It took longer then expected. He defended himself, sure, but it took around ~ 50% longer then Sunset for him to be ' Defeated ' .

At least he wasn't literally basted into a crater. He started to question if Sunset surviving her own de-powering was intentional or - just luck.

And then his other emotions came back.
Ones like shame, and restraint.

He hadn't realized the extent he had relied on them until now.
There was something more - Something else he got back that he lacked while transformed.
- But now was not the time for that.

Now was the time for running.

As the rainbow faded, Ponder could be seen running to one side of the courtyard.
He stumbled a bit, but eventually made it to the school wall with a bench.
He had re-entered his ball-like state while sitting, looking like a little mound on the ground.

His eyes peered at them through his posture; almost hidden by his crossed arms and raised legs.

He had magic no more.

While Applejack sighed a sigh of relief, most of the other girls started talking amongst themselves, mostly congratulatory cheers and ' WOOS ' from Pinkiepie. They didn't move for awhile; blocking most of the staircase.

After awhile, Sunset looked over to Ponder. Twilight was with him, and he hadn't gotten up from his ' ball '.

" Girls. " Sunset turned to them.
" Yeah? " They said in almost-unison, Pinkie being the odd one out.

" Do you think - maybe... " She looked back to Ponders corner.
Rarity squinted in consideration, them realization.

" Oh no. " She shook her head.
" You can't be serious. " She scoffed and shook her hand at her.

" He's getting his just deserts like all the other villains. " She dawned a snooty tone as she looked away.
" Let him wallow it in for a bit, then lets talk about- "
" Rarity. " Sunset was getting stern.
" He was the one who took that hit for Twilight. OUR Twilight. "

" Oh. " Rarity hadn't yet processed what Sunset said yet.
" O- What. " She looked to Sunset, who was still not amused at her. " Are you telling me he - "
" Wait. "
" But weren't you scared to be around him not long ago? Perhaps - "

" I'll be fine girls. " Sunset nodded. " It only was a problem then. "
" Thanks for worrying about me, but I'm going to tell him what I couldn't while he was transformed. "

They all looked at each other, and shrugged.

She started walking.
She saw Ponder muttering something.
Twilight raised a hand, almost as if she was going to put it on his back but then stopped, recoiled ever so slightly, then put her hand back on the bench; now looking put off and not really knowing what to do next.

As she approached - she could hear -
" -Should I have done drugs in anticipation for this? " Male voice.
" Maybe if - "
" No. I don't think there was anything any pony could have done. " A solemn Female voice.

Sunset remembered her time frantically apologizing; To those who were now her best friends no less.
All those awkward stares and forced smiles. At least he was dealing with Twilight. She couldn't think of a better place to start then apologizing to her.

" Hey. " She walked up to the two, classic arms crossed stance and all.
Ponder looked away, while Twilight looked to her, to him, and back to her.

Sunset thought she got what Twilight was putting down.

She sighed.
" You know that wasn't your fault, right? "

Ponder just rolled his tired eyes. At least he was sitting with correct posture now.

" Flay the skin from your flesh - " He muttered. " What was I thinking? " He put a palm to his face.
" Do you - " Sunset looked to Twilight, then back to Ponder.
" Remember when I was like that, and not only did I - " She paused, looking at Ponder. She seemed deep in though for awhile, then continued : " - Try to kill Twilight, but also got all her friends involved with it as well? "
She looked back to Twilight for final approval. No noticeable objections.

" Yeah? " Ponder was failing to see her point.

" Well, for what it's worth... " Her nervousness was starting to show.
" I think you did a decent job handling it. " She put one leg out, resting her body weight on the other.
" When I put on the crown - " She paused.

" When I felt it's power - I tried to yank it off. "
" But It almost instantly overwhelmed me. " She raised a hand in expression.
" And to the best of my knowledge - you didn't actually hurt anyone. Or try. "

" Did you talk to Sci-Twi? " Ponder seemed interested in the conversation now.
" Yeah. She unhurt. " Sunset awkwardly looked back to the school.
" She just- "
" She had to go change. "

" Right. " Ponder looked away. Twilight too, joining Sunset's awkwardness.
Ponder kept on :
" I did make sure not to bend her joints the wrong way when forcing her into that bow - " Sunset took a step back.
" But... I wasn't thinking about tears, sprains, or popping a joint out of it's socket - " He said nervously.

He put another hand to his face.

" I R E A L Y do not know why I wasn't thinking about that! " He said in a hurry, while nervously laughing at the end.
He was afraid, and he wasn't trying to hide it.

They all took a pause.

" Ponder. " Sunset looked his way.
" No one is themselves when they lack control like that. "

Another pause.

