Soren the Alicorn Part 1: New Beginnings

Chapters

Start Of A New Life
A Talent And A Princess
Luna
The Dream
An Enemy Rises
Recovery
A Stolen Voice
The 'Experiment'
Nightmare Night
A Rising Musician
The First Night
The Second Night
Old Friends, New Plan
Return to Appaloosa
The Raid
A Musician's Past
The Concert
Return of the Dreams
Night Wing's Origin
A Hunch
To Canterlot!
The Canterlot Archives
The Moment Of Truth
Discorded?
Hello, Old Friend
Arrival In Appaloosa

Start Of A New Life

Before you all dive into this interesting story, I would like to say that this story has some references and ideas created by other people. From real life songs to little ideas based off of other people's work. I gladly give all the creators credit for their work. I would also like to point out that the story MAY contain parts in the beginning that you may not understand, so just push past it and maybe it will be explained later in the story. Maybe ;). Enjoy the story.

Ever since the bearers of the Elements of Harmony defeated the evil King Sombra and saved the Crystal Empire, life was very plain and normal for Equestria (or as normal as things could be). The small, colorful town of Ponyville was one of the only places in Equestria where things are never quite normal. More events have happened there than any other area in the country. And on this day, in the beginning of autumn, another event is going to happen. An event that will change Ponyville, and possibly all of Equestria, forever.

During a clear morning in Ponyville, an unconscious, pegasus foal was splayed out in the middle of a field. His wings were spread out and his hooves covered his head. He was eventually woken up by two ponies passing by; one yellow, the other light blue. The white pony looked up at the pony nudging him. Once his vision cleared, he could see two pegasus mares. The mare nudging him was yellow with a long, pink mane. She had cyan eyes and a cutie mark that resembled three pink butterflies. The other pegasus was light blue with a rainbow mane. Her eyes were a cerise color, and she had a cutie mark of a white cloud with rainbow lightning. The first thing the foal noticed was that the yellow one looked very worried but the other had a neutral expression. Being nervous and cautious, the little white pony continued to hide his head behind his wings.

"Are you ok, little one?" asked the yellow pegasus. "Why are you sleeping all the way out here?" After seeing that these two mares meant no harm, the white foal flapped his wings, which were about the same size of the two mares' wings, and stood up. After the foal stood normally, the two pegasi gasped loudly. The yellow pegasus nearly fainted at the sight. Seeing that her friend couldn't continue speaking, the cyan pegasus began talking.

"You...You're...an ALICORN?!" she asked. The white pony knew what an alicorn was; heck, he knew what a lot of common things were, yet he knew he couldn't remember something. "Who are you?" asked the cyan mare. The white alicorn with a black mane simply stood there, thinking. Finally he spoke.

"I dont know." The cyan mare tilted her head at him. Is this kid serious? she thought to herself. Does he expect us to believe that? The mare's thoughts were cut short because of her friend.

"Oh you poor thing." The yellow mare flew towards the foal, scooped him up, and held him. Such big wings for his size, the yellow mare thought.

Why is she holding me like this? I'm not a foul. Wait... She called me 'little one.' The white alicorn jumped out of the mare's hold to inspect his white coat, his black mane, his wings, and his horn. Both mares looked at him with confusion. The foal screamed.

"I'm a foal?!! How is this possible? I'm a grown pony! What's going on?" He looked at the mares for answers. The yellow one was still shocked and confused, but the cyan was starting to get mad.

"You can stop the charade, kid," she said. "You can't expect us to believe you have amnesia and you're a fully grown stallion." The mare was now standing right in front of the foul. Although he had the mind of a grown stallion, he was still struck with fear. He truly had amnesia, so why wouldnt she listen? As the pegasus continued to question him, the foal started to panic. His horn was slowly glowing, then all of a sudden...a bright flash was seen. The other mare and the foal felt a sudden cool breeze. The alicorn opened his eyes and saw that the cyan mare was now frozen in ice. The other mare looked at him in slight terror.

"It's ok, calm down," she said. "My name is Fluttershy and that's Rainbow Dash." Fluttershy pointed to the block of ice. "We were just worried about you. Do you really have amnesia?" Her voice was so soft that he barely heard her. To calm himself, the foal simply nodded. "Then I know just the pony that could help. Follow me please." The alicorn followed but looked back at the ice. Maybe this mare knows that the ice will melt eventually? he asked himself, slowly doubting that she did.

Fluttershy showed the new alicorn around town, introducing him to two of her friends as they passed by. He remembered their names quickly: there was Rarity, a white unicorn with a fashionable purple mane, and Applejack, an orange earth pony with a blonde mane. Fluttershy was now taking him to meet another friend. Fluttershy told Applejack and Rarity (who were both as shocked as she was when they saw him) to meet them at a library later so everything could be explained.

When many residents around town gave the alicorn strange looks, Fluttershy told him to relax. "It's not everyday you see a brand new alicorn in Ponyville," she explained.

Finally they arrived at a library and walked inside. The library was inside a tree and had more than enough books to look at. The white alicorn noticed a purple unicorn mare putting books on a shelf with her magic. She had a purple (or dark blue) mane with a violet and pink streak in it, and she had a cutie mark of a six pointed star surrounded by five more stars. Geez, I didnt realize this town was mostly female, the 'grown' foul thought to himself. Not that I'm complaining.

The unicorn noticed the alicorn before Fluttershy could introduce him. The unicorn's expression went from shocked to nervous to extreme excitement. She literally hopped over to him and Fluttershy and bombarded them with questions.

"Oh my gosh, Fluttershy! Who is he? What's his name? Why is he in Ponyville? Did one of the princesses have a foul?" She caught herself. "No, no, Celestia would've told me about something like that. Fluttershy, who is this?"

The yellow mare was scared by the sudden outburst of words so the alicorn answered instead.

"Sorry to say that not even I know who I am. What's your name?" The unicorn was shocked at his voice. Deeper voice than I was expecting, she thought.

"So you have amnesia? That's new. And your voice...it's deep. Almost mature..."

"But I am mature, or at least grown up," the alicorn interrupted her train of thought. "I would introduce myself but, like i said, I have no clue who I am."

"Well my name is Twilight Sparkle. Maybe Fluttershy can explain what's going on." Twilight looked at the nervous pegasus. "Fluttershy?"

"We should wait for the girls." Before Twilight had time to say another word, the library door opened and in came that rest of their friends, including Rainbow Dash. The alicorn noticed a new mare bouncing in instead of walking. She was pink with a darker pink, poofy mane and a cutie mark of three balloons. I should take a note of her randomness, the alicorn thought.

All seven of them were now gathered in the center of the library. "Ok," Fluttershy said meekly, "we can start."

Fluttershy, along with the alicorn, explained everything that happened earlier. There wasn't too much to say, for barely anything happened, but Twilight hung onto every word.

"That's interesting," Twilight said. "And Rainbow, why didn't you believe he had amnesia?" Everypony looked at Rainbow Dash, who just stared at them for awhile.

"How was i supposed to know that he was telling the truth? And how do we know he is an actual alicorn? The only alicorns in Equestria are the princesses. Maybe somepony put a spell on him or something. He's at least a unicorn; I know that personally." The alicorn chuckled secretly.

"Well I'm going to write to Princess Celestia and ask for her help. Don't worry, uh...you, we'll help you anyway we can. Won't we girls?" Everypony but Dash nodded. Twilight sighed and called for someone named Spike to come over to her. Within seconds, a little purple dragon walked in, holding a piece of paper and a quill. Meanwhile, the alicorn was talking with the other mares.

"Girls," Rarity started, "I believe we should give him a name. He can't remember his own so we should at least call him something proper for the time being." The other mares muttered in approval, except Rainbow Dash, who has yet to take her eyes off of the alicorn. While the mares were trying to come up with a good name, Dash walked up to the alicorn and stared at him...and he stared back. The mares saw this but chose not to intervene.

"We'll call him Soren," Rainbow said suddenly. The sentence hung in the air; even Twilight turned from her letter and looked at the two ponies staring each other down. Rainbow Dash smiled confidently and turned towards her friends. "In the history of Cloudsdale, there was a pegasus called Soren the Swift. He was the fastest and most skilled flyer in all of Equestria. He had spunk, confidence, and attitude. Looking at this kid right here and knowing what magic he can do...I can tell he's got potential. Plus, he hasn't flinched from me starting intensely at him. So that's what we'll call him: Soren."

Amazed by the fact that Rainbow Dash of all ponies named the alicorn, all of the mares, including the alicorn, just stared at her. Finally Twilight spoke.

"I think that's a good name, Rainbow Dash. What do you think?" She looked at the alicorn. He thought for a moment.

"Good enough for me. I like the way that sounds...Soren..." Everypony cheered, Twilight sent her letter, and the six mares decided to try to get to know their newly found friend.

A few minutes of chatting went by before a letter magically appeared in the library. Twilight used magic to levitate it in front of everypony then she read aloud.

"My faithful student,

I am pleased to hear that there is a new alicorn within our society. But this does not mean I am not concerned at the same time. If what you say is true, then we must revert him to his normal state. We will treat his amnesia later. For now, since he is a colt, find his talent. Maybe this will shed some truth on the matter. Report to me when this task is complete.

Signed,
Princess Celestia"

Soren and Twilight seemed the most interested in the letter, as they should be.

"So I need to find my cutie mark? Makes sense since I don't even remember my talent." Some of the mares were shocked simply by the fact that he knew what a cutie mark was. Soren saw their expressions. "What? Just because I have amnesia, doesn't mean I don't know the basics of life. I just can't remember anything about me." The girls understood. so they all started brainstorming ideas for Soren to find his cutie mark. Suddenly another letter appeared from Spike's fire belch. Twilight read this one aloud also.

"P.S. I'm also sending my sister to supervise this goal since alicorn magic, especially as a foal, can be quite unpredictable. She will arrive tomorrow morning.

Best of luck,
Princess Celestia"

"So Princess Luna is comin' tomorrow to help us?" Applejack asked. Twilight nodded.

"Who's Luna?" Soren asked. Everyone looked at him; he truly didnt know about the Princess of the Night? The mares exchanged glances. Soren could guess that this Luna character was going to be interesting...

Author's Note

Sorry if there's a lack of descriptive detail. Tis my first story...ever. If you didn't mind it that much then continue to enjoy the story.

A Talent And A Princess

Twilight Sparkle was staring at the scene before her. It was the morning following Soren's arrival in Ponyville. Twilight welcomed Soren to sleep in the library for the night. Now it was tomorrow, and Twilight Sparkle, Soren, and the princess were the only ponies in the library.

Twilight watched the princess move around Soren, staring at him in almost every direction. All the while Soren was staring at Luna strangely. He started looking at the princess like that ever since she arrived at the library. Was he scared of her? Twilight pondered. Was he nervous? No. Curious? Or...

As Twilight Sparkle became lost in her own thoughts, Soren kept staring at the most beautiful mare he has ever laid eyes on. He made sure his expression was decently hidden as the princess examined him. Finally, Princess Luna addressed Twilight, while still looking at Soren.

"Tis strange that this pony, an alicorn no less, is trapped in a younger body. He is about your age, Twilight Sparkle; you and your friends. Tell me, young one, does thou remember how this happened?" Soren was so mesmerized by her accent that he almost didnt hear the question; he just kept staring...until Twilight nudged him.

"Wait...what?" Soren stammered. "No, I can't remember much of anything at the moment." Luna stared at him for a moment before looking at the door.

"Twilight Sparkle. We will need to ponder on this situation and think of a course of action. Do what you will until we return." With that said, Princess Luna left the library, leaving Soren and Twilight alone in the main room.

"Well, Soren," Twilight started. "I think we might need our friends' help on this one. Who would you like to ask for help first?" Soren thought that was an interesting question. He gave an answer and they made their way towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Many Hours Later

Where are we going so wrong? Twilight thought to herself. First, he did some work at the apple orchard. Then, we met with Rarity, but Soren didn't find anything interesting. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were nowhere to be found until now. And now, Fluttershy is helping him with caring for animals, yet nothing is triggering a memory of his talent! As Twilight was lost in inner frustration, Fluttershy was instructing Soren on how to make scared animals come out of hiding.

"If the poor things are too scared to come out, then all you need to do is sing to them." Fluttershy then proceeded to demonstrate her singing voice by vocalizing a few notes. A good amount of animals came out of hiding after hearing that. Much to Fluttershy's dismay, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie then decided to scare them again so Soren could try. "Now you," Fluttershy said. Soren wasn't very confident in this, but he was about to give it his all anyway.

Soren stood still, focusing on the notes Fluttershy sang. He started softly but then built up pitch and volume. Twilight noticed that his horn started to softly glow. As Soren sang a few notes, animals slowly came out of hiding. The six mares stopped to stare at Soren and his singing voice. Soren stopped singing and looked around at the shocked expressions on his friends' faces.

"Was I really that good?" Soren asked. Pinkie gave a huge smile and pointed to his flank. Soren, including his friends, looked at his flank to discover a cutie mark that resembled a 6-sided gem. The gem had pale-ish rainbow colors all over it. It was a wonderful sight. But why a gem if i can sing' Soren thought.

"Wow!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It's so shiny! Hey, Soren, do you wanna try singing at the welcome party I'm throwing for you? Maybe you can sing alone and impress everypony, maybe even the princess." The second Pinkie Pie said 'princess,' Soren almost shouted 'Yes!' but he kept his cool. Pinkie said the party wasn't until later tonight, so that gave Soren enough time to think of what he could sing.

Later That Night

At the party in Sugarcube Corner, Soren was listening to a impressive DJ pony, called...well DJ Pon3. Her actual name was Vinyl Scratch. She was a very pale yellow-white coated unicorn with many blues in her spiky mane. Sometimes the DJ would team up with a cellist/violinist whom his friends said was Octavia. She was a grey earth pony with a long black mane. She was apparently very upper class and originally from Canterlot.

After the two mares were done performing, Soren was supposed to go onstage and sing. Luckily for Soren, he managed to think of a song to sing. The song seemed familiar in a way but he shrugged off the feeling.

Once the DJ and the cellist were done performing, Pinkie Pie hopped onto the makeshift stage that was on the right side of the main room and introduced Soren. A round of applause vibrated throughout the little shop as the little pony stepped in front of the crowd. Murmurs were already being heard by Soren, but he assumed it was because he was an alicorn.

Shrugging off the crowd's conversations, Soren cleared his throat. He was nervous but calmed himself and sang.

I know you've suffered,
But I don't want you to hide,
It's cold and loveless,
I won't let you be denied

Soothing,
I'll make you feel pure,
Trust me,
You can be sure

I want to reconcile the violence in your heart
I want to recognize your beauty is not just a mask,
I want to exorcise the demons from your past,
I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart

The next part amazed everypony, including Soren. His horn started glowing and his magical aura surrounded nearby instruments. The objects floated near him and started to play themselves. Soren was actually playing instruments with magic...while singing!

As the song was being played and sung, Luna walked in mostly unnoticed. She saw that the little alicorn had actually grown in size a little, as if he was started to age. Soren noticed Luna as he continued singing and sensed something, but he didn't know what.

You trick your lovers,
That you're wicked and divine,
You may be a sinner,
But your innocence is mine

Please me,
Show me how it's done,
Tease me,
You are the one

I want to reconcile the violence in your heart,
I want to recognize your beauty is not just a mask,
I want to exorcise the demons from your past,
I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart

Soren had a new passion as he sang, looking at Luna from time to time. The princess' eyes widened slightly as she heard the lyrics.

Please me,
Show me how it's done,
Trust me,
You are the one

The song ended. Some of the crowd stared, open-mouthed. Then everyone applauded. A little alicorn just sang one of the best songs they ever heard in a long time. When Soren was asked about the name of the song after he got offstage, he shrugged and said called it "Undisclosed Desires."

Soren looked past the adoring crowd and saw Luna leaving out the front door. With his head starting to hurt from the large use of magic and the loud conversations around him, Soren also left, but he didnt look for Luna. He simply went into the hills at the edge of town and stared at the night sky.

Eventually, Soren heard someone walk up to him. He turned his head and saw that it was Princess Luna. She sat down near Soren, also staring at her beautiful night sky.

"Twas a great performance," Luna said. "We do not know the last time we heard such a great singer." Soren blushed, and since his coat was white, it was very noticable. "We admire any great musician or artist. It is refreshing to see yet another arise." Luna looked at Soren sincerely. "We still cannot help thee yet, Soren, but we are still trying." Luna stood up and stared at a nearby forest that was the Everfree Forest. "We shall take our leave to think of a solution. For now, Twilight and her friends seem to have this more under control than I. Till we meet again, Soren." After that, Luna flew off into the forest and Soren went back to the library, noticing on the way there that things were a little shorter than he last remembered.

Soren arrived at the library a few minutes later and was surpised to see Twilight and Spike inside. They must have came back after I left the party, he guessed. Soren greeted them and they returned the greeting.

"Soren! I'm glad your back. I just sent a letter to Princess Celestia explaining your amazing performance. I still can't believe you were able to use that much magic in your current form." She sounds like such a scholar, Soren chuckled to himself.

A letter of response soon found its way into the library near midnight. Twilight didn't read this one out loud, so she summarized it for Soren and Spike.

"Princess Celestia is coming tomorrow to see if she can help as well. She says she wants you, Luna, me, and all our friends here when she arrives." Realizing that Luna went into the Everfree Forest, Soren's expression changed to one of concern. Twilight noticed this change. "What is it Soren?"

"After I left the party, I met up with Princess Luna. We spoke to me while we looked at the night sky. Afterwards, she went into the Everfree Forest. I dont know if she came out yet." Twilight's expression became scared after Soren's explanation.

"What?! We have to go find her. I know she can probably handle herself, but the Everfree isn't safe for anypony! Spike, stay here in case Luna comes back. Send help into the forest if we aren't back within the hour." Spike saluted her, then Twilight and Soren ran out of the library.

After almost half an hour of searching the creepy forest, Soren and Twilight only became more nervous. When he was about to suggest heading back, Soren heard something. He immediately stopped and listened. There was a slight breeze, but if one listened beyond it, they could hear the faint sound of something else. All of a sudden, he broke into a run. Twilight chased after him.

What's that noise? Soren thought. He got close to the sound after a minute of running. Singing!

He found himself at a massive ravine between two parts of the forest; a small rickety bridge was connecting the two sides. He quickly but safely crossed the bridge and found a ancient, stone castle on the other side. It looked like it had seen better days.

As Soren stood in the entrance, the singing became louder and sounded familiar to him. That's a beautiful voice. I wonder who it is.

Twilight crossed the bridge just in time to see Soren run into the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. She followed him without hesitation. How is he so fast? Twilight wondered.

Soren ran into a big, open room in the center of the castle. The room was made entirely of stone and had no roof. One could see a tower in the distance just above the room's wall...and in the center of the room was a blue alicorn singing passionately.

"Luna?" Soren asked. Luna quickly turned around, but soon relaxed when she saw who it was. "Why are you singing in this place? You have a beutiful voice by the way." Soren almost blushed from nervousness. He was talking to his crush after all.

"Singing is a long lost passion of ours," Luna explained. "We continue this little hobby when we get the chance. Also, we thank thee for the compliment." Soren nodded, looked down, and started thinking. "What is on thou's mind?" Soren looked back up at the beautiful nighttime princess, her ethereal mane flowing in the air.

"Would you...like to sing together...maybe?" Luna was slightly surprised at the idea but smiled and accepted nonetheless. They stood side-by-side and started singing.

When Twilight ran into the room, she heard the beautiful duet Soren and Luna were singing. She saw the scene before her and could only smile. So it is true. Soren, how come I'm the only one who caught on to you? Twilight chuckled to herself.

When they were done singing, Soren and Luna looked at each other and smiled. Very soon, Twilight walked up to Luna.

"Luna, we need you back in Ponyville. Celestia is arriving tomorrow and we can't have you exploring the Everfree during her visit, can we?" Luna nodded and led them out of the ruined castle. Soren and Twilight followed behind just far enough away for her to whisper to Soren.

"Why didn't you tell me you had a crush on Luna?" Soren quickly turned towards Twilight, surprised and blushing. Twilight only giggled as they followed Luna back to Ponyville. Soren found entertainment in seeing that he was slowly becoming as tall as Twilight.

Author's Note

Undisclosed Desires is copyrighted by Muse.

Luna

Tomorrow finally came, and Princess Celestia arrived in Ponyville in her chariot piloted by two royal guards. The guards always wore yellow armor, and all of their coats were either white or grey. Was it magic? Probably, but that isn't important. What is important is what Celestia said when she saw Soren's cutie mark.

"I'm a what?" Soren asked Celestia. Him, both princesses, and his friends were gathered in Twilight's library. Everypony but the princesses were trying to grasp what Celestia just told them.

"You're what's called the Elemental Guardian, my little pony." Celestia said. Her voice was soft and calm like a mother talking to her child. "Your cutie mark is the symbol of the harmony of elements. Those with that mark are called Elemental Guardians, a long lost title that was only used centuries ago. This special kind of pony is destined to protect Equestria and the Elements of Harmony." Soren just stared at her in disbelief

"So...I am special?" Soren looked at Rainbow Dash, who was just as surprised as he was. "But how am I supposed to protect the Elemtents of Harmony? I'm not my actual size. Plus, I don't even know where the Elements are." Celestia smiled at his second question. How much has this poor pony forgotten? Celestia wondered. She gestured to Soren's friends with a hoof. Soren stared dumbfounded at the mares...then it clicked. "You...you all are the Elements of Harmony?" They nodded. "So how am I supposed to protect them?"

"Well, we still need to fix your size. Having the mind of a stallion and the body of a colt cannot be good for anypony. After we do that, I am asking you to train both physically and magically. I think your friends here can help with that." Celestia looked at Twilight and her friends as she said this. They all smiled and nodded. "Luna and I shall stay in Ponyville to oversee your progress for awhile. If you ever need us, just look around town."

"I can't be this special. I'm just a lost pony."

"You are more than that. I'm sure your past holds all of the information to understand this. For now, let those around you help."

"Thank you, Princess Celestia," Soren said. "I'm grateful that you're spending your time just to help me. I promise I won't let you down." With that said, the princesses left for their temporary home in Ponyville over by Sugarcube Corner. Soren looked towards his friends and smiled. "I think I should probably relax for a day or two. What do you girls think?" They all laughed. To relax the day away, they decided to show Soren around town. As the 7 ponies and dragon walked out of the library, Soren was thinking to himself. These mares are I going to be interesting friends, I can already tell.

Two Days Later

During the few days of relaxation, Soren learned more about Twilight and her friends. He now knows that Twilight is a magical scholar, Rarity is a generous fashionista, Pinkie Pie is the embodiment of laughter and loves parties, Applejack is always honest and is a farmer, Rainbow Dash is a boastful athlete that is loyal, and Fluttershy is very kind (and shy) and takes care of animals.

Over the few days they spent together, Soren and his friends hung out around Ponyville. They encouraged Soren to practice his singing, and in return, the mares were helping him as much as they could with his amnesia. Although all they could tell him was history, Soren still assures them that they are helping. Life was pretty good so far, but some ponies know that the second you let your guard down, something is waiting just around the next corner...

"Where am I?" Soren asked himself. He looked around at the barren, grey landscape; it seemed familiar.

ZAP!

Soren was sent flying by a bolt of magic. He slammed hard on the rocky ground. Soren groaned as he looked up at his attacker. It was a tall, black alicorn mare. She had monstrous, green-blue, serpent-like eyes and sharp teeth. The mare bent down to be almost eye-level with Soren and simply smiled. Those razor sharp teeth gave Soren a chill down his spine.

They stared at each other for a few seconds before the mare's horn started to glow.

She charged a spell then...

Soren suddenly woke up in the library, panting.

Just a dream, he assured himself. Just a dream.

Soren looked around at the library; it was early in the morning. He was thankful that Twilight was kind enough to let him stay here until everything gets figured out. After regaining his composure, Soren couldn't stop thinking of the dark alicorn. She seemed so familiar. Was that Luna? Couldn't have been Celestia. Or maybe it was their mother? Only one way to find out. Soren stood up and headed into town for some early breakfast.

At around 9 o'clock, Soren was walking through town, lost in thought. Is it me or are certain things shorter now? he thought to himself. He would've ran right into the princesses if they hadn't said his name first. "Hello, Soren," Princess Celestia said. "How are you today?"

Soren quickly looked up at her. "I'm...alright. Had a bit of a nightmare last night." Looking closely at Soren, she could see that he indeed appeared to have a rough night. His green eyes lost a little of their brilliance, and he looked drowsy.

"Oh dear. Do you remember what it was about? Maybe Luna can help erase it from memory if it truly bothers you." Luna walked forward a little. Normally, Soren would be slightly love-struck, but instead he just stared at Luna, studying her. Was it you or your mother? Soren wondered to himself.

"Celestia, if I might ask, did you and Luna have a mother?" Celestia just stared at Soren and slightly chuckled.

"No, my little pony, not a physical mother, at least." Celestia had her eyes closed as she said that sentence, and when she opened her eyes, she was surprised at Soren's horrified expression. Luna leaned down to be more level with Soren (due to his 'still small but growing' size) and studied him. Soren looked into Luna's eyes, and she into his. No, it can't be, Soren told himself. Not her.

Soren screamed and jumped back. A few passing ponies turned towards the loud sound. Soren looked at the random ponies, then at Luna, then panicked and teleported away. The royal sisters just stared at other, Celestia having the more worried expression.

"Sister, does he know about your past?" Celestia asked Luna. Luna looked down, eyes closed, and shook her head. The way Soren became frightened of Luna and when he asked if we had a mother... Celestia thought. Soren doesn't know about Nightmare Moon, so he might think Luna and her are the same pony.

"Luna," Celestia began softly, "I trust you know what you need to do." Luna looked at her and nodded.

Luna gave one last thought before leaving. I saw his eyes...I saw what he was feeling. He didn't want to accept the truth. Her horn shimmered, then the air cracked from her teleportation.

"Soren, are...are you alright?" Fluttershy asked. She found Soren cowering behind one of her chicken coops, his wings covering the top of his head and his hooves covering his face. Poor thing must be terrified of something, Fluttershy thought. He's shaking.

"Why are you so scared?" she continued. Soren peeked through his wings and looked around with slight panic. He slowly sat straight up, still shaking.

"Luna," Soren whispered. Fluttershy was confused. Why was he scared of Luna? He likes being around her.

"Luna? But she's friendly. Why are you scared of her?" Soren then explained his nightmare to Fluttershy. The landscape, the dark mare, everything. She slowly understood why Soren was so afraid. "So you don't know about Nightmare Moon?" Soren shook his head. "I assumed Twilight would explained it by now. Well...Nightmare Moon was Luna's evil half that tried to cast eternal darkness across Equestria. Princess Celestia banished her to the moon, but she eventually escaped. The girls and I used the Elements of Harmony on her and changed her back to good. Luna's evil half has been gone for quite awhile." Relieved by the new information, Soren seemed to calm down, but not entirely.

"May we try?" a young voice asked. Fluttershy and Soren turned around to see a young, beautiful, blue mare with a light blue mane approach them. Fluttershy was quick to notice who it actually was.

"L-Luna?! You look...younger." Indeed she did; Luna was shorter than her previous self. She no longer had her ethereal mane; just a normal light blue one. Her voice was also softer than before, with a little bit of her accent gone.

"Fret not Fluttershy. We did this on purpose. Might we ask for Soren to come along with us to talk?" Fluttershy looked at Soren, who was blushing at Luna's new form. He slowly nodded and followed Luna.

Soren went from scared to blushing, thought Fluttershy. Hmm...

It was midday by the time Luna and Soren arrived at the hills near Ponyville. These hills were the same place where Soren saw Luna go into the Everfree Forest. For a few minutes, the two alicorns sat there, not saying a word. Luna finally spoke.

"Does thou know of our past? Our sister realizes that your nightmare may have involved it." Soren nodded and explained that Fluttershy told him everything before Luna arrived. "I see. Does thou still think less of us?" Soren truly thought that question was a slap to the face for him.

"Of course I don't." Soren replied sincerely. "I honestly could never think less of you, Luna." Luna gave a small smile at his reply. "I was just scared at the time because I didn't know the truth, but trust me when I say that I don't blame you because of your past." Without either of them noticing, Luna got closer to Soren.

"Thank thee--you. Thank you." Luna was speaking slowly and carefully now. Before Soren could ask about it, Luna began speaking again. "We have been trying to speak more modern Equestrian, as per a suggestion from our sister. How are we doing?" Soren said she was doing fine, except for the slips of "we" or "thou" or things like that. Luna giggled in the way only a mare can. "You are so nice to us, Soren; even nicer than most of our subjects. Why is that?" Should I tell her? Soren thought.

Trying to change the subject, Soren asked, "Umm...I have to first ask: Am i close to normal size yet?" Luna laughed again.

"Of course you are. I made my body the same age as Twilight and her friends, and thou is the same size as me. You're back to normal." Soren smiled at this and looked at his normal sized body, but then realized something.

"You changed your size for me? Why?" Luna was caught in an act. "Why else would you change in size? You can tell me the truth, Luna." Coughing, Luna maintained her composure, if not slightly blushing.

She was going to say something but she looked into Soren's eyes. She saw his feelings again. His eyes speak paragraphs. ...Is he the only stallion confident enough to like a princess? Luna asked herself. Two pair of eyes were staring sincerely at each other. Soren didn't realize how close he got to Luna because the next thing he knew...she gave him a quick kiss. Luna kissed him, she actually kissed him! After the kiss was finished, Luna blushed and spoke.

"W-We should get back to Ponyville."

"But why the--"

"Confidence goes a long way, Soren. We admirer it, to say the least"

Soren could only hug Luna at that point. This is like a new life for me...and it's good. was Soren's only thought before they headed back.

It only took them a few minutes to arrive in the quiet town. As they walked through the town square, Soren and Luna heard a soft, familiar voice.

"Luna, Soren, there you two are." Celestia walked up to them. She saw the happiness on both of their faces. What did she do? "You seem so happy, sister. As do you, Soren. You also don't seem tired or worried anymore. What did you two do together?" Celestia's constant smile seemed to make anypony happy or calm.

