Author's Note

I made up the Grogar video game, but it would be cool if this game was actually existed, so anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, there's still a few more to come and the next chapter is a Halloween chapter, also sorry if this feels rushed, I'm just trying to keep up with the time.

Anyways, thank you all so much for your patience and support. Be sure to stay tuned for more chapters and stories to come in the future. Also, remember to keep on bronying on, even after our favorite TV series has come to an end, we will NEVER let it die for a long time.

Where There's Hope...

It was a pretty short race, but in the end, it was you who beat Starlight. "Better luck next time, Starlight, but man you got a real spring in your step," you praised.

"Thanks. You weren't so bad yourself," Starlight said, lightly panting.

After your little race, Starlight moved up to the door and got out her house keys, unlocking the door and then went inside, inviting you into her humble aboad. "Wow, this is a nice place you got here," you said, scanning the interior and admiring the decor of the place. Her house was a one story house. The living room had a big couch to your left facing the right where Starlight had the TV set up on top of a sturdy wooden drawer. In between the couch and the TV was a long coffee table, coasters and all. And in the center of the coffee table, she had a picture of her and her dad together when he took her out for ice cream.

A few feet away from where you stood was a cabinet filled with stacks upon stacks of DVDs and video games, all in a very organized fashion. Across from you to your right was an open doorway leading to the kitchen, which you quickly stepped in and checked out. It had a full-functioning dish washer and a 4-door, stainless steel fridge with an ice and water dispenser.

"Holy shit, you're living a much better life than I am. And how'd you get that fridge, those are hella expensive and hard to get unless you're loaded," you commented. Starlight didn't answer. "I can only imagine how much all of this really cool stuff costed in total." But the tour was far from over, you headed out of the kitchen and went down the hallways on the right side of the house that had 5 doors.

"Altogether, it probably costed me a little over 300 grand. The fridge was actually a gift from my dad a couple of days after I settled into my new place. Anyways, go ahead and sit down, I'll go ahead and get the video game booted up and running."

You did as she asked and sat down on the couch. She walked over to the TV and kneeled down, pressing the power button on her console. She then comes back with a couple of controllers, handing you the blue one while she held the back one. "I'm still kinda new with this game, so we might end up getting beaten a little more than we might expect, so don't try and go all Gamer Sunset on me and start raging."

"I'll try my best not to. Shall we start?" you asked.

"You bet," she said. Soon, she pressed start on her controller. The intro looked pretty cool, so the both of you watched as it progress while listening to the music. It gave off a very dark and menacing vibe and both you and Starlight were geeking out on how excited you two were, wanting to skip it, but you chose to be patient and wait until the song and the intro was completely finished.

"Damn, this is pretty intense," you said.

"Yeah," Starlight said after the intro was over. Once done, the title menu showed a picture of whom they would guess to be Grogar himself, judging by his darkened silhouette, shadow-y, purple aura and glowing red eyes with the selections New Game and Options. Starlight selected the obvious option. Then, it showed two additional options titled "1P Story Mode" and "2P Story Mode." Starlight picked the 2nd option and soon they hear an evil laugh as the screen faded to black for a short amount of time.

"Let's get this party started," you said, grinning.

Soon, the game commenced and you and Starlight picked out your characters. Starlight's character was a witch that had light magic powers. Your character was dressed up as an assassin dressed in black and red clothing with two magic swords and other useful close combat items. But something tells you that you wouldn't have those until later along the road in the game so to speak. Soon, the adventure began.

"So what is this game all about?" you asked.

"The objective is to either kill Grogar, or trap him back in the Realm of Darkness. He escaped from the Realm of Darkness and plans to build Tambelon back from the ground up and rule with an iron hoof. And we need to find this certain artifact that can we can use to either kill him or imprison him: his bell."

"Okay then. I'm fine with any one of these options," you said.

"I say we kill him, see where that gets us," Starlight replied. Strangely, the conversation you had with Starlight had somehow exceeded the time of the opening cutscene and now, both of your video game characters venture off on the biggest quest in the game.

About 20 minutes into the game, you and Starlight are about to enter the boss fight when all of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. Starlight paused the game and went to answer it. She looked through the peep hole and saw Trixie outside.

She unlocked the door and opened it up. "The Great and Powerful Trixie has arrived! I trust you all didn't start without the guest of honor?" she boasted. But before Starlight could answer, "Ooh, are you playing the newest Grogar video game? I'd say you've been pretty busy keeping yourselves occupied."

