look of confusion. She just smiled and kept walking, as did I, donning my own worried smile. As I turned the corner I saw Fluttershy busily packing the rest of her uniform away into its case. She picked up the case and turned my way, jumping and squeaking when she saw me. I smiled for real, chuckling a little.

"Sorry if I scared you." I said. She smiled warmly, picking up her case again.

"Don't worry about it, I'm just so jumpy." She said as she walked over.

"So, how do you feel? I thought you were amazing, I've never heard music like that before. You'll have to sing more often with a voice like that." I said happily.

"Thanks, Blaze. I feel great! It was still scary, but not as much as I thought! I might even be able to do it without panicking as much next time." She said with a laugh.

"See? You're getting better already." I said semi-sarcastically, but honestly enough that it wouldn't sound insulting. She was quiet for a few seconds, looking away from me. I opened my mouth to speak again, but she cut me off.

"Hey, um, Blaze?" She asked, still looking away.

"Ya?" I responded, curious why she was avoiding my eyes. She went quiet again, and then suddenly she turned to face me, paused, and kissed me lightly on the cheek.

"Thank you for believing in me." She said, her face turning bright red as I stared at her in shock before she took off into the sky with probably the fastest launch I had ever seen. Oh. That's why... I thought as I started dreamily off after her.

"Hey, Miss Fluttershy- Awwww..." I heard a young voice say from behind me, and I spun around to see a small white colt with brown spots looking sadly at me. My heart almost melted when I saw him.

"Sorry kid, she just realized she forgot something in the oven." I lied, thinking it would sound better then trying to explain the truth. He head hung low, and he slowly turned around and began to walk away with a long sigh.

"Ok... I guess there are always other times." He said. Suddenly an idea popped into my head.

"Hey, what's your name?" I asked. He turned and looked at me sadly.

"Pipsqueak, Sir." He said.

"I'll let her know her number one fan missed her, and I'm sure she'll be sure to stay and catch you next time." I said with a warm smile. His face lit up like a firework, and he jumped high in the air.

"Oh my goodness, thank you, Sir!" He said before running happily off. I shook my head, glad I could make his day so easily. I hope Fluttershy doesn't mind too much. Speaking of which... I wonder where she went? Hopefully home, or my lie will get shot full of holes. And, I wonder if that kiss meant something? Oh dear, it's going to be a long walk... I thought as I started off.

Chapter 12: Words Of Wisdom, Words Of Power

"Mmm, why is it morning already?" I grumbled to nopony in particular as I opened my eyes. The mid-morning light of Celestia's sun was streaming in my window, denying my attempts to go back to bed comfortably. I let out a long sigh before sitting up, yawning, and stretching. Shaking my head vigorously, I looked out the window in an attempt to gauge the time.

"Hmm... By my calculations, it's no earlier than sunrise and certainly not as late as night. I'm so good at this..." I said as I laughed to, and partially at, myself, climbing out of bed. I walked over to the long mirror on my door as straightened myself out, smoothing out the atrocity of my bed-mane and brushing the ruffles out of the rest of my hair.

"Humans are so complicated. Look, I'm done!" I said, again to myself before pausing and looking myself in the eyes through the mirror.

"I've got to stop talking to myself; Fluttershy is going to get worried." I said as I stared deep into my own eyes. I then blinked a few times, processing what I had said.

"Oh ya, Fluttershy... I bet she left a while ago. I wonder what I'm supposed to do all day. And eat! What will I eat without her wonderful cooking?! And I thought we agreed to stop talking to... Me? I should just shut up..." I mused as I opened the door, stepping out into the hall. I headed down the stairs, my stomach leading me on a course straight to the kitchen. It felt odd without Fluttershy cooking something, it was too quiet. The animals had long since finished eating their breakfast and had left the house for the day, so they weren't an issue. I looked around, confused, lost as to my purpose without her. Suddenly, I spied a bit of paper sitting on the counter. Now that's odd, she never leaves messes... I thought as I walked over and grabbed the paper. Seeing it was quite clearly a note from Fluttershy, I began to read it.

"Good morning sleepy! I'm sure as you're reading this it's already fairly late in the morning, I may even already be in Cloudsdale by this point. I hope you slept well though. You never said if you could cook, so I went ahead and prepared some food for you, I hope you don't mind. I'm sure you're also pretty bored by this point, since you haven't gotten used to the relaxed lives we live in Ponyville. After you went to bed last night, Princess Twilight stopped by asking about your magic from yesterday. I told her I wasn't really there, I didn't see all that much, and that you had gone to bed. She asked that you stop by the library as soon as you could today, she'd like to speak with you. Other than that, have a nice day, and I'll see you tonight!" I read, finishing her note. Well that was pretty thorough. She left me food? Win. I thought, searching for the food in question. I eventually found a sandwich and a bowl of breakfast looking grains, as well as a selection of fruits, a few of which looked like things I had actually seen before. Deciding to go the safe route, I grabbed an apple and the bowl of grains and sat down at the table. Even a quiet two pony breakfast, I decided, is better than a one pony breakfast.

I quickly finished my meal, washed my dishes, and set them out to dry before reviewing Fluttershy's note. Let's see... Library, ASAP. Got it. I thought as I put the note back down, looked around, and then quickly headed upstairs to get my saddlebags. Strapping them quickly on, I headed out the door, and, remembering where Fluttershy hid her key, locked the door behind me. After I returned the key to its highly secret hiding place, I began the fairly long walk to Ponyville.

The trip went by quickly, and I soon found myself again at the door to the library. I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the interrogation that was to come, and pushed open the door. Twilight was pacing on the far side of the room, a few books sticking out of her bag, but otherwise having left the room un-touched. The instant I had the door open she looked over at me with worry, her face softening only slightly when she saw me. She walked quickly over to me and stopped in front of me, leaving barely enough room to get the door closed behind me. I swallowed uncomfortably as she appeared to inspect me carefully.

"Erm, can I help you? I heard you desperately wanted to talk to me..." I said, avoiding looking at her. She made what I could only describe as a pensive grumbling sound, and then stepped back a little.

"Don't worry Blaze; I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just confused and honestly a little bit scared of you right now." She said, before turning away. Her horn lit up, and I almost thought I heard her say something, until suddenly a sphere of translucent light purple magic began to rapidly expand from her horn, passing harmlessly through objects, until it covered most of the room. Her horn then faded slowly, while at the same time the sphere became harder and harder to see, until finally it was completely gone.

