Damn, I haven’t written in this journal for ten years now.  And the worst part is, not much has happened.  I mean, I did discover that I created a new… you know what, I think I’ll just tell you about it.  But, of course, I can’t just write just about that.  I’ll lead into it.  The events that I’ll be writing about now all occurred over a time span of about two years.  Everything happened about two years after I last wrote in this journal, which means that basically I’ve had some stuff to write about for the past eight years.  Sorry, I just got lazy.  Anyway, I guess I’ll start with the day that my mind hatched an idea for the best concert in the history of concerts.

It was a normal Thursday evening.  I was out parkouring through Ponyville, catching the eyes of many of the ponies.  I would wave back to those that waved to me.  Fluttershy was at the market, so I had some time to kill.  I came to a point where flying just felt right.  I jumped off of a rooftop and took to the skies.  It was just my luck that I ran into Rainbow Dash up in the clouds.

“Hey Matt, up for a little race?” she asked.  We were still flying at a pretty fast speed, so we had to speak a little loudly.

“Sure, where to?” I responded.

“Hmm, how about Sweet Apple Acres?”  I gave her a little smirk and a nod.

“You’re on!” I said, and we stopped on a cloud for a starting position.  I stared into Rainbow’s eyes and started the countdown.  Of course, she felt it necessary to cheat a bit and went off as I counted two.  But, I was quick to respond.

I quickly caught up with Rainbow, even managing to pass her momentarily.  Sweet Apple Acres was now visible, and I picked up my pace.  But, Rainbow, determined to win, jolted past me, and ultimately won the race by a mile.  I caught up with her, and we landed on top of the barn.  Applejack had been out bucking some apple trees and caught sight of us.

“And what da ya’ll think yer doin up there?” she asked.  We just casually waved down to her.

“We had a little race, and I won,” Rainbow said, wearing a smug little grin on her face.  I jokingly pushed her off of the roof, but she regained her balance and started to hover in the air.  I was too busy laughing to see her charging right at me.  I quickly jumped into the air and just kept laughing.  She soon joined in with me.  We decided to go join Applejack on the ground.

“Yeah, Dash won, but only because she cheated,” I said.  She raised an eyebrow at me.  She was about to try to make an excuse, but opted against it.

“That may be true, but you don’t win by following the rules now do you?”  I gave her a little bop on the head, which made Applejack and I start to laugh.  “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up you two.  I won, and that’s that,” Rainbow finished.  I just shook my head while still smiling.  But, then, in the distance, I saw my beloved wife walking towards the barn.

I waved to her, and she waved back.  She picked up her pace to come and join us.  She greeted me with a hug and a kiss.

“Hello dear.  I didn’t know you were coming to Sweet Apple Acres,” she said.

“Neither did I, until Rainbow over here challenged me to a race,” I told her.  She looked to Rainbow and raised an eyebrow to her.

“You won right?” she asked Rainbow.

“You bet.”

“Good,” Fluttershy finished.  They both started to laugh.

“Oh, why thank you for the support my love,” I said sarcastically, which made everyone laugh.  I wrapped my arm around Fluttershy and she held up her basket to Applejack.

“I got all of those ingredients you wanted Applejack.  Your pies are sure to be twice as delicious with these.”  Applejack thanked Fluttershy and grabbed the basket in her mouth.  She invited us to stay for a while, but Rainbow had a nap to take.  We all rolled our eyes at her.  She took off, which left Fluttershy and myself.  We couldn’t stay either though.  We had made a reservation for dinner, and we needed to get home to prepare.

“What’s the occasion, if ya don’t mind mah asking ya?”

“It’s our three year anniversary.  We’ve got a big night planned,” I answered.  Applejack nodded her head.  We said our goodbyes, and Fluttershy and I headed home to prepare.

We got home at around 4:30 p.m., and our reservation was for 6 o’clock, which gave us plenty of time to get ready.  We each took a shower, got dressed up, and headed for the restaurant.  Our table was ready for us when we got there.  It was a nice, private table outside of the restaurant.  It was a perfect day to eat outside too.  We took our seats, placed our orders, and were left alone for a while to just chat.

“This is just perfect Matthew.  Happy Anniversary, my love,” she said, and she raised her glass.  I raised mine in a similar fashion.

“Happy Anniversary Fluttershy.”  We clanked our glasses and took a drink.  We just smiled at each other after.  This night was just perfect.  Time for some lovely conversation.

“These three years have been the greatest years of my life, and it’s all because of you.  But, then again, the past… man, I can’t even remember how many years it’s been since I found you on Earth.  I’ll just say that ever since that day, my life has been nothing but perfect.”

“But, what about those few months involving… well, you know,” she said.  She was referring to the Darkness.

“Well, yeah, those were a few crappy months, but even still, my life has been perfect.  And it’s all because of you.  I love you Fluttershy, and that will never change,” I said.  I had probably spoken those words, or something like that, at least 100 times at that point, and the same could be said of Fluttershy.  We would never be separated, never be torn apart.  Our love would never end.  But then, Fluttershy popped a question that kind of caught me off guard.

“Matthew, is there anything you wish you could have done in your life differently?”  I really was caught off guard a little by this question.  Would I have done anything different in my life?

