*A/N:  This chapter's flashback is by far the saddest thing I've ever written.  It was sad for me when I thought it out and wrote it.  Maybe I'm just a sensitive aesthete, but it was sad.  You've been warned.

As always, feedback is really appreciated!*

It was the day before Loralee’s sixth birthday.  Malcolm was only ten years old.  That was the day that Malcolm changed.  That was the day that both of their lives would take a turn for the worse.  That was the day the boy realized that he had to do everything to ensure his sister wouldn’t become corrupted by the world they were left alone in.

Because after that day, the reality hit him.  They truly were alone.

It had been just a normal day.  The boy did his daily chores in their home: make breakfast, go to the market, play games with his sister, cook dinner, read her a story to help her sleep.  It was after he had tucked Loralee into bed that the illusion shattered.

Before that day, the two siblings lived in a decent-sized house, paid for by the government that had drafted their parents less than a year ago.  They were given weekly stipends of money from the government for their parents’ services.  These stipends paid for necessity, leisure, and miscellaneous expenses.

Just as Loralee had fallen asleep, the doorbell rang.  Nearly midnight, Malcolm was very cautious to answer it.  Looking out of the peephole in the oak door, he was greeted by the silhouette of the military mailman.  This same mailman had been the one to deliver each of their stipends since the day their parents departed out of town.  Welcoming the friendly face, the boy happily opened the door to greet the man.

The soldier stepped into the house and closed the door behind him.  Malcolm sensed immediately that something was wrong, and the tears on the man’s face did nothing to quell his worries.

The little boy was hesitant to ask, “Is something wrong Private Leon?”

“Is your sister asleep, Mac?” was the only response the soldier gave.

Malcolm pondered this question for a few seconds before nodding.  He chuckled, “Yep, she just hit the hay right before ya showed up, sir.”  The soldier’s expression immediately shifted from sadness to anger.

He knelt down on one knee and placed a firm hand on the boy’s shoulder.  He mumbled under his breath, “Dammit…why did I have to be the one to tell you?”

The boy was flooded with a sense of dread.  He stammered, “A-are you okay, sir?”

“You’re a strong boy, aren’t you Mac?”  Tears ran steadily down Leon’s face as he looked into the boy’s eye.  Malcolm simply nodded.  Leon continued, “You have to be, okay?  Promise me that what I’m about to tell you won’t leave me worrying about you while I’m gone.”

The boy didn’t know why, but he felt that something horrible was about to happen.  He sighed, “Y-yeah.  I promise, sir.”

The soldier hugged the boy tightly and whispered, “Your father and I were great friends.  He was an honorable soldier…He’ll be missed…and…so will your mother.”  

The information immediately soaked into the boy’s brain.  Even at a young age, he wasn’t oblivious to such indirect information.  His eyes widened and he groaned, “You…you don’t mean…?”

The soldier released his hug and nodded solemnly.  As soon as he saw the tears swell in the boy’s eyes, Leon reached into his bag and pulled out two packages.  He handed the thinnest package to the boy.

Malcolm hesitantly opened the package.  From it he pulled a bloodstained card with a faded picture on the inside.  The front of the card read ‘Happy Bi____ay,’ while the inside had an entirely blotched out message.  At the bottom, it had both Vincent and Susan Rossano’s signatures.  The faded picture was of the entire Rossano family, just before the draft notice arrived.

The boy gripped the card tightly in his hand and fell to his knees, tears pouring from his eyes.  He sobbed, “So…they’re…gone?  But…But what about Lora?”

Leon placed the larger package on the ground in front of the crying boy and sighed, “I don’t know.  Nobody should have to lose their parents so young.  But this war, it-.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to tell Lora?!  What the hell do I tell her?  Tomorrow’s her damn birthday, what kind of present is this?!”  Malcolm snapped at the messenger.  He pounded his fist into the wood of the floor, tears falling from his eyes and staining it.

The soldier was caught completely off guard by the child’s outburst.  He never imagined such a kind kid snapping so suddenly.  He stammered, “I-I don’t know, Mac.  But you have to calm down…”  He knelt down by the kid and placed both hands on the boy’s shoulders, trying to settle him down.

