A Villain Gets A Second Chance

You make your way out of the library, forgetting about learning new spells for now as your feeling of guilt intensifies at how you let her kiss you. Walking absentmindedly through town, you come to an inn on the edge of town named the 'Night Mare Inn' with a red lantern hanging from a hook in the top, right corner of an alcove window with a blonde-haired, blue-eyed mare wearing clothing which is fairly scandalous if a noblewoman would be caught in it. Heading inside, you see several mares lounging on couches beside stallions, some of the ones without a stallion by them gasp at seeing you come in seeing that two are focusing their attention on another pony with a light gray coat, light amber mane and tail with light arctic blue eyes. Seeing mares of all ages, and body types, you smile at them all, saying, "Afternoon, ladies. I saw that this establishment said Inn and assumed rooms were available to sleep in, might my assumption be wrong?"

An older mare with a black, high-class fluffy scarf and glittering earrings approaches the newcomer with a warm smile saying, "Of course we do, you are not wrong, dear. The girls are just excited to see a handsome new face around here, is it just a room you are seeking, or might I interest you in the company or services of some of my girls?"

Looking at the madam, you smile slightly and politely shake your head saying, "I find many of your girls quite attractive, but unfortunately, I only wish for a place to lay my head this night."

With a small smile, the mare nods her head and says, "It will be five bits then sir."

You reach in and dig out five bits then hand them to her with your magic and ask, "Might you have any way of keeping sound within the room? I ask because I am not a sound, or quiet sleeper if you understand my meaning."

She nods understandably and says, "I do understand, my nephew suffers from that same issue. There is one of my girls who knows a sound barrier for when she entertains customers." then looks to one of her girls and says, "Star Finder, come here please."

You spot a unicorn mare with a light aqua coat, beautiful, bright amber eyes, and an auburn mane and tail with a black line around the edges of her eyelids. Entranced by her exotic beauty, you stare at her in wonder.

Star Finder smiles at how the snow-white stallion eyes her body and looks to the madam and asks, "Yes, ma'am?"

The madam looks at her saying, "Be a dear and escort our guest here to a separate room, then cast a spell to keep the sounds within the room."

You then look at her and recall that you haven't introduced yourself and sigh saying, "Oh by the light, I have been so rude towards you. Allow me to introduce myself to you, I am Blistering Blizzard."

She then nods and smiles, saying, "I am Madame Glitter, it is certainly a pleasure to meet a pony who behaves properly." and glances over at Prince Blueblood with a brief glare before returning to her cheerful self saying, "Have a good night's sleep, Sir Blizzard." then watches as Star Finder starts leading him to a room reserved for guests just wanting a place to rest their weary heads.

Looking at Madame Glitter, you nod your head saying, "Thank you, I hope you have a good night as well." before following Star Finder toward the room. When you arrive at the room, you head toward the opened door and thank her, saying, "Goodnight Miss Finder."

She prepares to cast her spell and asks, "Are you certain that you won't be needing company tonight, sir?"

Giving her a sad smile, you sigh and say, "I appreciate the offer, miss, and I find you extraordinarily beautiful but I would only keep you awake with my troubles sleeping at night."

Star nods her head, feeling sad for the handsome stallion and says, "Very well, Sir Blizzard. Should you ever change your mind, my room is down the hall on the other side of this door. It is the one with a white star on it, so you won't miss it." She then casts the spell on the room and starts making her way towards her own, looking over her left shoulder at him while in front of the open door saying, "Goodnight, I wish that you have at least a few hours of uninterrupted sleep tonight."

You watch her go through the door and close it behind her and sigh thinking, 'So do I, but villains like me are never allowed to sleep peacefully...especially when I remember everything that I've done.' Making your way to the bed in the room, you set your saddlebags off to the side before pulling one corner of the bedsheets back. You then climb onto the bed and pull the covers back over you saying, "Let the restless night begin..."

Meanwhile, at Canterlot Castle's throne room...

Celestia looks at her sister with concern as she asks, "Are you sure you're ready to return to your nightly duties, sister?"

Luna looks at her sister and smiles saying, "We appreciate thy concern sister, but we need to tend to our citizens as they dream and keep them safe from nightmares."

Still looking at her sister with worry, she asks, "What made you change your mind, was it that handsome stallion I saw you speaking with earlier?"

