The following morning began pretty mundanely. Well, as mundane as you can get in a cartoon world inhabited by talking ponies, I guess. Twilight woke me up fairly early and walked me over to Fluttershy’s house, apologizing once again for us getting off on the wrong foot (or, hoof, as she said), which I insisted was no big deal.

Twilight knocked on the door to Fluttershy’s cabin, and we sat there in awkward silence for about a minute.
“She should be home…” Twilight said, confused. Just then, the door swung open, and standing there was a very odd-looking creature: it stared at me with wide, yellow eyes - one of them, I should add, was slightly larger than the other - that sat inside of a horned, horses head. It was winged, one of them bat- or dragon-like, and the other eagle-like. It held a martini glass in its one lion-pawed arm, and held the bathrobe it was wearing closed with the other, eagle-clawed hand. He stood on two differently-shaped legs, one dragon-like, and the other goat-like; it was a wonder he was able to walk and stand effectively.

“Ah, Twilight, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Discord asked, smiling broadly. I stared up at the draconequus with awe as Twilight peeked inside the cottage..
“We’re looking for Fluttershy. Is she around?” she asked.
The god of chaos narrowed his eyes, looking me up and down. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with this creature, would it? No, no, let me guess: Celestia wants to see how humans will act in Equestria in exchange for sending him back?” I nodded, which made him roll his eyes. “She can be so predictable sometimes. I’ll tell you what: Fluttershy went to the market to pick up some carrots for Angel. Why don’t you leave him here with me, and I’ll keep an eye on him until she gets back. How does that sound?”

Twilight thought about this for a moment, and then took me aside. “You sure about this?” she asked me worriedly, “he can be a little… much.”
I grinned, sure that I could handle whatever chaos Discord could whip up. “Yeah, I’ll be alright. It should only be a couple hours; how bad could it be?”
Twilight nodded slowly, unconvinced. “If you say so,” she said, and then turned to Discord, “And you had better watch yourself, because there’s no telling the princess will do if he gets hurt!”
Discord pressed the back of his eagle-talon hand to his forehead dramatically. “Oh, I would never dream of it!” he said, suddenly pulling me close and rubbing a fist into my scalp, “I’m sure we’ll become the best of friends. Don't you agree?” he asked me.
“Uh, yeah, sure,” I said uncertainly. This is gonna be a long day, I thought.

“So, a human, in Equestria. What exactly are you doing here?” Discord asked me as we stepped inside Fluttershy’s cottage. “In fact, how are you here? There haven’t been any humans here in thousands of years.”
I explained how I found the portal, and Celestia’s deal, as he leaned back in a recliner and listened intently. It was probably the first time I had ever seen the draconoquus act seriously.

“So, one of the portals survived, eh? I remember the days of the war… I never actually took part, but I did enjoy watching all the glorious chaos the battles caused. You humans could really give me a run for my money if you made a big comeback like that!” he said, and burst out laughing. I hated to admit it, but he was right; humans, as a species, were insane. Sure, you’ll meet a few good ones in your lifetime, but at least eighty percent of the population were monsters. And even that remaining twenty percent have some violent emotions hidden deep inside them.

“So, the first human in all of Equestria in over a thousand years, and I have him all to myself. What shall we do?” he asked, scratching his chin and looking around thoughtfully, “Oh! We could have a snowball fight!” he cried.
I raised an eyebrow. “But there isn’t any-” is all I got out before a heap of snow fell on top of me. I exploded out and rubbed my arms and legs, the sudden drop in temperature not at all pleasant. I glared at him. “Actually, I’m not really one for the cold,” I growled bitterly.

Discord shrugged and snapped his fingers, causing the snow to vanish. “So be it. How about skydiving?” he asked, snapping with his other hand. Suddenly, I was hundreds of feet in the air, plummeting to the ground below. I flailed my arms wildly and screamed as I felt the G-forces pull back on my skin. I looked over and saw Discord falling next to me in a reclining position.
“Ah, isn’t this just relaxing?” he sighed. I looked down and saw the ground approaching fast, and snapped my eyes shut. Suddenly, my descent was halted, and I looked around. I was floating a few feet in the air right above Fluttershy’s porch. I sighed, relieved, and then fell the rest of the way, letting out an “oof!” as the wooden boards connected with my chest.

“You asshole!” I screamed, “I could have died!”
Discord laughed. “You really think I would let you get hurt? I may love a good bit of mischief, but I’ve learned all too well that nothing is worse invoking Celestia’s wrath. Besides, you should have seen the look on your face! It was absolutely hilarious!” he cried, and rolled around on the ground laughing.
He looked up and noticed me scowling. “Oh, cheer up, pal; maybe you need to cool off again?”
I widened my eyes. “No, no, n-” my protest was cut off by another truckload of snow burying me.

I decided I had had enough. After climbing out of the ice-cold pile that encased me, I pulled the crystal out of my pocket and held it forward, causing it to flash brightly and take on its bladed form.
The master of chaos eyed me curiously. “What’s this?” he inquired.
I glared at him. “I’ve had enough of this. Let’s go, you and me, right now!” I charged at him and pulled back my sword as he conjured a weapon of his own. I was surprised when I saw what my sword connected with, but then again, I should have seen it coming; it was Discord, after all.

“A balloon sword? Really?” I cried as we parried and slashed at each other.
Discord stared at his inflatable weapon for a moment. “Oh, I’m sorry, would you have preferred something more like this?” he asked as he reached down and pulled a massive battleaxe out of nowhere. I widened my eyes.
“Hey, no, I wasn't complaining,” I said just as he swung down, giving me a split second to dodge. He pulled the ax up to strike again, but this time I was ready: I held the sword sideways, the impact of the blow pushing me back a bit, but I held fast. Then, I pushed out and right, throwing both of our weapons aside. Then, we charged at each other, screaming angrily, and started to wildly swat at one another in a wild chicken fight. That’s when we heard a quiet yet stern voice from behind.

