What Could Have Been: Sugar Hoof Farms

Chapters

A Few Months Later
Magical Studies and a Return to Form
Meticulous Planning to Dinnertime

A Few Months Later

Along the cliffside of Griffonstone, all that could be heard beyond the wind was the heavy hoofsteps of an earth pony making their way down. The trail was steep, but he was both determined and seemingly lucky, as where an average pony would trip or stumble, this earth pony seemed to just glide along the dirt like water. This earth pony didn't talk to anyone beyond a friendly greeting if he passed someone, and more often than not, he avoided passing people. His name was Honey Bun, a tourist, if you asked him. He would travel around, see the sights, maybe visit a few libraries or shops, and then disappear without much of a trace that he was ever there.

Sliding down to the bottom of a vast gorge, Honey Bun pulled out his lantern and began making his way north. With how dark it was at the bottom, he couldn't even see his nose thanks to his dark brown fur. He was wearing a long cloak that covered him from his neck to his hooves, purely to stay warm when venturing in cold climates, he'd offer if asked. Underneath his cloak, sat a collection of six saddlebags, carrying various items, a tent, canteens, firewood, a cooking pot, potions with varying effects, an axe for cutting wood, a pickaxe, and a few other travelling necessities.

He was going to be attacked, he could feel canine paws pointed towards him, diamond dogs were aware of his presence. From what he could feel, there were only four of them, three male, one female. Judging from the pressure he could feel on the dirt from them standing, they weren't hungry, so they'd likely rather imprison and enslave him. Honey Bun had a better idea, that idea, was bribery. The diamond dogs watched as Honey Bun began walking slower and were prepared to jump him from behind, but suddenly felt the ground move from under them as piles of gemstones consumed the four hounds. Sounds of awe and surprise were heard, and with their new found boon, none of them noticed Honey bun sink underground.

Now that Honey Bun was underground, he could loosen up his disguise a bit. He ran through the underground caves, inching closer to his destination and his prize. Whenever he came across a dead end, he could easily cut out the stone enough for him to slip through and then return the stone to it's original place to cover his tracks. For you see, Honey Bun was not simply an earth pony. Despite how he looked, he was an alicorn. He could hide his horn with a simple spell, and his cloak did a good job of hiding his wings since he didn't know of a spell to hide things quite so large. He was once called 'Sugar Hoof' due to his short escapade as a sugar merchant, a name he has now since buried. Honey Bun is a far nice name in his opinion.

Sugar Hoof was powerful, murderous, a vessel for shadow magic. Honey Bun however, is quiet, more pacifistic, and thanks to the 'Green Desert Incident' as it was coined by the masses, has no shadow magic to speak of. Oddly enough, his necromancy magic was left in tact... maybe because it was the magic he was weakest with? He didn't know. Honey Bun learned to slow himself down a bit after he woke up in the newly refilled caverns. But now, he needed to keep a low profile, if he left bodies in his wake, he'd be easy to track. He was unaware earlier, but after doing some independent research around Equestria, he learned that murder, was practically unheard of, there hasn't been a murdered in over a thousand years in fact. Back home, he was more likely to find a murderer than not.

The tunnels grew colder as he drew closer to his destination, a magical artifact he had wanted for a while, the Idol of Boreas. While he was no longer a Prince of Equestria, or leader of the desert, he still relished his magical studies. Before he had even come to Equestria, he was a wizard, and a good one at that. One of the best theurgists in history, some would say. One of the greats, at least.

The Dapper Skeleton, revered for his ability to bring himself back to life, years after death, with no mental or magical decay.

The Guild Master, a fiendish woman who used her skill in theurgy to build a crime network all around the globe, all you had to do was mention her name and law enforcement wouldn't dare interfere with you.

And The Defiler, Honey Bun, who devised a solution to raise the dead back to life completely, as if they had never even died. Sure, the skeleton did something similar, but his body had wasted to naught but bone in his attempts, Honey Bun could resurrect the dead good as new. Of course, he used shadow magic, which is illegal, hence why he was quickly expelled from the university.

Eventually, the caves gave way back to the open air of the gorge and he came face to face with the bones of a large beast with decorated horns. "Finally." Honey Bun whispered, approaching the bones.

Getting back into his disguise phase, he put a small and slightly dumb smile back on his face. His reasoning, his everyone thought he was dumb, hopefully, they'd leave him alone. He rummaged through the bones until he reached the skull, where his prize waited for him. A golden statue, slightly dirty from the ever billowing wind, but still enchanted. the statue was shaped like a wing, with a talon holding up an orange orb. Honey Bun picked up the idol and wrapped it up tightly in a grey cloth before sticking it down into his saddlebags.

"Right where you belong." He said, before he pulled out his climbing gear and hitched it to the gorge's wall. He had claimed his prize and could not wait to study it's magical effects, but for now, it was a long road back to Ponyville.

Far to the north, around the borders of Equestria and Yakyakistan, the only thing that broke the perfect layer of snow over the planet, was the four odd trails that nobody would ever see. The first trail was comprised of large round holes, that looked similar to a tree trunk that keeps moving. The second trail, badger paws. The third trail, a very faint line of green fairy dust, and the fourth, four timber wolf paws.

The trail would never be seen, the falling snow would cover them soon enough, just as the leader of this four thrall team planned. Birch, the treant led his subordinates north to the mountains. His leafy head and shoulders was covered in snow, but he never stopped moving. He was using the staff of sacanas as a walking stick while he held a few other magical artifacts against his wooden torso.

Behind him, was Sir Bedivere, the badger knight, looking as determined as ever. He kept his paw on his sword, ready for a fight. In accordance with the Knight's Code, he had kept his sword sharp and his armor in good condition, and was itching for a fight. A fight would give him the opportunity to prove himself to his fellow thralls, a chance to prove that despite his failure to protect Sugar Hoof, he was still worthy of being called a knight.

"Come on, you two, quit playing back there!" Birch called behind him in the direction of the last two members of their team.

"Would love to Birch, but I'm a bit busy with Spot!" Sarah, the fairy said as she wrestled with the timber puppy to get him to follow Birch. Sarah resented the Birch and Bedivere for not helping her, fairies are the weakest form of life thrall, and yet they leave wrestling a dog to her. She hadn't had a decent night's sleep since Sugar Hoof's death and she certainly looked it. She had bags under her bloodshot eyes, her once bright orange hair had dulled from dirt and was now knotted, she had lost one of her shoes, and her orange dress was torn in some places and covered in muck. "Could one of you give me a hand!" She shouted.

"I can't let my guard down in case we're attacked." Bedivere explained. "Could be bandits nearby!"

"Bedivere, there are not bandits this far north! There's nothing for them to even steal!" Sarah shouted, as Spot finally got away from the fairy and began running to the south east. Spot was by far, the happiest thrall of the group, he loved everything, he loved his family, and was always having a great time. He was similar to Birch in that his body was made of wood, but unlike Birch, who was conjured from an ironwood tree, Spot was expertly carved by Sugar Hoof himself. He had lovingly carved and painted every wooden limb of Spot's body, from his beautifully colored and structured tail, to his wonderfully made ears. While he loved his family, he kept feeling something in the back of his head, a source of life magic, a dim one, but one that's there. He could swear it was just over the next hill.

"Alright, if I've gotta carry you, I'll carry you." Birch said as he picked Spot up and began carrying him.

Sarah let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you, Birch. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with him."

Bedivere added, "If Spot prefers leaving, why do we keep him here? He's been trying to get away from us for a while now."

"He is the master's dog. When the master reveals himself, he will expect all four of us, and his artifacts back." Birch said, continuing north.

"Birch, master is dead." Sarah said.

"No."

"You saw the cloud, everyone in the world did, he's g—"

"NO!" Birch screamed, turning back to the fairy.

Birch was hit the hardest after the events of the 'Green Desert Incident', from the explosion alone, he knew that the master was likely dead, and likely died in agony. His very purpose in life was to safeguard his master, and he failed, Sugar Hoof was gone, his army was gone, his home was gone, everything!

"The master's alive." Birch said, roughly.

"Birch."

"IF HE WERE DEAD, WE'D BE DEAD TOO! A THRALL DOES NOT OUTLIVE IT'S MASTER!" Birch screamed, forcing Sarah to shrink back from him. The four remained silent, Birch glared at Sarah who looked like she wanted to avoid his gaze, but couldn't muster up the courage too. Bedivere looked into Birch's eyes with sadness in his own. Birch was the oldest of the four, and got to know Sugar Hoof far more than the other three did.