“Well, honestly, yes.  I wish I could have lived life a bit more openly.  I wish I didn’t act so, well, depressed, for lack of a better word.  I wish I hadn’t given up so easily.  I also wish I could have formed a band and performed a ton of songs I never got to, but that’s different,” I said.  Fluttershy understood the meaning of what I had said.

“Well, you’re here now, and that’s what matters the most my beloved.  I don’t want you to ever change.  I love you just the way you are.”  Her words were so soothing and heartwarming.  We kissed each other across the table.  It wasn’t a long kiss, and we didn’t care who saw us.  Hey, love makes you think that way.  But, that’s when I realized how I had finished off telling her what I wish I could have done differently.

“Wait, I said I wish I could have performed all of the songs I never got to perform.  We can do that!” I said happily.  Fluttershy just looked at me with a confused look.  “Remember that night at the Gala a couple of years back?  Remember that song we performed, “If It Means a Lot to You,” we can do something like that again.  Remember how Pinkie said that we should hold like a huge concert, well why don’t we?”

“Well, Matthew, for one, it would take a lot of time to plan.  And, you don’t have a band.”

“I’ve got friends who play instruments,” I responded.  She smiled and nodded.  “Not only that, but I’ve shared my music from Earth with pretty much every pony in Ponyville.  You, Rarity, and Twilight could sing back up to me, Rainbow could play her guitar and sing a bit of back up as well, Applejack could play bass guitar, Pinkie could play the drums, and I could play electric and acoustic guitar, depending on the song.  Hell, we could even get Vinyl Scratch and Octavia to play for certain songs.  I can’t believe I didn’t think of this sooner,” I said.  Fluttershy was really into the idea now.  She smiled at my enthusiasm to perform once again.

“Well, Matthew, it sounds like we’ve got some planning to do.”

“Indeed it does.  We can tell the girls of our idea tomorrow.  I just completely sidetracked our romantic evening.  Sorry about that.”  She giggled and said that it wasn’t anything to worry about.  She reminded me that we still had our dinner to eat.

“Oh yeah, and of course, there is tonight,” I said.  She blushed a bit.

“How could I forget?” she responded.  I started to chuckle a bit.  I think I was blushing too, because Fluttershy started to giggle.

Finally, our dinner arrived.  I honestly can’t even remember what we ordered.  We ordered the same dish, but I really can’t remember it.  I do know, however, that it was so good that I took a bit of Fluttershy’s.  It’s weird how I remember some small details but not others.  We finished our dinner, payed the bill, and left for home.  And, like we said, we had a night of fun ahead of us (hey, at least I’m telling you guys when we had sex, so stop complaining that I’m not going into detail about it).

When we finished, we were just exhausted.  The fourth time truly is the charm… or is it that the third time is the charm?  I don’t know, you tell me.  Anyway, we just cuddled together after we finished.  Fluttershy rested her head on my chest.  She looked up to me and spoke.

“I love you Matthew.”

“I love you too Fluttershy, and I always will.”  We shared one more kiss before we fell asleep to share our dreams once again.

Fluttershy and I were ecstatic to tell the girls our plan for a concert.  The next morning, we got up pretty quickly, despite our eventful night.  We got ready to go out and gather the girls at the library.  Thankfully, everyone was free to chat.  We got them all together and unveiled our grand idea.  They all loved the idea.

The big question that they all brought up was where it would be held.  I couldn’t think of a better place than the hill where I had not only arrived to Equestria, but where I saved Equestria as well.  They all agreed that it was an ideal spot.  We planned that all of the ponies that came could set up little seating areas of their own.  We basically planned to cover the entirety of that hill, as well as the surrounding landscape, with, well, everything you need to hold a five hour concert.  Yes, the concert would be five hours.

I had a lot of music to play for the ponies of Equestria, so much that it would indeed take at least five hours.  We all figured how long it would take to prepare all of this.  We calculated about six months, which was fine by me.  We would not only need to set up the whole area that we would be using for the night, but we would also need to rehearse our songs.  I planned to perform every song by my top favorite bands, which everypony was fine with.  So, we settled on the idea, and started to spread the word.

Everypony in Ponyville was elated to hear about the concert.  We actually managed to get Vinyl Scratch and Octavia to agree to perform with us, which was perfect.  I saw the eyes of ponies fill with joy when we told them of our concert.  It filled my heart with so much joy.  I was going to live out one of my lifelong dreams.  To finally be able to perform in a concert of this scale was just so uplifting.

With our plan set into action, the next few days were spent planning.  We planned how the night would run, who we would get to sell refreshments, and all of that stuff.  The whole thing was going to work out that ponies could set up their own little picnic areas you could say.  They could lie out on blankets and watch us perform.  It was a perfect plan.  We also would need money to buy all of the things we would need to perform, like a stage, lighting, mics, and all of that stuff.  Everything was coming together.

Those few days turned into three months.  We were halfway there.  We were halfway to the night of our performance.  We were, of course, ready to extend the time needed to prepare, but at the rate we were going, it wasn’t a problem.  Well, of course, my plans always find a way to get some sort of obstacle thrown at them.

I woke up from bed to find that Fluttershy was missing.  I looked around my room, but my faithful eagle Nightwing was all I could see.

“Hey, Nightwing, where’s Fluttershy?” I asked him.  He was still asleep, so I reached to the floor to pick up a sock that had been lying on the floor.  I tossed it at him, which woke him up with a startle.

“What did you do that for?”

