Under The Blue Sky

"Uh, how far is it?" Alfred began to moan as his legs shook from exhaustion.

"Really? We started the walk like five minutes ago," Pinkie snapped back, pretty irritated.

"Yeah, but, like, oohh."

"Don't worry, we'll be there soon. It's not like she's going anywhere." Rainbow quickly added, flying above their heads with Fluttershy, and still wearing that beautiful necklace.

"Yeah, come to think about it, why hasn't she been in Ponyville ever since Alfred arrived?" Twilight asked.

"Maybe she's just shy." Pinkie shot her head to Applejack.

"Come on, Applejack, this isn't Fluttershy we're talking about, this is Zecora."

"Hey, Fluttershy has gotten a lot better with that kind of stuff, ain't that right sugarcube?"

"Yes. I don't stutter as much anymore, and I'm getting pretty good around strangers."

"That's great, Fluttershy!" Rarity said lovingly.

"It's all thanks to Alfred." Everyone suddenly turned to Alfred, who was still quietly moaning. He looked up to see peering eyes observing him.

"No, Fluttershy. This was all you. I just guided you along the way, that's all."

"How adorable." Rarity squealed as she saw Alfred begin to blush. Alfred quickly tried to change the subject.

"Maybe she's scared of me." Rainbow started laughing loudly after hearing Alfred.

"Scared?"

"Yeah, scared. I can be a pretty scary guy."

"Alfred, you're no scarier than a mouse in a stack of hay." Alfred looked at Applejack puzzled. Applejack chuckled to herself quietly while Alfred tried to figure it out.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're not scary, hon. There must be another reason." Applejack quietly chuckled to herself until she heard Pinkie gasp.

"Maybe she's in danger!" The whole group looked at Pinke concerned, except Twilight.

"No. If she was in danger, I would've been informed months ago."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Are you sure that you're sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure that you're sure that you're..." Pinkie was cut off by an annoyed growl from Twilight. "Okay, okay. She's not in danger."

"Hold on, Applejack. I'm not over this whole 'not scary' thing," Alfred said as Applejack started to laugh again. "I really think that could be the case." Rainbow suddenly swooped down and kissed Alfred on the cheek. She then dropped down and walked by his side.

"Alfred, I'm pretty sure she's not scared of you. You're like a little teddy bear." The whole group started to laugh.

"Rainbow."

"Hey, it's true. You're just so cuddly and cute," Rainbow teased, seeing the embarrassment in Alfred's eyes.

"Come on, stop it."

"Aaw, but I just want to hold you and squeeze you and..."

"Alright! Alright! She may not be scared of me."

"Good, now that we've got that out of the way, let's focus on getting there and finding out why." Twilight said as she began to trot a little faster.

They all trudged through the dark, mysterious forest, looking for Zecora's place. The main group had decided to spend the day at Zecora's since Alfred hadn't actually met her throughout the year and a half he had been in Equestria. This was surprisingly strange because Alfred felt like he was so familiar with everypony. Ever since the wedding, Alfred had become a very popular person in Equestria, often being stopped in the streets whenever he went out around Ponyville. Rainbow was a little angry at this and for a small period she tried to prevent anyone from seeing Alfred, but eventually she learnt to deal with it. After all, Alfred was the only human in the whole of Equestria. How could you not expect him to stick out like a sore thumb?

Besides from that little incident, Rainbow Dash and Alfred couldn't have been better. Their house gradually began to fill up with all kinds of pictures. Many of them were of the group being together and having a fun time like always, and the rest were just of him and Rainbow sharing a romantic moment. Alfred became obsessed with decorating the walls with these pictures so he could never have a bad day walking through his house again. The pictures of all of his friends, no family, gave him great pleasure. He would sometimes stop whatever he was doing and stare at a particular photograph for a long time. Rainbow noticed this of course, but decided to leave him to it. It wasn't hurting anyone anyway, why should she stop him?

Rainbow and Alfred had also gotten closer in different ways. They were both hesitant at first, since it wasn't something either of them were comfortable talking about, but soon they found themselves making love many times. Alfred had done it before, but this was different, besides the fact that she was a pony. It was another beautiful kind of pleasure that Debra never could've given him. To him, it felt natural and right. Rainbow also loved it in a similar way. As she has said, she had been with other stallions before, but Alfred was soooo much better. It was a love that could never be destroyed, and these sexual actions only made it stronger.

Throughout the year and a bit since the wedding, many new friends were made and many precious memories were created. For example, Applebloom had introduced him to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, which he took much amusement out of. He was having so much fun that the group decided to make Alfred their mascot. Luckily he didn't have to dress up in a silly suit, but he would often be there with the group whenever they tried another crazy stunt to earn their cutie marks. Because of this, Alfred had grown closer to Applebloom. She often reminded him of the first time he arrived in Equestria, which was a good memory, so Alfred was always happy to see her.

Princess Celestia was still asking him scientific questions but she hadn't come one step closer to finding out how Alfred had come to Equestria. If Alfred actually cared anymore about that question, he may of been a little suspicious. It had been an entire year and a half and Princess Celestia, the Princess Celestia, hadn't found an answer to why he was there. Alfred wasn't bothered by it. He had tried to forget about it during his time in Equestria, but he would suddenly be reminded of his life back home in the most random situations. It didn't happen often, but every now and again he would take a look at something and compare it to it's equivalent back home. He really wanted to leave it all behind, but sometimes his mind pushed the thoughts the the front of his brain, forcing him to think about it.