Birch returned his focus to his work, and turned around with Spot and the artifacts in claw, and continued moving north.

Sarah couldn't help but land on the snow, she didn't care that it was cold, the stress of these last few months weighed heavily on her. Her sisters were all dead, she knew that all of them had lost family, but that knowledge didn't lessen her pain any. She got into the fetal position and sat in the snow as she remembered her sister's faces. Though she didn't have long to remember them.

Bedivere knelt down and scooped up the snow she was sitting on as gently as he could, slightly startling the fairy before she realized exactly what was happening. As Bedivere brought her up to his face, Sarah looked up into his dark green eyes and could see the sorrow written on them. Neither of them spoke, he just carried her until she was ready to fly again.

"Where are we going, Birch?" Bedivere called, trudging after the treant.

"The Yakyakistan mountains, nobody would ever look for us there."

Ponyville was nearing the end of winter, but despite this, the air felt no warmer. Six mares, the elements of harmony, decided to meet up by a frozen lake and enjoy one of the final days of winter together.

"What a simply marvelous day for ice-skating." Rarity said with a smile as she slipped her beautiful yet comically large scarf further around her neck.

Pinkie Pie phased into existence behind a tree with numerous sets of ice skates in her mane, all colored to match who they were intended for. She also carried a large red box on her back that was held shut by a white bow.

"Hey Pinks, what's in the box?" Rainbow Dash asked as he arrived at the frozen lake with her friends.

"It's a surpriiiiiiiiiiise." She said before smiling so big that her face squeaked as it was stretched unnaturally.

Twilight Sparkle arrived next, carrying a few books in her saddlebags, as usual. "Ok, so I did some reading about ice-skating—" Twilight started.

"Of course you did." Rainbow teased.

"—and despite having never done this before, I should be able to figure out the rest myself." She offered with a smile.

Fluttershy looked out on the frozen lake, "Oh, I hope we don't disturb anyone while we're out here."

"Oh please darling, nopony lives out this way." Rarity said, while Pinkie Pie pulled the ice skates out of her mane.

"Hey, where's Applejack?" Twilight asked, looking around for their farm pony friend.

"She said she wouldn't be able to make it." Fluttershy answered sheepishly.

"Is she still worried about that Honey Bun stallion stealing her business?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow Dash flew over to Twilight in the blink of an eye and said, "I don't see why she's so worried, Honey Bun Farms and Sweet Apple Acres don't share any produce."

"Don't share any..." Fluttershy half asked.

"I tried to explain this to Applejack the other day, The only raw produce he makes is grapes, Applejack doesn't even grow grapes."

"What about the milk, they both have cows." Twilight offered.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "Alright, so ONE thing they both share, they both sell milk."

Applejack finally arrived, sweat caking her body, she had clearly been doing double time at the farm. She wasn't doing as bad as the time she bet her brother, Big Macintosh, that she could harvest all the apples in the orchard a few months prior, but still, everypony could tell she wasn't doing good.

"Darling, you appear to have a few... twigs... in your mane." Rarity said as she began trying to fix the disaster that was Applejack's mane.

"Ah'm sorry ah'm late. We've just been awful busy back on the farm." Applejack said, grateful she could catch her breathe.

"Oh my." Fluttershy said, holding her hoof up to her face.

"Because of Honey Bun?" Twilight asked.

Applejack snorted, "Yes, Twilight, because of Honey Bun." She didn't like even saying his name.

"What ever for, you both sell very different things." Rarity said.

"Have any a' ya'll ever even seen Honey Bun?" Applejack asked with a gleam in her eye.

Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight all thought about it, and realized that no, none of them had ever actually seen Honey Bun. Twilight around and asked, "Pinkie, you've seen Honey Bun before, right?"

"Nope, I think he's playing hide and seek with me and it just so happens he's really, really, REALLY good at hiding." The pink mare said while ice skating.

"But what about your Pinkie Sense, you usually know exactly when somepony new arrives in town?" Rarity asked.

"Sure I know where he is, but any time I actually go where my pinkie sense is pointing me too, he's not there." She shrugs.

"Maybe he's a unicorn and is just teleporting away." Rarity offered.

"A unicorn, runnin' a farm? That's plum ridiculous." Applejack laughed.

Rarity and Twilight glared at Applejack for a minute before remembering that an earth pony's magic is intertwined with nature. While pegasi and unicorns could technically grow food, Earth ponies could just do it better, faster, and easier.

"So nopony's even seen Honey Bun, really?" Rainbow asked in shock.

"I think Spike has." Twilight said.

Pinkie Pie shot out of her ice skates and got in Twilight's face. "Tell me his secrets!"

Twilight shot back with a yelp. "I don't even know if he actually has or not, Spike just gets some groceries from Honey Bun's Farm a lot."

"Spike buys from Honey Bun, instead of Sweet Apple Acres?" Applejack said, the hurt clear in her voice.

"Actually, he doesn't buy the stuff." Twilight said.

"Surely, you don't mean he's stealing? Spike doesn't seem like the thieving type." Rarity said.

"Oh, no, when I asked Spike about it, he told me that Honey Bun just gave him the stuff for free."

"Well, that was very nice of him." Fluttershy said with a smile.

"He jus' gives away his produce for free?" Applejack asked, shocked.

"Spike's a pretty big fan of the grape juice Honey Bun makes." Twilight explains.

Applejack groaned in frustration before turning towards Ponyville, "Well, why don't we just go ask Spike, then?"

"Aww, but nopony's even seen what I brought yet." Pinkie Pie said as she slid over to the group, still on the ice.

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked softly.

Pinkie took the box and opened it up, revealing a large and beautifully decorated red velvet cake. The slightly yellow cream cheese icing was thickly layered and sprinkled with red velvet crumbs, little cream colored roses dotted the cake's top. The pleasing aroma alone was enough to make the mares salivate. Even Applejack turned around and gawked once the smell hit her nostrils.

"Oh my, is that... steam coming off of it?" Fluttershy asked.

Pinkie put her hoof onto the icing gently enough as to not damage the beautifully smoothed out icing and felt an involuntary shiver crawl from her hoof into her spine. "It's like it just came out of the oven, but I bought this yesterday."

"You bought it?" Twilight said, still looking at the cake.

"Yep, for just two bits." Pinkie said, procuring a knife from the aether that was her mane.

"From Honey Bun?" Applejack asked, hoping that wasn't the case.

Pinkie laughed awkwardly, giving Applejack her answer without even saying it.

"How can he afford to give away cakes that size, with that much care put into it, for only two bits?" She asked, not waiting around for the answer, She needed to talk to Spike.

The Golden Oaks Library was clean at last, the books put back in their proper place, the floor swept, the windows washed, and it was all thanks to Spike. The young dragon wiped the sweat from his bow as he put his broom back where it belonged by the front door.

"I think I deserve a reward..." Spike said to himself as he entered the clean and tidy kitchen. Like he was in a trance, the Spike popped open the cupboard, and on the bottom shelf, was a bundle of three purple glass bottles labelled, 'Honey Bun Farms Grape Juice.'

A short thrill of excitement hit him when he grabbed one, there was just something about Honey Bun's grape juice that Spike loved. Nopony else understood, since Honey Bun didn't really sell his merchandise openly, but Spike loved it, and was surprised that he didn't even have to pay for it.

As soon as Spike opened the bottle, the sweet smell of grapes left the bottle, begging for Spike to drink the contents, which he happily obliged. He turned the bottle up and drank the grape juice as if he hadn't drank anything in days, in just a few gulps, the glass bottle was empty.

"Even better than gems..." He whispered blissfully. After he was done though, he immediately wanted another. "No, Honey Bun's out of town, I need to make this last." He fought himself for a few seconds, but the juice called him.

Drink us, Spike... Drink us...

In a flash, he opened the cupboard again and drank another bottle. Before he could drink the last bottle though, he shut his eyes to steel his nerves and left the kitchen.

"I'll save the last bottle for later." He said to himself as the door shot open, and Applejack entered the library. "Woah, what's the emergency?"

"Spike, why do ya'll prefer Honey Buns food?" Applejack asked.

"What, who said I did?" Spike asked.

"Twilight told me you'd rather drink grape juice than apple juice." Applejack accused.

"What, no I didn't! I just said he likes Honey Bun's grape juice." Twilight said as she entered the library.

"Well, Ah knew what ya meant." Stated the reasonable Applejack.

