//-------------------------------------------------------// A Sparkling Romance -by Jake8765- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// The Beginning //-------------------------------------------------------// The Beginning Twilight was busy with her usual idle weekend plans: reading a good book on the evolution of fauna, studying out of a history book, or doing an experiment in her underground laboratory. This Saturday though, Twilight had a different thing in mind, and that was overseeing the preparations of the new arrival to Ponyville. She had spent so much time preparing, she was on the verge of collapse. "SPIKE!" Twilight's tired voice rang out, to no response. Spike was ignoring her shouts by submerging himself in his dreamland. "Yes Rarity, these are new scales. You noticed, didn't you? Oh? I have been working out, thank you my dear." Spike whispered softly in his imagination. In his dream, Spike was somewhat his normal self, but built more muscular, and the more shocking thing was Rarity was swooning head over hooves for him. "Ohh yes, Spikey-Wikey. You look simply smashing with those scales, and your muscles are making me melt." Rarity said in a seductive tone. The two were then eye-to-eye, coming closer when they were interrupted by a soft shout. "Spike!" the voice rang out. "Spike, do you hear that?" Rarity asked. "Whatever it is, I'll keep you safe." Spike said in a baritone voice, holding Rarity in his arms. "Spike-ee!" the voice yelled, a bit more irritated. "There it is again. Who is that?" Rarity asked. "Don't worry, I'll check it out." Spike comforted her. He then stood up, and spread his new purple wings, and took off in flight, speeding towards the voice. As he sped closer, the voice became familiar. Spike was soon engulfed in a lavender aura, his flight path ceased, and he was sharply thrust forward into a giant hoof. Spike's eyes widened as he was soon being stared down by a humongous Twilight Sparkle. "SPIKE, WAKE UP!!!" the giant Twilight Sparkle shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Spike let out a scream in his makeshift bed. "For the love of Celestia, Twilight! I was in the middle of the best lucid dream ever!" Spike whined. "I'm sure you had fun, Romeo, but I need help with preparations for the newcomer to Ponyville." Twilight said, levitating a checklist over to them. "It's not like he's some entrepreneigh from Canterlot." Spike mispronounced. "Entrepreneur, Spike. And according to his backround check from Princess Celestia, he's been to Canterlot on several important matters." Twilight said. "Oh wow, I'd love to know more about this guy." Spike feigned genuine eagerness. "Well, it says he's a pegasus, born from Cloudsdale, and then it gets kind of important. He was apparently a member of something called a 'Jedi' Counsel." Twilight said, dumbfounded. "Well isn't that interesting." Spike continued to feign his own interest. "He's also supposed to be quite diplomatic, likes...ooh, that's...surprising." Twilight stopped suddenly. "Don't keep me in suspense, Twilight. Tell me everything." Spike said, slowly trying to get back into his sleeping position. "It says he likes books on ancient things in history too. He's pretty into all types of literature. A Daring Do fan, perhaps? I seriously haven't anypony else who loves Daring Do as much as me and Rainbow Dash do, maybe I should introduce myself to him." Twilight rambled on, trotting over to her mirror, levitating her brush to her mane. Spike took the opportunity during her ramble to sleep. "I heard from the Princess that he's very into democracy. He seems very sophisticated." Twilight continued, finally brushing her mane to perfection. She trotted by, not noticing Spike, only getting the gist of his sleeping mumbles. "Mmm, yes I will go to the Gala with you, Rarity." Spike said in his sleep, as if he was in the middle of kissing her. Twilight rolled her eyes as she walked out of the Library. The birds sung in slight off-key pitch as she trotted to City Hall. She saw Rainbow Dash finishing a sign on town hall, Pinkie Pie bouncing happily on a bounce house, Applejack and Rarity arguing over the importance of wearing such a frou-frou dress, and Fluttershy trying to tune the birds to sing on-key. "Hey girls, I see you're finished with preparations?" Twilight asked. "I just finished hanging the "Welcome" sign. Fluttershy's tryin' to get the birds to sing right, and Pinkie's already finished the bounce house." Rainbow Dash said without a hint of exhaustion. Pinkie then spoke while bouncing gleefully. "I...finished...over...an hour...ago!" Pinkie Pie squealed excitedly in sync with her bounces. "No wonder she finished so quickly, she must have lungs of steel with all her energy." Twilight said quietly. "You've been here bouncing for an hour?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously. "I couldn't wait for the new pony, so I came here with my bounce house at 6 A.M., and I was all," Pinkie said as she imitated blowing air into the bounce house, "and my lungs are like, super strong, so I blew it up in 10 seconds flat!" "Hey! That's MY thing!" Rainbow Dash shouted, flying straight into the bounce house, preparing to wrestle with Pinkie over the catchphrase. Twilight watched the two mares rolling around on the grass play-wrestling over the sentence while she looked over to Applejack and Rarity. "I told you Applejack, a lady has to look beautiful when a new arrival comes. It's all about being polite and elegant." Rarity defended her dress. "And Ah told ya'll that it's not a big fuss to worry about if our ponytails match our horseshoes." Applejack retorted. "Well I'm sorry you feel that way, but I'm more into fashion than you. I'm sure you'd never abandon your cowpony hat." Rarity stated. "That you're right about, Rarity. Ah just think it ain't that big of a ruckus--" Applejack started. "Fracus!" Pinkie shouted on the grass, before rolling Rainbow Dash onto her own back, continuing their play-fight. "It ain't that big of a fracus to overwork yourself on that one dress for a new arrival. I mean, you have giant blood diamonds on the end of the dress. Ain't it heavy to lug around?" Applejack asked. "Beauty knows no limits, Applejack." Rarity stated, lugging her hooves as she strained to move with the dress weighing her down. "Fluttershy, how's the bird song going?" Twilight asked. "Ohh, there're trying their hardest, but they just can't. Mordecai here is trying his best, the poor little blue jay." Fluttershy said quietly. "Well the preparations are finished, I suppose?" Twilight asked. "It's my catchphrase!" Rainbow shouted, wrestling Pinkie around on the grass. "It's sounds 20% cooler when I say it!" Pinkie teased, throwing Rainbow off her. "THAT TEARS IT!" Rainbow yelled, barreling into Pinkie, grabbing her hooves, pinning her down. "Dashie!!" Pinkie whined. "Say uncle!" Dash replied. "Ok fine, uncle!" Pinkie shouted in fake pain. Rainbow then let go, helping Pinkie back up. "Are you two done breaking bones?" Twilight deadpanned. The two then hugged each other, patting each other on the back. "Yeah, sorry Pinks. Did I hurt you at all?" Rainbow asked. "Nopey dopey! You can never hurt Pinkie Pie" Pinkie chirped, her head twisting completely upside down, to Rainbow's surprise. "Spike still sleepin' in?" Applejack asked Twilight. "Ugh, like always. He never cares about any new arrival." Twilight said, checking off her list. "Welcome sign: check. Bounce house: check. Balloons: check. Spike not caring: checkity check." "I'm sure the little guy would care if it benefited him." Rainbow said. "I just hope the new arrival is a nice pony." Fluttershy said quietly. "I heard he's a pegasus. As long as he doesn't beat me in a race, I think I can be pretty tight with him." Rainbow declared. "We can only hope, Rainbow," Applejack said, "Speed's your strong spot, but Ah'm not sure 'bout your hoof skills." "Oh, you wanna go?! Huh, you wanna go, cowgirl?!" Rainbow started shouting. The two then dashed to a hay bail, and started a hoof wrestle. "Oh Celestia, can you two be anymore competitive?" Twilight asked. The two mares struggled, both of them trying to bring down the other's hoof. Rainbow started smirking through her straining expression, and she spread her wings, giving her more balance. Applejack started to sweat immensely, and Rainbow's smirk grew into a competitive smile. Applejack began to groan in effort. With a small snapping sound, Rainbow defeated Applejack, causing her to hit the ground from the force. "Told ya I'd win!" Rainbow gloated, only to be kicked off her haunches by Applejack. "Only cuz ya cheated!" Applejack argued. "Did not!" Rainbow retorted. "Ya did so!" Applejack yelled back. The two mares were levitated by a lavender aura, shaken repeatedly, and were in Twilight's vision. "Stop fighting, for Celestia's sake!" Twilight said. "We're not fighting, we're having a physical discussion." Rainbow said, struggling to get free. "I don't care, I don't want you two fighting when the new pony arrives." Twilight said sternly. She then let go of the mares, and they hit the ground. "Oww." Rainbow Dash said, stretching her wings. The mares were soon interrupted by the sound of a stallion-driven carriage drawing close. "He's coming! Everypony get in position!" Twilight shouted, pushing the mares into a single file line, getting into the middle of the line. A few ponies stood outside of their homes to watch the new pony arrive. "I'm sooo excited!!" Pinkie Pie said, trying to speak under her breath, but her quiet voice was more of a regular speaking voice. "The carriage is coming down..." Twilight started as the carriage started to descend. "Good so far." Rarity said. The carriage began to come to the ground. "It's lowering. In a few seconds we're about to see who he looks like." Twilight said, containing her excitement. The carriage finally lowered to the ground, and the two Royal Guards neighed. The stallion arriving stepped out from his carriage, a faint expression on his face. He was blue in color, a bit darker than Rainbow Dash's cyan color. His eyes were the same color as Rarity's. He had a simple short dark blue mane, along with a short tail of the same color. "So that's what he looks like." Rainbow said. The stallion turned his head, looking at the ponies around him, casting a friendly smile to them. "Thank you, Royal Guards. The trip was successful, much faster than expected." the stallion complimented the guards. He turned his head to face the Mane 6, gazing upon the six ponies and their respective colors. He viewed Pinkie Pie, returning a smile to her wide grin, to Fluttershy he saw her hiding behind her mane smiling. To Applejack he saw a friendly smile like his own, to Rarity he saw a polite, poised smile, to which he nodded to. He then saw the competitive smirk on Rainbow's face, and he returned it as such. "It's very nice to be greeted by such grateful ponies. Rainbow Dash, I think I remember you from Flight School. You were that filly who did the Sonic Rainboom." the stallion said. "I remember you; you were in a few of my classes. It's great to see you again, Aqua." Rainbow said, hoof-shaking Aqua's hoof. Aqua then turned his head to Twilight, and his eyes widened slightly, and he went at a loss of words. Twilight and Aqua soon walked to each other. Twilight herself was somewhat at the same expression he had. "H-Hi." Aqua said to the purple unicorn. Twilight was a bit struck by the stallion's appearance. "Hello." Twilight nervously responded. The two ponies hoofshook, and Aqua soon spoke again. "Well, it's been nice meeting you all. I have to unpack at my cloud home." Aqua said. "No way! I have a cloud house too! I bet mine's cooler though." Rainbow boasted. "Well we'll find out, won't we? Aqua replied with his own smirk. Spreading his wings, Aqua flew off, taking a glance at the Mane 6. He was a bit nervous when he waved back at them, but his wave was directed at Twilight. Twilight blushed slightly as she waved back. She then broke the silence as the others were staring at her. "Wow...," Twilight said, "I think I'm a bit flustered." //-------------------------------------------------------// Questioning //-------------------------------------------------------// Questioning Twilight stood as the other mares continued their stare on her, breathless. She continued to watch Aqua fly away, leaning ever so slightly as he became more and more of a blue speck in the sky. "Tarnation Twilight," Applejack said softly, "ya'll kinda fell quiet there for a second." Twilight was still dazed as Rainbow Dash waved a hoof in front of her face. Wow. "Hello? Equestria to Twilight." Rainbow called. I wonder why he was so nervous. "Twilight, darling? Are you alright?" Rarity asked. Twilight kept the same face as she was lost in her new sudden thoughts. She was then woken abruptly by the sound of cymbals crashed by her ears, making her, and the mares next to her go deaf temporally. Twilight hit the ground with a resounding thud, as the others clenched their ears in pain. "Consarn it, Pinkie!" Applejack shouted. "Sorry, I had to wake Twily up!" Pinkie shouted back. "What?!" Rainbow Dash yelled, as all she could hear was a piercing high noise. Twilight got back on her haunches and shook her head vigorously. "Twily, you're up! That's so so good, cuz I have so many questions to ask you about what just happened!! Ooh, we should throw a super-duper "Welcome Party" and--," Pinkie Pie stopped abruptly with a big gasp, "I know just what to do!!" Twilight used her magic just in time to catch Pinkie in place. "Whoa Pinkie, I think Aqua needs some time to obviously unpack and relax. You should respect a stallion's privacy." Twilight said. "Awww, you're so no fun, Twilight!" Pinkie whined, bouncing away. Twilight then walked away from the group, back to the library. The other 4 ponies stood, near deaf now. "Shucks, I just hope whatever's goin' on with Twi, she doesn't make it a big deal." Applejack said. "Owww," Rainbow Dash groaning pain, still clasping her ears, "Pinkie must've blew my eardrums out." Fluttershy hid behind a shrub and was starting to peek out of it. "I-Is it over?" Fluttershy asked meakly. Rainbow Dash walked over to the shrub and helped her out of it. "It's over, 'Shy." Rainbow replied, offering a faint smile. "Oh good," Fluttershy said, looking over to the town clock, displaying 7:05 in the morning, "it's already time for Angel to be fed. He gets awful fussy if he doesn't have a carrot by 7:15." Fluttershy then ran from the group to her cottage in a hurry. "Well, if anypony minds, I have to get to Sweet Apple Acres." Applejack trotted away. "Yeah, I think my napping cloud is calling for me." Rainbow said with a bit of a yawn, flying away as Rarity was left to lug her heavy diamond dress back to her Boutique. Twilight was still walking, looking up into the sky curiously. How did he fluster me so easily? I don't go ga-ga over Big Macintosh when he's pulling the plow. Twilight kept thinking as she walked, quite carelessly than usually, her train of thought stopping with the occasional tripping over a twig or finding her face pressed against a stop sign. Eventually she made her way to the library, slamming the front door in a bit of panic. Spike was still soundly asleep, fully enjoying his lucid dream of him and Rarity, dancing the Waltz. "Maybe if I find the right book on it, it might help. Or an Encyclopedia on it?" Twilight asked herself. She rushed over to the nearest bookshelf. "Mmm, yes I'll love another slow-dance, Rarity Belle." Spike said dreamily. Twilight quickly levitated a heavy book from the shelf down onto the floor, the sound of it hitting said floor still didn't interrupt him. "'Lovestruck and Flustering' No." Twilight said, levitating more books to the floor. "'Dealing with the Butterflies in your tummy?' No thanks..." she continued. "'The Birds and the Bees' Why?" Twilight questioned, bringing one final book down. "'The Wonderful World of Intimacy: The Book Version?!' Why do I even have this?!" Twilight shouted, quickly casting the book to the wall, finally waking the purple dragon up. "Twilight, can you keep it down, please? I was just about have ice-cream with Rarity." Spike pouted, crossing his arms. "Spike, I'm in an emotional crisis that needs the perfect book that can explain the ins and outs to me!" Twilight declared. "Whatever, I have a marshmellow mare to please." Spike said wistfully, as Twilight cast a disgusted look to the dragon. She then went back to book-searching. "Oooh, here's the perfect one! "'Possible Lovers Guide'" Twilight said in victory, flipping through the Table of Contents and finding the first chapter. "Chapter One: Meeting for the first time..." Twilight began reading. I'm never that flustered. Not once in my life. Yet when I stared at her for that split-second, I almost felt something. Aqua searched through his newly decorated bedroom's bookshelf, finding the right book to help him. How would it even work, her being a unicorn, and me a pegasus? Aqua thought. He then found the particular book from his shelf. "There it is! 'Possible Lovers Guide'" Aqua shouted, opening the book, beginning to read. Over almost a mile away, at the library, Twilight instantly felt a vibration creep up her neck, as if she sensed something somepony had just said. "Wow...what the hay was that? Twilight asked out of nowhere, looking around, as if she could hear somepony's voice in her head. Shaking her head, she began reading again, now on Chapter 3. Almost at the same time, the two ponies seemed to think the same thing. I feel so...weird. Aqua's eyes widened, as if he himself heard a voice speak to him. Back at the library, Twilight let out a surprised gasp. "Maybe the library really is haunted." Twilight said to herself, brushing the feeling off. She then levitated a soggy rag to her forehead, patting it slightly, still somewhat believing in ghosts from Madame Pinkie Pie's mare tales. She then walked up to bed to rest her quickly escalating brain. Rainbow Dash was still sleeping off Pinkie making her go deaf while she was lofting around on the cloud. She tossed and turned, somehow not being able to sleep for some reason. What the buck is wrong with me? I can't sleep. Rainbow heard the distant chatter of two ponies, and overhearing their conversation with her now healed ears was annoying her. Something was on her mind, she could sense it. She then flew to the two mares, a tad irritated. "Uh hey, 'scuse me? I'm trying to sleep, if you don't mind, and you're super loud." Rainbow said. "Sorry Rainbow, but me and my friend are just excited about the Wonderbolts Air Show at the Cloudosseum in Cloudsdale." the mint-maned unicorn said. "But uh...you're both not pegasi. How are you gonna get there?" Rainbow asked quizzically. "Duh, the cloud walking spell that Twilight knows." Lyra said. "Sheesh, where the hay have you been?" Bon Bon asked. "Wait a sec, what?! The Wonderbolts are performing?! How come I wasn't told about it?! I'm like the number one fan!" Rainbow panicked. "Maybe 'cuz you've had your head in the clouds?" Bon Bon deadpanned. "Well, aren't there tickets left or something?!" Rainbow asked. "You could check the posting at Town Hall, perhaps, but I dunno what good it'll do." Lyra suggested. The two mares then walked away, laughing softly to themselves. Rainbow fumed in further irritation as she sped towards the Town Hall. She then collided into Pinkie Pie head on, crashing onto the grass. "You came back for round two over your personality?" Pinkie jokingly asked as she flipped Rainbow over. "Pinkie, I don't have time for your super-hyper antics! I have to check to see if the tickets for the Wonderbolts are still selling! It could be life, or death!!" Rainbow shouted, floating off the ground and bolting towards the Town Hall. Pinkie got back on her haunches and ran after her. "Wait! I wanna help!" Pinkie yelled, 'running' in the air with her hooves flailing. She was quick enough to tackle Rainbow to the ground, causing her more irritation. "Pinkie, it'll take too long to get the cloud spell on you, and the tickets, it'll be too late!" Rainbow argued, struggling to crawl to the building. "Please!!!" Pinkie squealed, making Rainbow clamp down on her ears. "I don't have time for this! Let me go!" Rainbow yelled, crawling. Pinkie stayed pressed on her body as she continued repeatedly asking her. Rainbow became so desperate that she relied on her tongue for her to keep moving. After the first 20 times, she started sweating profusely. "Arrghh, fine!!" Rainbow hollered, certain that if she kept resisting, Pinkie would be the death of her. Pinkie instantly jumped off her, cheering happily. "Yay, I win again, just like always!!" Pinkie shouted. Sweet Celestia, I'm going to lose it with this girl soon. Rainbow Dash finally got to the Town Hall's post, letting out a breath of relief. "Dashie, we're here!" Pinkie said happily. "And it took my entire willpower not to smash you into the ground so I could escape." Dash said quietly. Rainbow looked at the message board, searching for the Wonderbolts section. "We are sorry, but the Wonderbolt tickets are all sold out." Rainbow read, her voice cracking. "Wait a sec, there's another letter on the back of it!" Pinkie hollered, to which Rainbow quickly turned it over. "Pinkie, the back has the letter "L" on it!!" Rainbow screamed in anger. It took all her remaining energy not to turn into a supernova with all her anger, and her face soon turned bright red. She then blasted her way through the door of the Town Hall in a fury, Pinkie then followed suit. The Mayor was filing papers when the door was kicked down, and a new completely scarlet red Rainbow Dash trotted slowly, stomping her hooves. Mayor Mare hid under her desk in fear as the now 'Blood Red Dash' was in front of her desk. "Mayor Mare!! Why didn't you tell me about the tickets?!" 'Blood Red Dash' screamed. "Y-You overslept, and I thought you would be the first to know about the tickets." Mayor Mare tried to explain. Rainbow had gotten so angry steam was blasting out of her ears like a tea kettle. "Are you kidding me?! The first time something important happens, you take this time to mind me while I'm asleep?!" Rainbow roared almost demonically. "T-There m-might be a ticket left in the Canterlot Vault." Mayor Mare said, only infuriating Rainbow further. She wanted to destroy everything in the room in her fury so badly, she took her anger out on the nearest window, flying straight out it at so such a high speed Mayor Mare had to hold onto her desk not to be blown away. Pinkie then ran into the room, only to see the broken window, the frightened Mayor, and the heat marks of Rainbow's hooves on the floor. Pinkie then imitated her friend and threw herself out the nearest window, falling onto the grass, but somehow unharmed. Rainbow, in all her fury, performed the Sonic Rainboom at top speeds, flying radically in all directions to vent out her frustrations, as she went into several loops, until she finally screamed at the top of her lungs. In her royal castle, Princess Celestia put down her teacup, and looked around, making her way to the stain-glass window, looking at Ponyville in the distance. "Oh, this is not good at all..." Princess Celestia said to herself, walking slowly to the royal bedroom. Pinkie laid on her back on the grass, as Rainbow Dash soon descended to the ground next to Pinkie. "What's up Dashie?" Pinkie asked merrily, almost oblivious to Rainbow's anger. "There's only like two tickets left in the Canterlot Vault. I am going there, right now! And I need you to help me!" Rainbow said. "Of course I'll help you, Dashie-Washie!" Pinkie agreed excitedly. "We're gonna need our hoodies, and a fast way to Canterlot! The Wonderbolt's play at Cloudsdale, tonight!" Rainbow said in total seriousness, emphasis on "tonight". To be continued. //-------------------------------------------------------// Butterflies Inside //-------------------------------------------------------// Butterflies Inside Twilight was well through the entire book in an hour, rereading several passages to memorize them. Her sometimes aggravated groans after skipping a page annoyed Spike, who after the first 20 minutes of Twilight's intense reading session, took his small bed in his arms, and dragged it downstairs. Twilight seemed to take particular interest in the chapter entitled "A Step-By-Step on The Tiers". Meanwhile, in his Cloud Manor, Aqua seemed to be on the same page as the unicorn. "Love is like a rose..." Aqua read to himself. "Blooming both day and night..." Twilight read the next line in her library. "And when it opens completely up..." Aqua continued. "It's such a beautiful sight." the two ponies finished simultaneously. Twilight slammed the book instantly, with a nervous look on her face. She levitated the book onto her bookshelf, and quickly ran down the stairs into the kitchen, reaching for a cup. She filled the cup with water, and in her hurry, Spike clapped his hands over his ears to block out Twilight's mini-panic. Twilight gulped down the water, and she then walked over to her mirror. "Keep it together, Twilight Sparkle. You've haven't met this stallion for over 30 seconds, you don't know if it's real or not." Twilight said to herself in the mirror, with somewhat bloodshot eyes. Twilight then walked out of her library, and headed to the fountain near town. Back at his Cloud Manor, Aqua was looking at himself in the mirror. "What is wrong with you? You've never acted this way. Come to your senses and act through this rationally!" Aqua told himself. He then walked out of his Cloud Manor, stretching his wings and slowly flying from it, passing by Rainbow Dash, who was shaking nervously. "Hello Rainbow Dash. Perhaps you could talk to me about something?" Aqua asked. "I'd love to catch up from Flight School, but I'm super super busy!" Rainbow said. "Busy? I've never seen you busy with much in Flight School." Aqua replied. "Whatever. I really need Pinkie's help! I'm trying to get tickets for the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow explained. "Well...good luck with that, Rainbow Dash. I suppose we will catch up later." Aqua finished, flying away. Rainbow started flying into her own Cloud house, running to her wardrobe. "Tickets--Canterlot--stuck up minty unicorn who wishes she had hands!" Rainbow studdered, taking out her hoodie, and then took off to put it on. Aqua minded her loud rant and descended to the ground, and walked over to the town fountain. Aqua sat on his haunches, listening to the sound of the trinkle of water. He then sighed to himself. Aqua's ears drooped as he shifted his back hooves around. His ears suddenly perked up as he himself heard a feminine sigh of depression. The two ponies soon noticed each other as they turned their heads to see each other. Twilight let out a surprised gasp as Aqua's eyes widened in surprise. "Hi there," Aqua said, a bit nervously, "Twilight Sparkle, is it?" "Y-Yeah. Hello, Aqua." Twilight replied. The nervousness was so evident in her eyes, it was readable from any pony. Aqua slid slightly closer to Twilight, and Twilight soon slid to him. The two didn't quite know it, but they seemed to like to be in each other's company, despite the obvious feelings between them. Twilight softly whimpered to herself, quiet enough for Aqua not to hear, as she moved closer. The two ponies were basically sitting right next to each other, and Aqua began to smile slightly. Twilight grinned back, as she moved her front hoof closer to Aqua. He then moved his hoof closer to Twilight's, and before they knew it, they were almost holding hooves. The energy between both of them was dangerously high. Twilight swayed a bit, her eyes shifting back and forth. I bet he doesn't like me. Oh, what if he doesn't feel the same way? I must be a fool to be this close to him. It must be so awkward for him. Dear Celestia, she's so nervous. I want to help her not worry, but what can I do? We've just met, but we feel so...awkward together. "A-Aqua, do you feel something inside you?" Twilight asked. "What do you mean?" Aqua replied. "It's like I can feel this...emotion. I've never felt it before." Twilight confessed. "Wow. I've had the same feeling...for somepony." Aqua said. Twilight felt her heart race, but she was scared also. She groaned, unable to bear the nervousness. "Are you ok?" Aqua asked the purple mare. "I-I think I just have a stomach ache." Twilight said softly, and Aqua slowly put his hoof around her shoulders. Twilight then shifted her eyes. All she could do was put her own hoof around his shoulder. Aqua slowly got up from the fountain, helping Twilight up as well. "Do you need me to help you?" Aqua asked. "N-No. I think I'm ok." Twilight said weakly. She started walking, but stopped suddenly. "Do you wanna...talk later?" she asked. "Sure, Twilight." Aqua answered, offering a smile. Twilight returned his smile, and walked away. As soon as she was out of his eyesight, Aqua flew home. And as soon as Twilight could no longer hear his wings flapping, she took off, full power, straight to Fluttershy's cottage. "Eat your soup, Angel. It'll make you big and strong." Fluttershy told her bunny as he contentedly drank from his bowl, reaching for a carrot piece in the soup to gnaw on. Fluttershy heard the pounding of Twilight's hoof on her door, and she shrunk in fear for a second, then trotted to the door. "H-Hello?" Fluttershy asked, only to hear an even more shaky voice speak to her. "F-Fluttershy? C-Can we talk?" Twilight asked. The