A Repentant Draconequus on the Equestrian Throne

by DungeonMiner

First published 21st of July, 2014

Pendragon Alan Goldenhoof, after saving Equestria twice over, must now sit idly by as his world is destroyed piece by agonizing piece.

"It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy?[...] A new day will come."—Samwise Gamgee

Alan Williams Goldenhoof has been there and back again. He saved Equestria, saved an Empire, and even walked up to Death's door, shook his hoof, and then went on his merry way. He is loved in Ponyville, famous in Caterlot, and is considered to be a hero.

And now his heroics are about to end. Perhaps permanently.

With a shadow of arcane evil lurking in the back of his mind, and an old foe on a new battlefield, he has met his match. But no matter what they say, he knows the truth. He knows this guy cannot be trusted.

No matter what they say.

Book 3 of the Harmony for All Trilogy

1-It's a Wonderful Life

Chapter 1

“We are terrible parents,” Twilight said.

Well, actually, she was yelling it. She had to so that she could be heard over the rockslide they were riding to escape the Hydra they were trying to get out of Froggy Bottom Bog.

Alan Goldenhoof, an integral part of the afore-mentioned ‘they,’ laughed. “You kidding?” he asked, riding a surfboard made of hard-mana. “he loves it!”

Orion, their new-born son, agreed as he laughed from Twilight’s saddlebags.

“This is stupid and dangerous!” Twilight argued as she leapt from rock to rock, before landing on Alan’s board.

“But, oh so much fun,” Alan finished with a smile.

The hydra, which previously had four heads and now had nine, roared behind them.

“Well you could have at least not cut its heads off,” Twilight complained.

“I thought my Firebreath would have been strong enough to cauterize the necks,” Alan explained.

“Which is why, once it failed, you tried again on the other two!”

“I had to try the spell too!” Alan argued.

The surfboard swung around the hillside, Alan carefully piloting them into Ghastly Gorge.

“Incoming,” he added.

A large boulder came flying at them from behind, and Twilight’s horn began to ring in response.

The boulder smashed into her hastily-erected shield, shattering to pieces.

Orion laughed.

“This is definitely not good for his psyche…” Twilight muttered.

“Nonsense!” Alan said. “This way, he’ll know how to handle an emergency.”

“Other parents do not train their foals like this!” Twilight argued.

“When other parents have a take your kid to work day, they wind up stuck in an office cubicle for hours on end. For us, we have to go negotiate with a dragon.”

Twilight shook her head.

Orion was now holding a large, shiny rock shard, which was then quickly taken away by his mother. As tears were beginning to well up, however, it was returned, now perfectly round. He laughed again before sticking a small part of the smooth stone into his mouth.

“This is still stupid,” she said.

Alan laughed, before leaning forward.

His horn began to glow, and a wall of fire began to erupt beside them, directing the Hydra down and into the gorge.

“See them yet?” Twilight asked.

“We’re almost there!” Alan assured her.

Alan pulled up, leveling out his board to send it flying forward into the gorge. “Come on, Ugly!” Alan yelled, at the large water dragon. “Hurry up! Dinner’s getting away!”

The Hydra roared, chasing the small family down into the ravine. He flew forward, weaving through unseen obstacles before suddenly pulling to a stop.

The Hydra chased them, running down mouths open wide.

“And three…” Alan began, as the Hydra barreled down on them.

“Two…” Twilight said.

“Dabaaaaaa!” Orion cried.

A massive eel shot forward, its jaws snapping tightly down on the Hydra’s neck, and with a rather visceral rip, tore the head right off.

Twilight already had her hooves over her son’s eyes.

Another eel joined the fray, ripping another head off as it went in for the kill.

“Dinner is served,” Alan said.

Six eels later, the Hydra lay on its side, the weight of its heads pinning the body down as the eels continued to feast on the unlimited supply of food.

“At this rate, the Hydra will not have enough blood to support all of those heads within the next thirty minutes. It will become permanently unconscious, take massive brain damage, and will not be an issue any longer. There is now one less Hydra in the world, and the eels are now well fed. I think our work here is done.”

Twilight shook her head. “At the very least it’s efficient,” she mumbled as Alan piloted them up and away.

“So what are we doing for dinner tonight?” Alan asked as they floated away.

“You’re thinking about dinner? After watching that?”

Alan shrugged. “It’s meat. I’m still kind of a fan of meat.”

Twilight shook her head. “Look...I don’t feel like cooking...how does Hay Burger sound?”

“Sounds good,” Alan agreed, before looking over at his son, who was still happily sucking on the rock he had found. “Did you bring the mashed carrots for Orion?”

“What, now? You want to eat now?” she asked.

“I’m hungry,” Alan replied.

“It’s five in the afternoon!”

“That’s close enough to dinner time...”

“In the grand scheme of the universal timeline!”

Alan rolled his eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, Mr. Black hole for a stomach!”

Alan chuckled. “Alright, alright,” he conceded as they pulled into air over Ponyville. “You head home, grab the carrots, and I’ll meet you at Hay Burger. I’ve got a few quick errands to run, and that should eat enough time so that we’ll dine suitably late. Sound good?”

She sighed and smiled. “Sure, sounds good.”

They pulled up to their home, a hollowed-out oak tree, known simply as the Golden Oaks Library, and Twilight and Orion hopped off the board.

"One for the road?" Alan asked, before the mother and father shared a quick kiss between them.

“See you soon,” he told her.

“See you there.”

As Alan then surfed away on the currents of the wind, Twilight lifted Orion in front of her. “Yeah, we’ll see Daddy again soon, won’t we? Yes.”

Alan watched the two walk into the library, before flying away to the market, and stepping down onto the packed dirt floor.

“Well, Howdy, Al!” Applejack greeted from her stand.

“Evening, Boss,” Silver Pauldrons echoed, standing next to the farmer.

“Evening, you two,” Alan greeted. “Been behaving?”

“Sir, yes sir,” Silver said, “Got those forms you requested earlier, and we got the delivery on those training weapons.”

Alan smiled. “Good to hear. Where are the forms now?”

“Your desk back at the Outpost,” Silver told him.

“Great, good luck, you two.”

“Have a nice day, now!” Applejack called.

“Yeah, yeah, will do,” Alan agreed. “Hey, AJ.”

“Yeah?”

“Is Big Mac where he normally is?”

She smiled and nodded. “Eeyup.”

“Alright then, see y’all later,” he said with a wave before heading out towards the edge of town.

He walked along, greeting the many ponies he knew by name and saying a simple “hey” to those whose names he could not remember.

He smiled as he walked, before suddenly hearing someone call his voice.

“Hey, Al!”

Alan turned, and smiled. “Spike! How’s it going, man?”

Spike walked forward, escorting Rarity, who was never seen without a hat these days. ‘It’s going well, Alan. Where’ve you been?”

“Me?” Alan asked. “Well, Twi and I just took care of the Hydra that was in Froggy Bottom Bog, and that took forever, other than that, haven’t really done anything else important, once I check up on Mac, I’m going to head over to the Outpost and pick up some forms to request a unit transfer so that we can get a little more help down here.”

“That’d be nice,” Spike grumbled. “We need some new guys to come in to take out all the paperwork you never got around to.”

“How is Mac these days?” Rarity asked.

“He’s been...weird…” Alan said, hesitantly. “Been sitting around trees a lot lately, talking to bushes and stuff.”

“Do you think something’s wrong?” Spike asked.

Alan hesitated for a second. “I...have no idea,” he admitted. “Truth be told, I think it makes him happier, and Fluttershy loves it when he talks to her animals, so, if nothing else, it’s great for their relationship.”

Rarity cocked her head. “Hm...odd. Adorable, and sweet, but odd.”

Spike turned to her. “Rarity, I love you, but I’m not talking to plants for you.”

“Wouldn’t expect you to, dear,” she said, patting his shoulder. “Say hello, for me, would you, Alan?”

“Will do,” Alan said, before turning to head out. “See you guys!”

“Bye Al!”

“Goodbye, Darling.”

Big Mac stood in a little clearing that sat between Fluttershy’s cottage and Sweet Apple Acres.

Closer to Fluttershy’s, but it wasn’t too far away from either.

He had decided to put a little winter cabin here, and had already started laying a foundation.

Stu Barker, the large maple that was going to be in his front yard, spoke. “So, what’re you going to build it out of?”

“Wood,” Big Mac replied as he laid some brick down along the edges of where his cabin would be.

The trees around the clearing shivered.

“Um...not anytree you know, right, Mac?” Woody Knott, the birch across the way, asked.

“Eenope.”

The trees breathed a collective side of relief.

Russell Bush, a young raspberry vine, spoke up. “So, why here? Why build here?”

Barry Berry, a much older blackberry bush on the other side of the clearing spoke up. “Why do you care? I’m just happy he isn’t tearing us all up to make room.”

“Woah, woah, easy there, Barry,” Hazel Nut said. “Our job is to provide, if that means space, then so be it.”

“Oh, come off it! You don’t get to be so high and lofty, I know you purposefully dropped that branch on that beaver to save yourself.”

Big Mac shook his head, trying to block out the sounds of the argument that was starting to break out amongst the flora.

Admittedly, his first foray into communicating with nature had wound up with Big Mac wide-eyed and opened-mouthed as he was suddenly filled with more knowledge than he was ready to take.

Trees were surprisingly wise.

Still, he got used to it. He sat and listened until he had learned many new things.

He now knew how to becoming one with the earth itself, how to listen to the wind and speak to the ground.

“Someone comes this way,” another tree said. “It’s the pony with the golden hooves.”

Barry gasped. “Oh no! Not him! Keep him and his ‘weeding’ magic away from me!”

Big Mac shook his head.

“Hey, Big Mac,” Alan said, entering the clearing.

“Howdy, Al,” Mac said. “How’ve you been?”

“Been good, just coming to check up on you.”

Big Mac shot him a glance.

“Fluttershy asked me to, alright? She said she would’ve done it herself, but she had an errand to run.”

Big Mac nodded in understanding. “Gotcha,” he said, before laying down another brick.

Alan nodded, before scanning the grounds. “You sure you want that blackberry there?”

“YES! YES YOU DO!” Barry yelled.

