Only The Good Die Young

Chapters

Save Luke
Post Trauma
Trouble On The Home Front

Save Luke

Fluttershy rushed through the streets as fast as she could. As soon as she heard from the police that he was in jail she knew whatever happened was bad. "Oh no, oh no, oh no," she panted as she pushed her wings to carry her to the police station. Everything was a blur, the familiar signs and faces she knew rushed by without her even noticing them all stare back with confusing glances. A few coughed at the dust that rolled up from her speed. In the distance she saw it, the police station.

A gruff looking dark pinto earth stallion stood waiting at the entrance. His much younger, and lighter, unicorn partner stood by him. The young one seemed to be in a state of shock as he kept nervously looking up at his horn as if to make sure it was still there. "He's inside," called out the older one, "he was a little trouble at first, but uh- I think he might 'ave calmed down. By now at least, hopefully." He wasn't so sure about his words.

"Thank you officer," Fluttershy almost forgot to be polite. She was still in such a rush that she was quick to say her thanks and continued through the door.

"Wait!" The officer's voice halted her, his partner still checking his own horn in the background. "You should 'ave seen him. Well, maybe you wouldn't have liked it, but you should have seen it. That p-" he corrected himself, "no, th-that thing, he's quite the fighter." He coughed. A nostalgic but cold chuckle fell from his throat. "Ain't seen anypony fight like that before. Then again, he ain't, well you know..." He stopped, realizing his own ramblings, then he gestured for Fluttershy to move on. His partner still kept checking his own horn, though it was still there.

Fluttershy carefully walked up to the front desk where a hefty unicorn mare in glasses continued to write endlessly and, so it seemed, aimlessly. The pen that was brought to life by the mare's blue aura suddenly died and fell to the paper riddled surface of the desk. "Miss Fluttershy?" The mare stared down at Fluttershy.

Looking up at the mare, Fluttershy fumbled to get her words right, "Um yes, that's me. Do you know where-"

"Down that hall and to the left," cutting off Fluttershy, the mare pointed to her right which was Fluttershy's left. "They've been waiting for you to," she chose her words carefully, "deal with it."

Fluttershy gave the mare a cold stare, "He has a name." Turning down the hallway she tried to forget that little residual anger her mind pushed at the mare at the desk. It wasn't her fault, she remembered, she just doesn't understand what he is. "Or what he's going through," she added in a hushed whisper.

As she continued down the hallway, she noticed a secretary cleaning up a broken picture frame. Fluttershy almost missed the rest of the pictures on the wall. Most were of local officers through the decades. With each step down the hall, the pictures changed from black and white to color while the frames changed from wood to plastic. In the corner of her eye she could have sworn there was blood on the broken glass the secretary was cleaning up. The left turn came.

Fluttershy saw the door to the holding cells, but it was blocked by two figures. An ginger colored officer was preventing the other from passing into the cell room. "I'm sorry but only Miss Fluttershy was authorized to access this area."

"This is outrageous!" This other fellow was a lanky grey pegasus. His lab coat read as scientist while his tightly knotted necktie and crisp shirt spoke wealth. He was an idiot and he was rich. "She's not even a doctor! I'm an actual professional!" He was a rich idiot.

"What seems to be the problem?" Fluttershy asked in a demanding way, she was concerned with getting to where she needed to go. Her assertive side began to come out.

"I'm sorry miss, but this," the officer looked the pegasus up and down, "pencil neck, is trying to gain unauthorized access."

"Excuse me?" The grey pegasus gasped in ridiculous astoundment. "I'm am from Canterlot!" The officer laughed at his statement. "And! I am more qualified to deal with this situation than that veterinarian! I'll have you know, I'm famous for my work."

"Never heard of you," the ginger colored officer let out a very annoyed sigh.

"Well you know," Fluttershy began, "my friend Twilight always says that ponies that boast about their position in life are just compensating for a lack of self esteem. Her assistant on the other hoof, just calls them losers." Fluttershy held a stern face as the pegasus tried to maintain his misguided pride. "Officer, check him."

"Yes ma'am." The officer went to work patting him down.

"What are you doing?" The pegasus squirmed like a pathetic worm under the officer's searching hooves.

"I'm giving you one chance, but if I don't like what your true intentions are, you are going to be in big trouble mister." Fluttershy's threat was done by the time the officer had pulled out some wiring and a gold colored pocket watch. "I'm going to try and pretend that I didn't see those shock therapy wires... What's the pocket watch for?"

"For telling the time!" The pegasus tried to defend himself, but a big hole in his lie was in plain sight.

"You already have a watch on your left leg," the officer pointed out.

"It's my grandfather's," the pegasus tried again.

"No it's not," Fluttershy saw straight through his lie this time, "my friend Pinkie Pie bought the exact same watch at a joke shop when she visited Canterlot. It's for hypnotizing! Take him away from here."

"Gladly. Hey Slim!" The officer's call was met by a husky brown unicorn officer. "Get this jerk out of here." With that the pegasus was carried out, by Slim, as he kicked the air and began yelling something about his college degrees. The ginger colored officer turned back to Fluttershy, "I'm so sorry about that miss." Turning around, he unlocked the door to the cell room. "It was actually your name that got him to calm down. As we mentioned you were coming, he stopped fighting us."

"Thank you officer." Fluttershy walked passed him as he tipped his cap and carefully shut the door behind her as she entered.

The cell room was silent, and most of the holding cells were empty as usual, except one. There he was, curled up into a mess of a body next to cot behind the bars. His hair was tangled, his shoes missing, and his shirt was torn. He kept mumbling the same string of words to himself in a hushed voice, "Never give up, never give up, never give up, never-"

"Luke?" Fluttershy stepped passed the two guards she'd barely noticed when she walked in. Her concentration was elsewhere. "Luke, it's me, Fluttershy." She pressed her head against the cold metal bars of the jail cage. Luke had stopped mumbling to himself, but he seemed to refuse the chance of taking a glance at the mare who had been his counselor for the past couple of months.

"I'm sorry," Luke cried into his knees.

"Sorry? Sorry for what-," Fluttershy stopped talking when she noticed something in Luke's hand. "What is that?" She watched as his hand, which had blood dripping from it, release its deathly grasp. From his hand fell a horn that leaked blood and loose marrow. Fluttershy remembered the young officer outside that kept obsessing over the whereabouts of his own horn. "What happened?"

*****

three months earlier...

"Girls, today we make history!" Twilight smiled, mad with glee, as she snapped on a pair of goggles.

Applejack stood back. "Are you sure about this? I usually ain't one to criticize your," a spark in Twilight's contraption startled her, "methods, but this does seem a bit risky."

"Yeah, you don't even know if this thing will work." A loud bang caused Rainbow dash to nearly jump out of her skin.

"It will work! The other Twilight and I have figured it all out. The mirror transforms its travelers on a biological and molecular level to compensate for the magical factor. If anything were to cross over without the change, there could be a temporal disturbance that would have a lasting impact on either worlds' dimensional planes of existence." The machine that Twilight has hooked up to the mirror was larger than the last time. It began grow even louder than before.

"That sounds dangerous!" Rarity was forced to yell over the machine. As the mirror began to spark with magical energy, Fluttershy hid behind Rarity. Pinkie Pie was awestruck by the light show that emanated from the mirror.

"Don't worry! The other Twilight and I figured out how to isolate the magical factor and rebalance the biological and molecular changes so that our traveler can maintain his original biological image." Twilight heard a loud pop, and instinctively replaced a fuse that had blown. "Hopefully!"

The mirror began to swirl with energy, bursts of lightning beams shot out like confetti and made contact with the walls, arching. A white light began to grow as a high pitched tone shook the room and its occupants. The light flooded the whole room until there was nothing to see. There was no other colors but white.

Slowly, the light subsided. The high pitched tone still ringing in their ears, the six friends could barely focus on the body that was collapsed on the floor. Slowly, the stinging tone died down.

"Wow! It actually worked!" Twilight began to jump in place and cheer blindly to herself.

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked stepping a bit closer to the figure.

The body appeared to be dressed in a plastic set of clothes along with a white mask attached by a tube that covered what appeared to be its head. "Is it safe to breathe?" It mumbled through the mask. The six friends jumped back in surprise as it began to stand up.

"The air should be fine," Twilight walked up to the figure and helped it take off the mask, "the balance should have altered your lungs and immune system enough to be compatible with our atmosphere."

The mask popped off with a hiss. The face behind it gasped for air. "Wow, that feels better. The air in that suit was already stale." Smiling, a laugh escaped its lips. "You wouldn't happen to have a tailor on site, would you? I don't really have any other clothes than this hazmat suit."

Twilight looked over to Rarity. "You can make him some clothes can't you?"

"Well of course," Rarity gave a faulty smile, "but, what is it?"

Twilight laughed a bit as she looked at the name tag on the stranger's apparel. "His name is Luke, and he is a human."

"Hi," Luke chuckled nervously.

*****

present time...

Fluttershy was pacing outside in front of the police station. "Fluttershy!" Fluttershy stopped her pacing when she saw Rarity running up to the police station. "I have a new set of clothes for Luke. I hope he's okay with flannel."

"Thank you Rarity. I'm sure he'll be glad to have these." Fluttershy said taking the clothes. Rarity followed her as she headed inside the station.

"So, what happened?" Rarity asked.

"He got into a fight." Fluttershy's words were shaky. "He broke off a unicorn's horn. I don't know much more than that." Neither wanted to speak, but they continued anyway. "I don't understand why it's escalated so badly. He was doing fine."

Rarity shook her head. "Didn't you say yourself that he was getting over his depression?"

"He was, but something else is wrong, I know it. He's worse than before. I'm worried he may never be alright." Fluttershy wiped away the accumulating tears in her eyes. "I haven't lost a friend yet. I'm not sure if I could handle losing-"

"Hey," Rarity put her hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder. "Everything is going to be fine."

*****

the castle of friendship...

"Luna, Discord, thank you for coming to help." Twilight bowed as she greeted the two guests.

"We are happy to help you, but, may I ask what it is that you want our help with," Luna asked. Neither she nor Discord had been informed of what was going on.

Twilight let out a sigh. The air around her felt thick and dry. It was like breathing salt. "Luke is in a bit of trouble."

"The human?" Luna raised her brow asking for confirmation, to which Twilight nodded yes.

Discord's interest had been peaked. "Fluttershy talks volumes about him. I understand she's been playing shrink. Has he gotten any better?" Both Luna and Twilight were somewhat surprised to actually detect a sense of concern in his voice.

"He's struggling right now. He's being held in Ponyville's police station, but I've sent a messenger to have him delivered here." Twilight felt there was more to Discord's concern than the simple involvement of his dear friend Fluttershy. "Why the sudden interest?"

Discord looked back and forth between Twilight and Luna. "Let's just say that I can relate to his, mental struggles. I want to help."

"You're crazy Discord," Luna interjected.

"Not as much as I once was. I'm reformed, remember?" Discord mocked Luna with a twisted smile.

Luna let out a huff. "You're still damaged."

"That maybe so, but sometimes it's the damaged ones that are the wisest," Discord rebuked.

"Says who?" Luna raised a brow.

"I'm not really sure. I heard it somewhere." He tried to remember where he heard that exactly, but he gave up when he decided to figure that out later. There was more important business to deal with now, apparently. "So, miss sparkle butt, how may we be of assistance?"

Twilight smiled, albeit annoyed with Discord's antics, she was glad to see him ready to help. "I need you and Luna to navigate his dreams. Maybe you can find something that might give us a better understanding of what he's going through. Maybe more that he hasn't told us yet."

"You think he's hiding something," Luna asked, "wouldn't he have already spoken all his troubles with Fluttershy?"

"Maybe something he's forgotten," Discord suggested, "or someone."

Just then Applejack rushed in through the doors up to Twilight, Luna, and Discord. She breathed heavily and took in just enough air to say, "Sorry for interrupting."

"Applejack? What is it?" Twilight rushed to her side and helped her stay up so she didn't fall over from a lack of oxygen.

Applejack took a deep breath to allow herself to speak, "my brother, Big Mac, he along with six others saw what happened. It was a changeling!"

"Was he attacked by it," Discord inquired.

"No!" Applejack yelled out as she panted, trying to catch her breath. "It wasn't like that." The three looked at her as if she had lost her mind or something. "Luke was talking to the changeling when a bunch of hooligans came and started harassing them both. Big Mac said they especially were picking on the changeling. Apparently things got physical when they started beating the changeling and then..." Applejack bit her lip.

"What happened?" They all enquired.

"Big Mac said he just snapped. Like an animal he said." Applejack shook her head. "Can you believe it? I mean it was Luke he was talking about! Big Mac even compared him to a timberwolf. He said he beat the pulp out of the earth pony and even broke off the unicorn's horn." A contagious sickness of mixed emotions filled the room and polluted the air. "Even if it was self defense, it comes no short of extreme."

"Hmmm," Discord hummed as he rubbed his chin with his paw. Deep in thought he had a suspicion that ran deeper than his own mischief. "Twilight, while Luna and I search through Luke's dreams, I want you to see if you can locate that changeling Applejack mentioned."

Twilight glanced between Applejack and discord. "You think it can help us?"

"I believe so yes..." Discord said in his usual mischievous manner.

