A Strange New Land

Chapters

Chapter 1 A Peaceful Day
Chapter 2 Welcome to Ponyville
Chapter 3 Meet the Gang
Chapter 4 This Isn't Home
Chapter 5 No Return

Chapter 1 A Peaceful Day

A beautiful sunny day shone down on Equestria. The Pegasi cheerfully worked at controlling the few clouds in the sky, as they faithfully had for a very long time in Equestria. In the lush, green fields of the countryside, Earth ponies worked fervently in the sun, watering and weeding their fields. In the small, though still quite busy, town of Ponyville, familiar figures went about their day. Pinkie Pie bounced to and fro in the town's marketplace, gathering supplies for Sugar Cube Corner, the bakery she works at. Rarity trotted to her workshop, carrying a large bag full of colourful, shiny gems. Zipping about the sky, Rainbow Dash raced around, dispersing the last few clouds for the day. At the orchards of Green Apple Acres, the AppleJack and her brother, Bic Mac, tended the wide orchards under the bright sun. At her home by the Ever Free Forest, Fluttershy cared for some orphaned forest life, feeding and washing a family of raccoons. As she worked, she looked up at the sky, and smiled lightly. Twilight was descending from Canterlot in her large, purple hot-air balloon. Yes, Equestria is a peaceful land. Save for the odd apocalyptic event, which seemed to be more common as of late.

This is not a story about another cataclysm with Equestria. No, this is the story of a young stallion named for a star by his mother. This stallion happens to be from a foreign land, blocked from the rest of the world by a glacial mountain pass. After a time unknown, many, many years, the glacier will melt just enough that the best of the best flyers can make it over without losing consciousness due to lack of oxygen. Beyond that pass lay a very cold land. The summer bore a hard and short growing season; just long enough to grow food for the small villages that dot the icy tundra. The air in that land always seemed to receive all the mountains' cold air. The plants and creatures of that land had lived there for thousands of years and had, of course, adapted to survive in such conditions. The Pegasi that came from the villages had great talent for flying in the dense, cold air. It was in one of the small villages that peppered the landscape that the young stallion was born.

Polaris had been named by his mother for the bright star that had once saved her life. He had always been eager to explore, observing every detail in everything, searching the nooks and crannies of his village, and generally seeking out as much information as possible. Growing up, he enjoyed spending much of his free time with his friends. They would race around the sky, darting back and forth rapidly. He always aspired to be a great explorer, charting unknown lands, and discovering great treasures for his village. Polaris would train day in, day out and quickly became the best flyer in his village. He was a shy stallion, maintaining strong relations with a small group of friends, never too eager to meet new ponies or be the center of attention. He seldom spoke out of turn, or very loudly, for that matter, and was known for mumbling things indirectly, sometimes causing someponies to get frustrated with him. Polaris knew he had these problems but never gave any actual effort to fix them, as he was happy with who he was.

Descending through a gap in the white, fluffy clouds, Polaris flew at break-neck speeds, eager to explore this new, lush land he was exploring. He was excited, spurred on by the fact that he made it over the towering glacial pass without passing out. He was only worried that he had, at most, a couple of days to fly before the pass froze over again. Polaris knew that if he couldn't make it he would be trapped for the rest of his life on the wrong side if the mountain. Leaning down further, Polaris noticed a few large villages, noting that they were easily larger than the grandest of villages in his land. As he flew, Polaris began to notice white lines forming on the edge of his wings and leaving a trail that extended what must have been 2 metres behind him. Absolutely enthralled by these lines, Polaris broke his cardinal rule: always look where you're going. Startled out of his amazed stare by a scream, he had no time to react. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Polaris saw a huge, bulbous shape right in front of him. He noted a purple blur and a smaller, green one. The only thing Polaris could do was tuck his wings tightly to his sides before he smashed into the shape, praying he didn't break them.

Chapter 2 Welcome to Ponyville

The collision happened fast. Too fast. Polaris flew through the first layer of the balloon, only to get tangled in the other side. He panicked, trying fervently to escape the thick, deep purple cloth. No matter how hard he tried, however, Polaris was merely trapped tighter by the ever-twisting cloth. One of his wings was pulled free from his side and wrenched outward, sending a sharp jolt of pain through his back. What is this? Polaris frantically thought. He was desperate. Polaris writhed further and harder within his purple-prison. Nothing seemed to work, everything Polaris did made his binding worse. Just as he realized he needs to relax, Polaris hit the ground and there was no more purple. Only black.