butterscotch mare opened the door, and Twilight soon walked into the cottage. Fluttershy eyed her with concern. "Are you ok, Twilight? D-Did something happen to you? Did you forget to write to Princess Celestia?" Fluttershy asked. "N-No, it's not that. It's just...well...I'm kinda nervous about something." Twilight said, resting on a nearby couch. "Oh no, you look sick. Do you need soup too?" Fluttershy asked, and Angel soon looked up at the purple unicorn. He grabbed a nearby carrot and scurried up the couch. "Alright, if it's not too much trouble for you, Fluttershy. I don't wanna be a bother." Twilight said. Angel scurried up to Twilight's shoulder, and offered her a carrot. "Thank you, Angel." Twilight thanked the little bunny, levitating the carrot to her as she chewed on it. "Not at all. You've always been there for me, and been sensitive to my problems. I can't always spill my problems to Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy confessed. "Thanks, Fluttershy." Twilight said, petting Angel on the head. Fluttershy soon returned with twin bowls of soup, and she set each down on the table. The two mares began to sip their soup as Fluttershy broke the silence. "What did you want to talk about, Twilight? If you don't mind me asked?" Fluttershy asked. "You know that stallion we all met this morning?" Twilight asked, drinking her soup, bit by bit. "That stallion named Aqua? Yes?" Fluttershy answered. "I feel so...weird around him. I can barely speak, and I think he feels the same way, like he's nervous around me." Twilight said. "Oh my..." Fluttershy said. "Like while I was at the library, I felt like somepony was saying the same thing as me, or thinking the same as me, and I could sense it." Twilight continued. "Uh huh." Fluttershy said. "And just 5 minutes ago, I was at the fountain, and he came there, and we started getting close to each other, and we just got so nervous. I had to make an excuse that I was sick just to get out of there." Twilight said, letting her head hit the table. "I just don't know what to do." Twilight said with a soft whimper. Fluttershy put her arm around Twilight's shoulder to comfort her. "Twilight, you just have butterflies flying around in your tummy." Fluttershy said. "What do you mean?" Twilight asked, raising her head as her eyes, and a bit of the table was stained with tears. "You know; that feeling you get when you're super close to that special somepony you love. Sometimes you get that feeling when you don't know it, and sometimes it's just so powerful inside you that you can't stand it. Maybe your brain's telling you something, and you just don't know how to react. You also probably don't know how Aqua will react and that worries you way too much." Fluttershy explained. "Fluttershy, how do you know so much?" Twilight asked. "Umm...well...I did have a special somepony back in Flight School. He was the silent type, shy, caring, and a real love-bug. But when I fell into Ponyville, he never found me, and I just got so wrapped up with the animals I forgot about him." Fluttershy said with a soft whimper. Twilight put her hooves around Fluttershy, and the two ponies hugged. "You'll find him, I know you will." Twilight said to calm her down. "Thank you, Twilight. And I know you and Aqua will fall in love." Fluttershy said. The two mares broke the embrace, and looked at each other, their eyes red and tear-stained. Twilight gave Fluttershy a pat on the back to comfort her. "Thanks for everything, Fluttershy. You're a really great friend." Twilight said to the yellow pegasus, and she returned it with a squeak. Twilight then walked out of the door happily. "We helped somepony, Angel. We probably brought two ponies together." Fluttershy said to Angel, who climbed up onto her and rested on her head. Fluttershy sat on the floor and hugged the little bunny. Twilight soon walked over to the Boutique, in hopes of looking for Rarity. She then knocked on the door of the Boutique, only to be greeted by the loud shrill voice of the manager. "DON'T COME IN!! IT'S A SATURDAY! THE BOUTIQUE IS CLOSED!!!" the voice rang out, making Twilight step back as the windows shook a bit. "Rarity! It's me--Twilight!!" Twilight yelled, banging her hooves harder on the door. The door opened slowly, and Rarity saw Twilight with her puffy red eyes. "GOODNESS DEAR!! Who in the name of holy Celestia did that to you?!" Rarity asked in a high voice as she touched the outer rim of Twilight's eye, trying to see if she had bruises. She led Twilight into the Boutique. "Do you need make-up, something to cover that up? Or for that ROUGH STALLION who beat you to get his FLANK HANDED to him?!" Rarity asked quickly, only to get shushed by Twilight's hoof. "Rarity, calm down, for Heaven's sake! Nopony beat me up!! I'm just really upset, and I thought you could help me." Twilight said, snapping Rarity to focus. "Ohh, of course dear. You can ask me anything, deary. I'm always here for you." Rarity said, leading Twilight into an elegant couch. She then levitated a few boxes of tissues, and readjusted the pillows. "Now, what in Equestria could be bothering you so harshly, my dear? Is it an overdue friendship letter? Or is it something about dear old Spikey-Wikey? Or is a diamond issue?" Rarity asked. "No, it's not that, Rarity." Twilight said. "Not diamonds, hmm? Is it a ruby problem then?" Rarity asked. "This isn't about gems, Rarity! This is about boy troubles! I thought you, of all mares, would know the ins and outs of stallions. You're always raving about those 'lovely, suited callers'." Twilight said. "Oh yes, yes, yes. I do know much about them, my dear. Is it about that lovely dashing Aqua Blue fellow we all met today?" Rarity asked. "How'd you know that?!" Twilight asked in disbelief. "Oh Twilight, I saw your face when you met him. I knew you two would get smitten for one another." Rarity replied with a light chuckle. "You certainly are the wise one of us all, Rarity. Now can we talk about it or what?" Twilight asked. "Of course, dear." Rarity said. "It's just that when I met him, just seeing him got me all flustered, so I took this the only way I knew how." Twilight said. "You scooped him up like that?" Rarity asked. "What, no! With books!" Twilight said. Rarity facehooved. "I read one of those 'How To' books on romance, and I could tell, I could hear Aqua's voice, reading the same sentence I was reading, at the same time, and I felt like we had the same thoughts. So I went to the fountain to clear my head, and I see Aqua sitting there too. So we started moving closer to each other, almost holding each other's hooves, and I got so nervous, I felt like I was going to puke!" Twilight said. "Uh huh, go on, deary." Rarity said. "So I was just so nervous I made an excuse that I was sick so I could leave. I feel like he's nervous too, but doesn't want to show it. I keep thinking, I'm going to mess this thing up, and he'll think I'm horrible, and Princess Celestia will probably banish me for messing up a relationship, and I'll end up in the Everfree Forest, and then--" Twilight panicked, getting stopped by Rarity. "Twilight, Twilight! Phew, dear me, you're getting so worked up over a little love. First of all, Celestia wouldn't banish you just because something in your personal life was messed up. Celestia has bigger matters...like moving the Sun, and sustaining our planet's climate, or keeping us from flying off into space. Secondly, just because you're nervous doesn't mean he doesn't like you; I'm very certain he must love you as much as you do to him. You're probably having butterflies in your tummy." Rarity explained. "You sound just like Fluttershy." Twilight deadpanned. "You just have that feeling inside when you love somepony. It happens to everypony." Rarity said, putting a hoof around Twilight's shoulder. "You're right, Rarity." Twilight said, standing up, levitating a few tissues, dabbing her eyes. "Of course I'm right, darling. Like you said, I know much about this type of thing." Rarity said. Suddenly, the door opened, and a red stallion poked his head through. "Excuse me?" the red stallion asked. "THE STORE IS CLOSED TODAY!!!" Rarity roared, throwing a teapot at the door with her magic, scaring the stallion away. Twilight stared at Rarity, somewhat frightened, when she teleported right out of the Boutique. Rarity then walked up the stairs up to her bedroom, to attend to her more...personal buisness. Twilight reappeared out of the Boutique when she caught a blue streak in the sky, and she instantly knew it was Aqua. "This time, You're gonna do it right, Twilight Sparkle!" Twilight told herself, as she sprinted towards where the blue streak was going. She then bolted past Pinkie Pie, who was wearing her black hoodie. "Twily, where ya going?!" Pinkie asked. "I'm going to find Aqua!" Twilight yelled in the distance. "Have fun!" Pinkie said as she trotted quickly to Rainbow's house, up a ladder that she placed out of nowhere, and ran into Rainbow's bedroom using her "running on air" technique. "HI DASHIE!!" Pinkie screamed near Rainbow Dash making her fall to the floor. "OW!! Pinkie, how did you--OMIGOSH!!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she grabbed Pinkie and hurled her onto her back. "What are you doing, Dashie? Are we Mexican-Wrestling?" Pinkie asked. "Pinkie, how did you even get here?!" Rainbow asked. "I used my Cloud-Walking technique, plus, I'm a ninja!!" Pinkie chirped happily, jumping off Dash's back, standing on the cloud. "Whatever, Pinks. Let's just get to Canterlot now," Rainbow stressed, looking at her wristwatch, " It is 11:30 A.M., and the Wonderbolts play at Cloudsdale at 9:30 P.M., so we only have 10 hours to get the tickets! RUN!!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she took the nearest exit out of her Cloud Home, out the window, and she flew to the ground. Pinkie Pie followed suit, performing a ninja move as she jumped and rolled out of the window, striking a pose and landed perfectly on the ground, and assumed a ninja stance. Rainbow rolled her eyes and assumed her own ninja pose. "C'mon Dashie! Say it!" Pinkie begged, with puppy dog eyes. "Fine, only cuz you can pull off the ninja look." Dash said. "1...2...3...NINJA PONIES!!!" the two mares shouted as they ran off at top speeds. "Ok, here's the plan: We take a quick trip through the Whitetail Forest to the Train Station that goes at top speed, then when we arrive at Canterlot, we run to the Royal Castle, and we break into the Royal Vault! Any questions?" Rainbow said. "Can we have cupcakes on the train?" Pinkie asked. "Cupcake, muffins, pop-tarts, whatever!" Rainbow Dash said quickly. The two mares soon got to the bridge of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash quickly flew low to the ground while Pinkie Pie grabbed the nearest vine and swung onto the treetops, jumping from each of them, all while letting out a gorilla yell. "We're making great time! As long as we don't get side-tracked we'll be fi--" Rainbow said before being interrupted by a black fly entering her throat. Rainbow then coughed roughly as she swallowed the fly. She then got ravaged by tree branches bumping into her, and she finally flew up above the trees and joined Pinkie Pie. After about 5 minutes of traveling, the two mares finally reached the middle of the woods, when a sharp gust of wind blew both mares into the ground. "Oww. That's gonna hurt in the morning." Rainbow Dash said, shaking the leaves off of her, while Pinkie simply made the leaves into a Hawaiian Skirt. "Look Dashie, I'm tropical!" Pinkie blabbered as she sway back and forth like a Hooves Dancer. Rainbow Dash surpressed a giggle at the pink mare's overall optimism to life and everything that hits her. The two mares then saw the exit to the woods after a brief run, but the only thing blocking it was a river with a small shrub residing close to it. Rainbow Dash paid no mind to the shrub as she trotted closer to the river, when the shrub sprouted eyes and a mouth, and began talking. "Ring ring." the shrub said, as Rainbow stared at it. "Hello, Dummy Police. Yes, there's a strange dummy lurking around my home. Ok yes. Thank you. Goodbye." the shrub said. "Wha...?" Rainbow said as she stared at the shrub, dumbfounded. A short silence ensued as she broke the silence. "We need to cross the river. The train station's over there." Rainbow said, pointing to the station. "You can't cross this river, it's impossible. Look. The current is so fast, it'll turn your flank inside out for real, doofus. And the water's so acidic, it'll burn your boat in half. It's like orange juice, it's gross. There's a bridge, but it's a trap, and the water's jammin' with electric eels. So weird. Anyway, that's it, there's no other way around, you dummy." the shrub said to Rainbow Dash, who surveyed the river, and looked down at the shrub. "I could just fly over the river." Rainbow said smugly. "Listen to what I'm telling you, there's no way!" the shrub answered. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie soon stared at the shrub, and more silence ensued. "Ugly mares." the shrub said. Rainbow Dash then dashed right into the shrub with her teeth, ripping the shrub out of the ground and throwing it into the river. She then picked up Pinkie Pie and flew over the river. "MY WAY!" Rainbow yelled at the shrub. The two mares watched as the shrub sunk to the bottom of the river, cringing as they saw electricity crackling out of the river. As soon as the bubbles stopped coming up to the surface, Rainbow turned to Pinkie. "Circle of life, Pinks." Rainbow said simply, and the two mares quickly ran to the Train Station. Rainbow Dash banged softly on the podium next to the train. The attendant soon looked up to see the two ponies in their hoodies. "Where are you two going?" the attendant asked. "We're going to Canterlot. How long will it be?" Rainbow Dash asked. "With the current speed of the train going 55 an hour, we should arrive in Canterlot at about 12:40 P.M." the attendant said. "How much are tickets for two?" Rainbow asked. "You're the Elements of Harmony, right?" he asked. "Yeah?" Rainbow answered. "It's free, go on ahead." the attendant said. The two mares then happily went inside the train to their cabin. Rainbow Dash rested her body on the nearest bed, and Pinkie bounced excitedly over to her bed. As she slept, Rainbow Dash's face turned into a wide grin, for she knew that her plan was going to succeed easily, unaware of the possible consequences of stealing Wonderbolt tickets from a heavily guarded Canterlot Vault. //-------------------------------------------------------// Love Unleashed //-------------------------------------------------------// Love Unleashed Inside the cloud manor, the only audible sound was the light taps of the blue pegasus' hooves against the soft cloud floor of his bedroom. Aqua was pacing around, deep in his thoughts, and he was soon greeted by the screech of his baby Griffon landing on his shoulder. Aqua nuzzled the Griffon softly as he stopped pacing momentarily. "If I could have some advice...any type. It would be of great assistance." Aqua said to the bird lion hybrid, only to get the reply of the same screech of the Griffon, to which he softly facehooved. "Yes, of course, if only you could actually speak." Aqua deadpanned as he ruffled what would be the Griffon's future bangs. He resumed his pace as the Griffon frowned slightly and flew to her basket. Aqua then sat onto the ground, and began meditating. He unfurled his wings and began levitating, or rather flying, above the ground. As he continued to meditate, a washcloth levitated into his outstretched hoof. Taking the cloth, he dabbed his forehead and started to calm his muscles. The stallion pegasus began to smile slightly as he became lost in his thoughts. In his mind, only quiet contemplation played out. Minutes into the session, he began noticing something peculiar. What am I seeing? An image quickly soared through his mind's eye, but he was able to pick it out from the millions of others. The image was of a familar purple unicorn, hours ago, watching him descend into Ponyville with a mesmerized stare. Aqua attempted to pay it no mind, but a sound echoed through his head. The sound of Twilight's nervous whimper at the Fountain managed to creep inside, as well as an image of a somewhat depressed Twilight Sparkle, ears drooped, looking away to the stallion next to her. Seconds later, the entire session was soon 'corrupted' by several images of her. Aqua's forehead began sweating once more as his lips started quivering. His hooves against his head, he groaned as objects around him were soon crushed by an invisible force. Aqua soon broke from his meditation and lashed out in his anguish, causing a fury of energy to escape his body, accompanied by a howl of pure anguish from the stallion. In the end of the tantrum, Aqua levitated back to the ground, wiping his forehead, and dropped to his haunches, lost in his passion. "Even in my meditation. Twilight Sparkle, you never leave my mind." Aqua said to himself as his Griffon flew to his shoulder, released a screech of worry. "I'm fine, Goliath. I just need to think." Aqua assured the Griffon, and the bird then flew back downstairs to her basket. The stallion retreated to a nearby quite-lavish pillow, and returned to his thoughts, somewhat disappointed in his sudden outburst of emotion. The lifestyle he has lived before had explained the practice of such rash emotions would lead to darker paths. Twilight steadied her pace, stopping abruptly in time to dodge a plank of wood piecing the ground in front of her. Twilight looked in total confusion. She looked around to look for the source. "What in the wild world of Equestria?!" Twilight shouted, feeling a sudden sense of deja vu disorder. She shuffled her hooves curiously, levitating the plank out of the ground and throwing it aside. She then heard the sound of a familar stallion's scream of anger. A second later, she was frightened by a sudden blast of invisible energy piercing the sound barrier. Twilight was in pure terror as the energy blast flowed through her body. She cringed in response to the additional howl of wind joining the blast of energy. Twilight found herself shaking immensely as she felt as if the energy was in fact pushing her away, but to no avail. As the blast soon dissipated, and the wind current returned to normal, Twilight's teeth slowly stopped vibrating as she settled uneasily onto the ground, electricity crackling from her horn. "What the hay?" Twilight asked, a bit of worry in her voice. Never in her life had she encountered such a massive amount of unknown energy, and it was unlike the usual blast of a Sonic Rainboom. Twilight shrugged it off and began trotting forward once more, taking note that nothing else in the energy's zone had been affected as she had was. She had felt as if her worries were somehow pressed into nothingness, and in it's stead were supercharged molecules of the force blast. She noticed that she was running somewhat faster than normal, and her senses were temporally enhanced. She took advantage of the new power and sprinted, gaining speed that resembled Rainbow Dash on land. Aqua was busy writing a document while he dropped his quill in surprise, heading slowly towards the cloud window. I sense a presence I haven't felt in quite some time. Aqua tilted his head, pondering to how such energy could be replicated. His eyes widened as he realized something. He could sense...Twilight Sparkle. Meanwhile, Twilight felt uncomfortable at moving at such a high speed, watching as the world sped past her. As her eyes began fading from blinding white to purple, she could see Aqua's Cloud Manor in the distance. Pushing further, the Manor became closer and closer in her field of vision, albeit at a slower pace. "No. No! Not now! I can't stop now, I'm making such good time!" Twilight yelled to herself, straining to go faster, but to no avail. Twilight felt her new energy leave her body quickly, and she felt drained of it. With one final sprint, Twilight's horn sparked with a single leap, Twilight unleashed her energy, and teleported with a blinding lavender flash. Below the Cloud Manor, Twilight awkwardly appeared with another flash, landing on her stomach from the leap she teleported from. Picking herself off the ground, she shook the pebbles from her mane, glancing over to a nearby puddle, and saw herself quite ravaged in her reflection. Her jaw dropped as she saw her mane and tail frizzed out from the energy blast. "Oh no! I can't let him see me like this!" Twilight shouted to herself as she ran off into the bushes, picking her mane brush out of her saddlebag, and began brushing her mane and tail in vain. Her panicked noises were barely audible to the cyan blue stallion, and as Aqua walked over to his pet Griffon's basket, and picked Goliath up onto his shoulder, and began walking downstairs. "Better time than ever to talk, I believe." Aqua said to himself, putting his saddlebag on his back, and walked to the front door, and twisted the doorknob to see a nearby bush rustling in the distance. Aqua grew a playful smirk as he hovered to the ground. Twilight's frantic brushing only became quicker as she heard Aqua's hooves tapping against the ground, her pressure boiling over. Aqua spoke thusly to break the silence. "Messy mane, I see?" Aqua asked the panicked mare, causing a surprised gasp to come from the bush, which now began to shake from Twilight's nervousness. "N-No! D-Don't! I'm not decent!" Twilight nervously spoke as the bush continued to rattle. Aqua unfurled the bush, and saw the shaking unicorn covering her half-straight, half-frizzy mane, and he put on his most sympathetic tone he could. "Come on out, Twilight. It's alright." Aqua said. "Noooo, you're gonna laugh at my mane!" Twilight whined, closing the bush on Aqua. "I'm not going to laugh at you, Twilight. You can trust me." Aqua persuaded, and the bush's rattling settled. Poking her head from the bush, Twilight walked nervously out of the bush, her teeth chattering quietly to herself. Oddly enough to her, no laughter came from Aqua, only a raised eyebrow and playful smirk on the stallion's face. "That's it? That's the disaster you had to hide?" Aqua playfully asked. The unicorn's tension melted a bit. "I-I didn't wake up like this. I-I got hit by some weird energy blast and...poof." Twilight said, and Aqua's eyes widened slightly. He then hid a look a guilt from the purple pony. "Energy blast?" Aqua asked the mare as she continued straightening her mane. "It happened all out of nowhere, I was walking over here, and then it just...hit me. It went right through my body and I felt so...good. That's how I got here so fast, only...it's how my mane got all freaky. I could run faster when I got hit, but it only lasted for like 20 seconds." Twilight explained. "Interesting," Aqua mused, "You seem to have been hit by an immense amount of force energy." "Force energy?" Twilight asked, perplexed. "It's an entirely 'unique' type of energy completely unlike that of magic. I believe you shouldn't have any side-effects." Aqua stated. "W-Whoa wait, energy like that exists? That's just outright dangerous! Who knows how much destruction it could cause?! It could be the end of all of Equestria!" Twilight panicked, shuffling her hooves at an incredibly fast rate. Aqua grabbed the unicorn and gave her a good shake to calm her down. "Calm down! It's nothing like that, Twilight! Just let me explain it to you." Aqua said to the hyperventilating mare. Twilight's pupils rolled around in her eyes in dizziness, breaking from his grip. "Ok, ok, by Celestia's crown, if it's that important!" Twilight stuttered, summoning a cloud-walking spell on herself and disappeared in a flash. Aqua retreated to his manor's porch to see Twilight reappear at the front door. The two walked into the living room, gaining a gasp from the unicorn, as her eyes circled everywhere to get a glimpse of everything. "Whoa! This place...has everything!" Twilight squealed, glancing to everything from the dozen of bookshelves, a somehow physics-defying fireplace, and even an entire Earth-Pony made room, custom built with carpeted flooring, a balcony, and a indoor pool residing in the room. "It is a sight, I must say." Aqua said. "Dude...how did you make all this? Celestia's hoof slipper, it must've all cost like a bajillion bits!" Twilight shouted in amazement. "Well, the entire Cloud Manor is custom built by the Cloudsdale Pegasi Furnishing Cooperation, and the Earth-Pony room was my idea. But I got a special discount, since they owed me a favor a few years back." Aqua admitted. "Wow. I never even heard of the CPFC." Twilight said. "It's a special sub-unit of the Weather Factories. How do you think Rainbow Dash built her home? Now...where were we?" Aqua asked. "Ohh ok. You're gonna have to lead the way though." Twilight told Aqua, taking his hoof in her arm. The two ponies blushed slightly as Aqua guided Twilight to the Earth Pony room, motioning to the fireplace. Twilight sat near the flames, taking in the heat of the fire, calming her down. Aqua sat next to her comfortably. "So, to begin, the massive energy blast you experienced was simply put, an extreme amount of raw force energy from a powerful source. As it is raw energy, it is also untamed and barely controllable, like...you when you hatched Spike." Aqua began his lecture, and his reference to the unicorn gained a blush in response. "Well, I'm not the best. There is Celestia herself." Twilight said, humbling herself to the Princess' name. "Anyway, that energy was once plentiful, existing not in a raw form, but in a controlled and directional form from a certain type of pony. Statistically speaking, only 2 out of 10 ponies could at least have usage of it. Hundreds, upon thousands, maybe millions were able to harness it's infinite power, but only a few thousands could fully master it. The power of this energy could be to enhance the physical, mental, or healing abilities of oneself. This energy...is referred to as...the Force." Aqua lectured. "The F-Force? Is it...like magic?" Twilight asked. "In a way, yes. It is invisible to the eye, unlike the aura of magic, but it is controllable. However, if one has a breakout of emotions, they could unleash said energy into a blast of Force energy. Continuing on, the Force is a truly special power, dictated that thousands of ponies gathered together to form a group that held the Force to a type of ancient religion, and it's existance has been known for millennia, or 1,000 years. Confused yet?" Aqua continued. "Mindblown, actually. So...it's essentially an enhancement of all aspects of your body, and can be used for offensive and defensive purposes?" Twilight asked. "Correct. The Force is a pathway to hundreds of abilities that only a hoof-ful of ponies have mastered. The very Force-users have remained in secrecy, even I have no knowledge of their whereabouts, alive or deceased. The power you felt was from...me." Aqua confessed. "W-What?" Twilight asked. "I-I was meditating, which is a usual hobby I have. And during it, I saw things that broke my concentration, and I lashed out...for the first time in my life. I usually handle my situations headstrong and without breaking emotion." Aqua explained. "...What did you see?" Twilight asked, full of wonder, full of fright. "...Images...of you, Twilight. May I...confess something?" Aqua asked, nervous. "Of course, Aqua." Twilight replied. "Since I went to my Cloud Manor, I looked for answers of relationships the way I knew--through a book. When I saw you at the Fountain, I was nervous like Tartarus. And when you left, I went here to meditate, and I saw you, dozens of you, all looking at me, just as nervous as me. I couldn't handle all of it...and that explains the massive blast of energy." Aqua confessed, leaving Twilight mouth agape. "You...looked in a book? And you were nervous too?!" Twilight asked. "Yes, and yes. Why do you ask?" Aqua replied. "That's the exact same thing I did!!" Twilight shouted, smiling ear to ear. Aqua and Twilight were now basically on the same wavelength, gazing into each other's eyes. "Love is like a rose. Blooming both day and night. And when it opens completely up, it's such a beautiful sight." the two said in unison, and their eyes widened in unison as well. "We have got to stop doing that. It likes I could hear you reading that with me." Aqua said. "I did. I heard you." Twilight replied. "So...now you know everything. The energy, and how I feel. Anything to say?" Aqua asked. "I-I...I felt the same way you did." Twilight admitted. Aqua gestured to the indoor pool. "We're both tense. Shall we?" Aqua asked. "Sure." Twilight answered, trotting into the pool with Aqua. She took notice as to why Aqua got his name, as he seemed to blend in with the crystal clear water. The water was warm, lined with herbs, soaps, and other refreshments. The water seized at the tension between the two equines, removing the stress and complication from them both. Twilight let out a relaxing sigh of pleasure, and Aqua smiled to her. "Refreshing, isn't it?" Aqua asked, to which Twilight was too relaxed to talk, answering with a slow nod. The fire illuminated the Earth Pony room, giving off a vibe of romance. The two ponies slid close to each other in the pool, becoming shoulder to shoulder in comfort of the water. Twilight looked at Aqua as her eyes sparkled, giving heed to her name. "Aqua...?" Twilight asked. "Yes, Twilight?" Aqua responded. "You're like, the sweetest, most handsomest, charming...and charismatic stallion." Twilight gushed. "Well, I'm a bit known for my charisma. Thank you. I also think you're the most beautiful, selfless, smart, and appealing mare." Aqua admitted, as Twilight began to snuggle next to him. "Ohhhh, thank you Aqua. I'm so glad I can finally admit my feelings to you." Twilight revealed. Dear Celestia, he's so...perfect for me! I'm so excited!! So beautiful, I love her so much. She's just so...perfect. The two stared into each other eyes, snuggling deeper and deeper, taking in the embrace of each other. Without a word, they simply enjoyed each other's company, reveling in the moment. The two counterparts had without a care in all of Equestria and beyond. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie awoke to the shuddering of the train's bumpiness, falling out of their beds. Rainbow Dash popped her head out of her now-messy blanket on the floor, followed suit by Pinkie Pie. They were in silence until the loud speaker spoke. Attention passengers. We are nearing Canterlot. If there is anypony on board wishing to stop here, head to the front of the train. "You heard the metal-mouth, Dashie!" Pinkie Pie chirped, bouncing out the cabin door, followed by an eye-rolling Rainbow Dash. The two traveled through the train, gaining glances from several ponies, possibly on account of the ninja suits they wore. Passing the dining cart, the Chef gave an uneasy glance at the two. Rainbow middle-hooved him and moved on with Pinkie. As soon as they got off the train, Rainbow then directed the pink mare on her plan. "Ok Pinkie, the royal vault is inside the Canterlot Castle, floor B section 12 of the A wing, room 1209, according to these schematics I got from a gypsy stallion in an alleyway. It'll be inside a really long hallway, and it's also gonna be packed with security. Laser fields, complicated lock-and-key doors, landmines, possibly a mare-eating plant, and the safe will have a combination that'll be super hard to break." Rainbow explained, earning a blank stare from Pinkie. "Uh huh..." Pinkie Pie said, trying to understand. "It probably won't be too hard to open it, but just in case..." Rainbow Dash said before struggling to pull an unknown object out of her saddlebag, and plopped it onto the ground. The object was missile-shaped, and had a nuclear hazard warning on it, accompanied by a sharp ticking noise, much to the pink pony's delight. "Dashie, you're the best pyro ever!" Pinkie said excitedly, to which Rainbow returned with a smug stance. "Thank you. Thank you." Rainbow Dash bowed happily. The two mares began running towards the Canterlot Castle, at which atop was the high balcony of the Princess'. Princess Celestia stared above the land beneath her, aware of the two mares sneaking in. "What in my hoof are those two up to?" Celestia asked herself as she squinted her eyes on the mares. Realization of their identities dawned on her, and her eyes widened slightly. "Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie? Why are they here by themselves? And why are they wearing black hoodies? White hoodies are more indie this time of year." Celestia said, gesturing a hoof to a highly-decorated royal guard. "Yes, my Princess?" the guard asked, saluting to Celestia. "Keep an eye on Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. There is no doubt they may be after the two royal tickets to the Wonderbolts Air Show." Celestia instructed. "Yes, my Princess." the guard said, trotting to the immense staircase. Celestia watched as Rainbow Dash looked around, opening a window quietly and flying into without a word, Pinkie Pie following shortly behind. "Alright Pinkie, I think Celestia spotted us, so we need to get this done fast!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Okey dokey loki!" Pinkie Pie replied happily. The two mares tip-hooved throughout the several corridors, evading several watching eyes of the royal guards with ease. Rainbow Dash quickly flew up a flight of stairs, proceeding to hide in the shadows to avoid wandering ambassadors. Pinkie Pie imitated a statue with similar ease. The trip through the castle was somewhat easier than they had expected. "Pinkie, I swear, if Celestia saw us, I thought she'd sent her entire battalion after us. That alicorn must be toying with us." Rainbow said quietly. "Don't you think we could've just, I dunno, asked for the tickets?" Pinkie offered. "I saw a spy movie with Daring Do in it, and I wanna imitate it in real life!" Rainbow whined. Pinkie rolled her eyes playfully as they passed the StarSwirled the Bearded exhibit, eventually making their way to the giant door blocking their way to the corridor. In their way was a bulky royal guard standing by. "Let me do the talking, Pinks." Rainbow said, sneaking closely to the royal guard in her way. Rainbow Dash glared at the royal guard, only to returned by a similar glare as the guard's eyes followed her movement. The rainbow mare attempted to confuse the guard by waving her hoof in several directions, but to no avail, as the stallion grew an annoyed scowl. "State your buisness, Miss." the royal guard spoke in a deep voice. The sheer threat in his voice sent a shiver down Rainbow's spine. "Whoa, deep voice, Muscles." Rainbow cooed nervously. "What is your buisness here, Miss." the guard spoke somewhat impatiently. His scowl grew more complicated towards the hoodied pegasus. "I-I'm here to...see Princess Celestia." Rainbow lied, pulling her hood from her head. "And you came here to see her?" the guard questioned. Rainbow's forehead began sweating as she glanced around in a frenzy. "Look, a supermodel!" Rainbow Dash yelled in an unsuccessful attempt to distract the guard. "Somepony got hit in the boing-loings!" Rainbow said. The stallion's glare grew annoyed. "Hit in the boing-loings," Rainbow repeated, a tad annoyed, "Boing-loings...boing-loings...somepony got hit in them." The stallion rolled his eyes, looking away for a second to humor the mare. Rainbow's mischievous smile returned, and she bucked her legs in response in the stallion's chest armor, remarkably knocking the guard out cold. "Peace-out!" Rainbow yelled, proceeding to buck the giant door open, and to her amazement, opened slightly. "Wow Dashie, you're so strong!" Pinkie said, hoof-bumping Rainbow in the process. "You know!" Rainbow said, sliding through the small opening in the door with Pinkie. The two mares met with a long, complicated corridor. From left to right was a massive laser field with landmines on the floor. Rainbow gulped slightly. "Told ya there were landmines." Rainbow teased, hovering above the laser beams with ease, even slipping a cocky barrel roll through a passage of them. Rainbow eventually made her way through the entire system, and was facing the giant metal vault. She quickly trotted over to the panel controlling the lasers. "Easy peasy, one two threesy." Rainbow said, punching the panel's red button, and the laser's instantly faded. Pinkie soon hopped through the landmines and over to the vault. "Alright Pinkie, we just need to crack the vault somehow. Any suggestions?" Rainbow asked. "Ooh, ooh, ooh, can we use the nuke?" Pinkie asked excitedly. "Too close, plus the sound would give us away." Rainbow said. "Now what do we do?" Pinkie asked. "Hmm, lemme try something." Rainbow said, hovering to the keyboard. "Sonic...Rainboom." Rainbow typed. ACCESS DENIED. "What?! This thing is rigged!" Rainbow shouted, headbutting the safe, resulting in her falling to the floor in pain. Pinkie ran to her side. "Dashie, you got a huge bump on your noodle!" Pinkie said, taking an ice pack out of her saddlebag. "I-I'm fine, just a little dizzy," Rainbow said, icing her bump, "Wait, why is there a rabid parasprite next to me?" Pinkie ignored the pegasus' hallucination, trotting over to the safe, and nonchalantly bumped the door with her hoof. "Loony little pony, bumblebees and honey." Rainbow sang in her concussion. "Dashie's a crazy little pony." Pinkie said as the vault door opened instantly. Rainbow's eyes widened as she saw what was happening. "Yoooo Pinkie...how the hay did you do that?" Rainbow asked, still semi-hallucinating. "I just tapped the safe and it opened. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy." Pinkie chuckled. Rainbow wobbled to the now-open door, almost banging her head on the side of the vault. She saw a beautiful sight, the two tickets were displayed on a podium, and the dark vault was illuminated solely by a spotlight. "Omigosh." Rainbow said in disbelief. Her face grew into the widest grin, it could rival Twilight's in her crazy state. Rainbow unleashed the biggest "squee" ever as she hugged Pinkie tightly. "THANK YOU, PINKIE! YOU'RE LIKE, THE BESTEST PONY EVER!" Rainbow squealed, hovering with Pinkie in her bear-hug. "It's not over yet. We still gotta get home without getting caught!" Pinkie said. "Right!" Rainbow said, as she plucked the tickets from the podium and returned to Pinkie. Handing one to Pinkie, she hid her ticket in her saddlebag. "Alright, it's about 1:25, so we only have 8 hours to get back! Rainbow Dash said cheerfully. Suddenly, the room was bathed in an errie red light as a security siren went off. The hallway door opened completely as dozens of royal guards flooded the room with pointed spears. "FREEZE!" the guards shouted to the mares. Rainbow and Pinkie glanced to each other nervously. "Ooohhh...this is so not good." Rainbow Dash muttered. "YOU ARE BOTH UNDER CANTERLOT ARREST! PREPARE TO BE DETAINED!" the guard in front shouted. "What do we do now?" Pinkie Pie asked, to which Rainbow replied by smashed the red button on the panel, causing the laser beams to re-engage, stopping the royal guards in their tracks. "I didn't wanna have to do that, guys, but you forced my hoof!" Rainbow teased the guards. "We have a breach in security! Get Celestia!" the front guard spoke. "Yes sir, right away." a guard replied, trotting away. "Ohhhh, you're gonna sic Celestia on us? Have mercy!" Rainbow teased. Rainbow forgot the obvious forgotten the fact that Celestia wields complete energy of the Sun, evident from her struggle with Chrysalis. Rainbow derped her eyes as she realized this. Rainbow shook slightly at the thought of her punishment at the hooves of the Princess and begun to have a mental breakdown. Pinkie watched perplexed as Rainbow began whimpering softly as she shook in terror at the thought of her punishment. The royal guards snickered as they saw the toughest pegasus in Equestria before them quake with fear, even a few outright laughing at her. Pinkie Pie grew an angry face as she watched the guards, as well as Rainbow quiver on the floor. She roared at the royal guards in pure anger. "STOP LAUGHING AT MY FRIEND!" Pinkie hollered as she grabbed a mirror and deflected a laser beam at the royal guards' spears, melting them all into unusable magma. The guards jumped back as their weapons were destroyed. "Missy, you're in a world of trouble now!" a royal guard spoke. Pinkie smirked in response. "How? You ain't got any weapons now. You're pretty much useless chuck mitts now!" Pinkie Pie teased. "T-Thanks Pinkie Pie. I-I lost my cool for a sec there." Rainbow rose from her panic state. Rainbow's worry returned as she heard the Princess' hooves trot against the floor. A bright light of sunlight began illuminating the room as a regal white alicorn walked into the room. Her expression turned to small horror as she saw the smelted remains of her guard's weapons. "What in the name of Equestria is going on here?" Princess Celestia asked, angered. //-------------------------------------------------------// Relationships Rock //-------------------------------------------------------// Relationships Rock For what seemed like an eternity, Aqua and Twilight snuggled against each other happily. They didn't speak, their actions spoke louder than words. Twilight had buried her head softly into Aqua's chest, eyes closed with a simple smile. Aqua's eyes were mid-open as he embraced her affection, nuzzling her in return. Minutes, possibly hours passed when something finally broke the peaceful silence. Twilight let out a soft grunt as she shifted around slightly, but not enough to disturb Aqua. After being wrapped up with him for what seemed like a half-hour or so, the warmth of the water had diminished somewhat. "Aqua?" Twilight asked quietly, with a slight shiver. "Yes, Twilight?" Aqua replied. "Can we get out now? The water's getting pretty cold, and my hooves are pruning really bad." Twilight said with a giggle, lifting up a front hoof to demonstrate her point. Aqua chuckled in response. "Yeah, it was starting to get cold anyway." Aqua agreed, slowly climbing from the pool. He then took Twilight's hoof as she climbed out. Twilight couldn't help but blush softly from this, and returned it with a smile. The two then walked over to the fireplace to dry off. The purple mare let out a pleasurable sigh as she sat on the pillow close to the fire. Aqua took his seat next to Twilight, and the two snuggled together, staring in content at the fire. The two were in complete silence, until Twilight finally spoke up. "You have such a beautiful house, Aqua." Twilight said. "It's just the Earth Pony room, Twilight," Aqua said, "although it was my decision." "Well it was a pretty good decision. By the way Aqua, I'm still curious about something." Twilight said. "Sure, what is it?" Aqua asked. "What type of ponies harnessed the Force? Are they like the Crystal Ponies?" Twilight asked. "They're called the Jedi. Through the usage of the Force, they protect the citizens of whatever land it may be from any threat." Aqua explained. "Wait...can you...show me the Force?" Twilight asked. Aqua's ears perked at her request. Aqua trotted to the balcony, as Twilight followed suit. The two stood at the cloud balcony, to the view of Ponyville. "Watch closely, Twilight. Do you see that rose-field over there?" Aqua asked, pointing to the bushes. Twilight responded with a nod. "Yeah, what about it?" Twilight asked, confused. Aqua smirked happily at the unicorn's plight. "Observe." Aqua said, reaching towards the bush with his hoof. The bush shook softly as a flower appeared inside it. As if without any effort, the flower fluttered to Aqua hoof. "For you, my dear." Aqua said. Twilight's jaw went agape as she saw the beautiful purple tupid in Aqua's hold. She blushed as Aqua adjusted the tupid into her mane. "It looks so...beautiful!" Twilight said happily when she saw herself in the mirror. The purple tupid resonated with her mane and coat nicely. "Just like you, Twilight." Aqua replied. The next thing he knew, he found Twilight wrapping her hooves around him in a warm hug. Aqua stood speechless for a few seconds, before wrapping his forearms around her as well. Unbeknownst to him, Twilight smiled as a tear of joy fell from her closed eyes. "Thank you so much," Twilight said, "I love it!" "I'm so glad you do." Aqua said. Twilight jumped in fright as she heard a loud screech from upstairs. "What the hay was that?" Twilight asked, beginning to shake in fear. "It's ok, it's just my pet." Aqua assured. "You have a pet that sounds like that?" Twilight asked in disbelief. "Oh, come on. Like you've never heard a baby Griffon before in your life." Aqua said jokingly. "Ummm...I did know a Griffon. But she was kind of a jerk to everypony. Her name was--" Twilight said. "Gilda the Griffon. Best friend of Rainbow Dash from Cloudsdale Flight School?" Aqua asked. "What the? How did you know that?" Twilight asked. "I knew her back in flight school. She was such a snob. Arrogant, immature, cocky. The one thing Rainbow has that's different is loyalty, and I respect her." Aqua said. The Griffon finally came into eyesight and took its place on Aqua's forearm. "Wow. It's...a baby Griffon." Twilight said in amazement. "Her name is Goliath. She's far kinder than most Griffons, I assure you." Aqua said. Goliath jumped from Aqua's arm onto Twilight's head, startling the purple mare. "Umm...h-hi Goliath. I'm Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said nervously. Goliath proceeded to walk atop Twilight's head, making her mane a mess of tangles. Aqua felt a playful smirk grow on his muzzle. As Twilight saw that, she rolled her eyes, and her horn soon glowed. Goliath levitated from the top of her head back to Aqua's arm. "She can be really cute at times." Aqua said, feigning a smile. Twilight brushed her mane back to normal with her manebrush once again. She grew a dreary smile as she sat on her haunches, admiring the tulip that complimented the purple and pink color nicely. Aqua shooed Goliath softly from his arm as he joined her by the balcony. Twilight looked on at the afternoon sun, the eternal golden color shining in the sky. Aqua walked back into his kitchen, as Twilight continued to stare at the sky. By Celestia, my heart is racing...is love always this confusing? As Twilight got lost in her thoughts, Aqua soon walked back to the balcony, with two mugs in his Force grip. He set one down next to Twilight, with a content smile on his face. "Apple cider? It's soft, don't worry." Aqua offered, to which Twilight accepted the mug. "How did you get it? It's not Cider season." Twilight asked, baffled. "I'm not the only one who knows how to make cider. I've heard of Applejack's cider when I used to do missions in Appleloosa." Aqua said. "Missions in Appleloosa? What danger could be in there?" Twilight asked. "Aah, it's ancient history now. It's from my active years as a Padawan, a Jedi Apprentice." Aqua said. "An apprentice?" Twilight asked. "I was loyal to the most unique Jedi that could teach me. I was destined for...so much more." Aqua said sadly. "Who was he?" Twilight questioned, beginning to sip her apple cider. "Did you ever hear the story of Utopia Prism, the Wise?" Aqua asked. A silence ensued, with Twilight thinking about it. "...No." Twilight responded. "I thought not. The Jedi were long forgotten, and subsequently ignored from Equestrian History. It's not much of a story really, but a...memory of him from years ago..." Aqua said, on the verge of tears. "Are you sure you wanna talk about it? You look like you're burst into tears. Oh come here." Twilight replied as she pulled him into another hug. "I'm sure, Twilight. Utopia Prism was...my old Jedi Master. I was hoof-picked by him to be his apprentice, and he taught me the ways of the Force only the way he knew how. He taught me well...almost making him like a father to me." Aqua said. "So...he taught you well I take it?" Twilight asked. "Yes. He was an exceptional Force-user, relishing in the heat of battle. He was so powerful, but he was not invincible." "What happened to him?" Twilight asked in concern. "He was defeated...by a Dark Lord." Aqua said coldly. "Like Moldevort?" Twilight asked. "No, not that Dark Lord. A Dark Lord of the Sith was in battle with him. He was able to catch Utopia off guard...and that was the end of my Master." Aqua said, before tears fell from his face. Twilight wrapped a forearm around him and hugged him tightly as she comforted him. "What happened after that?" Twilight asked, tears now threatening to escape her eyes. "I was blocked by a laser field, and when it finally opened, I attacked him, broke his saber in two, and cut him in half." Aqua confessed, to Twilight's horror. "Well...you did what you had to do, Aqua. I understand, I know you loved him." Twilight said breathless, hugging him even tighter, beginning to cry herself. The two sobbed quietly with each other by the balcony, and when it finally died down, Aqua nuzzled Twilight. "T-Twilight, I'm so sorry my story led this way." Aqua apologized. "No, it's alright! You've probably had this bottled up for so long, with nopony else to talk to." Twilight reassured. "I've never had a companion like you, somepony as intelligent, you even more so than me, to know." Aqua said. "So...is there anything else you need to tell me?" Twilight asked. "Back in Appleloosa, I was already a Jedi Master when I was doing my own missions. Missions of diplomacy, often having to converse with other political figures, sometimes with Celestia's royal representatives. I learned how from when we talked over cider, you know." Aqua said. "That's fascinating! Celestia knows the Jedi?!" Twilight squealed with wonder. "Yes, she even would sometimes discuss matters with the Jedi Counsel. All that changed...when the Jedi went into hiding...when peace was restored...with the final destruction of the Sith. By now, she must have forgotten the Jedi, as have all others...despite all the work the Jedi put into protecting the world." Aqua explained. "Well I bet she would appreciate you after all your hard work." Twilight said. "Probably, Twilight." Aqua replied. "So...what do you wanna do now?" Twilight asked, sipping the rest of her apple cider. Aqua pondered for a few minutes, before an idea crossed his face. Aqua trotted quickly up the stairs to his miniature library. Twilight raised an eyebrow as she stared back at the sun and back to the stairs. Aqua rushed to the bookshelf, and quickly eyed the thick, brown, and grayed book in particular. He quickly pulled it by the spine and rushed back downstairs to the balcony. Twilight awaited by the balcony, wide-eyed at the large book Aqua carried with him. As he sat down, he gently placed the book between him and Twilight. She looked at the cover of the book, riddled with golden edges and the title was written in a fancy font. "The Complete History of The Force." Twilight read. "This book was written over 1,000 years ago, containing nearly unlimited information on the Force. It was updated with information whenever possible by the Jedi. It's been handed down by every Jedi Master, who then passed it down to the next Jedi Master, and so on. Every question you need to know is in this book." Aqua said. Twilight levitated the book from the table, setting it onto her back, only for the sheer weight of it to cause her to collapse onto the balcony floor. Aqua removed the book from Twilight's back, helping her back onto her hooves. "My gosh, how many pages is that book?!" Twilight asked rhetorically. "About two thousand and five hundred." Aqua responded normally. "Ugggh," Twilight groaned, "I think it dented my spine!" "Are you alright?" Aqua asked in concern. "Yeah, I'm fine. I think I just need to use my heating pad tonight." Twilight responded, levitating the book with her magic. Aqua then walked with Twilight back into the Earth Pony room, where she sat the book on the mantle. "Shall I show you the rest of my house?" Aqua asked. Twilight smiled as she nodded eagerly. "Yes, yes, yes! I'd love to see the rest!" Twilight squeaked like a filly. Aqua grew an amused smile as he took Twilight's hoof and walked her up the stairs. Twilight's eyes went wide as she took in the entire second floor. Aqua walked her to the bedroom. Twilight saw the medium sized bed, the scented candles, the television, dressers, the usual. Twilight wrinkled her nose as she smelled the candles. "Um...Aqua? Why the scented candles?" Twilight asked. "Meditation purposes, duh. Who doesn't like scented candles?" Aqua joked. Twilight rolled her purple eyes playfully. Leading her out of the room, Aqua showed her the nearby room; the research room. "Wow, nice telescope." Twilight said, gazing at the telescope leaning by the window. "Yeah it's pretty cool, but I bet you have a better one, huh?" Aqua said. Twilight blushed softly as she remembered the massive telescope she had used in a sleep-deprived attempt to save Equestria. The two trotted downstairs to the living room, containing many comfy-looking couches, a hot-air balloon display, and led to the kitchen. Inside the kitchen was the normal scene, a fridge chocked with assorted foods, a stove, dining table, a very lavish spice cabinet, all in wonder cloud-tile flooring. Twilight smiled warmly as the scent of the kitchen hit her. The two then walked back to the living room, when something caught her eye. Twilight saw the mantle sticking out, which laying atop it, was a handle of some sort. Twilight nudged Aqua as she stared at it. "Hey Aqua, what's that handle thing on the mantle over there?" Twilight asked. "It's the weapon the Jedi used. The lightsaber," Aqua said, "not as clumsy and random as a blaster." "I didn't know they existed." Twilight said, befuddled. "Long story short, it's pretty secret to everypony. The Jedi aren't around now as they used to." Aqua explained. "Wow. This is too much to absorb." Twilight moaned. "Well the book is a bit dry during the first hundred pages. But alot of it is basically history. It covers everything, believe me." Aqua said. "I think I've had enough of my History lesson today...wow. I never thought I'd actually say that." Twilight said. The two then walked back to the front entrance, when Twilight retrieved the Force book from the table. "I hope you get as much use out of that book as I have. But don't intend on keeping it though, I still gotta write down my entry." Aqua said. If only there were any Jedi I could find to pass it onto... "Thank you so much for showing me the house, for everything." Twilight said happily. "It was good, no, great to have somepony to finally talk to." Aqua replied. He's so sweet! I have to thank him better! Ohhh, I know!! Aqua raised an eyebrow as Twilight slowly gave him the bedroom eyes. She looked deeply into Aqua's azule eyes and before she knew it, she leapt towards Aqua within a second. Before Aqua could react, Twilight pressed her lips on Aqua's cheek lovingly. Twilight's cheek then blushed fiercely during the kiss, as well as Aqua's. Aqua's eyes went wide, as opposed to Twilight's now shut eyes. Twilight had her lips on his cheek for a good 10 seconds, until she finally released, breathing slightly faster than normally. Her heartbeat was as fast as the cheetah's feet hitting the ground. Aqua stood silent, but with a small smile on his face. He slowly leaned towards Twilight's cheek, and planted himself a kiss on her cheek. Twilight then became worried that her heart would rocket right out of her chest from the speed of it's beating. Aqua soon released from the embrace, and smiled at Twilight. Twilight could only smile back at the blue stallion. "Bye, Aqua Blue." Twilight said endearingly, before trotting out of the house happily. Unbeknownst to Aqua, she was smiling as wide as Pinkie Pie would've on a normal day. Aqua remained breathless, stumbling into his Earth Pony room before settling on the pillow next to the fireplace. He soon shed a single tear as he laid on the pillow, but the tear itself was a tear of joy. Aqua was happy...at last. Twilight teleported back to the library, and soon found herself laying in her bed as well, letting a tear of joy escape her eye. She too...was happy. There was a stunned silence in the altar, the Princess stood horrified to see Rainbow and Pinkie nearly under siege from her Royal Guards. Her eyes shifted to see the vault had been breached, the laser grid switch was smashed, and melted remains of spears were as if they were glued to the floor. Two red-cloaked Royal Guards followed Celestia, raising their spears in offense. "What's going on here? Rainbow Dash? Pinkie Pie?" Celestia asked, to which the two mares smiled nervously. Beads of sweat slid from Rainbow's forehead, noticeably shining in the light of the laser. "Umm...I can explain, P-Princess C-Celestia..." Rainbow Dash started, shuffling her hooves in fear. "I'm listening." Celestia replied, lowering her wings. "We...uh, I heard from Lyra Heartstrings that the Wonderbolts were performing at the Cloudosseum. But when I looked for the tickets listing at Town Hall, they were all sold out, so I needed to know if there were any left. Before I could, Pinkie Pie found me, and she followed me there. When I found out there weren't any left...I was gonna do the first thing on my mind!" Rainbow confessed. "And the first thing on your mind was to storm the Castle, breach the Royal Vault, and steal the tickets? All while being armed with a nuclear explosive and...wearing somewhat outdated black hoodies when the season couture was white hoodies?" Celestia asked. "Uhh...yeah..." Rainbow Dash said, defeated. Celestia switched the laser grid off with her magic, trotting towards the two ponies. "Please don't banish me, Princess Celestia!" Pinkie Pie shouted in fear. "It's my fault, Princess! If anypony deserves to be banished in the Everfree Forest, it's me! Better yet, stick me down in Tartarus forever! I deserve whatever's coming to me!" Rainbow Dash said, ready to accept her fate. Celestia was finally in front of the two mares, observing the frightful expressions in their eyes. "I never should've even tried stealing the tickets from you. It was the most uncool thing ever." Rainbow said, lowering her head in shame. She fell to the floor in sadness as she covered her eyes with her hooves. Celestia breathed deeply as she lowered her neck until her head was inches above Rainbow's head. Rainbow soon felt a hoof lightly tapping her shoulder. "Ohhh, stop getting so dramatic, Rainbow Dash. You've been spending far too much time with Rarity." Celestia finally spoke, with an impish smile. Rainbow rose her head with a confused expression as Celestia smiled. "W-Wha?" Rainbow asked. "I knew you were up to some extreme thing the minute I saw you and Pinkie Pie. And I know how much the Wonderbolts mean to you, Rainbow Dash. Your undying desire to join the Wonderbolts shows loyalty to a dream you've never let go of, and that's something to be