Twilight had time to think on her way to Shineleaf.
The walk was long.

She had heard that he went all the way to the back of train, all the way to the caboose.
Which; the guards ponies actually let him through.

She had heard it was staff only, so the situation must be serious or they just didn't want to get involved.
Ah.
There it was again.

That distrustful thought process - which had haunted her ever since the incident with PonderBright.
It had been bothering her; but It had yet to rear any negative downsides.
Yet.

Then again, It wasn't like her to ruminate.
And while it pained her slightly to knowing think bad of some pony; she admitted to herself that it HAD payed dividends.
Not very friendly. But effective.

So long as it did not grow uncontrollably and turn outward like Ponder's,
she guessed she was ok with it.
It's all she could do in the moment.
And for the most part, she thought she had it under control.

" Princess? " A guard pony with a spear asked.
" Oh! " Twilight was pulled back to reality, almost in surprise.

" Do you want us to go get him? " They asked
" Oh. No. " Twilight waved to the guards pony as she walked past into the last car.

Shineleaf was there, right at the back, being watched by another guards pony while the signaler was looking out the window; no doubt preparing for arrival.

He was sitting. Feet dangling over the edge of the back of the car.

" Why don't we come back to a little? " Twilight said as she walked up from behind.
" Wh- " Shineleaf almost jumped. Twilight was startled.

" Oh. " " Yeah. " Shineleaf agreed with little emotion.

Twilight was sent into a thinking frenzy.
' That could have - '
' No. '
' Not the time. '
She snapped out of it.

" Are- you alright? " She asked, slightly raising her front right hoof.
" Yeah. " Shineleaf was not giving the most convincing responses.

Twilight maneuvered into the direction he had looked off into.

" I'm sorry about what happened with those fillies. "
She waited for his response.

" That yellow pony was right. "
" They were never my friends. "

' If only Pinkie were here. ' Twilight was lamenting.
It didn't take long for her to formulate a new response:
" That was a pretty rare occurrence. " She assured him.

" And me and that yellow pony happen to think that your plant-growing skills are great. " She softly stated.
" You'll definitely find a new friend if you don't give up searching. "

He sighed.
" Alright. " his mood only slightly improving.

Twilight's tone turned intentionally chipper.
" Your not from Ponyville, but If your willing to share where your from, I'll be willing to connect you with some friends there! "
" Why don't I bring you back to your parents; you don't have to tell them what happened, they already know. "

Twilight remembered something.
" And they can't hurt you anymore. I assigned a guard to make sure of it. "
He seemed to respond to that.

" T- Thanks. " He was managing to look her in the eye now. An improvement.

As they walked out of the little red car, Twilight was now feeling like herself again.
Calm, at ease.
She couldn't help but entertain a little sensation at the back of her head :
' Would past Twilight would have remembered to assure Shineleaf that the threat was neutralized? Gone? '

Thoughts of Spike in the dragon race came back.
Along with her fight with Tirek.
And the aftermath of Ponderbright's atrocity.

After successfully shutting those thoughts out - new thoughts emerged.
' Yes, Ponder may have some strange abilities and mental advantages, but situations that require the use of those abilities are usually not good ones '
' If I absolutely needed to learn something 1/3 faster or do something 1/3 better then any pony else; chances are the situation is not so great anyway. '
She looked to Shineleaf.
' And failure was a likely option either way. '

Celestia almost never bet on such chances.
Only when there seemingly no other option, did she draw things down to the wire.

And just like that - the intrusive thoughts stopped. For now.
After quietly thanking her mentor, she arrived back at Ponder's car.

She waved to him as she passed into the next.
After a quick summary from Twilight, Shineleaf's parents seemed appalled.

She felt she needed to tell his parents personally. Just something a friend would do.
The conservation was unusually long; his parents asked for much clarification and re-telling.
At last, it was finally over :
" We'll were definitely going to tell the teachers about this! " His father sternly said with a minor speech impediment.
His mother nodded sternly in agreement.
Shineleaf sighed in frustration.

