Note: This chapter's been slightly modified because I didn't calculate my math properly and I had to rework it for it to make sense. Enjoy the chapter!

[Insert Slow Fade by Casting Crowns for Opening Song]

Saying that things got worse would be a massive understatement. Some might think that people or in this case, ponies, would come together to support one another after a terrible tragedy occurred. You would be wrong. In fact, most of the time, they often grow cold and distant towards one another and distance themselves further apart from each other. Some might ask why people or ponies would do that to each other and the answer to that is... complicated. The best answer that can be given is it's just part of sin.

You would think that they would be united after something like that, but they would do quite the opposite. The best reason why is because they all feel an influx of emotions and that typically causes irrationality to be thrown around a lot. They often want to blame each other and insult one another because they don't know how to properly deal with this. This was exactly how the Mane Six became after the death of Knuckles. They grew cold towards one another and would insult each other because of how conflicted they felt about his death.

For example, they would constantly throw insults at one another and even purposefully pulled things on one another as a way of revenge. So, Rainbow would be walking down the street one day, and Applejack would stick out her hoof which would cause Rainbow to trip and fall. This group did everything imaginable that you could think of. It was even worse than the Ravens vs. Steelers rivalry that would occur twice a year. To put it into context, they insulted each other with slanderous words, pulled cheap tricks upon one another, and went as far as destroying personal property. I'm not just talking personal items, I also mean buildings as well. Yes, they were this cruel to each other and it was hard to watch.

The weeks turned into months which eventually turned into years and all of Ponyville had to watch this divide going on. Most ponies didn't want to get themselves involved since most of the time it was just insults and cheap tricks, but they did find it extremely concerning that all of this was happening on a very frequent basis. As time went on, they got more and more worried that things would turn ugly and all of them would be in danger from a national security standpoint because they had destroyed their friendship.

Twilight didn't even bother coming out at all during this time period, she just stayed in her castle the entire time, but her friends were mostly the ones that kept spreading the divide even further. Eventually, it all came to a boiling point and they all met out in the fields at night time where they wouldn't have to worry about anyone trying to break things up. They hated each other's guts at this point and they were going to settle this issue once and for all.

They all met up and they began to talk smack in order to get the mood set. As insults were being thrown around, they all got angrier and angrier until it turned into a full on fight. Discord hadn't even changed them and they were still acting like this. They threw nasty hits on each other and anyone who would see this would think it was like a dogfight going on. As they continued to fight, they became even more enraged and their voices started to carry into town. Then all of a sudden, a voice yelled out "ENOUGH!" and everypony stopped what they were doing.

They turned around to see a very pissed off Princess Luna who was giving them the death glare and she couldn't concentrate on her duties because of all the yelling going on. She said with anger "Is this what all of you have come to?! Fighting amongst one another and trying to tear each other down?! You barely even knew this creature and yet, you're willing to throw away your friendship over that?!"

None of them dared to say a word to her because they knew that doing so would only make things worse. Luna softened her tone a bit and said "Listen, I understand all of you are going through a tough time right now, but that does not mean you treat each other as the enemy and resort to violence as the solution to your problems. You're supposed to work it out together, not figure it out yourselves. Now, this problem has become a national security issue and you must resolve it quickly before we are all doomed. You are to go to Canterlot in the morning and seek counseling from my sister. Is that clear?!"

They tried to protest that idea, but Luna stopped them and said "That wasn't a request, that's an order. Now, go to bed before things get even worse." They grumbled at that remark, but they complied and went their separate ways. Later that night, Twilight was walking through the city of Baltimore and watching people go by through the city. This was a dream of course and Twilight didn't exactly realize it at first. She didn't get in the mess with her friends had earlier in the night, but she was still just as bitter and distant as the rest of them.

As she was walking along, she heard a bunch of tire noises down the street. She looked to see where it was coming from and saw that Dodge Charger again flying down the road with the police right behind. She looked to the right and noticed the truck that was sitting at the red light. At that moment, she knew where she was and what was going to happen next. Twilight tried to run out onto the street and she put up a shield to stop the car. But, the car went right through the shield as if it didn't exist and smashed right into the truck on Maddi's side.

Twilight was absolutely shell shocked that this criminal sped right through a shield like it wasn't even there and still ended up causing that accident. The scenery suddenly changed to the decks leading out to the harbor and things were dead quiet. Twilight was confused about the scenery change, but she suddenly heard a voice that said "It is nice to finally meet you, Princess Twilight Sparkle." Twilight turned around and saw a girl standing right there with a smile on her face.

