A New Arrival!by BlackSpireChaptersA New Arrival!The Mane Six!Competition at Work!School Days!Confessions!A Night of Promises!Dreams!Reunion!A New Arrival!It was a cold, crisp autumnal morning. The sound of all of the creatures of the Everfree Forest and the rustling of the coloured leaves as they were blown by the wind were all that could be heard as a lone unicorn colt was out exploring what was now the surroundings of his new home. He had a shining yellow coat and a fiery red mane with orange streaks. Along side him was his pet, an Alaskan malamute, named Abigail. "This sure is a lovely place isn't it Abigail. Much quieter than Manehattan don't you think?" he said whilst using magic to throw a tennis ball across a field. Abigail responded with a loud bark whilst chasing after the ball before getting distracted by a butterfly and chasing after it instead. As he chuckled at his companion's antics he used his magic to pick up the ball. After, a few moments of watching Abigail hopelessly try to catch the butterfly he spotted a cottage further down the path he was walking on. "Hey Abigail! It seems like we've got a neighbor. I'd say we go introduce ourselves." At this she turned her head and ran back to her owner's side. "O.K last one there is a rotten apple!" he exclaimed before galloping off towards the cottage. Abigail barked angrily, clearly unhappy with her owner's head-start before chasing after him. When they arrived at the front gate of the cottage, they clearly saw that the person who owned the cottage was an animal lover with a chicken coop, several rabbits, a falcon, an eagle, a flying squirrel, a bat and many more creatures playing around in her front yard. As he walked towards the front door Abigail by his side all of the animals stopped playing. Some ran off scared from the presence of a new face. Others just stared as he reached the door and knocked. "J-just a minute..." he heard a quiet voice answer. Shortly, after the door creaked open only a little with a pony looking to see who it was. "Y-yes...uhm..h-how can I...h-help you?" she squeaked out. He had immediately noticed her sky blue eyes and couldn't help but lose himself in them for a moment. Quickly, realizing he was probably slightly creeping the already shy pony out he quickly began to speak, his face flushed in embarrassment. "O-oh I'm so sorry if I disturbed you in any way...it's just that...I recently moved into the neighborhood...and I saw that you lived right down the road from me...so I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Starbuck Sunrise but most people call me Sunny," he ended with a smile and held his hoof out for a hoofshake. At this the shy pony felt she could trust this pony a lot more and so proceeded to fully open the door revealing herself. She had a yellow coat, with a long pink mane and tail along with three butterflies as her cutie mark. "M-my name's Flu-Fluttershy." she nervously replied with a smile of her own whilst reaching out slowly and shaking it lightly. Suddenly, Abigail barked out feeling left out of the discussion. As Fluttershy turned her eyes to see Abigail she immediately gasped before immediately squealing, "Oh Wow! She's so beautiful! Is she yours? What's her name? How old is she? How did you get her coat to turn out so fluffy and shiny? What food does she like?..." she continued on asking questions whilst Sunny just stood there stunned at just how beautiful Fluttershy was. Meanwhile, Abigail was simply loving the attention Fluttershy was giving her. As she rolled onto her back whilst she rubbed her belly. Snapping back to reality again Sunny quickly answered "Oh...uhm yeah she's mine. Her name's Abigail and she's going to be 5 in a couple of weeks time. I use shampoo and two conditioners when she needs a bath and she pretty much eats whatever I give her although mainly it's just normal dog food. Plus I think you should stop giving her so much attention it'll only boost her ego to even bigger proportions!" At this Abigail barked at Sunny annoyingly and gave a small growl to emphasize her point. At this both ponies chuckled and continued to talk about animals in general for a good half an hour whilst, playing fetch with Abigail. He then continued "So I guess you really like animals then huh?" "Oh yes I do love animals especially taking care of them." she said as she stopped playing with Abigail. "Yeah I could guess that." "Really how?" At this Sunny nearly facehoofed before motioning with his head to the front garden where all the animals were all going about their own businesses. "Oh right." Fluttershy said sheepishly, slightly embarrassed at her silly question. To break the awkward silence both of their stomachs groaned out loud. At which both ponies held a small blush. "Ah damn! I was so busy giving Abigail her morning walk that I forgot to even have breakfast!" "Oh I was just about to make my own breakfast before you...uhm...knocked." "Oh I am so sorry about that! Would you like me to leave so you can get back to having your breakfast?" he said with a small hint of guilt. "Not at all. In fact, would you like to come in for some breakfast?" she asked quietly whilst looking at the ground, before realising what she said and added, "Uhm...that is of course if you want to?" "W-well I don't mean to be a bother..." "Oh it's no problem at all!" she said quickly as if she was desperate for some more company. "Well...O.K. then!" he said with a smile as they both went into her cottage. As Fluttershy quickly made some daisy sandwiches and some chrysanthemum tea for the two of them, Sunny looked around the house to see some cages with injured animals with wrapped up appendages and could even see a mouse moving around the house with a tiny wheelchair and cast. 'Wow she really does care for a lot of animals I wonder how she does it all herself?' His train of thought was then broken by Fluttershy calling to him rather quietly "Breakfast is ready. I'm sorry it isn't a proper breakfast but this is what I normally eat!" "Oh it's no problem anything is fine with me! Thank you very much for making this for me" he said gratefully as he quickly got to his seat at the table with Fluttershy. As they ate they continued to talk more about each other. Fluttershy learnt how he came from Manehattan and left because he wanted to leave the busy and stressful lifestyle of the big city and move to a more quite and rural place like Ponyville. She also learnt about how he was a music and song writer and even offered her to come round his house some time and play some of his own songs for her. He learnt about Fluttershy's friends, how she came to earn her cutie mark and how she lived on her own and took care of the animals mostly by herself with some occasional help from her friends.Even after both had finished their breakfast they lost track of time and talked for a couple more hours enjoying each other's company. "Oh my is that the time we've been talking for 3 hours now!" Sunny spoke slightly shocked. "Oh my! I s-sorry if I've kept you away from something important..." she squeaked slightly upset. "Oh no you haven't kept me from anything important. It's just I wanted to finish unpacking all my things today so I'd have free time tomorrow!" he said reassuring her. "Oh that’s alright then." "Anyway it must be pretty hectic taking care of all of these animals on your own. I'll have finished unpacking everything by the end of today, so if you'd like I could perhaps give you a hand sometime?" "Well I am quite busy but I don't know. I mean you just moved here! I wouldn't want to be any trouble to you." "Oh it's no trouble at all! After all I take care of Abigail all the time I don't see how hard looking after other animals could be? And you could most certainly use the extra pair of hooves." "Well...if you want...could you maybe come by tomorrow...to help with getting the animals ready for hibernation in the winter?" she asked nervously, before adding, "Only if you want to of course?" "Sure what time?" "How about ten o'clock?" "O.K. I will definitely be there! Now I need to get home and finish unpacking! I'll be back tomorrow!" he said as he was seen outside the door by Fluttershy with Abigail followed behind him as he walked down the path towards the gate. "Great" she called out rather quietly and couldn't help but smile at such a nice and kind-hearted pony. "Oh and one more thing before I leave!" he called out as he was on the other side of the gate turning around to face Fluttershy. "W-what is it?" Fluttershy asked worried Sunny may not come anymore. "Smile more!" he yelled with a big grin on his face, "You have a beautiful smile, don't be afraid to show it more often!" and with that he turned around an walked off with Abigail following close behind him. They both left a stunned Fluttershy, with a small blush across her face. She walked back into her house excited about finally having someone else to help out with the animals who enjoyed them almost as much as she did. Before, she went to the kitchen she stopped in front of the mirror and thought back to Sunny's last words. She couldn't help but smile at herself, before giggling and going back to clear up the plates and start her work for the day. The Mane Six!All was quiet around the Everfree forest as usual. All that could be heard were two mockingbirds on a tree singing in the early morning. However, this peace wasn't to last. "OH CRAP! I'M GOING TO BE LATE!" yelled Sunny loud enough to cause the mockingbirds as well as a few other animals to flee the surrounding area. "Abigail! Why didn't you wake me up? You knew I was meant to be helping Fluttershy today!" Abigail simply replied with a whine before going back to sleep. The both of them had spent all night finishing unpacking and so were both very tired. "What a way to make a first impression Sunny! Already half an hour late and I haven't even showered yet!" he scolded himself before rushing towards the bathroom. Meanwhile, the mane six were at Fluttershy's house waiting for her 'new friend' to come so that they could start working on getting the animals ready for winter. "I-I don't understand h-he said he'd be here at ten o'clock..." Fluttershy said weakly. "Are you sure it wasn't just your imagination, instead of an actual colt?" asked Rainbow Dash to which Fluttershy looked at the floor in embarrassment. "Aww! I wanted to meet this new guy so I could throw him a party! I wonder if he would've like strawberry or raspberry punch? Ooh does he like sprinkles or chocolate chips on his cupcakes?" said Pinkie Pie far too quickly for anyone to really understand her. "Now wait just a minute Rainbow Dash!" scolded Twilight Sparkle completely ignoring Pinkie Pie's outburst, "Just because she may normally be too quiet and shy to talk to any new pony, does not mean that she would simply lie about it." Fluttershy looked up at Twilight grateful that she stood up for her. "I'd hate to say it but I'm inclined to agree with Dash on this one." said Rarity, "I mean it just sounds too out of character for Fluttershy to make friends with a completely new pony in just a single day. She even struggled to talk with you Twilight, when you two first met. I mean let's face it if it wasn't for her love of animals and you having Spike around, it would've been a few days before she would've trusted you like she does with this 'coltfriend' of hers. At the mention of coltfriend Fluttershy 'eeped' and blush a very bright shade of red. "Now, now, y'all should know better than to pick on Fluttershy over here." Applejack defended her friend, "Although, this colt sure is wasting our time! I coulda bucked at least 2 dozen apple trees by now! When's your friend getting here anyway?" she ended off rather annoyed. "I-I'm not sure...give him another...uhm...ten minutes...If he doesn't come by that time...then we can go." "O.K. sugarcube he's got ten minutes after that I'm going to work." Back at Sunny's house he had just finished his shower and was quickly wolfing down some honey oats for breakfast, as fast as he possibly could. 'Damn it the only way I'm going to be able to get to her house any faster is by using a teleportation spell.' he thought once he had finished his oats and began to wear a red and yellow scarf. 'Ahh but I haven't used one in so long! What if I mess it up?', just as he said that his clock chimed for eleven o'clock. 'Ah forget it. I'll worry about that later,' he finished his thought off, as he began to place an image of Fluttershy's cottage in his head and he focused on using his magic to make the spell. "Damn it! I forgot how much concentration this required!" he thought as his horn began to glow bright white and then with a flash with a few sparkles left over he vanished. At Fluttershy's cottage, Applejack had finally lost her patience as she stormed out of the cottage hell bent on getting some work done for the day. "I've had just about enough of this here colt making us wait around and doing nothing! "Calm down Applejack!" called out Twilight from Fluttershy's porch as the rest of the mane six made their way out of the cottage. "Sorry hun! But I ain't calming down! We been here waiting for an hour for some pony to show up! And you know I can't stand around doing nothing all day! I want to work no-OW!" Applejack yelled as a pony teleported right on top of her just as she was finishing her rant. "Oh my god I'm so sorry!" said Sunny shocked that he somehow managed to teleport on top of another pony, "It's just that I haven't done a teleportation spell in a while!" "Yeah that's good and all, but would you mind getting off me?!" groaned Applejack. "Oh yes right! I am so sorry!" Sunny said rather flustered as he got off and helped Applejack up. "Oh Fluttershy there you are! Listen I'm sorry I'm so late it's just that I spent all night unpacking all my stuff so yeah you know...Oh are these your friends?" he spoke rather quickly hoping to divert all the attention away from himself. "O-oh right where are my manners! Everypony t-this is S-Starbuck Sunrise." said Fluttershy. Meanwhile, Twilight's eyes went wide as she hid behind Fluttershy. "Oh Fluttershy, you know everypony calls me Sunny!" he replied. "Oh right I forgot...um...well you've already met Applejack." "Oh right you're the pony that owns the apple orchard around here right? Fluttershy told me all about you pleased to meet you!" he said whilst holding out a hoof. "Yes siree! Sweet Apple Acres, home to some of the best apples and treats around! And by golly it's a pleasure to meet you too sugarcube!" Applejack said whilst rapidly shaking Sunny's hoof. "Wow I'll make sure to get apples from you guys then" he said with a smile whilst trying to stop his hoof from shaking after the hoofshake. "This here is my friend Rainbow Dash." "Ah you're the winner of the Best Young Flyer Competition last year! I saw your amazing Sonic Rainboom on T.V. It was amazing!" he said in awe of Rainbow Dash whilst holding out a hoof. "Well yeah that's nothing when you're the best flier in Equestria!" Dash said whilst rubbing her hoof on her chest ad looking at it as if it were nothing before bro-hoofing him. "She's Rarity." "Rarity? THE fashion designer, Rarity? Oh wow your designs are very popular in Manehattan! My sister and her friends just don't stop talking about them!" he said whilst shaking hooves with her. "Oh wow...I didn't think my designs had reached out to such big cities! And to have people actually adore them! Oh I think I might faint!" she said rather dramatically with a hoof over her forehead. "Her name is Pinkie Pie." "Hey there" he said whilst holding out a hoof. Instead Pinkie Pie gave a deep breath before speaking at a ridiculously fast pace, "Hey do you like parties? I love parties? In fact, I was going to have one to celebrate you moving to Ponyville. What flavor punch do you like? Do you like party hats? Oh what about streamers? Oh what party games do you like to play? What-mphhh!" she finished interrupted by Applejack, who stuffed her hoof in Pinkie's mouth. "She can get a bit like that at times but don't worry darling you'll learn to live with it" whispered Rarity. "Yeah I guess." Sunny said whilst chuckling to himself. "Last but not least..." as she moved to the side as Twilight hid behind her, "this is-". "Twilight? Twilight Sparkle! Is that you?" Sunny asked in shock. "Heh heh hi Sunny!" wishing she could teleport herself away right now. "O-oh you two know each other already?" a look of surprise painted Fluttershy's face. "Well...yeah...I mean...I uh..." mumbled Twilight rather flustered. "Ah...what I think she means to say is that...I used to be her coltfriend." At this point, every pony in unison thought and yelled the same thing, "WHAT?!" Competition at Work!'The name is BlackSpire.' - thoughts "The name is BlackSpire." - actual speech A second later... - time skip "Woah woah woah! Let's get this straight Twilight. You..." said Dash whilst pointing at Twilight,"...went out with a hunk of a colt like that!" she finished whilst pointing to Sunny, to which he blushed at the compliment. "Well I..."Twilight began. "Whatever Dash! I'm just glad that my little filly has finally gotten her head out of those books and found herself a real stallion!" teased Rarity whilst staring rather seductively at Sunny, to which he was ready to make another teleportation spell...away from her. "We're not..." Twilight began again. "Well I'll be darn why didn't you tell any of us you had a coltfriend sugarcube?" interrupted Applejack. "He's not..." Twilight was about to respond before again being interrupted again by a rather excited Pinkie Pie. "Yay! We can have a double party! We should heart shaped balloons, confetti, streamers and oh we'll need a bigger banner!" she said whilst jumping up and down as if she were on a trampoline. Meanwhile, while all of this was going on Fluttershy just stood there in shock at what she had just heard whilst also feeling slightly angry and jealous as the same time. 'Why am I feeling this way? I mean it isn't like me and him were going out or anything. Besides I don't see how he could like a quiet and silly filly like me when he has Twilight with her brains and her skill in magic. I wouldn't have stood a chance...' However, Fluttershy's thoughts and everyone else's discussion were interrupted by Twilight's patience finally snapping. "EVERYPONY BE QUIET!" she yelled so loud that everyone stared at her wide-eyed and Pinkie in mid-bounce deflated like a balloon back to the ground. "O.K. first of all Rarity you forgot the words 'used to' we're no longer together anymore," at this Fluttershy's ears perked up. Twilight turned to Applejack and answered her question "The reason why I never mentioned it is because there's never been any point in time where I've ever needed to tell any of you ponies about my previous relationships." Twilight then turned to Pinkie Pie and said "We are not having a double party because me and Sunny aren't going out," to which she just deflated even more. Before finally, turning to Rainbow Dash, "And just WHY is it so hard to believe that I can go out with a guy?" she yelled at Rainbow Dash whilst turning white and her mane and tail being set on fire. When this happened Sunny was freaked out. 'Damn since when did Twilight get such a bad temper! Note to self: NEVER piss of Twilight!' "W-well it's just that your always reading your books and hardly have time to be socializing with everyone let along finding time for a relationship." said Rainbow Dash quite scared for her life as she had never seen Twilight like this before. Just as quickly as the flames had appeared they disappeared with Twilight left singed. "I guess you're right. Now that I do think about it, it does sound like something I wouldn't normally ever think about." "Well I'd hate to interrupt your discussion! But I thought we came here to get some animals ready for winter?" said Sunny after he'd realized they were now and hour and a half over the original tie they had set. "Ah by golly he's right! Here we are chit-chatting away when there are some poor critters out there that need our help! We can talk about Sunny and Twilight later. Right now we have to get to work!" Applejack said as she began to make her way to the gate with everyone soon following close behind her. A few minutes of walking later... "...So everyone should meet back here at 4 p.m." said Fluttershy as she finished explaining to them how long they'd do their tasks till. "So what exactly are we meant to be doing Fluttershy?" asked Sunny whilst looking towards Fluttershy as they walked. "Well I wanted to get you, Rarity and Twilight to gather up all the nuts, berries, acorns and other foods from around the forest and sort them out into piles. That is if it's alright with you of course?" she asked. "Sure no problems leave it to us!" all three of them said in unison before looking at one another and laughing as they made their way into the Everfree Forest. "O.K. now Applejack and Pinkie Pie. I was wondering whether you could go to all of the empty burrows that were used last winter, to see if they can be used again for this year. That is of course if you're alright with that too? "Sure no problem Fluttershy." answered Applejack. "Okie dokey lokey. We'll get start on that!" responded Pinkie Pie who was about to run off. "Wait a minute! You're going to need a map of all the existing burrows. Also, if any of them can't be used anymore, then could you make new places for the animals to hibernate in and mark them on the map as well please?" she asked as she handed them the map. "Yep, you can count of us Fluttershy." said Applejack before going after Pinkie Pie to make sure she didn't get distracted by anything. "That just leaves you and me Rainbow Dash. We actually have two jobs. One of us will have to go to Clouds dale and tell the people of the weather making factory a date for when we want the snow to come in. The other will have to start gathering up the animals to sort them out into what burrows they'll be going into to avoid any fighting between animals about hibernating space." "Alright then, I'll go to Clouds dale and you can sort the animals out!" "O.K. then this is the letter that the Mayor gave to me to give to the manager of the factory. Also when you're finished you can go and help Applejack and Pinkie Pie as there are quite a lot of burrows to check on for just two ponies." she said as she handed the letter to Rainbow Dash. "O.K. I'll get this done in ten seconds flat." she said as she sped off towards Cloudsdale leaving. "Now to get to work." Fluttershy as she went into the Everfree Forest to start getting the animals together. Meanwhile, the three unicorns were all in a clearing in the forest. Rarity was simply making her own small pile of berries by using her magic to carry small amounts of berries. However, Sunny and Twilight were arguing. "I bet I can carry more acorns with one spell than you can carry nuts with the same number of spells." he said to her. He always found then making a challenge or competition out of work made it more fun and got it done more quickly as well. "Have you already forgotten that I'm Princess Celestia's most faithful student? And that I've spent my time since we last saw each other training in magic under her tutelage." she said with her chest puffed out with pride. "Well then this should be fun. Now here are the rules: 1) You can only use a levitation spell to pick up your item. Obviously with nuts and acorns weighing roughly the same it should be fair. 2) You can only use the levitation spell once and only once. 3) The nuts or acorns must be in the pile to be counted. 4) The pony who has the most acorns or nuts on their pile wins." finished off Sunny. "Alright I agree those rule do sound fair. But how do we count the acorns and nuts?" "Quick Count Spell of course! Come on Twilight didn't you pay any attention in Maths?" he said teasing her. "O-of course I did! I just forgot about it ok!" she said rather flustered and annoyed at Sunny. "O.K. then mares first." Sunny said with an exaggerated bow. "Such a gentlecolt," she said sarcastically as she closed her eyes to focus on the images of all kinds of nuts as well as the area in which she wanted her spell to reach out. To win she decided she would increase the range of her spell as far as possible. Her horn began to glow a bright white as her spell started to form. Gritting her teeth she began to widen the range of her spell to pick up as many nuts as she possibly could. With some effort she finally managed to finish preparing her spell and began to use and soon after thousands of nuts from all over the forest came to the clearing and began piling up in front of Twilight. By this time, Rarity had panicked and had ran well clear away from the gathering of nuts that came towards Twilight choosing to hide behind a tree and just watch from a distance. As they continued piling, the obvious draining of her powers starting to become visible. Just when she thought she could get a few more nuts onto the pile her concentration suddenly broke and the rest of the nuts fell to the ground all over the clearing. Twilight began to breathe heavily from the sheer effort that spell had taken to do. "Beat...that!" she puffed out as she sat on the forest floor to catch her breath. "Yeah let's just see how many you actually collected shall we?" Sunny smirked as his horn glowed a bright red as the massive pile of acorns also began to glow the same colour. This lasted for a few seconds before Sunny finished the spell, "Wow you got 27,964 nuts! I'm impressed Twilight it seems that all the training with Princess Celestia finally paid off!" he chuckled." Although I don't think it was meant for collecting nuts in a forest! But hey what can you do right?" "Well it's your turn." Twilight said having finally caught her breath and standing up again. "Let's see you top that!" "With pleasure." Sunny smirked. As he closed his eyes, his horn glowed a bright white light at which point he then opened his eyes and tapped an acorn that already lay on the ground. Then he closed his eyes again as his horn began to glow a bright orange. He then focused on the corners of the Everfree forest and used a spell to set the corners as markers for his next spell. By this point Twilight began to complain. "Hey! I thought we agreed that we were only allowed to use the levitation spell!" "That's where your wrong! If you remembered correctly, I said 'You can only use a levitation spell to pick up your item' and I also said 'You can only use the levitation spell once and only once'. As you can see, I have not used a levitation spell yet so have broken neither of those rules. I never said anything about combining other spells along with a levitation spell now did I?" "Yeah but I..." she said before sighing dejectedly and giving up on the argument. "So what spells are you using?" "Well I'm using a combination of the Pin Point, Marker and the Levitation Spell." as he finally used the levitation spell as acorns from all over the forest whizzed in front of Sunny as they began to pile up in front of him rather rapidly. "Ah that's genius! You're using the Pin Point and Marker spells to mark all the acorns in a selected area and then using the levitation spell to lift them!" she said in awe. "Well yeah! It sure beats having to put more effort into increasing the range of one spell when you can just combine two simple spells to do the job for you!" he said quite happy with himself. "You always did think outside the box when it came to using spells." "Yeah that's probably the only reason why I kept beating you in Spellwork class!" he said with a chuckle. "Hmm...I guess." she said looking rather disappointed. Sunny realizing how much like an arrogant douchebag he was being decided he would fix things up. "Damn...it...this levitation spell...is harder than it looks! I must be...out of practice!" he started to breath heavily as he shut his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth. As several more acorns came to the pile, he finally released the spell and fell to the ground exhausted. "Sunny are you alright?" Twilight asked worried about him. "Yeah...I'm fine...might've... overdone it...with that...levitation spell...I think." he said gasping for breath. "Anyway...check how many...acorns I got..." as he laid on his back to catch some breath. "Oh right..." Twilight said as she quickly performed a Quick Count Spell. "You got 26,254 acorns...wait a minute. That means I won! Yes!" Twilight squealed jumping into the air in victory. Sunny couldn't help but smile as he got up and went over to Twilight. "Congrats Twilight I guess all that hard-work did finally pay off for you!" he said smiling at her as she continued to celebrate her victory before her ears perked up and she stopped facing him. "Hang on a minute weren't you exhausted just a second ago? It couldn't have taken you that quickly to recover!" "O-oh well I'm just a fast healer!" he quickly said. "No you aren't! You let me win didn't you!" she said now walking up to him. 'Oh crap! She's going to kill me! I've already seen her angry and I even made a mental note NOT to piss her off! But what did I have to do hours later! Man, I'm a dead colt!' he thought as he closed his eyes expecting to be brought into a world of pain by the hooves of Twilight. When he felt something some hooves wrap around his neck and something warm on his chest. When he opened his eyes and blushed as he saw Twilight giving him a hug whilst nuzzling against his chest as she said: "That was really sweet of you! Thinking about how disappointed I was that even after 5 years of training I still couldn't beat you! To let me win! You're a true friend you know that." "Uh...so you're not mad?" Sunny asked rather confused. "Of course I'm mad. But I realized why you'd do something like that and for that I'm grateful." she said as she got off of him with a slight blush as she realized what she had just done. "Anyway we best get back to work! With that spell combo you used we'll have this entire forest clear of nuts and acorns in no time!" she finished as she made her way back to work. Sunny couldn't help but smile as he did the same. Meanwhile, Rarity who had seen the whole thing that went on between them from afar began started to think, 'Used to' my hoof. It's obvious you still have feelings for him Twilight. So let's just see if I have anything to say about it!' She then went back to work to make it look like she hadn't seen any of what had just happened. At 4 p.m... Everypony made their way back to meet up with each other. The unicorns with their piles of nuts, berries and acorns with them. Sunny's and Twilight's pile being at least 10 times bigger than Rarity's. Along with Sunny being the gentlecolt that he was carrying all of the piles for them, which would've been hard had he not combined a simple Hover and Loco-motor Spell together. The earth ponies and Rainbow Dash came back with their hooves covered in dirt from having to make all the new burrows. Whilst, Fluttershy came back with a list of what animals were going to be hibernating in what burrows. "Great job everypony! I think this year's preparations for hibernation will be the fastest yet!" said Fluttershy, "Now I'd like to invite you all back to my cottage for dinner. That is if everyone you're all o.k. with coming?" As she was met with a chorus of 'Sounds good' and 'Count me in' Applejack finished off by saying: "Finally some food am so hungry I could eat half the apple orchard!" at this everyone including Applejack laughed as they made their way back to Fluttershy's cottage. Soon, everypony was at the cottage eating an array of appetizing meals that both Fluttershy and Applejack (after much persuasion) had both prepared. As the meal progressed everypony talked about what had happened that day. With Rainbow Dash getting half-stuck in a burrow being one of the funniest events that had happened. It was only till after dinner that Rarity then asked a question to Sunny, "So Sunny. Why don't you tell us how you and Twilight met and became a couple and why aren't you still a couple now?" "RARITY! That's personal stuff! Besides I don't think Sunny wants to..." Twilight said as she stood up from her seat. "Actually Twilight, I'm alright with telling them how we got together. But, I thought you wouldn't of wanted that after all it involves you just as much as me." Sunny defended Rarity to which she smiled at him. "W-well no. I thought you didn't want anyone to know...but if you're o.k. with it then that's fine with me." she said whilst sitting back down in her seat slightly embarrassed. "Well ok then I'd think it'd be easier if I just showed you, rather than tell you." said Sunny as he got out of his seat. "How are you going to show us?" Applejack asked now rather confused. "Well I'm going to be using a combination of an Imaging Spell and a Memory Spell to create a sort of movie of the memories I have with Twilight." he finished as he closed his eyes to concentrate. His horn began to glow a bright pink colour, signaling that he was casting the Imaging Spell. A stream of pink light began to erupt from his horn as it began to form a rectangle in front of him. Once all the lines were connected he released the spell so his horn was no longer glowing pink. But the pink rectangular outline still remained floating in mid-air in front of all the other ponies. "Oooooh! It's so pretty!" said Pinkie who had left her chair. Her eyes as wide as dinner plates as she reached out a hoof to touch the pink outline. "Pinkie don't touch it! If you break the line then the Imaging spell will fail!" scolded Twilight. "Oh sorry!" she said and returned to her seat. "Thank you Twilight!" Sunny said with a nod, "Now for the Memory Spell." He continued as he closed his eyes and began to concentrate on all of the memories he had with Twilight as his horn began to glow a golden colour. Then moving ever so carefully he placed the tip of his horn into the pink rectangular outline. Almost instantaneously, the gold and pink colours began to mix with one another to form a rather strange but...magical colour. The gold colour proceeded to run along the outline as well mixing with the pink colour as it went, until the entire rectangle was bordered with that indescribable yet desirable colour. Finally, Sunny took his horn tip out of the outline and released the spell and an image of a big city appeared on the screen. Sunny then began to speak, "This is where it all began...in Canterlot!" School Days!"Hello." - actual speech 'What am I thinking?' - thoughts At Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns the new school year was beginning. All 30 of the second year students had taken their seats as they were ready to take their first lesson of the academic year...Maths. In the front row of the class sat a much younger version of Sunny who was busy writing a new song in his scrap book. The colt had always wanted to make music ever since he found out he had a gift for it. Despite his obvious talent in playing and writing his own pieces he was still the only pony in the school without a cutie mark. Many ponies wondered how such a gifted prodigy could not have gotten his cutie mark. Even if it wasn't a music related cutie mark, most ponies could actually see him doing anything he wanted in his life. Being good enough in his academics to be offered to skip a couple of years ahead along with being a member of various sports teams. No pony ever bullied him about being a 'blank flank' purely because they all knew he was already talented and didn't need a cutie mark to prove it. But, he was never confident in his own abilities. Partially, because being in a school full of other talented unicorns can put you down as 'nothing special'. But mostly, because of his background. He came from a poor working class family from Manehattan and had only gotten in due to his high marks in his entrance exam earning him a scholarship at the school. Most of the unicorns at the school were from rich families who could afford the expensive school fees and extra tuition. He couldn't relate to any of the ponies at the school as he had never lived in similar lifestyles to them. He felt that his grades being significantly higher than the rest of his classmates also further drove him apart from his classmates. So he began to look at his academic brilliance as a curse that segregated him from other ponies rather than a gift to be shown off. So hid his academic genius, mainly by purposely dropping marks in test to ensure he got only slightly above the class average mark, in a hope to be more accepted by his fellow classmates. Suddenly, the whole class went quiet as the Maths teacher walked into the classroom. He was a blue stallion with white hair combed either side of his horn and had piercing yellow eyes that would unnerve most students. He wore a white shirt with a brown sweater on top along with a brown tie. "Good morning class." he said. "Good morning Mr. Hunter!" said all of the students in chorus. "I hope you enjoyed the Summer Holidays because I'm getting the new school year started with a surprise test on everything we did last year." "Why do we have to do a test on the first day of school?!" a few ponies moaned out loud. "Because, they ensure that you have a good foundation in which to learn new things this year!" he replied as he handed out the paper to all of the ponies. Just then a knock on the door was heard before it opened to reveal two ponies. One of which was a yellow mare wearing glasses who also had frizzy white hair all around her horn. She had lilac coloured eyes and also wore a White shirt. However, she wore it with a grey sweater on top and had the top button undone. The other was Twilight as a filly. "How may I help you Ms. Darling?" Mr. Hunter asked. "Well I'm here to bring you your new student. You remember Miss Sparkle don't you?" "Oh yes I do indeed." he said recalling examining her entrance examination before her magical outburst. He then turned to the class and began to speak, "Right class this is Miss Twilight Sparkle and she will be joining you in your classes from now on. So I hope you will all make her feel very welcome in this school." Turning around to face Twilight he said "Right now we're about to do a Maths test. So if you want I could set you some questions to do whilst they all do the test?" "Uhm...actually I don't mind doing the test Mr..." said Twilight rather timidly at this many of the ponies in the classroom looked at her as if she were mad. "Hunter" he finished off, "Very well now where to put you..." he said as he looked around the class "...ah yes please sit next to Mr. Sunrise over there please." he said pointing at Sunny before adding, "Also, Starbuck I'm assigning you the task of showing Miss Sparkle around our school." "Yes Mr. Hunter." he said as he looked towards Twilight with a welcoming smile which made the nervous Twilight feel completely at ease and even give him a small smile back as she sat next to him. "Very well now that Miss Sparkle has settled in, I'll be off." said Ms. Darling as she left and closed the door behind her. Finally, all the papers were handed out and Mr. Hunter called out to everypony in the class, "You all have till the end of the lesson to finish the test. So that's an hour and a half to answer all 30 questions. Any questions before we start?" There was utter silence in the classroom. Mr. Hunter smiled and then said, "In that case your time starts now. You can start the paper." Thirty minutes later... Sunny laid his head on the desk as he finished his paper. There was still an hour to go and so he would go to sleep till the lesson ended. It was only ten minutes into his nap when he was woken up by the sound of a voice next to him: "Sir, what do we do when we've finished?" asked Twilight with her hoof up. "Have you checked your work through?" "Three times, sir." "Oh...well in that case bring your paper here and you can leave the lesson early." in answered beaming at Twilight as she made her way down to the teacher's desk to hand in her paper. At this Sunny's head came off the desk as he called out with his hoof in the air, "Mr. Hunter I've also finished. Can I leave the lesson early as well?" "Why most certainly Mr. Sunrise. You can use the extra time to give Miss Sparkle here a tour of the school!" "Okay then," he said happy that he didn't have to stay in lesson doing nothing for another hour. They both left the classroom in silence leaving all the other ponies to finish the test. Once, outside of the classroom Sunny breathed out a sigh of relief before starting to talk, "So I should probably introduce myself first. If you may or may not already know the name's Starbuck Sunrise but everyone that knows me calls me Sunny." "Oh well my name's Twilight Sparkle!" "Twilight hmm...that's a beautiful name." he said as he smiled at her and causing her to blush at the compliment. "Now let's get this tour started!" "Alright then!" "So this corridor we're standing in is home to all the graphical functions and algebra in Equestria!" he said rather dramatically, "But most other ponies call it the Maths Corridor: where all Maths lessons take place. To be honest I like the previous description better." he said in a joking tone to which Twilight couldn't help but giggle. "Now if we walk down this way we can make it to the science building! Meanwhile, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?" asked Sunny. Half an hour later... The tour continued like this with both ponies talking about one another to better get to know one another. They both were now walking in the massive school courtyard. It was basically the school's private park measuring at 50 hectares, where there were many tall trees, bushes along with other facilities like courts for different sports to be played on. As well as benches and tables for private study outside of lessons. Sunny had learnt she was in fact a local to Canterlot and that she had caused the big hole in the roof of the English block during her entrance exam due to her raw magical power. By that point he was already in awe of her talents and abilities. But was gob smacked by what she said next: "At the end of it all I got my cutie mark and I was offered by Princess Celestia herself to become her protégé." "Woah Princess Celestia herself offered you that position! Wow you must be packing quite a bit of magic if the ruler of Equestria wants you to become her apprentice!" said Sunny rather excitedly. "Well...I guess you're right!" she said with a smile of her own as she blushed at the praises she got from him. Twilight had also learnt a lot about Sunny. She learnt that the entrance exam was different for every pony. Depending on your talent you would be given a test to judge just how good you were at that talent. So Sunny's entrance exam was to play his own musical piece. Instead what he actually did was use a spell to get a number of instruments to play themselves and then made them perform as an orchestra whilst he played the piano for a solo. It had impressed them so greatly that he was given a scholarship to the school. "Wow! What I did in my examination practice was purely luck if it weren't for the rainbow-coloured explosion happening I would've most likely failed! For you to do something like that through pure skill, just shows how talented you are." "I'm not that talented! There are many other ponies that can do what I did!" he said with whilst looking down at the floor. "Yes! But none of them are as young as you! You mustn't keep putting yourself down Sunny! You're an amazing colt who should be proud of what he's achieved already, as well as what he's going to achieve in the future!" she said raising her voice as she defended him. He was shocked at what she was saying. No one had ever tried to support him when he felt bad about himself, and for a unicorn who he had only just met an hour ago to defend him like that really gave him an urge...and he went with it. Walking up to Twilight he wrapped his fore hooves around her neck and hugged her. Realising what he had done he was about to move away from her when he felt her hooves wrap around him as well hugging him back. Tears began to form around his eyes as he whispered into Twilight's ear, "Thank you Twilight. No pony has ever stood up for me even when I'm the pony putting myself down. And for you to defend me, a colt who you've only known for an hour! Just makes me so happy!" he finished now choking on sobs. Twilight just continued to console him whilst shocked that he really was all alone with no other pony to help him through his problems. She then started to say with a smile, "Don't worry I'll make sure you'll never feel alone ever again...you can always talk to me about your problems." "Thanks Twi." he said weakly as he let go of her and wiped his eyes and face of any tears that were still there. "Listen Twilight I want to show you one more place before break starts, follow me!" he said before galloping off the path through some bushes. Twilight not wanting to be left behind galloped after him. After a few minutes of galloping they reached one of the 100 foot high walls that surrounded the courtyard that was covered by dense trees and bushes at the foot of the wall. "Sunny where are we going?" asked Twilight. "Just trust me on this." as his horn began to glow a bright red colour. All of a sudden Twilight felt herself being lifted off the ground and looked at Sunny to see he was too as he carried on casting his Levitation spell. "Sunny what are you doing?" she cried absolutely petrified as they continued to fly up the wall higher and higher. "Like I said before trust me!" he yelled back with a chuckle. At last, they had flown up to the top of the wall and had gone over it to land on a balcony that ran alongside the entire perimeter of the wall. Once, they had landed Sunny began saying "So this is-OW! What was that for?" he cried rubbing the newly formed lump on his head that had been the result of Twilight's hoof smacking him hard on the head. "You idiot! You could've at least told me what you were going to do! I'm absolutely terrified of heights!" she said rather angrily about to burst into tears. "Ah I'm so sorry Twilight! I didn't know! Please forgive me! It'll be all worth it because you'll love what I'm about to show you! he said rather worried he might've just lost his only true friend. "What can you show me that can justify putting me through that!" she yelled. "Look behind you." he said secretly hoping it would work. As she looked at what was behind her she couldn't help but gasp at what she saw. it was the most magnificent view of Canterlot her eyes had ever seen. The ever so distant mountainous landscape that surrounded the huge urban city were covered in wisps of cloud. The forest at the foot of them was like a faraway green sea, which could be seen moving to and fro, in time to the cool summer breeze. The call of the birds that flew high above them in the large expanses of the cerulean sky could be heard faintly enough to be noticed but not so loudly that it became a distraction. The air around them was a lot more crisp and fresh than the polluted air they were normally used to. The tall buildings of the city looked miniscule from where she stood behind the parapet of the wall. With the people of Canterlot looking like small specks moving about their daily lives. But the most impressive sight about the view was Celestia's very own creation: the Sun. The Sun standing proudly in the middle of the cerulean sky as it's shining rays covered the city of Canterlot in a bright, warm glow. "It's...beautiful." sighed Twilight as she couldn't help but feel happy for some unknown reason as she stared out onto the view of her hometown. "I say the same thing every time I come up here." said Sunny gently, "This is my secret hideaway that no other student knows about. I'd assume the caretakers and maybe the staff know about this place. But none of them ever come up here. This is where I go when I need some time to think to myself. To solve a problem I might be having. Or even just to enjoy the wonderful view of the city during the day. Sometimes, I sneak here at night to watch the city and the stars at night. The view then is, in my opinion even better than it is right now." "Why?" asked Twilight. "Why what?" said Sunny now confused. "Why would you share such a secret place with me? Some filly you've only just met." "Because, even though I may have just met you. You already know me more than anypony else in this school. You promised me that you would always be there for me. That's the most anypony has ever done for me since I left my home in Manehattan to come to this school. So the only way I could think of repaying you back for the kindness you've shown to me, is to show you my place of solace whenever life gets me down, so that you may use it someday in case you may need it-Woah!" he cried as he was hugged fiercely by Twilight who whispered in his ear: "Thank you Sunny. This is probably one of the best gifts anyone has ever given me," before giving him a kiss on the cheek. His reaction was instantaneous as his face went from yellow to bright red at the realization of Twilight kissing him. As this happened the school bell rang for break. "See you in class Sunny." Twilight whispered in his ear before letting go of him with a small blush on her face, before she was gone having teleported to her next lesson, leaving a still shocked Sunny holding the cheek Twilight had kissed him. As his face began to return to its normal colour there was only one thought on his mind: 'This school year's going to be REALLY interesting.' Confessions!"This is actual speech." 'These are my thoughts.' This is a time skip... Three years later... Sunny and Twilight had become inseparable since the events of the first day they had met. Many ponies already thought of them as a couple. Despite, the fact that they were told by both Sunny and Twilight that they were just 'really close friends'. But, as Sunny thought back to all the fond memories he had of just him and Twilight together, over the past three years. He realized that he had fallen for her quite badly without even realizing it until now. So he decided he was going to act on these feelings and tell Twilight just how he felt. He decided the best way to do this was through asking her out to the school dance next Friday night. It was the last year for those ponies that didn't want to go ahead with further study, and were going to leave at the end of that school year. Whilst, both Sunny and Twilight had opted for two years of further study, they still had to go to the dance so that they could say goodbye to their friends. He had been trying the best part of two weeks trying to build up the courage to ask her. But, each time he tried something always stopped him from asking the question and he would instead ask her another question just to avoid looking like an idiot. A now taller, leaner and slightly more muscular Sunny could be seen walking down one of the many busy streets of Canterlot. He carried a bag full of books making his way over to Twilight's house. Because, today they were going to have a study session for tomorrow's big test on 'Equestrian History' for their end of year exams. This was the last of 15 exams that they had taken for the past month. This was also the day where after many hours of building up his courage he would finally ask Twilight out to the dance. 'I'm not going to shy away from asking her out this time. Today, will be the day I tell her what I truly feel about her!" he thought as he walked up to Twilight's front door and knocked firmly on the solid oak three times. Soon after, the door opened to reveal a white unicorn with lilac and white hair, light blue eyes and three purple stars as her cutie mark; the unicorn was Twilight's mother. "Oh hello there Sunny! Twilight's upstairs in her room," she told him with a smile before continuing, "How was that vegetable casserole I gave you?" "It was delicious as always Mrs. Sparkle!" replied Sunny before taking out a clean casserole dish from his bag, "Thanks again for the food!" Having moved away from his family in Manehattan to study in Canterlot meant he had to live in the student accommodation the school provided. Visiting Twilight's house often meant that he had become very good friends with her parents as well. Mrs. Sparkle would give him some packed food to take with him to eat back at his accommodation every time he came to visit. "Oh please Sunny there's no need for thanks! The number of times you come over here to study with our little Twilight! You're like the son I never had..." she said before realizing how awkward the situation had become. She then continued, "Also, how many times do I have to tell you! You don't need to clean any of the dishes I give you!" she said as she took the sparklingly clean casserole dish off of him, "Well Mrs. Sparkle it's the least I could do, seeing as you give me such wonderful food to eat! I don't think I could live a week without having some of your cooking." he said rather seriously, the food they provided at the accommodation bordered between 'inedible' and 'death on a plate' and shivered at the thought of eating that food again. Mrs. Sparkle simply chuckled and said as she ruffled Sunny's hair, "Flattery will get you everywhere Sunny! I'm glad at least someone appreciates my cooking. Wish the same could be said for Sirius..." "Oh I'm sure Mr. Sparkle does appreciate your cooking Mrs. Sparkle!" "Hmm sometimes I just can't help wonder about that stallion! You never can tell what he's thinking...Anyway you best head on upstairs. Twilight is probably waiting for you to start studying." "Okay Mrs. Sparkle, and thanks again!" Sunny called out before making his way upstairs. 'He is such a nice colt! I really don't see why Twilight doesn't just go out with him. He'd make such a nice son-in-law...' Mrs. Sparkle thought to herself before continuing to do the washing. Meanwhile, upstairs in her room Twilight was starting to get really annoyed. 'Where in Equestria Is that colt!' she thought as the door silently opened, 'He had better have a good reason for being half an hour late!' Just as she finished thinking this her eyes were covered by a pair of hooves from behind. "Guess who?" asked Sunny. "Sunny! Where have you been we were meant to start studying half an hour ago!" she scolded him. "Ah you worry too much Twi! I mean it's not like you're going to fail Miss. '97.8% average in all subjects last year!'" he said as he sat on a chair and started to take out his books. "That's not the point Sunny! We need to revise for this test on 'Equestrian History'. Besides, you're one to talk about averages Mr. '98.9% average in all subjects last year!'" she finished whilst mimicking the way Sunny had said it to her. Ever since becoming friends with Twilight. Sunny had developed enough confidence in his academic abilities that he no longer felt he needed to cut back marks without fear of not making friends...Besides, he couldn't let Twilight get the better of him in exams. "Hey you know as well as I do that I've already learnt all of this stuff last year! Whilst you guys were still studying the History of Cloudsdale..." he said in a huff. "Exactly! Which is why I need you to help me study for this test!" "And what do I get for helping you?" he said with a smirk. Of course he was only joking, he would always help his friends in need no matter what. However, Twilight smirked as she moved close to him and whispered something into his ear. No sooner had she finished what she had said; his face turned bright red with images of both of them doing certain 'things' to each other running through his head. Once she had seen his reaction to what she had said she began to laugh: "Honestly Sunny! Three years of hanging out together and you still act like such an innocent little colt!" "Well what kind of young filly goes around, talking dirty like that?" he said as his face quickly returned to normal colour. "I wonder what your parents would think if they found out about how 'innocent' their 'little angel' really was?" he ended with a smirk. Twilight face changed from a mischievous grin to one full of genuine worry, "You wouldn't dare!" "I think I might!" "Please don't Sunny! If they found out about their 'little angel' talking dirty they'd kill me! You of all ponies know that!" she now started to plead. "Relax Twi! You know I would never do that to you." he grinned at her as she sighed in relief. "Anyway let's get back to work..." he started "...we'll start with the Great Griffin Rebellion in Canterlot...". He then proceeded to dictate everything he knew about Equestrian History whilst Twilight would sit and take notes and occasionally corrected him when he made a mistake. A few hours later... "Damn my head hurts from all this studying!" moaned Twilight. "Really mine's just fine." said Sunny as he bit into an apple whilst he was packing his bags to leave. "That's because all you've been doing is making little changes to your already near perfect notes!" she complained to which he simply responded to with a chuckle before deciding to ask her the big question before he left. It was now getting quite dark outside with the night sky painted with stars that glowed brightly in the pitch black sky, as he was taken back to the front door by Twilight he decided now was the best time to ask about the dance. Little did he know Twilight's mother was listening in on them from an upstairs window. "Uhm...Twi...can I...uhm...ask you something...important?" he asked as he was now outside the front door. 'Damn it you idiot! You've known her for 3 years now! Stop being such a coward and tell her how you feel about her!' "Yeah sure Sunny what is it?" asked Twilight slightly confused. "Twilight Sparkle, you..." he began before he began, before he start to choke on his own words. 'Come on! Why are you hesitating just go on and say it already!' "I what?" Twilight said now even more confused at her best friend's strange behaviour. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath he began to speak slowly: "Twilight Sparkle, you have been the most amazing friend a pony could ever ask for...You've been there for me through good times and bad...You would never let me fall into the deep, dark pit of sorrow and self-pity whenever life got me down...You always brought me back from the brink of despair and made more stronger than before. I don't deserve to have a friend like you...and yet I do. It's been three years since I've been grace with the fortunate event of meeting you for the first time...Those three years have probably been some of the best years of my life..." "Sunny..." began Twilight as if to interrupt. "No Twilight please let me finish! Otherwise, I will never be able to tell you what I really think about you!" he said causing her to fall silent. He then continued, "Those years have been some of the best in my life...because you were there...with me...Meeting you has been one of the best things to happen to me...I've grown stronger both physically and mentally because of you...look, what I'm really trying to say is that I..." he said starting to struggle with his throat drying up and a massive lump stopping from completing his sentence. 'Tell her for Celestia's sake! Otherwise you'll never be able to live with yourself if you don't do it now!' Finally, after what felt like an eternity something inside him snapped as a burden was lifted off him as he quietly said, "I love you." Twilight for words was shocked at what she thought she had heard, so to be sure she asked, "W-what was that again?" With his eyes now full of confidence he said with much more confidence, "I love you Twilight Sparkle and I'd be most honored if you could give me the chance to prove to you just how much I'm in love with you by asking you to be my date for the school dance tonight." he finally finished his speech. He had put all of his heart and soul into conveying his feelings for Twilight in that one speech; those few words. A silence followed Sunny's plea of love which he took for bad news, with a disappointed sigh and tears starting to form in his eyes he choked out "I'm sorry, if I wasted your time Twilight. I wish you a good night," before turning around and starting to walk off to face the icy, cold hands of rejection. Just as he was walking away he heard Twilight's voice call out "Sunny wait!". 'Great! How can this get any worse?!' Now annoyed Sunny turned around and yelled "What is it now?" as Twilight made her way out towards him. "You forgot something..." Twilight said rather quietly. "No I hav-" he began to say before he was cut off as Twilight brought him into a deep kiss. Sunny's eyes were wide in shock at first. But he then began to relax and close his eyes as they both settled into their first kiss. It felt as if time itself had gone into a standstill for that single moment, where they both were just happy and content to be in one another's presence. It felt like an eternity had passed them by when they broke their kiss when in reality it only lasted a few seconds. Twilight bringing herself closer to Sunny gave him one final hug before whispering in his ear, "I will be your date for the dance Sunny. Good night.". She then gave him one last kiss on the cheek before heading back into her house and closing the door behind her leaving a stunned Sunny still trying to figure out what just happened. Inside Twilight's house... As soon as Twilight closed the door. She turned around only to be staring at her mother who was standing by the staircase. Fearing for her life she asked, "How much did you see and hear?". "I saw and heard everything!" she said and quickly continued, "And you're going to need a nice dress for this dance if you're going to impress him! This is so exciting my 'little angel' is finally growing up! I can make you a dress, but I just need to know how you want it to look?" Relieved that her mother approved of Sunny she gave a sigh of relief before talking to her Mum about what she wanted her dress to look like for the dance. A Night of Promises!Before, you start reading this fic. I'd just like to give a heads up. This is probably the most cheesiest chapter I've ever written. So if you don't like the really cheesy romantic stuff you see in films, then you might want to walk away now...Still here? Okay, then. Oh there is just one more thing, there will be a song in this chapter. Hence, the adequately named 'Cheesy Song' Scene. So if you'd like to have a listen to this song before you start reading, then the song is 'Take A Look Through My Eyes' by Phil Collins. Some of you may know this song from the Disney Soundtrack from the film 'Brother Bear'. (Yes, I admit it I'm a Disney dork...mind you only a big fan of the old films. Most of the new ones are no where near as good.) So enough of my rambling I give you Chapter 6 of 'A New Arrival!' 'What am I thinking?' -Thoughts "I'm saying something." - Actual Speech I'm singing - Lead Vocals to the 'Cheesy Song' Scene (I'm singing) - Backing Vocals to the 'Cheesy Song' Scene A week later... 'Damn! I still can't believe Twilight's going with me to this dance!' Sunny thought as he got changed into what he was going to wear for the dance. He had spent most of the money he earned from his part-time job in getting the best suit possible. He was determined not to mess up this 'first date' and no expense would be spared. 'What if she doesn't like what I'm wearing?' he began to think as he looked in the mirror at his smart attire. He wasn't going to be wearing a suit jacket like everyone else. He was dressed with hope of impressing Twilight. He was wearing a full body, jet black tuxedo with a plain white shirt with black buttons topped off with a simple black tie, and, all accompanied by a set of four polished black shoes. 