"Spike, Darling, have you actually seen this Honey Bun fellow?" Rarity said as she entered the library.

"Yeah, I've met him, he's just a bit shy." Spike explained.

"Shy like Fluttershy shy, or just regular shy?" Rainbow asked, flying in.

"Fluttershy shy, he does go into town sometimes, but he hides himself if anyone comes close to him."

"Ah still don't undertstand why you'd rather drink grape juice than apple juice." Said Applejack.

"I like both apple juice and grape juice, it's not a preference thing." Spike reasoned.

Applejack sniffed, "Ah can smell grapes on your breathe right now, Spike."

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie entered the library, still carrying the plate that the red velvet cake was once on, now having been licked clean by the five mares moments prior.

"You guys had red velvet cake?" Spike asked before catching a whiff of something familiar, "You ate cake that Honey Bun made, and you didn't even save me a slice?" Spike didn't like being left out in general, but he felt betrayed that his friends didn't share cake that Honey Bun made.

Ever since Spike met Honey Bun, never once was he stingy with the food he produced. Whenever Spike would come over, Honey Bun would bring food and drink out without even being asked, and more often than not, he brought out desserts, delicious, rich, sweet desserts.

"It's fine, when Honey Bun gets back, I'll just buy my own cake, and share none of it with you." Spike threatened unthreateningly.

"OH, that's what I was going to tell you!" Pinkie Pie shouted, remembering why she entered the library. "I felt my tail twitch, Honey Bun is back at his farm."

"Let's go see him, then." Applejack stated with a stomp.

"If he hides himself whenever anypony gets close to him, he'll probably hide when we get there." Twilight said.

"He'll let Spike in though." Said Applejack, hatching a plan to finally meet the pony that threatened her own farm.

The six mares stared at Spike, who was upset at being forced to meet with Honey Bun, but glad that he'd likely get more grape juice and a cake out of this exchange.

"Fine, let's go." The dragon said, walking out of the library while the six mares followed.

As they all exited the library and went towards the edge of Ponyville, towards the Everfree Forest, Spike called back, "Why are you mad at Honey Bun again?"

"There hasn't been a farm in Ponyville besides us since the Pears left, and we were rivals for quite a few generations of apples. Last thing we need right now is another farm making it even harder for us to keep the farm." Applejack explained to the quizzical drake.

"But you survived such a strain before, darling, like you said, the Pears." Reasoned Rarity.

"That time was different, there were more ponies living at Sweet Apple Acres then than there are now. In truth, most of the farm work is done by me and Big Mac, I'm just worried is all."

Spike called back with a smile, "I don't see why, Honey Bun produces what he refers to as, luxury goods. "

"Luxury goods?" The six mares asked in unison.

"Milk, cheese, jam, juice, wine, honey, flour, sugar, eggs, cocoa beans, vanilla, butter, that type of stuff." Answered the dragon, ever happy to be helpful.

"That explains all the greenhouses he's got, cocoa beans, sugar, and vanilla can't grow in this climate." Applejack whispered to herself.

Honey Bun was back on his farm, thankful to be home. While he wished he could've gone straight to work researching the Idol of Boreas, there was farm work to do, not much work, but still some that needed done. Ever since he bought a chunk of land in front of the Everfree Forest, he knew he'd have to keep his work load small so he could have plenty of time for his wizardry, so he started producing luxury goods, and thanks to his magic, it didn't take much effort on his part. Behind his small brick house, sat a wooden shed with hay, firewood, and a few tools inside. He looked to his surroundings, seeing if anyone was spying on him, and when he knew it was safe, he entered the shed and quickly closed the door.

He let his disguise loosen and his horn became visible again as he lit it, and his heart and began casting numerous spells on the hay. The spell was quite advanced, but his magic had grown by leaps since his untimely death, lethargy runes, taste enhancing runes, milk production runes, and fullness runes worked together to form a vast spiral of tangled up magical nodes on the hay. The hay glowed a rainbow of hues while Honey Bun worked on hiding his horn back and going back to his simple farmer routine.

"Alright girls, 's dinner time." He practiced to the firewood.

He coughed and tried a deeper octave while he bundled up the hay and loaded it onto his back.

"Ay girls, 's dinner time." Much better in his opinion, just a simple-minded, harmless farm pony, no master life wizards here, just a dumb and happy farmer.

He peeked out of the shed, looking around again to ensure nobody was watching him, and galloped over to the wooden barn area. "Show time..." He whispered to himself as he opened the door.

Inside the barn, ten cows were laying in their hammocks, with their faces near their troughs and their udders hanging low. Some of the cows were sleeping, some were only half asleep, and some half awake, clearly the enchanted hay had been working to keep them tired and pacified.

"Hey, Honey Bun, you're back." One of the cows said sluggishly.

Another cow snorted and woke up, "Honey Bun's back?"

Another cow woke up, but didn't have the energy to move, Honey Bun was quick to silence the cows by offering a few words of comfort, "Shh, all ya'll jus' relax, 's dinner time."

Another cow tried to talk, but slurred her words, Honey Bun trotted around the hanging cows as quietly as he could, giving each of them a large clump of hay. He never overfed them, he gave them just enough for them to be healthy, and made sure to cast healing spells on them whenever they showed any signs of discomfort. "No talkin' now, ya'll's mouths were meant for eatin', not speakin'."

Soon the barn filled with the sound of hungry cows chewing happily as Honey Bun watched as the hay did their work, whatever meager energy the cows had mustered quickly drained away and they were soon left tired and unmotivated. He kept close sight on their eyes as they became duller and more tired.

"Can ya'll hear me?!" He shouted, nobody replied, the few who still could comprehend existence were busy eating the delicious hay Honey had brought them.

Perfect Honey Bun thought as he levitated multiple buckets underneath the udders of the cows and began milking each of them at the same time with his magic. None of the cows noticed the earth pony using magic, exactly as he planned, and his enchanted food made sure that they didn't wander off, or have enough energy or ambition to desire anything else. One bucket of milk per cow, turned into two buckets per cow, then four, eight, a dozen, they almost reached twenty buckets each, but Honey Bun learned the importance of keeping things small, and made sure that twenty buckets was a hard cap.

"Wondeful, now I can make some more butter, cheese, and milk for storage." He said to himself as he poured the milk into large milk jugs, before putting the jugs into a wheelbarrow, for easier transporting.

With the cows taken care of, he wheeled out the milk and brought them into his store room.

The store room was dark, and unreasonably full, wine casks, jars of honey, jars of jam, butter, cheese wheels, milk jugs, bags of flour, sugar, and cocoa, and numerous bottles of grape juice and vanilla extract lined every inch of the wall and most of the floor. The room smelled like a bakery, and though dark, was pleasant to be in. Before Honey Bun could begin refining the first milk jug into more butter however, he could sense someone approaching the farm.

Two feet, short, gives off a slight pyromancer feel... Spike is approaching.

Spike reminded Honey Bun of himself when he was a child, before he became an impromptu field medic under the headmaster, and did enjoy speaking with the young drake. Honey Bun entered his house and began setting the table in his dining room. It wasn't as luxurious as the one he had back at his villa in the university, but it was functional. Walking over to his cupboard, he pulled out a dozen bottles of grape juice and a pie.

It was polite to offer guests food and drink when they visit, but that was not the sole reason Honey Bun made sure to prepare a meal for Spike. Honey Bun was a master of life magic, one of the greatest in fact, and had spent many years of his life in dedicated research to that particular subject. With his years of research, came years of isolation, years of being alone. He wasn't sure how exactly friendship worked, so he tried his best to buy friendship with food.

Honey heard a knock on the door and pretended he was deeper into his house by stomping in place, to give the effect that he was walking to the door, before actually approaching the door and opening it up.

Hello?" He pretended he didn't know who was at the door, before looking down and meeting Spike's eyes, "Oh, Spike! Come on in." Honey moved to the side to let the drake enter his home, this was not the first time Honey had let Spike inside.

"Mmmm... what's that smell?" The drake asked, a dreamy expression on his face.

"Pie, I know pies don't usually call for grapes... it's a new recipe I've been working on." Honey Bun explained.

"May I?" Spike asked, hopeful to get at least a slice.

"Please, help yourself." Honey exclaimed, much to the dragon's delight as he sat at the table and scarfed down a slice.

Honey Bun sat opposite to Spike and cut off a piece for himself, and another piece for Spike before serving them both. Spike quickly devoured the second slice and Honey pushed a bottle of grape juice over to him before putting a third slice on his plate.

