Late into the night at the friendship castle, much was quiet as many of the overnight guests had retired for the evening. Only the small cast of Benny, Sniff, Twilight, and Starlight had stayed up and had been carrying on a mild conversation that seemed fitting for the day.

Twilight turned to Sniff, more excited for his input than she was concerned for Starlight's slow recovery.

"So, how much do you have to drink to suffer the same level of side effects?"

"I'm not too sure anymore," Sniff answered, having to think about it. "Back in the day when I was usually lost in the college crowds, maybe almost as much as Chris. If I paced myself, I mean."

"Fascinating," Twilight spoke through her notes she was taking. "Benny, what about you?"

Benny pulled a headphone from his ear. "Depends on what I'm drinking. I mean, don't let my size fool ya. I got a strong liver that burns through alcohol so fast it turns my hair red."

"That's amazing," Twilight announced with her pen scribbling down his answer at a feverish rate. "A human's body can alter its outward appearance based upon different levels of chemical combinations they consume."

A snort and poorly hidden snickers broke out next to Twilight. She looked over to see Sniff leaning over his seat, trying to fist-bump Benny.

"What's so funny?" She asked, somehow missing the joke.

Starlight tore off another bite from her partially gnawed-on loaf of bread.

"They're joking with you, Twilight. Stop falling for it every time," She lectured her teacher with a mouth half full as she chewed.

"Well, technically, it's more half joking and a little racial stereotyping," Benny corrected Starlight, emphasizing his point as he ran his fingers through his hair. "There's a country called Ireland where we come from. The people there, the Irish, they're known for their whiskey and high tolerance to drinking. And for some reason, red hair. So, I inherited a high tolerance to just about everything except vodka and saki. A real shame too. Warm saki is nice... I just tend to black out a lot."

"Well, then," Twilight tore the last page she had written on out of her notebook and crumpled it up. "It's a good thing I have plenty of blank pages left."

"You didn't need to throw that page away, actually," Sniff spoke from behind Twilight's chair with the discarded paper in his hands. "There are things that can change how we look if we eat or drink them."

Fool Twilight once; shame on you. Fool Twilight twice; shame on her again because it might take up to eight times for her to catch on. But she lost track already and might be past eight.

"Oh, really? Like what?"

"Carrots," Sniff quickly answered, dropping the paper in front of her on the table.

"Let me guess, they turn you orange," Twilight scoffed.

Benny gave a hand gesture that displayed his confusion on the matter.

"Yeah, if we ate a lot of 'em."

"Ha, ha," Twilight mocked a laugh. "Let's pull another fast one on Twilight. Let's see if she believes that humans can change to the color of the food they eat. Or a male human's hair becomes poisonous if it grows longer than six inches. That they can grow potatoes in their ears if they don't bathe regularly. Or that they can tell if a pony is stupid by comparing the size of their hoof to their face. Ha, ha, ha."

Starlight cracked a smile, thinking back to the last one.

"You're just mad because you were dumb enough to fail the stupid test."

"Grrr," Twilight growled as she dropped her notebook. "How was I supposed to know they were gonna bop my hoof into my nose when I compared the sizes?"

Starlight's smile grew insultingly larger.

"The first time or the second time?"

"Yeah," Benny laughed a little, even though he felt like it might have been too mean of a joke to play on someone as naive as Twilight. "I've never seen or heard of someone asking to retake the stupid test."

"Okay, Twiggels," Sniff grabbed her attention, ready to get back to his point. "Carrots have a lot of carotene in them, right?"

"Yes."

"And carotene is a nice shade of orange, isn't it?"

"Yes. That's why the carrot is orange. I get it," She snapped back at him.

"Hold up now. I'm not done yet." Sniff interjected, trying to calm the mood by pumping his hands toward the angry princess. "Is carotene water or oil soluble?"

"Oil soluble. Why are you asking me that? What does that have to do with-"

"Is body fat oil soluble?"

"Well, of course, it is. All types of fats are-oh... Carotene isn't going to be flushed from your bodies very easily if it's absorbed by the body fat, and if built up long enough, it would be seen-"

"through the skin," The two answered together.

"Okay," Twilight wasn't finished being mad at the two. "So that's only one thing?"

"There's a powder mix made from silver that turns our skin blue if we drink enough of it," Benny added.

"Oh, yeah," Sniff nodded along. "Like that old dude that looked like Papa Smurf."

One of the guard's voices echoed down the hall just outside.

"Right this way, sir. Princess Twilight and a few others said they would wait for you and your date for the night to return. But, you came back alone. I should have asked, did everything turn out alright?"

"Yeah, it was fine. I just dropped her off back at her home before walking back," Cerb's distinct voice echoed through the halls.