“I had to wake you up somehow, where’s Fluttershy?” I asked again.

“Oh yeah, she woke me up before to tell me… to tell you… that she was going to the spa with Rarity.”  I then remembered that it was one of those days that Fluttershy had planned a visit to the spa with Rarity.  This was something she regularly did, but I had no problem with it.

“Well, thanks for the info,” I said to Nightwing.  He nodded, stretched his wings out, and started to fly downstairs.  I figured I might as well get up too.  I got dressed and went downstairs for some breakfast.  Fluttershy had prepared me some apple pancakes already.  She always knew what I liked.  I quickly ate them and decided to go out for a while to stretch my wings.  Nightwing decided to follow.

We just flew over Ponyville for a while, going at ridiculous speeds just for the fun of it.  Well, of course, we caught the eye of none other than Rainbow Dash.  She flew right in between Nightwing and myself.

“Hey slow pokes.  Up for a race?” she asked.  I looked over her to Nightwing.  We both nodded.

“You’re on Rainbow Dash,” Nightwing said, but of course, all Rainbow would hear was an eagle cry.  I of course translated for him.  “Where shall we be racing to today?” he asked.  I translated for him again.  We stopped on a cloud to pick a spot.

“I don’t know, where do you guys wanna go?  I always pick, it’s your turn Matt,” Dash said, pointing to me.  I thought for a moment.

“Well, we were heading home actually, so I guess we could race to there.”  Both Dash and Nightwing nodded.  We got ready, and this time, I made sure Dash wouldn’t cheat.  I counted down.

“3, 2, 1, GO!”  And we were off.  Dash took an early lead, but Nightwing kept a good pace on her.  I stayed back, but I had a nice little plan in mind.  The two of them worked their hardest to stay ahead of each other.  They kept looking back to see me not too far behind.

“Pick up the pace Matt!” Dash yelled back to me.  We were nearing my home.  It was time to strike.  I blasted past the both of them with a burst of energy.  Both of them were surprised by my sudden increase in speed.  They had no chance to catch up with me, and before I knew it, I had won the race.

“HAHA!  IN YOUR FACE DASH!” I shouted to her, and started to do a silly victory dance.  She landed along with Nightwing.  She simply blew her hair out of her face.

“Yeah, well, you just got lucky,” she said, trying to make an excuse.  Nightwing simply laughed.

“Well done Matthew, good race,” he said.  He always was a good sport about things like this.  “But, if you don’t mind, I think I’m going to stay out for a while longer.  See you later,” he said, and he took off.  I simply gave him a mini-salute goodbye.  Now I was alone with Dash.

“Now what?” she asked.

“Well, Fluttershy won’t be home for a while, so I guess we could hang for a while.”  She nodded and we went inside.

I decided to unwind to some Assassin’s Creed 3.  Dash decided to take some of my food to snack on.  I simply chuckled at her.  She just watched me play.  I struck up a conversation about how things with the Wonderbolts were going.

“Awesome, what do you think?  Spitfire is considering making me a captain.  I know she’ll say yes though, I’m just too awesome,” Dash said, relishing in her own awesomeness.

“I sometimes wonder who you would be without your over-the-top ego,” I said sarcastically.  She simply laughed at my remark.  After that, she just kept shouting at me, trying to get me to kill people in the game when I really shouldn’t.  She actually took the controller for a short while to play.  Before I knew it, I found myself starting a whole new playthrough of the game.

Something was off today about Dash though.  Twice while I was playing, with my peripheral vision, I caught her staring at me.  Both times, she was just smiling.  On the third time I looked to her and just asked her what she was doing.

“What, oh, um, I wasn’t doing anything,” she said, trying to cover herself up.

“Yeah right, you were staring at me.  What gives?” I asked.  She started to fiddle with her hooves.  Before I knew it, she was blushing.  I raised an eyebrow.

“What do you think about me Matt?” she asked.  Now, I raised both of my eyebrows.  What the hell was she talking about?

“Um, well, you’re like the coolest pony I know.  You’re also very loyal to your friends, which is a very noble quality to have.  Honestly, I consider myself lucky to have a best friend like you.  Why do you ask?”  She stared into my eyes and inched towards me.

“Well… I, uh,” she started, but she didn’t finish.  She turned her head away for a moment.  Moments later, she turned back to me, pulled me in, and kissed me.  I was caught completely off guard.  Now, I knew that it was wrong, but I just couldn’t push her off of me.  The kiss was too nice.  Oh how I wish I had found the strength to get her off of me.

Not even one minute after Rainbow locked lips with me, the front door opened.

“Matthew, I’m home,” I heard Fluttershy call.  Even though I heard her, I couldn’t let go of the kiss.  “I got you your favorite…” she started to say, walking into the room.  She dropped what she was carrying at the sight of Rainbow Dash and me kissing.  I immediately pushed Rainbow off and looked at Fluttershy.  She was frozen.  She soon started to cry, and before I knew it she ran out the door.

“Fluttershy, wait!” I shouted, running after her.  I left Rainbow Dash in the living room, but as I left the house, I could hear her crying as well.

Fluttershy ran down the road, but when she realized I was chasing after her, she started to fly.  Some part of me told me to just leave her alone, but I just couldn’t.  I had to explain to her what had just happened.  I flew after her.  I found her lying on a cloud, crying profusely.  I landed on the cloud and slowly walked to her.  I placed my hand on her shoulder.