"Should I ask?" I wondered aloud as she turned back around with a cautious smile.

"Sound dampening field mixed with a perception altering spell. The main point is that nopony with powers short of Luna or maybe Discord could hear through it, but it will also keep ponies from wanting to come inside. I needed to be sure our conversation is heard by no living soul." She said grimly.

"Which means you can tell me what's up with you then? Why in Equestria would you be scared of me?" I asked, looking at her in confusion. She looked away from me, opening and closing her mouth several times, as thought she wasn't sure how to respond.

"I'm sorry Blaze, but there's something wrong with you. You've been in the world now for eight days. Your first magic lesson, your very first spell ever, was four days ago. And now, I happen to come through to visit, and I hear that you've been dueling with magic that literally not a single pony in this town I've asked, of which there have been many, has ever seen before. That's simply not possible. I know what you did and what happened, but there is no way in Celestia's name that any being would have that much power. I need to know what you are, what you really are." She said, her voice growing quieter again.

"But, what about the zebra? Trahern, his name was. He was doing it too!" I said, fearfully stepping back. I heard the door lock click behind me. Oh you've got to be kidding...

"Blaze; first off, he's a zebra. Their race has the ability to tap into sources of magic I can only dream about. I still barely understand anything about how they work. Next, he's 147 years old. He's had several of your lifetimes to practice. The fact that he can cast such magic in no way surprises me. You, however... I just don't understand. For all I know, you could be a being made purely of magic energy, masquerading as a unicorn. For all I know, you have the power to turn this entire world to ashes with as much energy as it takes to blink. That's why I'm afraid of you. I don't want my friends to die, I don't want my family to die, and I don't want to lose everything I know and hold dear." She said, tears now streaming freely down her face. I stood in shock, trying to figure out what to do.

"Can't you just like, scan me to make sure I'm a real pony?" I asked, knowing already what the answer would be. She shook her head.

"I already did, but I can't know for sure that you're not just tricking me. There's only one way I can know for sure if you're real. The problem is, it's against nearly every moral law I follow, and a number of legal ones as well. If I'm to go through with it, I need your complete and utter compliance, and you must never, EVER tell another soul." She said, looking at me once again. I swallowed fearfully, and slowly nodded my head.

"I will do anything and everything it takes to prove myself to you." I said, doing my best to not sound terrified. She nodded back, wiping the tears off her face.

"Ok. Lower any and all mental shields you have." She said, walking over to me again.

"Why would I have mental shields? I don't have a clue how." I said. She rolled her eyes and stopped right in front of me.

"This is my first time, so it may hurt a little. Quite a lot, actually. I'm sorry if it does." She said, closing her eyes.

"Wait, what are you-" I started, before I was cut off by a searing pain that came from every point in my body. My first instinct was that I was for some reason on fire, but when I tried to run, I found my limbs were no longer listening to my mind. What is this?! What's going on?! I screamed in my head, trying to figure out what Twilight was up to.

"Not so loud, your voice really echoes in here." I heard her say in my mind.

"Wait, if you're just talking to me with your mind, why did it hurt so much? It wasn't at all bad when Zecora did it." I thought, still struggling for control of my unresponsive limbs.

"That's because all she did when send her thoughts into your mind. I, on the other hand, have complete control of every part of your body, your mind, and your memories. You are, for all intents are purposes, a puppet." Her voice rang out again from somewhere in my mind. I began to slowly take a step, then another, until I had walked a circle around Twilight. She then went through and tested the majority of my other physical abilities.

"This is helping, how, exactly?" I asked her, mildly annoyed.

"This is the first step. I'm seeing how your subconscious reacts to various movements. You're right though, at this point everything looks good. You pass this part of the test." Her disembodied voice said again.

"Ok, what's next?" I asked.

"Magic. I need to see what you think you're capable of." Came the response, before my horn lit up.

"Let's see what words of power he knows..." Her voice said.

"Uh, Twilight? What's a 'Word of Power'?" I asked.

"You weren't supposed to hear that. I'm still getting used to this..." Her reply shocked me a little, but I let it pass. We were both silent for several minutes while the magic around my horn flickered like a candle.

"How do you not know any words? How is that possible?" I heard her ask.

"You had to have used some to cast that spell, and yet there's... Nothing. That's not..." She trailed off, not finishing her sentence.

"Since I'm pretty sure you're talking about the word that I forgot, here's what happened. I was trying to cast a simple spell for a fireball, and-" Her voice cut me off, stopping my explanation.

"Yes, Blaze, thank you. Remember, I have access to all your memories. There's never been a case of this happening before that I know of, it's very strange. Well, no matter. You pass the magic test, now for the final and likely most uncomfortable test. A full memory search." I shuddered, hoping it wouldn't be as bad as she said. She then went silent, and spent a long while searching through my memories like they were pages it a book. Finally, after countless minutes of dead silence where the only thing I could do was think, she suddenly released her entire mental hold on me. I promptly collapsed, having receded so much from my body that I wasn't ready to take control again. As I stood shakily to my hooves, she turned away from me and stood quietly for several moments.

"Does... Does Fluttershy know what you think of her?" She asked without turning around. I started at her in shock. How did she- Oh, right, mind control.

"No, and please don't tell her." I responded.

"Blaze, she's my friend. How could I hide that from her?" She said, looking back at me.

"Because I'm asking you to. And considering you just searched through every private moment that I remember ever having lived, the least you could do is forget you ever learned information which has NOTHING to do with the problem at hand. The fact that you felt you needed to search through memories like those at all betrays the trust I had." I said angrily.

"I... I'm sorry, Blaze, I didn't mean to-" It was my turn to cut her off, after the numerous times in my mind.

"I know. I agreed you could do this because it was necessary, but I never said I would enjoy it, or even that I would be nice about it. Now, did I pass?" I asked, walking over to her.

"You did. I'm sorry I doubted you, Blaze. I just... I don't understand how power like yours is possible." She said looking sadly over at me.

"I think you're over-reacting. I randomly found one word of power, used it to create a moderately powerful fireball, and then immediately forgot it. For all I know, that's the last time I will ever cast magic at that level." I said with a smile. She slowly smiled back, still looking unsure.

"Can you teach me what 'Words of Power' really are? And why this advanced spell was so important?" I asked her curiously. She nodded slowly, looking happier at the prospects of teaching somepony about magic.