Twilight was made a little uncomfortable by that, but after exchanging addresses for letter purposes felt satisfied that she did all she could. She went back to her seat.

" Thank you Ponder. "
Ponder looked back to Twilight, eyes now slightly more relaxed.

" Thank you for looking out for that filly. "

Ponder grew a bit uneasy.

" Something the matter? " She asked.

" Mostly I was just making sure those villains never get a chance to harass anyone again. " He rebuked quietly. Almost as if should be ashamed for something.

" Ponder! " Twilight said almost scolding him.
" What? ", " What part of what I just said wasn't correct? " He was almost annoyed.
" It's not that - " Twilight was back to normal tone.

She mulled the question around in her head a bit.
" You don't know their story. " She pointed to the bullies, shivering under the watchful eye of the guard.
" Their history could be any number of things to warrant that bad behavior. "
" Why do you have to be so confrontational? "

" Does having reasons for a crime make it not a crime? " Ponder asked, tilting his head slightly.

" Well -"
" No. " Twilight had to admit.

" But this is what we are all talking about when we mention the dragon's gauntlet, or your - Uh - general demeanor! " She stressed the point.
It didn't feel right. And she was definitely out of practice, if she ever practiced this at all.

" I talked about it with his parents too, if that's what you were worried about. " She volunteered the information.

Ponder looked to her, conflicted. Then back to the bullies.
She could see hate in his eyes.
Very pure hate.

" Let's - " " Talk about something else. " Twilight offered.
Ponder looked back to Twilight.
His eyes darted around the room, a bit awkward but nothing any pony couldn't handle.

His gaze then met Twilights.
" Did they say they would tell the teachers then end the interaction? "

Twilight took a pause.

" How did you? " Twilight was interrupted.
" I didn't. That's - why I asked. " His tone was now monotone and somber.

" And I'm guessing the little guy didn't take much to that? "

" Y- Yeah. " Twilight was astounded.
Next to zero social skills to accurately predicting the ending to an hour long escapade? What?

" Look. I don't know the system you got here. " Ponder pointed to the ground. He was bracing himself for something.

" But In my world what you did doesn't work. "
" Not in the slightest. "

He took a pause.

" In fact, it does the opposite. "

Twilight had a lot to consider.
" But - "

" Look, Twilight, Friendship may be your deal and expertise, but this is mine. " He politely interrupted.
His eyes winded a bit.
" But - I didn't want to interrupt you - I just wanted to put that out there. " He said while moving his hoof in a line to one side.

" Hm. " Twilight considered it.

" I still think you should consider my way. " She said sternly.

He really looked like he wanted to say something.

" A - " He was stuttering.
" W- "

Twilight looked at him in anticipation.

" Ah what the heck. " He eventually relented.
" I trust you. "

" Are we just going to keep doing things the nice way, even if they lead to more ponies getting hurt in the long run? " He genuinely asked, looking back at the bullies.

Twilight was taken aback.

" I- " Ponder was anxious; seeing Twilight's reaction.
" Just - forget I said anything. "

Twilight held her bottom lip as she looked away from Ponder.

" Sorry. " Ponder had defeat in his voice.

" No. It's - ok. "
" It's just a question. " She responded.

" Just- Um- "

Ponder winced at her struggling.

" Try to save the negative stuff for when were in private, ok? "
" Ok. " He responded, almost too silent to hear.

The rest of the train ride went as one might expect, short and awkward with few words spoken.
Ponder's words had lingered in Twilight's mind a bit.
She couldn't help but fell sorry for what that little colt had and was probably about to go through.
And she also felt a bit sorry for Ponder too.

When they arrived, Ponder was stuck staring at the Crystal Spire.

" Was - Was magic used to make that? " He was in awe.
He pointed to the spire.

" Because that's definitely higher then the 7 stories we were taught primitive cultures could build. "

" Well, yes. " Twilight smiled.
" And very ancient magic too. Over a thousand years old! "

" And maybe say - non technologically advanced cultures. "
Ponder sighed.
" Got it. Spend an extra 3 seconds every time I want to say the exact same thing. Will do! " His tone shifted up in that last part.
Twilight raised an eyebrow.
" Joking! 3 seconds is nothing. Nothing. " Ponder's tone returned to normal as he look back in the direction they were going.