"We're just about to take on the first boss of the game," Starlight said.

"Trixie can see that. By the way, Trixie also brought some snacks in case you we get hungry," Trixie said, making you and Starlight quirk and smirk.

"Let me guess: peanut butter crackers?" Starlight asked.

"Oh come on, Trixie doesn't always eat peanut butter crackers," she said in 3rd person again. "Besides, I already had some back home before I came. Trixie brought along some tasty honey buns for Carlos with an added bonus of Wild Bill's vanilla cream soda. And for Starlight, I've taken the liberty of stopping by the Yummy Freeze to get you a delicious ice cream cone." Trixie handed each of her friends their snacks. Starlight paused the game and ran over to Trixie, grabbing her double scoop ice cream.

You got up and walked over to Trixie, getting your drink and snack. As you were about to dig into your snack, your eyes drift over to Starlight, who was eating her ice cream happily. Some of it got on her nose and you chuckled at how cute she looked still eating her ice cream.

Before she noticed you checking her out, you looked away and took another bite of your honey bun before taking a sip out of your vanilla cream soda. Sadly... "Ooh, trying to sneak a peek at Starlight, are we? Couldn't resist looking at her eating her ice cream? Did you find it cute how some of it got on her nosey?" Trixie asked relentlessly, making Starlight smirk at you. Thanks a lot Trixie. It never feels good when someone's ratting you out just for the fun of it, but then again, she has a pretty big mouth.

"You're lucky you're cute, Carlos," Starlight said, getting the ice cream off her nose and continued eating, just as you kept on enjoying your snacks.

"Changing the subject, Carlos. We're wondering if you're still gonna be able to go to the Halloween Dance, or are you still too upset to go?" Starlight asked. "It just wouldn't feel right if you didn't come. You're like one of the best dancers we've ever seen. But, if you don't want to come, you don't have to."

"I have to agree," Trixie added.

"I... well... I suppose I could go to the dance. I have my costume and this is the last high school Halloween Dance I'll ever get to go to, so... I guess there's no harm," you said. You still felt uneasy with going to the Halloween Dance since you still haven't fully recovered from the heartache. However, some hearts don't stay broken forever and yours is one of them, especially with these two cute girls by your side.

"Wonderful! Trixie cannot wait to see you there!" Trixie said.

"Same here. I've the best costume you'll be dying to see," Starlight said. You only guess what it's going to be and you felt a bit excited to find out. "Anyways, Carlos. How about tomorrow, we go and hang out with a few more friends so we can all hang out just like old times?"

"That depends on who we're meeting up with," you replied.

"Oh I'm sure you'll be happy to know who they are," Starlight said. "Anyways, for now, how about we get back to the game and whoever dies has to give the controller to Trixie."

"Alrighty then, get your game on!"

"Hah! You've been watching that show again, haven't you?" Starlight laughed. You shrugged and resumed the game with Starlight, all while enjoying the rest of your snacks. Trixie sat between you and Starlight, watching you two explore her game while waiting for the chance to take on some of the villains in the game.

For the 3 hours, you, Trixie and Starlight each took turns playing the game, constantly getting wrecked by two of the bosses in the game. And to be honest, it was a mission to at least survive and move past them, but they were like 5 or 10 levels above your characters.

The 2nd boss was the most painful to get past. Fighting against a 10-foot tall minotaur with this huge axe was no cake walk in the park. All three of you took turns trying to find the weakness in the monster's defenses and by some miracle, you finally did it. But boy was that a tough task. It was tough enough to make you all stop playing and move onto something else to do. Now that you were all pooped out, you and the girls relaxed and watched some of Starlight's movies.

"Phew, I don't think I've ever faced something that big and annoying at the same time," you said, sitting on the couch with Starlight and Trixie.

"Well it is kind of our fault. We did plunge into a fight we weren't prepared for. So for the next boss fight, we'll just have to level up our characters to where we can be more of a match for the next upcoming bosses, then we'll have no trouble with getting to the final boss. However, that can wait for later on in a few days or so, but for now, let's just keep watching a movie and relax," Starlight said.

"Good idea. That horrid beast was getting far too annoying," Trixie replied.

