Jaze woke up in a stupor; he could not remember what had him in such a state the night before. He sat up and cradled his head in his hands trying to recall what had been bothering him. It did not take long to force the memories back into his brain. The young soldier checked out the window to see the sun just peeking over the horizon. He jumped out of bed and rushed to get dressed as quietly as he could. He did not want to risk waking Trixie. He grabbed his knife from the closet, along with the bow he made to replace the one he broke the day he met Trixie. He briefly considered grabbing a gun from his closet, but he felt that would be overkill. He doubted there would be any call for such heavy firepower, at least he hoped so.

He quietly snuck through the living room, careful as he could so as to not wake his blissfully dreaming friend. Her sleep was more peaceful now than it had been when she first arrived, no longer plagued by dreams of her past mistakes. Jaze knew how terrible that felt; he had long been reliving his past during the night. It was only then that he realized that his own nightmares had subsided these past months. Equestria seemed able to do what no other place in the universe had been able to, heal his broken heart. As he watched Trixie dream her happy dreams, he knew that his friends were the cause. He had never let anyone get close, in fear that he may get hurt. But now he had those who loved him and that he loved in turn. It was a wonderful feeling. Yeah, said the pessimistic part of his mind, but you’ll soon lose all this if you don’t go check out that wreck. Nopony else can do this but you.

With a sigh, Jaze continued his silent journey to the door. He had just reached for the knob when he heard a rustling of blankets and a confused voice whisper “Jaze?”

Jaze stopped as he squeezed his eyes shut, “Good morning Trixie.”

“Morning,” she replied as she yawned, “what are you up to?”

“I just need to go into the forest for something.”

She saw the bow and knife slung across his back, “I see.”

“It’s not that, but it is important. I’m just… wary, of going into the forest unarmed.”

“Well if it’s not that,” She looked at him hopefully, “can I accompany you?”

“No.”Jaze said firmly, “This is a bit of a private matter. I don’t want to mix you up in it.”

“This is about what the Princesses talked to you about last night isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Jaze, what are you hiding from us?”

“Nothing important.”

“It sure seemed important last night.”

“All bad things seem terribly important at first.”

“So it’s a bad kind of important.”

“Kind of, yes.”

“Then let me help you. That’s what friends do right?”

Jaze offered a small smile, “Yes, but friends also don’t let their friends get into danger for nothing. I can handle this on my own, just trust me on this.”

“Fine, but remember who saved you when you were blinded by those flowers.” Trixie glowered at the soldier as he left out the door. He felt terrible about how he treated a friend who just wanted to help, but he could not let her know about the ship in the woods. She might find out that it could fly; she was a sharp young mare. He set off for the woods at a fast pace, trying to complete his task long before anypony missed him. The fighter was deep in the woods and it might take him a while to pry the access panel to the reactor core by hand. He cursed his luck at not crashing on a more developed planet, but quickly decided that there was nowhere else in the universe he would rather be, except, perhaps, back in bed not having to worry about something like this.

He had been running at a good pace for almost an hour by the time he arrived at the fighter. He had almost missed it; the forest had been slowly reclaiming the trench over the past week and the fighter had been covered in forest refuse. He jumped into the cockpit and tried to power it up. Much to the young man’s dismay, the fighter slowly came to life; red lights alerting him to an emergency several months in the past. Crap, he thought savagely, this may have given away my position. Gotta get that panel off and blow this rig.

He climbed out and jumped on top of the wreck. Luckily, the crash had knocked the panel open a little, but it was still going to be a pain to get into the core area. He hooked his fingers around the lip and gave a testing pull. The door moved a miniscule amount. Jaze threw everything he had into his next pull and the door gave a metallic snap as it broke off, sending the surprised soldier tumbling to the ground. He landed with a hard thud on his back and rolled to his feet. The warrior stared at the large piece of metal in his hands before tossing it away. He had not realized just how strong the constant farm work had made him. He heard a twig snap behind him and quickly drew an arrow and pulled his bow to full as he turned to face the source of the noise. Standing there, looking shocked, was Trixie.

