What You Wish For 3: The Book of Earth Pony

It had been a couple of weeks since Alex and his crew had set sail for the fabled Book of Earth Pony, only to be sent in another direction to eventually run into the god of the oceans. There they were told of the plot to destroy Equestria in a ball of fire, all to make sure Alex would be dead. By now it had been a few days since Alex had made the decision to sacrifice himself in order to save the world, after all, it was only him they wanted. The boat had set sail for Ponyville as soon as they could, they would leave Alex behind to let him die for their freedom as they continued their search for the book. It seemed almost impossible for anyone to talk to Alex, he seemed to have distanced himself from them, making sure they wouldn't be as attached when he gives himself up. Not a single member of the group wanted to let him go, and tensions were rising.

Alex stood at the bow of the ship, his eyes locked on the sunset in the horizon. He hadn't spoken more than a word to any of them, not even Fluttershy. His face showed a look of distraught mixed with a look of pain, they all knew what he was thinking and what was going on inside his mind. They could almost hear the screaming that was taking place in his head, his conscience fighting itself in hopes to change his idea.

As he stood there, Twilight approached him before clearing her throat and mumbling, "So... this is how it all ends?"

"How else is it supposed to end?" He replied, his eyes still fixed on the horizon, "They want me, they should be able to have me and leave everyone else alone."

Twilight remained cautious of the words she chose, she knew that he was emotionally unstable inside and the smallest mistake could yield unfavourable results. After thinking of her words, she cautiously responded, "What about us? We don't want you to leave."

Alex sighed, he knew immediately where this was going. As he leaned back he spoke to her without looking at her, "I'm not changing my mind. I want the best for everyone else even if it means I have to go."

"Stubborn." Twilight blurted, she immediately realized what had escaped her mouth and closed her eyes, but it was too late.

Alex turned around, his eyes were focused on her as he said with a hint of frustration, "If I stay, everyone dies."

"If you leave, we will have our greatest hero die."

"Lauren is the chosen one, not me." Alex growled, his eyes flickered with an orange spark as his brows furrowed.

"Lauren is to stop ShadowThunder, you can protect us from the Human Army."

"Lauren is a goddess!" Alex shouted, his anger was the first to be released. The echo caught the attention of every member on the ship before Alex continued, "I am just a simple nobody! This choice is the hardest choice in my life, don't you think I have enough stress knowing that I'm going to die?"

"FLUTTERSHY LOVES YOU!" Twilight shouted, "Maybe if you weren't so blind to other people's problems you could see that there's a way that isn't your choice."

As Alex approached Twilight, his skin grew dark, the orange energy began to glow all over him as his anger grew. Suddenly, a small voice sounded from the other end of the ship, "You gave me reason!"

Alex turned his head to see Fluttershy standing before him, her cheeks stained with tears as she whimpered, "Before you came into my life, I had nopony that loved me, not like the way you did. I have friends, but when the sun goes down I would be alone in my bed, no one to explain my problems to and to be told that I mean something to them. You showed up and changed that, I would come home knowing that you would always be there in bed when I woke up, you gave me a greater reason to wake up."

Alex looked into her eyes, his fists were shaking with emotions as a tear rolled down his cheek. His took a shaking breath as he said, "I... I... I can't..."

The stress had gotten to him, he grabbed his head with his hands and shouted at the top of his lungs, his body engulfed in orange light. With a loud bang, he was gone. All that was left was a slightly burnt area where he once stood. All the ponies turned to Fluttershy as she squeaked, "He's never done that before."

*******

Alex opened his eyes, or at least he thought. He couldn't see a thing in the dark void that he had suddenly appeared in, it was almost as though his eyes were still closed. As time passed on, what appeared to be miniature constellations began to twinkle all around him, it was like he was weightless in space. When Alex made sure he was alone, he curled up into the fetal position and began to sob in silence. As he sobbed amongst his infinite echoes, he heard a faint voice, "Alex... Alex sweetie what's wrong?"

He looked around once more, there was no one else yet he could feel their presence. The voice and presence felt so familiar to him that he immediately recognized it despite not hearing it in years, "Mom?"

"Why are you crying?"

"You wouldn't understand." Alex was slightly confused as to what was going on by now, but his sudden feeling of comfort dominated his confusion and he carried on.

"Tell me anyway, sweetie."

Alex took a deep breath before saying, "I've failed again, at first I ruined your life along with everyone else's and now I'm going to ruin more lives."

As Alex was preparing to sob once more, he felt a warm entity brush against his cheeks and wipe his tears from his face. Alex's mom then said in her warm angel voice, "How did you fail?"

"When I let go that day so many years ago, I left all of you behind. You eventually passed away because of me and Justin went psycho also because of me. If I hadn't let go, none of this would have happened. Everyone else would be happy and I could live without having to hurt anyone."

