A Gem to Brighten the Darkness

Chapters

Arc 1:Darkness Descends
Part I: Closed off
Part II: First Light
Part III: New Smile

Arc 1:Darkness Descends

It was a normal day in Manehatten, the cars were loud and the people were louder, the sidewalks were crowded with people trying to make their way through the busy streets to their destination. Among them was the smiling teenager Heavenly Quill, a kind looking boy with hair as white as the clouds above him, his faded green skin took a nice shine in the sunlight. What set Quill apart from most people was the fact that his eyes had no iris’s. His eyes were just two pools of baby blue. Quill weaved through the crowds of people as he listened to his music, holding tight the bag of groceries his mother had sent him out to get.

Quill came to a stop beside a bus stop, he leaned against the sign and closed his eyes, allowing himself to get lost in the music, the track he was listening to came from some rookie Dj from Canterlot, he had forgotten her name but he knew she was good, especially when it came to dubstep. He was lost in the beat, so much so he almost missed the bus, if it had not been for a Purple haired girl with several bags in her hands tapping him on the shoulder. He opened his eyes and pulled his headphones out. He looked to the girl and he gave her a smile and a thankful nod as he got on the bus, the purple haired girl followed him on and took a seat beside him.

Quill cast a glance at the girl and blushed ever so slightly, she had amazing fair white skin, and her luscious purple hair seemed to shine in the sunlight, a faint blush appeared on his cheeks.”The pretty girl caught him looking and she gave him a small smile. “Take a picture darling it’ll last longer.” She said jokingly.

Quill’s blush now turned crimson and he looked down. “ S...sorry Ms. I...I..” The poor boy could barely get a word out before the girl waved his apology away.

“Think nothing of it. its not the first time I’ve caught people staring before, but if you're going to stare you should at least know who you're staring at. My name is Rarity it's a pleasure to meet you.” Rarity gave Quill a dazzling smile.

Quill managed to compose himself, he took a breath and returned Rarity’s smile. “My name is Heavenly Quill, and the pleasure is all mine.” He said feeling slightly less embarrassed. he cleared his throat and he smiled.” What brings you to Manehatten Rarity?” Quill asked.

Rarity patted the bags at her feet. “Oh just getting new materials for new clothing designs, Manehatten has the best fabrics, but it’s always so much of a hassle to come all the way down here from Canterlot! Your lucky you live around here Quill you don’t need to worry about carrying heavy things so far!” Rarity exclaimed putting an end to her rant.

Quill blinked slightly as his mind processed all of what the purple haired girl has said. when he finally spoke it was to ask a question. “How did you know that I was from here?”

Rarity smiled slightly. “Simple you asked me ‘what brings you to Manehatten’? So obviously you must be from here, and I can tell from how you dress, you look very much like the typical Manehatten local.” She said simply, Quill looked down at his clothes, a pair of torn jeans a solid green shirt and a black hoodie.

“I...is there something wrong with the way I dress?” He said nervously as his cheeks turned scarlet.

Rarity shook her head quickly. “No no you misunderstand me! You look just fine.. maybe just fix those holes, match the colors a little better and maybe… just a few more name brands.”

She looked to him and, in her mind she was thinking of the different outfits that would look good on Quill. Quill stood up suddenly when the bus got his his stop. “T..this is my stop, see you again sometime Rarity.” He hurried off the bus with his grocery bags. He looked back at the bus as it drove away. He smiled a little as he walked home. "She was really pretty.” He said to himself.

Quill smiled as he set the groceries on the kitchen table. He called out to his mother upstairs in their small 2 bedroom apartment. “Mom I’m home with the food! Is dad back home yet?”

His mother, called Soft Breeze had short white haired woman with very light blue skin walked downstairs in a flower patterned dress. "No not yet, you know how your father is, he has to stay at work until every little thing is done. I’m Surprised he even finds the time to sleep.” She said jokingly before hugging her son tightly, her hair was the same shade of white as Quill’s.

“Anything interesting happen on your trip?” she asked as she let go of Quill.

“Well I did meet this pretty girl on the bus, She had amazing purple hair, really fair white skin, and an amazing British accent.” Quill eyes glazed over as he remembered Rarity and all her beauty. "She said her name was Rarity.”

Soft Breeze smiled softly and she ruffled Quill’s hair. “Sounds like my little man has a crush on this Rarity girl.”

Quill blushed brightly as his mother’s comment. “ C...crush!? Mom I barely even know her, and besides she lives all the way in canterlot. So its not like I’ll see her again.”

Soft Breeze hugged Quill tightly and she smiled, "You never know Quill there's always a chance. Now go get cleaned up for dinner.” She said before walking back into the kitchen.

Quill rolled his eyes before going up to his room, he took his hoodie off and tossed it in the corner of his room. He went into the bathroom to freshen up, when something caught his eye in the bathroom mirror. He could see himself but, the reflection was different. Quill’s hair was in his face and it looked messy and out of control. Mirror Quill had a hole in the stomach of his bloodstained shirt, a small hole about the size of a nickel. The real Quill touched the spot on his own stomach and felt nothing but the shirt material. Mirror Quill brushed the hair out of his face, revealing his eyes. They were red and bloodshot, and tears rolled down his face. He looked broken, broken and lifeless.

Quill fell back from the horrid mirror version of himself, he rubbed his eyes quickly to get the image out of them, when he opened them and looked back into the mirror he was staring at his usual normal self. "W...what the hell was that…” He got back up and looked at himself in the mirror.”M...maybe I should stop watching horror movies..” He washed his face with cold water before heading downstairs.

As soon he reached the last step he found himself in a bonecrushing hug. He looked up to see the smiling face of his dad. Cold Steel. He was a tall and muscle bound man. He had to be for his construction job, his faded green skin and baby blue eyes matched his son’s perfectly. “Where do you think your going without giving your old man a hug!” Cold Steel laughed his his loud booming voice.

Quill smiled happily and hugged his father tightly, "Hey dad! Its about time you got home, you have to stop working so hard!” Quill said as he looked up at his dad.