admired. Hay, I'm thousands of years old, and I've never seen a better Element of Loyalty in my life." Celestia said. "S-So...this means you're not mad at me?" Rainbow asked. "Actually, I'm somewhat frightened by the extremes you'll take to get the tickets. A nuclear bomb, for my sake, where did you even get that thing? They haven't been re-invented yet." Celestia said honestly. "Heheh, well I guess I overdid the suspence." Rainbow said. "I can tell. Now then, I'm terribly sorry for any trouble you went through to get the tickets. Truth be told, I was planning on using the tickets for myself and Luna. We're a big fan of the Wonderbolts, truthfully." Celestia said. "Ohh, well I'm sorry I nearly stole your tickets, Princess." Rainbow apologized. "Please, please, just call me Celestia, Rainbow." Celestia said happily. "I didn't know they were that important to you." Rainbow remarked. "Before I continue..." Celestia said, turning to the guards, "Leave us." The royal guards left the room without a word. "Now Rainbow, what I was getting at is that if you wanted the tickets so badly, why not just ask for a few? You didn't have to go through all this hype just to get two." Celestia finished. "R-Really? You'd do that?" Rainbow asked in disbelief. Celestia smirked contentedly as she lit her horn. The two tickets magically replicated another 6 tickets before their eyes. "Please tell me those are..." Rainbow started. "6 tickets to the Wonderbolts, yes, they really are." Celestia said. "Oh wow! Now we can bring all our friends to the Wonderbolts!! Thank you Celestia!!" Pinkie Pie chirped happily, bouncing around the white tall alicorn. Celestia could only giggle softly at the pink pony's excitement. It reminded her of Twilight when she had got her cutie mark. "I'm glad you two are happy with it. I hope you learned a lesson, my little ponies." Celestia said wisely. "I learned to ask first before jumping to extreme actions." Rainbow said. "Good. Though I'd suggest not going to such extreme lengths as having to bring along a nuke." Celestia said playfully, to which Rainbow rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Thank you, Celestia. I'm sorry it had to go this far." Rainbow apologized. "Oh it's quite all right, Rainbow. It was actually kind of fun. And don't worry, you're not going to be arrested for this." Celestia said happily. "Yay! We can finally throw a Wonderbolts party!" Pinkie Pie yelled, summoning her Party Cannon out of absolutely nowhere. "Pinkie! Before we do that can we please just get back to Canterlot?" Rainbow asked, blocking the cannon from Pinkie's reach. Pinkie's ears drooped slightly at the request. "Okey dokey...killjoy." Pinkie said sadly. The two ponies started to walk out of the corridor when Princess Celestia stopped them. "Please, please. You've both been through so much. Let me teleport you back to Ponyville. Just make sure you get yourselves ready for the performance...and don't oversleep." Celestia said, playfully directing it to Rainbow Dash. "Ok sure, Princess. I hope we see you at the performance." Rainbow said. Celestia nodded happily as her horn glowed a bright yellow aura, and the two mares were engulfed in the same aura, before flashing away instantly. Celestia calmly now began the trot back to her bedroom. I wonder how my faithful student is doing in Ponyville. Back in Ponyville Square, Rainbow and Pinkie appeared out of nowhere in a blinding yellow flash. With a soft groan, they fell on all fours to the ground. "Pinkie Pie...we did it!" Rainbow shouted giddily. "Yeah we did, Dashie!!" Pinkie chirped. "So now we have 6 tickets, aren't we lucky? And who knew the Princess actually had a pretty cool side?" Rainbow asked. "Yeah, she's the coolest princess ever!" Pinkie said. The two ponies began trotting over to Sweet Apple Acres to deliver the first ticket to Applejack. Back at the library, Twilight was happily bouncing over to her assistant, who was still asleep in his basket. "Spiiiiike!!!" Twilight said cheerfully. Spike fell out of his basket with a girlish shriek, and quickly turned to see the purple mare beaming happily. "Ugh, what is it, Twilight? I was trying to sleep!" Spike said annoyed. "No time! Spike, take a letter!" Twilight said, not losing her happy tone. With an eye roll, Spike walked groggily over to the stand, and took a piece of parchment and quill. He readily motioned Twilight to begin. "Dear Princess Celestia, I have most wonderful news to inform you about! I have discovered the most wonderful stallion in all of Equestria! His name is Aqua Blue, he's a pegasus pony, and he's the total package; he's handsome, caring, and the most amazing stallion ever! He appears to have...powerful abilities similar to our unicorn magic, and I am utterly fascinated by it. He has the ability to move object telepathically, and can enhance any aspect of his body. He refers to this power as the Force, and stems from a group of ponies dubbed the Jedi. He has a wonderful appreciation for me, and I am absolutely flustered by him, but I know now. I think I am in love. I would like you to see him for yourself, if you are not busy. I have no doubt you will be as amazing with the absolute charisma that Aqua has! I await your wisdom and answer, and I hope you will like him. Always, your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight spoke the letter lovingly as she peered out the window to see Aqua's cloud manor, and with a lovestruck sigh, she ended the letter. "That's it, Spike. You can send it." Twilight said. With a flash of green fire, the scroll was immediately sent to Canterlot Castle. And with an annoying groan, Spike wretched and gagged at Twilight's blushing. "You'll understand love when you're older, Spike." Twilight said to the purple dragon, bringing him into a loving hug, to which Spike smiled and rubbed his arms against Twilight's back. A flash of light emerged by Celestia's fireplace, and the Princess saw a scroll appear next to her. With her usual smile, Princess Celestia opened the scroll with her magic and began reading the letter. Before long, Celestia read the sentence revealing the fact Aqua was a Jedi, to which her eyes widened brightly. She began re-reading the sentence over and over in astonishment, until she finally stopped and finished reading. Celestia smiled happily at the letter as she rolled it up and laid it on her table, before retrieving a parchment herself. She began to write her reply to Twilight, smiling widely the entire way through. She was happy for her faithful student, as she had finally discovered on her own, the power stronger than the Elements of Harmony...the power of Love. To my dearest student, Twilight Sparkle... //-------------------------------------------------------// The Sleepover //-------------------------------------------------------// The Sleepover Celestia dropped her quill happily as she finished her reply to Twilight's informative letter. With a glow of her horn, the letter dissipated and was sent over to Ponyville. The white alicorn hummed to herself as she trotted down the corridor. As she walked, she was greeted by several royal guards, to which she nodded to regally. She had grown quite tired of this routine, constantly shadowed in the rumor that she was no fun. She became lost in a thought she had dismissed for quite some time. So, there are still Jedi in Equestria. How wonderful! From what I heard, the Jedi Order was destroyed with the Sith. The Princess continued down the hallway, staring blankly at the many statues of heroic figures from the old ages. She frowned slightly, as they reminded her of the Jedi. Shaking her head, Celestia continued her walk. Passing a sharp left that broke the hallway into two was the balcony that was in eyesight of the Royal Maze, to which she stared at the certain statue of the draconequus, bearing a horrified expression. She smirked at the remains of Discord, her thoughts returning. Aqua would make short work of you, should you have became a Sith. The statue stood silently, unmoving. The white gravel that had once been flesh was frozen in suspended-animation for eternity. No reaction, nothing but a terrified stare. Celestia smiled at the statue's inability to respond, something that would've irritated her to the bone. She finally made it to her throne when she summoned a royal guard. "Thunder Strike!" Princess called, to which an armored guard marched to her side. "My Princess?" the guard asked. "Tell Captain Shining Armor that the Wonderbolts performance will be reserved for the following individuals: Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy. Also, reserve a special seat for the new Ponyville resident, Aqua Blue." Celestia ordered. "Yes, Princess." Thunder said, before departing from the throne room. Celestia smiled contently as she levitated the scroll she had received from Twilight. Re-reading it, she smiled brightly and placed it in her saddlebag. She stared back at the marble floors with giant pillars. She had realized that beside her sun duties, she had no plans today. Exiting her throne, she retired to her bedroom to meet her sister, Princess Luna. The drowsy dark blue alicorn slept peacefully as Celestia entered the room. She lightly rubbed Luna's back to awaken her. Luna woke with a tired grown. "What is it, sister? I am resting for my lunar duties." Luna said. "We are going to the Wonderbolts at 9:30, right?" Celestia asked. "'Indeed, 'Tia." Luna answered. "Good. Then you'll be happy to meet the new Ponyville resident." Celestia said happily. "How nice." Luna said, before going back to sleep. Celestia removed her royal slippers and crown, and crept into her own bed, drifting off to slumber. Celestia was fully content, as the Jedi have returned. Back in Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow and Pinkie had searched through the apple orchards to find the orange mare bucking the apples that drooped from the tree branches. Applejack crossed her front legs proudly, then began pushing the backet to the farm. Rainbow stopped her midway with a smirk. "Getting ready for the rodeo, AJ?" Rainbow asked. Applejack smiled at the rainbow mare's blunt sarcasm. "As if! Ah'm just gettin' mah apple-bucking done for the day. Now where was 'dat raincloud I needed at the field at 12, on the dot, ah might add." Applejack asked. "Oh, I was just on this crazy-hay trip to Canterlot to get...this." Rainbow said before dropping a Wonderbolt ticket onto Applejack's stetson. "What in da hay? How did y'all get this?" Applejack asked in disbelief. "Me and Dashie got these after we stormed the castle and raided the royal vault, but Celestia swooped in and was totally cool as frozen cupcake mix about it, so she gave us 6 whole tickets! Also, Rainbow hit her head and sang a silly song." Pinkie explained quickly. "I'm the one who sings silly songs? This coming from the pony who sang a 5 minute medley about toothpaste awareness!" Rainbow said in irritation. "Might ah interject to ask, did y'all hear any word from Twilight lately? Last time ah saw her she was all flustered over that Aqua fellow." Applejack asked. "I dunno, I've never dealt with love before, except for Soarin'." Rainbow said before blushing slightly. "Oooh, Dashie's got the hots for Soarin'!" Pinkie sang teasingly, only to met by a cyan hoof to the mouth. "Whatever! Let's just get the others their tickets and get the math over to Cloudsdale!" Rainbow said stubbornly, before taking off. "Argh, ah may as well follow her. Celestia forbid she get those tickets jacked off her by some ruffian." Applejack said before running after her. Pinkie Pie stood alone, and gazed off into space with a wide grin. "Hope you're enjoying the story, everyone! And now, back to Dashie and AJ!" Pinkie chirped happily before running through the air. Rainbow and Applejack soon made it to Carousel Boutique, knocking on the door. Rarity angrily left her bedroom and rushed to the door in a hurry, in between labored breathes. "I told you, the Carousel Boutique is closed on the weekends!" Rarity roared before slamming the door open, to be greeted by the two of her closest friends. By the looks of her mane, Rarity had been enjoying her weekend very well. Rainbow wrinkled her nose in disgust at the scent from the building. "Sheesh Rarity, what's going on upstairs?" Rainbow asked on the musty scent, to which Applejack nudged her lightly. "Never mind that, we have a ticket to the Wonderbolts performance tonight at 9:30, on da dot." Applejack said. "Oh yes! How could I possibly forget?!" Rarity said before rushing back into the building, shutting the door. Rainbow and Applejack cringed slightly as they heard the jumbled noises of car horns, cat hisses, party horns, and a sewing machine. Seconds later, Rarity came back out, mane perfect and with a sunhat. "I'm perfectly ready for the performance, darlings! Pray tell, what time is it now?" Rarity asked. "Umm...3:30." Rainbow said before getting cut off. "Thank you, darling!" Rarity said abruptly before they could hear hoofsteps ascending to the bedroom. With blank stares of confusion, Rainbow and Applejack ran off to Fluttershy's cottage. Pinkie Pie made her way to the Boutique when she heard faint thumping noises from the top floor. "Sounds like Rarity's making a new dress!" Pinkie said before merrily bouncing away. Twilight yawned softly as she awoke from her weekend study-break nap when a scroll was looming over her face. "The Princess replied to my letter! Ooh, I wonder what she said!" Twilight said enthusiastically before unfurling the scroll in question. Clearing her throat, she began reading. To my dearest student, Twilight Sparkle, I am over-excited to know that there is a Jedi now living among us. I happen to know him for two decades, and I never knew that Aqua Blue would meet you. But this is quite wonderful news, Twilight. I'm happy to see you've finally gotten your muzzle out of those books and is in love at last. Like one author said, love is like a rose. And when it blooms, it's a wonderful sight. I am looking forward to seeing him again at the Wonderbolts performance. Your loving mentor, Princess Celestia. Twilight squee-ed happily as she closed the letter and left it on her nearest table. She then proceeded to levitate the Force Book to her bed, when she was inturrupted by a banging noise on her door. Groaning, she trotted downstairs to answer the door. "Hey girls. What's going on?" Twilight asked merrily. "This is what's going on, Twi!" Rainbow Dash said to the unicorn, handing a ticket to her. Twilight's jaw went agape as she received it. "Oh...that's...today?" Twilight asked, beginning to sound worried. Rainbow and Applejack exchanged glances before Applejack broke the silence. "Is something wrong, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "Yeah, you're starting to sound like Fluttershy." Rainbow commented. "It's just that I was gonna go see Aqua tonight." Twilight said disappointed. "The blue stallion from this morning? You're already into him?!" Rainbow asked in shock. "Well she was as red as a full-grown tomato when she first saw him." Applejack said. "You should see him, he's a super sweet guy." Twilight said. "Hey, maybe we can get Aqua to come to the Wonderbolts performance tonight!" Rainbow suggested. "Really? Ah'm not sure the guy's a fan of them." Applejack stated. "What are you talking about? I knew him when he was a colt at flight school. He was only there for like a year, then he left with some brown stallion in a robe. From what I saw, the stallion's name was Utopia, and he seemed pretty cool." Rainbow said. "Oh...you don't say? Well maybe he could come. I did mention him in my letter to the Princess, and she's pretty fond of him." Twilight said. "That's pretty awesome. We'll get to meet him tonight then!" Rainbow said happily. An idea suddenly dawned in Twilight's mind. "Hey, I have an idea! We should throw a sleepover tonight after the performance! And maybe we could invite Aqua!" Twilight said, clopping her hooves together in excitment. Again, Applejack and Rainbow exchanged glances. "Uh...Twilight? Ya do know a sleepover is pretty much girl's only, right?" Applejack asked. "Hey, that doesn't mean we can't invite Aqua! Besides, we didn't get to throw that welcome party for him because he had to go to his house. I think it's a good idea he comes. Besides, Spike's gonna be there too." Twilight said. "Ugh, alright, he can come. But a sleepover, really? You might as well tie me up and give me a hooficure!" Rainbow complained. Applejack stuck her hoof in Rainbow's mouth in response. "Ignore her; she's just bein' Rainbow. Ah think it's an ok idea, Twilight. Ah trust ya that Aqua's a pretty darn nice guy." Applejack said. Twilight smiled at the orange mare as she adjusted her stetson. "Thank you, Applejack. Did you get the other's their tickets?" Twilight asked. Rainbow spat Applejack's hoof out and shot a glare at her. "Yup, pretty much. Celestia and Luna are also coming, you know." Rainbow said. "Well that's gonna be great! I can't wait! It's gonna be so awesome!" Twilight squealed. "Right. Well, we'll see you at 8:30, cuz we're gonna need cloud-walking spells." Rainbow said before departing with Applejack. The two glanced to each other with confused expressions as they trotted away. "Wow. She must really have the hots for this Aqua guy." Applejack said to the smirking cyan mare. Twilight rolled her eyes as soon as they were out of eyesight and trotted back to her bedroom. She began to open Aqua's book when she heard the sound of wings flapping. She let out a surprised gasp as she saw the very blue stallion hovering outside her window. "Hi, Aqua! For a minute I thought you were Rainbow Dash for some reason. I just talked to her and Applejack." Twilight greeted Aqua before motioning him to enter. Aqua gently leaped from the windowsill onto the bedroom floor, before engulfing the purple mare in a hug. Twilight embraced him as she squeezed him tightly. "Aww, I just missed them? Would've been great to meet them properly." Aqua said somewhat disappointed. The two then heard a familar voice call from the lower floor. "Hello? Twily? Have you seen Mr. Aqua Blue? I have a special word from the Princess herself." the stallion said. Twilight blushed as Aqua smirked at her. "Twily? I see it's your nickname?" Aqua teased. "That sounds like my brother." Twilight said, rushing downstairs, with Aqua following. Twilight was greeted by Shining Armor, with an envelope in his grasp. The two hugged each other at the reunion. "I missed you, Twily." Shining said to her sister, ruffling her mane. "Missed you too, BBBFF." Twilight replied. As the two let go from the hug, Shining saw Aqua, and marched over to him. "Are you Aqua Blue?" Shining asked. "Yes I am. I see you're Twilight's brother." Aqua answered. "Indeed. Might I ask, what exactly are you doing in her library?" Shining asked curiously. "He came to visit me. I'll explain later." Twilight answered. Shining handed the letter to Aqua, to which he opened it, looking puzzled. "What's this?" Aqua asked. "That is a specially reserved ticket to the Wonderbolts performance at Cloudsdale Cloudosseum. Special regards from Princess Celestia herself. Attached is a letter from the Princess. Good day, sir." Shining said before making his leave, not before hugging Twilight goodbye. "See you soon, Twily." Shining bid to her sister. Twilight smiled happily at Shining as she waved him goodbye. Aqua soon took the parchment from the ticket and began to read it. "Dear Aqua Blue, it is my greatest pleasure to know that you, a Jedi Master, have revealed yourself to my most faithful student. While I am overjoyed myself to know you're residing in Ponyville, I must apologize however for my lack of adequate appreciation for all the deeds the Jedi have done for Equestria. I will be attending the performance, and I have delivered this ticket to you in hopes that you, Twilight, and the rest of the Mane 6 arrive and enjoy it. Your friend, Celestia." Aqua smiled faintly as he put away the letter and returned the ticket to his saddlebag. The next thing he knew, he was smuthered by Twilight's purple forearms wrapped around his neck. He returned the gesture in such. Twilight's face was an understatement of her excitement inside. "Aqua, you're not busy after the Wonderbolts, right?" Twilight asked. "Not really." Aqua responded. "Well...me and my girlfriends are having a sleepover here...and I was wondering, you know, if you wanted to, maybe, come too?" Twilight asked nervously, to which Aqua raised an eyebrow at. "Twilight, you know I'm a guy, right? Aren't sleepovers for mares and whatnot?" Aqua asked. "Well...yeah, but I thought it'd be nice if you could meet everypony at the sleepover, get to know them." Twilight confessed. Aqua pondered for a minute, then smiled. "Alright, Twilight. Only because I like you." Aqua said, ruffling Twilight's mane playfully. Twilight blushed once more at Aqua. "Well I'm gonna start reading your book. Thanks so much, by the way." Twilight said lovingly. "It's no trouble, Twilight. I just hope it's not too much for you." Aqua said. "Too much? You're looking at a mare that could read during a stampede without interruption." Twilight said proudly. "Wow, ok, so you wanna talk later at the performance?" Aqua asked. "Of course I do." Twilight said happily, before she planted another kiss on Aqua's cheek. Aqua blushed softly at Twilight as he returned the gesture. Soon enough, the two stared deeply into each other's eyes, and they embraced each other in a hug. Silence ensued as Twilight nuzzled Aqua. "Thanks for being so sweet to me, Aqua. Nopony else has been this sweet to me before." Twilight said lovingly. The two then released from their embrace and hugged once more. "So...see you at Cloudsdale?" Aqua asked. "Hay yeah." Twilight answered. Aqua waved his hoof goodbye to Twilight as he flew out the window he arrived in. As he flew away, Twilight gazed out towards the window to catch a glimpse of him flying away, and she sighed with deep longing. Off in the distance, in a hollowed-out oak tree, inside a squirrel hole was Pinkie Pie with binoculars taped to her face. A wide grin was plastered to her face as she watched the entire ordeal. Popping out of the hole, Pinkie Pie bounced merrily to the treehouse before she climbed the wall by her teeth. Twilight laid on the windowsill dreamily as she levitated the Force Book to the window and was about to open the page when she was interrupted. "Twilight!" Pinkie Pie squealed as she leap through the window, causing Twilight to shriek. Using her magic, she restricted Pinkie's hooves to the floor, disabling her ability to move. "Pinkie! What did you see?! How much did you see?!" Twilight demanded from the pink mare. "I saw you and Aqua smooch each other on the cheek! I knew you had the butterflies for him!" Pinkie chirped. "You're not gonna tell anypony yet, right? I kinda wanna tell them myself. Please, please, I'm begging you!" Twilight pleaded. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie recited. Twilight hugged the pink mare in relief. "Thank you, Pinkie!" Twilight said. "It's ok, Twilight! You can count on Pinkie!" Pinkie Pie said before bouncing away. "I hope." Twilight said to herslelf with a worried expression. Pinkie Pie trotted out of Golden Oaks Library when she was met by the mint unicorn Lyra. "Hey Pinkie Pie. Whatcha up to with Twilight?" Lyra asked. "Assorting basketball mittens!" Pinkie hollered before running back to Sugarcube Corner, leaving Lyra to herself. Lyra smacked her lips together as her stomach growled. "I want pie." Lyra said nonchalantly as she trotted away. The Mane 6 were under Cloudsdale with Twilight's hot air balloon when they were unloading their saddlebags into the balloon basket. Like always, Rarity had her normal sunhat on with a saddlebag filled with mane products and accessories while the others simply packed them with snacks and sun lotion. "Dear me, where is that Aqua fellow we've heard about, Twilight?" Rarity asked. "He should be here any time now." Twilight said. "Why does this have to be at 9:30? Why couldn't it be at 6 or something? How are we supposed to have our sleepover?" Applejack asked. "It's still pretty light out, besides the Wonderbolts show off their old tricks and then they do their new tricks, so the whole thing doesn't take too long." Rainbow answered. "All this hype for a 30 minute performance." Applejack muttered. "By the way Twilight, how is that fellow Aqua Blue doing?" Rarity asked Twilight, who cast a nervous glance to Pinkie Pie. "He's alright, but not much to talk about. He's pretty nice." Twilight said, when Pinkie's tail began twitching. The Mane 6 stared up at the sky to see what was about to fall, but to their surprise, it was Aqua Blue who had just landed on the ground perfectly. "Hello there." Aqua greeted casually to the Mane 6. "So you're who we've been hearin' 'bout?" Applejack asked. "I suppose so." Aqua answered. "Well, it's an honor to meet ya, Aqua. Ah'm Applejack." Applejack greeted. "I know. I've heard of your world-famous apple cider, as far as Appleloosa could tell." Aqua complemented. "Oh really?" Applejack blushed. "And who's this nice looking mare?" Aqua asked politely to Fluttershy. "H-Hi, Aqua. I'm F-Fluttershy." the butterscotch mare said nervously. "She's a little shy, but she's the sweetest thing ever." Rainbow said to Aqua. "Rarity. Charmed, I'm sure." "I'm Pinkie Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie!" Pinkie said happily. "Well it's nice to meet you all. I don't think we should be late, so what's say we go?" Aqua asked. "I second that." Twilight said abruptly, to which the mares exchanged glances, then shrugged. As they all got onto the balloon, Pinkie put a forearm around Twilight's back reassuringly. The entire hot air balloon had been a bit awkward for everypony, with Rainbow and Applejack hoof-wrestling to pass the time, to Rarity boring everypony's brains out with trivial facts about fashion, Aqua had stayed close by to Twilight, with Pinkie Pie watching, Twilight would shoot nervous glances at her now and then, her trust that she would remain silent deteriorated slowly. Aqua could sense the nervousness in Twilight, to which he frowned sadly and comforted her with a nuzzle. The others stared in awe as they saw the display, smiling warmly at them. When they finally arrived in Cloudsdale, Twilight used her cloud-walking spell to allow her friends to walk amongst the clouds. When they reached the Cloudoseeum, they entered the doors to see the giant stadium lined with massive amounts of ponies occupying the hundreds of bleachers. "Whoa. This place is huge!" Rainbow shouted, which echoed across the large room. "Twilight Sparkle, party of 7?" a royal guard asked the group. "Um, yes?" Twilight answered nervously, before handing the individual tickets to him. The guard motioned the group to follow, and after a walk throughout the bleachers, they were astonished to see the box-room where the two Princesses sat, observing the performance. "Hello, my little ponies. I reserved this room for you and your friends, Twilight." Celestia said greeting the group. "Wow, thank you, Princess." Twilight thanked. "It's no trouble, I'm glad to finally see Aqua Blue." Celestia said. "Hello Princess Celestia. It's been at least a decade since I saw you, after everything..." Aqua greeted. "Why yes, I'm quite happy to see you too. I thought I'd never see you again," Celestia started, before whispering to Twilight and Aqua, "seeing how the Jedi were destroyed along with the Sith, it warms my heart." "Likewise, Princess." Aqua said, bowing to her. The group sat on the multiple luxary cushions, watching the 12 Wonderbolts performing several exciting tricks. "At long last, Pinks. This is so awesome!" Rainbow said happily. She watched as Spitfire and Soarin' swirled along each other, creating a fireworks display, deafened by the cheers of thousands of pegasi watchers. Twilight and Aqua sat close to each other and nuzzled as Celestia smiled down on them brightly. As the minutes passed, multiple tricks had been performed, to which Rainbow cheered wildly, flailing her hooves along with Pinkie in excitement. "GO SOARIN'! WHOO! I LOVE YOU!" Rainbow Dash shouted with a voice crack like a fangirl on a sugar high, and she giggled nervously as the others glared at her awkwardly. Aqua and Twilight laughed quietly to each other at Rainbow's display. The crowds went silent as the final trick was about to be performed. Rainbow was pressed against the window with enthusiasm, waiting intensely. The stadium darkened as 5 Wonderbolts flew straight into the air, where 7 more joined them from all sides of the stadium, and when they were finally together, they swirled together into a giant ball formation, and suddenly broke off into several directions with a thunderclap of lightning effects which illuminated the entire stadium, to the applause of thousands, Rainbow's being the loudest. Twilight looked at Aqua, who himself was engulfed in the sheer spectacular performance, and smiled as she kissed him on the cheek, with Celestia blocking them so the others wouldn't see. The group got up and stretched and began trotting down the sprial staircase to the exit, with Celestia walking close to Aqua. "I hope you understand that my lack of appreciation in the past was simply because of my royal duties, along with raising the Sun, Aqua. It is nothing personal, though I admit I should've found the time to do so." Celestia apologized. "Oh, it's quite alright, Princess. I only wish Utopia