"So, what's been going on, Spike?" Honey asked, enjoying the company.

"Hmm?" Spike grunted, his mouth full of grapes, "Oh, yeah," He swallowed, "Did Pinkie Pie order a cake from you?"

She had indeed, instead of doing it in person, she just sent him a letter. A little back and forth, and they came to an agreement, one large red velvet cake, for two bits.

"Yeah, I was glad that I didn't have to talk to anyone." Honey Bun said with a laugh.

"You know, she didn't share a single slice with me, I didn't even know about the cake until they had already eaten it all." Spike was clearly upset.

"Oh, I'm sorry Spike... would you like a cake?" Honey offered politely.

Spike twiddled his claws and with a bashful smile said, "Could I?"

"Of course, what are friends for, you wait here, and help yourself to another slice of pie while I fetch one from the freezer." Honey said, leaving the drake to grab multiple bottles of grape juice and down them like they're going out of style.

The freezer room was on the opposite side of the living room, and was unfortunately small, but it was fine, there weren't any cakes back here anyway. Honey Bun locked the freezer door and lit his heart.

Ever since his death, his power had only grown stronger, His eyes glowed a bright green, "If Spike wants a cake, he'll get a cake."

Unnatural magic began to fashion itself in front of Honey Bun's horn, a red velvet cake was quickly enlarged and layered with thick icing, before being added by a second duplicate layer, then a third, then a smaller layer, and another. Heat escaped Honey Bun's nostrils as he imbued the cake with a magical heat that despite chill of the freezer, left the cake toasty warm, as if it was fresh from the oven. Little yellow roses lined the cake icing as it grew thicker and more slathered with cream cheese. Finally, Honey Bun relaxed his horn and hid it back, ready to bring the newly conjured cake back to Spike.

Returning to the kitchen, Spike dropped his bottle of grape juice when he saw the cake Honey was carrying on his back. "I can feel how warm it is from here." The drake said, salivating. Honey slid the cake onto the table for Spike.

Even though Spike really wanted to dig into the cake, he controlled himself and said "You should have the first slice, Honey Bun, since you worked so hard on it."

Honey Bun cleared his throat and said, "Nah, I'm watching my figure."

"But, your food doesn't have any calories in it..." Spike said, shocking Honey Bun.

It was true of course, Honey Bun's food was enchanted to be healthy yet overwhelmingly delicious, it has no calories, whatever isn't used to provide energy to the body simply evaporates and is excreted through the eater's pores. He just couldn't remember telling Spike that.

"Who told you that my food didn't have calories?" Honey asked while serving a large slice of cake to his draconian guest.

"Twilight did, after she saw how much I liked your grape juice, she analyzed a sample she took from one of the bottles. You should've seen her face when she realized that despite how good the juice is, it only has one ingredient, grapes." Spike said, before digging in to his slice of cake.

"Oh," His voice was muffled due to the cake. "The girls wanted me to come inside and ask you if they could meet you."

Honey shot to his hooves, "What, they're outside? I didn't sens— I didn't know your friends were coming with you, I'm afraid I don't have enough food for everyone." He dashed over to the window and moved the curtains to look outside, Twilight and her friends weren't there.

"They're a ways away, but... you could really use some more friends in your life, Honey Bun." Spike said with a smile.

"I got a farm house this far from the town specifically so I could be away from everyone, Spike."

"Woah, you really don't want to meet them, do you?"

"I'd much rather not, it's getting late, and I really am not ready for a crowd." It was a lie, Honey Bun was afraid that the ponies would be able to tell who he was even with his disguise on.

Spike looked concerned at his friend, before sighing, "Alright, but soon, you're going to have to make some friends."

"I know... I know." Honey said, his ears fell for a minute, before he placed his hoof on the saddlebag where the Idol of Boreas was stored and his ears rose swiftly at the prospect of getting to study such an important artifact.

Author's Note

Tell me what you think. :twilightsheepish:

Magical Studies and a Return to Form

Honey and Spike sat in Honey's living room, Spike, now full, stated, "They're gonna start wondering what's taking me so long."

The drake looked outside while seated on the couch. All in all, he was having a pretty good time, Honey never talked much about anything, but he was always glad to have Spike over, and was okay with Spike eating his food, and relaxing. He just wished Honey had more friends than just himself. A hermit by definition, Honey rarely left his farm, and nopony had ever seen him around town except for the mayor, who couldn't quite recall the event in full.

"Why don't you want to see to see them? Spike asked, never rising from his leaned-back position on the couch.

"I told ya, It's late." Honey reasoned swiftly.

Spike looked at Honey with a soft expression of sadness, "I know you're nervous about meeting them, but you really shouldn't be. Applejack may be upset about you opening a farm in Ponyville, but once she gets to know you, I know they'd all be happy to have you as a friend."

"I think I'd prefer, to stay, inside." Honey half-sang robotically.

"You don't have to go out to them, I can bring them in here to you." Spike said with a small smile.

"I-I just can't." Honey said, shaking his lowered head.

The two sat in silence for a minute, Honey, hoping that Spike would leave the subject, and Spike, wanting to integrate Honey into his immediate friend group and get him out of his shell.

"What about other ponies in general? There's gotta be somepony in Ponyville you could hang out with."

"Growing tired of me already?" Honey said jokingly.

"No!" He said, a bit louder than he meant, "I just don't want you to only have one friend."

Honey had never had real 'friends' before Spike. In truth, he still might not. When he was human, he was either admired for his skill, or feared for his skill. Here on Equss, he had one, Gilded Spear, who was under the effects of harmony magic, and left as soon as Honey had lost that same magic. Honey never revealed much to Spike, but he assumed that Spike just hung out with him because of the free food.

"How about..." Honey's mind raced with possibilities, "Tomorrow evening, you and the elements come over here for a... dinner party... I'll whip up plenty for ya'll to eat, and we can... get to know each other proper."

"You're sure your ready for all that?" Spike asked, glad Honey was making an effort, but afraid he might try to bail.

"Positive, I'll make the best dinner in all of Equestria!" Honey proclaimed, clearly nervous.

"And you'll be actually talking to them." Spike reminded.

Honey smiled nervously and answered with an agreeable grunt.

"Alright, I'll let them know..." Spike said, sliding off the couch and walking over to the kitchen, "Around seven?"

Honey stopped and thought, "Eight? Eight would be better."

"Perfect, eight o' clock, we'll be there."

Spike left the house, Honey was filled with relief that he wouldn't have to meet them tonight, but knew that tomorrow, he'd either have to throw a dinner party for the people who are likely to know who he was, or... leave town. Thinking for a second, he reasoned that moving to Las Pegasus wouldn't be so bad.

He considered it, but shook his head, and put that idea on a shelf for later. Now though, he had an idol to study and test.

Behind the staircase in his living room, there was a very small alcove, only big enough to hold a bookshelf. It was filled with books that to an outside observer, were all different. Honey, however, knew that they were all blank. Out of sight, out of the way, and locked away with a glass door, it wouldn't be difficult to break into it, but who would? Even if someone did break into it, who knew the passcode?

Five shelves of books, a dozen books on each. Honey unlocked the glass door and pushed a few books further into the shelf in the order from top to bottom, 2-2-4-7-5.

An audible click was heard, and Honey pushed on the bookshelf to reveal a secret passageway leading to a basement that nobody knew about.

Laboratory, sweet laboratory, Honey thought as he entered and closed the bookshelf door behind him.

Another click was heard, as the door reset itself right, pushing the books back up in line with the others, closing the door, and locking itself back up automatically.

Research Notes on Item:

Local Name: The Idol of Boreas

Artificer Name: Idol of Order

Level: Grand-Master

The Idol of Order is one of the most treasured artifacts of Griffonstone, responsible for the unification of the Griffon Kingdom. It's a golden statue forming a wing and a base shaped like a griffon talon with an orange spherical gemstone in the center.

After scanning the artifact, traces of order magic were discovered, one of the most powerful forms of magic in recorded history, a magic that has unfortunately been lost to time. Were these traces any bigger, I'd put the threat level higher, the years have not been kind to it however. As I have no capacity for order magic, I've no ability to truly repair the idol to it's full strength. For fear of breaking the artifact, I have decided not to siphon the order magic out for studying until tests are concluded.

Scribbling away on some parchment, Honey wrote down the complex and foreign magic that allowed the idol to work and how to recreate it.