Waking with a gasp and a half-scream, Polaris realized with a start that he was alive. A very startled pony stood wide-eyed next to the bed that Polaris found himself in. He quickly realized that this pony standing beside him was a nurse. As his vision slowly returned to him, he noted that she was a white Earth-pony with bright pink hair. Her cutie-mark was a red cross within a light red circle. Polaris looked around. The room he was in was a perfectly clean white. There was a large machine with a lot of pulleys and ropes beside him. Polaris' fore-leg had a hard cast on it, his right wing was extended and attached to the large machine, and his chest was wrapped tightly with bandages. Just then, Polaris realized how sore he was. Almost every part of him had a blunt, yet very present, pain all over his body and he groaned.

The nurse smiled softly and said something to him. Polaris realized this with a start and felt bad that he wasn't listening. "Pardon me?" Polaris asked quietly. He was quite surprised by the sound of his own voice. It was hoarse and sleepy sounding, like it hadn't been used in a while.

"You're awake." The nurse repeated, sounding surprised. "You took quite the fall." She proceeded to inform Polaris of his injuries. He was staring forward, lost in thought, thus he only heard snippets of what the nurse was saying. Did she call herself Redheart? Broken right fore-leg... Some broken ribs... Concussion... Broken right wing... Traction for three weeks... What? No. Polaris couldn't believe it. He didn't have three weeks, he HAD to go today! Polaris tried to sit up but every fibre of his being screamed at him to stop. Nurse Redheart noticed this and gently eased him back into a lying position.

"Please!" Polaris frantically gasped as he struggled to sit up, "I have to get home! I can't be here for more than two days!"

"You've been out for three days." Nurse Redheart explained, desperate to calm Polaris. Her words hit Polaris like a brick. Three days. Polaris was utterly crestfallen, he could never return home. He stopped struggling against the nurse and simply lay there, staring straight ahead. Everything in the world stopped, his pain seemed to dull as the world spun slightly, tears stung his eyes. Polaris tried to say something that merely came out as a half-hearted "muh" before he passed out.

Polaris' sleep was heavily plagued by nightmares. He dreamed he could see his family standing by the glacial pass. His mother was crying softly, saying between sobs that she misses him so much. His father stood beside her, his face clearly showing remorse, but his stone facade showed courage. His friends were there as well, saying things like, "he should have been back by now," or, "I hope he's okay." Polaris tried to talk to them. To tell them that he was okay and that he loved them. No matter how hard he tried, however, no sound came out of his mouth. Suddenly, he began flying away. The voices of his loved ones faded and he found himself being flown back into his hospital bed. Polaris gasped loudly and coughed, sending a violent spasm of pain through his chest. Then it dawned on him, Polaris was alone. And he was scared.

Twilight Sparkle walked into the reception with Spike sitting on her back. "I'm here to see the pony that just arrived." She explained to the receptionist sitting behind the desk.

"It's the third room down the left hall." The receptionist said, motioning towards the hall.

"Thanks." Twilight said as she started down the hall. She hoped the pony in the room was awake. No one knew his name or where he was from, so Twilight hoped she could get some information from him. She had heard he was awake and just had to meet the Pegasus that nearly killed her. As she approached the door, Spike dismounted from his position atop Twilight's back. They exchanged glances quickly before Twilight slowly opened the door. Slowly she entered and noticed the room looked similar to the one Rainbow Dash had stayed in when she broke her wing. On the bed lay a stallion with dark white, almost grey, hair over his body. The hair that lay on his head was straight, almost solid, jet black, with slight streaks of near pure white, and kept fairly short, hanging over his left eye. His deep-set eyes, at least the one Twilight could see, were a very dark brown with a certain era of uncertainty about them. He stared ahead, not really focusing on anything until after a second or two his eyes focused on Twilight, and he seemed to recognize her as if from some distant memory.

"Woah," The pony croaked, "you're alive? I thought you'd have fallen like I did."

"Nope," Twilight replied, smiling lightly, "I used my magic to take Spike and I safely to the ground." She made a show of making a purple light with her horn. "Sorry I couldn't catch you too." Twilight said. "I had no idea where you were."

"Don't worry about it," the other pony reassured, "I should have been watching where I was going. It was entirely my fault." He smiled softly and tried to make it look like he could laugh it off, but the look in his eyes contrasted sharply. "My name is Polaris, by the way. What's your name?" Polaris asked in a rather quiet voice.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle." Twilight explained, smiling. She motioned towards Spike, "This is Spike. He's a baby dragon." Spike jumped up at the edge of the bed, waving.

"Hi there!" Spike exclaimed. "You really had us scared when you crashed into us!" Spike started to recall the events of the crash, adding the occasional sound effect like to the effect of Zoom! Or Crash-bang!

For about half an hour Polaris and Twilight chatted, exchanging stories about things like friends and tales about their adventures. Polaris had learned that Twilight had five best friends, whose names he couldn't remember, she actually hatched Spike, and she was very proficient in all types of magic, something Polaris had never really heard of. He hated talking about himself, but felt he owed Twilight his story. Polaris began with how he was named, a story his mother told him many times when he was just a colt.