could still be here in the Age of Harmony." Aqua mourned. "You'll see him again, I once conversed with him that he studied the Afterlife of the Force." Celestia mentioned. "Fascinating. I must say, my first day in Ponyville has been a rather long and amirous one. I think you get what I mean." Aqua said. "Why yes, Twilight and you. I am joyous for the news, my friend. You and her should be an eternal couple that would rival the love between Shining Armor and Princess Cadence." Celestia said. Aqua's only response was a smile as Twilight nudged him in the side and put a forearm around him as they walked out of the stadium. As the group walked back to the hot air balloon, Celestia bid her goodbye to them, as Luna slowly rose the Moon above the horizon. "Well, that was quite a performance." Aqua stated. "Like hay it was!" Rainbow said. "Too loud and rough in my opinion." Rarity said before removing her sun-hat. "Um, Rarity, why did ya bring yur sun-hat when it's 9:30 at night?" Applejack asked. "Fashion's no excuse at night." Rarity said shortly. As the balloon hovered back to Ponyville, as the group gossiped about the performance, Aqua stared at the emerging moon, where the stars began to peer into the night sky. "What's going on?" Twilight asked curiously. "Oh...nothing, I'll tell you later." Aqua said with a frown forming, as memories of Utopia clouded his mind. As the balloon finally lowered, the group disembarked at Golden Oaks Library. Twilight began speaking about the sleepover plans. "Ok girls, get your sleeping bags, snacks, flashlights, whatever you need, and head back here in about five minutes. Alright?" Twilight spoke, to the multiple nods of the others. As the others left, she trotted back inside to set up the sleepover. When the group finally returned with their sleeping bags, Twilight excitedly hurried them inside. Rainbow filled the snack bowl with the bag of potato chips she brought, while Pinkie Pie filled another with cupcakes. Sleeping bags laid on the rug, the group finally finished unloading their saddle-bags full of goodies and joined Twilight on the rug in the middle. Twilight clopped her hooves in delight as she squee-ed when Aqua trotted into the library. "Thank you all for coming, everypony. We're gonna have so much fun!" Twilight said. "I wouldn't miss it for the world, darling." Rarity said. Pinkie already started munching on a chocolate cupcake while Applejack began roasting a few marshmellows on sticks. "So, what exactly do we do at these things?" Aqua asked. "We just hang out, eat junk food, watch TV, that stuff." Rainbow said while she devoured a few potato chips. "Hmm, it's not something I really do, so bear with me." Aqua replied. "It's quite alright, Aqua. Let me show you how to make a s'more." Rarity said, levitating a golden-brown marshmellow from Applejack's stick onto a graham cracker. Aqua watched as she perfectly created a s'more. With a shrug, Aqua bit down on the s'more while Twilight watched happily, sipping apple cider. Aqua smiled pleasurably as he swallowed the s'more. "Wow, not bad. I like it." Aqua said. Fluttershy joined Rainbow Dash eating potato chips when Pinkie Pie cheered. "We're off to a great start now!" Twilight gleefully said, levitating a cupcake over to her hoof. "Does anypony wanna tell a ghost story?" Applejack asked. "Ooh, how about we give each other make-overs and hooficures?!" Pinkie beamed. Rainbow Dash recoiled and horror at the thought. "How 'bout no? Make-overs aren't my thing, and I wouldn't be caught dead with polished hooves like some high school senior!" Rainbow protested. "I agree, it seems too girly for my tastes." Aqua vouched. "Then who's got a scary story?" Twilight asked. "Ooh, ooh! Lemme! I got an epic story!" Rainbow hollered raising her hoof like a schoolfilly. "Ok, ok, Rainbow." Twilight said. Rainbow smiled evilly as she grabbed a black bedsheet as a cloak and a flashlight, and the lights were turned off. Fluttershy let out a soft squeek in response. The only sound was the errie moan of Rainbow's throat. "A long time ago, there was a little filly with an unusual cutie mark. But it wasn't just any cutie mark; it was a pony's skull," Rainbow began, pulling the blanket over head to wear, with her flashlight illuminating her face, "Her name was Isabella, and she was the only daughter of the rich unicorn parents of Canterlot. She lived a wonderful early childhood, she was a smart little filly who was popular in school, making a ton of friends." "Are ya telling a ghost story, or a biography audio recording?" Applejack smirked. "Shush, Dashie's talking!" Rainbow shouted, "Now then, Isabella was a kind-hearted pony, and she had gotten her cutie mark on an archaeological dig with her father. But one day, while she was sleeping on a Friday night, she felt a tingly feeling in her flank. She heard the ominious rattle of the treasured skull of a pony-saurus as it vibrated across her table. At first she had thought an earthquake had struck her home, but to her horror, her flank had started burning. She felt the flesh peeling away slowly, and slowly from her flank, and she grabbed the skull and ran to the bathroom. Peering into the window, she discovered that her cutie mark was glowing red as all of her skin began peeling off. Minutes passed as screams of agony pierced the sound barrier, with no response from her parents. The skull shook in her hooves as she felt her eyes melting!" Rainbow spoke in a deep voice, to which Fluttershy was already shaking in her sleeping bed. "Rainbow?" Twilight interrupted. "When she felt her skin finally peel completely off, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed as her skelton form cried out in pain and empathy! With a bolt of lightning striking her, her skeleton exploded into several charred bones! The skull she had possessed hovered in the air, before it dissolved into a white powder, and it blew away through the window, never to return! Some say, the mist of the skull possesses the living to this day, who knows. The possessed could even be lurking...right...here!" Rainbow said before her flashlight switched off, and with a loud thunk sound, the pertrified ponies heard the pained shriek of Rainbow echo in the library, along with a thud. When the flashlight turned back on, they saw a pale-skinned Rainbow Dash with yellow eyes, snarling at them. Everypony screamed in terror, as Aqua quickly Force-pushed the now pale mare into the bookshelf in total fear. Rainbow groaned as her back hit the bookshelf, the flashlight going out with the impact. Screaming ensued as Twilight turned the light on with her magic. Standing before them in fear was Aqua, gasping for breath. He spoke in a whisper at the shocked mares. "That was an accident. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. I was too scared in the moment." Aqua pleaded. Rainbow burst into laughter as she took the yellow lenses from her eyes, crying tears of laughter. "I-It's ok, Aqua! But you guys should've seen the looks. On. Your. Faces!!" Rainbow screamed in triumph, her cyan color returning, as the mares however remained pale in fear. Crying could be heard from Fluttershy's sleeping bag, to which Twilight gently brought her out of the bag. "It's ok, Fluttershy, it's just a scary story." Twilight comforted. "A very scary story." Applejack said, glaring at Rainbow Dash. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy, but I wanted to tell a story to everypony. It's not a real story, though. There's no such thing as possessed pony-saurus skulls." Rainbow comforted the yellow pegasus. "R-Really?" Fluttershy asked. "Of course not." Rainbow said. "Well, I guess that worked much better than expected. No more stories tonight, ok everypony? For Fluttershy's sake?" Twilight asked. "Oh alright." Rainbow pouted. Aqua was still standing petrified at his actions when Rainbow trotted towards him. "What's wrong? I already said I wasn't mad, Aqua." Rainbow said. "I know, I just feel so stupid." Aqua said, ashamed. "Everypony freaks out sometimes, Aqua. All I'm curious about is when you pushed me. How did I not feel getting pushed? All I felt was air hitting me." Rainbow asked, puzzled. "Umm...it's a long story." Aqua said. "I got time. As long as it's not scary." Rainbow said, winking to Fluttershy. "He's a Jedi, Rainbow Dash." Twilight said. "A what-now?" Rainbow asked. "A Jedi," Aqua began, "a pony who served as a guardian of peace in Equestria. The Jedi were a sacred group who held dear the light side of the Force as a philosophical tool, without usage of violence or anger." "It's all in this book Aqua gave me." Twilight said, levitating the book to the floor, which landed with a resounding thud that threw the mares off balance for a second. "What's in there, an anvil?" Rainbow quipped. "It's not that bad," Aqua said, "it mostly covers the usage of the Force, the Jedi, the Sith, a complete history of the Jedi and Sith, a biography of the most renowned Jedi Masters and Sith Lords, and has messages written from the past Jedi Masters from over a thousand years ago." "It must be worth all the poor oak trees." Fluttershy said quietly. "How did you know it was made from oak trees?" Aqua asked. "The texture of the pages." Fluttershy gushed. "So the Force? You used it to push me into the bookshelf?" Rainbow asked. "Pretty much, but it's just one ability." Aqua said. "The book says that the Jedi are capable of...'running great distances in short amount of time, enhanced jumping skill, underwater breath control, enhanced healing and mental health. A Sith power is known as the Force Choke, a gripping of a ponie's throat telepathically, and Force Lightning, a physical representive of the dark side. An extreme Dark Side power is a Force Storm, capable of distorting an entire planet's surface, while a Jedi's version simply shows the power of the Light Side with a large storm of all colors of the rainbow.'" Twilight read from the book. The mares gasped in sheer awe at the description. "Whoa nelly. Something tells meh that those whatcha-call Sith are real bad rags." Applejack stated. "Not anymore, they are." Aqua stated happily. "So...can we see some moves?" Rainbow asked. Aqua rolled his eyes as he raised his hoof to a snack bowl. The bowl rattled as a cupcake flew from the bowl, and into Aqua's hoof, and he began to chew on it smugly. Each of the girls looked on in amazement. "That's...so...awesome!" Rainbow yelled in awe. "So what I'm getting is that our friend here is a Jedi?" Rarity asked. "Correct. I am a Jedi, like my old master." Aqua said. "But why haven't we seen more of your folk?" Applejack asked. "Because the Jedi were exterminated, along with those Sith filth over a decade ago!" Aqua said in slight anger, to which Twilight ran to him and hugged him, and his anger dissolved. "How did you already know, Twilight? And why do you have that book?" Fluttershy asked. "I...uh...visited him after he arrived, and we had a little chat, and he showed me his house, then he lent me the book." Twilight said. "Darling, are you alright? You sound nervous." Rarity asked. Pinkie glanced at Twilight, then Twilight glanced to Aqua. He nudged Twilight softly as she shook softly. "Um...I kinda like Aqua..." Twilight confessed. The room was filled with several 'Huh?'s and 'What?'s as Twilight held onto Aqua's forearm. "Like, like like?" Applejack asked. "Uh-huh..." Twilight squeaked nervously. "Alright listen! We felt something was up the minute I met her this morning, and when I was in my house, I could tell she could hear my thoughts, so I found her by the fountain, and that's when we were nervous around each other!" Aqua confessed. "You know I talked to you two, Rarity, Fluttershy, about him before, but I wasn't sure if the feeling was real or not! So I went to his house and we sat in his pool, then at his fireplace, then at his balcony, and we had very romantic moments in the process!" Twilight said quickly. "That's why we hid it from you today, because Twilight was afraid that if she told you earlier, you would protest against it! That's why Celestia was so friendly towards me, because she was involved with the Jedi, and she knew about our feelings!" Aqua said. "I've just never felt this way about anypony before." Twilight said quietly. The confused faces on her friends faded with warm smiles as they approached Twilight happily. "Darling, I knew you had something inside you when you talked to me, and I knew for sure we would see Aqua again, but I didn't know he would turn out to be such a charismatic gentlecolt!" Rarity beamed. "Thank you Rarity." Aqua said to the white mare. "I think him being a Jedi is pretty cool. It sounds like something I wouldn't have the time to be." Rainbow said. "As long as ya be nice and treat her right, then ah approve of you two bein' together." Applejack said. "Of course, Applejack." Aqua said. Twilight let out a breath of relief and winked at Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie finally spoke up. "Hey, you know, Twilight and Aqua kissed each other on the cheek." Pinkie said. The mares squealed with 'Oohs' at the revealation. "Aww! That's so cute! Why haven't you two kissed on the lips yet?" Rarity asked. "We wanted to know if the feeling was true love, but we know now it's right." Twilight said, as she nuzzled Aqua. "Well, I think you two would be a pretty nice couple, if you don't really mind my opinion." Fluttershy said. "I think we've spoke enough of this. Why not we just go on with the rest of our sleepover in peace?" Aqua suggested. The others nodded at his suggestion. "It's kind of embarrassing being showered by all the approval." Twilight said, blushing slightly. The ponies smiled as they dropped the subject and as Rainbow Dash went to retrieve her flashlight, Aqua spoke to Twilight. "This must've been an anxious experience you've had. I can sense the relief in you." "Yeah, I'm pretty relieved. I'm so glad they understand." Twilight said. As the sleepover continued into the night, the 7 ponies munched on snacks, danced around, watched a few Daring Do cartoons on Twilight's television, did hooficures (much to Rainbow's dismay), told jokes, and played Truth or Dare. "So, what's pale, a mane and tail made entirely of fire, red eyes, and evil?" Aqua began. "Slendermane?" Pinkie asked. "Batmare!" Rainbow yelled. "Nope. The Sith Queen, Darth Solstice!" Aqua said, before he and Twilight burst in laughter, and the other's only reaction were confused stares. The fun times continued through the night as they began playing Truth or Dare. "Ok...Rainbow Dash, truth or dare?" Applejack asked. "Dare me, sucker." Rainbow said. "Ok. I dare ya to get a hooficure." Applejack said, to which Rainbow's eyes reduced to pinpricks. Rainbow screamed in horror as she was magically held down and her hooves were gently filed, but her screams turned to pleasured sighs. The ponies cheered as Rainbow admired her now-shiny hooves. "Let's never tell anypony about this!" Rainbow shouted above the cheers. Twilight then spun the bottle with her snout, and the bottle soon landed on Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie Pie, truth or dare!" Twilight said. "Truth!" Pinkie chirped. "Ok. How long have you gone without a cupcake?" Twilight asked. "Too long!" Pinkie shouted before running to the snack bowl and bit into a cupcake. Laughter soon erupted from Pinkie's display. "Ok, Aqua! Truth...or dare?" Twilight asked with a purr. "I pick truth." Aqua said. "Do you wanna kiss me on the lips?" Twilight asked, to the 'Oohs' of the others. "Um, I pick dare?" Aqua said. "I dare you to answer the question." Twilight smirked. Aqua leaned slowly towards to Twilight, pressing his lips to Twilight's. Twilight closed her eyes in pleasure as she moaned happily. The only sounds were the excited squeals from the others. The two kissed for about 10 seconds until they let go, gasping for air. "Does that answer the question?" Aqua asked. "It sure does." Twilight answered, before pulling Aqua into another kiss on the lips. The kiss laster much longer than the first, and the faces on the Mane 6 were estatic. "I can't believe what I'm seeing." Rainbow said happily. "Oh...my." Fluttershy said. The two lovers let go of the kiss and nuzzled each other. Twilight, with strands of her mane sticking out, spoke flustered with a blush spread across her cheeks. "I think we've played enough Truth or Dare." Twilight spoke. Later into the night, most of the group had already went off to slumberland, Fluttershy in her pink sleepingbag, Applejack in hers with an apple knitted into it, Rainbow in her rainbow-styled bag, et cetera. It was almost midnight when Twilight wandered lovestruck to her balcony. After a few hours of drinking punch, eating cupcakes, and partying, Twilight was depleted of her energy. Already standing there was Aqua Blue, her lover. He stood sadly, staring into the night sky, as the stars peered out. He turned around to see her, mane blowing softly in the cool night breeze. "Hey." Twilight said. "Hey." Aqua said back. "Whatcha doin'?" Twilight asked. "Just watching the stars." Aqua said, to which Twilight joined him. The two nuzzled together once more as they watched a comet pass. "You know, my master, Utopia Prism. They say that if you look deeply into the sky, you'll see a twinkle in the sky. That twinkle is Utopia, successfully passed onto becoming one with the Force." Aqua said. "He may be gone, but now you have me." Twilight said, and the two once again kissed each other on the lips for what seemed like forever. Off in the distance, a breeze kicked up, and a light blue vision appeared. The figure was of a tan brown stallion with a beard, and he was wearing a Jedi robe. Staring back at the balcony, he saw his apprentice kissing the purple mare. With a smile, Utopia Prism disappeared into the night sky. As the two finally let go, they wandered back into the tree house, Twilight wandered to her bed, tired. Aqua flew to the ground floor to get his sleeping bag when he heard his name called. "Aqua?" Twilight called. Aqua flew up to her bedroom where the others laid in their sleeping bags. "Yes, Twilight?" Aqua asked. "Do you wanna sleep in my bed with me? I hate to have you sleep in your sleeping bag." Twilight offered. Aqua's eyes widened slightly. "Are you sure? I don't want to impose on you, sweetie." Aqua said. "It's no trouble, Aqua. I insist. Pleeeeaasse?" Twilight asked in a cute tone. "Oh alright, if you insist so much." Aqua answered. Twilight rolled over to her left as Aqua settled next to Twilight in the bed. The two laid comfortably together in the bed as they snuggled each other, side to side. For a few minutes, the two smiled faintly as they fell asleep together. In his last moments of conciousness, he whispered something into Twilight's ear. "Goodnight, Twilight Sparkle." Aqua said before he kissed Twilight's cheek goodnight, and fell into slumber. //-------------------------------------------------------// The Date //-------------------------------------------------------// The Date Rainbow Dash woke roughly to the caw of birds as she roughly wiggled herself free from her rainbow-stylized sleeping bag, her mane ever more messy than usual. Smacking her lips, she felt her throat was dry and dusty. Rainbow gazed over to the kitchen fridge, and impulse quickly took over. "Twilight probably won't mind if I borrow some apple cider. It is still technically a sleepover." Rainbow said before chuckling to herself. As the others still lay asleep in their bags, Rainbow retrieved the pitcher of cider and dispensed it into her mug, then reached for a few ice cubes from Twilight's freezer. She gazed over to the wall clock, then out the window to see Celestia's Sun barely showing itself over the horizon. Yawning softly to herself, she took her cider mug and walked sleepily over to the center of the room when she froze, hearing a feminian coo come from the upper floor. Rainbow looked around the living room to see her friends laying in their sleeping bags, save for a familar blue stallion. She stared at the empty black sleeping bag and arched an eyebrow as she turned her head to the stairs leading up to the bedroom. "Well, that was fast." Rainbow playfully muttered to herself as she slowly crept up the stairs to Twilight's bedroom. The slight creak of the stairs were the only sounds in the library as the cyan mare got closer and closer to the bedroom. When she finally made her way to the top, she stopped in her tracks to see the sight in front of her: Twilight Sparkle and Aqua Blue, still soundly asleep, snuggled against each other in the lavender bed. Rainbow's jaw went agape as she stumbled backwards with an ecstatic smile. "Pinkie Pie! Pinkie Pie!" Rainbow whispered to the slumbering pink mare as she shook her harshly. Rainbow backed away as two pink back hooves nearly bucked her in the face. "Get back, giant cupcake, I'm not your baker!" Pinkie shouted as she flailed her hooves. Rainbow shoved her hoof into Pinkie's mouth to silence her. "Pinkie, you're gonna wake up the others!" Rainbow whispered to the crazy mare, before pushing her head-first up to the bedroom. Pinkie then saw the two ponies snuggling each other in the bed, as Rainbow Dash began snickering. "Aww, look! There're all snuggly-cuddly with each other!" Pinkie chirped. Rainbow began tearing up with stifled laughter as she nearly lost her balance on her hooves. "Oh! This is too priceless!" Rainbow Dash whispered, "I-I think I dropped my cider mug, I'll be right back! Oh dear Celestia, my ribs..." Pinkie watched the couple as Rainbow struggled to maintain her breathing and fluttered downstairs. Once the coast was clear, Pinkie whipped out a pink camera from somewhere and quickly snapped a picture of the two ponies. Giggling to herself, she bounced merrily down the library stairs. Rainbow was drinking her apple cider as she nearly choked snickering to herself. Pinkie smiled at the camera picture as she gobbled a leftover cupcake from the snack bowl. The others soon began to wake up as Rainbow continued to sip her cider and her laughing fit started dying down. Applejack stretched her body from the night on the floor, Fluttershy yawned innocently, snuggling a stuffed teddy bear underneath her sleeping bag, and Rarity awoke from her rather lavish sleeping bag, if by sleeping bag you mean a literal matress bed. "Mornin', Rainbow." Applejack said with a yawn. "Sup, AJ?" Rainbow greeted, raising her mug. Applejack glanced to the nearby empty sleeping bag, and turned back to Rainbow. "Is Aqua outside or somethin'?" Applejack asked curiously. "No, he's upstairs, still asleep with Twilight." Rainbow answered, to which Rarity quickly spat out the remaining cider in her mug that she had just retrieved from the kitchen. "Nothin's...happenin', right?" Applejack asked nervously, to which Rainbow began her giggling fit again. "No! That mare practically worships books!" Rainbow responded. Applejack slowly trudged up the stairs as she Rarity followed. "Applejack, I don't think peeping on Twilight while she's sleeping is a logical idea. We could see something not meant to be seen." Rarity said. Applejack simply rolled her eyes at the white mare. "Well then why are ya comin' with me? Ah just wanna take a peek, ah ain't gonna yell 'n scream at them." Applejack said. Peering into the bedroom, Applejack let out a soft chuckle as she saw the two snuggled ponies lying under the sheets together. The two mares quietly trotted back to the living room to see Fluttershy harmonizing with a nearby Robin. "Good Margaret, you're getting better. Maybe you and Mordecai can do a song together soon." Fluttershy said, gesturing to the nearby blue jay. Rarity let out a soft shriek as she saw her appearance mangled from the rough night sleep, biting down on her forearm to silence herself. Rainbow fished a Daring Do book from her saddle-bag as she watched the white mare drag her mini-mattress with her from the Library. "Ya ever wondered if Rarity really tastes like marshmellows?" Pinkie asked. Scaly footsteps greeted the peaceful morning as Spike came from the kitchen with a deep blue Sapphire. The purple dragon smiled happily as he stared at the beautiful gift. "She's soft like one." Spike said lovingly, caressing the Sapphire within his claws. "Uh Spike, what is that? It looks like the ruby you gave Rarity." Rainbow asked. "A little thank-you gift for the ruby." Spike said simply before he returned to his bed, still clutching the Sapphire. "Well, Ah think ah'm gonna get back to da farm, still got a bunch of trees to take care of. See y'all later." Applejack said with a tip of her hat. The mares soon departed the tree house without a word, not wanting to wake Twilight and Aqua from their slumber. Twilight Sparkle blissfully woke to the glare of Celestia's Sun shining on her face, and smiled brightly as she heard the masculine voice from the opposite side of the bed, turned to face her, smiling back at her. "Good morning, sleepyhooves." Aqua greeted playfully as Twilight wrapped a hoof around him and kissed him thoroughly on the lips, before she nuzzled him happily. "Good morning, Aqua." Twilight replied. "Did you sleep well, dear?" Aqua asked. "Pretty well; felt safe next to you. Just wish I wouldn't wake up like this every morning." Twilight said, eyeing her ravaged mane. "You'd look adorable even if you were bald." Aqua said, ruffling the purple mare's already messy mane. Twilight smirked as Aqua rose from the bed and trotted over to her side, beginning to rub her back. "Go back to sleep, sweetie. I'll be back up in a few minutes." Aqua said, kissing Twilight on the cheek as he crept slowly down the stairs. Twilight smiled as she returned to dreamland. Spike rolled around in his bed as he gnawed quietly on the Sapphire. Twilight stood above the balcony of the Castle in a beautiful cyan dress as she heard her name being called. Trotting down the massive stairs to the middle of the staircase to meet her lover, clad in a stunning deep blue tuxedo. Smiling ear to ear, she and Aqua bowed to each other as they walked down the stairs to the ballroom. Greeted by Celestia, the two ponies began to waltz around the room happily. Twilight awoke from her dream to hear the sizzling noise eminating from her kitchen, and before she could react, she was hoisted up and carried in the arms of her coltfriend as he flew to the kitchen and gently set her down on a pillow-laid chair, and returned to the table with a plate in his grip. Walking back to his seat, Aqua sat and began to enjoy his breakfast. "Aqua, you didn't have to make me breakfast." Twilight said in a guilty tone. "No, no, no, it's the least I can do for my Twily." Aqua said, levitating a glass of milk from the counter to Twilight's reach with the Force. "Well thank you very much, this is really sweet of you." Twilight complimented, taking a sip of her milk as she swallowed an egg. Aqua's response was a smile of graditude as the two continued to enjoy their breakfast together. Occasionally, Twilight would blush as she looked up from her plate and winked at Aqua lovingly. "I hope you had a nice sleepover last night, it was an entertaining night for me. Your friends are so colorful and diverse." Aqua said. "Oh yeah, it was a blast. I'll never forget it." Twilight beamed, surpressing a giggle as she heard the distant snore from Spike's bed. "A dragon friend. So exotic and unique. I've never seen a baby dragon, he's nothing like those uncivilized, brutish adult dragons." Aqua said. "Spike? Oh yeah, he's a total joy to have around. He's such a big help to me, I just love him to pieces. He's like a little brother to me." Twilight said. When the two finally finished breakfast, they trotted over to the fireplace and nuzzled. "Aqua, do you wanna come and see the town with me? You've been here just a day and I wanna show you where everything is." Twilight asked. "That sounds lovely, Twilight. Thank you." Aqua said as the two kissed once more. This is great! I'll show him everypony, and they'll all love him! I'm sure this'll be an enjoyable trip, if the residents are anything like Twilight, my life here will be wonderous. The two set out from Golden Oaks as they walked along the dirt roads criss-crossed with multiple flowers and plants of various kinds. "This is the Spa. It's where Rarity and Fluttershy go every week to relax. You know how mares are." Twilight said, pointing to the lavish building. "I see." Aqua said. "And that's the Carousel Boutique. That's where Rarity designs the best clothes in all of Ponyville. "Beautiful designs, I must say. She's got a promising career." "That over there is the Ponyville Hospital. That's where Rainbow Dash went after she fractured her right wing in a...flying accident that involved a hay bale and a sharp rock...not pretty at all." Twilight said, a bit gloomly. "The important thing is she's alright now. I'm sure the staff there is remarkably trained." Aqua inquired. "Yeah...you'd think with the food there." Twilight deadpanned, before pointing Aqua to another building. "That over there is the Café. I once had a daisy and daffodil sandwich...a very...soggy one, hehe." Twilight joked. "Hmm, tasty..." Aqua remarked playfully. The two walked to the jewelery store close to the Town Hall. "That's the jewelery store over there. It's got the most beautiful rings, jewels, diamonds, and emeralds." Twilight said. "Remind me to stop by there later." Aqua winked, causing Twilight to blush. "Ohh, ok, sweetie. Wanna go see Sugarcube Corner?" Twilight asked. "Lead the way." Aqua said as the two began walking to the