"...Ay think we can all know why we're 'ere."

While everything with the wedding ended in a very positive and satisfying way, not everything was finished on the surface. And that all fell onto the biggest plot twists revealed to them and the one involved. Xavier. When they returned to Ponyville, the tension between him and his friends was uncomfortable. It wasn't that they disliked him or his actions, but it was just, odd to be around someone with so much history. The only ones who didn't change their act was Jasmine and Zenix, but that was mostly due to their bonds. Everyone else was struggling to adapt, so now they were meeting up in the library to talk about the issue at its roots.

"You say that like it's some life-or-death situation, darling." Rarity commented.

"Hey, don't blame me fer worryin' over this!" Alex exclaimed, taking a sip out of the ginger ale bottle he had. "If we don't do somethin' we could jeopardize our friendship with Xavier!"

"Yeah! We can't just sit around and ruin the time we've shared!" Pinkie agreed, popping up next to Alex.

"While you are acting a bit over the top-" Twilight began. "I will admit that that we need to think about how we're going to continue knowing Xavier's past."

"It's so sad." Fluttershy said sadly. "He's been through so much before coming here. And yet he's done so much for us."

"I always thought that we were close." Cali sighed. "Now though... I'm having second thoughts."

"It's only natural." Huston said calmly. "We were all shocked at both the reveal and his actions towards Shining Armor. And now that we know about him and why he acts it's like he's a complete stranger to us."

"I really hope he doesn't think we're avoidin' him" Applejack said. Everyone stayed silent for a bit, trying to think of something to say about the situation.

"...Yeah, ay've got nothin'." Alex stated.

"Seriously?"

"Hey, it's not from a lack o' tryin'." Alex retorted back to Rainbow. "Besides, yer the one that seems to hesitate when she sees her friend."

"W-well..." Rainbow backed down, looking guilty. "It's just... he almost attacked me with his sword when we... y'know."

"Right... Out of everyone here you two got a close look at his anger." Flint noted, looking back at those moments. "I imagine you two are experiencing some slight trauma from that."

"I think we all are." Rarity added. "After all, how could somepony forget such an act."

"...Gah! I need some air." Cali began to walk for the door, clearly irritated.

"Hey! Meeting's not done!"

"Don't care! I need some space." Cali exited the library, leaving everyone else confused.

"I-I'll go see if she's okay." Fluttershy offered, starting for the door.

"I'll come along." Flint said, joining up with Fluttershy with Applejack tailing them.

"She seemed much more upset than usual." Huston observed.

"Now that ye mention it, weren't we told she had a temper?" Alex recalled, trying to think about what the others said.

"Yeah, but in all honesty we haven't seen her like this since we first met her." Twilight said, clearly concerned.

"I really hope things go okay."

"Grrr, why does this have to be so hard?"

When Cali left the library, she began to wander with little direction. Though she did try to find somewhere to think, unfortunately she didn't know where to look. In the end she ended up at town hall, sitting on the grass while leaning on the building.

"Why does the guy have to be so... unpredictable." Cali growled. "One moment he's some tech nerd, next he's a knight with swordsmanship better than most. Suddenly he's some protag with a tragic past in some book. I swear." Cali leaned into the building a bit more, a sigh being released a moment later. "Is he even the problem?"

"What do you mean, sugarcube?" Cali jumped a bit at the question, but relaxed when she saw it was Applejack and the others.

"Jeez, don't sneak up on me like that." Cali groaned as the others joined her around town hall.

"Sorry, but you were so angry that we felt bad about everything." Fluttershy said softly, worried about what Cali would say.

"Don't worry about it, Shy." Cali said, noticing her fear. "I just needed some air."

"Right. But why do you think you're the problem?" Flint asked, bringing the focus back to her.

"And why would you want to know?"

"Forgive me," Flint began, ignoring the growl in her voice. "It's just, I don't exactly know your history with Xavier well enough to see the issue between you two." Cali glared at Flint for a bit, but her gaze softened up.

"If you must know, I wasn't exactly the best person when we first met." Cali explained. "I was much rasher and unwilling to listen to words. Hell, I wasn't too thrilled about anything to be honest."

"You were like a mule tryin' to lead a dragon to water."

"Oh shut up." Cali sneered at Applejack, who gave a little smile. "But Xavier managed to change my perspective about my life. And now that there's an opportunity to help him out, I'm struggling to think of something. Makes me wonder, have I changed." Cali brought her knees up to her chest, a downtrodden look on her face. While the ponies looked with pity, Flint held a neutral expression.