The Idol of Order is a union of Griffonian craftsmanship, and enchanted by a vastly powerful order mage, perhaps even a master of order magic. Since nobody has interrupted this research, I can assume that either they don't know I have it, they don't care that I have it, or that they're dead, there is truly no way of knowing.

Magical Effects

A. The Idol's true form is to unite, to bring order where there is chaos, to bring divided people together in a common goal. Despite the many years it has been lost, and the small amount of remaining order magic, it would still find this a relatively easy goal.

B. The Idol, with a bit of tampering, could also be used to control another being, some form of 'happy slavery' if done properly. It would likely have mixed results, and would find it difficult to control those experiencing strong emotions, such as hatred or rage. If the idol is to be used for mind control, it is recommended to use it in small doses, one creature at a time, and repeated use on one person to ensure the control sticks.

Uses for the Magical Effects

A. In the event I must flee from Equestria and leave the kingdom, Griffonstone may make a good place to lay low, with the idol, I can unite the griffons to my cause, and ensure that they keep me hidden from Celestia and Luna.

B. Using the idol to control will have mixed results and I wouldn't outright recommend it, but in the odd case where a single individual needs to be 'convinced' that my way is best, the idol will do in a pinch.

Artifact is ready for experimentation.

End of Notes

In the Golden Oaks Library, Twilight was doing some late night reading, while Spike was half-focused on assisting her. The young drake seemed to move a bit slower, like his mind was somewhere else.

"Are you okay, Spike?" Twilight asked, looking away from her book.

Spike held his hands together, "Yeah... I just um..." The fins on the side of his head were hanging low, Twilight understood this as a sign that Spike was sad about something.

Thinking she knew what was going on, Twilight said, "I'm sorry Rarity didn't notice your scales were polished. She was just focused on this whole Honey Bun debacle."

Spike faked a smile, "Yeah..." He said.

In truth, Spike was looking back on all the times he went to Honey Bun's farm. He would be welcomed in, Honey would have something cooking, and Spike would eat, sometimes Honey would join in, and he would ask Spike questions.

How'd your day go?

What's been going on with you?

How ya feelin, bud?

Spike would answer, eat some more, answer another question, eat some more, he'd talk about himself, Twilight, Canterlot, and his adopted family. For some reason, Honey paid much closer attention when Spike talked about his fire breath, though.

But Honey never talked about where he was from, if he had any family, even how his day went... and he always wore that outfit that covered most of his body.

Spike was cut off from his thoughts when he felt grape juice going down his throat. Looking around, he found himself standing in front of the cupboard, with a bottle of Honey Bun's grape juice in his hand. There was something about it, he couldn't quite understand. The sweet smell of the grapes did little to aid his sour mood, he had first hand experience when it came to hermits who never leave their house.

Spike looked over to Twilight, who went back to reading her book. If it wasn't for Princess Celestia outright ordering Twilight to make friends, she may still be a hermit today.

I wonder If I could convince Princess Celestia to send Honey Bun a letter?

Gulping down the remainder of his grape juice, Spike walked back over to Twilight, who decided at that point to start speaking.

"It sure was nice of Honey Bun to invite us all over for dinner. Especially since he's already done so much for us." Twilight said, reading her book.

While Honey never talked about himself, he made sure Spike never left hungry or empty-clawed. He would insist on Spike bringing cheese, butter, honey, milk, sugar, flour, or whatever else Honey had at the time home with him. Spike was surprised when he found out that Honey didn't really sell his food though.

Maybe he gives his food to me for free so it doesn't go bad, Spike thought. Thinking back on it though, the food always tasted fresh and very delicious. It was as if Honey sprinkled goodness on everything he made.

"Yeah, I guess I'm just realizing how little I really know about him." Spike said, sitting down on the stairs.

"Oh?" The unicorn mare said, turning away from her book for the second time in one night, a new world record.

"I realize that I've never actually asked him about himself, here I've told him a lot about my own life, but I know next to nothing about his." Spike was conflicted, he wanted to learn more about his friend, but also didn't want to pry too much and risk Honey Bun not wanting to be his friend anymore.

"Well, tomorrow night, we'll all ask him a few questions, you know Applejack will be thorough."

Spike would like for Twilight and Honey Bun to get along with each other, after all, if Honey was friends with him, why wouldn't he be friends with Twilight?

"You say that now, but once you taste some of his cooking, you might not be able to think of much else." Spike warned, which Twilight easily dismissed.

"I know his food is good, but I have eaten the food you bring home many times, and my brain still functioned normally afterwards."

"The food he makes himself is a lot better than the food he gives away, I can say that from experience." Spike warned again.

"I highly doubt it could be that good, Spike. Princess Celestia has some of the best chefs in Equestria working under her, remember, and none of them could produce anything that could mentally impair somepony."

Spike had to admit, Twilight had a point. If he had not eaten Honey's cooking himself, he may have started thinking that he was overexaggerating. But, he had eaten Honey's food, and knew the dangers, he hoped that the food made for tomorrow wouldn't have the same effect on them as it did on him.

Honey looked at himself in the mirror, his cloak covered his body from the neck down, and only a small section at the bottom revealed his hooves, so he didn't trip while walking. He didn't like his look or his name, and wished he had chosen something else, but it was too late, he had settled into this unfortunate role. The stallion looked around and listened for any noise that might even suggest that someone was watching him. Though he knew he was probably safe, his doors locked, his curtains pulled, and his lights dimmed.

His heart lit, and he returned his horn to his head before looking it over. It was no different than when he was a unicorn, spiraled for easy conducting, pointed, and of average length. He gripped his cloak with his magic and untied it before folding it neatly and setting it into his light yellow wardrobe.

The wings he had woken up with a few months ago shook for a second, glad to be out from under his cloak. Honey had never flown before, and since getting his new wings, had still never tried. Being in the air put him at a severe disadvantage, since he was a theurgist, and he would find it more difficult to cast complex spells in the air.

His light brown leather-esque armor held onto his frame, it's many pockets still full of travelling gear for his journey this morning. The armor was collared at his neck and went down to his hind legs, covering his thighs, specifically to hide his cutie mark. Although it looked leather in nature, it was in truth crafted from plant fibers there were heavily enchanted to help him avoid detection in regards to his magic. He grasped the zipper of his armor, and took it off before tossing it on top of his wardrobe.

His disguise was near perfect, his dull blue eyes and brown fur made him nearly impossible to place his true identity, the only thing his magic would not work on however, was his cutie mark. A leaf, burned on one end and rotted on the other, with a crackle of lightning shooting through it. No spell or illusion would change or cover it, so he had to make due. He cast off his disguise and stared at the past.

The dull blue eyes he had carefully picked to give him a dumber look, were replaced with the vibrant and experienced eyes of a wizard, eyes that had seen more than what they initially let on to any who'd look into them. His brown fur changed into a bright forest green, where his mane and tail turned changed into a slightly darker forest green.

Where once stood Honey Bun the farmer, a new pony now stood. Sugar Hoof, Prince of Equestria, King of Treants, The Foal of the Everfree, Slayer of the Storm King, looked at himself. Most of his thralls were dead, his 'kingdom' was destroyed, and he had gotten no closer to his goal: immortality.

He could feel it, inside of himself, that his aging process was slowed to a creep. It would take a thousand years for him to grow a single year, but he would age, if something more powerful came along and it wanted him dead, he would die.

A perk of becoming an alicorn, no doubt, he thought.

He had discovered plenty of ways to increase one's lifespan, magical fruits that would make you one day younger, the fountain of youth that would restore years to your life, flowers that could be traded past the veil of death for resurrection, an elixir that made you half a year younger. What he sought after, was a one-and-done, immortality effect, never aging, never dying, immune to all forms of ill.

He touched his chest and felt the muscles underneath. When he awoke underground after the Green Desert Incident, he found he was stronger, faster, more muscular. He was never an athletic person, his magic was his weapon of choice, but thanks to his alicornism, the strength inherent in every earth pony was similarly in him. He was not truly upset by this, if anything he wanted to take better care of himself, after all, he's now guaranteed to be 'in it for the long haul.'

Sugar Hoof looked at his clock, and was surprised by how late it had gotten. He had an unfortunately busy day tomorrow. Buying exercise equipment, enchanting his home to ensure nothing happened at the dinner party, cooking for the dinner party, and he also needed to see about testing the Idol of Boreas out, specifically the control aspect of it. He figured Spike would be a perfect candidate, assuming he could get him away from his friends after dinner, he knew better than to try and mind control them, but Spike, if he could set up the runes, get his stomach full, he might just be able to work it out.

