My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Friends from Unexpected Places

Chapter 30

Alone

Something is off with this picture.

Maybe it’s the stuff cluttered all over the room. Maybe it’s the rustling bed sheets. Or maybe, it’s due to the fact we jumped forward 10 years and eTu`nes and Derpy are now teenagers.

The now 17 eTu`nes snored up a storm, sleeping in a very precarious position. The 16 year old Derpy came in, then scoffed when she saw eTu`nes still fast asleep. “not again.” she sighed. She exited the room for a moment, only to return with a bucket of water. She evilly snickered as she flew over him. “Hehehe. This’ll get him up.” she slowly tipped the bucket when she was magically ripped away by Colgate. “my mom let you in, didn’t she?”

“yep. And did you forget what happened last time you pulled this stunt?” Derpy did think back and looked at her scorched cutie mark. “that wasn’t exactly pretty for both sides.”

“I’m surprised he can breath fire. I never saw him breath fire in the time I knew him. He was able to fire a beam out of his mouth but fire?”

“and I’m surprised you two aren’t even whispering.” a irritated eTu`nes said. He got up and looked at them like he just got out of a possession. The two mares nervously chuckled. They quickly bolted for the exit to avoid a pillow thrown by the drake.

10 years have passed since Derpy returned home to Ponyville. What she thought was going to be a nightmare turned out to be the best decision since meeting eTu`nes. She had her family back, she had honest to goodness friends. And she had her very first friend to thank for all this. And she doesn’t know how she’ll repay him.

At first, her new friends were hanging out with her out of fear from eTu`nes but, as time passed, they grew to like the little grey mare and became her friends because they wanted to, not because they felt like they needed to. That turned out to be the best decision they ever made as Derpy and eTu`nes turned out to be the most energetic members they had, showing them some great places, teaching them some wonderful tricks they learned in Feather Top, to just being all around fun. It made them feel guilty for bullying her but they’ll make up for it somehow.

Over the years, they added a few new members to their group; Roseluck, SeaSwirl, Raindrops, and, the first stallion of their group, Time Turner. It also took the entire town quite awhile to get used to having eTu`nes, a Dragon, living in town. A full year, in fact, which were the most awkward moments of eTu`nes life.

These next few weeks are going to be the most hectic of their lives with the Hearts and Hooves dance fast approaching.

“Trying to find dates is going to be murder.” Lyra worriedly said as they all walked to school. Not long after they returned, Derpy asked her teacher if eTu`nes can come to school, which she did.

“calm down, Lyra. It’s not like it’s going to be the end of the world if you don‘t find one.” Bonbon said. “I’m sure you’ll find someone special.”

Lyra whined as she looked down. “you and me both, Bonnie.”

eTu`nes yawned, almost dropping to the ground. Derpy was able to keep him up. “sorry. I just couldn’t get to sleep last night. I had this… horrible nightmare.”

“nightmare?” SeaSwirl repeated. “what about?”

eTu`nes tried to remember it but couldn‘t quite get it. It was a dream, after all, and those are always hard to remember. “I can’t… quite remember. I do remember that is was Point-of-view and that I was standing over a destroyed Ponyville. And you all were dead.”

“Dead?” they all exclaimed in unison.

“that’s why it’s called a nightmare.” Time Turner said. “but… why that?”

“wish I knew.”

Derpy patted him on the back. “it was just a dream. Those things hardly ever happen.”

“hardly?”

“it’s when you hear a strange voice that you have to be concerned.” Raindrops said as she flew over. “That show Last Symphonia taught me that.”

“that was a TV show.” Octavia said. “Those never have any relevance in real life.”

Vinyl rolled her eyes. “you clearly haven’t been to a Con.”

The school bell rang, making them nervous. “Oh crap. We’re late!” Roseluck shrieked in fear.

“if we’re late again, Ms. Lee will tan our hides.” Berry gulped.

“book it!” they all did, running for the school as fast as they could.

“…the average Quarry Eel can eat just about anything, from rocks in the quarry to, well, us.” their teacher, Ms. Lee, went on. Everyone in the class was bored out of the sockets and wanted school to end. eTu`nes, however, was making notes. Not on the eels, no no no, but on his friends and who they might like to go to the dance with. He had seem them acting different whenever someone else enters the room or the group and he learned that that usually means they have a crush on someone.