The walk to the Crystal Palace was short, it was only one city after all.
A crystal pony waved at Twilight. She waved back.
She knew her?

" Should I be in disguise? " Ponder asked.
" O- No. " Twilight said with a minor laugh.

" Oh. " Ponder said blankly. " I just thought- it might be reputation related. "
" No. " Twilight responded blankly.
" It's fine. Nothing bad is going to happen from you being undisguised. "

Ponder smiled.
She gave a smile back.

Soon after, they found themselves under the Spire.
" A bit more imposing when your directly under it. " Ponder said with an eyebrow raised as they came to the center under the castle.

He looked to the 4 tiny support columns.
" And unstable. If your using anything close to my world's materials. "

" It's fine. " Twilight said while half-laughing.

" TWILY! " A stallion almost shouted from one of the pillars.
" BBBFF! " Twilight responded in kind.

Ponder looked over in their direction to find them hugging.
" Shinning Armor? " Asked PonderBright.

" PonderBright. " Shining said with haste and little emotion.

" And um. " He looked to the pink alicorn.

" Yup. Still bad with names. " He said while staring into space.

" Cadence " The pink one said.

" No FlurryHeart? " Ask Twilight, finally releasing the hug.
" Yeah. " Shining Armor plainly said.
He looked over to Ponder.
" About that. "

" Oh. " Twilight plainly said in understanding.
" We wanted to talk to you about that. "

They started to take the conversation indoors, which Ponder was slow to follow them in.

" Again, about Ponder. " Shining interjected his and Twilight's small talk :
" I would like to do a few tests to ensure ponies safety. "

" Shining! " Twilight almost said scoldingly.
Ponder's eyes lit up a bit at that.

" What? " Asking Shining,shame almost in his voice.

There was a break in the conversation, and Ponder took it.
" Maybe he just wants to confirm things with his own eyes? "

" Yes. " Shining Armor confidently stated.
" Among other things. "
" Nothing too crazy. "

" Well, alright. " Twilight got the memo.

Shining gave a - look? To Cadence, and she fell back to walking with Ponder, who was in the back of the pack.
She then stroke up a conversation. Simple stuff. " How was your day? ", " Enjoyed the Crystal Empire so far? " Easy things to say yes or no to.
Ponder was looking back and fourth from Cadence to Shining. Confused.

' How? ' He was thinking.

Twilight looked back at him, and then back to Shining, suppressing a little laughter.

" It's like there living in their own little world. " He instinctively blurted out.
" Oh! " Cadence looked to the sibling duo.

She smiled.
" Yeah. "
" They certainly can be like that sometimes. "

She looked back to Ponder, who had an excessively blank stare.
" Um- Are you alright? " She asked.

" Oh. Yeah. " He turned back to face her.
" Why wouldn't I be? "

" Well it's just that - " She stopped her response.

" Wow. I guess you really are an alien! "

She stopped herself.
" Wow! I'm so sorry, that probably was insensitive! " Cadence apologized.
" Oh not at all. " Ponder responded. " Your 10,000% correct. "

" And even at my homeworld, I'd still be considered very unusual - or ' alienated ' If you want to use that term. "

Cadence put on a fake smile.
She looked over to Twilight, who caught her eyes.

She playfully mouthed
" help me"
along with slightly worried eyebrows.
And so, Twilight burst into laughter.

Apparently she told shining, who only gave a minor chuckle.

" What would I give to understand them. " Ponder thought out loud.
Cadence looked over his way.

" You - seriously didn't understand any of this - didn't you? "
" Very little. " He admitted.

She looked away, slightly embarrassed.

Quickly, Cadence returned to the conversation, with newfound drive and determination.

Ponder was not happy as a direct result.

They all stopped in a long hallway. Both Cadence and Twilight decided that they would " Catch up " and went on their way yet up more stairs.
Not the most efficient floor plan.

Ponder looked to Shining, who had stayed back.

