Finding Harmony

by kuromi

Rating: everyone
Tags: Princess Celestia, Main 6, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Human, Sad, Princess Luna, Original Character
Length: 25986

A human child in Equestria teaches the mane 6 what magic means in a world with none.

A human child is found at the edge of the Everfree forest. She seems to embody all the innocence and magic that make up Equestria and the fantastical creatures that live there, but as the six friends struggle to care for her and find a way to get her home they discover that the human world can be a cruel and tragic place and through this loss of innocence they realize that they are what hopes and dreams mean to a child in another world who has no hope left.

Published 2011-11-14 08:57:59 UTC
Last updated 2012-04-03 03:39:02 UTC

Chapter 1(revised)

A small, plastic horse doll sits on a table, its lavender colour shining in the moonlight spilling in from the window. The shadowy figure of a young boy reaches out to the doll and clutches it to his chest as tears fall from his eyes. He looks over to his little sister’s bed and furiously wipes at the tears, then strokes his fingers through the doll’s mane lost in thought.

“Oh Harmony, where did you go?...”

The light from the setting sun shone bright behind her casting her profile into shadow. The pale, yellow pegasus’s wings stood spread out against the sun as she approached the clearing where she heard the cries of what she thought was a distressed animal she could help. But as she came closer to the creature she thought at first it could be another pony curled up in a ball, their blonde mane sticking out in two directions as if it were two tiny tails on the side of the pony’s head. Still, something was wrong. The pony with the tails in her mane was two-toned in colour. Her body covered in lavender cloth such as a pony would wear to a fancy ball, and her legs that were clutched tightly under her body were blue. The winged pony’s perception of the creature completely changed when it raised its head to her.

“Are you an angel?” came the small voice of a filly, but it was not a filly who looked up into the eyes of the pegasus. No. The face was oval shaped and the colour of summer peaches with rounded rosy cheeks. The nose was small and flat with no muzzle, and the eyes, although wide with fear were much smaller than any filly the concerned pony had seen before. This creature was unlike anything she had ever seen before in her life.

“Mommy said there’d be angels…” said the voice again, and that was enough to send the pony into a panic, and squeaking like a mouse she jumped into a bush away from the strange sight.

“Wait! Don’t leave!” cried the little voice so like a lost filly calling for their mother it sent a pain into the heart of the hiding pegasus. Her gentle soul could never abandon a crying and helpless little creature even if she couldn’t understand what exactly they were. Her fear of the unknown kept her paralyzed under the shelter of the little bush, but the empathy in her heart pulled at her to resurface and face what scared her, but who seemed just as scared as she.

The sun was a little more than a glint in the sky when the shy pegasus pulled herself out from under the bush she sheltered in and forced herself to approach the helpless two-tail as she thought to call it. The two-tail was again curled into a ball so that her namesake was all that was visible as the wary pony came closer, her hooves softly echoing against the dirt ground.

Don’t be afraid. The pegasus thought to herself. She’s small, and scared like a baby bunny. I can help her….

Just then the creature looked up again, her fur-less, peach coloured face scaring the winged pony again but she stood firm as she saw the fear in the eyes of the two-tail.

“You’re not an angel...” the fear in the voice was almost palpable as the creature mentioned the name of the pegasus’s bunny friend again in the negative. “You’re a… a… “ the pony stepped back. “A pegasus!” the two-tail’s voice rose in pitch and her small face lit up in happiness at her discovery.

The yellow pegasus was shocked that the creature seemed to understand what she was while she couldn’t comprehend anything about them.

“Y-yes I’m a-“ the pony stopped short as suddenly the little two-tailed creature launched themselves at her in a wide open hug, clutching her around her shoulders.

“Wow, a real, live, pegasus just like my dolls! I love your wings, and, and you’re yellow and your hair is… its pink!” came a string of excited words from the now standing two-tail. Although the pegasus now saw that the creature was more of a two-leg as she stood up to just reach her head using only two legs and what she thought had been hooves originally wrapped around her like her animal friends’ paws.

The excited voice of the young two-legged creature reminded the pony of her always excitable pink friend who she usually felt shy around, but with this strange little one clinging to her she felt no fear or discomfort, but a motherly instinct to take care of her, not unlike her common nature of caring for small animals.

“Hello, little one,” the pegasus spoke up gently nuzzling the two-legged off of her mane. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like you in this forest before. Where do you come from?”

The little one calmed down enough to listen to the voice of the pony before her, and looked quizzically into her eyes. “I don’t know. Where am I? I’ve never seen anyone like you before either… except in my storybooks.” The two-legged frowned a little, upsetting the pegasus to see she had scared her again.

“You don’t know where you came from?” the winged pony asked, incredulously.

“Um…no.” replied the child.

“Oh, well, don’t worry, we can figure it all out with the help of my friends” she said, deciding right then and there that she must bring this lost little creature to see her learned unicorn friend, Twilight Sparkle. She surely would be able to explain what she was and where she had come from.

“There are more of you?!” the two-legged spoke up excited again.

“Why yes, this is Ponyville, in the land of Equestria, and many ponies and pegasi live here.” The pegasus explained. She had no time to mention the unicorns, dragons and alicorn princesses before the little one chirped again.

“Oh please let me meet your friends!” she cried, excitedly bouncing up and down in one spot, again reminding the pegasus of her just as excitable friend.

“Of course, of course. But first, my name is Fluttershy.” The winged pony said, softly, her ears bending down as the shyness of introductions still overtook her. “Please, tell me your name.” she continued, smiling kindly.

“My name is Harmony. Mommy says it means everyone gets along.” The small one grinned, happily, but the pony seemed to be lost in thought about the meaning of the name of her new friend.

“Oh…my...” she spoke. “That’s a very special name.”

Suddenly there was a low grumbling sound and the child clutched at her tummy. “Ugh, I’m hungry.” She groaned.

“Oh! I can get you something to eat at my house.” Fluttershy exclaimed, worriedly coming over to the little girl who had grown a little pale.

“You live in a house?” she asked, her eyes lighting up.

“Yes, my cottage is just beyond that hill. I’m sure we can find you something to eat there.” The pegasus pointed a hoof out toward a small hill where the setting sun was just disappearing. “We better hurry though, it’s going to be dark soon.”

“Let’s go, let’s go! I wanna see your house! I’ve never seen a pegasuses’ house before.” Harmony cried, recovering a little.

Fluttershy giggled, charmed by the way the small creature was excited by everything no matter how mundane it seemed to her.

“I’ll take you there. You can hold my tail as a guide… if you want…” she suddenly realized that she didn’t feel shy around the child, and felt maybe she was being demanding with her more confident tone. She flicked her long, flowing pink tail out to the little girl who gently took hold of it.

“Hehe, it tickles” she giggled, as she gripped the pony’s tail which hid her in a curtain of soft pink.

“Now hold on, and try to keep up. It’s not too far to my house.” Fluttershy said as she slowly started to trot forward, hearing the laugh of her companion behind her.

Oh, I wonder what this sweet little creature could be? I hope Twilight can help us figure this out. She thought, excitedly to herself as she headed toward her cottage and into the coming night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You live here?” The little girl asked as she gazed in wonder over the cottage tree house where the pegasus pony made her home. In the twilight the cottage’s many animal occupants were not around, but the child marvelled at the multitude of birdhouses in the trees, the babbling brook with the bridge to cross over from the meadow to where the house stood at the top of a small hill, and the scattering of wild flowers. Like the pegasus pony who had rescued her it looked like something out of her storybooks, and she wondered if she had somehow wondered into one of them.

“Yes, this is my home.” Fluttershy smiled, welcomingly, and she led the small creature through the door and into the cottage. Her companion was even more amazed by the inside of her house as the little animal inhabitants came to greet them, including her best friend and assistant Angel Bunny.

“Wow, you have so many animals!” Harmony exclaimed as the animals curiously came closer to her. They had never seen a creature like her either, and again Fluttershy was surprised that the child could identify them. Where could she have come from that was so similar to Equestria yet so different?

“These are my animal friends who I take care of when they are hurt or sick.” The pegasus explained as Angel hopped up onto her back to get a closer look at the new member. “And this is Angel Bunny.” She nuzzled the little rabbit closer to her. “This is Harmony, Angel Bunny. She was lost in the Everfree forest and I brought her here to get something to eat.”
The small white bunny stared at the child, wiggling his nose as he sniffed at the pony-sized creature his pegasus friend had brought into his territory. He was wont to be wary of her, not liking when his owner turned her affections to anyone else, but the creature was calm and innocent looking, and the bunny sensed no ill will toward him or his mistress. She may as well have been another sick or hurt animal for them to take care of together and he was excited at the new challenge.

“Hi, Angel Bunny.” The child gave a toothy grin. “Can I pet him?” She turned to the pegasus eagerly.

“What do you say, Angel?” Fluttershy asked her assistant. Angel liked this, he didn’t appreciate being fawned over without his permission, and found it refreshing to be asked for once. He dutifully stuck his head out for the child to stroke his soft fur and he smiled at her gentle touch.

“Aw, he’s so cute!” Harmony squealed, and Fluttershy smiled, glad to see that Angel accepted her new friend since it was hard to get the wary bunny to accept a new face.

“Let me see what I can find you to eat.” Fluttershy said rummaging in her cupboards for some vegetables to make a soup that she knew would fill up the tummy of her new charge. Finding some carrots Fluttershy turned to the child and asked, "Do you eat carrots?" because she really had no idea what the little creature could eat. She hoped she wasn't a meat eater like some of her animal friends. That was...difficult to deal with.

"Yup! I like carrots with dip and soft cooked carrots and even carrot juice cuz mommy says its good for you." Harmony replied cheerfully and the pegasus smiled at her.

"Good. This won't take long, why don't you sit down with Angel Bunny while I finish up here." she offered.

The child seated herself on the lime green lounge chair by the window and continued to look around the room as Fluttershy got the pot of water on the fire. Angel Bunny would normally be helping his owner but he decided to sit with the new arrival because she seemed kind of lost in her new surroundings.

“Harmony, do you know how you came to be in that forest at all?” Fluttershy asked after she had added the vegetables and seasoning to the pot and had a minute to speak with the little girl.

“Um… I don’t know…” she started. “I was sleeping at my home, but then I was in that forest. I walked around looking for my mommy or someone but no one was around and I was scared. I walked for a long time, and it was dark and scary. I was all alone and I thought mommy had been right and I…I had…” Suddenly tears were streaming down the child’s face, her body shaking as she broke off in sobs.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry!” the pegasus cried and galloped over to the crying creature. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. Its ok, you’re out of that scary forest. There’s nothing to hurt you here.” She soothed, rearing up and holding the child to her as she cried.

Fluttershy felt so bad to have scared the little girl so much that she was crying. Of course she had been scared in the Everfree forest, it was the Everfree forest after all. She was just glad the poor thing hadn’t been attacked by a manticore or something before she got to her.

“There, there, dry your tears. You’re safe here and I think your soup is ready. Let’s have some to warm up your tummy and you’ll feel much better.” The pegasus pony smiled tenderly, nuzzling at the child’s face.

“Really? It’s safe here?” Harmony asked, her eyes still sparkling with tears.

The timid pony took a deep breath and put on her bravest expression for her little charge. “Yes, I’ll protect you.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy. You’re the best pony.” The child held the pegasus in a hug and she blushed not used to so much affection from anypony but her friends. But something inside her- perhaps her maternal instincts as a mare- told her that this was what the little one needed and she vowed to be there for her and keep her safe however she could.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It tastes good.” Harmony trilled, happily as she sipped at the carrot soup Fluttershy had made for her.

“I’m glad you like it, Harmony.”

The pony watched as the child held her soup bowl in her small paw-like appendages and sipped the soup like Angel would sometimes do as she lapped at her own bowl. She truly had never seen any creature like her and wondered again what exactly she could be. She recognized her as immature, a child who needed someone to care for her and that was what she was trying her best to do, but otherwise she didn’t know anything else about the little girl who she had found curled up on the ground on the edge of the Everfree. Her two little tails on the top of her head were the colour of Applejack’s light yellow mane and that was what she could only assume they were. Her clothes covered her whole body which stood up straight on two legs like many other animals she had seen, and perhaps what most fascinated her were the five appendages where her hoofs would be. They could bend and hold things like only her animal friends could do, albeit not as dexterous as this creature seemed to be able to handle. She wondered if the child could write, maybe she could help her keep her lists of medications for her animals up to date.

“Fluttershy,” Just then the child spoke up again, pulling the pony out from her thoughts.

“Oh. Yes, Harmony?”

“You said there were lots of ponies and pegasuses here, right?” she started, thoughtfully.

“They’re called pegasi, honey, but go on.” Fluttershy corrected, gently.

“Oh… Um, ok, pegasi….” She pasued. “But have you ever seen a unicorn before?” The little girl’s eyes glistened with anticipation and hope as she asked this question, and the pegasus even noticed she was holding her breath.

“Why, yes, my two best friends are unicorns.” She responded quickly so as to break the tension and get the child to breathe again.

“They are? Really?!” Harmony cried, releasing her breath, and jumped up from the table where the two were sitting, almost upsetting the soup bowls. “Really? Real unicorns with horns and everything?!” She continued, starting to hop in excitement.

“Yes. Twilight and-“ but before the pony could explain more she was cut off.

“Can they do magic? Can they make pure water? Can they heal?” the child demanded, emphasizing heavily on the last question.

“Well…” Fluttershy started, timidly, feeling a little shy from the outburst, but touched by the little girl’s sudden interest. “Rarity uses her magic to make dresses and find gems, but Twilight Sparkle is very magical. I think you’d have to ask her what she can do.” She smiled, anticipating the excitable child’s next question.

“Can we meet her?!”

“Of course. In the morning we’ll go meet her and you can ask her all about her magic. I’m sure she’ll have lots to show you.”

Harmony seemed to deflate then and sank down on the carpet, her hands holding her cheeks as she mumbled. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh…”

Fluttershy couldn’t help it anymore and she burst out laughing. “Oh Harmony, you remind me so much of my friends sometimes.” She explained in between giggles.

The child stopped and stared, and the pegasus tried to compose herself before she too grinned and then started to laugh.

“I found a pegasus and a unicorn! This is the best day ever!” Harmony cried happily, dancing around her new friend who got to her hoofs and joined her. Even Angel Bunny came over to dance with the two happy companions. The child’s excitement and laughter was infectious and warmed Fluttershy’s heart. “I can’t wait until tomorrow!” Harmony shouted to the ceiling, than she fell over and giggled on the carpet, clutching her stomach with glee.

“We should finish our soup before it gets cold.” The pegasus pony pointed out when the child seemed to have stopped giggling. She sat down at her side of the table beckoning Harmony to do the same.

“Oh, yeah.” The little girl sat up and used her fascinating limbs to grip her small cup of water and gulped it down in one drop. Then she began working on the soup again, gently blowing the still slightly steaming dish and lifting it to her lips to slowly sip it.