A long time ago, Polaris' mother loved to explore, just as he did. One unfortunate day, however, she got lost in the vast tundra. She was scared and alone, completely disoriented with no idea of where the village was.The sun had set and it was getting very cold as Polaris' mother began to panic. As the stars blinked silently to light, she stared up at the sky, admiring the graceful beauty of the twinkling lights. Suddenly, one out of the many stars burned brighter than the rest: Polaris, The North Star. In that moment, Polaris' mother remembered in that moment she had been told to trust the stars. Having faith in her teachings, she flew north, following the bright star. She arrived home the next day, very much to hers and half of the village's surprise. She never forgot that night and named her first and only son Polaris, in honor of the star.

Twilight listened to the story intently, occasionally quietly adding "Mhmm" but never really speaking up too much. Polaris noted just how very polite she was and how she didn't seem to mind his destroying her balloon. She probably felt bad for him, he figured. He really hoped she didn't feel bad. Polaris was saying something about his home when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a rainbow. A rainbow? That made no sense to Polaris, as it hadn't even rained recently. Just then he noticed the rainbow was short, and very fast moving.

"Oh," Twilight exclaimed, "that's my friend, Rainbow Dash. She's the best flyer I know. You two would probably get along." Polaris smiled at this. He wasn't good at it, and contrary to popular belief, he did quite enjoy making new friends. Twilight seemed to suddenly realize something and politely explained that she had to get back to the library to study for a test. She hastily prepared to leave but stopped at the door. "Welcome to Ponyville, by the way." She added over her shoulder.

Chapter 3 Meet the Gang

The next morning, Polaris awoke to the warm sun shining on his face. The familiar rainbow streak was bouncing around, popping clouds away and making Ponyville a sunnier place. Polaris began to grow a lot more bored watching somepony else fly around.The fact that he couldn't fly for at least a month, according to Nurse Redheart had saddened Polaris deeply. His life was flying around, racing, or exploring with his friends. He smiled, fondly remembering all the great moments with his friends. Pushing themselves to their limits, buzzing people's farms, and doing various tricks together. Just then, Polaris remembered how his friends had reacted when he announced he was going over the glacier. Some tried to stop him to absolutely no avail, of course. Others encouraged him, saying they knew he could make it there and back. His best friend, Lightning Chaser, was dumbfounded, he could not think of anything to say, and seemed to become more withdrawn. A knock on the door startled Polaris and brought him out of his thoughts. Before he could say anything, the door opened quickly, followed by an explosion of confetti.

"Hi there!" A pink pony squeaked as she bounced into the room. "I'm Pinky Pie! Sorry you're in the hospital and we had to meet like this, but I just have to meet everypony in Ponyville!" This Pinkie Pie was talking way too fast for Polaris to follow in his groggy state. "Twilight told me all about how you crashed into her balloon! She said it was so scary! Anyway, I brought you a cupcake! I made it specially for you! It has a smiley face so you'll have one too!" Pinkie Pie set down a silver tray on the table next to Polaris' bed. "When you get out of the hospital, I'm going to throw you a very special party like I do for all new ponies in Ponyville!" Has she ever heard of puncuation? Polaris smirked as he thought this to himself. Pinkie Pie looked at the chart on the end of bed and gasped, "awwwwwww! You'll be out in three weeks? That's no fun! I'll have to throw a 'You're Going to Recover Soon' or a 'Get Well Soon' party in your honour!" Pinkie Pie trailed off in an ever changing story about the parties she could throw, and it's decorations.

It was just then that Polaris had noticed Twilight was in the room too. He tried to give her a look that said "This is Pinkie Pie?" Twilight simply smirked and stood by the wall next to the window. Polaris noticed the rainbow streak was still zipping about, but there were no more clouds.

Pinkie Pie noticed this and, almost as if on cue, chimed up again. "That's Rainbow Dash!" She chirped, "she's the bestest flyer in all of Ponyville! But from what Twilight says about how fast you were going, you should give her a run for her money. Not that she'd race for money, she usually races to impress the Wonderbolts. They're the bestest flyers in all of Equestria! Rainbow Dash wants to join them so badly!" Wait a second... Polaris thoughts seemed slow against Pinkie Pie's torrent of words, did she say bestest? Pinkie had continued regardless. "Maybe someday you could join them too!" Polaris glanced out the window and noticed that Rainbow Dash was no longer in the sky. "It's a good thing cider season doesn't start for almost two months." Cider season? Pinkie continued, "AppleJack makes the best cider ever! You just have to try some! It tastes like heaven would taste, but in a cup! I just hope those meanies Flim and Flam don't come back." Pinkie made a huffing sound. "They tried to put the Apple Family out of business! They founded this town!" Pinkie was getting notably aggravated. "If they come back, ohhh, I don't know what I would do!"

