The Kindness of Strangers

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8 & Epilogue
Prologue
Chapter 3

Chapter 1

Chapter 1
Three months to the day. Three months had passed since Princess Luna’s arrival in Ponyville, summer’s long days were ending, and the leaves were beginning to turn. Autumn was upon Ponyville, and soon enough, winter and its long nights would grasp the world of Equestria.

Twilight Sparkle considered these last three months a success. Luna had become far more open and trusting of her new found friends. She and Twilight however, had bonded the most out of all of them, they were much alike, both introverted, Twilight just got Luna. They spent many nights looking out at Luna’s creation, the beautiful night sky filled with stars and the moon above. Twilight Sparkle, being interested in learning all things about the world and the sky, loved the night more than her friends. Luna had been taken aback by how much Twilight seemed to appreciate her night sky. A thousand years ago, Luna believed that ponies hated the night, and herself by extension, such feelings had driven the god-princess into losing her sanity, transforming her into the evil Nightmare Moon, and causing her imprisonment for the last 1000 years.

Many of the other ponies in Ponyville were still uneasy around the Princess, but this was merely because she was a princess, and Twilight reassured her that the more time she spent here. The more the denizens of Ponyville would warm up to her. Luna smiled as she looked up at her night’s creation. She was glad she had come here; glad she had friends, glad that she nevermore had to be alone.

…
Dawn. Fluttershy loved waking up at Dawn, watching the sun rise was beautiful, and her animal friends would be up not long after. A few hours of doing chores and taking care of sick animals who had sought her out, she was ready to be out and about in Ponyville.

It was still rather early; the clock had only just struck 0830. Not many Ponies were out and about at this hour. Fluttershy was however, surprised to see that princess Luna was out at the edge of town, looking up at the morning October Sky.

“Hello Princess Luna... Um, I’m not interrupting anything am I?” She asked timidly.

Luna looked back at her friend, “Hello Fluttershy, please, you don’t need to keep calling me princess, and no, I’m just admiring the day.”

“Force of habit,” Fluttershy said. This had been true, it had taken almost two months to get them to stop calling Luna ‘her highness.’
Fluttershy smiled. “Sounds wonderful, I was just going into town, would you like to walk with me? That is, as long as it wouldn’t be an inconvenience...”

Luna’s interactions with Fluttershy always went like this; the two of them were the most shy out of all their friends, it ended with both them taking care to make sure that they didn’t burden each other with unwelcome company.

Luna smiled with a hint of embarrassment. “Why thank you... I would love too! I mean, as long as you’re not asking out of obligation....”

“Of course not...” Fluttershy’s voice trailed off as she looked out into the distance. “Who is that pony?”

Luna looked out into the distance. A single grey coloured pony with an orange mane and tail was walking towards them, a colt, no less. No more than 10 metres out. Neither Fluttershy, nor Luna had seen this pony before. Who was he?

The colt walked up to the two mares, gave each a look and smiled. “Ponies! I made it...” he said before passing out on the ground at their hooves.

Fluttershy’s jaw dropped, nearly hitting the ground at the shock. “Come on! We need to get him help! Help me carry him!” She said in a frantic tone that was not common for the shy mare.

Luna nodded and the two helped each other lift the grey and orange pony off his hooves and carried him into town towards the clinic, Ponyville’s most reasonable facsimile for a hospital.

Several long hours of waiting for the colt to recover, having never left his side, Fluttershy began to yawn uncontrollably. She was tired, and it was nearly one in the morning. Luna looked at her tired friend, with a small frown. “Fluttershy, you look tired. You really should go home and rest.”

Fluttershy yawned again, “thank you for your concern. But I want to be here when he wakes up.” followed by another yawn. “Angel will have taken care of everything at home. So I can afford to wait.”

As if on cue, the colt’s eyes opened and he looked around, seeing the two mares that had helped him. He perked his head up, which got the pair’s attention rather quickly.

“Oh, you’re awake. I’m glad to see that you’re okay!” Fluttershy said enthusiastically, as she would have had this been a sick animal in her care. “I’m Fluttershy, and this is my friend, Princess Luna. What’s your name? Can you tell us what happened to you?”

The colt seemed wrack his brain, as if searching for words in a language he was unfamiliar with. “My name is... uh... Floppy... Disk, Floppy Disk, That’s my name. Floppy Disk, and well, I’ve been walking for the last two months... I seemed to have, misjudged the distance between here and my last stop, because... Well, I ran out of food eight days ago, and had the last drop of my water two days ago. I barely made it here. When I came across you two I had just reached the point where I couldn’t go any further... If you hadn't been there, I might have collapsed from exhaustion and died with no one knowing I was even out there.”

Fluttershy attempted to speak, but was caught by another yawning fit. Luna looked at her friend sternly. “Fluttershy, you’re exhausted, please, go home and rest. I’ll stay with our new friend and make sure he’s ok.” A look of horror formed on the Princess’ face as she realised she’d spoken rather sternly to her friend. “...I’m sorry.”

Fluttershy was about to protest, something uncommon for the mare, however another yawn interrupted her, and she decided that Luna was right. She was tired. “No... You’re right. I’ll go home and get some sleep. But I will be back first thing in the morning.”

Fluttershy departed from the room, making her way home. Upon reaching her bed, she laid down on it and was out like a light the moment her head hit the pillow.

…
Floppy Disk, FLOPPY DISK! YOU WALKED HERE FOR TWO MONTHS, AND THE BEST YOU COULD COME UP WITH WAS FLOPPY DISK!

Floppy Disk was screaming at himself. He’d chosen the dumbest name he could have used for interacting with these ponies. But they had seemed to accept it; he was stuck with it now.

“My lady, you don’t need to wait by my bedside, I would feel bad if you were up the entire night on my account.” Floppy said, a small, charming smile forming on his face.

“Don’t worry about me. The night is my job.” Luna said, returning his smile. “I spend most of my nights awake. You’re not inconveniencing me at all.”

Floppy wasn’t sure whether she was telling the truth, or merely being polite. In his personal experience, Floppy Disk had never known a pony to be honest with him. He was used to others telling him what he wanted to hear, it had warped his view of reality. He had no way of knowing if this pony was telling him the truth. He chose to give her the benefit of the doubt. Not something he often did, she seemed nice enough.

“Okay then. I hope you don’t mind if I sleep though, I need to build up my strength again.” Floppy said awkwardly with an equally awkward smile.

“Not at all, please, you need it. I wouldn’t want you to get worse if you felt obligated to stay up and speak with me.” Luna said.

Maybe she was sincere. Maybe she was more like him. Floppy couldn’t be sure, he quickly drifted back off to sleep. When the morning came, he’d find out for sure.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Morning came quickly, Fluttershy returned along with her friends to find the Princess still sitting beside the colt as he lied back.

"So, he's the one who wondered into town?" Rarity asked. "I say Fluttershy; you must have had quiet the effect on such a handsome colt for him to faint upon seeing you."

Fluttershy turned a bright pink, almost matching Pinkie Pie as her embarrassment filled her face.

"Just look at him, what a wonderful orange mane! He looks so peaceful when he's resting," Rarity continued, not noticing how much she was actually embarrassing her friend.

Pinkie Pie took a few steps closer to the colt lying on the bed, giving him a quick look over, she smiled at him. "Silly, He's not asleep! He's just pretending!"

The colt's eyes popped open, realising he'd been made. He lifted his head up, looking Pinkie Pie in the eyes.

Pinkie Pie looked back at him, however her smile seemed to fade the longer she looked, almost as if she was losing awareness of the world around her. Pinkie Pie felt something beginning to overtake her, a feeling she had only felt once before at Gummy's after-birthday party. Pinkie's eyes snapped wide open; she screamed at the top of her lungs and frantically fled the clinic at breakneck speed.

The other ponies looked around at each other, then back at the colt, who were mesmerised by what had just happened. He shook his head from side to side, as if to shake off sleepiness.

"What just happened?" He asked, looking around at the mares around him.

Twilight shrugged as she looked over the colt. "I'm sure it's nothing. Probably just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie pie," she attempted to reassure the colt with an awkward smile. Princess Luna however was quick to break the silence.

"Everyone, this is Floppy Disk," she said with a smile.

The group gave the colt a round of greetings, to which he smiled in return.

"Thank you, thank you," He said politely, "I don't suppose anypony has something to eat on them? It's been a really long time since I had food."

On cue, Applejack produced an apple from under her hat. "One of Sweet Apple Acres best, try one and ya'll never want to eat anythin' else, ever," she said kindly, holding the apple out for the colt to take.

Floppy Disk obliged, and took a bite of the apple, the sensation of having food for the first time in a week proved too much for the colt; he promptly vomited on the clinic floor. He guiltily looked up at Applejack.

Applejack merely smiled at the colt. "Don't worry, it ain't the apple, it's the lack o' real good food. I ain't offended."

The group chuckled with each other. They had bonded instantly.

A week passed, Floppy Disk was welcomed warmly into Ponyville society, even by Pinkie Pie, who was not able to remember their original misunderstanding.

"... So we're good then?" The colt asked the bouncing pink earth pony.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly! Stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie pie said. She fell over attempting to walk and swear at the same time. To which the colt smiled and couldn't help give a small chuckle.

Pinkie Pie got up to continue walking, but was unable to make even a step before she began to shake uncontrollably, as if she were having a seizure, Floppy sprung into action, attempting to hold the mare down to keep her from hurting herself. After a few seconds the seizure stopped.

"Oh dear," Pinkie Pie said looking up at Floppy.

Her eyes caught his again, and she found herself unable to look away. Pinkie screamed, tossing the colt off her and running east.

Twilight Sparkle was trotting along through the High Street of Ponyville, going about her day as she usually did. She smiled as she looked ahead. Pinkie Pie was galloping at full speed towards her, likely having something exciting to tell her.

Pinkie Pie did not stop however, instead, she continued onwards. "Run! It's coming! Run!" she screamed as she passed.

Twilight turned east, watching her friend as she ran. Twilight was puzzled. Pinkie Pie rarely made sense when speaking, but this was weird ever for her.

"Hello Twilight Sparkle," a voice from behind her said.

Twilight turned and smiled at the colt that had approached her, "hello Floppy, what's up with Pinkie Pie?"

The colt shrugged, "she started shaking uncontrollably, I thought she was seizing, so I held her down to keep her from getting hurt, when she stopped, she looked at me, started screaming, and then took off running, shouting 'run! It's coming! Run!'"

Twilight turned back to the east, "that's weird even for Pinkie Pie."

The colt frowned and his head drooped, "I think it's my fault."

Twilight turned to look at her new friend, trying to reassure him that it wasn't his fault, and that Pinkie Pie was just weird, but she didn't get the chance. The ground began to rumble, the entire town shook as if an earthquake had just hit.

"Earthquakes don't happen here! There aren't any faults in a thousand kilometres!" Twilight shouted, "What in Equestria is going on?"

She did not need to wait long for an answer. Bursting from the Everfree forest was a dragon. Scales a shimmering green, and eyes that could only belong to a creature with the collective anger of hell itself.

Floppy Disk's eyes widened with fear, he looked at Twilight who shared his expression. He blinked. Now was not the time to be afraid.

"Get everyone out of town. I'll keep its attention away from you." He said.

Twilight's mouth widened, "are you crazy?"

"Very," the colt said, "swear to me, swear on something that matters that you will not follow me for any reason."