“What the hay are you doing here?” Jaze looked furious, “I told you to stay at the house!”

“I was worried about you, so I followed to make sure you were okay.” Trixie looked at the broken fighter, “That looks like the thing from that picture of you and your friends.”

Jaze fought to keep himself from yelling at her, “That’s because it is.”

“What are you doing to it?”

“I’m going to destroy it.” He quickly climbed back on top of the aircraft and was soon elbows deep in wires. He quickly set the core to over load as he had been taught during his training. “Alright then, we need to get as far away as fast as we can.”

“Why is that?”

Jaze jumped down again and hit the ground running, “Because this thing’s going to blow and I’m not sure how big it will be.” That was more than enough for Trixie as she took off after her friend. They ran for a few minutes before Jaze slid to a stop, only slightly out of breath.

“This should be far enough.” he said as his companion hung her head to gulp down air.

“How…long…until…explosion?” she asked between breaths.

“A few minutes, but we should be far enough away that nothing will happen to us.”

“Good,” the unicorn sat back and started fanning her face with a hoof. “I feel there are some things we should discuss before our return to Ponyville.”

“There are a few, yes. But nothing leaves this forest, is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.” She said as she gave a smile.

“This is utterly serious Trixie. Things are going on that you don’t know about.” Jaze was debating on exactly how much to tell her. He knew he couldn’t tell her that he was from another world, she would be terrified. But he could let her know some things.

“What do you mean?” Trixie asked warily.

“For starters, I’m not an explorer. I’m a soldier.” The reactor picked that moment to finally explode. The pair stood and watched in awe as a small cloud of dust arose from where the fighter had come to rest. Jaze could not help but feel a twinge of sadness as the final piece of his previous life left this world.

“What is a soldier?” Trixie asked, breaking into Jaze’s thoughts.

“It’s kind of like a royal guard. A soldier’s job is to protect those who can’t protect themselves, and to follow the orders of whoever is leading their country.”

“What do you mean ‘protect’? Like from animals in the forest”

Jaze sat on a log, “Trixie, there’s something you’ve got to understand. Where I’m from is… different. Humans are vastly different than ponies. Most people don’t get along with each other very well. Most of the protection is from other people.”

“So why did you destroy that thing?”

“Princess Celestia has reason to believe that some of our enemies may be looking for my friends and I. That thing would have been a dead giveaway.”

“So your enemies might come to Ponyville?”

“I doubt it. They only want to destroy humans and now they don’t know I’m here.” Jaze looked at Trixie sternly, “You can’t breathe a word of this to anypony; it would cause a panic. Not a word, okay?”

“Alright Jaze, I won’t tell anypony. But you should have told us, we are your friends.”

“I couldn’t, look at you. As soon as I told you, you started to worry. If word of a warlike race got out to the general public it would cause mass panic.”

“How do you know? Ponies are smart; they should know.”

“No, they wouldn’t know what to do. Your race is naïve, and I believe that is why I love living here so much. But it also means that they wouldn’t know what to do if they found out about this.” He gestured towards the now-gone fighter.

“I guess that makes sense. It also explains what you’ve been hiding.”

Not all of it, he thought but said, “That’s all I needed from the forest today, so let’s head back and grab some breakfast.”

“You know, this makes your eating habits seem trivial. Perhaps you should share that with the everypony. It might make you feel better”

“I couldn’t. They would think I was a freak.”

Trixie walked over and hit him on the knee, “Jaze you’re acting like a fool and I’m going to start thumping you every time you doubt your friends. Just like I have a lot to learn about friendship, so do you.” She offered a kind smile, “You told me and I’m still your friend, and they will be too.”

Jaze heaved a sigh and stood, “Alright I’ll invite them to dinner tonight and tell them then. Are you happy now?”

“Yes, quite.”