"Sister," Luna began, "I'll tell you later. Did you need me for anything?" Celestia was impressed that her sister was speaking normal grammer so easily and was glad that her accent was still there.

"No. But Soren is needed." She turned towards him. "Your friends are looking for you. They say it's important. They are at the library. Better not keep them waiting." Soren nodded, but as he started to leave, Celestia said one more thing. "Oh and by the way, Soren. I'm happy that you're back to normal." Soren smiled and continued towards the library.

When Soren walked inside the library, all six of his friends were waiting there for him. "Soren," Twilight said, "I'm glad you're back." She paused. "Wow. You're very slightly taller than us now. You weren't lying about your age. Anyway, we have good news." Soren walked closer to them. "Mayor Mare is able to give you your own house to live in. She only wants to know what kind of house you want." Soren put a hoof to his chin in thought. A house, huh, he thought. Hmm. Soren stretched out his wings then got a brilliant idea.

"Tell the mayor that she can use those houses for other ponies." The mares all looked at Soren with confused expressions. "I think I'll make myself a cloud house..."

Author's Note

A few (or many) things:
1) Never judge a story after reading only the first chapters.
2) I know some things are a little far-fetched or random. Just roll with it for now. It will be explained.
3) Constructive criticism is helpful (make sure it's advice and not you just bashing on the story).
4) I am not oblivious to the fact that I don't type a lot of detail; I'm just not good at it. So bear with that at least.
5) Your opinions always matter, but I always prefer opinions that could benefit the story.
That is all.

The Dream

3 days later

Soren was walking through Ponyville, enjoying the relaxing, sunny day. He has grown quite used to the small town in the past week. He now has a new home in the sky that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy helped him build. Also, Soren now knows where the main buildings are around town like Sugarcube Corner, Club Vinyl, and the Town Hall. Sugarcube Corner is a bakery of sweets; the pastries there range from cakes to muffins to cupcakes. This bakery is also the main hangout of Twilight and her friends since Pinkie Pie works there.

Soren feels like he is beginning to have a normal life, even though he still cannot remember his old one. With things becoming so nice, he isn't completely sure he wants to. He has interesting friends, a nice town to live in, and he was told he was the Elemental Guardian. Speaking of royal titles, he hasn't seen Princess Luna since last time when she kissed him. Soren stopped walking and put a hoof to his mouth, remembering that tender moment. Pretty soon, a voice called out to him.

"Hi, Soren. How are you?" The voice was none other than Twilight Sparkle. She smiled as she trotted up to her friend.

"I'm fine," Soren replied. "Just enjoying the sunny day." Soren and Twilight soon started walking side-by-side through town. Soren turned towards Twilight. "Have you seen the princesses lately?" Soren didn't specifically ask if Twilight has seen Luna because he has yet to tell his friends what happened between him and her a few days ago.

"Oh, the princesses went back to Canterlot yesterday. Royal emergency. They should be back any day. Did you want to ask Princess Celestia or Luna about something? Maybe I can help?" Or maybe you just want to see Luna. Twilight teased to herself. Soren shook his head as a response to all of Twilight's questions.

"No, I was just curious is all. The past few days have been...calm, especially compared to when I first arrived. I guess I was expecting excitement to be a normal thing around here or something." Soren chuckled at his own joke, but he didn't notice Twilight flinch when he said 'excitement.'

Why was Soren expecting excitement?, Twilight wondered. Sure he's supposed to be the Elemental Guardian, but that doesn't mean there's always going to be something interesting happening. There's more going on in his mind than he leads on. Twilight shrugged off the thought and looked at Soren.

"There's nothing wrong with a calm day now and again. Anyway, what have you been doing in your free time? Do you have a job yet? Nopony can go without bits." Soren found it funny how Twilight, being a scholar, always asks a lot of questions.

"I don't have a job yet; haven't been looking. And in my free time, I usually come up with songs to sing, sometimes ones where the audience can maybe participate." Twilight's smile grew and Soren noticed it. She has an idea, I just know it. Soren waited for her response.

"If you don't have a job, then maybe you should consider working with me. You can help Spike clean around the library or stack books. Celestia also said you'll need to study some magic. It's perfect!" Twilight nearly jumped for joy at her idea. Soren laughed at her excitement and agreed to work for her.

A few more days later

Soren has been working for Twilight for almost four days. He really enjoys working at the Ponyville Library, regardless of it being very quiet and calm. The work wasn't too hard; Twilight gives him a fair pay salary; and in his free time, he studies just about anything. Soren also sang new songs now and again while working, but the best part of working there was the stories that Twilight tells him. Stories about some stallion she used to travel with called the Doctor. She refused to go into too much detail but the ponies and creatures they met were so interesting to Soren. He started to question if her stories were true since many places didn't exist in the Equestrian Encyclopedia.

One day, Soren was in the library trying to get Twilight to tell another one of her stories. "C'mon...just one more for today?" Twilight sighed and smiled. Soren was like a foul constantly asking for more bedtime stories.

"Sorry, Soren. The more I tell you, the more you won't belive me. Plus, you haven't even completed your work for today yet." She sweeped her hoof across the entire room. Books were laying everywhere on the floor. Soren's ears went back in embarrasment. Right before he could get back to work, though, a loud voice boomed from outside.

"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! WE HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE! PLEASE JOIN US AT THE TOWN SQUARE!" Soren saw Twilight face-hoof and groan.

"What was that?" Soren asked with confusion.

"The Royal Canterlot Voice," Twilight replied. "Let's go." The two of them and Spike then proceeded to leave the library.

Almost all of Ponyville was surrounding Town Hall. Standing in front of the entrance to the building were two familiar alicorns: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Soren was so happy that Luna returned that he almost didn't hear the first half of Celestia's announcement.

"Citizens of Ponyville. I would like to announce that my sister will be staying in Ponyville for a few weeks to conduct...an experiment. She is not to be disturbed unless you need help. If she requires assistance with her experiment, she will glady ask you. Other than that, please give Princess Luna the peace she needs." Celestia was addressing the entire crowd, but at the end of her speech, she saw Soren. She smiled and then winked at him. Twilight noticed Soren flinch. Did she figure it out, Soren asked himself, or did Luna tell her? After the speech ended, Celestia and Luna walked over to Twilight, her friends, and Soren.

"How are all of you doing?" Celestia asked them.

"No complaints," "Fine," "Tired," and "Busy" were most of the responses as the mares answered their princess all at once. Celestia looked at Soren.

"How are you adjusting to life in Ponyville, Soren?" He glanced at the smiling Luna ('She's still in her younger form, he thought), then answered Celestia.

"I'm doing fine. Got a job working for Twilight at the library, I have my own house, and I'm working on some new songs." Celestia nodded at him, and Luna proceeded to stand by him. Soren blushed but only the princesses noticed it.

"Princess Celestia," Twilight started, "if I may ask, what kind of experiment is Luna working on?" Celestia chuckled lightly.

"My faithful student, I think it best that nopony knows what Luna is truly working on. It's a surprise." Everypony accepted that answer. If they weren't supposed to know, then they weren't going to know. "Now if you all will excuse me, I must get back to Canterlot." With that said, the solar princess got onto a chariot led by two guards and flew away. Pinkie Pie started bouncing and smiling.

"Ooo, ooo, princess! I have the best idea ever!" Everypony looked at the pink, party mare. "We should all have a sleepover to celebrate you staying here." Half of the mares (and Soren) face-hoofed. Only Pinkie would make some random excuse to throw a party, they thought. Luna simply laughed.

"If it would please thee that much then we will accept your party invitation." All of the girls, except Pinkie, stood mouths agape at the princess' answer. They never would have expected Luna to easily agree to something like that. Soren could only smile. A sleepover with all my friends and my crush...This should be interesting.

It was around 8 o'clock at night before everypony was gathered at Twilight's library. The six mares, Spike, Soren, and Luna all got comfy in the center room of the decently sized library. Pretty soon, conversations started. The conversations ranged from recent activities to gossip to random topics. No matter how awkward or weird the conversation seemed to get, everypony was having a blast.

It was well past nine when the conversing ponies changed to a game of truth or dare. Not many dares were picked, it was mostly Rainbow Dash or Spike or Pinkie Pie accepting dares, so it became a more personal version of their previous conversations. Nopony was bored though.

Talking was eventually replaced by singing. Soren sang a few of his newest songs, but the other ponies started to teach Soren some holiday songs like 'Winter Wrap' or songs for Hearth's Warming Day.

Singing was soon replaced by scary stories, most of which were told by Rainbow. After the stories were done, the mares and boys became tired, so it was finally time to rest...except a certain white alicorn would have trouble doing that.

Show him mercy.

'What? Where am I?'

A barren landscape appeared before Soren. The air was still and there wasn't a sun or moon in sight. He did see a camp of sorts farther ahead.

Do the right thing.

'I'm going to do the wrong thing? When? And who do I have to show mercy to?!' Soren yelled to the voice in his head. He spoke no words; he simply yelled with his mind.

The camp wasn't very big. Tents littered the place and ponies stumbled about. None looked clean or healthy.

One pony stood out. He was a blue earth pony stallion...and he was grinning at Soren.

Lightning flashed. The blue stallion was on the ground, defeated. A pony stood on top of him, holding a hoof in the air aiming down.

'Don't hurt him!' Soren shouted with his mind. Of course, no one heard him.

What have I become? This voice was different than the last. It was familiar.

'Is that...?'

Lightning flashed again. Soren saw the pony above the blue stallion better.

White coat, black mane.

Burning, raging, green eyes.

A horn...and wings.

'What?' he whispered in horror.

Soren sat up with a jolt, panting and looking around at his environment. He was still in the library and saw that all of his friends were still asleep. Steadying his breathing, Soren got up and walked to the library's balcony for some fresh air.

The balcony was pretty spacious, with only a fairly large telescope on it. It was the middle of the night but he enjoyed the cool, autumn breeze. Soren put his fore-legs over the railing and just stared at the town in front of him. He gave a big, relaxing sigh and continued to stare into town...until somepony walked up behind him.

"Thou couldn't sleep?" Soren turned around to see Luna, who was practically shining under the moon light. Still so beautiful, he thought. Soren couldn't stop himself from walking up to Luna and hugging her.

She returned the hug when he said, "I missed you." Their embrace ended and Soren answered her question. "No, I couldn't sleep. I had a really strange dream. I didn't know what to make of it." Luna stood beside Soren as they looked out upon the town. They didn't look at each other as they conversed.

"Always remember your dreams," Luna said. "Thou will never know when they will be useful. But we shant dwell on it now. We have been wanting to speak with you for awhile now." Soren cocked an eyebrow as if he was saying, "Oh?" Luna paused but soon continued. "When did thou first have a crush on us?"

"I guess when I first saw you," Soren chuckled. "In this form you're the same age as me, but still as beautiful." Luna almost blushed, but she had one last question.

"When will thou tell the other mares about thy crush?" Soren finally turned towards Luna.

"Whenever you're ready to." Soren gave Luna a quick kiss, which finally made her blush. "We should get some sleep." Luna nodded and the two alicorns started heading back into the library to rest, but Soren stopped her by suddenly turning around.

"Just one last question: How did you get a crush on me?" Luna laughed and looked Soren dead in the eyes.

"Because thou was the only pony brave enough to keep thy crush on a princess and follow it." Luna walked inside the library, leaving Soren behind. Consider myself lucky, he thought before following the princess inside.

An Enemy Rises

The Next Day

Soren, Luna, Spike, Twilight, and the rest of the gang were walking through town at night heading towards Club Vinyl. Vinyl Scratch, aka DJ PON-3, was hosting a party to celebrate the arrival of a popular traveling pair of singers. The party started half an hour ago at seven, but Soren and his friends didn't mind arriving a little late.

Club Vinyl was decent sized for a club; it was definitely big enough to have a good amount of ponies in it. From the front doors, there was a big stage on the opposite side of the building. On the left side of the room was a lounge of sorts where ponies could sit down, have a drink, and just hang out. On the right side of the room was the bar itself. The shelves of the bar had too many drinks to name, and only some of them were alcohol.

When Soren and his friends walked in, they were immediately greeted by the sight of a crowd going crazy. Beyond the cheering crowd, they could hear music and singing. Soren, followed by his friends, edged through the crowd to get a good look at these new singers. Soren was the first to see them, even though he wasn't in the front row near the stage. There were two stallions onstage having the time of their lives.

One of the most interesting things about the duo was that they were twins. They were both light blue pegasi with deep green manes, although one was shorter in height than the other. Surprisingly enough, their cutie marks created a picture together. The taller pegasus had a mark that resembled a microphone with a cord that was cut out, and the shorter had the other half of the cord which led to a stereo. The other most interesting thing was the songs they sang. Their genre of music wasn't for kids to say the least (if one paid attention to the lyrics anyway). The music was fun and upbeat, so most of the audience danced to it. The lyrics weren't completely for mature audiences, it just had more mature words than most songs did, which was fine for the ponies listening; they were having a great time. Suddenly, a voice broke Soren's train of thought.

"Ehh they're not so good, compared to you anyway, Soren." Rainbow Dash playfully nudged him with a smile. Soren smiled back and continued to watch and listen to the singers continue their song.

"You really think so?" Soren asked. Dash nodded.

"I bet you could wipe the floor with these guys." Suddenly it got very quiet; the song ended right before Dash's comment. Soren and Dash looked around to see almost the entire crowd, including the performers, staring at them. Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously and backed away. Soren was about to do that as well, except the singers onstage spoke to him.

"So you think you're a good singer?" The taller twin had a deep-ish voice, so Soren found this easy to figure out who was who. "If you're so good, then why don't you prove it? You against us. Let's see who's the better singer." Beyond the seriousness of that challenge, Soren guessed that it was all good fun, so he accepted the challenge. As Soren was walking onstage, Vinyl Scratch decided to announce the challenge.

"Ladies and gentlecolts! We have a special event for you all tonight. We have a sing-off happenin' right before your very eyes! It's the famous Pega-Singers versus the rising star, Soren!" Cheers echoed throughout the club. Soren was honestly a little nervous; he probably had only five or so songs to sing. Who knew how many songs the Pega-Singers knew? "Fellas, start when ready!"

Soren and the Pega-Singers conversed on who will sing first. It was decided that the duo will go first. The two pegasi were very skilled in their performance. They danced a little, sung from their hearts (even though some of their music is silly and comedic), and they easily played the crowd. It was a pretty impressive sight. Soren went next and decided to sing the first song he ever sang: Undiscolsed Desires. The crowd recognized the song and was almost instantly mesmorized. By the time the song ended, the crowd was already cheering Soren's name. The Pega-Singers were slightly impressed, but they knew that the competition had only just begun.

The Pega-Singers sang a song, then Soren sang a song. Then the Singers sang again, then Soren sang after them. After the Pega-Singers' fourth song, the crowd was in anticipation to see who would win. Soren was about to walk back onstage when the shorter of the Singers shouted: "This one has to be a duet. That's all we've been doing, so now it's your turn."

Soren felt a bead of sweat go down his neck. I don't have any duets! I've never made one! Onstage, Soren was quickly trying to think of something he could do. When the crowd started mumbling to each other, a figure soon stepped onstage with Soren.

"Luna?!" He was shocked beyond belief as he stared at the princess, as was everypony else. Their own Princess of the Night can sing?

Luna leaned towards Soren and whispered, "Follow my lead. My magic will help." Luna's horn glowed dimly enough so that the audience couldn't see it, and then touched her horn to Soren's. The second the two horns came in contact, Soren received every bit of info about the song he was going to sing with Luna. He knew the words, the instruments used, and the name of the song. "Don't Be Fooled" was a rough translation of the old Equestrian language. He knew that the song was old but when it played in his head, it didn't sound old. Within seconds, the music started, and the two alicorns started singing together simultaneously.

We don't have to be honest
We could say we're fine
But there's no use lying
Don't be fooled while the rain is drying
If we stay there'll be more just like it
The storm will find it
If we hide it, hide it

We don't have to be honest
We could say we're fine
But there's no use lying
Don't be fooled while the rain is drying
If we stay there'll be more just like it

We don't have to keep running
We could stay inside
But there's no use hiding
Don't be fooled while the sun is shining
Don't pretend we can learn to fight it
The storm will find it
If we hide it, hide it

About half way through the duet, the crowd was more mesmorized than ever before. They absolutely loved it! Soren and Luna had the same exact lyrics so they sang as one. The princess' and Soren's words fused together so perfectly that one could picture a single pony with two voices.

We don't have to be honest
We could say we're fine
But there's no use lying
Don't be fooled while the rain is drying
If we stay there'll be more just like it

We don't have to keep running
We could stay inside
But there's no use hiding
Don't be fooled while the sun is shining
Don't pretend we can learn to fight it

When song ended, the crowd started cheering and whistling loudly. Soren even heard applause coming from the Pega-Singers. The Singers stepped onstage to talk to Soren after the crowd quieted down.

"You were fantastic, kid," the taller said. "You'll be an amazing performer one day. Wish we could stay and chat, but we arrived in town kind of late so we're pretty tired, especially now after the performance. Nice meeting you though." The Pega-Singers and the crowd started leaving soon after. Soren and his friends would've left too but Vinyl insisted that they all stay and hang out with her and Octavia.

"Ya'll just want us to help clean up, don't ya?" Applejack accused. Vinyl nodded, still having a wide grin, even though she was caught in the act. Everypony sighed, or groaned, yet agreed to help. After a few minutes of cleaning, Luna told everypony she had to leave for the night. Vinyl didn't mind, so she simply smiled and nodded.

Luna walked up to Soren. "We were most pleased with your performance, and we also enjoyed our duet." Luna hugged Soren. Their hug lasted longer than either of them expected but they eventually broke away and stared into each other's eyes once again.

Luna saw that feeling once more. Everypony noticed the two alicorns and looked at them. Very soon after, they all saw Luna kiss Soren's cheek and leave. Everypony there shared the same thought: Luna likes Soren?! Soren saw all of their shocked expressions and smiled sheepishly at them.

However, he soon lost that expression when a scream pierced the night. The mares and boys ran out the door. Pretty soon after, they were introduced to a shocking sight: Luna was being held in a magical, floating cage. Soren saw who was casting the spell. There was a disguised unicorn, whose entire body was wrapped in cloth save for its bright yellow eyes.

"Why doesn't she just break out?" one of the mares asked. Soren began to worry; if an alicorn goddess can be trapped that easily, how will the rest of them stop that pony? Twilight pointed a hoof at Luna's horn; it had a black lightning aura surrounding it.

"A Horn-Lock Spell," whispered Twilight fearfully. "A very advanced spell. It's impossible for the unicorn to use magic when it's cast on them." As his purple friend explained the spell, Soren was getting a better look at the attacker.

It was wearing purple armor on top of the cloth. The attacker looked at Soren and at the others then prepared itself. The only thing that can be heard were the screams of panicking ponies as they ran for cover. I need to get this pony away from town, Soren thought.

"C'mon, everyone, we can take her," Twilight said. It was too late. She heard a crack in the air and looked to where Soren was; he was gone. She looked towards the attacker; also gone. Luna landed on the ground with a thud. Twilight and her friends ran up to Luna but the princess put a hoof in the air to silence them.

"We need to track Soren, now!" she proclaimed with urgency.

Soren and the attacker fell with a thud far from each other. Soren teleported them to a random field in the outskirts of Ponyville. The alicorn and the assailant got up, looked at each other, and readied themselves.

"Why were you after Luna?" Soren shouted. To answer its opponent, the attacker used magic to remove the piece of clocloth covering its mouth. The first thing Soren saw was a smile full of sharp teeth. The attacker chuckled and stepped forward a few steps.

"I need her," said a feminine voice. "I need the princess so I can resurrect Nightmare Moon." Soren faltered a little at this info. Nightmare Moon? But I thought she was gone for good. The mare became more serious as she continued. "You're a pain in my side as of now, so I hope you can put up a fight."

Within the second, an explosion hit Soren and lit up the night. The blast sent him stumbling back. Explosive magic? This isn't good...

"Luna, which way to Soren?" Rainbow Dash asked the princess. Dash, Luna, and the rest of her friends were tracking Soren using magic. Luna was on the trail, but strong magic in the distance interfered with the trace, so she lost it. Luna still had a faint trace of Soren's magic, so she decided to lead the mares in that general direction.

Within a few minutes, they eventually found Soren. He was fighting with the assailant in an open field...and it looked like he was losing. Soren had marks and scratches all over his body, and they realized what caused such damage as another explosion blast hit him.

"Soren!" Luna shouted. Soren's ears perked at the sound but he couldn't lose concentration or he just might die. The mysterious mare quickly looked at the princess then back to Soren.

"Well, well, well, it looks like when I'm through with you, I'll be able to grab the princess again." Soren sent another magic bolt her way but she easily dodged it. The mare was barely damaged from the fight. Soren had been sending a few spells her way, but she dodged most of them. Those that did hit weren't very strong since he hasn't been studying offensive spells for very long. It was looking very grim for Soren, but then an idea popped into his head.

"Look at you hiding behind all your spells," Soren mocked the mare. "You may have strong spells but I bet you're weak when it comes to hoof-to-hoof combat." Just need her to be overconfident, he thought. The spells stopped. The mare looked at him questioningly.

"Do you honestly want to die in a slower fashion?" Soren's determined expression answered her question. "Very well...but first..." The mare's horn glowed very bright, and she cast a spell that surrounded the area around her and Soren with a magical dome. "Just so your friends don't interfere," she explained.

And just like that, Soren and the mare were fighting with hooves only. Soren dodged her first sneak attack. He was able to put up much more of a fight this time, and the mare could see that. This sneaky alicorn thinks he tricked me, she chuckled to herself. But I can still win.

Hooves were flying everywhere. The two fighters were barely getting hit in their little dance. It was a strangely wonderful sight to see. All of that soon ended, though, when both fighters landed a great blow to the other's face. The fighters stumbled away from each other; they both looked like they were going to fall. The mare fixed herself, but Soren collapsed. The mare chuckled darkly and slowly walked over to him.

"Soren!" the mares shouted. All of them were shouting at Soren, but Princess Luna, having the Royal Canterlot Voice, was the loudest.

"GET UP! GET UP! YOU HAVE TO KEEP FIGHTING!" It was no use. Soren was still on the ground, refusing to stand up. He was still conscious, but he was too weak to do anything.

Soren didn't know if it was the next sentence that triggered the next event or if it something else, but it helped him nonetheless. Luna shouted, "Fight for us...fight for me!" Just then, Soren slowly got up as the attacking mare was halfway to him. He could feel something—something powerful—flowing through him. Soren's eyes started turning pure white with magic, and when the mare saw this, she glanced angrily at his friends. During her quick glance, she was too busy to see the explosion bolt soar at her head. The mare yelped and was sent back a couple of feet, but regained herself. When she looked back, she saw Soren sending bolt after bolt of explosive magic at her, while he was calmly advancing. Within the next minute, the mare was being struck by as many bolts that she hit Soren with. Over time, pieces of the mare's costume faded way with every explosive hit. Eventually, her costume went away all together to reveal what she truly looked like.

Soren stopped and stared, shocked beyond belief. The unicorn mare had pitch black fur, her mane was hidden behind a helmet, her eyes were serpent-like, and she had wings! Nightmare Moon... Soren thought. Luna saw the Guardian appear and shouted at Soren.

"She's not Nightmare Moon, Soren! She's the Nightmare Guardian!" Noticing that the spells stopped, the Nightmare Guardian took this opportunity to leave, but not before she said some last words.

Her spell was already occuring as she spoke. "Listen to me, you fools. I'll return. I'll return to capture Luna and use her to resurrect Nightmare Moon once again. And if any of you get in my way, you'll die by my hooves." With that said, she teleported away, and then, seconds later, a random burst of air blasted away any magical residue left behind. "Now we can't track her," was all Soren heard before collapsing into unconsciousness. His friends rushed over to help him, but Luna just stood where she was, shocked. The Nightmare Guardian has awoken...

Author's Note

Again I would like to apologize (if need be) for the lack of detail, but it's my first story so cut me some slack. I aprreciate the feeback I received on the first few chapters. I will end this note by saying: Never judge a story until you've finished reading it.

Don't Be Fooled is copyright by The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra.

Recovery

Soren found himself waking up inside of a hospital. With his eyes barely open, he started scanning the room. The bright, white room looked like any ordinary hospital, with machines, beds, and patients everywhere. The occasional beeping could be heard from the machines hooked up to patients, including Soren. The one thing that stuck out was the sight of blue by his bed clashing with the white of the room. Soren's eyes focused on it more and discovered that Luna was sitting in a chair by his bed, looking down and whispering something to herself.

"You know," Soren said softly, "it's not polite to whisper in front of ponies." Luna's head jerked up in surprise.

"Soren!" She instantly hugged him. Soren groaned a little in pain but he didn't want the hug to end. For a princess, she sure likes to act casual. Maybe she doesn't simply look younger.

The hug broke and the door of the room quickly opened.

"Luna, what's wr-" Twilight stopped her sentence when her and her friends saw that Soren was awake. All of the mares in the doorway said Soren's name with excitement, just as Luna had. Pretty soon, all of Soren's friends were surrounding his bed.

Soren took this time to examine his body as best as he could. His body was wrapped up in a random fashion and his right fore-leg was fully wrapped. He was surprised to not feel a lot of pain but he knew he was pretty injured.

Eventually a unicorn nurse walked in the room to check on him. She looked at his chart and examined his body. After writing a few things here and there, the nurse addressed Soren and his friends. "Soren is making a smooth recovery. From the injuries he had, we were all surprised he wasn't too damaged. We guess it was because he's an alicorn. Either way, he'll be able to leave the hospital within a few days. Until then, get plenty of rest and refrain from using magic." She tapped Soren's horn then held up a mirror. The horn was slightly singed. Soren nodded and the nurse left. Luna decided now was a good time to explain something to Soren and the mares.

"Everypony, I'm afraid I have to leave for awhile." The mares and Soren looked at the princess with questions at the ready, but Luna put a hoof in the air to silence them. "We need to take care of important business. In the meantime, take this, Soren." Luna brought a scroll out of nowhere and placed it on Soren's bed. "Read this when we take our leave." Soren looked at his marefriend. She went from happy and carefree to formal and serious within a few minutes.

Luna gave Soren one last hug before teleporting away. The crack of air caused a long silence to drift in the room, until Soren decided to pick up the scroll. He opened it and read it out loud for his friends.

Dear Soren,

We regret to inform you that a great danger has appeared in Equestria: the Nightmare Guardian. Although you have foughten her, don't believe for one second that that's all she is capable of. The origins of this Guardian is a story for another time, but right now, I need you to train. You need to be well on your way to becoming a strong Elemental Guardian. You still need to train much more. Once you are healed, you must focus all of your studies on magic to be used against the Nightmare Guardian. You must also become as physically fit as possible in case of close combat. Endurance is also a factor in magic. You shall need plenty of this.

Lastly, because this Guardian is trying to reawaken Nightmare Moon, we shall stay in Ponyville with you and the Elements of Harmony until she is defeated. We have already informed our sister about everything. She accepts our plan and will come to Ponyville if necessary. That is all for now.

Signed
Princess Luna

Soren put the scroll on the nightstand next to his bed and looked at his friends. Everypony there had a neutral expression, except Fluttershy, who was clearly worried. But who wouldn't be. There's an evil alicorn who is trying to bring back an even more evil mare of darkness to Equestria. Twilight walked closer to the bed.

"Soren, even though this mare is dangerous, we will all help you as much as we can." Soren gave a small smile. "I'll help you with magic..."

"And I reckon me and Rainbow Dash will be more than willing to help you exercise," Applejack interrupted. Soren felt more content now that his friends were willing to help.

With the Elements of Harmony by my side, the Nightmare Guardian doesn't stand a chance. Soren and the mares decided to change the topic so they could relax. After many minutes of talking, the six mares left the hospital so Soren could rest. Soren decided to try and sleep since he knew he was going to be bored in the hospital.

For the next few days, Soren practiced his singing in the hospital. Vinyl Scratch even brought a new device that can hold tons of songs, music, beats, etc. It was her new, portable mixing table. With this, Soren could sing new and old songs, then they would later find the best instruments to go with the song. When Vinyl wasn't at the hospital helping him, Soren would sing by himself. One day, a doctor came into Soren's room to tell him that a lot of ponies in the hospital enjoy listening to him sing. Obviously not everypony will enjoy noise in a hospital, but it was a compliment to Soren nonetheless.

One day, Soren received a visit from his friends again. Before they even showed up, Soren and Vinyl were practicing his singing once more. When the song ended, his friends walked in the room.

"I see you still have your singing skills," Rainbow Dash commented. Soren smiled at the compliment. Pretty soon a full conversation was taking place between everypony. They would've kept talking if it wasn't for a nurse that walked in, minutes later, and interrupted them.

"If it's no trouble," began the nurse, "I would like to give Soren some good news." The conversation stopped and everypony gave the nurse their full attention. "Soren, I'm happy to say that you are able to leave the hospital whenever you please. Just make sure you don't do anything too over the top." Soren nodded and the nurse took her leave. He gave a big smile to his friends and they returned it. If they weren't in a hospital, all of them would have cheered.

After another half hour of conversation, Soren and the six mares left the hospital. The nurses were kind enough to remove Soren's bandages before he left. His horn was also back to normal. As they got outside, Soren began to stretch his legs.

"It feels like it's been forever since I could walk," he said.

"It's only been a few days," Applejack replied.

"Yeah..." he said sounding distant. The mares looked at their alicorn friend. Something seemed off about him.

"Soren, are you feeling aright?" Fluttershy asked. Soren perked up a little and turned towards his friends.

"I'm fine. I just...need to take of something. How about we all meet up at Sugarcube Corner later?" The mares turned towards each other nervously, but they nodded.

"If that's what you want," Twilight said. Soren started walking away but turned around to wave to his friends. After they waved back, he walked towards his destination: Club Vinyl.

Soren stopped in front of the club. He took a deep breath to relax himself as he walked inside. He knew what was waiting in there. Soren immediately saw the Pega-Singers onstage; it looked like they were packing up. Soren ran over to the stage and greeted them.

"Hey guys." The duo looked up from their packing and smiled when they saw who it was.