A blush creeps across her cheeks as she shakes her head saying, "Wha? N-No, we just realized what is more important to us and do not want to fail our citizens again."

Celestia then smiles at her sister and hugs her affectionately, saying, "Make our subjects happy to have someone guarding their dreams from nightmares as they rest their weary heads at night. Goodnight, dear sister."

Luna hugs her back for a few moments before letting go and watching her leave, wondering how best to start her duties. She then remembers how she used to put up lavender bundles throughout the castle after sunset and heads toward the doors saying in the royal voice, "Guard, Please bring enough lavender bundles for me to place throughout the castle!" then hears the guard outside acknowledge her order and gallop off.

Once she gets the bundles placed around the castle, she returns to the throne room and orders the guards to inform her of any arrivals as she will be patrolling the Dream Realm shortly. Making her way to the throne, she casts her spell to appear in the Dream Realm and sees numerous floating bubbles. She notices several are tinged with a red aura as they experience nightmares, then heads towards the first one and begins to deal with it.

As Luna deals with the numerous nightmares for what feels like several hours already, she walks towards another bubble with a red aura when she senses a strong sense of despair coming from somepony's dream. She makes her way from nightmare to nightmare over and over, noticing that the pony suffering from despair keeps waking up and falling back to sleep, just to suffer another nightmare which makes them return to wakefulness.

The cycle of waking and sleeping continues for the pony when she sees one final bubble tinged with red, and enters the dream to deal with the nightmare. Looking around with tired eyes, she smiles at seeing numerous bubbles free from the red tinge. Feeling the sense of despair returning, she begins to follow it to its source.

Luna continues walking for what feels like forever as the despair is nearly too overwhelming for her, but still, she continues on. Determined to save every subject from their nightmare, she starts to see snowflakes blow past her and watches it as it passes before her eyes, saying, "Huh, snow? How is there snow in the Dream Realm? Where is it coming from?" A few more flakes drift by her, making her turn to look at the direction they came from when one lands on her coat, causing a light, but noticeable shiver to run through her body at how cold the snowflake was and thinks, 'How could one snowflake make me shiver? I must find out what is going on...' and starts to walk in the direction as more breeze past her.

As she continues on, the snowflakes get heavier when she hears a voice whisper into her mind, 'Turn back...'

Luna stops as her mane blows in the breeze and calls out in the royal voice, "SHOW THYSELF, FOR WE ARE THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT, PRINCESS LUNA!"

The voice does not respond to her command, making her think she scared it off and continues in the direction of the drifting snowflakes. Feeling like she's walking for miles as the snowfall slowly gets heavier, her breath appears before her as she weathers the snowflakes now blowing by in a strong breeze and hears the voice whisper, 'You are not ready, Princess Luna.'.

She stops and then calls out again in the royal voice, "WHO ARE THEE AND WHAT ARE THEE DOING TO OUR SUBJECTS?!" When the voice refuses to respond, she huffs in annoyance and continues on. The temperature begins to plummet even further as her body begins to shiver, but does nothing except make Luna want to know what's happening even more. The snowfall turns into a blinding blizzard as ice starts to build up on her wings and mane, making her briefly consider turning back before shaking her head as she remembers what is important to her and trudges on through the blizzard.

Standing before the gates to Arthas's (Blistering Blizzard's) dream, Versa watches curiously as the newly returned Princess Luna reaches the outermost snowbanks and keeps pushing on while her mane and tail flow sluggishly in the blowing snow.

Thinking she sees somepony far ahead of her, she trudges through snowdrift after snowdrift. The snowdrifts soon get even higher as Luna looks up at a snowdrift six times her size and uses her magic to blast a hole through it, calling out in the royal voice once again, "WHO ARE THEE AND WHAT ARE THY INTENTIONS WITH OUR SUBJECTS?"

Shifting her body into that of an alicorn shape with no definable features, Versa finally replies in a deep, sonorous voice, "WHO I AM IS IRRELEVANT. MY INTENTIONS DO NOT DIRECTLY INCLUDE YOUR SUBJECTS, BUT YOU AND ONE OTHER WHO SHALL REMAIN NAMELESS."

Luna looks at the pony several yards ahead of her with wide eyes as she sees an alicorn shape but no features yet and keeps blasting her way through snowdrift after snowdrift calling out, "WHAT DO THEE WANT WITH US!?"

