Some time later...

The weather has taken a turn for the worse, John thought. He couldn't see anything in front of him as the wind whipped the snow into a frenzy. His cloak was failing to protect him from the bitter wind. His heavy backpack didn’t help him neither.

“H-how f-far are we?” asked a chilled unicorn. John turned to Lux.

“Not far, maybe a few miles.”

“W-what!? W-we’ll f-freeze before we get to P-Ponyvile.” she said as her teeth chattered. John knelt down and took off his cloak. He carefully wrapped it around her, tucking it underneath the winter saddle.

“Better?” he asked. She nodded with a smile. “Just hang in there, soon we’ll be out of the cold and in front of a fire.” he stood himself up and put on his helmet to ward off the wind. He hoped to himself that the town wasn’t much further along, his toes had gone numb a long time ago, and he was suspecting he was getting frostbite. Nevertheless he trudged forward, only to be halted when he stubbed his foot. John hopped as the biting numbness allowed the annoying pain through. Lux trotted forward and wiped the snow off what John hit.

“A rock?” she turned to John “You hit your hoof on a rock?”

“I wish I had hooves, then stupid stuff like that wouldn’t happen.” he let out a steamy breath. “lets get going.” no sooner had he maneuvered around the rock than he found himself falling face first into the snow. Lux brushed off the object he tripped over.

“Another rock?”

John pushed himself up. Fantastic, he thought, it seems that the elements are against me, he surveyed the ground. As far as he could see there were small lumps in the snow. He reached for the nearest one, brushing it off to confirm his suspicions. Sure enough underneath it was a rock.

“Great, now we got a field of rocks to get past.” Lux whirled at his comment.

“Did you say field?” her eyes suddenly widened and began prancing on the spot. “I bet that this is a rock farm, and if it is there’s gotta be a shelter nearby, come on let’s go!” she charged off ahead of a confused John.

“Hey, wait a second. Argh.” he immediately got up and charged after her. What is that silly filly thinking, he thought. He could barely see her outline, he wouldn’t be able to keep up on his own two legs. Just as she was about to disappear, a dim light faded into existence, giving Lux a soft outline. John thanked his stars that Lux was headed straight for it. The light grew ever brighter, revealing a grain silo and a modest barn. Lux was already at the door rapping on it, by the time he got to the yard. The door opened to reveal an old tan stallion, he turned a kindly smile to Lux. She pointed back just as John approached the door.

“What in blazes!? Quick get in!” the old stallion jumped forward and simultaneously put Lux behind him.

“Lux!” John shouted, he charged forward at the old pony.

“Stop, the both of you!” Lux shouted back. The old pony and John looked back at her. “John this is Mr. Pie, Mr. Pie this my friend John, and we need your help.”

Mr. Pie looked from Lux to John, then back again.

“What is he?” the confused pony asked. John took off his helmet and kneeled.

“I am a human, now in the service of the royal princesses as an Errant. You might know me better as Orion.”

It took a moment for Mr. Pie to collect himself.

“Thought I heard an Errant was traveling these parts, just didn’t expect one to drop on my doorstep, much less a non-pony one.”

“We were wondering if we could stay for a bit while the storm dies down, it’s really cold out here.” Lux interrupted, she was shivering from head to hoof.

“Oh dang it, I forgot, get inside, the both of you, before you catch a cold.” Lux rushed in, followed by John and Mr. Pie.

“Sue. Sue we have guests.” a light grey mare trotted in. Older but vitality still filled her soul. Her immediate attention was focused on Lux.

“Oh you poor dear, let’s get you warmed up. Who in their right mind would make you travel in this horrible weather?” Lux smiled and tilted her head in John’s direction. Sue turned to her husband and John standing behind him. The glasses that sat atop her nose slid off and hung around her neck, while Lux stifled a laugh at her reaction. Mr. Pie let out a small chuckle.

“Oh sorry dear. This is the Errant that’s been romping around. He just happened to be in our back yard.”

“You mean,” Sue turned back to Lux. “He takes you on dangerous, perilous journeys?” she said, she turned on John. “How could you risk this filly’s life, what do you have to gain from dragging her around?”
John flustered at the older mare’s accusations, his explanation failing to be voiced. Lux just laughed some more.
“No, you got it wrong Mrs. Pie. I go on the dangerous, perilous journeys. He just tags along.”

