The Second Story of Sky Blue

Chapters

Aftermath
Requests
Plans
Meeting
Context
Chapter 6
Preparation
Wedding Party
The Perfect Wedding. Yeah Right.
Aftermath and Forgiveness
A Few Notes

Aftermath

Observe. A dusty, lonely road in the middle of nowhere. In the distance, if one were to look closely, they would see a small glow. This glow is Ponyville, on of the most beautiful towns in the magical land of Equestria. Along this lonely road, walks a light-brown stallion, with blonde hair, a red tail, with a lighter on his flank, and dark thoughts on his mind.

That evil, evil, evil BITCH! Everyone calls her a hero because she is the seventh Element of Harmony. She probably just stole it from one of the other ponies she has killed. Laura... I will avenge you! It was called an accident... But I know better! That... That... ‘Sky Blue’ is evil! No-one could spend that long with the Queen of the Changelings and pick up some bad traits. And now she’s getting married! She’s manipulated some innocent pegasus! I have to get to Ponyville, and kill Sky Blue! This stallion is named Zoom. He lost his girlfriend Laura in the changeling attack on Canterlot. The pegasus he is talking about used a spell in said attack that killed a small number of changelings. But it had an unforeseen effect. The spell kept going, away from the source, until it hit a small green mare, killing her instantly. Zoom had been away at a camp at the time. His mother had sent him to make friends. But when he had gotten the news he had left the camp immediately and headed for the one who had killed his love. Sky Blue... I will destroy you. Not even your magic will work against me. Zoom is an earth pony blessed with an extremely rare ability. The ability to resist magic. No matter what spell is used on him, whether it be healing or hurting, none work. And now he will use that ability to avenge the mare he loved. No, still loves. He will never forget Laura, even in her death.

In Ponyville, however, things couldn’t be happier. In the two months since Chrysalis’ and Discord’s defeat, things had changed drastically. Sky had talked to Pinkie Pie, and Pinkie had spoken to Twilight, and before long, they had ended up together. Fluttershy and Big Macintosh had announced that they were going out. Rarity had broken up with the fashion designer after he had called one of her designs ‘Only worthy of being wrapped around a campfire’, and had continued designing dresses with more determination than ever. She had been featured in over twenty different fashion magazines ever since the breakup. AJ had had to say goodbye to her stallion for a few months, as he had been sent away by his bank to the Changeling homeland to help with trading. And Sky Blue and Rainbow Dash had gotten engaged. Sky had proposed to Rainbow about a month after Chrysalis had been defeated. Sky had been on top of the world since Rainbow had accepted. Now she was soaring through the sky, at the head of her own Weather Patrol squad. They had been told to make up for missing a rain shower the week before with a thunderstorm.

“Who was it that made Derpy responsible for last week's shower?” Sky yelled over her shoulder, to a blue pegasus with blonde hair, named Blue Skies.

“I don’t know! Maybe she just volunteered?”

“It doesn’t matter, we just have to get this ready! They filled the clouds up just for last week, and now we have to make it up with a storm! Now! Start getting the clouds into their positions! I’ll deal with the west, you guys deal with the east! Meet up above the town hall when you’re done!” Sky yelled this all above the rising wind as Rainbow’s team built up the air currents above the clouds. She headed to the west of Ponyville, where she saw a large group of dark grey storm clouds floating. Okay, what spell can I use to do this?

Sky’s magical abilities had been invaluable to the weather patrol.

Ah! Of course!

“SPRAEDAN!” The clouds were hit by the spell and exploded outwards, covering the sky above Ponyville. With Sky’s magic, she had done a job that used to take a group of Pegasi at least half an hour to do in a few seconds. She looked over and saw a white pegasus shooting towards her. He stopped in front of her, and Sky tried to remember his name.

“Brolly, right?”

He shot to attention, --as much as he could in mid-air-- and saluted.

“Yes ma’am!” Sky winced as she was reminded of an unpleasant memory of her time with the Changelings.

“Please don’t call me ma’am. The last guy to do that is still looking for his teeth. Call me Sky. Now, what did you need?”

He immediately slumped, and looked at her with a relieved look.

“Sorry, Sky. I just wanted to say that Rainbow Dash needs to see yo--” He stopped as Sky shot past him, spinning him 1080 degrees.

Whatever Rainbow needs, it is probably important. Maybe related to the wedding? She almost killed Rarity yesterday when she saw how ‘frilly frou-frou’ her dress was. Sky slowed to a halt when she saw the blue pegasus on the ground, waving at her from in front of Twilight's library. Sky dropped into a nosedive and landed lightly in front of her fiancee.

“What do you need?”

“It’s about Celestia, she wants to see us.” Sky happily followed Rainbow into Twilight’s library, where the princess had moved when she had started walking, --however unsteadily-- and Twilight had happily obliged, happy to be able to speak to her mentor on a daily basis. Sky had offered to heal Celestia’s wounds, but the Princess had politely declined, saying that more magic could do more harm than good. And now she wanted to talk to both of the engaged ponies. What about? I guess we’ll find out in a minute.

Requests

As Sky and Rainbow approached the princess --who was lying on some cushions in the library’s lobby-- they saw she was writing a letter, and stood quietly, before Celestia signed her name and handed it to Spike, who breathed on it, and Sky guessed it was being sent to Luna. Poor Luna. She’s been sending Celestia letters daily, asking for advice on what to do. She must be a bit overwhelmed. Funny, though, because Celestia said that Luna was telling her to stay in Ponyville until she was healed. I just wish I could have thought of another spell... Then Celestia wouldn’t be in this mess. They trotted over when Celestia beckoned, and Sky and Rainbow Dash knelt in front of her.

“What do you need, Princess?” This was from Sky, who was very confused, wondering what the Princess needed so urgently.

“Well, Sky Blue, Rainbow Dash, I have been wondering what to award you for your services to Equestria, and for defeating Chrysalis and Discord once and for all. I have thought about it. And I have decided to give you two things. First, I know that you are having trouble finding a venue for your wedding, correct?” Sky and Rainbow nodded, and even Rainbow looked excited. “Well, I know of a place that you will never forget. The Hall of The Elements, in my castle!” Rainbow actually jumped up at this, a look of joy on her face.

“The hall of the elements!? Getting married there would be awesome!” Sky was surprised at Rainbow’s outburst, knowing her to be practically indifferent to these things, and said so.

“What is the hall of the elements?”

“It’s a hall--”

“Obviously.”

“Let me finish! It’s a hall where they display stained glass windows, with all of the achievements related to The Elements of Harmony are! They’re so beautiful, getting married there would be unforgettable! And it is also the place where the elements are kept.”

“Nice... I like the sound of it.” Celestia smiled.

“And the second gift, I will leave up to you. Let me know when you make a decision. I don't care what it is, I will do my best to fulfill anything you request.” Sky thought it over for a moment, and saw how happy Rainbow Dash was. Let’s see how much happier we can make her... Sky smiled even wider as an idea popped into her head.

“I was wondering... Could you maybe get the Wonderbolts to attend? Maybe do a show?” Sky knew that this had been the right thing to say, as Rainbow Dash froze, and Celestia smiled widely.

“Of course I can get them to attend. I know Rainbow Dash is a fan of them, and I’m sure they would be only too happy to do a show for her.” Sky just smiled as Rainbow unfroze and let out a small fangirl squeal.

“The... Wonderbolts? Coming to... My wedding? Performing at my wedding? YES!” She jumped into the air, her smile threatening to break her head in half. Celestia chuckled.

“If you are sure, Sky, I will write a letter right away. But, are you sure? I could give you anything. You could be rich, have a new house, a place in my court?” Celestia smirked as she said this, and Sky figured it must be just a formality. She decided to play along.

“I don’t need money, Princess.

Rainbow’s house is perfect.

And, no offense, but working in the royal court sounds like the most sinfully boring job in the world.

All I care about is making ‘Dash happy. And if having the Wonderbolts at our wedding accomplishes that, then that is what I ask for.” Celestia smiled, and winked at Sky, saying;

“Yes, the royal court is extremely boring.” Rainbow landed next to Sky, having done about twenty laps of the room in her excitement.

“Really? You could have all of that... And you just want to make me happy?”

“Of course, love!” Rainbow hugged Sky, and laughed as they broke apart.

“The Wonderbolts are going to be at my wedding! YEAH!”

“Umm... No offense, Princess, but Rainbow and I have to get back to readying the storm.”

“Of course, Sky. And Rainbow, like I said, I’m sure the Wonderbolts will be happy to attend and perform at your wedding.” And with this, the two pegasi left the library, kissed and went back to getting the storm ready. They agreed to tell Rarity during the storm, after it had been started.

Zoom had stopped at a small inn on the side of the road, as a huge storm was gathering in and around Ponyville, and he didn’t wish to get caught up in it. He was now sitting in the corner of the smoky room, trying not to breathe too deeply. I just want to know why she killed Laura. Why?! She didn’t do anything wrong. She never did! Laura was innocent. And yet no-one cares that Sky Blue killed her. Maybe she just brainwashed them, or hypnotised them... I don’t know. I just want to get to Ponyville and make Sky Blue pay for ruining my life! Zoom eventually went up to his small rented room, and fell into an uneasy sleep, wondering how he was going to make Sky pay. He wouldn’t kill her. He wouldn’t sink to her level.

Plans

The next day, Sky and Rainbow were still awake, as Rarity had almost fainted when she found out the venue for their wedding was to be the Hall of The Elements. She had showed them books and magazines, she had them try on dresses, she had them pick out flowers, food, and bridlemaids dresses. When the two pegasi left Rarity’s boutique the next day, they had planned the entire wedding, and it was scheduled for the next weekend, which was four days away. Rainbow had questioned the logic of this, and Rarity just said that the Hall wouldn’t be available forever, and it was better to have it sooner rather than later, and, seeing as they had it planned, wouldn’t it be best to just go ahead and do it? Rather than waiting months and months for the big day, they could just wait a few days instead. Sky had then asked how Rarity could have planned it so quickly. The unicorn just said that once she had found out they had the Hall of Elements, everything else just fell into place. Sky doubted that this was the real reason, but went along with it when Rainbow nudged her softly in the ribs, whispering “Drop it.” Five minutes after this awkward moment, Sky and Rainbow left, overwhelmed, and started to talk as they made their way to Sugarcube Corner, where they had promised to meet the others for breakfast.

“So, why did you tell me to drop it?”

“Rarity had that look in her eye. She was obviously lying, but when she gets that look, it’s better just to let her tell you in her own time.”

“Alright. I’m so tired.”

“Me too. I just want to go and find a nice cloud to nap on.”

“Rainbow, you always want to find a nice cloud to nap on.”

“It doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea!”

“I know, but we promised we would have breakfast with the others today. And we have to tell them how much earlier the wedding is going to be.” Rainbow nodded and they continued walking on, until they saw Sugarcube Corner. Sky’s stomach rumbled in anticipation of eating a nice big cupcake.

They walked closer, and saw Fluttershy and Big Macintosh walking side by side, both with big smiles on their faces. Fluttershy seemed more open around Big Macintosh. But then again, that was probably because of Big Macintosh himself. In the two months Sky had known him, Big Macintosh rarely said anything but “Eeyup,” Or “Nnope”. Fluttershy and Big Macintosh walked past Sky and ‘Dash to the front door of Sugarcube Corner. They kissed lightly, and Big Mac’ walked away.

“Bye Macintosh!” Fluttershy said this at a volume barely above a whisper, but the large red stallion turned and smiled.