“Don’t tell me to calm down, Leon!  My parents are dead!  How the hell am I supposed to take care of Lora on my own?!  They promised they’d come home!  They said they’d be here for her birthday!  What do I tell her?!”

Private Leon immediately let go of the boy, unable to say anything.  After finding out his parents were dead, the only thing the boy focused on was his sister.  How would his sister feel?  How would he tell her?  How would he support her?  The soldier didn’t know whether to pity Malcolm’s loss or envy his selfless attitude.

The sorrowful messenger sobbed, “You…You’re strong Mac.  You’ll…figure it out.”  He paused to clear his throat before continuing.  “That package is the government reparations for your loss.  It should hold you over for a while.”

“This…is the only money the government’s giving us, isn’t it?”  He placed a hand on the package, not loosening his grip on the card.

Leon turned his head away and mumbled, “Yeah.”

The two waited in silence for several minutes before Leon decided it was time to leave the boy to his grief.  He opened the door and turned back toward Malcolm.  He said, “I’ll still visit town every week.  You and Lora best be alive when I get here.”

“Promise?” the boy groaned as he slowly started opening the larger package.

“I promise.”  Leon closed the door behind him as he left the house.

Malcolm looked over to Loralee’s bedroom door and let thoughts of her potential reactions fly through his mind.  He didn’t want to tell her.  He didn’t want her to cry.  He didn’t want her to hate their parents for leaving them.  He didn’t want to think of what would happen if he couldn’t protect her…

Seven years passed.  Malcolm and Loralee were seventeen and twelve, respectively.  Since that night, Private Leon never returned to the ruins of New York, not that Malcolm could blame him.  Maybe he died.  Maybe he lied.  Maybe he just didn’t care.

Two promises were broken that night.  The family was ripped to shreds.  Some fraternal instinct inside Malcolm activated, and he knew he would sacrifice everything to keep his sister happy and safe…

“That lying bastard!” Malcolm’s fist hit the small wooden table at the center of the library as his mind suddenly snapped back to reality.

Loralee raised an eyebrow and asked, “Another flashback, Mac?”  She shook her head and took a bite from the pancakes Twilight had cooked for breakfast.

The unicorn smiled and said, “I guess that’s to be expected.  You two are a pretty long way from home.”  She spread a small bit of butter over her stack of pancakes before levitating the bowl over to a fourth member of the present company.

The small purple lizard-like creature cheered “Thanks, Twi!” before preparing his own stack of pancakes for consumption.

Malcolm turned his attention to the fourth member of the group.  He scoffed, “Spike, right?  If you’re Twilight’s assistant, why haven’t I seen you around town?”  The boy didn’t doubt that the creature was what it claimed to be, he simply couldn’t believe that he’d failed to meet a resident of his own temporary home.

Spike chuckled, “I’ve been out in the Everfree Forest helping Zecora with her work.”  He then proceeded to dig into his own plate of food.

The human boy tried hard to contain his amusement.  He asked, “What’s a ‘Zecora?’  Sounds evil.”

Loralee snapped, “Mac, that wasn’t nice!”

Twilight sighed, “Zecora lives out in the Everfree Forest.  She knows how to make potions and antidotes to a lot of things using herbs from in the forest.  She’s actually very nice.”

Malcolm said, “That’s weird.  A nice witch-doctor?”

His sister flicked a strawberry at his face.  She groaned, “What did we talk about manners, Mac?  You can’t just go around insulting people!”

“Well excuse me, princess, but in which story did you read were witch-doctors actually nice people?”  The boy turned his attention back to his plate of food, a smile on his face.

Twilight giggled, “You definitely aren’t the first to think she was evil.  I remember the whole town thought she was going to curse them!”  She and Spike exchanged knowing expressions.

The little creature chuckled, “Yep, everypony was freaking out over her!  But after she cured the Poison Joke infection, someponies felt like idiots.  She’s even-.”  Just as he was about to continue telling a story, green fire burst from his mouth, a small object appearing within it.

The sudden sight sent Malcolm flying from his chair in reflex.  Once the fire dispersed, both Loralee and Twilight attempted to not burst into laughter at the boy’s reaction.  He groaned, “That wasn’t funny!  How was I s’posed to know that was gonna happen?”  He got back in his chair and slid it a few inches away from the purple lizard.

