Fate's Aria

Chapters

Prologue
Arrival in Ponyville
Apples and Pinkie Pie
Two shades of pegasus

Prologue

Prologue

Walking across the halls of the royal palace of Canterlot is an earth pony, a stallion with shaggy red fur and a messy purple mane hanging down to its neck with a similarly coloured tail hanging behind him. A simple expression stands on his face, his orange eyes cloudy as if there’s nothing on his mind. Guards let him through at every door as he gets closer to the royal chamber of Princess Celestia. Passing the final guards and entering the final room, he walked up the red carpet until he was before the magnificent Princess Celestia. He bows courteously, before saying in a surprisingly sophisticated voice, “Princess Celestia, you summoned me?”

“Yes I have, it’s a pleasure to see you back from your travels,” the princess replies in a kind and gentle voice, yet still sounding like a true leader, “Guards, please guard the entrance to the room and let no one in.”

“Understood!” the guards say in unison, leaving the room and closing the door.

The stallion starts to glow, in a flash growing wings and a long horn, his coat turning into brilliant red shine, his mane and tail growing longer and more abundant, taking an elegant shade of indigo, making his appearance far more impressive. His eyes change as well, going from a cloudy orange to a clear indigo colour, making his appearance rival that of the Princess in elegance.

“A disguised alicorn?” an unfamiliar voice besides Celestia says, startling the young stallion.

The stallion stumbles back a little, “Wh-who are you?”

“That’s just my little sister Luna, no need to be startled,” Celestia calms down the startled alicorn standing before her by just talking.

“Oh, please excuse me Princess Luna, for my frightened reaction,” the alicorn bows courteously before the other Princess, who seems to rival the beauty of Princess Celestia but in a bewitching way, suiting more the night than the day.

“That’s quite alright,” Princess Luna responds, sending out a dominant vibe, “Is this the one you told me about sister?”

“Yes, this is the alicorn I personally raised, and sent on a trip years ago to find his purpose,” Princess Celestia responds, her voice calming, as opposed to her younger sister’s voice, “Pray tell me, have you been able to find your purpose?”

“Unfortunately …,” the young alicorn looks to face the side of his flank, “I have travelled far and wide, but have not earned my cutie mark yet.”

“A pony his age who has not earned his cutie mark yet?” Luna interrupts.

“Yes, he seems to be a special case,” Celestia faces her sister, “He seems to be good at almost everything, being able to catch up to most ponies who are specialized in something. But it doesn’t seem like he has anything that’s truly special about him.”

“That is extraordinary …,” Luna replies, being a little surprised, “But a pony is always destined for something, what could it be if a pony is good at everything?”

“I might have an idea about that. I will be sending him to Ponyville, to make him interact with other ponies more instead of hiding him from the public.”

“Ponyville?” the alicorn standing before the Princesses asks curiously, “I passed through there once but … What would be so special about it?”

“I have a student called Twilight Sparkle there, who I think may help you discover your purpose.”

The alicorn’s eyes widen a little, “Twilight Sparkle … Is that the magic prodigy I’ve heard about?”

“Yes, she is my personal student, I sent her to Ponyville to learn about friendship and report her findings to me. I have taken also up five of her friends into this study as well,” Celestia seems to smile a little differently, seeming a little proud.

“But … What makes you think I would fit in there, Princess Celestia?” the alicorn looked curiously at the Princess.

“Twilight Sparkle and her five friends are the ones that can use the Elements of Harmony, but they still live normal lives in Ponyville.”

The young alicorn’s eyes widen more, as a smile forms on his muzzle, imagining what a normal live would be for him.

“You will be staying with Twilight Sparkle for a while, Ponyville has a lot to offer and I’m sure she’d be happy to guide you around.”

“Would she really be okay with that?” the young alicorn says, sounding clearly excited for meeting someone as impressive as Twilight Sparkle.

“I’m sure she’d be thrilled,” Celestia responds with a smile, “And you shall be departing right away, as a regular unicorn. I will send further instructions to Twilight, listen to her when you get there.”

The young alicorn immediately changes his appearance to fit that of a regular unicorn, making the horn shorter and changing the shade of his coat slightly, hiding his wings, making his mane and eyes orange coloured, “I will go right away then Princess Celestia.”

The young alicorn runs quickly out of the royal throne room, the doors barely opening in time with Celestia’s magic. The guards look confused at the unicorn going out, remembering an earth pony going in.

“He seemed quite excited,” Luna says.

“He always does when he gets sent on something new,” Celestia replies with a slight giggle.

Luna walks around to the front of Celestia, facing her, “Sister, is it really safe to have somepony as him in a place like Ponyville?”

“Safer than traveling all across Equestria?” Celestia replies with a smile, much to the annoyance of her little sister, “I think he will be safer with them than he would staying with us. Besides, Equestria has gotten a lot safer over the years thanks to Twilight and her friends.”

Luna sighs, her expression going back to a more relaxed one, “I cannot argue with that.”
Celestia uses her magic to draw in a parchment and a quill with some ink, “I will set up the letter for Twilight, so she knows that he is coming.”

Luna turns around and walks off, leaving the room and telling the guards they can return to their posts in the room.

The disguised alicorn goes back to his hotel room, taking a bag filled with bits and taking his saddlebags filled with books he wrote on his travels, along with another book. He checks out and dashes for the train station, barely in time to catch the next train to Ponyville. The day was still young, but the train ride was going to be long. Luckily he could start writing in his new book, about the time he would spend in ponyville.

My time in Ponyville
By Chrono.

After my travels all across Equestria, I had been unsuccessful in finding my cutie mark. However, after finally returning to Canterlot from visiting my last destination, the Crystal Kingdom, Princess Celestia has given me something new: To spend time with ponies in Ponyville. I was never able to spend more than a day or two with ponies before, so it will be quite a change for me to spend a long time in one place. I hope I will be able to do my work well to help everyone, though from my past experiences this should not pose much of a problem. Besides that, I will get to meet ponies that have saved Equestria more than once, including the unicorn prodigy that studies under Celestia and reports directly to her!

I have not been able to rest much since yesterday due to my arrival at Canterlot in the early morning, so I will rest before I get to Ponyville.

Arrival in Ponyville

Arrival in Ponyville

“Wow, the landscape looks really cool, I never seen the countryside from this angle before.”

“It’s your first time with the train, young colt?” a pony dressed in an official clothes said to the infant earth pony with red coat sitting in the seat next to the window, “It must be quite exciting.”

“Yeah, I never imagined it would look like this.”

“I believe Ponyville was your stop, young colt? We will be arriving there shortly.”

“Thank you kind Sir, I will get ready to go out then.”

“Sir?”

The conductor smiles and nods at the young colt before he walks to the next wagon.

“Sir?”

Huh?

The tired unicorn with the red coat opens his eyes slowly, seeing the train conductor from his dream in front of him, “Excuse me Sir, I believe Ponyville was your stop? We will be arriving there shortly.”

Rubbing his eyes, the unicorn replies, “Huh … Ah yes, thank you kind Sir.”

The conductor smiles and nods at the unicorn before he walks to the next wagon.

The unicorn smiled and said to himself, “It’s good to see ponies who can be happy doing what they love for so many years. Makes me wonder what my special thing will be …”

The train comes to a stop at a station, a few passengers get out, including the red coated unicorn, who has his books in his saddlebags and a pouch filled with bits as his baggage. He walks off the station and looks around.

“I have seen Twilight Sparkle before, let me see if I can remember it properly,” Chrono says to himself, “She had a light purple coat, dark blue mane and tail with two streaks in them, purple and pink. Of course she had a unicorn horn, with violet eyes below them. And ... What was her cutie mark again ... Aah I remember, it was a violet star with five small white stars around it. I guess I can see if anypony knows where to find her.”

He starts to walk along the dirt path laid out before him. Along the path he spots a pony picking flowers, a cute yellow Pegasus with a long pink tail and mane, having baskets hanging on either sides to put the flowers in and a cutie mark of some pink butterflies positioned slightly behind them.

“Excuse me, may I ask you a question perhaps?” the red unicorn asks the yellow pegasus, to which she turns around, revealing gentle, cyan coloured eyes before she replies, “Uhm, a question? Sure.”

“I’m looking for a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle,” the red unicorn speaks politely, “Might you know where I can find her?”

The yellow pegasus looks down for a moment before answering in an equally polite manner, “Uhm, well, I guess Twilight would be at the library right now, I could show you the way if you want.”

“Thank you, I would really appreciate that, can I perhaps ask your name?”

The yellow pony looks away slightly, saying in a soft voice, “My name is …,” followed by a mumble that the unicorn can’t understand.

“Excuse me, I didn’t quite catch that.”

“My name is …”

“Hey Fluttershy!” an energetic voice calls out from another direction. The unicorn and pegasus look at where the voice came from. A purple coloured mare approaches the two, which the unicorn can identify as Twilight sparkle.

“Oh, hey Twilight,” the yellow pegasus says gently, looking at the purple coloured unicorn.

“Are you Twilight Sparkle?” the red unicorn asks excitedly as he bows courteously, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“And you must be Chrono?” Twilight asks, to which the red unicorn responds with a nod, “Celestia already sent me a letter, sorry I was a bit late though, SOME dragon didn’t give the letter to me in time.”

“Well you wouldn’t listen because you were reading that book on naturally made potions that you borrowed from Zecora,” a small dragon riding on Twilight’s back replies.

“Oh well, you know, let’s not point hooves when we have a guest here,” Twilight continues, sounding slightly nervous.

Spike chuckles as he jumps off Twilight’s back, showing his purple coloured scales and dark green spikes going down his back, his eyes matching the colour of his spikes and with dragon ears in a lighter green shade, “Hey Fluttershy.”

The yellow pegasus replies with a kind smile and a kind voice, “Hi there Spike.”

“So, this is the guy that Celestia wrote about? I gotta say, I was expecting him to look more … Impressive,” Spike says, looking at the red unicorn Chrono.

“Spike! That was awfully rude to say,” Twilight says in a scolding tone as she nudges Spike the dragon in his side, “Anyway, I see you met my good friend Fluttershy already.”

“Oh, I didn’t know she was a good friend of yours,” Chrono says, before taking a courteous bow towards Fluttershy, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Fluttershy blushes slightly at Chrono’s display of courtesy, stuttering a little before she can get a proper reply out, “Uh, it’s nice to meet you too.”

Chrono gets up with a smile just as Twilight starts to talk again, “Well then, Princess Celestia asked me to introduce you to some of my friends, Fluttershy, do you want to come along with us?”

“Uhm, I guess I’m not busy, I will go with you,” Fluttershy responds, sounding more excited than she has so far.

“Only if I can ride the new guy!” Spike says in an excited voice, “I need to know how comfortable he is.”

“Spike, stop being so upfront to Chrono,” Twilight says, sounding harsher on Spike than before.

“Aww, but Twilight …,” Spike replies in a very disappointed voice.

“I don’t mind it, I’m used to carrying a lot of things around,” Chrono interrupts.

“Really? Awesome!” Spike quickly jumps up on Chrono’s back and makes himself comfortable.

Twilight rolls her eyes with a smile as she moves to lead the group into Ponyville, “Well, let’s go guys, I think I know where to find our other friends.”