Cold steel smiled and ruffled Quill’s hair. "You know the only good work is hard work Quill, anything else is too boring and easy, and besides-” his voice dropped to a whisper- “ I need to work, I bring in all the money.”

Soft Breeze pulled Cold Steel into the kitchen by his ear. She smirked a little. “ I heard that sweety, always remember who makes your food, cleans your clothes, and makes your little lunches for work.”

Cold Steel rubbed the back of his head. "I… I didn’t mean any offense sweety”

“Thats more like it, now sit down sweetie it's time for dinner“

As Quill sat down, he heard a loud bang. He jumped and looked around for the source he the bang, only to notice that his father had vanished. His mother sat calmly as she ate dinner.” M...mom dad’s gone! W..why are you just sitting there!” Another loud bang and his mother vanished into nothingness.

Quill fell back from the table, he landed hard on his rear end.”M… mom! Where did you go? W...what the hell is happening!” Quill pulled himself up and be backed away from the table. He turned to run outside to get help. Instead of finding the door, he saw a large dark figure standing in the doorway. Quill couldn’t see any features on the figure except two glowing red eyes. Slowly the figure walked towards Quill, each step he took left fire where his foot was. Quickly the flames spread around his house, engulfing everything.

Quill screamed in utter terror and ran upstairs as fast as he could away from the dark figure. He ran into his room and shut the door, he locked it and backed away to the window. He tried his hardest to open it. As he pulled the window vanished and Quill was left to stare at an empty patch of wall.

Behind Quill his door burst into flames and turned into ash, the dark figure slowly walked in, Quill backed away until his back hit his dresser, Quill reached for anything he could use as a weapon, his hand came to a framed photo of himself as a child smiling with his parents. Quill looked down at it and he closed his eyes. He knew there was no way out, and he didn’t want to live in a world without his family. Quill held the photo to his chest tightly, He heard another loud bang and felt a searing pain in his stomach. Quill screamed as he felt the pain, he could feel the heat of the fire around him. Quill cried as felt the combined pain of his stomach and the burning of the fire.

A bright light shined in Quill’s eyes, he slowly opened his eyes and he sat up. He found himself in a bed in a new room. He put his head in his hands and he sighed before looking at a slightly burned picture on his bedside table. He slowly got up and walked into his bathroom, he looked into the mirror and saw a tear stained face staring back, his hand went to his stomach and he shook his head.” That dream again… it never goes away….”

Part I: Closed off

Quill pulled his shirt down and he looked at himself in the mirror, his hair was long and out of control. It reach down to the past his neck and he was sticking up everywhere. His former kind blue eyes were dull and glazed over. He sighed and he washed his face with cold water. “I can’t let that dream get to me, its the first day of school.” He said as he looked at himself in the mirror again. “My new school, where no one knows me, where I have no friends, and where I have to pay attention to stuff I don’t care about… the dream doesn’t need to get to me. Life is doing a good job of it already.”

A soft voice interrupted his thoughts, ”Quill hurry and get up you're gonna miss the first day of school!”

Quill rolled his eyes and he sighed before calling out. “It’s November Lila, school started last month!” Quill had missed the first month of school since he spent most of it In clinical depression. He sighed as he headed to the bathroom to get ready.

Meanwhile downstairs a woman in a Police uniform was making bacon and eggs for Quill and the other resident of the house. The woman had long dark gray hair, and dark shadow like skin. The woman was Lila Shadow, she smiled happily as she cooked, as she did a figure slowly snuck up behind her smirking slightly.

Lila smiled kindly. “If you want your ear to stay attached to your head I suggest you try not to scare a trained police officer.”

The figure sighed and hugged Lila before speaking. “Oh come on mom lighten up, it’s only a joke!”

Lila turned to look at her son, a tall teenager with warm red skin and the same dark gray colored hair as her. “I’ve told you before Heart Stone, there are certain things you don’t mess with. Drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and most importantly your mother when shes holding a hot pan with food!”

Heart Stone sighed and he held his hands up in surrender. “Ok ok I’m sorry…...can I have breakfast now?” He asked with a grin on his face.

Lila sighed and hit him with her spatula. “Go sit your ass down Heart.” She looked to the stairs and she sighed. “I hope Quill is ok, this all must be overwhelming to him”

Heart rolled his eyes and he smiled. “Mom he’s 17, it’s high school, and he has me. The only thing Quill needs to worry about is making new friends.”

Lila looked to him. “Heart you know what he’s been through! Not everyone can bounce back from something horrible like you can!” She glared at her son who sighed.

“I’m gonna go check on him mom, and….. he’s getting better. He actually leaves his room now!” He said before heading upstairs to the bathroom, he knocked on the door before calling out. “Hey Quill! did ya fall in?! Breakfast is ready, so get out here before I eat for the both of us.”

The door opened and, Quill walked out. He was dressed in a pair of faded jeans, a black t-shirt and a hoodie the same shade of green as his skin, with a logo of a closed book with a quill on top of it.. “I’m not hungry anyway Heart.” He said before turning away from Heart.

Quill felt a hand grab his arm, he sighed slightly and said without looking back. “What is it Heart?”

Heart turned Quill to face him and he looked Quill in the eyes. “You’re eating something today, and….” Heart paused as he looked at Quill face. “Have you been crying again? I can see the tear marks on your face…. Quill I told you before to tell me or mom when you’re feeling sad!”

Quill turned away from him and he walked downstairs. “I don’t need your help Heart, I’m fine.” As he walked Quill wiped his eyes and he sighed. He knew he was just rude, but honestly he didn’t feel anything. He hasn’t felt anything in a long while.

Quill headed to school munching a muffin Lila had given him. He really didn’t want to eat, but Lila had threatened to lock him out of his room if he didn’t eat something before school. He never got why she cared so much. He was only her god child. They didn’t have any blood between them at all, but every morning she forced him to eat when she knew he was hungry. She made him watch tv with her when she knew he was lonely. Quill looked down at the muffin in his hand and wondered why she did all of it. His thoughts were interrupted when someone shouted right in his ear.