*****

"Geese! Could your legs be any longer?" Discord couldn't stop pointing out the obvious facts about Luna's human disguise for walking through Luke's dreams.

"Excuse me?" Luna looked Discord's disguise up and down. "Why do you look like a balding middle aged man with a goatee?"

"Nevermind that now! We're here to observe aren't we? So... Let's go take notes." Discord took off with Luna chasing after him to make sure he didn't tamper with anything in Luke's mind.

The local school bell rang, releasing the floodgates as students rushed out. The different social groups and various ethnicities flocked together within their singled out tribes of self acceptance. Each had their own rituals whether it be studying, showing off to the opposite gender, or just causing trouble. Out of the whole ecosystem of kids, there was one in particular that was different.

The short little boy walked carefully down the steps of the school. His black sneakers and white socks didn't match the sandy cargo shorts or the green polo shirt he wore. With his nose in a book, he continued to walk. Occasionally pushing his long hair out of his face, not much deterred him from reading.

WHACK

The poor boy was too late to notice the book that was flying straight at his head. By the time he even realized that he had been hit, his face had already made contact with the ground. Off to the side, a bunch of boys were laughing their heads off. "What's the matter Luke? I thought you liked books!" The boys laughed, pointed, and jested about little Luke's misery.

Discord and Luna stood behind a car as they observed the whole incident. "Wow! Not even I'm that cruel." Discord looked at Luna. "Too bad this is a dream, otherwise I would have annihilated those bullies with extreme prejudice."

Luna suddenly covered Discord's mouth. "Look!"

As the boy tried to ignore the pain in his face he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw a pretty little girl about his age holding his book and the book that was thrown at him. "Look on the bright side Luke. It is a new book."

Taking both of the books from her hands, Luke smiled. "You're right. I haven't read this one yet. Thanks." Both Luke and the girl giggled together as they held hands and walked down the sidewalk, away from the school.

"She isn't real." Luna blinked, amazed by what she saw.

"Well duh, we're in Luke's dreams." Discord laughed to himself.

"No, you don't understand!" Luna reprimanded him. "Those bullies for instance, are shadows of real people, but that girl is not. However, I almost could have mistaken her as a real person."

Discord looked out at the two children walking happily into nothing. "Is she a dead friend perhaps?"

"No, she's not even that. She is a dream by herself, but the detail in her character," Luna smiled, "she's like perfection in terms of dreams."

"Oh, I see." Discord knew instantly what she was. "It's his imaginary friend." A nostalgic flood of emotions took a hold of Discord as he compared the scenario to that of his own experience. "I think I know what happens next in this dream."

The world around Luna and Discord suddenly went black.

*****

Fluttershy pulled a blanket over Discord's sleeping body. Smiling at the draconequus, she gave him a peck on the the cheek and headed out the door. To her surprise, Rarity was waiting in the hall for her, grinning. "What?" Fluttershy whispered as she shut the door.

"Does he know?" Rarity continued to grin at her friend.

"No, but I'm fine with that." Fluttershy gave a half hearted laugh. "Besides, I'm too young for him." Both friends began to laugh in familiar comfort that was usually confined to their spa days. "So, has Twilight looked over Luke yet? I didn't get a chance to tend to any injuries he might have had. The guards refused to open his cell and let me treat him."

Rarity sighed. "Twilight says that Luke is fine, and the only injuries were some bruises and some minor cuts on one of his hands. She said it looked like broken glass had sliced it. Know anything about that?"

Fluttershy remembered the fallen picture frame at the police station. "He knocked down a picture frame in the police station. I saw a secretary cleaning it up. But," Fluttershy stared down at the floor, a sad story floated in her mind, "I'm not worried about any physical injuries he sustained. I'm more worried for his mental health. Scars to the mind are never superficial. I remember when he first came to me for help, he was just feeling a bit under the weather since couldn't find a job, and once he did, he got worse. He said he felt like he didn't belong. When I asked the manager at his work, the manager said he was a wonderful hard worker who always smiled. I asked some of the regular customers, and they go on about how wonderful he is to have around helping."

"I don't understand." Rarity was baffled by this. "He doesn't see his own self worth? But, you said those around him find him charming as a person. He must receive compliments."

"The other employees even put on a birthday party for him!" Fluttershy felt the frustration kicking migraines into her temples. "I wish there was an easy answer to all of this, but there isn't."

*****

"Discord what is all this?" Luna flew close to him as they zoomed through a torrent of off and grungy colors that vibrated and fluxed with pulses of electricity. "I've never seen anything like this."

Discord yanked Luna out of the way of a dark cloud that burst from the pulsating colors around them. "Turbulence!" Discord had to shout over the growing noise. "It's dream turbulence! It's kinda new for either of us! You have to remember that he's human. Humans dream differently than ponies. Their minds sometimes tend to reflect an emotional or physical state of being. Right now his mind and body seem to be in chaos!" Discord smiled. "My specialty!"

"Wait did you say his mind and his body?" Luna said as she dodged what looked like a burning carriage made of metal with rubber wheels. "What does that mean?"

"It means, that there's a lot more than just mental health issues at work!" Discord looked between the burning carriage, a leather belt, a blue baseball cap, a shredded painting, a cross, and all the other memories that shot around violently.

"What are you looking for?" Luna gasped as she dodged a rusty pocket knife.

"Help me! I'm looking for a specific emotional attachment!" Discord continued his frantic search.

"What kind of attachment?" Luna flew up to Discord's side looking at books that flew by, tearing themselves apart.

"Guilt! Anger! Confusion! And loss!" Discord nose dived as a brick wall covered in graffiti flew towards him.

They continued through the maze and mystery of the winding colors and stray objects. Each one significant in its own right, was unfathomable to either Discord or Luna. At one point, a ringing sound shattered and defaced dozens of clocks that tumbled to and from random points, without the consistency of any physics at all. The colors began to change. They suddenly became darker, and red dominated the eyesight of Luna and Discord.

"There! I see it!" Luna pointed to a fishing pole that frantically unwound and rewound its fishing line.

"There you are!" Discord smiled with glee.

Luna became frightful as a dark shadow passed by. It vaguely reminded her of the nightmare spirit. "Now what? Can we get out of here?" Luna yelped as something had hooked onto her back.

Discord had hooked her with the fishing pole they apparently had been looking for. "Hold on to your flank! We're going in!"

A white flash sucked the two of them out of the hellish vortex. As the light faded into nothing, something else appeared. There was a grassy meadow. Across it lay a few fallen trees and rocks, but the focus of all attention went to the river that spanned nearly a hundred feet wide with fish all fighting its current to stay close to their momentary homes of comfort. Next to the river, there sat a sort of lawn chair that was a crusty faded green plastic. Leaning against it was a fishing pole. An open tackle box and pair of sneakers sat adjacent to the chair.

"Where's Luke?" Luna looked at herself, she was in her human form. Discord was back in his human form as well, wearing fishing attire.

"He's over there, just watch." Discord let out a single solitary chuckle that was inappropriate, given the circumstances, but he was forcing himself to hide an old familiar emotion as he and Luna watched Luke.

Luke stood by the side of the river. He was different, he had grown and changed. He was older. He looked tired. But, what really stood out was the festering anger that bled through his face.

"Is that a mane he has?" Luna tilted her head as she noticed that Luke's hair was shaved.

"I believe it's called a mohawk... Named after the Mohican tribes of Northern America, who were known for their warriors' hairstyles. It was during World War 2 that the hairstyle became popular among paratroopers and other soldiers. Then through courses of pop culture, it became popular with the genre of punk and rebellious children." Discord looked at Luna who was baffled.

"Wait, what?" Luna blinked in dazed confusion.

"I have no idea..." Discord admitted. "I'm not even sure if all that was accurate. A word keeps floating around, wikipedia, or something like that. Nevermind, not important. Anyway!" Discord pulled out his own fishing pole and tackle box from out of seemingly nowhere. "I'm going to have a little talk with Luke."

"Wait!" Luna tried to grab Discord's arm, but it just passed straight through her grasp. "You can't just tamper with his dreams!"

Discord raised his eyebrow as he glanced at Luna. "Hypocrite," he muttered. "Besides. This is important. Aside from trying to stabilize his emotions, I'm doing him a favor that I never had the privilege of having."

As Discord took off towards the boy, Luna stood back a short distance away and listened closely.

Luke looked over the object in his hand. The little silver cross and chain shined in the sunshine, reflecting the light in and out of his eyes. "Thanks for nothing." He swung his arm around and chucked the contents of his hand down stream and into the river. Muttering something incoherent, he sat down in his chair.

"Catch anything good, sport?" Discord's sudden presence startled Luke. "Any salmon maybe?"

Luke stared at the man who had mysteriously appeared. "No, there's no salmon here. There's only trout."

"Well that's a shame!" Discord heartily laughed. "Who knows, maybe one of us will get lucky."

Luke hooked his bait on his hook and cast it into the river. "Sure. Whatever." He stared into the water, blankness held his emotions. Occasionally he looked up every now and then across the river, but that was the most his vision ever turned.

"Something bothering you, sport?" Discord looked at Luke with an expectant smile. "Sometimes the best way to deal with problems is to talk about them."

"My parents are dead. That's all, there's nothing to talk about." Luke ran his hand through his hair, brushing off some dust.

"There's more to it than that, isn't there?" Discord readied his rod and reel and cast it into the river.

Luke tugged on his line to see if he had a bite, nothing. "I don't care. That's the problem." For the first time Luke talked directly at Discord. "I don't care that my parents died. That's what disturbs me. They were burned alive, and I don't care."

"I'll wager this was a while ago, that your parents died, yes?" Discord raised his brow.

"Yes." Luke was blunt and cold.

"Then that's not the real reason you're upset, is it?" Discord looked across the river. Behind one of the trees in the tree line, a familiar girl appeared. She looked older, but it was the same girl that helped Luke with his books, long ago. "What do you care about?"

Luke coughed up a small chuckle. "You wouldn't understand. I'm the survivor of a very odd childhood."

"Ditto." Discord smiled as he began to reel in the line on his fishing pole. "You get bullied too?" Discord unhooked the trout he had caught and tossed it back in.

"Yeah." Luke laughed. "It's only funny because all those kids dropped out of school later on."

"I'll let you in on a secret. As a kid, I didn't have the best teeth. One in particular stuck far out." Discord chuckled. "This one colt- I mean boy," Discord corrected himself, "he called me a buck toothed beaver." A nostalgic smile came over him. "I punched him in the face." With that he cast his line back into the river.

"Really?" Luke couldn't help but laugh.

"Yep!" Discord reeled in another trout only to toss it back. "After that, the other boys that made fun of me, stopped. It only takes one great action to show others you're not worthless. Though, you really shouldn't punch people. Times have changed. All you need now is a good chaotic prank."

"Duly noted." Luke tugged at his line, nothing. He looked up across the river. "I don't worry too much about that now. Thanks."

"Something else is bothering you, still?" Discord pulled in another trout and tossed it back. He noted that the girl across the river behind the tree line had moved closer. "A girl? Is she pretty?"

"In her own ways." Luke kept staring across the river. "But, I should stop believing in fairy tales. And dreams."

Discord let loose another trout. "Let me tell you something. Dreams are sometimes the most real thing in the world. They help us fight fear. If you let fear control your life, you'll never get out of it alive. But, if you take life too seriously, you still won't get out of it alive either."

Luke thought he felt a small tug on his line, but he dismissed it. "I wish my dream could help me out of the hole I'm in."

"Dreams can do that," Discord pulled in another trout. "But, you have to remember that dreams look different in the real world."

Luke looked across the river. The girl that had been standing behind the trees was now standing at the bank of the river. "I think I've known that for a while, but it's hard to trust the outcome the real world is ready to throw at you."

Discord let out a sigh. "I know all too well about that." Discord caught another trout...

"Was it hard, facing the real world?" Luke felt another tug at his fishing pole.

"It was at first, but as I said before, times have changed." Discord looked at the girl across the river. It was odd, she was flickering. "Reality is better."

Luke curiously tugged back on his fishing pole. It was probably just a rock. "Reality is for suckers," he huffed, "but I suppose it is something we can rely on to be there when we need it."

Discord watched as the girl across the river was noticeably flickering, this time with sparks of green. "You know how dreams seem to be perfect. That's where they are flawed. In reality it is different. It's beautiful imperfections that make it wonderful in the real world." Discord tossed another trout back into the water.

"I don't want to be alone." Luke sputtered these words out as uncomfortably as possible. It was something he felt he should get out.

"That's understandable." Discord noticed that Luke's fishing line began to bounce.

"Something I once believed in, an old dream, it challenged my hopes for another dream." Luke felt that his line had stopped bobbing, whatever it was got away. "The world is against me." That was rather random, but necessary to him. The fact that he had too much to say was enduring. Too much came in and out at once.

"The world is for suckers." Discord smiled with a thousand years of thought. "Don't listen to the world. It'll give you a lot of white noise," Discord got down and put his ear to the ground as an example, "but in the end, you still have to pick the dirt out of your ears." He stood up. "Instead listen to the sky. Listen to potential. Hear the birds singing! Also see! See how much better than the world the sky is." Discord patted Luke on the back. "What do you say, sport?"

Luke looked up to the skies and listened. A bird, no an eagle, beat its heavy wings loud and clear. It's white face and golden feathers completed the image with the great call of its voice. Luke brushed his fingers across his hair. More dust flew off and about. The mohawk seemed to vanish under a clean cut and full head of hair.