Versa smirks and replies, "TO PROTECT YOU FROM KNOWLEDGE THAT LIES BEHIND ME, WHICH YOU ARE NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO HANDLE...YET"

As she blasts away the last snowdrift, she looks up a hill to see an unidentifiable Alicorn standing on a cobblestone road splattered with blood, but what really gets her attention are the massive, black gates that make the two of them seem like ants before a mountain. In a shaking tone, Luna calls out, "WE DO NOT SEEK KNOWLEDGE, BUT WE MUST PROTECT OUR SUBJECTS FROM NIGHTMARES, LET US PASS!"

Versa shakes her head and says in a tone loud enough for her to hear, "I know who you are and what your duty is, but you are woefully unprepared for what awaits beyond those gates...so keep getting stronger and try again." and raises her hoof to return her to the waking world, saying as she brings it down hard, "Awaken now, sunrise approaches."

Luna gasps and finds herself back in the throne room, and looks around in surprise for a moment before hearing the doors open. Hastily turning her head to look, she sees her sister and gallops toward her saying, "SISTER! I HAVE MADE AN ASTONISHING DISCOVERY!"

Celestia cocks her head and asks curiously, "What would that be, sister?"

Casting a sound barrier to keep their conversation quiet, she then says, "I met another alicorn in the Dream Realm!"

Her eyes bug out of her head as she asks, "REALLY?! WHO WAS IT, WHERE ARE THEY, AND WHY HAVEN'T WE SEEN THEM UNTIL NOW?!"

The younger sister sighs and shakes her head saying, "Sadly, I could not learn much about them, but from the sound of their voice...I think it might be female."

Celestia then blinks a couple times as she then says, "At least we aren't the only three alicorns in existence, keep trying to learn more about them. So how did you come to meet this alicorn?"

The next morning

You wake up with a sigh, able to catch at most 3 hours of sleep and get up off the bed. Heading towards the door, you hesitate to open it as the guilt of all you have done to those on Azeroth threatens to crush your desire to continue on living. The only reason you finally do open the door is because of your slowly waning hope to find redemption for yourself. Making your way out of the brothel, feeling like there are millstones around your hooves, you spot a few mares awake cleaning the place up for the next night.

After making it outside, your mind is occupied by what happened the night before as you eventually find yourself outside the tree library. Something about it reminds you of the great tree Nordrassil you heard about from several others before you turned evil when you hear the door open, and hear a frightened gasp from somepony in front of you.

Twilight looks at the snow-white stallion and says, "You startled me. What are you doing here this early in the morning, Blistering Blizzard?"

From the corner of your eye, you notice that the sky is barely starting to lighten and think of an answer quickly when you remember the offer she made last night and say, "Well, you did ask me to meet you here in the morning to introduce me to your friend and then help her out with something. Since it's still before sunrise, would you be alright with letting me study a few magic books?"

She looks up at the horizon and sees that the sun hasn't even risen yet and smiles sheepishly, then laughs briefly in embarrassment saying, "Oh, how silly of me to forget mentioning that, it's not even sunrise yet!" Remembering how she kissed him brings a slight blush to her cheeks as she lightly taps her right forehoof's tip on the ground, averting her eyes before adding, "S-Sure, come on in." then turns around and starts heading inside. Leaving the door open behind her, she then quickly turns around and pokes her head out the door and narrows her eyes, hastily adding, "But NO KISSING!" then yanks her head back inside and trots towards a chair in the far corner and pulls a book from the top shelf and begins reading it.

Tapping your hooves on the outside of the tree to remove the dirt and debris, trying to keep her home clean, you then make your way into the home saying, "I never plan on kissing anypony, but it was you who kissed me." then head toward the shelves on the left side and search for a book to start reading.

Unable to stop herself from frequently looking up and looking the stallion over, she stares at him while thinking, 'What is wrong with me? It was an accident that I kissed him, I didn't even mean it...but why can't I stop myself from looking at him?'

When Spike wakes up with a belch of flame, he sees a scroll from Princess Celestia and grabs it before hurrying out of bed and racing through the door, then downstairs saying, "Twilight, Twilight, there's a message from Princess Cele...WHOA!" then trips over his own feet and tumbles the rest of the way down the stairs as the scroll is bent up.