'Ah well it's too late to change now!' he continued to think as he added the final touch to his outfit; a single red rose to decorate the right lapel of his tuxedo jacket. "Well let's get this show on the road!" he said with a sigh, as he picked up his bouquet of flowers that he had personally arranged to give to Twilight. With those last words said, he made his way out of his accommodation, and headed towards Twilight's house to escort her to the dance. Meanwhile, at Twilight's house... Chaos was at an all-time high. "Where did I put the brooch that goes with that dress of yours?" yelled Twilight's mother as she emptied out another cupboard in her room. "Mum it's fine! The dress looks great without the brooch!" called out Twilight who was currently lying down with a mud mask unable to see the dump that used to be her parent's bedroom. "Nonsense dear! That brooch is the biggest piece for your dress, and, I will make sure that you are wearing it tonight!" she said rather calmly. But, her facial features suggested she was going insane from her stress. She then shouted out, "SIRIUS! Is the brooch in Twilight's room?" A blue stallion with darker blue hair that was combed in such a way that only the top of his horn showed walked into the messy bedroom. He had warm yellow eyes along with a cutie mark of two crescent moon on his flank. "I'm sorry Stella honey, I couldn't find it anywhere in her room." said calmly showing more composure than his wife. "Oh for Celestia's sake! Where on Equestria did I leave that confounded thing!" she started to panic even more before her husband called out: "Found it." as he picked up the brooch. The crazed insanity in her eyes died down as soon as he finished saying those two words. She then said, "Oh thank you honey! Where ever did you find it?" "It was on top of the bedside table!" he said simply. Whilst Stella's eye began to twitch in annoyance; knocking could be heard coming from the front door. "Oh my gosh! He's here...and I'm nowhere near ready yet!" Twilight exclaimed as the cucumber slices fell off her eyes, as they were wide in shock. "Calm down dear! Everything will be fine!" Stella told her, before talking to her husband, "Sirius, be a dear and keep him occupied for a bit...Sirius?" she turned around to find no pony there. "One step ahead of you honey!" he called out, already halfway down the stairs to open the door. Once, he reached the door he opened it to reveal Sunny who had his bouquet hidden behind his back. "Oh, why hello Mr. Sparkle! Is Twilight ready yet?" "Oh not just yet, Sunny. She'll be another 10 minutes. Why don't you come in and wait for her." he said with a warm smile. "Oh...okay then," he said as he made his way into the house and was just about to take his shoes off when Sirius said: "Don't be silly, Sunny keep your shoes on!" "But, I don't want to bring in any dirt into your lovely, clean home." At this Sirius chuckled whilst thinking 'If he only saw upstairs...' before, saying, "Nonsense, those shoes already look too unnaturally clean. Now stop standing out in the cold and come in!" Once, Sunny had entered the house, he was taken to the living room and asked to have a seat. As he was about to sit down he quickly remembered to bring out the bouquet to stop it getting crushed underneath him. "Oh. Are those flowers for our little Twilight?" teased Sirius. "Uhm...yes...yes they are." Sunny quietly said slightly embarrassed that he was no longer able to surprise both Twilight and her parents with them. "Well if you don't mind me asking, why are all the roses different colours? Don't people normally just get a bouquet of one colour?" "Well...people normally give flowers to symbolize particular feelings that the giver has for the receiver. And, the colour of the flower is what is said to symbolize these different feelings….So I arranged this bouquet...as my own symbol of what Twilight truly means...to me." he finished. "Oh right," said a rather surprised Sirius who couldn't help but smile as he realized just how much his daughter's love meant to the young stallion, that he would put the time and effort into something so trivial just for his daughter. "So what do the roses in your bouquet say about my daughter?" he then asked, curious to hear what Sunny thought about his daughter. Sunny now feeling very nervous pointed to the yellow roses that formed an outer ring around the edge of the bouquet and began to stutter out: "These yellow roses...represent friendship,…joy...and the ability to care...These roses...are the embodiment...of the past three years...I've gotten to know your daughter...as my best friend...They represent...all of the good times we've shared...together...and, the joy we felt through those good times...Along, with how we supported each other...when either one of us...was in any sort of trouble...How she cared about me...when no one else did...How I promise to take care of her from now on." he trailed off before looking at Sirius with a serious look in his eyes. Having now gained confidence, simply from looking back at the memories of the times spent with Twilight, he continued by pointing at the lilac roses that formed a second concentric circle inside the circle of yellow roses and said with a smile: "Lilac roses are normally representative of the enchantment of love at first sight. Whilst, I never would've thought I'd be in a relationship with Twilight when I first met her. I did truly feel a connection with her the moment we met...I trusted her more in one day than all of my other classmates who I'd already known for a year. It was that initial connection...which was left to blossom over three years...that has led to me being the stallion I am today." By this time, Sirius was seriously amazed by just how strong Sunny's love for his daughter really was. The fact that just talking about her, gave him the strength to speak so confidently and passionately about a bunch of roses! However, he chose not to say anything, as Sunny continued to speak now with more gusto, whilst, pointing to the next smaller concentric circle that was decorated alternatively with orange and pink roses: "Orange roses are representative of enthusiasm and confidence and the attraction to those qualities, and the pink roses represent elegance and femininity. They perfectly describes the qualities that I adore about Twilight. The magic of her enthusiasm for just about anything, could be spread onto other people, making her a very capable leader and a dependable role model. And, the way she exuberates elegance and confidence in everything she does: when she walks, when she talks and her eyes! Her wonderfully brilliant eyes; those eyes that hold a fire, that tells me just how sure of herself she is, whilst, still holding a sense of femininity in them. A fire that makes me want to improve myself in so many ways, to be more like her; so that I can maybe live up to being a pony good enough to truly say that I'm worthy enough...to be with someone as amazing as her." he finished with a deflated sigh as he looked towards the floor now seemingly disappointed in himself. Sirius could now see just how deep the colt had fallen. He didn't think it was possible for any pony in this modern day and era to be so deeply in love like this. He could see why Twilight had chosen a colt like him to be in a relationship with and he could also begin to see why Stella liked this colt so much. However, the rational side of him was acting up. This colt was not thinking about the consequences of falling this deeply in love, and, how it could lead to severe emotional harm to both parties if not thought through properly. This made him seriously worry, whether or not he was the right colt for Twilight, because, he didn't want his 'little angel' to go through the emotional hurt of a broken heart. The fact that, he did not seem to have belief in himself caused his resolve to weaken and that sent danger signals flashing inside of Sirius's head. Sunny having noticed the silence in the room, assumed that Twilight's father was waiting for him to continue talking about the remaining roses. So as quickly as he trailed off, he began to talk about the final inner concentric circle made up of red and white roses. "The red and white roses...are both symbols of...my own love for Twilight. The white roses...represent the purity...of the love I hold for Twilight...How it isn't based off something as shallow as looks...How my love for Twilight had time,...like these roses,...to grow from a wonderful friendship for three years...In that time, I've been able to make...the important decision...that I want to be there for her...as more than just a friend. As for the red rose...well…near enough every pony knows that they're the ultimate symbol of romantic love...Figuratively,...they show how true love is stronger than thorns... But more importantly,...they show just how much I love Twilight...there is nothing in Equestria that I love more than simply being with her..." he began to trail off, as clouds of doubt began to form in his mind. 'What if I'm not good enough for her...I mean look at her she's stunningly beautiful, immensely intelligent, incredibly loyal and dependable and the most caring pony I've ever seen in my life...I mean what more could you want from a mare!' he finished his thought as he began to think about himself, 'Then you have me...a silly colt that could never do anything right without any help...In fact, if it weren't for me meeting Twilight I'd still wouldn't be able to do anything myself! What does she see in a colt like me! I wouldn't want to be seen with some pony like me, never mind to go out with him!' He then began to think even more about these doubts, 'I mean I love Twilight...and I couldn't stand not being with her...but what if she sees that it was a mistake to go out with me! If she breaks up with me...then she wouldn't want to talk to me anymore...then what would I do? I couldn't stand to not be friends with her anymore, she's always been there for me! Damn it, I'm so stupid! Why did I even think about risking my friendship with Twilight just for getting a little bit closer to her...we were close enough already! I had to botch everything up! Now she'll see the mistake she's made and our friendship will be ruined forever! What do I do?' Meanwhile, whilst Sunny was having his moment of inner conflict, Sirius had decided that he liked this colt! He was a very intelligent individual in his eyes. Having taken a reasonable amount of time to make such an important decision, which he respected a lot, as most young colts these days would just fling themselves into any relationship with no thought of the consequences. He also, like how this colt, whilst, going with a new modern ways of going through his feelings was also keeping to the simply roots of using roses, which everyone understood as a token of love. A token he in fact, used with Stella many times over. However, when Sunny had fallen silent for a long time, he realized that the colt still didn't believe in himself. Which was still a problem for Sirius because, how could he expect some pony to take care of his Twilight, when they couldn't even believe in themselves? So, deciding to snap him out of it he purposely coughed out loud to grab his attention before asking: "And what about that one over there?" whilst, pointing to a single blue rose that was positioned in the middle of the whole bouquet that stood out from all the other roses. As Sunny began to look at the blue rose, he began to think about the debate in his head, before smiling as the debate in his head was resolved from remembering the symbolism from that one flower. With a deep breath he began to speak with the most confidence that he had probably ever had in his life as he said: "The blue rose, represents a future of love and prosperity. They are incredibly rare to obtain and their rarity only strengthens the final message of my bouquet. It is to show that I hope that my relationship with Twilight, in the future will be filled with good fortune and happiness. However, it is also as a final blessing that if I my relationship with Twilight wasn't meant to be for whatever reason; that I would still wish her a future with someone who can give her the love, the prosperity and the happiness in her life that I wasn't able to give her, because, no matter what happens she will always be an amazing pony in my eyes and it really is what she truly deserves..." This answer sealed the deal with Sirius. The fact that this stallion cared so much for his daughter, that he would be willing to let her go if it meant, that she could live a much happier life, showed selflessness and real character in his eyes. Any pony that care that much for his daughter and had those qualities about him, was a pony he would be proud to call his son-in-law... "Sirius! She's ready now!" Stella called out. "Well then. Shall we go see how your lady in waiting looks this evening?" He asked Sunny. Sunny replied with a simply nod, clutching his bouquet, as they both left the living room to go to the foot of the stairs. When Sunny looked up he couldn't help but gasp at how Twilight looked. At the top of the stairs she stood dressed in a simple black dress that sparkled in the light due to some added glitter, accompanied by a stylish belt that wrapped around her comfortably. On her hooves, were black shoes that went well with her outfit. All of this was complemented with an eye-catching brooch that looked exactly like her cutie mark and reflected the bright light in purple and pink rays. "Well...what do you think?" Twilight asked shyly, as, she walked down the steps. "Wow..." was all Sunny could say as he was stunned, at how beautiful Twilight was, to say anything else. She couldn't help but giggle at his reaction, as she walked right up to him. Sunny, quickly snapping out of his dazed state, brought out his bouquet of flowers. "These are for you!" he said quickly, rather embarrassed about being caught daydreaming about her. "Oh my word! Sunny...they're so beautiful!" she said quietly as she took them, from him and breathed in their heavenly smells deeply. "Well...they're not as beautiful as you." he replied. No sooner than those words came out of his mouth did he scold himself as he thought: 'Really Sunny, could you have chosen a cheesier line?' However, despite his cliché response, Twilight still had a light pink hue paint her cheeks, brought on by his words. "Aww Sirius! Don't they just look so adorable together?" squealed Stella before continuing by saying, "Reminds me of when we were their age!" she finished staring dreamily at nowhere in particular, as, the memories of the two of them, back when they were around Twilight and Sunny's age, played through her head. "Trust me dear when I say. My love for you is nowhere near the level of love that Sunny shows for Twilight." "What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying you've don't love me as much as they love each other!" Stella quietly said so as not to interrupt the wonderful moment between the young couple. "No Stella! I love you with all my heart. You know that! But, what I mean is that Sunny puts a lot of effort into showing his love for Twilight. More effort than I ever have with you." he said disappointment laced in his every word. "Oh come now dear! You don't need to do anything special for me. I already know you love me." "No, no. It's true! I have been a lousy husband. Sunny puts so much thought into everything he says and does…like that bouquet of roses..." "Now darling, you don't have to get me a bunch if flowers to show me you love me! Because, I know that you already do..." she said trying to comfort Sirius before looking at the bouquet of roses herself and gasping out, "Oh my gosh! Is that a blue rose? Sunny dear, that must've cost you a fortune to get!" "Well…yeah, it was pretty expensive...but no amount of money is worth the love of your daughter." he said before inwardly cringing at another cheesy line. 'Seriously! Enough with all the cheesy lines already!' However, despite the use of another cheesy line, Stella 'aww'-ed at the sweet, heartfelt words, whilst, Twilight's blush deepened. Before anything else could be said to interrupt him, Sirius said, "I'd hate to ruin such a lovely moment...but, if I'm not mistaken...wasn't your dance meant to start at 9 o'clock?" before pointing to a clock on the wall that read quarter past 9. "Oh Celestia he's right! We're running late. There's only one way that will get us there any quicker!" Sunny said as his horn began to glow a bright yellow as he focused his magic onto getting his spell to work. Twilight realizing what he was about to do, quickly, handed the bouquet of roses to her mother and trotted next to her 'coltfriend', wrapping her fore let's around one of his own. "Mum, Dad we'll see you later!" she called out. "Both of you have fun, you hear?" Stella said with a wink. They both began to blush at the hidden meaning behind those words and this resulted in Stella chuckling at their reactions to her comment. "Take good care of her, Sunny!" Sirius called out. "You can count on me Mr. Sparkle! I'll return her to you safe and sound!" he called out, just before a bright white light flashed around them, and, the two of them were gone leaving a few sparkles behind. A few minutes later... Having teleported outside the main school entrance, they quickly went inside to sign themselves in. After that, they walked into the courtyard where many of the benches and tables had been moved to make space for what they saw in front of them. There was a gigantic stage. Large enough to have a collection of instruments fit for a symphony orchestra. Alongside, this orchestra of instruments was a set of DJ equipment including a pair of turntables, a mixing console, and a sequencer, all finished off with a massive sound system. At the moment a younger Vinyl Scratch, another student at the school, was busy playing some tracks to which a vast majority of the students were dancing to on a large wooden dance floor. This dance floor was in front of the stage, and, was large enough to have the entire year of 150 ponies dancing comfortably on top of it with room to spare. Surrounding the dance floor, were a number of large tables with chairs around them, where groups of ponies were scattered all over the place busy chatting away with one another. Near these tables and chairs were three long buffet tables, one on each side of the dance floor laid out with hot and cold treats with a wide selection of hors- d'oeuvres, main courses, desserts and drinks to cater for any and all ponies at the dance. There was also a photographer taking pictures of ponies against the park like setting of the courtyard as well as against the full moon that shone brilliantly in the night sky. Many ponies were lined up getting ready to get their pictures taken, because, they all wanted a photograph of what was going to be a memorable night for all of them. Both Sunny and Twilight were incredibly impressed at the layout of the dance, as they both walked side by side towards one of the buffet tables, as both of them were starving and couldn't dance on empty stomachs. However, whilst they were walking Sunny noticed a lone pegasus pony who was busy setting up a large white banner that was labeled with 'Portraits' in large big black letters. His head adorned with straight, flat crimson mane and he had a cutie mark that was a paint brush and pencil crossed over one another in an 'X' shape. He wore a simple white shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, along with a grey tie. He also had a number of cuts and scars along his entire body. But, the most peculiar thing was his eyes. Whilst, his right eye looked perfectly fine, with it being red in colour; his left eye was far from normal. It also seemed to have some sort of fracture along the entirety of the iris. And, it was as if the red colour of his iris had leaked out through the facture, leaving the iris a dull grey colour. Recognizing the pony he quickly grabbed Twilight's and asked, "Twilight, do you recognize that guy?" before pointing at the pegasus. Twilight looked towards him before her eyes widened in surprise as she respond, "Is that Leon? What's he doing here?" "Yeah it is him. I'm going to go talk to him. Is that o.k. with you?" "Of course that's o.k! In fact, let me come with you! I haven't spoken to him in a while." With that said they both walked towards Leon, who was now setting up his easel and paints. "Hey Leon!" called out Sunny, at this the brown pegasus turned around with a smile having recognized that voice. "Sunny? How are you?" Leon asked whilst bro-hoofing Sunny. "Yeah I'm fine thanks," Sunny replied before asking, "You remember Twilight don't you?" as he motioned towards the young purple unicorn to his right. As Leon turned to face her he couldn't help but gawk at how stunning she looked that night. Realizing that he had been staring, he quickly said, "Oh Twilight! It's good to see you again! You look amazing tonight." he said whilst holding out his hoof for a hand shake, as a small red tint painted his cheeks. "It's good to see you to, Leon! And, thanks for the compliment." she said whilst giving him a hug instead. "So what brings you here to our school dance, Leon?" asked Sunny before adding, "Here to check some mares out, are we?" he finished off with a mischievous grin and a cheeky wink. "N-no! Of course not Sunny! I..." said a now rather flustered Leon. "Relax Leon! I was just pulling your leg!" Sunny interrupted him whilst chuckling at his friend's reaction. "Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted." said Leon giving a glare towards Sunny before continuing, "I'm here because Princess Celestia herself asked me to draw portraits of any couples that wanted one." he said, with his voice now filled with pride, "That reminds me do you two want a portrait together?" "Oh well, I wouldn't want to stay still for too long, because, I'm hungry..." began Sunny. "Nonsense! All I need is the basic outline of the two of you, which will only take a few minutes and, then you are free to do whatever you like, whilst, I finish the portrait." "Well if you insist and, if Twilight's alright with that..." "I'm perfectly happy to have a portrait with you!" she stared dreamily into Sunny's eyes. "In that case we accept your offer!", Sunny said as he sat next to an oak tree holding Twilight in his arms as they both looked towards the stars, "By the way you must be doing amazingly well if Princess Celestia herself asked you to come here, she must really see a lot of potential in you!" said Sunny now in awe of his friend's talents, finally, being recognized by royalty, as he stood still letting Leon capture their pose with faint pencil strokes. "Sunny's right, Leon. It's amazing to see how you've become such a fantastic artist, from the shy colt that we met 2 years ago!" said Twilight backing up Sunny's statement and she laid her head against Sunny making herself comfortable. "Yeah I guess you're right. I've come a long way from when you guys found me..." Leon whispered; as his mind wondered back to the day they first met. 2 years ago... Leon Christo had been living in Canterlot for just over a year now studying at the Canterlot's School for Aspiring Artists. In that time, he had gained the respect of many students and teachers at the school, for being the one of the best artists they've ever had at the school. However, with this reputation, came a great consequence. A number of students began to bully him because of his exceptional talents. But, he chose to keep the bullying to himself, as he didn't want anybody to worry about him. He was walking home from school one day, and, took his usual route through an alleyway to get to his house. It was his least favorite part of walking home, as the alleyway was cold, dark and damp and the putrid and rancid smell of the trash cans lingered in the stale air that seem to permeate around the area. However, that one day was one that would forever change his life... "Hey Christo! Where are you off to in such a hurry?" asked a white coloured pegasus pony with white hair, as he walked out from behind a dumpster, blocking Leon's path. Rolling his eyes, Leon began to answer back, "Listen Michael! I haven't got time for this. Now if you'd kindly move out of my way, before I-Woah!". However, before he could finish his sentence he was tackled to the ground from behind, and was being restrained as five other ponies proceeded to tie him up. "Now I need to have a little word with you. See this is how it is, because of you getting the highest marks in the year by a good 20%, my parents are forcing me to take extra classes, go out less, my pocket money is being cut off AND my Father would rather have some street urchin like you for a son, than me!" Sunny began to respond, "Well maybe if you'd-ARGGH!" but was cut off with a kick to the face from Michael. A sickening crunch could he heard as his nasal bone broke under the force of the stallion's kick. He couldn't even clutch his face in pain as his hooves were tied. Blood flowed freely from his broken nose and pooled on the cold cobbled floor. "You'll speak when I tell you to speak!" an enraged Michael now yelled at the bloody faced Leon. "It's all your fault that everything has gone downhill. Before, you came to the school I was the best in the year. I was able to do whatever I pleased! My family loved me! Then when you came, all of that was taken from me! And, it's not just me! All of these ponies here have been affected by your presence at the school. So...I think you need to be punished for ruining the lives of so many ponies!" Michael finished with a deranged look in his eyes, "Claude, I want you to gag this street rat up. I want to make sure no one hears him scream from what we're about to do to him." As the red unicorn pony named Claude, stuffed Leon's mouth with some cloth and taped his mouth shut. Leon's crimson eyes were now filled with fear. Fear of what these six ponies were going to do to him. Meanwhile, Twilight and Sunny had both finished a long day at school, and, were both walking towards Twilight's house for a study session to prepare for an 'Advances in Magical Studies in the Last Century' test tomorrow. They stopped outside of a store as Mrs. Sparkle had asked Twilight to get some groceries for her on the way back home. Sunny was waiting outside of the store for Twilight to come out, when he heard groans coming from the alleyway next to the store. Looking in to the alleyway he was horrified at the sight before him. There were six ponies 2 earth, 2 pegasus and 2 unicorns all surrounding the bloody body of another pegasus pony. All of their hooves were covered in blood. The horns of the unicorns were also covered in blood. The groans were coming from the seemingly lifeless body on the ground. He knew he had to do something to stop this crime. But, he wasn't going to stupidly go in alone, with no plan on how to stop them. Just then, a voice next to him spoke up, "Sunny what are you doing looking in thi-MPPHMM!" her eyes went wide at the sight she saw, but was quickly silenced by Sunny's hoof covering her mouth and pulling her away. Once, he had gotten her to calm down he told her, "Listen, very carefully Twi! You need to go get help! Call an ambulance to come over here quickly! Get the police as well! Meanwhile, I'll stay here and think of a way to divert those ponies attention away from that poor pegasus pony." Just when Twilight, was about to open her mouth is disapproval he carried on, "Listen I know you aren't happy with that, but, time is really crucial here! There's no knowing how much time that pony has left. So every second matters, no please go get help!" Knowing she wasn't going to win this argument. She quickly hurried off into the store again to get access to a telephone to call for help. Meanwhile, Sunny looked back onto the scene in front of him, looking everywhere for something, anything that could help him with diverting their attention. Looking around the alleyway all he could see were: trashcans, a few bricks lying on the ground, a few empty glass bottles. The cogs of his brain were working over-time as he thought out all the possible strategies in his head, what actions would his assailants take, how he'd stop or counteract those actions in his favor. In short, he played out the entire scene in his, going through the steps like a flash forward. All of this was done in the space of just a few seconds showing the true cognitive power that he was gifted with. Putting the first part of his plan into action, he focused his magic on the heads of the six ponies, and, began to cast a 'Shadow Blind' spell. Whilst, it took a lot of effort to perform just the one spell on multiple ponies. He could tell he was successful just seconds later, from all the shouts he heard of: 'H-hey what's going on!', 'Why has everything gone dark?' and "Oh Celestia! I'm blind!' Quickly, putting the second part of his plan into action, he got out from his hiding place and using a 'Levitation' spell to pick up two bricks, he proceeded to smash the bricks into the two unicorn's heads, before, they could dispel his incantation. Hearing the sound of the bricks breaking against the skulls of the unicorns and the dull thumps the two bodies made when they impacted against the cobbled floor. Michael still blinded, turned towards the direction of the noise and yelled with a new found fear laced in his voice, "W-who's there?...C-come out and show yourself!" As the four ponies made their way blindly, towards the source of the sound. Sunny began step three of his plan of action, using another 'Levitation' spell he threw a bottle, in the opposite direction. The sound of the glass shattering, causing all of the ponies to turn around. Using this as a distraction, he grabbed a couple more bricks and proceeded to knock out the two earth ponies, whilst, at the same time chucking a few more bottles in different areas to confuse the remaining two pegasus ponies, about what exactly was going on. By this time, the other pegasus, that was with Michael had become incredibly freaked out, and, decided he would rather fly away blind, then have to face this 'hero'. However, because he was blind, he ended up smashing himself head-first into a wall, knocking himself out. Only Michael remained of the six ponies, and, by this point he was terrified. Not being able to see anything around him, and not knowing what happened to his friends. He could only imagine what must've happened to them. Sunny, by now had completely calmed down as he used one last 'Levitation' spell to put the final part of his plan into action. Michael, wondering what was going to happen to him, was suddenly lifted up in to the air. "H-Hey! Put me down! What are you doing?" he yelled as he was carried towards an open dumpster and dropped into it. Sunny, then proceeded to use his magic to seal the dumpster, preventing Michael from escaping. Now that all six ponies had been taken care of, he quickly, rushed to Leon's side to examine the damage. It didn't look good. A lot of the skin on his face had been scrapped of leaving it a bloody mess. His left eye was severely damaged, with it having swollen up and turned black with pus starting to leak out of it. His nose was definitely broken, as it was bent inwards. He had several stab wounds across his legs and body, most likely from the unicorn's horns. His wings were also splayed out in awkward positions, suggesting they had been broken. The majority of his body was covered in his own blood. Underneath, all the blood there were bruises all over his body from the intense beating they gave him. The blood also covered some burns around his legs. He was barely breathing, and it was getting weaker and weaker as time moved on. His wounds were still leaking out blood at an alarming rate. Sunny began to use his magic to slow down the rate at which blood was leaving his wounds, and used the little bits of first aid magic he knew to seal up some of his wounds. He continued his best efforts to keep him breathing up until, Twilight came with both doctors and police ponies. As he was being stretchered off to the hospital, Leon groaned to his saviors, "W-Wha...What are y-your names? "The name's Sunny and this is Twilight." he said whilst, pointing to the purple unicorn beside him, "You're safe now. So rest up." he continued with a look of worry, as he wondered whether he was going to make it or not. "T-tha...Thank...you." Leon groaned out before losing consciousness. At the hospital, he woke up to see both his family, and Sunny and Twilight waiting by his bedside. It took many months for most of his injuries to heal. But, eventually, he made a full recovery, with the only signs of the torture he'd been through, being the deep cuts and scars across his entire body. As well as his lost ability to see very well out of his left eye His vision in that eye was void of colour and was incredibly blurry. However, he was still very much thankful, to be alive. And, his eye actually imporved his artistic abilities, having inspired some of his greatest pieces. Since that day, the three of them had become close friends. They always met up on Saturdays to talk about how they're weeks had been, and, even show each other just what they learnt that week. On more than one occasion, Leon used his artistic abilities to draw both Sunny and Twilight together without them knowing. Whilst, he knew that they weren't a "couple," he could see that there was a special bond between the two of them. Due to this special bond, Leon knew when to give the two room to be alone, and eventually, faded into the background. He and Sunny were still good pals. They even came to each other for advice whenever either of them were going through bad times, including, when Sunny asked him for advice on asking Twilight out the week before! But, he hardly ever got to see Twilight any more. From then on, the rest they say is history. Present Time... "Hey Leon! Is the portrait finished yet?" yelled out Sunny who was now getting annoyed. Snapping back from his daze he answered back, "Yeah it's done. Come back in a couple of hours time and it'll be finished." "Finally! I'm starving! Let's go eat Twilight!" cried Sunny in happiness. "It was wonderful seeing you again Leon!" Twilight said. "Yeah it's been a while since all three of us, went out together! We really should meet up and talk like good old times!" Sunny said whilst looking over to Leon. "Hmm...you're right it has been a while! How about we meet up this Saturday at the park. Say around 2?" asked Leon. "That sounds like a plan to me!" Sunny said as he looked over to Twilight. "That's fine with me too." she said whilst, nodding to Leon. "Then it's settled we'll both see you this Saturday! You can also give us the portrait then as well, so it will be easier for you to do other pony's portraits tonight!" Sunny said cheerfully, at the thought of the three good friends getting back together again, "Now let's go eat Twilight! We'll see you later Leon!" he finished saying as he walked towards the buffet tables. "Goodbye Leon!" called out Twilight, as she followed after Sunny. As the two ponies walked off, Leon called out after them, "Hope you two enjoy the School Dance together!" An hour later... Both Sunny and Twilight were busy chatting away with one another, as well as their fellow class mates, whilst eating and drinking what could only be described as a glorious paradise to their taste buds. "...So I said to the dragon, 'Where's the fire!" Sunny said finishing the punch-line to a joke he'd been telling to Twilight and a group of their other classmates who had gathered round. At this punch-line all of them fell into fits of laughter. "Well what seems to be so funny over here?" called out a dark grey stallion who walked towards the group. He wore a sky blue suit jacket, with a crisp, white shirt, all topped off with a silver coloured bow- tie. His flank had the image of two quavers on it. "Good evening !" the entire group of ponies, except Sunny, said out in chorus to the Music teacher. "Good evening to you all as well, and, my is it a wonderful evening tonight! If you all don't mind, I'd like to take Mr. Sunrise away from you all for a few minutes. I need to have a quick word with him." Most of the ponies including Twilight, quickly agreed to let Sunny go with him. Whilst, a few fillies just simply sat there staring dreamily at the Music teacher that was the source of their crushes. Whilst, he was a teacher at the school, he was incredibly young for a teacher, compared to all the other teachers in the school. Having started teaching as soon as he graduated from doing Music at the University of Trottingham, he was only 3 years older than the final year students, and, 4 years older than Sunny and Twilight's year. Sunny got up from his seat as he said with a grin on his face, "Sure thing Mr. Acapella!" The face of the older pony twitched in annoyance at the mention of his silly nickname, as both he and Sunny began to walk somewhere so they wouldn't be heard. "How many times, do I have to tell you not to call me that? Mr. Capella, or even Amadeus is fine! But, not Acapella!" he said rather annoyed at Sunny. "Oh come on Sir! Your name is Amadeus Capella... ! I'm surprised no pony else made the joke before me!" replied Sunny with a roll of his eyes, before a grin formed on his face, "Besides, you have to admit it is pretty catchy!" When his response was just a small groan of annoyance Sunny then decided to ask, "Anyway, so what seems to be the problem? Sunny's favorite lesson in school was always Music. Simply, because that was the one subject in which he was truly talented in. Amadeus saw this, and immediately began to treat Sunny differently, from the other students. He started giving him extra one to one lessons, outside of school, that were more to his standard of playing. He also, allowed Sunny to miss Music lessons, as he realized there was no point in him coming in as he wouldn't be learning anything new and so would just be unfair on him. Throughout, the time they've been together, Amadeus despite, being only a few years older than Sunny was like a second father figure to him. Sunny always did feel as if he could go to Amadeus to ask for advice for just about anything. This also proved the case as he was also the first person he asked for help in asking Twilight out to the dance. "Well, you see Vinyl Scratch over there." he said as he pointed over to the DJ-ing pony, who was, currently entertaining the large crowd, " She will need to take a break soon, to get something to eat and drink. Now the school has already organised the school orchestra to come in and play a few songs, whilst, she's on her break. However, a few members of the school orchestra are unable to play as they're in your year, and, so are so busy having a good time, that it would be unfair to let them perform." "So you want me to perform a spell to get the unattended instruments to play themselves, as you don't know how to play those instruments, and, so can't do the spell yourself?" interrupted Sunny knowing full well where his teacher was going with his explanation. "In short, yes, that's exactly what I want you to do. I don't know how to play as many instruments as you do Sunny, hence, why your assistance is greatly needed." "Okay, then how many instruments are there, that need the spell? And, what songs are you going to be playing tonight?" "The only instruments that need the spell are the trumpets, and, the french horns, as well as, the piccolos and the clarinets. Everything else, I've already placed the spell on them. As for the songs, you already know how to play all of them. Here is the list of the songs we will be performing." Mr. Capella finished as he handed a sheet to Sunny. Quickly, looking at the sheet he shut his eyes tightly, as he performed a memory spell containing his experiences with playing the instruments as well as the notes to the songs that were going to be played. Once, this was done he began to concentrate on making the memory spell appear in a physical form. His horn by, this time was glowing an incredibly bright yellow, as a large ball of yellow light began to form on the tip of his horn. When he completed the spell, he collapsed to the ground in exhaustion of using so much magic in one spell, the yellow ball of light simply, floating in the air. Amadeus worried about his favorite student's well-being rushed to his side and asked, "Sunny are you alright?" "Yeah...I'm fine. I guess I just over-did it a bit, with the amount of magic I used in that spell." he said as he tried to get up before, falling back onto the ground again. With a sigh of relief the Music teacher said, "Thank Celestia you're alright! You shouldn't be over-exerting yourself when performing spells you know! It can be dangerous! Here you should sit down for a while." said whilst, using a spell to bring a chair from one of the tables. He then proceeded to help Sunny up onto the chair. " Yeah, yeah I know! Don't worry I'm fine, and, thanks for the help Sir. As for the instruments, all you need to do now is use a 'Copy' Spell on that Memory Orb and then put them in the instruments you want to play by themselves." Sunny spoke whilst, still trying to get his strength back. "Thank you so much for your help Sunny." said before, trailing off, as he remembered something and asked, "I assume that asking Miss Sparkle out to the dance was a success I take it?" With a massive grin Sunny replied, "Yep, we're officially going out now!" "She's a sweet girl Sunny. I hope you don't do anything to hurt her." said Amadeus with a serious tone in his voice. "What are you saying? I would never do anything to hurt Twilight!" spoke in a hurt tone at the accusation that his teacher was implying. "I know you wouldn't Sunny. But, I'm just saying...you never know what may happen." By this point Sunny, began to speak, not knowing the effect his words would have in the future, "I promise that no matter what happens! I will never do anything to hurt Twilight!" "If you say so, now if you'll excuse me I need to get ready the orchestra...Oh and one more thing make sure you and Twilight dance to the 7th song. I'm dedicating it especially to the two of you." said calmly, as he made his way over to the stage, whilst, using a 'Locomotor' spell to carry the orb of yellow light with him. Twilight, who was looking on from afar went over to Sunny as soon as Mr. Capella had walked away, and, asked with worry in her voice "Are you O.K.? I saw you fall to the ground after you did that spell! What was all that about anyway?" "I'm fine Twilight. I just over-exerted myself doing that spell, that's all. As for what that was all about, he just wanted me to make a spell for some of the instruments to play themselves, as some of the members of the orchestra are here for the dance." he finished explaining to her, whilst, omitting the discussion about their relationship between him and the music teacher. "Oh, well just be careful not to do that again! You had me really worried!" Twilight said as she moved closer to him and nuzzled his chest in affection. With a small smile, Sunny whispered into her ear, "Don't worry about me Twilight, no matter what happens I'll always be here with you." Twilight, 'aww'ed at his response and continued to nuzzle him. They spent the next half an hour simply being in each other's presence. No other pony dared to interrupt them, as they all could clearly see that they wanted to be alone together. Finally, the sound of Capella's voice interrupted the silence between the two, "I hope you enjoyed the last six songs we've played. Now for the seventh song I will be giving you a special treat. Anyone want to hazard a guess at what it is?" at this the entire room fell silent, and, with an anime sweat drop he continued now slightly embarrassed, "Well I'm happy to tell you that I'll be putting my vocal chords to use in this song, as I will be singing the next song!" At this every pony especially, all the mares cheered. Mr. Capella, was not only well known in the school, not just for his good looks, or his exceptional talent in Music. He was also an amazing singer. This only helped win the affections of more female students at the school. He then continued, "Also another surprise is that Mr. Hunter over here..." then pointed to the Maths teacher next to him who was now incredibly embarrassed, "...has kindly offered to provide backing vocals for the song!" Again, many students cheered at the fact that Mr. Hunter was singing, mainly, because, they wanted to see their Maths teacher make a fool of himself. Looking over to the orchestra he tapped his hoof on the ground whilst saying, "And a one, and a two, and a one ,two ,three." As the school orchestra began to play the music; all of the couples went out onto the dance floor. Sunny looked towards Twilight, remembering what Mr. Capella had told him. Meanwhile, at the same time, Twilight looked towards Sunny. They both smiled at one another as they both thought the same thing. Sunny began to get up from his seat whilst doing an exaggerated bow whilst holding out a hoof to Twilight and asked in a jokingly posh way: "Miss Sparkle, would you do me the fine honor of dancing to this lovely melody with me?" Twilight couldn't help but giggle as got up from her own seat and, responded in her own little posh accent: "Why Mr. Sunrise, I'd be more than happy to join you in a dance." she finished with a curtsey before taking Sunny's hoof. Sunny lead the two of them onto the dance floor. Once, they were in some space they both stood up on their hind legs to prepare to dance. Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Sunny's neck as he wrapped his own around her; holding each other close as they began to move in time to the music. Having seen his star pupil on the dance floor with Twilight; Mr. Capella gave out a small cough to clear his throat, before, he began to sing in a strong yet soothing voice: There are things in Life you learn and Oh in time you'll see. Cause out there somewhere It's all waiting If you keep believing. As the music began to gain more if a tempo, Sunny and Twilight began to move even faster in time to the music. So don't run Don't hide It will be alright You'll see Trust me I'll be there... All of a sudden, Sunny dipped Twilight surprising her as the last three words of the verse were sung. With him staring into her eyes, whilst she got lost in his. ...Watching over you! They got out of the dip but continued to stare into one another's eyes as the chorus was sung. Just take a look Through my eyes Mr. Hunter surprised a number of ponies as he began to sing the backing vocals. They were surprised at just how good he was! His voice was smooth and went harmoniously with Mr. Capella's own voice, (Look through my eyes) There's a better place somewhere out there... Sunny by now was completely submerged in the vast lilac oceans that were Twilight's eyes as they sparkled in the moonlight. The magical moonlight shining on her form, making her look even more stunning to all the ponies that had begun to watch the two dancing. ...Ooh, just take a look Through my eyes (Look through my eyes) Everything changes You'll be amazed what you find... Twilight has also become lost in the whirlpools of caramel brown that were his eyes. His head covered the majority of the moon from her view. But, it caused him to have an unnatural white glow around his head making him look almost angelic. ...(There's a better place) If you look through my eyes. They continued to dance slowly to the sound of the instruments that followed after the first chorus; allowing for Mr. Cappella to have a quick drink of water before he had to sing again. The piano continued to play its soothing melody. Amidst, the bass of the drum that pounded rhythmically alongside the orchestra of violins that sang their tunes. A banjo then started to play, after which, all the other instruments began to follow it; as it lead the song into the second verse. now rehydrated began to sing the second verse. There will be times On this journey All you'll see is darkness. Sunny had begun to realize that these lyrics were describing his relationship with Twilight perfectly. How he was still in the darkness of doubt about whether he was truly the right pony to be with someone as perfect as Twilight. But as the next words were sung, he couldn't help but smile; as they gave him, a new hope, about strength of his relationship with Twilight and how he would never give up on it without a fight. But out there somewhere Daylight finds you If you keep believing As the music began to pick up tempo again, Sunny and Twilight started to move faster to the music as they held each other even closer than before. So don't run Don't hide It will be alright You'll see Trust me I'll be there... Again, he dipped Twilight again. But this, time Twilight was ready as she gave him a seductive look. This brought a small blush to creep up on his face. However, he also responded with a wink of his own. ...Watching over you! Then again, they got out of the dip as they began to dance in a wider area. As more couples, stopped dancing to watch Sunny and Twilight together as they're dancing and relationship between then was clearly a cut above the rest. Just take a look (Take a look) Through my eyes (Look through my eyes) There's a better place somewhere out there. Ooh, just take a look Through my eyes (Look through my eyes) Everything changes You'll be amazed what you find (There's a better place) If you look through my eyes. Both of their horns started to glow, as the last verse of the song began to be sung. Twilight's a bright lilac colour and Sunny's a bright yellow, as they continued to think about one another. By this point, they had lost themselves to each other's presence so much that they had forgotten about everyone else at the dance. Tonight, it was just the two of them, and the music. The magical aura emanating from their horns began to surround the two of them, as their feet began to leave the ground. Everypony was now amazed, as they saw the two ponies continue to dance, even as they began to levitate into the air. All the things that You can change There's a meaning in everything And you will find all you need There's so much to understand They were now at least several hundred feet in the air. The moon now shining it's beams of light at the couple, almost as if it were blessing the young love between the two. Everypony stood in awe at the sight of the two ponies who looked as if they were ready to reach for the stars that dotted across the velvety sky that night. However, they still hadn't noticed a thing as they continued to dance. Twilight's head resting on Sunny's chest, whilst, he simply looked at her in happiness feeling that his life was complete with her by his side. Take a look (Take a look) Through my eyes (Look through by eyes) There's a better place somewhere out there. Ooh, just take a look (Take a look) Through my eyes (Look through my eyes) Everything changes You'll be amazed what you'll find Students and teachers were now firing off 'Firework' spells into the sky after them, decorating the sky around them, making the beautiful moment even more precious to the loving couple. (You'll be amazed if you just take a look) Take a look Through my eyes The skies were now flashing in any and all of the imaginable colours you could think of. There's a better place somewhere out there. Just take a look. (Take a look) Through my eyes. (Look through my eyes) Twilight and Sunny both stopped dancing and looked into each other's eyes, whilst, still floating in the air. Everything changes You'll be amazed what you'll find... As the song began to reach its climax. The two ponies had finally accepted one thing: they were meant to be together. Through this one dance, they had eliminated any doubts in their minds; that the two had found their soul mates. (You'll find... There's a better place) If you look through my eyes The two began to close their eyes as they moved in for one last kiss. The magical auras around both of then becoming brighter. (You know there's a better place) Just take a look through my eyes The gap between their lips was closing down at an agonizingly slow pace. As if something was still holding them back from sealing their love for one another, in this most powerful of forms. Their auras now as bright as Celestia's own Sun, if not brighter, lighting up the night sky, as if it were day. (Look, there's a better place) If you look through my eyes... Their lips finally met as they softly kissed one another. Their auras now exploded, around them covering the area of sky in a mixture of purple and yellow colours. Whilst, they stood in the midst, of it all kissing one another, without a care in the world. Embracing how much they belonged together, both of them now had a yellow and purple aura around them. Which, also began to die away as the young couple slowly began to float all the way back down to the dance floor again, keeping hold of that one kiss all the way down. Everypony was now stunned into silence as they now watched the couple. The phenomenon they witnessed forever etched into their memories. As the music to the song, also began to die down, Mr. Cappella smiled at his star student and his new found love as he finished singing. Take a look through my eyes... They however, were still lost in their own little utopia which they never wanted to end. But, all good things do come to an end, as their senses of reality slowly, began to return to them. When they realized that there was complete silence. They slowly broke their kiss as the first thing they saw was each other's eyes. Nearly, getting lost in her eyes again, Sunny averted his gaze from her for a second as he looked around the dance floor to see every pony just staring at them, in complete silence. However, the awkward silence was finally broken with the sound of one person clapping. Sunny turned around to the source of the clapping, it was Mr. Cappella who nodded in acknowledgement of Sunny's love, before continuing to clap. Soon others started to join in on the clapping until gradually everyone both students and teachers were clapping, whistling and whooping away. All of them happy for the couple for finding such happiness with one another. Sunny began to smile as everyone cheered both him and Twilight; happy that everyone approved of his relationship with Twilight. Just then he felt a tug on his arm, to which he looked down to see a bright red Twilight hiding behind him in embarrassment from all the attention they were giving them. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her, before deciding to get away from the massive crowd of people. So quickly closing his eyes his horn began to glow a bright white enveloping both himself and Twilight who held on to him tightly. Finally, finishing the teleportation spell they both vanished in front of every pony in a flash. Mr. Cappella couldn't help but smile as he thought to himself: 'Go get her tiger!' In a flash of light they appeared at Sunny's chosen destination. "Well that was-OW!" he yelled holding the spot on his head where Twilight had just hit him, before saying, "What on Equestria was that for!" "That, Starbuck Sunrise! Was for not warning me, about teleporting us out of there!" she angrily said before she looked around and asked, "Where are we anyway?" Sunny now with a smirk on his face simply said, "Remember the first day we met? When we went up the wall and I told you that the view looked better at night...well look behind you." As she turned around she was met by the amazing view of Canterlot at night. The cerulean sky by day had become painted over in black, with many glittering stars now dotting the night sky. The tall buildings during the day had now become beacons of dazzlingly bright light at night. There were no birds; in fact, all that could be heard was the faint whistling of the night-time breeze. This time the most impressive sight by far at night was Celestia's younger sister, Luna's own creation: the full Moon. In the midst, of the beautiful stars in the velvety night sky, the stunning lights of the city, and the peacefulness of the entire setting. It was easily the most beautiful thing that she could see. The moonlight dimly, lighting up the forest and mountainous landscape that surrounded the city in an eerie white glow. Sunny couldn't help but stare at Twilight as she was amazed by the view. The moonlight, making the glitter on her black dress sparkle. Whilst, also lighting up her face making her features glow brightly highlighting her already beautiful looks. He sighed as he thought about how lucky he was, to be gifted with being in a relationship with someone so beautiful and perfect in every way as she was. He walked up right next to her and watched the view alongside her. All was quiet between the two of them, until Twilight broke the silence by saying: "Tonight has been the best night of my life, Sunny." she said slowly as she laid her head on his shoulder, whilst staring dreamily into his eyes. "It's probably the second best night of my life." he said rather bluntly, he continued, "Nowhere near as good as the best night of my life." This got Twilight to pick her head up off his shoulder with her eyes burning with rage as she said, "Oh really? And what's been the best night of your life?" Twilight now incredibly pissed that Sunny could ruin such a perfect night with just one comment. However, Sunny didn't react to the clearly pissed off Twilight. Instead, he looked into her eyes and simply answered, "The best night of my life was when you accepted my love and gave me my first kiss." By now Twilight had begun to feel guilty about ever doubting him in the first place. But, the nail in her heart was driven further in at the next words he said calmly: "It was only because of that night that I could have the second best night of my life, and, in the future many more best days and nights of my life to come. As long as I've got you by my side." Now Twilight had begun to cry at the heart-warming words, and, before Sunny could ask her what was wrong, she shut him up with a kiss under the stars. As they continued to kiss; both their horns touched each other as a spark between them was let off. Sunny kissing Twilight could now hear Twilight's thoughts as he heard her inner voice call out: 'I wouldn't know what I'd do without you...I love you too much to ever let you go! Whatever you do...No matter what happens...Promise me! That you will never leave me!' Instead, of freaking out at their new found ability of hearing each other's thoughts. All Sunny did was think of the two words that he felt were just right at the time. But, could not have possibly known how those two words would turn out to ruin his relationship with Twilight in the future. 'I promise...' So there you have it. The last of the chapters I have written in advance. Now, you guys on FimFiction.net are up to date with where the fic is at the moment, on FF.net. So this fic will be put on hiatus, until I'm done with all of my exams this month. So you won't be seeing any further chapters of this fic until February. I will however be posting a New Years Eve themed fic that I had posted up on FF.net which involves more Sunny/Twilight goodness. It is not really that related to the fic in general. But, it does have a few teasers in for the next Chapter which I am currently, writing bit by bit. So until then, I hope you've enjoyed what I've produced so far. Please do leave comments, telling me what you thought about this Chapter, how do you think this Chapter was, as well as, any ways I might be able to improve on it! All of your comments are greatly appreciated! ^_^ Dreams!*jumps out from behind a random tree* Hello there! Hope you guys didn't miss this fic too much and, I hope you enjoy what I have to offer you guys with this chapter! So without further ado! I introduce to you Chapter 7 of 'A New Arrival!' "What in the hay is going on here?!" yelled out Applejack, as the image of Twilight and Sunny kissing as they made their promises to one another, slowly began to fade away. "Yeah! The movie was just getting to the best part as well!" moaned Pinkie Pie whilst munching away on a large bag of popcorn that she had been eating during the entirety of all the memories shown to them. No pony had a clue where she had gotten the bag of popcorn from, nor did they particularly want to find out. "I agree! What horrible time for your spell to stop working!" exclaimed Rarity. Meanwhile, whilst all of the arguing was going on, Fluttershy's heart had sunk to her stomach after seeing the relationship between Twilight and Sunny. She thought to herself: 'How in Equestria can I think of taking Sunny away from Twilight when they both make each other so happy...?' As she finished this thought she looked over to Twilight, who was trying extremely hard to paint a mask to hide away any emotions that could be seen on her face from the re-opening of her past emotional scars. Those memories had shown her just how happy she used to be back then. She had never been that happy ever since that faithful day, when Sunny chose to ruin what they had together. Even with her friends and studies to keep her happy and occupied, she had never felt the same level of happiness as she had when she had been with Sunny. Now, having looked back at those memories, she had been reminded of how things had been back then, she started to think of how much she had lost that day. Her happiness, the love of her life but, most importantly her best friend. Those memories also served as a reminder of how she could never get any of those things back... However, before she could continue her thoughts, she was interrupted by Rarity who continued: "I mean, we still haven't found out what the reason was that caused you two break up exactly?! What I just saw there, was far better than anything that I could imagine with my own dream colt! And, believe me when I say I imagine some pretty romantic things! Which only leads me to wonder if a romantic couple like you two can't be together then..." she said as tears began to fill her eyes, before finally breaking out into tears as she moaned, "What hope do I have?! I'm going to be an ugly, old spinster forever!" 'Sheesh what an over-reaction...', thought Sunny "I guess I spent too much energy holding both the memory and imaging spell up for too long. So I had to release one of those spells and seeing as the memory spell is the easier of the two to re-do. I chose to release that one, so I'm sorry about that." Sunny said sheepishly, before letting out a sigh of exhaustion, as he finished his explanation to the still rather annoyed Rarity. "Well please do hurry up and re-do the spell so we can see how your story ends!" exclaimed Rarity. "Yeah! I don't like to be kept waiting. I could be on a nice, comfy cloud right now going off to sleep!" added Rainbow Dash, who was probably the only pony in the room who didn't really care about these memories they were being shown. After all, that's all they really were...memories. They meant nothing in the present. What made it even worse for her was that was this whole trip down memory lane was all surrounded by a relationship. She never could understand just what the point was in being in a relationship was. I mean from what she had both seen and heard from other ponies. It all sounded like a lot of time and effort. Time and effort that could be put to better use practicing one of her new moves. "I told you already, I'm out of energy! It'll take a while before I regenerate enough energy to conjure up another 'Memory' Spell!", Sunny responded, trying very hard not to show his annoyance. "Well can't Twilight do the spell?! I mean after all she has her own memories of the same event as you do!" argued Rarity, who was now seemingly desperate to know how the story of their romance ended. She faced towards Twilight as she finished saying this. "I...uh... I'd rather not Rarity." stammered Twilight as she looked to Sunny for some help in convincing her. "Oh! I see how it is!" said Rarity haughtily as she continued saying, "It must've been your fault that the two of you broke up, and you must not want any of us to see it, in case we decide to think of you any differently." "No! I-" began Twilight before being interrupted by Rarity who continued to speak. "Trust me when I speak for all of us darling. That none of us ponies will think of you any differently, for breaking up with Sunny for whatever reason..." "But I-" "She's right sugarcube. We're ya friends after all! We won't judge you." chipped in Applejack, willing to support her friend. "SUNNY CHEATED ON ME!" yelled Twilight, who had grown annoyed at the ponies that continued to interrupt her speaking. The whole room feel silent at her sudden outburst after that. Just when the silence was starting to get awkward, Sunny spoke up, "She's right...It's all my fault that we broke up." At this news, all of the ponies were shocked. Having worked together with Sunny the entirety of the day, they would've never suspected him to be the type of colt that would cheat on his partner...or break a promise for that matter. "H-how could you break that...that promise?" said Fluttershy quietly. "Yeah! After you promised you wouldn't hurt her!" shouted Rainbow Dash who had flown out of her seat and was now towering over Sunny with an angry look in her eyes. Sunny by this time was now fearing for his safety. "It's because, he didn't 'Pinkie Pie' Swear when he promised Twilight that he would never leave her. Or when he promised to that Acapella guy that he would never hurt Twilight." said Pinkie Pie as she stuffed her face with even more popcorn, ready to spectate the imminent beating of Sunny. "You know what, I thought you were alright! But, when you hurt a friend of mine, you best be preparin' yerself for a good old buckin'!" said Applejack who joined Rainbow Dash in towering over Sunny, whilst, giving him her own death glare. "You jerk! How could you ruin something so beautiful! I simply cannot forgive any pony that would let a relationship that strong, simply die like that!" yelled Rarity. Out of the three ponies, that now towered over him, she was by far the most angry. Her eyes were burning angrily, as they gave him the message that she was about to tear him limb from limb. However, Sunny refused to cower in fear at the menacing mares that surrounded him in his seat. He simply sighed, before shutting his eyes as he thought, 'This is the least I deserve for breaking Twilight's heart...' 'If he could cheat on Twilight, after all they had been through together. Then what would stop him from cheating on me?', quickly realizing what she said she quickly shook her head as she added to her thoughts, 'That's only if the two of us ever got together...".. Soon after, a small blush of embarrassment spread across her face. Although, no pony was paying attention to her, as all focus was on the imminent beating of Sunny at the hands of the three angry mares. "GIRLS STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" yelled Twilight who moved in between the three mares and Sunny. "What are you doing Twilight?!" yelled Rainbow Dash rather angrily. "Sugarcube, stand aside so we can teach this colt a lesson!" Applejack showing more control over her urges to pummel Sunny. "Indeed Twilight, this colt doesn't deserve any mercy for what he did to you!" added Rarity. "You don't even know any of the details of what happened!" "He CHEATED on you, Twilight! What more do we have to know?!" "There's a lot more you have to know! Besides weren't you the one telling me 'that none of you ponies will think of you me any differently, for breaking up with Sunny for whatever reason' ? So what's the difference with him breaking up with me?!" At this final outburst, all three mares were left gob-smacked as Twilight gave them all a steely glare, before her horn began to glow with a light purple aura surrounding it. Walking over to the frame of pink hazy light, she placed the tip of her horn into the frame. The frame automatically began to take in Twilight's memories she wanted shown, with the purple aura emanating from her horn, mixing with the pink colour of the frame. Once, again an image, this time of Twilight's memories, began to flicker back into view. "Sit down and watch the rest of what happens!" said Twilight sternly whilst giving a look that spoke of dire consequences awaited any pony who dared not to obey her orders. The three ponies noting this look quickly went back to their seats to watch the precious memories of Twilight. It was now a few months into the final year at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns for Sunny and Twilight. The two had become incredibly busy during these few months. Sunny working on his application to study Music at university, and Twilight reading through a set book list of over seventy different books required for her to study as Princess Celestia's apprentice. On top of this, the couple had attained the positions of Head Colt and Head Filly at the school. So they were required to perform many time-consuming duties on behalf of the school. Despite, all of this added stress in their lives, the two always found time to spend with each other. Whether it is during their duties as representatives of the school, or through studying. Whilst, most relationships between students at the school crumbled under the added stress of further studies, and ceased to exist. Sunny and Twilight's relationship held strong against the pressure, and even blossomed further to a point; where neither could imagine life without the other. Everything seemed well, until that faithful day occurred... The bell had rung signaling the end of school well over an hour ago. But, Twilight still sat on one of the benches and tables in the school courtyard with an open book, her brain like a sponge absorbing all of it's contents, with the thrill of striving for new knowledge. This had always been a part of their daily routine. Twilight would wait an hour and a half after school, for Sunny to finish giving piano lessons to those students that asked for it. With Mr. Capella's permission he was able to make a little money to help pay for his student living costs when he did go to university, by giving lessons to those who asked for them in the music rooms at the school. Twilight also received lessons from Sunny. Free of charge of course! There had to be advantages for going out with him right? Twilight began to blush heavily as she thought back to some of their first lesson together. A couple of months ago... "...Wow Twilight you're really quick at picking this stuff up!" said Sunny who was rather amazed at the speed at which she was picking up everything he taught her. "Well... I have a wonderful teacher!" she said with a bright smile painting her face. "Aww shucks Twilight! It's nothing really, besides it's you who's amazing at learning everything I teach you so quickly. I mean it took me a week to learn everything you have today!" "Sunny you're just saying that..." Twilight muttered out shyly as a blush began to paint her cheeks. "No really Twilight! I'm being serious about what I said. It really is amazing how you picked up everything today. Learning the piano keys, how to read sheet music, how to apply magic to press multiple keys on the piano through touching a set of keys with your hooves and you even learnt how to play a couple of songs as well! That's all in the space of three hours!" he finished his rant which left Twilight's face as red as a tomato. "It's not that big a deal..." muttered Twilight. Sunny knowing not to push Twilight any further, decided to change the subject of their conversation: "Well we still have quite a bit of time left. Would you like to learn another song?" Twilight glad for this change in topic simply nodded her head in agreement. "Okay then if you'd like to position your left hoof at this key over here which is a...?" "B." Twilight gave a firm response showing that she had taken in all she had learnt earlier that day. "Right! Now position your right hoof on the 'C' key three octaves down from your left hoof." Twilight followed Sunny's instructions as she place her right hoof in the position she was told. "Okay now I'm going to show you what keys to direct your magic at, in order to play the piece. I'll show it a bit at a time so you can follow it easier." Sunny now moved closer to Twilight and placed his hooves on top of hers as he began to focus his magic onto the specific keys on the piano. By now, Twilight had a large blush spread across her cheeks from the closeness of his hooves touching hers on top of the smooth pieces of pearly ivory. Her blush only intensified into an even brighter red when she felt the warm rush of Sunny's magic flow through her hooves and onto the piano keys. 