The Champion of Harmony: What If?

Chapters

What If: They Met Earlier?
What If: He Wasn't The Champion?
What If: He Never Went to The Facility?

What If: They Met Earlier?

Emerald wasn't completely sure what was going on.

The strange white pony, who introduced herself as Celestia, had brought him to a funny little room, that had a large fireplace with big pointy metal sticks next to it. It also had dark, violet coloured walls, a big red carpet with a massive gold sun in the center, which contrasted the dark brown of the ceiling. There was even a small podium nearby.

Celestia had asked him to sit on one of the comfy purple pillows, while she left through the door they'd entered in.

He'd been scared of the bigger pony at first, but she seemed really nice. She'd even been nice enough to take him to his family, who all seemed really happy too! It was nice, seeing them all smile like that. They had even been making that strange sound again!

Laughter, he believed Celestia had called it. He honestly hadn't thought it was possible at this point!

She told him that she had talked to a lot of the ponies around, and that in no time at all, everyone would be back home!

The thought made Emerald a little sad, but he kept pushing it aside. They'd get to go home, after all! See their real families again. They'd finally have another reason to keep on going!

Not like Emerald, who still felt empty from the earlier realization. They were free, but it had come at the cost of a lost purpose. His purpose.

He faintly recalled his Father saying something about everyone needing a purpose to live. Did that mean that, without his own, he should just die?

He was broken from his thoughts when Celestia came back in, a soft smile on her face.

"Hello again, Emerald," she said, before stepping to the side, revealing a nervous looking purple unicorn, "This is Twilight Sparkle, she's a student of mine, and she'll be the one helping you from now on."

Emerald blinked, and stared at the unicorn.

She had a pretty purple coat, what he thought was a very dark blue mane with a purple and pink stripe, where a purple horn poked out, and wide purple eyes. She also had this funny looking star as a... cutie mark, just barely peeking out from behind a pair of strange brown bags.

She was... small. Shorter than he was, and only slightly less thin. She seemed to be shaking the slightest bit the more he stared at her. Obviously a little younger, if not the same age as him.

Immediately his 'Big Brother Tendencies', as Trixie and Spitfire called them, came to life.

Was she being hurt too?! Was she not eating enough?! She was much, much too thin! Why was she like this? He thought Celestia had been super nice!

"Well, I'm afraid I have some things to tend to,"Celestia said, and turned to Twilight, "Be patient with him, Twilight. He might not be as quick a learner as you were," she added, before leaving once more.

The room was silent, with him and Twilight just staring at each other, before one of them broke the silence.

"U-umm... h-hello?"Twilight asked timidly, shocking Emerald out of his thoughts,

"U-uh... He-Hel-lo?" he said, remembering the few lessons he'd had in their language. He wasn't very good at speaking it, but he knew plenty of words by now.

Huh... now that they were free... maybe he could spend time learning even more? And maybe even learning to speak better too!

"Umm... I-I'm Twilight Sparkle. The Princess asked me to t-tutor you from now on. I-is that okay?" she asked. Emerald blinked, already a little confused.

"T-two-door?" he asked. She nodded, looking less nervous suddenly,

"Y-yeah! I'll be teaching you how to read and speak Equish!" she said excitedly, "It's going to be so much fun! I-I haven't had a student before!" she said, before she suddenly looked sheepish, "O-oh! I'm sorry, wh-what's your name?"

Name? Oh! He knew that word!

"Emerald Skies!" he responded automatically, before flinching. That was the wrong language.

"Smarald-cherule?" she asked, looking very confused. Emerald shook his head,

"S-sor-ry. Name is... Emerald Skies!" he corrected. Twilight perked up,

"Oh! Emerald Skies...?" she said to herself, before smiling at him, "That's a nice name! Well then, Emerald, let's get started!" she said, her horn lighting up, causing a few strange looking objects to fly out of the bags at her side.

He grabbed one of them, gently since he probably didn't want to ruin them, and looked up at her,

"What are-Wh-at these?" he asked.

"'What are these'," she corrected, seemingly without thinking, before she blinked and stared at him, "Y-you don't know what... You don't know what books are?!" she practically yelled.

Emerald yelped, dropped the book and started to back away, scanning the area for a weapon of some kind.

"W-wait!"Twilight said, looking stunned, "I-I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to yell, I was just... I was just surprised is all," she said, looking ashamed of herself. Emerald stared at her for a moment, before relaxing.

She had turned her gaze to the ground, and was valiantly trying not to look back at him. Her ears twitched every now and then, and a fierce red haze was colouring her cheeks.

Emerald's heart practically melted at the sight.

She was adorable!

"I-it okay," he said, walking forward and gently patting her shoulder, "W-we... teach now?" he asked. Twilight looked up, before smiling and giving him a nod,

"Okay! I'll have you speaking proper Equish in no time!"

A year had passed since his and Twilight's first meeting and his progress had, frankly, stunned Twilight. Apparently, being able to learn to speak, read, and write nearly perfect Equish within only two months was an impressive feat, considering they only put in a few hours of work a day, every day.

Emerald simply believed it was because he had a good teacher, something that still turned the mare into a blushing mess whenever he told her.

Another interesting development that had taken place was the issue of where he'd be staying during that time. Celestia, or Princess Celestia as Twilight constantly implored him, had been more than happy to make the offer to let him stay at the castle, since he had refused to return to Nocturne.

In a surprising display, Twilight had also offered him a place at her own home within the Canterlot Public Library. Considering how much the teen valued her independence, it spoke volumes about how close the two had become for her to even offer, though he had declined, having seen how small the space was when he'd gone over during their lessons.

Still, with how often Emerald went over in the mornings, and how long he tended to stay over, he might as well have agreed.

However, there were still plenty of days in which he and Twilight spent back at the castle, and today just so happened to be one of them.

"Agh!" the lavender teen groaned, nearly slamming her quill down onto the table, and very nearly scattering ink over her latest assignment. Emerald, who had become distracted looking out the window, started, and turned to look at her,

"Everything alright, Twi?" he asked. Twilight sighed, and returned his gaze,

"Yes, everything is fine, it's just..." she groaned, "Minuette was being annoying this morning, and I can't concentrate because of it," she admitted. Emerald scoffed,

"Isn't she always?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Twilight frowned,

"I guess," she agreed, before shaking her head, "but she usually doesn't bother me that much." Emerald hummed,

"So, what was she doing this time?" Twilight shook her head once more,

"She came over this morning and tried to convince me to go with her, Twinkle, Lemon, and Dancer to some... party over in the lower district. I said no, since I have a lot of studying I need to do, and she just kept arguing with me!" she snapped, her horn irritatingly snatching up her work and carefully reorganizing it.

"You'd think she'd have learned by now," Emerald said, glancing back outside,

"Yeah, you would," Twilight agreed, almost sullenly, before scoffing, "Whatever, I don't need any other friends," she said, "I know the Princess keeps saying so, and even my family agrees, but why should I?" she asked, though Emerald didn't think he was meant to answer, "Everypony always made fun of me growing up, and nopony ever seemed to like me!" she nearly snarled, the sound of a scratching quill hidden beneath the vitriol, "I've got you, Emerald, so why do I need anybody else?!"

Emerald didn't say anything, but he did get up and walk over to her, gently wrapping a wing around her as he lay beside her.

"I don't know, Twi," he said gently, eyes scanning over her work. Something about comets and their chemical make-up that went over his head. Twilight had always been remarkably intelligent, even if she could be a bit of an idiot at times, "But I'm glad you think I'm all you need."

Twilight froze for a moment, before scoffing and looking away from him, her face beet red,

"I-I didn't say that..." she muttered. Emerald only smiled, and gently nuzzled his cheek against hers, further causing the younger teen to sputter.

Ah, his Twilight was just too cute sometimes!~

"Big Bro!"

Speaking of cute, a familiar blue and silver filly ran into the room, her bright orange eyes looking up at him happily from behind her glasses,

"Hey Wisp!" he called, smiling as his baby sister ran up to him, "Whatcha need?"

"I just got back with Miss Rosemary!" she said excitedly, smiling widely, "She told me about these fun things called 'plays'! D'you think we can go see one someday?" she asked, tilting her head cutely. Emerald blinked,

"'Plays'?" he asked, frowning, "What in the world are those?"

"They're these performances that ponies do," Twilight explained, "They usually tell a story of some kind, and can often feature music as well," she paused, then fidgeted, "they're... pretty nice, I suppose."

Emerald nodded at her explanation,

"Hmm... alright, we can go see one soon. It might be fun," he said, smiling at Wisp's happy little cheer, he glanced at Twilight, "Would you like to come see it with us, Twi?" he asked.

Twilight froze once more, then turned red, but gave him a smile,

"Y-yeah... I think I'd like that."

Twilight sighed, the eighteen-year-old drinking in the morning air almost greedily, and smiled.

Life was nice, she mused as she strolled through the Canterlot Garden, especially the last two years of it.

She'd been surprised that Princess Celestia had asked her to tutor some colt about her age nearly three years ago. She had very nearly declined, not wanting to spend any of her precious studying time on some slacking, thick-headed fool.

She was further surprised when she found that the colt wasn't some muscle-head, but a foreigner who needed help learning their language and culture.

After learning that, she'd been ecstatic to teach him everything she could! The idea of learning from him had been her initial reasoning for agreeing, but, after some time, she found that he didn't have much to offer her in return.

She was, once more, surprised when she didn't mind in the slightest.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. She might not have learned anything about his culture, beyond the basics he could recall, but she learned quite a lot about the thestral known as Emerald Skies.

For starters, he was a tad shy, but very sweet and thoughtful once he opened up. He was also fiercely protective of those close to him, as she discovered when she'd been cornered by a pair of jocks who hadn't taken kindly to her dismissal of them.

They'd been put in the hospital within seconds of Emerald finding them, and Twilight had found herself slowly growing more fond of him after that day.

Another thing she learned was that he had a nasty habit of being blunt, and was quickly developing a sarcastic streak a mile-wide, though it shrank noticeably around her or Wisp.

He was also a tad clingy. The Princess had noticed his strength and offered him a place in some agency dedicated to fighting monsters, and he'd declined, stating that it would take him away from her and Wisp too much to be worth it.

In return, he'd happily joined the Guard, since it gave him an excuse to be around her during her lessons.

Twilight found that she liked that thought quite a bit.

One thing she didn't quite like about Emerald was how much he enjoyed teasing her. Like her old school bullies, Emerald seemed to take pleasure in teasing her near constantly, but, unlike her old bullies, he did it through compliments and affectionate gestures, instead of scorn and derision.

Twilight honestly wasn't sure which she preferred.

But even through all his faults, his good points tended to shine through, often brighter because of them.

There were times where Twilight honestly didn't think she deserved such a loyal, dedicated friend. He often went out of his way to help her or make her feel comfortable whenever they were together, even if it was at his own expense. Most of these times came when she was in school, away from Emerald for the majority of the day, and while she was spending time with her other 'friends'.

In those situations, she remained the same she'd always been. Quiet, reserved, and stuck in her books.

Nearly everypony, even those so-called 'friends' of hers, reacted the same way, telling her to drop her musty books and interact with the world and ponies around her. Weren't friends supposed to support each other, no matter what?

With that in mind, what did she offer in return? He'd learned everything she could teach him, and then he stuck around for her. She had almost nothing left to offer him for his friendship, yet he never asked for anything. Sometimes, she wished she knew how to repay him for everything he'd done for her, even if he didn't know about it.

During those times, she'd reflect on her 'friendship' with Moon Dancer, Minuette, Twinkle Shine, and Lemon Hearts, and compare it to her friendship with Emerald, and found the girls lacking in nearly every conceivable way.

He listened whenever she had a problem, didn't push her to attend every party he was invited to, shared quite a few of her interests, didn't mock her for her intelligence, had a dry sense of humor she found funny, was perfectly willing to leave her alone for a few hours so she could work in peace, and, most importantly, didn't use her for her intelligence to pass his tests even once.

Then again, maybe that was just how ponies in Canterlot acted? Her BBBFF often told her how strangely friendly ponies outside of the capital were whenever he and his squad were sent out. But, then again, he was in the Guard. She doubted even the most stuck up nobles would snub the Captain of the Royal Guard.

To his face, at least.

Speaking of the Guard, her walk through the Gardens had taken her near their training ground, and, from the sounds of grunts and the thudding of metal against wood, there was at least one out there training right now.

Should she swing by and check it out? If she was lucky, she just might run into either Emerald or Shining Armor.

She paused for a moment, before nodding to herself, and adjusting her course.