"If it isn't the rising performer," said the shorter of the two. "How are you doing? We heard you got in a nasty fight with another pony." Soren gave a neutral expression and nodded.

"It's true. I managed to protect the princess, but nearly killed myself in the process." Soren walked onstage to talk to the performers at eye level, even though they were both a little taller than him.

"Well we're glad you're alive and that the princess is safe. So what brings you here?"

"Just thought now would be a good time to chat and get to know each other." The two pegasi's expressions changed.

"Actually," the taller began, "we were just packing up to leave. We're traveling performers after all. We usually only stay in a town for one or two shows and then leave. We're heading to Manehatten next." Soren became sad; he almost didn't know why. He barely knew them, and during their time together, they competed against one another. So why was he sad they were leaving? Although in hindsight, the answer is quite obvious.

"Do you two think you'll come back to Ponyville soon? It's really fun singing with you guys." The duo smiled.

"It was fun for us too. We don't know how long it'll be before coming back here. But I'm sure we will meet up again somewhere, especially with the attention you and your friends attract." The three ponies shared a laugh. "We have to finish packing. We'll see you around, Soren." Soren nodded and started leaving the club, only to be stopped at the double doors.

"Hey Soren," shouted the shorter. Soren looked back. "Take good care of your marefriend." Soren gave a small laugh and left the building. It was time to head to Sugarcube Corner.

A Stolen Voice

Soren was on his way to Sugarcube Corner to meet up with his friends. He was very lost in thought and stopped thinking now and again to make sure he was heading in the right direction. As he rounded the next corner, he could see the pastry shop, but something caught his attention at the shop: two mares were conversing while sitting at a table. One was a pale yellow earth pony with an orange mane, and the other was a light blue unicron with a blue and white mane. Soren heard a few strange things in their conversation that peeked his interest.

"You're lying!" the unicron exclaimed silently with doubt. "Are you sure it wasn't a meteor?"

"It's true!" the orange mare replied. "It was last week. I told you: a blue shooting star shot past the mountains one night." Why doesn't the other mare believe her? Soren questioned. Does she know the color of every shooting star? They could be blue...I guess.

Soren began to ask too many questions to himself, so he decided to walk away. Unfortunately, since he was already deep in thought to begin with, he began thinking about that tiny conversation again. He was thinking about it so hard that he nearly bumped into Rarity.

"Oh! Soren, there you are. We've all been waiting for you." She took notice of how distracted he seems. "Have a lot on your mind, dear?" Soren broke out of his trance and simply nodded. "Well then, shall we go mingle with our friends?" Rarity led Soren into Sugarcube Corner.

When they walked inside, Soren saw Twilight, Pinkie, AJ, Rainbow, and Fluttershy all at one table, chatting away. As Rarity and Soren stepped through the door, the bell above it rang, which caused their friends to turn towards the entrance. Pinkie was the first to greet Soren.

"Hiya Soren! What took you so long? We were waiting for but you took so long to get here so we all decided to relax until you-" Soren put a hoof to Pinkie's mouth and said "shh" to silence her for a bit. Pinkie nodded and everypoby got settled at the table. Soren didn't seem that interested in conversing with his friends. As he sat at the table, he was looking down as if in deep thought. Everyone looked at him.

"You alright, sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "Ya seem a little...out of it." Soren looked up to see all of his friends focused on him.

"I'm fine," Soren sighed. "I just have a lot on my mind as of late."

"Well maybe talking about it will help," Fluttershy pointed out.

"Alright then. Let's see: On the way here, I heard two mares talk about some blue shooting star that passed over the mountains." Twilight flinched a little at this info but nopony noticed. "And then I also had this very strange dream awhile ago."

"Dreams are dreams, Soren," Rainbow Dash commented. "It was probably only that: a strange dream." Soren seemed reluctant to accept that.

"This was much more than some crazy dream. Maybe I should just start at the beginning." Soren began to explain his dream to his friends. How a voice was telling him to do the right thing and to show someone mercy. How he was the one that was attacking a seemingly helpless buck.

His friends showed expressions of confusion and shock. The dream was indeed very strange. "And that's all I saw I supposed," Soren said after finishing the tale.

"Not to be rude, dear, but that was very..." Rarity was at a loss for words as she tried to be polite.
Since she couldn't find the right word, the others shouted out what they believe to be the right description.

"Strange"
"Looney"
"Crazy"
"Scary"

"Yes, yes, I know," Soren began, "the dream was very strange. I get that, but there's something about that dream that just pokes the back of my brain. Maybe I'm just losing it slightly. Maybe it's not the dream and my mind is freaking out because I almost died. I think I just need a good night's sleep." His friends agreed with him, so they said their goodbyes and left the shop, except Pinkie Pie since she lives there.

Later that night, Soren was actually having a normal night's sleep. It would have been a full night's sleep if it wasn't for the noise that woke him up. He sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes. He knew something woke him up but what was it? Soren got out of bed, stretched his limbs, and walked onto his house's balcony, which was connected to his bedroom.

He looked out at the silent, nighttime Ponyville. There wasn't anything happening, so what woke him up? Suddenly, the noise came again. It was somepony screaming! Soren quickly took flight and followed the noise.

After following the noise for a little bit, Soren came up to the fields near the Everfree Forest. The pony screamed again and this time Soren saw who it was. It was Fluttershy. Fluttershy and her pet rabbit were backing away from some dark creature. Seeing that there was no time to swoop down and attack the monster, Soren did the only thing that he could think of to get the monster's attention: sing.

With a slightly louder voice than normal, Soren began singing. Both Fluttershy and the creature looked towards the sky to see who it was. Soren landed on the ground as he continued to distract the creature. In all of his studies, never had he seen a creature quite like this. It was pitch black and its shape could be considered a reptile of sorts. It had glowing blue eyes, but no pupils, and its body looked like it was made from shadows. That's the best way to describe this creature: a walking shadow.

As Soren's singing continued, Fluttershy heard noises coming from the forest. She turned around and saw a horrendous sight. More of the shadow creatures were coming out of the Everfree Forest! Without thinking twice, she flew off at an amazing speed. Soren took notice and, without silencing his voice, looked behind himself and saw what the yellow pegasus saw. I can't let all of these monsters near Ponyville, he thought. With a plan in mind, Soren led the creatures, who were mesmorized by the singing, back into the Everfree.

In the forest, Soren managed to find a great open space to lead the creatures to. It was a clearing that had no trees, except the surrounding ones, and had marshy water. Soren, who still has yet to stop singing, stopped at the edge of the swamp. He looked back at the dozen or so creatures he managed to attract. After he sang one more song, the creatures' eyes started glowing brighter. The glow was so bright that Soren stopped singing and covered his eyes. When the light faded, he opened his eyes to see that the creatures had left. Soren would've left the Everfree right there and then, but he felt extremely tired. Without caring about where he was sleeping, Soren laid on the ground and slept.

In the morning, Soren felt something nudging him. He slowly opened his eyes to see Applejack standing in front of him.

"You alright, partner?" Applejack said with a look of concern.

"Just fine," Soren replied sleepily. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Ah think we should git to Twilight first." After Soren stretched his legs, the pair left the forest and heading towards the library. Why is she so worried? Sure I slept in the Everfree, but I'm fine. Note to self: never be that stupid again.

It took awhile but they eventually arrived at their destination. Applejack and Soren walked into the library and saw that all of their friends, save Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, were already there.

"Ah thought ya'll were looking for Soren too," Applejack stated at Pinkie Pie and Rarity.

"They already did," Twilight defended. "With my help, we looked everywhere in Ponyville and still didn't find him. But we're glad you did."

"Find me?" Soren asked. "What time is it? And where's Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy?"

"It's well past noon, my dear," Rarity answered. "We came to your house and you weren't there. We started to worry."

"And Dashie and Fluttershy are still looking for you in the Everfree Forest," Pinkie said with her always hyper voice. As Pinkie was talking, Twilight started to examine Soren.

"Uhh, can I help you, Twilight?" Soren was a little uncomfortable with Twilight examining every inch of his body. "What's going on?" Soren looked at his friends for answers but they shrugged.

"Sing." Twilight stared intensely at Soren. "What?" was all he could mutter. "I'm asking you to sing." Soren did as he was asked but something was off. Clearing his throat this time, he attempted to sing again, except it had the same result. Whenever Soren tried to sing, his voice was hoarse. To say that Soren's singing was 'not as good' would be an understatement.

Many tries later, Soren gave up trying to sing. He started panicking. Was it because I sang too much last night? Or...

"Twilight, what's. Going. On?!" Soren shouted. Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder.

"Don't panic...never panic. What happened last night?" Twilight's voice was so calm as she talked to Soren. Soren relaxed and began to explain everything that happened the night before. When he finished, Twilight looked worried. "And how many of those creatures followed you exactly?" Soren started to think back to that night.

"I don't remember. At least a dozen. Why? What were those creatures?"

"They're called Soul Stealers. And no, they don't steal actual souls. They're creatures that feed on emotions or talents that require soul, like poetry or singing. They don't usually travel in packs when targeting a pony, but I guess you attracted a lot of them. Although harmless by themselves, if too many target one pony...," she paused, "...they could very well steal that soul-requiring ability from the pony...like your singing." When Twilight finished her analysis, everypony in the room was silent.

"So...I just lost my singing voice..."

Author's Note

Yes, I'm the kind of writer who makes a lot of author notes.
Yes, the story is slow in the beginning.
Yes, it gets faster.
No, the "non-pony" names I use do not reference the characters they belong to.
Yes, the story already contains foreshadowing (good luck finding them).

The 'Experiment'

With the revelation of Soren's stolen singing voice, his friends had an idea: Why not train the voice back into him? Even though he was reluctant to try it, Soren was dragged to Vinyl's club to go practice. Soren was sad during the entire walk though. He just had his singing voice, his main talent, stolen from him, but he was willing to try anything to get it back.

The six mares, Soren, and Spike arrived at Club Vinyl around 2 o'clock, so they figured the DJ was bound to be in there. They all walked inside to see Vinyl at her turntables working on something. The group walked up to the stage and stood there until Vinyl noticed them. After a minute of waiting, Applejack whistled loudly to get the unicorn's attention. Vinyl looked up in surprise but soon smiled when she saw who was here.

"What's up, guys and gals?" Vinyl greeted. "It's been awhile. Hey, Soren, I heard you saved the princess. That's awesome!" The DJ's enthusiasm was enough to make anypony happy, even Soren, who was sad but smiled a little. "So what can I do for my pals today?"

"Something bad happened to Soren," Twilight explained. "He lost his singing voice last night, and we were hoping we could train it back into him." Vinyl Scratch rubbed a hoof to her chin while thinking.

"The Soul Stealers got him?" Everypony was shocked that Vinyl knew about the creatures but they still nodded. "Well that sucks because you can't train back something that was stolen. It takes magic...strong magic. But I suppose Soren could get some of his talent back. It won't be as fun without his singing voice." She pushed a few buttons on her turntable and looked at the group. "So let's get started." The ponies smiled, including Soren, as they began to start Soren's training.

Vinyl Scratch was able to play some of Soren's songs just with her turntable. As the songs played, Soren tried to softly sing the words, but his singing voice was awful even when quiet. After about three songs, the ponies started giving up. During the fourth song, while his confidence was low, Soren didn't even sing the lyrics; he just let the song play while he acted like he was singing. It was like watching the lead singer of a concert move around stage.

Using her turntable, Vinyl added the lyrics to the song while Soren continued to 'perform.' It was like he was performing for a crowd but without lyrics. His friends thought it was somewhat ejoyable to watch.

When Soren was tired of acting out the song, he came up with an idea. After grabbing some paper from Celestia knows where, he began to write down some lyrics. Soren jotted down lyrics from previous songs (and one or two new songs). He handed the finished words to Twilight and her friends.

"Take these," Soren said. "Go find some stallions, or mares, around town that are willing to sing for a few minutes." Twilight was about to question this order, but Soren raised a hoof. "Don't question it, just do it, please." With no final objections, the mares left the club, leaving Soren and Vinyl to set up.

One hour passed and Club Vinyl was filled with volunteers. Soren took the stage as the small crowd of ponies chatting with one another.

"Hello everypony. I've asked my friends to bring you all here because I'm conducting a little experiment. I'm asking all of you to sing these lyrics that I wrote down so I can see how it sounds. I'd just like to make sure all of you are doing this on your own free time, not because you believe there's some form of payment." The crowd was silent. "Alright, then let's get started." And they did. Soren put the ponies into groups to sing separate songs. When everything was organized, the singing commenced.

This 'experiment', that Soren is calling it, lasted most of day. During the experiment, ponies walking by the club heard the singing and entered the building out of curiosity. Everypony that entered saw the same sight: groups of ponies singing lyrics off of a piece of paper while Soren conducted them. Eventually, a crowd formed within the club; they were greatly enjoying the music.

"Wow," Fluttershy said to her friends, "so many ponies are watching." Indeed there were a great number of ponies inside the club watching. Soren looked around at the massive crowd that formed. He recognized a few of them, but one pony caught his eye. There was a black-maned mare watching while against the wall of the building, away from the crowd. The mare watched in awe just like the rest but why was she standing alone? Soren shook off the thought and continued his experiment.

Around 9 o'clock, the performance ended. Soren and his friends were amazed that the ponies who volunteered had so much free time today. Of course he felt a little bad about not telling them that he lost his singing voice, but he figured it best not to worry them. Soren managed to catch another glimpse of the black-maned mare but he thought nothing of her. Soren was just tired, even though he didn't sing at all. It wasn't very late in the night but he decided to go bed when he got home.

The warm, dusty air hit the alicorn as he stared at the landscape before him. He was standing on a cliff, looking out at the desert below him. The wind picked up again, so he turned his head away from it. As he did this, he saw something: a small town. Blinking, the alicorn was much closer to the town, even though he was on a high cliff just a second ago. He surveyed the wooden town as the sun was high in the sky. Strange, the pony thought. I'm in a desert, yet I can't feel the heat.

He blinked again and continued to investigate the town and its inhabitants. It was a small settlement with more ponies than one would think. It wasn't particually advanced; it was more old-fashioned than anything. The alicorn wasn't near the town anymore, but he was looking at it from a decent enough distance.

Soon the alicorn heard music and two voices coming from the town. He couldn't make out what the voices were saying, nor could he hear the music very well, but he knew it was there. It looked as though the entire town gathered for this performance. The alicorn continued to watch the townsfolk as they listened to the performers, but then something began to happen.

Out of the corner of his eye, the pony saw something, so he turned towards the desert again. He saw a giant cloud of dust closing in on the town. Upon getting a clearer view, the pony saw that it was a stampede, but not just any ordinary stampede; this was a stampede of ponies and they were charging straight for the wooden town. When the dust cloud invaded, chaos ensued. The alicorn walked slowly and helplessly through the town as ponies ran in every direction away from the invaders.

The invasion was insane. There were ponies being attacked, magic flying everywhere, even knives soaring through the air. The alicorn even saw a fireball explode when it hit a building. The building instantly caught fire. The alicorn was now standing in the center of town. He looked towards the stage where the performance was and saw a unicorn just standing there, smiling. He assumed that this was the leader of the invasion. The unicorn was soon accompanied by a pegasus, but this pegasus had something special about him. He only had one wing. They conversed but the alicorn couldn't hear what they were saying. All he heard was a name:

Coyote Colt.

Soren sat up suddenly in his bed and looked towards his bedroom window. It was still night. He was breathing hard as he woke from his dream. What was that about? he wondered. Who's Coyote Colt? And why am I having these dreams?!

Over the past few days, Soren never thought about his strange dream. He felt that since it was only a dream, he shouldn't think too much about it for now. What he was really focusing on right now was Nightmare Night. Soren's friends explained that Nightmare Night in Ponyville was a huge thing. Apparently one year, Twilight and her friends helped Luna to fit in. Everpony was still afraid of her for being Nightmare Moon but by the end of the holiday, they liked her more. As a result, Ponyville goes over the top when it comes to Nightmare Night. If the entire town goes crazy during this holiday, Soren thought to himself, I can only imagine what Pinkie Pie will do. He chuckled as he surveyed his surroundings.

Soren was enjoying the sunny day at a park in town. He decided to relax in this location before heading to his job at the library. It never truly feels like a job, but Soren does his fair share of work. Lately, he's mostly been studying spells, history, and miscellaneous knowledge.

As he sat on a park bench deep in thought, Soren began to feel a little sad. The reason for his sadness was very obvious to him (and maybe his friends if they were with him). He missed Luna. It's as simple as that. Although it hasn't been that many days since Luna left, Soren still missed her company. Of course he has to expect these kinds of things since Luna is a princess, but it doesn't mean he still can't miss her. To prevent himself from becoming even more sad, Soren left the park and walked straight for the library. Maybe some work or studying will clear my mind, he assured himself.

The day started out slow and relaxing for Soren, but that quickly changed when he was finished at the library. As Soren was leaving his job and saying his goodbyes to Twilight, he bumped into two ponies on the way out. He looked at the two ponies and noticed that they were royal guards. When Twilight saw Soren stumble at the door, she trotted over to him to see what was wrong. She quickly noticed the guards at the door.

"Greetings Twilight Sparkle," one of them said with a voice of formality. "We have come to deliver a message from Princess Celestia. It is about the preparations for Nightmare Night." The speaking guard held out a scroll for Twilight.

"Why didn't Princess Celestia just use Spike to deliver the message?" she asked the guards.

"All will be clear when you read the message." Twilight grabbed the scroll with her magic, straightened it out, and brought it closer so her and Soren could read it together. The scroll read as follows:

Dear Twilight,

As you know, the Nightmare Night parade will be held in Ponyville. Recently, I thought of a brilliant addition, but first I must ask that if Soren is with you, he mustn't read the following portion of this letter. Since he works with you and Spike in the library now, I must assume he could be there with you as you receive letters. Normally Soren, being the Elemental Guardian, is able to read letters from royalty but this is a special exception.

Soren nodded to Twilight and, with the guards following, walked over to where Spike was stacking books. Twilight continued reading to herself.

Assuming Soren is not reading, I would like to inform you, Twilight, that I wish to test Soren. From what you say in your letters, Soren is a very talented singer. I would like for him to lead a chorus for the parade. I believe this is a great way for more ponies to experience his talent and to also test how he handles large crowds. Please ask Soren to create a song for the parade. He is allowed to ask for anything he may need to prepare for that day. Make sure he is ready by Nightmare Night.

Signed,
Princess Celestia

Also, I delivered this scroll via transport because I ordered these two guards to watch over Soren's preparations, if he indeed says yes. Sending this scroll with them was more convenient.

Twilight rolled up the scroll with her magic, placed it on a desk, and walked over to Soren and the two royal guards. Soren noticed her and raised an eyebrow in question. Twilight figured he would want to know what was on the scroll that he couldn't read.

"Remember how there's going to be a parade here for Nightmare Night?" she asked Soren. He nodded. "Well Princess Celestia asked for you to lead a chorus for the parade." Soren's eyes widened for two reasons. One was because the princess gave him a great opportunity to show everypony his talent, but the other reason was because he couldn't sing at the parade. Twilight knew Soren was unable to sing at the moment but both ponies did not want to alarm the guards that something was wrong. Twilight simply smiled at Soren's reaction. "The princess said you can ask for anything to help you in the performance." Twilight emphasized 'anything' so Soren would hopefully calm down. It looked as though it worked.

"This is...amazing," Soren finally said. "Celestia believes in me enough to ask me to perform in a parade AND to lead a chorus from Canterlot. Wow. It's a yes, but I'll need time to figure out what to do." Twilight nodded. Soren returned the nod and left for his home. The royal guards left soon after. Now Twilight was alone with Spike in the library.

"So Soren gets to sing in the Nightmare Night parade?" Spike asked. "That would be great if he could actually sing." Twilight sighed and walked upstairs to her room. She hoped that Soren would find some solution to this problem or that she herself could find someway to get his singing voice back.

That night, Soren sat alone in his house, contemplating about the parade. The parade was in two weeks so he had plenty of time to prepare, but how could he perform without a singing voice? Surely he could ask some ponies to sing for him, but would Princess Celestia approve of that? Feeling lost, Soren decided to lay down in bed.

As he did so, he decided to take his mind off of the parade for awhile, so he began to think of anything else. Nothing came to his relaxed mind except one thing: the desert dream. Even though he told himself it was simply a dream, Soren thought of it constantly. I seem to have a lot of weird dreams, Soren chuckled to himself as he finally decided to go to sleep. Hopefully an answer will come to me about the parade soon or I'll have to cancel on Celestia. Shortly after the thought was finished, Soren drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

"Twilight! Twilight! Are you awake yet?!" A pony was pounding at the front door of the library. Twilight sat up in her bed and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She sat there listening for the noise that woke her up to happen again. She looked over at Spike to see if he was awake, only to be unsurprised by the sight of her assistant still sleeping. The pounding continued, so she got up, walked downstairs, and opened the door for the loud pony. To her surprise, she saw Soren standing there with a smile on his face.

"Soren?" Twilight asked sleepily. "Why are pounding on my front door? It's still pretty early." Soren felt a little guilty about waking her up. He simply got caught up in his excitement.

"Sorry, but I have great news!"

"What news?"

"I have a plan for the Nightmare Night parade!" Soren's excitement was easily noticed by the sleepy unicorn. "I woke up early and thought of a plan. I rushed over here to wake you up because I need your help."

"My help? What plan did you come up with?" Soren's smile became bigger. At that moment, Twilight could imagine a male Pinkie Pie standing in front of her.

"I need you to get the Canterlot Choir over here ASAP." Twilight was fully awake upon hearing that. The choir? Why would he need them before they're scheduled to meet? Twilight gave Soren a weak smile.

"Umm sure...I'll get right on that." Twilight started closing the door and eventually shut it. She sat against it to listen outside. After hearing Soren leave, Twilight gave a great sigh and stood back up. She walked over to her desk that had her ink, quills, and scrolls. Using her magic, she grabbed the necessary materials and started on a letter to Celestia. I hope you know what you're doing, Soren, was her final thought as she started writing.

Dear Princess Celestia...

Nightmare Night

Two Weeks Later...

The night was clear, the moon was at full shine, and the town was bursting with joy from the holiday. Tonight was Nightmare Night! There were games, candy, food, and decorations as far as the eye could see. Of all the places where Nightmare Night is celebrated, Ponyville is by far the most enthusiastic. It was almost midnight when everypony in town started gathering in the center of Ponyville. The parade was scheduled to start at midnight exactly.

Twilight and her friends knew perfectly well how the parade was set up. First, the mayor would announce the start of the parade. After that, the floats would pour into town from the direction of Canterlot. Next, Soren would perform with the choir while they all stood on their own float. Finally, when all the floats pass through town, Princess Luna would appear and give Ponyville a message of gratitude, just like every year.

The one thing that Twilight and her friends were clueless about was how Soren was going to pull off a performance without singing. Twilight explained to her friends that Princess Celestia is testing Soren, so they all had to wonder if he would still pass without singing.

Minutes from midnight, Mayor Mare gave her yearly speech about Nightmare Night. When she was done, the floats appeared over the horizon and moved toward Ponyville. Spike and the mares stared at the most magnificent floats going past them. Some were indescribable, others were beautiful. Then out of nowhere, all of Ponyville was filled with music. This is it, the mares thought.

One of the last floats to arrive was the Canterlot Choir's float. Just the size of this particular float impressed many ponies, but what amazed everypony else was what was happening on it. Soren stood at the front of the platform and was doing something peculiar. He was conducting! Not only was he conducting for only the second time in his life, he was conducting the Canterlot Choir...and they were singing beautifully. Soren actually managed to find a way to sing for the parade without singing himself.

The song was smooth and beautiful, and the girls knew the lyrics were by Soren. The choir made it sound lovely with all of their voices combined. Many ponies will agree that this is most likely the best Nightmare Night Ponyville has ever had. The floats stopped after the choir's song was over. Everypony was silent. A few seconds later, ponies could hear somepony flying. Everypony except one was on the ground enjoying the parade...Soren. Soren was flying high above the floats, and upon a closer look, one could see that he was grinning.

"Attention everypony!" Soren shouted to all the ponies within hearing distance. "In honor of Nightmare Night, I would like to perform a trick for you all." The ponies on the ground started mumbling to each other. Some were nervous, some were excited, others had no idea who this white alicorn was. It didn't matter to Soren; he just wanted to perform this trick he has been secretly working so hard on.

Soren started to gather magic on the tip of his horn. When he felt enough was prepared, he sky-rocketed upwards. When barely anypony could see him, an explosion occured. This wasn't just any old explosion, this was a sonic boom. But this wasn't a regular sonic boom either. The sonic boom, combined with Soren's magic, created an awesome display of creativity. To describe the sight as simply as possible, imagine a Sonic Rainboom but replace it with dark clouds and lightning. When the dark boom disappeared, a trail of dark clouds could be seen plummeting straight for the ground. The ponies started to panic and would have fled if other ponies hadn't calmed them down and ushered them to continue looking. The audience relaxed and continued to watch the clouds as it came up to the choir's float. When it got close enough, everypony could see that it was Soren flying towards it.

Soren landed on the float but something was different about him. His black mane had lightning streaks in it, his eyes were covered with yellow goggles, and his coat changed entirely to black. He looked almost like a Shadow Bolt! When the magnitude of the performance settled on the crowd, they began to cheer and whistle. Soren smiled and stepped off the float to go see his friends. As the mayor introduced the princesses, Soren's friends congradulated him on his performance. Then it hit them. Princesses? As in both? Soren and his friends only expected Luna to show up, but Celestia is here as well?

The Princesses of the Sun and Moon stepped onto a stage in front of Town Hall. It wasn't a very big stage; it was mainly used for speeches and music. The princesses shared the stage with the mayor as they spoke.

"Greetings my little ponies," Celestia started. "I can see that all of you are enjoying this year's Nightmare Night very much. I can also see that everypony here especially enjoyed Soren's performance with the Canterlot Choir." Celestia nodded towards Soren. "I shall be brief, for tonight is all about my dear sister, Luna." Princess Luna, still remaining in her smaller size, stepped forward. She cleared her throat and was about to speak but Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder. They looked at each other, and Celestia winked at her little sister. Luna gave a mischievious smile and proceeded to speak again. She took a deep breath and spoke.

"GREETINGS CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!!" The roofs on the surrounding houses shook from the sheet force of Luna's Royal Canterlot Voice. Ponies froze and the crowd was speechless. "WE APPLAUD THOU'S EFFORTS TO MAKE THIS NIGHTMARE NIGHT ONE OF THE BEST SO FAR. THE PARADE WAS MAGNIFICENT AND THE DARK SONIC BOOM WAS A GREAT ADDITION, SOREN." Soren slightly blushed from all the attention and praise he didn't deserve, but he kept his composure. Luna's voice became more normal now. "Ponyville has always been our favorite place to celebrate this holiday, and it shall remain so for many years to come. The night is still young but the celebration is not. Enjoy yourselves, my subjects, for the holiday shall end before you all know it. But before that..." Luna looked straight at Soren. "...we must give a certain pony a gift for their hard work."

The princess of the night walked up to Soren and his friends. She spoke softly so other ponies couldn't eavesdrop on them. "Thou has done noble deeds, my stallion. Thou saved your friend Fluttershy by giving up your own singing voice." Soren's eyes widened. Luna gave a small laugh at Soren's facial expression. "Twilight Sparkle told us everything. Even without a singing voice, thou still managed to perform. And with these two accomplishments, our sister and I wish to reward thou with this." Luna teleported a box from out of nowhere and levitated it to Soren. He grabbed it and proceeded to open it. Inside the box was an object that glowed with bright intensity. When Soren pulled it out with magic, his friends and the surrounding ponies ahh'd with amazement.

"Luna," Twilight gasped, "is that...a wishing star?!" Luna smiled and nodded.

"With this," Luna explained, "Soren is given one wish. He may wish for anything his heart desires but it cannot be undone." Soren continued to stare at the dazzling star. Anything, huh? he thought. Then I wish...

Suddenly, the star evaporated and flew into the sky. Everypony watched the spectacle, except for Twilight and her friends, who were staring at Soren.

"Well what did y'all wish for?" Applejack asked Soren. Soren turned to the princesses, Twilight, Spike, and their friends.

"~I wished for my singing voice~," Soren sang. His friends cheered and gave him a group hug. Everything was fine again.

Soren used his singing voice so much during Nightmare Night. He was very happy to have it back. The celebration lasted quite a bit longer than anypony thought. It was probably near four in the morning when ponies decided to go home. Luna and Celestia were the first of Soren's friends to leave, then it was Twilight, Spike, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Last to leave were Soren, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie went off into separate directions to their homes, leaving Soren and Rainbow alone and heading the same way. Their houses are relatively the same direction so they walked together (no pegasus was energetic enough to fly all the way to their homes). Soren looked at the rainbow mare and noticed that she was quieter than usual. He's been noticing this ever since his performance. Rainbow Dash was not being herself so he decided to ask her about it.

"Hey Rainbow Dash?" The mare looked at him. "Are you alright? You seem a little...off." She sighed, which is another thing she barely does. The pair was coming up to Rainbow Dash's house.

"I'll tell you tomorrow," she finally answered. "Just come on over whenever, alright?" Soren lifted an eyebrow but agreed nonetheless. Tomorrow he'll see what the deal is.

A Rising Musician

The next day after lunch, Soren flew to Rainbow Dash's house. He found this situation a little serious because Rainbow was acting very unlike herself. When he arrived at the front door, he called out for her. Eventually, she appeared.

"Oh hey, Soren," she said evenly. "Come on in." Soren followed her inside. Rainbow's house was definitely fancier than his own. She even had her own waterfall!

But Soren couldn't be distracted right now, there were bigger things to worry about. The two pegasi sat on a couch of clouds in the living room. Soren was the first to speak.

"Alright, so what's the problem, Rainbow?" he asked. "After my performance, you weren't acting like yourself. Why?" Rainbow Dash stared at him.

"Because I started seeing and thinking about how happy you and the princess are together. And I realized that...it would be nice to have a coltfriend. Think you could help me out?" Soren was stunned for a few seconds, he definitely didn't expect this from Rainbow Dash at all. This can't be all that's wrong, Soren thought. He gave a forced smile.

