There was no sound in the room, everypony were lost in the words that Alex just said, after some seconds, everypony except Daniel and Applejack started to laugh.

“Hahahahahaha! Nice one Alex! I didn’t know you have that good sense of humor” Rainbow said patting Alex’s back, he didn’t pay much attention, his sight was focused in Daniel who was just staring back.

“Hellooooooo! Alex! I said you have a good. . .uh?”

Rainbow was stopped when Alex raised his hand, everypony looked at him, he had a serious look in his face and not only him, Daniel also had the same expression.

“Alex. . . .you are joking. . .right?”

“Applejack, please tell them I’m telling the truth”

Applejack looked at Alex and nodded.

“Yes everypony, he is serious”

“What?. . .but you can’t?. . .why would you want to fight Daniel?” Twilight said hyperventilating.

“Yeah!” Everypony said in agreement.

“(sigh) look girls, I know it’s crazy but. . . it’s the only way I have to return to my Equestria and get my present”

“You don’t need to fight him! We. . .we can help you returning your world?”

“You know how to open portals at will and to specific dimensions?”

“Well. . .I. . .”

“That’s what I thought, look Twilight I know you are amazing with magic but only my friend can get me back to my dimension”

“And who is. . .”

“Please don’t ask Twilight, I already told you I can’t tell you, I made a promise to not to”

“Ok. . . .but how about Princess Celestia? Or Princess Luna? Maybe they can help us!” Rarity said.

“That won’t do Rarity, Even working together with her, we haven’t even found a way to Daniel’s world, not to mention trying to find more of them”

“Hmmm, so they don’t know he actually can do that? hehehehehe, so both Discords had everything covered after all” Alex thought while smiling, he had to admit those bastards were smart.

For the next minutes everypony started to think of ideas about how to help Alex, the only one who remained silent was Daniel and Alex, they kept staring each other. Finally the winged human raised his hand and everypony stopped talking.

“What is it Daniel? You have something to say bro?” Spike said

“Yeah. . . Alex . . .”

“Yes?”

“Fighting me is the only way to get to your home?”

“Yep! I need to fight to get home and I need to beat you to get the present”

“And that’s all? You are doing this because you have to?”

“More or less, to be honest, I think fighting you would be fun”

“I see. . . .that’s what I wanted to hear. . .I don’t know what kind of mysterious force brought you here or arranged our meeting but. . believe it or not, I feel the same, I think this fight would be fun, ok! I accept your challenge! If is not a deathmatch.”

Everybody’s jaws once again fell to the floor.

“Don’t worry, we don’t have to fight to the death, just a good casual match giving all we have”

“That works for me, let’s do it!” Daniel said excited and stared at Alex who was excited too.

“WAIIIIIIIIT!”

Both humans turned around to see some very pissed off mares, ironically Spike and Will seemed as excited as both humans but they managed to not show it.

“You. . .you just can’t decide it that easily, you are just going to fight for some kind of creature said so? Are you both children or stupid?” Twilight said.

Alex and Daniel shared a sight and chuckled, Daniel approached to her and said:

“I know you might not like it and I understand and you are right, we might get rushing this thing but you must understand, Alex needs this in order to return to his home, I don’t know if in the end he will but I really want to help him, besides. . .not every day I get a chance like this, another human to fight and for what I saw out there. . .he will not be easy to defeat. . . Right Rainbow Dash?”

Daniel turned to see his friend who only looked away. Daniel again turned to see Alex:

“What exactly are the rules?”

“I really never asked, I suppose fight until one of us can’t continue or say “I give up”

“I see. . .when?”

“Well. . . I’d like to do this the fast as possible but knowing your Pinkie Pie, she might have a nice welcome to Ponyville party ready for me and it would be bad to waste and I’d really like a little tour through this town  so what about if we do it tomorrow, in a plain field outside the town”

“I think that’s a fantastic idea! My friends and marefriends can come to watch the fight?”