Within the next minute, Twilight found herself just at the edge of the training grounds. Like she thought, there were a few guards out and about, though she didn't recognize a single one of them. It wasn't until her gaze had lingered for a bit longer, that she managed to spot a certain thestral hacking away at a training dummy with his sword.

She moved closer and, for a moment, she let herself get lost in the way Emerald moved. She could see the way his muscles coiled and moved with every motion. There was a slight sheen of sweat coating his body at this point, but he lacked the laboured breathing that most individuals would have had by now.

Eventually, she managed to knock herself out of those thoughts, and approached.

"Good morning, Emerald!" she called. The thestral's ears perked up at her voice, and he turned, his eyes meeting her own with a smile,

"Mornin' Twi, what brings you 'round here?" he asked, carefully planting his sword in the dirt and leaning against it slightly. She shrugged,

"Oh I was just taking a walk through the gardens. Doing some thinking, and decided to visit," she said, nodding thoughtfully. Emerald smirked, his fangs glinting in the light,

"Thinking, eh? That can be pretty dangerous, you know?" he pointed out, reaching out to poke her chest, "Last time you really got lost in thought, I had to pry you out of the Archives so you could eat. And here I thought that that was Spike's job," he teased. Twilight scoffed and shook her head,

"I'm not that bad," she defended herself, smiling, "What are you up to?" she asked instead. Emerald just shrugged,

"Just my morning exercises. Maybe you could join me, sometime?" he asked, smirking at her, "You could stand to up your workout a little, you know?" Twilight shook her head, exasperated,

"I'm perfectly fine with our nightly runs, thank you very much!" she said firmly, "Not only are they easier with less ponies around, but I can get to bed right after!"

Honestly, she didn't truly understand this stallion's desire to keep training! He might not be the stereotypical muscle-head, but he was definitely more active than even above-average ponies, and that had only gotten worse after he joined the Guard.

But it certainly paid off. Her brother, Shining Armor, had worked for nearly ten years, having joined the Guard when she was six, before he was named Captain of the Royal Guard three years ago, a few months before Emerald's arrival, actually. Emerald, however, had joined about a year ago and he'd already risen to one of the highest Ranks in Equestria, and was set to challenge Equestria's current Champion for their Title within the month.

Then again, maybe she shouldn't be surprised he'd advanced so absurdly quick? His special talent was all about making the most of any situation, so his ever increasing abilities shouldn't be too stunning.

Still...

"Sure, whatever you say, Twi," he said, breaking her from her thoughts, before glancing up into the sky, "Though, I suppose it's time I finished up anyways. Wanna get some breakfast together?" he asked, tearing the sword free and placing it back on the communal rack.

Twilight stiffened at the offer, then forcibly calmed herself,

"S-sure! I'd love to," she managed to force out, hoping he hadn't noticed. His amused grin proved her wrong, however, but at least he didn't comment on it.

After that, the two of them headed back inside, making their way over to the dining hall, passing by some nobles, who likely were waiting for Day Court.

They mostly just kept to idle chatter, comments about the weather, and even made a few plans for later in the day, when she heard it.

"Is that her?"

"The Princess's prized pupil, I heard."

"What is that thing she's walking with?"

"Ugh, I can't believe the Princess would let an animal like that walk around us civilized ponies."

"Filthy creature."

"A mare of her station shouldn't be consorting with the lower-class."

"You don't think she's being forced, do you?"

"I wouldn't put it passed the creature."

White hot fury practically burst through her chest, and she would have absolutely started screaming and cursing those awful ponies, were it not for Emerald's completely unbothered expression.

She could only just hear the whispers, but if she could hear them, then they might as well have been screaming for someone with Emerald's hearing.

Yet, despite that, he didn't seem to care. In fact, if Twilight wasn't distinctly aware of his hearing, she would've thought he'd completely missed what the ponies around them were saying.

Twilight buried the rage for now. If Emerald didn't let it bother him, then she shouldn't either.

Even so, this was one of the few times she wished he'd accepted that glamour bracelet from the Princess.

Twilight watched with bated breath.

Every strike, every motion, every single heart-stopping second of the fight in front of her.

Oh sweet Celestia, she wasn't even the one fighting and her heart was going to burst!

Despite her worries, the fight ended seconds later, with Emerald, as expected, sending his opponent flying into the nearest column, knocking the orange pegasus out deceptively easily. He wasn't even winded!

Twilight let out a weary breath, slumping back in her seat.

It had been a year since he'd become the Champion, and, for some reason or another, the number of ponies challenging him had only increased. They weren't after his Title, none of them were high enough Ranks to ask for that, but the fact they thought they could fight the Champion was just... astonishing.

Still, the challenges weren't as astonishing as the fact that Emerald kept accepting. If they had been Ghosts, Hunters, or Battlemasters with experience in the third Class, then that was one thing, but none of them even made it to the Third Rank! They were all Second or First Ranks, and yet he accepted...

She wondered if he was just killing time, or if he thought that beating them so easily would disabuse them of the notion of their invincibility, something that, according to Shining, often happened in newly instated/promoted guards.

Her curiosity actually grew over time, until she asked him later that night.

"Why do you keep accepting those challenges?"

"Hmm? Oh, I just like showing off for you is all."

"Wh-what?!"

"Is that a problem?"

Emerald nervously tapped his hooves against the ground, the twenty-year-old not entirely certain if he could book it before his companion noticed.

A quick glance at Twilight's excited expression killed the thought rather brutally, causing him to sigh.

Even if he could, which he was sure was possible, he could never do something like that to his Twilight. That just wasn't the kind of thestral he was.

Still, he mused as he glanced up at the large, purple-white house with dark blue roofing, the idea of meeting Twilight's family was pushing his limits.

He didn't know why it had taken them four years to think of it, but if the stress he was going through was any indication, he was glad it had. He assumed it had to do with how close the two of them had grown, to the point that, at some point, it had completely slipped their minds.

"I can't wait to finally introduce you!" Twilight gushed, practically bouncing in place. She'd become a lot more outgoing over the years, but she was still his cute little introvert at heart. Even so, seeing her like this, all excited and happy, did wonders for reducing his anxiety. "Though, I wish Spike was around as well," she added, frowning suddenly.

"He has his tutoring, Twi," Emerald responded, without thinking,

"I know," Twilight said, glancing off to the side, "I hope he's doing alright. I don't know why I couldn't tutor him myself," she muttered, "I was teaching him just fine for the first few years."

"From what he told me, you kept getting distracted and wanted to practice spells."

"I was eight!"

"And already practicing advanced magic."

"I was eight!"

Emerald couldn't help but laugh at that, though his laughter was, unfortunately, short lived when the door in front of them opened, and Emerald was nearly struck dumb.

An older mare with a soft gray coat, a straight, striped white and purple mane and tail, with a set of light sky blue eyes, and a cutie mark of three purples stars poked her head out. She was beautiful, yes, but Emerald was more surprised at just how similar the mare looked to Twilight. If Emerald didn't know any better, he'd say this mare was Twilight's elder sister! But no, he knew for a fact that she was-

"Mom!" Twilight cheered, practically leaping forward to embrace the older mare.

Twilight Velvet, mother of Twilight Sparkle, gasped in delight, a bright, beaming smile lighting up her face,

"Twily!" she gushed, eagerly wrapping her hooves around her daughter, "Oooh! It's so great to see you again!" Velvet said, letting go of Twilight, then cupped her cheeks, "Oh, look at you! So grown up!" she added, before a flicker of the eye brought him to her attention, "Ooh! Who's this?" she asked, her eyes quickly roaming over his form.

There was a sudden spark in her eyes, and they quickly began jumping between him and Twilight.

"This is my friend, Emerald Skies," Twilight said, sounding oddly nervous as she presented him, "U-um, I think I've told you about him, before."

"Oooohh! This is Emerald?" Velvet asked, then held out a hoof. Emerald, not wanting to be rude, reached out to shake it, only for Velvet to pull him in for a particularly strong hug, "Twily's told us so much about you! It's so nice to finally meet one of my daughter's friends!" she gushed, giving him one last squeeze, before letting go, "Well, come in then! I just started making lunch, and I'm sure I can fit you two into the plan!" she said, happily striding back into the house, leaving the door wide open behind her.

Emerald and Twilight shared a look, before heading inside.

It was a nice house, with simple enough furniture. A table here, a couch and a sofa over there, a single recliner right between. It was nice and homey, though it was still obviously a tad stuffy, since it was Canterlot. As relaxed as Twilight's family might be, they were still technically a noble family, and they tended to frequent the higher end stores in Canterlot.

Though, stuffy or not, the many, many pictures lining the walls, all depicting a genuinely happy, smiling family certainly tore apart any notions one might have of a 'traditional' noble house.

However, ignoring the furniture, there was another stallion in the house. He was a fairly tall stallion with a dark blue coat and his darker blue mane, and a set of copper eyes, with a cutie mark of two opposing moons.

He was sitting on the recliner reading a book, whose title was unfamiliar to him. He had looked up when the door shut behind him, just in time to spot Twilight walking inside.

"Twilight!" the stallion, whose name he knew was Night Light, called, hopping off the chair and approaching, "I must say, this is quite the surprise!" he said, gently bringing the smaller mare into a one legged hug, "What brings my precious little filly home so suddenly?" he asked, raising an eyebrow down at her.

Twilight shook her head,

"It's nice to see you too, Dad," she said, smiling, before she turned and gestured to Emerald, "I wanted to come by and introduce my friend, Emerald! Spike has lessons, so he couldn't come along," she added, slightly sadly.

Night Light eyed Emerald for a moment, before smiling and holding out a hoof, which he ended up taking,

"Well it's nice to finally meet you!" Night said, "Twilight's talked about you quite a lot during our visits," he added, smirking when Twilight sputtered, "You've done a lot for my little filly, and for that I thank you," he added, a lot more sincerely, even pressing his other hoof against his heart.

Emerald looked away, feeling rather uncomfortable at the thanks, finally breaking the hoofshake in the process,

"I-it wasn't any trouble. She means a lot to me, so I couldn't mind if I tried," he said. Night Light chuckled,

"Oh, is that so?" he asked, smirking, before nodding, "Well, I'm glad to hear it!"

"Dad!"

""""Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something sweet to bite!""""

Twilight giggled slightly as she hoofed out the candy to the group of foals at her door. It wasn't often that foals went out for Nightmare Night, not in Canterlot, at least, but it was always a treat when it happened.

She bid goodbye to the sugar-addicted rascals, and closed the door, setting the nearly full bowl back onto the ground next to the door.

She sighed softly, fondly recalling the times when even she would go out for Nightmare Night, usually with Shining Armor, but occasionally with her parents or even Cadence, her old foalsitter.

She always enjoyed dressing up in little costumes, usually of famous scientists or historical figures. Though she always did get a tad irritated when nobody knew who she was dressed as!

Still, those old days were behind her, and she doubted she'd ever go out for Nightmare Night again, and not entirely because she was a bit old for candy hunting.

She let out a nervous breath, eyeing each of the little decorations she put up for tonight. Tonight was special, not because it was Nightmare Night, but because it was also the birthday of somebody special.

Of course, that somebody was Emerald.

He never did anything for his birthday these past few years, partially because he was used to his birthday taking place on a Nocturnian holiday and tended to forget that Equestria's holidays were different, but it was mostly because he'd never actually told anyone his birthday until Twilight had nearly forced it out of him the previous year.

But now he was getting a proper celebration!

Well, as proper as one she could give him.

Which, considering that it would only be him and her attending, wasn't actually that much.

She'd tried contacting his family, but they were either too far away to arrive on such short notice, or had prior engagements at this time. Not even Wisp would be joining, since she had promised Spike she'd go out candy hunting with him before she learned that Emerald's birthday was also tonight.

But still! She was sure he'd enjoy the festivities! She made sure to make/order some of his favourite foods, namely apple flavoured desserts and even gone out of her way to get some fish, meat, and even some gems for him as well!

Sure the scent of cooked meat made her a tad sick, but Emerald was an omnivore, and he'd always enjoyed the food that griffon ambassadors tended to bring to the occasional meetings.

Now she just had to wait for him to come by once his shift wa-

*KNOCK KNOCK*

Oh! Right on time!

She spun right about back around and opened the door, finding the very stallion she was waiting for,

"Happy Nightmare Night, Twi," he greeted, causing Twilight to giggle, before she let him slip by,

"And Happy Birthday, Emerald!" she responded, closing the door behind her, smiling when she found the thestral frozen right behind her, staring in awe at the decorations.