Big Mac chuckled. “It’s fine where it is.”

“It is?” Alan asked. “I mean, no offense but I’ve seen a ton of vines like that back where I used to live, and they were just nuisances.”

“I AM NOT A NUISANCE!”

“It’ll be just fine, Al,” Big Mac said. “I’m actually looking forward to some good berries from him.”

“I don’t know why,” Hazel said. “Knowing Barry they’d be sour.”

“Oh, go pollinate yourself, you overgrown weed!”

Big Mac shook his head. “Oh, speaking of pulling things out of the ground.”

“Yeah?” Alan asked.

“We got an old stump back on the farm, and I’m going to need some help pulling her out.”

“Should I bring the rest of the guys?”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac said, “I’ll bring cider and snacks.”

“Sounds good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some forms to pick up, and then I’ve got a date to keep.”

“Date?” Big Mac asked.

“Well, it’s more going out to eat with the family because Twilight doesn’t want to cook, but I’ve got to do something to keep the romance alive,” he explained with a smile.

Big Mac shook his head, and went back to work.

All was silent in the clearing again.

And then Barry spoke up. “I hate that guy.”

Scootaloo flew through the air, carried by her kick off the ground as she and Rumble went head-to-head in a spar.

A crudely carved stick was held in her mouth as she snarled at her opponent.

She was going to get a cutie mark in swordsmanship, and that was final.

Rumble blocked her incoming strike, pushing it to the side as he came around, underneath her for an uppercut.

“Scootaloo,” Applebloom said from the side lines as the stick was knocked from the peagsus’ mouth. “Scootaloo, Ah don’t think this is really…”

Scootaloo ignored her, jumping off to the side to grab her sword again, while dodging her opponent’s attacks.

On the sidelines, the remainder of the Cutie Mark Crusaders watched and sighed.

Diamond Tiara spoke up. “When are we going to pick our next...er…”

“Activity?” Sweetie Belle offered.

“Whatever.”

“Who knows?” Pipsqueak, the only male member of the Crusaders, who had endured many unspeakable trials, asked. “Scootaloo has practically taken over ever since Sweetie Belle got her Cutie Mark.”

Silver Spoon shook her head. “Well, don’t worry too much. Once she runs out of ideas, we can get to work on the backlog of activities I’ve planned.”

“Yeah…” Applebloom said. “We just need to wait until she runs out of ideas.”

The foals all shared a look.

“Yeah, that ain’t happening,” Pip said.

Applebloom sighed. “Alright, I’ll talk to her once she’s done here. Try to get somepony else to pick something.”

The foals watched on, before a suddenly vicious strike by Rumble sent the filly flying.

The Crusaders cringed.

“Ow…” she moaned.

Rainbow Dash soared and twirled, flying through the clouds as she directed her weather team. “Hurry up, Blossomforth! I’ve seen glaciers melt faster than you work!”

Thunderlane watched her, his eyes following her as she dove through a few cumulus clouds.

“Cloudchaser, come on, now! We needed that raincloud out over reservoir three hours ago!”

Thunderlane shook his head as he, Soarin, and a dozen other pegasi shared a massive cloud. They were carefully pushing the large cumulonimbus over towards the southern end of town to try and form a wall of cloud to keep any weather for Everfree floating in. It meant that the southern end could wind up with a little extra rainfall, but with fall rolling in, it wouldn’t be a bad idea.

It would certainly help Applejack’s cider.

Thunderlane looked back up at the pegasus as she led the crowd with the cloud.

“She’d be a good catch, wouldn’t she?” Soarin’s voice said next to him.

“What?” Thunderlane asked, snapping his head to the Wonderbolt, blushing all the way.

Soarin shrugged. “Smart, good leadership, important military pony, nice figure,” he said, “I’m just saying, if I weren’t getting hitched soon, I would...well...that would be inappropriate to say of a superior officer.”

Thunderlane’s ears were burning, and his face was turning a shade of crimson.

Soarin went back to the cloud. “Take my advice, Thunders, If you have any interest in that mare, you better get her before someone else does.”

Thunderlane blinked, staring at Soarin as the Wonderbolt happily went back to work.

“Hey! Thunderlane!” Rainbow yelled. “Quit napping! That’s my job!”

Thunderlane sighed. “Yes, Ma’am.”

As Alan walked into the Hay Burger, his nose was filled with the smell of fried horseshoe fries and greasy hay patties.

It wasn’t quite the same as Wendy’s but it was close enough.

Twilight waved him down from her table, Orion sitting in his collapsible high chair.

“Hey there, beautiful,” Alan said, walking up to her. “Come here often?”

She smiled, and they shared a kiss. “I got you the usual.”

“Extra pickles?”

“Always.”

Alan smiled. “You’re awesome, Twi.”

“Don’t let Rainbow Dash hear you,” she said with a smirk as her burger lifted in front of her, “she might get jealous.”

“She should be jealous,” Alan said, simply.

Twilight shook her head, and smiled.

“So,” Alan began, “Big Mac’s invited all the guys over for a stump pulling.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, before the sudden pop of teleportation brought in her schedule. “Is it an event?”

“Eeyup,” Alan said, biting into his burger.

“Alright, and don’t forget Pinkie’s wedding is—”

“The twentieth, I remember,” Alan finished. “It’s hard to forget when she continually posts banners across main street to invite all of Ponyville.”

“Just thought I’d say something,” Twilight said. “I know you can miss a date or two.”

Alan rolled his eyes. “It was one time Twilight, geeze. Crucify me, why don’tcha?”

“I’m just saying…”

“Well you don’t need to—”

“Daba!” Orion said.

Alan’s head snapped towards his son.

Twilight sighed. “He’s not old enough to talk yet,” she said.

“But he was so close!” Alan said.

“Still not old enough to talk,” Twilight said, before eating a few fries.

“Nonsense!” Alan said. “He’s smart! I mean just look at his genes!”

Twilight sighed and shook her head, before smiling.

His body was flying through the air.

He was about to go do Evil.

“No!” he screamed, before slamming himself into the ground.

He couldn’t. He mustn’t.

“Yes!” He roared, taking off again.

“No!” He slammed into the snow.

He had to stop himself.

“Let go! Harmony!” He cried, his wings beating as he took off.

"Never!” He roared, diving to the ground, and digging his claws into the soft earth.

He rolled on the ground, desperately trying to stay from going airborne.

He couldn’t. He just couldn’t.

Even...even if he could trust himself to stay who he was, he could never face her again.

Not her.

“Let go!”

“No! You let go!”

“I am master of this body! You cannot keep it long!”

“I will keep whatever I want for however long I want to!”

“It’s mine!”

“Mine!”

“Let go!”

“You let go!”

Oh, by Faust above, he wished he could stop himself.

It was that blasted sword! If he had never been hit this wouldn’t have happened! He would still be some crazed force of nature instead of the monster he had become.

Oh, Faust help him.

She was the only one who could.

And hello, people!

“We’re Baaaaaaaaack~”

“Back? It’s been what? Two weeks?”

Back with the last piece of the puzzle.

“So you’re actually going to explain yourself?”

Yes, the big picture is coming at last.

“Well, let’s stop talking about it, and get on with it!”

Alright, alright! I’m movin’! I’m movin’!

“And here. We. Go!”

2-Finding Your Way

Chapter 2

The five stallions and one dragon all lined up in front of the stump at Sweet Apple Acres.

The afternoon sun bore down on them as they fitted themselves for their yokes, all the while, puffing their chests out as their respective ladies cheered them on from the sidelines.

The mares stood next to several yet-to-be-opened barrels of cider as well as a rather generous spread of various apple-related treats. A large parasol, donated to the event courtesy of Rarity (who still wore a large hat anyway), had been set up for the mares and they gladly sat in its shade.

“Alright,” Alan said, as he weaved the rope through the yoke, “Thunderlane, Soarin, you’re going to give us some upward force. Spike, you’re with me and Silver to pull out. Big Mac, you’re the anchor. Any objections?”

They had none.

“Sounds good. Let’s go, stallions.”

They quickly lined up. Big Mac stood in the lead, followed by Spike, and then Alan and Silver standing side by side. Thunderlane and Soarin hovered in the sky above, double checking their harnesses as they waited for the signal.

“Ready…” Alan began, before waiting a beat. “Pull!”

The ropes snapped taut as the stallions pulled, hemp dust rising off of them as the puller’s hooves dug into the ground beneath them.

Soarin and Thunderlane were flapping their wings crazily, trying to get some upward force on the stump.

Big Mac took a slow step forward, and using everything he learned from the trees, became one with the earth, and perfectly immovable.

Spike’s claws dug deep into the earth below him, cutting long trenches into the soil as he struggled to get a foothold.

The stallions strained and grunted. Muscles rippled, veins bulged, they tugged and pawed at the ground while the stump popped as its roots were ripped to pieces.

And the mares just watched.

Women (as far as men know) don’t often indulge in ogling at eye candy. However, it has been confirmed that they do enjoy it occasionally, and the rippling wall of bulging muscle in front of them was just a little too sweet to pass up.

Rarity smiled around the straw she drank from as her eyes wandered over Spike’s large arms and shoulders. She drank her apple juice rather happily as Spike’s massive wings beat slowly as he tried to get some forward momentum.

Applejack was sneaking her looks at Silver, hiding them by cheering them on as she watched his sides and legs glisten with sweat.

Pinkie cheered on Soarin as he flapped his wings, and she took a moment to admire the wingspan, and the force coming off those wings. A force that she could feel from the ground.

Rainbow Dash likewise took a moment to admire Thunderlane’s wingspan.

Fluttershy, meanwhile stared in awe as Big Mac stood perfectly still. His yoke pulling back into his neck as the ropes strained. But he did not move an inch. The ground below him didn’t even give.

Twilight looked on lovingly, knowing from experience the strength of those arms.

As slack began to build between Spike and Big Mac, the farmer took a step forward before quickly becoming one with the earth again.

The stump groaned and popped as more roots snapped under the force.

Alan spoke through gritt teeth. “Silver, on three, pull with me. One. Two. Three!”

The two stallions pulled together, and the stump came loose, followed by more popping as the roots finally snapped.

A cheer went up from the crowd of mares, and the stallions grinned at their success, before finding a nice comfortable spot on the ground to rest on.