Loralee giggled, “Looks like someone didn’t pay attention to the storybooks.  Dragons breathe fire, Mac!”

The boy looked the lizard over carefully.  He asked, “You’re a dragon?  I thought you were just a lizard.”

Spike rubbed his chest with a claw to recover from the sudden flame.  He groaned, “Gee, thanks Mac.”  He picked up the small object that appeared in the fire and unrolled it.  His eyes lit up as he exclaimed, “It’s a letter from the princess!”

Twilight immediately squeed as she took the paper from her assistant with magic.  Both Malcolm and Loralee shared confused expressions as they realized that mail was apparently delivered through fire in this world.  The dragon burped once to release what little heat was left in his chest from the message.  Twilight’s eyes shined as she finished reading the letter.

She clapped her hooves as she cheered, “Princess Celestia wants to meet the both of you!  She says she’s really interested in learning about your world and your behavior!”  She downed the rest of her pancakes and immediately darted upstairs as if to get something.

She plopped a small bag on the table in front of Malcolm.  The boy asked, “So what’s this for?”  He lifted it off the table to find how heavy it was.

“Bits.  You two should go over to the market and buy yourselves some stuff.  I have to go tell all my friends that we’re going to Canterlot!”  She placed the letter in a small satchel at her side before walking toward the door.

Loralee asked, “‘We’re going’…?  As in…?”

Twilight giggled, “You two, me, and the other five ponies you met last night at the party!”

Malcolm shifted uncomfortably in his chair.  He didn’t like having unexpected guests on this trip.  He groaned, “Why are they going with us?”

The unicorn bounced cheerfully as she said, “Princess Celestia wants us Elements to be there when she meets you!”  She took a small bow and darted out of the door.  

The two humans were left with Spike to ponder the sudden turn of events.  The word ‘Elements’ went unnoticed by Loralee, but it stood out greatly in Malcolm’s head.

The boy turned to Spike and asked, “What did she mean when she referred to her and her friends as ‘Elements?’  She didn’t mean the Elements of Harmony, did she?”  Malcolm had spent the entirety of the prior evening reading ‘An Abridged History of Equestria’, and the Elements of Harmony had been brought up several times over the course of the reading.

The dragon nodded and laughed, “She sure did.  Twilight and the other ponies pretty much embody the Elements.”  He hopped from his chair and walked over to the sink in the far corner of the library to start work on the pile of dishes gathered there.

The younger human sent her brother a confused look and asked, “What are the Elements of Harmony, Mac?”

“According to the book I read last night, they’re supposed to be the most powerful things in this world.  There are six, and until recently, only five were known about.”  The boy recalled the several pages of text he read about the Elements.  He counted them off, “There’s honesty, kindness, loyalty, generosity, laughter, and magic.”

The little dragon called over the sound of running water, “You got that right!  Twilight and each of her friends represent one of those Elements.”

The girl giggled, “That’s amazing!  So what do the Elements do?”

Malcolm decided to show off his ability to retain knowledge even further.  He chuckled, “The book said they’ve been used to destroy two different evil creatures in the past.  I figure they can produce really powerful magic.”  He smiled as his sister looked at him with a shocked expression.

Loralee sighed, “I guess you’re actually pretty smart when you try to be.”  She smiled slyly at her brother as he shook his head in disappointment.  “Well, I guess we should put these bits to good use, right?”  She lifted the bag of bits from the table and thrust them into Malcolm’s hands.

The older sibling smirked as he said, “Sure, let’s see if there’s anything cool for us to buy.”  

With a wave goodbye to Spike, they left the library and started the short walk into the center of town to the miscellaneous stalls scattered about.  They arrived at the mini-marketplace with very little hope of finding anything suitable for their own personal needs.

There were stalls selling fruits and vegetables, miscellaneous accessories, and other trivial items.  There were watches, hats, sunglasses, pony socks and shoes, pony jackets, and pony shirts.  None of these items appealed to the humans, so they decided to simply head back to the library and wait.