With Twilight leading in the front, followed by Chrono with Spike on his back and Fluttershy trailing behind, the group is walking along Ponyville’s main street, leading past the market leads the group towards Sugarcube corner, a sweets shop run by local pair of earth ponies, who are parents since quite recently.

Not a lot has changed over the many years, since the last time I was here, I remember getting some sweets at that shop, they were much tastier than those in Canterlot.

“Oh, hey, there’s Pinkie Pie!” Twilight says, as she calls out to a pony leaving Sugarcube Corner.

“Twilight!” the mare calls back before hopping over, “I didn’t expect to see you here, are you here for something special? You must be or else you wouldn’t be here! Well unless you came here to buy some candy. But then again candy is special …”

Suddenly, the pony bouncing energetically around Twilight gasps deeply as she sees Chrono and moves quickly over to him, “Oooh, I haven’t seen you around here before, are you new? You must be new here if I haven’t seen you before because I know EVERYpony in Ponyville! Ooh, ooh, is he your friend Twilight? Or is he your friend Spike?”

The energetic pink pony finally seems to somewhat stop moving, making her dark pink curly mane and tail clearly visible, along with her light blue eyes and her cutie mark of some balloons.

She gasps deeply again, before continuing, “Is he your … Very special somepony?”

“Oh no Pinkie, he got sent here by Celestia, just like I originally was, he will be staying in Ponyville for a while with us,” Twilight answers, trying to hide a slight blush from the absurd suggestion, “This is Chrono, and Chrono, this is Pinkie Pie.”

Before Chrono can do his customary bow and greet Pinkie Pie, she starts to jump around him with a big grin on her face, “Oooh, a new friend, he looks tough, Celestia sent you? That means you must be special if you know Celestia personally, just like Twilight was, ooh I remember the day I first saw her in Ponyville, it was the most exciting moment ever!”

How can a pony have so much energy, she’s bouncing around faster than a bunny!

“Pinkie, are you at it again?” a confident voice says from above.

Looking up, there is a pegasus floating above with a light blue coat, having fuchsia coloured eyes, a cutie mark of a lightning shaped rainbow coming from a cloud on her flank but most amazingly her mane and tail, which are coloured in all six colours of the rainbow.

“Oh hey Rainbow Dash, I was just so excited for this new friend that Twilight brought over!” Pinkie says, looking straight up at the light blue pegasus.

“New friend ey?” the pegasus dives down, landing on her four hooves with a certain finesse, landing in front of Chrono with a proud look on her face, “Hiya, I’m Rainbow Dash, come to me if you want to see my awesome flying skills.”

“I will remember that, my name is Chrono,” again, Chrono wants to bow, but he is cut short by Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah yeah, you seem pretty cool, where did he come from Twilight?” she asks, looking over at Twilight, Pinky still bouncing around excitedly as Fluttershy stands at the back and watches calmly.

Twilight takes a step to put her in front of the group again, “Well, I was going to gather all of you, together with Rarity and Applejack. Celestia asked me to do so to introduce Chrono to all of you.”

“I can get Applejack quickly, no problem,” Rainbow Dash says, boasting her speed a little.

“Ooh, ooh, I wanna get Rarity then!” Pinkie Pie says enthusiastically.

Spike jumps off Chrono and jumps on Pinkie’s back, “Let’s go then Pinkie!”

Rainbow Dash flies off incredibly fast, confirming that she does live up to her boasting as Pinkie Pie and Spike hop in the other direction, Twilight yelling after them, “Make sure to bring them to the library then! … I hope they got that. Anyway, let’s go to the library now.”

“Say, Twilight, uhm, where would Chrono be staying?” Fluttershy asks, trying to carefully move more to the head of the group as they head towards a large tree, which is the library, and Twilight’s home.

“He will be staying with me at the library for now, so he can send letters to Princess Celestia through Spike as well,” Twilight answers, trotting along carefree.

“Oh, uhm, I get it,” Fluttershy replies, slowly slinking back to the tail of the group, but stopping as she notices something and walks alongside Chrono to ask him something, “Oh, uhm, I couldn’t help but notice, if you don’t mind me asking, you don’t have a cutie mark?”

“It’s okay, it’s a long story though, I’m not completely comfortable talking about it here,” Chrono replies with a kind smile.

“Oh, okay …,” Fluttershy starts to drag a little, moving faster again when she’s behind Chrono.

She’s really shy, more than anypony I’ve ever met.

The three ponies go across the town, passing over the town square, past the town hall, which has been renewed since the last time Chrono has visited, or at least from what he can remember. They approach a large oak tree, which seems to be a house.

“There’s the library, it’s where I live. What do you think of it, Chrono?” Twilight asks, looking back at him.

Chrono is examining the library intently, reacting without looking away from it, “It’s amazing ...”

Suddenly, Chrono’s concentration is broken by something flying by fast, causing some wind to unbalance the group.

“Rainbow, wow that was quick,” Twilight says, looking up at the light blue flash that stopped right above them.

“Well duh, you know I’m the fastest pegasus in Equestria,” Rainbow Dash answered, crossing her front hooves.

“How did you get Applejack to come so easily?” Twilight asks, seeming a little sceptical at Rainbow Dash.

“Well, uh ...,” Rainbow says, looking away slightly as a voice calls from behind.

“Twilight!” the voice comes from the same direction as Rainbow Dash came, seeming to have an accent that sounds all too familiar to Chrono. He turns around to see an orange pony with green eyes, her abundant mane and tail tied into a knot and freckles on her face. Not to mention she’s wearing a somewhat typical cowpony hat. Combined with a cutie mark of some apples, she must work at the apple orchard. She arrives at the group, panting as she says, “Twilight, Rainbow said there was an emergency, so I came as fast as my hooves would let me.”

“Emergency, there’s no ...,” Twilight turns her head to Rainbow Dash, “Rainbow!”

“Hehe, I might have exaggerated just a little ...,” Rainbow says, trying to smile innocently.

“I’m sorry Applejack, I hope you weren’t busy, we did need you but your work is more important,” Twilight apologizes in Rainbow’s stead.

The orange pony sighs slightly irritated, but replies with a smile, crossing her front legs, “That’s quite alright Twi, it was a quiet day at the farm anywho.”

“Well alright then, come on, let’s go inside,” Twilight turns back to the library and takes a few steps before the orange mare responds.

“Say Twi ...,” she says, making the purple unicorn turn around again.

“What is it Applejack?”

“Aren’t cha gonna introduce me to your new friend?” the orange pony faces Chrono.

“Oh, yes, excuse me, Applejack, this is Chrono,” Twilight holds a hoof up at Chrono, putting it down again as she looks over to him, “And Chrono, this is Applejack.”

“Pleasure to meetcha Chrono,” Applejack says, taking off her hat and making a polite bow to Chrono.

“The pleasure is all mine, “ Chrono bows equally courteous, “I presume you are from the Apple family?”

“Sure am, how d’ya guess?” Applejack asks as she puts her hat back on.

“I have travelled a lot and met many members from the Apple family,” Chrono says with a smile, thinking back of the variation he’s seen to the family, “They are always very friendly.”

“Ain’t no Apple family if they ain’t friendly,” Applejack continues, before Rainbow lets out a noticeable grunt.

“Ugh, can we go inside already? I wanna know what all this fuss is about!” she says impatiently.

Applejack smirks slightly, having annoyed Rainbow Dash for over exaggerating to her, “ I guess we can talk more later.”

Chrono nods in agreement, Twilight opening the library to let everyone in. Everyone complies, moving into the open door one by one before Twilight follows and closes the door.

“Well now, Princess Celestia sent me two letters, one was meant for you, let me just go get it,” Twilight says as she trots up the stairs to the living quarters of the library.

Chrono looks around the library, seeing books he’s seen before in the libraries in the Canterlot archives, but also books he has never seen. It makes sense though, since Chrono hasn’t been to the libraries in Canterlot since he was just a young colt, before he started his journey across Equestria. Twilight comes back down, a rolled parchment being carried along with her by her magic, which glows around the letter and her horn in the same colour, “I found the letter, here it is.”

Chrono uses his magic to pick up the letter, unrolls it in front of himself before he starts to read it. While he focuses on reading the letter, the door to the library suddenly slams open, and Pinkie Pie hops inside, cheering excitedly, “Hey everyone, I got Rarity, now we can start the par-ty!”

Behind Pinkie Pie another mare enters, standing out clearly from the rest as being classier, having an elegant white coat, indigo coloured mane and tail curled up. Just under her shining unicorn horn are a pair of azure coloured eyes, topped by some eyeliner. Her cutie mark shows three diamonds, but more noticeably is that her walk is that of a Canterlot pony. Spike seems to be tailing this unicorn, focusing intently on her.

“Well hello everyone, I heard somepony from Canterlot came here and Pinkie was throwing him a party, so I couldn’t help but come along with her,” the unicorn says, walking proudly along.

“Yes, that would be Chrono over here,” Twilight responds, holding out a hoof to Chrono.

Chrono turns to the elegant unicorn and bows courteously, “Good afternoon, my name is Chrono, it’s a pleasure to meet an elegant unicorn such as yourself.”

The unicorn returns the bow in the same fashion as Chrono, “My name is Rarity, it is an honour to meet a unicorn with class such as yourself.”

“Actually, I’m not really a unicorn ...,” Chrono continues, picking up the letter and rereading it quickly.

“Whadda ya mean, you’re not a unicorn?” Rainbow Dash says in the same impatient tone as before, “Don’t tell me you’re really a pegasus, hahaha!”

“No, I’m not a pegasus either, nor an earth pony,” Chrono responds, smirking a little.

“Then ... May I ask what you are?” Twilight says, sounding a little confused.

“No, Celestia wants me to show you all, hehe,” Chrono’s horn starts to glow as his body is enveloped in a light. While he is glowing, his horn grows longer and pointier, wings spout out from his back that are larger than regular pegasus wings and, when the glow starts to fade, his coat reveals to be a much more deeper red colour, shining like rubies. His mane and tail grow more abundant, and reveal to look like amethysts, while his hooves are clearly divided from the coat with a topaz coloured glow. He finally opens his eyes to show eyes in the same colour as his mane, a beautiful amethyst colour.

Everyone stares, not sure how to react to the transformation, except for Pinkie Pie, who is bouncing around excitedly and Rarity, whose eyes widen at the new sight. She exclaims in a slightly overdramatic tone, “Oh my, you look simply AMAZING!”

Twilight regains her composure after Chrono turned into what could easily pass as a prince, “You are really an ... Alicorn?”

Chrono nods, while Rainbow gets closer to get a better look, “What the heck is an Alicorn?”

“An alicorn is a very rare breed of ponies, almost exclusive to the royal family, which Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence belong to,” Twilight continues, thinking of a book that might give a description about alicorns.

“So he’s a relative of Princess Celestia then?” Applejack says, looking a little confused.

“The complexion of his coat ... the texture of the mane ... It is very different from that of Princess Celestia, and that of Princess Cadence as well ...” Rarity says, examing Chrono in great detail.

“Rarity knows what she’s talking about, I’m not related to Princess Celestia in any way,” Chrono holds a hoof up so Rarity can examine it well.

