They Walk Among Us

by TheHouseholdWarrior

Rating: everyone
Tags: Human, Romance, Adventure, Slice of Life
Length: 150888

When both Equestria's and Earth's sun turn Supernovas, both humans and ponies must learn to coexist.

When a Supernova consumes both Earth and Equestria, humans and ponies find themselves, and their worlds, combined. When the rising tension between the species explodes into all-out war, however, the new planet finds itself completely ravaged into a nothing but a quiet, dead wasteland.

Former human Steven Reilly, a famous particle physicist, somehow finds himself right at the middle of the conflict. Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic, had been separated from all of her friends in the explosion. Both seemingly unrelated ponies are then tasked with the retrieval of the Elements of Harmony, which will help the resistance effort stop the mighty war. But sadness, tragedy, and death block their paths to bringing peace to the land. Can these ponies find it in themselves to overcome them? Or will they succumb to their fears and fail?

And how would the presence of a whole new Element affect the equation?

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-08-26 11:19:37 UTC

Human Prologue- A New Dawn

The Earth has gone through a lot.

A freaking lot.

Wars, natural disasters, social calamities- you name it, we've gone through it all more than once.

But this has never happened before.

Dr. Steven Reilly was sitting on his balcony, looking up at the beautiful night sky. As he gazed at the stars, he thought about his life. Steven Reilly, Ph.D. in Astrophysics and Theoretical Physics, writer of 3 bestsellers, and Head of Research of the Physics department in Harvard, he has definitely lived a successful life.

But why do I feel so empty? he thought.

Oh yeah...

Dr. Steven Reilly is ALSO a widower, was in a tight financial crisis, and he was on the verge of being sacked because of his lack of productiveness in the last year. He was a laughingstock of the whole Physics Department, all his friends left him, and nobody wanted to fund his research. Yep, his life is at a dead end.

Steven sat there in the balcony, thinking over all these things. One fact came out prominently- he was a FAILURE. He was of no more use to this world, and he has 'exceeded his usefulness'.

Knock knock knock

There was someone at the door. Steven jumped, surprised that anybody would be awake at this time, and ran to the door to open it.

"What are you doing knocking at this time of-"

Drat. It was the building manager. He looked pretty ticked.

"Mr. Reilly, you have not paid your rent for over three months already. I have been patient with you, I've tried to help you, but you still won't-"

"Please, just give me one more month! I swear I'll-"

"NO. Mr. Reilly, I understand your situation," the building manager's expression softened. "But I've gotta make a living, and you and your two neighbours are the only people renting my rooms, and I've gotta make a living. So I'll offer you a deal. Just pay me this month's rent, or I'll have to evict you. I'm sorry, Steve, but that's what I gotta do. "

Steven thought about this for a moment. The rent he had to pay was more or less the only money he made every month from his books nowadays, and those were needed to cover his living expenses. But he needed this place more than anything. All his precious stuff, all of his memories, all of it came with this room.

"Fine," he said. "Here's your money. They're all I have left."

"Thanks, Steve," said the building manager. And so he went about to do his daily business.

Steven went back to the balcony, more worried and regretful than before. The night seemed to respect his thoughts- it was quiet and peaceful, the perfect atmosphere for thinking.

Not long later, the sun came up. The bright and happy sun, pushing the darkness of night away to make way for a new day. He remembered his father, who used to say, "There's an end to everything, (insert preferred nickname depending on mood here), for both good and bad. All we can do is to make the best of it. That cheered Steven up a bit. Even for the blackest night, there's always a dawn coming.

Wait.

There's something wrong here.

Steven didn't know it, but he felt something wrong with this new day. Something different.

And then he looked at the sun.

Equestria Prologue- When The Night Arrives

Phew!

Twilight had a long day.

Since the morning of that day, she had been working hard to complete three tasks- The first one was given by Princess Celestia, which was to write a three thousand word essay on pre-Fireheart the Mighty Ponyville History to be put in the Canterlot Archives. The second one was given by Professor Lemondrops in Canterlot, which was to help him prove that alien  life not existing was a 'highly ludicrous hypothesis based on nothing but bat faeces'. The third task she had to do was to train Rainbow Dash's pet, Tank, for the Great Tortoise Race to be help in Fillydelphia the next day (his record time was 2 hours and 47 minutes to run 5 miles).

Of course, she was the Twilight Sparkle, so she had already planned the day's activities precisely and perfectly, leaving enough time to eat, bathe, and stargaze.

As she usually does when she's tired at night, she looked through her giant, ultra powerful telescope and looked through outer space. She was always fascinated by the fact that there maybe other worlds out there, each as large as the other, and all of them bearing strange, never-before-seen creatures.

She looked where she usually looked every night- first at the Alexandrite Galaxy, where she could see tiny planets floating about, then she looked at the planet Miter, the nearest planet to Equestria, and finally to the-

"Twi? Are you there? Twilight? Twilight? It's me, your bestest friend, Pinkie Pie! Please open the door, Twilight, I'm really really REALLY really tired from hopping at full speed all the way here, so please open this door super duper fast, please?

Twilight ran towards the door and opened it as fast as she could to stop Pinkie from talking again.

"Hey, Pinkie. What are you doing coming here this late?"

"Well, I was at Sugarcube Corner tending to the foals, when all of a sudden, they started crying really REALLY loud, so as I always did, I took a sack of flour and tore it open above me to cover myself in that flour to cheer the little ones up, but-"

"A sack of flour?"

"-they were still crying, maybe even louder than before, so I tried everything: I broke dishes, pat them on the back, tried to make them burp, turned on some Cherry Chaplin, said 'kumquat' around thirty times... Which reminds me, don't you think 'kumquat' is a funny word? In fact, it's so funny that it's my FAVOURITE funny word, which would make my second favourite word 'codswallop', which is-

"Um... Pinkie?"

"-also a funny word, but 'kumquat' definitely beats it, which brings me to my next point- why is there only one language in all of Equestria, and why don't we have a name for it? I mean, when someone says something I don't understand, I can just go: "By Celestia, speak Ponish",  or "Speak Ponese," or something-"

"PINKIE!"

"Yes, Twilight?"

"Get to the point!"

"Oh, I guess I need some milk for the foals."

Finally, thought Twilight.

"OK, Pinkie, come in. I think I have some milk left over."

"Oh, thank you thank you THANK YOU, Twilight. I've searched all over Ponyville, but no one seems to want me talking to them. I wonder why..."

I don't... thought Twilight.

"Ooh, nice telescope you got here, Twi! What'cha looking at?"

"Just the moon, Pinkie. I mean, even YOU should know what the moon looked like."

"Um... Twilight?"

"Yes, Pinkie?"

"Why is the moon colorful?"

Twilight froze.

"What are you TALKING about, Pinkie? The moon is just white, it's definitely not-"

She shoved Pinkie aside and looked through the telescope.

"colorful?"

Twilight looked around the other parts of the galaxy. According to where all the other celestial bodies are, what she (and Pinkie) were looking at was definitely the...

The Moon.

Chapter 1- Up is Down (Reilly)

"Hello, President Eibert, this is Dr. Reilly from the Physics department. I'm looking at something very unsettling right now, and I need a team to investigate this situation immediately. Yes. Yes it is. No, Dr. Fredrick is not needed in this investigation, but we could use Dr. Chen. No, that's alright, I just need the team that I usually assemble in the face of a crisis in outer space. Oh, except Dr. Klovich. Tell them to come meet me in the observatory in the university. Thanks, President Eibert."

"Hey, Alan, I need you to come over to the university right now. I now you don't have any credentials, but we need your, um, unique expertise at the moment. Yes. No, we're calling you because we've never seen anything like this before."

"Morning, Dad. Yes, I know it's 5.30 a.m. in the morning, but I need your help. No, you don't understand, we need to know about anything, and I mean anything that could help us find out the nature of this problem. We don't know what is happening, and of course, we don't know what's going to happen next. OK. Thanks, Dad. OK, See ya."

This is truly the most troubling thing Steven has ever faced, and he has absolutely NO idea how to react to such an occasion. As a scientist, he had never indulged in things like religion, or even movies. However, with something at this scale at hand,  he would really need every single thing that might help to classify this event.

With utmost haste, Steven drove all the way to the university, ignoring all red lights and stop signs on the way. His scientific curiosity got the better of him, and he drove very carelessly, hitting a mailbox or two and maybe denting a school bus in the side (Yikes!). However, in 10 minutes flat, he arrived at the university. Getting out of the car and running to the entrance (forgetting to lock his car), he sprinted all the way to the observatory, as the lifts weren't operational at this time of day. When he reached there, he felt a migraine coming on, and his legs were sore all over. When he entered the observatory, he saw his whole team, plus Alan and his Dad, already there.

The Observatory, Steven thought. Probably my favourite place in the world.

The Observatory was a dome-like structure with a circular base at the top of the university. The interior of the room was basically a giant telescope in the middle, and about a dozen huge monitors against the wall of the observatory.

Steven sighed. How he always wished that he would live here instead of his run-down apartment. In here he would be comfortable, happy, and, well, he would enjoy not having cockroaches infesting the bed.

But he needed that house. He specifically chose that apartment in that very area because of its geographic position that is able to detect any anomalies in the atmosphere and beyond. And now, it has served its purpose. However, living in that apartment was completely unbearable, and if it wasn't for Jaeda, then he would've...

Jaeda.

No time for that! thought Steven. He slapped himself lightly on both cheeks.

"OK, guys, let's get down to business," he said.

"At 5.20 this morning, I stood at the balcony and looked at the sky. When I took a glance at the Sun, I noticed that something was wrong. At first, I couldn't put my finger on it, so I ignored it. However, after about 30 seconds, I noticed that the color of the Sun was purple.  At that same time, I discovered that the 'off' feeling I felt earlier was that the Sun was rising from the WEST, not the EAST. And if that wasn't enough, the Sun started shrinking. These are very strange and potentially dangerous symptoms, and I need the help of all of you," he glanced at Alan, who was sweating, and his Dad, "to find out the nature of this possible catastrophe and to figure out how to counter it."

Every single member of the team took uneasy glances at each other, then went to work. Alan and Mr. Reilly just stood there, looking confused. After what seemed like hours just standing there, Alan spoke up.

"Hey, Steve? Um, I don't really see the reason why I need to be here..." he said.

"Oh, you and Dad just stay there. We're gonna need your help, but we need more information first," said Steven.

Steven felt a rush he hadn't felt in so long. A few years ago, he and his team were making scientific breakthroughs almost every week, and it just kept on coming. For one mystery solved, there was always another one taking its place in line. But that all changed when Jaeda...

No, there was no time to think about that, he thought. How can I think about that right now? We are in the face of massive change, so get it together, man!

He looked at his team. This very team was the same one who helped him prove String Theory, and he just couldn't use another team to take care of this problem... Or any other problem for the matter. Dr. Richards, Dr. Chen, Dr. Foster, and himself- the star team of the university, even until now. No other team in the history of the world has ever made as much discoveries as this one, and its unlikely that there will ever be.

"Steve, there's something wrong. The Sun is emitting much more energy than usual," said Dr. Foster.

"That's fine, Bill. Just keep an eye on it in case the energy goes off the charts. Right now, that's the least of our problems."

But it was a problem. What in the world was purple and can emit energy? Heat, light, sound, no nothing that's purple can emit energy.

"Chen, look for something, ANYTHING that could've emitted that much energy, other than the sun."

"Already did that, all of the energy around there traces back to the Sun. There are no large energy sources out there."

Hmm...

This was definitely strange. He needed an explanation. ANY explanation.

"Dad! Alan! Come over here!" said Steven.

"OK, right now, we are sure that all the heat and light in the area is coming from the Sun, and that the Sun is releasing more and more energy every second. Dad, you're the expert on religion. Tell me something."

"I don't know, son. This here is, well... Well, no one could think of this! This is just so... wild. But Alan's an expert on that, why don't you ask him?"

"Well, according to various sources such as Marvel Comics' The Sentry Vol. 1 #9, the Sun we are looking at might explode into a supernova," said Alan.

"It's possible, but very unlikely. But what about the color?" Steven asked.

"Well, according to a manga known as Fairy Tail, the one that is causing the color change might be our our own atmosphere, or the Sun's atmosphere (if it has any)."

"Interesting. President Eibert lent me one of NASA's satellites, and that satellite also saw the Sun as purple. However, we might be dealing with-"

"Steve! Come here, quick!" said a nearby voice.

Steven quickly rushed to his team.

"What is it?"

"You might wanna see this, man."

Well, &!#@ thought Steven.

"Get me President Eibert, the UN, and Homeland Security in a video conference as fast as possible," said Steven.

Alan quickly got them online, and Steven shoved him aside to speak to them, despite the various complaints on the time from the conference members. It was only then did Steven realize just how powerful his university was. In this time and age, education is the number one priority, anyway.

"Respected men and women, my name is Dr. Steven Reilly, and I'm here to report what could be a major calamity that might change our very lives.."

As expected, everyone except President Seibert rose their voices and started complaining even more.

"According to earlier speculations, at 5.20 a.m. this morning, the Sun rose up. However, the Sun was colored purple, and it was constantly shrinking. However, the energy it emitted increased. Also, just recently, we found that the energy patterns and the solar flares around that Sun was very different than to the one we were used to."

"So?"

"What does this mean?"

"What going to happen?"

"Thus, I have only this one conclusion regarding the above matter."

The room was silent. Everybody held their breaths. Steven started to shudder, thinking about what would become of this world now. Just when he found meaning to his life, it all might just be taken away. But they, as a whole race, must stick together at this time of need. They would need all the support they can get from each other.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Sun that rose today at 5.20 a.m., the Sun that was purple and kept shrinking, The Sun with an ever growing amount of emitted energy..."

He took a deep breath.

"That Sun is not our Sun."

Chapter 2- We Had a Good Run

"Spike, I need you to write that letter NOW!"

"Alright, alright, just wait a while, I need to find my quill and parchment," said an exasperated Spike. He just woke up, and he quickly fell victim to Twilight's chronic panic attacks. "OK, ready."

Spike quickly and (almost) accurately wrote down every single word Twilight said, and the parchment became all smudgy because of Twilight always taking back her words and changing them.

"So, Spike? Are you done?"

"I think you better have a look at the letter first..."

Twilight snatched the letter from Spike with her magic and read it.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I am writing to you today not to tell you a lesson I learned about friendship, but to report a grave occurrence in outer space today.

At exactly 8.20 p.m today, I was looking through the telescope, gazing at the things I usually gaze at this time of night, when something strange caught my eye.

As my dear friend Pinkie Pie brought out, our moon that orbits Equestria has started to grow steadily. Even now, the moon is still continuously growing. I have also noticed that the moon's surface has started to change colours. What used to be plain white with a few craters is now a crater-less green and blue surface. There were no patterns in the colours, and I seem to see tiny organisms walking about.

Another thing I have found to be disturbing was the change of position in our sun. Instead of being where it should normally be, the Sun has changed its position to be behind the (literally) 'new' moon. As you and I both know, this would cause many problems, the most dangerous of which is the possible start of a new Ice Age.

I know that the Royal Telescope is under repair, so I have to send you all of these pieces of information in the hope that you would know what to do in response, and to ask you a simple question...

What is happening?

Sincerely,

Twilight, your most Faithful Student.

As Twilight scanned the letter for mistakes and errors, she asked Spike to gather all their best friends to discuss the matter. Spike rolled his eyes, sighed, and left. Just another small problem, not something Princess Celestia can't fix... she thought. But deep down, even he knew that nothing of this sort has ever happened before, and he felt worry start taking root in his heart.

Twilight read and re-read the letter, checking if she's got all the facts on paper. and after making sure that it was perfect, she said: "Spike, send the letter."

Silence.

"Spike?"

Then she remembered that she already sent Spike to go fetch her friends.

"Owlysius, can you send this letter to the castle immediately?"

Owlysius enthusiastically snatched the letter from the counter and flew off into the night. Twilight knew that Owlysius also planned to hunt while doing the job, so she expected Owlysius to take some time to return.

As Twilight waited for either a reply from the Princess or her friends to come, she looked through the telescope again, looking for a sign, ANY sign that might help her make sense out of the situation. She had already looked through the whole library for information on what is happening. What is supposed to be her most reliable source of information has failed her for the first time, and she was desperate enough to even look at all the story books, horror novels, and other fictional books, but to no avail.

As she looked through the telescope, she noticed that the moon had finally stopped growing, but that its colour is now completely green and blue.

I need Pinkie here right now... she thought, her Pinkie Sense and her evident 'wierdness' might've helped her in finding out what the hay is going on. After Twilight started scanning the moon, she had immediately sent PInkie Pie home, and then regretted it only a few minutes later.

But what the hay is going on? Twilight kept asking herself this question, but she knew (but refused to acknowledge) that this question can only be answered in time. So for the next half an hour, Twilight just sat there and observed every single thing that can be observed in outer space, while at the same time running multiple calculations to try to find out how much time it will take for the light of the Sun to reach Equestria now, how much light will actually arrive, and its possible effect on the growing of crops, among other things.

But she knew that other than what she was doing then, there was nothing she could do but wait.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Its been around half an hour since the video conference, and the atmosphere in the Observatory became much more tense since then. It seemed as if everyone in the room already knew that something bad was happening, and something even worse will soon come.

Alan had already went home, and Steven's Dad went to buy lunch for the group. Meanwhile, Steven and his team stayed back in the Observatory, not doing research, but discussing what might come out of this mess.

"Well, the question here is: Where the &#$@ did our Sun go? And how did this Sun suddenly take its place?" asked Bill.

Steven nervously paced around the room. For about half an hour, he had been deep in thought. Sure, he said that the purple Sun was not their Sun, but that was in the heat of the moment. Truth is, he doesn't know whether it really was their Sun or not.

He looked out the window. From here, the Sun still looked yellow, like usual. He already found the reason for that- the light produced by that purple Sun was still normal light, so from this distance, everything looked normal.

As he paced around, his thoughts flowed like a raging river. Logic dictates that the consequences of the purple Sun appearing should be no big deal, as the Sun does more or less the same thing as the usual Sun. The only bad thing that he could think of is the Earth getting much more brighter during the day and maybe becoming considerably warmer. Other than that, he couldn't think of any possible dangers.

The doorbell rang.

"Who is it?"

"It's me." said Steven's Dad.

"I'll open it." said Chen.

Steven's Dad came back with two plastic bags full of food. We told him that we planned on working late tonight, so he went and bought them lots of food to share. There were burgers, chips, soda, pizza, everything that they needed to last the night.

As the rest of the team started unpacking, Steven went to the telescope to take another look. He needed to find out what was going in. His inner curiosity won't let him go otherwise.

Behind him, he could hear Nick Richards open a can of beer, followed by Chen slapping it out of his hand, berating him for drinking on the job. Everyone else except Steven laughed. That's because he just spotted something.

There was something wrong with the Sun. The actual Sun is just a tiny dot now, but he could see the energy surrounding it was massive. He switched to 'Heat Vision Mode', and the results were the same. But as he observed the Sun, there was something bothering him.

That energy movement, he thought, that amount of energy produced, the size of the Sun, everything around it is consistent to...

"Guys?" asked Steven in a shaky voice.

Everyone looked at him.

"You might wanna see this."

Bill took the telescope and looked, followed by Chen and Nick.

"I don't see it. Sure the Sun's really tiny, but we predicted this and know how to counter it." said Chen.

"As tiny as you." said Nick. Bill stared at him. He always was sensitive to racism, and if looks can kill, that 'stare' of his can destroy all life in a thousand mile radius.

"No, look closely," said Steve. "Look at the patterns, the flares."

"I don't get... Oh. OH!"

"Come on, guys! What's going on?" asked Steven's Dad.

Steven looked at his dead with a grave face.

"The Sun is exploding."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Ah don' understand, Twilight." asked Applejack.

"Yeah! What do you mean by 'the Moon's gonna disappear?'" asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight looked at all her friends' faces. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity just looked at her as if she forgot to take her 'medicine'.

"Um... Girls? I think this is a really... serious problem. Please understand... I mean, if you don't mind me speaking... But when I walked to the lake nearby my, um, cottage this morning, I saw that most of the marine life was struggling to stay under water. The tides have stopped moving..." said Fluttershy.

"That's what I've been trying to tell all of you! The 'Moon' is not having any of that gravitational pull it used to have that would make the tides appear!" said Twilight, frustrated about just how stubborn these ponies were.

"My dear Twilight, I seriously doubt that the Moon will completely change after just one night." said Rarity.

"Haven't you listened to a single thing Twilight said, Rarity?" Pinkie yelled. "That's no moon!"

"Then wah don' you tell us what it is then, Pinkie?" asked Applejack.

"Um... Ooh! Ooh! That's no moon... It's a space station!" said Pinkie, looking excited for some reason.

"No it's not, Pinkie... But it is definitely not a moon." said Twilight.

Rarity sighed. Loudly.

"Aren't you taking this much too seriously, Twilight? I mean, many a time have you panicked for no apparent reason." said Rarity.

"I'm telling you, this is a-"

At that exact time, Owlysius brought back the reply from Princess Celestia. Spike took it from him and handed it over to me.

"You could've waited for me..." mumbled Spike.

Twilight spared a small smile and read the letter. As she scanned through each row of words, Twilight's face showed various emotions- first happy that she finally got a reply, but then she looked concerned, then worried, then sad, and finally she broke down into tears.

"What did the Princess say, Twilight?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Supernova..."

"What did you say Twilight?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"A Supernova. I was so busy analyzing the moon that I didn't look at the Sun clearly enough."

"What does this, um... Supernova do, Twilight?" asked Fluttershy.

"It means that the Sun is going to explode."

"WHAT?" Rainbow Dash fell down, crashing into Fluttershy, who was right below her.

"Read the letter." said Twilight.

Applejack took the letter and started reading. By the end of the letter, she was almost at tears too.

Dear Twilight, My Most Faithful Student,

I have noticed all of the above events that you have stated, and it worries me as well.

First of all, the 'Moon' that you see is nothing but a projection of another planet, and that our Moon is gone forever. However, this is not what worries me.

About 5 minutes ago, I noticed that the new 'Sun' is going to explode, which would create it into a Supernova.

In the case that the Supernova would consume Equestria, then all of this world would be destroyed.

There has been no found countermeasure against the devastating power of a Supernova, and the Royal Scientists in Canterlot hoped that the Sun would continue living for about a few hundred billion years.

The only thing that can give us even the smallest chance of survival is when all the unicorns in Equestria would work together to create a magical barrier large enough to cover all the land.

Right now, I am sending a letter to all living Unicorns to go outside at 12 a.m. today to form the magical barrier, and I would like you, Twilight, to gather all of the Unicorns in Ponyville and tell them about the situation.

And in the case that the barrier fails, then it would be right for me to tell you right now that I have always believed in you Twilight. I'm sorry for saying this right now,of all times, but you were like the daughter I never had.

And If you would survive when I would not, then I would like you to open a safe behind the A-F bookshelf, which will unlock itself upon my demise.

To conclude, I wish you and your friends luck, my dear Twilight. I honestly hope that we can meet again someday.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia, your Most Faithful Teacher.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

"A Supernova," said Steven, "is the result of the death of a star, and the amount of energy produced by said Supernova is said to be as much as the Sun can produce in its whole lifetime. This energy bursts out, completely destroying anything near it."

"So what you mean to say is," said Steven's Dad, "that we're all doomed?"

"No, not exactly." said Bill. "You see, we humans have always known that a Supernova which would threaten to destroy the Earth is going to happen someday, so we have already created a way to solve the problem."

"You see," Chen continued, "we have engineered a special bomb-like device that would trigger a black hole. This black hole will, um, 'suck up' everything around it, including light. Nothing escapes it."

"And that's what we plan on doing to the Supernova." said Nick. "We plan on making the black hole suck up the Supernova, leaving no trace of the explosion behind. That's when we would release this."

Chen opened up a blueprint on his monitor screen. It showed sketches of a rocket, and inside that rocket is what looked like a small circle. There were many notes written, and most of those notes have been scratched out.

"This here, is an artificial Sun." said Chen. "When we shoot this rocket into the place our Sun used to be, the rocket will deploy the new 'Sun' into that space. The Sun will grow and will be, for all intents and purposes, the same as the old Sun."

"Whichever way you want to look at it," said Steven, "this seems to be the only solution out of this mess."

"Well, this, or we all die." said Nick.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Rarity, it's already 11:50. We should head outside now." said Twilight.

Rarity had just been finishing up hugging Fluttershy, whose tears were dropping like streams on Rarity's shoulders. In fact, Rarity might have been hugging Fluttershy for Fluttershy's sake, because Fluttershy didn't seem to want to let go.

"Come on, Fluttershy." said Applejack. "Rarity needs t'go now."

Fluttershy finally let go of Rarity, and proceeded to hide her face in her mane.

"Let's go, Rarity." Said Twilight.

Twilight and Rarity then went outside the library to their allotted place- just outside Quills and Sofas. The rest of the gang followed closely, but none of them said a word to each other.

On the way to Quills and Sofas, Twilight thought deeply about a lot of things. Her friends, her family, the Princess... It was too early to lose it all.

Then she remembered the Cake twins, who had barely even got the chance to see the world, and now it is going to be utterly destroyed.

No! Don't think like that, Twilight! We must be optimistic! No matter what happens, the dawn WILL COME!

But that was much harder to believe than she thought. No matter how she tries to cheer herself up or to at least think of a good outcome, there was a persistent, nagging feeling that was tugging at the bottom of her heart. Somehow, she knew that after this, nothing is going to be the same again.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

"OK, the Sun will turn Supernova in... 12 minutes. We better get ready with the equipment."

The Observatory has turned from tense and confused to lively and busy in a matter of minutes. Everyone seemed to be doing two jobs at a time and they all had to run across the room every 4 seconds, yet nobody felt tired. Least of all Steven, who was determined to prove himself once and for all.

Savior of the Earth... Not bad. Not bad. he would think.

Steven's Dad watched the whole process with awe and amazement. He knew that even if he tried to help, he would've slowed them down. He didn't understand a single thing these young men were doing.

And now his son is going to try to save the world. After Steven told the UN that he could solve the problem, the world decided to rely on them to do it.

"OK guys, now make sure that the Plutonium from the Libyans go into the rocket, and then get ready to unleash 1.21 gigawatts into it." said Steven.

"The speed's been adjusted, Steve. First it'll go 88 miles per hour, and then its going to travel at light speed to the Supernova." said Nick.

Steven's Dad knew that it was best to leave them to it, but he could not help but feel in his gut that something was about to go wrong here. He was worried.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The group reached Quills and Sofas, and both Twilight and Rarity was at the front of the group, looking up at the sky and waiting for the signal.

At the back, Pinkie Pie was holding Fluttershy and was trying to cheer her up, but to no avail. Fluttershy just kept on sobbing, and with every sob, her grip on Pinkie tightened even more. Rainbow Dash, who had all four hooves on the ground, was talking in low voices to Applejack, who just nodded.

"I swear, Fluttershy may be very timid, but her hugs can hurt if she wants them to." said Rarity, showing her torso, which was very red from Fluttershy's very tight hugs.

Twilight chuckled. For better or worse, this will be over soon.

Let's just hope we can last the night.

"Rarity, let's practice the making barrier one more time, shall we?"

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Chen, you prepare the black hole device, Nick, you're gonna prepare the Sun Rocket. Bill, keep watching the telescope to decide whether we succeeded or not. When I finish counting down, Chen, you press the freaking red button."

Steven's Dad went beside Steven, and hugged him tightly.

"Whichever way this ends, Steven, know that I'm very proud of you."

Steven hugged back.

"Don't worry, Dad. We can do this." Steven said.

He turned around to face his team again. Every one of them were looking at him, ready to do their duties. Steve smiled.

"Alright. Let's begin the countdown."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

A large firework exploded in the Equestrian sky, creating a large, colorful head of a unicorn.

"That's it. That's the signal." said Twilight.

Twilight and Rarity concentrated all their magic into the tip of their horn, which glowed very brightly. The two unicorns then shot their magic into the sky, which formed two circles in the sky.

"Woah..." said Rainbow Dash.

Woah indeed. Within seconds, many beams of light reached for the sky, and formed circles of their own. Finally, all the circles in the sky combined, creating a beautiful multicolored barrier in the sky.

Twilight and Rarity was still concentrating very hard, as even one tiny hole in the barrier can allow the Supernova to enter Equestria's atmosphere, destroying the barrier and Equestria itself.

Then they all heard Princess Celestia's booming voice in their heads. Twilight figured that she must have used some kind of magic to project her voice in all of her subjects' minds.

"Brace yourselves, My Little Ponies. The Supernova is coming."

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

10...

9...

8...

Everything was going smoothly and just as they planned. 7 seconds left...

6...

5...

Wait... what's that noise?

4...

"Steve! Steve! The Supernova appeared already!"

"What? According to our calculations, it's supposed to explode in 14 seconds!"

"It exploded early!

"Come on, we can still make it! Chen! Press the button!"

"CHEN!"

Chen hurriedly pressed the button, unleashing a the black hole device from the NASA headquarters.

"Oh no, we're too late!"

"It doesn't matter! We must remove that Supernova!"

"It's working! The black hole is sucking up the Supernova!"

No. Its too late. The Earth might not be destroyed by the Supernova, but...

"A blackout? What's going on?"

"Its the black hole. The Earth's electromagnetic fields are down."

"You mean we're being sucked into the black hole?"

Steven nodded.

"Come here."

The whole group present, with Steven's Dad, all gathered in a circle next to the telescope. All of them had looks of despair in their faces. Steven had to say something... ANYTHING to cheer them up. After all, they were the people he loved the most.

"Guys..."

"It's been a honor serving with you."

And they were gone.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Girls, close your eyes!"

Lucky Twilight said that. The Supernova was very bright- bright enough to burn the naked eye.

"Come on, Rarity... We can do this. Push it back!" said Twilight.

Rarity couldn't say anything anymore. She was pushing her magic as hard as she could, wanting to do our part in possibly saving the world.

But suddenly, there was nothing pushing against their barrier anymore.

Twilight stole a peek, and noticed that all the bright light had gone.

She looked up to the sky, and saw nothing.

"WE DID IT!" she shouted.

As if on cue, everypony else opened their eyes and looked at the sky.

"Well I'll be..." said Applejack. "Ya saved us, Twilight, Rarity!"

Pinkie sang a rendition of 'Twilight and Rarity are my Bestest Friends'

Twilight and Rarity looked into each other's eyes, and then embraced the other.

"We did it, Twilight."

"Yes we did, Rarity."

All of the group started crying at the same time. They were safe. They could continue on with their lives. Sure, they did not have a Sun anymore, but they can manage. They're magic after all!

And then she felt it.

"Girls, what's that rumbling noise?"

Twilight looked up. A black hole appeared in the sky.

How did a *BLACK HOLE** appear all of a sudden?*

But then she noticed that the black hole wasn't sucking anything in, but it was pushing something out. Something round, large, and Green and Blue...

The Moon?

And it was crashing into Equestria.

"Rarity! Shields up!"

Rarity looked confused, but when she took one look at the sky, she immediately understood and performed the barrier spell.

But the barrier was far from complete. A few ponies had also noticed the large body on its way to crash Equestria, but a majority of ponies did not notice it. The barrier was full of holes, and was not strong enough to withstand a crash from another stellar body.

The Earth crashed through the barrier, and by now everypony knew of its presence. But by now it was far too late.

Twilight and Rarity abandoned the effort and ran to their group of friends. All of them were still crying, and they might even be crying louder by now, although Rainbow Dash was trying to hide it.

'It's OK, Rainbow. It's OK to cry." said Pinkie, her voice uncharacteristically shaky.

Rainbow Dash understood, and let her tears flow freely.

They embraced each other and did a group hug- their last group hug.

Twilight smiled at her group of friends. They all had the strengths and weaknesses, but they were the best group of friends that she could ever hope for.

"Girls, we have stood by each other through thick and thin." Said Twilight.

"We've supported each other though even the most super problematic of problems." said Pinkie Pie.

"And we've laughed at each other's jokes..." said Rarity.

"An' cried at each other's losses." said Applejack.

"And now we're going to go somewhere, and we don't know where." said Fluttershy.

"But it won't matter because..." said Ranbow Dash.

"We'll always be together." said Twilight

And everything went black.

Chapter 3- We Built Our Own World (Reilly)

Uugh...

As he woke up, the first thing he felt was itchiness. He tried to scratch that stupid itch, but he couldn't move at all. He felt very fatigued... and it hurt a lot if he even tried to move a tiny bit. He had a migraine, his back was aching like mad, and he felt one of his arms being crushed by a piece of debris. He laid down there, unable to move, but feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

His eyelids were heavy. They seemed to be kept down by some immovable force, but in the end, he was able to take a peek.

And it was bright. Very bright. So bright that every time he opened his eyes for even the tiniest bit, it would feel as if his eyes were burning. Eventually though, his eyed grew accustomed to the bright light, and he quickly sat up and took a good look at his surroundings.

His first thought?

Well, this is truly a sucky place to sleep in...

He winced. One of his arms were still stuck under some rubble, but as he used all his strength to sit up, he couldn't summon enough energy to pull his arm out of the rock.

He had to think fast. He already started losing the feeling in his arm.

He turned around painfully, and then, eyes shut to concentrate, he used both his legs to try to push the rock away. He expected a lot of pain, but he did not expect that the large rock holding his arm down would so easily fly away from one of his kicks.

After that great ordeal, he fell on his back again. He tried to gather as much energy as possible before attempting to stand up. His arm still hurt, but it was quickly healing. He could feel his bones reconstructing themselves rapidly. He did not understand what was happening to his arm, but he couldn't care less. In fact, he was grateful- a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time.

But what happened?

That was the question. He tried to recollect his memories, and as he started piecing them together, he remembered the Observatory, his Dad bringing snacks, the Supernova, the Black Hole...

Wait...

He was conscious even after they exited the black hole. Then there was a great earthquake or something, and the entire Observatory collapsed on itself. He swore that he saw the Earth crash into something, though.

That was when the gravity of the situation weighed down on him.

He was not supposed to be alive! No, the Earth should have been utterly destroyed because of an impact like that! There is no scientific explanation at all to explain their survival!

The shock of finding out that he was alive and that the Earth was intact gave him enough energy to literally jump into position. However, he quickly lost balance and fell down again with a heavy thud.

Ow!

That hurt a lot. He felt something impale his shoulder, and he sat back up again.

That was when the itch returned.

That painful, burning, son of a $#@!&. However, now he had enough strength to scratch that itch.

Prepare to be eradicated, you unwanted, foolish itch!

As his arm reached into his back, he scratched like there was no tomorrow. The pleasure that came from finally scratching that itch overwhelmed him.

After two minutes of non-stop scratching, he slowed down, and then stopped all of a sudden.

What is this?

He touched his back again.

His back was furry.

Not hairy, but furry.

Short, smooth, cool, fluffy, and somewhat dirty fur.

He reached his arm back to pull one of the hair to take a look.

But he had no fingers.

He snapped his arm back and put it up to his face.

In place of what was supposed to be a human hand of flesh and blood, was a furry, fingerless, blue-gray coloured stub. Was this a....

No, that's

He looked around, trying to find a reflective surface in order to see himself.

Right outside what used to be the University, where Second Street was supposed to be, was replaced with a large lake surrounded by fresh, trimmed grass.

He stood up, but lost balance and fell again.

His feet have also turned into stubs, which also looked like...

Nah... that's impossible!

So he stood up on four of his 'stubs', trying to keep his balance as he slowly walked towards the lake. It was definitely easier to walk like this than to walk on two legs, as he tried to do earlier.

Which brought up the question again...

What is happening?

As he walked up to the lake, he noticed that it was much bigger than it looked from the observatory. He also saw something partially submerged in the middle of the lake. It looked like a giant stone statue of a lion with the face of a woman...

It was the Sphinx.

Now Steven was thrown into full panic mode. Where was he? What happened to his body? What the hell is a freakin' SPHINX doing in the middle of a lake, right in front of the Observatory?

Then he remembered what he came for.

His heart rate became faster, he started to sweat, and he really needed to take a leak somewhere.

Slowly, and reluctantly, he forced himself to look into the lake, which would undoubtedly show his face. He closed his eyes, not ready to face the truth yet...

Finally, though, his curiosity overwhelmed his reason, and he snapped his eyes open.

He saw a head. A head with long, protruding jaws, a strong mandible, large eyes, and a pair of ears at the top of that head...

He was looking at the head of a horse. A young colt.

Now he understood everything. His inability to balance properly on two legs, his stubbed hands and feet, his fur, his strong legs...

He was a colt.

For about half an hour, Steven looked at his reflection. He was a horse. He was a horse. Out of all the things in the world, he. Was. A. Horse. What the hell is happening? If he was a horse, then what happened to his Dad and the team?

His Dad and the team.

Steven immediately shot back to reality, and he ran back to the Observatory. He had to find his Dad and his friends.

Please don't be dead... Please don't be dead...

He looked through the rubble, lifting the smaller pieces of debris and kicking away the larger ones, but he could not find them. He turned the whole place upside down, but they were nowhere to be found.

But Steven still had hope.

If they weren't here, he thought, then at least I can go on thinking that they might be alive...

However, he never stopped looking for them. Not only did he check the Observatory for them, he looked everywhere in a 10 mile radius of the Observatory. He looked in the lake, he dug at the ground, he kicked open the Sphinx's head (Screw ancient history, I need to find my friends!), but he still couldn't find them.

As he did that, fatigue slowly started creeping in. When he could not stand it anymore, he dragged himself back to the Observatory, and sat down. Because of all the excitement, he forgot about the wound in his shoulder from when he accidentally impaled himself. However, it started to heal- heal as quickly as how his bones rearranged themselves.

As he sat down, he thought to himself. He seemed to be doing a lot of that nowadays, but this was as good a time as any. First of all, he still couldn't figure out how the Earth survived the black hole, and the impact immediately after. Then, he wondered how the hell those events managed to turn him into a HORSE.. He tried to remember what happened after the impact and where all the people in the same room with his in the Observatory went, but as he fell unconscious at that time, he couldn't remember anything.

He looked up at the sky again. He never believed in miracles and the Almighty, but he also never had an event which couldn't be explained too...

"Hey... um... if you're up there, and if you can hear me... Please, I beg of you, give me a clue... ANYTHING that can help me explain what's happened here."

As he ended that sentence, he wondered if the Man in the Sky would listen to him, despite him not believing in him for all these years. Then again, even if he does forgive him, does the Almighty understand horse?

Suddenly, he heard a loud 'CRASH' to his right.

A streetlamp just fell down on the road opposite to the one he was sitting on. Just as he looked, something caught his eye.

He quickly ran there as fast as his new legs could carry him. His front hoof's shoulder was still stinging, but he needed to get there fast.

Beside the streetlamp were two giant pieces of rubble, and in between them was...

A woman? She was facing down, and only her head, neck and one arm was not buried in between the rocks. He slowly crept forward, scared that the woman would suddenly jump out at him, and she seemed unconscious.

He tried to pull her out, but his new hooves were no use in gasping anything now. So he very slowly used his long mother to grab hold of the woman's arm, and pulled her out of the two pieces of rubble.

He quickly turned her over. She was young- about his age, maybe... 18-19 years? And she was pretty, too. She was wearing only a zipped-up cyan hoodie and short jeans (with a design of what looked like a thunder cloud and multicolored thunder), and no shoes. The thing that stands out most, however, is her long, rainbow colored hair.

He shook her with his hoof, trying to wake her up, but she was totally non-responsive.

Was she dead?

Steven put one of his ears (I ears are mobile! How cool is that?) to her chest, ans he could hear her heart beating. No, she's not. I should find another way to wake her up.

He dragged her by the hoodie to the nearby lake. He needed water to wake her up, but there was no container of any sort in nearby.

What to do... What to do...

He thought of using his mouth, but that would be gross, even in horse standards. So he did the only thing he could think of...

He dunked her head into the water.

The woman woke up kicking and flailing her arms around, and Steven quickly stepped back. The woman sat up, shook her head, rainbow colored hair whipping back, and started stared at him.

Steven didn't know what to say. The woman seemed angry, yet she did not say anything. He had to think of something. FAST.

"Err... Hi? Um... How are you feeling? Um... Haha..." he said.

He then facepalmed (As his hand was replaced with a hoof, would that make it facehoof?), remembering that he was a horse, and she was human. There was no way a human could understand horse-speak.

"Not good, thanks to you." she said. "Ah, I can't STAND water in my head. Not that it hurts, cause it doesn't, it's just, er... Really umcomfortable."

She started smiling. However, it was now Steven's turn to stare at her.

"Don't stare at me like that," she said. "It's kinda creeping me out."

"How do you understand me? How are you able to understand my language?"

"Come on, even foals know that there is only one universal language in all of Equestria."

Foals? Equestria? What was this lady talking about?

Just as he thought that, there was a sharp, burning pain, smack in the middle of his forehead. Steven sat down, wincing, and he covered that spot with both his hooves.

The woman sat there and looked at him, confused, as to why the colt who had just dunked her head in the lake was holding both hooves in his forehead.

"Hey... are you okay?" she asked.

Steven was not okay. But he couldn't speak at all- the pain was too overwhelming. Suddenly, he felt something come out from his forehead. Something hard, and sharp. It kept growing and growing, until it suddenly stopped. The pain was greatly reduced, but he could still feel that spot stinging.

"Woah." said the woman. looking at him with large eyes and an open mouth. She then smiled and said: "I thought that unicorns get their horns from birth! Maybe you're a special case?"

Unicorn? Steven felt the new object on his forehead, and he knew that it was definitely a horn. He tried to say something... anything... The woman in front of him seemed to know something about what was going on.

"Er..." he started.

"The name's Rainbow Dash." she interrupted. " Fastest flier in all of Equestria. What's yours?"

"Hi, er... Rainbow Dash, was it?" What a strange name. Where is this girl from? "Um... I'm Dr. Steven Reilly. Excuse me, but..." he said.

"Steven Reilly? Never heard of a name even close to that before? So, I'm hoping you got answers. Where am I?"

"Well, I don't know too, and..."

"Then it's up to me to find my friends. Catch ya later, Steven!"

Rainbow Dash jumped up, hands outstretched, but then she fell down on the floor, face first.

Steven ran to her, but Rainbow Dash just sat back up, a bewildered look on her face.

"What in Equestria...?"

She never managed to complete her question. She looked at her hands, then at her legs. The tips of her arms and legs were oddly shaped, much unlike the usual hooves.

"What are these?" she said while looking at her hands and feet while flexing her fingers and toes. However, Steven guessed from her tone that she did not expect an answer.

She then touched her hair. She took hold of it and then brought it in front of her face to see. Her eyes shined at her brightly coloured rainbow hair.

"At least my mane's still normal..." she said.

Mane? This thing was getting wierder by the second.

Then Rainbow Dash did the wierdest thing she had done so far- she stood up on all fours, looking oddly imbalanced, and shook her tiny bottom. This counted as strange even among strange people. Steven stared at her while she was doing this, his head tilting about 90 degrees sideways, his expression so bewildered that it looked comedic. But that was nothing compared to the look Rainbow Dash was giving her bottom. It was even more funny when she looked at Steven with that same look.

"My tail is gone!" Rainbow Dash said, her mouth gaping open.

Steven turned around, trying to suppress the laughter he felt was going to burst out any second. The sheer hilarity of Rainbow Dash's actions was unbearable already, and the fact that she was completely serious about all this just added to it.

After about 2 minutes of holding back his laughter, it had finally died down. He turned to look at Rainbow Dash again, but he was met with a crying, no, WAILING Rainbow Dash. This was the exact opposite of her character when he first met her.

Steven galloped to her and put a hoof around her shoulder. It felt wierd doing that.

"There, there..." he said, his tone very low and comforting.

Rainbow Dash leaned her head on his shoulders, still sobbing. It really felt wierd now. A human being comforted by a horse- no, a colt? This was plain wierd. But he had a job to do, and that was to try to comfort Rainbow Dash.

"I... lost... them..." she managed to say, in between loud sobs.

Steven patted her shoulders awkwardly. He hadn't even known the girl a few minutes ago, and now she's unloading her troubles upon him. He didn't know how to react. His felt his face burning up.

He had never been in that situation before. Even Jaeda never cried on him like this.

Jaeda...

Steven felt frustrated upon remembering her again. For a year and a half, he had tried in vain to forget her. To forget Jaeda, the woman he once loved- no. She was the woman he still loved. And he knew that no one, even a prodigy like him, can ever forget the one person they truly love.

But right now, he had to think of something to say to Rainbow Dash.

"Ok... It's fine... Everything's gonna be alright..."

Rainbow Dash jumped out of his arms, still crying, and stood up on two legs, staring at him like a rabid dog. Her breath heavy, and biting her lip, she shouted at him:

"Alright? ALRIGHT? Do you know what I've just lost?"

"Your feathers, and your tail, but come on, you can still live without them! I mean, this horn just came out of nowhere, and my fingers and toes suddenly..."

"I don't care about my feathers and tail! It's these!" She said, pointing at the sides of her torso.

"There's nothing there..."

"Exactly! My wings are gone!"

"Okay, I understand that-"

"No! You don't understand! No one can! I am one of the fastest pegasi in all of Equestria. If I lost my wings, then how can I still be the fastest? HOW?"

Steven tried to answer that, but he couldn't. He tried to think about what life would be like without his brain, but he couldn't. He could now feel a portion of what Rainbow Dash is going through.

"Listen, Rainbow Dash. I can't honestly say that I know what you are going through-"

"Of course you don't"

"But all I'm saying is that maybe I can help. We can find a doctor, or a biologist, or anyone that can help. All I'm asking you to do is to calm down and maybe try to understand what's going on here.

Rainbow Dash stayed silent.

"Because believe me, I understand this situation like how a cat can understand you teaching them Quantum Mechanics (which I have tried to do, so I know). I need to know everything you know about what is going on, and how we can reverse it."

Rainbow Dash sat down, and Steven sat down next to her.

"You see, before I became a horse-"

"Colt." Rainbow Dash corrected.

"Fine, a colt, I used to be a creature like you. And trust me, life without those fingers that we humans have is really hard."

"Fingers? What do they do?"

"They can help you grab things."

"Grab?"

Steven stood up.

"Wait here."

Steven took a rock and, using his mouth, rolled the rock to Rainbow Dash.

"A rock?"

"Try to pick it up."

Rainbow Dash reached down with her head and picked up the rock in her mouth. Then, rock in mouth, she looked up at Steven and tilted her head.

"No, no. You see, with fingers, we don't need our mouth to pick it up."

Rainbow Dash spit the rock at Steven's face.

"Don't need our mouth? Oops... sorry."

Steven's eye was black from the impact on the rock, but he was still smiling.

"Here."

Steven picked up Rainbow Dash's hand, and put it on top of the rock.

"Now, cover the rock with your fingers."

As he said that, he gently pushed her fingers so that it gripped the rock.

"OK, now with your fingers tightly gripping the rock, lift up your arm."

Rainbow Dash pick up the rock, then she looked up at Steven, a smile on her face and a gleam in her eyes.

"I did it! I picked up a rock with my hooves! I mean... hand!"

Steven smiled.

"Really! I think I can become the best and awesomest 'gripper' in the world!"

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves, now." said Steven. Now she was acting like normal. Or, as normal as she ever was.

Steven looked up at Rainbow Dash, who was easily balancing on two legs, and was jumping around, throwing the rock in the air and catching it in the other hand.

Then Rainbow Dash fell down.

Steven laughed and walked to her.

"You really do like falling, don't you?"

"No, its just that I realized... Can't you 'humans' just use magic to pick the rock up?"

"Magic?" There was no such thing as magic, he was sure of that. Magic is just what common folk calls things when they do not understand it. But then again, they have pegasi too... so why not?

"Sorry, but humans can't use magic." said Steven, chuckling.

Rainbow Dash's face dropped.

"Oh. I just thought that with magic, I could grow my wings back."

Rainbow Dash stood up again. Even at her full height, Steven was still around the same height as she was. He liked this- he was always considered short by the American populace.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go find someone who can fix those wings."

Rainbow Dash, however, was frozen. She looked surprised about something, but Steven didn't know what it was about.

"I just had the most awesome idea ever?"

"What?"

"I know exactly who can help me at this time!"

"Who?"

Rainbow Dash smiled, face brimming with excitement.

"I have a friend from back in Equestria. She's, well, she's like you!"

"Human turned horse?"

"Pony." Rainbow Dash corrected. "And no, I meant that she's like you- a unicorn! She's the most powerful unicorn in Equestria- other than the Princesses, of course. She can definitely help me."

"Help us, you mean."

"Yeah, sure! Now come on!"

Rainbow Dash pushed Steven's flank with all her strength, eyes screwed up in concentration.

"Hey! I can walk myself, you know."

"Oh, sorry."

"Where do you think she can be found, anyway?"

"Oh, just look for the tallest building around. She'd be there."

Steven smiled. He admired Rainbow Dash's spunk and attitude.

She's not just cute, but she's got a whole lot of guts and energy, too.

Just like Jaeda...

Steven shook his head again. He didn't want to think about Jaeda. Not at a time like this!

Rainbow Dash noticed his behaviour.

"Something wrong, Steven?"

"Err... No, nothing, nothing! Just wondering, um... What is the name of this unicorn you speak of?" he said, hiding his face as he tried to cover up his ruby-red blush.

"Oh." said Rainbow Dash, her pink eyes shining as she looked forward.

"She's one of my best friends. Her name is Twilight Sparkle."

Chapter 4- Paradise Lost (Twilight)

Twilight woke up with a jolt.

She was having the strangest dream, an awful dream. The moment she realized that it was nothing but a dream, she swore not to think of it ever again.

Twilight, however, knew how to differentiate memory from dream. She remembered everything- The Supernova, the Black Hole, the crash, everything. It was all etched in her brain- just like her dream.

But Twilight didn't want to think about anything right then. She was lying down on something soft, and comfortable. The air was cool and nice. She was in total bliss- no worries, no problems. In fact, the nightmare was no longer a problem. All she wanted to do was fall back to sleep.

Twilight yawned. She tried to cover the yawn with her hoof, but she wasn't able to move.

Not surprising, she thought, considering how tired I am.

But then she yawned even more. It started to hurt her jaw. She tried her hardest to keep her jaw shut, but it was very difficult to do so. It was extremely painful. Twilight wished that the pain would stop.

But the pain had another effect on her.

It woke her up.

The feelings of bliss and pleasure immediately disappeared as she snapped back into consciousness. She felt the fatigue and the pain start setting in, not to mention her mental stress. She breathed heavily and she opened her eyes. Her eyes quickly grew accustomed to the bright light (being a magical pony and all), and she took a look around. Everything was white. Very unnaturally white.

She tried to rub her eyes, but her hooves couldn't move. At first, she thought she was too tired to move. But even when very tired, she could at least lift her hoof by a millimeter or two. This time, she couldn't move at all.

Twilight tried to see what was wrong with all four of her hooves. But in place of all her hooves, she saw...

What was that?

Large, thick pieces of steel covered her hooves. They held her hooves down in place so that she couldn't move them at all, and it seemed as if they were made to fit her hooves. At the surface of that steel, she could see grooves and lines, and a few of them emitted bright blue light.

She tried to get a closer view, but she then realized that her head was also held down by a steel strap tying her forehead down. She couldn't move a single muscle.

Even her horn was strapped to something above her head, and she could only see what's in front of her face.

Twilight quickly grew panicked. She hated not being able to move. But there was no other choice. She had to escape- escape whatever this place is. She could only do one thing. It was a stupid thing to do, but she had to do it. She had so much frustration and anger in her heart that she couldn't hold it for much longer.

"YEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" she screamed.

It was then that she started hearing signs of other life forms. Their sounds were very faint, but she could hear them easily enough.

"Subject Zero is awake. And conscious."

"No, that's impossible. That much of dopamine in her would keep her as happy as a dog getting a new toy everyday."

"It's heart rate is rising, and the scan says that every part of her brain is now active."

"I didn't want to do this, but we'll have to for now. Double the amount."

"But sir, that might-"

"Understand one thing, lady! We need to find out what exactly this thing is, and how it came here. We need to find an explanation as to what the hell is going on right now."

The other voice sighed.

"Understood"

Twilight heard a sudden buzzing, and she managed to look up. Two contraptions holding injections of some sort were coming to life, and they reached down to Twilight's neck. She tried to struggle, but it was futile- she couldn't move at all. She tensed up, and both contraptions managed to inject her. She felt a sudden rush of pain, immediately followed by a sensation of waves crashing against her skull, and then everything seemed peaceful once again.

She closed her eyes and went back to sleep...

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight slowly opened her eyes once again.

It was just like before. She had the same awful nightmare, only now it was more vivid than before. She tried to take her mind off it, but she just couldn't. It was too awful to bear.

She waited for the bliss that was given to her before, but it never came.

In fact, everything suddenly seemed different.

Twilight's eyesight was still blurry, and she could barely see anything. But she knew that she was not in the bright room she was in the last time she awoke. She could hear lots of commotion, but she couldn't make out anything anypony was saying. She could also feel one other thing.

She was moving.

She wasn't walking- she couldn't even twitch! She was still lying down on the same machine as last time, but this time, that machine was moving.

As she regained her consciousness, she started to see strange creatures- lots of them. They were akin to monkeys, or more specifically apes, but yet they still looked different. They stood and walked on two legs, they didn't have any hair on their body except for the top of their heads, they stood upright, and worst of all...

They could speak.

Perfectly, no doubt. Twilight didn't know how, but these 'evolved apes' learned their language. Maybe they downloaded the information from her brain. Twilight didn't like people messing with her brain.

Again, Twilight tried to move her body. But it was still neatly trapped in place. She also seemed to have gained enough strength now, and she could most possibly attempt an escape. The problem is, she didn't know if her magic... No. She didn't know if any type of magic could still work after the crash.

The crash. How was she still alive? That crash would've completely destroyed Equestria, and the other stellar body that crashed it. Did Princess Celestia manage to transport all of them into another planet? That would've made sense. The inhabitants of the other planets might have been disturbed by millions of ponies coming into their planet or something. Oh wait... If she could've done that, wouldn't she have teleported them from the Supernova in the first place? Nah. Maybe it was a last resort.

Then... Where were all her friends? Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike? They were all together outside Quills and Sofas right before the crash. Were could they have gone?

Wherever they were, she still needed answers. And since she cannot answer the question herself, maybe she should ask someone else.

"Excuse me..." she whispered.

The creatures guiding her to wherever they where going did not seem to hear. Twilight still needed to sound feeble (for the escape attempt, if she needed it), but she needed to speak up a little bit.

"Excuse me..." she said, raising her tone.

One of the creatures looked at her, but whatever it was thinking, it discarded it and looked away.

They could hear her. Just a little louder...

Twilight faked a cough. Both the creatures guiding her looked back. They stopped moving.

"Excuse me... Hi, my name is Twilight Sparkle. If you don't mind me asking, could you please tell me where I am?" she said, in the most innocent and weak voice she could manage. It sounded just like Fluttershy's normal voice..

One of them stared at her, as if he could not believe what he was seeing. The other one looked at his partner, as if expecting something from it. In the end, both of them just looked away and continued their journey.

So much for politeness...

In the end, Twilight just relaxed herself. She needed answers, and wherever they were taking her to, there should be answers there. If not, then she could just simply teleport from there.

After around 5 minutes of daydreaming, Twilight and the two guides reached a small room. It was smaller than a regular sized Equestrian bedroom, but she could see why they didn't need all that space. The walls of the room were made of glass, and there were all different types of 'evolved monkeys' looking into it. She honestly had no idea what was going on.

The guides released her from where she was lying on, but kept the hoof guards in place.

"Stay here, horsie. Don't get any ideas about running." one of them said.

As both of them exited the room, the other one looked at her and said: "Them fancy hand shackles of yours can release about 600 kilovolts of energy into you. That's enough to maybe paralyze a little horsie like you."

Horsie? They really were rude. She was practically already a mare. Even 'pony' would've been fine for her. 'Horsie'? That's just mean.

And what the hay is a hand? They're called hooves. Hooves.

Just then, another of those creatures entered the room. This one was dressed better.

He moved just like the two guards did, but he looked older. His face was shaped very strangely, and the wrinkles on his skin stood out greatly. His expression was all smiles, like the face a shark would wear when luring fish into its mouth.

"Hello, miss." it said, as it took a seat. Judging by it's voice and physique compared to some others she managed to observe, she had to assume that this one was a male.

That's a relief. At least this is a one who's polite

However, Twilight remained silent.

"Take these damned hoof- I mean hand shackles, or whatever you call it, out. Please." Twilight said. She hadn't planned on taking an annoyed tone, but she was really ticked off at the time.

The polite monkey in front of her did a shoo-ing gesture, and the hoof shackles immediately came off. It was then that Twilight realized how heavy those things were. It was a real relief to finally get them off.

"Whew." Twilight said.

"Great. Now, let us introduce ourselves first. My name is Adrien Ramses. I am the owner of this fine establishment." he said.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle. A unicorn." she said. She couldn't reveal too much about herself, yet she needed to be nice.

"OK, Ms. Sparkle, was it? Let's play a simple game. Do you want to play a game?"

OK, now he was being deliberately condescending.

"Please don't treat me like I'm a lost child. I am Twilight Sparkle, apprentice and protégé to Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria."

Ramses now looked lost. He chuckled a bit, then he said: "Well, Ms. Sparkle, what I'm going to do now is this. I'm going to let you ask me three questions. But in return, I have to ask you three questions."

Twilight couldn't say no to the offer. Maybe now she can finally know something about what was going on.

"Sure." she said.

Ramses smiled.

"OK, you can ask your three questions first."

Twilight took a deep breath. Whatever she learned now could change her way of life forever. Plus, she needed to think of an escape route.

"Sure. Number One... Where am I"

"You, Ms. Sparkle, are in an underground science facility known as Black Wesa. We specialize in finding out the natures of specific problems who no one else has the answer to."

Twilight looked at him. He seemed very experienced in these types of conversations.

"OK, next question. Where are my friends?"

"Your friends?" he asked, giving her a quizzical look. "Haven't seen them. They might still be on the surface."

The answer she expected, but not the one she needed. Twilight was very worried for her friends by now, but she knew that until she escaped, all she could do was trust them.

"Okay, last question. What happened? Weren't we supposed to have died from the crash?"

Ramses looked down, and sighed, He was obviously disappointed with the question.

"This one's useless. Bring it back."

The Hoof Shackles came back into position, covering all four of her hooves.

"Hey!" she shouted.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Sparkle. You see, that's the very question we've been trying to answer. No one was supposed to have survived the impact. And you are of no use for the investigation." he said, as he put on some kind of mask.

"Gas her." he said.

Gas? This is not good.

She concentrated all of her magic on teleportation, but she needed time and the right amount of concentration in order to teleport only her body, and not the shackles.

She started to hear air coming out...

Come on, come on...

There! The exact amount!

And in a flash of purple light, she was gone.

Twilight reappeared right outside the room. She didn't remember anyplace else, and she needed to be able to visualize where she was teleporting to.

From there, she quietly sneaked away. Because of all the commotion in that other room, no one noticed the little purple pony  slowly trotting out of sight.

She easily managed to get away from the place, until someone shouted:

"Okay, everyone spread out! We need to find that purple horse. Set phasers to pierce."

Uh oh.

Twilight immediately broke into a full run. Everypony (or everymonkey, in this case) had noticed her by now, but she couldn't take the chance of them being fully prepared when they eventually found her.

"There it is!"

"Quick! After it!"

Twilight ran as fast as she could, nimbly avoiding obstacles and easily turning when required. She ran very quickly- there was no way they could catch up to her.

And then it hit her.

Something that could ruin the plan...

She didn't know the way out.

She normally would've remembered this sort of thing, but the shock of the impact and the stress of the moment must have got to her reasoning. But there was no backing out now- she needed to find a place to escape.

And then appeared another complication.

The monkeys appeared to be able to hold something in their hands that was able to shoot out beams of light. And according to the markings it left on the floor when it hit it, she knew that she couldn't let those beams touch her.

Knowing full well that it was take up a lot of energy, but presented with no alternative, Twilight quickly formed a magical barrier around her. As she expected, the barrier kept the beams out.

However, for every beam that touches the barrier, more of her energy was absorbed. This was a strange phenomenon, but Twilight had no time to think about it. So she did the only things that was sensible at the time. She shrunk her barrier so that it fit her exactly, and she turned at every turn possible.

She didn't know where she was going, but she had to at least try to escape.

Then somepony (or somemonkey) shouted:

"It's heading for the holding cells! Quick, stop it!"

But Twilight didn't care. She just had to run.

When she reached the Holding Cells area, she stopped.

The Holding Cells were just one very long corridor, and it was very easy for the monkeys to aim at her like this.

Come on, Twilight, think! Clock is ticking...

The shouts were getting louder...

What to do... What to do...

They're getting closer...

Idea, Twilight... IDEA...

It was one straight line, with prison cells at the sides. How is she going to lose them like this...

Of course!

Twilight quickly teleported to one the nearest cell, not caring whose it is. She glimpsed a man taking a bath at this cell, and he screamed. She was going to have to send him an apology letter later. Just another small errand.

She moved quickly, in a zig-zag pattern, through the holding cells. No one else seemed to bother with her teleporting through their cells, so she just kept moving. She was confused.

Why wouldn't they bother with me nicely teleporting through their rooms? Sometimes, she just hated her scientific curiosity.

Then she someone shout: "Please, oh please be QUIET!"

She then heard something rambling on about something, but her adrenaline rush was too high to make out what was being said.

She kept on jumping through cells, too busy to think about anything else.

That was when she heard a very familiar voice.

"Twilight?"

Twilight immediately stopped. This was the voice of a friend. A voice she had to listen to everyday. A voice she would've hated to hear when she was busy back in Ponyville.

"Pinkie?"

"I'm hear, Twilight! Come here, quick!"

Twilight teleported a few cells back to where Pinkie was.

"TWILIGHT! IT IS YOU!" Pinkie screamed in delight, then proceeding to hug her tightly.

"I was so worried that I was all alone in here, so I tried to talk to my neighbours, but they didn't seem to want to talk back, so I tried laughing, but I just felt so ALONE, and now I'm so glad that you're back with me, Twi! I'm so really really happy that you're-"

"Ssssh!" said Twilight, putting one hoof in Pinkie's open mouth to stop her from speaking any further. Pinkie stopped talking, smiled, and said a muffled "Okay."

Twilight smiled and hugged Pinkie back.

"It's so great to see you Pinkie. I missed you too." Twilight said, tears in her eyes, happy upon learning that at least one of her friends were safe. As she saw Pinkie again, she remembered all the happy memories of them together, and immediately regretted doubting her or being mean to her in the past. Right now, Pinkie's voice was very comforting to her.

Pinkie smiled, and in a soft voice whispered: "There there, Twilight."

In a second, Twilight remembered the emergency situation she was in. She complete forgot about the crazy escape  where crazy monkeys were trying to kill her and whose result could either leave her free or dead.

"Come on, Pinkie." she said. "We're escaping."

Pinkie nodded, and happily bounced to Twilight's side.

"Do you know the way out?" she said.

"Nope!" Pinkie said, face still happy and smiling.

Twilight sighed. Typical Pinkie.

"Okay, follow me." she said.

Then, she performed a teleportation spell that brought her back to the start of the Holding Cells corridor. From there, both of them ran (or in Pinkie's case, bounced) looking for a door.

They ran (and bounced) through many different winding corridors, looking for the exit. Twilight was deep in thought. Where was the exit? Where could she go?

It was then that Pinkie shouted, "There it is! That's the exit!" as she pointed to a door.

"How do you know?"

"There's a sign there that says 'Exit'!"

Go figure. It really was the exit.

But there were a lot of monkeys there walking about. Most of them with large stick-like things that was able to shoot those beams of light.

"Looks like we're going to have to run for it, Pinkie."

Pinkie nodded.

"Okay, on the count of three. One... two..."

Twilight took a deep breath.

"Three."

"CHAAAARGE!!!"

Everyone's head turned their way as Twilight and Pinkie Pie ran (and bounced) to the exit. Their reaction time was slow, however, as they had already reached the door when the first one started understanding something.

"Quick! Get them!"

The monkeys started shooting at them. Twilight and Pinkie Pie easily managed to avoid them, and they were out the door.

They emerged in a desert-like area, just full of plain, old nothingness.

"Okay Pinkie, we get far enough, then we have to teleport away from here."

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said, smiling.

They were almost out of range, when suddenly...

"Ah!"

Twilight tripped on a dune of sand. As she was running at full speed, she didn't notice it, and lost balance. Now a clear target, one of the beams of light managed to pierce through her hind hoof, shattering her bone. It was blindingly painful.

Pinkie looked back, and quickly came back. She helped Twilight up.

"Are you okay, Twilight?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Aah!" Twilight said, falling down again.

"Just don't put too much weight on that hoof, Twilight."

The monkey's voices were coming closer.

Pinkie looked back at the facility, then at Twilight.

"Run, Twilight. Don't worry about me, just run."

"No, Pinkie! You're coming with me. I'm not leaving without you!"

"Twilight, listen to me! It's no use for both of us to be recaptured again!"

"But Pinkie-"

"I'm scared, Twilight." Pinkie said. "Please don't make this harder than it needs to be."

"Pinkie..."

Pinkie Pie embraced Twilight for a last time. They remained for what felt like hours.

Twilight choked up. She couldn't say anything anymore.

"This is for the best, Twilight. Go now."

Twilight hesitated. Pinkie Pie was her best friend. There was no way she was leaving her behind.

"I love you, Pinkie." she said.

"I love you too, Twilight."

Pinkie then pushed Twilight away, and the ran back to the monkeys. Twilight couldn't look, but she heard Pinkie's signature party cannon going off, followed by screams.

Pinkie was sacrificing herself for Twilight. Suddenly, all the times they spent together came back rushing into her head- the good times and the bad times. Twilight felt regret. Regret flooding her mind when she realized that she may never see Pinkie again, and that she could've spent more time with her. But Twilight needed to be strong. Not only for herself, but for Pinkie as well. Twilight took one last glance at Pinkie.

"Goodbye, Pinkie Pie."

Pinkie looked back, tears in her eyes. They exchanged meaningful glances.

"Go."

At that exact time, all the monkeys fired on her, spilling blood everywhere. Then she fell down to the ground, lifeless.

"There's the other one! Open fire!"

Twilight felt rage. A lot of rage. Fury took control of her body, and she felt strength in her body, going above all normal levels. The anger she felt overwhelmed her, and she felt herself growing. Her mane and tail transformed into fire, and her body tuned white. Her pupils rolled back inside her head. She needed a release. Any more energy like this will kill her. White-hot fury had shorted her ability to reason, and she screamed before feeling herself explode.

The last thing she saw was the creatures being blown back by the energy she released at that time, before she finally disappeared.

She reappeared again, not knowing where she was, and not caring. She fell down to the rock-hard floor, crying uncontrollably. She buried her face in her hooves, and just kept on crying. She couldn't stop.

"Pinkie... Pinkie... Please..." she said, among sobs.

Then, with fatigue slowly setting in, she felt one last pang of regret before she collapsed, remaining perfectly still.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Steven walked slowly, lagging slowly behind Rainbow Dash.

"Come on, Rainbow. Don't get so ahead of yourself."

Rainbow Dash was running around on two legs, enjoyment etched on her face as she felt pleasure from running so fast.

"Can't help it! I feel so alive! I could be the fastest, most awesomest runner ever!

Steven chuckled. Despite her age, Rainbow Dash was really a child at heart. She seemed to enjoy absolutely everything.

He then ran to catch up to her.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

"Nope! Try and catch up, then maybe you can be the second fastest runner around." said Rainbow Dash.

Steven ran as fast as he could. He closed his eyes to focus all his energy on his legs, and face contorted with concentration, he ran.

Rainbow Dash looked back, and seeing Steven quickly catch up, she also started running more quickly. But her human legs were no match for the full sprint of the horses. In no time at all, Steven overtook her.

"Hey! No fair!  I'm supposed to win!" said Rainbow Dash, laughing.

Steven just kept on running, never having desired to win this much. He ran and he ran, but suddenly...

"Ouch!"

Steven fell, having tripped on something huge. Falling on the asphalt face-first really hurt, but he managed to quickly pick himself up and rubbed his face.

Rainbow Dash caught up, laughing very loudly.

"Hah! I beat you!"

"No, I tripped."

"Sure you did! But I still won!"

Steven cursed. He quickly went back to where he tripped, planning to destroy whatever rock or squirrel he tripped on.

But what he tripped on was much larger than that.

Steven glanced at it, and then quickly shouted:

"Rainbow Dash! Come here quickly!"

For what he tripped on was no small rock or tiny critter. It was about the same size as he was.

He checked to see signs of life. he could hear a faint heartbeat.

"What's up?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Do you know this one?" asked Steven.

"What- Oh Celestia."

"What?"

Both of them were staring at what Steven tripped on- Rainbow Dash surprised, and Steven confused.

It was definitely not a rock.

It was a purple pony.

And it was alive.

Chapter 5- Three is Company (Reilly)

Steven walked alongside Rainbow Dash, discussing what to do with the newly found Twilight Sparkle.

It had been hours since they found the purple pony alive, but unconscious on the road. Since then, Steven had carried her on his back while they walked, not knowing when she will wake up.

"No, we've tried to dunk her in before, but that didn't work, did it?" said Steven.

"Maybe that's because she wasn't in there long enough! Just a minute or two longer and-" said Rainbow Dash.

"Just a minute or two longer and she would have suffocated! This level of unconsciousness needs a much better way to wake her up."

Rainbow Dash sighed, signalling defeat.

"So what do we do, then, genius?" she asked, apprehensively.

"We find a source of electricity. Or a car battery." he answered.

He planned on reviving Twilight Sparkle with a defibrillator. Her heartbeat was very faint and slow, and he did not know how much longer the purple pony can last. He had to find  an energy source, and fast.

Rainbow Dash had quickly come to terms with the fact that Twilight still had her horn whereas she had lost her wings. But the short while it lasted was really annoying. But at least now, as soon as Twilight woke up, she could help Rainbow Dash with her transformation, and maybe also mine.

"I don't know what either of those things are, but I can help find those things." Rainbow Dash said.

"No... I know exactly where we can find them." he said.

Actually, Steven had no idea where they can find the above things. All he knew was that if Rainbow Dash, without her knowledge of his world's discoveries and inventions, would not help, but would instead hinder the plan to save Twilight.

But Steven had an idea in mind. He needed to go back to his house. It was there he kept food, water, torches, weapons, everything he needed for a world-wide apocalypse. He also needed to get some other personal effects...

But now that the world had changed greatly, he did not know where his house would be. Only a few minutes ago, he found the old shopping mall covered in vines, spikes, and giant venus flytraps. He could only hope that his apartment would remain intact.

Then he felt it.

With Twilight Sparkle lying oh his back, he could feel her heartbeat and her breathing simultaneously. And her heartbeat was slowing down to a fatal level.

"Uh oh." he said.

"What?' asked Rainbow Dash.

"We need to find those things quick." he said. "Help me look for a very tall building with brown walls and no roof, with a sign that says: "Toppler Apartments" on it.

"Where should I look?" she asked.

"Based on the distance to the Observatory and the directions we took, the apartment building should be..." he pointed to the East. "Around there."

Rainbow Dash ran off to find the apartment building, Steven needed to do whatever he can to keep her alive. However, he had no experience at all in knowing how to repair bodily functions. He just had to make do with the information he got from all those hospital TV soap operas his mother used to watch.

But even then, all the things he needed to regain heart rate was not there. He needed to do something quick.

But the only way to restart a heart using nothing but the body was...

CPR?

Steven held that thought in his head. CPR? How was he going to do CPR? Of course, if it was human-to-human CPR, he could've managed, having taken classes and such, but pony-to-pony? But that was the only way- she was in cardiac arrest, and he needed to quickly preserve brain functions to keep her alive.

But how is he supposed to keep the air flow moving? If they were both human, then normal mouth-to-mouth would've been fine. But with a pony, what is he supposed to do?

Should he fully open both their mouths in order to breathe into it?

Steven shook his head. Even the thought of it grossed him out. Plus, he was not sure if all the air would've been compressed inside of her that way.

Should he just open a tiny bit of their mouths?

That was a much more plausible idea, but he was not so sure if enough air could be compressed.

But there was no other choice. CPR with ponies was a stupid idea by itself, but there was NO. OTHER. CHOICE.

He started pumping Twilight's chest, and then he lowered his mouth into hers.

Here goes nothing...

He breathed air into her, and then continued pumping. It seemed to work, but not nearly as well as he'd hoped.

C'mon, Rainbow Dash...

He continued performing CPR for about five minutes... not taking any breaks or stops until Rainbow Dash came.

He lowered his head again, and continued breathing air. He hated doing this. It felt weird, and really wrong.

Until suddenly...

"What in Celestia are you doing?"

Steven looked up, still pumping. Rainbow Dash was standing there, surprised etched in every single detail of her face, with small hints of disgust.

Steven blushed profusely.

"CPR. Long story. Now help me get Twilight on my back. Have you found the apartment?" he asked.

"Were you just-"

"Have you found the apartment?" he asked, blushing even more.

"Yeah... It's a few miles that way." she said. "Seriously, were you-"

"Let's go, Rainbow Dash" he said, a little louder than he meant.

Rainbow Dash chuckled and shook her head.

"Whatever you were doing, let's hope it helped."

Steven couldn't help but notice another emotion in that voice. He couldn't put his hand (or was it hoof, now?) on it, but there was something there. It wasn't really an emotion usually expressed by people like Rainbow Dash.

They ran in silence to the apartment building, both of them deep in thought and blushing profusely.

"There it is." Rainbow Dash said, smile and laughter gone from her voice.

Steven couldn't believe it. Out of all the tall buildings in the world to be saved, this was was perfectly immaculate. There was absolutely no sign on the building that would've led one to believe that an apocalypse had happened around here.

Only now did he manage to actually admire the beauty of the apartment building. It stood tall in the Sun, the walls and windows in perfect symmetry, and completely clean. The sign that says 'Toppler Apartments' in huge, gold fonts looked very welcoming and regal. Only now he wondered why nobody wanted to live here.

No time for that! There was a life to save, and they needed to hurry.

They quickly entered the building, and they ran all the way to the second floor, where Steven's apartment was.

"Woah..." said Rainbow Dash.

"What's up?" he asked, as they were running up the stairs.

"These stairs are so small..." she said, in wonder and amazement. "But they're so... perfect."

"That's cause they're made for human feet." said Steven, who was struggling to keep his balance so as to now fall down, especially with Twilight on his back. "Now that I mentioned it, could you please help me keep balance?"

Rainbow Dash smiled again.

"As much as I'd liked to watch you suffer, I can't let Twilight fall down too." she said. She then pushed helped push Steven and Twilight up the stairs, helping Steven keep balance.

She's so strong for such a small girl, he thought, as Rainbow Dash's petite hands were pushing him, she must have been really athletic back in Equestria, or whatever her world's name was.

As they reached the top of the stairs, they quickly ran to his room. But Steven only realized then that he forgot something important.

"Damn it to hell!" he screamed, incredibly frustrated. He had forgotten his keys.

Rainbow Dash immediately understood, and she went back to try to break the door open with her arm.

"No, no, don't do that, Rainbow Dash, NO!" He said. But it was too late. Rainbow Dash had tried to crash through the door like she usually did when she was a pegasus, but she immediately bounced back.

"Ouch!" said Rainbow Dash, holding her arm in pain. She was on the floor, in intense pain. In fact, she looked as if she had never experienced this type of pain before.

"Er... I should have told you this before, but since my apartment had so many important things inside, I made sure that the door was locked with an electric door lock reinforced by stainless steel. You would've needed a bit more force than that to break it." he said.

"Fine, then you break it down!" Rainbow Dash shouted, and then winced in pain again.

Steven quickly used his two hind hooves to break the door down, and then he and an incredibly injured Rainbow Dash went inside. It was just how he left it. Bookshelves everywhere, the telescope on the balcony, the tiny trinkets and what-not all scattered around the floor, and the incredibly messy, never made bed in the middle of everything.

"Wow. You live here? No, actually my question should be... You can live here?" said Rainbow Dash.

Steven looked around. He felt really self-conscious around Rainbow Dash. Now he noticed how messy everything was. However, it was actually an organized mess, because he never had trouble finding where everything is. Or maybe it was just his incredible memory. But now is not the time. They had a dying pony here, for God's sake!

"Rainbow Dash, do you know what a fridge is?" he asked.

"Of course I do! Are you saying that I'm-"

"Good! Now look under the fridge. There should be something there, just pick it up and come here.

Rainbow Dash slowly walked away, eyes still on Steven. A few seconds later, she came back holding a large box in her hands.

"Here you go. What's this gonna do?" she said, begrudgingly.

"It's a defibrillator. It can help restart Twilight's heart." he said.

Steven quickly took the cable and connected it to the electrical socket. It was harder than he thought- holding a cable with his mouth and inserting it into something that can possibly kill him.

Eventually, though, he succeeded. He quickly went back to the defibrillator, and the said:

"OK, Rainbow Dash, come here."

Rainbow Dash quickly went over to his side.

"Okay, I need you to take these in your hands" Steven said, pointing at the two lead functions.

"Do I take it like this, or-" Rainbow Dash said, holding the base.

"NO! NO! NO! Put it down." Steven shouted, alarmed. If the defibrillator had been on, Rainbow Dash would've had 1,700 volts course through her veins.

"Woah, woah! Calm down! Geez..." Rainbow Dash said, surprised at the sudden change of voice. She slowly put the lead functions down.

Steven sighed. He then pointed to the handles.

"Hold it from here."

Rainbow Dash picked up both the lead functions. Her surprised slowly changed to laughter, and she started chuckling.

Steven didn't smile. He was too tense with somepony's life in his hands. Making sure that Rainbow Dash was holding the lead functions correctly, he switch on the battery.

"Okay, now what you want to do is to rub both of those things together. Just make sure that you don't-"

Too late. While Rainbow Dash was rubbing them together, one of her fingers accidentally touched the base, electrifying her.

Rainbow Dash squealed and threw the functions away. They were heading towards Steven's face.

Steven easily dodged the first one. He looked up, but the other one was too close to dodge.

Steven's life flashed before him. His childhood, high school, college, Jaeda, the Observatory incident.

As a scientist, he always wished to die from being attacked by an alien or something, or at least a lab accident that would lead to a great scientific discovery. Being electrified to death by a home-made defibrillator thrown at him by a pony-turned-human definitely did NOT make the list. What a terrible way to die.

"HYAAAARGH!" shouted Rainbow Dash, running to him and kicking the deadly piece of $#^! away. Rainbow Dash, however, got electrified again and lost balance, landing on Steven. Both breathing heavily from defying death, they looked into each other's eyes, silence surrounding the area.

Steven started being aware of every single detail in the atmosphere. The cool wind blowing through the open window, the rhythmic flapping of the pages of open books, Rainbow Dash's pink eyes gleaming as she looked into his own eyes.

Steven had thought of Rainbow Dash as pretty from the beginning, but he had never seen her as beautiful before. Her athletic physique, her soft, multicolored hair swaying in the breeze, the comforting warmth of her body as she lay on him, locked in each other's gaze for what felt like an eternity.

It felt like he was back with Jaeda.

Jaeda.

Steven immediately snapped back to reality.

He cleared his throat, and Rainbow Dash quickly woke up and went to pick up the lead functions.

"Er... Thanks for that. Anyway, you know what to do, right?"

"Yeah..."

Rainbow Dash rubbed them together, making sure that she doesn't touch it. Slowly, she started to hear the a crack-ing sound.

"OK, now put both the bases on Twilight's chest."

Rainbow Dash quickly turned to look at him.

"Are you crazy? She's almost dead, and you still want to fry her like this?"

"No, it's the only way to get her heart to start moving faster. Just do it."

"Please..." he added, under his breath.

Rainbow Dash looked worriedly at Steven, then at Twilight.

"Here goes nothing..."

She put the lead functions on Twilight's chest, which made Twilight jump and then fall back. The recoil hurt her arm, but she needed to save Twilight

"Woah! What happened?" she asked.

"The electricity made her jump. We have to do this two more times."

Steven upped the voltage, and then said:

"OK, now do the same thing again."

Rainbow Dash hesitantly rubbed the bases together again, and the unleashed the electricity upon Twilight's chest. Twilight jumped a little higher before falling back down. The recoil hurt even more.

"OK, one last time..."

"Are you sure this is working?" asked Rainbow Dash, glancing at Twilight's still-lifeless body.

"Never know 'til we try." Steven said. He also started doubting if they could save her.

"Alright..." said Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash finally unleashed the whole 1,700 volts into Twilight's body. Twilight jumped again, and then fell back. Rainbow Dash also fell back, arm gripping the other. The pain was almost unbearable.

Steven quickly came to her, and then put one ear on Twilight chest, trying to see if it worked.

"So, how is she?" asked Rainbow Dash, obviously worried.

Steven put his ear closer, but there was no sign of a heartbeat. It had stopped.

"What's happening?" she asked again.

No, no... she can't die. I can't allow it. I won't allow it!

Steven closed his eyes and listened further. In his heart, his desire to save this one life grew. He couldn't allow another death on his hands.

Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive...

A single tear rolled down his cheek. Rainbow Dash caught sight of this, but she needed to hear it from Steven himself.

"How is she? Please... Tell me..." she said, her voice getting lower.

The voice in Steven's head grew louder.

Please be alive, please be alive..."

Just then, a strong wind came inside the room.

Please be alive, please be alive..."

Rainbow Dash then noticed Steven's horn starting to glow a brilliant, shiny blue.

"Um... Steven?"

Please be alive, please be alive...

The wind then came in strong gushes, completely lifting Twilight from off the floor.

"Steven!"

Please be alive, please be alive...

Twilight's eyelids opened, revealing bright, pupil-less eyes staring right in front. Her hooves stretched sideways, and her horn also started glowing with a bright purple aura

Steven's eyes were still closed, and he was deep in concentration and hope for Twilight Sparkle to live. It amazed Rainbow Dash how much he wanted to save Twilight, even though they've never even met before.

Please be alive... Please...

"LIVE!" shouted Steven, his voice turned deep and powerful.

What happened next was an amazing sight. The blue from Steven's horn spiraled toward Twilight's body, forming a sphere around her. Twilight's own purple magic then shined through the blue ball, making it look like light was coming out from the sphere. The wind around it also started to glow with blue and purple light, turning the dark apartment into a bright place.

Rainbow Dash watched in amazement as the following events unfolded. She saw the bright sphere surrounding Twilight's body like a cocoon, only her eyes managing to pierce through it. She felt the very strong wind, making her hair flap, while she was trying to keep her place on the ground. She wanted to shout- shout as loud as she could, but she knew that she couldn't stop whatever was going on. All she could do was just stay there and watch.

Steven then opened his eyes. His eyes also became balls of white light, locked in gaze with Twilight's eyes. Then, Twilight's magic in the blue sphere started to spin. It spun and spun, until it eventually broke the blue sphere. Then, Twilight's mouth opened, and the energy around her- magic and wind, went inside her eyes and mouth, energy seeming to overwhelm her body. Every single bit of energy flew inside her body, until there was nothing left. Silence filled the room.

Suddenly, a shockwave exploded from Twilight's horn. A huge shockwave that shattered windows and glass, blew open walls and doors, and made creatures of all sizes, excluding Steven, fly. Rainbow Dash herself was caught in the shockwave, and she crashed the wall of the living room.

After all the energy was gone, the winds died down. Twilight also slowly floated back to the floor, still unmoving.

Steven himself also collapsed, breathing heavily, and feeling very tired. He had no idea what just happened, except for the fact that the living room became much messier than before, despite him thinking that it couldn't have been any messier.

I guess anything is possible.

He slowly picked himself up, and shaking badly, went to Twilight. He looked around for Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash?"

"I'm here..." said the energetic voice of Rainbow Dash.

She quickly ran to Steven's side.

"Is she alright? What happened just now?" she asked.

"I don't know..." he said.

Both of them then looked at Twilight and waited expectantly for something to happen.

But nothing did.

Steven looked down. He had let another life pass in his hands. He should've been faster than this. He might have saved her then...

But then a miracle happened.

Twilight coughed.

"Twi! Twilight! She's alive!"

Steven looked up in disbelief. Alive?

Twilight then gasped for air, continued by heavy breathing.

"She's alive!"

Steven and Rainbow Dash hugged each other tightly.

"We did it!" said Steven.

"Yes, we did!"

The hug went a tad bit too long than expected. They both blushed and quickly let go.

"Let's bring her to the bedroom."

"Why not use this bed?" asked Rainbow Dash, pointing to the bed in the living room.

"That bed is for me when I started working late. It's not exactly comfortable."

After bring Twilight back to Steven's bedroom, Rainbow Dash turned to look at Steven excitedly.

"That was amazing! What did you do?" she asked.

Steven himself didn't know what had happened. All he felt was himself floating in a room of infinite white space, and having no worries or problems in his heart.

"I don't know..."

Rainbow Dash winced. She grabbed her arm in pain again.

"Does that arm still hurt?"

"Yeah, but I can manage. I have beat pain even a million times worse than this, so this one should be no probAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" She screamed in pain as Steven ever so lightly touched her arm.

"It's doesn't seem like its no problem to me." said Steven. He then pointed to the other bed.

"You better lie here for now. I'll be back, just wait."

Steven went to the kitchen to look for his ointment and a cast. As a physicist, they had to test many things that involved falling and speed, so he always kept them at the ready. He also had a basic knowledge of mending broken or dislocated bones, because he had to fix so many of them before.

But this is strange. My hoof had easily healed after it got crushed by that large piece of rock earlier. How come her arm didn't? Horses and humans should have the same healing time. Or maybe...

He quickly took the required things and returned to Rainbow Dash, who was staring at the ceiling, a single tear in her eye.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" he said, surprising the rainbow-haired woman.

She quickly looked away and rubbed her eyes, and then looked back at Steven.

"Hey! You've got the stuff? That was quick." she said, smiling innocently at Steven.

"Yup." he said. He then picked up the container of ointment.

"Help me open this with your good hand, won't you?" he said.

Rainbow Dash easily opened the lid, and then she lied back down. Steven then held up the injured arm in one hoof, and positioning the other hoof behind her shoulder.

"You might not want to look for this part." he said, before unleashing the full power of his front hoof into Rainbow Dash's dislocated shoulder. There was a loud 'SNAP', and Rainbow Dash closed her eyes to try to hold the pain in.

"Ow! That hurt!" she said.

"Sorry, princess." Steven said, as he started rubbing ointment on her shoulder. "I didn't know you were so sensitive about pain."

Rainbow Dash gave him an annoyed look.

"I can hold pain well!" she scolded. "And be thankful I wasn't a princess, because if I was a princess, then I would've ordered your head to be cut off."

"Your humble servant apologizes, your Majesty." Steven said, with a hint of laughter but a tone of seriousness. "He was only trying to help."

"Oh, cut it out." Rainbow Dash said.

"Fine, fine. Feeling better?"

Rainbow Dash tried to stretch her injured arm, and she was prepared for the pain. But it never came. Her arm was perfectly fine.

"It's great!"

"Good, now don't move it too much, it might get dislocated again. It needs some time to heal."

Steven then started to put Rainbow Dash's arm in a cast. As he did this, he couldn't help but ask something that had been bothering him.

"Hey, I don't get something..."

"What's up, humble servant?"

"Yeah, well, when I woke up in this new world, my hoof was being crushed by a huge piece of steel. The thing is, my arm healed right away after I got it out, but when you hurt your arm, it takes a long time to heal. So, what's up with that."

Rainbow Dash thought about this for a bit.

"Wow. I never really thought about that. Back in Ponyville, I must have crashed through many roofs, but they never seemed to hurt much. But this was just a simple door, so... Yeah..."

"You know, you've never really told me much about where you came from. Now's a better time than any!"

Rainbow Dash looked deep in thought.

"There's not really much to say... Except that it's home. And I miss home."

Steven finished up the cast, and then stepped back.

"There. It's done. Now don't move your hand a lot, please, because your bones are really sensitive right now."

"Okay, okay..." she said. "Now, you got anything to do?"

Steven looked around. There really was nothing much to do except for work in this place.

"Not really. Although I have a few novels back in the library, but you obviously won't like that..."

"Novels? Sure, I'd go for them. They sound great!" she said, excited.

"Seriously?" he asked, giving her a mock quizzical look. "I never thought you were the type for reading."

"Hey, a girl can have hobbies, can't she?"

Steven sighed. This girl was full of surprises.

"Sure, just wait a bit. I'll get you a book or two"

He looked at his book collection. Out of all the novels he used to have, all he had left was the Twilight Saga boxed set (He reminded himself to burn the whole thing later and bury the ashes), the Harry Potter books (a series Rainbow Dash would like, if only a majority of its pages hadn't been torn away), and the recently completed Pittacus Lore series. He took 'I Am Number Four' from off the shelves and gave it to Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash eyed it with concern.

"I Am Number Four? That's a funny title. What's it about?"

"Oh, it's about 10 aliens from the planet Lorien who-"

"No, I think I don't want to read about aliens right now."

"Well, I have no more readable books anymore, so..."

Steven made the TV sit up straight, and then he pushed it in front of Rainbow Dash.

"What's this?" she asked.

"It's a TV. Usually, it shows videos (moving pictures) about different things. Sometimes they're funny, sad, scary, and so on so forth, but since it broadcasts from satellites, and they probably would've been destroyed by now, so-"

"Get to the point, Professor."

"Well, do you like to sing?" he said.

"Sing?"

"This is karaoke chip I got," he said as he inserted a microchip into the TV, "it allows you to sing as words are put on the screen."

Rainbow Dash looked confused. Steven took a book, and chose a song, and then played it on the TV.

All of a sudden, the TV started playing music loudly. Rainbow Dash jumped back.

"Ha! This is one of my favourites." Steven exclaimed, grinning.

"Just turn it down, will you? You'll wake up Twilight." said Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, right." Steven used his nose to press another button, and the volume became lower.

"OK, now, you see those words on the screen? Well, just follow the little dot that jumps on the words, and read the word that the dot lands on. You got it?" he said.

"I think, but-"

"Come on, the song is starting! Remember, keep your voice in tune with the song, all right?"

"Okay, okay... Um... We're no strangers to... um... love... You know the rules... and... so do I..."

"Great, you're doing great!"

"A full commitment's what I'm... thinking of... Is that right? I don't think that right..."

"No, you can paraphrase. If you're not a 'guy', then you can change it. You can do anything you want, there are no rules."

"Sure, sure... I... just wanna tell you what I'm feeling... Gonna make you... understand..."

Steven smiled. A pony-turned-human, a cute one too, is singing 'Never Gonna Give You Up'. It's been about a century since that song was first made, but to him, it was one of the best songs ever. Rick Astley is a legend.

"Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down..." sang Rainbow Dash.

"Never gonna run around, and desert you." sand Steven.

"Never gonna make you cry..."

"Never gonna say goodbye..."