bakery. As Twilight walked up to the door, it instantly opened with a more energetic Pinkie Pie than usual. "Haii, Aqua and Twily! I got the biggest heart-beat against my chest, and I just knew you two were being all mushy!" Pinkie chirped. "Pinkie Sense. She can predict things in the future. I tried testing on her in my basement." Twilight whispered through her hoof. "Intriguing, make a note not to give her my lightsaber." Aqua whispered back, causing Twilight to giggle. Pinkie came back with a tray filled to the brim with cupcakes, candy canes, lollipops, and peppermints. "You guys hungry? I got all excited for you two, I couldn't resist baking stuff!" Pinkie said. "Nah, we're good, we just had breakfast, don't wanna ruin it." Twilight said before taking Aqua's hoof with hers and waved goodbye. "Oh ok, seeya later! And hey, tell Rainbow Dash that rainbow-sprinkled cupcakes in the promotionals are just jokes!" Pinkie said. "What's she babblin' about?" Aqua asked. "Eh, Rainbow read a book in the Crystal Empire's Library, and I guess it involved somepony that looked like Pinkie making a pegasus that looked like Rainbow into a cupcake." Twilight said, when a cold shudder crept down her spine. The two then walked over to the Town Square, to be greeted by Mayor Mare. "Hello Twilight." Mayor greeted the unicorn. "Good morning, Miss Mayor. Have you met Aqua Blue?" Twilight asked. "Why yes, I already got his paperwork recorded and taken of, yes yes." Mayor said. "Good. Well, we'll be seeing you." Twilight said. "Enjoy your day," Mayor said, before she whispered to herself out of their earshot, "Note to self, remember to get that restraining order on Rainbow Dash finalized." Twilight and Aqua trotted over to the nearby schoolhouse, when the recess bell instantly rang as if on cue. "This is the Ponyville Schoolhouse, Applejack and Rarity's younger sisters go here." Twilight said to Aqua as the stampede of fillies ran merrily to the playground. Aqua soon saw three fillies that stood out from the crowd. "Twilight, who are those fillies?" Aqua asked. "Oh, that's Sweetie Belle, Rarity's sister, Applebloom, Applejack's sister, and Scootaloo." Twilight explained. "Does Scootaloo have a sister?" Aqua asked. "...Nopony knows, but she's alot like Rainbow Dash, I guess." Twilight said curiously. Their chat was cut short by the infamous, mocking laughter from two certain fillies. One pretentious pink filly with blue eyes closed slowly in on the red-maned filly, eyeing her flank with a snicker. "Well well, look who's on the swing-set? Three..." Diamond Tiara started. "Blank flanks!" the two fillies mocked. "Why don't you just go count spoons? That's pretty much all you're good at." Scootaloo angrily directed at Silver Spoon. "It's way better than any cutie mark you three will ever have." Silver Spoon mocked. "They're just jealous, Silver. Jealous of the fact that they'll spend their lives blank and useless, like they were born to be!" Diamond cruelly mocked, causing the Cutie Mark Crusaders' eyes to begin to glisten with potential tears. Aqua, off to side, had been building with absolute rage, gained Twilight's attention. "Aqua? Are you ok?" Twilight asked in concern as she attempted to calm him down. Aqua began trotting to the playground in anger. Facehoofing, Twilight followed nervously. As Aqua reached the playground, he stood between the Crusaders and looked at Diamond Tiara with sheer fury. "Excuse me, would you mind explaining yourself here, miss?" Aqua asked containing his wrath. "Um, how about you minding your own business, old man?" Diamond mocked. "The preservation of self-worth of these young fillies is my business. And I am not a day over 20. Who do you think you are?" Aqua hissed back. "Um yeah, I'm Diamond Tiara, you should know me from my father, and obviously my cutie mark." the filly said arrogantly. "Oh yeah, a filly with a tiara as a cutie mark tells these fillies that they're useless." Aqua said angrily. "Because they obviously will! What do you know about cutie marks anyway?! You have a stupid cloud for one!" Diamond Tiara hissed. "These fillies will still have the joy of discovering whatever talent they have. Whether it be singing or dancing, only Celestia knows." Aqua said. "Aqua's right, these fillies have the determination to be whatever they wanna be." Twilight spoke up. "Whatever, all that matters is I have a cutie mark, and they don't--" Diamond said before Aqua waved his hoof in front of her face. "You will not bother these fillies again." Aqua said, locking eyes with Diamond. Diamond's eyes derped as she repeated his phrase. "I will not bother these fillies again." Diamond said. Silver Spoon soon repeated the montra as her eyes derped as well. "They can go about their business." Aqua continued. "You fillies can go about your business." Diamond said with a smile. "Move along." Aqua finished. Diamond and Silver spoke to each other. "Move along. Move along." the fillies said to each other as they trotted back to the classroom. Twilight stood mouth agape at what had happened. "Aqua...did you just probe them?!" Twilight asked in fear. "No no. Old Jedi mind trick. Always works on the weak-minded, over-confident." Aqua said happily before feeling a small forearm tug at his leg. He saw the dinner-plate sized eyes on Applebloom's face. "Thanks, mister Aqua." Applebloom said. "It's no problem at all, youngling." Aqua said as he trotted away with Twilight. "He was so cool." Scootaloo said, to which the two other fillies nodded in agreement. "Aqua, do you think it was best to do that trick on them?" Twilight asked. "Would you rather have wanted to see those three get made fun of? Nopony should be mistreated as harshly as that." Aqua said, to which Twilight silently nodded and continued walking. "So...what do you wanna do now?" Twilight asked. "Well since we've explored the town, I think our walk is over." Aqua said, walking back to the Library with the unicorn. Back inside the tree, Twilight stared at the clock on the wall. "It's only quarter to noon, I don't have any plans today." Twilight said, laying on a pillow by the fire. "There must be something to do. What do ponies do here for fun?" Aqua asked. "Well..." Twilight began, running up to her bedroom, returning with a transcript, "I have an extra ticket for this movie later on." Aqua looked at the scroll that had a golden yellow mare ready to charge at a bearded Griffon holding a black, aged sceptor. "Daring Do and the Return of the Griffon King." Aqua read. "It's the film version of the book. I own the whole book series. I was gonna take Rainbow but she was too busy with weather patrol." Twilight said. "So, you want me to see it with you?" Aqua asked. "If you wanted to go, that is. I'm totally fine if you wanna do something else." Twilight said. "No, it's fine, I'd love to go with you." Aqua said with a smile. "Thanks, Aqua." Twilight said with a kiss. Pinkie Pie watched as Rainbow Dash began pile-driving into the massive supercloud, only to be flung back and forth from the cloud as she struggled to dissipate it. The weather in Ponyville was expected to be sunny, but according to Rainbow, a rather clumsy mare managed to bring forth an army of clouds, so Rainbow's best option was to gather them all into one cloud. With several karate kicks and chops, several bits of the cloud were destroyed, but it was all too stubborn to disappear completely. Groaning in frustration, Rainbow flew high into the air, looped around, and dived straight on into the cumulus cloud. Pinkie watched in awe as Rainbow barreled into the giant cloud, and with a triple flip and back kick, Rainbow completely obliterated the storm cyclone instantly. The beads of sweat glistened off Rainbow's fur as she descended to the ground, only to be hugged by Pinkie. "That was the most amazing thing ever, Dashie!" Pinkie cheered. "Thanks Pinks." Rainbow said, before the pair weakly attempted to hoof bump each other. "That was pretty weak." Rainbow said. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." Pinkie suggested. "Let's try that again, only farther." Rainbow said before the two backed away from each other, then ran back and smacked hooves together hard. "Ooh, that hurt..." Pinkie noted, flexing her hoof. "I like it! Let's do another one!" Rainbow yelled enthusiastically, to which the mares then ran off in opposite directions. Minutes later, Rainbow and Pinkie were just barely in each other's eyesight when they yelled their instructions. "Ok, you ready?!" Rainbow yelled for Pinkie to hear. "Yeah!" Pinkie yelled back, to which they began running at each other from a much greater distance. A few animals watched the scene unfold as the two leaped towards each other, hoof bumping so hard the sound echoed, the two then fell to the ground. With a big grin, Rainbow shuffled over to Pinkie. "Pinkie! I know how we can do the most ultimate hoof bump, ever!" Rainbow beamed. "You've gone mad with power lust, and I'm lovin' it!" Pinkie said happily. About an hour later, Rainbow was in the Crystal Kingdom, and Pinkie was in the Bad Lands, opposite sides of Equestria. "You ready to do this, Pinkie?" Rainbow asked through her walkie-talkie. "I've been ready the whole time, just been waitin' for you to say--" Pinkie answered. "SUPER ULTIMATE HOOF BUMP, GO!" Rainbow yelled as the two mares were rocketed towards each other at supersonic speeds. Aqua finished packing his saddlebag when Twilight shot a glance at him. "Do you really need to pack your lightsaber?" Twilight asked. "You never know, sweetie." Aqua answered. Twilight nodded as she put on her saddlebag. "Spike, we'll be back in about 2 hours or so. Have fun, and make sure Peewee and Owlowiscious get their cages cleaned." Twilight said before hugging the purple dragon. "Aye aye, Captain Sparklicious!" Spike said with a salute. Twilight rolled her eyes happily as Aqua hoof-bumped Spike. "Get outta here, you crazy kids." "Seeya later Spike. Stay cool." Aqua said before departing with Twilight. Spike then walked over to his bed and spoke with the owl. "They're a real power couple, aren't they?" Spike asked before face-palming as the owl hooted. Twilight sat in her theater seat as Aqua returned to her with a large bag of popcorn and cider mugs. Twilight smiled and kissed him as he sat next to her. "What kept you?" Twilight teased. "Ugh, long line. People really love Daring Do, I guess." Aqua whispered. The two looked around and saw Ms. Cheerilee sitting beside Big Macintosh, Wildfire with Lucky, Time Turner with Derpy Hooves, even her brother Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. "Twily. Nice to see you and Aqua here." Shining Armor whispered. "Hello to you too, BBBFF." Twilight said sweetly. "I take it this is the Crystal Princess, Cadence. A pleasure to meet you." Aqua greeted. "Nice to meet you too, Aqua." Cadence said with a friendly wink. The theater went quiet as the movie screen illuminated the entire room. Twilight and Aqua snuggled together as the movie commerical ad played. (Musical enhancement. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWDKWSpBQqc)) "For over a thousand years, the Jedi Ponies were the guardians of peace and justice in the Celestial Republic, before the Dark Times," an aged bearded stallion spoke. The screen then showed massive white-armored stallions being loaded onto a shuttle, then to a dark black unicorn with green eyes with red irises, leaving a purple trail. "Before the Empire. The young Jedi named Darth Sombra, who was a pupil of mine before he turned to evil, helped the Crystal Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Ponies." Sombra was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force..." the old stallion said before everypony in the theater saw the hooded Sombra glare towards the audience with his menacing red irises. Lava erupted as a respirator breathed in the backround. "Lord Sombra." a fiery-maned figure spoke in a rasping voice. "Yes, master..." Sombra answered. "Rise..." the figure hissed as dramatic music played, with Sombra, fully encased in black armor, rose from the operating table. The logo then appeared on the blacking screen. Stable Wars: Revenge of the Crystal The crowd cheered and clapped hooves as Twilight and Aqua sat in total confusion for many moments. The screen then announced the feature presentation. The sound of a boat's horn echoed across the ocean as Daring Do sat by a table, greeted by a dusty brown stallion with an eyepatch. "So what exactly did you call me onto this glorified canoe for?" Daring Do asked, yawning out of boredom. "Miss Do, I have been waiting for far too long for this moment. I have heard that you have claimed the ancient Sapphire Stone." the stallion said. "Yeah? What about it?" Daring asked impatiently. "Me and my...associates have been wanting to purchase the artifact from you." the stallion said as several other stallions began moving in on her. "And who are you buying it for?" Daring asked, fiddling with the stone. "All you need to know is it will make our employer very...very happy." the stallion said as he gestured to a black-clothed stallion out of Daring's eyesight. The stallion slowly pulled out a rope. "And what makes you think I'm going to sell this toy to you, Mister...?" Daring asked. "My name is not important. What's important is that I need that stone for my boss." the stallion said roughly. "And who's this boss-man of yours? And what if I don't give you the stone?" Daring tempted. The stallion snapped his tail complying to her death wish. The dozen stallions wiped off their black cloaks, preparing to fight. Daring instantly hid the stone in her saddlebag as she threw off her hat and assumed a battle stance. "Kill her!" the stallion yelled as the 12 stallions rushed her from all angles, only for Daring to leap into the air and barrel roll, wall-jumping off the sail of the ship, tackling into one of the burly stallions, knocking him hard off of the ship into the shark invested waters. Daring swiftly dodged a blow to the head from a massive hoof, before she socked the attacker square in the jaw, causing him to flare his wings in anger and charge after her. Daring ran under the stallion and back-kicked him off the ship. With two down, Daring charged straight. The couples clutched each other in suspence as they watched the intense beginning scene unfold, hearing shouts of pain from the movie. Twilight held onto Aqua with all her might as she let out a soft whimper. A stallion quickly pinned Daring to the ship floor as he held her hooves uncomfortably down. Another stallion took a revolver from his holster. With a smirk, he fired into Daring Do's mouth, but to everypony's surprise, bubbles came from the gun. Spitting the liquid soap into the stallion's face, she quickly bucked him into the ocean awaiting. As the 4th stallion ran at her, Daring jabbed him with the butt of the water gun, somehow knocking him unconcious, only to be pushed into the water. Then as 3 more stallions faced her, she took her whip from her vest and quickly snapped it at them, tying them down and flinging them into the water. The five remaining had only managed to land a few hits to Daring's side as she ran to the cannon on the edge of the ship. As one ran at her, she pushed the cannon in front of her, causing the stallion to fall into it. Lighting the match, the black stallion was fired at the other four, throwing them all off the ship. With a breath of relief, Daring faced the scar-eyed stallion. He unfurled his own whip and snapped at Daring, causing her to jump back in surprise. With a look of anger, Daring locked whips with the stallion, tangling them together and locking hooves as they each stared down each other in fury. Taking flight with her captor, she threw herself to the Crow's Nest of the ship. The stallion kicked Daring off of him as he threw his whip aside and revealed his sword. "It is over, Miss. Do." the stallion croaked. Dodging multiple strikes from the swordstallion, she finally found an opening in his offense, and elbowed his sword from his hooves, taking the sword and grimly ran him through. The audience cringed in horror as they saw red cover the screen. Daring casually tossed the body into the ocean, reclaimed her hat and tipped it in honor of her fallen enemies, and looked at the Sapphire Stone in apathy. As she turned to the ship's control room, the audience cheered loudly as the logo appeared after the dramatic music died down. Daring Do and the Return of the Griffon King After an hour and forty-five minutes into the movie, the audience were practically on their seats as Daring Do breathed in pain, in the dark room littered with a dying torch on the floor, littered among the pony skulls, staring down on the corpse of the fallen Griffon King. Daring spat at the body and crushed his black sceptor. "So uncivilized." Daring said, claiming the king's crown. The credits rolled slowly as the audience saw Daring Do swoop across the barren jungle on a vine from a nearby tree. The moviegoers then dispersed from the theater as Twilight and Aqua trotted home. As they were halfway home, they heard a massive sonic boom erupt from the center of Ponyville, as if two mares had hoof-bumped from a long distance. "What did you think of the movie, Aqua?" Twilight asked. "It was pretty exciting, and I did notice Daring looked alot like Rainbow Dash." Aqua said. "Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if we missed seeing her name in the Actor section as Daring." Twilight joked. The two then trotted back to the library door when they began to say their goodbyes. "I really enjoyed seeing that movie with you, Aqua." Twilight said sweetly. "It's no problem, Twily. Thank you for inviting me." Aqua said, planting a kiss on Twilight's cheek, making her blush for the umpteenth time. Twilight walked with Aqua into the Library as she flicked the switch on, revealing the kitchen table to be set with cider mugs, daisy and daffodil sandwiches, and a very happy looking Spike. "Spike, did you do all this?" Twilight asked in surprise. "Maybe..." Spike said as Twilight pulled the dragon into her arms. "I don't know how to thank you." Twilight said. Spike looked over to his Sapphire, and smiled. "I got a good night's sleep." Spike said before walking back to his bed. Twilight shrugged as Aqua pulled her seat out and sat beside her. As they began eating, Aqua started the conversation. "Twilight, how much do you love me?" Aqua asked. Twilight sat silent for a few seconds before she smiled. "Hmm...more than all the molecules in everything, all the stars in the sky, and with all of my heart." Twilight said lovingly. Aqua smiled and nodded. "Well, by those standards, I love you even more." Aqua said as he rubbed noses with her. As the time passed, Twilight and Aqua talked, laughed, traded stories of magic and the Force, and simply enjoyed being in each others company. As dinner ended, Aqua flew back to his Cloud Manor to feed Goliath, and Twilight wrote a movie review to Celestia. When Aqua returned, the two laid by the fireplace and cuddled. "Twilight, I love you so much." Aqua said. "I love you too." Twilight answered. The two hugged each other tightly as time seemed to slow down. As Celestia's Sun began setting, and Luna's Moon began rising, the pair watched the beautiful sunset turn to blissful moonlight. Getting up and stretching his wings on the balcony with Twilight, he kissed the purple mare on the lips once more. "I wish I didn't have to go." Aqua said sadly. "You don't have to, silly." Twilight replied. "Goliath must be worried about me." Aqua said. "Well, bring her here. I don't mind." Twilight said. Aqua smiled faintly as he flew off to retrieve his pet. As Twilight watched the stars emerge from the night sky, she saw a comet pass over Golden Oaks Library. A few minutes later, Aqua returned with Goliath on his forearm. "See? That didn't take long at all." Aqua said playfully. The young Griffon stared blankly at Twilight, who smiled sheepishly in return. Placing the basket next to Owlowiscious, Aqua set Goliath down to nest in the bed. The owl and baby phoenix looked at each other and back at the Griffon who simply stared at them. "We're starting to turn into Fluttershy's cottage." Aqua said, causing Twilight to giggle slightly. The purple mare slowly walked into her bedroom and got comfortable under the sheets. Petting Goliath goodnight, Aqua trotted up the stairs and into the bedsheets with his marefriend. As the two snuggled together, they kissed one last time, and slowly fell asleep in each other's hooves. The heart monitors beeped normally as the two mares laid half-asleep on their hospital beds, with massive bandages wrapped around their badly-bruised hooves. Besides the damage to their front hooves, they were relatively fine though. Nurse Redheart walked out of the room with a sympathetic frown on her face. The two mares had pained looks on their faces, and they were horribly unsatified with the results. As Pinkie Pie attempted her usual giggle-snort to lighten the mood, all that came out was a whine and whimper. The cyan mare stared at the clock, sadly unable to use her hooves to read any Daring Do books, with an irritated expression on her muzzle. The only words that she spoke that night were the following: "We should've called that game Let's Hoof-Bump Until We're in Intensive Care." //-------------------------------------------------------// Enter the Force //-------------------------------------------------------// Enter the Force As Celestia's Sun had risen once more to greet the slumbering couple, Aqua slowly opened his eyes as he rose from the bed after kissing Twilight on the cheek. Trotting over to the bathroom, Aqua glanced at himself in the mirror, seeing the blue coat complimenting his eyes. With a smile, he glanced over to Twilight, watching the purple mare's chest rise and fall in sleep. Looking back at the mirror, he jumped back in surprise as he saw a different figure. The figure was of red skin, black marks tatooed around his face, and a head full of eight small horns atop them. The unmoving stallion stared Aqua down with his menacing red-rimmed yellow eyes. Rubbing his eyes rapidly, Aqua's reflection soon replaced the figure. "How does he still manage to haunt me?" Aqua asked in irritation. Shrugging off the figure, he trotted upstairs to the balcony and sat on a pillow, beginning to meditate. Clearing his mind, Aqua began levitating as he silently hummed in concentration. Twilight yawned softly as her eyes fluttered open from her wonderful sleep. Looking to her left, her eyes widened as she saw the empty space where Aqua was last night. She quickly looked downstairs, only to see a staged saber battle between Owlowiscious, Peewee, and Goliath. Rolling her eyes, she glanced over to Spike, who was now organizing books in the 'A' section, as was a normal chore. "Spike, have you seen Aqua anywhere?" Twilight asked. "I dunno, probably up on the balcony or something." Spike said with a shrug. Twilight trotted to the balcony to see Aqua meditating peacefully. As she was about to speak, Aqua broke the silence. "Good morning, Twilight." Aqua said. "I see you're meditating. Is everything alright?" Twilight asked. Aqua didn't respond. "Aqua? Are you ok?" Twilight asked. I hope you are more challenging than your master. I'm somewhat disappointed in him. Twilight saw tears beginning to form in Aqua's eyes. Frowning sympathetically, Twilight wrapped a forearm around him and kissed him. "I know you miss him." Twilight said sadly. "I saw him. The one who killed him, in the mirror...like a mirage." Aqua said. Twilight nuzzled Aqua as he meditated to calm himself. The wind began to blow as Twilight comforted the blue stallion. A voice than rang in Aqua's mind. You are troubled by thoughts of my assassin, my old apprentice. I cannot shake the memory, no matter how much I try. Every time I am alone, he finds a way... Then you will heed my final training session. It shall rid the troubles from you. Yes, my master. Aqua's concentration was then swayed by Twilight's hoof waving in front of his face in concern. "Aqua, are you ok? Please, tell me!" Twilight begged. "The killer stalks my mind, Twilight. No matter how hard the attempt, he still haunts the darkest corner of my mind. He needs me to complete his final training." Aqua said. "I could erase him from your memory." Twilight offered hastily. "You cannot easily erase a Jedi's memory, only the most powerful can, like Celestia. This is a task I must take to better my conscious." Aqua said. Twilight rubbed her chin in thought. "The book," Twilight said in realization, "I need to read the book. I'll understand better when I do. Do what you need to do, sweetie." "Thank you. I will be back soon, don't worry," Aqua said, kissing Twilight's lips passionately, "I love you." "I love you too." Twilight said sweetly, returning the kiss. Aqua claimed his lightsaber from the shelf and donned his saddlebag. With a nod of his head, he trotted from the library. Twilight levitated her book from the nightstand as she wrapped herself up in a blanket, comfortably opening the book to the first page. Aqua listened hard to his fallen master's directions as he slowly walked from the library to the bridge. Stopping mid-trot on the bridge, Aqua looked back as he donned his Jedi robe from his saddlebag. You must go to the Everfree Forest, my Padawan. The answer will lie there. Aqua did as he was told and walked towards the massive greenery, hearing the deranged caw of the birds flying among the trees. As he walked, Aqua began hearing vicious snarling sounds from the sides of the forest path, ranging from roars to mating calls. Disregarding them, he pressed on, feeling something in his chest, a familar feeling. "Why do I get the feeling that I sense somepony...very wise here?" Aqua asked himself as he looked to the sky and saw Celestia's Sun rising above a low tree. As he continued walking, he kept hearing a roar from the sidelines, growing more and more threatening with each hoofstep. He knew something was following him, but he decided to leave it until it became a danger to him. With each familar tree, each patch of land, and rock formation, he almost believed he was walking in circles. With one final step, Aqua laid his front hoof on the fork in the dirt road, and that's when it happened. "A Jedi is the guardian of peace for all of Equestria. Worship, respect, cooperation, and trust are all aspects a Jedi must hold dear to the Force. Originally formed as a philosophical group situated in the Griffon Kingdom, the Jedi became revered as guardians of peace and justice in Equestria. As wielders of the Force and their signature lightsabers, the calm, considered demeanor of the Jedi made them ideal peace-keepers in times of conflict or dispute. Yet, for all their power and diversity, the Jedi were scarce. Many challenged their order and the establishment they served, most notably the Sith, dark warriors, the antithesis of the Jedi, and their sworn enemies." Twilight read from one of the many paragraphs from the Jedi section. Mindblown, Twilight read on. A snarling Manticore leapt from the bushes to face the blue stallion, its gaping, fanged maw and evil-intent eyes stared down on Aqua. Standing his ground, Aqua sat on his haunches and studied the beast intentively, attempting to reason with it telepathically. Let us not fight, but reason with each other peacefully. The Manticore angrily swept at Aqua with his paw, with him dodging the blow with nimble speed. He attempted to calm the monster once more, to try to persuade it to peace. The beast was too stubborn and thick-skulled to see reason, preferring brute strength over it, the wild animal charged aggressively at Aqua. The stallion leapt into the air, barely avoiding its teeth. "A Jedi must not take revenge, nor kill an unarmed enemy, and mustn't cling to the past. A Jedi must have self-discipline, one of the key concepts of Jedi behavior. Arrogance and overconfidence were looked down upon, as Jedi were not to believe they were capable of accomplishing anything. Accept defeat when the cost of winning is greater than the cost of losing. Jedi strike without aggression, recklessness, anger, or hatred. Jedi were to practice honesty, and to honor promises, their Master or Padawan, life and law, and the Jedi Order. They are to defend the weak and provide support to those in need." Aqua, now seeing that the beast was beyond reason, began defense. As the monster lunged towards him, Aqua threw his hoof to the Manticore, Force-pushing the behemoth into the bramble. Enraged, as it attempted to slash at Aqua's head, he constricted the monster's paw with the Force, making his paw unable to move without causing it to pinch in tightness. "I suggest you leave now, before you do something rash." Aqua warned the beast, before being slapped across the face and thrown hard into a nearby tree. Dazed and confused, Aqua stumbled to the ground in pain as the Manticore sneered at him, bringing up his scorpion tail to stab him. Seeing the pointed weapon, Aqua rolled to the side to avoid the stinger, before being nearly thrown by the rebound of the tail. As the battle continued, the beast grew irritated and caught him off guard, slashing his forearm with a claw, causing his shoulder to bleed slightly. Aqua then grabbed his lightsaber from his saddlebag, and faced the monster. "So I must draw my weapon on you." Aqua said solemnly, at that point, igniting his blue lightsaber. The Manticore jumped back in surprise, but then charged confidently at