"Sure, I'll try my best. Got any stallions in mind?"

"Not really. Just find somepony who is fast, strong, and cool." There's the Rainbow Dash I know, Soren chuckled to himself.

"Alright, but...one more thing. You can't expect me to believe that this is the only reason you were silent last night. Something else is up. What is it?" Rainbow looked down at her hooves.

"...Fine. You can forget the whole 'coltfriend' thing. The real reason I was quiet was because I was jealous of the attention you were getting." That makes more sense, he thought.

"Well there's a simple solution to that." Rainbow gave a disbelieving look to Soren. "How would you like to play an instrument and be included in my performances?"

"Really?" Rainbow was now smiling. Soren nodded in response. "I always wanted to try the guitar. I'll try my best. Thanks."

"No problem. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to talk to a certain somepony. See ya later." Soren waved goodbye and flew out of the house towards Ponyville.

Soren arrived in front of the princesses' temporary Ponyville home. He knocked on the door and waited. Princess Celestia answered the door and smiled at him. "Good afternoon, Soren," she greeted. "That was a wonderful performance last night."

"Thank you, Princess. Is Luna busy? I would like to spend some time with her today." Celestia chuckled.

"No, she's not busy. Let me get her for you." Celestia went inside and eventually Luna came out. Luna was instantly happy when she saw Soren.

"Hello Soren." Luna hugged him and he returned it. "It has been awhile."

"Yes it has. Would you like to go to the park today?"

"I would be more than happy to."

The two alicorns went to the town park immediately. The weather was cool and sunny, perfect for strolling. They walked around the park, admiring the serenity of Ponyville, before sitting on one of the benches. As they sat there, Soren appeared to be deep in thought.

"What is wrong, my stallion?" Luna asked.

"I need to explain something to you. And I think that since you are the princess of the night, you may be able to help."

"I shall help in anyway I can. What is the problem?"

"Many nights ago, I had this strange dream, only this dream didn't feel like simply a dream. It felt real. It felt like I was actually standing there. I could walk anywhere and see anything. In this dream, I saw a desert town that was raided. It's hard to explain, but I think that town is an actual place and it's in danger." Luna considered all of what Soren said. She stared at him for a few seconds before speaking.

"Soren, we should speak with Twilight Sparkle." That was all she said before she stood up.

Soren followed her as they walked to Twilight's library. When they arrived, the pair knocked on Twilight's front door. Nopony answered, so Luna shouted Twilight's name. The purple unicorn quickly answered the door.

"Oh. Hello Luna. Hello Soren. So sorry about that. I was busy reading a very interesting book about-" Luna put a hoof to the mare's mouth.

"Apologies Twilight Sparkle, but we do not have time to hear about your book. Soren needs your help."

"What's wrong?"

"We need a book about dreaming," Soren answered. Twilight thought for a second. She turned away from the two alicorns to look around the library.

Using her magic, Twilight levitated a decent sized book to the center table. The three stepped up to the table and saw that the book was titled A Guide to the Supernatural and Strange. Luna started flipped through the pages with her magic. She soon found what she was looking for and pointed to it. The title of the section was "Star Sight." Twilight began to read aloud.

Although dreams are a normal quality of life, some ponies have unique dreams called lucid dreams, where they can control their dreaming environment. In a lucid dream, ponies are aware that they are dreaming and can then control what happens during their sleep. What does lucid dreams have to do with star sight? Well, lucid dreams connect with star sight.

Certain lucid dreams are very powerful. In a way, it is more powerful than magic. Some lucid dreams cause ponies to see into the future or 'near-future.' If one sees into the future, they can see things that can happen months or years after the dream. If it's the 'near-future,' the event witnessed in the dream may occur within weeks at most. Those with star sight attempt to master this skill or to at least use it to their own advantage. Only very few ponies tend to have star sight, even if they do not know it...

Luna told Twilight to stop reading. She had already heard enough. It was obvious that Soren may have star sight. Luna assumed he had it when he was explaining his dream to her, but with this entry, it was fairly certain.

"Soren," Luna started, "if you indeed have star sight, then that town you saw is in grave danger. We must act immediately."

"What town?" Twilight asked. "Soren, what did you dream about?" Soren then proceeded to explain everything that happened in his dream, including the leaders of the raid. Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Well I don't know who this Coyote Colt is but I do know the town you saw. It's called Appaloosa. If the raid is going to happen then we need a plan. First we need to go visit Applejack."

"Why?" Soren questioned.

"Because she might be able to tell us more about this Coyote Colt."

Soren, Twilight, and Luna arrived at Sweet Apple Acres a few minutes after leaving the library. Twilight called for Applejack and the farmer responded quickly. The friends exchanged greetings and they got down to business.

"Sorry for asking this of you Applejack," Twilight said, "but have you received any letters from Braeburn recently?"

"I got one yesterday, but why ya askin'?"

"I think we should start from the beginning. Can we come in?" The farmer led the three ponies into the barn and they sat in the living room. The three ponies started explaining about Soren dream. Applejack now knew why Braeburn's letter was so important.

"Braeburn has mentioned this Coyote Colt fella before," Applejack said. "The colt's a unicorn with an eye patch. He's also got his own gang. I don't know why he has so many followers in your dream, Soren, but it can't be good. Why is a letter so important at this point?"

"We just need to make sure Appaloosa is safe for now," Soren explained. "If it is then I have a plan. If not...well...it wouldn't hurt to help them repair." Twilight secretly stared at Soren. He's handling this with surprising calmness... she thought.

Her thoughts were cut short by Applejack giving a letter to Soren. Soren read the letter then explained it to everyone. It turns out that Coyote Colt had attacked the town before, but only mildly. In the letter, Braeburn explained that the sheriff is preparing to defend the town against Coyote Colt in case he strikes again.

"Well the good news is that Appaloosa hasn't been raided yet. The bad news...is that Appaloosa hasn't been raided yet." Twilight and AJ gave him a confusing look. "Let me put it this way: my dream hasn't happened yet, but Appaloosa is still in danger. We need to go there and make sure my dream doesn't come true."

"If I recall correctly," Luna started, "then there is a train that leaves for Appaloosa every week or so."

"You're right, Luna," Twilight responded. "If we wanted to, we could leave next week."

"Sounds like a good plan," Soren said. "Now I just need the right ponies to help. We'll decide that the day we leave. Trust me. Just make sure all of our friends are willing to leave on that day."

Soren spent the next few days normally. When he wasn't working at the library with Twilight, he was teaching Rainbow Dash how to play the guitar. He didn't realize he could play with magic until he tried. He assumed it was just a result of his previous life.

Rainbow Dash was a very fast learner, but then again this was Rainbow Dash he was teaching. Soren taught Rainbow to learn the pitch of each string and basic chords, instead of only memorizing each song's notes. This method actually helped her to memorize a song within a day or two.

Their lessons have been going on for five days now. Since Rainbow has already learned three songs by heart, Soren felt it was time for her to perform for the town.

"What?!" Rainbow said in shock. The two of them were in her house practicing. "You already want me to perform? It hasn't even been a week since I started practicing." Soren put a hoof on her shoulder.

"I know you have doubts, but you already learned three of my songs. What more do you need?" Soren smiled at the usually confident mare.

"More time." Soren chuckled.

"Tell you what. You and I will perform tomorrow instead of today. I'm not waiting until we come back from Appaloosa to hear you perform. Will that be enough time? I'll even tell you what songs I want us to do." Rainbow put a hoof to her chin then shrugged in agreement.

"Yeah, why not? Wait...You said until we come back from Appaloosa. Does that mean I'm going with you?" Soren laughed.

"Of course. I already know who's going. However, all of us need to vote on something that day, but let's not worry about that yet. Right now, you need to practice." Soren told Rainbow Dash which songs to practice then left. As Soren flew over Ponyville while admiring the view, a single thought came to mind. Is this going to be my new life? Do I even want to know my past?

Vinyl Scratch planned the performance to be in the middle of town where she made a stage for Soren. It was around seven at night when a crowd formed in front of the stage. Lights came on and flooded the area. Through the curtains stepped Soren and no one else. Soren addressed the crowd and told them that, for the past few days, he has been teaching a certain pony to play guitar. He said tonight was the night to show off this pony's skills, but he wouldn't reveal who the pony was until the end of the performance. Soren surrounded a small set of drums with magic and started the first song.

Soren planned out the performance perfectly. The first two songs were more for the entertainment of the crowd. The last song is where Dash' skills were to be tested, for it had a guitar solo. Backstage, hiding behind the curtains, was Rainbow Dash playing her guitar.

The third song started. She knew the curtains would go away when her solo began. She was honestly a little nervous but knew she could pull this off. With a grin of determination, she began her solo. During the solo, Soren could see the faces of the crowd; they were anxious to see who the pony playing guitar was. Soren gave the crowd their wish as he magically drew the curtains back. Gasps were heard as they saw a rainbow-maned pegasus standing and strumming away at the guitar. After the solo, the song ended.

Rainbow Dash was panting a little from the solo. It was silent...then...the crowd cheered. Hooves stomped the ground hard enough to feel it on stage. At first, Rainbow looked around in slight disbelief but smiled. She looked to Soren and mouthed 'Thank you.' He simply waved for her to bask in the applause. She did just that as she stepped closer to the crowd and took a bow.

When the performance was over and after their friends congratulated Rainbow Dash, Soren and Rainbow walked back to her house. They talked about the performance along the way.

"Seriously?" asked Rainbow Dash. Soren nodded.

"I mean it," Soren answered. "You're a natural. I can't wait for you to perform with me more often." The pair arrived at her house. Rainbow turned towards him.

"Can't wait either." Rainbow paused for a few seconds. "Soren..."

"Yeah?" They looked at each other then Rainbow Dash hugged him. Surprised, Soren hugged back.

"Thanks for everything."

"You're welcome. Come on now, we need to get our rest for tomorrow." The hug broke. Rainbow started chuckling while rubbing the back of her neck out of slight embarrassment.

"Yeah, you're right. Forgot about the trip to Appaloosa. Maybe I'll see my good friend Strongheart while we're there. She's a crazy acrobatic."

"I look forward to meeting her. Anyways, I'll see you and the girls tomorrow morning." With a wave of his hoof, Soren took to the sky towards his home. Out with the calm, in with the serious, Soren told himself.

The First Night

Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Soren, Spike, and Luna were all gathered in the Ponyville Train Station. The train had yet to arrive but Soren had to do something before they left anyway. He looked upon his friends. These were the friends he quickly made while he had amnesia (well, he technically still did have amnesia). Now he was going to ask a select few to go with him into possible danger.

"Before we leave, I need us to take a vote on something. But first, I'll tell you who I want to come with me. I want only Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash to accompany me on this trip." Before anypony could protest, Soren raised a hoof. "Let me explain. AJ deserves to go because this is her cousin's town we are talking about. Twilight is coming because she can help make a plan on how to deal with this Coyote Colt. Rainbow Dash is coming because she's strong and if something goes horribly wrong, she can fly back here to get the rest of you girls. It may not be perfect but we need options. Now down to the other business." Soren draped a hoof around Luna's neck. "I want us to vote wether or not Luna should tag along."

Everypony there gave Soren a surprised look, with the exception of Twilight, who looked at Soren like she was studying him. The girls figured Soren would want to let Luna come with them, but here he was saying that it should be a vote.

"I would love for Luna to come with us," Soren started, "but I think it would be fair to hear your opinions, especially you, Luna."

The mares thought for a few minutes before casting their votes. Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie voted for Luna to tag along, and Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Spike voted for her to stay in Ponyville. Soren looked at Luna for her vote, but she simply said:

"I shall trust you with that vote, Soren."

Soren sighed and put his head down. Of course I would get the deciding vote, he thought. He looked back up at his friends and marefriend. If I vote for Luna to stay in Ponyville, she'll be safe but might be disappointed. If I vote for her to come with us, it'll be a tie but Luna may use her vote to tag along. Soren sat on his haunches, put a hoof to his chin, and thought hard. It was a very tough choice for him. Luna could easily defend herself, so why was a part of him refusing to have her come with them? He finally had an answer. The mares leaned in closer to hear his final decision.

"I vote..." They leaned in even closer.

"...for Luna to stay." Pinkie's jaw dropped and she fell forward. The rest of Soren's friends all had their jaws open in shock, except the princess. Soren looked at her. She smiled and nodded. Soren returned the smile and walked up to her.

"I told thee I would trust your word," Luna said softly. Soren gave Luna a small kiss and hugged her.

"Thanks for understanding," Soren said.

"You're welcome." The train, being pulled by two stallions, arrived in the station. The train's cars were the engine, luggage, dining, two passenger cars, and the caboose in that order. Soren looked at Twilight, AJ, and Rainbow, then the four of them boarded the train. They waved goodbye to their friends through the windows. Soren focused specifically on Luna, as did she to him. After ten minutes of waiting, the train left the station and headed for Appaloosa. The four friends now had two days and two nights inside the train to think of a plan.

This was Soren's first train ride since he lost his memories, and it was the first time he had left Ponyville. It had only been hours since their departure yet Soren was enjoying himself already. Soren, Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow gathered in the dining car for lunch. After they ate, the four friends began to plan out their arrival in Appaloosa.

"Now that we're done eating," Twilight started, "we should start making a plan. I would like to start by asking: What do we know about Coyote Colt?" The four friends thought for a few seconds before coming up with separate answers.

"Well," Applejack answered, "Ah know Braeburn said his closest allies are a pegasus and two buffalos. Who knows how many ponies and the like he has now?" Soren nodded.

"I saw that pegasus in my dream. He's missing a wing." Applejack looked shocked.

"Braeburn said the pegasus can fly." Now Twilight, Rainbow, and Soren looked shocked.

"That's even worse," Soren continued. "If he can still fly with one wing, he has to be a valuable asset. Rainbow, you gotta keep an eye out for that pegasus."

"Alright," she said, "but how will we stop Coyote Colt from damaging Appaloosa?"

"I think we'll need backup in order to prevent that, but sadly we don't have any." Twilight cleared her throat.

"I have a great plan." Soren, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash looked at her. "There is a herd of buffalo that the Appaloosans became friends with. We could ask them to help. Soren, Rainbow Dash, would you two like to ask them for help since you two are the fastest ponies here?" The two looked at each other. Rainbow Dash smirked.

"Sure...if Soren can keep up," she mocked. Soren smiled at the show of competition.

"I was about to say the same for you," Soren retorted.

"Then it's settled," Twilight said. "First, we all need to ask for the sheriff's approval of our plan. If they believe us, we will set up a defense or something to make sure we are prepared when they come." Soren started laughing. Twilight frowned at him but he started waving both hooves in front of him as if to say 'no.'

"I'm not...laughing...at the plan," Soren said between laughs. "I'm just amazed that...you came up with it...on the spot." Soren took a deep breath. "It's an amazing plan. I think that we're set. What do you two think?" Soren looked at Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"If it's fine for you..." Applejack said.

"Sounds good to me," said Rainbow Dash.

"Nice work, Twilight," Soren praised. "Instead of spending two days coming up with the perfect plan, you managed to do it in twenty minutes. I'm impressed." Twilight blushed a little. "Well, now we can just enjoy this train ride. Let's go find something to do." The mares nodded, so the four of them left the dining car to enjoy their trip.

It was nighttime now. Soren lay on his bed staring at the ceiling in the passenger car of the train. Unfortunately, since the train had two passenger cars, his friends were in the adjacent car. He didn't bother to go wake them up. Just because he couldn't sleep doesn't mean he should prevent his friends from sleeping. As he stared at the ceiling, Soren thought of many things: the plan for Appaloosa, the fact that something may go wrong and destroy the plan, along with other thoughts.

As he wasted time thinking, Soren noticed that the train became quieter. Usually one could hear the train moving along the tracks or the wind moving past the train outside. But at this point, all he could hear was the snoring of the few ponies in the two passenger cars. Soren got out of bed and stood up as he looked at the two other ponies in the car. Something's wrong here... he thought. Just then...

To the roof.

Soren's eyes widened and his ears perked up. What in Celestia's name was that? The voice sounded like a whisper, but he could still hear the slight female tone of it.

Go!

For a few minutes, Soren tried to shake away the voice inside his head, but it wouldn't leave and it only got louder and louder. Finally deciding enough was enough, Soren trotted towards the back of the train. He traveled through the second passenger car before he reached the caboose. The caboose was housing the stallions that towed the train during the day, so he had to sneak by to prevent them from waking up.

Soren opened the caboose door that led outside. Once outside, he took flight and landed on the roof of the train.

Move to the front.

Wanting the voice out of his head as soon as possible, Soren obliged. He flew to the front car and stood there waiting for the voice to speak. As he stood there in the cool night, he noticed lights passing by him. Never noticed the lights by a train track.

Break them. Ten of them.

Although he was confused, Soren gave an annoyed sigh and focused on the lights anyway. It took a few attempts, but he managed to break a light with telekinesis. A few minutes later, Soren broke ten lights. He took a deep breath and waited.

Good...Good...

The voice trailed off. Soren sighed with relief and went back into his passenger car. Now he was tired as he got back into bed. Soren had one final thought before drifting off to sleep. What did I just do?

The Second Night

Soren woke up to the bright new day shining in his face through the window. He jumped off his bed and stretched his body before walking to the dining car for some breakfast. When he arrived, he was surprised to see Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash already eating. Twilight waved Soren over to the table when she saw him enter the car. He smiled and sat down in front of his friends.

"How'd ya sleep last night, Soren?" Applejack asked. Soren yawned and answered her.

"Alright, I guess. I just woke up a few minutes ago."

Twilight frowned a little. "I beg to differ. By the way you sound, I would guess you didn't get much sleep at all."

"No, no, I'm..." Soren yawned again "...fine. Just need some food to wake me up." Soren got up and walked over to the food across the car. The mares looked at each other before returning their gazes to Soren, who was already asleep on some seats by the time they looked back.

Soren was walking through Ponyville in the middle of the day. He looked around at the ponies going about their business. As he looked upon the residents of the small town, the ground started to shake slightly. It slowly built up until it was like an earthquake. Before Soren could take flight, a portion of the ground shot upwards, bringing him with it. As he sky-rocketed upwards, the sky grew darker and clouds began to form.

When it stopped, Soren looked at the section of the earth that formed a tall mesa. He looked over the edge but he couldn't see Ponyville below. All he saw were clouds and the night sky. Pretty soon, he heard laughter. Soren turned around to see the Nightmare Guardian and another alicorn standing side by side. Upon a closer look, he noticed it was Luna standing next to her, laughing! The two alicorn mares walked closer to Soren as their horns began glowing. Soren readied himself but he was too afraid to focus on any spells. The mares continued to laugh as they shot magic at him.

"Night Wing!" Soren woke up and screamed a name. He was laying on his stomach in the passenger car. He was panting then felt a hoof on his foreleg. He looked over to see Rainbow Dash (with her hoof on his foreleg) and Applejack smiling at him sincerely. Twilight was pointing her glowing horn at him. Remembering the attacking alicorns, he nearly scooted away with his head down in fear, but Rainbow's hoof told him to relax. Twilight Sparkle ended her spell and gave Soren a small smile. He began to relax as he looked back up. Taking a deep breath, Soren spoke first.

"What happened?"

Twilight chuckled. "You fell asleep before you could even reach the food. We were worried about you so we brought you back here. And since we were worried, I used a spell to witness whatever dream you were having...and it wasn't pretty." Soren shuddered at the memory of that dream. Luna and the Nightmare Guardian...working together. Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder to comfort him.

"I yelled 'Night Wing' when I woke up," Soren stated. "Why?"

"From what I saw in your dream, Night Wing had to have been the Nightmare Guardian's real name. Are you going to be alright?" Soren nodded.

"I feel more rested than before, but that dream is going to stay with me for awhile."

"Don't you worry 'bout a thing," Applejack said happily. "Just remember what we came here for. By tha way, why were y'all tired to begin with? Ah thought you didn't have a problem sleepin'." Soren chuckled a little.

"I usually don't. I guess it was what happened to me last night..." Soren then began to explain the events that took place last night. The further in the story he got, the more nervous his friends became. When he finished, Soren finally got out of bed and stood up.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Soren," Rainbow Dash assured. "I'm sure it was nothing. How about you relax today? We got one heck of day tomorrow." Soren smiled and walked towards the dining car again, his friends right behind him. He completely forgot that he was hungry. First he planned on eating, then he planned on relaxing the day away.

Why are the days always relaxing but the nights aren't? thought Soren as he lay in bed. He woke up in the middle of the night. Groaning, Soren realized he shouldn't try to sleep right away, so instead he went to the roof of the train again, except this time he just went to the middle of the train.

Soren looked at the nighttime horizon as he sat on his haunches. He stared at the glowing crescent moon and the shining stars. A fluttering of wings and the sound of hooves landing resonated next to him. He was not interrupted but was instead joined by the pegasus. Without even looking at the pony, Soren could tell it was Rainbow Dash. Even though she was a fast flyer, she was noisy sometimes. The two of them just sat there and enjoyed each other's company while looking at the night sky. Rainbow Dash was the first to speak.

"Couldn't sleep?" Even without looking, Rainbow Dash knew Soren shook his head. "At least nothing bad happened. You're just out here enjoying the view."

"Heh, I guess so," Soren finally said. "But peaceful moments like these make me a little sad. When I'm relaxed like this, my mind wanders. And when that happens, some sad thoughts seep in." Soren paused and finally looked at his rainbow-maned friend. "Rainbow Dash..." She turned her head towards him. "...is it bad for me to not want to remember my past?" The look on Rainbow's face showed that she never would have expected Soren to ask that question.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I've never been in that position, so I can't give you an answer. But if you prefer your new life in Ponyville then I guess that's your choice." She paused. "Can I be honest with you?"

"Of course."

"Remember the day we first met?" Soren nodded. "How I was mean to you right off the bat? Well, after the seven of us became good friends, I started to feel...guilty about how I treated you. And I don't know why, but I still feel a little guilty even to this day. Can you explain that?"

"Rainbow Dash..." Soren shifted over to be right beside her. "I understand why you feel that way, but the past is the past." Soren paused and whispered again. "The past is the past." He smiled. "I think I just answered my own question as well as yours. Anyway, don't feel bad about our first day. I forgave you that very same day if you remember." Rainbow Dash smiled and gave him a doubtful look.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I'm a very forgiving pony. Plus, I aim to make all my friends as happy as possible, and I'll forgive them for almost anything to make that happen. I just wish it was possible for me to accomplish that goal." Rainbow Dash got closer to Soren and just stared at him. When he looked back at her, she spoke up.

"Well, you made at least one friend pretty happy." That was when the unthinkable happened: Rainbow Dash leaned in and kissed Soren. Soren broke the kiss almost instantly. As he blushed and his wings extended unintentionally, Soren stood up and took a step back. Rainbow also stood up, looking surprised as well; her wings were also extended. "Sorry about that." She flapped her wings, winked at Soren, and then flew back into the train.

Soren just stood there, dumbstruck, as he stared in the direction of the caboose. Rainbow Dash... he thought. But she knows I'm with Luna. And she would never try to purposely ruin that, would she? No. And that kiss. Why did I...? He trailed off that last thought. He didn't like where his mind was going. He flew back into the train, went back into the passenger car, and got in bed to sleep. Although his mind continued to process just what the hay happened up there, Soren managed to force himself to fall asleep.

Author's Note

Sorry for the relatively short chapter. I break up my chapters where I think a space is needed. Also, I know some people will probably react negatively to this chapter, but it's my story and this is how things happened. I could honestly care less. :P

Old Friends, New Plan

The Appaloosa Inn was definitely the tallest building in town. It had only three floors but the amount of rooms it had could house more ponies than one would think. Since Appaloosa is relatively small, the six ponies entered the inn within a minute of leaving SilverStar's office. They walked through the front doors as SilverStar was giving them advice.

"Ah hope you can convince the buffalos like you convinced me. They may be our only way out of this." Soren understood, so he nodded. The sheriff looked at Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash as everypony stopped in the inn's lobby. "Since y'all are staying the night, might as well grab a room at this here inn. Ah'll ask the lady for some rooms and ask her if she c'n send the performers down here to chat with old friends." SilverStar walked towards the counter to speak with the mare working.

"This plan of yours better work, Soren," Twilight said worriedly.

"Do we really have a choice right now?" he retorted.

"Sadly, no."

"Don't you worry, egghead," Rainbow Dash said. "Me and Soren will get those buffalos to help Appaloosa. Besides, I'm sure Strongheart can put in a good word for Soren."

"Strongheart is a buffalo?" Soren asked. "I guess that makes a lot of sense. Still can't wait to meet her." SilverStar approached the group and explained that they would need to wait awhile for the singers to come down. Nopony argued and settled for waiting in the lobby and conversing with each other.

After thirty minutes passed, the two singers walked into the lobby. Soren smiled as he saw the ponies he was expecting.

"Soren!" The Pega-Singers exclaimed in unison. "How ya been, buddy?" the shorter asked.

"I've been fine," Soren replied. "I'm sorry to say that we'll have to catch up later. Time is of the essence and we need your help."

"What do you need?" the taller said.

"This may be hard to believe but this town is going to be raided during your last performance." The performers' eyes widened but Soren continued anyway. "Rainbow Dash and I are going to fly from town and talk to a herd of buffalos to see if they are willing to help. While we're gone, I need you two to stall the performance as long as possible. I'm betting that their cue to attack is the end of the show, and if we stop it completely they'll know something is wrong." Twilight was utterly amazed at Soren right now. I just know he reminds me of somepony, she thought.

"As you two stall for time," Soren continued, "Twilight and Applejack will inform the townsfolk about the raid but the ponies will also need to not panic. When the crowd is at the stage, Twilight and AJ will keep watch for the raiders. When they see them, my friends will alert everypony to run and hide. Hopefully by then the buffalos will show up." Everypony was silent. Finally, Applejack asked.

"What about you and Rainbow? What will you two do when y'all come back?"

"We'll be far too exhausted from flying as fast as possible to do anything right away, but if given enough time to rest, we'll help fight off the raiders as soon as we can get back. It's a sketchy plan but it's the best one we have at the moment. So are you in?" The performers looked at each other.

"As long as we don't have to fight," answered the shorter. "As you can probably guess, we aren't fighters." Soren chuckled.

"True. Anyway, Rainbow...we should get going. We have a lot of sky to cover and very little time to do so." Rainbow nodded. "Everypony else know their part of the plan? Braeburn, SilverStar, just help my friends inform the crowd, ok?" They nodded. "Since that's everything..." Soren trotted towards the door with Rainbow Dash right behind him. When the two took flight, Rainbow only had one comment to make:

"And you wonder why I kissed you. How many ponies can instantly become a leader like that?" Soren shook his head and laughed as the two of them flew away from Appaloosa.

Soren and Rainbow have been flying through the desert for the better part of an hour. They weren't particularly tired but they were certainly bored of flying in a straight line. Rainbow Dash had the idea of racing but Soren insisted that they save their energy. It was definitely going to be a long trip. As time ticked on, the two started admiring the scenery. The once flat, sandy landscape merged into a mesa-infested, sandy landscape. Rainbow Dash had another idea.

"Are you sure we can't have just one race from mesa to mesa?" she complained. "It'll be better than flying steadily and in a straight line." Soren sighed.

"Fine. But only one race. I don't want to risk tiring ourselves out faster than we need to." The two pegasi landed on the nearest mesa and began searching for another that was a good enough distance away. Once they spotted one, the pair readied themselves.

"Three," Soren counted down, "...Two...One...Go!" Soren and Rainbow Dash shot off the mesa like comets. They would easily reach the other mesa in ten seconds, but the question was 'Who would make it there first?'

They were almost at the mountain when an explosion occurred in front of them. They skidded to a halt and looked around. "What was that?!" Rainbow asked.

"An explo-" Soren was cut off by another explosion that nearly hit them both. "Take cover!" he shouted. The two looked around frantically for a place to hide, all while dodging the incoming attacks.

"There!" Rainbow shouted, while pointing to a gap on the side of a mesa. They flew straight for it while explosions sounded behind them. They barely slipped inside the opening when yet another explosion hit the entrance.

Soren and Rainbow Dash sat there in the darkness, waiting for whatever was trying to hurt them. After a minute passed, they assumed the thing went away. Soren had a quick realization about the situation.

"Wait...Sheriff SilverStar said that that one pegasus broke his buddy out of prison with explosives. Does that mean...?" Soren was interrupted yet again, this time by somepony finishing his thought.

"...that One-Winged Willie was throwin' explosives at you? Yep, but he ain't the one about to do this." Soren and Rainbow Dash turned around to see a glowing horn illuminating the face of a grey unicorn colt. 'Coyote Colt!' was Soren's only thought before a massive explosion blasted both of them back and onto the ground. The two fell hard onto the cave floor and just stayed there. That explosion was more deadly than the ones outside.

As he lay on the floor, Soren forced himself to open one of his eyes to look at what's happening. He saw Rainbow Dash on the floor near him. His heart skipped a beat as he saw the damage inflicted to her. She had burn marks dotted on her body and smoke was protruding from her. Although the damage probably wasn't life-threatening, Soren still felt worried about her.

He saw a pegasus walk into the cave. He met Coyote Colt by the entrance. Soren assumed this was One-Winged Willie. Willie did indeed have only one wing (yet he still flew), his mane and coat were similar shades of brown, and his cutie mark resembled a whirlwind. Soren also saw a belt of grenades slung diagonally across the pony's chest. Soren's ears were ringing from the explosion, so he couldn't hear anything they were saying. Eventually, the two took off, leaving an injured Soren and an unconscious Rainbow Dash in the cave.

Once the ringing his ears stopped, Soren quickly walked over to check on Rainbow. He used a diagnosis spell, which he learned from his studies, on her to see if anything vital was damaged. As this was happening, Rainbow Dash groaned and looked at Soren. He looked back at her, and she simply chuckled.

"One heck of a hit, huh?" she asked weakly. Frowning sadly, Soren just focused on the spell. After a few more seconds, the glow of his horn faded.

"Lucky for you, you're not internally injured. But you will need to rest a lot before doing anything strenuous." He paused before continuing. "You trust me, don't you?"

"You really gotta ask me that?" Rainbow lifted her head off the ground but seemed as though she was struggling.