"Never gonna tell a lie, and hurt you."

Steven and Rainbow Dash laughed. It was a funny song, but singing it out loud made it sound really stupid.

"I'm gonna pack up for when we leave soon. Now that Twilight's been revived, we could possibly get answers by tomorrow. You just pick another song" said Steven.

"Sure, sure, go." said Rainbow Dash, halfheartedly. She found karaoke singing fun, and she wanted to do another one. However, she didn't know any of Earth's songs, so she just closed her eyes and put her finger on a song.

She opened her eyes and removed her finger to see the song she picked.

"Hmm. Let's see..." she said, as she read the title and artist of the song.

"Friday by Rebecca Black..."

Chapter 6- A Half-Remembered Dream (Twilight)

And so I cry sometimes when I'm lying in bed...

Twilight was asleep.

But she was crying. She cannot sleep peacefully, and she possibly never will. Not after what happened. The recurring nightmare she had grew even worse after that day...

Just to get it all out, what's in my head...

Twilight was crying.

But her tears were dry. She cried so hard that she couldn't cry anymore. The tears just wouldn't come. The strange thing was that Twilight really wanted to cry. Crying helped lighten the weight she felt in her heart.

And I, I'm feeling a little peculiar...

Twilight was angry.

The whole time she thought about it, she felt regret. Regret that she could have stepped in and helped her. Regret that she could've teleported with Pinkie. She was angry. Angry at the world. Angry at herself.

And so I wake in the morning and I step outside...

Twilight was awake.

The feeling she had was terrible. She had let Pinkie die. Her best friend, Pinkie, died trying to save her. She desperately wished for an escape from all this. It wasn't worth it. Her life wasn't worth it.

And I take a deep breath and I get real high...

Twilight was heartbroken.

She started to cry again. She cried non-stop, until she lost her breath. Pain quickly swelled up inside her. Maybe this is for the best, she thought. Maybe she should just die and get it over with. But she cannot. She gasped for air.

And I scream from the top of my lungs...

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" she shouted.

Almost immediately, she heard a door slam open, followed by two ponies coming inside. One was very tall, and the other one was normal sized.. She couldn't see them very well, but she could make out that the tall one was white and had rainbow hair, and that the short one was gray-blue with a dark blue mane.

"Princess Celestia?" she asked. She had just realized how raspy her voice was from crying without stopping.

The Rainbow-haired one laughed.

"Look at her! She thinks I'm Princess Celestia." she heard her say to the shorter one. "What's up, most faithful student?"

"Come on, Dash, she just woke up." the other one said. "It's natural to feel disoriented."

The Rainbow-haired one just laughed. The shorter pony shook his head and smiled at her.

As Twilight's vision cleared, the two ponies came back into view.

But there was something wrong.

Twilight glanced at the blue-gray one, who was still smiling at her. Yup, he was definitely a pony. A unicorn, no less.

She then turned to look at the other one, who was still laughing heartily at her expense.

But she was no pony.

She was one of those monsters

The ones who killed Pinkie Pie.

Twilight leaped out of the bed and pounced on the Rainbow-haired monster, pinning her down with all her strength.

"Hey!" said the Rainbow-Haired one. "Geroff me!"

Twilight's rage quelled up inside her again.  She wanted to completely destroy this monster. She wanted to tear and rip it apart and burn the remains. She wanted to crush all of its bones and spill its blood. And even that wouldn't be enough.

Twilight developed an insatiable hunger. A hunger for blood. If she couldn't save Pinkie, then this was the least she could do. Never before in her life had she felt so angry at another species altogether. She wanted to destroy all of them, ALL OF THEM, and she was determined to make them suffer.

She quickly used her magic to summon a large knife from somewhere, and she was planning on using it to tear apart the monster limb to limb.

"Twi! What the hay are you doing?"

Twilight froze. She knew this voice.

Twilight's bloodlust was quickly cleared out. She threw the knife aside (barely missing the other pony), and stared into the Rainbow monster's pink eyes.

She knew those eyes. And that Rainbow Hair is not that common too.

Twilight continued to stare at those eyes. They were scared, and they looked like they were pleading. Pleading for Twilight to  know something. To remember something. But beneath those emotions were the eyes of someone who knew her, someone who loved her. The eyes of a best friend.

"Rainbow Dash?" she said, hazarding a guess.

"You got it." Rainbow Dash said, taking a deep breath.

Twilight walked backward, and fell down.

"Whew!" said Rainbow Dash. "I was beginning to think that you wanted to kill me! Who knew that an egghead like you could be so strong?"

Rainbow Dash walked to Twilight and put her into a sitting position.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked. "What happened?"

Twilight couldn't answer. Thinking about it just made it worse. She tried to push the thought out of her head. But it was impossible. She started to cry again.

"Hey, Twilight," said Rainbow Dash, approaching her. "What's wr-"

Tears still flowing, Twilight quickly pulled Rainbow Dash into a tight hug.

"Rainbow Dash..." she managed, among large sobs.

Rainbow Dash was surprised for a moment, but she soon realized what happened and hugged her back tightly.

"I've missed you, Twilight." she said, as she started to cry as well.

Twilight kept on crying. Streams of tears fell freely down her cheeks, but Twilight couldn't think about anything anymore. As she was hugging Rainbow Dash, all she could think of was all the memories they had together in Ponyville, all the challenges they had overcome, the times they laughed together, the times they cried together, all of it came flooding back to Twilight's mind. She felt relieved to be back with a friend

They stayed locked in embrace for a very long time, both hugging the other tightly. Twilight could feel Rainbow Dash also crying on her shoulders, but she didn't care. They were together again.

Twilight could hear a shuffling of hoofsteps nearby, and the opening and closing of a door. Twilight didn't want to let go of Rainbow Dash, and judging by how tightly Rainbow Dash was hugging her, she assumed that Rainbow Dash felt the same way.

Suddenly the door opened again, and a voice said:

"C'mon, girls. Let's continue this outside, where there's more space."

Twilight slowly let go of Rainbow Dash, and Rainbow Dash did the same. For another few moments, they stared at each other.

"I'm glad you're with me, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash stood up on her hind legs, and straightened up Twilight. Both of them slowly walked out the door to the living room.

"Well, Ms. Twilight, welcome to my humble abode."

Twilight looked around in awe. It was extremely messy. She was going to have to clean it up later.

"Sit here." he told her, pointing at a nearby bed. He and Rainbow Dash then took some chairs and sat on them.

Twilight quickly sat down on the bed. It was pretty hard for something to sleep on. She then eyed the stranger pony.

Rainbow Dash smiled, and said:

"He's a friend. He saved my life, he did. Introduce yourself, man."

The stranger pony looked uneasy, then he opened his mouth to speak.

"Hi, I'm Steven Reilly." he said, holding out his hoof.

"Twilight Sparkle. That's a strange name you have there. Steven? Reilly? I've never even heard of those words before."

"Yeah, well, it's a long story." he said.

"Same story as me." said Rainbow Dash, under her breath.

Steven smiled at her, then he turned to look at Twilight again.

"Well, anyway, we need to know what exactly happened to both our worlds. Both our planets could not have survived a planetary impact of that caliber, so we thought that maybe you had an answer."

"I don't know." said Twilight, quietly.

"I'm sorry, come again?" he asked as he brought his head closer to hear her voice better.

"I said I don't know." said Twilight, raising her voice. "I don't know ANYTHING."

She started to cry again. She noticed Steven giving Rainbow Dash a look, and Rainbow Dash shrugged.

Twilight just continued crying. Other than Twilight's sobs, there was no other sound. Even the wind seemed to respect her feelings and softened.

Rainbow Dash went to sit beside her. She put one hand on her shoulder. Twilight turned to look at her. Rainbow Dash's face was etched with concern.

Twilight's crying died down a bit. Rainbow Dash and Steven didn't dare say another word until it either completely stopped, or Twilight began talking first.

As Twilight stopped crying, Rainbow Dash slowly let go of her. Twilight turned to look at Rainbow Dash, and she smiled.

"So how did you guys meet?" she asked.

"Well, you know, we met just like everypony else meets. He tried to drown me, then we started getting to know each other. You know, same-old same-old." she said.

"That was just one part of the story." said Steven.

"But it's true!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Anyway, before the crash, I was a full-fledged human, just like how Rainbow Dash is right now. One day, I discovered the Sun suddenly going to explode, so I deployed a black-hole device to suck up the explosion. But I fired it too late, so the Earth got sucked up as well. Long story short, we appeared in your galaxy and crashed into your planet. All of a sudden I woke up to find myself a pony."

"And while he was walking, he found me and tried to drown me." said Rainbow Dash. "So I woke up and found myself a human. With no wings." Rainbow Dash's face dropped as she mentioned that, but she quickly recovered and tried, unconvincingly, to smile.

"And Dash here told me about you, so we thought you had an idea about what happened to us." he said.

"I'm sorry, but I don't" said Twilight.

"We know." said Rainbow Dash, strangely cheerfully.

"So the question is, how did you wake up in this world?" asked Steven.

Twilight stayed silent. Remembering about how she woke up would mean having to remember about Pinkie. But she couldn't avoid it any further. She would have to tell them anyway.

Twilight told Rainbow Dash and Steven about how she woke up strapped to something, and how her hooves were kept in place and she couldn't move. She told them about how she was moved to a small room where she had to talk to a strange monkey ("Human." corrected Steven). She then told them about her escape, and how the monkeys ("Humans." said Steven) had some kind of wierd things that shot stuff, and how she teleported through the cells in the Holding Area, encountered Pinkie, and how they escaped together.

After that, Twilight remained quiet. She couldn't speak anymore, for fear that she would start crying again.

"Pinkie?" asked Rainbow Dash. "She was there too?"

"Who's Pinkie?" asked Steven.

"She's one of our friends." said Rainbow Dash. "Where's Pinkie now, Twilight?"

Twilight looked away.

"Twilight?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight couldn't say it. She knew of how close Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were. And she knew that if she was this sad over her loss, she could only wonder how Rainbow Dash would feel. She couldn't bear to think about it.

"Twilight?"

"She's dead..."

"You gotta speak up, Twi. I can't hear-"

"She's dead, Rainbow Dash. Dead. She was killed by the humans."

Rainbow Dash stayed silent and stared at Twilight. Her piercing gaze made Twilight feel uneasy. It turned seconds into hours, and hours into days. After a while, she noticed that tears were starting to swell up in those pink eyes.

"I don't believe it..." said Rainbow Dash. "Pinkie Pie... dead?"

"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash stood up and looked away. Twilight knew that she was on the verge of crying.

After a few moments of silence, Rainbow Dash looked back at Twilight.

"How... How did she die?"

"Rainbow Dash..."

"Tell me, Twilight. How did she die?" commanded Rainbow Dash.

"When we had already reached outside, I tripped. Pinkie Pie sacrificed herself to let me run while she distracted them."

Rainbow Dash remained quiet, still staring at Twilight.

"She was yelling at them, diverting their attention... and then suddenly... the humans shot her. I saw her fall down dead, Rainbow Dash. I SAW HER DIE!"

Twilight started crying again. She couldn't help it. She just needed to let it all out. Her anger, her frustration, her sadness, her grief... She couldn't keep it in anymore.

Rainbow Dash was still silent.

"Sometimes I wish that I could go back to that time, so I could sacrifice myself to let Pinkie run instead."

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash stood up.

Twilight turned to look at her. Rainbow Dash was standing in front of her, her pink eyes bloodshot and full of anger and sadness.

"Who do you think you are, Twilight?"

"What?" said Twilight, still crying.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

Twilight looked up at her.

"I know that you feel the same way, Rainbow Dash. I know that you also think that I should've died in her place."

As soon as that sentence ended, Rainbow Dash walked up to Twilight and punched her, right in the face.

"I'm sorry, Rain-"

Rainbow Dash punched her again.

Twilight fell down, face bruised, and looked at the ground, not daring to meet Rainbow Dash's eyes.

"Look at me, Twilight. LOOK INTO MY EYES!"

Twilight quickly faced Rainbow Dash. Her gaze seemed to pierce through her, and through the meeting of their eyes, she started to feel what Rainbow Dash was feeling as well.

"You don't have the right, Twilight. You don't have the RIGHT to question Pinkie Pie's choice. How DARE you even THINK about wasting Pinkie's sacrifice by dying?"

Rainbow Dash then picked up a chair and threw it out of the window.

"She dies for YOU, Twilight. Pinkie Pie gave her life to save you Twilight, and you have no RIGHT to say that you would've been better off dead. Don't you have any respect for Pinkie Pie, Twilight?"

Twilight cried even harder.

"Of course I do, but-"

"Then why don't you SHOW it, by first respecting Pinkie's CHOICES? She KNEW what she was doing when she gave her life for you, Twilight. Do you think that Pinkie Pie was stupid, Twilight?"

"Of course not, Rainbow Dash..."

"Then you should know that there was no other choice! She knew that you would be needed, Twilight, that other ponies NEEDED you to help them through this crisis. And if all you do after her that sacrifice is just sit there and wish for death, then her sacrifice is in vain, Twilight! She would've died for NOTHING."

Rainbow Dash then roughly picked up Twilight from the ground.

"Please, Rainbow Dash, I-"

Rainbow Dash struck her again. She punched Twilight twice, and Twilight fell down again.

"Stand up, you. STAND UP!"

Twilight slowly stood up.

"Don't you dare fall down." said Rainbow Dash, as she continued to punch her. This time, Twilight didn't fall down.

Rainbow Dash, however, continued to hit her.

Steven, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly stepped in between Rainbow Dash and Twilight.

"Enough of this, Rainbow Dash."

"Move aside, Steven."

"No. I've had enough. Stand down, Rainbow Dash"

Rainbow Dash lowered her arms. Slowly, she started to cry, tears streaming down her cheek. She then ran outside, shutting the door loudly behind her.

"I'm sorry, Twilight. Let me go talk to her." said Steven. "Wait, Rainbow Dash!"

Twilight remained silent. She managed to overhear their conversation outside.

"Come inside, Dash..."

"I need some time alone, Steven."

"Dash, I know you-"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

There were sounds of sobs, followed by hoofsteps. She heard the door slowly open and close again.

Steven walked back in the room.

He sighed, and then sat next to Twilight.

"She's right, you know." he said.

Twilight turned to look at him.

"I've never met Pinkie Pie before, but according to her actions, she would've known what she was doing. She gave her life to give you but a chance to escape."

Twilight remained silent.

"Rainbow Dash doesn't want you to die, Twilight. She doesn't want you to think about dying in place of her, when in real life, she had died for you. You must understand, Twilight, that Rainbow Dash likes Pinkie Pie very much, and that she definitely didn't want her to have died for nothing."

Twilight still didn't say anything. She didn't know how to react to this.

"A very wise man once told me that 'Duty is heavier than a mountain, and Death is lighter than a feather'. Don't think about dying now. If you die now, then it would've been an escape. You would've been a coward. So stand up strong, Twilight. Stand up and fight. Now is the time to choose. Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow. Now is the time to shape our stories."

Twilight sighed and looked at Steven.

"I know."

"What?"

"I know what Rainbow Dash wanted to tell me. I understand. With every punch she used to hit me just now, I felt everything. I felt all her feeling and emotions with each and every punch. Those punches told me what a thousand words couldn't have."

Steven stared at her for a few seconds, and then he finally smiled.

"Good. I'll get Rainbow Dash back."

Steven slowly walked out of the room and closed the door, leaving the room in silence.

Pinkie...

Twilight was deep in thought. Pinkie Pie, one of her best friends, had died for her. She had thought that all of that was a mistake, and that Pinkie shouldn't have died.

But now she knew.

Now she knew that if Pinkie hadn't sacrificed herself, both of them would have died for nothing back in that desert. She knew that it was because Pinkie sacrificed herself that Twilight was able to come here and be saved. Now she knew that there was no use in moping and being sad, and that Pinkie Pie wouldn't want that.

Pinkie Pie wanted everyone to be happy.

Twilight started crying once again. But this time, these tears were no tears of sadness, of regret. They were tears of gratitude. Grateful to Pinkie of letting her live another day. Grateful to Pinkie for trusting her. Grateful to Pinkie for giving her the chance to help the others.

Twilight then stopped crying. She swore to herself, as Celestia is her witness, they she will not feel regret again. She was going to live through this and when it was all over, she would never think about dying again. Not her, nor any of her friends,

The door then creaked open.

Rainbow Dash ran in and knocked Twilight down with the tightest hug she had ever gotten.

"I'm sorry, Twilight... I'm sorry..." said Rainbow Dash, crying loudly.

"Please don't, Rainbow Dash. Don't be sorry." said Twilight. "It was through those punches of yours that I managed to see the truth. Thank you, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash then let go of her and stood up. She was grinning.

"I do throw mean punches, didn't I?" she said, still sobbing, but happily. "I practiced them on Steven when you were asleep last night. He said that I might need some help protecting myself."

Steven, behind her, blushed. Only then did she notice that both Steven's and Rainbow Dash's body were bruised.

"Well, I was wrong." said Steven. "Rainbow Dash can easily beat a stampede of elephants to death."

Rainbow Dash then giggled and blushed.

Wait...

Rainbow Dash doesn't giggle...

Wait... What?

Rainbow Dash and Steven? Do they really?

Human and Pony? How does that even work?

What?

WHAT?

But Steven IS good looking, and his personality is similar to Rainbow Dash too...

Twilight started laughing. Very loudly.

Both Steven and Rainbow Dash looked at her.

"Why are you laughing, Twilight?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight fell down, laughing. She rolled over to one side and continued her laughter, and it was only after a few minutes did she finally calm down.

"What was that, Twilight?"

"Nothing, nothing... Erm... Well... I suggest we get ready."

"For what?"

"For tomorrow, of course!"

Steven and Rainbow Dash exchanged glances and then looked at Twilight, their expressions comedic.

"We're still going to have to find the rest of our friends, don't we?" she said. "And you too, Steven, don't you have to find your friends?"

"Oh, yes, of course..." said Steven. "Well, there's no need to worry about that! I've got it all ready. On the counter next to the fridge in the kitchen over there, I packed some food, water, and clothes for Dash here that will last us about three weeks."

"Great! Then it's settled. I suggest we turn in for the night. We're gonna need all the energy we have for tomorrow's journey." she said. "Where will we sleep?"

"Well, you still need a good night's rest from when we found you, so you can sleep in the bedroom." said Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah. Rainbow Dash and I will share the living room. And Rainbow Dash's snoring will probably keep me up for about an hour, so why don't we set the alarm clock to around 9?"

"Hey!" said Rainbow Dash, smiling, as he playfully nudged at Steven.

Oh my gosh... They're really at it. I can't believe this!

Twilight started giggling to herself again.

"What's up?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Nothing, nothing... You guys get a good night's sleep. Don't be awake too long..." said Twilight.

Steven and Rainbow Dash then exchanged looks, as if saying: What did she mean by that?

Twilight then quickly ran inside the bedroom. She didn't want to be awake when both of them lovebirds were going at it.

She quickly climbed into bed and made herself comfortable. Out of all the places in the whole apartment, the bedroom was kept the neatest.

Is there some kind of meaning to this?

Nah. She was just being paranoid.

She snuggled herself down the blanket, and then looked up at the night sky.

The night sky always seemed to comfort her for some reason. Whenever she looked at the stars above, she felt relaxed, happy, at ease.

Pinkie Pie's dead...

She still couldn't believe it. Her best friend is dead.

But she had accepted it. It was strange that she did, but it was true. There was something in Rainbow Dash's punches, something in her eyes, that helped her realize the truth.

That a bright new day is coming tomorrow.

And she was looking forward to it.

Chapter 7- Scary Monsters and Nice Parasprites (Reilly)

Author's Note- In contrast to the relative cheerfulness of earlier chapters, this one is a bit more dark. Many a man had read this chapter and found it to be quite heavy-hearted. This chapter is full of foreshadowing and will generate many questions that will remain unanswered until much later. So good luck, and thanks for reading!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Riddles in the dark...

There Steven stood, in the infinite mass of darkness, alone and in fear. He didn't know how he got there, but it didn't matter. He had to find a way out.

Although he was alone in that darkness, the place was far from quiet. Eerie voices and whispers surrounded him, speaking of fear and death.

All of a sudden, Steven heard a booming voice emanate all around him.

"Steven Reilly." said the voice. It was deep, and inviting. Steven couldn't help but listen to what it had to say.

"Welcome to the dark. I was hoping for many more visitors, but apparently none of them were worthy."

As the voice said this, Steven could see shadows moving silently behind him, leaving ghostly whispers of the words of the voice.

Steven looked around, trying to find the body of the shadow. But it moved too quickly. The patterns of its movement was also unpredictable, making it impossible for Steven to isolate the shadow.

"What are you?" he asked, trying to sound braver than he really felt that time.

"What am I?" said the voice. "I'm not a 'what', I am a 'who'. As for who I am, no one really knows."

Suddenly, Steven could feel the fur on the back of his neck begin to stand. He immediately turned around and found the solid shadow.

It was faceless, and it looked like it was made out of nothing but darkness and voids. The wisps of shadow from its body spread and emanated throughout its back. The shadow stopped moving at all. It just stood there, facing him.

"I can be the Dark One, the Shadow, bringer of Evil and Malice."

As he said this, the shadow began to move toward Steven. Steven backed away, but the Shadow just moved closer. He tried to run, he tried to scream, but the fear of the shadow froze him in place. The shadow then took hold of Steven's neck and tightly kept it there. He tried to escape, but its grip was too tight. Steven couldn't move.

The shadow's head then seemed to break apart. What looked like a mouth appeared, but instead of a normal mouth, Steven saw nothing but a single floating void. Steven's eyes couldn't look away now that he saw it- the void seemed to have captivated Steven. He desperately tried to look away, but he could not.

As he stared into the shadow's mouth, he suddenly felt the urge to open his own mouth. But he dared not open it. As he waited there, still in the shadow's grasp, the urge to open his mouth grew even larger. In the end, he gave into his urges and opened it.

What happened next was unexplainable. The shadow's void seemed to be sucking something out of Steven's mouth. He saw something bright, something shining, be sucked out of his mouth and taken into shadow. As it spun into the shadow's mouth, Steven felt something. He felt sadness. He felt despair. All of his worst experiences seemed to be flooding back to him, multiplying his feelings tenfold. He had completely lost all ability to be happy. He had completely forgotten what it was like to be grateful, to laugh and play. He now wished for nothing but death.

"However, to some, I am the Hero of Light, the Savior, one who brings about kindness and compassion."

As he watched, the darkness around him turned to light, and the Shadow had disappeared. In place of it came a White Knight, a Holy Knight. Steven stood there, transfixed, as the White Knight dismounted from his horse, lance in hand, and approached him. The White Knight then laid his lance on Steven's shoulder.

The lance felt warm, comfortable. As quickly as how his bad memories came to him due to Shadow, the lance gave him back all of his happy memories, his greatest of glories, the best of experiences. In place of being alone in the dark, Steven now saw himself with family, old friends... Jaeda.

He watched as he saw himself laughing with his loved ones, and he saw himself, in different times, smiling and happy. The White Knight then mounted his horse and rode to the light, slowly but surely disappearing from view.

Steven then turned around. He watched as flames, tall as the heavens, suddenly appeared in a straight line, roaring like the the wildest of beasts.

"Will you look into the fire?" asked the voice.

Steven looked around, trying to find the origin of the voice.

"What will I see?" he asked, hesitant to follow the voice's commands.

The voice then laughed. A great, hearty laugh that sounded alike to that of the cheerful drunkard he used to meet in the pub he and his friends frequented.

"Even the wisest cannot tell, Steven Reilly, for the fire shows many things."

As if on cue, the fire quickly calmed down, quietly swaying despite the absence of wind.

"Things that were..." said the voice. "Things that are..."

The fire then turned a bright green.

"And some things which have not yet come to pass."

Steven glanced at the green fire. It looked inviting, as if begging Steven to come admire it. Steven easily gave way to his inner curiosity, and stepped forward to look at the fire.

As he stared into the fire, he felt the fire start to surround him. As he waited for something to happen, the flames subsided, stranding him in the middle of what looked like a barren wasteland. He was unable to move, unable to explore the land, and so he waited there for something to happen.

All of a sudden, Steven began to hear battle cries from both the left and the right side. He watched both sides as tiny dots began to appear, which quickly came running towards him. As the dots came into view, he saw ponies on one side, and humans on the other. Ponies and Humans were at war.

As both sides met on the battlefield, everything blurred out of view. In place of millions of soldiers, only a few bodies remained on the ground, scattered across the land. As he stood in place, he saw as each body came into view, and then it quickly blurred out to make another one clear.

He saw seven bodies, but he only recognized three. He saw Twilight's, Rainbow Dash's, and finally...

His own.

Steven was shocked. He fell back. There was something about looking at one's own body that would easily surprise them, and Steven was no exception.

He fell back, out of the fire. He saw himself back into darkness.

"I know not of what you saw, for it only appears in your own mind." said the voice.

Steven looked around. The fire was still there, but it was now no larger than a normal fireplace.

"But I do know what you must do. And how you must do it." said the voice. "The future you saw is one that would happen should you fail."

"Then tell me. What must I do?" said Steven, exasperated and still shocked.

"I cannot. It will go against the rule of nature. You must find out yourself." said the voice. "However, I can help you."

Steven looked up.

"Then please tell me! What must I do to avoid this fate?" he asked.

"Of this mission that you must do, I can only speak in riddles." said the voice. "Heed my words well, Steven Reilly, for every one is important."

Steven then heard the voice's words inside his head, permanently etched into his brain. Or for that time, at least.

I know of what you need to seek,

So that the future would not be so bleak.

What has roots that nobody sees,

And can even be taller than the trees,

As up, up, and up it goes,

And yet it never actually grows?

At the peak of the tallest one,

You will then find someone,

Who's legacy is the first thing,

That could stop what destruction the Sun will bring.

As the riddle stopped playing in his head, Steven felt a tingling sensation. A sensation that seemed like he was being pulled away...

"AAAH!" shouted Steven, as he jumped out of bed.

He heard a loud thud to his left, followed by a soft "Ow!"

Rainbow Dash picked herself up from off the floor, and looked at Steven, looking annoyed.

"What was that about?" she asked.

Steven, still in shock, didn't answer immediately.

"N-nothing..." he mumbled, not actually hearing the question in the first place.

Steven was still in his home. He looked around.

Was all that a dream?

It was still dark outside, but the light was slowly appearing.

...That could stop what destruction the Sun will bring...

He hadn't thought about it until then, but the Sun was destroyed. Where did this light come from?

And whatever destruction that the Sun would've brought had already happened. The Sun already threatened their existence. Does that mean something else involving the Sun will happen?

Or maybe it really was just a dream...

Suddenly, Steven heard a very loud ringing in the living room. He jumped in surprise.

Rainbow Dash looked down at something.

"Well, it looks like you've managed to beat the alarm clock." she said, picking up the alarm clock from the floor.

"Yeah... I guess I did..." mumbled Steven, deep in thought.

Rainbow Dash then went up to him.

"Hey, Steven, are you feeling all right?" she asked, voice full of concern.

"Yeah, yeah... I'm fine..." he replied, still sounding like he was in another world.

Rainbow Dash sounded like she wanted to say something else, but whatever it was, she thought better of it and didn't say it.

"I'll go see if Twilight is awake." she said as she ran to the bedroom and disappeared from sight.

Steven looked out the window, still thinking about the riddle.

What has roots that nobody sees, and can even be taller than trees...

Roots that nobody sees...

Riddles in the dark...

Steven saw in a flash all of his experiences back in the Darkness, and he violently shook his head. He needed to get the whole experience out of his mind.

But in the bottom of his heart, he knew that the riddle was something of great importance. He needed to solve it.

"Good morning, Steven! Are you ready to go?" asked Twilight, who had just come out of the bedroom. She sounded cheerful, but her expression betrayed her voice.

"Yeah, let me just pack some stuff up, then we can go." said Steven.

Late last night, Steven had already packed up all of the essentials. But Steven still needed to pack up some other things.

"Okay, we'll be waiting outside. Hurry up, Steven." she said.

He brought out the old camping tent that he used a long time ago. It was big enough for Twilight and Rainbow Dash to sleep in. He then packed up lighter, some matches, and some binoculars. He also packed his old gun and a small knife (for safety's sake).

He then went back to his bedroom. As the girls will be sleeping in the tent, he needed to find a sleeping bag.

Where did I put that sleeping bag...

It had been a long time since he had last used it, and he completely forgot where he put it.

He looked inside and on top of the cupboard, behind the door, everywhere, but he couldn't find it.

Guess I'll have to make do with a blanket...

He hurriedly packed his blanket into his travelling pack, and when he was done, he stood there in silence.

This was probably the last time he would see his home. He had said it to many others before- all his memories, all his precious things, all of it came with this little apartment. He looked around again, trying to capture the nostalgia of his home one last time.

But now it was time to go. They had to part ways. He quickly took one last breath and walked out the door.

But right before he actually left, something caught his eye.

Despite the great mess of the living room, this one solid object just sat there on the floor, perfect and undisturbed. He bent down to pick it up.

It was a picture of himself and Jaeda.

It was about two years ago, long before her death. Back when true happiness was still an achievable dream.

He knew that he cannot bring it. He knew that he had to let her go. For months, he had tried to tell himself that he already did.

But he cannot let go.

All the times they shared together, the good and bad times, they were all permanently recorded into his brain. He literally wan't able to forget them.

"Come on, Steven! We gotta hurry!" said a voice from downstairs.

Steven looked at the picture again.

Let go...

He closed his eyes. He felt his grip on the picture slowly loosen.

He remembered her funeral. Around a hundred people had gathered on the top of a cliff- a cliff that leads to the vast ocean. That was where they wanted to spread her ashes.

He remembered his father's first words to him after she had died. His father, with his infinite wisdom, had told him this:

"There are things in this world, son, that we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind. But keep in mind that letting go isn't the end of the world. It's the beginning of a new life."

Steven, eyes still closed, heard the distinguishable clattering of the photo frame on the floor. He hesitated, for a few last seconds, but he ultimately walked out the door, leaving the picture, his greatest memories and yet his greatest bane, behind.

As he walked out of the apartment building, he saw Twilight and Rainbow Dash right outside, waiting for him.

"I presume you've already said your last goodbyes, then?" asked Twilight.

"I sure as hell had." said Steven, smiling. Twilight and Rainbow Dash just looked at each other and shrugged, not knowing what 'hell' meant.

"So, where should we start?" asked Twilight.

Steven didn't answer. He was back to thinking about the riddle.

Roots that nobody sees...  Can even be taller than trees...

Up, up, and up it goes... And yet it never grows...

Rainbow Dash stopped in her tracks and looked at Twilight.

"We thought you knew the way!" she said.

"I don't..." said Twilight dejectedly. "Our list of problems and guesses can probably build a whole mountain."

Mountain?

Of course...

"Mountain." said Steven.

"What?"

"Mountain." said Steven, a little more loudly. "Let's climb a mountain."

Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash stared at him like he had just escaped a mental ward.

"Are you alright?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Ever since this morning, you've seemed so... Distracted."

"I'm fine, thank you." said Steven, annoyed.

"What makes you say that we should climb a mountain?" asked Twilight, her voice skeptical.

"Urm..." said Steven. "Call it intuition. So let's go climb us some mountains!"

Twilight and Rainbow Dash now looked deeply worried. But since they had nowhere else to go, they had no choice but to go with Steven's idea.

"Okay, say we are going to climb a mountain." said Rainbow Dash. "Which one should we climb? We don't have much time, and since my wings are gone, so..."

"The closest one. We start with the closest one."

"And which one would that be?"

Steven looked around. He then seemed to have spotted something.

"That one."

Steven pointed at a towering mountain, not very far away from where they were.

Twilight sighed.

"I guess we have no choice, then. Lead the way, Steven."

Steven smiled. He was always more cheerful around friends than he ever was when alone.

As they walked, slowly but consistently, they talked about life back from where they came. Steven talked about his life as a scientist (skipping out the details on any Jaeda-related information), Earth and humans in general. He talked about the World Wars, putting a man on the moon, the telephone, and about his achievements as an astrophysicist. He spoke of String Theory ("Really? I always thought that space was made of magic!"), breaking the light spectrum (Rainbow Dash seemed sad when she heard this), and the discovery of microscopic alien life ("So the truth is out there, huh?").

Twilight and Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, talked about life in Equestria. Twilight talked about the two Princess monarchs ("Queens who are Princesses?"), the different cities ("Manehattan? That sounds awfully familiar..."), and about life as the apprentice of one of the Princesses (the Princess of the Sun). Rainbow Dash uncharacteristically just nodded and said nothing.

Being from two almost completely different worlds, they didn't run out of things to talk about. However, everything stopped when they had reached the mountain.

Unlike most tall mountains, this one was just covered in trees. If it weren't sloping, it would've been a forest. And these trees weren't just any random trees. These trees were positively the creepiest trees he had ever seen in his life.

Steven gulped and started climbing the mountain.

"Something about this seems awfully familiar." said Twilight. "Don't you think, Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow Dash didn't answer. She was busy looking somewhere else.

"Did you guys see that?" she asked. "There was something moving, right there!"

To Steven's surprise, Rainbow Dash sounded more excited than scared. There really were many surprises yet to come from this young woman.

"It's a forest, Dash." said Twilight. "There's bound to be something moving."

Steven, for one, shared Rainbow Dash's suspicions. There was something very unnatural about this forest.

Rainbow Dash glanced one last time at that spot, and then hesitantly continued onward.

As they walked deeper into the forest, the atmosphere became more tense as the silence of the forest gets to them.

Steven could feel something. He could feel something watching them... Something stalking their hoofsteps.

"How far to the top, Twilight?" asked Steven quietly, wary of anything that moved.

"We're halfway there." said Twilight. The atmosphere seemed to unnerve her as well.

In fact, the only one in the group who was absolutely fine was Rainbow Dash. Since the initial excitement, she had just been getting more cheerier and cheerier. She was now literally skipping and humming while they hiked.

"I've never heard of that song before." said Twilight. "What is it?"

"Oh, its something Steven and I sang back when you were unconscious." said Rainbow Dash.

"Was that all you did?" asked Twilight. Steven looked at Rainbow Dash, who looked back and shrugged.

"Anyway, even if we reach the peak, Steven, where are we going to do?" asked Twilight.

"I don't think we're supposed to reach the peak." said Steven. "Look for a cave somewhere around here."

"Guys?" said Rainbow Dash.

"A cave? Well, I suppose that wouldn't be so hard to find." said Twilight.

"Um... Guys?"

"Yeah. I think it's supposed to be quite a huge cave, too."

"Guys!"

All of a sudden, Steven noticed the bushes around there start rustling.

"What was that?" asked Twilight.

"Ssh!" said Steven. "Just stay still."

"Come on!" shouted Rainbow Dash, waving her arms around like she was ready to fight. "Who wants a little piece of Rainbow Dash here?"

As if on cue, three giant shadows suddenly jumped up from the bushes. They ran around them in circles, slowly tightening them together. Steven tried to catch a look at the shadows, and after some time he managed to look at one clearly.

Wolves.

Great. Just great.

"Okay, guys, when I say 'go', we quickly run into the forest. Rainbow Dash, I need you to hop on." said Steven.

"But-"

"Just do it." he said. "We need to run very fast. And those human legs go as fast as Twilight's or mine."

Rainbow Dash looked down sadly. Steven knew that this was because of the loss of her wings and how she cannot travel as fast anymore. It was depressing to see someone like Rainbow Dash in that state. However, Rainbow Dash quickly climbed on his back. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Twilight smirk. He had no idea why, though.

"Okay, Twilight. You ready"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Steven stood still, his eyes squinted, as he tried to calculate when was the best time to run. He could see the wolves getting closer.

"Steven?"

The wolves were running around in circles, but there should be a small break somewhere. That small break would give them safe passage through them. But where was it?

"Come on, Steven."

Steven could feel Rainbow Dash grasping tightly on his mane. The wolves were now very close. He had to find that break, quickly.

"Steven..."

Steven saw the break. But he needed to wait for it to come in front of him...

There!

"Go!"

Twilight and Steven quickly jumped forward and landed safely on the other side. He could feel the wolves getting confused and slowing down. Pretty soon they'd be chasing them again.

"Okay, now RUN!"

Both ponies ran through the forest like there was nothing to lose, easily dodging trees, rocks, and the like. Steven looked back and saw that the wolves were indeed chasing them.

"Pick up the pace!" he said.

They both pushed themselves to the absolute limit to outrun the wolves, and Steven honestly thought that this was the fastest he had ever been before on land. Rainbow Dash was having difficulty holding on to his mane, so she quickly held on to his neck tightly with both arms. Steven could feel her pressing her cheek against the back of his neck.

But they couldn't keep this up for long. By pushing themselves to the limit, they could only run a few more kilometers before completely breaking down. He noticed Twilight begin to screw her own face in concentration as she continued running.

At the distance, however, he saw something relieving.

It was a cave.

"Quickly! Run inside!" said Steven.

The wolves were already far behind, but they were still chasing them. He knew that they had to find shelter and a place to hide immediately.

As soon as they reached the cave, however, the most unexpected thing happened. They were attacked.

Steven could hear a battle cry, followed by a yellow blur that knocked Rainbow Dash off his back.

"What was that?" she asked.

Suddenly, Twilight got punched in the face by the yellow blur. Now he's gotta ask. Was there something about Twilight's face that made people really want to punch it?

"Twilight!"

And then, Steven felt something yank his tail back. As he lost balance, he felt a piercing pain from his chin to his cheek. He immediately knew what that was. He had just been roundhouse kicked. Whatever this was, they really knew what they were doing.

Steven fell back, his face burning with pain. As quickly as it had appeared, the yellow blur had disappeared.

"HOW DARE YOU ENTER MY CAVE?" asked a monstrous, roaring voice.

Steven heard the wolves coming closer.

"I'm sorry, we just-"

"HOW DARE YOU THINK ABOUT HURTING THE LITTLE ONES?"

"No, you misunderstand! We just-"

"Oh, I've had enough of this! You're not going to hurt us and get away with it, you hear?" said Rainbow Dash, as she entered the cave.

However, there was a sudden, loud noise in the cave and Rainbow Dash came back flying out.

"Wow..." she said, looking amazed. "That thing's really strong!"

"Please, hear us out! My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I-"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" asked the monster in the cave.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle, and-"

"YOU ARE TWILIGHT SPARKLE?"

"Yes, and-"

Suddenly, the yellow blur pounced on Twilight. Steven tried to intercept it, but it was too quick. He and Rainbow Dash got blown back by the sheer force of the jump.

Steven lay back on the ground, his vision blurry.

"You alright?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I think so." he answered. "What do you think we should do? That thing's got Twilight!"

"The wolves are coming." she said. "I say we surprise that thing, beat it up, and stay in the cave."

"Okay, on the count of three."

"One..."

"Two...

"Three! Go!"

Steven and Rainbow Dash ran to Twilight, but what they saw knocked both of the backward.

That thing was hugging Twilight.

"Oh Twilight... You don't know how much I've missed you..." said the monster, in a very soft and timid voice.

Steven finally got a good look at the monster. It had yellow fur, and it had pink, dirty, but flowing hair.

It was another pony.

"Fluttershy?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Suddenly, Fluttershy let go of Twilight. her face became contorted with anger. She let out a battle cry, but Twilight quickly stopped her from attacking.

"Fluttershy, please don't!" said Twilight.

Fluttershy's face softened and she turned to look at Twilight.

"What's the matter, Twilight?" she asked.

"That one," she said pointing at Rainbow Dash. "The one you just attacked... That's Rainbow Dash."

Fluttershy squealed in surprise, and then ran straight to Rainbow Dash.

"Oh... I'm so sorry, Rainbow Dash... Please forgive me... I mean, um... If you don't mind..."

Rainbow Dash stood up and hugged Fluttershy.

"I've missed you, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy returned the embrace.

"Me too, Rainbow Dash. But... How did you become... like this? You look like some kind of monkey." said Fluttershy in genuine interest, but it sounded as if she was mocking her.

Rainbow Dash released the hug.

"Long story, Fluttershy. Now can we please go inside?"

"Come on, then... Please come inside..."

As they were walking towards the cave, Steven noticed something. He smelled it in the air.

Wolves.

"Rainbow Dash! Look out!" he shouted, as he pushed Rainbow Dash out of where one wolf was attacking.

Steven quickly swung at the wolf with his front hoof, hitting it before it hit him. Steven tried to remember his martial arts training. Since he lost the ability to grab, a lot of the moves he learned became unusable. But at least he could still pack a good punch.

The wolf he punched fell back. He quickly shook his head and ran toward Steven again.

"Run." said Steven.

"But-"

"Run!"

Steven heard the shuffling of hoofsteps inside the cave. He needed to drive away the wolves out of the cave. But what can he do?

As the wolf jumped toward him, he noticed the other two wolves follow him, jumping from both of Steven's sides. He quickly managed to calculate the trajectory of the wolves, so he did what he could to avoid them.

He ducked.

All three wolves crashed into each other, and Steven took this chance to move away. As the wolves recovered, Steven tried to think of something to defeat them.

But he could think of nothing. So he did what any sensible pony in this situation would do.

"CHAAAARGE!"

The wolves were startled by this, and Steven used the time to attack each of them. He crashed into one and then used both of his legs to kick the two wolves that came after him. He then felt the wolf he crashed into start to pounce on him, so he managed to dodge it. The two wolves behind him got ready to strike, but Steven skillfully dodged that too and their swipes met nothing but air. Steven then swept the ground the two wolves were standing on, both of them tripping and falling flat on their backs.

However, as he did this, he didn't manage to notice the other wolf come at him. The wolf managed to scratch his face, tearing off fur and skin. Steven felt the burning pain across his face, and he screamed in agony. Taking this as a signal to counterattack, the other two wolves joined the first wolf and pounced at him.

Steven's left eye was blinded, and he didn't manage to block all three wolves. One wolf managed to scratch him again, this time on the side of his body. The pain was terrible, but that was no time for weakness. He hastily swung his right hoof, and he managed to hit one of the wolves. The wolves flew to the left and hit a tree. It remained there, not moving.

Panting, Steven tried to attack the other two wolves, but they easily dodged all of his attacks. He, however, also managed to dodge theirs. However, the wolves quickly managed to rectify their weakness. Steven still dodged their attacks, albeit with difficulty. He sensed one wolf's movement and managed to counter it. However, Steven grew tired. This time, when he dodged a swipe, the other wolf managed to bite his neck.

Steven screamed in pain. The other wolf kept swiping at his face, and Steven was unable to dodge. He felt the wolf's claws tear at his skin, and he quickly grew panicked. He needed to stop the biting wolf, so he did the only thing he could do.

He ran around, trying to buck the wolf off his neck. He kicked into the air, violently shaking the biting wolf. Sure enough, that wolf flew off and hit the side of the cave, where it stayed, unconscious.

Only one more...

But Steven didn't think he could manage it. He felt blood flowing out from all over his body, streaming down into a puddle on the ground he was standing on. He was dying. He felt it in his heart.

But the thing he wanted to do most before dying was to beat the hell out of that last wolf.

He felt himself swaying from side to side. He was losing his balance. He needed to finish this.

He stared at the last wolf, who was looking at him in disgust. He already thought of a plan. He just needed to execute it.

His vision became blurry, and his legs were barely able to hold him.

I can't die yet!

Steven stood up straight and stared into the eyes of the wolf. He smiled a weak smile.

"Come at me, bro."

The wolf ran straight to him. Steven stood there, waiting for the perfect moment.

The wolf was coming closer...

Closer...

Closer...

Now!

Steven quickly dodged the wolf's charge, but as the wolf flew past him, Steven kicked its flank, making it turn in circles while flying. Then as quick as lightning, he appeared in front of the flying wolf and he managed to kick it. Both legs, square on the wolf's side. The wolf flew back and hit the ground outside the cave. it picked itself up, however, and on shaky legs, managed to wake up the other two and retreat.

Steven wobbled back to the mouth of the cave. He tried to take one more step, but he couldn't. He couldn't move anymore. Sure enough, his legs gave way and Steven fell down.

He remembered the defibrillator incident with Rainbow Dash, and he smiled weakly.

This is definitely a much better way to die...

He felt the blood keep flowing, and the vision in the remaining eye also started to blur. He desperately wished to be able to continue on with Rainbow Dash and Twilight, but he knew that he wouldn't survive this much damage.

Rainbow Dash...

He thought about her one last time. He's reached the end of the road, now. It was over.

"Steven!"

"He's here! Celestia, look at him!"

"These are definitely... very nasty wounds."

"Come on, Fluttershy! Please tell me you can heal them!"

"I'm not sure anyone can... He's lost so much blood..."

He felt himself being carried and moved somewhere, but he didn't care anymore. All he thought about was how much he wished to continue on with their adventures.

He felt the life inside him fading in and out. His breaths became much heavier, and he couldn't move a muscle anymore.

"C'mon, Steven... You can do it..."

He then saw Rainbow Dash's face. It was blurry, but he could make it out. He tried to remember this moment, for if he would have to replay his lasts moments forever, he wanted it to be this.

He managed to let out a tiny whisper.

"How's that... for... combat practice...?" he said, as he managed a very weak smile.

And then he was gone.

Chapter 8- Shattered by Broken Dreams (Reilly)

Steven was stranded.

As he opened his eyes, he saw and felt nothing but darkness. Darkness surrounding him, lapping at his body. Darkness silently taunting him, as Steven quickly grew frustrated. Not at what was happening, but at the lack of anything happening. It tried his patience to no end, as he couldn't see nor feel anything except for eternal darkness. He tried desperately to find, or at least think of something other than the ridiculous silence and evil atmosphere. It was disgusting. It was horrible.

As he knelt down in despair, the whole world around him started to change. All the darkness was gone, replaced by a most brilliant purple, and he could see stars wheeling overhead. He also felt as if he started to move, and he did. He felt himself travelling very quickly throughout the still changing world, encountering different planets and stars. He felt as if he was being pulled into a void, unable to move, unable to scream. As he flew, he felt himself rapidly aging, only to be turned young again. Every day in this new universe was as long as a life-age on Earth.

He could feel himself straying out of this universe, out of thought and time. Everything around him started to get blurry, and he felt his head and heart getting heavier. Everything was getting brighter, in fact it became so bright that every time he attempted to open his eyes, a burning pain stung it, not unlike even the strongest acid. Steven, however, would not give up. He was going to have to open his eyes.

One more time, he opened them, only to be greeted with the same pain. However, he now did his best to keep his eyes open. Eyes tearing up, he refused to give in to pain. So he screamed. A silent, and painful scream. He felt the bright light go inside his body, into every single part. He then felt everything getting lighter and he himself slowing down.

Steven looked around. He was now able to open his eyes comfortably. But he had now stopped completely. But there was something different about this feeling than how it was just now.

He felt life in him again.

It was not the end.

Suddenly he felt his stomach lurch as he fell into a pitch-black hole in the ground. It was a deep hole, and the moment he fell to the ground, there was a very loud thud. But he didn't feel any pain.

"Welcome back, Steven Reilly." said a loud voice.

Steven looked up. It was the same voice he heard more than a century ago. It was the voice that led him to his death.

"You killed me!" he said, anger flowing through his veins.

"No, all I did was lead you to a friend." it said. After he said that, Steven noticed the same green fire he saw the last time he met the voice. He looked into it and he saw his companions, carrying him into the cave.

"I don't understand..." he said.

"I led you to meet another pony." said the voice, showing Fluttershy in the fire.

"So what am I supposed to do about it?" asked Steven. "If you haven't noticed, I'm dead!"

He felt a dark presence surround him. The voice then started to laugh heartily.

"But I can't allow you to die yet, Steven Reilly." it said. "I cannot give you death until you have completed your mission."

"Mission?" he asked. "The last time you talked about that was about two hundred years ago! How am I supposed to complete whatever mission you're talking about?"

"Two hundred years?" asked the voice, sounding amused. "Did time seem to pass like that in the Void?"

Steven was confused. He had been in the void? That would mean that...

"Yes, Steven Reilly." said the voice. "You have been inside Shadow. It was a painful experience, I'm sure, but a necessary one nonetheless."

Steven looked up. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. But he really wanted to know more about his time in the Void.

"How long have I been dead, then?" he asked.

"On Earth days?" asked the voice. "Only two."

Steven felt as if this was supposed to surprise him, but it didn't. It actually gave him a sense of relief.

"Tell me what I must do." he said.

"It's pretty simple, actually. With your current companions, you have already done half of what you must do."

"I don't understand."

"You don't need to. As I am not allowed to tell you of your mission, I can only tell you a few words of advice."

Steven started thinking. If it was a riddle, he had to be prepared to memorize it.

"Just do what you have already been doing, Steven Reilly. Only then can you stop what havoc the Sun shall wreak upon the world." said the voice.

So it was not another riddle. Steven felt relieved. But the advice was still very vague.

"But what have I been doing?" he asked.

"I cannot tell you that, Steven Reilly." said the voice. "But it is time now for your reawakening in the other world."

"But-"

"Enough, Steven Reilly!"

Steven looked down. There were so many things he didn't understand, so many things he needed to do. The problem was that he did not know what he must do.

"I trust that in time, we shall meet again, Steven Reilly. Now, begone!"

Steven felt a hole open up at the bottom of his hooves, and he quickly fell through. He had started to develop a hatred for pits by then. Not to mention a hatred for falling. For a long time, he fell, and fell. And it didn't seem like he was going to stop.

As he fell, he noticed pictures moving around him. He saw one where he was looking at some rocket, then another one where he was looking at another pony. There was so many of those pictures around him, all of it slowly fading to black as he watched.

Suddenly, he felt as if he was grabbed by an invisible force. He was taken out of the pit, and he was being pushed onto something. That thing refused to give way, but the invisible force kept trying to push him through it, until that thing gave way, leaving Steven in free fall. He was falling down towards the Earth. He tried to scream for help, but no voice came out. He kept on falling, and just before he hit the ground, he felt his presence being drawn into something...

Steven opened his eyes and gasped for air.

As his vision cleared, he saw himself staring into a pair of beautiful pink eyes. He immediately felt a pair of arms tighten themselves around him. Steven couldn't breathe, much less move.

"Rainbow... Dash..." he gasped. "Need... air..."

Rainbow Dash immediately let go.

"Steven! You're alive!" she said.

Steven coughed. Funny how luck worked- the last thing he saw was also the first thing. He took a bit of time to recover from that deadly hug.

"Of course I'm alive." he said. "You think a minor thing like the end of the world would do me in?"

Rainbow Dash started crying and buried her face in Steven's arms.

"I thought I wouldn't ever see you again..." she said, sobbing.

Steven couldn't think of any reply to that, so he put an arm around her and enjoyed his first moments of being alive again.

Far at the back, Steven saw Twilight and Fluttershy standing in front of the rocky wall. They were smiling at him.

"As soon as Fluttershy saw your horn shining blue, she called us all here." said Twilight.

Rainbow Dash let go of him.

"Yeah... But we thought it was weird, since your heart stopped beating just a few hours ago." she said.

Steven carefully stood up, and he found it surprisingly easy to keep his balance and move around, after being dead and all.

He made his way to Fluttershy, who, as timid as she was, backed away.

"Hey, I just wanted to say thank you, Fluttershy, for taking care of me." he said, his voice low and comforting.

Fluttershy blushed and looked away.. She then began to whisper a string of words that cannot be heard by a normal pony's ears.

Steven tilted his head.

"I'm sorry, what was that?."

Fluttershy's head bowed lower, and she started squealing. Steven immediately felt guilty. He turned to look at Twilight, who rolled her eyes and gave him a look that seemed to say: Just leave it.

As Steven walked away, he heard a tiny voice behind him.

"Glad I could help..."

Steven looked back at Fluttershy and laughed. Fluttershy smiled too.

All of a sudden, Steven felt a searing pain on the area around his left eye. He quickly covered it with his hoof.

"Ah..." he said, which was clearly an understatement to the pain that he felt. It seemed to make him relive the moments of when the wolf scratched at that exact spot.

Twilight quickly came to his aid.

"Remove that hoof." she said.

Steven slowly put the hoof covering his eye down. The pain was still very much there, and it was still at its full power.

Twilight's eyes widened as she saw Steven's left eye.

"Oh Celestia..." she said in shock.

"Why? What's wro-AAH!" he screamed, as the pain returned.

Steven fell down on his back, cringing in pain as the the burning he felt increased tenfold.

Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy stood back and watched.

It was the worst pain Steven had ever felt. It even beat the pain back when he was human, when he attempted a failed experiment which involved jumping off the second floor. That was also the first time he had to mend his own bones.

As Steven wriggled and writhed on the floor, Rainbow Dash quickly ran to him.

"What's going on?" she asked Twilight and Fluttershy. There was no answer.

Suddenly, the intensity of the pain increased again. This time, though, it released a shockwave that blew back Rainbow Dash.

"Steven!"

He felt himself rising up to the air and floating there. He felt something come out of his left eye. As that happened, the room immediately turned into a gold color. And as the pain increased, he could do nothing but wait there. It kept on increasing until all of a sudden...

It disappeared.

It was gone as quickly as it had come to him. He fell back down to the floor, feeling fine other than the mild headache that usually accompanied such occasions. As everyone stared at him, Rainbow Dash was the first to react.

"Woah." she said.

Steven felt around his left eye. No more pain was there, but he felt that the area was very rough. There seemed to be some irregularity in his skin. Unless his hooves were lying to him, then...

He quickly ran to find a reflective surface. As luck would have it, there was a large piece of stainless steel on the floor of the cave behind Fluttershy.

He quickly ran to it ("Eep!" squealed Fluttershy) and looked at his reflection. Where before was nothing but fur, he suddenly saw three scars, side by side, drawn vertically across his left eye. It was still glowing. It also remarkably looked like claw marks.

"Woah." he said.

"Are you, um... Feeling okay, sir?" asked a scared voice behind him.

"I'm fine, Fluttershy..." he said, as he turned around. "And please call me Steven."

Twilight and Rainbow Dash quickly ran to him.

"What happened there? How did-"

Steven never got to hear the end of Twilight's question, as two bundles of fur, one white and the other bright yellow, came rolling into view.

"What's going on? We heard a-"

"We heard somethin' th' went BOOM! So we thought we'd come check it out!"

Steven saw two very small ponies straighten up. The white one had flowing, purple and lavender hair, and the bright yellow one had red hair tied with a ribbon at the front.

"I was about to say that, Apple Bloom!" said the white one.

"Well sorry, but ah did say it first, Sweetie Belle." said the other one. Apple Bloom, was it?

Twilight smiled at the little kids and said:

"Don't worry, my little ponies, Steven here was just waking up."

Both fillies quickly came running up to him. Both were staring at his face. Steven smiled uneasily.

"Hey, girls... What's up?" he asked awkwardly.

"Hey, mister! That's a mighty cool scar ya have!" said Apple Bloom.

"Hey, Apple Bloom! Let's check out this guy's cutie mark! Maybe his cutie mark is fighting!" said Sweetie Belle.

"Yeah! Ah saw ya fightin' them wolves, mister. Ah reckon fightin' is yer cutie mark!"

Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom went to both his sides and stared at his flank.

"Hey!" he said, misunderstanding the little fillies.

"Um... Mister?" asked Apple Bloom.

"I don't see a cutie mark..." said Sweetie Belle.

Steven looked at Twilight, wanting an explanation. But she, as well as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, were staring in surprise at Steven's flank. Uncomfortable with all these girls staring at his flank, Steven blushed.

"Wow..." said Twilight.

"It's incredible what kids can notice that even we adults did not..." said Fluttershy.

Steven blushed even harder, if that was possible. He waited in awkward silence for the moment to pass, but it didn't seem like it ever would.

"Hey, Scootaloo! This mister here's a blank flank too!" said  Apple Bloom.

Blank Flank? What was that supposed to mean?

Suddenly, a little girl, no more than twelve, came into the large room. She wore a black, strapless shirt, and an orange half-shirt over it. She was also wearing purple tights and a finger-less glove on one hand. She entered the room sadly, looking down and walking slowly. When she entered the room, she kicked a tiny pebble hard across the room, finally hitting Fluttershy at the back of her head.

"Ow... That hurt..." moaned Fluttershy. Twilight put one hoof over her shoulders and rubbed the back of her head.

"What is it?" asked Scootaloo to the other kid ponies.

"This mister here has no cutie mark!" said Apple Bloom.

"Just like us!" said Sweetie Belle.

Scootaloo looked away, her face full of anger and frustration.

"Girls, how many times do I have to tell you? Please don't try to comfort me!" she scolded.

As the kids talked, Steven scooted over to Twilight.

"Okay," he said. "I'm gonna need a bit of context here..."

Twilight looked at him, face looking like she had just understood something.

"Well, back in Equestria, we ponies would have symbols on our flank that showed our special talents." she said. "Look at mine."

Steven hesitantly turned to look at Twilight's flank. There was some kind of purple diamond drawn on in.

"My special talent is magic." she said. "And I'm kind of surprised that magic isn't your special talent too!"

"What are you talking about?" said Steven, confused. "I can't do magic! There's no such thing as magic!"

Twilight looked at him, jaw dropping. There was tense silence after what he said.

"No such thing as magic?" she asked, apprehensively. "Rainbow Dash said that you used magic to completely revive me! And even when I doubted it then, I saw you use magic to revive yourself! How could you say that there was no magic?"

"I'm sorry," said Steven. "But both of those times, I was unconscious and didn't know what I was doing and how."

Twilight dwelled on this thought for a moment.

"Hmm..." she said. "It's possible..."

"What's possible?" asked Steven.

"It's possible that the magic you unleashed was totally involuntary." she said. "And considering that you had just turned into a unicorn yourself, completely reviving someone is amazingly mind-blowing. Even I, talented and skilled myself, cannot hope to completely revive someone else, not to mention reviving myself..."

Steven stood there in silence. Did he really revive someone else? He knew that he didn't revive himself, as the voice itself said that it was the one reviving him, but did he really revive Twilight?

"Anyway," said Twilight, "being three of the last ponies in their class to get their cutie marks, they took it upon themselves to do anything, and I mean ANYTHING possible to get them. And since humans don't get cutie marks (Rainbow Dash's disappeared), Scootaloo became really sad and angry at herself for turning into a human. And I think Rainbow Dash feels the same way, too."

He turned to look at Rainbow Dash. She was watching Scootaloo scolding the other two kids sadly, and she appeared to understand what Scootaloo was experiencing.

Steven observed the scene in the middle of the room. Scootaloo was accusing them of mocking her about never being able to get a cutie mark ever again, followed by the other two refuting it loudly. Fluttershy then flew in to try to break up the kids, but she was unable to get them to quiet down.

Rainbow Dash was looking outside of the cave, one hand over her neck, feeling her upper back. It was as if trying to feel something that wasn't there. He knew that Rainbow Dash missed flying, but he didn't know that it ran this deep. As he reflected on these things, he only knew of one solution. He had to reverse everything. And fast.

Twilight caught Steven staring at Rainbow Dash.

"So, you and Rainbow Dash, huh?" she asked with a smirk on her face.

"What are you talking about?" asked Steven, looking at her.

"Never mind." she said. Her expression turned into a look of concern as she saw Rainbow Dash touching her back.

"I think you should go talk to her, Steven." she said.

"Why?" he asked, genuinely confused. "You guys are best friends! I just met her five days ago! What makes you think I can get through to her?"

"Because one, she likes you. Two, she trusts you. And three..." Twilight paused.

"You understand exactly how she is feeling, am I right?"

Steven never really thought about it before. But the lack of his fingers made it impossible for him to write as he was used to, impossible to build and use complex, and sometimes even simple machinery. He became unable to do what he did best. And that really depressed him.

"She really loved flying, huh?" he asked Twilight.

"Yeah. In fact, her dream was to join a popular flying group in Equestria, the Wonderbolts. Now she couldn't fly, so her dreams can't be fulfilled."

Steven let out a dejected sigh.

"But she always seemed so strong, so confident. Who would've guessed that she would be so insecure?"

"People (and ponies) like that usually are, Steven." said Twilight. "You know that as well as I do."

"I guess you're right, Twilight." he said. "I'll go talk to her."

Steven jumped down the platform they were standing on and walked toward Rainbow Dash, who was now crossing her arms and looking out to the forest.

"Hey, Steve." said Rainbow Dash, apparently sensing Steven before he managed to get close.

"Hey, Dash." he replied.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Well," he said, "you seemed very close to crying, so I thought I'd come check on you."

Rainbow Dash chuckled weakly.

"Ha ha ha, Steven." she said.

"C'mon, just tell me what's going on." he said.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and sighed.

"It's Scootaloo, Steven. Everything she did, everything she accomplished to achieve her dream became useless. It all became useless in a matter of seconds. And I... I get that."

Steven looked down. He didn't know how to respond. He knew that Rainbow Dash wan't only referring to Scootaloo, but she was talking about herself as well. But for now, he needed to get away from the noisy atmosphere of the cave.

"Come on, Rainbow Dash." he said, walking outside the cave. "Let's go for a walk."

Rainbow Dash followed, and they soon were walking side-by-side through the forest.

Everything was silent. Steven needed to say something to break the atmosphere, and fast.

"I understand too, you know." he said.

"What?" she asked, more of a challenge to explain rather than a question itself.

"You know what I was greatest at before all this? Exploring and Discovering things in outer space." he said. "But all those things needed me to build and use complex machines, which needed me to use my relatively smaller hands and precise fingers. And now that I have lost all them, I cannot do what I do best. I was sad too the moment I realized that."

Rainbow Dash stopped in her tracks. As Steven turned around to look at her, he saw that she was incredibly angry.

"Sad? Sad? Sad doesn't even begin to describe what people who had their dreams crushed feel! How could you even hope to understand what we, Scootaloo and I, feel?"

Steven sighed.

"Do you know what my dream was, Dash?" he asked sadly.

Rainbow Dash didn't answer.

"It was to bring my mother back to life." he said. "That's what made me so interested in worlds outside our own in the first place. I looked for some sort of occurrence in space, some sort of alien technology, that could've brought my mother back to life. And when another loved one of mine died, that desire just grew stronger."

Steven just couldn't allow himself to bring up Jaeda right then. Rainbow Dash still remained silent.

"That was when my father came to me." he said. "And he taught me something very important. An important lesson that I still remember to this day."

"He told me that there were things in this world that we never want to let go of, people we never want to leave behind. But we must keep in mind that letting go isn't the end of the world. It's the beginning of a new life." he said. "Nothing lasts forever, Rainbow Dash. Nothing."

At this point, Rainbow Dash suddenly broke down. She sat down on the grass, crying softly. She buried her face in her hands looked down. Steven then knelt down next to her.

Rainbow Dash wiped the tears off her face.

"I'm sorry, Steven. You must think that I'm some sort of loser crybaby now..." she said, still crying.

"Of course not, Rainbow Dash. Everyone cries. Everyone has a weakness, hell, even I do!" he said.

"Yeah, and everyone knows that I'm better than you in everything." she said.

Rainbow Dash then threw her arms around Steven, pressing her face to his neck.

"You're a really cool guy, you know?" she said. "Even cool enough for me."

"Hey, I wouldn't want to compete. 'Cause you'd definitely lose." he joked.

Rainbow Dash then took her face of Steven's neck. Hands still around him, she started to look deeply into Steven's eyes, her beautiful, shining pink eyes locked in gaze with his own.

Time seemed to have slowed down as they looked into each other, and Steven could suddenly notice all sorts of things he didn't earlier. He heard the crunching of dead leaves as they touched the ground, the soft breeze passing through them as they were locked in this deep embrace, the sound of the heartbeats of both him and Dash's... It had all made him feel much more self conscious, but he was unable to look away once their eyes had met.

As they both leaned in closer to each other, Steven remembered the first time they had met. How he had admired her pretty face, her long, soft, rainbow-coloured hair that often beautifully swayed in even the softest winds, the warmth of her breath and the soft touch of her hands. But as they were this close to each other, Steven couldn't help but notice her short, detailed eyelashes, her cute, soft blush, and how lush her lips looked.

They both slowly pulled in closer to each other, closer than they had ever been before. But right when their lips were supposed to meet, right when they were supposed to touch...

Steven looked away.

Rainbow Dash, in surprise, pulled herself back. However, her arms were still wrapped around his neck. She began to blush furiously.

Steven sighed. He closed his eyes. He felt his face getting hot.

"I'm sorry, Dash..." he said in a strangled voice. "That wasn't right..."

Rainbow Dash pulled her hands back.

"It's okay..." she said, looking at the ground. She looked as if she didn't know how to react to what just happened. She fell silent.

"That wasn't right," he said again. "Come on, they'll be wondering where we went."

Steven gently picked up Rainbow Dash, carefully avoiding looking into her eyes. He needn't try hard though, as Rainbow Dash was doing the same thing. As they slowly walked back up the mountain, he felt regret start building up inside him. However, he was not sure if it was because he had stopped the kiss from actually happening, or if it was because he let the kiss actually start building up in the first place.

"Steven?" asked Rainbow Dash, obviously trying to break the tension and awkwardness.

"Please..." said Steven. "After what happened? Call me Steve."

"Okay... Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say thank you... for telling me what you told me..." she said, blushing again.

"No problem." he said.

"Oh, and could you help Scootaloo as well?" she asked. "She needed what you told me just as much as I did."

"Well, of course I'll help." said Steven. "It put me down as well looking at what was supposed to be three best friends fighting and shouting like that."

"Just try not to... You know..." she said, smiling.

"Come on, Dash..." he said. "Seriously?"

Rainbow Dash started laughing loudly. Although the subject of her laughter was not one he cared of, he was relieved that the atmosphere was lighter.

Just when they were about to reach the cave, they ran into Twilight, who looked distressed and panicked.

"What's up, Twi?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Steven! Rainbow Dash!" she said, eyes delirious and voice out of breath. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Why? What's going on?" asked Steven.

"Come up, quick!" said Twilight, running up the mountain back to the cave. Steven and Rainbow Dash quickly climbed up with her.

There in the cave, Fluttershy was lying on the ground, panting, and the three kids surrounded her, trying to help her up.

"What happened?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Guys..." said Fluttershy, voice also out of breath.

"We may have a problem."

Chapter 9- Shape of Things to Come (Twilight)

"Leave all that we can spare behind." said Twilight. "We travel light."

Twilight watched as everyone else in the cave started to pack up to leave.

"You still haven't answered my question, Twilight." said Steven. "Why do we need to go to Ponyville?"

Twilight dwelled on that thought. She remembered that she had only told them that they were going back to Ponyville and they had to pack up quickly. She hadn't told them about the message yet.

"Princess Celestia wants all of us to gather in Ponyville." said Twilight. "She hasn't told us yet, but we need to go quickly."

It was true that only a few minutes ago, Princess Celestia's voice had appeared in her and Fluttershy's minds, telling them to quickly head for Ponyville.

"But why didn't she appear in my mind?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Or Steven's?"

"I don't know." answered Twilight. "She only called for the Elements of Harmony, but I don't know why you didn't hear her, Rainbow Dash."

"Just as well..." said Fluttershy. "The moment I heard her voice in my head, I felt all of my strength leave my body..."

Twilight nodded. There was something different about Princess Celestia's magic. But she couldn't tell what it was. It just felt darker... Corrupt.

Nah, that was all just Twilight's imagination. Maybe it was like that because the crash between their planets affected her magic or something.

"Bring only small amounts of food and water." said Twilight. "Leave everything else behind."

"Come on, my little ponies." said Fluttershy. "We best be leaving now..."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders quickly followed Fluttershy outside, where they waited for the rest of them.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yeah." said Steven.

"Let's go." said Rainbow Dash.

Suddenly, there was a great pain in Twilight's head.

Hurry up, my little ponies. Time is of the essence. I shall meet you back in Ponyville.

Twilight then realized that she was kneeling on the ground. Rainbow Dash helped her up.

"Thanks, Rainbow Dash." she said. "Fluttershy, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Twilight." said Fluttershy, "It's okay, Sweetie Belle, I'm fine..."

Steven walked to Twilight, a confused look on his face.

"I-"

"I know you're going to say that you don't understand." said Twilight, interrupting him. "But can we talk about this on the way? We have to hurry."

Steven opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and walked out the cave.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash followed them out, and they all set for the foot of the mountain together.

"Oh, wait, I forgot something." said Twilight.

"What now, Twilight?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"A prevention spell." said Twilight. "With this, no hostile animals can come close to us. You know, to prevent another wolf incident."

She nodded at Steven, who unconsciously touched the scar on his left eye. He then chuckled and they all continued walking downhill, Fluttershy leading the way, followed by Steven and Rainbow Dash, then Twilight, and then the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Twilight looked back. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were on one side of the path, and Scootaloo on the other. They didn't seem to want to talk to each other, and they were very unusually quiet. Even when they were fighting back in Ponyville, they would've made a racket about it. Now they were just silent. he had alway found them to be annoying when loud, but this

was much worse.

Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. Rainbow Dash lost her wings. Scootaloo lost all chance of ever getting a cutie mark. Twilight herself could not imagine life without magic. It had become a necessity to her, instead of a blessing. She was now thankful of being a unicorn more than any other time in her life. But she still felt bad for those who had lost their blessings.

She wanted to talk to Scootaloo. She wanted to say something, anything that could cheer her up. But she was afraid that she might make it worse. She took a quick glance at Rainbow Dash, who was laughing and joking with Steven. Whatever Steven told her, it had seemed to work quite well. But again, that may be just because of their 'special relationship.'

Twilight sighed. Hopefully their meeting with Princess Celestia would clear things up for them. Hopefully, some questions can finally be answered. Questions like how they survived the planetary impact. Why Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo turned human. And most importantly, how to reverse everything back to normal.

Not long later, they had finally reached the bottom of the mountain.

"Okay, so we got to the bottom." said Rainbow Dash. "How do we get to Ponyville?"

"Don't worry." said Twilight. "Princess Celestia got the location of Ponyville into our heads. It should be about... 4000 miles to the east."

Steven choked on the water he was drinking. Fluttershy quickly flew to him and performed the Pony equivalent to the Heimlich maneuver. Steven immediately spit out all of that water.

"Thanks for that, Fluttershy." he said, panting heavily. "4000 miles? How are we going to get that far so quickly?"

"We teleport, of course." said Twilight. "But I'm going to need your help, Steven."

"My help?" he asked. "What can I do?"

"I'll need your help to power up my magic." said Twilight. "I'll never be able to teleport all of us a the same time. We might get spliced somewhere."

"Spliced?" asked Steven, sounding scared.

"It's when a body part of yours doesn't get teleported while the rest of your body does." she said, matter-of-factly.

Steven just looked more afraid.

"But, well..." he said, stammering. "I, uh... I can't do magic at will. And I've never powered up anypony's magic before! What makes you think that I can even do such a thing?"

Twilight stopped in her tracks. She quickly turned to look at Steven.

"Your magic is very ancient magic, Steven." said Twilight. "Blessing Magic. You can heal, revive, and so you should also be able to empower somepony else's magic."

"Yeah, well you see, Twilight... I've never really gotten the feel of magic. I've been unconscious each time I've done magic so far. I don't know how magic feels like." he said.

Twilight sighed. Her horn began to glow a bright purple, and she quickly walked up to Steven and touched his horn with hers. Steven looked confused.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Stimulating your horn." she answered. "Your magic should appear soon."

Sure enough, Steven's horn began glowing a brilliant blue. Twilight looked at it in awe. She had expected his magic to be powerful, but not this powerful. Steven himself looked at the blue glow of his horn and looked surprised.

"Wow..." he said, lacking any other words to say.

"That's really powerful magic you got there, Steven." she said. "Now what I want you to do is to use all of your willpower to command your magic to empower mine."

Steven hesitated, but then he quickly closed his eyes in concentration. Twilight didn't know what he was trying at this point, so she and the others just waited. About half a minute of waiting, Twilight noticed that the magical aura around Steven's horn was beginning to grow. He was progressing.

"Come on, Steven." she said. "We have to be quick!"

Just then , Steven started to sway a bit. He looked as if he was trying to balance a whole stack of books atop his head.  He tried to maintain his balance, but he just swayed even more violently than before.

"Keep your balance, Steven!" screamed Twilight. "Just focus!"

"It's... harder... than... you think!" screamed Steven, in difficulty.

Just then, the sky started growing darker. Twilight saw dark clouds start gathering on top of them, looking dangerous aand threatening.

"Steven?" asked Rainbow Dash

Steven was now finding it difficult just to stand still.

"Control your power, Steven!" screamed Twilight. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Fluttershy gathering the children so that they could all shiver in fear together.

"I'll try to help!" shouted Rainbow Dash. The dark clouds above them were now stirring up a great storm. Rainbow Dash ran to Steven and tried to point his horn at Twilight.

"RRRRAAAAAAGHHHH!" screamed Rainbow Dash as she managed to bend Steven's head. Immediately, Twilight's horn began glowing purple, attracting all of Steven's magic to her. It was really powerful magic, and Twilight could just barely control it, never mind a complete amateur like Steven.

The load of magic on her horn was very painful. It threatened to shatter it, and here whole body along with it.

"Come here quick!" she shouted to the others. "I can't control it much longer!"

Rainbow Dash picked up Steven, and Fluttershy gathered the kids and they all ran to Twilight. Sensing that everybody was in place, she bent Steven's magic into teleportation magic.

"Get ready for a bumpy ride!" shouted Twilight, and everyone else screamed in unison (except for Fluttershy, who simply went "Eep!") as a purple and blue barrier surrounded them.

The barrier exploded, and they were gone in a flash.

Flash!

They suddenly appeared in the air close to the ground. As they fell, Fluttershy managed to grab up all of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The rest of them, on the other hand, fell down to the ground face first.

"Oh... I'm very sorry... But I was only able to catch the little girls..." whispered Fluttershy. "Please don't be mad..."

"It'sch fine, Fwuttershy..." said Twilight, mouth full of dirt. She spit everything out, leaving the horrid taste of soil in her mouth. "We're okay. Are we?"

"I'm good!" said Rainbow Dash, face still on the ground, and giving and she lifted a thumb at her. Twilight didn't know what that gesture meant, but she was pretty sure it meant 'Okay.'

"I'm fine, too." said Steven, who began to sit up. "But I have a really bad migraine."

Now that he mentioned it, Twilight also had a very bad headache. She had never imagined that Steven's magic could be that powerful. Now she just wished that they didn't teleport too far.

"Are we in Ponyville now?" asked Steven, who Twilight had just remembered had never been to Ponyville before.

Twilight looked around. And the scene that she was met with surprised her like no other.

Despite of everything that had happened, especially the crash between Earth and Equestria, Twilight had no problem saying that his was Ponyville. And that was very troubling. Where there should be a pile of rubble and debris, Twilight saw that the whole of Ponyville was completely intact. Landing right outside Ponyville General Hospital, Twilight could see many of Ponyville's landmarks- Sugarcube Corner, Sweet Apple Acres, the Library, Town Hall, even Rainbow Dash's cloud home.

"Um... Twilight?" asked a voice behind her.

Startled, Twilight looked back. It was only Fluttershy.

"Yes, Fluttershy?"

"I was just wondering... if, um... I could go back to my cottage for a while?" she asked, giving her a nervous grin. "I need to go check on Angel Bunny... I mean, if you don't mind, of course..."

Fluttershy was still grinning at Twilight, waiting for an answer.Twilight knew that they should stick together, and that one of them going off on their own would put them in jeopardy, but she couldn't say no to that face!

"Sure, go ahead, Fluttershy." she said. "But be careful! And you can meet up with us again in Town Hall."

"Okay, Twilight..." said Fluttershy. "No problem..."

As soon as she said that, Fluttershy took off to her cottage, leaving everyone confused as to why Twilight had let her go.

"I don't think you should have done that..." said Steven, as he walked next to Twilight.

"She wanted to go find her pet bunny." she said. "In the meantime, we should go check around Ponyville."

Steven shrugged and shook his head as Twilight started to walk down to Ponyville.

"Come on, guys," she heard Steven say. "Let's go."

Twilight walked around Ponyville, observing each and every single detail. It was true- Ponyville was still in perfect condition. There was literally not a single brick out of place. But there was something wrong with it though...

It was completely deserted.

Nopony was there. The whole place was empty. Even though Twilight had a group of friends with her at the time, she felt strangely alone. It may be because of Ponyville, which used to be teeming with life everywhere, now being very quiet and sullen.

"This is Ponyville?" asked Rainbow Dash, looking everywhere to find any signs of life.

"Where is ev'rypony?" asked Apple Bloom, who was cuddling up with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, all three of them afraid.

"I don't know, Apple Bloom..." said Twilight. "But for now let's go to Town Hall. I think we'll meet Princess Celestia there."

As they made their way to Town Hall, Twilight attempted, in vain, to make sense of what had happened. Did all of the ponies get transported away like Rainbow Dash was? Or were they... captured by the monsters in that facility? Twilight began to sweat. She barely made it out alive, and even then a friend's life had to be sacrificed. But there was no proof yet, so Twilight still had hopes for them. Yet she still had a bad feeling, a feeling that she had tried to hide away.

Ever since the day night when the Earth came crashing down to Equestria, she had been having the same recurring nightmare over and over again. Nightmares about death and despair. Of sorrow and agony. She didn't want to think about it. She tried to throw the thought away. But alas! Such a thing can never be done. Twilight dipped her head down in brooding.

"What a place..." she heard Steven say. He was obviously admiring the place, completely oblivious to the fact that there was nopony around. He then turned to look at the sky.

"Wow." he said as he stopped walking. He was looking at the sky. More specifically, Rainbow Dash's Cloud Mansion.

"Who lives there?" he asked Rainbow Dash, who was also looking at the Cloud Mansion, only with a slight hint of longing rather than amazement, having lived there for so long already.

"I did." she said. "Of course, now I cannot reach there, and even if i could, I won't be able to stand on it, so..."

"Really?" he asked. "You lived there?"

"Yeah." said Rainbow Dash, smiling.

Twilight smiled secretly. Steven really did a good job in convincing Rainbow Dash to move on and let go.

Finally, they arrived at Town Hall, where parades, speeches, announcements, and special parties used to be made in. Again, the absence of the usually abundant amount of ponies made her feel a bit more down as well. But she had always admired the design of the Town Hall, and without the crowd that was usually there, she managed to observe the great building properly.

It was old. Being one of the first buildings ever made in Ponyville, it naturally has to be. For years before their time, it had served its purpose. And it had never been renovated at all, so that the residents of Ponyville can forever admire the long-standing, amazing building. Of course, it had to be renovated once- when Derpy destroyed the entire top part of the building.

But other than the apparent tall building that is the Town Hall, Princess Celestia was nowhere to be found. She scanned the skies, she looked all around, and she even took a peek inside the deserted, empty, and overall scary building to find her. But she wasn't there.

Why would Princess Celestia call us here if she herself is not here?

Just then, she heard a small beat of wings in the sky.

"Hey, Fluttershy," said Twilight. "Did you find Angel?"

"No..." she said, eyes darting everywhere and looking scared. "Twilight, we should go now."

"What's wrong, Fluttershy?" asked Sweetie Belle, who along with the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders were silent this whole time.

"Um..." mumbled Fluttershy. "I don't know, but we have to hide quickly."

"Come on down, Fluttershy." said Twilight.

Fluttershy looked uneasy, and hesitant to land. That behavior was much unlike Fluttershy, who would normally try to avoid flying at all. Eventually, though, Fluttershy landed on the ground.

Almost immediately, Fluttershy screamed (not squealed, which meant that something was seriously wrong) in pain, and she collapsed on the floor.

"What's wrong, Fluttershy?" asked Twilight, running to her screaming friend.

"Oh god..." said Steven. Twilight didn't know what that meant, but she was almost certain that it had something to do with just finding out something really bad.

"What's wrong?" she asked. It was only then she noticed something on Fluttershy's back hoof.

A hole.

A cleanly cut hole that pierced through the whole of Fluttershy's hoof. Blood was flowing all around that hind leg, and Fluttershy started to pant heavily.

"Come here, Rainbow Dash." said Steven.

Rainbow Dash ran to them. She winced as she saw Fluttershy's wound.

"I want you to press down your hand here." said Steven. "We need to apply pressure to slow down the blood loss."

Rainbow Dash, not hesitating at all, quickly put both hands on both sides of Fluttershy's wound. Fluttershy herself began releasing sobs, although she was not screaming in pain anymore.

Twilight couldn't help but think that she had seen that somewhere before. However, she quickly realized that there was only one thing in the world that can pierce through flesh and bone like that.

The same thing happened to Pinkie Pie.

"We have to hide. Now." said Twilight, with a completely emotionless face.

"But we have got to treat Fluttershy first, or-"

"C'mon, we have to hurry!" said Twilight, opening the door to the Town Hall. "We'll hide here. Come on!"

Steven and Rainbow Dash quickly carried Fluttershy to the Town Hall, followed by the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who had no idea what was happening but was silent in fear nonetheless.

As they laid Fluttershy down on the floor, Steven started giving out orders to the various people there available.

"Rainbow Dash, I need you to keep doing what you've been doing." he said. "Twilight, you go and find a bed, or any soft surface that Fluttershy can lie on. Kids..."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked up at Steven, looking as if they were wondering what small thing they could do to help them in this kind of situation. Steven knelt down to their height and talked to them.

"Okay, girls, what I need you to do is very important." he said, his voice low and comforting. "Some bad guys are on the way. Bad guys who hurt Fluttershy very badly. Now since we're hiding here, we cannot let them find out about us, so what you need to do is to tell us when they're coming, alright?"

The Cutie Mark Crusaders all nodded together in unison, and then proceeded to look out the window for any signs of movement.

Right after that, Twilight quickly ran around to find something for Fluttershy to lie on. But this was the Town Hall. There was nothing here that could fulfill medical requirements. So she had to improvise. She ran up to the Mayor's Office and found a folding table. She let it drop down the stairs, and then she went to find tablecloths from the cafeteria. She quickly opened a cupboard in the cafeteria and brought out their tablecloths. She then teleported to the bottom of the stairs, where the table already was. Using her magic, she picked up the table and tablecloths and ran to where Steven and the others were.

"I'm back." said a panting Twilight.

"That was quick." he said. "I'll get bandages and a splint. While I'm gone, you guys put Fluttershy on the table. Rainbow Dash, keep applying pressure."

As Steven ran off, Twilight and Rainbow Dash carefully put Fluttershy on the table- Twilight using her magic to move her, and Rainbow Dash still using both hand to press on to her wound.

As they put Fluttershy on the table, Twilight watched as Rainbow Dash tried desperately to keep the blood from flowing out. It was then she had an idea.

"Rainbow Dash, remove your hands." said Twilight.

"What? Are you crazy?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Just do it!"

Hesitantly, Rainbow Dash put her hands down. Blood immediately started flowing, and Twilight knew that she had to do this quick. She quickly summoned her High-Density magic to Fluttershy's hoof, and kept it there. The blood stopped flowing. Fluttershy's expression also softened a bit.

Then, Rainbow Dash held up her hands.

"Oh... my..." said Fluttershy.

The hands were very bloody from trying desperately to keep the blood in, and Rainbow Dash looked at it with disgust and fear mixed into one facial expression. Twilight quickly used some more of her magic to wipe the blood off of her hands.

"You know, Rainbow Dash," said Twilight, attempting to make light conversation. "This is the first time we've been together where Steven wasn't hanging around."

Rainbow Dash looked up at her distractedly.

"I guess it is, yeah..." said Rainbow Dash, confused why Twilight was telling her all this.

"So..." said Twilight. "Do you like him?"

Rainbow Dash's expression quickly turned to one of shock, and then she began to blush heavily.

"Well... Hah hah..." she muttered. "Uhm... I, er..."

At that point, Sweetie Belle was looking back at them. She then squealed in glee and whispered something into Scootaloo and Apple Bloom's ears. All three of them then left the window and skipped around Rainbow Dash in a circle, singing "You have a Special Somepony" again and again.

"He's not my special somepony!" shouted Rainbow Dash, as she continued to blush harder, if that was even possible.

Twilight smiled.

"Come on, girls," she said. "Go back to doing your job."

Scootaloo then winked at Rainbow Dash.

"Congratulations, Rainbow Dash!" she said as she walked to her friends.

It was amazing how these kids were. One minute they were arguing and fighting with each other, then the next they were uniting to tease Rainbow Dash together. She knew that although one of them has changed forever, a bond such as this one will never fade away so easily. But it was not the time for that! This was the time she can use to tease Rainbow Dash!

"So..." said Twilight, smiling at Rainbow Dash. "Is he your special somepony?"

"No!" said Rainbow Dash. She then looked down. "I mean, don't get me wrong- I like him, but well..."

"Have you kissed?" asked Twilight, recollecting all the romance novels she read as a child and how everything was supposed to be.

Rainbow Dash sighed.

"No..." she said. "We almost did, but he pulled away right when we were supposed to have kissed."

Twilight chuckled and looked at Rainbow Dash.

"Don't worry." she said. "You'll get there."

"No, it's just that... It's just that Steven always has this dark aura around him, as if he had a secret that he even tries to keep from himself." she said. "I'm not sure what to do about it."

"May I offer a suggestion?" asked Fluttershy, whose comment made both caretakers jump.

"Have you considered asking?" she said. "You should try it. I mean... if you don't mind..."

"She's right, you know." said Twilight. "Why don't you ask him. I mean, if he trusts you, he'll tell you."

Just then, Steven's voice came from the stairs.

"I found the things! Just keep her there for the moment."

Twilight then winked at Rainbow Dash, who smiled back at her and Fluttershy.

Steven then came to them, bandages and a splint in his mouth.

"High Density magic?" he asked, smiling at Twilight. "Nice one, Twilight."

Twilight was surprised.

"How did you know it was High Density Magic?" she asked. "I thought you knew nothing about magic."

"Twilight, when you graduate form Harvard with a doctorate in physics and you are able to confirm String Theory," he said, very casually. "Then you naturally know when something has a high density or not."

Twilight, confused by what he just said, then proceeded to remove the magic. Fluttershy squealed in pain.

"Don't worry, Fluttershy." said Steven. "It'll be over soon."

Steven then skillfully started to place splinters on Fluttershy's hoof and bandage the wound. Fluttershy was still bleeding heavily even after this.

"We're lucky there's a First Aid Box here." he said. "Now let me try to get this right..."

Steven then lowered his horn and touched Fluttershy's hoof.

"Eep!" squealed Fluttershy, who was now fighting back her tears.

"Come on... Come on..." said Steven, as if willing his magic to go do its job.

Just then, a bright blue light began to emanate from Steven's horn, which then enveloped the bandaged area. Slowly, Fluttershy's face turned from one of great agony to a relaxed one.

Steven then touched Fluttershy's hoof. Fluttershy didn't scream.

"That should right things up." he said, wiping sweat from off his brow. "Be sure to stay off that leg for a week or two, just for the bones to fully heal themselves, because my magic might not have gone too deep."

"How did you do that?" asked Twilight, mouth agape.

"Well, I tried to simulate the same sensation I had when you stimulated my horn." he said. "Lucky it worked, isn't it?"

Twilight stared at Steven in amazement. In only a matter of hours, Steven was able to learn and almost master his magic. It took Twilight herself months to get used to the idea of magic. He might not be able to levitate things, summon objects or teleport, but his own field of magic should be very broad and useful for them all.

Fluttershy, who was just sitting there, looking at her hoof with her mouth open, quickly jumped and gathered them all into a group hug.

"Thank you, guys." she said, her voice louder than normal. "Thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU!"

"It's fine, Fluttershy." said Rainbow Dash. "You're welcome."

"Yeah, it was no problem." said Steven.

Suddenly, the Cutie Mark Crusaders came running to them.

"Twilight, can you come over here for a second?" asked Sweetie Belle, gesturing towards the window.

Twilight walked to it and looked outside. She immediately saw, clear as day, a human in something black and shiny (it looked very hard, too) shell, and carrying some sort of black stick on both of its hands. It was looking around, as if it was hunting something.

"We saw them strange things walking about, but we didn't know wha' they were, Twilight. "said Apple Bloom.

Steven then came to them.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

As he looked outside, the human in the shell took something spherical out of that shell and threw it at the Town Hall's door. Twilight saw Steven's eyes completely widen.

"Black Wesa? What are they doing here?"

Black Wesa.

Twilight immediately started feeling uncontrollable anger build up underneath her. These were the filthy monsters who killed Pinkie Pie. And she was not going to rest until she managed to kill each and every one of them.

"What's that beeping sound?" asked a scared Scootaloo. She quickly ducked down as she looked into Twilight's murderous eyes.

Steven's ears perked up.

"WATCH OUT!" he screamed, as he grabbed onto Twilight and the kids and quickly jumped backwards using the wall as a launch pad.

Immediately after they took off from the wall, the door and the wall exploded.

BOOM!

Steven, Twilight, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders landed with a heavy 'thud' on the floor. They quickly picked themselves up, only to find themselves being surrounded by the humans from Black Wesa, who continuously streamed inside the Town Hall.

"Don't move!" one of them said. "We've got you surrounded."

Steven gritted his teeth. Twilight knew that he must've wanted to fight them off and escape, but the fact that they were surrounding them said that victory would not be the most possible outcome.

"What do we do now?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"We wait." said Steven. "Then we'll all break off running into different directions, confusing them and hopefully breaking their formation."

"Won't that be dangerous?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Highly." he said. "But after listening to Twilight's story and my own understanding about Black Wesa, I would rather die than be captured by them.

As Steven said this, a look of regret flashed in his eyes, but it disappeared immediately. Could it just be her imagination?

"Certainty of death..." said Twilight. "Small chance of success... Well, what are we waiting for?"

"Okay, now remember, Fluttershy." said Steven. "Do not use that leg of yours. And kids, you guys must travel in a group. As soon as we escape their perimeter, we regroup outside, then Twilight will teleport us, okay?'

All of them nodded.

"Good." he said. "Now I'll count to three. One..."

"Please state your name and business!" shouted one of the humans.

"Two..."

"We have permission to fire on you," shouted the human. "So if we you don't tell your your name and business, we will shoot!"

"Three!"

"FIRE!"

"CHARGE!"

As soon as they said that, another explosion appeared outside the town hall.

"They're here!" shouted the human! "They're here! Open fire!"

The humans from Black Wesa immediately ran outside and started shooting. The group stayed inside the Town Hall, trying to make sense of what happened.

They tried to look out the window to see what was happening, but all they could see was a combination of blurs of white, black, blue, and red. There was also a lot of smoke and dust that covered everything. Twilight saw, out of the corner of his eye, Apple Bloom trying to sneak out to get a better look.

"Get back here!" said Rainbow Dash, grabbing Apple Bloom back. "It's dangerous outside! What am I going to tell your sister if you get hurt?"

Suddenly, the smoke and dust cleared out, to reveal the unmoving bodies of the humans outside. Almost immediately, they heard a voice behind them.

"Ponies in the now-deserted and forsaken Ponyville?" asked the voice. "What are you doing here?"

They slowly turned to look back. What they saw was a tall, black furred, white maned stallion.

The other ponies (members of the Royal Guard) also came streaming into the room.