"I can, after all, you've earned it. First, Words of Power. When you cast a spell, you picture whatever you want to happen, right?" She asked, looking intently at me. I nodded.

"Well, these words are used to focus and bend the affects of your magic. When you used a word, it draws large amounts more magical energy from your body then a spell normally would. In that way, the more words you use for a spell, the more magic it takes, and the more powerful it has the potential to be." She said. I nodded seriously, waiting for her to continue.

"Nopony knows exactly where these words come from, or what language they are. Some unicorns, such as the great Starswirl The Bearded, decided that these words are small pieces of the very fabric of our reality, which we then pull from another plane of existence when we use them. What's really important though, is that these words hold enormous power to any pony who knows them, even non-magic wielders. Words will have different effects depending on the pony that uses them and the spell they are used with. Even something that would normally heal could be used for harm in some way. And that leads into your second question, why these spells that use them are so important." She continued, looking at me.

"When you learn magic at a school like 'Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns' the very first bit of advanced magic you learn is how to shield your spells. You can't see it, but many of the spells I cast are ones that use words of power, but the words and the spellcircles are hidden, because I don't want anyone to know what words I have possession of. Often times, ponies panic when they see advanced spells, because most don't understand them. The reason you had no problem in that regard was because of the situation. In the future, things may not turn out so well." She said. I nodded slowly, still taking in everything she had said.

"So, can you teach me to hide my words of power then?" I asked curiously. She half nodded, half shook her head in response.

"Yes, and no. Yes, because I totally can, no because it's not something you do beforehand; you need to cast it with every spell you want to hide. The problem is, you don't know any words yet, so you have no spells to cover. First, we need to teach you a word of power." She said, looking about. Spying a stack of parchment and a few quills, she got to work writing something down. Each stroke of the quill was slow and deliberate, as though she was making sure every line landed exactly where she wanted it. Finally, she put the quill down and gave me the paper.

"This is, as far as anypony can derive, the word used to represent light. It can be used to create and manipulate pure light, without heat, or sound, or any observable side effects. It's a pretty safe word, there isn't a lot of damage you can do with it even if you wanted to. You already know how to pronounce it in your mind, don't you?" She asked, nodding towards the paper. Realizing she was completely correct, I nodded in agreement.

"How is that possible? Does that mean that I already knew this word? Is this the one that I used in the fight?" I asked excitedly. She giggled and shook her head in amusement.

"One thing at a time. The prevailing theory is that because these words make up the very reality of this dimension, every living being already knows every word, but they cannot use it until they commit its shape to memory. As for whether or not you already knew it, well, I found no trace of it in your mind, so that is unlikely. It's also unlikely that this was the word you used for your spell, due to the difference between recorded effects of this word and accounts of your spell." She said. I nodded.

"So, what do I do now?" I asked, looking away from the runes in front of me.

"I want you to make a small glowing light, like you would find a candle produces, in the middle of the room. Be careful you don't feed too much magic energy into the spell, or it could be blinding. As for the rest, I'll leave it up to you." She responded, backing away. I closed my eyes, focusing on a candle flame. I opened my eyes, holding the image of the tiny flame in my mind. I began to say the word, and three small spellcircles formed in the air where I was focusing on the three major axes. They began spinning and rotating, and as I finished the word, supplying just a small amount of energy, a tiny light sprang to life. I grinned and looked over at Twilight, who smiled back and nodded.

"You'll find that you can even now change the properties of the light by changing what you're imagining. You can move it much like you'd move any other object, make it bigger or smaller by sending more or less magic energy to it, and even change the color if you like." She said. My eyes shot wide open, and I immediately changed the light to pure green. Next, I tried yellow. Next, blue, red, purple, and orange. I also brought it much closer, so close that it was a bit painful to look at.

"Blaze, you're going to hurt your eyes." She said with a laugh. I looked over at her and grinned, before returning my focus to the light in front of me.

"But it's so pretty! What happens if I make it black?" I asked, looking back at Twilight. Her smile disappeared slowly, and she looked back at me seriously.

"That's called a shadow light. Instead of producing light, it will actually absorb light, feeding itself larger and larger until the original caster stops it, or the drain on the caster kills them. It's considered bad luck by most ponies, and it's often assumed that the caster is evil. The townsponies might even go as far as to banish you from the town, if enough of them see it. Do me a favor; don't ever try to cast one unless it will save lives." She said solemnly. I paused for a moment, wondering if that was really true. Finally, I dipped my head in submission. I released the spell, and the light faded. Right as the last of the light disappeared, so did the word from my mind.

"Um, I seem to have forgotten the word you showed me. Is that normal?" I asked, looking at Twilight with concern. She smiled warmly.

"Yes, that usually happens the first few times you use a word, particularly at your level. The more advanced magic you cast, the better you will get at remembering words the first time. Keep practicing with that word, and you'll remember it soon enough. More importantly, you wanted to learn how to hide the fact that you're using words of power. I'd be happy to teach you more words, but not today, and not until you improve your control of magic more. Here," she said, using her magic to pick up the paper again. She carefully wrote a second word on it, and then gave it back.

"The second word is the one you need to hide your sells. It represents something along the lines of 'That which is unseen' and is used to deceive the mind. Whenever you want to hide a spell, you start with that word, and tie it in to the rest of your spell by imagining specifically what you want to happen, except without any evidence of the words you used." She said. I blinked several times, mouth hanging the slightest bit open.

"I, uh... Right. Got it. Sorta..." I said, not wanting to admit I barely understood her at all. I read the two words that sat patiently in front of me, and then began my spell. I started with the second word, and shuddered as I felt the drain of the magic energy this spell took. Next, I spoke the word for light, which started out doing the exact same thing as it had the first time.

"Come on, Blaze! Believe that it's not there. It can't be seen unless you want it to be." I heard her say, and I closed my eyes, focusing on the floating circles in my mind. I made them fade, not daring to open my eyes.

"Yes, just like that! See, you do know how!" She said excitedly. I opened my eyes to see, but as soon as I lost focus, they snapped back into existence around the small light.

"Well, at least you get the idea." She said with a laugh. I let go of the spell, feeling the drain of both words on my body, and not wanting to overwork myself this time. I turned to her with a huge smile, delighted that I was at least partially successful on my first try.

"Hey, I remember a bit of the first word this time! Like, it's so much closer to being within my grasp now, it's right there." I said, looking absentmindedly down at the floor as I searched my mind for traces of it.