"You're right. So then you wouldn't mind me saying that in order to get to the buffalos, I'll need to carry you on my back? I'll have to walk of course, but this is the only way to make it there and back in time...maybe." Dash rested her head back on the ground.

"Do what you gotta do, Soren. Just make sure we don't let Appaloosa down."

"You're going to be ok." Soren engulfed Rainbow Dash with magic. This surprised her but she relaxed almost instantly. He levitated her onto his back and stopped the spell. "I could levitate you all the way there but I doubt I'll be able to repeat that on the way back. We're almost there anyway so just relax." Rainbow slowly nodded and Soren began his descent from the mesa cave. He reached the ground smoothly and began his long walk toward the buffalo herd.

Author's Note

I wonder if anyone can figure out who the Pega-Singers are similar too in the real world?

Return to Appaloosa

The sun was beginning its descent as the duo made it to their destination. It took Soren an hour and a half of walking with Rainbow, who fell asleep on his back, before reaching a camp site of teepees and tents. Soren started calling out to anyone in the camp, but no one answered or showed their face. It took a minute before a big buffalo finally exited an even bigger teepee. Soren simply stared at the huge animal. The buffalo gave the white alicorn a scan until he laid eyes on Rainbow Dash on Soren's back.

"What happened to her?" he asked Soren in a deep voice. Soren was still a little paralyzed by the size of the buffalo but soon regained composure. He was easily five times Soren's size.

"We were ambushed around the mesas," Soren replied. "Rainbow Dash is fine, but I need to ask: Are you the herd of buffalos that befriended the ponies of Appaloosa?" A collective gasp could be heard not far from where the two were talking. The other buffalos were waiting behind their tents.

"Indeed we are, but after we befriended those ponies, our herds have grown bigger and bigger over the years. So big, in fact, that camps were created to house our kind. Some would stay in these camps while others would follow me as I travel the land. Regardless, I seemed to have forgotten to introduce myself. I am Chief ThunderHooves. And who might you be, young alicorn?"

"My name is Soren. And I'm here on important business, Chief ThunderHooves." The chief raised an eyebrow. "Appaloosa is in danger. Not a massive amount of danger but a great enough danger that should be stopped."

"What is this danger? And why do you need our help?"

"You all are the closest friends to Appaloosa, both emotionally and geographically. Therefore, we came for your help to stop Coyote Colt from raiding the town." ThunderHooves eyes widened.

"The Coyote Colt? The pony who accepted the companionship of two of our traitors? We will help in anyway we can, but I will not risk endangering too many buffalos."

"I wouldn't want you to anyway. It wouldn't be worth it. We are just asking for a little help...and to give Rainbow Dash a chance to rest. I plan on heading back tomorrow morning if that's ok with you, chief." The chief nodded.

"Very well. Take Rainbow Dash to that tent over there and I will go find three volunteers to accompany you back." Soren nodded and took Rainbow Dash to the instructed tent.

Once inside, Soren placed Rainbow on a cloth on the ground. She still had a few cuts and burn marks, as did he, but she was definitely better than before. Soren decided that he should relax as well, so he rested near her. After a few minutes passed, the chief walked in with a little buffalo, who was about the size of a pony.

"This is Little Strongheart; one of the best scouts we have. She will accompany you two back to Appaloosa. I will have to send the other two tomorrow. When do you think this raid will occur?" Soren saw Strongheart walk towards Rainbow Dash and begin to inspect her. He turned back to the chief.

"We believe it will happen near sunset tomorrow during a performance in town. I really don't have the energy to explain every little detail, but that's the most important information." The chief nodded and left the tent. Soren turned his attention to Strongheart again as she just finished looking at Rainbow Dash.

"What happened to you two out there?" she asked.

"Coyote Colt ambushed us with an explosive spell," Soren said evenly. "Being an alicorn, I was able to endure it more than Rainbow could. Luckily, she isn't internally damaged."

"I beg to differ. Her wings are in horrible shape." Her wings? How could I forget her wings?! Soren scolded himself. "She shouldn't fly with these wings for quite awhile. How do you plan on making it back in time?"

"I-I forgot to check her wings..." Soren whispered while his ears drooped. He only slightly regained himself when he looked at Strongheart. "I plan on sleeping for a little and then heading out as soon as possible. It took us awhile just to fly here. I can only imagine walking."

"It doesn't take so long if you run, but with Rainbow Dash on your back, I don't know how that will work out for you." Soren started smiling.

"I thought you knew Rainbow better than I did. You should know that she won't stay down for long." Just as he said that, Rainbow groaned and turned over onto her back. "How ya feeling, Rainbow?"

"Like I fell off of a cloud," she replied. She opened her eyes and looked at her surroundings. Then she saw... "Strongheart! Great to see you again. How have you been?"

"I've been great, Rainbow Dash. Recently, we-" Soren coughed. The two friends looked at him.

"Although I don't mind you two catching up, can we wait until the walk back? I'd like to get as much rest as possible."

"Good idea," Strongheart said. "I'll ask the chief to wake you up after one hour."

"Thank you, Strongheart." Strongheart left the tent, leaving Rainbow Dash and Soren to sleep and heal.

The Next Day

Twilight, Applejack, Braeburn, and SilverStar just finished explaining the upcoming raid to the townsfolk. At first, they were all scared, of course, but when the plan was mentioned, most of everypony calmed down. After the announcement, Braeburn and SilverStar went to talk to the Pega-Singers about their part of the plan, while Twilight and Applejack searched for good spots to look out for Coyote Colt and his gang.

"We could always try the third floor of the inn," Twilight told Applejack as they stood at the edge of town. AJ shook her head.

"Ah think we shouldn't be in the center o' town. Or we could be in a building closer to the edge."

"You're right. We still have an hour or two to decide so let's keep looking." Twilight and Applejack started walking back into town but were stopped when they noticed a nearby barrel moving.

Upon a closer look, the mares saw that it was being moved with magic. Twilight recognized the light green aura and turned around. She gasped. Twilight tapped on Applejack's shoulder, pointed to the horizon, and started running in that direction. Applejack didn't see what Twilight was running at, but after a few more seconds passed, she saw it. Soren, horn aglow, was walking towards Appaloosa. To his left was Rainbow Dash and to his right was Strongheart. Twilight caught up to them but stopped when she saw all the marks on their their bodies.

"What happened to you two?!" she exclaimed.

"Long story, Twilight," Soren panted. "Let's just get somewhere comfortable, please. We had a long walk."

All of them went to the town hall and stopped on the hospital floor. While there, Soren and Rainbow Dash explained what happened to them out there and what Chief ThunderHooves promised.

"Well at least he's sending help," Twilight said after the explanation was over. "The raid isn't far off. I hope they arrive in time."

"C'mon, Twilight. We can handle this ourselves," Rainbow boasted. "We've been through worse, right?"

"You have a point, but still...this is a group of ponies invading a town."

"How long until the Pega-Singers perform?" Soren asked.

"Maybe two hours," Applejack replied. "Ah say you two deserve a break 'til that happens." Soren and Rainbow Dash nodded. Everyone else left the two to sleep for the remaining two hours until things got serious.

Soren stood in a crowd in front of a stage. The Pega-Singers were told to perform on their regularly scheduled time since Soren and Rainbow Dash returned. The crowd was excited yet terrified. From what Soren and his friends could gather, the town already became fans of the performers. When the music started and the two pegasi began their performance, it didn't take long for the crowd to be captivated by their voices. Not the kind of music I would sing, Soren thought to himself, but it's still very entertaining. Especially since they're acting like robots.

After three songs, Applejack gave word that the raiders were already heading this way. Soren and Twilight quickly started to calm everypony down and instructed them to enter somewhere safe. When most ponies were safe, the two ran to meet Applejack, Rainbow, and Strongheart at the edge of town. As they ran, Soren noticed something strange: Twilight wasn't with him. He looked back to see her still running, except in a slow-motion-like state. He looked around town and saw that everything else was moving in slow motion as well. This is almost like a... Soren's eyes widened.

He sat up immediately on the couch he was resting on. He looked around and found himself in the doctor's office. The doctor frowned when he saw Soren wake up.

"They told me not to wake you," the doctor explained. "They said you needed your rest, but I..." Soren waved a hoof in the air.

"Doesn't matter," Soren assured. "What's going on outside?"

"The raid."

The Raid

Soren was worried and a little angry. The raid was happening as he slept, and his friends chose to let him sleep! He felt like he was going to throw things across the room. He was just about to make that come true before Strongheart burst inside the building.

"Doc, is Soren awake yet?" she asked hurriedly. The stallion pointed towards the scowling alicorn levitating many things. Soren saw the buffalo and put everything down. He stormed up to her.

"Why?" he asked almost as a whisper. Strongheart looked a little puzzled. "Why?!" he asked louder so she could hear his rage. "You all had let me sleep when I could have very well helped to protect this town when the raid began. Why?!"

"'Cause you passed out!" she yelled back with the same volume as Soren. "When we reached the edge of town, your friends saw us and met us, then you face-planted on the ground and wouldn't get up. You were too tired to do anything, so we kept you here until the raid started, which is now!" Soren calmed down and hung his head.

"You girls were right to do that. I'm sorry I snapped."

"It's fine. Let's go stop this thing." Soren nodded, then the two ran out the door.

As Strongheart and Soren ran towards the center of town, Soren could see small buildings catching on fire, ponies running and screaming, and bandits chasing those ponies. As the they neared the center of town, Strongheart insisted on leaving Soren's side to go help the ponies being chased.

"I'll go help Twilight protect the townsfolk," Applejack said. Soren nodded.

"I can handle Coyote Colt on my own. Go protect everypony," Soren responded. She gave a nod and ran a separate direction. Soren continued to run straight.

He eventually saw the stage that was in the middle of town, and upon that stage was none other than Coyote Colt, grinning at the chaos he and his crew were causing. It was just like Soren's dream, except that One-Winged Willie wasn't with him. The stage was relatively large, so Soren was able to step onto it while still being a fair distance away from the bandit leader.

"Hey, Colt!" Soren shouted, slight anger building up. Coyote Colt looked at the alicorn. He chuckled.

"Looks like y'all survived being blasted by me," the colt said confidently. "Shame that pegasus gal of urs didn't fare the same. Ah can see her runnin' around without flyin'. Her wing hurt?"

"Doesn't matter. This is between me and you now. You decided to hurt innocent ponies, so now I'm afraid I have to stop you."

"Y'all think you can beat me? The fastest spell in alla the land? Get o'er urself, buddy." Coyote laughed again, and when he was done laughing, he sent three knives at Soren's face. Soren broke a plank of wood from the stage and levitated it in front of him. The knives dug into the wood without breaking it. Soren threw it aside and shot a green beam of magic at the colt. The colt dodged it and levitated eight more knives out from a satchel he had on his side.

"Catch" was all he said as he flung every single blade at Soren. Soren's eyes widened as he froze from shock. As the blades were close to impacting him, his horn suddenly began to glow. The blades were now a foot or two away from him. The came closer and closer...and closer...until...

...the blades impacted mud. Soren stared wide-eyed at what he apparently created. His magic had engulfed the dirt, brought it in front of him, and transformed it into mud thick enough to stop the blades. When Coyote Colt saw this, he became angry and shot a fireball at Soren. The spell was strong enough to blow apart the mud it impacted, to send Soren to the ground, and to catch him on fire.

Someone wants to play, a familiar voice echoed in Soren's head.

Twilight Sparkle just finished sending ponies to the outskirts of town, away from the fire and raiders. She ran back into Appaloosa to look for more ponies, but what she saw instead both frightened and amazed her. She looked at the stage where Soren was fighting Coyote Colt, and she was just in time to see Soren get hit with a fireball, which caught him on fire. She ran towards the stage, but by the time she was halfway, something happened.

As he lay on the ground on fire, Soren slowly got up. As he stood up, the fire surrounding him grew in size. It eventually became so thick that it prevented anypony from seeing Soren. Then it exploded. The first thing Twilight noticed was that Soren changed physically. His normally white coat became orange, his black mane became pure fire, his eyes changed to red, and his cutie mark changed to a meteor. He looked like he came straight from the sun! Twilight got closer to the stage as she saw Soren's eyes turn pure white. Soren walked up to Coyote Colt, who was becoming a little scared at this point.

"Now," Soren said with what sounded like two ponies talking, "where were we?" Coyote Colt started backing up, but couldn't move back very fast because of fear gripping at him. "Don't run away, we only want to finish what we started." Soren teleported in front of the colt and stared him down. Coyote could only stare back as the fiery alicorn stood before him.

"P-P-Please don't k-kill me," Coyote said. He's scared out of his mind, Twilight thought.

"Oh we weren't planning on it. We'll give you one chance to flee with all of your bandit friends and to never return here again...any of you." Coyote nodded. Soren leaned into one of the colt's ears. "Run!" he whispered with an almost crazy grin. The colt's ears shot up then he dashed away. Soren magnified his voice without magic.

"FOLLOWERS OF COYOTE COLT, YOUR LEADER HAS BEEN DEFEATED! LEAVE NOW OR YOU WILL SUFFER A HORRIBLE FATE!" The fiery Soren looked upon all of the bandits who stopped. They ran out of town upon seeing the alicorn standing there and Coyote Colt running.

After most of the bandits left town, Soren collapsed onto his side on the stage. Slowly, he reverted back to normal. His mane died out, his coat changed back to white, and his cutie mark flashed back on his flank. Twilight ran up to him, sat next to him, and put both hooves on his cheeks.

"Soren?" Twilight asked worriedly. The alicorn groaned and opened his eyes.

"Don't tell me I had another dream," he said. Twilight just hugged him. "Alright, what happened to me this time?"

"Long story," she said. "Let's just make sure everypony is alright." Soren nodded slowly, but continued to lay there. Applejack and Rainbow Dash trotted up to them.

"Soren, you alright?" Applejack asked. "We heard you yellin' at alla the raiders."

"I'm fine, I'm just tired. I think I used a lot of magic." AJ looked at Twilight, who just nodded. The farmer looked back to Soren to discover him sleeping.

"I think Soren should rest while the rest of us help the town." The two mares nodded.

"He's sleeping more than me, and I was injured," Rainbow commented as Twilight levitated Soren and walked him to the infirmary.

Soren opened his eyes to the light shining through a window. He looked around and found himself in a small room. It was a cozy place with a bed, a nightstand, and one open window with curtains. Soren got out of bed and left the room. Upon seeing stairs and walking down them, Soren realized that he was in the Appaloosa Inn. He stepped into the lobby and saw a few familiar ponies talking to each other. His friends saw him and ran up to greet him. They all gave Soren a group hug, which he returned.

"What happened to me?" Soren asked. "I feel worn out."

"Magic depletion," Twilight said. "Happens to unicorns when they use an excessive amount of magic."

"And when did I do that? Come to think of it, how long have I been sleeping?" The mares looked at each other nervously.

"Soren," Rainbow Dash said, "you've been asleep for two days. Today is our fourth day in Appaloosa." Soren's eyes widened.

"Twilight...how much magic did I use? What. Happened?!"

"Calm down, Soren," the purple unicorn said. "You're fine. I'll explain everything on the train ride back to Ponyville. The train leaves tomorrow. In the meantime, we all need to help repair Appaloosa as much as we can before leaving."

"Alright, I guess we do need something to do on the way back. I better make sure I say goodbye to the Pega-Singers before they leave. Where are they anyway?"

"Sugarcube, they left yesterday," Applejack explained. "So did Little Strongheart."

"Crap. Well I'm sure I'll see them again someday." Soren's stomach growled. "Heheh, how about we get some food before helping out?." They shared a laughed, then the four of them left the inn.

A Musician's Past

After one day of repairing Appaloosa, Soren and the girls were finally leaving the nice, little (although slightly damaged) town to head back home. The six-car train pulled into the Appaloosan Train Station as everypony was saying their goodbyes.

"Y'all come back and visit real soon," Braeburn said as he waved to Applejack, who was already stepping on the train. AJ waved back as she waited for her friends. The sheriff walked up to Soren and Twilight.

"Ah can't thank y'all enough for what you did for this town," SilverStar said. "Y'all came here on a whim and saved us because of it. If there's anything you need..." Soren stopped the sheriff.

"That won't be necessary," he said sincerely. "We came here just to help, not to get a reward in return. I just wanted to do something... brave, I guess. I am supposed to be the Elemental Guardian, afterall."

"The what now?"

"It's not important. Are you girls ready?" Soren turned to Twilight and Rainbow. They finished their goodbyes and all got on the train. Running to the nearest window, the four of them waved goodbye to Braeburn and Sheriff SilverStar as the train departed. Within seconds, the train was moving towards Ponyville.

"Run that by me again." Soren, Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were gathered around a dining car table once again. They were reflecting on the things that happened during the raid.

"After you were caught on fire, I believe the Fire Elemental took control of you, or least joined you," Twilight explained. "I heard two voices, and you used the word 'we' instead of 'I' when speaking." Soren considered this.

"I guess that makes sense, since I became a fire alicorn. So why did I pass out after the Elemental left?"

"Like I said a few days ago: magic depletion. It happens to all unicorns now and again if they push themselves too hard. Even I went through that at least twice."

"When can Soren use his magic again?" Rainbow Dash asked her.

"I would wait until we reach Ponyville to try anything. Is that alright, Soren? That way you won't exert your magic again and make it worse." Soren nodded.

"Not to sound happy that Appaloosa got attacked but that cert'nly was a good adventure in the end," Applejack said, going off topic. "We haven't had one like that in forever. Too bad the gals missed it." Rainbow and Twilight agreed.

"Our next adventure will be to waste time on this train ride," Soren said sarcastically. The mares laughed even though they all knew it was true.

After two days and two nights on the train, the four friends finally arrived in Ponyville the next morning. The familiar sights brought a smile to all of their faces.

"We're finally back home," Soren said. Applejack and Twilight looked at him.

"Home?" Twilight asked first. "Don't you want to find your real home?" Soren shook his head.

"I've decided that I'm not going to dwell on my past. Ponyville is my new home, and you girls are my new friends and family."

"Well I'm certainly glad to have that honor, darling." The voice didn't belong to any of them. The group of four simultaneously turned their heads to the entrance of the station to find Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy standing there. "Pinkie Pie, it would seem that your senses were right once again. We made it right on time."

"My Pinkie Senses are always right!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in her normally hyper voice, which the four of them honestly missed. "Now we just need to do one more thing to welcome our friends back."

"And that would be...?" Twilight asked, drawing out the last word.

"A 'Welcome Back Home' party, silly! I gotta go prepare. See ya later." And with a short hop and a trail of smoke later, Pinkie Pie was gone. Although Soren was confused by Pinkie's physics-defying actions, he noticed somepony was missing.

"Where's Luna?" he asked.

"Oh, she's near Town Hall listening to Vinyl and Octavia play music," Fluttershy said. "You can go find her while we help Pinkie Pie with the party." Soren looked at the three mares he traveled with. They smiled and nodded at him to go. With a smile back, Soren left the train station and took to the sky.

It didn't take long for Soren to arrive at Town Hall. He indeed saw Vinyl and Octavia playing their music for anypony that would stop and listen, but something was a little strange. Usually they play their music inside the club, Soren thought as he descended upon finding the mare he was looking for. He landed next to Luna, which caused her to look in his direction. The princess smiled then hugged him.

"Soren, you have returned!" the princess exclaimed happily. "We see thou has some battle scars from Appaloosa." Soren looked at himself to find that he still had scratches (not scars) from his battle with Coyote Colt.

"Yeah, it was definitely an interesting fight, but the town is safe. Although Rainbow Dash now has an injured wing, everyone is fine."

"You should explain everything that happened."

"I would but..." Soren turned his head towards the two musicians. He began to hear the music clearly for the first time. "Why does their music sound depressing? That's not like them at all."

"Indeed. Many ponies around here believe that those mares are trying to say something important. They believe something is wrong with them." Soren continued to watch Vinyl play slow beats on her mixing board while Octavia played on her cello. He didn't know why they couldn't ask somepony for help. When the song ended, Soren took this opportunity to talk to Vinyl. He flew onstage next to the DJ.

"Vinyl, is something wrong with you two? You girls don't usually play sad music."

"Oh hey, Soren. I don't play sad music but sometimes Tavi does. She's asking me to help her play music right now cuz..." Vinyl was interrupted by Octavia, who walked up to the two ponies.

"Because I'm dealing with a problem," she said flatly. "I'm playing these songs to clear my mind and to find an answer."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Soren asked. Octavia looked him over for a minute. They have met plenty of times, but they weren't particularly close.

"Fine, I'll tell you," Octavia sighed, "but only because the princess is with you and she may be able to help, do you understand?" Soren was slightly taken aback by Octavia's forwardness, but he nodded. "I shall tell you somewhere more private. Meet me and Vinyl at our house in a few minutes, and bring Princess Luna too." Soren simply nodded again.

"Don't let her bluntness get to you," Vinyl whispered to Soren as Octavia started leaving. "She's just going through a small life-crises right now. I'll see you in a bit." Vinyl ran off to catch up with her best friend/roommate. Soren walked back to Luna and explained the situation.

"One can only wonder what is troubling a high-class mare such as herself," Luna stated after the explanation.

Soren and Luna arrived at the musicians' home. The couple knocked on the door and were soon let inside by Vinyl. She then led them further into the living room, which had two couches facing each other, a table between the couches, a small kitchen connected to the main room, and a door with a sign that read "Recording Studio." Octavia was seated on one of the couches. Vinyl sat next to her as Soren and Luna sat together on the opposite couch. Silence filled the room for a few seconds before Vinyl got the conversation going.

"Go on, Octavia. I bet Soren and Luna can help you out." Octavia waited a few more seconds before starting.

"I guess I should start by telling you both about my life before I came to Ponyville. After I moved out of my parents house in Canterlot, I found my own apartment in the same city. At first, it was very nice staying in Canterlot; the ponies, the music, the class. But after a few weeks, I was having trouble paying my rent. My job was to play my music at restaurants, only...I wasn't playing at the finest of places. The establishment wasn't necessarily bad, but I would have preferred a more popular venue.

"Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore. There was no way I could possibly pay the rent and no way a famous pony would just pick me up and sign me a deal. So I left Canterlot. Carrying only my violin, I left for the easiest and nicest town to reach...Ponyville. I arrived before dawn, so I looked for a place to play my music. I was going to show those ponies what I could do, then maybe I could receive some aid to start a life. When I saw ponies leave their homes, I began to play. At first, nopony paid any attention to me. As I continued to play, more ponies listened but none really cared...except one. One mare truly appreciated my music, even if she didn't say it in the nicest of ways. This is where Vinyl comes in.

"When I took my first break around noon, Vinyl walked up to me and asked if I could 'step up my beat.' I protested but Vinyl was very persistent on asking me to try. It eventually turned into a verbal battle between the two of us. Mayor Mare had to break us up. The mayor then asked why I was in town, so I told her about me becoming homeless within a few days. Before the mayor could respond, Vinyl asked me to be her roommate. When asked why, Vinyl said that we could make music together and that we could split the rent. At first, I denied the offer, but after more consideration, I agreed. We've been roommates ever since."

Octavia could see that she went way off topic when talking about her past, so she decided to finally tell them her problem. "I promise that my past is relevant to my dilemma. Now then, it all started when I received a letter from Canterlot two days ago. It said that a prestigious restaurant in Canterlot was asking me to perform as musical entertainment along with other ponies as a job. At first, I was excited. I was finally going to be able to perform my music for other ponies and receive a decent pay. But then...I continued reading. Apparently the manager of this establishment had an empty loft for sale above the venue itself, and he wanted to rent it to me. This is when I realized that I would have to leave my friends behind just to pursue my dream of allowing my music to become well-known. Ever since that day, I have yet to come to a decision."

Silence once again filled the living room of the two musicians' home. Vinyl put a foreleg around Octavia's shoulder to comfort her, and Soren looked at Luna to discover that she had a certain expression on her face that she was trying to hide. He didn't recognize it at first because he has never seen Luna like this.

"Luna?" Soren asked. The princess looked at him. "Is there something wrong? You look... nervous."

"I am fine, Soren," she assured, turning to look at Octavia. "It is just that I may have a solution to your problem, dear Octavia." Luna turned towards Soren again. "Soren, while you were gone, my sister had a message delivered to me so that I may give it to you upon your return." Luna teleported a scroll into the room and floated it to Soren. Soren looked back at Luna, yet she simply nodded at him to read it.

Soren used his own magic to open the scroll and hold it in front of him. He cleared his throat before reading aloud.

"Dear Soren,

It has come to my attention that your singing talents are very popular among the ponies of Ponyville. It is because of this that I hereby grant you a chance to show the ponies of Canterlot your talent. I invite you (and whomever you shall bring with you) to perform a concert for the citizens of Canterlot. You may also bring any friends you wish so they can watch the performance. I'll be sure to make room for them. There is no set date, for I do not know if you will accept this invitation. Please send me a letter of response whenever you have the chance.

Your ruler,
Princess Celestia

PS: I would love to hear if Luna plans to perform with you in this concert."

Soren rolled up the scroll and placed it on the table between the couches. A smile appeared on his face as he thought of something.

"Octavia," he said, "would you and Vinyl like to perform in the concert?" Vinyl looked excited but Octavia still showed a neutral expression. Everypony waited for the cellist to say something. It took a couple of seconds before she did.

"This is what I will do. I'll accompany you in the concert, Soren, but I only want to be there to show those ponies what they missed when I was living in Canterlot." Soren and Luna looked surprised. Octavia didn't simply refuse the offer from her letter, she wanted to shove her music in their faces! "They had their chance to recognize my talent, but they never did. So now, I'll show them what they were too blind to see. When should we start preparing?"

"I don't know yet," Soren said slowly, still trying to believe what Octavia said. "I need to tell the princess that I accept first. Luna, could you go have Spike deliver the message to Celestia while we think of the things we need, please?"

"Of course, I shall be back soon." Luna teleported out of the living room within a second after responding. I should have known she would do that, Soren chuckled to himself.

"So what do we need, Soren?" Vinyl asked. "We have me, you, and Octavia. Who else should we bring?" Soren put a hoof to his chin in thought.

"I need ponies that can play certain instruments. Using magic on all of them would be too exhausting for me during a long performance. I could also use a small choir to sing with me. That would keep the concert interesting."

"Where will Vinyl and I fit into this performance?" Octavia asked.

"That's an easy one. You two are the opening act." Soren held back a chuckle upon seeing his friends' surprised expressions. "You two didn't think I would let you blend in with my performance, did you?"

"Soren, you never stop amazing me," Vinyl said while smiling.

"Agreed," Octavia added. "I could gather a few ponies for the choir and one or two instrumentalist for the band. Vinyl, can you find more ponies to join us?" Vinyl nodded. "Now all we need is Luna to-"

"SURPRISE!!!"

Both Soren and Octavia fell back over their couches in surprise. Vinyl was dying with laughter as she stayed on her side of the couch. Luna teleported all seven of Soren's friends into Vinyl and Octavia's living room to surprise him...and it obviously worked. Soren stood up and smiled at Twilight, Spike, and the other mares.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked. Luna and the others nodded. He sighed. "Alright then. Luna, did you send the letter?"

"Not yet. I teleported to the library and asked Spike to send the letter. Twilight and her friends were also inside. Since they were about to ask about the letter, I chose to teleport them here not only to surprise you, but so you can also explain everything." Soren blinked. He looked at his friends.

"Long story short: Celestia gave me the honor of performing in Canterlot." Gasps of shock were heard, but one excited gasp from Rarity could also be heard. "And Octavia wants to go so she brag about her musical talents." A collective 'What?' was uttered.

"That is not what I said I planned to do," Octavia frowned.

"Come on, Octavia. That's the gist of it, and you can't deny it." Octavia sighed in defeat. "Ok, now then, here's everything we need. Me, Octavia, Vinyl, a choir, instrument players, and whomever else will be playing at this concert. I will of course have to teach the instrumentalists...?" Soren looked at Octavia to make sure he said the word correctly. Octavia nodded. "...I will teach the instrumentalists my songs in time for the concert."

"When is it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"We'll find out after Luna sends the letter affirming that I will perform. Speaking of performing, Rainbow Dash, would you like to be my lead guitarist?"

"What kind of question is that?" she said with a smirk.

"Should've known. Anyway, Luna, would you like to sing a song or two with me?" When Luna said 'No', everypony showed their own shocked expression. "Why not?"

"Do not fret, Soren. We would love to be apart of this event, but we do not think it would be wise to show our subjects that their princess is flying around Equestria singing instead of doing her political duties." Soren nodded. It would be wise to let Luna sit this one out. Who knows what would happen to her reputation if she sang in the concert?

"Fine, but I promise that we will do something together soon." Luna nodded and began writing the letter with her magic. "I believe that's everything. If I miss something, I'll fix it down the road, but for now, we need to prepare. And I'm going to need all of your help, girls."

"You can count on us," Applejack assured.

"We are always there when our friends need us," Rarity added.

"What are we doing standing around here for?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Let get started!" With a combined 'Yeah', the ponies were off to start preparing for the concert.

The Concert

The Next Day

"Soren, Celestia sent you a letter." Soren looked up from his work. He was writing down information for the concert on a piece of paper. As he was working in the library, Spike coughed up a letter and Twilight called for Soren. The alicorn trotted over to where the unicorn and dragon were.

"Is it alright if you read it out loud?" Soren asked Twilight. "I still have to finish planning for the concert." He levitated his paper and pen over to him.

"If you insist," she said while opening the scroll then starting to read.

"Greetings Soren,

I am pleased to hear that you and your friends already started to prepare for the upcoming performance. Please do not rush yourselves too much, for the concert was planned for three weeks after your answer. Luna has explained that you need assistance with your ensemble. With that said, I can send three ponies for the choir and three violinists to aid you. Also, I have taken the liberty of publicizing your concert to all of Canterlot and Ponyville. From what I can gather already, a few Canterlot ponies are already interested to hear you perform.

On an ending note, I am surprised my sister chose not to perform with you, although I understand her reasoning. From what her and Twilight have told me, you two sound great together. I would love to hear you two sing one day. Good luck on your preparations. The ponies I'm sending will arrive within a few days.