"Now, answer my question." said the stallion. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to answer a summons from Princess Celestia." said Steven.

"Likely story." said the stallion, sneering at them. "Why would Celestia want you to come here? I'd say you were nothing more than a spy. Now I don't have the power to execute you, but I know someone who will."

Just then, the door opened again, to reveal another stallion. A white furred, blue maned unicorn entered the room.

It was Shining Armor!

"General, we have found some ponies lurking about in the battle area." said the black stallion. "I'd say they were no more than spies. Shall we execute them?"

Shining Armor walked to the group.

"Shining!" shouted Twilight.

Shining Armor immediately cocked his head to where Twilight was.

"Twily?"

Twilight then broke out and ran to hug Shining Armor. The soldiers quickly drew their weapons to shoot.

"No! This is my sister." he said.

"Miss Twilight?" said the black stallion. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

"Twily, meet Captain Octavius." said Shining Armor. "You might not remember him, but back when we were both Apprentices of the Guard, you guys met before.

"Octavius?" said Twilight, remembering him. It was true- that was a really long time ago. She was having lunch with her brother when Octavius dropped by to say hi. When Octavius found out that she was the Princess Celestia's protégé, he immediately started referring to her as 'Miss Twilight'.

"I assume that these ponies are your friends?" asked Shining Armor.

Just then Rainbow Dash popped out of the group of friends.

"Hey, you were suffocating me back there, Flu-"

"HUMAN! ATTACK!" shouted Octavius.

"No!" shouted Twilight, as she and the rest of the group ran in front of Rainbow Dash.

"What are you doing?" asked Shining Armor. "Are you harboring a human?"

"She's no human!" said Twilight. "Well, she's human now, but she wasn't born human! She just suddenly became like that after the crash!"

Shining Armor stared at her.

"That's Rainbow Dash?" he asked, doubting her. "Rainbow Dash. Your friend. The pony. The totally-not-human?"

"Yes." said Twilight, determinedly.

Shining Armor then ordered his guards to stand down. He then picked Rainbow Dash from off the ground.

"Thanks." mumbled Rainbow Dash.

"Sorry, guys." he said. "It's just that since the humans came and all, they've been doing nothing but destroying."

"So what happened?" asked Twilight. "What happened to Ponyville? And what is happening with the humans."

"It's a long story." he said, as his serious face cracked into a smile. "And I think your mentor would want to tell you about it herself."

"We're going to Canterlot?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah." he said. "Queen Celestia's been expecting you."

Chapter 10- Killer Queen (Reilly)

"Hail! Queen Celestia, full of grace, your people are with thee! Glory be to the Sun, the Moon, and the Royal Alicorns!"

Steven stared at Twilight accusingly.

"I thought she was supposed to be Princess Celestia." he whispered.

"I guess desperate times call for desperate measures." she answered.

Steven raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"I thought that was a human quote."

"Well, it's well known in Equestria too." she said, not looking at him but smiling all the same. "And shut up."

Steven smiled and looked at Queen Celestia. The first thought that went through his mind as he saw her was that he would've known she was royalty even if nopony had told him. She was a very tall white pony with a gracefully flowing multicolored mane (like Rainbow Dash's, except it was brighter and looked like it was made of very thin clouds) and tail, and she had both a very long unicorn's horn and wings. But the most impressive of all these features is her very aura. It gave him a compulsive need to obey.

As he didn't know how ponies were supposed to bow, he lagged behind and let Twilight go to the front of the group. Twilight gave him a knowing look as she took over the front.

Steven watched as Twilight bowed to the Queen. He quickly followed suit, and Fluttershy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders bowed behind him. He noticed at the corner of his eye Rainbow Dash also not knowing how to bow, resulting in her kneeling down and putting both hands on the ground, much like how the Japanese bow to their superiors. He had worked with many Japanese people, so he knew these things (not to mention that a few Japanese had bowed to him like that as well).

"RISE, MY LOYAL SUBJECTS." boomed the Queen's voice. It seemed to be a few voices mixed together into one, echoing around the Great Hall.

Twilight looked up in shock at the Queen.

"Queen Celestia! Since when did you start using the traditional Canterlot voice?"

The Queen stared at her, a look of annoyance on her face. She looked really ticked.

Twilight squealed and continued bowing.

"I'm sorry, my Queen. Please forgive your most faithful student's mistake." said Twilight softly. Steven knew that from Twilight's reaction that she was used to speaking casually with the Queen.

"No need to be sorry, Twilight." she said, speaking normally now, with a hint of a sigh following that sentence. "Please stop bowing, though. You're making me feel a little uncomfortable."

The rest of the group, which had been so scared as to continue bowing (even lower than before) quickly looked up to face the Queen.

As the Queen's eyes scanned the small crowd, her face emotionless, the group started sharing awkward glances with each other. According to the looks Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were giving each other, the Queen wasn't usually like this.

As he was looking at the others, he suddenly felt the Queen's gaze pierce through his skin. He immediately fell into a bow.

"I've never seen you before, young pony. Look up." said the Queen.

He looked up to face the Queen, who began to scan his face. Her eyes immediately stopped as they saw his left eye. Her face quickly turned into one of surprise.

"That scar..." said the Queen. "Where did you get it?"

Steven looked back awkwardly. He had never been in the presence of royalty before, much less the one Queen to rule them all.

"Well..." said Steven. "There were wolves chasing after us, and one of the wolves scratched me there, and it left a scar. My eye is fine, though."

Steven could hear Twilight say "psst!" to try to get his attention. He bowed his head down and looked at Twilight, She was mouthing off a few words to him.

Your scar is glowing.

Steven quickly looked at his reflection at the well-polished marble floor. What Twilight said was true. His scar was glowing!

"Wolves." said the Queen. "Right."

Rainbow Dash quickly stood up to face the Queen. Almost immediately, Guard Ponies came to surround her. Steven tried to say something to the Queen, but Rainbow Dash spoke first.

"But it's true!" said Rainbow Dash, apprehensively. "If it wasn't for Steven here, none of us would've survived the wolves that tried to attack us!"

One of the Guard Ponies tried to seize her arms, but she quickly pulled her arms away.

"He saved all of us!" said Rainbow Dash. "And the price he had to pay for that was the scar!"

Queen Celestia looked at Rainbow Dash in a mixture of disgust and annoyance. Steven immediately felt guilty. He knew that the scar was not a result of the fight with the wolves, but actually a sign that he was resurrected from the dead. And now Rainbow Dash has spoken up to protect him, not knowing where the scar really came from. He was going to have to thank her later.

"And how dare a filthy human such as yourself enter the Royal House of Celestia?" said the Queen. "No humans are allowed here!"

"Please, your majesty," said Twilight, who began to bow again. "She is Rainbow Dash. Former pegasus and wielder of the Element of Loyalty. Not to mention one of my best friends."

Twilight smiled at Rainbow Dash, who smiled back in gratitude.

"Rainbow Dash." said the Queen, still staring at her. "You have performed the Sonic Rainboom before, correct?"

"Yes, your majesty"

"Then you becoming a human has turned you into a pile of nothing but skin and garbage." said the Queen. "You have turned into a pathetic excuse. Unable to fly, unable to do what you do best..."

Rainbow Dash's face quickly turned into one of sorrow. Steven quickly stood up and stared at the Queen. The Queen flinched, but recovered quickly.

"I'm sorry, your majesty, but don't you think that Rainbow Dash already knew all that? I think she has already suffered enough. I believe there is no need to keep bothering her with what's already gone and lost, but to move on and do something new."

The Queen stared at him. To Steven's surprise, the look was not one of fury or even annoyance, but one of amusement. She turned to look at Twilight.

"Twilight," she said.

"Yes, your majesty?"

"I would like you and your friend here to stay here for a while. The rest of you can go up and relax in your suites. Fluttershy, I understand you like animals, so you have permission to visit the Royal Garden. The two little ponies next to you can come too. Guards, you can release the human so that she and the little one can go up to the suite."

"Yer majesty?" asked Apple Bloom. "Fergive me fer askin', but can Scootaloo come with us too?"

Steven nearly chuckled as she saw both Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle quickly spring up in front of the Queen and gave her their best innocent smiles. He nearly chuckled. It might be very amusing, but he was not crazy.

The Queen sighed.

"Very well." said the Queen. "The human can come with you too. But make sure that you cause no trouble, young ones."

The kids excitedly ran out of the Hall, followed by Fluttershy, who was gently flying over to them

"Wait up, kids." said Fluttershy. "Oh, please wait..."

Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, approached Steven.

"Back in the old days, they would have shouted 'CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ANIMAL CARERS!' or something, but now..." she said, looking nostalgic. "Are you gonna be alright?"

"Sure, I'll be fine." said Steven. He then tried to give her a reassuring smile, but he was not sure if it was coming through to her or not.

"Oh, you..." said Rainbow Dash as she punched him in the shoulder. "See ya later, then."

As she walked away, Steven gulped. To tell the truth, he didn't know what would come out of this meeting with the Queen. He thought that she was already suspecting him of something. But that might not be so bad. He had some questions about the Voice and all, and maybe the Queen knows more about it.

The Queen then walked down to their level. She turned to face Steven, who did his best not to look scared and back away.

"Your name is Steven, am I correct?"

"Yes, your majesty. Steven Reilly."

"Steven Reilly..." repeated the Queen. "I've never heard of such a name before."

I know... Everyone's told me that... he thought. But he didn't dare to say it out loud. He might be brave at the best of times, but he wasn't that eager to die.

The Queen's eyes then began to look at Steven's horn.

"And what is your particular field of magic?" she asked.

Steven tried hard to remember what Twilight said to him only a few hours ago. She said something about what his type of magic was. She said it was ancient magic, almost dead magic, but he didn't remember what it was exactly.

"I don't know..." mumbled Steven.

He saw Twilight slap her hoof on her face. Was that the pony equivalent to a facepalm? He was gonna have to try that sometime.

"I don't know, your majesty." said Steven, his voice a little louder.

The Queen then raised an eyebrow.

"You're saying you don't know your branch of magic?" asked the Queen. "How can you not know?"

"To be honest, your majesty, I wasn't born a-"

"Your majesty, may i speak in his place?" asked Twilight loudly.

The Queen turned to look at Twilight.

"Well, your majesty," said Twilight, very confidently. "Steven here had lost all his memory of what had happened before the collision. He has forgotten what type of magic he does, and he did all of his magic involuntarily. But I can classify the type of magic he uses."

Steven looked down. He was so close. this close to revealing that he was a human. And the Queen treated humans like useless scum. He was going to have to thank Twilight too for her quick thinking. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"It is Blessing Magic, your majesty." said Twilight. "Empowerment Magic, Enhancement Magic."

The Queen then turned to look at Steven again, amusement etched in every detail of her face.

"Blessing Magic?" she asked him, rather rhetorically. "That is very old magic, Steven. Very ancient. And very powerful. If I'm not mistaken, you can revive living things, correct?"

Steven saw Twilight violently shaking her head behind the Queen.

"Well, no, your majesty." he said. "Um... I haven't quite reached that level yet."

"Oh." said the Queen. "In that case, you're going to need some training to be of use to us. Meet me in the Royal Gardens at 6.30 this evening. For now, you are dismissed. Go ahead to your suite, which is in the tower adjacent to this Palace to your right."

"Wait, your majesty." said Twilight. "May I speak to you for a moment?"

Steven saw the Queen's expression soften greatly when Twilight said those words.

"Why, of course, Twilight." she said. "You may go now, Steven."

Steven quickly bowed and left the Hall. He went out the door to the right, where two guards were standing guard.

"Nice scar, mate." said one guard as he opened the door.

"Thanks." said Steven. "I guess..."

Steven overheard the two guards talking about the scar as he walked through the door. As it closed, however, complete silence fell upon the corridor he just entered. It was itself a very long hallway, full of doors to its sides. There was no single living thing alive in that corridor.

He slowly walked through the corridors. Behind those different doors, there were many sounds and lights coming from the different doors. He didn't dare walk into any of them, but the fact that there was activity going on was enough to comfort him. Suddenly, Steven froze as he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey, Steven! Wait up!"

Steven breathed in relief. it was only Twilight.

"Hey, I've got a bone to pick with you." said Steven. "I thought that Princess Celestia was supposed to be nice and understanding?"

Twilight sighed dejectedly.

"I don't know what happened either, Steven." said Twilight. "The normal Princess Celestia would also want to answer my questions right away."

There was an awkward silence for a very long time.

"So..." said Steven.

"What?"

"Well, thanks for covering my flank back there." said Steven.

"Honestly, I would've thought that you would've been more composed back there." she said with a smirk. "But I guess Princess- no, Queen Celestia would intimidate others with just her presence."

"So what do you think she meant by 'training'?"

"Honestly, I don't know." she said. "Normally she would just tell me to perform a spell and I'd learn in time. She had never, in the whole time I was training with her, told me to go to the gardens for training."

"Hmmm..."

"Hey." she said, trying to comfort him. "The Princess may have changed, but I'm sure she would do no harm on purpose. You'll be alright."

Steven sighed. It's true- he was really scared, but the Queen won't harm him. It's only training! Right?

"Well, I guess I'll see you then." said Twilight, as they parted ways, Steven going to the left and Twilight going straight ahead.

"Wait..." he said. "Aren't you staying in a suite like the rest of us?"

"No, no..." she said. "I stay in the Library, much like how it was back in Ponyville."

"Oh." said Steven, confused as to how someone can sleep in a library. Libraries creep him out. "Okay, see ya."

As Steven went to his room, he started thinking about things. But the thing that he really needed to think about was why his scar suddenly started glowing. He knew, that as a magical scar it would do some strange things now and again (he's read Harry Potter), but the question was why it started glowing exactly when he met eyes with the Queen. Was it because the Queen was very powerful? Or...

No, that's impossible.

Sooner than he realized, he had already climbed up all the stairs to his room. Right on top of the flight of stairs was a sign that said: 'Steven Reilly', so he entered that room. Right when he opened the door, however, the door from the room next to his opened, and a short, but fit pony came out.

"Hey." said the pony. "Nice scar, man."

Steven froze as that pony started walking down the stairs. He had heard that voice somewhere before... It wasn't so long ago since he heard it last. It was about...

Five days ago.

"Alan!"

The pony immediately looked back, a smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes.

"Steve?" he asked. "Steve!"

The pony ran back and lifted up a hoof. Steven immediately knew what he meant, and he took out his own hoof and bumped it into Alan's. It was the pony equivalent to the bro-fist. The brohoof?

"How'd you get here?" asked Steven. "I honestly never thought I'd see any of you again!"

"Well, I woke up afloat on some deserted island, met some guards, and then I got to stay here!" he said. "Glad to see you're a pony too."

Steven laughed. Perhaps a bit too much. But he couldn't help it- he always had hope that he would find his friends again, but he thought it would've been a long time before he did.

"Anyway, check these out." said Alan, before he spread something wide from both of his sides. They were wings.

"You have wings?" asked Steven. "That's awesome!"

"Not as awesome as you." said Alan, nodding at his horn. "Not only can you do magic, but you got that awesome scar too! How'd you get it anyway?"

"Long story." said Steven. "I'll tell you later, but now I've got to go take some rest first."

"Yeah, I gotta go too." said Alan. "I want to check the Library for any good comic books."

"You're going to the Library?" asked Steven. "In that case, tell Twilight I said hi."

Alan seemed confused by that sentence, but whatever doubt he had was quickly replaced by the happy face from finding his old friend again.

"Alright." he said. "See ya."

Steven then entered his room. It was large, spacey, well-designed, nothing short of impressive. But what was on his mind right now was the experience he just had. What were the odds that he would even meet a friend here in Canterlot, of all places. And one that has been turned into a pony, too. Of course, he could easily do the math, but he just wanted to leave it as a 'great coincidence'. He was very relieved to find a friend because it gave him hope that the others may still be alive as well.

He looked at the clock on the counter next to the bed.

4:25.

That gave him about 2 hours and 35 minutes to be down at the Royal Gardens. He had told Alan that he would be taking a bit of rest right now, but as it turns out, he didn't feel tired at all, and 2 hours and 35 minutes wan't really a lot of time to sleep. Plus, he didn't want to have any encounters with the Voice at the moment.

He decided that he should just go down to the Royal Gardens right now, so that he wouldn't be late (he didn't want to anger Queen Celestia) and so that he could spend some time with Fluttershy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The only problem was that he did not know where the Royal Gardens were.

As he walked down the stairs looking left and right for a pony to guide him there, he bumped into somepony. It was the guard that opened the door for him back in the Hall.

"Hey, it's the bloke with the nice scar!" said the pony. It sounded like he came from Pony Australia. "How ya doin', mate?"

"Fine, fine, thank you." said Steven. "Hey, can you guide me to the Royal Gardens, please?"

"Sure, sure, why not?" said the guard. "Here, follow me. hey, I didn't catch your name back then."

"I'm Steven Reilly." said Steven. "And what's your name?"

"The name's Bush." he said. "Bush Ranger."

As they walked through the Palace, Bush started talking about every single thing that he could think of. His homeland of Austailia (amazing how Equestrian names for places were so much alike to Earth's), his parents, his wife, his job as a guard and how much fun it was, until finally...

"The Queen's really changed, y'know." said Bush. "She used to be all kind and wise, but now the only thing she does all day is attack the humans. Ya may not know it, but we've lost a lot of our guards've been racked off, dead somewhere. And if we keep doing this, then things'll get even worse, mate. Much worse."

This was the only thing that Steven actually listened to. He said the same thing Twilight did. He said that the former Princess has changed. For the worse, no doubt.

"Really?" asked Steven. "What else has been happening around here?"

"Other than war..." said Bush, face sad but still looking up. "Well, not much, really. But what is worse than the Queen is that Captain. Captain what's-his-name..."

The room grew silent as he thought.

"Oct-" said Steven.

"Ah, yeah!" said Bush. "Octavius. Ever since the crash between the two planets, Octavius had changed. Much more than the Queen, anyway. I remember when he used to come down to the barracks and have a chat with the rest of us guards, but now all he does is stay locked up in that tower. None of us know what he does in there."

Well, that was food for though. Bush had certainly given him something to think about.

"Well, 'ere we are. The Royal Gardens." said Bush. "G'day, Steve."

"Thanks, Bush."

The first thing anyone would see from the Royal Gardens is the fact that its name greatly underestimated the Gardens themselves. It was HUGE! He could even see some kind of maze in the distance. He liked mazes, so he was gonna have to try that sometime.

As he walked around the Gardens, he admired the different types of trees, flowers, and vines there. He was not normally much of a plant-admirer, but he couldn't help but gaze at the ones in the Gardens. Compared to all the Botanical Gardens he had been in so far, this was most definitely the best.

As he went deeper into the Gardens, he began to hear voices. Soft voices, but voices nonetheless. He easily followed them, to find Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash trying to comfort a crying Sweetie Belle and a sad Apple Bloom.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Oh, it was terrible..." said Fluttershy. "We saw the whole thing..."

"It's Scootaloo." said Rainbow Dash, pulling her rainbow hair back and pointing to the West. "She scolded them pretty badly for some reason, and then she ran off somewhere that way."

"I'll try to find her." said Steven as he walked down the narrow path where Rainbow Dash had pointed to.

He didn't know where Scootaloo ran off to, but he had to find her. He knew he had to. Scootaloo was just a kid, after all. But then again, maybe that's why she left. Maybe it was because the others didn't understand her level of maturity, and that their attempts to comfort her was in vain, and it only proved to make things worse. he had to keep that in mind.

Not long after he had started looking for Scootaloo, he heard a rustling in the bushes to his right. As he slowly crept to look at what it is, a sudden blur of orange jumped up into the sky and ran. Steven, dazed for a while after Scootaloo jumped out, ran to follow it. However, he was careful not to get to close to her just yet. He had to wait for the correct time.

"Scootaloo!" he shouted. "Scootaloo, wait!"

Scootaloo kept on running ahead, and Steven found it getting harder to maintain their distances.

"Scootaloo!"

Scootaloo just stayed silent, running even faster than before.

"Scootaloo. Please!"

The young girl quickly stopped in her tracks. She turned around and looked at Steven apprehensively.

"What do you want?"

"To help you!" said a voice from behind Steven. It was Rainbow Dash.

"Since when have you been following me?" asked Steven.

"From the time you started shouting for Scootaloo to stop." she said. "I know Scootaloo. You can't talk to her like that."

Rainbow Dash then walked up to Scootaloo, who was standing cross-armed and was refusing to look at either of them.

"You let me handle this." said Rainbow Dash.

She then walked up to Scootaloo, and bent down on one knee to talk to her.

"Listen, Scootaloo..."

"There nothing that you can say that I want to hear." said Scootaloo. Steven noticed that her voice became very shaky when she said that. "I looked up to you, Rainbow Dash! I thought you were the best! Now look at you. You've become a human. A human who can't do anything! And then what does that make me? You were the best flyer in Equestria. The coolest, and the most superultraextremeawesomazing!"

Steven started to hear sobbing coming from Scootaloo. He sighed, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had to leave it to Rainbow Dash.

"So what does that make me? If someone like you could become as useless as this, then-"

"Please, Scootaloo, listen to me-"

"No!" she shouted. "I don't have anybody anymore! No mother, no father, no brother or sister, and now no friends! I should just kill myself and get it all over with!"

At this point, everything became silent. No one moved a muscle. Steven couldn't believe what Scootaloo had just said. He knew that she had a problem, but he didn't know that he ran this deep. Steven watched as Rainbow Dash stood up. Both  Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash remained locked in each other's eyes, but Steven could only see Scootaloo's angry, and yet scared eyes. But what astonished Steven was what Rainbow Dash did next.

She slapped Scootaloo.

But as soon as Scootaloo began to fall down, Rainbow Dash quickly grabbed on to her and pulled her into a tight hug. Steven, as well as Scootaloo herself, was confused. Rainbow Dash then released Scootaloo but held on to her hands. He could see tears dripping down from Rainbow Dash's face, and tears starting to build up in Scootaloo's eyes as she started to cry as well.

"Listen!" shouted Rainbow Dash, a voice of both anger and love. "Do you think this is a fun game for me? You think me turning into a human is fun? It isn't! In fact, I hate it! Do you know why I am here? Do you know why I'm going to keep it up until you understand? It's because I love you, Scootaloo. And I'm not going to just stand by here and watch you say that you want to end your life! I can't!"

Scootaloo continued looking into Rainbow Dash's eyes, crying very softly, not daring to look away.

"You're wrong, Scootaloo." said Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo just stayed silent.

"You're wrong." she said. "You're not alone, Scootaloo. You've never been. You've got friends. You have two perfect friends who have always tried to cheer you up, friends who care about you. And, of course..."

"I won't mind being your big sister."

As these words left her mouth, the softly crying Scootaloo buried her face in Rainbow Dash's hair, hugging her. Rainbow Dash hugged back tightly.

"And I promise I won't ever leave you, Scootaloo. Never."

Steven then decided that it was time to step in. He took a blade of grass from the ground and started blowing through it. Immediately, a beautiful sound came out, filling the atmosphere with soft, light music. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash immediately looked at him.

"What is that?" asked Scootaloo.

"It's a grass whistle." said Steven. "But I cannot play it very well."

"What are you talking about?" asked Scootaloo. "That was perfect!"

"But I don't have fingers like you do, Scootaloo." said Steven. Scootaloo gave a look of surprise. "Come here, let me show you how to make one."

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo slowly walked towards the sitting Steven, who picked two more blades of grass and gave it to them.

He then began to teach Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash how to blow into the grass to make music with their thumbs, and then to use the rest of their fingers to change its pitch.

"Since I don't have fingers," said Steven, "I can't change the pitch too much. You, however, can."

For the next ten minutes, the atmosphere was very light. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash managed to make music, and whenever one of them failed, they would laugh it off and try again. By the end, both of them managed to play the grass whistle beautifully.

"I can't wait to show this to my friends!" said Scootaloo, as she ran off back to where the others were.

"Wait up, squirt!" said Rainbow Dash, but Scootaloo didn't listen and just wen on running back.

Rainbow Dash and Steven then took a glance at each other, followed by Rainbow Dash tightly hugging him.

'Hey!" said Steven, but Rainbow Dash didn't care.

Still hugging tightly, Rainbow Dash gave Steven a short, soft kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you, Steve." whispered Rainbow Dash softly into his ear.

Steven, still shocked by what just happened, didn't answer back. Rainbow Dash then quickly let go and ran off after Scootaloo, leaving Steven alone to wonder what just happened there. Did Rainbow Dash just kiss his cheek? Whatever he was thinking was interrupted, though, by a sudden rumbling in the ground.

"Well, that was nice." said a voice to his right.

It was Queen Celestia.

Steven quickly dropped into a bow, to which the Queen chuckled.

"Oh, please." she said. "We're not in the Palace, Steven Reilly. Just act normal around me."

Steven slowly looked up, but as he saw the Queen, he also saw another, smaller figure behind her.

"Oh." said Queen Celestia. "I see you've met Princess Luna. Say hi, Luna."

Steven watched as a smaller, but still just as regal body come into sight. She looked exactly the same as the Queen, except that her body was dark blue, she had blue and purple flowing hair with small stars in them, and that she looked much younger.

"Hello." said Luna

"Luna is my sister." said the Queen. "She will be handling your training today. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go back to the Palace."

Steven then watched as the Queen took off, leaving the smaller Princess and Steven behind.

"Hi." said Steven, holding out a hoof. "My name is-"

As he said this, Luna quickly stamped her hoof into the ground. All of a sudden, there was a rumbling noise and strange walls of stone appeared from down below. Luna was also elevated by the rising stone wall, until she was very high above the ground. Steven saw Luna's horn starting to glow a deep purple, and the she saw strange, humanoid things coming from underground as well around him.

"These are ghouls." said Luna. "They cannot be harmed physically, and can only be destroyed using magic."

"But-"

"There are no buts with me, Steven Reilly." said Luna. "I have come to train you, and train you I shall. These ghouls will keep attacking you until you find a way to somehow defeat them. I will not let you go until after you have completed all of my training sessions. Now..."

Luna stared down at Steven, a strange gleam in her eyes.

"Let the training commence."

Chapter 11- Luna in the Sky With Diamonds (Reilly)

"Your healing magic is powerful, Steven Reilly. But if you don't attack, then I'm afraid that you cannot win."

What she said was right. Steven can heal himself as much as he liked, but the ghouls would just keep attacking.

One ghoul swiped at him, and he barely dodged it. But another ghoul quickly swiped at him before he had any chance to recover, and his cheek got slashed. He didn't know how much longer he could last against them. The ghouls, however, didn't seem to be getting tired at all. They just kept mindlessly attacking him.

Thinking quickly, Steven jumped back and immediately charged into the group of ghouls. But being ghouls, they weren't able to have any emotions. And they definitely couldn't feel surprise. So as he charged, two ghouls caught his two front hooves. But Steven had been expecting this, so he immediately kicked back so that he landed on the floor with his two hind legs, and he immediately span in place, slowly loosening the ghouls' grips and throwing them toward the stone walls.

But they just stood up again. They could not feel pain.

Steven began panting heavily. Although the fight with the wolves was very painful, this fight with the ghouls immediately beat it as the hardest fight he had been in so far. Luckily for him, though, the ghoul's fingernails had been trimmed neatly, so that they could not draw blood. But it was still painful for him all the same. Not to mention all of the tension in his muscles and bones just screamed for him to give up already.

But even though all of this was going on, he could still see Luna just standing there calmly, sipping into a cup of tea that she had just left to make. She was so calm.

As the ghouls were slowly walking to him, he immediately used his healing magic again. But the healing magic was now weaker than ever, and they only managed to heal the minor scratches left by the ghouls' attacks. They didn't heal all of the fatigue he had. And things were just going to get worse from this point.

"Use your magic for offense, Steven Reilly. It is time for you to get out of that shell of yours and fight back."

Easy for her to say. Steven was busting his flank just trying to defend himself, and now she was expecting him to fight back and defeat them? That was way out of his league. He couldn't defeat these ghouls. All his magic could do was power up others' magic or heal. Hell, it can even revive. But he couldn't use it to attack. It was nothing but enhancement magic!

Enhancement Magic...

Enhancement.

Immediately after he got the idea, he strafed out of the ghouls' paths. He needed time to charge up his magic for what he was about to do next. He ran around the length of the arena, trying to buy some time while his magic started focusing on the tip of his horn. After about half a minute of running around aimlessly, Steven immediately unleashed his magic. Not on the ghouls, no. On his hooves. The blue magic immediately started to cover his hooves, and it formed two gauntlets and boots.

Steven could hear Luna stop sipping tea. That must mean that he was doing things correctly.

Steven waited in silence, listening to his magic crackling like electricity as even more magical power was transferred to his newly formed 'gauntlets'. He could feel power start flowing through him, but he needed to wait for the ghouls to come to him. The gauntlets began to look like they were made of steel, glowing with blue lines of light.

As he waited, the ghouls slowly approached him. If there was a weakness to being a ghoul, it was the fact that they were unable to run or think. The normal pony would back off after seeing his newfound power that was visibly flowing through him. But the ghouls just came at him. Around four meters away from him, they quickly broke into a jump.

Steven began to doubt this plan. He had never tried it before. But its because of that that it was worth a shot.

It's now or never.

Steven immediately lifted a hoof, punching the ghoul while it was pouncing on him. The ghoul didn't move, nor was he able to pull his hoof back. His hoof started to shake very violently, and it took all he had to keep it still on the ghoul. Right at that moment, a brilliant blue flash boomed out from the punch, and the ghoul flew away, disappearing into a wisp of smoke.

Steven smiled. Now he can fight.

There were only four ghouls left to fight. Two ghouls on both his sides swiped at him, but he ducked quickly enough. As he ducked, he used his hoof to sweep the ground where one ghoul was standing on, tripping it. He immediately jumped to its side, and rose one of his hooves as high as possible. He immediately felt power crackling in his right hoof, and then it came crashing down on the ghouls' body, which immediately disappeared into smoke as well.

Three ghouls left. Each surrounding Steven, they quickly jumped to pounce on him. Steven saw no escape from that, so he quickly ran and tackled one of the ghouls mid-air. He looked at its rotting flesh, and immediately felt disgusted at the sight. Using its body as a landing pad, he jumped off it, landing on the ground on all four hooves, The ghoul, however, came crashing down onto the dirt, scraping a bit of earth as he landed. Steven immediately ran towards it, turned around and used one of his hind legs to lift the body from the ground and send it flying. The ghoul came back face first, and Steven used both of his front hooves to catch its head as it came crashing down. He felt power flowing within him as he held on tightly to the ghoul's head, and he immediately crushed the ghoul's head into smoke, after which its body also disappeared.

Two ghouls left. But they were nowhere to be seen. He looked right. No ghouls there. He looked left. No ghouls there. He looked in front. Still no ghouls there. Which must mean...

He quickly ducked as he came to the revelation, feeling two strong gusts of wind touch his mane as two very powerful swipes came from behind him. Begging that his idea would work, he quickly channeled all of his magical power into both of his hind hooves, which then kicked the two ghouls behind him. The hooves stayed there, gathering power into his 'boots' to kick them even more fatally. He felt a small, but strong gust of wind start spinning around his hooves, and then he heard a mighty explosion, sending the ghouls crashing into the stone wall, disappearing into wisps of smoke like the rest of them.

He did it. He defeated them. He had beaten the ghouls. As he came to the idea of winning, his 'gauntlets' and 'boots' disappearing. He immediately collapsed, only now realizing how tired he really was after that whole ordeal. But now that he came to discover the true potential of his magic, he felt that he wanted to explore it further. To explore it until its limits, if there were any limits to magic.

Suddenly, he heard a slow clapping sound echoing through the stone-walled arena.

He looked up to see Luna, who was softly banging her hooves onto the stone wall. She started descending towards him, and he impulsively threw himself into an awkward bow. He suddenly felt pain scorching through his muscles, begging for release from this suffering. But Steven knew that he could not fight anymore, and if Luna was even a tiny bit alike to Celestia, then he knew better than to upset her.

"Please don't bow to me." said Luna, smiling awkwardly. "I've had far too many people bow to me before, afraid that I was still my evil self, Nightmare Moon."

Steven looked up, very relieved to be allowed to stop bowing. However, he did not know anything about the Princess Luna's evil side or of any nightmares (if he didn't count his own experience with the Voice) and moons.

"Ah." said Luna, circling him. "But you know not of Nightmare Moon, do you not? Twilight tells me that you were one of the Earth-folk."

Steven gulped nervously. Why did Twilight tell Luna that I was a human? If Luna was anything like her sister, then she would've put him in the dungeons or kill him right then.

"I know that you still remember everything after the crash." asked Luna. "And the reason why you needed me to help you to learn magic was because you were no different from a human once, were you?"

"Yes, your majesty." said Steven, looking down. He then spoke in a much lower voice. "Sorry."

"Sorry?" asked Luna, who began to laugh. "Worry not, Steven Reilly. Unlike my sister, I am not prejudiced against humans. or former humans, for that matter. I have always strived to make peace with the humans, but their actions, and to be honest, our own as well, have prevented such a thing."

Luna then turned to face the stone wall.

"War." said Luna. "Even as a child, I have always hated war. But my sister drowns in its glory. Whenever there is war, she always seems to change into a different personality entirely. Her revelation of that is what made her unable to bear to wield the Elements of Harmony."

Steven looked at her blankly. What fresh hell are the Elements of Harmony?

"She felt that she a warmonger such as herself should not be allowed to wield the Elements." said Luna. "And that's why she gave it to those friends of yours. But even for someone as bloodthirsty as herself during times of war, Celestia has always cared for her subjects. Never, in the history of the world, has she so recklessly sent soldiers to their death."

Luna sighed dejectedly, and then turned to look back at Steven.

"Canterlot has changed, Steven Reilly." said Luna. "It has changed a lot in the five days since the crash. Of course, the crash itself brought in strange new creatures, buildings and the sort, but the greatest change was the change in my sister's heart. Something snapped in her after she woke up from the crash. And you can see it in mane. Its colour has dulled, Steven Reilly."

Steven remained silent. He sensed that Princess Luna was trying to tell him something, but he failed to see it.

"I have a mission for you, Steven Reilly." said the Princess, looking at him determinedly. "A mission which you must not fail. The Elements are scattered. To restore Harmony, you must gather all the Elements again. But I see that you have already succeeded halfway."

Suddenly, something struck Steven. He had heard that somewhere before.

"Tell me what I must do." said Steven.

"It's pretty simple, actually. With your current companions, you have already done half of what you must do."

The Voice had already sent him on this mission before Luna did.

"Princess-" said Steven.

"The world has changed, Steven Reilly." said Luna. "Nothing will ever be the same again. But without Harmony, the world will rise into chaos. It has already started. We must do our best to make peace."

Luna quickly looked away, and she remained silent.

"Princess Luna, I-"

"And you cannot do it alone." said Luna. "You need your friends to come with you. I am sure that the Rainbow one would follow you, and maybe the shy one and the children. But Twilight wants to stay here. And I think that nothing can change her views other than the truth."

Steven just stood there, listening intently to what the Princess was saying.

"When you meet Twilight later tonight, go to the Stellar Corridor, and enter the second door to the left, on the right side. You should see a symbol of a Sword and a Shield on that door." said Luna. "But now, it is time for me to train you as best as I can to prepare you for your journey."

"Thank you, Princess."

"No need to thank me, Steven Reilly." said Luna, smiling for the first time. "You have been doing an excellent job. I was just about to call off the ghouls when you demonstrated your excellent control of power. As you know, your magic is an Ancient Magic. Powerful, but uncontrollable magic. You have taken that power and wielded it into something I myself have never seen before."

Princess Luna then flew to the top of the stone wall again.

"Now, Steven Reilly." said Luna. "Are you ready to double the training?"

Steven quickly washed himself with healing magic. While listening to Princess Luna, he had more than enough time to charge and store up magical energy for when the training continued. He knew that the next things Luna will make him fight would be much stronger than ghouls, but he didn't care. If what Luna had just told him was true, then he needed as much training as possible to gather up all the Elements. Elements. He would have to ask Twilight about them later.

"Yes, Princess Luna."

Luna immediately pointed her horn to the moon, and her horn began to glow again. All of a sudden, the ground started rumbling much more than before, to reveal three giant, creatures of stone.

"Golems!" shouted Luna. "Also immune to raw power, so you're going to have to use magic! And they themselves can kill you with just one punch."

Luna had definitely upped the stakes. The golems, now fully out of the ground, quickly tried to stomp on him, but he managed to dodge all of it. He quickly went to the farthest point as possible from the golems, and he quickly summoned his magic to make the gauntlets again. He felt the same course of energy flowing through his body, giving him a feeling of strength.

As soon as his magic finished charging, he ran towards the group of lumbering giants, and quickly punched the bodies of one of them. He felt the same power packed in his punch, threatening to destroy anything it touched. He was prepared for it to be over soon. He was prepared to see the golem break into a million pieces.

But something was wrong.

The punch took too long. He was still there, shaking violently for the power of his punch to destroy the golem, but there was nothing happening. None of the golems were moving as well. They just stood there, looking at him. He tried to put even more power into his single punch, and he felt as if he was almost there, until..

There was an explosion of blue light. He felt himself being yanked back by an extremely powerful force, which then made him crash right through the stone wall created by Luna. He felt the force of his being thrown back actually break the wall, and he landed outside, back in the gardens, lying on the piece of wall he flew straight through.

He couldn't stand up. The pain was completely unbearable. he couldn't concentrate, nor could he feel anything other than pain and agony. He laid there, unmoving, lifeless.

On top of the stone wall, he saw Luna's horn starting to grow purple, and the golems began to dig back under the ground.

"No!" he shouted. Luna looked back. "I can do this."

Luna's horn stopped glowing, and the golems did nothing but stand on the surface, inviting him to come back to the arena. But Steven couldn't even sit up, much less stand up and fight back. he quickly summoned as much strength and concentration as he could to slowly heal his own body. It helped a bit, but he was still far from okay.

He slowly stood up, dangerously swaying from side to side, as if he was a building about to topple down very soon. he quickly made his way back to the arena, where the golems began to attack him again. He quickly dodged all of their punches, but one of the golems easily picked him up from off the floor, holding him in his vice-like grip.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" roared the golem. He tried to move, but he couldn't. The golem was holding on to him too tight. The painful muscles and bones from the crash just now began to act up again, and he felt as if his body was going to break apart anytime soon.

But he had also noticed something else.

Inside the golem's mouth was something strange. An orb-like object, black and blood-red, slowly spinning in place. If this was what he thought it was, then Steven had a good idea about how to defeat these monsters. The first thing he needed to do, however, was the hardest. He had to break free from the golem's grip.

So he did the only thing his magic could do at that point. He slowly managed to cover his whole body with as much magical energy as possible, evenly spread out, and...

He exploded.

Luckily for him, golems can feel surprise and pain. The bright flash of his explosion had blinded the golem, and he saw the its hand begin to glow bright red, like burnt steel. He let go of Steven, who fell lightly onto the ground below him.

The golem who held him then began to lumber around, swinging his arms wildly and hitting the other two golems in the process. He watched as the golems fought among one another for a while. He needed to charge up his energy for his final attack.

The other two golems quickly grabbed hole of the blinded one to give him time to recover. The blinded one soon shook his head and looked straight ahead. As the other two let go, the golem angrily tried to look for Steven. But it wasn't hard. Steven wasn't trying to hide.

The three golems charged at Steven, running huge footsteps at a time. Steven quickly summoned back his gauntlets and boots.

They were very close. But not close enough.

Now they were closer.

Closer...

Almost there...

Almost at the exact time that the golem tried to smash him with its fist, Steven jumped out of its way, only to jump on top of the golem's hand. He quickly ran up the length of its arm, and then he jumped into the golem's open mouth. The golem realized what he was trying to do by then, but it was already too late. Steven used his magic to turn his steel gauntlets into large, sharp lances, and then he used all his might to drive one of them into the golem's orb. He managed to make a small dent, but he needed to push harder. With the help of his boots, he manage to root himself into the golem's open mouth while he pushed the whole length of his hoof into the golem's orb.

The golem screamed as the lance completely pierced through the orb, slowly cracking it and finally shattering it. Steven quickly jumped off the mouth of the golem, and only seconds after the jump, the golem's orb exploded, and the golem itself fell back to the floor, its body separating into smaller rocks and boulders.

Knowing that they had found out about their weakness, the other two golems quickly drilled themselves into the ground, disappearing from view.

Once again, he heard the slow clapping sound of Luna's hooves. He quickly deactivated his magic and collapsed to the ground.

"Again, another well done job, Steven Reilly." said Luna. "Are you alright? You seemed to have suffered a lot of pain when you crashed through that wall."

"I'm fine, Princess" he said. "Really."

"No, you're not." said Luna, looking at him with pity, and a smidge of... respect? "You need to save up your energy for when you have to forcefully break out of here to find the Elements."

Steven looked up and stared at Luna.

"What?" he asked.

"Well, the main reason I'm here to teach you, Steven Reilly, is because my sister wants to use your powers for her cause. She wants you to help with the war effort on our side." she said. "And she won't want to let go of such a valuable asset such as yourself."

Luna dipped her head down and walked to him. He felt her horn lightly touch his own horn, and then he saw the strangest thing. The Moon in the sky quickly brought down a huge stream of energy into her horn, which was then channeled into his horn. As the powerful magic overwhelmed him, he felt everything slowly start to recover. His bones, his muscles, he slowly felt relaxed again.

Luna then took a step back. She looked as if she was admiring her own work.

"It looks like your scar is there to stay, Steven Reilly." said Luna. "Now, I hope you remember what you need to do, because your mission stands on the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and you will fail, Steven Reilly."

She then flew off, back to the castle. The stone walls also retracted back to the ground, and what used to be a pile of destruction turned back into a normal field in the Royal Gardens.

He thought about what Luna had said.

Stray but a little, and you will fail.

He knew what he must do. The only problem was that he knew not what would happen if he did do it. But what hope is there left? The humans in Black Wesa were already experimenting on ponies, and their war is already breaking out. If they don't do something soon, then the war will consume the world.

He needed to convince Twilight to oppose the Queen. But how is he able to do that? The Queen was her mentor, her teacher, and even a guardian. How in the world was he supposed to make Twilight go against the Queen.

All he could do was hope. Hope for the best.

Hope that whatever was behind the door in the Stellar Corridor, the second door to the left on the right side bearing the symbols of a Sword and a Shield would help in his mission.

Chapter 12- School's Out (Twilight)

"How could you, your Majesty?" asked Twilight, trying to fight back her own tears. "Why?"

Queen Celestia said nothing, and stared at Twilight the whole time she was talking. She just stood there, facing the whole group, who was staring back at her apprehensively. The Queen, however, showed no emotions.

Twilight felt heartbroken. Betrayed. She couldn't believe that her mentor of all ponies could have done such a thing. It was so cruel, so evil. She was torn up inside, not knowing how to react to the person she looked up to the most doing such a horrible thing.

The memory of seeing it was etched in her mind. Every single detail.

Everything since Steven had asked her to come with him...

"Twilight?" asked Steven, who had just come through the library door. "Got a minute?"

Twilight was just reading a human book about Earth's geography, called an 'Atlas' or something, when Steven came through the door. She figured that learning about these things would be important, since Earth and Equestria had merged and all.

"That depends." said Twilight. "What's up?"

"Actually, I want to take you somewhere." said Steven. "To show you something."

Twilight was skeptical. What was so important that made Steven barge into the library at this time of night? But her curiosity far outweighed her skepticism. She wanted to see whatever Steven wanted to show her.

"Lead the way." said Twilight.

Steven and Twilight silently walked down the Library to the Palace Courtyards, which led to...

"The Stellar Corridor?" asked Twilight. "How on Earth and Equestria did you find this place?"

Steven hesitated to answer, but he soon realized that he needed to answer it.

"Umm..." said Steven, grinning for a short while. "Lucky guess? Now come on!"

Steven picked up the pace, and he was now positively galloping forward. Twilight knew that what Steven said was a lie, because not only was he as terrible a liar as Applejack, but there was only one way to get into the Stellar Corridor. Nopony, or no human can stumble there by accident.

"Come on, Steven." said Twilight, growing suspicious. "How did you find the Stellar Corridor?"

Steven stopped running, and looked back at her. His expression was blank but tense, as if not knowing how to answer that question.

"I told you." said Steven. "I was walking around after training, and I wound up here!"

"Impossible." said Twilight. "You can't find the Stellar Corridor just by walking around. You have to be told where to find it. It's enchanted so that only trusted people can enter it. Now, I'll ask once more. How did you find the corridor?"

Steven sighed and looked at Twilight.

"You can't tell anyone about this, alright?"

Twilight smiled and nodded.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." said Twilight, doing all of the necessary movements and actions to go along with the Pinkie Promise. A pang of regret came as she did it, but it quickly disappeared again.

Steven, on the other hand, tilted his head and stared at Twilight, apparently confused by what she just said and did.

"Never mind." said Twilight. "I promise."

"Fine." said Steven, who started to walk again. "It was Princess Luna, the Queen's sister. Also the one who trained me in the Royal Gardens."

"Princess Luna?" asked Twilight, surprised by the sudden development but still cool all the same. "What did she say?"

"She said something about how the world had changed since the crash." said Steven. "And then she told me to bring you to a door in the Stellar Corridor."

Twilight was still suspicious. But then again, all Alicorns have a habit of their advice being vague and annoying, so she quickly rubbed that thought off.

"You do know what this means, don't you?" said Twilight.

"What?" asked Steven, genuinely confused.

"It means that your mentor is an Alicorn as well!" said Twilight. "That makes two of us!"

"Er..." said Steven. "Alicorn means ponies with unicorn horns and pegasus wings, right?"

"Yes." said Twilight.

"Well, according to what Luna said..." whispered Steven. "Then it would be most likely that we would never see them again."

"What?" asked Twilight.

"I don't understand either." said Steven. "But the most important thing to do right now is to get to that door as soon as possible."

Twilight silently followed Steven as they entered the Stellar Corridor. What did he mean by 'never see them again'. Or, more specifically, what did Princess Luna mean by 'never see them again'? Twilight shrugged, knowing that she would get all the answers when they reached the door.

"So, which one is it?" asked Twilight.

"The second door to the left, on the right side..." said Steven, more of a reminder than an answer. "The door bearing the Sword and the Shield..."

"You know," said Twilight, "even if I had believed that lie back there, then you not knowing the exact location of this door would be proof enough that you were lying."

"There it is." said Steven, changing the subject. "That's the door."

It was a very peculiar door. Unlike the other doors, which were made of steel or plastic, this one was made of a very sturdy-looking wood. There were nails and bolts all around its sides and its front. There was also the symbol of the Equestrian Coat of Arms- A large shield divided into four parts (A tree, a golden chain, a star, and a green flame), covered by a cross of two swords in front of it. And finally, on top of the shield, is the Sun resting on the Moon.

Twilight caught Steven looking at something on the Coat of Arms. He was staring at it intently, as if it reminded him of something very important.

"Steven?" asked Twilight.

Steven immediately snapped out of whatever trance he was in.

"Oh." said Steven, nervously chuckling. "After you."

Twilight gave him a mock bow, and entered the room.

Other than what little light came from the Stellar Corridor, this room was pitch black. She didn't know how large the room was, nor how many things were in the room. Steven then closed the door as he came in, leaving everything pitch black. Twilight quickly did an Illumination Spell to light up the room.

"What?" whispered Steven, panicking. "Turn that off!"

"Why?" asked Twilight, panicking as well in surprise.

"We don't know what happens here." said Steven. "What if we get caught?"

"Didn't you get permission from Luna?" asked Twilight.

"Yes," said Steven, "but to refresh your memory, Princess Luna is not theQUEEN."

"Fine." said Twilight, turning off her Illumination Spell. "What do you propose we do? We can't see anything!"

Steven thought about that for a while. All of a sudden, he jumped into the air.

"Got an idea." said Steven. His horn then began to slightly glow blue. Twilight expected something to happen, like a loud sound, or the moving of something heavy, but nothing happened. It just glowed and then it stopped glowing.

"What was that?" asked Twilight.

"Yes!" exclaimed Steven. "It works!"

"What works?" asked Twilight.

"This." said Steven, as he pointed his horn towards both of her eyes. Startled, Twilight backed away, but it was too late. The horn's magic had enveloped her eyes.

"Ah!"

"Don't worry." said Steven. "Try to open your eyes."

Twilight hesitantly opened her eyes, only to reveal a very bright room around her. She could see every single detail, no problem at all.

"This is amazing!" said Twilight. "How did you do it?"

"I enhanced the seeing power of our eyes." said Steven. "Look, there's a stairwell over there! I think we should follow it."

Twilight and Steven then began walking down the steep steps that led them downstairs. Every step they took, the air around them seemed even warmer, yet the atmosphere got colder. Twilight then began to get scared. Despite being able to see in the dark clearly, she wasn't able to see the end of that staircase.

All of a sudden, Twilight tripped on one of the stairs. She fell down, and rolled to the bottom. Almost immediately, she heard a gruff voice.

"Hey, did you hear that?" asked one voice.

"Yeah. Let's go check it out." said the other.

Damn. There are two guards.

Suddenly, a very bright light appeared right in front of her eyes, blinding her.

"Miss Twilight?" asked one guard.

"She can't be here." said the other one. "We have to wipe her."

Wipe? What did that mean?

"Twilight, don't look into their lights!" shouted Steven from behind.

Twilight quickly looked away and covered her eyes with her hooves.

"Another one!" said one guard.

Twilight suddenly heard a loud punch, followed by the sound of a body flying away very quickly and crashing in the wall.

"What... What are you?" said the other one, his voice shaking.

She heard another loud sound, similar to an explosion, and another crash into the wall. She took this as a clue to be allowed to open her eyes. Still dazed from the earlier bright light, she blinked rapidly to be able to see again. As her view cleared up, she saw the two guards lying on the floor near the wall, where a dent from where they crashed was found. She quickly turned to look at Steven, who was wearing some strange gauntlets and boots that were made of magic power.

She watched as Steven walked up to the guards and lowered his head, quickly healing any bruises they had and clearing up and blood lost.

"They should be fine now." said Steven.

"Wha..." she said, mouth agape. An amateur magic-user had just beaten two well-trained, seasoned guards in a matter of seconds? That training must really be worth it. She should really talk to Luna some time.

Steven pushed the door, which loudly creaked as it opened.

"Let's go." said Twilight.

But Steven wasn't budging.

"Come on!" said Twilight. "Let's hurry in before any more guards find us here!"

Steven didn't respond. He was busy looking at whatever was behind that door.

"Steven?"

Twilight walked up to Steven, whom Twilight noticed was shivering. This guy just beat up two seasoned guards in seconds, and yet whatever he was looking at seemed to creep him to no end.

It was only then did Twilight notice the smell. A horrible, putrid smell that was like a mixture of rotten fish, eggs, excrement, and vomit. It was like a bomb to her nose.

Now very curious as to what she was smelling, Twilight tried to squeeze through Steven to take a look at what he was looking at.

"What's all this-"

Twilight didn't finish her sentence.

She couldn't finish her sentence.

As she stood there, she saw piled up rows of steel cages, some of them with humans and some with ponies, but the whole place was chaos. The floor was dirty, and there was a strange, red liquid in puddles around that room. It was very hot inside that room, and Twilight began to sweat just from the heat and the smell. Twilight could see shadows of starved humans and ponies lying around in their cages, groaning and moaning for help. It was absolute chaos, and Twilight could smell the despair and the agony of the people in that room.

But the worst part of all...

Was that right in front of them, at the edge of the room...

Was a pile of dead bodies.

Twilight wanted to throw up. She desperately wanted to run out of that room and never come back, ever. She wanted to run away and forget that all this ever happened. But it was impossible. It was funny, really, how the things she didn't want to remember the most were the things she could never forget.

"Should we..." whispered Steven, too shocked to speak clearly.

It was then that Twilight heard it.

Soft, beautiful music was playing through the room. Just listening to it filled Twilight's heart with sadness and despair. She felt a single tear threatening to come out of her eye.

It was a violin.

Only one pony she knew could play the violin that well.

"Octavia?" shouted Twilight.

The music stopped.

"Octavia?" said Twilight. "Are you there?"

Silence.

Twilight was beginning to doubt whether Octavia was there or not. For all she knew, it might just be an equally talented human. Because there was definitely nopony who can play the violin better than Octavia. The violin or the cello.

"Twilight?"

Steven looked at Twilight.

"Who's that?"

Twilight didn't answer. She quickly ran into the room, not caring about where she stepped, looking for Octavia.

"I'm here, Twilight."

Twilight looked up. On the second floor of cells, she could barely make out a gray-furred, black-maned, lavender eyed pony looking out of her cage.

"Octavia! You're okay!"

"Yes I am, Twilight." said the musical pony, smiling.

"Where's Vinyl?" asked Twilight.

"We..." hesitated Octavia. "Got separated. The guards caught me but Vinyl managed to escape. I don't know where she is now."

"Twilight?" asked another voice. "Twilight Sparkle?"

Almost immediately, a human sharing a cage with Octavia also looked out. For a second, Twilight was creeped out by the possibility of a total stranger knowing her name, but then she looked closer.

THOSE EYES...

"Derpy?" asked Twilight. "You're here too?"

"Derpy!" shouted Octavia. "Don't lean too close to the cage! We'll-"

All of a sudden, the cage that they were inside toppled out of place and fell to the floor, making a very loud 'crash'.

"Damn it, Derpy!" shouted Octavia. "Now the guards will-"

"Who goes there?" asked a loud voice.

"It's Twilight Sparkle." said another voice. "She's the Queen's apprentice. But what is she doing here?"

The guard's horn began to shine brightly.

"She can't know what happens here." said the guard.

Suddenly, a loud battle cry was heard.

Steven charged into the surprised guards, wearing his strange magical equipment. He punched the one whose horn was glowing into the wall, and he pinned the other one to the ground.

"What is the meaning of this?" asked Steven angrily. "ANSWER ME!"

Twilight had never seen Steven this angry before. Even in the most stressful of moments, like when they healed Fluttershy, or when Twilight herself had threatened to commit suicide, Steven was never angry. He was always calm, and he liked to crack jokes and chat casually in those stressful times.

But now, he was really angry. In fact, Twilight had never seen anypony as angry as that before. It scared Twilight to think about what Steven was going to do to that guard if what she feared was happening really was true. But Twilight couldn't bring herself to try and comfort him. She was afraid of Steven.

"Please..." said the other guard. "I wasn't involved in any of this! I just keep guard for-"

Steven bent down and bit the guard's leg, and then he swung his head, banging him to the floor.

"Alright! Alright!" the guard screamed. "It's the Queen!"

"Explain." said Steven.

"Everything..." said the guard. "Everyone who defies her... Gets put in here. And they never come back out."

Steven stared down at the guard in silence.

"Please..." said the guard. "That's all I know..."

Steven punched the guard in the stomach.

Suddenly, there was a large amount of clapping from among the prisoners, relieved that somepony had finally come to save them.

Steven looked back at Twilight, his eyes gleaming violently. However, that violence quickly disappeared, only to be replaced by his usual kind face.

But Twilight didn't feel even remotely close to relieved. What she had just heard about her mentor... The Queen...

How could she be so evil?

Twilight began to break down into tears. She felt betrayed. The loss of Pinkie Pie, and then her mentor's evil side... it left a gaping hole right in the middle of her heart.

"Come on." said Steven, straightening her up. "We have to get these people out of here."

Twilight looked around. Everyone in the room was looking at her, but all of them were too worn out to say anything. Her mentor might be cruel, but now Twilight had the chance to make things right.

"What should we do?" she asked.

Steven suddenly smiled.

"Don't worry." he said. "I've got a plan."

Now, Twilight was finally confronting her mentor, face to face. She wanted to hear it from her.

"Why did you do it?" asked Twilight. "How could you do such a thing?"

The Queen began to walk down the steps. Twilight took a few steps back.

"Twilight, my most faithful student." said the Queen. "Surely you-"

"NO!" said Twilight. "Don't come close to me!"

The Queen sighed and looked down.

"You have seen too much, Twilight Sparkle" said the Queen. "Far too much."

All of a sudden, the whole room of guards surrounded the small group. Everyone in the group then got held up by two guards each, and none of them (except maybe Steven) was strong enough to fight them off. Luna, on the other hand, sat there looking amused. It was apparent that she knew about Steven's being able to fight them off if he wished, but chose not to.

"This is your last chance." said the Queen. "Join me, Twilight Sparkle. Come rule the world by my side."

"Don't do it, Twilight!" shouted Rainbow Dash.

"Silence, insolent human!" said the Queen. "Guards, take her to the Dungeons."

Twilight looked back and watched as she saw Rainbow Dash trying to fight the guards away as she was brought into the Stellar Corridor. But Twilight wasn't worried. Everything was going according to plan.

"No, Celestia." said Twilight. "Never."

"So be it." said the Queen, looking disappointed. "Execute her."

Twilight stared at the Queen in shock. Her lifelong mentor, a pony who was like a mother to her... Just simply ordered her to be killed. Twilight couldn't believe it. The Queen was too far gone.

One of the guards quickly held her down on the floor. The rest of the group shared uneasy glances. This wasn't part of the plan.

Another guard took an axe from near the throne with his magic and held it in place.

All of a sudden, she heard a voice in her head.

"Don't worry, mate." said the voice. "There's no way I'm letting ya die."

The guard who held the axe then quickly threw it into the glass on the wall of the hall, revealing another pony, dressed completely in black. The pony then shot a rope into the inside of the hall with its hoof, and then swung through the room with it.

"It's the Roper-Mare!" said one of the guards.

Just then, the doors to the Stellar Corridor slammed open, revealing a huge crowd of starving and extremely violent ponies and people, led by Octavia, Derpy, Alan, and Rainbow Dash.

"CHAAARGGEEE!" they shouted, running into the room. The earth shook where Twlight knelt.

All the guards in the room, including the one who had held her down, ran in terror. Everything was in chaos.

The Queen looked around the room, as panicked as the rest of them. Her mouth was open, and she seemed to be confused with what was going on.

Suddenly, the guard who had held the axe crashed into her.

"Name's Bush Ranger." said the guard. "Friend of Steven's. Now, let's go!"

Twilight and Bush then quickly ran to where Steven and the others were, regrouping with the whole force.

"That one on the window a part of the plan?" asked Twilight.

"Strangely, no." said Steven. "Happy accident, isn't it?"

Suddenly, Twilight felt ropes entangle around her body. She then felt herself being pulled back by an enormously strong force.

"Twilight!" shouted Steven, as he ran after her.

The Roper-Mare quickly pulled Twilight to her. As the pony grabbed on to Twilight, she prepared to jump out of the room. Who was this Roper-Mare? What did she want with her?

The Roper-Mare then jumped. However, Twilight felt a large push, and they fell back down again. It was Steven.

Steven quickly summoned his magic, and then he punched the Roper-Mare out of the building.

"C'mon, Twilight!" said Steven, who was wincing in pain.

"What's wrong?" asked Twilight.

"It's that pony's body." said Steven. "It was as harder than steel, and much more heavier and stronger. We can't risk her coming back."

They then ran, together with the rest of the stampede, out of the castle doors. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Luna smiling. Was Luna not corrupted by the crash as well?

"Come on!" said Fluttershy as the group waited for them. "We're almost there, guys!"

Steven and Twilight ran outside the hall. The main group were far in front of them, and Fluttershy, Steven, and Twilight were left behind.

They quickly navigated the Palace Hallways, turning left, and then right, left and right... Until finally they were at the main gates.

"Come on..." said Steven. "Just a little more..."

All of a sudden, a blur of black came crashing down on Steven, pinning him to the ground.

It was Octavius.

"How dare you defy the Queen?'" asked Octavius, somewhat rhetorically. "You! The sister of the leader of the Royal Guards!"

"I dare to defy her because I believe in doing what is right!" shouted Twilight.

"Insolent foal!" said Octavius, as he approached her. Twilight stepped back. Fluttershy tried to get in the way, but Octavius easily sent her flying backwards.

"Fluttershy!"

"I won't be so forgiving to you, traitor." he said.

He rose up a hoof as he was about the attack her, but then Twilight heard a very loud 'knock', and Octavius fainted. Behind him was...

"Princess Luna!" said Twilight.

"Poor Octavius..." said Luna, looking at his unconscious body. "Blinded by hatred, just like my sister."

She then grabbed hold of Twilight.

"You must set things right, Twilight Sparkle. Gather the Elements, and make peace in this world." she said. She then let go of Twilight. "I'll set up for you and your group... No, not group... Army, to teleport to a place where I can guarantee your safety."

"But Princess, the-"

"No, Twilight." said the Princess, smiling at her. "Laughter is not dead. If she was, we would've known."

Twilight stared at her, her lip quivering.

"Now go, Twilight Sparkle!" said Luna.

Steven and Fluttershy then quickly stood up and brought Twilight out of the Palace into the dark night. They quickly ran to where the rest of the group were.

"Guys!" said Rainbow Dash. "You're here!"

"Yeah, we're fine." said Twilight.

"No we're not!" said Alan. "How are we going to get out of here?"

As soon as he said that, a sparkling purple dome surrounded them. Twilight immediately knew that this was Princess Luna's magic. The question was, where was she going to teleport them?

It was too late to think about that.

In a flash, the desert environment quickly disappeared, only to be replaced by a huge room. It looked alike to where she had just been. Where she had just been five days ago...

Black Wesa? Why did Luna send them here?

But it wan't Black Wesa. In that room, both humans and ponies were wearing lab coats and working together. All of them, however, stopped working and stared at them in horror. Then again, it was only natural to freeze in terror if a huge stack of living creatures suddenly appeared in the middle of your living room.

"Move aside, gentlemen, move aside." said a voice as it slowly approached them. "Now what do we have here?"

She knew that voice...

Twilight quickly looked up to see the source of the voice, but the ponies on top of her were too heavy for her to even glance up.

"Twilight!" said the voice. "Is that you?"

"Rarity!" shouted Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and the kids at the same time.

"All of you are here?" asked Rarity, her voice filled with laughter.

"Not all of us..." said Fluttershy. "But a good share..."

"Where are we anyway, Rarity?" asked Twilight. "I thought we were at Black Wesa, then I suddenly saw humans and ponies in the same room, and..."

"Where you are, Twilight?" asked Rarity. "Well, it's simple, Twilight."

"Welcome to the Resistance."

Chapter 13- Agent of Chaos (Reilly)

"So, Rarity... You're a human...  That must be hard, huh?"

Rarity looked back at Twilight, and Steven could swear he saw her eyes shining like it had been covered with glitter while she grinned like an excited schoolgirl first going into an amusement park. Then again, did ponies have amusement parks?

"Hard?" asked Rarity. "HARD?"

"I'm sorry, Rarity..." said Twilight. "I-"

"Being a human is absolutely FABULOUS!" she exclaimed, squealing in excitement. "I get to make things that I couldn't have made with only hooves! With my fingers, I can do all different types of sewing and knitting, and I can make so many more things that I couldn't have made before, I can also-"

"Is she always like this?" asked Steven. Rarity was still going on about the fabulousness of being a human.

"Yeah..." said Twilight.

"Just give it an hour or so." said Rainbow Dash. "But I think it's good that Rarity likes being a human. You really don't want to see her complain and whine. It can make your brain explode!"

With Rarity still talking, she led Steven, Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to a large door.

"So, Rarity..." said Twilight.

"-but of course, I would now have to walk around to take things from across the room, since I have no magic and all, but it was but a small price to pay for-"

"RARITY!" said Rainbow Dash, shaking Rarity violently.

"Oh, um... Yes?"

"Where are we?" asked Twilight.

"Oh!" said Rarity. "Of course. I was so deeply immersed in explaining how good a life as a human was that I forgot to tell you where I was taking you! I'm sorry, darlings. Anyway, this is the Ox-Bow Office."

"The Ox-Bow Office?"

"Yes." said Rarity. "Inside here are the three leaders of the Resistance. The Triumvirate. They have been waiting for you since they heard news of your coming. We mustn't keep them waiting."

Rarity then opened the large doors, to reveal a dimly lit room. All Steven.could see was a large amount of space in the middle of the room, and large walls surrounding it shaped like an Ox-Bow. If it was oval, then it would've been the Oval Office. Steven laughed at his own silly joke.

"What's a Triumvirate?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"It's a political regime controlled by three powerful individuals." said Fluttershy. "I mean, if you don't mind me answering..."

Rainbow Dash put one arm around Fluttershy's shoulder. Twilight, on the other hoof, raised an eyebrow at Fluttershy.

"I never thought you were one for politics, Fluttershy."

"Oh, I use politician tactics to talk to and persuade animals all the time." said Fluttershy. "And if that doesn't work, then I'd have to use that."

Steven wanted to ask, but he thought better of it and entered the room with the rest of them. Steven saw Rarity enter the room and close the door behind her.

"Leaders?" said Rarity. "I brought you the um... Leaders of the small group that suddenly appeared in our Control Center a few minutes ago."

"Very well, Ms. Rarity." said a male voice. "Please introduce them to us."

"Well, the purple mare, the yellow mare, and the human are my friends from back in Ponyville."

"Hi." said Rainbow Dash.

"Well, hello to ya too!" said an old woman's voice.

"Granny Smith?" asked Twilight, her pupils shrinking and her mouth widening. Then again, the same thing was happening to Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy was trying to hide her body with her mane.

"That's me!" said the old woman, who was apparently Granny Smith. "And aren't ya little Applejack's friends?"

"Is she here too?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Sadly, she's not." said Rarity. "She was captured by humans right before she reached our base."

"Then we've gotta save her!" said Twilight. "And Pinkie too!"

"Not yet, Twilight." said Rarity. "We don't have the resources yet."

"Wait!" said Rainbow Dash. "I though Pinkie was dead!"

"Pinkie is DEAD?"

"No, turns out she wasn't dead, but she-"

"Well, why didn't you tell us earlier? It would've been great if-"

"I'm sorry, but there was just no time! We had to-"

"Eep!"

"Guys, please stop fighting. You're scaring Fluttershy."

"Stop fighting? If Pinkie is dead, then... Well that would be horrible! But she's not-"

"She's not dead. Princess Luna-"

"Wait. Princess Luna is on our side now? But-"

"PLEASE BE QUIET!" said the male voice. Where has Steven heard this voice before? "We have many things to discuss, and we don't have much time. The war between ponies and humans are growing more intense as we speak."

"That's right, William." said a new voice, also obviously male.

"What?" exclaimed Twilight, a little louder than needed. "Donut Joe?"

"That's me." said the third voice. Should Steven call him Donut or Joe?

"That's enough." said the first voice. Who was this guy? "We need to know about where you are from and how you got here, right in the middle of our Control Center."

"Well..." said Twilight. "We held a full stage riot inside Canterlot Palace..."

"Turned the whole place upside down!" said Rainbow Dash.

"And then Princess Luna teleported us here." completed Twilight.

"Now, that's what I'm talkin' about, dagnabbit!" said Granny Smith.

"I certainly agree that what you did was... brave." said the first voice. Steven was now growing frustrated with not knowing who this man's voice was. But his first name was William. "But how did you get so many of them to defect against the Queen at the same time?"

"Oh, those guys?" said Steven. He felt anger bubbling through his blood as he remembered the scene. "They were prisoners. And they were being very ill-treated. We had to save them."

"Prisoners?" asked the male voice. WHOSE VOICE WAS THIS? "And had it never occurred to you that they were imprisoned for a reason?"

"Well..." said Steven. "They were in a separate prison. Their cages were only for those who openly defied her orders and views."

"You know, son," said the first voice. "Miss Rarity has accounted for all of the others, but we don't know anything about you yet. How can we be sure to trust you."

Steven thought for a while before he answered. To be honest, he didn't have an answer. But he had no choice.

"You can't." said Steven. "Nopony can trust anypony in times like these. But if we can't trust each other, then who can we trust? Who can we depend on? Trust is hard to build, but it is necessary for survival. Wouldn't you think so?"

"Very well said, young pony." said the first voice. "I also haven't introduced myself to all of you. My name is Bill Gates. Software developer and philanthropist. Nice to meet you."

Bill Gates? He was talking to Bill Gates? Didn't he die a few years ago?

"I'm sorry, Mr. Gates, but..." said Steven. "Aren't you supposed to have died?"

Steven could just imagine Bill Gates raising an eyebrow at him at that moment.

"Another human-turned-pony?" he said. "Well to answer your question, yes. Yes, I should have died. However, many people, along with me, have come back to life after the crash. Much like another man- Gordon Freeman ,now known as Gordon Freemare, who is now a spy in the midst of Black Wesa."

GORDON FREEMAN? He was also a human-turned-pony? Steven couldn't begin to describe the glee he felt at that moment.

"Anywho, what is yer name, sonny?" asked Granny Smith.

"Urm..." said Steven. "I'm Steven Reilly. Astrophysicist and now Unicorn."

"Come on, Steven!" said Rainbow Dash. "He's also an awesome fighter, an awesome strategist, and an awesome leader!"

"So I'm guessing you're the one who led the riot, eh?" asked Donut Joe.

"Well, not exactly, but-"

"Are you kidding?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Not only did he lead the group, but the whole riot was actually part of his plan to escape the Palace altogether!"

"I agree." said Twilight. "Steven was the mastermind behind everything."

"I agree too." said Fluttershy. "I mean, if you don't mind, Steven..."

"C'mon, guys... I-"

"Well, from what they have said, Steven Reilly," said Bill Gates, "I certainly seem to think that you are really a notable pony. In fact, I believe you might just be ready to lead a team."

"A team, sir?" asked Steven.

"We here in the Resistance do not have a star team to do what no one else can do. You certainly have the potential to lead your own team, but none of us here seem to fully trust you with that responsibility yet."

"It's fine, Sir..." said Steven. He didn't exactly like being in a position of power. "It's really fine sir."

"So for now, I motion to put all of you, including you, Rarity, into a whole new team. That would mean that you would have to leave Carrot Top's team, Rarity."

"Who would be our leader, then?" asked Twilight.

"You will meet him tomorrow, by the Sand Dune Bars. At around 11 o'clock." said Donut Joe.

"Very well, then." said Bill Gates. "That concludes this meeting. You will receive your assignments through your Team Leader when it comes. And we're expecting good results. Dismissed."

"Well, see ya later, young'uns!" said Granny Smith. "Be sure ta come over and have some apple pie back in my place if yer hungry!"

"Thanks, Granny Smith." said Twilight. 'Well, we'll be taking our leave now."

As soon as the door closed behind them, Steven dipped his head down and sighed.

"Guys, please don't do that again." said Steven.

"Do what?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Tell people of power about what I did." said Steven. "It makes me uncomfortable."

Rainbow Dash shared a glance with Twilight, who shrugged ans whispered: "Let it go."

"But what I really want to know is why you didn't tell me that Pinkie died when we first met?" asked Rarity.

"She's not dead, Rarity." said Twilight.

"But three days ago, you were absolutely sure that she was dead!" said Rainbow Dash. "You even wanted to kill yourself!"

"I know, but apparently Princess Luna says otherwise." said Twilight. "Something about we would know if Laughter was gone."

"Okay, now I've gotta ask." said Steven. "What are the Elements of Harmony?"

Everyone stared at him. Was that like... Basic knowledge in the pony world?

"You don't know about the Elements of Harmony?" aked Twilight. "You mean I haven't told you about it yet?"

"No." said Steven.

Twilight sighed and facehoofed (That seemed like a nice word to start using).

"I should've told you earlier!" said Twilight. "How did I forget?"

"It's fine." said Steven. "You can make up for it by telling me now."

"Well, the Elements of Harmony are magical artifacts that can basically solve any problem." said Twilight.

"Um..." said Steven. "That's it?"

"Yeah." said Rainbow Dash. "But we all have to, like, put our hearts and souls into it. And we have to be whatever our Elements says we are."

"I don't understand." said Steven. "Elements like Air, Water and Earth, or..."

"No." said Twilight. "Elements like Honesty, Generosity, Laughter, Loyalty, Kindness and Magic."

"Magic?" asked Steven. "That seems a little out of place."

Twilight looked up.

"That's funny." said Twilight. "Now that you mention it, it does seem a little out of place."

"It's good that you realized it." said Steven, somewhat sarcastically. "So, um... Rarity?" Where will we sleep?"

"Oh!" she said. "That's right! Silly me..."

Rarity took out a stack full of cards from her coat pocket and gave one to each of them.

"The cards show the exact place where each of you are sleeping." said Rarity. "Rainbow Dash, you will be sharing a room with Scootaloo, correct?"

Rainbow Dash dropped her card in surprise.

"How did you know?"

"Let's just say I have a trained eye for this sort of thing." said Rarity. "But first, you MUST get something to eat! There are a lot of good places here, and you can pick any one."

"Thanks, Rarity." said Twilight. "But I think we'll go to our rooms first."

"Very well then" said Rarity, looking over all of them. "I'll see you at around te-AAAAAAH!"

Rarity's eyes stopped at Rainbow Dash, who was looking around awkwardly, both arms in the air.

"Rainbow Dash!" said Rarity. "What is that you're wearing? It's so... dirty! You must come with me and we'll get that little problem over and done with."

"No problems, Rarity. It's fine."

"No no no, Rainbow Dash!" said Rarity. "I insist that you come with me. Take it as a... Welcome to being a human present from little ol' Rarity."

Rarity then grabbed Rainbow Dash strongly by the arm and went. Rainbow Dash was trying to fight back, but the power of Rarity's 'Must!' beat her. She reached an arm out for them to help her, but they all stared in silence at Rainbow Dash being outpowered that easily by someone as, for lack of a better word, fashion-conscious as her. Guess it was important not to judge somebody by their vocabulary.

"Well, that's the Element of Generosity for you." said Twilight. "So generous that she'll give you things even if you didn't want them."

Steven laughed.

"I'll see you both back here in an hour?" asked Steven.

Both mares nodded and left their separate ways. Steven looked down at his card to see where he would be staying.

Room No. 17, Bedrooms #2, Floor B3.

Everything seemed simple enough. There was only one problem.

How was he supposed to get there? He didn't even know which floor he was in now! Hell, he didn't know what country he was in!

He had to ask somebody. But being as late as it was, that wouldn't be surprising. He tried to look around for signs, maps, anything that could show him where he was right then and how he could get to his room.

Just then, he saw an aged, brown stallion walk right out of a nearby shop and began to walk towards him. Steven decided to ask him about his problem, since there really was no one else around. He quickly ran towards the stallion and showed him his card.

"Excuse me, sir?" asked Steven. "Could you please tell me how to get to this address?"

The stallion looked at the card, and gave a smile.

"You're new around here, are you not?" asked the stallion. "All you need to do is walk straight ahead, and then turn right at the nearest turn. You should reach Bedrooms #2 by then."

"Ok." said Steven. "Thanks, um..."

"Doctor." said the Stallion.

"Dr..." said Steven, confused as to why the stallion was giving his credentials rather than his name. "Doctor... Who exactly?"

"Exactly." said the stallion.

Steven watched in confusion as the stallion entered some kind of old British telephone box. It was only then he saw a strange hourglass cutie mark. What special talent makes an hourglass cutie mark to appear? Timekeeping easily came to mind.

This truly was a strange stallion. Then again, the world of ponies had never been, dare he say it, 'normal'. But the stallion seemed to be trustworthy, so he slowly walked to the the nearest turn and then turned right. Sure enough, a large sign saying 'BEDROOMS #2 THIS WAY. ROOMS AVAILABLE: 47'. seemed to jump right at him. He quickly entered the hallway, and then looked for Room No.17.

In his dedication to find his room as quickly as possible, looking left and right to search for it, he crashed into somepony.

"Steve!"

"Alan?" asked Steven, rubbing his head. "You're sleeping here too?"

"Yeah." he said. "Room number 4."

"I'm in room number 17." said Steven. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Wait, wait..." said Alan. "Do you have a roommate?"

"Not that I know of..." said Steven, trying to remember if Rarity had said something about roommates. "Why?"

"Cause I got one!" said Alan.

"G'day, Steve!"

"Bush!" said Steven, delightfully surprised to see an ex-Royal Guard accepted that easily into the Resistance. "You're sharing a room with Alan?"

"Sure thing, mate." said Bush. Instead of wearing his Royal Guard armor that he was wearing just a few hours ago he was now wearing a sleeveless shirt and a baseball cap. It seemed like he had no idea what he was wearing, though.

"Nice to see you guys." said Steven. "But I gotta go now, so I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, Steve." said Alan. "See ya."

"G'night, Steven." said Bush.

Steven then went on through the hallway, looking for his room. After about four minutes of walking, he finally found it. Steven  put the card inside the slot of his door with his door, and then pulled it out again. There was a sudden green light, and the door unlocked.

The room was brilliant. Not very spacey, but very clean and beautiful. Everything was painted white, and there was a comfortable-looking bed with a counter and all next to it, and there was even some complementary food on a desk right in front of him!

Not too shabby.

In contrast to all of these things however, Steven just realized how dirty he really was. Then again, it should have come to no surprise, considering that he hadn't even taken a single bath since he rose from the remains of his Observatory five days ago. Sure enough, he quickly ran to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

As he entered the bathroom, however, he realized that without fingers, he couldn't turn that nozzle in the shower. He tried to use his hoof again and again, but the hoof easily slipped off that nozzle. Annoyed, he began to use his mouth. Again, he couldn't grab hold of that nozzle properly enough to turn it, and instead he left the shower nozzle full of his spit.

Cursing, he went out of the shower. It was only then did he wish for magic just like Twilight's, which could help him turn that nozzle. But he didn't. And thus he couldn't. He then went to the bath tub to see if he could use that as well, but the bath tub was far too short for him. It struck him as weird as to why a shower would be made to fit a full-grown stallion whereas the bath tub couldn't even fit a young mare.

Steven sighed. His dreams of having a nice shower were now far from reachable.

If only he could create fingers with magic.

And then it hit him.

He immediately went back inside the shower and faced the nozzle. He then summoned his magic to make the 'gauntlets'.

Let's hope it works...

As the magic created the gauntlet, he adjusted its shape to create fingers out of his magic. Sure enough, he could move them! Ecstatic, he rose his hoof and turned the nozzle. Water immediately sprayed out from the shower.

After about ten minutes of cleaning himself up, he turned off the water and stepped outside. There was something that he had been wanting to try ever since the Wolf incident. He turned to face the mirror, and then he quickly shook himself.

Sure enough, droplets of water sprayed out in all direction, spreading into the mirror, the shower door, the tap, the bath tub... He was going to have to write an apology letter to whoever was cleaning this room later on. At least he was dry though.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Steve?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Are you in there?"

"Coming!" said Steven, as he opened the door.

"Hey, RainWOAH..."

Right in front of Steven as he opened that door was the most radiant woman he had ever seen in his life. There stood Rainbow Dash, wearing a cyan colored half-hoodie that only extended to only above her midsection, wearing a black crop top underneath, showing off her midriff. She had suspenders of the same color that buttoned up to her very short jeans with what looked like a thundercloud shooting out multicolored-thunder. Her black, fingerless gloved hand was playing with the cyan colored wristband on the other hand as she stood there in silence.

"Wow..." said Steven, not bearing to look away. "You look awesome."

"You think so?" asked Rainbow Dash, blushing softly. "Well it is 120 percent cooler than what I was wearing before. I have to thank Rarity for that."

"Wow." said Steven. "I... I seriously can't look away."

"Come on, Steven." said Rainbow Dash, playfully punching his shoulder. "You're making me feel embarrassed."

"And you don't seriously think that walking around wearing that will not attract attention?" asked Steven, not as sarcastically as one might have hoped. "Anyway, what's up?"

"Well, the rest of us are all back at the meeting point already." said Rainbow Dash. "We were just waiting for you."

"Okay." said Steven, taking the key card and putting it inside his small saddle pack. "Let's go."

"HEY, STEVEN!"

Steven jumped back in surprise, landing with a loud thud on the floor. When the panic of the moments stopped, he saw a bright and smiling Scootaloo staring at him.

"Hi, Scootaloo." said Steven.

"Scared you there, didn't I?" asked Scootaloo.

"You sure did." said Steven. "So you guys are officially sisters now?"

"Yes we are!" said Scootaloo, hugging Rainbow Dash tightly. Rainbow Dash was surprised for a while, but she quickly recovered and put a hand on Scootaloo's head.

"We sure are." said Rainbow Dash, ruffling Scootaloo's hair. "We're even sharing a room!"

"Yeah!" said Scootaloo. "I'm so excited!"

"Me too." said Rainbow Dash. "I was practically born in flight school, so I had never met my parents nor any relatives before either. Guess we have much more in common that I thought."

Strangely, even after Rainbow Dash had messed it up, Scootaloo's hair easily jumped back into the original standing position that it was in just then.

"You really do have tough hair, don't you?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Come on, let's go."

They then continued to walk through the hallway to go back outside. It was already very late, and Steven wondered if there were any restaurants still open at this time of night.

"Where are you guys staying?" asked Steven.

"We're staying here too." said Scootaloo. "Room number 22!"

"Really?" asked Steven. "That's like, next door!"

Scootaloo then tugged at Rainbow Dash's hand, and Rainbow Dash bent over while Scootaloo whispered something into here ear. It was a pretty loud whisper, but Steven couldn't hear it all the same.

As Scootaloo finished whispering to Rainbow Dash, however, Rainbow Dash quickly straightened up, blushing heavily. Scootaloo then looked at Steven, and jumped happily.

"Oh my gosh!" said Scootaloo, a wild look in her eyes. "Steven, Rainbow Dash-"

"Scootaloo!" said a voice in front of them.

"Ya guys better hurry up! We're starvin' over here!"

Scootaloo then dropped whatever she was going to say and ran after her friends, who were waiting outside for them.

"I guess we'd better pick up the pace too." said Steven, as he began to run.

"Hey!" said Rainbow Dash, who also began running. "No fair!"

In almost no time at all, Steven and Rainbow Dash managed to catch up to the rest of the group. For some reason, however, Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity were huddled up in a conversation, giggling and laughing.

"What are you guys laughing about?" asked Steven.

"Nothing, darling." said Rarity. "Now, what should we go eat?"

"Well, from what I understand, humans have a very different diet from ponies." said Twilight. "So we should go to a place which serves food for both our species."

"I know!" said Rarity. "Let's go to 11 Herbs and Spices! They serve many types of food there!"

11 Herbs and Spices? Where had Steven heard that before?

As they were about to depart, however, a sudden pink cloud appeared in between them all.

"What's this?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"it's a pink cloud!" said Scootaloo.

"Well of course it is!" said Apple Bloom.

"It's a pink cloud, but..." said Fluttershy.

"How did a pink cloud suddenly appear in between us?"

As suddenly as it had appeared, however, the pink cloud rapidly enlarged and exploded, blowing everyone back towards the wall.

"What..." said Steven.

Right where the pink cloud used to be was a pony. A very peculiar looking pony.

It was a pink-coloured pony, with cloud-like purple and white hair that seemed to be floating away from her body. She had the strangest eyes Steven had ever seen, even by pony standards- Her iris was divided into layers, from a dark shade of purple to a light shade of pink, much like how eyes would look like when they were hypnotized like in cartoons. But what was the strangest thing of them all was that she herself...

Was floating.

She had no wings, nor a horn, but she was still floating like a cloud in the air. There was absolutely no way to explain this floating except by what she wore on her head. A propeller cap.

"What the..."

"Greetings!" said the strange little pony. "I bring you a message from 'an old friend', one whom you know as well as I myself do. One whom all of you here is very familiar with. All of you, except for Steven Reilly, of course."

Everyone nervously looked at one another. They were all daring each other to ask the messenger what the heck she was talking about. Twilight, however, took the baton and kept it.

"Excuse me?" asked Twilight. "Erm... Who is this person who sent us a message."

"An old friend." said the messenger.

"Who exactly?" asked Rainbow Dash.

The messenger turned to look at Rainbow Dash, who didn't back away at all. They stared straight into the other's eyes, waiting for each other to say something first.

"Loyalty." said the messenger, then looking back to face the others. "Kindness, Generosity, and Magic."

"Who is the message from?" asked Twilight.

"An old friend." said the messenger. "Not all of the Elements are here. But the sender of this message wishes all of you to be here. However, he can help all of you find your friends, lost as they are."

"What are you talking about?" asked Rainbow Dash. "We don't trust you! And we can find our friends ourselves, without your help!"

"But you are mistaken, Loyalty." said the messenger. "You have absolutely no idea as to where your friends are. And without my master's help, you most likely never will."

"For the last time," said Twilight, looking frustrated. "who is this master of yours?"

"An old friend." said the messenger.

Just as Twilight looked as if she was about to kick Fluttershy to the moon, the messenger continued talking.

"Bringer of Chaos, Master of Anarchy." said the messenger. "The message I bring upon you is from non other than your old friend."

The messenger paused to look at each and every one of them in the eye, although Steven felt that she looked at Steven's a few milliseconds more than the others'.

"Your old friend, Discord."

Chapter 14- An Unrefusable Offer (Reilly)

"I'm sorry." said Donut Joe. "But we cannot allow you to make negotiations with Discord."

"I agree." said Bill Gates. "According to our sources, Discord cannot be trusted. It is wise for us to not even speak to him, much less make negotiations."

"Please, listen to me!" said Steven, exasperated. "Discord claims that he knows more than anyone else about what happened here. Who else can make such a claim? And Discord is the master of chaos, and what's happening right now... It's chaos, isn't it? it's only natural for him to know about these things."

"And that is precisely why we cannot allow you to go and meet him!" said Bill Gates. "We can't allow him to get close to the Resistance! He will seek to destroy us all!"

Granny Smith, who had been silent during the whole discussion, suddenly stood up.

"I say we give 'im a chance!" said Granny Smith. "We need as many friends as we can find, dagnabbit!"

"Discord will not be an ally, Granny Smith." said Bill Gates. "If anything, he would be our most dangerous enemy! And an enemy in our midst would only serve to destroy us from within!"

"Please!" said Steven. "Just let me speak to him! We need to know as much as we can about what happens! The little knowledge that we can gain from him can help us stop the war!"

"Discord is a master of chaos!" said Bill Gates. "The war is causing greater chaos than ever before, and only we stand between that and total anarchy! Don't you think that Discord would want to remove us then? Put the pieces together, Reilly!"

"He's right, you know." said Donut Joe. "I think this discussion is over, Steven Reilly. Please show yourself out, Steven Reilly."

Granny Smith immediately fell back to her chair and scowled in disapproval. Steven continued to stare at the Leaders. How could they so easily not want to know about what happened? How could they not be curious as to what happened to their worlds? How could they so easily mistrust Discord based on nothing but rumors and stories?

Steven disgustedly walked out of the Ox-Bow Office, seeing his friends's anxious faces right in front of him.

"So?" asked Rainbow Dash. "What did they say?"

"No." said Steven. "They didn't allow for us to meet Discord."

"They are right, you know." said Twilight. "The last time we met Discord, he tried to take over Equestria! And he tried to destroy our friendships too, remember?"

"Well, he did..." said Fluttershy. "But maybe he's changed..."

"It's possible." said Rarity.

"Have you all forgotten?" asked Twilight. "Rarity! He made you fall in love with a rock! You even gave it a name!"

Rarity blushed and looked away.

"Yes, but..." she said.

"And Fluttershy!" scolded Twilight. "He made you be cruel to everyone! He made everyone turn against you!"

Fluttershy was on the verge of tears, but she still manage to speak.

"I'm... sorry... But-"

"And Rainbow Dash!" said Twilight. "He made you betray all of us! How could you still forgive him after that?"

Rainbow Dash was close to an angry retort, but Steven quickly interrupted. He didn't want his own curiosity to be the cause of a rift between great friends like them. I mean, Rarity actually forced Rainbow Dash to allow her to make a new outfit for her. And it was no less than perfect.

"Wait, wait..." said Steven. "I'm not suggesting that we forgive Discord for what he's done, but just go there to get the information that we need and then come back!"

"And I'm telling you we can't!" said Twilight. "Each of you told me that you have only met with Discord for mere seconds before all of you changed into someone else entirely. We can't meet Discord!"

With those last words, Twilight walked away from the rest of the group, leaving them in front of the Ox-Bow Office, completely speechless. Steven had never seen Twilight as angry as that before; she had been very depressed at times, but never angry. It must be because of the shock of her mentor's 'betrayal' to her. Steven had also felt 'betrayed' before, right when Jaeda had...

It's not the time. He needed to find answers, and the Leaders must have made sure that none of them could escape by then. And even if they could escape the Resistance base, how would they find where Discord was?

Take all the time you need. I am very patient.

He needed to find Discord, but he still needed time. Once he goes out into the open, then he would have to run away from Black Wesa, Canterlot, and the Resistance too. And even if he did find Discord and got all the answers, how could he be sure that he could come back? He's already been an enemy of Black Wesa's since before the crash, the Queen knew him and was hostile towards him, and if he leaves the Resistance, then he would most possibly be labeled a traitor loyal to Discord.

He needed time. Time to search for Discord from in the Resistance, time to plan for his course of action, and most importantly, time to gain the trust of the Resistance. If he wanted to do something that would usually be considered as betrayal, then he would need to have the trust of the Resistance if he wanted to return.

For now, he could only lie in wait. He had to do what he was told to do first- Meet his team leader at Sand Dune Bars tomorrow at 11 a.m., and then take part in whatever assignments he had to go on. At the meantime, however, he had to sneak around the base, looking for whatever scraps of information he could find about any of Discord's potential hiding places. But as a Master of Chaos and everything, would Discord purposely allow his location to be found in maps and satellites and all?

He looked at the giant clock on the wall next to the doors leading into the Ox-Bow Office. 10:04. He was a heavy sleeper, and he needed to get up and reach Sand Dune Bars (not to mention actually finding it first) before 11 a.m. the next day.

"C'mon, guys." said Steven to the rest of the group- Rarity looking embarrassed, Rainbow Dash looking angry, and Fluttershy looking downright sad. "We should go turn in."

"Yeah..."

"Let's go."

Rarity and Fluttershy then left in the same direction, while Rainbow Dash and Steven left the way they came.

Silent throughout the whole walk back, Rainbow Dash put her hands in her pockets and kicked every little poor pebble or piece of rubbish that happened to be in her way. One specifically accurate soda can actually managed to knock down a flower vase two stories below.

"Rainbow Dash..." said Steven, trying to comfort her. "What's wrong?"

"It's that Twilight." said Rainbow Dash. "There's a limit to how much of a know-it-all she can get before being annoying and frustrating."

"Come on..." said Steven, nudging her gently. "You guys are friends. These things happen. Sometimes the one bad quality of a friend far outweigh their 10 good qualities."

"Yeah..." said Rainbow Dash, looking up at the ceiling. They were deep underground in who-knows-where, but the ceiling looked like a normal ceiling to him. "But she doesn't need to be so angry about it."

"Just remember this." said Steven. "Friends like you guys have a very strong bond. A bond that cannot be broken by being separated by any amount of land and sea. Definitely a bond that cannot be broken from just one single argument, no matter how bad it may be."