“Allen! Discord!” the pastel yellow pegasus mare shouted. Discord and I quickly turned, surprised by Fluttershy's sudden arrival, and pointed accusing fingers at one another.
“He started it!” we said at once.

Well, Fluttershy was pretty understanding of the whole situation, by which I mean she believed me more than she believed the chaotic draconequus. When she was finished scolding him, he looked down at the ground, embarrassed, and kicked a pebble.
“I was just having a little fun was all,” he said innocently. I rolled my eyes as he added “well, I’m going to get going; you two have some friendship thing or something to do! Ta-ta!” he cried as he flew off.

Fluttershy shook her head. “He’s really nice once you get to know him, but I just don’t understand him sometimes,” she said to herself, and squeaked when she turned to me. “Oh, um, hi,” she said softly, “Discord wasn’t too much trouble, was he?”
I shook my head and chuckled. “No, it wasn’t any problem. So, what do you have planned for us today?” I asked.
She looked down and smiled. “Well, I was going to have us go on a picnic, if that’s okay with you,” she said nervously. I smiled and nodded, and she quickly ran inside to pack some things.

The rest of the day was spent in a field not too far from Fluttershy’s cottage. She eventually warmed up to me a little better; she was still really quiet and shy, but she talked more. She told me about all the animals that had joined us, one of which was a rather gentle grizzly bear, whose arrival scared the living daylights out of me, until Fluttershy told me he just wanted a sandwich. He patted me gently on the head when I handed it to him, and then lumbered off to the forest, pleased to have received his meal. I couldn’t help but smile; this place was so peaceful and happy, so much better than Earth. I was going to miss it when I got back.

But why do I have to go back? I thought, Why can’t I just stay here?
Because it isn’t right, my conscience told me, you don’t belong here. Besides, what about your family?
My heart ached. I hadn’t thought about my mom and sister all that much during my stay. I worried about them. and wondered how they were surviving without me. Everything will be better when I get home, I told myself confidently.

That evening, under an orange sky, I asked Fluttershy a question that had been bugging me. “Fluttershy, what do you think of humans now that you’ve spent a day with one?” I asked quietly. She looked up at me, confused, so I went on, “I guess what I should ask is, what do you think of me?”
She suddenly looked embarrassed. “You’re pretty nice, and fun to be around. In fact, it’s almost like you’re another pony. Just… taller.”
I smiled and looked ahead. “That’s all I needed to hear,” I said happily.

I woke up in the crystal world later that night, and quickly ran outside, hoping to get a good look at my surroundings before Celestia showed up. It was so amazing, seeing the world frozen like that, with every bit of light sparkling and reflecting off of every surface. I thought nature was beautiful already, but this… this was breathtaking.
I heard hooves stepping up behind me, and who I saw surprised me: it wasn’t Celestia who had come to visit me this night, but Luna. I smiled as she approached.

“Hello, Allen,” she said when she got close, “how was your day?”
I shrugged. “Discord tried some of his tricks when I arrived, but I managed. After that, Fluttershy and I had a picnic and walked around for a while.” I looked off into the distance and added, “it was a nice, peaceful day.”
I turned back and saw Luna was looking at me nervously. “Allen, have you thought about maybe... staying here? In Equestria?”

Her words hit me like a sledgehammer. I thought for a moment that maybe she could read my mind, but the sincerity on her face, and my knowing she could do no such thing, told me she was just curious.
I sighed and looked away once again. “I don’t know. I mean, I’ve thought about it, sure, but it doesn’t seem right. I don’t belong here, and on top of that, I’d be abandoning my family. I guess it’s a little too early to be thinking about that just yet, you know?” I turned back to her as I asked this to see she was looking at the ground sadly.

“Hmm?” she asked, breaking from her trance, “Oh, yes, I suppose you’re right. After all, you’ve only been here a few days. I just hope that when the time does come for you to make your choice, you'll make the right one.” She smiled as she said this, but her eyes still looked like they were full of sorrow.
“Hey, are you okay?” I asked gently, stepping closer.
She took a step back and shook her head.“Yes, I’m alright. Sorry to have bothered you, Allen. Goodnight.”
And without another word, she faded from view, leaving me to wonder what had been bugging her.

Princess Luna reappeared in the throne room of Castle Canterlot, greeted by her smiling sister. Celestia stopped, however, when she saw the lunar princess’s face.
“What is the matter, Luna?” Celestia asked, concerned.

Luna looked up at her sister, tears starting to form in her eyes. “When are you going to tell him the truth?” she asked, trying to keep her composure, “It doesn’t feel right, lying to him like this.”
Celestia wrapped a comforting wing around her younger sister. “At the end of the week, it won’t matter anymore,” she said gently, “now, let’s go to bed.”

Although Celestia’s words comforted her, Luna couldn’t help but feel guilty. I just hope he can forgive us if he does find out, she prayed silently.

Deep in the cave, the crystal pillar was fuming over the failure of the two Crystal Sentinels, along with the alliance formed between the human and the six ponies.
{Ponies? Working with the human? That’s impossible; humans would never work alongside ponies.} The swift assistance that the human recieved was astounding. Did none of them know what he was?

{Without Starswirl the Bearded to give me orders, I suppose I must make my own in his absence,} it said to itself. It shot out several bright blue beams, each creating another Sentinel, until there were seven of the crystalline creatures. {Go now,} the pillar told its creations as they hastily exited the cave to begin the hunt.
{And,} it added just as they left, {Do not hesitate to destroy whatever stops you from eliminating the human. Even ponies.}