“Eeyup.” He walked away slowly, and Fluttershy giggled. The three walked in and saw a sight that nopony would ever expect to see, but were nonetheless getting used to.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie were sitting at the usual table in the corner, kissing. Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Sky all sat down at the table, and when Pinkie and Twilight showed no intention of breaking apart, Sky cleared her throat loudly. They broke apart, Twilight blushing, Pinkie Pie with a huge smile on her face.

“Wow, Twilight! You’re a great kisser!” Twilight just blushed even more, and Sky wondered how long it would be before she burst into flame.

“Ummm... I’ve read quite a few books on the subject...” Sky and Rainbow laughed uproariously, and Fluttershy just looked at a point on the wall about five feet above Twilight’s head, an embarrassed smile on her face. Then AJ and Rarity walked in, and joined them at the table. They both looked confused at Sky and Rainbow’s laughing, and AJ said;

“What’s so funny? You guys okay?” Sky stopped laughing for a moment, but started again after a moment and just continued until she ran out of breath. Rainbow stopped as well, and Rarity and AJ just shook their heads and shrugged. Rainbow was the first to speak.

“Well, guys, we have some news.”

They all leaned froward slightly, with the exception of Rarity, who knew what Rainbow was about to say.

“Well, we’ve changed the date of our wedding to this weekend, in four days, and it’s going to be in the Hall of The Elements in Canterlot!” The other four were silent for a moment, but then they shot up and hugged Sky and Rainbow Dash, congratulating them on deciding on the date and venue at last. They separated, and Twilight looked at Sky.

“I was wondering why Celestia wanted to speak to you. She was giving you the venue, wasn’t she?”

“Yep, and she gave me one more request, which could be whatever I wanted.” Twilight grimaced and Sky laughed again.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t ask for anything that would inconvenience her. She offered me money, or a new house, or a job in the royal court, but I refused all three. We don’t need money, Rainbow’s house is the best I have ever seen, and a job in the royal court would bore me to tears. I just want Rainbow to be happy, so I asked Celestia to invite the Wonderbolts to attend and perform at the wedding. She said they would be happy to oblige. Rarity has sent them their invitations already, and she has sent you yours as well. We know it’s just a formality, but Rarity forced us.” The white unicorn smiled, but Sky could see it didn’t reach her eyes. She would’ve questioned it, but then she remembered what Rainbow had said about it. They continued on happily, and ate and talked for most of the morning. Then Twilight excused herself, saying that her and Pinkie were going to go for a walk for a little while. Her and Pinkie trotted away happily. Rarity then said that she had to go and finish making the bridlemaids’ dresses, and excused herself as well. Fluttershy said that her and Big Macintosh were going to go to lunch, --which made AJ cringe-- and she left as well. AJ, Rainbow and Sky sat and chatted happily for a little while, when Rainbow remembered that she had to go and help with cleanup for the aftermath of the storm. She kissed Sky goodbye, and left at speed. Now AJ and Sky sat across from each other.

“You know, when I came to this town three months ago, I never would have expected that the pegasus who I had a crush on would be the one I would eventually marry. Funny how things turn out, isn’t it? I mean, you’re the one that fell in love with the stallion who tried to steal from her farm.” AJ looked surprised, but Sky just sighed.

“Element of Knowledge, remember? Sometimes I just get flashes of inspiration, and anyway, that thing about hiring him from the bank was one of the worst lies you have told since I’ve known you. I mean, I doubt that the Zap Apples just suddenly went rotten.” AJ just shook her head.

“He saved Applebloom’s life!”

“I’m not judging. He seems nice enough.” AJ just smiled, then excused herself, as she had to see to her Apple stall. Sky was left sitting at the table, toying with the Element around her neck. She had refused to take it off, as it was something that would always be able to help in times of crisis.

She saw Mrs. Cake walking around and beckoned her to the table. She pulled out her money pouch as Mrs. Cake got closer.

“How much do I owe you, Mrs. Cake?”

“Oh don’t be silly, dearie! I could never ask you to pay!”

“Is this about the Changeling thing? Because I have already been offered free stuff by just about everypony because of it.” Mrs. Cake looked surprised, but then she squinted, as if trying to figure out a complex equation.

“No... Of course not dearie! Perish the thought! It’s... because of your wedding! You’re going to be married soon, and this is just our way of congratulating you!”

“But, you’re making our wedding cake! Also free of charge, mind you.”

“Well, that is a gift from Sugarcube Corner! This is a gift from me and Mr. Cake!”

“Well played, Mrs. Cake. If you came up with that whopper, you must be desperate.” Sky put away her money pouch, and left Sugarcube Corner, a smile on her face. That one is one of the best lies I’ve heard. It’s almost believable! Sky walked away, to meet the Weather Patrol, and see if she had any duties scheduled for today.

Meeting

Meanwhile, Zoom was wandering through a green forest, and he could see Ponyville in the distance. He was starting to get scared. All the momentum he had left camp with had worn off. If she killed Laura, what will she do to me if I confront her? I’ll have to do it in public, where she can’t kill me. As he walked, Zoom started to get a small headache. He looked around confusedly, and saw something strange in the green forest.

It was a stone talon, frozen in the act of gripping something. Wait, frozen? Chiseled, that’s what I mean. Chiseled, not frozen. Despite himself, Zoom felt drawn to it, and put it into his saddlebags, wondering if he could ask somepony about it later. As Zoom straightened up, he saw what he guessed was Ponyville through a gap in some trees. He set off down the road, and arrived at the gates in no time. He saw a sign happily proclaiming:

Welcome to Ponyville! And continued in to the town.

As Zoom wandered through the main street, he wondered when he would confront Sky, and what he would say. Maybe I could confront her at her wedding? That would be the perfect revenge. Zoom shook himself, and the congratulated himself on this thought. Wow, I wouldn’t have thought I had it in me. But... That’s perfect! She destroyed my love life when she killed Laura, and I’ll ruin hers at her wedding. Anyone watching Zoom closely might have noticed a small black spark in his eyes. I’ll destroy her life for what she did to me. Zoom continued walking, until he came to a building that looked like a giant cupcake. Then he saw something that made his blood boil. Sky Blue was walking out of the building,--He had seen her picture in a newspaper when he was on the road-- laughing quietly to herself. Then a plump light-blue earth pony with a distressingly red beehive appeared in the door.

“Remember, you never have to pay for lunch here, dearie!” Sky just shook her head, smiled and walked away. Zoom was disgusted. She has scared or manipulated that poor mare into giving her free food! That’s despicable! He would have confronted Sky then and there, but held himself back, remembering his plan. Zoom just walked on for a while, until he came to a large marketplace. He looked around for someone to ask about accommodation, and his eyes rested on an orange earth pony, with a blonde mane, and a tattered Stetson hat on her head. He slowly walked over to her, and quietly tried to get her attention.

“Excuse me... Um... Excuse me? My name is Zoom, and I was wond--” He was thrown off when she grabbed his hoof and shook it vigorously.

“Mah name’s Applejack. Nice ta meet ya. What can Ah do ya for?” She let go and he slowly stopped shaking.

“Umm... I was just wondering... Um... Where I could find a place to stay for a week or two?”

“Well, all the inns are full at the moment because of the Pon-Play Convention. Weird folks, dressing up as characters from games and things.”

“Well, where can I stay then?”

“Well, Ah know Ah have an empty room for a little while. My granny and sister have gone to Appeloosa to help mah cousin Braeburn cook pies for the buffalo herd. And my brother is moving in with Fluttershy soon, so he spends most of his free time at her place. If you wanted to stay with me for a week or two, Ah wouldn’t object. Just help me out with mah farm, and we’ve got a deal.” Zoom was slightly confused at the amount of information he had just been hit with.

“Ummm... Okay...”

“Great! It’ll be nice to have some some company, Zoom.”

“No... Problem...”

“Well, I’ve got to head back to the farm and get some more apples. You look pretty tired, so I’ll take you home and you can rest.”

Applejack headed off, and Zoom, slightly disconcerted at how much things had changed in such a short time, followed her.

Applejack took Zoom inside the large red farmhouse, showed him to a spare room, with boxes scattered about, and he collapsed onto the bed, and fell asleep immediately.

Sky walked towards the town square, and when she got there, she saw someone she hadn’t seen in days.

“Saralys! How’ve you been!” The changeling turned around, and smiled when she saw Sky. She galloped over and pulled Sky into a tight hug.

“I was just looking for you! I got my invitation to the wedding just now. This weekend? In four days? A little impromptu, don’t you think? Usually weddings don’t happen that quickly unless there’s a pregnancy, and I doubt either of you are pregnant... Unless I missed something about Pony anatomy? I mean, I read something that sounds... Never mind...” Saralys looked genuinely confused as she said this. Sky chuckled at her friend's confusion, remembering that her friend was doing her best to know more about Ponies, and in doing so had caused some embarrassment among the local bookstore clerks when she looked at the ‘adult’ books trying to learn more about pony anatomy.

“No, we just finished planning last night. And we decided that it would be best to have it as soon as possible, rather than just wait for months on end to make it seem more wedding-y.” Saralys laughed.

“Good idea, Sky.” Saralys looked as though she was remembering something, then smiled and asked;

“Hey, that Pinkie Pie character is a strange one, isn’t she? She has asked me to ‘prank’ numerous ponies with my shapeshifting abilities, but has given no indication as to what it means. I am afraid people will hate me if I do. They are uneasy around me as it is.”

Sky just chuckled.

“Pranking someone is playing a joke on them. You know, surprising them or embarrassing them for a laugh? But maybe you shouldn’t, for now, just in case people take it the wrong way.”

“Alright. See you later, Sky. Congratulations again!” And with this, Saralys turned into a bird and flew away. Sky flew up towards the group of pegasi that made up the Weather Patrol. She saw Rainbow, who was being hugged, high-hoofed, and patted on the back by each of the Patrol. As Sky approached, they dispersed and congratulated her as well. When she managed to pull away, Sky asked what her and Rainbow where supposed to do for the day.

“Are you kidding? You have to get ready for the wedding! And you should get some wedding leave!” This was from the pegasus Sky recognised as CloudKicker.

“I don’t think there is such a thing... Or at least... Not before the wedding.”

“Well it should be! Listen, just take a week off, alright?”

Sky saw Rainbow nod over CloudKicker’s head, and grudgingly agreed. Her and Rainbow headed for the ground, and tried to figure out what to do with their few days off. They decided to just hang out with their friends, and headed off to find them.

As Zoom awoke from his uneasy sleep, he saw the time on his clock was 6:00. He could hear someone banging on the spare bedroom door.

“Zoom? Are ya up yet?” He slid off the bed and went to the door, just as it swung open and revealed Applejack standing there.

“I just thought Ah’d get ya up for breakfast. Ah always make it this early, and Ah didn’t want’cha to miss out. The farm doesn’t need any work today. Maybe Ah’ll introduce you to mah friends today. You look like you don’t have many, if ya don’t mind me saying.”

“Of... Of course not... Who were your friends again?”

“Oh, just some ponies around town. Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Sky Blue.”

“You are friends with Sky Blue?”

“Hard t’ believe, isn’t it? The mare that defeated Chrysalis is one of mah best friends.”

“Hmph. I don’t think she’s that great.”

AJ gave Zoom a questioning look, but when he didn’t say anything else, she just shrugged and beckoned him downstairs. They ate Apple Pancakes in silence, and when they had finished eating, Zoom walked out the door, grabbing his saddlebags as he went. He trotted down the road and into town. He wandered around aimlessly for a few hours, but couldn’t concentrate on anything except how he was going to confront Sky, and how she would react, and the pain she would feel. But... Maybe it was a mistake? Maybe I should find her and talk to her... Maybe it was an accident like they said. They said that Sky had been ambushed by Changelings, and she cast the spell without thinking... NO! Do not think like this! That is... I shouldn’t think like this. Just think... How we--I will feel walking down the aisle with Sky at the head, about to get married, then yo--I confront her, and tell everyone how she killed my girlfriend, and ruin her life! She will regret what she did to me! Zoom’s head started to hurt as these thoughts went through his head. He just stopped in an alleyway, and put his saddlebags down and put his head against the cold bricks of the alley wall. His headache soon abated, and he sat down. He looked at his Cutie Mark, smiling as he remembered how he had gotten it, at the same camp his mother had sent him to, just a year earlier.