Rainbow Dash sighed as they entered the hallway to their separate rooms.

"I guess you're right, Steven." said Rainbow Dash. "You always are."

Rainbow Dash then gave him a short peck on his cheek before unlocking the door to her bedroom. Steven, on the other hand, froze at the spot.

"See ya tomorrow, Steven." said Rainbow Dash, closing her door. Steven could swear that she was trying to hide her face for some reason. "And don't you dare oversleep."

Steven still stood rooted to the spot. That was the second time she had done that since they first met. He felt his face turning delightfully warm, and his heart feeling a little lighter than usual. For a few whole minutes, he stood there, unable to think about anything else.

But Steven then quickly realized what happened and shook his head. He had always known that he liked Rainbow Dash, but now it felt like it was more than that. Much more. Sure, there was the time where they had almost kissed, but that was an accident. That wasn't supposed to happen. Then there was the time where she kissed him on the cheek back in the Royal Gardens, but that was a crazy emotional moment, and he had thought that she had only did that as a friend.

Steven chuckled a fair bit. Not once in his life had he ever imagined himself thinking he was friendzoned when he was actually not. It was usually the other way around- not only with him, but with the millions of men in the world that shared the same problem.

However, he then quickly came to regret ever coming to that conclusion in the first place. Things were now going to get really awkward with Rainbow Dash.

He then entered his room and laid down on his bed. Hopefully, whatever emotional turmoil he was now feeling would be dulled by his sleep in the next morning. He closed his eyes and was quickly swept away into the darkness.

________________________________________________________________________________

He felt himself falling, falling into the same dark abyss that he had by now become too familiar with. It seemed that now, every time he slept, he would go into the same place and meet the same person again. But all those experiences were radically different to one another, and Steven could not help but feel relaxed as he fell, wondering what was going to happen next.

But then he heard an awfully loud 'crack!'

He felt white-hot pain searing through the entire left side of his body as he crashed into the ground at the bottom of the abyss. As he rolled around, writhing in pain, many more 'cracks' were heard. He had just broken all of his bones to the left side of his body. He tried to grab his left hoof, but even more pain was spread to his body, and he could really feel the lack of any proper bone in his there. It felt very soft, and no less than disgusting.

"Why hello, Steven Reilly." said the all-too-familiar Voice. "I see you have made yourself familiar with the rules of this place."

Steven remained silent. He felt that the Voice was expecting him to say something, but he was currently putting all of his efforts into trying to hold the pain in his body.

"Expect the unexpected." said the Voice. "You normally would have awaited a sad and gruesome death by falling, which then led to you not getting a scratch on you at all. Your complacency tonight, however, has led to you breaking nearly half the bones in your body. Luckily for you, your spine is still intact. Now let go of your arm. I will do my best to heal you."

Steven let go of his arm and waited for himself to be healed. What he got, however, was the exact opposite. Instead of being healed, he started to feel like the rest of the bones in his body fracturing and shattering as well. The pain was unbearable- even lying on his back made him want to die. There was no way to survive pain like this. No way at all. He was going to die right there, in his sleep, in a strange and dark world.

Just then, the pain disappeared entirely. There was no single remnant of pain left that could even remind him of the pain. He easily stood up and moved around.

"I see that you have gotten a grasp of the rules here easily enough, Steven Reilly." said the Voice. "Now, we have no time to waste, Steven Reilly. You best be waking up quite soon, and I cannot keep you here as you wake up, so heed my words well."

Steven stayed silent. The Voice had never been in a hurry before.

"I appear before you now to bring you news." said the Voice. "When you wake up this morning, you will find a package on the counter next to your bed. This package bears a magical artifact, one that has never been seen or recorded before. It is a compass."

"A compass?" asked Steven, confused as to why the Voice was giving him a compass. Did all the other compasses stop working after the crash? Did the placing of the magnetic poles of the planet change completely, rendering all other compasses inaccurate?

"Yes, a compass." said the Voice. "One that doesn't point North."

Just as Steven was going to ask another question, however, he felt his whole body being sucked out of the darkness into light...

________________________________________________________________________________

Steven woke up with a start.

That yanking feeling of being pulled away from the darkness still stayed in his head. Even though he had already felt it so many times, he still couldn't get used to it.

He quickly looked to his left, where the counter next to the bed was. Sure enough, there was a package there. It was wrapped very crudely in very old, greatly decaying paper that twas crushed with even the lightest touch. It looked like it hadn't seen the light of day itself for thousand of years, yet was properly guarded and undisturbed.

Steven picked up the package from its wrappings, but it tore away while in the air, dropping a small, black box with silver edges. He picked it up and held it in his palm right in front of him. It was a beautiful black velvet box, with a golden lining where it was supposed to be opened. Below the opening of the box was a metal plate, with the words 'TIME' engraved on them. He didn't understand what that meant, but he thought that he would know everything when he opened the box.

He was wrong.

Inside the box lay a compass, with no bearings whatsoever (He didn't know which side was North), a red pointer, and covered by a glass dome. Now a compass would most usually point North, but this one wasn't. This one definitely wasn't. Instead, it was whizzing around the compass rapidly, never even pausing in one direction as it moved around. Steven didn't know what was driving the pointer to go mad like that. but if it wasn't pointing North, then that compass was broken. Broken and worthless.

Yes, a compass. One that doesn't point North.

If it was designed not to point North, then it wouldn't be broken, wouldn't it? But then again, it was still of no use to Steven whatsoever.

He put it into his saddle pack and looked at the alarm clock on the counter. 10:55.

He needed to have a quick shower first, and then he should go get some breakfast or something to drink, and then maybe he could have a quick look around the Resistance Base before he had to go and meet the team leader at 11.

Wait...

10.55?

Steven quickly grabbed onto his saddle pack and they key card and rushed out of the door. He had only 5 minutes to find his way into Sand Dune Bars, and he didn't want to give a bad impression to the team leader. But in a labyrinth like this one, how was he going to find Sand Dune Bars in 5 minutes?

He ran around the Base, looking left and right trying to find a place that said anything resembling 'SAND DUNE BARS' on it.

Sand Dune Bars, Sand Dune Bars, SAND DUNE BARS!

All of a sudden, he heard a strange mechanical voice at the back of his head.

"SAND DUNE BARS." said the voice. "PLEASE FOLLOW THE GIVEN DIRECTIONS TO YOUR DESTINATION."

All of a sudden, a projection of the entire map of the Resistance Base was shown in front of him, with a red dot and an arrow pointing to it saying 'You Are Here' and a large blue dot which said 'Your Destination.' Not only that, but there were directions being said to him at the same time.

"TURN LEFT."

He turned left.

"TURN RIGHT."

He turned right.

"WALK DOWN THE STAIRS TO FLOOR B4"

He walked down the stairs, bumping into Octavia on the way.

"Good morning, Steven." said Octavia. "Where are you on a hurry to?"

Steven didn't answer. He could barely hear her voice over the sound of the directions being given to him.

"GO STRAIGHT."

He kept running.

"TURN RIGHT."

He turned right.

"STOP."

He tried to stop running, but he couldn't stop. He was going way too fast.

"STOP."

He tried to stop running, but he couldn't control himself anymore. He began to lose balance.

"STOP."

He tried to stop running, but only then did he realize that his magic was inadvertently speeding up his run. And any disturbance to it would only cause him to slip and fall. He needed to slow himself down slowly and gradually.

"STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP-"

He tried to stop running, but despite knowing what was happening, he only ended up going faster. He did his best to dodge anyone he was passing through, and all of them were giving him evil looks as he did so. However, right in front of him were his friends, spread out into a line, completely oblivious to the fact that he was going to barrel them into oblivion. All of them were even holding bottled drinks, Twilight holding her's and Fluttershy's with magic while Rainbow Dash and Rarity were holding them with their hands.

"FOR SKYNET'S SAKE, STOP!"

Steven completely crashed into them, sending liquid everywhere around them and piling them up on top of each other.

"Sorry 'bout that." said Steven.

Twilight sighed and her horn started to glow. In one flash, all of them were dry and the floor around them was clean.

"Where were you?" asked Rarity. "And where are you going?"

"I slept in" said Steven, nervously grinning as everyone stared at him with suspicious glares. "And I was just going to the Sand Dune Bars, but I think I went too fast..."

"That's the spirit!" said Rainbow Dash. "Fast is always better!"

"Come on..." said Twilight, picking herself and Fluttershy up ("Oh... Thank you, Twilight"). "We're already there."

Steven looked to the left, where he saw a very bright bar bearing the sign 'SAND DUNE BARS! SALT 'n LIME MAKES A REALLY GOOD TIME!' on the top. How did the voice inside his head know that he was supposed to start stopping by then?

Just then, the barkeeper approached them. Unlike what bartenders usually looked like, this one was a really old, but still very lively human man. He was polishing a large glass with a gray cloth and scanning their faces at the same time.

Twilight started twitching.

"Team Leader?" she asked.

"No no no, young woman!" said the barkeeper, cheerfully smiling at them. "Your team leader's way back, and he's been waiting for you for quite a long time!"

"Oh thank you, mister!" said Fluttershy. "We were worried that our Team Leader was not here yet, so thank you for telling us where he is."

"Well aren't you the sweetest little thing?" said the barkeeper as he lightly stroked Fluttershy's head. "Now go on, he's waiting!"

So Fluttershy was not only good with animals and kids, but with old people too?

As they proceeded deeper into the bar, they discovered just how loud and messy a relatively small bar can become. Steven looked around and he saw drunk middle-aged men with their drunk stallion friends sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and singing rather loudly. He also saw a group of people singing 'Happy Birthday' to a man in his late twenties behind the group of drunkards. Rarity quickly took out a necklace she was wearing and gave it to the startled birthday man.

"Well?" said Rarity. "This is your birthday gift! I insist you take it!"

The rest of the group chuckled as they continued on. Suddenly, a deep voice to their side said:

"You the new team?"

Everyone turned to look at him. However, all of his friends were positively staring at him as they did so. The Team Leader was a pony as well- a red-furred, blonde-maned, very well built stallion was turning his back to them as he drank from a fairly large mug. Sure this was a good looking stallion, but the stares the rest of them were giving him was beyond comprehensible.

"Big..." said Twilight. "Big Macintosh?"

The stallion then turned around to reveal his fairly large, unsmiling, freckled face and large green eyes..

"Eeyup."

The group, except for Steven (who still had no idea about what was going on- Was this guy like a star or something?) and Rarity, smiled and greeted him cheerfully.

"It's um... great to see you again." said Fluttershy, blushing.

"Yeah!" said Rainbow Dash.

"It's nice to see another friendly face here as well." said Twilight.

Big Macintosh then turned to look at Steven, a pony he which he didn't know. Steven was preparing to hear some kind of long greeting and words of advice from the aged and experienced stallion as well as a short anecdote.

"Nice scar." said Big Macintosh.

Steven's face dropped.

"Well, um..." said Steven. "Thanks, I guess."

Twilight must have noticed his reaction, because she quickly whispered:

"Big Macintosh is not really a stallion of many words. He believes in actions being louder than words."

Big Macintosh bowed his head, and Steven awkwardly bowed back.

Just then, a sudden voice came from across the room.

"Well howdy there, Big Macintosh!"

"Braeburn." said Big Macintosh, somewhat spitefully to himself.

This new character was very strange looking- he looked like a cowboy equivalent of ponies. With his brown-yellow fur, brown mane, leather vest and brown stetson hat, the only one who can't associate him to a cowboy would have to not know what a cowboy is. Hell, even his accent was all country-ish!

"Ah heard ya finally got yerself a new team!" said Breburn. "Ah'll be rootin' for ya!"

He and his team then went, leaving Big Macintosh cursing as they went. Steven honestly didn't know why Big Macintosh seemed to hate Braeburn. He seemed like a pretty nice guy.

"C'mon, team." said Big Macintosh. "Trainin'."

He then left towards the exit of the bar, followed by his confused-looking team. They must all be wondering the same thing Steven was.

Big Macintosh led them as they headed towards an unknown destination. For all the team knew, they were headed towards 'Trainin''. Steven, who was confused by whatever was happening at the moment, turned to ask Rainbow Dash.

"Erm..." he said.

"He's Big Macintosh." said Rainbow Dash. "The brother of our best friend Applejack. As you may know by now, He doesn't really talk much."

"And what about that other guy?"

"Braeburn?" said Rainbow Dash. "He's Big Macintosh's cousin from Appleloosa, a city in Canterlot. We only met him once, though, so we aren't really close."

At that second, Big Macintosh stopped moving. They were now facing what could be safely called a 'very tall' wall.

"PLEASE CONFIRM IDENTIFICATION." said a voice from the wall.

"Big Macintosh" said the stallion. "Leader of Team F, Sector T."

"VOICE CONFIRMATION COMPLETE."

A small machine arm then suddenly came out of the wall, and it grabbed ahold of Big Macintosh'd head and started scanning his eyes.

"RETINA I.D. CONFIRMED." said the voice. "WELCOME, BIG MACINTOSH."

Just then, the walls moved aside to reveal a white hallway with glass room to both left and right of it. Steven could see training dummies, simulators, even machines that can transport your consciousness into another machine. Or, at least, that's what they looked like.

"End of the hall." said Big Macintosh, who began to walk again.

"Where are we?" asked Twilight.

"Sector T trainin' center." said Big Macintosh, his eyes still focused to the front. "Nice place."

They then reached the end of the hallway, which was essentially a much larger training ground. Steven could see humans and ponies running around in the tracks, and there was a shooting range for both bullets and arrows, training dummies for punching, kicking, and the occasional mace, and stacks of hay that were being sliced up using swords and axes.

"Ev'ryone here who can already fight take a pardner who can't fight properly yet." said Big Macintosh. "Halp them find a good weapon and train them with it. Which means all magic users and Rarity taking one of the rest."

"But we only have five people here, Big Macintosh." said Twilight. "How will-"

Just then, our favorite friend from down under entered the room, huffing and panting at the same time. Steven could see beads of sweat all over him.

"Bush Ranger here, boss!" said Bush. "Reporting for duty."

Big Macintosh then tilted his head at Twilight, eyebrow raised, who blushed and walked back.

"No more questions?" asked Big Macintosh. "After you find a nice weapon, go down to the armory at the far left."

He then proceeded to start running around the tracks, leaving the rest of the team wondering what to do. Rarity, however, had already chosen a partner.

"Why, you look astonishing!" said Rarity. "Truly a wonderful outfit to wear! The way it contrasts to you... It fits you well! You must come with me and talk about how you pick your clothes!

Rarity then dragged a surprised Bush to the shooting range, who mouthed a small 'Help!' as he left.

"I'll take Fluttershy" said Twilight. "If it's about fighting, I don't know how she'd react though."

Twilight then took Fluttershy to the training dummies, although both of them looked reluctant.

"So that leaves you with me!" said Rainbow Dash. "And if anyone can tell me what looks cool on me, it's be you!"

"So come on!" said Steven. "What do you want to try first?"

"Hmm..." said Rainbow Dash. "Since you're already the best fighter we have, and you fight with punches and kicks, then let's go try the shooting range first.

They both then went to the shooting range, which was quite crowded. They barely managed to catch a booth.

Right in front of Rainbow Dash was a choice between an assortment of guns or a simple bow and arrow. She looked confused as to which to choose, since she had never actually seen them in her whole life.

"Try the guns first." said Steven, pointing at them. "Not as easy to manipulate than arrows, but much easier to handle."

Rainbow Dash then took a simple handgun and looked at it. Not knowing how to work it, she pointed the barrel at her own face, her finger very close to pressing the trigger...

"NO!" shouted Steven as he pushed the gun out of Rainbow Dash's hand exactly as she fired it, resulting in the bullet going through the glass walls of the training area into all of the rooms on the left side, resulting in the ponies and people of those rooms quickly dodging it, followed by evilly glaring at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash made a nervous laugh and picked up the gun.

"You mind telling me how to use it?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Steven smiled and adjusted the handgun so that it fit perfectly into Rainbow Dash's hand.

"This here's a gun." said Steven. "It shoots out bullets, which are hard objects that can pierce through flesh and bone. They are very deadly weapons. Now this here's the barrel; The bullets shoot out from here. This is the trigger; you press this for the gun to shoot. This is the safety; if you press this, then you won't be able to shoot. And finally, this is the slide, which you use to load the bullets into the barrel."

Seeming to have gotten the idea, Rainbow Dash took the pistol and aimed it towards the target. Forgetting to put on earmuffs first, Rainbow Dash pulled the slide back and pressed the trigger. As the bullet shot out of the pistol, the recoil of the shot caught Rainbow Dash by surprise and she changed the direction of the shot so that it was directed to the ceiling.

Rainbow Dash ducked as the bullet came back down again.

"Er..." said Rainbow Dash. "Let's try the other one."

Steven then took the bow in his mouth and gave it to Rainbow Dash. He taught her the proper way to hold a bow and then gave her an arrow. He then positioned the arrow for her.

"Now just get the feel of this." said Steven. "And then I want you to pull the hand that's holding the arrow as far back as you can, and then just let it go."

"The arrow is the one pointing at the target, right?"

"Yes it is."

Rainbow Dash pulled back the arrow and then let it go. It definitely wasn't straight, but it was a hit. Not too badly for a first try, either.

"How is that?"

"Not woo bad, I guess." said Steven. "For a first time."

But Rainbow Dash didn't listen. She spotted Rarity, who was with Braeburn about a few meters away, and called her here.

"Come on." said Rainbow Dash. "I want to see how you do."

Rarity raised an eyebrow, but she accepted and took out three arrows from her quiver.

"Watch and learn, Dash."

In a flash, Rarity shot the arrows at the target. In a blinding speed, all three arrows reached the red circle in the middle of the target. Rainbow Dash stood there in awe of Rarity's skill.

"Wow..." she said.

Skeptical, Steven walked to Rarity and pulled off the black gloves she was wearing.

"Ow!" said Rarity. "You don't just walk up to a lady and pull off her gloves!"

Sure enough, underneath her gloves were a pair of bruised and callused hands, greatly contrasting to the very soft complexion of the rest of her skin.

"Archery is very hard to learn." said Steven. "And even harder to master. I think ranged weaponry is not for you, Rainbow Dash. Let's try something else."

"Okay..." she said, somewhat dejectedly.

"I'm really sorry, Rainbow Dash." said Rarity as they left.

Steven and Rainbow Dash then went to the melee weapons area, where an assortment of swords, daggers, maces, and axes were laid out on a table for them to practice with. Rainbow Dash took a flail and began to spin it around.

"Wow." said Rainbow Dash. "This is awesome!"

"Be careful not to swing it too hard, Dash." said Steven. "Or else you'll-"

Too late. Rainbow Dash continued to spin it around very hard, and the she immediately tried to throw it to the bundle of hay in front of them. The problem was, Rainbow Dash didn't actually let go. So she was dragged by the flail as it flew for a while before she fell down, face-first, on the floor.

Laughing, Steven walked forward to pick her up.

"Ouch." said Rainbow Dash, voice muffled.

"Get up." said Steven. "Looks like a medieval flail is not for you as well. But I think I know what is..."

Steven took a longsword from the table and gave it to Rainbow Dash.

"This is a longsword." said Steven. "Try to hold it."

"It's so light..." said Rainbow Dash, holding its hilt, tip pointing towards the ceiling.

"It looks good on you." said Steven. "Try attacking that straw dummy over there."

Rainbow Dash hesitantly walked towards the dummy and stared at it awkwardly. As Steven was just about to say something, though, Rainbow Dash unleashed all her fury onto the poor little straw man, perfectly dicing it into almost-equal pieces. She swung hard, and swung fast. That was excellent for a first time.

"Wow!" said Steven, stamping his hooves on the ground like Princess Luna did to imitate clapping. "That was awesome!"

"Really?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I mean... Of course it is! I mean, I got practice from when I used to slice clouds into pieces back from when I was a pegasus, so all I needed to do is apply the same practice to my hands."

"That's awesome." said Steven. "Get a sword."

Just then, however, Big Macintosh came galloping up to them, then easily braking into a full stop right in front of them.

"Distress call from nearby." said Big Macintosh. "Ya guys ready?"

"Ready!" said Rainbow Dash, mocking a salute.

"Yeah, we're ready." said Steven.

"Very good." said Big Macintosh. "Now go to the Armory and take yer weapon and gear up. We're going into Black Wesa territory. Oh, and somepony else is comin' with us."

"Somepony else?" asked Steven.

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh. "Octavia, the music pony."

"Octavia?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Why is she coming?"

"Simple." said Big Macintosh.

"The distress call was from her marefriend, Vinyl Scratch."

Chapter 15- Beauty by Rocking (Twilight)

"Ya guys ready?" asked Big Macintosh, face still lazy and calm despite what they were about to do.

The whole group looked at each other and nodded.

"Here goes..."

Big Macintosh then entered a code into the keypad next to the giant vault-like door. The edges of the door began to hiss and smoke, and the group watched as the giant wheel in the middle turned, opening the door for them as it moved to the holed in the side.

As the door was opened, a magnificent view met their eyes. Las Pegasus, city of lights, city of sin. Twilight could see buildings tightly built together on both sides of the road, barely leaving any space for a human to walk through. Some of the lights were still up and running, but others were either dead or blinking like a diner's neon lights. The Sun was still shining brightly through the Las Pegasus streets. It was still around 1 p.m.

"Let's go." said Big Macintosh, running outside. The group quickly followed after him.

As Big Macintosh slowed down his pace, so did the rest of the group.

"So where is the distress call coming from?" asked Twilight.

"Baltimare." said Big Macintosh.

Twilight noticed Steven giving an amused look as Big Macintosh said their destination, but she easily shrugged off whatever thought she had about that. There were far more compelling things to think about.

"Um... Big Macintosh?" asked Twilight. "How far is Baltimare from here?"

"Around five hundred kilometers." said Big Macintosh, strangely still very calm despite telling them new like that. Everyone else nearly doubled over in shock.

"How are we going to walk that far in one day?" asked Twilight.

"Well, you can teleport, right?" said Big Macintosh, not sharing a bit of the panic being felt by the rest of the group. "You can just bring us there."

"Sure I can teleport." said Twilight, trying to make a point to the otherwise far-too-calm Big Macintosh. "But I don't know where Baltimare is! I've never been there, so I can't even imagine what the place looked like! I at least need the coordinates of the Resistance Outpost there!"

"39 degrees, 17 minutes and 44 seconds North, and 76 degrees, 37 minutes and 22 seconds West." said Steven, in a tone that sounded like he was reciting something from memory. "Woah..."

Twilight stared at Steven with her jaw dropped. Everyone else simply looked confused as to what utter nonsense Steven had just blurted out.

"How did you know that?" asked Twilight.

"I don't know." said Steven, who was just as confused as the rest of them. But since there was absolutely no other choice, Twilight had to trust him about this one.

"Can you charge up my magic like last time?" asked Twilight.

"Sure." said Steven, balancing his hooves into a war-like stance. "Ready?"

"Ready."

As Steven started to gather up his own magic, Twilight beckoned for the others in the group to come closer to her so that no one would be left out as she teleported. Soon enough, Steven's horn began to glow a brilliant blue. Unlike before, however, he easily managed to keep his balance as he walked towards the group and transferred all of his magic to Twilight.

Also unlike before, Steven gave just the right amount of magic to her. She still felt very powerful after his magic was transferred to her, but the difference was that now it didn't overwhelm her. Princess Luna must have trained him really well. Much better than Steven himself probably knew.

"Okay!' shouted Twilight. "We're going at the count of three!"

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

Shots were ringing everywhere around them. Twilight could see beams of red light going haywire in all directions possible, and she could hear bullets being fired as well. The sky was also tainted with lots of different colours- Red, Blue, Green, everything was there. Their teleportation was off by a little bit. They had just landed in the middle of a Celestia-damned warzone!

"Duck!" screamed Big Macintosh, pushing everyone downwards.

Twilight looked to the left. There was a fairly large building that side, and it was swarmed with human soldiers from Black Wesa, donning black, heavy armor and wielding large guns.

"The enemy is that side!" said Big Macintosh. "So we'll split up and find cover on the other side! Go!"

The group immediately dispersed- Big Macintosh, Steven, and Octavia ran and hid behind a huge boulder, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Bush went behind a large piece of debris, and Twilight and Fluttershy ran behind a couple of crates.

"We can't hold out much longer!" shouted Steven. "There's nowhere to run!"

"I can see the Resistance Outpost over there!" said Octavia. "We have to try to reach it!"

"But there's no use!" said Rarity. "We'll get hit before we even get close to the outpost!"

"We have to try!" said Rainbow Dash. "What do you think, Big Macintosh?"

"We run for it." said Big Macintosh. "Better we die trying than get captured by Black Wesa."

"I'll cover for you!" said Bush. "Wish me luck, mates!"

Bush then used his magic to pull out both of his revolvers from out of the holsters and began to shoot. Twilight saw two... three... five of them go down in the few seconds he was open. Bush then quickly took cover behind a group of barrels as he reloaded.

"Nice going!" said Steven.

"You guys run!" said Bush. "I'll cover you here!"

"And I'm not leaving without you, Bush." said Steven. He then quickly jumped out of his cover and pulled out a hoof. All of a sudden, the hoof began to glow blue, and a large shield of magic suddenly spread out. Steven, with his shield on, ran to where Bush was hiding and picked him up.

"Let's go." said Steven, holding out his other hoof to him.

Bush smiled. "I can always count on you, mate."

Bush and Steven then ran to the Resistance Outpost, easily catching up to the rest of the group as they ran. Twilight smiled- Even in such times like this, at least friendship can still be accounted for.

Just then, however, they came upon a dastardly realization. The soldiers that was backing them up just now were only reserves. The main fighting force was right in front of them, completely blocking their path to the Outpost.

"Aw... Dammit!" said Steven.

Just then, the back line of the main army looked back and saw the 7 ponies standing in a straight line behind them. They also saw their reserve army running to catch up to them. Perhaps they thought that if they caught this rebel group by themselves, then they would gain more honor. Or perhaps they were just paranoid about their enemies. In any case, however, the back line completely dissolved their formation with the rest of the main army and began to surround them, leaving absolutely no place to run in between them. They also kept their distance from them, so that they would have time to shoot and kill before they managed to escape.

Twilight glanced at Big Macintosh. "What do you think we do now?"

"Cover us with you magic barrier." said Big Macintosh.

"What?" asked Twilight. "I can't make a barrier that big! It'll be unstable and very thin!"

"I can help." said Steven.

"Eenope!" said Big Macintosh. "The shield you made just now to protect Bush had already drained enough of your magical energy. You need to rest for our attack later."

Twilight stared at Steven. It was only then she realized that Steven's right forehoof was slightly limping. He was not doing a very good job covering it, as every time he tried to straighten it, he would wince in pain and smile nervously. Only a force of great pressure could leave Steven in such a state. Twilight wasn't sure that she could handle this.

"I'm not sure I can-"

"You have to try!" said Big Macintosh, who was unusually louder in the warzone. "Your special talent is

magic, after all."

Twilight looked at him fearfully for a while, and then nodded. She was going to have to do her best to help her friends survive this. She was not going to give up so easily.

"Troops!" said one of the humans. "When I count down to zero, the fire at will! Three!"

Twilight took a deep breath. They were going to shoot her with all they've got.

"Two!"

Twilight went and positioned herself in the middle of the group. She began to store up the magical energy she had left.

"One!"

They were going to shoot them with all they've got. So Twilight was going to fight back with all she's got.

"FIRE!"

Twilight immediately unleashed a purple shell that covered every single one of them, easily absorbing the energy of the beams of light that were being shot at them. The rest of the group stayed huddled together around Twilight, waiting for a chance to strike.

"I can't hold on much longer!" said Twilight, screwing up her face to gather whatever concentration and energy she's got left.

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh. "As soon as Twilight's shield is destroyed, we'll run for it. Just run and don't look back."

The group hesitantly nodded. They knew that what they were about to do next was suicide, but there was no other choice. They had to run.

Twilight groaned in pain. She was going to have to release the shield soon. Her head was getting more tired by the second.

"We'll regroup at the Resistance Outpost." said Big Macintosh. "Until then, good luck."

Twilight screamed, and then the shield went out. But only for a split second.

Right when they were about to run for it, Twilight's purple shield was replaced by a blue one. But it was not Steven's. It was not brilliant blue like Steven's was, but it was a beautiful sky blue. Only then did Twilight realize that standing in the middle of the group on two hind hooves was a new pony. A blue-maned, white pony. A blue-maned white pony carrying a boombox.

"Vinyl!" exclaimed Octavia in surprise. "How did you know we were here?"

"I saw Twilight's purple shield." said Vinyl. "Hey, guys!'

"Vinyl! We-"

"No time to chat." said Vinyl. She quickly pressed a button on the boombox she was holding, and it immediately separated into square plates which kept unfolding and unfolding itself to become one very wide square. Twilight and the group then watched in awe as the simple boombox built itself up into into a large platform, with a handle to control it with at the front and the speakers at the back.

"Hop on!" said Vinyl. The group didn't hesitate.

Vinyl then pressed a couple of buttons and flipped a few switches, making a transparent dome appear, covering the platform. Vinyl then removed the magic shield, letting the glass dome get the full brunt of the firestorm. Much to Twilight's surprise, however, the beams of light didn't even leave a single dent or scratch on the glass.

"Hold on to your hooves, my little ponies." said Vinyl. "And hands, my little humans."

Twilight then heard an extremely loud 'BOOM!' come out from under the platform, where the speakers were. The vehicle then launched forward, driving and hitting into some Black Wesa soldiers on the way.

"Roadkill!" shouted Vinyl, laughing merrily.

The vehicle was going very fast. Twilight could swear that she saw soldiers who weren't even touched by the vehicle go flying sideways.

"Vinyl?' asked Twilight. "Are we by any chance going at the speed of sound?"

"Yeah!" said Vinyl, giving a loud woot. "Not fast enough to break the sound barrier, but just as fast as sound. Which is pretty literal too, I guess, since we are running on sound after all." Vinyl pointed to the speakers at the back.

Rainbow Dash began to join in the fun that Vinyl was having. She began to woot and shout "Look at that guy's face!" as they Black Wesa soldiers crashed into the vehicle (Although they were wearing helmets). Twilight found it very impressive that the Resistance managed to build a vehicle like this that would have no effect on the passengers whatsoever even when they were travelling at the speed of sound. This was amazing!

Soon enough, Vinyl entered the Resistance Outpost and easily stopped the vehicle. She then flipped a switch and the glass dome opened, allowing the group to exit.

"That was awesome, Vinyl." said Rainbow Dash, high hoofing (or was it handing?) Vinyl.

"Awesome indeed." said Vinyl. "I gotta pack this up. You guys go to the command center- they're gonna need you there. Just go straight and turn left."

Vinyl then drove the vehicle away, leaving the group on the back entrance.

"Let's go." said Big Macintosh, now back to his usual calm self.

The group then walked towards the door. Rainbow Dash reached to open it, but...

"FREEZE!" shouted a few humans as they entered the Outpost.

'Woah!" said Rainbow Dash. "Chill, guys! We're Resistance too."

The leader of the Resistance, a pony clad in heavy armor, then stepped up in front of them and began to stare each of them down.

"We have two humans and five ponies." said one of them. "I think they're Resistance."

"We have no proof." said the leader. "Will the leader of your company please show yourself?"

Big Macintosh then stepped up in front of them and looked at the leader.

"Big Macintosh." he said. "Team Leader of Section T's Team F."

"I know who you are." said the leader, who then took off her helmet.

"Berry Punch?" asked Rainbow Dash, whose look of surprise slowly grew into a wide smile.

But her question fell on deaf ears. Wondering why Berry didn't answer, Twilight and Rainbow Dash leaned forward to see what was happening. What was happening was beyond their wildest imagination.

Big Macintosh and Berry Punch were kissing. They were standing there, completely still, lips touching the other's with great fervor and spirit. They weren't making a sound, but the aura of what they were doing quickly spread around the Outpost. Twilight noticed that some of the Resistance even dropped their guns at the surprise of what was happening. She could see Rainbow Dash blush, and she felt her own face getting hot too.

"Are they... really going at it?" asked Octavia.

"Why of course, darling!" shouted an excited Rarity. "They have been quite the 'hot talk', if I may use such slang, among us in the Resistance for their fiery relationship and romance!"

At the sound of Rarity's words, Fluttershy's head dropped down greatly. She tried to hide her face with her mane as well, but Twilight could see that Fluttershy was blushing heavily underneath. No one else (except maybe Rarity- she's got an eye for this stuff!) noticed it, however.

Rainbow Dash gagged. "Get a room, you two."

Big Macintosh and Berry Punch then released each other from their kiss, but continued to look each other in the eye. As the sound of hoofsteps appeared behind them, Twilight looked back to see Vinyl walking back up, boombox in hand, smiling as she did so.

"Those two, huh?" asked Vinyl, as she smiled seductively. "Reminds me a lot about what we're missing up on, Octavia."

Octavia blushed but said nothing.

"Now can we get a move on?" asked Vinyl. "The Black Wesa soldiers are getting closer."

At the sound of those words, Big Macintosh and Berry Punch immediately stood back to attention.

"Right." said Berry Punch. "Follow me."

She then led them into the command center, a large, circular room, with a hologram table in the middle of it. A few humans and ponies were standing around it, arguing and agreeing to what course of action is best to take.

"Black Wesa is far too close now." said one of them. "This outpost is as good as lost."

"Not while I'm around!" said Vinyl, who quickly ran the the enormous window to the front of the Outpost that oversaw all of the battle there. She then pressed a button on the wall, and the floor underneath her quickly started to open up. Twilight saw Vinyl fall down, but just when she was about to go help her, Vinyl came back up, along with an elevated platform, wearing headphones as she put her hooves on the turn table that appeared in front of her.

"Since I was appointed as one of the commanders here," said Vinyl, "I had them build a custom DJ turn-table here. A weaponized one, of course." She smiled cunningly.

Just then, her horn began to glow, and she reached into the microphone in front of her.

"Testing!" said Vinyl, whose voice echoed across the room and outside the Outpost as well. "Testing! Okay, guys, get ready for some hardcore DJ madness!"

Everyone inside the command center began to pull out ear muffs and wore them. The rest of them was also offered ear muffs, and they all accepted them. All of them except Rainbow Dash, of course.

"What are you, crazy?" asked Rainbow Dash, knocking the ear muffs out of the hand who offered them to her. "I want to hear this thing full-on! And I'm not that weak, anyway!"

The human shrugged and walked away, mumbling something which cannot be heard by them. In fact, Twilight could hear almost nothing at all.

But she was wrong.

Almost immediately, Vinyl began to scratch and turn, releasing very loud noises. The whole building was positively shaking, and Twilight found herself wishing that it would not cave in. Twilight then looked out the window- The Resistance soldiers who were fighting were now also wearing ear muffs, and the soldiers of Black Wesa were down on their knees, hands to their ears. They acted like they were in complete agony.

"This is just beginning!" said Vinyl excitedly into the microphone. "Now..."

"BASS DROP!"

Just then, the music began to change noticeably, into a kind of 'wobble' sound. The general tone of the music became much more deep and scratchy, and Twilight was glad that she was wearing those earmuffs. But that was not the strangest thing that happened there.

From around the building to the outside, the Resistance soldiers quickly piled on back up into the command center, and the building also started to release extremely large, very wide sky blue shockwaves, blowing back the soldiers a good 20 metres back every time a shockwave hit them. Twilight could feel the ground vibrating as the soldiers in black kept rolling back towards their own base.

Then all of a sudden, VInyl stopped playing. She was huffing and panting, but she still wore a satisfied smile.

"Now that..." said Vinyl. "That's blowing them away with music."

Everyone in the room began to clap for her. The power needed to amplify a sound so loudly needed a great amount of magical power, and Vinyl looked like she was running dry.

Twilight then turned her head to the right, where she saw Steven looking down at a shivering, fearful, earmuff wearing Rainbow Dash, who was lying on the floor, grabbing onto her arms and legs. Steven was laughing greatly at this strange sight, and twilight found herself compelled to laugh too.

"Okay," said Berry Punch. "Now that they're back in their base, we now have time to think of our next move."

"What do we do?" asked an aged human. "They might have been staggered by that last blast, but they will just come back! We're still heavily outnumbered! This base will be lost!"

There was a tense silence for a while.

"So it is." said Steven Reilly, still looking at the holographic map on the table.

There was even more tense silence.

"What do you mean?" asked the old man.

"This Outpost is lost." said Steven, as calm as Big Macintosh. "We can't hold it any longer. We'll just be wasting lives."

"Now listen here, newbie." said Berry Punch, who angrily walked up to him and confronted him. "This Outpost is the most strategically important Outpost against Black Wesa? How dare you suggest we lose it and return home as failures?"

"I didn't say that." said Steven.

Berry Punch stood there, confused.

"But you said you wanted to retreat!" she said.

"I did." said Steven.

"But we can't go home as failures!"

"And we won't" said Steven, still as calm as ever. "How many more Outposts do you have in here?"

"This is the last one." said Berry Punch. "All the others have been captured."

"Good." said Steven.

Berry Punch looked like she wanted to kick his face in with one hoof. And Twilight was beginning to feel the same way as well. What they hay was Steven trying to say?

"Listen to him, Berry." said Big Macintosh. "He looks like he got a plan."

"I do." said Steven. "You see, I think that all of us, except for a select few, should go to their base and bring all of their forces here."

Steven then pointed at Outpost on the map.

"While we do this, all of you retreat."

"Retreat?"

"Yes." Steven then pointed at another point on the map. "To here."

Everyone stood in silence. But Twilight understood what he was trying to say.

"You mean to lure their whole force here!" said Twilight. "And then hold them back while the others trap them inside and ambush them!"

Suddenly, the old man smiled at Steven.

"The Art of War." said the old man. "All war is deception. Subtle to the point of formlessness, and mysterious to the point of soundlessness."

"Only then can you be the director of your opponent's fate." said Steven, smiling.

Berry Punch softened her expression. "So who would you like to be the bait? I take it you yourself are going as well?"

"Of course." said Steven. "And if it's not too much trouble, I'd like my team as well."

"Very well." said Berry Punch. "Prepare to evacuate the Outpost! We ride out swiftly and silently through the silence of the woods! Do not burden yourself with treasures, take only what you need."

At those words, the command center sprung into life, soldiers and scientist alike going to prepare for their strategy.

"Now don't go in until their whole force is taken." said Steven to Berry Punch. "There should only be a few left when you go for it."

Berry Punch then left, and Big Macintosh approached Steven.

"What about me?"

"I don't know, Big Macintosh." said Steven. "You're our Leader, so I can't give you orders. Even I am only allowed to reveal that plan with your permission."

"Never mind that, Steven." said Big Macintosh. "For now, you are the Master Strategist. Tell me, where does your gut tell you I belong?"

Steven thought for a while.

"With the strike team." said Steven. "They're going to need your leadership."

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh. "Good luck, Steven. Pray that your plan works."

"I don't believe in prayer." said Steven. "I believe that success lies on the strength of one's own arm."

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh. "Well said."

Twilight then approached Steven, smiling cunningly.

"Quite the bossypants, are you not?"

"Well, I had to." said Steven. "I mean, come on! What else could I have done?"

Twilight laughed. "I'm just kidding with you, Steven. This plan'll work."

"Hey Steve!" said Rainbow Dash, running up to him.

"Hey Dash." said Steven. "Are you ready?"

"Ready to die for the sake of a half-boiled plan of yours to work?" asked Rainbow Dash, looking playfully angry. "More than I'll ever be."

Twilight smiled. Sure this was going to be a tough plan to execute, but she was confident that it would work all the way. All they had to do was just keep in mind that they had to hold the enemy's attention until the strike team was done with their own mission. They were now shark bait.

And she hoped to everything possible that they would all be alive by the end of this.

Chapter 16- Bad Enough Dudes (Reilly)

"Come on!" shouted Steven as he ran at full speed. "We've got to give them as much time as they need!"

The rest of the small team followed Steven as they ran through a vast wasteland of rubble, craters, and the dead in order to do what they had planned to do. A suicide mission, but all planned out.

Following Steven closely was Twilight, who was carrying Rainbow Dash on her back as she tried to match Steven's speed. For someone who only had five days to adjust to a pony's body, Steven was doing very well.

Behind Twilight was a Rarity-bearing Fluttershy ("Don't fly so fast, Fluttershy! You'll ruin my beautiful hair!") and at the tail of the group was a heavily panting Bush.

"I'm wasted on cross-country!" said Bush, obviously tired but still not stopping. "We Equestralians are natural sprinters. Very dangerous over short distances."

All of a sudden, Steven stopped running. The rest soon followed suit.

"What do you suppose can attract the attention of thousands of human soldiers?" asked Twilight as Rainbow Dash dismounted.

'What about we just attack right away?" offered Rainbow Dash. "Then we run when they try to follow us?"

"No." said Bush. "That 'ere's too dangerous. There should be another way."

"It may be the only plan we've got." said Steven. "We have to attract their attention someway, and I don't think us shouting insults at them would provoke the entire army to go out to capture us."

"Um..." whispered Fluttershy. "I might be able to help..."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" asked Twilight, ignoring Fluttershy. "Just go in there and get captured? Or killed?"

"No!" said Steven. "We find another way. There's got to be another way."

"Excuse me..." said Fluttershy. "If you would just..."

"Excuse me." said Rarity. "But if you would just let me go in there, then maybe I can-"

"Too dangerous." said Bush. "Them brutes have already seen your face, and they're not as dopey as you might think."

"He's right." said Steven. "If they know who you are, then-"

"Guys..." said Fluttershy.

"WHAT?" asked the rest of the group, cocking their head to look at Fluttershy, who then began to bow down in shame and terror.

"Eep!" squealed Fluttershy, who buried her face into the ground.

"Come on, Fluttershy!" said Rainbow Dash. "If you've got a plan, then you gotta tell us what it is!"

Fluttershy mumbled a string of words that cannot be heard by anybody. Except maybe using the echolocating powers of bats.

"Come again?"

Fluttershy mumbled the same thing a tiny bit louder than before, but it was still barely audible.

"Fluttershy!"

"I was just suggesting that maybe my animal friends can help!" shouted Fluttershy, who then immediately buried herself in the ground again. "Just a suggestion."

The other members of the group stared at her, completely speechless.

Why didn't Steven think of that? He forgot about Fluttershy and how good she was with animals and how easily she can make them do things with only a few words (probably because he hadn't seen that power in action). It was a good idea, although the life of whatever animals Fluttershy chose would be in great danger if they implemented the plan. And Steven loved animals.

"What kinds of animals do you think you can ask to help, Fluttershy?" asked Twilight.

"Birds." said Fluttershy. "And whatever woodland animals I can find in the forest."

"According to the time now, we only have about one minute to get them to notice us or the Strike Team will be massacred." said Steven. "How are you going to gather as many animals as possible by then?"

Fluttershy smiled, and then she flew into the air. She was not that far above the ground, but she was still higher than the tallest tree in the forest.

Steven saw knowing looks in Twilight's, Rainbow Dash's, and Rarity's eyes, but he couldn't even begin to think about what Fluttershy was going to do next. Will she explode herself? Steven shared an uneasy glance with Bush before looking up at Fluttershy again.

Then Fluttershy began to sing.

She didn't sing loudly, but her voice easily overwhelmed his mind. It was so... powerful. The song she began to sing was nothing but hums and 'aahs', but it reverberated throughout the whole battlefield, and to the woods as well. Steven wouldn't be surprised if a few soldiers actually heard it as well.

Her singing was like a magnet. After hearing it, all the animals immediately set out to find the source of the voice, which led them to the middle of the battlefield, and thus Fluttershy. Steven watched in amazement as all different types of animals, most of which were dangerously wild, gathered around Fluttershy. He saw Rarity jump in terror as warthogs went past her.

"The GALL!" screamed Rarity. "I can't believe something so terribly... disgusting could be attracted to such beauty and grace!"

"Hey!" said Bush. "Don't talk about pigs tha' way! They can be much nicer than ponies or people."

Just then, Fluttershy stopped singing. She gracefully dropped to the ground and began to whisper something to the animals. She seemed much more confident and comfortable talking to them than she did with them, and she had just met the animals!

After a while of quiet talking with the animals, Fluttershy flew up again. Her double-bladed battleaxe tied to her back, Fluttershy led the charge of the animals, where all kinds of beasts, both small and large, ran straight ahead to the Black Wesa Base.

Fluttershy drew in a sharp breath. She was about to release a battle cry, and Steven couldn't help but wonder what kind of screaming it will be. Sure, he had heard it before (when she brutally attacked him to near-death back when they had first met), but seeing such a quiet pony being so loud was always interesting.

Fluttershy opened her mouth, eyes fiery with determination and body standing straight in the sky.

This was it. She's going to scream now...

Any time...

Fluttershy closed her eyes and bent her head forwards.

"Attack..." whispered Fluttershy.

Steven couldn't help but feel a tiny bit disappointed. All that build up and no release? That was just too much, even for a shy pony like herself.

"Let's go?" asked Twilight.

"Let's go." said Steven.

"YES!" screamed Rainbow Dash, as she unsheathed her three katanas, put one in each hand and in between her mouth, and charged.

Bush and Rarity (with a little persuasion) quickly followed, each jumping on the back of one of the charging elephants and preparing their weapons. Twilight and Steven quickly ran to the front to support Fluttershy.

As Steven ran with the animals, he felt the ground beneath them rumble. The soldiers of Black Wesa must have also felt it, because they came, guns at the ready, streaming out of the doors. They were surprised by the sight that greeted them, but they were prepared nonetheless.

As they began to shoot at the rampaging army, Steven and Twilight created a one-way shield in front of them, so as to protect themselves but let their attacks hit. Steven saw Rarity very rapidly firing at the soldiers, and as arrows struck their bodies, they easily fell down to the dirt. It was amazing, really, how simple arrows can pierce through such heavy armor.

Bush was also firing, enjoying himself as he jumped around on top of an elephant's head, shooting bullets seemingly randomly. However, all of his shots didn't miss, and he was easily able to bring down at least two soldiers per second. Things were looking good.

Just then, Twilight and Steven extended the reach of their shield, so that some of the soldiers were inside the shield as well. Large cats and other predators quickly weighed down on them, and the soldiers were unable to attack back. Rainbow Dash also ran to the front, her swords hacking and slashing at any bit of shiny black armor that can be seen.

Just then, however, more soldiers, and even armored vehicles came out of the building. The battlefield became silent for a while as the fighting soldiers retreated to the back of the armored tank. Steven had seen that tank before. He knew what it does.

Just then, a blue beam of light came towards them. Unprepared, the beam easily went through their shields. And it was headed straight for...

"RARITY!" screamed Steven, who immediately jumped in the air tackled Rarity out of the elephant's back, missing the beam of light by nothing but a single hair.

"What was that?" asked Rarity, as the beam immediately turned a tree it hit into nothing but ashes and dust.

The tank had begun to shoot.

Long, curved beams of blue light came at them , and it was taking all they can to keep the shield intact. Twilight and Steven both winced in pain as the shots from the armored vehicle stung them painfully.

"What do we do now?" asked Twilight, one eye closed as she tried to keep her balance.

Steven managed to look at the tank. It was coming closer. And as it came closer, its attacks became more and more painful. The animals were also standing in silence, unsure what to do when faced with a strong machine like that. Other than the sounds of the tank unleashing its weapon, the whole battlefield was silent. There was no way they could fight something like that.

"We run."

Everyone their immediately ran back to the Resistance Outpost, followed closely by the whole fighting force of the Black Wesa Base. That could only mean two things:

Their plan was working.

They're gonna die.

But the fact that the plan was working is comfort enough to Steven's heart. He knew, however, that once they reached the Resistance Outpost, they would not be able to run away any further. They had to make a stand in front of the Outpost. He was now doing nothing but hoping for the Strike Team to quickly do their job as they all ran for their lives.

The shield won't be able to hold up much longer. The tank was too powerful.

But then again, the tank must have a weakness.

Steven thought about that. Everything has a weakness, just like how everything has their strengths. How were they going to destroy the tank?

Steven could see the Resistance Outpost in the distance. There was not much time to think of a plan. No matter how crude it may be, there must be a plan.

Then he thought of something. An idea. A very crazy idea. An idea so crazy...

That it just might work.

"Rainbow Dash!" shouted Steven.

"What?"

"Can you drive?"

"WHAT?"

"CAN YOU DRIVE?"

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious! So can you drive?"

"Just a bit! Depends on what I'm driving!"

"What about a tank?"

Rainbow Dash turned to look at him, a wild look of bewilderment on her face. Her jaw was looked like it really was going to drop off.

"That's crazy!"

"I know!"

"And I'll help you!"

Rainbow Dash ran to Steven's side and grabbed on to him.

"Twilight! Can you teleport us?"

Twilight didn't even bother to look at them, but Steven was sure that she had heard him.

"Sure! Where to?"

"The top of that tank!"

Twilight shot him with a look of disbelief, her face looking very similar to Rainbow Dash's.

"You're crazy!"

"And thank goodness for that, 'cause if I wasn't, this would probably never work."

Twilight shot him one last glance before she began to fire up her horn. Steven felt the familiar feeling of being yanked away, followed by him seeing himself and Rainbow Dash on top of the tank.

As quickly as he could, Steven summoned up all of the magic he had left to create long, sharp claws of magic on the edge of his hooves. He dug into the roof of the tank as deeply as possible, and then he ripped the whole thing out. The Black Wesa soldiers inside the tank quickly noticed this, but they were still too shocked by the sudden appearance of a pony with scars on his face and a human with very bright, rainbow hair to react. Steven quickly changed the shape of his claws to resemble that of a giant human's hand, picked up both the drivers off their feet, and threw them outside.

"Can you handle this?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Um..." she said as she looked around. "Can't you?"

"No fingers." said Steven. "And barely any magic left."

"I can try..."

"Good." he then turned to leave the tank.

"Where are you going?"

"I trust you, Dash." said Steven. "And I know that you can do it."

Steven then jumped out of the tank, only to see no movement at all and incredibly threatening silence. He landed on the ground and turned to look at the tank.

C'mon, Rainbow Dash...

The tank was still. Unmoving.

You can do it...

The tank was still doing nothing. Just standing there.

Come on...

Just then, the tank began to turn around to face the Black Wesa forces. The soldiers, confused, didn't know what was going on and didn't bother to find out.

Their mistake.

The tank began to shoot back at them, scattering their forces and vaporizing whatever it touched.

"YES!" he heard Rainbow Dash shout. "TAKE THAT! HAHA!"

Twilight facehoofed (That really does seem like a word!).

"You should never give Rainbow Dash too much power." said Twilight, shaking her head. "Or she'll rub your face in it to no end."

Just then, there was another powerful rumbling. But this time, it wasn't the animals.

Steven could see many more of Black Wesa coming their way- Soldiers, Tanks, Heavy Artillery- everything needed for a full-out war was on their way to the Resistance Outpost. If all of that were to fire on the 6 already weakened ponies, then there would be no chance of survival.

It seemed that the others had realized this too. Everyone had stopped fighting, and they were now listening. It was inevitable.  They were coming.

Steven saw his friends' faces as they watched. Shock, sadness, anger, all pent up into one. There was absolutely no way that such a small force like theirs could even begin to fight back against that large of a force. If they met them in battle, then they would surely die.

"You do know that that huge army is going to hunt you down." said Berry Punch as they prepared to put the plan into action.

Steven smiled.

"And I will lead them on a merry chase." he said.

"Make sure ya come back, Steven Reilly." said Big Mac.

Steven kept smiling, but remained quiet.

As both of them left, Steven was left deep in thought. He knew Black Wesa. He knew their leader. And if he was in charge, then they might have to die for their plan to work. Would he just bring his friends to their deaths?

Steven took a deep breath.

"What's going on, Steven?"

"There are more." said Steven. "There are more of them coming. About tenfold as much."

There was a gasp, followed by nothing but stunned silence. Rainbow Dash jumped out of the tank to the ground and joined the group.

"Did we do it?" she asked excitedly. "They're running away! Did we win?"

The ominous silence seemed to have struck Rainbow Dash, for even she joined in the group in their tense silence.

"Run." said Steven. "Run away, and don't look back."

"What?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Steven?" said Twilight. "What are you talking about? The plan is already underway. We have got to see it to fruition."

"And it will." said Steven. "You guys run and join the Strike Team. They will need everyone they've got to beat this monstrosity of an army. I will stay back and hold out for as long as I can."

"Steven!" scolded Twilight. "That's suicide! Six of us barely managed to hold out against the smaller force. What makes you think that you can stand out against that army alone?"

"I won't." said Steven. "But I'll hold out as long as I can. I can't bring you guys down as well."

The group stayed silent. But the rumbling in the ground was just getting louder. Soon the army will come. Soon, it will overwhelm him. But not them. There was no way that his friends were going to die.

"Well I'll be." said Bush, taking off his cap. "You're a much dumber bloke than I made you out to be, mate."

"What?" asked Steven.

"You think that we're gonna let you die?" asked Rainbow Dash. She snapped her fingers. "Just like that? All alone?"

"You don't understand, I-"

"No, we understand too well, Steven." said Rarity. "We've all been through this before."

"Many a time have we all wanted to play hero, Steven." said Bush. "And believe me, playing hero always gets you killed."

"But-"

"And not to mention that we owe you, Steven." said Rainbow Dash. "We owe you a lot. And I'd be a damned Element of Loyalty if I didn't pay you back."

Steven looked around at his group of friends in confusion.

"You don't owe me anything!"

"Yes we do." said Fluttershy, uncharacteristically standing up straight and looking into his eyes with a determination he had never seen before from the little pony. "We owe you our lives."

"You did save all of us at least once, Steven." said Twilight. "You resurrected me from the dead."

"You saved me before I could get crushed by giant rocks." said Rainbow Dash, grinning playfully.

"And you healed up my leg and stopped the bleeding which could have killed me." said Fluttershy, smiling softly.

"And you saved me by risking your life to put a shield so I can run back safely." said Bush, putting his cap back on.

"And you risked your life to push me out of that horrible beam's way." said Rarity, readying her bow and arrow.

"Not to mention that you actually died for one day from that wolf attack." said Rainbow Dash.

"And you saved me from a life of servitude from the Queen." said Bush. "I honestly wanted to run away, but I didn't have the means until you helped me, mate."

"You have seemed to always put yourself right in the face of danger in order to save us." said Twilight. "Why would it be wrong if we do it for a change?"

"And if I did give you my life," said Rarity, "then I would be incredibly honored. There would be no one better than all my friends to give my final gift to."

Steven felt a warm, unfamiliar feeling begin to spread inside his chest. It slowly opened his closed heart, letting rays of sunshine in, making it bright and warm. Steven had never felt so amazing in his life. He tried to fight against the tears coming out from his eyes, but it was no use. Tears were streaming down his face as his friends circled him.

"You have my horn."

"And my swords."

"And my bow."

"And my guns."

"And my axe!"

Steven started to choke up on his own tears as his friends pulled themselves closer to him and into a hug. Feeling the warmth of friendship as they embraced, Steven managed to speak again.

"Well..." said Steven, wiping a tear from his face. "I can't let any of you die. And all of you want to stay here, which makes my whole responsibility that much more difficult. I cannot promise that we cannot die. But I can promise you this."

"If we die, we'll die together."

"That's the spirit!"

"We can do it, Steven!"

"Let's go!"

"Alright, everybody!" said Steven, back to his old cheery self, or maybe even cheerier. "Positions"

The group rushed to a straight line in front of the outpost.

"There's not much to say at this point." said Steven. "Except how glad I am to be able to share this last moment with you."

The group looked ahead into the horizon. The Sun was slowly beginning to set, and the army was now just visible.

"Rainbow Dash, you get back in that tank." said Steven. "Bush and Rarity, you cover Fluttershy, Twilight and I from a safe position. The animals are gone, so you have to make use of your environment."

Steven then turned to face the Black Wesa army as well.

"At my signal, unleash hell."

Just then, the Black Wesa army began to run towards them.

"NOW!"

Rarity and Bush immediately took a position behind trees and crates, whereas the rest quickly charged forward. Rainbow Dash jumped inside the tank, and began to shoot wildly at the army.

"You gonna be fine?" Steven asked Fluttershy.

Fluttershy didn't answer, but she instead took her double-bladed battleaxe in her mouth and charged at the oncoming soldiers, avoiding all their shots and sending all of them flying left and right with each swing. It was amazing what this little pony could do.

"What about you?" asked Steven, charging up his magic. "You have any fighting magic?"

Twilight didn't answer as well. Not with words, anyway. She easily magicked a huge boulder in front of her, and then she fiercely bent her head down, sending the boulder flying and rolling towards even more soldiers, either knocking them down or violently pushing her aside.

Steven shrugged, and then began to ball up his magic into his trademark gauntlets and boots. He quickly charged at the enemy, punching and kicking almost at the same time, sending soldiers crashing into others in every direction. None of their shots seemed to be able to hit any of them.

However, Steven quickly felt a sharp pain go through his chest.

He'd been shot.

He fell down. Time seemed to slow around him. Images seemed to blur. The noise around him was reduced to nothing but an inaudible buzzing. He had felt this before. He had felt this when he was fighting the wolves.

His friends were out there. His friends were fighting for their lives. And his life. He cannot let it be in vain. He was not going to give up!

Steven immediately jumped back up into position, his magic gauntlets turning into lances again. He swung and pierced through the entire enemy, making sure that his movements were not only large and fast, but unpredictable as well. The pain in his arm seemed to have disappeared already.

"That one!" shouted a soldier, pointing at him. "Take down that one first!"

Steven was still swinging and lunging in precise, accurate movements, taking down almost every soldier that surrounded him. But he felt all the other soldiers begin to crowd around him.

"You won't touch a single hair on my friend's body!" screamed Fluttershy, who jumped next to Steven, a raged look in her eyes. They stood back-to-back, watching as even more soldiers came towards them.

"We fight from inside to out." said Steven. "Be sure to grab as many soldiers as possible to shield yourself as they attack."

Fluttershy nodded.

"HYAAARGH!" they shouted, diving straight into the enemy and using their weapons to blow their enemies apart. Steven saw Fluttershy using a simple, but well executed system with her axe- hack, slash, and kick. She was undamaged, and all of the enemy attacks were rendered useless because of all the bodies that seemed to cover her as she fought.

I can't lose to Fluttershy! thought Steven, who also began to up his game. He pierced and sliced through the enemy, eventually managing to get to the heart of the army.

Just then, he heard a rumbling.

Great, a tank.

Steven immediately changed to gauntlet form and began to punch the tank. Dents were made, but it was still far from destroying the tank. As he swung and punched, however, he began to feel the momentum of his movements. He felt time slowing down as he did nothing but attack the tank relentlessly. He felt his movements beginning to connect with one another, causing even more damage to the tank, until...

He jumped up as high as he can, and then the came back crashing down, his outstretched hoof crushing the tank in he fell. He then picked up the destroyed tank and threw it at even more soldiers. Despite all of their hard work, however, more just kept coming.

Where was the Strike Team?

Steven looked back. The tank Rainbow Dash was in was horribly damaged, but Rainbow Dash seemed to not have noticed. The tank was still going at it against the surrounding soldiers. He had to warn Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash!" he shouted as he entered the tank.

"What?"

"You've got to get out!" said Steven. "This tank is horribly damaged!"

"I know!" said Rainbow Dash. "But there's something I gotta do!"

She took a large piece of broken machinery inside the tank and pressed it against the accelerate pedal.

"Now we run." said Rainbow Dash.

Smiling and shaking his head, Steven jumped out of the tank as well. He stood with Rainbow Dash as he watched the tank moving in front of its own accord, eventually crashing into another tank and exploding, destroying both of them.

"That was nice." said Steven.

"Nice?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Try extremely awesome! Now come on, our friends need us!"

Suddenly, the front line of the soldiers decided to look back. They saw Rainbow Dash and Steven running towards them.

"There they are!" shouted one soldier. "Fire!"

Steven bit one of Rainbow Dash's arms and pulled her behind a large boulder.

"Ow!" said Rainbow Dash. "Warn me when you do that next time!"

"Sorry." said Steven. "How do you think we're gonna get past them?"

"All I can think of is 'fight our way through'" said Rainbow Dash. Steven stared at her. "Hey, I never was one for plans!"

Steven quickly spotted a dead soldier lying in front of them. He immediately ran to it and took out that soldier's dagger.

May you rest in peace. thought Steven as he grabbed the dagger and ran back to Rainbow Dash.

"Can you throw this?" asked Steven.

Rainbow Dash immediately took the dagger in her arm and threw it. It stabbed the soldier in front, right at the exposed bit of skin in his neck. The rest of the soldiers looked at their comrade slowly bleeding but didn't do anything about it.

"Now?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Now." said Steven.

"NOW!" screamed Rainbow Dash as both of them charged at the enemy. Both of them slashed and cut the soldiers down, creating a small circle where both of them stood. By the five minute count, Steven could see none of them left. Just then, however, he heard a voice.

"You! I'm going to kill you!"

Steven was not fast enough to react. He shut his eyes and waited for the soldier behind him to shoot that trigger and kill him.

BAM!

There it was. There the gun went.

But Steven didn't feel anything. He turned around, only to see the soldier dead, Bush having shot him square on the chest.

"Thanks Bush, you saved my-"

Steven's last words were choked out of him. Bush was aiming the gun directly at him.

"Bush, what are you doing?"

Bush then gave him an evil smile, and pressed the trigger. Frozen in shock, Steven watched as the bullet came closer...

And closer...

And closer...

And went past him.

He heard a soft thud behind him. He turned around and he saw a soldier, holding nothing but a knife, drop dead right behind him. He turned to look at Bush again, and he stood there smiling the same smile. not an evil smile, but a delighted smile.

"Nice shot." said Steven, who then went to charge against the remaining members of the army.

As all of them shot, hacked, slashed, and pierced, the enemy's numbers rapidly dwindled down in numbers, until at last, there were none left.

"We did it." said Twilight, her horn red from being overused. "We actually did it."

"We beat them..." said Fluttershy, reverting back to her original personality (he was liking this pony more and more!). "Oh...My..."

"We sure did!" said Bush. "I can't believe it."

"No." said Steven. "That's impossible."

"What are you talking about?" asked Rainbow Dash. "There's no one-"

As if answering her question, even more soldiers and tanks came their way.

Rainbow Dash dropped her swords and fell to her knees.

"I hate to say it, but..." said Rainbow Dash, looking down. "I can't... fight anymore."

"My magic's all gone." said Twilight.

The rest of the group also fell down to the floor, heavily panting and breathing. Steven felt the pain in his chest growing once again.

"So that's it, then?" asked Bush. "We failed?"

"I wouldn't say that." said Steven, smiling but clutching against the hole in his chest. "We did what we had to do. We held out. I'd say we've gone and done out mission, and did a fine job out of it, too."

"I agree with our darling Steven over here.." said Rarity. "We did what we were supposed to do. And we gave it our best."

"It's funny..." said Steven. "We are going to die soon, yet..."

"You don't feel regret?" offered Twilight.

"Yeah..." said Steven.

"I don't either." said Rainbow Dash. "I think we handled things pretty awesomely back there."

"We did." said Fluttershy.

"So..." said Rarity. "I guess... this is goodbye? Forever?"

"I think so, Rarity." said Twilight.

"We've had a good run, you guys." said Steven. "If I had to do this all over again, I would not have changed a thing."

"Neither would I." said Twilight.

Steven sat up. He looked at the area around him. Everything was empty. There was nothing in there, and everything was peaceful, and quiet. It was the perfect place for them to pass on. He then turned to look at his friends- The always-dependable Bush Ranger, the Ever-Generous Rarity, the Quiet but Awesome Fluttershy, the Magical Hero Twilight, and finally...

Rainbow Dash.

Steven sighed. During the five days that they have met, Steven had fallen completely in love with her. He had thought it to be impossible to love another woman the same way she had loved Jaeda, but yet it had happened. He felt guilty, angry with himself as he thought about how much in love he was with Rainbow Dash, like it was an insult to Jaeda's memory. But he couldn't help it. Rainbow Dash was still one of the most beautiful women he had ever laid eyes on.

And he had to tell her that.

There was no other time.

As the winds shook the trees beside them, Steven could hear the leaves singing him words of encouragement. It was now or never.

"Rainbow Dash!" shouted Steven, walking to her. "Before it's all over... There's something I have to tell you."

"What is it?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Steven blushed. "It's just that... when I first met you, I felt like we had something special. As we traveled together, laughed together, cried together, I realized that... That what I felt wasn't just friendship. It felt like something more. Rainbow Dash... I think I-"

Without letting Steven finish his sentence, Rainbow Dash gave him a knowing look and immediately pulled him to her and kissed him. Her lips gently, but passionately touching his as they explored each other in ways they had never done before. Rainbow Dash, still kissing him, soon sat up as well, both arms locked behind Steven's neck.

Steven's head drew a blank. He had kissed before, but never like this. As their lips brushed against each other, Steven closed his eyes as Rainbow Dash tilted her head and pressed her closed lips to his. Steven could feel Rainbow Dash's warm breath against his neck, and he felt his face getting warmer, and he knew that Rainbow Dash felt the same as well. The kiss lingered for what felt like hours, but it had to stop. They both knew it.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting to do that." said Rainbow Dash, blushing and pulling strands of her hair behind her ears.

Steven smiled. "I wish we could have had a little bit more time..."

Rainbow Dash stroked his cheek with her hand.

"At least we enjoyed it while it lasted." said Rainbow Dash.

The others soon also slowly sat up and joined hand-to-hand in their last moments together. The army was coming. The rumbling was getting louder. It was the end.

"For the record, you two would've made a really cute couple." said Twilight. Rainbow Dash and Steven blushed.

"Oh CELESTIA!" said Rarity. "I didn't know you two liked each other! Oh, this is the best! And it's the best kind of romance as well! Doomed romance! Falling in love while knowing that they can never be together until the end. Oh, what a tragedy!"

"I knew..." whispered Fluttershy.

Just then, the army came into view. Thousands of soldiers, neatly walking in groups as they advanced upon their position.

"There they are!" said one of the soldiers. "Prepare to fire!"

The soldiers, knowing that they were powerless but still wary against a foe of such great power (or at least, as their comrades have told them), surrounded them.

"It's amazing how we always seem to get surrounded." said Steven.

The group let out a soft, but meaningful laugh.

"Prepare to fire!"

"I guess... This is goodbye, then." said Twilight.

"Three!"

Steven closed his eyes. He knew the others were doing so too.

"Two!"

"I love you, Steven Reilly." said Rainbow Dash.

"I love you too, Rainbow Dash." said Steven.

Rainbow Dash's grip on Steven's hoof became tighter. Steven could feel her shivering. She was crying.

Goodbye, Rainbow Dash...

"ONE! FI-"

Just then, a very loud noise came from the back of the army. The soldier who was counting down quickly looked back to see what was happening.

But that wasn't just any noise.

It was organized noise.

Beautiful noise.

Music.

"They're here!" shouted Bush. "The cavalry has arrived!"

The rest of the group immediately stood up. Suddenly feeling empowered by the recent development, Twilight managed to teleport them away.

"They're getting away!" said one of the soldiers, far too late to make a difference.

The group appeared again on a very large platform, even larger than before, and standing next to the friendly neighborhood Vinyl Scratch.

"You guys all right?" asked Vinyl, who was wearing a dark purple goggles above her eyes.

"We're fine." said Twilight.

"Alrighty, then!" said Vinyl. "Listen, Steve, I know you're tired and all, but Big Mac's told me about your 'type of magic', and I could really use your help here."

Steven found this to be strange. He had never told the Leader about his type of magic before. But Steven also felt empowered by the arrival of their friends, so why not?

"Sure." said Steven, gathering up his magic power. "What do you want me to charge?"

"This." said Vinyl, holding out an electric guitar.

"You can play that?" asked Steven. "But you've got hooves!"

"Steven, a musical Cutie Mark's gotta count for something." said Vinyl, as they walked to a wide array of different amplifiers and speakers. "You guys wait outside. I need my concentration and a source of power alone. Now, charge 'er up!"

Steven directed all of his magic into Vinyl's guitar, and she began to play. At first, he thought that she was playing some kind of Equestrian rock band's music. It sounded really complicated, and really hard.

Half a minute into the song, however, and he began to realize how familiar it seemed.

That intro...

That shredding...

That picking...

Well, $#!%.

Vinyl Scratch, a pony who had only been in Equestria for five days was able to play that song.

The song that still holds the record for hardest playable song on Guitar Hero.

Through the Fire and Flames.

"How'd you manage to do that?"

"Again, a musical Cutie Mark's gotta count for something." shouted Vinyl over the loud music. "Besides, I had about a month to practice!"

"A MONTH?"

"Yeah!" said Vinyl. "But that was only since I woke up. The Triumvirate says that it's already been five months since the Earth and Equestria crashed."

"FIVE MONTHS?"

"Stop talking!" said Vinyl. "Best part coming through."

Just then, Vinyl began to shred and pick a flurry of notes, resulting in extremely large, powerful, and dangerous sky-blue coloured soundwaves to emanate from the speaker. it came to the left, to the right- its direction was based on the pitch of the music alone. And it was not only awesome to see that, but also terribly beautiful. Steven noticed that the music was able to blow up their tanks, crush the metal armors (thus crushing the soldiers as well), and blowing back soldiers everywhere. The whole Resistance seemed unaffected by it though.

"It's a good thing you managed to clear out about half of them!" shouted Vinyl. "My guitar alone can't fight that many!"

"What took you so long anyway?"

"Well, when you told us to take over the enemy base while you guys had them distracted, Black Wesa was smart enough to leave about one eighth of their whole force there. We lost about 35 good soldiers in that Base alone."

Steven watched in amazement as Vinyl utterly destroyed all of the Black Wesa soldiers left. Everything that had been touched by the soundwaves had been curled up into a ball, crushing anything inside it. However, the Resistance Outpost remained unharmed, because of the countermeasures already being used there.

And finally, after about 7 minutes of playing, Vinyl stopped. The song had ended. And the end result was 3000 soldiers and tanks crushed and destroyed.

"You did it!"

Vinyl didn't answer.

"Vinyl?"

Steven heard a loud 'thud'.

"Vinyl!" shouted Steven. "Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me." said Vinyl. "This is just a side effect. Always happens when I do this."

"I'll call a medic." said Steven. "Wait here."

"Thanks, man."

Steven exited the room to a group of ponies and humans staring at him expectantly, as if waiting for him to say something important. Something great.

Steven smiled. After all they've been through, they've did it. After all they had endured, they've survived. They've did it. He scanned the room, and he felt like every single soldier stationed in that Outpost was in that large vehicle, not daring to go out for fear of Vinyl's epic guitar skills. He needed to tell them something. Something that told them they've won. Something that told them that everything they did, every sacrifice they made, was worth it. But he didn't give them a speech. He couldn't. So he settled on the simplest thing he could think of.

"WE DID IT!"

Chapter 17- Dining in Hell (Twilight)

"They're here! They're back!"

The small group of now-heroes was greeted back to the Resistance Base by a thunderous applause and earth-shaking shouts of praise. Everyone was gathered up right outside the Main Door, squeezing against each other to fit inside the narrow lanes in front of the steps that led to the door. Twilight didn't know how they were going to go through everyone, but she couldn't worry too much about that at the moment.

"We're home." said Rarity.

Home. Rarity's already been living in the Base for three months already, so maybe she already adapted by then.

"I can't believe so many of them can squeeze up in such a small place." said Steven. "Back before the crash, people would've already been pushing each other over the railings."

"I guess the crash has taught some of your people the importance of love and tolerance." said Twilight, smirking.

As they descended the stairs, to the main lobby, some of the crowd was beginning to become visible already. Just how many people and ponies are there?

"Ya guys deserved it." said Big Macintosh, Berry Punch walking along her. "Ya should be proud."

"For a job that was supposed to be impossible." said Bush, looking awfully pleased.

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh. It surprised Twilight how dramatically Big Macintosh's chattiness can change depending on the craziness of the situation. Was he naturally quiet, or naturally loud? Twilight then pushed aside this thought to join the other thoughts about the dilemmas of her other friends, like Is Fluttershy naturally shy or was it some childhood psychological trauma? and Was Pinkie naturally hyperactive, or was it all the sugar?

Thinking about Pinkie Pie seemed to squeeze her already dry heart. Better not do that again.

They were welcomed back by many handshakes, woots, pats on the back, and in Bush's case, a water bottle to the face.

"Ow!" exclaimed Steven. "That hurt."

The group laughed. After experiencing the pain of everything that happened so far (Shot, pierced, scratched, crushed, and even death), a water bottle to the face just seemed so trivial. It felt nice to laugh a bit after everything that had happened so far.

As they continued walking (although Fluttershy was flying very high in the sky, as she was scared of large crowds), however, they reached a small wooden stage, with the three members of the Triumvirate standing upon them.

Twilight saw Steven's eyes wide. This was the very first time Steven actually got to see the three Leader's faces, and she knew that he still bore a grudge against them for so strongly refuting his case for going to find Discord. To their credit, however, Twilight knew that they were right. Under no circumstances, even dire ones, should they set out to meet Discord. Not with what Discord could do to them...

"Welcome back, Team F of Sector T!" said Bill Gates, standing in front of a podium and spreading his arms widely to the side.

The crowd showed even larger signs of appreciation, breaking all of Twilights' expectations about how loud a crowd can be.

"You have done a wonderful job, saving a relatively very small army against one that is massive and positively huge." continued the Leader. "We have received news of your success from your friends in the Outpost, telling us of your impressive handling of the situation."

"In other words, ya all done a mighty fine job, ya little varmints!" said Granny Smith, jumping around the stage. "And I figured ya would be hungry, so ah went and made y'all some dinner!"

"Thanks, Granny Smith." said Twilight, ever so polite. The rest of the group responded the same way as well. Although Big Macintosh's short greeting may be just because of his nature. Donut Joe nodded in agreement.

"Anyway," said Bill Gates, "Because of your excellent performance, we will raise the rank of your team. You now raised your rank to team B of your whole Sector! That's pretty good for a team that was literally just made yesterday.

The crowd's applause just went louder. Again, Twilight's expectations were shattered.

"What does that mean?" asked Twilight in Rarity's ear.

"You see, dear, The Resistance is made up of 26 Sectors, each of which are made of six teams. And these six teams, depending on their value to the Resistance, can raise up or lower down in rank. Team A, of course, is the leader of the Sector, and their members representatives of their Sector in the Council. Team F, as you may have guessed, are the runts of the litter."

Twilight never knew that. She understood how they would've been placed in the lowest ranked team, but who would've known that a place inhabited by Rebels could have such a strong organizational system.

"And we're in the B Team now?" asked Bush.

"Yes." said Donut Joe. "Which means you guys are second in command!"

"Which means that you are going to need to meet your direct superiors right away." said Bill Gates.

"But ah won't let'cha go until y'all got some well-earned rest, y'hear?" said Granny Smith.

"Yes, Granny Smith." said the whole group in unison.

"And where are our other heroes, Vinyl Scratch and Octavia?" asked Bill Gates.

"Vinyl kindly refused to leave the Outpost." said Twilight. "And Octavia decided to stay with her."

"Very well." said Bill Gates, clapping his hands dismissively. "You may leave."

The crowd quickly spread out, some staying and some going elsewhere. But as they left, however, they still had a few congratulations from various members of the Resistance.

"Hey, everyone!" said Alan, who was part of the Research Team. "Great job!"

"That was AWESOME, guys!" said Derpy, still as cross-eyed as ever.

"Amaaaazing!" said Braeburn, standing on his two hind legs as he said it. "You guys really showed yer stuff!"

"Braeburn..." whispered Big Macintosh under his breath. Berry Punch, however, heard that and playfully nudged him in the shoulder.

"Come on..." said Berry Punch. "Be nice."

"It's so late already." said Steven. "I still can't believe that they stayed up so late just to watch us return."

"But there's something else that's got me confused." said Twilight. "If there already were six teams in each Sector from the beginning, then how could Big Macintosh be a 'new' leader?"

Rarity, Big Macintosh, and Berry Punch all stopped walking, all of them staring into the space in front of them.

"What?" asked Twilight. "What's going..."

Damn it! Twilight should've stopped to think before mindlessly asking a question like that. There was only one explanation as to how Big Macintosh could suddenly become a Leader. It must've meant that the rest of his team...

"Oh no..." said Twilight. "I...I'm so sorry..."

Berry Punch sighed, and then looked up at the rest.

"No, no, Twilight." she said. "We were already planning to tell you anyway."

"Well..." said Rarity.

"No, its alright." said Twilight. "It can wait."

"But we must tell you!" said Rarity. "I'm afraid we cannot go on without us telling you the truth!"

"They got captured." said Berry Punch. "We were doing good, Team A of Sector T and all, but one mission we went on became sour..."

"The whole team got captured." said Rarity. "Except for us three, that is..."

"They got AJ!" said Big Macintosh. "And its all mah damn fault!"

Berry Punch picked up his hooves and held onto them as she let Big Macintosh rest his head on her shoulders.

"Applejack was one of those captured." said Rarity, turning her head to look at Big Macintosh, regret as clear as day in her eyes. "She sacrificed herself to allow the three of us to safely cross the gorge that surrounded the Black Wesa facility. Granny Smith blamed Big Macintosh."

"Applejack..." said Fluttershy, transfixed.

"The loyalest and most dependable of ponies..." said Twilight. "Gone?"

"We don't know where she is now." said Rarity. "We don't even know if she is alive! Sure we had our differences, but this? My only wish now is that she would come back to us safe and sound..."

Twilight just realized how Rarity's drama queen personality disappears in hard times like then. She wasn't overreacting at all. She was strangely very silent and tense.

"But the Triumvirate told us that she never reached the Base in the first place!" said Rainbow Dash, confronting Rarity. "Are you telling us that they lied?"

"...Yes." whispered Rarity.

"Then why didn't you tell us earlier about the whole thing?" asked Rainbow Dash. "We might still be able to save her."

Rainbow Dash quickly ran towards the Main Doors again, but Berry Punch tackled her out of the way.

"What do you want?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I'm trying to save a friend!"

"And I am too!" said Berry Punch. "There is no way in both hells that I would allow you to go searching for Applejack by yourself!"

Fluttershy slowly flew over to Rainbow Dash and guided her back to where the group was standing. Steven also went up to her and planted a soft kiss on her cheek.

"We can't go now, Dash." said Steven. "But we can't give up hope either. I do not know who Applejack is, but we have to believe in her. We have to believe that she is still alive."

"He's right, everyone." said Twilight. "We have to put our trust in Applejack. We've already done it many times before, so why can't we do it again now?"

Everyone hesitantly nodded in agreement.

The truth, however, was that Twilight doubted that her friend would return by herself. Twilight had to go through a lot of the experiments that the filthy monsters in Black Wesa had done on her, and she herself barely managed to escape safely. And even then, somepony had to give her life to save her as well.

No. Pinkie Pie and Applejack aren't dead.

And yet there is no proof of their being alive as well.

After saying goodbye to the rest of the group, Twilight sadly walked up to her bedroom. Thankfully (and luckily), it was right next to the Library, and rumors have reached her about the librarian there being very dedicated to her work, leaving the Library open 24 hours a day, every day. She might have time to go there and squeeze in a little bit of reading before sleeping.

As Twilight opened the door to the Library, her eyes widened in shock.

The Resistance's Library was the biggest library she had ever been in! And that was saying a lot!

Very tall shelves filled the magnificently decorated Library, all of them packed with books to the brim. They were very neatly organized into genres, titles, name of authors, it made every single book easy to find. Who was this amazing librarian who had prepared all of this? Twilight herself could really use some tips in organizing her own Library.

"Who goes there?" asked a voice that seemingly came from nowhere. Twilight jumped in surprise.

"Um... I'm Twilight Sparkle!" said Twilight. "Are you the Librarian?"

"Yes, I am." said the voice, as it slowly walked out from behind the shelf right across of her. Twilight stayed in place, determined to meet this Librarian.

"Hello." said Twilight.

"Hello." said the Librarian.

The Librarian herself was a very strange sight to see. She was a human, maybe younger than her, with long, flaming red hair. She was wearing glasses, and she looked like she was just in the middle of reading a book. But the strangest thing about the Librarian was that she was confined to a wheelchair.

How could someone in a wheelchair be able to organize this Library so perfectly? If the Librarian was a unicorn, then she'd understand, but she was a human.

"Nice to meet you." said Twilight. "Er..."

"My name's Barbara." said the Librarian.

"Just... Barbara?"

"Just Barbara."

"O...kay?" said Twilight. "Please don't mind me, I'm just going for a look around."

"No, it's no problem!" said Barbara the Librarian. "I was just going to return this book anyway, so I thought I could maybe guide you around."

"Sure!" said Twilight. "Thanks!"

Happy that the awkward moments are finally over, Twilight walked alongside Barbara the Librarian as they looked for something that may intrigue Twilight.

"Your collection of books is... so complete!" said Twilight, looking around. She then tried to think of a way to make what she said next not so... offensive. "And you kept this Library immaculate! How did you... do that?"

To Twilight's surprise, Barbara the Librarian calmly smiled at her. She then pressed a button on her wheelchair, which made a robotic hand and a joystick appear. She then put her hand on the joystick and began controlling it, manipulating the movements of the robotic hand so that it picked up her book from her lap and put it onto one of the top shelves.

"Wow." said Twilight.

"Yes..." said Barbara the Librarian. "That, and lots of determination."

"You know," said Twilight, "I'm a Librarian too. Proud manager of the Ponyville Library!"

"That's great!" said Barbara. "You know, half of these books were imported from there. Rarity and Applejack's group all went to dangerous territory in Ponyville to pick them up for me!"

"You know Rarity and Applejack?" asked Twilight.

"Of course I do!" said Barbara. "They come here everyday... when they're not on a mission, of course. They always said something about this place bringing back good old memories. And not to mention that I make it a business to know everybody possible."

Twilight was struck with surprise at what she had just said. Something about good old memories. Was she why they came here everyday?

"What do they normally do here?" asked Twilight.

"Well..." said Barbara. "They usually just come here to take a look at one book. Just one book."

"And what book was that?" asked Twilight.

"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide." said Barbara. "Although I don't understand anything in that book nor why they liked to read it, cover-to-cover, over-and-over again."

Suddenly, a wave of memories flooded Twilight Sparkle's mind.

Twilight was frustrated. She was bursting with frustration. If the Elements of Harmony were so important, then why, in the ten years of being Princess Celestia's apprentice, did the all-knowing Princess never tell her about them?

"I don't even know what they are, where to find them... I don't even know what they do!" she said

"The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide!" said a bright voice to her left.

Twilight immediately crashed into where the pink pony was standing, bumping her out of the way.

"Where did you find that?" she asked.

The pink pony quickly picked herself up and began to prance around the Library again.

"It was under 'E'!" sang the Pinkie Pie.

Twilight shut her eyes down even tighter.

Twilight read each letter sent by the Princess, word-by-word, until she finally felt like herself again. Her bright, trusting, happy nature was back again. And it was back with a VENGEANCE. She knew what she had to do. She knew how she had to defeat Discord.

"You're right, Spike. I've got to fight for my friendships. For them. For me. For Equestria!"

Twilight tried to open her eyes, but her memories still overwhelmed her. She could feel a single tear flowing down her cheek as she remembered all the times they were together. Both good times and bad times, but time still spent together.

"Hey." said Barbara. "Are you alright?"

Princess Cadence and Shining Armour were standing together, locked up in a deep embrace. Canterlot had been turned upside down by the Changeling invasion, and Cadence had barely managed to bring Twilight's brother back to his senses. Queen Chrysalis, on the other had, did not care about any of that. She made it clear that she was impossible to stop.

Will Shining Armour be able to use the spell? He was the only one who could, and if he didn't, then...

"No!" said Shining Armour, failing to perform the spell once again. "My power is useless now. I don't have the strength to repel them."

Princess Cadence quickly walked up to him and hugged him.

"My love will give you strength." she said, touching her horn to his.

Suddenly, Twilight fell down. The smashing of her nose to the marble floor quickly snapped Twilight back to consciousness.

What happened? How did she suddenly black out like that?

"Ms. Sparkle!" said Barbara, quickly going to her. "What happened? You just suddenly started sweating, and then... and then you fell down! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." said Twilight, quickly and discreetly wiping the single tear from her face. She was glad that Barbara the Librarian didn't notice the tear.

But the most important question was why those memories came back to her. There was almost no direct connection that brought all of them together. She needed time to think about this.

"I'm fine, Barbara." said Twilight. "But I need to go back to my room now..."

Barbara stared silently at her.

"It's um... getting late." said Twilight, nervously smiling. "I really need to go."

Barbara then took off her glasses, revealing a bright, sky blue set of eyes. They were filled with concern and knowing.

"Are you sure I can't help you with anything?" she asked. "Maybe a nice book can help."

"Maybe." said Twilight. "What do you have?"

Barbara the Librarian quickly turned around on her wheelchair and sped off into the maze of shelves and books. No more than a minute later, she came back with a slightly battered, but otherwise perfect book.

"The Grapes of Wrath." said Twilight, reading the cover of the book. "What's it about?"

"I can't tell you." said Barbara, smiling slyly. "Just read it."

Twilight picked up the book with her magic and put it inside the saddle back. She also mentally put it in her 'Read Later' list.

"Oh, you can use magic!" said Barbara, mouth cracking into a grin. "I was thinking how Pony Librarians worked. No offense."

"None taken." said Twilight. "I was also kind of wondering how human librarians worked. Especially those with... circumstances like yours."

Barbara's smile turned into an emotionless face. She looked down at the floor, face full of regret, sadness, and anger.

"I'm sorry, Barbara, I-"

"It's all right, Ms. Sparkle." said Barbara. "Just know that these... circumstances was not of my own control. I was shot."

"Shot?" asked Twilight. "But shouldn't that leave like... a mark?" Twilight had almost said a hole, but she quickly stopped herself.

"You mean the Black Wesa guns that they're using now?" said Barbara. "No. Not a chance. If they shot me in the same place where I was shot now, then I would've had no chance of survival. Or I'd at least be completely paralyzed."

"Shot in the spine?" asked Twilight.

Barbara winked at her.

"That's right." she said. "Shot in the spine by one of the most dastardly villains ever. Made me a bit proud to be alive."

Twilight chuckled.

"Don't you... You know... Feel any regret about what happened? That you could go back in time and change everything so that you don't end up like this?" asked Twilight, referring to herself as much as she was referring to Barbara.

"Of course!" said the Librarian. "Everyday, even until today. Why would I want to be a quadriplegic when I could just be a normal, happy woman? I mean, what were the chances that I could have been shot right there in the first place? But sometimes our only comfort comes from believing that there is no chance. That whatever happens in this world happens for a reason."

Twilight looked down and nodded. What she said was true.

"Well, I've got to turn in now." said Twilight. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure, Twilight." said Barbara, giving her a soft smile. "See you tomorrow."

Twilight then saw Barbara turning back to face the labyrinth of shelves in the Library, before entering it and finally disappearing from sight.

Twilight had a lot of things to think about in the short journey to her room. Why did she suddenly remember everything like that? What was the connection?

But the biggest thing that she had to think about right then was about what the Librarian said.

Whatever happens in this world happens for a reason.

What would be the reason for what's happening now? Why did nature force itself to bring Earth and Equestria together, only to have the two dominant races at war with each other? it didn't make sense.

However, nothing much really made sense at the time. It's like those things didn't even try to make sense.

"Make sense? What fun is there in making sense?"

Chapter 18- Our Leaders Are In Another Resistance Base! (Reilly)

"Hey, Steve," said Alan, walking in front of Steven and Rainbow Dash. "Come with me to the Sand Dunes Bar. There's someone there you've gotta meet."

"I don't know, Alan..." said Steven. "It's getting kinda late."

"It'll just take a minute!" said Alan. "Come on!"

"Hey, Alan!" called Steven as Alan quickly ran forward, leaving them behind. "Do you wanna go?"

"Meh." said Rainbow Dash. "We've gone through so much today, so it wouldn't hurt to see whatever Alan wanted to show us.'

"I guess you're right." said Steven. "As long as it's not more Black Wesa soldiers."

Steven chuckled, but Rainbow Dash didn't. She was staring at his chest.

"Are you sure you shouldn't get that treated?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I know you healed it and all, but..."

Steven suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest again. That shot from one of the Black Wesa soldiers had narrowly missed his heart (or any other organs for that matter), but it had punched a hole through one of his ribs. He had healed it quickly enough, but it still stung badly from time to time.

"It's fine." said Steven. "It'll heal in the morning."

Rainbow Dash glanced at him one more time.

"Okay." said Rainbow Dash. "Let's go."

They then proceeded to go to the Sand Dunes Bar, Alan much farther ahead of them. If they ever wanted to reach the Bar in time to see whatever was to be seen, then they had to follow Alan. Having only gone there once, neither of them knew where exactly the Sand Dunes Bar was. Except for the fact that it was on Floor B2. Was it?

"Come on!" said Steven, biting Rainbow Dash's sleeve and flicking his head up. Rainbow Dash was thrown up, but got ahold of Steven's neck and landed safely on his back. Steven began to run after Alan.

Alan became a small speck in front of them. Steven ran as fast as he could to catch up, Rainbow Dash laughing as she held on. Steven turned sharply to try to reach Alan, but he was surprisingly fast for someone who used to be a comic book nerd. Had he been training?

"Woah!" said Rainbow Dash, struggling to hold on as Steven made a sharp left turn. Steven laughed.

"There's more where than came from!" he said, still running.

"Bring it on!"

Steven then continued to chase after Alan, but he tried to do it in the craziest and roughest way possible. He turned sharply, jumped a lot, and he even strafed a lot as he ran.

But he wanted to do something else. Something crazy. He's done it before successfully, and he wanted to see if he could still do it.

Remember Princess Luna's training.

He felt the magical energy gather around his hooves.

"Um..." said Rainbow Dash. "What are you doing?"

"You might wanna hold on."

Steven then jumped, sticking all four of his hooves at the ceiling of that floor. They were now running upside down.

Rainbow Dash screamed. She held on to his neck with both arms, face pressed against his back. He, on the other hand, was laughing loudly. He felt his mane and tail falling downwards, and it gave him a sort of ticklish sensation. It felt great.

Laughing, Steven jumped back down, which made Rainbow Dash scream once again. Steven, however, had practiced for this. He kicked the air with his hind legs, turning him around, and allowing him to safely land on the ground. He didn't stop running.

Rainbow Dash was speechless. Steven, however, noticed that Alan had already stopped in front of the Bar. He was going too fast. He was going to crash into Alan.

Suddenly, however, he felt a strange warmth emanating from his saddle pack. It started to spread through his whole body, and Steven felt a strange sensation. He couldn't describe it. It just felt... very warm. But he was still running. He might not be able to explain the warmth, but it apparently had no effect on him. Just as he was about to crash into Alan, however...

He stopped.

Just like that. All the momentum from him running seemed to disappear all of a sudden. It felt very strange, running as fast as that and managing to stop very easily without consequence. Back when magic was a stupid and crazy idea, that would've been impossible. But yet, it happened.