"That's great, Blaze! You should definitely take that parchment with you to practice from, and actually practice too. I wouldn't want to waste all of- Ach!" She said, shuddering and falling to her knees. I ran over to her in shock, unsure what was happening.

"What's wrong, Twilight? Did I do something?" I asked, panicking. She shook her head, speaking one word and letting out a long sigh. She looked up at me happily.

"Sorry about that. I was so distracted; I forgot to be paying attention to my own energy levels. Keeping a shield of that strength up for so long is incredibly hard; I should have been paying attention. I've lowered the shield, so I'm afraid practice is over for today. I need some food, and you could use some as well, I'm sure. I'm glad everything turned out the way it did today." She said, standing up. Right as she was fully upright again, the library door opened, and I turned to see an older pegasus filly standing in the doorway, mouth agape. I turned to Twilight, who simply winked, uttered a few words under her breath, and, in a flash of magic, was gone.

"Sorry, she just realized she forgot something in the oven." I said to the crestfallen filly.

"Oh, OK then. That's reasonable." She said, before walking past me and going up to a shelf, apparently over her near-encounter with royalty. Why does everypony keep making me do that for them? And how many times will that excuse work before ponies start to wonder? I wondered to myself as I tucked the rolled up parchment into my bag and walked out the door.

Chapter 13: Am I A good Pony

"Ugh, my head. Why is it pounding? Did I get drunk again? Even I know that's a bad idea on a Sunday..." I said, staring at the ceiling as the throbbing pain in my head slowly subsided. I didn't move for several minutes, before a sudden realization made my sit up in panic.

"Oh crap, if yesterday was Sunday, that means today is Monday. I should be at the library!" I said, jumping out of bed and running over to the door. I did a quick once-over in the mirror, making sure I was at least moderately presentable before rushing downstairs. Fluttershy was in the kitchen, cooking something in a moderately shallow pan.

"Good morning, Blaze! Where are you off to in such a rush?" She asked, looking at me curiously. I slowed, looking at her in confusion.

"Uh, work? It is Monday, right? I should have been there an hour ago." I said, confused.

"Oh, right, of course. I'm sorry; I forgot you wouldn't have known. The Mayor stopped by last night after you went to bed to say that they're doing renovations on the library today, and it's closed, so you didn't need to go to work. But you wouldn't have known that, due to, well, being asleep!" She said with a giggle. I face-hoofed, before turning and walking slowly into the kitchen.

"She could have told me that sooner. I wouldn't have had to panic my way out of bed this morning. How did she even know I lived here?" I grumbled.

"Well, at least it made getting out of bed easy, right?" She said with a grin, looking at me. I smiled back, her happy mood making it hard to be annoyed.

"You're certainly cheery today. Did something happen?" I asked with a smile as I stopped next to her.

"Nothing in particular; today just feels like a good day to be happy!" She said with a huge and fairly silly smile. I chuckled before slowly shaking my head.

"Whatever you say. Whatcha cooking?" I asked, looking down at the pan. My eyes opened wide as I recognized what she was making.

"Just a simple pancake breakfast. Were there pancakes in your world?" She asked, looking at me. I gasped; my face nearly the picture of ecstasy.

"Were there EVER! Pancakes may very well be the single best thing ever invented." I said with glee. She laughed and shook her head.

"Well, I'm glad I don't have to worry about you going hungry this morning. I'll be done in a few minutes, and then we can eat." She said, looking back to her cooking.

"How did you even know I would be awake at this time to have breakfast?" I asked curiously, looking over at the table. Seeing it wasn't yet set, I began working on that, to pass the time while I waited.

"I have my ways..." She said, doing her best to look crafty, but it seemed so odd with her.

"Sorry, you can't really pull that look off, it's so... Not you. You're even scarier; when you're doing some sneaky we can't even tell..." I said with a tense laugh, trailing off.

"Oh well. Anyway, I didn't know, I guess we both just got lucky." She said, stacking more pancakes onto the already-towering pile next to her. I looked over in surprise, shaking my head as I watched her carefully balance them. I guess we did. If I hadn't gotten up or hadn't liked them, she'd have had over a dozen too many pancakes, but if she had only cooked for one, she'd feel guilty if I did get up. I thought as I finished setting the table. She carefully carried the plate, piled high with the glorious food, over to the table and placed it down in the middle. Next, she placed a small pitcher of maple syrup on the table, as well as some butter. She poured us both a glass of cider, which I verified was of the non-alcoholic variety. We're not having a repeat of the party. That would not be good. I thought. Finally, everything was ready, and we sat down. I quickly grabbed a pile of pancakes and put them on my plate, looking up only once to see Fluttershy giggling at me. I smiled and went back to work, applying butter and maple syrup to my pancakes before rapidly devouring the entire stack.

"Sweet Celestia, these are amazing! You're such an awesome cook!" I said happily around my mouthful of pancakes. She laughed again and shook her head, portioning off a more reasonable amount on her own fork.

"Shame on you; talking with your mouth full!" She said in mock astonishment before resuming her more polite pancake consumption. I didn't let anything silly like talking interrupt the rest of the meal, I instead quietly ate a quantity of pancakes that I doubted anypony could ever rival. Eventually, we finished, with Fluttershy having eaten only three and a half out of the nearly twenty pancakes, while I assimilated the rest.

"Being a pony is awesome! If a human ate that much they would probably die, but that's obviously not the case now." I said with glee as I helped her clear up and clean the dishes. Like usual, it didn't take long with the two of us, and soon we were done.

"So, what do you have to do today?" I asked, looking over at Fluttershy.

"Various pet and animal related things. Help a few different ponies give their pets baths, find Bonbon's missing kitty, help a pony with training crystal wolf pup, from the crystal empire... I'll be busy most of the day. What about you, since you don't have to work today?" She asked curiously, looking over at me.

"Well, I was going to go see how they're doing on the library and when it'll be open again, then just wander around town and see if there's anypony that needs help; some job I could do to make a bit more money, since so far the library hasn't been a great source of income. That's all I've got planned though." I said, thinking about other work options in my head. She nodded, looking away.

"We should get going then." She said, trotting up the stairs and heading into her room. I went up to my room and grabbed my own bags, buckling them carefully on before heading downstairs. Fluttershy came down not long after me, her bags full of animal supplies.

