In Another World

"So we covered a lot on human technology and automatization but there is something, that I think wasn't mentioned yet, but also very important." Twilight looked up from her notes to the human. "If you use these machines to do the works humans did before, wouldn't it create many jobless people? We use machines too but there are ponies to operate them, but you said that the company you've been working for did set up production lines for factories, that didn't require people operating them, or at least less than it used to."

"That's not true at all," Lazlo replied. "There are fewer people to work in that production line but there are people who need to maintain the machines, also there are people who need to build the machine, who need to program it, or even what my job was to develop software for supervising the whole operation. Some roles disappear but others come. Another example that comes to my mind was when I talked about the self-driving metro line, they say that it's taking away jobs from metro drivers but I remember seeing one or two workers at every station who are probably there to make sure everything is in order and to address the problematic situations and make sure everyone is safe. Not to mention the people that needed to create that technology." he explained. "Also these fully automated systems are very expensive and usually take a lot of time to set it up correctly and handle every error that comes up so most places only have a part of their operation fully automated and use human workforce for the bigger part of their production, or whatever they're doing."

"You make a good point. Anyway, I think that's enough for today but I would like to speak more about this topic next time if it's okay with you. I just wanted to have a little start on the basics." Twilight said as she remembered that she had other work to do. The princess sent her some more books on magic a few days ago and she needed to work on those as well. She was still her student after all and there were still a lot of things, she needed to learn. Even if she was probably the strongest magic user in her age group, she needed to keep gaining more and more knowledge and experience if she wants to keep her 'position' in that regard and she knew that there are other, very talented unicorns out there, who also won't stop training themselves. And while it was never for the competition, it was for her to keep worthy to be the student of Princess Celestia.

"Okay."

"I know, I asked this every time since we started these sessions again but is it helping you?" she asked. He was still her friend and she would always make time for making sure he was okay.

"I guess. I know that the thought of a good portion of my knowledge will be kept in those notes of yours puts me at ease. I've been sleeping better and I'm in a better mood." he said and she was glad to hear this.

"That's great! I think you should spend more time with your friends, we will all help you there."

"You just want me to write a friendship letter to the princess." he accused her.

"Well, you still owe me one." she chuckled. "By the way, did you see Agile Body since?" she asked. She knew that he wasn't angry at her anymore but she hoped that he would keep being her friend. She knew that she wouldn't want to lose him as a friend and he probably felt the same.

"She visited me yesterday. Asked if there was a chance of continuing the training. She said that she should be able to control herself from now on with me, and if not, a little forceful reminder would work. She also sent a letter to her doctor about it to confirm it further. She even offered to do it for free for some time." he told her.

"And will you give her another chance?" Twilight asked, hoping for a positive answer.

"I think, I will. I enjoyed the more... moderate part of it so sure. Plus I'm bored sometimes at home with nothing to do." she was happy with his answer.

"Well, if you're bored you can always take out some books from the library, or visit your friends, and spend some time with them. I'm happy that you visit me, but I think the others would be just as glad for your company as me."

"Even Applejack? Though she's not my friend, so she's out by default."

"Yes, even Applejack. Maybe you don't count each other as friends, but I'm sure she'll come around and you too."

"Are you sure, you know her that well? Or is it a different one?"

"I'm sure, that's why I'm certain of what I said."

"Okay... Anyway, I think, I'm going now." he decided to conclude their discussion and got up to leave.

"Take care, and remember. Letter, other friends." she smiled at him and he just rolled his eyes and shook his head. She then got up as well and her right forehoof made contact with his left hand. "You know, even if you didn't live here in the library for long, I missed your presence greatly ever since you moved out. I'm glad that we can have these sessions again because those were the best part and I'm happy that it's not over. And not just because of the many interesting things I can learn and also teach you about Equestria but because you are one of my best friends and I can't imagine my life anymore without you, just as I couldn't without the girls, or Spike, or even my family, even if I don't see them that much nowadays." she suddenly realized that mentioning her family like that might upset Lazlo, but even if it did, he didn't show it.

He was looking at her for a few seconds, clearly touched by her words, but also surprised a little. He probably didn't think that he had such an impact on her life, but that was the truth.