Take care,
Princess Celestia"

Twilight rolled the scroll up and placed it down. She ushered for Soren to show her what he has written down so far. On the piece of paper, Soren wrote down the order of performance, who will be in the concert, what songs he's going to sing, and what he needs before he starts practicing.

"After hearing the princess' letter, how many ponies do you still need to help you?" Twilight asked after she finished reading his notes.

"Actually, I think I have everything I need," he responded. "I can't believe Celestia just sent over ponies to help. It was like she thought the favor was nothing." Twilight chuckled.

"Princess Celestia is one of the most caring pony you'll ever meet, Fluttershy being one of them as well. I'm not surprised she wants to help you out. She is the one who gave you the concert afterall."

"You're right, but this seems like a bit much for just me." Soren looked at the clock in the library; it showed 5:30. "I think I should get going. Better make sure everypony is ready for weeks of practice. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you then." After Soren left the library, Twilight conversed with Spike. "He has sure came a long way since we first met him."

"You can say that again," Spike said. "I remember how nervous he was when he met all of us. Now he's...mature."

"I noticed that too. I also thought of something strange during our trip to Appaloosa."

"What?"

"I don't know why, but I feel like I've met a pony like Soren before. Just the way he was handling situations over there...how calm he was..."

"I think your over-thinking things, Twilight. Soren is...Soren. I should finish my work. Talk to me about this again later if you want." With that said, the little dragon went upstairs to finish cleaning the library. Twilight shrugged and continued her studies.

Two Weeks Later

Soren, Rainbow Dash, Octavia, Vinyl, and many other ponies were gathered in the Town Hall. They had just finished their second week of practice and were now lounging around in the building as Soren took the stage.

"Can I have everypony's attention?" he said with a loud voice. When everypony quieted down, Soren spoke normally. "Thank you. I would just like to say that you have all been fantastic during practice. I would be lying if I said we weren't ready for the concert. You all learned my songs so fast that I'm beyond impressed. I guess we should still spend the next week practicing, but I doubt we'll need it. Before we leave, I would like to thank all of you for helping to make my first concert a great one. I couldn't have done this without you. With that said, I can't wait to hear the results next week." When Soren was finished with his speech, everypony stomped on the ground in applause.

The Day Of The Concert

Soren was backstage looking through the curtains at the crowd of ponies that showed up. It had just become nighttime when the moonlight shined down upon a massive crowd. This was by far the biggest crowd he was going to perform for. Soren pulled his head away from the curtains to relax. There's no need to be nervous, he told himself. You and everypony else had three weeks of practice; everything will be fine. Vinyl and Octavia walked up to Soren, breaking his mental pep-talk.

"Do you have the pre-show jitters yet, Soren?" Vinyl asked. Octavia nudged her hard.

"Of course he does," she said. "Out there is probably the biggest crowd he's ever seen. Either way, you and I are up first, so Soren will have plenty of time to calm himself. Are you going to be fine by then, Soren?"

"I'll leave that up to the crowd and how they react to your music," Soren responded. "We'll do fine...I'm sure of it."

"Well then let's go, Tavi!" Vinyl exclaimed as she trotted to her turn tables. Octavia shook her head and left to join her.

The two musicians' performance was amazing with their very captivating music. Throughout the concert, Vinyl and Octavia switched the way they performed. At first, Vinyl was performing alone, then Octavia provided background music. Afterwards, they switched roles, then Octavia was left performing solo.

Soren could see that the crowd was impressed. Never have they seen two very different genres of music combine so perfectly. I wonder how many of them recognize Octavia, Soren thought. His thoughts were stopped by Octavia finishing her last song. When it was over, the crowd applauded but didn't cheer. It should've been obvious that these upper class ponies wouldn't cheer.

Soren and his ensemble were up next. The stage was dark, and the crowd watched as silhouettes took their positions. Slowly, lights illuminated parts of the ensemble, starting with the choir, then the musicians, then lastly Soren. Gasps and murmuring could be heard from the crowd as they received their first view of the newest alicorn in Equestria. Soren nodded to everypony on stage to signal the start of the concert. The music started then Soren stepped to the microphone to start his biggest performance yet.

After the first few songs, Soren noticed that half of the crowd didn't look excited. At first, he shrugged it off and continued to sing, but eventually Soren became worried that they weren't enjoying the concert. With newfound determination, Soren chose to sing the duet he had planned. Sadly, instead of Luna singing it with him, another mare had to take her place. It wasn't all bad; the mare was great singer after all.

Soren sang first and used more emotion than during practicing. The next verse was when the mare joined him. When Soren heard a female voice singing that wasn't the planned pony's, he turned to where the mare was supposed to enter. Soren was surprised to see Luna singing and walking towards him. After he smiled, Soren worriedly looked at the crowd to discover that they were chatting with each other. Who knew what their reactions to this would be? Then another thought crossed his mind. Luna only watched us practice. She must have memorized the song then practiced alone.

When Luna and Soren finished the duet, they stood next to each other and smiled. He mouthed the words "Thank you" to her, and she nodded back to him. Soren then heard a wonderful sound: the crowd applauding for their princess. Soren and Luna were both surprised that the crowd loved the song. Soren gave Luna a half-hug as he waited for the crowd's applause to die down. When it finally did, Soren, Luna, Rainbow Dash, and the other performers began the remaining portion of the concert.

"Soren, that was amazing!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. All of them were now backstage. The mares were congratulating Soren, Luna, and Rainbow Dash on a great performance.

"I have to agree with Pinkie Pie," Rarity said. "I never would have expected those ponies to like your style of music."

"It's all because Luna joined us," Rainbow Dash added. "Everypony out there loved the concert even more when she joined you, Soren."

"Thanks again, Luna," Soren said as he gave her a hug, which she gladly returned.

"I realized that lately we have not been there for each other, so I thought that tonight should be different," Luna replied.

"Well said, sister." Everypony turned to see Celestia appear backstage. Every musician except Soren, Luna, and their friends bowed. Celestia asked the other ponies to rise. "Wonderful performance, Soren. I knew it was a good idea to give you this opportunity."

"I can't thank you enough, princess," Soren said. "At first, I didn't think we could pull it off, but in the end, it was the most fun I've had in a long time."

"I'm glad you feel that way. I just came by to congratulate you and the performers on such a-"

"Tavi, it doesn't matter anymore. You showed them what you can do." Celestia was cut off by Vinyl and Octavia talking loudly in the distance. As they walked up to Soren and his friends, Octavia looked irritated while Vinyl tried to calm her down.

"Hey, you two. What's wrong?" Twilight asked.

"After the concert was over, some ponies walked up to me and Vinyl and had the nerve to offer me a job at that same restaurant I was telling Soren about," Octavia explained.

"And might I ask, Miss Octavia, why that is such a bad thing?" Celestia asked with a smile.

"Princess Celes...Wha...Why...?" Octavia was stammering since she was honored that Celestia knew who she was. "How do you know me? I'm not a very special pony."

"I beg to differ. Before you left Canterlot, I quite enjoyed your music when I would pass through the city. I was even thrilled when I was told that you would be performing during the Grand Galloping Gala. Even after that, you still only worked at that one venue in Canterlot. I would still like to know why you don't want another job here?"

"I wasn't happy here. I loved to perform, but it felt like my music wasn't blossoming like I wanted it to, so I left and eventually started living in Ponyville with Vinyl."

"I see. Well as long as you're happy where you are."

"I am. Thank you for your concern, princess." With a warm smile, Celestia nodded.

"Well I don't know about you all but I'm pretty beat," Rainbow said as she stretched. "Let's head back home."

"I can arrange transportation for all of you back to Ponyville if you wish," Celestia offered.

"That would nice," Twilight said. "Thank you, princess."

"I'd be lying if I said I was only slightly tired," Soren yawned. "Let's go." Later, Soren and all of his friends stepped onto chariots and were personally escorted back to Ponyville for a good night's rest. Soren definitely needed to sleep off the headache he was getting while attempting to sleep.

Return of the Dreams

Soren was walking through a field, enjoying the beautiful night sky. He doesn't remember how long he's been walking but it didn't matter to him. After a few more minutes of strolling through the seemingly endless field, Soren noticed the sun beginning to rise. He was about to continue walking when he realized that it was still dark, even though the sun was almost entirely over the horizon. He stopped and glanced at the sun with his peripheral vision. Soren looked straight at it when he realized something was blocking the light shining from the massive star. Upon a closer look, Soren realized that the object blocking the light was coming closer to the ground...and in his direction! He wanted to run away but he was transfixed by the strange shape.

When it almost reached him, the object took the shape of a pony. Soren noticed that it wasn't just a normal pony; it was an alicorn. Instead of charging straight into Soren, the alicorn landed in front of him. Since he was watching the alicorn, Soren didn't notice that the environment around him changed. It landed on a cushion that was positioned on the floor of what looked like somepony's personal study. Soren looked around at the new scenery but quickly looked back to the alicorn. He soon discovered that the alicorn was Celestia!

Soren snapped his eyes open and sat up in his bed. "How many times have I done this by now?" Soren asked himself. Gathering himself, Soren realized that he wasn't alone in his bedroom. He saw Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flying in his bedroom, giving him concerned looks.

"Are you ok?" Fluttershy asked. "Were you having a nightmare?"

Soren shook his head. "I was only dreaming. No nightmare or anything."

"I don't think you'd be thrashing like that if it was 'only a dream,'" Rainbow Dash countered. "C'mon, everypony is waiting down below."

"Waiting? Why? What time is it?"

"It's past noon. We were all wondering where you were. Let's go down and say hi before our friends start to worry."

With a nod and a yawn, Soren got out of bed and stretched. He then followed the two pegasi to see everypony else. Soren was surprised that literally all of his friends were waiting for him below his house. He saw Twilight, Pinkie, AJ, Rarity, and Luna. The three of them landed and Soren let out another yawn.

"You're still tired?" Twilight asked in disbelief. "How much sleep did you actually get?"

"Apparently not enough," Soren replied. "I didn't think the concert would take so much out of me. Maybe that small headache I got when I arrived home had something to do with it." What Soren didn't see was that Luna's expression change. When he mentioned a random headache, she squinted her eyes in contemplation.

"Fluttershy?" the princess said.

"Yes, Luna?"

"Would you mind examining Soren? I would like to make sure that he is simply sleep deprived." With a nod, Fluttershy began a normal examination that she used normally used with her animals. She checked his eyes, ears, tongue, etc. So far nothing seemed out of the ordinary until Rarity noticed something.

"Soren," she started, "is it me or has your cutie turned grey?" Soren blushed slightly as all of his friends decided to look at his flank. They gasped as they indeed saw that his cutie mark was now devoid of its normal, bright colors. Luna was the first to act as she stepped up to Soren. They exchanged glances before Luna brought her mouth to Soren's ear. She began whispering something to him and him alone. Before he recognized the spell she was using, his body gave out and he collapsed on the spot. The mares shouted his name as they saw Soren fall down and drift off to sleep.

"I need to go to Canterlot posthaste," Luna said. "I need to bring my sister here and show her Soren."

"Why? What's wrong with Soren?" Twilight asked quickly. She would have asked more but Luna put up a hoof to silence her.

"No time to explain. Just make sure Soren stays within your sight. I shall be back as soon as I am able." With that said, the princess of the night teleported away, leaving Twilight and her friends there to give their sleeping friend more concerned looks.

Oh you're an interesting one.

Are you the Fire Elemental? No. You sound different. Who are you?

You'll figure it out soon enough.

What do you want?

Don't worry about it, Nyroc.

Who's Nyroc?

Soren opened his eyes. He felt the wooden flooring beneath him. He slowly got up and found himself at Twilight's library.

"Oh good, you're finally awake. You had us all worried sick, Soren." Soren turned towards the voice and saw Rarity sitting at a desk. She was reading a book but turned away from it when Soren woke up. He looked around the empty library and then back to Rarity as if he asked a wordless question. Rarity also looked around but looked back at Soren.

"Are you wondering where everyone is? Well, don't you worry about that. Everyone went to the center of town to wait for Princess Luna and Celestia to come back. Everypony except Applejack that is; she went to grab some food for you. Are you feeling better, Soren?"

"Don't say that," Soren whispered seriously.

"Pardon? Don't say what?" Soren continued to stare blankly at Rarity. He didn't feel like himself. Why? He felt fine...yet there was something talking to him. It was that voice; it's stronger than the Elemental's voice. It was speaking rapidly to him and he couldn't block it out. Soren sat down and grabbed his head as it began to hurt from the constant, inner noise.

"Oh my! Soren, what's wrong?" Rarity was slightly panicking as she cautiously held out a hoof to help him.

"Stop!" Rarity jumped back at Soren's outburst. "Get...Get to the Everfree," Soren said slowly. "This voice...This voice is hurting my head. Go and get help...now!" Without a second to comprehend anything, Rarity saw Soren teleport out of the library. She quickly ran to the center of town to get her friends and the princesses.

Soren was curled up on the ground in a clearing in the Everfree. With his eyes closed, he reached up to his head and applied pressure to his temple but the pain wouldn't go away. Soren shed a few tears since he felt like he was either going to go insane or die from the pain before help came. Lucky for him, a certain rainbow-maned pegasus found him before either of those things happened.

"Soren!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she landed next time him. "Are you ok? What's happening to you?" He continued to cry. He didn't hear Rainbow calling out to him. All he heard was the loud voice pounding at the inside of his head. Rainbow Dash took a few steps away from Soren as she looked at the sky for any sign of the princesses coming to help. Her ears perked when she heard Soren stop crying. She slowly turned around to discover him right behind her.

"Hello, Rainbow Dash," Soren said darkly. "Would you like to hear a song?"

The Princesses, along with the Elements of Harmony, ran through the Everfree Forest while tracking Soren. Celestia and Luna were in front of their search party as Luna used magic to track down the area that Soren teleported to. As they ran, Applejack decided to speak up.

"Never a dull moment with that colt," she muttered to everypony.

"Don't fret, Applejack," Celestia said. "I know what's happening to him. That is why I need all of your help."

"What is happening to him, princess?" Twilight asked. Celestia, who still held a serious expression, was silent for a few seconds.

"Recently, I was visited by a...spirit. It wasn't a visual spirit, but rather a voice in my head." Twilight flinched at this revelation. Could it be the Elemental? "It threatened me and the ponies of Canterlot, but it also made me a deal. The deal was that the spirit would leave me alone and not try to threaten Canterlot if I never speak of that day to anyone. Even though it was merely a spirit, I would never risk the lives of my subjects."

"How would the spirit take over Canterlot? Surely you of all ponies could stop it."

"I'm afraid it isn't that simple. You see-"

"Do y'all hear that?" Applejack interrupted. Everypony started walking quietly to listen.

"Sounds like singing," Fluttershy said. "Is that Soren?"

"Oh no," Celestia gasped. "All of you, follow me." She sprinted towards the direction of the singing. It exhausted everyone to try and keep up with her; she had a much longer stride than them. Within a minute, the eight mares saw a clearing up ahead. Celestia whispered for them to stop and to peek from behind the bushes.

As soon as they looked into the clearing, they all gasped loudly. Soren and Rainbow Dash were standing in the clearing facing each other. Soren's back was towards them and they could see Rainbow Dash clearly. She had golden serpentine eyes instead of her normal cerise color. They could tell that Soren was hypnotizing Rainbow by singing to her. The loud gasp captured his attention as he turned towards the intruding mares. Upon seeing who arrived, he chuckled.

"Oh Rainbow~," Soren called. "Would you kindly bring them to me?" The hypnotized Rainbow Dash saluted Soren and flew straight at the bushes the eight mares were hiding behind.

"SCATTER!!" Luna shouted as she teleported away, as did Celestia and Twilight. The others simply dove out of the way of Rainbow. They nearly got tackled since Rainbow is incredibly fast, but most of them jumped away. Pinkie Pie, however, was grabbed. Rainbow Dash swooped over to Soren and dropped the pink party pony in front of him. The three unicorns appeared just in time to see Pinkie Pie land.

"Heya, Soren!" Pinkie exclaimed in her normally happy voice. "You feeling better?"

"You can say that," he answered. "Wanna hear a song?"

"Pinkie Pie, no!" Twilight yelled as she ran to help Pinkie, but it was too late. Soren sang a few notes and Pinkie Pie was instantly hypnotized. Twilight heard a scream, so she stopped and turned around. Rarity was grabbed by Rainbow Dash and was now heading towards Soren. Before Twilight could act, she was tackled by Pinkie Pie. Twilight cringed as she saw that Pinkie now had the same golden eyes as Rainbow. Before she could drag Twilight to Soren, Pinkie levitated off of Twilight. She saw the light blue aura and knew that Luna was using her magic. Twilight then sprinted away towards the princesses.

"What do we do?!" Twilight asked. Celestia stared at her student then at Soren. Seeing that Celestia didn't have an answer, Twilight looked at Luna for help. "Luna?" Luna hung her head; she didn't have a solution either.

"Now then," a voice called. "Only three more left." Twilight saw the horrifying sight of all of her friends hypnotized. The five mares stood behind Soren as he slowly walked up to Twilight, Celestia, and Luna. Celestia bent down to whisper to Twilight.

"Don't interfere next time Rainbow Dash flies at us. I have a plan." Twilight hesitated at first but nodded. What could she possibly do to not want me to interfere? Is she...is she going to hurt Soren?

"Let's see how much of a fight you three can put up," Soren said while grinning. "Get 'em, Rainbow Dash." Rainbow nodded and flew straight at Twilight Sparkle. Twilight closed her eyes and prepared for impact. She reopened her eyes when she heard a spell make contact. Upon hearing a thud nearby, she turned towards the cause of the sound. She saw Rainbow Dash lying on the ground with a small smoke trail coming from her. With eyes widened in shock, Twilight turned towards the princess. Celestia had a regretful expression but motioned for Twilight to look at Soren. She did as instructed, but as she looked at her friend, she saw something peculiar unfold.

Soren was utterly confused as to how this came about. A few minutes ago, all he heard was a voice, but now that voice literally took over his body. He watched as this entity used Soren's special talent to hypnotize his friend and use her to help hypnotize everyone else. It was like he was just a passenger in the back of his mind as another pony piloted his body. Soren watched in horror as Rainbow Dash flew at the princesses and Twilight.

"Why are you doing this?" Soren thought at the voice. "Why not just come after only me like you planned?" After he lost control of his body, Soren soon realized who was truly behind this. When Soren was in control, the voice was disguised, but now that he was inside his own head, Soren can clearly hear the entity's true voice.

"Because you tricked me when we first fought," answered a familiar female voice. "As did your friends; they will perish with you then I will be taking Princess Luna."

Soren sighed and continue to watch Rainbow attack. Time appeared to move slower in his own head, but it didn't matter. What mattered was what he saw next. Right before Rainbow Dash tackled Twilight, Princess Celestia shot a beam of magic at Dash, which caused her to land on the ground next to them.

"Rainbow Dash!" Soren cried out. Soren was stunned at first, but his anger soon replaced that. "You," Soren telepathically shouted to the voice, "you did this!"

"She did her part, now I have four other mares to use."

"NO!" Soren's voice echoed loudly through his mind, and his body froze up. "No one hurts my friends!"

"Then look at what your precious ruler did to Rainbow Dash," the Nightmare Guardian said. As Soren looked at the unconscious body of Rainbow Dash, a memory flashed into his mind. He remembered that day in Appaloosa when he and Rainbow were ambushed by Coyote Colt. He remembered how he felt to see his friend in true pain.

"You lost, Nightmare. I'm taking over again. I need to stop you."

"As if you could possibly... wait...what?! How are you-" While the Guardian spoke, Soren was slowly gaining control of his body using sheer anger and will power. The Nightmare Guardian noticed and began to panic. "You can't! It's not possible! You're under my control." She knew she was going to lose, so she let it happen. Soren was now back in control. He looked around at his friends as, one by one, they became their normal selves.

Celestia took this opportunity to walk up to Soren. Soren drooped his ears in fear of what Celestia might do to him. She stared seriously at Soren, but when she spoke, he knew it wasn't directed at him.

"I dont want to see you attacking these ponies ever again, Night Wing." Everypony turned towards Celestia. She knew the name of the Nightmare Guardian? Celestia then put her horn to Soren's forehead. The horn shined liked a star, and Soren closed his eyes. He reopened them when he felt the spell stop.

"You'll be alright now, Soren," Celestia assured calmly. "Her connection was weakened, so I severed it completely. She's gone not." Soren smiled at her, but it disappeared when he remembered Rainbow Dash. Turning his head to the right, he saw her. She was still laying there unconscious. With mental fatigue finally kicking in, Soren struggled to walk over to her. He collapsed to the ground next to her. He only said one word before passing out:

"Rainbow."

Night Wing's Origin

"Ow, my head," Soren groaned as he sat up. He had a massive headache and the light pouring into the room didn't help. Adjusting his eyes, he looked around. He was once again on the floor of Twilight's library, this time with no one nearby.

Slowly standing up, Soren walked to the front door for some fresh air but stopped when the door opened for him. In walked Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and the rest of his friends. They were as shocked as Soren as they saw that he was awake. Before any of them could say anything, Pinkie Pie grabbed Soren into a massive bear hug.

"Oh my gosh, Soren, you're awake!" Pinkie exclaimed. "We were so worried about you. First you became mean and hypnotized all of us then Rainbow Dash got zapped by the princess then you froze and then you became normal and fell asleep." Pinkie let Soren go.

"Yeah, sorry about that by the way," Soren said to everypony. "I'm sure you're all mad at me, right?" Everypony in the room laughed. Soren was confused but soon smiled.

"Of course we ain't, sugarcube," Applejack assured. "We know it ain't your fault that that Guardian girl possessed you."

"Besides, we're all fine," Rainbow Dash added. Twilight turned towards Princess Celestia.

"Speaking of her, how did you know who she was? You even knew her name." Celestia looked upon the Elements of Harmony and the Elemental Guardian.

"I believe it's time to tell them the truth...right, Luna?" Luna nodded at her sister. "Sit down, my little ponies. It's time to tell you all the origins of the Nightmare Guardian." Everypony sat down on the floor and gave their princesses their full attention.

"It all began when Nightmare Moon existed in our world. As you all know, the battle between her and I lasted for quite some time. Although she was fully confident that she would defeat me, she didn't want to risk losing. She had a plan, an overly complicated plan that was designed to resurrect her should she lose. A few days before I would decide to use the Elements of Harmony against her, Nightmare Moon split herself, or rather her soul, into two pieces. One half would stay with her, while the other half went into hiding to manifest into who is known as the Nightmare Guardian.

"After Nightmare Moon was defeated by you six," Celestia continued, "the Nightmare Guardian awakened, fully formed and ready to fulfill her duty. Since her magic was probably unstable, the dark mare, who is known as Night Wing, had to remain in hiding to control her magic. Luna and I believe that during that time, Night Wing was planning out how to resurrect her master, Nightmare Moon, while she learned about our society. And now she is attempting said plan. Twilight, we need you, Soren, and the Elements to stop Night Wing before she has the power to capture Luna and bring back Nightmare Moon. My sister and I would stop her ourselves but we are sure she has ponies guarding here. There would be a higher chance for our defeat than hers."

A strong silence was in the air as everypony comprehended the situation. Celestia looked at Soren, who seemed lost in thought.

"Soren, what do you have to say about this?" she asked softly. Soren made eye contact with her.

"Sorry, I-I just have a lot to think about," Soren responded. Celestia gave him a smile and turned to look at everyone else.

"We fear this Nightmare Guardian will do more harm than you think she is capable of. We ask you all to help Soren, for he is probably the only one of you who can hope to stand up against her physically. Sister, I think we should let them think about this." Luna nodded and looked at Soren, who was back to thinking. "If any of you need us, we will be in our Ponyville home." Everypony except Soren nodded.

When the princesses left, Twilight and her friends spoke about the situation while Soren just sat there. Can Night Wing be so much stronger than we know? Will I even be able to match her power? Can my dreams help me learn about her? Speaking of dreams, who is Nyroc? What is Nyroc?

The next day was strange to everyone. Soren refused to leave his house due to all of the questions without answers. He didn't even leave his home to get food, so Fluttershy had to bring him some. All of his friends started to worry. They knew he wasn't in trouble or anything; it was just unnerving to know that their friend refused to leave his house for anything.

The next day, Twilight and co. were below Soren's house, trying to come up with a plan to get him to come out. They only managed to think of one.

As his friends worried over him, Soren pondered the many questions that flooded his head. He sat on his bed with a hoof to his chin as he thought about anything and everything that came to mind. He had to think of a plan to stop Night Wing, but was he strong enough to face her? It would obviously come down to a fight in the end, but how can he make himself stronger? How ca-? His train of thought was cut off as he heard a loud noise coming from outside. After focusing on the world around him, Soren could hear a cello being played, and he could guess that it was being magnified by speakers. He knew it had to be Vinyl and Octavia.

Octavia was playing her cello to get Soren's attention, while Vinyl made it so the music would be loud enough that Soren would wish for it to be turned off. Octavia played a sad song in hopes that it would get through to him. That's what she expected would happen anyway. What she didn't expect was to hear a violin play the same exact song as her. She stopped playing, opened her eyes, and saw Soren standing in his doorway, playing the song she was playing. She stood there, mouth agape, (as was everypony else) as Soren finished her song. When it was over, Soren looked at his friends with a solid stare. Before someone could say something, Octavia quickly yelled at Soren.

"How do you know my song?!" she questioned loudly. "I never taught anyone my music!" Soren flew down in front of the cellist.

"It's my special ability," Soren explained. "I can copy songs just by listening to them." His horn glowed as an example. "You didn't have to teach me your song in order for me to play it." Soren smiled and walked towards the rest of his friends. Before he could reach everypony else, Soren was stopped by Octavia.

"Soren," she said softly. He looked at her. "I know you have a lot to think about, but we're your friends. Friends tell each other everything, that way we can help each other. Don't you think you can tell us whatever is troubling you?" Soren sighed in defeat.

"You're right, Octavia. I was trying to figure out everything on my own when I have all of my brilliant friends right here. I'm sorry I secluded myself in my house for a few days. Can you girls forgive me?" The mares nodded.

"Why was loud music playing from here?" Celestia asked as her and Luna landed. "We could hear that music from our house."

"It's fine, Princess," Vinyl Scratch replied. "I just needed to get Soren's attention, so I blasted the music loud enough to annoy him." The DJ continued to wear a smile, as if she was doing nothing wrong or over the top. After seeing Celestia raise an eyebrow in confusion, Twilight decided to explain everything.

"We needed Soren's attention because for the past two days he secluded himself within his house to think about things that were bothering him," Twilight explained. "And it seemed to work." The princess of the sun looked at Soren.

"What seems to be troubling you, Soren?"

"A lot of things about this Nightmare Guardian business, but I'm going to be talking to all of my friends about this from now on."

"Very well. I will always be available to help you as well. Just visit me in Canterlot if you have things that you need to discuss. I will be returning there very soon so just visit the castle whenever you feel the need."

"I will, princess. Thank you for the offer."

"You are very welcome. Luna, I take it you will continue to stay here?" Luna nodded. "Very well, I will see you all next time. Goodbye, everypony." Everypony said 'goodbye' as Celestia flew off. When the princess was gone, Octavia walked up to Soren.

"Since you've been locked up inside your house for quite a while, would you like to get some dinner with the rest of us?" Soren turned towards her and was about to answer, but he stopped suddenly. Soren looked into Octavia's eyes and saw something there that he's never seen before. She was expressing a different emotion than normal. Shrugging it off, he answered her.

"That sounds amazing right now," he replied. Soren then walked with his friends to a nearby restaurant.

A Hunch

A Few Days Later

Ever since the incident with Night Wing, the days have become normal once again. Soren continues to work and study alongside Twilight Sparkle at the town library, learning about spells and practicing defensive spells. Luna and Soren spend a lot more time together, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash continue to physically train Soren. However, as everypony knows, nothing truly stays normal in Ponyville.

One day, Soren and Twilight Sparkle were talking the day away at the library after they both completed their recent study session. The conversation was fun and entertaining for both of them, but eventually Twilight had to tell Soren something important.

"Soren," Twilight started, "have you ever thought about your family? I know you don't really want to remember your past, but you have to at least want to know who your family is."

"I have wondered who my family is now and again," Soren replied, "but I have no idea how to even begin looking for them. Why the sudden question?"

"Umm...well..." Twilight was questioning how to go about telling Soren what she heard yesterday. "...you see..." Lucky for her, Soren catches on fast.

"Twilight...what aren't you telling me?"

"Ok, fine. Yesterday I was walking through town past the food stands when I overheard a conversation that peeked my interest," she explained. "I heard Octavia and Vinyl talking to each other nearby. They said your name so I kinda...eavesdropped." Twilight gave a sheepish smile before continuing. "Octavia was talking about that day you copied her song without her teaching you. She went off on how you remind her a lot of her family." Twilight was trying to speak slow enough for Soren to catch on to what she was saying. "And...she has this insane idea' (she laughed nervously) "that you could possibly be her...long lost...brother." Soren's eyes widened.

"You're kidding me, right? Me? Octavia's brother?! We look nothing alike! I've seen many families around Ponyville and they all have some kind of similarity. How could I possibly...?" Soren sighed in defeat. "Do you think I could be her brother?"

"Honestly, no. It seems unlikely, but normal things don't tend to happen to you very often...or to me and my friends for that matter. I think we need to know more before we can make any assumptions."

"Agreed. Well there's only one pony in town with that kind of info."

"But how do we approach this? We can't just walk up to her and say 'Hey, Octavia. I was eavesdropping on you the other day. We were just curious as to why you think Soren is your brother?'"

"Ok ok, calm down. But if we want to know more, there's no avoiding the part where you tell Octavia you were eavesdropping. I'll make sure she doesn't overreact. You are a very curious mare. Maybe she'll understand."

"Maybe."

"So let's go!" Soren smiled and began trotting out the front door of the library. Twilight sighed and left to catch up with him.

Soren and Twilight walked up to the front door of Vinyl and Octavia's home. Soren knocked on the door and waited. Twilight glanced over at Soren and found that he still has a big smile on his face.

"Soren?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you look so happy?" Twilight couldn't help but smile because of Soren.