"Right. We ready to go?" I asked her. She nodded, and we made our way out the door, heading off to Ponyville. The trip seemed to get shorter every time I made it, likely because I got more familiar with it. Her house was really only a kilometer or so away from the town, but it used to seem so much longer.

"OK, this is my first stop. I'll see you later, Blaze!" She said as she suddenly took a sharp right, walking up to the door of a nearby house.

"Bye, Fluttershy!" I said as I kept walking in the direction of the library. It didn't take long, as the library was only a few blocks away. There was scaffolding all around the building, piles of materials everywhere, and nearly a dozen work-ponies at various tasks. I could barely see the door. The Mayor was standing nearby, talking to a stallion who seemed to be in charge of the whole operation, as he kept interrupting their conversation to yell things out to various ponies.

"Yes, Miss Mayor. We should be- You oaf, Bricks! I told you we only needed two batches of concrete mixed! Why did you go and make three! Anyway, yes, we should be on route to finishing mostly on schedule, sometime late this evening." He said, pausing to yell at a pony who was now staring worriedly at several containers of wet concrete. Jeez, is his name really Bricks? Talk about no freedom, it's like he was born to do construction. Why do they even need concrete, the library is literally a tree! Well, at least I know that I can work tomorrow. I thought, changing my course and walking away from the library. Walking through Ponyville, I eventually passed Applejack and Big Mac, both of whom were pulling large wagons full of building materials. I walked passed them, and then paused, before finally turning around and trotting to catch up with Applejack.

"Hi! What're you two up to?" I asked, nodding towards their loads. Applejack threw a pained smile in my direction before quickly looking forward again and focusing on her work, her response coming a few moments later.

"Oh, 'mornin, Blaze. Big Mac an' Ah are just haulin' supplies back to Sweet Apple Acres so we can build a new apple storage shed." She grunted, not looking over.

"Oh, well, uh, would you like some help? I can't carry a ton, but I imagine anything is better than nothing." I said, looking from the towering pile of boards and other building supplies to the mare pulling them, wondering how she was even doing it.

"How are ya gonna- Oh, right, magic. In that case, Ah'd love yer help!" She said, smiling again as they struggled up a hill. Focusing quickly, I grabbed several bundles of boards from both of their carts, and as I held them up I realized how they could knock every apple off a tree with one kick.

"Holy- Wow these are heavy! Are these from stone trees or something?" I asked as we reached the top. Applejack laughed, appearing a little less taxed.

"Ya don' have ta' tell me, Blaze. Still, it's good for ya. Ah imagine Flutters doesn't make ya work nearly hard enough." She said, smiling. I grumbled in response, but we both knew she was pretty much right. The trip was almost unbearably long, and on a few occasions near the end my spell slipped and I nearly dropped the boards. Applejack led me over to where they already had a bunch of materials, and I helped them unload and carefully stack everything into organized piles.

"Say, Blaze, what do ya know about buildin' things?" Applejack asked, looking at me with a spark in her eye.

"Uh, not... much..." I said slowly. Oh no...

"Well, ah think it's about time ya learned, ain't that right, Big Mac?" She asked deviously, looking at her brother.

"Eeyup."

"Why do you hate me so much?" I whined as I lay on the grass next to a newly built apple shed. Applejack was carefully painting it the same bright red as the barn and Big Mac was hauling the scrap pieces of lumber off to storage. My entire body ached; I had just spent the last four hours lifting boards, hammering nails, raising walls and a roof, and I was already low on magic energy when we had started.

"Ah don't hate ya, Ah just think it's good for ya to do somethin' physical for a change. Besides, it'll make ya stronger. We even fed ya!" She said around the paintbrush. I groaned and dropped my head back down in the grass. Getting up tomorrow morning will be... Difficult. I thought as I stared up at the sky, watching the clouds roll by. I must have dosed off at some point, because suddenly I was waking up to Applejack prodding me gently.

"Ah hate to wake ya partner, but ya are kinda in the way of the cart." She said, pointing at the large cart full of apples that she was pulling. I grumbled quietly as I sat up, shook my head, and then finally stood up, backing out of the way.

"Mmm, what time is it?" I asked as I buckled on my saddlebags. Applejack glanced quickly up towards the sun and she pulled the cart back into motion.

"Ah'd say it's about two in the afternoon, maybe a bit later. Why? Ya got somewhere ta' be?" She asked, chuckling at she hauled the cart away.

"Not in particular, just away from here." I said with a laugh, hoping she wouldn't be hurt. My fears were lifted when I heard another chuckle from the orange mare, and saw her shaking her head.

"Don't ya worry, Sugarcube, Ah suppose ya can be done, for today at least." She said. I shuddered, hoping she wouldn't make me work that hard again for a long time. I headed off, back towards Ponyville, stopping once to wave at the country mare before focusing on the long and tiring walk that awaited me. Fortunately, much of it was downhill, and I found myself back in Ponyville only slightly more worn-out. It's not often I enter Ponyville from this side, I'm not entirely sure which way is fastest. I thought as I looked at the streets in front of me. Picking the left-most one on a whim, I started walking again, being sure to take note of landmarks. After only a few blocks, I came in sight of a playground and a small schoolhouse. There weren't many fillies or colts left, most appeared to be leaving with their parents. One foal in particular, a brown colt with orange mane and tail and a distinctly unusual hat, was still sitting in the playground. The hat in question wouldn't have been so odd, were it not for the fact that it was spinning rapidly, on a calm day. I shook my head, mentally telling myself not to question it, and looked down at the beeping device the colt was holding. It looked a bit like a handheld gaming device, and I paused. How do they have computers, when they don't even have electricity? My curiosity overwhelming my logical brain, I opened the small gate, intent on heading in, when I saw a trio of much larger, much older colts walk out of the schoolhouse. I watched them walk over to the brown colt with worry, knowing what was likely to happen next. The largest of the three stopped just short of the little one, glowering down at him. The brown colt's eyes slowly came up to meet his oppressor's for an instant, before looking away. He clearly knew what was happening too.

"Hey, Fish-bait, where's my money?" The lead bully asked, still glaring down at his prey.

"I... I... I don't... I don't have it. My mom said... She I was spending too much recently, and... She wouldn't give me more. I'm sorry..." The little colt said, shrinking down. Shit, if I help this colt now, he'll get destroyed later, but if I don't, Celestia only knows what will happen. Why do I always get the difficult choices? I argued with myself as I watched the scene before me unfold. The middle bully rolled his eyes, and with a long sigh, snatched the device from the brown colt's hooves.