“Fluttershy,” I said.  But, before I could continue, she turned around and smacked me across the cheek with all of her strength.  I fell to one knee and placed my hand where she had delivered her smack on my left cheek.  I looked into her eyes.  They were filled with both sadness and anger, something that rarely ever came over Fluttershy.

“How could you Matthew?  Why would you do such a thing?  Am I not that important to you anymore?” she asked.  Her words felt like knives being driven through my heart.  I could feel the tears starting to flow.

“Fluttershy, you are the most important thing in my life.  I’m sorry, really I am.  I didn’t know Rainbow was going to kiss me, I swear.”

“Is that supposed to make it alright?  Matthew, I’m your wife.  We’ve been married for three years.  What makes you think that it would be alright to find you and my best friend making out in our home?” she asked, her face still flowing with tears.

“It’s not alright, I know that.  Fluttershy, I love you.  That kiss meant nothing.”

“Then why do it?”

“She kissed me!  I had no idea that she was going to do that.  I didn’t know she felt that way about me.  I would never betray you Fluttershy, not even if my life depended on it.  I love you.  You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, and nothing will change that.  I’m sorry.  I…”  I couldn’t finish.  I choked up as the tears started to flow.  I couldn’t believe what had just happened.  My wife, Fluttershy, had just witnessed her best friend and me kissing.  I felt absolutely terrible.

But, the next thing I knew, Fluttershy lifted my head and kissed me.  She let go, but I was still crying.  I turned my head away from her.  I couldn’t look at her, not after what I had just done.  She turned my head back to her so that our eyes met perfectly.

“Matthew, I forgive you.  I just… seeing you like that, it just hurt me.  You once promised to never hurt me, and I thought you had forgotten about me.”  Her words made me feel so guilty, but at the same time, they soothed me.

“Fluttershy, I know what I promised you.  I promised to never hurt you.  I also told you I would keep that promise, but it looks like I just broke it, and for that, I’m sorry.  But, looking back, I’ve broken that promise one too many times.  I think it’s time I remake that promise,” I said, and I stared straight into her eyes.

“I promise, Fluttershy, I will never hurt you again, in any way, shape, or form.  And, I promise, I will never leave or forget you.  You are the most important thing to me.  I promise that I will love you forever.  These are all promises I don’t just intend to keep.  I will keep these promises.  I love you,” I finished.  She stared back with tear filled eyes.

“I love you too Matthew, and I’m sorry that I smacked you.”

“You don’t need to apologize for that, I deserved it.  Come on, I think we need to chat with Rainbow Dash.  Are you still mad at her?”

“A little, but I forgive her.  I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it.  She is our best friend after all.”

“That’s right, and she’s the most loyal pony we know.  Come on, let’s go back home.”  We stood up and flew back home, where Rainbow Dash was hopefully still waiting for us.

Fluttershy and I entered our home to find that Rainbow Dash was still there.  She had buried her head into one of the pillows from our couch and was still crying.  We walked up to her and sat beside her on the couch.

“Hey, c’mon now Rainbow, its ok,” Fluttershy said while she was rubbing her mane.  “I forgive you.”  As Fluttershy said that, Rainbow lifted her head and looked at the both of us.

“No, Fluttershy, it’s not ok.  I made out with Matt, your husband.  What kind of a friend am I?  I’m supposed to be the Element of Loyalty.  Yeah, I’m pretty loyal aren’t I?”  Rainbow couldn’t stop bashing herself, but there was no need.

“Rainbow, you made a mistake.  Now, I don’t know how long you’ve had feelings for me, but you don’t have to beat yourself up about it,” I said, trying to get her to relax a little.

“Oh yeah, what if I told you I’ve thought about you this way for the past year?  What would you think then?”  Truth be told, I was really surprised.  Rainbow had a crush on me for one year, even though she knew I was married to Fluttershy.

“Well… ok, maybe that is a bit weird.  But Rainbow, you don’t have anything to be ashamed of.  I am pretty awesome after all,” I said, much like the way that Rainbow would call herself awesome.  Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at me.

“We’re trying to make her feel better, not guilty, Matthew,” she said to me.  I got the message pretty quickly.  “Rainbow, look at me,” she continued.  Rainbow turned to look at Fluttershy.  They stared at each other for about 30 seconds, and then Fluttershy gave Rainbow a hug.

“I forgive you Dashie, you have my word,” she said.  Rainbow returned the hug, but kept crying.

“I’m so sorry Fluttershy.  I’m sorry that I did this to you,” she said, and she let go of the hug and turned to me.  “And, I’m sorry to you too Matt.  I know you don’t feel the same way about me, but just having you… no, the both you, as my best friends makes me feel better.  I hope you can truly forgive me.”

“Dashie, we’ve already forgiven you,” Fluttershy chimed in before I could say anything.  Rainbow turned to Fluttershy again and they hugged.  I simply smiled at the two of them and joined in the hug.  Rainbow finally stopped crying, and we released from our embrace.

“I owe you guys something special.  How about two free tickets to the next Wonderbolts show?  It’ll be my treat.”  I looked to Fluttershy and we nodded.

“Sounds good Dash.  We’ll be expecting a special Sonic Rainboom from you though, just for us,” I said.  Dash nodded her head and laughed.  She gestured for a hoof bump. I gladly gave her one.  The three of us shared another hug.  When we let go, we all fell into an awkward silence.