"I... I thank you." he finally spoke. "I never thought that I would be saying this to a talking, colorful unicorn but you're one of the main reasons, that I still have some sanity. Bye." he then left, leaving Twilight alone in the library.

She didn't waste her time. Spike was still out doing some errands, but he should be back soon. She used this quiet time to start studying the new books. There were still two that she didn't open at all and that needed to be changed. While she was happy for the peace that the empty library give her since the only other creature here was her pet owl was sleeping currently, she hoped that her Number One Assistant won't be out too long, because she will probably require his assistance.

Lazlo was deep in thought as he walked back home. He knew that these ponies can be so emotional at times, and he heard some stuff already, but what Twilight said, really surprised him and he was glad for her to think like this. Though he also wanted to get out of this emotional roller coaster ride. He missed being his old self, when he didn't have some kind of mental breakdown, no sapient fantasy creatures, no magic, no chaotic being offering him a chance to go back at the cost of this world, only for it turning out impossible. But it could've been worse, he had a home, a good income, and friends, also were forgiven for almost being responsible for this world's destruction or at least worsening the life of millions. Thinking about it now, he got that bad feeling about it again. But the pardon, he got and not making it public knowledge filled him with hope.

Hope for getting back to his old self. Well, at least as close as he can get here. Maybe he had a chance to move forward. Maybe he can escape from his nightmares, from his fears.

When he was almost at his house, he noticed that a filly was in front of his door, knocking on it. He immediately identified the filly as Sweetie Belle. He hasn't seen her in a while and wondered what she wanted from him. Was it again with their cutie marks? Though then where were the other two? And why now? It wasn't that late, still more than an hour until sundown, but still not the time to visit a random person.

"Nobody home?" he asked when he was close enough to her. She turned around and smiled at him.

"Hello, Lazlo." she greeted him.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I wanted to ask something from you," she answered. He nodded to her to continue. "Do you want to be my partner tomorrow at the Siblinghooves Social?"

"The what?" he looked at her, confused.

"The Apple family organizes a fun race, where siblings pair up and compete against other siblings pairs. Do you want to be my pair?" she explained and asked again.

"But if it's for siblings, then why me? You have a sister."

"She's not my sister anymore," she said, confusing the man even more.

He then realized that they were still outside and decided that this conversation is better to be continued inside. He opened his door and let Sweetie Belle in, who immediately settled down in the living room. Lazlo, being a good host, brought a glass of water, as he had currently nothing else to offer. He then settled down beside her and asked her to tell him what was going on and why she came to him.

She explained that she was spending a week at Rarity's place since their parents were on vacation and she wanted to help her but every time she did something to either help, get her attention, or just created a gift for her, she wasn't grateful, but the opposite. She scolded her for everything. She didn't let her help with breakfast, and she was angry at her when she helped with the laundry, something similar happened, when she used some of her gems to make her drawing that she intended as a gift even better, but she was angry for that, and then when she found out that her room was a mess and she cleaned it up while she was away, as a surprise she wasn't happy for that too and she sent her away. Then she heard about the Siblinghooves Social from Applebloom, but Rarity said it was a ridiculous idea when she told her and she won't be a part of it. She went back to the farm and saw that Applejack was such a good sister to Applebloom when Rarity showed up. Still, she only wanted to do things, she wanted so Sweetie Belle decided that Applejack will be her big sister now. Still, Applejack denied being her sister, as she was already Applebloom's big sister so she wanted to find someone else then she saw Big Mac and thought that maybe she needed a big brother but Big Mac won't be a part of the race as he's overlooking it with Granny Smith. Then she just came up with the idea to find Lazlo and ask him.

"Okay, first of all, don't think that you're innocent in this." he started after she finished her tale. She looked surprised but before she could complain, he continued. "When I visited my sisters, I didn't let them touch the stuff I brought with me without me supervising them. They were expensive things and I didn't want them to break them, or even just change something on them. But I guess Rarity should've spent more time with you, or been more attentive. I don't know, it's not up to me to judge that. You should just talk it out."