We were out camping, and someone lost the matches. Everyone tried to light the fire, but none of their techniques worked. I tried, but nothing I did worked either. Everyone started to feel the chill. Some of them were starting to pass out, it was so cold. I just stared and stared at the logs, until they just burst into flame. I never knew if it was spontaneous combustion, or if I used magic --which I never really thought anything of-- or if the logs burst into flame out of sympathy for us. Nevertheless, I felt something inside me, and I felt that that was my special talent. I never felt so sure about anything in my life. Then my cutie mark appeared. Sadly though, when people saw it was a lighter, they called me a Pyro, and they started avoiding me. I was alone for a month before I met Laura. She was the first pony to actually listen to my story, and she understood... And we talked for hours, about her cutie mark, about our lives... And I fell in love. I had never believed in love at first sight, but... When Laura talked to me... I felt something... And now she’s gone. I just feel that if mother hadn’t of sent me to that thrice-damned camp, Laura might still be alive. But she isn’t, and now I have this chance to avenge her! Zoom stood up and put his saddlebags back on his back, and walked out of the alleyway, a new determination filling him.

Context

Sky and Rainbow walked through town, trying to find something to do. They had tried the Weather Patrol again, but had practically been ordered to leave. They wandered about, until they saw a strange light-brown pony walking out of an alleyway, his head held high. That is, until he saw Sky. His eyes widened, and he ran back into the alleyway. Sky and Rainbow looked at each other confusedly.

“What was that?” Sky asked.

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling we’re going to find out.” Rainbow smiled.

“But, hey, we have two more days off. What are we going to do?”

“Wait, two days?”

“Well, a wedding day isn’t exactly a day off.”

“Yeah, good point.”

They decided to check on Rarity’s progress with the Bridlemaid dresses. But when they tried to walk in to Rarity’s Boutique, they found the door was locked, and they could hear the sound of a sewing machine being used furiously inside. Sky just shrugged, and they went to walk away, when a large green stallion ran up to them, a terrified look on his face.

“Are you Sky Blue? We need you now! Please, my friend, Rose, there’s something wrong with her!” Sky didn’t even stop moving, she just ran towards the stallion, and as she approached, she said;

“Take me to her!” The stallion turned around, and Sky soon saw the dark yellow pony writhing on the ground. She was clutching her head and yelling.

“Sh-she just fainted, then she started screaming! I don’t know what’s wrong!” Sky ignored the Colt’s terrified babbling, and she put her forehead against the ponies’, stopping her moving with a spell. Sky pushed into her mind, and found that the pony had no mental defenses whatsoever. She was expecting at least something. But this mare had nothing shielding her mind to the outside world, and anything that may cause her psychological harm. Sky just cast a few small healing spells, including any that would heal any mental barriers Rose had. Sky doubted that it would do anything. If something had directly attacked her mind, Rose would at least have something left. But... Sky had read about ponies like Rose, who were so sensitive to the outside world, and how telekinetic blasts could seriously affect them. Sky pulled out of Rose’s mind, and nodded at the stallion, who was sitting nervously on his haunches, hoping it would reassure him.

“What happened?”

“Rose has a condition that I have only ever read about. It is a condition that stops ponies from developing mental barriers, and as such, they are easily affected by mental bursts, and if they are affected by one for too long, they can go into a coma. I’m just glad you got to me in time, or Rose may have been in a coma by now. As it is, Rose will be out for a few hours, tops.” The green colt looked relieved, and managed to get Rose on his back.

“What do I owe you?”

“You are joking, right? I’m not asking for payment. I did what I needed to do. I shouldn’t have to be paid for that.”

The stallion blinked a few times, before nodding slowly and walking away. Rainbow flew around a corner and landed next to Sky.

“What happened there?”

“Oh, Rose was hit by something strong. It’s weird though, because I didn’t feel anything.”

“Never mind, let’s just go and get something to eat, alright?”

“Alright.” The healing Sky had given Rose, while small, had made her hungry, and they headed towards Sugarcube Corner, where they decided to get a small snack, before their dinner later that night. Rarity had arranged it, as a Wedding-Day-Eve-Eve celebration.

Zoom was worried. He had just taken that weird talon out of his saddlebags and that Rose mare had started flailing about. He had no idea what happened. But then Sky Blue had arrived, touched her forehead, pulled away almost immediately and told the colt some nonsense about her having no defenses. She must have been lying. She must have been doing it to look good. It’s the only explanation! Anyone looking closely at Zoom would have seen another black spark in his eyes. I’ll make her pay! Zoom looked to the horizon and saw the sun was going down. He headed back to Sweet Apple Acres, and when he walked in to the kitchen and saw a note from Applejack.

Zoom, I’ve gone out with the girls for a dinner. If you want to come, we’ll be at that weird foreign named place, La Silver Platter or something. I understand if you don’t want to come out. I’ve left an apple pie in the oven for your dinner if you get hungry.

Applejack

Zoom ate the pie in the dark, and then went up to bed, where he fell asleep quickly, thinking about confronting Sky.

Chapter 6

Zoom woke up to the sound of somepony knocking on his door again. He had had an extremely strange dream, but he couldn’t remember what exactly had happened. He vaguely remembered... Pink clouds? He opened the door to Applejack’s smiling face and she took him downstairs for some breakfast. This time they had Apple Waffles, and he opened up a bit, while not revealing what he was going to do, or what had happened to him. When Applejack asked about his love life, he just got off topic as quickly as he could. AJ looked confused for a moment, but happily started talking about her family, and her home life. She asked Zoom about his family and he just replied with;

“Oh, it’s just me and mum at home. My dad left a few years ago, and I haven’t seen him since.” AJ just nodded sadly, and Zoom decided not to breach the subject of AJ’s family. He had seen a few photos of Applejack as a filly, standing happily in front of two smiling Ponies, who he guessed must have been her parents. He hadn't seen any photos of her as a grown mare with them. He was smart enough to put two and two together.

They ate in silence for a little while, but then Applejack got up, and said she had to go and see Sky and Rainbow about what she had to do for the next day. Wedding days were always chaotic, and AJ knew she would be needed to help. She left, and Zoom went up to his room. He went over to his saddlebags and took the talon out. He put it on his bed, and examined it closer. Strange, when I found it in the forest, it was practically unblemished, but now there are cracks all over it. Maybe I should leave it here for now? NO! I mean... Maybe I should hold onto it. It should be fine. Zoom shook his head, casting away this odd thought. Yeah, I’ll put it back in the saddlebags and go out for a little while. Zoom did this, and walked to Ponyville, wondering what he was going to do for a few hours. It was strange, but Zoom felt... Not happy, but content. He was going to get revenge tomorrow, and nothing was going to stop him.

For Sky, however things were getting hectic, and with Rarity wanting to go for the traditional approach, --as long as it didn’t involve anything too ‘frilly frou frou’-- was going crazy looking for the objects that she saw that every bride needed.

“We still need something borrowed, something new, and something blue! What are we going to do?” Rarity was running around like a headless chicken, and even Rainbow and Sky were a bit nervous. Not about the things Rarity was looking for, but about the fact that this was usually the time Narrative Causality kicked things in the face, and ruined everything. They just stayed close together, and when either of them was worried, the other would comfort them. Sky had almost broken down when Rarity had told them about the ‘big disaster’. And now Rainbow and Sky were looking for things that Rarity would find satisfactory. They had decided to ask Twilight, and she had told them to wait while she grabbed something. Now they were waiting in the library’s main room. Spike had brought them some tea a few minutes before. When the dragon had left, as Sky had gone to drink the tea, Rainbow had knocked it away, and warned her how bad Spike’s tea was. Sky had just teleported it to another dimension and shared a laugh as they wondered if they had just killed some innocent monster with it. Sky enjoyed the moment of peace they were sharing, and all too soon, Twilight had come out, and given Rainbow a necklace, with a golden chain, and a deep sapphire set in the middle.

“You can’t wear this Sky, seeing as you always wear your element. I just thought that this could be something borrowed and blue. My parents gave me this years ago.”

“Thanks Twilight. Now we just need something new.”

“Maybe you should talk to AJ. She should be down by Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Thanks, we’ll head there now.” And with this, they both flew out of Twilight’s Library, and towards the huge apple orchard.

As Zoom walked down the dirt road to the front gates of Sweet Apple Acres, he saw two shapes flying towards him. They landed softly in front of Zoom, and he saw the pegasus he had hoped he wouldn’t meet face to face until the following day.

Sky Blue.

Zoom wasn’t sure what happened next, but he felt a sudden surge of energy, and both of the pegasi flinched. Sky suddenly had a worried look on her face as Zoom realised she must have realised the energy come from him.

“Who are you? What was that?” She walked forwards, a worried look still present on her face.

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” Zoom yelled this louder than he ever had yelled anything, his shy demeanor usually keeping him pretty quiet. “I don’t want to talk to you.” And with this, Zoom ran past them, and into Ponyville.

“What was that about?”

Sky shrugged.

“I have no idea. It turns out Narrative Causality has just tripped us up for now.”

“What?”

“Never mind.” They continued on to Applejack’s farmhouse, and, seeing that AJ wasn’t there, they went back to Ponyville. They searched and searched, and they eventually found Applejack at her Apple Stall in the marketplace.

“Hey AJ!” Sky waved, and the orange earth pony waved back. Sky and Rainbow Dash flew over and landed in front of her.

“Hey, who’s that guy at you farm?”

“Oh, his name is Zoom. He’s staying with me while he’s in town. All the inns are full, and he seemed like a nice enough colt. You know Ah have an eye for those things.” Sky nodded, and decided not to tell her about the sudden blast from ‘Zoom’. Applejack trusted him, and that was enough for Sky. But, that blast... It was so powerful, for a moment I was reminded of... No... That’s impossible! It couldn’t be...

Him...

--Author's note--

Just for you unenlightened folks, Narrative Causality is --from what I can remember form Sir Terry Pratchett's books-- the chance for something to go wrong in a story. Or, it's just saying that, in a story, things are more likely to go wrong than in real life. e.g., Things will always go wrong before, or during a wedding in a story, whereas in real life, it is unlikely that the bride's long lost half-brother will show up with a secret about her past that makes the groom question his entire belief system. This also applies to soap operas. And, yes I realise that I have rushed the past 'few days' of the story, it's just because I was running out of ideas, and wanted to get to the wedding, and just continue on from there.

Now, stop reading this and KEEP READING THE STORY! Make sure to comment or PM with advice.

--End Note--

Preparation

Sky woke up to her alarm, and for the first time in two months, the familiar weight of Rainbow on the other side of the bed wasn’t there. And she wasn’t sleeping on Rainbow’s cloud mattress either. Instead, she was sleeping on the couch in Rarity’s boutique, as the white unicorn had insisted that they not see each other before the wedding. Rarity is acting strange... I wonder what’s gotten into her? You know what, I’m just going to ask her, no matter what Rainbow says. I want to know what is wrong, so I can help her out with it.

Sky stretched out, and trotted over to Rarity’s bedroom door. She knocked softly, but there was no answer. She was about to knock harder, but then she heard the sound of quiet crying. Sky pushed the door open, and she saw Rarity dive under her sheets, wiping her face on her blanket.