He noticed this with Lyra & Bonbon, Colgate & Barry, Vinyl & Octavia, SeaSwirl & Roseluck, and Raindrops & Time Turner. Since each one of them was too stubborn to make a move, he was going to have to give them a little push. And yet, he noticed that there was no one for Derpy. Imagining her going to the dance all alone is filling him with dread. He’s gonna have to find her a date. Hopefully one of her friends has a cousin or there’s a single stallion in town. If not, he can always take her himself. Of course, having a dragon take a pony to a dance focused on love is a bit…. Off. That’s gonna have to be a last resort. For now, focus on the others.

8 years later…

The newly born Glade Yggdrasill slept in a baby bed at the hospital. The females of the groups looked at him with motherly eyes.

“oh, he’s just so cute.” Twi cooed. She looked down at her preg stomach and smiled. “I hope Starlight looks that cute when she comes.”

“Same with ours.” Trixie, Luna, Rarity, and Lyra said in unison, knowing the same feeling Twi‘s feeling.

“and Glade’s not the only cute one.” Amelia sighed, gesturing to the other babies in there. “babies are always cute, aren’t they?”

“yeah.” a surprising soft-hearted Gilda said. “I’ve yet to see a ugly one.”

“there are no ugly ones. I’ve checked.” Fluttershy said. “they are, and always will be, cute.”

The sound of someone falling and grumbling caught their attention. They didn’t move as they already knew who it is. “hey, Dash.” they all listlessly said.

Dash walked over to them, suffering from a HORRIBLE hangover. “my head feels like it’s about to split open.” she groaned.

“are you surprised?” Req tonelessly asked. “you’re drinking till your liver dies.” Dash slumped up against the window to see what they were looking at. “oh, don’t tell me I’ve been out for 5 months and Twi had her baby?”

Twi gave her a glare. “if it was my baby, you think I would still be walking around?”

Dash paused for a moment. “Rarity’s?”

The pregnant mare’s face-hoofed. “it’s Cadence’s, Dash.” Sora grumbled. “She finally gave birth to such the cutest wittle baby.”

Dash looked in and saw dozens of babies. How was she to know who’s was the princess’? besides, she was to hungover to care. She fell back into a chair and held her head.

“she’s ruining the moment.” Cynder muttered, pinching the bridge between her eyes. “Dash, we know that you’re feeling down with Soarin’ dying and all but you can’t try to drink it away.”

Applejack walked over and rubbed Dash’s back. “the dragon lady’s right, Sugarcube. You have to move on and not drink yourself to death.” Dash angrily glanced at A.J. before she got up and walked away. A.J. snorted and crossed her front legs in front of her chest. “why is she acting like this?”

“don’t you remember what happened when your parents died, A.J.?” Pinkie asked, not wanting to bring it up.

A.J. sadly glanced to the ground, remembering that painful day. So what Dash is doing is pretty logical, from a grief stand point. But, she doesn’t need to drink herself into a coma.

Suddenly, a guard approached them, carrying a letter. “Ms. Twilight Sparkle?”

Twi curiously looked at him. “yeah?”

The guard handed her the letter, bowed his head, and walked off. Curious, Twi opened it and looked. “What’s it say?” Req asked.

“Princess Celestia wants to see me in the throne room. Right now.”

“sounds serious.” Lina said.

Twi put the letter away. “that’s what it’s sounding like.”

Jax looked though the royal library, trying to find any mention of time travel spells or special healing spells; anything that can help Dinky out of her predicament. There has to be something to heal Dinky, but she can’t find it. What is she missing? She threw the book she was currently reading to the ground and sighed. “what am I missing?” she hit her fist on the bookcase, causing a book to fall onto her head. “ow.” she picked it up and looked at it. “sickness‘ and ailments from the unknown.” well, if anything, this had what would make Dinky better, or at least give her closure. She opened it up and read though it. Seems odd that Dinky would be suffering from a exotic disease. But, then again, she was hanging around that Oscurita fella. Who knows what sickness’ that dragon has.

Celestia watched from behind a corner and smiled as the glow faded from her horn. It took a devastating war but Jax had finally softened up to pony kind. That, or maybe she was feeling guilty for what happened and working around the clock to help the filly will take her guilt away. Either way, Jax was doing something other then hating ponies and that, in Celestia’s eyes, is good enough. Now, she had something else to take care of.

Too bad she can’t say why Dinky is truly suffering.

The train from Feather Top rolled in, carrying more supplies and workers into Canterlot. Among them were more Canterlot/Ponyville/Maredrid natives returning home. Among them was Dash’s adopted Draconequus daughter Eris.