'Oh Celestia! How doesn't he realize how much of an affect he has on me just by standing so close?' He proceeded to move her hooves into a new position on the piano, unaware that Twilight had now completely forgotten about playing the piano, and was more interested in breathing in Sunny's scent now that he was so close to her. 'Oh gosh! He smells so good! Just what is that perfume he's using?!'. Twilight thought as her mind began to become clouded, having become more intoxicated with every deep breath of his scent she took. As he was closer to finishing the first part of the song, Twilight slowly turned her gear to look at Sunny's face. His eyes were closed as he was completely focused on the music he was playing. Finally, when he had finished playing the very first part of the song he began to speak: "Okay now that I've shown you the first part of the song, now I'd like to see you try it." As he said this he turned to face Twilight who by this time had closed the gap between them, so that their lips were just a few centimeters apart from one another. Not expecting Twilight to be so close, Sunny could not help but recoil back in surprise at the sudden 'closeness' between him and Twilight. "Woah Twilight! You almost scared me there! Twilight...?" Her eyes by this time had a clouded look on them, which he could see more clearly as she again moved closer to him. "Twilight what are you-" Sunny began before being silenced by Twilight's lips capturing his own in a passionate kiss. Initially, Sunny's eyes widened in surprise at the suddenness of everything, before he too closed his eyes and put his own effort into the make-out session with Twilight. Twilight continues to move forward wanting to be as close to Sunny as physically possible. However, because they were both on a piano stool, it was only a matter of when before the couple fell to the floor. Even then, that didn't stop them from continuing their passionate kissing as they continued to make out on the floor in each other' loving embrace. It wasn't until half an hour later before the two had come to their senses and decided never to let their emotions get out of control like that again, lest something were to happen that neither were ready for as of yet... Back at the courtyard... Twilight could feel the heat radiating off of her face as she recollected the memories of her acting in such a way with Sunny. She knew that those memories would be one of many that would be forever burned into the hippocampus of her brain. Twilight quickly decided to think of something else apart from that somewhat embarrassing memory. She sighed in boredom. She had already learnt most of the stuff that was already in the book, with only the occasional tidbit of new information keeping her from shutting the book and returning it to the library. Looking at her watch she saw she still had ten minutes to wait until Sunny was done with giving his lessons. Well it as only ten minutes...so it wouldn't be too long to wait for Sunny. So she decided to pack up her bags and head towards the music rooms where Sunny was teaching piano to one of his other students. As she was walking down the hallways, she couldn't help but think of all the memories she had walking up and down this hallway with Sunny throughout the past six years of being together at the school. She would miss all of those good times they had together at this school. But, she knew that when they did graduate from school, they would have many more good times together in the future. As she approached the door of the music room, she decided not to go in and disturb their lesson, and instead she would simply wait outside the door for the lesson to finish his lesson. However, getting a little bit curious as to who Sunny was teaching today, she looked through the glass panel on the door to see. In the music room, she saw Sunny was in fact teaching Fleur-de-Lis. Twilight felt a pang of jealousy strike her nerves as she saw the two talking with one another as Sunny corrected a mistake she had made in the piece she was playing. Whilst, she wasn't very gifted in the academic department, she was definitely blessed when it came to looks. She was without a doubt the most beautiful mare at the school. Most of the colts in the school would stop and stare as she walked past. She had already been offered a modeling opportunity to work with none other than the Equestria-renown photographer, Photo Finish. Whilst, Twilight didn't have any problems with her personally, she did find her to be incredibly vain about her appearance. She also thought of her as a bit stuck up, as she would always gloat about how her parents were one of Canterlot's most well-known couples due to both of them being movie stars. However, what really got on her nerves was how she could be so cruel when it came to matters of the heart. The number of colt's love-struck hearts that she held in her hooves and instantly crushed in her hooves, along with their hopes and dreams. She essentially destroyed any pony that was foolish enough to attempt to confess their love for her. That was why one of the nicknames she had received at school was 'The Ice Queen'. It described her perfectly. The stunning embodiment of perfection that could be seen in a well-crafted ice sculpture, yet seemingly had no warm emotions of any kind, and crushed your heart without a moment's hesitation. It wasn't just the fact, that she rejected every good and honest colt that gave their hearts so willingly for her just to stomp her hooves all over them. It was also the fact that she chose to go out with anyone who came from a rich background, or who had some sort of high social status that was greater than her own. It was only the really obnoxious, stuck-up and pompous colts in the school that were like that. It just made her blood boil that she could be so irritatingly stupid. To reject the love of ponies who could genuinely love her with their hearts, only instead to be with those ponies who would simply treat her as a piece of meat. It utterly disgusted her...okay so maybe she did have just a few tiny personal problems with her. She quickly turned around to face the window that was just opposite the music room door. She had to calm herself down before she did anything she would regret. She stuck her head out through the open window to see the courtyard she had been in just moments ago below her. She was on the first floor on the music building. The window sill was decorated with a number of potted plants, all of which bloomed beautiful flowers in a number of different and dazzling colours. Each of them had their own distinct scent. Yet all of them smelled heavenly to Twilight's senses. The smell of the flowers instantly made her feel a lot calmer and allowed her to think more rationally. She quickly brought her head back in, as she thought: 'What am I so jealous about? It's not like she's going to take Sunny away from me! Sunny would never break his promise to me! Besides, he could do much better than that attention seeking...' She immediately put her head back out the window making sure to take in deep breaths of the soothing floral scents. At last, after a good couple of minutes she had calmed down enough to bring her head back inside. 'Note to self, never think about...that pony, so much. It's isn't good for your health.'. She chuckled to herself, as she finished that thought. Now she decided she would be mature enough to look back through the door, without reacting so strongly to that pony's presence with her Sunny. She could see the two of them discussing something. Sunny was trying to convince Fleur to play the piano, whilst she complained that she simply couldn't do it. Urging her to play, he instructed her to put her hooves in position on the piano and then placed his hooves on top of her as he began to show her how to place her magic to play the song. Twilight thought she was going through déjà vu all over again, as he repeated exactly what he had done with her on her first lesson. Immediately, her blood began to boil again before, she started to scold herself: 'You're jumping to conclusions Twilight! She's fully aware that Sunny is mine! He's just helping teaching her to play a song...' However, what happened next was the same as what happened with her when she first played the piano with him. Fleur had moved closer towards him, and Sunny had jumped in surprise at the close proximity between the two. Then as he was voicing out how surprised he was, Fleur immediately captured his lips in a passionate kiss. By now, Twilight was fuming at the fact that this...this WHORE! Would be foolish enough to try and steal away another mare's stallion! But, what happened next completely cut off her anger...and instead obliterated her heart. Sunny had begun to kiss back! He had closed his eyes and had begun to kiss Fleur back with an equal amount of passion. It really was déjà vu all over again. Except, this was a version she didn't want to be living in. Completely shocked at the sight in front of her, her mind did something she never would've expected to happen...it shut down. She couldn't think. She couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe. All she could do was stare as her entire world fell apart and was set alight, right in front of her eyes by none other than 'The Ice Queen' herself. The image that would haunt her in her dreams for many years to come. Staggering back due to the lack of oxygen to her brain. She accidently knocked over one of the potted plants off the window sill. The sound of the pot crashing, like her heart, into several pieces against the ground, snapped her out of her moment of shock. However, it also alerted the two in the music room, to look through the door. Sunny's eyes widened as he saw a heart-broken Twilight staring at him, with tears streaming down her face. Realizing his mistake, he stood up and quickly rushed to the door. Twilight ran. She ran away as fast as she could. Anything to distance herself away from the colt that used to mean the world to her. She heard him calling her name, telling her to wait. But, she didn't listen. She couldn't listen. How could she listen to a colt who promised her he would never leave her, and then just go and kiss another mare? How could she trust any pony again after that...? She didn't care that she ran past a shocked looking Mr.Capella with tears streaming down her face. She didn't care about anything at that moment. She just wanted to be away from everyone. Away from everything. Focusing her magic as she was still running, she disappeared in a flash of light, teleporting away to anywhere but there... A moment later... She appeared in a flash of white light in front of her house. Quickly, opening the front door to let herself in, before slamming it behind her. She ran up the stairs and into her room, before her Mum could ask her how her day was. She flung herself onto her bed, laying her head face down as she cried the broken shards of her fragile heart out into the pillow. It was an hour before; she had calmed herself to make a decision of some sorts. Although, in her current state, her mind wasn't functioning as well as it normally would. She thought about the actions she was taking a lot less, instead choosing to simply go with what her emotions were telling her to do. Drying the tears from her face, and regaining her usual composure. She left her room and went downstairs and was about to head out the door, when her mum called out to her. "Where do you think you're off to Twilight?" "I'm just going out for a while Mum. I need to think of how to solve a little problem I'm having..." Twilight replied. Her mother noting the look on her daughter’s face knew not to further question her daughter any further. She trusted her daughter well enough that she'd be able to solve her own problems with a little time, and if not, she always knew that she'd be there for her if there was any problems too big for her to handle alone. "Okay then dear. Just remember to come back home in time for dinner." After a long pause, Twilight replied forcing a small smile, "Yeah Mum...we'll see." Before, disappearing again in a flash of white light. Now Twilight's mother couldn't help but worry after Twilight's last words. 'Please Celestia. Make sure my daughter doesn't get into too much trouble.' It was only thirty minutes later, when Sunny was knocking on her door to ask if he could speak with Twilight. "I'm sorry Sunny, but Twilight went out for a while. She said something about having to solve a little problem she was having." "Oh...okay well thanks anyway Mrs. Sparkle." said Sunny as he turned to leave. "Sunny!" she called out. "Yes Mrs. Sparkle?" "Is something the matter? Twilight didn't seem to happy when she came home today. Did you two have some sort of fight or something?" "Well...I guess you could call it that. But, don't worry I will handle it." "I know you will, Sunny." she said before, closing the door. Sunny spent the next two hours searching everywhere they would normally hang out: the park, Joe's Doughnut Shop, the ice-cream parlor. He even tried what was probably her most favorite place in all of Equestria: Canterlot Library. But, in each and every one of those places he found hide nor hair of the purple unicorn. He looked absolutely everywhere they could've possibly been together. He resorted to asking Leon for his help in searching for Twilight. "What on Equestria happened between you two that would cause her to just disappear?" asked Leon as the two ran across the whole of Canterlot, searching for their friend. "Oh Leon! I did something really stupid!" choked out Sunny as tears fell from his face as he slowed to a stop to sit on a nearby bench tired of running all over the massive city. "Oh come on Sunny, it can't have been that bad!" said Leon who sat next to Sunny trying to console his friend. "I kissed another mare right in front of her!" "You WHAT!" "I know I'm such a screw-up!" "B-but how?!" "I don't know it just sort of happened. I was teaching her how to play piano, and then for some reason she kissed me and...and I..." choked out Sunny as his eyes let loose a flood of tears, "...I kissed her back and...she saw everything." "Sunny how could you do that to her!" yelled Leon. "I know! I can't believe how stupid I was to blow everything I had with Twilight, just for one kiss with another mare..." as he placed his face in his hooves and continued to cry. Leon, feeling bad for having yelled at his friend in a time where he needed his support more than anything began to speak: "Listen Sunny. There's no use crying over what has already been done. Look all we have to do is find her, and then you have to just to explain to her how sorry you are. You know Twilight, she's a reasonable girl. She may give you a second chance..." he finished with a smile trying to restore some hope to the dire situation Sunny was faced with. Sunny lifting his head out of his hooves, couldn't help but crack a small smile at his friend, "Thanks for your help man...I don't know what I'd do without you..." "No worries man!" said Leon as he patted his friend on the back to further console him/ Suddenly, an idea hit him, as he then continued, "Sunny, did Twilight leave any sort of clue as to where she could be? Knowing her, she'd be the kind of person to do something like that." "I-I don't know. At least I don't think she left any sort of clue..." began Sunny as he closed his eyes trying to think back to earlier in the day. Back to something, anything that could perhaps give a hint to where she was. Memories of the day flashed in his mind, as he looked back to his discussion with Mrs. Sparkle. Something she said sparked something in his mind: 'I'm sorry Sunny, but Twilight went out for a while. She said something about having to solve a little problem she was having. ' Her words echoed in his mind, as an earlier memory was triggered by just a few words. A memory of him talking to Twilight, as a young colt as he said: '...This is where I go when I need some time to think to myself. To solve a problem I might be having....' His eyes snapped open, as he realized where Twilight was, before face-hoofing at not having look there of all places already. "I know where she is!" "Great, let's go get her then!" exclaimed Leon. "I'm sorry Leon, but I feel I need to speak to her alone..." Whilst Leon was slight taken aback at the words of his friend, he did however, understandingly realize his friend was probably right about this. So with a pat on the shoulder he said, "Okay man! Just do what you have to make sure she's alright." He gave one last call of good luck before, he began to walk back home. Sunny couldn't believe how he managed to wind up with such a great and understanding friend. However, deciding to not waste any more time, he began to focus his magic to his horn, and soon he had vanished in a flash of white light, teleporting to where Twilight would be. Re-appearing at the location, he began to look around to see where Twilight was. He had teleported to his secret hideaway that he had shown Twilight on the first day of school. Looking around he initially sighed in relief to see the form of the purple unicorn several meters away from him. However, his eyes then widened in horror when he saw where she was standing. Twilight stood on top of one of the many parapets that were placed on top of the wall, to stop any pony from falling off. She stared at the brightly lit city of Canterlot which glittered beautifully against the dark backdrop of the night sky. Twilight stood on the very edge of the parapet, nothing to stop her from taking another step and falling down the hundred foot height of the wall. Her eyes red from the many hours of shedding tear after sorrowful tear. But, she was no longer crying, her face seemed completely blank of any emotion, as she stare deeply into the night sky, where the stars glittered wonderfully. "Twilight..." began Sunny weakly. "You were right..." said Twilight quietly. "Twilight...?" croaked Sunny now confused. "The view really is beautiful at night." she said before, continuing, "I always did want to see something beautiful before I died." Sunny's eyes widened as he yelled, "Twilight don't do it!" Twilight couldn't help but laugh manically at his reaction. It was a laugh that sent shivers down Sunny's spine. A laugh that was unlike the Twilight he had known for six years. It was unlike anything he had heard in his life before. It was the laugh of a monster. "Don't think I would've jumped in the past two and a half hours that you spent trying to find me?!" Sunny fell silent at this, as Twilight continued. "I've spent these past two and a half hours trying to bring myself to end my life here...", tears began to run down her face as she continued, "But, I can't do it...even when I've lost nearly all that I thought I held dearest to me...even when I lost the one and only pony that I thought could understand me for who I am...when the pony I entrusted with my heart...my soul...my everything...betrayed my trust and destroyed all of that to be with another...How can I still think of living...when I've lost everything I've ever held dear to me?! TELL ME!" Twilight ended screaming before breaking down into even more tears. "Tell me..." she said quietly in between sobs. Sunny by this time was also in tears. Yet, his tears were silent as he knew Twilight need the answers she wanted, lest, her already fragile mind cracked even further and caused her to jump. That was something he knew he had to stop and so he had to be strong. Not just for his sake but, for her sake as well. "You're forgetting your parents..." Twilight turned her face to look at Sunny, as she began to listen to Sunny's answer. He continued: "You still have your family to think about Twilight. You haven't lost your family, and you never will! Think about what your parents would think if you did jump. Imagine, for one second how they would feel Twilight!" Twilight looked down to see the massive drop below her as she began to think of her parents. Seeing that he was getting through to her rational side, he continued: "You're also forgetting about the other ponies in your life that care about you! I'm just one pony! Think about all of your friends at school! Imagine what they'd feel if you suddenly vanished from their lives!" At this, Twilight responded angrily, "I didn't need any other pony in my life! I had you! You were my best friend! I thought I could trust you with my life! But, then you went and betrayed my trust! You broke your promise to me! The very same promise you made to me right here! The promise of how you would never leave me! Did those words mean nothing to you?!" Sunny's own anger began to grow as he started to raise his voice, "Of course those words meant something to me! Don't you understand how much in love I am with you?" "Oh really! Sure didn't look like that when you kissed Fleur now did it!" "You know as well as I do that I never meant for any of that to happen!" "Oh I do know! It's just that you never meant to suddenly kiss her back!" "Now that isn't fair Twilight!" yelled Sunny as he began to move towards her. However, Twilight was having none of it! Using her magic, she fired a burst of magical energy that connected with Sunny's head, sending him back a few feet, falling in a heap on the balcony floor. "You'll stay exactly where you are, otherwise I will jump!" yelled Twilight, completely serious about carrying her threat through. Blood had begun to trickle down his head from the cut across his head he received from Twilight's magical attack. Now he realizing that he was letting his temper get the better of him, and now wasn't the time for that. He had to put Twilight's safety first before anything else. He took several deep breaths before saying with new tears beginning to form in his eyes: "Listen, Twilight I'm sorry! I know what I've done was wrong. But, I can't say anything that can change what I've done...believe me if I could I most definitely would! It just...happened...Look, I know you may never want to speak to me ever again after this....I'll be happy with that! I just can't bear to see you get hurt...because of my own stupidity. So please Twilight...please...let's just go home..." he choked out those final words as he got on his knees to beg Twilight, "Please Twilight...please..." Twilight wished she could believe in Sunny's words. She really did. But, after what betraying her trust. She just didn't know whether or not she could believe in his words. They may for all she knows be just that: words. Words with no meaning behind them whatsoever. "I'm sorry Sunny...I'm so sorry." muttered Twilight, as she began to walk towards the edge of the parapet. Sunny's teary eyes widened as he struggled to think of anything he could do to stop her from falling over the edge. Suddenly, he yelled out the first thing that came to his head: "Your dream!" Twilight froze in place, one hoof dangling over the edge. Knowing now, that he had her attention he knew this was probably his last chance to save her. So wiping away his tears he began: "What about becoming Princess Celestia's apprentice?! You've worked so hard for the past six years to be ready for becoming her apprentice! it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, where only an extremely gifted pony could hope to achieve! Your dream gave those around you the hope they needed to be able to achieve their own dreams...mine included!" Twilight turned her head to face Sunny once again. This action urged him to continue speaking: "Your dream gave your parents so much pride to call you their daughter!" Twilight's was now having an internal conflict within herself as to whether she could really believe in Sunny's words . "Think about how much work you've put in to get this far to your dream Twilight! Think about all those ponies who are expecting you to fulfill your dream! Think of all the hopes and dreams that have come about because of your own, and that are even now willingly supporting you to achieve your own! Think about all of those things Twilight! All those ponies are out there believing that you'll achieve great things! So don't throw all of their hopes, dreams and beliefs away, over one stupid pony!" Twilight's eyes widened at that last remark to himself. "My love is not worth, all of the things you have supporting your dream Twilight! So what if I broke your heart! You have all of those ponies out there ready to support you! It's certainly not the end for you, just because of this one thing. Whatever happens...life has to go on." Those last words would forever ring in Twilight's ears. "Sunny about my dream-" Twilight began. However, she was quickly interrupted by Sunny who continued to speak: "So forget me! Forget we ever even had a relationship together! Forget that I even exist! As long as it means you'll continue to live through your dreams! Then you still have something incredibly important to live your life for. So please...don't throw your life away, because of me...Don't be a coward!" he yelled out the last sentence to her, hoping that he had finally gotten through to her. Twilight simply stared, with tears still flowing freely from her eyes, at Sunny as he finished his last heart-felt plea to stop her from ending her life. She shivered as she began to utter out: "Why...?" At this Sunny was confused until Twilight began to continue, "Why do you persist on trying to save me, even after you hurt me. Even after, I attacked you and even tried to stop you from saving me! What motivation do you have left to even think of saving me?!" "Twilight..." began Sunny with a small chuckle, "Even if I may have failed you as your coltfriend. I am still, and will always be a friend to you and a good friend never lets another friend commit suicide over anything!" At this both Twilight couldn't help but chuckle at the brashness of Sunny's remark. That was Sunny for you. Even in the most direst of situations, he could always find some way to make her laugh. That was one of the reasons, why she had loved him. "Sunny I-AHHHH!" began Twilight before, she had accidently lost her footing and fell over backwards, over the edge of the parapet and began her long hundred foot descent towards the ground. "TWILIGHT!" yelled Sunny as he immediately ran and jumped over the parapets himself without so much as a second thought, going over the edge to try and save Twilight. The air rushed through both their manes as they both fell faster and faster through the air. The cold, hard, ground coming closer and closer to meet the two young ponies. Twilight's screams filled the air as Sunny finally caught up with Twilight, and held onto her tight. There were only a few more seconds before; the two would meet their end. Closing his eyes, he focused on the one spell that could potentially save their lives. All of the pressure he was under, meant that the spell had a large chance of failing. But, it was either that small chance of it succeeding to save their lives, or they would meet their untimely ends. A red aura erupted from his horn and began to surround the two, slowing their descent right down until; they eventually came to a complete stop. Opening his eyes slowly, to see that the both of them were still thankfully alive! Although, his eyes widened when he realized that they were barely levitating a foot off the ground. 'Damn! Don't cut it so close next time!' Using his spell to levitate the remainder of the very short distance to the ground safely, holding onto Twilight very tightly, making sure to never let her go. Twilight could not help but stare at her savior through teary eyes. She didn't deserve to be saved by him. Not after the way she nearly rejected his pleas to her not to jump herself. Nor, when she even attacked him using her magic, to stop him from trying to save her. Despite, all of that when she did fall by accident, he jumped after her to save her with no thought for his own safety, only hers. It was a wonder how he could have possibly cheated on her. "Twilight you’re not hurt in any way are you?" Sunny asked seriously worried about Twilight's wellbeing, whilst checking her over to make sure she didn't have even a scratch on her. Twilight could feel the tears starting to return to her eyes. But, she chose to hold them back, as she simply nodded her head to Sunny's question. "Oh thank Celestia!" sighed Sunny as she pulled Twilight into a hug. He then continued to say in her ear, "You scared the crap out of me! Promise me you won't do anything like that again!" As he came out of the hug, she looked to see Twilight crying. "Twilight what's wro-WOAH!" began Sunny before, he Twilight hugged him tightly crying against his chest. After a few seconds he relaxed into her embrace, and began stoking her flowing violet mane whilst whispering words of comfort into her ear. It was about half an hour before; Twilight had calmed down enough to begin to speak. "Thank you..." "It's nothing Twilight I-" "NO! It's not 'nothing' Sunny! You risked your life to save me; even after all I put you through. You didn't deserve to go through all that, even if you cheated on me with Fleur...That didn't deserve me having to fire a magic bolt at your head...Look what I'm trying to say is...I'm sorry for putting you through all of that. I should've known you better than to think you didn't care about me anymore...I guess it took me falling a hundred feet to what should've been my death to show me that I still care deeply for you. So I just wanted to say...if you were willing to of course...whether we could...you know...get back together again?" Twilight looked to the ground hoping that Sunny would be willing to give her a second chance. Celestia, how much Sunny wanted to just say yes to her right that moment! However, after everything that the both of them had been through tonight. He decided to make a very important decision. "No." Twilight looked up to see Sunny's serious face looking at her. She had truly forgiven him for everything that he did to her today. Yet, he had chosen not to forgive her for harming him, and even putting his own life in danger. Whilst, she had never expected him to accept her apology with no hesitation. She was still shocked, as she thought Sunny would be a little more understanding about the whole situation than this. "The reason, why I don't think we should go out anymore, isn't because of anything that happened today." "Then why?" "Well think about it. If we're like over the first moment a problem presents itself in our relationship, then what would happen the next time a problem happened? It may not end like it did today. Maybe one or both of us, may not survive next time." "But, I'm willing to take that risk to be with you! Besides, we can use tonight as a learning step so nothing like this can ever happen again." Twilight said confidently believing that things between the two could still work out. "Okay, but then there's another problem." "And what's that?" "Our dreams." "What about our dreams?" "Think about it Twilight. Your dream is to become Princess Celestia's most well renown apprentice! Whilst, mine is to become a famous singer/song writer! We've both already begun to take steps into achieving our respective dreams. You've already gotten your place as Celestia's apprentice, and are now just preparing to have enough knowledge to be able to train alongside her here in Canterlot. Me on the other hand, I've applied to study at Manehattan's Music Academy for the Gifted, to continue to pursue my own dream. You see Twilight! Our dreams are going to end up taking us apart from one another, and you know what they say about long-distance relationships. They never work out in the end." Sunny finished hanging his head down knowing that what he said held too much truth in it. "Yeah but I..." Twilight began but stopped herself. It seemed to Sunny that Twilight had finally registered his argument for not staying together. However, she had stopped herself from telling him something else. Something else that was very important. "You see. It's just easier to break up now whilst we still have a valid reason to break up. I mean if we continued to go out. it would only be harder for when we really would have to break up...We can still be really good friends though...Like it used to be...you know...before we went out and all." Twilight knew right then, that Sunny really only did have her feelings in mind when it came to all this. He knew that she wouldn't be able to handle it when the two did eventually break up to pursue their respective dreams. It did make sense to rip the plaster of break-up now, and keep it ripped off so that there would be less pain than if they were to let the scars of their love heal, only to be ripped open again. It really was just better this way. However, even though she knew that was without doubt the best thing to do in the current situation. Her heart was screaming at her telling her to say that this was madness! It was telling her how her life would be without Sunny's love, would be meaningless. Dream or no dream. But, Twilight squashed these feelings for what was the umpteenth time today, as she chose to follow the idea that would benefit the two of them the most. "O-okay then...well I guess this is it between us..." "I guess it is..." The atmosphere around the two of them couldn't have been anymore awkward. "Well I guess I'll be off then" spoke up Twilight as she got up off the ground, and onto her hooves. "I'll take you home." Sunny got up as well, and proceeded to walk Twilight back to her house. It was half an hour of awkward silence, as the two ponies walked side by side under the starry night sky, towards home. Neither pony could even look at each other, as the events of what happened that night stayed freshly burnt into their memories, and would stay there for the rest of their lives... When, Mrs. Sparkle opened the door she immediately rushed out and pulled Twilight into a bone crushing hug. "Where in Equestria have you been Twilight Sparkle! You had us worried sick about you!" she cried into her daughter's shoulder. "It's okay Mum! I'm fine can't you see..." Soon Twilight's father came out to the doorway, and seeing her daughter returning to them safe and sound, she quickly wrapped his own hooves around her. "Twilight don't you ever go off anywhere again, without telling us where you're off to first!" her dad said to her in their embrace. Sunny couldn't help but smile, at the reuniting of the family. Turning around he began to walk away from the happy family, before the voice of Twilight's mum called out to him, "Sunny!" Sunny turned around to face Mrs. Sparkle, "Oh my Celestia what happened! You're bleeding!" 'Damn it! I forgot to clean out the cut before coming here!' "Oh it's nothing really just a small cut..." "JUST a small cut! Sunny! Half of your face is covered in blood! Come inside quickly so we can get you patched up before it gets infected!" Grabbing him by the hoof, she quickly brought him inside to the kitchen, sitting him down on one of their chairs, she quickly went to fetch the first aid kit, she just happened to have in the house in case of emergencies. Whilst, she was gone Twilight walked into the kitchen, her father having now left to go to work at the Canterlot Observatory, relieved knowing that his daughter was safe. Taking a seat beside him she began to talk, "This is all my fault...If I hadn't over-reacted and attacked you, you wouldn't be injured right now..." Her ears drooped as she stared at the table top not being able to look at Sunny for fear of feeling even more guilty than she already was. "Don't worry about it Twilight, it looks worse than it actually is. Besides, I would take a lot more than this before, I'd even let you so much as get a scratch on yourself..." Soon Mrs. Sparkle, came into the kitchen to see the two ponies talking. Knowing what she had to do, she called out to Twilight: "Twilight why don't you go ahead and fix up Sunny dear. After all, I can see you two need a bit of privacy to talk to one another. I'll be in the living room if you need me." she finished with a wink before exiting the kitchen, leaving the first aid kit, on the table. She was clearly still oblivious to what had happened that night. Twilight knew she wouldn't be able to argue with her mother without seeming to be rude in front of Sunny. So with a small sigh, she opened up the kit, and got some wet wipes. She proceeded to wipe away all of the blood off of Sunny's face. So of it had dried and so too a bit of effort to get off. The whole situation was awkward, being so close to a pony that only moments ago you had broken up with. Eventually, she finished cleaning up his face, much to her relief. She could see the scar that she had inflicted upon him. It ran from the top left hand corner of his forehead diagonally through his left eyebrow and all the way down to his right cheek. Whilst, the cut was quite large, it wasn't that deep and so should hopefully heal without any serious scarring. Grabbing an alcohol free wipe, she proceeded to clean the cut before it could get infected. Making sure not to use the alcohol as a disinfectant, as she was taught by her mother as it could damage the skin. Soon, Twilight had finished patching up Sunny, it took all of her will power to not laugh at Sunny's face. As it would've be rude and inappropriate, as she was the one who caused him the injury. The plaster that were applied along the cut, made seemed to split Sunny's face into two, with just a border of plasters, sectioning of the two sides. Looking in a mirror at Twilight's handiwork, Sunny couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous he looked. His laughter broke the tense atmosphere in the kitchen, as Twilight couldn't help but catch on to the infectious laughter. Soon, when both of them had grown tired of laughing, Sunny began to speak up: "Well...I'll guess I'll be seeing you at school on Monday?" "Yeah I guess..." "Well then...I'll see you then." finished Sunny rather awkwardly, as he began to walk out of the kitchen towards the front door. Twilight quickly followed him to see him out. As Sunny, walked away from Twilight's front door he gave one look behind him, to see Twilight staring at him in her doorway. Her eyes showing him she wanted to say something, but her lips remained silent. Turning around once more, he walked away never looking back. Things between the two slowly got better. It had become a lot less awkward to talk with one another, as days went by. Although, it did take another couple of months before things had returned back to when they were good friends. Before, they had even had the idea of going out together. Time soon flew fast after those initial two months, and soon graduation day had arrived. Graduation Day... All the ponies of the final year, sat along a row of chairs that were place in front of a huge stage which had a large lectern on it. In front of the lectern was the school's coat of arms: three unicorn horns crossed over one another, with a motto underneath the horns written on a gold banner. It read: 'Exceed Expectations. Turn Dreams into Reality.' Soon Princess Celestia herself appeared in a flash of white light up onto the stage behind the lectern. Every pony stood up from their seats in respect to the ruler of Equestria and, more importantly the headmistress to the school. "Ladies, gentlecolts, students and, faculty of this school. I am proud to say that this year has seen many ponies exceed their expectations, and many moving that one step closer to turning their dreams into reality..." began Princess Celestia. Soon the rest of the ceremony quickly move ahead. Until, it came down the last two ponies names to be called out. "Now I'd like to call Starbuck Sunrise up onto the stage to receive his graduation certificate, please." Applause erupted from the crowd as Sunny made his way up onto the stage, waving to the crowd as he went up, earning him another round of cheers from the crowd. Then he shook hooves with the Princess, whilst she handed him his certificate. However, as he was about to proceed to walk off the stage just as his fellow classmates did, Princess Celestia held him back. "I'd like you to stay on stage with me" she whispered into his ear before, speaking to the crowd again. "This pony is a living embodiment to the motto this school was founded upon. He's worked incredibly hard to get to where he is today. From the very beginning at his entrance exam where he impressed enough to earn himself a scholarship here. Right up until now where he's achieved one of the highest grade percentages across the school years that this school has ever seen! This pony has worked hard as Head Colt to help with the running of the school. All of his hard work has finally paid off as he has now received an offer to study at Manehattan's Music Academy for the Gifted! A music academy where many famous musician, artists, song writers and other famous celebrities have gone to study. The very same school that 'The Pony of Pop'; Sapphire Shores herself studied. This is a large step for him to achieve his dream of becoming a successful song writer. So on behalf of all your friends, and from all the members of staff at the school. I wish you the best of luck in achieving your dreams and, to let you know that we're all one hundred percent behind you!" Immediately after Celestia's heart-felt speech every pony in the audience stood up and clapped. Some cheered, others began chanting his name. Sunny struggled to hold back the tears that threatened to form. All of these ponies truly believed that he could achieve what he had already worked so hard to get close to. To know that all of these ponies were behind him every step of the way, gave him confidence that he would one day fulfill his dream. "Now, now every pony settle down! We still have one more pony that needs recognition!" Celestia called out. The crowd immediately sat back down and became quiet as Celestia continued, "Now, Starbuck here would've also won the coveted 'Student of the Year' award, due to his incredibly high average percentage which he achieved in his final ten exams of ninety-four point seven percent! It would've been his too, that is if it wasn't for our final pony of this ceremony! Having achieved a hundred percent in six out of ten of her final exams to boost her average percentage up to ninety-five point two percent! A difference of half a percent! That's five marks! Now, I'd like to now call up Miss Twilight Sparkle to receive her graduation certificate and the coveted 'Student of the Year' Award!" If the crowd's reaction to Sunny's entrance was loud. Then the reaction for Twilight's entrance was deafening! The crowd roared as Twilight made her way onto the stage, to shake hooves with her idol! As she received her certificate from Princess Celestia she couldn't help but think that this was probably one of the most proudest moments of her life. Celestia then used her magic to make a trophy appear from thin air, before levitating it towards Twilight who graciously accepted the award. It took a few minutes to get the crowd to calm down enough for Celestia to begin talking about Twilight. "She has worked extremely hard throughout the past six years of attending this school, to get to where she is today." Looking towards Twilight who was now blushing at the compliments her idol was giving HER or all ponies! Celestia continued, "I remember when I first had the pleasure of meeting her as a small filly, at her entrance exam. It was to say the most...memorable...of entrance exams I've ever come across." At this Twilight blushed even more, as a number of the staff members including those that were marking her exam chuckled at the recollection of the memory. "To see her now and compare her to what she was like back then. She has grown into a fine young mare that can be proud of what she has achieved. Her achievements are so great in fact, that I have personally decided to take her under my wing and, have given her the offer of becoming my apprentice to which she has graciously accepted." At this loads of gasps of amazement came from the crowd as this piece of news was completely new to a lot of the ponies in the crowd. However, this amazement was shortly followed by more applause. "I know that she will make me proud as her new mentor and, I hope you will all wish her the best as she will be starting her new duties as my apprentice from the day after tomorrow, going with me on my travels around the Kingdom, learning everything I have to teach her!" More applause erupted from the crowd along with a few cheers from a few ponies! Soon after this, the ceremony came to a close. However, Princess Celestia still had one last thing she wanted to ask the two ponies: "I wish to continue the tradition of taking a picture with the 'Student of the Year! However, due to level of excellence that both of you have shown, I believe I can make an exception and take a picture with both of you!" The photographer lined up the camera as the three ponies got ready to take their picture taken. Princess Celestia standing in the middle, with her apprentice on her right hand side and Sunny on her left. All of them smiled as their picture was taken. "Now I'm sorry I have to leave so soon! But, I need to attend an important meeting in Trottingham!" she then turned to Twilight, "I'll be seeing you the day after tomorrow, for your first lesson!" Shortly, after this she disappeared in another flash of white light. Sunny began to talk to Twilight, taking off his graduate cap off, "Congrats again, on winning 'Student of the Year'! You really did deserve it!" "Yeah I guess..." said Twilight as she trailed off. Sensing something was wrong Sunny asked, "What's wrong?" "This is it, isn't it...the end." "Oh hush now Twilight! This is not the end. Think of this more as the beginning of our new lives!" said Sunny as he looked up to see a sunny clear blue sky, "This is a time where we should be happy! Happy to know that now anything is possible for us!" Twilight also began to look up to the sky and couldn't help but smile. Even if Sunny did spout out sentimental rubbish half the time. He always did know how to make her feel better. "Besides, we're never going to forget each other...right?" spoke up Sunny snapping Twilight out of her thoughts. Twilight cracked a small smile, "Yeah, you know I'll never forget you." "Promise?" said Sunny as he held out his hoof for a hoofshake. Twilight firmly shook his hoof, "I promise Sunny." Those were the final words that the two of them shared together, before they were both split apart from both their friends and families who wanted to capture the glorious moment of their graduation in photos. After, that day they had both went their separate ways to fulfill their dreams. That was the last that the two ponies saw of each other. Until, today that is... Back in the present time... The image of the memory began to fade away again, as the imaging spell finally disappeared into the air. The pink frame dissolving like a statue made of sand would in the wind. Every pony was silent as the memories they saw had finished. "You see girls! If it wasn't for Sunny! I wouldn't even be here today! I owe my life to him and, when you girls tried to harm him without knowing the full truth, I guess I kind of got mad! So I'm sorry about that...", finished Twilight as she look down to the floor embarrassed at the thought of maybe over-reacting to the girl's behavior. "Oh no, no, no, Twilight! There's simply no need for you to be apologizing! I feel that we should be the ones to apologize to both you and Sunny for rushing to conclusions before, we knew the full story between you two!" Rarity began, as she turned to Sunny and continued, "I'm sincerely sorry Sunny! Can you ever forgive me for acting so...so...barbaric?!" "Yeah, Rarity is right. We did kind of act like jerks to you. Sorry about that..." said Rainbow Dash sheepishly. "Yeah sugarcube, we kinda did jump the wagon a bit there. Hope you can forgive us..." added Applejack. "Don't worry girls, you're all forgiven. Being honest, I thought I deserved every bit of what I was going to get after breaking her heart like that..." "Actually, now that you mention it that springs a question to my mind?" said Rarity relieved that she was forgiven. Suddenly, the clock chimed signaling that it was midnight. "Oh my gosh! Is that the time?! I need to get back to Sweet Apple Acres! I need to wake up bright and early for work tomorrow!" cried Applejack, as she quickly began to rush towards the door. She then turned around to face every pony as she said, "Am sorry about all this! But, I really need to get back to the farm!", she then turned to Sunny, "It was nice meeting you to Sunny! Feel free to come over to Sweet Apple Acres anytime!". At last, she opened the door and went out leaving a cloud of dust behind her. "Oh Celestia! Abigail! I forgot all about her, she's probably starving at home! I need to get home as well! Thank you Fluttershy for inviting to this day out. It was nice to meet you all! I'll see you later guys!" called out Sunny as he disappeared in a flash of white light teleporting back home. "Abigail...?" Twilight said out loud, as she couldn't help feel a twinge of jealousy at the thought of Sunny moving on and finding another girl. Fluttershy realizing what her friend was probably thinking quickly squashed any feeling of jealousy in Twilight's heart as she said, "Abigail is his dog's name, Twilight." "Oh." Twilight said, although inwardly she breathed a sigh of relief, before she also said, "I guess I should also be heading back home as well. Spike is probably worried about me being gone out so long. Thank you so much Fluttershy, for inviting us into your home!" "Oh please, it's my pleasure Twilight! Come back anytime..." Fluttershy squeaked out . Saying her last goodbyes to the remaining ponies, she soon disappeared in a flash of white light teleporting to her own humble abode. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie shortly followed after exiting the cottage, to get some well-earned rest. So that they could start the new day with enough energy to continue to train, and got to work, respectively. That left only Rarity and Fluttershy at her cottage. Rarity was slightly annoyed that she didn't have any time to ask Sunny her all important question. However, her eyes soon began to get heavy as she was way too tired to keep her mind focused on the question that plagued her mind. "Well Fluttershy, it was certainly a most interesting day today! Who knows what tomorrow will bring now that Sunny has come to town?" said Rarity as she also made her way out of the door, "Thank you so much for dinner tonight as well!" "Oh it's quite alright Rarity. After all, we're all good friends and, that's how friends should treat one another!" "Well again, I thank you for your hospitality. I'll see you later." Rarity as she walked out the door and, walked all the way back to Carousel Boutique seeing as she wasn't that proficient at using a 'Teleportation' Spell yet. However, the question she had remained in her mind: 'Why did Sunny cheat on Twilight to begin with...?' Meanwhile on the other side of Ponyville... Two pegasus ponies had just arrived at an inn on the other side of Ponyville. "A room for two please." said one of the two pegasus ponies. "Certainly. Can I have your name to book the room under sir?" asked the concierge. "Of course. My name is Leon. Leon Christo." Well I hope this was a good enough ending to leave you guys on! Please do leave a comment for this fic! Telling me what you thought of this chapter. Was it good? Was it bad? I personally thought I rushed it a little bit! But, I'd still like to hear your opinions on how this chapter went! So Until then all I have left to say is: BlackSpire out! ^_^ Reunion!The first rays of sunshine began to seep through the blinds of the small room at 'The Watering Hole' inn, striking the tired face of Leon Christo causing him to stir from his restless slumber. His vision blurred as his eyes adjusted to the light that dimly lit the room. In the bed besides his own lay the sleeping form of his younger sister, Windbreaker. A lock of her long pink mane that was braided rested on her face that held a look of complete peace. It made her look even more angelic than her large, majestic wings. He didn't have the heart to disturb his sister from her dreams and, so he simply lay in his bed silently, contemplating what he needed to do that day. However, boredom started to creep up on him, so instead of just staring at the ceiling, he sat up on his bed and began to take in the view of the small room that the two had stayed the night in. The room wasn't exactly five-star material...or even three-star, but it did its job. The wallpaper looked as if it was ready to fall off the wall in some places. Plus, the design of the dreary and old-fashioned Victorian-floral wallpaper wasn't exactly a sight to behold, especially to the trained eye of an artist. All of a sudden the horrid, musty smell of damp hit the pegasi's nostrils, as if someone had just sucker punched him with a trash can. Looking up, to the corner of the ceiling directly above Windbreaker's bed, his eyes widened at what he saw. In the far corner of the ceiling, was a large dripping wet patch which had a massive patch of black mould growing, and hanging from the ceiling as it if were a miniature stalactite. The site of the ghastly fungus was a revolting image to Leon's who had to stop himself from vomiting at both the smell and the sight of the neglected corner. 'How in Equestria did we not notice that before, we went to sleep?!’ thought the now horrified Leon, who was about to get ready to wake his sister up before the sound of the alarm clock began to ring. Leon had forgotten that he had set the alarm to ring at 8 o'clock, so that they would have time to get ready for when they had to check out of their room. The noise had immediately caused Windbreaker to roll over so that she would open her eyes to see the ceiling. However, she wasn't expecting the first thing she'd see in the morning would be a stalactite of mould that looked as if it were ready to drop on her face at any moment. As you can most probably tell, her reaction to this was anything but calm... "AAAAAAHHHHH!!!” screamed Windbreaker, as she quickly flew towards Leon's bed to hide under the covers, in the process knocking Leon off the bed, sending him tumbling to the hard floor. "Ouch! Hey, that really hurt!" Leon scolded as he was furiously rubbing the back of his head to ease the throbbing pain where he had collided with the floor. Choosing to ignore her brother's complaints she yelled, "What in Equestria is that thing?!", sticking her hoof out to point at the mould while still holding the bed sheets in front of her like a protective shield. "Calm down sis! It's just a bit of mould-" "Just a BIT of mould! I swear I just saw that thing move!" exclaimed Windbreaker, her eyes now as wide as dinner plates, filled to the brim with fear, she continued by pleading with a new look of hysteria, "Please Leon! Can't you just kill it?!" 'So much for the calm, innocent angel...' thought Leon as he got up and made his way to the bathroom. He called out to Windbreaker as he made his way to the door, "Just try to ignore it for a little while, till I come out of the shower. I'm sure it won't do anything while I'm gone." Leon finished before, closing the door behind him. As he finished brushing his teeth, he heard another scream from his sister. Quickly, rushing out of the bathroom to see what was wrong he couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at the sight in front of him. In front of him, was Windbreaker who had grabbed a broom from somewhere and had used it to hit the crumbling bit of mould. However, what she didn't take into account was bits of the mould flying towards, and landing in her long pink mane. This brought the young filly into more of a panic and she hurriedly tried to get the small bits of repulsive black mould out of her mane. Leon could only face-hoof, sigh and shake his head in annoyance at his little sister's childishness before heading back into the bathroom to have his shower. However, Windbreaker raced past him and shut the bathroom door in his face. “Sorry! I have to get this out of my mane!” she said through the door. At first, Leon was going to argue, but knowing his sister, it was pointless to try. Instead, he sat on the bed, got out his sketchbook, and drew the battle between Windbreaker and the mould as he waited for her to get out of the bathroom. An hour later... The two Pegasus ponies had decided to leave the inn without making much more of a fuss over the monstrous mould they had found. Deciding together that it would probably be better for the inn to find out about their “little problem” themselves. Besides, it would make one crazy surprise for the house keeping... The two had asked the receptionist for a place to recommend that does a good breakfast, before they had left. "Sugarcube Corner has always been a good place for pancakes." the receptionist had said before giving them directions on how to get there. The two ponies almost felt bad for not warning them about fungus in their room, due to how kind the receptionist was. Almost, that is... Leon took a good look at the small town of Ponyville as he walked with Windbreaker fluttering right beside him. Although she was getting stronger, it was easier to fly everywhere than walk. Windbreaker was looking down at the cobbled path as she flew with less enthusiasm as she normally would. A look of sadness draped over her face as she flew besides her older brother. A look that Leon didn't miss... 'So much has happened to her in the past few days. I'm surprised she's been able to cope with it as well as she has...' Leon thought as he looked at his sister who was still preoccupied with counting the number of stones embedded in the line that she flew in. Leon quickly shook his head as he tried to get rid of those thoughts from his head, 'There's no use moping around in the past. We can't change it no matter how hard we try. We can only move on.' Leon then began to think about what the future held for both him and his sister as they continued to travel towards the Sugarcube Corner. Just then, colts and fillies of all ages filled the empty streets as they made their way to start another intense day of learning at school. 'Hmm maybe Windbreaker can start going to school here...' Leon thought absent-mindedly as he continued to walk not noticing the tennis ball that was moving to hit him square in the face. It would have too, if it weren't for Windbreaker being more aware of her surroundings. "Watch out!" she cried as she quickly flew in front of him. In a dazzling display of skill, she caught the tennis ball whilst performing a barrel roll. She then finished off her acrobatic flight with a neat and tidy landing. The speed at which she did all of that left Leon stunned in surprise before, a small smile broke from his lips as he thought: 'Wow! She's grown up so much. The therapy is really doing wonders for her...' However, before he could continue his thoughts, a blur of silvery grey pounced on Windbreaker, bringing her to fall to the ground screaming. The blur turned out to be a large grey dog. It looked a lot like a husky to Leon. However, right now he could care less about the breed of the dog, he was far more concerned about the welfare of his sister, who was currently being attacked by this...this beast! However, before Leon could rush to his sister's aid, a loud, strong yet very familiar voice yelled out: "ABIGAIL! Get off that young lady right now!" The canine immediately got up off of Windbreaker with a loud whine and her ears lying flat against her head, as a response to her owner's words. The yellow pony, who was presumably the owner of the dog, rushed over to Windbreaker to help her up whilst he started to speak, "I am so, so sorry about my dog! You see she's very...energetic and, can be a bit rough when she's playing. So when you were holding her ball..." As the young stallion, began to justify his dog's actions, and profusely apologize to his sister, Leon's mind began to spring in excitement as he realized just who exactly this pony was. After all, he didn't know another pony alive that had a fiery red mane with orange streaks in it. "Sunny?!" exclaimed Leon, recognizing his long-time friend, who he hadn't seen in five years! The stallion turned to face him, before his own eyes widened in surprise, "Leon...Is that you?!" When Leon nodded in answer to his question, Sunny's face beamed, "Oh my gosh! Leon...wait a second..." Sunny then turned towards the young filly that Abigail had knocked to the ground, before saying, "Windbreaker...?" Windbreaker could only nod her head in surprise at the fact that of all ponies that they could have run into, it had to be one of her brother's best friends. "I knew you looked familiar!" exclaimed Sunny before ruffling her long pink mane affectionately. "Hey! Cut it out you know I don't like any pony messing with my mane!" she huffed in annoyance. Sunny couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction before saying, "Well at least your personality hasn't changed! I still can't believe how much you've grown since the last time I saw you!" He then turned to face Leon, who by then had closed the gap between the two and brought Sunny into a crushing hug as he said, "Sunny! It's so good to see you again, my friend! I can't believe it's been five years since we last saw each other!" "T-that's great and all...but,...could you please...get off me...your kind of...crushing me..." croaked Sunny as his yellow face threatened to turn a blue colour, from the lack of oxygen. "Oh right! Sorry about that! Leon said before letting go of the yellow stallion. "Ah, that's better." Sunny said, now finally able to breathe again. He continued by saying, "Yeah it's been a while hasn't it. I didn't recognize you guys with the new mane-styles," he finishing by pointing to his left ear. He was referring to the lock of braided hair from their manes that the two ponies had hanging in front of their left ears. Whilst, it was a small change in both of their mane-styles it still didn't change their appearance that much to cause some pony not to recognize them. "Are you sure you didn't just realize who we were until I called out your name?" said Leon now eyeing Sunny suspiciously. "O-of course not! I knew all along it was you guys! Hahaha!" chuckled Sunny rather nervously as he uselessly tried to cover up the fact that he truly didn't realize he was speaking to his long lost friends. With this obvious lie clear to Leon, he chose not to press on the matter. "Anyway there so many things I want to ask you two! I don't even know where to begin! Is there any way we could like sit down somewhere and have a chat?" continued Sunny hoping to change the subject. However, he was also truly interested in what his two friends had gotten up to over the five years they hadn't seen each other. "Actually, we were just heading over to the Sugarcube Corner for breakfast before we bumped into you. If you want you could join us?" asked Leon, who was also eager to hear more about what his friend had been up to over the last five years. "That's perfect! I haven't had any breakfast yet either, so I'm starving. We can talk over breakfast. I happened to just pass Sugarcube Corner back there..." Sunny said pointing behind him before continuing, "...as I was taking Abigail here for her morning walk." he finished pointing at his dog who was sitting by his side. "Hey since when did you get a husky?" asked Leon as the trio began walking towards Sugarcube Corner. He was rather curious; he didn't have Sunny down to being the 'dog-owning' kind of pony, or any other pet for that matter. "Actually, she's a Malamute. It's actually a common mistake for ponies to make though. In fact, the two look really similar, but did you know there are actually a number of key differences about them. You see..." Leon could only inwardly cringe as he was subjected to a lecture in the differences between malamutes and huskies and why malamutes were clearly the better of the two. However, Leon could not help but inwardly chuckle as well. This all proved that Sunny hadn't changed one bit. Back when the two regularly met up back in Canterlot, Sunny would occasionally go off on a rant or lecture about a topic that he was very interested in. Sometimes for hours at a time if Leon didn't stop him! It was one of Sunny's less appealing attributes. He had to tell Sunny many times that he either wasn't interested, or that he was going completely off topic. But, there were a few times where Leon would be completely wrapped up in Sunny's words and even contribute his own thoughts and views, turning the rants into full blown lengthy discussions and on the rare occasion arguments. He smiled as he remembered their discussion on Art and how they had spent hours talking about the topic and had even gone as far as to go to a few galleries in the city together to prove each other’s points. By the end of that day both ponies had left far wiser. However, dogs weren't exactly a topic Leon could relate to and, was incredibly thankful that the walk to Sugarcube Corner was a short one. As Abigail and the trio of ponies walked into the store, they took a seat next to the window. Leon and Windbreaker sitting on one side and Sunny on the other with Abigail lying on the seat next to him. Mrs. Cake came over to their table to greet them and take their order. The trio of ponies all ordered a stack of pancakes each with maple syrup. Both Leon and Sunny had coffee with their pancakes, whilst Windbreaker chose to have hot chocolate with hers. Sunny also ordered just a couple of plain pancakes for Abigail as well. Once, their orders had been taken Mrs. Cake left to get them ready leaving the three ponies to continue their conversation. "So what brings you here to Ponyville then?" asked Sunny looking at the siblings. "Don't you know?" asked Windbreaker with a confused look, to which Sunny simply shook his head with a perplexed look of his own. "You didn't get our letter we sent to you?" asked Leon with a concerned tone in his voice. "Letter?" Sunny said to himself, as he thought to himself to try and think of what the explanation was for him not receiving a letter from his long-time friends. Suddenly, the reason hit him as if a light bulb had lit above his head. "Oh! Of course I haven't! I forgot to tell you guys I had moved away from my address in Manehattan to live here!" explained Sunny as he face-hoofed at forgetting to tell his friends about him changing address. "Oh right...well at least we found you here so you wouldn't have to miss it," said Leon. "Miss what?" "Well it's uh..." began Leon before trying to figure out how to break the awkward news to his friend. Sensing his discomfort, Sunny realized something important, or rather some pony important, and to be even more precise a lack of some pony important. "Hey wait a minute! Where's Mrs. Cristo?" Sunny asked now concerned. The fact that Windbreaker was out and about without her mother anywhere nearby was a troubling sign. He knew Leon would never leave his mother alone without Windbreaker or his Uncle Dawnstar being with her and, he knew Leon's uncle would be too busy with his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard to look after her and, the fact that the siblings were so far away from Canterlot didn't make sense to him either. Leon sighed in defeat before he said, "Still as sharp as ever I see, Sunny." He then coughed before continuing, "I'm sure you already knew that my mom has never had the best of health." Sunny could only nod slowly as Leon said this. His face still carrying a look of confusion on it, as if he was trying to figure out what his friend was trying to say. Leon continued: "And well...the issue with her health hasn't gotten better..." said Leon calmly, before he gave a heavy sigh, staring down at the table in front of him as he added, "In fact, it just got worse...". Sunny's eyes widened as he finally pieces together what must have happened. "Oh gosh...Leon...I'm so sorry..." his voice filled with sympathy for his friend. Leon just remained silent as the reminder of his mother now being deceased struck him once again. Windbreaker beside him barely able to hold back the tears that threatened to come to her. Sunny honestly did feel incredibly shocked that the Christo siblings had lost their mother. Whenever, Sunny used to go around Leon's house to visit she would always treat him like he was her own son. She was essentially Sunny's third mother, after both his actual mother and Twilight's. With this new news Sunny felt as if the clear blue skies outside had just been changed to a dark grey in which a heavy storm brewed. He was in despair. Sunny looked towards the Christo siblings as he thought, 'If this is how I'm feeling, Celestia knows how those two must be taking it...', his eyes moved to look at just Windbreaker who was still looking towards the ground still trying to fight back the tears that desperately wanted to form. 