Happy for a distraction from her thoughts, she picks him up and brings him toward her saying, "Are you okay, Spike? You really should be more careful, and watch your step when you're going down the stairs." then takes the letter as Spike tells her that he is fine and opens it, saying, "Okay, let's see what this letter says..." and reads it to herself. After reading the letter, her eyebrows rise up in surprise as she shouts, "WHAT! I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT PRINCESS CELESTIA WANTS TO GIVE YOU A REWARD FOR FINDING THOSE EXTREMELY RARE BOOKS!"

Looking up from the magic book and over at Twilight, you raise an eyebrow curiously and ask, "Those old tomes were worth something after all? That's good to hear, what's the reward?"

Her eyes still wide from the amount, she looks down at the reward again to double-check she isn't seeing things and says, "S-She wants to give you a reward of...T-Two thousand and five hundred bits!"

Hearing the amount surprises you as you rethink back to how many books you had in your saddlebags and then say, "I guess that would make sense as I had one-thousand and two-hundred and fifty books with me, which means that each book would be worth 2 bits per book. Was there a bag with the scroll, or does she need some time to collect it?"

Looking back to the letter at hearing Spike tell her there wasn't a bag that he knows of, Twilight then says, "It says here that Princess Celestia will need a little time to collect it, but will include it with a scroll when it is ready to be sent."

You return to the book with a shrug saying, "That is just fine with me, I won't be going anywhere for a little while. Would you mind if I borrow a few of these books later to study?"

Twilight then nods and puts the scroll away saying, "I don't mind at all, go right ahead." then notices the sun is up and says, "Oh, look, the sun is finally up. Let's head over to my friend's farm and lend a hoof."

You nod and put the book you were reading away as she puts her own saddlebags on and head out the door hearing, "Hop on Spike, let's go!" then watch as the small dragon climbs onto her back.

Staying quiet for most of the journey to the farm, you trail after Twilight as she stops near the orange pony you met before and notice how many apple trees are on this farm and think, 'Big farm.'

Applejack looks at Twilight with a smile saying, "Well howdy Twilight, what can ah do ya for?"

Twilight smiles and stands by Applejack saying, "Hi Applejack, I was just heading out here to hang out when I bumped into the stallion last night that we met the day before, let me introduce you to him." She then steps aside and looks at her friend while gesturing with her right hoof, saying, "Applejack, this is Blistering Blizzard." then looks from her to the stallion while gesturing with her left hoof, saying, "Blistering Blizzard, this is my friend Applejack."

The country mare looks at the stallion and smiles while holding out her right hoof saying, "Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres, it's nice to meet ya again, pardner."

You press your hoof against hers as she takes hold of it and gives it a firm shake, then shake it back, saying, "It's nice to be able to put a name to a pretty mare such as yourself."

A blush quickly appears on Applejack's cheeks as she then releases her hold on his hoof and looks down at the ground slightly, stammering, "Oh-uh-uh-th-thanks." then quickly changes the subject and says, "Since yer here, why don't we go pick some apples! Come with me yall!" as she leads them into the east orchard.

Never having picked an apple before as a pony, you then ask, "Miss Applejack, how do pick apples?"

Happy to have a question about apple farming, she smiles and then trots up to a tree and places her rear toward it, saying, "Well, ah've been doing this since ah was a filly, and what ya do is get your back hooves close enough to the apple tree and then buck the tree, using enough force to shake the tree, which causes the apples to fall off and into buckets below. Watch." then quickly lifts her back hooves up and hits the tree hard with her back hooves while shifting her tail aside, shaking the tree as her legs return to the ground and causing every apple to fall into the buckets around her. With a smile, she then faces him and says, "Then all ya do is pick up the ones that drop onto the ground and put them into the bucket, which we will then fill our saddlebags and carry them back to the barn." She then sees that he has a horn and smiles adding, "Since yer a unicorn, ya can just use magic to simply pluck 'em off and put 'em into yer saddlebag directly."

With a nod, you make your way to a tree and move your back hooves towards the tree, you test your reach by extending your rear right leg towards the tree and find that you are too close. When you make adjustments and find the proper spot to get full use from your kick, you test your aim by pushing your hips up off the ground and kicking your legs out behind you. When your legs hit the bark, you use your muscles to keep yourself there and look back to check your placement. Finding them too far apart from the center, you remember it and try again, finding your second placement much better. Deciding to give it a try, you then lift up your hips and strike the tree hard and hear a bunch of apples fall towards the ground, being caught in a lavender aura of magic and watching them being lowered into buckets nearby the tree.

