Xander groaned and looked at his surroundings, which were unfamiliar. He saw that the sky was visible but the clouds were under his feet, he also noticed a note laying on the cloud in front of him. Oddly enough, he was able to walk towards the note, and he picked it up to read it.

   "Congrats! You have passed your training, you are now the hero! Here is a little something for you!"

    Love, Samuel

    Xander felt a object attached to the back of the paper and tore it off to see it. He lifted a necklace with a heavenly white colored running human figure attached to it. Xander sighed and put the necklace in his pocket. He then started to walk forward before having the clouds underneath him disappear, making him start falling out of the sky.

    Then, he woke up.

    Xander sat up in panick only to bash his face against a metal ceiling. He looked around and it appeared he was in a metal box, he looked behind him, in a awkward way since he was laying down, to see a door of some sort. He then realized where he is, he's in one of those boxes that they keep dead bodies in. He slid towards the door to bash it open, but when he tried to push it open it didn't budge, he sighed pushed harder.

    Nothing.

    Xander then grunted and punched the door, leaving a dent in it, he then got a idea. He punched where he would imagine a lock be and heard a object break outside of the box and saw the door open. He pulled himself out and got a good look at his body.

    Xander had on blue jeans and that was it as far as clothing, but he noticed his body was more tan and a little bit more toned. He reached into his pocket and pulled out that necklace, it was still that pure white color. He sighed and walked with no problems, he headed towards the outside door they had in the morgue, he opened it and stepped out into Ponyville that was currently in summer season. He felt the cool air compared to hell, he put a smile on his face, he knew this day would come, but he was gone for way to long, but at least it wasn't to long in Equestria, he only knew this since Samuel told him.

    Xander walked away from the hospital and into the more populated part of town, he recieved a few looks from mares that were filled with confusion and attraction, but he didn't give a shit, he was home, that was all that mattered. Xander walked towards a familiar building, Sugar Cube Corner. He stopped outside of it and looked at it, he had never gotten to see it in summertime so he observed the happy looking building, it reminded him of Austen.

    Xander walked into Sugar Cube Corner and was met with a sweet smell, compared to hell this was diabetes. He then looked at the ponies inside and noticed all of them staring in surprise and fear. He expected that but by now he was used to those kinds of impressions.

    "Who are you?" Said a familiar voice

    Xander focused his attention on the source and saw a human that he was more than happy to see. "You know who I am." Xander replied with a neutral tone.

    Austen wore a stern look "I don't believe someone can escape death. Now tell me, who are you?" He said aggravated.

    Xander relplied with more bluntness "I'm whoever you want me to be, because I apparently can't be fucking Xander because he did the fucking impossible." He replied with a cold tone.

    Austen slowly started to shake "I-is it really you?" He slowly walked up to Xander "It is you, only you would reply with something like that." He said with a mixture of happiness and sorrow.

    Xander nodded slowly with no emotion "You may have missed me for a few months, but I missed this place for over sixty plus years, even though I'm still technically nineteen" he stated with a plain tone.

    Austen's body shook with anxiety "I can't comprehend this...." He then suddenly hugged Xander tightly.

    Xander stood there while he hugged him, he wasn't to sure what to do in this situation.

    Austen let go and wiped a tear from his face "Why do you only have pants on?" He asked, observing Xander "why are you tanner and stronger? I thought you were dead?" He asked.

    Xander sighed "The clothing I don't know, but my appearance is a trait of going through literally hell, you have to toughen up, you can't be a little bitch in there, you have to have bigger balls than Satan himself, you don't live, you die every few minutes in that hell hole" he explained with a slight chuckle "This weather is actually chilly to me." He then stared at Austen. He saw he was slimmed up a little and he was growing a five o' clock shadow.

    Austen stood there for a moment before pointing up stairs "Go and put on one of my shirts, the others are gonna be here soon, oh and grab a hat so they won't know who you are at first." He directed.

     Xander sighed and did as told. He put on a bright red hat and wore a black shirt that fit him well along side some bright red running shoes. He soon came back down stairs and sat down at the table Austen had set up for the arriving group of friends.

    Austen sat down next to him and handed him a red bandana to put on.

    Xander sighed and put it on, eliminating everything except for his eyes "Now, why do I need to hide myself again?" He asked with a little bit of irritation.

    Austen spoke "Well, when I first saw you I was overwhelmed, I started crying like a baby after you went upstairs, but it would be easier if you prepared them for it, at first we are just gonna act like you're a friend of mine but we will talk about rumors of you being back and then after they get a little used to it I'm gonna tell them that your name, my friend, is Xander." He sat back like he was genius.

    Xander sighed "That's smart, but I'm just worried about whoever is gonna sit next to me. I feel like they might flip the fuck out on me." He explained plainly.