'Poor girl. First, she doesn't get a chance to know who her father was, and now this. Out of every pony who knew her she must have been the closest to her mother...' By accident Sunny quietly said out loud, "Windbreaker...". Immediately, she looked up to face him, as he mentioned her name. Sunny realized that he had just said that out loud. Quickly, he decided to avert attention away from himself as he said, "I can't believe she's gone...I mean I knew she was unwell...but I never would have thought..." he ended trailing off as he struggled to find the right words to say. Soon he found the words as he added whilst placing his hoof on Leon's shoulder as a sign that he would always be there for him, no matter what: "If there's anything I can do... please don't hesitate to ask me...alright?" "Yeah, I will," muttered Leon, as he looked back up with a small, weak smile glad that he could still rely on someone to help him out, should he ever need it. 'If these two can stay this strong after going through this. Then I have to as well...not just for me... but, for them as well.' Sunny thought to himself, as he decided that he needed to act maturely about this situation. "So I assume the reason you guys are here is something to do with her funeral?" said Sunny once again, trying to be mature about the whole situation. The two would have to talk about their mother's death eventually; so the sooner they started the easier for them it would be in the future. Leon nodded before saying; "We decided to bury her here in Ponyville, right next to Dad. She would have wanted that..." "I'm sure she would have." Sunny then added, "So when is the funeral? I'll be sure to come and pay my respects to her." "Oh, right… The funeral will be in four days..." Leon answered before asking, "Do you still keep in contact with Twilight?" realizing how brash his question sounded he quickly added, "I'm just asking because I sent her a message informing her about the funeral, so it would've been nice if she was told about it as well." "First of all Leon, you know that things between me and Twilight are fine. We're still great friends. We would never let anything get in the way of our friendship, not even a former relationship!" Sunny said, explaining the situation between himself and the lavender unicorn. He then added, "It’s funny you should mention her actually!" "Really why?" asked Windbreaker who was now curious about news that involved Twilight. The years that the two had known each other, had given birth to a strong relationship between the two ponies. Twilight was Windbreaker's role model in just about everything. Windbreaker looked at her as if she was like the older sister she never had. "Well you see, Twilight has actually been living here in Ponyville for quite some time now. She works as the town's librarian! I must confess I haven't been keeping in contact with her as often as I should have! So imagine my surprise after all these years when I meet her yesterday!" "Wait a minute! I thought she was with Princess Celestia working as her apprentice?" "Oh she still is! She's just based here now." "Oh! Wait a second! You said you met her yesterday, Ponyville isn't that big a town that it would take you a long time to know everypony around here. So when did you move here?" "This is my third official day settling in now." "So how are you finding it over here...?" The conversation between the two close friends continued to go on for quite some time, with Windbreaker included in every so often. The two were very interested in knowing what the other had been up to in the years they hadn't seen each other. Mrs. Cake had brought out their order before moving off to take another table's order. The three of them continued to talk as they had their breakfast. Abigail just happily wolfed down her pancakes. As time went on, the trio of ponies had finished eating and were sipping away at their drinks. Soon the conversation came to a close. "So what are your plans for today?" Sunny asked as he took a sip of his coffee. "Well we were planning to go see the real estate agents today, to set up an appointment to see the house we lived in before we moved to Canterlot. After all, we will need a house to settle down in. Plus, that house holds so many precious memories to me. It would mean a lot to me if we were able to live there again." "Hmm, well I don't really have anything planned for today. Do you mind if I tag along with you?" "Sure, why not!" "Great! I can also take you guys to see Twilight. I'm certain she would be happy to see the two of you again!" Sunny finished with a wide grin on his face at the thought if the three friends getting back together again, "It'll be just like old times!". "Yeah, I guess it would be," Leon said, returning Sunny's smile with one of his own. Just then, their conversation was interrupted by the loud voice of a pink waitress, "SUNNY!" Whilst rubbing his ears to stop the ringing, Sunny looked up to face the pink earth pony and said, "Hey Pinkie Pie! How's everything going?" "Well everything's fine, but I'm upset that you didn't call me out when you came here to eat. Although, I guess you didn't know that I work here at Sugarcube Corner so I forgive you for that. So I guess it's a good thing that I've finished my shift for today because I wanted to talk to you about your welcome party..." she said saying everything without taking a breath. However, she trailed off when she saw Leon and Windbreaker. Her silence did not last as she began to ask even more questions, "Who are your friends over here?" she asked as she moved closer to them whilst staring at them with wide eyes filled with interest. She continued moving closer to them, until she was barely inches away from them. As with any new pony that had just met her, Leon and Windbreaker were both slightly creeped out by the strange pink pony. "Oh right where are my manners! Pinkie Pie these are mine and Twilight's friends from Canterlot; Leon and his sister Windbreaker." Immediately, a light bulb lit up above her head as her brain figured something out as it normally would...for Pinkie Pie anyway. “Ah I remember now! He's the guy from your flashback movie thing that did the portraits.” At this, a confused look etched itself onto the face of Leon. "Yep, he's the very same guy." Sunny replied before giving a look to Leon which screamed, 'I'll explain all of this later.' Leon simply nodded acknowledging Sunny's look. "I knew I recognized him!" beamed Pinkie Pie, before her face quickly switched to one of suspicion, narrowing her eyes as she said, "Wait, what's he doing here?" Sunny beginning to wonder if Pinkie Pie always acted like this, he answered, "Well both he and his sister are planning to live in Ponyville..." Before he could say anything else, Pinkie Pie's eyes widened as she let out a loud gasp before zooming off somewhere else. Leaving the three ponies very confused. "Um, Sunny? What in Equestria just happened?" "To be honest I only just met Pinkie Pie yesterday, so I have no idea of why she acts that way. But, she's nice once you get over her...energetic personality." "I thought she was pretty cool!" spoke up Windbreaker who had until now remained quiet as she was too busy stroking Abigail who as usual was enjoying the attention on her. Leon gave his sister a sceptical look at the thought of putting the word 'cool' and that pony...Pinkie Pie, together. "Well I'm sure you'll get to know Pinkie Pie a whole lot more seeing as you are going to be living in Ponyville now. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to use the restroom." As soon as he said that, he got up and left the table. However, instead of heading to the toilets he headed towards the counter at which Mrs. Cake was standing at the till. "Can I have the bill for our table please?" "Of course, if you could just wait a little while?" "That's fine with me." Mrs. Cake unnecessarily thanked him as she went off to total up the bill. She soon came back saying: "Your total comes to forty five bits." Sunny pulled out a fifty bit note and handed it to her, as she opened the cash register to take out the change Sunny interjected by saying, "Please do keep the change! The service was excellent!" He flashed a friendly smile to Mrs. Cake, who returned the smile with her own, before making his way back to their table. Looking at a clock that was on the wall he spoke up again: "We should probably get going soon. Otherwise, we may not have enough time to see the real estate agents. We've already spent nearly two hours here!" "What’s the hurry Sunny? We still have plenty of time. It's not even past twelve yet!" asked Leon. "Well I thought we were going to go visit Twilight? I'm sure she of all ponies would be most happy to see the two of you." "I guess you’re right. Well at least let us pay the bill before we go rushing off." "That's okay I've already paid for breakfast! Now let's go!" said Sunny quickly before he began to walk towards the exit with Abigail following him closely by his side. "Wait what! Sunny why did you do that?!" called out Leon before getting up and running after him, with Windbreaker flying closely behind him. "Leon don't worry about it let's just-" "No I will worry about it! Why couldn't you let me pay for mine and Windbreaker's breakfast?!" interrupted Leon. "Listen I haven't seen the two of you in years! Catching up on old times with you guys has been great. So at least let me show my appreciation for giving me a good time by paying for your meals alright?" Leon knew he wouldn't win this argument so with a huff he replied, "Fine then...but I'll be paying the bill the next time we all eat out together!" "You got yourself a deal there! Now let's go see Twilight." cheered Sunny as they all walked towards the library. Once they arrived, at the library that was built in to the tree Sunny knocked on the door. Instead of someone answering the door, they all heard a familiar voice shout out from inside: "This is a public library! You don't have to knock on the door, just let yourselves in!" Taking the outburst as an invitation, Sunny told the two ponies to wait outside as he opened the door and both he and Abigail walked into the library. As he looked around the library he was impressed at what he saw. The interior of the building was a lot larger than what the exterior tree appearance made it seem like. All along the walls of the libraries were incredibly large bookcases that towered over him. Their shelves filled with books of all sizes filled with all the information you could have possibly ever wanted. Sunny was sure that if he was still back at school studying in Canterlot that he would have fallen in love with this place. However, that was back then. Now he was a different pony...although he would definitely make sure to pick up a book from here occasionally. Being distracted by the sight of the rows of massive bookshelves, he looked towards the centre of the room to see Twilight sitting at a desk with two towering stacks of books either side of her. She currently had a book open on a particular page and was scribbling away notes for a report she had to complete for Princess Celestia on 'The Dangers of Transportation/Teleportation Magic'. "Welcome to Ponyville Public Library, how may I help...oh hey there Sunny! What brings you here?" she began to say before she lifted her head up from her notes to see the yellow stallion. "Oh nothing much! I was just giving Abigail here her morning walk, and I just happened to be in the area. So I thought I'd give you a bit of a visit." "Gosh! If I had known you were coming I would've made a little bit of an effort to tidy the place up for you..." Twilight said as she used her magic to start to put some of the books away. "Come on now Twilight! You know me well enough to know that I don't care about a little mess! Besides, I don't think the guests I've brought with me would be too particularly happy if you spent your time cleaning up instead of talking with them!" said Sunny as he used his own magic to stop Twilight's magic from putting the books away. "Huh? What guests?" asked a now confused Twilight. "These guests!" yelled out Leon and Windbreaker in unison as they took their cue to enter the library. "Leon! Windbreaker! It's so good to see you two again!" Twilight exclaimed whilst galloping towards her two friends who she hasn't seen in five years, to give them both a bug hug. "At least some pony recognised us straight away!" said Leon, directing the comment towards Sunny, as both he and Windbreaker hugged Twilight back. "Hey! I did recognise you!" complained Sunny, still lying about their earlier encounter. "Sure you did." said Windbreaker with sarcasm oozing from every word. Twilight who was still shocked at seeing her two friends then asked, "Anyway, what are you two doing here?!" "It's kind of a long story-" began Leon before he was interrupted by the lavender pony. "I've got time." interrupted Twilight, who was still trying to get over the sudden surprise but nevertheless eager to hear Leon's story, "Oh and where are my manners! Here please do take a seat!" Twilight said this as she used her magic to transport a table and set of chairs from one end of the room to where they were. "Can I get you guys anything to eat or drink?" "Oh no! It's alright Twilight! We all just came back from eating breakfast at the Sugarcube Corner." explained Leon. "Oh all right. Now, tell me about why you're here and, also about what you've been up to in the past fie year. You must have been real busy I'm sure!" "Well you see..." he said as he began to re-tell the entire story to Twilight just as he had told it to Sunny. When they had finished their story as to why they had come to Ponyville, Twilight began to tell them her story of what she had been up to in the past five years and, even introduced Spike to everypony. He wasn't there originally as he was busy in the kitchen preparing both his and Twilight's lunch. Soon a couple of hours had passed as the three reunited friends reminisced on their times in Canterlot. The time would have continued to go unnoticed if it weren't for Leon spotting the time. "Oh my! We've spent two hours just sitting here and talking! We're going to have to leave soon if we want to see my parent's house today!" said Leon as he got up from his seat. "He's right we really should get going!" spoke up Sunny as he too got up from his seat. "Oh you're going with him to see his house?" asked Twilight as she did the same as the two stallions. "Well I invited him to come with me..." began Leon but then an idea popped into his head as he continued, "...Actually, do you want to come along with us?" "Well I've almost finished Princess Celestia's assignment anyway, so sure why not." beamed Twilight, as she was happy at the thought of being able to spend more time with her two closest friends. "Great!" Leon replied before, he called out, "Sis! We're leaving now!" "Okay Leon!" called back Windbreaker as she flew to her older brother's side. Abigail and Spike followed shortly afterwards. Windbreaker and Spike had both gotten along very well and had spent their time playing with Abigail around the library. For the first time, since before their mother had died, Leon saw Windbreaker with a genuine smile on her face. Which brought about a smile upon Leon's face, seeing his sister happy again. "Aww you guys are leaving already?" asked a disappointed Spike who was having a good time with the pegasi and the Malamute. "You can come with us too if you want Spike." said Leon. "ALRIGHT!" both Spike and Windbreaker exclaimed whilst bro-hoofing along with Abigail who barked happily. "Okay guys let's go!" called out Sunny who was already out the door. Everypony except Twilight soon followed behind him. "Sunny slow down!" yelled Twilight as she was locking up the library and putting the 'Closed' sign up on the front door. A couple of hours later... The four ponies, one dragon and the Malamute could only stare at the sight of the house in front of them, as they waited for the estate agent to come and show them the house. To be honest it was more of a mansion than a house! The profile of the property said it was a large, spacious dwelling of eight and a half thousand square feet, with an impressive 5 acres of land surrounding the property. Along with a splendid view of the countryside around the outskirts of the small town of Ponyville. Whilst, the description on paper sounded like the perfect dream home, the actual appearance of the building itself was a lot to be desired. The old paint was flaking away in most places and had caused the sturdy wooden walls to start to rot and decay in several areas of the building. The extent of the rotting was so bad there were even a few holes in the walls of the large building. A large number of tiles had fallen off of the roof, some of them hitting the house as they came crashing down. Some tiles even caused the windows to be smashed to pieces inviting the elements to do more damage inside the building as well as out. The handiwork of a bunch of hoodlums could also be seen in the form of graffiti that was written on the walls of the building. The grounds around the house had been un-kept for many years causing the most probably nearly kept lawn to transform into a miniature jungle in which all sorts of wildlife were hidden away. All in all, the building at first glance looked like a complete shambles that was ready to fall on top of itself at any moment. Most ponies would have been deterred from the thought of buying the place as soon as they laid their eyes on it. Twilight and Spike were no exception as a look of disgust painted both their faces as they saw the house. However, Sunny was completely the opposite. "Wow Leon! I can't believe you used to live in a house like this!" beamed at his friend as he looked at the place. "Well I guess it helps that my father was one of the founding members of the Wonderbolts..." deadpanned Leon. "Oh yeah right I forgot!" said Sunny now feeling slightly embarrassed before, turning his back to the mansion. The mansion was situated on top of a fairly large hill, which provided the amazing view of the countryside on the outskirts of Ponyville. "This sure is a wonderful view!" exclaimed Sunny as he closed his eyes and let the soft wind caress his face and stroke his fiery mane. "You should see it when the sunsets." said Leon, as he thought back to a memory of how things used to be when he used to live there with his parents. 18 years ago... "Mom! Come quickly otherwise we're going to miss it!" yelled Leon as a small colt who was currently flying around in circles. "Maybe if you helped your mother out by carrying the glasses and the lemonade we'd get there a whole lot quicker!" called back Leon's father, Bolt who was also flying whilst also carrying a table. Leon groaned out loud before saying, "Fine!", before zooming off into the kitchen to pick up the glasses and pitcher of ice cold lemonade. "Gosh! That kid is so hard to control!" moaned Bolt as he landed at their usual spot. "Bolt dear, I don't think you can be one to complain. After all, you were exactly like that when we first met." said Leon's mother, Moondancer who was setting up three deck chairs for them to sit on. "Surely I wasn't that out of control!" reasoned Bolt. "No you weren't..." began Moondancer. "See I-" Bolt said before being interrupted. "...you were worse!" she finished. "HEY!" exclaimed Bolt but, was again interrupted from saying anything else when Leon came along holding three glasses in one hand and the lemonade in the other, he quickly placed them on the table and poured a glass of lemonade for each of them. "Mom! Dad! Come on or we're going to miss it!" whined the small brown pegasi. "Okay, okay Leon! We're ready!" said Moondancer trying to keep the small bundle of energy tamed. The long summer days were always hot and tiring. But, at the end of the day this was the moment the entire Cristo family looked forward to. Every second that tick during the day was all for this one single moment in the eyes of the young pegasi. The sight that would always be waiting for them every day: the glorious sunset. The time in which Princess Celestia's creation; the ever so bright and glorious Sun, would finally rest to make way for Princess Luna's own divine creation; the night sky and it's elegant beauty. The time in which the clear blue skies would change to a warm and fiery palette of colours. Crimson red, neon orange, peachy pink, sunny yellow and many more wonderfully warm colours. No matter how many times he saw the sunset, he would always be amazed to see the myriad of colours dance right before his eyes. It was a sight that he could never ever forget. Back to the present time... Suddenly, the sound of a new voice snapped Leon out of his memory. The voice belonged to a mature stallion who had a grey coat with a slick black mane. There were a few strands of grey in his well-kept mane that gave away just how old he was. "I'm so sorry I'm late! I got held up at another appointment. The name's Danny, Danny Winchester." the stallion said before adding, "Which one of you is Mr. Cristo?" "That would be me." Leon replied. "Ah excellent." the older stallion said as he shook hooves with Leon before he added, "You know I still remember the day when I sold this land to another Mr. Cristo, who then went on to build this property. Are you perhaps related?" "Oh that would probably be my father." "Ah I see!" said Danny before adding, "Shall we go have a look inside the property?" Danny asked his rhetorical question as he began to make his way towards the house the others following shortly behind him. As Leon walked along with the others behind Danny he looked towards the house. As they made their way closer to the door, he looked up to see a particular window. It was a rather large window situated directly high up the house onto the second floor whilst, still being in line with the front door. Just the sight of the window brought back a fond memory of Leon's. 16 years ago... "Get back here you little rascal!" yelled out Bolt as he chased his son down one of the long corridors of their home. Up ahead Leon was running like his life depended on it, his mouth covered in a blue sauce. The way he had ended up in this position is by eating his father's favourite blueberry pie, that his mother had especially made for him. As you can tell, Bolt didn't react to well when he found out... 'I'm going to make that colt regret eating my blueberry pie!' thought Bolt angrily as he continued to run after the brown pegasus colt. Leon turned around a corner to try and lose his Dad but soon stopped in his tracks as he realized the corridor he had turned into had no other turnings or doors, it was a dead end. All that he could see was a rather large picture window that was opened to let in the floods of bright sunshine to light up the corridor. Ready to turn around to get out of the dead end, he was soon frozen in place as the presence his Dad blocked off his only way out, he was trapped. Bolt seeing his son had nowhere to run to. He called out, "Are you ready to get punished, for eating my pie?!" Leon looked furiously for any way possible he could get out of this dilemma. Soon an idea sprung into his head. With a smirk on his face he replied, "You're going to have to catch me first, Dad!", before turning around and running towards the open window. Bolt realizing what his son was about to do called out, "Leon don't do it!", but, by then it was too late. Leon gathering up speed from his run opened his wings out and took off through the window and into the clear blue skies above. Leon had a massive smile on his face as he finally escaped from suffering from the brutal torture his father was sure to put him through. Soon he began to look around him to see a number of birds flying around him as if to welcome their new companion in the air. He then looked around to see a sight that took his breathe away. He could see the grassy green plains of the countryside that stretched as far as the eye could see. The tiny plumes of grey smoke that erupted from the miniscule chimneys of the small town of Ponyville. The large strip of darker woods that lay just a short distance from the outskirts of Ponyville; the infamous Everfree Forest. The luminously bright Sun that poured it's energetic rays upon the whole setting making everything look and feel more surreal than it was. Even though Leon had seen this view near enough every day when he looked out to see the sunset, he was still blown away from looking at the view from this new aerial perspective. It was truly a magnificent view. However, he was snapped out of his admiration when he heard a voice call out to him, "Leon look out!". Looking to see where he was flying he saw he was about to collide head first into a tree. At the speed he was going there was no way he could turn away in time. So holding his front legs in front of his face and closing his eyes tightly shut he braced for impact. A few seconds passed but, the impact never came. Opening his eyes, he saw that he had completely stopped flying and instead was being carried in the arms of another pegasus. Looking up to see his saviour he saw that it was none other than his Dad. Soon the two had landed safely back on the ground. "Leon! Don't you ever do that again! You had me seriously worried!" exclaimed Bolt as he hugged Leon tightly. Leon shocked at everything that had just happened just hugged back whilst stuttering, "I-I won't Dad..." Letting go of his son Bolt replied, "I hope you don't!" before grabbing hold of Leon's ear. "Ow ow ow! Let go of my ear Dad!" yelled Leon who was struggling to get out of his Dad's vice grip on his ear. "Did you think I'd forget about my pie?!" question Bolt before chuckling and taking his son back home by the ear. In the present... Leon was currently rubbing his ear as he thought back to that memory. 'Damn! I still remember how much that hurt!' "LEON!" yelled out Sunny, snapping Leon out of his reminiscent state, "Leon mate, are you alright? We've been calling you for a while now, every pony is ready to go inside." asked a concerned Sunny. "Oh...it was nothing, just remembering something..." grumbled Leon before saying, "Let's go inside then!" as he re-joined the group who were waiting for the two stallions. The initial outside appearance of the house wasn't the only things wrong with the house. As they walked up the wooden step onto the wooden floored porch. The floor boards groaned under the weight of the ponies that walked on top of them. Very soon the weight became too much for the floor boards to take and this was shown when the floor boards gave away underneath Sunny. "Oh my gosh Sunny are you alright?!" cried Twilight as she and everyone else rushed to help him up. "Yeah I'm fine." said Sunny as he was helped up by both Leon and Danny. "I know I've put on a bit of weight recently, but I didn't think I was that fat!" he joked. "I'm so sorry about that I forgot to mention the termite infestation this property has. So you would have to spend money on getting that problem sorted before you could sort anything else out." Danny said as he opened the large oak door which thankfully had not been affected by the termites...yet. As they all carefully walked through the door they were amazed at what they saw in front of them. The first thing you saw as soon as you walked in was the grand staircase which had a be rather dusty roll of faded red carpet along the middle. The stairs from the top had a width big enough for four ponies to easily stand next to each other rather comfortably. Then as you went down, the width of the stairs widen until at the very foot if the stairs where you could easily fit twelve ponies with a bit of space to spare! The incredibly high ceilings were the next noticeable feature of the room. Cobwebs and thick layers of dust decorated meter after meter of the huge ceiling. However, what had to have been the centre piece of the once grand room was a massive chandelier that with it's own icing of cobwebs and dust. Despite, the state it was now in, it still had a strangely mesmerizing feature about it. As if the long strings of cobwebs added a sort of archaic character to the hanging piece of branched lighting. The entire room dug up another long lost memory that had been buried in Leon's sub-conscious for the past several years. 19 years ago... "Leon come out of there right now!" Bolt shouted as he knocked on Leon's bedroom door. He was currently dressed up smartly. His black mane nicely combed back. His chosen attire for the night was a simple white shirt, black tux, black bow-tie combo, with a single red rose decorating his lapel. "I'm not going to this stupid party!" yelled back Leon through the bedroom door. "Leo-" began Bolt before he was silenced by Moondancer. She was dressed in an elegantly flowing blood red gown, with a glittering pearl necklace around her neck. "Let me have a go with him." she said in a quiet and soothing voice in an effort to calm her husband down. "Fine then." he said in a huff. She knocked on the door and called out, "Leon honey. It's me." "Go away." "Leon what's the matter?" "I don't want to go to the party!" "Why not?" "Because...because there are going to be other ponies there." "What's wrong with that?" "I won't know any of them!" "All of your 'cousins', 'aunts' and 'uncles' will be there! Besides, you can always make new friends, Leon that's the point of this party in the first place." "Well...well..." he stammered as he struggled to think up another reason. Finally, a reason came to mind as he said, "What if I do anything stupid...they'll all laugh at me! Moondancer could only chuckle as she said "Oh Leon darling, there's nothing to worry about. You won't do anything stupid." "But...but what if I do?!" "Well then if any pony laughs at you. Daddy promises to kick them out of the house, okay sweetie?" "*sniff sniff* Promise?" "I promise Leon." called out Bolt. “*sniff* Alright then...I'll go." No sooner when those words left his lips did the sound of the lock on the door clicked and the door swung open to reveal a small brown colt dressed up in the same attire as his father minus the rose. As he walked out of the room, Moondancer reached out her hoof to him to which he held with his own tiny hoof. "Thanks dear." said Bolt gently to his wife as he too held his son's hoof in his own. "Don't mention it. Now come on everyone will be out there waiting for the hosts to arrive!" hurried Moondancer as the three of them walked towards the stairs. Once, they reached the top of the stairs they looked down to see a vast number of ponies currently, chatting amongst themselves whilst eating hors-d'ouevres off of trays that a number of pony waiters were carrying. A few of them were members of the Wonderbolts that were Leon's 'cousins', 'aunts' and 'uncles'. Whereas, the rest were all from the nearby town of Ponyville. The Cristo's had decided to throw this welcome party to introduce themselves to the whole town as they had only recently just moved in. Noticing that the hosts of the party had arrived the entire room of ponies became silent as they all looked up to the Cristo family. Leon immediately wanted to hide behind his mother to shield himself from all the unwanted attention. However, Moondancer simply held his hoof reassuringly and simply gave Leon a smile. It wasn't just any smile. This smile was pure in its intentions. It was one filled with a calm, warm feeling that washed over Leon. It told him that everything would be alright. Filled with this new air of confidence. Leon smiled back at his mother before they both looked towards the crowd of new faces and began their descent down the red carpeted stairs... Back to reality... "Dude are you sure you're okay? You keep zoning out all the time." asked Sunny again snapping Leon out of his memory. Every pony was now looking at him as they were all waiting for him so they could continue to look around. "Y-yeah I'm fine." stammered Leon as he then regained his composure as he said, "Shall we continue to look around?" Danny nodded as he took the group around the upstairs of the house first. They all had a look at the large number of bedrooms and bathrooms that the mansion had to offer. Whilst, they all matched the same décor of cobwebs, dust, faded colours and dim lighting that they had seen earlier, every pony could agree on the fact that each and every room was comfortably spacious. "Wow Leon! What was your Dad thinking when he built this place?" asked a still amazed Sunny. "What do you mean?" responded Leon who was now perplexed at Sunny's question. "Well I mean like why did he build a mansion this massive with so many bedrooms and bathrooms, when it was just you, your mum and him living here?" "Oh it wasn't just us that lived here. My Dad being one of the founding members of the Wonderbolts, believed that a team should be like family. So he decided to build this house to be big enough to house all the members of the Wonderbolts back then. They were all pretty much a part of our family." explained Leon as he began to think back to all the antics he would get up to with the younger members of the Wonderbolts. "Oh that makes much more sense!" said Sunny before saying, "That must have been awesome having to live in a house with the most famous flight team in all of Equestria!" "Well they weren't all that famous back then. After all, they had only just started out as a team. But, it still was amazing to live with them. The older members were like the aunts and uncles I never had and, the younger members were like my older brothers and sisters. We used to have a lot of fun together." said Leon with a smile as he thought back to all the memories he had with him and his other 'cousins' together and the antics that they would get up to. "Wow it sure sounds like you were one big happy family!" "We were, we all had the best of times together." "So what happened?" "What do you mean?" "I mean, why did the Wonderbolts leave?" "Well as time went on, the Wonderbolts were becoming more well-known and so more ponies wanted to join. For a while, we managed to cope with the increase in interest by sharing rooms, having up to eight ponies in one room. But, soon even the numbers became too much for even the large mansion to handle. So eventually, a much larger building was bought in Canterlot and the entire Wonderbolt team moved there to set up their headquarters. It was a sad day when they all had to move out of the house..." "Yeah, I can only imagine." said Sunny before adding, "Do you still keep in contact with any of them?" "To be honest, after they left we never really kept in touch. There was the odd occasion, but not anymore." ended Leon as his face gave away that he was sad at having to think back to such memories. "Oh right...I see." said Sunny who now felt awkward for bringing up a topic which ended up upsetting his friend. Eventually, the two had finished looking at the room they were at and went off to find the others who were still being taken around the mansion by Danny. As the tour went on Leon was hit with flashback after reminiscent flashback about how life used to be when both his mother and father were still alive. Whilst, the images of his parents reminded him that he was never going to be able to see them ever again. They still provided him with a warmth of all the good times he had with them. In the end, they only furthered his resolve to buy this mansion. It was more than just a property. It was more than just a home. It was a symbol of the times that represented paradise to him. It was something that only he would truly be able to cherish. It was his history. Once, they had finished the tour of the mansion they all walked outside. "So how did you all find the place?" asked Danny. "Well I for one think it would need a LOT of work before you could even get it to a condition which would be suitable to live in." said Twilight as she looks back at all the external damages to the walls especially. "I kind of liked the place. I mean sure it needs a bit of work. But, the rooms are incredibly spacious and the entire building just oozes character! It would be a stunning place to live!" added Sunny who stared in amazement at the mansion imagining what it would look like once it was all done up. "But, what about the termite infestation?! Plus, I'm absolutely sure I saw a rat or two scurrying around when we were in the kitchen! It would take a while to clear those pests out!" argued Twilight. "But, think of the reward after all the hard work!" countered Sunny. Soon enough Sunny and Twilight began to have a full blown argument over the mansion. Danny walked over to Leon and asked, "Are those two going out together?" . "No they aren't. Why?" replied Leon. "Well I've been in the real estate business for a good twenty-five years now and I've sold a fair share of houses in that time. Seeing those two now you'd have thought they were newlyweds arguing about the house they might live in together!" At this, Leon couldn't help but burst out laughing at the remark. They always did have that little chemistry between them that suggested to everypony that met them that the two were an item. Their arguing continued as Twilight came up with a rebuttal. "But just imagine how much the repair work would cost! Not to mention the actual price of the mansion! The price would just be too much!" Danny's ears perked up when he heard this and soon stopped the argument by adding his own point. "Actually, if you consider the fact that the original market value of the property was in the region of seven and a half million bits, and that over the years and the obviously poor state it is in now the price has dropped to a significantly reasonable price of four and a half million bits" Danny emphasized the price to Leon using the skills of the trade that he picked up over the years to try and get the sale. He continued, "I'm sure you'll agree a real bargain considering what you are getting: the property in question, the five acres of land surrounding the property, the stunning setting of living in the countryside, within walking distance of Ponyville. It has to be one of the best deals I've ever seen in all my twenty five years as an estate agent!" Both, Sunny and Twilight couldn't help but both nod their heads in agreement. When he explained it like that how could you disagree. The two were completely sold. Leon would have been to. If it weren't for one thing: the price. His father had left two million bits for both himself and Windbreaker, all saved up from his career as one of the founders and captain of the Wonderbolts. His mother had left for them her own one million bits for the two having saved them up from her career as a very successful dancer who performed shows all over Equestria. Leon had sold their small yet adequate house in Canterlot for a reasonable four hundred thousand bits. Leon had also saved up another hundred thousand bits from his job which he had now left. All of this together was still one million bits short of being able to buy the mansion! Leon's heart was broken at the prospect of not being able to buy the place that meant so much to him. The place that brought him so many good memories. To add insult to injury, Sunny asked, oblivious to his friend's situation, "So how much do you think the repair work would cost?" Danny thought for a little while before saying, "The amount of damage done is going to be costly to repair. Getting the necessary materials alone is expensive. If I had to estimate I'd say you'd need between two hundred to two hundred thousand bits if you want to do a good job on repairing the place." 'Great! Where am I going to get one and a quarter million bits from?!' thought Leon. "So then the question of the moment, Mr. Cristo." said Danny as he looked at Leon with a smile on his face, "Are you interested in buying the property today?" Leon was stuck. Of course, he wanted to buy the place and keep all of the cherished memories that it held within it's walls and surroundings. But, he just didn't have the money. With a deep, regretful sigh Leon finally spoke out, "Well I'd buy this mansion in a heartbeat if I could. But, I just don't have enough money to buy the place..." Immediately, the smile on Danny's face dropped as he heard those words leave Leon's lips. "Well then, may I ask how much do you have right now?" Danny asked desperate to come away with some sort of deal. "I have three and a half million bits I can spend." Danny had a brief look of deep thought about him. Although, this was quickly removed as he said, "Well it would be impossible for me to lower the price for you as we really have given as low a price as we can possibly give based off of the current state of the housing market." Leon's ears flattened as he heard this news. But, they soon perked up again as Danny continued to say, "However, if you are still interested in buying the property you could perhaps put in a one million bit deposit so that we can keep hold of the property in question for you, so that no other pony can buy the mansion." Leon's head began to think hard about that. The situation would be a bit better for him knowing that no other pony would buy the mansion whilst he was trying to raise the rest of the money. But, the question of how he was going to raise the money still plagued his mind. Danny continued, "Although, we can only do this for a period of eighteen months. If you aren't able to pay the remainder of the money by then, then we'll refund you your million bits back to you. So what do you say to that?" he finished with a smile and holding out his hoof, as he hoped that he was still in with a shot of selling the place. Leon didn't have to be told the entire situation twice. He had decided the thought of some pony else buying the mansion before he could was a scenario which he just wasn't prepared to let happen. So with no hesitation the brown pegasus said as he shook Danny's hoof: "Okay then. I'll put up the million bit deposit for now." "Excellent, let's get the paperwork sorted back at the office, shall we?" Danny as he walked away heading back to Ponyville with Leon and the gang following behind him. An hour later... Leon, Windbreaker, Abigail and Sunny were walking towards the outskirts of Ponyville, towards Sunny's house. With the Cristo siblings without a house to live in Sunny had quickly offered to let the two stay at his house for as long as they needed to. Meanwhile, Twilight decided it was getting a little late and she still had to finish off her essay to send to Princess Celestia. So both Twilight and Spike bid the rest of the gang farewell as they headed their own way back to the library. Leon, Sunny and Abigail were walking along the path whilst, Windbreaker was simply flying along besides them. The Cristo's luggage floating right behind them all in a line thanks to a quick 'Levitation' and 'Locomotor' Spell combo by Sunny. Eventually, the trio reached Sunny's home, but just the sight of it left both Leon ad Windbreaker stunned with both of their jaws opened and their eyes slightly widened at the house they would be staying in. Whilst, it wasn't as extravagant as the mansion they had seen earlier today. It was still certainly a very luxurious house for just one pony to live in. It was a rather modern building with it's walls painted a pure white. It had two floors and, from where they were standing they could see a very large balcony that had a number of tables and chairs laid out. The land it was built on was sectioned off by a rather large hedge wall that ran right around the building. But, what really stood out to the Cristo siblings wasn't anything to do with the building itself. It was in fact the front garden. From the front gate began a large pathway that led all the way towards the front door of the house. Every few meters along the path were a number of hedge arches that provided plenty of shade along the path so that on a hot day you could still walk down the pathway feeling relatively cool. Alongside, the path was a massive flower bed that stretched the length of the long pathway. Planted on it was nothing but blue roses. Evidently, the flower beds did end up looking like two lines of royal blue from afar. The remainder of the lawn in his front garden seemed to radiate it's bright green colour, which complemented the blue lines of the flower bed very nicely. All in all, the sight was a jaw-dropping sight. "Welcome to my home! I hope the two of you will be comfortable living here." said Sunny a he made his way down the path to open the front for them, still oblivious to his friend’s reactions to the sight of his 'humble' home. "Woah! This place is awesome!" exclaimed Windbreaker as she flew through the door, once it was open, to take a look around the new house. Abigail ran in soon after to follow the white filly. "S-Sunny h-how did you afford a place like this?! It must have cost a fortune!" asked a still shocked Leon as the three of them walk into the house. The entire house had white marble flooring which reflected the light that came through the large windows that let in floods of sunlight into the room. All of this made the whole house seem a lot brighter and really made the white marble sparkle showing off just how clean the floor really was. Leon actually wondered whether he should have cleaned his hooves wrote walking into his friend's spectacular abode. "Well it would have cost a fortune, had I not taken the unconventional route of buying the land and getting this house built to my own specifications. It only cost a million bits to do up." "A-a million bits?!" stuttered an even more shocked Leon. Whilst, he was amazed at how cheap Sunny had been able to get a house which should have cost three, if not four times that amount. He was more amazed at how his friend had earned a million bits in the space of two years. Only the most successful ponies out there could earn bits like that in such a short amount of time. "Yeah can you believe such a bargain!" exclaimed Sunny as he put the luggage he had been carrying around on the floor. "Sunny I hope you don't find this too rude of me. But, can I ask how did you end up getting...well..." asked Leon trying to find a better way of asking the question. "Getting all of this money to be able to live in such a comfortable house?" guessed Sunny. Leon simply nodded his head as a reply. "Well I already told you earlier today that I now work as a song writer." continued Sunny referring to the conversation they had at the Sugarcube Corner. "Yeah but you also told me how song writers don't actually get paid that much!" replied Leon. "Well in retrospect they really don't get paid that much. Although, it does really depend on the circumstances. There are actually a few ways songwriters earn money." "Like how?" questioned Leon now clearly eager to know more about how his friend earned his money. "Well it's kind of complicated to be honest. They teach you this kind of stuff back at the Music Academy." Sunny responded before seeing the waiting face of Leon who was still waiting to hear the answer. With a heavy sigh Sunny continued, "Well I guess I'll try to explain it as simply as I possibly can. You see it's actually quite difficult to calculate how much any songwriter earns. But, there are three main ways they earn their money." He stopped to make sure he wasn't boring Leon with his talking, before he continued, "The first way is by some pony actually buying your song. Songwriters get something like ninety thousandths of a bit for every copy of their song they sell...or something like that! It's also the main way a songwriter earns his or her money. So from that you can obviously tell that you would need to sell a lot of copies of one song if you were going to earn anything like an average amount. Please just leave all questions till the end." finished Sunny when he saw Leon about to ask another question. Immediately, Leon kept quiet. "Okay so the next way a songwriter earns money is from the number of times his or her song is performed or played in a public setting. So for example at concerts, radio stations and so on." Again, Sunny stopped to make sure Leon had no trouble keeping up with everything he was saying. He then continued: "The last and final way a songwriter earns money is by licensing other people and companies to use your song. So if a company wanted to use your song as part of their advertisement campaign the thy would pay you money to use it." With a sigh of relief Sunny concluded, "And that's how songwriters earn their money. Now do you have any questions?" Leon now thinking about everything Sunny had said today, did have one more question on his mind, "Okay from everything you said it's quite obvious that you would need to have made really successful songs to earn anything like you have. Plus, you said earlier today about how you had only just started and produced one album for someone. So that brings about the question, who did you make an album for?" "Well I wrote the songs for Sapphire Shore's latest album and-" "WHAT?!" exclaimed a now shocked Leon interrupting Sunny in the process. Leon then continued, "Sapphire Shores! You are talking about the 'Pony of Pop' Sapphire Shores right? The one that recently sold a record breaking ten million copies of her new album! The one that received a new Diamond certification for selling so many albums! The one that now has a completely sold out tour in all the major cities all over Equestria! The one who is now in the top five most richest ponies in Equestria! That Sapphire Shores?" Leon emphasized his point still not believing his friend actually did write the 'Pony of Pop's most successful album to date. "Yeah that's the one." said Sunny who now had a puzzled look on his face as he was wondering why his friend was reacting so strongly to this news. Soon, Leon began to burst out laughing. Sunny now utterly confused asked, "What's so funny?" It took a little while for Leon to final calm down enough to actually speak, "Okay Sunny you can cut it out with the jokes now." "What are you talking about I didn't say any jokes." "Oh come on Sunny it's obvious you're joking about the working with Sapphire Shores thing. I mean come on! You've only just started your career and you honestly expect me to believe that some pony as famous as Sapphire has worked with you!" said Leon who was now slightly annoyed that Sunny persisted with this fib. "Oh I see what's going on now. Alright just wait a second." Sunny said now fully understanding the situation. Using his magic he levitated a photo album that was laying on a nearby shelf towards him. Once, the album was in his hooves he opened the album to particular page before pointing to a particular picture for Leon to look at. Leon could only gawk at the picture he was looking at. There in front of him was a picture of both Sunny and Sapphire standing side by side together holding up the framed diamond record which Sapphire had gained for achieving over 10 million sales of her latest album. They each also held awards in their other hooves with another six awards lined up on the ground in front of them. "This was taken a couple of days after the Equestrian Music Awards (EMA's). She's holding her award for the 'Best Female Artist of the Year' along with the other five she had won that night. As I'm sure you are already well aware of. After all, it was on the news quite a lot when the awards were given out, seeing as it was a record breaking number of awards for one pony to win in one sitting." "Yeah I know I watched the awards live on T.V." said Leon before he asked another question. "What about the award you're holding?" "Oh that. Well I wasn't at the awards ceremony to pick up my own award so on the night Sapphire picked it up for me. It was under my alias 'Mr.Sunshine' which was why you didn't know it was me." "Hang on so you're the 'Mr.Sunshine'! The pony that won both the 'Best Newcomer (Songwriter)' and 'Songwriter of the Year' awards at the EMA's!" "Yours truly." Sunny said with a smile as his friend finally believed him. "Oh wow! I can't believe that you're THE 'Mr.Sunshine' that's always in the newspapers. You're like a celebrity man!" exclaimed Leon with new found pride in his friend. "Alright now that you know who I am, you have to promise me that you won't tell anypony who I am! I don't want the media to know simple because I just couldn't stand all the unwanted attention." Sunny finished whilst shuddering to himself at the thought of what other celebrities he knew had to put up with. "Don't worry your secret is safe with me!" said Leon knowing how serious this secret was. However, another thought entered his mind which he just had to get answered, "Sunny, I was wondering with you being so successful and all, could you perhaps lend me the money I need to buy the mansion." When Leon realized what his words sounded like he quickly added, "It's not like I'm out for your money or anything it's just-" "Woah woah Leon calm down I know you aren't like that! You've been my friend since before I've become famous. So I know you aren't after my money. So don't worry about it." interrupted Sunny to try and calm him down. As soon as Leon breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that he hadn't ruined his friendship over something so trivial to him, Sunny continued to say, "As for lending you money. I'm afraid I can't do that for a few reasons. Firstly, like I said before songwriters don't earn that much in comparison to how much their songs actually make. So whilst, Sapphire's album made millions and millions of bits, I only ended up making just a little over a couple of million bits. Now I know that still leaves one million bits still left unaccounted for which would still help a lot in raising the money for you to buy and do up your place. But, that leads onto my second reason to why I can't lend you the money. You already knew about my family's situation right?" At this Leon nodded as he remembered from years back when both he and Sunny were still at school in Canterlot. He remembered Sunny telling him how he didn't come from a fancy background that most of the ponies in Canterlot did. In fact, back in Manehattan where he lived his family wasn't really that well off there either. Both of his parents had to work tirelessly throughout the day to just earn barely enough money to put food on the table and pay the schooling of both himself and his two younger siblings. Some nights they wouldn't even have dinner because of how little money was coming in from their parents low paying jobs. His parents had to make a lot of sacrifices in order for both he and his siblings to live the life they had at that point. The fact that he had gotten a scholarship to study with all expenses paid for at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was the only reason he was even able to go to the school in the first place. That day Leon had learnt a lot about how his Sunny's family's well-being is what motivated Sunny every day to work as hard as he could to help his family out and to make sure his siblings got much better education than what they had right now, which was below any acceptable standard. "Well with that one and a half million bits I was able to buy a much nicer home for them to live in as well as being able to pay for both my brother and sister's new school fees. My Mum no longer has to work and my Dad doesn't have to work himself to the bone every day. Plus, they have a little left over to do with what they want. So now that their all sorted out I can rest easier knowing that I've now made life a lot more comfortable for them to live." Sunny began to tear up as he thought back to the looks on his family when he told them they would never have to live another day of hardship ever again. Leon could only give him a reassuring pat on the back, as Sunny furiously wiped his tears away so that he wouldn't cry, especially in front of his best friend. After quickly recovering from his temporary emotional moment Sunny continued, "Now with all of those reasons that is near enough all of the money I've earned already spent . I only have a little less than twenty thousand bits left to last me for a good number of months, whilst I have a break from song writing. I would lend you the money I have left if you really wanted it Leon. But, I know that is nowhere near enough to the amount you need which is why I offered to let you stay here till you could get the amount you needed." Leon now feeling bad at having doubted that his friend wouldn't help him in his time of need, Leon began to say, "Sunny...I'm sorry I doubted you." "Hey it's no big deal man! I probably would've been the same if I were in your position. Now let's get this luggage to your rooms and get you settled in shall we?" Sunny finished as he levitated the bags upstairs and proceeded to walk up the stairs. Leon could only follow Sunny up before, they spent the next few hours unpacking all of their things. A few hours later... Leon lay motionless and fully awake despite trying to get to sleep for an hour now. The room that he was staying in was quite spacious...as were all the rooms in Sunny's house. The bed was incredibly comfortable...and, yet he could not get to sleep. It was the continuous thoughts of how he was going to earn the one and a quarter million bits to get that mansion that held so many cherished and dear memories to him, that plagued his mind and prevented him from going to sleep. He could hear the distinct sound of his sister snoring through his bedroom wall, as her room was right next to his. But apart, from that all was silent in the house. That was until the sweet melodious sound of an acoustic guitar danced it's way through the dark and empty hallways and into Leon's room to nestle itself comfortably into the crevices that were Leon's ears. Intrigued by the blissful tune Leon got out of his bed and followed the trail of musical notes that hung in the air, all the way to the location of it's source: the balcony. Opening the sliding door gently so as not to alert the pony playing the guitar, Leon slowly tip-toed on his hooves to get a better look at the guitar player. Obviously, it was none other than Sunny who held the guitar in his hooves. The young stallion was staring up into the beautiful starry night sky. More specifically, the bright full moon that bathed everything in a pale yet eerie white light. The light illuminating Sunny's features against the dark background. The gentle night breeze blowing through his fiery mane, that also lit up under the moonlight. He was sitting down in one of the many chairs on the balcony, simply lost in his own little world as he serenaded the Moon with his peaceful tune on the guitar. Leon could not help but close his own eyes and enjoy the music that drifted into his ears. His own thoughts and worries seemingly melted away at the sound of the guitar strings being plucked and strummed away on. Soon, the tune came to an end and as Sunny strummed the final chord to the song he was surprised to hear the sound of clapping. Quickly turning around to see who had given him a shock, he gave a huge sigh of relief when he saw that it was just Leon. "Celestia's sake Leon! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" said Sunny, whilst clutching his chest to emphasize his point. "That was an amazing song! What's it called?" Leon said choosing to ignore Sunny's earlier comment. "Thanks, the song's called 'Never my Love'." replied Sunny. "Well with a song title like that, and the way you played it just now, you should have no problem sweeping the mares off their hooves..." Leon said, before a smirk spread across his face, "...Or maybe you already have a mare in mind. A certain lavender pony we both know, hmm?" At this Sunny blushed at what Leon's words were implying. "N-no! It's not like that! You of all ponies know that we both split up ages ago!" said a now flustered Sunny who's face had gradually turned red as his blush intensified, perhaps revealing a bit about his feeling for the lavender pony still... "Sorry man! I was only joking about the whole you and Twilight thing...I know fully well you guys are broken up," said Leon, who now felt bad at perhaps having taken his joke a little too far. "It's alright. I guess I kind of over-reacted there a bit,” sighed Sunny as he looked out to the moonlit front garden that looked twice as beautiful at night as it did during the day. Sunny continued, "So what's been keeping you awake then?" With a sigh of his own, Leon pulled up a chair next to Sunny and sat down next to him as they both watched the full moon shine brightly amongst the hundreds of glittering stars that dotted the pitch black canvas of the night sky. He then answered: "It's just the thought of trying to figure out how I can possibly raise the money to buy the mansion. It seems more impossible every time I think about it." "Dude you have eighteen months to figure out a way to make the money. You don't have to think up a way right this minute. I'm sure we'll think of a way together." "What are you talking about 'we'll think of a way together'? I've already caused enough of an inconvenience just by taking up room in your home. No I need to figure this problem out on my own!" he finished stubbornly. Sunny face-hoofed at how stupidly Leon was acting, before, he said: "Leon I'm not sure if you noticed this but there are plenty of empty rooms here for the purpose of housing guests. That's what you are Leon; a guest. You aren't an inconvenience to any pony, at all! You're my friend Leon! How could I think of you as an inconvenience? Furthermore, as your friend I have a right to be worried about you. Also, I'm not offering my help because you need it, or because I feel under pressure to. No! I'm offering my help because I want to! I'm sure Twilight wants to help you out as well! So don't be a stubborn mule and think you need to do all of this on your own, when you have friends who are more than ready to help you! We all care for you Leon and, if that mansion is something you really want then I guarantee you that we will get the money to buy and do up that place...together." Sunny finished his rant, whilst holding out his hoof to Leon for a hoofshake. Leon couldn't help but smile as he realized that he had friends he could truly count on in any time of need. As he gave his own hoof to complete the hoofshake, he couldn't help but smile, as he re-uttered the one word that re-sealed their friendship after five years of being apart from one another. "Together."