"Y-you..." he stammered, turning to glance at her, a very confused expression on his face, "you... threw me a birthday party?" Twilight nodded,

"Of course!" she chirped, practically skipping past him, using her magic to bring over the moving cart, where an apple pie-since he wasn't the biggest fan of cake-sat with a large candle sat on top, "C'mon, blow out the candle and make a wish!" she urged, feeling perhaps a little too giddy as she sat down.

But she just couldn't help it! Emerald's first birthday party since coming to Equestria! It was perhaps the most special occasion there could be, and she'd be damned if she wasn't happy during the whole thing!

He just stared for a moment, before he started chuckling,

"Y-you sure are a strange mare, Twi," he said, smiling at her, "why would you do this?" he asked. Twilight scoffed,

"What do you mean 'Why?'?!" she asked, placing her hooves on her hips, "You're important to me! Why wouldn't I want to do something like this for you?"

Emerald kept staring for, perhaps, another minute, before he relented, and, with an amused huff, blew out his candle.

"So, what'd you wish for?" she asked curiously. He simply smirked at her,

"Isn't there a rule saying if I tell you, it won't come true?" Twilight scoffed once more,

"Oh come on, that's just a myth!"

"Don't all myths and legends have basis in reality?" he asked in return, smirking teasingly. Twilight just groaned,

"Fine, be that way!" she said, using her magic to divide the pie, bringing out plates and utensils as she did so, "Let's just have some pie and sit by the fireplace," she suggested, "Maybe after we eat we can read together! I've got some new Daring Do books!" Emerald chuckled,

"You and those Daring Do books. I don't see what you find so entertaining about them," he remarked, accepting the plated pie she levitated over to him, "They seem a tad unrealistic, don't you think? An archeologist without any training whatsoever doing all of that, by herself? The least Yearling could do was give her a partner of some sort, don't you think?"

Twilight rounded on him, spinning in place from her seat by the fire,

"She was not by herself!" she defended hotly, face heating up, though it might just be from the fireplace, "She had a whole team of archeologists and even a few guards with her!"

"Pfft, like they do anything to help," Emerald joked, settling down next to her. Twilight huffed, taking a bite of the pie, inwardly praising herself for buying it rather than making it. It was a good pie.

"Well, if you don't want to read my Daring Do books, what do you want to read?" she asked, "Tonight's your night, and we'll be spending it together, so at least pick something we'd both enjoy," she remarked.

Emerald chuckled,

"We'll be spending it together, eh?" he asked, "So, just you and me, together all night, huh?" he chuckled again, looking at her from the corner of his eye, "I must say, I like the sound of that," he teased, getting Twilight to sputter, "I don't mind reading your Daring Do books with you, Twi, even if I personally find them dull." Twilight hummed to herself, thoughtfully chewing her latest bite,

"... Are you sure?" she asked, "I'm not kidding when I say that tonight's about you," she said, turning to look at him, "We don't have to do something you don't like just to make me happy, you know?" Emerald smirked, and laughed,

"Making you happy, makes me happy, Twi," he said, gently nudging her with a hoof, "so I'll have to disagree with that statement."

Twilight turned crimson and jerked her head away, looking at anything in the room other than him.

But even she couldn't stop the almost painful smile from blossoming on her face.

He really was somebody special, wasn't he?

Emerald let out a pleasant sigh, carefully looking out over Canterlot from the Astronomy Tower's balcony. He watched as the clouds coated the city in a gentle blanket of snow.

He felt the cold air rush over his face, reveling in the feeling of frigid Winter air.

It was times like this that Canterlot felt like home. The frozen air reminded him of life back in Nocturne, the ever distant fields of white snow brought back plenty of old, faded, but happy memories as well.

He let his gaze flicker across the night sky, which, despite the cloud cover over the city, still remained perfectly visible just above the castle, where there was naught but empty sky.

Star after star littered the sky, and Emerald automatically found himself tracing constellations, both Equestrian and Nocturnian ones.

And there, the moon hung in the sky, the picture of the Mare in the Moon looming over Equestria, like a silent reminder of a time long passed.

Still, as nice as the air and sky were, they weren't the reason he was sitting out, alone, on the highest balcony in the castle.

The reason was down at the celebration going on at the castle's ground floor.

Hearth's Warming Eve was a truly wonderful time of the year, which was something that Emerald, over time, had come to honestly believe. But Canterlot wasn't exactly the place you really wanted to spent a family holiday like this one.

Even from here, he could see the myriad ponies roaming through the streets, the annual Hearth's Warming Play having only recently finished it's performance, and the after-party was currently underway. Even after all this time, he didn't really enjoy spending time in large crowds of individuals he neither knew nor cared to know.

Perhaps it was a shallow reason, perhaps he shouldn't let that keep him from enjoying himself during the, admittedly grand, festivities. As far as he was concerned, he didn't care if that was true.

He found the first opportunity to escape, and escape he did.

"So this is where you were hiding."

It was almost a shame, then, that there was a pony in attendance who knew him almost better than he did.

Unfortunately, that pony was the reason he wasn't down at the celebration.

He turned around, finding Twilight Sparkle, wearing a very simple, but still beautiful, dark purple dress that clung to her coat, with only a single, but still conservative, slit running down her back legs. A single, bright red rose in her mane, which had been done up in curls, tied the image together.

"What are you doing here, Twi?" he asked, his eyes lingering for a tad too long, before he tore them away,

"I started worrying when I couldn't find you downstairs, so I went looking for you, of course," was her response. Emerald twitched,

"Oh? What happened to that friend of yours?" he asked, unintentionally growling out that word.

"You mean... Flash?" Twilight asked, before scoffing, beginning to approach him, "He's not my friend. He just asked for a dance and I didn't see a reason to say no."

Emerald grimaced.

Of course he wasn't. Of course he wasn't. He should've known that wasn't the case, but...

Just that one moment, that single instant where he'd seen Twilight in the hooves of someone else had very nearly got him seeing red.

He didn't know why seeing her spend time with someone else had angered him so, either, but he hoped it was just a one time thing.

"So, what are you doing here, Emerald?" she asked, sitting down, with some minor difficulty. Emerald swallowed, tugging slightly at the collar of his tux,

"Just... getting some fresh air, is all."

"Really?" Twilight asked, her tone suggesting that she didn't believe him in the slightest. He sighed,

"I... got angry, and came out here to clear my head." She blinked, and regarded him with a surprised glance,

"Really?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious, before she snorted slightly, "What could have gotten you that angry?"

"Seeing you with someone else," he said honestly. Twilight went silent, and, after a few moments of her not saying anything, he turned to look at her.

Her entire face had gone, perhaps, the darkest red he'd ever seen it.

Not only that, but her eyes had dilated and her jaw hung loose, and she was just staring at him.

"R-really?!" she gasped after a minute, "Y-y-y-you were angry that I was with someone else?" she asked, completely stunned. Emerald fidgeted, and felt his own face heat up,

"Y-yes," he admitted, almost shamefully.

Things were quiet between them for awhile. Not that Emerald minded, as the company was quite nice.

They just stat in a maybe-not-quite-comfortable silence, but, after some time they began relaxing once more, though they still didn't look at each other.

There was a sudden lurch of motion behind him, and Emerald almost turned to find out what it was, when Twilight spoke.

"Do you remember, a few months ago during my birthday, when we were at that nice candy shop?" she asked suddenly. Emerald turned to her, all thoughts of the movement behind them forgotten,

"You mean... when I was buying you those chocolates?"

"Mhmm."

"Yes, I remember, what about it?" he asked. Twilight licked her lips,

"Do you remember the mare at the counter?"

"Yeess?" he said, not sure what her point was, "She was quite helpful, and you enjoyed the chocolate she helped me pick out." Twilight nodded,

"Yeah, she was pretty helpful, wasn't she?" she asked, then finally glanced at him once more, "She was flirting with you that whole time, you know?" Emerald blinked,

"She was?" he asked, surprised. Twilight chuckled,

"Yeah... in hindsight it was funny watching her try and fail to get you to look at her. I watched her while she was trying. She kept getting close to you, tried touching your hooves. She even tried getting you to stare at her flank a few times by bending over when she 'dropped' something," she said, chuckling a few times while she talked, "But... I was furious that whole time," she admitted suddenly, causing Emerald's gaze to whip over to her.

"You were?" Twilight nodded,

"Yeah. I just... I hated watching some mare neither of us knew fawn over you like that. I hated watching her, with that smug grin on her face. She even had the nerve to stick her tongue out at me a few times!" Twilight snapped, "But most of all, I hated watching you let her do all that," she said, taking a heavy breath, "It wasn't until you brushed her off after you got the chocolate that I realized you didn't notice, but, at the time I was absolutely livid with you," she suddenly laughed, holding a hoof up to her mouth to stifle it, "I didn't realize you could be so dense, either!"

"Wha-I'm not dense!" Emerald defended hotly, before turning red and looking away, "I had more important things on my mind at the time."

"Really? Like what?"

"You."

Twilight went silent again, but it didn't last nearly as long as it had before.

"Am I... am I really that important to you?" she asked, her voice quiet. Emerald scoffed,

"Of course you are. That you feel like you have to ask is almost insulting, you know?" Twilight chuckled, wiping at her eye,

"Y-yeah, I guess it is, isn't it?" she muttered, taking a shuddering breath, "You're-... you're important to me, too, Emerald. I-... I honestly don't think I can imagine my life without you in it," she admitted. Emerald bit his lip,

"... Neither can I," he whispered, though it was clearly still heard, if the way Twilight suddenly reached out and grabbed his hoof meant anything.

She didn't pull him closer, or anything. She just... held his hoof for a minute, not saying or doing anything else.

It was nice.

He didn't know how long they had stayed like that, but, eventually, something broke the silence.

The soft sound of twinkling magic caught their attention, and they both glanced upward, immediately turning red at the sight of the mistletoe hanging above them.

A faint memory of movement bid Emerald to turn around, but he found no one in the area other than himself and Twilight.

He frowned, a tad uncomfortable with the idea that someone was prowling around without him realizing, and he turned back to Twilight, ready to warn her, only to freeze.

She was staring straight at him, her face a hazy red, and her eyes sparkling in the starlight.

"T-twi...?" he tried to say, only for her to shake her head, cutting him off.

"Just... just kiss me. I-it's tradition, you know?"

And so he did.

Unbeknownst to either of them, a pair of mares faded into sight just outside the Astronomy Tower door.

Twilight Velvet and Princess Celestia giggled to themselves, and high hoofed each other in celebration.

Good luck you two!

Author's Note

Not gonna lie, I've gotten myself so used to writing 'Sparky' that I had to go back almost six times to change it back to Twilight.

Anyways, this chapter, as well as the story itself, are dedicated to the one year anniversary of The Champion of Harmony! I have some ideas for future chapters, but I'm not sure if I'll write them. If you all like this enough then I will, but it probably won't be too often.

Still, this was very fun to write! I'm kinda hoping you all want more!

Hope you enjoyed! Constructive criticism appreciated! See you if there's a next time!

What If: He Wasn't The Champion?

The soft clinking of metal against metal was the only thing that kept poor Emerald awake.

But that was to be expected, considering that the sun had already risen and he wasn't supposed to even be awake at this time.

Yet here he was, cleaning up the mess the day shift of the Royal Guard had left. Again.

Honestly, couldn't they do their own chores-because these were chores and no amount of screaming the word 'responsibilities' would change his mind-instead of just leaving shit around for the next unlucky fuck-most often him-to come along and be forced to clean it themselves?

But, he supposed, that was what he got for trying to maintain a private training schedule.

Was his training even worth keeping up at this point? According to his therapist-and literally everybody who actually gave a shit about his health-his constant training was nothing more than a source of stress that needed to be cut down to make time for relaxation.

If he had to keep dealing with the idiots on his shift, then he'd actually have to make use of his vacation hours.

He didn't like using his vacation hours.

He sighed, it was times like this that he regretted joining the Royal Guard. Nothing ever fucking happened, which left him with nothing but his own worries and troubles to deal with.

He'd much rather deal with everyone else's problems than his own. Those were often much easier to handle.

Emerald sighed, and placed the spear he'd initially taken off the rack back.

He was tired. So. Fucking. Tired. He couldn't do this anymore. This worthless, disgusting monotony.

He needed to do something, anything. Just standing around, twiddling his hooves while waiting for the next global disaster to happen was not conducive to his temper. The longer he went on, the longer he spent doing nothing, the more likely the possibility of him snapping would become.

That's it, then. Tomorrow was the day he'd resign from this disgusting position, and find work somewhere-anywhere-else.