“HEY LITTLE BRO!” Heart shouted into Quill’s ear and he smiled. “What’s the deal man, you left before me. I wanted us to walk to school together. After all someone has to show you around school.”

Quill looked to Heart, he understood Heart even less then Lila. Lila was an adult, adults were supposed to care about kids. Heart was only a year older then Quill but he seemed to care even more. Quill never spent time with heart, anytime he was invited to go out with Heart and his friends he turned him down to read quietly in his room. He always wondered if Heart was just messing with him, if he was just pretending to care so he could hurt Quill later down the line.

Thoughts like this kept Quill cold and quiet to his new family. So when he spoke to Heart his voice had an icy chill to it. “Someone is showing me around, Principal Celestia called Yesterday and told me that a girl with red and yellow hair would be showing me around. So you don’t need to worry about me.”

Quill walked off ahead leaving Heart standing there looking Hurt. Quill chest hurt a little, a small out of guilt bled through. He shook it off and pushed on to school. He and Heart were heading to Canterlot High. It was supposedly one of the best schools around, with its promise that all of its students will find the school to be a wonderful place to learn and make new friends. Quill however only valued it as a place to get more books to read.

Quill looked ahead and he could see the Statue in front of the school. “Well.. no turning back now.” Quill said before marching forward to the school. He passed by a pink haired girl passing out flyers for the local animal shelter. Quill glanced at her and saw she had a rabbit hidden away in her backpack. He saw it jump out and he looked to the girl. “Your pet is making a break for it.”

The girl turned and she gasped. “Angel no! Not again do you want Principal celestia to take you away!” She chased after the rabbit.

Quill watched her go before blinking. “Why did I help someone I don’t know?” He said before blinking. He turned to school, but not before looking back at the flyers the girl had left. He picked one up and hurried into school. He always did have a fondness for small animals.

He stopped as soon as he walked inside, everything looked too shiny and new. Quill knew that it was a good school but it looked like the entire front of the school was remade. Before Quill could look at anything else a girl cleared her throat and smiled at him. She was standing in front of Quill and she had red and yellow hair, that made Quill think back to Lila’s bacon. He shook the odd image out of his mind before looking back at the girl. She was wearing a dress with a purple top and an orange skirt with a purple and yellow stripe going down the side. She had a sun symbol on the chest of her top. All this was underneath a black leather jacket. She wore odd looking high heeled boots with a purple flame pattern.

“My name is Sunset Shimmer, you must be Heavenly Quill! Principal Celestia wanted me to show you around the school.” She held her hand out to Quill with a friendly smile.

Quill looked at it before asking, “Where’s the library?”

Sunset looked at Quill for a moment before turning. “It’s Upstairs and to the left until you see the big glass doors, but don’t you want to see the rest of the school?” She said in a friendly tone.

Quill shook his head and headed to the library. Sunset watched him go and she started trying to think of a way to get Quill to go with the tour. She wanted Celestia to know that she was putting in a good effort, and she wanted to be able to tell her new friends that she was trying to change.

She hurried after Quill, and stopped in front of him. “Wait! There’s a lot of other cool places to check out before the library!” She said before giving Quill a pleading look.

Quill walked around her. “No thank you, I just want to read my books in peace, before I’m forced to be in a room with people I don’t know for an ungodly amount of time.” He said in a monotone voice.

Sunset looked at Quill as he walked away and she felt something off about him, other than the fact he acted a little too pessimistic. She could feel something dark and sad about him. She knew she wanted to help him, and she saw her chance. “Well if you let me give you the tour you wouldn’t have to go to your classes until we’re done.” She said with a slight smirk.

Quill stopped and he turned to her, “Ok… you have my attention Sunset.” Quill himself had a slight smirk on his face.

Sunset turned and he motioned for him to follow. “This way Heavenly Quill.”

Quill followed her before sighing. “Just Quill please, and I hope this isn’t a waste of my time.”

Sunset sighed and mumbled to herself. “This is going to be a long day”

Sunset led Quill outside to the Sports dedicated area of the school. Quill couldn’t help but be slightly impressed. He could see a football, soccer, and track field. On the football field Quill could see two people racing from one end of the field to the other. One of them was a girl with rainbow colored hair, the other was a boy with dark skin and a t-shirt with the japanese character for wolf on it.

Sunset followed Quill’s gaze and she smiled. “Those are Canterlot High's resident Athletes, The girl with the colorful hair is Rainbow Dash, The boy running with her is Zero Gravity.”

Quill looked to the boy. “I can already tell he's going to be annoying.”

Sunset looked to Quill. “Well he’s not that bad. He actually likes helping people, and he hates bullies…..and on one conditions a former bully.” She looked away slightly. “He can be a little over confident though.”

Quill looked to Sunset. “He’s a idiot isn’t he?”

Sunset chose to remain silent and lead Quill back into the school.

Quill sighed and he stopped Sunset by a set of lockers. “Look Sunset I know you’re trying to help, but I think I’m just gonna try my luck being alone.”

Sunset looked to him before sighing. “O...ok I guess that's fine, I..I hope you enjoy it here.” She turned and headed off to find her friends, maybe she could get their help with Quill.

Quill turned and walked off to his class, he walked past a hallway with Three younger girls, one of them wore a tiara on her head like some kind of princess. The girl standing beside her had silver colored hair and glasses. She and tiara girl had to be friends because they were laughing at the third girl. She had orange skin and purple hair, and she was shouting back at the girls. Quill didn’t care what the argument was about, until he heard the tiara girl say smugly. “Well it’s no wonder you're so stupid, you never had any parents to teach you how to be normal!” She and her friend laughed as the purple haired girl’s eyes widened in shock. Quill stopped in his tracks as a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time suddenly exploded inside of him.

Anger, pure unadulterated anger.

Part II: First Light

Scootaloo was used to the bullying she would get from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, but she wasn’t ready for Tiara to take a jab at her parents. Before she had time to react a shadow had covered her. She looked up at it’s owner and opened her mouth, but before she could ask who he was his angry voice rang out through the hall.