A New Arrival!It was a cold, crisp autumnal morning. The sound of all of the creatures of the Everfree Forest and the rustling of the coloured leaves as they were blown by the wind were all that could be heard as a lone unicorn colt was out exploring what was now the surroundings of his new home. He had a shining yellow coat and a fiery red mane with orange streaks. Along side him was his pet, an Alaskan malamute, named Abigail. "This sure is a lovely place isn't it Abigail. Much quieter than Manehattan don't you think?" he said whilst using magic to throw a tennis ball across a field. Abigail responded with a loud bark whilst chasing after the ball before getting distracted by a butterfly and chasing after it instead. As he chuckled at his companion's antics he used his magic to pick up the ball. After, a few moments of watching Abigail hopelessly try to catch the butterfly he spotted a cottage further down the path he was walking on. "Hey Abigail! It seems like we've got a neighbor. I'd say we go introduce ourselves." At this she turned her head and ran back to her owner's side. "O.K last one there is a rotten apple!" he exclaimed before galloping off towards the cottage. Abigail barked angrily, clearly unhappy with her owner's head-start before chasing after him. When they arrived at the front gate of the cottage, they clearly saw that the person who owned the cottage was an animal lover with a chicken coop, several rabbits, a falcon, an eagle, a flying squirrel, a bat and many more creatures playing around in her front yard. As he walked towards the front door Abigail by his side all of the animals stopped playing. Some ran off scared from the presence of a new face. Others just stared as he reached the door and knocked. "J-just a minute..." he heard a quiet voice answer. Shortly, after the door creaked open only a little with a pony looking to see who it was. "Y-yes...uhm..h-how can I...h-help you?" she squeaked out. He had immediately noticed her sky blue eyes and couldn't help but lose himself in them for a moment. Quickly, realizing he was probably slightly creeping the already shy pony out he quickly began to speak, his face flushed in embarrassment. "O-oh I'm so sorry if I disturbed you in any way...it's just that...I recently moved into the neighborhood...and I saw that you lived right down the road from me...so I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Starbuck Sunrise but most people call me Sunny," he ended with a smile and held his hoof out for a hoofshake. At this the shy pony felt she could trust this pony a lot more and so proceeded to fully open the door revealing herself. She had a yellow coat, with a long pink mane and tail along with three butterflies as her cutie mark. "M-my name's Flu-Fluttershy." she nervously replied with a smile of her own whilst reaching out slowly and shaking it lightly. Suddenly, Abigail barked out feeling left out of the discussion. As Fluttershy turned her eyes to see Abigail she immediately gasped before immediately squealing, "Oh Wow! She's so beautiful! Is she yours? What's her name? How old is she? How did you get her coat to turn out so fluffy and shiny? What food does she like?..." she continued on asking questions whilst Sunny just stood there stunned at just how beautiful Fluttershy was. Meanwhile, Abigail was simply loving the attention Fluttershy was giving her. As she rolled onto her back whilst she rubbed her belly. Snapping back to reality again Sunny quickly answered "Oh...uhm yeah she's mine. Her name's Abigail and she's going to be 5 in a couple of weeks time. I use shampoo and two conditioners when she needs a bath and she pretty much eats whatever I give her although mainly it's just normal dog food. Plus I think you should stop giving her so much attention it'll only boost her ego to even bigger proportions!" At this Abigail barked at Sunny annoyingly and gave a small growl to emphasize her point. At this both ponies chuckled and continued to talk about animals in general for a good half an hour whilst, playing fetch with Abigail. He then continued "So I guess you really like animals then huh?" "Oh yes I do love animals especially taking care of them." she said as she stopped playing with Abigail. "Yeah I could guess that." "Really how?" At this Sunny nearly facehoofed before motioning with his head to the front garden where all the animals were all going about their own businesses. "Oh right." Fluttershy said sheepishly, slightly embarrassed at her silly question. To break the awkward silence both of their stomachs groaned out loud. At which both ponies held a small blush. "Ah damn! I was so busy giving Abigail her morning walk that I forgot to even have breakfast!" "Oh I was just about to make my own breakfast before you...uhm...knocked." "Oh I am so sorry about that! Would you like me to leave so you can get back to having your breakfast?" he said with a small hint of guilt. "Not at all. In fact, would you like to come in for some breakfast?" she asked quietly whilst looking at the ground, before realising what she said and added, "Uhm...that is of course if you want to?" "W-well I don't mean to be a bother..." "Oh it's no problem at all!" she said quickly as if she was desperate for some more company. "Well...O.K. then!" he said with a smile as they both went into her cottage. As Fluttershy quickly made some daisy sandwiches and some chrysanthemum tea for the two of them, Sunny looked around the house to see some cages with injured animals with wrapped up appendages and could even see a mouse moving around the house with a tiny wheelchair and cast. 'Wow she really does care for a lot of animals I wonder how she does it all herself?' His train of thought was then broken by Fluttershy calling to him rather quietly "Breakfast is ready. I'm sorry it isn't a proper breakfast but this is what I normally eat!" "Oh it's no problem anything is fine with me! Thank you very much for making this for me" he said gratefully as he quickly got to his seat at the table with Fluttershy. As they ate they continued to talk more about each other. Fluttershy learnt how he came from Manehattan and left because he wanted to leave the busy and stressful lifestyle of the big city and move to a more quite and rural place like Ponyville. She also learnt about how he was a music and song writer and even offered her to come round his house some time and play some of his own songs for her. He learnt about Fluttershy's friends, how she came to earn her cutie mark and how she lived on her own and took care of the animals mostly by herself with some occasional help from her friends.Even after both had finished their breakfast they lost track of time and talked for a couple more hours enjoying each other's company. "Oh my is that the time we've been talking for 3 hours now!" Sunny spoke slightly shocked. "Oh my! I s-sorry if I've kept you away from something important..." she squeaked slightly upset. "Oh no you haven't kept me from anything important. It's just I wanted to finish unpacking all my things today so I'd have free time tomorrow!" he said reassuring her. "Oh that’s alright then." "Anyway it must be pretty hectic taking care of all of these animals on your own. I'll have finished unpacking everything by the end of today, so if you'd like I could perhaps give you a hand sometime?" "Well I am quite busy but I don't know. I mean you just moved here! I wouldn't want to be any trouble to you." "Oh it's no trouble at all! After all I take care of Abigail all the time I don't see how hard looking after other animals could be? And you could most certainly use the extra pair of hooves." "Well...if you want...could you maybe come by tomorrow...to help with getting the animals ready for hibernation in the winter?" she asked nervously, before adding, "Only if you want to of course?" "Sure what time?" "How about ten o'clock?" "O.K. I will definitely be there! Now I need to get home and finish unpacking! I'll be back tomorrow!" he said as he was seen outside the door by Fluttershy with Abigail followed behind him as he walked down the path towards the gate. "Great" she called out rather quietly and couldn't help but smile at such a nice and kind-hearted pony. "Oh and one more thing before I leave!" he called out as he was on the other side of the gate turning around to face Fluttershy. "W-what is it?" Fluttershy asked worried Sunny may not come anymore. "Smile more!" he yelled with a big grin on his face, "You have a beautiful smile, don't be afraid to show it more often!" and with that he turned around an walked off with Abigail following close behind him. They both left a stunned Fluttershy, with a small blush across her face. She walked back into her house excited about finally having someone else to help out with the animals who enjoyed them almost as much as she did. Before, she went to the kitchen she stopped in front of the mirror and thought back to Sunny's last words. She couldn't help but smile at herself, before giggling and going back to clear up the plates and start her work for the day.
The Mane Six!All was quiet around the Everfree forest as usual. All that could be heard were two mockingbirds on a tree singing in the early morning. However, this peace wasn't to last. "OH CRAP! I'M GOING TO BE LATE!" yelled Sunny loud enough to cause the mockingbirds as well as a few other animals to flee the surrounding area. "Abigail! Why didn't you wake me up? You knew I was meant to be helping Fluttershy today!" Abigail simply replied with a whine before going back to sleep. The both of them had spent all night finishing unpacking and so were both very tired. "What a way to make a first impression Sunny! Already half an hour late and I haven't even showered yet!" he scolded himself before rushing towards the bathroom. Meanwhile, the mane six were at Fluttershy's house waiting for her 'new friend' to come so that they could start working on getting the animals ready for winter. "I-I don't understand h-he said he'd be here at ten o'clock..." Fluttershy said weakly. "Are you sure it wasn't just your imagination, instead of an actual colt?" asked Rainbow Dash to which Fluttershy looked at the floor in embarrassment. "Aww! I wanted to meet this new guy so I could throw him a party! I wonder if he would've like strawberry or raspberry punch? Ooh does he like sprinkles or chocolate chips on his cupcakes?" said Pinkie Pie far too quickly for anyone to really understand her. "Now wait just a minute Rainbow Dash!" scolded Twilight Sparkle completely ignoring Pinkie Pie's outburst, "Just because she may normally be too quiet and shy to talk to any new pony, does not mean that she would simply lie about it." Fluttershy looked up at Twilight grateful that she stood up for her. "I'd hate to say it but I'm inclined to agree with Dash on this one." said Rarity, "I mean it just sounds too out of character for Fluttershy to make friends with a completely new pony in just a single day. She even struggled to talk with you Twilight, when you two first met. I mean let's face it if it wasn't for her love of animals and you having Spike around, it would've been a few days before she would've trusted you like she does with this 'coltfriend' of hers. At the mention of coltfriend Fluttershy 'eeped' and blush a very bright shade of red. "Now, now, y'all should know better than to pick on Fluttershy over here." Applejack defended her friend, "Although, this colt sure is wasting our time! I coulda bucked at least 2 dozen apple trees by now! When's your friend getting here anyway?" she ended off rather annoyed. "I-I'm not sure...give him another...uhm...ten minutes...If he doesn't come by that time...then we can go." "O.K. sugarcube he's got ten minutes after that I'm going to work." Back at Sunny's house he had just finished his shower and was quickly wolfing down some honey oats for breakfast, as fast as he possibly could. 'Damn it the only way I'm going to be able to get to her house any faster is by using a teleportation spell.' he thought once he had finished his oats and began to wear a red and yellow scarf. 'Ahh but I haven't used one in so long! What if I mess it up?', just as he said that his clock chimed for eleven o'clock. 'Ah forget it. I'll worry about that later,' he finished his thought off, as he began to place an image of Fluttershy's cottage in his head and he focused on using his magic to make the spell. "Damn it! I forgot how much concentration this required!" he thought as his horn began to glow bright white and then with a flash with a few sparkles left over he vanished. At Fluttershy's cottage, Applejack had finally lost her patience as she stormed out of the cottage hell bent on getting some work done for the day. "I've had just about enough of this here colt making us wait around and doing nothing! "Calm down Applejack!" called out Twilight from Fluttershy's porch as the rest of the mane six made their way out of the cottage. "Sorry hun! But I ain't calming down! We been here waiting for an hour for some pony to show up! And you know I can't stand around doing nothing all day! I want to work no-OW!" Applejack yelled as a pony teleported right on top of her just as she was finishing her rant. "Oh my god I'm so sorry!" said Sunny shocked that he somehow managed to teleport on top of another pony, "It's just that I haven't done a teleportation spell in a while!" "Yeah that's good and all, but would you mind getting off me?!" groaned Applejack. "Oh yes right! I am so sorry!" Sunny said rather flustered as he got off and helped Applejack up. "Oh Fluttershy there you are! Listen I'm sorry I'm so late it's just that I spent all night unpacking all my stuff so yeah you know...Oh are these your friends?" he spoke rather quickly hoping to divert all the attention away from himself. "O-oh right where are my manners! Everypony t-this is S-Starbuck Sunrise." said Fluttershy. Meanwhile, Twilight's eyes went wide as she hid behind Fluttershy. "Oh Fluttershy, you know everypony calls me Sunny!" he replied. "Oh right I forgot...um...well you've already met Applejack." "Oh right you're the pony that owns the apple orchard around here right? Fluttershy told me all about you pleased to meet you!" he said whilst holding out a hoof. "Yes siree! Sweet Apple Acres, home to some of the best apples and treats around! And by golly it's a pleasure to meet you too sugarcube!" Applejack said whilst rapidly shaking Sunny's hoof. "Wow I'll make sure to get apples from you guys then" he said with a smile whilst trying to stop his hoof from shaking after the hoofshake. "This here is my friend Rainbow Dash." "Ah you're the winner of the Best Young Flyer Competition last year! I saw your amazing Sonic Rainboom on T.V. It was amazing!" he said in awe of Rainbow Dash whilst holding out a hoof. "Well yeah that's nothing when you're the best flier in Equestria!" Dash said whilst rubbing her hoof on her chest ad looking at it as if it were nothing before bro-hoofing him. "She's Rarity." "Rarity? THE fashion designer, Rarity? Oh wow your designs are very popular in Manehattan! My sister and her friends just don't stop talking about them!" he said whilst shaking hooves with her. "Oh wow...I didn't think my designs had reached out to such big cities! And to have people actually adore them! Oh I think I might faint!" she said rather dramatically with a hoof over her forehead. "Her name is Pinkie Pie." "Hey there" he said whilst holding out a hoof. Instead Pinkie Pie gave a deep breath before speaking at a ridiculously fast pace, "Hey do you like parties? I love parties? In fact, I was going to have one to celebrate you moving to Ponyville. What flavor punch do you like? Do you like party hats? Oh what about streamers? Oh what party games do you like to play? What-mphhh!" she finished interrupted by Applejack, who stuffed her hoof in Pinkie's mouth. "She can get a bit like that at times but don't worry darling you'll learn to live with it" whispered Rarity. "Yeah I guess." Sunny said whilst chuckling to himself. "Last but not least..." as she moved to the side as Twilight hid behind her, "this is-". "Twilight? Twilight Sparkle! Is that you?" Sunny asked in shock. "Heh heh hi Sunny!" wishing she could teleport herself away right now. "O-oh you two know each other already?" a look of surprise painted Fluttershy's face. "Well...yeah...I mean...I uh..." mumbled Twilight rather flustered. "Ah...what I think she means to say is that...I used to be her coltfriend." At this point, every pony in unison thought and yelled the same thing, "WHAT?!"
Competition at Work!'The name is BlackSpire.' - thoughts "The name is BlackSpire." - actual speech A second later... - time skip "Woah woah woah! Let's get this straight Twilight. You..." said Dash whilst pointing at Twilight,"...went out with a hunk of a colt like that!" she finished whilst pointing to Sunny, to which he blushed at the compliment. "Well I..."Twilight began. "Whatever Dash! I'm just glad that my little filly has finally gotten her head out of those books and found herself a real stallion!" teased Rarity whilst staring rather seductively at Sunny, to which he was ready to make another teleportation spell...away from her. "We're not..." Twilight began again. "Well I'll be darn why didn't you tell any of us you had a coltfriend sugarcube?" interrupted Applejack. "He's not..." Twilight was about to respond before again being interrupted again by a rather excited Pinkie Pie. "Yay! We can have a double party! We should heart shaped balloons, confetti, streamers and oh we'll need a bigger banner!" she said whilst jumping up and down as if she were on a trampoline. Meanwhile, while all of this was going on Fluttershy just stood there in shock at what she had just heard whilst also feeling slightly angry and jealous as the same time. 'Why am I feeling this way? I mean it isn't like me and him were going out or anything. Besides I don't see how he could like a quiet and silly filly like me when he has Twilight with her brains and her skill in magic. I wouldn't have stood a chance...' However, Fluttershy's thoughts and everyone else's discussion were interrupted by Twilight's patience finally snapping. "EVERYPONY BE QUIET!" she yelled so loud that everyone stared at her wide-eyed and Pinkie in mid-bounce deflated like a balloon back to the ground. "O.K. first of all Rarity you forgot the words 'used to' we're no longer together anymore," at this Fluttershy's ears perked up. Twilight turned to Applejack and answered her question "The reason why I never mentioned it is because there's never been any point in time where I've ever needed to tell any of you ponies about my previous relationships." Twilight then turned to Pinkie Pie and said "We are not having a double party because me and Sunny aren't going out," to which she just deflated even more. Before finally, turning to Rainbow Dash, "And just WHY is it so hard to believe that I can go out with a guy?" she yelled at Rainbow Dash whilst turning white and her mane and tail being set on fire. When this happened Sunny was freaked out. 'Damn since when did Twilight get such a bad temper! Note to self: NEVER piss of Twilight!' "W-well it's just that your always reading your books and hardly have time to be socializing with everyone let along finding time for a relationship." said Rainbow Dash quite scared for her life as she had never seen Twilight like this before. Just as quickly as the flames had appeared they disappeared with Twilight left singed. "I guess you're right. Now that I do think about it, it does sound like something I wouldn't normally ever think about." "Well I'd hate to interrupt your discussion! But I thought we came here to get some animals ready for winter?" said Sunny after he'd realized they were now and hour and a half over the original tie they had set. "Ah by golly he's right! Here we are chit-chatting away when there are some poor critters out there that need our help! We can talk about Sunny and Twilight later. Right now we have to get to work!" Applejack said as she began to make her way to the gate with everyone soon following close behind her. A few minutes of walking later... "...So everyone should meet back here at 4 p.m." said Fluttershy as she finished explaining to them how long they'd do their tasks till. "So what exactly are we meant to be doing Fluttershy?" asked Sunny whilst looking towards Fluttershy as they walked. "Well I wanted to get you, Rarity and Twilight to gather up all the nuts, berries, acorns and other foods from around the forest and sort them out into piles. That is if it's alright with you of course?" she asked. "Sure no problems leave it to us!" all three of them said in unison before looking at one another and laughing as they made their way into the Everfree Forest. "O.K. now Applejack and Pinkie Pie. I was wondering whether you could go to all of the empty burrows that were used last winter, to see if they can be used again for this year. That is of course if you're alright with that too? "Sure no problem Fluttershy." answered Applejack. "Okie dokey lokey. We'll get start on that!" responded Pinkie Pie who was about to run off. "Wait a minute! You're going to need a map of all the existing burrows. Also, if any of them can't be used anymore, then could you make new places for the animals to hibernate in and mark them on the map as well please?" she asked as she handed them the map. "Yep, you can count of us Fluttershy." said Applejack before going after Pinkie Pie to make sure she didn't get distracted by anything. "That just leaves you and me Rainbow Dash. We actually have two jobs. One of us will have to go to Clouds dale and tell the people of the weather making factory a date for when we want the snow to come in. The other will have to start gathering up the animals to sort them out into what burrows they'll be going into to avoid any fighting between animals about hibernating space." "Alright then, I'll go to Clouds dale and you can sort the animals out!" "O.K. then this is the letter that the Mayor gave to me to give to the manager of the factory. Also when you're finished you can go and help Applejack and Pinkie Pie as there are quite a lot of burrows to check on for just two ponies." she said as she handed the letter to Rainbow Dash. "O.K. I'll get this done in ten seconds flat." she said as she sped off towards Cloudsdale leaving. "Now to get to work." Fluttershy as she went into the Everfree Forest to start getting the animals together. Meanwhile, the three unicorns were all in a clearing in the forest. Rarity was simply making her own small pile of berries by using her magic to carry small amounts of berries. However, Sunny and Twilight were arguing. "I bet I can carry more acorns with one spell than you can carry nuts with the same number of spells." he said to her. He always found then making a challenge or competition out of work made it more fun and got it done more quickly as well. "Have you already forgotten that I'm Princess Celestia's most faithful student? And that I've spent my time since we last saw each other training in magic under her tutelage." she said with her chest puffed out with pride. "Well then this should be fun. Now here are the rules: 1) You can only use a levitation spell to pick up your item. Obviously with nuts and acorns weighing roughly the same it should be fair. 2) You can only use the levitation spell once and only once. 3) The nuts or acorns must be in the pile to be counted. 4) The pony who has the most acorns or nuts on their pile wins." finished off Sunny. "Alright I agree those rule do sound fair. But how do we count the acorns and nuts?" "Quick Count Spell of course! Come on Twilight didn't you pay any attention in Maths?" he said teasing her. "O-of course I did! I just forgot about it ok!" she said rather flustered and annoyed at Sunny. "O.K. then mares first." Sunny said with an exaggerated bow. "Such a gentlecolt," she said sarcastically as she closed her eyes to focus on the images of all kinds of nuts as well as the area in which she wanted her spell to reach out. To win she decided she would increase the range of her spell as far as possible. Her horn began to glow a bright white as her spell started to form. Gritting her teeth she began to widen the range of her spell to pick up as many nuts as she possibly could. With some effort she finally managed to finish preparing her spell and began to use and soon after thousands of nuts from all over the forest came to the clearing and began piling up in front of Twilight. By this time, Rarity had panicked and had ran well clear away from the gathering of nuts that came towards Twilight choosing to hide behind a tree and just watch from a distance. As they continued piling, the obvious draining of her powers starting to become visible. Just when she thought she could get a few more nuts onto the pile her concentration suddenly broke and the rest of the nuts fell to the ground all over the clearing. Twilight began to breathe heavily from the sheer effort that spell had taken to do. "Beat...that!" she puffed out as she sat on the forest floor to catch her breath. "Yeah let's just see how many you actually collected shall we?" Sunny smirked as his horn glowed a bright red as the massive pile of acorns also began to glow the same colour. This lasted for a few seconds before Sunny finished the spell, "Wow you got 27,964 nuts! I'm impressed Twilight it seems that all the training with Princess Celestia finally paid off!" he chuckled." Although I don't think it was meant for collecting nuts in a forest! But hey what can you do right?" "Well it's your turn." Twilight said having finally caught her breath and standing up again. "Let's see you top that!" "With pleasure." Sunny smirked. As he closed his eyes, his horn glowed a bright white light at which point he then opened his eyes and tapped an acorn that already lay on the ground. Then he closed his eyes again as his horn began to glow a bright orange. He then focused on the corners of the Everfree forest and used a spell to set the corners as markers for his next spell. By this point Twilight began to complain. "Hey! I thought we agreed that we were only allowed to use the levitation spell!" "That's where your wrong! If you remembered correctly, I said 'You can only use a levitation spell to pick up your item' and I also said 'You can only use the levitation spell once and only once'. As you can see, I have not used a levitation spell yet so have broken neither of those rules. I never said anything about combining other spells along with a levitation spell now did I?" "Yeah but I..." she said before sighing dejectedly and giving up on the argument. "So what spells are you using?" "Well I'm using a combination of the Pin Point, Marker and the Levitation Spell." as he finally used the levitation spell as acorns from all over the forest whizzed in front of Sunny as they began to pile up in front of him rather rapidly. "Ah that's genius! You're using the Pin Point and Marker spells to mark all the acorns in a selected area and then using the levitation spell to lift them!" she said in awe. "Well yeah! It sure beats having to put more effort into increasing the range of one spell when you can just combine two simple spells to do the job for you!" he said quite happy with himself. "You always did think outside the box when it came to using spells." "Yeah that's probably the only reason why I kept beating you in Spellwork class!" he said with a chuckle. "Hmm...I guess." she said looking rather disappointed. Sunny realizing how much like an arrogant douchebag he was being decided he would fix things up. "Damn...it...this levitation spell...is harder than it looks! I must be...out of practice!" he started to breath heavily as he shut his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth. As several more acorns came to the pile, he finally released the spell and fell to the ground exhausted. "Sunny are you alright?" Twilight asked worried about him. "Yeah...I'm fine...might've... overdone it...with that...levitation spell...I think." he said gasping for breath. "Anyway...check how many...acorns I got..." as he laid on his back to catch some breath. "Oh right..." Twilight said as she quickly performed a Quick Count Spell. "You got 26,254 acorns...wait a minute. That means I won! Yes!" Twilight squealed jumping into the air in victory. Sunny couldn't help but smile as he got up and went over to Twilight. "Congrats Twilight I guess all that hard-work did finally pay off for you!" he said smiling at her as she continued to celebrate her victory before her ears perked up and she stopped facing him. "Hang on a minute weren't you exhausted just a second ago? It couldn't have taken you that quickly to recover!" "O-oh well I'm just a fast healer!" he quickly said. "No you aren't! You let me win didn't you!" she said now walking up to him. 'Oh crap! She's going to kill me! I've already seen her angry and I even made a mental note NOT to piss her off! But what did I have to do hours later! Man, I'm a dead colt!' he thought as he closed his eyes expecting to be brought into a world of pain by the hooves of Twilight. When he felt something some hooves wrap around his neck and something warm on his chest. When he opened his eyes and blushed as he saw Twilight giving him a hug whilst nuzzling against his chest as she said: "That was really sweet of you! Thinking about how disappointed I was that even after 5 years of training I still couldn't beat you! To let me win! You're a true friend you know that." "Uh...so you're not mad?" Sunny asked rather confused. "Of course I'm mad. But I realized why you'd do something like that and for that I'm grateful." she said as she got off of him with a slight blush as she realized what she had just done. "Anyway we best get back to work! With that spell combo you used we'll have this entire forest clear of nuts and acorns in no time!" she finished as she made her way back to work. Sunny couldn't help but smile as he did the same. Meanwhile, Rarity who had seen the whole thing that went on between them from afar began started to think, 'Used to' my hoof. It's obvious you still have feelings for him Twilight. So let's just see if I have anything to say about it!' She then went back to work to make it look like she hadn't seen any of what had just happened. At 4 p.m... Everypony made their way back to meet up with each other. The unicorns with their piles of nuts, berries and acorns with them. Sunny's and Twilight's pile being at least 10 times bigger than Rarity's. Along with Sunny being the gentlecolt that he was carrying all of the piles for them, which would've been hard had he not combined a simple Hover and Loco-motor Spell together. The earth ponies and Rainbow Dash came back with their hooves covered in dirt from having to make all the new burrows. Whilst, Fluttershy came back with a list of what animals were going to be hibernating in what burrows. "Great job everypony! I think this year's preparations for hibernation will be the fastest yet!" said Fluttershy, "Now I'd like to invite you all back to my cottage for dinner. That is if everyone you're all o.k. with coming?" As she was met with a chorus of 'Sounds good' and 'Count me in' Applejack finished off by saying: "Finally some food am so hungry I could eat half the apple orchard!" at this everyone including Applejack laughed as they made their way back to Fluttershy's cottage. Soon, everypony was at the cottage eating an array of appetizing meals that both Fluttershy and Applejack (after much persuasion) had both prepared. As the meal progressed everypony talked about what had happened that day. With Rainbow Dash getting half-stuck in a burrow being one of the funniest events that had happened. It was only till after dinner that Rarity then asked a question to Sunny, "So Sunny. Why don't you tell us how you and Twilight met and became a couple and why aren't you still a couple now?" "RARITY! That's personal stuff! Besides I don't think Sunny wants to..." Twilight said as she stood up from her seat. "Actually Twilight, I'm alright with telling them how we got together. But, I thought you wouldn't of wanted that after all it involves you just as much as me." Sunny defended Rarity to which she smiled at him. "W-well no. I thought you didn't want anyone to know...but if you're o.k. with it then that's fine with me." she said whilst sitting back down in her seat slightly embarrassed. "Well ok then I'd think it'd be easier if I just showed you, rather than tell you." said Sunny as he got out of his seat. "How are you going to show us?" Applejack asked now rather confused. "Well I'm going to be using a combination of an Imaging Spell and a Memory Spell to create a sort of movie of the memories I have with Twilight." he finished as he closed his eyes to concentrate. His horn began to glow a bright pink colour, signaling that he was casting the Imaging Spell. A stream of pink light began to erupt from his horn as it began to form a rectangle in front of him. Once all the lines were connected he released the spell so his horn was no longer glowing pink. But the pink rectangular outline still remained floating in mid-air in front of all the other ponies. "Oooooh! It's so pretty!" said Pinkie who had left her chair. Her eyes as wide as dinner plates as she reached out a hoof to touch the pink outline. "Pinkie don't touch it! If you break the line then the Imaging spell will fail!" scolded Twilight. "Oh sorry!" she said and returned to her seat. "Thank you Twilight!" Sunny said with a nod, "Now for the Memory Spell." He continued as he closed his eyes and began to concentrate on all of the memories he had with Twilight as his horn began to glow a golden colour. Then moving ever so carefully he placed the tip of his horn into the pink rectangular outline. Almost instantaneously, the gold and pink colours began to mix with one another to form a rather strange but...magical colour. The gold colour proceeded to run along the outline as well mixing with the pink colour as it went, until the entire rectangle was bordered with that indescribable yet desirable colour. Finally, Sunny took his horn tip out of the outline and released the spell and an image of a big city appeared on the screen. Sunny then began to speak, "This is where it all began...in Canterlot!"
School Days!"Hello." - actual speech 'What am I thinking?' - thoughts At Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns the new school year was beginning. All 30 of the second year students had taken their seats as they were ready to take their first lesson of the academic year...Maths. In the front row of the class sat a much younger version of Sunny who was busy writing a new song in his scrap book. The colt had always wanted to make music ever since he found out he had a gift for it. Despite his obvious talent in playing and writing his own pieces he was still the only pony in the school without a cutie mark. Many ponies wondered how such a gifted prodigy could not have gotten his cutie mark. Even if it wasn't a music related cutie mark, most ponies could actually see him doing anything he wanted in his life. Being good enough in his academics to be offered to skip a couple of years ahead along with being a member of various sports teams. No pony ever bullied him about being a 'blank flank' purely because they all knew he was already talented and didn't need a cutie mark to prove it. But, he was never confident in his own abilities. Partially, because being in a school full of other talented unicorns can put you down as 'nothing special'. But mostly, because of his background. He came from a poor working class family from Manehattan and had only gotten in due to his high marks in his entrance exam earning him a scholarship at the school. Most of the unicorns at the school were from rich families who could afford the expensive school fees and extra tuition. He couldn't relate to any of the ponies at the school as he had never lived in similar lifestyles to them. He felt that his grades being significantly higher than the rest of his classmates also further drove him apart from his classmates. So he began to look at his academic brilliance as a curse that segregated him from other ponies rather than a gift to be shown off. So hid his academic genius, mainly by purposely dropping marks in test to ensure he got only slightly above the class average mark, in a hope to be more accepted by his fellow classmates. Suddenly, the whole class went quiet as the Maths teacher walked into the classroom. He was a blue stallion with white hair combed either side of his horn and had piercing yellow eyes that would unnerve most students. He wore a white shirt with a brown sweater on top along with a brown tie. "Good morning class." he said. "Good morning Mr. Hunter!" said all of the students in chorus. "I hope you enjoyed the Summer Holidays because I'm getting the new school year started with a surprise test on everything we did last year." "Why do we have to do a test on the first day of school?!" a few ponies moaned out loud. "Because, they ensure that you have a good foundation in which to learn new things this year!" he replied as he handed out the paper to all of the ponies. Just then a knock on the door was heard before it opened to reveal two ponies. One of which was a yellow mare wearing glasses who also had frizzy white hair all around her horn. She had lilac coloured eyes and also wore a White shirt. However, she wore it with a grey sweater on top and had the top button undone. The other was Twilight as a filly. "How may I help you Ms. Darling?" Mr. Hunter asked. "Well I'm here to bring you your new student. You remember Miss Sparkle don't you?" "Oh yes I do indeed." he said recalling examining her entrance examination before her magical outburst. He then turned to the class and began to speak, "Right class this is Miss Twilight Sparkle and she will be joining you in your classes from now on. So I hope you will all make her feel very welcome in this school." Turning around to face Twilight he said "Right now we're about to do a Maths test. So if you want I could set you some questions to do whilst they all do the test?" "Uhm...actually I don't mind doing the test Mr..." said Twilight rather timidly at this many of the ponies in the classroom looked at her as if she were mad. "Hunter" he finished off, "Very well now where to put you..." he said as he looked around the class "...ah yes please sit next to Mr. Sunrise over there please." he said pointing at Sunny before adding, "Also, Starbuck I'm assigning you the task of showing Miss Sparkle around our school." "Yes Mr. Hunter." he said as he looked towards Twilight with a welcoming smile which made the nervous Twilight feel completely at ease and even give him a small smile back as she sat next to him. "Very well now that Miss Sparkle has settled in, I'll be off." said Ms. Darling as she left and closed the door behind her. Finally, all the papers were handed out and Mr. Hunter called out to everypony in the class, "You all have till the end of the lesson to finish the test. So that's an hour and a half to answer all 30 questions. Any questions before we start?" There was utter silence in the classroom. Mr. Hunter smiled and then said, "In that case your time starts now. You can start the paper." Thirty minutes later... Sunny laid his head on the desk as he finished his paper. There was still an hour to go and so he would go to sleep till the lesson ended. It was only ten minutes into his nap when he was woken up by the sound of a voice next to him: "Sir, what do we do when we've finished?" asked Twilight with her hoof up. "Have you checked your work through?" "Three times, sir." "Oh...well in that case bring your paper here and you can leave the lesson early." in answered beaming at Twilight as she made her way down to the teacher's desk to hand in her paper. At this Sunny's head came off the desk as he called out with his hoof in the air, "Mr. Hunter I've also finished. Can I leave the lesson early as well?" "Why most certainly Mr. Sunrise. You can use the extra time to give Miss Sparkle here a tour of the school!" "Okay then," he said happy that he didn't have to stay in lesson doing nothing for another hour. They both left the classroom in silence leaving all the other ponies to finish the test. Once, outside of the classroom Sunny breathed out a sigh of relief before starting to talk, "So I should probably introduce myself first. If you may or may not already know the name's Starbuck Sunrise but everyone that knows me calls me Sunny." "Oh well my name's Twilight Sparkle!" "Twilight hmm...that's a beautiful name." he said as he smiled at her and causing her to blush at the compliment. "Now let's get this tour started!" "Alright then!" "So this corridor we're standing in is home to all the graphical functions and algebra in Equestria!" he said rather dramatically, "But most other ponies call it the Maths Corridor: where all Maths lessons take place. To be honest I like the previous description better." he said in a joking tone to which Twilight couldn't help but giggle. "Now if we walk down this way we can make it to the science building! Meanwhile, why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?" asked Sunny. Half an hour later... The tour continued like this with both ponies talking about one another to better get to know one another. They both were now walking in the massive school courtyard. It was basically the school's private park measuring at 50 hectares, where there were many tall trees, bushes along with other facilities like courts for different sports to be played on. As well as benches and tables for private study outside of lessons. Sunny had learnt she was in fact a local to Canterlot and that she had caused the big hole in the roof of the English block during her entrance exam due to her raw magical power. By that point he was already in awe of her talents and abilities. But was gob smacked by what she said next: "At the end of it all I got my cutie mark and I was offered by Princess Celestia herself to become her protégé." "Woah Princess Celestia herself offered you that position! Wow you must be packing quite a bit of magic if the ruler of Equestria wants you to become her apprentice!" said Sunny rather excitedly. "Well...I guess you're right!" she said with a smile of her own as she blushed at the praises she got from him. Twilight had also learnt a lot about Sunny. She learnt that the entrance exam was different for every pony. Depending on your talent you would be given a test to judge just how good you were at that talent. So Sunny's entrance exam was to play his own musical piece. Instead what he actually did was use a spell to get a number of instruments to play themselves and then made them perform as an orchestra whilst he played the piano for a solo. It had impressed them so greatly that he was given a scholarship to the school. "Wow! What I did in my examination practice was purely luck if it weren't for the rainbow-coloured explosion happening I would've most likely failed! For you to do something like that through pure skill, just shows how talented you are." "I'm not that talented! There are many other ponies that can do what I did!" he said with whilst looking down at the floor. "Yes! But none of them are as young as you! You mustn't keep putting yourself down Sunny! You're an amazing colt who should be proud of what he's achieved already, as well as what he's going to achieve in the future!" she said raising her voice as she defended him. He was shocked at what she was saying. No one had ever tried to support him when he felt bad about himself, and for a unicorn who he had only just met an hour ago to defend him like that really gave him an urge...and he went with it. Walking up to Twilight he wrapped his fore hooves around her neck and hugged her. Realising what he had done he was about to move away from her when he felt her hooves wrap around him as well hugging him back. Tears began to form around his eyes as he whispered into Twilight's ear, "Thank you Twilight. No pony has ever stood up for me even when I'm the pony putting myself down. And for you to defend me, a colt who you've only known for an hour! Just makes me so happy!" he finished now choking on sobs. Twilight just continued to console him whilst shocked that he really was all alone with no other pony to help him through his problems. She then started to say with a smile, "Don't worry I'll make sure you'll never feel alone ever again...you can always talk to me about your problems." "Thanks Twi." he said weakly as he let go of her and wiped his eyes and face of any tears that were still there. "Listen Twilight I want to show you one more place before break starts, follow me!" he said before galloping off the path through some bushes. Twilight not wanting to be left behind galloped after him. After a few minutes of galloping they reached one of the 100 foot high walls that surrounded the courtyard that was covered by dense trees and bushes at the foot of the wall. "Sunny where are we going?" asked Twilight. "Just trust me on this." as his horn began to glow a bright red colour. All of a sudden Twilight felt herself being lifted off the ground and looked at Sunny to see he was too as he carried on casting his Levitation spell. "Sunny what are you doing?" she cried absolutely petrified as they continued to fly up the wall higher and higher. "Like I said before trust me!" he yelled back with a chuckle. At last, they had flown up to the top of the wall and had gone over it to land on a balcony that ran alongside the entire perimeter of the wall. Once, they had landed Sunny began saying "So this is-OW! What was that for?" he cried rubbing the newly formed lump on his head that had been the result of Twilight's hoof smacking him hard on the head. "You idiot! You could've at least told me what you were going to do! I'm absolutely terrified of heights!" she said rather angrily about to burst into tears. "Ah I'm so sorry Twilight! I didn't know! Please forgive me! It'll be all worth it because you'll love what I'm about to show you! he said rather worried he might've just lost his only true friend. "What can you show me that can justify putting me through that!" she yelled. "Look behind you." he said secretly hoping it would work. As she looked at what was behind her she couldn't help but gasp at what she saw. it was the most magnificent view of Canterlot her eyes had ever seen. The ever so distant mountainous landscape that surrounded the huge urban city were covered in wisps of cloud. The forest at the foot of them was like a faraway green sea, which could be seen moving to and fro, in time to the cool summer breeze. The call of the birds that flew high above them in the large expanses of the cerulean sky could be heard faintly enough to be noticed but not so loudly that it became a distraction. The air around them was a lot more crisp and fresh than the polluted air they were normally used to. The tall buildings of the city looked miniscule from where she stood behind the parapet of the wall. With the people of Canterlot looking like small specks moving about their daily lives. But the most impressive sight about the view was Celestia's very own creation: the Sun. The Sun standing proudly in the middle of the cerulean sky as it's shining rays covered the city of Canterlot in a bright, warm glow. "It's...beautiful." sighed Twilight as she couldn't help but feel happy for some unknown reason as she stared out onto the view of her hometown. "I say the same thing every time I come up here." said Sunny gently, "This is my secret hideaway that no other student knows about. I'd assume the caretakers and maybe the staff know about this place. But none of them ever come up here. This is where I go when I need some time to think to myself. To solve a problem I might be having. Or even just to enjoy the wonderful view of the city during the day. Sometimes, I sneak here at night to watch the city and the stars at night. The view then is, in my opinion even better than it is right now." "Why?" asked Twilight. "Why what?" said Sunny now confused. "Why would you share such a secret place with me? Some filly you've only just met." "Because, even though I may have just met you. You already know me more than anypony else in this school. You promised me that you would always be there for me. That's the most anypony has ever done for me since I left my home in Manehattan to come to this school. So the only way I could think of repaying you back for the kindness you've shown to me, is to show you my place of solace whenever life gets me down, so that you may use it someday in case you may need it-Woah!" he cried as he was hugged fiercely by Twilight who whispered in his ear: "Thank you Sunny. This is probably one of the best gifts anyone has ever given me," before giving him a kiss on the cheek. His reaction was instantaneous as his face went from yellow to bright red at the realization of Twilight kissing him. As this happened the school bell rang for break. "See you in class Sunny." Twilight whispered in his ear before letting go of him with a small blush on her face, before she was gone having teleported to her next lesson, leaving a still shocked Sunny holding the cheek Twilight had kissed him. As his face began to return to its normal colour there was only one thought on his mind: 'This school year's going to be REALLY interesting.'
Confessions!"This is actual speech." 'These are my thoughts.' This is a time skip... Three years later... Sunny and Twilight had become inseparable since the events of the first day they had met. Many ponies already thought of them as a couple. Despite, the fact that they were told by both Sunny and Twilight that they were just 'really close friends'. But, as Sunny thought back to all the fond memories he had of just him and Twilight together, over the past three years. He realized that he had fallen for her quite badly without even realizing it until now. So he decided he was going to act on these feelings and tell Twilight just how he felt. He decided the best way to do this was through asking her out to the school dance next Friday night. It was the last year for those ponies that didn't want to go ahead with further study, and were going to leave at the end of that school year. Whilst, both Sunny and Twilight had opted for two years of further study, they still had to go to the dance so that they could say goodbye to their friends. He had been trying the best part of two weeks trying to build up the courage to ask her. But, each time he tried something always stopped him from asking the question and he would instead ask her another question just to avoid looking like an idiot. A now taller, leaner and slightly more muscular Sunny could be seen walking down one of the many busy streets of Canterlot. He carried a bag full of books making his way over to Twilight's house. Because, today they were going to have a study session for tomorrow's big test on 'Equestrian History' for their end of year exams. This was the last of 15 exams that they had taken for the past month. This was also the day where after many hours of building up his courage he would finally ask Twilight out to the dance. 'I'm not going to shy away from asking her out this time. Today, will be the day I tell her what I truly feel about her!" he thought as he walked up to Twilight's front door and knocked firmly on the solid oak three times. Soon after, the door opened to reveal a white unicorn with lilac and white hair, light blue eyes and three purple stars as her cutie mark; the unicorn was Twilight's mother. "Oh hello there Sunny! Twilight's upstairs in her room," she told him with a smile before continuing, "How was that vegetable casserole I gave you?" "It was delicious as always Mrs. Sparkle!" replied Sunny before taking out a clean casserole dish from his bag, "Thanks again for the food!" Having moved away from his family in Manehattan to study in Canterlot meant he had to live in the student accommodation the school provided. Visiting Twilight's house often meant that he had become very good friends with her parents as well. Mrs. Sparkle would give him some packed food to take with him to eat back at his accommodation every time he came to visit. "Oh please Sunny there's no need for thanks! The number of times you come over here to study with our little Twilight! You're like the son I never had..." she said before realizing how awkward the situation had become. She then continued, "Also, how many times do I have to tell you! You don't need to clean any of the dishes I give you!" she said as she took the sparklingly clean casserole dish off of him, "Well Mrs. Sparkle it's the least I could do, seeing as you give me such wonderful food to eat! I don't think I could live a week without having some of your cooking." he said rather seriously, the food they provided at the accommodation bordered between 'inedible' and 'death on a plate' and shivered at the thought of eating that food again. Mrs. Sparkle simply chuckled and said as she ruffled Sunny's hair, "Flattery will get you everywhere Sunny! I'm glad at least someone appreciates my cooking. Wish the same could be said for Sirius..." "Oh I'm sure Mr. Sparkle does appreciate your cooking Mrs. Sparkle!" "Hmm sometimes I just can't help wonder about that stallion! You never can tell what he's thinking...Anyway you best head on upstairs. Twilight is probably waiting for you to start studying." "Okay Mrs. Sparkle, and thanks again!" Sunny called out before making his way upstairs. 'He is such a nice colt! I really don't see why Twilight doesn't just go out with him. He'd make such a nice son-in-law...' Mrs. Sparkle thought to herself before continuing to do the washing. Meanwhile, upstairs in her room Twilight was starting to get really annoyed. 'Where in Equestria Is that colt!' she thought as the door silently opened, 'He had better have a good reason for being half an hour late!' Just as she finished thinking this her eyes were covered by a pair of hooves from behind. "Guess who?" asked Sunny. "Sunny! Where have you been we were meant to start studying half an hour ago!" she scolded him. "Ah you worry too much Twi! I mean it's not like you're going to fail Miss. '97.8% average in all subjects last year!'" he said as he sat on a chair and started to take out his books. "That's not the point Sunny! We need to revise for this test on 'Equestrian History'. Besides, you're one to talk about averages Mr. '98.9% average in all subjects last year!'" she finished whilst mimicking the way Sunny had said it to her. Ever since becoming friends with Twilight. Sunny had developed enough confidence in his academic abilities that he no longer felt he needed to cut back marks without fear of not making friends...Besides, he couldn't let Twilight get the better of him in exams. "Hey you know as well as I do that I've already learnt all of this stuff last year! Whilst you guys were still studying the History of Cloudsdale..." he said in a huff. "Exactly! Which is why I need you to help me study for this test!" "And what do I get for helping you?" he said with a smirk. Of course he was only joking, he would always help his friends in need no matter what. However, Twilight smirked as she moved close to him and whispered something into his ear. No sooner had she finished what she had said; his face turned bright red with images of both of them doing certain 'things' to each other running through his head. Once she had seen his reaction to what she had said she began to laugh: "Honestly Sunny! Three years of hanging out together and you still act like such an innocent little colt!" "Well what kind of young filly goes around, talking dirty like that?" he said as his face quickly returned to normal colour. "I wonder what your parents would think if they found out about how 'innocent' their 'little angel' really was?" he ended with a smirk. Twilight face changed from a mischievous grin to one full of genuine worry, "You wouldn't dare!" "I think I might!" "Please don't Sunny! If they found out about their 'little angel' talking dirty they'd kill me! You of all ponies know that!" she now started to plead. "Relax Twi! You know I would never do that to you." he grinned at her as she sighed in relief. "Anyway let's get back to work..." he started "...we'll start with the Great Griffin Rebellion in Canterlot...". He then proceeded to dictate everything he knew about Equestrian History whilst Twilight would sit and take notes and occasionally corrected him when he made a mistake. A few hours later... "Damn my head hurts from all this studying!" moaned Twilight. "Really mine's just fine." said Sunny as he bit into an apple whilst he was packing his bags to leave. "That's because all you've been doing is making little changes to your already near perfect notes!" she complained to which he simply responded to with a chuckle before deciding to ask her the big question before he left. It was now getting quite dark outside with the night sky painted with stars that glowed brightly in the pitch black sky, as he was taken back to the front door by Twilight he decided now was the best time to ask about the dance. Little did he know Twilight's mother was listening in on them from an upstairs window. "Uhm...Twi...can I...uhm...ask you something...important?" he asked as he was now outside the front door. 'Damn it you idiot! You've known her for 3 years now! Stop being such a coward and tell her how you feel about her!' "Yeah sure Sunny what is it?" asked Twilight slightly confused. "Twilight Sparkle, you..." he began before he began, before he start to choke on his own words. 'Come on! Why are you hesitating just go on and say it already!' "I what?" Twilight said now even more confused at her best friend's strange behaviour. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath he began to speak slowly: "Twilight Sparkle, you have been the most amazing friend a pony could ever ask for...You've been there for me through good times and bad...You would never let me fall into the deep, dark pit of sorrow and self-pity whenever life got me down...You always brought me back from the brink of despair and made more stronger than before. I don't deserve to have a friend like you...and yet I do. It's been three years since I've been grace with the fortunate event of meeting you for the first time...Those three years have probably been some of the best years of my life..." "Sunny..." began Twilight as if to interrupt. "No Twilight please let me finish! Otherwise, I will never be able to tell you what I really think about you!" he said causing her to fall silent. He then continued, "Those years have been some of the best in my life...because you were there...with me...Meeting you has been one of the best things to happen to me...I've grown stronger both physically and mentally because of you...look, what I'm really trying to say is that I..." he said starting to struggle with his throat drying up and a massive lump stopping from completing his sentence. 'Tell her for Celestia's sake! Otherwise you'll never be able to live with yourself if you don't do it now!' Finally, after what felt like an eternity something inside him snapped as a burden was lifted off him as he quietly said, "I love you." Twilight for words was shocked at what she thought she had heard, so to be sure she asked, "W-what was that again?" With his eyes now full of confidence he said with much more confidence, "I love you Twilight Sparkle and I'd be most honored if you could give me the chance to prove to you just how much I'm in love with you by asking you to be my date for the school dance tonight." he finally finished his speech. He had put all of his heart and soul into conveying his feelings for Twilight in that one speech; those few words. A silence followed Sunny's plea of love which he took for bad news, with a disappointed sigh and tears starting to form in his eyes he choked out "I'm sorry, if I wasted your time Twilight. I wish you a good night," before turning around and starting to walk off to face the icy, cold hands of rejection. Just as he was walking away he heard Twilight's voice call out "Sunny wait!". 'Great! How can this get any worse?!' Now annoyed Sunny turned around and yelled "What is it now?" as Twilight made her way out towards him. "You forgot something..." Twilight said rather quietly. "No I hav-" he began to say before he was cut off as Twilight brought him into a deep kiss. Sunny's eyes were wide in shock at first. But he then began to relax and close his eyes as they both settled into their first kiss. It felt as if time itself had gone into a standstill for that single moment, where they both were just happy and content to be in one another's presence. It felt like an eternity had passed them by when they broke their kiss when in reality it only lasted a few seconds. Twilight bringing herself closer to Sunny gave him one final hug before whispering in his ear, "I will be your date for the dance Sunny. Good night.". She then gave him one last kiss on the cheek before heading back into her house and closing the door behind her leaving a stunned Sunny still trying to figure out what just happened. Inside Twilight's house... As soon as Twilight closed the door. She turned around only to be staring at her mother who was standing by the staircase. Fearing for her life she asked, "How much did you see and hear?". "I saw and heard everything!" she said and quickly continued, "And you're going to need a nice dress for this dance if you're going to impress him! This is so exciting my 'little angel' is finally growing up! I can make you a dress, but I just need to know how you want it to look?" Relieved that her mother approved of Sunny she gave a sigh of relief before talking to her Mum about what she wanted her dress to look like for the dance.