He growled, and began stomping back towards the barracks.

But, right now, what he needed was sleep. Blissful, glorious sleep.

His sleep was sadly interrupted by the door being violently thrown open by some dumbass.

"Alright everypony, Princess Celestia wants everypony front and center for inspection! Get your lazy flanks up and out, now!"

Emerald growled lowly, sending Captain Shining Armor a withering glare, though it was lost amongst the myriad others being sent at him from his roommates.

Still, an order was an order and, in no time at all, he was out and about, marching along with the others.

Opposite the line of Royal Night Guards were the Royal Day Guards, looking much less grumpy about the summons.

Once they all came to their usual stop, they assumed the proper position and stood, stock still, opposite each other, as Princess Celestia slowly began making her way between the two formed lines.

The sun was still high in the sky, though it was much lower than it had been before he'd managed to get to bed. Still, it meant that his sleep deprived mind had to deal with the bright sunlight filtering into his sensitive eyes, while trying to remain still for however long the Princess would take.

It was... annoying, waiting for the Princess to get a move on, especially considering that he was at the very end of the line. Staring straight ahead into some invisible point in space was much harder to do than one would think, especially when one had to do it for hours on end. Or when tired, in the bright sunlight, whilst being nocturnal by nature.

Not only all that, but the armour he had to wear was just as annoying. The way it brushed against his fur made him uncomfortable, and the feeling often left over when he took it off was just as bad. He hated this fucking armour. At least its enchantments worked on him.

Every set of armour, for most members of the Guard below the Third Rank, had a set of enchantments that hid their coat, eye, and mane colours. The Day Guard received bright white coats, equally bright two-tone blue manes and tails, and, again, equally bright blue eyes. The Night Guards, however, received dark gray coats, very dark two-tone purple manes and tails, and bright yellow eyes. Not only that, but the Night Guards' eyes were also spelled to look similar to a thestral's eye, which was fair, since most of the upper echelons of the Night Guard were thestrals anyways.

Not only that, but their designs were... less than impressive.

The Day Guards had golden armour with bright blue plumes adorning the helm, their breastplate held in place by a bright blue star, while the Night Guards had light purple helmets and greaves, the former of which holding a fin-like protrusion at the top, with a black and purple accented breastplate held together by an eye-shaped clasp.

He didn't know how anyone could tell each other a part, he certainly couldn't. Though, maybe it had to do with his awful sleep schedule?

Speaking of...

As much as he wanted to glare over at the Captain-who looked about as nervous as a bullied schoolfoal at recess-he refrained from doing so, knowing that if he was caught, then he'd be getting even less sleep.

Eventually, finally, Princess Celestia appeared in his vision, meaning that this would be over soon.

Even so, he had to admit. The Princess was truly quite stunning, in her own way. An elegant white coat, a colourful mane and tail, and pretty eyes. It was clear why she was as popular as she was with the general populace.

Despite this, Emerald held nothing but contempt for the mare, as she was the reason why he'd been woken up not long ago.

If only he'd decided to go through with challenging the Champion. He doubted he'd have to do this shit. Bastard probably got to sleep more often too.

But, alas, he'd decided against it. And why wouldn't he? He'd spent several years working for S.M.I.L.E. and, apparently, he'd been working too hard. He lost count of how many of those odd 'intervention' things the others had had regarding him.

But, eventually, they managed to get it through his thick skull that the way he had been living hadn't been healthy, and they'd set him on the path to a proper recovery.

But then S.M.I.L.E. was disbanded, and he was left half-healed.

At first, he wanted nothing more than to get back to work, hard work, and had joined the Guard when the Princess had mentioned it. Then he'd heard about this 'Champion' guy, and trained his flank off to challenge and take the fool's Title.

But... then he got thinking. Was this what they had been talking about?

All that work, all that effort, for what? More work?

That thought had ended up killing his drive. He'd resigned from the Elite Guards and vanished into the lowest caste.

The Royal Guard.

Princess Celestia came fully into view, and Emerald had to fight the reflex to look her in the eye, instead keeping his gaze fixed on some random hair on her chest.

Then she stopped right in front of him, and faced him.

Dammit.

What the fuck was she even looking for? Of all creatures to stop and inspect, he was the least likely to have any discrepancy in his stance or positioning.

So why was she singling him out?

"Captain Armor," Celestia suddenly intoned, finally stepping away from him. Emerald nearly sighed and relaxed, but didn't, lest he get his ass kicked for it.

The Champion probably didn't have to deal with all this stupid stoicism either.

Why didn't he just suck it up and take the Title, again?

Oh yeah. He was an idiot.

"Yes, Your Highness?" Armor saluted, his hooves clanking together as he stiffened,

"I would like you to form a small group from the guards here, five from each shift, and send them into the throne room. Be sure to pick those best at working with the general population and who are able to keep a secret," she ordered mysteriously.

Emerald heard the clinking of the armor belonging to the guards around him. He wasn't the only one confused by this.

"Of course, Princess. It will be done immediately," Armor responded without issue. The Princess nodded at him, and calmly walked away.

Armor immediately began patrolling the space between the lines and, after a few trips, began selecting the poor sods being sent to the throne room.

"Sentinel Hall. Bright Room. Stock Still. Flash Sentry. Spun Gear. Iron Fence. Emerald Skies-"-fuck-"-Firm Grip. Hazy Day. Lone Soldier, to the throne room. Now."

He withheld a groan and marched along with the other nine sacr-vict-guards. In less than five minutes they had entered the throne room, before immediately getting into line, now standing at attention in front of the Princess.

"Thank you for your haste," Celestia began, frowning slightly, and turned in his general direction, "I must also apologize for forcing the five of you and your fellow guards awake at such an... abnormal time," she said, "I recently receiving a letter from my student. I presume some of you remember Miss Twilight Sparkle from her time here in the castle?"

The Princess paused, as if allowing them time to recall the mare in question.

Emerald had to fight to keep from twitching. He did, in fact, remember the mare. He'd been the the one most often stationed by her side whenever she decided to do some late night studying in the Royal Archives.

Which was often.

At least five times a week.

Seven whenever she had a test coming up.

"The letter in question-" the Princess began abruptly, "-involves a dragon that recently took residence near the town. Now, my student and her friends were able to convince it to relocate on my order. The reason behind the order in question, and why none of you or your fellows were made aware of this, was because I feared that sending a contingent of Royal Guards would have been seen as an act of aggression on our part," she looked down, as if ashamed, "For this, I also apologize. It is my duty as a Princess of Equestria to protect my subjects, but, because of my own cowardice-" Celestia's hoof clenched against the ground, a foul look crossing her face, "-I failed and was forced to allow my citizens to put themselves in unnecessary danger," she looked back up at them, "For this reason, I am sending the ten of you to act as guardians in the town of Ponyville," she finally revealed.

Despite not moving from their places, Emerald felt the air around them relax, and the rising beat of their hearts all began to slow.

He almost huffed.

Was this it?

"However," the Princess suddenly continued as she stood, causing the group to stiffen, "there is an underlying... selfishness to my order," she admitted, looking a tad sheepish as she began to approach them, "You see, I would very much like you all to keep the town safe, but... in truth, I am hoping that your presence will dissuade Twilight and her friends, the Elements of Harmony, from doing anything reckless. I hope that by being there, you will all act as a buffer between them and whatever dangers may come."

The Princess went silent, looking conflicted, before she did something that, frankly, Emerald wouldn't have expected in his lifetime.

She bowed.

"Please," she began again, ignoring the sharp intake of breath from the other guards, "forgive my selfish request, but I ask that you all place yourselves in danger for the sake of my student and her friends," she pleaded, and straightened, "You will all, of course, be compensated for this, quite handsomely indeed. You need not worry about lodgings or money so long as you are in Ponyville. This-" a flash of golden light revealed a letter floating with her magical grip, which soon floated over to him, oddly enough, "-will need to be shown to the town's mayor. She's been asking for guards to be stationed in Ponyville for quite some time. I'm sure she'll be excited," she added, a touch humorously.

Emerald frowned inwardly.

Then why hasn't she gotten any before today?

He didn't announce his thoughts, instead tucking the letter into his chest-piece with a nod, before they were dismissed.

Heh... so much for resigning...

"Oh yeah? I bet I'm way better with a blade than any of you night-owl ninnies!"

"Say that again you bushy-tailed brat!"

Emerald sighed, and rubbed at his temples.

He. Hated. Rivalries.

Specifically the rivalry present between the Royal Day and Royal Night guards. It was fairly common knowledge that the Royal Guard's Day and Night shifts had a terrible rivalry with one another

No one knew why it was there. But everyone knew it was.

Emerald hated it.

The Elite Guard didn't deal with this! But, then again, when you've reached a certain rank, that kind of thing becomes much less acceptable. Were any sort of rivalry to happen in the Elite Guard, it was possible that both parties responsible would get canned.

But in the Royal Guard?

"I'll say it a hundred times you droopy-eyed dolt!"

"That's it, you're going down you early-rising earth worm!"

Rival away, evidently.

He growled to himself in the corner of the room, ignoring the wide-eyed gazes of the innocent little passengers who were, unfortunately, sharing a compartment with them, fervently pretending that he had absolutely zero relation to the groups, despite also wearing armour.

This was why no one ever took them seriously.

This was also one of the many days Emerald wished he hadn't resigned from the Elite Guard, or, at the very least, had settled for being a Hunter, Battlemaster, or Ghost.

Instead, he decided to forgo any of those Titles, and chose to remain a Soldier.

He was such a dumbass.

But Emerald!-his mind started mocking him-The higher the Title, the more work you have to do! Isn't that the kind of thing you wanted to avoid?~

Fuck off, brain.

"Attention passengers, we're coming up on our next stop: Ponyville."

Oh thank fucking Faust!

The sheer amount of relief going through him at the announcement would've been shameful if he wasn't-

"Moron!"

"Idiot!"

-a part of that.

The Mayor of Ponyville, an older pony with a gray mane and a fading amber coat, eagerly looked over the letter he'd just hoofed her, her eyes, a set of blue hidden behind a pair of golden, half-moon glasses, flickering up to him and the others ever now and again.

Though, a faint part of him noted, her mane and tail had a strange... artificial feel to them. Were they dyed?

"This-" she stammered, setting the letter down, a wide grin stretching over her face, "this-this is amazing!" she chirped, staring at them as though they were the last drop of water in the desert, "I've been hoping and praying for the Princesses to send a platoon of guards for months now! And she finally delivered!" she gushed.

One of his fellow Night Guards stepped forward, alongside one of the Day Guards,

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mayor Mare," the Night Guard spoke, "I am Sentinel Hall, and these are my fellow Night Guards, Iron Fence, Firm Grip, Stock Still, and Emerald Skies. We will, of course, be the ones patrolling the town's borders, interiors, and skies at night," he informed, tapping the eye clasp.

In an instant, his appearance changed. Once possessing a gray coat, purple mane and tail, and a set of bright yellow eyes, he now held a dark brown coat, a cheery red mane and tail, and a pair of steel gray eyes.

"And I'm Flash Sentry, of the Day Guard," the Day Guard spoke, "Alongside me are Spun Gear, Lone Soldier, Hazy Day, and Bright Room. We'll be the ones doing the rounds during the day," Flash Sentry said, giving the Mayor a smile, "Rest assured, we'll try to be as discreet as possible," he added, tapping the star on his chest.

Like sentinel, his appearance changed. Instead of the white coat, blue mane, tail, and eyes he had before, Flash Sentry now sported... mostly the same appearance. In fact, the only visible difference was his bright orange coat and slightly lighter blue eyes.

Still, having powered down the enchantments on their armour, it was clear they were intending to act as the 'leaders' of their respective shifts, despite having no discussion of who would be taking what role prior to this moment.

Judging by the glares both of them were receiving from his fellow Guards, that was not a fact that went unnoticed.

Oh well, as long as it wasn't him.

It had taken another hour of pointless standing around while the two explained all of their duties here in town, before the subject of their living quarters came to mind.

Unfortunately, there was only one house available, the other two having been sold off and demolished two months prior to some 'Filthy Rich'. The house itself wasn't bad. It was moderately sized and fit in with the town's overly colourful theme, with the walls being a bright sky blue, the roof being a cheerful yellow, and the door completely white.

It had three rooms, meaning that there would have to be some bunking between five ponies.

He said five, because there was no way in Tartarus that ten Guards were fitting into one house.

It would, however, be possible for all of them to use the same house if they just traded places when their shifts came, like back in the Barracks.