“Rarity, what’s wrong? You’ve been acting weird for days now.”

“Oh, *sniffle* nothing darling. Everything’s fine...”

“Rarity, you don’t need to be Applejack to know how much of a lie that is. Please... Tell me what’s wrong!”

Rarity looked Sky right in the eyes, and Sky saw the white Unicorn thinking something over. Sky climbed onto the bed and hugged Rarity.

“It’s okay... You can tell me.” She rubbed Rarity comfortingly on her shoulder, and the unicorn burst into tears.

“I guess I should have realised you were going to ask me sooner or later. The Element of Knowledge is good at finding things out. Ever since Ewan and I broke up--” Sky looked confused at this and Rarity sighed “--the fashion designer, remember? Well, ever since we broke up, I’ve been wondering what I would do with my life. Then I just got up one day and started doing what I had been doing for the past few years.

Designing. One day, I came across an old book. I opened it, and I saw it was my old wedding book. I remembered planning my dream wedding. It was going to be traditional, beautiful, regal! I had wished that it would take place in The Hall Of The Elements. So when you two told me about your venue, I remembered my wedding book, and I just went off of my knowledge of that. Your wedding, I am ashamed to say, is my dream wedding.”

“Why are you ashamed? I understand how you feel. You were depressed, and you pulled through it in your own special Rarity way. In fact, I’m honoured that you think of me and Rainbow Dash as worthy of getting such a beautiful wedding. When you get married, I’m sure I can ask Celestia for another favour. You could have your perfect wedding, just like you dreamed. I know Celestia would make sure it was attended by the most royal ponies. But if that Blueblood prick showed up, I would kick his arse halfway across Equestria for showing up. In fact, I would make sure he was invited just so I could.” Rarity just cried more, but Sky could hear some laughter in there, and soon Rarity was laughing like a madmare. She calmed down, looked Sky right in the eyes again, and said;

“Never speak to anyone about this, alright?”

“Of course not.”

“Swear?”

“Yes.”

“Pinkie Pie swear?”

Sky smiled, and repeated the swear Pinkie had said to her on a few separate occasions.

“Cross my heart,

And hope to fly,

Stick a cupcake in my eye.” Rarity smiled again, and they got off of the bed. Rarity looked Sky up and down.

“Well, I know your mane needs about an hour’s worth of grooming before we put your dress on. We’ll need to hurry though, because the wedding is at 3:00, and it takes at least two hours to get to Canterlot.”

“But it’s 7:00 now!”

“Sorry, Sky. It’s an unwritten rule among Bridesmaids to get the bride there hours too early so they can worry their heads off. I know Applejack and Fluttershy wake up early, so I have put them in charge of getting Pinkie Pie up and getting Rainbow Dash to Fluttershy’s cottage respectively.”

“I haven’t seen Rainbow’s dress. It isn’t too frilly, is it?”

“I just took her Grand Galloping Gala dress and added a few wedding-y touches.”

With this, Rarity dragged Sky into the main area of the boutique, where Twilight was setting up a large vanity mirror with her magic.

“Ummm, no offense Twilight, but... Do you have any experience with makeovers? Like, personally, not ones given to you by Rarity?”

“I have read quite a few books on the subject, yes.”

“Okay.” Sky was relieved, because when Twilight read a book on how to do something, she was usually good at it.

Sky spent the next hour having her mane brushed, her nails cleaned, --and after a fight to rival mothers’ and daughters’ ones everywhere-- Sky grudgingly let them put a little bit of makeup on her face. She didn’t want to be made up too much. She knew in her heart that Rainbow wouldn’t be, and she didn’t want to look like an idiot by wearing more makeup than her. After a long makeover, she was put into her dress, and when she saw it in the mirror, it took her breath away. It was a dark green, with streaks of blue, and black. On her head she wore a small circlet, wound together out of... Changeling tea leaves? Nice touch Rarity. There were a few words imprinted on the dress itself in white writing, and upon closer inspection, Sky saw, written in the same language she used for her spells, the words;

Love,

Happiness,

Hope,

And,

Prosperity, In rings around the waist, forming a sort of belt.

“Is that why you asked me for some words in the magic language a few day ago, Twilight?”

“Yes, I knew Rarity was struggling a bit for ideas for decoration, and I came up with that.”

Rarity smiled nervously.

“Are the colours okay? I just thought of the greens, because of your time with the Changelings, the blue, because of your name, and your coat, and the black because--”

“Of my relationship with Chrysalis. I love it. It shows that not everything is untarnished. Even the youngest --or in this case, newest-- have their troubles and problems.”

Rarity’s jaw dropped.

“Y-yes. So, you’re not offended?”

“Of course not! I said I loved it, didn’t I?”

Rarity blushed, and had a satisfied smile on her face as she led Sky outside into her carriage.

“I’m just glad Applejack had that gem. She said she found it in her orchard a few days ago, so it counts as new. And the pouch we’re using for the rings I’ve had for years, so that’s old.” Twilight, Rarity, and the extremely excited Sky sat and talked about this and other wedding-related things on their way to Canterlot.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy had only just managed to get Rainbow Dash out of bed, and they were on their way to Fluttershy’s cottage, where AJ would be waiting with Pinkie Pie. They touched down, and Rainbow let out an exaggerated yawn as they walked in to the cottage. Before she could even close her mouth, she felt somepony push her into a chair, where she could see Fluttershy approaching with a huge makeup kit.

“Woah! No way! I’m not having makeup!”

“Sky will!”

“And?”

“You don’t want her to look bad being the only one with makeup on, do you?”

“Fine! But put on too much. I know Sky won’t.”

“Alright.”

An uncomfortable few minutes passed, and then they went to work on Rainbow’s mane. When that was over, Rainbow was pulled up and given her dress, and then ushered into Fluttershy’s bedroom. Rainbow recognised her dress from the Grand Galloping Gala, and put it on, and when she looked in the mirror, her breath was taken away. AJ, Fluttershy and Pinkie came in, and sighed with relief.

She was happy. They had been afraid she would hate it. Pinkie tapped ‘Dash on the shoulder, and when Rainbow turned to them, she had tears in her eyes. AJ was the first to react, and hugged her tightly.

“What’s the matter, Sugarcube?”

“It’s all so perfect. Something is going to go wrong, I know it. Things are going too well.”

“Don’t say that Rainbow! My parties are always successes! More or less...” Pinkie frowned for a moment, but then smiled again. “Don’t worry, if anyone tries to ruin today, I’ll never invite them to another one of my parties for as long as they live!”

“Thanks Pinkie.” Rainbow laughed, and Fluttershy offered Rainbow a handkerchief to wipe her eyes, which the blue pegasus gratefully accepted.

“Everything is going to be perfect. I promise.”

And with this, the four now happy ponies left, got into their carriage and left for Canterlot, talking and laughing all the while.

Zoom had woken up and looked at the clock, to see that it was 11:00. He got up, and saw another note from Applejack on his bedside table.

Zoom,

Sky’s wedding is today! I’ve left you an invitation, Rarity made one up for you. I understand if you don’t want to come, but I feel that you would enjoy yourself if you did. It’s in Canterlot. I’m sure you’ll be able to get a carriage. It’s at 3:00.

Hoping to see you there,

Applejack

Oh, I’ll be there alright. I’ve been waiting for this for days. Zoom brushed his mane quickly, and went to leave. WAIT! Yo-- My saddlebags! I might need them! Zoom went back, a little confused. He checked through them, and saw the talon in the bottom, with so many cracks in it it looked like it was about to fall apart. He disregarded this, and put his saddlebags on his back. Then he left Sweet Apple Acres, for the wedding, and his inevitable revenge.

Wedding Party

Sky was walking about the courtyard outside the Hall Of The Elements where a party before the wedding was taking place, talking to people, and thanking them for coming. Rarity had said that Rainbow and Sky were both to stay in separate rooms away from the party until the wedding itself, so that they didn’t see each other by accident. Naturally, they had both separately contested this, and Rarity had caved when they --with the help of Twilight-- agreed to rotate their freedom. They were allowed to get out and mingle for an hour at a time each. Sky had been congratulated so many times she was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed. Then she saw a familiar stripy face, and went over to greet Zecora.

“Zecora! So glad you could come! It seems everypony in Equestria has shown up. It’s nice to see such a familiar face.”

“Hello little Sky Blue,

I am so happy for you.

I hope you enjoy this special gift,

I hope it’s enough to give your savings a lift.”

Zecora smiled and handed her an big pouch full of bits. Sky thanked her for the large gift, and asked her if she was sure about the amount in the pouch. Zecora just laughed and said;

“It’s never too much on your wedding day,

And I’m happy to be helping out a friend anyway.”

Sky thanked her again, and they separated.

Then Sky saw something that made her blood boil. Saralys was standing in a corner, being hounded by some hoodlums that Sky recognised as the bullies Rainbow had pointed out as ‘total bucking jerks’ in one of her old Flying School photos. They were pointing at her and laughing;

“How’d you get in, Changeling? Did you mimic a rat? At least that wouldn’t be hard. I guess we’ll just have to throw you out like the scum you are!” Saralys looked on the verge of tears as they went to grab her.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Sky yelled this as loud as she could, trying not to mutter one of the fifty killing spells that popped into her head, and ponies on the other side of the hall looked towards Sky in shock. The thugs let go of Saralys, and she fell to the concrete, crying.

“If anything, I’d say you jerks were the ones who snuck in! I doubt Rainbow would have wanted you here!” Their eyes widened as they realised the one who was yelling at them was Sky Blue, the one who had defeated the Changeling Queen, and the one who’s wedding they had just crashed.

“This is your wedding? To Rainbow Dash?” This was from a short light brown one, with brown hair that almost covered his face.

“That’s right. And Saralys there is my friend. I don’t care if she’s a Changeling. Saralys has been my friend for years, and yet I don’t know anything about you, except that you have now bullied both my wife to be, and my oldest friend. If I were you, I would get the buck out of here now while you still have all of your teeth and vital organs.” The three colts screamed and ran from the courtyard. Sky trotted over to Saralys and offered her a hoof. The Changeling was still crying, covering her head with her forehooves.

“Saralys, it’s okay. Those pricks are gone.”

“I-I’m sorry... I sh-shouldn’t have come... I knew that people still feel uneasy about Changelings.”

“Come with me then, I need to say something.”

“N-no, Sky. I don’t want to make things any worse. I should probably just go.”

“No! I don’t want you to have to feel uncomfortable because of racists. Come on!” Sky pulled Saralys onto her hooves, and walked up onto the stage where a band was performing. Sky recognised the grey cello player as Octavia, who Sky was pretty sure was the ‘leader’, as it was her she had met when hiring the band, but the others she hadn’t met before. Sky just addressed her.

“Octavia, can you get them to stop for a minute please? I have an announcement.” The band slowly stopped playing, and Sky walked up to the microphone.

“Excuse me everyone? I just wanted to talk to you for a minute.” The crowd, many of which Sky had only seen around town briefly, looked up to her with slight confusion. “This is my first, my oldest, and definitely my best friend, Saralys.” She beckoned to her dark-green friend, and she stood next to Sky, with a shy look on her face. Sky could see some barely concealed looks of disgust in the audience. “Now, about two months ago, the new Queen of the Changelings signed a peace treaty with Princess Celestia--” A voice from the audience interrupted with;

“Only because you hurt her mind with your dark magic!” This colt was quickly silenced by Zecora, who kicked him in the leg.