Fluttershy watched the child and wondered how she knew about unicorns and magic. How did she know about pegasi too? Surely Twilight would know and could show her some wonderful magic. And maybe Rainbow Dash can show her a rainbow, and Rarity could make something for her, and Pinkie would definitely want to have a party and Applejack could- the pegasus stopped her thoughts before she could go on, noticing her new charge’s movements become slower, her eyelids low with a goofy smile on her face as she struggled to continue to eat. She moaned a little as she put down her bowl and the pony was a little shocked to see her completely topple over backwards to the floor. She hurried over to her and found the small child peacefully asleep on the carpet, her breathing slow and rhythmic with the smile still on her face.

“Aw, she must have been exhausted after everything she’s been through today.” Fluttershy said to herself, wondering what to do about the child. She didn’t want to leave her lying on the floor, but she didn’t want to risk waking her by trying to carry her to her bedroom. Instead she gently placed a pillow under her, carefully nuzzling her head to set it down, than she brought a blanket over and clutching it in her teeth draped it over her small body. Wanting to be there if Harmony woke up she settled herself on the lounge chair nearby and found herself just watching the sleeping child in awe again as she lay down on her hoofs.

There was something about her. Something that made her heart feel full, her shyness disappear, her instincts telling her to take care of her, to protect her and keep her safe. She felt the child’s joy and wonder about the place she was in, and the things she had seen and yet to see, but she also felt some sort of deep sadness from her. Something the little girl couldn’t talk about, something she couldn’t understand. There was true fear and grief when she had spoken about her home and being lost in the Everfree forest. Perhaps she was just frightened at what certainly must be a new world to her, but something told her there was more to little Harmony then any excitable little filly-child from another world.

“I just wish I knew where you came from and why you’re here…” she muttered to herself, feeling her own eyes grow heavy.

“Mommy…” Suddenly the child spoke in her sleep, jerking Fluttershy awake too. “Mommy it hurts… you said it wouldn’t hurt anymore…mommy…” Harmony tossed and turned, her voice sounding pained and scared.

Worried, the pony got down next to her and put her hoofs on the little girl to steady her. “It’s OK, no one’s going to hurt you.” She soothed.

“It’s supposed to be all done now. You said it was all finished and I could stay home.” Fluttershy saw tears under the little girl’s closed eyes and her heart ached for her.

“Don’t cry. You’re safe here.” The pegasus tried to assure her, imagining she was having a bad dream.

“Mommy, I want to go home!” Harmony continued to cry and woke herself up. She blinked and focused on the pegasus sitting in front of her, and then clutched her around the neck. “You weren’t a dream. You are real. Pretty Fluttershy.” The child whispered tearfully and buried herself in her new friend’s soft mane.

“Yes, it’s OK, Harmony. I’m here for you.” Fluttershy promised, nuzzling her.

“There’s unicorns too? They’re real?”

“Yes. We’re going to meet my friend the unicorn tomorrow, remember?”

“Mommy….” Harmony turned away, still clutching the pegasus’s mane in her small hands. “I miss my mommy.” She whimpered.

This was what Fluttershy had been waiting for. She wondered why the small child had not spoken about her mother except in passing when she was talking about being lost. Of course she must miss her mommy. She couldn’t imagine being all alone in a new world so far away from her own mother. And that was when she realized that Harmony was not like the animal friends she cared for. She couldn’t fix her up and then send her back in the forest where she would surely get a visit from her one day. No, this child belonged in another world, and what needed to be done was to get her back to her mother where it was likely she would never see her again. The thought tore at the pegasus’s heart to have to say goodbye to this sweet little creature when she had just started to get to know her, but she knew that it would be the right thing do. Hopefully Twilight would know some way to return her to her rightful home.

“Hopefully, Twilight- the unicorn- will know a way to get you home to your mommy.” She found her voice shaking as she told this to the child she held close to her. Or if she doesn’t, Twilight could get in contact with the princesses who might…she thought to herself.

“The unicorn could send me back to mommy?” Harmony pulled away and her glistening hope-filled eyes met Fluttershy’s.

“I hope so, honey.” Was all the gentle pony could offer. She had no idea if anypony in Equestria had even seen a creature like Harmony, much less knew how to send her back to her world.

“Do you want to come up to my bedroom? It can’t be nice sleeping on the floor like that.” Fluttershy said, gently prodding the child to get up with her muzzle. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, but diligently followed the pegasus upstairs where she helped the child into her bed and tucked her in. The pony planned to sleep downstairs but was reluctant to leave her after her nightmare and again settled herself on a chair nearby.

“Fluttershy, can you sleep with me?” Harmony asked, her big eyes bright even in the darkness.

“Um… OK… if you like…” the pony said a bit shyly. She didn’t know if they would both fit, but she knew the child needed comfort, so she walked over to the other side of the bed and climbed in beside her who held her in a hug.

“Thank you Fluttershy…for saving my life.”

Chapter 2 (revision)

“A human! I never thought I would see one!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed as she gazed at the small child peeking out from behind Fluttershy’s tail the next morning.

Twilight had read about humans in her studies of Equestrian mythologies during Celestia’s tutelage. There wasn’t much information but from what she could gather a human was a mysterious bipedal being from another world that had been found in Equestria one thousand years ago around the same time that Nightmare Moon was banished. The human was much bigger than the common ponies and could almost stand as tall as the alicorns. The lore spoke of the human being unkind and even blood thirsty. He had seen the unicorns as something to be hunted, especially lusting after the alicorn’s magnificent horns. The legend of the human had once been used as a story to scare foals when they were naughty, much like Nightmare Moon had been during Nightmare Night. But now the story had faded away into obscurity. It seemed to coincide with the Mare in the Moon and Nightmare Moon’s debut, but most ponies no longer spoke of it. As Twilight had seen and confronted Nightmare Moon for herself only a year ago, she was not one to dismiss the human as a legend, and here one stood in front of her.

“A human? You know what she is, Twilight?” asked Fluttershy, nervously. She had been holding back, protecting her charge behind her back as the unicorn excitedly spoke about humans in legends using her horn to telekinetically gather books from her shelf to research more. That’s when the child stepped out from behind the pegasus and stared at her in awe.

“You’re a unicorn!” she cried, hopping up and clapping her hands excitedly. “They really exist! I found a unicorn!” the little girl was absolutely ecstatic and Twilight didn’t know what to make of it as she started hopping around her in a familiar way.

“You can do magic! You can grant my wish. Please, please make my wish come true, Miss unicorn!”

Just as Fluttershy had thought, Twilight immediately saw the resemblance to Pinkie Pie this human child conveyed. Her excitement was adorable and oh so infectious.

“You can call me Twilight, little one. And yes, I am a unicorn and can do magic.” She smiled, warmly, wondering how this small, excitable human child could possibly be anything like the cruel human of legend. To the child, Twilight and her kind were some sort of legend too, but one she was greatly familiar with unlike the obscure legend of a human in Equestria. And she seemed to know something about magic.

“Twilight, I got the groceries you asked for- oh, hi, Fluttershy” Just then Spike walked into the library holding a bag of vegetables.

“Oh hello, Spike. How are you?” Fluttershy smiled and then looked around. “Oh, where did she go?”

“Where did who go?” Spike asked, looking around too.

“The human. I think you scared her away, Spike.” Twilight giggled, coming over to Fluttershy who revealed the little girl hiding behind her tail again.

“The what- I’m missing something.” The baby dragon grumbled, coming over to the two ponies.

“You don’t have to be scared; he’s just a baby dragon.” Fluttershy said, gently, moving her tail so Spike could see the little girl.

“A d-dragon?” Harmony’s eyes were wide and she shivered, but looked closer at Spike as he came over to her.

“This is Spike. He’s my friend.” Twilight offered standing between the two. “Spike, this is Harmony. Fluttershy found her
outside the Everfree forest and I’m seeing if I can help figure out where she came from. She’s a human.” She added.

“Um, ok, whatever that is.” Spike said causing Twilight to give him a dirty look and he grimaced. “Ok, ok. Hi Harmony.” Spike wasn’t particularly bothered by seeing the human. He had seen many different creatures before, and it was in his genes as a dragon to not fear something new. Besides, the child was so small and helpless looking there wasn’t anything for him to fear.

“H-hello.” Came the shy reply.

Spike grinned. “You don’t have to be scared of me. I’m a nice dragon.”

Harmony giggled. “I thought just pegasuses and unicorns lived here.” She said, timidly.

“Pegasi…” Fluttershy corrected.

“There are many creatures in Equestria. You’ll mostly see ponies, pegasi and unicorns around here like Fluttershy and I, but there are places beyond our borders and in that forest where you came from that have dragons and other not so friendly inhabitants.” Twilight explained, going back to her books and selecting one with her magic brought it to the table in front of her two guests.

“I’m one of the friendly ones.” Spike reassured the child as he went to put away his bag of vegetables and start on cooking dinner.

“See this is where Fluttershy found you.” The unicorn said pointing her hoof at a drawing of the Everfree forest on a map of Equestria. Both Fluttershy and Harmony came over to look at the map.

The Everfree forest was close to Fluttershy’s cottage explaining how her friend had come across the human child, but there weren’t any clues to where she could have come from. To the west of the forest were the Dragon Mountains, to the south was Zecora’s hut and further south-west were the former castle ruins. Except for Zecora’s dwelling none of these places were safe for a small child to have survived on her own and Twilight had spoken to the zebra Zecora just the other day and there had been no mention of a human from her. The only place the unicorn could think to have something to do with the child’s sudden appearance was the castle ruins where she and her friends had fought Nightmare Moon. The lore of the first human had seemed to occur at the same time as the Nightmare’s first attack so they could possibly be linked somehow.

As Twilight explained her thoughts to Fluttershy the pegasus seemed a little lost at the complex description and the human child looked bored. The librarian sighed and closed the book.

“I think we should report this to Princess Celestia.” She said and was surprised to see Fluttershy lower her ears and move back to stand in front of the little girl protectively.

“Oh no, I don’t think that’s a good idea…” her voice was as soft as always but her protective stance showed a firmness to the unicorn making her remember that her seemingly shy friend was not one to be trifled with when it came to protecting something.

“If the first human was as bad as you say…” The pale yellow pegasus continued. “…The princesses might not be kind to Harmony. I can’t let that happen to her. Harmony can’t possibly be like that mean creature you described.” She cried, although her pitch didn’t waver.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy. The princess isn’t going to do anything to hurt Harmony.” Twilight reasoned. “I don’t believe she is anything like the human in the legends either, and Princess Celestia and Luna will see that too.”

Fluttershy hung her head, but conceded. “OK Twilight, if you say it will be alright I’ll trust you. I just don’t want to see anything happen to her.”

“I wanna meet the princesses!” Harmony cut in, coming out from Fluttershy’s protection.

“Harmony…” Fluttershy started, trying to explain to her why she was being wary of the princesses, but the child would have none of it.

“Are they unicorn princesses? Can they do magic too? Oh my gosh, a unicorn princess!”

Twilight chuckled and Fluttershy sighed knowing she really had no reason to be nervous and didn’t want to break the little girl’s unshakable faith in unicorns and magic.

“They’re not just unicorns, Harmony. They’re alicorns and they have wings as well as a horn. They’re the most magical unicorns in all of Equestria.” Twilight explained, proudly.

“They can do magic? Wait, can you do magic? Oh my gosh, I forgot to ask you! Miss Unicorn, can you heal people?” the child asked, excitedly.

“Heal? Uh…” Twilight blushed and looked away, covering her mouth with a hoof. She had never been very good at healing magic and had just sort of skipped it in her studies. She knew this wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but she figured once she mastered other more complex spells she could go back to it. It wasn’t something most unicorns could master anyway unless they studied to be doctors.

“Healing’s not really my speciality… but uh… oh, Fluttershy’s the one who can heal” she eagerly turned to the pegasus, glad to be able to turn the child’s focus on something other than her own short comings. Fluttershy squeaked and jumped a little when both Harmony and Twilight looked at her expectantly.

“What? I can’t heal. I don’t do magic. I just take care of sick creatures. You know tha- oh my, Twilight, what’s happening?”

“Whoa!” squealed the little girl who was suddenly enveloped in a pink hue of light and floating a few feet off the tree house floor.

“Just showing her some magic.” Twilight quipped, grinning as she concentrated on the spell.

“I’m flying! You made me fly!” Harmony cried, excitedly.

Fluttershy flew up to meet her and smiled at her joyful expression.

“Look Fluttershy, I’m flying just like you!”

“I know, it’s wonderful.”

”Whee~!” Harmony spread her arms out like a plane and pretended to fly around guided by Twilight’s magic with Fluttershy close behind.

“It’s just a levitation spell. Most unicorns can do it.” Twilight explained as she gently started to lower the child to the floor. “As for a healing spell… you’ll have to ask the princesses. But don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll be just as eager to meet you as you are to meet them.

“Why do you want a healing spell, Harmony? Is something wro-“ Fluttershy tried to ask, but as soon as the little girl’s feet touched the ground she ran over to Twilight.

“Can I do it again? Pleeeaasseee~” she begged, clutching the unicorn’s front hooves.

“Sorry, Harmony it’s kind of hard to lift you like that. Besides, I need to write to the princesses now if you want to meet them soon.” She winked at the child who had momentarily begun to sulk, but as she heard Twilight mention the princesses her face lit up again.

“Yay! I can’t wait to meet the unicorn princesses!”

“Thank you for your help, Twilight. I didn’t know what I could do to help her, but I felt like I just had to do something. She’s like a lost little filly or like the animals I care for. I want to protect her.” Fluttershy said, graciously smiling at the unicorn as Harmony continued to bounce around the room in excitement.

“Don’t worry about it, Fluttershy. I’m happy to help. She’s a sweet kid, and I’m amazed to actually meet a human, but really, I don’t think I’ve done anything to help you or Harmony. This is something I don’t think I can research on my own, so all I can do is contact Princess Celestia for more information.” Twilight said as she walked over to her writing desk.

“Oh, yes, the princesses…” the pegasus said grudgingly.

Fluttershy still sounded reluctant about the idea, but Twilight knew her mentor would definitely be able to shed some light on the situation and figure out where the human child had come from and why. Nothing bad could possibly happen.

“Spike, take a letter…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I’m telling you, Harmony, there’s no such thing as unicorns!” The tall, brown haired boy argued with his little sister as the two children waited outside a school building in the setting sun of a winter day.

The little girl clutched at her toy unicorn as she argued her point, snowflakes dancing off her warm, woolly hat.

“There are too! And I’m gonna find one and make a wish!” she insisted, determinedly, stamping her foot in the gathering snow.

The boy knew his sister was never short of determination when she set her mind to something. He rolled his eyes and hitched up his backpack that was falling off his back.

“Look, it was nice for a while when things were hard. You had your unicorns and wishes, and we all played along, but don’t you think you should stop now?” he grumbled, but there was pain in his voice as he spoke about the past that his sister seemed to disregard with her obsession with the stupid horses with horns on their heads. It wasn’t like a mythological creature could do much now. It was over, and had been for a while. Maybe his family would start paying attention to him for a change now.

“Nope. I’ll find one for Henry and the rest of my friends.” Harmony grinned, confidently.

“Ugh, whatever.” The boy grumbled, but he felt touched by his sister’s desire to find a unicorn to help her friends too. If only she really could….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wow, it’s a rainbow!” cried Harmony as she looked up into the skies over Ponyville that afternoon. While waiting for a reply from the princess Twilight, Fluttershy and Spike had taken her to meet the rest of their friends and to explore Ponyville. A flash of a rainbow zoomed over the child’s head and she smiled. She had never seen a rainbow move across the sky like that.