"Relax Pinkie, they ain't comin' back." An unfamiliar voice chimed in. "Remember their promise?"

"Hey there, AJ" Twilight finally spoke up, still smirking. "This is Polaris, the one I was telling you about." Twilight motioned towards Polaris, who smiled and waved with his good arm.

Called it. Polaris had thought AppleJack was an awfully... Country name. "Hi. Sorry about nearly killing your friend."
Polaris apologized, trying to sound as sincere as possible. The fact that he always mumbled made people think he was never sincere.

"Don't worry 'bout it." AppleJack beamed. "Twilight can take care of herself. Ah was quite worried about yerself, hearin' you hadn't made it out and all." Polaris liked the voice on this one. She didn't speak a mile-a-minute like Pinkie Pie. And her accent made him want to laugh.

"Thanks." Polaris croaked, his voice still hoarse and unused. "I think it would be a good idea to watch where I'm going next time." The present party of ponies stated that they agreed with a round of snickering just as Polaris heard somepony humming. It definitely wasn't the nurse, as she hummed softer, in a way you couldn't hear until she was right there. Then Polaris saw a purple mane with a white unicorn under it saunter into the room. She took one look at Polaris and gasped.

"Oh!" She gawked. "That simply will not do! These sheets absolutely do not compliment your eyes!" This is probably Rarity, then. Polaris gave a confused look as Rarity stated everything wrong with his "Hospital ensemble".

"Hey there Rarity." Twilight commented. "This is Polaris, the one who needs a suit." Twilight smirked. Polaris shot a look saying "what is wrong with you?!" Twilight's way, but she merely laughed at Polaris' look of desperation.

"Oh, Right! as soon as you are released from this fashion nightmare, you come straight to my office!" Polaris noticed Rarity seemed to have an accent he had never heard before. Exotic. He thought. "I just have to know," Rarity continued, "how do you think you looked against the balloon's purple?" This made everyone in the room laugh, including Polaris.

"I wasn't really looking, sorry." Polaris said in between his laughter. "My main concern was not dying."

With that, Pinkie started up again, speaking stupidly fast. "Ohmigosh! You could have totally died! I'm gonna throw you a 'You Didn't Die' party!" Pinkie Pie was grinning ear-to-ear at this point.

"Pinkie, you alright?" Another new voice sounded. Polaris looked to the door and saw the cyan body of a Pegasus with a confused grin on her face and one eyebrow elevated above the other. Polaris then noticed the pony's mane was rainbow, matching her tail perfectly. "I think you're scaring him" Rainbow Dash motioned toward Polaris, who had a confused, yet kind of worried expression.

"Hello, Rainbow Dash." Twilight said. "This is Polaris, he's the one I told you about." Smiling coyly, Twilight returned to her position on the wall.

"Hey." Rainbow Dash greeted Twilight with a wave. "Sorry I'm late, I went to see Fluttershy. She said she can't come, she has some new animals to take care of." Rainbow Dash turned to Polaris. "I heard you were going really fast when you hit the balloon. I've never heard of a pony crashing into a balloon before."

Polaris smiled sheepishly, "I wasn't really looking where I was going."

Rainbow Dash snickered and replied "Yeah, maybe you should start doing that. I remember last time I wasn't watching where I was going. Broke my own wing. Guess I'm lucky, seeing how you broke... Everything." That earned a round of laughter from everypony present. For roughly an hour, the group stayed and talked, joking and conversing as if they were old friends. Polaris couldn't shake an odd feeling of incomplete-ness under the ecstatic feeling of making so many friends. His pain, for that hour, seemed to fade, almost completely disappearing. After that hour, nurse Redheart poked her head into the room and politely informed everyone that visiting hours had ended. With various good-byes, the group wandered out of the room, still laughing at some jokes that were mentioned.

The next three weeks in the hospital were occasionally punctuated by short visits from either small groups or single ponies. The visits were a lot of fun to Polaris. They managed to keep his mind off of his situation, keeping him from the ever-looming depression. When he was alone, however, he found it very easy for his thoughts to stray to home. Polaris would often stare into space and just think. He never thought about anything in particular, usually it was his opinion of the other ponies, and how this mysterious Fluttershy always seemed to be busy, probably an excuse he would think to himself, among other things like she definitely hates me would also go through his head.