Twilight gasped and said "You're Maddi, Knuckles' girlfriend."

Maddi nodded and said "Indeed I am. A very brilliant observation. Caleb must have told you about me. That's like him to do that. But I did not come here to talk about how wonderful my boyfriend was. I want to ask you Princess Twilight, why has a rift begun to form between you and your friends?"

Twilight sighed and said "It's complicated. Normally, my friends were able to get past any conflict that we faced, but we have not been able to conquer this one ever since Knuckles died a year and a half ago. He was not always the nicest to my friends or even me, but he was there when it counted the most. I never thought that something like this would tear me up so much nor would it be for my friends. I just don't feel like they truly understand that pain since they didn't really seem to care about him until the day he died."

Maddi thought about it for a second and said "Do you now understand how Caleb felt after he lost me in a car accident?"

Twilight said "Of course I do, but even so, that is not even a sliver of everything that he ever experienced in his life. It's less than a tenth of the pain and suffering he has had to endure and he did not deserve to die that way. I understand he was not the best individual, but he was one that can express emotions the same way the rest of us can. His life was cruelly taken away before any of us could fully realize it."

Maddi gave it some thought and said "Caleb is not dead. He is alive."

Twilight's eyes widened in surprise and she said in denial "No, that can't be right. I literally saw him get blasted by Tirek's magic with my own two eyes! There's no way he could still be alive!"

Maddi said "Allow me to show you." She pointed towards the wall of a building and it showed Knuckles still walking around doing daily activities in his mansion outside Baltimare. As Twilight watched, her mind started to get blown that something like this could have even happened, but she still found it very difficult to believe. There's no way that he would lie like this, right? That would be considered being a terrible friend.

She looked at Maddi and said "There's no possible way that could be the case. He is almost 30 years old and that montage could be from any point in his adult life. There's just no way."

Maddi said "I can assure you that he is very much alive, but his heart in an emotional sense is still completely dead. I have only one request for you Princess Twilight, if you end up together, take good care of him for me."

Twilight blushed quite a bit at that remark and she tried to look away in embarrassment. She said "He doesn't even like me that much. I'm barely holding onto him as a friend, a relationship would be even worse."

Maddi said "Yes, but have you not seen how much he's changed since you entered his life? I haven't seen him like this since the day of my death over five years ago. I see the look in his eyes when he looks at you. You brought something back to him that I had previously left behind after my death. Don't underestimate yourself Twilight and try to amend that friendship you have with your friends. It is something beyond anything I ever seen and it's vital to keeping your homeland safe. My friendship with Caleb was lost after I died, but yours still has the chance to succeed. Don't dishonor Caleb's wish. He was already crushed enough as it was. He would hate himself even more if you dismantled your friendship because of him."

Twilight said "But he never really seemed to change that much over the course of my time with him. How could you possibly know that he has changed a lot?"

Maddi laughed a little bit and said "Caleb was never one to show his emotions a lot because he didn't want to look vulnerable towards others. I loved that about him and when the time came to cry, I was there for him except after I died. Then he had no one to lean towards. Because of that, he tends to hide his emotions a lot and try to act tough so no one can suspect anything. But underneath is the most loyal, compassionate, caring person I had ever met and I would have loved to marry him, but he never got the opportunity to propose which crushed him dearly. We had a future planned out, but God had different plans, so it's something we all must learn with. Until we meet again, Princess Twilight Sparkle."

She started to fade away into the background before she totally disappeared. Twilight was left there trying to figure out what she was going to do next and she was thinking about Maddi's words to her. There was a lot to take in and it would take some time to figure out where her next path will go.

Meanwhile, Knuckles was walking through some hallway and he noticed that he was in his old elementary school, Stoneleigh Elementary School, in Baltimore, MD. He saw a bunch of little kids walking through hallways as normal and it brought back a sense of nostalgia to him which left a smile on his face. He had always been great with little kids despite them being very crazy a lot.

Suddenly, a bunch of alarms went off and kids were running into the classrooms as fast as they could. The teachers rushed them all in and shut the doors. Knuckles was confused and ran into one of the classrooms to see what the deal was. He saw the kids hiding in the corner and they were scared out of their minds. The lights suddenly turned off and it left Knuckles confused. He heard very loud banging outside the door and then he heard gunfire. Knuckles turned around and saw out the window that there was a guy with a gun in there trying to kill people for whatever reason.