"I'm just pondering the idea of Octavia actually being my sister. It would be so cool, in a way." Before Twilight could respond, the front door opened. After Vinyl Scratch opened the door and saw who it was, she was instantly happy.

"Soren! Twilight! How are ya?!" Vinyl ran up, grabbed both of them, and pulled them into a big hug.

"We're fine...except that you're... crushing us," Twilight choked.

"Speak for yourself," Soren laughed. "Good to see you too, Vinyl. Is Octavia home?" The DJ put them down and apologized to only Twilight for the hug.

"Yeah, she just got back from the post office. Come on in." The trio entered the living room, and Soren and Twilight sat on one of the two couches. "Let me go find her. Be right back." Vinyl ran up the stairs to look for her roommate. It only took her one minute before her and Octavia walked back down the stairs.

"Tavi, Soren and Twilight want to talk with you," Vinyl said as they came down the staircase.

"Hello, you two," Octavia smiled as they approached the other couch. "What can I help you with?" Soren and Twilight exchanged nervous glances before Soren decided to speak first.

"Don't get mad over this but Twilight overheard you talking to Vinyl the other day about me." Both Vinyl and Octavia visibly flinched upon hearing this. Octavia looked at Twilight with a neutral expression, which still made Twilight smile nervously, as Soren continued. "It has come to my attention that you believe I may be your brother. I was just curious as to why you think that?"

"I'm not entirely certain myself to be honest, but there is definitely proof there," Octavia explained. "I should start at the beginning."

"My family is a very prestigious family," Octavia told. "Ever since my great-grandfather, every member of my family has been great musicians. My father is amazing at piano, my mother is an opera singer, and even my little brother was practicing the violin.

"I don't remember much about my brother other than he was slightly younger than me by a few months. One day in our childhood, he just vanished, no pony knew where he went. We assumed he was foulnapped. I believe you could possibly be my brother because you're a great singer, you can play more than one instrument with or without magic, and you had amnesia when you were found in Ponyville."

"Let me stop you there for a second," Soren interrupted. "How do you even know if I'm younger than you?"

"I'm 20 years old, and you?"

"19," Soren sighed. "Go on."

"Maybe this next bit of information can shed some light. Not only is my family gifted with musical talent, but they are also very superstitious. Have you two ever heard of the Nyrs of Old?"

"The Nyrs were a group of ponies who were born during eclipses, wether it be lunar or solar," Twilight explained. "It was rumored that these ponies had some special abilities, but it was never proven."

"Precisely, and it was because of this legend that my brother got his name. Since he was born during a solar eclipse, he was given the name Nyroc." Soren flinched, and Twilight noticed.

"Soren?" she asked. "Does that name sound familiar?"

"Y-Yes, yes it does," Soren replied. "In my dreams, I heard that name. Nyroc...but I thought nothing of it."

"Am I the only pony in the room thinking these two are siblings now?" Vinyl blurted.

"No, Vinyl, no you're not," Twilight said. "Alright everypony, how do we even prove that you two are in fact related? We can't deny this evidence."

"Octavia," Soren said, "is it possible for us to go meet your parents? Where are they?"

"I haven't seen them for quite some time, but I keep in contact with them by mail. The last place they were living in was Canterlot, but they haven't mentioned where they moved to." After that bit of info, everypony was silent as they tried to come up with a plan. After a few minutes of silent thinking, Twilight had an idea.

"Soren, why don't you accept Princess Celestia's offer of talking with her? I'm sure you have plenty of things to ask her, and you could also ask if there is anyway to prove if you are in fact Octavia's brother. Or maybe the princess can help you find Octavia's parents."

"Twilight, you're a genius!" Soren exclaimed. "That's perfect! I'm sure the princess has something that can help us. Twilight, we need to go to the library and send a letter to her, then I need to head to Canterlot. When does the next train show up?"

"Two days, I believe. Let's get going!"

"Well sounds like you two have a plan," Octavia laughed. "Come see me whenever you return, Soren."

"Will do," Soren said, "but umm...Octavia, if it makes you feel better, I can still treat you like a sister if you want." Octavia smiled at Soren right before he and Twilight left for the library. Octavia turned to her roommate after the front door closed.

"Well, I'm glad I read that letter from my parents on the way here instead of waiting," Octavia told Vinyl.

"And why is that?"

"Here, take a look."

To Canterlot!

The sun was starting to descend as Soren and Twilight ran towards the library to find Spike so they could send a letter to the princess. Soren had an idea on the way there. Looking at Twilight, he told the unicorn that he would meet her at the library after he did something first. Twilight nodded, so Soren took off in another direction. Within a minute, Soren came up to Luna's house and knocked on the door.

"Good evening, Soren," Luna greeted after answering the door. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine. I was just wondering if you would like to travel with me soon."

"Where to?"

"Canterlot."

"Oh? Is there any reason you wanted to travel there so suddenly?" Luna smirked at Soren, who laughed.

"You can read me like a book, Luna. I wanted to take up Celestia's offer of talking to her. It would be great if you would accompany me." He paused for a second as he realized something. "Actually, I don't think the guards would let me in the castle without somepony to escort me anyway."

"Then it is a good thing you personally know a princess. I would love to join you. When do we leave?"

"In two days. Twilight is sending a letter to Celestia as we speak. Let's go meet her at the library." Luna nodded, then the couple flew through the orange sky to meet Twilight.

At the library, Soren and Luna walked inside and saw Spike ignite a letter to Princess Celestia. Twilight walked over to them after the scroll vanished.

"Is Princess Luna going to be joining you in Canterlot?" Twilight asked.

"Yep. We haven't been traveling together that often so I figured now would be a great time."

"And did you tell her the real reason you're going there?"

"How could I forget that part?" Soren lightly smacked himself on his forehead. "Luna, it turns that Octavia believes I could be her long lost brother, so I'm going to Canterlot to also ask Celestia if she can help me in any way. If you could give me any information that helps, I would be grateful." Luna thought for a moment.

"I'm sorry," she finally said. "I cannot think of anything at the moment. It is interesting that she believes you two are related, even though you share no physical similarities."

"That's what I was saying!" Soren exclaimed. He was going to continue talking but a sound cut him off; a scroll had teleported into the library. Twilight grabbed the scroll with her magic and quickly read it. Once she was done reading, she hoofed the scroll to Spike.

"Princess Celestia said that she looks forward to seeing you there," Twilight explained. "She says she will provide a chariot to take you to Canterlot. She also suggests bringing Luna along so the three of you can have lunch together. Afterwards, you and her will talk about anything you need. Simple enough."

"Wow, Soren," Spike laughed. "You haven't even been in Ponvyville that long and you're already having lunch with both princesses." Soren chuckled and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. He quickly straightened up.

"Great!" Soren continued. "Luna and I will leave for Canterlot in two days. You did tell the princess when I planned on leaving, right?" Twilight nodded. "How could I have doubted you, Twilight? Luna, would you like to hang out tomorrow since it's getting late?"

"Of course, but one of these days, we should enjoy the night together."

"I look forward to that. I'll see you later, Twilight, and I'll see you tomorrow, Luna." After the ponies said their goodbyes and after Soren kissed Luna goodbye, they left for their respective homes (except for Twilight and Spike, who live in the library).

The morning when Soren and Luna were scheduled to leave was a cloudy one. The grey sky caused a cool wind that slowly woke Soren from his drowsiness. He was a little tired, for yesterday he and Luna spent the entire day together, including a good portion of the night. He went to bed late and had to wake up early. It was about 10 o'clock when the chariot arrived in Ponyville. Luna spoke to the guards as Soren chatted with Twilight and Octavia.

"Do you think this plan will work?" Twilight asked.

"I don't see any other way how to find out if Octavia and I are related," Soren answered. "I'm sure the princesses can easily help me with this."

"Well, good luck, Soren," Octavia said. "I look forward to hearing the answer." Soren nodded at her.

"Soren," Luna called. He walked over to her and found that the two pegasi guards were ready to depart. Soren said goodbye to Twilight and Octavia and boarded the chariot with Luna. "Are you excited?" Luna asked him.

"Honestly, I am. This is like a small adventure in a way." Luna smiled then ordered the guards to take off. Twilight and Octavia waved goodbye to their friends as the chariot grew smaller in the cloudy sky.

The ride was fairly quiet and calm. As the chariot smoothly flew through the sky, the weather seemed to become colder. The alicorns figured it was because the winter season was on its way. To occupy himself, Soren looked across the landscape as it passed by. Although it was morning, everything seemed a lot dimmer than usual.

"This weather is unnerving," Soren told Luna.

"Agreed. Even we don't find cold weather in the morning to be pleasant."

"I've been meaning to ask...Sometimes you use the royal 'we' but other times you do. Is that because you're trying to get used to the common language?"

"Do you not like it when we use the royal 'we'?" Luna teased. "It is the fact that we...I try to speak normally, but it is hard for one who speaks one way for a thousand years."

"I honestly think it's cuter when you use the royal 'we.' It suits you. But it's up to you to decide--" Soren was interrupted by Luna suddenly putting a hoof on his shoulder and whispering, "Wait." The guards tensed up when the princess whispered that word. The air around the ponies seemed to do the same. Everypony was quiet as they waited for whatever Luna sensed or heard.

It only took a few seconds for the chariot to be struck from the bottom. Soren and Luna were tossed from their ride as the two guards were thrown off course. If the two alicorns didn't have wings, they would have easily died from the fall. The four of them recovered as they looked around for the source of the attack. They could hear wing beats. Before any of them could see the pegasi, a magical beam shot past Soren's head.

"This can't be," Luna said in slight horror. Soren looked around and saw what the princess was talking about. All around them were pegasi flying and carrying unicorns. The unicorns' bodies had a slight aura around them. Luna mutter something about them using magic on themselves to make their bodies lighter.

Flying unicorns?! Soren thought. How are these ponies that smart? And who are they?! Another bolt flew at Soren, but he dived just in time to dodge it.

"There are six teams of two surrounding us," Luna stated, "and the guards are fighting four other lone pegasi."

"I don't think we really have a choice here, Luna," Soren responded. "We have to fight as we make our way to Canterlot. Maybe other guards will see them and help us." Luna slowly nodded then shot lightning from her horn and struck a pegasus.

"The fastest and most accurate spell..." Soren muttered. "Nice." The pegasus, with the unicorn in tow, began losing altitude very fast. Acting quickly, the unicorn teleported them away.

In retaliation, the 'flying unicorns' shot dark beams of magic at the two alicorns as they advanced. Both Soren and Luna shot lightning and beams of magic at their enemies to defend themselves. What started as a calm trip turned into a matter of life and death. The remaining five sets of enemies surrounded the alicorns once again. Once they were all in position, it was their turn to shoot lightning beams at Soren and Luna. Thinking quickly, Soren dodged then flew close to Luna. As the five pairs concentrated their fire on their targets, Soren created a magical sphere around him and Luna to block all five beams.

"Now what?" Soren strained as he struggled to prevent the beams from piercing the shield. Luna's expression became more serious as she realized what had to be done.

"I'm sorry, Soren, but this is the only way to protect ourselves." Soren glanced back at Luna and saw her horn glowing.

"What are you-?" Soren then felt himself teleport. Luna teleported them away from the chaos. Soren looked around to discover that they were now at the entrance of Canterlot.

"But what about the guards? Luna, we have to go back!" Luna walked up to Soren with sorrowful eyes.

"I'm sorry, Soren. I did not see the guards anywhere when we were inside the shield. I cannot teleport what I cannot see."

"Luna, Soren, what happened?" a calm voice asked with a hint of worry. Soren and Luna turned to face Celestia walking up to them. "Why are the guards not with you?" Soren hung his head while Luna answered.

"Sister, we were ambushed on the way here. Pegasi that were carrying unicorns attacked our chariot. In the end, I decided to teleport us to safety. We would have teleported the guards, but...they were nowhere to be found."

"That's terrible," Celestia responded softly. "Please...let's go inside the castle. I will ask the guards to send a search party soon and for the guards at the gate to be on the lookout for the missing guards. Let us discuss during lunch." Soren and Luna nodded as they followed Celestia to the castle. As Soren continued to follow the princesses, one thought constantly echoed in his mind. It was supposed to be like this...

It seemed that everywhere in Equestria felt depressing due to the weather. Everything was dimmed because of the overcast, even inside the Royal Palace. Soren looked around the majestic, yet slightly dark, castle. So much for a glorious first time in the castle, he thought to himself as he continued to follow behind princesses as the sisters spoke to each other.

"Do you know who those ponies were?" Celestia asked Luna, who shook her head as a response.

"We have never seen ponies so sinister, nor so strategic, in a long time. Pegasi that carry unicorns..."

"Demi-alicorns, basically. Whoever these ponies are, I can only guess that they have a more than competent leader in charge. We need to figure out who this pony is and stop them."

The three alicorns walked up to a big set of double doors. The two guards stationed there opened the doors with magic. Soren's eyes widened as he saw the biggest dining room he has ever laid eyes on, granted that this was the first and only dining hall he has seen so far. Celestia noticed Soren's expression and chuckled.

"I had forgotten that this is Soren's first time within the Royal Palace. Soren, after our talk, I will be sure to remind Luna to give you a tour of the castle." Soren could only nod in response. "Now then, you two should relax and enjoy a nice meal."

After the three alicorns sat down at one end of the long table, many pony chefs and waiters brought out a wide variety of foods and dishes like entrees, side dishes, and bite-sized foods. Although the current situation prevented the alicorns from feeling very hungry, they each grabbed something to snack on, for they knew they had to eat something. Celestia decided to begin the conversation.

"Soren, although it will only be you and I talking later, is there anything you wanted to ask that both Luna and I will be able to answer?" Soren swallowed the piece of sandwich he was eating.

"Even though my amnesia didn't take away a lot of common knowledge, I still have no knowledge of the Elements of Harmony. Can you explain their powers to me?"

"Certainly. As you know, the six Elements are Laughter, Kindness, Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic. Although they have power when separated, together they are a near-unstoppable force of magic."

"So why am I the Elemental Guardian? From what you're saying, it doesn't seem like the Elements, nor the girls, need any extra protection."

"And you are correct. But there is certain magic that you can learn that not even Twilight Sparkle can." Soren arched an eyebrow. Celestia turned towards her sister. "Luna, have you studied the Natural Elements yet?" She nodded. "Would you like to explain them to Soren?"

"Of course, sister. Soren, ponies may know about the Elements of Harmony, but only a select few know about the Natural Elements. They consist of the elements Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, and Light. Many unicorns have attempted to learn and master these elements, but many have failed. Even the legendary Starswirl The Bearded could only master Light. Obviously my sister and I have learned many spells relating to the Elements, but we have not completely mastered any. Celestia is most familiar to Fire, Wind, and Light and knows some Earth magic. I am most familiar to Wind and Water and also know some Earth.

"Where we are getting at with explaining this to you is that the Elemental Guardian is known to master three to five of the elements and is familiar with the others if they haven't mastered them. We are hoping that you, Soren, can learn at least three Elements, for that may be all you need to defeat the Nightmare Guardian."

"Wow," was all Soren said before taking a deep breath. "And here I thought I was only going to learn if Octavia was my sibling or not."

"Why do you believe Octavia is related to you?" Celestia asked, now curious.

"Actually, she was the one who believed I was her sibling. But before I talk about that, can I just ask if this here can qualify as our talk? It seems like I'm already learning a lot and as of now, it's starting to seem weird that we are planning to talk without Luna with us." Both princesses just stared at Soren. "Umm...did I say something wrong?"

"Oh!" Celestia said when she realized her and Luna were only staring. "No, Soren, it's just..."

"You sometimes surprise us with how you react to situations," Luna finished. "And I believe Tia thinks you remind her of a pony she once knew."

"Funny," Soren said, "Spike told me that Twilight believed the same thing. Celestia, do you and Twilight know the same pony?"

"You are right, Luna," Celestia replied to her sister, while ignoring Soren's question. "Soren does remind of a certain pony, but let's not bring that up right now. The past is the past."

"The past may be the past but isn't that what I want to find out? If, in my past, Octavia was actually family? Do you think you can help me out with that, princess?"

"I shall try my best. Allow me to ponder on the subject until later. In the meantime, Luna, why don't you show Soren the palace and where he can sleep later. When the sun sets, find me and we can see what we can learn about Octavia's family."

"Very well. Soren, is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Does Night Wing have any special Elemental powers?" The silence in the room was stronger than right before the ambush. The princesses looked at each other. Celestia nodded at her sister, so Luna answered Soren's question.

"She does." Soren's ears perked up more. "But her Elements are far different from yours. She can learn the Dark Elements, which are Electricity, Corrosion, Fire, Explosive, and Dark. These Elements are very powerful and destructive. Unfortunately, they are not specified to only the Nightmare Guardian, same with yours. Any skilled unicorn can learn them. She is not as special as the Elemental Guardian, for there have been more than one Elemental Guardian yet only one Nightmare Guardian will ever exist. Luckily, though, it is not up to the unicorns to learn this powerful magic."

"What do you mean by that?" Soren asked, tilting his head. "Is there something that controls who is allowed to use the Elements?" Luna nodded again.

"They are known as The Elementals. They are spirits that represent their respective Elements. From what Twilight Sparkle has told my sister, it would seem that you have been acquainted with one already." It was Soren's turn to nod his head.

"Back in Appaloosa. I was fighting Coyote Colt when I felt this surge of magic envelope me. I didn't think too much of it at the time because I knew it was helping me defeat that colt. It was the Fire Elemental helping me that day for whatever reason it had."

"Soren," Celestia started, "these Elementals control who is allowed to have the ability of the Elements. They obviously have chosen you, yet Night Wing was also chosen. The Natural, or Light, Elements and the Dark Elements have been at war since the dawn of time, even before Luna and I were brought into this world. Don't try to ask for the abilities of the Elements, but rather allow the spirits to give you the powers needed to aid in your own conflicts. You and Night Wing are the embodiment of their ultimate clash. Now...I think that is enough for now. Luna, how about you sing a song with Soren? I hear you two sing beautifully together." Soren smiled at Luna, who returned by giving a small laugh.

"Of course, sister. Soren?" Soren nodded and walked over to Luna. The two alicorns stood side-by-side as they sang their first duet: Don't Be Fooled.

The Canterlot Archives

It was nighttime by the time Luna finished showing Soren around the Royal Palace then Canterlot. Luna figured that even though Soren came to Canterlot for his concert, he never got a chance to explore the sophisticated city. When the palace tour was over and the princess showed Soren where his bedroom would be, the alicorns flew off into the city so Luna could show Soren where her favorites places are, including the Canterlot Library, one of her favorite restaurants, and a park where one could see much of the night sky and its stars.

As of now, the couple decided to meet up with Princess Celestia. Luna deducted that her sister may be at the Canterlot Library (for reasons she wouldn't explain to Soren), so the two of them headed that way after they finished relaxing at Luna's favorite park. As they walked together, Soren turned towards Luna to start a conversation.

"Hey, Luna?" Soren started. Luna glanced at him without turning her head. "I didn't know you were as much of a scholar as Twilight Sparkle."

"Ever since we were saved from Nightmare Moon, we were tasked to study current life and history that passed us by. As a result, we became interested in reading and studying everything we could. It's amazing what a pony can learn from simply reading a book."

"Don't I know it. I can't believe how many spells I learned just from reading about them. Twilight helps too when it comes to trying new spells."

"You should be careful about learning too many spells. A unicorn's body cannot handle too much magic. That is why unicorns only learn spells that coincide with their special talent, unless they specialize in magic. The worst thing that can happen to a magical being is when they learn so many spells or magical abilities that their body becomes just a shell full of magic. No mind, no heart, just an emotionless body."

"Like a soulless creature." Luna nodded. "Thank you for telling me that. I'll be sure to watch myself, but just in case...is there any way to stop that from happening?"

"How do pegasi stop an out-of-control tornado?"

"By adding more cool or hot winds. Are you saying that the only way to stop a pony from becoming a shell of magic is to use another pony's magic to cancel or absorb the excess?"

"Has anypony ever told thee that thou is exceedingly smart, even for your age?"

"Has anypony ever told you that you're cute when your vocabulary changes?" The two alicorns shared a laugh as they came up to the public library of Canterlot.

Soren was a little confused as to why Princess Celestia would be in the Canterlot Library rather than the Royal Library, but he figured she must have a good reason. The alicorns stepped inside and were immediately greeted by dead silence. Luna expected this, but it was surprisingly more quiet due to it being late in the day. The Canterlot Library was a simple building with a circular design. The library itself was just one giant room, and in the center of the room was the librarian's desk area. All around the room were bookshelves that were easily five adult ponies high and that pointed away from the center like a sunburst. More bookshelves were along the walls where they weren't windows, acting like a wallpaper.

The two alicorns spotted Celestia talking with the librarian in the center of the room, so they walked over to greet them. After Soren and Luna were spotted by her, Princess Celestia turned her head to look at them.

"Pen Scribe, of course you know my sister, Princess Luna," Celestia said to the blue stallion. He also had a light brown mane and a cutie mark of a pen writing on a scroll.

"It's an honor to meet you, Your Highness," Pen Scribe greeted as he bowed.

"The pleasure is ours," Luna replied.

"And I would like to introduce you to the newest alicorn in Equestria: Soren," Celestia continued.

"Hello," Soren greeted.

"Amazing," Pen said in awe. "Is this a long lost relative of yours, Your Majesty?"

"It's a long story for another day," Celestia began, "but I do believe he needs your help with something." The sun princess nodded at Soren.

"Umm, I would like to know how I could find out more information on famous ponies in Equestria."

"If that's all you need, I can show you to the Archives," Scribe replied. "It's there that we keep books and scrolls about things like the Equestrian Census, other species and their respective countries, and documentations about the most well-known ponies across Equestria." Pen Scribe ducked below his desk to grab something. He came back up with keys in his hoof. "Unfortunately, the library is closing soon, so I must ask that you escort yourselves to the Archives while I prep the library up for closing. The door is on the south end of the library. You can't miss it."

"Thank you for your assistance, Pen Scribe," Celestia smiled. "We will return the keys to you before the library is about to close." Celestia levitated the keys over to Luna and Soren, who held the keys with his emerald aura.

"There's no rush, Princess. I just hope you three find what you're looking for back there." Princess Celestia nodded. The three made their way to the back room of the library.

The princesses and Soren had no troubles finding a door on the south side of the building. When they approached the door, Soren could see the golden words "Canterlot Archives" printed on it. Using the keys, Soren unlocked the door, and the three of them stepped inside. The Archives were very similar in design to the main room, except that the bookshelves weren't nearly as tall. The bookshelves were slightly taller than Princess Celestia, and the center of the room stood out from the rest of the decor. Whereas the walls were white and the floor was covered with blue carpet, the center of the room was made of dark wood that formed a circle. Soren continued to look at the wood as the princesses began searching the Archives.

"Why is the center of the room so different from the rest?" Soren asked. He noticed that no furniture or book piles were on top of the wood, it was just empty.

"I never understood the reason myself, Soren," Celestia answered. "Come, let's see what we can find out about Octavia and her family." Soren trotted over to the aisle where the princesses were. "Now then, Soren, what specifically gives Octavia the impression that you are her long lost brother?"

"She says it's mostly because I am a talented musician and that I arrived in Ponyville with no memory of my past."

"Was her brother an alicorn?"

"I think she overlooked that fact on purpose."

"Her brother went missing as a foal," Luna began. "If Soren is around Twilight Sparkle's age, then--if Soren so happens to be her brother--that gap would be 15 years, give or take. A lot can happen in 15 years, sister."

"I'm aware of this, Luna," Celestia retorted. "Let's find the Equestrian Census. We should do some research on Octavia's parents."

"Do you know who they are?" Soren asked. The princess nodded.

"Violet and Maestro Melody. As you would expect, both of them are famous here in Canterlot. Violet Melody is a magnificent opera singer and musician, whereas Maestro Melody is the conductor for the Canterlot Orchestra."

"Alright, so since we know their names, we can find them in the Census and that will somehow lead us to a book, which could tell us about their family." The princess stared at Soren once again. Soren tilted his head in confusion. "What now?"

"How did thou know there would be a book about their family line?" Luna asked. Soren shrugged.

"Assumption, I guess. Now where's that Census?" Soren began walking through the aisles once again. The sisters looked at each other before walking behind Soren.

With fifty minutes left until the library closes, the alicorns finally found the biyearly Equestrian Census. Soren saw that it was incredibly organized. It looked to be catergorized by age, then within the age, it's alphabetical. But there was something else: within the age group, celebrities are placed first, then normal ponies. This made it a little easier for them since Octavia's parents were famous. Soren began searching for Violet or Maestro in the Census, but Luna had an idea.

"Why don't you just look for the name 'Nyroc?'" she asked Soren, who was still scanning the pages.

"Simple," he replied. "Since there's a new census every other year, and due to the fact that Nyroc was missing for many years, we can easily say that he won't be in the census." For a third time, Luna was silent, but for the first time, Celestia smiled at Soren's problem-solving.

"AHA! Found one!" Soren exclaimed. The sisters smiled, but their smiles soon faded after Soren's next sentence. "Wait...something isn't right here."

"What did you find?" Luna asked.

"The Census...it says that Violet and Maestro are still living in Canterlot, but Octavia told me they moved." Soren scrunched his face to think.

The princesses waited patiently for Soren to come up with something. With forty-five minutes remaining, Soren finally had an idea.

"Girls, do either of you know where Violet and Maestro used to live in Canterlot?"

"They own a mansion on the edge of Canterlot," Celestia answered. "Why?"

"Because we're paying that place a visit." With that said, Soren began trotting out of the Archives. The princesses looked at each other, and Luna smiled before trotting to catch up to Soren. Celestia also smiled and did the same.

It was very late in the night by the time the three alicorns arrived at a mansion in Canterlot. The building was larger than most buildings in Canterlot, and this particular one was blocked off by an enchanted gate and wall. Luna explained that the enchantment prevents pegasi and unicorns from flying over or teleporting through. Since the walls use magic, only the strongest of unicorns can break the spell and teleport inside. Lucky for the princesses, they have that kind of power. Although it didn't feel right to trespass on someone else's property, the alicorns knew, deep down, that this had to be done.

"Is everypony fine with us doing this?" Luna asked. Princess Celestia and Soren nodded. "Very well." Luna decided to lead the two as they walked from the gate, down the cobblestone path that leads to the front door. Meanwhile, Celestia decided to ask Soren something.

"Have you been feeling different recently, Soren?" she asked.

"Not really. Why?"

"It seems like a small portion of your personality changed. You're becoming a lot smarter in situations like this." Soren looked at the princess. The alicorns arrived at the front door, which Luna used her magic on to open. Soren found this very peculiar.

"Luna?" His marefriend turned around to look at him. "Was that a locked door?"

"No. Why...?" She lengthened the sound of the last word since she was starting to question things as well. "Tia, something doesn't add up here."

"I'm starting to see that as well," Celestia said evenly. "Let's continue cautiously. We won't find our answers by standing on the doorstep." Soren and Luna nodded, and they followed behind her as they walked through the house.

The inside was fairly messy. All the furniture was covered in a white cloth that ponies put on it to keep the dust off. The lobby was cool and dark, as was the rest of the mansion, and the purple wallpaper didn't help to brighten the place. The alicorns entered a ballroom that connected to the lobby via a hallway. It was there that they saw various instrument cases covered by more white cloth.

"Soren, why are we here again?" Luna asked him. Before Soren could answer her question, another voice echoed throughout the ballroom.

"No doubt looking for his parents." All three of them turned towards the source of the voice simultaneously and gasped after they saw who spoke. It was a brown earth pony with a blonde mane. He was wearing a tuxedo, which covered his cutie mark.

"Maestro?" Celestia whispered.

The Moment Of Truth

"Maestro? Why are you here?" Soren asked.

"You should know, Soren," replied another voice. "After all, you've been looking for the answer all day, I presume." Soren turned towards the right of Maestro to see an earth pony mare walk up and stand next to the brown stallion. She was purple with a blue mane and a cutie mark of a flowing bar of notes. It was Violet Melody.

"Actually..." Soren began, as a spark shined in his pupils, "I do know why you two are here."

"What are they talking about, Soren?" Luna asked.

"Let me explain: They knew we were looking for them. In order for Maestro and Violet to figure this out, they had to recieve a tip...a tip from somepony who knew our plan and could contact them...somepony like Octavia." Luna gasped, but Celestia continued to listen. "After Twilight and I left Octavia's house, she must have sent a letter to her parents saying that I was looking for them, and that Octavia would send me on a slight goose chase. Octavia's parents must have quickly rushed to their old mansion to see if I would show up. It's almost like they wanted to test me and to greet me face-to-face. Was this was some sort of test for me?"

The couple was silent for a few seconds, until Maestro finally answered Soren. "Yes...it was. And the purpose of this was to see if you were still corrupted."

"Corrupted?" Celestia replied. "Since when was Soren ever corrupted?

"So you go by Soren now?" Violet inquired. She gave a small smile then continued. "When Nyroc disappeared as a foal, we looked everywhere for him. We eventually had to give up, but after a few months passed, we figured out who took him."

"With the help of many ponies around Canterlot, we were able to find out that there was a group of evil ponies known as the Shadow Horses," Maestro said. "The Shadows like to foal-nap children and convert them to their cause. We figured Nyroc was taken by these ponies and that he was now corrupted."

"I remember those incidents. Children went missing almost every week but eventually stopped," Celestia explained. "May I ask, was Nyroc an alicorn when you found him? I'm sorry to point out that surely he couldn't have been a natural-born alicorn with two earth pony parents." Luna and Soren stared at Celestia, mouths agape.

"...He was," Violet continued. "We found him on the doorstep to this very house many years ago. He was very young, probably not even two years old. We took him in and raised him as our son. To this day, we could not find his birth parents. We stopped trying after his fifth birthday, knowing that we were his parents now. We couldn't have been happier."

"Can I interrupt?" Soren interjected. "Nyroc was foal-napped, these Shadow Horses obviously got him. I'm an alicorn who appeared near Ponyville as a kid with absolutely no recollection of my past or family. I'm obviously your son, but the big question still needs to be answered. If the Shadow Horses wanted me, why did they give me up?" Luna shivered.