That is until a small building a little ways from the market caught Loralee’s eye.  A large sign above the door read ‘Carousel Boutique, by Rarity’—Rarity being the unicorn from the previous night, and a boutique being a dress shop, of course.  These two things practically drew the little girl to the building.  Malcolm hesitantly followed his sister into the store and stood patiently as she examined all the beautiful dresses resting on mannequins.

When the owner of the boutique descended the stairs and noticed the two visitors, Malcolm was literally dragged into conversation with the white unicorn.  Loralee pulled him into the main foyer of the shop and thrust him into an unwelcome interaction.

Rarity greeted the human boy with a small curtsy.  She cheered, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Mac.  I must say you have a lovely little sister.”  She waved a hoof at the girl who was once again lost in the beauty of the mannequins.

The boy chuckled sheepishly, “You ain’t telling me anything new…”  With virtually nothing else to say on the topic, he immediately found a somewhat-scapegoat.  He waved a hand around the boutique and asked, “Did you design these dresses yourself?”

Rarity’s eyes lit up at the somewhat-genuine curiosity.  She giggled, “Why, I certainly did.  I design all my dresses myself, unless the customer gives me specifications.  Do you like them?”  

The prim and proper tone of her voice unsettled the human slightly.  He nodded, “They’re not bad.  I’ve never been one to care for beauty, though.  I’m more of a comfort fella myself.”  

The white pony was slightly disgusted by this statement, but she removed any sign of that from her tone.  She sighed, “Well I can assure you that my dresses are crafted with both comfort and beauty in mind.”  She smiled and walked over to one particular dress she had just added the finishing touches to earlier that day.  “I use only the softest and sturdiest materials.”

The little girl on the opposite side of the boutique asked in a tone of wonderment, “How much does it cost to have a dress made?”

Malcolm snapped his attention to his sister and smiled smugly.  He already knew what she was doing.  He chuckled, “I think what she meant to ask is how long it takes to make a dress.”

The pony cocked her head to the side and mumbled, “Well, for a normal dress like the one you’re examining, little over an hour.  For a fancy dress like this one, almost a day.  All my dresses usually run forty or fifty bits.”  She smiled at the little girl.

Loralee walked back over to her brother’s side and sent him a very curious expression.  He chuckled, “You’ve never made a human dress before, right?  Well...” he shoved his sister a few feet toward the unicorn, “…why not make Lora your first human customer?”

His sister’s eyes lit up and she gasped, “Really Mac?!  You mean it?”

The boy nodded, and Rarity considered the situation for a few seconds.  She giggled, “Well, I absolutely adore your sister, and I always enjoy designing new dresses…  Very well, follow me to the back and we’ll get started.”

Malcolm chuckled, “I’ll be back later to check in on ya.  I’m gonna check out some other places in town.”  He waved goodbye to the two girls and left the boutique with a smile on his face.  Just as he was leaving, Twilight passed by with a quick greeting and rushed into Rarity’s boutique.

Taking time from her day to make Lora a dress...  One of Twilight’s friends…  She must be the Element of Generosity.

Malcolm pondered this coincidental meeting before finding a sign that attracted his attention.  ‘Sugarcube Corner’ was printed in large cursive handwriting and pink color.  Of the sign, the fractional ‘sugar’ caught the boy’s attention.  It’d been a while since he had any sort of sweet delicacy other than fruit.  Finding candy and pastry in the markets back home was extremely rare and even more expensive.

He knocked lightly on the door to the building before a calm voice called, “C’mon in and have a look around!”  He entered without hesitation to find his brain overloaded by the sweet scent and beautiful sight of the finely crafted delicacies lined up in containers and on tables along the walls.

The human was greeted by a tall stallion standing on the far side of the room behind the counter.  The pony’s bright amber coat and contrasting orange mane only added to the atmosphere of the bakery.  The human’s overloaded senses temporarily rendered him unable to speak.  The pony chuckled, “Well, if it isn’t the new guest in town!  The name’s Mr. Cake and it’s a pleasure to meet ya!”

The pony’s polite introduction snapped Malcolm back to his functional senses and the boy simply stammered, “Th-thanks…  I’m Mac, nice to meet you.”  The boy walked slowly up to the counter and extended a hand for a handshake.