“Well it’s no wonder you're so stupid, you never had any parents how to teach you to be normal!”

Those words echoed in Quill’s head as he turned and walked down the hall the group of girls. Inside him a fire that he believed was dead had come back to life. He stopped as he reached the three girls. He put himself between the girl with the tiara and the girl with purple hair.

“You have 7 seconds to leave her alone. Am I clear or do I need to repeat myself!”

The girl looked up at the weirdo that had interrupted her fun. She was about to tell him off, but then he spoke. The anger and malice in his voice sent a shiver down her spine. She hid the fear and turned to her silver haired friend. “Come on Silver Spoon, lets go. This was getting boring anyway.” She grabbed Silver Spoon’s had and pulled her off quickly. She wanted to get as far away from this weirdo as she could. She could feel Silver Spoon’s hand shaking in hers.

Quill looked back at the purple haired girl and found her smiling up at him, it was then he realized what he had done. His body moved without him thinking, and his emotions spoke for him before his mind could even register what had happened. He left the girl there and hurried off to his class. Whatever had happened with him to make him want to help that girl, was something that he did not want to think about. He didn’t want to help the girl but something inside forced him to move. He left the orange skinned girl there in the hall as he hurried down the hall.

Scootaloo watched as the weird guy ran away from her. She called out to him. “Hey! wait up!” She ran after him and shouted out to him as he turned a corner. “Stop running! I wanna thank you!” As she turned the corner she found that the weird guy in the hoodie was gone. She sighed and went back to her locker. “Who was that guy?” She asked herself as she gathered her things. She looked at the clock and her eyes widened. “Crap I’m gonna be late!” She took off the hall. “Oh god Ms. Cheerilee is gonna be mad at me for being late again.” She hurried off to her own class to meet up with her friends.

She walked into class just as the late bell rang, she sighed in relief and smiled at her teacher Ms. Cheerilee, A kind looking women with pinkish skin and dark purple hair. “You can’t get mad at me this time Ms. Cheerilee I got here right on time!”

Cheerilee sighed but smiling slightly. “You got here on time by a few seconds. Next time lets try and make it by a few minutes ok?”

Scootaloo gave her a cheeky smile. “I’ll try!” She hurried off to the back of class and sat in between her two friends; to her left was a girl with shining white skin, with long pink and purple hair with curls on the ends. She had a white and purple striped top with a yellow dress. She wore purple boots with two golden bands near the top and bottom of the boots. To her right was a pale yellow girl with long red hair with a dark pink bow. She had jeans on with the legs rolled up to her knees, and a belt with a golden buckle. She word worker style country boots.

The girl to her left whispered to her. “Were you off watching Rainbow Dash practice again?” She smiled slightly. knowing Scootaloo idolizes Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo looked at her. “I don’t always do that Sweetie Belle!....besides she was busy racing with Zero.”

The girl to her right chimed in with a slight southern accent. “I’m still surprised that Zero is datin Twi instead of Rainbow. Rainbow is like a girl version of him!” She spoke a little too loudly and Cheerilee glared back to them.

“Apple Bloom quite down! You all need to know this information for your next test!” Cheerilee said before turning back to the chalkboard.

Apple Bloom sighed and shook her head, they were learning about the founding of Canterlot . “I already know this stuff, my family did most of it for pete’s sake!” She muttered to herself before looking to Scootaloo. “So what were ya doin before ya got here?” She asked with a tilt of her head.

Scootaloo sighed before looking down at her desk. “Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were making fun of me again .”

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “Them again? Ya would think they’d get bored of it by now.”

Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement before asking, “What did they say this time?”

Scootaloo went silent for a few seconds before she spoke. “They made fun of me for not having parents.” She said before closing her eyes and sighing sadly.

Apple Bloom’s eyes went wide, and Sweetie Belle covered her mouth in shock.

Before either of them could say anything, Scootaloo spoke up. “Before I could say anything back this weird guy in a green hoodie got in between us and scared them off. He ran off before I could thank him.”

Apple Bloom looked to scootaloo and asked “So he just told em off, and ran away? That’s really weird.”

Sweetie Belle nodded before smiling a little. “Well it’s good to know that there’s someone here to stand up to the bullies, other than Zero.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “Yeah but Zero is always busy trying to be the best at everything, and we don’t even know who this guy is.”

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked across at each other and they smiled. “Well looks like the crusaders have a new mission! Find this mystery guy!” They said at the same time.

Cheerilee walked to the back of the class to the three girls. “You three get to stay after class to help clean things up. Next time don't be so noisy while I'm teaching!”

“Sorry Ms. Cheerilee.” The three girls said at once. As Cheerilee walked back to the front of the room they looked to each other and they smiled at their new goal.

Quill sighed in relief when the bell rang for the end of the last class of the day. The class wasn’t why he was glad it was over. He actually liked the lesson they had been learning, it was on old legends and how much they influenced history. Quill had learned about an old wizard in medieval times called Star Swirl the bearded, who apparently had invented music. Quill would’ve enjoyed the lesson to….. If it hadn’t been thinking about what had happened in the hall with the group of girls. He couldn’t understand why his body had moved on its own to defend a girl he didn’t even know.

He walked down the hall towards the front of the school, trying to focus on something other than why he defended the girls. He passed by a girl with white skin and purple hair heading in the opposite direction of him. He got an odd feeling in the back of his mind that he had seen her before. He shook the feeling off and headed out of the school.

As Quill walked outside he heard two people yelling at each other by the horse statue in the front of the school. It was Rainbow Dash and Zero Gravity. Quill was surprised he remembered their names, but then again it was hard to forget the name of a walking skittles commercial and the living embodiment of annoyance. Quill smiled to himself at his own joke. He caught a bit of their conversation.

“I won that race Rainbow! Theres no way in hell you beat me!”

“I totally beat you! No one is faster than me!”