“So, now what?” Rainbow asked.  I thought for a moment.  I came up with an idea that could solve everything.

“How about a race?” I asked.  Rainbow immediately beamed up.

“You’re on!” she said, and before I knew it, we were outside racing.  Where to?  Anywhere.

Just as Rainbow promised, Fluttershy and I were treated to a special Wonderbolts show.  It was actually a private show for the really famous ponies, but of course, Dash could get us into any show that she wanted to.  The show was one month after the whole event, and in that time, we had gotten over the whole ordeal completely.  Along with that, our plans for the concert were coming along great.  But, Rainbow made sure at the show that the Wonderbolts delivered.

The show started off with some Wonderbolts tricks and routines.  Fluttershy and I had seen most of these, but they were always fun to watch, no matter how many times we had seen them.  Just as Rainbow promised, she delivered a special Sonic Rainboom just for us.  But, she added a little something special to it this time.

Not only did she do the normal Sonic Rainboom, but, by some stroke of awesomeness, Rainbow managed to pull off a Double Sonic Rainboom.  I’m not joking, or even trying to refer to that really old meme Double Rainbow.  Dash just made her Sonic Rainboom split somehow to form two rainbows.  It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, aside from Fluttershy of course.  Nothing tops my Fluttershy.

After the Double Rainboom, the Wonderbolts shot into the sky through the center of the stadium and spelt out the word “Wonderbolts” in the sky.  It was honestly the greatest Wonderbolts show I had ever attended, and it was all thanks to Rainbow Dash.  She really was the best friend I could ever ask for.  Fluttershy could say the same thing.

After the show, Fluttershy and I greeted Rainbow outside the stadium.  We greeted her with a huge hug.

“See, I told you guys I had something special planned.  What’d you think?” she asked us.

“Dash, that was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.  You really outdid yourself this time.  For that, we thank you,” I said.  She smiled and we hugged again.  When we let go, she asked if we had really forgiven her again.

“Dash, we forgave you the day that it happened.  Don’t you worry your rainbow filled head about it, at all, got that?” I asked her.  She nodded and we left the stadium.  We decided to go celebrate with some dinner.  On our way to one of the Cloudsdale restaurants, Rainbow was bombarded by fans that must have seen her Double Rainboom.  Dash satisfied all of their requests for autographs and what not.  We finally made it to the restaurant, where we chowed down on some of the best Equestrian pizza I had ever had.  Yeah, they actually have pizza here in Equestria.  I probably should have mentioned that a lot earlier.  Oh well, now you know.

Fluttershy and Rainbow got more fancy dinners, but I was satisfied with my pizza.  We paid the bill and left the restaurant.  We gave Dash one more hug before we said goodbye to her for the night.  Fluttershy and I went home back in Ponyville.

“She really is the best friend anypony could ever ask for, isn’t she?” Fluttershy asked me rhetorically.

“Yeah, she really is.  But, I don’t think she’ll ever be as great as you,” I said.

“Aw, aren’t you adorable,” she said, and she pinched my cheek.  I made her stop and I started chasing her around the house until I caught her in the bedroom.  I held her down on our bed and we just kept laughing.

“I love you Matthew, you know that right?”

“You know it.  Oh, and that’s like the millionth time you’ve asked me that,” I said sarcastically.  She giggled, and I kissed her.  Would you like to take a guess at what followed?  If you guessed the most obvious answer (sex), than you’d be correct.

A fun night, however, is always followed by a fun dream.  But tonight, our dream sharing was made a bit more special.  We were greeted by Rainbow Dash in our dream.  She flew along with us in our never-ending sky.  This really must have been what heaven was like.  Just a man, his wife, and their best friend, flying forever.  God I love living in Equestria.

Well, soon enough, the night of the concert arrived.  Man was it a great night.  I had planned to write all about it, but I soon realized that writing about a concert and actually seeing it are two very different things.  Aside from that, we performed at least 150 different songs, all of which everypony knew.  We even had some audience members sing their own songs.  It was such a great night.

The crowd was huge.  Everypony from Ponyville attended, as well as Canterlot.  A good number of ponies from Manehattan even came.  I think like ten percent of the crowd was made up of the Apple Family (crazy right).  Hell, even Celestia and Luna showed up.  The night was an all-around success.  It was just like I envisioned it.

The night was closed with my top four favorite songs, “Without You” by Breaking Benjamin, “We’re Not Gonna Fall” by Daughtry, “Another Song About the Weekend” by A Day to Remember, and “Never Be the Same” by Red.  We ended with “Never Be the Same,” and I think I managed to get half of the crowd crying with that song.  It really was just a great night.  I wish I had a huge recording of it, but sadly, I don’t.  You’ll just have to believe me when I say it was the best night of my life.

But, that night, as corny as this may sound, I felt the love of not just Fluttershy, but everypony in attendance.  Most of all, I felt the love of the ponies I performed with.  Fluttershy, Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity, hell, even Octavia and Vinyl.  I felt so much love for those ponies (the Mane 6 more than Octavia and Vinyl of course, but they were still amazing).  I finally realized, although I think I realized this long ago, that these ponies weren’t just my friends, but in fact, they were family.  The love I felt for these ponies was now equal to that of the love I had for Fluttershy (well, maybe not equal, but almost).