“That’s not a rainbow, that’s our friend.” Fluttershy explained as she looked up along with her.

“Your friend’s a rainbow?” Harmony asked, incredulously.

“Rainbow Dash, come down here! We need to talk to you!” Twilight called into the sky and suddenly the rainbow streaking across the clouds materialized into a cyan blue pegasus lowering herself toward the two ponies and little girl.

“What’s up, Twilight? I gotta get the clouds cleared before-whoa!” The rainbow-maned pegasus startled when she saw the human child, making Fluttershy giggle.

“Rainbow Dash, this is our new friend, Harmony. She came to us from another world. Don’t be afraid.” Fluttershy said, wryly smiling at Harmony.

“I’m not afraid! It’s just uh… uh…” the pegasus stopped, then zoomed in closer to the little girl. “Are you an alien?” she demanded, eyeing her suspiciously.

“No… are you a rainbow?” Harmony asked, happily.

“Wha-?”

“Rainbow, will you just come down here and let me explain to you what’s going on.” Twilight called again, irritably and the cyan pegasus reluctantly floated to the ground.

After Twilight explained how Fluttershy had found Harmony outside the Everfree forest and about the legend of the human she seemed more interested than wary.

“A human huh? I remember hearing about you guys when I was a filly.” The pegasus eyed the child as she fluttered in front of her again. “You don’t look scary.”

“I’m not scary.”

“Cuz I could take you on, come on!” she swooped around her and the child giggled.

“Rainbow, stop it. She’s just a little girl.” Fluttershy scolded, timidly.

“You can really fly! I never saw Fluttershy fly like that before” Harmony said, watching the rainbow maned pegasus float by her.

“I can fly too…” Fluttershy said, softly, but as usual was interrupted.

“Sure, I can fly. That’s what I do. I’m the best flyer in all of Equestria.” Rainbow boasted, glad to have someone new to show off for. After all it wasn’t like this human knew about the Wonderbolts or anything.

“I could fly around Ponyville in-“

“Don’t say it.” Twilight grumbled.

“10 seconds flat!”

“Oooh.” The little girl mused as the acrobatic pegasus zoomed through the clouds and around the town, landing back at her feet with a smug grin on her face.

Harmony clapped her hands together creating a softer sound than clapping hooves.

“Can you give me a ride?” she asked.

“A ride? Like on my back?” the pegasus asked, looking the child up and down as if to judge her size.

“Rainbow, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Twilight said.

“It could be dangerous.” Fluttershy added.

“Aw.” Harmony sulked.

“Now wait a minute, who says I can’t give her a ride? I could give her a ride.” Rainbow Dash protested.

“We’re not saying you can’t, we’re saying you shouldn’t.” Twilight muttered, knowing she was going to face a battle of wits from the proud pony.

“I carried those stupid Diamond Dogs around, why can’t I carry her? I could be the first pegasus to carry a human!” She said, suddenly finding the whole thing exciting. “All right, get on!” She lowered her wings and gestured to the child who grinned.

“Yay!”

“No!” suddenly the unusually loud voice of Fluttershy spoke up causing everypony (and child) to stop and look her way. At the sudden attention she lowered her ears and stepped back.

“Um... I-I mean… I don’t think it’s safe. You could get hurt, Harmony.” The timid pony explained to the child. “Rainbow, you fly really fast. Without anything to hold on to Harmony could fall off.” She added, looking to the rainbow mare.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Dash muttered. “Sorry kid.”

“You understand, right, Harmony? It’s just too dangerous to ride a pegasus.” She came over to the little girl who stood staring at her with her eyes wide and her lip trembling.

“B-but” Harmony stammered.

“I promised I’d protect you. So you need to do what I say to keep you safe so we can meet the princesses and find a way to get you home.” Fluttershy continued, gently and patted her shoulder with a hoof.

“Ok…” the child sighed, disappointedly, but seemed to accept it easily. Fluttershy had learned she was not one to tantrum like some little fillies did.

“I could’ve been the first pegasus to have a human rider. I bet that would’ve showed the Wonderbolts how strong I was. But nooo, Fluttershy has to go all motherly and forbid it.”

Or some full grown mares also it seemed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The group continued to walk through Ponyville proper toward Rarity’s Carousel Boutique. They couldn’t hide from the strange looks the other ponies gave them as they noticed the human child who followed along, mesmerized by everything she saw. Twilight decided it wouldn’t cause too much trouble confusing the residents of Ponyville as opposed to walking through Canterlot could, but she would deal with that when the time came. The ponies of the town just seemed curious if a little bit nervous. Although Lyra Heartstrings, a mint green unicorn resident, seemed exceptionally interested in the little girl and bounded over to her shouting something about ‘hands’, before her companion earth pony, Bon-Bon dragged her away. Twilight wondered what the child would think of the wall eyed mail-mare Ditzy Doo, if she saw her flying around town, but she wasn’t around.

“This is my good friend Rarity’s house and boutique.” Fluttershy said pointing toward the carousel-shaped building where the dressmaking unicorn made her home and place of business.

“It looks like a real carousel.” Harmony commented.

“It’s called the ‘Carousel Boutique’.” Twilight said.

“Does your friend work as one of the horses on the carousel? Can I ride it?”

“Uh it’s not a real carousel, Harmony. Rarity is a unicorn and she makes dresses with her magic.” Fluttershy explained.

“Ooh another unicorn! Yay!” The excitable child cheered and ran ahead into the building while the three ponies raced to catch up so as not to surprise Rarity with a sudden entrance by a creature from another world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh my, a child from another world. This is a cause for celebration.” Rarity said after Twilight and Fluttershy introduced Harmony and explained about how she had been found.

“You’re soooo pretty~” Harmony leaned on the table and gazed starry eyed at the white fashionable unicorn who basked in the attention.

“I like the way she thinks.” Spike chirped, agreeing whole-heartedly with Harmony’s statement.

“Great, this is just what Rarity needs. Somepony else inflating her already bloated ego.” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“Look who’s talking.” Twilight shot back.

“Why thank you, my dear.” Rarity said, ignoring Rainbow and Twilight and batting her eye lashes. “You are a very cute little human yourself. Such a lovely mane like Applejack’s, but much more nicely styled. I do like your lavender dress too although it looks like you might be cold with such short sleeves. It is only early spring after all.”

Harmony looked down at her little dress and cropped pants. “Actually, these are my pajamas. I don’t have anything else to wear in this world.”

“Oh, my.” Fluttershy gasped. She hadn’t realised this, nor had the child told her, and she felt bad to have left her in pajamas for the past two days.

“Oh, well, that just won’t do.” Rarity said and trotted over to a mannequin that had a sky blue cloak draped over it. It was hooded and designed in a cape style, and she had used it as a base design for the winter cloaks she had made the previous season. “I’m afraid I don’t have any clothes specifically for humans, but perhaps this cloak will keep you warm.” She telekinetically lifted the cloak off the mannequin and floated it over to the child.

“For me? Wow! Thank you!” Harmony cried as she held onto the soft cloak, and ran over and hugged the unicorn who seemed a little taken aback, but smiled and patted the child’s back with her hoof.

“My pleasure, my dear.”

“Rarity this is so kind of you. Thank you so much.” Fluttershy added.

“Well I couldn’t have the child running around in her pajamas now could I? Now let’s try it on shall we?” the unicorn floated the cloak up and gently set it down on Harmony’s out stretched arms. She quickly pulled the hood over her head and grinned.

“How do I look?” she asked.

“You look lovely.” Fluttershy smiled.

“Why it’s a perfect fit. I never imagined a human would wear one of my designs one day. This is simply marvelous.” The fashion designer declared proudly.

“Did you make this coat with your magic, Miss Rarity?” the little girl asked, peering down at the intricate stitching done on her sleeve. She didn’t know unicorns could sew, or that they even wore clothes.

“Yes, I make all of my outfits with the help of my magic.” Rarity replied.

“Wow! A magic coat!” Harmony exclaimed and ran over to the unicorn again. “This is the bestest gift ever. I’ll always wear it!” she gripped the unicorn in a hug again.

“My, she certainly is affectionate.” Rarity grimaced a little as she looked over at Fluttershy who giggled.

“She likes unicorns.”

“Oh, but I love you too, Fluttershy!” the child glued herself to the pegasus, who blushed and the group laughed.

“Hey, you have a kitty!” Harmony spoke up as she noticed Rarity’s white, Persian cat, Opalescence pad into the room.

“Yes this is my cat, Opalescence.” Rarity said, smiling at the animal, who pompously ignored her.

Fluttershy was surprised to see the usually over excitable little girl not run over to Rarity’s pet, but get down on her knees and hold out her hand to the cat who curiously crept over to sniff it.

“Come here, kitty.” She cooed and reached out to pet her.

“Oh, Harmony, you shouldn’t touch her, she’s not that friendly.” Fluttershy tried to warn her, but to the shock of the ponies Opal did not scratch or bite but let the unfamiliar child pet her and softly purred at her feet.

“Hi Opalescence. Are you a magic kitty like your unicorn mommy?”

“Now I’ve seen everything.” Spike muttered.

“Oh Opal, thank you for being so kind to our guest.” Rarity came over to try to pet the cat but she swiped at her with a paw and she stepped back, causing Rainbow to burst out laughing.

“Wow, it looks like Harmony is good with animals just like you, Fluttershy.” Twilight commented.

“Angel Bunny seemed to like her too. I wonder if it’s her special talent.” Fluttershy paused. “Do humans have special talents?”

“I love animals and there’s so many to play with here!” Harmony said as she continued to play with the usually aloof cat.

“Well, Fluttershy, she is simply darling. And she can talk. She’s much different from the critters you usually find.” Rarity said to the yellow Pegasus who smiled.

“She’s not just any critter, Rarity. She’s special, I just know it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rarity came with the group to meet Pinkie Pie at Sugarcube Corner but the pink party pony was nowhere to be found. After searching a few other places nearby where she might be they decided to head to Sweet Apple Acres to meet Applejack instead. Harmony enjoyed wearing the cloak as they walked around Ponyville, and Fluttershy noticed the chill of the day for the first time and was glad her charge was keeping warm with Rarity’s generous gift. She felt happy to have found out that Harmony was good with animals. She hadn’t known any other pony who loved animals as much as she did and always wanted to be able to share her talent with others who enjoyed animals like her. She couldn’t wait to show Harmony the diurnal creatures that she hadn’t had the chance to meet the night before.

The friends soon arrived at the whimsical gates to the Sweet Apple Acres farm where they found Applejack and Big Macintosh in the fields plowing to get ready to plant the seeds for the summer.

“Hey, it’s a real farm.” Harmony said as she took in the large red barn where the cowpony lived along with the long acres of fields and flowering apple trees. “You pretty ponies seem to have the same things as I do at home. Except humans like me run the farms and stores.” This was the first time the child had commented on how similar Ponyville and even Equestria was to her own home, although she had seemed to recognize many things before. Fluttershy was starting to wish to see her world, wherever it may be. What would it be like to see other humans like her? To find her parents and see adult humans and how they lived and worked. It seemed like it would be wonderful. She just wished she was brave enough to undertake such a journey.

“Applejack is a cowpony. Her and the rest of the Apple family run this farm and sell goods all over Equestria.” She told the child.

“A cowpony? That’s so cool!”

“Hey Applejack! Can you take a break? We have someone for you to meet.” Twilight called into the field and the two ponies turned to her.

“Howdy Twilight. Ah’ll be with ya in just a sec.” the workhorse waved her hoof at them.

Big Macintosh was the first to arrive to greet the group. “Howdy.” He said with his usual one word drawl. He didn’t seem to notice the new member who had suddenly hidden behind Fluttershy’s tail again.

“Big Mac, check it out. Fluttershy found a human!” Rainbow Dash exuberantly told the red stallion.

“A human? Ah don’t reckon Ah know what that is.” He said. Just then Harmony peeked out from behind Fluttershy.

“Are you a Clydesdale?” she asked, timidly.

“A Cloudsdale? What? What is she talking about, Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash looked over to the other pegasus who shrugged.

“You look just like the big horses on the TV commercials for daddy’s special drinks. They’re called Clydesdales.” The child explained with more confidence.

“Ah suppose that could be me.” The stallion replied and Harmony giggled.

“Sorry y’all, Ah just had to finish up something. Thought Ah’d send Big Mac to greet ya first. So who’s the new pony?” Applejack trotted up to the group and looked around.

“Hi Applejack. We wanted you to meet Harmony. She’s a human from another world who Fluttershy found in the Everfree forest.” Twilight explained for what was the 3rd time that day. It was getting to be a bit tedious and she was hoping someone else would tell Pinkie Pie whenever they found her.

“She said she has Big Macs in her world!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“A human? Really?” the cowpony said ignoring Rainbow’s confusing statement.

“I’m Harmony. I like your hat, Miss Applejack.” Harmony spoke up, getting used to introducing herself.

“Aw shucks. Thanks sugercube. It’s nice ta meetcha.” Applejack smiled.

“I have a question though.” The child started, turning to the other ponies. “How come you all are unicorns and pegasuses, but Applejack and Big Macintosh are just regular ponies?” she asked in the rather blunt way that children had. Luckily the orange workhorse took no offense.

“Ah may not know magic, sugercube, but Ah’m pretty good with a lasso.” Applejack grinned and flung her lasso around an unsuspecting Rainbow Dash, then swiftly tied her up.

“Hey, why do you always use me?!” Rainbow whined, struggling to get free.

Spike rolled around on the ground laughing and got a glare of daggers from the captured pegasus.

“Haha, you really are a cowboy!” Harmony exclaimed. “My big brother likes cowboys!”

“Glad to hear it, sugercube.” Applejack replied and untied Rainbow Dash, who glared at the orange pony. Harmony laughed.

“Oh Applejack, did you notice that Harmony has the same mane as you? But look how nice and curled it is at the bottom. And those two tails. Don’t you think you could try something like that instead of your usual plain style?” Rarity suggested, magically lifting the pony’s hat from her head and trying to tie her mane up like the child’s ponytails. Applejack shook it off and picked up her hat in her teeth.

“Ah’m just fine thank you very much.” She muttered.

“I don’t have a mane. This is hair.” Harmony explained. “And these are ponytails.” She held up her two plaits of hair.

“They really are little tails. So cute!” Fluttershy cried happily and clapped her hoofs together.

“They just look like tails. They’re not real tails silly.” The child giggled and Fluttershy sulked a bit.

“And you have very nice hair. The same colour as mine Ah do reckon.” Applejack agreed, glaring at Rarity who grinned sheepishly. “But what Ah’d really like to know is how you managed to make it to our here world.”

“Oh Applejack, please don’t ask her that.” Fluttershy spoke up worriedly, not wanting to make the child cry from her frightening memories again.

“We don’t know where she came from, Applejack. I wrote to the princess for help and we’re still waiting for her reply.” Twilight explained.

“And she really misses her mother so we need to find a way to get her back.” Fluttershy added.

“Well shoot, if she’s feeling lonely the Cutie Mark Crusaders are around here somewhere. Maybe playing with some other fillies will cheer her up?” the orange mare suggested.

