The treehouse seemed even bigger on the inside. It was made entirely of wood, and made quite well. If Iclyn's statement was true, the treehouse must've been there for at least a decade.

There were three main rooms. The first one was at the entrance: it was just a playground. There were many pillows, each roughly twice as big as any pony in the room, a big sofa suitable for at least four ponies Sirius' size, a wardrobe filled with different costumes, most likely for Nightmare Night; a couple of shelves filled with different things ranging from books to small figures of ponies, as well as comics. Also, there was a small table in the front, and a TV set stood upon said table. It was a big box, but it had a remote control. There were two antennas sticking out of it in a v-shape. By modern human standards, the TV set was pretty old. Straight from the end of the twentieth century, Sirius guessed.

The second room was the big bedroom. It had one enormous bed on which a lot of ponies would be able to sleep together. There were even more pillows scattered around the empty space. Basically, there was nothing in the room that wasn't soft.

And the third and final room was the bathroom. It had a cistern of water and a large bathtub for ponies to bathe. There was also a simple sink with a bucket acting as a container from which the water was used, and a slightly cracked mirror overhanging the sink.

There was also a second floor, but it acted as a storage of old and unused toys and broken equipment, including fishing poles, some complicated mechanical toys, and almost a full set of armor. Sirius was unsure of the latest and how it was brought there.

There was also a small toilet shed right behind the tree, having everything needed to keep up hygiene.

Overall, the house was pretty good. There was plenty of room not to bang the head on the ceiling. In fact, ponies could jump and run around the first two rooms without much trouble.

Soon, a few ponies arrived to join the party. They were pegasus and unicorn twins: a colt and a filly, both colored a nice shade of brown, having mocha-colored mane and tail with a streak of darker brown. Also, both of them had brown eyes and lacked cutie marks.

"Hi!" they said in unison as they entered the treehouse. They spotted Sirius right away — his sword was still with him. The colt spoke: "You're Sirius, right?" the former human nodded. "There are rumors about you going all over the city. Are you an ancient warrior that came to life for vengeance?"

"No." he shook his head and chuckled. "But I am have problems with language, just like a ancient warrior would."

"Yeah, I see." the filly giggled. "So, my name's Coffee Mug, and my bro's Coffee Bean."

Sirius was no longer surprised by that sort of names. They made some sense, and he couldn't care less about how others were named.

"Alright, everypony's here, finally!" Iclyn declared. "Time for fun! First of all, we'll play hide-n-seek, as we always do." she looked at Sirius. "And I think you're the perfect one to be 'it' since you're the new pony."

"I search for you, yes?" the colt asked with uncertainty. Sometimes, he still had problems with understanding ponies and their language.

"Yeah. We'll hide all around the house and nearby, and you'll need to find us all." Iclyn explained the task to him. "Close your eyes and count to fifty!"

Sirius nodded, closed his eyes, and started counting aloud.

"One... Two..."

***

"Fifty." Sirius opened his eyes. As expected, there wasn't anyone around when he finished.

First of all, he looked around the main room. He didn't notice anything suspicious at the first glance. No movement, no change in scenery besides some minor things, and everything was quiet. However, he decided to check the wardrobe — it was the most likely place for at least one person to hide.

The former human moved smoothly and silently, hoping to hear if anyone let out a single sound, be it a breath, a rustle, or a clop of hooves against the wood. His ears were swiveling around, trying to catch the smallest sounds. However, everything was silent.

He opened the wardrobe and discovered no one inside. The foals were smarter than he initially thought, but he was smarter than them. He knew how to hide, and he knew what places to check if he wanted to find someone.

There was a small space right behind the wardrobe, barely noticeable. Sirius checked it and found Coffee Bean there. The colt was small enough to fit in without a problem.

"Found you." Sirius said.

"Aw, that's bad!" the smaller colt pouted. "I thought this was the perfectest place to hide!"

So, the small colt went to relax on one of the pillows as Sirius continued his search. There were other ponies to find.

Sirius checked under the sofa, in the sofa, under and inside various pillows, but it was clear there was no one else in the room besides Coffee Bean. He needed to check other rooms and see if there is anyone still in the treehouse. He remembered that some of them might be outside.

He went into the bedroom and immediately saw a shadow behind a curtain. Hiding near the window during the day was never a good idea. Sirius opened the curtain and found the second twin.