“And I only used my magic on her because without it, she would have been brainwashed by Discord. Anyway, she signed a peace treaty willingly. But obviously there are still people here who refuse to accept them. I just want to say, that if you hate Changelings simply because they are Changelings, leave my wedding now. I don’t want your thoughts and feelings ruining what is supposed to be a happy day.” With this, five or six ponies left, angry looks on their faces. “Thank you. Sorry to bother you with this, but I just can’t stand by and let this happen. I refuse to allow racists at my wedding.” With this, the rest of the audience broke into applause. But then, an orange stallion trotted up onto the stage, and walked right up to Sky, and stopped a few inches from her.

“How do we know you’re telling the truth? Where is Celestia? Why can’t she tell us this?” The stallion spun around when he heard a voice behind him. Luna was approaching, a nervous look on her face. She wasn’t used to mediating.

“She is here, but she is resting with Rainbow Dash. If you wish to speak to her I can take you to meet with her no--”

“Oh, look! If it isn’t Nightmare Moon, the one who almost put us in eternal night! You won’t brainwash me!” The audience started booing him, and a few objects flew towards him. Luna looked taken aback at the stallion’s sudden outburst.

“I-I-I don’t know wh-what you mean!” Sky was angered by the look on Luna’s face. She looked on the verge of tears. Luna wasn’t used to direct confrontation either. Sky strode in front of him.

“You were hating me, remember? Leave Luna out of this. She’s innocent.” Luna looked grateful of the fact that Sky was standing up for her.

“No she isn’t! She almost put us in eternal night!”

“No, Nightmare Moon did. This is Luna behind me. Nightmare and Luna are two different mares. Discord brainwashed Luna, and Luna became corrupted. Nightmare Moon almost put us in eternal night. Luna has apologised many times for what Nightmare Moon did.”

“Whatever. That still doesn’t make you or the bug behind me any better.” Many of the crowd gasped at this, as ‘bug’ was an awful insult for a Changeling. Sky would’ve attacked him then and there, but she saw a wide eyed Rarity watching from the sidelines, a mixture of awe and worry on her face, and Sky remembered that this was Rarity’s dream wedding. She didn’t want to make it worse by starting a fight.

“The Changelings never wanted to do any of what Chrysalis made them do. Maybe there were a few bad eggs that gave them a bad name, but on the whole they are no different from any of the ponies here. They have hopes, dreams, jobs, families. Do you know how I know that Saralys is one of the best?” Saralys blushed at this, and a smile appeared on her face when she realised that the stallion in front of her was the last Changeling-hater at the wedding, and he was the same one on the receiving end of a ‘I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed’ look that would make Celestia proud. “She is one of the best, and one of the ones that I know would have fought Chrysalis if she had the chance. And I know this because when me and the other Elements, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Rainbow Dash entered Chrysalis’ castle when we went there to defeat The Queen, we came upon a squad of Changelings that was meant to capture us on sight. They could have defeated us and captured us quicker than you can say ‘Oh, bucking hell’ with their superior numbers. But instead, Saralys ran towards me and hugged me, saying that she had missed one of her closest friends. She could have captured us and become a General for Chrysalis’ army. But she didn’t. She risked her life and her honour, because she knew Chrysalis’ true intentions, and she still saw me as a friend. Me! Who had avoided her for three years because I found out Chrysalis’ true intentions for myself. Somepony else might have taken us to Chrysalis regardless of the situation. But she didn’t. And do you know how I know she isn’t the only good Changeling?” Sky heard Saralys paw the stage nervously behind her.

She knows what I’m about to say. She told me this story when she first moved to Ponyville.

“I know she isn’t the only one because another one of my friends was in that same squad. When Chrysalis tried to run past them when she was escaping us, my best friend for as long as I had known both him and Saralys confronted her. His name was Michelaye. He stepped in front of her and said she couldn’t pass. She told him to move. He refused. She ordered him to move. Again, he refused. She said she would kill him if he didn’t. Do you know what he said to her? He said, word for word, ‘I don’t care if you kill me. As long as it delays you and brings about your defeat, I don’t care if I die.” And you know what? She killed him. On the spot. The other Changelings stood there in silence for a moment. Chrysalis said that that was what happened to traitors. Then, one by one, they stood in a line in front of her, including Saralys. They all said, together, ‘Even if that is what you do to traitors, we will take it if it means you are finally defeated.’ Chrysalis just blew them out of the way with a spell. At least three of them went over the edge of the landing pad, and fell to their deaths. One more snapped her neck as she flew out the door. In fact, only Saralys and two others were left alive after Chrysalis cast the spell. A few days ago, one of them died from his injuries. Does that sound like something a bug would do? Does it? Would a ladybug attack a spider if it meant the spider would eventually die? No.” Quite a few of the audience had begun crying when Sky finished talking. The stallion’s jaw had dropped, and he just said weakly, as though he was trying to hold onto a quickly escaping idea;

“But... What about you?”

“I think the fact that you’re at my wedding clears up whether I’m evil or not, doesn’t it? Now, if you still want to be a racist, leave now. If you don’t, apologise to Saralys and Luna.”

The stallion was blushing hotly, as he looked at Saralys sadly, and quietly said;

“I-I’m sorry... My father never liked Changelings... I-I just g-grew up with those i-ideas... I understand if you don’t want to accept...”

Saralys just looked at him, and Sky thought she was about to yell at the stallion, or not accept his apology. But then she smiled, and Sky could see pity in her eyes.

“I accept. I grew up in a family that despised ponies. If I hadn’t of met Sky, I might still. Turns out she changed both of our ideas’ and beliefs. If you want to learn more about my people, just ask. I’d be happy to oblige. I’d love to educate more ponies about Changelings, and prove wrong all these stereotypes. Like, you called me a bug. We aren’t bugs. We are actually mammals. I never understood where the ‘bug’ insult came from.” The stallion nodded vigorously.

“Yes, I would love to learn the truth about you, and learn how many lies my father told me all my life.”

Sky smiled, but was a bit confused at the sympathy Saralys was showing. But then Sky remembered the first time she had met the changeling, and it became clear.

She closed her eyes for a moment as she remembered their first meeting.

Young Sky was playing in a courtyard. The same courtyard, in fact, where she would later learn how to fight hypnosis. She was playing with her pet parasprite, which Chrysalis had enchanted not to multiply. Then a female Changeling about her size, walking next to a shy looking male one appeared at the other side of the courtyard. She yelled across the large stone square, her voice echoing back and forth;

“And what are you? Are you a pony? My Dad says you ponies are evil creatures, who stopped giving us food when we refused to help them invade other nations.”

Young Sky frowned, and she called back;

“What do you mean? It wasn’t all ponies, it was Celestia. She’s the evil one, not the others.”

“Well she’s a pony too!”

“Her actions don’t define the entire race. Just because one pony is evil, doesn’t mean the rest agree with her. My parents were trying to defeat her in fact!”

“What?”

“My parents were trying to stop Celestia’s tyranny!”

“Tyranny? Never heard that word. Did you make it up to sound smarter? Because Dad says that you’re all stupid.”

“It means that Celestia is evil, and she is oppressing the ponies in Equestria!”

“Oppressing? Are you stupid, or are you just speaking Foreign?”

Young Sky smiled as she went back a few years in language education, and stopped at about grade three.

“It means that she’s controlling ponies and doing evil things against their will.”

“Okay... So, what kind of Foreign are you speaking? Because my Dad said that you ponies copied our language for yourselves.”

“I’m speaking like a proper grade six student.”

“You’re in grade six?”

“I learn things faster than most others.”

“Wow, maybe Dad is wrong about ponies... Hey, my name’s Saralys, by the way, and this is my boyfriend Michelaye.”

Michelaye frowned.

“How many times do I have to say it, Saralys? It was a birthday present, and the card had one love heart on it!”

“And love hearts mean love, right?”

“Umm... Yes... But--”

“So we’re going out!”

Young Sky laughed at this cute exchange, and part of her knew that they did love each other, they just didn’t know how to express it yet. Probably because they didn’t understand it. Sky smiled, and realised that the changeling children, --who were now standing in front of her a few meters away-- were looking at her expectantly.

“My name’s Sky Blue.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Wanna play tag? It’s not much fun alone.”

“Sure!” Saralys laughed and tapped Sky; “You’re it!” Sky laughed and followed her. She knew that this was the start of what would hopefully be a long friendship.

Sky opened her eyes and smiled. Good memories. The stallion bowed slightly and turned to face Luna. He knelt knelt down, a look of shame present on his face.

“I’m sorry Princess... I wasn’t thinking... My Dad hated you... I’m sorry... He just always hated what you did, and I... And I just picked up those terrible ideas. Please accept my apology Princess Luna.” Luna bowed her head.

“Of course. Not everypony is perfect, and fillies pick up ideas easier from their parents.”

“Thank you. And, Sky Blue, I’m sorry I ruined this day for you.”

“Don’t be silly. In fact, I think you made it better. Knowing that I have stopped someone from being hateful towards Changelings just because they are Changelings makes me feel happy.” The stallion smiled weakly, but he jumped when Saralys touched his shoulder.

“You said you wanted to learn, so come with me and we’ll get some punch. I’ll tell you more about my race.” He smiled gratefully, and Saralys led him off the stage. Sky walked back to the microphone, and addressed the silent crowd.

“Alright, so that was a little more than a minute.” A few ponies laughed quietly.

“But, we’ve got about two more hours until the ceremony, so go on! Keep mingling!” The crowd dispersed, and Sky trotted happily over to Rarity.

“Sorry if that ruined the day, Rarity.”

“Of course not, darling! You just made me happier that there is one less racist out there.” Sky smiled and continued walking about the courtyard. She looked over to the large gates of the large square, and saw a carriage stop. A latecomer? Probably slept in. Then she saw that strange colt, ‘Zoom’ get out, and walk into the wedding. He showed the guard his invitation, and walked in. Sky lost sight of him as he walked into a large group of ponies who were talking happily. Maybe he just wanted to come to the wedding? Sky doubted this, and felt that Narrative Causality was about to walk in and kick things in the face. She just smiled and disregarded this thought. Then she saw a couple on the edge, chatting happily with each other, while looking over at the crowd enviously. Sky saw that there were a few guards in a loose circle around them. Sky went over to them, but as she approached, the guards appeared in front of her, blocking her path.

“Oh, guys, somepony finally comes over and you block them? Quite rude don’t you think? Let her past. She is the bride, --that is, one of them-- so she kind of gets a special status.”

The guards moved aside slowly, and Sky saw the couple, and recognised them up close as Shining Armour, Captain Of The Guard, and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, better known as Princess Cadance. Sky knew what Cadance looked like from the time Chrysalis had spent perfecting her form. Sky walked slowly over to them, and Shining Armour smiled cheerfully and Cadance asked Sky;

“Congratulations on your wedding! So, are you excited? I must say, today is definitely going better than our wedding.”

She laughed, and Shining Armour rolled his eyes, although with a smile on his face.

“Ummm... Yeah... I know that...”

“Oh, come on, Sky Blue, I’m joking! I’ve heard about your time with--”

“Chrysalis, yes... I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry? It’s not your fault!”

“I know, but I was on her side.”

“Sky, according Twilight’s letters, You spent thirteen years with Chrysalis because you believed she was good. In this time, you began to love her as a child loves a mother. About three years ago, you discovered her true affiliation. She blackmailed you when you tried to leave, saying that you wouldn’t have a home, or a place to eat, or even freedom if you left. But you also stayed because you, in a way, loved her. Don’t apologise for that.”

“Ummm... Okay... Princess...”

“Please, call me Cadance.”

“Okay.”

Shining armour was next to speak.

“I’m just glad somepony finally built up the courage to talk to us. I think everypony else is afraid they’ll be thrown in the dungeons if they come too close. I tried to dismiss the guards, but they said they didn’t want the captain of the guard to be brainwashed again.”