Twilight frowned, but understood, and she wracked her brain for something meaningful. Her frown faded quickly, and a small smile grew in its place. "Cross my heart, and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Floppy was satisfied. She had just sworn on friendship itself.

The colt ran towards the dragon, charging the massive creature and hoping to be annoying enough to get its attention. He ran faster than he had ever run before. Lives depended on it. Unfortunately the dragon saw him coming, and despite its large size, it was quick with its response, the giant tail swung, hitting the colt in his flank and sending him flying into the edge of the building with full force.

Crack!

The colt found himself lying on the ground, he'd felt his own spine break from the force of impact, and now he was barely able to move at all. His hind legs unresponsive, he used his fore legs to crawl upon the ground. The dragon took notice of the colt, and swung its tail again, sending the colt flying into the building again. The sharp spines on the tail caught him this time, and the colt felt flesh tare. He screamed in pain as he hit the ground. His hind legs were gone.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends had gathered upon a hill with the rest of the townsfolk, they'd gotten everyone they could together in one spot, safe, for now, while the dragon was preoccupied in the destruction of their town.

Behind them, Pinkie Pie was lying on the ground, shuttering intensely, repeating "it's here, it's here" over and over again. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack were doing their best to calm her, but it wasn't working.

Twilight was watching through a pair of Binoculars she'd had in her bag as Floppy hit the building the first time. She cringed; she could tell from here that he was in serious pain.

"We have to go help him!" Rainbow Dash cried out.

"No," Twilight said, "He made me swear that no matter what, I wouldn't go after him. He said he would hold its attention as long as he could, if we go down there now, it'll be in vain."

Rainbow Dash was about to protest Twilight's decision, she looked over at her friend and saw that she was crying. This was the hardest thing Twilight had ever had to do in her life. Instead, Rainbow sat down next to her, and embraced her, the two shed tears for their newfound friends noble sacrifice.

He was running on pure adrenaline. By all accounts, Floppy Disk should have been dead. But he couldn't lie down and die, not yet. He had to go on as long as he could.

What's the use? What can I do against that?

In the back of his mind, a voice belonging to a sweet mare spoke to him.

"Why are you doing this?" it asked him.

"It's the right thing to do. My entire life is meaningless, always has been. I have to do this because it's the right thing."

"You are willing to sacrifice yourself to save others?"

"Every moment of my life, I've been willing."

"And you would give up your life now, to save everyone in this town?"

"Yes. I'm not coming back from this. I'm going to die; I want it to mean something!"

"Very well then."

Floppy looked up into the sky, he saw a bright orb of light form in the High Street, he looked into it and smiled, it was at this moment, his life ended.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash's embrace ended, and she found herself immediately looking back into town. It was horrible, she couldn't bear to watch, but was at the same time unable to look away.

Pinkie Pie lay on the ground, but she stopped shaking, and she stopped speaking. She sat up and looked out into the carnage before them. "It's free."

She collapsed back on the ground, unconscious, but still alive.

The ponies on the hill had all turned towards town, as if something had suggested that they should look. Twilight took up her binoculars again, she looked out into the ball of light, at the centre of it there was a pony with a Unicorn horn and Pegasus Wings, and while the light was too bright to get a good look at the pony, Twilight knew for sure who it was.

"It's Princess Celestia!" she cried out in excitement.

Luna looked up at this comment and smiled, her big sister arrived in the nick of time to save the day. It was just like her.

The ball of light focused itself on the dragon, and an intense beam of light pierced the dragon's heart. The dragon roared loudly before being vaporised by the blast, the dragon seemed to explode from the light, and the brightness filled the air, everypony was forced to look away lest they go blind.

After a few seconds, things returned to normal. The light persisted, but it was not as intense as it had been. It darted to the ground as Princess Celestia landed on the High Street, but she was no longer visible to Twilight Sparkle from where she and her friends had gathered.

"Keep everypony here. I'm going to make sure everything is all right," Twilight said.

Her friends nodded, and Twilight raced down the hill towards the high street. Her mentor was here, and this time as her saviour.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Yer goin' on a what now?" Applejack asked. It was the following morning, and Twilight was preparing to leave town.

"A walkabout!" she said with a smile. "When you lose yourself, or you don't know where your life is headed, you go out into the wilderness with nothing but a knife and your wits, until you find yourself."

"Twilight, ya don't honestly think there's another ya wonderin' around out there in the wilderness do ya?" Applejack asked sceptically.

"Of course not, it's a metaphor." Twilight said as she strapped the knife that Overdrive had given her to her flank.

"Twilight, Ah hate ta be the one ta break this too ya... But ya don' 'xactly have any wits ta use out... where ya goin' 'gain?"

Twilight chuckled, "Oh ye of little faith, I'm going to the Mohoofie desert. I was up all night reading about desert survival, I will be perfectly fine."

"Ya say that now. But when ya git there an' realise y'all are doin' somethin' stupid, there ain't gonna be nopony out there ta help ya." Applejack said. "At leas' lemme go out there with ya."

"I appreciate the officer Applejack, but I need to do this on my own. I will be a couple hours walk from El Paso Fino, and I promise not to let the city skyline out of my sight, if something does go wrong, I will be able to get there no problem," Twilight said.

Applejack sighed. "An' everypony says I'm stubborn."

"I'll be fine Applejack." Twilight said, she closed her eyes and thought very hard, and disappeared from the Library.

"This won't end well." Applejack said as she walked out the Library door.

Twilight Sparkle reappeared in a desert landscape. It worked; she had to be in the Mohoofie Desert! She'd never tried to teleport such a long distance before, but it had worked perfectly.

She looked east, the sun was about to come up.

"And Applejack said something was going to go wrong," Twilight said, "Now, basic needs: food, water, shelter."

The sun came up and she looked around, there was remarkably little, "don't get discouraged, you'll be fine."

Twilight walked through the desert for several hours, by now it was midday, and the harsh sun was right over her head, the temperature had jumped 20 degrees in the last few hours.

Twilight was tired, and she was thirsty.

"Applejack was right. This was a horrible idea." Twilight said.

Twilight turned around, she thought she had heard someone call out.

"Help me!" called a soft voice in the distance.

Twilight turned and ran towards it, she was both amazed and dumbfounded by what she saw, it was Derpy Hooves, badly injured and covered in blood.

"Help me! Please!" she called out.

Twilight rushed over. "Derpy? How can you be here? What happened?"

"It hurts! Please make it stop hurting!" Derpy pleaded, she was crying, but it wasn't tears that flowed from her eyes, it was blood.

"I... I don't know how." Twilight said. Her voice was wracked with guilt.

Derpy looked up at her. "Yes, you do."

Twilight looked at the knife at her side, and pulled it out with her teeth.

Derpy merely nodded.

Twilight closed her eyes and plunged the knife into Derpy's heart.

Twilight opened her eyes to find her knife was sticking hilt end up in the sand. Derpy was gone.

Of course she's gone... she wasn't ever here, don't be silly Twilight Sparkle.

"Pathetic," called a voice from above her.

Twilight looked up, lying on a rather large rock, was none other than herself.

"I expected better than this, from you of all ponies!" the other Twilight said. "You know better than to run away from your problems!"

Twilight's jaw dropped, this wasn't happening, she was imagining it. She closed her eyes, and she hoped that when she opened them, the other Twilight would be gone.

She opened them. The other Twilight was still there.

"Trying to run away again?" the other said. "Pathetic."

"I'm not running away... I'm out here to find myself," Twilight said.

"Well you found her," the other said. "Now you get to listen to what she has to say."

Twilight Sparkle looked at the other her lying on a rock, a small smile formed on her face. "Okay Twilight Sparkle, you've been wandering around in the desert by yourself without any water wayyy too long now. There is nopony there... you're just dying of heat exhaustion. I think I'm just going to lie down and let it happen now."

Clearly, Twilight had lost it.

"Hey you stupid filly! You're not allowed to die before I get to say what you need to hear!" the other screamed at her.

Twilight shut her eyes tight. "I'm not listening to you!"

She quickly lost consciousness.

"Hey? You all right there?"

Twilight heard a voice, followed by a gentle nudge. Her eyes popped open, and standing over her was a creature of the likes of which she had never seen before. This creature had hands. Hands! Long feet both of which were covered by an equally long pair of shoes and equally long tail, and was wearing an orange vest and a brown hat that somewhat reminded Twilight of Braeburn, Applejack's cousin from Appleloosa.

"You're alive! Amazing! Here, have some water." the creature said. It was holding a canteen in the front of her, and poured some of its water into Twilight's mouth. Twilight found herself drinking the entire thing before she had realised what happened.

"Poor Sheila, when did you run out of your own water?" the creature asked.

Twilight's vision became clear again, she looked at the creature that was standing over her, and realised that she did know what it was.

"... Are you, a wallaby?" she asked.

The creature chuckled at her. "A wallaby? Noooo, I'm a kangaroo!"

The Kangaroo helped Twilight to her hooves; she was still dizzy from dehydration, which made standing difficult.

"Need more water? I got plenty enough to share," the kangaroo asked.

"No. No thank you, I should be all right for a while... Thank you so much for helping me, if you hadn't come along..."

"No need for thanks Sheila. No trouble at all really." the kangaroo said. "The name is Roy Melbourne. Just Roy to you, what's yours?"

"Thank you Roy, I'm Twilight Sparkle," Twilight said.

Roy chuckled a bit at hearing Twilight's name. "I love pony names. They're... unique to say the least. Tell me Twilight Spackle, where's your camp?"

Twilight chuckled at Roy's mispronunciation of her name; his South Islander accent had butchered it completely.

"I don't have a camp actually... I'm on a walkabout," Twilight said with some embarrassment that she was failing at it.

"Oh god." Roy said, his hand smacking into his forehead. "Not another one. Shelia, I'm from South Island. I wander around the outback for fun, fun! Do you know how many idiots I see wandering around out there without a clue of what they're doing? I've had to save twelve. So here I am, on holiday in Equestria, what's the first thing I see? Another person on a damn walkabout!"

Twilight smiled nervously, but Roy merely smiled back at her, "I was hoping ponies were more sensible."

He turned around and waved Twilight to follow him. "C'mon, I ain't leaving you out here without food, water, or shelter."

Twilight nodded, and followed Roy Melbourne back to his camp, trotting along at a good pace while he hopped along just ahead.

The sun was setting. Twilight Sparkle and Roy Melbourne sat around a campfire next in Roy's camp. Twilight looked at her new friend. "Thank you for everything you've done, I really appreciate it!"

"No worries Twilight Spackle!" Roy said with a smile.

"Please, just call me Twilight!" she said with a smile. She looked at Roy; she had never met a Kangaroo before. Her curious mind had formed so many questions that she wanted to know the answers too, but Twilight just didn't know where to start.

"What do you do for a living Twilight?" Roy asked her, he had beaten her to the punch.

"Um." Twilight paused; really, she didn't actually do anything that resembled work. Princess Celestia had her in Ponyville studying magic, and friendship.

"I'm a Librarian." Twilight said eventually. It wasn't a job in the normal sense of the word, but it wasn't inaccurate either. She DID live in a Library, and took it upon herself of helping anypony who needed a book from it. "I read about walkabout in one of my books, and well, some things happened back home that I'd rather not talk about right now, and I decided I needed to go on one."

Roy smiled at her, "Don't worry yourself none. You need not tell me anything you don't want to."

"I appreciate that, what do you do Roy?" Twilight asked.

"I'm a Bounty Hunter," the kangaroo said. Twilight gave him an odd look, cocking her head slightly; she didn't know what that was.