In some strange way that the human would never be able to understand, Mr. Cake returned the handshake.  Hooves and hands were completely different limbs, so how a successful handshake could be performed with one of each was beyond the boy.  To save himself a headache, the human cast away this thought and turned his attention back to the pastries in the glass cases.

Mr. Cake clapped his hooves and asked, “So what brings you to Sugarcube Corner, Mr. Mac?”  He leaned against the counter with a warm smile on his face.

The use of formalities caught Malcolm off guard.  The human sighed, “Just call me Mac, please.  And I was wondering just what kind of snacks you got in this place.”  He looked around the store curiously for a third time while waiting for the stallion to respond.

The baker pony raised a hoof to his muzzle and said, “We serve candy, candy canes cakes, coffee, cookies, croissants, cupcakes, pies, taffy, tea, and toffee.  What’re ya itching for?”

It took Malcolm a few seconds to register the entirety of the list he was just quickly bombarded with.  He mumbled, “I’ll take a couple of sugar cookies.”

Mr. Cake raised an eyebrow.  He asked, “Plain sugar cookies?  No chocolate chips, sprinkles, or icing?”  The human nodded and the stallion reached behind him and pulled out a small paper sack.  He took a pair of tongs over to one of the cases on the side of the room and picked up two cookies with them, placing them gently in the sack.

He returned to the counter and handed the sack to the boy, then waved a hoof at the cash register at the other end of the counter.  After pushing a few buttons, a tag popped out of the register to signal that the total cost of the cookies was a single bit.  Malcolm handed the stallion the bit from the small bag Twilight had given him.

The human said his farewells and exited the store with the cookies in tow.  He was just about to head out to Rarity’s Boutique when he saw several figures heading right for him in the distance.  Walking in front of the ponies was his little sister.  Instead of the ragged jacket and pants that was synonymous with their world, she was dressed in a beautiful casual dress that Rarity had done an extraordinary job on in such a short time.

The few ponies of the group that he hadn’t met yet exchanged introductions.  Pinkie Pie scolded him for skipping the party she’d worked to put together.  Rarity didn’t hesitate to brag about her handiwork on a human dress.  Applejack didn’t waste time expressing to him just how impressed she was by Loralee’s dancing skills.  Fluttershy flattered the girl by praising her singing talent as well.

After the introductions were made and small talk was carried on, Twilight decided to get to business.  She cleared her throat and said, “We’ll be leaving for Canterlot first thing tomorrow morning.  Be sure to get some rest, as we have a lot to discuss on the ride there.”

The group found their way back to the café at the center of town and decided to sit and talk for a while before leaving to prepare for the trip.

“We’ll be taking the first train leaving in the morning, so we need to be perfectly on time.”  The purple unicorn had her eyes glued to a large piece of paper on the table in front of her.

Malcolm chuckled, “I think we got it, Twilight.  We won’t be late, especially with you on our tails…”  He received an angry glare from the unicorn while the rest of the company let out stifled laughs.

Loralee tapped her fingers on the table a few times before deciding to express her own thoughts on the situation.  She asked, “What kind of person is Princess Celestia?”

None of the ponies were sure how to answer the question.  Rarity asked, “Whatever do you mean, darling?”

The boy scoffed, “She ain’t stuck up, is she?  Like princesses in some stories?”

Twilight looked almost insulted by the question.  She gasped, “Heavens no!  Princess Celestia is the kindest, most intelligent pony in all of Equestria.  You have nothing to worry about with this meeting.  She’ll make sure you both are completely comfortable while you’re at the castle.”

“Are you sure?” the little girl asked, obviously having the same concerns as her brother on this topic.

Each of the six ponies took turns praising Celestia’s kindness, which helped ease the humans’ worries.  After a while of carrying on discussion about the princess and the castle, everyone decided it would be best to get an early sleep so as to be fully rested when it came time to leave.  Each creature returned to its respective place of residence and slowly drifted off to sleep.  Thoughts of the castle town of Canterlot filled each one’s heads.  Having never been there, Malcolm and Loralee’s imaginations went wild…

*A/N:  The reason for the multiple updates in a short time span is because school starts on the 20th for me.  That means I very likely won't be arsed to mess with my stories or the site in general for a few day/weeks.* Next Chapter: The (Surprisingly Short) Train Ride Estimated time remaining: 40 Minutes