Sky frowned and said;

“That’s kind of insulting, when you think about it.”

“Ah, they’re just looking out for me! Aren’t you, lads?”

The guards nodded stiffly.

“Look, I have to go and talk to some more people while I still can, I’ll talk to you later, alright?”

“Alright, goodbye, Sky Blue, and I hope this day goes well.”

Sky left and continued greeting ponies happily, before Rarity came over and said it was ‘Dash’s turn to mingle. She said that she had told ‘Dash the story and Rainbow had been proud of Sky for standing up to the Stallion. Sky smiled and went into her dressing room, where Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack, and, surprisingly, Pinkie --The Party Pony--, and even more surprisingly, Celestia were talking and laughing, and Sky saw that they were wearing what Rainbow had described as their Grand Galloping Gala Gowns. When they noticed Sky walk in, she was thrown back as the four ponies tried to hug her all at once, but they eventually just settled for a group hug. Fluttershy was the first to speak.

“We’re so proud of you! Rarity came and got us when those bullies ran off, and we heard what you said.”

Celestia nodded sadly.

“Yes, Rarity recounted everything. I am so happy that there are ponies like you out there, who aren’t afraid to stand up to racists, and yell at them for how they act to people for being different. But it makes me sad that there are ponies like that in the first place. I wish that this world could just accept others for who they are. In fact, I wish that ponies never had any reason to hate others at all.” They all agreed sadly, but Pinkie --as always-- lightened the mood when she explained why they were in the dressing room as opposed to out at the party.

“We’re in here because these parties aren’t really our thing. We learned that at the Grand Galloping Gala.” They all laughed, and Sky remembered what Rainbow had recounted about that night. She ended up laughing loudly with them, and when they had stopped, they just talked happily about whatever came to mind.

Rainbow sat in her dressing room, talking to the others, when Rarity came in and said it was her turn to mingle. She also said that there were some special someponies who wanted to meet with her. Rainbow was confused by this, but bade the others farewell as they left for Sky’s dressing room. Rainbow was ushered out when Sky was safely locked away in her dressing room, and she was pushed out into the courtyard. She was immediately surrounded by ponies, who were congratulating her, and wishing her luck. She pushed past them, and looked around for the special someponies who wanted to meet with her. Then she jumped as she heard somepony approach her from behind, and she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“So, you’re the lucky mare? Or, one of them, from what I’ve heard. So we meet again!” Rainbow spun around, and squealed with fangirl delight when she saw Spitfire from the Wonderbolts standing behind her.

“We just wanted to come and see our number one fan get married! And we were wondering if you would let us perform?” Rainbow almost fainted when Spitfire said this.

“Of course! Having you perform would make this wedding about twenty percent cooler! Oh man, this is awesome! The Wonderbolts... At my wedding! YES!” Rainbow jumped up, feeling as if she could do a Sonic Rainboom with the energy that was coursing through her. She landed in front of Spitfire.

“Sorry about that.”

“No need to apologise. Hey, wanna hang out for a while?”

“You and me? Awesome!” They happily trotted away, and Rainbow saw Soarin’ at the buffet table, putting an entire apple pie on his plate. The Wonderbolts... At my wedding! I love Sky so much for doing this. And it just goes to show that Spitfire at least wants to be here, if she wants to hang out with me!

Zoom was wandering aimlessly about the courtyard, wondering what to do for two hours. He went and found a secluded spot to sit, and put his saddlebags on the ground. He went through them, and found the talon. It was chipped, and he could see some... Yellow? Shouldn’t it just be stone? Never mind. Yo--I should just put the talon away before someone sees. Zoom did this, and wandered back over to the party, a strange sense of fatigue weighing on him.

The Perfect Wedding. Yeah Right.

The next hour and a half passed without anything serious going wrong. Soarin’ had almost choked on a piece of pie, but Rainbow had been talking with him and Spitfire at the time, and had hit him in the chest, making the piece of badly-chewed pie fly across the courtyard. Spitfire had thanked Rainbow for saving them yet again, and she had almost passed out. And when Rarity had come out to get Rainbow back into her dressing room, the pegasus had almost killed her. Sky just told Rarity to let her enjoy it. But then, the clock tower at the highest point of Celestia’s castle had begun ringing, letting everyone know that it was 3 o’clock at last. Sky was going crazy with worry. If anything was going to happen, it would happen now. Would someone die? Would Canterlot explode? Would that ‘Zoom’ colt do anything? Sky guessed that if anything was going to happen, it would be the last one. ‘Zoom’ was just too suspicious. And he was guarding his saddlebags, as if whatever was in there was of utmost importance. It doesn’t matter. If he tries anything, I’ll destroy him. Sky tried to remember a blast spell. Enough to hurt, not enough to kill. Perfect. If he tries anything drastic, I’ll use that, and then we’ll question him. That is... If he does anything. Maybe he just doesn’t like fillyfoolers? Maybe he’s coming to the wedding to be polite? Maybe to try and accept me and Rainbow? I guess we’ll see.

And now Sky was walking up the huge aisle, which was pretty much just a gap in between where benches had been placed, as The Hall Of The Elements didn’t actually have seating. Luckily, The Hall was used for weddings from time to time, so Celestia had benches stored away for when they were needed. She saw the smiling Rainbow at the head, a huge smile on her face. She heard Octavia and her ‘small orchestra’ --Rarity had been very forceful when she corrected Sky’s naming of ‘band’-- playing some beautiful music. And she saw Celestia standing at the back, behind Rainbow, a little unsteadily. But Celestia still managed to stand as tall as she could when Sky reached the head and the princess began the ceremony. They did all of the traditional stuff, until they got up to the ‘If anypony objects to this union, speak now or forever hold your peace.’ when Sky heard a weak voice from the back of the room, saying;

“I... Object...” Sky spun around, and saw Zoom collapse in a heap, his eyes slamming closed like a portcullis, his body twitching like mad. His saddlebags were shaking about, as if whatever was in them wanted to escape. Then Sky felt a telekinetic force building up inside of it.

Almost as if... NO! A bolt of energy flew from the opening, and Sky jumped in front of Rainbow immediately, going down as it hit her in the chest.

“Ah, love makes you do downright stupid things sometimes, doesn’t it?” Sky could hear mad laughter, although it was faint. The bolt had sapped most of her energy, and her chest was beginning to hurt in the place it had hit. She felt Rainbow hugging her tightly, and that was when she recognised the laughter at last.

So...

It was Him...

Discord is back.

Zoom had taken his seat at the back of the hall, and sat through most of the ceremony in silence. He was beginning to feel weak, as if his energy was just disappearing. He was beginning to question the intelligence of his idea. The thoughts he had been having were slowly fading, and he was starting to realise just how strange some of them had been. But he couldn’t stop now, not when he was so close to getting his revenge. He vaguely heard Celestia saying ‘If anypony objects to this union, speak now or forever hold your peace.’ He felt himself stand up, and just as the last of his energy ran out and a mad laughter filled his head, he said;

“I... Object...” And with this, Zoom descended into darkness, his vision going black.

“Well well well. It would seem my little puppet is finally spent. Very well.” Sky, who was slowly getting her strength back, heard a yell from the ‘small orchestra’ and saw Octavia flailing about, as if she was trying to bat something away. Then she shook from head to hoof, and when she spoke, she did it in the familiar smooth male voice of Discord, which was extremely strange coming from Octavia’s slender frame.

“You see, when you girls destroyed my body, I managed to get a few pieces away. My friend over there, ‘Zoom’ found my talon. Definitely my biggest piece. I got incredibly powerful feeding of off his hate. That little spell you used in the Changeling attack had an unseen effect, it would seem.” Sky sat up, and spoke to Discord, her voice weak, but magically amplified to fill the room. She had muttered a small spell that would ensure he heard her.

“I know. The spell that killed those Changelings. I didn’t mean to! I apologised to the family! We made sure they were properly taken care of! It isn’t enough to bring their daughter back, but they understood what had happened! They forgave me! They knew it was an accident!”

“My little friend did--” Octavia’s body screamed and fainted. Then a light blue pony --who Sky recognised as Lyra Heartstrings-- in the middle of the ponies sitting on the benches started flailing about, much like Octavia had. Then she stopped, and as the ponies around her bolted away, Discord continued talking through her. Sky stood up slowly as he talked.

“Sorry, these ponies don’t have much energy. Anyway, ‘Zoom’ didn’t know that. He thought you had killed her for revenge of a sort. He was actually going to come to Ponyville and talk to you rationally about it. He was going to try and make some sense out of what had happened. Well, you know how I feel about making sense. I teleported my talon to his considerable hateful energy and he found me, and I’ve been feeding off of him and supplying him with some absolutely poisonous thoughts ever since!” Then Lyra screamed as well, and she passed out. Then yet another pony --this time a male one, who Sky had heard was named Doctor Whooves-- clutched his head.

“No, no, no! I have faced worse than you, draconequu--” Then he shuddered, and said in Discord’s voice;

“I doubt it. Anyway, since you girls destroyed my body, I’m being forced to borrow these pathetic ones. But... Celestia, you have always been so strong, perhaps you could lend me your body for a while?” Doctor Whooves yelled and fainted. Sky thought as quickly as possible. He said he would go for Celestia, yet he must know she is practically disabled at the moment. He wouldn’t go after the others, as he knows I would easily get him out of there and he knows how powerful my mind is... Who next? Sky was jerked out of her thoughts as she saw a blonde grey pegasus jump up, yelling and clutching her head. Sky saw her crossed yellow eyes, and recognised her as Derpy, the odd-job pony. She hovered in mid-air for a while, as if she was fighting some internal struggle, but Sky could see sweat running down her face, and knew she needed help. Sky flew as fast as she could with her dress on, and as she flew towards the stationary Derpy, she saw four different things happening below. Ponies were looking around wildly, as if they weren’t sure if the Derpy thing was just a trick. Octavia was being looked at by a white unicorn, --who Sky recognised as Vinyl Scratch-- Lyra was being looked at by a cream coloured pony, with a pink and blue mane --Sky’s mind put up the card Bon-Bon-- And Doctor Whooves was being healed by a pony with an orange mane --Carrot-top--. Sky reached Derpy, and put her forehead against the grey pegasus’. She pushed past her oddly varied defenses, into her mind. Sky was taken aback when she saw it was just a huge room with a colossal pile of muffins in the middle. Derpy was sitting on top, a smile on her grey face. Sky was even more surprised when she saw Discord failing to penetrate Derpy’s subconscious, as whenever he got close to her, Derpy just threw a muffin at him. She was laughing lightly, and Sky could see Discord was getting angrier. But every time he fell, Discord managed to get closer before the next muffin hit him. Then he reached the top, and was about to invade and inhabit Derpy’s mind completely, when the pile of muffins shifted backwards. Discord was knocked to the ground, and he went to climb up the pile again --As Sky could see his wings were gone, for whatever reason-- while still being bombarded with muffins. Sky flew towards Derpy and landed next to her.

“What’s going on? How are you still in control?” Derpy threw another muffin and looked at Sky with her oddly aligned eyes.

“This is my mind, right? So I should be able to control it!” She threw another muffin at Discord, and the Draconequus screamed with rage as he fell back again.

“Why am I doing this? I have no need for this weak mind!” Discord made to pull out, but Sky leapt off of the pile and tackled him, smashing his face into the floor of Derpy’s ‘Sanctum’. He yelled with pain.

“Oh, can you feel pain inside others’ minds because you no longer have a body? Oh, too bad! I guess I shouldn’t do this! PEINE! You’ll pay for ruining today of all days!” The spell hit Discord directly and he screamed in agony, and he continued screaming until he just faded, making sure Sky heard the message;

“I have other pieces of me stashed around Equestria! You’ll have to destroy them all if you wish to destroy me!”