“Hey that’s a good idea.” Twilight said. “Harmony seems to be about their age or maybe just a little younger.”

“There are other kids here? Like kid ponies? Can I play with them?” the child in question asked excitedly.

“You sure can, sugercube. Ah’ll just call them over here.” Applejack offered, and then took a deep breath before she bellowed. “Hey girls! Ah found a new way for you to earn those cutie marks you’re searching for!”

In a flash and a cloud of dust the three fillies suddenly appeared at the earth pony’s side.

“What is it? How else can we earn our cutie marks?!” the yellow filly with a red mane and bow excitedly hopped up and down by her big sister, Applejack’s side.

“Yeah, we got nothing.” The orange pegasus, Scootaloo mumbled.

“Uh… what she said!” A white unicorn with a curly purple and pink mane spoke up, her voice squeaking as it rose in pitch.

“Well, Ah reckon you can be cutie mark crusaders anthropologists.” Applejack said.

“Anthropo-what?” Scootaloo asked.

“Applejack, I didn’t think you’d be familiar with that word.” Twilight said with surprise. The orange mare raised an eyebrow.

“You’re not the only one who reads books, Twi.” She muttered and the lavender unicorn grinned sheepishly.

“Hi!” Harmony said excitedly, startling the fillies. “I’m Harmony. What’s a cutie mark crusader?”

“Whoa! Are you a human?” Scootaloo demanded, hopping up on her back legs to see the child closer.

“Hehe, yup.” Harmony grinned, bending down to be nearer to the little pegasus who had stumbled back down onto four legs.

“A what?” the unicorn asked.

“Do you know how to get our cutie marks?” Apple Bloom took no notice of the fact that the child was a completely different species with how intent she was on furthering her quest. Harmony just blinked.

“I read a story about humans. They’re baaddd. They tried to kill the princesses a long time ago!” the winged orange filly said cryptically and the others gasped.

“Wha-? No, I’m not bad!” The little girl cried, her eyes filling with tears.

“Now wait just a minute there, Scoot. Those are just old ponytales. Besides, Harmony’s just a little human like y’all.” Applejack spoke up and smiled at Harmony who clutched at Fluttershy.

“She’s all alone in our world and we’re helping her look for her parents. So it would be good if you all could be nice to her.” The caring pegasus added, nuzzling the little girl worriedly because she seemed to have become very dispirited from the unintentional comment about her race.

“Ah don’t think she’s bad. She’s harmony. Harmony can’t be bad.” The always open-minded Apple Bloom said, coming over to the child who still seemed dejected.

“Sweetie Belle, say hello to Harmony, won’t you.” Rarity encouraged her little sister who looked between her two friends as if to weigh their decisions for herself.

“I didn’t say she was bad. I just said the one in the story was bad.” Scootaloo grumbled, feeling bad for upsetting the new creature but not appreciating being told off.

“Hello, I’m Sweetie Belle.” The little unicorn smiled.

“Hi…” Harmony said softly without her usual excitement.

“And Ah’m Apple Bloom!”

The two ponies looked over to their pegasus companion. She sighed. “I’m Scootaloo.”

“And we’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders! Yay!” the three shouted together so that everypony covered their ears.

“Sorry if I hurt your feelings.” The little pegasus said guiltily.

“Um... it’s OK. What’s a cutie mark crusader?” Harmony asked, haltingly.

“It means we’re on a crusade for our cutie marks.” Apple Bloom explained.

“But what’s a cutie mark?”

“A cutie mark is a mark that appears on every pony’s flank when they find their special talent in life. My cutie mark is three butterflies to symbolize that I can communicate with animals.” Fluttershy elaborated and turned to show her flank as the little girl still clung to her.

“Oh!” Harmony exclaimed as she looked at Fluttershy’s mark and then on to the other ponies who showed their own cutie marks for her. “I think I have something like that!”

“You do?!” chorused the three fillies, and to a lesser extent Fluttershy.

Harmony took off her cloak which Rarity held on to with her magic, and then bending over lifted up her shirt to expose her backside where sure enough a small, darker patch of peach, furless skin rested at the small of her back in what looked to be in the shape of a heart.

“Oh, my.” Fluttershy said.

“No way! You have a heart cutie mark!” Scootaloo shouted, incredulously.

“It’s a heart!” Sweetie Belle added.

“What’s your special talent?” Apple Bloom inquired, wondering how she could go about getting a heart cutie mark if this child from another world had somehow done so.

“Um I don’t know. I was born with this. Mommy said it means that I’m loved.” The child smiled a bit, but then immediately frowned after mentioning her mother.

“You were born with a cutie mark?” the three cried again.

“It’s called a birth mark where I’m from. Lots of kids have them. I don’t really think it’s the same thing…”

“Still, it’s so cool you were actually born with one!” Apple Bloom cheered.

“Yeah, can you come help us find our cutie marks? We’ll make you an honorary Cutie Mark Crusader.” Scootaloo offered.

“Um…” the little girl mumbled and buried her face in Fluttershy’s mane worrying the pegasus.

“What’s wrong, Harmony?” she asked.

“I want to go home~.” Harmony moaned.

“Don’t you want to play with us?” Apple Bloom asked, sadly but the child didn’t answer and continued to hug Fluttershy.

“Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to introduce her to the other fillies.” Twilight whispered with concern.

“It’s OK, Harmony, we’ll find a way to send you home. Don’t cry, sweetie.” Fluttershy nuzzled the distraught child against her shoulder.

“Alright girls. Ah’m sorry, but I think you’ll have to play with Harmony another time. She’s feeling a might homesick ya see.” Applejack told the crusaders as Fluttershy continued to comfort her charge.

“Aw.” The three sulked.

“We’ll get to see her before she goes home, right?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Well Ah don’t know…”

“Hey, you guys wanna race? Ready, set, go!” suddenly Rainbow Dash cut in trying to distract the girls, and ran off into the distance with a cloud of dust and three excited little fillies behind her.

“Oh dear. Well that didn’t go as well as it could have.” Rarity commented as they watched Rainbow and the girls disappear over the apple orchard hills. “Perhaps we could find Pinkie Pie now and that would make Harmony feel better.” She suggested.

“I wonder why we haven’t come across her yet?” Twilight added, and as if she inadvertently had cast a teleport spell the pink pony suddenly appeared beside her.

“Hi everypony!”

“Pinkie!” she cried jumping into the air, causing Harmony to glance up from within Fluttershy’s mane as she did her best not to startle at the sudden appearance herself.

“Pinkie Pie, where have you been, darling? We’ve been looking all over for you” Rarity asked, recovering from the shock quicker than the others.

“Well, I saw you girls walking around with somepony…uh… somebody… some… thing new and I just had to go and plan a party for the newest resident to Ponyville!” the party pony shouted, excitedly bouncing around the group.

Harmony watched with interest but didn’t move from her spot by Fluttershy.

“You’re a human aren’t you? I always wanted to meet a human. Well… not a meanie, meanie-pants human but a nice human like you look like. By the way I’m Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie popped up beside the little girl who at first buried herself back in the pegasus’s mane but looked back when the pink pony talked about humans.

“H-hello.” She stammered.

“Pinkie, this is Harmony. She’s a little sad right now because she misses her home. Maybe you could wait--“ Fluttershy tried to explain, wondering why everypony seemed to know what a human was except her.

“Harmony! What a great name! I’m an element of harmony and so are my friends. I’m the element of laughter because I love to laugh. Do you love to laugh too? I know you’ll just love my party and it’ll cheer you right up! So come on let’s go!” Pinkie Pie chirped and tried to grab hold of the child’s hand but was interrupted by a sudden loud belch from Spike. Harmony watched in awe as a puff of green smoke escaped from the little purple and green dragon’s mouth and materialized into a rolled scroll with a red belt around the middle.

“Whoa.”

Twilight telekinetically opened the scroll and brought it in front of her to read. “My faithful student,” she started reading aloud. “I must say this news you write of has concerned me. A human, as you may know, has not been seen in Equestria for a thousand years. I ask that you please bring to Canterlot this human child as well as your friends the Elements of Harmony, for I think we will need their help to solve this problem.” The unicorn frowned, worried by how abrupt and urgent the letter had seemed to her. She hadn’t expected Princess Celestia to ask to see the Elements of Harmony and didn’t see what her and her friends’ new found powers could do for the child. Still, she was always ready to comply and organized her friends for the trip to Canterlot.

“OK girls, Princess Celestia needs to see us all. So go pack your bags and we’ll meet at my place in an hour.”

“Wait Twilight, what about my party?” Pinkie Pie asked her eyes wide and glistening with imminent disappointment.

“I’m sorry Pinkie, but we need to leave as soon as possible to arrive before dark.” The lavender unicorn said, patiently.

“No party?” suddenly Harmony who had gone quiet spoke up again.

“Ugh.” Twilight rolled her eyes not wanting to explain it again and to get on with the preparations for the trip. Fortunately, Fluttershy saved her the effort.

“We’ll have the party another time, sweetie. Right now we’re going to go see the princesses and ask them to find a way to get you home.” She told the child and her eyes lit up again at the mention of the princesses and going home.

“Okie dokie, the party can be put on hold. I just hope that the Cakes don’t mind leaving the decorations up while we’re away.” Pinkie acquiesced.

“Ah’ll go round up Rainbow Dash.” Applejack said and galloped off.

“Good. Fluttershy, you take Harmony back to your cottage to get ready and I’ll see you in an hour.” she paused and glanced at the worried looking pegasus and smiled reassuringly. “And don’t worry. I’m sure everything is going to be fine and the princesses will be able to get her home.”
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Harmony barely spoke as she and Fluttershy walked back to her cottage and she packed a small saddle bag to accompany them on their journey. She even refused the food the kindly pegasus offered her causing her worry for the small child she was taking care of to grow. She managed to get her to eat a little bit of a muffin and packed some extra food for when they arrived, but she knew there was something bothering the little girl other than her homesickness.

“What’s wrong, Harmony? Aren’t you excited to be meeting the princesses?” she decided to prod a little bit, hoping to give the child something nice to focus on.

“Oh. Yeah, I’m excited…” Harmony replied without exhibiting the emotion. She looked down at her feet and dug at the ground as the pegasus was also known to do in nervous situations.

“Fluttershy…” she managed to speak liltingly.

“Yes?”

“Do you think I’m bad?” she looked up at the yellow pegasus and her eyes were full of tears.

“No, of course not. No one thinks you’re bad, Harmony.” Fluttershy determinedly told her, her heart aching to think the little girl thought such a thing. It was those terrible legends everypony seemed to know. It wasn’t fair, she thought, tearing up. Why did the actions of one bad human have to reflect on such an innocent child who just wanted to go home?

“You don’t think I’m gonna kill the princesses, right? I know some humans are bad and they hunted unicorns for their horns but… but… I won’t!” Harmony cried, bursting into tears and she hugged her pegasus foster parent tightly.

“No sweetie, I don’t think that, and neither does anypony else. It’s just a legend about that bad human, and even if it is true, I’d never believe you were like that. Princess Celestia is a kind and gentle pony, she’ll see you for who you really are and find a way to send you home. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” Fluttershy promised, her resolve much stronger now after seeing how much the child was hurting and as she was starting to realize she was falling in love with the lost little girl.

Harmony sniffled and looked up at the pegasus, whose own cyan eyes sparkled with tears.

“I want to go home to mommy but I-I don’t want to leave you, either, Fluttershy.” She buried herself in the pegasus mare’s mane.

“I know. I’ll miss you too.” Fluttershy blinked away her tears knowing she needed to be strong for the little girl. “But your mommy needs you too and I’ll never forget you.” She sat back on her haunches and brought her hoof to the child’s chest and smiled. “I’ll always be in your heart, Harmony.”

Chapter 3

A/N: This story takes place before Discord and therefore also Nightmare night. Also this chapter was previously shorter but has now been merged along with some of the other chapters in the revision. This was the last chapter published during the 3 month hiatus. It has not been revised. You may continue to chapter 4 if you have already read this one.....

The chariots looked like something out of a Greek storybook. They were pure white with gold trim sparkling along the edges like sunshine, and the sides had intricate designs of Celestia’s sun mark done in gold. It was pulled by two large, white, pegasi stallions who stood at attention as they waited for their passengers to board.

Fluttershy wondered what little Harmony would think about flying on a chariot pulled by pegasi. She hoped the child wouldn't be scared.

"Harmony, we're going to take a ride now. The nice pegasi are going to fly us to see the princesses." Fluttershy explained to her charge when they arrived outside Twilight’s library where three chariots pulled by Celestia's armour-clad soldiers waited.

"They're going to fly us there?" the child asked as she took in the scene.

Twilight conversed a bit with the pegasus soldiers before she chose a carriage with Applejack. Rainbow insisted she could fly to Canterlot, but chose a seat with Pinkie Pie who cheered her up by starting a game of I-spy even before they had taken off.

“I spy with my little eye something that is white!” the pink pony giggled.

“That could be anything~” Rainbow mumbled searching around.

“Come along dear, we can’t keep the princess waiting.” Rarity called to Fluttershy as she stepped into the third carriage.

“It’s the chariots.” They heard Rainbow guess.

“Nope!” cried Pinkie.

“Can Harmony sit with us, Rarity? I’m sure there’s room….” Fluttershy asked, meekly.

“Of course, darling.”

She turned to the little girl who seemed a little scared. “It’s OK, Harmony. I’ll sit with you. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” The pegasus said, nuzzling the child’s neck.

“O-ok...” Harmony replied, shakily and gripped the pegasus’s tail again as she lead her into the chariot. She fit perfectly between the two ponies and cuddled up to Fluttershy, who stroked her hair.

“The pegasi soldiers?” Rainbow Dash asked as the soldiers in question began to canter and rise into the air.

“Nope again!” Came Pinkie.

The chariots began to rise as the pegasi took to the air and leaning over Fluttershy’s side Harmony gazed out as the ground swiftly grew smaller below her.

“Wow, we’re really flying.” She whispered, her soft voice excited but also full of wonder too as if the child had never believed she could experience such a thing.

“Mmhm.” Fluttershy nodded, smiling.

“It’s not like a plane…this is like… a dream come true.” Her dreamy statement seemed to be full of sadness too and the caring Pegasus wished she could somehow understand the hidden pain that was being carried in such a young heart. Before she could contemplate it further, Rarity pulled Fluttershy from her thoughts.

“Why Fluttershy, my dear, you seem to absolutely adore this little human child.” The unicorn said and she turned to her friend.

“Well I-“ She started feeling a little flustered.

“I believe you have more than compassion and kindness for little animals. Why, Fluttershy, darling, I think you could be a mother with the way you take care of and protect her.”

“Oh uh...yes...um” Fluttershy blushed bright red and Rarity smiled as they watched Equestria’s first human child gaze out over the land as they flew off toward the mountains of Canterlot.

“I give up.” Rainbow Dash grumbled from the carriage next to them.

“It’s the clouds, silly!” chirped Pinkie.

“The clouds? We’re in a white chariot with white pegasi and you pick clouds?” the rainbow pegasus demanded.

“Yup.”