Knuckles now realized that he was reliving the active shooter incident as part of the mass shootings in schools around Baltimore that had occurred throughout the year. He then heard the door bust open and the shooter start firing rounds at people. He ducked underneath the teacher's desk to avoid the bullets, but he found someone else hiding there as well. He went to talk to the kid, but something seemed familiar about him.

Before he could say anything, he noticed that the kid looked familiar and then it clicked it for him. This kid was him a long time ago. He was six at the time of this attack and was currently going through first grade at that time. He then remembered that he had to watch his classmates die right next to him and having their dead bodies on the ground. It didn't help later that night when he found out that his uncle and cousin had been killed in Operation Desert Storm and the whole tribe had to receive the news. So, not only did he deal with a mass shooter, he also lost his uncle and cousin on that same day across the pond in Kuwait.

Suddenly, he heard a voice say "It was such a shame that happened to you when you were so young. I wish I was there to comfort you at the time." He turned around and saw Maddi standing there which left him speechless. He didn't know what to say. He has not seen her face to face in over five years and even though it's a dream, it felt so real. After a few seconds, Knuckles ran over to Maddi and hugged her very tightly.

He had deeply missed her and even though it was a dream, it felt real to him. He said "I've missed you so much, Maddi. Life has been so tough without you."

Maddi smiled and said "It's great to see you as well, but what is troubling you, Caleb?"

Knuckles raised a brow and asked "What do you mean?"

Maddi said "I know when something is troubling you and you should know by now that you can't hide anything from me. I'd hate to say it this way, but you are a terrible liar."

Knuckles sighed and said "I don't know, Maddi. I guess I just feel guilty bailing on Princess Twilight and her friends like that. I came up with some bull[BLEEP] story to them and then escaped at the last moment. They still think I'm dead and it's tearing their friendship apart. I haven't really cared about that most of my life, but since this was a direct result of my actions, it makes it my problem. It's my fault that their friendship is being torn apart."

Maddi pulled him close to her and said "Caleb, listen. It is not your fault. Sure, what you did might not have been the greatest idea, but they chose to isolate themselves instead of coming together and forging their friendship even stronger than before. In no way is that your fault."

Knuckles said "Yeah, but it was still wrong of me to do that to them like that. I despised friendship ever since you died five years ago and now all of a sudden, I seem to care what is going to happen to their friendship. How did that even happen?"

Maddi said "I see. Caleb, I have known you for almost 10 years and never have I seen you this torn apart. Ever since I left you, you have completely isolated yourself from anyone and have done everything on your own. But when Twilight came into your life, something changed in you. Something that I have not seen in five years. You were able to smile again, laugh again, and talk to others again. But then you ran away. Why would you do that?"

Knuckles sighed again and said "At this point, I don't really know why. I've always have felt like I was a burden to them and it was like that most of the time. Most of them hated my guts and looking back on it, they had good reason to. I treated them like complete crap and they returned fire. All except for Twilight. She didn't seem to return the hostility at me at all. She scolded me when it was necessary, but not once did she ever degrade me or insult me in a degrading manner which really shocked me. How could someone like her be that kind to me?"

Maddi tried to come up with an answer and said "Caleb, let me ask you this: Do you think that Twilight would do that because she saw a broken individual inside the same way I did when I met you freshman year of high school?"

Knuckles thought about it and said "Yeah, I guess so. But she could never replace you and to be quite honest, I don't know what my relationship with her is at this point. It's just a mixed bag of all sorts of [BLEEP] inside."

Maddi said "Don't you think that maybe she's doing it because she cares about you? Caleb, listen. I have watched you be miserable for the last five years and not once did I ever see an individual like that change someone so much that he started to feel free again after his girlfriend's death. Twilight is considered a valuable asset to you. You're right, she may never replace me, but at least she cares about you. You already lost me in that accident, you don't want to lose her as well."

Knuckles sighed and said "I wish you were here right now to help me solve this complicated issue."

Maddi smiled and said "I am here. Talking to you right now."

Knuckles gave her a deadpan stare and said "I meant in a physical sense. Sure, I could talk to you in my dreams, but that doesn't help with my real world issues."

Maddi said "Caleb, I want you to know something: I am always with you. I might not physically be there anymore in your life, but I will always be with you and so will God. I will never leave you nor abandon you. I will always be here so that you can talk to me. Never forget that. I love you, Caleb Brody."

Knuckles smiled and said "I love you too, Madilynn Miller." The two of them came closer to one another and gave a passionate kiss as one final goodbye to each other. Maddi started to fade into the background before she completely disappeared. Knuckles sighed and began to walk home. The dream ended and Knuckles woke up quickly. He looked around and remembered that it was a dream. He sighed and said "I now know what I need to do."