"I hunt bad people. People who commit crimes and flee into the wilderness where local law enforcement don't have the resources to go looking for them, and then I bring them to justice." Roy said.

Twilight was impressed with her new friend. "Sounds like a noble profession."

"It's got its ups and downs," Roy said with a shrug. "Most important thing on the job is don't hesitate, you go up against some bad people, and sometimes you gotta kill them, otherwise they won't hesitate to kill you."

The colour in Twilight's face drained, and she became rather nervous. "You've... killed somepony before?"

Roy looked at his new friend uneasily; he could tell that she was uncomfortable. "I haven't killed any ponies as a Bounty Hunter. There are less than two hundred ponies on South Island. So you don't run into them very often. I wasn't always a Bounty Hunter; I was a soldier in the Royal South Islander's regiment during the war."

"The... war?" Twilight was confused; she didn't know what Roy was referring to.

"THE War, the World War." Roy said. "That was almost 30 years ago."

Twilight cocked her head again, she had never heard of this war, it had been long before her birth, but in all the books she had read, there was never once a single mention of "The World War."

Roy shrugged again. "The Principality of Equestria wasn't involved."

He paused and took a sip from his canteen. "You know, I've got nothing against ponies... But ever since coming here, it seems like everybody doesn't even know that there's a world outside your borders."

A stern looked formed on Twilight's muzzle, and she was about to protest the kangaroo's accusation, but the more she thought about it, she thought that he might be on to something. Instead, she changed the subject, looking around to see the moon rising. She was quick to point it out to Roy, who looked at it with a smile.

"Yeah, it's a beauty ain't it? I love looking up at the stars, some night's when I'm in the outback, far away from the city lights, and you can look up and see... everything. I love it!" Roy said.

And here they had found a common interest. "My friend Luna would be so pleased to hear just how much you love her night."

Roy turned around and looked at the pony with confusion. "Sorry? What do you mean by 'her night?'"

"Oh come on, you know... Princess Celestia and Princess Luna created day and night respectively, and they alone are responsible for maintaining balance that comes from the day and night cycle." Twilight said.

Roy looked confused.

Twilight got angry, she felt like Roy was mocking her, pretending not to acknowledge her mentor and her friend for their work. But then it hit her, and she realised just how different Roy and her really were.

"I'm not religious... Hell, I don't believe in god at all. But I respect what you believe, even if I don't believe in it."

Very different.

"Thanks," Twilight said, she forced a yawn and looked sleepily at Roy. "It's been a really long day for me, I think I'm going to try and get some sleep."

Roy yawned back at her and nodded in approval. "Sounds great to me, think I'll do the same. Be sure to bundle up. It can get really cold in the desert at night."

Twilight did not sleep however; she instead lay awake for most of the night, thinking about the things Roy Melbourne had told her. She thought she understood the world around her, but now, after talking with Roy, she wasn't sure.

She had always accepted that the princesses had made day and night. She'd never even thought to have questioned the validity of it. She had to wonder, how much did they really do? How much was just story?

What she did know is that Princess Celestia had reigned for 1001 years. Alicorns were said to be extremely long lived. She figured that the princesses had to have had parents that ruled before them, but she hadn't the faintest idea what had happened to them. She had never even thought to ask her mentor such personal questions about her life.

She had gone on this walkabout to find herself. Now after meeting Roy Melbourne, she was more lost than ever.

"Hey! Stupid!" a voice called out in the distance.

Twilight looked up. Roy was fast asleep.

She looked back over to find a pony standing over her. It was herself, the other Twilight.

Twilight was about to scream in surprise, however the other was quick, and stuffed her hoof over the frightened unicorn's mouth.

The other looked her in the eyes. "Be quiet!" she screamed at the unicorn at the top of her lungs.

Twilight looked over at Roy, he was fast asleep.

"He can't hear me," the other Twilight said plainly. "Don't talk until I tell you to. Roy Melbourne is a very light sleeper, a peep from you and he will be awake, looking at you and seeing that you're talking to nopony... from his point of view."

Twilight tried to question just what the other was, but found the other's hoof in her mouth again. "Shut up you dumb filly! You can't run away from me this time. You can't run off from your responsibility."

Both Twilights looked over at Roy, sleeping peacefully in his bag.

"You even had the audacity to even consider running away from your life in Ponyville, and going with Roy Melbourne to South Island."

The other had Twilight there; it had been just a thought, a single, casual, stray thought that had popped into her brain for a few seconds. Why not go to South Island? What does Ponyville need me for?

"Your friends need you, stupid filly, and you want to abandon them because you feel like everything bad that's happened in Ponyville is your fault," the other's eyes narrowed on Twilight Sparkle. "How dare you to even think that you are so important that the universe revolves around you? Yes, you and your friends were destined to wield the Elements of Harmony against Nightmare Moon at the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration. That was your destiny, but that is over. As far as the universe is concerned, you have served your purpose, and you're just a regular pony now. So you need to stop thinking that you are so special that everything bad happens because of you. Do you understand me?! Let. Go."

Twilight could only nod. The other's words had rendered her speechless; she couldn't have said anything even if she wanted to.

The other removed her hoof from Twilight's mouth, and sat down in front of her on her stomach.

"Now, you need to stop running away," the other's voice had changed from its harsh tone to a sweet one, like a mother would use to console a sad child. "I know that you're scared. It's okay to be scared. But it's not okay to let fear control you. When you feel scared, always know that you have six wonderful friends waiting for you to come back to them. Not to mention the new one that you just made."

The two Twilights looked over at Roy, sleeping so peacefully in the desert night.

"It's not going to be easy," the other said. "It's never been easy. But you and your friends have faced down far more worse. As long as you have them, you can't fail, because you have something your enemy has never known. He doesn't know what friendship is. You do."

The two Twilights looked at Roy again.

"You can stay with him one more day, and then tomorrow night, you have to go back," the other said. "Do you understand?"

Twilight merely nodded.

"Good, now go to sleep, you're tired and you need your rest," the other said sweetly.

Twilight yawned and laid her head down to sleep, within a minute, she was out like a light.

The other merely faded from view.

Standing on a sand dune less than a kilometre from Roy Melbourne's camp site, Princess Celestia watched her student as she drifted off to sleep.

"Good night Twilight Sparkle." The Princess said, "Sleep well."

I love you.

--
Twilight Sparkle awoke to the sound of a fire crackling, and a sizzling noise that only eggs could make. She popped her head up to see that Roy was indeed cooking breakfast consisting of two eggs, and a various assortment of desert grasses.

He looked over at his new pony friend and smiled. "Morning,'" he said kindly. "Sleep well?"

"I did! Thanks for asking," Twilight said returning the smile.

"Breakfast is ready if you're hungry," Roy said, prepping two plates of scrambled eggs and several of the grasses.

Twilight took the plate in her mouth and set it on her sleeping bag. Roy absentmindedly handed her a fork, however he had realised what he was doing quickly and retracted it, with a look of embarrassment forming on his face.

"Sorry... I forgot you don't have hands."

Twilight looked at the kangaroo. "Don't worry about it," she said with a grin. "What are you doing today Roy?"

The kangaroo shrugged. "Wasn't planning on doing anything actually, I'm here on holiday."

"I was wondering... can you tell me what South Island is like?"

Roy spent several hours discussing his homeland; the conversation naturally progressed to his experiences in war. He'd been many places Twilight had never even heard of, but found herself wanting to visit each one of them. She wanted to see the beauty of the Rhone-land itself. Sit on the banks of River Rhone and skip stones across the water. She wanted to wander the maple forests of the Hoofson Bay. She wanted to see the port cites in the Low Countries, and watch the ships sail to and from.

It reaffirmed in her that she wanted to see the world. She wanted to leave Equestria and Ponyville behind forever and see what else the world had to offer her.

But then she remembered what the other Twilight had said, she couldn't abandon her friends. Not when they needed her the most. She wanted to travel the world alongside Roy Melbourne. But she simply couldn't.
The pony and kangaroo had spent the entire day talking about what each of them had seen, (Roy's stories were far more numerous), but the sun was beginning to set. Twilight couldn't help but looking at it solemnly. She didn't want to leave behind her new friend, but there wasn't a choice involved.

"I have to go back." Twilight said finally.

Roy looked at her and smiled, "I know."

Twilight looked at the kangaroo and gave him the biggest smile she had ever given. "Thank you, for everything." She gave the kangaroo a hug, and tried to say her goodbyes, but Roy was quick to stop her.

"No goodbyes, I don't think this is the last we'll be seeing of each other. You can't get rid of me that easy." Roy said.

Twilight giggled. "Of course! You owe me a trip through the South Island outback! Goodbye Roy."

"Goodbye Twilight Spackle." Roy said, waving her goodbye, and with that Twilight teleported away back to Ponyville.

She never saw Roy Melbourne again.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Pinkie Pie trotted along through the High Street, things were beginning to go back to normal, construction crews had arrived and everyone began to put the town back together. Pinkie was humming to herself, her straight hair flapping as she walked.

Pinkie Pie! A voice shouted at her from nowhere in particular.

"Hello Monty! How are you this morning?" Pinkie asked.

Several ponies looked at Pinkie Pie strangely, but they dismissed what seemed like an odd behaviour as "just Pinkie Pie."

Well thank you, we have a lot of work today.

"Ohh... but Monty! I was going to go hang out with my friends today! We worked all day yesterday!"

I know. But we must make sacrifices if we are going to deal with IT.

"What are you sacrificing?" Pinkie asked.

I'm only able to interact with you. That is sacrificing enough.

"But I'm the most fun Pony in town! Maybe even all of Equestria!" Pinkie said.

Pinkie Pie...

"Well, maybe that's pushing it. DJ P0N-3 throws really great parties too..."

PINKIE PIE!

"What?" Pinkie Pie asked, she looked ahead of her, and discovered that she was standing in front of Rainbow Dash who was giving her an odd look.

"OH! Hi Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie said excitedly.

"Hi... Pinkie, who were you talking to?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Monty! He's my friend." Pinkie Pie said, a bright smile forming on her face.

Stop talking about me!

Pinkie spoke again before Rainbow Dash could get in anymore about who 'Monty' was.

"What are you up to Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash looked uncomfortable at the question; she bit her lip and thought for a moment before speaking. "I was looking for you, actually. Can I... talk to you?"

"You can always talk to me Dashie!" Pinkie said. "Just as long as you don't mind walking and talking, Got a lot of work to do today."

Rainbow Dash looked slightly uncomfortable, but never the less flapped along with Pinkie Pie. "What are you doing Pinkie Pie? With this Monty character?"

"Can't tell you! It's a surprise!" Pinkie said.

Rainbow Dash sighed a little. "Do you even know what you're doing?" she asked with on a hunch.

"Nope! But that's okay! I love surprises!" Pinkie said happily.

Rainbow was now even more worried, if Pinkie was blindly taking instructions from somepony, then what she was doing had an equal chance of being totally harmless, or incredibly lethal.

"Pinkie... It's just that, I'm worried about you! I was there the last time your hair was all straight like that. You weren't exactly the sanest pony."

Pinkie Pie smiled at Rainbow. "Aww Dashie! I'm so glad that you have my best interests at heart. You're a good friend, but not to worry I am totally sane!" Pinkie's eyes became very small, and began twitching slightly.

Rainbow smiled uneasily. "You're welcome Pinkie Pie; I just want you to be careful with this Monty pony."

"Monty isn't a pony," Pinkie Pie interrupted, increasing how much worrying Rainbow Dash had been doing fivefold.