Unfortunately, it seemed that his fellow Guards were fed up with sharing, if the way Flash and Sentinel began debating which shift would get the house. Period.

It didn't take long for the other seven to get involved, leaving him as the only silent party in the room. Their arguing kept getting worse, and worse, and just as Emerald was about to put it to an end, the door to the office opened up.

An aged mare came waddling into the room. She had a wispy white mane and tail, an apple green coat that was faded, clearly showing signs of wear and tear, however, she possessed a pair of caramel eyes that held a hint of youth that most ponies that age wouldn't normally have.

Combined with the apple-based cutie mark, and homely aura, and Emerald had a feeling he just met one of the matriarchs of the Apple Family.

The appearance of another civilian immediately brought a halt to all arguing, and a small path was formed as the ten of them split, allowing the aged mare to pass.

"Oh, Granny Smith!" Mayor Mare greeted, smiling at the older mare, confused, "What brings you here today?"

"It's 'bout Cider Season, o'course!" the mare, Granny Smith, chirped with a level of excitement not common for ponies her age, "It's commin' up, an' I wanna git all this business out'o the way so we cin start preparin'!" Mayor Mare smiled at Granny Smith,

"There's no need for you to do that, Granny Smith," she said, "Of course the Apple Family has permission to set up shop for the season!" she gushed, pulling out a sheet of paper and quickly scribbling a signature on it, which Granny Smith took once it was finished,

"O'Course yer givin' us permission!" Granny Smith boasted, a bright smile on her wrinkled face, "But ya always gotta ask! Ain't right not ta!" she added, "'Sides, I think this years gonn' be a good'un! We got lots more cider ta go 'round than usual! The barn's all filled up!"

"Really?" Mayor Mare asked, sounding surprised, "Does that mean there's enough for the entire town this year?" she asked hopefully. Granny Smith shrugged,

"No idea!" she chirped, "But the ol' barn's gonna feel mighty empty in a couple'a days!" she added cheerfully.

"'Empty'?" the Mayor repeated, and Emerald nearly sighed, already dreading what might happen, "Say, Granny Smith?"

"Hmm?"

"I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Sentinel Hall," she said, gesturing to the brown stallion, who nodded respectfully, "he, along with his co-workers are guards who will be keeping Ponyville safe for the foreseeable future, however I'm afraid we've run out of room for him and his team," she said. Granny Smith's brow raised,

"Oh? An' ya wanna know iffin I'll let 'em live in mah family's barn?" she asked. Mayor Mare stammered,

"W-well I wouldn't presume-but-well-!"

"Sure!" Granny Smith agreed cheerfully, stunning the group of Night Guards, as well as the Mayor, "Long as they're willin' ta help out now an' again, an' keep things clean, I dun mind!"

And thus, their fate was sealed.

Emerald growled to himself, staring down at the straw-bed he was going to have to deal with. If only this pathetic rivalry didn't exist, then he'd at least have a proper bed to sleep on!

He sighed. No, there was no point in getting angry, not at these idiots.

Speaking of those idiots, the other three were currently laying it onto Sentinel about him putting himself into the leading position of their little troupe. Emerald didn't understand why they were so against it. It meant less work for them, in comparison.

And, if there was anything he'd learned, it was that less work was, apparently, better for everyone.

Twilight Sparkle...

Had absolutely zero issues with the new Town Guards. She had, after all, lived most of her life in Canterlot, a place where you could look out your home window and stand a good chance of seeing a few at nearly any time of day, every day. Plus, they'd already been here a few months, and that was more than enough time for most to get used to them.

Although... one of them did look extremely familiar. It was one of the Night Guards. The second tallest, spear-wielding one. There was something about him that was distinctly familiar, and not in a passing way. Familiar in a way that suggested she had seen him constantly. It was that niggling feeling in the back of her head that told her that she should have recognized him on sight, and that she would have, if only she'd seen his actual face.

Now, while she was perfectly fine with them, her friends were of a more mixed opinion.

Rarity adored them being here. She had lost count of how many times Rarity had commented on the physique of the stallions or the myriad ways the mares could do this to their manes to make wearing their helmets more comfortable without having to cut them short, or do that to their coats to prevent sweat stains.

Pinkie was disappointed because none of the Night Guards allowed her to throw them 'Welcome to Ponyville!' parties, while the Day Guards had been happy to let her.

Rainbow hated them being here. She, surprisingly, figured out immediately that they were here to keep them safe, and Rainbow 'Pride' Dash obviously didn't like that particular fact.

Applejack was like Pinkie, in that she preferred one of the Guards over the other, though her preference was opposite the party mare's. She, for some reason or another, enjoyed the Night Guard's presence in Ponyville over the Day Guard's. Twilight was pretty sure she'd mentioned something about one of them being nice enough to foalsit Applebloom and her friends every now and again.

Fluttershy, astonishingly, had no opinion on them. As far as she was concerned, they were just more ponies she was too scared to interact with. Even after the incident with the dragon, she was still as shy as ever. It was almost... admirable in how set she was in her ways.

Twilight, while having no issues with either of them, was... confused regarding two of them.

Namely the mysteriously familiar Night Guard, whose name escaped her.

And the overly familiar Day Guard, Flash Sentry.

It wasn't that Flash Sentry was a bad pony, no! In fact, Twilight could confidently say that he was a fine stallion, and would probably make some mare pretty happy one day.

No, the problem was twofold:

One; She wasn't looking for that kind of relationship at the moment.

Two; He was a little... obsessed with her.

It wasn't overt, or even bad, or anything but... after their initial meeting, he seemed to appear around her friends fairly often, and was always asking about where she was, and leaving right after he got an answer. Rarity made jokes about him being in l-love with her, but Twilight was still fairly uncomfortable with his actions, even though they were... mostly innocent.

For those reasons, she wasn't sure how she felt about those two ponies in particular.

"Oh, hey Twilight!"

Speak of the devil...

"Oh, hello Flash," she greeted lamely, watching the armour-clad stallion approach her, that same wide-smile he always had around her on his face, "Um... how are you?" she asked, already glancing around for a way to politely evade this conversation.

"I'm doing great!" he chirped, "Just doing my rounds when I spotted you, of course!"

Yes, you spotted me. You didn't ask any of my friends where I was, you only spotted me...

It was a rude thought, in all honesty, but at least it was a private one.

"That's... great!" she said, unable to spot anything, and instead turned her attention to him "How has... that been going?"

"It's been going good!" he said, "You Ponyvillians don't have anything to worry about thanks to us Day Guards!" he boasted. Twilight nodded absently, but blinked when his words registered,

"Oh? Uh... well, what about the Night Guards?" she asked idly. Flash scoffed, and waved off her question with a hoof,

"Oh please, they don't really do anything," he said, smirking, "Everypony knows that the Day Guard has the most work. After all, we're the ones dealing with ponies on a daily basis. The Night Guard just has to walk around looking intimidating, but they don't actually do anything for anypony," he said simply, like he was stating a fact.

Twilight stared at him, her mind already running through a hundred different arguments.

Of course the Night Guard did something! They were the ones who patrolled every single night without fail! They had to be constantly aware of their surroundings since everything was much darker! Plus, crimes were statistically more likely to happen at night, putting quite a lot more pressure on the Night Guards!

Although, she supposed he had a point. Dealing with ponies took a lot of energy out of her, so it stands to reason that it would be just as draining to others as well.

But still, to just outright dismiss them like that?

"Well, it was nice talking to you, Flash, but, umm... I have to head to Fluttershy's for tea!" she lied poorly. Thankfully Flash seemed to buy it, since he nodded,

"Alright, cool. I gotta get back to work too, see you tomorrow?" he asked, though Twilight knew it wasn't really a question.

She nodded regardless, and turned around to walk away.

By the time night came along, Flash Sentry's words still rung through her head.

She knew that the Night and Day Guards had always had a rivalry like this, but to think they went so far as to outright disregard each other?

That was awful!

She sighed, and gently closed the book she was reading.

This issue was just... too infuriating!

She huffed, nearly blowing out the only lit candle. This was just like Applebucking Season. They were obviously being stubborn, believing that all the work had to be done by them, and that nopony else was responsible for it. It was crazy! Ludicrous!

It was a problem.

Twilight rubbed her face with her hoof. It was also beginning to give her a headache.

She... she needed some fresh air. Maybe then she could think properly.

With that thought in mind, she quickly blew out the candle, grabbed her scarf, and headed out into the night air.

She took a deep breath in, already beginning to feel better, and trotted off.

So, the Guards obviously had a long-standing rivalry between each other. The reason for it was... currently unknown, but she was sure she could ask her brother if she needed to. Regardless of its origins, it was clearly causing issues. She'd heard more than one rumour about a member from each shift loudly arguing and insulting the other for several minutes straight before they were broken up, usually by the same Night Guard, coincidentally the one Twilight was familiar with.

On the subject of that particular Guard, nopony in town had ever seen him without his armour on. Even so, he was easily the most recognizable of the ten, even though the enchantments on his armour were constantly active, and Sentinel and Flash were the 'leaders' of the groups.

It was a combination of his light accent and exotic features that helped him stand out amongst the others. Both of which painted him as native to somewhere outside Equestria, though nopony knew where.

He was also recognized as the most dependable member of the Guard, funnily enough. Despite rarely ever appearing during the day, he was often seen helping somepony when he was. Be it a small task, such as helping somepony lift something, to something marginally bigger, like escorting Granny Smith so she could shop in town when she broke her leg, as the elderly mare had been too stubborn to just hoof him a list.

She shook her head, she was getting off-

She froze suddenly, and sniffed air, only barely holding back the urge to retch.

A foul scent tainted the air around her, a foul scent that she, unfortunately, recognized.

Timberwolves.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, the sound of growling filled the air as glowing green eyes full of hunger and malice lit up the darkness to her right.

Twilight spun in place, stuttering back a few steps as the first wolf came into sight.

It was a disgusting thing, made of dark, seemingly rotting, wood. Its body creaked and cracked with every step, its maw, filled with dagger-like teeth, open wide, dripping large drops of sticky, viscous sap-like drool onto the ground below.

Then two more appeared beside it.

Twilight's heart was hammering in her chest.

What was she going to do?!

Running was pointless, and basically suicide. Timberwolves were fast, astonishingly so. In the forest, where trees and bushes blocked their path, there was a chance she could outrun them, but in the open fields where she was now?

She'd be caught within minutes.

Plus, that wasn't to mention that the only place she could hide was in Ponyville, and she'd be crazy to lead them all there!

Wait...

Timberwolves rarely, if ever, came out of the Everfree Forest, which means that either something had chased them this close to the border, or...

They were very hungry, and she was the only unfortunate thing close by.

She gulped heavily, her horn igniting as she prepared to fire the only offensive spell she knew-the Bolt spell-when the first one lunged.

A scream tore from her throat, and her spell fired, completely missing its mark, instead colliding with a tree somewhere to her far left, leaving a small black spot.

But, even so, the timberwolf was knocked off its course. Not by anything she did, no. It had been knocked away by a silver blur impaling the side of its face, and pinning it to the ground not far away.

She stared, horrified, for a moment at the sight of the spear having gored straight through the wolf, not quite registering what its presence entailed, until the roar of the second timberwolf broke her from her thoughts.

Again, it lunged at her, but, now that there was plenty of adrenaline coursing through her, she managed to catch what happened next.

A gray and purple blur slammed into the wolf, causing its head to shatter into a thousand pieces as the familiar Night Guard slowed to a stop in front of her.

There was another, deeper, growl, one that sent strange shudders down her spine.

It took her a moment to realize that they were coming from the guard.

Those shudders only grew worse, by the way.

The wolf he'd punched-because that was what caused its head to explode, her brain informed her-started glowing green, and the pieces that were scattered began to float back towards the body, only for a growl and a flash of blue light-fire-to engulf the wolf's body, causing the glow to fade out.

The guard reached over, almost lazily, and ripped his spear from the other wolf's head, another burst of blue fire incinerating that one where it lay, leaving behind a smoldering husk.

Twilight looked back at the last wolf, whose attention was now focused on the guard, and watched as it lunged forward.

Despite the adrenaline running through her body, and despite being prepared, she was completely unable to catch what happened next.

There was a glint of light, a streak of gray, and the timberwolf's head came rolling off of its shoulders. A flash of blue flame, and it, too, was reduced to ash.