Zero rolled his eyes, “Oh hush up skittles you can’t win all the time”

This is where Quill stopped caring and left the two to shout at each other. Before he could get more than 2 feet away the orange skinned girl jumped out from behind the statue with two other girls Quill didn’t know. Quill stopped in his tracks and he looked down at the girls. “You're that girl from the halls….”

Scootaloo looked up at the guy and she smirked. “Thats right and you ran away before I could thank you!.

Apple Bloom nodded. “Yeah and we wanna thank ya to for helpin Scootaloo out!”

Sweetie Belle smiled happily. “Not that many people help us out when Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon start picking on us, so we’re really grateful!”

He looked down at the three girls and he sighed.“Listen…. girls I just want to go home ok? So please move aside.” He tried to walk past them only to have Scootaloo get in his way.

“Wait!” She said loudly before smiling, “I just wanna know why you helped out. It’s not like you know me or anything So why did you help?”

He looked down at her, then to her two friend smiling up at him.“I helped because I know how it feels.”

He said simply before standing up. “Now I really do need to head off girls Oh and.. my name is Quill.” Quill turned and walked off from the girls.

Apple Bloom blinked and he looked to Scootaloo. “He knows how it feels? What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked with a puzzled look on her face,

Sweetie Belle thought for a moment. “Maybe he’s been bullied like us before?”

Scootaloo looked at Quill as he walked away and she smiled a little. “Crusaders we have a new mission! Find out what happened to Quill!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded and they smiled.

While the girls planned for their mission they failed to notice the fact that Rainbow and Zero had stopped fighting. They had overheard the girls talking to Quill. Rainbow Dash looked furious. “Those two little runts are messing with them again! I thought Celestia was putting a stop to that!”

Zero rolled his eyes. “You can warn them as much as you want, you gotta scare them straight, but look on the bright side. They have a new friend to watch their back.”

Rainbow looked to him. “I guess you're right, but what do you think he meant when he said he knows how they feel?”

Zero shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know it all depends on what Diamond said to Scootaloo… maybe we should look into this. You can bring in the girls and I’ll do what I do best.”

Rainbow looked to him. “Be annoying and loud?”

Zero glared at her. “No hound him until he tells me what's up”

Rainbow nodded and she smiled. “This might be fun, it’s about time we get a new face here. I just hope he’s not another egg head”

Zero rolled his eyes. “Tomorrow we’ll try and help him. It's too late today.”

Rainbow nodded in agreement and the two headed off to their houses.

Quill went home With Stone who met up with him along the way. Stone looked at Quill. He still felt hurt about how Quill talked to him before, but he knew that deep down Quill didn’t mean it. “So how was your first day of school?”

Quill looked to Stone slowly spoke. “It was...good”

Stone’s eyes widened slightly, he didn't expect Quill to say something so… positive. He slowly smiled and he patted Quill back hard enough to make him stumble. “That’s great bro! Glad to hear you had a good time. Did ya make any friends?”

Quill went silent for a moment as he thought about scootaloo and her friends. He looked to Stone and he nodded. “I think I did, but it doesn’t matter anyone can make friends.” He said as he walked into their house. “I’m going to take a nap, wake me up when dinner is ready.”

Stone looked to his little brother and he smiled a little. “So you're going to start eating right again?”

Quill rolled his eyes. “Just because I don’t clean out the fridge everyday like you doesn’t mean I don’t eat right.” Quill turned and headed upstairs leaving Stone standing like a statue in shock.

Lila walked over to him and asked , “Heart Stone are you ok? Did something happen with you and Quill?”

Stone looked at his mother and he slowly stuttered out, “I..I think Quill just… made a joke.”

Lila’s eyes widened and she looked up stairs to Quill’s room, a small smile spread across her face. “He’s finally starting to open up!”

Quill tossed his backpack in the corner and put his hoodie on his dresser before laying on his bed and closing his eyes. It wasn’t long after when he fell asleep and the dream began yet again. Quill found himself back in his old home eating dinner with his mother and his father. Quill began shaking in the dream, he knew what would happen next. The bang noise resonated through the house and Quill’s mind. Quill’s father vanished from the dinner table. Quill’s shaking grew more violent as the second bang rang out through the house, his mother vanished as soon as the noise was heard.

Quill’s dream body forced him to run to the door to get help, but the same figure from every dream blocked his way. The dark figure with the glowing red eyes. Quill turned and he ran up the stairs away from the figure. Quill began to feel the heat from the fire the figure made with each step.

Quill ran to his room and slammed the door. He closed his eyes and he braced for the pain in his stomach and the burning sensation he would feel. Before either could come, Quill heard a noise in his room he had never heard in the dream before. He opened his eyes and found Scootaloo standing beside him whispering something he couldn’t hear just right. Quill look at her in confusion as the dark figure bursted into his room. Quill turned to it and he slammed his eyes shut again as he heard the third and final bang. Right before Quill could feel the pain, he heard what Scootaloo had been whispering to him.

“You’re not alone.” Quill heard the words and he felt the pain in his stomach. Not to long after he felt the fire on his skin, but...neither hurt him as much as they did in the other dreams.

Quill’s eyes opened from the dream as he woke up, he got off his bed and walked into his bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror, he could see new light in his eyes. Light that hadn’t been there the night before. It was faint but it was there. As Quill looked at his reflection he slowly spoke to it.

“You're not alone”

Part III: New Smile

It was a new day at Canterlot High, the birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and Zero Gravity was getting himself into other people’s business as usual. It was before the first bell and Zero was on the hunt for anything he could use to find out more about Heavenly Quill. So far he’s gotten no where, until a thought occurred to him. Sunset Shimmer had been the one to show Quill around the school, she might know something!

Zero rushed off to find her, he noticed her getting her things out of her locker and he ran over.

“Yo, bacon hair,” Zero hollered. “I was wondering if you could help me out with something.”

Sunset sighed and he closed her locker, she looked to Zero and crossed her arms. “Say my name right first.”

“Sunset Shimmer,” he addressed.

She smiled gently. “Thank you, now what do you need Zero? Do I need to get Celestia to bail you out of trouble again?, because you know she’s getting tired of it.”