"Dreams can often disappear when they are no longer needed." Discord turned around and saw a part of his consciousness leak into existence. The pink maned, white faced, beauty disappeared. The ghost of her horn and wings flickered back into nothing. An old dream that was no longer needed.

"You have experience with," Luke was about to ask, but he stopped when he saw the girl now standing in the middle of the river. Her feet standing on the surface of the water. "No, not yet, please." The girl stretched forth her hand as she began to descend into the water. "Please, stay!"

"You have to be brave." Discord took his hat off and held it over his heart. "You have to be brave enough to let the dream go, from this place, or it can never be found in the real world."

Luke fell to his knees. A symphony of dust flew from his body. He stared, and he watched as the girl sank slowly away, waving goodbye. "Good bye." Luke closed his eyes and bowed with defeat. She was gone from his mind. He could never see the dream the same way it was. He felt a tapping on his knee.

"Sport! Your fishing pole!" Discord pointed frantically at the pole that was slowly getting dragged away.

Realization took hold of Luke. "No you don't!" He dived to the ground and grabbed the pole before it got dragged into the water. A strange feeling swept over him. A green light shone in the water. He stood up and worked to pull it out of the water. "It's a big one!" The chase was on! He quickly began the meticulous process of reeling in and out. The process of fighting and releasing, worked to tire out the catch.

"You can do it!" Discord shouted out with joy. "You almost have it!"

Luke was closing in on the catch. It tipped the surface, it's scales just barely visible. A splash! The catch flipped out of water and danced through the air as Luke reeled it in the rest of the way. "Gotcha!"

Discord smiled and laughed, "Well, would you look at that."

"I don't believe it." Luke looked at the emerald beauty. A long salmon, easily more than two feet, hung in his grasp. Then, in twisted in his hand, a hacking sound erupted from its throat. "What's it doing?"

"I believe it's coughing," Discord said matter-of-factly.

"Fish cough?" Luke raised his brow as the fish let out a final heave. From its mouth, the silver cross fell back into Luke's hand. He couldn't believe it.

"Perhaps the worst mistake you can make, is giving up on your strongest dream." Discord put his hand on Luke's shoulder. "There is a difference between giving up and letting go. It seems this miracle fish decided this is a dream that should not be let go of, or given up on. Perhaps it may prove useful to you." Thinking for an odd moment, Discord smiled wiser than ever before. "Even when you get knocked down, it's how you come back up that decides the difference in your life."

"Weak things can become strong." Luke released the fish, but before it hit the water, it flew up. Time slowed down, the river slowed, and Luke froze in surprise as the fish turned around and swam through the air to face him. Its eyes glowed green as it evaporated into a grey smoke. The smoke took on the shape of a person. The eyes still glowing, a warm comforting smile appeared on the smoky face.

"That's new..." Discord blinked to make sure he saw what he just saw. The figure was feminine for sure, but it was the sparks of green that piqued interest. They were familiar, a feature that belonged to a creature from Equestria.

*****

"LUNA!" Discord bolted straight up as he woke up from Luke's dream. "Luna?"

"Did you see it?" Luna sat by Discord. "That sparking smoke creature, did you see it, Discord?"

"Yes, I did." Discord still breathed heavily from shock of being torn from a dream. "He forced us out! I couldn't even do that to you if I tried. How is that possible?"

"That's not important right now." Luna sighed.

"Not important?!" Discord gasped incredulously.

Luna stared back at Discord. "That smoke was a piece of something real! It's merging into reality! It was a mix between the girl in the dream and something else. It's manifested itself into reality somehow. We have to find out what we're dealing with."

Both of them stopped and froze as they heard Luke screaming through the halls of Twilight's castle.

*****

"We got it!" Rainbow Dash yelled out as she and Applejack drug the net through the door of the throne room. "It really put up quite a fight, but nothing I couldn't handle."

"You? Don't you mean we?" Applejack barked at Rainbow Dash. "I was the one that got him in the net!"

"Him? Who says it's a guy? I think it's a girl." Rainbow Dash looked to Twilight who was setting up a cage of energy. "What do you think Twilight?"

"First let's get the changeling secured, then we'll ask questions." Twilight finished setting up the cage. After stepping aside, she let Applejack and Rainbow Dash slide the net and its contents into the cage. The cage closed, sealing the changeling inside.

"It can't escape, can it?" Applejack looked to Twilight for confirmation.

"Don't worry, I put up a force field that only air and sound can penetrate." Twilight turned to the cage. "Did it speak when you confronted it?"

"I'm not an it!" They all looked at the changeling in the glowing cage. It had crawled out of the net.

"Of course," Twilight pointed out, "but we don't know how to refer to you. Are you male, female, and do you have a name?"

"I'm a she." She stated, mixed emotions of fear and frustration poured into her white face and green eyes.

"You're white?" Twilight looked her over and realized that she had never seen a white changeling before, and she never will. Upon further investigation, Twilight saw that around rough edges, here and there, there were scattered spots where the paint had worn off. "Judging by the slight graininess of texture, I'd say that's a sort of old tribal paint. Am I correct?"

"Yes." The changeling squirmed where she sat. "I got it from Zecora. I trade herbs and other ingredients for it."

"You know Zecora?" Applejack looked astonished.

"This surprises you?" The changeling forced a laugh. "You're either surprised that I know her, or more likely surprised because I didn't manipulate Zecora. You shouldn't judge all changelings the same."

Applejack was taken aback, but could somehow read the changeling as well as she read her. "You're trying not to be afraid right now aren't you? You're trying to hide it, but I can see how afraid you are. You can't fool us!"

They all watched as the changeling lost her composure. All the ploy and masquerade had vanished in a moment as a watery world fell from the corner of the changeling's eye, cleaning a path through the paint and stung her cheek in even more fear. It was Twilight's presence, a princess, that she was most afraid of. "Please, please don't kill me." She fell to the floor within her little prison with a pathetic attempt to hide her face with the cover of the spare limbs that could reach. "I didn't do anything wrong! I swear!"

"What did you do?" Twilight asked when suddenly, Luke's screaming had reached their ears.

"Oh no," the changeling's ears splayed back, "Luke..."

Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash all stared at the changeling. She knew Luke's name.

*****

Twilight's Notes:

Luke has been going in and out of multiple dream fits. Neither Luna nor Discord can access his dreams anymore, since it was deemed unsafe and unpredictable. Luke has the ability to force them out of his dreams. Any effects or possible harm from this is unknown and not worth the risk of finding out.

Physically, Fluttershy found some strange spiny growths on Luke's back along his spine. She refrained from removing the growths since they appeared to be rooted deep beneath his skin. She was able to trim off a sample for me though. Upon further examination, I found that the brown growths are made up of a very dense but flexible form of keratin. What's even stranger is that the growths align perfectly along his spine. They are also fireproof.

After talking more with the changling, we found out that her name is Cora. She is friendly. She is not from the same hive as Chrysalis. Her hive apparently scattered after their queen died. Most of us trust her enough to walk around the castle now, but she only ever moves between her room and Luke's (under our close watch). She doesn't change form, at least not in front of us. And, the more the paint she was wearing rubs off, the more uncomfortable she seems to behave.

*****

Luke's eyes jumped rapidly back and forth underneath his eyelids as his head shook a bit. He was pale and looked cold, even with the blankets all the way up to his neck. Standing by the bed sat Fluttershy and Cora. Fluttershy stared nervously at Cora who was fiddling with the little purple pansy flower she had brought for Luke.

"That's a nice flower." Fluttershy smiled sheepishly trying to start up a conversation.

"They're his favorite." Cora set the flower on the side table.

"Really? I didn't know that." Fluttershy admitted.

"There's a lot you don't know about Luke." Cora sat rather coldly at that remark. "There needs to be another pillow," Cora grabbed another pillow and gently tucked it under Luke's head, "there." Luke's fidgety sleep eased up. His breath was less erratic. He calmed down and let his whole body relax.

"You seem to know a lot about Luke. How long have you know him?" Fluttershy smiled at Cora.

"Well, he told me he had been in Equestria for a few weeks when we first met. He was walking by the Everfree Forest when I saw him. I was afraid to say hello at first, because, well, I'm not exactly what most of Equestria sees as friendly. But, I got the courage to say hi to him. I refused to let him see me for a long time. I didn't want to scare him, but to my relief, when I did show myself, he wasn't even shocked by my appearance." Cora rubbed her eyes. "I liked talking to him. Sometimes for hours. Every Thursday. I was glad to have a friend to talk to, maybe not really close, but one that cared to talk with me."

Fluttershy saw something in Cora, something she had seen before. "Do you admire him?"

Cora looked confused. "What do you mean, admire?"

Fluttershy was not usually one for subtleties. "Do you ever think of being more than a friend to him?"

Cora blinked. "Oh." She looked sad before, but now, even sadder. "I try not to. But, sometimes my imagination gets the better of me. I try to keep my admiration, as you say, at a minimum. And at a distance. It's just better that way."

Fluttershy understood now why this all sounded familiar. She thought of Discord. "Yeah, I know what that's like."

"Sometimes it's hard. I get confused, especially with his occasional request." Cora rubbed at her eyes again.

"Request?" Fluttershy asked. "What request?"

Cora bit her lower lip as she cursed to herself. "I shouldn't talk about it. I promised Luke that I wouldn't tell."

"It's okay, no need to worry. I can keep it secret." Fluttershy bravely wrapped a foreleg around Cora's shoulder. "You can trust me."

Cora looked uneasily between Fluttershy and Luke. "Okay, but please don't tell Luke I showed you."

"I promise, and Luke is fast asleep right now from his medication. It's all right." Fluttershy gave Cora a small hug and a light pat on the back.

"Okay." Cora stood back a little. She directed her horn at Luke and concentrated her magic to focus on a specific memory from Luke's mind. She stood up on her hind legs as her magic engulfed the rest of her body. Green sparks surrounded her and completed the transformation.

"Oh." Fluttershy looked over Cora's new form. She looked like another one of Luke's kind. She looked like a human. Judging by the physique and general look, she appeared as a young woman.

"Luke always liked this face," Cora smiled the face that wasn't hers, "and so do I. He told me stories about her, how she was there for him. A dream he calls her, but I don't believe him. She sounds too real." She sat down by Luke's side. Carefully she brought the hand that wasn't her's up to brush his cheek with a thumb. "It's hard to be a friend. You know that? You can mistake simple affection with what seems like romance. He told me the word romance is flawed in how people use it. It is not love, it's a type of love. I'm not romantic, but I can taste love like all changelings. I don't forcefully consume any of it, of course, but I can feel it, as you would say. I just like his love. It's pure, and not tainted by desires. This face, he loves it so purely. He's told me how just by thinking of this face, he overcame fear. I wish this were my face." Cora looked back at Fluttershy. "That's why I wear the paint. I don't want to look the way I really look. I wanted a friend, a real friend. He is the closest I could find," she began to cry, "and I don't want to lose him. I don't want to be alone. I just want to be there for him, like she was. I want to be like her."

Fluttershy embraced Cora who had sparked back to her changeling form. "You are, aren't you? You're here now. You said you wanted a real friend. He is real, but she, this face he asks you to put on, she isn't real. He needs a real friend. You can be that real friend he needs." Fluttershy did her best to wipe away Cora's tears. "Do you want to leave?"

"No." Cora broke away from Fluttershy's embrace and rushed over to Luke's side again. She displaced the sheets partially and wriggled her head under his arm. Emotionally shaken, she fell asleep.

Fluttershy looked at the sight. It was tugging back and forth on her heart strings between warmth and ache.

She was about to leave the room when she noticed something on Luke's arm. More growths had begun to grow from his skin.

*****

"They're scales!" Twilight proclaimed.

"But how can that be?" Luna asked. "There is no logical explanation for the appearance of these scales, is there?"

Twilight smiled nervously. "Actually..."

"Actually," Discord interrupted, "Twily here is afraid to admit that she made a mistake."

"What?" Luna was lost.

"I may have, possibly, made a slight miscalculation." Twilight shot an angry look at Discord.

"Stop pulling Luna's leg! Face it Sparkle Butt, you screwed up." A mischievous grin spread across Discord's face. "Oh, I just can't wait to tell Celestia about your latest blunder!"

*****

Twilight's Notes:

Discord is still obnoxious, but he is right. After examining Luke further and going over my notes, I discovered the fault, which was my own. My attempts to stop the biological change in Luke was not stopped, but merely delayed. The biological factor has caught up and is now slowly turning Luke into a dragon. Under normal conditions, passing through the mirror would have made the transformation quick and painless. But now, other side effects have come up...

>heightened emotional sensitivity
>anxiety attacks
>insomnia (being treated with medication)
>achluophobia (fear of darkness)
>most predominantly autophobia (fear of solitude - we do our best to help with this)

*****

a month and a half later...

"Alright Luke. That's good. Now, carefully stretch out your right wing." Luke obeyed Applejack's command. "Good now fold it back up and do the same with your other wing."

Luke struggled a bit more with his left wing. "I think I'm getting the hang of it." He now stood nearly twice the height of Applejack and the others. His golden tan scales contrasted his brown spines and underbelly. He wore a bedsheet as a covering since he still was used to wearing clothes. His eyes, now reptilian, looked at his hands that had become sets of claws. The sight caused him some discomfort. "How long do you think I'm gonna be like this?"