The bed called for him, and Sugar had no intention of denying it. He unceremoniously fell into it, and wrapped himself up like a burrito, before slowly falling asleep, planning for tomorrow.

He was sure he could find someone in Ponyville who had some exercise equipment, he wondered if he could convince anyone to trade for it, he was a bit short on bits, if he couldn't, he may have to test the idol earlier. His very walls would need to be enchanted, and the food needed to be magnificent, for tomorrow. He knew that the element bearers must be left content and relaxed, to keep them off his trail, there are no enemies at the dinner table, after all.

His thoughts slowed and grew darker as the warm peacefulness of sleep eventually took hold.

Author's Note

I rewrote this chapter three times.

Meticulous Planning to Dinnertime

The early morning swiftly arrived and Thunderlane had work to do. Make breakfast, get his brother, Rumble, to school, and head off to work. It wasn't easy, being the stallion of the house. But after their parents had passed away, there wasn't much choice. He could always just fake sick again if he had to, he had done it plenty of times before. What are they gonna do, fire him from the weather team?

Rumble was still asleep, meaning that Thunderlane could whip up some breakfast for the two of them without interruption. I'm thinking... pancakes. He thought as he entered the kitchen and got out the pancake mix, butter, syrup, oil, and their mom's frying pan. He mixed up the batter in a glass measuring cup kept by the sink before looking into the mix. ,It was missing something. Blueberries.

He pulled out the already opened bag of blueberries from the cupboard and added a hoof full to the mix. If breakfast was just for him, he wouldn't bother to fry it, he would just eat it like this. A groaning sound was heard from the doorway as Thunderlane poured the mix onto the pan, Rumble was awake.

"Mornin', champ." Thunderlane called to the still blurry-eyed colt.

"gbmrbg," replied Rumble, softly.

Twenty minutes later, the two brothers sat at the table, half done with breakfast.

"So how's school been going?" Thunderlane asked.

Rumble rolled his eyes, he did not want to have this conversation, "Same old, same old." Rumble grumbled.

"Learning another good?" Thunderlane asked, amazed at the similarities between this conversation and every conversation they've had for the last few weeks. He would try to talk to Rumble, Rumble would get upset, and that would usually be it. Rumble never really talked much, and the only thing Thunderlane knew he as interested in was flying.

"Nah." Rumble said, his mood clearly souring at the mention of school. Rumble was under the firm belief that whoever invented school ought to be jailed for crimes against foals. Homework, tests, worksheets, and her, he cringed at the thought of her, not even daring to say her name for fear that she might appear.

Do I really have to go to school today?" Rumble asked.

"It won't be so bad." Thunderlane said, trying to comfort his younger brother.

"Couldn't I just pretend I'm sick?" He reasoned desperately.

"What's got you so scared, anyway?" Thunderlane asked, looking concerned.

"Who said anything about being scared? I just... have more important things to do. Whoever learns anything in school anyway?" Rumble defended

"Is that Diamon—?"

"DON'T SAY HER NAME!" Rumble screamed before looking around, fearful she'd appear.

The two brothers sat in silence after that, until it was time for Thunderlane to head to work.

"Alright, you can stay..." Thunderlane relented.

Rumble rushed forward at the speed of light and latched on to Thunderlane's hindlegs, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Thunderlane made a mental note to talk to Cheerilee later about this, but first, he needed to tell his neighbor, Flitter, that he was planning on not going to work since he has to stay home and take care of his 'sick' brother.

Rumble went back upstairs, most likely to play, while Thunderlane left their house and headed next door. Neither brother noticed the green and brown spider that was hiding in the rafter, watching everything.

Thunderlane was flying towards the Ponyville Schoolhouse, running through what he would say to Cheerilee when he arrived. Flitter had been told, and would let his boss know that he'd be out today, so he didn't have to worry about them. He was relieved he didn't have to go to work today, but wished that Diamond Tiara filly wouldn't be such a hassle. Rumble wasn't the only foal she was mean to, every foal had something mean to say about the way she treated them.

Regardless, he needed to get to the Ponyville Schoolhouse and talk to Cheerilee about it, and tell her that Rumble wasn't going to be attending, before school started.

Thunderlane... A voice called from everywhere, immediately getting the pegasus stallion's attention.

"Who's there?" He asked as fog moved in, forcing him to land on the ground.

Thunderlane... The voice called again, this time from a dark alleyway.

"Hello?" Thunderlane called, trying to peer into the darkness.

Big brother... Rumble called out of the alleyway.

"Rumble, what are you doing back there?" Thunderlane said, entering the alleyway.

It hurts, Thunderlane... Rumble said, shakily.

Thunderlane rushed into the darkness, "Rumble, where are you?" The poor stallion couldn't see anything, it was far too dark. While he couldn't see, he could certainly feel though, as four vines rose from the dirt and grabbed a hold of his hooves.

"Hey, let go!" He struggled, flapping his wings, trying to shake free, but it was no use. Thunderlane soon found himself buried from the neck down in the dirt.

"HELP!" He cried, before another vine grabbed his muzzle and forced it shut.

Suddenly, a light shined in front of the trapped stallion, revealing a golden statue of what looked like a griffon's wing. It glowed a bright green, as if a unicorn was holding it with their magic, before the magic shot directly into Thunderlane's forehead. He should have kept trying to break free, but couldn't bring himself to anymore, he felt oddly calm.

"Thunderlane." The voice said, no longer sounding like Rumble, and sounding much closer to him. A pair of perfect green hooves entered his vision and he tried to look up from his low position. What he saw was amazing. An alicorn stallion with majesty, so much perfection, this alicorn... he was worthy of Thunderlane's complete obedience.

"Thunderlane, can you understand me?" The embodiment of perfection asked.

"Yes, master." Thunderlane said, happily.

"Just... call me Sugar Hoof." The alicorn said with a slight grimace.

"Yes, Sugar Hoof."

"I need you to do something for me, Thunderlane."

"Anything."

"Your old exercise equipment, the stuff you never use anymore..." The alicorn pondered how to word this, "your old exercise equipment is a burden to you, it weighs you down, and makes your life worse."

"Yes, Sugar Hoof." Thunderlane answered without skipping a beat.

"You will load up your exercise equipment into a wagon and haul it over to Honey Bun Farms once you leave this alleyway."

"Yes, Sugar Hoof."

"You are happy and proud of yourself for doing this, it is right and good that you give your old exercise equipment to Honey Bun."

"Yes, Sugar Hoof."

Sugar Hoof was pleased with how well it was working, especially since it was his first try. He was going to ask Thunderlane nicely for his exercise gear, but thought it would be better to test the idol first. Looking into the spiraling green and brown eyes of the pegasus, he disliked the idea of using the idol on Spike more and more. Imagining Spike's eyes spiraling, a mindless smile on his face, Spike deserved better than that.

Just as he ordered, Thunderlane brought over the workout gear, and his mood visually improved after it was in Sugar Hoof's possession. The equipment was placed in the back of his newly built barn, that he built for the dinner party. In this barn, a large and strong rectangular table was standing at the center, with green cushions to act as the seats. There were eight seats in total, and a bit of leeway in the table's design designated for food and center-piece placement. The walls were painted with pretty flowers that held weak enchantments to held someone lean into relaxation and contentment. Pink, yellow, and light blue paper lanterns clouded the ceiling, all lit via magic to make up for the lack of sunlight. As a final touch, six smaller tables were placed around the large table in the center, for holding food.

Sugar wasn't exactly sure how much these ponies could eat, or what was the proper amount of food in regards to a dinner party for eight. He counted enough space for twenty seven platters in total, which he hoped would be enough.

Now let's see... six tables leaves enough room for eighteen platters, since those will require them to get out of their seat, the food placed on here should be less important than what I put on the table they'd be seated at... He thought, planning out the layout of the food. Breads, salads, pastas, hors d'oeuvre, can't forget dessert...oh, shoot. He forgot the drinks. Levitating three large metal cylinders into the room, he carefully summoned liquids to go into them, as well as conjuring the platters of food.

I really should look into this alicorn magic stuff, I certainly couldn't conjure food before, I could grow it, but never 'conjure' it. The consequences of this new-found magic was placed into the back of his mind for now, while the spots on the table were filled. Clean plates and silverware were laid out neatly at the front of each cushion, and the metal cylinders were soon filled with delicious grape juice before he got an idea.