As the spectators came up to their respective pullers, Twilight hovered Orion up to her husband. “Look at how strong Daddy is! Yeah, see how strong he is.”

The blue bundle babbled happily, reaching out for his father with his little golden hooves.

Alan smiled as he slowly picked himself up from the ground to nuzzle his son, before turning to kiss his wife.

“Well, fellas,” Applejack said, before bringing a hoof down on a pry bar and opening a barrel. “You earned it!”

With the smell of fresh cider now floating in the air, the exhausted stallions slowly picked themselves up and migrated to the snack table.

And Applejack was already keeping Rainbow Dash at bay with a stick. “Let the stallions go first, Rainbow! They did the work!”

“They’ll get it!” Dash replied. “There’s enough to go around!”

“Which is why you can wait!” she said, before biting down on her tail and dragging her away.

“No! Cider! Wait for meeeeeeee!”

As the ponies drank deep and regained their breath, conversation began to spark through the little party. “Say, Al, where’ve you been the past couple of weeks?” Soarin asked. “I hardly see you.”

“That’s because whenever I go out, you’re off on a show,” Alan answered.

Soarin shrugged. “Still a Wonderbolt, got to please the crowd sometime.”

“Yeah, but I’m not a Wonderbolt,” Thunderlane added. “So what’s your excuse this time?”

Alan smiled. “Alright, alright, you caught me. Twi’s been trying to help me develop my magic skill, so while she has me go through all of the basic, picking up a ball and all that, I’m working on translating my shouts to spells.”

Silver spoke up. “Isn’t that kind of advanced?”

“Well, yeah...but, you see, I know how a fire spell works, and I know how my fire shout feels. The idea is, if I can make the connection between those two, I can recreate it for the other shouts.”

“Ah,” Spike said in understanding, “I see. That could work.”

Silver shrugged. “If you say so.”

“Yeah, well that’s the plan anyways, I’ve had mixed results so far, and no real breakthroughs.”

“Let me know how that turns out,” Spike said before sipping his mug. “You’ve got me interested in this now.”

“Will do, Spike.”

“Y’all want some fritters?” Applejack asked.

“Oh, yes.”

“Please.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

“Eeyup.”

Princess Celestia walked the empty hallways of Canterlot Castle. The loud clop of her golden shod hooves echoed as she walked through this hardly-visited wing of the castle. She had been hearing rather disturbing things about her nephew as of late, and with a little direction from Alan’s latest letter, decided that something should be done about it.

She stopped as she came upon the large doors to his personal chambers.

The two guards on the sides of the doors stood at attention, ready for any order that may be given to them.

She waited a moment.

Just a moment.

And then entered the room as softly, and as quietly as she could.

Prince Blueblood XVI frowned.

It had been three years now.

Three years since he had been humiliated publicly by that warmonger they call the Pendragon. Three years since he had his duty of planning the Grand Galloping Gala stripped from him. Three years since he had first walked into the Royal Libraries, searching for a spell that would rip that stallion’s insides to pieces.

Blueblood’s eyes flashed green and red.

Three years, and time was almost up.

He swirled the wine in his glass before taking another gulp, not bothering to savor the flavor of the three-hundred-year-old wine. He didn’t really care.

He was a powerful enemy, to be sure, but with this new power, it would be much easier.

He gave a feral grin at the thought of tearing apart that mare next.

Maybe she should go first?

As these dark thoughts filled his mind, he thought for a moment that the room got brighter.

He blinked, before the room returned to its regular darkness, and he growled. “I told them I did not want to be disturbed, peasant,” he sneered.

A soft, gentle voice answered. “Am I not allowed to walk in my own Castle?”

The prince jumped, leaping out of his chair at the sound of Celestia’s voice. “Princess! I—”

She smiled. “It’s alright, Blueblood. It’s alright,” she said, comforting her nephew.

“I...forgive me, Auntie…” Blueblood said. “I...I thought you were the help.”

Celestia gave him a firm frown. “And you refer to the help as peasants?”

Blueblood winced. “I...I...I do…” he admitted, figuring that lying would only worsen his situation.

Celestia sighed, before stepping toward her adoptive nephew. She draped her wing around him, and pulled him to the side. “Blueblood, Blueblood, Blueblood…” she sighed again. “What happened, Blueblood?”

The Prince furrowed his brow. “What do you mean, Auntie?”

She glanced down at the Prince. “What do you think I mean?” she asked simply.

“Well…” Blueblood began. “I...it’s all the Pendragon’s fault,” he answered in a huff. “Do you know what he did to me?” he asked. “He humiliated in front of everyone. He stole money from me, and ruined my reputation! He destroyed me! He—”

“I asked him to,” Celestia said simply.

Blueblood jumped out of the embrace of her wing. “What!?” he demanded. “You!? You betrayed me!?”

“I didn’t betray you, Blueblood,” she stated.

“You! It was you! I should have known! I should have known that I couldn’t trust—”

“Blueblood,” she interrupted, and the power in her voice stopped his rambling short. “I did not betray you. I was trying to help you.”

“Help?” he asked, anger rebuilding in his voice after being so quickly destroyed. “You were trying to help? And how exactly was destroying me helpful?”

Celestia hung her head. “The Gala committee had been talking about changing the planner the year before. They were getting tired of the same thing every year, Blueblood. The only ones who were really enjoyed your Galas were lesser nobles, the ones that made it a point to talk to you and tell you what a great job you had done. Nopony else enjoyed them.”

Blueblood blinked.

“This is the second time I tried to help you, Blueblood. I tried to get the Bearers of the Elements last time, but with the way you treated Rarity, they didn’t want to come back.

“The decision to replace you was cemented when the Pendragon replaced your Gala with what he did. They picked someone who enjoyed the changes, but still knew how to be refined. They wanted the middle ground between the two, and that was something you could have done, Blueblood.”

“I…” he began.

“And I know you can do that, Blueblood,” Celestia continued. “I know that you can be just as wild as the Pendragon because I’ve seen it.”

She gave a small smile. “I remember a little colt running around my chambers, holding a map of an imaginary land and talking about how he would be the greatest explorer Equestria had ever known. A colt who scoffed and ridiculed his etiquette teachers and,” she stifled a laugh, “made rather rude jokes about the royal physician.”

Her smile faded as she looked back at the stallion in front of her. “So I ask again. What happened, Nephew?”

“He grew up,” the Prince replied bitterly. “He grew up and learned how important etiquette was. He didn’t have the time to chase silly dreams of candy cane forests. He couldn’t go off and explore a useless land when he could be navigating a ball and becoming a VIP unlike any had been before.”

“Licorice,” Celestia said.

“What?”

“It was a licorice forest.”

“It is childish!” Blueblood roared. “It’s pointless, ridiculous, and a massive waste of precious time!”

“Blueblood…” Celestia began.

“Not like you would know what being grown up means! Between your practical jokes and your disgusting cake habit, you’re no better than a four-year-old! Here’s a thought, maybe if you actually acted your age, other countries would respect you enough that they wouldn’t go to war! It’s garbage! All of it is garbage!”

Celestia said nothing.

“Am I the only one that still knows how to act like proper royalty? Am I the only one with a brain, or is that a commodity too?” He asked, yelling.

He turned and stomped further back into his room, only to find himself without a place to walk off to.

Celestia sighed. “If that’s how you feel, Blueblood,” she said, before standing.

Blueblood did not face her.

She began to leave, before Blueblood heard the ring of magic, and the pop of teleportation. The unmistakable rustle of paper sounded behind him, before Celestia spoke again. “Goodnight, Nephew.”

And then the door closed behind her.

The room went silent.

Blueblood stared angrily at the wall, refusing to look at the table where Celestia had left her gift. He didn’t care what it was. He didn’t want to know.

He glanced back.

A newspaper hat, and a small sheet of parchment.

His eye twitched at the sight of the hat, and stomped over to it before ripping it apart. He shredded it, leaving no piece of paper larger than his bow tie. “Stupid! Childish! Imprudent! Wasteful! Pointless!”

His eyes turned to the sheet.

A childish map of some stupid, made-up country stared back up at him happily.

He snatched the map up, furious, and began to rip...it…

In half…

The land, a mythical country colored in bright ink, almost smiled at him. The word “Bluelandia” was written proudly across its face.

Greengrass Field had the majority of the land, stretching from Chocolate Milk Falls to the Licorice Forest.

A stray memory, one of a very young Blueblood came to mind.

“And then, if you follow the path of Rainbow Bricks, you’ll come to the Licorice Forest!” The young colt explained excitedly.

“The Licorice Forest?!” Celestia asked, smiling as she watched Blueblood explain the next continent he would explore.

“Yeah! The trees are made of licorice!”

“Really? But how will the trees last if they’re made of licorice?” Celestia asked, smiling all the way.

“The trunks of the trees are made of black licorice! Nopony would eat those!”

Celestia laughed.

Blueblood the stallion stared back down at the map, already sporting a large wound from his anger.

“It...it’s childish…” he muttered. “Childish and stupid…” he said before he continued to rip it again.

It was like trying to tear through steel.

The paper fluttered as Blueblood’s magical grip shook.

He stared at the map, the map he hadn’t seen since he was six. The happy colors and childish legend seemed simple at best, but…

The expertly drawn compass rose in the corner of the map was as much a signature as it was an accusation.

The Super Slide Tower and the Castle of Cool called to him, reminding him of the two most strictly enforced rules of the country, specifically, the “No School” and “No Brussels Sprouts” laws.

He...he sighed, and set the map down on his desk.

He stared at it, a nostalgic smile on his face and tears gathering in his eyes.

Then, he slowly opened one of his drawers, and blowing away the dust, began to pull out rulers and compasses, protractors, and various other drafting tools.

Finally, he took out another sheet of parchment, a quill and an inkpot.

He could not remember how long he sat there, scratching away at the fresh piece of parchment, but when he finished, he could not help but smile.

He had a new map, done professionally this time, with flowing script labeling the various landmarks. The coast was decorated perfectly and the forest was amazingly marked.

He smirked to himself. “You can still draw a good-looking map.”

And then he frowned.