Mrs. Pie was evidently not amused, she eyed Lux in a reprimanding manner.

“And it was your idea to travel during a snow storm?”

“Well I said we should stayin Manehatten, but he wanted to get back to Ponyville for the holidays.” she said as she rolled her eyes.

“Ponyville? Our farm is just outside of it. But, uh, what reason do you have to visit?” Mr. Pie asked.

“Some friends asked if I could join them for the holidays. Manehatten wasn’t that far away so I thought we could make the journey.” answered John. This satisfied the colt, but he was still getting a scowl from Mrs. Pie.

“Well that was the most foalhardy thing I ever seen somepony do. Come with me, the both of you, you must be frozen.” she trotted into a living room with John and Lux in tow. The room was festively decorated and a bright fire was burning in the stove. John and Lux sighed as they entered the warm room.

“Take a seat, would you like something hot to drink?”

Lux nodded vigorously with a happy smile. John laughed softly at his young companion, he turned to Mrs. Pie. “Yes please.” he replied. As she left the room Mr. Pie took her place, taking a seat across from them.

“So, you from around these parts.”

“Are you kidding, this is the famous Orion who traveled here from the stars! Riding in on a ball fire, battling for his very survival! His bravery against the dreaded Scorpio proved to Celestia that he is Equestria’s greatest champion! The best part is, he’s showing me how to be a hero so that I can be an Errant just like him!” Lux’s sudden outburst left Mr. Pie astonished. He slowly turned his head to John.

“She exaggerates.” John said, tousling Lux’s mane. He was always careful to avoid touching the horn. “A lot”

“Come to think about it, I think I heard that story before.” Mr. Pie mused. Mrs. Pie brought in a tray of steaming cups and stopped in front of John. He took one off the tray as Lux levitated herself one. He wrapped his numb fingers around the mug and inhaled deeply. The rich scent of dark chocolate was divine, he took a careful sip, even the smallest drop was enough to ward off the cold and bitterness. Lux, on the other hand, immediately took a gulp. The consequence of her mistake came to fruition as she spat out her tongue trying to cool it off.

“Oh for Celestia’s sake, come with me, we’ll take care of that.”

Lux woefully obeyed as she was led in to the kitchen. Mr. Pie turned his attention back to John. “She’s an interesting unicorn.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

“I see. Well since you were on your way back to Ponyville, you wouldn’t by any chance know my daughter would you?”

“Pinkie Pie?” John hazarded. The old pony beamed at him.

“So you have heard of her. Did she invite you back here?

“Yes, her friends did as well. Said to come back before Hearth’s warming Eve is over. Unfortunately I’ll be late.” John craned his neck to see that the wind was still howling outside. The old colt smiled.

“Lucky for you Ponyville isn’t as far as Manehatten.” a knock at the door caused both them to turn in their seats. “I wonder who that could be?” he said in mock surprise.

He got up to get the door, leaving John alone. John sat back as he heard voices coming from the door, and one super excitedly, bubbly, rapid fire voice. John smiled as Mr. Pie led in Twilight Sparkle and her friends into the living room. Their faces lit up like a chandelier in the dark when they saw him. He sprang up to meet them, only to catch a pink missile that nearly took him down in a full body hug.

“Oh my gosh I missed you!” Pinkie squealed with delight. John managed to hug her back even though she was nearly crushing him. It didn’t help that she wasn’t grounded to the floor. The others just laughed.

“Pinkie I don’t think he can hold you anymore.” Twilight giggled. Pinkie let him go and went to give her father a more gentle hug.

“Brbrbrbrb it was cold outside, we didn’t think you were going to make it. This is going to be the best Hearth’s Warming Eve ever!”

“Indeed, it was quite surprising to find you here, of all places.”

“Yup, sure is a mighty fine coincidence.”

They bombarded John with questions about his travels. Answering as best as he could he told them about the adventures, the mishaps, and the ponies he met along the way. Specifically a troublesome little unicorn by the name of.

“That’s not how it happened!” came an irritated shout.

Lux. She was standing just outside the room, and immediately withdrew when she realized who John was talking too. John smiled as he moved to her. She looked nervous. Funny she never gets nervous, he thought. He got down close.

“Something bothering you?”

“No.”