Well, that love must have sparked something, and Celestia realized it.  Why, however, it took her about one more year to tell me, still confuses me.  From what I gather, I think she had to figure out everything about how a seventh Element of Harmony was created.

It was a great Saturday afternoon.  The girls and I were spending a wonderful day together.  We were relaxing outside of Sugarcube Corner.  It was exactly one year after the day of the concert, and we were reveling in the memories of that day.

“What was your favorite song from the night Matthew?” Twilight asked me.

“Although it’s not my favorite song of all time, “Never Be the Same” was easily the best song for me.  It’s like a clean definition of what my life has become… sort of.”  The girls chuckled as I finished my statement with uncertainty.  Dash made herself obvious, so I picked her out.

“What about you Dash, what was your favorite of the night?”

“What I Want” by Daughtry baby.  That guitar solo is the bomb.”  She had a good point.  “What I Want” has one of the coolest guitar solos ever.  Dash played it like a beast.

We just kept talking about that night.  It was, after all, one of the greatest nights in the history of Equestria.  But, suddenly, we were greeted by Princess Celestia.  Her arrival came as a surprise to all of us.  We all got up and bowed to her.

“Greetings my little ponies, and greetings to you as well Matthew,” she said.  I gave her a smile and a nod hello.

“Hello Princess Celestia.  What brings you to Ponyville on such a sudden notice?  Has something happened in Canterlot?” Twilight asked.

“No Twilight, I am here because of Matthew,” she said, looking at me.  I was caught by surprise.

“Did I do something wrong?”  I was really worried, and apparently, so was Fluttershy.  She clung onto my arm and held me close.

“Quite the opposite Matthew.  There is no need to worry.  I bring with me a gift.  Or perhaps it should not be called a gift, seeing as though you created it Matthew.”  I was utterly confused.  What the hell did I do?

“Let us move to your home, Matthew, where we may have more privacy,” Celestia said.  We all did what she said and went to my house.  Fluttershy, the ponies, and I stood around the Princess as we entered the living room.

“So, what’s up Celestia?  What’s this thing that I created that’s brought you here?”  She stared at me and smiled.  She levitated a chest in front of herself.

“You are, of course, familiar with the Elements of Harmony?  Well Matthew, one year ago, something inside of you caused a spark in the Elements, something I thought impossible.  The Elements have realized your true worthiness to Harmony and Friendship.  And, because of this, you managed to create a seventh Element of Harmony.”  Everyone in the room dropped their mouths, except Celestia of course.  We were all shocked at what she had just told us.

“What?  How the hell could I have created a seventh Element of Harmony?  And for that matter, what the hell would I even represent?  I don’t think power or strength are really parts of harmony.  Courage does come to mind though.”  I would have kept going, but Celestia hushed me.

“Why don’t you tell us,” she said, and she opened the chest and levitated the Element to me.  It wasn’t a necklace like the others, but in fact, was a bracelet.  It had a golden metal strap to go on my wrist perfectly.  I looked at the symbol in the center.  It was a tomahawk.  The handle was brown and there was a blade on it.  The blade was red though, which seemed weird to me.

“I don’t get it.  What’s my Element Celestia?”  She merely gestured for me to look again.  I looked back at the Element to see that the blade portion was not in the shape of the Assassin’s Crest, but in fact, it was in the shape of a heart.  I thought for a moment, and then it hit me.  My eyes beamed open and I stared at Celestia.

“Love,” I simply said.  “Love is my Element.  But, that doesn’t make sense.  Wait… why the hell does that actually make sense?”  I was completely taken back by the fact that I actually did represent love.

“Matthew, from the day you found Fluttershy, you have done nothing but show what it truly means to love.  Your dedication to loving and caring for Fluttershy has always been an inspiration.  But, the night of the concert, you realized that you shared that love with not just Fluttershy, but every other pony in this room.  You realized that you love all of my little ponies in Equestria.  You are a true representation of love, and for that, you are the Element of Love.”  I couldn’t help but smile and start to tear up a bit.  Fluttershy came up to me and gave me a hug.  We let go and stared at the Element in my hand.

The girls all gathered around us and looked at the Element.  Twilight’s stare moved to Celestia.

“But, Princess, why give this to Matthew now?  There are no dangers that require the Elements, so why would we need a seventh?”  She was right.  There was no reason to have this.

“It is to symbolize what Matthew truly represents my pupil.  But, I have also imbued it with a special gift.  Matthew, you are aware that I have the ability to send you back to Earth.  I’m sure you also know that ever since your arrival here that the time difference has leveled off and that our worlds share the same time.  Well, sending you home has become something dangerous.  I learned that when I sent you home so you could fetch those two guns of yours.  Well, imbedded in your Element is the power to visit your home.”  I looked at her in surprise.

“Wait, but wouldn’t that be the same as you just teleporting me back home?”

“The difference, Matthew, is that you will not actually be home.  You will be there in spirit, therefore the risk of you being found is eliminated.  You cannot interact with anyone or anything while you are there, but you can see everything and everyone in your world once again.  This also eliminates the threat of our worlds colliding with each other, so to speak.  In short, Matthew, this power will allow you to safely visit your home again.  The Element, of course, has its natural power, and can be used in tandem with the other Elements of Harmony.  I am proud to present this gift to you Matthew, and I thank you for loving my little ponies with all of your heart.”  Celestia had just given me the greatest gift of my life.