“What am I doing?” he asked himself. He sat back down and stared up at the ceiling. “‘Navigating social scenes,’” he scoffed. “If I could miss the committee's wishes so easily then maybe not.”

He looked down at his flanks, and saw his Cutie Mark staring back at him. “So who am I, really?”

That was the real question.

Blueblood had stayed up the whole night, and he still did not have an answer.

However, in all of the pacing and thinking, he finally had a solution.

A large saddlebag, stuffed to the brim with surprisingly basic survival gear, sat by the door, ready to go.

He was almost ready. All that he needed to do was let his Auntie know.

He approached his desk, and took a fresh sheet. “Now…” he muttered. “How to start.”

He stared at the page for a long time, before he began to write, carefully sculpting each word, letter by letter.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

I’m sorry. It was not my place to say the things I said. I apologize.

Secondly, I wish to...express my gratitude for the conversation. It certainly has given me a lot to think about.

Too much, in fact.

I simply don’t know what to think anymore. I...I hardly know who I am. Am I the explorer I thought I was when I was a foal, or am I the politician I molded myself into.

I simply don’t know.

For the past fifteen years, I have been convinced that the social scene was my realm, and I have explored them well. Now, however, I feel that to give the other side of me a chance, I must go into the wild and learn the rules of the jungles and forest as I had for balls and galas.

So...so I will go. I’m going and I do not know when I am coming back, if at all.”

His quill shook as a smile began to grow across his face.

“And...and I find that exhilarating. That prospect of danger has gotten my blood to boil already, and I am still standing in my room!

Oh, I pity myself for not doing this sooner…

…

So...thank you, Auntie. Thank you for talking to me.

Maybe when I return, I will thank you for what you did to me, maybe I never will. I don’t know.

I don’t even know who I am.

And so, I’m off to find out.

Give my congratulations to Fancy Pants, perhaps he can plan a better Gala than I ever could. And...also extend an apology to the Pendragon and that unicorn mare for me. It is the proper thing to do, and I have been rather ill-mannered to not have done so already.

Wish me luck, Auntie. I’m sure you’ll find some way of contacting me.

Your Nephew,

Prin…”

He paused.

“Your Nephew,

Prin Blueblood.”

He finished, blowing on the ink to dry it, rereading what he wrote.

And then he smiled again.

“P.S. Your doctor is still a quack.”

Chuckling to himself, he rolled the scroll closed, and sealed it tight. And then, with a smile, he lifted his saddlebags onto his back, and grabbed a compass from off a nearby shelf.

He checked around the room once more.

“Yes...it’s time to go.”

And with that, he opened the door and left his room.

The guards saluted him, an Blueblood passed the scroll off to him. “Can you get this to the Princess? Make sure she reads it.”

“Yes, sir!” the Guard replied.

Blueblood smiled, and began to travel down the long hallway. “If anyone asks,” he said, not turning to face them, “Tell them I’ve gone on vacation. A very long vacation.”

None knew it, at the time.

They couldn’t.

Only Faust and the Angels of Paradise knew of this moment’s importance.

As Prince Blueblood XVI walked out of Canterlot that day, he altered the history of Equestria.

But not even the Angels knew if this was for the better, or the worse.

Alright, another chapter of set up, and then it’s going to be one crazy ride from there on out.

“How crazy?”

Ok, you know you?

“Me?”

Yeah.

“I guess?”

You on Red Bull, coffee and Kool-aid.

“Woah.”

Yeah.

“Well, until then, we’ll see you soon!”

Be sure to comment, fave, and all that other stuff!

“Bye~!”

3-A Pink Wedding

Chapter 3

“Oh today’s the day!” Pinkie sang. “Today’s the day! Today’s the best day of all days! Oh, how I’d love to be in that city, on today-ay of all days!”

Alan listened to Pinkie’s fourth rendition of “When the Saints” as they all sat in the train car, riding towards Canterlot.

Today was the day she had been waiting for for the past year. Today was her wedding day.

As she hummed the tune to herself for the hundredth time, Rarity was already working on fixing up Pinkie’s mane. Getting that thing under control was going to be an all-day chore, and she knew it.

“Pinkie, Darling, I need you to sit still, please,” she said, begging the pink ball of energy to sit still.

It was like arguing with a thunderstorm.

“I’m sorry, Rarity! But I’m just so excited! And nervous! Nervicited, even! I’ve never had a wedding party thrown for me, before! What if I mess it up?”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said, comforting the pink pony while holding her sleeping son, “I don’t think you can mess up as the bride.” She smiled. “I should know, Alan died during our wedding and it turned out fine.”

Alan glanced over at her. “Did you just hold the fact that I died against me?”

“It really ruins a dream wedding when the groom dies,” Twilight answered in a deadpan.

“Well excuse me,” Alan grumbled.

The other stallions smiled and chuckled, amused.

Soarin sat on the other side of the train car, opposite Pinkie, separated for the duration, and had a massive smile on his face. “Well, when you put it that way, all I need to do is not die and I’ll be golden.”

The crowd laughed.

“Another word out of you, Soarin, and we’re going to have a sparring match,” Alan said, before threatening, “and I will not go easy on you.”

“Oh, lighten up, Al,” Silver said. “He gets a few jabs today, wouldn’t you say?”

Alan shook his head. “Fine, fine,” he muttered before turning to look at his son. He smiled as he watched him, cuddled up in his blankets.

“Not to change the subject entirely,” Spike said, breaking the silence, “but I’m going to change the subject entirely, what is that you two kept saying you were going to do?”

Twilight groaned. “Spike! This is the third time we’ve told you. We're going to stop by Shining’s to see him, Cadence, and our niece, as well as to drop off Orion.”

“Joking about ruining the wedding aside,” Alan said, “we’d feel incredibly guilty if he woke up crying during the ceremony.”

“So you’re pulling his uncle into foalsitting?” Thunderlane asked.

“He deserves it,” Alan muttered. “Especially after he did the same.”

Twilight chuckled. “Alright, alright, that’s enough Al. So anyway, we’ll meet up with you guys a little bit before the ceremony.”

“Ooh! Ooh!” Pinkie said, waving her arm in the air.

Alan smiled. “We’ll bring some doughnuts.”

“Yes!”

Alan and Twilight took only a moment or two to locate Shining and Cadence’s apartment.

To be fair, it wasn’t hard. It was the only building that had a portable throne room next to it.

True, being in Canterlot did mean that she wasn’t going to be called on for court very often, but there was always somepony that needed to make a desperate appeal.

Alan knocked smartly on the door, his eyes scanning the tented throne room. Two guards flanked a wooden throne, a carefully carved heart sitting above it. Other than that, there were no trappings or decorations, just the throne and a pink tent.

The door opened before Alan could investigate further, and was instantly meet with that excited screech that only a woman could do.

“Twilight!” Princess Cadence greeted.

“Hey Cadence!” Twilight said before the alicorn quickly grabbed her and began kissing her cheeks with short, quick pecks. First the left, then the right.

“Careful, Principessa,” Alan warned, “your Bitalian is showing.”

The princess scoffed, waving a hoof. “I don’t get to give my baci anymore, let me have this,” she said before repeating the custom to Alan.

“Wait...what now?” Twilight asked.

“Baci,” Alan explained. “It’s how mares greet ponies in Bitaly. Stallions shake hoofs, mare give kisses.”

“Shining!” Cadence called as she lead the two in, “Shining, your sister’s here!”

“Twily?” Shining asked, poking his head out of the kitchen. “Twily! You’re here!”

“Hi, Shining,” she said with a smile, lifting the excitedly babbling Orion up and out of the way as the siblings hugged.

“What are you two doing here?”

“Pinkie’s getting married today,” Alan explained.

“Wait, really?” Shining asked. “I thought we would have been invited to that.”

“Everypony was invited,” the two deadpanned in unison.

“The post office has been flooded with invitations for the past week” Twilight continued, “It's alright though. There's no way that everypony could fit into the chapel anyway.”

“Besides,” Alan said, “it’s best that you two sit this one out.”

“We need someone to watch Orion for us,” Twilight explained.

“Um…” Shining began.

“Oh,” Cadence said, “so you’ve brought Orion over to see his cousin Skyla…”

“Um…”

Cadence took Orion from Twilight, nuzzling the little colt, who laughed. “How is my favorite nephew?”

“Um…” Shining interjected.

“Although...” Cadence said, holding the baby up next to her, “I think it’s only appropriate that I should be there at the wedding, give a blessing, especially after everything Pinkie did for my reception. So...is there anyway that I could go?”

“You could have Shining watch them,” Twilight suggested.

“UM!” Shining all but yelled.

“Sounds wonderful!” Cadence said.

“Cadence! Honey!” Shining said behind a really wide smile. “Don’t you remember the last time I had to watch them both?”

“Oh, you’re just overreacting, dear,” she said, handing Orion off to him, before grabbing her tiara. “I won’t be long, honey. You know how weddings are, short ceremony, and a long reception.”

“But I—”

“I’ll be back soon!” Cadence said, already out the door.

It shut behind her, leaving Shining alone with his nephew.

“Um...Hi, Orion...it’s me, your Uncle Shining! You like your Uncle Shining don’t you? You and Skyla don’t want to team up against me, do you?”

“Wala!”

“Is that a yes?”

Shining then noticed a small pink ball of fluff crawl into the room.

Skyla was a young alicorn filly with a pink and yellow mane, much like her mother, with pink fur and her father’s blue eyes.

She took one look at the room, saw her cousin, and her father, and got a big, evil grin on her face.

Orion saw his cousin, and shared the look.

Shining looked between them both, and got a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“You know, it occurs to me, Princess,” Alan said as the three of them walked side by side, “I’ve never seen you with any servants or anything, is there a reason for that?”

“Other than the fact that my Empire has been sealed away to who-knows-where for the past thousand years?” she asked.

“Uh…”

She gave a soft smile. “It’s alright. No, there were no servants outside the Empire when it fell.”

“How did it fall?” Twilight asked.

“Do you want the long version or the…” she glanced back at Twilight. “Nevermind, I’ll give you the short version.”

Alan chuckled.

“So, the Empire was essentially destroyed by a single pony,” Cadence began. “His name was Sombra. A creature of hatred and cunning, he laid siege to the empire for three days before he managed to steal the Crystal Heart.”