Applejack had decided to take the day off to let everypony recuperate from the Gala. She had sold all her stock and the fields had already been planted so she had seen no reason for Jaze to come over today. He was grateful for the day off and planned to spend it working on the room addition for his house. He gathered up the ponies that were going to help him and set to work. The work went smoothly and, slowly at first, the room began to take shape. The work was hard but many ponies turned out to help. At first it was just his friends, Applejack and her family, then Dash and Fluttershy, but soon many ponies he had helped were turning out to return the kindness. Pinkie and the Cakes catered what had become a little party of sorts. It didn’t take nearly as long as Jaze had feared it would.

After the long day’s work that passed too swiftly for Jaze, the addition was completed. By the end of the day half the town had filtered in and out to help, at least for a little while. Jaze shook his head in amazement at just how much these ponies cared for him Trixie. If only humans could care like this, he thought sadly, war would be a thing of the past not a living hell. He wished that the work had not ended so quickly and yet he was glad that Trixie would not have to sleep on the couch anymore. They all finished an hour before sunset and congratulated each other on a job well done. As the other ponies filed to rest tired muscles, Jaze invited his friends to dinner to thank them for their help. They accepted, as it was the first time he had invited everypony to his house. When they left, Jaze and Trixie went into town to buy a bed to put in her room. Jaze insisted on paying for it, saying that he had not given her a welcome to Ponyville present.

When they returned home, the young man turned his attention to the night ahead. He was a decent cook so he did not worry about the taste too much, but he needed to prepare his and his friends’ meals separately, he didn’t want to appall them but he did actually want to cook for them. He decided to do a simple vegetable stir fry because he doubted that anypony had had something like that before. He would just separate his portion and add some of the meat from his freezer after it was done. I can’t believe I let her talk me into this, he thought as he took the first harvest from his garden and began slicing the delicious looking veggies into a skillet. He had about an hour before everypony would start arriving and he wanted everything to be ready before then.

As soon as he had finished setting the table, Fluttershy and Applejack arrived. It was not long before Rainbow Dash and Twilight made their appearance. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were the last to arrive. Jaze sat them all down in the living room to warn them about tonight’s meal.

“Hey everypony, I have a bit of a confession to make. I am not an herbivore, I am an omnivore.” Looks of shock crossed all the ponies’ faces. All, that is, except Fluttershy. She was looking more self-conscious than usual. “What’s wrong Fluttershy?”

“I… knew.” She said as she flapped her wings awkwardly.

“Ya knew, and jus’ didn’t tell nopony?” Applejack asked incredulously.

“Yes.” Her eyes winced shut.

“How long have you known?” Jaze asked quietly.

“Since you first smiled; I saw your well developed canines and knew that you ate at least some meat.”

“And that didn’t bother you?”

“You seemed nice, so I didn’t want to offend you.”

“Jaze, I’m hurt that you felt you had to hide this from us.” Twilight said in a stern, lecturing voice.

“Yeah, you coulda just told us.” Dash said with a confident smile.

“Jaze, yer our friend. We ain’t gonna judge ya for something like that.”

“Yes darling, Applejack’s right.” Rarity cut in, “If that’s the way you are, so be it. You’re still a good pony, person, whatever!”

“Thank you all for not hating me.”

“We couldn’t hate you, silly.” Pinkie said as she gave the largest grin Jaze had ever seen on anyone, pony or human. “That just wouldn’t be any fun, you make the

Applejack’s stomach gave an audible growl, ‘While Ah’m glad we had this talk, could we eat? Ah’m starvin’.”

“Sure thing Applejack.” Jaze brought the pan of stir fry and set it on the living room table. The assembled ponies were delighted by the new dish. Rarity even asked how he had made it. Maybe one day, he thought as he sat down to eat, I can tell them everything. Even the things I’ve kept hidden from everyone.

Jaze was laid on the roof of his house and staring at the stars. He was so deep in thought that he failed to hear the door open below him and Trixie come out. He started as she called his name. “I’m up here.” He said softly.

“Oh, there you are.” The unicorn said as she looked up at him, “What are you doing up there?”

“Just watching the night. Would you like to join me?”