Rainbow Dash pushed his head down with one hand, jumping over his head and landing right in front of him.

"Ow!" said Steven, his head snapping back up as Rainbow Dash let go. "Don't do-"

What Steven said had been completely interrupted as Rainbow Dash put both hands on his face, pulled it onto hers, and kissed him.

Steven's mind went blank. That was sudden. But Steven managed to recover and kiss Rainbow Dash back.

As Rainbow Dash slowly let go of his lips, she looked deeply into his eyes.

"That was cool." said Rainbow Dash.

"Wasn't it?" asked Steven, smiling. "Come on, Alan's waiting."

Alan, however, was not waiting as much as he was daydreaming. It made Steven uncomfortable for one of his best friends to stare at him and his girlfriend like that. Was she technically his girlfriend by now? Two kisses in one day... Well, that's... something.

Steven must have been blushing by then, because Rainbow Dash took one look at him and began to blush as well. Steven noticed Alan beginning to blush much harder than the two of them, and in a matter of seconds, they had turned from a fun, lively group to nothing but three people (Two ponies and one person?) stuck in an awkward situation.

Steven cleared his throat. Alan must have snapped back to attention, because he blushed even harder and immediately turned (or was it jumped?) around, heading inside the Bar. He was soon back to his normal self, though.

"You surprise is this way." said Alan, pointing. "I'm not sure I should come with you, though, seeing as you might want some time alone with the, er... Surprise."

Steven was suspicious. But as far as he knew, Alan was fully honest and generally a very kind person. All those hardships being bullied in school must've left him like that. It made him modest. Steven, however, had responded to bullying in a different way- he fought back. And he normally beat the bullies. But Alan always stopped him from doing any real damage, and the end result was always Steven almost knocking the bully unconscious, only to be stopped by Alan, who normally was the one being bullied in the first place.

Steven felt sad as he thought about Alan's past. Unlike Steven, Alan had come from a dysfunctional, and at times abusive family. But he never complained. He never fought back. He just took all of it in. That was why Alan had placed a lot of value in his friends, and perhaps that was also why Alan delved into comic books, yet hated fighting. As he thought about it more, Alan might even be emotionally stronger than him- In Steven's whole life, he had never seen Alan lose his temper.

"Alright, Alan." said Steven, walking to where Alan pointed. "What-"

He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He blinked twice to make sure that he wasn't dreaming.

"Is that..."

"Yes!"

It was Chen and Bill.

They had found and reached the Resistance.

"Chen! Bill!"

Both his old teammates looked around, trying to find where the voice came from. Steven began to walk towards them.

"Chen! I'm over here! Bill!"

They looked around again, more desperately now. Steven was practically right in front of them! How could they not have noticed him?

Then he realized it.

Both of them were still human- They must not have known about the side-effect that came with the impact of both planets. They probably didn't know that humans have turned to ponies, while ponies have turned to humans. Steven smiled as he walked right next to their table.

"Hey." said Chen, scanning the room one more time before turning to look at him. "Is some guy named Steven in here right now? Steven Reilly?"

"Meh." said Bill. "Don't bother asking. This one probably won't know anything about Steve."

"Excuse me." said Steven, in his lowest-pitched voice possible. "If you would like that way." He pointed at across the room.

Both Chen and Bill turned their heads.

"Hey, Bill!" said Steven again. "Hey Chen!"

His old teammates looked back at the gray pony, looks of surprise turning into wide grins in a matter of seconds.

"Steven?" asked Chen, not believing what he was seeing.

"Yeah." said Steven. "Deal with it."

Chen immediately jumped out of his chair and gave Steven a short hug. Bill, however, didn't move at all.

"Come on, Bill!" said Chen. "This is Steven!"

Bill resumed smiling, and after a short pause of consideration, he stood up and gave Steven and awkward hug as well. Him turning into a pony must have shook Bill more than it shook Chen.

"We thought we'd lost you!" said Chen. "When we woke up three weeks ago, there was nobody there except for me, Bill, and Nick! We didn't know what happened to everyone else!"

"Nick's here too?" asked Steven, laughing. "Where is he now? In the toilet? You know as much as me how much time Nick spends in the toilet."

As he said that, both Chen's and Bill's face dropped. They immediately sat back down.

"Nick's not here." said Bill.

"Why the hell not?" asked Steven, struggling to maintain his smile.

There was an awkward silence around their table. Understanding slowly crept through the deep recesses of his skull.

"Oh god..." he said. Those were the only words that could've come out right then.

"Killed." said Chen. "Killed like a beast."

"Impaled by a sharp knife." said Bill. He then pointed to his heart. "Right here."

"No." said Steven. "I can't believe it..."

Nick was dead? He had been a victim of four explosions on different occasions, a victim of a shooting, a victim of a hit-and-run, but he always managed to find his way back to the Lab every single day, and usually without any marks too. He always casually told the others about his various accidents and bad luck around a month or sometimes even a year after it happened. but he never died. He didn't deserve it.

Steven closed his eyes and shook his head.

Another life taken because of the crash.

Steven couldn't help but feel regret. He knew that he had no control over what happened, but he still felt regret. Why was another life taken? What were the chances?

Then suddenly, his head started to pain. He bowed his head down and put one hoof on it.

"Hey," said Chen. "Are you alright?"

But Chen's voice was blurred out. He started to hear voices in his head. But the voices didn't belong to the one he hears when asleep. It was a female's voice.

"Sometimes our only comfort comes from believing that there is no chance. That whatever happens in this world happens for a reason."

That sentence echoed in his head, followed by his sadness and regret growing larger and becoming heavier in his heart.

Then, as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone.

"Are you okay?" asked Chen. "You looked like you had a huge migraine all of a sudden."

"It must be the stupid horse genes." said Bill, spitting into a nearby trash can. "Disgusting."

"Hey!" said Steven. "What do you mean by that?"

"Please, Steven..." said Chen. "He's been through a lot."

"No." said Steven. "I want to know what you have against ponies. I mean, the reason we're here is to promote peace between the races, right?"

"Stupid horses don't know anything about peace." said Bill. "They're just wild animals. And you lost you temper so easily just now, but you didn't get angry so quickly before. I'm telling you, it's because you turned into a stupid horse."

Steven was at a loss for words. Bill had always complained about things before, but he was never so... spiteful.

Chen must have seen the look in Steven's eyes, because he walked right in front of Steven.

"The truth is, Steven..." said Chen. "Bill's justifiably angry. The ones who killed Nick... They were ponies."

As understanding dawned on him, Steven immediately approached Bill.

"I'm sorry..." said Steven. "I didn't know."

"Wasn't your fault." said Bill, looking away. "It's your body's."

Steven sighed. There was no way he could fix this problem easily. Nick's death must have hit him very strongly. He didn't know how deep the scars went. Luckily for all of them, Alan and Rainbow Dash quickly approached them as well.

"Hey guys!" said Alan.

"Hey, Alan." said the three friends at the same time, although Bill's greeting was quieter.

Rainbow Dash walked up next to Steven and put an arm around him.

"And who's this lady?" asked Bill.

"Don't call me a lady." said Rainbow Dash. "A lady can't tear someone apart using only her hands. And since you asked, the name's Rainbow Dash. Former fastest pegasus in all of former Equestria."

Bill looked embarrassed. Chen and Steven laughed at his expense.

"I'm Chen." said Chen, shaking hands with Rainbow Dash.

"Bill."

"Are you guys..." said Chen, pointing at Rainbow Dash, then at Steven.

Steven looked at Rainbow Dash, who looked at Steven. They seemed to have reached an agreement.

"Maybe." said Steven.

"Kinda" said Rainbow Dash.

"Sort of." said Steven.

"Could be." said Rainbow Dash.

"Yes." said both of them at the same time. Chen clapped.

"Good job, Steven." said Chen. "Glad to see that you've..."

Chen paused for a while. He had almost let something slip.

"You two are a cute couple." he finished.

Bill spit out the beer he was drinking, laughing out loud.

"What?" asked Chen.

Bill wiped a tear from his eye. Still laughing, he tried to sit back up straight again.

"Cute... couple..." said Bill.

"What wrong with that?" asked Chen, getting annoyed. The cute couple in question, however, was blushing like mad. What was so funny about this whole business to Bill. Was it that he had finally moved on?

Or was it because he knew that Steven had not?

Steven knew that Jaeda was still living rent-free in the depths of his heart. Steven began to get angry at himself.

Steven should know better! Jaeda was special, but Rainbow Dash was completely different. Not to mention that she was actually still alive.

But if the crash managed to bring back Bill Gates to life, then maybe...

No. No. Steven shook his head.

"Something wrong?" whispered Rainbow Dash, as Bill was still laughing and Chen was still scolding him.

"It's fine, Dash." said Steven. But it was not fine. And Rainbow Dash seemed to think so as well. With one final suspicious glance, she turned to look at the crazy scene again.

"Seriously, Chen!" said Bill, laughing and sobbing at the same time. "How does... How does that even work? Human... and Horse?"

"Hey!" scolded Rainbow Dash. "Don't tell us how relationships are supposed to be! You can have your own ideas and we can have ours! And it's Ponies, not horses!"

"I guess it kind of makes sense..." said Bill, pretending to be deep in thought. "You used to be a human, and you used to be a horse. Apparently you still got the hots for those of your old species." Bill broke into laughter again.

Steven angrily approached Bill. Alan, however, got ahold of Steven's leg and pulled him back.

"You guys should go." said Chen, sighing. "As I said, he's been through a lot. Nick was one of his best friends. His death might have... pushed him over the edge."

Steven sighed too. "I understand. But please talk to him later."

Chen nodded, and he rubbed his face with his palm.

"It's great to see you again, Steve." said Chen, patting Steven's shoulder. "See ya tomorrow."

"Later, Chen." he said. He didn't bother to say goodbye to Bill. He understood what Bill was going on, but this was just going too far. He was one of his best friends, and he just cast Steven aside only because he was a pony. Not to mention that he laughed at him and his girlfriend.

Girlfriend. He's gonna have to get used to that.

"So..." said Steven, trying to make conversation with the now very pissed Rainbow Dash. "How'd you like my friends?"

"The Chen guy was alright." said Rainbow Dash. "But the other one was a b*tch."

"Come on, Dash." said Steven. "One of our best friends just died. And he watched him die first-hand."

"Yeah." said Rainbow Dash, uncrossing her arms. "But he didn't have to be a giant d*uche about it."

"Touché." said Steven. "That really was mean of him."

"Giant d*uche-y mean." said Rainbow Dash.

Alan was walking uncomfortably behind them. He was never one for talking badly about other people, even if they didn't deserve it. Hell, back when they were in middle school, he even praised (a bully that beat him up badly he was really strong! So strong that I couldn't stand up after he punched me!) when the principal asked about him. Of course,the principal just gave the bully even more of a punishment.

Just then, there was a strange rumbling in the Resistance Base. It only lasted for a while though, before stopping completely. That was good. He had enough of rumbling.

"What was that?" asked Alan.

"I don't know." said Steven. "Maybe some sort of small earthquake."

"Shouldn't we evacuate if it was an earthquake?" asked Alan.

"I think there would be some sort of announcement." said Steven. "Like-"

As if on cue, there was a giant buzzing sound (Mechanical buzzing, like from when you press some kind of button), followed by Granny Smith shouting over the speakers in every part of the Resistance Base.

"HELLO?" said Granny Smith's giant voice. "HELLO? IS THIS THING ON?"

Steven swore that he could hear a slightly smaller voice say: "It's on, Granny Smith."

"IT'S ON?" said Granny Smith again. "GOOD! ANYWHO, YER MIGHT BE WONDERIN' WAH MAH VOICE IS SO BIG LIKE THIS! YER MIGHT BE THINKIN' THAT THIS IS SOME SORT OF EMERGENCY! IF YER ARE THINKIN' THAT, THAT YA'D BE RIGHT! DARN TOOTIN' THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! THERE'S BEEN A...A... What did yer call it again, sonny? Oh... A BREACH AT THE MAIN GATE. THE BLACK WESA AND ALL THEIR FIXINS HAVE BROKEN THROUGH THE MAIN GATE! NOW ALL Y'ALL BETTER BE READY AT BATTLE STATIONS TO FIGHT THEM BACK! THIS IS AN EMEEEERGENCY!"

"They've found the base?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I don't know." said Steven. "But we better check it out. Let's hope everyone else is there as well."

"WAIT!" shouted a voice behind them. "Don't go there yet, mates."

"Bush?" asked Steven. "What are you doing here? And how'd you find us so easily."

"Librarian told me." said Bush, panting. "Anyway, Twilight's been knocked out right outside the Library. It's not looking good. Librarian says she's been writhing and twitching the whole time,."

Steven paused for a second. What happened to Twilight? Did she feel the same thing he had felt back in the Bar?

"Okay, Bush." said Steven. "I'll be there. Are you coming, Dash?"

"I think you can handle that." said Rainbow Dash. "Alan and I'll be going to find some action." Alan squealed as she said that.

"Okay, then." said Steven, still hesitant. "I'll see you there."

Rainbow Dash hugged Steven.

"Don't worry." said Rainbow Dash, her pink eyes looking into his. "We'll be fine. Now you go do what you gotta do."

Without another word, Bush and Steven quickly ran towards where the Library was supposed to be. Steven had never been there before, so Bush was leading the way entirely.

"You guys really are a cute couple, aren't ya?" asked Bush, smiling at him.

"Shut up."

Chapter 19- All Your Base (Twilight)

Twilight was trapped.

She could move, there was no problem with that. But she was inside a cage. A clean, sanitary cage, but a cage, nonetheless. She tried to break the cage with her magic, but her horn didn't seem to respond. There were many occasions where her magic didn't work, but never in her life did none come out at all. She continued to try, but it just wouldn't budge.

"Magic won't work in here, Miss Twilight Sparkle." said a deep, booming voice. It seemed to echo all around her, despite the fact that there were no walls anywhere.

"Who are you?" asked Twilight. "Where am I?"

"One question at a time, Miss Twilight." said the voice.

"Fine." said Twilight, annoyed but scared. "First question. Who are you?"

"I think you should know who I am, Miss Twilight." said the voice. "We've met before."

Twilight thought about this. Who could this voice belong to? Definitely not one of her best friends, she would've recognized their voices by then. This voice was a male voice, and it should belong to someone that she had only met once in her life.

"Say something." said Twilight, not actually expecting the voice to reply.

"You really forgot who I am, don't you?" asked a now very familiar, mocking, sarcastic voice.

Only one pony she knew had that kind of malicious voice.

No. Not a pony.

A draconequus.

"Discord!" said Twilight, bracing herself to fight. But her magic wasn't working.

"Ah!" said Discord, clapping. He was still nowhere to be seen. "So you remember me. That's good news."

"Where are you?" asked Twilight. "Why did you take me here?"

"One question at a time, Miss Twilight." said Discord, getting impatient. "But we don't have much time. You have to listen to me."

"Why would I want to listen to you?" asked Twilight.

"Because your actions will determine the fate of us all." said Discord. "Everlasting peace, or all-out war."

Twilight paused. Was Discord actually trying to help her? No. That's impossible. Discord cares for naught but chaos. War is chaos. Discord would never want that to stop.

"You have to listen to me." said Discord. "We don't have much time."

"You words are poison!" said Twilight, turning away.

Twilight could hear an audible sigh from Discord. This struck Twilight as strange. As far as she knew, Discord never sighed. In fact, the more they struggled, the more he would be happy.

"Never mind." said Discord. "You will never listen to me, won't you?"

"No." said Twilight, rather proudly.

"Very well." said Discord. "It doesn't matter."

Twilight remained silent.

"I have another joining my cause." said Discord. "One of you."

Twilight widened her eyes in surprise. Discord had been visiting one of her friends as well?

"What are you talking about?" asked Twilight.

"I'm talking about the fact that if I can't have you on my side, then I'll have to have another." said Discord. "One of your friends."

"WHAT?" asked Twilight. "HOW DARE YOU... HOW..."

Discord let out a very loud laugh, which echoed throughout the room. Twilight couldn't hear herself think.

"You are so full of hate, Miss Twilight." said Discord, still laughing. "Let go of that hate. I will do no one any good."

"NO!" said Twilight. "YOU MANIPULATED ONE OF MY FRIENDS INTO HELPING YOU! I can't... I just..."

"Manipulated?" asked Discord. "No, no! He joined me of his own accord. I barely needed to say anything to him."

Twilight swore under her breath. As much as she hated to think about it, she really wanted to know which one of her friends is under this villain's control. As much as she wanted to trust her friends now, it was nigh impossible. Whatever Discord was trying to do, he was succeeding.

"I'm sure you want to know who it is." said DIscord.

"Shut up!" shouted Twilight, putting her hooves over her ears. "Shut up shut up shut up!"

"Oh, but you do want to know, don't you?" asked Discord. "You want to know who to trust and and who not to trust."

Discord then began to laugh maniacally.

"Shut up!" said Twilight, burying her face in the ground. "ShutupshutupshutupSHUTUP!"

"I can leave you to this misery of not knowing who I consort with, but that would be cruel." said Discord. "Very cruel..."

"Stop talking to me!" said Twilight. "I won't listen to you!"

"But you are, aren't you?" asked Discord. Twilight could imagine his evil face grinning at her, his eyes trying to meet hers. "As much as you try to deny it, you are listening to me. You are listening to every word I say."

"Go away!" said Twilight. "Go away!"

"But I can't go away, Miss Twilight." said Discord. "You're on my territory. So you have to go away. But I know that I'll always be feeling rent-free right... here."

Twilight felt a tapping on her forehead. She jumped in surprise, but no one was there. Her eyes suddenly filled with light, and right in front of her was none other than her three friends. She gasped for air.

"Is she going to be okay?" asked Barbara.

"She should be fine." said Steven. "Hey, Twilight. How're you feeling?"

"Bad." said Twilight. "Very bad."

"What happened?" asked Bush. "You were all screaming and writhing on the floor like that. it was real troubling."

"I had a nightmare." said Twilight. As much as she desperately wanted to tell of them what she just saw, she knew that she had to keep quiet. One of them is a spy, after all.

Steven tilted his head and looked at her.

"Are you sure you're all right?" asked Steven.

"I'm fi-"

Just then, Twilight saw a picture flash before her eyes.

"Ah!" shouted Twilight.

She cowered in fear. As Steven was looking at her just now, she swore that she could see, for one second, his eyes turning completely black and his mouth turning into a wide, terrifying smile.

"Hey!" said STeven, approaching her. "What wr-"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" said Twilight, hiding in a corner.

"What..." said Steven, hesitating before walking back.

Of course! Why didn't she put two and two together? It was Steven. It had to be Steven.

He was the one who so desperately wanted to go find Discord. He had to be the spy.

"How..." said Twilight. "How could you? How could you betray us like that?"

"What?" asked Steven, in what must be false confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"You sold us out!" said Twilight. Barbara and Bush turned to look at him. Twilight could see Steven glance at all of them in turn.

Twilight walked to Steven and summoned the greatest amount of magic she could. She then focused it on Steven, where the magic surrounded him like a ball, keeping him in place, and not letting him escape.

"Twilight!" said Bush. "What are you doing? He saved all of our lives!"

"To gain our trust!" said Twilight. "So he can turn us all in without anyone suspecting him!"

"Where are you getting all of this?" asked Barbara. Steven tried to speak, but fortunately, the magic bubble blocked any magic use on the inside and it prevented all sound from coming out of it. It was the perfect cage for a traitor.

"I just know." said Twilight. She couldn't tell them about Discord yet.

"Are you trying to say that the breach... was his fault?" asked Bush.

A breach? In the Resistance Base? It HAD to be his fault! Why else would he ask Big Macintosh where they were exactly in their last mission? Twilight felt angry with herself. It was stupid of her to have ever trusted him in the first place.

"Yes!" said Twilight. "It's definitely his fault."

Twilight saw Steven gasp in surprise inside her bubble. He then turned to look at Bush and Twilight and shook his head.

"There's no use denying it, Steven." said Twilight. "You're guilty. And I'll make sure that you've got the proper punishment."

"This is ridiculous, Twilight!" said Bush, angrily confronting her.

"I agree." said Barbara. "Why would you do something like that to your friend?"

"BECAUSE HE'S NOT OUR FRIEND!" said Twilight. "HE BETRAYED US ALL! HE NEVER WAS OUR FRIEND!"

"Why would a spy who works for the damn enemy want to risk his life for us?" asked Bush. "I would think that they would value their own lives more than their mission, mate."

"Because he wants to gain our trust!" said Twilight. "You guys are so stupid to not realize this!"

Bush and Barbara looked taken aback. Twilight could see Steven look shocked inside her bubble as well.

Steven's face then took on one of extreme anger. He started scolding her inaudibly.

This despicable traitor! She trusted him!

You still trust him. said a small voice in her head.

But Twilight knew for a fact that Steven cannot be trusted.

No you don't. said the defiant voice. You know that he would never betray you.

Shut up. she told the small voice.

"What's going on over here?" asked a voice behind her.

Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Big Macintosh came into view right next to her.

"Rarity is fighting the soldiers right outside her new boutique." said Fluttershy. "So we thought we'd come get you guys to help her... But it looks like you're busy, so..."

"You guys came right on time." said Twilight, grinning madly. "I just found out that Steven here was nothing but a traitor! A petty betrayer!"

The three of them widened their mouths and dropped their jaws in shock. Well, not Big Macintosh. His reaction was only the dilation of his pupils.

"You're kidding." said Rainbow Dash.

"She's not." said Bush. "She's really serious. A complete whacker, but still serious."

"What are you talking about?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"She thinks that-"

"Steven sold us out to the enemy! He works for Discord!" interrupted Twilight, breathing heavily, eyes widened like a maniac.

"You don't seriously think-"

"YES!" said Twilight. "WHY ARE ALL OF YOU SO STUPID?"

Everyone (except Steven) took a step backward, obviously hurt.

"He wanted so desperately to find Discord, giving the stupid excuse of 'he has the answers', but what he obviously wanted to do was to turn us all in! He wants us all destroyed!" said Twilight. "We have to kill this stupid, no-good, son of a bi-"

Big Macintosh, who had been quiet all this time, charged into Twilight. Losing focus, Twilight dropped Steven onto the ground with a loud thud.

"What are you doing?" asked Twilight, picking herself up off the ground.

Big Macintosh looked back at her angrily. Pissed wouldn't even begin to describe what he looked like right then.

"Tell meh something, Twilight." said Big Macintosh. "How do ya expect to bring peace to this world if there's even conflict among the peacemakers? Who can we trust if not ahr close friends?"

"He's not a friend!" said Twilight. "He's our enemy!"

Twilight quickly lunged at Steven, pinning him down to the floor. She then began to punch his face like mad.

"How. Could. You. Do. Such. A. THING?" asked Twilight, in between deadly punches.

"This is stupid!" said Rainbow Dash. "Twilight, stop it."

She made to break them apart, but Big Macintosh held her back. Good for Twilight.

As she kept punching him repeatedly, Steven did nothing but accept them. He stayed on the ground, head moving left and right as she punched him, but his eyes still locking with her own.

"STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!" said Twilight, punching his face into the ground. Twilight could see traces of blood flowing from his nose, mouth, and on her own hooves. But Twilight didn't care. She just wanted to punish this bastard as hard as she could.

She kept on punching Steven's face relentlessly, not even stopping to rest, and not slowing down even one bit. Steven's face was soon full of blood, but his eyes were still looking at hers.

"RAAGH!" screamed Twilight, as she magicked a large piece of the floor to her side and began to bash Steven's face with it.

"I had enough." said Bush. "i'm stopping this."

But Big Macintosh again held him back.

"But Steven can die!" complained Rainbow Dash.

"Then maybe Twilight will realize how wrong she was." said Big Macintosh. "We have to let Twilight reach that conclusion herself. Then we can help her. Until then, Steven's life is in how strong-willed Twilight can be."

"STOP. STARING. AT. ME!" said Twilight, bashing his head again and again. "STOP IT!"

Twilight raised her weapon as high up into the air as she could, preparing for the blow that would finish Steven off. Steven cannot heal from this.

All of a sudden, Twilight felt something heavy hold her down in her heart. She began hearing voices in her head again. But this time, it wasn't Steven's voice. She was hearing a memory. Someone else's memory.

Too late. While Rainbow Dash was rubbing them together, one of her fingers accidentally touched the base, electrifying her.

Rainbow Dash squealed and threw the functions away. They were heading towards Steven's face.

Steven easily dodged the first one. He looked up, but the other one was too close to dodge.

Steven's life flashed before him. His childhood, high school, college, Jaeda, the Observatory incident.

As a scientist, he always wished to die from being attacked by an alien or something, or at least a lab accident that would lead to a great scientific discovery. Being electrified to death by a home-made defibrillator thrown at him by a pony-turned-human definitely did NOT make the list. What a terrible way to die.

Whose memory was this? Why was Twilight lying on the floor? Was this... Was this Steven's memory?

"So, how is she?" asked Rainbow Dash, obviously worried.

Steven put his ear closer, but there was no sign of a heartbeat. It had stopped.

"What's happening?" she asked again.

No, no... she can't die. I can't allow it. I won't allow it!

Steven closed his eyes and listened further. In his heart, his desire to save this one life grew. He couldn't allow another death on his hands.

Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive...

A single tear rolled down his cheek. Rainbow Dash caught sight of this, but she needed to hear it from Steven himself.

"How is she? Please... Tell me..." she said, her voice getting lower.

The voice in Steven's head grew louder.

Please be alive, please be alive..."

Just then, a strong wind came inside the room.

Please be alive, please be alive..."

Rainbow Dash then noticed Steven's horn starting to glow a brilliant, shiny blue.

"Um... Steven?"

Please be alive, please be alive...

The wind then came in strong gushes, completely lifting Twilight from off the floor.

"Steven!"

Please be alive, please be alive...

Twilight's eyelids opened, revealing bright, pupil-less eyes staring right in front. Her hooves stretched sideways, and her horn also started glowing with a bright purple aura

Steven's eyes were still closed, and he was deep in concentration and hope for Twilight Sparkle to live. It amazed Rainbow Dash how much he wanted to save Twilight, even though they've never even met before.

Please be alive... Please...

"LIVE!" shouted Steven, his voice turned deep and powerful.

What happened next was an amazing sight. The blue from Steven's horn spiraled toward Twilight's body, forming a sphere around her. Twilight's own purple magic then shined through the blue ball, making it look like light was coming out from the sphere. The wind around it also started to glow with blue and purple light, turning the dark apartment into a bright place.

Rainbow Dash watched in amazement as the following events unfolded. She saw the bright sphere surrounding Twilight's body like a cocoon, only her eyes managing to pierce through it. She felt the very strong wind, making her hair flap, while she was trying to keep her place on the ground. She wanted to shout- shout as loud as she could, but she knew that she couldn't stop whatever was going on. All she could do was just stay there and watch.

Steven then opened his eyes. His eyes also became balls of white light, locked in gaze with Twilight's eyes. Then, Twilight's magic in the blue sphere started to spin. It spun and spun, until it eventually broke the blue sphere. Then, Twilight's mouth opened, and the energy around her- magic and wind, went inside her eyes and mouth, energy seeming to overwhelm her body. Every single bit of energy flew inside her body, until there was nothing left. Silence filled the room.

Suddenly, a shockwave exploded from Twilight's horn. A huge shockwave that shattered windows and glass, blew open walls and doors, and made creatures of all sizes, excluding Steven, fly. Rainbow Dash herself was caught in the shockwave, and she crashed the wall of the living room.

After all the energy was gone, the winds died down. Twilight also slowly floated back to the floor, still unmoving.

Steven himself also collapsed, breathing heavily, and feeling very tired. He had no idea what just happened, except for the fact that the living room became much messier than before, despite him thinking that it couldn't have been any messier.

I guess anything is possible.

He slowly picked himself up, and shaking badly, went to Twilight. He looked around for Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash?"

"I'm here..." said the energetic voice of Rainbow Dash.

She quickly ran to Steven's side.

"Is she alright? What happened just now?" she asked.

"I don't know..." he said.

Both of them then looked at Twilight and waited expectantly for something to happen.

But nothing did.

Steven looked down. He had let another life pass in his hands. He should've been faster than this. He might have saved her then...

But then a miracle happened.

Twilight coughed.

"Twi! Twilight! She's alive!"

Twilight dropped the piece of floor. She looked down.

Steven had brought her back form the dead. His will to bring her back to life had unlocked his magical potential, and he used it to bring her back to life. She hadn't even known Steven by then, but he really wanted to save her life. For what reason. Why did he want to save her life?

"Why?" asked Twilight. "Why did you do it?"

"Because I can't let another die on my hands." said Steven, coughing blood. "I've made many mistakes in my life. More mistakes than I can even count."

He tried to stand up on all four hooves, struggling and shaking greatly as he did so. Twilight was frozen to the spot, Steven's eyes still looking into her own. Then Steven began to smile. A very small smile, but one of great understanding and kindness.

"But I would never..." said Steven. "I would never betray a friend."

Just then, Steven closed his eyes and dropped back to the ground, lifeless. His heavily battered and bloodied face lying peacefully on the floor.

"Oh no..." said Twilight. "What have I done?"

"Steve..." said Rainbow Dash, breaking out of Big Macintosh's hold.

Rainbow Dash immediately ran to Steven, putting both of her hands on his bloody face.

"No..." said Rainbow Dash. "No... Please, no..."

Twilight remained silent. She should've known better. She should've known better! She hated herself. There was no way she could redeem herself in the eyes of her friends now. She actually beat an innocent friend to near-death. And she didn't know how long 'near-death' would last.

Suddenly, Twilight was interrupted from her thoughts by a sharp, burning pain on her left cheek. She looked up to see an angry Rainbow Dash.

"How could you..." asked Rainbow Dash. "After all he's done..."

"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash." said Twilight, unable to look at her eyes. "I... I thought-"

"Shut up!" said Rainbow Dash, turning away angrily. "Don't talk to me again."

She then turned to face Big Macintosh.

"I'm joining the fight." said Rainbow Dash, before running away. Twilight could see beads of water drop to the ground as she ran.

Shooting her evil looks, Bush and Barbara also went their separate ways, leaving Fluttershy and Big Macintosh with her.

"You should go bring Steven to the medical room." said Big Macintosh. "Then you should join the fight."

Then they all left, and only Twilight and an unmoving Steven was left.

Twilight couldn't move. She couldn't talk. All she wanted to do was to crawl into a little hole and die there, alone.

No. She can still do something. Even if she cannot regain the trust of her friends, the least she could do was to save Steven's life.

"Come on, Twilight." she said to herself. "You can do it."

Twilight then magicked Steven up. From all of her rage just now, she couldn't feel how heavy Steven was. Only now did she feel it.

"Let's go!" said Twilight, as she ran to the medical room. She had already passed there before, and her eidetic memory allowed her to remember the exact way there. This was one of the times her eidetic memory actually helped her.

In less than four minutes, Twilight had reached the medical room. A red maned nurse came to greet her.

"Twilight Sparkle?" asked the nurse. "Why hello!"

"Hey, Nurse Redheart." said Twilight. "Could you please take care of this one pony for me?"

"Well of course, Twilight!" said the Nurse. "Where is-"

Nurse Redheart covered her mouth with one hoof. Her expression was one of fear, disgust, and complete, utter shock.

"How... How did this happen?" asked the Nurse.

"Please just take care of him first." said Twilight. "I'm afraid he doesn't have long left."

Nurse Redheart looked around. Despite the heavy commotion near the Main Door, the medical room was still quiet and near empty. The defense must've done a pretty good job holding up the defenses.

"I'll bring him in." said the Nurse, her magic taking over Steven's. "You go join the fight."

"Right." said Twilight. "Thanks, Nurse Redheart!"

Twilight then immediately broke into a run. She had to help the remaining defenders to protect their front lines the best as she can.

They'd never forgive her for what she's done. She knew that. What she did was too horrible.

No amount of apology could make her former friends forgive her.

But they didn't need to forgive her.

It doesn't matter that if she died, that they would still hate and despise her.

Because it was time to stop thinking about herself.

It was time to save her friends.

An Announcement By The Mane Cast

You are confused.

It's been a long day, and you are very tired. But, of course, there's no better way to end the day than by embracing your full-on brony side!

You turn on fimfiction.net, and you sign in to your account. You notice that there are a few notifications about updates of your favorite stories and, like always, They Walk Among Us by NightStallker had been updated. You immediately click on the link.

You immediately begin to read Chapter 19. As you read, mixed emotions boil up within you, yet you still have no explanation for what is was that you felt.

You keep on reading...

And reading...

And reading...

Until alas! The chapter is over. You are ready turn off your computer, but there is a sudden blackout where you are. Everything, even your computer switched off for a short while. And as suddenly as it had disappeared, all the lights came back on.

You feel a bit creeped out, but you are not scared at all. What just happened was very strange, but not as strange as some other things you have encountered before.

But what was truly strange was, your computer was switched on at the exact same state you had left it in.

Wierd, you think.

Then there is a sudden change in your screen. You just got a new notification.

You click on it, wary of anything supernatural that might be going on right then. But you weren't too worried- you didn't really believe in the supernatural.

But then you see that They Walk Among Us had been updated again.

Dafuq is going on? you think, but you immediately click on the link to that story again to see what was going on.

As the link loads up, you realize that it had been updated.

But instead of you seeing Chapter 20, you see...

An Announcement By The Mane Cast.

Mane Cast. You chuckle.

What a lame pun. But you click on it anyway.

This should be fun. you think, still laughing at the lame pun.

Immediately you wish you hadn't.

The light went out again. And it didn't come back on. Instead, you feel a brush of fur on your left side. You daren't move, for fear that this supernatural being might attack you if you do. You stay still and you hold your breath.

You feel the fur on your left side tingling you greatly. You do your best not to twitch. Nor to laugh. Nor to sneeze. Nor to cough. But it was no use. The fur tickled you too much, and there was no holding back the great laughter that you tried to keep in.

You laugh and you laugh, knowing full well that you would be dead in a matter of seconds. But you weren't. You were still alive.

You kept on laughing. The fur was just too ticklish!

And as the laughter died down, you heard something that made the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.

A very high pitched laughter.

It was creepy. You try to back away, but your fear has you frozen in place. You desperately wish to be able to move, but you can't. Not at all. Icy cold fear grips onto your heart as the maniacal, creepy laughter of the beast that was beside you kept going on.

It was not until a few minutes later that you notice a smell that came with the laughter. A strange smell, a smell that was out of place.

The smell of cotton candy.

Who was the beast that was right next to him, laughing their hearts out at this moment? Just as you were about to find out, the beast tackled you, both legs on your chest. You lose you balance, and you fall down to the floor.

You heard your light click on again, but you don't open your eyes, for fear of what awaits you. It was very tempting to see what tackled you, but your common sense and your fear keeps your eyes closed.

"Open your eyes, silly filly!" growled the beast.

Wait... That was no growl.

You immediately open your eyes, and you see...

AN ENORMOUS PAIR OF BLUE EYES STARING INTO YOUR SOUL.

You scream and back up against the wall, but the pink-furred beast just laughed again.

"Oh!' said the beast, crying with laughter. "You're so funny!"

You take a closer look at the beast. Now that you opened your eyes, you daren't close it, as you are afraid of what the beast will do to you with your eyes closed. But as you look closer at the beast, you notice that the beast... wasn't really a beast after all!

It was none other than our friendly neighbourhood baker...

Pinkie Pie.

"You..." you stutter. "You're... Pinkie Pie!"

"Well, duh!" said Pinkie, tilting her head and opening her mouth wildly. "Of course I am!"

"Whaa..." you manage. "What are you doing here?"

"You're funny!" said Pinkie, prancing around your room. "Is this what a bed look like in the human world? They look so much like ours!"

Pinkie Pie went on to explore the room even further, breaking glasses and messing up your closet.

"Pinkie..."

"OH YEAH!" shouted Pinkie Pie, putting both hooves on her cheeks. "You have to come with me!"

You look around. This should be every brony's dream, to actually meet a pony from the show. But this was just plain terrifying.

But of course, you had no choice. Pinkie immediately bit your arm and brought you toward your own computer.

"Awrgh youf reahgky? asked Pinkie, her mouth still biting your arm.

"Wait..." you said. "Where are we going?"

Pinkie then shouted what sounded like a muffled 'OKAY', and both of you jumped into the computer.

You try to scream, but no sound came out. You enter your computer screen, where you felt as if you were being pulled like crazy towards a single point. You felt like vomiting, but the pressure on your body didn't let anything out. You couldn't move at all. This was too much for you.

So you did what every normal human being would do.

You fainted.

___________________________________________________________________________

"What did you do, Pinkie?" asked a female voice.

"I just did what you told me to do, Twilight!" said Pinkie, followed by what sounded like bouncing.

"Are you okay?" asked a male voice.

You slowly sit up, your right hand rubbing your head. You still wanted to vomit, but absolutely nothing could come out.

"I'm fine." you say, as you open your eyes. "Thanks for-"

You scream very loudly.

"Get yourself together!" said another female voice. You immediately recognize it as Rainbow Dash's.

"I understand you are a little disoriented, but..."

"No!" you say. "No! No! Stop talking!"

You look at the source of the male voice. A pony. A gray pony with a dark blue mane and scars across his eyelids.

Steven Reilly?

"Listen, we have to tell you something."

Still disoriented, you stumble around. Your back finally touched something. You immediately put your hand on it to hold yourself up.

"Boo!" shouted the object. You fall flat on your face.

"Pinkie!" said Twilight. "I'm so sorry."

"Come on, sugahcube." said a southern female voice from in front of you. "This'll only take a second, then ya can go back to yer human world."

"Just..." you say, annoyed and frustrated. "Just tell me what's going to happen."

"Well..." said Steven. "We're going on a break."

You look up at him, not understanding what he meant.

"A really really super long break!" said Pinkie Pie.

"!0 days, to be exact." said Twilight.

"Wait, when you mean 'break', what do you-"

"There will be no new chapters for 10 days."

"WHAT?" you ask. Reading Chapter 19 made you really anxious to see what was going to happen at Chapter 20. All weirdness aside, you begin to ask questions.

"What do you mean, no new chapters? I was really looking forward to it!" you say.

"We're very sorry." said Steven. "But even fictional characters need breaks."

"And its only ten days!" said Rainbow Dash. "Come on..."

"You must forgive us, dear reader." said Rarity. "But we need these ten days."

You see the characters from the story begin to form a line right in front of you. For some reason, you were knew who everyone was- they looked exactly like you imagined them to be. Alan, Chen, and even Bill Gates was standing there!

"Ten days?" you ask, no longer flustered. "It's fine. It's alright"

"Thank you so much for understanding, darling." said Rarity. "Now we best get you back to your own world."

"Yes." said Steven. His horn immediately lit up, and you can see a portal appear behind you all of a sudden.

"WAIT!" you shout. "THERE ARE STILL SO MANY THINGS I WANT TO ASK YOU!"

"Sorry." said Steven. "But NightStalker only allowed us to tell you this much. Everything other than that would make the announcement need a SPOILER ALERT banner!"

"NO!" you shout. All that trouble just to tell you that? You wanted to spend much more time with the characters, maybe make friends with one or two of them. But deep down you knew that it wasn't possible. A real human can't be friends with a fictional character. But then, are they real or fictional?

You fly back into the portal, feeling the same yanking feeling that you felt before. Steven was right- that feeling really was annoying.

____________________________________________________________________________

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" you scream, getting out of bed.

Why were you in bed? Were you sleeping? What happened?

And there you were left, wondering if the previous events really transpired or if everything was just a dream. But you could smell cotton candy on your left arm....

_______________________________________________________________________________

Hahaha...

In all seriousness, however, I won't be able to make any new chapters for 10 days.

I'll be going to Shanghai for a Study Trip (learn Mandarin and all), so I won't get the chance to write anything. But I'll be sure to think up many new ideas for the story. We're already at the 3/4th mark of our journey!

Well, I guess I'll see you guys later.

10 days, to be exact

                                                           Sincerely,

NightStalker

P.S. If any of you are in Shanghai right now, tell me! We can meet up somewhere!

Chapter 20- Lasting the Night (Twilight)

What a day. In the small time period of less than twenty four hours, Twilight had gone through a whole battle, beat up one of her best friends, got cast away by her other friends, and not to mention go through thousands of near-death experiences. If that wasn't enough, there was now another group of enemies invading the Resistance Base. She must really have the worst luck in the world.

But now was not the time to contemplate her misfortune- it was the time for war! Twilight quickly ran down to the Resistance defenses to help.

"How are the defenses?" she asked loudly, waiting for someone to answer.

"Oh, THERE you are, Twilight!" said Rarity, squeezing out from the middle of the large crowd of ponies and people. "What took you so long?"

"There were... complications." said Twilight. She couldn't bring herself to tell Rarity what he did to Steven. In fact, she was surprised that none of her other friends have told Rarity about what happened between her and Steven.

Rarity raised an eyebrow, but ultimately decided not to ask anything about it. This surprised Twilight, who knew that Rarity had always been very nosy about other ponies' lives. The situation must be really bad.

"It's not good." said Rarity. "Not good at all! We're barely holding up against those soldiers."

Twilight then felt a vibration in the ground. She saw a large barrier in front of the relatively small group of Resistance forces trying to hold back the oncoming attack by Black Wesa. She knew instantly from how colorful it was that it was maintained by more than fifty-no, maybe even a hundred unicorns. But even that wasn't enough.

The shield was fragile. Twilight could see cracks and little holes everywhere around the shields. In less than ten minutes time, that shield will be completely destroyed.

If only Steven were here... thought Twilight. His power would've held up against those shots.

Twilight shook her head. Steven wasn't there. And she had to do her part to help defend herself and her friends!

"Stand back, Rarity." said Twilight.

Rarity didn't question her. She immediately backed away from Twilight, knowing without a doubt that Twilight's magic will help reinforce the shields.

Twilight closed her eyes quickly gathered all her magic into the tip of her horn. As her magic grew brighter and warmer, Twilight began to direct it towards the shield itself. She daren't open her eyes for fear of losing her concentration, but it was clear from the voices of praise that she was indeed doing her job.

Twilight sneaked a peek at her handiwork. The entire shield was now coated with a deep, thick purple aura, keeping it together strongly. The shots fired by the soldiers of Black Wesa had entirely no effect on it. In fact, it seemed to have begun to bounce back on them. And even after more shots were fired, the new-and-improved shield showed no signs of decay.

"My dear Twilight!" said Rarity, gasping in surprise. "This can last us the whole night!"

And it did seem to be able to do so. The soldiers just kept on firing and throwing explosives at it, but the shield remained intact. In fact, it seemed untouched. They can use this time now to heal and plan their strategy to follow up the attack. They were sure to win now!

But of course, the Resistance's (or rather, all heroes in every possible story's) bad luck had finally struck again. In the midst of the whole human-superior force came something rather unexpected. Something no one could have seen coming.

A pony.

And this wasn't just anypony- Twilight had seen this pony before. But where?

That costume... She was sure she had seen it somewhere before...

Of course! Back at the Canterlot Palace! The only pony who single-handedly managed to make Steven seriously hurt in a single hit. What was she called back then?

The Roper-Mare?

The appearance of a pony among the ranks of humans like those of Black Wesa surprised the Resistance. Hay, it even surprised some of the soldiers.

"What in the hay...?"

The Roper-Mare calmly waked toward the shield and looked at it. The mysterious figure then stayed still for a couple of seconds, and then began to go back.

Twilight turned to look at Rarity. Rarity shrugged.

But the Roper-Mare didn't go back. He (or she) just turned around and stayed there. Only then did Twilight begin to notice air gathering underneath the Roper-Mare's hooves, forming a whirlpool of air under them.

What is going on?

Luckily for Twilight, her anxiety soon disappeared. Unfortunately, it was in a way that made Twilight want to jump off a moving train.

The Roper-Mare easily used both hind legs to kick the barrier, shattering it into a million tiny shards. And it didn't even look hard. Her covered face and body showed no sign of weariness whatsoever. Was the breaking of the barrier even touch the surface of the Roper-Mare's true power?

Sadly for the Resistance, it didn't. As Twilight had seen the Roper-Mare do before, the newfound villain quickly shot long pieces of black ropes from the tip of her hooves, entangling into members of the Resistance. Some were shot down as they were held in place, some were strangled, and some were even thrown aside with such a force that their bodies made dents in the walls of the base. Things weren't looking very peachy,

"Yer back." said a deep, familiar voice. Twilight turned to see Big Macintosh, along with the rest of the team, walking towards her and Rarity.

"We can't stay in one place." said Twilight. "We'll be made easy targets for the Roper-Mare."

"Only me, Steven, Rainbow Dash, and the rest of the ponies under Celestia's service know." said Twilight. "She's really dangerous."

"You don't say." said Bush, sounding bitter. What Twilight said and did must have affected him very badly. Rainbow Dash looked the same way too, if not worse.

"Look, I'm sorry, guys." said Twilight. "I know what I did was wrong, but-"

"Sorry isn't going to cut it, Twilight." said Bush. "What you did to Steven was beyond forgiveness."

"I'm sorry, but-"

"But now is the time to transcend all limits, even those of forgiveness." said Bush. "It's the time to work together and fight back. And we're going to need your help to do that, Twilight."

Rainbow Dash scoffed.

'I'm not going to do whatever she says." said Rainbow Dash, turning away. "And if you all want to follow her, that's fine. But just leave me out of it."

She then began to run towards the battlefield, leaving the rest of them behind.

"She's still angry at you, Twilight." said Fluttershy. "But she's going to get over it. We all will."

Fluttershy then rubbed her cheek against Twilight's. Shocked, Twilight stood still.

"So what do we do now?" asked Berry Punch, looking towards the battlefield. "We can't let them die."

Twilight looked at all of her friends' faces. Rarity looked genuinely confused, and Fluttershy was smiling, but all other faces were those of seriousness, mild anger, and bitterness. But behind all of these faces lay a determination to fight. And it doesn't matter if they die fighting, as long as it was for a cause.

"Now we fight."

To Twilight's surprise, Fluttershy was the first out of all of them to run towards the enemy. She was flying very fast- faster than even Rainbow Dash at her pegasus prime.

"You mean bullies!" shouted Fluttershy, in a voice much like a battle cry. "Come bring your pretty faces to my axe!"

She then began to hack and slash at the soldiers, throwing them aside with each powerful swing. Taking that as a signal to attack, the rest of the group quickly followed suit. Bush and Rarity quickly went to find high ground, and the other three charged.

Twilight immediately began to magic up a few soldiers and bowling them into other soldiers. Her magic was never an offensive type of magic, and she normally used the Elements of Harmony to fight strong opponents. And she couldn't unlock her magic's offensive potential without Pinkie Pie, so she had to make do with some improv.

"Come get some!" shouted Twilight, who began to sweep the floor of soldiers, making them fall over everywhere. And with their heavy armour, they couldn't easily get up.

"Good going, Twilight!" shouted Berry Punch from her right, punching and kicking the soldiers into oblivion.

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh.

All of a sudden, a black rope shot up between the three of them, tying itself around Twilight's leg.

"Ah!" shouted Twilight as she tripped, letting a powerful force began to drag Twilight toward the heart of Black Wesa's Army.

"Twilight!" shouted Berry Punch, who jumped down onto the black rope and began to push into it as hard as possible, so as to not allow the black rope to move Twilight deeper into enemy lines.

However, her plan backfired on her- The ropes disentangled around Twilight and wrapped themselves around Berry Punch's body instead. It then began to pull her inwards.

Twilight immediately began to pull back the rope with her magic, but the force pulling it was just too strong. Twilight fell back from the sheer power of the pull, but she quickly recovered and ran to stop the rope. As soon as an exposed piece of rope was in sight, she jumped on it... only to be stopped by Berry Punch herself.

She quickly raised a hoof to stop Twilight's jump in mid-air, making Twilight fall back. Berry Punch then banged both her hooves on the ground, releasing such a powerful shockwave that destroyed the floor itself. The rope that was tied around her quickly disentangled itself, slithering away.

"That was amazing, Berry!" said Twilight, grinning from ear to ear. "How did you do that?"

"I might not have magic, but all my hooves are strong from squashing berries all day back in Ponyville." said Berry Punch, not looking at Twilight. "But we have bigger problems to worry about now, Twilight."

Only then did Twilight begin to notice that they were, once again, surrounded by soldiers. It was starting to get annoying, and Twilight is usually very patient.

The only difference was that this time, there was no Steven around to come up with a plan or to beat them up, and no huge army to drive them away. They were deep behind enemy lines, and there was no one around to save them this time.

"We can't fight all of them." said Twilight. "There's too many."

Berry took a look around, and then she turned to look at Twilight.

"If we can't fight them all, then we obviously don't need to." said Berry Punch. "We have to charge out of this circle. Do you think your magic can help with that?"

Twilight thought for a while. She had a bit of juice left to fight a small group, but it was going to be hard for her to cut open a whole new path with her magic from this deep within the enemy. But there was no other choice- the soldiers had already begun to take aim.

Here goes nothing...

Twilight immediately fired a beam of her magic in that direction, throwing aside soldiers everywhere. As soon as she opened her eyes, there was only one thing that she noticed:

Her magic had worked.

"Come on, Twilight!" shouted Berry, who was behind Twilight at the time.

"Right!"

Twilight began to run as fast as she could. It was still a long way to a safe zone, and she was pushing herself to reach there as quickly as possible. Berry Punch was behind her all the way, shouting words of encouragement to the already strained Twilight Sparkle.

The soldiers, of course, did not stay dazed for long. They themselves recovered quickly enough and began to shoot at the two escaping ponies. But they were too fast- none of the shots touched them. Instead, their shots hit the soldiers on the other side of the small path.

"Almost there!" screamed Twilight.

"Almost there." said Berry Punch, still behind her. Both of them were now gasping for air.

Twilight could see the end of the path right in front of her. The Resistance forces were still locked in battle with the soldiers, but at least they would be surrounded by allies for a change. Of course, they would have to steer clear of that annoying black rope.

Twilight and Berry kept on running, no shots hitting them at all. Twilight had to keep using her magic to keep the path clear, as soldiers would begin to try to block it every few seconds, but in one last jump, they were there. They had reached their own lines, where they could rest up a bit before joining the fight again.

"Come on, Berry!" shouted Twilight. "We're there!"

Berry Punch didn't answer. She just laughed, very softly.

"Berry?" asked Twilight, turning around to look at her.

Berry Punch was standing still in the middle of the battlefield, looking down at her hooves.

"C'mon, Berry!" said Twilight, straightening up Berry Punch's face. It looked dazed, much unlike her energetic face just a few seconds ago."Let's go and rest up, then we can join in the battle again!"

Berry laughed again, in an even softer voice.

"Sorry, Twilight." said Berry Punch, giving her a weak smile. "But it looks like I won't be able to take that rest."

"What are you talking about?" asked Twilight.

Berry Punch didn't say anything. She began to stumble, however, and Twilight quickly ran to help her up.

"What's wrong?" asked Twilight. "Is-"

Twilight didn't wait for the answer to that question. There was no need to.

Blood covered Berry Punch's plum coat, and it was still flowing. Twilight's eyes hesitantly turned to look at her chest.

Piercing right through Berry's chest was a sharp, black lance.

Twilight shrieked in terror and jumped backwards. Berry was trying to give her an encouraging smile, but Twilight was at a loss for thoughts. It seemed as if her mind had just shut down completely.

"No..." whispered Twilight, shaking her head in a futile attempt to wake up from this horrible nightmare. "No no no no...."

"Twilight..." said Berry. She began to wheeze painfully. "Hah hah... It looks like my time is u-up..."

"No!" said Twilight, grabbing Berry's body into her own two hooves. "Not like this. Not like this!"

Berry didn't say anything. All she managed to do was smile.

"Please..." said Twilight. "Please, stay for a while longer! I can save you!"

"N-no... Twilight." said Berry, coughing violently. "Leave me. Run."

"What's going on in here?" asked a deep voice from behind Twilight. "Ya should know better than ta stand around in the middle of a-"

Twilight was immediately joined by another pony- a red coated stallion.

"Berry!" said Big Macintosh, taking her in his hooves. "What happened?"

"Hi, Macky..." said Berry. Her eyelids were half closed, and her powerful aura seemed to be fading.

"We've gotta get ya back." said Big Macintosh. "Twilight, can you carry her back? If ya hurry, we might-"

"It's over, Big Mac..." said Berry, her voice barely in whispers now. "Once this thing is pulled out of my body... It'll be all over..."

Both Big Macintosh and Twilight was in tears. Only Berry seemed to be smiling at the time.

"Don't..." said Big Macintosh. "Don't say that..."

"I can't say otherwise." said Berry, her voice weak but full of resolve. "Because it's true. But that's not the only thing that's true."

"Don't die, Berry..." said Big Macintosh. Twilight was no longer able to speak. "Medic! We need a medic here!"

"Listen to me, Macky..." said Berry, holding Big Macintosh's hoof in her own. "I love you. And that is true."

Just as she said that, the lance that pierced through Berry's chest seemed to shrink... until it turned back into a thick, black rope. With a final gasp, Berry's breathing stopped, letting her fall back, lifeless, into Big Macintosh's hooves.

"No..." said Big Macintosh, sadness and anger in his voice. Twilight had never seen the usually calm and collected Big Macintosh so full of emotion before.

Berry Punch had died for her. This was already the second pony to have done so. And Twilight knew that she didn't deserve them. She didn't deserve their lives. If they never knew Twilight, then maybe they would still have been alive. Twilight couldn't have hated herself more at this moment.

"It's my fault." said Twilight. "it's all my fault."

"It's not yer fault." said Big Macintosh, not looking at her. "Ya have to learn to stop blaming yerself all the time. Berry died for ya. Ya should respect that."

Twilight didn't say anything. She kept staring down at her hooves.

"Berry gave her life to save yers." continued Big Macintosh. "The least ya could do is avenge her. And what better way to avenge her than by doing what she wanted to do- bring peace to this war-ridden world?"

"But-"

"No buts." said Big Macintosh, standing up and looking at Twilight. "Now ah'm going to bring back Berry's body back to the control room, to be given a proper burial later. Ah owe her at least that much. What are ya going to do now, Twilight?"

Berry Punch was dead. Sure she wasn't as close to her as the other Bearers of Harmony, but they were still friends. They talked, they helped each other out... And now she was gone. But Big Macintosh was right. She cannot just sit there, feeling guilty for herself while everyone was doing their best to fight off the enemy. She had to help. And if she had to give her life to  bring peace, then she would gladly do so.

"I'm going to fight." said Twilight.

Big Macintosh nodded, and then walked away.

Twilight was not going to let another of her friends die. She would go to heck and back before that would happen. SHe quickly scanned her surroundings to find someone that needed her help.

There were four ponies around her: Fluttershy (who surprisingly seemed to be mowing down loads of soldiers without any help), a mustachioed man wearing a sombrero and using maracas to fire musical notes at the soldiers (Strange. Definitely strange), a human clad in silver armor and wielding a fiery sword (Looks good when doing it too), and an orange pony wearing a turban and struggling to break free out of soldiers surrounding him.

What was with these soldiers and their tendency to keep surrounding their victims? thought Twilight, knowing that it was a question worth answering.

But for now, she needed to help the turban-wearing orange pony. She immediately summoned her magic, firing beams of them onto the surrounding soldiers, covering them in inescapable purple bubbles, and throwing them down the railing into the abyss down below.

"Hi." said Twilight.

"Hi." said the turban-wearing pony. "Thanks for the help."

His accent sure was strange. It wasn't extreme, but it was certainly very... fascinating. The pitch of his voice kept going higher and lower, and his 'r's were very pronounced.

"You're welcome." said Twilight. "My name is Twilight Sparkle."

"I am Adya Ramayan Agarkar." said the turban-wearing pony. "Hailing to you from the great subcontinent of India."

"India?" asked Twilight. "I've never heard of that place before."

"You must be a native of Equestria." said Adya. "India is a country on Earth."

"Earth, huh?" said Twilight. "A pony of your appearance and, um... accent comes from the Equestrian nation of Tattu, actually."

"Wait." said Adya. "I think you should stop talking now."

"What?" asked Twilight, surprised about how rude this pony was despite the fact that she had just saved his life.

"Look." said Adya, pointing behind Twilight.

Twilight immediately turned around. A whole squad of soldiers were coming their way. And not only that, but there were soldiers coming from behind Adya as well. Both of them immediately ran at the soldiers in front of them.

Adya quickly charge into the group of soldiers, bowling them over onto the ground, where Adya quickly started to beat them up using as many hooves as he could spare. Twilight decided that she didn't want to lose yet.

Twilight quickly banged her horn onto the ground, creating her magic in a straight purple line in front of it. The soldiers stopped in their tracks as they looked down at the strange purple line, but this proved to be a great mistake. Seeing a window of opportunity, Twilight immediately released her magic, allowing the purple line to come out of the floor and grab every soldier's hands and feet, locking them in place and dropping their guns.

Quickly turning around, Twilight found Adya still locked in battle against even more soldiers.

"Doesn't that turban bother you at all?" asked Twilight. "I mean, I understand it's part of your culture and all..."

"Why would I want to get rid of something as useful as this?" asked Adya.

The turban then began to glow a bright yellow, and it slowly untied itself around Adya's head, revealing a glowing horn. The turban then began to whip at all of the soldiers around Adya, making all of them fall down onto the floor, with very large cracks in their armor. According to the moans and groans of the soldiers, the whip/turban must've hurt them much worse than they thought.

"And I find the fact that you stereotyped my race with the turban to be very offensive." said Adya, looking back at her with a mock-stern face.

"You're a unicorn." said Twilight, pleasantly surprised.

"That I am." said Adya. "Now, we have an army to fight."

Nodding, Twilight and Adya quickly ran towards each and every enemy soldier. Lots of the Resistance were fighting bravely, but they were outnumbered seven to one. They quickly fought off the soldiers that were grouping up against the Resistance, and quite easily so.

All of a sudden, however, something strange caught their eyes.

It was the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"YAAAAAAGHHHH!" they shouted, running towards the soldiers.

Panicking, Twilight immediately teleported in front of them.

"Oh! Hiya, Twilight!" said Apple Bloom.

"Three of you!" said Twilight sternly. "Go back to the Control Room!"

"But they called us out to fight!" said Sweetie Belle.

Twilight immediately turned back and threw a soldier up in the air, letting go of the soldier and making it come back down with a crash.

"This is no place for a child!"

Scootaloo immediately unsheathed her sword and slashed at something behind Twilight, followed by Apple Bloom knocking it down and Sweetie Belle landing the blow that knocked out the soldier that was creeping up on Twilight.

Twilight was stunned.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders indeed." said Twilight, impressed. "But you have to go back now!"

The three of them sighed together.

"Fine." said Scootaloo. "Let's go, girls."

"What nice kids." said Adya.

"Nice?" asked Twilight.

But something else caught Twilight's eye at that time.

A short man wielding nothing but a long stick was running, only to be chased by what seemed to be a whole battalion of soldiers. It was truly a strange sight, but it looked almost comical. But the man stopped running, apparently tired, allowing the large group of soldiers to surround him where he stood.

"What do we do?" asked Adya.

"We make a distraction." said Twilight. "Do something to divert their attention from the man to us."

"But-"

Just then, a large explosion appeared from in the middle of the large group, causing a large dome-like wave to appear, sending all of the surrounding soldiers flying in a perfect formation. Right in the middle of the explosion was the man, eyes closed, both hands holding the long stick, doing a strange but magnificent pose.

The man immediately opened his eyes, which then widened. The man's mouth dropped.

"H-How did you do that?" asked Twilight, approaching the man.

The man looked around before resting his eyes on Twilight. There was a genuinely confused face on the man's face.

"Hello?" asked Twilight. "Is anything wrong?"

"N-No, nothing's wrong." said the man. "it's just..."

"Just what?" asked Adya.

"Well..." said the man. "It's just... Well.. I, uh, I didn't know I could do that."

Twilight and Adya jumped back in surprise.

"What?" asked Adya. "But-but you just... You just did... You just went like.... WHAT?"

"Anyway..." said Twilight. "I'm Twilight. And this is Adya."

"I'm Chen." said the man. "Hi."

All of a sudden, however, a large 'BANG' was heard. Twilight immediately cocked her head up., only to see a most terrifying sight.

A barrage of red beams of light were shooting towards her. She immediately conjured up a shield in front of them, but the surprise and the intensity of the attack was just to much for the shield, which easily broke apart. Chen then moved to the front of the group, and he began to twirl the stick around, deflecting all of the beams of light that hadn't been absorbed by the shield. But the soldiers kept on shooting, and all of it was just too much for the wooden stick, which was destroyed completely.

But then, the strangest thing happened.

There was a blinding flash of light, followed by the beams of light beginning to bend in the middle. As Twilight's vision came back to her, she saw that the flash of light was indeed a sword, and that it's wielder was...

Rainbow Dash.

The rainbow-haired human was pushing her sword down against the beams of light. Just as soon as the beams of light seemed to almost break, however, Rainbow Dash quickly turned her sword so that the beams were facing them. And with a small twitch of her hand, the sword released the beams of light, which then shot at the soldiers at an even faster speed than before.

Just then, Twilight noticed that the beams of light were getting bigger. Getting bigger and changing shape. What used to just be a straight, red line quickly turned into a cone. And all of a sudden, there was a huge explosion, followed by small rainbow-colored sonic booms which came from each and every one of the beams of light, followed by a rainbow trail that followed them from behind.

The soldiers realized what was happening too late- the beams of light pierced through them like they were nothing. And not only that, but the beams of light also struck all of the soldiers behind them, knocking all of them to the floor, dead. As soon as the rest of the soldiers saw this, they all began to retreat, regrouping right in front of the Base's Main Entrance.

"A Sonic Rainboom..." said Twilight.

Rainbow Dash landed on the floor on two feet, and began to walk away.

"Rainbow Dash!" said Twilight, chasing after her rainbow-haired friend.

Rainbow Dash ignored her and kept on walking.

"Rainbow..." said Twilight, stopping in her tracks. "Why? Why did you save me? After what I have done?"

Rainbow Dash stopped walking.

"What you did..." said Rainbow Dash, looking down. "What you did back there was very bad, Twilight. Unforgivable. Actually, I think that you might have deserved what was coming for you back there."

Twilight looked down, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She had beaten up an innocent pony near an inch of his life. And now she lost a friend because of that. One of her best friends. Rainbow Dash must've hated her. Even she hated herself.

"But I don't hate you." said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight, confused, looked up at her.

"I don't hate you, Twilight." said Rainbow Dash. "I wanted to, but deep in my heart, I knew that I couldn't. We're friends. All of us are bound to make mistakes. Celestia knows how many I've made."

"But friends forgive the little things. And the not-so-little things as well. And even when those mistakes seem beyond forgiveness, friends will find a way to forgive their friends. That is what makes having friends totally awesome. The bond that friends share... The bonds we share, they're just too strong to be broken so easily. That's something my friendship with you taught me."

"Rainbow..." said Twilight.

"And I am your friend, Twilight." said Rainbow Dash, slowly approaching Twilight until they were nose-to-nose. "I will always be your friend. The question is... will you still be mine?"

At that question, Twilight looked into Rainbow Dash's eyes as she had never done before.

It was then that Twilight realized that up till that moment, she had never truly appreciated Rainbow Dash's loyalty. Despite what she had done, Rainbow Dash had forgiven her completely. And now she was asking Twilight to forgive her. Touched by her best friend's words, Twilight quickly hugged Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash was surprised, but hugged back with an equal amount of ferocity.

"Always." said Twilight. "Always and forever."

After sharing the hug for a couple more seconds, Rainbow Dash quickly pulled back, smiling excitedly.

"Oh, and did you SEE that?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I made not one, not two, not even three, but around THIRTY Sonic Rainbooms! And then BAM! All the soldiers were gone. Wasn't that just... so... awesome?"

Twilight hugged Rainbow Dash again. She was glad that she was back to her normal self so easily.

"It really was awesome, Rainbow Dash." said Twilight. "Very awesome indeed."

Twilight could feel Rainbow Dash beam at her as she hugged back.

"Rainbow Dash?" said Chen from behind Twilight. "You're Steven's girlfriend, right?"

Rainbow Dash let go of Twilight and nodded.

"You two know each other?" asked Twilight.

"I was just about to ask the same question." said Chen. "But, well... i just wanted to apologize for my friend Bill's behavior back there, Rainbow Dash. You see, a friend of ours died because of some ponies, and Bill blamed all of ponykind for it."

"It's fine." said Rainbow Dash. "It's a better first impression than trying to drown me by dunking my head in a lake anyway."

Twilight and Rainbow Dash laughed. Only they knew what Rainbow Dash had meant.

"Um... girls?" said Fluttershy.

"Yes, Fluttershy?" said Rainbow Dash and Twilight at the same time.

"If it's not too much trouble..." said Fluttershy, whose voice was getting smaller. "Please turn around."

Rainbow Dash and Twilight noticed how there was suddenly a large crowd behind where they stood, and all of them were again preparing for battle. They then looked towards the main entrance, where they saw a still very large amount of soldiers gathered there. In fact, it seemed as if they had done nothing to stop the army in the first place.

"No..." said Twilight.

Rainbow Dash put a hand on Twilight shoulder.

"Don't worry, Twilight." said Rainbow Dash, smiling calmly at Twilight. "We can do this."

The rest of her team then moved up so that they were standing next to her.

"We'll get through this, Twilight." said Fluttershy.

"Besides, well..." said Rarity. "We've been through much worse."

Twilight stood up. Her friends were by her side. This thought alone encourage Twilight to keep on fighting.

"Then let's do it." said Twilight. "We'll fight them. And unless I miss my guess, we're in for one wild night."

"That's our Twilight!" shouted Bush, smiling. "Now let's go kick some Black Wesa flank!"

Twilight and the rest of the unicorns immediately conjured up a large shield again. But this time, it wasn't for defending. Oh no, it was for attacking. Attacking relentlessly.

"You know that we might die tonight, right?" asked Twilight.

"Who cares?" asked Rainbow Dash. "As long as we die well, then I'm satisfied. Except, well..."

"Well what?"

"Well..." said Rainbow Dash. "I just think that it would be nice if Steven was with us right now."

"Rainbow Dash!" said Rarity. "I never took you for a romantic!"

Rainbow Dash immediately blushed.

"No!" said Rainbow Dash. "I mean, yes, but... Look, the bad guys are right in front of us!"

Rarity stared at Rainbow Dash, her smile growing wider by the second.

"Fine!" said Rainbow Dash. "I read about those things in Twilight's and Steven's library, and I guess it affected me. Except for well, the Twilight books."

"Twilight books?"

"Otherwise known as pieces of trash." said Rainbow Dash. "Anyway, don't tell anybody."

"You're secret's safe with me." said Twilight.

"Pinkie promise?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight immediately felt her gut wrench. She had to find Pinkie Pie after all of this. Because of all her guilt, she had forgotten that Pinkie Pie was still alive. So it was her duty to find her. That is, if she was alive after this.

Almost immediately, the huge shield collided with the front lines of the soldiers, knocking them backwards.

"Push forward!" shouted Twilight.

The shield kept moving through enemy forces, knocking them down to be trampled by the whole crowd of Resistance forces as they fell.

"Keep pushing!" shouted Bush. "Don't stop!"

And that they did. The whole group kept on pushing the shield, knocking out most of the enemy soldiers along the way.

"The shield is breaking!" shouted one unicorn.

"We can't hold it much longer!" said another.

"Okay!" said Twilight. "All who cannot teleport retreat and prepare for the enemy attack. Those who can stay behind and keep the shield alive as long as they run, and then teleport afterwards!"

Almost immediately, most of the Resistance scattered, save for only five unicorns, including Twilight herself and Adya.

As soon as all the Resistance forces were ready, Twilight began counting down for the five unicorns to teleport.

"Now, when I count down to zero, all of you immediately teleport, okay?" said Twilight. "Don't bother with switching off the shield, just teleport. So, five."

"Four."

"Three."

"Two."

"One..."

Twilight gulped.

"ZERO! RUN NOW!"

Twilight and the others quickly teleported away, back to behind their own forces. Luckily for them, all of them managed to get back safely. That was when the problems began to start again.

"Most of our artillery is broken, do you guys-"

"The explosives are all gone too! What-"

"We're almost out of magic after making that shield! Should we-"

Twilight sighed. She had expected this. Knowing that almost half, if not more, of these unicorns were recently humans, most of them wouldn't have learned how to minimize their magical output and maximize their effectiveness at the same time. But without any ranged weapons that can kill more than one at a time, all they can resort to was...

"Open war." said Twilight.

Almost immediately, the whole area of the Resistance fell to silence.

"What?" asked Bill Gates, who was fighting along with the rest of the Resistance the whole time.

"Open war." repeated Twilight. "It's the only way."

"I will not risk open war!" said Bill Gates sternly.

"Open war is upon us whether you would risk it or not." said Twilight. She then turned to talk to the rest of the Resistance, who were all in stunned silence. "Now! This is it! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape our stories! Your fate is in your hands!"

Bill Gates looked at Twilight, looking as if he was deep in thought. At the corner of her eye, she could see the then-stunned army begin to recover. But they cannot do anything without the approval of their leaders.

"She's right." said Donut Joe, whose baked goods were actually small killing machines.

"Right as a Piccafilly Pineapple." said Granny Smith, whose cane turned out to be a huge sniper rifle.

The last leader then turned to look at the other two leaders, and then back at Twilight. He nodded.

"Very well, then." said Twilight. "Those wielding ranged weapons, move to the front! And when I give the signal, immediately switch places with those wielding close-ranged weapons. Now move!"

Both groups were moving now. The Resistance moving to a defensive position, and Black Wesa turning on the offensive. This was to be an epic battle.

"Come, my friends." said Twilight. "The Resistance is going to war. And it is likely that we go to our doom. The Last March of the Resistance."

The whole of what was left of the Resistance fighting force screamed as Twilight ended her sentence. Twilight never thought of herself as a leader of armies, but she might give that job a consideration now. She was good.

"FIRE!" shouted Twilight.

Immediately, arrows and bullets were fired at the soldiers. Black Wesa's technology might be better, but their weapons were equally effective.

"FIRE!"

"FIRE!"

"Now switch!" shouted Twilight. "Quickly!"

Twilight knew that those at the front lines would receive the full brunt of the enemy's shots. But there was no other choice. They could not fight the enemy any other way.

The soldiers began to fire. The beams of light zooming their way.

The faces of those at the front line were not faces of fear, but determination. They were determined to win.

The shots fired were now closing in on them.

They were about to hit them, and most likely kill them. Twilight took a deep breath.

BAM!

Instead of the shots hitting them, however, something most unexpected happened. None of them were dead. All of them were staring, equally shocked, at what was right in front of them and blocking the shots from hitting them.

It was a large, bright blue barrier.

Immediately, Twilight looked up. And on the platform on top of the army was a gray, dark-blue maned unicorn standing determinedly, holding his ground as the shots hit his magical barrier.

Steven?

Steven then began to stand up, struggling to hold his balance as he did so. But as soon as he stood up, he immediately charged up his hooves with his magic, creating his signature magical gauntlets that he used for battle.

The barrier was still up. How could Steven control his magical power so well? But was he planning to charge at the enemy? Surely not! That would kill him!

And Steven didn't charge at the enemy. He held his ground, and held his hooves to his waist. Then, he began to punch the air.

As he punched the air, the magic on his hooves seemed to release itself and began to fly towards the enemy, breaking through his own barrier. As his magic touched the ground, it immediately exploded, sending soldiers flying everywhere. HE kept on punching, followed by various flowing hoof movements that made sure of the continuation of his punching. His body was moving around gracefully, his forehooves and backhooves flowing like gushing water as he continued his movements. He would lift his backhooves up and drop his forehooves at the same time, and perform strange movements here and there, but it worked- the soldiers on the other side were struggling to regroup, let alone attack.

But Steven couldn't continue for long. His movements began to slow down and break in-between, until he finally fell down on his face. Fluttershy and two other pegasus ponies immediately flew onto the platform to bring Steven back down.

"Steven!" said Twilight as Steven was laid down on the floor in front of her. "Why are you here?"

"I thought you needed my help." said Steven, giving her a soft smile.

"You need to rest." said Twilight. "Rest up. You've overexerted yourself already..."

"I'm fine." said Steven. "Fine as day."

The rest of Twilight's team immediately ran to Steven's side, where there were mixed responses from the rest of the group.

"Steven! You're here!" said Bush.

"He shouldn't be. You should be resting." said Rarity.

"He's fine. He said it himself." said Big Macintosh.

"Oh... my..." said Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash, however, was uncharacteristically quiet. She immediately ran to Steven and picked him up with her hands (he was lying down), scanned his face, and hugged him.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash." said Steven, who didn't even have the strength to hug her back.

"I thought... I thought..."

"No, those injuries were far from fatal." said Steven. "Luckily, Twilight had it in herself to not kill me."

Twilight was taken aback. She was definitely sure that one more punch would've killed him. Steven's wink at her as he said that was proof that she did. Was Steven trying to help her regain the group's trust?

"I'm sorry, Steven." said Twilight. "Really sorry. I should've known better than to accuse somepony without proof."

"It's fine, Twilight." said Steven, who was now struggling to sit up. "Anyway, the bad guys are still far from defeated."

Steven was right. A lot of soldiers were still alive and well. But none of them were moving towards them. None of them were even preparing to attack. They were all standing still,k not attacking, and not retreating. However, one of the soldiers was running towards the Resistance side.

"Parley!" said the soldier. "Parley!"

"Parley?" said Rainbow Dash.

"Why would they want to parley?" asked Steven.

"What should we do?" asked Fluttershy.

"We can't parley with them!" said Bush. "Who knows what trickery they are hiding under their sleeves!"

"What's parley?" asked Rainbow Dash

"But we've got to listen to what they have to say." said Rarity. "It might be something important."

"But they might-"

"I think Rarity's right." said Steven. "We should listen to them first, at least."

"Hellooooooo...." said Rainbow Dash

"But they might-"

"Everyone should be bound by honor to respect the rules of parley." said Steven. "Especially the ones who asked for it in the first place."

"Guys..." said Rainbow Dash. "Being ignored here..."

"Gah!" said Bush. "Damn to the depths whatever man thought of parley."

"That would be the French." said Fluttershy.

Twilight thought for a moment.

"Allow him in." said Twilight. "Let us parley."

The soldier immediately went in front of the Twilight and bowed to her.

"They think I'm the leader!" whispered Twilight.

"It's fine!" whispered Steven urgently. "Just listen to what the man has to say."

"Leader of the Resistance..." said the soldier. "We cannot offer you peace. But we can offer an end to this bloody battle."

"And that would be...?"

"If you, as the Leader of the Resistance, would fight against our commander. The one you know as the Roper-Mare."

The whole of the Resistance was shocked.

"So now that you know that you would lose, you offer us a way out?" asked Rainbow Dash, who seemed to have a much better understanding of 'parley' already.

"Au contraire." said the soldier. "We still have a lot of soldiers left. And you only have about 300 of your original fighting force left. And if we win... All of those left inside the Base will be utterly destroyed. Including the children."

"Why, you..." said Rainbow Dash, who moved to attack but was held back by Fluttershy.

What he said was true. There was no surviving the battle against their forces.

"However, whether you win or lose, we will not utterly destroy your base." said the soldier. "We will leave. We only request that you fight to the death with our commander."

"Please, Twilight..." said Rainbow Dash. "You can't listen to him! We can fight."

"No..." said Twilight. "No, Rainbow Dash. I cannot allow any more of you to die."

"Then I'll go!" said Steven. "I'm the Leader of the Resistance! I will go."

"No!" said Rainbow Dash. "I'm the Leader. I will fight them!"

"No!" said Twilight. "I will go. I... I have to avenge somepony. I cannot allow other to do this."

"Very well." said the soldier. "Please come with me."

"I guess I'll see you guys later..." said Twilight, moving to follow the soldier.

"Twilight..." said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight quickly turned away and looked forward, where a large glass cube had been set up for Twilight and the Roper-Mare to fight in. The soldier opened a door in the glass and let Twilight in. The Roper-Mare was already inside.

"It's a fight to the death." said the soldier. "Only begin when I say it."

The Roper-Mare bowed to Twilight as the door adjoined itself to the rest of the glass cube. Twilight awkwardly bowed back. She had so much hatred for this one pony inside her right now, and she wanted desperately to take it out. And even if the Roper-Mare had any respect for her, that respect was not returned at all.

"Begin!"

Twilight immediately used her magic to trap the Roper-Mare in the near-indestructible magic bubble that she used to trap Steven in earlier. The Roper-Mare tried to break free, but the bubble was intangible- there was no breaking out of it.

Twilight then began to suck out all of the air inside the bubble, in the attempt to suffocate the Roper-Mare. She was intending to kill that pony right then and there.

But the pony didn't move at all. The Roper-Mare just sat down there, as if waiting for something. Twilight held the bubble firmly in place, but the Roper-Mare still didn't move.

And all of a sudden, the Roper-Mare held up both her forehooves, allowing ropes to come and burst out of Twilight's bubble. Surprised that her bubble could be destroyed so easily, Twilight dropped the Roper-Mare and began to think of another strategy.

Twilight picked up the Roper-Mare with her magic and immediately bashed the pony onto the sides of the cube. It didn't break, but the vibrations of the impacts were easily felt by Twilight. That should leave a mark.

Only... It didn't. As soon as Twilight let go of the Roper-Mare, the Roper-Mare immediately stood back up, with no evident harm on her body.

Enraged, Twilight decided to switch to the most basic form of pony fighting- hooves. She immediately locked the Roper-Mare in place with her magic. When the Roper-Mare appeared to have no desire to move at all, however, Twilight immediately pounced on the pony, punching, biting and kicking at the pony. But no matter how much she hit, no matter how hard she punched, The Roper-Mare just sprang back into place.

Exhausted and angry, Twilight immediately knocked the Roper-Mare backwards and began to attack the pony's still-covered face. But there were still no results at all. The Roper-Mare didn't seem hurt- in fact, she seemed to welcome the punishment. This made Twilight grew even angrier. She wanted the Roper-Mare to feel her rage. But the Roper-Mare looked like they felt... absolutely nothing.

Growing angrier every second, Twilight continued to bash the Roper-Mare's face in, each punch stronger than the last. Until when Twilight couldn't take it anymore.

She screamed, and she immediately used her magic to tear the cloth that was covering the Roper-Mare's face off.

Behind the piece of black cloth, however, was somepony that Twilight did not expect.

Twilight gasped and stopped attacking. She felt her hooves growing weaker, and her thoughts growing foggier. She began to shake in her hooves, but she was unable to move. All she could do was stare at the face that was looking at her right then. The face of the pony who killed Berry Punch. The face of the pony who tried to ponynap Twilight back at the Palace. The face of the pony who tried, and is trying, to kill her.

The freckly, orange face... of Applejack.

"No..." said Twilight, finding herself to be unable to look away from the emotionless, pupil-less face of her former best friend. "No, that's impossible. Not you, Applejack. Not you..."

Twilight immediately began to panic. She didn't know what to do. She either had to die... or kill her best friend. SHe couldn't do it. She couldn't do any of it. The fact that the Roper-Mare was one of her best friends had struck Twilight's heart where nothing had ever struck before. It was no less than traumatic.

"No..." said Twilight. "No... I don't believe it. I can't."

But as Twilight looked on into Applejack's face, there was no more doubt in her mind. This was indeed Applejack, and she knew it. Only she refused to believe it.

But as quickly as ever, Applejack stood up again and very easily broke the bonds that were used by Twilight to hole Applejack down. Applejack's emotionless face slowly cracked into an evil smile.

"Mah turn." said Applejack.

Applejack immediately unleashed four ropes from her hooves, all of which bound Twilight's limbs to the glass cube. Twilight tried to escape, but the ropes were just too strong.

Applejack then walked away from her, only to begin to run back and tackle Twilight, right in her belly.

Twilight immediately began to spit out blood. The burning pain of the attack had ruptured a few of her ribs and broke her spine. Twilight couldn't feel her lower body anymore. Everything just went... numb. Numb and cold.

"Applejack..." said Twilight. "What happened?"

Applejack didn't answer. She just kept on brutalizing Twilight. Punching, bucking, tackling, and sometimes even using her shapeshifting rope to cut and slash Twilight's body. The pain was beyond anything Twilight had ever imagined. Both the pain  of the attack, and the pain of the heartbreak as Applejack continued to relentlessly attack her.

Twilight was now bleeding very badly from all the wounds in her body. She was also starting to choke up on blood. By all means, she should have died already by now from such injuries, but she wasn't. She was kept alive to feel the pain brought to her by her best friend.

She knew it. And she felt it. If Applejack kept on attacking her like this, then she would die. But before she died, she needed to say something to Applejack. Say what could possibly be her last words.

"Applejack..." said Twilight.

Her former best friend kept on attacking her.

"I...I forgive you." said Twilight.

Applejack immediately stopped attacking her.

"What did ya say?" asked Applejack.

"I forgive you." said Twilight. "Even if you can't forgive yourself."

Applejack stumbled backwards. Twilight saw a small flash of green in her eyes. However, Applejack just straightened herself up and began to attack Twilight again, in an even higher intensity than before. Twilight could feel even more bones break, she felt her body keep going number.

"And... I'm sorry, Applejack." said Twilight.

One of Applejack's eyelids blinked very harshly, but Applejack just kept on attacking Twilight. She could feel herself fading.

"I'm sorry..." said Twilight, breathing very badly as her air intake was severely shortened by Applejack's attacks. "I'm sorry for letting you become like this. I'm so... so... sorry.'

Twilight felt herself begin to cry. But she couldn't feel anything else. Her tears began to stream down her face and it dropped onto Applejack's hooves.

Applejack snapped her hooves back as if it stung, and then stopped attacking Twilight. She dropped onto the floor, her hooves pressing her head in between.

"Shaddup!" shouted Applejack. "SHADDUP!"

"Please forgive me..." said Twilight. "Applejack..."

"SHADDUP!" screamed Applejack, a hint of a sob in her voice. She immediately snapped her hoof back and punched Twilight's jaw, breaking it. Twilight wanted to scream from the pain, but she couldn't. It was just too much. She felt blood fly out of her jaw.

"Please, shut up..." said Applejack, who was now crying along with Twilight. "Get out! Get out of mah head!"

Applejack seemed to be holding onto her head for dear life. Twilight was now unable to speak- she could only watch as Applejack looked to be tortured as much as Twilight herself was. Only Twilight didn't know why.

"Go away!" screamed Applejack, punching the floor. "Go away!"

Applejack immediately turned back to Twilight and aimed a hoof at her, Applejack's other hoof holding up the on that would shoot. Twilight could barely see the hole where the rope would come out from, and she knew that she was going to die... Just like Berry did. But her thoughts and her vision, just like everything else, was slowly fading.

Twilight couldn't do anything anymore. All she could do was wait. Wait for Applejack... to finish her.

Only Applejack wasn't.

Applejack was still standing in front of her, aiming a hoof at her, but she wasn't doing it. Only then did Twilight notice that her left hoof was not there to steady her shooting hoof, but was actually struggling against it. She saw that one of Applejack's eyes had pupils again, and how the expressions on the ends of her mouth seemed to be different.

Applejack's left hoof then began to punch her right hoof, knocking it out of balance. She then fell to the floor, writhing and spasming. Applejack was not fighting with Twilight... She was fighting with herself.

Twilight felt her body crash back onto the ground. All of the pain that Applejack had brought onto her multiplied tenfold as the impact hit her. She knew that she was going to die. That much was certain. But she had to save Applejack first.

Twilight very slowly, and very painfully dragged herself to Applejack. She felt as if her whole body was on fire, which was doused by freezing cold ice, only to be set on fire again, repeating the cycle. But she wasn't going to give up. She wasn't going to succumb. Applejack needed to break free of whatever was controlling her, and Twilight was going to do whatever it took to help her do so.

Twilight slowly managed to crawl and lie down beside Applejack. She felt her horn touch Applejack's forehead, and then summoned the last of her energy to summon magic. Knowing that Applejack was now sharing the same thoughts as she was, Twilight quickly began to remember all of the moments that they had shared together. All the moments...

"Good afternoon." said Twilight, hesitantly approaching this strange, energetic orange pony. "My name is Twilight Sparkle."

Almost immediately, Twilight felt her hoof being shaken up and down violently by the orange pony.

"Well howdy do, Miss Twilight!" said the orange pony, grinning happily. A pleasure makin' yer acquaintance! I'm Applejack, and we here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin' new friends!"

Twilight felt Applejack's writhing begin to soften up. She needed to continue if she was to free Applejack.

"Hold on!" shouted Applejack, as she descended to save Twilight from falling down the cliff. "I'ma comin'!

"Applejack!" said Twilight desperately, her fronthooves holding onto Applejack's but her backhooves standing on nothing but thin air. "What do I do?"

Twilight saw Applejack hesitate to give an answer, her face screwed up to gather her strength to save Twilight. But she glanced up for a while, and immediately gave an answer.

"Let go."

"Are you crazy?" asked Twilight. Was Applejack trying to kill her?

"No I ain't." said Applejack, in a soft, reassuring voice. "I promise you'll be safe."

"That's not true!"

"Now listen here." said Applejack. "What I'm sayin' ta you is the honest truth. Let go, and you'll be safe."

Twilight looked deeply into Applejack's eyes. There was no lie in there. Was Applejack telling the truth?

Only one way to find out... Here goes nothing.

As Twilight let go, she screamed all the way. Until, of course, she felt four hooves hold her up in the air.

"I'm sorry..." said Fluttershy as she struggled to hold Twilight. "I'm not used to holding anything heavier than a bunny or two."

Twilight turned her head to see Applejack descend the cliffs. She couldn't have been more grateful to Applejack, who had saved her life. It was then that she first realized the true beauty of friendship.

Twilight began to cry, and she saw that Applejack was beginning to cry too.

"And now our bodies will become as cold as our hearts, just because we were foolish enough to hate." said Twilight, who was then Clover the Clever.

Fluttershy (Private Pansy), Applejack (Smart Cookie), and Twilight then began to gather together as the ice began to slowly come to them.

"Actually..." said Private Pansy. "I don't hate you. I actually hate Commander Hurricane a LOT more than I hate you guys."

The other two ponies then began to laugh sincerely at Private Pansy's words, and Private Pansy began to smile.

"Actually, I don't really hate her." said Private Pansy, whose body was already starting to get covered by ice. "I just really really really really REALLY really really really REALLY REALLY really dislike her."

The three ponies then laughed together again, knowing full well that this might be their last laugh.

"Well, I don't hate ya guys either." said Smart Cookie, smiling sincerely.

"Nor do I" said Clover the Clever.

"No matter what our differences..." said Applejack. "We're all ponies."

Applejack had now stopped moving completely. She already returned to full control of her body, and she was now staring, with tears in her soft green eyes, at Twilight. Twilight put a hoof on her mane and brushed it, but it was not over yet. She still had one last memory to show Applejack. One last memory... One last message.

"Now you wanna fight!" said Applejack, who stood up and began punching the air. "Where were ya when I was battlin' Discord?"

Twilight immediately tackled Applejack, knocking her to the ground.

"Snap out of it!" said Twilight, determined to fight for Applejack. "This isn't you! You're not a liar."

Twilight then descended her horn onto Applejack's head, and into it she poured all of her gratitude, determination, kindness, and love. Applejack then began to remember- remember all about what friendship truly was. That time during Applebuck Season, the time when they realized that they were always meant to be friends, the time she saved Twilight from falling off a cliff, the time at Winter Wrap-Up when Twilight helped them clean up on time, the time when she first developed feelings for Rainbow Dash at the Running Of The Leaves... All of it came flooding back to her head.

"Twilight!" said Applejack, shaking her head. "What happened?"

" I saw a vision of ourselves fightin'..." continued Applejack, who immediately took off her favourite hat. "And I couldn't face the truth, so I started tellin' lies... can ya ever forgive me?"

"I already have." said Twilight.

Twilight then let go of her magic, dropping her head down onto the floor. Applejack immediately stood back up and held her in her hooves.

"No!" said Applejack, whose tears were now streaming down her face. "Twilight, please! Please don't die! Oh... I'm so very sorry, Twilight... Please, don't die... Don't die because of me..."

Twilight's face turned into a soft smile. She was dying. She could feel it in her heart.

Applejack then let out a scream, enraged, and immediately shattered the glass with a single buck. She then ran out and started to attack the soldiers, and Twilight could barely hear the soldiers bang against the walls of the Base, or hear their faces caved into the ground.

"Retreat!" shouted one of the soldiers. "Subject Jack-117 has defected! Retreat!"

The calls for retreat were then followed by cheers from the members of the Resistance, applauding Twilight and Applejack.

Applejack quickly ran back to Twilight, and attempted to carry her back to the main Resistance force. But Twilight knew that this was futile. And before she passed on, she still had something to say to Applejack.

"Applejack..." she said, through her broken jaw.

"Twilight!" said Applejack. "Stop talkin'! Ah'll get somepony to wrap you up nicely! Y'all don' need to worry... Please..."

Twilight felt even more of her tears stream out of her eyes as she felt time slow down around her. Her heart was slowing down. She was no longer able to see, hear, or think. But she still had one last thing to say to Applejack. One last thing to say to everyone. One last thing to say... ever. And she didn't care that she was going to die after. She had lived her life just as she wanted to, and she was going to pass on happily, her only regret being not able to see everything through to the end.

"Applejack..."

"We won."

Chapter 21- Ready Your Breakfast (Reilly)

"It'll take a few weeks, but she'll be fine." said Steven

"You'll be back tomorrow?" asked Nurse Redheart, who was now replacing Twilight's bedsheets.

"Everyday until she is fully healed." said Steven.

"But surely you have to rest!" said the ever-considerate Nurse. "It just won't do to have you as weak as all of the others in here."

"You know as well as I do that she won't ever recover if I was allowed to take breaks." said Steven. "It's fine, really."

To tell the truth, Steven was downright exhausted. Ever since they had won that battle against Black Wesa in their own base ten days ago, he had to come to the Clinic every day and perform his healing magic on Twilight's battered body. As a result, he had already mended all of Twilight's bones and most of her ruptured organs. He was convinced that Twilight would be fine, but he didn't know if she would ever be the same as before.

"You are a very kind pony, Steven Reilly." said Nurse Redheart, who was now attaching a tube to Twilight's hoof. "Coming down here, performing your healing magic for hours a day, just to save one life..."

"A friend's life." said Steven. "And I'm very sure that you would do the same."

Nurse Redheart sighed.

"There are just too many casualties from that last battle." said the Nurse. "If I could give my life to save those whose lives were taken, I'd happily do so."

Steven didn't reply. He had felt the same thing long ago. His life to save another's... It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling.

"I'll be taking my leave now." said Steven. "Thank you again for your cooperation."

"No need to thank me." said the Nurse, who was now busy tending to the other patients, all of whom were unconscious, and all of whom had been helped by Steven to heal in one way or another. "I should thank you for helping me out during these busy times."