“Then, how do you know Celestia?” Twilight asks curiously as she pulls a book on alicorn history out of the bookshelves.

“Celestia found me when I was a baby, and took care of me ever since,” Chrono’s head follows Rarity as she goes around him to examine his tail.

“But then, why did I never hear about you before?” Twilight questions him, flipping the pages of the book to see if there are any other known alicorn families that should still be alive today.

“She wanted to keep me hidden from the public, since I wasn’t related to her.”

“I can’t find any other alicorn family that would have lived in the last ... 200 years ...,” Twilight gets more confused again.

“I don’t trust this... what if he’s a changeling?!” Rainbow Dash says in a suspicious tone.

“Yeah, they were really sneaky back in Canterlot, imitating Cadence and such,” Applejack continues.

Twilight and Rarity seem to start doubting him too. Even Pinkie Pie gets on edge as they all start to discuss the possibility, remembering how much trouble the changelings caused at the recent wedding. Though the discussing sounds more arguing. Chrono’s spirit seems to fade quickly as they discuss him, feeling this might not be a place where he would belong, until Fluttershy steps up and talks to Chrono amidst the ruckus, “Ehm, excuse me, would it be okay for me to ask about your cutie mark now?”

“You’re not doubting me?” Chrono asks, surprised by the completely different reaction from Fluttershy.

“Well, you said you didn’t want to talk about it on the streets, so maybe you want to talk about it here,” Fluttershy continues, talking in a very gentle and sincere voice.

“I guess ... Sure, if you really want to,” Chrono smiles again at the kindness that the yellow pegasus shows.

“Hey, if you’re going away from this,” Spike interrupts, “Take me with you, I don’t like it when they argue like that, it gives me a headache.”

“Is there any place we can go that’s a little more ... Quiet?” Chrono asks, looking around a little.

“We could go to the balcony, we won’t hear them from there,” Spike suggests.

Chrono smiles, “Lead the way, Spike.”

Spike starts to walk up the stairs, followed by Chrono and Fluttershy at the tail of the three again. Spike opens up the door leading to the balcony as he lets the two ponies out as well before closing it behind them, blocking most of the noise from the arguing out. Spike gets Chrono and Fluttershy a cushion to sit on and sits on a third himself, putting the three in a small circle.

“So, uhm ... Where to start?” Chrono says, not really sure where to begin telling the tale surrounding his cutie mark, since he never talked much to anypony other than Celestia.

“Well, uhm, you said Celestia found you when you were a baby, I do believe?” Fluttershy says, seeming somehow more relaxed than before.

“Yeah, she raised me when I was a baby until I was able to walk, which was surprisingly fast in itself I recall her say. She started teaching me magic at that point and seeing how well I could fly.”

“So you were taught magic at such a young age?” Spike asks, “That was even younger than Twilight, at least before she got taught in it.”

“She seemed to think that I would be able to handle it, and she was right, in a year I already learned most of the basic spells, and mastered some,” Chrono says, sounding very neutral while telling it.

“Wow, that’s pretty impressive,” Spike says amazed, “Learning spells so easily would make anypony jealous.”

Chrono nods in agreement before continuing, “But my cutie mark didn’t seem to be magic related, so Celestia wanted to explore other paths before sending me onto one.”

Spike holds out a claw as he says, “But wouldn’t you need to spend more time to know if magic was related to your cutie mark?”

“It’s true my magic abilities were above average, but Celestia also tested my flying skills, which were also above average in every area.”

“So you were really good at both? Then your cutie mark wouldn’t be related to them, or can alicorns have more cutie marks?”

“Nopony has ever been confirmed to have more than one cutie mark, under normal circumstances, that’s all I could find out,” Chrono says, thinking back of the many hours he spent in the Canterlot archives.

“So it’s really like ... You are good at those things, but they don’t give you your cutie mark?” Spike concludes, sounding a little proud of himself.

“Exactly, it was that way with other things I tried as well, so Celestia decided to send me on a journey across all of Equestria, to find my home or find a different way to find my cutie mark,” Chrono says, looking between Spike and Fluttershy, who seems to just listen.

“How long have you been on that journey? Maybe you haven’t seen everything yet if you didn’t find your cutie mark that way.”

“Well,” Chrono starts to grin, “I would say I have been on that journey since before you were hatched from your egg Spike.”

“Wow ... Really?!” Spike sounds very surprised, pulling a chuckle from Chrono and an amused smile from Fluttershy.

“Well it would be around ...,” suddenly, noises from the other side of the door could be heard, against the door rather than further away. Chrono starts to speak in a more whispering voice, moving his head closer so the other two can still hear him, who also move their heads a little closer, “Are they eavesdropping on us?”

“I think they are, I can’t hear them arguing anymore,” Spike whispers back.

“What are we going to do about it?” Chrono says, looking from one to the other.

The two start to think a little, before Spike comes with a suggestion, “Hey, can you use teleportation magic?”

Chrono nods in agreement, to which Spike continues, “Let’s teleport right behind them and scare them!”

“Hehe, that sounds fun, are you okay with that too, Fluttershy?” Chrono asks, looking over at the quiet, yellow pegasus.

“Oh my, yes, that sounds fun,” she replies, sounding a little excited.

“Wow, you sound excited about it Fluttershy, “Spike says to her, picking up on it.

“Well, they did say mean things to Chrono,” Fluttershy smiles as she continues, “And I’m sure they can laugh about it too.”

“Then let’s do it,” Chrono’s horn starts to glow, the glow surrounds Fluttershy, Spike and himself as they are teleported to the centre of the library. The three sneak upstairs, spying on the eavesdropping mares.

“Twilight, move over dear, I can’t hear anything with your mane in my way,” Rarity says, trying to push Twilight away subtly.

“You move over Rarity, you can hear it much better than me,” Twilight answers, slightly agitated.

“Both of you shush now or none of us can hear a thing,” Applejack says, shoving both unicorn aside.

“I can’t hear anything anymore at all because all of you are being so loud!” Rainbow Dash interrupts a little rudely.

“Well of course silly, that’s because they are right over there,” Pinkie Pie says, looking at the group peeking around the corner.

The three come out from around the corner, smiling and chuckling a little as they see the faces of the embarrassed mares.

“Oh my, this is embarrassing,” Twilight says, blushing slightly.

A few minutes later, all the ponies and Spike are sitting below in the library, Spike still chuckling a little, “You, you all had to see your faces, hahaha!”

Twilight nudges him with her hoof, “Come on Spike, enough laughing,” she says, trying to keep a straight face but still giggles a little from feeling a little stupid.

“It was very unlady-like, please forgive me Chrono,” Rarity says, sounding sincere in her apology.

“That’s quite alright Rarity,” Chrono says, still chuckling a little inside his head.

“Ya didn’t seem like such a bad guy when we were, ehh ...,” Applejack continues, not knowing how to call it.

“Eavesdropping,” Rainbow Dash adds.

“Yeah, eavesdropping, we shouldn’t have assumed you were bad just ‘cause we didn’t know ya,” Applejack continues.

“Don’t worry, I guess I came on a little strong, hehe,” Chrono says, calming all the nervous mares down a little with a warm voice.

“Will you tell the rest of your story? You kind of got me curious,” Twilight suggests.

“Sure, where did I leave off ... Ah I remember now,” Chrono starts talking, continuing his story from before, “I went on a journey across Equestria, meeting many ponies and seeing many places, but none of these were related to my cutie mark, I came back to Canterlot this morning and got send here right away by Celestia,” Chrono picks up the letter from Celestia, which was addressed to him, “Celestia wants me to help work with the ponies in Ponyville, to learn from others and maybe find my cutie mark that way.”

“Well I can’t deny you from working at the farm with my family,” Applejack says.

“And you can help out with the weather,” Rainbow adds.

“I’m sure the animals would like you too,” Fluttershy says with a gentle voice.”

“And you absolutely MUST let me make you something fashionable,” Rarity waves her hoof as she talks, adding to her class.

Pinkie starts bouncing around again as she exclaims in her excited voice, “Ooh! Ooh! You can help me set up surprise parties! Or help me bake pastries!”

“And of course you’re free to practice magic along with me,” Twilight says with a smile.

Chrono nods to everyone’s suggestions, smiling as he says, “Thank you, everypony, I really appreciate it.”

Eventually, the ponies started to go home, one by one, until only Twilight, Spike and Chrono were left. The conversation was about books that both Twilight and Chrono had read when they were younger, in the Canterlot archives, until the sun set and it was time to go to bed. Twilight led him upstairs, where there was an extra beds for guests, which would have to do for the time being. Spike crawls into his basket, while Twilight shows Chrono to the guest bed, used when someone is staying over. She gets into her own bed, and Chrono to the guest bed. Before going to sleep though, Chrono uses his magic to get the book he wrote in earlier that day and a quill.

“What are you going to write in that, Chrono?” Twilight asks, a little curious since she loves books.

“A journal of my time here, I used to do that on my journey as well,” Chrono opens the book and turns to the page after where he wrote the last time, “It’s gotten to be a bit of a habit.”

“You should let me read your works sometime, I love reading,” Twilight says, giggling as she catches herself sounding a little like a nerd.

Chrono smiles and replies with a simple, “Sure.”

Using his horn for a dim light, Chrono starts to write in his book.

Arriving at Ponyville today, I got to meet a number of interesting ponies. Twilight Sparkle, who Celestia originally told me to contact, was much nicer than I imagined. She seemed like a normal pony, not like somepony that would be vain. Her friends were very varied, but they were all good ponies. The pony that surprised me the most was Fluttershy, when everyone was doubting me, it was her kindness that changed all their minds. I’m looking forward to working together with each them.

Apples and Pinkie Pie

“What’s a pony of your age doing out here?”

“I’m going to see the Everfree Forest! Eh, hey, can you let me through?”

“The Everfree Forest is dangerous, I can’t let a young colt go there.”

“Heh, I can just teleport past you, see?”

“I guess I can’t stop a unicorn if he knows that kind of spell …”

“You’re nice. You work on that apple orchard right?”

“Eeyup, my sister left recently, so I have to do a lot of extra work.”

“Then how about when I get back from the forest, we have some apple pie together? I’d show you I’m okay that way, hehe.”

“It would be mighty nice to have you over.”

“Alright, it’s a promise then! See you tomorrow!”

I can still remember that red stallion; he was much older than me, since I was still a colt. I wonder if he still works on that apple orchard….

I guess I never went back for that apple pie….

Opening his eyes, Chrono looks up as he wakes up. The sun isn’t up yet, but that was normal for him. Looking across, he can see that Twilight Sparkle and Spike are still asleep; they must not be accustomed to waking up at this time. Chrono gets out of quietly, making sure not to wake the others up. However, struck by a bad dream, Spike has woken up just before Chrono got past him, and notices him.

“Hey, why are you up so early?” Spike says, interrupted by a deep yawn, “Did you have a bad dream too?”

“No, this is a normal time for me to wake up,” Chrono answers in a whispering voice, not to wake Twilight up as well.

“Normal for you? The sun isn’t even out yet,” Spike says, gaining his senses as he crawls out his basket.

“I got used to it when traveling, so I could always see the sunrise,” Chrono opens the door out of the bedroom, “Shall we talk elsewhere? Since Twilight is still sleeping.”