“I cannot thank you enough Celestia.”  I thought for a moment.  “How do I use it, to go home, I mean?”

“First, you may want to lie down.”  I did as she said and lied down on the couch.

“Put the Element on your wrist.  Then, grip it with your opposite hand.  All you must do is think about home.”  I did what she said and put the Element on my right wrist and held it with my left hand.  But before I tried it, I asked her one more thing.

“How do I get back?”

“You will still have the Element as a spirit on Earth.  All you must do is hold the Element in your left hand while it is on your right wrist and think of Fluttershy,” she said, and I smiled.  I looked at everypony in the room, and then to Fluttershy.  She knelt beside me and kissed me.

“Don’t stay too long, alright,” she said when we finished kissing.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.  But, just in case,” I said, and I kissed her again.  “I love you,” I finished.  She stood back as I closed my eyes and started to think about home.  In a moment, I felt myself slip away from my physical body.  I was going home.

I awoke from what felt like a good night’s sleep.  I stared into the sky.  It was a beautiful day.  I felt around on the ground to find on was lying on grass.  I sat up and saw my body was see through.  I was completely transparent, so I assumed I was invisible to everyone around me.  I looked around to see that I was lying on the front lawn of my childhood home.  I hadn’t seen home in so many years.  It felt good to be back.  I looked down the drive way to see no one was home.  I assumed everyone was out, so I decided to just go inside.

I didn’t have to open the door.  I just walked right through it, which was awesome.  I stepped into the mudroom which had been changed quite a bit since I last saw this house.  Stepping into the kitchen and seeing the dining room made me realize I had been gone a lot longer than it seemed.  The kitchen had been completely redone, and the same could be said of the dining room.  The living room was the same however, which I liked.  I decided to give my room a visit.  It had been cleared out of all of my stuff, and to my great surprise, replaced by a ton of girl items.

‘Who the hell moved into my room?’  I knew that the house was still owned by my family, so I just figured my sister moved in from her room to mine.  Although, to my knowledge, she wasn’t living home anymore.  I would have to figure it out when she got home.  Watching her would tell me enough.

I visited my good old man cave of a basement to find it generally unchanged.  Although, the TV we had down there was replaced by a much cooler one, and the old table was replaced with a nice wooden table.  I hadn’t realized how much I really missed being home until I actually got there.  I decided to go out for a while and see how my friends were doing, provided they were all still in the area.

Sure enough, walking a few blocks led me to my best friend’s house.  I found he was still there with his mother, father, and brother.  I looked in through the windows to see he had grown up quite a bit.  I really missed him.  We had a lot of great times together, and to see him fully grown up like this was really cool.  But, what seemed odd was that they were all dressed up.  They were wearing clothes that you would wear if you were in mourning or something.  I didn’t think too much about it and decided to go see if the former girl of my dreams was still in the area.

Sure to my assumption, she was, and she had married a fine man.  She was actually living in the same area, but not the same house.  I saw her leaving her home by chance with her husband.  They gave each other a kiss as they exited their home.  He seemed to really make her happy, and therefore, I was happy.  She meant the whole world to me back then.  We were great friends, but I never had the guts to tell her how I felt.  Knowing that she had found the perfect guy though just made me happy.  Besides, I’ve got Fluttershy now, and she’s much better.

‘Make her happy dude.  You don’t know how lucky you are,’ I thought to myself as I watched them walk to their car.  Again, I was surprised to see that they were actually wearing attire that you would wear if you were in mourning.  That’s twice in a row.  Something was going on.  I decided to follow their car, and by chance, they managed to be followed by my best friend and his family.  

They led me to the local funeral home.  Now I was worried.  Who had died while I was away?  A sudden thought crossed my mind, and I was struck with fear.

‘Please God no,’ I thought, as I entered the funeral home.  I followed the sound of voices to the room where the service was being held.  The rooms were labeled with the name of the one who had passed away.  I read the label, and I literally felt my heart break apart.  It was my mother.  My fear had come true.  She had passed away, and I wasn’t there for her.  I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t just yet.  

I stared at the label for two hours, not entering the room until everyone except my family had left.  I saw all of my family members that were still alive, which was actually a good amount.  I noticed that my two uncles and one aunt were absent.  Listening in on some conversation, I found out they had passed away as well.

I saw my sister with who I assumed was her husband.  They had a child with them.  A daughter, no older than 15.  I saw my brother, married to the women he had met when I was 19.  They didn’t have children.  My brother was really against having kids, and I honestly can’t blame him.  Babies are annoying.

I saw my other cousins, two of them married, the other four not.  I saw my other aunt and a few uncles standing around in a semi-circle.  I decided to pass through and finally see her.

I saw my mother.  Her dormant body was lying in the casket.  She had gotten so much older since I had left all those years ago.  I started to bawl my eyes out crying.  I hadn’t been there for my mother when she passed.  The same could be said of my other family members who had passed.  Just knowing that tore me apart.

“I’m sorry Mom.  I’m so sorry,” I said out loud.  No one could hear me.  I fell to my knees and cried to the floor.  But, shortly after, my brother and sister walked forward and knelt in front of the casket to pray for her.  I decided to join them.  There was actually a spot for me to kneel alongside them.  They joined hands and prayed together.  My sister couldn’t hold back tears, and the same could be said of my brother.  Seeing my brother like that just broke me.  I let out all of the tears I had to shed.  I said my own prayer for my mother.  I’m not going to write what I said, you’ll have to excuse me.  It’s just too personal for me.