"I don't know sugar cube. Twilight said if she can't find a way to put you back to the way you were, this may be permanent." Applejack was reluctant in sharing this information. "Besides, you don't look that bad, for a dragon that is."

Luke smiled. "Really?"

"I'm a bad liar, Luke." Applejack smirked.

"You're as bad a liar as Twilight is at keeping a secret." Luke began to laugh. "Speaking of dragons you think are good looking..."

"No! NO! NO! Don't you dare! I wasn't serious about that!" Applejack turned beet red with embarrassment.

"Wasn't serious about what?" Pinkie Pie came bouncing around the corner.

"Come on Applejack!" Luke got louder trying to clue in Pinkie Pie. "I thought you had a chance with him!"

"Really?" Applejack got excited for a second, but quickly realized her mistake. "Wait! No! Stop that!"

Pinkie Pie gasped as her eyes went as wide as saucers. "Oh my gosh! Applejack has a crush? Who is it?"

Luke smiled deviously. "Then again, I kinda see that possibility as more like his crush on Rarity. It's cute to think about, but it's never gonna happen." Applejack was now covering her face with her hat. Luke laughed as she proceeded to scream into it.

Coming from behind her hat, Applejack furrowed her brow. "Nice skirt." She teased him, pointing at the bedsheet.

"Kilt!" Luke snapped.

"Come on guys! Don't leave me out!" Pinkie Pie still continued to beg.

Applejack muttered to herself. "Knows the secrets of the universe, but has terrible deduction skills. Thank goodness."

Pinkie Pie, at this point, started talking to the ceiling. "Come on Mr. Writer guy! Tell me who he his!" She perked her ears trying to listen better. "A dragon that we know? That isn't Smaug? What kind of answer is that?!"

"What's she going on about?" Applejack whispered to Luke.

Luke shook his head. "No idea." A small warmth started to fill him inside, but not all the way. He smiled a bit. However, something was missing. He was among friends, but they were still distant. He had control over his emotions and senses now, but he chose to not let it be enough. Something else, no, someone was on his mind.

*****

"I'm surprised you still want clothes." Rarity smiled as she began her process of measuring Luke. "Not that I'm complaining. It is business, but could you pick out clothing designs that are a bit more, how do I say this, stylish."

"I'm fine with simple, modest clothes Miss Rarity." Luke gave a light laugh.

Rarity returned the laugh. "You seem to be feeling a bit better, wouldn't you say?"

The smile that Luke tried on, didn't fit quite right. "Not completely."

"Come now, no one likes a sour puss." Rarity tapped her hoof until Luke caved and smiled once more. "There, that's better. Now tell me what it is that's still got you down."

Luke scratched the back of his neck carefully with his claws. "I think I found something I've been looking for, for a long time. But I'm afraid I might lose it."

"It?" Rarity asked?

"Well, someone not something." He admitted.

Rarity finally put down her measuring tape and sat down in front of Luke. "So this someone is the one thing that can complete your happiness." She smiled. "You know what they say. If it's good, pursue it."

"You make it sound so easy." Luke let out a chuckle.

"Most good things are." Rarity pushed her glasses back up onto her muzzle. "Now, will it be the red plaid or the blue plaid for the shirt?" Luke pointed to the blue plaid fabric. "Good, it brings out your eyes."

*****

Discord's bewilderment grew as Fluttershy helped him connect the dots. "These actually make pictures? I thought they were just a bunch of random dots!"

Fluttershy giggled as she finished connecting the dots to reveal the picture of a light house. She handed Discord the coloring book. "I'm glad you like them a lot more now."

"So, how's Luke doing? Is he adapting well to his new body?" Discord started on another connect-the-dots section in the coloring book.

"He's getting along nicely. He's got a new job with the blacksmith, forging armor for Twilight's guard. He's got a little cottage near the Everfree." Fluttershy's eyes followed Discord's crayon as it slowly connected the new set of dots. "You seemed to connect with him well."

Discord forced a long sigh. "I wasn't exactly a human being transformed into a dragon, but in his mental state during that transition, I could relate to him. I saw a shadow of my younger self. I did my best to give him advice that I never had the privilege of receiving. I knew it would make a difference."

"Playing father?" Fluttershy teased.

"That, and someone needed to tell him how terrible that mohawk looked on him." Discord said matter-of-factly.

"You didn't dare." Fluttershy gave Discord a light playful shove.

"Correct, I didn't. Inside the dreams of an emotionally unstable being? That could have been a death trap." Discord hummed a laugh. "Father you say? If only I was...a father..." He trailed off pondering just how profound that idea was.

"I bet you'd be a great one." Fluttershy continued to look at the coloring book, trying to figure out what the dots were forming.

Discord looked at Fluttershy, a twinkle of hope in his eyes. "You think so? I don't know really, but maybe, then again..." He had to stop himself from rambling. "I'm probably am too damaged, like Luna said."

"It's the most damaged people who are the wisest." Fluttershy beamed.

"So that's where I heard that from." Discord smiled.

"It's true. They're the most experienced." Fluttershy realized that Discord was connecting the dots upside down, and that's why she couldn't tell exactly what the picture was.

Continuing to connect the dots, Discord thought out loud, "I'd be happy to have a son like Luke to help along in life."

Fluttershy rubbed her eyes as she got sleepy. "Luke would have loved to have you as a father." With that she dozed off to sleep next to Discord.

Discord smiled as he used his tail to pull a blanket to cover her. "That's a nice idea." He finished connecting the dots and flipped the image over. It was two hearts tied together with a ribbon. "You would be an even greater mother. I think so, yes." Discord kept quiet after that.

*****

Luke looked up at the skies. Depression, anxiety, stress, it all faded into myth as he laid on his back and relaxed. He was glad in the end, that his experiences were all part of a phase of literal transformation. Maybe that's what mental illness is for, he thought, to help us grow and build immunity to sadness so we can be happier. The sun was almost close to settling down for the night.

The purple and red streaks that waved through the sky loomed over the distant horizon. The light brushed with Luke's scales to the point where he could see them shine for a bit. He wondered, where did Cora go? He remembered hearing her voice in Twilight's castle, but when he asked, everyone said that she left without a word.

Again he tried to delve deeper into the beauty of dusk. Closing his eyes, he could hear the crickets creeping out early. Much too early. Then without warning, the chirping of cricket leg violinists stopped. Luke opened his eyes and standing there before him was Cora. "Hello." She nervously stepped closer.

"Hello stranger." Luke smiled as he stood up."That's a nice dress."

"Zecora gave it to me. She says it matches my eyes." Cora shook her head looking at the green dress. It was simple, but elegant all the same.

"I think it suits you." Aside from noticing that Cora's white makeup was gone, Luke just stared. Not because of the dress, but because of a realization. It had been so long. "I've been waiting to talk for a while."

"You have?" Cora said eagerly. "I'm sorry for avoiding you this long while. I've just been a bit on edge, lately."

"I know the feeling." Luke felt a twinge of guilt on behalf of the both of them. "You were afraid I had changed all together. But, I'm still me. I just had a very long wake up call." He laughed at the fading pains of his transformation. A moment of silence passed as the summer breeze picked up. Birds began their routes back to their homes. Though the sun had not yet even begun to set, the moon and a few stars broke through the blue barrier that clashed with the purple fires of the lowering sun.

"I'd like to change into her now, if that's okay with you." Cora began to fidget. She was desperate to become that other face she believed to be much better than her own.

"She looks a bit different now, but that's okay. Go on." Luke watched as Cora focused her horn towards Luke. Her magic began to spark as the image from Luke's mind manifested itself. The sparks engulfed her and she completed the transformation.

"What?" Cora looked at her self. "I don't understand. Where is she?" She looked and looked, but all she could see was herself.

"You're here." Luke's voice quivered a little. "You are her. My friend, I found you."

Cora looked at herself and cried. "But I'm not pretty. How can I be your friend when I'm this?"

Luke was afraid to speak, but pure will and dedication to good took control of his voice. "Aren't you my friend?"

"Yes," Cora broke through her tears, "I mean, I want to be. I don't want you to be alone."

"You are my friend. You care. That's all I ever wanted, that's enough. Someone that cares. You're my friend. And, I don't care if you're not pretty, because you are beautiful." Luke let it out. "I love you. I'm not gonna try and be romantic about it. I don't know how to be. I just know that love is a part of life. That face I showed you was just a dream. It wasn't real. It was just an image I made up to understand a hope. But, I don't need that face anymore. I found the hope I was looking for. I found you. You're my friend. And, I love you for you."

"You don't mind me being a changeling?" Cora asked.

Luke laughed a bit inside. "Not if you don't mind me being a dragon."

Cora looked up at Luke. She saw through his eyes to see the pure intent of a familiar affection. She recognized the look on his face and in his eyes. That's how he looked at that face she used to dawn for him. That's how he was looking at her now, but it was different somehow. Aside from the fact that he was now a dragon, it was real. She trusted him. "I don't mind you being a dragon. I just wanted to know that it was really you." Her tears turned from hot to warm.

She ran up to him and wrapped her forelegs around him. Returning the gesture, he felt something click inside. A puzzle of confusion, solitude, and doubt had been solved. A life that seemed like an ugly picture suddenly became a masterpiece. He was not alone. That meant the world to him. He was happy. Life was complete. It was wonderful. It was worthwhile. As Cora nuzzled her face into his neck, he rocked gently, almost floating with his friend.

Rolling along the road near the cottage, a colt helped his mother pull a cart. Noticing the moment at the cottage, he whispered to his mother, "Look at that, mom. It's a dragon hugging a changeling."

"Huh," the mother smiled, "what do you think the story is there?"

The colt looked down the road where the sun was now beginning to set. "I don't know," he smiled at his mother, "but it must be a good one."

Author's Note

First off, tell me if I should write a sequel or continuing chapter.

Second, this story has a lot of meaning... And a lot of thinking...
Some force beyond me compelled me to write this. I feel that I wrote it for someone. I'm not sure who, but I'm sure it helped. I hope it helped, in someway.

I remember waking one morning to my radio going off, and I just started writing without stopping until the end. Here is the song I heard, that echoed through my mind as the words flowed through my paintbrush fingers...

Post Trauma

"You filthy rotten, no good bamboozler." Luke slammed the cider glass nonchalantly down with a crash. "Son of a!" The spectators cringed at the human as the profanity escaped his mouth with language far from pure and more colorful than a rainbow. "You trying ta steal all my money!" He swayed around and around as he tried to point to the pony that sold him his drink.

"Just calm down already! We don't want any trouble now."

"Is that so?" Luke yelled as his legs wobbled. "Well, you got trouble you sorry sack of-" He slipped on and into the broken glass that was the vessel to his state. "Why am I covered in ketchup?" Licking the blood from his fingers, he tried to jump back up to his feet.

"Are we going to have to escort you out of here?"

Luke grabbed a bottle and broke it. "You can sure as hell try!" Running at the proprietor, armed with his broken bottle, he madly yelled. The spectators intervened. Each one grabbed at the human and restrained him. "You're not a part of this! Just me and Mr. Swindler here!" Breaking an arm loose, he decked the adjacent restraint in the face. Swinging back, he elbowed the other in the neck. This madman was fueled by raw drunken power that brought false promises of invincibility.

The brawl continued on, blindly. Kick here, dodge, uppercut, dodge again, and keep moving. That was Luke's rhythm as he paraded around and around attacking the would be peace keepers. "Is that all you got?!" He picked the broken bottle back up after losing it in the initial offense defense. Grabbing the proprietor by the neck, he readied his weapon for the plunge only to have a hoof knock it out of his hand. Hands.

He curled both appendages into fists. A surge in his blood took over his body, his eyes blank as he swung down his firsts again and again. "Luke! Stop!" More hooves tried to stop him. He recognized the voice, but far too late as the full force of his hand swung around. The audible smack and shriek left Luke turned around with his fist still in the air. Sweat drenched his eyes as he stared down at Cora.

"Oh my God!" It dawned on him. He had stricken his blow. The damage was done. "Oh God, no..." His eyes, bloodshot, twitched as the voices surrounded him and the injured body of the changeling.

"Monster!"
"Freak."
"Who does he think he is?"
"No good at all."
"He should have stayed dead."

"No, it-it was an ac-accident! No! I wouldn't!" But, he did. There she was. Cora lay passed out, maybe even dead by his hand. But something else was wrong. Luke missed the obvious. His mind tarried in grief for a while, but soon it found that unmistakable truth that eradicated this hellish incident.

"There are no bars in Ponyville."

*****

Luke jumped up in his bed, fear and desperation pumped his lungs till they burst with cries and tears. He was awake now. Frantically he searched around the room. It was his. Thoroughly, he examined his claws and stretched his wings. They were also his. The transformation from nearly six months ago had left him as a dragon. A shadow of his human form seemed to be more or less of a legend now, a fairy tale.

"It was a dream." Luke said emotionally triumphant. Seeing that he wasn't in a bar and in fact in his own bedroom, he breathed deeply to seek peace and comfort. "It was just a dream." Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he looked into the blinding rays of the rising sun. "It was just a dream."