After watching his first attempt, Applejack smiles and moves to another tree saying, "Ya did well on yer first try, now let's see if we can finish this orchard up before lunch!"

It takes most of the morning when your saddlebags are mostly full as you follow Applejack and Twilight towards the barn to put the apples away with the girls each carrying a set of apple baskets that are completely full, feeling the weight of how much you are carrying. Watching as Spike sits atop Twilight's back, looking for a snack and tossing out apples he doesn't like. You walk behind the girls, catching the apples and placing them into your bags before they hit the ground and bruise.

Ignoring most of their conversation, your own stomach growls when you spot Spike suddenly chomp down on an apple and chew the whole thing up. As you watch his cheeks suddenly puff out, you smirk when he lets out an enormous, fiery green belch that sends him up into the air and off of her back. When a scroll appears from the green flame and smoke, you wonder if it is in regard to the reward and watch it float down as Spike picks it up when Twilight mentions that it's a letter from the princess. Standing beside Spike, you watch him undo the seal and unroll it before starting to read it.

Spike looks at the letter and clears his voice, reading aloud, "Hear ye, hear ye. Her grand, royal highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria, is pleased to announce the Grand Galloping Gala to be held in the magnificent capital city of Canterlot on the twenty-first day of October." then mumbles the part explaining the event and resumes, "...which Her Majesty cordially extends an invitation to Twilight Sparkle plus one guest."

Cocking your head as the other girl's eyes go wide and smile happily, you ask, "The Grand Galloping Gala?"

After dancing with joy with her friend, she then looks at Blistering Blizzard and Spike saying, "I've never gone to the Gala, have you or Spike?"

When Spike says no dismissively, you shake your head and say, "I certainly have not, though it has been a long time since I have been invited to a formal event of any kind. As you hear Applejack start to talk about how much she would love to go, you then start walking off and say, "I'll take these to the barn then." and lift their baskets off of their hips and set them onto your own back before walking off down the path towards the barn.

As you approach the barn, you see a big red stallion with an orange mane and tail that stops moving barrels to look at you and say to him, "Applejack and Twilight are busy talking, so I escaped being pulled into it and took it upon myself to bring you their loaded baskets. Where would you like me to set them?"

Big Mac blinks at the tall stallion then walks forward towards the center of the barn and taps his hoof in the open spot, saying, "Here." then goes towards an empty barrel to set it nearby so he can fill it with the apples.

Using your magic to lift one of the basket sets off your back, you sigh at the lessened burden and set it before the barrel. As you watch him pick up each basket, sort through them, and dump them into the barrel, you then move the next set into the empty spot where the last set of baskets was and say, "I've got more in my saddlebags...a lot more."

As he checks the apples and empties the baskets into the now full barrel, he puts a lid on it and then pushes it against the wall. Heading back over to where the other barrels are set, he then moves two empty barrels into the center and waits for the stallion to dump the apples in, saying, "Okay."

It takes you a little effort to lift the heavy saddlebags off your back, setting it down for a moment before lifting up the flap of one side and start letting a small pile tumble gently onto the floor.

Big Mac sorts out the bad apples from the pile while putting the good ones into the barrel as the other stallion dumps another pile out onto the floor. Once sorting them out, he finds yet another pile coming out of the saddlebag and sorts them. As he sorts out pile after pile, he looks at the saddlebag curiously with a cocked head, asking, "Strange...how can something that small, carry so much?"

You smirk briefly and say, "It's a gift that's been enchanted by an acquaintance long ago." and dump yet another large pile onto the floor.

He then smiles slightly and says, "Nice gift." then sorts through the apples and puts lids onto the barrels before moving them to the side of the barn and retrieving two more.

It takes an hour to finish emptying your saddlebags as you look at all the barrels of apples in the barn and ask, "Any more apples you need to harvest?"

Big Mac then shoves the last barrel towards the others and walks towards the other stallion saying, "Nnope, thanks." then extends a hoof saying, "Big Mac."

Raising your own hoof to his and shaking it firmly, you say, "You're welcome, I'm Blistering Blizzard."

He then looks the stallion over, and feels a little more friendly towards him and asks, "Hungry? My treat for hard work."

Thinking it over, you accept his offer saying, "I accept your kind offer, thank you."