“Crystal Heart?” Twilight asked, eyes wide in interest.

Cadence smirked as she saw that familiar spark of curiosity in her sister-in-law’s eyes. “A perfect blue crystal,” she explained, “a crystal said to have been blessed by Faust herself to hold but a fraction of her love for her creation. Sombra knew that the power of the crystal would unmake him, so he stole it, hiding it somewhere until he could take the Empire by force.

“Once he had control of the castle, my family retreated. We would have taken another one of the servant families with us, but they stayed behind to try and distract Sombra from noticing our escape. Even our most loyal family, House Shade, stayed behind to help us make our escape.”

“Ah,” Alan said in understanding, “so that’s what happened.”

The princess nodded and continued. “When my family came here, they quickly told Celestia and Luna about the problem. They quickly left for the Empire, the Elements of Harmony in tow.”

“And down comes the rainbow beam of doom,” Alan said. “The End.”

“Sadly, no,” Cadence said. “The Elements were not enough.”

Alan stumbled and stuttered. “Wait, what?! The Elements, the Elements of Harmony were not enough?”

Cadence shook her head. “Sombra had found a way to work around them. The Elements failed.”

Alan blinked.

“In the end, it took their combined power to seal Sombra away, but, again, Sombra had beaten them. He had found a way to link his fate with that of the Empire. If he was sealed, then so was the Empire.”

Twilight stood, mouth agape. “Wow...so this Sombra beat both Luna, Celestia, and the Elements?”

Cadence nodded.

“And none of your subjects escaped?” Alan asked.

The Princess did not answer immediately. For a moment, she simply stared off into the distance, far to the North. “No,” she said finally. “Not one escaped his hatred.”

The three ponies walked up the castle steps, promised box of doughnuts in tow. They were quickly recognized by the guards and lead past the large line of confused ponies, all holding a pink invitation, and wondering why they had been called to the castle that day.

“Princess,” the guard greeted, saluting. “Ma’am, Sir.”

“At ease,” Alan replied.

“That’s a lot of security,” Cadence noted.

“Alan decided to bump it up a bit,” Twilight said, “after all, Canterlot doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to weddings now.”

Cadence laughed for a second. “That’s terrible.”

“Still,” Alan said, his face going serious, “Pinkie is a general, and Soarin’s a wonderbolt. I don’t really want to take chances on that.”

“Both high-priority targets,” Twilight agreed. “Better safe than sorry.”

Cadence shook her head, smiling. “You two…”

“What?” they asked in unison.

She just shook her head and kept going.

The two ponies looked at each other. “What?”

Shrugging, they continued on, into the foyer of the castle.

“Cadence, Alan, Twilight!” a royal voice called to them. “There you are!”

The Pendragon turned his head, and saw Celestia and Luna standing off to the side. Alan smiled at the sight of them. “Your Majesty,” he greeted, giving them a short bow.

“I was wondering where you had gone to,” she said with a smile. “How are you three doing?”

“Doing well, your Majesty,” Alan answered. “We were just dropping off Orion at Shining’s house.”

“Aw...and I was hoping to see him again,” she said before smiling. “I trust you’ll rectify this, Sir Alan?”

“Absolutely,” Alan replied.

Celestia gave a gentle laugh. “I’m actually glad I found you here, Alan, I have something to tell you.”

“Yes, Princess? Is something wrong?”

“No, no,” she said, “It’s simply a message from my nephew Blueblood.”

“Oh…” Alan said, sounding ever-so-slightly disgusted.

“He has been questioning his own identity, and gone off to do some soul searching. However, in the meantime, he wanted me to deliver his apology to you and Rarity for his behavior.”

“And he didn’t give it to me in person?” Alan asked.

“I don’t know where he is,” Celestia explained. “All I know is that he is sorry enough to apologize, and for a pony with his pride, that is a great step.”

Alan gave a hesitant nod. “Fair enough.”

“You do not need to forgive him, Alan, but he has done his part, and that’s all that can be asked of him. If you are alright with him being in the right over you, so be it. For now, however, I believe we have a wedding to get to,” she said, before nodding forward.

Alan grumbled. “Fine, he is forgiven,” he said, turning to head towards the chapel. “But if he doesn’t change, I’m going to slap him around with the flat of my sword.”

“Alan…” Twilight scolded.

Cadence laughed.

The three ponies went on ahead, the Princesses falling behind.

Luna turned toward her sister. “I fear for him, sister. His visions are replacing his dreams, he is almost beyond my reach entirely now.”

“He will pull through, Luna. I’m sure of it. Mother would not give him those dreams to torture him.”

Luna nodded. “I know...but...still, this worries me. He submitted himself to my protection, but his dreamspace has almost faded to oblivion. Much further, and I will fail to safeguard him.”

“Don’t worry, Lu, Alan will be just fine.”

“Do you, Soarin,” Celestia said, as the wedding ceremony began to close, “take this mare, whose hoof you hold, to be your lawful wedded wife; and do you pledge before all of ponykind to love, honor, and protect her through sunshine and shadow alike; keeping yourself unto her alone until death shall separate you?”

“I do,” Soarin said, with a smile, dressed in his formal uniform with his medals adorning his chest. His feathers were preened to perfection, and his smile shone with happiness and pride.

Behind him, on his side of the aisle, sat the Wonderbolts, his mother, father, and a massive load of other invited guests.

“Do you, Pinkamena Diane Pie, take this stallion, whose hoof you hold, to be your lawful wedded husband; and do you pledge before all of ponykind to be to him a loving and true wife, through sunshine and shadow alike, keeping yourself unto him alone, until death shall separate you?”

“Yesarooni, Princess Celly!” Pinkie answered, dressed in her white dress with a pink sash, the hem decorated with brightly-colored hard candy. Her mane was straight, but still had all of the bounce it normally held, and was done up in a nice bun.

The Pie family sat behind her, faces impassive, but approving, if Soarin had to guess.

“I’ll take that as an ‘I do,’” The Princess replied. “Then by the power enthroned in me, by the power of Faust, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss your bride.”

Pinkie all but launched herself forward, kissing him with gusto.

Soarin’s side of the aisle broke into applause, and cheers, as well as the ponies behind the Pies.

Pinkie’s family gave a gentle applause.

Alan smiled. “Went off without a hitch…”

He frowned. “Or did it go off with one hitch...since they...got...hitched…”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight said in his ear, having heard him over the noise.

“Nevermind.”

The reception was in full swing. Everywhere ponies were eating, dancing, laughing, and so much more as Vinyl and Octavia continued to work on their medley of classical and electronica music.

It was a reception that made Pinkie proud.

She stood in the middle of the hall, a smile as wide as a mile on her. Her hair was starting to loosen now, wild strands of hair rebelling and sticking out in random directions.

Soarin stood next to her, and gave her a kiss. “Was it everything you wanted?”

“Well…” Pinkie said. tapping her chin. “I really wish more ponies had shown up, but I don’t really mind today.”

“Yeah?” Soarin asked.

Pinkie smiled. “Yeah, because I have everything I need right here,” she said, tapping his chest.

Soarin smiled. “That cake over there sure does help though, right?” he asked motioning towards their wedding cake.

“Hm?” she asked, looking ever-so-slightly guilty.

“Don’t give me that,” Soarin said. “I’ve watched you eye that cake all day.”

Pinkie looked off into the distance, looking very guilty now.

“I was afraid you were going to marry him,” he said with a chuckle before kissing her again.

Pinkie smiled in return. “I’d hate to marry a cake. I’d never get to eat him.”

Soarin shook his head. “Come on,” he said, “We can’t have Ponyville’s Professional Party Pony sit out of her reception.”

She smiled as Soarin led them into the party, as the Wonderbolts flew overhead, writing in the sky with smoke trails. “Congratulations, Soarin and Pinkie!” they wrote happily, with hearts dotting the ‘i’s.

A song began to thrum over the speakers as the two passed the dance floor. Soarin looked up, and saw Alan standing next to the DJ’s set up, small white device in hoof.

The pegasus smiled. “You know what? Let’s take a detour.”

Before Pinkie could even blink, Soarin pulled her to the side, and directly into the middle of the dancing masses, just as the song started.

“Breathe and I'll carry you away into the velvet sky

And we'll stir the stars around

And watch them fall away into the Hudson Bay

And plummet out of sight and sound

The open summer breeze will sweep you through the hills

Where I live in the alpine heights

Below the Northern Lights, I spend my coldest nights

Alone, awake and thinking of...the weekend we were in love.”

As Owl City’s On the Wing played through the hall, Soarin spun Pinkie in a wild dance.

It took her half a second before she adjusted.

Dancing in a mind-bendingly slow tango, the two ponies glided across the floor, weaving through the crowd with ludicrous ease.

Alan wondered if Pinkie powers got transferred through marriage.

“I am floating away

Lost in a silent ballet

I'm dreaming you're out in the blue and I am right beside you

Awake to take in the view

Late nights and early parades

Still photos and noisy arcades

My darling, we're both on the wing, look down and keep on singing!

And we can go anywhere

Are you there?

Are you there, or are you just a decoy dream in my head?

Am I home or am I simply tumbling all alone?”

Soarin smiled as he danced, staring into Pinkie’s sky blue eyes.

It was almost as if he had never left Cloudsdale.

“Late nights and early parades

Still photos and noisy arcades

My darling, we're both on the wing, look down and keep on singing!

And we can go anywhere

Are you there?”

As the party wound down, the guests began to leave, heading home after wishing the newly weds well.

Cheese Sandwich, if you asked, would have taken one look at the sight, and said his work here was done. He then would have smiled as he left, hat on his head, and boneless rubber chicken riding his back.

Pinkie thought it was perfect.

Later in the evening, the Pie sisters had even gotten together for a bit of a reunion tour, producing an electric guitar, bass, and drum set from seemingly nowhere and rocking as though there was no tomorrow.

Soarin was pleasantly surprised to see that Pinkie rocking in a wedding dress looked rather sexy, even with her hair back to normal, having snapped whatever hair accessories Rarity had used to keep it in a bun.

Now it was only the thirteen; Alan and the guys, Twilight and the girls, and Cadence.