“But how can I get up there?” In answer, Jaze laid flat on his stomach and reached for her. She gave him her hoof and he easily lifted her on to the roof next to him. His own strength still caught him by surprise sometimes. Jaze couldn’t be sure in the starlight, but Trixie appeared to be blushing ever so slightly.

“It’s a beautiful sight isn’t it?” Jaze asked as he laid back and put his arms behind his head.

“What is?”

“The stars,”

“Yes, I suppose they are,” the young mare looked over at Jaze to see him deep in thought once more, “what’s on your mind?”

“I was just thinking that, of all the suns with all those planets, by what chance did I end up here, on this one.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Well, there are millions of stars in this galaxy alone. If each one was a sun and had several planets near it, then I could have just as easily never been here, now.” He gave Trixie a gentle smile, “A pretty eloquent argument for intelligent design isn’t?”

“Intelligent design?”

“There are two basic human ways of explaining the universe. The first is called ‘intelligent design’ while the second is called ‘random chance’. Intelligent design means that someone is moving the universe according to their will. Random chance is what it sounds like; every single thing that happens is utterly at random.”

“I think I like the idea of random chance.” Trixie said as she watched Jaze.

The young soldier nodded, “Yes, that’s what I like to believe too. It makes me feel like my choices actually mean something as opposed to me just being a player in some cosmic chess game.” A laugh escaped Jaze’s lips.

“What is so funny?”

“Just that I realized I’ve answered one of the longest standing questions for humanity.”

“Which is…?”

“‘Are we alone? Is there other intelligent life out there?’ Long have humans looked to the stars and asked that question. I find it funny that a lowly soldier is the one to finally answer that question.”

“I guess you never thought the answer would be so close to home did you?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, I guess not.” He had forgotten for a moment that she still thought that his real home was beyond the Everfree Forest, not amongst the very stars that they were watching. Trixie shivered and moved a little closer to Jaze. It was only then that he realized how cold the night had gotten. He threw his arm around her to help keep her a little warmer and she snuggled a little closer against the cold. It reminded the young man of his conversations and nights with Evelyn. Maybe that was why he felt a stirring in his chest as the unicorn lay against his side.

Trixie could just see a small bulge on Jaze’s chest, “What is that?” she asked as she pointed with her horn.

“This?” he pulled the ring and the chain it was hanging on from beneath his shirt, “It was supposed to be for the one I loved.”

“That lady in the picture?” The soldier nodded, “What happened?”

“She was killed,”

“Was she a soldier as well?”

“Yes, and that’s what happens in a fight and why I hate war.”

“War, what is that?”

“It’s a fight between two nations. It is the main reason that soldiers really exist. We are there just to fight for our leaders when we would all be better off if the leaders fought themselves.” Trixie could hear that he was fighting back tears

“I’m sorry to drudge up such a terrible memory.”

“No, I need to stop bottling these things up,” he gave her a watery smile, “scientists say that it’s bad for the psyche.”

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, just huddling close and watching the stars wheel above them. Do you have feelings for her? A voice in Jaze’s head asked. No, she’s just a friend. Really? Yes. His thoughts were all confused. He was human, she was a pony. How could he like her? The attraction wasn’t physical, it was something else. He would have continued to have spiraled in confusion if Trixie had not begun to hum a familiar tune.

“That song…”

“It’s an old lullaby in Equestria.” Jaze nodded and softly began to sing…

“How did you know that song?” Trixie asked in quiet amazement.

“My mother sung it to me when I was little. I’ve never forgotten that song or its tune.” He whispered back.

“Maybe our two races are not as different as you think.” Trixie said as she started to stand.

“Maybe so,” Jaze stood as well. They pair of them looked once more to the star studded sky.

“Oh look Jaze! A shooting star! Make a wish!” Trixie squeezed her eyes shut.

I’ve already got my wish, thought joyously, I have peace…

[A/N] Hey there everypony, this is just to wish you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year and any other holidays you may celebrate this holiday season. Have a good one, from me, Jaze and the Ponyville gang. Tell someone important to you just how special they are. To those who can donate at broniesforgood.org, every little bit helps. Have a pleasant night, day or whatever where ever you are.