“Really? All this time and your suddenly afraid of other ponies, what gives?”

Lux avoided eye contact and pawed at the floor.

“It’s just that...” she stammered “You’re cool and all but... they’re my real heroes.”

She turned to face John a pleading look in her eyes. John just placed his hand on her shoulder.

“So what does it have to do with me?” he asked. She looked up at him in surprise.

“You mean you wouldn’t be jealous?”

“Never.”

“What if I started hanging out with them instead of you?” she teased.

“By all means, go for it.”

“Wait a minute, this is just another trick to get me to stop following you!”

“Horse-apples, it almost worked too.” John snapped his fingers in mock defeat. Lux gave a small laugh. “So, do you want to meet your heroes?” Lux’s eyes grew as wide as saucers, then quickly retracted to their normal size.

“Uh... yeah! What kind of question is that?” she immediately raced past John to the micro herd of ponies.

“Hi everypony! Name’s Lucky Lux. But you can call me Lux.” after loudly introducing herself she continued. “I am such a big fan of you guys. I mean defeating Nightmare Moon and Discord? That is legendary. I can’t believe I’m in the same room as you. This is just so.. so..”

“Awesome?” Rainbow Dash supplied before getting a nudge from Applejack.

“Yes! I-”

“Whoa, slow down Lux. You’re scaring them. Everybody this is Lux, she’s my guide, but more often than not, she guides me straight into trouble. But if it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t be here right now.”

“So this is the adventurous unicorn we’ve heard so much about.” Twilight said as she extended a hoof to Lux. “Pleased to meet you, I am Twilight Sparkle.”

Lux turned her head to John “You told them about me?”

“In my letters. What else did you think I was scrawling?” he smiled.

Lux turned back and eagerly shook Twilight’s hoof. “This keeps getting better and better.”

Her jaw went slack when Rainbow Dash approached her.

“I didn’t think you’d be so short. John makes you out to be something pretty special in his letters.”

“Does he now?” John turned away as Lux eyed him. “Thanks Rainbow Dash! The stuff we’ve been through is almost as cool as the sonic rainboom, if not cooler.” she said nonchalantly.

“You wanna swap stories after?” Rainbow was intrigued. Lux’s eyes couldn't get any brighter. John noticed she was starting to shake like Pinkie. He decided to intervene before she got out of hand.

“I’m really happy that you guys are here. It means alot that I have people to spend the holidays with.”

“Hey, you always got me.”

“Lux, that’s a given.”

“Oh.”

“So now what I want to know is what are we celebrating?”

Twilight and the gang smiled as they exchanged glances.

“Hearth’s Warming Eve celebrates the birth of Equestria and the founding principles it’s based on.”

“Humility.” said Applejack

“Courage.” said Rainbow Dash

“Cooperation.” spoke Fluttershy

“Unity.” said Rarity

“Fun!” yelled Pinkie. Everyone just stared at her, to which she responded. “What? you can get happiness from fun.”

“Before Equestria was founded, unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies all lived separately. A brave group of ponies decided it was time all ponies started sharing their abilities with each other.” Twilight continued. “They managed to convince all Equestrians that we each had something to offer each other, and thus create a better life for themselves as well.” she stopped to look back at her friends. “So in the spirit of our ancestors we honor our fellow ponies with a gift as they did when unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies came together this very night.” she turned back to John. “We’re so glad you could be here John, nopony should be alone on Hearth’s Warming Eve.”

“Thank-you Twilight. I wouldn’t have been all alone.” he said, giving Lux a wink. Then he put on a large grin. “So, do you girls want your gifts now or wait till tomorrow morning?”

All seven sets of eyes grew wide.

“You got presents!” shouted Pinkie.

“So that’s what was in the bag!” Lux said ecstatically.

“Wait how did you know to get a gift, and what does tomorrow morning have to do with anything?” Twilight asked. John was reaching for his backpack when he replied.

“You’re not going to believe this, but back home, on Earth. We had a holiday similar to this one. But then again, there were a lot of holidays going on at this time of year. People would squabble about the petty differences, demanding equal treatment or political correctness. You had to watch your step when the holidays came around. But when you were in the privacy of your home, surrounded by people you love, you celebrated Christmas. It’s a shadow of what it used to be, but my friends and family did their best preserve the spirit that came with the season.” Twilight and the others were saddened by his recollection.