" Just - " Twilight interrupted.
" One question. " Ponder seemed ready to talk, so she asked.

" When you said you Um - weren't doing what you wanted to do - "
" What- Did you mean by that? "

Ponder shook his head.

" I was talking about systems of kindness in general. " He solemnly replied.
" Theoretical systems. Ideals, really. Won't come to pass." He looked to his hand's scars.
" But - I'll admit even the human world has some examples of them. " He pointed to Sunset's friend group, now disbanding and going back to class.

Twilight noticed Sunset giving her the stink eye. She gave her a look of confusion in return.

Sunset inhaled.
" When I said you aren't really yourself that way, I really meant it. " She looked down at Twilight, now looking away in embarrassment.

" Even if you manage to keep SOME parts of yourself; Your not really you without it all. "

Twilight looked away, as if it was some involuntary reaction to hide her shame.
Sunset softened her gaze a bit.

Twilight then got up, and walked the short distance to Sunset.

" Im- not really helping, am I? " She quietly asked, both hands behind her back, to which Sunset nodded a reply.
" Right. " Twilight looked to the other group, who was now only comprised of Rainbow and Rarity.

" I think I'll just - " Twilight two-handedly pointed to them.
Sunset nodded again, this time smiling slightly. But she did it only for her, as once she turned back to Ponder, her face returned to a neutral look.

" She isn't mad at you, you know? " Sunset had to be sure. She knew him, and he had a knack for misinterpreting things.
Plus she wasn't sure he heard all what they said.
" No. " He looked back up at her.
" She's just scared. " He sighed in reply. He glanced off into the suburban distance, presumably at the mountains.

' No truer words have ever been spoken. ' : rattled through Sunset's brain. It was a bit unlike the Twilight she knew, but a eldritch encounter was an eldritch encounter.

Ponder raised an eyebrow. Apparently she had been savoring the quiet moment a bit too long.

" Right. " She got back on track.
" I don't blame you. "
" And - I think with time - " She looked back to the school.

" None of them will. "
" Don't give up hope that things - "

" Stop. " Ponder plainly said with another sigh, interrupting her.

" I've been through a lot of shit today, And taking advice from a human is the last thing I need right now. "

Sunset was taken aback.
She looked to the side to consider what he said, then the other.

She evidentially turned back to him and said :
" Alright. "

" I guess I'll be one book entry away then. " She shrugged, then looked at him for a response. A soft gaze plus a nod. He seemed to understand.

" Thanks for what you did so far. " He said in almost a hurry. " You've successfully put an eye-dropper sized dent in my ocean of problems. "

" Well - " Sunset was seriously considering correcting him on the ' human ' thing.
But she let it slide.

" Glad to hear it. "
And then she walked away.

And while she was walking away, Rainbowdash was marching over.
Sunset sighed, and did a very unenthusiastic 180 on the ball of her foot.

Twilight seemed to be distracted with small talk with some extras from the school, also noticed.
Her eyes widened as she rushed over.

Now there were 4.
3 in Ponders corner, and the 1 that was Rainbowdash.

" Need something? " Ponder broke the silence with a accusatory tone and a raised eyebrow.

" Yeah, actually. " Rainbow wasn't standing too close, but close enough to talk comfortably.
" Why did you resist us? "

Ponder rolled his eyes.
" First of all - bad wording. There's too many things you could have meant there. "
" Second - It was you - and only when you tried assaulting me. " He stated matter-of-fact.

" Not that! " Rainbow got slightly annoyed.
" When we were using - rainbow power, you took extra long to come down from... That. "
" What were you trying to do? " She looked at him with doubt.

" I was trying to defend myself. " His eyes narrowed. " Last time I saw that happen, Sunset was in a 12-foot deep crater she had to get a running start to pull herself out of. " His tone was getting hearse.

" You didn't see us defeat the sirens? " She ask in earnest.
" No. " He looked at her straight.

" After I followed music girl to let you out of the bottom of the stage I tried throwing rocks at the blue one to distract her. "
" After that, their ' music ' was getting to be too much, so I ran."
" ' Music girl ' You mean Vinyl? " Rainbow asked. " Yes. " Ponder gently facepalmed.
" They're just placeholder names. " He looked straight at her.

" Alright. " Rainbow was almost at some sort of calm.
" You- uh. " Twilight raised a finger at him.
" You were the pony under all those clothes? " She asked.
" Yeah. " He added.
" Felt I had to hide my identity before what I was going to try and do. " His toned softened.
' So she DOES have functional grey matter! ' He thought.
He looked back to Rainbowdash.

" Plus - the thick clothing blocked out some of their sound-based attacks. "

Rainbow looked to the side. She had many things written on her face, but none of them got through to Ponder due to the sheer number of them. The other two seemed to get it. Sucks to be him, I guess. Ponder waited for them to make the first ' move '.
Rainbow, similarly, nervously tapped her fingers together until someone else decided to end the moment.