The next morning, most of the Mane Six were at the train station and were waiting for the train to arrive. Also, just to make sure that they would not back out at the last minute, Luna sent guards down there to make sure they did as they were instructed. They showed the tickets to the conductor and they went to sit down in their seats. They were still mad at each other from the night before and did not speak a word to one another.

After a little bit, they finally made it to Canterlot and they all got off the train. There were guards waiting for them right there and they got escorted inside the castle. The guards opened the doors to the throne room and then quickly left. Celestia stepped down from her throne and asked the group in front of her "Where is Twilight? I expected her to be here as well. I cannot start this without her. I need all six present."

The group just did a bunch of shrugs and idks to her and this frustrated Celestia. She sighed and said "Okay. I'll be right back. This shouldn't take long." She teleported out of the castle and right into Twilight's personal bedroom. Thankfully, she wasn't in a compromising position and was still sleeping. She cleared her throat and said "Twilight."

Twilight suddenly woke up in surprise and then saw Celestia in her bedroom. She was quite annoyed and said "Princess, what are you doing in my bedroom?! It's quite early in the morning and it's very rude to invade somepony's privacy like that."

Celestia gave her a deadpan stare and said "It's 10 in the morning. That's not late. Anyway, I need you in Canterlot as soon as possible."

Twilight raised a brow and asked "What for?"

Celestia said "Something very serious is going on and it requires your presence. Your friends are already there and are waiting."

Twilight wasn't too fond of that and said "Why do they have to be involved?"

Celestia sighed and said "Twilight, this is very important. So, please put aside your personal feelings about this and help us all out. I'm not going to ask you again. Is that clear?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and said "Yes, princess."

Celestia said "Good. Now get ready so we can head out. We don't have much time left. This issue is getting worse as time goes on. I'll be waiting outside."

Twilight sighed and did as she was told. After she was done, she went out and the two of them went back to Canterlot. Celestia said "Okay, now that all of you are here, I must address the current issue that we are facing."

Twilight raised a brow and asked "What exactly is this issue?"

Celestia looked at her and said "Your friendship. That is the issue." All of them started to protest about that issue, but Luna told them to be quiet. Celestia said "Listen, I know that you all don't like this idea, but this cannot continue. It is in great danger and it is what keeps our homeland safe. If it goes extinct, we would have lost Equestria's primary and most important defense system against foreign threats."

Twilight was very resistant to this and said "Pardon my rudeness Princess, but this isn't something that can be resolved with overnight. It has been a year and a half since Knuckles bitterly died the way he did and he unintentionally left a devastating effect in the process. If you want us to resolve our friendship, you have quite the battle to fight because it will be a tough uphill battle." The rest of her friends agreed and for the first time in a year and a half, they all agreed on something.

Celestia stood there in silence for a moment to try to think what she wanted to say and she said "I see. Well, I'm not expecting you to fix it overnight, but in order to do so, you must at least talk. All I ask of you all is just to talk it out. That's all. Nothing more. Nothing less."

Rainbow was the first one to speak up and she said "Well, I don't appreciate all the dirty cheap shots I have received over the last year and a half."

Applejack fired right back and said "As if ya never did them yerself either. Ah don't know if ya know this Rainbow, but ya ain't that innocent either."

Rarity jumped in and said "Oh really, Applejack? You are just as brutal as Rainbow when it comes to insults. Don't try to play innocent here!"

Rainbow looked at Applejack and Rarity with anger and said "Oh, so it's always my fault. You two never take the blame for anything bad that happens. It's always me! Maybe if you would admit you were wrong sometimes, we wouldn't have all these issues come up!"

Rarity scoffed at that and said "As if you don't do that yourself. How you described the rest of us is exactly how you are all the time! We don't nearly do it as much as you do! It's basically your entire personality!"

Rainbow growled at that and looked at Fluttershy. She said "What about you?! You always seem to stay quiet the entire time and never say one d[BLEEP] thing!"

Fluttershy got highly offended at the remark and said "I don't always need to say anything, Rainbow Dash! And don't you dare curse at me like that! You should know better than to use such foul language!"

Pinkie jumped in and said "It never helps when the rest of you keep bickering back and forth all the time and being so negative!"

Applejack glared at her and said "Well, do ya expect us all to just not think about it at all?! It ain't that easy, Pinkie! Not everythin' in life is all rainbows and unicorns! Times get tough and there's nothin' you can do about it!"