Spike looks up, having forgotten Twilight so far before he nods and goes out the room, quietly closing the door behind him. The two walk down the stairs to the main room of the library before they continue talking.

“So, why do you always get up so early?” Spike asks to Chrono.

“I got used to it from having been in train rides of days long at a time, and being able to see the sunrise on different landscapes was a real treat,” Chrono explains.

“Oh, wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sunrise,” Spike says, somewhat imagining what it would look like, “I was too tired to get up early or stay up late for it. Actually, how do you not get tired if you get so little sleep?”

“That’s easy,” Chrono says with a smile, “I take afternoon naps. A nap of one hour can be as good as two hours as sleep.”

“Wow, I didn’t expect something like that,” Spike snickers.

“Sometimes, the answer is simpler than you’d think,” Chrono uses his magic to get a quill and a bit of parchment, “Do you want to see the sunrise too? Maybe we can find a nice place for it.”

“Well, Twilight is still asleep anyway, so sure.”

Chrono opens the door and leads the way, Spike following after him as he uses his magic to close the door again. The sun isn’t out yet, but the sky is lighting up already, signalling that the sun is close to rising. The two start walking down the street, nopony in sight, as everypony is still asleep at this time. The two make their way to some of the hills near Sweet Apple Acres. Chrono occasionally writes something on the parchment he took along, putting them down for a moment as he stands on the hill, looking in a direction with Spike looking in the same direction.

“The sun should rise … now,” he says, predicting the exact moment that the sun’s first rays become visible on the horizon, much to the Spike’s amazement.

“Wow, the sunrise is amazing…. But how did you get the timing right?” Spike questions, not averting his eyes from the bright beauty brought about daily by Princess Celestia, “Is it because you’ve seen it so often?”

“No, I actually guess the timing, honestly, I’ve never been wrong about it,” Chrono replies, still amazing himself every time.

“Really? Wow, that’s sorta cool,” Spike says, still watching as the bright sun grew higher on the horizon, until it was completely up and too bright to look at directly for any longer as Spike rubs his eyes and looks away.

“I’m glad you liked the sunrise, the first time for me was very special too,” Chrono smiles as he looks around from the hilltop, writing on the parchment at the same time.

“Hey, what are you writing on there?” Spike wonders, peeking over Chrono’s shoulder to look at it.

“I’m making a small map for myself, so I can find my way more quickly,” Chrono responds, putting the final touches on a draft of the map.

“Wow, you put some nice detail into it,” Spike says, amazed at the quality of Chrono’s map.

“Thanks, this is the first time I tried making a map like this,” Chrono rolls up the parchment, as he look up towards the sun, “We should go back to the library, I think Twilight will wake up soon.”

“It’s a little bit early for her to get up, but I guess we can go back,” Spike responds as the two start walking back to the library.

Entering the library, the two could hear the door upstairs opening. They looked up to see a yawning Twilight coming down the stair, “Oh, good morning you two, I wondered where you had gone.”

“We were up watching the sunrise, and Chrono made a really good looking map, well for just sketches at least,” Spike says, very excited over the morning he’s had, “Actually, why are you up this early? Normally you sleep a little more.”

“I had a dream that made me wake up and I didn’t want to get back to sleep for a little bit,” Twilight responds, coming down the last steps of the stairs and seeing the parchment floating from Chrono’s magic, “Oh, do you mind if I look at your map? Spike’s enthusiasm made me curious about it,” Twilight says as she lifts a hoof.

Chrono nods and flies the parchment over to Twilight. Spike starts talking again, realizing something, “Hey, you were right with Twilight waking up around this time Chrono.”

“Yeah, I guess I was huh,” Chrono chuckles, while Twilight is intently studying the map.

“You were right about when the sun would rise too, you have some sort of special talent for telling time!” Spike looks at Chrono as he talks to him, thinking he might be onto something.

“Well, if I would get my cutie mark on telling time, I would have gotten it by now, so I don’t think that’s it,” he responds, smiling thankfully for the little dragon trying to help.

“Aww, it would have been awesome if we already discovered your cutie mark,” Spike replies, sounding a little disappointed.

“This sketch of the town is really well made Chrono, have you made maps before?” Twilight asks, curling the map back up and handing it back over to him.

“Actually, no, that was my first attempt,” he replies, somewhat happy but also disappointed he did well on it.

“It’s very impressive,” Twilight replies, as she gets out some books, “How about we try out some magic today? Your cutie mark may still be related to it.”

Chrono smiles and replies in a more cheerful voice, “Oh, yeah, we can do that.”

“Spike, make a checklist of basic magic spells so we can ascertain Chrono’s current level of magic,” Twilight says, looking up a little proudly of how she plans ahead. Spike nods, picking up a quill and some parchment as he starts jotting down basic skills, which Twilight dictates to him. After assembling a list, she looks over it, and checks a mark on a different checklist for making a checklist of basic magic spells, giving a satisfied smile at completing a checklist item. Chrono chuckles a little, catching Twilight’s attention. He soon dismisses it with a friendly gesture though, as he looks at the checklist dictated by Twilight.

“So these are the spells we will practice for now?” Chrono asks Twilight, still reading down the list.

“I know, those probably aren’t special, but I don’t want to wear you out if I don’t know your magic level yet,” Twilight responds, getting some books from the shelves carved in the walls of the library about basic magic spells.

Chrono finishes reading the checklist and thinks for a moment, before saying, “I think I know all of these, let me try.”

After saying so, Twilight uses her magic to take a checklist and quill and give these to Spike to keep track of the spells Chrono can use. Chrono starts performing the magic that Spike describes, each time doing so like it is natural to him. Some of the spells included on the checklist are levitation, which almost every unicorn knows, teleportation, and small barriers. Chrono finishes the checklist fairly quickly, and when Spike confirms the checklist has been completed, Twilight crosses off another item on her own checklist, with the same proud smile as before.

“It seems you know all the basic magic very well Chrono, you went through the checklist very quickly,” Twilight says, reviewing the checklist that Spike maintained, noting all the spells Chrono had to use with a big X marked before them.

Chrono smiles and was about to say something, but was quickly interrupted by some knocking on the door. Twilight calls for the pony knocking on the door to come in, but not before Chrono quickly changes his appearance to the unicorn form from the day before, taking away the slight regal feeling his other form has as well as his wings.

The door opens and Applejack comes walking in, “G’ mornin’ Twilight, Spike, and of course Chrono too. I nearly didn’t recognize ya, looking different from yesterday and all.”

“Good morning Applejack,” Twilight responds, putting the parchment away, relieved it’s not someone that doesn’t know Chrono yet.

“Hey Applejack,” Spike replies to her as well.

“I’m sorry if you can’t keep up with my disguises,” Chrono apologizes to Applejack.

“Oh, don’ worry bout that, I know yer just trying to protect yerself,” Applejack says, crossing her front hoof over the other.

Chrono smiles in response as Twilight walks towards Applejack a little to greet her properly, “Sooo, Applejack, what brings you here?”

“Well Twilight, we discovered a whole bunch of apple trees that are in bloom that had been uncounted, so I was wondering if Chrono wanted to come over and help buck some trees, ya know, so he might get his cutie mark in it if that’s his special thing,” Applejack says, somewhat stumbling over her own words occasionally.

“I think that would be a great idea, if Chrono is up for it, of course,” Twilight responds, looking back at Chrono.

Chrono thinks for a moment before giving a simple nod, “If you don’t mind me wearing this disguise I would love to try some apple bucking, I’ve seen it done often.”

“That’s quite alright, as long as yer bucking, it doesn’t matter how ya look,” Applejack responds with a friendly grin.

Chrono looks over at Twilight, who gives a nod in reply, “Go on Chrono, the magic practice can wait for later, I have a few errands to do anyway.”

“Alright then,” Chrono responds as Applejack leads the way for him, going out the library and towards Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight closes the door before she starts talking to Spike.

“Hey Spike,” Twilight says, “Do you think it will get troublesome for Chrono to go around disguised?”

“I guess it will get troublesome, if he gets around Ponyville more,” Spike responds, pausing for a moment before he continues, “Why are you asking Twilight?”

“I think I have talk to someone, it’s probably for the better. Spike, take a letter….”

Arriving at Sweet Apple Acres, it seems to have grown a lot more from the last time Chrono had seen it, many years ago. The path that he and Applejack are on leads through what seems a forest of apple trees, all the way to the farm in the middle of it.

“Wow, the orchard is a lot bigger than I imagined,” Chrono says, looking around over the many trees while still following the path.

“Well, we do work hard to maintain it, but it’s all worth it,” Applejack says, leading the way to the farm itself. Upon reaching there, it didn’t seem like anypony else was there, except for an old mare on a rocking chair, sleeping soundly.

“Granny Smith, wake up, we have a guest over,” Applejack says, nudging the elderly mare gently.

The mare on the rocking chair wakes up suddenly, wondering what the racket is all about.

“Granny Smith, this here is Chrono, he’s gonna help on the farm today,” Applejack says, holding out a hoof to Chrono.

“Well howdy Chrono, nice to meet ya,” Granny Smith responds, sounding as old as she looks.

“And Chrono, this here is Granny Smith,” Applejack puts her front hoof in front of the other again, “She may be old, but she still knows how to work on the farm.”

“Wow, that’s amazing,” Chrono responded, shaking her hoof.

“I guess Big Macintosh is out on the fields now, and Applebloom is going to school, so I will introduce you to them some other time,” Applejack continues.

“Is that all the family you have here? It doesn’t seem much from the several farms I’ve seen over Equestria,” Chrono replies.

“We ain’t got many family in Ponyville, but we work as hard as we can, and keep the farm running smoothly,” Applejack replies, sounding very proud of the farm. Chrono simply smiles in response, “Come Chrono, I will show ya to a few ripe trees so I can show you how to buck some trees.”

“Alright,” Chrono replies as he follows Applejack to a group of trees that have ripe apples hanging in them, a mix of green and red apples all shining brilliantly from their branches.

“Now, the trees that have baskets under them are ripe trees that you can buck, ya said ya’ve seen apple bucking before?” Applejack asks, looking at Chrono.

“Yeah, I think I know how it works,” Chrono replies, walking up to a tree.

“Well, show me what ya got Chrono,” Applejack says, crossing her front hoof over her other hoof again.

Chrono walks up to a ripe tree, faces away from it with his rear legs lifted up before he hits the tree with them, causing apples to fall from the tree and into the baskets.

“That was pretty good Chrono, for your first buck,” Applejack says, lifting her hat a little in amazement.

Chrono smiles bashfully, not used to receiving compliments and not sure how to react.

“Say Chrono,” Applejack says, sounding more serious, “Before we begin, I have something I need to tell ya.”

Chrono looks back at her, “What is it, Applejack?”

Applejack takes her hat off, holding it over her front hooves, “I just wanna say, I’m really sorry bout my behaviour yesterday.”

“Didn’t you already apologize with the others?” Chrono asks, slightly confused about the sudden apology.

“Yeah, but it don’ feel right without a personal apology,” she continues, “I shouldn’t have gone off in the moment, please accept this pony’s honest apology.”

“Well, of course I accept your apology, Applejack. I didn’t blame any of you for your reactions, with the surprise that I caused.”