"I'll say. You looked like you were about to break Starlight's controller in half. Sometimes, you gotta know when to chill out or you'll end up having to pay for a new one," you added, making Trixie blush. For the next couple of hours, you all watched different movies such as Grudge Match, a movie that you loved watching because of how funny it was, Charlotte's Web, both the animated version and the live-action movie, which were Starlight's favorite, then there's Trixie's favorite movie known as Air Bud.

She loved the idea of a dog being so talented when it comes to sports. And she also enjoyed how funny it was to see that pesky clown drive his beat-up truck into a lake.

Needless to say, the day was going on better than you anticipated. Two of your closest friends were sticking by your side, giving you a good time and reigniting your bright smile. But, little did you know, things were about to get even better the next day. What kind of surprises are in store for you? Only time will tell and you've got plenty of time on your hands before the upcoming Halloween Dance in 2 weeks.

The next day, after having a wonderful day with two of your friends, but somehow, they weren't quite finished with you just yet and had plans to really make you smile. It's half past noon and Starlight and Trixie were taking you someplace where they wanted to surprise you.

None of them would say anything other than predicting you liking the surprise. You walked around the city with them, still clueless on what was in store. Now, because you had both girls holding each of your hands... in public, it guaranteed to draw in many watchful eyes. Mostly guys who were still single and girls who had similar hot looks like your exes and when they stared, they'd look in disgust. You chuckled at how jealous everyone was feeling about you being with two cuties.

"Okay, this should be close enough," Starlight said, stopping you and Trixie.

"Uh girls, what's going on here? I don't get it," you said. Trixie and Starlight quickly covered your eyes and shushed you, now peaking your curiosity even further. "Uh... why are you doing this?"

"Be patient, silly. We're almost there," Trixie said.

"Now follow us and whatever you do, no peeking," Starlight said. You went along with it and blindly followed the girls while hearing them giggling. As if whatever surprise was getting you curious enough, having to follow them blindly was certainly something else. You felt yourself and them turning right and continued walking, then stopped before making another right. Next thing you hear was a bell and a door opening. Were they taking you to some kind of shop or a restaurant? "Okay now follow us."

You took a few steps inside whatever building you were in and then felt the girls turn you to the left. "Okay, Carlos, you can look now," Trixie said. Both girls removed their hands from your eyes. When your vision was clear, you gasped when seeing a few other familiar faces and where you were at: The Sugar Cafe.

"SURPRISE!!!" shouted these other girls. You didn't know how they did it, but somehow Starlight had arranged a group lunch with some of bestest friends you've met throughout high school. You clearly identified two members of the Rainbooms, Rarity and Fluttershy, Rara, the young high school pop singer, Vice Principal Luna, your personal friend and secret crush and there's the always blunt Shaowbolt from CPA, Sugarcoat.

"No... freaking... way! Did you do all of this?" you asked Starlight and Trixie, excitedly.

"We figured we'd arrange a little get-together and help lift your spirits after what happened with... you-know-who and how they betrayed you," Starlight explained.

"Really? You did all of this for me?" you asked.

"Starlight told us everything," Luna said, making you turn towards your Vice Principal. "What Cathy and Ashley did to you was downright despicable. If cheating on someone else were punishable, I'd suspend the both of them, but I could only suspend Cathy after I caught her having intercourse with other male students... in the men's restrooms and you had no idea how unsightly it was."

"It was positively horrid. And to think they used to be popular among others," Rarity chimed in, folding her arms and glaring out the window.

"They're made like that because of their stupid daddies spoiling them rotten to the point where they can just have anything they want in life and not know the true meaning of happiness. Once sluts, always sluts, you're better off without those dumb bitches, period," Sugarcoat bluntly said.

"She's right, they were a bad influence to almost everyone. We're sorry you ended up being one of their victims, Carlos, you never should've had your happiness chewed up and spat out right in front of you," Rara said.

"And now that we know, we want to try and help pick up the pieces. Thanks to Starlight giving us the gist of your troubles, we're going to make sure you have a happy life again. So, care to join us for some lunch?" Fluttershy asked, patting a spot on the table she and the other girls were sitting at. You were at a loss for words by the amount of support these girls were giving you. It almost brought tears to your eyes. There was no need to think it over, you just went and sat down at the biggest table next to Flutters. Starlight and Trixie sat down with you, ready for a lunch that all of you will remember.

It feels good to have this many friends close by. It seems that not all hope is lost.