    Austen shrugged "Oh well, you've been through hell once, I'm sure you can handle a regular pony." He then waved at the group walking in towards them, he then whispered to Xander "Be cool" he then told them all to sit down.

    Xander sat back and let the shadow of the hat cover his eyes. He felt eyeballs boring into the side of his skull. He looked to see that Twilight and some stallion dude sat beside him. Xander didn't care though, he just kept minding his own business.

     Austen spoke "Aye! It's about time you guys showed up, me and my new friend here were starting to get bored!" He said with excitment.

    They all giggled before Twilight asked the main question "Yeah, I noticed your new friend, who is he exactly? I didn't know there were any other humans here." She asked.

    Austen smiled "Oh, Bob's his name, and he's the last human here, but Bob is pretty chill, he's actually pretty smart too." Austen finished with a smile.

     Twilight smiles "Oh really? What makes you say that?" She asked with curiosity while staring at "Bob" with curiosity.

    Austen smiles "Oh, he knows all of the rumors around here, he even knows what's true and false!" He spoke with his usual chipper tone.

    Twilight smiles "Oh yeah? Give me an example" she asked innocently.

    Xander speaks neutrally "I know Xander's still alive." He says bluntly.

    They all went from smiles to plain expressions.

    Jerald spoke with irritation "What?!? You don't even know him! You shouldn't even speak of him!" He barked.

    Xander smirked under his bandana "He went to hell and served some time, I'd say he was there for about four months to you guys, but to him he's been there for over sixty years tops." He spoke with a slight hint humor in his voice.

    Twilight glared "Why would you lie about such an innocent soul? He would never go to hell. He's probably sleeping peacefully in heaven right now." She spoke with a slight hint of hope.

    Xander sighed "Unfortunately he didn't, but I mean, at least he was replaced by this blue haired guy, he seems pretty relaxed." He spoke with no emotion.

    Twilight snapped towards Xander "That's my coltfriend, not Xander's replacement!" She hissed.

    Xander smirked "There we go, looks like I hit a sensitive subject." He spoke with confidence.

    Twilight was taken aback "Is that what you wanted?!?" She asked in irritation.

     Xander smiled "No, I wanted confirmation on my theory, which I have received." He then put his arms behind his head "You can ask me any question about Xander and I can answer them better than any of you." He spoke with confidence.

    Twilight looked at him "What's his deepest secret? That's one me and him can only answer." She spoke with confidence.

    Xander sighed "What? You mean him being the hero? Or the one of him being kin to the old hero, Samuel, or is it about the fact that he caused that weird shit with the sun?" He spoke with a smirk.

    Twilight's jaw dropped "W-who are you?" She asked with worry.

    Xander smirked "Bob, well, at least according to Austen, but to you guys I'm known as someone else, well, other than the replacement douche, I mean like, no one else is like me." He said with humor.

    Twilight perked up when getting a theory, she stared at Xander for a few moments before ripping the bandana and hat off of Xander only cover her muzzle in surprise while she had tears forming in her eyes.

    Everyone else just stared in shock, except for Austen.

    Jerald stuttered "I-I... I fucking knew it! I knew you would come back!" He said before crying tears of joy.

    Twilight stared at Xander before hugging him tightly, which Xander returned awkwardly. She whispered "Samuel told me you would come back, but I never believed him, b-but I still had hope for you, I missed you Xander." She said before kissing him on the cheek to which Flash just stared in confusion.

    Xander smiled at her "Well, I'm back, and I'm back to stay, I promise you I won't put you through that again, consider that a heroes promise." He said while rubbbing her shoulder in comfort.

    Twilight smiled and nodded before shedding a few more tears of joy.

    Xander turned to Flash "you may not know me now, but by tomorrow you'll know exactly who I am, because I'm gonna give you so much shit it's not even funny." He said with humor.

    Flash shook his head "Good luck trying, but as long as Twilight likes you then I'll like you." He forced out.

    Xander saw Flash lie through his teeth, he knew Flash was a douche, at least according to the stories Samuel told him about how Flash acts at night time, he's quite the drunk according to Xander.

    Flash stared at Xander with a fake look of innocence.

     Xander stared back with a smirk before shaking his head. He looked at Jerald "It's nice to see you finally found love, you too Austen" he said as he noticed them both holding their mares close to them.

    Jerald and Austen laughed. Jerald responded first "Yeah, well, it's hard not to with this mare" he said staring down at Applejack.

    Xander cringed a little, he felt a weird feeling, it was probably just the feeling of when somethings so cheesy you cringe. He looked over at Justin, he observed at him, he could read his expression perfectly, his face was full of joy, even though he was trying to hold it back.

    Xander sighed before turning to Austen "My plan worked better." He spoke with a smirk on his face.