"But I don't want to talk with Rarity. She doesn't want to do anything I want. She would just drag me to the spa, make me a dress, or whatever else she does, but she does that with her friends too. I wanted to do something with her, only the two of us can do, something for siblings only. This thing at the farm sounds great but of course, she doesn't want to do anything like that, so she can avoid getting dirty."

"Still there are better ideas, than stating that she's not your sister anymore and looking for someone else. It doesn't work like that." he continued to argue. "And I still don't know why you came to me."

"Because I heard that you are an older brother, and I'm sure you're a great older brother," she explained, he wanted to argue further that she couldn't know what kind of older brother he is but what she said next made him freeze. "So I thought that if I adopt you as my brother, I will have a great sibling, and you can forget about your old siblings."

He almost dropped the glass of water he was holding. He felt anger run through his body as what she said was repeated in his mind constantly.

"Nora and Maya are my sisters!" he said almost yelling at her but still in a tone that made Sweetie Belle jump up from her seat. "I love them both very dearly, even if I couldn't see them often before, and now not anymore!" He continued as tears formed in his eyes, the thought of never seeing his sisters resurfacing the pain of loss. Meanwhile, Sweetie's eyes became watery too, scared of the human. "I would give anything to even see them once more! And here you are whining about a sibling who doesn't want to do what you want! Well if you are like this, no wonder she was annoyed! You're not better than her in that case! Because guess what! If you act the same way as Rarity and then cry about how she behaves, then you're even worse than she is! And I certainly wouldn't want to 'adopt' a hypocrite as a sibling!" he started shouting by the end and the filly ran out of his house crying.

It took almost an hour for Lazlo to calm down. He cursed a lot out loud, at some point, the thoughts of missing his sisters and other relatives turned into anger at himself for still not being able to move on and letting himself get into this or similar states. But in the end, the only thing he was angry about was how he shouted at Sweetie Belle. She couldn't know how he was feeling, she couldn't know how painful her word will be.

Both Nora and Maya said hurtful things to him in the past, when he did not allow them something and they threw a fit. They said that they don't want to see him again, but then when he was about to leave to go back home, they weren't happy about it and begged for him to stay, or come back as soon as he can.

He should've handled this better. He felt horrible about this. He had to apologize to her but it was already late. He decided that tomorrow morning he will head to Rarity's boutique and talk to her.

The next day he did as he planned. After his morning routine, he left his home and headed towards Carousel Boutique. But as he got close, he noticed Rarity coming out of the building and closing the door. When she turned around, she immediately noticed him and he could clearly see on her face that she wasn't in the best mood.

"Hello, Lazlo!" she greeted him. "I haven't seen you in a while. Do you need some more clothes? I'm sorry but I can't help you now, there is something important I need to do first."

"Hello, I'm actually looking for Sweetie Belle."

"Sweetie Belle?" she asked, then frowned. "You wouldn't happen to be the reason she got back yesterday crying, would you? She didn't talk to me, but I know she was hurt by something." her frown deepened when Lazlo nodded. "So what did you do?"

He told her what happened yesterday, what Sweetie Belle told him, and how he reacted.

"I know I handled it badly," he said after he finished the retelling. "No matter what she said, I shouldn't have yelled at her. I came to apologize to her."

"Well, she's not at my home at the moment, she left earlier," she told him, and her frown disappeared. "After making another mess in my kitchen," she quietly added. "And I have to apologize to her too, I wasn't the best sister, and while I'm not happy with your behavior, I didn't do my best either..." she dipped her head down a little. "She should be at Sweet Apple Acres. I need to go there and make things right. If you want to apologize, come and you can after that event." she said and motioned to him to follow as she started trotting towards the farm. He did so.

"So what are you going to do there?" he asked as he caught up to her.

"I plan to enter the Siblinghooves Social in incognito," she answered, seemingly determined. "Applejack helped me to realize what I need to do and we managed to come up with a plan. She will enter the race with Sweetie Belle, but early in the race she will fall into the mud and I will be there to come out from it." she then grimaced. "I'm going to be covered in mud, urg... but Sweetie won't recognize me."

"So what brought up this idea of yours? Isn't there a better solution for this?" he asked, as he thought about whether he would do it for his sisters. He would do many things for them, he would even say anything but that doesn't mean he won't look for other solutions.