Remembering his chime clock, he looked at it. It was a gift from Fluttershy and her friends. They all pitched in the bits to buy it for him. Listening to its subtle ticks and tocks, he watched the minute hand progress across the face of the clock for about a minute and then some until the chimes rang in eight different tones. The customized lever that controlled when the chimes went off was set at six thirty. It was six thirty. In the morning.

Moving on through the cottage there were various pictures in picture frames of various sizes. It was a humble collection that had been growing in its own due time. A few were paintings. More were photographs of him with the friends he knew. His first birthday party with Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash giving him his first flying lesson, a few more photos of him when he was still a human, and many other fond memories hung on the walls of his home. But there was one photo, in a special frame, that stood out to him the most.

Luke smiled at the picture of him and Cora. It showed off their friendship in a white painted frame with a small plaque that read, "Friends Forever."

*****

Bang...Bang...Bang...

Iron Clad hammered into the metal, flattening it to be shaped. The red hot lump was surrounded by his magical aura as he raised his right limb to bring down the hammer. Sweat rolled off in rivers. As the metal became too cold to pound anymore, Iron Clad raised it back into the furnace. "Not hot enough," he muttered, "no how."

"I can fix that." Luke hurried up as he pulled on his leather apron. Moving to the back of the furnace, he opened another panel and steadily blew fire into the chamber. "Should be better now." To follow up, he continued working on the chest plates he was working on the previous day.

"What kept you so long this morning," Iron Clad asked, "not enough sleep?"

"I slept, not well, but I slept. I also had some errands to run." Luke was more focused on catching up on work than discussing his busy morning, but out of decency, he willfully answered Iron Clad's inquiries.

"Errands?"

"Yeah, I helped Applejack fix the roof of her barn, and then I had to do some plumbing over at Quills & Sofas." Luke looked up from the chest plates he was inspecting. He had noticed Iron Clad was staring at him. "What?"

"You do well to fix a lot of things don't you," Iron Clad chuckled a bit, "I'm surprised that you're here working in the blacksmith instead of running your own little fix-it and repair business."

"First of all, I wouldn't call it fix-it and repair, and second, I work here because it's a place where I can put my fire breathing to good use." Luke laughed to himself. "And I have to babysit you."

"Hey now," Iron Clad protested, "I ain't no baby!"

"Okay then," a smile crept up onto Luke, "I still have to foalsit you, you old coot."

They both erupted with gut clenching laughter. Just then a passerby stopped to see what the commotion was about. At the sight of the passerby, Luke and Iron Clad just pointed and erupted into even more laughter at the sight of his confused face. Steadily the passerby went on his way trying to shake the confusion.

"Wow!" Iron Clad choked a bit on his breath. "I don't know why but, you're funny for some reason."

Luke wasn't even sure why it was funny in the first place. "My humor is just a bit old fashioned I guess."

"You making fun of my age?" Iron Clad teased. "I wouldn't blame you. I am pretty old."

"Any regrets you can warn me about?"

Iron Clad thought for a moment. "Surprisingly, no." He looked a bit distant. "Maybe it's because I got married." He let a quiet laugh escape. "I wish Filigree could have lived to meet you."

"You never did mention how you and wife met." Luke could see Iron Clad squirm at the mention of how he and his wife met. "Embarrassing?"

"Yes."

Luke sighed. "Still don't regret it?"

"Nope." Iron Clad smiled. "I was in Canterlot when I first saw her. I was walking down the street and she was working at the ticket booth to the theater. I caught a glance from her. Then I ran into a pole." They both laughed. "Then, every day I had off, I would buy a ticket from her, just so I could talk to her. A few dates later, she brought me to meet her parents and told them that I was the stallion she was going to be married to."

"Sounds like a really good book." Luke commented.

"You have no idea." Iron Clad let out a hefty sigh about the one regret he never told anyone. "Just remember, if you ever get married, enjoy every moment of it."

"Will do." Luke patted him on the back. "Hey I wanted to ask you-" a sharp high pitched tone in Luke's ear cut him off. "Ah! Dangit!" He smacked his ear a bit until the sound just went away.

"What, do you got a bug in your ear?"

"No," Luke blinked in dazed confusion, "it was nothing."

*****

"Yes, uh, miss?"

"Yes, I'm a mare, that is correct." Cora was getting rather irritated with the home improvement store employee. "The pansies, when did you say that you would have more?"

"Um, next week, there uh, should be some more..."

"Oh, okay then. Thank you." Cora retreated from the awkward moment. You would think he had seen a changeling before, she thought to herself. Continuing towards the door she noticed Rarity and her little sister Sweetie Belle. "Hi Rarity!"

"Cora? I'm surprised to see you out and about." Rarity greeted her with a hug. "What brings you here?"

"I was just looking for some flowers to plant in the little garden by Luke's cottage. I thought it would be a nice way to add some diversity to the area." Cora looked at Sweetie Belle. "And this is your sister, Sweetie, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's me." Sweetie Belle's curiosity soon overpowered her censorship. "Aren't you Luke's marefriend?"

"Sweetie Belle," Rarity scolded her younger sister, "you shouldn't make assumptions about others. I'm sorry about that Cora, she tends to speak her mind without thinking."

"Hey!" Sweetie Belle scowled up at Rarity in the way youth often do when they're annoyed or embarrassed.

"It's alright, Rarity." Cora directed her attention to Sweetie Belle. "What makes you think I'm Luke's marefriend?"

Sweetie Belle looked at Rarity to make sure she was allowed to speak. Once she was given the nod, she got down to business. "Well for one, you two are great friends."

Cora smiled. They were great friends, that was all. "Well, what if that's all he wants to be, just friends?"

Sweetie Belle laughed. "Have you seen the way he looks at you? And besides, two personages of the opposite gender, such as you and Luke, are never truly bound to a platonic relationship. I see progress down the road of life for the two of you."

Wow, thought Cora, this filly had either had a big dictionary, or read the latest Canterlot Pony Relations magazine. The thought struck Cora hard. A while ago, she had expressed to Fluttershy that she had feelings beyond friendship for Luke and that she suppressed them, but it could have been a spur of the moment response. Was it real? Now that things had calmed down and Luke wasn't in any danger, her voice in that matter had calmed down. Stopped? Maybe, or did that voice have excellent patience?

"This could all be speculation." Rarity cut in.

"Your sister has a point, Sweetie Belle." Cora was ready to dismiss the matter. After all, she was talking to a filly, who probably has never even been on a date yet. Then again, Cora had never been on a date herself.

"Yes, I do," Rarity said proudly, "Come on Sweetie, we need to get in line to purchase these new shelf clips."

Cora watched as the two sisters walked away down to the cashier. Alone, she tried to make sense of what she had just experienced. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Big Macintosh buying a pile of lumber.

*****

one week later...

Fluttershy handed Luke a cup of tea as he sat down on her couch. “It’s been awhile since you’ve needed to talk to me Luke. What seems to be the problem?”

Luke twiddled his claws around the warm cup of tea. He simply muttered, “Bad dreams.”

Fluttershy sighed as she prepared herself to resume her role as an emotional support. “Luke, you do know that dreams are still dreams. They reflect things that have already happened. The only way they become real is if you fall victim to your own self fulfilled prophecies.”

“My uncle…”

“Your uncle,” Fluttershy asked.

“I had a nightmare that I had become my uncle.” Luke shuttered at the memory of it. The blind rage, the drinking, and the abuse all gnawed at his mind. “I dreamt that I hurt Cora.”

Fluttershy looked at the trembling teacup in Luke’s unstable grasp. She took it before it had the chance to fall and put it on the side table, next to the discord lamp. “Tell me about your uncle.”

“He was a rotten man, a terrible man.” Luke didn’t want to tell Fluttershy the full story of the drunken uncle who abused him and his aunt. He remembered, after his parents were gone, he lived with his aunt and uncle. His uncle was mostly if not always drunk on beer, whiskey, and many other poisons that Luke couldn’t pronounce the names of as a teenager. Luke remembered his aunt, who would always go and drive her drunken husband home from the bar. One day his aunt brought him along to go pick up his uncle. He waited in the car for her to return, but she didn’t. He chose not to remember what happened after the red and blue lights showed up with sirens blaring. “That’s all you need to know.”

“He hurt others. And, in your bad dream, you hurt Cora?” Fluttershy knew about dreams and how they can be warped by past thoughts or memories that come up. “You’re afraid of becoming you’re uncle, but you are not him. Whatever he may have done, you have the choice to not make the same mistakes.”

“I know, and he has a different reason for why he caused pain. I’m afraid that my own reason will turn me into the same man. I’m afraid that all I’ve been through can make me a monster again.”

“You’re not a monster Luke. You never were. You’ve just been through alot that most don’t ever go through. Is there a way to let it go, would that help?” Fluttershy saw him drift a bit. “Luke?”

He had been thinking. “Well, I come to you to let out my feelings about everything. Maybe,” he thought more, “maybe I need to tell more people. Maybe it will set my conscience free knowing that more people could understand.”

Fluttershy smiled. "Maybe you should write it down. What do you think?"

Luke looked up at Fluttershy. A glimmer of fresh green hope flickered in his eyes. "That's good. I can do that. Maybe, I'll publish it."

"I'll be back in just a moment." After leaving the room, Fluttershy came back with plenty of paper for Luke to write on. Also, she brought a quill and ink for him to write with. "What exactly do you think you're going to write?"

"I'm going to tell about how I came here, and how I became a dragon." He picked up the quill in his claws and readied over the ink well. "What do you think I should title it?"

"How about, Trauma: A Memoir by Luke." Fluttershy looked at him with anticipation.

"I think I'll name it after one of my favorite songs." Luke dipped the quill into the ink and then proceeded to write, "Fluttershy rushed through the streets as fast as she could. As soon as she heard from the police that he was in jail she knew whatever happened was bad. Oh no, oh no, oh no, she panted as she pushed her wings to carry her to the police station. Everything was a blur..."

*****

Waking up on his couch, Luke grumbled as he tried to remember what happened the other day. He was writing, all night, and didn't get home until nearly four o'clock in the morning. It was probably eight o'clock now, but Luke was focused to catch up on sleep, though, the stack of papers which measured almost ten thousand words grasped his attention. It was neatly stacked when he fell asleep, but now it was scattered around in smaller organized piles. Sitting in the chair adjacent to the couch was Applejack.

She was stuck reading the same last page, over and over again. "It must be a good one." Applejack read it with smile that was heartwarming, a happy tear was wiped away by her hoof. She finally looked up and saw Luke watching her from where he lay. "Oh, I'm sorry Luke, I was just, the papers were there and I didn't want to wake you," she fumbled with a lot more strange apologies to the point where she had to be stopped.

"It's all right, I was planning to show it to everyone." Recovering from his strange awakening, Luke forced his tired frame to sit up on the couch. "It's not finished yet. I still need to fill in some gaps. A lot of what is in there is from either my memory or what Fluttershy told me. I want to ask a few others more about what happened while I was asleep. I really want to ask Cora, I'm sure she'll have a lot to say."

"Heh, yeah." Applejack looked up to the best friends picture of Luke and Cora. "I saw you wrote about me in here. And about my comment I made about Spike." Applejack bit her lip.

Luke chuckled a bit. "I didn't want all who read it to be completely sad. I wanted a bit of relief to shift gears, if you know what I mean." Luke shook his head a little bit as he realized, "Wait. Why are you in my home?"

"Oh golly, I'm mighty sorry," Applejack said defensively, "I knocked on the door, but you didn't answer, and I got worried, and the door was unlocked, and-"

"Applejack!" She fell silent as Luke spoke. "I get it, okay? Now tell me why you're here."

"Oh right, why I'm here." She set down the last page she had still been holding. "The roof of barn is broken again." A sheepish look spread across her face.

"Again?" Luke was astounded. "That's the fifth time this month! Will that roof ever be safe?" Luke got up and was ready to go get his tools regardless of the ridiculous situation. "What was it this time? Did Applebloom and her friends try making jet packs again?"

"No," Applejack wiped some sweat off her forehead, "actually they tried bowling." She bit her lip.

"You would think that they would learn from their past mistakes." Luke laughed as he went and pulled his tools out of the closet. "Big Mac still busy in the fields?"

"Oh, yeah, he's still busy, and all." Again Applejack wiped some sweat off her forehead.

Luke finally noticed Applejack's state. "Are you alright? You look like you're about to pass out. Want some water?"

"Yes. Please."

Luke walked into the kitchen, half concerned and half suspicious. Grabbing a glass from the cupboard, he heard Applejack take rapid deep breaths. He quickly filled up the glass with water and returned to Applejack. "Here."

To Luke's surprise, Applejack began chugging the water down her throat until all the water was gone in an instant. "Thanks."

Luke knew that look, he had seen it before. Everyone had seen that look on Applejack before. She was lying, and avoiding the truth. But why? What was she hiding? Luke thought about the barn rooftop that had broken so many times. When he was up there, fixing the roof, Applejack was up there too. "Applebloom and her friends didn't really break the roof, did they..."

Applejack just stared.

"You broke the roof," Luke concluded.

Applejack let go of the heavy sigh that had been waiting to escape. "I thought I could just go on hiding, but I can't. Luke do you remember when I mentioned Spike?"

"Yes."

"Well I was simply asking you what you thought about me possibly liking a dragon." Applejack gulped.

