Many hours later, the sun began to rise over Ponyville, the light slowly peeking through a cover of clouds and creeping slowly into every house, including 221 B Boulevard.

Inside, Phillip paced in a circle around the coffee table of his living room. He had not slept that night: every time he closed his eyes, he flashed back to the moment he placed his head on Flash's chest and didn't hear the heartbeat. A jumble of confused thoughts ran through his head throughout the night. His books and phonograph had failed to silence the voices, and the only sounds he could coax from his piano and saxophone were small, discordant melodies that offered no comfort.

He glanced at the chessboard, glaring at the black king piece sitting atop it. He felt like it was mocking him, constantly reminding him of the threat hanging over his friend's heads.

The threat that he had brought on them. It was his fault, his fault they had all been endangered and threatened.

And that meant it was his responsibility to fix it, to protect them. Which was why he had decided that there was only one thing he could do, should do: leave Ponyville. Leave this town and get as far away as he could, sever all relationships with it and its citizens. And then Zugzwang would leave them, and he'd go back to being alone, like he'd wanted.

But, as much as he tried to convince himself that this was necessary, the right thing to do, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Several times he had gone into his room to start packing, only to stare at his dresser for several long moments before going back out into the living room. There was no denying it: he simply did not want to leave. He had lived in Ponyville for just under a year now, and this town had touched him in a way that no other city had. Ponyville was so unlike Sydneigh: there was no warm, wet sea air that smelled of salt, no slick boardwalk by the beach where you could listen to the waves crashing against the sandy shore, and nopony besides him who could make a seaweed slider. And worst luck, there was snow and cold weather in the winter.

But like Sydneigh, it was small and peaceful. Ponies greeted each other with a smile, neighbors knew each other and each other's families, and the community took care of each other and accepted outsiders without prejudice.

And then there were the ponies who lived here. Twilight Sparkle and her friends. Time Turner and Ditzy. Lyra and Bon Bon. Zipline and Rain Breeze. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Dinky and Tootsie. Flash Sentry. All of them, who had welcomed him into their lives, shared their hopes and dreams and feelings with him, spent their time with him. The ponies who had made him feel...welcome. Made this place feel almost like a home.

What would they think if he left? Surely, they'd understand why, understand that he'd done so to protect him.

You're lying to yourself, the little voice in the back of his head said. They wouldn't understand: they'd be hurt and upset.

They'd be safe, he replied. It doesn't matter if they're hurt.

You're still lying to yourself, the little voice whispered back impatiently.

All right, if you're so smart, he snapped back, What do I do?

The little voice didn't get a chance to answer, because at that moment, Phillip bumped into a solid object that was standing where no solid object should have been. A solid object with pink fur, a mane and tail like cotton candy, bright blue eyes, and a wide smile.

"Are you trying to wear a hole in the floor?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Cause if you keep pacing around like that, you eventually will and you'll have to pay to get it repaired cause you'd keep falling into it and hurting yourself! I know because Twilight actually wore a hole down in the middle of the library once cause she was so worried about a message she got from her future self, even though it turned out to be nothing and—"

Phillip put his hoof over Pinkie's mouth, stopping her. "How can you be so calm after what happened?"

"Why shouldn't I be calm?" Pinkie said, still smiling. "We're all still here, aren't we?"

Phillip opened his mouth to respond, but was unable to think of an adequate reply, so he shut it again. That's when something from what she had said struck him.

Twilight. The Princess of Friendship. His oldest, and definitely one of his closest friends in town. She would understand. She would know what to do.

Like waking from a dream, Phillip found himself in the sitting room of the Friendship Castle. Twilight, Flash and Spike faced him from the other sofas opposite him. It was obvious to him that they had not slept well from their repetitive blinking and the shadows beneath their downcast eyes.

He took a breath, wondering why this was so difficult, and spoke. "I have to leave Ponyville."

Flash's eyes widened. "What? Why?"

"To keep you safe," Phillip replied. "Zugzwang wants me, not you. If I'm not with you, he'll leave you alone."

"So your answer to this is to run away?" Flash said, stepping forward towards him.

"I'm not running away," Phillip said, a bit more defensively than he meant.

"Really? Could have fooled me," Flash said, glaring.

"Flash, calm down," Twilight said. Flash stood down, but continued to give Phillip a displeased look.

"Listen, Phillip," Twilight said. "I know that you were scared by what happened tonight, but you—"

"Do none of you get it?" Phillip shouted, angered by their stubbornness, by their refusal to understand. "You almost died tonight, because of me! As long as I'm still here, all of you are in danger! This is my fault, all of this is my fault; I have to fix this!"