“Thanks Chrono, you’re a real nice guy,” she puts her hat back on, “How do ya feel bout a bucking competition? The pony who bucks the most trees wins.”

A slightly competitive grin forms on Chrono’s muzzle, “That sounds like fun.”

“Alright, the trees with baskets are ripe ones,” Applejack gets into a starting position, “We buck this here field, and see who bucks the most trees in it.”

Chrono nods as he gets into starting position. Applejack starts counting down from three, not faking a quick start but honestly starting when Chrono starts too. They run into the field and start bucking the trees, each performing perfect bucks one after the other in a quick pace. The field gets bucked very quickly, the two ponies keeping up with each other perfectly, until they both buck the same tree at the end of the field at exactly the same moment, having worked through the field in mere minutes. They both stand at the last tree, which they bucked together, panting fast but both with a satisfied grin.

“I think you bucked one tree more,” Chrono says as he starts to catch his breath again.

“Well, I’d reckon we tied,” Applejack responds, also catching her breath again.

“But I counted both our trees perfectly,” Chrono says, looking at Applejack a little confused.

“Yep, but ya forgot the tree ya bucked before we started, it’s in the field too.”

“But I bucked it before we started,” Chrono replies, not wanting to just take the victory away if it feels unfair.

Applejack looks at Chrono sincerely while she says, “Now look here Chrono, I said the pony that bucks the most trees in this field wins, not the pony that bucks the most trees after the start.”

“If you’re really sure, we will call it a tie,” Chrono said, accepting what Applejack said. Chrono looks over the field with all the baskets filled with apples, “Now what do we do with these apples?”

“We carry em back to the farm, of course,” Applejack says, hoisting two basket filled with apples onto Chrono’s back, so they hang on either side of him and balance him.

“Oh, of course, that makes sense,” Chrono chuckles, feeling slightly embarrassed not realizing something so simple.

“Ya can go on ahead Chrono, I will get a few baskets too and follow you,” Applejack turns around as she heads to the closest tree, working to put the baskets on her back.

Chrono starts walking back to the road between fields and begins following it back to the farm. The apples are stacked high in the baskets, but he seems to have an easy time keeping his balance. Along the path, another pony is coming from the other side. A large pony, certainly not Granny Smith, carrying large empty cart, which are presumably used to transport a lot of apples over the orchard. The pony turns out to be a large red stallion, having a short and messy mane and tail, with a large green apple as a cutie mark. Something about the stallion seemed familiar to Chrono.

“Excuse me, I will get out of your way,” the red stallion says, moving to the side to go off the road.

“Oh no, don’t worry, I can just teleport past you,” Chrono’s horn starts to glow before he flashes, disappearing from where he originally was and reappearing behind the red stallion’s empty cart, “See?”

“I guess I can’t match a unicorn that can do that,” the red stallion responds, looking behind him at the unicorn.

Chrono gets a familiar feeling as he turns around to look at the red stallion, “You’re nice, you work on the apple orchard right?”

The stallion seems to get a familiar feeling as he turns around, “Eeyup.”

“I guess I never came back for that apple pie,” Chrono says, seeing if the red stallion is the same as many years ago.

“Nope,” the stallion replies, sounding very simple, confirming Chrono’s suspicions.

The red stallion moves on, seemingly putting the familiar feeling aside and going back to his work.

Applejack moves around the red stallion, having heard the conversation, “What was that all about, did ya already know my brother Big McIntosh?”

“Guess I sorta do, I can tell you on the way to the farm,” Chrono responds, feeling strangely nostalgic.

And so, Chrono told Applejack the events of a few years back, like he had seen them in the dream that very night. Every little detail he could remember until they were inside the farmhouse, where the apples are kept.

“I guess that’s the time I was in Manehatten,” Applejack says, knowing it was the only time she was away from Ponyville and the farm for a long time, “I remember it like it was yesterday, since I got my cutie mark from it.”

“You got your cutie mark then?” Chrono ducks, letting the baskets stand on the ground so he can slide out from under them, “You are really lucky to have gotten it at that age, here I am with still no cutie mark.”

“Aww, ya will get it someday, I’m sure of it. Ya can be sure that I will help ya as a friend,” Applejack says, guiding Chrono back out the farm so they can fetch more baskets, “And ya shouldn’t worry about Big Mac, he won’t hold a grudge against ya cause ya didn’t get back before.”

Chrono smiles and nods, going back out the farm after Applejack. The two go back and forth, collecting baskets filled with apples and putting them down in the farm. Applejack’s brother, Big McIntosh, occasionally drops a cart of apples off as well, working on a different field entirely that’s farther away from the farm. Within no time, Applejack and Chrono clear the field of all the baskets of apples.

“Phew, we sure did a lot in just a small afternoon,” Applejack says, leaning on a bail of hey as she looks out over the bucked field.

“It’s amazing what you can do with just a few ponies,” Chrono says, “I can see how a few hard working ponies such as yourself can maintain the farm all by yourselves.”

“Yep, me and Big Mac are hard workers, but so are you,” Applejack holds a hoof up to Chrono, referring to him as a hard worker. Chrono chuckles bashfully before Applejack continues, “I’d say, thanks to yer help, all work is done for today.”

“I will be going back then, let me know if you have more work for me, I really enjoyed it, “Chrono says, turning to leave the farm.

“Of course I will, ya take care now, Chrono,” Applejack says, getting a nod from Chrono before he leaves the farm over the same path as he came in.

Not long after leaving the farm, Chrono sees a pink bouncing pony heading his way. He quickly manages to identify the pony as Pinkie Pie, who is happily skipping along with a basket on her head.

“Hey, Chrono!” she shouts, hopping over to Chrono before hopping in place in front of him as she continues talking, “What a coincidence, I was just looking for you! Well actually, I was going to be looking for you when I delivered something to Applejack but still what a coincidence!”

A bit overwhelmed by the talkative Pinkie Pie, Chrono simply replies, “Ehh, hey Pinkie.”

“Ooh, do you mind waiting here a moment while I deliver this to Applejack? I won’t be long at all I promise!” Pinkie Pie continues, before suddenly disappearing, leaving only a trail of dust towards the farm.

Chrono blinks, unsure of what to think before he faces forward again. Not soon after, a flash of pink passes him by with a little dust following it as Pinkie Pie appears in front of him again, “Oh, sorry, I guess you did mind since you just went on ahead, good thing I caught up to you though, otherwise I would have to start looking for you all over again!”

“Ehh, you went to the farm and back that quickly?” Chrono says, amazed by Pinkie’s speed.

“Well duhh, how else would I have delivered it to Applejack?” Pinkie replies with a big grin, completely missing the point Chrono was aiming at.

“I … guess?” Chrono replies, still a bit confused at the pink pony, “What did you have to deliver?”

“I had to invite Applejack to a surprise party that we will set up at the library, I was going to see if you wanted to help me set it up,” Pinkie Pie says as she starts bouncing aside Chrono, moving forward with him.

“Of course, but who is the party for?” Chrono asks, looking to his side, trying to follow the pink pony that continues to energetically bounce up and down.

“I can’t tell you or it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore!” Pinkie Pie responds, smiling blissfully even though she just spoiled the surprise, but Chrono decided to go along.

“Alright then, I will help you set it up,” Chrono responds with a smile.

“Ooh great! We’re gonna make it look so cool, lots of balloons, confetti, ooh, ooh, party hats! And we can’t forget about the cake either, then we need other snacks too, wait, wait, wait … streamers!!! Lots and lots of streamers!” Pinkie talks relentlessly, somehow finding new subjects to talk about fluidly when she starts to run out of things to say about another. After a long walk, the two finally reach the library, the sun already getting low as they go inside.

“Oh, hey Pinkie,” Twilight greets Pinkie, having heard her from outside before she even saw her, “Oh, and hey Chrono too.”

“Hiya Twilight! I brought Chrono to set up the surprise party, hope you don’t mind if we start right away,” Pinkie replies.

“Eh, why did you ask him to help set up the party, Pinkie?” Twilight questions, unsure of Pinkie’s motives.

“Oh, don’t worry Twilight, he doesn’t know who the party is for,” Pinkie replies gleefully.

“Well, if you say so, I was about to start decorating myself,” Twilight uses her magic to move a few party objects over as Spike comes tumbling down the stairs. Before reaching the painfully last step though, Spike is surrounded by a magic aura, and put down properly.

“Ow, thanks Twilight,” he says, somewhat dazed from the fall.

“That wasn’t me Spike,” Twilight replies as she looks over to Chrono, knowing he had to have caught Spike.

“Well, thanks Chrono, I’m not used to anyone but Twilight using magic around here,” he says, picking up what he dropped when he fell.

“That’s quite alright Spike,” Chrono replies, before being interrupted by Pinkie Pie.

“Well enough falling, let’s set up a par-ty!”

Twilight moves the party items over to Chrono and Pinkie as they start decorating the library. The sun is starting to set as the preparations are going well, the three ponies and dragon having nearly finished setting up a great party. Shortly after the last preparations are done, somepony knocks on the door.

“Ooh, that must be the guests,” Pinkie says as she goes to the door to open it, greeting the four ponies right outside it, “I’m glad you were all able to come!”

“Aw shucks Pinkie, I wouldn’t miss your parties,” Applejack says, coming inside first.

“Yeah, you make the most awesome parties,” Rainbow Dash follows, putting extra emphasis on the ‘awesome.’

“They always have so delightful,” Rarity comes in third, waving her hair around. Fluttershy follows quietly after Rarity as Pinkie closes the door again, before skipping and hopping along with the group.

“I think everyone is here, so we can start the party!” Pinkie Pie shouts energetically.

Everypony suddenly turns to Chrono, Pinkie at the front as she throws her hooves up and everypony together shouts, “Happy birthday, Chrono!”

Chrono’s eyes widen and his mouth falls open as he is completely surprised, having expected a simple ‘surprise!’

Pinkie giggles and says, “Told ya it was gonna be a surprise party!”

Not sure if Pinkie planned the joke out or just winged it, Chrono can’t help but chuckle and even laugh.

“See, I told you he was gonna be surprised!” Pinkie shouts, being very happy that she could get Chrono to laugh.

“How did you know it was my birthday, only Celestia knows,” Chrono still chuckles, feeling strangely happy.

“Well, Celestia did send me a letter,” Twilight answers, “But Pinkie had already given me an invite to it before I got the letter….”

“It’s because my Pinkie sense told me that it was somepony’s birthday today, it always tells me when it’s somepony’s birthday in Ponyville, and since I didn’t have it on this day last year I knew it had to be somepony new to Ponyville, and the only pony new since last year was Chrono, so I was sure that it was Chrono’s birthday!” Pinkie replies, without even having to think about her words throughout the entire sentence, “So after gathering all the supplies and dropping them off here I went around to invite everypony when I happened to find Chrono and got him to help set up his own birthday party as a surprise!”

“Never doubt Pinkie senses,” Twilight says before giggling, joined by the giggles of a few other mares.

“Well, it’s quite a surprise for me, my first birthday is the only one that got some sort of celebration, even though it wasn’t much back then,” Chrono says, looking around over the party as Pinkie dances to the music with Rainbow Dash and Applejack joining her.

“Well, you’re our friend now so of course we will throw a party for your birthday,” Twilight says.