“I don’t see why not”

“Oh yeah!” Rainbow said while everypony sighed in relief, at least they could be audience to make sure nothing would get out of hands, they still didn’t like the idea but deep inside, they did want to see this fight, of course neither of them would say it loud”

In their way to sugarcube corner, everypony in town greeted Daniel and his friends, some of them stared Alex suspiciously, he by his part was only waiving at them, Pipsqueak approached Daniel and said:

“This is exciting Daniel but. . .are you really going to fight Mr Alex with all you have? I mean. . .are you going to use your jutsus?”

Daniel’s eyes widened, his little “son” was right! Even if Alex was skilled enough to defeat Rainbow Dash, he still had a tremendous advantage with his jutsus and elemental powers. . . it may be kinda unfair.

“I. . .I  don’t know Pipsqueak, maybe not, I want this fight to be even”

“But if you don’t use them, it would be an insult to Alex, holding back to your opponent is the worst insult you can do to him” Spike said.

“I guess you are right. . .Ok! If I see the need to use my powers, I will!”

Spike and Pips nodded, in their hearts they felt bad for Alex, he was not going to last one minute with Daniel going full power.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The party in sugar cube corner was going smoothly, after some reassuring words from the mane 6 and Daniel, everypony softed with Alex, he was talking and answering some questions with the town people while in a table Daniel was telling everypony what he and the kids discussed.

“So, you are going to go full power with him uh?. . .too bad, I guess this fight will be a quick one” Twilight said.

“Oh C’mon Daniel! At least make it last longer! Play with him a little”

“By my part. . .I feel bad for Alex since he will not have a chance against your. . . jutsus Daniel dear, just try to not hurt him so much, he is a kind person”

“Don’t worry Rarity! My “good try” party will cheer him for sure after he loses to Daniel”

“hmmmm, just don’t be too hard on him ok? Fluttershy said worried for both humans.

Applejack was the only one who didn’t say anything, she and Daniel were just staring at Alex, for What Daniel and Rainbow said, Alex had already saw a little of Daniel powers when he helped Rainbow Dash, he didn’t seemed worried. . . in fact he looked confident. . .something was off.

Daniel noticed Applejack worried eyes and asked:

“Are you thinking the same as me Applejack?”

“Uh. . .ah think so, even after seeing yer fire jutsu, he hasn’t showed any sign or worry,  neither he has some ace in the hole or he is really good not showing he is intimidated”

“yeah, that’s what I thought, I think he has both”

Applejack looked at her coltfriend, he seemed even more excited than before, before she could say something, there was a knock in the door, she rushed to open it and freeze in that same place after seeing who it was, it was the Princesses! Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Aurora! After the shock, she immediately bowed.

“He. . .hello Princesses”

“Hello Applejack, we came as fast as we could after reading Twilight’s letter, are you all ok?”

“Uh?. . .well yeah we are, what makes you think we wouldn’t be? Did Twilight didn’t say Alex is not dangerous in her letter?”

“Yes she did, I just wanted to hear it from the Element of Honesty”

“Thanks Princess, now please come in”

The princesses entered the bakery, everypony bowed the moment they saw them, even Alex, as with the others, he recognized them immediately, they looked gorgeous and gave that radiant power his own Princesses friends had as well, the only one he didn’t recognize was the beautiful lady besides them, she looked like a human. . .not counting she almost was 3 meters tall! Even taller than the princesses who were very tall as well.

Princess Celestia and Luna approached to Alex who was still bowing.

“You may rise. . .Alex I believe”

“. . .Yes, hmmm, nice to meet you Princesses. . .”

“Please Alex, if what Twilight told me is true, you may already know our names”

“Twilight? I see, well yeah, Thank you Princess Celestia, Luna and Cadence”

“Wow, Twilight wasn’t lying” Luna said.

“Yeah! this is really exciting! Another human from another Eq. . .”

Aurora was stopped by Cadence’s aura.

“Hmmmm, Aurora, I think it would be better to keep that information between us, nice to meet you by the way Alex”

“oh! Sorry. . . I got carried away, by the way, it seems you don’t know who I am, I’m Aurora, nice to meet you”

Alex smiled and grabbed her hand and kissed it, he didn’t know if she was some kind of royal but she definitely was gorgeous.

“The pleasure is all mine Miss Aurora”

Aurora blushed a little and retrieved her hand.