“Why was everything so different? Couldn't you have just put aside you differences as we did?”

John just shrugged. “I wish it were that easy, it is extremely hard to change a person’s mind or an overpopulated planet for that matter. And we, as a species, generally don’t like change.”

“I see, well continue more about this ‘Christmas’.”

“The spirit of the season was to show love for your fellow man, peace on Earth, and bringing good cheer to all around you. Gifts are a convenient way of showing your appreciation for someone, but there were other ways too. I remember helping out at shelters, laughing and joking with downtrodden homeless people. One time I was stuck at my college due to a snow storm and Artie threw a huge party on a whim for all the other stranded students. I decorated a tree once, it was beautiful. Delicate ornaments hung from every branch, it was topped off with a glowing star.” he was lost in his reminiscing, Pinkies voice jerked him back to consciousness.

“Tree decorations! That sounds great! I’ll get right on that.” she zipped out of the room, and before you could say cupcakes she zoomed back in planted a lush four foot pine tree in the corner. It was riddled with ornaments from tinsel to Christmas lights. “Oop, one more thing.” she placed a star at the top, which began glowing on it’s own accord.

“Just...like that.” John was astonished at just how strikingly similar it was. He cleared his throat. “So in the spirit of the holiday, I wanted to show how much you guys mean to me by getting you each a gift.” he began digging in his pack once again. “As for tomorrow morning, well we usually waited for Christmas day to open gifts, but sometimes we got carried away. Not that it matters, I had no time to have them wrapped before coming here. Fluttershy?”

“Y-yes?”

“This is for you.”

She walked up cautiously to see what John had. Upon laying her eyes on it he could see that they were starting to well up. It was an egg, wrapped snugly in a bundle of cloth. She took it gently in her forelegs.

“It so warm.”

“It’s a phoenix egg, the owner said this one was about to hatch. I figured this was probably the only animal you didn’t have.”

“It’s perfect, thank-you.” she gave him a hug, squeezing the egg between them. The heat it was giving off was warming his heart. John reached in his bag and pulled out another present.

“Applejack?”

“Yup.” she tried to hide her excitement, failing miserably.

John presented a golden apple, before she could take it, he withdrew his hand a bit.

“Be extremely careful with this. It is a tool for chaos. I had a heck off a time wresting this out of the wrong claws, but I trust you will keep it safe. As for Applebloom,” he shuddered at the thoughts going through his head “, don’t even let her near this thing.” He extended his hand once again. She held it in her hoof, examining it closely like one would a diamond.

“Well bless my heart, this is one a’ the finest apples I’ve ever seen. Is there anymore like it?”

“Yes, but they’re guarded by a multi-headed lizard that feeds off of them.”

She gave him a shocked look. “Well I ‘preciate you goin’ through the trouble John, it’s too bad this thing is goin’ ta’ spoil though.”

“Eventually, give or take a few thousand years.” John said nonchalantly.

Surprise filled her face once again, then turned in to a warm smile.

“Thank-you John, you won’t regret givin’ this here apple ta’ me. Ain’t nopony gonna lay eyes on it but the Apple family for generations ta’ come.” John smiled as she returned to her friends, they each gave it an admiring look, before turning back to John as he began to rummage again.

“Pinkie Pie.” as soon as he looked up she pressed her face into his. A squee came from somewhere, just another thing he didn’t have the patience to figure out. He shook his head and pulled his arm out revealing a set of vinyl records.

“This is the latest album from DJ PON3. Not to be released for another three months and guaranteed to bring down the house at any party, literally.” he said deadpanned

“That was like the best night ever.” Lux said enthusiastically.

“We’re lucky we survived.” John shot back. She only shrugged in response.

Pinkie’s teeth began to chatter in excitement. “Oh my gosh I want to play it right now!”

“Perhaps it can wait Pinkamena.” said her father, who sounded a little nervous at the prospect of having his house blown up by music. Pinkie complied with her father but chose a different outlet for her excitement. John was crushed in another hug.

“Okay, Pinkie. That’s enough. Can’t breath.” she immediately let go and stepped back showing the set of vinyl to her friends.

“Rainbow Dash I have two gifts for you.”

This got her attention, she immediately bolted forward hovering in front of him. He pulled out the first gift.