“Hey, come on, let’s just enjoy the party!” Pinkie interrupts as she pulls Chrono away to have him join in with the dancing, while the other ponies cheer them on, but soon also dance into the evening. After a lot of dancing and partying, Pinkie and Chrono are the only ones that have the energy left to keep going, while the others are starting to get tired. They just keep going until finally Twilight interrupts, telling them that it’s getting late. Pinkie giggles as she stops the music, “Wow, nopony I know has ever partied that long with me!”

Chrono chuckles, “This is the first party I’ve ever been to.”

“Well then YOU have a special talent for par-ty-ing!!!” Pinkie replies, still as energetic as before despite having partied for hours.

“Well anyway, let’s get this party cleaned up, it’s already getting late,” Twilight said to everypony in the room, to which half of them responded very tiredly.

“You know, I think Pinkie and me can handle this, the rest should get their sleep,” Chrono continued.

“Ehm, are you sure you don’t want us to help?” Fluttershy asks timidly.

“Yeah, with all of us, we can clean this party up lickety-split,” Applejack adds.

“Chrono is right, you girls should all go to bed,” Pinkie says to them, sounding strangely worried about them, but quickly resumes with a grin, “With Chrono’s super duper power we can have this place cleaned up in no time!”

“Well if ya insist, we will go home to get our rest then,” Applejack responds, “You all take care now.”

“Thanks again for the magnificent party Pinkie, you never seize to amaze me,” Rarity says as she passes by Pinkie.

“Well Chrono helped set it up so you should thank him too, he did most of the decorating,” Pinkie responds, pointing a hoof at Chrono.

“Well, I must say Chrono, you certainly have a good eye,” Rarity says, before uttering a yawn, “Oh excuse me, I really must go get my beauty sleep.

“That’s okay Rarity, take care,” Chrono says as she walks up, but soon after gets greeted by Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, Chrono, are you a good flier?” Rainbow dash asks, sounding a little competitive.

“Well, Celestia always said I was better than most pegasus, so I guess I am,” Chrono responds, not trying to sound proud of it.

“Well, how about we have a little flying match tomorrow, I wanna know your skills,” Rainbow Dash responds, having a competitive but friendly look on her face now.

“That sounds good,” Chrono responds, unable to not feel a little competitive towards Rainbow Dash.

“Alright, I will pick you up around noon then, cya!” Rainbow Dash says before she flies out the open door at a high speed.

“Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie grabs Fluttershy as she passes by as well, giving her a little hug before asking, “What did you think of the party? Wasn’t it the bestest most awesomest party every?!”

“Ehm, oh yes, it was fun,” Fluttershy responds timidly, as opposed to Pinkie’s excitement.

“Yeah!!! I told you the party was awesome!!!” Pinkie shouts, slightly startling the yellow pegasus.

Fluttershy turns to Chrono and says, “Thank you for the party Chrono, it was very fun.”

Chrono nods, “I’m glad you enjoyed it Fluttershy, I will see you around again.”

Fluttershy nods shyly before making her way to the door and going out of the library.

“Now then, let’s get started on cleaning this up,” Twilight’s horn starts glowing as a good chunk of the decorations glow in the same colour, but the rest quickly follows as Chrono himself also uses his magic to clean up the rest. Pinkie collects all the decorations and within mere minutes, the library had been cleaned up from any party decoration.

“I think that’s all of it,” Twilight states, letting out a sigh of relief.

Even Pinkie Pie lets out a yawn, finally getting somewhat exhausted from the work, “We should do this again sometime, it was great and fun!”

“Yeah, you were a lot of fun Pinkie Pie,” Chrono responds with a smile.

“Not as much fun as you!” Pinkie responds in a gleeful voice.

With a giggle, Twilight interrupts the two, “Pinkie, isn’t it time you went home? We … really need to get some sleep.”

“No problem Twilight,” Pinkie says as she takes the used decorations along with her, “Take care Twilight, take care Chrono, take care Spike!”

Twilight closes the door behind Pinkie as she leaves the library, letting out another sigh before yawning.

“Are you still gonna write a letter to Princess Celestia, Twilight?” Spike asks, while clearly being on the verge of falling asleep.

“No, let’s do that tomorrow, she would probably be asleep now already,” Twilight responds as she moves up the stairs, killing most of the lights downstairs.

“Alright,” Spike says while yawning, following her up, Chrono following lastly.

Chrono kills the last light before he leaves the main room and goes into the sleeping room. He goes over to the guest bed, holding the sheets up with his magic before getting in and using his magic to get his book and some quill over, “I will just write a little before I go to sleep, have a good night.”

Spike and Twilight both respond with a good night as they are nearly already asleep. Chrono starts writing in his book, like he plans to do every evening.

Today, I was able to work with some of the ponies from Ponyville. Well, Twilight and two of her friends at least. But even for good friends, what they do is very different. Twilight studies magic, and knows what she’s doing when it comes to magic. It’s quite impressive how well managed she is with it, truly a prodigy. Next there is Applejack, a member of the Apple family. She’s a hard working pony but cheerful pony, and likes competition. But what I noticed the most about her was her sense of honesty, it was stronger than that of anypony I have met so far. She would rather be honest over who won a competition than claim the victory if even the opponent agrees. I was also able to meet a stallion I talked to many years ago on the farm, when I first started my journey and was heading for the Everfree forest. I’m not sure if he remembered me though, but that’s how time can be. Lastly, I helped Pinkie Pie, a local earth pony, set up a party for myself. Somehow she knew it was my birthday, by what she described as her Pinkie sense. She was able to surprise me with a surprise party I helped set up, and really knew how to make me laugh. I can remember from my studying that the Elements of Harmony are comprised of six elements, which Twilight and her friends supposedly possess: Honesty, kindness, generosity, laughter, loyalty and magic, if I remember correctly. Going by what I saw today, Twilight would fit the Element of Magic, Applejack the Element of Honesty and Pinkie Pie the Element of Laughter. That means that kindness, generosity and loyalty would belong to the other three. I guess I won’t see which element belongs to what pony unless I see it myself.

Two shades of pegasus

“Wow, I never thought I would find ruins like this in the Everfree Forest. Guess it’s a lucky break after getting lost in there. Guess I will investigate them. Hey, aren’t those … the Elements of Harmony? I never imagined they would be in a place like this! Then again the Everfree Forest is a place nopony would ever enter, so it makes sense. Wow, what was that explosion? Oh wow, is that a rainbow moving across the sky? No, it’s different…, it’s more like a shockwave. Huh? The Elements of Harmony, are they…!?

Waking up before the sunrise, Chrono stretches and yawns, but tries to keep himself quiet to not wake up the other two in the room, who were very sleepy after last night’s party. He goes down the wooden stairs and puts on his unicorn disguise before he goes out the door. He soon finds himself going back inside however, as the air outside is very cold, though it makes sense, as it is already autumn, and the temperature can drop quickly. He sneaks back into the room and uses his magic to get a very old scarf out of his saddlebags, taking it outside the room and wrapping it around his neck as he goes back down. He once again opens the door and goes outside, facing the cold with his scarf. He looks around and sees Fluttershy with a pair of saddlebags heading to the library, and calls out to her, “Good morning, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy flinches slightly, not having noticed Chrono, “Oh, good morning Chrono.”

“I didn’t expect anypony else in Ponyville to be up this early,” Chrono says, looking around to see if anypony else is around.

“Oh, I need to wake up early to prepare food for the animals.”

“Ah, that makes sense, but why are you here then?” Chrono asks curiously.

“Oh, ehm, I’m sorry, I need a book and I don’t want to bother Twilight or Spike with it…,” Fluttershy responds, looking away a little.

“I’m sure that wouldn’t bother them, let me help you find the book you’re looking for, I have plenty of time anyway,” Chrono says as he uses his horn to open the door for Fluttershy, “It’s not like I can learn everything about Ponyville in one day.”

“Oh, well, thank you, I really appreciate it,” Fluttershy says as she walks inside, “Uhm, I guess Twilight would be the best pony to show you around, if that’s okay with her of course.”

“That’s true, I should just ask her,” Chrono says before looking at the bookshelves, “ So, what book are you looking for?”

Fluttershy looks at the shelves but quickly finds it herself, showing how well organized Twilight keeps the books. Chrono looks over to the book’s title, “Recipes for animal food?”

“Oh, yes, winter is coming soon and some of the critters need special diets in the winter,” Fluttershy says, not sounding as shy as before, “If I try out recipes now I will know what they like when winter starts.”

“Yeah, it’s best to be well prepared,” Chrono responds, turning to the desk to leave a note for Twilight.

“Oh, ehm, yes, it is…,” she says, sounding like her shyness suddenly caught up as Chrono writes the note.

Chrono finishes the note and puts it down, “There, I made a note to Twilight for you.”

“Oh, thank you,” Fluttershy responds, putting the book away into her saddlebag.

“hey, I was wondering, I’ve always been a little curious about animals, would you mind if I tagged along a little bit?” Chrono asks.

“Oh, well, I guess that’s okay,” Fluttershy moves towards the door, opening it and going outside, followed shortly by Chrono who uses his magic to close the door.

Chrono looks down the various paths of Ponyville, “So, which way do we go?”

Fluttershy looks at one of the paths, “My house is this way, the farm is there too.”

Chrono starts walking in the direction, passing by Fluttershy before she starts moving as well, trying to stay besides him and not going ahead of him. She looks at his scarf a moment before saying, “That scarf looks very pretty.”

Chrono looks down at the scarf and holds one end up, showing the name embroidered into it, “Yeah, it seems to suit me well, and it even has my name, even if I already had it as long as I can remember.”

“As long as you can remember?” Fluttershy confirms, sounding curious.

“Well, princess Celestia said I had it when she found me,” Chrono replies, letting the scarf hang loosely in the breeze again.

“Found you? Were you abandoned as a child?” Fluttershy asks, sounding a little worried.

Chrono scratches his head for a moment before replying, “You know, I never asked her about that.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,”Fluttershy looks ahead of her again, her head slightly tilted down, “I shouldn’t have asked that.”

“Don’t worry, Celestia raised me like a mother, I was never really lonely,” Chrono responds with a smile.

Fluttershy smiles a little again as well, “Well, that’s good. It would be terrible to grow up feeling lonely.”

“Yeah, that’s true. I guess I will just ask Celestia about it sometime.”

Fluttershy smiles as they cross a bridge. Chrono stops for a moment to look out over the river, seeing bridges to other sides as well. He looks on ahead to see a tree standing slightly off in the distance, “Is that your house?”

Fluttershy looks back, and turns around right after, “Oh, yes, my farm is around back.”

“Aah, that’s pretty convenient,” Chrono starts to walk again, Fluttershy resuming as well as Chrono passes by again.

Fluttershy doesn’t seem to like walking in front, and why doesn’t she fly? I could easily keep up … well it would be rude to ask though.

As the two got closer to the house, Chrono couldn’t help but notice there were no other houses near the house, and a dark wood not far behind it. The two cross a small dirt bridge over a small stream before stopping. Fluttershy turns to Chrono and says, “Ehm, can you go around to the back? I have to put this book inside.”