"Do you know what Monty is?" Rainbow asked on another hunch.

"Nope! That's okay though, 'cause I love surprises!" Pinkie said.

Ten fold.

"Uh, well Pinkie, I'm glad we got to talk, but I have to go... move a cloud." Rainbow said nervously.

"Okie dokie lokie! Bye Rainbow!" Pinkie said.

Dash zoomed off in a hurry, intending to get as far away from Pinkie Pie as possible.

--
After the sun had set, Rainbow Dash burst headlong into the Library, where Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Luna were waiting for her.

Dash stopped for a moment to catch her breath before speaking to the other ponies. "We have a serious problem. Pinkie Pie has completely lost it."

Applejack looked crossly at Rainbow Dash. "Well we already knew tha'! Mah guess is she fell on 'er 'ead when she was a lillun."

"No I mean it's worse than normal. She's been blindly taking orders from some... thing called Monty. She has no idea what she's doing for him, and doesn't care to ask."

"Oh my, how dreadful, and Twilight goes out of town just as we're about to have a Pinkie crisis!" Rarity said worriedly.

"'Bout that, anypony else think that Twi' goin' out on her walkabout thing is a lil' too convenient?"

"Applejack, you don't seriously believe that somepony tried to get rid of Twilight do you?" Rarity asked.

"Ah can't prove it, I'm jus' sayin' it's a lil' convenient," Applejack said.

"You... You don't think something... bad, happened to Twilight? Do you?" Fluttershy asked.

Applejack shrugged. "Twi' don't 'xactly have any worldly knowledge 'r survival skills. She's booksmart, sure, but ah dunno if she'll be fine or not."

"Hey! This is Twilight we're talking about, our friend?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "As long as egghead read to cut open cactuses for water, she'll be fine."

"Cacti." Fluttershy quietly corrected.

Rarity looked over at Princess Luna, who seemed lost in her thoughts, staring into space.

"My dear, you've been awfully quiet, is there something on your mind?" she asked.

Luna looked up and shrugged a little. "I don't know, I've just been thinking that a lot of convenient things happened recently. The dragon's attack, Floppy Disk dying trying to stop it, The Post Office blowing up and injuring that poor postal worker, who my sister took to the royal hospital. Pinkie Pie off doing whatever she is doing, Twilight leaving to go on her walkabout... It's like someone... or something, is trying to keep our attention occupied, and getting key players out of the way."

The Library door opened and everypony in the room turned to look at who it was.

"... And I think I know how we can find out for sure." Twilight Sparkle said from the doorway.

"Twilight! Yer all right!" Applejack called out, leaping and giving her friend a hug. "Glad yer back sugarcube, how long did ya wander around in the desert before realisin' you was bein' stupid."
"Actually Applejack, I found what I was looking for." Twilight said with a triumphant smile.

"Wait. wha...?" Applejack was dumbfounded.

"That isn't important right now. We have far more pressing matters on our hooves. First things first, we need to find why Floppy Disk came here to Ponyville in the first place, second: we need to keep Overdrive distracted while we do. I don't have time to explain, we need to do this right now."

Princess Luna looked up at Overdrive's cloud. He was sitting there looking east, as he had been the entire day.

"Excuse me?" she called out.

The Grey Alicorn looked over the edge, and leapt down from the cloud, landing at Luna's feet. He stared at her intensely with his glowing Red eyes for a moment, before finally uttering a single word.

"Yes?" he asked.

Luna cleared her throat. "My sister, Princess Celestia wishes to speak to you in Canterlot. She is asking that I bring you there myself."

The grey Alicorn looked at the night pony with his usual glare. Luna was unable to tell if he was angry, or simply pondering the request.

"Not interested," he said finally.

"You cannot simply ignore a summon from the ruler of this land!" Luna said frantically, she needed to get him out of Ponyville.

"Watch me," The Alicorn said; if this was any other pony, Luna would have been sure he was being smug with her.

"It's about the explosion in the Post Office. The mail mare is awake." Luna said, leaving it at that.

The Alicorn looked at her intensely. Luna did her best to keep a brave face, but she was faltering, she was afraid of this Alicorn.

"Very well, lead the way," Overdrive said, he leaped into the air. The Princess followed him, and the two flew off towards Canterlot.

Luna was very afraid; she had just lied to the most powerful creature she had ever seen.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends opened the door to the flat that Floppy Disk had rented only a week ago. It was sparse to say the least; the colt had brought little with him on his journey.

"I don't feel right about this," Fluttershy said. "Going through somepony's things without their permission is wrong, even if they are... dead."

Twilight looked at the timid Pegasus and smiled. "Don't worry Fluttershy; you don't have to do anything you don't want to. You can wait outside for us."

"I will wait with her; we shall keep a look out in case Princess Luna's plan does not work." Rarity said, she smiled at her pegasi friend, and the two trotted over to a nearby bench and sat down.

Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash went inside.

"What are we looking for egghead?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Every time I saw Floppy Disk, he was by himself, sitting under a tree scribbling in a journal. We need to find it. Hopefully, he wrote about why he came here." Twilight said.

"Found it!" Applejack said, dropping a small book on the bed.

Twilight used her magic to open it and flipped through a few pages an entry dated two months prior.

"'I can't stand it here any longer, everypony hates me. I thought it would be different this time, moving to another side of town. But it's always the same, everypony is the same. They act friendly and they welcome you, some even try to be your friend, and before you know it, they've turned on you and never want to speak to you again. I thought Shadowstar was different. She was different, she stuck up for me. Told other ponies off when they talked bad about me, but no, I was wrong, Shadowstar was just like them too.'" Twilight read aloud.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked at each other as they listened to Twilight read.

"How could anypony treat him like that?! He was the nicest colt I ever met." Rainbow Dash said.

"There's more. 'I've had it. I'm not putting up with this anymore, I'm skipping town and heading east, leaving a note saying I'm dead. That'll show them! I'll start a new life, get a new name, and then everyone I left behind will feel terrible, think they've bullied somepony to his death. I guess in a way they have. I'm just glad I don't have to be me anymore. Now that I'm going somewhere else, I can be anypony I want to be.'" Twilight finished.

"Tha's awful." Applejack said. "Nices' pony ah ever met. Every time ah passed him on the High Street, he'd say 'ello and ask if there was any'in he could do ta 'elp me with the apples."

"You think this Shadowstar pony is important?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight flipped through the journal, discovering only one other entry about Shadowstar, along with a sketch of her. "She's a unicorn." Twilight said, "But I don't see anything else important."

"What 'bout his real name?" Applejack asked.

Twilight did some more flipping. "Nope, it's obvious he wrote it in here, but he's either crossed it out or erased it completely every time it came up. I hate to say it, but I don't think we'll ever know who Floppy Disk really is."

"What was the last thing he wrote in there?" Rainbow Dash asked finally, they'd yet to uncover any useful information about Floppy, and Dash was becoming impatient.

"It's from three days ago," Twilight said. "'It happened again. One of the mares I met, Pinkie Pie (that was her name right?) and I looked into each other's eyes... for some reason we couldn't look away, she just stared and stared, and then she panicked, started screaming and ran off. Now you've done it...' He crossed out the name." Twilight said before continuing. "'... Oh Celestia, why does this keep happening to me? What's wrong with me that ponies can't even look at me without freaking out? What is so wrong with me? I don't understand... Hopefully I can patch things up with Pinkie Pie. I really like this group, I don't want to run away again, but I'm going to have to if this happens again.'"

"UH!" Rainbow Dash grunted in frustration. "That doesn't tell us anything!"

Twilight shrugged, "I had been hoping for something a little more useful. We should all go home and get some rest, I'm going to read through the entire thing and see if I can't find anything useful that way."

The ponies nodded, and they all departed for their respective homes.

Twilight spent the rest of the night reading through three years worth of Floppy's journal, what she discovered astounded her.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Princess Luna led Overdrive into the Canterlot throne room, where her sister was sitting, looking through various papers, she looked up at the two Alicorns as they entered.

Overdrive bowed slightly, a gesture that would have been considered polite had it been coming from any other pony, but the Princess understood it to be mocking her and her authority.

"Hello sister," the Princess said. "To what do I owe the visit?"

Overdrive looked up at her. "I understand that you wished to speak to me, and that the postal worker was awake."

Luna made a distressed face at her sister, indicating that she needed her help. Celestia understood the message clearly.

"As a matter of fact I did wish to see you," Celestia said, "I was merely not expecting my sister to come with you... As for the postal worker, Derpy Hooves, she was awake; however the doctors were forced to put her back under a magical coma in order to keep her injuries from worsening."

Overdrive looked at the Princess, his glowing red eyes piercing through her, he saw the lie, but decided not to press it. "Pity, she was the only one who saw what happened to the Ponyville post office. I have been investigating the matter on my own, and a statement from her would have been most... useful."

Celestia nodded at the Alicorn before her. "Indeed, but there is a matter more important to discuss, you clearly have my subjects in Ponyville's best interests at heart, defeating the dragon and investigating the cause of the post office explosion, and for that I am issuing a royal decree. I am establishing the Barony of Ponyville, of which lands include the town proper, and I am appointing you as the Baron Ponyville."

The Alicorn cocked his head slightly, and then bowed even less than before. "Thank you your highness, I shall govern the land to the best of my ability."

"I am sure that you will. I expect regular reports from you." Celestia said.

"You shall have one at eight o'clock, on the dot, every Monday." The Alicorn said.

"Excellent, You are dismissed, Baron Ponyville," Celestia said.

Overdrive bowed, and he along with Princess Luna departed from the Castle back towards Ponyville.

The two Alicorns landed on the outskirts of town. Luna looked at the new Baron of Ponyville, and with a small smile, she bid him goodnight.

"Hold."

Luna looked back at him; his eyes shone brightly in the moonlight, his eyes were drilling through her in anger. She knew she was about to pay for lying to him.

"Give me a reason, why I should not rip you apart, atom by atom, for lying to me," the Baron Ponyville said, his voice was filled with malice when he spoke, quite unlike the soft, emotionless voice he normally used.

Luna gulped a little in fear, but she quickly regained her composure. "Because, killing the Co-princess of Equestria would create undue chaos in this land, riots and mass hysteria would become commonplace, something that you, a paragon of order, would rather have your head explode then be the cause of widespread chaos."

The Alicorn looked at the Princess, cocking his head to the side and did something that Luna had never seen him do, and she never wanted to see him do it again. He smiled.

"I believe I misjudged you. Here I thought you to be weak, but no, clearly I was wrong," The Alicorn said. "Despite the fact that your sister had no want to see me, she has given me what I want."

Luna did not understand.

"Your sister believed that I did not care about being the Baron Ponyville, she merely installed me in this position so it would be easier to keep an eye on me. I do however want to be in this position, because it gives me legitimate authority. I wanted the Princess to give me this, but you see that's where the beauty of it is, I made her believe that making me Baron Ponyville was her idea." The Alicorn said, grinning.

Luna's mind was beginning to falter; his eyes were not looking at her. They were looking through her. She was frightened by this creature. She understood now that he had the power to kill anyone with a single thought, but he didn't need to. His true power was that he could manipulate others into taking their own lives.

That was far more power than she had.

Luna wanted to die at this point, she was so overcome by fear that she felt that death would be the only way to escape it. She had never been more afraid in her life, Overdrive outclassed even Nightmare Moon.

Luna turned and ran as fast as she could, away from the Alicorn and burst into the Library, scrambling to shut the door behind her.