"Okay, ya got me." Coffee Mug said, jumping down. "Did you find my bro?"

"He is in the main room." Sirius nodded.

"Alright, thanks!" the filly said, and then went to her brother.

Two out of five. He was almost halfway done.

He really liked the game. The whole process was entertaining, and the game was really fun to play after so many years of sitting at the computer playing video games. Besides, he hadn't played any simple children's games for a long time, and it was refreshing to return to such activities. It made him feel much better, feel young and careless again. Best years of his life flashed before his eyes, he felt happy, and even a small, and yet genuine smile appeared on his face.

Sometimes, returning to the past was good. Maybe Equestria would prove good to him, too. His hope rose higher.

Anyway, he needed to find other three ponies. Where could they be? Sirius checked everywhere in the bedroom, he even made sure there wasn't anyone in any pillow or inside the bed. However, he found no one.

So, there were two places to search in. The bathroom and the outside. He decided to go to the bathroom first.

As he approached, he heard rustling coming from within. Confident in his success, he entered the bathroom and immediately saw Wave Rider and Coral. The former was wrapped in the shower curtain on the floor, and the other was trying to help him get out. Both were facing away from him.

"Hello." Sirius said, startling the two ponies.

"Gah!" Wave Rider exclaimed, hitting his head against the floor in surprise. "Ow... Yeah, got us... Stupid curtain!"

"I told you to be silent, Wave!" Coral said. "We would be fine if we did everything quietly!"

"Sorry..." his ears folded in embarrassment. "So..." he turned his head to Sirius. "Mind helping us?"

Sirius shook his head, and then used his magic to help the colt get out of the confines.

"Alright, thank you." Wave said. "Found anypony else?"

"Almost all. I need to find Iclyn." Sirius replied.

"Okay, good luck. We'll just go rest for a bit." the smaller colt rubbed the back of his aching head.

Sirius nodded, and then exited the bathroom. There wasn't anyone else inside, and the only place left to check was the outside.

Soon, he exited the treehouse and looked around. There were some small bushes, unfit for hiding, some trees, too thin to hide behind, and the small toilet shed. He decided to check the latest first. However, there wasn't anyone inside. He expected it — the shed was too noticeable a place to hide in.

He began to think. Unless there was a secret underground basement, there wasn't any place left for him to check. Since everything was green, Iclyn should be very noticeable. However, she simply wasn't there.

She was a pegasus, Sirius remembered. He looked up. Unfortunately for him, there was no one on the trees. Since the treetops were empty, the only place he could suspect was Iclyn's hiding place was the rooftop of the treehouse. However, he had no means of getting there.

"Iclyn!" he called aloud. "If you are on roof, get down!"

A rustle was heard, and then Iclyn appeared. She was indeed there, as Sirius suspected.

"Alright, ya got me." she laughed. "You're one of few who didn't try to get up but called me instead. Clever."

She unfolded her wings and glided down to Sirius.

"So, how do you like the game so far?" she asked after she landed and folded her wings.

"It's fun." he replied with honesty. "I want to hide now."

"Got everypony else?" she asked and Sirius nodded. "Alright. I'm 'it', then. Let's go to others."

***

"I will now count." Iclyn said as everyone prepared to hide. She closed her eyes and started counting: "One... Two..."

Sirius already knew where to hide. First of all, he went into the bedroom. He unbuckled the sword from himself and placed it between the mattress and the wooden base of the bed — the sword would be unnoticeable and wouldn't hinder his movement. Grabbing one of the big pillows, he unzipped it. He saw that the pillows consisted of smaller ones just piled up together inside one sack. He removed a couple of pillows, hid them among bigger pillows, and then got inside the big one. He zipped it back, leaving only a small hole for him to breathe and observe through. Some of the inside pillows he placed on top of himself to conceal his shape and make himself less hard to sit on if anyone did it during the game. Thus, it was the perfect hiding spot for him as long as he didn't move.

He noticed how Coral went into the bathroom, and Coffee Mug hid inside one of the drawers under the bed. He assumed that Coffee Bean and Wave Rider either hid in the main room or outside the house.

And so, he waited for Iclyn to start searching.

"...Fifty!" her muffled voice came from the main room after some time.

Sirius waited unmoving, breathing lightly and quietly. He knew it was just a game, but his instincts of hiding kicked in nevertheless.