I stood up and turned to see all of my family staring at my mother’s body.  I looked one more time at her.  I couldn’t leave without giving her one last kiss.  I kissed her body on the forehead and spoke.

“I love you Mom.”  With that, I had seen enough.  I looked back to my family one more time.  Seeing them all together just made me smile a bit through all of the sadness.  I gripped the Element of Love which was still on my wrist, and thought of Fluttershy.  I closed my eyes, and I felt my spiritual being head back to my body.

I opened my eyes, which were filled with tears.  Fluttershy was sitting beside me, and the rest of the ponies in the room looked at me.

“Matthew, what happened?  What did you see?” Fluttershy asked.  I sat up on the couch, but I couldn’t stop crying.

“She’s gone.  She’s gone, and I wasn’t there.”  The ponies and Fluttershy looked at me in confusion.

“Who?” Fluttershy asked.

“My mother.  She passed away, apparently just yesterday in fact.  She’s gone, and I wasn’t there for her in her final moments.  I wasn’t there for the many other family members of mine that passed while I was gone.  I just…”  I couldn’t finish.  I choked up from crying.  Fluttershy gave me a hug to comfort me.  I started to hear the other ponies crying for my loss.

“I’m sorry Matthew, truly I am.  I’m here for you,” Fluttershy said, trying to soothe me.  I couldn’t stop crying.

“Twilight, you said it yourself all those years ago, that if I came here, I would be leaving my family behind.  I didn’t think anything of it then, but now I realize how selfish I’ve been.”  Twilight looked at me with tear filled eyes.  She couldn’t speak to me though.  Fluttershy tried to calm me.

“Matthew, you did what you thought was right.  You are not a selfish person.  Don’t you think your family is happy knowing that you are happy?  Don’t you think your mother probably died happy knowing that you were happy?”  Her words actually helped.  In the note I left for my family all those years ago, I wrote that I was in a better place living a fantastic life, or something like that.  It’s been a long time, so I can’t remember the specifics.  But, what Fluttershy said made me realize that my mother probably was happy for me.  It may not have been expressed in the best way on paper, but I’m sure my mother knew.  But, still, the lingering fact that my mother had passed and I wasn’t there was just crippling.

“I guess you’re right Fluttershy… but still.  I just can’t get over it.  She passed away and I wasn’t there for her.  I just can’t live with that.  But… I still love her.  She’s my mother, so I have to.  She did so much for me, and that’s something I can never forget.  She was happy for me before I even came here.  Just think of how she felt knowing I was with who I wanted to be with, in the world of my dreams.  Knowing that, how bad could I really be, I guess.”  Fluttershy smiled at me and kissed me on the cheek.

“That’s the spirit.  We all love you Matthew.  We are all family, and I’m sure your mother is looking down on you and smiling for you.  She will always love you, and you will always love her.”  I turned to Fluttershy and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Yeah, you’re right.  And the same goes for all of you.  I love you all.  I guess that’s why I’m the Element of Love,” I said, and everyone in the room smiled.  I then realized Celestia was absent.  “Hey, where’s Celestia?”

“She left a while after you went to visit Earth.  You were gone for quite a while after all Matthew,” Twilight answered.  She was right.  I was gone for about three or four hours.  I simply looked at the Element on my wrist and smiled.

“Well, now what?” Rainbow asked, always eager to be doing something other than sitting around.  I chuckled and looked to her.

“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m hungry.  Who’s up for some dinner, my treat?”  All of the girls smiled at me and agreed to the idea.  I took off my Element and placed it on the mantle above my fireplace.  I smiled at it one more time, and spoke softly to it.

“I love you Mom.  Say hi to Dad for me.”  I turned to the ponies and Fluttershy, who were all ready to go.  “Let’s go get some food.”

And there you go, the most recent events in my life.  Yeah, I realize I could have written about all of this a couple years earlier, but I just couldn’t get myself to do it.  All of that happened about six years ago.  Like I said, it’s been ten years since I wrote in this journal.  Now, I’m 42 years old, and Fluttershy is 39.  We are living quite happily, as you can imagine, together.  Our friends… no, our family, is doing great.  We all pretty much meet for get-togethers regularly.  I don’t argue though.  I want to spend as much time with the girls as possible.

Now, I know I said that this story would continue as long as I’m here in Equestria.  But, honestly, I’ve pretty much done everything I’ve wanted to do with Fluttershy.  I mean, of course, I don’t love her any less than I ever did, but nothing big comes to mind for stuff to do.  I just want to live the rest of my life with her, and the rest of the family.  We all love each other, and that’s good enough for me.

So, just in case this is the last time you’ll be hearing from me, I’ll leave you with this.  I never thought I would be living the life I live today.  The life I’m living is every bronies fantasy.  My life was saved because I happened to find my favorite pony in a dumpster.  I never thought love was something I would need, but I was so wrong.  It was the love of Fluttershy that saved my life.  Love is a powerful thing.  I’d say it’s the most powerful thing in the universe, as corny as that may sound.  Without her love, I wouldn’t be here today.  Her love is the most important thing in my life.

And that is why it was, still is, and always will be… Fluttershy and me.

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