Chrono nods as he goes around the house to the back. He sees the farm behind the house and is amazed at the size. Fluttershy takes care of all these animals by herself? Chrono looks to a clearing beyond the farm, feeling it looks familiar. He walks over to take a closer look as he realizes it’s an entrance to the Everfree forest, but not the one he entered before. That was near the Apple family farm. He exited the forest near a clearing, but there was no farm, nor a bridge over the river.

After about a minute or two, Fluttershy comes out the backdoor, without the saddlebags she carried before, “I’m sorry that took so long, I didn’t know where to leave the book so I wouldn’t forget about it.”

Chrono turns to Fluttershy, his mind still thinking about the clearing, making him react a bit unfocused, “Eh, yeah.”

Fluttershy looks at where Chrono before looking back at him, “What is it, did you see something in the forest?”

“Eh, no, I was just thinking about something, don’t worry,” Chrono reacts, getting his thoughts together.

Fluttershy feels something tugging on her hoof, smiling as she looks down at her hoof, “Oh, hey Angel, you’re just in time, this is Chrono, he will be helping me this morning.”

Looking down, Chrono sees Fluttershy talking to a small bunny, who then looks back at Chrono. The two keep looking for what seems forever until Angel hops off, going inside the house through the back door.

W-What was with that stare….

Fluttershy looks after Angel as he goes inside, “I wonder what Angel wanted.”

“Well, shall we get started? I’m sure Angel will come back if she needs something.”

“Yeah, now let me explain some things around the farm here,” Fluttershy lead Chrono around the farm, showing how to treat the animals. The animals seem to like Chrono, allowing him to pet them and even hold some. Some time passes as the two give food to all the critters, but get the work done fairly quickly.

“Wow, all the critters are fed so quickly, even Angel liked the food you made for him,” Fluttershy says, amazed at how well Chrono worked.

“Yeah, you really do a lot of work every morning,” Chrono replies, a bit exhausted from the work.

Fluttershy feels Angel tugging on her hoof again. She looks at him and sees him holding a pocketwatch and pointing at it, “Oh, oh my! I almost forgot I had an appointment with Rarity.”

“Should I just go back to Twilight then?” Chrono asks, not really sure what else to do.

“Oh, well, you could come along, Rarity only has to get my opinion on a dress, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind,” Fluttershy says with a gentle smile.

“Alright then, I will tag along. I can always go back if I have to.”

“Oh, I’m sure she won’t mind,” Fluttershy says as she starts moving around the house to get back in front.

Chrono lags behind, not sure if he should just follow her, “Ehh, shouldn’t you lock up your house if you go away?”

“Oh, no, that’s not necessary, Angel watches over the house, and there are no bad ponies in Ponyville.”

“Aah…,” Chrono looks at the house once more before following Fluttershy, around the house and over the small stream. The two make their way back to the bridge, crossing the river and walking on in a different direction than before until a colourful building comes in sight.

“Is that … Rarity’s house?” Chrono asks, amazed at how the building looks.

“Yes, it’s also her shop,” Fluttershy responds.

“Her shop? What does she sell?”

“She makes amazing dresses and sells them,” Fluttershy says enthusiastically.

“I think I passed here before when I just started my traveling, but I don’t remember this shop,” Chrono says, looking at the area to be sure he passed there before.

“Oh, then you were here a lot of years ago, I didn’t have my house, and Rarity redesigned her house as a shop.”

“Really?” Chrono asks with surprise, “Guess that explains is.”

Maybe that clearing behind Fluttershy’s house really is how I got out of the forest the last time.

Fluttershy knocks on the door. Rarity’s voice answers from inside, “Just a second!”

After a few seconds, the door opens and Rarity comes out to greet Fluttershy, “Oh there you are darling, I was worried you had forgotten after last night’s party.” She looks over to see Chrono besides Fluttershy, “Oh, and I see you brought a friend, oh it’s so nice to see you Chrono! Come on in you two, no need to stand around outside.” Rarity leads the two inside, “Fluttershy, I already have your dress prepared for you.”

“Oh, where is it?” Fluttershy asks, sounding much less shy around Rarity.

“Right here darling, now let me get some … things, I already have an idea of what to try on Chrono.”

Chrono points at himself, somewhat hesitantly saying, “M-me?”

Fluttershy walks over to the mannequin with a green themed dress and looks at it closely. Chrono looks at it as well, unsure of what to expect.

“The dress looks amazing Rarity,” Fluttershy says as she inspects the last part of it, “What do you think Chrono?”

Chrono looks closely at the dress for a moment before replying, “The dress looks good, the colours go well together and the stitching is done really well.”

“My, you certainly know what you’re talking about, besides Fluttershy I don’t know anypony in Ponyville that has such eye for detail,” Rarity says as she walks down the stairs, followed by a few magically levitated mannequins with dresses on them, “Oh, you simply get more and more amazing. You must tell me, did you study dresses when you were in Canterlot?”

Rarity somewhat pushes Chrono to a stand, while Chrono tries to stay polite, “Ehh, no, I just said what popped into my mind.”

Rarity takes a dress off a mannequin and starts putting it on Chrono, “Well then you have quite a talent.”

“Ehh, Rarity, are you su-,” Chrono says, before being cut off by Rarity, “Oh don’t worry, I won’t hurt you with any needles, I’m very careful when it comes to dresses.”

“Rarity, I don’t think…,” Chrono tries to say again, before Rarity replies again, “Oh but I’m sure these colours will look great on you!”

Chrono is helpless as Rarity slaps the dress on him bit by bit, Fluttershy watching as the pieces start to form the dress. Rarity puts the last part on, completing the dress on chrono, which is in similar colours as his scarf.

“Oh darling, you look just marvellous, you even look a bit feminine so the dress really suits you~.”

“B-but I’m a guy, I shouldn’t be wearing a dress,”Chrono replies, unsure of what to do.

Fluttershy tries to keep her laughter in. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she chuckles, “I shouldn’t be laughing at this.”

Chrono can’t help but laugh a little as well, Rarity following soon after as she looks past the dress. The three share a laugh until suddenly the door swings open and a cyan coloured pony flashes in, “Hey Chrono, it’s almost noon, so I came looking for you, and…,” Rainbow Dash looks at Chrono and sees him in a dress, pausing for a moment before she resumes, “Okay, I’m just gonna go wait outside and pretend I didn’t see anything.”

Rainbow Dash leaves through the door again, leaving Chrono to blush deeply.

“Oh dear, I’m terribly sorry Chrono, I had no idea it would be so embarrassing for you,” Rarity says as she starts to take the dress off Chrono again.

“It’s okay Rarity,” Chrono stutters, still embarrassed over Rainbow Dash having flown in.

“I will be more careful next time,” Rarity says, putting the dress piece by piece back onto the mannequin.

“So … no more dresses?” Chrono asks, somewhat hesitantly.

“Oh no, next time I will be sure to lock the door first,” Rarity giggles, somehow sounding serious.

“W-what?!” Chrono says, intimidated slightly by Rarity.

“I’m just joking dear, no more dresses, that’s a promise,” Rarity takes off the last bit off the dress, leaving Chrono with only his scarf as Fluttershy giggles at Rarity’s joking, “I must say though, that scarf looks really good on you.”

“Chrono holds the end of his scarf up, looking down at it, “Yeah, I really like it.”

“I must ask though, how long have you had that scarf?” Rarity asks, putting the mannequins away on some stands, “The colours seem to have faded quite a bit, it’s quite old for a piece of clothing.”

“I’ve had it as long as I can remember,” Chrono responds, thinking for a moment before continuing, “How old do you think it is?”

“Well, let me have a look,” Rarity walks over at the scarf, taking the end on her hoof and looking closely at it for about a minute, “I would say that the scarf is … between twenty and thirty years old.”

“More than twenty?! Then it was made years before I was born,” Chrono reacts, sounding very shocked, “That would mean somepony made a scarf with my name, and with colours that fit me perfectly, so far in advance? Is that even possible....”

“Quite a mysterious scarf then,” Rarity says, pondering it as well, until Rainbow Dash calls into the shop, “Hey, are you coming soon? It’s already noon!”

Chrono listens to what Rainbow Dash said as he finishes up with Rarity, “I will ask princess Celestia when I see her, got a lot to ask her anyway. Now if you will excuse me I have an appointment,” before moving out of the shop and joining Rainbow Dash.

“There you are, took ya long enough,” Rainbow Dash says as Chrono passes through the doorway, “Now come on, let’s get to flying.”

“Wha? Just like that?” Chrono says, while Rainbow Dash had already taken off, leaving Chrono to follow her.

“Well you’re already late, so we can’t waste any more time, now come on, I wanna see how well you can fly,” Rainbow Dash says, looking back over her shoulder to see if Chrono is keeping up.

Chrono decides to just go along with it and follows Rainbow Dash, easily catching up to her and flying at her speed.

“Well at least you CAN fly, just follow my lead, if you can,” Rainbow Dash starts slaloming a row of trees, which Chrono can follow, even without practice.

“You’re better than I expected, lets see what you can do at those fields over there,” Rainbow Dash starts flying faster, heading to the fields south west of Ponyville, Chrono following her speed but unable to talk. Arriving at the field, Rainbow Dash starts testing Chrono’s flying abilities, making him do acrobatics, dives, cloud spinning, sky clearing and various other things. The two end up high in the sky, Chrono panting fast while Rainbow Dash is barely even sweating.

“Hey, you’re pretty good, I didn’t expect you to last this long,” Rainbow Dash compliments.

“Well, you’re really good, I’ve never seen a pegasus fly like you in my travels,” Chrono responds with a compliment as well.

“Well I AM the best flyer in all of Equestria,” Rainbow Dash boasts confidently, “I guess I shouldn’t push you too hard, but you’re pretty good too so maybe you can be my training buddy sometime.”

“That would be fun,” Chrono says, finally catching his breath.

“How about we do one dive as fast as we can before quitting? The Wonderbolts are flying at Cloudsdale soon and I HAVE to be there to show off my moves!” Rainbow Dash says excitedly.

“You want to be a Wonderbolt?” Chrono asks, even though it’s very obvious.

“Well, yeah! It’s my lifelong dream to be a Wonderbolt!” Rainbow Dash can hardly contain herself when talking about the Wonderbolts.

“Well I think you’d make a great Wonderbolt,” Chrono says with a smile.

Rainbow Dash smiles as well before she gets the competitive look on her face again, “Alright, give it your all in this dive, go as fast as you can!”

Chrono nods as the two go into a dive, speeding up greatly in a short amount of time. The two are evenly matched, Chrono being at his top speed, but Rainbow Dash managing to pull ahead and increase her speed more. The air starts to form a cone around her before she explodes forward, letting a rainbow coloured shockwave spread out from her in front of Chrono as she turns back up, a rainbow following her tail. Chrono is so amazed at this shockwave, remembering it from his past that he turns around after passing by it, looking at it. He forgets that he’s flying down however, and soon finds himself crashing through the branches of a tree, before hitting the ground hard and everything going black.

”Thanks to that rainbow I was able to get out of the forest, I guess I was pretty lucky. This clearing isn’t where I entered the forest though, well I guess it doesn’t matter, this is still Ponyville. Huh? What’s that mare doing with all those animals? Oh, I need to catch the train! Where’s a bridge when you need one … well I can just jump over it….”