She dropped to the floor and placed her hooves over her head, and she shook with fear.

Twilight dashed down the stairs to find her friend trembling on the floor alone. "Princess Luna?"

Twilight went and attempted to comfort her friend, but the Princess pushed her away.

"No! No no no!" she cried out. "Stay away from me!"

Twilight didn't understand.

"Princess Luna?" she asked.

"I want to be alone."

Twilight didn't know what to do; she stood over her friend, a concerned look forming on her face.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Luna shouted at her.

Twilight backed off, she didn't know what had happened, but she went back upstairs, and hoped that her friend would tell her what had happened in the morning.

Luna watched Twilight go back upstairs. Her mind had gone, the Alicorn had made his way inside it and ripped it to pieces, she was broken, and she needed to escape.

Luna quietly rose from her place and began rummaging though some of the odds and ends Twilight had in her Library.

Twilight was well prepared for adventuring, she and her friends had been forced by things beyond their control to go out into the wilderness, and she had at least one of everything that they could possibly need.

Luna discovered what she was looking for, a six metre coil of rope.

"Perfect!" The Princess had said weakly. She returned to the main room, and quietly pushed the round table into the centre of the room; she gingerly climbed on top of it, and tied a loop into one end of the rope, the other end she fastened to a support beam.

She pulled the looped end over her head and fastened it around her neck. There was just enough slack in the rope for it to droop several centimetres.

She had to escape.

Princess Luna kicked the table out from under her; it fell over and rolled away, leaving the Princess to dangle freely in the air.

She had to escape, and she was so very close.

Twilight heard the crash from down stairs as the table kicked over. She got up and ran down the stairs again, to her horror; her friend was dangling in the air a metre off the ground by her neck.

Twilight leaped into action, she used her magic to sever the rope, allowing her friend to fall on the floor.

Twilight rushed over to her. The Princess was lying on the floor, shuttering intensely,

"Must... escape," she said weakly.

Tears formed in her eyes, one of Twilight's best friends had tried to commit suicide.

Twilight through her hooves around the Princess, in a full out embrace, she concentrated as hard as she could, and the two of them disappeared from Ponyville.

Twilight and Luna reappeared in Princess Celestia's throne room, Celestia was still there looking over paperwork. She looked up to see her prized student and her baby sister huddled together, but her smile quickly turned to a look of horror as she saw the rope around Luna's neck.

She rose to her hooves and galloped down to where the two were lying.

"What happened?" she asked.

Twilight looked up at her mentor, but could not manage any words, only tears.

Princess Celestia leaned in closer, and spoke more sternly. "What happened?"

Twilight shuttered and pulled the night princess closer to her. She gently pulled the noose from around Luna's neck, and gave it Celestia.

She looked at it and tears formed in her eyes. Celestia joined her student in the embrace of her sister, and many tears fell between the two that night.

Luna had lost all touch with reality at this point, and continued to mutter "must escape" to herself, even as doctors were called and hauled her away to the Royal Hospital Psychiatric ward.

The following morning, Twilight and Princess Celestia were sitting with each other outside Luna's room in the Psychiatric hospital. They had been there all night, and had not spoken a word the entire time.

Twilight was filled with guilt. She remembered what the other had said to her in the Mohoofie desert. That she had to let go, and stop thinking that everything was her fault.

This time however, she knew that this was her fault. She had left Luna alone when it was clear that something was wrong. Luna had asked to be alone, but Twilight had never imagined it would have been to kill herself. She felt that in this case, her guilt was justified.

Celestia looked at her student, she could see that Twilight was blaming herself, she came close to letting her feel the guilt, but then she realised how counterproductive it was to what she had told her in the Mohoofie desert under the guise of a figment for Twilight's imagination.

"It's not your fault Twilight Sparkle. This could have happened to anypony."

Twilight jumped a little at the Princess' speaking, they had been silent for the entire night. She looked up at her mentor, her tears had dried up hours ago, otherwise she'd still be crying.

Celestia wanted to cry along with her, but she did her best to keep a brave face. She didn't want to show weakness, even though it was with her prized student, and she would likely understand.

"What could have done this to her?" Twilight asked.

"Let's just say, I have a theory," Celestia said, but did not elaborate further. There was no way she could prove it. "You should go home Twilight, your friends are going to need you now more than ever."

Twilight remembered what the other had said to her. She nodded to the Princess. She shut her eyes tight and popped away back towards Ponyville.

Celestia looked into her sister's room; she was lying on the floor in the padded room, in a straight jacket, muttering to herself.

This isn't what you deserve; this isn't what I wanted for you. I'm so sorry.

Twilight reappeared in the Library, her friends had gathered there, waiting for her to get back. Even Pinkie Pie was there, even though she too had lost her mind.

Twilight wanted to share what she had found with her friends the night prior reading Floppy Disk's journal, but it would have to wait until she was gone.

"How is the poor dear?" Rarity asked.

"She'd locked in a padded room in a straight jacket, mumbling something about escape." Twilight said with a shrug. "She's gone..."

"Oh but she can't be! That's so horrible!" Rarity exclaimed.

"The Doctors are going to try to do everything they can... but the prognosis wasn't good." Twilight said.

In the corner, Pinkie Pie began twitching slightly. Her eyes grew very small, and she quickly attracted the attention of her friends. "Um... I have to go, I'm sorry. I wish I could spend more time with you girls... lot of work to do."

Pinkie Pie walked out of the Library without another word.

"Did anyone else notice how sick she looked?" Fluttershy asked. "It's like something is draining the life out of her."

"Actually I think that's exactly what happened." Twilight said, "You remember what happened to Pinkie when Floppy Disk looked at her the first time?"

"Yeah, she flipped and ran off screaming." Rainbow Dash said. "So what?"

"He did it twice. It happened again just before the Dragon appeared, and then Overdrive showed up and defeated it. Not to mention that Overdrive was alone with Luna when she was distracting him. I've read Floppy's journal cover to cover, what happened with Pinkie Pie was a common occurrence. It's why everybody turned on him."

Twilight paused, and grabbed the journal with her magic, flipping it open to a page. "I also found Floppy's name, his real name, the one instance of it where it wasn't crossed out."

She set the book on the table, and everypony looked at it.

"Montana Uhlan? No wonder he changed his name." Rainbow Dash said reading the name, her eyes became small and she realised what Twilight was getting at. "Monty!"

Twilight nodded in affirmation. "Whatever happened, it must have left some kind of imprint on Pinkie Pie, whatever is left of Floppy Disk's consciousness is inside her, and it's working her to death."

Twilight grabbed another book and set it on the table. "There's more, I found Overdrive in a history book. 20 years before Celestia's reign, an Alicorn called The Paragon of Order was waging a personal war against the Cult of Chaos Undivided, the cult's leader, an earth pony by the name of Adamus Uhlan, and the cult's sorcerer led him into a trap, and sealed his spirit inside Adamus, where he could keep the Paragon in check. It's said that holding the paragon must be passed from father to son. But if Floppy died before the consciousness could be transferred, then it could go free."

"Whoa there sugar cube!" Applejack said. "Yer gonna have ta back up a lil' hun, ah ain't heard o' no Paragon of Order or a Cult of Chaos Undivided."

"Neither have I," Twilight said with a shrug. "And the book doesn't go into it any more than that, so much history from before the reign of Celestia has been lost to time. The book does say that the Cult of Chaos Undivided eventually disbanded, and its membership eventually made the transition back into society. I can only imagine that the Uhlan Stallions had the same social problems as Floppy Disk had."

"All right, so what do we do?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight looked at her friends uneasily.

"I haven't the faintest idea."

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Twilight, this is the WORST idea you have ever had!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed at her friend.

The two of them were walking, or in Rainbow's case, flying, along the high street, discussing the plan of action Twilight had come up with late last night.

"To be honest, I totally agree with you. But I don't think we have any other choice. There's no telling what Monty would to Pinkie Pie if we wait to come up with a plan that isn't likely to get us killed."

"What I don't get is this, Floppy was the nicest pony we had ever met, why would what's left of him work Pinkie Pie to death?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't think there's much choice involved. It's just an imprint, a fragmented part of his consciousness with a single goal. It doesn't care about anything else but achieving that goal because it can't. It's too simple. It probably doesn't even know that it's working Pinkie Pie to death." Twilight said.

The two ponies stopped talking; they had reached the point in town where they needed to be. Rainbow Dash landed, and looked at Twilight nervously.

Twilight nodded at her friend, she was just as nervous. She tilted her head up towards the sky and called out. "Overdrive!"

The Alicorn looked over the edge of his cloud down at the two mares. He leapt off the cloud and landed gently on the high street. He cocked his head slightly at the duo before looking them over before uttering a single word.

"What?" He asked them.

"We need a favour," Twilight said. "It involves Montana Ulhan."

The Alicorn cocked his head slightly. "Who?" he said, feigning ignorance.

"Don't play games with me," Twilight said. "You know exactly what I am talking about."

The Alicorn looked at the unicorn before him with his usual cold, blank stare. "You are either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid, for speaking to me in such a manner. It appears I have misjudged you Twilight Sparkle, but very well. Yes, I know who Montana Ulhan is. He is dead; the fact that we are here to have this discussion is proof enough of it."

"Not entirely dead. Before he died, he accidentally imprinted himself of Pinkie Pie, and the last bit of his consciousness left in the world is working her to death to achieve some kind of goal. Some dying wish and I want you to take it out." Twilight said she prepped herself for the Alicorn's response; it was not going to be favourable.

"And what makes you think I am even remotely interested in helping you?" The Alicorn said, his eyes narrowing on her.

"Because, you doing me a favour would make it so that I owe you a favour. Let's face it, I have connections that you could never obtain, you know the pony mind inside and out, and there will come a time when you want something that you can't get by intimidation, and then you'll look at me, and you'll realise that I still owe you a favour." Twilight said.

The Alicorn thought about it for a moment, he tilted his head up towards the sky, going over every word of Twilight's reason. Before long, he looked back at the two mares before him.

"Very well, lead the way," the Alicorn said.

Twilight was a little surprised to hear him say that, and she tried her best to hide it. Clearly he had seen the use in Twilight's offer, which was a good thing; because her connections with the royal family were the only thing she had to offer. She also knew that Princess Celestia would not be happy that she had done this, and was honestly more afraid of what she would do than of anything Overdrive would.

She understood Overdrive, he was manipulative, and had his own agenda to advance, Twilight hadn't a clue what it was, but she did know that it did not have anyone but his own best interest at heart. Princess Celestia on the other hand...

Twilight had never seen her act out in anger, she didn't know what to expect from her.

The two mares led the way to Sugarcube corner, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were standing out in front of the building waiting for them to return.

"Are we ready?" Twilight asked. The other ponies nodded in affirmation.

"Mister Cake said that Pinkie had gone down into the basement several hours ago, and that she hadn't come up sense." Fluttershy said. "Oh I hope she's okay..."

Twilight smiled at her friend trying to make her not worry, but felt the same feeling in the back of her mind.

The group of friends, plus the omnipotent Alicorn overlord, went inside, and made their way down the stairs into the Sugarcube Corner basement. What they found astonished them.

Situated in the centre of the room, were two large metal coils being tended to by Pinkie Pie. She was kneeling down looking at a control panel with a torch in her mouth for light.

The group of mares were dumbstruck by what these were. Even Twilight had no idea what they were for. Overdrive clearly recognised them. The Alicorn turned to Twilight, his red eyes piercing her skull.