Chapter 4 This Isn't Home

The day Polaris was allowed out of the hospital was by far his favourite day of his experience in Ponyville by the time. The doctor had told to not fly at all for at least a week. Upon stepping outside of the hospital, Polaris stretched his body, being rewarded with a loud crackling and relaxed feeling in all of his joints. He sighed happily, finally out of that stuffy hospital room. Twilight had been waiting for Polaris, mentioning something about a surprise. Polaris smiled and waved, hoping the surprise would involve more cupcakes. The cupcakes that Pinkie Pie brought tasted really delicious.

"Hey Polaris, all fixed up now?" Twilight inquired, "I think you'll like the surprise Pinkie Pie set up." Twilight smiled in a way that made Polaris think there was going to be cupcakes. Polaris wondered why he was so obsessed with cupcakes that day. He never thought about cupcakes this much. Oh well, he thought, better than those constant thoughts of home.

"Yeah," Polaris replied, "as long as the surprise isn't more broken bones." Polaris may have been joking, but if it could break him, he didn't want to try anything.

"Awesome!" Twilight said. "Don't worry, as long as you're better at walking than flying, you'll be fine." She joked. "Now follow me, I'll take you to Sugar Cube Corner." Twilight started down the road and Polaris followed, not too far behind.

Twilight had gotten her first full view of Polaris when he stepped out of the hospital, he had the same near grey fur as before, with that same deep brown eye. His black tail reached to the bottom of his hind legs, with some slight streaks of almost pure white, just like fresh snow, it was almost perfectly straight, looking curled because of damage from cold air. His cutie mark was what looked like a star rising above a mountain. Twilight figured it must have been the North Star, which is usually used to guide explorers north. Not many words were shared as they walked down to Sugar Cube Corner. Polaris had noticed Twilight became more suspicious the closer they they got, and he didn't like the look of it.

As they opened the door to the small shop, a massive group of ponies jumped up and shouted, "surprise!" This startled Polaris so much he jumped back, nearly falling over on Twilight.

Pinkie jumped forward as Polaris was still recovering from his heart-stopping scare. "We sure surprised you!" She began talking in rapid fire again. "I told you I'd throw you a party! I always do for every new pony in Ponyville! Everybody you've met is here and more! Except Fluttershy couldn't come. Angel is sick today."

"Wow," Polaris spoke up before Pinkie started talking again. "Thanks a lot, Pinkie. That's too bad about Fluttershy." He never said anything, but this only bolstered Polaris' thoughts she hated him. She did have all right to hate him, he thought, he did nearly kill her best friend. That's kind of an issue. Polaris proceeded to enter the small shop and try to avoid large groups. In about half an hour, he had met several new ponies, but mostly chatted with the friends he had already made. He learned there, from those friends, that they had built him a home, since he can't really go back to his old home.

At one point, Pinkie came out from the back of the shop carrying a basket filled to the brim with various muffins. "Can somepony take this to Fluttershy?" Pinkie Pie asked, "it might help Angel feel better." That was probably the worst logic ever, but Polaris still saw his opportunity to leave early.

"I can." Polaris said, "it sounds like a good way to meet Fluttershy."

Pinkie Pie's eyes slowly widened until Polaris could swear she could see his soul, then she gasped, "that's a brilliant idea! I wish I thought of it!" Pinkie Pie handed the basket of muffins to Polaris and instructed him on where to go. "She lives right by the edge of the woods, you can't miss it."

"Alright, thanks" Polaris said as he left, glad to be out of that loud shop. He hated actually liking leaving, it made him feel ungrateful, a feeling he couldn't stand, as it made him feel dirty inside. It was just the noise, that's it. No matter how much he thought that to himself, he couldn't shake the feeling of being a bad person. He was always raised to appreciate what he was given, to remember it could all be gone the next second. Polaris found it sort of funny now. How he had lost everything because of his stupid mistake.

"Hello?" Polaris called out as he arrived at the cottage by the woods. "Anypony home?" Polaris sighed, he figured Fluttershy might not be home. She must avoiding him, he felt. As he walked up the path, he noticed an absurd amount of bird feeders and animal burrows, yet no animals. Odd, Polaris thought, wouldn't there be animals to go with the homes? Upon reaching it, Polaris knocked several times on the door. Out of his peripheral vision, Polaris noticed something white moving towards him. Frightened, he turned and saw it was a small white rabbit, hopping forwards. Setting down the basket, Polaris cooed, "hey there little guy, I don't suppose you know where Fluttershy is."

As Polaris raised a hoof to pat the bunny on the head, he was cut off by a loud scream saying, "don't you dare hurt him!" Before Polaris could react, the heavy wooden door to the shack opened and struck him in the face with a loud thock sound. The world spun in wide, slow circles as Polaris fell back and muffins were sent flying back by the door. As darkness shrouded his vision, moving in from all sides, he saw a yellow figure standing over him, an expression of pure hatred quickly fading. Just before blacking out, Polaris could swear he heard somepony say, "oh my..."