He chose a pillow from which he would be able to see most of the room, and thus he was near the corner of the bedroom. It allowed him to view the door to the main room and the bed. It was his instinct to hide where he could see as much as he possibly could.

A few minutes passed before Iclyn entered the room.

"Where could you all be hiding?" she muttered under her breath. First of all, she went to the bed and started opening drawers. In one of them, she found Coffee Mug. "Oh, hi there!"

"Uh..." the smaller filly sighed, getting out. She proceeded to sit on the bed and wait.

Iclyn continued her search. Finding no one, she started checking the pillows. However, she didn't touch them — she simply looked at them, trying to see if it had an unnatural shape or was moving. She didn't notice anything and moved on to the bathroom. If she touched the pillows, she might've been able to find Sirius among them. Though, the chance was lost as her mind switched to a different task.

A minute later, she came out with Coral in tow. They went past hidden Sirius and into the main room. Sirius assumed they headed for the exit.

Sirius was content with lying in his spot and waiting until everyone else was caught.

***

A good ten minutes had passed, and Iclyn hadn't found Sirius yet. She called his name a couple of times when searching outside. However, she was sure he wasn't on the roof or any trees — there wasn't a way he would be there.

"Alright, I give up. Come out, Sirius!" Iclyn called from the main room.

Sirius chuckled to himself, getting out of the big pillow and putting smaller ones back inside. Then, he picked up his sword and buckled it to himself. After making sure no one would discover his hiding spot, he went into the main room.

"Hey, where have you been hiding?" Iclyn asked.

"It's a secret." Sirius replied with a smirk. "It would be your if you found me."

"It's fair, I guess." the filly nodded. "Alright, everypony! What about something really fun? Follow me!" she said, and then went into the bedroom. Everyone followed her.

Sirius was last to enter the bedroom, and received a pillow to the face.

"Pillow fight!" Iclyn exclaimed, grabbed another pillow and threw it at Sirius. This time, he dodged. He hurled his own pillow at her, knocking her off balance. Others soon joined, and pillows flew around the room. While Sirius dodged or blocked most of them with his own pillow, he still got hit from time to time, and he liked it. Such a simple act of throwing pillows around was fun for him, and he was laughing along with others as he hit someone or got hit himself. It didn't hurt at all, too.

The fight lasted for about ten minutes until everyone ran out of breath. Sirius dropped onto the pillow-covered floor and enjoyed the soft comfort they provided. A happy grin was on his face as he savored the moment.

Iclyn noticed his mood and smiled widely, happy for the fact that Sirius was having fun and wasn't sad at all. It was the first time she saw his seriousness and eeriness gone, replaced with living emotions.

"Okay..." she said. "Everypony... Are you having fun?"

A chorus of approval sounded from the foals.

"Great!" Iclyn clapped her hooves together. "Alright, let's do something relaxing. I have a new movie about... Daring Do!"

Everyone except Sirius erupted in cheering. He didn't know what that film was, but others' reactions to it made him anticipate the movie. Besides, he hadn't yet seen any Equestrian movies at all.

Everyone gathered on the sofa and pillows, picking their favorite places. Sirius chose a place on one of the biggest pillows, and used his hooves to shape it according to his comfort. Iclyn injected the cassette into the player that was in the TV set. She pressed some buttons, and the movie began to play.

The quality of the tape wasn't the greatest, but it brought a sense of nostalgia to Sirius — he used to watch a lot of cartoons on a somewhat similar TV set as a kid. He would wake up early in the morning, go to the living room, and turn on the old TV to watch something before he would have to go to school.

Maybe he would be able to befriend more than one pony. They were nice to him, and he genuinely enjoyed the time with them. It made his sad and depressing thoughts go away for a great amount of time, and he couldn't be happier to spend some time without them.

He wished that moment would never end. He knew it wouldn't be like that, but he found comfort among young ponies nevertheless. Warmth, welcoming attitude, and fun.

Such friendships were to live for.

Author's Notes:

If anyone is wondering about my other stories, don't you worry — I'm working on them. However, they require more time, and the current story is somehow easy to write.

So, as we have just discovered in this chapter, Sirius isn't that type of person who can never be happy and not enjoy anything. He has been through a lot, but there is still something inside him that helps him cope. He is still able to have fun, which speaks volumes about him.

Will he make more friends?