Twilight could only stare forward, the entire sequence of events having taken less than ten seconds total. Because of this, she was still in adrenaline induced shock when the guards addressed her,

"Are you alright, Miss Sparkle?" he asked, the accent placing him immediately as the mysteriously familiar stranger, if she hadn't known already,

"U-uhh..." she mumbled intelligently. The guard's brow rose at her response, which prompted the, now thoroughly embarrassed, mare into speaking properly, "I mean, yes! Yes, I'm fine!"

"That's good," he said, sparing a disinterested glance down at the smoldering remains at his hooves, "if I might ask, what are you doing out here so late?"

Twilight stiffened at the question, feeling strangely... on the spot, despite having a legitimate reason and answer.

"O-oh, well, I was just out for a walk," she explained, waving her hooves around, "Y-you see, I-uh-I was having some trouble working out a problem in my head, and I-well-I wanted to clear my-uh-m-my head!" she stammered.

The guard only quirked his brow at her once again, the small, easily miss-able, action feeling like a weighted blow to her gut.

"I see," he said simply, regarding her with a critical eye, "... I suppose I''ll simply have to escort you back to your home," he subtly ordered. Twilight swallowed stiffly, and nodded,

"O-of course! I-I'd be happy to have the c-company!"

The walk was silent, though if her thoughts were to get any louder, Twilight had no doubt they'd be spewing out her ears.

This was her chance! She could finally talk to the familiar guard and figure out just where she knew him from! Not only that, but she just might be able to go and make a new friend out of all this!

Though, there was a part of her that recognized her desires to befriend the stallion as partially a result of his recent actions. He'd saved her life, after all. Of course she'd want to be friends with whomever was responsible for that!

Thankfully, the majority of her reasoning lie with her desire to get to know this strangely familiar stranger.

"Well, we're where, Miss Sparkle," his voice suddenly cut through her thoughts, "I'd suggest you turn in for the night, but I know you well enough to know otherwise," he said, sounding amused yet... aggravated?

Wait-

"You know me?" she asked, seizing the opportunity, before immediately backtracking, "W-wait, I mean, well, of course you know me, I'm-well, I'm-uh-"

Her frantic attempts at speaking were interrupted by a deep, almost gravelly, chuckling,

"I see you haven't changed at all, Miss Sparkle," he noted, clearly amused, but nodded, "Yes, I do, in fact, know you. I was, after all, the one who watched over you during those many nights you decided to spend studying in the Royal Archives, instead of at home, sleeping," he said.

Twilight blinked, digesting the information.

Then, all at once, every single memory she had of spending time at the Royal Archives shot through her mind.

Memories of late night study sessions, of falling asleep at the table only to awaken back in her room. Of dying candles replaced with fresh new ones when she wasn't looking, of towering stacks of books carefully replaced whenever she grew too interested in a particular work.

Of warm blankets given to her on cold nights, of fresh tea and scones appearing by her side without her knowing, and of the ever-present understanding that she wasn't alone.

All those memories replayed in her head while she stared at the stallion, now distinctly recalling his face in each and every single one, despite having difficulty before.

"Th-that was you?" she asked, awed. His brow raised once more,

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"No!" she nearly shouted, clearly taking the guard by surprise, given by the way he recoiled at her outburst, "I-I mean... no, of course not!" she amended, "You were-I mean-!" she bit her lip, and glanced away, "You were... always there," she muttered lamely, "I-I... the Archives were the only place I felt like myself, back then," she admitted, "I could just... read and learn all I wanted, and I didn't have to worry about ponies inviting me to parties, or insisting that I go out and make friends. It was..." she trailed off, the words escaping her.

"Your sanctuary," he supplied suddenly, looking at her as though he was seeing her for the first time. She nodded,

"Yeah, my sanctuary," she repeated, licking her lips, "but... you were always there. You never... you never judged me, or made fun of me because I liked learning. You were... nice," she said, "I-... I didn't really show it, but... I was always happy to see you whenever I came by. The-there were times, you know, where I was afraid that there'd be someone else there, instead of you," she admitted, swallowing thickly, "I... I guess, in a way... I always thought of you as a friend," she concluded, fidgeting slightly.

This was... embarrassing. Why was this embarrassing?

She was only telling a pony she'd never properly interacted with, or even knew the name of, that she'd always pictured them as her very first real friend, practically out of nowhere after nearly getting killed by a small pack of timberwolves!

There was nothing embarrassing about that!

"You thought of me as a friend, hmm?" he asked, smirking almost smugly, "Does that mean you don't think that anymore?"

She blinked,

"Wh-whaaaat?!" she screeched, recoiling away from him.

"You said you 'thought' of me as a friend. That implies that you don't anymore," he said, smirking wider, "Did I, perhaps, do something wrong, Miss Sparkle?~" he asked, teasingly.

Unfortunately, his teasing tone went right over her head.

"Wha-no!" she said, vehemently, "Of course not!" His brow raised once again, and a light chuckle escaped him,

"Ah... then I suppose we are friends, then?" he asked. Twilight stilled,

"U-u-uhhh.... S-sure!" she chirped, smiling stiffly, "I-I'd love to be friends!" she added. He nodded at her,

"And I, too," he said, gently kicking her door open, "but we'll have to start being friends tomorrow, Miss Sparkle. Have a nice night," he said, turning away from her, "Oh, by the way, my name is Emerald Skies," he added, before walking off into town. Twilight swallowed,

"Twilight!" she shouted after him, "C-call me Twilight!"

He paused, and looked back at her,

"Hmhm, will do, Twilight," he said, sending her a lazy wave.

Twilight stood in place for a moment, watching as he left until, finally, he disappeared around the corner.

Unbidden, a smile blossomed on her face, and she almost started vibrating in place.

Despite her restraint, she found herself skipping back inside the library, giddily clapping her hooves together.

She had done it! She had, not only, learned exactly where she'd known him, but managed to actually, officially meet her very first friend!

Plus, she learned his name!

Emerald Skies.

For some reason, just the thought of his name made her heart soar.

Emerald blinked, and stifled a yawn.

Had he... had he actually just done that?

Had he actually just gone and made friends with Twilight 'Trouble Magnet' Sparkle?

Damn, he was more tired than he thought.

Author's Note

This one was very fun to write, I tell you. I was actually a little torn as to whether to end the chapter here, or continue it further, so...

There may be a part two-or even more-to this particular scenario. Let me know what you think! Please, because writing these are a lot of fun!

Hope you enjoyed. Constructive criticism appreciated. See you next time!

What If: He Never Went to The Facility?

"B-but Mama, wh-why do I have to go?"

Her heart wrenched at the pleading gaze of her youngest son.

"I'm sorry, my littlest gem," she said, gently wrapping her wings around him, "But this is the only way to make sure you get better." He sniffed, burying his face into her neck.

"You don't need to worry, hun," her sister, Sunlit Skies, assured her, her bright blue eyes twinkling at her, "Little Em will be in good hooves with me."

Moonlit Skies did not like this, not one bit. She understood the reasoning, of course. Why wouldn't she?

Her son was chronically sick, rarely feeling anything but under the weather. Tamer Wind had theorized that Emerald's awful condition could be due to the environment, and, loathe as she was to admit it, Moonlit believed him.

Again, it only made sense. He was sick because of the endless blizzard that marked their home. Sick because it was too cold for his body to withstand. Thus he was constantly plagued by illness since the cold constantly weakened his body.

Ergo, the solution was to place him somewhere warm, where he could heal.

The problem with that, of course, was that as a Clan Heir, he couldn't exactly just leave. That gave him a level of importance that most other foals didn't have. Of course, this was the Skies Clan she was talking about. As far as they were concerned, every foal was important. That he was a Clan Heir meant little in that regard.

As a true-blooded Skies herself-having been born a Skies rather than entered from another Clan, that is-she agreed wholeheartedly with this fact. The only way she'd ever lose one of her precious little gems was death or foalnapping, and neither was happening any time soon. If he was being forced to leave, then she and his siblings would have to come along as well at minimum.

Unfortunately for her, her husband, Ashen Skies, loved their foals almost more than she did, and had asked her to let him go.

The asshole-through snot, tears, and several tissues-all but begged her to let him go. His reasoning-or what she managed to get through aforementioned snot and tears-was that he wanted Emerald to grow up healthy, but he didn't want to leave the rest of the family behind.

As much as it pained him, he felt that if it meant having him grow up healthy and happy, then he'd happily send Emerald away-with promises to write him every week if possible!-so long as he also got placed into a happy home or had a different family member watching over him.

She'd offered to go with him, of course, but Sapphire and Ruby were still young as well. One child losing contact with their mother would be bad, but two?

Plus, she was Ashen's wife. While being the wife of a Clan Head wasn't really that big of a deal, she still had responsibilities to deal with, and enough of a voice in the Gathering House that her disappearance could be bad.

Luckily, there were a number of Skies who lived around the world away from the Clan that finding him a home pretty much anywhere would be easy. It was figuring out where that home would be that was much harder.

Except her husband's brother, Dusty Skies. That stallionwhore would never get his influence anywhere near her children, especially not while out of her sight.

Thus they turned to her side of the family.

Sunlit Skies, her younger sister, was a somewhat immature, but well-meaning, mare with no foals of her own. She managed to make her home over in Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria, and worked as a member of the Elite Night Guard of Canterlot.

The reason she chose to live in Canterlot, of all places, was lost on her elder sister, but Moonlit didn't bother questioning it. Canterlot was home of the princess and the entire Canterlot Guard. Her littlest gem would be safe there, if nothing else.

Who knows, he might even make friends there! His sickness made making friends here much harder for him, so the opportunity that Canterlot would present would be good.

"B-but Mama...." he whined once more, his little voice causing her heart to quake. She dutifully ignored the sniffling coming from her husband behind her, who was probably on his second box of tissues by now.

"I'm sorry, my littlest gem, I really, truly am," she whispered, gently letting go, "But you have to stay strong, okay?" she asked, tilting her head, staring into his little blue eyes, "Stay strong, for Mama and Papa, alright?" she asked once again.

He sniffed, and wiped at his eyes,

"O-okay Mama," he said, before timidly turning to face his Aunt.

He took a few steps forward, but paused and looked back at her and Ashen-who had turned away, blowing his nose into another tissue-his eyes watering. He stared for a moment, and, when it was clear they weren't about to change their minds, he turned back and finished walking over to Sunlit.

She smiled down at him, brushing a lock of her brilliant blonde mane out of her face,

"C'mon, Little Em. Le'ts get you to your new home, okay?"

"... Okay..."

Em stared out the second floor's window again, staring down at all the funny looking ponies walking around.

He's been in Canterlot for the past few months now, and he still couldn't believe just how many different looking ponies there were! Each one of them looked different from each other, it was so weird!

Back home, you could pretty much tell who belonged to what family by looking at them! Even Traded Names had similar features to their new Clans!

He felt a pang of homesickness strike him, hanging over him like a sheet that threatened to drag him down.

He shook his head.

But these ponies... they were all so different! At least it would make telling them apart super easy.

Something-or rather, someone-new entered his vision suddenly.

A small form suddenly started making its way through the crowd of ponies. He narrowed his eyes, and pressed further into the glass in order to get a better look.

It was a little, purple pony, with a short, purple horn sticking out of its mane. It was glowing a very pretty looking purple, and a book was floating in front of it, covered in that same purple glow.

He blinked at the sight.

Right. That was also something. These ponies came in a couple different shapes too!

His tongue stuck itself out as he began to think, going over his Auntie Sunlit's lessons.

Pegasi. Earth ponies. Unicorns.

Those were the three tribes that called Equestria home.

The pegasi had wings just like thestrals, but they also had this funny little power that let them control the weather.

Earth ponies didn't have anything special, but they were super strong and had really good stamina when compared to the other two.

The unicorns had little horns on their head that let them do magic. And magic was something that could do a lot of things, like cooking, sewing, teleporting, and even fighting!

But that little purple unicorn was using it to make that book float in front of it.

Em frowned.

Didn't the unicorn know that was kinda dangerous? Especially when walking through crowds like that!

Just as he thought that the little pony finally made its way through the crowd, but now it was walking right towards him. Well, towards the street light in front of his window.

He gave the window a few hits, hoping to warn the little pony, but his hooves were too quiet, and the little pony ended up running right into the light.

His ears twitched, hearing the slight, high-pitched yelp that came from the pony as it fell onto its flanks from the impact. The pony shook its head, causing its dark blue, pink-striped mane to shake about. Its head tilted up, its purple eyes narrowing behind its glasses as it glared at the light.

Em blinked, however, tilting his head.

His motion must've caught the filly's-because the unicorn was definitely a filly-eye, since she ended up turning and looking at him.

Blue eyes met purple eyes for the first time, and their fates were now intertwined.