“Alright, alright,” Alan said, as he helped a guard clean up, “it’s time for us to go home now.”

“Aw...do we have to?” Pinkie asked.

Soarin whispered something into her ear.

“Oh, right! Can’t forget that part!”

Twilight shook her head.

“Hello, my little ponies,” Celestia’s voice called, and the small group turned to watch her approach.

“Princess,” Alan and the others greeted.

“Well Pinkie, was it everything you wanted?” she asked.

“And more,” Pinkie said with a smile.

“I’m happy to hear it. It’s nice for a wedding to go well in Canterlot for a change.”

Soarin snickered.

“If I may,” Celestia continued, “may I escort you down to the train station? It has been a while since I’ve taken a walk through Canterlot.”

Alan took a quick look around, and when he saw nopony objecting, he agreed. “We’d be honored.”

Celestia smiled and they all began heading for the main doors of the palace.

“Thank you all, really,” Celestia said as she walked, “for all the things you have done for us, you deserve more than what you’re getting.”

“Ah, shoot,” Applejack said, “I don’t mind none, I prefer it this way truth be told.”

Celestia nodded and gave a soft smile as she approached the door. “True, and that is perhaps our only saving grace, nonetheless—” She stopped as she opened the door, and all eyes went wide at the sight before them.

On the steps of Canterlot Palace lay a long, snake-like figure.

Four limbs, each one unique, lay sprawled in all directions, unmoving.

Ragged breaths escaped an equine head, before the draconequus slowly lifted his head up to see the Princess staring down at him, mouth agape.

Discord looked up at her, and she was surprised to see the two cerulean orbs that were his eyes meet her own.

And then, in a soft, weak voice, he whispered two words.

“Help...me…”

All aboard the crazy train. Choo-choo!

“Um…”

As in “it’s about to get crazy up in here!”

“Sure…”

Anyway, guys, let me know what you think. Go ahead and start giving me your crazy (and more often than not, incorrect) theories about what’s happening, they always make me smile.

“Quick Question, what's with the chapter title?"

Huh? Oh, that. Yeah, that's just to make the readers sweat a bit.

"You're weird."

I''m a writer.

“Anyway, we’ll see you all next time, bye!”

Bye!

4-Judge, Jury, and Executioner

Chapter 4

Evening was beginning to creep over Canterlot, and the moon was beginning to rise. The darker part of the sky, dressed in stars, was clear, only a handful of clouds floating across the twilight.

Despite the serenity of the scene, Canterlot was a different story.

The Elements of Harmony had been gathered, and the Bearers now surrounded the Draconequus in the palace.

Discord sat in the middle of the throne room, wrapped in massive chains. The chains, forged from a grey metal to form massive links, glowed green with the ghostly runes that had been engraved into them.

When Twilight asked, Celestia had told her that they had been forged in Tartarus by Death.

It wouldn’t hold him long, but it would be long enough to allow the girls to use the Elements.

Shining had been summoned. After the ragged looking stallion had passed of the infants to Cadence. After family matters had been taken care of he quickly put Discord under a bubble shield. Hardly a match, they knew, but if they could keep face, it would certainly keep the guards in line. Speaking of, just beyond the circle of the Bearers, the Royal Guard stood, spears at the ready.

Celestia and Luna sat in their thrones, staring down at Discord as he sat, chained, in the middle of the room.

Not once had he spoken.

Even when they had chained him, he hadn’t moved a muscle. He just sat there, silent and complacent.

Celestia glared down at him from her throne, while Luna looked on, a glare half-formed on her features. The younger Princesses’ eyes, however told a different story. There was quite obviously the glint of hatred and bitterness from the betrayal of Harmony, but at the same time, concerned curiosity began to rise up in her.

Discord did not act like this.

Even if it were some twisted trick, he’d be smiling about it.

Alan, who stood at the foot of the thrones, looked up to Celestia, waiting for a signal.

Celestia did not look down at him, instead her eyes stayed completely on Discord.

Silence hung over the room, and that silence was the only thing that kept panic and chaos from crashing down on the gathered guards.

When the Princess spoke for the first time, it was almost as if the throne room shook, startled at the sudden sound.

“Discord,” Celestia said, authority and power in her voice. “Why are you here?”

The draconequus lifted his head for the first time, showing off the cerulean orbs that were his eyes. “Harmony,” he corrected. “Or what’s left of him, at least.”

Celestia sneered, but kept her voice even. “Harmony? After all you’ve done you would dare to claim that name?”

Harmony sighed. “Am I to believe that this is my trial then?”

“Yes,” came the Princess’ simple reply.

“Then I am my own defense?”

“You are.”

Harmony sighed and nodded, before looking up again. His eyes crossed over Luna, before turning back to the floor. “Then may I begin my testimony?”

Celestia’s eyes narrowed as she stared at him. “Proceed.”

Harmony nodded, never making eye contact with the younger Princess. “Then I suppose I should start at the beginning.”

“No! No, no, no!” Harmony cried, tossing his papers to the side. He sat in the dark of his room, lights illuminating his desk as he threw out the latest series of calculations.

“It won’t work! Why won’t it work?!” he roared, his hooves flying through page after page of notes and research.

It just couldn’t happen.

For the longest time, unicorns had thought that their Council had control of the sun in the days before Celestia’s rule. The truth, though, was almost so embarrassing, that Celestia never could correct them. Their Council barely got the sun to budge, it was an alarm clock more than anything, they couldn’t even move the moon.

And that was his problem.

He needed to find some way to automate the moon. If he could do that, then Luna would be free of her responsibilities, and then they could be together without having to be drawn away all the time.

But...but it just couldn’t happen. He had tried everything, from starting his own council to take care of the moon, to using powerful spell gems. Even the gems which had come from the Tree of Harmony, the Elements of Harmony, a tree he had sworn Faust to protect.

Nothing could do it.

Only another alicorn could, and they all had their own duties.

He…

He sighed, and slumped in front of his desk.

He couldn’t do it.

All this time, and there was nothing.

He needed...he…

“Poor thing…” a voice whispered.

Harmony’s head snapped up, and his cerulean eyes fell down onto this small cloud. It looked like a section of the night sky, plucked from the Aether itself.

“Working so hard with no reward,” it spoke, sympathy filling it’s wispy voice.

Harmony took a long look at the cloud. Never before had he seen such a creature. “What are you?” he asked, curiosity in his voice.

“I am a living piece of magic,” the cloud said. “And I see that you are having problems.”

Harmony blinked. Living Magic? Faust...well...she always spoke of how her world was alive, perhaps she meant literally? “I have been,” he replied, “but what brings one of your kind here?”

“Sympathy. I have your answer, Harmony.”

An answer? After all this time?

It...it couldn’t be that easy, could it?

“Truly?” he asked.

“As true as I am before you,” the cloud replied. “I can give you the power to raise and lower the sun on a whim. The laws of the earth would be yours to write and rewrite, and in return, all I ask for is a home.”

“A home?”

“In order to give you my gift, I need to reside in you. Be one with you. Do this, and I can give you the answer to be with the one you love.”

Harmony looked down at the cloud.

It had to be a gift from Faust. It had to be.

“It was no gift,” Harmony said, “and if I had been thinking with a clear head, I would have known that. As the thing then entered me, it transformed me into what you see now. However, I was given one mercy yet, for he could not dominate me as he had planned. Instead, our minds were joined, and I lost myself as he had lost himself.”

Harmony sighed. “I am responsible for this,” he said. “All of this has been my fault, even when I held no control over the beast. And so, Princesses, I submit myself to your judgement.”

“So you had no control,” Celestia said, cooly, “yet you have perfect control now?”

“Not perfect,” Harmony said. “I had to fight for control, and I am not sure he is done fighting.”

“Then why didn’t you fight before?” Celestia asked, her mane smoldering slightly. “Why did you not fight when you betrayed my sister and I? Why did you not fight when the world was breaking at your own hand?”

Harmony cringed under the verbal assault, before saying simply. “I did not fight because I did not exist.” He looked up for the first time, staring at the Pendragon with sad, blue eyes. “But when the Pendragon wounded me with his blade, something happened in me. We were split again, myself and the cloud, and the creature you knew as Discord was no more. For the first time, I had the chance to fight.”

The others said nothing, and there was utter silence in the throne room.

Harmony dropped his gaze again. “That was the power the Elements of Harmony imbued his sword with. It has the ability to separate those that do not work together. That sword saved my mind, but also ruined me.”

“How did it ruin you?” Luna asked, speaking for the first time.

Harmony cringed at her voice.

The draconequus did not answer at first, but eventually, he spoke. “I am ruined, because now I must take responsibility of my mistake.” He looked up, at Luna for the first time since he had entered the room.

Their eyes met, and it seemed to Alan that a hundred words passed between them in that moment. A million apologies, and a thousand questions.

Harmony gulped. “All of my mistakes.”

Luna turned away from him, her face stoic.

Harmony dropped his gaze again, staring at the floor once more.

Alan and the gang stayed silent, looking between each other as a general sense of uneasy awkwardness came over them. Alan himself felt like a mouse sitting between three snakes, each waiting to strike the other, or him, if he stepped out of line.

Silence ruled over the throne room.

The elder sister continued to glare, her patience only a thread away from snapping and unleashing her fury on the bound creature before her. Then, with a snort, she stood. “Discord,” she said, addressing him by the older name. “You have been found...um…” Celestia trailed off as Luna suddenly walked past her.

The younger Princess walked past the older, approaching the draconequus with no small amount of caution.

But still, she approached.

“Harmony?” She called, only for their captive to flinch at the name.

He did not answer her.

“Harmony,” she said, sterner this time, standing directly in front of him.

He looked up at her, catching her in the edge of her vision, not daring to raise his head fully.

She brought her hoof up to his chin, forcing his to stare her directly in the face.

She stared directly into his eyes, her gaze boring into his soul.

Harmony looked back, tears welling up in his eyes. Her cyan eyes met his cerulean, and it seemed another conversation happened between their eyes.

Then she let his head drop, removing her hoof from his chin before turning to face her sister. “He is forgiven.”

Had the older sister been drinking, the resulting spit-take would be heard across Equestria. “What?!”

“He is forgiven, and absolved of his crimes,” Luna repeated.