“Pinkie Pie.” Rainbow Dash started. “You are so random.”
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Canterlot city was more beautiful than Fluttershy remembered. She had been there only a few months ago for the Grand Galloping Gala but perhaps then she hadn’t taken in all the beauty of the castle city that jutted out of a mountain like a spectacular rock formation because she was too intent on finding animals to play with. That had not gone over well, and she didn’t like to think about it.

The chariots had landed just outside the path to the castle drawbridge in a patch of green grass and trees which banked steeply toward a cliff where a river ran down from the castle moat. The noble unicorns of Canterlot were out enjoying the sunshine on their lunch break and Fluttershy admired their beautiful clothes made of silks and threads she could only imagine Rarity must be fawning over.

“Oh my, why, I’ve never seen such a beautiful shawl- oh! And that hat! And those shoes! Oh my goodness!” The unicorn in question was indeed gushing over the fashions of the Canterlot citizens as the group walked through the path to the drawbridge. Fluttershy wouldn’t have been surprised if some of the fashions her friend was exciting over were of her own influence based on her popularity with Equestria’s celebrities as of late. As she thought about this she almost forgot about why they were in the capital city, and looked to the little girl standing beside her who she had come to care for deeply.

“Is that the castle where the princesses live?” Harmony asked as she gazed up at the white marble and yellow striped towers of Celestia’s sun palace.

“Yes, it is, Harmony.” The pegasus replied continuing to stare, still mystified herself.

“I sometimes forget how much I miss this place…” Twilight spoke up then and Fluttershy noticed the tears in the purple mare’s eyes.

“Did you used live here?” Harmony asked.

“Yes, I grew up here, Harmony.” She replied, blinking the tears away as she realized the child was much farther away from home then she had ever been.

“So the princess got you home too!” the child exclaimed. “She can definitely find a way to get me home then, and she can grant my wish!”

“Harmony, that’s not how-“ Twilight tried to explain but Fluttershy held out a hoof in front of the unicorn and shook her head. It was better to let the little girl believe, than dash her hopes. Whatever it was they may be.

“Are we going to meet the princesses, or what?” Rainbow Dash impatiently fluttered in front of them breaking their chains of thought.

“Oh… yes. Let’s go girls.” Twilight said, and the group walked across the drawbridge and into the castle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunlight poured in through the many coloured stained glass windows in the great hall of the castle, casting a rainbow of light on those entering its chambers. Their hoof (and in Harmony’s case; foot) steps echoed on the marble as they approached the majestic white mare princess who stood at the end of the hall waiting for them, her expression regal and therefore unreadable. Twilight galloped up to her mentor to offer a greeting and Harmon hid behind Fluttershy’s tail and took in the sight of the majestic alicorn whose ethereal, pastel mane flowed in the still, breezeless room. She had never seen anything like the princess before. Princess Celestia’s ivory coat and tall, horse-like appearance reminded her of the unicorn of legend from where she had come from. The ponies of this world were small and colourful, each with their own magic and beauty, but this princess was how the little girl had always imagined a unicorn to be, and she immediately knew that the magic she had always believed in must truly exist here and she could get her wish.

“Hello, my little ponies.” The princess said warmly, a smile appearing on her face. The ponies bowed and Twilight nuzzled her teacher.

“Hello, princess, thank you for agreeing to help us.” Twilight said.

“No, my faithful student, thank you for coming here. Where is the child?” the regal mare asked looking over the gathered ponies.

Fluttershy turned around, knowing by now that she would find Harmony hiding behind her.

“It’s OK, Harmony, you can come out now.” She said, gently. “The princess wants to say hello.” She smiled, putting the child at ease. Cautiously Harmony came out from behind the pegasus’s tail and stepped into view of the princess.

The alicorn matriarch gazed down into the eyes of the small human child who stood nervously in front of her. She was nothing like the human she had met and mistakenly trusted so long ago. She was a child, barely more than a baby. If ages were similar in her world she couldn’t be any more than five or six years old. Her large blue eyes held wonder and amazement but also seemed pained somehow. They were eyes that had seen suffering and fear. Celestia didn’t know what to think of it, but she knew there was no way this small child could ever be the same as the human who could have destroyed Equestria so many years ago.

“How do you do, Princess. My name is Harmony.” The child said, bending her knees and pulling the sides of her dress out from her body in a curtsey. It was a feminine bow that her ponies couldn’t have done, and it impressed her. This little girl must had seen royalty where she was from also and learned the greeting there. In response the princess bowed her own head toward the child.

“Hello, Harmony. On behalf of myself and my sister, Princess Luna, I would like to welcome you to our kingdom of Equestria.” She declared, straightening up and smiling at the child who smiled back.

“Thank you, Princess. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Princess Celestia,” Twilight spoke up then. “Where is Princess Luna? Will she be joining us today?” she asked hopefully. She hadn’t seen the moon princess of the night since the elements of harmony had healed her of her possession by Nightmare Moon. Would this be the time to finally meet her again?

The sun princess momentarily frowned. “Luna will be along. She is a night pony, so the afternoon is usually still her time of rest. She will join us soon.”

“Now, Harmony,” the ivory alicorn turned to the little girl again. “Can you tell me anything about when you first came here?” she asked.

“Um… I don’t know. I was sleeping…and then…and then… I was in that forest. It was cold and scary and I didn’t know where I was or what to do so I just started walking, but I fell and and…” the child began sniffling, her voice shaking.

Fluttershy galloped up to her and nuzzled against her as she began to cry.

“It’s OK Harmony, you’re safe now. You don’t need to go back to that scary place. I’ll protect you.” Harmony hugged the pegasus mare who reached up with a hoof to hug her back.

“Fluttershy- the element of kindness- you are the one who found her?” Princess Celestia asked, thoughtfully. The yellow pegasus turned to her, still holding the little girl.

“Yes, she was just outside the Everfree forest. She was all alone, I had to help her, Princess.” She explained, hesitantly. “I hope that’s OK with you…” she bent her ears low as she held on to her adopted charge.

“You did well to help her. I would have done the same myself.” The regal mare seemed troubled as she spoke. “There is nothing to fear, my ponies. This child is in no way like the tragedy that befell our kingdom so long ago. I see no threat; no harm will come to her.” Princess Celestia paused, and then turned to face the other ponies.

“I think it is time I showed you all what really happened the first time a human came into our world.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Princess Celestia led the ponies and little girl down a set of stairs and deep into the castle, where the halls were darker without the usual beauty of the stain glass windows, and only torchlight to light the way. The hallways stretched into the darkness with the pale torchlight only showing glimpses of barred doors and small cave-like cells carved into the stone walls. Even Twilight had never been to this part of the castle, as it was located deep beneath the court and bedroom areas where she had lived and studied.

Fluttershy, who would’ve been afraid of the dark and cavernous basement herself, conquered her fears and let little Harmony clutch her mane as they nervously walked through the dark halls. The other ponies noticed this and stuck close to their friend as she tried to be brave for the little girl and it touched their hearts.

“I apologize for the unkemptness of this place. These halls are not used by the general court, and neither Luna nor I have any reason to come here anymore.” The princess explained.

“Princess, is this a dungeon?” Twilight asked somewhat shakily.

“Why, Twilight, what a thing to ask. The princess would never put any pony in a dark depressing place like this.” Rarity scolded.

“Well…” Celestia paused and turned to the group, reluctance in her tone. “Things have not always been as peaceful as they are now. Sometimes the dungeons were necessary to make sure no evil would fall on the ponies of this kingdom.” She returned to her steady pace of walking before her revelation could sink in.

Rarity’s mouth hung open in an unladylike expression of shock, and Twilight felt too astonished to speak. She had studied much about Equestria’s history, as well as heard stories from her mentor, but had never realized what a world without peace really was like. To think that this dark and frightening dungeon was needed for the criminals of the past meant they must have been accused of more than taking an apple without paying for it back then. She shuddered to think what they would come upon at the end of the dark hallway. What had the first human done? What had her fellow ponies done to merit such a punishment?

Princess Celestia said no more on the subject and soon they came to a locked door which she unlocked with her horn. The large stone door opened with a loud creak, and revealed a dark storage room which the princess lit up with the glow of her horn. Inside was a long metallic object that neither of the ponies had ever seen before. The object had a wooden handle piece with a rounded trigger attached to the narrow metal muzzle that stretched out into a cylinder with a sharp point at the tip.

“This is the reason why the human has become just a legend. I do not want any pony or creature to know about this evil thing.” Princess Celestia stated with a note of disgust and pain in her voice.

“That thing’s bad.” Suddenly, Harmony spoke up causing everypony to look her way. “Boys like to play with toy guns, but mommy says they are bad and hurt people. I don’t like them.” She spoke as if she had seen many of the things and this concerned the princess.

“I see the human world still has a use for these then. I had hoped you would not know what this was, my child.” She said sadly.

“What is it? Can I play with it?” Pinkie Pie excitedly asked, reaching out to touch the newly discovered treasure.

“No!” The thunderous voice of the usually calm princess echoed through the cavern as she swatted Pinkie Pie’s hoof away from the hated object. “Do not touch it, don’t even come near it!” she shouted, and the pink pony fell back, her expression one of shock and hurt.

“Pinkie!” cried her friends, and Applejack offered a hoof to help her up. The princess stood firm in front of the door, telekinetically slamming it behind her.

“I am sorry, my ponies.” She sighed, her ears low as the door shut out the view of the metallic object. “I did not mean to be so sharp, but I truly fear this thing and that is why I keep it here. It is dangerous beyond your imagination and I did not anticipate that any of you would try to come so near it.” The regal mare bowed her head in front of Pinkie who grinned, seeming to disregard the whole incident.

“Okey dokey. Not a toy. Got it.” She said.

“Princess, no one could anticipate what Pinkie Pie would do,” Twilight started, eyeing the silly pony, but she felt frightened from seeing her teacher become so angry so suddenly too. “But what is that thing, and why do you fear it so much?”

“This is the only proof we have left of the first human.” The princess replied. “It is an evil relic, but I cannot destroy it.” She sighed. “The human brought this with him to our world and committed a grave act with it. When he suddenly disappeared this was left behind, and I had it locked here where I hoped no creature would ever see it again- especially my sister.”

“The human disappeared?” Fluttershy interrupted, anxiously glancing over at Harmony again hiding behind her back.

“Yes. I do not know how he came here or how he left. I am afraid that is a mystery I cannot solve. The only clue has been Harmony’s appearance roughly 1000 years later, although I do not really see a connection.”

“At the time, as you know, Princess Luna and I were living in the castle in the Everfree forest where you defeated Nightmare Moon. This is where the human was found by some of our soldiers. He was discovered bloodied and bruised, and our soldiers feared him. He may have been too dazed by finding himself in our world to speak, or did not believe he could be understood, but he attacked without provocation so the unicorn soldiers subdued him and brought him to us.”

“The human was a large creature, much larger than Harmony. He was full grown, an adult stallion called a Man. He was my height, or perhaps a little taller, but his body was wide and strong, more so than our strongest stallions, although he said the horses of his world were bigger. When I met him I had never seen anything like him before and although the soldiers urged me to take action on him I pitied him his injuries and tended to them. Luna was more wary of him- I suppose I was more trusting and naïve. She questioned him heavily on where he came from, how he was injured and why he was there. He could only answer about his injuries which he received in a battle he had been fighting before he found himself here.”

“He had no idea why he had ended up in our land, and told us that equines in his world did not talk and certainly did not have a horn and wings. He had never seen ponies such as us before, although unicorns and pegasi were told about in stories. This was the same with any kind of magic too. He called it ‘witchcraft’ and seemed to fear it.”

“Neither Luna nor I knew what to do with him. I let him rest and recover from his injuries in one of the castle rooms. We did not keep him as a prisoner, but he was not free to leave the castle due to a leg injury keeping him from walking. He was quiet initially, only speaking when spoken to. Luna thought he had something to hide and feared him. I just thought he was confused about being thrust into our world so suddenly and wished I could find some way to help him return to his own world. I suppose I pitied him and only wished to help him some way. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like for him to find himself in another world with beings he had never seen before. Luna would probably say I was too trusting, which was dangerous in my position of power although she always was there to balance it out.”

“I explained to the human how Princess Luna and I ruled Equestria by raising the sun and moon and keeping the peace between ponies and other creatures. He seemed interested in our powers, and began to ask questions about what we were capable of. Or what I was capable of. As far as I know Luna never spoke to him alone. She argued with me a lot about trusting him so thoroughly, but I don’t believe she had any plans to hurt him. She just wished we could find a way to send him back to where he came from so that her sense of mistrust about him could be put to rest. Unfortunately, this was all happening around the same time of her eventual possession by the Nightmare and things were already tense between us. Although at the time I had no idea how much so.”

Princess Celestia paused then and looked over to the child who had come out from her hiding place to show her interest in the story, and she frowned.

“I apologize. The next part of the story may be frightening to you, child, and even you my little ponies. I just want to say before I continue that I do not blame you or your kind for what happened in both my world and yours. Maybe things are better there now, although to hear you recognize the weapon is not promising. I truly believe there is good in every creature in some way, and now, to see the innocence of a human child here we can maybe learn more about the human race and shed our prejudices.” The regal mare shook her mane and smiled briefly before continuing.

“I searched the Everfree forest for some clue to how the human came to our world, or some way to help him return. I did research and consulted the most powerful of ponies to help find a spell to help him, yet I did not tell anypony but the royal guard of the human’s existence. I didn’t want to scare them, or invite anymore mistrust. I suppose it became an obsession of mine and I failed to notice other things going on around me. All I was able to do was summon a memory spell to see the events of the human’s life leading up to his appearing here. What I saw shocked me. The human had explained he had been in a battle before coming here but I had never seen a battle quite like that. I saw him and others like him on dark fields, much like our own, but somehow different in the time of war. They all held those weapons I showed you and used them to shoot balls of fire at each other causing horrible injuries I had never seen before. People fell and were left for dead, there were no medics or magic to heal. Humans ran at each other like wild dogs wielding their sticks of fire and shooting each other mercilessly. I watched as this human I knew participated in the carnage and I finally knew the fear and mistrust that Luna had always had toward him.”

“The last I saw before I could no longer bare to view his violent memories was the human be shot by one of the fireballs. I thought that he must have been much more badly injured than he was now and wondered how he had survived. He said he didn’t even remember being shot, but he guessed it could have happened. And this is what worries me, my ponies, I think he might not have survived being shot like that and that is why he was somehow brought to our world. It still left much to be explained though. Why would he be the only human to come here in death? How did he come here? I didn’t think that the vision of the human’s past had done much more then make me fear him like everypony else, but I would not have much more time to ponder this as things were about to come to a head.”