They both stared at each other for awhile, when Shining closed his eyes in consideration and came back with a response:
" Can you fly straight? " He plainly asked, as if talking to a royal guard.

" I- think so? " Ponder responded. " I don't know what counts as ' Straight ' up here. "
" Alright. " Shining responded.
" Show me. "

" Here? " Ponder asked.
" No, obviously not here. " Shinning's tone loosened a bit.

" Cuz - I can do it here If no pony else is around for me to potentially crash into. " He offered.

Shinning raised an eyebrow at him.
" Alright. "

He nodded to 2 guards in the room, who opened the doors they were stationed by and walked through.

" They just- were listening the entire time? Not zoned out or anything? Creepy. " Ponder was going off topic.
" Ponder. Focus. " Shining said with little leeway.

" Right. Sorry. I got jumbled up recently. "

Shinning let out a short sigh.

" And why me? ", " Why am I safe? " He asked.

" Your specialty is magic shields, right? " Ponder got right into it.
" Yeah. " Shinning plainly rebuked.

" I'm not going to be able to build up enough speed - About 80~90 kilometers an hour in here to break an average pony's shield. "
Shinning was looking unamused.
" So as long as you shield when I get within 6 meters ~?"
" Meters? " Shinning asked, tone getting more and more brash as Ponder went on.
" 20 feet. " Ponder corrected himself in monotone.

" Then you should definitely be fine. " Ponder said with confidence.

" And you know the specifics of magic shields... How? " Shinning was almost getting accusatory.

" Because - ", " I asked Starlight Glimmer about them. " Ponder said in visible confusion.
" To make sure no other pony gets hurt. " He added.

" Uh-huh. " Shinning was obviously unconvinced.

" Uh- " Ponder was completely lost.
" Was it - something I said - did ...? " He thought he had to ask.
Very clumsily ask, too.

" Just get on with it. " Shinning protested.

Steeling himself, Ponder walked to the back of the long, long hallway.
He accelerated fast.
So fast, in fact, it might be considered a reckless sprint.

Shinning's expression when Shinning Armor threw up a small, simple shield almost got to him.
But he was better then that.

He took off without much problem.
He flew to the end of the hallway, quite fast.

A part of him wanted to prove something to Shinning.
Or maybe to himself.

He stopped quite suddenly in front of the giant window at the end.
He let himself fall a bit before re-catching himself and gliding very close to the wall.

He ran his feet across the wall while in flight for good measure - just to really rub it in that he was, in fact, in complete control of his body.

He safely glided back to the other end of the room.
The one opposite Shinning Armor.

" Well. " Shinning said in minor astonishment.

Ponder walked closer, seeing as Shinning wanted to say something :
" You certainly could be a cloud buster with that performance. "
" The- weather ponies? " Ponder responded.
" Yes. "
" Huh. "

Ponder kind of expected some sort of change in mood from him.
At least a more light tone.

But no. Not this time it seemed.

" Next I'd like to test your mental ability. " He plainly stated, sourness still not gone from his voice per their previous conversation.

Ponder didn't want to believe he could be so different from his sister.
But the evidence was as such.
And it pointed overwhelmingly in that direction.

Ponder's eyes and posture sagged as Shinning led him into one of rooms. The guards coming back out into the hallway was his take that he passed the test. Or at least one of them.

" Fortify the Empire? " Asked Twilight.
" Yes. " Explained Cadence,
" Me, Celestia, Shinning and Luna have been talking, and well ... "

Author's Note

I post on my FIMfiction blog!
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/1037520/own-story-or-adaptations
Be involved!
Make friends!!
Influence (ever so slightly)
The direction of the story!

I am open to PM. No discord or email. Do not use email. Please.
I am open to work, even collaborations. I can't draw. Muscle condition.

Want to test my writing with this one. Will try to write more and more challenging subjects as time goes on.
All criticism minus something that can only be seen as a nitpick will be appreciated.

The one thing that completely astounded me about the original series:
The lack of preparation (minus Twilight's friendship school) for the inevitable later threat.
In all honestly something like this should have happened in the series proper after season 4.