“Luna!” Celestia yelled. “What are you talking about?! This is Discord! He is trying to tri—”

“Those are Harmony’s eyes,” Luna said, simply. “I have not seen those eyes in thousands of years, but I know them.”

“But—!”

“I forgive him.”

“He is a monster!” Celestia accused.

“So was I,” Luna replied quietly.

There was no rebuttal.

Celestia blinked, before taking a step back.

Luna stared at her sister, neither hate nor malice in her eyes. “I, too, was a monster. I, too, was mislead. I, too, had made mistakes, and I have not yet forgiven myself of it. So while you may wish to condemn him for his mistakes, I will not. If you can forgive me, then I can forgive him.”

Celestia opened her mouth, searching for some kind of argument.

Yes, there was truth in her words, but something in her bones told her that this was a bad idea.

She couldn’t let this happen, she had...had...too…

“Now, now, Celestia,” a voice whispered in the back of her mind. “If she is right, she’s right. And Faust always said you needed to learn mercy.”

“But...but this doesn’t feel right…”

“What would you do, Celestia, if it had been Death in those chains?”

The question snapped her mouth shut, and the fiery feather in here mane now seemed to weigh a ton.

She looked back at Harmony, bound in chains, who simply stared at the ground.

She looked back at Luna.

“Well, Celestia...what will you do?”

Celestia bit her lip.

“I...I…”

She sighed. “Very well, Luna.”

Alan moved to speak up. “Princess…”

And then a voice whispered in his head. “So quick to judge, Pendragon? After your lesson about second chances, I thought you’d be a little more open to the thought.”

Alan faltered.

“Let him go,” Celestia said, “Take the chains off of him.”

Harmony looked up. “Celestia, I—” He froze, before blinking. “Th-thank you…”

Alan and the others made their way to the train. Celestia walked next to them, their royal escort, as promised, even with this new player on the field.

Still, neither he, nor Celestia could not help but look back at the palace, half expecting it to erupt in macaroni flames, or something similar.

As they stepped onto the station platform, Celestia turned to them. “My little ponies, I’d hate to ask this of you right after your wedding, Pinkie, but...could would you mind coming back, and perhaps staying in Canterlot for a few days?”

The ponies looked to the newlyweds.

Soarin spoke for them. “I think we can make arrangements, Princess.”

Celestia smiled. “I cannot thank you enough, I will make sure that you have everything you need. All you’ll need is to ask.”

“It will be our pleasure,” Alan said.

As Celestia left, giving her thanks once more, the ponies began to file into the private train that she called for them.

“Well, there you go Soarin,” Alan said.

“What?” the pegasus asked, confused.

“Shining gets an invasion, I die, and you get the return of the possibly most evil thing seen by modern eyes,” Alan said, forcing a smile.

Soarin blinked, before giving a forced laugh. “Well, if they don’t say anything about Canterlot weddings, they should now.”

Luna led Harmony through the castle of Canterlot. They did not walk together, Harmony simply followed as she led him in silence. She did not look back at him, nor did she speak. No guards walked with them, leaving only the clop of her hooves on cold tile floors sounding in the hallway.

Her face was as impassive as stone.

Harmony walked behind her, standing on his hind legs and never once speaking. His eyes merely stared at her back, watching as she moved with grace and elegance befitting a Princess.

As she came to the end of the hall, she opened a nearby door. “You are to stay here,” she said, her voice sounding ever-so-slightly cold as she gave the order. “Come and see us on the morrow when we break our fast, and then perhaps we can have some of the royal magicians to take a look at your body.”

“Yes,” Harmony said, quietly. “Of course.”

She did not turn to him as she stood by the door, but watched him intently as he entered his new room. He seemed incredibly out of place in the simple room, his long, miss-matched arms hovered over a desk as his eyes scanned the empty papers.

“Everything to your liking?” Luna asked.

Harmony turned to her. “Yes, thank you.”

She began to turn away, only to stop halfway through the door. Her profile left a pony-shaped shadow hovering over the floor, surrounded by a column of light. She kept the door open for a second or two, but did not say a word.

Their eyes met once more.

Neither of them said a word.

A long second passed.

And then, with just the ghost of a sad smile, Luna whispered. “It is good to have you back, Harmony.”

And with that, she turned away, and closed the door behind her.

Harmony sat in the darkness of his new room.

And then he smiled.

That night, Alan dreamed.

He dreamed of many things as he lay in his bed.

He dreamed of blades and spears.

He dreamed of screams and chokes.

He dreamed of blood and water.

He woke up screaming.

I know! I know! It’s a short chapter, I know!

“We want more! We want more!”

Pinkie?

“We want more! Yes?”

Where did you get that pitchfork?

“From your Uncle’s!”

But...my Uncle isn’t a farmer…

“Are you going to question a man about his pitchfork?”

I...um...no, I…

“Good! Now back to work!”

Ow! Alright! Alright! I’m going, I’m going!

“More will be coming soon! Pinkie Promise!”

See you all soon! Ouch!

“Bye!”

5-A Long Shift

Chapter 5

Alan stood on the walls of Canterlot Castle, and looked down into the garden.

From his perch, he had an almost uninterrupted view of Luna and Harmony, as they sat together in the shade of one of the large trees.

It had taken them only a few hours to move out of the library, mostly thanks to Twilight’s “Emergency Evacuation Checklist: Town Intact Version,” or EEC:TIV. So, leaving the library in Mrs. Daisy Chain’s, and her husband's possession for now, Alan and Twilight were quick to pack, and had been the first ones to arrive in Canterlot.

And now, Alan watched.

If he were being honest, he would say he was not sure what to do. Did Discord, or...Harmony, whichever, deserve a second chance? Absolutely. Alan had learned this. His most hated enemy, Ironclaw, had become one of his greatest allies because of second chances.

But…

But there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind. A small voice that was telling him that this was wrong.

Something was up.

But what?

Luna had given him her approval, which, really did say a lot about the draconequus, but he wasn’t so sure.

What if she was being blinded by her heart? What if she believed him to be reformed because she wanted him to be reformed? What if he was using her? What if?

Alan’s eyes narrowed.

No.

He did not like this.

Not one bit.

Twilight walked down the halls of Canterlot, Orion in her magical grasp. Beside her walked Celestia, who filtered through numerous stacks of papers, all either being carried by a number of scribe ponies, or her own magical grasp.

The element of magic sat on Twilight’s head, ready to be used at the slightest provocation

“Thank you, Twilight, for coming,” Celestia said, signing the latest stack of forms. “Really, it helps put my mind at ease.”

“Of course, Princess,” Twilight answered. “It’s an honor.”

As the Princess handed back the latest stack, she then said to her scribes, “I’ll take the rest of them after lunch.”

With a collective nod from the scribes, they scurried away, leaving the Princess, her student, and the child.

“Still,” Celestia continued, “you have no idea what your presence here means to me.”

“The Bearers are here to serve, Princess,” Twilight replied.

Celestia gave a sad smile. “Yes, I simply wish you didn't need to,” she said, simply.

Orion spoke up, babbling as he looked up at the big pretty pony across from him.

The princess smiled, approaching the babe and nuzzling his belly as he laughed. “And I’m very happy to see you, little Orion.”

The foal laughed as he felt the big warm, fuzzy face meet his body.

Twilight smiled at the sight.

“May I?” Celestia asked.

“Of course,” Twilight said.

With those two words of permission, Celestia swooped up the small colt, blowing raspberries into his soft belly.

Orion laughed some more.

Celestia laughed at the little colt’s joy before returning him to his mother. “I’m sorry Twilight, I just love my smallest subjects, so.”

Twilight smiled. “I understand, Princess,” Twilight said. “After all, who could resist this little guy?” She asked, nuzzling her son.

Celestia smiled. “Yes, children are such a joy,” she said.

Twilight looked up at her teacher, and was surprised to see a sad look in her eye.

Confused, Twilight opened her mouth to speak up.

As they came up to an intersection, however, they suddenly stopped. Luna and Harmony walked on by, crossing their path. “Good morning, Mrs. Sparkle, Celestia,” Harmony greeted.

“Greetings Twilight, Sister,” Luna said with a yawn.

“Good morning,” Celestia replied simply.

The two of them continued on their path, leaving Celestia and Twilight alone in the hallway.

Celestia made to take a step forward, before Twilight held out a hoof. “Hang on a second.”

Confused, the princess stopped, and was about to ask what she meant, when Alan came into her field of view.

He walked, a little low to the ground, eyes narrowed, and glared with enough power to kill a small animal.

He turned to them, smiling brightly, and waved. “Princess, Honey,” he said, greeting them, before returning to his death glare at the draconequus in front of him.

“Hey, Dear,” Twilight greeted back.

Alan sulked off, never letting the two of them out of his sight.

Celestia stared down the corridor after him, before finally speaking up. “Well...at least there is someone else here that shares my fears.”

“Sleep well, Luna,” Harmony said, standing outside her door.

“I’ll see you in the evening, Harmony,” she said, before closing the door behind her.

Harmony smiled, before he began walking away from the door. “And how was our chaperone?” he asked, passing by Alan.

Alan said nothing, but continued to watch.

Harmony stopped, standing in the hallway, facing the pony. “Do you not trust me, Pendragon?”

“Luna trusts you,” came his reply.

“That’s not what I asked,” Harmony pointed out.

There was silence for a moment.

“You may or may not be who you say you are,” Alan said. “You may or may not be trustworthy.” He glared up at the towering draconequus. “But Luna trusts you, so I will let you walk.”

Harmony nodded. “Wise,” he said simply, before walking away.

Alan followed.

He never saw the smile on his quarry’s face.

Weeks passed.

The Bearers waited, all at the ready, while the stallions took turns watching the intruder with caution.

But none watched as carefully as Alan.

Soarin was the first to start leaving the draconequus alone for short periods. After all, it isn’t so hard to distract a newlywed husband.

Big Mac was second to let them out of his sight. The farmer assured Alan that he couldn’t get away with anything in the garden, but it did not help his nerves.

Thunderlane, and Spike simply began to let him wander, confident that he wouldn’t do anything once the month was out, leaving only Silver, Alan, and Shining.

Dividing the day into three, eight-hour shifts, they never let Harmony out of their sight. Not once.