In her usual cheerfulness, Eris ran out, much to Roseluck’s dismay. “not again.” she sighed. She and Raindrops walked off with the rest of the natives. Eris heard crying to her right. She looked to see Scootaloo crying by herself, far away from anyone’s path. Wondering why she’s crying, she ran over.

Scootaloo wiped her eyes for the 10th time that hour and continued to cry. She lost two families in just a few years. Why does life hate her so much? Without any warning, Eris jumped onto her back and laughed. Scoots almost immediately pushed off, much to her surprise.

“I’m… not in the mood, Eris. Okay? I just lost someone important to me.” Eris really got curious and nudged Scoot’s shoulder. Scoot’s knew she wouldn’t leave until she said something. “me and Rainbow… we lost Soarin’. he died during the battle and… we’re taking it hard.” more tears fell down Scoot’s face. “… I lost two families… and I’m just 11. Why is the universe treating me like a punching bag?”

Eris didn’t know what to say. And if she did, her vocabulary was a bit limited. Instead, even though Mommy Dash specifically told her not to, she used her power to summon up a dandelion. She walked in front of Scoots and offered it to her. Scoots tearfully looked up and saw the flower. She took it and slowly smiled. “t-thanks, Eris. I… I just don’t know what to do.” Eris didn’t either. She just hugged Scoots, hoping for the best for her. Maybe Dash could think of something.

Speaking of Dash, the hungover Pegasus walked to the bar and slammed her head into the bar. BIG mistake. It caused a LOT of pain to rack her brain.

“large cider, please.” she moaned.

She heard the sound of a mug hit the bar. She looked up and saw that it was, instead, a hoof, and that hoof belonged to Spitfire. “Spitfire? Since when are you a barmaid?”

“and since when are you a hopeless drunk?” she asked. Dash moaned and spun her stool away from her. “Dash?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Spitfire flew over the bar and in front of her. “oh, we’re gonna talk about it whether you want to or not.” Dash turned the stool away again and Spitfire flew in front of her again. “Look…” Dash turned it again. “I know your sad that Soarin’ is dead. I am too but you don’t see me drinking my pain away.”

“you don’t understand.”

“Yes, I do. I was like you, in love with someone but too chicken to tell them anything. And now, I was too late. I loved Soarin’, I still do, and my heart hurts, but dwelling on it or drinking your problems away isn’t the answer. You have to move on.”

Dash sighed again. “again, you don’t understand! Soarin’ was my last relative. I lost my mother a few months ago. I have no uncles or aunts or grandparents or cousins. Even my daughter isn’t related. I’m all alone, Spitfire. My family is dead. They left me alone!” Dash broke down into tears. “I’m all alone!”

Spitfire patted her on the back and nuzzled her a bit. “you’re not alone. You have Eris and Shadow and even Scootaloo.”

Scootaloo. Dash forgot all about Scootaloo. She must be going though a hard time right now. Soarin’ was like a brother to her and she lost two families. Dash has to do something to help her, but she has to help herself first. “Spitfire…”

“…?”

“can you… look after Scootaloo for awhile?”

“why?”

Dash got off her stool and tried to clear her head. “I have something I need to do.”

Twilight walked into the throne room and gazed at the stain-glass murals. Two new ones have been added since she last saw them; one featuring the True Destruction of Nightmare Moon at the hands of the humans and the ponies turning into human, then back again. The second featured the Winter War and Chrysalis being split into her good and evil halves by Jax and Dark Chrysalis being destroyed by a Element of Harmony powered Triple Dragon Slave cast by Req, Jax, and Lina. Fluttershy and Edge were at the bottom, holding each other close.

Twi looked up at both murals and smiled. Both events changed the world forever. One got rid of a powerful threat for good while another showed a truce between two unseemly allies forged by two peoples love for each other. She has yet to thank those two.

She heard the doors close behind her. She looked to see Celestia walk in. “you wanted to see me, Princess?”

“yes, Twilight. I wanted to speak to you on some matters that deal with you.”

“with me?”

“yes.” Celestia walked pass and summoned up a photo album. “do you remember when we first met?”

“yeah. It was during Magic Kindergarten. I tried to make Spike magically hatch from his egg, only to have him grow out of control. After you pulled him back to a baby, you took me as your student. I was so happy, I nearly burst.”