I conjured this food and drink from seemingly nowhere... could I conjure something that isn't even on this planet? He relit his horn and drained one of the vats of it's grape juice before replacing it with a lavender liquid instead. He hesitantly sniffed at the liquid before taking a sip of it. His eyes widened as he realized his spell worked, he brought something foreign into the world. The sweet and delicious juice of the magical purple pear tasted no different in Equestria than it did back home.

"This... this requires proper and thorough testing." Sugar Hoof was excited for this, the rare purple pears were only found in a single island back home, but he just summoned some. What else could he summon? The even more rare life fruit? Death flowers? Yggdrasil fruits? What was possible, what wasn't? He looked down, his excited mood suddenly shifting. "What wasn't possible? Am I even me anymore... who was I before?" He tried to remember his face, but he noted that many of his facial features were simply lacking definition. The human he remembered looked old and was wearing a green robe.

"Every wizard wore their colors, a theurgist wears green for the same reason a thaumaturgist wears light blue." The alicorn in disguise looked around the barn at the party room he had set up.

"Am I still a theurgist? Have I gone beyond my station? Am I even still myself?... I know I'm not human anymore." He sat on the floor and pondered himself.

He levitated a black metal stein over to the purple pear juice and filled it up. Drinking from the stein, he said in a soft voice, "Just how powerful am I? I knew my power only grew by the day since the treants infected the planet's core... I'm only going to get stronger... I don't even know who or what I am anymore." He set the stein on the ground, no longer caring for it. "No, focus on your work, attaining immortality is the only goal worthy of your time." At least I certainly have the magical strength to accomplish that goal, He thought, gaining confidence by burying his fear with work. "Just find the secret to immortality, and the rest is unimportant." He breathed a sigh of relief as he finished his preparation for the party.

The barn was decorated, he had food, seating, and drinks. What else could be needed for a dinner party? He trotted over to one of the glassless windows and peered up at the sky, causing an annoyed expression to grow on his face. It's still so early, he thought before exiting the barn and heading back to his home. Although he buried his fears in his work, he still wondered about his own power level. He was a master of theurgy when he arrived on this planet, but now? His magical strength had only increased thanks to his treants breaking the laws of nature. Unfortunately for himself and the rest of the world, he had no idea how to reverse or halt the corruption of the planet's core. He didn't even know what Poplar and Birch used when they started it, and with Poplar dead and Birch missing, he was at a dead end.

"Nobody will mind if performed some medical exams on myself..." He said as he wandered back to his home, intent on finding out who he was after everything he had been through since arriving in Equestria.

Sweet Apple Acres was abuzz with activity, stallions pushing snow plows went over the snow-covered ground in order to prepare for Spring. Twilight was attempting to work one of the snow plows herself, while Spike and Applejack stood off to the side.

"At this rate, we won't get anything planted in time." Applejack said sadly.

"I know it's tradition, but if the unicorns just used their magic, it could really make things run smoother." Spike suggested.

"We ain't never needed magic, an' we don't need it now." She glared at the dragon. "Not that ah could expect much better out of you."

Spike looked at Applejack incredulously, "Is this still about the grape juice thing?"

"How could anyone prefer grapes to apples? It just 'taint right." She declared.

Spike sighed, "I already told you, I don't prefer grapes to apples, I like both of them, y'know, equally."

"That's a lie, Spike, and you know it." It wasn't a lie.

"What are you two arguing about?" Twilight asked, leaving the snow plow behind once she heard the argument.

"There's only room for one farm in Ponyville, Twilight, mine or his." Applejack said, pointing a hoof in the direction of Honey Bun's farm.

"Are you still upset about that? Both of your farms don't even produce the same things." The book mare reasoned.

"It's the truth, there has only ever been room for one farm in Ponyville." Applejack growled.

APPLEJACK! An elderly voice shouted from a few acres away.

"Ah shoot, what now?" Applejack said as she left Twilight and Spike and headed to her farmhouse.

"Man, she's really worried about Honey's farm, huh?" Spike said, concern on his face.

"I"m sure it's not as bad as it sounds, after tonight, they'll talk, and everything will be fine." Twilight stated, sure of it.

Spike turned and looked at the snow plow, "I'm sorry you couldn't help them clear the snow, Twilight."

Twilight waved a hoof dismissively before walking closer to her assistant, "Oh well, I'll have to find some other way to help out, come on, Spike." The two of them went off in the direction of Fluttershy's Cottage in hopes that the timid pegasus would need Twilight's help to wrap-up winter.

Back at the Sweet Apple Acres Farmhouse, Granny Smith was sitting on the front porch in her rocking chair. Her face had a serenity to it that nobody else in the Apple Family had seen since Honey Bun Farms opened. Ever since Ponyville had a farm not owned by the Apple family, Granny Smith had been worried that her business would falter. Bits were tight around there, everyday it seemed like something was breaking down or falling apart, and they just didn't have the ponies nor bits to keep up with everything. Everything was fine for now, so long as Honey sold only luxury items and stayed out of the apple market. When Applejack approached, she expected to see her grandmother like she had been, nerves shot and mane frazzled, but she looked positively peaceful.

"Granny, ya'll hollered?" Applejack asked quizzically, slightly alarmed at her grandmother's serene state.

"Applejack, dearie, Ah think ah've come up with the solution to this whole," She waved a green hoof in a circle, "Honey Bun situation."

Applejack's eyes brightened, "That's great, what have ya got?"

"Ya'll meetin' this feller tonight, ain'tcha? For that dinner party?" Granny Smith asked with a coy smile.

"We sure are, Ah was plannin' on confrontin' him myself tonight."

"Don't go doin' that now, we don't wanna scare him away." Granny Smith said, throwing Applejack for a loop.

"But he's a threat to the farm." Applejack tried to reason.

"He's also a wonderful farmer." Granny stated matter-of-factly.

"He's a.. how would you know, you ain't never met 'im."

"Don't need to meet 'im, Ah can look at his soil and know that he knows what he's doing. All it takes is lookin' at his soil, Whatever it is that he does to it, really makes a difference."

"Then shouldn't we be tryin' extra hard to scare him off? He might be a bigger problem than the Pears."

Granny Smith's voice hitched in her throat as a tear formed in her eye, but she quickly choked it back and said, "No, he's already gone through all the trouble of fixing up and maintaining the land his farm is on, we don't need to scare him, we need to add him to the family."

"Granny, ya'll can't be serious." Applejack said with her annoyance clear in her voice.

"Ah am serious, he's too good of a farmer to let go. Why, if we could learn how he tends the soil, we'd be producin' ten times the amount o' apples we are now."

"Ya'll want me to chase after 'im? I ain't never even met him, and I certainly don' much like 'im." Applejack said with a stomp.

"This is how the Apple Family has always done it, why do you think no other farm settles in places where we are? We charm 'im, and add them to the family." Granny Smith said with equal levels of anger. "He lives by himself, works by himself, and never goes into town, whenever he does leave, anyone who actually sees it, mainly pegasi, say he slinks off like a hurt puppy, he'll fall head over hoof, easy."

"What if'n he likes stallions?" Applejack reasoned, looking for anything she could use to avoid having to go out with Honey Bun.

"If'n he's a coltcuddler, I'll send a letter to your cousin, Braeburn. Either way, we need to know what he's doin there, and Ah doubt he's gonna give up his secrets willingly."

Big Macintosh watched his sister and grandmother argue, thankful that he didn't have to go out with anybody.

5364...

5365...

5366...

5367...

Sugar Hoof was sitting on the rocky floor of his basement laboratory, watching the number slowly rise in intervals.

5368, read the scroll. He had cast a few medical spells on himself to see if he could gauge his current power level. Before he came to Equestria, he was a powerful 130, and was considered one of the top theurgists in the world, with a power level 5369, he'd likely be able to hold his own against his old headmaster.

The disguised alicorn stared at the parchment in disbelief, every second that passed, he grew stronger. "That... that can't be good." He whispered to himself as he rose to his hooves and paced around the room.

More than likely, this is because the treants started corrupting the planet's core. If that is the case, once it's entirely changed, my power level will stagnate. Sugar made the motion of stroking his beard by habit before he remembered that he no longer had a beard.

Goodness, they could've just destroyed the planet from doing that, and who even knows what the earth's core corrupting is doing to any creature who relied on pyromanc... Spike. His eyes widened in concern.

A large source of fire magic is being slowly corrupted into life magic, any dragon on this planet would likely get a major loss of power in their fire breath! He shuddered at the thought. I may be responsible for Spike's fire breath eventually faltering! Every dragon will suffer because of me! He held his head in thought.