Alan’s shift was especially grueling.

From 4pm to midnight, when Harmony and Princess Luna were the most active, Alan watched them. This would not have been so bad, if it were not for the fact that they were almost always on the opposite end of the castle from his wife, only to return each night to find her asleep, tired from keeping Orion happy by herself all day.

And then, when he woke every morning, she was already gone, talking with the Princess or whatever else she was doing that day.

In the end, he saw her a few hours a day, if at all.

But he kept his vigil, watching the Princess and the draconequus went about their day.

He watched them now, staring up at the night sky as Luna showed him her newest constellations and plans for shooting stars.

It was almost midnight, and then his shift will be over.

He did not turn around as the sound of approaching hoofsteps sounded behind him.

“Sir, here to relieve you,” Silver said.

Alan nodded, wearily. “Thank you, Silver.”

The earth pony looked between the Pendragon and the couple on the garden grounds. “S...sir, permission to speak freely?”

“Go ahead,” Alan said.

“It’s...it’s been almost a month, sir, and Harmony hasn’t done anything. H-how long do you want to keep watching him?”

“As long as it takes,” he thought. As long as it takes for what? For him to act out? To prove himself guilty? That could be an eternity from now, assuming it actually was Harmony. Could he really stand guard that long?

“Until we know for sure,” he answered.

“And how long will that take?” Silver asked, unknowingly echoing Alan’s mind. “Sir, I’ve read the report. Discord was not patient enough to go without causing some chaos somewhere. Sir…” he paused. “Sir, Luna trusts him, isn’t that enough?”

“No,” came the mental answer. But he couldn’t tell him that. Not really. What would that say? The Pendragon has no faith in his Princess? Yeah, that would go over well.

He looked at the commander through tired eyes and over bags from lack of sleep. “Until I know for sure,” he said, firmer this time.

“Sir—”

“Am I going to have to take a twelve-hour shift, Commander?” he asked, no small amount of bite in his tone.

Silver blinked. “I...I’ll take the shift, sir. I’m just…I just worry about you, sir. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you haven’t had any sleep for the past few days, sir. You don’t look well.”

Alan sighed and turned. “I worry too, Silver…” he gave one last look at the couple under the canopy of stars. “I worry too.”

With those last words, Alan walked away, heading back home.

He walked, alone except for the occasional night guard, all saluting him as he passed.

“Evening sir!” Came the call of a familiar voice, and Alan wearily turned his head.

The Batpony that greeted him waved as she approached, and the Pendragon gave a smile. “Evening, Twinkle Drop.”

Twinkle gasped. “A superior officer using a first name? How scandalous!”

He gave a soft laugh.

Twinkle Drop frowned as she got closer. “Wow, sir...are you okay? You look pretty bad.”

“So I’ve heard,” Alan replied. “I’ve been watching Harmony for the past few weeks now…”

She gave a grunt. “Glad somepony is. I don’t trust the guy.”

“You too?” he asked.

“The part of me that wants to eat ponies likes him,” Twinkle explained, “and I learned not to trust that part.”

Alan nodded. “Good to know I’m not the only one.”

She nodded back, before a frown graced her features. “Look, sir…”

“What?”

“I...I was talking with Sunny earlier today, and...and he told me that your wife has been missing you.”

Alan nodded. “I know…”

“I...if I may suggest, I would like to say you should probably give it a rest, let someone else watch him.”

Alan shook his head. “Can’t.” He kept walking, back bent as though he was under a massive weight. “I need to keep them safe…”

“No…” Alan whispered.

It was all wrong.

The sky was red, and the ground was black, burned beyond all recognition.

Where the ground wasn’t black, it was red, slick with blood.

“No, no, no…”

Soarin’s body was a twisted lump of flesh, his mouth the last recognizable piece of his face, caught in a terrified scream.

A pink leg lay next to him.

“No! No! No!”

Shining and Cadence, held each other in their arms, their heads and lower halves gone completely.

Silver, recognizable only because of the heap of the metal that was his armor, was curled up into a mangled ball and a tattered stetson floated on the wind.

“No!”

Rarity hung, pinned to the wall by purple scales, Luna’s crown placed haphazardly onto her head.

The body of a wingless, cyan pegasus hung from a lamppost that had somehow survived the carnage, and next to her hung a headless Thunderlane.

Fluttershy, perhaps the most merciful, was simply turned to stone. However, Alan did not want to think about how she would act if she was reawakened with her arms and wings broken off as they were, or with Big Mac in pieces at her feet like a sacrifice to a pagan idol.

“No! No!” Alan screamed.

But in the middle of it all, was the worst.

A single body.

Her horn had been sawn cleanly off, down to the skin, and her mane and fur shaved off completely, revealing hundreds of cuts along her body.

It was almost impossible to recognize her, but Alan knew the scars on her chest. The ones he had put there with his corrosive touch.

And he knew those eyes.

Those eyes that stared up into the red sky, terrified of what she had seen in her last moments.

Those purple eyes that gasped and begged for release with the last glint of intelligence still in her.

Those purple eyes that even now, were still wet with the tears she had cried as she begged for the pain to stop.

Those eyes that had begged for the comfort of her husband before the end.

He tried to go to her. Tried to hold her. Tried to look into her eyes and see if there was any life left.

But his legs refused to obey him.

He was powerless.

Utterly helpless.

A hideous laugh echoed around him, and Alan looked up.

The dark silhouette of a massive, crazed draconequus loomed over the horizon. It laughed at him, at his powerlessness.

The laughing continued, even as a large lion’s paw came down on him.

Alan woke with a start, looking up into the darkness of his room.

He was alone. Twilight and Orion were outside, probably getting breakfast.

Alan sighed. Grabbing the covers, he then rolled over, and tried to forget the nightmare.

He really needed sleep...

Twilight sighed, staring at her son as he stuck the wrong end of a spoon in his mouth. She wished Alan was here to see this, really. She hadn’t seen him much, only a few hours a day before he went off to obsess of Harmony.

Obsess was truly the word for it. When he wasn’t asleep, he was thinking about Harmony. Be it the dastardly plans of his twisted mind, to the angle that he was working, Alan never once thought about something else.

It would be a rather large lie on her part to say that it didn’t bother her.

It bothered her a lot actually.

What, was Harmony so important that he mattered more than our family? Was he that important?’

“That’s not fair, Twilight…” her mind said, scolding herself. “You know he’s just trying to keep everypony safe.”

She took the spoon from her son, replacing it with a binky.

Still, she sighed, it didn’t seem right that he would just leave his family to—

“To what? Keep the country safe?” her conscious jabbed.

Safe from what? Harmony wasn’t up to anything. If he was, he would have done something by now, surely.

“He is a being as old as time itself, if not older. He has patience.”

Then why show up in our lifetime? Why now instead of sixty years from now?

Her mind did not have an answer.

See? He’s trying to keep us safe from a danger that doesn’t exist. He’s wasting time.

Precious time...time with her, time with Orion, time with their friends.

Did...did he even care?

“Of course he cares,” the logical part of her mind responded. “That’s why he’s out there, watching.”

She knew that, honestly she did.

It...it just didn’t help.

She gave a long sigh, and picked up her son. “What am I going to do with your father?” she asked.

Orion would have offered a rather deep piece of insight, had he the ability to speak, and the mental capabilities to properly understand the situation. As it was, however, he simply unleashed a string of gibberish.

Before another word was said, however, a new voice spoke up. “Good Morning, Mrs. Sparkle.”

The unicorn jumped, turning to find the source of the noise. There, right behind her, stood Harmony.

He stood tall, towering over her as he looked down, his eyes blue and mouth serious.

Flashbacks to the day where Discord ran rampant echoed in her mind.

“H-Harmony, hello.”

Harmony nodded, unperturbed by her hesitance. “Is something bothering you, Mrs. Sparkle?” He asked, his voice friendly.

“I...uh…” she said, uncertain for a second. “No...not really.”

Harmony’s cerulean eyes looked over her, and she shivered for a second.

“I think something does bother you,” he said, taking her muzzle in a gentle claw. “And as your friend, I simply must insist. What is it, Mrs. Sparkle?”

She was forced now, to look into his eyes, and as she did, she felt herself calm. Her uneasiness washed away like dust. Those cerulean eyes calmed her, swallowed her whole. There was no worry. No anxiousness. No fear.

“I...I worry about Alan…” she said, answering the draconequus.

“How so?”

“He is always watching you, spends all his time doing it. He’s even lost sleep over it. I just wish he’d just spend time with Orion and me. He belongs with his family.”

“Is that so?” Harmony asked.

Twilight nodded.

Orion reached out towards his mother, his baby talk sounding more and more concerned as he kept trying to get her attention.

“I hear the Grand Galloping Gala is coming up,” Harmony said. “Perhaps you two should take the night off and enjoy yourselves.”

Twilight nodded again.

Orion began to cry.

“Does that sounds good to you?” he asked.

“Yes,” she responded.

“Good!” Harmony said, letting go. “I’m glad we had this chat.”

“Thanks, Harmony!” she said, waving goodbye. “That’s a brilliant idea!”

Harmony nodded. “I’ll see you later, Mrs. Sparkle!”

Twilight nodded before turning to her son. “What’s the matter, Orion? Are you hungry?”

He was not hungry.

Orion was scared.

Another chapter done.

“They’re shooooooort!”

I know! I know! But trust me I’ll have too much to write about in the later chapters!

“I remain unconvinced!”

Well, fine! Be unconvinced, then! But the plot is thickening!

“Well stop eating so many sweets!”

…

Not...not that plot, Pinkie…

“...”

“Oooooooooooooooohhhhhh! I get it!”

Right...so, yes. I know it’s short guys, but, the good news is what is coming will be worth it. It will be awesome, and it will be long.

Just not yet.

Next chapter! A fun party, and a plot.

“What is with you and flanks today?”

*Sigh* Plan, plot. Pinkie. A plan.

“...”

“Oooooooooooooooohhhhhh! I get it!”

Really?

“Nope!”

*Sigh* Yeah, so anyway, party, plot, sense of dread, yadda yadda. We’ll see you next time!

“Be sure to leave a comment, guys! Seriously, some of you are slacking.”

Bye!