Polaris was back at his village. He could see a group of ponies gathered around a home. Who's home is that? He thought, before realizing that it was Lightning Chaser's home. Ponies were talking about something. Polaris tried hard to focus on what they were saying, but he could only hear snippets. He refuses to come out, somepony said. I haven't heard anything, another said. Suddenly, Polaris was inside Lightning Chaser's room. He looked around, same usual clutter he had, but Lightning Chaser was on his bed, looking utterly forlorn. "Polaris," he said, "where are you? You promised you'd be back. Please, I miss you." Polaris panicked, he tried to say something, but the moment he tried, everything disappeared. Polaris was being pulled back into reality now, away from his village, and his best friend, back to Ponyville.

"No!" Polaris screamed as he awoke. He heard a gasp and hooves running off. He groaned, rubbing his sore head, realizing that he had a hugely swollen eye. As he tried to stand up, he found he had a horrific migraine, making the room he was in swam for a second, making Polaris wobble on his hooves. He stumbled left, nearly crashing into a small table. He regained his stability after about a minute, slowly becoming less dizzy.

A small voice coming from what sounded like everywhere caught Polaris off guard. "Wh-who are you?" The voice asked. "You aren't going to hurt anything, right?"

"What?" Polaris replied, not sure who he was talking to. "No, I came to bring muffins for Fluttershy." He groaned, "who are you?" A thought crossed Polaris' mind, is this, maybe, Fluttershy? "Are you..." He paused, thinking for a second maybe this wasn't, "Fluttershy? I-I'm Polaris." He stammered, still a little dizzy.

Fluttershy gasped, "you almost killed Twilight! I saw you hit her balloon, you were headed straight for her and didn't stop!" Fluttershy was growing angrier remembering the day she watched an unfamiliar Pegasus fly directly into Twilight's large purple hot air balloon with no deviation from its course. She managed to hold a grudge, believing that this "Polaris" who smashed into her was actually trying to kill her.

Polaris realized that that is probably what it looked like from any other pony's perspective. "I'm sorry," Polaris said, trying to explain himself. "I never saw the balloon until it was too late. It was just a big accident." He sighed, Polaris didn't believe himself, he just didn't sound sincere to himself. It was apparently enough for Fluttershy, however, who slowly walked out from behind a corner, eying the half-conscious Polaris suspiciously.

"Woah," He whispered.

"What?" Fluttershy asked, sounding a little spiteful.

"Wha- no, nothing," Polaris stammered, "it's just, I... Never mind. It's nothing." As he said this, Fluttershy continued to look as if she was sizing Polaris up, ready to finish him off. "I think we got off to a bad start." Polaris said, noticing Fluttershy staring at him. He held up a hoof, "hi. I'm Polaris. Sorry about crashing into your friend."

Fluttershy ignored his raised hoof saying, "hello, Polaris. I'm Fluttershy. Sorry about bashing you with my door."

Polaris lowered his hoof and laughed, "don't worry about it. I've seen worse, I think." He said as he rubbed his head. Fluttershy laughed a little at this, and Polaris smiled. Suddenly, he gasped, "oh, how long have I been out? I might have to get back to the party, or Pinkie might think I'm lost."

"Is it too late for me to join in?" Fluttershy asked. "I-if you don't mind?"

"No," Polaris answered maybe a little too swiftly. "Not at all. The more the merrier, right?" With that, Polaris and Fluttershy walked back to Sugar Cube Corner, chatting idly as they did. When they got back, Polaris was questioned about his black-eye, only responding with a joke about hitting a moving object. That joke pretty much earned only confused laughter, no one but Fluttershy getting the joke. The party continued as it had before, except Polaris was much more open to meet new ponies.

At the end of the party, AppleJack and Twilight led Polaris to his new home on the edge of developed Ponyville. It was a modest sized home, perfect for Polaris. It had a soft bed in the bed room, a table in the end of the kitchen, and a sofa in the living room. "Wow." Polaris said, "this is... This, I don't know what to say. Thank you. Thank you so much. How can I repay you?

"You can help us out around Sweet Apple Acres." AppleJack suggested.

"Spike can always use some help tidying the library." Twilight suggested as well.

"That sounds much more than fair." Polaris replied, smiling lightly. He wouldn't mind helping out. In fact, to him, that was too easy, he felt there must be a catch. Whatever, he thought, he more than owed it to them.

After AppleJack and Twilight left, Polaris realized how late it was. He walked over the bed, and fell on the mattress with an audible thump sound. Polaris smiled, he hadn't been in such a soft bed since he left home. He wiggled around, finding a perfectly comfortable spot to sleep on. After that, he was left with his thoughts, which grew darker by the second, he only had little time to realize this before he fell asleep.