“It was in the early morning the next day as I got ready to hold court. No citizens were around yet, it was just myself and the royal guard. Luna was resting as she does in the morning after taking care of the night. The human suddenly came into the court room. I did not even know he had recovered enough to walk, and had never seen him outside of his quarters. Needless to say I was surprised to see him as were the guard, some of whom still didn’t know about him. I asked what he was doing and if he needed anything. He didn’t reply and as I was about to explain his appearance to the guard I noticed that he held that horrible weapon in his hands. Of course I didn’t know what it was yet, but I remembered seeing it in his memories and immediately knew that something was very wrong. He spoke to me before it happened. He actually apologized and thanked me for taking care of him, and then he said that the power I possessed, along with our kind was too great for him to resist and that he must have it starting with the ruler of our country. Then he brought out that terrible thing and the world exploded in fire and deafening noise. It all happened so fast I barely could comprehend it. The only reason I am still here today to tell this story is because one of my soldiers by the name of Lancer jumped in front of the blast to shield me. His breast was pierced by the metal ball of fire that the human had shot and he died in a type of agony I hope to never see again. He sacrificed his life for me and there is not a day that goes by that I don’t remember him. Although I could not describe what really happened to the citizens, I do have a statue of him in the Canterlot gardens which speaks of him as a brave pony who protected the royal sisters. I truly regret the trust I put into that Human Man and it grieves me that another pony had to suffer so greatly for my actions. ” The princess had tears in her eyes, and as she bowed her head little Harmony came over and reached up to the alicorn’s muzzle and wiped away her tears.

“It’s OK, princess unicorn. He’ll be waiting for you one day, and I’m sure he knows how grateful you are to him.” She said softly, as if speaking with a voice from another time and place. The little girl held the princess’s muzzle close to her face and leaned in with her.

Twilight watched in quiet awe as the human child calmed and comforted her mentor in a way a mother would comfort their child. She had never seen the princess cry in true sorrow like this and it pulled at her own heart. The little girl somehow seemed to understand what she was going through as she held onto the regal mare, closing her eyes and smiling sweetly.

Fluttershy was equally surprised to see the child she had been taking care of become the one to offer comfort- especially to the princess who had told such a dark tale, with such a tragic conclusion that Harmony seemed to understand as if her gentle soul had somehow felt it too. It brought tears to her own eyes and she bowed her head along with the princess and little girl.

“I thank you, my child. Your touch is of great comfort to me. You must possess some of your own magic to be able to heal like that.” Celestia lifted her head once more and offered a sad smile to the child who stepped back, her own gentle smile her only answer.

“Unfortunately that is not the end of the story.” The princess continued, sorrowfully.

“The human was subdued and brought to this dungeon by the rest of the guard and Luna who arrived too late after hearing the commotion. I couldn’t face him and grieved for Lancer and my own mistake alone. Princess Luna was furious, and I left her to deal with him as she wished. And that may have been my second grave error in this tragedy. Because I could not deal with her or my own actions for some days after, I do not know what occurred with Princess Luna and the human. She left me alone and I did not seek her counsel. Then, before we had learned to deal with the tragedy the human had brought on us, she came.”

“The Nightmare took possession of my precious sister, and I was forced to put my feelings of guilt and sorrow aside to deal with her. And you know the rest. By the time I had used the elements to banish her to the moon I had almost forgotten about the human during the even more tragic events leading to the loss of my sister. Our world had been thrown into chaos by Nightmare Moon, the soldiers had been too busy trying to protect everypony to guard the dungeons where we had left the human. When I finally thought to check on him I found them empty and he was gone. All that was left was the horrible weapon that had started everything. I locked it away in here in a fit of anger, and I have never found out what happened to the human since.”

“That’s because I made sure you didn’t, sister.” A voice echoed sternly in the darkness, and Celestia turned to see Princess Luna standing across the hall from the group.

She stood tall and strong like her sister, no longer the young pony the friends remembered her by from when they saved her from the Nightmare. Her midnight blue mane flowed wildly behind her as she stood braced in the dim light.

“Luna, what do you mean?” Celestia asked, warily, disturbed by her younger sister’s tone and the anger glinting in her dark eyes.

“I made sure he would never hurt anypony again. Just like you did to me.” Luna replied, darkly, her ears low and threatening.

“Luna, please…” the sun princess pleaded, backing up toward the others as she sensed the looming danger.

“No! I won’t let you make the same mistake this time. I won’t let a human into our world again!” The night princess reared up on her hind legs, and a flash of light exploded from her horn. The blast flew over to where Harmony stood watching fearfully beside Fluttershy. Before it could hit the child, the yellow pegasus jumped in front of the light and was enveloped in its blinding glow.

“No! Fluttershy!” Harmony cried, as the gentle pony reared up in fear and then collapsed to the ground.

Chapter 4 (newest chapter)

A/N Luna will NOT speak with the Canterlot voice or inflections in this story because the ponies never met her at nightmare night or otherwise and because I’m too lazy to write it. She has a big speaking role and it gets really tiresome to read/write in fanfics in my opinion. Sorry. I think little Harmony would be totally lost too. Lets just say Celestia actually got around to teaching her how to talk. This is a long chapter. It has not been edited, but has been read over several times. Thanks for everyone who waited it out!

Princess Luna stepped back as the small child ran over to the prone form of the pale yellow pegasus she had mistakenly hit with her spell. Her ire dissipated somewhat as she realized that this human was indeed nothing like the Man who had caused her so much grief so long ago. She was young, a filly in her terms, a helpless little human who she should have no reason not to trust. The little girl clutched the pegasus and was crying at her side, the other ponies gathered around them, as the night princess began to realize her error.

“Luna what have you done?” cried Celestia, galloping over to her sister and blocking her from the crying little girl and fallen Pegasus. She had never expected her sister to do that. To attack the small child who was virtually defenseless. What had been going through her younger sister’s mind to react in that way?

“I-I” Luna stammered.

“Fluttershy, are you OK? Speak to us!” Twilight cried as her and the others gathered around their stricken friend. The yellow pegasus lay on the floor of the dungeon in a heap and did not respond as Harmony held on to her. Although the unicorn was relieved to see that her friend was still breathing, albeit shallowly.

“I don’t care if you’re a princess, nopony hurts my friends!” Rainbow Dash shouted, her eyes blazing in anger as she tried to fly toward the alicorn, but Applejack gripped on to her tail with her mouth and pulled her back.

“Stop, Rainbow!” she cried through clenched teeth. She knew a fight with the princess couldn’t be won by one raging pegasus even as her own anger tried to cloud her practical judgement. What the hay was the princess doing attacking a child? And Fluttershy…

Rarity stood speechless over her unconscious friend, her eyes wide and filled with tears, and Pinkie kept looking from the princess to Fluttershy as if she couldn’t understand what had happened.

“It’s not fair! You’re a unicorn! Unicorns are supposed to heal people, not hurt them! Why’d you have to hurt Fluttershy!?” Harmony’s grief filled voice echoed throughout the chamber. “I don’t want any more of my friends to die-not here!” she sobbed, burying herself in the prone pegasus’s mane.

“No, you are mistaken---“ The lunar princess tried to say, her voice still loud and intimidating, but Celestia stepped in front of her.

“That’s enough, Luna.” She spoke sternly but without any malice in her calm tone. Then she leaned down to the crying child. “Do not worry, little one. She is merely sleeping.”

As she met the crying eyes of the little girl the princess saw that her sister may not have physically hurt the little pegasus pony, but she might have irreparably damaged the faith the human child had in magic and unicorns like herself. And from what she had seen with this little girl that was truly heart breaking.

Harmony stopped and looked at the solar princess, searching desperately for the truth in her statement with trembling lips and tear filled eyes.

“Our world is no place for humans- no matter how young they are.” The dark coated alicorn muttered, furtively. “You should know this now, Celestia.”With that the lunar princess disappeared into a bright light reminiscent of the glow of the moon she cared for.

Princess Celestia wanted to go after her sister but knew she owed it to the injured Pegasus, the human child and the other ponies to be the strong leader she should be and to set their minds at ease. She would first have to help little Fluttershy who she had been amazed to see sacrifice herself to an unknown spell for the safety of the human child. She truly did wholly embody the Element of Kindness, she thought with a sad smile to herself.

“I am sorry, my little ones.” The Princess spoke as her horn glowed and she gently picked up the Pegasus in her magic and set her across her back. “Fluttershy is OK. She will just need some rest until the spell wears off.” She paused and looked to her student and the other confused and angry ponies.

“Luna was not trying to hurt Harmony or Fluttershy. The spell she cast was a subjugation spell, meant to only put her to sleep as you have seen. The incident with the Human was much more difficult for her and because of her banishment it must still be fresh in her mind while I have had a millennium to deal with it. Please do not blame my sister.” The regal mare looked to Twilight for understanding, but found only confusion and fear in the young pony’s eyes while the human child had run to her and clutched at her fore hooves.

“I’ll take Fluttershy to my quarters where she can rest. You are all welcome to come and wait for her to regain consciousness there, but the spell is quite strong. I cannot be sure how long until she will awaken.” The princess sighed and then slowly began to walk from the cavern beckoning for the others to follow.
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The moon drifted high in the sky as a group of five ponies, a heart-broken human child and the princess of the sun gathered around the bed where their dear friend slept in a magic induced coma- a slumber none of them knew when she would awake from.

Princess Celestia’s private quarters was a large room, beautifully decorated to look like the clouds in the sky. The bed was a large circular shaped mattress to support the princess’s much more substantial frame and the little Pegasus currently laying in it was lost in its massive sheets and blankets. Since the group had come to the princess’s room Harmony hadn’t left Fluttershy’s side and would not speak to the other ponies or Celestia, whom she had seemed to trust so easily only a few hours ago.

The princess looked anxiously to the door, hoping her sister would return from wherever she had broodingly wondered, to face her error and explain what had come over her. She felt at a loss of what to do, and especially regretted the trust she seemed to have lost from her subjects, the human child and especially her faithful student.

“Can’t you do something, Princess?” the aforementioned unicorn spoke up. “Fluttershy’s been out for hours and I’m worried about Harmony. She’s so sad.” Twilight turned to the child sympathetically, her heart aching to just see her lying beside her Pegasus friend as if she too had been put to sleep.

“I cannot, Twilight. If I wake her too soon she will be too weak to function. She just needs to sleep as long as it takes for the spell to wear off.” Princess Celestia replied, distractedly as she continued to worry about her sister’s disappearance.

“Uh, shouldn’t we do something about Harmony then? That’s why we came here, and Ah think that’s what Fluttershy would want us to do.” Applejack said hesitantly, stepping out from her position beside Pinkie by the side of the bed.

“We can’t do that! Fluttershy cares for Harmony. We can’t just send her home without letting her say goodbye.” Rarity vehemently protested. “We’ll just have to wait until she wakes up and is recovered.” She stomped a hoof, determined to have the others agree with her. She cared too much for her kind and shy friend to let this horrible experience end without her even getting to say goodbye to the child from another world who she loved. It was bad enough that she had been attacked by the princess no less.

“Perhaps I can help with that.” The group turned to see Princess Luna suddenly step out of the darkness, her posture much less foreboding, her dark eyes now showing the guilt she felt for what she had done.

“Luna!” Celestia cried, galloping over to her.

“Don’t you come near Harmony or Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she bolted up in front of the bed where the two lay. Her rose coloured eyes burned with determination in her resolve to protect her Pegasus friend and her human charge and she fluttered in front of them creating a small shield as best she could.

“Please, calm yourself.” The moon princess spoke, composedly, but her voice shook a little with unshed emotion. “I do not blame you for fearing me. I attacked one of your own and I apologize for that.” She looked over to the bed where now Harmony was up and trying to shield her sleeping friend with pillows and her own small body, and sighed, sadly.

“Sister, bearers of the elements of Harmony, small human… please let me explain my actions before you cast your judgement upon me.” she continued, looking over each pony and Harmony as well as her older sister.

“Oh Luna, why do you have to be so impulsive? If you had just come to me…” Celestia tried to say, but her sister interrupted her.

“No, Celestia, this is not something I could have explained to you. Yes, I acted impulsively and for that I am truly sorry, but I had my reasons and I have not fully shared them with you or anypony. Perhaps if I explain them now you can all understand my actions and… forgive me.” She looked down, guiltily, much as she had done when she had first been healed by the elements only months ago.

Rarity looked over to Rainbow Dash who joined her in frowning, doubtfully. Applejack also looked uncertain, but Pinkie Pie stood beside Twilight who stepped toward the princess, confidently.

“I believe that everypony deserves the benefit of the doubt. You made a mistake but you’re willing to atone for it. Please tell us your side of the story, Princess Luna.” She offered.

“I thank you Twilight Sparkle. I see that all my sister has told me of your virtues is true.” The moon princess gave a small smile to the lavender unicorn who smiled solemnly in return. Princess Celestia put a hoof on her sister’s back, comfortingly.

“I told you she was my most trustworthy student.” She added.

“Um, sorry to interrupt, but what do you plan to do about Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash cut in defensively, her words bitter cold. It seemed that not every pony was as quick to forgive as Twilight was, and that was clear with the stern looks on the rainbow-maned pegasus and white unicorn’s face.

“Yes. I realize you are a princess, but I can’t just forget that you willingly attacked my best friend.” Rarity added, relentlessly.

“Rainbow, Rarity…” Twilight tried to reason.

“No, Twilight, they are right to be angry with me. I did attack your friend and I am truly sorry about that. I ask for your forgiveness.” The moon princess looked to the doubtful ponies somberly.

“You didn’t attack our friend.” Rainbow Dash spoke up, darkly, but Princess Luna suffered a shred of hope that she was forgiven. “You attacked a little kid. A child. Our friend was just trying to protect her.” The Pegasus glared at the much larger alicorn princess who, despite the difference in size and power felt the intimidation the rainbow pony was radiating from her angry and hurt filled heart.

“Rainbow, I don’t believe you!” Twilight angrily cried, disappointed in her friends’ unwillingness to forgive. She hopefully looked over to Applejack who had stood silent but observant through most of the confrontation. Surely she could see that the princess had meant no harm and just wanted to be forgiven.

“Applejack, you agree, don’t you?”

The orange pony looked a little shaken and turned away as her friend put her on the spot. “Well, Ah’m not one to usually hold a grudge but… it was a little harsh, Twi…” she muttered, meeting her green, doubt-filled eyes with the unicorn’s wide, unbelieving ones.

“Ugh, why won’t anypony do the right thing here? The princess has asked for forgiveness. That should be enough!” Twilight shouted.

“I agree with you, Twilight.” Came the excitable voice of Pinkie Pie from right beside the unicorn, startling her. “I think everypony deserves a second chance too. And Princess Luna isn’t Black Snooty anymore, we should listen to what she has to say.” She added with her usual wide grin.

“Thank you, Pinkie.” Twilight muttered, and then the small room seemed to explode into a cacophony of angry voices as the group’s frustration and anger over their differences of opinion and from the stress of the past few hours over boiled.

“I’m not ready to forgive a pony who last I saw was trying to plunge us into eternal darkness and now she attacks a little girl, hurting Fluttershy in the process!” Rainbow Dash argued with the unicorn.

“I don’t see why there is any argument here at all. Anypony who would viciously attack a defenseless child leaving my best friend comatose does not deserve my forgiveness.” Rarity added.

“She didn’t hurt them!” Returned Twilight.

“She could have done it some other way.” Applejack scoffed.

“She was upset, she acted impulsively. It was a mistake!”

“You’re just taking the princesses’ side because you’re Princess Celestia’s student.” Came about Rainbow Dash, harshly.

“Aw come on, guys stop fighting…“ Pinkie tried to reason.

“Well you’re not being loyal to the right pony!” Twilight growled.

“I’m being loyal to my friends. You should try it sometime, egghead.” Rainbow’s silly insult was said with more malice then her usual teasing and made the lavender unicorn’s blood boil in anger.