"I see." Flint said. "I don't think you are a bad friend."

"Seriously?" Cali groaned, not moving from her position.

"Yes. You're someone who isn't deterred or distracted by much and simply shoot for your goal, with or without help. And while I haven't known you as long as everyone else, I can tell you won't back down on something, especially when it involves your friends. And when it comes to Xavier, you take it upon yourself to assist him with your strength. Meanwhile, I can tell he's more than happy to help you learn to talk things out. I'd say you two are close friends, much closer than me at least."

"You?"

"Mmhm. I can't say the things you can involving him, I haven't gotten to know him as well." Flint admitted. "At most, I will admit the most I've gotten is from miss Jasmine. I wouldn't say we aren't friends, but compared to you, you've got a better chance at helping him. So don't sell yourself short."

"Flint's right." Applejack joined in. "You've got quite the bond with Xavier like us. And besides, if you're a bad friend then all of us are for him." Cali looked up to meet Applejack's eyes. "All of us are in this situation together. You can't just shoulder the blame for us, we'll get through this together." Cali stared at Applejack for a bit, but ended up relaxing in the end.

"I guess your right." Cali admitted. "Sorry, I'll calm down and think this through. Gotta show Xavier that I've grown."

"That's the spirit, sugar cube." Applejack said proudly. "We're all in this together." Cali nodded, ready to go at things again. But something came across her mind as she was getting ready.

"Y'know Flint, now that I think about it, you're just as mysterious as Xavier." Cali mentioned. "It's almost like you and him are the same person. You got a sad story too?" Flint looked at Cali before noticing the other two were looking at him with equal curiosity. His only reaction was a chuckle.

"Maybe, but not now. I'll tell my story one day." Flint began to walk off. "Come along, let's start thinking about how to handle this situation." The four friends began to think about how to go about such a sensitive topic.

"Do you think we could talk to somepony about this?" Fluttershy wondered.

"Who would we ask?" Cali asked.

"W-well..."

"She might be onto something." Flint said. "Another perspective might help. At the very least, it could give us another point to use."

"Okay, but my point still stands. Who would we ask about this?" Flint was about to talk, but Cali stopped him. "Not everypony knows about Xavier's story. We can't just go around asking every single pony in town."

"I- You have a point."

"But there is someone we know that we can talk to." Applejack mentioned, getting everyone's attention with raised eyebrows.

"Jasmine? You here?"

Entering the humans' home, the four looked around a bit to see if Jasmine or Xavier were around, prepared to tread carefully if the later was around. Fortunately, it didn't look like he was around and Jasmine peaked her head out from the kitchen with an orange.

"Huh- Oh hi! Wait, um..." Jasmine began to panic when she saw Applejack, trying to hide the half-peeled orange clumsily.

"It's fine, Jasmine." Applejack comforted, Jasmine blushing in embarrassment.

"O-oh. I-is everything okay?"

"Well, we kinda wanted to talk to you about Xavier." Cali admitted, Jasmine growing nervous yet again, though it was different than normal.

"R-really?"

"We're sorry for asking you about this, but we want to make things right."

"I- huh?" Jasmine's nervousness subsided and was replaced with confusion.

"Yeah, we're not sure how to proceed with Xavier after the bombshell Zenix dropped on us." Cali explained. "We wanted another perspective on things."

"Oh, that's all." Jasmine said with a sigh of relief.

"Uh, yeah. What'd you think we were gonna ask partner?"

"Sorry, I thought you wanted to ask more about him and his life." Jasmine said with guilt, sitting down in a chair.

"Oh, well we don't want that yet." Cali said. "We just need someone else to talk about how to interact with Xavier, maybe even help him learn to drop his guard."

"I get it." Jasmine said, finishing peeling her orange and popping a slice into her mouth. "Well, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, how is Xavier right now?" Flint asked. "We haven't exactly seen him around much, so it would be good to know how he's doing."

"Uhm... That's complicated." Jasmine admitted. "If I'm going to be honest, he hasn't been himself recently. He's much sadder than he used to be."

"Huh?"

"Yeah. He always had a bit of sadness when it was me and him, or when Zenix joined in. But his mood's been much worse since coming back from Canterlot."

"You don't think he's upset at us?" Fluttershy asked with worry.

"I don't think it's all that." Jasmine answered. "From what I can guess, and this is just my thoughts, but maybe he thinks he's messed everything up with us."

"Wait, what?" Cali looked at Jasmine shocked alongside everyone else. "He's blaming himself?"