Back in Lightning Chaser's home. Polaris saw Lightning Chaser on his bed again, still depressed. Though he was talking to his brother, who was trying to convince him to go outside. "Please," he pleaded, "just leave me alone. I need some time to myself."

"No." His brother was sounding irritated. "You've had a month to yourself. You should come outside, ponies are getting worried." Polaris noticed something then, everything seemed to be fuzzy around the edges. It almost looked like a small, jagged, dark flame was picking at them.

"Just go." Lightning chaser looked at Polaris this time. "I don't want you here." His gaze never broke, he was staring right at Polaris. "What are you waiting for? Go."

"Lightning," Polaris was shocked he could speak for once. "What's happening?" Lightning's brother had disappeared and now Lightning Chaser began to shift, losing all colour definition, and blurring around the edges. The most noticeable thing was that his blue eyes shifted to blood red.

"You've messed everything up!" Lightning Chaser was yelling, his voice warped. "That's what! You never should have left, I knew this would happen! You promised you'd be back. I trusted you!"

"Lightning," Polaris stammered, "there was an accident I coul-"

"Yeah," Lightning Chaser interrupted, "you suck that much. Of course you'd mess everything up by crashing. Well, you're better now! Why don't you come back? Huh? Or are you having too much fun without us?"

"I can't come back the gla-"

"The glacier's frozen, whaaa whaaa." Lightning Chaser said, mocking a young filly's voice. "I hope you like your new home, because you failed your real one."

Those words were the last Polaris heard before he woke up. He was covered in a cold sweat, his heart pounding within his chest absurdly hard, making his new black eye throb to the beat. He looked around, the room was dark, and empty. He got up, opened his front door and looked out. "This isn't home." He said, staring out into the bright, starry night sky.

Chapter 5 No Return

Polaris bent low, his chin grazing the short grass on the ground. He unfurled his wings, ignoring the slight, dull pain in his wing, almost a warning. Don't fly for a week! Something inside Polaris was warning him. He ignored it. I have to get home, he retorted to himself. Polaris jumped up in the air, pumping upwards with his wings. A jolt of dull pain smashed into his shoulder, punishing him for ignoring the doctor. Polaris flew hard despite the pain, heading the direction he came; straight towards the towering mountains. He kept accelerating, flying almost top speed when he passed a massive home made from clouds. Unfortunately, most Pegasi are unaware of how loud they fly, and Polaris flew very loudly with his injured wing.

Rainbow Dash woke with a start. She could swear she heard somepony out there flying. She figured it must be somepony trying to get an edge on her by practicing at night. She quickly bolted to her door, she was going to show this pony who was the best flyer. She took off, following the faint trail of the other Pegasus. This one is fast, she thought, almost as good as me, but I'm still faster. As Rainbow Dash got closer, she found that the pony she was trailing was only going in a straight line.

Polaris heard the faint beating of wings getting closer behind him. He looked back and saw Rainbow Dash rapidly approaching from behind. What does she want? Polaris wondered, looking back ahead, narrowly dodging a cloud in the sky. Below him, he noticed the large town again, he knew he was making fantastic time by that point. "Leave me alone!" He shouted behind him, not sure if Rainbow Dash heard him.

"Where are you going?" She replied, "Why are you flying this late?"

"I said go," Polaris replied, "I'm going home. I know it's not too late." Some small part of Polaris kept telling him that there's no way he can do it; that he was just risking everything on a dream. Polaris tried to ignore that part of his mind, but it kept yelling at him, growing louder the closer he got to the mountains.

"No way," Rainbow Dash yelled, "You said yourself that the pass would be frozen." She was beside Polaris by this point.

"Well," Polaris shouted back, "Maybe I was wrong! It might still be safe. I have to try!" The terrain below Rainbow Dash and Polaris was getting very rough.

"But-" Rainbow Dash stopped herself mid sentence as she saw towering mountains loom out of the distance. The mountains were massive, jutting straight up from the ground, passing higher than any cloud could hope to go. They were covered with trees about half way up, stopping in an abrupt line. Pure white snow covered much of the mountains, occasionally punctuated by massive light blue glaciers. "Woah." Rainbow Dash whispered. She had never seen anything like this.

Polaris wasn't distracted, he scanned the mountains for a second before finding the glacier he passed over. It looked as if the glacier had returned to normal. The once small part of his mind was now every fibre of his being telling Polaris to stop what he was doing, but he didn't stop. Once he got close enough to the glacier, he reversed his body, pointing his hooves towards the glacier, and he stopped flapping his wings. Maybe I can smash the pass open, he thought. As he coasted towards the glacier, a sudden down draft caught Polaris off guard, making him lock his knees and sending him way off target.