"You never ruined my life, I remember looking into your eyes on the first day we met and I knew you were destined to do great things. Sure I was broken when I heard you were gone forever but I had a feeling that you we still alive somehow. Soon after you left our world, science made the discovery of teleportation that saved countless lives in the medical world."

Alex looked up from and sniffed, "What about Justin? He lost his mind and killed people just to get me back, if I hadn't left, he would have been able to live his dream."

Kelly continued, "Justin's fall from sanity had nothing to do with you. I remember shortly after your passing that he picked up drugs and crime to help get him the money to continue his science. He chose to make the wrong decisions, not you."

Alex paused, he then said after what felt like a minute of silence, "This time is different though, I have no choice and I am going to ruin so many lives just to save them all."

"There's always a choice, you chose to let go and save everyone else the first time and now you are choosing to sacrifice yourself to save everyone else. This time though you have a different choice, you can fight back. There are so many people that value you... and a very special pony that loves you very much." Before Alex could ask her how she knew this she continued, "When we first laid our eyes on you as a baby we knew that you would mean so much to so many, you would go on to do great things in life. This may seem like it's your last great thing but there is so much more for you, you don't have to die to become a hero, you become a legend when you die. You will be a hero if you live on, you're always my hero, now go on to be Fluttershy's too."

Alex began to feel different, it was as though all the stress had been lifted from him. His mind went from a haze to absolute clarity, he no longer saw sacrifice as the only solution. Before he could say anything he was engulfed in a bright light once more.

*****

Back on the boat, the crew stood there, stunned by Alex's disappearance. As quick as he disappeared he had returned in another great ball of light. Everyone had to shield their eyes from the incredible light until it died off to reveal a completely different Alex. Alex stood there, his head held high and his chest stuck out with confidence. Twilight and Fluttershy saw that spark they all recognized as their moment of heroism.

Alex smiled gracefully as he said in a calm and ready voice, "Gather 'round." The group immediately followed this new man's orders and huddled into a circle. As they surrounded Alex he said, "New plan, we are going to fight back and we are going to show them that there is no such thing as giving up here on Equestria."

The entire crew cheered in union, "Yeah!"

Alex pointed towards Mike and Rainbow Dash as he said with his grin, "Mike and Dash, you two are going to patrol the skies and scout out the area. We might run into some heavy resistance when we come back."

Mike nodded his head as the two shouted, "Got it!"

Alex then turned towards Twilight as he said, "Twilight and I are going to have to protect the rest of the group until we reach Ponyville where I will then break off and make my way to the command centre. We can't let anything happen to Lauren, got it?"

Twilight gave a salute as she said with a look of determination, "I will do my 110%!"

Alex then said with a look of confidence, "Once we reach Ponyville I will make my way to the command centre and cut off all communications with the rest of the army. Once communication is down we will have crippled their ability to give orders and carry out their plan to nuke this place. That'll give us time to regroup as much of the royal guard as well as any helping hands to fight back the military. If at all possible, evacuate survivors to anywhere remote and away from the Humans."

Alex looked around at the group as he said, "It's not time yet for Equestria to have a legend, they need a hero."

*********

Later that night, Fluttershy tossed and turned in her bed, she couldn't fall asleep to the thoughts of what happened to Alex to cause him to change so much. As her hammock swayed to the rhythm of the ocean, the sounds of seagulls and waves brushing against the boat, she stared at the ceiling. She laid there for what felt like an eternity, always checking Alex's bed to see any movement. Nothing happened. Fluttershy then realized the door to the bow of the ship was still open, Alex must have escaped to look at the ocean like in some drama movies.

Fluttershy quickly summed up the courage to hop out of bed, she quietly made her way to the door to see Alex leaning against the rails once more. Fluttershy gently opened the door and silently approached Alex as she whispered, "Alex?"

He looked down at her, his eyes twinkled with peacefulness as he smiled, "Hey Shy, what's up?"

"What happened back there?"

"What do you mean?"

"Where did you go for that moment? Whatever happened in that time that you were gone it sure did change you."

Alex sighed, he wanted to simplify this as much as possible. After a few seconds of thinking he said to her, "I was somehow talking to my mom, she was there and comforting me."

Shy giggled before squeaking, "She must have been a good mother to be able to change you like that."

Alex sighed and gently laughed, "Yeah," he began, "she was a great mom now that I think about it."

There was a long pause between the two, they both looked at the large full moon that seemed to be rested above the water. After a little while of peaceful silence, Fluttershy quietly blurted, "I've always wondered what it would be like to be a mom." Fluttershy quickly realized what she said would surely bother Alex on some level despite how peaceful he seemed. His response, though, was not what she expected.

"You'll find out." He said with a wink towards her.

Fluttershy was stunned, she had no idea how to feel when he responded in the exact opposite that she was fearing. That fear quickly changed to cheers of joy as she jumped Alex, her hooves wrapping around him tightly as she giggled in joy.