“Not this time, I need you to tell me what you know about this Heavenly Quill guy,”

Sunset thought for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. ‘I don’t know much about him, just that he came here from Manehatten and he has a brother on the football team.”

“Hm, same city I’m from,” Zero acknowledged. “What’s his brother’s name?”

“Heart Stone, he’s usually on the football field if you wanna go see him next, and good luck with Quill. He seems like the kind of guy who keeps everything to himself.” She said.

“Interesting, alright thanks for the info. Hasta la bye bye.”

Zero walked out into the football field and he began looked around for Heart Stone, when he realized he had no idea what he looked like.

“.....shit, how am I going to find him.” He thought outloud only for him to come up with an idea and took a deep breath. “HEY, IS THERE ANYONE NAMED HEART STONE AROUND HERE BY ANY CHANCE, I FORGOT TO ASK WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE,”

A tall young man with red skin, and dark gray hair over his left eye walked over to Zero. “I’m Heart Stone, what do you need man, I was trying to get some early practice in before the bell.”

“Sorry,” Zero apologized. “But I was hoping if you could tell me more about your brother, Quill. I saw him yesterday when a few girls were thanking him for standing up against some bullies,and yet he just shrugged them off. That, and he seems so...distant from everyone else. So I wanted to know if okay he’s ok and all.”

Heart Stone rubbed the back of his head and he sighed. “I know someone was gonna ask about him eventually….” He looked to Zero, “Look man I’m glad you’re trying to help him, but it’s not my place to talk about stuff about his past. You’re gonna have to go ask him directly.” He said with a sigh.

“Ah, the direct approach,” Zero said. “I appreciate the help, Heart Stone. Who knows, maybe if me and Quill become friends you and I can play sports from time to time. I’d love to go toe to toe with you and see if your worthy enough to stand up to me.”

Heart Stone looked down at Zero and he smirked a little. “Sounds like a plan Zero, good luck with my brother. I hope you can help him.”

Quill had finished all of his work for his science class so his teacher allowed him to come up to the library to pass the time until his next class. He scanned the shelves for something interesting, when when he noticed someone walking towards him out of the corner of his eye. He could tell from the person’s black spiky hair and japanese writing on their shirt that it was that guy Zero Gravity. Quill sighed and turned to face him.

“What do you want Zero?” He said in a monotone voice.

“Yo, new kid.” Zero greeted. “Heard you stood up to some bullies yesterday and wanted to thank you for looking out for the Crusaders. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon can be such bitches am I right?”

Quill sighed as held up two fingers. “One, please don’t curse when you’re talking about two little girls.” He put one finger down. “And two, like I told them it’s not problem.” He put the other finger down.

“That’s fair,” Zero agreed. “But not many people around here seem to pay any mind to others who are depressed or being bullied. That’s where me and Rainbow Dash come in, we usually keep an eye out for things like that and help out in anyway we can. But what I’m trying to say is thank you for helping them out.”

Quill looked to Zero and he sighed. “Look I know you’re here to try and find out what my deal is. I noticed you and your colorful friend listening in to me and the girls you call the crusaders. I’m gonna save you the trouble and tell you upfront I don’t need any help from you.” Quill turned back to the bookshelf, but the words he heard in his last dream popped up in his mind.

“You’re not alone.”

He glanced at Zero and said quietly. “Thanks for the concern.”

“What can I say,” Zero smiled . “I like to look out for others.”

Before Quill could respond the bell rang for their next class. Quill stood up and sighed, knowing the next class for him was gym.

Zero jumped in the air in excitement. “Alright! It’s dodgeball day.” he shouted, only for the librarian to shush him. “I hope Rainbow’s on the opposite team, it's time to see who’s really number one.” Zero looked towards Quill before continuing. “Hey do you have gym with me as well or nah.”

Quill nodded his head and he sighed, “Unfortunately yes, yes I do. Lets just go and get this over with.”

“Awesome,” Zero exclaimed. “I gotta warn you though, if we’re on opposite teams I won’t go easy on you, even if we’re pals.”

Quill looked to Zero and his eyes narrowed. “Look Zero I know you’re trying to be nice, but we’re not pals.” He walked past Zero and out of the library towards the gymnasium, only for Zero to shrug and follow along.

“If you say so.”

Quill looked down at his gym clothes, it was a white with the school’s horse head symbol on the chest. The gym shorts were black with the letters C.H.S on the pocket’s in capital letters. “Note to self, make gym clothes less boring…”

A feminine voice behind him spoke up. “Glad to see someone agrees with me. If we’re going to be sweating we should at least look good doing it!”

Quill turned to look at whoever spoke, he saw a girl with stunning white skin, and long purple hair that went to down to her back. He looked at the girl and he felt like he should know this girl.

Before he could say anything however he felt someone smack him on the back.

“Hey man! You ready to play some dodgeball?” Zero said with a smile.

Rarity had gone off to talk to her other friends in the class, leaving Quill standing there watching her go.

Zero followed his gaze and he laughed. “You're here for two days and you're already crushing on one of the prettiest girls in the school, regardless of the fact that she's way out of your league"

Quill turned and glared at Zero. “I’m not crushing on her idiot….I just thought I knew her from somewhere.”

“Sure you aren’t,” Zero smirked. “Now come on, it's game time.”

A loud whistle sounded right in their ears causing the two teens to wince and cover them. The coach was a bulky blue man with a dark blue mohawk. He was wearing a white T-shirt accustomed with a black tie and dark blue shorts. “Enough talking! Iron Will says it’s time for dodgeball!”

Quill rolled his eyes and looked to the shouting man. “And what if I don’t want to play?”

Coach Iron Will turned to Quill and shouted in his face. “Its mandatory! Get out there and pelt the other team! Does Iron Will make himself clear!”

Quill sighed and he nodded. “Yes he makes himself loud and clear.” He said with an eye roll.

Quill stood in the back of his side of the court, he looked at his team members and he sighed. The only person of value on his team was that girl Rainbow Dash. With him, in the back was the Purple haired that had talked to Quill.