Big Mac then heads for the door saying, "Let's go." and then waits by the barn doors to close them

After following Big Mac to town and ordering a Thai rice noodle salad with a rose petal sandwich slice and strawberry-flavored water, you look up to see pegasi covering the sky above Ponyville with clouds and say, "Might they be planning a storm today?"

He looks up and then nods his head saying, "Eeyup." and grabs his food and drink before heading inside.

Picking up your own food and drink, you follow him in and see him at a table by a window, and join him. As you eat your food, you spot Twilight sitting outside when the waiter sets two menus at the table you and Big Mac just left. You continue to eat the salad first and watch Twilight lost in thought while pulling the petals off a flower one by one and think, 'Looks like she's still deciding who to take.' Watching as she shouts something before making an order, you finish your salad and then pick up your sandwich slice and take a bite of it. Chewing your food, you go back to watching Twilight as a hole of sunlight shines down over her while rain falls all around her, seeing that Rainbow Dash kept a hole open to keep her dry. You can't help but smirk as she says something to make Rainbow close the cloud, which results in the hole being closed and causing her to get wet and her food to become soggy.

Turning back to your sandwich, you move to take another bite when you watch a single rose petal fall out of the sandwich and tumble through the air, causing you to be pulled into reliving a memory. Feeling the warmth of the sun on your cloak during the last days of Autumn while the citizens throw rose petals into the air along your path, watching one of those red petals fall into your hand as you smell the scent of fresh roses amid the smell of the trees while dry leaves prepare to fall from their branches. You then rub the petal between your forefinger and thumb, moving your thumb aside and see it begin to turn green with rot while the sound of ringing bells along with thousands of voices cheering for the safe return of their prince hound your ears. Tossing the petal to the ground, you then resume walking through the streets and towards the large, heavy doors leading to the throne room.

Big Mac finishes eating when he starts to hear ponies wonder aloud, saying, "What's wrong with him? Is everything okay with the food? Why is he shedding tears? Is the food that bad?" then looks up to see Blistering Blizzard holding up a tumbling rose petal in his light blue magic aura while solely focusing on it, having a faraway look in his eyes as he clears his voice asking, "Feel okay?"

Jarred from your memory after forcing the doors open roughly, you realize you're holding a petal in the air with your magic and say, "Apologies, got pulled into a memory from the past." then look around and force a smile saying, "The food here really is quite exceptional." then put the petal into your mouth and pick up your drink before forcing yourself to finish eating though your appetite has gone."

As you finish your food, you pull out your bag of bits and set down fifteen bits with a brief smile, saying, "I'll handle the tip, thank you a lot for lunch, Big Mac." then get up and make your way out of the restaurant.

He watches the white stallion walk out the door, saying, "EE...yup." while hearing ponies talking about his strange behavior in low tones.

Meanwhile, in Celestia's room at Canterlot Castle...

Celestia giggles at the letter from Twilight and then is about to send another ticket to Spike when she remembers the reward she needs to send to Blistering Blizzard for finding such ancient books, thinking for a moment before smirking and creating another golden ticket. Dipping her quill into the inkwell, she writes, 'And here's one for you as well, Spike...' and continues to write.

Spike then suddenly belches out rather loudly, leaving him to land on his rear to hear a bag of bits land on the ground before him as a letter floats down to him. Returning to his feet, he picks it up and then opens it up, reading aloud, "And here's one for you as well, Spike." Noticing there's more at the bottom, he continues, "P.S. There's a second ticket inside of the bit bag for Blistering Blizzard if you can find some way to get it to him." and sees a ticket stuck to the bottom of the letter and grabs it happily, then picks up the bag while leaving the letter behind on the floor with a happy giggle as he runs out the door.

Hearing Spike giggling happily while holding a ticket along with a large bag that jingles with bits, she stands there with a smirk as he stops in his tracks and then complains about having to go, claiming how gross that is. Knowing that he secretly is looking forward to it, she chuckles and asks, "What's that big bag of bits for Spike?"

He then smiles and says, "Oh, this is a reward for Blistering Blizzard, Princess Celestia put a ticket to the Gala into the bag for him so that he can go to it as well. She then asked me to try to find and deliver it to him."

Applejack then cocks her head and starts walking towards the others as they head towards the restaurant asking, "What's the reward for?"

Twilight then stops and looks at Applejack saying, "Oh he had found a whole bunch of really ancient books and I sent them all to Princess Celestia, which she looked through them and wanted to reward him for giving them over to me."