His friends had helped him a lot to forget, which he was very thankful for. They were constantly there for him, never letting him ever get depressed or down again. Rarity continued to produce extravagant outfits that really suited Alfred. He didn't mind the glamorous approach that Rarity craved, but she did try to appeal to his simplistic preferences. Most of the time Alfred would wear some kind of basic jacket, matching trousers, a bright shirt underneath and sensible shoes. He never really wanted to show off, unless he was out for some formal event, which Rarity happily took care of.

Applejack had also been a great help, working with him on the farm. They would sometimes spend hours talking to each other nonstop about meaningless things. Applejack found it really fun. It was a nice change from the boring work that she would have to get through almost everyday. Alfred was comfortable sharing all of his secrets with Applejack, like Rainbow, and she respected that.

Fluttershy had gotten stronger and a lot more confident with Alfred around. Everyone was very impressed by her progress. She was now able to speak to strangers confidently if that ever needed to be the case and her stutter slowly vanished. Pinkie was still, well, Pinkie. She didn't change much, except for the fact she happened to become more lively somehow.

Twilight had been really busy ever since the wedding. Everyone was pretty saddened by this. It was great to have her around, but now most of her time was taken up working for Celestia. She still had a role to play, being a princess and all, so no one could argue with it. It was just a little distressing, not being around her for a long time. Luckily, they were all free to visit Zecora, so they were given a chance to catch up with each other.

"So, Alfred. What have you been up to lately?" Twilight asked quietly.

"Nothing much, except for loving Rainbow Dash." The group replied with a simultaneous 'daaaw'.

"Oh yeah, we've been loving each other alright."

"Aaaw, wait, what?" Twilight suddenly said confused. Alfred nudged Rainbow playfully and she giggled loudly. Twilight simply stared at the two and opened her mouth to ask a question, but then quickly closed it again preferring to leave it alone. She looked to the others and saw they were doing the same.

"Twilight, I hear you've been busy with Celestia, how's that?"

"Oh, it's great. I don't think I'm actually allowed to tell you what we do, but we do it, and it takes up a lot of our time." Twilight added happily, not noticing the stares she was receiving. Rarity began to speak up.

"And this is 'Princess work'?"

"Yep!"

"Okay. That's good to hear, darling," Rarity murmured as she looked to the others, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yes. That is very good to hear."

Suddenly everyone looked around nervously, not knowing where the voice had come from. Applejack slowly started to put the pieces together and recognised the voice.

"Discord! What are you doing here?"

"Hooray! You remember who I am. I was getting worried for a second there," Discord exclaimed, slowly appearing from behind a thin tree like some cartoon. Alfred was amazed by what he saw, but he didn't know what it was. He had heard stories about this Discord character but he had never actually seen him in person. He didn't strike him as a dangerous being, like everyone said, but there was something wrong about him. Alfred couldn't take his eyes off him, it was like he was under a spell. The more he looked at him, the more he felt weak and tired, like Discord was draining the life from him.

Discord was feared throughout the whole of Equestria. No pony even dared to mention his name. He used to work alongside them, as friends, but soon he let his pride get the better of him and he went too far. From what Alfred had heard, Discord tried to destroy Ponyville a couple years ago, and many ponies were hurt. Apparently Twilight and the rest managed to stop him, but he disappeared soon after, and no one had seen him since.

Discord suddenly spotted Alfred and froze.

"Who is this?" Discord said slowly, beginning to move towards Alfred. Rainbow quickly jumped in front of Alfred, guarding him.

"You don't need to go anywhere near him!" Rainbow shouted, making Discord jump back. The others just looked at Rainbow, a little uncomfortable .

"You're not supposed to be here Discord," Applejack yelled behind his back. "Don't you remember what happened last time?"

"Alright. There's no need to scream. What happened last time was a tragedy, really, it was, but I think we should all just move on."

"Move on? You hurt innocent ponies for no reason," Twilight barked, a little pissed that Discord would even have the guts to show his face.

"Oh please, could we all stop looking into my past, I'm sure you've all done bad things just like me."

"Like what?" Applejack blurted out.

"Oh come on, who doesn't know about those countless nights you've spent with Big Mac." Everyone immediately jerked their heads to Applejack, who was starting to sweat a little. "Whoops, I thought everypony already knew. I suppose I shouldn't talk about Applebloom then," Discord said, forming a large smile on his face as Applejack looked to the ground.

"What do you want, Discord?" Alfred said sharply.

"Oh nothing, just a little chat. I've been away for Celestia knows how long so I figured that some catching up was in order, and what better time to see you than when you're alone and helpless in the woods. I know we've never met before but, well, you look familiar," Alfred suddenly squinted his eyes at Discord. "Yes, you remind me of..." Discord froze again, this time with an expression of shock on his face. He didn't do anything for a few seconds. He didn't talk, he didn't move, he didn't even breathe while he stared at Alfred. Just as Rainbow was about to shout at him again, Discord snapped his fingers and vanished, taking Alfred with him.

"Alfred? Alfred?"

Rainbow blinked nervously, reaching behind her trying to grab at Alfred, but he wasn't there. She turned around to find the empty space where he once was, and she began to scream.