She looked to him and she smiled. “You’re the new boy here. Quill right? My name is Rarity.” She looked closely at him and she titled her head in confusion. “Actually darling have we met before? You seem familiar.”

Before Quill could respond that he felt the same, Coach Iron WIll blew his whistle and a red rubber ball slammed into the wall inches away from Quill’s face. Quill turned to see who had thrown the ball, only to see Zero With a big grin on his face.

“Keep your eye on the birdie, Quill. Otherwise, You’ll be annihilated.” Zero said as he gave a devilish grin.

Quill’s eye twitched and he slowly walked to the dividing line of the gym.

Rainbow Dash noticed him and shouted. “What the hell are you doing!? Get back behind me!”

Quill ignored her and picked up a ball, he pulled back and let it fly right at Zero’s face. Only for him to dodge it at the last second.

“Not a bad throw,” Zero commented. “But the battle is just getting STARTED!”

Quill glared at Zero and sidestepped a ball that one of Zero’s teammates threw.

Rainbow threw her ball and got that guy out, and she looked to Quill. “You got a good arm! Do me a favor and help me take outy Zero!”

Quill glanced from her to Zero before nodding. “Gladly.”

With that Quill and Rainbow Dash began to pick off Zero’s team one by one. Each of their shots were aimed at Zero but someone always got in the way. While Rainbow was playing purely offense, Quill kept glancing back at the less athletic people to make sure they were ok.

He caught several of the Dodge balls before they could harm anyone. He got a few thank yous from the people he defended.

Rarity in particular held him back and gave him a dazzling smile. “Thank you Darling for keeping those rubber menaces from ruining my clothes!.” She leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek as a thank you gift.

Quill froze up and a blush spread across his face. He had no idea what to say to her. He began to stutter. “I..i..its.. n..nothing. uhh….R...rarity.”

Rarity giggled and patted his head. “You remind me of my friend’s little brother. He does the exact same thing when I kiss him on the cheek.” She turned her head and let out a scream when she noticed a ball heading right for her.

Quill caught it before it could hit and he sighed. “What kind of idiot purposely aims at a defenseless girl.” Quill said in a slightly angry tone.

Rarity blushed a little herself at his comment. “T...thank you Quill.”

Quill was about to respond when he felt a gut wrenching pain in his stomach.

Suddenly he found himself back in his burning room at his old house. He saw the dark figure this time clearly enough to make out a twisted smile. Then he heard the gunshot and the pain spread through his stomach.

On Zero’s side of the court, he just threw a dodgeball at Quill and it hit him right in the stomach while he was distracted.

“RULES OF NATURE!” Zero sang while he was doing a little dance of his. “And they run the when the sun comes up, with there lives on the line!”

While he was singing, he noticed Quill holding the side of his stomach in pain.

“Oh come on dude, I didn’t throw it that hard.” Zero noted. Only to notice a patch of red on Quill’s shirt.

Quill fell to his knees, before blacking out fully and collapsing on the floor. Rarity screamed and knelt by him. “C..Coach he’s bleeding!”

Coach Iron Will ran over to him and knelt by him. he moved his shirt to find the place he was bleeding. It was on the upper part of the side of his stomach. The blood was coming from a round darkly colored scar. “Someone get the school nurse now!”

Rainbow nodded. “Got it coach!” She took off running out of the gym. Iron Will took off his tie and balled it up before pushing on the wound to stop the bleeding.

“Oh Shit!” Zero exclaimed while running towards Quill’s unconscious body. “Is he gonna be Ok coach?!”

Coach Iron Will looked to him and he sighed. “Its not much blood, but Iron WIll has no idea what kind of wound this is. We need the nurse here now!”

Rainbow ran back in with the school nurse. The nurse hurried over to Quill and knelt by him. “It looks like the bleeding stopped but he still looks like hes in alot of pain. Someone help me take him to my office.”

Quill felt like he was on the cold hard gym floor for hours. When his mind finally came back to him he felt a soft surface under his body. he slowly opened his eyes and tried to sit up, only to feel a shooting pain in his side.

The nurse gently pushed him back down onto the bed. “You can’t try to sit up yet. You took a hit pretty hard on what looks like an old wound.”

Quill looked to the woman and slowly questioned, “H.. how did I get here?”

The nurse looked to him, “From what I heard you took a hard hit from a Dodgeball and it reopened that sound on your stomach. I had to call your mother to get more information on it. You do know you shouldn’t be playing games like that so soon after getting hurt.”

Quill placed his hand on his side and he sighed, “So you know what it is then… Please don’t tell anyone.”

The nurse shook her head and gave Quill a soft smile. “My job is to help students feel better now tell their secrets to people. Now then you need to lay back and get some rest ok? Your mother is on her way to take you home.”

Quill nodded and layed his head on the pillow.

The nurse’s phone rang and she answered it. A few moments later she sighed. “I have to go for a moment Quill. Just stay there until your mother arrives.” She stood up and headed out of her office.

Just as Quill closed his eyes to rest , the door to the room creaked open slightly, causing Quill to tilt his head in confusion.

“Guess who’s back,” sang the familiar voice. only for the door to be kicked opened by Zero who was holding two lunch trays. “Back again. Zero’s back, tell a frie-”

Quill sighed and he looked to the door. “Stop singing, I’m already in enough pain i don’t need a headache too.”

“Well, singing wasn’t my best quality anyways.” Zero shrugged. “I would have used the window but as you can see, I’m carrying two lunches.”

“Two trays? One for you and one for your ego?” Quill said sarcastically.

“If by ego you mean my stomach then yeah, but no its not for my stomach. It’s for you.” Zero explained. “I was already planning on visiting you during lunch and my girlfriend thought you might be hungry so she gave me her food since she wasn’t hungry, that and she said eating after exercise can make her sleepy.” Zero put the tray of food next to Quill. on the tray was a bowl of rice along with apple juice, while on Zero’s tray was the same thing with the addition of a burger. “Sorry that there’s no burger, Twilight still enjoys those.”