“You try saying that again, Rainbow Crash, the element of disloyalty!”

“Princess’s pet!”

“Lazy flank!”

“Twilight Flopple!”

“STOP IT!” The two feuding ponies were interrupted as suddenly Harmony cried out. “Stop fighting, you guys!” the little girl stood by the bed, breathing heavily, determination glinting in her deep blue eyes.

“Fluttershy wouldn’t want you all to be fighting like this. You’re friends. She told me you were the best of friends!” the five ceased their bickering as they turned to Harmony along with the two alicorn princesses, shocked to see this small child lamenting them.

“Mommy always told me to forgive and forget. I want to forgive. I don’t want to be angry at a princess unicorn.” She paused, her voice calmer now, but still filled with immense sadness that tore at the equines’ heart.

“I know humans like me did bad things. I know you’re scared. But I promise I won’t hurt you, I won’t do anything bad. I just want to see Fluttershy. I know you didn’t mean to hurt us…..I’ve been put to sleep before too…it doesn’t hurt….” Her soft voice trailed off as she addressed the midnight blue alicorn who had tears in her eyes.

“Please, just wake up Fluttershy. Just let me see her again. Then I’ll forgive you. I won’t be mad or scared anymore.”

Princess Luna slowly walked over to Harmony and bowed her head to her. “Little human…No…” she paused, and revised her statement. “…Harmony… to have your forgiveness is more then I deserve. I am sorry to have attacked you. I am sorry I didn’t give you the chance to show me that humans are not all evil. I apologize.” She held out a hoof and the child hesitated at first, confused that a unicorn would do such a thing, then offered her small hand with a lilting smile on her face.

“I forgive you, princess.”

In the quietness of the bed-chambers, as this tender scene unfolded, there came the sound of a pony’s sniffling. Then the solitude was interrupted by a loud honking noise as that same pink pony blew her nose breaking off into loud sobs. She was not alone, as Twilight struggled with tears along with the usually unyielding Pegasus she had been arguing with minutes before. Rarity’s stern expression wilted into eyes filled with tears, and Applejack wiped her eyes with a hoof. And although no other pony saw it, Princess Celestia blinked back her own tears as she watched her sister receive the forgiveness she so desperately craved.

“Well, I think Harmony has a lot to teach us about forgiveness.” Twilight recovered from her tears first to address the others.

“Yeah… I’m sorry, Twilight. I guess I just got kinda carried away.” Rainbow Dash mumbled contritely, rubbing a hoof through the back of her mane.

“I’m sorry too, Rainbow. I shouldn’t have said all those mean things.” Twilight relented.

“I’m sorry, girls. This whole experience has just been so dreadful and I’ve been so worried over Fluttershy. I must have lost my head. Forgive me.” Rarity added.

“And Ah’m sorry too. We shouldn’t fight when we need ta be sticking together. For Harmony and Fluttershy.” Applejack said, smiling at the little girl who smiled back.

“Yes. And Princess Luna…” Twilight started.

“We forgive you.” Chorused the other ponies, as they bowed their heads.

Suddenly, four of the friends, the human child and even the princesses were pulled into a gigantic hug by the fifth currently conscious pink pony.

“That’s the spirit, everypony! Forgiveness and forgetfulness! Now let’s get Fluttershy to rise and shine and we can have a party to celebrate our new friends, Princess Luna and Harmony!” Pinkie Pie cried joyfully as she held everyone in her impossibly large embrace. The four friends who had already been subject to a Pinkie hug before smiled and embraced her back, Harmony giggled and Princess Celestia looked a little confused but smiled, sheepishly.

“Welcome to the magic of friendship.” She told her sister beside her who was so shocked and embarrassed she was trying to get away.

“H-how is this little pony holding us all like this?” Princess Luna cried, struggling against Pinkie’s strong grip.

“I have never questioned Pinkie Pie.” Replied Celestia.

“While I appreciate all of your forgiveness and friendship, perhaps we could have our own personal space?” the midnight alicorn asked of the group.

“Sure, Princess, why didn’t you just say so?” Pinkie Pie said and then promptly let all seven drop to the floor. “Hmm, that hug seemed to be lacking something…. We need Fluttershy!” she continued, thoughtfully and then bounded over to the bed. “Wake up, sleepy head!” But as exuberant and chaotic as the past few minutes had been the yellow Pegasus slept on and the pink pony’s ears wilted against her head as she realized she couldn’t do anything for her. “Aww…”

Princess Luna walked over to Pinkie and gingerly nuzzled her. “Do not worry, Pinkie. I can help her wake up just like I promised the little human.”

“Luna, should you really do that?” Princess Celestia asked, concernedly, causing both Pinkie and Harmony to go teary eyed.

“I think it is only right, sister. Fluttershy should hear what I have to say. Although I regret it, this has affected her the most.”

“All right. If you think it’s for the best.”

“Yay! Thank you, princess!” Harmony cried and hugged onto Princess Luna’s leg causing the wary regal mare to blush. She recovered and then made her way over to the bed where Fluttershy slept. Her horn glowed as she cast the awakening spell and she whispered to herself.

“I am sorry to have wronged you, little one. Forgive me.” Then she bent her head over the sleeping form so her horn touched the other’s forehead and enveloped the Pegasus in a soft blue glow. The others watched as the glow grew brighter and then suddenly gave out and the Princess straightened.

Then they waited. Nothing seemed to have happened as the group watched their friend continue to lay still, her long eyelashes still closed over her eyes. But then, ever so slowly she began to stir, and her eyelids started to flutter open.

“Fluttershy!” the group cried as the yellow Pegasus’s eyes opened fully and she blinked as she tried to focus on what was in front of her.

“Oh…w-what happened…?” Fluttershy’s familiar soft voice said, blearily as she continued to lay on the pillow. “Oh no!” she suddenly cried and sat straight up. “Harmony!”

“Hi~” the little girl waved as she stepped into view of the suddenly panicky Pegasus. She looked at the child and then abruptly collapsed back onto the pillow.

“Fluttershy?” Harmony asked, worriedly.

“It’s like I said, child. She’s not ready to be woken up yet.” Princess Celestia explained, solemnly.

“I-Is everyone OK? You’re not hurt are you, Harmony?” Fluttershy weakly managed, turning her head to face the child.

“No, I’m OK. Thanks to you!” Harmony exclaimed and then threw her arms around the unsuspecting Pegasus, but she smiled and weakly returned the embrace.

“I’m glad you’re all alright.” She whispered.

“Oh Fluttershy… I thought that… we thought that…”Rarity stammered out, eyes glistening.

“We’re glad to have you back, Fluttershy.” Twilight spoke up before Rarity could start everypony crying again.

“Yeah, you were really brave.” Rainbow Dash added, a fitting compliment from the daring fellow Pegasus and it made Fluttershy blush again.

“Ya did great, sugercube.” Applejack smiled.

“Fluttershy, you missed the biggest hug ever! We even had the princesses too! But Princess Luna was all shy like you…” Pinkie Pie started, and then looked around. “Hey, where did Princess Luna go?”

“Princess Luna?” Fluttershy asked, and her eyes widened. “But she-“

“Please, do not fear, little one.” The midnight princess stepped into view of Fluttershy, who blinked and tightened her weak hold on Harmony. “I apologize for attacking your friend, and regret that you had to suffer through my spell. I did not mean to hurt you or the human child. I was just….scared…” Princess Luna bowed her head as her voice broke off at the end.

“It’s OK, Fluttershy. Princess Luna didn’t mean it. She apologized to all of us. Then your friends all got into a big fight, but they made up and…and it’s all ok now.” Harmony explained in her quick and confusing way. The weakened Pegasus looked back at the princess, having trouble comprehending all she was hearing. Her mind was still hazy and her muscles were refusing to move without great effort that left her even more tired. She didn’t understand what had happened to her, but she remembered seeing the midnight alicorn princess suddenly attack Harmony, and how she had known she needed to protect her no matter what, taking the spell in her stead.

“You were put to sleep by a strong subjugation spell. The effects have not yet worn off and that is why you may be feeling weak now and have trouble moving.” The princess explained, seeing that Fluttershy was experiencing trouble with the after effects from her spell.

“I awoke you because I think that you need to hear from me why I felt I had to attack your human friend and why I fear a human in Equestria.” She continued. “Perhaps then you can find it in your heart to forgive me, my child.” Princess Luna looked into Fluttershy’s eyes, her own dark eyes so full of guilt and pain that the compassionate pegasus couldn’t bare to look anymore.

“Um…OK…”Fluttershy said a little shakily, as she looked over at Harmony beside her, who gave her an encouraging grin.

“When my sister found the human I was always repulsed by him. He was a huge, beastly creature and there was something more intangible about him that frightened me. I couldn’t see past that to want to help him like my sister did, and really, I wished I could. Still, my curiosity got the better of me and I approached him to demand to know where he’d come from and what he was doing in our world. When he said he didn’t know why he was there but that he knew of our kind as legends and fairytales I was really suspicious of him. It was just so preposterous to me that unicorns and pegasi were mere legends to him and I disliked the way he was acting as if he were superior over us. And I doubt Celestia mentioned the smell. How the creature refused to bathe from some fear of becoming ill.” Princess Luna grimaced and looked to her sister.

“Oh, I got him to bathe. Even I wasn’t going to put up with that.” Celestia responded.

“Mommy gave me a bath every night. And sometimes I had special baths that made me really, really, clean! So clean that no germs could get in at all!” Harmony exclaimed.

“That’s good, child.” Celestia smiled at her.

“Anyway, those are just trivial things that would never have left me as frightened and hateful of the human as I have become. It wasn’t until he used that horrible weapon to attack my sister and killed Sir Lancer that I realized that I had been right about him all along and I knew I should have done something earlier.” Princess Luna continued.

“Oh Luna, there was nothing you could do…” Princess Celestia tried to assure her younger sister, but the other shook her head.

“No Celestia, I saw the evil in his heart, I should have helped you deal with him instead of just ignoring the situation like I did. You have a pure heart that I can’t hope to match, and your desire to help him just made me jealous.” The lunar princess bowed her head in shame and sighed. Princess Celestia came closer and nuzzled her so she raised her head again.

“Please don’t fret so, dear sister. Your heart is just as pure as mine. Some pony needed to be wary of him, and I’m glad you were so I didn’t let him lead us into an even worse situation. That’s how we work together- in perfect balance.”

This didn’t seem to make Princess Luna feel any better and Celestia looked dejected.

“I still haven’t told you the whole story. Any of you. It’s not just the guilt, it’s not just the fear, it’s what happened after. In the dungeons when I confronted the human alone after what he had done. Listen, all of you” Luna cried, emphatically, not looking to receive comfort or any type of comment anymore as she began to tell about what really happened between her and Equestria's first human.
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“So now the little sister monarch comes to see me. I really thought you were dispensable since you didn’t seem to care about your royal duties to what could potentially be a delegate from another world. But here you are.” The human muttered as he stood in his cell, incomprehensible hooves or paws or whatever they were, gripping the bars crafted from magic resistant metal.

“Shut up, human.” growled the princess of the night, violently, as she stood breathlessly outside his prison, fury evident in her dark eyes, her chest heaving with anger as she glared at the creature who had almost killed her sister and successfully murdered one of the royal guard.

The dungeons were dark and cool, a dampness spreading throughout from water seepage in the underground caverns. The only lights were torch lights perched on the walls beside every other cell. Hay lined the cell floors, along with tattered blankets and a removable waste bucket. It was a last resort prison for ponies of the kingdom who had committed unspeakable acts. Princess Luna shivered, not from the cold, but from the extent of her rage.

“Fine. But to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Does Celestia not want to be my friend anymore?” The human asked, grinning, arrogantly. He didn’t seem to hold any remorse for what he had done, and that made the lunar princess’s blood boil.

“You tried to kill her with your horrible fire stick from hell. I’m not even going to answer your absurd question. Just know that you are not getting out of this dungeon!” she yelled at him, bristling and stomping a hoof.

“What do magical horses like you do with prisoners? Are you going to turn me into pixie dust?” the human laughed.

“You wish that was all we’ll do to you!”

The human man narrowed his eyes, laughter gone from them. “You horses can’t hope to continue like this. One day more of my people will come and you’ll be put to work for them, your horns ground to dust for medicines, your wings clipped. We’ll ride your pegasi, we’ll work your unicorn’s magic to the death and the little ponies will be livestock. We are stronger then you.”

The words he spoke struck fear into the princess’s heart but she remained composed, refusing to show any weakness in front of this dangerous enemy.

“We’ll never let anymore of you into our world, and you are without your weapon. My sister’s and my magic are stronger then you could ever hope to be.” She growled back at him.

“True. Your witchcraft magic and pagan ritual of raising the sun and moon are not things humans can do.” He paused. “But then, we don’t need to. The sun and moon rise on their own. You unicorn-pegasus hybrids would not be needed. But you know all about that, don’t you, moon princess?” his tone became dangerously challenging, and made Luna’s fur on her back bristle.

“What are you implying, demon?”

“While I recovered and pretended to submit to your ridiculously naïve sister I had a chance to observe some things. Namely, your subjects don’t respect you. In fact, night princess, I think they resent you and the night you bring, only embracing Celestia’s daytime.”

Princess Luna had considered this for herself many times before before. She’d witnessed it in her subjects and had Celestia constantly assure her otherwise. She knew her ponies needed the sunlight to grow their crops and could only do so in the day, that they only played then, that more of them came to see Celestia during the day court and they slept during her night. Of course it upset her, but she knew it was not something she could change and she certainly didn’t resent the ponies or her sister. She was just as respected as Celestia. Her subjects just showed it in different ways. This human was just trying to twist her emotions toward some perverted goal of turning her against her sister and that just made her angrier.

“Where I come from you couldn’t hope to rule as princesses together as you do. I don’t know where your king and queen are but your older sister would automatically become successor to the throne when they passed and you would be left little more than a duchess. The only hope you would have of ruling would be to murder your elder sister and take her place. Without anyone else finding out, of course. Its surprisingly common in my world, you should try it.” The human’s menacing smile returned to his face as he spoke, and Luna was shocked into submission, her knees buckling at the thought of what he was proposing to her.

“How dare you even suggest such a thing!” The princess shouted, vehemently. “I would never- no pony would ever- why are you even telling me this?!” she stammered in rage.

“Because, princess, you need to hear it. And you’re my last chance to try to make the most of coming to this pony world. I’ll be damned if I’m going to be demeaned by fairytale creatures anymore!” the human had suddenly become just as enraged as the alicorn, and she stepped back as she felt his sudden frustration and pure hatred wash over her. This type of power had not been evident before. In fact she had never sensed any type of power from the human. Celestia had found him benign of magic and he had even said himself that he feared it. Luna didn’t understand where the sudden energy was coming from, but the negativity of it was starting to seep into her such as the strongest magic and she shook her head to clear it.

“I don’t know what you think you can do, but you’ll never get away with it. My sister and I have defeated much more powerful foes than you.” She retorted, noticing that the human had suddenly gone quiet and the energy she felt was gone.

“If you say so.” He muttered.