"Their leader was an alicorn as well," Maestro answered. "She probably saw your potential and didn't want to risk another alicorn overthrowing her. She most likely teleported you somewhere random, used magic to somehow make you foal sized and to have amnesia, and she is now most likely focusing on her grand plan."

"And do you know what her plan is?" Celestia asked. Meanwhile, the gears in Soren's head turned. A female alicorn, who has an evil plan. No...not her...

"All anypony can gather is that the Shadow Horses have a plan against the highest authority, which would be you and Princess Luna."

"It's not just a plan against solely them," Soren started to explain. Everypony looked at him. "She has a plan against all of Equestria. Their leader is the Nightmare Guardian and she plans to bring back Nightmare Moon!" Maestro and Violet gasped.

"She is willing to gather an army to follow through with Nightmare Moon's plan of resurrection?" Celestia asked, becoming more serious. "This cannot go ignored. If this is true, Equestria is on the brink of battle against these Shadow Horses. We need a plan of action." Celestia thought very hard about the next course of action. Everypony waited patiently for the brilliant princess of the sun to voice a plan. Eventually, she looked at Soren.

"Soren, I need you to study the elements and master as many as possible. Then you will need to be as physically fit as possible in order to fight Night Wing. Meanwhile, I will need to spread word to all of our castle guards about the Shadow Horses and their plan. Word cannot spread too fast through the cities or the Shadows will surely hear the plan. Luna, I need you and the Elements of Harmony to recruit ponies from as many towns as possible for the battle. I have a feeling that our guards will not be enough to fend off these foes. We will also need spies within the ranks of the Shadow Horses so we can learn when they will strike and where." Celestia paused for a minute.

"I believe I may know when it will happen. Soren, have you figured out that Night Wing is technically the opposite of you?"

"Yes," he replied.

"Well, here is something you may not know: Ponies born during an eclipse are given amazing powers. A pony can either use these powers for good or evil. During an eclipse, the pony's powers are dramatically increased."

"I believe I can figure out the rest," Soren interrupted. "Night Wing is technically a Nyr, isn't she? She is going to plan her attack on an eclipse so she will be near-unstoppable, except that since I'm also a Nyr, I will be strong enough to fight her."

"Indeed, that is why the Elements are the factor that will decide who will win that conflict."

Soren looked at Maestro and Violet. He trotted over to them and gave them a hug.

"Mom, Dad...I know we were just reunited and don't have time to catch up right now. You don't have to worry about me anymore, ok? I'll make sure those Shadow Horses are stopped."

"Take care of Octavia," Maestro said.

"Always." Celestia and Luna walked up to the three family members.

"Soren, we must return to Ponyville posthaste," Luna said. Soren nodded and waved goodbye to his parents. Pretty soon, the three alicorns were standing outside on the front doorstep.

"Sister, will Equestria be ready for such a conflict?" Luna asked Celestia. "When was the last time a civil war has occurred on this land?" Celestia didn't answer either question as she faced her sister and Soren with a serious stare.

"You two, return to Ponyville and explain the situation to Twilight and her friends. Afterwards, Soren, you are to begin your Element training immediately. Time is of the essence as of now, and we must be as prepared as possible. I will see you both on another day." After Celestia finished her sentence, she teleported away with a bright, yellow flash. After his eyes readjusted, Soren turned toward Luna.

"I don't care what Rainbow Dash says, I'm never going to be as great of a leader as Princess Celestia." Luna gave a weak laugh before it died underneath the seriousness of the current situation.

"The time for jokes is over, Soren. We have more important matters to tend to. Let us head to Ponyville. We should arrive by sunrise." Soren nodded, so the couple flew away from the mansion and into the night. A few teleportations will also help their journey.

The night sky was breezy. The moon was bright. And the alicorns were tired. The flight was calm, at least for Luna.

Can you say "déjà vu"?

Soren's eyes widened. What the...Why again?

Because you can't run from yourself. But you're busy right now, so I'll take my leave. See you soon...'Guardian.'

This better not be another one of Night Wing's tricks. Soren swore he heard the voice say, "Not this time."

The sun was just peeking over the horizon by the time Soren and Luna arrived in Ponyville. The two immediately went to find their friends and bring them to the library. It took them about an hour, but the couple managed to do it. Soren and Luna even dragged Vinyl and Octavia to the library. Unfortunately, the two had to wake up everypony very early, so most of them were cranky or tired; others were curious as to what was going on. After everyone was gathered in the library, questions were flung left and right.

"Why'd you wake us up so early?"
"What's going on?"
"How was Canterlot?"
"Is Octavia your sister?"
"How long were you two awake?"
"Why didn't you two let me throw a morning party for everyone?"
"Not even Tavi wakes me up this early."

After silencing everypony with the Royal Canterlot Voice, Luna began to speak. She first explained what happened in Canterlot. This is where Soren jumped in and told Octavia that he knew about the tip to her parents. Even though he expected her to feel guilty, Soren saw that Octavia appeared unnerved as events were being explained. As Luna continued to speak, Fluttershy walked over to Soren.

"Um, Soren?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"When was the last time you slept?"

"Before we left for Canterlot. Me being tired isn't what's important right now."

"Well then what is important right now?" Rainbow Dash asked, while Fluttershy was telling Soren to rest.

"Why won't you rest?" Fluttershy persisted. Since he was tired and his patience was thin as a result, Soren shouted to silence Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

"Because there's a war about to happen!" The entire library was silent after the sudden outburst. Soren now had everypony's attention. Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself, Soren continued. "At Canterlot, Octavia's parents, Maestro and Violet, told me and the princesses about a group of ponies called the Shadow Horses. We all deducted that the Nightmare Guardian is the leader of this group. She is planning something against the princesses and we plan to stop it. Luna, do you want to explain the plan?" Luna nodded, and turned to face the silent-stricken mares.

"Now I know this is a lot to take it, but Equestria needs us. My sister has jobs for all of us that need to be completed if we do not want these Shadow Horses to get the upper hoof. Soren's job is to learn and master Elemental magic. We'll explain that part later. Celestia is going to train the Solar Guard in order to prepare them. Girls, I will need your help to find any ponies that are willing to fight against these ponies to defend our home." The eight mares were silent for awhile, but Vinyl decided to speak up.

"What about me and Tavi?" she asked. "We're not much for battle, we're musicians."

"If thou thinkest that you and your friend will not be of service, then both of you do not have to help in this plan. We will not judge you." Both Octavia and Vinyl smiled and nodded at the princess. Meanwhile, Soren was standing like a statue, watching his friends talk. He started to feel sick, so he decided to lay on the ground.

Am I interrupting something?

What are you? Another one of Night Wing's tricks?

Oh, no. I think you'll find that I'm quite...closer to home.

Well, whatever you are, you're leaving my head right--

"Soren!" Soren's head jerked up. He saw everypony looking down at him worriedly. Soren realized that he was grabbing his head and shaking as he was having a mental battle with that voice. "What's wrong?" Twilight Sparkle asked. He slowly got up, brushed off his coat, and looked at her.

Your friends are losing patience with you. Here...

"Oh nothing is wrong, my dear," Soren cooed with a slightly different voice. "Just...a little tired is all." Twilight's eyes widened as she took a step back. That voice... she thought. When Twilight took another step back, she bumped into Applejack.

Very soon, they'll turn their backs on you.

"You alright, sugarcube?" the farmer mare asked the unicorn. "Ya look worried." Twilight sat on her haunches and continued to express nervousness, even more so when Soren walked up to her.

"Ms. Sparkle, are you alright?" That sentence was the last straw for Twilight as she scooted back all the way to a bookshelf and just sat there. Everypony gave Soren a weird look after he addressed Twilight like that, but they soon went back to worrying about Twilight. Pretty soon, Soren looked at the other mares. "Why don't you all comfort Twilight while Vinyl, Octavia, and I walk back to their place as I catch up with my sister."

A few of them nodded, so Soren, Octavia, and Vinyl walked out of the library. After the three of them left, Pinkie Pie decided to comment on something.

"Wow," she awed. "Twilight, he was acting just like that one pony we went on adventures with!" This time everypony's attention was gathered on Pinkie Pie.

"Twilight?" Rarity started. "Who is this pony Pinkie Pie is talking about? And why were you afraid of Soren?" Twilight sighed in defeat since she knew she now had to explain everything.

"A while back, I made a friend. A friend who would go to places and help anypony that needed it. He was a stallion with a very special machine that took us to various places, where we met wonderful and frightening creatures. We were having so much fun, and even Pinkie Pie joined us at one point. But eventually...something started happening to him.

"Soren is acting strangely like that stallion, and this could be a good or bad thing. Before my friend and I parted ways, he began to become...discorded." Twilight's friends gasped at the possible reference to the draconequus. "When he was discorded, my friend started hating everypony. He didn't want to help anypony anymore, and he wanted to be in solitude forever. I don't know if he ever changed back. My fear is that Soren may become discorded somehow. He's already acting strange, so I can't say I trust him right now. Please girls, we need to find him. I-I can't lose two friends like that!" Her friends looked at each other before Rarity sat next to Twilight and hugged her.

"If what you say is true...then we will gladly help you, Twilight," Rarity assured. Twilight smiled and the mares stood up.

"Luna...do you believe me?" Twilight asked the princess, who was just standing there, looking slightly surprised.

"More than you know, Twilight Sparkle. Lead the way." Twilight nodded and proceeded to lead everypony out of the library and straight to Vinyl and Octavia's house.

Discorded?

When the seven mares ran up to Octavia's house, they saw that her front door was left open. Knowing that the high-class mare would never allow something like this to happen, the girls became worried. They quickly ran inside and noticed a strange sight: Octavia and Vinyl were each on separate couches, sleeping. Applejack and Fluttershy walked over to the two musicians and gently shook them. Within seconds, the two mares slowly opened their eyes.

"Wha-What happened?" Octavia asked.

"We were about to ask y'all the same thing," Applejack replied.

"Wow, that was crazy," Vinyl added. "Soren looked like he was having some kind of personality crisis. He talked to himself, said something to me and Tavi, then we were woken up by you girls."

"Soren must have used the same sleeping spell that we used on him," Luna explained. "We do not know why he would do such a thing, but we can only guess it was for your own protection. We must find him, and we believe we know how." As Luna started leading everypony outside, someone shouted "No!" Eyes widening, the mares turned around to see Fluttershy standing there, looking down with her eyes closed.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight said.

"I-I can't do this anymore," Fluttershy said. "I'm tired of all the danger."

"Fluttershy, it's goin-"

"She's right. That colt's a danger magnet," another voice said. Everypony knew that this time it was Applejack talking. "Princess... although I'm with Fluttershy on this one, it don't mean I ain't helping to fight against these Shadow Horses. It just means that I can't do this dangerous junk with Soren no more. Sorry."

"And I'm sorry too, girls," Pinkie Pie said. Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash were all completely surprised and shocked that one-by-one their friends were turning their backs on Soren.

"How can you all betray Soren like this?!" Rainbow Dash shouted at the four mares. "Ever since he showed up, Soren has always helped us, and now you won't help him in return?! What kind of friends do that? Fluttershy, he saved you from those shadow creatures. AJ, he helped your cousin and the sheriff protect Appaloosa. Rarity, he told you to go find help right before he got possessed, which protected you as well! He even saved the princess when Night Wing attacked and helped me when I was badly injured. Even though he hasn't helped Twilight or Pinkie yet, we all owe it to Soren to help him when he's in trouble. I'm out of here." When she finished speaking, Rainbow Dash walked outside. Luna and Twilight looked at their friends before the two walked outside to meet Rainbow Dash. Octavia and Vinyl Scratch were still silent even after that entire event unfolded.

The three mares went to a stage in the town. Soren had performed on this stage on more than one occasion. Luna planned on using magic on the microphone to track him. This should work because Soren had used his magic on that mic the most. Once Luna started using her magic to triangulate Soren's location, she immediately found a trace. While maintaining her horn's glow, the princess began leading Twilight and Rainbow away from town.

As they left Ponyville, the mares noticed that the trace was leading them to the Everfree Forest. Twilight gulped but held her confidence. The mares looked at each other, nodded, and ran into the dark forest. As they continued to follow the trace, Luna noticed that it was fading. They all began running as fast as they could before the trace disappeared completely.

The trace led them to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. At the end of the magical trace, they found themselves at the shrine of the Elements of Harmony. What they saw there shocked Luna and Rainbow, and nearly terrified Twilight. They didn't find Soren...instead they found another pony. This pony had a grey coat, a black and red striped mane, and a cutie mark that resembled a black gem broken in two by lightning. When the pony looked at Twilight, Rainbow, and Luna, they saw that he was an alicorn as well. They assumed it was Soren transformed.

"Finally you all showed up," he said in a calm voice. "You girls took forever to arrive."

"Who are you and what have you done with Soren?!" Luna yelled.

"Now, now, I don't think Soren deserves to speak with his traitorous friends. His weak, scared, betraying friends." Luna was silent. Why did the trace lead us to this pony? It was supposed to lead us to Soren. Unless...could it really be him?

As Luna was thinking to herself, the alicorn continued to spit out insults. Finally, Luna whispered to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow nodded her head and began to talk back to the alicorn.

"Hey, buddy, does the name Nyroc sound familiar?" she asked him.

"Why that's us!" he replied. "Now if you all will excuse me, 'Nyroc' wants to be alone."

"That's it! We know you did something to Soren-"

"Nyroc," he corrected.

"Whatever. Don't make me force you to tell us where Nyroc is."

"Is that a threat, Rainbow Dash? Well I accept your challenge, but on one condition. You have two minutes to attack me before I fight back."

"Rainbow, don't to do this," Twilight pleaded. "We can find Soren without having to fight him."

"I do not think it is that simple, Twilight Sparkle," Luna interrupted. "This pony has done something to Soren. I instructed Rainbow Dash to fight him so maybe we can find some answers."

Before Twilight could respond, Rainbow Dash flew straight at the alicorn and kicked him in the face. To her surprise, he didn't flinch, nor did he have a mark or bruise on his face. Without losing her confidence, Rainbow continued to pound on this alicorn as he refused to react. Meanwhile, Luna was explaining something to Twilight.

"Soren is technically discorded just like your friend, the Doctor, was, except 'tis different for Soren. That is not Soren, yet it is. This pony...this 'alicorn'...is Soren's discorded half. Soren is here, yet missing. How this came to be, I have no idea, but we must find Soren...wherever he is." Luna continued to watch Rainbow Dash attack the alicorn without hesitation. Her two minutes were about to end.

"Where am I?" Soren breathed as he woke up. He looked around but couldn't see anything, for it was pitch black where he was. Soren waited for his eyes to adjust and eventually a white light appeared. He walked towards it and saw that it was a wall of some sort, although it wasn't entirely flat. After a few seconds passed, it began to show something ...something important that was happening.

Soren looked at the picture and saw an aerial view of the shrine of the Elements of Harmony. Not only that but he saw Twilight, Luna, and Rainbow Dash. Soren also saw what looked like him, except the pony had different colors. How am I seeing all of this? I'm in an unknown location and yet I'm seeing my friends somewhere else.

Soren continued to watch what was happening. There was a different version of himself (which he deducted when he saw that the pony was an alicorn). When Soren heard the alicorn talk, he soon realized that it was the voice that was talking to him earlier. At least I'm not in my own head again.

Soren looked around again and saw that he was actually in a cave. He turned back to the scene on the wall. Who or what is this pony? Does it have an evil plan? Soren saw that the alicorn had started fighting Rainbow, only he wasn't fighting back. The alicorn was taking the hits like they were nothing. After seeing enough, Soren turned away from the picture and tried looking for a way out of wherever he was.

It didn't take long for Soren to start getting lost in the maze-like cave. Soren started comprehending the situation again to give himself some inspiration. Before he could finish repeating the situation to himself, Soren heard a voice.

"A lost alicorn viewing his discorded doppelgänger? That's new." Soren turned towards the voice, and saw another pony. He was a brown earth pony with a dark brown mane and soul-piercing blue eyes.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Soren asked. The stallion moved past him to watch the scene at the ruins. Soren was surprised to find out he went in a circle.

"Doesn't matter. Why is there another version of you? Two of the same ponies in the same exact moment in time can cause major problems, not that I really stop problems anymore."

"That pony is like an evil half of myself," Soren explained. "He might be planning something, but I don't know what."

"Is that all? Well, why don't you do something about it?" Soren didn't like that this pony thought the situation wasn't very serious.

"Because I'm lost in this cave!" The brown stallion put a hoof to his chin as he thought about Soren's other half.

"It seems like this discorded spirit managed to make a body of his own." The stallion then took out a weird tool and pointed it at Soren. Upon seeing said device, Soren's eyes widened. Why didn't I recognize him sooner? He's the Doctor!

Hello, Old Friend

"You're the Doctor!" Soren exclaimed while smiling. "Why are you here?"

"If you must know, I came here for isolation purposes," the Doctor explained. "I like to get away from any problems that I could be dragged into. I honestly could care less about what happens as a result, as long as I'm not involved."

"You're nothing like the stories I heard about you."

"Well that's what happens when you've seen too much. You get tired of the things that happen to you. I'm tired of losing the people I cared about. Tired of the universal problems I always have to solve. As a result, I decided to isolate myself to prevent further harm to myself and those around me." He growled to himself. "Now, I'll tell you how to fight the discorded version of yourself since I won't be joining you. First, we need to get to my TARDIS that's parked in this cave, then I'll take you to them. Alright?" Soren nodded.

As the two ponies started searching for the TARDIS, the Doctor continued to stare at Soren. When Soren started to become uneasy, he confronted the Doctor about it.

"What?"

"What's so important about you? Aside from being an alicorn, of course. I don't meet non-important people."

"I'm the Elemental Guardian, and I'm supposed to stop the Nightmare Guardian from resurrecting Nightmare Moon."

"Hmm." As the Doctor said that, the two of them reached the TARDIS. Before they stepped into it, the Doctor turned towards Soren. "I want to make one thing clear: You are to tell no one who helped you or how you got back."

"Agreed, but you have to promise me something first: if I stop my discorded half, then you have to tell me everything that happened before and after you and Twilight left each other." The Doctor frowned at Soren. He knew her?

"I make the orders around here," he warned. The two then stepped into the TARDIS.

The time/space machine landed near a ruined castle in the Everfree Forest. The doors opened and Soren poked his head out. He looked around at the dark forest of the Everfree and walked out of the blue box. Soren looked back inside before shutting the doors.

"Thank you, Doctor," he said.

"I'm warning you. Not. A. Soul."

"Don't worry." Soren closed the doors and rushed to the ruined castle. After running through a few hallways and corridors, Soren finally burst into the room where Luna, Twilight, and Rainbow were confronting Soren's discorded half. When Soren ran in the room, everypony looked at him. Soren made eye contact with his other half, who looked furious. The other alicorn started flying.

"I guess it's not that bad that Nyroc found his way back," he said while smiling evilly. "She wants to deal with him personally, anyway."

"Who are you?!" Soren shouted. The doppelgänger laughed.

"You can call me Cain." Cain looked at Twilight and then back to Soren. "Say hello to the Doctor for me." A flash occurred and then Cain was gone.

After Cain vanished, Luna ran up to Soren and hugged him; he had to assure her that he was ok. Twilight then came up to the two and stared at Soren with a mix of emotions.

"Soren," she said softly, "did the Doctor help you?" Soren was silent. "Did. The Doctor. Help you?"

Before Soren could respond to his friend, a strange noise reverberated throughout the room. Everypony saw something appearing out of nowhere. Only two ponies were familiar with the TARDIS. When it finally landed, the Doctor walked out, and looked at Soren, who say Luna mouth the word, "Doctor." Soren looked at Twilight and could see her fighting back tears. The Doctor walked up to purple unicorn. Without hesitation, Twilight hugged him and began crying.

"I missed you," she said softly.

"I missed you too, Twilight," replied the Doctor.

"Are you here to stay?"

"We both know I can't stay around anypony anymore. I don't want to put any more lives in danger, especially yours. Although I can't stay, know that I will always love you and the time we spent together." Twilight hugged the Doctor tighter.

"I love you too, Doctor."

"Come now, Ms. Sparkle. Don't cry...never cry." The Doctor wiped away Twilight's tears. He smiled and began walking towards the TARDIS.

"Wait!" Soren yelled. The Doctor turned around. "Thanks again. And don't worry, I'll protect Twilight for you." The Doctor simply nodded and closed the TARDIS doors. Within seconds, the same noise as before echoed through the shrine room. The TARDIS was soon gone, and the group of friends were left sitting in the room together.

"What...just happened?" Rainbow Dash asked. Soren and Twilight looked at each other. Luna smiled and proceeded to explain everything to the confused pegasus.

The four friends made it back to Ponyville mentally exhausted. Soren asked Twilight and Rainbow Dash to gather all of their friends and bring them to the library. With the crazy mess over with, Soren had a few things to say. When everypony was gathered and accounted for, Soren faced all of them.

"I want to start by saying that I appreciate all of the help you girls give me, and I want to apologize for putting you in danger so much." Without knowing why, Soren looked specifically at Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. "I don't expect my friends to always help me if it means putting themselves at risk." Soren looked at Twilight, Rainbow, and Luna. "But I know there will be a few of my friends who will always help me no matter what the situation is. That's all I wanted to say. I need some fresh air, so if you girls will excuse me."

After Soren walked out of the library, he stretched his wings and took flight. He landed on a cloud outside of Ponyville and stared at the sunset. Although he wanted to be alone, Soren didn't mind that he was soon accompanied by Princess Luna.

"How art thou, my stallion?" she asked. "Is something troubling you?" Soren nodded.

"I didn't know I was putting my friends in danger. When I start my Element studies, I'm going to seclude myself. If something very bad happens, then I will be there to help, but other than that, I'll just be studying and practicing magic."

"Why do you not want to see your friends?"

"Until I get stronger, this will be the best decision." Soren looked at Luna, who now looked sad, which he expected. "I know my choice also effects the amount of time we can spend together." Soren gave Luna a hug and kissed her. "Please don't worry about me. It makes me sad when you do." Luna gave a forced smile. The couple stood up, and Luna and Soren locked eyes.

"You have become such a caring pony since we have first met. and you will soon be a hero. We understand your choices, but we cannot say we fully agree with them."

"I wouldn't expect you to. Not even I completely agree with my decisions, but I know it's the safest way...for now. Come on, let's get back to our friends." The couple flew back to Ponyville so Soren can tell their friends the news. Now I know how the Doctor feels...sort of.

(End of Part 1)

(Previews for Soren The Alicorn Part 2: The Effects Of War):

"Soren, you can't be serious!"

"I am. I don't think I can do this."

"Sometimes...the ponies that love you the most, make the smartest yet dumbest mistakes."

"Which one of you threw it?!"

We both know I'm not going anywhere, old friend.
"We both know I'm more than capable of finding a way to get rid of you."
But why would you rid yourself of the only thing keeping you sane?

Author's Note

Fun Fact: I was originally going to make this story in the 1st person.
Fun Fact: The reason isn't because I wanted Soren to tell the story.
Fun Fact: I will put the reason in an author's note at the end of Part 2.
Fun Fact: STA has a surprise twist that no one will ever guess.

I'd also like to give credit to all fanfics that I based certain parts off of.

Arrival In Appaloosa

The morning came and Soren was the first pony to arrive in the dining car for breakfast. As he was enjoying his omelet and water, the girls walked in. He simply waved to them since food was in his mouth. As the friends all sat at the same table, Twilight was the first to ask something.

"Did you sleep well last night?"

Soren nodded and swallowed. "Much better than the night before that's for sure," Soren said. "How much longer until we reach Appaloosa?"

"An hour or so. Do we all remember the plan?" Everypony nodded.

"What do we do if Braeburn don't believe us?" Applejack asked.

"Don't worry you about that," Soren said just before Twilight could answer. His friends looked at him with questioning eyes. "I'll make sure they believe us. I think I can be quite persuasive if I wanted to."

"Ah hope that ain't a threat, Soren."

"Of course not. How could accuse of that, AJ? We all know I'm not that kind of pony." Applejack hung her head down.

"Sorry, Soren. It was just the way y'all worded it."

"I understand and it's fine. Let's just make sure we have the plan figured out, ok?" AJ nodded then they all discussed the plan again to pass the time.

During the discussion, Rainbow Dash moved closer to Soren as Twilight and Applejack were talking about what they would tell Braeburn.

"Soren," Rainbow whispered. He turned towards her. "Are you mad about last night?"

"I was more surprised than anything," he answered while also whispering. "But why would you do something like that? You know I'm with Luna. What would you do if our friends saw that?" Rainbow's ears drooped.

"I know, I know, it was stupid."

"Then why do it?"

"Because you're a cool pony." Soren was silent. He wanted to say more but didn't know where to start. "You put your friends before yourself, you're fast, you're determined, and I bet you're one of the few ponies that can compete with me."

"What do you mean-"

"So what are you two talking about?" Twilight asked, interrupting Soren's question. It was an innocent question but Soren was caught off guard nonetheless.

"N-Nothing really! Just making conversation." Soren gave a forced smile as Applejack and Rainbow Dash held back laughs. Twilight and Soren gave confused looks at their friends. Rainbow pointed to Soren's wings, which were extended. Soren groaned as he face-planted the table.

The train finally arrived in the town of Appaloosa. It was very different from Ponyville. It looked newer than Ponyville and, honestly, less sophisticated. But the town had its own charm nonetheless. Soren enjoyed the atmosphere, save for the heat and occasional dust. It was quiet and peaceful. He found it hard to believe that somepony would try to raid such a small settlement. As the four friends exited the train, they were greeted by a very happy stallion who looked about the same age as them.

"Welcome back, cousin!" the stallion exclaimed as he rapidly shook Applejack's hoof. "Ah see you brought some friends too. Please ta meet ya again." He proceeded to shake Twilight and Rainbow Dash's hooves in the same manner. The earth pony stallion was yellow-coated with a orange and yellow mane. His cutie make was a red apple and he wore a brown vest and cowboy hat. He looked at Soren and gave a ridiculously big smile.

"Wow! Ah never seen another alicorn other than the princesses before! What's your name, buddy?"

"S-S-Sore-e-en," Soren answered as his hoof was being shaken vigorously. "I'm guess-s-sing you're Brae-e-bur-rn?" Braeburn stopped shaking his hoof and nodded.

"Yes sir. Ah take it my cuz told you about me?" Soren nodded. "Well lemme be the first to welcome you to Appaloosa!" He used a lot of emphasis on the last word.

"Braeburn," Applejack said.

"Yes, cuz?"

"Do y'all remember why we're here?"

"'Course I do. Y'all are gonna help us with that Coyote Colt fella. You should talk to Sheriff SilverStar in town. I'll take you to him." Braeburn then escorted the four ponies through town.

As they were walking, Braeburn explained everything there is to know about Appaloosa to Soren. Soren only paid attention to the most important aspects of the town, like how there wasn't an official mayor and how this town was only a few years old.

They reached the town jail and stepped inside. Everypony quickly saw that the wall opposite the door was missing. Sheriff SilverStar was standing there looking at the damage.

"What happened, sheriff?" The sheriff turned towards his visitors. SilverStar was a tan earth pony with a brown mane and a moustache. His cutie mark was a silver six-pointed sheriff star. He was also wearing a blue vest, a red bandana tied around his neck, a black hat with a red stripe going across it, and (last but not least) a silver six-pointed sheriff star.

"Blasted bandits broke their buddy out of prison," the sheriff answered. "Ah don't know how they got explosives but Ah know who used 'em."

"Y'all don't think One-Winged Willie did it, do ya?" The sheriff nodded.

"So that pegasus that helps Coyote Colt does know how to fly!" Soren exclaimed. SilverStar gave Soren a glare.

"And just how do you know about that colt?"

"Umm," Soren hesitated, "can I explain everything in a more private area?" SilverStar looked at Braeburn, who nodded back.

"This way."

The sheriff led all of them to a town hall not far from the jailhouse. It had two floors; the first floor was a infirmary of sorts and the second floor held SilverStar's office. The six ponies gathered in the office, which wasn't made to hold this many ponies but they made it work. SilverStar sat at his desk and looked at Soren, who stood across from him.

"Go ahead. Enlight'n me." Soren took a deep breath and began explaining his dream for the fourth time. During this time, the sheriff had the same neutral expression on his face.

"So that's why we came here," Soren concluded. "We need to make sure this raid doesn't destroy this town. Will you help us?" SilverStar stared at Soren for a little longer before speaking.

"Y'all said that there was a performance happenin' right before the raid?" Soren nodded. "Well consider yourselves lucky. That's the only reason Ah believe you."

"Why that particular reason?" Twilight asked.

"Cuz a pair of singers arrived in town a two days ago. They've been performin' ever since. If what y'all say is true, then that raid will happen during their last show."

"And when's that?" Soren asked, not eager to hear the answer.

"Tomorrow."

"WHAT?!" Everypony but Braeburn and SilverStar exclaimed.

"Their next show is tomorrow near sundown. If what you say is true, then that raid is happenin' then. I reckon y'all are too late. Ah highly doubt four ponies can stop an entire raid." SilverStar's voice became slightly sad.

"No!" Soren shouted and slammed a hoof on the desk. SilverStar's eyes, and probably everypony else's, widened. "I'm not giving up that easily! There are ponies in danger here. We still have enough time to make this plan happen. Sheriff, I was told that this town became friends with a herd of buffalos. How long does it take to reach them from here?"

"Can't say exact time but they are quite a ways away. Just head south of here over them hills and you'll find 'em. Ah can easily say you won't make it back before tomorrow morning though."

"Oh I wasn't planning on it," Soren chuckled. His friends stared at him. "You see, I have a plan, and it doesn't involve me and Rainbow Dash getting back before tomorrow." Soren turned towards his pegasus friend. "Yes, you're coming with me since you know them. Before I explain the plan, I'll need to pay a visit to these performers."

"And why is that?" Rainbow asked what everyone was thinking.

"Because I've met them before and they will help in this plan. So..." Soren looked at Twilight. "Did I do good in improvising a plan?" Twilight chuckled. "Good. Now where are those performers, SilverStar? Lead the way." Although stunned by the alicorn's persistence, SilverStar led everypony to the Inn where the performers were staying.