"Believe me, darling, I'm not that fond of what comes with it but it is necessary and this is a problem that needs to fix now. I want to have my little sister back." she stopped for a moment and looked at the man. "You did the same." she didn't need to say what she was referring to, it was obvious. But there wasn't any hint of anger or malice in her voice.

"But your choice here doesn't end up with millions of creatures suffering..." he added as a wave of regret came over him. Before that, he didn't feel this way regarding that decision. So why now?

"Well... yes... I still don't agree with that but I see your viewpoint. I know it's a poor comparison, especially because my situation is different than yours and doesn't affect that many ponies and but I think I understand why you did it. I don't think I would do the same in your situation, but I'm certain it would be the hardest decision I'd have to make. And yet at the same time, and don't take it as an offense, I'm glad that it didn't succeed in the end because then life would be horrible here and I don't want Sweetie Belle to grow up in an Equestria like that would've been." she said in a serious tone but then she smiled. "Instead she will grow up in the Equestria, where even if we fight sometimes, or do something wrong we can find and give forgiveness that we can understand each other's point of view and reach some kind of agreement, or find a common solution. Yes, she did make a mess in my home, she did use up my rare gemstones, and she did ruin a special dress, but I'm at fault too, I didn't distribute enough time to care for my sister. To sit down and talk to her, to explain to her my reasons, or just to spend some time with her, since I was responsible for her." she then turned back and continued her way to the farm. "But I'll change it now! After all, she is my sister, I can't change that." Lazlo followed her, thinking of her words, especially on that last sentence. It reminded him of something that was said to him years ago.

He continued to follow her until they reached Sweet Apple Acres. The first thing he noticed was that there was a track built there. Many ponies were already present. Siblings were around the start line doing some warm-ups, and an audience was also there, mostly older ponies, probably parents. The older sibling in most teams seemed to be in the young adult age group, around twenty maybe, slightly younger than the human. The younger siblings seemed to be kids, in their early school years. He spotted some familiar ponies, like Thunderlane and Rumble, or that pegasus mail pony, who he forgot the name of, and a young unicorn filly.

He noticed Sweetie Belle wandering around with Applebloom. He thought about going there and talking to her now, as she didn't notice him yet but Applejack approached the fillies before he could even take a step and began talking to them. As Applejack talked, Sweetie Belle became more and more excited and she even screamed when she got a small neck scarf and a hat from Applebloom. He guessed that she probably learned now that she will enter the race with Applejack. Since it looked like he won't be able to talk to her before the race, he searched for a spot to sit and found a place near the finish line.

Soon after he took a seat, he noticed that many ponies stood in front of a stage. On the stage, there was Granny Smith, sitting in a rocking chair and Big Mac was standing next to her. She was speaking but he couldn't hear her due to her speaking into the wrong end of the megaphone. Big Mac did say something to her and she corrected the megaphone and continued to talk, now everyone else being able to hear her.

"Now, the event you've been all waiting for, the Sibling Soc- The Socialhooves- Oh dabnabbit, you know, the big race. We have many teams so you all head to the finish line!" Big Mac said something to her again. "Huh? The start line. That's what I said." Lazlo smiled at this. He only talked with Granny Smith a few times, mostly when he was invited to the farm. She was a sweet old lady, even if she was sometimes old fashioned even for him.

The participants all went to the start line, he noticed Applejack and Sweetie Belle at one end of the line. Suddenly he realized that he hadn't seen Rarity since he left her to find Sweetie Belle. Where was she? Probably in that mud pit near the start. He wondered how did she breathe, but she might know some kind of magic for that.

After a few moments, the race began. The first obstacle was a mud pit, which most managed to jump over but Applejack, who was in the last position fell into it. Sweetie Belle stopped and looked back, seeing the mare climbing out of the pit, her whole body covered in mud.

Lazlo smiled at it, guessing that Rarity was the one coming out of that pit. He had to admit that what Rarity does here for her sister is more than admirable, he also felt respect towards Applejack and Applebloom that they sacrificed their participation in this race to help Rarity win back her sister's trust. Though the thought of why didn't Rarity walk up to Sweetie Belle and said that she will enter the race with her came to his mind, it seemed pointless to question it now that there couldn't be done anything about it.