“Saw this in a surplus store, thought it would be pretty useful, in case you ever needed to fly by night.” he tossed her a pair of night vision goggles. She turned them over in her hooves.

“I guess these are pretty cool, thanks John.” she gave him a weak smile.

“Wait a sec’, here’s your other gift.” He handed her a card. She took it and carefully opened it. She perused the contents. The sudden realization of what they were caused her to whoop up in the air, squealing like a fangirl. She came in and grabbed John in a tight hug.

“Oh thankyouthanyouthankyouthankyouthankyou-” she said as fast she could fire the words off.

“What did you give her?” asked a curious Twilight.

“My seasons pass for the Wonderbolts.”

“What!? We could’ve seen more shows.” whined Lux.

“Oh come on we can’t just follow them around, we have other things to do.”

“BUT NOW I CAN!!” Rainbow gave a final cracked whoop before settling down.

John turned a raised eyebrow to Rarity next who blushed and stepped forward.

“These are all such stellar gifts. I can’t imagine what incredible gift you have for me.”

“I think you’ll like these.” he said as he pulled out a pair of diamonds, each the size of a grapefruit. Rarities eyes sparkled at the lustrous gems.

“How in Equestria did you get these?” she asked utterly in shock.

“Three words. Angry. Old. Dragon.” he said, “Throw some diamond dogs in the mix and it becomes a near catastrophe.”

She leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek. Lux rolled her eyes in disgust.

“It’s good to see you’re in one piece after the heroics are said and done.” she retreated back to her friends. Twilight eagerly stepped forward. John gave a small sigh. Now or never he thought.

“Twilight I...don’t have your gift with me.” it was obvious to John that it hurt Twilight. The rest of her friends gave him a stare.

“How could you possibly not have a present for Twilight?” Pinkie asked.

“Look, I do have a gift for her. It was going to be delivered from Canterlot today, but I guess the weather saw shut down the mail.” he ran his hand through his hair after seeing the sad look on her face. She then gave him a small smile.

“It’s okay John, presents are nice but I prefer to be with my friends more than anything. And like you said, that’s what the holidays are about. Now come here.” John was grabbed in a field of magic and pulled in for a hug, the others joined in as well. John spotted Lux slowly inching away.

“Oh no, you’re going to join us in this special moment and your going to like it.” he grabbed Lux and pulled her in, putting her between him and Twilight. Lux squirmed at first, then gave in too sheer amount of love that was going around.

“Thank-you John for sharing Christmas with us. Making my friends happy is all I could ask for.” Twilight said. They let go of him. Lux was still holding on to John, content as anypony could be. “So what was my gift, if you don’t midn telling me.”

“Oh. It was a book.” he said as he stroked Lux’s mane.

“Any subject in particular, or author?” she asked

“Ah yeah... the subject is humans, and the author is Atlas.” he said sheepishly. Lux gave him a look. he continued. “It’s just a basic picture of the human race as Atlas perceives us. He told me in the last letter that the compilation was nearly complete and that the first volume was fresh off the presses-”

“F-first volume?” Twilight stuttered.

“Uh yeah. I’m beginning to think he went overboard. As far as I know there are thirteen volumes. Going by chronological order. Since it’s the only set of books in Equestria, I thought you should have first dibs on them.” Twilight let her mouth drop. After a moment she snapped it back shut.

“I don’t know what to say. It’s an honour to get to know more about you. Where you came from. I can’t thank-you enough.”

“Don’t mention it. I just wish Atlas could be here to see his hard work appreciated.”

“That could be arranged.”

Everyone jumped at the sound of the new voice. Standing behind them all were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna along with a brown earth pony who had a holographic man on her back.

“Princesses.” they immediately bowed before them.

“Greetings my little ponies. I hope you don’t mind the intrusion Mr. and Mrs. Pie.”

Mr. Pie took off his hat, his wife stepped forward.

“Not at all your Highnesses. You’re more than welcome here. Excuse us while we get something for everypony to eat. She back peddled into the kitchen, giving her husbands tail a quick tug before disappearing completely. The ponies in the room gathered around the princesses, idly talking. John turned to Lux.

“Well aren’t you going to talk to the princesses?”

“Aren’t you?”

“If I can avoid it.”

“Looks like that won’t happen.”