Aqua, only to be defeated in one fell swoop. With a swipe of his lightsaber, a blue light flashed in the battlefield, and the end result was the poison stinger on the beast's tail severed. The monster recoiled in pain and skidded to a stop as it fell to the ground in pain. Aqua ended the battle and walked to the beast, and took it's paw. He examined it carefully, before slowly pulling a hoof-sized thorn embedded in the paw with his mouth, now soothing the beast of his anger. The Manticore stared at the blue stallion with guilt as it looked at it's paw, and let out an apologetic groan. "You see? There was no need for violence, my friend." Aqua said, stroking the beast's wild mane. The beast looked over to the nearby plant, and ripped it from it's root. It then wrapped the pain-killing herb around Aqua's shoulder, soothing the pain from his claw-wound. "You are forgiven, Manticore. Now, let's get you back to your herd, eh?" Aqua said. The Manticore then roared, summoning a dozen of much smaller Manticores to the battlefield. Growling threateningly, the Manticores advanced on Aqua, only for the larger Manticore to stand between them, and a conversation of roars and grunts ensued. Minutes later, the Manticore herd gracefully bowed to Aqua. "Do you know where I can find Froggy Bottom Swamp?" Aqua asked the head beast, to which it nodded and lowered its head, allowing Aqua to climb on. Now guiding the Manticore herd, he was now riding the leader to the swamp. Twilight put a bookmark in the 175th page of the book, closing the book and levitating it to the nightstand, lying on the bed with so much new information in her brain, she felt like her brain would implode. She walked downstairs into the kitchen and prepared herself a daisy and daffodil sandwich as Spike joined her with some hay fries. "Spike, I'm worried about Aqua. He's been gone for like almost an hour or so." Twilight said nervously. "He said he had to go to the Everfree Forest. He's one of those Jedi-whatevers, so it must be important." Spike said. "Yeah, but I just hope nothing bad happened to him." Twilight said, twiddling her hooves. She then levitated her saddlebag to her back as she gulped down the rest of her sandwich. She trotted to the door determinedly, filling her bag with a first-aid kit. She nodded to Spike, who now beginning to clean the table. "I'm going to find him. I couldn't live with myself if he got hurt. He could lose an arm or something, and what if I wasn't there to help? I have to help him!" Twilight said before running quickly out the door, letting a gust of wind overtake the ground floor completely. Spike face-palmed as a stray paper landed in his face. "Yeah...I'll just...clean that up, too," Spike said with a hint of sarcasm. The pets surrounded him as they held their wooden sabers, advancing slowly on him threateningly, "Stay back, you guys! Peewee, you're my pet!" The Manticore group bellowed in triumph as they finally reached the marshlands. As Aqua got off his pack leader's head, he bowed gratefully to the behemoths, before they disappeared into the treescape. Aqua walked around the swamp, feeling the sticky surface from mud and wetland. As the pain in his forehead grew and grew, he finally stopped and rubbed his temple in irritation. As he sliced vines and low-hanging tree branches and moss to bits with his lightsaber, he was so focused on the dense fauna that he had accidently fell into the deep marsh. Silently muttering to himself, Aqua levitated himself from the sticky liquid and leaped to stable ground. "Where is this somepony Utopia told me to find?" Aqua said to himself as he continued trotting through the foggy swamp. As he walked impatiently through the blinding moss and leaves, he accidently bumped into a golden earring, to which he heard the rattle of neck jewelry. Aqua stared at the figure with curiosity, it's yellow glowing eyes shrouded by a brown cloak. Cautiously lifting his robe, the figure saw the lightsaber hanging from a notch in his robe. "Put your weapon away, stranger. Surely, you are in no danger." the figure said casually. Aqua slowly lowered his robe, concealing his saber. He eyed the creature suspiciously, then looked to the moss covered cave standing before him and the upside down pony-like figure hanging from a vine in concentration. "Do you guard this place?" Aqua asked. The creature chuckled to herself as she removed her brown hood, revealing her light gray and dark gray striped Zebra skin, along with her striped mane, and turquoise eyes, with a hypno-stylized cutie mark. "No, I am simply a watcher, a mere resident. To enter this cave, you seem hesitant." she said. "Might I ask who you are? I sense great power in you. Much more than...I have in record time." Aqua said. "My name is Zecora, a zebra from far away lands. And I can sense that you were born in the country of sand." Zecora said. "Do you know why I'm here?" Aqua asked. Zecora squinted her eyes, before letting a gasp of realization. "Your mentor has brought you here. The solution to your deep-seated anguish, lies in there." Zecora said. "So you know what I'm looking for." Aqua said. Zecora paused for a moment, now standing upright and sitting on a log. "Something lost, a part of yourself, perhaps?" Zecora asked. Aqua looked down in depression as a few memories returned to him. "In a way, yes. Actually more ways than one." Aqua replied grimly. "What you seek, inside, you will find." Zecora wisely said, to which Aqua silently began to trot into the cave, only to be halted by the zebra's words of advice. "Take your weapons, you should not. The only threats you will find in there shall simply rot." Zecora said. Aqua disregarded her wisdom and trotted in with his lightsaber by his robe's side. Outside the cave, Zecora bowed her head in annoyance. "Did I stutter, hmm?" Zecora began with a sigh, "Wise, strong, and calm, he is, but impatient." Aqua ventured in the dark cave as the light from the outside barely illuminated the cavern. Hearing the distant screech of the bats, he fearlessly pressed on, cutting down remaining bits of fauna obscuring his path. As he trekked, he heard the hiss of a nearby lightsaber, and the certain hiss was reminiscent to a Sith lightsaber, and he grabbed his saber in preparation. (Musical enhancement (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnQCSGsGwr8)) The Dark Lord approached Aqua with his double-bladed Sith lightsaber, and in the process of spinning several times, the mysterious stallion advanced quickly on him, forcing Aqua to block the red saber's blade with his own. Beginning the battle, Aqua drove off the attack and leapt towards the Sith, now locked in a furious saber-lock. Gritting his teeth, Aqua broke the lock and swung several times at his enemy, only to be swiftly blocked by the unrelentless opponent. Smiling slightly at his anger, the stallion Force-pushed several stalactites in Aqua's way, only for him to slice them in two. Smirking, with one swipe, the stallion once more engaged Aqua in a saber-lock. The two stood locked in combat as their sabers illuminated the cave. Peering down on his enemy, the red-skinned Sith spoke coldly. "Your old master, Utopia Prism...I gutted him while you stood helpless and watched. How did that make you feel, Jedi?" Darth Wrath taunted. Aqua then drove Wrath back in a sudden flurry of saber swipes, some taking him completely by surprise. With one hit, Aqua severed Wrath's saber in two, causing one half to short out. Dropping the useless half of the saber, Wrath let out a roar of anger and fought back Aqua's attack, the two now evenly matched. In seering determination, Aqua soon gained the upper hoof on Wrath, nearly driving him to the ground with his more advanced fighting style. Groaning in effort, Wrath tried desperately to perry Aqua's attack, when he suddenly had his lightsaber hoof being grabbed by Aqua's free hoof. Trying to release from his grip, Wrath soon felt his hoof being squeezed harshly as Aqua then thrust his lightsaber through his midsection, bisecting him. As Wrath's upper half separated from his back hooves and hips, he stared at Aqua with complete rage as he began fading into oblivion. Frowning in victory, Aqua realized that all he had done was defeat an apparition of his mortal enemy. Finding satifaction, Aqua soon trotted out of the cave, only to be met by Zecora. "What did you find?" Zecora asked. "I found my past, something that needed to be settled." Aqua said, trotting past the zebra. As he began his exit from the swamp, he found Twilight waddling through the swamp, silently cursing the sticky feeling on her hooves. Seeing Aqua approach her, Twilight instantly ran up to him and hugged him tightly, caressing his dark blue mane. "Aqua! Thank Celestia you're ok! I thought you got hurt!" Twilight shouted in relief, crying a few tears of joy. "I'm alright, honey. Don't worry." Aqua said. Twilight glanced at Aqua's shoulder wrapped in a plant cast, and the slight dirt marks on his robe and his coat. "What happened to you?" Twilight asked, levitating the makeshift bandage from Aqua's shoulder, revealing a scratch that greatly resembled the same scratch that she had received from a paper cut from her time-travel escapade. "I was fighting a Manticore, or rather trying to calm it down. I eventually had to cut off it's stinger, and I took out a thorn in it's paw, and I became the pack leader of the Manticorians. The marks are from the fight I had with Darth Wrath, in the cave over there." Aqua said, pointing to the cave. Twilight felt a chill go down her spine as she trotted closer to the cave. "Brrr, why didn't I bring my scarf with me? It's suddenly really chilly." Twilight shivered. Aqua fished out a scarf from his saddlebag and wrapped it around Twilight's neck. "That place is strong with the Dark side. What I saw in there was a mirage of my worst enemy." Aqua said. "The guy who killed Utopia, right?" Twilight asked, before receiving a nod from him, "Oh, well, did you...find what you were looking for?" "What I found is a lesson. Not to cling to my past, because the past can sometimes haunt you." Aqua answered. Twilight trotted over to Zecora, sitting close to the entrance of the cave. Twilight let out shivers as she advanced towards her. "Ahh, young Twilight Sparkle, I see you and your mate have been in quite a pickle. Nonetheless, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?" Zecora greeted the unicorn. "Why are you here? This place is super cold, not that it's my business, but you know what I mean." Twilight said. "Simply on a stroll through the forest, watching over this cave. Your friend there seems to had been troubled by rage." Zecora said. "He saw somepony kill someone he loved alot, let's just put it that. He needed closure." Twilight said. "Wise move, I must say. I wish for the best of you two on your way." Zecora said, beginning to trot on the way to her hut. Twilight walked back to Aqua as the wind began to blow once more. Snuggling Twilight in his Jedi robe, he walked her back home to Ponyville. As they walked, Twilight turned her head to face the source of the sudden breeze. She went mouth agape as she saw the shimmering blue spectrum of Utopia Prism, and she instantly tugged on Aqua's forearm. Joining Twilight, Aqua's eyes widened as he saw his old Master face him and her. The dense forest was silent for many seconds before Aqua spoke up. "Utopia, my old Master. It has been so long since I've seen you." Aqua said to the bearded stallion. "It is an honor to see you once more, and your marefriend, I take it? Hmm, this girl seems like a smart one." Utopia said, causing Twilight to shuffle her hooves in embarrassment. "Umm yeah, I'm Twilight Sparkle. It's, uh, nice to meet you, Utopia. Or rather, your...spirit?" Twilight greeted, before the blue spirit stuck a hoof out to shake. At first glance, Twilight questioned the logic of shaking a ghost's hoof, but as she did, she became surprised as she physically felt it in her own hoof. "A pleasure it is, miss. I see you have ventured into the Cave of Evil, my old Padawan?" Utopia said. "Yes, Master, I encountered Darth Wrath, and in the process, I cut him down, just like before, armed." Aqua said. Utopia bowed his head as he put a hoof to Aqua's shoulder. "Then you have faced your trial, apprentice. You should have no more mirages of the Sith anymore. I am proud of you." Utopia said. "Thank you, Master. I wish you the best of luck in immortality." Aqua said. Utopia smiled faintly as he returned the gesture with a wave of his hoof before fading away. Twilight stood in shock until Aqua nuzzled her, snapped her back to focus. "I can see how important he is to you." Twilight said before she began shivering again. Aqua covered her in his robe as he walked with her. "We should get you home as soon as possible, so you don't get sick." Aqua said. As the two trotted home for what seemed like almost an hour, the two finally reached the edge of the Everfree Forest, where they were met by the rest of the Mane 6. Pinkie Pie was the first to wrap her hooves around Twilight, crying waterfalls of joy. "Twilight! You're ok! Omigosh, we were all so worried! After me and Rainbow Dash were let out of the hopital this morning, we went to your house to check on you and Aqua, and we didn't see you! So we saw Spike and he told us you went into Froggy Bottom Bog to look for Aqua, so we got everypony, and we were just about to go after you!" Pinkie sobbed without stopping for air. "Now what in tarnation would y'all go into Froggy Bottom Bog for? Don't y'all know there's was a hydra lurkin' 'round them parts? You two coulda gotten hurt real bad!" Applejack lectured. Aqua held a hoof to speak. "I came here first. Twilight was just worred about me, so she went to look for me." Aqua said, kissing Twilight's cheek. "Dude, you're a Jedi! You got those flashy light-sword thingies! You'd be fine!" Rainbow said. "Sometimes we go by what our heart tells us." Aqua said. "What matters is we're fine, so you girls don't need to be stressed out over this." Twilight reassured. "Well we were just worried, sugarcube." Applejack said. "No need...wait. Rainbow, what were you and Pinkie doing in the hospital?" Twilight asked in concern. "Hoof-bumping accident." Rainbow said in deadpan. She instantly flew off as Pinkie bounced away merrily. As the others dispersed, Twilight walked with Aqua back to Golden Oaks Library, laying their saddlebags on the nearby couch. The mare levitated a washcloth from the kitchen sink, and vigorously rubbed a bar of soap against the warm watery cloth. Sitting Aqua down by the sink, she faced the cut on his shoulder with determination and dug a front hoof against the floor before carefully dabbing the wound with the cloth. Aqua made no attempt to recoil in pain as Twilight began applying pressure on the wound. "Where does it hurt?" Twilight asked. Aqua simply pointed the center of the cut, where the most intensity of the Manticore claw slashed his shoulder. Smiling faintly, Twilight started putting pressure on the center, relieving the pain from Aqua's shoulder as she washed it vigorously once more. After a minute or so of cleaning, Twilight levitated the first aid kit from her saddlebag and fished out a bandage. Carefully placing the bandage on Aqua's cut, she kissed his shoulder lovingly. "Feel better?" Twilight asked, to which Aqua nodded before kissing her on the cheek in return. Twilight happily trotted to the fireplace and laid down on the pillow, gesturing to Aqua with a squeek of joy to join her. Laying down on the pillow next to her, the two nuzzled in their favorite spot as Twilight began to snuggle next to him. Aqua put a forearm around Twilight as the two began to nap near the fire. Elsewhere, on the ceiling of the library, inside a cage, sat Spike, surrounded by Peewee, Goliath, and Owlowiscious, whining to be let out. Twilight drifted off to dreamland as she snuggled in Aqua's arms. The blue stallion led the unicorn inside the carriage as he climbed inside with her. The chatter of 5 bridesmaids were heard as the unicorn happily threw the bouquet into the air before closing the door. Cuddling her Smarty Pants doll, with her cyan dress and golden ring with a purple gem on her horn, she kissed the stallion on the lips passionately. "Ready to go, honey?" the stallion asked. "Yes." the unicorn answered, and the carriage drove off, with a bundle of horseshoes clanging against the ground of the castle. As the pegasi drove the carriage from Canterlot, with the two still kissing, they looked back on the castle grounds, then to Ponyville, and smiled at each other happily to begin their time together Laying next to Aqua, wrapped up in his arms, a pleasant smile formed on Twilight's face. //-------------------------------------------------------// Conclusion //-------------------------------------------------------// Conclusion The midday sun shone through the mirror of the massive library, illuminating the dark living room in accompaniment with the light emanating from the soft crackling fire. Twilight slowly awoke to the afternoon sun glare on her eyes, prompting her to slowly wiggle from Aqua's unconscious grasp on her, and as she rose from her slumber to stretch her relaxed muscles, she heard the rattle of a chain above her. Looking up in surprise, the unicorn saw Spike now waking from his nap, now dawning a sarcastic smirk. "About time you woke up." Spike said, fiddling with one of the cage's steel bars. Twilight stood in abject shock at the sight of her assistant held captive in the cage above. "Spike, how the hay did you get up there?" Twilight asked. "Our pets went treason on me." Spike said before the cage was set to the ground and opened with a cast of magic from Twilight's horn. Twilight angrily levitated the three pets into the corner for a time-out. Spike climbed back into his bed with an annoyed scowl on his face. "I am gonna have have a very straightforward talk with our pets tonight." Twilight said with a huff, sympathetically wrapping Spike in his blanket, then proceeding to trot over to the pets. Levitating the two into their cages, she eyed Goliath with distain. "How dare you imprison my faithful assistant? I have a good mind to inform Aqua when he wakes up." Twilight scolded. The sound of Twilight's distraught managed to cause Aqua to slowly awaken from his nap on the pillow. The blue stallion let out a soft yawn as he trotted over to the unicorn. "Good afternoon, sweetie," Aqua greeted, kissing Twilight on the cheek, "Is something wrong? Your displeasure woke me up." "Your little griffon over there imprisoned Spike like a caged animal." Twilight said in an upset tone, gesturing to the steel cage hanging over them. Eyeing the baby griffon in disapproval, Aqua scooped the hybrid by its hind legs. "Hey hey, we do not imprison friends, Goliath. Bad girl," Aqua scolded, placing her in her cage, "I should've known this would happen, I'm sorry Twily." "It's fine I guess, I mean we have had crazier days, trust me." Twilight said with a nuzzle. Aqua smiled faintly as he returned the gesture. Breaking from the nuzzle, Twilight gazed on Aqua's shoulderblade, no longer baring the mark of the Manticore attack. She eyed Aqua's discarded Jedi robe near the coat-hanger with curiousity. "Hey Aqua? You know your lightsaber that you use?" Twilight asked. Duh, of course he knows he has a lightsaber, that's so stupid! "Yes, what about it?" Aqua answered. "Well...I was kinda wondering if you wanted to show me it. I only saw it that one time at your house, and never saw you use it." Twilight said. With a smile, Aqua reached out with his forearm to his robe, and his lightsaber flew to his hoof almost instantaneously. Twilight stared in awe at the hilt of his saber he held dearly in his hoof. "This is the lightsaber I wielded in my mission to Appleloosa, after my promotion to Jedi Master." Aqua explained, showing the handle to Twilight. "Is that...alloy metal?" Twilight asked. "Yes, it's the material the hilt is made from." Aqua answered. The saber's emitter was separated from the body by a bronze cut-back, the black center being almost of a skeletal style. "So, what exactly powers it?" Twilight asked. "A blue Adegan crystal, I was able to find it in the crystal caves outside Ponyville, in the Diamond Dog fields." Aqua said. "So...what exactly does it do?" Twilight asked, to which Aqua ignited the lightsaber at a distance from her, causing her to jump back a bit in shock. "A lightsaber is able to clash against other lightsabers, which is the Jedi trade of lightsaber combat when needed. It can slice through almost any material, be it wood, metal, marble, you name it. Only certain metals or irons, cloths, and water is resistant. The energy blade of a saber instantly cauterizes the wound, preventing any blood loss." Aqua lectured. "Fascinating! I never known they were so powerful! Why doesn't everypony have these, they'd make great protection!" Twilight said in amazement. "Now Twilight, a lightsaber is mainly a Jedi's weapon, it requires an ample amount of skill and focus, or one could slip up and hack off anything important they need." Aqua said. "Ok, continue." Twilight said. "Now then, while a saber can cut through things, it also serves as a reflector against projectiles such as blaster bolts. It's actually a very complex thing, but I do believe I saved a construction manual on it." Aqua said, swinging the lightsaber gently. Twilight stuck her tounge out in focus as she examined the saber. "Hang on, I wanna try something." Twilight said, flaring her horn. A lavendar aura engulfed the lightsaber before it flew out of Aqua's hoof. Twilight twirled the lightsaber easily with her magic, almost causing Aqua to wince in protection. Reaching out, the lightsaber was quickly yanked from Twilight's magic grip, back into his hoof. Twilight stared at the lightsaber before she flared her horn to prepare a concussive blast, giving Aqua enough time to ready himself. As the blast was fired, Aqua easily lowered his lightsaber at the bolt, deflecting it into a stray chair. Aqua smiled at the experiment. "Interesting concept you wanted to test, Twilight. The Force is the polar opposite of magic, coexisting together." Aqua said as Twilight stood, mouth agape, trying to comprehend the scene. "Magic and the Force go together? Or are they like harmony and chaos?" Twilight asked. "It's hard to explain, but I see by the looks of your magical ability, if you were a Jedi, you could possibly surpass even my abilities." Aqua said in genuine amazement. Twilight blushed at his statement before the lightsaber floated towards her through Aqua's manipulation. "You see, the Force can easily be counteracted by any act of magic, as can magic be neutralized by the Force." Aqua said as he and Twilight pulled the saber back and forth with their powers, almost making a game of it. After a few minutes of this cycle, Aqua finally put the lightsaber back in his Jedi robe, when Twilight began giggling to herself. Aqua arched an eyebrow in amusement at the mare's enjoyment. She pulled Aqua into a passionate kiss and stroked his mane in the process. After several seconds, the two pulled away from each other and stared into each other's eyes, before they once again pressed their lips together. In the royal castle of Canterlot, Princess Celestia sat by her throne in the empty room, accompanied only by her sister Princess Luna. Conjuring up a manuscript with a golden yellow glow, Celestia read through the book at a steadfast pace. "Dearest Luna, can you honestly believe how suddenly Aqua Blue came into Twilight's life, and how close they are now? It's simply wonderful, I couldn't be prouder of my faithful student. I might just send a letter of congrats to Twilight just for the hay of it." Celestia said gleefully. "I agree, sister. Young Twilight Sparkle is learning the old trade of love. And what better stallion be than one of the most divine and most powerful Jedi of all time?" Luna responded in similar glee. "Powerful, yes. Him and Twilight make such a great pair. Together, they could be the most unstoppable force in Equestria. No enemy would dare attempt an attack on them." Celestia stated. "Ah, the good old days, a thousand years ago, when the Jedi were plentiful and thriving." Luna suddenly mourned, bowing her head in sadness. "Do not despair, my sister. The Jedi Order will survive the aftermath of that dreadful purge, and with Aqua as it's leader, they will return as the guardians of peace." Celestia reassured her sister. "You have great plans for his future, do you not, sister?" Luna asked. "He will do great things, sister. Much great things." Celestia said with a smile, finishing her manuscript. Using her magic, Celestia effortlessly raised the Sun to it's highest point, bringing forth a ray of sunshine to bathe Equestria in. May the Force be with you, Aqua Blue...always. The two ponies finally broke from their kissing session, panting heavily in sync with each other. Twilight's face was flushed as she glanced over to Aqua. "You're as good a kisser as you are a Force-user." Twilight remarked playfully. "You certainly take my breath away, sweetie." Aqua said. Twilight blushed as Aqua stroked Twilight's purple mane with his hoof. "Twilight, I love you so much." Aqua said, putting his hoof to Twilight's chin. "And I love you too." Twilight replied. "I think you're the most beautiful mare ever." Aqua said. "And you're the most handsome stallion ever." Twilight said lovingly. Aqua shuffled his forehooves as Twilight glanced around. "Twilight, I think I can spend the rest of my life with you. We have such a perfect bond. I mean, we're almost identical to each other." Aqua said. Twilight was somewhat taken aback, but she managed to speak. "Yeah...I remember how I could hear your voice weeks ago, when I was reading that book. We're so in sync together." Twilight said. "So...what would you say if I asked?" Aqua asked softly. Twilight smiled at the stallion before she kissed him. "I'd say of course." Twilight said, much to Aqua's joy. The two hugged each other for an entire minute before letting go. "But if it's not too much of a problem, I still have some assignments to finish for Princess Celestia." Twilight began. "And I haven't seen my cloud house in so long, oh and I should probably take Goliath home so she doesn't cause any problems." Aqua said. "Let's meet up in about an hour, ok?" Twilight asked. "It's a date." Aqua said before Twilight kissed him once more. She began levitating a book to her table as the two waved goodbye, and Aqua began flying home, with his caged griffon in tow. Twilight gazed out the window at Aqua's shrinking form, and she let out a lovestruck sigh. "Oh Aqua, you are the perfect stallion." Twilight said to herself, before opening the book. When Aqua finally arrived at his manor in the sky, the blue stallion sat Goliath's cage down in her usual spot. "Do not behave so rudely with your friends next time." Aqua said in his calm voice as he slowly walked to his cloudbed. Stretching down on it, he felt the soft plush vapor seize his back in relaxation. Closing his eyes, Aqua was greeted by numerous thoughts, most of which were flooded with images of Twilight. In our time together, I wonder...would the next step be appropriate? I often assume that the choice is indeed up to the woman of the relationship, but I shouldn't push her decisions. A few more thoughts crossed his mind. Aqua saw himself, snuggled up with Twilight in his hot tub, flashing foward to him and Twilight sleeping together during her slumber party, then to him and her holding hooves together at their movie. A stern look crossed Aqua's face as he continued meditating. Ohh, I wonder what's going to happen in an hour. I hope I'm too pushy or anything when he arrives, and I certainly wouldn't want to try too hard. Twilight thought to herself as she lost her gaze in her book. It should be a surprise...but what would she expect? Aqua thought to himself as he levitated a book to his hooves. Wiping off the dust encoded on it, he read the manuscript. "Elements of Harmony, A Reference Guide." Aqua read as he opened the page. "I know I've heard of these elements of harmony, but never thought they truly existed. Apparently, only those whose heart's are purest and most noble can wield one of these elements." Aqua said before skipping to the Table of Contents. Reading off the label, he skimmed to the nearest page. Flipping to that page, he saw a massive picture baring 6 mares with necklaces around their necks, one baring a tiara atop her head. Aqua looked up in surprise as he now experienced a Force Vision. "You see Aqua Blue, this mural depicts the redemption of Nightmare Moon, and the defeat, and reform of Discord, the God of Chaos, both instances being 6 mares responsible for these occurances." Celestia spoke, leading Aqua towards the massive murals of the Throne room. "Fascinating. I do believe that one there is Twilight?" Aqua asked. "You're correct. Twilight Sparkle, my most brilliant, talented, and powerful student. The Element of Magic is bond to her as you are as well." Celestia said. "Those necklaces...everyone of them has one...except Twilight." Aqua said quietly to himself. He put a hoof to his chin to think before an idea slowly grew in his mind, "Maybe Rarity has one I could have." Aqua then closed his book and returned it to the bookshelf before he donned his saddlebag again. After letting Goliath roam free in her pen, the stallion left his Cloud Manor and set off for Carousel Boutique. Minutes soon passed