Quill looked to the tray his stomach did let out a slight growl. He slowly sat up wincing slightly from the pain in his side. He put the tray in his lap and began to eat the rise with the chopsticks Zero left on the tray. “This doesn’t get rid of the fact that you were the one that put me here Zero. I hope you know that.” He took a sip of the apple juice as he spoke.

“Hey, I can’t deny what happened,” Zero admitted. “That my good man is etched into history, but that doesn’t mean I can’t apologize or make up for it.”

“You could apologize, but whether or not I accept it is another story entirely.” Quill said with a slight glare at Zero. “Why would you use that much force to begin with. If you had hit the girl beside me by accident she’d be worse off than me. Maybe next time you should actually think before you do something.” Quill said angrily.

“Well…” Zero chuckled nervously. “Something like that already happened. I misfired and hit Fluttershy by mistake, except she wasn’t bleeding.” Zero said before taking a bite of his burger, only to stop halfway. “You don’t mind me eating meat do you? I kinda went through the same scenario with Fluttershy and she was a little uncomfortable with this, so I ate after I left.”

Quill rolled his eyes, “I am a vegetarian, but I couldn’t care less what you eat. Everyone is entitled to their own choices… unless those choices involve nailing someone in the stomach with a dodgeball.” Quill said coldly.

Zero stopped eating and closed his eyes, he told a deep breathe reopened his eyes before he began talking once more. “So...something bad happened to you huh.”

Quill turned to Zero, his eyes were slightly wide. “What makes you say that?”

“Oh come on, it's written all over your face.” Zero began. “You’re so gloomy, you want to be alone, your brother said he can’t talk about your past. And if that didn’t give it away, you started bleed after I hit you on the side, meaning you must have gotten a pretty bad wound recently. that, and your attitude sucks.”

Quill opened his mouth to talk, but nothing came out but a sigh. he looked down at this tray. “So its that obvious? I didn’t think you’d be smart enough to figure all that out… I didn't think anyone would put two and two together. I bet you want to know what happened now don't you?” Quill said as he looked to Zero.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I will say this.” Zero said as he gave a serious look on his face. “Don’t succumb to the darkness inside your mind, if you do...you’ll never come back.”

Quill was speechless after hearing Zero’s surprisingly sincere advice. Quill let out a sigh. “Zero answer me one more Question and answer it honestly. No jokes and no sarcasm.”He turned to face zero wincing slightly. ‘Why do you care so much?”

Zero gave a soft smile. “Well that’s personal too, but I can tell you this much. I hate to see people like you without any friends or someone to rely on. I mean come on, as far as I know you haven’t look happy since you got here. So come on, crack a smile once in a while. You’re in a better place.”

Quill looked down as he took in Zero’s words. He started to shake a little and he looked to Zero with a smile in his face.. “T...thank you Zero.” The smile looked odd on Quill's face, like it's been awhile since he's smiled.

Zero stood up and cracked his back, “Well, I’ve had enough emotional chat for one day, time to take my leave.” Zero walked over to the window and opened it. “Hm, we’re on the second floor, kinda hoping we were on the third.” Zero unzipped his backpack and took out a grappling hook before attaching it to the window then looked at Quill and gave a thumbs up. “I’ll catch you later, oh and I’m sorry about the whole dodgeball thing.”

Quill watched him with a confused look on his face, “What are you doing? Please tell me you're not going to do what I think you're about to do.”

“What? You said people are entitled to their choices, plus doors are too mainstream.” Zero said before jumping down. “BY THE WAY, I THINK YOUR MOM’S HERE!” He shouted. “ALSO, DON’T TELL CELESTIA I DID THIS! SHE CAUGHT ME AT LEAST FIVE TIMES NOW!”

Quill blinked and tried to register what just happened in his mind. He closed his eyes and shook his head. “There is something seriously wrong with him.” He concluded with a nod of his head.

Not so long after Lila walked into the room and ran to Quill. She hugged him tightly which made him wince a little. “I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU QUILL! WHEN I HEARD YOU GOT HURT I DROPPED EVERYTHING AND CAME RIGHT OVER.”

Quill gently pushed her away and he gave her a slight smile. “Lila not too tight… my stomach still hurts a little.

Lila looked at Quill and noticed his smile, she began to tear up. “Y..you're smiling! Quill you're smiling! Its been so long since I've seen you smile!” She held him in her arms and smiled happily.

Quill slowly returned the hug and he smile grew bigger.

Twilight Sparkle sat with Zero at the Sugar Cube Corner bakery happily sharing a milkshake with him. “So how did it go with Heavenly Quill?”

“We had a little bit of a sappy conversation and told him one of my philosophical thoughts and he finally cracked a smile, so I think he’s coming around.”

Twilight smiled softly at her boyfriend. “That’s good, maybe we can get him to hang out with us sometime. I have seen him in the library before, so maybe he and I can… as you would say ‘nerd it out’.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t the best choice of words and that’s not what I said.” Zero said nonchalantly. “But I think it’s a little too soon for him to start hanging out with us, he needs a little more time to himself.”

Twilight nodded a little “I guess you are right, but maybe we should try and talk with him. Rarity seems to think that they met before.”

“Hm, so he wasn’t crushing on her,” Zero said while drinking his milkshake. “I was a little worried there, maybe Spike still has a chance.”

Twilight laughed , “Spike will realize that she’s too old for him soon. Speaking of Spike I have to head out and pick him up from soccer practice. See you later Zero.”

“See ya later, Twi.” Zero waved. “Tell the little guy to come over my to place so we can finish that final boss together.”

“Will do,” Twilight confirmed as she walked out the door, leaving Zero to gather his thoughts on today's events. He started chewing on his straw as he thought about Quill more and more, Zero didn’t care much about his past, but more about what he’ll do from this point on. He knew his smile was an honest one, but that doesn’t mean something wouldn’t come along and take it away from him. whether the darkness in his heart will take over or not will be up to him in the end.

“Heavenly Quill,” Zero frowned as some of his dark thoughts began to cloud his mind.

“How long will your heart be darkened by the shadows of your past.”