Celestia was first to approach John, giving him a warm smile.

“How are you enjoying your first Hearth’s Warming Eve?”

“...” John didn’t want to talk to her, but one look at the happy scene before him told him other wise. “Just fine. Princess.”

She lost her smile at the tone of his voice. “Well I’m glad to hear that John. You always seem to make the best of any given situation.”

“With no help from you, your majesty.” John took a deep breath, he wasn’t about to ruin this night for his friends.

“Indeed. Well I’m sure Luna will want to speak with you, she’s been anxious to personally evaluate you.”

“Evaluate me?”

“Yes she’s very excited to see what you have learned.”

John’s stomach twisted in a knot. He wasn’t so keen on studying what had been given to him by Luna. The massive amount of knowledge would have him trapped in a library for years. She was not going to be happy when she found out he had been skipping out on studying.

“Uh, well I’d love to show her what I can do but I’m a little under the weather.” he forced himself into a coughing fit, which only garnered Luna’s attention.

“Then you should let her know immediately.” Celestia’s smile returned. John was about to retort when the prominent blue figure of Luna came before him. He was quick to bow.

“How have the seasons treated thee Orion?”

“Uh, great, just great Princess. But I...seemed to have caught a something. It might be contagious. For your own safety stand back.”

“You haven’t shown my sister the same courtesy of telling her you’re sick.” Luna glowered at him. John could feel his face getting hotter. “Pray tell, have you been studying like I asked?”

“I got the essentials.” he said weakly.

“No he hasn’t Princess!” Lux’s shout caused John to jump, he immediately faced the princess, expecting her trademark voice to split his head.

“I am disappointed in you Orion, it seems you haven’t prepared for any evaluations.”

John looked the other way. John felt magic grab his chin and point so that he was facing Luna. She was wearing a smile that was almost as warm as Celestia’s.

“I won’t test you now since it’s the eve of Hearth’s Warming, but I do expect you catch up on your studies after the celebrations are done. Twilight Sparkle, I have a favour to ask you.”

“Yes Luna?”

“Orion has fallen behind, so until further notice he is to reside in Ponyville. He will not leave until he has completed his scholarly teachings. I wish for you to keep but an eye on him, and report any deviations to me.”

“Understood Princess.” Twilight saluted.

“Wait a minute, you can’t do that to me.”

“I just did.” Luna grinned and walked off, leaving John flustered and frustrated. Twilight Joined him as Luna left.

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad. Besides you should feel privileged that you get to study under Luna.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right.” John said with a heavy sigh. “Come on let’s get your present.”

John led Twilight to Atlas and the brown pony who was carrying him. He was eager to see him, it had been a while since he last visited Canterlot and his last visit didn’t go over so well. John could see Atlas beaming as he approached.

“Hey John, it’s been a while. Is it okay if I wish you a Merry Christmas?” John stopped for a second. He watched as Atlas’ expression started to change to uncertainty. John smiled at him.

“If you had a body, I would hug you right now.” Atlas was relieved by his answer. “By the way do you have that book with you? I wanted to give it to Twilight.”

“In fact we do, Cherry if you would please?”

The brown mare reached back, pulling out an immense tome out of her saddle bag. John took it out of her mouth before she could drop it.

“Oh sorry. It’s good to see you again Cherry. I hope Atlas hasn’t caused you any trouble.”

“Nothing the off switch can’t handle.” she chuckled as Atlas gave her a sidelong look. “His book has been running me ragged though.”

John took a look at the title and smirked, he turned over to Twilight.

“Here you go.” she took the book, her eyes filled with wonder.

“The Atlas' Apex Anthology of Anthropology: Volume I.” she read aloud.

“I suggested the title, I thinks it suits it perfectly, don’t you Atlas?” Cherry asked in a teasing tone. Atlas shrugged.

“I don’t see how ‘Humans: A Machines Perspective’ wouldn’t have sufficed” she only chuckled at his response.

Twilight was already flipping through the pages, every so often squinting her eyes, grinning with excitement, along with a few looks of disgust and even taking a deep breath of the the freshly printed pages. She turned to Atlas.

“This book is amazing.” she turned back to the book, flipping through the pages. She stopped at a certain page and began staring at it intently. She took a quick glance at John then back to the page.

“What’s wrong?” John asked.