"Hi, I'm Em! What you name?"

Twily jumped slightly, startled by the sudden voice.

There hadn't been anypony else in the library when she'd gotten here with her and BBBFF and Mommy-who wandered off to keep said BBBFF from sneaking out another one of those boring comics of his-aside from the librarian, so who was bothering her reading time?

She looked up from her book-a historical account of the Days of the Founders-and found a colt about her age staring at her curiously. He was a bit taller than her, and his fuzzy green coat made him look a little bigger than he probably was too.

He looked a bit odd, though. His eyes looked kind of like a cat's, and a pair of sharp teeth poked out from his lips.

Twily frowned at the sight of him. What was he doing, interrupting her reading time?

She turned back to her book, completely ignoring him.

"What you read?"

He talked kind of funny too. Like he could barely speak Equish!

Twily huffed, and glared at him over her book, pushing up her glasses with her magic,

"Can't you see I'm reading?" she asked, somewhat rudely, but she was sure her Mommy would understand. He nodded,

"Yeah. But you look... word for not with others, so I come by to talk!" he chirped, smiling in a way that emphasized his sharp teeth.

Twily huffed,

"Well... go 'way! I'm reading!" she snapped with a pout. The colt only tilted his head, and blinked,

"Uh... okay?" he said with a frown. He turned around and walked off not long after that, leaving Twily alone to read.

Twily nodded with a 'Hmph!', and returned to her book, eyes scanning over the pages quickly. Several minutes passed in silence, and Twily's mood quickly improved now that some annoying colt wasn't pestering her.

Em shuffled a little in nervousness, stealing a glance up at Auntie Sunlit, who smiled at him.

"D-do I have to do this?" he asked her. Auntie Sunlit sighed, but her smile didn't fall,

"Yes, Little Em. Little foals like you have to go to school here in Equestria," she said, then gently bopped him on the nose, "And speak in Equish, sweetie. You need to practice."

"Oka-" Auntie Sunlit glared at him a bit, and he quickly tried again, "O-okay, Auntie Sunlit." She smiled, and ruffled his mane.

"It's okay, Little Em. School is a lot like the lessons back home. Just... they're not Skies like us, okay?"

He nodded, almost timidly, as he stared at the door that would lead to his new classroom.

Hoofsteps and voices flowed out the closed door, loud enough for even his not-quite-developing hearing to detect. The hoofsteps grew louder for a moment, just before the door opened, revealing a pony around Auntie Sunlit's age.

She had a bright pink coat and a near blinding light green mane. She had a pair of black glasses sitting in front of her equally green eyes. She stared at them, a smile seemingly permanently stuck her face,

"Can I help you?" she asked politely,

"Hello, are you Mrs. Melon, the-" she frowned,"'kindergarten' teacher?" Auntie Sunlit asked. The pony nodded,

"That's right!" she said, glancing down at him, "... Oh! You must be Emerald, our newest student, is that right?" she asked. Em glanced up at Auntie Sunlit, who gently nudged him forward,

"Uh, y-yes," he stammered, almost forgetting to speak in Equish. He added a nod after a moment, in case she still hadn't understood him.

Mrs. Melon smiled at him, and went to speak-

"You'll have to forgive him," Auntie Sunlit said, cutting her off with a slight grimace, "He's been learning quick over the months, but his Equish isn't quite up to the appropriate level. He also tends to slip back into our language. Just remind him if it happens and everything should be fine," she said. Mrs. Melon nodded, and, after a moment of looking thoughtful, spoke,

"I see, is there anything I should be aware of, regarding..." she asked, waving slightly in their direction, "... your... culture?" she finished, sounding unsure.

"You mean our species?" Auntie Sunlit deadpanned, earning a wince and nod from Mrs. Melon. Auntie Sunlit frowned, "Nothing much, really. But Little Em is a bit fragile right now. He's only recently recovered from a sickness. I wouldn't worry about it too much, though," she pat him on the head, causing him to fold down his ears, "He's a resilient little pipsqueak," she glanced away, thinking, "Oh... our hearing and eyesight are very good, so try not to flash bright lights in his face, or shout right beside him in the future. We're also omnivores-" Mrs. Melon froze for a bit, "-but the lunches we pack for him are strictly pony-friendly, so don't worry," she added, causing Mrs. Melon to relax, "That's... pretty much it," she finished, then turned to him, "Good luck, Little Em. I'll pick you up once school ends, alright?"

He nodded,

"'K-kay," he stammered.

Auntie Sunlit smiled at him, then nodded at Mrs. Melon, before she turned and left.

"Well," Mrs. Melon said, splitting the silence, "come on then, Emerald. Let's introduce you to the class, alright?"

That purple filly was in his class, and she was just as prickly as she was when he tried talking to her at the library.

He frowned, glancing over at the distant corner of the room where she sat, alone. There weren't any other ponies who chose to sit around her while she read, choosing instead to mess around with all the blocks and toys during their 'recess' as Mrs. Melon called it.

He didn't really understand this 'recess'. Weren't they supposed to be learning stuff?

There was nothing like this in Nocturne. His Mama and Papa had him and Ruby and Sapphire learning, training, learning, then training some more!

Well, Ruby and Sapphire had more training than he did. But he was prolly gonna start training more with Auntie Sunlit now that he was feeling better.

The thought of training caused him to smile, his tiny fangs glinting, which in turn caused several of the foals around him to scoot away, creeped out by the weird new pony, not that he noticed.

He shook his head. Auntie Sunlit told him that 'School' was a lot like the lessons back home. The lessons, not the training he realized.

Unless... oh! Was 'recess' their training?

He blinked and started looking around a bit more.

The ponies here were moving around a lot. They stacked and moved blocks, and seemed to be messing around with some weird square things with a bunch of pieces on them. He tilted his head though, not sure how any of this was training.

Oh, maybe it was a new kind of training that only the ponies knew about?

He smiled-causing more foals to move away from him-and nodded. Yeah! That made lots of sense!

He stood up from the seat that Mrs. Melon had asked him to sit in and moved to join the other foals in their 'recess' only to be stumped when they started moving away from him when he got close.

He blinked, and tried again, only to meet the same result.

Did they... want him to chase them?

It would be good training, he supposed, but it didn't really look like what they were doing, not with those weird expressions on their faces.

He thought for a moment, then gasped. Of course, it was so obvious!

He forgot to ask them if he could join!

Wow, his Papa would be sad if he ever learned that Em forgot about his manners. Good thing he remembered!

"Uh, hel-lo?" he asked, not sure if he got it right, "C-can I..."-oh, what was the word?-"j-join?" Right! Those should be the right words.

"No!"

"Go 'way!"

He blinked, freezing in place.

"O-oh...? U-um... All corr-alright...?" he stammered, backing away, ears folding over his head.

He sat back onto his flank, beginning to pay more attention to the others. He was... saddened to find that it wasn't only the two he'd approached that had moved away from him.

In a class of nearly fifty foals, Em sat alone, a wide, empty circle surrounding him.

Twily frowned slightly, peering just over her book to look at the annoying new colt-he wasn't really that annoying, since he didn't bother her at all, but she couldn't remember his name-as he jogged around the playground.

She wasn't the only one staring at him, of course. Plenty of the other, just as annoying, foals stared at him as he ran. She supposed they didn't understand what he was doing any better than she did. It was really weird, after all!

He'd been in their class for almost a month now, and very little had changed since.

She read during every break, finished all their work early so she could keep reading, was gently pushed into playing with the other foals during recess by Mrs. Melon, got told to go away, read for all of recess, finished all her work, read until the bell rang, then went home and told her parents about all the reading she got done that day, before practicing her magic. Then she'd have dinner, go to bed, and redo it all over again.

The new colt hadn't changed that, much. Their classmates avoided him just as much as they avoided her, though she wasn't really sure why. Sure, he looked a little different, but her Mommy, Daddy, and her foalsitter, Cadence, taught her not to judge somepony just cause they looked a bit different.

She might be wrong, though. They could just be avoiding him cause he did all these weird things during recess.

Like running around the playground, jumping over the play area, and doing what looked like these weird exercises.

Nopony wanted to do any of that, so he was always alone.

Just like her.

Twily pouted a little, and returned to her reading.

Whatever, it's not like she cared.

He stared down at the large building that loomed before him, a long-come-familiar sense of dread pooling in his stomach.

Kindergarten had been... annoying. He'd learned that most ponies he met didn't really like him just cause he looked different. Some were okay with him, but avoided him like everyone else just because.

He wasn't expecting 'elementary school' to be any better.

Twilight smiled, excitedly waving her BBBFF goodbye as he went off. The smile plastered over her face was positively gigantic! And why wouldn't it be? Today was going to be for first day of first grade! If it was anything like kindergarten was, then she'd get so much reading done!

Ahh, it was so exciting!

She wasn't really looking forward to being around ponies all that much, but, for the sake of her reading, she'd put up with it.

Ponies could be cruel.

Not even a week, and he'd already had some of his things stolen.

How... fitting.

Those jerks poured juice all over her saddlebags!

They ruined her books!

How could they?!

"Give it back!"

The shout startled him out of his exercises. A group of ponies had formed near the entrance back into the class, three surrounding one it seemed.

"It's just some boring old book," one of the foals said, holding a blue book in her hoof. The shortest of the four, a familiar purple filly, stamped her hoof,

"It's mine! My big brother gave it to me, so-so g-give it back!"

The foal holding the book laughed,

"Aw, what's the matter, Twilame, you gonna start cryin'?"

"N-no I'm not!"

"Crylight, Twicry!"

"S-stop it!"

The three foals surrounding the purple filly started laughing, which only caused the purple filly to turn red, tears welling in her eyes.

Emerald watched for a little longer, before the filly eventually ran off, tears sparkling as they fell from her eyes.

"Ha, look! She's running away!"

"What a loser!"

"Crylight! Twicry!"

He frowned.

Twilight sniffed, curling up further into a ball, unbothered by the darkness of the closet she'd shut herself into.

H-how could they?! That book had been a gift from her BBBFF for her birthday, and they just took it! Why? Why did they take it from her?! She hadn't done anything to them!

She hiccuped, dragging a hoof across her eyes, leaving it coming away wet.

Why did they have to be so mean to her? They hadn't left her alone for even a day ever since school started last month! Always teasing her, tripping her during P.E., and now taking her things!

She froze at the sound of the door opening, the crack letting in a single stream of light into the otherwise pitch black closet.

H-had they found her? Had they come to laugh at 'Crylight' or 'Twicry' some more?

She scowled, and furiously rubbed at her eyes. She wasn't gonna let them see her crying, not this time!

When the door fully opened, a small, but vaguely familiar, green head peeked into the room, a pair of intense blue eyes scanning the dark room, before locking onto her.

"There you are," he said, slipping further into the room.

She tensed when the door shut behind him. Wh-why was he here? She-she knew this colt, if only barely. H-he was that weird colt in her kindergarten class who only ever worked out. He was top of their P.E. class, actually.

"Here, this's yours."

His voice pierced through the pitch blackness suddenly, startling her.

"Wh-what?" she asked in the general direction of his voice. She heard some shuffling, before a click and the lights turned on, blinding her for an instant.

"Sorry," he muttered, frowning, "I tend to forget I have better vision than ponies," he said, "Anyways, this is yours," he repeated, holding out-her book!

Twilight gasped at the sight of the familiar fairy tale, her magic lighting up to snatch it away, which caused the colt to flinch when the book flew away from him.

"Wha-?!"

Not really paying much attention to his reaction, she cradled the book close to her, almost afraid he'd take it back. It wouldn't be the first time one of her bullies returned something, only to steal it back.

"Wh-why?" she stammered, looking up at the taller colt. He stared at her for a moment-well, he stared at her horn, but it was close enough-before shaking his head,

"Uhh... well, taking things from someone isn't very nice. Plus you asked for it back and they still didn't return it," he said simply, like it explained everything.

Twilight blinked, not really understanding.

"Wh... b-but if they find out you gave it to me, th-then they'll be mean to you too!" she protested.

Twilight wasn't really sure why she was worried about him. He was the weird colt, after all. Nopony wanted to be anywhere near him, like.... well, like they didn't wanna be near her.

She felt her face go warm and she looked away. Her Mommy and Daddy and her BBBFF (and even her foalsitter!) told her to try making friends this time, but it was always so hard! Ponies were just very mean, and they never wanted to read with her.

But... well, this colt was pretty nice so far. He'd never made fun of her as far as she knew.

Maybe.... maybe he could be her friend?