“I’ve had enough of consorting with you. You will stay here under heavy guard until my sister and I decide what to do with you. I just wanted to see that you were properly imprisoned.” The princess snarled and turned her back on him as she walked out of the dungeons and back to the court where her royal duties awaited her- including the burial of the brave soldier who had protected her dear sister’s life.
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“So you see the human made a much more malicious impression on me, and he even tried to turn me against you, sister. By my own will power alone I would never had fallen to him, but as I said there was more to this creature from another world then we previously believed.” Princess Luna stopped her story to explain, leaving most of the ponies shell shocked, but none so much as Princess Celestia who had tears glistening in her eyes.

“So you’re saying the human had magic, princess?” Twilight asked, inquisitively.

“Yes Twilight Sparkle, I believe he had a type of magic none of us could comprehend.” The midnight princess replied, solemnly.

“But that’s impossible. He didn’t…I-I never knew…” the usually composed voice of Princess Celestia stammered out.

“I know, Tia.” Luna said, sadly as she nuzzled her distraught sister.

“But you can’t mean that…it can’t be…” Celestia tried to say, but her younger sister put a hoof to her lips and shook her head sadly, telling her with her eyes to stop. At that the elder sister’s eyes spilled over with tears as she realized the conclusion to Luna’s story before it had passed through the other’s lips.

“For the next few days I did not see the human again. I left the guard to watch him, because with Celestia indisposed in her grief I had both the day and night court to run and had no time to deal with him, nor did I want to. I feared him to my very core, and wished he would just disappear. But for those next few days strange things happened. I would have at least three members of the guard a day come to me and renounce their positions with excuses of everything from fear of what happened to Sir Lancer to unrest over Celestia’s absence, to complete terror of guarding the human creature in the dungeons. All had been there, all successfully relinquished their knighthood and fled the kingdom. I couldn’t let that go on, so I steeled myself and went to his cell again.” Princess Luna continued her story as her sister hung her head and silently wept, her mane ceasing its ethereal flowing and hanging over her face to hide her tears.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What did you do to my guards?” Princess Luna demanded as she stepped into the cold dungeons and approached the cell where the human was imprisoned. He was a little worse for the wear then she had last seen him, his beard longer and unkempt, his strange clothing dusty and dirty, and his small eyes were bloodshot and puffy, a type of gauntness spreading across his sharp features. It momentarily gave her a sick pleasure to see him suffering, but that appalled her and she took the thoughts back, shaking her head from the strange emotions that seemed to waft off the human creature like a malignant smoke.

“Nothing. I just talked to them.” He mumbled, not even bothering to grip the bars, fatigue evident in his apathetic tone.

“You must have done something. And what has brought you to such a state?” the princess growled, but her emotions turned to sympathy as she inquired about his wretched appearance.

“I don’t think that really interests you, princess.” His nonchalant attitude brought Luna’s anger back to the surface and she stepped closer to the barred door.

“You’re right it doesn’t. I want to know what you did to my guards so they are so frightened they have quit and fled the country!” she cried, receiving a soft chuckle from the antagonistic creature.

“You have some dutiful soldiers, princess.” He muttered.

“Answer me!”

“I merely gave them something to think about.” The human turned to her, his tired eyes suddenly bright again. “Like I did with you.” He added.

“I’m giving you five seconds to give me a straight answer.” The princess threatened.

“I told them what I told you and they proved my point. Those ponies not only don’t respect you, they’re afraid of you. Without Celestia around, they’re completely lost. None of them know you, except your own night guard, and they resent that you sent them to guard me. They think it’s your fault Celestia is out of commission and they fear you’ll usurp the throne.” The human man’s suddenly clearer eyes continued to grow bright as if from an internal glow and Luna could feel his strange power starting to shift again. He had no horn for her to control the power so she was at a loss of what to do to stop it and she backed away from him.

“I would never, ever-“ she paused, not wanting to show him how distraught his words and unassuming power was making her. The smoke of hatred, resentment and despair continued to float up to her and she put up a shield to try to block it but to no avail, frustrating her to no end.

“You have tried to corrupt me, you are corrupting my ponies, and you are in possession of some sort of dark magic. I will lock you away where only I can guard you and you won’t be able to use any magic!”

“I don’t have any magic-“ the human tried to protest, but in a flash of light Luna teleported him and herself to a room she conjured from her strongest magic. It was the only way she thought she could deal with the human’s own strange power and the fact that the guards would not guard him anymore. It took a great deal of magic for her to create and she was weakened when they both showed up in a pure white space of nothingness. The room was really an invisible place in the palace underground, much like the dungeons, but only she would know of it and be able to gain access. She struggled to formulate bars around him and then collapsed to the ground, panting to try and get her breath as she felt her magic almost drained from her.

“What in God’s name did you do, witch?!” The human cried, struggling to his feet, blearily. A human was not meant to be teleported by an alicorn. His bulk was too great, and his body type too different. He was left with vertigo and residual sparks of lightning flickering across his body. He was so discombobulated with trying to navigate his new surroundings the princess might have found it comical if she had any energy herself.

“I have… brought you somewhere you can’t escape…” Luna struggled to explain between gasps for breath. “I’ll guard you from now on…. You won’t get the best of me or my ponies anymore.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“But he continued to do so.” Princess Luna said, solemnly. “I couldn’t do anything against his strange magic and I was powerless to stop him from poisoning my mind. I don’t know how he did it; I never had the chance to find out. Every time I would go to the jail I had created for him to offer food or water he would unwittingly destroy me more. I say unwittingly because I believe he was truly scared of his fate in our world and not in control of the power he somehow had over me.”

“With my spirit broken I began to realize that the things he had told me about our subjects being afraid of me were true, and so I wondered if he weren’t wrong about what else he had said. I’d experienced these jealous and self-deprecating emotions before; I cannot fully blame him for what became of me. But he broke me down, and because of him I could not go to Celestia, his presence had upset our balance and by the time she recovered and returned to the throne it was too late.” The night princess bowed her head.

“I could barely face her with how broken inside I felt and because of the dark, envious emotions I carried. It was made worse when I saw how joyous all the ponies were to have her back and not deal with me anymore. I only approached her to explain about the prison I had constructed for the human and how I could continue to guard him if she wasn’t ready to face him yet. She commended me for it but I just continued to feel more bitter and resentful. I even felt reluctant to raise the moon and begin the night, because nopony seemed to care either way. The last night I went to check on the human I just didn’t care anymore. I didn’t care about him and the terrible things he said, or that his magic was somehow taking away my free will, or that there would be no end to his torture short of actually killing him, which I would never have considered before, and was too apathetic to try even if I had. He didn’t have much left to say himself anymore. I suppose he was also weakening from being imprisoned and from the use of magic he didn’t even know he was using. I pushed him his food and then turned to leave without speaking, but he called out to me.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wait….” The man’s fatigued voice called out and Princess Luna turned to him, her eyes cold and dark as she glared at the prisoner.

“What?” she growled.

“I just…” he paused, gathering himself. “I just wondered if it wouldn’t be possible to go back to the dungeons. I’ll cease frightening your guards.” His arrogance seemed to be gone and he seemed just as drained as her, which only made the princess angrier.

“Why should I honour such a request from you?” Luna muttered.

“Well, as I am sure you’d agree, your majesty, it’s not very healthy to be isolated from everyone as I have been, and I would appreciate even your ponies’ company, or at least to see the light of day again.”

At that, the midnight princess turned on him, her anger replacing her apathy with a vengeance. “Well you can forget it! You and the rest of these ungrateful whelps are not going to see the light of day again!” she shouted, glaring daggers into the human’s eyes, and not completely realizing the gravity of what she had just said.

“I don’t see why not. You can’t just keep me in this blank space forever. You’re starting to lose it, princess, and without you I’m just going to be left here to starve to death. You ponies are supposed to be merciful.” He shot back, gaining some more strength in his words as he confronted the angry alicorn princess.

“Merciful?! Merciful! Were you merciful when you tried to kill my sister with your fire stick? Do you expect me to show you any mercy after you’ve almost caused my complete downfall with your demonic magic? You’re lucky I don’t just strike you down with my own magic.” Princess Luna stomped at the ground with a hoof continuing to stare the human down. She had had enough of him, her subjects’ resentment and her sister and her beloved sunlight.

“For God’s sake, woman, how many times must I tell you I don’t have any magic!” he shouted in exasperation.

“You’ll never convince me, demon. Your magic is the darkest of power and you’re too ignorant to even know how to use it. But I will figure it out, and I’ll rip it away from you so you can never hurt anypony else with it!” Luna’s eyes glowed with anger and in response so did the human’s. She stepped closer to the bars, something she tried not to do usually, but her rage and hopelessness overshadowed her common sense as she glared menacingly at this creature who had somehow taken so much from her.

Again that same frustrated, hopeless and angry energy flared up from the human’s mere presence and the princess in her weakened and broken state was overwhelmed by it with how close she had let herself come to the prison door. It had been too much, she had been exposed to his hate filled power for too long now and with both of them in this state it took over. She reared up, and tried to back away, her hoofs just barely missing the bars as the dark energy seemed to seep into her brain, her own magic in her horn reacting in a defense spell of pure lightning.

“What demon magic do you possess?!” The night princess cried as she struggled to control herself and the lightning she had released from killing the human who was backed up against the cell in fright. She did not want to kill him, not for her own vengeance, nor for her sister and the slain unicorn soldier. She wasn’t the one to make that decision, but as it were, it seemed she had little choice in the matter, and the lightning magic spread to him, engulfing him in its blinding glow as the alicorn’s eyes shined white hot with the power she unwittingly poured into it.

The dark energy that had caused the initial frenzy continued to spread through the paralyzed princess’s floating body. The human too could not escape his own dark magic along with the lightning that left his large body dazzling bright and floating without the aid of any type of wings over the floor in his cell. As the overwhelmingly strong light spread throughout the magically constructed cell its walls began to crumble and dissipate back into the layout of the real dungeons behind the façade. In terror and not understanding what he was doing the human tried to flee the cell as the walls opened up into the dark cavern he had originally been imprisoned in, but he was paralyzed from the power and with its final dark breath the energy and blinding light seemed to disintegrate the large form of the human creature into thin air, and then, he was gone.

The princess was no longer visible except for a slender winged shadow against the lights and then she too was released from the tendrils of the dark and light magic spell and the small group of onlookers who had seen the fabricated room open up into the dungeons they guarded revealing their night princess, were terrified to see that in her place was a larger, black coated alicorn mare wearing shining blue armour, her mane a dark milky way of stars. Princess Luna and the human creature were gone and in their place now stood Nightmare Moon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I do not really know what happened then. I am not even entirely sure what happened to the human, and I fear as the Nightmare I may have done something….regrettable to him.” Princess Luna turned away from the ponies as she concluded her story. She was filled with shame from the mention of her tumultuous past which she had only just informed her sister of after having returned months earlier. She just couldn’t bring herself to share the story- the true story of what had brought her to such a dark state. Not until another human- the catalyst of her tragic down fall- had somehow shown up in her world again. And then she had acted without thought and had almost caused another tragedy of her own.

“I don’t have memories of being her, at least, not clear ones. I cannot tell you what happened next, but you all know. The dark magic, along with my own bitterness took me, and even Celestia, the most powerful of ponies could not defeat it. That is why I acted on impulse the way I did. I couldn’t let that happen again, no matter how innocent a human this child was. I’m truly sorry.” As she bent her head in apology and unimaginable grief, Fluttershy could now comprehend the pain she had seen in the night princess’s eyes that had been too unbearable for her to look at before. She had listened to her tragic story even as she struggled against fatigue with her own sweet little human child friend sitting with her. She knew in her heart that little Harmony was completely different from the evil human who had tortured her princesses so many years ago, but she grieved for what had happened to Princess Luna and understood her great fear of hearing another had been found.

“Sister, if I had known any of this I would have done something. He wouldn’t have ever gotten to use his dark magic on any pony. I-I would have struck him down before he could ever have done that to you.” Princess Celestia had somewhat recovered, but her tears had turned to anger as she spoke of the human’s terrible actions. Her voice shook with the amount of hate she felt toward the creature that had destroyed her dear sister and made her have to make the ultimate sacrifice to free her.

“Celestia, please, if I’ve learned anything from this it’s not to give into your hatred. I don’t want to ever hear you say such a terrible thing. You are my gentle, kind and trusting sister and I love you for it.” Princess Luna nuzzled the elder alicorn and her anger turned to tears as she returned the embrace.

“I’m so sorry, Luna.” Celestia murmured.

“Shhh, it’s alright now, it’s in the past. We can talk alone later, my sister, but there are things that need to be taken care of now.” The younger princess turned to the little yellow pegasus who lay somewhat dazedly in her sister’s bed, and the small human child who sat right beside her as if to protect her the same way the pony had protected her only hours ago.

“Brave Fluttershy, who sacrificed herself for this little human child, I have done you wrong and I apologize. Please, forgive me.” Luna asked, somberly, and Fluttershy looked down as she remembered all that had happened before she awoke. She remembered the fear she felt, how her heart had pounded in her chest and how she had broken out into a sweat. She remembered the disbelief that one of the princesses was about to attack a small child, the adrenaline that coursed through her blood and gave her the desire to run away while at the same time telling her to stay, as the unavoidable voice in her head told her to take the hit of the spell, to jump in the way and protect little Harmony from danger, no matter what happened to her. She remembered the warmth that had spread through her when she was enveloped in the light of the spell, the tingling in her body causing her muscles to stop responding, and then the all-encompassing blackness that brought her to this very moment. The fear had been great, there had been pain; she hadn’t known what had happened, if she had even managed to protect Harmony, or if she would ever see her friends again. Now she felt weaker then she’d ever felt before, her muscles still refused to move without great effort, and it seemed her ordeal had caused everypony to fight and cry.

She had been wronged. Her friends had been hurt, the human child she cared for had been hurt, and she was still not recovered. But the princess had asked for her forgiveness, she had confronted a human before, one who killed another pony, one she never trusted, and who attacked her sister. Her tragic story had pulled at the empathetic pegasus’s kind heart and she knew there had been little choice for Princess Luna but to try to stop that type of evil from returning to their world. She understood that fear, she sympathized with the pain of having someone she loved be hurt, and she could understand why she had acted so impulsively. Harmony was OK and so were her friends. Some of it had been difficult, some of it had been scary, but the little girl sat beside her now with a smile on her face, her innocent heart already offering the forgiveness the night princess she had never known until now needed. A pony of royalty who had lost everything because of the evilness in one human’s heart, and who she herself had helped restore to good with her friends; the elements of Harmony. She could never deny another who had suffered so much and apologized so profusely their reprieve, and so the weakened pegasus struggled to sit up and offered her somewhat shaky hoof to the waiting princess of the night.

“I…. forgive you, princess.” Fluttershy said softly, bowing her head and accepting Princess Luna’s hoof in return who smiled with tears in her eyes, the first time the pegasus had seen the princess finally release what must have been heavy and torturous unshed emotion. Still, she looked back up to the now crying regal mare with determination in her deep cyan eyes. She still had one last thing to say before she could let the princess give in to her unimaginable grief.

“Just promise me one thing,” she started and Princess Luna looked up at her.

“Of course. Anything, my child.” she responded.

“Please, whatever it takes, with all the magic you can create, find a way to send Harmony home.”

~