Steven gave a hearty chuckle, and then he left the clinic. There were other matters that he had to attend to.

Berry Punch's funeral was today.

"Hey." said Steven as he entered the small room where the rest of his teammates and Alan were in.

"Hi." said Alan and Bush in unison. Everyone else was quiet.

"They've already put her in position for the burial." said Rarity, entering the room right after Steven did. "We should go now."

Everyone in the room immediately stood up and began to walk towards the elevator to the right of the room, where they would go to the deepest parts of the cavern, where all the dead were buried.

"Crystal Caverns." said Big Macintosh as soon as they had all entered the spacy elevator.

"CRYSTAL CAVERNS." said a mechanized female voice. "FLOOR B8."

"The bottom floor of the Base." said Alan.

They all stood in tense silence as they elevator brought them down from B4 all the way to B8. Contrary to Steven's beliefs, however, the temperature didn't start to rise- in fact, it began to drop. The temperature of floor B8 was as cool as a breezy meadow in the start of spring.

"CRYSTAL CAVERNS." repeated the female voice. "FLOOR B8."

The elevator doors began to open, and Steven was brought a most beautiful sight. It was a cave, no doubt, but it was definitely one of the most beautiful caves he had ever seen. All along the lengths and walls of the caves were the most colorful stalactites and stalagmites, all of them reflecting every bit of light in a most colorful way. Stuck on the floor and walls were glowing, purple crystals that seemed to deliberately illuminate the cave for them. It was all very beautiful, and so very... natural.

"This way." said Big Macintosh, leading them through a path to the right.

It was only then did Steven realize how much he didn't want to be trapped in there. They were in a maze of twisty passages, all alike. And if any of them got lost, there was a good chance that they would never see the light of day again. But Big Macintosh seemed to know the way, so all of them just relied on him to navigate through the Caverns.

The group kept on walking, until they entered a large room.

And the interior of that room was magnificent.

Scattered around the room were large statues of both humans and ponies- Commanders of the Resistance for the whole time they were active. The statues were towered over the group, all of them in magnificent poses that seemed to show off their bravery and their strength. But right in the middle of the room was a platform, where a small crowd has already gathered around. All of them watched quietly as the three leaders stood on top of the platform, Bill Gates taking his place in front of a podium.

"Silence, please." said Bill Gates, somewhat unnecessarily. "Good afternoon, respected members of the Council, and dear friends of the late departed. We are gathered here today to mourn the passing of dear friend, lover, and sister, Berry Punch of Ponyville."

Almost immediately, Steven began to remember clearly another funeral he had gone to. A funeral... Jaeda's funeral.

"We now invite Berry Punch's close friend and lover, Big Macintosh, to please say a few words."

Big Macintosh slowly began to walk towards the platform. There were no cards, or no paper for him to refer to as he began to speak. He wished to speak directly from the heart. Just like Steven two years ago...

"For those who do not know me..." he began. "Ah am Big Macintosh. Ah ain't a stallion of many words, and neither will this speech be."

"Berry Punch was a pony that even the greatest orator cannot describe." said Big Macintosh. "There are many things that ah can say to describe her, but all of them are nothing more than understatements. Berry Punch was a pony, a role model, and a hero for all of us."

"Hey." whispered Steven to a morose-looking Rainbow Dash. "How're you doing?"

Rainbow Dash shrugged. She didn't seem to want to look at anybody right then.

"I'm fine, Steve." said Rainbow Dash, looking away. "It's just that... Well... I've known Berry ever since I moved to Ponyville. She was the second pony to greet me."

"And who was the first?" asked Steven.

Rainbow Dash sighed. "Pinkie Pie."

"Havin' known Berry Punch was the best thing that has ever happened to me." finished Big Macintosh. "We'll will miss her dearly, but we will cherish her memory forever."

Big Macintosh then slowly walked off the platform and came to join them again. The Big Macintosh's eulogy was then followed by the burial of Berry Punch's body and the revealing of her statue, and then everybody began to leave the room.

"Ya guys go first." said Big Macintosh. "Ah'll catch up with ya later."

"Come on." said Steven. "Let's leave him alone."

They then exited the large room and closed the door behind them, leaving Big Macintosh to say his final goodbyes in peace.

"Poor, poor Big Macintosh..." said Fluttershy, who had been quiet all that time. "I wonder how he must feel..."

Rarity sighed. "I don't know if he can ever recover from the shock of finding Berry like that. It must have scarred dear Big Macintosh horribly."

"What are you talking about?" asked Alan. "He seemed fine in there."

"Darling, if you had known Big Macintosh before all this happened, and if you had at least have the slightest understanding of true love, then you would know that Big Macintosh is indeed, NOT fine." said Rarity.

"C'mon, guys." said Rainbow Dash. "Let's go see how Applejack is doing."

Applejack. The killer of Berry Punch, and the almost-murderer of Twilight Sparkle. Of course, none of it was her fault- she was being controlled by Black Wesa's lead scientists. But thanks to Twilight's last spell, she had managed to beat the control. But although she had been forgiven by Twilight and their small group (even Big Macintosh), she was still thought to be a threat to the Resistance and was placed in the dungeons.

"You haven't met Applejack, have you, Steven?" asked Rarity.

"No." said Steven. "Not yet."

It was true- all the times that his group had went to visit Applejack,he had been very busy in the clinic, healing Twilight and the rest of the patients. Only now did he finally get the chance to meet the now-infamous Applejack.

"Applejack is one of the most likable ponies around." said Rainbow Dash.

"Or, as she puts it, 'The Loyalest of Friends and the Most Dependable of Ponies'." said Rarity.

"I thought you held that title, Dash?" said Steven.

"Loyalest? Sure." said Rainbow Dash. "But Applejack here really is the Most Dependable of Ponies."

They then began to enter the elevator with the rest of the ponies present at the funeral.

"Where are you guys going?" asked Donut Joe.

"We're going to go meet our friend Applejack." said Bush.

"Applejack?" asked Bill Gates. "Alright, but be careful. We still don't know how much control Black Wesa has left over her."

"We'll keep that in mind." said Steven.

"Okay, then." said Bill Gates. "Dungeons, then Food."

"DUNGEONS." said the female voice. "FLOOR B7."

Steven felt the elevator move up a little bit before stopping again. The doors began to open, and the small group began to go out of the elevator.

"You do know where she is being held, don't you?" asked Bill Gates.

"Yes we do." said Rarity. "Thank you very much, Leader."

"No problem." said Bill Gates, who pressed a button, closing the elevator doors behind them.

"So, what do you have to do to get locked up inside here?" asked Steven.

"We've got murderers, thieves, traitors, the like." said Alan.

"Traitors?" repeated Steven, who began to chuckle. "I guess if all of you had believed Twilight when she accused me, I would've ended up in here, huh?"

Nobody laughed. Steven immediately felt his heart fell.

"Come on..." said Steven. "Twas just a joke. Just trying to, you know, lighten up the mood?"

"You almost died, Steve." said Rainbow Dash. "And with everything else that's going on..."

"We're here." said Rarity, saving Rainbow Dash from finishing her sentence.

Steven was met with another astonishing sight. What stood in front of them right now was a large, steel, vault-like door. Guarded by two heavily armed guards (one human and one pony), This had to be one of the most secure places he had ever been to (Fingerprint, voice, and retinal scans? There is such a thing as too much). Steven could imagine what it was like behind that door. After all, he had been in a similar situation before...

"Hey, guys!" said the human guard, in such an excited voice that seemed to betray his looks.

"Hey, Rob." said Bush.

"Here to see Applejack again, huh?" said the other guard, who seemed to be a female.

"Yes, Lyra." said Rarity. "How is the poor darling doing?"

"The commanders keep on taking her in for questioning..." said the one called Lyra. "It's sad, really. Seems like the stress of everything had really gotten to Applejack. She'd been doing nothing but hang around a corner and studying her hooves."

Rainbow Dash sighed. "That's not like Applejack at all." she said to Steven.

"Can you let us in?" asked Bush.

"Wait, you gotta tell us the password first!" said the overexcited one named Rob. "Password!"

"Lemon drop." said Rarity. "Now for the love of all that is holy, PLEASE open the door."

"Yes sir!" said Rob, who immediately shook his head. "Ma'am! Sir!"

Lyra facehoofed (he really should start spreading that word around), and pressed a hoof on the fingerprint scanner, followed by the retina scanning, and finally the voice scanning ("Lemon drops are a certain human sweet I'm rather fond of"). As soon as the whole procedure was complete, the vault wheel began to turn, opening the door.

"Let's go inside." said Rarity. "And try not to let the depression of the place get the best of you. I certainly MUST ask the Leaders to let me redesign this place later on."

Rarity was right- the inside really was depressing. There were cells everywhere, and most of them were empty. In fact, only five of the cells had a living inhabitant.

"What is this place anyway?" asked Steven.

"Maximum Maximum Security." said Fluttershy.

"Two maximums?" asked Steven. "Must be serious."

"Hello there Applejack!" said Rarity, who immediately began to walk to a cell on a far corner of the room.

Steven heard an immediate shuffle of hooves, followed by a loud 'CLANG'.

"Ow!" shouted a female voice. "Oh, howdy do there, guys!"

A southern pony? This world was just... wow. They even got the drawl right.

As they walked all the way to Applejack's cell, Steven had his first look on the pony. And her looks exactly matched her voice- she had an orange coat, a blonde mane and tail tied into ponytails (Paradox!), and freckles on both cheeks. Hell, she was even wearing a stetson! Talk about stereotypes. He wouldn't be surprised if she was good with ropes even without her Roper-Mare persona. The cowgirl pony also looked like she was strong- slim, but strong. And she was not too bad-looking either.

"Hey, Applejack." said Rainbow Dash, in a voice that was more depressed than usual. "How's it hanging?"

Applejack sighed. "Ah'm mighty fine, Rainbow." she said. "Just a bit tired, is all."

"Your nickname is Rainbow?" whispered Steven urgently. "I've been calling you 'Dash' all this time!"

"My friends call me 'Rainbow'." said Rainbow Dash, smiling intimately at him. "Special someponies call me 'Dash'. Or 'Dashie'. But don't call me 'Dashie'."

"Alright." said Steven. "Dashie."

Rainbow Dash playfully punched him, and Steven pretended to be hurt.

"And who're you?" asked Applejack. "The one with the scar."

"Oh, I'm Steven Reilly." said Steven, who pretended to take his hat off for her.

"Nice to meet ya, Steven Reilly!" said Applejack. "Strange name, though. Never heard of a pony called Steven."

"Oh, I used to be human." said Steven. "But recent conditions, well... turned me into a pony! And I don't regret it."

"Well, that' nice." said Applejack. "Ah hope that not all humans are like the one which tried to control me, though."

"Don't worry." said Steven, grinning. "Not all humans are."

"Oh, and did I mention that Steven was now Rainbow Dash's special somepony?" asked Rarity, excitement gleaming in her eyes despite knowing about this for over ten days already.

"Special... Somepony?" asked Applejack, whose smile turned to confusion, and then into anger. "You are... Rainbow Dash's special somepony?"

"Well... Yes." said Steven, who was confused at Applejack's sudden change of tone. "Why?"

Applejack didn't seem to be want to answer that. Instead, she turned to look away.

"Well, it was mighty nice for all of you to visit an' all, but y'all better get going now!" said Applejack, who began to chuckle  and grin uneasily. "Ah've got... erm... things to...um... do? Anyway, see y'all later!"

"But we just got here!" said Rainbow Dash. "C'mon, Applejack!"

Applejack sighed.

"Ah'm sorry, guys." said Applejack. "But ah've got things to think about."

"Come on." said Rarity. "We've got things to do too."

"Applejack..." said Rainbow Dash. "I'm sorry, Applejack."

"It's not yer fault, Rainbow." said Applejack, who was still looking away. Her voice was becoming shaky.

"Guess I'll... see you tomorrow?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Alrighty, then." said Applejack.

"See you, Applejack." said Steven. Applejack didn't reply.

As the group went all the way back to the elevator, they again met with Big Macintosh, who was just starting to go back up as well.

"Upper Level." said Big Macintosh, inside the elevator.

"UPPER FLOOR." said the computer voice. "FLOOR B2."

"Well that was... short." said Steven, breaking the tense silence that followed the computer's voice.

"Sorry about that, Steven." said Fluttershy. "Applejack's usually... very welcoming."

"And what did you mean when you said that you were sorry to Applejack, Rainbow Dash?" asked Rarity.

Rainbow Dash immediately began to blush.

"It was nothing." said Rainbow Dash. "Nothing, really. I was just trying to... um... cheer up Applejack. Yup! I was trying to cheer up Applejack."

"Sure doesn't sound like it, though." said Steven.

"Look, I just said what I said to cheer her up, okay?" said Rainbow Dash. "That's all."

"Dash..." said Steven.

Steven desperately wished to be able to cheer up Rainbow Dash. Ever since the battle, she had been depressed most of the time, and he wanted to find a way to make her smile sincerely again. But how?

"Well, her sister Scootaloo's birthday is tomorrow."

"What?" asked Steven.

"What?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"What?" asked Bush.

"What what?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"You said what first." said Bush.

"No, I said what first." said Steven.

"So what'd you say what for?"

"What for what?" asked Steven.

"No, I meant why'd you ask what." said Bush.

"Because I heard..." said Steven. "Nothing. Nothing, sorry."

Everyone in the elevator looked at Steven strangely.

Am I hearing voices? thought Steven.

"Well of course you aren't!"

"I aren't what?" asked Steven.

"What aren't you what?" asked Fluttershy.

"Is there something wrong, dear?" asked Rarity.

"No..." said Steven, now deep in thought. "Nothing wrong."

Nothing... or everything. thought Steven.

Whose voice was that just now? Certainly a voice he had heard before, but not a voice belonging to anyone in this elevator.

Who are you? thought Steven.

"Who I am? I'm in your saddle pack, you dimwit!"

"Why'd you call me dimwit?" asked Steven.

"Who called you dimwit?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"No one called you dimwit." said Alan.

"Steven... Is there something wrong?" asked Fluttershy, her eyes full of concern.

"Hearing voices... That's certainly something wrong."

Steven began to panic at this moment. Exactly what was talking to him at that moment? It said that it was in his saddle pack, so he had to check it as soon as they reached...

"UPPER LEVEL." said the computer voice. "B2."

"Let's go." said Rarity. "Are you sure you're alright, Steven darling?"

"I'm fine." said Steven, who immediately went outside and looked inside his saddle pack.

"Come on, Steven." said Rainbow Dash. "I'm starved."

Steven continued to look panickedly into his saddle pack, throwing out things like notebooks, pencils in the search of what the hell was talking to him inside his mind. Was he going crazy? No, he would've felt the symptoms of 'crazy' days ago. 'Crazy' just doesn't happen in one second. Does it? Thinking about it was driving him crazy.

But the fact that there was nothing in his saddle pack that could talk drove him even crazier. Was he really just hearing things? No, that was impossible. Was someone hacking into his brain or something? Because everything that was in his saddle pack at the moment were normal, everyday things. Well, most of it were. There was still the strange compass.

"Come on, Steve." said Rainbow Dash.

Steven didn't answer. He opened his compass. As he expected, however, it was still going haywire. What was going on? What does all of this mean? It was so intense.

"Boo."

Steven screamed out at the top of his lungs, threw the compass at the wall, and crawled backwards. The compass... The compass...

"Steve!" said Rainbow Dash, her voice turning urgent. "Are you okay?"

Steven then became conscious of all the other ponies and people who began to stare at him after his little episode. Blushing furiously, he immediately stood up.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." said Steven. "But I got to go back to the room for a while. You just go on ahead first."

"Wha-"

"I'll catch up." finished STeven, who then planted a kiss on Rainbow Dash's cheek. He then quickly gathered up all of his stuff, put it into his saddle pack, and literally galloped all the way to his room.

"O-Okay, then." said Rainbow Dash, still staring at where Steven went.

Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god Oh god... thought Steven as he ran, his muscle memory guiding him, towards his room.

Bedrooms No. 2... Room Number 17...

"Hey, Steven!" shouted a high, female voice.

"AAAH!" shouted Steven, crashing violently onto the wall on his right.

"Woah, there..." said the voice. "Are you alright?"

Steven sighed a sigh of relief. At least it wasn't another bodiless voice. It was Scootaloo.

"Hey there, Scoots." said Steven, picking himself up of the floor.

"You really looked like you were in a hurry." said Scootaloo. "Is there something wrong?"

Steven laughed guiltily. "No, nothing's wrong. And where are Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle?"

"They're off crusading somewhere, I guess." said Scootaloo, pulling back her hair only to have it jump straight back again.. "I'm only the adviser now, so I don't really get to do the crusading. Well, both of them try very hard to make me join them, but there's no point, is there?"

Scootaloo's words surprised Steven. For a kid, she really seemed to have reached a level of maturity much higher than the average one. Could it be that the lack of a parental figure make her understand the hardships of life herself? Or was he just thinking too much.

"Come on, Scootaloo." said Steven. "Even humans have special talents. You should go join them!"

"But what's the use?" asked Scootaloo. "Humans can't get a cutie mark."

"No..." said Steven. "But humans are still very important in their uniqueness, aren't they? The only difference between the talents of ponies and humans is that ponies have an extra mark to show off their talents! Wouldn't it b great, though, to not let a pony know your talents until you show it to them with a BANG?"

"I get it!" said Scootaloo. "Like a surprise!"

"Exactly." said Steven. "And remember this- even though you might not have a mark to show it off, a talent defines a person. Or pony. It's still very important to know your strengths, and your weaknesses."

"I guess I understand." said Scootaloo. "Alright, then! I'll go with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, and we'll find our special talents together! Thanks, Steven!"

"No problem, Scootaloo. Oh, and one question! Is tomorrow your birthday?"

Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "Yes, it is! How did you know?"

And with that, Steven was immediately brought back to Crazytown.

He immediately magicked the key to fit into the hole, and hastily turned it and slammed the door open. He ran into the room, slammed the door back (hoping that it wasn't broken), threw his saddle pack on his bed, and began to pace around his room.

What does this all mean? A compass that was talking to him? A compass can't talk! It can't even think! It doesn't even live!

"I'm right here, you know." said the compass.

Steven must be going crazy. There was no other explanation. A compass just can't talk! Even if you crush it with a tank, it still won't release even the smallest whisper!

"Again, I'm right here, you know." said the compass.

"What are you?" asked Steven, panicking. "Who are you?"

"You mind taking me out of this stuffy bag first? It's really uncomfortable." said the compass.

Steven immediately picked the compass out of the bag and threw it on the ground with a 'thud'.

"Ow!" said the compass. "Compasses have feelings too, you know!"

Steven continued to pace around the room.

"W-What are you?" asked Steven.

"A compass. Duh."

"Come on, give me more information!" demanded Steven.

"Oh, all right." said the compass. "Just wait a minute."

The compass became silent, like taking a deep breath. And then-

"A compass is a navigational instrument that measures directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions (or points) – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined. Usually, a diagram called a compass rose, which shows the directions (with their names usually abbreviated to initials), is marked on the compass. When the compass is in use, the-"

"No, no, NO!" said Steven. "That's not what I meant!"

"Well, you DID ask me what I was." said the compass. "And then you told me to give you more information. How else was I supposed to understand it?"

"You...You have a personality." said Steven, on the verge of crazy laughter.

"Yes." said the compass. "Gosh, they told me you were smart."

"Compasses don't have personalities." said Steven, who began to giggle crazily. "Compasses don't talk. Compasses don't have minds. All this is impossible. I must be going crazy."

"You know... you might be right." said the compass. "You look plenty crazy to me."

"This can't be right." said Steven. "No. This must be a dream! Yes, a dream."

"No it's not." said the compass.

"Then tell me why you are here." said Steven. "And why you are talking to me!"

"Because I CAN?"

"C'mon!" said STeven. "What's your purpose here? WHY are you here? WHY are you with me, right here, at this VERY MOMENT?"

"Oh!" said the compass, sounding relieved. "So that's what you meant."

"So?"

"Well, I'm here to guide you." said the compass.

"Guide me?" asked Steven, now completely confused. "To where?"

"To you father, of course!"

Chapter 22- L'Chaim to Life! And All of its Unpleasant Surprises! (Reilly)

"My...My father?" asked Steven. "You know where my father is?"

"I thought that was pretty clear" said the compass. "I just can't tell you yet."

"Tell me what?" asked Steven, angry now. "If you know where my father is, then by all means, you HAVE TO tell me where he is!"

"It's not time yet!" said the compass. "The time will come, and when it comes, you will know it."

"WHAT?" asked Steven. "I-I don't... Wha..."

"Look, I know you're pretty disoriented right now..." said the compass.

"You think?"

The compass let out what sounded like a sigh.

"You should rest." said the compass. "It'll all be better in the morning."

"BETTER IN THE..." said Steven, grunting. "No... No, thanks to YOU, I am now COMPLETELY unable to even get the slightest BIT of rest! Everything you say just raises even more questions, and there are enough questions already!"

Look at yourself. thought Steven. Screaming at a compass.

"Don't worry!" said the compass. "You're not going crazy."

"Really?" asked Steven. "Because I really think that I am."

"Just... calm down." said the compass.

Steven immediately took deep, broken breaths. He still wasn't sure if this compass really was a figment of his imagination, or if it was really... real. He's usually a very open-minded guy, but a talking compass? No. But then again, this world is magic, so there might be some sense in talking compasses after all. Some unicorn must've bewitched it or something.

"You can talk." said Steven, repeating himself.

"Yes, I can talk." said the compass. "How many times do I have to tell you that before you get it?"

"Sorry..." said Steven, not believing that he was actually apologizing to a compass. "What else can you do?"

"Well..." said the compass. "But please don't freak out. I don't want to have to deal with all that again."

"Alright." said Steven, although he still doubted whether he would freak out or not.

The compass immediately started to shake, first subtly, then violently. Steven didn't know what the compass was trying to do, but he was sure that it wasn't going to make him any saner.

And he was right. The compass immediately began to glow a bright green, and then... It began to float.

Not fly, but float.

"Tada!" said the compass in its annoying, high-pitched tone.

"You can... float?" asked Steven. As much as he wanted to cheer and be amazed, he himself still couldn't believe what he was seeing. A floating compass?

"Not exactly." said the compass, who immediately dropped back to the ground. "It's more like... I can do magic."

"MAGIC?" asked Steven. Dumbfounded didn't even reach the level of 'understatement'.

"Well, yeah." said the compass. "But I can only use this magic to float around, so its probably the same thing. Unless, of course, I find a way to channel that magic somewhere else..."

"This is impossible." said Steven. He started to move towards the compass.

"What are you doing?" asked the compass, rather urgently.

"I need to make sure that you are not a dream." said Steven. He immediately gathered his magic to his hoof, and then he began to crush the compass.

"Bad idea bad idea badideabadideaBADIDEA!"

Almost right after his hoof began to press down on the compass, Steven felt his back break. It was hurting him even more than the time those golems had slammed him to the stone wall. He immediately jumped back, letting go of the compass."

"AAAARRRGH!" screamed Steven. He immediately began to heal himself.

"I told you it was a bad idea." said the compass.

"Wha..." mumbled Steven, who was trying to hold down the pain as his back began to heal. "What was that?"

"Well..." said the compass. "We might kinda sorta have a... link between us."

"A link?" asked Steven.

"My life force is bound to yours." said the compass. "And vice versa."

"Which means that whatever I feel..." said Steven.

"I will feel too." said the compass. "And the same goes to you. We're basically like the same guy!"

"You talk like you're... well, sentient." said Steven. "I've never seen a thing that doesn't breathe, even more so a compass, be so conscious before. It's like you have-"

"A personality of my own?" completed the compass. "It's true. I do have a personality. Yours, to be exact I told you, we're basically the same guy! Funny how chaos works, isn't it? Then again, funny is how chaos is supposed to work, so I guess 'funny' in this context should mean 'normal'. I think."

"H-h-how did you know about Scootaloo's birthday, then?" asked Steven, practically shouting by then. "Even I didn't know about it!"

"Well, not only am I a compass, but I am a walking, talking, informational database." said the compass. "It's my job to know everything there is to know. Factual stuff, that is. I can't read minds. Well, except for yours."

"So...wait." said Steven. "The one who told me the coordinates of Baltimare, the voice in my head that told me... That was you too?"

"That's right." said the compass. "Glad that you're catching up to speed so quickly." It sounded rather sarcastic as it said that.

"I don't believe this!" said Steven, who began banging his head against the wall.

"Oops. Looks like you still haven't quite caught up yet." said the compass, who began to hover around Steven's head.

"There's no doubt that you're real!" shouted Steven. "Although I really wish there was."

"Hey!" said the compass. "That hurt. And there's no need to speak so loudly, I can hear you fine when you speak to yourself. Talking to a compass will make you look crazy."

Steven fell down on his bed, face-first, and began to cover his head with the blanket. Not only did he possess a living, talking, conscious compass, but a complete informational database as well? This was just too much for him to handle.

"So..." said the compass. "What are you planning to give Scootaloo for her birthday?"

Steven's head immediately perked up. The compass was right- Scootaloo's birthday really was tomorrow. And he felt obligated to give her something. She was his girlfriend's sister, after all. But what was he going to give her? Despite them spending lots of time together when he wasn't busy (Steven and Rainbow Dash were rarely left alone by Scootaloo), Scootaloo had always refrained from talking about her hobbies.

"I have no idea." said Steven, shocked to find himself talking casually to the compass. "What do you think?"

"Well, you do have some skill in engineering." said the compass. "And with your new magic, perhaps you can... make her something?"

"Sure I could." said Steven. "But what would I make?"

"A tattoo maker?" suggested the compass. "To make her own cutie mark."

Steven laughed sarcastically. "Right."

"You could ask Rainbow Dash." said the compass.

"I could." said Steven. "But I want it to be a surprise. For both of them."

"Let me guess." said the compass. "You want to make something for Rainbow Dash too?"

Steven was surprised. The compass's social skills might have even surpassed his own. But then again, it might just be reading his mind.

"That's right." said Steven. "So... Any suggestions?"

"Well I can't keep thinking of everything, can I?" asked the compass. "But just think about what you noticed about Scootaloo so far. No, you know what? Don't think. Say it all aloud."

"Well..." said Steven, who for some reason was half-expecting himself to break out into song. But luckily for him and those around him (He was a terrible singer, and Rainbow Dash knew that), he managed to refrain himself.

"Now that I think about it, Scootaloo is very much like her sister, Rainbow Dash." said Steven. "They have the same attitude, the same style, the same way of speaking... Hell, if it wasn't for the hair, they'd look alike, too. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"It narrows down possible gifts." said the compass. "As a scientist, you surely must have used these kinds of methods before!"

"Yeah. Of course." said Steven. The realization of the harsh reality that is a talking compass must have dulled his brain a bit. He was going to have to think out of the box for this. "I can just think about what would be a suitable present for Rainbow Dash, and then maybe I can give a similar gift to Scootaloo."

"And what would be a suitable present for Rainbow Dash, then?"

"I've got a pretty good idea about that." said Steven. "But it's never been done before. And for Scootaloo... I think I've got a pretty good idea about what to give her too."

"Great!" said the compass, who immediately began to float around Steven's head again. "Let's go to the Engineering Lab and make those things."

"Right!" said Steven. "Wait, the Engineering Lab? I don't have the proper authority to enter that."

"I do." said the compass. "Or, at least I can get it."

"You do know that if we get found out... That we'll be dead, right?"

"Of course not!" said the compass. "You'll be dead. Now let's go!"

Steven gulped before opening the door and going out to do his one illegal deed.

________________________________________________________________________________

"A surprise?" asked Scootaloo. "Really?"

"A surprise sounds awesome!" said Rainbow Dash, who was leaning against the wall of her room. "And how did you know it was Scootaloo's birthday, anyway?"

"Lucky guess." said Steven. "But Scootaloo here confirmed my suspicions."

"It looks like all of your lucky guesses turn out to be true." said Rainbow Dash, raising an eyebrow and smiling cutely. "If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought you were a spy."

"Maybe I am." said Steven, moving his head closer to Rainbow Dash's. "But would you care?"

"C'MON, guys!" said Scootaloo, tugging at Rainbow Dash's sleeve. "Let's go let's go let's GO!"

"All right, sis." said Rainbow Dash. "Mind showing us the way, Mr. Spy?"

"No problem..." said Steven. "Dashie."

Rainbow Dash smiled but didn't reply. In fact, she seemed rather sad. Did that nickname really touch a nerve?

"Are you alright?" asked Steven. "I-I'm sorry, I mean... I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine." said Rainbow Dash, slightly choking. "Come on."

Deciding not to question the point further, Steven led the two of them through the Bedrooms, all the way to where he had made the gifts- the Engineering Lab. This was the second illegal thing he had done in the small matter of 12 hours. Sure, it was the same offense, but still.

"Are you sure this is fine?" asked Steven, as quietly as possible.

"As long as you don't make too much noise on the way, the it's fine." said the compass, who is safely floating around his head, apparently invisible. "But once you're there, you can be as loud as the hell you want! It's the Engineering Lab- there's bounds to be noise, and they know that."

The trio (quartet, if you count the compass) quietly moved past the Base, proceeding silently to the Engineering Lab. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash, however, seemed to be enjoying the secrecy.

"It's like we're in a mission!" said Scootaloo. "Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle should've come with us!"

"Yes, I'm very sure that their special talent is espionage." said Steven, fully sarcastic. Those girls couldn't stay quiet for their lives.

"Here we are." said Steven, opening the door to the Engineering Lab with the password ('Cockroach Clusters') and walking into the large, spacey Engineering Lab.

"It's so... dark in here." said Scootaloo, holding on tighter to Rainbow Dash's hand.

"You scared, squirt?" asked Rainbow Dash, to which Scootaloo immediately shook her head, but still held on to Rainbow Dash for dear life.

"Wait, I'll turn on the lights." said Steven. Sure enough, he flipped a switch to reveal a room full of large weapons, vehicles, and other things. Surprisingly, however, there was still a lot of place to walk around... And fly around.

Steven immediately led them behind a large vehicle (a tank, maybe, but not like Black Wesa's), where two figures, hidden under some covers. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash watched with blank faces as Steven moved to uncover one of them.

"Are you ready, Scootaloo?" asked Steven, clenching the tip of the cover with his mouth.

"Ready!" said Scootaloo excitedly.

Steven summoned all of his strength, and he pulled off the cover in one tug. Beneath the covers was a very strange, but sleek and cool, object. There was a thin and narrow platform, and attached to it was a handlebar. But it was just that.

"Wow!" said Scootaloo. "Er... What is it?"

Steven chuckled. "Try climbing it."

Scootaloo hesitantly climb atop the strange object, and put then put both her hands on the handlebar.

"Oh!" said Scootaloo. "It's a scooter!"

"I thought that you would be good with a scooter." said Steven. "Why don't you try to ride it?"

Steven went and pressed a button on the handlebar. Almost immediately, the platform jumped out from the ground... and it didn't fall back. It was floating above the floor.

"Woah!" said Scootaloo, trying to steady herself after the sudden jump. "This is so cool!"

"I bet'cha can't ride a whole round in this place without falling or knocking something over, squirt." challenged Rainbow Dash.

"Oh yeah?" said Scootaloo. She immediately kicked the floor, propelling the scooter forward.

"Wait!" shouted Steven. But it was too late- Scootaloo had already sped forwards.

Steven had forgotten to turn on child safety mode. Scootaloo was now traveling at 160 kmph.

"YYEEEAAAAAAAA!" shouted Scootaloo, who despite  traveling very quickly was still able to steer the newly-made scooter out of any dangerous obstacles. It was fascinating, really, how a child can go that fast and can still keep focus and steer the vehicle correctly. Lucky that Steven had thought of the scooter automatically gripping the rider's hands and feet when it moved (he had to use spare handcuffs, but one's life is definitely worth more than a bit of uncomfortableness).

"Electromagnets?" suggested Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah!" said Steven, impressed that his girlfriend was not only good-looking and athletic, but very smart as well.  "Looks like you're living proof that just 'cause you're an athlete doesn't mean that you have no brains."

"Are you okay?" said Steven. "You don't seem yourself lately."

Rainbow Dash spaced out again. She looked like she was looking back at her memories.

"No, it's just that Twilight had said the same thing before." said Rainbow Dash, who seemed unfocused. But she immediately looked up at Steven with wide, sad eyes.

"Is she going to be okay?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Twilight, I mean."

"It'll take a few more days, but she's a strong pony." said Steven. "She'll get better."

All this time, Scootaloo was still whizzing around the Engineering Lab, shouting screams of joy one second and screams of terror the next. Steven and Rainbow Dash, however, were so engrossed in talking that they seemed to have not heard any of that. But Scootaloo had shown no sign of being in danger. And even if she did, Steven had put in an extra safety function, always on and ready to deploy.

"Good." said Rainbow Dash, who didn't seem too entirely convinced. "Because I would absolutely hate for our last day to be so full of hate and all."

"But you made up in the end, right?" assured Steven. "That should count for something. And don't worry! Twilight will be alright."

Steven didn't know how much truth were in those words he had just said. Twilight would most definitely heal, but he wasn't sure if she would still be the same Twilight as before. Thinking about it made Steven shudder.

"Steven?" said Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah?"

"You know I'm still pretty ticked about yesterday right?" asked Rainbow Dash. "When you suddenly left us for no good reason or explanation?"

"Ah." said Steven. "That."

Should I tell her? thought Steven.

"No!" said the compass. "Not a word!"

Steven stood up straight in surprise. He had forgotten that the compass was still floating around near his head.

"Er..." said Steven, trying to come up with an explanation for yesterday's strange behavior. "I had to go... to the... bathroom?"

"Is that a question or an answer?" asked Rainbow Dash, looking at him sternly.

"Both, really..." said Steven.

Rainbow Dash smiled at him.

"Kidding." said Rainbow Dash. "Your 'strange' quirks are totally fine with me. That's one of the things I love most about you."

Steven was at a loss. What was he supposed to say? Had he ever been told this before?

Of course he had. And no prizes for guessing who said it.

Head filling up with bittersweet memories and desperate to change the subject, Steven immediately spotted Scootaloo running all over the place, her control over the scooter being little to non-existent.

"I... better stop Scootaloo before she gets hurt." said Steven, who immediately left.

"Oh..." said Rainbow Dash, sounding confused and hurt. "Okay."

Steven immediately ran up in front of Scootaloo, and then he put all of his weight on his back hooves as he raised his forehooves to stop the scooter in the worst case scenario.

"Scootaloo, press the red button on the handlebar!" said Steven.

"They're all red buttons!" screamed a frantic Scootaloo.

"The one closest to your right thumb!" said Steven. The scooter was getting awfully close.

"WAAAAAAAH!" shouted Scootaloo as the scooter suddenly began to slow down drastically. Steven hoped that it would fully stop before it reached him.

The scooter was very close. Steven closed his eyes, ready for the oncoming impact...

Boop.

The scooter didn't crash into him. It just lightly touched his nose.

Steven opened his eyes to see himself staring into the face of a terrified, shivering Scootaloo. Her eyes were wide and her teeth were chattering. But in a split-second, that face was transformed into an over-excited, happy face that made it seem like everything in the world had just gone right for her.

"Thank you thank you THANK YOU, Steven!" said Scootaloo, hugging Steven while still standing on the scooter. "This is the best birthday present ever!"

The scooter's handlebar was pressing very painfully against Steven's throat. He needed to say something to make sure that Scootaloo releases him quickly, or he might never speak again.

"No problem, Scoots." said Steven. Having to breathe, let alone speak was extremely painful.

Luckily for Steven, though, Scootaloo only waited for a couple more seconds before letting go of his neck and going back to her sister with her new scooter in tow.

"What's the other one for?" asked Rainbow Dash, pointing at the other, smaller figure.

"You." said Steven. He then moved to uncover the smaller object.

"Me?" repeated Rainbow Dash, dazed.

Steven then pulled off the other cover- it didn't need that much effort, as it was smaller. But smaller didn't necessarily mean less awesome, right? Sometimes, it could even be more awesome! And under the covers was...

A small, steel, box.

Rainbow Dash either didn't try or was completely failing at hiding her disappointment. Steven just raised an eyebrow and smiled, amused.

"Well?" asked Steven, hoping to get some fun out of this before actually getting to the point.

"It's...um..." said Rainbow Dash, forcing a smile. "It's a box. Made of steel. It's... something."

"I knew since the moment that I started to build it that you would like it!" said Steven, who began to edge closer to the box.

"I don't get it." said Rainbow Dash, whose smile had completely disappeared to be replaced by a look of complete and utter confusion..

Steven grabbed the box with his mouth and walked over to Rainbow Dash.

"We're going to need to ask Rarity to make a hole right there." said Steven. Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo exchanged uneasy glances.

"But we're going to have to make do." said Steven. "Take off your hoodie."

"WHAT?" asked Rainbow Dash, who jumped back, looking violated.

"I have to attach this to your back." said Steven. "Aren't you wearing anything inside?"

"Well... yeah, but..." mumbled Rainbow Dash, blushing furiously. She then reluctantly began to take off her suspenders and then her hoodie, revealing a very tight, short, black half-shirt barely covering the top half of her slender body.

Steven felt his face become hot as well. He knew that Rainbow Dash wasn't wearing much underneath her hoodie, but he didn't think that it would be THAT little.

"This is strictly between us, right?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"This early in the morning?" asked Steven. "I guarantee that no one is going to come in."

Steven then quickly attached the box to Rainbow Dash's back and adjusted it with his hoof. It had to be perfectly straight up. He could feel Rainbow Dash's bashful and confused stare on his face as he fixed the box, but he pretended (his increasing blush not helping at all) not to notice.

He then quickly picked up the two square patches that came with the box and attached it to both sides of Rainbow Dash's forehead. He could feel Rainbow Dash's short, hot breaths on his neck as he did so. He really wanted to make this girl happy.

"Now, think, as loudly as you can, the word 'open'." said Steven.

"Can't I just say it out loud?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Say what out loud?" asked Steven.

"Open."

Immediately, something began to grow out of the box that Steven had attached to Rainbow Dash's back. At first glance, it was nothing. But in a matter of milliseconds, the box completely transformed into beautiful, cyan...

"Wings!" said Rainbow Dash, the smile on her face growing wider and wilder every second.

"Do you still remember how to fly?" asked Steven.

"Do I?"

"Now remember, these wings might feel a bit different to your old wings, since I've never known what wings felt like, so be carefu-"

It was too late. Rainbow Dash was now high in the Engineering Lab sky, performing tricks and maneuvers while shouting out screams of joy and elation.

"WOOHOO!" shouted Rainbow Dash, doing twists and turns in the sky with her new wings. She seemed to be getting the hang of things pretty quickly.

"I got my wings back! I got my wings back!" sang Rainbow Dash, leaving a rainbow trail (which was hell for Steven to develop) as she flew freely around the Engineering Lab.

Steven watched in amazement as Rainbow Dash did all the daring tricks that she had only told him about in stories and memories. Of course, she wasn't magic anymore, so half the tricks in her book was wiped out completely. But it was a nice change for Steven to see his lover so happy and so... free.

But Rainbow Dash really was amazing. She gracefully dived in and out of tough spots like it was nothing, twirled around thin objects in perfect circles while smiling relaxedly, and made sharp turns at the last minute as if it was no problem at all. And she didn't seem to want to land.

Of course, this was still an early prototype, so it was still dangerous to stay up in the sky for too long. But Rainbow Dash should have her fun- everyone knows the past few days had been nothing but horrible to her. And flying seemed to make her happy again, as if she had just regained a long-lost sibling.

Before he knew it, Steven was staring, completely fascinated, at Rainbow Dash.

"I guess I do tend to have that effect on ponies." said Rainbow Dash, finally landing back on the ground.

Steven just gawked at her. Rainbow Dash laughed and walked over to him.

"You're amazing." Steven finally said. "You're loyal, brave, confident, dedicated... And that's why I love you."

"Oh shut up, you." said Rainbow Dash, who then planted her lips on his. Only now did Steven realize how much he missed kissing Rainbow Dash. It was pure bliss. But something caught Rainbow Dash's eye, and she immediately pulled away.

"What's wrong?" asked Steven, much more disappointment in his tone than he had hoped.

Rainbow Dash didn't answer. Instead, she lightly pulled Steven's mane out of his left eye, which Steven had deliberately tried to hide. He winced.

"Oh no..." said Rainbow Dash, covering her mouth.

"It's just a small bruise." said Steven. In truth, however, even the lightest touch hurt his eye. He got it when he was testing out the wings, falling down from about thirty metres up in the sky. He was too tired to heal the bruise, and all his magic had been used to make and fix his creations.

"It's not only that..." said Rainbow Dash, tears forming in her eyes. "You're hurt everywhere!"

Steven looked away, not daring to look at Rainbow Dash's eyes.

"I can't believe I didn't notice this before!" said Rainbow Dash. "I feel terrible now... Enjoying myself at your expense..."

"It's fine, Rainbow Dash." said Steven. "It really is. I just need a wink of sleep, and then I'll be fine. Come here."

Steven touched his forehead onto hers, and looked deeply into her wide, pink eyes.

"I love you, and no amount of pain is going to change that." said Steven.

"I..." said Rainbow Dash. "I love you too, Steven. I love you a lot"

And they kissed again. Not as fiercely, but just as passionately. Steven could hear a chorus of 'Awww's in his head, followed by some loud clapping.

But there was one problem.

The clapping and the 'Awww's didn't stop.

"Bravo!" cried out a familiar voice.

Steven and Rainbow Dash immediately pulled away from each other and looked to the source of the voice.

Their whole group, save for Big Macintosh and Twilight, was standing there and applauding them. Hell, even the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Alan, and that librarian (Barbara, was it?) were there! There was practically a whole crowd there!

Steven and Rainbow Dash began to blush furiously. Rainbow Dash immediately put her hoodie back on, and both of them shared uneasy glances before looking up at their friends.

"That was... beautiful!" said Barbara, wiping a tear off her eye.

"Wonderful job, man." said Alan. "I nearly shed tears too."

"You really are the romantic type, aren't you, Rainbow Dash?" asked Rarity. "I knew it!"

"H-h-how did you guys get here?" asked Steven.

"Scootaloo called us." said Bush. "Said something about Rainbow Dash doing some amazing tricks, and that we all should come and watch."

"B-but how did you get in?"

"Hello?" said Alan, showing the I.D. card that was pinned to a white shirt he was wearing. "I work here? In the creative department, but I work here nonetheless."

"You saw... everything?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Right after Steven told you why he loved you." said Fluttershy, who was surprisingly blushing as much as Steven and Rainbow Dash. "It was so... nice."

The three kids then came up to them and started chanting something about 'Special Someponies'.

This was going to be a long day.

Just then, Steven felt a searing pain in his horn. He stumbled backwards, his eyes screwed to hold in the pain.

"Woah." said Bush. "We didn't mean to hurt you, mate. Just a bit of fun, is all."

"It's not... you guys." said Steven, talking in between flashes of pain.

"HELLO?" said a large voice in his head.

"Is it you, compass?" asked Steven.

"Not me." said the compass, still floating around his head. Did the compass feel everything Steven was feeling? "Must be somebody else."

"HELLO?" repeated the voice.

"Who is it?" asked Steven, rather painfully.

"THIS IS THE NURSE." said the voice. "NURSE REDHEART? STEVEN, YOU NEED TO COME TO THE CLINIC IMMEDIATELY."

"Why?" asked Steven, knowing that all of his friends were probably watching him like he was crazy at this point. But that pain was just too much to bear. "Is there something wrong?"

"I DON'T KNOW." said the voice.

"You don't know?" said the nurse. 'What does that mean?"

"IT'S YOUR FRIEND, TWILIGHT." said the voice. "SHE'S REGAINED CONSCIOUSNESS, BUT SHE'S NOT LOOKING WELL. YOU HAVE TO COME DOWN HERE IMMEDIATELY!"

Just then, the pain, and the voice died out. Steven was left lying on the floor. The cheeriness of the place had completely died out.

"What happened?" asked Alan. "You were all fine, then you started to writhe on the floor and talk to yourself. Is there something we should know?"

"We have to go down to the clinic." said Steven, picking himself up off the floor. "Now."

"Why?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"It's Twilight." said Steven. "She might either be getting better, or she might be in great trouble."

And Steven was hoping, in the deepest recesses of his heart, that it wasn't the latter.

Chapter 23- Bed-And-Breakfast (Twilight)

"Urngh..." said Twilight, slowly opening her eyes.

Her head hurt. Really badly.

Barely managing to sit up, Twilight pressed one hoof down on her forehead and began to rub it in circular motions. No effect. Looks like the pain is there to stay.

What happened?

It didn't take too long to figure that out. She immediately felt a rush of energy come over her, and the intense pain in her head was completely forgotten.

Applejack! Where Applejack?

But as suddenly as she began to panic, Twilight felt a strange calm fall over her.

Am I dead?

It certainly seemed so. She felt like something was weighing her down, making it hard for her to move easily. It really seemed like she was in the realm of the dead.

Applejack had killed her.

But Twilight had saved Applejack. She had freed her PFF from the clutches of the evil humans. She only wished now that the others would come to accept her.

Her only regret now... was not being able to see Pinkie again. One last time.

She laughed to herself. Since when did she become so dramatic? That wasn't Twilight at all.

Now that Twilight didn't have much else to think about, she began to take a good view of her surroundings. She immediately took all of it in.

It wasn't hard, considering that she was floating in the middle of a black nothingness. She wasn't able to see, hear, or feel anything except for her breathing.

Is this what being dead feels like? Do I have to spend eternity in this place?

"Don't kid yourself." said a voice from afar. "You're not dead."

"Discord!" growled Twilight. Her deep hatred of the chaos-wreaking draconequus forced her to remember his alluring, sarcastic, voice.

"Discord, huh?" said the voice. "I really put that much of an impression on you, eh?"

Twilight didn't answer. She just frantically looked around for the source of the voice. But it was useless- she wasn't able to see him even if he was standing nose-length from her.

But the draconequus then did something that Twilight did not expect. He appeared.

He appeared, for the first time since she and her friends had defeated him with the Elements of Harmony. Twilight immediately felt saddened- she wondered what her friends were doing right now. What happened to Applejack? What happened to Pinkie Pie? What about Spike? She missed them all.

No! thought Twilight. No emotions, Twilight Sparkle! He'll use them against you!

But Discord was right in front of her. He was not doing anything.

He, in all of his chaotic greatness, was standing still far away from her. But the way he appeared was, well, strange.

Twilight was able to look at Discord and she could notice all of his features- his paw, his claw, his horns and tail... Yet there was no light about them. No light entering or exiting where they were. But Twilight could still see Discord, clear as day.

But he looked different.

No, he looked exactly the same. Those irregularly shaped eyes, those strange hands, those crazy horns and that evil tail... Everything about Discord looked exactly the same as she saw them the last time.

But those eyes were sad and weary. Those hands were drooped down. Those horns looked soft and saggy. And that tail seemed to bear down on the rest of the body like a heavy weight. He might look exactly the same...

Yet they were completely different. That Discord was always smiling or grinning, always moving about in glee.

This Discord...

Looked like he had lost all hope. Like he had no more reason to live.

No, Twilight! she scolded herself. This is obviously a trick! A trick! Nothing more!

But not even Discord was that good an actor...

"Twilight Sparkle." said Discord, in his normal, sarcastic voice. "Element of Magic." Discord began to move closer to Twilight.

"What have you done?" asked Twilight angrily. "What is it this time? Did you spark the war? Did you make the planets collide? WHAT DID YOU DO?"

"The last time we met, I had almost made you kill one of your best friends." said Discord, who apparently had chosen to ignore Twilight's previous words. "I'm sorry for that."

"Yeah, you're sorry." grunted Twilight. "And all is forgiven. Is that what you expected? HE ALMOST DIED! And it's all because YOU manipulated me to!"

DIscord let out an audible sigh.

"I can feel your anger, Twilight Sparkle." said Discord. "I thought it could go away, but your hatred for me runs too deep. I guess that is my fault too."

Twilight felt taken aback. It wasn't only what he said, but the way he said it didn't resemble Discord at all. He usually addresses her very casually. But this time... This time his voice was full of sadness and regret. Much like how Twilight was feeling at the moment. And after all that, Twilight could feel something that he had never felt before when talking to Discord. Something compelling. Something powerful.

Truth.

But Twilight chose to disregard that. Discord was trying to get into her head... she knew it!

"You are not dead, Twilight Sparkle." said Discord, pacing in front of the unmoving Twilight. "In fact, you will wake up very soon to see your closest friends about you, waiting for you to awaken."

Discord looked into Twilight's

"Trust in them. Even if you don't want to believe anything else I say, it is important to follow this last piece of advice. Trust in them."

Discord then snapped his fingers, opening a strange, completely white portal to his right.

"Until we meet again." said Discord, entering the portal. "Arrivederci."

As soon as Discord left, Twilight began to convulse and shake violently. It all happened so quickly, like a flash, and Twilight wasn't able to take in what was happening. Before she knew it, she felt herself, and the world around her, explode.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Look! She's stirring!"

"I can't believe it! I thought it would take much longer to heal everything!"

"C'mon, this is Twilight we're talking about! The best, most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria!"

"I guess so. Do you think she can hear us?"

"Ah don't know. Twilight! Helloooo, Twilight! Can ya hear us?"

"I don't think she can answer you right now, Apple Bloom."

"Guys, look! Her eyes are beginning to open!"

"And her ears are twitching! Is that normal?"

"I have no idea. I hope she's fine, though. She was beaten up pretty badly back there."

"Twilight? Are you alright? Can you see me?"

Twilight's vision started to become clearer. She felt the voices around her begin to clear up as well. He head became lighter, and her heart began to clear up as well. For the first time in what felt ling a long time, she was happy. She was alive. She was with the ones she cared for the most.

Twilight's vision soon completely cleared up, and she found herself looking into a friendly face. A very friendly face.

"Hey, guys." said Twilight, much more weakly compared to her feelings.

"Twilight!" said a soft, gentle voice. She turned to see Fluttershy pounce on her bed and... sit there.

"I'm really glad you're okay!" said Fluttershy, sounding excited but somehow still maintaining to keep that gentle voice.

Without a second thought, Twilight jumped out of her bed and hugged Fluttershy. Twilight felt Fluttershy tense up for a while before hugging Twilight back. They maintained the embrace for a short while before finally pulling apart.

"Hello, Fluttershy." said Twilight. She was feeling very emotional- she had no idea how much she missed her friends. It was such a short while, but she had been thinking all that time that she was never going to see them again. She let out a small, shy giggle.

"What's so funny?" asked Rainbow Dash, who moved to hug her as well. Fluttershy was still sitting on her bed, smiling- no, grinning happily.

"Nothing, nothing..." said Twilight, who hugged Rainbow Dash back. It didn't really seem long, but she missed her friends so much! It's strangely fascinating how their logical mindset ('I'm dead, so I can't associate with the living') could affect their emotions ('I can't ever see my best friends again? NOOOO!') so much. She again giggled to herself

"It just feels really great to be able to see you guys again!" said Twilight. "I really thought that I had no chance of living back there."

The whole group immediately fell quiet. Steven, however, was quick to break the piercing silence.

"We seriously didn't expect you to be able to heal so quickly." he said, obviously still excited. "I thought you were going to have to stay here for a few more weeks, actually. I usually don't believe in miracles, but hey! I have never believed in magic before, have I?"

Something about what Steven had said struck Twilight as strange.

A few more weeks?

"How long have I been in here?" asked Twilight, her grin slowly beginning to drop.

"Ten days." said Fluttershy.

TEN DAYS?

"No, that's eleven days, now. Does today count? Because I counted today. I'm sorry, please don't get angry!" rambled Fluttershy

Not ten days? Oh, okay then.

ELEVEN DAYS?

Twilight felt as if she had only been hanging around in that 'dead space' for about less than an hour or two. But eleven days? She hadn't expected that!

But then again, she WAS beaten to near-death. Or possibly beyond that.

"Don't kid yourself. You're not dead."

Was it true? Was she never dead in the first place? All this thinking was starting to hurt Twilight's head. She had just woken up after... wait, how many days was that again? Oh yeah. ELEVEN DAYS, after all.

"I was very anxious, darling." said Rarity, who Twilight just realized was brushing her mane. "I could hardly get any of my much-needed beauty sleep since the battle! Now look at my puffy eyes!"

"We wer' all anxious." said Big Macintosh, who looked like he came to join them late. "And we're all glad that yer right as rain."

"Big Macintosh!" gasped Twilight intuitively. She wanted to ask more about how he was coping and all, but she somehow couldn't find the courage to.

"Berry's funeral was yesterday." said Big Macintosh, who seemed to have read Twilight's face rather accurately. "A great send-off, no less."

Twilight was glad that Big Macintosh was taking all of this so nicely. She would kill to get emotional stability of his level.

"Big Mac's been drinking a lot lately." whispered Fluttershy under her breath. "I'm really worried about the poor stallion."

Twilight turned to look at Fluttershy, shocked. Was she... Is she...

No, romance isn't really Fluttershy's style.

Then again, the quiet ones are usually the craziest. Twilight mulled over the thought for a bit before going back to her friends.

"So what've you guys been doing since then?" said Twilight, not having to specify when she meant by 'then'.

"You know, the usual things." said Bush, who had 'tip recently said absolutely nothing. Twilight had begun to miss his 'Down Under' accent. "Except that we all had to do our share of repairing and cleaning up."

"Oh, and dear Steven comes down here everyday for the last ten days to heal you up." said Rarity, almost freeing Twilight's mane from the clutches of the evil bed-clamp. "He spends several hours here, healing you up, repairing your bones and all. He's such the gentlecolt."

Twilight saw Steven blush at the corner of her eye. He really was humble for somepony of his intelligence and power. Twilight immediately felt a rush of gratitude fall over her. How many of her lives did she owe to Steven at this point again? She had already lost count.

Twilight immediately jumped up (knocking Fluttershy off the bed with a soft "Oomph!") and hugged Steven tightly.

"Thanks, Steven." said Twilight. "Even after all I did..."

"It was nothing, really." said Steven. "No problem at all. And I already told you that I forgave you, right? So don't talk about that ever again, for both our sakes."

Twilight remained hugging Steven. She was grateful- grateful for everything. Grateful for being able to have so many wonderful friends, for having all the time in the world to spend with them, and for being able to share all her experiences with them as well. She had never thought about this before, but Twilight really was one lucky pony.

"Okay, hands off my boyfriend now." said Rainbow Dash, a sly grin and a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "You've had your fun."

Twilight winked back at Rainbow Dash, and then turned to face her group of friends. All of them were smiling at her, happy and relieved at the same time. But Twilight couldn't help but notice one friendly face missing- A friendly far that was supposed to be there. And it bothered her to no end.

"Where's Applejack?" asked Twilight.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Mrs. Twilight, you are nowhere near strong enough to go to the dungeons right now!" said Nurse Redheart, trying to pull Twilight back under the covers.

"No!" shouted Twilight, who was struggling against the Nurse's hooves. "I... have...to talk to her!"

"Don't be such a wanker, Twilight! You have all the time in the world to talk to her later." said Bush, who joined Nurse Redheart's efforts to keep Twilight down. "Right now, you still need your rest!"

Twilight was putting up a huge fight against these ponies, and she was still nowhere near giving up. She had to talk to Applejack. And the need to do that managed to outweigh the strength her friends used to try and hold her down.

"Twilight..." said Fluttershy, who was trying to hold her down as well. She was sobbing loudly. "Please stay down..."

"I... CAN'T!" screamed Twilight, who was able to push away Bush. She summoned up all the magic she had left, and she successfully teleported in front of the clinic door, letting Fluttershy and the nurse bump their heads violently against each other. But Rarity and Bush were already there, and they push Twilight back. Twilight fell on her flank, and Bush and Rarity held down both of her forehooves.

"Enough of this!" said Big Macintosh. He pulled away the rest of the ponies trying to keep Twilight down. "Ah agree with Twilight."

"Big Macintosh!" shouted Rarity. "Twilight is in no condition to-"

"No." said Big Macintosh, gently but sternly. "Ah'm sure all of you would agree with me when ah say that Twilight is mighty healthy. Healthy enough to hold herself up against all of you and still win."

Twilight felt Bush and Rarity loosen their grip on her. She immediately jumped back up, pushing back her two attackers onto the floor. They fell back with a 'thud', and Twilight almost felt sorry for them.

"Ah think it would be better for the both of them in Twilight goes and meets AJ." said Big Macintosh.

"I think so too." said Steven. "She might've healed quickly, but she did heal. Much better than I thought, nonetheless."

Twilight shot both Big Macintosh and Steven grateful looks, and then she ran towards the elevator that would lead her to the Dungeons (Fluttershy had been careless enough to completely divulge every detail before she tried to escape), and thus to Applejack.

She immediately pressed the 'call' button for the elevator, and with a loud 'ding', the elevator doors opened. Twilight entered, and the first thing she noticed was how spacey the elevator was. It must be used for transporting a large amount of ponies and people at a time.

"Um..." said Twilight. "Dungeons?"

"DUNGEONS." said a strange, female voice. Twilight had expected this, but she still jumped back in surprise. "FLOOR B7."

She immediately felt the elevator begin to move, and she stood there, awaiting for the elevator to reach their destination. Of course, back in Equestria, there was no such thing as elevators- it was a completely human idea. She thought it fascinating how humans were able to cope without magic- How will the sun rise and set? How do they power their vehicles and machines? How do they send their letters to each other?

But her thoughts about the subject quickly subsided when she began to think about where she was going to.

Applejack.

Out of the rest of her best friends, Twilight had always felt closest to the roughest, toughest pony in the group. Perhaps it was because Applejack was her very first friends in Ponyville. No, scratch that. Her very first friend, ever. Except for Spike, but he didn't count- he was more like family to her than a friend.

Where was Spike, anyway? She hadn't seen her dear assistant since the crash. She wasn't worried, though. Dragons are supposed to be very long-lived beings, topped only by perhaps alicorns and phoenixes (who were both immortal). Dragon scales were also the toughest material one can get. It would reflect anything- flying projectiles, lasers, anything. Twilight wasn't worried about Spike being alive or not.

What she was worried about, though, was how and where he was right then.

Had he been captured? Is he being experimented on like she was? There were so many unanswerable questions, and Twilight tried to force herself away from the subject. It was far too painful.

Swearing to go find Spike as soon as possible, her mind drifted back to Applejack. Why was she in the Dungeons? Sure they were scared, but Twilight had already given it her all to get Applejack to normal; release the control Black Wesa had over her. She felt sorry for Applejack. Her friends have told her about everyone questioning her all the time, and how rough it must have been for her. Twilight was dead sure that Applejack had never faced that kind of pressure before. She was always the honest, all-for-justice type. Until now, she definitely had never been in prison

Most people would think it to be ironic that her very first friend would be the one to kill her in the end, the last face she would ever see. This was the stuff of books! Well, maybe not books, but stories nonetheless. Fanfiction level, maybe? Whatever the matter, Twilight's desire to see Applejack just kept growing. She hadn't seen her for such a long time!

"DUNGEONS." said the mechanized female voice, startling Twilight once again. "FLOOR B7."

Knowing that she could never get used to the idea of artificial things speaking to her, Twilight immediately escaped the confines of the elevator. There was one corridor going straight ahead, with many rooms on both sides. It looked like a normal corridor, like one would find if they stayed at an inn, but Twilight could sense the sadness and despair in it. Her spirits  quickly began to dampen.

And Applejack's been here for ten days. In the maximum maximum security room, no less.

She quickly walked through the corridor, not wanting to stay any longer in that place. It was downright depressing. She was almost galloping through the corridor. It saddened her even more when she found out that the corridor was indeed really long.

Twilight looked back. The elevator was almost out of sight. Fluttershy said that the door to the maximum maximum security clearance should be right in front of her by now. Twilight snapped her head back to the corridor, and-

BAM!

Twilight felt her forehead flatten as she crashed against one of the hardest surfaces she had ever crashed on before. And that was saying something.

"Freeze!" shouted a male voice.

"Oh my goodness!" said a female voice. "Twilight!"

Twilight faced back up again. Why were there little birds and stars flying around her head? She dazedly tried to catch one of them, but her hoof always landed on thin air.

"Put that gun down!" said the female voice. Twilight heard a faint clip-clopping of hooves before she felt something warm touch her chest.

"Her body's still working fine." said the female voice, and Twilight felt the warmth leave her chest. "But I don't know how much her head has been affected."

Hearing that, Twilight immediately shook her head a little too violently (she could feel what seemed like her brain crashing to both sides of her skull), and looked straight at the two voices.

One was a pony. And the other... a human.

"She sure looks okay." said the male voice... the human. "But why's she staring at us like that?"

"Twilight?" said the female voice. The pony. "Are you there? Clop your hooves once if you can hear me."

"And twice if you can't." said the male voice.

"Why would she clop twice if she can't even hear you in the first place?" asked the female voice, a little more than angry.

"It's a psychological thing." said the male voice. "I read it in a book somewhere."

Twilight raised a hoof and sent it crashing back down to the floor, mostly to stop that infernal arguing.

"Twilight!" said the pony, whose face came into view. "Are you okay?"

"Lyra?" asked Twilight, who raised a hoof and felt around the pony's face. "Is that you?"

Lyra shifted around uncomfortably.

"Hello, Twilight." said Lyra. "Do you need to go to the clinic?"

Twilight shook her head again, escaping from her terrible daze.

"Oh no!" said Twilight. "I'm so, so sorry, Lyra!"

"There you go." said Lyra. "Hi, Twilight."

"Oh my goodness..." said Twilight. "I'm really sorry..."

"No problem." said Lyra. "I'm just glad to see you walking around again. Here to see Applejack?"

"Yeah." said Twilight, smiling uncomfortably. "It's really important."

"WAIT!" said the human, pointing his gun, once again, at Twilight. "The password!"

"Come on, Rob." said Lyra, making a huge deal of rolling her eyes. "She's okay."

"No!" said Rob. "Not okay! What if she's a spy?"

"She's not a spy!" said Lyra, who then began to talk in whispers. "Just humor him. Do you know the password?"

Twilight was now stuck in an uncomfortable position. She didn't know the password. Rainbow Dash had mentioned something about some kind of human candy, but she had forgotten it completely. What is she going to do now? What if they lock her up as some kind of spy? Sure, that would give her plenty of time to talk to Applejack, but what then?

"Lemon Drops." said Steven, from right behind her.

"Very well." said Rob, who then looked at a small machine next to the door and started talking to it. Humans and their strange machines. What will they think of next?

"How did you know I was here?" asked Twilight.

"Fluttershy said something about us not telling you the password yet." said Steven. Twilight knew that there was more to just that- Fluttershy would've rambled on about what was going to happen, how worried she was, how I would feel, then how she would feel, et cetera et cetera. Twilight immediately began to picture the moment in her head.

"Oh no! We haven't told Twilight the password yet! What if she doesn't know? Then she'll go down there, and then the guards will ask her for the password, then she wouldn't be able to tell, then the guards will lock her up in jail and then we'd have to visit her everyday then she'll keep on talking about how miserable she was and it'll be all my fault! I'm so sorry, please don't hate me..."

Twilight giggled to herself at that thought. Twilight wouldn't have been surprised if Steven came all the way down here just to stop Fluttershy talking.

"What's so funny?" asked Steven.

"Nothing." said Twilight. "Just Fluttershy being... Fluttershy..." Twilight's mood continued to dampen down. Pinkie Pie was still missing as well. Applejack, who was in Black Wesa all that time, might have some answers.

"The doors opening." said Twilight. "Why don't you come in with me?"

"No, I shouldn't." said Steven. "This is your chance to talk to her. Besides, she um... She doesn't like me very much."

"Applejack?" scoffed Twilight. "Not like you? She likes everypony! And both of you are, like, the most likeable ponies around! What could you have done to make her not like you?"

"Thing is, I don't know." said Steven. "She was warm at first, then Rarity said something, and she started to stare at me. Angrily. And besides, I haven't gotten much sleep last night, so I have to go and rest. I'll see you later?"

"Okay." said Twilight. She could hardly believe that Steven's friendliness with her hadn't been strained at all since that time. Twilight really was lucky to have friends like them.

Steven had turned back to the elevator, so Twilight entered the maximum maximum security room. Two maximums must be really serious.

"Be careful in there, Twilight." said Lyra as soon as Twilight entered the doorway. "Applejack is the only trustable one in there."

"I'll keep that in mind." said Twilight. "Thanks."

"Always welcome." said Lyra, who pressed a button and closed the door. Twilight could hear large clicks come out from the door, and she knew that it had been locked. Maximum maximum indeed.

She slowly trotted through the cells, looking left and right for Applejack. Instead, all she saw were disgraced humans and ponies, sitting in a corner, wallowing in shame. It would be sad to see Applejack like this.

And you won't! Applejack will remain strong, no matter what! She's Applejack, after all!

But where was she, anyway? Twilight kept on looking, picking up the pace, for where Applejack was. But she was nowhere to be found.

"Applejack?" whispered Twilight, very afraid of this place. There was absolutely no response.

She kept on going, though. She was going to find Applejack, and nothing can stop her! Once Twilight Sparkle resolves to do something, you can count on her to do it!

But it still was really scary.

She was nearing the end of the corridor. Feeling despaired, Twilight took a look at the cell to her right- the last cell in that place, made to keep only the most criminal of criminals. Instead, however, she saw...

"Applejack?"

The figure lying on the floor shifted a little, but didn't move.

"Applejack, is that you?"

The figure then immediately jumped out, revealing the strong, but slim orange figure of Applejack.

"Twilight?" said Applejack, turning around to face her. As soon as she saw Twilight's face, however, Applejack immediately sprang to life, actually jumping the long distance to the cell bars.

"Applejack!" said Twilight. Looking into her friend's eyes, her friend's real eyes, brought upon her a whole bunch of emotions that she had never seen coming. No! She was going to be strong, for Applejack's sake! She was not going to make her feel guilty in any way! She managed, albeit barely, to hold back her tears.

But she didn't need to.

Applejack was crying her eyes out, right in front of Twilight. Twilight was shocked to see the most stable of her friends show all of her emotions like this. Twilight had never seen her in this kind of state before. Her mane, although normally dirty, was now all over the place, the band that keeping it together barely hanging on. Her face was full of mud, and it looked like she didn't even bother to clean them at all. Twilight felt a tear run down her cheek as she saw Applejack crying like that.

"Twilight..." said Applejack, hardly managing to let out the words. "Ah...ah thought... ah thought you..."

"I'm fine, Applejack." said Twilight.

"Ah-ah'm so sorry!" said Applejack, completely breaking down. "Ah thought ah had... killed you..."

Twilight gently shushed Applejack, putting a hoof on her cheek and slowly stroking it. Applejack looked up at Twilight's face, both of them sobbing together. Twilight was smiling.

"I told you already, haven't I?" asked Twilight, still stroking Applejack's cheek. "I forgive you, Applejack."

"But ah can't forgive mahself!" shouted Applejack, looking down at her own hooves. "Not after what ah did. Ah should just be locked up here, locked up in this $#!%hole ferever."

"No, Applejack." said Twilight, silently laughing. Applejack always sounds funny when she swears. "I keep telling you, and I'll always tell you, that I forgive you. Nothing's going to change that. You're my best friend, Applejack. You know what that means."

For the first time since she last saw Applejack, the cowpony began to smile.

"Ah guess so..." said Applejack, pulling away from Twilight's hoof and walking back into the dark corners of the cell. Not long later, though, she came back, her favorite hat on her head again. She almost looked like how she usually did. Almost.

Twilight then began to gather up her magical energy again.

"What are ya doin', Twi?" asked Applejack, quickly standing back.

"I'm going in there." said Twilight. She immediately felt herself turn into a spectral form, and she easily walked through the bars to Applejack's cell.

"No, Twilight!" said Applejack. "What if they still have control over-"

"I'm pretty sure I did a good job of getting rid of that." said Twilight, materializing in Applejack's cell.

Applejack jumped back and closed her eyes. After some waiting, though, she hesitantly began to open her eyes. Upon knowing that she was now able to see Twilight without wanting to rip her to pieces and step on them, Applejack dove into Twilight.

"Twilight!" said Applejack, resting her head on Twilight's shoulder. "Ah missed you."

"Ah missed you too, AJ." said Twilight, hugging Applejack back. She could feel her friend's sobbing against her shoulder, and her tears streaming down her coat. In normal circumstances, this would've been annoyed by this. But right now, she couldn't care less. She wanted to be there for her friend. She slowly began to pat Applejack's back.

Twilight and Applejack stayed locked in this tight embrace, both ponies crying into each other's shoulders, for a very long time. Neither of them could care less if a guard happened to walk by them or if anyone wanted to watch them. That seemed like such a small, unimportant thought at the time.

Twilight felt her heart go faster, which was strange. At moments like this, her heart would usually go slower, along with her thoughts and her perception of time. Now, however, her thoughts were at a blank, all time seemed to have stopped, but she felt her heart keep going faster. She took a look at Applejack's face, noticing at once how, despite all the mud, was nothing short of perfect.

"Twilight." said Applejack, rather suddenly. "Thanks."

"For what?" asked Twilight, as clueless as ever.

"For saving me." said Applejack. "The whole time ah was under their control, ah felt... alone. Ah felt trapped. In a dark place that's mighty scary like. It was bad, Twilight. Ah can't explain it, but it was bad."

"It's okay, Applejack." said Twilight. "It's okay. We're here for you."

"Ah know, Twilight." said Applejack, sighing and releasing Twilight. "Ah know."

Although they weren't hugging anymore, they were still intensely connected. They were staring into each other's eyes, both of them feeling all of the other's emotions and memories rushing through them. For Twilight, it wasn't actually that bad.

They might be sharing bad memories and experiences, but there were good ones too. And they were experiencing it together.

"So..." said Applejack, wiping a tear off her cheek. "How did ya find this 'ere place?"

"Long story." said Twilight, shaking her head and smiling uncertainly. "But it was all thanks to Luna we got here."

"Luna?" asked Applejack. "Isn't she in cahoots with Celestia?"

Celestia.

She still couldn't believe that her former mentor would turn out like... like that. It felt like a whole part of her was just cracked in half and thrown away. Celestia, goddess of the Sun, embodiment of it's warmth and light. Now eclipsing upon herself. Twilight could do nothing but sigh.

And why did Luna help them, anyway? Did she want to stop the war, like them? Or did she just want us to be safe? Twilight forced the thought out of her mind.

"In a way, I guess." said Twilight, putting a hoof on her chin. "But she's helping us too."

"And yer big brother?" asked Applejack.

Twilight paused. She hadn't been thinking about Shining Armor at all. How could she?

"He might be still with them." said Twilight. "Celestia, I mean. Now that I think about it, I wonder where Cadance is?"

"Cadance?" asked Applejack. "Princess Cadance?"

"Yeah." said Twilight. "Do you know anything?"

"Do ah?" said Applejack. "The Princess was the only one to have ever been able to defeat me, even under their control! Ah was punished for over a month! But ah didn't mind."

"You didn't mind?"

"Yeah." said Applejack. "At least ah knew that there was somepony out there who can clean up this whole mess. Cadance, the Princess of, um... Princess of..."

"Love, maybe?" suggested Twilight.

"Love." said Applejack, whose voice suddenly turned bitter.

"What's wrong, Applejack?" asked Twilight.

"Nothin'!" said the cowpony. "Nothin' ayt all!"

"I've said this before, and I'll say it again." said Twilight. "You're not a very good liar."

"None of us are." said Applejack, who slowly began to smile again. "So what have ya been doin' so far, anyway? Other than being half-dead, of course."

Twilight laughed, rather earnestly.

"Many things." said Twilight, sighing. "Too many. I'd rather not talk about it, Applejack."

"Come on, sugahcube." said Applejack. "Ya know ya can tell me anything."

Twilight suddenly remembered something important.

"Oh, Applejack!" said Twilight. "Have you seen Pinkie Pie around?"

"Ah wouldn't know, even if ah had." said Applejack. "Ah'm only in control of mahself for about a few seconds a day. Why?"

Twilight felt her heart drop. To the depths. The Mareiana Trench.

"Nothing." said Twilight, not wanting to make Applejack feel any worse for being under their control. "What have you been doing? Rarity told me that you were captured when you and your family were trying to run away or something."

"Oh." said Applejack, scowling. "Now that's a really long story. Ah had to live in secret for about a month-"

"A MONTH?"

"And then we found the Resistance, and we wanted to go there real quickly. Ya know, to halp them and stop the war. But Black Wesa found us first."

"It must be tough." said Twilight. She knew what it felt like to be experimented on and all by those evil scientists.

"It was." said Applejack. "Ah couldn't do anything. Just stay there, mah whole body completely tied up. Apparently somepony went ran away recently, and security's been crazy since then.

Twilight felt a pang of guilt at those words. She decided not to tell her about her glorious escape (which she was really close to doing).

Not long later, Twilight and Applejack was chatting around like normal, laughing at some things and crying at others. It was one of those really special experiences, like times when one would spend a lot of time with each other, their feelings always growing stronger for each other. Twilight felt exactly like that. They talked about lots of trivial stuff, their friends, the evil scientists, how great the Resistance Base looked... Basically everything. The usually organized Twilight had completely lost track of time as they kept on talking.

"Oh, Applejack..." said Twilight, laughing to herself for once. Here she was, having such a good time with the pony that almost killed her. It was like they were back at Ponyville. Back before any of this had happened.

"Ah miss Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight." said Applejack, out of the blue. "The trees, the view, the wind... It was all nice and dandy. And now..."

Twilight knew what Applejack meant. She had seen Sweet Apple Acres the last time she visited Ponyville, and it had been destroyed completely, unlike any of the other buildings in town.

"It's been long since ah did any hard work." said Applejack. "Since then, ah've been doing a lot of thinkin'. Maybe even too much thinkin'."

"What did you think about?"

"Many things, Twi." said Applejack. "Mah family, mah friends (she winked cutely at Twilight), the war, Ra-"

Applejack immediately stopped talking. She glanced around, as if trying to see if there was anybody spying on them. There wasn't. Twilight, however, knew that whatever Applejack had almost said was very private, and decided not to go digging up on it. She knew this because what followed next was an incredibly uncomfortable silence.

"And what's this I hear about you not liking Steven?" asked Twilight, desperate to change the subject and to keep talking.

"Steven?" asked Applejack, genuinely confused. Her ears and eyes then dropped down. "Oh."

"What's wrong?" asked Twilight. "He likes you just fine."

"Ah know, ah know." said Applejack, turning away from Twilight and facing the cold, dark wall. "It's not his fault."

"What do you mean, AJ?" asked Twilight.

"Ah mean that it's not his fault that ah don' like 'im." said Applejack, looking up.

"I don't understand." said Twilight, looking closely at Applejack.

"Of course ya wouldn't." said Applejack. "Heck, ah don't even understand it, either."

Twilight slowly walked to Applejack and began to groom her mane. Not with a brush, because she didn't have one, but how Earth ponies normally groom themselves. With her hooves and her mouth. Applejack didn't seem to mind.

Twilight pressed both her hooves down on Applejack's mane and pulled them (gently) downwards. She then used her mouth to try and release all of the matted or tangled hair, with great effort and difficulty. The natural smell of her mane (fresh apples!) helped a bit, though. But it was still really hard.

If this is what it's like being an Earth Pony, then she's lucky to have been born with a horn on her head. she thought.

"Can ah tell ya a secret, Twilight?" said Applejack, still looking away as Twilight groomed her.

"Uhuh." said Twilight, still focusing on grooming Applejack.

"An' can ya promise not ta judge me?" asked Applejack.

"Uhuh." said Twilight, still not looking at her.

"Make it a Pinkie promise?" asked Applejack.

Twilight immediately let go of Applejack's hair. This must be something serious. And she was determined to keep the secret this time, even if Pinkie Pie wasn't around her saying 'FOREVER!' all the time. She had to honor this, both for Applejack and for Pinkie.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." said Twilight, performing all the gestures that came with them.

"Okay." said Applejack, turning back to look at Twilight. Her face was now completely clean, Twilight having wiped all the dirt off earlier with the napkin she always seems to have around somewhere. Twilight's heart began to beat faster again as she saw Applejack's sad face look at her.

Stop it, heart! she thought to herself. You're making me feel giddy all over!

Twilight could imagine her heart replying with something like "But it ain't my fault, boss!"

"The reason I don' like Steven..." said Applejack. "The reason I don' like 'im... is... Golly, this is hard..."

"It's okay, Applejack." said Twilight. "You don't need to tell me."

That's a lie, of course. She needed to know. If there was something she didn't know that needed knowing, you can always count on Twilight to have it known. To herself. But this was a friend's secret. She musn't impose.

"Ya don' understand, Twilight." said Applejack. "Ah need to do this. Ah need ta tell you. It's somethin' ah need to let off mah chest."

"Okay, then." said Twilight, completely dropping her cool friend act. "Spill."

"The reason ah don' like that colt..." said Applejack. "Is not because of how he is or how he looks. 'Cause he can easily top both."

Twilight said nothing. She just nodded.

"The reason..." said Applejack, who completed that sentence in whispers.

"Sorry, Applejack, but I didn't catch that."

Applejack looked up at Twilight, her face very conflicted.

"It's because..." said Applejack. "It'sbecausehe'sRainbow'scoltfriend."

"Rainbow's... coltfriend?" asked Twilight, confused for a minute. She noticed how Applejack's face looked very forlorn and solemn, much unlike how she usually looked.

And then it all came crashing down on her.

"Applejack!" said Twilight. "How long?"

"Since the Running of the Leaves." said Applejack. "After the Iron Pony competition."

Twilight turned away, not believing it. Applejack was... a filly fooler? She was into mares?

"Wow..." said Twilight. She needed time to think about all this. Of course, she had heard about filly foolers before, but she had never imagined one of her friends being like that? In fact, it's been long since Twilight had even considered how she felt about romance herself. It's been really long since her last date.

Her last date... with DANGER.

Naw, just kidding. But it had been a long time since she last went out with somepony. That was back in Ponyville, only a year after she moved in.  Of course, Rarity was directly involved in that. The stallion she was with was of course, handsome and nice (Rarity's best pick), but Twilight didn't feel any sort of connection. She hadn't gone on a date since.

And now she was in a room with one of her best friends, who 'til recently was thought to be straight as a whistle. Looks can be deceiving.

"Ah thought fer a long while that Rainbow was like me." said Applejack. "Ya know, into mares and stuff? An' now she's went and got herself a pretty little coltfriend..."

Twilight was shocked at what Applejack had said. But the shock she felt was nothing against the shock that Applejack showed on her face. The cowpony immediately sat down and held her hat to her chest.

"Oh no..." said Applejack. "Wha...What did ah just say?"

Twilight couldn't answer. She was too busy taking it all in. She had never considered the possibility that she could be into mares before. And now that she found out how Applejack felt, she started feeling that strange, familiar high again.

Bad heart! thought Twilight. Stop beating so fast!

"Ah'm sorry ta be layin' all this on ya, Twi." said Applejack. "But ah figured ah needed some release. Or ah might just as well explode right there."

Twilight turned back and kissed her closest friend on her cheek, causing her friend to blush (she needed to start doing that less often on Applejack). She might have a lot to think about, but she still had to comfort her friend. She couldn't say that she understood... because she didn't. Not a single bit. There was only one thing she could say.

"Thank you, Applejack." said Twilight. Applejack herself looked stunned and confused.

"Thank you, for trusting me enough to tell you all this." said Twilight. "And remember that wherever you go, I, as a friend, will support you all the way."

Applejack still looked stunned for some reason, but she recovered easily enough.

"Thank ya kindly, Twi." said Applejack. "I knew ah could count on you."

Twilight felt like she needed to say something... ANYTHING to comfort Applejack more. Something about Steven, about Rainbow Dash... but deep down, she felt that matters like this can't just be solved so easily. What it needed was time.

"I should leave now." said Twilight. "It's almost lunch, and I don't want the guards to see me here chatting nicely with you."

Applejack smiled back at Twilight. Her normal, proud, full-of-cowpony-charm kind of smile.

"Ah understand." said Applejack. "Ah guess we've been talking for real long already."

Twilight began to perform the spell again to get out of the cell.

"Thanks a bunch, Twi." said Applejack. "Yer really a friend anypony could ask for. Which is mighty great, considering that ya only started making friends two years ago."

Twilight chuckled as she walked out.

"See you later, Applejack." said Twilight, looking at her friend one last time before leaving. "And make sure to write to Granny Smith. She's worried about you.

"Ah'll keep that in mind." said Applejack, seeing her off. "Bye, Twilight."

As Twilight walked away, she begun to fulfill the promise she had made to herself not too long ago- she thought. She thought, and kept on thinking.

First, she thought about Pinkie. Applejack said that she could only perceive for a few seconds between really long chunks of time. And considering that she was brought out to battle, she naturally couldn't have stayed in the base for too long. And she also didn't know if her few seconds of consciousness had ever happened at the Black Wesa base or not. Which meant that the chances of Applejack having met Pinkie at all during that time was very little to none at all. Thinking about Pinkie, complete. Conclusion: No results at all. Applejack barely had any consciousness all those times, so it was to be expected, anyway.

Next, she thought about her sister-in-law, Cadance. What was she doing, fighting Applejack? Where was she right now? Why wasn't she with Shining Armor, her husband, back with the Prin- no, the Queen? Twilight didn't understand anything. Cadance was not standing with the Queen, and she must have fought off Black Wesa at some point. So where was she? There can only be one conclusion, but Twilight never saw Cadance around there, either. Thinking about Cadance, complete. Conclusion: More questions are raised rather than answers. Was going to have to ask around the base later.

Then she began to think about Luna. Sure she had helped them before, but where did the Princess of the Night's true loyalties lie? Was it with them? Or with Celestia? Or (albeit much less likely) with Black Wesa? She certainly didn't seem corrupted like her sister, but that that answer anything. Luna was still one of the more mysterious subjects of which no one seemed to have a direct answer or any physical evidence to. Thinking about Luna, complete. Conclusion: Think more about Luna later.

And then it came to the final thought, the thought to think about most.

Applejack herself.

She had said that she liked Rainbow Dash. That much was a lot to think about already. Applejack had admitted herself that she was a fillyfooler, a mare who was into other mares. What did this mean? What does it all mean? She didn't understand. Then there was the strange rise in heart rate whenever she looks at Applejack. It certainly was a strange feeling, much like the feeling one would get when...

No. Applejack was her friend, nothing more. She was sure of that.

Then why did it happen? asked a persistent voice in her head.

There has to be a logical reason.

Logical? Or emotional? asked the voice.

Twilight shook her head. There had to be a logical reason.

Then there was the fact that Rainbow Dash was already in a relationship. With Steven Reilly.

To be honest, Twilight herself thought that Rainbow Dash was into mares as well. It was a pretty popular thought around Ponyville- most of the inhabitants think that it's true. Luckily for them, however, Rainbow Dash never found out about what we thought. Which was good for all of them, considering that it was not true.

But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Applejack was jealous of Steven. Her mentor (and Rarity) had always told her that Love itself is a many-splendored, complex thing. Much like the embodiment of Love herself, Princess Cadance. Even Twilight had always wondered about the many mysteries of love.

But what would Applejack do to satisfy her need for love? How far would she go? Those questions were the ones which worried the young unicorn, as Applejack had shown her love for Rainbow Dash to run very deeply. Would Applejack fight for Rainbow Dash's love? What lengths would she go to prove herself to Rainbow Dash?

Twilight had found herself in a middle of another complex love thing. Apparently, it was supposed to be shaped like a triangle or something, although Twilight had always thought that a 'V' shape was better suited. She had told Applejack that she would support her, but how far will she go to support her?

Thinking about Applejack, complete.

Conclusion?

No conclusion, just a question.

What have I gotten myself into?

Chapter 24- Great Success! (Reilly)

"Well that didn't go as expected."

Once again, the strange compass knew exactly what he was thinking.

"At least Twilight's gotten better." said Steven under his breath, not wanting anyone to think he was talking to himself. "That's awesome, isn't it?"

"I said it didn't go expected." said the compass, whizzing around Steven's head. "Not necessarily better or worse."

"I really didn't expect Twilight to heal so quickly, though." said Steven, who was now relatively much more comfortable with the idea talking to a compass. "It's almost miraculous. What do you think might've caused that?"

"No idea." said the compass.

Both of them then proceeded back to Steven's bedroom in tense silence, Steven too tired to speak and the compass not wanting to impose. It took all of Steven's remaining energy to go to the Dungeons and tell Twilight the password without looking tired at all (which he thought he did a really good job doing), and now he had no more inhibitions about showing off his exhaustion. All he cared about now was getting back to his bed and staying there. For a really long time.

"Here we are." said Steven, who groggily took out his key and put it into the lock. But it kept on missing. Steven was now leaning against the door. He felt relaxed. At peace. He could just sleep there, and it would be fine. Nobody would mind.

"Steven!" said the compass. Steven immediately jerked to attention. "Hurry!"

Steven grumbled and after a few tries, finally managed to unlock the door and go inside. He immediately slammed the door closed, and he dropped his saddle pack, walking drowsily. And with the last of his energy, Steven jumped onto his warm, welcoming, perfect bed. He felt his consciousness slipping away...

"It's been a while, Steven."

Steven's head shot straight back up at the sound of that familiar voice. Screw sleeping. He took a look around, taking in the familiar darkness that he had grown so accustomed to already.

"You." he said. He didn't know what else to say.

"Yes, me." said the voice. "And enough of these dramatic cliché greetings. You are not going to be in here long, so we might as well begin to speak. I will give you the liberty of asking me any question, any question at all."

Any question? Unlike before, he now certainly seems to be very straight-to-the-point, down-to-earth, et cetera. The voice was the same... but it sounded different. If that was possible.

But... Only one question? What was he going to ask?

There were far too many in his mind. What's happening? What's to come of this? How will it all end? There were too many possible questions. But of course, there was a more prominent one in his mind. The most mysterious, elusive question of all. Something that had been bothering him badly thus far.

But can he trust the voice? He hadn't done anything to make him untrustable, but there was no knowing who one can trust these days. The only ones he can trust are his friends. And this voice sure as hell isn't one.

"I won't." said Steven. "I don't trust you."

"I know you don't." said the voice. The deep, hypnotizing voice began to move all around Steven, and although the source cannot be seen, Steven's eyes were able to follow the voice wherever it went. They might not have met since before that battle in Baltimare ten days ago, but he felt as if all that time was nothing more than... well, nothing.

"But what choice do you have?" asked the voice. "I know that there are many questions inside your head now, Steven. Many, many questions. And they are killing you. Eating you up from the inside. You are dying to know, aren't you? So ask away, Steven. Ask away. It'll do you no harm. No harm at all."

Steven was finding himself liking the voice less and less. But there was something hidden beneath those taunts. It wasn't obvious, but something in Steven's gut told him so. He was never a man for intuition, but he seemed to want to trust his gut just this once. There was something about the voice... something that seemed forced. It was like he didn't want to-

No. No. This voice cannot be trusted.

Then again, all of what the voice said was true. It was killing him, having so many questions and so few answers. It made his heart feel clenched by all of the stress he was experiencing. And the question of whether or not to trust this voice just made everything worse.

But the voice had never lied to him so far. It had never fed him wrong information. The voice might just be trying to help Steven, in its own stupid, and maybe evil ways. And if what he was about to tell really was the truth, then he couldn't pass up on this chance. It was just too important. Steven was so confused.

In the end, though, one side ultimately won.

"So?" asked the voice, as if trying to hurry him up.

"The compass." said Steven. "It said something about my father."

Silence. It was as if the voice was giving him an amused look, gesturing him to continue on.

"Where is my father?" Steven finally asked.

There was a strange laugh. An evil, cold laugh, piercing through the even the deepest confines of Steven's heart.

"You father?" asked the voice. "He is with Discord."

"Where is Discord?" asked Steven, getting angrier every second he had to listen to that infernal voice speak.

"Only one question, Steven." said the voice. "You best be leaving here soon."

"You!" said Steven, desperately looking around for the source of the voice. Steven was furious now. Once again, he had been given the straightest, yet the vaguest answer he could get. In was infuriating. He wanted to find that voice and rip it apart with his own hooves. He had been tricked again. "Y-YOU!"

"I can guess what's going through your mind right now." said the voice. "You probably thinking something along the lines of wicked? Tricksy? False?"

Steven's anger subsided for a moment and he let surprise took over. How did he know?

"The reason I cannot explain further is because it is still not time to, Steven." said the voice, all fun taken out of it, leaving dead seriousness behind. Steven was even more surprised. He had been expecting him to be taunting him even more. "But it is almost time. Almost. And the only one companion you can fully trust will lead you there."

The only one companion I can fully trust? Was this another riddle?

"Goodbye for now, Steven Reilly." said the voice. "We shall meet again soon. Arrivederci."

"Wait!" said Steven, trying to resist the familiar tugging at his stomach. "What do you-"

"Mean?" completed Steven, now completely awake, and back on his bed. He groaned. Once again, there are more questions than there were answers. He was positively pissed off.

"It's only been an hour!" said a voice beside him. Steven freaked out and pressed himself against the wall next to the bed, not daring to move. He let out his breath when the compass floats out and faces him. "What?"

"You scared me." said Steven. "I mean, you scare me in general, but you startled me just now."

"You woke me up from my rest too." said the compass.

"Compasses need to rest?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm not really a compass, per se." said the compass. "More like a bit of your personali-"

The compass immediately fell silent.

"What did you say?" asked Steven, walking up to the compass. "A bit of my personality?"

"Well, um... Hahah...Er..." mumbled the compass. Steven caught him in a dead stare. "Yes!" it squealed.

"Who created you?" asked Steven.

"I don't know." said the compass.

"So you know that you are a part of me, but you don't know who made you that way?"

"Sure, if you say it like that, then-"

"I am not a liar." said Steven. "I don't lie about things with big consequences like this."

"You do." said the compass. It immediately fell down to the floor and began trembling.

"What?" scowled Steven.

"I'm just saying..." said the compass, softly and quickly. "You would lie all the way to hell and back to save someone you care for."

Steven stared down at the trembling compass.

"Just answer me." said Steven, resenting but unable to restrain his anger. "Who made you?"

"I cannot say!" said the compass, rather confidently. "I musn't! The time is not right..."

"Screw the time!" said Steven. "Tell me who made you and where-"

"YOU CANNOT SCREW THE TIME!" shouted the compass, who was immediately at face level with Steven. "There is a proper moment for everything, and-"

"I need to know all this!" argued Steven, shouting back. "There are just too many questions left unanswered, too many-"

"THOSE QUESTIONS ARE LEFT UNANSWERED BECAUSE IT IS NOT TIME FOR THEM TO BE ANSWERED YET!"

Steven immediately fell silent. He didn't appreciate the compass shouting out loud in his mind, or the fact that he just repeated the same thing, but he knew that what the compass said was right. His father had always told him that there was a time for everything, and that time was not always now.

Wait, no. That's Professor Oak.

Never mind.

But that didn't change the fact that the compass was still right all along.

