Author's Note

This is my first attempt on “serious” writing.

Every other time, I just made a chapter -or two if I was motivated- and left it at that.
The stories here inspired me, so I hope I might be able to contribute to the Fandom.

I hope for a lot of constructive criticism and feedback to improve my writing.

Prologue

If Harmony is what makes the world revolve

Then why does entropy exist in a world of order?

Why does Harmony hate?

The month after Discords defeat were very hard in Ponyville. The magic of chaos was very potent, and it affected everypony in some way or form.

Fluttershy spend most of her time in her cottage, taking care of the animals that were still shaken from the events that transpired.

She only came outside for groceries and her weekly visit to spa with Rarity.

Applejack was making herself busy on the farm. The mental toll Discords magic had on everypony, caused the demand for alcohol to rise, so AJ had her hooves full of work making cider.

Twilight checked on her regularly, to make sure she doesn’t overwork herself again. Which, to her relief, was never the case.

Rainbow Dash decided to spend most of her time training. Her stunts becoming even more reckless than usual, which worried her friends. They sometimes came to see her, hoping the next time won’t be in the hospital.

Pinkie Pie was also working hard, in her own way. She decided to help those deeply affected, frequenting the psychiatric ward in Ponyville to cheer up the patients there. Often bringing pastries from the Sugar Cube.

Rarity spend most of her time in the Carousel Boutique. She confessed to Fluttershy on their weekly trips to the spa, that she lacked inspiration. She frequently got distracted by unimportant things, sometimes ruining the sketches she was working on, which worried her deeply.

They all decided to meet up regularly to spend time with each other and talk things out every week. Which was going well up until four days ago. When Twilight got obsessed with solving a friendship problem, in order to report to princess Celestia, which ended with one fourth of Ponyville brainwashed by a love spell, making them love a doll.

Luckily this whole ordeal ended well. No one was terribly hurt, and Celestia managed to calm down the affected ponies.

She told them that all of this was caused by a spell gone wrong, even though she didn’t explain what the intention behind the spell was, saving Twilight from being publicly shamed.

Yet everypony was obviously quite unhappy with this accident, which added to Twilights guilt. So she decided to lay low in her library, rarely going outside and leaving the groceries to Spike.

On this fateful Saturday noon she was cleaning while Spike was out shopping, when somepony entered the Library. It was a matte blue colt with a long beige mane flowing down his neck.

Twilight may not know everypony in Ponyville, but she was sure this person was not from here.

He walked in with a trained grace she only saw in Canterlot, eyeing the shelves with a curious look. For some reason he seemed familiar to her.

“Hello, and welcome to the Golden Oak Library,” she greeted the unexpected visitor, “Are you looking to borrow a book?”

She realised that the colt had a bunch of small bags and a simple faded-red cape. She felt the magical current flowing through them, hinting at a possible enchantment.

Twilight noticed that she and the colt were staring at each other in silence for long enough to become uncomfortable. Why was he looking at her like a scientist examining a new species of frog? She didn’t like it.

“Umm… do you need help with something?” she asked, uneducated on how to deal with the situation.

“Are you—“ he started unsure of himself, “is your name by any chance, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Umm… yes?” she answered, now sure she has seen this pony before, “do we know each other?”

The colt smiled, embarrassed. “Well, not personally,” he said, “we went to the same class in the Academy. I was sitting at the desk next to you.”

Now it was Twilights turn to be embarrassed. Back then she wasn’t really keen on bonding with her classmates. And even now she has problems in making new friends.

But now to be confronted by someone who knows her better than she does him… it was uncomfortable.

Fortunately for her the colt noticed it, and laughed a little, clearly trying to lift the mood. “Oh don’t worry about it. We never really talked, so the only reason I knew about you, is because you are Celestias pupil. It was difficult not to know about you,” he reached out his hoof, “My name is… Brom, by the way.”

“Pretty… unique name if you ask me,” she said, “but you do look familiar… didn’t we work on an assignment together?”

“Yes.” He smiled sheepishly. “We had to research the transmutation spell and then make a presentation on how it worked. Luckily they didn’t ask us to actually perform it.”

“Oh yeah… I remember that! Which reminds me,”—she turned towards a drawer near a book stand—“I still haven’t gotten to learning this spell. I should put that up as a reminder on my timetable.”

While Twilight was busy planning, Brom took the liberty to look around at the shelves adorning the walls of the hollowed-out tree.