Sky just lay down for a moment, before standing up and whispering;

“Challenge Accepted.”

Derpy landed next to her.

“Aww, is he gone already? That was really fun!”

“It was, Derpy, or at least it could have been if he hadn’t just ruined my wedding.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll calm everyone down and finish the wedding. Then we can talk to that Zoom guy once the wedding is over. Don’t worry Sky.”

“Okay... Thanks Derpy. No offense, but I never would have pegged you as one to comfort me about something like this, especially not in the same room with a colossal pile of muffins in it.”

“None taken. I understand that ponies see me as a bad luck magnet because of my clumsiness.”

“Are you okay? I’ve never seen anypony last that long against Discord.”

“I’m not like other ponies.” Derpy shrugged. “Something happened when I was a filly. I just wish I knew what went wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong with you! You’re unique. But not like everypony else. Listen, I have to get out of here and calm everypony down like you said.”

Derpy waved to Sky as she pulled out of Derpy’s mind.

Aftermath and Forgiveness

Sky came back to herself, and saw everypony in the room, including the now conscious Octavia, Lyra, and Doctor Whooves looking at her with worry in their faces. Sky took a deep breath, flew over to Rainbow, landed in front of her and smiled.

“He’s gone. Again. But he’ll be back.”

“He always comes back.” Rainbow said.

“Alright, now that we’ve dealt with that, can we finish this? We all know Zoom had been brainwashed. So he obviously wasn’t objecting of his own free will. And I doubt anypony else is going to object.” Sky looked and saw that Zoom was being carried away by Big Macintosh, who was wearing a small black bow-tie and a frustrated look. Celestia blinked once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Then she shook her head and tried to remember where they had left off.

“Oh yes! So, if there are no objections, I now pronounce these two Wife and Wife.” The newly married pegasi kissed, and everypony, although still a little confused, had heard what they were waiting for, and they all applauded, and continued applauding as they walked out of the hall. Octavia, being a professional, had pulled herself together, arranged the ‘small orchestra’ and they were now playing some happy wedding music as Sky and Rainbow walked out. Sky remembered something that Rarity had been stressing about, and, without warning, used a small propulsion spell to launch both of their bouquets in to the air. Every mare in the room dived for cover as Rarity leapt forward and grabbed Sky’s, a hungry look in her eyes. The room was silent as the second one flew towards Fluttershy, and hit her in the face, landing in her outstretched hooves. She blinked a few times, and then sighed.

“Rarity is going to want to plan mine as well, won’t she?” Sky and Rainbow laughed, and the crowd started cheering and applauding again, as Sky and Rainbow continued toward’s their transport.

When they were in their carriage, and moving slowly towards the main part of the castle --where Celestia had said to meet them as they broke apart, and just before the applause started-- Rainbow hugged Sky tightly.

“Well... We did it! We just got married! And the Wonderbolts were there! Yeah!” She turned and saw them doing flips and spins and loops in the air, and instead of disappearing like normal, their storm cloud trails stayed in the air, and spelt the phrase;

Congratulations

Rainbow

Dash!

Rainbow watched in silent awe, then she turned to Sky and kissed her.

“You could have had anything in the world... Money... Power... Anything... And you asked for the Wonderbolts... And not even for you... For me... You love me that much?”

“We just got married and you’re seriously asking me that question?”

“I’ve known couples who would never have done that for each other, even after they got married. It’s so strange, when I crashed into you not so long ago, I was talking to the one who I would eventually fall in love with and marry.”

“You fell in love after that. I fell in love then. Well... It wasn’t really love. It was more physical.”

“Oh, thanks.”

“Let me finish. I spent more time with you, and as I got to know you, and I fell in love with you.”

“I didn’t realise it until the first nightmare Chrysalis made me see. Funny, the one who said using love to gain power was a ridiculous sentiment was the one who made me realise how I felt about you.”

“Yes, very ironic.”

They sat in happy silence for a while, but they stopped outside the castle, and they both went in, as Big Macintosh walked past them. He nodded at them, and Sky knew that this was his way of saying congratulations. They walked in to the huge throne room, just as Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Celestia teleported in front of them. All of them except Twilight and Celestia looked dizzy for a moment, and Fluttershy said quietly;

“How do you do that so often, Twilight?”

“You get used to it.” Celestia walked unsteadily up to her throne, and sat down on it uncomfortably. This was when Sky noticed Zoom, unconscious, and lying next to Celestia’s royal chair.

“So, is this when we help him?”

“Yes, Sky. Sorry to take away the momentum from your wedding, but I know you can wait to leave for your honeymoon for a little while at least. And it would take too long to get a message to you, wherever you are when he wakes up naturally. Could you please, Sky?” Celestia nodded to Zoom, and Sky nodded as well, and dragged him to lay in front of Celestia. She went through her colossal library of spells, and remembered one that would work.

"Onwecnan.” Zoom jerked awake, and when he laid eyes on Sky, he shot up and went to attack her. AJ was the first to react as Zoom went to tackle Sky, pushing him to the ground.

“Zoom! Calm down! Sky just wants to talk!”

“NO! SHE IS THE REASON LAURA IS DEAD!” He thrashed about, and it said something about the grief he was feeling that he almost threw AJ off. Sky just walked up to him and looked at AJ.

“Looks like I have to.”

“You sure he won’t just hate you more?”

“We’ll have to see.”

“Okay.” AJ relaxed her grip, and when Zoom broke away and tried to attack Sky again, she just said the spell she was thinking of under her breath;

“Resurgere.” Zoom’s eyes slammed shut and he closed the last of the distance between him and Sky by sliding along the floor. Celestia and the others looked confused. AJ said;

“Ah thought you were just going to calm him down?”

“No, I did something better. I gave him a chance to talk with somepony special one last time.”

Zoom opened his eyes and saw... Nothing. He made sure his eyes were open, and waved his hoof in front of his face. Yep, definitely open. He looked around, and saw something approaching out of the gloom. Something green. No, not something... Somepony...

Laura...

He galloped towards her, and when they reached each other he hugged her with so much emotion, that anypony who had known him all his life would have been shocked, as Zoom was usually quiet and calm.

“Laura... I wished I could have seen you one last time... Wait, did Sky kill me too? Was it so I didn’t ruin her secret?”

“Zoom, calm down. Firstly, you aren’t dead, and we only have a short time to talk before I go back into the void. So don’t interrupt, please. Secondly, Sky didn’t kill me on purpose. She was surprised by the Changeling ambush, and she cast a spell without thinking. The spell had too much energy, and the last of it was used on me. Thirdly, I wasn’t forgotten, and Sky didn’t brainwash anypony. My family was given compensation, and Sky herself apologised to them. They forgave her, and everything has started to settle down. Mum still misses me, but the money for compensation has made her life infinitely better. Fourthly, You should stop mourning me and move on Zoom.”

Zoom stroked her face, and noticed she was taking on a slight transparency. A few warm tears rolled down his face as he noticed she was fading faster.

“Laura. I love you. I always did, I always will. But... If you want me to, I will move on. I will never forget you though Laura. But... You’re right. I have to find somepony else to love and spend my life with.” He looked at Laura, and saw she was almost totally gone. “Goodbye... My love.” He closed his eyes, and felt Laura’s soft lips brush his, and he heard her say;

“Goodbye to you too, my love.” And then the soft pressure of her hoof on his cheek disappeared, and he was left alone in the darkness, crying as hard as he ever had, knowing that that would be the last time he ever spoke to her... Or... At least in this lifetime. He screamed at the sky, as much of a sky as there was here. And then the nothingness faded, to be replaced with more nothing as his eyes closed.

The seven elements and Celestia were silent as Zoom opened his eyes. He blinked a few times in the sudden light, but rolled onto his hooves and walked towards Sky. Rainbow looked as though she was about to attack him, but Sky held up a hoof and Rainbow leaned back, while still ready to pounce if need be. Zoom reached Sky and hugged her with his forehooves.

“Thank you... So much... And... I’m sorry for ruining your wedding day.”

Sky stood back, and looked at him with a blank look. Then she smiled and clapped him on the shoulder.

“Never mind, mate! I’m happy to do that for you. I took her away, and, although it wasn’t for long, I gave Laura back to you. It was the best I could do to make up for taking her away in the first place.”

“She told me... She told me to move on and stop mourning. But, couldn’t you... Bring her back? Give me more time?”

“I’m sorry. It’s a one use only thing. I can only give you a few minutes with somepony. But I can only bring them back once.”

“Okay... Thank you...” Zoom looked at a loss for words. He turned and addressed Celestia directly. “Princess Celestia... Because of me, Discord returned. He may not have done any serious damage, but it is still my fault. I chose to hate Sky, even though she didn’t do what she did on purpose. I chose to carry that feeling.”

“No you didn’t. Discord has hypnotised minds stronger than yours. It was his fault that you held on to it and brought it here. It was Discord who brought about his own return. You did not help him of your own will. And the fact that you apologised and recognised what you had done shows that you wouldn’t have done it of your own volition even if Discord had offered you revenge personally. He poisoned your thoughts. I will not punish you for something he did.”

“Thank you, Princess. Now, I know it is a bit random, but may I ask about one thing?”

“Yes. What do you wish to know?”

“I was wondering if there was any available accommodation in Ponyville? In the few days I was there, even though it was through a veil of hate, I grew to like the town. Are there any places available for me to buy? I know my family should be able to help with some money.” Celestia looked taken aback by this for a moment, but she slowly smiled and replied with;

“Of course, I believe there are a few houses available for sale. Are you sure you don’t want to live with your family?”

“No, I think it would be best to start my life now, instead of living at home all my life.”

“Very well.”

Celestia looked slightly amused by this, as it seemed too ordinary a conversation, after what had just happened. But then Sky cleared her throat and said;

“Um, princess? Could me and Rainbow please leave? We would like to get to the train station and start our honeymoon as soon as possible.” Celestia laughed and replied with;

“Of course, and I hope you enjoy your honeymoon. And Zoom, I shall speak with the mayor about housing, and she will get a message to you as soon as possible.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

And with this, Twilight turned to the others and asked them if they were ready to teleport back to Ponyville. Celestia asked to stay, as she was slowly getting better with walking. Twilight had been disappointed at this, as she was loving spending so much time with her mentor.

“Don’t worry, my faithful student. I’ll make sure to come to Ponyville for visits more often.” Twilight smiled widely at this, and her horn glowed brightly before her and the other five --Pinkie, AJ, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Zoom-- disappeared. Celestia looked at Sky, and asked;

“May I ask where were you planning on going for your honeymoon? I’m curious.”

“Well, me and Rainbow were going to travel across Equestria. It will take a few weeks minimum, but the Weather Patrol was only too happy to give us the time off.”

“Very well. I hope you enjoy you honeymoon, Sky Blue, and you too Rainbow Dash.”

“Thank you, Princess.” They both said this at the same time, and then turned and left, towards their honeymoon, and from there, their life together. Ha! If only it were that simple. With Discord still around, we’ll have quite a job ahead of us. Not even Celestia knows how many pieces he still has around Equestria. But now isn’t the time to worry about that. I just want to enjoy this moment with Rainbow Dash. They walked out to their carriage, and in turn, it trundled off to the train station where the newlyweds would take a train to their first destination: Appeloosa.

As the five ponies arrived back in Ponyville, Zoom stumbled away, wondering how Twilight did it so often.

“Sorry Zoom, I should’ve warned you.” Twilight offered him a hoof, and he gladly took it. Twilight pulled him up, and he shook his head.

“I figured you where about to anyway.” Twilight smiled and walked away, with Pinkie following her close behind.