A Night of Promises!Before, you start reading this fic. I'd just like to give a heads up. This is probably the most cheesiest chapter I've ever written. So if you don't like the really cheesy romantic stuff you see in films, then you might want to walk away now...Still here? Okay, then. Oh there is just one more thing, there will be a song in this chapter. Hence, the adequately named 'Cheesy Song' Scene. So if you'd like to have a listen to this song before you start reading, then the song is 'Take A Look Through My Eyes' by Phil Collins. Some of you may know this song from the Disney Soundtrack from the film 'Brother Bear'. (Yes, I admit it I'm a Disney dork...mind you only a big fan of the old films. Most of the new ones are no where near as good.) So enough of my rambling I give you Chapter 6 of 'A New Arrival!' 'What am I thinking?' -Thoughts "I'm saying something." - Actual Speech I'm singing - Lead Vocals to the 'Cheesy Song' Scene (I'm singing) - Backing Vocals to the 'Cheesy Song' Scene A week later... 'Damn! I still can't believe Twilight's going with me to this dance!' Sunny thought as he got changed into what he was going to wear for the dance. He had spent most of the money he earned from his part-time job in getting the best suit possible. He was determined not to mess up this 'first date' and no expense would be spared. 'What if she doesn't like what I'm wearing?' he began to think as he looked in the mirror at his smart attire. He wasn't going to be wearing a suit jacket like everyone else. He was dressed with hope of impressing Twilight. He was wearing a full body, jet black tuxedo with a plain white shirt with black buttons topped off with a simple black tie, and, all accompanied by a set of four polished black shoes. 'Ah well it's too late to change now!' he continued to think as he added the final touch to his outfit; a single red rose to decorate the right lapel of his tuxedo jacket. "Well let's get this show on the road!" he said with a sigh, as he picked up his bouquet of flowers that he had personally arranged to give to Twilight. With those last words said, he made his way out of his accommodation, and headed towards Twilight's house to escort her to the dance. Meanwhile, at Twilight's house... Chaos was at an all-time high. "Where did I put the brooch that goes with that dress of yours?" yelled Twilight's mother as she emptied out another cupboard in her room. "Mum it's fine! The dress looks great without the brooch!" called out Twilight who was currently lying down with a mud mask unable to see the dump that used to be her parent's bedroom. "Nonsense dear! That brooch is the biggest piece for your dress, and, I will make sure that you are wearing it tonight!" she said rather calmly. But, her facial features suggested she was going insane from her stress. She then shouted out, "SIRIUS! Is the brooch in Twilight's room?" A blue stallion with darker blue hair that was combed in such a way that only the top of his horn showed walked into the messy bedroom. He had warm yellow eyes along with a cutie mark of two crescent moon on his flank. "I'm sorry Stella honey, I couldn't find it anywhere in her room." said calmly showing more composure than his wife. "Oh for Celestia's sake! Where on Equestria did I leave that confounded thing!" she started to panic even more before her husband called out: "Found it." as he picked up the brooch. The crazed insanity in her eyes died down as soon as he finished saying those two words. She then said, "Oh thank you honey! Where ever did you find it?" "It was on top of the bedside table!" he said simply. Whilst Stella's eye began to twitch in annoyance; knocking could be heard coming from the front door. "Oh my gosh! He's here...and I'm nowhere near ready yet!" Twilight exclaimed as the cucumber slices fell off her eyes, as they were wide in shock. "Calm down dear! Everything will be fine!" Stella told her, before talking to her husband, "Sirius, be a dear and keep him occupied for a bit...Sirius?" she turned around to find no pony there. "One step ahead of you honey!" he called out, already halfway down the stairs to open the door. Once, he reached the door he opened it to reveal Sunny who had his bouquet hidden behind his back. "Oh, why hello Mr. Sparkle! Is Twilight ready yet?" "Oh not just yet, Sunny. She'll be another 10 minutes. Why don't you come in and wait for her." he said with a warm smile. "Oh...okay then," he said as he made his way into the house and was just about to take his shoes off when Sirius said: "Don't be silly, Sunny keep your shoes on!" "But, I don't want to bring in any dirt into your lovely, clean home." At this Sirius chuckled whilst thinking 'If he only saw upstairs...' before, saying, "Nonsense, those shoes already look too unnaturally clean. Now stop standing out in the cold and come in!" Once, Sunny had entered the house, he was taken to the living room and asked to have a seat. As he was about to sit down he quickly remembered to bring out the bouquet to stop it getting crushed underneath him. "Oh. Are those flowers for our little Twilight?" teased Sirius. "Uhm...yes...yes they are." Sunny quietly said slightly embarrassed that he was no longer able to surprise both Twilight and her parents with them. "Well if you don't mind me asking, why are all the roses different colours? Don't people normally just get a bouquet of one colour?" "Well...people normally give flowers to symbolize particular feelings that the giver has for the receiver. And, the colour of the flower is what is said to symbolize these different feelings….So I arranged this bouquet...as my own symbol of what Twilight truly means...to me." he finished. "Oh right," said a rather surprised Sirius who couldn't help but smile as he realized just how much his daughter's love meant to the young stallion, that he would put the time and effort into something so trivial just for his daughter. "So what do the roses in your bouquet say about my daughter?" he then asked, curious to hear what Sunny thought about his daughter. Sunny now feeling very nervous pointed to the yellow roses that formed an outer ring around the edge of the bouquet and began to stutter out: "These yellow roses...represent friendship,…joy...and the ability to care...These roses...are the embodiment...of the past three years...I've gotten to know your daughter...as my best friend...They represent...all of the good times we've shared...together...and, the joy we felt through those good times...Along, with how we supported each other...when either one of us...was in any sort of trouble...How she cared about me...when no one else did...How I promise to take care of her from now on." he trailed off before looking at Sirius with a serious look in his eyes. Having now gained confidence, simply from looking back at the memories of the times spent with Twilight, he continued by pointing at the lilac roses that formed a second concentric circle inside the circle of yellow roses and said with a smile: "Lilac roses are normally representative of the enchantment of love at first sight. Whilst, I never would've thought I'd be in a relationship with Twilight when I first met her. I did truly feel a connection with her the moment we met...I trusted her more in one day than all of my other classmates who I'd already known for a year. It was that initial connection...which was left to blossom over three years...that has led to me being the stallion I am today." By this time, Sirius was seriously amazed by just how strong Sunny's love for his daughter really was. The fact that just talking about her, gave him the strength to speak so confidently and passionately about a bunch of roses! However, he chose not to say anything, as Sunny continued to speak now with more gusto, whilst, pointing to the next smaller concentric circle that was decorated alternatively with orange and pink roses: "Orange roses are representative of enthusiasm and confidence and the attraction to those qualities, and the pink roses represent elegance and femininity. They perfectly describes the qualities that I adore about Twilight. The magic of her enthusiasm for just about anything, could be spread onto other people, making her a very capable leader and a dependable role model. And, the way she exuberates elegance and confidence in everything she does: when she walks, when she talks and her eyes! Her wonderfully brilliant eyes; those eyes that hold a fire, that tells me just how sure of herself she is, whilst, still holding a sense of femininity in them. A fire that makes me want to improve myself in so many ways, to be more like her; so that I can maybe live up to being a pony good enough to truly say that I'm worthy enough...to be with someone as amazing as her." he finished with a deflated sigh as he looked towards the floor now seemingly disappointed in himself. Sirius could now see just how deep the colt had fallen. He didn't think it was possible for any pony in this modern day and era to be so deeply in love like this. He could see why Twilight had chosen a colt like him to be in a relationship with and he could also begin to see why Stella liked this colt so much. However, the rational side of him was acting up. This colt was not thinking about the consequences of falling this deeply in love, and, how it could lead to severe emotional harm to both parties if not thought through properly. This made him seriously worry, whether or not he was the right colt for Twilight, because, he didn't want his 'little angel' to go through the emotional hurt of a broken heart. The fact that, he did not seem to have belief in himself caused his resolve to weaken and that sent danger signals flashing inside of Sirius's head. Sunny having noticed the silence in the room, assumed that Twilight's father was waiting for him to continue talking about the remaining roses. So as quickly as he trailed off, he began to talk about the final inner concentric circle made up of red and white roses. "The red and white roses...are both symbols of...my own love for Twilight. The white roses...represent the purity...of the love I hold for Twilight...How it isn't based off something as shallow as looks...How my love for Twilight had time,...like these roses,...to grow from a wonderful friendship for three years...In that time, I've been able to make...the important decision...that I want to be there for her...as more than just a friend. As for the red rose...well…near enough every pony knows that they're the ultimate symbol of romantic love...Figuratively,...they show how true love is stronger than thorns... But more importantly,...they show just how much I love Twilight...there is nothing in Equestria that I love more than simply being with her..." he began to trail off, as clouds of doubt began to form in his mind. 'What if I'm not good enough for her...I mean look at her she's stunningly beautiful, immensely intelligent, incredibly loyal and dependable and the most caring pony I've ever seen in my life...I mean what more could you want from a mare!' he finished his thought as he began to think about himself, 'Then you have me...a silly colt that could never do anything right without any help...In fact, if it weren't for me meeting Twilight I'd still wouldn't be able to do anything myself! What does she see in a colt like me! I wouldn't want to be seen with some pony like me, never mind to go out with him!' He then began to think even more about these doubts, 'I mean I love Twilight...and I couldn't stand not being with her...but what if she sees that it was a mistake to go out with me! If she breaks up with me...then she wouldn't want to talk to me anymore...then what would I do? I couldn't stand to not be friends with her anymore, she's always been there for me! Damn it, I'm so stupid! Why did I even think about risking my friendship with Twilight just for getting a little bit closer to her...we were close enough already! I had to botch everything up! Now she'll see the mistake she's made and our friendship will be ruined forever! What do I do?' Meanwhile, whilst Sunny was having his moment of inner conflict, Sirius had decided that he liked this colt! He was a very intelligent individual in his eyes. Having taken a reasonable amount of time to make such an important decision, which he respected a lot, as most young colts these days would just fling themselves into any relationship with no thought of the consequences. He also, like how this colt, whilst, going with a new modern ways of going through his feelings was also keeping to the simply roots of using roses, which everyone understood as a token of love. A token he in fact, used with Stella many times over. However, when Sunny had fallen silent for a long time, he realized that the colt still didn't believe in himself. Which was still a problem for Sirius because, how could he expect some pony to take care of his Twilight, when they couldn't even believe in themselves? So, deciding to snap him out of it he purposely coughed out loud to grab his attention before asking: "And what about that one over there?" whilst, pointing to a single blue rose that was positioned in the middle of the whole bouquet that stood out from all the other roses. As Sunny began to look at the blue rose, he began to think about the debate in his head, before smiling as the debate in his head was resolved from remembering the symbolism from that one flower. With a deep breath he began to speak with the most confidence that he had probably ever had in his life as he said: "The blue rose, represents a future of love and prosperity. They are incredibly rare to obtain and their rarity only strengthens the final message of my bouquet. It is to show that I hope that my relationship with Twilight, in the future will be filled with good fortune and happiness. However, it is also as a final blessing that if I my relationship with Twilight wasn't meant to be for whatever reason; that I would still wish her a future with someone who can give her the love, the prosperity and the happiness in her life that I wasn't able to give her, because, no matter what happens she will always be an amazing pony in my eyes and it really is what she truly deserves..." This answer sealed the deal with Sirius. The fact that this stallion cared so much for his daughter, that he would be willing to let her go if it meant, that she could live a much happier life, showed selflessness and real character in his eyes. Any pony that care that much for his daughter and had those qualities about him, was a pony he would be proud to call his son-in-law... "Sirius! She's ready now!" Stella called out. "Well then. Shall we go see how your lady in waiting looks this evening?" He asked Sunny. Sunny replied with a simply nod, clutching his bouquet, as they both left the living room to go to the foot of the stairs. When Sunny looked up he couldn't help but gasp at how Twilight looked. At the top of the stairs she stood dressed in a simple black dress that sparkled in the light due to some added glitter, accompanied by a stylish belt that wrapped around her comfortably. On her hooves, were black shoes that went well with her outfit. All of this was complemented with an eye-catching brooch that looked exactly like her cutie mark and reflected the bright light in purple and pink rays. "Well...what do you think?" Twilight asked shyly, as, she walked down the steps. "Wow..." was all Sunny could say as he was stunned, at how beautiful Twilight was, to say anything else. She couldn't help but giggle at his reaction, as she walked right up to him. Sunny, quickly snapping out of his dazed state, brought out his bouquet of flowers. "These are for you!" he said quickly, rather embarrassed about being caught daydreaming about her. "Oh my word! Sunny...they're so beautiful!" she said quietly as she took them, from him and breathed in their heavenly smells deeply. "Well...they're not as beautiful as you." he replied. No sooner than those words came out of his mouth did he scold himself as he thought: 'Really Sunny, could you have chosen a cheesier line?' However, despite his cliché response, Twilight still had a light pink hue paint her cheeks, brought on by his words. "Aww Sirius! Don't they just look so adorable together?" squealed Stella before continuing by saying, "Reminds me of when we were their age!" she finished staring dreamily at nowhere in particular, as, the memories of the two of them, back when they were around Twilight and Sunny's age, played through her head. "Trust me dear when I say. My love for you is nowhere near the level of love that Sunny shows for Twilight." "What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying you've don't love me as much as they love each other!" Stella quietly said so as not to interrupt the wonderful moment between the young couple. "No Stella! I love you with all my heart. You know that! But, what I mean is that Sunny puts a lot of effort into showing his love for Twilight. More effort than I ever have with you." he said disappointment laced in his every word. "Oh come now dear! You don't need to do anything special for me. I already know you love me." "No, no. It's true! I have been a lousy husband. Sunny puts so much thought into everything he says and does…like that bouquet of roses..." "Now darling, you don't have to get me a bunch if flowers to show me you love me! Because, I know that you already do..." she said trying to comfort Sirius before looking at the bouquet of roses herself and gasping out, "Oh my gosh! Is that a blue rose? Sunny dear, that must've cost you a fortune to get!" "Well…yeah, it was pretty expensive...but no amount of money is worth the love of your daughter." he said before inwardly cringing at another cheesy line. 'Seriously! Enough with all the cheesy lines already!' However, despite the use of another cheesy line, Stella 'aww'-ed at the sweet, heartfelt words, whilst, Twilight's blush deepened. Before anything else could be said to interrupt him, Sirius said, "I'd hate to ruin such a lovely moment...but, if I'm not mistaken...wasn't your dance meant to start at 9 o'clock?" before pointing to a clock on the wall that read quarter past 9. "Oh Celestia he's right! We're running late. There's only one way that will get us there any quicker!" Sunny said as his horn began to glow a bright yellow as he focused his magic onto getting his spell to work. Twilight realizing what he was about to do, quickly, handed the bouquet of roses to her mother and trotted next to her 'coltfriend', wrapping her fore let's around one of his own. "Mum, Dad we'll see you later!" she called out. "Both of you have fun, you hear?" Stella said with a wink. They both began to blush at the hidden meaning behind those words and this resulted in Stella chuckling at their reactions to her comment. "Take good care of her, Sunny!" Sirius called out. "You can count on me Mr. Sparkle! I'll return her to you safe and sound!" he called out, just before a bright white light flashed around them, and, the two of them were gone leaving a few sparkles behind. A few minutes later... Having teleported outside the main school entrance, they quickly went inside to sign themselves in. After that, they walked into the courtyard where many of the benches and tables had been moved to make space for what they saw in front of them. There was a gigantic stage. Large enough to have a collection of instruments fit for a symphony orchestra. Alongside, this orchestra of instruments was a set of DJ equipment including a pair of turntables, a mixing console, and a sequencer, all finished off with a massive sound system. At the moment a younger Vinyl Scratch, another student at the school, was busy playing some tracks to which a vast majority of the students were dancing to on a large wooden dance floor. This dance floor was in front of the stage, and, was large enough to have the entire year of 150 ponies dancing comfortably on top of it with room to spare. Surrounding the dance floor, were a number of large tables with chairs around them, where groups of ponies were scattered all over the place busy chatting away with one another. Near these tables and chairs were three long buffet tables, one on each side of the dance floor laid out with hot and cold treats with a wide selection of hors- d'oeuvres, main courses, desserts and drinks to cater for any and all ponies at the dance. There was also a photographer taking pictures of ponies against the park like setting of the courtyard as well as against the full moon that shone brilliantly in the night sky. Many ponies were lined up getting ready to get their pictures taken, because, they all wanted a photograph of what was going to be a memorable night for all of them. Both Sunny and Twilight were incredibly impressed at the layout of the dance, as they both walked side by side towards one of the buffet tables, as both of them were starving and couldn't dance on empty stomachs. However, whilst they were walking Sunny noticed a lone pegasus pony who was busy setting up a large white banner that was labeled with 'Portraits' in large big black letters. His head adorned with straight, flat crimson mane and he had a cutie mark that was a paint brush and pencil crossed over one another in an 'X' shape. He wore a simple white shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, along with a grey tie. He also had a number of cuts and scars along his entire body. But, the most peculiar thing was his eyes. Whilst, his right eye looked perfectly fine, with it being red in colour; his left eye was far from normal. It also seemed to have some sort of fracture along the entirety of the iris. And, it was as if the red colour of his iris had leaked out through the facture, leaving the iris a dull grey colour. Recognizing the pony he quickly grabbed Twilight's and asked, "Twilight, do you recognize that guy?" before pointing at the pegasus. Twilight looked towards him before her eyes widened in surprise as she respond, "Is that Leon? What's he doing here?" "Yeah it is him. I'm going to go talk to him. Is that o.k. with you?" "Of course that's o.k! In fact, let me come with you! I haven't spoken to him in a while." With that said they both walked towards Leon, who was now setting up his easel and paints. "Hey Leon!" called out Sunny, at this the brown pegasus turned around with a smile having recognized that voice. "Sunny? How are you?" Leon asked whilst bro-hoofing Sunny. "Yeah I'm fine thanks," Sunny replied before asking, "You remember Twilight don't you?" as he motioned towards the young purple unicorn to his right. As Leon turned to face her he couldn't help but gawk at how stunning she looked that night. Realizing that he had been staring, he quickly said, "Oh Twilight! It's good to see you again! You look amazing tonight." he said whilst holding out his hoof for a hand shake, as a small red tint painted his cheeks. "It's good to see you to, Leon! And, thanks for the compliment." she said whilst giving him a hug instead. "So what brings you here to our school dance, Leon?" asked Sunny before adding, "Here to check some mares out, are we?" he finished off with a mischievous grin and a cheeky wink. "N-no! Of course not Sunny! I..." said a now rather flustered Leon. "Relax Leon! I was just pulling your leg!" Sunny interrupted him whilst chuckling at his friend's reaction. "Anyway, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted." said Leon giving a glare towards Sunny before continuing, "I'm here because Princess Celestia herself asked me to draw portraits of any couples that wanted one." he said, with his voice now filled with pride, "That reminds me do you two want a portrait together?" "Oh well, I wouldn't want to stay still for too long, because, I'm hungry..." began Sunny. "Nonsense! All I need is the basic outline of the two of you, which will only take a few minutes and, then you are free to do whatever you like, whilst, I finish the portrait." "Well if you insist and, if Twilight's alright with that..." "I'm perfectly happy to have a portrait with you!" she stared dreamily into Sunny's eyes. "In that case we accept your offer!", Sunny said as he sat next to an oak tree holding Twilight in his arms as they both looked towards the stars, "By the way you must be doing amazingly well if Princess Celestia herself asked you to come here, she must really see a lot of potential in you!" said Sunny now in awe of his friend's talents, finally, being recognized by royalty, as he stood still letting Leon capture their pose with faint pencil strokes. "Sunny's right, Leon. It's amazing to see how you've become such a fantastic artist, from the shy colt that we met 2 years ago!" said Twilight backing up Sunny's statement and she laid her head against Sunny making herself comfortable. "Yeah I guess you're right. I've come a long way from when you guys found me..." Leon whispered; as his mind wondered back to the day they first met. 2 years ago... Leon Christo had been living in Canterlot for just over a year now studying at the Canterlot's School for Aspiring Artists. In that time, he had gained the respect of many students and teachers at the school, for being the one of the best artists they've ever had at the school. However, with this reputation, came a great consequence. A number of students began to bully him because of his exceptional talents. But, he chose to keep the bullying to himself, as he didn't want anybody to worry about him. He was walking home from school one day, and, took his usual route through an alleyway to get to his house. It was his least favorite part of walking home, as the alleyway was cold, dark and damp and the putrid and rancid smell of the trash cans lingered in the stale air that seem to permeate around the area. However, that one day was one that would forever change his life... "Hey Christo! Where are you off to in such a hurry?" asked a white coloured pegasus pony with white hair, as he walked out from behind a dumpster, blocking Leon's path. Rolling his eyes, Leon began to answer back, "Listen Michael! I haven't got time for this. Now if you'd kindly move out of my way, before I-Woah!". However, before he could finish his sentence he was tackled to the ground from behind, and was being restrained as five other ponies proceeded to tie him up. "Now I need to have a little word with you. See this is how it is, because of you getting the highest marks in the year by a good 20%, my parents are forcing me to take extra classes, go out less, my pocket money is being cut off AND my Father would rather have some street urchin like you for a son, than me!" Sunny began to respond, "Well maybe if you'd-ARGGH!" but was cut off with a kick to the face from Michael. A sickening crunch could he heard as his nasal bone broke under the force of the stallion's kick. He couldn't even clutch his face in pain as his hooves were tied. Blood flowed freely from his broken nose and pooled on the cold cobbled floor. "You'll speak when I tell you to speak!" an enraged Michael now yelled at the bloody faced Leon. "It's all your fault that everything has gone downhill. Before, you came to the school I was the best in the year. I was able to do whatever I pleased! My family loved me! Then when you came, all of that was taken from me! And, it's not just me! All of these ponies here have been affected by your presence at the school. So...I think you need to be punished for ruining the lives of so many ponies!" Michael finished with a deranged look in his eyes, "Claude, I want you to gag this street rat up. I want to make sure no one hears him scream from what we're about to do to him." As the red unicorn pony named Claude, stuffed Leon's mouth with some cloth and taped his mouth shut. Leon's crimson eyes were now filled with fear. Fear of what these six ponies were going to do to him. Meanwhile, Twilight and Sunny had both finished a long day at school, and, were both walking towards Twilight's house for a study session to prepare for an 'Advances in Magical Studies in the Last Century' test tomorrow. They stopped outside of a store as Mrs. Sparkle had asked Twilight to get some groceries for her on the way back home. Sunny was waiting outside of the store for Twilight to come out, when he heard groans coming from the alleyway next to the store. Looking in to the alleyway he was horrified at the sight before him. There were six ponies 2 earth, 2 pegasus and 2 unicorns all surrounding the bloody body of another pegasus pony. All of their hooves were covered in blood. The horns of the unicorns were also covered in blood. The groans were coming from the seemingly lifeless body on the ground. He knew he had to do something to stop this crime. But, he wasn't going to stupidly go in alone, with no plan on how to stop them. Just then, a voice next to him spoke up, "Sunny what are you doing looking in thi-MPPHMM!" her eyes went wide at the sight she saw, but was quickly silenced by Sunny's hoof covering her mouth and pulling her away. Once, he had gotten her to calm down he told her, "Listen, very carefully Twi! You need to go get help! Call an ambulance to come over here quickly! Get the police as well! Meanwhile, I'll stay here and think of a way to divert those ponies attention away from that poor pegasus pony." Just when Twilight, was about to open her mouth is disapproval he carried on, "Listen I know you aren't happy with that, but, time is really crucial here! There's no knowing how much time that pony has left. So every second matters, no please go get help!" Knowing she wasn't going to win this argument. She quickly hurried off into the store again to get access to a telephone to call for help. Meanwhile, Sunny looked back onto the scene in front of him, looking everywhere for something, anything that could help him with diverting their attention. Looking around the alleyway all he could see were: trashcans, a few bricks lying on the ground, a few empty glass bottles. The cogs of his brain were working over-time as he thought out all the possible strategies in his head, what actions would his assailants take, how he'd stop or counteract those actions in his favor. In short, he played out the entire scene in his, going through the steps like a flash forward. All of this was done in the space of just a few seconds showing the true cognitive power that he was gifted with. Putting the first part of his plan into action, he focused his magic on the heads of the six ponies, and, began to cast a 'Shadow Blind' spell. Whilst, it took a lot of effort to perform just the one spell on multiple ponies. He could tell he was successful just seconds later, from all the shouts he heard of: 'H-hey what's going on!', 'Why has everything gone dark?' and "Oh Celestia! I'm blind!' Quickly, putting the second part of his plan into action, he got out from his hiding place and using a 'Levitation' spell to pick up two bricks, he proceeded to smash the bricks into the two unicorn's heads, before, they could dispel his incantation. Hearing the sound of the bricks breaking against the skulls of the unicorns and the dull thumps the two bodies made when they impacted against the cobbled floor. Michael still blinded, turned towards the direction of the noise and yelled with a new found fear laced in his voice, "W-who's there?...C-come out and show yourself!" As the four ponies made their way blindly, towards the source of the sound. Sunny began step three of his plan of action, using another 'Levitation' spell he threw a bottle, in the opposite direction. The sound of the glass shattering, causing all of the ponies to turn around. Using this as a distraction, he grabbed a couple more bricks and proceeded to knock out the two earth ponies, whilst, at the same time chucking a few more bottles in different areas to confuse the remaining two pegasus ponies, about what exactly was going on. By this time, the other pegasus, that was with Michael had become incredibly freaked out, and, decided he would rather fly away blind, then have to face this 'hero'. However, because he was blind, he ended up smashing himself head-first into a wall, knocking himself out. Only Michael remained of the six ponies, and, by this point he was terrified. Not being able to see anything around him, and not knowing what happened to his friends. He could only imagine what must've happened to them. Sunny, by now had completely calmed down as he used one last 'Levitation' spell to put the final part of his plan into action. Michael, wondering what was going to happen to him, was suddenly lifted up in to the air. "H-Hey! Put me down! What are you doing?" he yelled as he was carried towards an open dumpster and dropped into it. Sunny, then proceeded to use his magic to seal the dumpster, preventing Michael from escaping. Now that all six ponies had been taken care of, he quickly, rushed to Leon's side to examine the damage. It didn't look good. A lot of the skin on his face had been scrapped of leaving it a bloody mess. His left eye was severely damaged, with it having swollen up and turned black with pus starting to leak out of it. His nose was definitely broken, as it was bent inwards. He had several stab wounds across his legs and body, most likely from the unicorn's horns. His wings were also splayed out in awkward positions, suggesting they had been broken. The majority of his body was covered in his own blood. Underneath, all the blood there were bruises all over his body from the intense beating they gave him. The blood also covered some burns around his legs. He was barely breathing, and it was getting weaker and weaker as time moved on. His wounds were still leaking out blood at an alarming rate. Sunny began to use his magic to slow down the rate at which blood was leaving his wounds, and used the little bits of first aid magic he knew to seal up some of his wounds. He continued his best efforts to keep him breathing up until, Twilight came with both doctors and police ponies. As he was being stretchered off to the hospital, Leon groaned to his saviors, "W-Wha...What are y-your names? "The name's Sunny and this is Twilight." he said whilst, pointing to the purple unicorn beside him, "You're safe now. So rest up." he continued with a look of worry, as he wondered whether he was going to make it or not. "T-tha...Thank...you." Leon groaned out before losing consciousness. At the hospital, he woke up to see both his family, and Sunny and Twilight waiting by his bedside. It took many months for most of his injuries to heal. But, eventually, he made a full recovery, with the only signs of the torture he'd been through, being the deep cuts and scars across his entire body. As well as his lost ability to see very well out of his left eye His vision in that eye was void of colour and was incredibly blurry. However, he was still very much thankful, to be alive. And, his eye actually imporved his artistic abilities, having inspired some of his greatest pieces. Since that day, the three of them had become close friends. They always met up on Saturdays to talk about how they're weeks had been, and, even show each other just what they learnt that week. On more than one occasion, Leon used his artistic abilities to draw both Sunny and Twilight together without them knowing. Whilst, he knew that they weren't a "couple," he could see that there was a special bond between the two of them. Due to this special bond, Leon knew when to give the two room to be alone, and eventually, faded into the background. He and Sunny were still good pals. They even came to each other for advice whenever either of them were going through bad times, including, when Sunny asked him for advice on asking Twilight out the week before! But, he hardly ever got to see Twilight any more. From then on, the rest they say is history. Present Time... "Hey Leon! Is the portrait finished yet?" yelled out Sunny who was now getting annoyed. Snapping back from his daze he answered back, "Yeah it's done. Come back in a couple of hours time and it'll be finished." "Finally! I'm starving! Let's go eat Twilight!" cried Sunny in happiness. "It was wonderful seeing you again Leon!" Twilight said. "Yeah it's been a while since all three of us, went out together! We really should meet up and talk like good old times!" Sunny said whilst looking over to Leon. "Hmm...you're right it has been a while! How about we meet up this Saturday at the park. Say around 2?" asked Leon. "That sounds like a plan to me!" Sunny said as he looked over to Twilight. "That's fine with me too." she said whilst, nodding to Leon. "Then it's settled we'll both see you this Saturday! You can also give us the portrait then as well, so it will be easier for you to do other pony's portraits tonight!" Sunny said cheerfully, at the thought of the three good friends getting back together again, "Now let's go eat Twilight! We'll see you later Leon!" he finished saying as he walked towards the buffet tables. "Goodbye Leon!" called out Twilight, as she followed after Sunny. As the two ponies walked off, Leon called out after them, "Hope you two enjoy the School Dance together!" An hour later... Both Sunny and Twilight were busy chatting away with one another, as well as their fellow class mates, whilst eating and drinking what could only be described as a glorious paradise to their taste buds. "...So I said to the dragon, 'Where's the fire!" Sunny said finishing the punch-line to a joke he'd been telling to Twilight and a group of their other classmates who had gathered round. At this punch-line all of them fell into fits of laughter. "Well what seems to be so funny over here?" called out a dark grey stallion who walked towards the group. He wore a sky blue suit jacket, with a crisp, white shirt, all topped off with a silver coloured bow- tie. His flank had the image of two quavers on it. "Good evening !" the entire group of ponies, except Sunny, said out in chorus to the Music teacher. "Good evening to you all as well, and, my is it a wonderful evening tonight! If you all don't mind, I'd like to take Mr. Sunrise away from you all for a few minutes. I need to have a quick word with him." Most of the ponies including Twilight, quickly agreed to let Sunny go with him. Whilst, a few fillies just simply sat there staring dreamily at the Music teacher that was the source of their crushes. Whilst, he was a teacher at the school, he was incredibly young for a teacher, compared to all the other teachers in the school. Having started teaching as soon as he graduated from doing Music at the University of Trottingham, he was only 3 years older than the final year students, and, 4 years older than Sunny and Twilight's year. Sunny got up from his seat as he said with a grin on his face, "Sure thing Mr. Acapella!" The face of the older pony twitched in annoyance at the mention of his silly nickname, as both he and Sunny began to walk somewhere so they wouldn't be heard. "How many times, do I have to tell you not to call me that? Mr. Capella, or even Amadeus is fine! But, not Acapella!" he said rather annoyed at Sunny. "Oh come on Sir! Your name is Amadeus Capella... ! I'm surprised no pony else made the joke before me!" replied Sunny with a roll of his eyes, before a grin formed on his face, "Besides, you have to admit it is pretty catchy!" When his response was just a small groan of annoyance Sunny then decided to ask, "Anyway, so what seems to be the problem? Sunny's favorite lesson in school was always Music. Simply, because that was the one subject in which he was truly talented in. Amadeus saw this, and immediately began to treat Sunny differently, from the other students. He started giving him extra one to one lessons, outside of school, that were more to his standard of playing. He also, allowed Sunny to miss Music lessons, as he realized there was no point in him coming in as he wouldn't be learning anything new and so would just be unfair on him. Throughout, the time they've been together, Amadeus despite, being only a few years older than Sunny was like a second father figure to him. Sunny always did feel as if he could go to Amadeus to ask for advice for just about anything. This also proved the case as he was also the first person he asked for help in asking Twilight out to the dance. "Well, you see Vinyl Scratch over there." he said as he pointed over to the DJ-ing pony, who was, currently entertaining the large crowd, " She will need to take a break soon, to get something to eat and drink. Now the school has already organised the school orchestra to come in and play a few songs, whilst, she's on her break. However, a few members of the school orchestra are unable to play as they're in your year, and, so are so busy having a good time, that it would be unfair to let them perform." "So you want me to perform a spell to get the unattended instruments to play themselves, as you don't know how to play those instruments, and, so can't do the spell yourself?" interrupted Sunny knowing full well where his teacher was going with his explanation. "In short, yes, that's exactly what I want you to do. I don't know how to play as many instruments as you do Sunny, hence, why your assistance is greatly needed." "Okay, then how many instruments are there, that need the spell? And, what songs are you going to be playing tonight?" "The only instruments that need the spell are the trumpets, and, the french horns, as well as, the piccolos and the clarinets. Everything else, I've already placed the spell on them. As for the songs, you already know how to play all of them. Here is the list of the songs we will be performing." Mr. Capella finished as he handed a sheet to Sunny. Quickly, looking at the sheet he shut his eyes tightly, as he performed a memory spell containing his experiences with playing the instruments as well as the notes to the songs that were going to be played. Once, this was done he began to concentrate on making the memory spell appear in a physical form. His horn by, this time was glowing an incredibly bright yellow, as a large ball of yellow light began to form on the tip of his horn. When he completed the spell, he collapsed to the ground in exhaustion of using so much magic in one spell, the yellow ball of light simply, floating in the air. Amadeus worried about his favorite student's well-being rushed to his side and asked, "Sunny are you alright?" "Yeah...I'm fine. I guess I just over-did it a bit, with the amount of magic I used in that spell." he said as he tried to get up before, falling back onto the ground again. With a sigh of relief the Music teacher said, "Thank Celestia you're alright! You shouldn't be over-exerting yourself when performing spells you know! It can be dangerous! Here you should sit down for a while." said whilst, using a spell to bring a chair from one of the tables. He then proceeded to help Sunny up onto the chair. " Yeah, yeah I know! Don't worry I'm fine, and, thanks for the help Sir. As for the instruments, all you need to do now is use a 'Copy' Spell on that Memory Orb and then put them in the instruments you want to play by themselves." Sunny spoke whilst, still trying to get his strength back. "Thank you so much for your help Sunny." said before, trailing off, as he remembered something and asked, "I assume that asking Miss Sparkle out to the dance was a success I take it?" With a massive grin Sunny replied, "Yep, we're officially going out now!" "She's a sweet girl Sunny. I hope you don't do anything to hurt her." said Amadeus with a serious tone in his voice. "What are you saying? I would never do anything to hurt Twilight!" spoke in a hurt tone at the accusation that his teacher was implying. "I know you wouldn't Sunny. But, I'm just saying...you never know what may happen." By this point Sunny, began to speak, not knowing the effect his words would have in the future, "I promise that no matter what happens! I will never do anything to hurt Twilight!" "If you say so, now if you'll excuse me I need to get ready the orchestra...Oh and one more thing make sure you and Twilight dance to the 7th song. I'm dedicating it especially to the two of you." said calmly, as he made his way over to the stage, whilst, using a 'Locomotor' spell to carry the orb of yellow light with him. Twilight, who was looking on from afar went over to Sunny as soon as Mr. Capella had walked away, and, asked with worry in her voice "Are you O.K.? I saw you fall to the ground after you did that spell! What was all that about anyway?" "I'm fine Twilight. I just over-exerted myself doing that spell, that's all. As for what that was all about, he just wanted me to make a spell for some of the instruments to play themselves, as some of the members of the orchestra are here for the dance." he finished explaining to her, whilst, omitting the discussion about their relationship between him and the music teacher. "Oh, well just be careful not to do that again! You had me really worried!" Twilight said as she moved closer to him and nuzzled his chest in affection. With a small smile, Sunny whispered into her ear, "Don't worry about me Twilight, no matter what happens I'll always be here with you." Twilight, 'aww'ed at his response and continued to nuzzle him. They spent the next half an hour simply being in each other's presence. No other pony dared to interrupt them, as they all could clearly see that they wanted to be alone together. Finally, the sound of Capella's voice interrupted the silence between the two, "I hope you enjoyed the last six songs we've played. Now for the seventh song I will be giving you a special treat. Anyone want to hazard a guess at what it is?" at this the entire room fell silent, and, with an anime sweat drop he continued now slightly embarrassed, "Well I'm happy to tell you that I'll be putting my vocal chords to use in this song, as I will be singing the next song!" At this every pony especially, all the mares cheered. Mr. Capella, was not only well known in the school, not just for his good looks, or his exceptional talent in Music. He was also an amazing singer. This only helped win the affections of more female students at the school. He then continued, "Also another surprise is that Mr. Hunter over here..." then pointed to the Maths teacher next to him who was now incredibly embarrassed, "...has kindly offered to provide backing vocals for the song!" Again, many students cheered at the fact that Mr. Hunter was singing, mainly, because, they wanted to see their Maths teacher make a fool of himself. Looking over to the orchestra he tapped his hoof on the ground whilst saying, "And a one, and a two, and a one ,two ,three." As the school orchestra began to play the music; all of the couples went out onto the dance floor. Sunny looked towards Twilight, remembering what Mr. Capella had told him. Meanwhile, at the same time, Twilight looked towards Sunny. They both smiled at one another as they both thought the same thing. Sunny began to get up from his seat whilst doing an exaggerated bow whilst holding out a hoof to Twilight and asked in a jokingly posh way: "Miss Sparkle, would you do me the fine honor of dancing to this lovely melody with me?" Twilight couldn't help but giggle as got up from her own seat and, responded in her own little posh accent: "Why Mr. Sunrise, I'd be more than happy to join you in a dance." she finished with a curtsey before taking Sunny's hoof. Sunny lead the two of them onto the dance floor. Once, they were in some space they both stood up on their hind legs to prepare to dance. Twilight wrapped her forelegs around Sunny's neck as he wrapped his own around her; holding each other close as they began to move in time to the music. Having seen his star pupil on the dance floor with Twilight; Mr. Capella gave out a small cough to clear his throat, before, he began to sing in a strong yet soothing voice: There are things in Life you learn and Oh in time you'll see. Cause out there somewhere It's all waiting If you keep believing. As the music began to gain more if a tempo, Sunny and Twilight began to move even faster in time to the music. So don't run Don't hide It will be alright You'll see Trust me I'll be there... All of a sudden, Sunny dipped Twilight surprising her as the last three words of the verse were sung. With him staring into her eyes, whilst she got lost in his. ...Watching over you! They got out of the dip but continued to stare into one another's eyes as the chorus was sung. Just take a look Through my eyes Mr. Hunter surprised a number of ponies as he began to sing the backing vocals. They were surprised at just how good he was! His voice was smooth and went harmoniously with Mr. Capella's own voice, (Look through my eyes) There's a better place somewhere out there... Sunny by now was completely submerged in the vast lilac oceans that were Twilight's eyes as they sparkled in the moonlight. The magical moonlight shining on her form, making her look even more stunning to all the ponies that had begun to watch the two dancing. ...Ooh, just take a look Through my eyes (Look through my eyes) Everything changes You'll be amazed what you find... Twilight has also become lost in the whirlpools of caramel brown that were his eyes. His head covered the majority of the moon from her view. But, it caused him to have an unnatural white glow around his head making him look almost angelic. ...(There's a better place) If you look through my eyes. They continued to dance slowly to the sound of the instruments that followed after the first chorus; allowing for Mr. Cappella to have a quick drink of water before he had to sing again. The piano continued to play its soothing melody. Amidst, the bass of the drum that pounded rhythmically alongside the orchestra of violins that sang their tunes. A banjo then started to play, after which, all the other instruments began to follow it; as it lead the song into the second verse. now rehydrated began to sing the second verse. There will be times On this journey All you'll see is darkness. Sunny had begun to realize that these lyrics were describing his relationship with Twilight perfectly. How he was still in the darkness of doubt about whether he was truly the right pony to be with someone as perfect as Twilight. But as the next words were sung, he couldn't help but smile; as they gave him, a new hope, about strength of his relationship with Twilight and how he would never give up on it without a fight. But out there somewhere Daylight finds you If you keep believing As the music began to pick up tempo again, Sunny and Twilight started to move faster to the music as they held each other even closer than before. So don't run Don't hide It will be alright You'll see Trust me I'll be there... Again, he dipped Twilight again. But this, time Twilight was ready as she gave him a seductive look. This brought a small blush to creep up on his face. However, he also responded with a wink of his own. ...Watching over you! Then again, they got out of the dip as they began to dance in a wider area. As more couples, stopped dancing to watch Sunny and Twilight together as they're dancing and relationship between then was clearly a cut above the rest. Just take a look (Take a look) Through my eyes (Look through my eyes) There's a better place somewhere out there. Ooh, just take a look Through my eyes (Look through my eyes) Everything changes You'll be amazed what you find (There's a better place) If you look through my eyes. Both of their horns started to glow, as the last verse of the song began to be sung. Twilight's a bright lilac colour and Sunny's a bright yellow, as they continued to think about one another. By this point, they had lost themselves to each other's presence so much that they had forgotten about everyone else at the dance. Tonight, it was just the two of them, and the music. The magical aura emanating from their horns began to surround the two of them, as their feet began to leave the ground. Everypony was now amazed, as they saw the two ponies continue to dance, even as they began to levitate into the air. All the things that You can change There's a meaning in everything And you will find all you need There's so much to understand They were now at least several hundred feet in the air. The moon now shining it's beams of light at the couple, almost as if it were blessing the young love between the two. Everypony stood in awe at the sight of the two ponies who looked as if they were ready to reach for the stars that dotted across the velvety sky that night. However, they still hadn't noticed a thing as they continued to dance. Twilight's head resting on Sunny's chest, whilst, he simply looked at her in happiness feeling that his life was complete with her by his side. Take a look (Take a look) Through my eyes (Look through by eyes) There's a better place somewhere out there. Ooh, just take a look (Take a look) Through my eyes (Look through my eyes) Everything changes You'll be amazed what you'll find Students and teachers were now firing off 'Firework' spells into the sky after them, decorating the sky around them, making the beautiful moment even more precious to the loving couple. (You'll be amazed if you just take a look) Take a look Through my eyes The skies were now flashing in any and all of the imaginable colours you could think of. There's a better place somewhere out there. Just take a look. (Take a look) Through my eyes. (Look through my eyes) Twilight and Sunny both stopped dancing and looked into each other's eyes, whilst, still floating in the air. Everything changes You'll be amazed what you'll find... As the song began to reach its climax. The two ponies had finally accepted one thing: they were meant to be together. Through this one dance, they had eliminated any doubts in their minds; that the two had found their soul mates. (You'll find... There's a better place) If you look through my eyes The two began to close their eyes as they moved in for one last kiss. The magical auras around both of then becoming brighter. (You know there's a better place) Just take a look through my eyes The gap between their lips was closing down at an agonizingly slow pace. As if something was still holding them back from sealing their love for one another, in this most powerful of forms. Their auras now as bright as Celestia's own Sun, if not brighter, lighting up the night sky, as if it were day. (Look, there's a better place) If you look through my eyes... Their lips finally met as they softly kissed one another. Their auras now exploded, around them covering the area of sky in a mixture of purple and yellow colours. Whilst, they stood in the midst, of it all kissing one another, without a care in the world. Embracing how much they belonged together, both of them now had a yellow and purple aura around them. Which, also began to die away as the young couple slowly began to float all the way back down to the dance floor again, keeping hold of that one kiss all the way down. Everypony was now stunned into silence as they now watched the couple. The phenomenon they witnessed forever etched into their memories. As the music to the song, also began to die down, Mr. Cappella smiled at his star student and his new found love as he finished singing. Take a look through my eyes... They however, were still lost in their own little utopia which they never wanted to end. But, all good things do come to an end, as their senses of reality slowly, began to return to them. When they realized that there was complete silence. They slowly broke their kiss as the first thing they saw was each other's eyes. Nearly, getting lost in her eyes again, Sunny averted his gaze from her for a second as he looked around the dance floor to see every pony just staring at them, in complete silence. However, the awkward silence was finally broken with the sound of one person clapping. Sunny turned around to the source of the clapping, it was Mr. Cappella who nodded in acknowledgement of Sunny's love, before continuing to clap. Soon others started to join in on the clapping until gradually everyone both students and teachers were clapping, whistling and whooping away. All of them happy for the couple for finding such happiness with one another. Sunny began to smile as everyone cheered both him and Twilight; happy that everyone approved of his relationship with Twilight. Just then he felt a tug on his arm, to which he looked down to see a bright red Twilight hiding behind him in embarrassment from all the attention they were giving them. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her, before deciding to get away from the massive crowd of people. So quickly closing his eyes his horn began to glow a bright white enveloping both himself and Twilight who held on to him tightly. Finally, finishing the teleportation spell they both vanished in front of every pony in a flash. Mr. Cappella couldn't help but smile as he thought to himself: 'Go get her tiger!' In a flash of light they appeared at Sunny's chosen destination. "Well that was-OW!" he yelled holding the spot on his head where Twilight had just hit him, before saying, "What on Equestria was that for!" "That, Starbuck Sunrise! Was for not warning me, about teleporting us out of there!" she angrily said before she looked around and asked, "Where are we anyway?" Sunny now with a smirk on his face simply said, "Remember the first day we met? When we went up the wall and I told you that the view looked better at night...well look behind you." As she turned around she was met by the amazing view of Canterlot at night. The cerulean sky by day had become painted over in black, with many glittering stars now dotting the night sky. The tall buildings during the day had now become beacons of dazzlingly bright light at night. There were no birds; in fact, all that could be heard was the faint whistling of the night-time breeze. This time the most impressive sight by far at night was Celestia's younger sister, Luna's own creation: the full Moon. In the midst, of the beautiful stars in the velvety night sky, the stunning lights of the city, and the peacefulness of the entire setting. It was easily the most beautiful thing that she could see. The moonlight dimly, lighting up the forest and mountainous landscape that surrounded the city in an eerie white glow. Sunny couldn't help but stare at Twilight as she was amazed by the view. The moonlight, making the glitter on her black dress sparkle. Whilst, also lighting up her face making her features glow brightly highlighting her already beautiful looks. He sighed as he thought about how lucky he was, to be gifted with being in a relationship with someone so beautiful and perfect in every way as she was. He walked up right next to her and watched the view alongside her. All was quiet between the two of them, until Twilight broke the silence by saying: "Tonight has been the best night of my life, Sunny." she said slowly as she laid her head on his shoulder, whilst staring dreamily into his eyes. "It's probably the second best night of my life." he said rather bluntly, he continued, "Nowhere near as good as the best night of my life." This got Twilight to pick her head up off his shoulder with her eyes burning with rage as she said, "Oh really? And what's been the best night of your life?" Twilight now incredibly pissed that Sunny could ruin such a perfect night with just one comment. However, Sunny didn't react to the clearly pissed off Twilight. Instead, he looked into her eyes and simply answered, "The best night of my life was when you accepted my love and gave me my first kiss." By now Twilight had begun to feel guilty about ever doubting him in the first place. But, the nail in her heart was driven further in at the next words he said calmly: "It was only because of that night that I could have the second best night of my life, and, in the future many more best days and nights of my life to come. As long as I've got you by my side." Now Twilight had begun to cry at the heart-warming words, and, before Sunny could ask her what was wrong, she shut him up with a kiss under the stars. As they continued to kiss; both their horns touched each other as a spark between them was let off. Sunny kissing Twilight could now hear Twilight's thoughts as he heard her inner voice call out: 'I wouldn't know what I'd do without you...I love you too much to ever let you go! Whatever you do...No matter what happens...Promise me! That you will never leave me!' Instead, of freaking out at their new found ability of hearing each other's thoughts. All Sunny did was think of the two words that he felt were just right at the time. But, could not have possibly known how those two words would turn out to ruin his relationship with Twilight in the future. 'I promise...' So there you have it. The last of the chapters I have written in advance. Now, you guys on FimFiction.net are up to date with where the fic is at the moment, on FF.net. So this fic will be put on hiatus, until I'm done with all of my exams this month. So you won't be seeing any further chapters of this fic until February. I will however be posting a New Years Eve themed fic that I had posted up on FF.net which involves more Sunny/Twilight goodness. It is not really that related to the fic in general. But, it does have a few teasers in for the next Chapter which I am currently, writing bit by bit. So until then, I hope you've enjoyed what I've produced so far. Please do leave comments, telling me what you thought about this Chapter, how do you think this Chapter was, as well as, any ways I might be able to improve on it! All of your comments are greatly appreciated! ^_^