His thoughts then wandered to the topic of whether he would do something like this for his sisters. He was ready to basically doom a whole world for chaos just to see them again, even if it wasn't the only reason behind his decision, but there were things in the past that he declined, no matter how much they beg for. He would probably refuse to be covered in mud for their entertainment but he would most certainly try and probably find another way of having fun that they would enjoy and maybe even want more than something like this for example. It's not like either Nora or Maya would've wanted to go through a race like this, well Maya maybe but she would likely give up in the first half of the race, either because they're not in the front, or she just doesn't want to go through an obstacle, or just suddenly changed her mind.

He didn't even realize but while he was thinking, most teams were over half of the track. He spotted Sweetie Belle and Rarity arriving at the apple collector game, where the older sibling have to throw apples and the younger had to catch them with a bucket. They looked like they were having fun. And another, dark thought came to him.

This wouldn't have been possible if he would've been able to go back to his world and take the Element of Magic with him. Their life would've been full of misery and chaos. Back then he guessed he will feel back about it, he was even comforting himself that they will find another way to stop Discord. But when? What damage would be done by then? What would be the life of the children, like Sweetie Belle till then? He hadn't thought about that back then, or if he did, he quickly suppressed those thoughts. He felt horrible. No matter how justified he felt his action was, the truth is that he made a terrible choice, and even if he wouldn't be affected by the consequences physically, it would have been still horrible for many.

The cheering around him got louder and louder, making him cut his train of thought again as the race came close to its end. Two teams were fighting for first place, while others were lagging behind, or got completely stopped at an obstacle. The two were Sweetie Belle and Rarity, the other was Rumble and Thunderlane. They were only a few meters away when a small patch of mud that fell off Rarity hit Sweetie Belle's face and in panic, she rammed into the older mare and both fell on the ground just centimeters from the finish line, while the other duo crossed it without any problem, and winning the Siblinghooves Social.

Many ponies went there to celebrate the victors. Lazlo also got up but he headed to the fallen duo.

"Aww, we were so close." Sweetie Belle said as she cleaned the mud from her face. She seemed disappointed a little at first, but her expression quickly turned to a cheery one. "Well, it was very fun regardless. Thank you, Applejack! It w-" she stopped talking as she noticed that 'Applejack' had somehow grown a horn and her coat turned top white, also her cutie mark changed. "Huh? Rarity?!" she exclaimed as she realized that this wasn't Applejack but her sister. Applejack was still in the mud pit, only the tip of her nose was out of it, so she could breathe but now that the race was over, she emerged from it. "What's going on?"

"We switched at the beginning of the race," Applejack explained.

"So we did the whole competition together?" Sweetie asked, looking at Rarity.

"Well, except for the start, but yes, little sister." Rarity nodded.

"But why?"

"Because I was a horrible sister, and neglected you. I wanted to make it right and have fun with my little sister. Because we are apple pie." Rarity said and confused everyone with her last statement, except Applejack. "Anyway, now it is time to celebrate, we deserve it."

"Where?" Sweetie asked.

"To the spa, of course!" Rarity's answer made most of them laugh. "I'm serious." she deadpanned.

"Before you leave..." Lazlo decided that it was time for him to speak to Sweetie Belle. Upon noticing him, the unicorn filly became nervous and took a step back. Seeing it, Lazlo also took a small step back and crouched down. "I'm sorry for yelling at you yesterday. The way you spoke was hurtful but I know that it wasn't your intention to offend me. Sometimes you just use the wrong words. I don't want you to be afraid of me, so if you need anything, or need someone to talk to, you can always come to me and I will try to help you, or listen to you, anything. Okay?" he held out his right hand to her.

She looked at him, then at her sister, who was smiling and gave her a nod. She then turned back to the human and hoof-bumped his hand. While this wasn't the gesture he was expecting, he was happy nonetheless.

"What happened between you two?" Applejack questioned, narrowing her eyes a little. Lazlo resisted the urge to groan as he didn't want another argument with the farmer mare right now.

"Yesterday she said some things that upset me and I reacted more harshly than I should've." he gave the not-very descriptive truth. Right now he just wanted to leave. Sweetie Belle accepted his apology but that sentence that Rarity said when they were on their way to the farm hadn't left his mind. It made him remember something and he needed Twilight's help.