"I guess you're right." said Steven, finally. "I'm going out for a while. Are you coming?"

"I'll stay here." said the compass.

Steven stepped out of the room, locking the door shut again. He didn't feel tired at all. Not at all like an hour ago. But he still didn't feel like he had rested even a small bit.

"Hey, Steve." said a male voice from behind him.

"Hey, Alan." said Steven, not looking. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I needed to take something." said Alan. "Speaking of which, Twilight's been wanting to find you since lunch. She wouldn't say why, though."

Why would Twilight be looking for Steven? He had already told her that he would be upstairs resting, so why would she still be looking for him? And why only since lunch? How long did she spend with Applejack, anyway?

"Steven?" asked Alan.

Steven shook his head violently.

"Yeah?"

"There you go." said Alan. "I was asking if you knew why she wanted to meet you so badly. But apparently you don't know either. I think she's in the Library."

"The Library?" asked Steven. He had completely forgotten where the Library was. Maybe it was because the last time he had been there, his head had been beaten to less than a pulp. Just a small factor.

"Just go straight, then turn right in between the supermarket and Carousel Boutique." said Alan, who seemed to know what he was thinking.

"Thanks." said Steven, impressed.

"No worries." said Alan. "I got your back."

Steven then began to trot to the Library, a slight spring in his step. Most people would attribute that to excitement, but that wasn't the case for Steven. He was very much deep in thought about the whole experience with the voice and the compass. They both talked about the same thing. The compass said something about it not being time yet, but the voice said that the time was soon to come. Why are the both of them so obsessed about time?

Steven groaned. For the first time since yesterday, he felt hungry. Then again, it shouldn't be surprising, given that he hadn't eaten dinner last night, breakfast this morning, and he had just missed lunch. He was starving .

No. he thought. Twilight really, urgently wanted to see him, and he wasn't going to let her down.

Steven put all of his focus and conviction on his hooves and continued to walk.

It wasn't easy. Because the route to the Library took him through the place he had wanted to go least, especially right then.

The food market.

He could smell all different, delicious, vegetarian (and he'd never thought he'd say that) things, and it took all he had to not want to take a peek. He knew that his scrunched-up face would attract a lot of attention, but he really didn't mind. He just wanted to get away as soon as possible.

"Steven!"

Damn his scrunched-up face!

"Hi." said Steven, uneasily looking at Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and the kids all gathered up at a table in Maresia's. Their usual spots in their usual restaurant.

"Are you alright, dear?" asked Rarity. "You don't look so well."

"I'm fine, thank you." said Steven. He slowly turned his eyes on to the food on their tables, but they quickly snapped back up.

EYES ON THE ROAD! he thought, remembering his father's old driving lessons.

"He really doesn't look well." said Rainbow Dash, a sly smile on her lips. "You know what this means, girls?"

"PERPETUAL MOTION SUPERCRUSADERS SURGEONS GO!" shouted the three girls at once, who immediately left their seat and advanced upon Steven.

"NonononoNONONO!" screamed Steven. Out of all the things he had fought so far, nothing could be more potentially dangerous (and terrifying) than these three girls together. Steven was even more scared when he thought he saw a steely glint from inside the pockets of one of the girls. He was panicking.

"Ha ha... No need for any surgeons, or anything..." said Steven. "I'm fine, really..."

Apple Bloom shrugged. "If ya say so."

"Come on! We've never tried being surgeons before!" said Sweetie Belle.

Steven thought that he could see three evil glares stare his way at those words. He immediately cringed. He had to get away as soon as possible.

"Nah." said Scootaloo. "If we operate on somepony who's not sick in the first place, we'd never know if it was our special talent to really do it or not."

"I guess you're right, Scootaloo." said Sweetie Belle.

The three girls then resignedly sat back down on their tables, perhaps thinking up some darned way to find out their special talents again.

"Maybe we could-"

"We're not going ziplining in here, Scootaloo." said Sweetie Belle.

"Awww..." said Scootaloo.

Steven slowly stood back up, avoiding the random looks of strangers, and joined that table. He was not going to pass through that place with every single living soul looking at him like that. And besides, he needed to eat anyway.

"You evil, evil girl." said Steven, kissing Rainbow Dash again.

Rainbow Dash, who had been growing happier and happier every minute, kissed him back with an equal amount fervor and passion. There was nothing to say except that it felt good. Really good.

But both of them immediately pulled away once they both realized the stares that the other members of the table were fixing at them. Rarity was blushing uncomfortably, but the three kids were staring at them and giggling, as if taking in as much as they could.

Steven cleared his throat, knocking everyone out of their respective trances.

"So." said Steven. "Perpetual Motion Supercrusaders?"

"It's a name we came up with." said Rainbow Dash, looking proud. "Endless amounts of energy, and no stopping at all."

Cutie Mark Crusaders? Fine, that's great. But Perpetual Motion Supercrusaders? He could imagine it being very hard to say very quickly and loudly. Plus, if you added up the initials...

"What about just shortening it to 'The Crusaders'?" suggested Steven. "Just... Crusaders."

"That sounds cool too." said Scootaloo.

"Yeah!" said Apple Bloom. "Besides, it's really hard to say 'Perpetual Motion Supercrusaders' real quick."

Bingo.

"Then it's decided!" said Sweetie Belle, standing on two hooves. "From this day onwards, we shall no longer be called the Cutie Mark Crusaders, nor will we be called the Per...Perpetual... Perpetual Motion Supercrusaders!"

"Yeah!" said Scootaloo, standing up too. "We shall be called 'the Crusaders'!"

"Agreed!" said Apple Bloom, standing up with the three of them. "The Crusaders! We shall be The Crusaders, no more, no less. The Crusaders is the name of our group, and the name of our group shall be The Crusaders. More we shall not say, and neither will we-"

"We get it." said Sweetie Belle.

"Three-way hoof-and-fist bump?" asked Scootaloo.

"Yes!" screamed the other two.

They then did one of the most peculiar things Steven had ever seen in his life. All three of them jumped at the same time, and the all bumped each of their fists/hooves into each other's. It was quite fascinating, really, how these girls always come up with the best of ideas. Plus, their vocabulary was really advanced for their age.

"Now, girls, please finish your food first before running off somewhere for some silly quest." said Rarity.

"It's NOT a silly quest!" said Sweetie Belle. "We're going to find our cu... Our special talents, no matter what!"

Steven knew that Sweetie Belle was about to say the word 'Cute Marks'. It reminded him of how he didn't have one either. But hey, he's got a cool scar on his eye.

Rarity let out an audible moan before continuing to eat her salad.

"You should eat something too." said Rainbow Dash, holding Steven's hoof. "I know you haven't eaten anything since lunch yesterday."

What is it with his friends and reading his mind? It's starting to make him feel self-conscious.

"Okay." said Steven. "I'll order, but I'll have to finish quick. Alan told me that Twilight is waiting for me at the Library. I wouldn't want to keep her waiting."

"Oh, that's great! I'll come with you." said Rainbow Dash. "There's this book that I borrowed a few days ago which I need to return today."

"And what book could possibly please a lady of your stature?" asked Steven.

"Daring Do is pretty awesome." said Rainbow Dash, her sly smile forming again. "She's been pleasing me more than you ever did. So far."

Did Rainbow Dash just...?

Steven and Rarity both bushed. Rarity cleared her throat, subtly pointing at the three girls who were right next to them.

"Right." said Rainbow Dash, catching the drift and blushing as well. "Daring Do and the Mystery of the Magician's Mummy."

"Mummy as in... Mom, or..." said Steven, acting dumb.

"Mummy the mummy." said Rainbow Dash. "You know, the one which has their bodies embalmed and all that."

"Right, right." said Steven. "Embalmed bodies. Right."

Rainbow Dash playfully nudged him with her shoulder, and Steven went up to order food. A veggie burger, to be exact. And the service, as always, was very good and speedy. The food was ready before Steven had managed to start speaking again to the table.

Steven, as hungry as he was, gulped down the sandwich in two bites. Rarity shot him a look of disapproval.

"What?" asked Steven, his mouth still full.

"Don't mind Rarity." said Rainbow Dash. "She's always fussing about something or the other."

"I fuss because I wouldn't want to be caught with those who exhibit such... brusque behavior." said Rarity, immediately turning back to her salad.

Steven shrugged, and swallowed the rest of the sandwich whole. He always was a messy eater if he's hungry.

"Shall we?" asked Steven, standing up.

"Oh! Wait, I almost forgot." said Rainbow Dash. "Scoots, did you bring the book?"

"Right here, sis!" said Scootaloo, still smiling at the fact that she can call Rainbow Dash 'sis'.

"One of the few perks of having a sister?" asked Rainbow Dash, taking the book from Scootaloo. "You only carry half the load."

Steven chuckled. "After you." he said, gesturing to the exit.

"How chivalrous!" exclaimed Rarity, her eyes gleaming. "Rainbow Dash, I must certainly say that you've um... How do they say it? Oh! You've certainly landed a keeper there."

Those words seemed alien coming out of Rarity's mouth. But at least that's one friend who honestly agreed with their relationship.

"Wait, weren't you just telling me off about my... brusqueness just now?"

"Mood swings." said Rainbow Dash, smirking. "She must be having her Perpetual Motion Supercrusader."

Rarity and the girls didn't get the statement, which was probably a good thing. But Steven was laughing his heart out. He had always appreciated inside jokes, but only now did he truly understand the humor of the whole thing.

Steven turned to look at his girlfriend, laughing almost as hard as him. Beautiful, brave, smart, and tons of funny, too. There was only one other...

"Where have you been all my life?" asked Steven.

"In your dreams." said Rainbow Dash, poking his forehead "Now let's go!"

Steven and Rainbow Dash then continued on to the library, laughing heartily, and leaving a confused Rarity and three equally confused girls behind.

"They seem to be made for each other, don't you think, girls?" asked Scootaloo.

"Yeah!" said Apple Bloom. "They get along so well."

"You know what this means, don't you girls?" asked Sweetie Belle. The three girls began to grin widely.

"CRUSADER WEDDING PLANNERS!" shouted the three of them together. They began to jump around and chat excitedly about the dresses, the food, the cake, the guests, nothing short of a real-life wedding. Everyone is going to start hearing a lot about this dream wedding from this day on.

Rarity groaned loudly and smashed her face onto her salad.

Chapter 25- Lifelike Dead... Things (Twilight)

"Are you sure you don't want tea? 'Cause you look like you really need it."

Twilight was pacing nonstop through the whole library and back. She was thinking about many things... Too many things, and the pacing was a physical outlet for all of it. It was the thing she could do that could relax her even the tiniest bit. Having tea would force her to stop her pacing, and she couldn't do that. Her brain might explode if she didn't keep pacing.

"Thanks, Barbara." said Twilight, shaking her head. "But I'm good."

"Could you at least tell me what you're thinking so hard about?" asked the librarian, scooting over to Twilight. "I might be able to help."

"I can't tell you how much I want to do that." said Twilight, shaking her head again. "But I can't."

"Why not?" asked Barbara, now following wherever Twilight was going.

"I just... can't." said Twilight. "It's hard to explain."

"What are you doing here, then?" asked Barbara. "If you want to think, then I think your mind would be clearer in your own room rather than in here."

"No, no..." said Twilight. "I used to live in a library, so I'm much more comfortable in one, anyway."

"You lived in a library?" asked Barbara, excited.

Twilight, however, didn't share in her excitement.

"Yeah, back in Ponyville." said Twilight.

"And I thought I was dedicated to books." said Barbara, laughing and burying her face in her palm.

Twilight didn't answer. Not that she wanted to, of course.

She had so many things to think about right then. Just so many things. Off the top of her head, though, the ones she found herself thinking about the most was: Spike, Applejack, Luna, Pinkie Pie, Discord, Cadance...

CADANCE!

"Barbara?" called Twilight.

"Yeah?" said the librarian, coming closer to her.

"Do you happen to know anything about a friend of mine?" asked Twilight. "Her name is Ca-"

"Twilight!" called a voice from behind her. "Alan told me you were looking for me?"

"Steven!" said Twilight, sighing a sigh of relief. Completely forgetting about Cadance (and a confused Barbara, for that matter), she turned back to see Steven and Rainbow Dash walking inside the library.

Twilight gulped. Did Rainbow Dash know about Applejack's feelings for her?

No, Twilight! said a tiny little voice which she made sure to keep strapped up at the deepest recesses of her head. You Pinkie Promised Applejack! She trusts you!

But Twilight needed answers. As many answers as she could get.

But this is not the way! said the little voice, who Twilight knew was right. This just isn't right.

Shut up. said Twilight to the voice. To her surprise, it did shut up.

Twilight glanced at Rainbow Dash, who was now walking over to Barbara with a yellow, hard cover book in hand.

"Steven, we have to talk." said Twilight.

"I guessed." said Steven, smiling. Why was he smiling? How could he smile at a time like this?

Oh right, he doesn't know.

"Alone." said Twilight.

Steven raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Soon later, though, he nodded.

"I'll meet you later in the Engineering Lab, at midnight." said Steven.

"Why can't we talk now?" asked Twilight.

Steven looked uneasy, as if he didn't know how to tell her the answer to that question.

"I'm sorry." said Steven, finally. "But I'll have to see you later."

"I thought the sole purpose of you coming here was to meet me?" asked Twilight.

"Again, I'm sorry." said Steven. "But if you want to talk alone, with no interruptions, then it's best that we meet in the Engineering Lab. You know the way, right?"

Twilight was pissed. There was so much to say... The burden was just too heavy. But should she tell Rainbow Dash too? Because Rainbow Dash was involved in all this after all.

No, no. Rainbow Dash has enough on her hoo... her hands right now. And Applejack had made her promise not to tell anyone, and Steven is already one too many ponies.

Oh... This is just too much...

Last chance to back out, Twilight. said the tiny voice. You're heading into a world of trouble.

Twilight knew that. She didn't need her reminding herself all the time. But there was no other choice.

"Bring Rainbow Dash." said Twilight, hating herself badly. "She needs to hear this too."

Don't do this, Twilight... Cancel it!

"I'll see you later, then?" asked Steven.

Say no... Say no...

"Okay." said Twilight, her eyes and the edges of her mouth twitching. "Bye."

Steven raised an eyebrow, but decided not to say anything. An awkward silence followed.

Twilight could hear Rainbow Dash and Barbara chattering idly behind them about Rainbow Dash's shocking little hobby (which Rainbow Dash found to be rather offensive), but she knew that they were quickly finishing up.

"I've returned my book," said Rainbow Dash, "and I got this new one. Daring Do and the Wizards of the West.

So... Awesome!"

"Rainbow..." said Twilight. "Can you come to the Engineering Lab at midnight tonight? There are... things we have to talk about."

"Things?" asked Rainbow Dash. "What things?"

"I don't know either." said Steven. "You're being really secretive about this, Twilight."

Twilight just nodded. She was desperately trying to stop herself from telling them anything, but the burden of that information was too much to bear. Besides, Rainbow Dash needs to know about this, doesn't she? What's the harm in telling other what they need to know?

Excuses. said the small voice.

Twilight tried to force a smile, but it was clear that Steven and Rainbow Dash didn't buy it.

This is wrong. said the small voice. This is selfish. You're not selfish, Twilight!

Shut up! thought Twilight, trying to drown out the small voice. But the small voice, though very small, seemed to triumph above the screams Twilight were making inside her mind.

"See you later, guys." said Twilight, her eyes shut closed as she pushed away Steven and Twilight.

"Twilight, are you-"

"For that last time, I'm FINE." said Twilight, striding off angrily. She could just imagine the confused faces of her three friends staring out as they watched her go.

Twilight was annoyed. Of course she was fine! She's told them all so many times already. It was frustrating. Infuriating. Twilight angrily kicked off a can which was blocking her path, making it crash through a window. Twilight didn't bother looking at what she just destroyed with a single angry kick.

"AAAAAH!"

Twilight's head jerked back. She knew that scream.

Rarity!

"Fluttershy?" called Rarity. "Where are you, Fluttershy? Oh, that crash must have sent her off running somewhere again..."

"Rarity!" shouted Twilight.

"My dear Twilight!" said Rarity. "Oh, woe is me! What have I done to deserve this?"

"What's happened, Rarity?" asked Twilight.

"I don't know!" said Rarity, honestly but overdramatically. "I was just in my Boutique, designing my next beautiful outfit for my new Spring line, when all of a sudden, some ruffian broke my Boutique's window! This is terrible, dear Twilight, terrible!"

Twilight's heart fell. To the bottom of some great chasm.

"You still design dresses, Rarity?" asked Twilight.

"Not only design." said Rarity, overly frantic. "I have to stitch them up too! And now there are little cuts everywhere in the dresses that I've already made!"

It seemed like a new hole opened up in the bottom of the chasm, making her heart fall down even deeper. The things she could do when angry...

"I'll help you clean up, Rarity." said Twilight.

"Really?" asked Rarity, brightening up immediately. "You'd do that for little old me? Why, that's very generous of you, Twilight! Thank you most sincerely."

"Please..." said Twilight, grinning awkwardly. "Don't mention it."

Twilight immediately started working her magic (literally), picking up the tiny shards of glass and trying to put them together. The plan was that she would first stick together the shards on the floor, and then magically glue them to where the glass was about half a minute ago.

Because of her proficiency in magic, however, this job (for Twilight) was menial and completely brain-dead. This gave her lots of time to think.

Not that she wanted to.

She was tired of thinking now. It put on such a strain on her mind, and it made her prone to frustration and anger. But there was nothing else to do until midnight, so she might as well stay here until then.

Twilight had almost completed the glass window. There were only a few holes left, but it was pretty hard to find those tiny, transparent glass shards among everything else in the boutique. That took her mind off other things for a while, though, so she can't complain.

"What are those dresses for anyway, Rarity?" asked Twilight. "It's not like there are going to be celebrations and parties here, or anything."

"You've only been here for around two weeks, Twilight." said Rarity, her attentioon fixed to the piece of parchment on her desk. "And you spent a good portion of those two weeks unconscious. But we still have things to celebrate here, Twilight. Birthdays, Congratulations parties, Weddings..."

"Weddings?" asked Twilight.

"You'd be surprised how many there are so far." said Rarity. "Isn't it great, though? I don't think I've ever been to as many weddings in my life!"

"Uhuh." said Twilight, not quite as excited as Rarity about all this.

"Are you alright, darling?" asked Rarity. "You look like you're really angry about something."

Twilight immediately felt self-conscious about the huge frown she was making on her face, and immediately turned it into a bright smile.

"I'm fine!" said Twilight. "Really fine, thanks for asking!"

"Hmm..." said Rarity, deep in thought. Twilight found the fact that Rarity was staring at her to be very uncomfortable, but she couldn't move a muscle. It was as if Rarity was holding her down with those eyes of hers.

"You're not fine." said Rarity. "Why, you're not fine at all!"

"No, really!" said Twilight, smiling and shaking her head. "I'm fine. I'll just finish up your window, and I'll be on my way..."

"No, I won't allow that." said Rarity, who used her magic to slam the Boutique's door shut.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. The window was still widely cracked open.

"Stop what you're doing and come here." said Rarity.

"No, Rarity..." said Twilight. "I'm really fine."

Almost immediately, Rarity stood up. She then immediately bent down and picked something up, and then she walked to another spot and picked up something there too. This process continued until she finally walked up to the window Twilight was just fixing and dropped a small mound of shiny, small things on top of it.

"The leftover glass shards." said Twilight, her mouth dropping. "Rarity, how did you spot them?"

"You said it yourself, Twilight." said Rarity. "I have a good eye for detail. Now if you would be so kind to fix that thing up so that we can talk..."

Twilight let out a deep breath.

"Fine." said Twilight, immediately fixing the shards together and sticking the window back where it was before. After giving it a few knocks to make sure that it was stable enough, Twilight sat down in front of the waiting Rarity.

Rarity, however, was already back in front of her desk, sewing up something. Twilight was just about to slip away unnoticed, when...

"There's no need for that now, Twilight." said Rarity.

Damn her hawk-like hearing!

Rarity immediately stopped sewing and sat, cross-legged, in front of Twilight. Twilight followed suit and sat down as well, although unable to sit cross-hooved.

"Now." said Rarity. "To business."

"Rarity, please." said Twilight. "I'm fine. I'm great! I'm-"

"Troubled." said Rarity, who was making a big deal of staring into Twilight's face. "There's no denying it, my dear Twilight. I can see it in your eyes."

Twilight rolled her eyes. Why did Rarity have to be so melodramatic about this? No, why did she have to be so melodramatic all the time?"

"So." said Rarity. "Tell me. What's troubling you?"

"I really can't say, Rarity." said Twilight. "I-"

"Is it about Applejack?" asked Rarity.

Twilight's jaw dropped. She made a mental note to never underestimate Rarity's sense for potential gossip.

"It is, isn't it?" asked Rarity, in a low voice. "I thought so."

"You... thought so?" asked Twilight.

"Of course!" said Rarity. "You just went to visit her recently, you having recovered from her trying to kill you and all. It must be very emotional. Of course it's all still in your mind."

Twilight relaxed breathed a sigh of relief. So that's all she thought.

"No..." said Rarity. "That's not it, isn't it? There's something else."

Twilight's eyes shot up again, not believing it this time.

"H-How..." muttered Twilight.

"My dear Twilight..." said Rarity, chuckling and softly patting her head. "It's written all over you! Now tell little Rarity here what's on your mind."

"I..." started Twilight, but she immediately shook her head. "I can't. Sorry, Rarity."

"Okay, then." said Rarity. "Then why don't you tell me about your visit with Applejack?"

Twilight looked down at her hooves. She can't say no, or Rarity will know that something's up. But she can't say yes either, because she is bound to spill the beans. And even if she did try to lie, what would she say? And she couldn't spend too much time thinking either, or Rarity will know that she's lying.

Well, time to do what she always does in times of panic.

Hyperventilate.

No, that's not right. But it looks like she was going to have to hoof it.

"Why not?" asked Twilight, trying to keep a straight face.

Rarity immediately lied down, her stomach pressed up against the floor, and looked up at Twilight, holding up her head with her little hands. Twilight thought that she was used to seeing her friends with slender bodies and tiny hands like those, but seeing Rarity this close up made her think otherwise. It was so... wierd.

"Anyway, well do I start?" asked Twilight rhetorically. "I guess I should begin from the time I came down to the dungeons."

Rarity didn't say anything. She just looked up at Twilight with expectant eyes.

"The corridor was a bit scary..."

"A bit?"

"Please don't interrupt."

"Sorry, please go on."

"The corridor was scary, so I ran all the way through to the door, where I..."

"You...?"

"Crashed into it. Anyway, I quickly came to, and I saw two guards. One of them is a pony, Lyra, and the other one was a human. His name was, um..."

"Rob?"

"Yeah, Rob. They asked me for the password, but I didn't know it." Twilight then shot Rarity with an accusing glare.

"I guess I'm sorry about that, dear. But I did spend the last few minutes trying to fix you down without ruining my hair."

"It's okay. Because Steven came down and told me the password anyway."

"Only because we told him to."

"Yes. Anyway, I went in and I immediately went to find Applejack. She was at the back of the room, right next to the wall."

"And it was a long walk there, I presume?"

"It was kinda long. Anyway, I found her, and then we hugged."

"That's great! We couldn't get her to move away from that spot of hers every time we visited."

"Really? She didn't seem at all reluctant to move when I was there."

"Maybe she was waiting."

"Waiting?" Twilight raised an eyebrow. She actually felt more relaxed, telling her story to Rarity like this. "Waiting for what?"

"For you."

"But why would she wait for me?"

"Maybe she felt guilty." said Rarity. "Maybe she made a promise to herself not to move from that spot until you came to. And if you didn't, well..."

"Then she wouldn't move from that spot at all? Because she'd hate herself too much to move?"

Rarity nodded.

Twilight swore under her breath and looked away. She was angry with herself for being unconscious for ten days. Partly because of Applejack not wanting to move... And partly because she understood why Applejack would do it.

You should've known that Applejack was going to do something like this, Twilight! she thought to herself.

Then came the hard question, the question that she wouldn't know the answer to until the time came itself.

Would she do the same for Applejack?

"Although that's all just speculation." said Rarity, noticing how Twilight got lost inside her head. "Please, continue."

Twilight snapped back to reality. It was surprising for her, really, how Rarity seemed to know so much about her friends. Perhaps it was because she had spent a much longer time with them.

"Okay, so we hugged." said Twilight, continuing the story. "We hugged, but I wanted to talk to her a bit more, well... intimately. As friends, you know. So I phased through the cell bars."

"Ha!" shouted Rarity, which surprised Twilight to the point of her jumping backwards. "Breaking the rules, aren't we, Twilight? I absolutely knew you had it in you. You just needed a little push is all."

"It doesn't matter." said Twilight, blushing. "Anyway, we hugged again, and we began to talk. We talked about Ponyville, we talked about current situations, we talked about-"

"Let me just stop you right there, Twilight." said Rarity, holding up her palm to signal stopping. "Now, when you say talk... so you mean... talk? As in the kind that involved lots of crying and embracing and emotions and the like?"

"Well..." said Twilight, pondering on what answer she was going to give. "Yes. Yes, it was like that."

Rarity giggled. Twilight immediately set on her a glare, however, and Rarity began to slow down her giggles.

"Forgive me, Twilight." said Rarity, wiping a tear off her cheek. "But would you care to... elaborate? I mean, it's fine if you don't want to... I wouldn't want to impose..."

"It's fine." said Twilight, Rarity's eyes began to gleam again. "There was lots of tears, lots of laughter, love... It was really one of the most meaningful moments I have ever had with Applejack. Ever. And the last time we met, she had almost killed me!"

"I understand." said Rarity.

"We talked about Sweet Apple Acres, about Black Wesa, about... Spike..."

"Spike?" asked Rarity, her ears immediately shooting up. "Did she know?"

"No, she didn't." said Twilight, giving a look of defeat.

"My poor little Spikey Wikey!" said Rarity. "Who knows where he is, how he's doing, what he must be feeling..."

"Please..." said Twilight. "Can we please not talk about Spike for now? It pains me enough to have to think about those questions too."

"Oh, I'm sorry." said Rarity, putting a hand on her shoulders and hugging Twilight. Twilight didn't react at all. Her mind was still deep in sadness. "Please, continue."

Twilight sighed.

"Anyway, I began to groom her mane-"

"With what?" asked Rarity.

"My hooves." said Twilight, distracted. "And teeth."

"Eww..." said Rarity. 'Who knows where that mane has been, Twilight? you should really be more careful with-"

If looks could kill, then Twilight would've made Rarity explode right then and there. Rarity shrunk.

"I'm sorry." said Rarity, mimicking Fluttershy. "I won't interrupt. Zip!"

She made a hand gesture as if she was zipping her mouth shut.

"Good." said Twilight. "Anyway, the topic became more, well... private. We talked about Luna, about Pinkie Pie, and finally, we talked about-"

Twilight slammed her mouth closed. It stung a bit, but it was worth it. SHe was this close to revealing Applejack's secret to Rarity. She was not going to do that. Steven and Rainbow Dash were the only two she was going to tell. No one else. She wouldn't dare.

"About...?" asked Rarity, tilting her head.

"About nothing." said Twilight, although she knew that the game was up. Rarity was onto her.

"Well it definitely isn't nothing." said Rarity, tilting an eyebrow. "Is it, Twilight?"

"Please, Rarity." said Twilight. "It's nothing."

"Now, Twilight..." said Rarity. "It certainly isn't nothing."

"No, Rarity." said Twilight. "I'm telling you, just forget about it."

"Forget about it?" asked Rarity, looking offended. "Me? Why, I won't be able to! Please tell me, Twilight. Please?"

"No, Rarity!"

"Pleasepleasepleaseplease?"

"No! I won't say anything." said Twilight, who stood up to leave.

"PleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasePLEASE?" said Rarity, holding on to one of Twilight's hooves with her hands.

"I can't, Rarity!" said Twilight. "She made me Pinkie Promise!" Twilight gasped and immediately put a hoof into her mouth.

Rarity immediately fell silent.

"Oh." said Rarity. "It's about that, huh?"

"That?" asked Twilight, her worst fears coming true.

"About... Rainbow Dash?"

"H...How did you know?" asked Twilight. No, it was more to screaming than asking.

"Well..." said Rarity. "Remember that time when we had a slumber party in your house?"

"The time when the tree fell through?"

"No, not that one." said Rarity, thinking further. "Oh, the one where Spike suddenly walked in on the three of us putting on our mud masks and thought we were... ghosts?"

Twilight couldn't forget that one. The three of them actually had to run through all of Ponyville to try and find Spike and get him back. Then again, they should have wiped the mud off their faces before trying to talk to him. It wasn't pretty.

Oh, Spike...

"Yes, I remember." said Twilight.

"Okay, so that night, you fell asleep rather fast, didn't you?'

"Of course. I was tired. We were all tired."

"Well, as soon as you fell asleep, we started talking about... our old flames."

"Why did you wait until I was asleep?"

"We didn't exactly wait until you slept. We just couldn't sleep, even after you had slept."

"Well?"

"Anyway, I very gently pressured her into telling me who she liked then, and after making me promise to not judge her, she told me."

Very gently my flank. thought Twilight.

"How did you react?" asked Twilight.

"Well, I was surprised that she was... well, a filly fooler." said Rarity. "But I couldn't judge her too harshly. In fact, I tried to encourage her to confess her feelings to Rainbow Dash, but she didn't want to. She wanted to be absolutely sure about how Rainbow Dash felt about her first before she would say anything."

"And that didn't turned out too well, did it?" said Twilight, referring to Rainbow Dash's current relationship.

"Not at all." said Rarity, shaking her head in agreement.

"But that doesn't sound like Applejack at all!" said Twilight. "The Applejack I know would tell Rainbow Dash about her feelings straight away! She wouldn't hide under the shadows, hoping like a schoolfilly that Rainbow Dash would confess to her first.'

"You must understand, Twilight, that Applejack's family is a very traditional one." said Rarity. "Her family would not allow such 'nonsense'. It was hard for her, Twilight. I couldn't even imagine how conflicted she must have felt. How she must be feeling now..."

Twilight immediately felt guilty. She hadn't even considered her family's approval. In fact, Twilight didn't think that even her own family would accept the fact that she was a filly fooler. She quickly felt sympathy for Applejack. She just can't imagine how Applejack must be feeling, knowing that the one she loved was in love with another. She started to understand how angry Applejack must've been when she first learned about it. Her anger was almost justifiable to her.

"Wow..." said Twilight. "I never realized. I'm such a bad friend..."

"No you're not, Twilight Sparkle." said Rarity, using her hand to hold Twilight's head up. "You're a good friend. The best friend anypony could possibly have. You don't judge, you care about others and their problems and try to help... Those are what makes you a very good friend."

"Thanks, Rarity." said Twilight, touched by her words but not feeling better at all.

"So, back to business." said Rarity. "Anything else you experienced in there?"

There was... one more. But it was very trivial- so trivial that it might not even be worth saying. But then again, what's the harm in doing so? It's not like anything she didn't know was going to surface or anything. And it had been troubling her very much too.

"There is... one thing." said Twilight.

"And that is?"

"It's just a strange feeling that I feel when I talked to Applejack." said Twilight. "I couldn't explain it, and since you are the expert on emotions (I would think), I thought that you might be able to help me explain it."

"I don't know if I'm going to any help to you, you being a genius and all.' said Rarity. "But I'll be sure to try."

"Very well then." said Twilight. "Whenever I talk to Applejack- No, whenever we look at each other, something strange happens. My breathing becomes faster and shorter, my heart beats faster, I hear and think less..."

"Well, that's interesting..." said Rarity. "Any other symptoms?"

"Yes." said Twilight, glad that there was someone she could share her feelings to. "Time seems to slow down when we embrace each other, my face begins to feel hot... Oh, and I like to look at her. Unconsciously. I mean, I always catch myself looking at her for some reason. And whenever we touch, I suddenly feel something strange coursing through my body. Something exciting, ticklish. Kinda like a-"

"A spark?" offered Rarity, her eyes wide.

"Yeah." said Twilight. "What do you think that means?"

Rarity immediately stood up and looked at the back of the wall. Almost immediately, though, she looked back at Twilight, an excited expression on her face.

"Why, Twilight!" said Rarity. "I'm surprised you didn't know about this sooner!"

"Know about what?" asked Twilight, the suspense killing her.

"I guess you never truly felt it before. Even when-" Rarity paused for a moment. "Of course! It all makes perfect sense now!"

"What makes perfect sense, Rarity? Tell me!" said Twilight.

"Why you didn't want to go out again with that stallion I set you up with!" said Rarity. "Of course..."

"What does that all have to do with Applejack, Rarity?"

"It has everything to do with that, Twilight!" said Rarity. "Because you're in love with Applejack!"

"Of course I love Applejack!" said Twilight. "She's one of my best friends!"

"No, I meant in love. Not just love." said Rarity, her face very close to Twilight, her expression like she was explaining basic arithmetic to a 20 year old. "There's a difference."

"What are you talking about?" asked Twilight.

"You. Are. In. Love. With. Applejack." said Rarity. "Really, Twilight, I really couldn't make that any clearer."

"Wh-"

But realization began to dawn on Twilight. What Rarity was talking about. What she truly meant.

"Oh..." said Twilight. "OH!"

"You see?" asked Rarity. "I myself was surprised when you told me this, darling. I had always thought that you... Well... You leaned more to stallions! I wouldn't have guessed that you were... into mares."

Twilight didn't answer. Despite it being her own feelings, Twilight was still shocked about just finding it out then, and having to have it pointed out by Rarity to do so. She was... a filly fooler? She had never thought of that before.

She still couldn't believe it. Not only was she a filly fooler, however... But she was in love with... Applejack? All of a sudden, Twilight began feeling very insecure about herself. She was in love with Applejack...

Slowly, however, it all began to make sense. The elevated heartbeat, the faster breathing, the desire to look at her and just keep coming closer until they can smell each other's mane... And then they would lean closer until their lips connected...

No! thought Twilight, pushing the image out of her head. What was she thinking? How could this be?

"I know it must be a shock to you, Twilight." said Rarity. "But, if it helps, I think that you and Applejack would make a good couple. As they say, opposites attract, I guess."

Twilight, the biggest nerd in all of Equestria who used to not want anything to do with other ponies other than her mentor and her family... is in love with Applejack? A simple, cheerful farm pony, a hard worker, and a pony who liked to get dirty and wild?

But it was true. It was definitely true. The more she thought about it, the more she felt foolish for not realizing it earlier. But she was still surprised at such a revelation.

She was in love with Applejack.

Twilight immediately felt giddy, cheerful, and giggly. She was on a sudden, euphoric high that made her just want to fly all the way to the Dungeons and tell Applejack. Tell Applejack, the one mare she loved, about her sudden revelation. About how she felt, and how much she wanted her, to which she would reply...

Twilight's heart fell even deeper than the chasm within a chasm. Applejack didn't like her back.

This thought struck Twilight like a lightning bolt in the middle of a very calm dribble of rain. It was so unexpected, so sudden... So... expected.

She knew that Applejack was in love with Rainbow Dash. She knew it. But still, Twilight herself was in love with Applejack. That's just great. After all this, she's just caught herself in the middle of a goddessdamn love triangle. It was depressing.

Twilight could feel the tears beginning to flow out, her emotions so strong that it could lift mountains at will.

Unrequited love. The worst, but the most beautiful type.

Applejack didn't love her. That thought would remain struck in Twilight's head, most possibly for the rest of Twilight's life.

But the feelings were just too much. She needed to let it out. But then what would she tell Applejack? No, a better question would be: 'How would Applejack react when I tell her?'

"Twilight, darling, are you okay?" asked Rarity. "Oh, poor dear! You're crying!"

"I'm fine, Rarity." said Twilight, in between sobs.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you that you are not." said Rarity. "Here, let me help you."

Rarity immediately shot off across her the Boutique and back, bringing with her a box of tissues, which she took to wipe Twilight's tears off her face. Rarity then began to comfortingly shush Twilight, gently stroking her mane.

"Ssh..." said Rarity. "I know how you feel, Twilight."

"You do?"

"Yes." said Rarity. "Remember Prince Blueblood?"

"You mean that stupid, spoiled, son of a-"

"Yes, that one." said Rarity. "I was deeply in love with him, but when I found that he didn't feel the same for me, you know, seeing how he didn't really treat me well at all, I was angry. very angry. I even attacked him. I sometimes cry myself to sleep when I think about that horrible night. And compared to that, I should say that you're handling it rather well."

Twilight tried to force a small giggle, but it was just too painful.

"I'm sorry, Rarity..." said Twilight. "I know how it must hurt to bring back those memories of yours. I'm so sorry..."

"If it helps... i know how you feel too, Twilight." said Fluttershy.

"Thanks, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy?

FLUTTERSHY?

"Fluttershy!" said Rarity, standing up all of a sudden. "How long have you been here?"

"The whole time..." said Fluttershy, bowing so low that her chin was touching the ground. She was trying to hide herself behind her hooves.

"I thought you ran off somewhere!" said Rarity.

"I didn't..." said Fluttershy, who continued talking in nothing but mumbles.

"What was that, dear?"

She began to spoke a little bit louder, but it was still too soft to hear.

Chapter 26- Kinda Holy Confessions (Reilly)

Sleeping is good.

Especially if one doesn't have to dream of sanity-damaging, apocalyptic, mind-wobbling, prophetic dreams every night.

Of course, it's a matter of perspective. There are some people in the world who actually like having those kinds of dreams. People who enjoy them and think them beneficial. People who have fun while they're in them, people who would trade anything for those kinds of dreams, dreams that could give them fame and fortune.

Steven was not one of them.

He enjoyed sleep. But on many nights, he could not have the simple pleasure of enjoying them.

They always have to be interrupted for some reason.

This night, however, was not one of them. Steven slept peacefully and quietly, away from intense battles and brain damage from thinking too hard. It had been long since he had this kind of sleep. He could just imagine himself laying in a breezy field, with little rabbits hopping about, and- Oh! A deer! He liked deer.

Steven had never felt so relaxed, so at peace with himself and the world before. He liked it.

Ah... This was the li-

"WAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUPWAKEUP!"

Steven jumped out of the bed. Perhaps too enthusiastically.

His face crashed the ceiling, and he heard a small 'crack!' and a throbbing pain in his muzzle, before falling back to the bare floor with a loud 'thud'.

"Owowowow..." said Steven, rubbing his muzzle. It was slightly crooked.

"Woah..." said a nearby voice. "That seemed harsh."

That stupid compass. He was going to kill it.

But then he himself would die. Was killing an inanimate object worth his life?

Probably.

But the throbbing pain in his muzzle grew steadily worse, and the pain quickly overcame his anger.

"I think my muzzle is broken." said Steven. "Why did you have to wake me up?"

"You yourself told me to wake you up at half-past eleven." said the compass. "You should be thanking me!'

"Yeah, but you didn't need to do it so harshly..." said Steven, rubbing his muzzle. "You could have just shaken me slightly, or whispered in my ear or something."

"Well excuse me, Princess, but you wouldn't have woken up at all if it wasn't for me." said the compass.

"God, I hope what Twilight needed to tell me was worth all this." said Steven. He immediately used his magic to snap his muzzle back to place, and with one final burning sensation, everything was back to normal.

"I'm going to wake up Rainbow Dash now." said Steven. "Gently and slowly."

"Fine." said the compass. "Should I come with you?"

"I don't trust you that much yet." said Steven. "You're still too mysterious. And what Twilight needed to tell me sounded important."

"Steven, Steven, Steven..." said the compass. "Have you forgotten already?"

"Forgotten what?" asked Steven.

"You and I are one, right?" said the compass. "Which means that whatever you know, I would know. So it's no use keeping secrets from me."

"Yeah, how did that happen anyway?" asked Steven. "Who was able to form an empathy link with me without my own consent?"

"I can't tell you that, even if I wanted to." said the compass.

"So you can know what I know but I can't know what you know?" asked Steven. "Sounds like a pretty sh*tty deal to me."

"It is pretty unfair." said the compass. "But life's unfair. Deal with it."

"Yeah, yeah." said Steven, opening the door.

Steven got out of the room as fast as he could, moving quickly to secure the lock back into place.

"Thanks." he said, begrudgingly.

He could almost picture a smug look on that compass's face before he slammed the door shut and locked the door. He then quickly moved to find Rainbow Dash's room. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too hard to wake her up.

He quietly laughed to himself as he remembered how Jaeda would almost strangle him to death whenever he tried to wake her up before she was ready. And then he would struggle and fail to fight back his angry wife as she wrestled him down to the bed, before sharing a kiss.

Steven sighed. Jaeda. Despite having a new girlfriend, he still couldn't get his mind off of her. He suddenly felt bad about dating Rainbow Dash. He felt bad, and guilty. He felt like he was betraying Jaeda's memory by falling in love with another. It was torture.

What am I thinking? Jaeda's gone, and I have to accept that.

He loved Rainbow Dash. That much was true, even to the very ends of the world. But why did it make him feel so... bad?

Time seemed to go much faster while he was thinking, and he quickly found himself already in front of Rainbow Dash's door. He had to be very gentle in waking her up, because Scootaloo was in the room as well, and he didn't want to wake the child up. So he quietly knocked on the door.

No answer. He put a little bit more strength into the knocking.

Still no answer. He reluctantly beat the door with more power, so that the sound it made was just like a regular knock's sound.

But there was still no answer. They must be really heavy sleepers, unlike Steven himself. Which was exactly why the compass shouting in his ear (or to be exact, his brain) annoyed him so much. He had to knock a bit louder than that if he wanted to wake her up. Hopefully Scootaloo was as more of a heavy sleeper than Rainbow Dash was.

Civility, however, was fated to disappear in a puff of smoke. It had reached the point where Steven was literally banging on the door, possibly waking up all the others who were sleeping in the entire corridor. As soon as he stopped, he began to hear the locks of other doors beginning to unlock, and he had more than half a mind to just run like heck to the exit and stay there.

But luckily for him, the Rainbow Dash's door was beginning to unlock. But instead of Rainbow Dash herself answering...

It was Scootaloo.

"Steven!' said Scootaloo, whose face turned from sleepy to bright immediately. "What are you doing here?"

"Scootaloo, can I come in?" asked Steven. "Please?"

"Well, sure." said Scootaloo, who moved aside as Steven ran into the room.

"What was that all about?" asked Scootaloo, who closed the door and rubbed her eyes.

"Sorry, but I need to steal your sister for a while." said Steven. "Is she awake?"

"She doesn't wake up until she wants to." said Scootaloo. "But you can try."

Scootaloo then pointed to a bed, where a lumpy blanket was covering it. Steven moved to the side of the bed, removing the covers, and a loud snoring pierced through the room.

"Wow!' said Steven. "That's loud."

"It's also why i couldn't hear you until you were banging on the door." said Scootaloo. "The covers barely helped."

Laughing to himself, Steven moved to wake up Rainbow Dash. He tried to shake her awake, to whisper into her ears, to move her body around, but all of those attempts failed. Rainbow Dash was still sleeping, her mouth widening to impossible proportions as she kept snoring.

"There's only one solution, then." said Steven. He immediately picked up Rainbow Dash and carried her on his back to the bathroom, where he laid her down inside of the bathtub. Right below the tap.

"What are you doing?" asked Scootaloo.

"What's necessary." he replied, before using his magic to turn the nozzle.

Water immediately flowed out of the tap and splashed all over Rainbow Dash's face, waking her up spluttering water everywhere. As soon as signs of life appeared on Rainbow Dash's face, Steven immediately turned the nozzle back, stopping the water flow and leaving a confused, wet Rainbow Dash lying inside the bathtub.

She immediately stood up, though, and angrily looked at Scootaloo, before turning her head to Steven.

"Why'd you do that?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"It's midnight." said Steven. "Twilight wanted to talk to us, remember?'

Rainbow Dash looked like she was thinking, before smiling back at him.

"Oh, yeah." said Rainbow Dash. "Let me just change quickly, and then we'll go."

"Now I know that whenever I need you to wake up, all I'll need to do is put your head into water." said Steven, a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, yeah." said Rainbow Dash, returning the smirk. "Just know that payback will come."

"I'll be waiting." said Steven, who exited the bathroom along with a confused Scootaloo.

"I don't get it." said Scootaloo.

"What don't you get?' asked Steven.

"Whenever I try to wake her up, she gets angry at me." said Scootaloo. "But when you wake her up, all she does is smile. Why is that?"

"Women are complicated beings, Scootaloo." said Steven, smiling at her. "One day, you'll be like that too."

Scootaloo said nothing and nodded, as they waited for Rainbow Dash to finish changing.

"So you guys put all your clothes in the bathroom?" asked Steven.

"Yeah." said Scootaloo. "At first we didn't, but then we both discovered how much we like to forget to bring our clothes inside when we wash up. So we just decided to keep it inside at all times, to avoid any awkward situations."

Steven chuckled, and ruffled Scootaloo's hair. For some mysterious reason, though, it came back bouncing up like it always did. What was her hair made of?

Not long later, Rainbow Dash came back bursting out of the bathroom in her usual attire, looking like normal despite how suddenly she had to wake up.

"Ready to go?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Yeah." said Steven. "Let's go."

"What does Twilight need with you guys anyway?" asked Scootaloo. "It's so late."

"We ourselves have no idea, Scoots." said Steven.

"Then can I come with you?" asked Scootaloo.

"Sorry, squirt." said Rainbow Dash, bending on one knee to hug her sister. "But Twilight asked for us, and only us to come and meet her."

"Okay, then." said Scootaloo, a disappointed look on her face. "Be back soon."

"It won't take long." said Steven. "Bye."

"Bye." she said, closing the door as Steven and Rainbow Dash made their way out. They then immediately began to walk to the Engineering Lab.

"Scootaloo's a nice kid" said Steven. "There are not many of those left."

"She is, isn't she?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Compared to other fillies like the one with a tiara as her cutie mark, Scootaloo's a dream come true for anypony."

Rainbow Dash immediately fell silent. Both of them were now outside the Bedrooms corridor, and were making their way towards the Lab.

"She really likes your present, you know." said Rainbow Dash, quite suddenly.

"She does?" asked Steven.

"We both do." said Rainbow Dash "She keeps telling me about how she crashed into the many different places in this base with that thing you made. And she also told me about how she thought of you like a brother."

"A brother, huh?" said Steven.

"Scootaloo and I..." said Rainbow Dash. "We both have a lot in common. We both like speed, we don't like being bossed around, we love challenges..."

"Yeah?" said Steven.

"And..." said Rainbow Dash, a slight sadness in her smile. "We both never knew our parents."

"Really?" asked Steven. "Never?"

"Nope." said Rainbow Dash.

"Sorry for making you have to bring that up..." said Steven.

"No, it's fine." said Rainbow Dash. She wasn't crying at all. "It's the same for many pegasi. Managing the weather was possibly the most dangerous job in all of Equestria. There were many risks."

"Risks?" asked Steven.

"You're not allowed to get your wings wet, and you have to avoid lightning..." said Rainbow Dash. "And not to mention that Pegasus childbirth was the most dangerous and deadly kind of childbirth."

"Why?" asked Steven.

"Because Pegasus foals are born with their wing-bones completely stiff." said Rainbow Dash. "The doctors would then massage them thoroughly to get them to relax. Most mothers... don't survive."

"Ow..." said Steven. "Sorry, I never knew."

"That's why Cloudsdale's flight school also offered a place to live for a low price." said Rainbow Dash. "Most of us, Fluttershy and I included, stayed there as we studied. We also had to get a part-time job in the Weather Factory to pay through school."

Rainbow Dash still wasn't crying, even after having to remember all of that. Steven wondered how she must've felt, never having known her parents, but he couldn't relate at all. It was impossible for him to know how she must have felt. Perhaps that was why Rainbow Dash liked to brag a lot. Perhaps all she wanted was a little love and approval from others. Perhaps that was also why Fluttershy was so timid and quiet all the time.

"You're really strong, you know that, Dash?" said Steven, playfully nudging her. "I don't know how even I could live through all that and still be as strong as you."

"As you grow up like that, you'll understand." said Rainbow Dash. "Believe me, I've felt depressed many times before. Sometimes it got a little extreme. But then I remembered my parents, and how they actually gave their lives to give life to me. That made me sad, but it gave me strength. It gave me conviction."

Steven said nothing but smiled. Rainbow Dash smiled back.

"Besides, if I had given up back then, I would never have gone to Ponyville, I would never have met the Wonderbolts, I would never have met all of my best friends..." said Rainbow Dash. "And... I would never have met you."

Steven was at a loss of what to say. Here was Rainbow Dash, possibly the most beautiful, bravest, and all round best girlfriend anyone could ever have, pouring her heart and soul out to him. And he really didn't know what to do. Should he comfort her? Acknowledge her suffering? Tell her he understands? What should he do?

Luckily for him, though, he didn't really need to do anything. All of a sudden, he found himself kissing Rainbow Dash passionately. He didn't break it, though. Not to sound sappy, but whenever he shared a kiss with Rainbow Dash, it was always special. He certainly felt that way.

"Wow..." said Steven, as soon as Rainbow Dash pulled back.

"I'm sorry..." said Rainbow Dash, blushing and scratching her head. "I guess that was kinds sudden, huh?"

"Believe me, I'm not complaining." said Steven, smiling.

"Thank you." said Rainbow Dash.

"What for?" asked Steven.

"For..." said Rainbow Dash, who suddenly hesitated. "Never mind. Twilight's waiting for us."

Rainbow Dash then began to quickly walk forward, leaving a still very confused Steven behind. What did Rainbow Dash had to thank him for? Waking her up? No, that's not it...

"Coming?" called Rainbow Dash.

"Coming." said Steven, walking quickly to catch up with her. They then began to descend down the non-active escalators, and then all the way through all of the twists and turns that led to the Engineering Lab. Soon enough, they were there.

Steven quickly entered the password, and the doors began to open. It was still dark. Why was it still dark? Perhaps Twilight was waiting for them, and she didn't want anyone from outside thinking that there was somepony inside. Maybe. The idea sounded ridiculous even to him.

"Twilight?" called out Rainbow Dash. No answer.

"Maybe she's not here yet." said Steven, as both of them walked to the largest open space in the Lab.

"No, that's impossible." said Rainbow Dash. "Twilight's always a freak about being on time every time. Sometimes it gets scary."

"Maybe she got held up?" offered Steven.

Rainbow Dash hesitated, putting a hand on her chin.

"Maybe." said Rainbow Dash. "Turn on the lights, and we'll see."

Steven used his magic extend the reach of his hoof to the nearby wall, and switched on the lights.

"WAAAAH!" screamed Rainbow Dash.

"AAAAAH!" screamed Steven, in response to Rainbow Dash.

"YAAAAAAH!" screamed three other voices, in response to Steven.

"Twilight!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Rarity!" said Steven.

"FLUTTERSHY?" said Rainbow Dash.

"Hi, Rainbow Dash." said Fluttershy, smiling sincerely at them.

"W-w-what are you guys doing here?" asked Rainbow Dash. "I thought Twilight said it was some kind of private thing?"

"Twilight here invited us to come along." said Rarity. "Is that a problem?"

"No..." said Rainbow Dash. "It's just... surprising, that's all."

"Surprising?" said Fluttershy. "Or startling? Because if we startled you, then we're really sorry."

"No, it's fine." said Steven. "We just didn't expect you guys."

"Well, if we're lucky, then we might not have woken the whole Base up." said Twilight. "So can we please keep it down."

"Okay." said the other four.

"But what are we doing here, anyway?" asked Steven. "What's so important that we need to meet up in such secrecy like this?"

"If I'm not mistaken, it was you who suggested meeting up here and now, Steven." said Twilight.

"Yeah." said Steven, feeling blood rushing to his face. How the hell do ponies blush anyway? Another mystery. "But I only suggested it because you needed this level of secrecy in the first place."

"Where and when we're here and who in the hoof suggested it doesn't matter." said Rainbow Dash. "Just tell us why we're here, Twilight."

"Well, Rainbow Dash..." said Twilight, as the three ponies' faces began looking uncomfortable.

"This little piece of news might surprise you." said Rarity. "And you too, Steven."

"No, it might even startle you." said Fluttershy, sounding as if that was important. "I wouldn't want it to startle you. That would be bad."

"Just tell us, already." said Rainbow Dash, crossing her arms.

"You know how I went to meet Applejack first thing when I woke up yesterday?" asked Twilight.

"Yeah." said Rainbow Dash. "You really made a big deal out of it."

"I'm sorry about that." said Twilight. "Anyway, when I talked to Applejack, she revealed something quite... private to me."

"Private?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Was it a Pinkie Promise?"

"Yes." said Twilight, looking guilty and blushing profusely. "But you needed to know."

"How could you do that?" asked Rainbow Dash, sounding angry. "She trusted you!"

"Please, Rainbow Dash!" said Twilight. "Just listen to us for a while!"

"I...I can't!" said Rainbow Dash. "I can't do that. You girls Pinkie Promised! I can't do such a thing after Pinkie... After she..." Rainbow Dash's voice slowly disappeared.

Was a pinkie promise really this big of a deal in Equestria? It sounded as if everyone's and their mother's lives were at stake here

"Now, it isn't really that big of a deal, really..." said Steven, but no one listened to him.

"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" said the girls in the room (even Fluttershy, although she didn't say it so harshly or loudly), making Steven want to hide in the shadows all of a sudden.

"Okay." whispered Steven. These girls are scary!

"Sorry, Twilight." said Rainbow Dash. "But I won't listen. I-"

"Rainbow Dash, just listen to me for a while, okay?" asked Twilight. "I just want to ask you a question."

Rainbow Dash immediately stopped arguing, and stood still, looking at Twilight with a stern expression. Eventually, though, she relaxed and breathed out.

"Well why didn't you say so earlier?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Didn't you see me get all panicked back there? I-"

"Do you love Applejack?" asked Twilight.

"Wha-" said Rainbow Dash.

"Do you or do you not love Applejack?" asked Twilight, rather sternly, as if she was forcing the issue.

Rainbow Dash seemed taken aback for a moment, but that quickly subsided.

"Of course I do." said Rainbow Dash. Now it was everyone else's turn to be taken aback.

"Y-You do?" asked Rarity, uncharacteristically distraught.

"Of course." said Rainbow Dash. "She might be a competitive athlete, but she's one of our best friends. Of course I love her! Is it really that surprising?"

"No..." said Fluttershy. "But..."

"Rainbow Dash, there's something you need to know." said Twilight. "Tell her, Rarity."

"Me?" asked Rarity. "No, Twilight, you should have the honor of telling her."

"No, you should tell her."

"Would you care to tell her, Fluttershy?"

"Um..."

"Fine, I'll tell her."

Rainbow Dash and Steven shared a confused glance before looking back at the three.

"Rainbow Dash..." started Twilight. "Applejack... Sorta has a kinda..."

"Crush on you." completed Rarity.

"She has a what now?" asked Steven, thinking that he misheard.

"Applejack..." said Twilight. "Has a crush on Rainbow Dash."

Steven jumped in surprise. He first glanced at the three girls, then at Rainbow Dash, then at the three girls again.

Applejack... Had a crush on Rainbow Dash? That might explain why she was so hostile to him, but... Wow. Wow... He had never expected that.

Unlike Steven, though, Rainbow Dash completely lacked any reaction. She only looked down, her hand on her chin, at the floor.

Then Rainbow Dash muttered something, but none of the others managed to hear it.

"Sorry?" said Rarity.

Rainbow Dash took a few deep breaths, and then she sighed loudly. She then immediately looked up at them, her face emotionless but her eyes burning with determination.

Rainbow Dash took another deep breath, and said:

"I know."

Chapter 27- Knowing (Twilight)

"You... knew?"

Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing. Applejack had a 'secret crush' that nopony was supposed to know about, but four out of five of those in the room knew about it, and that included the subject of the crush as well (Steven, being not from Ponyville, was the only one who didn't know jack sh*t). What in the hoof is going on here?

"Yes." said Rainbow Dash, no emotion on her face.

Twilight could feel the corners of her eyes and mouth (along with perhaps everybody else) start to twitch very violently. She really couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"S-so..." started Twilight. "Er... I really don't know what to say..."

"How did you know?" asked Rarity.

"Applejack told me back in Ponyville." said Rainbow Dash, now starting to look uncomfortable. "Please... I don't want to talk about it."

"I do!" said Steven, sounding hurt. "I can't believe you didn't tell me about this!"

"Steven, I'm sorry!" said Rainbow Dash. "But Applejack and I never-"

"I don't care about whether you two went out or not." said Steven. "It's just that I was wondering why Applejack hated me at first sight! Have we met before? We're we enemies? Was she my mother?" Strangely enough, Steven looked as serious as life itself while he was saying this.

Steven let out a huge sigh, and Rainbow Dash gingerly patted his back.

"Fine, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier." said Rainbow Dash.

Steven still looked like he had just recovered from an asthma attack, and was having trouble breathing properly. The next words he said were barely audible as he said them.

"It's... okay." he said, panting loudly. "Just... tell me these things... next time."

Rainbow Dash hugged him with a smiling "I'm sorry", but her other three friends were not amused.

"So are you telling me..." said Twilight. "That I have been worrying on how you would react when we told you about this for absolutely nothing?"

Rainbow Dash annoyingly put her hand on her chin and thought for a while, before nodding her head with a wide grin on her face.

"WHAAAAT?" screamed Twilight and Rarity. Fluttershy squeaked and retreated to where Steven was standing.

"Okay, okay..." said Twilight, who was now the one having trouble trying to breathe normally. "Let's all calm down a while."

"I'm totally calm." said Rainbow Dash. "It's just you two that needs to calm down. Right, Fluttershy?"

"I don't really know what to say..." whispered Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash ignored her comment.

"Rainbow Dash..." said Rarity, in a threatening tone that didn't sound so threatening (with her panting and all, it kinda sounded comedic). "You are going to tell us... EVERYTHING."

"Okay, geez." said Rainbow Dash. Twilight and Rarity looked surprised.

"Okay?" asked Twilight.

"That's it?" asked Rarity.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "That's it."

"Okay, then." said Twilight, apparently still confused. "So you're going to tell us about how Applejack told you about her crush on you... just like that?"

"Just like that."

"O...kay..." said Twilight. "Do you want to say it out loud, or...?"

"No, it would be too long of a story, and it's almost 1:30." said Rainbow Dash, like it was really nothing. "Why don't you do that little memory spell of yours, Twi?"

Little memory spell? Little memory spell? That comment made Twilight so angry that it was enough for her to burst into flames. How could she call it a little memory spell? Only four living beings in Equestria can do that spell, and two of them are the Princesses themselves! Calling it little was...

No, Twilight. she thought. Calm down. If utter belittlement of your memory spell is all it took to finally uncover this stupid mystery, then it was almost worth it. Almost.

"Fine." said Twilight, more than a little begrudgingly. Twilight stepped forward to put her horn in contact with Rainbow Dash's forehead.

"Wait." said Rainbow Dash, raising a hand and stepping back. "This won't hurt, right?"

As much as Twilight wanted it to (because then Twilight would show her what's little), the memory spell didn't hurt at all.

"No." said Twilight. Rainbow Dash then knelt down, and Twilight touched the center of her forehead with her horn while beckoning the rest to come closer to her. With reluctance, all of them gathered in a circle around Rainbow Dash and Twilight.

"Are you all ready?" asked Twilight, who looked around at the group of friends surrounding her.

No one said a word, but they all nodded in unison.

"Now, remember." said Twilight. "Once we enter Rainbow Dash's memories, our bodies will be rendered comatose until we return. So we cannot risk anyone coming inside the Engineering Labs and discovering us."

"I've already locked the doors, if that's what you're talking about." said Steven, still shaken but much calmer.

"Good." said Twilight. "Now, Rainbow Dash, when did you learn about Applejack's feelings for you?"

But Rainbow Dash began to hesitate.

"I don't know, guys." said Rainbow Dash. "It's really kinda private."

"You promised us, Rainbow." said Twilight.

"Fine." sighed Rainbow Dash.  "It was the night of the Summer Sun celebration... Around 11 p.m."

Twilight felt surprised. She hadn't expected Rainbow Dash to remember the date and time so well. Was Rainbow Dash feeling more emotional about this whole affair than she was letting on? Twilight began to feel guilty, but she knew that there was no turning back now.

"Okay, just to clear up a few things before we begin." said Twilight, in her usual, commanding tone. "We are going to feel as if we are in that place at the time of the memory. We will be watching the scene from the guidelines. And we won't be able to interact with anything except each other, no matter how real the projection may seem. Is that clear?"

Everyone else nodded and gulped.

"Everyone hold on to me." said Twilight. "Here goes..."

Twilight lowered her horn into Rainbow Dash's head, closed her eyes, and felt a familiar rush of magic to her horn and a jerking sensation pull them away from their world.

THUD!

"Ow..." said Fluttershy, landing on her rump on the hard, cold, floor.

"Sorry about the rough landing." said Twilight. "We're here."

It was dark, wherever it was. A dark, but spacey room, with absolutely no source of light unless one would count the bright moonlight making itself seen through the small window nearby. It was the 2001st Summer Sun celebration, of course, and everypony was downstairs in the Town Hall having a blast. Both Princesses, Celestia and Luna, we're also present downstairs, mingling happily with the townsfolk of humble old Ponyville.

Not long later, however, the door to the room slammed open, and for a short, deafening while, the full volume of the ongoing party was heard in the room, echoing all over it. It was sure to make anypony's ears bleed.

But as quickly as the sound came into the room, it disappeared, leaving a dark silhouette of a pony entering the room. The figure immediately took rest on the nearby stack of hay, which was positioned specifically so that the figure could relax and look at the beautiful, shining moon from the small window across it.

The moon, of course, was looking back at the pony. Through moonlight reflecting itself on the young pony's face, one could see a cyan glint of fur and a long, multicolored mane shining back at the moon as the pony's eyes gazed wistfully at it.

Rainbow Dash. That was her name. Future Wonderbolt, and the Fastest Pony in Equestria. Rainbow Dash.

"That's you!" said Steven. "It's Pony... you!"

"Come on, Steve." said Rainbow Dash, smiling playfully. "Don't tease."

"What?" asked Steven. "Pony you is cute."

Rainbow Dash playfully nudged him in the shoulder as they continued to watch the memory.

"Rainbow!" shouted a female, southern voice. "Consarn it, Rainbow! Where'd y'all go?"

The relaxed Pegasus immediately jumped with a start, obviously surprised as to why somepony would want to find her at a time like this. For as long as she'd been in Ponyville, she had always found herself staring at the beautiful moon at every Summer Sun Celebration. Of course, she was disturbed regularly back at her house, so she moved here for better refuge.

Rainbow Dash immediately flew into the air, wanting to find a place to hide as quickly as possible. Not only did she dislike other ponies disturbing her while she was watching the moon, but she didn't want anypony to catch her doing something this sappy. It would ruin her while reputation!

But in her eagerness to fly up, though, she bumped her head rather harshly against the wall. There was an immediate loud 'thud' that began to vibrate throughout the whole room, also probably reaching the outside as well.

"Damn it!" cursed Rainbow Dash to herself under her breath, softly landing on the ground as she massaged the new bump on her head with a hoof.

But as soon as she let her guard down, her worst nightmares came through. The door slammed open.

"Rainbow!" exclaimed the pony at the doorway. "Ah've been looking fer you everywhere."

"Er... Hi, Applejack!" said Rainbow Dash, sounding very guilty. "What's up? Why were you... er... looking for me?"

"Erm..." started Applejack, biting her lip as she would normally do when about to lie. "No reason. Just worried, s'all. What're y'all doin' in this 'ere dark and scary place anyway, Rainbow?"

"I was... hungry!" said Rainbow Dash, who immediately dove into the stack of hay and started munching a mouthful. "And I saw some hay here, so I thought I'd have a little... snack?"

"In my defense, the bump on my head kinda messed my thinking a little bit." said Rainbow Dash. "If I had a little more time, I'm sure I could've come up with a much more awesome excuse."

"Yer just as bad a liar as ah am, sugahcube." said Applejack. "And that's sayin' something, considerin' me being the Element of Honesty an' all."

Even in the darkness, Rainbow Dash's blush can easily be seen. The earth pony began to chuckle.

"Hey!" said Rainbow Dash. "I asked you what you were doing here first!"

"So?"

"So you have to answer first!" said Rainbow Dash, a sudden cocky smile on her face.

"Well..." said Applejack, looking away. "It's almost time for the Princess to raise the Sun... So ah was wonderin' if you wanted to... watch the sunrise with me?"

Rainbow Dash hesitated for a while, but it soon became obvious that there was no lie in Applejack's voice. Rainbow Dash nuzzled the farm pony, but Applejack immediately pushed her back.

"Wait a minute." said Applejack, who was trying very hard to keep a straight face. "Ya still haven't told me why yer here in the first place."

"Oh..." said Rainbow Dash. "Looks like I can't slip away from that question, huh?"

Applejack simply shook her head, making Rainbow Dash sigh deeply as she began to walk to the open window.

"I was watching the moon." said Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be trying to be as annoyingly vague as possible.

"Why didn't ya watch it with the rest of us?" asked Applejack.

"I... kinda wanted to be alone." said Rainbow Dash. "I'm sorry, Applejack. It's kinda private."

"Alright." said Applejack. "I won't pry. So are ya comin'? Everypony's waitin'."

"Oh." said Rainbow Dash, flexing her wings. "Okay. AAAH!"

Rainbow Dash fell back to the floor, her face screwed up in intense pain as her head throbbed violently. Applejack immediately ran to Rainbow Dash and helped her stand back up. Rainbow Dash rubbed a forehoof around the top of her head, wincing in pain as she did so.

"Are you alright, sugahcube?" asked Applejack, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm fine." said Rainbow Dash, before nearly falling back to the floor in pain again. "No. No, I'm not. My head hurts."

"What happened?" asked Applejack, steadying Rainbow Dash again.

"I kinda crashed my head against the ceiling when I heard you calling me all of a sudden." said Rainbow Dash, wincing in pain. "I... was kinda used to being all alone this time of the year."

"Crashed yer head?" asked Applejack. "Ya must've crashed it pretty hard, then. Yer hard head left a mighty big impression on that ceiling of yers."

Rainbow Dash looked up painfully. Sure enough, there was a huge dent on the ceiling she crashed. Unlike other buildings in Ponyville, the Town Hall was made of solid stone. She must really have a hard head, considering how her skull didn't break despite the hardness of that ceiling."

"Ah think ah can help, though." said Applejack. "Ah'm always helpin' Granny Smith with all her bone problems. Ah reckon ah can help ya with yers too, using the same techniques."

"Are you sure, Applejack?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Sure as pumpkin pie." said Applejack, smiling encouragingly at Rainbow Dash.

The pegasus hesitated for a while, but she ultimately decided to place her trust in Applejack. She quickly turned around, lifting the forehoof off of her head, and sat. She winced in pain once again.

"Now this might hurt fer a while." said Applejack.

"Wait, wha-"

Too late. Applejack immediately dug her hooves onto Rainbow Dash's head, provoking a loud scream of agony from the multicolored mare. But, of course, the pain was too intense for Rainbow Dash too move even a single muscle, leaving her locked there as Applejack's strong hooves continued on torturing her.

The scream of agony, however, was slowly replaced with screams of pleasure. Applejack licked her lips in concentration as she continued on putting most of her strength into pressing down on Rainbow Dash's head, massaging it thoroughly. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but squeal in delight as Applejack kept working on her head.

"AAAAH!" screamed Rainbow Dash, shivering under the intense pleasure that Applejack's hooves were now granting her.. "Yes, Applejack, yes! Right there! Your hooves are magic!"

Applejack let out a soft chuckle but kept on concentrating at massaging her friend's head.

"Now, ya might not want to scream so loud anymore, Rainbow." said Applejack, grunting as she put most of her strength into her hooves. "Everypony might be wonderin' what 's goin' on in here."

Rainbow Dash looked as if she was really, really high. She began to giggle uncharacteristically, followed by herself putting a hoof to her muzzle and shushing out loud. Applejack began to blush profusely at this point. She immediately released her hooves from Rainbow Dash's head.

As soon as Applejack let go of her head, Rainbow Dash seemed to have snapped out of her trance. She looked around dazedly for a while, before shaking her head violently and looking straight at Applejack, no emotion in her face.

She quickly raised a hoof and touched the tip of her head- right where she had crashed against the ceiling. There was no response.

"That was..." said Rainbow Dash, slowly breaking into a grin. "AWESOME, Applejack! I can't feel anything anymore!"

"Well, anythin' to do with mah hooves are mah specialty, ah guess." said Applejack, winking at Rainbow Dash as if to say that it was nothing at all.

"I love you, Applejack." said Rainbow Dash, rather lightheartedly, as she happily began to fly towards the door. Applejack, however, didn't follow. What Rainbow Dash had said made her stop directly in her tracks, freezing on the spot. Her facial expression made it look like she was in a trance of her own, deeply locked outside the boundaries of time and space, allowed to freely move around in the air as her mind lost all thought.

"What... did ya say, Rainbow Dash?"

"Oh... my." said Fluttershy, hiding her face behind her mane.

"Oh, lighten up, darling!" said Rarity, who had been keeping her eyes glued to the action ever since the massaging part.

"No, I can understand what Fluttershy's feeling." said Twilight. "This suddenly seems... very personal. I feel like an intruder."

"It's your call, Dash." said Steven. There was no response. "Dash?"

"Wha?" asked Rainbow Dash, who seemed to have slipped out of focus. But then Twilight saw something fly out of Rainbow Dash's face. Something small... something shiny.

A tear?

Now Twilight felt really guilty. It didn't matter to her anymore how things went. This whole thing had obviously hurt Rainbow Dash more than anything so far, and she didn't want Rainbow Dash to feel any more hurt than she already was. Knowing her, Rainbow Dash would probably be feeling guilty about all this.

"That's it." said Twilight. "We're going out of here."

"No, Twilight." said Rainbow Dash, her face red but full of resolve. "It's okay."

"But Rainbow-"

"I'm fine, Twilight." said Rainbow Dash. "I need to see this too."

Twilight was confused. She had half a mind to just cancel this whole thing altogether, but she knew that Rainbow Dash would get angry at her for doing that. But she didn't want to hurt Rainbow Dash.

Then what was with the resolved face?

"Are you sure, Dash?" asked Steven. "Because we're fine with whatever you want to do. Just say the word, and we'll leave."

"No." said Rainbow Dash. "We'll stay."

With reluctance, everyone began to watch the scene again.

"I said I love you." said Rainbow Dash, still completely oblivious to everything. "You're a really good friend, and I just can't think of how I- no, *anypony could live without you in their lives."*

Applejack didn't say anything. But her frozen stance had disappeared, and Applejack looked down in sadness. Rainbow Dash looked on at her with confusion. Why was Applejack look so... sad? Was it something she said?

"Rainbow... Can ah ask ya a question?" asked Applejack, unable to make eye contact with Rainbow Dash.

"Sure." said Rainbow Dash, fluttering to Applejack's side. "Anything."

"Ya just said that ya thought ah was a really good friend." said Applejack.

"Well, yeah!" said Rainbow Dash. "You said it yourself- you are the loyalest and most dependable of ponies. Next to me, of course."

"Rainbow..." said Applejack, ignoring her snide comment and looking up at her. Rainbow Dash saw her face- her swelling eyes, her trembling mouth... and she immediately knew that something was up. Something was wrong.

"Are you okay, Applejack?" asked Rainbow Dash. "You're not usually... this sappy."

"JUST LISTEN TA ME FER ONCE, CONSARN IT!" shouted Applejack, her frustration exploding immediately. But she quickly realized what she had done, and immediately began to hide herself. "Ah'm sorry, Rainbow... Ah don't know what came over me..."

"It's fine, Applejack." said Rainbow Dash, nuzzling her friend. "You can tell me anything."

"Ya said we were friends, right?"

"Yeah." said Rainbow Dash. "You're like... one of the best friends anypony could ever have."

Applejack chuckled, but her solemn expression didn't change.

"Have ya ever..." said Applejack, hesitating. 'Have ya ever thought of being... more?"

"More?" asked Rainbow Dash, confused.

"More than friends." said Applejack.

"I-I don't understand." said Rainbow Dash, her face filled to the brim with confusion. What was Applejack trying to say?

"Ah think..." continued Applejack, not bothered at all. "Ah think ah'm in love with you, Rainbow Dash."

Now this was sudden. Rainbow Dash felt her soul jump out of her body for a second, before diving back in. She could actually FEEL her pupils shrinking in complete and utter surprise at what Applejack had just said. What did she just say?

Applejack was... in love with her?

No, there had to be some kind of misunderstanding. For all the years she had known Applejack, not ONCE has she thought of the simple farm mare being a filly fooler. That was near impossible. Rainbow Dash must've misheard her.

"You.. what?" asked Rainbow Dash, silently cursing herself., This came out a lot harsher than she meant it too.

"Ah love you, Rainbow." said Applejack.

Okay, she couldn't have heard her wrong. But this... this was not possible. Applejack...

Rainbow Dash dipped her head down in confusion. Applejack was in love with her. She still couldn't believe it. The words were coming out of Applejack's own lips, but it all seemed impossible. Could she be lying? No, there's no good reason for that. Plus, she's the Element of Honesty! Could this all be just a joke? No, it didn't seem like a joke. Not at all...

But what Rainbow Dash felt worst about was how she would react. Applejack had told her that she was in love with her. That much cannot be changed. But what the REAL bad thing was...

Rainbow Dash didn't feel the same way.

It felt confused. She felt guilty. A whole mix of emotions seemed to be swirling inside her stomach right now. She needed to sit down.

As she sat, however, she noticed how Applejack's face turned to one of silent resignation.

"I'm sorry, Applejack..." said Rainbow Dash, finding it hard to look at Applejack. "This is all just so... sudden."

"Ah understand." said Applejack, rather bitterly. She began to walk away.

"Applejack, wait!" said Rainbow Dash. Applejack didn't stop walking. Rainbow Dash then immediately zipped past her and stopped right in front of the door, kicking it shut.

"Please, Applejack..." said Rainbow Dash. Applejack faced her with a killing glare. "We have to talk about this-"

"There nothin' to talk about, Rainbow." said Applejack, her voice full of metal. "Let's just go back to normal, now. Everythin's fine."

"No it's not, Applejack!" said Rainbow Dash. "It can't go back to normal... It won't."

Applejack didn't say anything. She just kept fixing that bitter glare at her.

Rainbow Dash had a small idea of what to do next. What could maybe sort out all of the confusion in her mind at the moment. Something that could help her decide... What she was supposed to do next. Maybe this can tell her how she was supposed to feel.

Rainbow Dash immediately leaned forward and kissed Applejack.

Rainbow Dash sensed that Applejack had widened her eyes in surprise, but the farm pony didn't do anything to pull away. She just kissed back with much more vigor. Rainbow Dash was shocked at first, but she didn't break the kiss... She didn't want to.

This was the most amazing kiss she had ever felt in her life. It was so passionate, so powerful, so... right. She had kissed many stallions before, but this one... This one was unarguably the best, even though it was a mare she was kissing. Or perhaps it was because it was a mare.

Rainbow Dash pushed Applejack backwards, and Applejack didn't fight. They kept walking, and Rainbow Dash knew that there was supposed to be the stack of hay behind Applejack now. But just as soon as she pushed further...

Applejack turned around, and Rainbow Dash fell back against the hay. Normally she would complain, but she really didn't want to. This was the best feeling she had ever felt in her life. She had never felt so... good before. Rainbow Dash could smell the slight aroma of freshly picked apples from Applejack's mane, and that just made everything better.

This continued for a long time. Rainbow Dash and Applejack remained passionately locked in each other, and they completely forgot about all the other ponies waiting outside for them. Rainbow Dash felt Applejack's hoof begin to slide down from her chest to her thigh, and then it slowly moved towards the...

Rainbow Dash pulled back. Applejack looked shocked for a while, but her expression immediately softened down.

"Ah guess that was a might sudden." said Applejack, blushing cutely in the dim light of the moon.

"Trust me, AJ." said Rainbow Dash. "I really wanted it. I really wanted you. But I can't. I'm still confused. I don't know what to think, I don't know what to feel... Sorry, Applejack."

Applejack didn't get angry this time. In fact, she began to smile gently at her, a smile that was rarely seen by anypony ever before.

"Ah understand." said Applejack. "And ah'm the one who should be sorry. It's mighty unfair that ah got angry at ya just now."

"Thanks, AJ." said Rainbow Dash.

"But you'll... wait, won't ya?" asked Applejack.

Rainbow Dash gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"I just need to do a little thinking, that's all." said Rainbow Dash, smirking. "And if I decided that I wanted you, then you should be ready for the ride of your life."

"And ya should too." said Applejack. "Ya might be a pegasus, but it ain't easy tamin' this earth pony."

"Family." said Rainbow Dash.

"Pardon?" said Applejack.

"You asked me why I was alone here, looking at the night sky." said Rainbow Dash. "It's because Fluttershy told me once that ponies don't really die. They turn into bright, beautiful stars. We would often look at the night sky whenever we felt lonely, trying to find which stars were once our parents."

"She's a great friend, Fluttershy." said Applejack. "Always knows how to comfort anypony. Ah mean, Pinkie Pie might know how to make ponies smile, but Fluttershy can make anypony feel happy about themselves. They don' call her the Element of Kindness for nothin', ah guess. If only she was a little less shy...

"Come on, then." said Rainbow Dash, laughing. "Everypony's waiting for us."

Chapter 28- Square One (Reilly)

"Well, that was... hot."

Steven didn't know what else to say. Although Steven looked calm and collected from the outside, he was burning up inside. In fact, except for Rainbow Dash, the mouths of everyone there were gaping widely open. No one said anything- not because they didn't have anything to say, but because they didn't dare say anything at that point. What they just saw... really took the breath out of them. Forcefully. Just grabbed it and held onto it like that. Steven needed to break the ice before any of them actually died of asphyxiation.

But still, no one answered. It was starting to get really awkward there- especially considering that the memory had ended, leaving the group in the middle of indefinite white space until they magicked themselves out. Steven wanted to say something else, but he couldn't. The shock of the matter still choked him up.

"Oh my..." said Fluttershy, looking just as shocked as the rest of them. What just happened there must have broken her fragile little mind. "I can't believe you girls think so highly of me, Rainbow Dash."

Steven's mouth grew wider as Fluttershy said that. It seemed that everything else really didn't matter to Fluttershy at the moment.

"Fluttershy..." said Rainbow Dash, walking over to Fluttershy and kneeling down in front of her. "You are the kindest, the most gentle, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but the really one of the bravest ponies I had ever met. What makes you think that we won't think highly of you at all?"

Fluttershy bowed her head down until not even Rainbow Dash could see it.

"It's just... I'm so insignificant." said Fluttershy.

"Don't say that, Fluttershy." said Rainbow Dash, picking Fluttershy's head up. "I've known you for my whole life. If you were anything close to insignificant, I would've said so earlier."

Fluttershy stood still for a while, before finally nuzzling Rainbow Dash's hand as a sign of acceptance. Only now did Steven know how her friends and their words truly meant to Fluttershy. He began to smile, happy about the fact that even a shy (and sometimes even self-degrading) pony like her had such great friends. And they were now his friends too.

"Come on, guys." said Twilight. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." said Rainbow Dash. Twilight beckoned them over to come close to Twilight as she touched Rainbow Dash's forehead with her horn.

"Here goes..." said Twilight, and all of them were pulled inside a flash of light as they disappeared back into the real world.

________________________________________________________________________________

Steven was lying on the floor when he finally came to.

He quickly stood up and let out a great yawn, stretching his back and his hooves as he did so. It really was late, and he should go back to his room and sleep already. But something strange caught his eye.

No, not something. Nothing.

Complete nothingness surrounded Steven again. He knew what was coming- the Voice. He expected it to come, but he didn't want it too. The Voice always brought with it bad news.

There was always nothing in this place. Nothing at all. Nothing to see, nothing to feel... There was only that voice. The same thing was happening now. The place was still empty.

Empty, except...

Twilight!

Twilight was still lying still on the ground, apparently still passed out. Ecstatic but panicked to see one of his best friends lying on the ground in front of him (especially since he had always thought that he was dreaming at these times), Steven tried to wake the purple mare up.

"Twilight?" called Steven, gently nudging her in her sleep.

"5 more minutes..." said Twilight. That struck Steven as strange- the studious ones were usually light sleepers. He knew he was one.

"Twilight, you have to wake up." said Steven, softly but urgently. "Come on, Twilight."

Luckily for Steven, Twilight wasn't that much of a heavy sleeper. As soon as the words escaped of Steven's lips, he noticed Twilight beginning to stir. He stepped back, afraid that a grumpy, early-morning Twilight Sparkle would attack him. Luckily for him, though, she didn't. She was just groggily beginning to stand up.

"Twilight?" said Steven.

That word seemed to have struck Twilight like lightning. Almost immediately, Twilight jumped to attention, her eyes wide open, taking in everything she could. Not like there was really anything there, except him.

"Steven." said Twilight, looking confused. Her eyes were full of fury, panic, stress...

I know that feel, sister.

"What are you doing here?" asked Twilight. Steven was surprised- HE was supposed to be asking that question. SHE was supposed to ask what she was doing here, not what he was doing there. HE was the one who had been coming here for nights on end, after all. Wait... did this mean-

"Okay, don't worry." said Twilight. "We're most likely trapped in a dream world. I'll try to get us out."

"I don't worry?" asked Steven. "No, YOU don't worry."

"No, YOU don't worry." said Twilight, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not worried." said Steven, raising an eyebrow back (hoping it would be raised higher than Twilight's, just to prove his point). "I've been here before, anyway."

"No, I'm not worried. You're supposed to be-" said Twilight, before finally stopping short. "You've... been here before?"

"Yeah." said Steven. "Tons of times."

Twilight began to laugh. Not a 'happy-funny' laugh, but a really creepy laugh. Almost like an evil laugh... only a bit crazier.

"No, you've never been here before." said Twilight, grinning creepily. "It's impossible."

"I've been here many times already." said Steven, visibly scared of Twilight's new persona. "The thing is, I don't know where 'this place' is."

Twilight immediately stopped laughing and smiling (making Steven breathe a sigh of relief), instead thinning her lips as she glared at Steven. Steven's relief soon faded away, replaced by a tense feeling in his heart. Twilight looked like she wanted to kill him.

"When you were in here..." said Twilight. "Did you...meet anyone?"

Steven didn't know how to answer that question. He was afraid that if he told the truth, Twilight was going to attack him. On the other hoof, he was afraid that if he lied, Twilight was going to attack him. But he was also afraid that Twilight would attack him if he remained silent.

To hell with it. thought Steven. It looked as if Twilight was going to attack him anyway, so he might as well tell the truth.

"Yes." said Steven, although as soon as he said the words, his confidence immediately left his body. "I mean... I don't know who he is, and I've never even seen the guy before, but he always brings me in here to talk to him. I don't trust him, though."

"Don't trust him, huh?" asked Twilight. Her expression softened, and she released a resigned sigh. "Well, it looks as if he isn't going to let us go until he says what he needs to say, anyway. He's never told you who he is before?"

"No." said Steven, suddenly intrigued. Did Twilight know the Voice? Has she been experiencing the same things he's been experiencing?

"I was visited in my unconscious sleep last night by Discord." said Twilight, whose breathing became more heavy as her eyes darkened. "Master of Chaos. If you've been visited by the same voice, and it's really really likely, then you would've been talking to Discord as well."

Steven choked in surprise.

Discord? The same Master of Chaos which drove Twilight to nearly kill him? He's been visiting Steven in his sleep?

Wait, but that would mean...

The compass? Was he the compass as well? They had completely different personalities though, but Discord might just be another one of those brilliant actors.

"D-Discord?" asked Steven.

"What has he told you?" asked Twilight, confronting Steven. "No, the question is, what have you told him?"

"Hey, I'm almost never the one talking." said Steven, offended that Twilight would even think about him disclosing information to outsiders. Not that he had any, but still. "You really think I, of all people, would tell a stranger

Twilight immediately let her head drop.

"Sorry." said Twilight quickly. "You just surprised me by saying that you've been here before."

"You did the same to me too." said Steven. "But it doesn't seem like he's here."

Twilight nodded and looked around. It was pitch-black in there, but it wasn't because of the lack of light. it's like one whole empty room with everything painted completely black. The strange thing was, though, that he could see Twilight just fine- like how he would normally see her in bright light. Except for everything around them being completely dark.

"He's here." said Twilight. "Discord might be the most evil, crazy, chaotic bastard alive, but everything he does is for a reason. Why would he keep us here?"

"Why, can't I have a nice chat with you, my dear Twilight?"

Both Steven and Twilight jumped at the sudden appearance of the voice. It was the same voice that he had heard for what felt like a million times, but it still always seemed to surprise him. Why does he always have to let his guard down at the worst possible moments?

"Discord!" said Twilight. Steven saw blinding white fury in her eyes. But there was something else there too- something deeply hidden away behind the anger and the hate. Something that she had most probably tried to deny, but could feel it weighing down on her. Behind those determined eyes, something really stood out from the rest.

Fear?

There was no doubt about it. Despite Twilight's hate and anger towards the draconequus, Twilight was afraid. Steven himself didn't know why- he knew that Twilight and her friends have fought against Discord before, but he didn't have any details. Just how powerful could a Master of Chaos truly be?

But what struck Steven even more than that was the fact that all this time, the Voice that had always spoken to him had been Discord. Of course, it was Steven's fault that he didn't notice it in the first place. He should've known! The Voice had always spoken very cryptically, and people who do that are generally the ones who liked to wreak chaos.

Or he could've just asked him.

"Show yourself, Discord!" screamed Twilight in an angry panic.

"Come on, Twilight, there's no need to shout." mocked the Voice. "Do you think shouting is the best way to meet old friends?"

"You're not my friend." said Twilight grudgingly. "I hate you."

The Voice surprisingly remained quiet for a while. Twilight herself seemed surprised, widening her eyes for a second before resuming her angry expression (albeit with a hint of doubt now).

The Voice cleared his throat.

"Hate me?" asked Discord. He immediately began laughing- a cackling, menacing laughter that pierced through Steven's heart. "HATE ME? There are much better things to hate than little old me, isn't there?"

All of a sudden, there was another figure entering the dark mass of space around them. But this figure was much more different than Steven and Twilight. It was walking upright.

But it was no human. In fact, it was one of the strangest and most grotesque figure he had ever seen in the course of his life (which were many, considering the fact that he was forced to work with such people at times back at the University). It had a head of some sort of goat with one horn of a mountain goat and the other some kind of demon's horn. It also had a small tuft of hair under its chin. It also had two wings- a dragon's and a bird's, the tail of a serpent, two hooves, and two very mismatched hands. They looked like a paw of a lion on one hand and an eagle's claw on the other.

Years of being taught Literature at school had taught Steven to always read between the lines. The mismatched body parts, the strange way it walked, and it's carefree expression had to mean something. They had to symbolize something.

Of course...

Chaos. Discord.

Steven was in no condition to speak, though. All of this was so much to take in, and he felt his mind drawing a complete and total blank. Its appearance, its voice, the fact that Twilight had also been talking to him while he did... Steven couldn't bother to say anything at the moment. All he could do was watch as Discord came even closer to Twilight.

Twilight was silently staring down at the Master of Chaos, not uttering a single word. But the look in Twilight's face said everything. She was ready to attack. She wanted to kill Discord. But she couldn't. Just like Steven himself, Twilight had questions as well, and she wanted them answered.

"Much better things to hate..." said Discord, unaffected by Twilight's death stare. "Like your rainbow-haired friend, perhaps?"

Twilight immediately dropped her expression, replacing it with a look of complete shock. Steven, on the other hoof, was confused. Was Discord talking about Rainbow Dash? Why the hell would Twilught hate Rainbow Dash?

"Yes... You should hate her." said Discord. "Hate her with a passion. Fill your heart with the wish to tear the foolish human apart. Destroy her for trying to get in your way."

"Shut up!" screamed Twilight, trembling as she fought to stay on her hooves.

"Rainbow Dash." said Discord, unfazed. "The name brings up a lot of pent-up anger within you doesn't it? The one woman who could take away your one true love for you."

Now Steven was more confused. Not only because of what Discord was saying (he did kind of expect that, 'cause a Master of Chaos would always want to cause disharmony), but also be because of Twilight's reaction to all this. She was trembling in her hooves, her eyes wide with fear. Whatever Discord was saying must have meant something to her. Something big.

Which would normally mean that it was true.

"Rainbow Dash is the only obstacle in gaining your true love." said Twilight. "Why not just take her apart and leave her out of the picture, hmm?"

Steven couldn't take it anymore. He was just too confused, and he couldn't let Twilight get even more influenced by Discord or something had was sure too happen. He could feel Twilight's struggle- she was teetering along the lines of light and dark. Whatever Discord said had a certain charm to it, some kind of magic, that seemed to have a more than profound effect on Twilight. He needed to stop this.

"Twilight, don't listen to him!" shouted Steven. "It's all lies and deceit! You know that!"

Discord shot him a small smile, to which Steven recoiled. Why was Discord....

Soon after, though, Twilight finally broke out of her trance. She was now standing straight again, ready to fight to the death with the draconequus if need be.

"I don't care about what you say, Discord." said Twilight. "Rainbow Dash is my best friend, and you will never turn me against her, or any one of my other friends. As far as I am concerned, YOU'RE the enemy here, Discord."

Discord immediately left Twilight's side, looking strangely proud of himself. What was his plan? All these questions and mysteries were killing Steven, but he daren't ask a Master of Chaos for any answers. It was far too risky.

"Very well." said Discord, a sudden look of disgust on his face and a tone of annoyance in his voice. "I wasn't here to talk about that anyway. I'm here to talk to dear Steven there."

When Discord mentioned his named, Steven nearly jumped out of his hooves. He might've snapped Twilight out of her trance before, but he wasn't sure if he would be as strong as Twilight.

"As usual, Steven Reilly, my meeting with you shall be brief." said Discord, maintaining a business-like distance and tone from Steven. "I have only come here right now to tell you that it is time."

"T-time?" asked Steven.

"Yes." said Discord. "Your compass will show you the way."

"Steven..." whispered Twilight as she moved next to Steven. "What is he talking about."

Steven didn't answer. He couldn't.

He didn't want to.

It's... Time? Time to meet his father? Steven stood frozen, eyes widened to their breaking point as he began to feel beads of sweat streaming down his face and neck. He couldn't get his eyes off Discord's face as he continued to stare and hang in to every word the draconequus was saying.

"Now, if you don't mind..." said Discord. "Please see yourselves out."

Discord snapped his fingers, and Steven could feel a familiar tugging in his stomach. He didn't want to move. He wanted to stay there and ask him the meaning to all this. But as usual, time has eluded him, and he must now go back to the real world to ponder in his thoughts.

"Arrivaderci."

________________________________________________________________________________

"NO, Steven!" said Twilight, trying to break free from the holds of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. "I am NOT going to wherever Discord is telling you to go, and neither should you."

"Please, Twilight..." said Steven. "I need to get answers, and so do you. He promised me answers, Twilight!"