He shrugged,

"It's fine. They already are," he said, causing Twilight to blink. He looked away for a moment, then shrugged, "Well... enjoy your book," he muttered, turning around. Twilight stiffened,

"W-wait!" she almost shouted, causing him to flinch, "Oh, sorry!" she added, grimacing. He frowned, and turned back to her, rubbing his ear,

"What?" he asked, sounding kinda irritated,

"Umm..." she fidgeted, "Th-thank you..." she muttered shyly after a moment. He blinked,

"Oh, uh... you're welcome?" he muttered, sounding confused. He stared at her for a moment, as if thinking, before shaking his head and turning back to the door.

"D-do you..." she began, her newfound confidence fleeing when he turned back with a frown on his face.

"What?" he asked.

Twilight squirmed in place when his eyes landed on her again.

"D-do you... umm, do you... doyouwannabemyfriend?!" she squeaked, before curling up into an embarrassed ball.

He blinked, tilting his head,

"What?"

"U-u-umm, d-d-do you... wanna be my friend?!" she repeated hastily, face going warm as she peered over her returned book.

"Oh... uhh... sure?" he said, sounding confused.

Twilight blinked at his answer, before smiling.

He hadn't thought returning a simple book would lead to the formation of his first friendship, but-

"C'mon Emerald, the library's gonna close early today!"

-well, here he was.

He stumbled slightly over a rock in the path, but managed to keep from falling. A task much harder than one would assume at first, mainly due to the fact that Twilight was dragging him by his front hoof.

"Calm down, Twilight," he said, catching his hooves against the ground to slow them down, "It's not closing that early."

Twilight stamped her hoof and turned to him, a pout on her lips,

"But they got the the newest edition of Daring Do in stock!" she whined. Emerald blinked at her, then sighed,

"I swear, you've got that catalog memorized so well, you might as well be the librarian. Besides, it's not like we have a curfew anymore. You're eighteen, there's no point in rushing." Twilight continued pouting at him, but it fell as she glanced away,

"Being a librarian does sound like fun..." she muttered. He rolled his eyes,

"Only you, Twilight, only you."

"Wha-well what's wrong with liking books?!" she asked hotly, her eyes narrowed at him. He smirked, quickly leaning forward to tap his nose against hers,

"Nothing, of course. It's how we became friends, remember?" Twilight rolled her eyes, gently swatting him away,

"Yeah, I remember," she said, smirking lightly, "Honestly, I'm not sure whether I regret it or not."

"Oh?" Emerald said, stepping closer once more, until their coats rubbed against each other, "What could I have possibly done to warrant that?" Twilight leveled a flat glare at him,

"What did you do? Oh, nothing much. You just forced me to exercise with you, every day, spent all your free time with me, every day, kept pushing me out of my comfort zone, every day, and, oh, keep invading my personal space. Guess what? Every day."

Emerald gave her a fake pout, and bumped her away from him,

"Aw, come on. I'm not that bad, right?" he asked. Twilight scoffed, and closed the gap between them,

"You're right. You're much worse. You actually get me to enjoy all of that," she sighed, feigning exasperation. Emerald chuckled, but went quiet not long after,

"... Hey, Twilight?"

"What?"

"Have you ever wondered what life would be like, if I didn't have you?"

"I should be so lucky." He smirked, and lightly bumped her,

"I'm serious, you know? Oh, if the two of us hadn't met... well, I'm sure I'd be the half the whole world forgot."

"Yeah, and I'd be the star of Canterlot," Twilight snarked, "Even if everyone did forget you, I'm sure you'd find your way into my nightmares, somehow." Emerald smiled,

"Well, you're not that far off, oh Faithful Student." Twilight blushed at that, and glared at him,

"Very funny, Mr. Number One Assistant," she snapped in return. He smirked, his fangs glinting wickedly,

"And just whose Number One Assistant am I?" she frowned,

"Unfortunately... mine."

"Aw, I think I do pretty good work helping you with your studies," he said. Twilight rolled her eyes, but smiled,

"Yeah, I guess you do."

"You 'guess'?"

Twilight giggled, and bumped him. They lapsed into a comfortable silence, idly watching the ponies as they continued towards the library, their coats still brushing against each other all the while.

Twilight didn't like the look on Emerald's face right now. It was the same look he held whenever he thought of a way to embarrass her. She couldn't hope to remember the exact number of times she'd seen that expression since they became friends, but she was sure it was some ungodly number, likely one with five to six digits at this point.

She'd grown all but immune to his attempts over the years. Not even in public could he embarrass her so easily. But she knew that he knew of which buttons he could press that would most likely get a reaction out of her.

Nowadays, there were only three things that could get a reaction out of her.

Something to do with her teacher, Princess Celestia.

Something to do with her parents.

Or an over-the-top display of affection from him. How he never got embarrassed by those, she didn't know.

Of course, that didn't stop him from trying out other things, but those three were the most likely to get a reaction.

He was currently helping her with a project involving her magic and his immunity to magic. Specifically, they were trying to figure out why her magic could be used against him. Between the two of them, she took it more seriously, as one might be able to tell from the way he smirked down at her from his position in midair, held they by Twilight's magical grasp.

"Does this count as foreplay?"

Immediately her magic flickered and died, causing him to drop to the floor with a faint yelp, not that she saw it from behind her hooves, which she'd immediately covered her beet red face with.

Okay, make that four things.

Twilight smiled, eyes flickering over the texts in front of her. Numerous volumes of ancient magical theory that long fell out of use in favour of newer, improved understanding of the arcane. An almost giddy giggle escaped her, despite her-barely there-composure.

Her personal teacher, Princess Celestia, had given her an assignment. Her task was to read through these books and identify the origins of each magical theory and compare them to their newer, more updated versions, and determine what changes were made or found and how it affected the whole of magical understanding.

It was a hefty assignment, much larger than her typical projects, but that only made her more excited.

"Emerald!" she called for her Number One Assistant, looking around for him in the same breath, "Could you get me the..." she trailed off after a moment, however, finding him absent, "Oh... right..."

Immediately, she had deflated, her excitement for her assignment reduced.

It had been nearly three months since he left. Like her brother a few years ago, Emerald had, on a whim, decided to join the Royal Guard, and all rookies were now attending the survival trip, the same one that had nearly starved her brother so long ago. Emerald hadn't appeared worried at all, and, in truth, she wasn't worried either. She had total confidence in him, in his ability to survive anything the Guard could throw at him. He was simply that kind of stallion.

What worried her-and him-was the separation.

As... embarrassing as it was to admit, the two of them had never been apart for more than a few hours ever since the day they became friends. It had started off as fear of being attacked by their bullies that kept them together-strength in numbers, as they say-and even when Twilight had taken the test for an acceptance into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns he'd been there, right by her side.

In hindsight, it was good that he'd been there, otherwise she'd never have been accepted. She'd... well, she'd had a bit of a magical breakdown thanks to all the stress. They tasked her with hatching some egg, but... she failed. She failed, not only in front of her parents and only friend, but she'd also failed in front of Princess Celestia, who'd taken time off to oversee the applicants.

So yes, she'd had a magical breakdown. It started up quite suddenly, but luckily, or unluckily depending on how one looked at it, Emerald was the only one it managed to affect, as he'd run up to comfort her when she'd begun to panic. She'd nearly thrown him through the ceiling before the Princess managed to help her get under control.

Her magic hadn't completely cut out, leaving Emerald floating aimlessly in the air, looking horribly confused, and more than a tad frightened.

As a thestral, Emerald was completely immune to most forms of magic. The fact that her magic ignored that fact meant that there was something special about her. Something special enough that Princess Celestia decided to take her on as her personal student.

It was because of him that she was where she was in life. And even after all that, they hardly ever left each other's side. If anything, that event only made them closer, due, in part, to some guilt Twilight had felt for frightening him at the time. Their closeness lasted throughout the years, and now... well, they could hardly stand being a part, despite being in their twenties.

Twilight sighed, staring at the books in front of her. Well, even if he wasn't here, this should take a while. Maybe he'd be back by the time she finished?

She frowned. She could only hope.

For a moment, she wondered if this was a problem, before dismissing it.

Twilight's twenty-first birthday was in a few months now. This was important information for the likes of Emerald, but, then again, every bit of information about Twilight was important to him.

He was a Skies after all. They mated for life. One Partner for life. Even in death, there would be only one for them. So it made sense for him to be a tad obsessed with her. Aunt Sunlit often told him how similarly he and his Father acted in this regard. Even if they weren't actually together, they might as well be.

He supposed he should be happy to be compared to his Father, but since he hadn't seen the stallion, or his Mother, for quite some time now, he didn't really feel anything.

Unlike most teenagers-well, he wasn't a teen anymore, but twenty years old isn't that far off-he never really had a 'rebellious phase', though neither did Twilight...

Regardless, he didn't dislike his parents. Or even his siblings. Though, he could faintly recall Ruby being a dick, even at ten.

Well, pushing aside whatever similarities he may or may not have with his family, that didn't change the fact that he had no idea what to plan for her birthday. He managed to convince her parents through letters to let him plan her birthday this year-a task that was harder than he'd expected. He hadn't realized Twilight's mother loved planning them so much-so it was all on him to make sure she enjoyed it.

He already knew what he was going to gift her-a signed set of Daring Do books-but he wasn't sure what sort of party to throw for her. On one hoof, he could just not throw a party, and instead treat her to a night around Canterlot. This was her twenty-first, and birthday parties were a tad juvenile. On the other hoof, what was stopping him from throwing a party and taking her out for a night around the city? She liked the parties, after all.

Maybe... a Daring Do themed pa-no, no, that would be juvenile.

Hmm... a trip around the city, then the party? Or the other way around...? What would be best? There wouldn't be anyone other than himself and her family attending, unless he managed to coerce Princess Celestia into attending-hmm... now there was an idea-so he didn't need to worry about getting a lot of anything to support a large number of guests. It also meant she wouldn't be overwhelmed by a large group, which was good.

He fought a sudden pain in his chest that overcame him.

He scowled, and rubbed his chest. Damn, he'd been away from Twilight for too long. He resolved to quit the Guard at the first opportunity. Being in the Royal Guard wasn't worth it if it meant being away from her for this long.

He sighed, glaring faintly at the commanding officer's tent.

This survival trip better end soon. Twilight was waiting for him.

Idly, he wondered if this was a problem, before shrugging it off.

It was dark out. Rain splattered against the windows, filling the room with a rhythmic patter, accompanied by the crackling of flame.

Twilight sighed, content. Emerald shifted next to her, his head gently resting atop her own.

The library was silent, as expected. The only light came from the fire-stuffed to the brim with safety spells just in case-which continued to burn merrily. She idly turned the page of the book in her hooves, eyes scanning the words but not quite taking them in, too focused on the relaxing feeling of Emerald by her side.

She'd probably have to re-read it later.

Emerald had come back from the survival trip a few months ago, and had officially quit the Guard last week. Twilight had felt guilty, being the reason he'd quit, but the amount of affection he showered her with quickly eroded it. She shouldn't have felt guilty in the first place. He'd missed her just as much as she'd missed him, after all.

A soft grin found its way onto her face, illuminated faintly by the fire. Her horn lit up, gently plucking the book off the ground and placing it onto the shelf, where she could find it later. She tilted her head slightly, just enough to look at Emerald without disturbing his slumber.

It had been a long time since they'd done this. She could hardly recall the last time they simply cuddled before the fire, reading quietly. She had missed this. Missed him.

Several months of extended separation had really shown the two of them how utterly attached they were to the other. Neither had been able to do much over the course of their separation and the way they had clung to each other upon his return would've been downright shameful if either of them actually cared.

It was times like that, and like this, that made Twilight realized just how much she adored this stallion.

He was her first friend.

Her first crush.

The one she could trust with anything.

The one she'd do anything for.

The one she'd live for.

The one she'd die for.

The one she loved with everything she had, and more.

She smiled at him, mouth moving in a quite whisper.

"I love you."

Emerald's eyes opened, sapphires staring into amethysts,

"I love you too."

Author's Note

Hey all, sorry about not posting anything for TCoH for so long. I... probably won't be able to post it for awhile. There's... a lot going on, as I'm sure everyone already knows. With the big bad going around, stuff with my college has been getting rammed, and I'm pretty sure all the stress has gotten to me. :fluttershysad:

That being said, I've managed to get some stuff out, so it's not all bad. I had fun with this chapter, and I even got to reference one of my old favourite movies too. Props to anyone who catches it, since it's not a big reference or a very well known movie.

That being said, hope you enjoyed. Constructive criticism appreciated. See you next time!