The other ponies stared back, startled by his emotional outburst, momentarily unsure how to respond. Then Spike, who alone was still calm, spoke.

"What would leaving town solve?" he said. "You think he'll leave us alone just because you left? You don't know that. And he'd still be out there. He'd just try to hurt you again, but this time you'd have nopony to help you."

"I don't need help," Phillip replied.

"Everypony needs some help from time to time," Twilight said. "Even you. Why won't you let us help you with this?"

"Because you'd be in danger," Phillip replied, stating what he thought should have been an obvious point.

"So would you!" Flash replied, underlining an equally obvious point.

"Yes, but I'm—"

"Different?" Spike replied. "Different how? You're a pony too, you know."

"A pony who's trained to handle criminals," Phillip snapped.

"As am I," Flash replied. "And neither of us are perfect."

"And all ponies could use some friends," Twilight said, then looked behind Phil. "Isn't that right?"

Phillip turned around and his eyes widened in surprise. All of his other friends—Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Time Turner, Ditzy Do, Bon Bon, Lyra, Rain Breeze, and Zipline—had gathered behind him, every one of them giving him a look of genuine concern. "You...what are you all doing here?" he stammered out.

"Duh!" Pinkie Pie said, bouncing up with a grin. "I went around and told them all that you were in trouble and they all asked if they could do something to help and I said 'Yeah! You can come over and cheer him up by showing him that we all support him and—'"

"But...you all should hate me!" Phillip said. "It's my fault that you were all put in danger! It's my fault that some of you almost died tonight!"

"Phil, that is a heaping pile of horseapples and you know it," Applejack interrupted. "You didn't commit those crimes. You didn't set those traps and stick us in them. And it ain't your fault that Zug...Zog...whatever his name is came after you. He made his own choices. Just like we made the choice to come and help you."

Phillip slowly turned around the room, looking into the faces of each and every one of the ponies who had come to help him, his astonishment growing by the moment. Nopony had ever done something like this to him before, and he wasn't really sure what to do. Finally, his eyes settled on Flash, on the pony whose heart had stopped only hours before. Flash strode forward and put a hoof around him. He felt the warmth of his touch, and for a moment, he stiffened, feeling both comforted and frightened by the simple gesture. For a moment, he wanted to flee from the room, to run and hide from their kindness, and then he wanted to embrace them. The indecision filled his chest, the increasing pressure making his heart feel like it was going to burst and forcing tears from his eyes. With an irritated grunt, he lowered his face, rubbing at his watering eyes.

"It's all right, Phillip," Rain Breeze said, levitating a tissue over to him, which he took after a moment and used to wipe his eyes. "Listen. I'm a doctor, a psychiatrist. I deal with pain. And I know that pain is natural. It's just your heart's way of telling you that something's wrong, that you need help. You don't have to be ashamed of it, or afraid of it." She tilted his chin up so he could look into her kind, sunshine yellow eyes. "And you don't have to deal with it alone."

"You are not alone," Fluttershy said. "Nopony is alone."

More tears fell down Phillip's face, and he wiped them away, the pressure in his chest easing. For the first time in a very long time, a large, genuine smile slowly crossed his face as he looked around at the others, his own smile reflected back at him a dozen times. Behind them, the sun suddenly broke through the clouds, sending a beam of warmth into the room through the crystal window. Ponyville shone under the light of the new day, invigorated by the crisp air.

"Thank you," he said softly. "All of you."

Fluttershy hugged him and he accepted the embrace as the other ponies and Spike also wrapped their forelegs around them. For the first time in many years, Phillip felt a familiar, comforting emotion pass over him: the same emotion he felt whenever he returned to his old cottage by the docks after a long day of school and recital.

"All right, that's enough sappy stuff," Rainbow said. "It's a beautiful day out! Let's not waste it in here!" Her suggestion was greeted warmly by the others, who began to move en masse for the castle doors. The warm air greeted them as they exited like a close friend. For a moment, Phillip paused, looking around.

I'm home, he thought. And with a small laugh, he hurried after his friends in pursuit of the new day.

Author's Notes:

I DID IT! It's been over a year of writing and planning, and we've finally reached the point that I've looked forward to for ages.

I have to admit, I had a little trouble with the ending of this chapter, but I hope that you found it and the story a good read! I like to think of this story as the end of the first "season" of the Phillip Finder series.

So, here's to a great first year, and to hopefully many more! See you in the next story (this is one I've been looking forward to writing for a long time, too)!

Josiah