Fluttershy then smiles and says, "Well that was nice of him, but how are you going to find him Spike?"

Spike then smiles nervously and says, "Uhm...good question, heh heh. Does anypony know where he might be right now?"

Twilight then says, "He should be around town somewhere because he said he would stick around to learn more about magic, so your best bet would be to ask around if anypony has seen him around lately."

Versa watches as the tiniest fracture appears in Arthas's soul, causing her left eyebrow to rise slightly in concern as she says, "Push on and endure these encounters, Arthas...endure."

You sit near the bridge into Ponyville, looking toward the western horizon while thinking over the day's events. You sigh heavily as you begin to wonder if redemption is worth all this trouble when you hear someone hurrying along the path towards you, and look over to see that it is Twilight's assistant Spike carrying a large, jingling bag.

Spike stops beside the white stallion, panting and saying, "I...hah...have...hoh...been...heh...running...huh...around town...hah..looking for...you." then pauses to catch his breath while waiting for his heart to stop hammering so hard and takes a big breath saying, "I received a letter from Princess Celestia including your reward, she also put an invitation to the Grand Galloping Gala into it. She requested that I deliver them both to you, so, here you go." and holds the bag out to him.

Taking the bag from the dragon's hand, you nod at him saying, "Thank you so much for getting this to me, Spike."

The baby dragon then looks at him with a smile and says, "No problem!" then turns and runs back the way he came towards the restaurant the girls were heading to.

You watch the dragon rush away and open the bag to see the golden ticket inside, and use your magic to pull it out before putting the large sack of bits away first as you look at how the ticket shimmers. Strong feelings of regret make their way up from the depths of your soul, causing you to start to head back towards town while sensing a strange sort of magic start to float through the area around you. As you stare at the ticket, you start to hear a slow, beautiful but sad song being played.

When you finally put the ticket away while heading into the town at a slow walk, you feel yourself washed away amidst a torrent of magic that takes a strange hold over you. As you feel the urge to open your mouth and sing out your feelings, you fight for control against the strange magic

Video is not mine and is all instrumental with no lyrics or singing. NOTE: for best immersion, the words start 8 seconds into the video

As the desire to sing overwhelms you, you open your mouth and sing, "If only I had listened to them before, would things have changed? I do not know, for it is past. Things I regret, are beyond count and measure. Brought to life, and not allowed to end it. Night comes which means war. Losing sleep for years, yet I still struggle on."

On her way home, taking a shortcut to get there, Fluttershy is frozen in place after hearing someone singing a sorrowful tone as tears slip down her cheeks.

Taking a brief pause to collect yourself before continuing on while making your way to the Night Mare Inn, you blink your tears back and continue, "My past mistakes, keep haunting me, it's only fair. Of my dark deeds, there are none I wish to share. I really should, avoid them all, but I cannot. For I desire, to be redeemed of my sins. There's too much that I must still answer for, there is one thing I know...I'll be old and grey before my quest is...complete but that's okay. My only friends, from long ago, left me behind. My stubborn pride, led me to the worst choices." You then freeze when you hear a sniffle followed by somepony approaching you.

Unable to take it anymore, Fluttershy walks into view while tears trickle down her face as she begins singing, "Don't be so sad, my newest friend, I'm here for you. Give me a chance, real friends won't ever leave you. If you need help, I can help you, if you let me."

When you notice it is Fluttershy heading towards you, you sigh and look up at the darkening sky, singing, "You do not know, the evils that I have done." Then turn your gaze back upon her and start walking past her to the inn to pay for another night in the back rooms then continue singing with your head looking toward the ground, "If I did share, some of my past, it would break you. You are too kind, and lacking an inner strength."

Seeing his hesitation, she cautiously takes the opportunity to help him and sings ever so slowly while making her way closer, "All...I ask...is just...one chance......please?"

Almost to the front door of the inn, you hear the song finish in a pleading tone. Something about the tone causes you to stop a few steps from the door and look behind you to see her a hoof step away, giving you puppy-dog eyes that makes you sigh and give in a little saying, "Okay, I guess there's no harm in sharing a few things that aren't so bad." and then turn around to face her.

Fluttershy looks at the unhappy stallion, then at the place he was going and blushes lightly, asking, "Uhm...what is your name?"

You look at her and say, "My name is Blistering Blizzard, how much of my singing did you overhear?"