"I teased you about it, but I didn't mean any harm. I'm sorry if I did. Besides, I already said that it's fine if you like Spike. The relationship between you two could never change how me and all your friends think of you. Although, you might want to wait till he's a bit older, don't you think?" Luke stopped when he saw Applejack making that face again. "What's wrong?"

It was eating her from the inside, the struggle within was visible. "It's not Spike."

"Oh, is it another dragon? What's his name, have I met him? I hope it's not one of those mean dragons that Spike mentioned." Luke laughed at the thought of how awkward the situation could be between Applejack and one of Spike's old bullies.

"It's you."

A ringing went off in Luke's ear. He quickly rubbed his ear until the ringing went away. "I'm sorry, what?" The ringing distracted him. He had heard what she said, but he wasn't sure if it was just the ringing that made him hear that.

"I like you." Applejack blurted out.

Luke froze where he stood. He didn't know what to say, he wasn't prepared for this, and he didn't want to be there in that moment. Fear struck him hard as he mentally panicked.

"I know that I'm not the prettiest mare, but when I read what you wrote about liking someone for who they are and not what they are, I believed I could have a chance. I believed that maybe it would be possible for the two of us to," she hesitated, "be together?"

Luke felt cold. The room, the air, it all seemed to freeze and close in on him. He wanted to speak, but his tongue was caught in his mouth. His lips could only tremble further in fear.

"Luke?" She stepped, one hoof at a time, closer until she was face to face with him. Standing up on her hind legs, she wrapped her forelegs around his neck and kissed him.

Luke wanted to squirm away, but something stopped him. Applejack, he didn't want to hurt her. He was afraid of hurting a friend. He was afraid of becoming like his uncle. So, he endured two pains. He didn't feel the same way, but those haunting memories of his uncle neglecting his aunt made him stay in place.

Just then the door opened. "Hey Luke, I got you some flowers." Cora stopped in the doorway when she saw Luke and Applejack. The clay flowerpot fell from the grasp of her magic and smashed against the wooden floor. Broken clay, soil, and purple pansies flooded across the entryway.

By the time Applejack backed off, it was too late. Cora was gone. Suddenly the light, that had filled the void of the darkest part of his soul, had gone out. “No. No.”

“What, was that Cora?” Applejack looked concerned but for all the wrong reasons.

The ringing it came back to his ear, it was all he heard as he ran. Applejack hit the floor as Luke dropped her and ran. “NO!” He ran as fast as he could. “Cora! Come back!” When his legs tried to give up on him, he took to the skies. His flying wasn’t at it’s best, but skill and concentration had been overrun by the passions and desperation of fear. Luke looked everywhere, but Cora was nowhere in sight. He frantically headed for the Everfree Forest, where he had first met her. The ringing was suddenly accompanied by a high pitched tone. Luke nose dived into the lower levels of the forrest. “Cora!”

Dodging every tree he could, he tried to filter through the camouflages of the forest. Nothing stood out, nothing was clear except the ringing in his ear. He couldn’t keep it up. Luke knew somehow his futile efforts were leading him in circles around the forest. “Cora!” His voice was cut off by tree branch that made contact with his shoulder. Down, he fell deep into the forest. It was so deep that light seemed to vanish as Luke spiraled out of control. Trying to control his fall with his wings only resulted in them being scratched by thorns and stray branches. He tucked in his wings and resorted to his arms.

Luke caught hold of a single green branch that was just strong enough to hold his weight and not fall out. Looking down, he could see that his feet dangled mere inches from the hard stone floor of the bottom. The bottom? He wasn’t sure what he was at the bottom of. It was all but dark. A single light shone through a small clearing which was the result of Luke’s fall. Letting go of the branch, Luke felt himself float gently to the ground. The gravity, by some strange force had been lightened. He wondered if it was a dream, but the fact that he knew magic existed in Equestria swayed that opinion quickly. The ringing in his ear stopped.

Luke felt a strange sensation brush against his cheek. He lifted his hand… It was his hand. It was pink, fleshy, and patterned with miniscule wrinkles like it once was. Luke looked at his human hands, he felt his human face, and brushed his fingers through his human hair. “Hello Luke.” No, Luke thought, she’s gone. “I am gone Luke, but you need me again.”

Luke turned around and saw her. “No! I let you go!”

“Yes you did Luke, and I’m proud that you found the strength to move on. I’m not here to stay, but I did come back to help.” It was really her, the girl, and she stood there in the flesh.

“I can’t do this anymore.” Luke fell to his knees.

“I know it’s hard.” She put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him, but the act only resulted in Luke cowering in fear. “Luke?”

“You can’t be real. I made you up.” Luke refused to look at her. “I found Cora. She’s all I need!”

“She slipped from you though. That’s why I’m here. Not to replace her, no, I’m here to help you find her again.” Her voice had that familiar comforting spark of hope that it once had. Luke felt as if he were talking to Cora, which frightened him more.

“I never asked for this,” Luke muttered, “but here I am.”

“You meant no harm to Cora or Applejack, but the damage has been done on both sides. You have hurt both of their feelings.”

Luke shook his head, because he knew. “I thought that Cora was just my friend. I wish I hadn’t been so blind. And Applejack, I never knew. I never thought that she would have come to me like that.”

“It’s not the end of the world Luke. You have a choice. What are you going to choose?”

“I don’t know.” Shaking his head again, he looked into a small pool of water that allowed him access to his human reflection. “Who needs me more?”

“An excellent question, a question you can answer.” As she reached her hand to touch Luke’s face, she slowly dissolved into a thin air which swept across Luke and changed him back into a dragon.

“It’s my choice.” Luke looked at his claws. They had become much more comfortable that his true human form.

*****

many years ago, in the human world…

“Mom? Why did you marry dad?” The young boy asked this question as he sat in his bed, the covers pulled up to his waist as he laid back against the stack of pillows.

“What do you mean Luke? I love your father, that’s enough of a reason.” The boy’s mother rubbed his forehead as she smiled that nurturing smile that only mothers possess.

“But grandpa told me there was more to it than that.” The boy was alway so curious about everything in life.

“I’m sure he did.” The boy’s mother sighed. “I'll tell you later when you’re old enough to understand.”

“Okay,” the boy breathed a precious sigh of disappointment, “but before you go, can I hear a bedtime story?”

“Of course Luke.” The mother thought of what she would tell, it came through the boy’s first question, but he would never know the true meaning for a long time. “Once upon a time there were three friends. A girl, and two boys.” The mother couldn’t help but admire the intensity of her son’s eyes as he listened. “They went on many adventures, they traveled the world together, and they had a pet dragon.” The mother smiled at the memory of her old mutt of a dog she called dragon. “These friends had something special, do you know what it is?” Her son shook his head. “It was friendship. It was a friendship so great that, the world could never keep them apart. But one day, the girl learned a secret.”

“What was the secret?”

“Both of her friends, the boys, they liked her more than most friends do. They both had a crush on her. She didn’t know what to do. Both friends were good, but she didn’t want to lose either of them.”

“What did she do mom?”

“She prayed.” The mother lost her smile, but only for a moment. “She saw her friends differently. One had a family that loved him. He would never be alone, but her other friend had no family to help him and love him. So she shared her love with the one who had the least in life. The other friend understood, thankfully.”

“So, no matter what, they were all happy in the end?”

“Yes Luke. They all lived happily ever after.” The boy’s mother smiled as she stood up to leave her son to rest for the night. Turning out the light, the glowing star stickers lit up the sky of the boy’s bedroom. “Goodnight Luke.”

“Goodnight mommy.”

“Sweet dreams.” The mother gently closed her son’s door.

*****

the present…

Luke picked up the pansies and put them into a new pot. After cleaning up the broken pieces of clay, he took his time to find a spot for the flowers and finally settled on setting them in the windowsill of the kitchen window. After cleaning himself up, he looked through his closet for a set of clean clothes. He finally put on a pair of brown pants and his blue-plaid flannel shirt. Before he left, Luke pinned a note to the door that read, “Cora, I need to talk to you as soon as you are ready to let me explain.” With that done, he set out for Sweet Apple Acres.

The road was long and seemed to drag out even longer as he marched himself across Ponyville. Strange glances were thrown his way as he walked along at a steady pace. Apparently some sort of rumor had spread concerning an incident between him and Applejack, but no one was sure enough about the rumors to confront him. At the end of the short trek, Luke found himself standing at the entrance to the apple farm. Sitting there was a filly. It was Applejack’s little sister, Applebloom.

“Luke?” Applebloom was surprised by his appearance. She seemed down.

“You all right?”

“Oh.” Applebloom’s demeanor suddenly drooped. “It’s Applejack. She hasn’t come out of her room in a while. I don't know why, and Big Max wouldn't tell me." She looked to Luke with pleading eyes. "Do you think you can talk to her?"

"I'll try." Luke patted her on the shoulder and crossed the border into the yard.

Looking forward, Luke could see Applejack's older brother, Big Mac, standing resolute on the porch of the house. Like a guard dog at the ready, Big Mac looked narrowly down at Luke in disapproval. Luke stood at the base of the steps, not daring to show any signs of disrespect to Applejack's brother.

Luke took a deep breath before speaking. "I know that I hurt her."

"Eeyup." His scowl only deepened.

"And for that, all I can say to you is I'm sorry. If you want, if it will make you feel better, I'll let you deck me in the face as many times as you like." Luke saw Big Mac shake his head.

"It would be no good. It would probably only hurt my little sis' if I were to hurt you."

"In that case, would you let me talk to her so I can fix my mistake." Luke waited tensely for the response that could determine whether or not his endeavor could continue.

"Go on in." With those final words from Big Mac, Luke continued on into the house and nodded respectively to Big Mac as he passed him.

Up the rickety stairs he hiked, up to the hallway that lead to Applejack's room. Nervous? No, he was tense. Luke worried about saying the wrong thing. Not much time was available as her door was in his view.

Gently, Luke began to push the door open. It stopped. Looking at the small opening, he could see that the door had been blocked by a dresser. Putting more muscle into it, he eventually forced the door open enough to squeeze through. He could see Applejack curled up underneath her sheets. Looking around, Luke could see the dust shadow of where the dresser had once been. He pushed it back into place.

"Big Mac, please go away. I just need to be alone right now." Applejack curled up even tighter as she pulled a pillow over her head.

"He's downstairs, and it doesn't help to be alone. Trust me, I've tried that before." Luke closed the door as he prepared to give his speech. "It's me. Yes, I know you're mad at me."

"I ain't mad at you."

"No. You don't want to be mad at me, but you are mad. I know." Luke sat down next to her. "I never meant to hurt your feelings. It's just that, I don't think I can return your feelings."

"It's because you love her." Applejack practically spit the words referring to Cora. There was anger, hatred, and jealousy.

"I do love her, but that's not the reason I don't share your feelings." Luke stopped himself. He was curious. He wanted to know why exactly Applejack felt inclined to have affections for him. "Can I ask you why you have feelings for me?"

Applejack felt her bones gain enough courage to remove the sheets and face Luke. "It was sometime after you first arrived. Rarity was asking you about things you liked, and you said family. You kept talking about how important family was to you and that you always wished you could have your own. I guess that's why I sort of fell for you. I liked your value of family. It ain't hard to tell that I enjoy living with my family. You see how happy I am since I've got my own family to take care of. I just wanted you to be a part of it."

"You feel like this, all because I value the institution of family?"

"Well, you're smart, and you're hard working. Iron Clad told me how you always work hard just to help everyone you can. Besides, you aren't so bad looking, for a dragon." Applejack blushed a little at that last remark.

Luke saw that Applejack's intentions were good. The idea that she hoped for an ideal so innocent as family made him feel guilty. it was the first time Luke had ever considered it, but in the sense of family, he felt a small momentary wave of innocent affection wash over him. However, Luke was not one to abandon his mindset. He knew Cora needed him more. "Cora hasn't had all the advantages that you've had. Applejack, she has no one to be with. You have your family. She has no family. I'm the only friend she trusts." Luke could tell he was hurting Applejack. "I'm sorry that I can't love two at the same time."

"Why not?!"

Luke felt his heart sink. Why not? No. It was more complicated than that. "Don't ask me why. Applejack, it could only end in me asking who do I love more. I'd rather not answer that kind of question. I'm going to take care of Cora, not because I respect her anymore than I respect you, but because she needs me more than you do right now. I know you're a mare of respect. I respect you for that. Now I'm asking, can you respect me by respecting my decision?"

Applejack wiped off the few tears that had accumulated. She understood his words were meant to say volumes, and yet they were short. "I understand. I'm sorry for making things worse."

Luke shook his head. "Difficult, not worse. Life is full of complications, but we're grown up enough to handle it. Are we alright?"

"Water under the bridge." Applejack managed to smile.

"Good." Before Applejack could do anything, Luke pulled her into a quick hug.

Applejack felt the bad inside fade away. Maybe things could be better this way. Who knew? The future hasn't been set in stone yet. "You should probably go on and talk to Cora, but before you go," Applejack wanted something to say goodbye to the emotions she would have to bury away, "could I have one last kiss?"

Luke thought to himself. Was he in the right? "Okay."

*****

Luke looked back at the Apple family as he walked away. All of them stood there, even Applejack. One big happy family waved him goodbye as he continued down the path to head back to his home.