while Aqua became lost in his thoughts, avoiding stray buildings in the process. Glancing over to Golden Oaks Library, Aqua was too distracted to notice himself being the metaphorical 'fly on the windshield', the windshield being the window of Rarity's Boutique. The white unicorn was startled so badly from her sewing that she nearly jabbed her hoof with a needle. Trotting over to the window, the mare carefully opened the window and pried Aqua off the window. "Dear Celestia, Aqua, don't startle me like that! I was just in the middle of starting my latest creation!" Rarity hollered. Aqua shook his head gently before apologizing. "Terribly sorry, Rarity, but I was too distracted to notice where I was going. I was actually on my way here." Aqua explained. "Well that's fine, but what can I help you with?" Rarity asked. Aqua skimmed his forearm along the ground before he spoke. "You must not tell this to Twilight. I intend for it to be a surprise," Aqua started, to which Rarity nodded her head, "The Elements of Harmony, I noticed she, out of everypony, doesn't have a necklace..." "Oh but she has the most fabulous tiara. It's a suitable stand-in." Rarity said. "Perhaps, but I was thinking of making a necklace that looks like one of the Elements, Cutie Mark and all." Aqua explained. Rarity put a hoof to her chin before her eyes lit up. "Ohh, I know why. Aqua, you charming gentlecolt! I do believe I may have something like one. Let me check." Rarity said before disappearing to the storage of the Boutique. Aqua turned to a piece of scrap paper and began sketching a necklace. Moments after, Rarity had returned from the back, a bit of a glum expression on her face. "Unfortunately, I hate to disappoint you, but I have nothing that looks like a necklace as regal as the Elements of Harmony. I'm sorry, Aqua." Rarity said sadly as Aqua bowed his head. "Granted, the Elements are the most powerful weapons in ponykind, so a facsimile would be impossible to make." Aqua said softly, to which Rarity grew another idea. "I do however have connections to the jewelery store, though. They might have a necklace that at least resembles it. I'll tell them I sent you, you might get a discount." Rarity offered. "Thank you Rarity." Aqua said with a smile. "Oh but I could however provide a gem for the necklace, if you want." Rarity said. "I was planning on going to the Diamond Dog fields, it has something else I need." Aqua replied. "Ugh, those flea-bitten mutts?" Rarity asked with total disgust. "If that's what they look like, then yes. But I've handled worse, so I shall be off. Goodbye." Aqua said as he closed the door. Now soaring through the sky, Aqua was within Diamond Dog range in minutes. Serveying the area briefly, Aqua found a massive hole boarded up with wood and 'Stay away' signs. With a roll of his eyes, Aqua blasted the wood to bits with a powerful Force Push. A Diamond Dog guard immediately noticed the wreckage and armed himself with a spear. "Hello there." Aqua said, feigning a pleasant greeting before telekinetically disarming the guard, before blasting him to the side of the wall. The guard let out a bark that alerted the fellow dogs of Aqua's presence. Soon, Aqua found himself crowded by several guards, and three most notable dogs. "Look here Fido, we have a house guest." one of the dogs said. The others cringed at the sight of Aqua. "Probably a friend of that dreadful whiny mule." Fido said. "Take care of him, boys." Spot said, to which the guards all raised their spears. Aqua grew an annoyed scowl. "Ugh, your voices are like rubbing syrofoam together." Aqua said, irritated, igniting his lightsaber to fight. His first move was severing the guards' spears in two in a blur, then pushing the guards away from all directions with a Force Wave. With all their forces taken out so quickly, the Diamond Dogs stared at Aqua in pure fear. "Now, I suggest you let me by." Aqua said calmly, before the three dogs stood aside in shock. Aqua retracted his saber peacefully and walked past them, with the dogs breathing in relief. Aqua began trotting through the caves, using only the Force to venture through the dark caves. He glanced to the sides of the walls, seeing nothing but diamonds of various colors, ranging from red, blue, green, yellow, black, the spectra of the rainbow. Aqua stopped in his tracks to press his hoof against a hard rock wall, producing a clinking sound that indicated a source of gems inside. Staring intensely at the wall, Aqua slowly sensed the Shatterpoint of the rock. Gazing past red rubies, blue sapphires, green emeralds, and yellow quartz, the search became increasingly difficult. No...it must be in here. I must find it. For Twilight. Concentrating even harder, his connection to the Force flowing quicker, Aqua brought his eyes closer to the rock, when he finally saw bright purple crystals lodged inside. Drawing his lightsaber, Aqua swung for the rock, producing an earsplitting crackle as he slowly carved the rock in half. Hacking away at the stone column, fragment by fragment, Aqua finally destroyed the rock with another Force Push, sending bits of rock across the mine for meters. Silence ensued as Aqua stood before the former wall, the rock erratically cracked and severed, before he saw a giant crystal lodged in the direct middle of the structure. Aqua smiled in satisfaction at his prize. Using his mind, the crystal removed itself from it's rock prison, before floating into his possession. "Mmm. Amethyst...pure Hurrikaine crystal. A perfect match for Twilight." Aqua said, closely examining the crystal before storing it in his saddlebag. His business complete, Aqua effortlessly flew to the very end of the mines, with Diamond dog guards still laying unconcious from his arrival. With a flap of his wings, he began the flight to the jewelery store. The library was quiet, with the only sound being the sketching of Twilight's quill upon the parchment. The mare effortlessly breezed through the questions on the paper. "What is the square root of 546?" Twilight read with a laugh, "Too easy, 23.36664289109. Moving on. How much potassium is in a medium banana. Fillie's play, 422 milligrams." The assignment was obviously below Twilight's level of studying, with her practically undermining each question with a rebuttal of it's simplicity to her. "Ok, now that easy mode's over, let's move onto normal. Question 47...explain the existance of the midi-chlorians, and their connection to the Force? Wha...? Princess Celestia expects me to know this?" Twilight asked in confusion as she levitated the Force Book to her eyes. Searching through the pages, Twilight found no such mention of a midi-chlorian, proceeding to drop her face onto the table in frustration. The unicorn then folded the corner of the page and put away her homework assignment when she lazily flopped down onto her bed and covered her head with her pilllow in annoyance. "Ugh! Of all the questions Princess Celestia puts on my studies, she puts the one about the midi-whatevers, which isn't mentioned in Aqua's book!" Twilight groaned before she heard an audible crash from the ground floor, preceeded by a window being shattered. Before she could speak, she heard a familar mare shout to her. "Twilight!" Rainbow yelled on top of the unicorn, obviously in a frenzied panic, sweating intensely, "We have a big problem!" "What what, what is it?!" Twilight hollered back. Before the rainbow mare could reply, the two were deafened by a beastial cry that nearly shattered what was left of the undamaged windows in the library. "That's what it is!" Rainbow yelled, rushing to the side of the door, looking at the massive beast as it let out another roar, lumbering about on all fours, coated head to claw in scales, crown ridges atop it's head, and a spike-studded tail. It looked much similar to the type of dragon the Mane 6 was used to seeing, but it was distinctly smaller and leaner and possessed no wings. "Holy mother of Faust." Twilight said in shock, completely paralyzed in fear as the krayt dragon began rampaging towards Golden Oaks. Before she could flinch, the dragon was suddenly stopped, mere inches away from her head with its outstretched maw. Teleporting out of harms ways, Twilight soon saw Aqua, holding back the dragon with the Force. "Twilight, find cover. This thing's far too dangerous." Aqua ordered. "No, I'm not leaving you with that monster!" Twilight pleaded. "Trust me." Aqua said, brandishing his lightsaber. Twilight begrudgedly winked out of the scene to higher ground. Aqua faced the 30 meter long monstrousity with determination in his eyes. Charging towards the stallion, the krayt dragon attempted a few swipes at his shoulder before Aqua preempted it's attacks with a slash of his saber to it's side, throwing the creature off balance and hurling into the nearby river. Executing a well-timed saber-throw, Aqua impaled the dragon's back with his blue blade, making it writh in agony. Jumping onto the krayt's back, Aqua pulled his saber from the wound and climbed up the creature as it attempted to shake him off, snarling and floundering in the water. It was only until the krayt tried to grab Aqua with it's claw did he make it draw blood mist, hacking off the opposing claw with his saber, watching the massive appendage sink into the water. "You're one tough fighter, aren't you?" Aqua asked as he held on for dear life. This only had further enraged the krayt, and it's attempts to throw Aqua off grew even more frenzied. Twilight watched in horror as she attempted to fire concussive shots at the dragon, to no avail due to it's thick plated scales. With one final leap, Aqua held onto the krayt's head and quickly stabbed his lightsaber through the top of it's head, instantly killing the massive beast. Aqua then jumped off the dragon as it's lifeless corpse dropped into the river and slowly floated away from Ponyville. An awed silence ensued until it was broken by the many joyous cheers of the citizens, running towards their blue savior. Aqua causiously flew over the fans as he practically leapt into Twilight's arms and kissed her. "Twilight, thank Celestia you're alright!" Aqua said. "Me?! I'm more concerned about you! You just went up against one of those krayt dragon things!" Twilight stared in disbelief. "What? That old thing? Eh, it was probably lost from Appleloosa, then started attacking the town. Sad I had to kill it, but it was a danger." Aqua answered before Twilight gave him a bone-crushing hug. "You saved my life! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Twilight said, increasing the strength of her hug with each praise. "Ok, I got it! You're grateful! You're welcome! You're crushing my lungs, Twily!" Aqua said in a now hoarse voice, prompting Twilight to break from the hug quickly. "Oops, sorry. Got a little carried away." Twilight said, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment, before hearing a massive clank from Aqua's saddlebag as he stumbled from the hug. "Something important in there?" Twilight inquired, with a look of confusion. "Oh, that? That's just a surprise I have." Aqua said. Twilight cocked her head before looking at the scratches and marks denting Aqua's robe from his fight. "Umm, Aqua. If it's no trouble, can I ask you a question? It's something from an assignment from Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked. "Of course, Twilight," Aqua replied, "ask away." The two began walking into Twilight's room as she levitated her paper to the desk, reading it off. "I'm having problems with this question. 'Question 47: Explain the existance of the midi-chlorians and their connection to the Force'," Twilight began, growing a confused face, "I'm totally stumped on that. I've been wondering, since there's no mention of them in your book...what are midi-chlorians?" The blue stallion grew a little smirk at Twilight's interest to the question. "Midi-chlorians are a life form that take place in all cells of the body." Aqua said. "They live inside us?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow. "They help build the bridge between the mystics of the Force and the biological. It's more of a receptor in a way." Aqua said. Twilight nodded as she began scribbling on her paper, listening to Aqua like he was Celestia. Watching as Twilight rolled up her scroll to send to Canterlot, Aqua quickly glanced down at his saddlebag, and opened it to see the purple crystal covered with a cloth, closing it before Twilight spun around to hug him. "Thank you, I really needed to answer that question." Twilight said, squeezing Aqua. "It's no problem, Twilight. I'm always happy to teach others." Aqua said. "So do you wanna hang out, or do you have something to do?" Twilight asked. "Well actually, I was planning on going to the market." Aqua answered. "Go ahead, I'll see you soon, alright?" Twilight said, pecking Aqua on the lips. The stallion hugged Twilight as he put on his saddlebag to exit the library. Minutes passed as Aqua flew through the busy crowds of ponies acknowledging his recent act of justice, but hurriedly paid them no more than a passing glance. "That marketplace must be around here somewhere." Aqua murmured to himself, getting himself lost in the crowd, before seeing a building in the distance resembling the one Rarity mentioned. "Of course, Twilight showed me the store." Aqua said to himself with a hoof to his forehead before opening the door with an ensuing clank of chimes. The stallion glanced to several display cases, one being the pearl from the very throat of the krayt dragon he had recently slain. Paying it no mind, he cautionly tapped the desk of the storeowner, and a grayed stallion emerged from the back of the store. Aqua took a moment to memorize the stallion's face as he spoke. "What can I get you, huh?" the stallion asked in a gruff voice. Aqua instantly fished out a card from his saddlebag, presenting it to the storeowner. "Miss Rarity of Carousel Boutique sent you here, eh?" the stallion responded to the card. "Yes. She said you might know what I'm looking for," Aqua answered as he showed the owner a sketch of his desired. The owner gave a raised eyebrow to his claim before his face wrinkled with a sudden tap of his chin. "Ah, that old necklace? Yeah, I may have something." the owner said as he walked into the back of the store. Aqua skimmed his hoof across the dusty desk, staring at the valuable jewels and artifacts carefully placed under glass covers. The storeowner soon returned with a heavy glass capsule before placing it on the table. The glass contained the very thing Aqua desired, a golden necklace with a hole in the middle in the shape of Twilight's Cutie Mark. "Do you have a price for it?" Aqua asked, to which the stallion pondered for a moment. A memory of a similar hooded blue mare throwing a bag filled with bits to him for the Alicorn Necklace appeared in his mind, and a smile crept upon his face. "Last necklace I sold was over 500 bits, the mare said it was her savings from some rock farm. I give you this for...450 bits." the storeowner offered. "For a normal necklace. You think that's rather steep?" Aqua inferred, waving a hoof at the stallion. The stallion drew a blank before responding. "I do think that's too steep a price. What say...200?" the stallion asked. Aqua snuck a glance at his bag, only containing less than 200. "175." Aqua negotiated. The stallion put a hoof to his chin before an idea hit him. "How about we decide this over chance?" the stallion offered a small cube to Aqua, who eyed it suspiciously. "A chance cube?" Aqua asked. "I land on the blue, necklace is 100. Lands on red, 450." the storeowner said as Aqua nodded his head. With a chuckle, the owner tossed the cube to the ground. Aqua glanced down at the cube before waving his hoof downwards, then proceeded to tug at his robe innocently. The cube landed with 5 red spaces with one blue space facing on top. The owner gave a small sneer before Aqua emptied 100 bits from his bag, and carefully removed the necklace from it's glass cover. With a nod of his head, Aqua departed the thrifty store before exchanging last words with the owner. "Next time, don't gamble. You're going to lose." Aqua said before heading out as the stallion threw his chance cube to the wall in anger. With a satified smirk, Aqua took his belongings atop his back and trotted back towards the Boutique. "Oh why hello, Aqua darling. I trust your trip was a success?" Rarity asked. Aqua grew a bit of a smirk as he looked down at his bag. "After some negotiations, I was able to lower the price down to 100." Aqua answered, pulling the necklace from his saddlebag. Rarity glimpsed at it's beauty before getting lost in the golden shine. "It's so beautiful," Rarity said, seeing her reflection in the gold, "What shall I help you with?" "I need to chisel this crystal down into Twilight's Cutie Mark. But make sure not to crack it, I need the rest of it for something else for Twilight." Aqua said. "My my, you're going through such lengths for her. Anypony as selfless as Twilight can appreciate that. Anywho, I will do my best," Rarity said, levitating the nearly head-sized amethyst onto her table, "Although I admit, I'm not much of a chisler as I am a sewer." "Duly noted, but can I expect this to be done within the next half hour? Twilight and I have a date." Aqua asked. "Well resizing a crystal like this shouldn't be too hard," Rarity said, already beginning to fracture away at the crystal, starting to expose a star shape, "Tell me though, what's your intention of going through all this effort?" "Well, Twilight's...very special. She's...one of a kind. The way she snuggles up to me when we're reading by the fireplace. The way her eyes and coat resonate with that hime cut manestyle of hers is truly beautiful, she's very kind, caring, and mature. Her magic skills are quite impressive, to say the least. I feel that she deserves it." Aqua answered from his heart. Rarity shook her head in amazement as she finished chiseling a fraction of the crystal into Twilight's Cutie Mark. "That was certainly a beautiful thing you said, darling." Rarity said, levitating the star-shaped jewel into Aqua's hoof. With a raise of his hoof, Aqua levitated the jewel carefully into the golden necklace, fitting the small purple sparkles around the center as he gently embedded the jewels permanently into the necklace. Twilight was busy reading Aqua's book as Spike fiddled around with a collection of jewels. The unicorn was eagerly studying a certain page from the book as she called Spike over. "Spike, can I ask you something?" Twilight asked. "What is it, Twilight?" Spike asked. "I wanna get something for Aqua, you know, show him I like him alot." Twilight said with a bit of a blush. Spike looked at the book before pointing a claw to a picture. "What about that?" Spike asked. "A rock? Don't you think that has no value?" Twilight asked with a look of confusion. "Well it says something about a birthday ritual on that page, smarty." Spike answered. Twilight glanced at the description. "River stone, a Force-Sensitive rock found in the Ponyville rivers. The stone has the ability to connect with the Force-Adept through the Jedi's mind. That's it. That's it!" Twilight said happily. "Oh boy, somepony's gonna get a rock for her boyfriend." Spike teased. "Spike, get your river boots. We're heading to the rivers." Twilight announced, levitating Aqua's scarf around her neck, before setting out. Spike followed suit with a bucket and a raincoat. As Aqua finished putting his necklace in his saddlebag, he excused Rarity from her desk and sat down to chisel the rest of the crystal. "If you want, I can help with that, too." Rarity offered. "Thank you, but sizing down a lightsaber crystal must be exactly perfect. For if any crystal is improperly sized, the blade of the saber would be sloppy and unbalanced." Aqua said, cutting the crystal into small diamond fragments. Rarity watched in amazement as several black and white metals and electrums levitated in front of the stallion. Focusing intently, the lightsaber hilt was slowly forming together. Shortly, Aqua wiped sweat from his forehead as he marveled at his creation. Grasping the handle of the saber, Aqua stared down at the electrum finish as light reflected off the shine. With a firm grip, Aqua ignited it, producing a long, violet blade. Nodding in satifaction, Aqua retracted the present before hiding it in his saddlebag. Twilight looked through her googles as she swam through the clear blue water of the river, searching for the rock in her book. With a gasp, she quickly spotted something. "Spike! Spike, I think I got something!" Twilight shouted before fishing out the object, in turn revealing itself to be an actual fish. Twilight stared in confusion as the fish then pressed its lips against Twilight's, causing her to flinch and throw the fish away. She spat in disgust as she wiped her mouth and sat down at the shore. Twilight then felt something pinching at her flank, and with a surprised yelp, she shot up, revealing a small, angry crab with a blue shell, snapping it's pincer at her threateningly. The unicorn ran from the hermit crab in fright as she sat a few 10 feet away, slumping down in sorrow as Spike ran to her side. "Aw, don't worry, Twilight. You'll find that rock eventually." Spike said as he waddled through the riverwater. Twilight began to sniffle as she looked down at her reflection, only seeing a gloomy mare with tears beginning to form in her eyes. "What if I don't? What if I don't find Aqua anything?" Twilight said with a hic in her throat, "Aqua could get me the Moon wrapped up in a cute little vacuum pack, and all I would have to give him is air. Nothing but air, Spike!" Spike put an arm around Twilight's shoulder as he nervously tried to sooth her. "Twilight, you're much more stronger than this. Aqua knows you love him for him, and he loves you for you. Even if you don't find anything, I'm sure Aqua will respect your honesty." Spike said, rubbing a tear from Twilight's eye. Unbeknownst to the unicorn, her horn began glowing a lavender blur. With her hooves dragging against the ground, Twilight felt magnetically pulled towards something. "Umm, S-Spike...? A little help?" Twilight asked as Spike was soon being dragged in conjuction. The unicorn then grew an annoyed face as she simply let the feeling continue, dragging her underwater, under a rock bridge, and finally into an underwater seawall, smack dab into a rock. Twilight pried her face off the rock and swam to the surface as she took a second look at the rock, her horn glowing as she felt herself being pulled to the stone. Resisting the pull, Twilight was yanked to the opposite side of the seawall, with the rock being forced from the wall and into Twilight's hooves. Moments passed as Twilight finally crept out of the riverside with a rock in her hooves. She then shook herself dry as she felt the ominous rock start to pulsate in her hooves. It felt smooth to her, and the black stone revealed red veins when Twilight shone her horn's light on it. She felt an odd energy inside her, nearly identical to the same energy she felt on her way to Aqua's house that faithful day. "Spike, call me silly, but I think this is the rock from the book." Twilight said in astonishment. Spike grew a smirk as he patted Twilight's back. "Told ya all that worrying was just sparkle stuff." Spike said, to which Twilight levitated the dragon onto her saddle. "Yeah yeah, I know. C'mon, we have a present to give to Aqua." Twilight said, beginning the walk back to Golden Oaks. On the way back, the unicorn was met by Rainbow Dash. "Hey Twi. Cool rock." Rainbow said with a poke at the rock. Twilight gave a passing glance and nod as she opened the door to the treehouse. To her surprise, the lights were off, which was odd as she had left them on when she left. She then flinched back at the sight of Aqua's blue lightsaber blade illuminating the room, before he turned the lights back on with a grin on his face. "Hello, Twilight!" Aqua said as he hugged the purple mare. "What is this, a surprise?" Twilight asked. "Well, that depends. You said our date began in an hour, and low and behold, an hour has officially passed!" Aqua said happily, checking the wall clock. "Oh right. Well, before we do anything, there's something I want to give you." Twilight said, levitating the stone from her bag. "Oh Twilight, you didn't have to get me anything. I would've been fine with just air." Aqua said, to which Spike gestured towards Twilight with a smirk on his face. "Oh no, no, no, no, and nooo. I wanted to get you something, so I did. So there's no changing this!" Twilight said playfully as she handed Aqua the black stone. Aqua's cheery smile turned to utter surprise at the marvel. "T-Twilight, you did not." Aqua said, gazing at the red veined rock. "Oh yes I did. I found a picture of it in your book, and I decided to get you it. I got it from the river, but strangely I felt the same energy as when I felt the energy blast from your house a few weeks ago." Aqua gazed off into space at his recollection of that memory, before he put the stone to his chest, a tear falling from his face. "It's from the birthday ritual section and-- oh no. Are you ok?" Twilight asked. "No, no, it's fine. It's just...I've never really had a birthday celebration...before." Aqua admitted, tears welling in his eyes. He had remembered the faithful day his master Utopia Prism was slain by Darth Wrath, that day being one day short before Aqua's birthday. Twilight suddenly rushed Aqua in a hug as she squeezed him happily, tears falling upon her shoulder. "I-I love it, Twilight. Thank you. I love you." Aqua said, kissing Twilight slowly on the lips, to which the unicorn let out a soft giggle. Regaining his composure, Aqua set down his saddlebag. "Now, I have some things for you, I thought you might want," Aqua said, pulling out his two presents for her. Twilight felt her jaw drop to it's fullest length as she saw the gifts. Aqua slowly walked over to her and presented the necklace bearing the purple cutie mark jewel within. "Oh my Celestia...it's so beautiful." Twilight said in pure shock. "I was able to get the necklace from a storeowner in the jewelry store, and I managed to get the purple crystals from the Diamond Dog fields, which leads me to my next gift." Aqua said before returning to his saddlebag. Twilight stared at the golden necklace as she watched Aqua pull out a hilt from his bag, and place it in her hoof. "I-Is t-that," Twilight asked, "a lightsaber?" "Of my own design, made for you, and you only." Aqua said. Twilight carefully ignited the saber slowly, holding the handle firmly as the violet blade shot out of the hilt, making her jump in surprise. Inspecting the lightsaber, Twilight began tilting the saber back and forth, listening to the hum of the saber as Aqua brought out his own. In pure happiness, Twilight smiled at Aqua, and at Aqua's ready, the two slowly locked blades together, producing a small clanging sound and an indigo blur of color. As Aqua then retracted his saber, he watched in amusement as Twilight began twirling her saber with excitement. "This is so awesome!" Twilight shouted gleefully, before a careless twirl resulted in the bisection of a nearby curtain. Twilight then retracted her saber and rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "Okaayy, maybe a little too awesome." Twilight said with a chuckle. "That was actually better than a Youngling's first day of training, and you're not even a Jedi, so that must stand on it's own merits." Aqua said before wrapping the golden necklace across Twilight's neck. An idea formed in Aqua's mind as he reached into the drawer of the cabinet, pulling out the Element of Magic, in tiara form. "How'd you know that was in there?" Twilight asked. "I know many things, such as you kept a Smarty Pants doll...which...I happened to recover from Big Macintosh." Aqua said before pulling out the raggy old gray doll Twilight idolized as a filly. Twilight's heart melted instantly as Aqua bestowed Twilight's tiara atop her head, her purple lightsaber in one hoof, Smarty Pants in the other, and a golden necklace around her neck. Twilight felt waterfalls of tears building up in her eyes, and she stood before the very stallion that had gifted her a necklace, a lightsaber, the recovery of her fillyhood toy, and the most important: the gift of him entering Twilight's life. Truly this was one of her happiest moments in her life, as was it of the young Jedi Master's life as well. With a few tears forming in his own eyes, Aqua slowly walked to his marefriend, clad in mock Princess attire, bent down on one knee, kissed her front hoof, took it in his own, and looked her dead in the eye. "I love you...my dear sweet Princess. Twilight Sparkle." Aqua said softly. Twilight smiled down on Aqua, and kissed his hoof as well. "I love you, my Jedi Master of the Force. Aqua Blue." Twilight answered back. "Will you...be mine...forever, from this day on? To the end of our lives? In love and hope, and cherish." Aqua asked. "Yes. I will, forever." Twilight said, to the utter joy of her coltfriend. The two then kissed passionately for the longest time, and hugged each other for even longer. The circle was now complete. Two lives, for had never experienced true love, had discovered it between the bond they share. Jedi Master Aqua Blue, and High Level Unicorn Twilight Sparkle, were now enveloped in true blissful, inseparable love. Conclusion. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WJPp5qpbe0)