They continued to go at it with each other and Twilight was only getting more frustrated as time went on. "My friendship with Caleb was lost after I died, but yours still has the chance to succeed. Don't dishonor Caleb's wish. He was already crushed enough as it was. He would hate himself even more if you dismantled your friendship because of him." That quote rang in Twilight's head and it finally clicked for her. She now knew what to do in order to defuse the situation.

She looked at them with anger and yelled "ENOUGH!" All of them stopped arguing and stared at her with shock. They had annoyed looks at her, but Twilight wasn't going to take it. "Is this what we have all come to?! I understand that this is tough on all of us, but we can't keep going on like this. Maddi was right. She said our friendship was extremely valuable to protecting our homeland and if we dismantled it, it would only make Knuckles feel even more guilty."

No one was daring to say anything at all, so they made sure to keep quiet when Twilight was speaking and when she was done, then they could share their thoughts.

Twilight sighed and said "Let me put it into perspective: How would you all feel if one of us suddenly passed away and we would have to move on without them? Would you stay strong or completely crumble beneath the darkness?" They all said they would stay strong, but Twilight knew it was more complicated than that. She said "It's easy to say that, but if you were actually to go through it, you would say a very different answer. Let me put it this way: Knuckles always tried to stay strong on the outside when Maddi passed away, but on the inside, he's completely crumbled and his heart has turned as cold as ice."

The rest of them could see that analogy and they understood what Twilight was saying. It's easy to stay strong on the outside, but be totally weak on the inside.

Twilight continued and said "How would you feel if your parents constantly abused you for 24 years straight, praising your siblings' accomplishments while ignoring your own, blame you for everything that goes wrong in the world, and nearly get killed after your only support system died in a car accident? That's what Knuckles had to go through in his life. He didn't have a support system for most of that time and when he got one in high school, it was ripped away from him after college. It should make us all fortunate that we didn't have to go through that in our lives because not everyone is considered lucky."

The group thought about how their childhood was growing up and none of them could ever compare theirs to his in the slightest extent, except maybe Twilight, but even that came with limitations.

Twilight sighed and said "It took me a while to realize this, but Knuckles sacrificed himself for us. What would he say if he saw all of us bickering like this? We all dishonored his wish and if he were here right now, he would tell us to continue living our lives and protecting Equestria without him. I know that he was not perfect by any means, but he was there when it counted the most and that's what's important. It will take some time to move on from this, but with time, it should get better. He helped us defeat Tirek and it's up to us to keep Equestria safe. We will all miss him dearly, but he will always be with us on the inside. So, we should put our differences aside and forge our friendship back together. What do you say?"

It was completely silent and Twilight was starting to get worried. Before she could walk away though, Fluttershy was the first one to step up and said "I'm with you, Twilight."

Applejack followed behind and said "Yeah, Ahm with ya as well, Twilight. Knuckles would want us to stay together."

Rarity was next and said "I also agree with everypony else here. We should not fight amongst one another and continue to be friends."

Rainbow followed up and said "Yeah, we were all disloyal to Knuckles for not honoring his wish, but we now have the chance to make it right."

Pinkie was the last to join in and said "I'm in!"

They all went in for the group hug and reconciled. Celestia smiled and said "Well done, my little ponies. I do understand that this was tough on you all and your friendship could have ended, but you chose to stick together and put it back together."

Twilight smiled as well and said "Thanks princess. All of us have some serious work to do, but as long as we all stick together, no foe will ever be able to take us down and in case we might feel sad about Knuckles, we can just remember that he is still with us and he died so that we may live." The rest of them agreed on that and went in for another hug.

After a little bit, they headed back on the train to Ponyville and they had very good conversation for the first time in a year and a half. They still had a long way to go on the road to recovery, but this was a good start for them. The road might still get bumpy, but as long as they remembered the promise from Knuckles, they would be okay and make it out of any challenge.

Author's Note

AN: I apologize for this chapter being so late, but I have been so busy over the last few weeks that I just haven't had any time to do it, but it is out now. I want to say real quick for those that live in the UK, I give you my deepest apologies for the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. I was against the monarchy personally, but I still respected the Queen because she was a great ally to the United States. We were there when she needed us and she was there when we needed her like when she made Buckingham Palace play the Star Spangled Banner after the horrific events of 9/11. She will live a great legacy behind. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Next Chapter: The Return! Some more time passes after the reconciliation of the Mane Six in Canterlot and their friendship gets rekindled to its former glory. When the Summer Sun Celebration comes around, something big will happen and a certain someone will return to Twilight. Will their surprise return shock Twilight, or will she see it coming from a mile away?

Until then, my fellow readers