     Austen rolled his eyes "Whatever, not like I care or anything" he said before averting his attention back to his mare.

    Xander looked at everyone, they were all happy, they seemed to truly enjoy having him back, but he felt like a few things were going to be different.

    "What is it?" Twilight asked from beside him.

    Xander sighed "it's just weird to be back. I'm not exactly used to things being normal." He said before turning to her. "I'm not used to you guys being in relationships, I'm not used to a new face... I'm not used to being alive." He stated neutrally.

    Twilight smiled and pat his back with her hoof "It's okay Xander, you'll get used to it again soon. You'll get back to your old routine, like living at my home, helping your friends with daily activities, you remember don't you?" She finished with a friendly smile.

    Xander nodded slowly "Yeah, I'll just have to get used to it. I mean, at least I still have a home to go to." He said with a smile.

    Twilight smiled "There you go, that's the spirit!" She said before turning to the others.

    The group all talked excitedly for a little while longer before Austen spoke up.

    Austen spoke "Man! I didn't realize we've been talking for over an hour! Me and Pinkie need to get back to work!" He said before scooting out of the booth. He looked at Xander and gave him a thumbs up before leaving with Pinkie.

    Applejack spoke "Well, shoot, I didn't realize it was that long! Me and Jerald need to get back to the farm!" She said before hopping up and trotting off.

Jerald got up and looked at Xander "Well, come by the farm when you can, me and you have a few things to talk about" he said before leaving with Applejack.

    Fluttershy spoke next "My little Angel is probably pitching a fit right now! Me and Justin should go and take of him now." She said before leaving with Justin.

    Xander watched Justin leave and was slightly confused, Justin was usually the first to tell him goodbye but now he doesn't even tell him goodbye, it seemed suspicious.

    Rarity smiled "It's nice to have you back darling, you can come to see me anytime you need to, I'm sure you need a few new pieces of apparel. I'll see you till then!" She hopped up and left.

     Rainbow sighed "I'm probably just gonna go home and sleep, training today was SO exhausting, I'll catch you guys later." She said before leaving.

    Twilight turned to Xander "Well, let's go and get you settled back in!" She hopped up happily with Flash behind her.

    Xander sighed and got up, he soon followed them. He payed attention to Flash and saw a few things he already didn't like about him, he would occasionally let his eyes wander over her, he seemed to look at other mares a few times, and he wore a look of seduction when he would get an idea or something.

    Xander sighed and looked around at the town, not much had changed, it seemed like everything had just fine from winter to summer really quickly. He enjoyed the bright colors and the comfy air that the town had, this was like heaven to him.

    Twilight looked at Xander "I bet you're happy to be back, especially in summer time!" She said happily.

    Xander nodded and smiled "I sure am, everything seems happy, I could get used to this pretty easily." He stated.

    Twilight giggled before opening the door to the library "Here we are! Welcome home Xander." She said with a hint of excitement.

    Xander stepped inside and looked around, it all looked exactly the same as before, the same organized layout with the books, the same everything. He smiled and spoke "Good to see nothing's changed, it truly does feel like I'm home now." He said with a slight hint of happiness.

    Twilight smiled before walking towards the stairs "Follow me, I'll lead you up to your room." She said before walking up the steps.

    Xander did as told and followed her, which lead him to his room he previously lived in. He stepped inside looked around, nothing had been touched, everything was left exactly the same.

    Twilight smiled "I'm happy to have you back Xander, I'm happy to have my best friend back." He watched as she stood up and hugged him, he returned her hug happily and the two of them sat for a minute or two enjoying the embrace of each other.

    Twilight hopped down and sighed "I'm still in shock that you're back, it's just so hard to believe, to be honest I'll probably be crying like a foal later, tears of joy of course." She stated.

    Xander smiled "I'm here to stay this time, I'm not gonna leave again." He promised her again.

    Twilight nodded "You better not, I don't think I could ever go through that again." She said with humor and a slight hint of truth.

    Xander nodded and responded "Well, I'm back, and I'm happy to be, I'm lucky to have you as a friend Twi, especially to be my best friend." He honestly stated.

    Twilight giggled "I feel the same way." She sighed before speaking again "I'm gonna let you get settled in, I'm gonna go wrIte to the Princess about your return. Everything is still where you left it, even your bath supplies." She said turning to leave, but before doing so she stopped and spoke "I really am happy to have you back" she then closed the door and left.

    Xander smiled and walked over to his bed to sit down on it, he sighed and then remembered something, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace that he received and saw it was no longer white, it was now a beautiful blue. Xander shrugged and put onto the nightstand, he didn't really feel like messing around with it.

    Xander laid down on the bed and almost immediately passed out from exhaustion, plus the bed was really comfy compared to shards of glass.

     Next Chapter: Chapter 11- Life Estimated time remaining: 30 Minutes