"That's very cryptic," Applejack said.

"Come on, darling." Rarity spoke up, looking at the earth pony. "Please, don't start arguing now. Why don't you join us at the spa? You spent a lot of time in the mud after all."

"I don't know, I can clean myself up here at home just as easily. Besides, I need to start to break down the track." the farm pony rejected the invitation.

"You can go Applejack," Granny Smith spoke as she walked to them. "Big Mac will do it, and I won't let you in the house like that. You can go clean up with your friends, or Big Mac will use the sprinkler hose on you."

Applejack seemingly didn't like that second option. Probably that option involved cold water, which might not be bad in the summer heat, but it was already over the middle of autumn.

"Fine, I'll go with Rarity but I need only a bath, no fancying for me," she grumbled, and Rarity nodded.

Rarity, Sweetie Belle and Applejack then left the farm to go to the spa, The other Apples started working on tearing down the racetrack, and most ponies, that were here to participate or watch the race already left or were leaving. Lazlo too started walking away, heading to the library.

Entering the tree building, he immediately saw the purple unicorn mare, who was currently looking at a bookcase. Upon hearing the door, she turned around and smiled at the human.

"Hi, Lacy! What brings you here?" she greeted him.

"Hello. I want to ask a favor from you." he also greeted her and then cut to the case.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I want to view a memory of mine," he answered.

Twilight looked at her questioningly, and then he told her what happened yesterday and today. By the end of his tale, she was smiling a little smugly.

"Seems like you learned an important lesson," she spoke slowly and Lazlo immediately knew what she will say next. "How about you write her a letter about it, while I'm looking for the spell."

"Why do you need to look for the spell?" he tried to bail out of the letter writing.

"Well, the princess never sends me the newest version of the spell. She usually sends the first version of it or the oldest that is safe to cast if it's more urgent. I then need to work to optimize it so it won't drain me that much, will last longer, will be more powerful, or anything else that would improve it. I then usually send her the improvements, I made and she comments or rates them. I've worked some on that spell since I last used it but didn't test it, besides it's too complex and not critical enough of a spell to constantly keep in my head. So I will need my paper on that one and look through it. Spike!" the dragon came running to them in a moment. "Take his letter and then send it to the princess." she then looked back at the human. "And don't try anything. I won't go out of hearing distance."

"Dear Princess Celestia," Lazlo started, after a little murmuring. He knew that Twilight would do the spell regardless but this should at least shut her up about this. "Sometimes others say things unintentionally that might hurt you. In those cases you shouldn't lose control over your emotions, otherwise, you might end up hurting them more than they did to you. Best regards, your most unique subject, Lazlo Kis." he kept it short and simple. After the dragon wrote it down, he looked at Twilight to confirm that he can send it. She giggled a little and nodded.

"Now, we can do the memory viewing."

Before they could do anything, however, the door opened and Rarity walked in with Applejack.

"Twilight, darling, you won't believe the bad luck we had at the spa." Rarity spoke after entering. Applejack just rolled her eyes. They both noticed that Lazlo was also there. "Lazlo, dear. What are you doing here? Are we interrupting something?"

"No, Rarity. He just came to write a letter to the princess and also to have a memory viewing." Twilight answered.

"Oh, what about? May we watch it too?" she asked.

"I don't mind, it's up to Lacy, but what did you come here for?" Twilight answered.

"Well, I only wanted to come tomorrow to write a letter to the princess, but the spa ponies were understaffed, as some of them were on leave today so we could only get a bath, so after we walked Sweetie Belle home, we came here. I asked Applejack to join me as she helped me a lot with this lesson," she explained, then turned to Lazlo. "So what this memory is about?"

"Something that I should've learned long ago, but only concentrated on half of it. You'll see, I don't mind you watching it," he answered.

After that, they all sat down and Twilight cast the spell. Before them was the image of a living room. On the bottom of the 'screen', they saw Lazlo's legs as he was sitting on a white couch. In front of him was a small table, on it some magazines, a bottle half-full of transparent liquid, and two shot glasses filled with the same liquid. At the top, they could see that there was a window on the opposing wall. The view changed a little as his view turned right, and they could see another human. A man, who had long, gray hair, tied in a ponytail, his face showed that he was old, but his posture betrayed this, as he looked strong even if he was already past his prime.