“Nothing, its just, I didn’t know you had Errants too.” John furrowed his brow and moved to view the page Twilight was on. John was surprised to see an image of man wearing armor not so different from the armor he was wearing now, minus the Equestrian insignias. He was standing tall holding a banner and a shield. The detail in the face showed hard resolve in his steely expression. Cherry came over to see what they were looking at.

“Ah, I see you’ve found the medieval period section. What you’re looking at is the knight errant that served the nobility at the time. It was quite surprising when I found out they were held to most of the same standards as our own Errants. Its a shame that they themselves didn’t survive the middle ages, but their code of conduct lives on.”

John smiled and gave a small laugh. “Hate to break it to you, but I never met anyone, besides Arty who acted even remotely chivalrous.”

“Well that makes three then.” Cherry replied. John gave her a quizzical look, and received a wink in return. Atlas turned a slightly darker shade. Twilight closed the book.

“I can’t wait to get started, seems we both have a lot to learn right John?”

“Yeah I can hardly wait.” he said wryly. “Hey Cherry? Can I borrow Atlas for a minute?”

“Thought you’d never ask.” John retrieved Atlas’ computer from the saddle bag, grabbed his cloak and headed for the door. The wind had died down and a gentle snow was falling. A few of the clouds had parted to reveal the half moon, illuminating the snow in a silver bath. A stack of logs were to his left, he walked over, pulled the axe out of the chopping block and sat down on it. He propped Atlas on his knees. The small figure looked expectantly up at him.

“What is it John?”

John took a deep breath of cold air, and slowly let it out.

“Could you, or do you have pictures of...”

“Vanessa?” Atlas finished for him. “I should, hang on one minute.”

John sat in silence admiring the scene before him. The moon was slowly disappearing behind cloud cover. The storm had died down enough that he could see lights from the town. An image of a beautiful woman flashed in front of him.

“This was all I could muster. Unfortunately I never had access to social networks.”

“This is fine Atlas. Thank-you.” he said quietly. It was an ordinary company profile picture. Professional and bland, but even then she still looked beautiful. John stared into her blue eyes and the light that was in them. He brought his hand up as if to brush her cheek, letting his hand pass through the hologram.

“Who’s she?” the inquisitive Lux said. John was mildly surprised that she followed him out here.

“She’s a good friend of mine.”

“Seems like you were more than just friends.” John shifted in his seat at her statement. “Hey relax, its me you’re talking to.” she came up and placed a hoof on his arm. John looked at her. She was wearing a bright smile to match her large deep green eyes. He turned back to the image.

“I’d like to believe we could have had something special. But now... I’m never going to find out.”

“I don’t think it’s any of your business, now run along you silly filly.” Atlas said

“Hey! I’ve been hangin’ around him alot longer than you have, so you can just cram it, air head!” she stuck her tongue out at him and blew a raspberry. The resulting unintelligible bickering caused John to laugh.

“Alright that’s enough. Atlas she’s been traveling with me for a while now. I think she’s entitled to a little info. Lux, don’t antagonize him. Best thing to do is turn him off.”

“Hey wait-” he was cut off as John hit the switch. He resumed watching the drifting scene before him, with Lux by his side. She slowly turned her gaze towards him.

“You think you’ll ever see her again?” John heaved a sigh as he turned to her.

“Not likely.”

“Oh come on, what kind of attitude is that?”

John looked at her in surprised manner.

“Nopony knew what was going to happen after they founded Equestria, but at least they had hope that it would turn out for the better. That’s the only reason we are here today. So why can’t the same happen to you? If there’s anything you should have John, it’s hope.”

John reached over and stroked her mane.

“Thanks Lux. I’m lucky to have you as a friend.”

Lux blushed and leaned into John. He took the excess of his cloak and wrapped it around her. The two sat serenely as the snowflakes danced around them. From inside the melodious voice of Fluttershy began singing a carol the likes John had never heard. Smooth and flowing, John could have sworn it was an angel singing. For the first time since he came to Equestria, he was completely at peace. He let the magic inside of him spur and pour into his entire being, to ward off the cold night air. Lux sighed heavily as she snuggled closer to John’s heated body.

Everything is perfect, he thought.

Remember I love you all!!
Enjoy your holidays.
And kill those exams. One down four to go.
Yes this canon for my story