"You lied to me!" The Alicorn snorted with anger.

His eyes grew beady, Twilight felt herself beginning to be overcome by fear.

Pinkie Pie looked up at what was happening, and she quickly hit a button on the console. Overdrive was too busy to notice as the coils began to make a small humming noise, a crackle began to fill the air and the other mares noticed as lightning began to arc between the two.

Twilight was unable to notice, she was caught in the Alicorn's death stare, fear grew in the mare's heart as her mind was filled with terrifying images, and it was as if the Alicorn was driving a poisoned dagger into her mind.

The Metal coils were running at full intensity at this point. Electricity was running through Pinkie Pie and she was clearly struggling with the pain of it. Her hair returned to her normal shape from the electric charge. Her eyes widened, and she quickly lost consciousness.

A blue mist seemed to flow from her and it quickly took shape, soon enough, by something that nopony in the room could explain, there was a glowing, translucent pony standing over Pinkie Pie's collapsed body.

Overdrive had finally taken notice of what was going on, and looked over. Twilight collapsed on the floor, the link between the two had been broken.

"You!" The Alicorn spat at the new comer.

"Me." It returned.

Montana Ulhan stood before the group, staring down the Alicorn. Overdrive reached out with his mind and attempted to latch onto the ponies mind and rip it to pieces.

Montana merely smiled. "You know the rules; you can't manipulate the dead... Fortunately for me, and my friends, I don't have to follow the rules!"

Overdrive's eyes widened, and Montana leapt into action, he charged the Alicorn head on and passed right though him.

The light the group had seen when Overdrive first appeared had returned the Light was radiating around him.

"What? No! You can't! It's against the rules!" The Alicorn shouted.

Against the rules? No. it's not. It's me playing your own game.

Lightning began arcing between the coils and Overdrive, even the ponies who had no technical minds at all knew that they didn't want to be around here.

Rainbow Dash grabbed Pinkie Pie, and Rarity and Fluttershy picked up Twilight and the group hauled them up the stairs and outside into the high street.

"Everypony run!" Rainbow cried out. "Get away from here! As fast as you can!"

Several random ponies in the High street took the warning to heart and ran away as fast as they could.

Far too late, Sugarcube Corner exploded.

Chapter 8 & Epilogue

Chapter 8
Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes. She was lying in the High Street. Her head was pounding; it felt like someone had taken a hammer and bashed her over the head with it. She reached up and clutched her forehead, but quickly retracted her hoof when she felt something warm and sticky. She looked at it; her hoof was covered in blood.

Twilight attempted to place where she was in town. But for some reason, she could not. It did not take long to figure out why.

Twilight was in front of where Sugarcube corner was supposed to be. Supposed to be as in because it was no longer there. Instead, a large blast crater had taken its place. It was coming back to her; she remembered Sugarcube Corner exploding, and being flung into the wall. She must have hit her head.

Twilight heard several groans from around her; she perked her head up and looked. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were lying on the ground as well, each of them with various injuries from being thrown in the blast. Applejack's leg was clearly broken. Rainbow Dash's wings were torn; Fluttershy's flank had a number of deep cuts and gashes. Rarity was clutching her head, blood running down from it; both she and Pinkie Pie had several pieces of debris jaunting out of their side at odd angles.

In comparison to her friends, Twilight had gotten off easy. Her head was spinning, and she heard ringing in her ears, she probably had a concussion, but there was no way for her to be sure of that herself.

She looked over at what was left of Sugarcube Corner. Surprisingly little, but she did see something important, a grey hoof appeared over the edge of the crater. Twilight panicked, Overdrive had survived and was coming to kill them. She looked around for anything she could use to defend herself and her friends.

But when the hooves pulled their owner up, Twilight was surprised by what she saw. A grey earth pony with an orange mane pulled himself up from the crater. He grunted in pain as he made his way up.

"Floppy?" Twilight called out to him.

The earth pony opened his eyes. The irises were blood red instead of Floppy's normal orange ones. Twilight was frightened, they were Overdrive's eyes.

"Not quite." He said with a smile. "How about we just stick with Monty?"

"What happened?" Twilight asked.

Monty merely smiled at her. "I killed it."

Twilight's eyes grew heavy, she struggled to keep them open, it was a futile attempt, and she quickly lost consciousness.

Twilight awoke in a hospital bed. She looked around and saw several unicorn doctors tending to her friends in the other beds beside her, and to the far left end of the room she saw Derpy Hooves lying back with a tube down her throat. They were at the Royal Hospital in Canterlot.

Twilight's head had been bandaged, her head was killing her but she no longer heard the ringing in her ears.

Princess Celestia was sitting in the room, and she quickly noticed Twilight was awake. The Princess crossed the room in her regal step, approaching the bedside of her prized pupil. Twilight looked into the Princess' eyes, they were the happiest Twilight had ever seen. She smiled at her mentor and tried to speak, but the Princess raised a hoof to shush her. Her smiled communicated everything it needed to. Twilight drifted back off to sleep.

Montana Ulhan was lying in a hospital bed in a private room, thinking over what had happened to him. This shouldn't have happened, he shouldn't be here. It was unnatural. Worse still, he was remembering things, not only from his own life, but he was remembering things that did not happen to him. He remembered everything his ancestors had experienced as if he had done them himself, but the one thing that was worse, he had Overdrives memories too.

There was no worse fate. He remembered destroying the dragon, giving the magical explosive to Derpy Hooves to destroy the post office. He remembered sending Twilight into the Mohoofie Desert alone and unprepared, hoping for her to die. He remembered ripping apart Princess Luna's mind and driving her to attempt suicide, and worst of all, he remembered the horrors that had been planted into Twilight's mind. Unspeakable things that he wanted to forget, but he couldn't. Twilight was lucky; her mind would be able to repress these memories. His could not.

It was his punishment. He had destroyed Overdrive, and taken what was left of his body for his own, and he had to deal with the consequences of that. The memories were painful, sure. But what really bothered Montana Ulhan were his eyes. They were not his; they were not the kind, gentile orange eyes that he had been born with. They were Overdrive's harsh, imposing, blood red monstrosities. Every time he looked in the mirror, he would be reminded of what had happened to him.

He could never forget.

Princess Celestia walked down a long, bleak, white hallway through the Royal Hospital's psychiatric ward; an Earth Pony guard was outside her sister's room. He nodded to her and opened the door, allowing the Princess to enter the padded room in which Luna resided in.

Luna was lying on the floor, still clad in straight jacket; she looked towards the door and smiled. "Hello big sister!" she said cheerfully.

"Hello little sister!" Princess Celestia said with a smile. "You're looking a lot better today!"

"I'm feeling a lot better!" Princess Luna said, a bright smile forming on her face. "My sessions with Doctor Nightcaller and the medication have really been helping. He says I can be released at any time!"

"I heard!" Princess Luna said cheerfully. "He told me that you didn't want to go yet."

"No," Luna said shaking her head. "Not yet. I'm not ready to go out there yet. Doctor Nightcaller and I have been talking about my exile on the moon more than what happened recently... I still have a lot of things to work through before I'm ready to go back home."

"Take all the time you need," Celestia said. "I will take care of the moon while you're gone."

Luna smiled at her, "I love you big sister."

"I love you too."

Nearly a month had passed. Twilight Sparkle had noted, a month since they were all cleared to go back home. Everyone was recovering well. Applejack's leg had been set in a cast, and she was due to get it off next week.

Rainbow's wings had healed, but she was still undergoing physical therapy to get full use of them back.

Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie's scars were barely visible anymore.

Twilight, ironically being the least injured of all her friends, had recovered the quickest, and was back at one hundred per cent.

She was trotting along the High street towards the apartment where Floppy Disk/Montana Ulhan was living, as she normally did. The earth pony had been hit the hardest psychologically, and she made it a point to stop by for a few minutes every day to make sure he was all right.

Monty Ulhan was a rare sight in Ponyville these days. He almost never left his flat; he never wanted to talk about what was bothering him. Twilight had been trying to get him to open up to her, but so far to no avail.

Maybe today, she thought to herself.

She arrived at his flat, and gave the door a polite knock. No answer.

"Monty! It's Twilight Sparkle, may I come in?" Twilight added, along with another knock on the door. Still no answer. "Come on Monty, I know you're in there, you don't go outside," still no answer.

Twilight was a little worried by this; Monty's flat only had one room in it. There was no way he couldn't hear her. She pressed her head up against the door, complete silence, Twilight gently tried the door handle, it was unlocked, and she gingerly pushed the door open and went inside.

"Monty?" She asked as she opened the door, and went inside. She looked into the centre of the room, her eyes became very small and she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Dangling from the ceiling in the centre of the room, with a rope wrapped around his neck was Monty Ulhan, he was suspended half a metre off the ground, swinging back and forth ever so slightly.

Twilight looked at her friend in horror, and she felt tears forming in her eyes. She dropped to the ground, burying her eyes in her hooves, and she let the tears flow, this was the second pony to hang themselves on her watch. Only this time, she'd been too late to stop it.

Twilight looked up at the end table, noticing that there was a slip of paper on it. She used her magic to bring it over to her, and she read it silently to herself.

Dear Twilight Sparkle

If you are reading this note, than you'll have likely found me. Nopony else comes to visit, so I can't imagine anyone else ever reading this. I know you wanted to help me; you tried to get me to open up to you about what happened. I always said I didn't want to talk about it. This was a lie. I desperately wanted to talk about it. I wanted to trust in you so badly, but I couldn't, I have all of Overdrive's memories. I know what he did to you, and if I talked to you about it, those memories would have come rushing back to you, and it would have driven you to insanity. You're lucky, your mind was able to lock those memories Overdrive tortured you with away. I wasn't so lucky.

I've decided that this is the only way. I'm freeing you from the burden of me. You don't have to care about my well being any more. You don't have to take time out of your day to see me. I don't matter. I tried to tell you that you didn't have to visit me so many times, but you insisted on coming anyway. You really did care, and I am so thankful for that.

I had to free myself of the guilt of being your burden. This way, I don't need to be anyponies problem any more. Don't be sad. Don't dwell on my choice to die. It's counterproductive, live life and be happy. Have them burn my body and dump the ashes where ever, it doesn't matter to me, and don't worry about feeling the need to tell anypony from back home. They already think I'm dead. Now they're just telling the truth.

-Monty

Twilight read the letter several times. She dropped the letter on the ground, looking at the dangling body; tears were rolling off her muzzle and falling on the letter.

She stood up and exited the flat, closing the door behind her.

She was leaving far more than Monty Ulhan's letter behind.

Epilogue

Derpy Hooves awoke from her deep sleep in the Royal Hospital in Canterlot, she was groggy from the medicine, and her vision blurred more so than usual thanks to the condition of her eyes.

She looked up to find that a brown earth pony with a spiky mane, and an hourglass cutie mark looking down at her.

"Hello!" The earth pony said cheerfully. "How are you doing this morning?"

Derpy tried to talk, but wasn't able to find the words. Her mouth moved, but no words came out.

"That's ok," the earth pony said. "You don't have to talk."

Derpy smiled at him, and he returned the smile, she looked into his eyes, they were a deep blue, kind, and looked far older than the rest of his face.

"You're going to be just fine. Trust me, I'm a Doctor."

Prologue

The Kindness of Strangers
Prologue

My dearest pupil: Twilight Sparkle-

I hope this letter finds you well and I have a favour to ask of you. My sister, Luna is struggling to make friends here at home, just as you were nearly a year ago to the day. I’m sending her to live in Ponyville alongside yourself, where hopefully she too can make friends as you did.