"Hey, give that back!" He whined pitifully, and I felt a stab of pain in my heart, but I still didn't move, save to quickly glance around and make sure there were no other adults in the area.

"This looks pretty expensive; I think I'll keep it. Might make up for your poor performance recently." The bully said, looking down at the device. The brown colt didn't respond, only sitting there whimpering. The bully stopped and looked down, clearly waiting for something. When all he received were whimpers and the occasional half-sob, he rolled his eyes in disgust and dropped the device. The little colt quickly reached to grab his toy, but his efforts were cut short when a hoof came down hard on it, smashing it to pieces.

"Ugh, so weak. You really think I wanted that piece of crap? We're going to pulverize you, and if you're very lucky and come with lots of money, maybe we won't do it again tomorrow, and the next day." The bully said, his buddies advancing on either side of the terrified and now freely crying brown colt, blocking any chance of escaping he could have had. OK, that's it. They've pushed their luck. I don't care if Twilight has to send guards, I'm ending this NOW. I thought, furious. Already I could tell that I was scorching the ground I stood on, as occasional puffs of smoke floated by, but I didn't care.

"Hey, you three! Get away from him!" I yelled, slamming the gate the rest of the way open and walking in. The three looked at me, then at each other. The leader rolled his eyes again, and they turned away from the colt. I thought, for a moment, that they were simply going to leave, until they began walking straight towards me. I stopped, forcing them to come all the way over to me, and waited until the three of them stood in front of me. They were only just shorter then I, and they stood so as to make up for the difference. Had I not been already furious and past my point-of-no-return, I would have been scared, but at this point I felt nothing but anger. It wasn't a rational anger, but instead, more of an all-consuming rage that filled my entire body that was growing rapidly. The leader didn't seem to even notice the smoke or my anger, he just dead-panned and looked me straight in the eyes.

"How about you mind your own damn business? I don't like it when worthless pieces of trash interrupt me." He said, not even blinking. I was taken aback at his confidence, but I didn't let it show, and I slowly smiled. I had survived bullets, duels, and spells the likes of which he couldn't even comprehend; I was thoroughly going to enjoy wasting him.

"Have you looked in a mirror recently? I think you'll find a better example of worthless there." I said, noticing with amusement that the two bullies on the sides had backed up a step, and they were staring at the ground where my hooves were planted. My opponent seemed surprised that someone was actually standing up to him, and he smirked.

"Of course, we wouldn't have to deal with shit like you if your mother hadn't been such a whore. That explains your disgusting looks too; although on second thought, that might be your mother's genes." He said, knowing even as he said it that he had found a major pressure point. My vision began to go red, the now constant smoke around my feet turned into actual flames, and it felt like my entire body shuddered and grew a small amount. My speech centers shut almost completely down, only allowing me a few words.

"My mother is... Dead." I said through clenched teeth, preparing to put my hoof through his jaw.

"Well that's good; we wouldn't want more of YOU around." He said, knowing he had pushed me over the edge. He took one solid step back and took a ready stance, knowing I was going to attack him. His two compatriots looked at each other, and then the one on his left leaned in and whispered, almost inaudibly.

"Uh, dude, have you seen him? He's literally setting the grass on fire, and I'm pretty sure he's getting bigger." He whispered, looking at me the whole time.

"Nopony asked you, Moron. He's a cheating unicorn; it's just a bucking illusion. I'll end his 'hero' career, and then I'll finish with the brat." The leader said. The two on the sides looked at each other again, and then the one on the right leaned in.

"Uh, he isn't using magic, his horn isn't glowing." He said, before backing rapidly up. The lead bully's eyes opened wider for just a second, before he narrowed them again. He is going to regret everything he said. I swear on Celestia's name, I will kill him. I'm going to crush the life from his worthless body, and I'm going... I'm going to... To... Enjoy it. I thought, until finally all thinking ceased in my mind. There were no conscious thoughts, only pure rage. I began to grow rapidly in size, until finally I was nearly as tall as Trahern was on just his hind legs. My mane and tail began to flicker and flutter, until they suddenly burst into flame. My mane grew down my neck and across my back, until it made a solid connection of flame with my tail. My ears grew sharper, and tufts of flame appeared on their tips. My teeth became sharp, and I bared them at my now terrified foe, roaring out a gout of bright yellow flame. My horn grew longer and moved higher on my head as I grew, pointed more downwards. My hooves grew larger, and a large split appeared in the front, giving them a cloven appearance. They gained ridges that made them look almost scaled, and they became covered in flame, much like much of my body. The scar from my bullet wound disappeared, and the aching in my body from working earlier that day was gone. My entire transformation only took a few seconds, and right as it appeared finished a third, highly feline eye grew just below where my horn used to be, set vertically compared to the others. As I opened this eye, I was hit by a blinding flash of insight, and dozens of new words of power became set in my mind, as clear as day.

"We... Are Raging Star... And we- No, I... Will destroy you." I said, my voice resonating through my entire body. I reached out with my mind, grabbing the cowardly bully as he tried to run. As I held him in my magic grip, slowly crushing him, I watching him writhe in pain; each time I thought about what he had done to others, and everything he wanted to do, everything he had said, and everypony that he had hurt, I crushed him a little tighter.

"How do you like it? Think about how much others have suffered because of you, and think whether a pony like you even deserves to live." I said. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw the cutie mark crusaders and the brown colt, who were watching intently.

"Wow Sweetie Belle, I guess you're not the only one who turns into a super-powerful magic rage-monster when someone picks on Button." Scootaloo said, staring unblinkingly at me.

"Scootaloo, can we save that topic for later?" Sweetie Belle said, obviously terrified and trying to back away.

"I'm with Sweetie Belle on this one; can we run please?" The brown colt, who apparently was named Button, asked.

"You always go with Sweetie Belle's idea! When do you think we'll get to see a pony like that again?" Scootaloo asked as the four of them turned tail and booked it away. I turned my full attention back to my prisoner, who was currently trying to say something around his screams.

"Please, I'm sorry! I'll never hurt another soul again! Please, Mercy!" He yelled. I glowered and roared at him.

"YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF LIFE!" I yelled, preparing to end his suffering. Suddenly, a terrified voice cut through, one that was all too familiar, and the one voice that might save the colt's life.