"Yes, but not this way!" said Twilight, pulling her hooves one last time as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy fell to the floor. "You can't trust him, Steven! You know that!"

"I know!" said Steven, shutting his eyes closed as he pulled down his head in stress. "I know! That's why everything is confusing! By all means, I should just ignore everything and stay here, but I can't! I can't!"

"And why can't you?" asked Twilight, pushing her forehead to Steven's. "Why can't you just stay here?"

"I... can't say." said Steven, looking away.

"You can't say..." repeated Twilight, who then pulled her head away with a great force. "You can't say. That's brilliant, just brilliant."

"I'm sorry." said Steven. "Really. But I can't tell you."

"WHY CAN'T YOU TELL ME?" screamed Twilight. "IF YOU PLAN ON GOING OUT THERE, POTENTIALLY ENDANGERING ALL OF OUR LIVES, THEN WE DESERVE TO KNOW WHY!"

"Um... I don't really mind..." said Fluttershy, raising a hoof as if asking for permission to speak in class.

"SHUT UP, FLUTTERSHY!" snapped Twilight.

Steven could see Fluttershy begin to cry behind her own mane, and Rainbow Dash immediately went to help her. Rarity, however, turned to face Twilight.

"Twilight, please." said Rarity. "You did not have to do that. Did you see what you did to poor Fluttershy?"

"I DON'T CARE! " screamed Twilight. "ALL I NEED TO KNOW RIGH NOW IS WHY THIS B*TCH WANTS TO FOLLOW WHAT DISCORD IS TELLING HIM TO!"

"It's because of my father!" said Steven, hanging his head in shame.

Everybody stopped doing everything they were doing and turned to look at Steven, a confused look in their eyes. It was too much for Steven to bear.

"Discord knows where my father is." said Steven. "I need to go and find him so I can bring him back."

Nobody said anything. Twilight, however, walked up right in front of him with a rock hard expression on her face.

And then, as quick as lightning, Twilight swung a hoof and punched Steven's face.

It wasn't a very strong blow, but it was definitely strong enough for Steven to feel some pain. His heart was being completely wrenched from all the guilt he felt for even trying to convince his friends to come with him in a quest be should've went on alone.

"Twilight!" said Bush, who joined the group along with Big Macintosh after they had left the Engineering Lab.  Try quickly caught up with what was happening, though. "I know this's very emotional to you and all, but can you do all this fightin' somewhere else, mate? Everyone's looking at us."

It was true. They were right in the middle Floor B2, where many ponies and people were walking about. But all of the commotion had died down from the sound of Twilight's punch. They were all now looking at the drama in the middle of the floor.

Twilight, however, didn't need to stay around any longer. She began to turn around and walk away.

"I can't believe you could be so selfish." said Twilight, whose path was immediately cleared as the scared Resistance-folk moved aside in terror of the Purple Menace.

"Nobody's going anywhere." said Twilight. "And you better think about this, Steven, and where it might lead you to. I'm not going to let anyone else waste their lives on such a foolish endeavor."

Twilight immediately walked away, not even stopping once to look back.

"Steven..." said Rainbow Dash.

Steven didn't answer. He turned around and stormed out of the circle of people and ponies, walking back to his room. There was no need to stay there any longer.

Steven angrily kicked open the door to his bedroom. He could hear the television blaring inside, but he didn't care. He slammed the door shut and began to proceed towards the bed, where the compass was flying around in an apparent panic.

"Steven! Steven!" said the compass. "Look, it's-"

The compass didn't have time to finish its sentence. Steven immediately raised a hoof and began to hold the compass down in its place.

"Hey!" said the compass. "What do you think you're doing?"

Steven immediately bent down to take a look at the front of the compass. Sure enough, right where it was supposed to say 'NOT TIME', it simply just said 'TIME'.

"I'm going to get my things ready." said Steven, releasing the compass immediately. "You prepare to guide me to whichever place you're going to guide me to."

The compass remained silent, apparently confused at the sudden change in Steven's personality. But it didn't complain- after all, that's what it was made to do in the first place.

All of a sudden, though, there was a loud knock on the door. Steven chose to ignore it, continuing on packing his bags.

"Steven?" said the voice behind the door. "Steven, it's Dash. Please open the door, we need to talk."

The compass looked up at Steven expectantly, but Steven still didn't show any signs of wanting to react at all. He just continued going around the room, packing his saddle packs and other necessities for the long trip.

"Steven?" called Rainbow Dash, knocking a little louder this time. "Steven, please open this door."

Steven didn't answer. He kept on ignoring the calls behind that door.

"Fine, if you won't open it, then I guess I'll have to open it myself." said Rainbow Dash. "HERE I COME!"

All of a sudden, there was a loud 'BANG!' at the door, and Rainbow Dash and the door came flying into Steven's room. Apparently, Rainbow Dash's strength was more than enough to open the very tightly secured door.

"Owowow..." said Rainbow Dash, lying in the floor and writhing in pain.

Concerned and snapped out of his anger at the sight of his girlfriend, Steven immediately went over to her and bent down so that his face was closer to hers.

"Is anything wrong?" asked Steven, knowing that it was a stupid question.

"Yeah..." said Rainbow Dash, wincing in pain again. "I think I dislocated my shoulder."

"I can fix that." said Steven, who immediately lowered his neck. Getting the idea, Rainbow Dash used her free hand to help herself stand up. It was painful, but she did it anyway.

"Lie down on the bed." said Steven.

Rainbow Dash did as she was told, lying down on the bed face-up, but not before first exclaiming how neatly he kept his bed compared to her own. As usual, Steven disregarded that comment, and immediately went to work on her arm.

As his magically  charged horn came into contact with Rainbow Dash's shoulder, Rainbow Dash winced in pain before relaxing again.

"Why didn't you want to open the door?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Sorry." said Steven. "I didn't want to talk to anybody."

"Oh." said Rainbow Dash. "So you're leaving anyway, huh?"

Steven almost broke his concentration on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. Luckily though, he was quickly able to keep it back in place. Healing was a dangerous job- one small break in concentration and the operation would surely fail, possible even making the matter worse. But Steven managed to hang on through.

"Yeah." said Steven. "I'm going. I need to find the truth of what is happening here."

"That's awesome." said Rainbow Dash, staring at the ceiling. "And I'm coming with you."

Once again, Steven almost broke all of his concentration. But this time was much closer than just now, considering the magnitude of the surprise in the first place. But Steven managed to hold it together, trying to now finish Rainbow Dash's shoulder as soon as possible to prevent any future potential surprises.

"You can't." said Steven. "You heard Twilight's lecture just now. This could most possibly he a trick, or a lie! I can't endanger you like that!"

"But you're going yourself, aren't ya?" asked Rainbow Dash. "And Twilight ALWAYS gives lectures. I'm still coming with you anyway."

Steven quickly wrapped up Rainbow Dash's shoulder, and Rainbow Dash moved it around to test it. It must've been fine, because she immediately left the bed and stood up in front of him.

"Sorry, Dash." said Steven. "I can't let you come with me. It's too dangerous. Too risky."

"Well you can't tell me what I can or cannot do." said Rainbow Dash, poking her tongue out as if mocking Steven. "And I'm going to go with you."

Steven laughed softly. He was feeling a little bit better than just now.

"I did tell you I love you, right?" asked Steven.

"You did." said Rainbow Dash, who three her arms around Steven and kissed his cheek. "And I love you too. And so does the rest of the group."

Steven immediately pulled away from the hug and gave Rainbow Dash a confused-and-terrified face.

Taking the hint, Rainbow Dash put two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. Steven had no idea where she had learned to do that, but he himself had learned that he shouldn't question Rainbow Dash.

Almost immediately, the rest of the group (Big Macintosh, Bush, Rarity, and Fluttershy) squeezed inside the room.

"This is a nice room, mate." said Bush. "Real spacey."

"And it's so... clean." said Fluttershy.

"It is!" exclaimed Rarity. "It's as clean as ours! Everyone else never cleans up their rooms!"

"Eeyup." No prizes for guessing who said that.

"Wha... What are all you guys doing here?" asked Steven.

"Coming with you, of course." said Rarity as she began to inspect Steven's bathroom as well. "It's sparkling clean here too!"

"But... It's really dangerous, and-"

"Which is precisely why we decided that we needed to help you." said Bush, grinning widely. "So, we ready to go or what?"

"But-"

"No buts, Steven." said Big Macintosh. "We're coming with ya, whether ya like it or not."

"I still think you're a bit mad for wanting to go." said Rainbow Dash, kissing his cheek again. "But we're coming anyway."

"What about Twilight?" asked Steven. "What will she think?"

"She'll come to." said Fluttershy, who despite being the target for Twilight's anger a few moments ago bore no ill will towards her. "She always does."

"So we ready to go or what?" asked Bush

Steven completely choked up. Everyone in this room knew that there was a 99% chance of Discord having lied to them and actually leading them into a trap. But they were still willing to come with him. Maybe it was because they wanted to help him escape when it really was a trap. Or maybe they wanted to help him because they could still see the 1% chance of success. He would never know.

Friendship is a wonderful thing. It may be complex at times, but it is still one of the most valuable and beautiful things one can experience in their lives. Not false friendships that have an ulterior motive to them, but true friendship, where one would sacrifice everything they have, including their lives, for their friends. Friendship, with it's many complexities, are no less than beautiful. He would easily refute anyone who says otherwise.

He counted himself as the lucky few who has experienced true friendship so early in his life. True friendship, and true love. But in a way, friendship itself is love, isn't it? A different type of love from the mainstream understanding, but still pure love nonetheless.  And that was when Steven realized the truth. The utterly crazy, but still very true truth.

He loved his friends. He loved his relationships.

And he wouldn't have traded it for anything else in the world.

"I think I'm ready." said Steven. "And I can see you're all packed up as well."

Everyone's weapons were carefully concealed behind their everyday clothes, but Steven could easily see through them. He chuckled at the fact that they had known from the beginning that he would let them come with him.

"We'll discreetly slip out the Base's main door, and from there I'll follow whatever directions I get to the destination." said Steven, who quickly put his saddle pack on. "Twilight's not here, so we won't be able to teleport. We're going to have to walk there. Is everyone okay with that?"

Everyone nodded determinedly and excitedly.

"Very well, then." said Steven as he exited the room fully armed and fully packed.

"Let's go."

Chapter 29- Biting the Dust (Reilly)

Black Wesa.

Of all the places in the world, it had to be Black Wesa.

There he stood, with his four companions (and one compass) by his side as they looked at the Black Wesa facility in the middle of the desert. After around two days of walking and following the damn compass, they had finally arrived at their destination. Although it could easily be said that none of them could be too happy with it.

Plus, the journey there was not easy at all. The first thing they had to do was slip past the two guards standing right in front of the Base's door (which was easily accomplished by Bush wearing his slightly-modified by Rarity Canterlot Guard Armor and telling them to change shifts), followed by the long walk to the facility and the lack of food along the way (due to them having to share rations with Fluttershy's new pet- a little brown rabbit), and having to listen to all of Rarity's complaints about how the heat was ruining her hair and her complexion (no comment about this one, although Rainbow Dash had immediately kicked her in the 'nads when he wanted to scream at Rarity to stop whining)

And despite everything they had been through, they still had one last challenge to face. Definitely the biggest challenge, even more so considering the fact that they were all tired, hungry, and suffocating from the heat. Why did his father have to be there?

"You seem surprised." said Bush, walking up next to Steven, who was leading the group. "Do you know that place?"

"Yes." said Steven, biting his lip in worry. "That's Black Wesa."

"Black Wesa?" asked Bush. "You mean the same group of wankers who ponynapped Twilight, brainwashed Applejack, and is involved in a war against the crazy ponies we so barely escaped from?"

"That's them." said Steven, unsure as to how Bush would react.

"All right then." said Bush, relaxedly examining the enormous facility.

Steven was shocked into stone cold silence for a second or two.

"You... don't care?" asked Steven.

"Well of course I do, mate!" said Bush. "Now we know that this mission won't be a cup of tea after all, don't we? It's always important to be prepared."

Steven smiled at Bush before looking into the facility again. He was grateful for his friends, and he couldn't let them get hurt. He had to think of a plan that would get them in and out safely. But he still couldn't think of anything.

Which meant, of course, that he had to go back to the basics. He had to review the facts.

Disadvantages: 99% of all living beings there would be hostile to them; they will be terribly outnumbered; all of the soldiers will be carrying deadly, piercing weapons; his group might not have the energy and strength to fight through the whole facility while searching for his father at the same time; and, of course, there will be lots of people around, making sneaking in and out very difficult.

Advantages: Steven had been there before.

He practically knew the whole layout of the facility inside-and-out, effectively making him in charge of the situation. He had, after all, worked there for a couple of years before moving to the university, and his curious and inquisitive nature had allowed him to discover all of the secrets of the facility.

But what was the plan? There were six of them there, and four of them were ponies, making sure they would stick out inside the horsist facility. How were they going to go inside and fully explore the place, especially considering that he had no idea where Black Wesa was keeping his father in that labyrinth of corridors and rooms?

To keep the group from wating any longer, Steven quickly drew up a map of all he knew about the facility inside his head (which is, even to Steven's surprise, very much). He very clearly remembered the placement of all the rooms he had seen or been to, all of the secret passages and ventilation ducts (though he was sure the ponies of the group can't fit in there), shortcuts and hot spots they should avoid... EVERYTHING.

"Black Wesa?" asked Rainbow Dash as Bush told the rest what Steven had said. "What's the plan?"

"Um... I'm not sure if I should, um..." mumbled Fluttershy.

"It'll be fine, Fluttershy." said Rarity. "I am positive that we can do it. But there must be a plan of some sort... Isn't that right, Steven?"

Steven could feel five pairs of eyes burning a hole through the back of his neck, pressuring him to think faster. It would be much safer for them to stick together, of course, but it would be harder for them to be detected if they split up. What should he do? That place was swarming with soldiers, and if they were caught while split up, the chances for survival will be much less, since they'd have to fight their way free.

What to do?

Steven beckoned them all to gather around him, and then he created a dome barrier around the group so that they can't be seen from the outside, and so that the hot wind of the desert won't disturb what he was about to make.

"Okay, guys." said Steven. "Could you spread out a bit? I'm going to need to map out the facility first before I can think of a plan."

The group backed off the the edge of the barrier, and Steven immediately got down to work. He made a magic finger and began to draw the outlines of the facility, slowly adding in details as the drawing (no, the diagram) became more complicated. He had always been good at drawing blueprints, but the intense pressure of the situation just seemed to make it neater than any other. Pressure has always worked well for him.

In a small matter of five minutes, Steven had finished the job. And it was no less than a masterpiece.

"Okay, the main entrance is here." said Steven, pointing at the base of his diagram. "Hot spots, where many soldiers are stationed, are in all the large clearings, here, here, and here" He pointed at three different rooms spread out equally in the map.

"And where are we supposed to go?" asked Big Macintosh.

Steven didn't know how to answer that.

"Are you sure you don't know where it is exactly?" asked Steven to the compass.

"No." said the compass, invisibly hovering around Steven. "Sorry."

Steven sighed.

"I'm not exactly sure where..." said Steven. "But my compass will lead the way."

Steven, of course, had to tell them all about his compass. Where it came from, where it leads to... But he didn't tell them that it can talk, fly, turn invisible, and has a mind of its own. They were under enough stress already without having to worry about a talking compass.

"Alrighty then..." said Steven. "Anyway, the point is that there is no plan. There can't be a plan."

"So what do we do?" asked Bush.

"Panic?" asked Fluttershy.

"No, no..." said Steven. "We stick together. Although there is a less chance of being detected while split up, sticking together is all-around safer."

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh. "Just one question."

"What?" asked Steven.

"How do we get in?" asked Big Macintosh.

"I-" said Steven, before stopping. That was a pretty good question. How were they going to go in?

"If we're lucky, then they hadn't changed their password inside since the last time i was here." said Steven.

"Wait..." said Bush. "You've been here before?"

"Yeah, back when I had two legs." said Steven. "I kinda sorta... worked here."

"You... WORKED HERE?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Steven closed his eyes and braced himself for the trashing that he would soon get from his friends. But it never came.

"That's great!' said Bush, laughing to himself. "No wonder you know the facility inside-out! You should have told us earlier, mate!"

"Great?" asked Steven, confused.

"Of course, darling!" said Rarity, whose grin was a big as the others'. "You must know all the secrets to the facility! Which means that it'll be an easier job for us."

Steven tilted his head. He had expected a scolding from his friends about not telling them this earlier, and he expected them to not trust in him anymore. But this reaction was the complete opposite. They seemed to be happy that they had him with them. He began to smile. Guess he should have expected more from his friends.

"Okay, then." said Steven, walking towards the facility door. "I'll go and try to open the door. If any patrols come your way, just beat them up. Wish me luck."

Just as he expected, there were four guards keeping watch outside the facility entrance. But these were not just any ordinary guards- these guards were very heavily armed. Unlike the guns they had been using earlier in Baltimare and the Base, these guns were positively massive. Steven had no idea how they operated, what kind of things they shoot, nothing. he had never seen those things in his life. Whatever it is, though, he hoped that he and his friends could take it. And maybe later he could study it and see how they worked, so as to learn how to stop it later on.

Now how was he going to take them out? He could use some kind of magical disguise, but then his friends wouldn't be able to go in later on. He could attack them quickly, but then he would be susceptible to whatever things they would shoot at him.He didn't want to go down this early.

Bush and Rarity definitely wouldn't be able to kill them in one shot- their helmets were just too strong to be pierced through by bullets or arrows, and they can't waste too much of their magical power right now. But what-

Wait.

There was something he wanted to try, but hadn't had the chance, or reason to. It was the perfect... No, the only safe solution. But he was not sure he could do it. Logically, of course, he should be able to do it. But he didn';t know how to. He had a vague idea in his mind, but he was didn't know how to implement it.

Well, live and let learn I guess...

He opened his eyes widely and shut it closed again, trying to make himself feel like he was one with his surroundings. He felt his fur waving around in the strong gust, and he felt himself melt into the sand, the heat and the wind. As soon as he was satisfied, he opened his eyes.

The magic had failed. He could still see himself perfectly.

he thought that he had gotten the hang of magic, and the failure to perform this one slightly disappointed him. He had gotten used to trying new types of magic and succeeding (normally in a single try), but this one didn't even come close to success. Perhaps there will still types of magic that still eluded him, or some types of magic that didn't exist at all. Or maybe invisibility just didn't suit his style of magic.

"I don't really know how to pass those guards." said Steven. "They look heavily armed, and-"

"G-G-G-G-GHOST!" shrieked Fluttershy, before hiding her trembling body behind Rainbow Dash. The usually brash and brave Rainbow Dash herself looked pretty freaked out.

"Steven?" called Bush, a pretty panicked look on his face too. Steven raised an eyebrow when he saw that despite Steven's standing right in front of Bush, the former guard pony looked to his right and to his left.

What are they doing?

"Um... Guys?" said Steven.

"Woah!" shouted Bush as he jumped a great length backwards. What was he so surprised about?

"Er... Steven?" said Big Macintosh, looking calm and collected but with a slight bit of fear in his eyes as well. He was approaching Steven's position carefully. "Are ya there?"

"Well, of course I'm here!" said Steven, managing to hold back the word 'dimwit'. He understood that Big Macintosh was raised in a humble background at all, but asking if he was there when he was RIGHT in front of him was too much.

"Because ya don't look like yer there." said Big Macintosh.

Steven looked down at his hooves. He was perfectly visible. What's not to see?

"I'm right here, Big Macintosh." said Steven, sighing. "Right in front of you."

"Where?" asked Bush.

"Nothing's in front of Big Macintosh." said Rainbow Dash.

"Steven, dear..." said Rarity. "Did you do anything that would have made you... invisible?"

Surprised, Steven fell silent.

"Er... yeah, I guess." said Steven. "But the spell failed. Like, really failed. I tho-"

Wait. Did it really fail? Sure, Steven could see himself, but then why would none of his friends be able to see him?

"It doesn't look like a failure to me." said Rainbow Dash, looking amused.

He succeeded? He was invisible now? So the spell did work!

"O-Okay, then..." said Steven. "I'll try to open the door. Just come over when I give the signal."

"And what would that be?" asked Bush.

"You'll know when you see it."

Not wanting to waste another second, Steven immediately ran towards the door. Not wanting his footprints in the sand to be seen by the guards, Steven went closer from the right of the entrance, before pouncing on the closest one. The guard he pounced on immediately lost his balance and fell back.

Steven then turned off his invisibility (not wanting his magic to run out too quickly), and then enabled his long-unused gauntlets. As soon as it was fully charged, Steven punched a hole through the guard's helmet, hopefully rendering him unconscious. The other guards, however, were immediately alerted to his presence, and they began to make a formation around Steven. Determined not to let them surround him (again), however, Steven pounced on another one and bit its metallic leg, throwing it onto another guard. Both guards fell down, and were unable to stand up for a while.

Knowing that he only had a few moments before the two guards were up and ready, Steven turned to face the last one. Unfortunately for Steven, however, the last guard had already begun shooting him (although quite recklessly, seeing that all of them had missed Steven by at least one and a half meters). The gun was shooting at a much faster rate than the ones he were used to, and they seemed to be much more powerful. Steven quickly ran through the beams, narrowly missing more than ten of them.

In the end, however, Steven managed to reach the last guard and break the gun. The guard looked at his gun, obviously bewildered, allowing Steven time to trip him and knock the breath right out of him. Steven then turned to the last two guards, one of which was already standing and helping the other up. Both were oblivious to the fact that Steven was charging at them like a rhino with a temperament problem.

"YEAAAAA!" screamed Steven, causing both soldiers to turn their heads. They struggled to get ready, but it was too late for them- Steven bowled himself, face-first, onto them before kicking both of them to the walls of the facility. Steven waited patiently as he waited for the two soldiers to stand back up again, but they didn't. They stayed stuck to the wall for a few seconds, before finally falling down with a giant crack in the back of their helmets and armor.

Satisfied, Steven quickly sent a beam of magical light into the sky. Soon later, the rest of the group came down to meet him.

"Looks like you did a good job clearing this place up." said Bush, glancing at the four unconscious guards.

"Good job indeed." said Steven. "Now what is that password?"

He barely managed to remember it. All he could remember at first was something about the facility and its slogan or something, and that it was somehow related to milkshakes. As he remembered the milkshake part, though, everything came crashing down on him.

"Black Wesa." said Steven into the voice detector next to the door. "Reaching across the room just to drink your milkshake."

Almost immediately, a loud click was heard, followed by a rumbling as the large doors began to open magnificently. The intense light from the desert began to pour into the facility, lighting up the main corridor. Lucky for the group, this facility was very much unlike the base- there are many more twists, turns, and narrow corridors than large open spaces. Although this may limit the places where they can hide, it would help them a lot when soldiers start streaming about. They wouldn't need to deal with a whole lot at a time.

"That's a pretty strange name for a science facility." said Rainbow Dash, referring to Black Wesa's slogan.

"It's pretty symbolic." said Steven. "It tells you a lot about what they do and how they do it. Plus, it's a secret government facility anyway, so no one cares what its slogan is."

Rainbow Dash seemed satisfied with the answer, and the six ponies entered the facility.

"Okay, so we're in." said Bush. "What now?"

"Oh please, Bush." said Rarity. "Give Steven a little time to think!"

Bush looked like he was about to give an angry retort, but Steven quickly shushed them before he could. He looked at the compass, and the dial told him to keep following the corridor.

"This way." said Steven. "And be quiet. we can't rush into other corridors, and we'll always need to look ahead first."

The group nodded, and Steven began following the corridor. As soon as he reached the bend, he hid behind the wall and took a peek first.

The corridor was teeming with life. Human soldiers and scientists were walking around the corridor, talking to each other and walking here and there. Since no one wanted to go outside, no one actually went to where the group was hiding, so they were safe for now.

But that wasn't the problem. The problem was how they were going to proceed. They could, of course, turn back, but that would make the whole trip be in vain. Plus, he was going to have to enter this place again later on anyway.

"There are lots of people there." said Steven. "Soldiers and scientists."

The rest of the group took a peek too, each one climbing on the other to get a better view. By the time everyone could see, Steven was already puffing heavily as he tried to hold up two stallions, one mare, and two full-grown humans on his back. He felt as if his spine would break soon. Anytime now.

"So..." said Steven, between breaths. "What do you think?"

"That's a lot of people..." said Fluttershy.

"A lot of people that have the power to kill us." said Rainbow Dash.

"I wouldn't want this trip to be of no use, though." said Rarity.

"So what're ya suggestin'?" asked Big Macintosh.

"I say we go through them." said Bush. "Quietly."

"We're too big to be sneaking around without getting caught!" said hissed Rainbow Dash. "Either we find another way, or we plow through them like there's no tomorrow."

"The problem is, Rainbow..." said Rarity. "There is going to be a tomorrow. Steven, dear, can't you just do an invisibility spell for all of us?"

"I don't know..." said Steven, still struggling to stand up with the load on his back. "I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to do it. Plus, I don't know how to check if we're actually invisible or not. I mean, when i was invisible, i could see myself very clearly."

"A tiny flaw in an otherwise flawless plan!" said Rarity, putting a hand on her forehead. He usually hated drama queens (you'd be surprised how many scientists are like that), but Rarity was one of the few lovable drama queens that can be funny at times.

"So what now?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Panic?" offered Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash sighed.

"That's the second time you've suggested that today, Fluttershy." said Rainbow Dash. "Can't you think of something else?"

"I'm sorry..." said Fluttershy. "I guess I forgot. I was busy."

"Busy doing what?" asked Rainbow Dash, her pitch higher than usual.

"Panicking..." squealed Fluttershy. Steven could hear Rainbow Dash facepalm.

"Steven, you've gotta think of something!" said Bush.

"Yeah!" said Rainbow Dash. "Since you're the one who normally comes up with the plans and all."

"I do believe what she said is right." said Rarity.

"We're sorry for pressuring you..." whispered Fluttershy.

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh.

"Sorry, guys, but I can't really think right now." said Steven.

"Why not?"

"I'm a bit strained." said Steven. "And tired."

"Why?"

"Because all of you are F*CKING STANDING ON TOP OF ME RIGHT NOW."

Almost immediately, Steven felt a hundred pairs of eyes turn that way. Steven stated back at them. For what felt like hours, there was no action from each side. Both were still trying to comprehend why the other was looking at them.

Uh oh.

"Good job, Steven." said Rainbow Dash.

"What's the plan now?" asked Bush.

"Simple, I guess." said Steven. "Get to the other side, and um... Oh, of course. KILL EVERYONE IN THE WAY!"

"Now that's what I'm talking about." said Rainbow Dash, drawing out her two swords. "LET'S DO THIS!"

Taking that as a call for battle, the soldiers immediately prepared their weapons while the scientists ran for cover. But they weren't fast enough- before the soldiers even managed to reach their guns, half of them had either been:

1) Sliced by Rainbow Dash.

2) Hacked by Fluttershy.

3) Pierced by Rarity.

4) Splattered by Bush.

5) Disfigured by Big Macintosh.

6) Crushed by Steven.

It was their pick (Offer only available in the Black Wesa facility and all other Black Wesa- affiliated locations for a limited time only while stocks last)

"Rarity!" shouted Steven. "To your left!"

Steven saw Rarity quickly turn to her left and shoot 3 whole arrows into the soldier's chest. The soldier, after staggering a bit, fell down to the floor.

"Thank you, Steven." said Rarity, proceeding to attack even more soldiers.

Smiling, Steven bowled over even more soldiers, punching their helmets in as they fell. The soldiers, however, seemed to be very quick learners- they learned to scatter when Steven pounced on them. Despite the weight of their armor, the guards were very deft and quick, easily managing to dodge Steven's attacks. Steven, however, was faring just as well as them as their shots all missed him.

The problem, however, was the stamina factor. Steven was getting tired quickly, whereas the soldiers seemed as energetic as ever. This may be because of how they didn't need to keep punching and kicking to attack. Steven was now barely holding up, dodging the beams by a hair every time, and the soldiers seemed to notice it. They just attacked more ferociously.

Steven noticed that the others were pretty much suffering the same fate. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy was running around, out of breath, trying to reach the soldiers to attack, but they were moving just as fast as they were. Big Macintosh was trashing through a group of soldiers, but none of his strikes seemed to be of any effect to them. Rarity and Bush faring relatively well, though, but their shots barely managed to pierce through the soldiers' body armor.

He was getting exhausted. He could very barely move, let alone dodge quickly. It was getting harder to breathe for him, but the soldiers seemed fine. He felt his knees begin to tremble as they tried valiantly to hold up Steven's body. He knew that they would give in soon, but he had to postpone that moment until the latest possible time. He needed to go on. He needed to know that he gave his best.

"Come on, guys!" said Steven, struggling to keep his vision clear. "We'll get through this."

All of a sudden, there was a strange splattering sound behind Steven. Reacting quickly, Steven jump-turned, only to see the headless body of a soldier and a yellow pony floating near it. The soldier fell down with a loud 'thud', and Steven was left to comprehend how such a shy little pony could be so ruthless.

"Thanks, Fluttershy." said Steven, deciding that he didn't want to ever be on Fluttershy's bad side again.

"Jhon't wenshien itsh." said Fluttershy, her mouth full as it was clenched tightly around her battleaxe.

Steven suddenly felt a strange burst of energy inside him, which could either stem from the relief that he hadn't been killed by the soldier or the horrifying thoughts of what Fluttershy would do to him in the afterlife. Screaming loudly, Steven stood on two hooves and unleashed his magic, shooting bursts of brilliant blue tendrils from his hooves. The tendrils shot out like lightning, whipping a few soldiers in the head(until their helmets cracked open) and grabbing hold onto a few soldiers' limbs and bringing them closer to him.

As he brutally beat the soldiers his magic had brought him, Steven could finally feel how the Roper-Mare must feel. Suddenly, this whole ordeal was far too easy for him.

"Control?" said a soldier to a machine on his wrist. "We've got a problem down here at the Lobby, and we're going to need rein-"

Before he could finish those last words, however, one of Steven's tendrils grabbed ahold of his leg and threw him aside, dropping the small machine. Nodding to Bush, the stallion immediately went to the machine and began to speak to it.

"Naw, naw, Control." said Bush. "Everything's fine and peachy down here. Bobby there just had a little to much to drink."

"Very well." said a mechanic voice from the machine. "Make sure to keep... 'Bobby' out of harm's way.'

"All right." said Bush.

Steven took a look around. There were barely any soldiers left standing, and all of them were put down one way or another by his friends. They had just attacked the most fully populated room in the whole facility, and they had won. Survival was one thing, but winning? Guess he had his scary mental image of Fluttershy to thank for that.

"Well this was fun." said Rainbow Dash, sheathing both of her swords back. "Where to now?"

"This way." said Steven, pointing to a nearby door.

"I hope you're not going to lead us to another soldier-filled area." said Steven to the compass.

"I hope so too." said the compass. "I'm just a compass. I only know which direction to go, not where exactly we're supposed to go."

Unsatisfied with the answer but knowing that there was nothing he could do about it, Steven set out to another narrow corridor. The sign next to its entrance said: "Staterooms, Lounges, Armory, Holding Room."

Steven had always heard of the less-than-humane Holding Cells in this facility (he'd been there before), but the Holding Room must have been a new addition to the facility. It seemed appropriate, seeing as a Holding Room would be a good place to keep something (or someone) secretly for a long time.  And the sign simply said "Holding Room", not "Holding ROOMS". That must mean that there was only one room for storing whatever they were storing. Steven couldn't help but feel like he was supposed to go in there.

Looks like they'll have to go in to find out.

"This way." said Steven, beginning to walk down the corridor.

Like the majority of corridors in that enormous facility, this corridor was completely deserted. In fact, as far as Steven remembered, the only crowded places in this place are the Hub, the 33rd, 42nd and the 56th corridors, the interrogation rooms, the research center, the Control Center, every single clearing around the elevators. Luckily for them, though, this corridor didn't even come close to those places.

"For such an important place, there's not really much activity." said Rarity. "It's kind of depressing, really."

"Depressing doesn't even touch the surface, sister." said Steven automatically. He didn't seem to be aware of the concerned faces looking at him from behind.

"Where are we going, Steve?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I'm not entirely sure..." said Steven, scanning the entire corridor thoroughly. "But I think we're supposed to be going to some kind of Holding Room."

"H-h-holding Room?" stuttered Fluttershy.

"Maybe." said Steven, who the looked back at his friends' faces (which quickly began to smile uncertainly. Steven smiled back. "Seriously, I can't thank you guys enough for wanting to come with me. This is, like Twilight said, really dangerous."

Steven shuddered as he remembered Twilight's face as she looked at him the last time they met. He hoped with all his heart that Twilight would forgive him, although he didn't expect that she would. He HAD made her really angry.

"It's fine, Steve." said Rainbow Dash, who was now walking next to Steven in the front. "It's not like there's anything we can't handle together."

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh, eliciting small laughter from the group.

"Turn left." said the compass.

Steven saw in front of him a crossroad- right and left. Following the compass's instruction (it had never been wrong before), he turned to the left. The sign on the walls said that left would lead them to either the Interrogation Rooms or the Holding Room.

The Interrogation Rooms.

They had to be more careful around here. Seeing as it is a place full of prisoners of war in different rooms being questioned at once, there was bound to be a lot of soldiers standing guard there as well. He just hoped that there would be no more battles and bloodshed at this point, or they'd be in deep trouble.

Steven shushed his friends (rather unnecessarily), and sneaked a peek around the corner. Just as he expected, there were a couple of soldiers there casually chatting with each other. He snapped his head back, trying to avoid being seen by the very heavily armed guards. The weapon that one of them was carrying looked no less than a grenade launcher, and he didn't want to have anything to do with THAT. And he definitely didn't want to put his friends in this kind of danger.

"Guys, this is your last chance to turn back." said Steven. "There's a couple of guards with very dangerous weapons over there, and there's definitely a lot more behind that room."

"Why would we turn back now?" asked Rainbow Dash, who was surprisingly close to laughter. "We've already gotten this far."

"Yeah, but-"

"Are ya forgettin' who we are?" asked Big Macintosh. "We're yer friends, Steven Reilly. That means that we'd take a bullet fer ya."

"I know!" said Steven, pressing his hooves onto his head. "I know... That's exactly why I can't let you come with me."

"The question is, mate," said Bush, "what are you going to do?"

What he was going to do? He wanted to go in there, save his father, and come back out all in one piece. That was what he wanted. But he knew that was not what Bush wanted to ask him about.

Not only did he have to think about the outcome itself, but also what he was willing to sacrifice in order to get it.

But he himself didn't want to turn back then. He was going to get to the bottom of this, no matter what it took. Be it his hooves or his tail, he was willing to pay any price to save his father. There was no argument there.

But what else was he willing to pay? That was the money question. Would he be willing to sacrifice his friends? No. He would die before letting his friends' lives be forcefully taken from them. Nothing was going to change that either.

"I'm going." said Steven. "But I'm going alone. There's no need for any of you to come join me. I-"

"Well, it's decided then!" said Rainbow Dash, her fists clenching on the hilts of her swords. "Let's get going."

"No, Dash!" said Steven. "I said I'm going alone."

"Well, that's just idiotic." said Rarity. "We're coming with you."

"No!" hissed Steven. "Those guards there are very heavily armed. They could kill about three of us in one shot!"

"So?" asked Rainbow Dash, lifting an eyebrow.

"SO, I don't want any of you to die!" said Steven, not quite believing that he had to spell that out to them. He angrily turned away. "This is something I have to do. But none of you need to come with me."

"Is it... really that dangerous?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Yes." said Steven, not sure if he should be glad or devastated that they finally got the point.

"All the more reason to come with you, then!" said Bush. "Now let's go kick some sorry-soldier flank!"

"We're coming with you, Steven." said Fluttershy. "Whether you like it or not. Although I'm really sorry if you don't like it. Please don't be mad."

Rainbow Dash nodded eagerly, and everyone else followed suit. Even Fluttershy had a fiery, determined (although rather scared) look in her eyes as they silently vowed to go with Steven to whatever ends he will lead them to.

Steven let out a huge sigh. He wanted to feel angry, or annoyed, but he just couldn't. Under the shadow of his mane, he was smiling. He didn't want to smile, but he couldn't help it.

He felt terrible. He wanted to tell them to go and save themselves, to go and leave him to his fate, but he just couldn't say it. He needed his friends. Much more than he'd liked to think.

"There's no changing your minds, huh?" asked Steven, still smiling as he looked up at his friends.

All of them enthusiastically shook their heads, and began to prepare their weapons for the battle to come.

Steven made a big deal of letting out another huge sigh.

"Fine." said Steven. "But remember this: It's a war zone  out there. As soon as we turn the corner, we will face about a hundred soldiers, all aiming to kill us."

"And you have a plan?" asked Rarity.

"The Holding Room is where we want to go." said Steven. "And the path there should be at the end of the room."

"Right?" Steven added silently.

"Right." confirmed the compass.

"Right." continued Steven. "Anyway, the most important thing is that we have to stick together. Do not separate from the group at all times. And another important thing to remember is that unlike before, the main goal here is NOT to kill all the soldiers. It's to get to the Holding Room as quickly as possible. Which means that we have to avoid fighting as much as possible."

"Oh!" exclaimed Fluttershy. "That's good."

"Eeyup." said Big Macintosh.

"All right, then." said Steven. "You guys ready?"

"Wait, Steven." said Rainbow Dash, quickly stepping to the front. Hesitating for a while, she grabbed hold of Steven's neck, and pulled his head towards her own.

Rainbow Dash had pulled him unawares into a kiss. Once again, Steven's thoughts became lost in time, and he felt as if his entire being had melted into nothingness. It was a feeling he was familiar with, but not one he could ever get used to.

He loved Rainbow Dash. She's pretty, smart, and brave, or in short anything that a man could ask for. Being do close to her face, Steven could once again smell the mysterious but beautiful fragrance of her rainbow-colored hair. He'd always wondered what smell that was. It was at the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't guess what it really is. He was going to have to ask her about it next time.

If there was a next time.

The reality of the situation dropped down on Steven, and he finally pulled away. Rainbow Dash stood there, smiling I uncharacteristically.

"What was that for?" asked Steven.

Steven could swear that he saw Rainbow Dash blushing cutely, she immediately tried to hide it.

"Well, you know how in books the girl always gives the guy a good luck kiss?" asked Rainbow Dash in a hot,  slightly-raspy voice. "It was something like that, except it works both ways. Plus, I don't know when we'd be able to do that again."

Steven smiled and planted a soft kiss on Rainbow Dash's cheek. She immediately began to blush again.

"Don't do that!" said Rainbow Dash playfully. "You're making me feel all sappy inside."

"We'll get though this." said Steven, smiling genuinely. "We'll all get through this. I promise you that."

His teammates nodded silently.

"Okay, then." said Steven, turning the corner. "Let's go."

And all hell broke loose.

Steven jumped on the two unsuspecting guards, pinning them down, and letting Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh finish them off. He looked up, only to see about three dozen bewildered faces staring back at him. They were not ready.

Taking this chance, Steven began to scream loudly. Just as he expected, the whole room began to erupt in chaos- the soldiers struggled to prepare their weapons and take aim at the relatively small group of Resistance members, and analysts, interrogators and the like were running around panickedly in an effort to find cover. All this, of course, made it easier for Steven's group to move forward without getting attacked at all.

"Okay, guys." said Steven. "Stay together, but be inconspicuous."

Steven's group moved silently and undetectedly, blending along with the panicked and unarmed humans. They occasionally ran into a soldier or two, but it was nothing that they can't finish off all too easily.  But good things never last, of course, and it didn't take as long as Steven had hoped for the room to clear out, leaving the group stuck with a whole bunch of heavily armed soldiers.

"FREEZE!" shouted one soldier, who began to walk towards them. He was wearing heavy black armor like the rest of the soldiers, but his helmet looked different. It was like one of those battle helmets which covered one whole head, with bits of tubing attached to the sides (from the top to the mouth) and small holes in front of the mouth to speak. The soldier's voice seemed distorted as well. That, and a couple of badges carefully painted onto the soldier's armor made Steven guess that this was one of the higher-ranked soldiers. And most probably one that he knew personally.

He didn't prepare his gun. In fact, he rather carefreely walked towards them, his underlings all carefully aiming their weapons at them. The group remained together, not daring to move at all.

And they were so close! It was just a matter of a few steps before they could turn the corner and hightail it out of there.

"State your name and intention." said the soldier, looking at Steven and guessing that he was the leader of this little ragtag group of misfits.

Steven hesitated to answer. He knew that he couldn't lie to this soldier- he would be able to see through it like clear, polished glass. And not only that, but he had no desire to speak to this particular soldier as well.

But it looked like he had no choice. He was going to have to use his special weapon one more time- the Element of Surprise.

Steven quickly gave Big Macintosh a furtive look, and the red stallion's eyes seemed to tell him that he understood. They couldn't let themselves be captured. Death would be a better date than life imprisonment in this horrible facility.

"My name is Steven Reilly." said Steven, looking into the eyes of the soldier. "And I'm here to save my father."

Almost immediately, the soldier began to stagger backwards in surprise. Taking this chance, Steven immediately leapt out towards the corridor, closely followed by Big Macintosh and the rest of his group. As he began to run through, he could hear a metallic. Pice giving out orders in the Interrogation Rooms.

"Well, what're you waiting for?" asked the higher-ranked soldier, rather frantically. "Get them!"

Steven could feel the rumbling of the soldiers running through the corridor, and he knew that he had to think fast. The corridor was straight- never a good sign if you were being chased by a bunch of people with heavy guns. The only upside was that the corridor was rather wide, although he knew that the fact alone won't help them much. Thinking fast, he immediately moved to the back of the line.

"You guys go first!" said Steven. "I'll try to hold them back!"

"Are you insane?" asked Bush. "You'll get killed!"

"I stand a better chance of keeping them back than any of you!" said Steven. "Now go!"

Nodding, Big Macintosh led the group ahead. Steven lagged behind, summoning enough energy to make a shield that covered the space behind him. Hopefully that would be enough.

 As things should work out, however, it wasn't. All of the soldiers immediately opened fire on Steven, and the shield immediately shattered as the first shot went through it. Panicking, Steven quickly conjured up another shield, but it was easily broken apart too.

And immediately after that, Steven felt a blinding pain on the right side of his head. But the intensity of the pain quickly wore off, and he felt a strange, unusual sensation in his head. It was probably just a small scratch or something. He could feel blood trickle down to his shoulders, but he couldn't let that slow him down at all. It would be the death of him.

"Are you okay?" asked his compass, still floating around his head as it tried to dodge the enemy's shots.

"I'm fine." said Steven. "Shut up."

Using the pain to make himself go even faster, Steven used up a huge portion of his energy to make the strongest shield he had ever made before and quickly turned the corner. Just as he expected, the soldier couldn't fire through his near-invulnerable shield, nor could they simply walk through it.

Attributing the intense throbbing in his head to using a very large amount of magic in a short time, he continued to ran along the clear corridor, slowing down his pace as he studied the signs next to the doors along the passage.

Boiler Room.

Power Supply.

Water Purifier.

Mess Hall No. 5

Steven stopped as he read the next sign.

Holding Room.

The door itself was much more differently designed than the others. It was much more beautified than the others, and looked as if it was much more secure, although Steven believed that this kind of security should have been attributed to the Power Supply Chamber rather than this place. This, however, meant only one thing- that something very important is being hidden in this room.

"This is the place where they're keeping my father?" asked Steven.

"Most likely, yes." said the compass.

Breathing in anticipation, Steven slowly reached towards the door. It had been slightly damage, having dents all over it, and Steven guessed that his friends must be in the room already. He really didn't know how to feel at the moment.

He hadn't seen his father for a very long time, and he could only guess how long his father hadn't seen him- for all he knew, his father might've woken up three months before he did. Preparing himself for the reunion he had been waiting for ever since the compass dream, Steven kicked the door open.

Black.

That was all he could see. Soldiers, laden in heavy black armor, we're strewn all over the room as if they had been expecting him. As soon as the door opened, they immediately prepared their guns to fire. He had been tricked.

"You've led me into a trap!" growled Steven.

"Oh... Oh no..." said the compass.

Steven saw the bodies of his friends lying around in separate places in the huge room, all of whom seemed to be unconscious. Cursing himself for bringing them into this, Steven steeled himself for battle.

"What are you doing?" demanded the compass. "Run away, while you still can!"

"Go away."'said Steven. "I don't ever want to hear your voice again."

"But-"

"GO AWAY!" growled Steven. He didn't know if the compass was still there or not, but there was no reaction at all. Gritting his teeth in anger, Steven charged towards the soldiers.

With his fury fueling his attacks, Steven powered up his gauntlets to a maximum. He punched and pounced at the soldiers all over the room, sending them flying and crashing across the room and into each other as he did. They attempted to dodge, but they couldn't. He was too fast for them.

He had led his friends into this death trap. And it was all nothing but a wild, desperate goose chase. They were all dead, all because of him. This revelation made Steven go even angrier, and his gauntlets began to transform- it was no longer the round shape that it was before, and it was no longer the brilliant blue color of his magic. It had become completely different. It became a manifestation of Steven's rage.

With white, blinding rage overcoming him, Steven felt his consciousness slip away from reality.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Uugh..."

Her head was throbbing like crazy.  She quickly put a hand on her head, using whatever energy she had left to rub it. No effect. It was still hurting badly. As badly as that time she had been affected by the Poison Joke, and was kept crashing headfirst into a bunch of different things. Walls, ceiling, windows, trees... She's crashed them all.

But this pain felt somewhat different. Not only was it more intense, but she didn't feel the pain where she normally did- in her forehead. As she moved her hand from her silky, rainbow-colored hair to the rest of her head, she found out that the pain was mostly around the back to the sides of her head, just above the base of her neck.

And then it struck her.

She had been hit. Hit by something hard, right there. She must've fell unconscious then, and she hoped that it hadn't been too long since they first came in this goddess-forsaken facility.

Big Macintosh, Bush, Rarity, and Fluttershy must've suffered through the same things, and she was pretty sure they were all still lying around somewhere. Despite her affinity for napping, Rainbow Dash had always been a light sleeper. She didn't want to be one, though.

And if they had been knocked unconscious, then...

Steven!

Where was Steven? Is he alright? She had to go warn him quickly.

Gaining her consciousness faster than before, Rainbow Dash became more aware of her surroundings, and she felt a sudden surge of power rising from within her gut.  She quickly picked herself up off of the ground and staggered toward the open door.

That was when she realized it.

Why was it so quiet in here? Why did nobody try to stop her from exiting the room? Why was the door open?

She reluctantly looked to her left, where she saw the stranger thing she had ever seen before.

It was a pony. A pony with a blindingly bright white coat, a red, fiery mane and tail, and it was floating. Floating just above the ground.

The pony was just standing there, facing a corner, its make and tail flowing in the non-existent wind. It was a strange sight for Rainbow Dash to see. It was like looking at a deity, one much more powerful than even Celestia herself.

This pony was, hands down, the most awesome things she had ever seen! Even looking at it gave her goosebumps, and that very rarely happens. She stared in awe at the beautiful pony standing in front of her like that.

But something strange struck Rainbow Dash as she continued to stare at the brilliant white pony. Instead of front hooves, the pony had...

Lances. White, long, sharp lances.

Rainbow Dash, wondering why such a holy being was doing in such a place, moved around to get a better look at what it was doing.

As she moved closer to the pony, she began to feel the heat of its fiery mane intensify. All of a sudden, her feelings of awe disappeared to be replaced by feelings of worry- where did this pony really come from? Why was it here?

Who is it?

As soon as she became conscious about this fact, all her other senses snapped back to attention as well. All of a sudden, loud, high-pitched screams filled the room, followed by a loud thud. She saw soldiers trying to back away, their guns trembling in their hands, but to no avail. The pony moved too fast for them.

This pony was their friend!

The pony raised a hoof and picked up a soldier in its hooves. The soldier was now unarmed, and was desperately trying to break away from the pony's grip. Rainbow Dash expected the pony to throw the soldier to the wall (silently hoping that the soldier will go though the wall, because that would be AWESOME), but the pony didn't do anything like that.

Instead, the pony left the soldier hanging on to his hoof, while he raised up another one- one with a magical lance covering it. The pony slowly pulled it backwards, and the soldier was trying even more desperately to escape from the pony's grasp, but to no avail. Knowing what was coming next but unable to believe it, she surprisingly found herself silently hoping that the soldier would break free and run away. But she knew that he couldn't. She knew what was coming next.

But she couldn't look away.

Right before her eyes, the pony drove his long lance into the soldier's throat. The soldier's throat sputtered blood, and the some of it began to seep down the magical lance. The soldier still struggled, but not for long. Soon enough, the soldier's hands and legs went limp, blood still flowing, and the pony heartlessly threw the soldier to the wall. There was a loud crack, and the soldier fell to the floor and didn't move.

Horrified, Rainbow Dash stepped back. The pony didn't seem to notice. All of a sudden, Rainbow Dash saw this pony in a whole new light- it suddenly looked menacing, evil, and cruel to her. After this revelation, her senses seemed to have only just come back to full life, and she saw that the pony wasn't fighting the soldiers...

It was slaughtering them.

The soldiers were all unarmed, and they were huddling in a corner as they tried to stay as far away from the pony as possible. But the pony, though knowing full well that those soldiers were already defeated, still moved to brutally kill them. But as the pony picked up another trembling soldier, however, she realized that she couldn't just stand and watch any longer.

"Hey!" screamed Rainbow Dash, running in front of the pony. "What are you doing? These-"

Rainbow Dash took one full look at the pony's face, and she fell backwards. She sat on the ground, her mouth wide, as her mind wasn't able to comprehend what she was seeing right then. That wasn't possible.

The pony... No, the monster that was brutally murdering the soldiers one by one...

Had Steven's face.

It was no doubt Steven's face. Except for the fact that it changed color, all of the features looked exactly the same. But his eyes glowing white, and his scar was glowing red, changing a face showing kindness, compassion, and hope to a face of anger, cruelty, and vengeance.

No! This wasn't possible! Steven... Steven's not like this! He would never do something like this...

And yet he was.

"Steven..." said Rainbow Dash, her lips trembling. "Steven, stop."

The brilliant white pony didn't even bother to look at her, never mind actually paying attention to what she said. The pony... Steven pulled another hoof back, and the soldier stopped moving in resignation.

"STOP!" said Rainbow Dash, pushing Steven off-balance. Steven dropped the soldier to the floor, and the soldier immediately scrambled up back to his group of friends. This left Rainbow Dash with... with Steven.

Steven immediately recovered his balance, and he turned his head to look at Rainbow Dash.

Almost immediately, the light in Steven's eyes overwhelmed Rainbow Dash, and she felt that very light get absorbed into her own self, thus blinding her to everything. She then immediately felt something sharp pierce through her shirt, scraping a bit of her skin, and lifting her body up into the air.

"Steven..." said Rainbow Dash. She still couldn't open her eyes, but she knew that Steven was the one that had lifted her up. He was going to kill her, just as he did the rest of the soldiers.

"Steven, please..." said Rainbow Dash, not even trying to struggle. "It's me, remember? It's Rainbow Dash."

If Steven had heard or even understood whatever Rainbow Dash was saying, he didn't show it. But he didn't move either.

"Steven, remember me..." said Rainbow Dash. "Remember your friends. Whatever you are... this is not you. This is not the man I fell in love with."

Almost immediately, Steven dropped Rainbow Dash. Falling to the floor with a loud 'thud', she struggled to sit up. Did it work? Did he remember?

Rainbow Dash hesitantly opened her eyes. There was no more overwhelming light. All she saw was Steven, still standing on two hooves in the same position as he would lift up something. After dropping her, Steven hadn't moved at all.

Suddenly, the light began to flash once, very brightly, before going out again. Steven dropped his hooves, and began to flail around wildly, before standing straight again. What was going on?

Immediately after regaining balance, Steven turned to look at Rainbow Dash. The white light in his eyes were gone, replaced with a blood-red light that covered the whole of his eyes. He looked menacingly at Rainbow Dash, before conjuring up another pair of lances (red this time) and lunging at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash dodged at the last minute, and the lance pierced through the solid floor. Pulling it out quickly, Steven jumped at Rainbow Dash again, who quickly managed to sidestep the attack.

Knowing that there was no other choice now, Rainbow Dash drew her swords. She was going to make Steven remember,

by fighting him. It was the only way.

Steven jumped at Rainbow Dash again, lances pointed straight at her, but Rainbow Dash swung both her swords sideways and deflected the attack. Steven also went flying to the left, her reversal knocking the balance out of him. But Steven wasn't undaunted- he wasn't even hurt. Whatever was driving Steven at the time wanted to kill Rainbow Dash.

Steven jumped back up and faced Rainbow Dash. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were full of anger. He quickly came running at Rainbow Dash, and she prepared her swords for the incoming attack.

Steven raised a lance and swung it down, but Rainbow Dash barely managed to reverse it. Pushing it back up, Rainbow Dash made a stab for Steven, but the sword completely missed the white stallion as he moved to her right. Knowing that her right was fully exposed to Steven, she quickly swung her sword down while turning to the right, blocking the lance that was just about to pierce her.

Rainbow Dash was sweating profusely. Steven really was strong. She had always thought so (although she never said it to his face), but only now, when fighting him face to face, did she truly feel the true extent of Steven's strength. She had finally understood the reality of the situation- this pony... really wanted to kill her. She couldn't, however, really accept the fact that this pony was Steven, mostly because she knew it wasn't true. This was a completely different pony, one which had taken over Steven's body.

Steven raised up both his hooves and sent them. Dashing into the floor. Immediately, a shockwave erupted and spread throughout the whole room, knocking bodies and things backwards. Rainbow Dash, being far too close to Steven, didn't manage to dodge it, and was sent flying back into the concrete wall.

"Ack!" screamed Rainbow Dash, spluttering a bit of blood. She fell to the floor, her muscles aching all over her body. Steven began to walk over to her.

Ignoring the immense pain she was feeling, Rainbow Dash slowly rose back up. Wiping the blood off of her mouth, she began to smirk.

This was fun.

Rainbow Dash's swords were in the opposite corner, having been thrown off in a completely different direction when Steven unleashed the shockwave. She knew that she couldn't run there right then, because Steven would easily catch up with her. She had to run when Steven wasn't ready.

Steven suddenly stopped. He stood up on all four hooves, his neck and his forehooves bent down. Rainbow Dash knew that stance- Steven was going to charge. It was the prefect chance.

Standing up straight and steeling herself, Rainbow Dash grinned at Steven. She then lifted an arm and wagged a finger at Steven.

"Let's go, coltfriend."

Right after that, Steven's back hooves kicked him off of the ground and propelled him towards Rainbow Dash. Quickly taking the opportunity, Rainbow Dash ran off to her swords, where Steven would take some time to follow her to. She rolled on the ground and quickly picked up her swords before standing up again.

Wiping the sweat off of her forehead, Rainbow Dash turned to look at Steven. He had recovered from the crash quickly enough, and was staring right back at her. She knew that Steven knew that charging wouldn't work- Rainbow Dash was much too quick for that. They were going to have to deck it out with their blades.

Steven quickly remade his lances, which now looked even bigger and more menacing than before. But Rainbow Dash was not going to let Steven get the first hit again- she was much too proud for that. She quickly charged at Steven, who quickly reacted by pointing his lances directly in front of Rainbow Dash.

Now, the rainbow-haired human might be a good athlete, but that didn't make her a bumbling idiot. The charging was only a feint- as soon as she was close enough, Rainbow Dash quickly kicked herself off of the ground, making her fly over Steven, and landing behind him.

"Yoo hoo!" said Rainbow Dash, attacking from behind.

But she still wasn't fast enough for Steven. Steven quickly turned around and blocked all of the attacks Rainbow Dash brought upon him, easily changing the flow of the battle. Rainbow Dash dodged his next strike by a hair, but it quickly put her off-balance, with Steven's kick finally making her fall down. Rainbow Dash quickly tried to grab her sword, but Steven had kicked that away as well. She left left defenseless against her psychopath of a coltfriend.

Rainbow Dash gulped. What was going to happen now? Was it all over?

As all these things turn out, it wasn't.

Steven had kicked her far to his right, meaning that if she leapt up and ran even more to her right (with Steven approaching from her left), she might just be able to outrun him and get her sword.

But her sword was too far away from her. Princess Luck had to be on her side if she was ever going to get that sword of hers.

Rainbow Dash took three deep breaths. Steven was approaching her from the left, and the still huddled group of soldiers was to her right. Steven had kicked her sword right in the middle of both of them, and she was afraid to take the chance of running that far that close to Steven.

But every second she deliberated her next move, Steven was coming closer. Soon, she wouldn't have the chance to escape anymore. But was there ever any chance in the first place? She was going to have to find out.

She quickly jumped up, and there was a strange, out-of-place clinking on the ground. She looked down to have a better look.

It was Steven's present. Her wings.

She didn't mean to start crying then, but she couldn't help it. Tears streamed down from her wide eyes to the floor, the silent drip-drip ringing by itself in her ears. She stared at the little steel box, her tears forming a wet circle around it. All of a sudden, she found herself firing up with energy, an unexplained determination to win forming in her heart and mind. She picked up the little box from the ground, took off her hoodie and placed it in the small spot on her back. She then turned to look at Steven, her right hand hastily wiping her eyes dry.

"I'm going to make you remember, Steven." said Rainbow Dash. "And I'll do anything it takes."

Rainbow Dash immediately willed her wings to appear, and it did. Grinning, she ran in front of Steven and jumped into flight right in front of him. Feeling the wind in her hair like she used to when she was a pegasus, she felt more comfortable- more relaxed. She easily swooped down and took the sword in her hands before flying back to Steven and flashkicked Steven's head from behind.

The power of the wings just increased the momentum of the kick, and Steven fell down flat on his face.

That should leave a mark. thought Rainbow Dash, straightening up her flying position again. She then flew down on Steven and turned him over. Steven quickly kicked up, knocking Rainbow Dash off of him. But she wasn't going to let that hurt her again- she, with lots of difficulty, managed to use the force used by Steven to kick her back to propel herself to wards him.

And with one slice of her sword, Steven stopped moving and stood still.

But he wasn't dead. Rainbow Dash made sure of that. She landed safely on two feet before walking, sword at the ready, to Steven. He was staring blankly into space, not attacking, not defending. Just standing there.

Rainbow Dash moved her eyes down to see the result of her work. She had slashed Steven's chest, and a huge red gash was now present, with a thick, golden liquid oozing out of it. She continued to stare at Steven until the stallion finally fell back, still alive but not moving.

Rainbow Dash stepped in front and placed a leg on his chest. She then pointed the tip of her sword at his throat, glaring at him as if threatening to drive it through.

There was no reaction from Steven. His bright red eyes moved down from the sword she was pointing at him back to Rainbow Dash's face, no emotions showing at all. It was as if he didn't care that Rainbow Dash could easily kill him in a matter of seconds.

Rainbow Dash looked at Steven's face and her grip began to loosen. This was NOT Steven. But just looking at his face... Just looking at it made her feel weaker. Her hands began to tremble.

Steven was still showing no emotions, and this began to trouble Rainbow Dash even more. It wasn't long until she couldn't hold it anymore.

She threw the sword aside and stepped back. She daren't look at Steven anymore.

Was he really gone?

As if to answer her question, Steven leapt up from his position and pinned Rainbow Dash on the ground. She struggled to break free, but she knew that she couldn't. Steven was just too strong.

With still no emotions on his face, Steven raised a hoof and magically shaped it into a lance. He was about to kill her, just like she did with the other soldiers.

She wasn't able to bring Steven back. She had failed.

A lone tear formed under her eye, not one of fear, not one of despair, but one of failure.

To tell the truth, she had always been afraid of death. She was always a high achiever, and she was scared to lose all of that  in a matter of seconds. But death was unavoidable. Losing her wings had somehow taught her that. Maybe it was because all of the near-death scenarios she had always found herself in, those she would've been able to escape from if not for her lack of wings.. The near-death scenarios they always find themselves in.

But dying by the hand of somepony you love... That was a different story. Rainbow Dash couldn't quite describe how it feels, but being held down with a lance pointed straight at your throat and no chance to escape at all made her feel like her insides were already falling all the way to the Underworld even though she wasn't quite dead yet. It felt terrible.

No.

This wasn't Steven. She was only a few seconds away from death, but she was going to use those few seconds to bring Steven back to consciousness. There was no way that she would let him go on like this.

"Steven..." said Rainbow Dash, gently as her voice trembled. "Steven, wake up."

Steven's eyes suddenly flashed a bright blue, but it disappeared quickly. The lance was still coming closer to her killing her. Rainbow Dash didn't squirm, nor did she try to back away.

"Steven, listen to me." said Rainbow Dash, more tears appearing from her eyes. "This isn't you."

His eyes flashed twice now, but there was still no other change. Only a few more millimeters now...

"The Steven I know is kind, funny, gentle, and the greatest stallion I could ever hope for. The one I had been secretly dreaming of since I was just a little filly." said Rainbow Dash, not caring if the real Steven could hear her or not. "That is the Steven I love."

She felt the movement of the lance slowing down, but paid no heed to it. Instead, she lifted a hand and stroked Steven's cheek. It was very warm, and yet icy cold at the same time.

"Come back to us, Steven." said Rainbow Dash, in a clear and true voice. "Come back to me."

The lance quickly pulled back, like a twitch, and Steven began to step back. His eyes were now repeatedly flashing with blue, and all parts of his body were twitching, as if something was trying to break free from his body. The blue light seemed to be trying hard to escape, but the white light seemed to keep pushing it back in.

The stallion was now sitting straight, like a statue on the floor. The body didn't move. Yet all the different parts of his body seemed to be trying to push itself out, flashing with specks of blue among the stallion's pure white fur. But it still didn't come close to success. Rainbow Dash needed to help the blue light break free.

Rainbow Dash stood up and walked to Steven. She put both her hands on his face, which now felt extremely warm to touch. Steven didn't move at all. He just sat there, his blank eyes flashing with blue all the while. Its horn also began to emit a faint blue aura.

"Steven... I know you're there." whispered Rainbow Dash. "But if you can hear me... then give me a sign."

Steven's body began to flash blue even more. However, Rainbow Dash didn't notice this and pulled him into a tight hug.

"It's always not easy to say this, Steve..." said Rainbow Dash. "But its always true."

"I love you."

Rainbow Dash quickly pulled him into a kiss, and immediately Steven's face became even hotter than before. Rainbow Dash felt like it should burn her hands, but it felt nicely warm to her touch. She didn't know why, but she couldn't care less.

At first, there was no response from Steven. Rainbow Dash, however, didn't give up. She was going to turn Steven back to normal, and hopefully it was only a matter of time. She felt her lips press against his, and she felt Steven's face getting hotter and hotter every second.

All of a sudden, there was a very bright flash of blue, which Rainbow Dash could see even through her closed eyes. She kept her lips tightly locked to his, maybe even more passionately than before. His face felt burning hot, but Rainbow Dash held on. She could feel her hair waving against the sudden gust of wind appearing from around Steven, and she felt cool air beat against her face.

All of a sudden, everything died down. The light was gone, and Steven's body was of the normal temperature again.

And she felt Steven return the kiss.

Rainbow Dash, though surprised, didn't break the kiss. Instead, she became even more passionate, eliciting the same from Steven. She felt Steven's cool breath on her nose- it had always been a comforting, wonderful sensation for her.

"I love you too." said Steven suddenly. Rainbow Dash opened her eyes.

Steven was back to normal. His eyes were the same brilliant blue, his mane the same dark blue, and his coat the same grayish blue. So much blue. It was a welcoming sight to her eyes.

"I love you so f*cking much." said Steven, his calm smile directly contrasting the profanity he was using.

Rainbow Dash laughed and hugged him. She couldn't help it, but she soon found herself crying into Steven's shoulder. She saw her tears mat his coat, and she was just about to back off when Steven put a hoof on her back and began to stroke it. She then saw him begin to cry into her shoulders as well.

"I'm so sorry..." said Steven, his voice losing the calmness that was there just a few seconds ago. "So... so sorry..."

"It's okay, Steve." said Rainbow Dash, sniffing. "It's okay..."

"No, it's not!" said Steven. "Look at your back... your arms... I hurt you... I can't believe I hurt you..."

Rainbow Dash shushed Steven, pulling back and gently placing a finger on Steven's lips. Both of them were crying together, but Steven couldn't bring himself to look into Rainbow Dash's eyes. But Rainbow Dash quickly moved his head so that they were looking into each other's eyes. What she saw shocked Rainbow Dash.

In Steven's eyes she saw a great pain- a pain that she had never seen before. It seemed as if it had been hidden,, something that he had tried to hide for a very long time. Only by looking at it, she saw all the different types of feelings that Steven was experiencing then- hurt, sadness, heartbreak, self-loathing... It was too much even for her. She could only wonder how Steven must've been feeling.

"You weren't you, Steven." said Rainbow Dash. "That wasn't you."

"No!" said Steven, looking away in anger. "That was me! A me that I wasn't strong enough to control. A me that easily took over my weak self..."

Rainbow Dash remained silent.

"I thought all of you were dead." said Steven. "That we had been lead into a trap by Discord. I was so angry... I lost control of myself."

Steven walked to the wall and leaned his head towards it. Rainbow Dash didn't move, but she saw tears dripping down onto the floor. She felt her heart wrench as she heard and felt all of the pain in Steven's voice as he told Rainbow Dash everything. She wanted to stop him, but she knew that she couldn't. For his own sake, Steven had to let this all out.

"I saw myself do horrible things..." said Steven. "Killing soldiers brutally, without even a second to consider why I was doing it. At first I thought it was just a dream... but it felt all too real. I did my best, but I just couldn't stop myself from doing anything. I had spilled a lot of blood like that..."

"And then I saw you." said Steven. Rainbow Dash's ears pricked up. "I saw you, I heard your voice... And then I saw myself fighting you. I tried to make myself stop, but I couldn't. I was too weak."

"Then I heard you calling out to me." said Steven, looking back at Rainbow Dash, his eyes red from crying so hard. "I heard you encourage me, telling me to wake up... But I was still too weak to do anything. I was trying to stop myself as hard a possible, but my hoof just kept coming closer and closer to killing you."

"And then I told you to come back." said Rainbow Dash suddenly. "Come back to us... To me."

"Yeah." said Steven, looking down guiltily. "It was too late for me to save the soldiers, but I had to do anything and everything to make sure that you are still alive. I fought back. As hard as I could. But it still wasn't enough."

"And then I came to you, and I whispered something in your ear." said Rainbow Dash, walking towards Steven.

"You told me that you loved me." said Steven. "And then..."

Rainbow Dash pulled Steven into another kiss, as if completing the sentence for him. Both of them were still crying, but it didn't matter to any of them. They were both still alive. For now, that was all that mattered.

"Come on." said Rainbow Dash, wiping her tears off her eyes. "Let's wake up the others, and get out of here as soon as possible."

Suddenly, something tapped on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. She looked back, to see a sight the she did not expect.

The group of surviving soldiers was standing right behind her. But instead of trying to kill her, or surround her (like they'd usually do), they saluted her. They remained silent, and then ran off outside the room.

"They'll probably give us a truce for a few minutes, at least." said Steven. "Give us some time to escape before calling on their superiors. You did save them, after all."

"Yeah." said Rainbow Dash, laughing. "I did, didn't I?"

Luckily for them, none of their teammates were dead. Hell, nothing was wrong with them at all, except for a little bit of dizzyness from being hit at the back of the head. They quickly shook their heads, berated Steven playfully for getting them into this mess, hugged both of them, and prepared themselves to run as fast as they could.

"According to Black Wesa's traditions, a small truce has to last for more than half an hour." said Steven. "Which would give us more than enough time to get out of this facility and out of sight. But we've spent around 10 minutes getting all of you up, so we're going to have to run off as quickly as possible."

"Right!" said the rest of the group in unison.

Rainbow Dash crunched her knuckles. Once again, she was the fastest out of the group. She looked at the still-perfect little steel box sitting on her palm and fastened it the the spot on her back.

"20 minutes." said Steven. "Ready?"

All of a sudden, the door flew open, and soldiers began to stream inside the room. They were all very heavily armed, and they all began to take aim at the small, surprised group.

"20 minutes?" asked Bush.

"They must've betrayed us and reported directly to their superiors." said Steven. "No matter. We still have to get out of here as quickly as possible."

Rainbow Dash felt her knuckles turn white as she clutched her sword's hilt very tightly. Her other sword had already been broken by Steven as he stepped on it while she was unconscious, and only this sword was left. Hopefully it'll be enough.

"Now!" screamed Steven. "Run!"

Steven quickly conjures up a shield, which appeared as a dome around them. They all began to run as a group towards the door, and soldiers were being crashed into as they hastily made for the exit.

"I can't see anything anymore!" said Steven, whose view was being blocked by the great amount of soldiers that had accumulated at the front of the shield.

"I can help, sweetie." said Rarity. Her bow began to glow, and she could see more blue auras all around them. Considering how deep in they were, Rarity must've used her gem detection spell to find out where each path led, where the dead

ends were, and where the path to the exit was. All Steven had to do was follow the path of gems that led them straight up.

"An enchanted weapon, huh?" said Bush. "I heard that those are pretty hard to come by."

"They are." said Rarity. "I had to buy this one off for half my entire fortune! But it's worth it- do you know how precious gems are in this world?"

But going to the exit wasn't going to be easy. Rainbow Dash noticed that Steven had already been tired out by the previous ordeal, and now they had to face one of the largest amounts of soldiers they had ever faced blocking their only way out. They were all shooting at Steven's shield, which was miraculously still holding up despite the fact it could only hold up against one small squad of soldiers firing at them before.

But the cost was that holding up the strain was putting a lot of strain on Steven. Rainbow Dash could not only see it in his face, but in the shield that covered them. It wasn't equally spread magic like usual, but it was very rough and uneven, some thicker and some thinner than others.

They went left, right, straight, and left again... And Steven looked close to death.

"I think I can help, Steven." said Bush. His horn also began to glow, and his magic began to shoot up into the shield, so that the shield had a brownish blue shade to it.

But even that was not enough. They were now already very close to the exit, but the intensity of the attacks from the soldiers just kept on increasing further and further. Both Bush and Steven's paces began to slow down, and beads of sweat were flowing down their bodies like mad. One of Steven's eyes were closed because of the strain, and Bush's tongue was dangling outside. They looked really tired.

And the shield burst. The soldiers that they had crashed into flew all across the room, causing chaos everywhere. Taking the chance, Rainbow Dash ran to the exit door, her friends closely behind her, and she threw the door open.

Right in front of the door was another battalion of soldiers, their guns aimed at the door as if they had known that they were coming. Cursing silently, she pulled out her sword and was ready to attack, only to be stopped by Steven.

"What?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Not yet." said Steven. "Bring them inside first."

Rainbow Dash didn't know what to say or do. But although Steven might have unreliable sources, his plans could always be counted on to work. Hey, it had never failed them before, have they?

Rainbow Dash raised both of her arms in surrender and slowly walked back down into the lobby, the soldiers from the main door slowly following her. They moved through the narrow corridor and exited to the large room, soldiers everywhere around them as they overcrowded the place.

"Urm... When do we start to fight?" asked Fluttershy.

"As soon as we get as many of them in this room as possible." said Steven. "Overcrowdedness had never helped a person."

It was now very difficult to breathe in the room, and the small group was cornered into the wall behind them. More soldiers started streaming in, until no more could fit.

"Black Wesa had always believed in strength in numbers." whispered Steven. "I believe in strength in strength. ATTACK!"

Screaming recklessly, the group began to attack the front row of soldiers. The back row started shooting at them as well, but all of their shots had been blocked by the bodies of other soldiers, making their shots hit their allies instead of the group. Not long later, half of the soldiers in the room were gone, and Rainbow Dash found herself trying to deflect even more beams of light.

She didn't dare to make a Sonic Rainboom out of them, however, because she didn't know where her friends were and didn't want them to get hit by the Sonic Rainbooms. It would kill them straight away. Instead, she focused on simply turning the beams of light back from their source.

All of a sudden, a whole group of soldiers began to fly to one direction, and Steven and his trademark gauntlets were revealed. Rainbow Dash breathed a sign of relief, glad that they were his gauntlets, and not more lances.

"You okay?" asked Steven.

"I'm fine." said Rainbow Dash. As if the Goddess herself wanted to disprove her statement, though, one beam of light shot through her sword cleanly, shattering it into bits of metal.

"Never mind.' said Rainbow Dash. "Not okay."

"Take this." said Steven, throwing a dagger he took out of his trusty saddle pack. Rainbow Dash caught it by the hilt and looked at it amusedly. "It's a jade dagger. One of the sharpest in the world. Hopefully you're as good with knives as you are with swords."

Rainbow Dash quickly threw the dagger in the air, caught it again, and threw it at the helmet of one soldier. It went through the helmet and stayed lodged in there. The soldier fell down and Rainbow Dash quickly jumped to where the body fell and retrieved the dagger again.

"Not bad." said Steven. "But try to make sure that you never find yourself unarmed."

All of a sudden, Bush's voice was heard out loud.

"Be careful, guys!" said Bush. "There are some more soldiers here carrying some strange, but sharp energy swords! They cut through my revolver cleanly in just one swipe."

"Oh my goodness!' said Fluttershy. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine!" said Bush. "You guys better worry about saving your own asses for now!"

Rainbow Dash slashed and stabbed all of the soldiers around her, deftly changing her footing to attack the soldiers in all directions. Steven was doing the same thing, except he was sending soldiers flying everywhere.

Rainbow Dash threw her dagger at a soldier again, and it cracked a hole in its helmet as it stabbed the soldier's face. Rainbow Dash quickly jumped to retrieve it and jumped back.

Or, at least she wanted to jump back.

One of the soldiers had held on to her long hair, and her jump was stopped mid-air as she fell down. All of the nearby soldiers immediately took aim on her.

"Rainbow Dash!" shouted Steven as he began to run towards her.

All of a sudden, something blue emerged from right in the middle of Steven's chest. Blood spluttered out everywhere, and Steven screamed in agony. Steven's hooves began to writhe in pain as he was brought to the air by whatever had just gone through his chest like that. At Steven's back was another soldier, wielding a long stick with something flat and sharp sticking out at its end. And the end was piercing through Steven's chest.

Blood began to drop from Steven's mouth, and the soldier threw his body to the ground, stepped on it, and pulled his sword-like weapon back. Steven lay there on the ground, his blood forming a puddle around his body.

"No..." said Rainbow Dash, too shocked to say anything else. "NOOOOOOO!"

Rainbow Dash ran towards Steven, but the soldier was still holding on. Without thinking, Rainbow Dash quickly gripped her dagger and in a single, fluid-like motion, slashed through and cut her hair short, making her free from the soldier's grip. She quickly ran to Steven.

He was still breathing, but barely. The energy blade had pierced through his heart, and all that was keeping him alive now was the little spark of magic he had left.

"Leave... me..." said Steven, coughing blood. "I'm... no use... anymore..."

"Don't say that." said Rainbow Dash. "We'll get you out of here, I promise."

Steven managed to let out a small, throaty chuckle.

"No, you won't." said Steven. "I can only... barely live... a few minutes more..."

Suddenly, one of the soldiers kicked both Steven and Rainbow Dash towards the corner. Steven gasped very loudly when the the kick hit the hole that the blade had made, making him spit out even more blood.

"What are you doing?" asked Rainbow Dash, standing up. "You can't torture him like that! He's-"

"Shut up, lady." said a soldier. The soldier pushed her down to the corner as well, and she found the rest of the small group there as well. Out of all of them, though, Steven was the only one who was lying down on the floor and bleeding very badly.

"Oh, no..." said Fluttershy.

"W-what happened?" asked Bush. "Did he get..."

Rainbow Dash slowly nodded, and she quickly sat down on one knee to help put pressure on both the openings, to no avail. Steven was still bleeding very badly. She then heard the cocking of many guns around her as the soldiers prepared to open fire on them.

"You assh*les have caused us so much trouble already that I won't even bother counting to three." said one soldier. "So fire at will."

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and held hands with the rest of the group as they waited for the end together.

Then there was a huge crash. There were screams everywhere, and Rainbow Dash decided to open her eyes. The birhgt desert light began to burn her eyes, and she squinted them to prevent them from hurting her any further. The rest of the group seemed to be doing the same as well.

In the bright sunlight, she could make out four silhouettes in the open. Three ponies, and one human. One of the ponies seemed like she was wearing a hat, and that pony looked like she had just bucked the whole wall of the facility open, sending debris flying everywhere.

"Nice job, Applejack." said a familiar voice. "Now where are our friends?"

Twilight!

Twilight had come to save them!

"Chen, you try to push the rest of the soldiers away." said Twilight in a commanding tone. "Adya, as soon as you see themm, quickly wrap your turban around them and bring them out here. We only have a few seconds before the rest of the soldiers come to."

There was a sudden burst of energy in the middle of the room, and all the soldiers were sent flying in all directions. Rainbow Dash could see a small human standing in the middle of the shockwave holding a stick that seemed to be twice his height. She then saw a pony which seemed to have a large forehead coming their way.

"That's how we do it in China." said the human.

"Well I'll show you how we do it in India, then!" said the pony in a strange, exotic accent.

Rainbow Dash suddenly felt something wrap itself around her body, pulling her into the open. But what freaked her out the most was that the pony that just spoke's forehead seemed to unwrap itself, and that was what pulled them towards their saviors. Bits of forehead.

"Why hello, Rainbow Dash!" said Twilight, rather snarkily. "Love the new manestyle."

"Looks real good on ya, pardner." said Applejack.

Rainbow Dash quickly pulled the two ponies into a tight hug (something which made Applejack blush the red shade of her apples), before letting go quickly.

"Thanks for coming." said Rainbow Dash. "How did you find us?"

"I felt a disturbance in the magic." said Twilight. "That is, to say, that there was a strange ripple that I could feel when using my magic. I suspected it was Steven's magic, and it turned out I was right."

"Well, thank goodness you came." said Rainbow Dash. "Steven is dying. He need your help immediately."

"WHAT?" asked Twilight, surprised. "Quick, bring me to him."

She didn't need to be brought to him, however, as the large forehead pony (turns out it was a piece of cloth wrapped around  his head. Who knew?) brought Steven over to Twilight, panic in his eyes.

"He's not going to last much longer." said the pony. "And Chen hears more soldiers coming our way. We have to go now."

Twilight bit her lower lip nervously.

"I don't know if I can teleport such a large group back to base." said Twilight. "The most I did was with three adults and three children, and even then I needed Steven's help."

"You guys... just go on." said Steven, coughing blood onto the sand. "I can't... I can't..."

"Don't be ridiculous." said Twilight. "I'm not sure i can, but I'm going to do my best to bring all of you back. If my magic isn't enough, however, then I'll volunteer to keep myself back. There's nothing any of you can do to stop me from doing that."

Rainbow Dash wanted to argue with that point, intent on volunteering herself instead for her friends, but she was much to focused on Steven. Steven couldn't speak anymore. He was much too weak to. Rainbow Dash then put a hand on his chest and looked him deeply in the eye.

"We'll get you back." said Rainbow Dash. "We'll get you back."

"Consider it payback for having saved all of our hides before." said Twilight.

"They're coming!" shouted the human.

"I have to charge my magic up first." said Twilight. "We have to run while we're at it. Steven, can you stand?"

"Are... you... kidding?" asked Steven.

"Don't worry, I've got this." said Rainbow Dash. She quickly used all her strength to carry Steven on her shoulders. She couldn't at first, but she got another boost of strength from her determination to save him and was finally able to carry him on her back.

He was very heavy. Then again, all ponies must be really heavy for humans to carry. But Rainbow Dash didn't care. She was going to get back with Steven, even if it meant breaking her back while doing so.

"Are ya okay?" asked Big Macintosh.

"I'm... fine." said Rainbow Dash. "Let's go."

Twilight looked back at her uneasily, but the sound of the soldiers marching up to the lobby was motivation enough for her to start charging up her magic and running.

"Stay close, guys!" said Twilight. "We're gonna need to be as close as possible if we want even the smallest chance to survive together."

The soldiers had reached the lobby, and they quickly noticed the now-larger Resistance Group trying to run away as fast as possible. They immediately opened fire, their shots missing them by only a hair or two.

"I might not be able to teleport all of us back." said Twilight. "So I'll just teleport you guys and I'll try to teleport myself later."

"No..." said Steven. "No... You need to focus the teleportation on yourself most of all... Twilight. It's the best chance for us... to teleport back together."

"Really?" asked Twilight.

"Yes..." said Steven. "As a scientist... I've noticed the tears in reality and the patterns of teleportation.... You have to focus on the area... closest to you, before at the last minute expanding it widely."

"I hope that works, Steven." said Twilight. "I hope you're right. I'll count from 3."

Rainbow Dash steeled herself for the uncomfortable sensation that was to follow, still finding it difficult to carry Steven on her back. She couldn't say a word.

"3..." said Twilight. Rainbow Dash felt Steven's body go rigid and tense up.

"2..." said Twilight. And with the last of his strength, Steven kicked himself off of Rainbow Dash's back, landing onto the sand and staying there, motionless.

"No, Twilight!" screamed Rainbow Dash raspily. "STOP COUNTING!"

"1!" said Twilight.

"NO!" screamed Rainbow Dash, as the soldiers began to open fire on Steven's body, making it shake around as the bullets passed through his lifeless body cleanly and easily.

And with a flash, she was gone.

________________________________________________________________________________

"It's a pony, Mr. Ramses." said the soldier. "We shot him down."

"A pony?" asked Adrian Ramses. "Just one?"

"There were... more." said the soldier uncertainly. "But they were gone too quickly for us to catch up to them."

"Very well, then." said Adrian Ramses, walking out into the desert. "Bring me to him."

"But sir..." said the soldier. "He's... dead."

"He's not." said the director. "Bring me to him."

The soldier then hesitantly brought him out into the open desert, and into the exact spot where a few scientists and soldiers were gathering round what seemed perfectly like a dead body. It wasn't breathing, it was bleeding all over, and the body was pale and cold.

But those eyes... Ramses could identify them anytime and anywhere.

He crouched down and looked at the dead pony's face. There were small, brilliant blue sparks jumping around his body, but he didn't care about all that. It was the eyes that entranced Ramses to study the pony closer. But now Ramses was sure. He was sure that this pony was none other than him.

His face broke into a grin as he stood back up.

"Steven Reilly." said Ramses, chuckling to himself. "Welcome back to Black Wesa, dear brother."

Preview: They Live Among Us

Hey, everyone. TheHouseholdWarrior here, with a little sneak preview to the sequel to They Walk Among Us. Yes, yes, I know that I said that I would start in two months, but I just decided to start off a little bit early. The sequel will be called 'They Live Among Us', and it should be coming out in the coming week or so. I'm really looking forward to writing it!

I've said this before, and I cannot stress this enough: Thank you all, very much, for your support. I would never have continued the story if, well, there was never anyone reading it in the first place. Thank you again, everyone, for reading, liking, and following this story. Thank you.

Now, without further ado, here is the little preview of 'They Live Among Us'.

________________________________________________________________________________

Dark. So dark.

His eyes were now wide open, but he still couldn't see anything at all. He didn't know whether it really was that dark, or if he had lost all ability to see. Or perhaps his eyes just needed a little adjusting to the darkness.

He could hear a faint, continuous thud in the background, followed by some chopping sounds and the soft whistle of boiling water. There was a small, unrecognizable scent in the air- a truly sweet scent that calmed him down and lowered his inhibitions. But that scent alone still could not put to rest the uncomfortable feeling rising to prominence in his chest, one that kept him awake, and wary. And it didn't help that there was someone else in the room.

He was lying down on a hard surface, a stone table, perhaps, with his forehooves dangling to the sides. He daren't move, for fear of what would happen if he did: not only was it too dark for him to see, but there was someone else, he didn't know whom, in the room. Plus, he didn't know if he could even move in the first place.

Lying down on the cold, stone table, he closed his eyes again and tried to calm himself down. Breathing deeply but silently, he began to think about what happened.

As soon as he did so, everything came flooding back to him.

"We'll get you back. We'll get you back."

"Consider it payback for having saved all of our hides before."

"Stay close, guys! We're gonna need to be as close as possible if we want even the smallest chance to survive together."

"No, Twilight! STOP COUNTING!"

"NO!"

"Welcome back to Black Wesa, dear brother."

Steven gasped. He needed to go back. He needed to go back NOW. He quickly tried to sit up straight.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" he screamed as white-hot pain spread throughout his back. He fell back to the cold surface with a loud bang, the impact of the crash making him scream even more. The pain was so intense that tears were dropping uncontrollably from his eyes, and he couldn't help but moan lifelessly as his body froze in place, not daring to move a muscle. The pain had completely numbed his mind, and he now couldn't think anymore. His mind was completely blank as Steven succumbed to the burning pain in his back

He was going to die. He was going to die right there. No one, not even him, could possibly take up that much pain and still be alive. He stayed on top of the table, breathing loud, short gasps as he did so. He couldn't move anymore. He tried to twitch a hoof, but even that wasn't possible. The pain had completely taken control of his mind and body, and he simply wasn't able to do anything anymore.

And then the thudding stopped.

"Finally." said a male, teenage voice. "

Steven could feel a large shadow stand up and begin to walk towards him, his feet heavily crashing on the floor as he walked. But Steven knew that despite the man's build, he couldn't have been older than 15, or maybe 17 years old.

"H-" gasped Steven, not able to say anything without hurting. "H-How long..."

"I can tell you." said the boy. "But I'm not sure you'd like it."

"T-Tell..." said Steven, coughing out blood as his throat burned in his attempt to speak.

"No." said the boy. "You have to rest first. It just won't do for me, and for you, if you get more stressed out than you already are. Besides, I've been treating you all this time already. I wouldn't want it to go to waste.

Steven desperately wanted to protest, but he held his tongue. He was right- any more stress would most probably kill him, considering that his throat now burned along with his back. There was nothing he could do for now.

"I see you tried to sit up." said the boy. "Yeah, you shouldn't have done that."

Steven now wanted to slap the boy across the face, but that would've probably been a bad idea as well.

Just then, Steven heard a loud beeping noise from across the room, right where the boy was sitting before he came over.

"Is it time already?" asked the boy to no one in particular. He quickly walked across the room and back, this time with what looked like a pot in his hands. There was really no making it out in the darkness. The sweet, calming smell grew even stronger. Steven opened his mouth instinctively.

"Oh, that's not going there." said the boy. "Trust me, I've tried that. Couldn't eat or drink anything for weeks."

Steven slowly turned his face towards the boy, giving him his best 'tell me what you want me to do or so help me I'll kill you where you stand' look.

The boy, however, seemed to have paid no heed to his face. Instead, ten, sharp fingers slowly began to push at Steven's side. He couldn't help but yelp in pain as they slowly began to dig under Steven's skin.

"Y-You should..." gasped Steven. "You should... c-cut... your n-nails."

"Whoops." said the boy, who let go of Steven's body immediately, letting his body fall back onto the stony surface. He screamed in pain as he felt his back crack again as it crashed onto the table, the extreme pain shooting up his neck.

"Err... Sorry." said the boy. Steven couldn't believe that he survived so long with this boy taking care of him. The boy quickly got him over to his side with no interruptions this time, his back exposed to whatever the boy was trying to do to him. He cringed in pain as the air kept blowing at his back, hurting him dreadfully.

"I still flinch whenever I see your back." said the boy. "It's, well... in a really bad condition."

You don't say.

Steven then felt an extremely cold sensation at his back. He froze up as he felt the coldness spread even further across his back.

"W-What..." managed Steven, exhaling heavily. "What... is t-this?"

"A special brew." said the boy. "It should be easing the pain for you. As long as you don't try to sit up again, it shouldn't be hurting as much. Now..."

Steven felt his body fall back to the surface of the stone, and to his surprise, it didn't hurt. He slowly turned his head to the source of the boy's voice. He still couldn't see anything.

"What do you know about Twilight Sparkle?"

Steven was shocked. His eyes widened, and he stopped breathing for a while.

"Calm down, dude." said the boy, sounding concerned. "Hey, are you alright?"

"I'm... fine." said Steven. "You are friends with Twilight?"

"Friends?" repeated the boy, chuckling. "You could say that."

"How did... how did you know?"

"Let's just say that I'm not the only one who talks while asleep."

Steven opened his eyes wider, trying desperately to catch a glimpse of his caretaker. Who is this? He was most definitely a human, of course, or fingers wouldn't be explainable. Unless he was a unicorn like him, one that can create fingers with his magic. But Twilight, and even Luna had strongly asserted that he was the only one with that sort of power.

Just then, Steven could hear a faint collection of voices from behind him, growing louder by the second. He could also begin to see light spread into the room as the voices grew louder.

"Dammit." said the boy, getting up hastily.

"What's going on?" asked Steven.

"Whatever you do, do NOT tell them anything." said the boy, standing up hastily. "They're going to make use of your back, so be careful." The boy then quickly walked into the darkness

"W-Wait!" said Steven. "What the-"

Suddenly, there was a loud crash. Light flooded the room, and human figures, many of them, walked towards Steven.

Soldiers.

So he was still in Black Wesa.

"He's awake." said one of them.

"Finally." said another. "The boss's been getting really snappy lately."

"Right." said the first one, who turned to face Steven. "Hey, are you alright?"

Steven didn't answer them. He just glared at them in anger. Not like there's anything he could do to fight them off, seeing as he's near-death and all that.

"Answer him!" said another as they advanced on him.

"Stop it." said the second one, holding the angry one back. "He just woke up. Odds are that he doesn't even remember who he is or where he's at."

"Anyway..." said the first one, turning back to Steven. "The boss's been waiting for you, and he wants to meet you now. Can you stand?"

Steven didn't reply.

"Screw this." said the angry one, who pushed Steven off of the table. Luckily for him, though, Steven landed on his belly, his back only slightly stinging as he crashed on the ground.

"You idiot!" said the first one. "The boss wants him alive and well. You keep your temper problems to yourself."

The angry one grumbled, well, angrily and walked back to the group.

"Open the door." said the first one. One of the soldiers quickly ran up and typed something in the keypad. The immediately swung open.

"Get him back on the table." said the first soldier. "Then press that little red button over there."

The group of soldiers did as instructed, gently carrying him back onto the table and putting him down slowly. Then one of the soldiers walked around to the other side of the table, and the table began to shudder. Next thing he knew, the table was standing up straight on the ground, Steven's hind hooves facing the floor, and he was strapped in by strange ropes made of electricity. He now really couldn't move at all.

"Let's go back up." said the first soldier, turning Steven around as the table began to float up the stairs.

Just as the room began to disappear from sight, Steven finally caught a glimpse of the boy- a large body covered by a black cloak. He could see a handsome, though strangely built face behind the shadow of the cloak. It mouthed three simple words.

Not. One. Word.

Smiling for the first time in what felt like forever, Steven winked and smiled as he closed his eyes and awaited his fate.