"I didn't say that." Jasmine said waving a hand in front of her. "I'm just assuming. When he told me his story, he had so much guilt in his heart. While he didn't show it, he believed it was all his fault for what happened to his family, and I don't think he's forgiven himself even now. So I think he believes he's at fault for everything." Jasmine looked up to see the shocked and upset faces of her friends and panicked. "I-I'm sorry for dropping everything like this! I-I didn't-"

"It's okay Jasmine." Flint said. "We're the ones who asked, after all."

"R-right..." Jasmine ate another orange slice as a break, but looked back up to meet everyone's gaze. "Um, if there is anything I can do to help bring him back to his old self, I'd be more than willing to help."

"You would?"

"Yeah. I don't want Xavier to act like this. I want him to know he's not alone and that nothing is his fault, here or the past." With a small pause, the others gave a nod, knowing that Jasmine cared for Xavier deeply.

"We should meet with the others soon. Let them know what Xavier's thinking."

Meanwhile

The other heroes left the library together a bit after Cali ran off, realizing that they weren't going to go much farther in their goal. Now they were walking around the market, trying to think of anything to help the situation, either a solution or something to distract from that. If only they had some success.

"So... great weather today." Everyone just stared at Alex breaking the silence with such a basic line. "What!? Ay'm tryin'!"

"You didn't have to say such a cheesy line though." Rainbow mentioned.

"Now now, let's not fight." Huston said getting between the two. "We're all stressed over this, we can't blame Alex for trying to dilute the situation."

"I hope Cali's okay." Twilight thought out loud. "I haven't seen her that angry in a while."

"I know what you mean darling." Rarity agreed. "Hopefully we can think of something soon."

"It'll all be okay!" Pinkie said happily as she hopped up to the front of the pack and looking back happily. "All we need to do is to show we care for him. So the perfect plan is to- Wah!"

"Wouldn't recommend anything glamorous like a party, Pinkie. That's a recipe for disaster." Caught mid-hop, Pinkie and the others saw that Zenix managed to gently catch the party pony by the neck.

"There you are." Rainbow called out, her and the others joining the merchant as he put Pinkie down. "Where have you been?"

"You need to ask?" Zenix asked as he showed the bag of bits in his other hand off. "Money is always flowing around here."

"Yer seriously linin' yer pockets at a time like this?" Alex questioned, him and his friends looking disappointed in the merchant. After a bit of a blank stare, Zenix put the bag of bits into his bag and shrugged.

"Well that's because unlike all of you, I know the guy's past well enough to know that right now, he needs some time alone." Zenix answered, a dismissive hand wave to go along with it. "And I don't mean to undermine your efforts, really. But I've been on your side of trying to comfort Xavier like you, and to be honest I'm jealous of all of you."

"Of us?" Rarity asked for everyone there. "Why?"

"Because all of you managed to help him come out of his shell in less than a quarter the time I've known for." He answered. "It's honestly frustrating to know that a bunch of random people he met on the street gave him a better deal than me. Especially since half of them are ponies." Zenix looked up into the sky, looking back on the sad times that him and his family tried to cheer up Xavier from his grief to little success. He then thought about someone else, and he sighed. "And yet, I think the answer was right in front of us when I look back."

"Really?"

"Yeah. In all honesty, we were more or less a 'trio' of misfits. There was a third who, while I won't say was around us all the time, she was often seen around us, and she was a handful that irritated Xavier to no end. And yet, it was the only time Xavier wasn't sad all the time. Maybe the answer was just to distract him from the pain instead of thinking of ways to help him mourn his family's deaths, maybe he could have had a normal life again. And keep him from being so violent." Zenix shook his head, shaking off his feeling for a bit. "But enough about me. You're trying to help the guy out, right?"

"Well, not exactly." Twilight admitted, getting a genuine eyebrow raise from Zenix. "We're trying to figure out a way to help us interact with Xavier again like we used to."

"Really?"

"Yes." Huston answered. "Truth be told, his story is hard to take in. And we're not sure how to approach him while knowing what he's been through. After all, we don't want to upset him."

"Well if you did upset him, he wouldn't be like he is today." Zenix said. "You remember that I said that he's much better than he once was when we last saw each other, right? If you guys did upset him, he wouldn't be out and about like he's living a simple life. He'd just be sitting in his house all day fiddling with some random junk in sad silence. I say you're doing just fine, trust me. Just keep interacting with him like you always have."

"I-is that enough?"