At least the autumn air was nice to everyone. Mild breezes, and everyone was now safe.
The tension was definitely calming down, and that was appreciated by everypony and everyone there.

" I wasn't really able to do much. " Ponder continued.
" They're borderline invincible. ", " But - nothing advanced human technology couldn't solve ... Well. Eventually. " He ended his tangent with a knowing nod off to the side.

" How- " Sunset raised a finger " Did you know that? " She had worry written all over her.
" When I said I confronted them. " Ponder shifted his gaze to her.
" Words weren't the only thing I tried assaulting them with. " He said as he slipped a knife out from the velcro lock in his sleeve.

Sunset looked away in pain.
Twilight looked to him in concern.

" That- must not have ended well. " Twilight volunteered. Ponder solemnly nodded.
" Yeah. " Sunset slipped back into the conversation. " They're literally giant lizards cramped into those tiny little human bodies. Freakishly strong. They're basically Dragons! " Sunset pressed the point.

" Very reckless if you ask me. " Rainbow added further.

Ponder rolled his eyes.
" And how was I supposed to know this? "

" You could have just asked us - " Sunset took a very understanding tone. Almost condescending.
" And we certainly could have used your help if you were willing to - " Sunset stopped. Twilight was getting uncomfortable. Another ' out-of-character ' moment, as far as Sunset was concerned.

Ponder took that opportunity to interject :
" Help with what? I'm not a musician, and your ' Vinyl ' was there to help you anyway. " He was slowly become visibly depressed.

" Help with anything - really. " Sunset looked to the sky in contemplation - " Moving band equipment, keeping watch, if you weren't effected - then anything would have been - " Ponder raised a hand.
" I was effected. " He painfully admitted.
" But not anywhere near as everyone else. Minus your crew of course. "

" Right. " Sunset was putting the pieces together, and so was everyone else. He really had been lurking around since the begging, huh?

" And yeah. " He tone turned sour. " Pretty much anything would have been better then what I tried. "

" Well, hopefully they didn't hurt you too bad. " Sunset offered in earnest.
" Oh they did. " Ponder added.
Everyone's eye's widened in response.

" But against all odds - no permanent damage. " His tone softened. He looked to his hand.
" Oh. Right. " Rainbow interjected. " The victim card. "
" You know that only works when you actually are victimized and helpless, right? "
Both girls heads jerked at her. Sternly.

Rainbow pouted.
She muttered under her breath :
" You past doesn't give you that much of an excuse. "

Ponder rolled his eyes.
" While I can promise you I'm not one of those things you mentioned, I wasn't about to 'play it' " He did the classic ' finger air quotes ' just for her.
" I was about to say - "
Ponder paused.

He smiled a bit.

" You know. "
" The largest scar on here " He brandished his hand for all to see.
" Is actually from my cat. " He said calmly, pointing to the big piece of malformed skin.

" I wasn't paying attention, maybe even being a bit stupid, and well. "

" Accidents happen. "

" And oh yeah. It hurt. In the moment. "
" But- "
" At the end of the day - If this is the largest thing that lasted - " He rotated his hand around for all to see.
" Maybe you actually have a point there Rainbow. Perhaps I should just aim to ' get over it ' "

He looked over to Twilight who had shifted in her seat. Smiling.
He recoiled a bit. That was a first coming from Twilight.

" That- That was -" She was having problems with her words.
" That was very well spoken. " Her eyes were gleaming.

" Well. " She was re-processing what she just said.

" Maybe- not that last part, well- not in it's entirety- "

Sunset interrupted :
" And- I take it that's your way of saying your open to communication with us? " She offered, narrowly avoiding insulting Ponder.

" Yup. " He nodded.
" If I'd just known the specifics on the Dazzling from you guys - and actually helped - maybe you wouldn't had to cut it so close down to the wire. Along with all the other benefits. " He rotated his arm in his socket as a pitcher did when it started to hurt.

Sunset nodded nervously. Twilight just nodded.

" Yeah. Alright. " Rainbow relented.

" Maybe your not such a bad guy after all. But don't go near our Twilight, you hear? " She said with minimal sternness.
" Way ahead of you. " He got up, looking at the portal.

' Oh. ' Twilight paused. Was he really ready to go after such a short time?
I guess so.
Ponder sighed and let his posture sag. " Now there's that problem. " He pointed to the portal.
" That's our only exit. "
" Oh. " The girls said in unison. They hadn't really thought past the immediate crisis, haven't they?

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.

If you thought Twilight never gives up, you clearly have not met Sunset.