"Wait, Blaze, Please! You're making a mistake!" The voice yelled, and my three eyes looked over to see Fluttershy flying next to me. Tears were streaming freely down her face, and the look of sadness, loss, and horror on her face could convince you she had already seen the murder that was about to take place. I shook my head and yelled at her.

"Blazing Star was weak; he is no more. I took his body; giving him power beyond what his pitiful mind could ever comprehend. My name is Raging Star, and I will take what is rightfully mine. This world is full of worthless ponies; I will purge the face of Equestria of their vile impurities, and a glorious new age will rise! Today is the dawn of the flame!" I yelled, the flames on my body flashing brighter for a moment before fading back to their previous state. Fluttershy slowly shook her head.

"No. That's not true. You're still Blaze; I know because you're still listening to me." She said, moving closer. I turned my head and looked at her. She made a good point, and I wondered if I should continue listening, or crush her with the pony I was already holding.

"Blaze is one of the kindest ponies I know. He will do anything for his friends; help out any pony in need, even when he risks himself in the process. That Blaze, the Blaze I know and have come to... That I have come to be close friends with, he wouldn't do this. Nopony misses their family as much as Blaze, but not even he takes it out on others. Please, Blaze, if you won't stop for any other reason, stop for me. If this colt dies today, I will surely die too." She said, looking into my eyes. I blinked several times, looking from Fluttershy to the colt and then back again. I absentmindedly stopped crushing the colt quite as hard, giving a chance for his screams of pain to turn into whimpers.

"For me, Blaze. Please." She backed up, hovering at a respectful distance, still crying. I looked at the colt that I was currently holding. I looked into his face, into his eyes, into his soul. Except for the darker lines on his face from his tears, he looked the same on the outside, but suddenly everything shifted into a different light. He stopped being a bully, whose existence was a disgrace to the planet, and I saw him as a young colt who had lost his way in life, possibly the well-loved son of the ponies who are his parents, maybe even a brother; a role-model who simply didn't know what to do and how to deal with life. His insults stopped being attacks on my identity and my own family, and I saw them as his way of convincing himself that he lives a good life, even if only by making sure everypony else is living a terrible one.

"Oh Celestia, what have I done?" There was a blinding flash of light, and when everypony could open their eyes, they saw a collection of black and red energy around my horn. After a few seconds, it exploded away, and I suddenly felt very weak. The words which I had previously learned disappeared from my mind, with only one remaining, and I immediately recognized the word I had use in the fight with Trahern. As gently as I could, I lowered the colt to the ground, knowing I had broken many of his bones from crushing him. My whole body convulsed, and I began to transform again, back into my original pony body. The instant I was normal again, I blacked out; slamming into the ground long before Fluttershy could move to catch me.

"You have an extraordinary gift for going over-board on your magic use." I heard a voice say, and slowly opened my eyes to see Twilight smiling at me. I quickly glanced around the room and recognized the same general design as my first hospital trip, which likely meant I was in the same hospital.

"Why am I in Canterlot? And Wha-" I started, but she cut me off, holding a hoof over my mouth.

"The others will be here soon; this will be my last chance to speak with you alone. Do you remember what happened yesterday?" She asked quickly, staring at me intently. I nodded in response. Everything was still perfectly clear for me; I remembered the colt's screams, the pure hatred I felt towards him, and the way that Fluttershy had saved his life and brought me back.

"You have to know, that wasn't your fault. No matter what you think you did, you weren't actually in control of your body, not until the very end, which is when you did the right thing. What happened to you was much like with Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon." She said, standing back a bit. I gave her a questioning look; I had no idea who she was talking about. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Right, I keep forgetting you're not a local. About one thousand years ago, Luna's anger at being out-shined by her sister awoke powerful dark forces that were residing within her. It caused her to transform into a powerful, but incredibly evil, alternate form. Harnessing the power of the elements of harmony, Princess Celestia banished her to the moon for one thousand years. When she returned, my friends and I used the elements to make her good again. Or, at least, that's the short version of the story." She said rapidly, constantly glancing at the door behind her.

"I hate to be selfish, particularly after I tried to commit murder, but I'm not being sent to the moon, am I?" I asked, swallowing heavily. She shook her head.

"I can sense them nearby, so I'll leave you with this. I will explain everything, but you have to trust me. Everypony you are about to see knows what happened, but the only ones we haven't managed to convince of your innocence are Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and possibly Applejack; she's been hard to get through to. The princesses were particularly understanding, after what happened with Nightmare Moon. Doctor Whooves says he's seen this kind of thing before, so he's not surprised either. Anyway, I'm sorry this has all happened." She said, before quickly moving to stand next to the door.

"Wait, why is Doctor Whooves coming? Isn't he just that, a doctor?" I asked, confused. She shook her head.

"He doesn't actually know that much about healing, he just needed a chance to study you. Very few know this, and you must never tell a living soul, but he isn't from this world either. He is, or at least was, a time traveler. His ship crashed here, and it lost the ability to move since this isn't its home universe. Since then, he's been secretly helping the Princesses with other-worldly events, since he's the only one with any experience. He's also a scientist, which has been very helpful. Now hush!" She said abruptly, nodding towards the door.

Suddenly, the door was flung open, and in walked Twilight's other five friends, Doctor Whooves, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. Luna was carrying a stack of books which she gave to Twilight before resuming her position. I chuckled nervously, looking around the room. Pinkie Pie was giving me a death stare, and Rarity looked moderately sympathetic, but not overly so. Applejack was looking at me with contempt, and Rainbow Dash was avoiding even looking the slightest bit in my direction. Fluttershy was the only one who seemed even a little happy. Doctor Whooves was emotionless, as were the Princesses.

"A lot of ponies for one small hospital room." I said, trying to lighten the mood, but my comment seemed to fall on uncaring ears.

"Since everypony is already aware of what happened to bring us together, I'm going to skip that bit for the most-part. Blaze was possessed by a power much like the one that forced Princess Luna to turn into Nightmare Moon. That power, using his anger, forced his body to do some terrible things. Unlike Nightmare Moon, however, this power has been witnessed and recorded before. He was consumed by one of the elements of nature." She said, looking slowly around the room. There were a few shocked gasps, one of them being my own. What in Equestria is that? How did it get in me? Why did it cause me to try and kill? Why am I not asking these questions out loud? I wondered, but by the time I opened my mouth, Twilight had started speaking again.