As he turned away from them, a sharp pain stung his ear. Ringing, and a high pitch, echoed through his head. He tried to rub it out, but that only made it worse. Then he tried scratching it. It stopped, but only after one of his claws had left behind a shallow cut. Pulling away his claws, Luke could see a tiny trickle of blood. "Dangit." Mentally cursing himself, he looked up ahead of the road to see where he could get his ear bandaged up.

Continuing along the road, the Carousel Boutique came into his view. Luke headed up to knock on Rarity's door.

"Hello? Oh Luke...oh Luke! What happened to your ear?" Rarity seemed all too astonished, but drama queens will be drama queens.

"That's not important right now. I was just wondering if you have a first aid kit or the know how for a quick fix to this little snag." Luke did his best to appear unaffected by his minor injury and its cause.

"Alright, come in." Rarity directed Luke to the kitchen where she pulled out a white box labeled first aid. Carefully she read over the simple healing spell that Twilight has given her to help whenever she pricked herself with sewing needles. After healing the wound, the way amateurs do, Rarity wrapped it all up with some minor bandages. Minor would work for describing the kind of bandages. The word for the amount of bandages comes no short of excessive. "There, that should do it."

Luke thanked her with a nod and then he brought up what he had been meaning to bring up."Rarity I need to ask you for some advice."

“Well that depends. What kind of advice are you looking for?”

"What kind of rings do mares like?" His innocent question earned a double take from Rarity.

"As in, the marriage kind?" Rarity hummed to herself in thought. "I can't rightfully say, or rather, I can't speak for all mares. It depends on who it is."

"Oh." Luke let out a breath of disappointment.

"The best way to approach this kind of situation would be to put your heart into it. An expensive ring is worthless if it has no connection to the love they may share." Rarity lost herself in a dreamy state. Noticing Luke staring awkwardly at her, she came to attention. "What?"

Luke raised his brow. "You read a lot of romance novels, don't you."

"Yes," Rarity huffed, "and you should try it sometime. You might learn something."

"I'll keep that in mind." Luke rubbed his ear a bit as the high pitched tone ran loose.

*****

Luke looked over his craft as in sat in the red velvet box he had bought from the jeweler. The ring he had not purchased, it was his creation of his own design. Using the tools from the blacksmith by Twilight's castle, he forged the gold and braided it into shape. The two gems, a topaz and amethyst, acted as the centerpiece.

He closed the box and set it on the bedside table, next to his clock. "I hope you like it Cora." Luke got up and sat in the living room. He picked up the book that Rarity lent him and began to read.

The book was about a young mare who fell in love with a farm colt. She loved him so much, but she was never sure if the farm colt loved her back. Every day she would ask the farm colt to help her with some chore. She could have easily done the chores by herself, but she wanted the farm colt to help her so that she could be close to him. No matter how ridiculous or simple the chores seemed to be, every time the mare asked for his help, the farm colt would always respond, "As you wish."

"This sounds familiar," Luke muttered to himself.

The mare learned that the farm colt did love her. But, a day came when the colt said that he was going to leave for a short time. He wanted to go out into the world and make something of himself. He wanted to make his fortune so he could come back and take care of the mare. Time passed, and rumors of the colt's death soon reached the mare. She was heartbroken and alone. She stayed in her room for the longest time. He fathered, fed up with his daughter's self inflicted solitude, offered her up to the prince of the land. All hope in being happy seemed lost to the mare. She never wanted to become a princess, she just wanted her farm colt to be by her side again.

"I know I've heard this before." Luke was sure of what he was thinking. "I can't remember the title, uh, Princess something." After giving up on remembering the title of the similar script, Luke read on as the mare was kidnapped and rescued by a masked stallion.

The masked stallion turned out to be the farm colt that the mare supposed to be dead, but he was not dead. For this, she was happy. And after traversing through a deadly swamp, the two were separated once again by the prince who had come to the claim back his bride. The farm colt endured torture and even death. Believing that the farm colt was dead, the prince went on with his plans to marry the mare. Unknown to the prince, a unicorn revived the farm colt with a miracle pill. He was alive but temporarily paralyzed. With the help of the mare's former kidnappers, the farm colt was able to rescue the mare from the prince who proved to be a vile stallion.

"It's a good thing that equine books aren't in the same bookstores as human books, this would definitely be copyright infringement." Luke chuckled a bit, still enjoying the story.

In the end, the farm colt had indeed grown into a great stallion who would always take care of the young mare who loved him. Whenever she asked anything of him it was always the same words, "As you wish." But he was really saying, "I love you."

Luke closed the book with a satisfied smile. "Still a good story, in both worlds." The high pitched tone returned, but Luke quickly smacked it away through the bandages. "Nope! I'm in too good of a mood right now. Don't you dare." Brushing off the incident, he proceeded to the kitchen to make some herbal tea. He pulled out the box of teabags and put the water filled kettle over the stove. Leaning against the wood top counter, Luke heard the high pitched voice creeping back. "Stop that," he grumbled as he violently rubbed his ear. A knock at the door caused the noise to cease. Luke walked over to the door nonchalantly; he assumed it was just Fluttershy coming to check up on him. But to his surprise, it wasn't who he had expected. He thought it would have taken a much longer time for her to warm up to ever talking to him again. Luke wanted to believe that the reason she came back so soon was because she loved him so much.

"Hi Luke." Cora gave a fake smile that Luke knew recognized as one that most friends give when they're trying not to be sad. "I got the note."

Luke hadn't even noticed that the note on his door was gone. "Yes."

"What happened to your ear?" Cora tilted her head a bit to get a better look at the bandages area.

"It's nothing." Luke covered it with his claws.

Looking back an forth between the floor and Luke she mentally prepared herself. "I'm sorry I took off like I did," Cora explained, "I didn't want to interrupt you and," she almost couldn't say the name, "Applejack."

"Cora, it's not like that." Luke was trying hard not to embrace Cora passionately and by consequences be seen as a double dealer.

"It's okay. You have to deny what you two have in front of me." Cora's words were shaky. She really was distraught on the inside, but Luke see past her masquerade.

"Cora, she and I aren't together!" The ringing raged in Luke's ear but he hid it well so Cora wouldn't see the pain.

"What?"

"I said no." Luke confirmed. The ringing got louder, but he held his peace.

"But, I saw you two kissing."

"Yes, she kissed me. I was not expecting that." Luke mentally laughed. "It scared the living daylights out of me." The noise in his ear was at a high, but not as high as the steaming kettle that sang in the kitchen. "Oh, I was making some tea, would you like to have some?"

"Alright," was all she said in response.

Luke lead Cora to the kitchen where he poured the hot water into a mug with a teabag. As Luke began to pour the hot water into his own mug, he noticed that Cora was tense. "Is something wrong?"

"Why did you say no to Applejack?" Cora's emotions displayed on her face as if she was balancing on a tightrope.

Luke caught on to the idea brewing in her head. He realized that Cora was thinking it was her fault. Luke didn't want to say it wasn't because of her, but it really was because of her. "It's complicated."

Cora seemed to calm down a bit at that statement. She took a sip of her tea. Letting the flavor roll on her tongue, she hesitantly asked, "Could I have some sugar?"

Luke stared into Cora's eyes. He wanted to say something. He wanted to confess, but something different came out instead. "As you wish." Reaching up to the cupboard, Luke pulled out the container of sugar and carefully scooped a few small spoonfuls of it into Cora's mug.

"Thank you." She finally smiled as she went back to sipping on her tea.

Sugar in herbal tea, Luke thought about that, strange. He thought it was strange, but it didn't bother him. It was a unique trait about Cora. She had her fair share of quirks, but that didn't stop him from... Did he really? It was a question on his mind. Should he? He was a human that had turned into a dragon. Morality bombarded his mind. Attracted? No, but love wasn't the same as attraction. Luke thought on more. Love? Did he love her? His mind traced over memories. She was always there, she always cared, and around her, he never felt alone. A genuine need of her company flushed through him. He needed her. From the first day that they met, he loved her company. He loved her. Watching her standing there, any troubles Luke felt were daydreamed away. Her eyes, those shining green eyes were so comfortable to him, so hopeful. Smiling from his epiphany, Luke lifted his mug to his mouth. "Oh." Luke spit out what he had barely sipped in.

"What? What is it," Cora asked concerned.

Luke looked at the tea bag that was still sitting on the counter and not in his mug. "Hot water by itself isn't very good."

Cora began to laugh. Luke instantly forgot his embarrassment as he listened to the cute chuckles that emitted from Cora. He felt his heart flutter. But the moment was not meant to last.

"Ah!!!" Luke collapsed onto the floor as the high pitched tone screamed violence into his mind. He felt his blood curdling inside. His gut was wrenching as cramps and spasms shook through his body. The noise grew even louder than ever before. Luke desperately clawed at his ear, undoing the bandages.

"Luke what is it?!" Cora cried as she watched in terror as Luke's back arched in agony.

"No! I'm not him!" Luke started screaming as maddening visions of his drunken uncle shook him to the core. His ear burned with pain as he thrashed about the kitchen. "Make it stop!!!" Luke swore that he saw his uncle chasing after him with a broken glass bottle. "No! Don't hurt me!!!" Luke banged his head against the counter. Then his ear struck a cabinet, and for a brief second the pain lessened. Desperately grabbing around, the first thing he latched onto was a kitchen knife.

Cora cowered in fear has Luke towered over her with the knife held high.

Author's Note

Trouble On The Home Front

Luke could hear muffled voices all around him. His eyes met darkness when he tried and failed to open them. He couldn't move yet, so the voices went on.

"I told him there was a bug in his ear."

"That's not funny Iron Clad."

"Oh Celestia, he looks like a dead fish."

"Rainbow Dash!"

"What?"

"I ain't gonna even explain how wrong that was."

"Why don't you mind your own business Applejack!"

"Please, all of you! Just be quiet..."

Luke recognized that last voice. It was Cora. Luke fought his fatigue to try and break free from the shackles of minor paralysis.

"Luke."

Luke felt his face for the first time in a long while when Cora's tears dropped one by one onto his cheeks. "Cora." Luke tried to speak, but his words were caught up in his dry throat.

"Please don't die."

That plea from Core struck him to the core of his emotions. This resulted in a system transfer that turned raw emotional power into physical strength. Opening his eyes, Luke immediately wrapped an arm around Cora. "Not dead yet." This action brought Cora to uncontrollable tears of joy as she buried her face into Luke's neck. "Here, I'm here." Luke finally forced his eyes to take in the revealing light.

The room around him was silent. Some were gawking while others just stood amazed by Luke's sudden awakening. Luke looked around until he saw Applejack smiling with her hat over her heart. More awareness came to Luke in time, but one sensation did not return as Luke expected.

“Everything is fine Luke,” Twilight made her way up to the side of his bed, “You're going to be fine. But, I'm afraid we can't stay here much longer. You need your rest.”

“Cora?” Luke tensed his arm around Cora in desperation, there were things he needed to tell her, things he needed to say.

Twilight sighed with a little smile, “I think it'll be alright if she stays.” Luke thought she sounded sort of funny when she said that.

Cora turned her head to face Twilight. “Thank you.” She quickly buried her face back into Luke's neck. The muffled sounds were odd.

“Applejack.” Luke reached his arm out and caught Applejack by the shoulder. “Next to my clock, on the nightstand, there's a small box. I need you to bring it to me. Can you do that, for me?”

Applejack nodded and headed out with everyone else in the room. Luke listened to their hoof steps, but they were missing something. The sound of their walking lacked a specific depth. Luke focused on the spot where the “bug” had been. Nothing. There was no pain. There was nothing. There was no feeling at all. He couldn't hear anything from that spot. The sound was absent.

“Cora. Something is wrong. I can't hear out of my ear.” Luke watched in content horror as she lifted her head to face him. It's the kind of horror, the kind of fear, you get when you're faced with a fact you don't want to believe, but there's not enough hope to deny it; you accept it. The look on Cora’s face was not fearful though. Her face wasn't shameful like other people who had brought Luke bad news in the past.

Cora let out a sigh. “Luke, the doctor's found, well, they called it an electric tick. It was lodged in the part of your head that links your ear frills to your brain. They got it out, thank goodness.” Cora smiled at the comfort of knowing Luke was really safe. “But, back at your house, you were having a fit, like a seizure. It was the tick. When that happened, you grabbed a kitchen knife and,” a subtle tear formed in the corner of her eye, “you cut off your ear. I’m sorry.”

Luke raised his brow and laughed. “Why are you sorry? I’m the idiot who cut off my own ear.”

“Luke! You’re not an idiot.” Luke laughed a bit more at Cora’s response. “How can you laugh about this? I nearly thought you were going kill yourself! How can you laugh about that?”

“Cora,” Luke gently held her face up, “look at me. I’m still alive. That’s all that matters now. It’s in the past. I’m laughing because I’m glad to be alive. I’m glad. I’m glad that you’re safe.”

“I still don’t get why you make anything about me. You’re more important.”

“Stop that!” Luke held Cora tightly by the shoulders. “Stop taking yourself for granted. You are not insignificant. You are the only one that is you. There's no one else in the universe that is you. That makes you special. You're the only you that will ever exist. That makes you rare, that makes you important. You are just as important as anyone else. To me, you're more important than that.”