Dreams!*jumps out from behind a random tree* Hello there! Hope you guys didn't miss this fic too much and, I hope you enjoy what I have to offer you guys with this chapter! So without further ado! I introduce to you Chapter 7 of 'A New Arrival!' "What in the hay is going on here?!" yelled out Applejack, as the image of Twilight and Sunny kissing as they made their promises to one another, slowly began to fade away. "Yeah! The movie was just getting to the best part as well!" moaned Pinkie Pie whilst munching away on a large bag of popcorn that she had been eating during the entirety of all the memories shown to them. No pony had a clue where she had gotten the bag of popcorn from, nor did they particularly want to find out. "I agree! What horrible time for your spell to stop working!" exclaimed Rarity. Meanwhile, whilst all of the arguing was going on, Fluttershy's heart had sunk to her stomach after seeing the relationship between Twilight and Sunny. She thought to herself: 'How in Equestria can I think of taking Sunny away from Twilight when they both make each other so happy...?' As she finished this thought she looked over to Twilight, who was trying extremely hard to paint a mask to hide away any emotions that could be seen on her face from the re-opening of her past emotional scars. Those memories had shown her just how happy she used to be back then. She had never been that happy ever since that faithful day, when Sunny chose to ruin what they had together. Even with her friends and studies to keep her happy and occupied, she had never felt the same level of happiness as she had when she had been with Sunny. Now, having looked back at those memories, she had been reminded of how things had been back then, she started to think of how much she had lost that day. Her happiness, the love of her life but, most importantly her best friend. Those memories also served as a reminder of how she could never get any of those things back... However, before she could continue her thoughts, she was interrupted by Rarity who continued: "I mean, we still haven't found out what the reason was that caused you two break up exactly?! What I just saw there, was far better than anything that I could imagine with my own dream colt! And, believe me when I say I imagine some pretty romantic things! Which only leads me to wonder if a romantic couple like you two can't be together then..." she said as tears began to fill her eyes, before finally breaking out into tears as she moaned, "What hope do I have?! I'm going to be an ugly, old spinster forever!" 'Sheesh what an over-reaction...', thought Sunny "I guess I spent too much energy holding both the memory and imaging spell up for too long. So I had to release one of those spells and seeing as the memory spell is the easier of the two to re-do. I chose to release that one, so I'm sorry about that." Sunny said sheepishly, before letting out a sigh of exhaustion, as he finished his explanation to the still rather annoyed Rarity. "Well please do hurry up and re-do the spell so we can see how your story ends!" exclaimed Rarity. "Yeah! I don't like to be kept waiting. I could be on a nice, comfy cloud right now going off to sleep!" added Rainbow Dash, who was probably the only pony in the room who didn't really care about these memories they were being shown. After all, that's all they really were...memories. They meant nothing in the present. What made it even worse for her was that was this whole trip down memory lane was all surrounded by a relationship. She never could understand just what the point was in being in a relationship was. I mean from what she had both seen and heard from other ponies. It all sounded like a lot of time and effort. Time and effort that could be put to better use practicing one of her new moves. "I told you already, I'm out of energy! It'll take a while before I regenerate enough energy to conjure up another 'Memory' Spell!", Sunny responded, trying very hard not to show his annoyance. "Well can't Twilight do the spell?! I mean after all she has her own memories of the same event as you do!" argued Rarity, who was now seemingly desperate to know how the story of their romance ended. She faced towards Twilight as she finished saying this. "I...uh... I'd rather not Rarity." stammered Twilight as she looked to Sunny for some help in convincing her. "Oh! I see how it is!" said Rarity haughtily as she continued saying, "It must've been your fault that the two of you broke up, and you must not want any of us to see it, in case we decide to think of you any differently." "No! I-" began Twilight before being interrupted by Rarity who continued to speak. "Trust me when I speak for all of us darling. That none of us ponies will think of you any differently, for breaking up with Sunny for whatever reason..." "But I-" "She's right sugarcube. We're ya friends after all! We won't judge you." chipped in Applejack, willing to support her friend. "SUNNY CHEATED ON ME!" yelled Twilight, who had grown annoyed at the ponies that continued to interrupt her speaking. The whole room feel silent at her sudden outburst after that. Just when the silence was starting to get awkward, Sunny spoke up, "She's right...It's all my fault that we broke up." At this news, all of the ponies were shocked. Having worked together with Sunny the entirety of the day, they would've never suspected him to be the type of colt that would cheat on his partner...or break a promise for that matter. "H-how could you break that...that promise?" said Fluttershy quietly. "Yeah! After you promised you wouldn't hurt her!" shouted Rainbow Dash who had flown out of her seat and was now towering over Sunny with an angry look in her eyes. Sunny by this time was now fearing for his safety. "It's because, he didn't 'Pinkie Pie' Swear when he promised Twilight that he would never leave her. Or when he promised to that Acapella guy that he would never hurt Twilight." said Pinkie Pie as she stuffed her face with even more popcorn, ready to spectate the imminent beating of Sunny. "You know what, I thought you were alright! But, when you hurt a friend of mine, you best be preparin' yerself for a good old buckin'!" said Applejack who joined Rainbow Dash in towering over Sunny, whilst, giving him her own death glare. "You jerk! How could you ruin something so beautiful! I simply cannot forgive any pony that would let a relationship that strong, simply die like that!" yelled Rarity. Out of the three ponies, that now towered over him, she was by far the most angry. Her eyes were burning angrily, as they gave him the message that she was about to tear him limb from limb. However, Sunny refused to cower in fear at the menacing mares that surrounded him in his seat. He simply sighed, before shutting his eyes as he thought, 'This is the least I deserve for breaking Twilight's heart...' 'If he could cheat on Twilight, after all they had been through together. Then what would stop him from cheating on me?', quickly realizing what she said she quickly shook her head as she added to her thoughts, 'That's only if the two of us ever got together...".. Soon after, a small blush of embarrassment spread across her face. Although, no pony was paying attention to her, as all focus was on the imminent beating of Sunny at the hands of the three angry mares. "GIRLS STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" yelled Twilight who moved in between the three mares and Sunny. "What are you doing Twilight?!" yelled Rainbow Dash rather angrily. "Sugarcube, stand aside so we can teach this colt a lesson!" Applejack showing more control over her urges to pummel Sunny. "Indeed Twilight, this colt doesn't deserve any mercy for what he did to you!" added Rarity. "You don't even know any of the details of what happened!" "He CHEATED on you, Twilight! What more do we have to know?!" "There's a lot more you have to know! Besides weren't you the one telling me 'that none of you ponies will think of you me any differently, for breaking up with Sunny for whatever reason' ? So what's the difference with him breaking up with me?!" At this final outburst, all three mares were left gob-smacked as Twilight gave them all a steely glare, before her horn began to glow with a light purple aura surrounding it. Walking over to the frame of pink hazy light, she placed the tip of her horn into the frame. The frame automatically began to take in Twilight's memories she wanted shown, with the purple aura emanating from her horn, mixing with the pink colour of the frame. Once, again an image, this time of Twilight's memories, began to flicker back into view. "Sit down and watch the rest of what happens!" said Twilight sternly whilst giving a look that spoke of dire consequences awaited any pony who dared not to obey her orders. The three ponies noting this look quickly went back to their seats to watch the precious memories of Twilight. It was now a few months into the final year at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns for Sunny and Twilight. The two had become incredibly busy during these few months. Sunny working on his application to study Music at university, and Twilight reading through a set book list of over seventy different books required for her to study as Princess Celestia's apprentice. On top of this, the couple had attained the positions of Head Colt and Head Filly at the school. So they were required to perform many time-consuming duties on behalf of the school. Despite, all of this added stress in their lives, the two always found time to spend with each other. Whether it is during their duties as representatives of the school, or through studying. Whilst, most relationships between students at the school crumbled under the added stress of further studies, and ceased to exist. Sunny and Twilight's relationship held strong against the pressure, and even blossomed further to a point; where neither could imagine life without the other. Everything seemed well, until that faithful day occurred... The bell had rung signaling the end of school well over an hour ago. But, Twilight still sat on one of the benches and tables in the school courtyard with an open book, her brain like a sponge absorbing all of it's contents, with the thrill of striving for new knowledge. This had always been a part of their daily routine. Twilight would wait an hour and a half after school, for Sunny to finish giving piano lessons to those students that asked for it. With Mr. Capella's permission he was able to make a little money to help pay for his student living costs when he did go to university, by giving lessons to those who asked for them in the music rooms at the school. Twilight also received lessons from Sunny. Free of charge of course! There had to be advantages for going out with him right? Twilight began to blush heavily as she thought back to some of their first lesson together. A couple of months ago... "...Wow Twilight you're really quick at picking this stuff up!" said Sunny who was rather amazed at the speed at which she was picking up everything he taught her. "Well... I have a wonderful teacher!" she said with a bright smile painting her face. "Aww shucks Twilight! It's nothing really, besides it's you who's amazing at learning everything I teach you so quickly. I mean it took me a week to learn everything you have today!" "Sunny you're just saying that..." Twilight muttered out shyly as a blush began to paint her cheeks. "No really Twilight! I'm being serious about what I said. It really is amazing how you picked up everything today. Learning the piano keys, how to read sheet music, how to apply magic to press multiple keys on the piano through touching a set of keys with your hooves and you even learnt how to play a couple of songs as well! That's all in the space of three hours!" he finished his rant which left Twilight's face as red as a tomato. "It's not that big a deal..." muttered Twilight. Sunny knowing not to push Twilight any further, decided to change the subject of their conversation: "Well we still have quite a bit of time left. Would you like to learn another song?" Twilight glad for this change in topic simply nodded her head in agreement. "Okay then if you'd like to position your left hoof at this key over here which is a...?" "B." Twilight gave a firm response showing that she had taken in all she had learnt earlier that day. "Right! Now position your right hoof on the 'C' key three octaves down from your left hoof." Twilight followed Sunny's instructions as she place her right hoof in the position she was told. "Okay now I'm going to show you what keys to direct your magic at, in order to play the piece. I'll show it a bit at a time so you can follow it easier." Sunny now moved closer to Twilight and placed his hooves on top of hers as he began to focus his magic onto the specific keys on the piano. By now, Twilight had a large blush spread across her cheeks from the closeness of his hooves touching hers on top of the smooth pieces of pearly ivory. Her blush only intensified into an even brighter red when she felt the warm rush of Sunny's magic flow through her hooves and onto the piano keys. 'Oh Celestia! How doesn't he realize how much of an affect he has on me just by standing so close?' He proceeded to move her hooves into a new position on the piano, unaware that Twilight had now completely forgotten about playing the piano, and was more interested in breathing in Sunny's scent now that he was so close to her. 'Oh gosh! He smells so good! Just what is that perfume he's using?!'. Twilight thought as her mind began to become clouded, having become more intoxicated with every deep breath of his scent she took. As he was closer to finishing the first part of the song, Twilight slowly turned her gear to look at Sunny's face. His eyes were closed as he was completely focused on the music he was playing. Finally, when he had finished playing the very first part of the song he began to speak: "Okay now that I've shown you the first part of the song, now I'd like to see you try it." As he said this he turned to face Twilight who by this time had closed the gap between them, so that their lips were just a few centimeters apart from one another. Not expecting Twilight to be so close, Sunny could not help but recoil back in surprise at the sudden 'closeness' between him and Twilight. "Woah Twilight! You almost scared me there! Twilight...?" Her eyes by this time had a clouded look on them, which he could see more clearly as she again moved closer to him. "Twilight what are you-" Sunny began before being silenced by Twilight's lips capturing his own in a passionate kiss. Initially, Sunny's eyes widened in surprise at the suddenness of everything, before he too closed his eyes and put his own effort into the make-out session with Twilight. Twilight continues to move forward wanting to be as close to Sunny as physically possible. However, because they were both on a piano stool, it was only a matter of when before the couple fell to the floor. Even then, that didn't stop them from continuing their passionate kissing as they continued to make out on the floor in each other' loving embrace. It wasn't until half an hour later before the two had come to their senses and decided never to let their emotions get out of control like that again, lest something were to happen that neither were ready for as of yet... Back at the courtyard... Twilight could feel the heat radiating off of her face as she recollected the memories of her acting in such a way with Sunny. She knew that those memories would be one of many that would be forever burned into the hippocampus of her brain. Twilight quickly decided to think of something else apart from that somewhat embarrassing memory. She sighed in boredom. She had already learnt most of the stuff that was already in the book, with only the occasional tidbit of new information keeping her from shutting the book and returning it to the library. Looking at her watch she saw she still had ten minutes to wait until Sunny was done with giving his lessons. Well it as only ten minutes...so it wouldn't be too long to wait for Sunny. So she decided to pack up her bags and head towards the music rooms where Sunny was teaching piano to one of his other students. As she was walking down the hallways, she couldn't help but think of all the memories she had walking up and down this hallway with Sunny throughout the past six years of being together at the school. She would miss all of those good times they had together at this school. But, she knew that when they did graduate from school, they would have many more good times together in the future. As she approached the door of the music room, she decided not to go in and disturb their lesson, and instead she would simply wait outside the door for the lesson to finish his lesson. However, getting a little bit curious as to who Sunny was teaching today, she looked through the glass panel on the door to see. In the music room, she saw Sunny was in fact teaching Fleur-de-Lis. Twilight felt a pang of jealousy strike her nerves as she saw the two talking with one another as Sunny corrected a mistake she had made in the piece she was playing. Whilst, she wasn't very gifted in the academic department, she was definitely blessed when it came to looks. She was without a doubt the most beautiful mare at the school. Most of the colts in the school would stop and stare as she walked past. She had already been offered a modeling opportunity to work with none other than the Equestria-renown photographer, Photo Finish. Whilst, Twilight didn't have any problems with her personally, she did find her to be incredibly vain about her appearance. She also thought of her as a bit stuck up, as she would always gloat about how her parents were one of Canterlot's most well-known couples due to both of them being movie stars. However, what really got on her nerves was how she could be so cruel when it came to matters of the heart. The number of colt's love-struck hearts that she held in her hooves and instantly crushed in her hooves, along with their hopes and dreams. She essentially destroyed any pony that was foolish enough to attempt to confess their love for her. That was why one of the nicknames she had received at school was 'The Ice Queen'. It described her perfectly. The stunning embodiment of perfection that could be seen in a well-crafted ice sculpture, yet seemingly had no warm emotions of any kind, and crushed your heart without a moment's hesitation. It wasn't just the fact, that she rejected every good and honest colt that gave their hearts so willingly for her just to stomp her hooves all over them. It was also the fact that she chose to go out with anyone who came from a rich background, or who had some sort of high social status that was greater than her own. It was only the really obnoxious, stuck-up and pompous colts in the school that were like that. It just made her blood boil that she could be so irritatingly stupid. To reject the love of ponies who could genuinely love her with their hearts, only instead to be with those ponies who would simply treat her as a piece of meat. It utterly disgusted her...okay so maybe she did have just a few tiny personal problems with her. She quickly turned around to face the window that was just opposite the music room door. She had to calm herself down before she did anything she would regret. She stuck her head out through the open window to see the courtyard she had been in just moments ago below her. She was on the first floor on the music building. The window sill was decorated with a number of potted plants, all of which bloomed beautiful flowers in a number of different and dazzling colours. Each of them had their own distinct scent. Yet all of them smelled heavenly to Twilight's senses. The smell of the flowers instantly made her feel a lot calmer and allowed her to think more rationally. She quickly brought her head back in, as she thought: 'What am I so jealous about? It's not like she's going to take Sunny away from me! Sunny would never break his promise to me! Besides, he could do much better than that attention seeking...' She immediately put her head back out the window making sure to take in deep breaths of the soothing floral scents. At last, after a good couple of minutes she had calmed down enough to bring her head back inside. 'Note to self, never think about...that pony, so much. It's isn't good for your health.'. She chuckled to herself, as she finished that thought. Now she decided she would be mature enough to look back through the door, without reacting so strongly to that pony's presence with her Sunny. She could see the two of them discussing something. Sunny was trying to convince Fleur to play the piano, whilst she complained that she simply couldn't do it. Urging her to play, he instructed her to put her hooves in position on the piano and then placed his hooves on top of her as he began to show her how to place her magic to play the song. Twilight thought she was going through déjà vu all over again, as he repeated exactly what he had done with her on her first lesson. Immediately, her blood began to boil again before, she started to scold herself: 'You're jumping to conclusions Twilight! She's fully aware that Sunny is mine! He's just helping teaching her to play a song...' However, what happened next was the same as what happened with her when she first played the piano with him. Fleur had moved closer towards him, and Sunny had jumped in surprise at the close proximity between the two. Then as he was voicing out how surprised he was, Fleur immediately captured his lips in a passionate kiss. By now, Twilight was fuming at the fact that this...this WHORE! Would be foolish enough to try and steal away another mare's stallion! But, what happened next completely cut off her anger...and instead obliterated her heart. Sunny had begun to kiss back! He had closed his eyes and had begun to kiss Fleur back with an equal amount of passion. It really was déjà vu all over again. Except, this was a version she didn't want to be living in. Completely shocked at the sight in front of her, her mind did something she never would've expected to happen...it shut down. She couldn't think. She couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe. All she could do was stare as her entire world fell apart and was set alight, right in front of her eyes by none other than 'The Ice Queen' herself. The image that would haunt her in her dreams for many years to come. Staggering back due to the lack of oxygen to her brain. She accidently knocked over one of the potted plants off the window sill. The sound of the pot crashing, like her heart, into several pieces against the ground, snapped her out of her moment of shock. However, it also alerted the two in the music room, to look through the door. Sunny's eyes widened as he saw a heart-broken Twilight staring at him, with tears streaming down her face. Realizing his mistake, he stood up and quickly rushed to the door. Twilight ran. She ran away as fast as she could. Anything to distance herself away from the colt that used to mean the world to her. She heard him calling her name, telling her to wait. But, she didn't listen. She couldn't listen. How could she listen to a colt who promised her he would never leave her, and then just go and kiss another mare? How could she trust any pony again after that...? She didn't care that she ran past a shocked looking Mr.Capella with tears streaming down her face. She didn't care about anything at that moment. She just wanted to be away from everyone. Away from everything. Focusing her magic as she was still running, she disappeared in a flash of light, teleporting away to anywhere but there... A moment later... She appeared in a flash of white light in front of her house. Quickly, opening the front door to let herself in, before slamming it behind her. She ran up the stairs and into her room, before her Mum could ask her how her day was. She flung herself onto her bed, laying her head face down as she cried the broken shards of her fragile heart out into the pillow. It was an hour before; she had calmed herself to make a decision of some sorts. Although, in her current state, her mind wasn't functioning as well as it normally would. She thought about the actions she was taking a lot less, instead choosing to simply go with what her emotions were telling her to do. Drying the tears from her face, and regaining her usual composure. She left her room and went downstairs and was about to head out the door, when her mum called out to her. "Where do you think you're off to Twilight?" "I'm just going out for a while Mum. I need to think of how to solve a little problem I'm having..." Twilight replied. Her mother noting the look on her daughter’s face knew not to further question her daughter any further. She trusted her daughter well enough that she'd be able to solve her own problems with a little time, and if not, she always knew that she'd be there for her if there was any problems too big for her to handle alone. "Okay then dear. Just remember to come back home in time for dinner." After a long pause, Twilight replied forcing a small smile, "Yeah Mum...we'll see." Before, disappearing again in a flash of white light. Now Twilight's mother couldn't help but worry after Twilight's last words. 'Please Celestia. Make sure my daughter doesn't get into too much trouble.' It was only thirty minutes later, when Sunny was knocking on her door to ask if he could speak with Twilight. "I'm sorry Sunny, but Twilight went out for a while. She said something about having to solve a little problem she was having." "Oh...okay well thanks anyway Mrs. Sparkle." said Sunny as he turned to leave. "Sunny!" she called out. "Yes Mrs. Sparkle?" "Is something the matter? Twilight didn't seem to happy when she came home today. Did you two have some sort of fight or something?" "Well...I guess you could call it that. But, don't worry I will handle it." "I know you will, Sunny." she said before, closing the door. Sunny spent the next two hours searching everywhere they would normally hang out: the park, Joe's Doughnut Shop, the ice-cream parlor. He even tried what was probably her most favorite place in all of Equestria: Canterlot Library. But, in each and every one of those places he found hide nor hair of the purple unicorn. He looked absolutely everywhere they could've possibly been together. He resorted to asking Leon for his help in searching for Twilight. "What on Equestria happened between you two that would cause her to just disappear?" asked Leon as the two ran across the whole of Canterlot, searching for their friend. "Oh Leon! I did something really stupid!" choked out Sunny as tears fell from his face as he slowed to a stop to sit on a nearby bench tired of running all over the massive city. "Oh come on Sunny, it can't have been that bad!" said Leon who sat next to Sunny trying to console his friend. "I kissed another mare right in front of her!" "You WHAT!" "I know I'm such a screw-up!" "B-but how?!" "I don't know it just sort of happened. I was teaching her how to play piano, and then for some reason she kissed me and...and I..." choked out Sunny as his eyes let loose a flood of tears, "...I kissed her back and...she saw everything." "Sunny how could you do that to her!" yelled Leon. "I know! I can't believe how stupid I was to blow everything I had with Twilight, just for one kiss with another mare..." as he placed his face in his hooves and continued to cry. Leon, feeling bad for having yelled at his friend in a time where he needed his support more than anything began to speak: "Listen Sunny. There's no use crying over what has already been done. Look all we have to do is find her, and then you have to just to explain to her how sorry you are. You know Twilight, she's a reasonable girl. She may give you a second chance..." he finished with a smile trying to restore some hope to the dire situation Sunny was faced with. Sunny lifting his head out of his hooves, couldn't help but crack a small smile at his friend, "Thanks for your help man...I don't know what I'd do without you..." "No worries man!" said Leon as he patted his friend on the back to further console him/ Suddenly, an idea hit him, as he then continued, "Sunny, did Twilight leave any sort of clue as to where she could be? Knowing her, she'd be the kind of person to do something like that." "I-I don't know. At least I don't think she left any sort of clue..." began Sunny as he closed his eyes trying to think back to earlier in the day. Back to something, anything that could perhaps give a hint to where she was. Memories of the day flashed in his mind, as he looked back to his discussion with Mrs. Sparkle. Something she said sparked something in his mind: 'I'm sorry Sunny, but Twilight went out for a while. She said something about having to solve a little problem she was having. ' Her words echoed in his mind, as an earlier memory was triggered by just a few words. A memory of him talking to Twilight, as a young colt as he said: '...This is where I go when I need some time to think to myself. To solve a problem I might be having....' His eyes snapped open, as he realized where Twilight was, before face-hoofing at not having look there of all places already. "I know where she is!" "Great, let's go get her then!" exclaimed Leon. "I'm sorry Leon, but I feel I need to speak to her alone..." Whilst Leon was slight taken aback at the words of his friend, he did however, understandingly realize his friend was probably right about this. So with a pat on the shoulder he said, "Okay man! Just do what you have to make sure she's alright." He gave one last call of good luck before, he began to walk back home. Sunny couldn't believe how he managed to wind up with such a great and understanding friend. However, deciding to not waste any more time, he began to focus his magic to his horn, and soon he had vanished in a flash of white light, teleporting to where Twilight would be. Re-appearing at the location, he began to look around to see where Twilight was. He had teleported to his secret hideaway that he had shown Twilight on the first day of school. Looking around he initially sighed in relief to see the form of the purple unicorn several meters away from him. However, his eyes then widened in horror when he saw where she was standing. Twilight stood on top of one of the many parapets that were placed on top of the wall, to stop any pony from falling off. She stared at the brightly lit city of Canterlot which glittered beautifully against the dark backdrop of the night sky. Twilight stood on the very edge of the parapet, nothing to stop her from taking another step and falling down the hundred foot height of the wall. Her eyes red from the many hours of shedding tear after sorrowful tear. But, she was no longer crying, her face seemed completely blank of any emotion, as she stare deeply into the night sky, where the stars glittered wonderfully. "Twilight..." began Sunny weakly. "You were right..." said Twilight quietly. "Twilight...?" croaked Sunny now confused. "The view really is beautiful at night." she said before, continuing, "I always did want to see something beautiful before I died." Sunny's eyes widened as he yelled, "Twilight don't do it!" Twilight couldn't help but laugh manically at his reaction. It was a laugh that sent shivers down Sunny's spine. A laugh that was unlike the Twilight he had known for six years. It was unlike anything he had heard in his life before. It was the laugh of a monster. "Don't think I would've jumped in the past two and a half hours that you spent trying to find me?!" Sunny fell silent at this, as Twilight continued. "I've spent these past two and a half hours trying to bring myself to end my life here...", tears began to run down her face as she continued, "But, I can't do it...even when I've lost nearly all that I thought I held dearest to me...even when I lost the one and only pony that I thought could understand me for who I am...when the pony I entrusted with my heart...my soul...my everything...betrayed my trust and destroyed all of that to be with another...How can I still think of living...when I've lost everything I've ever held dear to me?! TELL ME!" Twilight ended screaming before breaking down into even more tears. "Tell me..." she said quietly in between sobs. Sunny by this time was also in tears. Yet, his tears were silent as he knew Twilight need the answers she wanted, lest, her already fragile mind cracked even further and caused her to jump. That was something he knew he had to stop and so he had to be strong. Not just for his sake but, for her sake as well. "You're forgetting your parents..." Twilight turned her face to look at Sunny, as she began to listen to Sunny's answer. He continued: "You still have your family to think about Twilight. You haven't lost your family, and you never will! Think about what your parents would think if you did jump. Imagine, for one second how they would feel Twilight!" Twilight looked down to see the massive drop below her as she began to think of her parents. Seeing that he was getting through to her rational side, he continued: "You're also forgetting about the other ponies in your life that care about you! I'm just one pony! Think about all of your friends at school! Imagine what they'd feel if you suddenly vanished from their lives!" At this, Twilight responded angrily, "I didn't need any other pony in my life! I had you! You were my best friend! I thought I could trust you with my life! But, then you went and betrayed my trust! You broke your promise to me! The very same promise you made to me right here! The promise of how you would never leave me! Did those words mean nothing to you?!" Sunny's own anger began to grow as he started to raise his voice, "Of course those words meant something to me! Don't you understand how much in love I am with you?" "Oh really! Sure didn't look like that when you kissed Fleur now did it!" "You know as well as I do that I never meant for any of that to happen!" "Oh I do know! It's just that you never meant to suddenly kiss her back!" "Now that isn't fair Twilight!" yelled Sunny as he began to move towards her. However, Twilight was having none of it! Using her magic, she fired a burst of magical energy that connected with Sunny's head, sending him back a few feet, falling in a heap on the balcony floor. "You'll stay exactly where you are, otherwise I will jump!" yelled Twilight, completely serious about carrying her threat through. Blood had begun to trickle down his head from the cut across his head he received from Twilight's magical attack. Now he realizing that he was letting his temper get the better of him, and now wasn't the time for that. He had to put Twilight's safety first before anything else. He took several deep breaths before saying with new tears beginning to form in his eyes: "Listen, Twilight I'm sorry! I know what I've done was wrong. But, I can't say anything that can change what I've done...believe me if I could I most definitely would! It just...happened...Look, I know you may never want to speak to me ever again after this....I'll be happy with that! I just can't bear to see you get hurt...because of my own stupidity. So please Twilight...please...let's just go home..." he choked out those final words as he got on his knees to beg Twilight, "Please Twilight...please..." Twilight wished she could believe in Sunny's words. She really did. But, after what betraying her trust. She just didn't know whether or not she could believe in his words. They may for all she knows be just that: words. Words with no meaning behind them whatsoever. "I'm sorry Sunny...I'm so sorry." muttered Twilight, as she began to walk towards the edge of the parapet. Sunny's teary eyes widened as he struggled to think of anything he could do to stop her from falling over the edge. Suddenly, he yelled out the first thing that came to his head: "Your dream!" Twilight froze in place, one hoof dangling over the edge. Knowing now, that he had her attention he knew this was probably his last chance to save her. So wiping away his tears he began: "What about becoming Princess Celestia's apprentice?! You've worked so hard for the past six years to be ready for becoming her apprentice! it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, where only an extremely gifted pony could hope to achieve! Your dream gave those around you the hope they needed to be able to achieve their own dreams...mine included!" Twilight turned her head to face Sunny once again. This action urged him to continue speaking: "Your dream gave your parents so much pride to call you their daughter!" Twilight's was now having an internal conflict within herself as to whether she could really believe in Sunny's words . "Think about how much work you've put in to get this far to your dream Twilight! Think about all those ponies who are expecting you to fulfill your dream! Think of all the hopes and dreams that have come about because of your own, and that are even now willingly supporting you to achieve your own! Think about all of those things Twilight! All those ponies are out there believing that you'll achieve great things! So don't throw all of their hopes, dreams and beliefs away, over one stupid pony!" Twilight's eyes widened at that last remark to himself. "My love is not worth, all of the things you have supporting your dream Twilight! So what if I broke your heart! You have all of those ponies out there ready to support you! It's certainly not the end for you, just because of this one thing. Whatever happens...life has to go on." Those last words would forever ring in Twilight's ears. "Sunny about my dream-" Twilight began. However, she was quickly interrupted by Sunny who continued to speak: "So forget me! Forget we ever even had a relationship together! Forget that I even exist! As long as it means you'll continue to live through your dreams! Then you still have something incredibly important to live your life for. So please...don't throw your life away, because of me...Don't be a coward!" he yelled out the last sentence to her, hoping that he had finally gotten through to her. Twilight simply stared, with tears still flowing freely from her eyes, at Sunny as he finished his last heart-felt plea to stop her from ending her life. She shivered as she began to utter out: "Why...?" At this Sunny was confused until Twilight began to continue, "Why do you persist on trying to save me, even after you hurt me. Even after, I attacked you and even tried to stop you from saving me! What motivation do you have left to even think of saving me?!" "Twilight..." began Sunny with a small chuckle, "Even if I may have failed you as your coltfriend. I am still, and will always be a friend to you and a good friend never lets another friend commit suicide over anything!" At this both Twilight couldn't help but chuckle at the brashness of Sunny's remark. That was Sunny for you. Even in the most direst of situations, he could always find some way to make her laugh. That was one of the reasons, why she had loved him. "Sunny I-AHHHH!" began Twilight before, she had accidently lost her footing and fell over backwards, over the edge of the parapet and began her long hundred foot descent towards the ground. "TWILIGHT!" yelled Sunny as he immediately ran and jumped over the parapets himself without so much as a second thought, going over the edge to try and save Twilight. The air rushed through both their manes as they both fell faster and faster through the air. The cold, hard, ground coming closer and closer to meet the two young ponies. Twilight's screams filled the air as Sunny finally caught up with Twilight, and held onto her tight. There were only a few more seconds before; the two would meet their end. Closing his eyes, he focused on the one spell that could potentially save their lives. All of the pressure he was under, meant that the spell had a large chance of failing. But, it was either that small chance of it succeeding to save their lives, or they would meet their untimely ends. A red aura erupted from his horn and began to surround the two, slowing their descent right down until; they eventually came to a complete stop. Opening his eyes slowly, to see that the both of them were still thankfully alive! Although, his eyes widened when he realized that they were barely levitating a foot off the ground. 'Damn! Don't cut it so close next time!' Using his spell to levitate the remainder of the very short distance to the ground safely, holding onto Twilight very tightly, making sure to never let her go. Twilight could not help but stare at her savior through teary eyes. She didn't deserve to be saved by him. Not after the way she nearly rejected his pleas to her not to jump herself. Nor, when she even attacked him using her magic, to stop him from trying to save her. Despite, all of that when she did fall by accident, he jumped after her to save her with no thought for his own safety, only hers. It was a wonder how he could have possibly cheated on her. "Twilight you’re not hurt in any way are you?" Sunny asked seriously worried about Twilight's wellbeing, whilst checking her over to make sure she didn't have even a scratch on her. Twilight could feel the tears starting to return to her eyes. But, she chose to hold them back, as she simply nodded her head to Sunny's question. "Oh thank Celestia!" sighed Sunny as she pulled Twilight into a hug. He then continued to say in her ear, "You scared the crap out of me! Promise me you won't do anything like that again!" As he came out of the hug, she looked to see Twilight crying. "Twilight what's wro-WOAH!" began Sunny before, he Twilight hugged him tightly crying against his chest. After a few seconds he relaxed into her embrace, and began stoking her flowing violet mane whilst whispering words of comfort into her ear. It was about half an hour before; Twilight had calmed down enough to begin to speak. "Thank you..." "It's nothing Twilight I-" "NO! It's not 'nothing' Sunny! You risked your life to save me; even after all I put you through. You didn't deserve to go through all that, even if you cheated on me with Fleur...That didn't deserve me having to fire a magic bolt at your head...Look what I'm trying to say is...I'm sorry for putting you through all of that. I should've known you better than to think you didn't care about me anymore...I guess it took me falling a hundred feet to what should've been my death to show me that I still care deeply for you. So I just wanted to say...if you were willing to of course...whether we could...you know...get back together again?" Twilight looked to the ground hoping that Sunny would be willing to give her a second chance. Celestia, how much Sunny wanted to just say yes to her right that moment! However, after everything that the both of them had been through tonight. He decided to make a very important decision. "No." Twilight looked up to see Sunny's serious face looking at her. She had truly forgiven him for everything that he did to her today. Yet, he had chosen not to forgive her for harming him, and even putting his own life in danger. Whilst, she had never expected him to accept her apology with no hesitation. She was still shocked, as she thought Sunny would be a little more understanding about the whole situation than this. "The reason, why I don't think we should go out anymore, isn't because of anything that happened today." "Then why?" "Well think about it. If we're like over the first moment a problem presents itself in our relationship, then what would happen the next time a problem happened? It may not end like it did today. Maybe one or both of us, may not survive next time." "But, I'm willing to take that risk to be with you! Besides, we can use tonight as a learning step so nothing like this can ever happen again." Twilight said confidently believing that things between the two could still work out. "Okay, but then there's another problem." "And what's that?" "Our dreams." "What about our dreams?" "Think about it Twilight. Your dream is to become Princess Celestia's most well renown apprentice! Whilst, mine is to become a famous singer/song writer! We've both already begun to take steps into achieving our respective dreams. You've already gotten your place as Celestia's apprentice, and are now just preparing to have enough knowledge to be able to train alongside her here in Canterlot. Me on the other hand, I've applied to study at Manehattan's Music Academy for the Gifted, to continue to pursue my own dream. You see Twilight! Our dreams are going to end up taking us apart from one another, and you know what they say about long-distance relationships. They never work out in the end." Sunny finished hanging his head down knowing that what he said held too much truth in it. "Yeah but I..." Twilight began but stopped herself. It seemed to Sunny that Twilight had finally registered his argument for not staying together. However, she had stopped herself from telling him something else. Something else that was very important. "You see. It's just easier to break up now whilst we still have a valid reason to break up. I mean if we continued to go out. it would only be harder for when we really would have to break up...We can still be really good friends though...Like it used to be...you know...before we went out and all." Twilight knew right then, that Sunny really only did have her feelings in mind when it came to all this. He knew that she wouldn't be able to handle it when the two did eventually break up to pursue their respective dreams. It did make sense to rip the plaster of break-up now, and keep it ripped off so that there would be less pain than if they were to let the scars of their love heal, only to be ripped open again. It really was just better this way. However, even though she knew that was without doubt the best thing to do in the current situation. Her heart was screaming at her telling her to say that this was madness! It was telling her how her life would be without Sunny's love, would be meaningless. Dream or no dream. But, Twilight squashed these feelings for what was the umpteenth time today, as she chose to follow the idea that would benefit the two of them the most. "O-okay then...well I guess this is it between us..." "I guess it is..." The atmosphere around the two of them couldn't have been anymore awkward. "Well I guess I'll be off then" spoke up Twilight as she got up off the ground, and onto her hooves. "I'll take you home." Sunny got up as well, and proceeded to walk Twilight back to her house. It was half an hour of awkward silence, as the two ponies walked side by side under the starry night sky, towards home. Neither pony could even look at each other, as the events of what happened that night stayed freshly burnt into their memories, and would stay there for the rest of their lives... When, Mrs. Sparkle opened the door she immediately rushed out and pulled Twilight into a bone crushing hug. "Where in Equestria have you been Twilight Sparkle! You had us worried sick about you!" she cried into her daughter's shoulder. "It's okay Mum! I'm fine can't you see..." Soon Twilight's father came out to the doorway, and seeing her daughter returning to them safe and sound, she quickly wrapped his own hooves around her. "Twilight don't you ever go off anywhere again, without telling us where you're off to first!" her dad said to her in their embrace. Sunny couldn't help but smile, at the reuniting of the family. Turning around he began to walk away from the happy family, before the voice of Twilight's mum called out to him, "Sunny!" Sunny turned around to face Mrs. Sparkle, "Oh my Celestia what happened! You're bleeding!" 'Damn it! I forgot to clean out the cut before coming here!' "Oh it's nothing really just a small cut..." "JUST a small cut! Sunny! Half of your face is covered in blood! Come inside quickly so we can get you patched up before it gets infected!" Grabbing him by the hoof, she quickly brought him inside to the kitchen, sitting him down on one of their chairs, she quickly went to fetch the first aid kit, she just happened to have in the house in case of emergencies. Whilst, she was gone Twilight walked into the kitchen, her father having now left to go to work at the Canterlot Observatory, relieved knowing that his daughter was safe. Taking a seat beside him she began to talk, "This is all my fault...If I hadn't over-reacted and attacked you, you wouldn't be injured right now..." Her ears drooped as she stared at the table top not being able to look at Sunny for fear of feeling even more guilty than she already was. "Don't worry about it Twilight, it looks worse than it actually is. Besides, I would take a lot more than this before, I'd even let you so much as get a scratch on yourself..." Soon Mrs. Sparkle, came into the kitchen to see the two ponies talking. Knowing what she had to do, she called out to Twilight: "Twilight why don't you go ahead and fix up Sunny dear. After all, I can see you two need a bit of privacy to talk to one another. I'll be in the living room if you need me." she finished with a wink before exiting the kitchen, leaving the first aid kit, on the table. She was clearly still oblivious to what had happened that night. Twilight knew she wouldn't be able to argue with her mother without seeming to be rude in front of Sunny. So with a small sigh, she opened up the kit, and got some wet wipes. She proceeded to wipe away all of the blood off of Sunny's face. So of it had dried and so too a bit of effort to get off. The whole situation was awkward, being so close to a pony that only moments ago you had broken up with. Eventually, she finished cleaning up his face, much to her relief. She could see the scar that she had inflicted upon him. It ran from the top left hand corner of his forehead diagonally through his left eyebrow and all the way down to his right cheek. Whilst, the cut was quite large, it wasn't that deep and so should hopefully heal without any serious scarring. Grabbing an alcohol free wipe, she proceeded to clean the cut before it could get infected. Making sure not to use the alcohol as a disinfectant, as she was taught by her mother as it could damage the skin. Soon, Twilight had finished patching up Sunny, it took all of her will power to not laugh at Sunny's face. As it would've be rude and inappropriate, as she was the one who caused him the injury. The plaster that were applied along the cut, made seemed to split Sunny's face into two, with just a border of plasters, sectioning of the two sides. Looking in a mirror at Twilight's handiwork, Sunny couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous he looked. His laughter broke the tense atmosphere in the kitchen, as Twilight couldn't help but catch on to the infectious laughter. Soon, when both of them had grown tired of laughing, Sunny began to speak up: "Well...I'll guess I'll be seeing you at school on Monday?" "Yeah I guess..." "Well then...I'll see you then." finished Sunny rather awkwardly, as he began to walk out of the kitchen towards the front door. Twilight quickly followed him to see him out. As Sunny, walked away from Twilight's front door he gave one look behind him, to see Twilight staring at him in her doorway. Her eyes showing him she wanted to say something, but her lips remained silent. Turning around once more, he walked away never looking back. Things between the two slowly got better. It had become a lot less awkward to talk with one another, as days went by. Although, it did take another couple of months before things had returned back to when they were good friends. Before, they had even had the idea of going out together. Time soon flew fast after those initial two months, and soon graduation day had arrived. Graduation Day... All the ponies of the final year, sat along a row of chairs that were place in front of a huge stage which had a large lectern on it. In front of the lectern was the school's coat of arms: three unicorn horns crossed over one another, with a motto underneath the horns written on a gold banner. It read: 'Exceed Expectations. Turn Dreams into Reality.' Soon Princess Celestia herself appeared in a flash of white light up onto the stage behind the lectern. Every pony stood up from their seats in respect to the ruler of Equestria and, more importantly the headmistress to the school. "Ladies, gentlecolts, students and, faculty of this school. I am proud to say that this year has seen many ponies exceed their expectations, and many moving that one step closer to turning their dreams into reality..." began Princess Celestia. Soon the rest of the ceremony quickly move ahead. Until, it came down the last two ponies names to be called out. "Now I'd like to call Starbuck Sunrise up onto the stage to receive his graduation certificate, please." Applause erupted from the crowd as Sunny made his way up onto the stage, waving to the crowd as he went up, earning him another round of cheers from the crowd. Then he shook hooves with the Princess, whilst she handed him his certificate. However, as he was about to proceed to walk off the stage just as his fellow classmates did, Princess Celestia held him back. "I'd like you to stay on stage with me" she whispered into his ear before, speaking to the crowd again. "This pony is a living embodiment to the motto this school was founded upon. He's worked incredibly hard to get to where he is today. From the very beginning at his entrance exam where he impressed enough to earn himself a scholarship here. Right up until now where he's achieved one of the highest grade percentages across the school years that this school has ever seen! This pony has worked hard as Head Colt to help with the running of the school. All of his hard work has finally paid off as he has now received an offer to study at Manehattan's Music Academy for the Gifted! A music academy where many famous musician, artists, song writers and other famous celebrities have gone to study. The very same school that 'The Pony of Pop'; Sapphire Shores herself studied. This is a large step for him to achieve his dream of becoming a successful song writer. So on behalf of all your friends, and from all the members of staff at the school. I wish you the best of luck in achieving your dreams and, to let you know that we're all one hundred percent behind you!" Immediately after Celestia's heart-felt speech every pony in the audience stood up and clapped. Some cheered, others began chanting his name. Sunny struggled to hold back the tears that threatened to form. All of these ponies truly believed that he could achieve what he had already worked so hard to get close to. To know that all of these ponies were behind him every step of the way, gave him confidence that he would one day fulfill his dream. "Now, now every pony settle down! We still have one more pony that needs recognition!" Celestia called out. The crowd immediately sat back down and became quiet as Celestia continued, "Now, Starbuck here would've also won the coveted 'Student of the Year' award, due to his incredibly high average percentage which he achieved in his final ten exams of ninety-four point seven percent! It would've been his too, that is if it wasn't for our final pony of this ceremony! Having achieved a hundred percent in six out of ten of her final exams to boost her average percentage up to ninety-five point two percent! A difference of half a percent! That's five marks! Now, I'd like to now call up Miss Twilight Sparkle to receive her graduation certificate and the coveted 'Student of the Year' Award!" If the crowd's reaction to Sunny's entrance was loud. Then the reaction for Twilight's entrance was deafening! The crowd roared as Twilight made her way onto the stage, to shake hooves with her idol! As she received her certificate from Princess Celestia she couldn't help but think that this was probably one of the most proudest moments of her life. Celestia then used her magic to make a trophy appear from thin air, before levitating it towards Twilight who graciously accepted the award. It took a few minutes to get the crowd to calm down enough for Celestia to begin talking about Twilight. "She has worked extremely hard throughout the past six years of attending this school, to get to where she is today." Looking towards Twilight who was now blushing at the compliments her idol was giving HER or all ponies! Celestia continued, "I remember when I first had the pleasure of meeting her as a small filly, at her entrance exam. It was to say the most...memorable...of entrance exams I've ever come across." At this Twilight blushed even more, as a number of the staff members including those that were marking her exam chuckled at the recollection of the memory. "To see her now and compare her to what she was like back then. She has grown into a fine young mare that can be proud of what she has achieved. Her achievements are so great in fact, that I have personally decided to take her under my wing and, have given her the offer of becoming my apprentice to which she has graciously accepted." At this loads of gasps of amazement came from the crowd as this piece of news was completely new to a lot of the ponies in the crowd. However, this amazement was shortly followed by more applause. "I know that she will make me proud as her new mentor and, I hope you will all wish her the best as she will be starting her new duties as my apprentice from the day after tomorrow, going with me on my travels around the Kingdom, learning everything I have to teach her!" More applause erupted from the crowd along with a few cheers from a few ponies! Soon after this, the ceremony came to a close. However, Princess Celestia still had one last thing she wanted to ask the two ponies: "I wish to continue the tradition of taking a picture with the 'Student of the Year! However, due to level of excellence that both of you have shown, I believe I can make an exception and take a picture with both of you!" The photographer lined up the camera as the three ponies got ready to take their picture taken. Princess Celestia standing in the middle, with her apprentice on her right hand side and Sunny on her left. All of them smiled as their picture was taken. "Now I'm sorry I have to leave so soon! But, I need to attend an important meeting in Trottingham!" she then turned to Twilight, "I'll be seeing you the day after tomorrow, for your first lesson!" Shortly, after this she disappeared in another flash of white light. Sunny began to talk to Twilight, taking off his graduate cap off, "Congrats again, on winning 'Student of the Year'! You really did deserve it!" "Yeah I guess..." said Twilight as she trailed off. Sensing something was wrong Sunny asked, "What's wrong?" "This is it, isn't it...the end." "Oh hush now Twilight! This is not the end. Think of this more as the beginning of our new lives!" said Sunny as he looked up to see a sunny clear blue sky, "This is a time where we should be happy! Happy to know that now anything is possible for us!" Twilight also began to look up to the sky and couldn't help but smile. Even if Sunny did spout out sentimental rubbish half the time. He always did know how to make her feel better. "Besides, we're never going to forget each other...right?" spoke up Sunny snapping Twilight out of her thoughts. Twilight cracked a small smile, "Yeah, you know I'll never forget you." "Promise?" said Sunny as he held out his hoof for a hoofshake. Twilight firmly shook his hoof, "I promise Sunny." Those were the final words that the two of them shared together, before they were both split apart from both their friends and families who wanted to capture the glorious moment of their graduation in photos. After, that day they had both went their separate ways to fulfill their dreams. That was the last that the two ponies saw of each other. Until, today that is... Back in the present time... The image of the memory began to fade away again, as the imaging spell finally disappeared into the air. The pink frame dissolving like a statue made of sand would in the wind. Every pony was silent as the memories they saw had finished. "You see girls! If it wasn't for Sunny! I wouldn't even be here today! I owe my life to him and, when you girls tried to harm him without knowing the full truth, I guess I kind of got mad! So I'm sorry about that...", finished Twilight as she look down to the floor embarrassed at the thought of maybe over-reacting to the girl's behavior. "Oh no, no, no, Twilight! There's simply no need for you to be apologizing! I feel that we should be the ones to apologize to both you and Sunny for rushing to conclusions before, we knew the full story between you two!" Rarity began, as she turned to Sunny and continued, "I'm sincerely sorry Sunny! Can you ever forgive me for acting so...so...barbaric?!" "Yeah, Rarity is right. We did kind of act like jerks to you. Sorry about that..." said Rainbow Dash sheepishly. "Yeah sugarcube, we kinda did jump the wagon a bit there. Hope you can forgive us..." added Applejack. "Don't worry girls, you're all forgiven. Being honest, I thought I deserved every bit of what I was going to get after breaking her heart like that..." "Actually, now that you mention it that springs a question to my mind?" said Rarity relieved that she was forgiven. Suddenly, the clock chimed signaling that it was midnight. "Oh my gosh! Is that the time?! I need to get back to Sweet Apple Acres! I need to wake up bright and early for work tomorrow!" cried Applejack, as she quickly began to rush towards the door. She then turned around to face every pony as she said, "Am sorry about all this! But, I really need to get back to the farm!", she then turned to Sunny, "It was nice meeting you to Sunny! Feel free to come over to Sweet Apple Acres anytime!". At last, she opened the door and went out leaving a cloud of dust behind her. "Oh Celestia! Abigail! I forgot all about her, she's probably starving at home! I need to get home as well! Thank you Fluttershy for inviting to this day out. It was nice to meet you all! I'll see you later guys!" called out Sunny as he disappeared in a flash of white light teleporting back home. "Abigail...?" Twilight said out loud, as she couldn't help feel a twinge of jealousy at the thought of Sunny moving on and finding another girl. Fluttershy realizing what her friend was probably thinking quickly squashed any feeling of jealousy in Twilight's heart as she said, "Abigail is his dog's name, Twilight." "Oh." Twilight said, although inwardly she breathed a sigh of relief, before she also said, "I guess I should also be heading back home as well. Spike is probably worried about me being gone out so long. Thank you so much Fluttershy, for inviting us into your home!" "Oh please, it's my pleasure Twilight! Come back anytime..." Fluttershy squeaked out . Saying her last goodbyes to the remaining ponies, she soon disappeared in a flash of white light teleporting to her own humble abode. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie shortly followed after exiting the cottage, to get some well-earned rest. So that they could start the new day with enough energy to continue to train, and got to work, respectively. That left only Rarity and Fluttershy at her cottage. Rarity was slightly annoyed that she didn't have any time to ask Sunny her all important question. However, her eyes soon began to get heavy as she was way too tired to keep her mind focused on the question that plagued her mind. "Well Fluttershy, it was certainly a most interesting day today! Who knows what tomorrow will bring now that Sunny has come to town?" said Rarity as she also made her way out of the door, "Thank you so much for dinner tonight as well!" "Oh it's quite alright Rarity. After all, we're all good friends and, that's how friends should treat one another!" "Well again, I thank you for your hospitality. I'll see you later." Rarity as she walked out the door and, walked all the way back to Carousel Boutique seeing as she wasn't that proficient at using a 'Teleportation' Spell yet. However, the question she had remained in her mind: 'Why did Sunny cheat on Twilight to begin with...?' Meanwhile on the other side of Ponyville... Two pegasus ponies had just arrived at an inn on the other side of Ponyville. "A room for two please." said one of the two pegasus ponies. "Certainly. Can I have your name to book the room under sir?" asked the concierge. "Of course. My name is Leon. Leon Christo." Well I hope this was a good enough ending to leave you guys on! Please do leave a comment for this fic! Telling me what you thought of this chapter. Was it good? Was it bad? I personally thought I rushed it a little bit! But, I'd still like to hear your opinions on how this chapter went! So Until then all I have left to say is: BlackSpire out! ^_^
Reunion!The first rays of sunshine began to seep through the blinds of the small room at 'The Watering Hole' inn, striking the tired face of Leon Christo causing him to stir from his restless slumber. His vision blurred as his eyes adjusted to the light that dimly lit the room. In the bed besides his own lay the sleeping form of his younger sister, Windbreaker. A lock of her long pink mane that was braided rested on her face that held a look of complete peace. It made her look even more angelic than her large, majestic wings. He didn't have the heart to disturb his sister from her dreams and, so he simply lay in his bed silently, contemplating what he needed to do that day. However, boredom started to creep up on him, so instead of just staring at the ceiling, he sat up on his bed and began to take in the view of the small room that the two had stayed the night in. The room wasn't exactly five-star material...or even three-star, but it did its job. The wallpaper looked as if it was ready to fall off the wall in some places. Plus, the design of the dreary and old-fashioned Victorian-floral wallpaper wasn't exactly a sight to behold, especially to the trained eye of an artist. All of a sudden the horrid, musty smell of damp hit the pegasi's nostrils, as if someone had just sucker punched him with a trash can. Looking up, to the corner of the ceiling directly above Windbreaker's bed, his eyes widened at what he saw. In the far corner of the ceiling, was a large dripping wet patch which had a massive patch of black mould growing, and hanging from the ceiling as it if were a miniature stalactite. The site of the ghastly fungus was a revolting image to Leon's who had to stop himself from vomiting at both the smell and the sight of the neglected corner. 'How in Equestria did we not notice that before, we went to sleep?!’ thought the now horrified Leon, who was about to get ready to wake his sister up before the sound of the alarm clock began to ring. Leon had forgotten that he had set the alarm to ring at 8 o'clock, so that they would have time to get ready for when they had to check out of their room. The noise had immediately caused Windbreaker to roll over so that she would open her eyes to see the ceiling. However, she wasn't expecting the first thing she'd see in the morning would be a stalactite of mould that looked as if it were ready to drop on her face at any moment. As you can most probably tell, her reaction to this was anything but calm... "AAAAAAHHHHH!!!” screamed Windbreaker, as she quickly flew towards Leon's bed to hide under the covers, in the process knocking Leon off the bed, sending him tumbling to the hard floor. "Ouch! Hey, that really hurt!" Leon scolded as he was furiously rubbing the back of his head to ease the throbbing pain where he had collided with the floor. Choosing to ignore her brother's complaints she yelled, "What in Equestria is that thing?!", sticking her hoof out to point at the mould while still holding the bed sheets in front of her like a protective shield. "Calm down sis! It's just a bit of mould-" "Just a BIT of mould! I swear I just saw that thing move!" exclaimed Windbreaker, her eyes now as wide as dinner plates, filled to the brim with fear, she continued by pleading with a new look of hysteria, "Please Leon! Can't you just kill it?!" 'So much for the calm, innocent angel...' thought Leon as he got up and made his way to the bathroom. He called out to Windbreaker as he made his way to the door, "Just try to ignore it for a little while, till I come out of the shower. I'm sure it won't do anything while I'm gone." Leon finished before, closing the door behind him. As he finished brushing his teeth, he heard another scream from his sister. Quickly, rushing out of the bathroom to see what was wrong he couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at the sight in front of him. In front of him, was Windbreaker who had grabbed a broom from somewhere and had used it to hit the crumbling bit of mould. However, what she didn't take into account was bits of the mould flying towards, and landing in her long pink mane. This brought the young filly into more of a panic and she hurriedly tried to get the small bits of repulsive black mould out of her mane. Leon could only face-hoof, sigh and shake his head in annoyance at his little sister's childishness before heading back into the bathroom to have his shower. However, Windbreaker raced past him and shut the bathroom door in his face. “Sorry! I have to get this out of my mane!” she said through the door. At first, Leon was going to argue, but knowing his sister, it was pointless to try. Instead, he sat on the bed, got out his sketchbook, and drew the battle between Windbreaker and the mould as he waited for her to get out of the bathroom. An hour later... The two Pegasus ponies had decided to leave the inn without making much more of a fuss over the monstrous mould they had found. Deciding together that it would probably be better for the inn to find out about their “little problem” themselves. Besides, it would make one crazy surprise for the house keeping... The two had asked the receptionist for a place to recommend that does a good breakfast, before they had left. "Sugarcube Corner has always been a good place for pancakes." the receptionist had said before giving them directions on how to get there. The two ponies almost felt bad for not warning them about fungus in their room, due to how kind the receptionist was. Almost, that is... Leon took a good look at the small town of Ponyville as he walked with Windbreaker fluttering right beside him. Although she was getting stronger, it was easier to fly everywhere than walk. Windbreaker was looking down at the cobbled path as she flew with less enthusiasm as she normally would. A look of sadness draped over her face as she flew besides her older brother. A look that Leon didn't miss... 'So much has happened to her in the past few days. I'm surprised she's been able to cope with it as well as she has...' Leon thought as he looked at his sister who was still preoccupied with counting the number of stones embedded in the line that she flew in. Leon quickly shook his head as he tried to get rid of those thoughts from his head, 'There's no use moping around in the past. We can't change it no matter how hard we try. We can only move on.' Leon then began to think about what the future held for both him and his sister as they continued to travel towards the Sugarcube Corner. Just then, colts and fillies of all ages filled the empty streets as they made their way to start another intense day of learning at school. 