Celestia giggled as she looked at the corresponding pictures. “yes. I remember. But, you should know, I had another reason for taking you under as my student.” Twilight cocked her head in confusion. Celestia summoned up another book with a odd design. “you see, you had such magical prowess within you, I wanted to make sure you were ready. And seeing you grow in power confirmed it. And when you gained such great friends and became the Element of Harmony, it was made certain.”

“what was made certain?”

Celestia hovered the book over to her student. She looked at it but couldn’t make sense of what was written in it. “Twilight, I was grooming you to become a Princess.”

Twi’s eyes went wide. Did she really just say that? “a… a princess?”

“yes. Nightmare Moon was the test of your new friendship and your now power. Discord was your test of friendship. Chrysalis, though she and her Changelings weren’t planned, was a test of being able to coop with changes. and you passed them all. You are ready to become a princess like me, Luna, and Cadence.”

A princess? Her? It couldn’t be true but here was Celestia, telling her she is ready to become one. She would have accepted this immediately if she was asked while still living in Canterlot. Now, however… with all that’s happening.

“thank you, Princess Celestia, but… I’m afraid I have to decline.” Celestia was surprised to hear this from Twilight. “if you have asked me that before I met my friends, I wouldn’t have accepted right then and there. But my friends, they need me and I need them. And I couldn’t leave Halo like this. We just got engaged and I don’t want to say good-bye to him or any of them.”

Celestia, though surprised at first, smiled. Guess the Element of Loyalty is rubbing off on her. “I understand, Twilight. Leaving your friends and family behind would be too much for one to ask.” Twi was thankful that she understood. “although, with recent events, I have another princess-to-be in mind.”

“what?”

“when your human friends came, a number of elements happened to be revealed to me some other candidates for being a ruler of Equestria.”

“like who?”

“well, Cadence’s newborn son Glade Yggdrasill for one but he was already born a Alicorn and her mother is the ruler of the Crystal Empire. Another would be Rainbow Dash’s adopted daughter Eris.”

“Eris? But she’s a Draconequus like Discord.”

“I know but her love for her friends and family over exceeds that boundary. Having you all as her family made her better then Discord. And if it wasn’t for her power when you first met her, the other humans wouldn’t have arrived and the Winter War would have gone quite differently.”

Twi knew that was true.

“and there’s also that Changeling Edge.”

“Edge?”

“his self-sacrifice to save the one he loves is worthy of a being a prince; a ruler. If Chrysalis ever wants to retire, Edge would be a good candidate.” Celestia looked at Twi’s belly. “there’s also someone else who would be good being a prince or princess.”

Twi looked down at her belly and got the same idea Celestia was getting. “Starlight? Why Starlight?”

“during the battle with Dark Chrysalis, Trixie made mention that when you brought up a barrier to protect your friends, you started to have trouble. She noticed your stomach glowed for a moment and afterwards, your barrier got stronger.”

Once that idea crossed Twi’s mind, she couldn’t help but think it as well. “you think Starlight gave me that extra power?”

“it must’ve. Something tells me Starlight is going to be as powerful as his or her mother.”

“yeah. Starlight’s going to be a Unicorn.” Twi happily said. “wait, you want Starlight to become a princess?”

“well, I’m gonna have to see how she will be; if she’ll be as powerful as her mother or as wise as her friends or as kind as Fluttershy. There’s a number of factors to take in but, if she wants to, yes.”

Twi breathlessly chuckled as she looked down at her belly. Starlight wasn’t even born yet and already he’s qualified to be a prince or princess. Hope she lives up to Celestia’s expectations. And her mothers. She just wants Starlight to come in happy and healthy. The royalty stuff can wait till much later.

Halo waited outside of the throne room, tapping his feet on the hard floor. The doors creaked open. He looked up to see a stunned but happy Twilight walk out and towards the exit. Halo ran up to catch her.

“So? What did Celestia want?”

“huh? Oh, she just wanted me to ask her to help decipher some old ancient writings that even she couldn’t translate.”

“oh. Did they say anything?”

Twi chuckled. “it was a ancient recipe for hot chocolate.”

Halo laughed. “oh, that is something ‘significant.’” he sarcastically said.

“yeah. It was.” she said, growing a bit distant. She didn’t want to tell Halo that she almost became a Alicorn, or that Starlight is a prime candidate to become one. There was so much going on right now, she didn’t need to add more confusion to it. For now, this was a secret between Celestia, Twilight, and Starlight.