Luke lifted his head high enough to kiss Cora on her forehead, just below her horn. The position of his head though, was a strain on the muscles in his neck, so he laid his head back down. Tensions released, and he let out a deep breath of relief. He felt a great comfort in Cora resting her head on his chest. She whispered a quiet thank you, and with that, they slept.

*****

“Oh my gosh!” Luke could hear Pinkie Pie as she released her excitement in a hushed whisper. “They look so cute!”

“Pinkie Pie, please,” Applejack was there too, “let them rest.”

Luke opened his eyes, surprised that that light didn't blind him. He looked over at Applejack who set the box he had asked for on the tray next to the hospital bed. She gave Luke a smile that held no anger or malice; she was happy and understanding. A slight nod from Applejack acted as a gesture to say, “We're all right.” With that, Applejack and Pinkie Pie exited the room.

“Luke?” Cora drowsily opened her eyes and smiled at the sight of her friend smiling at her. “Did someone come?”

“It was just our friends, checking in on us.” Luke could wait no more. Here they were. No better time could come along than now. “Cora?” Luke picked up the box from the tray.

“Yes Luke?”

“Cora, I have to tell you something. I need to tell how I feel. I know that friends love each other, that's how true friendship works. But, I believe that our friendship has gone beyond. I hope that the relationship we share could be a stronger friendship, stronger than any friendship I've ever had so far. Cora,” Luke forced himself to sit up with Cora still close to him, “I love you. I love you in a special, intimate way. Yes, I'm a dragon and former human, and you're a changeling, but I can't help but think that we need each other's company. Your smile, your compassion, and your hopeful presence inspires me to be a better person. I want to become a better person by your side. I hope to continue to become a better person with your help. There is only one way that I can think of that will commit me to that promise, yes a promise. I promise to be the best that I can be for you. I promise to do all that I am capable of for you. I want to keep you company for the rest of your life.” Luke opened the box to reveal the ring he had crafted just for her and held her hoof. “Cora, would you ever consider marrying a human, turned dragon, like me?”

“Consider?” Cora had warm happy tears in her eyes.

“Have you ever considered it?” Luke felt his heart shake with a fear as he awaited her answer.

Cora was blunt. “I never considered it possible for me to marry you.”

“Oh.” Luke felt his heart sink in his chest. “Oh.” Luke began to shake uncontrollably.

“But, Luke, I've always dreamed about having the joy of being together forever.” Cora watched as Luke's face grew into a smile as his heart leapt for joy.

“Then, in that case,” Luke pulled the ring out of the box, “Will you marry me?”

“Yes,” Cora’s body trembled from the sunshine that had brightened up her soul. Luke carefully placed the ring on Cora’ horn. “A thousand times yes.”

*****

three months later…

Luke opened his eyes as the morning sunlight filled his bedroom. Looking at his clock, he saw that it was seven o'clock in the morning. Funny, he thought, why didn't the chimes go off? He checked the switch for the chimes in the back. I was off. “Huh.” Luke sat up and stretched his spine by raising his arms up high as he let out a hefty yawn. He reached to his right but that side of the bed was barren. “What?” Upon further inspection, Luke found that Cora, the changeling he'd been married to for two and half months now, was gone. “Cora?”

Without any warning the door to his room flew open, and a mass pounced him with a speedy hug that nailed him back down to the bed. “Happy Birthday Luke!”

Luke laughed as he caught his breath from his wife's sneak attack. “Thank you Cora.” Luke wrapped both his arms around her in a firm hug.

“Now wait right here,” Cora broke the hug and ran out the door. Luke repositioned himself so that he was leaning up against the headboard. He saw Cora returning to the room with a bed tray full of breakfast. “I made your favorite!” Cora set the tray over Luke's lap and sat next to him as he ate.

“What did I ever do to deserve you.” Luke dived right into the pancakes topped with butter and syrup, and then, he spread some of the salsa over his scrambled eggs. After taking a big gulp of the big glass of eggnog, he took a fair bite from one of the two potato bread bagels that were toasted and topped with cream cheese. “You're the best.”

“I felt like returning the favor for what you did for my birthday two weeks ago.” Cora rest her head against Luke's arm.

“You told me you couldn't remember when your real birthday was,” Luke pointed out, “I wanted you to have the best first birthday you could remember.”

“How did you come up with that day anyway?” Cora stole the other bagel for herself.

Luke smiled at the moment. This was his second birthday in Equestria, and he believed it to be his best thus far. “It's the day we met. Remember? My first birthday here wasn't too far off when I met you. I figured it would be a great day to make your birthday.”

“You figured right.” Cora reached up and kissed Luke on the cheek. “So, what was your birthday wish this year?”

“It’s already starting to come true.”

“Really?” Cora laughed, “Was it the food?”

“No.” Luke set down his utensils and wrapped an arm around Cora, “It was spending the day with you.”

*****

Fluttershy was feeding her animals when she spotted a new pot of beautifully arranged flowers that hadn't been there a moment ago. “Discord.” Fluttershy smiled and hummed to herself. She continued feeding her animals when all of a sudden a bright blinding flash appeared with a thunderous sound. All the animals ran the opposite direction while Fluttershy ducked and hid herself with her hooves.

After the flash dissipated, Fluttershy looked up to see a figure standing in the spot where the light was. She automatically recognised that it was another human like Luke once was, but it was wearing some sort of protective suit. It was a lot more hefty than the suit Luke was wearing when he came to Equestria. Fluttershy could see the wide eyed human’s face through the visor of his dome like helmet. “Hello?”

“Gah!” The human jumped back and fell flat on its rump. “What in sam’s hell?”

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy interjected, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Scared?” The human laughed. “I’m not scared.” His eyes widened. “I’m terrified! Why? Oh you know, just chatting with a talking horse!”

“Please, don’t be frightened.” Fluttershy carefully approached the human. “Are you lost? What’s your name?”

The human got back up on its feet. “I’m Lieutenant Julie Daniels, and I’m looking for another astronaut by the name of Luke Simmons.”

Fluttershy stiffened when she heard Luke’s name. “Uh oh.”

*****

“What’s going on, Applejack?” Luke followed Applejack with Cora close by his side.

“I ain't exactly sure, but it sounded mighty serious.” Applejack’s voice was shaky. Luke could could see she was afraid of something.

The walk wasn't much farther as Twilight’s Castle came into view. Luke pushed the doors open at froze at the sight of the familiar face inside the spacesuit that stood there next to Twilight.

“Oh my god, that is a dragon.” The astronaut stepped back a bit behind Twilight.

Luke began to smile as soon as he heard the voice, “Julie?”

The astronaut’s eyes widened when she heard Luke's voice. “Hold up!” She stood there with an accusing finger pointed at Luke. “Luke! Oh my god!”

Luke shrugged his shoulders. “Yep, it's me.”

“Luke!” Julie rushed forward and met Luke with an awkward hug. “My god! We thought you were dead.”

Luke laughed. “Well, I'm not dead.”

“Wow,” Julie shook her head, still in disbelief, “if it were for this helmet, I might actually kiss you right now.”

Just then, Cora positioned herself between Luke and Julie. She wore a angry look, but to Luke it would have looked like a puppy pouting because it didn't get to play with a piece of cheese. “He's married.”

Julie raised her brow at the curious behavior of the changeling she saw. “Okay?”

“Honey relax.” Luke pulled on Cora’s shoulder a bit. “She was joking.”

“Joking?” Cora looked up at him, still angry.

“She hates me.” Luke laughed as he wrapped both of his arms around her. “She expressively hates me.”

Julie laughed at the sight. “No, that's not totally true. It just, you know, when you're presumed dead, turned into a dragon, or married to some alien species from a world of technicolor horses.”

“Let me at her!” Cora struggled to escape from Luke who held her as tight as he could. The more she struggled, the more it gave Luke a chance to find her tickle spot. “No, wait, that's not fair!” Luke continued to tease the spot between Cora’s hip and thigh.

Twilight walked up and coughed to motion Luke to stop and pay attention. “Luke, I'd like to have a private conversation with you and miss Julie here.”

“Of course.” Luke set Cora down by his side. “Wait here with Applejack and the others, won't you?”

“Of course.” Cora fluttered her wings a bit to fly up and kiss Luke. She turned to face Julie. “I've got my eyes on you.”

*****

“Luke.” Twilight tapped her hoof on the floor. “I just talked with the Twilight from the mirror. Why, I don't know, maybe because I finally decided it was suspicious how she never asked about any feedback on the human she sent through. And, you know what she told me?” Luke buried his face behind his claws. “She tells me, that she didn't send anyone through!”

Luke shook his head. “Yeah, I know. I lied.”

“You didn't tell them that you were working for NASA?” Julie crossed her arms in the space suit.

Luke let out a sigh. “I told Fluttershy, but I told her not to say anything.”

Twilight stared in bewilderment. “Why didn't you tell us all? We could have fixed this and gotten you back.”

“Maybe I don't want to go back!” Luke jumped out of his chair in anger. He did a strange three step pace. “Maybe I'm happy here! I mean I've got friends, I've got a life, and I'm married.”

“Luke.” Julie stepped up to force him to look at her. “I know we don't see eye to eye, but, this isn't your home. You are a human being. Regardless of the fact that you turned into a dragon, you're still a human at heart. And, we can fix you.”

“What are you talking about?” Luke pushed Julie away. “Fix what?”

“I'm sure we can figure out how to make you human again.” Julie wavered at the look of horror from Luke. “You're human.”

Luke stepped back. “No, you can't do this.” He headed for the door. “No!” He burst open the door and left like that.

Julie watched Luke embrace the strange creature she had learned was married to Luke. “What happened to him?”

“I can't say.” Twilight took a deep breath and shook her head. “He's been through so much, and I know he shouldn't stay.”

“Shouldn't?” Julie was not pleased by Twilight’s nonchalant response. “He can't! It could tear a hole between our dimensions and cause mass destruction! I'm not sure of how much damage he's already done!”

“You're right,” Twilight agreed. “In fact, what can you tell me about how you got here? I'm guessing you're suit is to protect your from the effects of our world.”

Julie sat herself down across from Twilight. “You're right about the environmental suit. As for how we were able to get here, well, we were experimenting with the idea of string theory. The scientists at NASA had this idea that they could find a way to travel between dimensions or even universes. So they built the dimension vault. Luke was the second traveler that tested it.”

Twilight bit her lip, a little concerned. “And, uh, who was the first?”

Julie let out a breath in a whistle. “Well, um, it was a little guinea pig, by the name of Columbus, that ended up having to be mopped up off the floor.”

“Oh.” Twilight regretted having asked. “So, when you got here, you ended up by Fluttershy's cottage?”

“Yeah that's correct.” Julie speculated a bit until she thought of something. “You mentioned that Luke came through a portal in a mirror.”

Twilight tried her best to put it all together. “It could be possible, that while I was working on the mirror portal, you're dimension vault latched onto it and created a gateway between our worlds.”

Twilight and Julie continued to talk for hours about how they get a new portal back to earth. Meanwhile, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack pondered on what Luke told them. They had heard from Luke that Julie was going to try and force him to come back with her. They weren't excited about it. In fact they were going to miss him. Applejack said nothing.

Luke had gone back to his house with Cora. “Luke, you're sure you don't want to be with our friends?”

“I want to go home and spend the rest of my birthday with you. I don't want anything else to ruin it.” Luke laid down on the couch with sorrow plucking at the strings in his heart.

Cora joined him. “Luke. They can help us. I'm sure they don't want you to go.”

“You mean like Twilight.” Luke gave a disgusted laugh. “She wants to sent me because I'm not the human she wanted to come here. If I was that Flash Sentry fucker that pinkie told me about…”

“Luke!”

“...then she'd let me stay.” Luke was trembling and Cora could feel it.

“Luke, you're scaring me. You acting like you're going to be be leaving me forever.”

Luke blinked his eyes as he began to cry. “I should have known, guys like me don't get the girl.”

SMACK

Cora used her hooves to make Luke look her in the eyes. “I'm not your girl, I'm your wife and your best friend! You will not be leaving me, and I will not let you be alone. You know we've been through too much to just give up now. Luke you can't give up. It's not like they can send an army to take you away. Even if they do, we got the strongest army on our side. We've got friends and family, and nothing is stronger than that.”

Luke smiled and he embraced Cora. “I love you too.”

*****

“This is Luke's house?” Julie walked around the small little cottage-like home.

“This is his home, yes. He and Cora have been living here for about three months now.” Twilight circled the house with Julie as they talked. The others had gone inside to try and help Luke feel better.

“Why didn't you go inside with the others?”

Twilight sighed. “It's his birthday, but I'm also a cause of some of his pain, given that I agreed with your decision to take him back.”

“Thanks for that by the way.” Julie looked through the window of Luke's room. “It's his twelfth birthday.” Julie saw the merry group laughing in a circle as Luke blew out the candles on a cake. They were all happy to have him, and Luke seemed so serene as a gentle smile dawned on his face.

“That's not possible; he's only been here two years.” Twilight hummed to herself. “It could be possible that time moves faster in your world than ours.”

They didn't say anymore. They just watched the little party that was going on inside of Luke's home. Both felt a tidal wave of regret, but they knew what eventually had to happen. Luke would probably have to leave. Julie hated Luke for the situation. “Again, the twerp makes me have to make the hard decisions. Oh well, I guess things happen that way.”