He began shivering before he forced his back to straighten and he began taking deep breaths to steady his nerves. Alright... alright, I'm certain I can devise a solution for ensuring Spike's fire breath remains. He slowly grew calmer. And the other dragons, who cares, they simply won't be able to use their fire breath and will probably lose some of their resistance to fire. He stopped shivering as he pushed his emotions back and focused on making sure the one dragon he knew and cared about was okay.

"Right, a source of fire magic that can be ingested would be the best case scenario." Sugar Hoof said to himself as he walked over to his alchemy table and procured some lava cream and rubies. Despite his attempts to push his emotions aside, he couldn't stop the image of baby dragons asking their parents why they couldn't breathe fire anymore. He grimaced at himself before he slammed his head into the rock wall, in order to focus himself.

"They don't matter. They aren't you, they aren't Spike, they don't matter." He said to himself as he clutched the rocks on the wall, anger clear on his face as images of not only dragons, but the innocent citizens of the storm kingdom, the ponies of Appleloosa, even those griffon bandits, passed through his mind. Their cries, their fear, their pain all came back to him. Sugar Hoof seethed as he stared at them, repeating the phrase, "They don't matter. They don't matter. They don't matter."

Eventually, no new images plagued his mind, and tranquility returned to his cottage. He took in a deep breath and smiled, "Perhaps I will use the Idol of Boreas on Spike after all. If Pyromancy is about to receive a major debuff, perhaps I should work on converting Spike from a pyromancer into a theurgist." His smile grew, he liked the idea as he reached into the case where the Idol was kept.

"Spike the Theurgist Dragon, heh, I like it." He was pleased with himself so much, that he didn't even remember that dragons are predisposed to fire due to being one of the first magic casters in the known universe, and that if he removed the pyromancy from Spike, he would be hindering his dragon aspects.

"I'll see about getting him over here every night, Birch mentioned that if one was to eat my magic, they would began changing mentally and physically, I just need to make sure the magic begins replacing his inherent pyromancy with theurgy." He rushed to put the lava cream and rubies back, and instead got some emeralds out of a chest in the corner.

"A few of these, heavily enchanted, he'll be just fine." He knew he could easily hinder the magic's effects on his mind, and the mutations would be easily cured.

Winter Wrap-Up had ended much smoother than it had in recent years thanks to Twilight's organizational skills, the town was so thankful to her, that they gave her a special vest that shared the colors of all the teams. After a day of hard work, the six mares and the drake walked over to Honey Bun Farms.

"That sure was some quick thinking, Twilight!" Pinkie said, bouncing around the purple mare with glee.

"Yeah, without you, we'd still be working." said Rainbow Dash, thankful that they had finished on time.

"Really girls, It was no problem." Twilight stated with a modest smile.

Suddenly, a gurgling noise came from Rainbow Dash's stomach. "Sure hope Honey Bun's food is as good as Spike says it is." Another gurgling sound, "And that he made a lot."

"If I know anything for sure about Honey Bun, it's that he makes way too much food." Spike said smugly.

Applejack was at the front of the group, walking a bit faster than the rest of the girls and still thinking about what Granny Smith had told her earlier. Don't scare 'im, charm 'im. Applejack wasn't looking forward to it, she wasn't even into stallions, not that she'd ever told anybody. She loved her family however, and would do whatever was best for their sake. She hoped Honey Bun was gay too, Braeburn could use a farm pony in his life, and not another pegasus show-boat.

As the group drew closer to the farm, they noticed how the farmhouse's lights were all off, but the lights in one of the barns were very bright. Though they could not think about it all too much, the smell of food that was wafting from that barn was too heavenly to resist.

The group had all settled into their seats and dug in quickly. Steins were emptied many times and immediately refilled, seemingly by magic, and whenever one of their platters got low, the pony behind the plate would blink and find it refilled again. Sugar Hoof's enchantments had worked like a charm, they were all too content and relaxed to notice all the blatant impossibilities that were going on around them, and as soon as they started eating, they weren't going to be finding out anything anytime soon. Sugar sat at the front of the table, with Spike on his left, Applejack on his right , and watched the elements.

Rarity had overdressed for the occasion, her beautiful and formal dress was getting a few crumbs on it due to her eating so fast, despite her attempting to keep up appearances by eating formally. Pinkie Pie ate as fast as the magic could replace her food, and soon had the food just refilling into her mouth. Even Applejack, who had come into the barn with a chip on her shoulder, was soon eating the food with a smile. Rainbow Dash was soon eating five fritters at a time before downing a stein or two of cider.

"So how is it, everypony?" Honey Bun asked as he watched everyone.

Grunts of agreement and thanks resounded from the room and Honey started teleporting enchanted emeralds onto Spike's plate. As soon as Spike saw them, a noise that could be described as joyful escaped his draconic lips and he began scarfing the emeralds down. Flecks of drool soon splattered onto the ground from his overzealous eating, and Sugar was thankful that nobody noticed.

The night carried on for half an hour, before everybody stopped eating. The mares gave thanks to Honey for his incredible cooking and talking took the place of eating. A hoof was soon placed in front of Honey and Applejack finally spoke.

Ya'll live by yerself out here, right?" She asked Honey, no longer feeling as angry as she had now that she's actually tasted his cooking.

"Yep, just me, the cows, and the chickens." Honey said with a smile.

Applejack usually would've been more tact, but the runes on the walls and floor had done a good job of making her loosen up, "Plannin' on getting yerself a wife or husband any time soon?"

Honey's eyes widened, and Applejack was sure she could see a bit of green flash in them, but wasn't too concerned about it. "I really hadn't thought about it much." Honey said, truthfully.

Honey had never had a partner, let alone a friend, his magic studies always took priority. Sure there had been some people he was interested in that he met during his many travels, but he never sought them out or anything.

"Pardon me for askin', but do ya'll prefer stallions or mare?" The apple mare said.

"Have I garnered your affections already?" Honey asked jokingly.

Applejack snorted and laughed, she knew he was a good cook, but didn't think it was worth going out with him just for a few amazing meals. "Nah, mah cousin Braeburn mentioned he was interested in ya, that'a all."

"Braeburn," Sugar whispered to himself, he remembered Braeburn, the nice stallion in Appleloosa, that his shadow treants had killed. "Oh, how is Braeburn by the way? I heard about them shadow treants that attacked Appleloosa a while back."

The others looked a bit sad as they remembered the troubles that Sugar Hoof had put them through, Spike felt bad for his friends, but Pinkie Pie's reactions is what truly put Honey off. The rest of them looked away, a hint of sadness in their eyes, Pinkie Pie put her ears down and stared directly at him instead. There was still sadness in her eyes, but it was directed right at him.

"Whatever crazy everfree magic he'd done to the town that brought everypony back to life, certainly improved everypony's outlook on life, that's for sure." Applejack said, remembering the last time she saw her cousin.

"Princess Celestia mentioned it had something to do with the harmony magic he stole." Twilight explained.

"Right... everything worked out okay in the end though, right?" Honey said, hoping to gauge their opinion on him.

"It definitely ended, everything ended. We thought he was revealing his true colors when he threatened to take over Equestria, but as we thought more about it, I think he just went a bit crazy." Twilight reasoned, to which many of her friends agreed.

"Went crazy, how so?" Honey asked with fake concern. Cursed mare, my acting was flawless!

"He started acting like he was somepony else before some... thing he made went haywire, it roasted him alive in front of us before it brought his entire underground cavern down on him. Then that mushroom cloud, everything went back to normal, it was kind've hectic."

"Yes, I was in Griffonstone when the Green Desert Incident happened, I was relieved to know that that monster was no more." Honey said with a hoof stomp.

"I don't think he was a monster, I think he was just lost." Twilight said, clearly upset.

"Lost, how could he be lost, he was in his own cavern." Sugar asked, I was never lost, I always knew the next step forward.

"Not lost underground, lost in himself. Despite having all those trees at his command, was he alone? The guard that Princess Celestia assigned to watch over him said that they rarely ever 'did' anything together. More often than not, Sugar just ordered his soldiers to treat Gilded Spear like royalty." Twilight said, looking over to each of her friends.

"Honey Bun." Pinkie said, giving puppy dog eyes to the stallion in question. "What do you think, was Sugar Hoof alone down there?"

He would not speak, he just kept his gaze on Pinkie's face, acting like he wasn't upset, acting like he didn't care, acting like his plan wasn't put into jeopardy. She knows.