"What are you-" Rainbow Dash couldn't finish her sentence before Polaris smashed into the massive blue wall of ice. He made a loud, sickening thud noise that was followed shortly by Polaris' cry of pain. He hardly even bounced off the glacier. Rainbow Dash began to move to swoop down and grab Polaris as he began falling. Luckily, he saved himself, weakly flying to the ground, landing hard. Rainbow Dash landed beside Polaris, who was slumped on the ground, groaning in pain. "Why did you do that?" Rainbow Dash yelled. "You could have died!"

"Why can't you leave me alone?" Polaris snapped, whipping his head up to glare at Rainbow Dash. She jumped back, the expression on her face changing to one of utter horror. Rainbow Dash was startled witless by Polaris. His right eye was the same dark brown as before, but his left eye, which was usually covered by his hair, was a vibrant green. Rainbow Dash had never seen this before. The expression on Polaris' face showed he was used to people being shocked, his glare showing a touch of pain in it. No longer looking quite as harsh as before.

Polaris sighed, "it's called heterochromia," he explained, "one of my eyes is a different colour than the others. It's why I cover it with my hair." Polaris straightened his hair over his eyes again, still sore from smashing into the glacier. He began to sit up. "It's okay if you think I'm a freak. I'm used to it by now." Polaris said. It was the truth. All his life Polaris had been made fun of, bullied, and called a freak because he had mismatching eyes. Now standing, Polaris got ready to fly and said over his shoulder to the still-dazed Rainbow Dash, "I guess I'll go home. feel free to avoid me." When Rainbow Dash said nothing, Polaris sighed, depressed that he had to lose a friend this way.

"Wait!" Rainbow Dash screamed as she jumped forward, tackling Polaris to the ground. She pushed his black hair away from his eye and laughed. "That is the coolest thing I have ever seen!"

"What?" Polaris stammered, "y- you don't think I'm a freak? A weirdo? Ponies usually think I'm the biggest freak ever or that I'll somehow get them sick with whatever-itis."

"Why would I do that?" Rainbow Dash asked, stepping off of Polaris, all the while marveling at his eyes. "I've never seen this before, how did you get it?"

"I was born with it." Polaris explained. "It's pretty rare." The sun was beginning to rise now. "Hey," Polaris said, "maybe we should be getting back home now."

Rainbow Dash looked toward the horizon. "Yeah," she said, "it's getting day now."

As they flew back home, Polaris felt the pain in his wing much more than before. Polaris was in deep thought. Why didn't she think I was freak? He thought, staring ahead at nothing in particular. Does she really not hate me?

"So," Rainbow Dash said, "why did you try to get home?"

"I don't know." Polaris replied. "I guess I just had to get home to see everypony. Before I left, I had this nightmare where my best friend was alone, depressed, and I just had to get back to see him. Some part of me finally understood my grand father's story." Polaris glanced at Rainbow Dash and, noticing the look of confusion on her face, explained, "one day, when I was sick, my grand father told me a story about the most horrific day of his life, and I never understood why he told me. until today." Polaris was staring straight ahead, his eyes glazing over. Rainbow Dash had no idea what to say, so she just flew forward, thinking as well.

After about an hour, the pair arrived back at Ponyville. The amber sun was already risen by that point, and Rainbow Dash had to go control the day's weather. Polaris was still thinking hard when he returned to his home. Upon landing, his thoughts were cut short by a sudden, and intense burning pain spreading from the right side of his shoulder throughout his back. The pain was unlike anything Polaris had ever felt before. He ran into his home, grunting in pain, trying his best to hold it together. As soon as the door was closed, Polaris' knees gave in and he began screaming in pain. The pain now covered his back, making Polaris feel as if his back had been set on fire, after having a horrendous case of frost bite. As he tried to stand up, the world began to spin, and everything grew dark.

Polaris woke sometime later, the pain in his back had faded to a dull soreness. Late-morning sun shone through a window and landed on Polaris' weary face. He squinted in the light and figured he should see if Twilight needs some work done. As he left, he quickly glanced at his back and noticed a massive, deep purple bruise making a circle around the base of his right wing. He figured he wouldn't be flying for at least two weeks now because of his stupid move. Walking through town, toward the library-in-a-tree, Polaris looked thought to himself, why did I risk my life on a dream? Was it really a dream? Or have I just gone mad? These questions haunted Polaris more than anything. Even more than the fact that it was likely he may never return home.

When he arrived at the library, he knocked on the heavy oak door, hoping that this one wouldn't hit him either. There was no answer from inside, save for a loud crash, and a scream. Startled, Polaris called out, "Hello? is everything okay?" When he heard no answer, he slowly pushed the door open, not entirely sure what to expect. When the door was fully opened, Polaris couldn't help but laugh at what he saw.