Hope this letter finds you well.
Princess Celestia

Twilight Sparkle set down the letter and looked at the clock in her library. She was nervous; Princess Luna was coming here, to live! Twilight had only seen the younger princess three or four times in her entire life, the first two had been when she was the evil Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon, Twilight was a little worried by that, it really hadn't been that long since she and her friends had defeated the evil within her, and reunited the god-princess sisters together. The other ponies still remembered what she had done. Twilight was sure that her own friends would help in welcoming the Princess; the other ponies however...

Twilight looked at the clock again; it was almost time to go. There was a knock at the Library door. “Come in!” Twilight called out to her visitors.

It was Fluttershy and Applejack, two of her best friends. Twilight smiled at the duo as they stepped in.

“Howdy Twi’ how ya doin’ on this here mighty fine day?” Applejack asked, returning a smile.

“Hey girls, I’m all right, just waiting for Princess Luna to arrive,” Twilight said.

“‘Bout that. Ya sure this here’s a good idea?” Applejack asked, a concerned look forming on her face. “Ah mean, Ah don’t think too many ponies ‘ave forgotten what she did ‘n all.”

Fluttershy looked at her friend, and spoke in her usual quiet voice. “Oh Applejack, I’m sure everything will be just fine. All we have to do is show her a little kindness.”

Twilight smiled at her friends. This was exactly what she wanted to hear. “Exactly, A little kindness goes a long way! And the Princess is going to need it. Going to a new place can be overwhelming sometimes. I remember how I felt when I first came here.”

“You talkin’ bout before or after ya actually wanted to be ‘ere?” Applejack asked, with a small smile forming on her face.

Twilight laughed a little in return. “Before, Well come on girls, let’s go. We don’t want to miss her highness’ arrival!”

Her friends nodded and the trio walked out into the open summer air. It was a beautiful day. Not a cloud to be seen, the pegasi in Cloudsdale had wanted to make Ponyville’s weather nice and beautiful for Princess Luna’s arrival. One wanted to make a good first impression.

“See Applejack? Everybody is ready and willing to welcome the Princess, otherwise they wouldn’t go to all the trouble to make everything look perfect.”

“Ah suppose,” Applejack said as her voice trailed off a bit as their other friends rounded the corner.

Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash we’re having a conversation about something that Twilight wasn’t able to hear fully, but the other girls quickly stopped talking to each other upon noticing their friends and giving them a good wave while they walked over. Pinkie even tripped over herself trying to wave and step at the same time, incurring a round of giggling from the six ponies.
“Hey girls,” Rainbow Dash said, “hope we’re not late?”

“Nope!” Twilight said. “Her highness is due to arrive at any moment though, so...”
Twilight was unable to finish her sentence before being interrupted by Pinkie, “There she is!”

Pinkie Pie raised her hoof and pointed up at the sky, the royal carriage, being pulled by two pegasi guards landed not three metres from where the ponies were standing. Princess Luna exited the carriage, bid the guards farewell, quietly thanking them for the trip.

Princess Luna turned around and saw the group of six looking at her and smiling.
Twilight and her friends bowed respectfully. “Your highness,” Twilight said greeting the new arrival.

Luna gingerly kicked a rock that had been lying on the ground next to her, and spoke softly. “You really don’t have to do that...”

Twilight and her friends walked closer to Ponyville’s newest resident.

“Hello your highness!” Twilight said with a beaming smile on her face. “Do you remember us? I’m Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash.”

“Hello...” Luna said shyly, without being able to look up from the ground. “Um, will you excuse me? I need to...” Luna’s voice trailed off a little, and she walked away quietly.

The six ponies continued to look on at the Princess, unsure of what had happened.

“Did we do something wrong?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Maybe we overwhelmed her by being here all at once,” Rainbow Dash said. “I mean, I know, it’s hard to meet someone as cool as me.”

Twilight and Applejack gave Rainbow Dash a side long look of annoyance, to which she gave a nervous chuckle.

“I’m going to go try and talk to her myself. See if we can’t get her to warm up to us without feeling overwhelmed by everypony,” Twilight said.

“Good idea sugar cube. We’ll be ‘round when ya need us,” Applejack said.

The other five ponies departed, and Twilight Sparkle gingerly approached the shy god-princess, who was kicking rocks absent-mindedly in the street next to the library.

“Your highness?” Twilight asked with a warm smile.

Luna shut her eyes tightly and groaned softly, as if in pain. She mumbled something that Twilight was unable to hear properly.

Twilight looked at the Princess with confusion. “I’m sorry; I didn’t hear what you said.”
Luna shut her eyes again, and spoke somewhat louder. “Why are you, of all ponies, talking to me? You have every reason to ignore me. You should hate me.”

Twilight felt a tear form in her eye, to think that any creature could continue to feel such pain for something that wasn’t even entirely her fault. Twilight was normally oblivious to other’s emotions, but she could tell what was troubling the god-princess, guilt, fear, anxiety, Twilight understood these emotions, she’d felt them many times herself. She walked closer to the Princess, who instinctively took a step back, giving a quiet whimper of fear.

“It’s okay. I don’t hate you. We don’t hate you! All my friends and I have been looking forward to seeing you! We didn’t get to know you very well and we want to be your friend! If you’ll let us,” Twilight said smiling at the shy mare before her.

“You... you don’t really mean that, do you?” Luna asked worriedly.

“I DO mean it. I want to be your friend, and I’m sure other ponies do to. So come on! Let’s be friends!” Twilight said. She giggled at the irony in her own statement, a year ago; she’d have never said anything like that. She was far too busy studying to be concerned with making friends.

Princess Luna gingerly kicked the last rock she could see. She nodded, and after a moment of silence that seemed to last a year, she finally said the word that Twilight Sparkle wished to hear. “Okay...”

Twilight smiled brightly. “Great! Come on; let’s go find my other friends. They’re going to love you! I promise.”

The two ponies walked off towards Sugarcube Corner, where the group was likely to gather, it was after all the place to hang out. As they walked, Twilight asked the Princess about herself, while difficult to get speaking at first. She slowly began to open up.

It was just enough to start a friendship, the friendship that they needed above all else.

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Twilight Sparkle made her way into the high street, the entire town had been heavily damaged by the dragon's rampage, but she found herself unable to focus on the town.

10 metres to her front, the ball of light continued to shine, though it was dimming, reaching the point where it would go out entirely.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight called out.

The ball of light faded entirely, and standing there was the pony that had saved the town. It was not however, Princess Celestia.

The pony turned and looked at her. The Alicorn was clearly male, grey with an equally grey mane, but what stood out the most where the creature's eyes. They were blood red, and seemed to glow when looking into them.

Twilight stopped in her tracks, realising that this was not her mentor.

"Oh. Hello!" she said nervously, "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else."

The Alicorn did not reply, it did however continue to stare at her intensely.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle... We have you to thank for saving us, don't we?"

No reply.
"What's your name?" Twilight asked an awkward smile formed on her face, trying to break the ice between her and the newcomer.

No reply.

An awkward moment of silence later, Twilight spoke again "well, I really should go find my friends, thank you for helping us."

She turned to leave.

"Hold." The Alicorn said in a deep, commanding voice.

Twilight stopped in her tracks, and turned back around, as if she didn't have any control over it.

"The date, what is the date?" the Alicorn asked.

Twilight thought for a moment, "It's September 22nd, year 1001 of Celestia's reign."

The Alicorn did not reply, instead, he walked towards her, Twilight's first instinct was to run, but she felt as if something was keeping her from doing so.

The Alicorn passed her. "Overdrive," he said.

Twilight turned and looked at him, "excuse me?" she asked as the Alicorn passed.

"You asked for my name. You may call me Overdrive," The Alicorn said.

"Oh, well nice to meet you Overdrive." Twilight said with an awkward smile.

The Alicorn did not reply, rather it spread its wings and with a leap into the air, took flight, perching himself on a small cloud high above Ponyville. The Alicorn sat down; facing the east looked out into the country side.

Twilight watched him for a moment, and then remembered her friends. She rushed back to the hill to make sure everyone was okay.

She discovered that the Hill had become far more crowded; stragglers who had fled had found their way here. Twilight walked up to her friends.

"It's safe. The town is clear." Twilight said.

Rarity walked up to her, "did you speak with the princess?"

"It wasn't the princess," Twilight said with a concerned look on her face, "it was an Alicorn, and he said his name was Overdrive. He asked me what the date was and then he took off."

Princess Luna looked at Twilight with awe, "an Alicorn? That's impossible, my sister and I are the only two Alicorns in Equestria."

Twilight shrugged, "and yet there is a third. I think we should talk to Princess Celestia about this... Has anyone seen Spike?"

"I saw him!" cried a voice from behind the ponies.

Twilight looked to see that it was Pinkie Pie, a very strange looking Pinkie Pie, even by her standards.

Pinkie Pie's hair was straight. Something that Twilight had only seen once before during her last birthday.

"He said he was going back to the Library to find parchment for you. He figured that you'd want to send a letter." Pinkie said smiling.

Twilight gave a sigh of relief. She hadn't seen her assistant since this morning, and had almost completely forgotten about him.

The group of seven set out from the hilltop into the Ponyville Library.

Spike was already there, gathering up parchment, ink, and quills lying around the library, which was a complete mess. Not a single book was left on the shelves; they must have all fallen off during the attack.

"Spike! You're all right!" Twilight said with another sigh of relief.

"Of course I am," the baby dragon said, "I just wanted to get everything ready for you."

Twilight smiled, she was glad to have such a dependable assistant and friend, "Take a letter. Dear Princess Celestia, Today Ponyville was attacked by a dragon from the Everfree Forrest, but was defeated upon the arrival of a mysterious pony, an Alicorn, calling himself Overdrive, as I'm sure you know, you and your sister are the only Alicorns known to exist. If you could please reply to this with haste, I would be appreciative, something isn't right about the situation and I think it needs you're direct attention..."

Twilight stopped suddenly, her eyes widened, "Oh my gosh! How could I be so crass!" and took off running out the door, her friends were quick to follow.

Twilight made her way to the building in which she had seen Floppy Disk beaten against several times. She had watched as he'd been mutilated against it. How could she have let her excitement of the prospect of the Princess being here get the better of her, she was supposed to be a good friend.

Floppy's body was gone, however there was significant evidence of what had happened left over. Blood had splattered over the wall and the ground where Floppy spent his last moments alive.

Twilight vomited, she had never seen so much blood.

Her friends arrived, and a look of horror formed on each of their faces, everyone knew instantly it had been a grim end for the pony who had so gallantly sacrificed himself for them.

"Send the letter Spike." Twilight said weekly as she vomited again.

Spike nodded, and sent the letter with a breath of green flame.

--
Overdrive sat on his cloud looking east. He did not blink, he barely breathed. Instead he just looked to the east; however he felt something coming his way. He turned to look as a wisp of magical smoke floated through the sky towards him. Using a bit of magic of his own, he grabbed the smoke out of the air, and it reformed as a letter, which he carefully opened and read. It was about himself, no less.

He rolled the scroll back up and sent it on its way. Several minutes later another one came back; he caught this one as well, opened it up, and read it. Satisfied he knew what it said, he rolled it back up and sent it on its way. These ponies were conspiring against him. So be it. If it was an enemy they wanted, then an enemy they would get.

--
The Princess' letter arrived quicker than Twilight Sparkle thought it would, and considering the content of it, she wasn't surprised.