Chrono slowly opens his eyes, seeing the orange sky of the late afternoon. He moves his head around to see Rainbow Dash sitting beside him, watching the slowly sinking sun. She looks at him and smiles, “Hey, you’re finally awake.”

“Wh- … what happened…,” Chrono says, still very dazed.

“You crashed through that tree and were out cold for a pretty long time,” Rainbow Dash responds.

“Long time? Oh, its evening, didn’t you have to impress the Wonderbolts?” Chrono asks, worried he caused her trouble.

“Yeah, but, well, I couldn’t just leave a friend behind, and I couldn’t lift you either so I had to wait till you woke up,” Rainbow Dash gets up and walks towards him. Chrono was amazed that the impatient and quick Rainbow Dash would wait hours to wake up, and that she called him a friend, “A … friend? I thought you didn’t trust me….”

“Well, no changeling can keep up with me like that, and, well, you look pretty cool,” she gets besides him, holding a hoof out, “Can you stand?”

Chrono smiles and takes her hoof as she helps him get up. He tries to stand but his right foreleg buckles from pain when he tries, “Ow, I don’t think I can walk well.”

“Then just lean on me,” Rainbow Dash slides under his leg, letting it rest on her, “We’re getting you to the hospital, even if it has to take all night.”

Chrono smiles as the two start moving slowly, being quite a distance from Ponyville. The sun slowly sinks under horizon, ushering in the short lasting period of twilight in the sky before only the starry night sky keeps the two company. When finally Ponyville starts to get in view, an orange pony comes walking up to them, with a hat that Chrono would recognize everywhere, it was Applejack.

“Chrono! Rainbow Dash!” she calls out before arriving at them and stopping, “Golly, I sure was worried when I couldn’t find either of ya. What happened?”

“We were doing some flying when Chrono got into an accident,” Rainbow Dash explains.

“You weren’t pushing him too hard were ya now?” Applejack asks Rainbow, unsure of whether she caused it or not.

“No, I got distracted in a dive and forgot to pull up, it was my own fault,” Chrono says as his view starts to get a little hazy.

“Aww, I’m sorry, can I help ya get to the hospital? It’s still a long way from here,” Applejack asks, worried about Chrono’s condition.

Chrono starts to nod off, trying to keep awake as Rainbow Dash replies, “Yeah, that would be great, you can carry him much faster than I can.”

“I don’t … feel so…,” Chrono’s head hangs as he collapses and faints, Rainbow Dash barely able to keep him from falling.

”The Elements of Harmony, are they … glowing!? No, their resonating, with that strange rainbow? I wonder what it means….”
I can’t ever forget that sight, the five stones glowing, with a sixth glow in the centre of them, sparkling like a star….

Chrono opens his eyes again, seeing Twilight, where the centre spark was, with Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity around her like the other five elements were. Thinking for a moment, Chrono realized that Twilight and her friends were the ones that used the Elements, and wondered if it was just coincidence that he woke up to see them like that.

“Chrono! He’s awake! He finally woke up!” Pinkie pie shouts, turning the attention of the other five to Chrono, who rush over to him.

“I was so worried when you fainted sugarcube,” Applejack says, followed by Rainbow Dash, “Yeah, but we managed to get you all the way back here together.”

“How did you find us anyway, Applejack?” Chrono asks, still not completely awake.

“Well, I was at Twilight’ in the evening when she said you hadn’t come back yet. She said that she only knew you were at Fluttershy’s who then said you were with Dashy. Then I remembered seeing her sonic rainboom much earlier so I followed that and found ya’ll,” Applejack explains in a calm, gentle voice.

“Yeah, and Pinkie Pie helped out as well when she saw us carrying you through town,” Rainbow Dash adds.

“Yeah, I couldn’t just ignore my friends helping my other friend can I?” Pinkie Pie giggles.

Chrono rubs his head with his left hoof, asking, “Sonic … rainboom?”

“Yeah, that’s when I create a sonic boom and a rainbow at the same time, only I can do that, and it’s so awesome,” Rainbow replies.

“Is that so,” Chrono only then realizes his other front leg is in cast, and he has bandages around his head.

Twilight nudges Rainbow Dash, reminding her of something, “Oh, right, something else happened,” Rainbow Dash sounds a bit less happy all of the sudden as she holds out Chrono’s scarf, “Your scarf didn’t really … survive the crash….”

Chrono takes the shredded and tattered scarf, feeling sadness inside at its state but doesn’t want to make Rainbow sad, “I’m still here right, that’s all that matters.”

“Well, I took it to Rarity, and…,” Rainbow Dash continues before Rarity takes over, “I went to work right away to make you a new scarf,” Rainbow holds out a new scarf for Chrono as Rarity continues, “I tried making it exactly like yours was when it was first made, I do hope I got everything right.”

Chrono takes the new scarf, smiling as he examines it, “It looks exactly like my old one, and it even has the same feel to it.”

“It’s all yours, when I heard you had crashed and Rainbow showed your scarf, I just had to make that new one. It’s the least I could do for a friend,” Rarity says, sounding relieved that Chrono likes it.

“Thanks Rarity, you really did a great job on it,”Chrono says, putting the scarfs on the small table besides him.

“I got something for ya too Chrono,” Applejack says as she goes over to pick up a small box and brings it to Chrono, “Big Mac wanted to make you an apple pie, so I helped him. I was over at Twi’s to deliver it before. Oh, and my brother asked me to tell you ‘better late than never’,” Applejack puts the box down on Chrono’s lap, allowing him to smell the tasty apple pie inside.

Chrono smiles, feeling everypony’s warmth, “Everypony, thanks, I never had friends before, but I can see how important they are.”

Now that I think about it, if they represent the Elements of Harmony, were they destined to be friends? And what did it mean when the Elements resonated so many years ago…. If it was fate that made them represent the Elements of Harmony, maybe the resonating was connected to their fate … their cutie marks? Maybe if I know their stories I can find out if they got their cutie marks when the Elements were resonating.

“Hey girls, I was wondering,” Chrono says, looking around the smiling group, “How did all of you get your cutie marks?”

“It’s getting kinda late,” Twilight says, “But I guess we can stay, right?”

The other five agree and sit down as they start to recount how they earned their cutie marks. First was Applejack, talking about how she went to Manehatten for a while, until a rainbow pointing to Ponyville made her realize that she wasn’t meant to be there and came back.

Applejack left for Manehatten then, and earned her cutie mark when she came back. I remember her brother saying that she wasn’t home when I passed by the orchard, so that could fit.

Next was Rarity, telling the story of how her horn led her to a big rock, which opened after a shockwave and contained the gems she needed to make the costumes she designed perfect.

I really can’t place Rarity near it for certain, but it’s always possible.

Third was Pinkie Pie, telling about her family at the rock farm just outside Ponyville, and how a rainbow one day made her feel happiness, and sharing that happiness with her family earned her her cutie mark.

I think I’ve seen that rock farm, were the ponies there really her family? She barely looks like them. I guess her cutie mark could have been earned while I was in the forest as well.

The next pony to explain her cutie mark was Fluttershy, who stumbled to the ground in an accident, and learned that she could communicate with animals thanks to a shockwave that scared them all.

She was with a lot of animals, near a forest … was she maybe the filly I saw at the clearing when I left the forest? I guess it’s possible, and that would mean that she earned her cutie mark when I saw the Elements resonate.

Twilight started talking about her past, about how she wanted to study magic after she saw princess Celestia raise the sun. She told about the entrance exam she had to take to enter the school, how she was about to fail until a shockwave made her magic go berserk until Celestia calmed her down and made her her personal pupil. She got her cutie mark after that whole ordeal, and Spike was born then.

If Twilight really did earn her cutie mark when I was in the forest, then princess Celestia took Twilight as a student the same day after I left? That seems sorta … wait, Twilight mentioned a shockwave, so did Rarity and Fluttershy. Applejack and Pinkie Pie said they saw a rainbow, could it have been the same thing I saw?

Finally Rainbow Dash started explaining her tale. Full of her usual pride, she talked about how she started racing the bullies, and realized her love for speed and winning. After beating the bullies and performing a sonic rainboom, she had earned her cutie mark.

“And that’s how Equestria was made,” Pinkie adds.

“Huh?” Chrono replies, not sure what Pinkie is talking about, “And what’s a sonic rainboom?”

“Pinkie is just being Pinkie, and the sonic rainboom is when I break the sound barrier and combine a sonic boom with my rainbows, you know, like what I did before you … crashed.”

“That was a sonic rainboom?” Chrono says, sitting up in surprise.

“Well, yeah, you were really pushing me, so I had no choice but to do it!” Rainbow Dash says, trying to sound cool and succeeding at that.

“And you know what else is amazing,” Twilight interrupts, “The sonic rainboom that Dash made as a child helped all of us earn our cutie marks!”

“Really?” Chrono says, being even more amazed, “That’s incredible….”

So they all earned their cutie marks with the sonic rainboom that Rainbow Dash created, that must have been what I saw as well. That means the Elements did resonate with them, when they earned their cutie marks. They were fated to become friends, and to represent the Elements of Harmony even before they had met. That’s incredible. If that was their fate, then what would my fate be….

“Thanks for all the amazing stories girls, I will work hard and earn my cutie mark as well,” Chrono says, looking around the group.

“And we are all here to help you,” Rarity responds.
“Whether its magic,” Twilight adds.
“Or flying,” Rainbow Dash continues
“Or bucking trees,” Applejack says.
“Cause that’s what friends are for!” Pinkie shouts happily.
“But first you need to get better,” Fluttershy says.

“Yeah, I guess it’s getting kinda late too, I don’t want to keep you all awake any longer,” Chrono says, starting to feel tired again himself.

“Yeah, I guess we don’t have to watch over you all night,” Twilight states.

The group says a few more things before they leave, one by one to their own homes, until only Twilight is left, who uses her magic to put her saddlebags on her back. She takes something out of one of the bags, a book and a quill, “Here Chrono, I thought you might like to write so I brought your book and a quill.”

Chrono smiles, using his magic to take the book and quill from Twilight, “Yeah, you were right, thanks Twilight.”

Twilight smiles too even though she looks tired, “You take care now, and get some sleep soon.”

“I will, see you tomorrow?”

Twilight nods before she heads home as well, leaving Chrono alone to write in his book.

Today, I learned a lot, not just about the ponies here, but also about some other things. First, I noticed that all six of them truly represent the Elements of Harmony. Fluttershy is kind and gently with the animals and everypony she meets. Rainbow Dash felt a kinship through competition, and showed great loyalty even though she distrusted me before. And then there’s Rarity, who put a lot of time to make me a new scarf after my old one was torn, and making it feel just like the old one. She is really the Element of Generosity. I also learned about friendship, how those six ponies consider me a friend even though I’ve only been here for two days. They’d sacrifice their time to help me after I had crashed and all helped me to feel better, even if it meant missing some sleep. Finally, I learned about fate, how it can bring ponies together by chance, or connect friends long before they meet. Fate is truly something amazing, but so hard to grasp. That’s why I have decided to use my time in Ponyville to study fate, to learn it’s mysteries and understand it, so I can maybe see my own fate one day. I will write my findings down in this book, so other ponies may one day learn about it as well.