“I. . .I have a boyfriend”

“I know, Daniel already told me, don’t worry, I have a girlfriend too and I’m devoted to her to the end”

After that, Celestia said:

“Ok my little ponies, let’s the party continue” she then approached to Alex and whispered. “And after it ends, we need to talk” she wasn’t saying it as a threat but Alex noticed how serious she was, he only nodded in response.

- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - --

The party continued smoothly, Alex greeted many ponies, there were some awkward moments like when Aloe and Lotus asked him if he had the same “stamina” as Daniel and if he wanted to come to the spa for a special treatment to find out, Redder than a tomato he declined the offer, they giggled and told him the offer was always open, he also could meet his favorites fillies in the world, the CMC, they seemed a little older than the ones he already knew, he was shocked to find out Sweetie Belle was Spike’s marefriend.

Once the party was over, the only ones remaining in the bakery was the mane 6, Spike, the 3 humans, Aurora and the princesses, all of them went to the dining room for another chat.

After Alex explained everything to the princesses himself, they were surprised and didn’t say anything until Luna spoke:

“So you need to fight Daniel to return home?”

“yeah! as simple as that”

“Even knowing you can’t defeat him?”

“Luna!” Celestia said.

“What? is the truth, this human has no chance against my Daniel” Luna said while looking at Alex with so much confidence in her eyes, she expected to intimidate Alex but he didn’t looked like it.

“Hmmmm, I don’t know how things will go tomorrow but I can assure you I will give all I have” He turned to Daniel “And trust me in this Daniel, it wouldn’t be wise to underestimate me”

“Nonsense! It is impossible for you to win, Daniel has wings! Skills! Jutsus! He is far beyond as an average human! You have no chance! Surrender now that you have the chance!”

“LUNA! I THINK THAT’S ENOUGH!”

“I only want him to know his place! An average human without super abilities can’t defeat a mighty warrior like my Coltfriend!”

Everybody present didn’t say anything, Luna was talking rude but they believed she was right, the fight was practically decided. Much to their surprise, Alex raised his hand.

“Hmmm, may I say something?”

“yes you may Alex and please. . .forgive my sister rudeness”

“It’s ok Princess Celestia, hmmmm Princess Luna?”

“Yes?”

“I will defeat your coltfriend, you said an average human without any abilities can’t win right?”

“Aha?”

“Then I will have to use my own abilities to defeat him, I may not have wings, or jutsus but I can tell you I have my own skills and weapons and I can tell you this, if Daniel is as overconfident as you are right now, he will lose for sure tomorrow”

Luna’s anger increased by every word Alex was saying:

“I see, so tell me, what are those. . .abilities you are speaking?”

“Yes they are. . . .It’s not your business”

“What?! how dare you?”

“You really think I would tell you or anypony here about my way of fighting? In a fight, nothing is more important than information and what to do with it, sorry but he will have to find out tomorrow”

“Hey! But you already saw he can use Jutsus!”

“If he decided to show that to me, that’s his problem not mine, I don’t have to tell you anything if I don’t want to”

“But. . .but”

Daniel raised his hand to speak.

“It’s ok Rainbow. . .he is right, it’s called strategy remember? I must say I’m impressed Alex and I also want to apologize for what Luna said, he turned to see her “That was uncalled for Luna”

Luna only looked away, she was pissed off but still she thought what she said was the truth, Celestia then said:

“Ok my little ponies, I must say I don’t exactly agree about this but it seems this fight is something that must happen, I still have my issues about your presence here Alex but I could prove you are not like Tom and Chuck, I’d like to know more about how you ended here but it seems you really can’t share that information, I will let it slide since you are not here to harm any of my subjects.”

“Thanks Princess, for the vote of confidence”

“You earned it Alex, now, I hope you don’t mind if we can watch the match tomorrow?” Cadence said excited.

“Of course! You and Shining. . .”

Alex was cut by Daniel’s hand in his mouth. He then whispered

“Shhhhhhhh, it seems you know about Shinning Armor too. . . it’s a long story I may tell later but . . .”

“It’s ok Daniel, I can tell him” Cadence interrupted Daniel and approached Alex and spoke:

“I don’t know how are things going with the Cadence and Shining Armor in your world, I do hope they are living Happily but here. . .”