It wasn’t as grand as the one used by the academy, but it had its share of useful titles: research on most aspects of magic, nature and beasts. There were even some fiction novels like Daring Do and Harry Magehoof.

“Anyway, what brings you to Ponyville?” Twilight said after she finished, “a Canterlot pony isn’t a common sight here.”

“Mostly a change of scenery. It wasn’t really thrilling to live in Canterlot so I decided to move to Ponyville. I already bought a place not far from here. Say, do the ponies here have a need for a specific profession?”

This was a weird question to ask. Normally ponies knew what they were best at, and searched for a job based on their talents.

Twilight tried to see Brom’s cutiemark, but it was obscured by Brom’s clothing. Actually she doesn’t know if he had his cutie mark yet, when they attended the same class.

“Well, what are you good at?” She asked, “I’m pretty sure whatever it is, you will be able to find a job. The ponies here are always ready to welcome a helping hoof.”

“Well… what if I say, I’m a pony of many abilities and a quick learner?” he inquired further, “I… really want to make a difference in Ponyville.”

Twilight thought for a moment. Using Brom’s criteria, every job seemed acceptable. But she herself didn’t know what was in demand in Ponyville, and Brom seemed very hopeful for her answer.

Why was it this important to him?

“ I mean… there are a lot of ponies that would appreciate some help, but I personally don’t know. I’m still relatively new to Ponyville myself.”

Brom seemed distraught upon hearing her words. She may not be the best at reading others, but she could say that Brom didn’t come to Ponyville out of his own volition.

She was about to ask him about it, when the pink tornado of confetti that was Pinkie Pie, barged through the door.

“Hi, Twilight!” She sang. “I wanted to ask, if you know a construction spell or something? The roof of Bon-Bon’s and Lyra’s house just broke down, and they need help repairing it right now.

“But Applejack is really busy and she won’t be able to deal with it right now, so-“ she gasped dramatically, “o-my-Celestia-is-that-a-new-pony?! Hello, welcome to Ponyville new friend! I’m gonna need to bake more cupcakes, do you like cupcakes? What is your favourite colour? Do you-“

“PINKIE!” Twilight interrupted her, “You’re trailing off again. What happened?”

“Oh, yeah. I was prancing around Ponyville, making deliveries, when I passed Bon-Bon. She was distraught so I quickly asked her what was wrong and told me that the roof above their bedroom has broken down, leaving a gaping hole.

“So I told her ‘Don’t you worry, I know somepony who can help’ and I went to look for Applejack, but she told me she is too busy right now and won’t be able to help, so I went straight to you to ask if you know a spell that might help.”

She grasped for air after her lengthy monologue. “And that’s why I’m here!”

“I’m sorry, Pinkie,” Twilight apologised, “but I never took the time to learn those kinds of spells. You may need to—“

“I know them.” Brom barged in, surprising both of the mares. “I’ve studied all kinds of magic when I was in Canterlot.”

“That’s… weirdly convenient,” Twilight answered, “Normally when something like this happens, we either hire a company from Canterlot -which can become quite costly- or ask Applejack for help.”

Brom’s eyes sparkled with newfound hope hearing this. “So your town doesn’t have a handypony? That’s wonderful news. Since this ‘Applejack’ is busy most of the time from what I understand, and that means you have no pony to take care of the plumbing and renovations?”

“Well, no,” Pinkie answered, “AJ does most of this kind of work in Ponyville.”

“That’s great! Now I’ll only need to turn my home into a workshop and I can start my new career here. May you please bring me to those ponies… uhm…”

“I’m Pinkie Pie, Nice to meet you! Ieeeeh I can’t wait to throw you a welcome party! It gonna be FANTASTIC! Oh what’s your name? I’ll need it for the cake.”

“It’s Brom,” he said, “but you know you don’t have to do this, right? I’m fine just moving in with no fanfare and I don’t want to burden you with it.”

“Don’t be silly, everyone needs a welcome party! It’s the best way of meeting new friends!”

“But—“ he tried to politely object once more before being interrupted.

“Don’t bother,” said Twilight, “she does this for everyone, and you won’t be able to stop her. Also if you need any help, don’t be afraid to come to me or Pinkie.”

“Sure, I’d be happy to.” He gave her a friendly smile. “Oh, and thanks for your help”

“Anytime”

Brom nodded thankfully before leaving with Pinkie towards Bon-Bon and Lyra’s house. While Twilight turned back to her books, unaware of the newly-formed friendship.