"If you really want my opinion on this whole thing, friendship is an investment in life, and the most important one at that. Like investing in a new product, you put your time and money into a friendship, and it can be one wild ride. The biggest thing to consider in any investment however, is to stay calm and not go overboard. You can't just throw everything in all at once and try and change it to your liking. Do that and you may just ruin a perfectly good product." Zenix walked past the group with a smile. "In this case, Xavier's someone who doesn't want people looking at him with pity or extreme worry. Let him work things out and come to you to talk. If it makes you feel better though, I'll give some advice next time you all meet. Free of charge." Zenix turned with his signature grin, happy to help out his friends. "All you've got to do is show him a good time to make up for the sad times, alright?"

The Next Day

With Jasmine and Zenix helping out, the heroes decided to regroup the next day, this time meeting at Fluttershy's cottage for a more open environment. As Rainbow flew in and Zenix walked over, the meeting began.

"Now that we're all here, we should talk about Xavier." Cali said taking the lead. "Jasmine?"

"O-okay." Jasmine nodded. "Well, Xavier's mood has been falling recently. He tries to act like nothing's wrong, but I think he's worried that he made you upset in some way. If anything, he might be worried that you will look at him differently, friendship or not."

"That sounds like something he'd think." Zenix said. "Before we talk to him, I need to tell you all that approaching him is touchy, as the wrong words could complicate things."

"And from what you've told us, we shouldn't be all over him too much, as he's not someone who likes to be crowded." Huston noted.

"Now that we mention it, he has always been somepony who's been alone the most." Twilight thought out loud. "Even when we first met him, he was almost never the one to invite somepony else or join in voluntarily. At most, he would end up following along with whatever was happening."

"So what we need ta do is try an' get 'em ta join us fer somethin' to show we're here fer him, right?" Alex determined.

"Eehhh... maybe. It could just end up looping into the problem I mentioned before." Zenix said, shaking his hand.

"...Maybe we could give him his own private space." Everyone turned to Flint who gave a suggestion. "I've been thinking about this for a bit, but as I thought I looked around town and realized that there was always somepony around. Even in the house, there would always be someone around. So maybe we could find somewhere that he could be alone for as long as he needs." Everyone stared at Flint with wide eyes. "Sorry, it was just an idea."

"No, you might actually have some merit." Zenix said. "The thing he needs right now is a peaceful place to stay, but there isn't anywhere to go."

"But if we can find him that spot, we could give him the help he deserves." Twilight concluded.

"Question is, what is the best place for such an idea?" Rainbow wondered, everyone stopping to think about it all.

"Let's put everything together for this one!" Jasmine announced. "We'll put everything that we know about him and the town to do this!" Looking amongst themselves, each gave their own nods, knowing it was the best plan they had.

"Alright. Let's do this thing."

One Month Later

Xavier was lying back on a bench in the park, watching the ponies around him go about their days and Rune prance about happily with a blank expression. He hasn't interacted with his friends all that much recently for a multitude of reasons. At the end of the day though, he wasn't sure if he deserved to interact with them, and he also noticed that they all were acting funny. Almost like they were hiding something, yet he knew they had the right to hide things from him. He did for the longest time after all.

"I just have to wait." Xavier thought, watching as Rune managed to get a leaf caught on her fur. "Not like I have anything else to do..." As he lied in silence, he thought about the life he had that lead him to this moment. Most notably, his life with his family as he recalled something his father said to him.

"Listen son, you've got a good head on you. One of the best I've actually seen in years. But you're much to modest and content with staying out of things that could cause problems for anyone. You can be greedy at times if it means you won't be alone. Take it from me son, if I didn't get a bit greedy I'd have never even gotten to know your mother."

"Right..." Xavier muttered. "Do I even deserve to get greedy though after everything I've put them through?" His thoughts were interrupted by the wind getting knocked out of him curtesy of Rune hopping onto his chest, wagging her tail happily. As he smiled slightly and sadly and petted her, someone approached. And Rune noticed as she ran up to them and hopped up into their arms, Jasmine's arms. "Oh, Jasmine. Is everything okay?"

"Please come with me." Jasmine firmly said with a half serious, half calm expression.

"Huh?"

"Just follow." Jasmine turned around waiting for Xavier, to which he got off of the bench he was on and obliged. After a bit of walking, Jasmine put Rune down and went to Xavier, taking his bandana and using it as a blindfold.

"Hey! What are-"

"It's okay." Jasmine comforted, putting her hands onto his shoulders. He gave a nod, letting Jasmine guide him along. They made a stop, and Xavier heard a door open and they entered. Once they made a complete stop, Jasmine walked back over to Xavier and undid the blindfold, and when Xavier got his sight back...

"SUPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" He was suddenly assailed by a loud announcement, seeing all his friends around him in the building. Speaking of, the building was not one he recognized, in fact it reminded him of... his old home. Machining gadgets, smithing tools, and a pile of scrap in the corner. It was almost like he was back in his family's old workshop.

"W-what..." Xavier could barely get a word out, shocked at what he was seeing. He couldn't even begin to understand what he was looking at. "What- what am I looking at!?"

"It's a workshop. Your workshop." Twilight answered, earning googly eyes from Xavier.

"Huh?!"

"It's your birthday today, right?" Huston said, stepping forward. "Well we wanted to give you a gift to show how much we care for you." Xavier stared at them all.

"It IS your birthday, right?" Rarity asked.

"W-well, yes. But-"

"I told them." Zenix said with a raised hand.

"B-but why this?" Xavier motioned to everything.

"Well, we talked about everythin' that we've learned about ye up ta this point in all honesty." Alex began, getting a defensive look from Xavier.

"And we realized that despite everything that's happened, you're someone we care about." Rainbow said. "No matter what you act like."

"You've gotten us out of more jams than I can remember." Applejack mentioned. "How could we hate you?"

"B-but that doesn't explain this."

"Well, we thought about how you are always surrounded by someone or pony." Flint answered.

"And we wanted to give you your own little space." Pinkie said with an excited hop.

"Careful Pinkie, there are some expensive things here." Zenix said.

"Were you the one who suggested this?"

"Yes and no. No, I didn't begin this whole crusade, but I did suggest the idea of creating a workshop for you as your own space. After all, I know you wanted to have one."

"How?"

"I overheard it from our fathers when yours was still alive. He mentioned that you seemed like you wanted to grow as a craftsman, yet never could approach him from how nervous you acted around him." Zenix walked up to one of the machines and put his hand onto it, brushing it. "So, we took it upon ourselves to make one for you."

"Thankfully it was a pretty smooth process all things considered." Cali commented. "We were able to everything together thanks to everyone's combined efforts." Xavier also walked up to a machine and put his hand onto it, but simply looked confused at everything.

"You don't have to thank us." Jasmine said to him, putting a hand onto his shoulder. "You can even say you never wanted this to begin with. We just wanted to let you know that we will always be on your side." Xavier's head turned slightly, not enough to look anyone in the eye though. "And yet we understand that you don't want to be around anyone all the time. All of us have those days we just want to be alone with no one to interrupt us, even Pinkie." Jasmine took her hand off of him, taking some steps back to join the others. "We'll leave you to think things over. You can always talk to us." With that, everyone left the building, leaving Xavier and Rune who looked uncharacteristically worried. A moment after the door shut, the words his father said rang out again.

"You can be greedy at times if it means you won't be alone."

Xavier lifted his head and wiped a tear from his eye, turning to the door and running to it. With a slam, he got everyone's attention as they were still in earshot.

"Oh, uhh..." Xavier stammered a bit, realizing he was a bit too forceful with the door.

"Is everything okay?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, yeah. It's just..." Xavier looked down and fiddled with his hand for a moment before taking a deep breath. "I-it's just that... it is my birthday today. A-and it wouldn't be right to just... well... ignore it." Everyone saw how nervous he was, and yet they began to understand what it is he wanted, and smiled.

"Well, how about we take a trip to SugarCube Corner." Zenix smirked. "We can have a modest celebration if everyone's up for it." Everyone gave their own happy nods, and Xavier gave a smile of his own as he ran up to his friends. Slowing down upon reaching them, they all walked to their destination, ready to take on anything that comes their way. And as for Xavier, his determination from the very beginning roared something fierce, knowing that he finally found people (and in some cases, ponies) to finally put his trust in and protect.

"I promise you, I will protect all of you and your smiles with my very own life if it means that you can live in peace. It's wrong to say I'd sacrifice my life, but I don't want any of you to lose your innocence to anything."

"News from Northern Equestria! I was told to tell you that it has returned."

"*yawn* ...Huh? Where am I?"

Author's Note

Intermission before the other half of what I call the "Chapter of Crystals" in the show
So I may have gotten distracted outside of Paper Mario (But holy shit is the pit of 100 trials a rush), and that's because of an Amine series that has a lot of seasons. Like, a lot more than I thought (And to think, I learned about it from a spin off series I watched a year ago based around one season) That, and I may have been distracted by outside forces. But I'm here again for the usual (in)frequent chapters. So let's get things going, ey? Koops out!