Cadence was trying to tell what happened between she and her husband but the worlds weren’t coming out, Alex understood and put a hand in her shoulder.

“I. . .I don’t know what happened but. . .I’m sorry if he hurt you, if you need to talk about this. . .I’m all ears.”

He wiped her tear with his finger while she smiled warmly and hugged him tightly.

“Thanks, I’ll have it in mind”

After they broke the hug, the Princesses and Aurora gave their farewells but promised to come back the next day, everypony else also proceeded to go to their homes, Daniel and Twilight offered Alex to stay in the library, he declined, telling them he already had a place to stay, they wondered what place it could be but decided to not make questions.

Alex took his backpack and promised to return ready the next day, he then proceeded to go to a very known place, the sisters old castle.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - -

Inside the castle, Alex was looking at the bonfire he made, he didn’t exactly wanted to be all alone there but he needed to be to call him:

“Discord! Show yourself”

After some seconds, in a bright light, the dracoenous appeared in front of him.

“Hohohohoho, what is it my dear human?”

“It’s all ready, I can’t believe it but I did it, I hope you have my price ready?”

“Oh this?” Discord made the rainbow diamond appear in his pawn. “Don’t worry, it will be yours. . .once you win”

“Perfect, now you may go”

“As you command. . . hahahaha! I really can’t believe you are really doing this! I will have so much fun tomorrow!”

“Just as you wanted. . . were you leaving?”

“Of course I’m on my way. . .with the diamond you will get. . .after you win and remember, if you get too scared to fight tomorrow, you will stay here for a long time!”

“It won’t happen, I promise, good night”

“oh! Ok. . .but . . . whatever!” Discord was about to snap his finger but stopped. . .he stared at Alex for some seconds until he could not take it anymore.

“Ok Alex Tell me! Why are you really doing this? We both know I can’t leave you here, Fluttershy would be heartbroken if I did and we also know Fluttershy is not really a fan of jewelry so I never bought your story about wanting this diamond for her entirely. . .if it was for Rarity I might buy it but not with Fluttershy, tell me! Why haven’t you ask me to end this ruse and take you home?”

“hahahahahaha, you really want to know?”

“Yes! The question is killing me!”

“Ok. . . first, because I promise you in advance, second. . . I really want to fight Daniel, I’m excited to do it, it’s not like I have the chance to fight another human with superpowers. . . what can I say, I always loved to play online with folks of different countries. . . this is somehow similar”

“I see, so in the end. . .you are doing this because you want it? not for the present?”

“Yes! Don’t misunderstand, that diamond is still the best choice to give her as a present and I will make sure to get it but my main reason to do this is because I really want to fight Daniel and Win!”

“Hmmmm, you are more interesting than I thought” Discord handed the Diamond to Alex.

“Uh? what are you giving me this? I haven’t win yet?”

“Oh please Alex, you really think that diamond is unique? There are tons like that in the chaos dimension, I’ll show you?”

Discord then summoned a mini mountain of rainbow diamonds and made them disappear the second later.

“Disappointed?”

“Nah! I kinda saw that coming, anyway thanks Discord, but still, why are you giving it to me?”

“This is no longer about getting that price, it’s about you and me win what we want, we both want to prove my counterpart, Daniel and everypony that you can beat him and I was right all the time”

Alex looked at discord with determinate eyes.

“Oh yeah! and don’t worry, I will go all out with him”

“That’s the spirit, give everything you have Alex! And who knows? Maybe you will learn a thing or two after this adventure ends”

“I do Hope so Discord, anyway, good night. . . tomorrow will be awesome!”

Discord nodded and disappeared in the flashlight, Alex laid down on the floor, meditating how to take Daniel down.

In the Library, Daniel was sit with Spike in the coach while drinking some cocoa.

“What are you thinking Daniel?”

“Uh? nothing Spike . . . it’s just. . . I’m just a little distracted, I’m too excited for tomorrow and maybe. . . a little worried”

“Don’t be, you have the upper hand here, we all know you can beat him”

“Thanks Spike, I just hope you are right”

Daniel kept drinking his cocoa and wondering what would he encounter the next day.