"Nopony knows how old the elements of nature are, there have been recorded sightings of their effects for as long as there has been writing. It's suspected that they were created when the universe was first formed, but again, we don't know who by. However, they have one key difference from the elements of harmony that we all know. These elements, the elements of nature, aren't only tools of good. The four elements: Fire, Earth, Water, and Air, are the foundation of everything in the physical world, and their power is more balanced then the elements of harmony." She continued, met this time by almost perfect silence, broken only by the sound of almost a dozen breathing bodies.

"When one of the elements finds a bearer, it gives the bearer powers that tend to manifest in odd ways. These can be good, or bad, and often tend to be a mix. For a while, the element and the bearer are only loosely connected, and their powers are limited. However, eventually something will happen, something life-changing for the bearer, and the fight begins. One side, either the good, or the evil, will take dominance over the bearer's body. Often the evil part will win at first, simply because it feeds on emotions that are more common to normal ponies. If the evil part wins, any good that ever resided in the bearer will be lost, and all of the power of the element will fall into darkness. The evil will control the bearer's every action and use their body to do terrible things. This is what happened with Blaze." She said, looking at me. As if on cue, everypony else but Rainbow Dash looked at me too, the looks on their faces ranging from wonder, to disgust. I awkwardly shuffled in my bed, unsure what to do.

"Blaze was all but lost to us, until Fluttershy brought back the good in him, and it won. The evil in the element was expelled, left to harmlessly wander the aether until the rest of the element is returned. Blaze now has full, conscious control over the powers of his element, for which I'm grateful, because we will soon need his help." She said quietly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, breaking the silence that had again fallen on the room. She lifted up a book and held it up for everypony to see. It looked incredibly old, and it was falling apart. This time, Princess Luna stepped forward.

"This book, which has never been wrong before, I shall point out, speaks of a prophecy. Written inside is the warning of the return and third rule of King Sombra, and eternal darkness. It says that the only way to defeat the darkness is to bring together the four elements of nature, and use their powers to cleanse the world. These pages were previously missing, but they were returned to us by the Black King himself. Sombra knows we can't stop the darkness he is spreading without the elements, and we are certain that when we unite the elements, he will be there, and he will try to take them and use their power for his own evil plans. I wish there was another way, but darkness is already spreading across the outer edges of Equestria, and we fear that everything we know will fall within a month. We need Blazing Star to find the other bearers, unite their powers to save Equestria, and stop Sombra once and for all." She said. I started at her, mouth agape.

"You can't be serious. I've literally been here for a week, and now you want me to save the entire world?" I asked, stunned. She nodded, as did Twilight.

"I'm sorry Blaze, but you're an element bearer, which means you're part of this whether you want to be or not. I think you can handle the challenge though." Twilight said, looking at me with sympathy. I let out a long sigh, knowing that there wasn't a thing I could do about my fate. I didn't have anything to loose, my family was dead and in another universe, they wouldn't be missing me. The only one who might care is... I looked over at Fluttershy, who had a stunned look on her face. I quickly made eye contact with her, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. She was thinking the same thing.

"Which element am I, exactly?" I asked, looking at Twilight. She dead-panned at me, and I realized how stupid of a question it was.

"Right, I have an affinity for fire magic, I set things on fire when I work too hard or get angry, and I turned into a giant flaming monster. I'm guessing I'm the element of fire..." I said, trailing off.

"Good guess." Twilight said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She then turned and dug around in a bag she had at her side, eventually pulling out a pair of triangular pieces of metal that had small red gems in them. I looked at her with curiosity, and she walked over to the bed.

"While you will always have control of the powers inside of you as long as you're alive, much like with the elements of harmony, you will need these to use your element's power on the surrounding world. We found them with you, in the school yard; Fluttershy said they appeared when you returned to your regular form again. These are the physical part of your element, and yes, encase you were wondering, they go on your ears. Using them isn't too complicated; when the time comes, they will work." She said, handing the pair to me. I looked at them carefully, inspecting them. They were made of a very bright silvery metal, it almost seemed to glow. They were also very light, most of their weight seeming to come from the crystals. I quickly put one on, noticing that it seemed to fit me perfectly.

"These seem far too valuable to left me hold on to." I said with a chuckle. I could almost hear it echo in the room it was so quiet. This is the single most awkward conversation I've ever had. I thought as I looked down, avoiding eye contact with anypony.

"They are incredibly valuable, if somepony, such as King Sombra, were to get a hold of all four sets, the damage they could cause is inconceivable, but you will need them to complete your task. With any luck, the other elements will also have theirs, and you won't have to search for them." Twilight said.

"For the most part, there isn't anything most of us can do to help Blaze, except moral support. It pains me to say it, but we should all just go about our normal lives, and if he fails, then we'll have to come up with a plan B. I need to teach Blaze the spell that will help him find the other element bearers, and answer any questions he has, then I'll be out." Twilight said as everypony started to make their way out of the room. Finally, it was just the two of us again.

"Did that seriously all just happen?" I asked, looking at Twilight. She nodded.

"I'm afraid it did. I'm sorry we have to lay such a huge responsibility on you, but we don't know what else to do. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia have tried everything they know; nothing is working. Even Doctor Whooves failed to find a way to stop it. We'll all do everything we can to help, but ultimately, only you can do this. This spell really only works when one of the bearers casts it, and we need your power to complete the elemental alignment. I wish I could do this for you, but I can't." She said. I nodded, knowing in my heart that she was telling the truth. She quickly taught me the spell, which didn't even require any words of power. When I asked her why, she said it was because the power of the elements wasn't well hidden from the bearers, only to outsiders.

"It's just about feeling the power; they're connected with the whole world, and it's not hard. I tried the spell before I came in to talk to you, and even I was barely able to detect you from outside the door. According to our records however, the element bearers have had no problems, being able to feel each other miles away." She said with a smile.

"Oh, and before we go, there's one other thing that I thought you would be interested in." She said, floating the book of prophecies over to me. She flipped it open and set it down in front of me.

"What's this?" I asked, not yet looking at the book.

"The final part of the prophecy. We haven't been able to figure out what it means yet." She said, nodding towards it. I turned my gaze to the book on my lap. I read the two short lines out loud.

"The flames will burn with rage, before the stars being to storm." I said.

"Any ideas?" Twilight asked. I stared at it for several minutes, before it hit me.

"Flame... Wait; Blazing Star, Raging Star... Twilight, I think this is talking about me!"