“So, Ah’m guessing you won’t be staying with me any more?”

“Sorry Applejack. Your family should be back soon, and until he moves in with Fluttershy, you still have Big Macintosh.”

“Okay... Good point.” AJ smiled and trotted away. Now it was only Rarity and Zoom left. She pawed the ground awkwardly.

“So, if you’re going to be living here, would you like a tour?”

“Really? I’m surprised you even want to be loosely associated with me, after I ruined the wedding you had been planning for so long.”

“Celestia did say it was Discord, not you. And I would like to get to know you. You seem like a nice enough Colt.”

“Thanks. It might be nice to actually know more about Ponyville.”

“Come with me then. I’ll show you around.”

“Thank you, Rarity.” And with this, Rarity and Zoom walked away, happily chatting about Ponyville. I think this is the start of something special. If only Zoom knew that Rarity was thinking the exact same thing.

Alright, here we go again.

Dear Journal,

It’s been a few months. I only just remembered I was supposed to be writing in you. Ironic that I forgot the thing that was supposed to help me get my memories back if they disappeared again. Me and Rainbow are on the train at the moment, on our way to Appeloosa. I was going through my bags and came across this. We got a message from Twilight earlier today. She just told us what had happened in the two days since we left. Apparently AJ’s stallion’s negotiations didn’t go for as long as he expected, and he’s now back, and just in time too, as Big Macintosh has finally moved in with Fluttershy. Celestia has put out a decree that any strange stone objects are to be turned over to her immediately, so she can have them destroyed. Apparently the talon in Zoom’s saddlebags had re-hardened, and Celestia had asked Twilight to ask me what the spell to destroy it was. I sent it back, and apparently it went perfectly. Celestia had to borrow some of Luna’s strength to do it, as she is still quite weak, but the talon was finally destroyed. Luna isn’t as stressed as she was now that she is able to speak with Celestia directly about what to do. Celestia offered to take back the responsibilities, but Luna refused, saying that she had to learn for whenever Celestia wanted a break to visit Twilight in Ponyville. Twilight and Pinkie Pie are closer than ever, and I don’t think it’ll be long before they move in with each other too. And, strangely, Rarity and ‘Zoom’ are apparently spending a lot of time together since the wedding, and I think there may be something there. I don’t know, I haven’t actually seen them together. Maybe they are developing feelings for each other. Probably, knowing how fast ponies seem to fall in love in Ponyville. Rainbow has been on top of the world since the wedding, and I must say, I’m really excited too. AJ sent a letter too, saying that her cousin, ‘Braeburn’ is going to let us stay with him. But she did say that Appeloosa was kind of boring after a while, and that maybe we shouldn’t stay there for too long. I’m pretty sure she was just trying to say ‘It’s a horrible destination for a honeymoon’ without actually explicitly stating it. Rainbow agreed, and said we should just stay for a day, enjoy some ‘Wild West Dancing’, ‘Mild West Dancing’, Horse Drawn Carriages, Horses Drawing Horse Drawn Carriages, Apple flavoured food and leave for our next destination. Rainbow was actually the one who suggested it, and I agreed because I would love to take her:

The Changeling Homeland. Well, more like The Changeling Capital, as they never actually settled anywhere else in their barren home. She just said that we could stay in the new Queen’s Castle. I found out her name too, ‘Madilys’, and I sent her a message asking her if that would be alright. She sent back a message almost immediately, saying that she would be only too happy to let the ‘Saviour Of The Changeling’s’ stay for a few days. I asked Rainbow why she wanted to go, and she said that it would be fun visiting my homeland. Her saying that made me so happy. Not the part about wanting to see my homeland, the fact that she called it My Homeland. The others have been trying to convince me for three months that my homeland is Equestria, and I am always saying that I grew up with the Changelings. The fact that Rainbow accepted that I saw it as my homeland and called it as such made me love her even more... If that’s possible. I can’t wait to show her all of my favourite places, and see some of my other friends. I wasn’t as close to them as Saralys or Michelaye, but they were still Changelings that I loved to spend time with. And... I know Rainbow knows this, although she hasn’t said it.

I want to visit Chrysalis’ grave. I hated her... Or I thought I hated her. That theory kind of evaporated when I broke down and cried for hours when I heard that, Yes, Chrysalis was dead and buried. I’m just glad I was at home with Rainbow, not out with the others. They know that I loved her, they just didn’t know how much. I think... No, I know, that I loved her more than my original mother. I barely remember her. I think she was... Purple? Brown? I don’t even have a clue what my father looked like. This will sound... Or.... Look horrible, but Chrysalis was my mother. Not some vaguely remembered pony. I don’t even know what type of Pony my mother and father were! Yes, Chrysalis was my mother. I loved her more than anything else. Even after I discovered her lie, I still loved her. Mother... I hear, or say, or think that word, and the name Chrysalis always follows close behind. But... Moving on...

I don't have much else to say... I want to get as much down as possible, but... It would seem somepony has writers’ block.

Anyway, that’s it.

The end.

--Keep reading if you want some notes. It’s not imperative that everypony reads them, they are just my way of giving a little bit of info, and I also have a special request.--

A Few Notes

--Notes--

Alright. I only have three things to say... Or write... So at least I won’t keep you for too long.

Alright. Firstly:

I have said it about twenty times now, But here it is again:

Thank you so much to Zoom_The_Kid for the idea for this story, and allowing me to use his own OC, Zoom as the antagonist. Zoom_The_Kid id a genius. I’m so glad that they gave me that idea, because, without it, Sky Blue would have fallen into obscurity, and probably would have eventually been forgotten by me altogether. But now, I have got the idea for a series, but I’ll talk --Okay, write-- about that later. Thanks again to Zoom_The_Kid for the idea and allowing me the use of their OC.

Alright. Secondly:

This next one is about my idea for the Discord defeat.

I’m sorry if the scene with Discord was a bit... Okay A LOT rushed. I wanted to just get him in and out as quickly as possible, while still showing how powerful he still was, and how he had come back, and why he had given up so easily. I was actually originally going to have Pinkie defeat him, with her crazy mind. But then I remembered that she had been brainwashed easily by Discord in ‘The Story Of Sky Blue’, so I was afraid it wouldn’t make sense. I was re-watching Season One at the time, and one of my favourite songs was on: ‘Winter Wrap-up’. You all know the one. Well, I looked up from my computer, clutching my head in frustration when I saw one of my favourite background ponies walk past the screen, Doctor Whooves. That was when I got the idea that I could include him, and the other background ponies --Octavia, Vinyl Scratch, Bon-Bon, Carrot-Top, Lyra Heartstrings and Derpy-- with a more focused role. I mentioned Derpy vaguely in the first one, but I wanted to mention more, and more directly this time. This revelation also helped me clear up a plot hole that had been annoying me . You see, earlier on in the story, originally, there was just a stage randomly at the wedding party --When Sky kicked the racists out of the party (Something I loved writing. I’m definitely not a racist. I hate everyone equally. LQL JK)-- And it was annoying me that there just happened to be a stage there that Sky could make her announcement from. Having Octavia playing with her band-- Sorry, ‘Small Orchestra’-- was the perfect reason for there to be a stage and microphone. So, I decided to have Doctor Whooves have his mind attacked by Discord. But then I realised, what if I made a mistake? I’ve never seen Doctor Who, so what if he doesn’t actually ever fight enemies off in his mind? There is still a remnant of that though, where Doctor Whooves says;

“I have faced worse than you Draconequu--” I just liked that idea so much, I didn’t want it to be forgotten. But now I had nopony to fight Discord off. I wanted somepony new to work with. We had all seen the mane six’s ‘Sanctums’ and all of the background ponies were now busy. --I wanted to keep it even, three out, three healing--

That is, almost all of them. There was one I had forgotten, but had mentioned a little earlier on:

Derpy Whooves.

I wouldn’t have included her if I hadn’t of looked on my phone to see if I had any notifications. I saw that somepony had commented on ‘The Story Of Sky Blue’. It was actually the first person who had commented on it as well. The user Derpyhooves15. I would like to thank them for their --however indirect-- help in the plot for this. When I saw the comment, and read the username again, I got a flash of inspiration. In fact, I’m not ashamed to say that I found myself exclaiming “IIIDEEEAAA!” much to the chagrin of my family. I immediately went back to my computer and started typing like mad. There were so many spelling and grammar errors you would think I was a primary school kid. Then again, by today’s standards, more like a high school kid. Anyway, I went over the part in Derpy’s mind, and it... It... It felt right. I just loved the idea that Derpy’s mind was so... So... Different, that not even Discord was able to penetrate it. Like I said, I know it seemed rushed, and it kind of was. But it was also to give it that ‘What the buck just happened?’ feeling.

Alright. Thirdly,

I’m not sure if this is common practice, or if it’s even acceptable, but I’m going to get it down, just in case it is. If anypony out there would like to help me with this series --Which is what I hope it will be, with the help of other writers out there-- please PM me. Oh, yeah... I haven’t said what I need help with...

What I would like help with is this:

I suck at coming up with OCs. It’s not my opinion. It’s a fact. Sky Blue was the second actual good OC I have ever come up with. The other I came up with about five or six years ago, in about grade four. But never mind that. Coming up with Sky Blue for me was a miracle. I wanted to make something at least vaguely original for my first FanFic, and Sky Blue was it. As I said, I suck at coming up with OCs. If anypony out there wants to help me with what I hope I can one day confidently call ‘The Series Of Sky Blue’, please PM me with ideas. It doesn’t have to be one you’ve used in the past. If you just come up with one randomly and would like to see her/him in Sky Blue’s universe, let me know, please.

I don’t care if they are a Pony, or a Changeling. Preferably not a zebra. The only problems I would face with that race, would be the rhyming problems I always face.

...

Okay, that wasn’t the best way to show I’m bad at rhyming. Anyway, If you do choose to help a budding author out, send me a message, with a description --So I don’t picture them as a cardboard box or something-- and at least a rudimentary backstory. I like to know a character’s backstory before I write stories with them in it. I like being able to have them tell stories where they reference their backstories in my stories. Like I said, I’m not sure if this is common practice, but I assume it would be acceptable, judging by the fact that I used Zoom_The_Kid’s OC in this one. I would make sure to give all credit where it was due. As you can see, I have given Zoom_The_Kid credit in both the description, and now here. So at least you know that I would give credit. I don’t steal others’ ideas.

Well... Not often.

LQL, just kidding.

Anyway, I think I’ve written all I meant to write.

If my request isn’t allowed, or if it offends enough people (Believe me, I know that feel) I’ll delete it. But like I said, if anypony wants to help me with this, PM me with a name, description --especially their Cutie Mark--, and at least a RUDIMENTARY backstory. --Just so you know, They would end up being the antagonist, unless you had different ideas. If you don’t want them to be a bad girl/guy, let me know and I’ll figure something out with them as a good girl/guy.--

Oh, I wanted to mention one last thing. As everypony knows, I appreciate ALL advice, but, in all honesty, my biggest worry is the storyline itself. A story can have bad grammar and spelling, --As much of a cardinal sin that it is-- but, --in my eyes at least-- the storyline is the most important part. I like to know if a)It makes sense, b)It is actually good, and c)... I can’t think of anything for c). I like to know this so I can make improvements to future stories. Also, I am quite new to writing, --well, good writing-- so my techniques aren’t the best yet. Advice about that would be appreciated as well. ArcaneAngel has offered me some good advice, and I am going to try and implement it in future. I just hope I didn’t misunderstand --I know that feel too--. Anyway, that’s it... For now.

--Then again, it might be it for Sky Blue if no-one sends me anything--

Sincerely --well, more or less sincerely, I don’t know-- Pyro1101.