Her blush deepens as she then thinks a moment and says, "I heard enough to know you have had a difficult life, done bad things which you regret, and have made several mistakes due to your pride, and your life was so bad that you suffer frequent nightmares. What I don't understand is why your friends abandoned you. What did you mean about being brought back to life?"

With a sigh, you then say, "You have a fair grasp of how my life used to be. The reason my friends abandoned me was because of a decision I made when I was blinded by my emotions, even my former lover turned her back to me for it." You then move your lips near her ear and whisper, "It is exactly what it sounded like, I died in another world and strangely returned to life here. Before I head inside and get a room for the night, I would really appreciate it if you keep what I say of my past a secret from other ponies."

Fluttershy gasps at hearing that and says, "Oh my, how awful. I am so sorry to hear that. I Pinkie Promise you that I won't tell anypony." then makes a Pinkie Promise to him and goes through the movements saying, "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Cocking your head at the odd motions, you say, "That is a really strange way to make a promise to someone."

She giggles and says, "My friend Pinkie Pie came up with it, and nopony dares to break a Pinkie Promise because she has a way of knowing things." Then looks over at the Night Mare Inn sign and asks, "Why are you going to rent a room...here?"

You then sigh and say, "Well, it is because that I have no place of my own and have to rent a place to sleep every night."

Fluttershy gasps again at hearing he is homeless and says, "Oh that is very unfortunate," then smiles and says, "I would like you stay with me until you can find a place to call home, okay?"

Unsure about it, you then ask, "I really wouldn't like to trouble you, but are you certain you are okay with it?"

She gives a shy nod and a slight smile saying, "Mhm, I really would like to help you, if you would let me."

You then sigh and say, "Very well, lead the way Fluttershy. If you ever get uncomfortable with me being around, just let me know."

Fluttershy then nods and starts guiding him to her home saying, "My house is this just this way, on the edge of town." After walking for a little while, she crosses the bridge thinking of a question and asks, "So uhm, would you be okay if I asked where you came from?"

You follow the mare down the road and say, "I came from a war-torn world called Azeroth where it is common to fight to survive."

Her ears sag a little bit lower as she says, "I'm sorry if I asked a painful question, I'll be quiet now."

Shaking your head at how shy she is, you say, "It wasn't painful at all, really. One thing that you should know is that I'm not a sound sleeper at night."

With a smile, she looks back and says, "Oh, ok. I used to suffer from scary nightmares when I was a filly, so my older brother shown me how to keep them at bay." She turns back to the road and sees her home coming up saying, "We are almost there."

You look up to see a house built on a hill surrounded by many tiny houses and nests, giving you the idea that she likes birds and nature saying, "From how your house looks, I would guess that you like nature and birds."

She slowly flies to her door and opens it saying, "Oh I do like nature and birds, though I am quite fond of all animals. I am friends with many different kinds, such as a bear named Harry, a hummingbird named Hummingway, a songbird named Constance..." and continues to name them off.

You pause outside the home to see a small, light grey bunny hop out the door and sits up with its arms crossed and eyes narrowed while tapping his feet irritably.

Fluttershy giggles and says, "Of course, how could I forget my closest animal friend of all, Angel Bunny." She then feels him thump his foot against her hoof and looks down at him to see the bunny pointing his front right paw at the pony with her, making her look up at him and then back down to Angel with a smile saying, "Oh this is Blistering Blizzard and he will be staying with us for a little while until finding a place of his own."

As Angel Bunny cocks his head and crosses his arms, he looks between the two of them and mimes sleeping, wordlessly asking her, 'Where is he going to sleep? With you?'

She blushes fiercely and then lowers her head saying with a nervous giggle, "Oh no, of course not. He will be sleeping on the couch."

With an eye roll, he huffs and shrugs, wordlessly saying, 'Whatever.' then hops back inside to go back to sleep. Stopping a few hops later, he looks back at the stallion and uses a paw to point at his eye then at him back and forth meaning, 'I'm watching you.'

You huff in amusement and look at Fluttershy saying with a little sarcasm, "He's quite friendly."

Fluttershy then smiles as the blush fades away and heads inside saying, "Come on in and please make yourself at home. Are you hungry?"

You shake your head and then say, "I am not, but thank you for offering. I would like to know where your couch is, as I am tired."

She then nods and heads over to the couch against the wall by the window saying, "The couch is right here for you, let me just go and get some blankets and a pillow for you."