"I need your help." I told him as I grabbed my glass. He did the same with his and then we drowned the content of it, he did the same. "Good stuff," I commented.

"Pear from last year." he simply told me. "What help do you need?" he went back to the topic.

"Mom wants me to follow her, and become a politician. She wants to send me to a university to study law, or something like that because that would give me the best chance. Like it would matter more than ass kissing..." I told him the situation.

"And what do you want me to do about it?" he asked, but I knew he already knew the answer to that question.

"To talk her out of it. She doesn't listen to her son, maybe she will to her parents." I told him regardless.

"She already told us about her plan, and I already told her that I don't support forcing you into it," he said, shaking his head a little.

"Well, shit... What can I do then?" I asked, somewhat disappointed with this new information. "I don't even understand why she wants me to join the party. They'd kick me out the moment they realize that I don't have any interest in fucking with the plebs while telling them it's for their own good."

"Well, I didn't get to choose which school to go to after elementary," he told me. "But that was a different time and a different reason for that." he took the bottle and refilled his glass. "Another?" I nodded and he refilled mine too.

"I have many options, I could go, but she just listed some and said those are my choices. I don't want any of that, but she will only help me if I get into one of those. And without her help, I have no chance to survive in the big city. Why does she want to ruin my life?" I was starting to get frustrated and downed the shot.

"Listen to me! Things often happen that are outside of your control. Sometimes life will put you into a situation. You can fight against it if you want, but there are times when the only option is to accept it, live with it, and change things later. The most important thing is to live your life in a way, that at that moment you can be the happiest possible. And sometimes, the only way to forward is acceptance. You can't change everything around you. But if you can adapt, that will be very important in life." He looked at me with a sad expression. "I'm sorry that I can't help you more. I tried to talk her out of it, your grandma tried to talk her out of it, but she became a politician. She would never admit that she's wrong and she would not back down easily."

"Yeah, I tried to get some stuff from her computer to blackmail her, but she's not that stupid to let me close to it..." I said. He just shook his head, clearly disapproving of my idea. "I know..."

He motioned to Twilight to end the spell. She did and Lazlo sighed.

"Back then I only listened to the fight part and did so. I don't regret that decision, but I forgot the part about acceptance." he then turned to the white unicorn. "Rarity, you reminded me of that today. I thank you for it." he then turned back to Twilight. "Thank you for the spell."

"You're welcome. May I show it to the other girls, and the princesses?" she asked.

"Sure, I don't mind."

"Your grandpa seems like a good stallion," Applejack spoke up. "A decent fellow."

"Yeah, he was my father figure after my parents divorced and my dad moved, and I didn't see him often," he said while smiling. He loved talking about the old man. "He grew up on a farm, you know?" he added. Applejack looked surprised for a moment.

"I wouldn't mind hearing more about him."

"Because he was a farmer? Or are you curious how could such a man have such a bad grandson?" he asked, but this time it wasn't out of spite, he even made sure to have some playfulness in his voice. Twilight caught on to it and rolled her eyes. Rarity, however, looked a little worried.

"None of those! I'm just curious." she defended herself. It looked like she wasn't in the mood for arguing either.

"Another time. I want to go home. I want to think about some things."

He said his goodbyes and left the library. On his way home he was again thinking about whether or not he really accepted being stuck here for the rest of his life. He lied to himself about it earlier and wasn't sure if he would tell himself that he accepted it would be the truth this time. But his grandpa was right. Sometimes acceptance is the only way to happiness in the long run.

Enough of the whining! Time to man up and live his life! He was in the best time of his life, regarding age. Still in his twenties and the first half of it. He had already started on it, but time to take the next step. But first. He had to apologize to the mares for what he did when Discord was free. No matter if he felt justified or not to make that decision, it was wrong, he had to admit it. And he wasn't really punished for it, other than the thought of continuing to live on the land, he betrayed. They were willing to give him a second chance. Time to earn it for real.