'Hmm maybe Windbreaker can start going to school here...' Leon thought absent-mindedly as he continued to walk not noticing the tennis ball that was moving to hit him square in the face. It would have too, if it weren't for Windbreaker being more aware of her surroundings. "Watch out!" she cried as she quickly flew in front of him. In a dazzling display of skill, she caught the tennis ball whilst performing a barrel roll. She then finished off her acrobatic flight with a neat and tidy landing. The speed at which she did all of that left Leon stunned in surprise before, a small smile broke from his lips as he thought: 'Wow! She's grown up so much. The therapy is really doing wonders for her...' However, before he could continue his thoughts, a blur of silvery grey pounced on Windbreaker, bringing her to fall to the ground screaming. The blur turned out to be a large grey dog. It looked a lot like a husky to Leon. However, right now he could care less about the breed of the dog, he was far more concerned about the welfare of his sister, who was currently being attacked by this...this beast! However, before Leon could rush to his sister's aid, a loud, strong yet very familiar voice yelled out: "ABIGAIL! Get off that young lady right now!" The canine immediately got up off of Windbreaker with a loud whine and her ears lying flat against her head, as a response to her owner's words. The yellow pony, who was presumably the owner of the dog, rushed over to Windbreaker to help her up whilst he started to speak, "I am so, so sorry about my dog! You see she's very...energetic and, can be a bit rough when she's playing. So when you were holding her ball..." As the young stallion, began to justify his dog's actions, and profusely apologize to his sister, Leon's mind began to spring in excitement as he realized just who exactly this pony was. After all, he didn't know another pony alive that had a fiery red mane with orange streaks in it. "Sunny?!" exclaimed Leon, recognizing his long-time friend, who he hadn't seen in five years! The stallion turned to face him, before his own eyes widened in surprise, "Leon...Is that you?!" When Leon nodded in answer to his question, Sunny's face beamed, "Oh my gosh! Leon...wait a second..." Sunny then turned towards the young filly that Abigail had knocked to the ground, before saying, "Windbreaker...?" Windbreaker could only nod her head in surprise at the fact that of all ponies that they could have run into, it had to be one of her brother's best friends. "I knew you looked familiar!" exclaimed Sunny before ruffling her long pink mane affectionately. "Hey! Cut it out you know I don't like any pony messing with my mane!" she huffed in annoyance. Sunny couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction before saying, "Well at least your personality hasn't changed! I still can't believe how much you've grown since the last time I saw you!" He then turned to face Leon, who by then had closed the gap between the two and brought Sunny into a crushing hug as he said, "Sunny! It's so good to see you again, my friend! I can't believe it's been five years since we last saw each other!" "T-that's great and all...but,...could you please...get off me...your kind of...crushing me..." croaked Sunny as his yellow face threatened to turn a blue colour, from the lack of oxygen. "Oh right! Sorry about that! Leon said before letting go of the yellow stallion. "Ah, that's better." Sunny said, now finally able to breathe again. He continued by saying, "Yeah it's been a while hasn't it. I didn't recognize you guys with the new mane-styles," he finishing by pointing to his left ear. He was referring to the lock of braided hair from their manes that the two ponies had hanging in front of their left ears. Whilst, it was a small change in both of their mane-styles it still didn't change their appearance that much to cause some pony not to recognize them. "Are you sure you didn't just realize who we were until I called out your name?" said Leon now eyeing Sunny suspiciously. "O-of course not! I knew all along it was you guys! Hahaha!" chuckled Sunny rather nervously as he uselessly tried to cover up the fact that he truly didn't realize he was speaking to his long lost friends. With this obvious lie clear to Leon, he chose not to press on the matter. "Anyway there so many things I want to ask you two! I don't even know where to begin! Is there any way we could like sit down somewhere and have a chat?" continued Sunny hoping to change the subject. However, he was also truly interested in what his two friends had gotten up to over the five years they hadn't seen each other. "Actually, we were just heading over to the Sugarcube Corner for breakfast before we bumped into you. If you want you could join us?" asked Leon, who was also eager to hear more about what his friend had been up to over the last five years. "That's perfect! I haven't had any breakfast yet either, so I'm starving. We can talk over breakfast. I happened to just pass Sugarcube Corner back there..." Sunny said pointing behind him before continuing, "...as I was taking Abigail here for her morning walk." he finished pointing at his dog who was sitting by his side. "Hey since when did you get a husky?" asked Leon as the trio began walking towards Sugarcube Corner. He was rather curious; he didn't have Sunny down to being the 'dog-owning' kind of pony, or any other pet for that matter. "Actually, she's a Malamute. It's actually a common mistake for ponies to make though. In fact, the two look really similar, but did you know there are actually a number of key differences about them. You see..." Leon could only inwardly cringe as he was subjected to a lecture in the differences between malamutes and huskies and why malamutes were clearly the better of the two. However, Leon could not help but inwardly chuckle as well. This all proved that Sunny hadn't changed one bit. Back when the two regularly met up back in Canterlot, Sunny would occasionally go off on a rant or lecture about a topic that he was very interested in. Sometimes for hours at a time if Leon didn't stop him! It was one of Sunny's less appealing attributes. He had to tell Sunny many times that he either wasn't interested, or that he was going completely off topic. But, there were a few times where Leon would be completely wrapped up in Sunny's words and even contribute his own thoughts and views, turning the rants into full blown lengthy discussions and on the rare occasion arguments. He smiled as he remembered their discussion on Art and how they had spent hours talking about the topic and had even gone as far as to go to a few galleries in the city together to prove each other’s points. By the end of that day both ponies had left far wiser. However, dogs weren't exactly a topic Leon could relate to and, was incredibly thankful that the walk to Sugarcube Corner was a short one. As Abigail and the trio of ponies walked into the store, they took a seat next to the window. Leon and Windbreaker sitting on one side and Sunny on the other with Abigail lying on the seat next to him. Mrs. Cake came over to their table to greet them and take their order. The trio of ponies all ordered a stack of pancakes each with maple syrup. Both Leon and Sunny had coffee with their pancakes, whilst Windbreaker chose to have hot chocolate with hers. Sunny also ordered just a couple of plain pancakes for Abigail as well. Once, their orders had been taken Mrs. Cake left to get them ready leaving the three ponies to continue their conversation. "So what brings you here to Ponyville then?" asked Sunny looking at the siblings. "Don't you know?" asked Windbreaker with a confused look, to which Sunny simply shook his head with a perplexed look of his own. "You didn't get our letter we sent to you?" asked Leon with a concerned tone in his voice. "Letter?" Sunny said to himself, as he thought to himself to try and think of what the explanation was for him not receiving a letter from his long-time friends. Suddenly, the reason hit him as if a light bulb had lit above his head. "Oh! Of course I haven't! I forgot to tell you guys I had moved away from my address in Manehattan to live here!" explained Sunny as he face-hoofed at forgetting to tell his friends about him changing address. "Oh right...well at least we found you here so you wouldn't have to miss it," said Leon. "Miss what?" "Well it's uh..." began Leon before trying to figure out how to break the awkward news to his friend. Sensing his discomfort, Sunny realized something important, or rather some pony important, and to be even more precise a lack of some pony important. "Hey wait a minute! Where's Mrs. Cristo?" Sunny asked now concerned. The fact that Windbreaker was out and about without her mother anywhere nearby was a troubling sign. He knew Leon would never leave his mother alone without Windbreaker or his Uncle Dawnstar being with her and, he knew Leon's uncle would be too busy with his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard to look after her and, the fact that the siblings were so far away from Canterlot didn't make sense to him either. Leon sighed in defeat before he said, "Still as sharp as ever I see, Sunny." He then coughed before continuing, "I'm sure you already knew that my mom has never had the best of health." Sunny could only nod slowly as Leon said this. His face still carrying a look of confusion on it, as if he was trying to figure out what his friend was trying to say. Leon continued: "And well...the issue with her health hasn't gotten better..." said Leon calmly, before he gave a heavy sigh, staring down at the table in front of him as he added, "In fact, it just got worse...". Sunny's eyes widened as he finally pieces together what must have happened. "Oh gosh...Leon...I'm so sorry..." his voice filled with sympathy for his friend. Leon just remained silent as the reminder of his mother now being deceased struck him once again. Windbreaker beside him barely able to hold back the tears that threatened to come to her. Sunny honestly did feel incredibly shocked that the Christo siblings had lost their mother. Whenever, Sunny used to go around Leon's house to visit she would always treat him like he was her own son. She was essentially Sunny's third mother, after both his actual mother and Twilight's. With this new news Sunny felt as if the clear blue skies outside had just been changed to a dark grey in which a heavy storm brewed. He was in despair. Sunny looked towards the Christo siblings as he thought, 'If this is how I'm feeling, Celestia knows how those two must be taking it...', his eyes moved to look at just Windbreaker who was still looking towards the ground still trying to fight back the tears that desperately wanted to form. 'Poor girl. First, she doesn't get a chance to know who her father was, and now this. Out of every pony who knew her she must have been the closest to her mother...' By accident Sunny quietly said out loud, "Windbreaker...". Immediately, she looked up to face him, as he mentioned her name. Sunny realized that he had just said that out loud. Quickly, he decided to avert attention away from himself as he said, "I can't believe she's gone...I mean I knew she was unwell...but I never would have thought..." he ended trailing off as he struggled to find the right words to say. Soon he found the words as he added whilst placing his hoof on Leon's shoulder as a sign that he would always be there for him, no matter what: "If there's anything I can do... please don't hesitate to ask me...alright?" "Yeah, I will," muttered Leon, as he looked back up with a small, weak smile glad that he could still rely on someone to help him out, should he ever need it. 'If these two can stay this strong after going through this. Then I have to as well...not just for me... but, for them as well.' Sunny thought to himself, as he decided that he needed to act maturely about this situation. "So I assume the reason you guys are here is something to do with her funeral?" said Sunny once again, trying to be mature about the whole situation. The two would have to talk about their mother's death eventually; so the sooner they started the easier for them it would be in the future. Leon nodded before saying; "We decided to bury her here in Ponyville, right next to Dad. She would have wanted that..." "I'm sure she would have." Sunny then added, "So when is the funeral? I'll be sure to come and pay my respects to her." "Oh, right… The funeral will be in four days..." Leon answered before asking, "Do you still keep in contact with Twilight?" realizing how brash his question sounded he quickly added, "I'm just asking because I sent her a message informing her about the funeral, so it would've been nice if she was told about it as well." "First of all Leon, you know that things between me and Twilight are fine. We're still great friends. We would never let anything get in the way of our friendship, not even a former relationship!" Sunny said, explaining the situation between himself and the lavender unicorn. He then added, "It’s funny you should mention her actually!" "Really why?" asked Windbreaker who was now curious about news that involved Twilight. The years that the two had known each other, had given birth to a strong relationship between the two ponies. Twilight was Windbreaker's role model in just about everything. Windbreaker looked at her as if she was like the older sister she never had. "Well you see, Twilight has actually been living here in Ponyville for quite some time now. She works as the town's librarian! I must confess I haven't been keeping in contact with her as often as I should have! So imagine my surprise after all these years when I meet her yesterday!" "Wait a minute! I thought she was with Princess Celestia working as her apprentice?" "Oh she still is! She's just based here now." "Oh! Wait a second! You said you met her yesterday, Ponyville isn't that big a town that it would take you a long time to know everypony around here. So when did you move here?" "This is my third official day settling in now." "So how are you finding it over here...?" The conversation between the two close friends continued to go on for quite some time, with Windbreaker included in every so often. The two were very interested in knowing what the other had been up to in the years they hadn't seen each other. Mrs. Cake had brought out their order before moving off to take another table's order. The three of them continued to talk as they had their breakfast. Abigail just happily wolfed down her pancakes. As time went on, the trio of ponies had finished eating and were sipping away at their drinks. Soon the conversation came to a close. "So what are your plans for today?" Sunny asked as he took a sip of his coffee. "Well we were planning to go see the real estate agents today, to set up an appointment to see the house we lived in before we moved to Canterlot. After all, we will need a house to settle down in. Plus, that house holds so many precious memories to me. It would mean a lot to me if we were able to live there again." "Hmm, well I don't really have anything planned for today. Do you mind if I tag along with you?" "Sure, why not!" "Great! I can also take you guys to see Twilight. I'm certain she would be happy to see the two of you again!" Sunny finished with a wide grin on his face at the thought if the three friends getting back together again, "It'll be just like old times!". "Yeah, I guess it would be," Leon said, returning Sunny's smile with one of his own. Just then, their conversation was interrupted by the loud voice of a pink waitress, "SUNNY!" Whilst rubbing his ears to stop the ringing, Sunny looked up to face the pink earth pony and said, "Hey Pinkie Pie! How's everything going?" "Well everything's fine, but I'm upset that you didn't call me out when you came here to eat. Although, I guess you didn't know that I work here at Sugarcube Corner so I forgive you for that. So I guess it's a good thing that I've finished my shift for today because I wanted to talk to you about your welcome party..." she said saying everything without taking a breath. However, she trailed off when she saw Leon and Windbreaker. Her silence did not last as she began to ask even more questions, "Who are your friends over here?" she asked as she moved closer to them whilst staring at them with wide eyes filled with interest. She continued moving closer to them, until she was barely inches away from them. As with any new pony that had just met her, Leon and Windbreaker were both slightly creeped out by the strange pink pony. "Oh right where are my manners! Pinkie Pie these are mine and Twilight's friends from Canterlot; Leon and his sister Windbreaker." Immediately, a light bulb lit up above her head as her brain figured something out as it normally would...for Pinkie Pie anyway. “Ah I remember now! He's the guy from your flashback movie thing that did the portraits.” At this, a confused look etched itself onto the face of Leon. "Yep, he's the very same guy." Sunny replied before giving a look to Leon which screamed, 'I'll explain all of this later.' Leon simply nodded acknowledging Sunny's look. "I knew I recognized him!" beamed Pinkie Pie, before her face quickly switched to one of suspicion, narrowing her eyes as she said, "Wait, what's he doing here?" Sunny beginning to wonder if Pinkie Pie always acted like this, he answered, "Well both he and his sister are planning to live in Ponyville..." Before he could say anything else, Pinkie Pie's eyes widened as she let out a loud gasp before zooming off somewhere else. Leaving the three ponies very confused. "Um, Sunny? What in Equestria just happened?" "To be honest I only just met Pinkie Pie yesterday, so I have no idea of why she acts that way. But, she's nice once you get over her...energetic personality." "I thought she was pretty cool!" spoke up Windbreaker who had until now remained quiet as she was too busy stroking Abigail who as usual was enjoying the attention on her. Leon gave his sister a sceptical look at the thought of putting the word 'cool' and that pony...Pinkie Pie, together. "Well I'm sure you'll get to know Pinkie Pie a whole lot more seeing as you are going to be living in Ponyville now. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to use the restroom." As soon as he said that, he got up and left the table. However, instead of heading to the toilets he headed towards the counter at which Mrs. Cake was standing at the till. "Can I have the bill for our table please?" "Of course, if you could just wait a little while?" "That's fine with me." Mrs. Cake unnecessarily thanked him as she went off to total up the bill. She soon came back saying: "Your total comes to forty five bits." Sunny pulled out a fifty bit note and handed it to her, as she opened the cash register to take out the change Sunny interjected by saying, "Please do keep the change! The service was excellent!" He flashed a friendly smile to Mrs. Cake, who returned the smile with her own, before making his way back to their table. Looking at a clock that was on the wall he spoke up again: "We should probably get going soon. Otherwise, we may not have enough time to see the real estate agents. We've already spent nearly two hours here!" "What’s the hurry Sunny? We still have plenty of time. It's not even past twelve yet!" asked Leon. "Well I thought we were going to go visit Twilight? I'm sure she of all ponies would be most happy to see the two of you." "I guess you’re right. Well at least let us pay the bill before we go rushing off." "That's okay I've already paid for breakfast! Now let's go!" said Sunny quickly before he began to walk towards the exit with Abigail following him closely by his side. "Wait what! Sunny why did you do that?!" called out Leon before getting up and running after him, with Windbreaker flying closely behind him. "Leon don't worry about it let's just-" "No I will worry about it! Why couldn't you let me pay for mine and Windbreaker's breakfast?!" interrupted Leon. "Listen I haven't seen the two of you in years! Catching up on old times with you guys has been great. So at least let me show my appreciation for giving me a good time by paying for your meals alright?" Leon knew he wouldn't win this argument so with a huff he replied, "Fine then...but I'll be paying the bill the next time we all eat out together!" "You got yourself a deal there! Now let's go see Twilight." cheered Sunny as they all walked towards the library. Once they arrived, at the library that was built in to the tree Sunny knocked on the door. Instead of someone answering the door, they all heard a familiar voice shout out from inside: "This is a public library! You don't have to knock on the door, just let yourselves in!" Taking the outburst as an invitation, Sunny told the two ponies to wait outside as he opened the door and both he and Abigail walked into the library. As he looked around the library he was impressed at what he saw. The interior of the building was a lot larger than what the exterior tree appearance made it seem like. All along the walls of the libraries were incredibly large bookcases that towered over him. Their shelves filled with books of all sizes filled with all the information you could have possibly ever wanted. Sunny was sure that if he was still back at school studying in Canterlot that he would have fallen in love with this place. However, that was back then. Now he was a different pony...although he would definitely make sure to pick up a book from here occasionally. Being distracted by the sight of the rows of massive bookshelves, he looked towards the centre of the room to see Twilight sitting at a desk with two towering stacks of books either side of her. She currently had a book open on a particular page and was scribbling away notes for a report she had to complete for Princess Celestia on 'The Dangers of Transportation/Teleportation Magic'. "Welcome to Ponyville Public Library, how may I help...oh hey there Sunny! What brings you here?" she began to say before she lifted her head up from her notes to see the yellow stallion. "Oh nothing much! I was just giving Abigail here her morning walk, and I just happened to be in the area. So I thought I'd give you a bit of a visit." "Gosh! If I had known you were coming I would've made a little bit of an effort to tidy the place up for you..." Twilight said as she used her magic to start to put some of the books away. "Come on now Twilight! You know me well enough to know that I don't care about a little mess! Besides, I don't think the guests I've brought with me would be too particularly happy if you spent your time cleaning up instead of talking with them!" said Sunny as he used his own magic to stop Twilight's magic from putting the books away. "Huh? What guests?" asked a now confused Twilight. "These guests!" yelled out Leon and Windbreaker in unison as they took their cue to enter the library. "Leon! Windbreaker! It's so good to see you two again!" Twilight exclaimed whilst galloping towards her two friends who she hasn't seen in five years, to give them both a bug hug. "At least some pony recognised us straight away!" said Leon, directing the comment towards Sunny, as both he and Windbreaker hugged Twilight back. "Hey! I did recognise you!" complained Sunny, still lying about their earlier encounter. "Sure you did." said Windbreaker with sarcasm oozing from every word. Twilight who was still shocked at seeing her two friends then asked, "Anyway, what are you two doing here?!" "It's kind of a long story-" began Leon before he was interrupted by the lavender pony. "I've got time." interrupted Twilight, who was still trying to get over the sudden surprise but nevertheless eager to hear Leon's story, "Oh and where are my manners! Here please do take a seat!" Twilight said this as she used her magic to transport a table and set of chairs from one end of the room to where they were. "Can I get you guys anything to eat or drink?" "Oh no! It's alright Twilight! We all just came back from eating breakfast at the Sugarcube Corner." explained Leon. "Oh all right. Now, tell me about why you're here and, also about what you've been up to in the past fie year. You must have been real busy I'm sure!" "Well you see..." he said as he began to re-tell the entire story to Twilight just as he had told it to Sunny. When they had finished their story as to why they had come to Ponyville, Twilight began to tell them her story of what she had been up to in the past five years and, even introduced Spike to everypony. He wasn't there originally as he was busy in the kitchen preparing both his and Twilight's lunch. Soon a couple of hours had passed as the three reunited friends reminisced on their times in Canterlot. The time would have continued to go unnoticed if it weren't for Leon spotting the time. "Oh my! We've spent two hours just sitting here and talking! We're going to have to leave soon if we want to see my parent's house today!" said Leon as he got up from his seat. "He's right we really should get going!" spoke up Sunny as he too got up from his seat. "Oh you're going with him to see his house?" asked Twilight as she did the same as the two stallions. "Well I invited him to come with me..." began Leon but then an idea popped into his head as he continued, "...Actually, do you want to come along with us?" "Well I've almost finished Princess Celestia's assignment anyway, so sure why not." beamed Twilight, as she was happy at the thought of being able to spend more time with her two closest friends. "Great!" Leon replied before, he called out, "Sis! We're leaving now!" "Okay Leon!" called back Windbreaker as she flew to her older brother's side. Abigail and Spike followed shortly afterwards. Windbreaker and Spike had both gotten along very well and had spent their time playing with Abigail around the library. For the first time, since before their mother had died, Leon saw Windbreaker with a genuine smile on her face. Which brought about a smile upon Leon's face, seeing his sister happy again. "Aww you guys are leaving already?" asked a disappointed Spike who was having a good time with the pegasi and the Malamute. "You can come with us too if you want Spike." said Leon. "ALRIGHT!" both Spike and Windbreaker exclaimed whilst bro-hoofing along with Abigail who barked happily. "Okay guys let's go!" called out Sunny who was already out the door. Everypony except Twilight soon followed behind him. "Sunny slow down!" yelled Twilight as she was locking up the library and putting the 'Closed' sign up on the front door. A couple of hours later... The four ponies, one dragon and the Malamute could only stare at the sight of the house in front of them, as they waited for the estate agent to come and show them the house. To be honest it was more of a mansion than a house! The profile of the property said it was a large, spacious dwelling of eight and a half thousand square feet, with an impressive 5 acres of land surrounding the property. Along with a splendid view of the countryside around the outskirts of the small town of Ponyville. Whilst, the description on paper sounded like the perfect dream home, the actual appearance of the building itself was a lot to be desired. The old paint was flaking away in most places and had caused the sturdy wooden walls to start to rot and decay in several areas of the building. The extent of the rotting was so bad there were even a few holes in the walls of the large building. A large number of tiles had fallen off of the roof, some of them hitting the house as they came crashing down. Some tiles even caused the windows to be smashed to pieces inviting the elements to do more damage inside the building as well as out. The handiwork of a bunch of hoodlums could also be seen in the form of graffiti that was written on the walls of the building. The grounds around the house had been un-kept for many years causing the most probably nearly kept lawn to transform into a miniature jungle in which all sorts of wildlife were hidden away. All in all, the building at first glance looked like a complete shambles that was ready to fall on top of itself at any moment. Most ponies would have been deterred from the thought of buying the place as soon as they laid their eyes on it. Twilight and Spike were no exception as a look of disgust painted both their faces as they saw the house. However, Sunny was completely the opposite. "Wow Leon! I can't believe you used to live in a house like this!" beamed at his friend as he looked at the place. "Well I guess it helps that my father was one of the founding members of the Wonderbolts..." deadpanned Leon. "Oh yeah right I forgot!" said Sunny now feeling slightly embarrassed before, turning his back to the mansion. The mansion was situated on top of a fairly large hill, which provided the amazing view of the countryside on the outskirts of Ponyville. "This sure is a wonderful view!" exclaimed Sunny as he closed his eyes and let the soft wind caress his face and stroke his fiery mane. "You should see it when the sunsets." said Leon, as he thought back to a memory of how things used to be when he used to live there with his parents. 18 years ago... "Mom! Come quickly otherwise we're going to miss it!" yelled Leon as a small colt who was currently flying around in circles. "Maybe if you helped your mother out by carrying the glasses and the lemonade we'd get there a whole lot quicker!" called back Leon's father, Bolt who was also flying whilst also carrying a table. Leon groaned out loud before saying, "Fine!", before zooming off into the kitchen to pick up the glasses and pitcher of ice cold lemonade. "Gosh! That kid is so hard to control!" moaned Bolt as he landed at their usual spot. "Bolt dear, I don't think you can be one to complain. After all, you were exactly like that when we first met." said Leon's mother, Moondancer who was setting up three deck chairs for them to sit on. "Surely I wasn't that out of control!" reasoned Bolt. "No you weren't..." began Moondancer. "See I-" Bolt said before being interrupted. "...you were worse!" she finished. "HEY!" exclaimed Bolt but, was again interrupted from saying anything else when Leon came along holding three glasses in one hand and the lemonade in the other, he quickly placed them on the table and poured a glass of lemonade for each of them. "Mom! Dad! Come on or we're going to miss it!" whined the small brown pegasi. "Okay, okay Leon! We're ready!" said Moondancer trying to keep the small bundle of energy tamed. The long summer days were always hot and tiring. But, at the end of the day this was the moment the entire Cristo family looked forward to. Every second that tick during the day was all for this one single moment in the eyes of the young pegasi. The sight that would always be waiting for them every day: the glorious sunset. The time in which Princess Celestia's creation; the ever so bright and glorious Sun, would finally rest to make way for Princess Luna's own divine creation; the night sky and it's elegant beauty. The time in which the clear blue skies would change to a warm and fiery palette of colours. Crimson red, neon orange, peachy pink, sunny yellow and many more wonderfully warm colours. No matter how many times he saw the sunset, he would always be amazed to see the myriad of colours dance right before his eyes. It was a sight that he could never ever forget. Back to the present time... Suddenly, the sound of a new voice snapped Leon out of his memory. The voice belonged to a mature stallion who had a grey coat with a slick black mane. There were a few strands of grey in his well-kept mane that gave away just how old he was. "I'm so sorry I'm late! I got held up at another appointment. The name's Danny, Danny Winchester." the stallion said before adding, "Which one of you is Mr. Cristo?" "That would be me." Leon replied. "Ah excellent." the older stallion said as he shook hooves with Leon before he added, "You know I still remember the day when I sold this land to another Mr. Cristo, who then went on to build this property. Are you perhaps related?" "Oh that would probably be my father." "Ah I see!" said Danny before adding, "Shall we go have a look inside the property?" Danny asked his rhetorical question as he began to make his way towards the house the others following shortly behind him. As Leon walked along with the others behind Danny he looked towards the house. As they made their way closer to the door, he looked up to see a particular window. It was a rather large window situated directly high up the house onto the second floor whilst, still being in line with the front door. Just the sight of the window brought back a fond memory of Leon's. 16 years ago... "Get back here you little rascal!" yelled out Bolt as he chased his son down one of the long corridors of their home. Up ahead Leon was running like his life depended on it, his mouth covered in a blue sauce. The way he had ended up in this position is by eating his father's favourite blueberry pie, that his mother had especially made for him. As you can tell, Bolt didn't react to well when he found out... 'I'm going to make that colt regret eating my blueberry pie!' thought Bolt angrily as he continued to run after the brown pegasus colt. Leon turned around a corner to try and lose his Dad but soon stopped in his tracks as he realized the corridor he had turned into had no other turnings or doors, it was a dead end. All that he could see was a rather large picture window that was opened to let in the floods of bright sunshine to light up the corridor. Ready to turn around to get out of the dead end, he was soon frozen in place as the presence his Dad blocked off his only way out, he was trapped. Bolt seeing his son had nowhere to run to. He called out, "Are you ready to get punished, for eating my pie?!" Leon looked furiously for any way possible he could get out of this dilemma. Soon an idea sprung into his head. With a smirk on his face he replied, "You're going to have to catch me first, Dad!", before turning around and running towards the open window. Bolt realizing what his son was about to do called out, "Leon don't do it!", but, by then it was too late. Leon gathering up speed from his run opened his wings out and took off through the window and into the clear blue skies above. Leon had a massive smile on his face as he finally escaped from suffering from the brutal torture his father was sure to put him through. Soon he began to look around him to see a number of birds flying around him as if to welcome their new companion in the air. He then looked around to see a sight that took his breathe away. He could see the grassy green plains of the countryside that stretched as far as the eye could see. The tiny plumes of grey smoke that erupted from the miniscule chimneys of the small town of Ponyville. The large strip of darker woods that lay just a short distance from the outskirts of Ponyville; the infamous Everfree Forest. The luminously bright Sun that poured it's energetic rays upon the whole setting making everything look and feel more surreal than it was. Even though Leon had seen this view near enough every day when he looked out to see the sunset, he was still blown away from looking at the view from this new aerial perspective. It was truly a magnificent view. However, he was snapped out of his admiration when he heard a voice call out to him, "Leon look out!". Looking to see where he was flying he saw he was about to collide head first into a tree. At the speed he was going there was no way he could turn away in time. So holding his front legs in front of his face and closing his eyes tightly shut he braced for impact. A few seconds passed but, the impact never came. Opening his eyes, he saw that he had completely stopped flying and instead was being carried in the arms of another pegasus. Looking up to see his saviour he saw that it was none other than his Dad. Soon the two had landed safely back on the ground. "Leon! Don't you ever do that again! You had me seriously worried!" exclaimed Bolt as he hugged Leon tightly. Leon shocked at everything that had just happened just hugged back whilst stuttering, "I-I won't Dad..." Letting go of his son Bolt replied, "I hope you don't!" before grabbing hold of Leon's ear. "Ow ow ow! Let go of my ear Dad!" yelled Leon who was struggling to get out of his Dad's vice grip on his ear. "Did you think I'd forget about my pie?!" question Bolt before chuckling and taking his son back home by the ear. In the present... Leon was currently rubbing his ear as he thought back to that memory. 'Damn! I still remember how much that hurt!' "LEON!" yelled out Sunny, snapping Leon out of his reminiscent state, "Leon mate, are you alright? We've been calling you for a while now, every pony is ready to go inside." asked a concerned Sunny. "Oh...it was nothing, just remembering something..." grumbled Leon before saying, "Let's go inside then!" as he re-joined the group who were waiting for the two stallions. The initial outside appearance of the house wasn't the only things wrong with the house. As they walked up the wooden step onto the wooden floored porch. The floor boards groaned under the weight of the ponies that walked on top of them. Very soon the weight became too much for the floor boards to take and this was shown when the floor boards gave away underneath Sunny. "Oh my gosh Sunny are you alright?!" cried Twilight as she and everyone else rushed to help him up. "Yeah I'm fine." said Sunny as he was helped up by both Leon and Danny. "I know I've put on a bit of weight recently, but I didn't think I was that fat!" he joked. "I'm so sorry about that I forgot to mention the termite infestation this property has. So you would have to spend money on getting that problem sorted before you could sort anything else out." Danny said as he opened the large oak door which thankfully had not been affected by the termites...yet. As they all carefully walked through the door they were amazed at what they saw in front of them. The first thing you saw as soon as you walked in was the grand staircase which had a be rather dusty roll of faded red carpet along the middle. The stairs from the top had a width big enough for four ponies to easily stand next to each other rather comfortably. Then as you went down, the width of the stairs widen until at the very foot if the stairs where you could easily fit twelve ponies with a bit of space to spare! The incredibly high ceilings were the next noticeable feature of the room. Cobwebs and thick layers of dust decorated meter after meter of the huge ceiling. However, what had to have been the centre piece of the once grand room was a massive chandelier that with it's own icing of cobwebs and dust. Despite, the state it was now in, it still had a strangely mesmerizing feature about it. As if the long strings of cobwebs added a sort of archaic character to the hanging piece of branched lighting. The entire room dug up another long lost memory that had been buried in Leon's sub-conscious for the past several years. 19 years ago... "Leon come out of there right now!" Bolt shouted as he knocked on Leon's bedroom door. He was currently dressed up smartly. His black mane nicely combed back. His chosen attire for the night was a simple white shirt, black tux, black bow-tie combo, with a single red rose decorating his lapel. "I'm not going to this stupid party!" yelled back Leon through the bedroom door. "Leo-" began Bolt before he was silenced by Moondancer. She was dressed in an elegantly flowing blood red gown, with a glittering pearl necklace around her neck. "Let me have a go with him." she said in a quiet and soothing voice in an effort to calm her husband down. "Fine then." he said in a huff. She knocked on the door and called out, "Leon honey. It's me." "Go away." "Leon what's the matter?" "I don't want to go to the party!" "Why not?" "Because...because there are going to be other ponies there." "What's wrong with that?" "I won't know any of them!" "All of your 'cousins', 'aunts' and 'uncles' will be there! Besides, you can always make new friends, Leon that's the point of this party in the first place." "Well...well..." he stammered as he struggled to think up another reason. Finally, a reason came to mind as he said, "What if I do anything stupid...they'll all laugh at me! Moondancer could only chuckle as she said "Oh Leon darling, there's nothing to worry about. You won't do anything stupid." "But...but what if I do?!" "Well then if any pony laughs at you. Daddy promises to kick them out of the house, okay sweetie?" "*sniff sniff* Promise?" "I promise Leon." called out Bolt. “*sniff* Alright then...I'll go." No sooner when those words left his lips did the sound of the lock on the door clicked and the door swung open to reveal a small brown colt dressed up in the same attire as his father minus the rose. As he walked out of the room, Moondancer reached out her hoof to him to which he held with his own tiny hoof. "Thanks dear." said Bolt gently to his wife as he too held his son's hoof in his own. "Don't mention it. Now come on everyone will be out there waiting for the hosts to arrive!" hurried Moondancer as the three of them walked towards the stairs. Once, they reached the top of the stairs they looked down to see a vast number of ponies currently, chatting amongst themselves whilst eating hors-d'ouevres off of trays that a number of pony waiters were carrying. A few of them were members of the Wonderbolts that were Leon's 'cousins', 'aunts' and 'uncles'. Whereas, the rest were all from the nearby town of Ponyville. The Cristo's had decided to throw this welcome party to introduce themselves to the whole town as they had only recently just moved in. Noticing that the hosts of the party had arrived the entire room of ponies became silent as they all looked up to the Cristo family. Leon immediately wanted to hide behind his mother to shield himself from all the unwanted attention. However, Moondancer simply held his hoof reassuringly and simply gave Leon a smile. It wasn't just any smile. This smile was pure in its intentions. It was one filled with a calm, warm feeling that washed over Leon. It told him that everything would be alright. Filled with this new air of confidence. Leon smiled back at his mother before they both looked towards the crowd of new faces and began their descent down the red carpeted stairs... Back to reality... "Dude are you sure you're okay? You keep zoning out all the time." asked Sunny again snapping Leon out of his memory. Every pony was now looking at him as they were all waiting for him so they could continue to look around. "Y-yeah I'm fine." stammered Leon as he then regained his composure as he said, "Shall we continue to look around?" Danny nodded as he took the group around the upstairs of the house first. They all had a look at the large number of bedrooms and bathrooms that the mansion had to offer. Whilst, they all matched the same décor of cobwebs, dust, faded colours and dim lighting that they had seen earlier, every pony could agree on the fact that each and every room was comfortably spacious. "Wow Leon! What was your Dad thinking when he built this place?" asked a still amazed Sunny. "What do you mean?" responded Leon who was now perplexed at Sunny's question. "Well I mean like why did he build a mansion this massive with so many bedrooms and bathrooms, when it was just you, your mum and him living here?" "Oh it wasn't just us that lived here. My Dad being one of the founding members of the Wonderbolts, believed that a team should be like family. So he decided to build this house to be big enough to house all the members of the Wonderbolts back then. They were all pretty much a part of our family." explained Leon as he began to think back to all the antics he would get up to with the younger members of the Wonderbolts. "Oh that makes much more sense!" said Sunny before saying, "That must have been awesome having to live in a house with the most famous flight team in all of Equestria!" "Well they weren't all that famous back then. After all, they had only just started out as a team. But, it still was amazing to live with them. The older members were like the aunts and uncles I never had and, the younger members were like my older brothers and sisters. We used to have a lot of fun together." said Leon with a smile as he thought back to all the memories he had with him and his other 'cousins' together and the antics that they would get up to. "Wow it sure sounds like you were one big happy family!" "We were, we all had the best of times together." "So what happened?" "What do you mean?" "I mean, why did the Wonderbolts leave?" "Well as time went on, the Wonderbolts were becoming more well-known and so more ponies wanted to join. For a while, we managed to cope with the increase in interest by sharing rooms, having up to eight ponies in one room. But, soon even the numbers became too much for even the large mansion to handle. So eventually, a much larger building was bought in Canterlot and the entire Wonderbolt team moved there to set up their headquarters. It was a sad day when they all had to move out of the house..." "Yeah, I can only imagine." said Sunny before adding, "Do you still keep in contact with any of them?" "To be honest, after they left we never really kept in touch. There was the odd occasion, but not anymore." ended Leon as his face gave away that he was sad at having to think back to such memories. "Oh right...I see." said Sunny who now felt awkward for bringing up a topic which ended up upsetting his friend. Eventually, the two had finished looking at the room they were at and went off to find the others who were still being taken around the mansion by Danny. As the tour went on Leon was hit with flashback after reminiscent flashback about how life used to be when both his mother and father were still alive. Whilst, the images of his parents reminded him that he was never going to be able to see them ever again. They still provided him with a warmth of all the good times he had with them. In the end, they only furthered his resolve to buy this mansion. It was more than just a property. It was more than just a home. It was a symbol of the times that represented paradise to him. It was something that only he would truly be able to cherish. It was his history. Once, they had finished the tour of the mansion they all walked outside. "So how did you all find the place?" asked Danny. "Well I for one think it would need a LOT of work before you could even get it to a condition which would be suitable to live in." said Twilight as she looks back at all the external damages to the walls especially. "I kind of liked the place. I mean sure it needs a bit of work. But, the rooms are incredibly spacious and the entire building just oozes character! It would be a stunning place to live!" added Sunny who stared in amazement at the mansion imagining what it would look like once it was all done up. "But, what about the termite infestation?! Plus, I'm absolutely sure I saw a rat or two scurrying around when we were in the kitchen! It would take a while to clear those pests out!" argued Twilight. "But, think of the reward after all the hard work!" countered Sunny. Soon enough Sunny and Twilight began to have a full blown argument over the mansion. Danny walked over to Leon and asked, "Are those two going out together?" . "No they aren't. Why?" replied Leon. "Well I've been in the real estate business for a good twenty-five years now and I've sold a fair share of houses in that time. Seeing those two now you'd have thought they were newlyweds arguing about the house they might live in together!" At this, Leon couldn't help but burst out laughing at the remark. They always did have that little chemistry between them that suggested to everypony that met them that the two were an item. Their arguing continued as Twilight came up with a rebuttal. "But just imagine how much the repair work would cost! Not to mention the actual price of the mansion! The price would just be too much!" Danny's ears perked up when he heard this and soon stopped the argument by adding his own point. "Actually, if you consider the fact that the original market value of the property was in the region of seven and a half million bits, and that over the years and the obviously poor state it is in now the price has dropped to a significantly reasonable price of four and a half million bits" Danny emphasized the price to Leon using the skills of the trade that he picked up over the years to try and get the sale. He continued, "I'm sure you'll agree a real bargain considering what you are getting: the property in question, the five acres of land surrounding the property, the stunning setting of living in the countryside, within walking distance of Ponyville. It has to be one of the best deals I've ever seen in all my twenty five years as an estate agent!" Both, Sunny and Twilight couldn't help but both nod their heads in agreement. When he explained it like that how could you disagree. The two were completely sold. Leon would have been to. If it weren't for one thing: the price. His father had left two million bits for both himself and Windbreaker, all saved up from his career as one of the founders and captain of the Wonderbolts. His mother had left for them her own one million bits for the two having saved them up from her career as a very successful dancer who performed shows all over Equestria. Leon had sold their small yet adequate house in Canterlot for a reasonable four hundred thousand bits. Leon had also saved up another hundred thousand bits from his job which he had now left. All of this together was still one million bits short of being able to buy the mansion! Leon's heart was broken at the prospect of not being able to buy the place that meant so much to him. The place that brought him so many good memories. To add insult to injury, Sunny asked, oblivious to his friend's situation, "So how much do you think the repair work would cost?" Danny thought for a little while before saying, "The amount of damage done is going to be costly to repair. Getting the necessary materials alone is expensive. If I had to estimate I'd say you'd need between two hundred to two hundred thousand bits if you want to do a good job on repairing the place." 'Great! Where am I going to get one and a quarter million bits from?!' thought Leon. "So then the question of the moment, Mr. Cristo." said Danny as he looked at Leon with a smile on his face, "Are you interested in buying the property today?" Leon was stuck. Of course, he wanted to buy the place and keep all of the cherished memories that it held within it's walls and surroundings. But, he just didn't have the money. With a deep, regretful sigh Leon finally spoke out, "Well I'd buy this mansion in a heartbeat if I could. But, I just don't have enough money to buy the place..." Immediately, the smile on Danny's face dropped as he heard those words leave Leon's lips. "Well then, may I ask how much do you have right now?" Danny asked desperate to come away with some sort of deal. "I have three and a half million bits I can spend." Danny had a brief look of deep thought about him. Although, this was quickly removed as he said, "Well it would be impossible for me to lower the price for you as we really have given as low a price as we can possibly give based off of the current state of the housing market." Leon's ears flattened as he heard this news. But, they soon perked up again as Danny continued to say, "However, if you are still interested in buying the property you could perhaps put in a one million bit deposit so that we can keep hold of the property in question for you, so that no other pony can buy the mansion." Leon's head began to think hard about that. The situation would be a bit better for him knowing that no other pony would buy the mansion whilst he was trying to raise the rest of the money. But, the question of how he was going to raise the money still plagued his mind. Danny continued, "Although, we can only do this for a period of eighteen months. If you aren't able to pay the remainder of the money by then, then we'll refund you your million bits back to you. So what do you say to that?" he finished with a smile and holding out his hoof, as he hoped that he was still in with a shot of selling the place. Leon didn't have to be told the entire situation twice. He had decided the thought of some pony else buying the mansion before he could was a scenario which he just wasn't prepared to let happen. So with no hesitation the brown pegasus said as he shook Danny's hoof: "Okay then. I'll put up the million bit deposit for now." "Excellent, let's get the paperwork sorted back at the office, shall we?" Danny as he walked away heading back to Ponyville with Leon and the gang following behind him. An hour later... Leon, Windbreaker, Abigail and Sunny were walking towards the outskirts of Ponyville, towards Sunny's house. With the Cristo siblings without a house to live in Sunny had quickly offered to let the two stay at his house for as long as they needed to. Meanwhile, Twilight decided it was getting a little late and she still had to finish off her essay to send to Princess Celestia. So both Twilight and Spike bid the rest of the gang farewell as they headed their own way back to the library. Leon, Sunny and Abigail were walking along the path whilst, Windbreaker was simply flying along besides them. The Cristo's luggage floating right behind them all in a line thanks to a quick 'Levitation' and 'Locomotor' Spell combo by Sunny. Eventually, the trio reached Sunny's home, but just the sight of it left both Leon ad Windbreaker stunned with both of their jaws opened and their eyes slightly widened at the house they would be staying in. Whilst, it wasn't as extravagant as the mansion they had seen earlier today. It was still certainly a very luxurious house for just one pony to live in. It was a rather modern building with it's walls painted a pure white. It had two floors and, from where they were standing they could see a very large balcony that had a number of tables and chairs laid out. The land it was built on was sectioned off by a rather large hedge wall that ran right around the building. But, what really stood out to the Cristo siblings wasn't anything to do with the building itself. It was in fact the front garden. From the front gate began a large pathway that led all the way towards the front door of the house. Every few meters along the path were a number of hedge arches that provided plenty of shade along the path so that on a hot day you could still walk down the pathway feeling relatively cool. Alongside, the path was a massive flower bed that stretched the length of the long pathway. Planted on it was nothing but blue roses. Evidently, the flower beds did end up looking like two lines of royal blue from afar. The remainder of the lawn in his front garden seemed to radiate it's bright green colour, which complemented the blue lines of the flower bed very nicely. All in all, the sight was a jaw-dropping sight. "Welcome to my home! I hope the two of you will be comfortable living here." said Sunny a he made his way down the path to open the front for them, still oblivious to his friend’s reactions to the sight of his 'humble' home. "Woah! This place is awesome!" exclaimed Windbreaker as she flew through the door, once it was open, to take a look around the new house. Abigail ran in soon after to follow the white filly. "S-Sunny h-how did you afford a place like this?! It must have cost a fortune!" asked a still shocked Leon as the three of them walk into the house. The entire house had white marble flooring which reflected the light that came through the large windows that let in floods of sunlight into the room. All of this made the whole house seem a lot brighter and really made the white marble sparkle showing off just how clean the floor really was. Leon actually wondered whether he should have cleaned his hooves wrote walking into his friend's spectacular abode. "Well it would have cost a fortune, had I not taken the unconventional route of buying the land and getting this house built to my own specifications. It only cost a million bits to do up." "A-a million bits?!" stuttered an even more shocked Leon. Whilst, he was amazed at how cheap Sunny had been able to get a house which should have cost three, if not four times that amount. He was more amazed at how his friend had earned a million bits in the space of two years. Only the most successful ponies out there could earn bits like that in such a short amount of time. "Yeah can you believe such a bargain!" exclaimed Sunny as he put the luggage he had been carrying around on the floor. "Sunny I hope you don't find this too rude of me. But, can I ask how did you end up getting...well..." asked Leon trying to find a better way of asking the question. "Getting all of this money to be able to live in such a comfortable house?" guessed Sunny. Leon simply nodded his head as a reply. "Well I already told you earlier today that I now work as a song writer." continued Sunny referring to the conversation they had at the Sugarcube Corner. "Yeah but you also told me how song writers don't actually get paid that much!" replied Leon. "Well in retrospect they really don't get paid that much. Although, it does really depend on the circumstances. There are actually a few ways songwriters earn money." "Like how?" questioned Leon now clearly eager to know more about how his friend earned his money. "Well it's kind of complicated to be honest. They teach you this kind of stuff back at the Music Academy." Sunny responded before seeing the waiting face of Leon who was still waiting to hear the answer. With a heavy sigh Sunny continued, "Well I guess I'll try to explain it as simply as I possibly can. You see it's actually quite difficult to calculate how much any songwriter earns. But, there are three main ways they earn their money." He stopped to make sure he wasn't boring Leon with his talking, before he continued, "The first way is by some pony actually buying your song. Songwriters get something like ninety thousandths of a bit for every copy of their song they sell...or something like that! It's also the main way a songwriter earns his or her money. So from that you can obviously tell that you would need to sell a lot of copies of one song if you were going to earn anything like an average amount. Please just leave all questions till the end." finished Sunny when he saw Leon about to ask another question. Immediately, Leon kept quiet. "Okay so the next way a songwriter earns money is from the number of times his or her song is performed or played in a public setting. So for example at concerts, radio stations and so on." Again, Sunny stopped to make sure Leon had no trouble keeping up with everything he was saying. He then continued: "The last and final way a songwriter earns money is by licensing other people and companies to use your song. So if a company wanted to use your song as part of their advertisement campaign the thy would pay you money to use it." With a sigh of relief Sunny concluded, "And that's how songwriters earn their money. Now do you have any questions?" Leon now thinking about everything Sunny had said today, did have one more question on his mind, "Okay from everything you said it's quite obvious that you would need to have made really successful songs to earn anything like you have. Plus, you said earlier today about how you had only just started and produced one album for someone. So that brings about the question, who did you make an album for?" "Well I wrote the songs for Sapphire Shore's latest album and-" "WHAT?!" exclaimed a now shocked Leon interrupting Sunny in the process. Leon then continued, "Sapphire Shores! You are talking about the 'Pony of Pop' Sapphire Shores right? The one that recently sold a record breaking ten million copies of her new album! The one that received a new Diamond certification for selling so many albums! The one that now has a completely sold out tour in all the major cities all over Equestria! The one who is now in the top five most richest ponies in Equestria! That Sapphire Shores?" Leon emphasized his point still not believing his friend actually did write the 'Pony of Pop's most successful album to date. "Yeah that's the one." said Sunny who now had a puzzled look on his face as he was wondering why his friend was reacting so strongly to this news. Soon, Leon began to burst out laughing. Sunny now utterly confused asked, "What's so funny?" It took a little while for Leon to final calm down enough to actually speak, "Okay Sunny you can cut it out with the jokes now." "What are you talking about I didn't say any jokes." "Oh come on Sunny it's obvious you're joking about the working with Sapphire Shores thing. I mean come on! You've only just started your career and you honestly expect me to believe that some pony as famous as Sapphire has worked with you!" said Leon who was now slightly annoyed that Sunny persisted with this fib. "Oh I see what's going on now. Alright just wait a second." Sunny said now fully understanding the situation. Using his magic he levitated a photo album that was laying on a nearby shelf towards him. Once, the album was in his hooves he opened the album to particular page before pointing to a particular picture for Leon to look at. Leon could only gawk at the picture he was looking at. There in front of him was a picture of both Sunny and Sapphire standing side by side together holding up the framed diamond record which Sapphire had gained for achieving over 10 million sales of her latest album. They each also held awards in their other hooves with another six awards lined up on the ground in front of them. "This was taken a couple of days after the Equestrian Music Awards (EMA's). She's holding her award for the 'Best Female Artist of the Year' along with the other five she had won that night. As I'm sure you are already well aware of. After all, it was on the news quite a lot when the awards were given out, seeing as it was a record breaking number of awards for one pony to win in one sitting." "Yeah I know I watched the awards live on T.V." said Leon before he asked another question. "What about the award you're holding?" "Oh that. Well I wasn't at the awards ceremony to pick up my own award so on the night Sapphire picked it up for me. It was under my alias 'Mr.Sunshine' which was why you didn't know it was me." "Hang on so you're the 'Mr.Sunshine'! The pony that won both the 'Best Newcomer (Songwriter)' and 'Songwriter of the Year' awards at the EMA's!" "Yours truly." Sunny said with a smile as his friend finally believed him. "Oh wow! I can't believe that you're THE 'Mr.Sunshine' that's always in the newspapers. You're like a celebrity man!" exclaimed Leon with new found pride in his friend. "Alright now that you know who I am, you have to promise me that you won't tell anypony who I am! I don't want the media to know simple because I just couldn't stand all the unwanted attention." Sunny finished whilst shuddering to himself at the thought of what other celebrities he knew had to put up with. "Don't worry your secret is safe with me!" said Leon knowing how serious this secret was. However, another thought entered his mind which he just had to get answered, "Sunny, I was wondering with you being so successful and all, could you perhaps lend me the money I need to buy the mansion." When Leon realized what his words sounded like he quickly added, "It's not like I'm out for your money or anything it's just-" "Woah woah Leon calm down I know you aren't like that! You've been my friend since before I've become famous. So I know you aren't after my money. So don't worry about it." interrupted Sunny to try and calm him down. As soon as Leon breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that he hadn't ruined his friendship over something so trivial to him, Sunny continued to say, "As for lending you money. I'm afraid I can't do that for a few reasons. Firstly, like I said before songwriters don't earn that much in comparison to how much their songs actually make. So whilst, Sapphire's album made millions and millions of bits, I only ended up making just a little over a couple of million bits. Now I know that still leaves one million bits still left unaccounted for which would still help a lot in raising the money for you to buy and do up your place. But, that leads onto my second reason to why I can't lend you the money. You already knew about my family's situation right?" At this Leon nodded as he remembered from years back when both he and Sunny were still at school in Canterlot. He remembered Sunny telling him how he didn't come from a fancy background that most of the ponies in Canterlot did. In fact, back in Manehattan where he lived his family wasn't really that well off there either. Both of his parents had to work tirelessly throughout the day to just earn barely enough money to put food on the table and pay the schooling of both himself and his two younger siblings. Some nights they wouldn't even have dinner because of how little money was coming in from their parents low paying jobs. His parents had to make a lot of sacrifices in order for both he and his siblings to live the life they had at that point. The fact that he had gotten a scholarship to study with all expenses paid for at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was the only reason he was even able to go to the school in the first place. That day Leon had learnt a lot about how his Sunny's family's well-being is what motivated Sunny every day to work as hard as he could to help his family out and to make sure his siblings got much better education than what they had right now, which was below any acceptable standard. "Well with that one and a half million bits I was able to buy a much nicer home for them to live in as well as being able to pay for both my brother and sister's new school fees. My Mum no longer has to work and my Dad doesn't have to work himself to the bone every day. Plus, they have a little left over to do with what they want. So now that their all sorted out I can rest easier knowing that I've now made life a lot more comfortable for them to live." Sunny began to tear up as he thought back to the looks on his family when he told them they would never have to live another day of hardship ever again. Leon could only give him a reassuring pat on the back, as Sunny furiously wiped his tears away so that he wouldn't cry, especially in front of his best friend. After quickly recovering from his temporary emotional moment Sunny continued, "Now with all of those reasons that is near enough all of the money I've earned already spent . I only have a little less than twenty thousand bits left to last me for a good number of months, whilst I have a break from song writing. I would lend you the money I have left if you really wanted it Leon. But, I know that is nowhere near enough to the amount you need which is why I offered to let you stay here till you could get the amount you needed." Leon now feeling bad at having doubted that his friend wouldn't help him in his time of need, Leon began to say, "Sunny...I'm sorry I doubted you." "Hey it's no big deal man! I probably would've been the same if I were in your position. Now let's get this luggage to your rooms and get you settled in shall we?" Sunny finished as he levitated the bags upstairs and proceeded to walk up the stairs. Leon could only follow Sunny up before, they spent the next few hours unpacking all of their things. A few hours later... Leon lay motionless and fully awake despite trying to get to sleep for an hour now. The room that he was staying in was quite spacious...as were all the rooms in Sunny's house. The bed was incredibly comfortable...and, yet he could not get to sleep. It was the continuous thoughts of how he was going to earn the one and a quarter million bits to get that mansion that held so many cherished and dear memories to him, that plagued his mind and prevented him from going to sleep. He could hear the distinct sound of his sister snoring through his bedroom wall, as her room was right next to his. But apart, from that all was silent in the house. That was until the sweet melodious sound of an acoustic guitar danced it's way through the dark and empty hallways and into Leon's room to nestle itself comfortably into the crevices that were Leon's ears. Intrigued by the blissful tune Leon got out of his bed and followed the trail of musical notes that hung in the air, all the way to the location of it's source: the balcony. Opening the sliding door gently so as not to alert the pony playing the guitar, Leon slowly tip-toed on his hooves to get a better look at the guitar player. Obviously, it was none other than Sunny who held the guitar in his hooves. The young stallion was staring up into the beautiful starry night sky. More specifically, the bright full moon that bathed everything in a pale yet eerie white light. The light illuminating Sunny's features against the dark background. The gentle night breeze blowing through his fiery mane, that also lit up under the moonlight. He was sitting down in one of the many chairs on the balcony, simply lost in his own little world as he serenaded the Moon with his peaceful tune on the guitar. Leon could not help but close his own eyes and enjoy the music that drifted into his ears. His own thoughts and worries seemingly melted away at the sound of the guitar strings being plucked and strummed away on. Soon, the tune came to an end and as Sunny strummed the final chord to the song he was surprised to hear the sound of clapping. Quickly turning around to see who had given him a shock, he gave a huge sigh of relief when he saw that it was just Leon. "Celestia's sake Leon! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" said Sunny, whilst clutching his chest to emphasize his point. "That was an amazing song! What's it called?" Leon said choosing to ignore Sunny's earlier comment. "Thanks, the song's called 'Never my Love'." replied Sunny. "Well with a song title like that, and the way you played it just now, you should have no problem sweeping the mares off their hooves..." Leon said, before a smirk spread across his face, "...Or maybe you already have a mare in mind. A certain lavender pony we both know, hmm?" At this Sunny blushed at what Leon's words were implying. "N-no! It's not like that! You of all ponies know that we both split up ages ago!" said a now flustered Sunny who's face had gradually turned red as his blush intensified, perhaps revealing a bit about his feeling for the lavender pony still... "Sorry man! I was only joking about the whole you and Twilight thing...I know fully well you guys are broken up," said Leon, who now felt bad at perhaps having taken his joke a little too far. "It's alright. I guess I kind of over-reacted there a bit,” sighed Sunny as he looked out to the moonlit front garden that looked twice as beautiful at night as it did during the day. Sunny continued, "So what's been keeping you awake then?" With a sigh of his own, Leon pulled up a chair next to Sunny and sat down next to him as they both watched the full moon shine brightly amongst the hundreds of glittering stars that dotted the pitch black canvas of the night sky. He then answered: "It's just the thought of trying to figure out how I can possibly raise the money to buy the mansion. It seems more impossible every time I think about it." "Dude you have eighteen months to figure out a way to make the money. You don't have to think up a way right this minute. I'm sure we'll think of a way together." "What are you talking about 'we'll think of a way together'? I've already caused enough of an inconvenience just by taking up room in your home. No I need to figure this problem out on my own!" he finished stubbornly. Sunny face-hoofed at how stupidly Leon was acting, before, he said: "Leon I'm not sure if you noticed this but there are plenty of empty rooms here for the purpose of housing guests. That's what you are Leon; a guest. You aren't an inconvenience to any pony, at all! You're my friend Leon! How could I think of you as an inconvenience? Furthermore, as your friend I have a right to be worried about you. Also, I'm not offering my help because you need it, or because I feel under pressure to. No! I'm offering my help because I want to! I'm sure Twilight wants to help you out as well! So don't be a stubborn mule and think you need to do all of this on your own, when you have friends who are more than ready to help you! We all care for you Leon and, if that mansion is something you really want then I guarantee you that we will get the money to buy and do up that place...together." Sunny finished his rant, whilst holding out his hoof to Leon for a hoofshake. Leon couldn't help but smile as he realized that he had friends he could truly count on in any time of need. As he gave his own hoof to complete the hoofshake, he couldn't help but smile, as he re-uttered the one word that re-sealed their friendship after five years of being apart from one another. "Together."