Twilight Sparkle:

I will arrive within the hour.

Princess Celestia.

"The Princess is coming here." Twilight said.

"So quickly?" Rarity said with surprise, "and look at the dreadful state of everything! We're not ready for a princess to come here!"

Applejack rolled her eyes, "in case ya fergot, the town was just attacked by a dragon! Ah course it looks bad! There ain't nuthin' we can do 'bout it now."

Pinkie Pie was looking off into the distance, having a quiet conversation with no one in particular about the day's events, nopony was really paying her any mind until she turned to address the group.

"Well today's been fun and all, but I got a lot of work that needs doing. I'll see everypony later," Pinkie gave a wide smile, but went unnoticed as her eyes grew very small and began to twitch slightly. She walked off giggling. "Oh Monty, you're so silly!"

The group watched as their friend departed.

"Ah worry 'bout that pony sometimes." Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash nodded, "I think stress has pushed her a little over the edge."

"A lil'?" Applejack asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Her hair's gone all straight, an' she's been talkin' ta herself since the dragon showed up."

Twilight shrugged, "We'll check up on her later. We've got more pressing matters to worry about right now."

--
Princess Celestia sat in the back of her carriage as it made its way towards Ponyville. She was worried to say the least. While dragons were chaotic creatures by nature, it was unheard of for one to attack without provocation. Twilight Sparkle's letter had been rather vague, but the princess surmised that this was because her pupil knew little about the attack all together. The Princess didn't know which prospect was worse, the idea that a dragon attacked without provocation, or that a Ponyville denizen might have provoked it.

Worse still, she did not know the identity of the dragon in question. Equestria had treaties with the Green and Purple Dragon flights. If this dragon belonged to either of these races, then it would lead to a major diplomatic incident. Ultimately, the Princess decided to worry about it later, she was more concerned with the well being of her subjects. Particularly, Twilight Sparkle herself.

The carriage landed and came to a halt. The Princess was about to step out, when the guard who was pulling it cried out.

"Make way for The Princess!"

The Princess looked at what was going on, standing in the middle of the road was the Grey Alicorn that Twilight described in her letter, he remained silent, and did not move when commanded.

"I said: make way for the Princess!" the guard said again.

Silence.

The guards unharnessed themselves from the carriage, ready to deal with this pony by force.

"Guards, that will be enough," Princess Celestia said. She stepped out of the carriage and approached the Alicorn.

"Hello, I am Princess Celestia." she said as she approached the Alicorn standing in the road, it's glowing red eyes staring intensely at her, "I understand that we have you to thank for saving this town. I am very grateful that would take it upon yourself to protect my subjects, and you have my thanks."

Silence.

The Princess felt rather uneasy by the pony's silence. This was rare, she almost never felt uneasy about anything, but there was something about this Alicorn that was simply unnatural.

"May I ask your name?" The Princess asked, trying once again to break the ice with the stone cold pony.

Silence.

"Well then, if you'll excuse me, I really must be on my way." Celestia said she attempted to walk past the Alicorn; however, he extended his wing to block her passage.

"Hold," he said. His quick movement caused the guards to leap into action, but the princess quickly called them off.

"So you do speak," the Princess said.

"My name is Overdrive." the Alicorn said. "I am protecting this village from chaos itself."

"And I am grateful that you have taken up such a task, but I must ask that you allow me to pass, I rule this village."

The Alicorn was silent for a moment, but folded his wing in, "Indeed."

The Princess walked past him, followed by her two guards, Overdrive kept his eyes forward as they passed him. The Princess was unsure of this Alicorn, she had looked into his eyes, and she had seen nothing. This pony knew no fear, no anger, and as far as the Princess could tell, no emotion at all.

She turned to her guards. "I do not wish the public to know I am here. Please return to the castle. I shall be quite all right on my own."

The guards nodded returning to the carriage and leaving with it.

The Princess made her way through the empty streets to the Library, which she entered to find her prized pupil and her friends gathered, speaking solemnly about a pony called "Floppy Disk."

Twilight looked as the door to the Library opened, it was Princess Celestia herself standing in the door, and she walked in and closed the door behind her.

"Princess Celestia! I am so glad you are here!" she said as she bowed respectfully to her mentor.

"Hello Twilight Sparkle," she said, she looked into the corner to find her sister sitting in a chair, looking solemnly at the ground, "Hello little sister."

Luna looked up at her, "Hello big sister," she said in return.

"Twilight I am sure that you are very anxious to discuss today's events with me, but first, you must no longer send me letters via magic. When I received your letter it had already been opened, and I would suspect, read, by another party. Letters are no longer a safe means of communication." the Princess said.

Twilight's jaw dropped. "Opened? By who?"

"Let's just say I have my suspicions." The Princess said she thrust her head upwards, attempting to indicate the town's new 'Lord Protector' as the culprit.

And I even met Oberlander Cromwell. This new pony puts him to shame. The Princess thought to herself.

"How do you know it was Overdrive?" Twilight asked.

The princess shrugged a little, as if slightly unsure, "I suppose I don't know for sure, but it takes a powerful magic user to intercept your letters. I know of no one else who has magical ability like that. From now on, you should use the regular post. Less chance of an interception, it will take longer, but the message will stay safe."

--
Derpy Hooves, postal worker. That's who she was, the wall eyed Pegasus was in the middle of her rounds. Nothing stopped the post from being delivered. Not rain, snow, or an attack by dragons would stop Derpy Hooves from making her deliveries. She had just finished, and was preparing to return her bag to the post office when she heard someone call out.

"Postal worker!" came a booming, yet emotionless voice from the east.

Derpy turned to look at where the voice came from, she saw an Alicorn sitting on a cloud, staring at her. Derpy made her way over to him.

"Hi! I don't think I've seen you before, I'm Derpy Hooves!" Derpy said with a lopsided smile, the way her eyes were oriented made it difficult to look at someone with anything that even resembled a normal expression.

The Alicorn said nothing.

"Umm... was there something you needed?"

The Alicorn tilted his head slightly, and after a moment, spoke again, "Yes. I have a package to send."

The Alicorn produced a small, prepaid shipping box, and handed it over to the mail pony, "be gentile with it, it is delicate."

"Uh... okay. I can do that, no problem!" Derpy said happily.

The Alicorn nodded at her. "Thank you... Derpy, I am very appreciative."

The Pegasus flew off happily back to the post office, where she deposited her bag, and set the package in the processing room. She smiled happily as she walked out of the office.

The post office exploded. Derpy did not even hear it. The shockwave sent her flying into the building on the opposite end of the street, blood splattered all along the side of the wall, her wings mangled by the force of impact, Derpy fell to the ground, dripping in blood, she tried to move but found herself unable, her leg was broken, and she felt blood running down her face and into her eyes. She looked up and saw the Alicorn who had given her the package not 10 minutes before walking towards her.

"I'm... sorry," she said weakly.

The Alicorn said nothing.

Derpy succumbed to darkness.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends rushed out of the Library towards the origin of the explosion. The Post Office was on fire, and if it didn't get under control soon, it would burn down the entire block.

"Fluttershy! I need your help," Rainbow Dash said, "We need to get this out!"

Fluttershy did not reply she was looking at Derpy lying on the ground. "So much blood..."

"Fluttershy! Focus!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

Fluttershy recoiled, and then shook her head, now was not the time to get distracted.

Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy and Princess Luna, "gather as many clouds as you can, we need to get this fire out now!"

The Pegasi and royal Alicorn leaped into the air, and off they went.

Twilight looked at the post office as it burned. Why was this happening? Why was this town a magnet for horrible things?

Another thought popped into Twilight's head, what if it wasn't the town? What if it was her?

"Twi!" Applejack shouted at her. "She's still alive!"

Twilight turned around, Applejack was leaning over Derpy, her ear to her chest, "she's breathin' an' her heart's a beatin'!"

Princess Celestia stepped forward, "She needs to be taken to the Royal Hospital in Canterlot. I will get her there safely. I'm sorry Twilight, but for now, you're going to have to deal with this on your own."

The Princess stepped towards Derpy, and magically teleported the injured Pegasus away.

Twilight didn't know what to do. She was the de facto leader of her group of friends, but now she was at a loss, too much was happening at once. She panicked and ran off head long.

"Twilight!" Applejack called out, ready to go after her, but was quickly stopped in her tracks.

"Let her go," Rarity said, "She'll be Twilight again when she's ready."

Applejack didn't quite understand what she meant, but nevertheless stayed put.

Twilight burst into her Library and slammed the door behind her. She collapsed on the floor in tears, and let out the loudest scream she possibly could.

Spike dashed into the main from one of the adjacent rooms.

"Twilight, are you all right?" he asked.

"No!" she screamed at him, "no I am not all right!" her head drooped into her hooves, and she cried, cried harder than she had ever cried before.

Spike attempted to comfort her, but she quickly pushed him away, "leave me alone Spike." she managed between sobs.

Spike did not reply, rather withdrew to another room, allowing Twilight to vent her frustrations.

Night had fallen, by this time Twilight had stopped crying, mainly because she had run out of tears to cry out. She sat on her bed, face first in her pillow, the last thing she wanted to do interact with the world.

Spike was asleep, Twilight felt guilty about the way she had treated her friend, he cared about her and she had pushed him away. She would be sure to apologise to him in the morning.

Twilight heard a knock at the door, she groaned. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to anyone, and she considered not answering it.

The knock came again. Twilight sighed, and rose from the bed; she trotted down to the first level, and opened the door.

She gasped in surprise, standing before her was the grey Alicorn, Overdrive, his glowing red eyes seemed to pierce her flesh and she recoiled in an imagined pain.

The Alicorn said nothing.

"Um, hi," Twilight said nervously. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

The Alicorn looked at her for a moment, "Yes."

"Um, come in? I suppose?" she said nervously, she couldn't imagine what Overdrive could want with her. "What can I do for you?"

The Alicorn looked at her. "You have been crying," he said plainly.

Twilight was taken aback, in the short time that she had known the Alicorn; he had never given a response that quickly.

"How do you know?" She asked him.

"I know," he said. "Tell me what ails you."

Twilight spilled everything, as if she couldn't control herself, she found herself sharing everything she had felt with Overdrive since yesterday morning. She told him about her guilt, she had watched Floppy Disk die, but didn't care about it. Derpy had been seriously injured, but she didn't care about it.

"I am an awful friend," she said, wrapping everything up.

The Alicorn was silent.

"Twilight Sparkle, tell me, do you know anything about South Island?" he asked finally.

Twilight looked up at him, "South Island? Of course, it's a continent in the South Sea, the world's smallest; ponies from Equestria only settled it 300 years ago."

The Alicorn nodded, "I am not interested in the Ponies of South Island. What do you know about the natives?"

Twilight wracked her brain for information, she knew that Kangaroos and Wallabies were two groups that were native to South Island, but she knew very little about them.

"Are you familiar with the Wallaby tradition of the walkabout?" the Alicorn asked.

Twilight merely shook her head.

"Walkabouts are a spiritual journey undertaken by the Wallaby, the idea is that when you have lost yourself, when you are unsure of who you are or what you are becoming, that one has to go out and find themselves, The Wallaby will wander the desert of South Island with nothing but a knife and their wits, until they find themselves." the Alicorn said.

Twilight looked at the Alicorn in confusion. "What are you saying?"

"I am saying that you have lost yourself, and that you need to go find yourself," the Alicorn said. His horn lit up, and he produced a 15 centimetre long sheathed knife, he placed it on the table, "you will need that."