Sniff recognized the voices right away and was more excited than needed to welcome his friend back.

"Oh, looks like our triumphant stud has returned."

A door was opened by the guard, who stood back to let Cerb in.

"Right in here. They've been waiting for you."

"Thanks, Ray Man," Cerb thanked the guard. "Hope your relief shows up soon. I always hated standing a watch like this."

Helix Ray shrugged and returned a smile.

"It's a living."

As soon as Cerb entered the room, Benny started a slow clap.

"And there he is. The man of the hour. How'd it go, killer?"

"Your night ended a lot sooner than I thought it would," Sniff joked. "Just a wine and dine, no bed and grind?"

"First of all," Cerb called out, pointing his finger. "Fuck ya, both. You're a bunch of haters. And second of all, no. I'll have you know the night was better than I expected, and the food was awesome. You're gonna be super jealous, Sniffy."

That shifted Sniff's direction of the conversation.

"What? What do you know about good food?"

Cerb took the first seat he came to and looked up at Sniff with a smug smile.

"I mean drinks, dinner, and dessert that were all fit for royalty."

"Yer lying," Sniff accused him.

"Not if they went to Grapes and Olives," Twilight answered, setting the record straight with an equally smug-sounding voice. "That's where our dinner reservations were set for when Princess Celestia came to visit. I wouldn't take her anywhere else for such an occasion. Although, since you're new, you might have trouble getting a reservation or a decent table."

"We didn't," Cerb clarified. "They gave us a reserved table and practically our own room. The owner loves me there."

Twilight snorted her nerdy laugh.

"Well, you did go with Rarity. So it's no surprise you got such good service. Did Italian Stallion greet you?"

"Greet me?" Cerb had to laugh at the attention he was given. "He mule kicked the host for not seating us fast enough and took our orders to the kitchen himself."

Benny leaned into the conversation.

"Hold up. There's a pony there named Italian Stallion? Please tell me he looked and talked like Stallone."

"Looked and talked like." Cerb tried to think what the connection Benny was trying to make was, but it came to him as soon as he put the two names together. "Oh, my gawd! I didn't even think of that! Damn... but no. Not even close. That would have been hilarious, though."

"Who's Stallone?" Starlight asked, rejoining the conversation.

"Oh, Starlight," Benny addressed her specifically. "Stallone is a legend of the 80's action movies. Italian Stallion was his first big movie break. Maybe next movie night, we can throw in his Rambo movies."

"We got the gas for that?" Cerb asked.

"Dude, I will drill for oil if we don't have the gas for that," Benny reassured him.

"Rambo movie marathon?" Sniff suggested to them.

Benny made finger guns and pointed them to Sniff.

"Hell, yeah."

"I'm down." Cerb agreed.

"Am I invited?" Starlight meekly asked.

"Only if you don't pregame like you did today," Benny answered with a grin.

Sniff tried to put on his most serious face and turned to Starlight.

"But if you can't control yourself and want to get flocked up again, ya gotta bring the cowboy suit for Chris."

"Ha!" Cerb bursted out. "Seriously, what the hell did I miss with that? Did you decide to throw Chris a second twenty-first birthday?"

"No," Starlight groaned. "Although that would explain the cake."

Everyone laughed.

Starlight raised her loaf of bread and gestured her frustration.

"I just wanted to patch things up with him... and then I don't know what happened."

"And she means that literally, she had 'a blackout,' as your friends called it," Twilight added. "We were actually going over the side effects of alcohol and a few other things that can create changes in the human body if consumed. How much does it take to get you into such a state?"

"How much does it take me to get drunk?" Cerb repeated the question as he thought about it. "A whole bottle of Jack will do it if I chug it."

"Oh," Twilight seemed surprised by that claim. "I thought with your size and the way they described how alcohol works, you would need more than what Chris was able to drink."

"Nah, Twiggs," Sniff was about to drop some shocking truth on her. "When he says a bottle, he means the half-gallon bottle."

That didn't seem humanly possible. Or at least from what little Twilight had learned from the humans so far.

"Half a gallon!... Oh... wait. No, no, no. You're not gonna fool me this time. There's no way a human could drink that much if those two smaller bottles did that to Chris."

"No," Cerb reaffirmed the claim, though wasn't sure where all her doubt was coming from. "I can slam a half-gallon over a whole night and still drink more. And I've actually cut back over the years."

"Yeah, it's kind of a problem for us," Benny admitted.

"A problem? How is it a problem?" Twilight asked.

"That can be a conversation for another time," Cerb answered as he stood up. "Not that I'm unhappy to visit, but it's been a long day, and I'm about ready to hit the sack. Is everyone else ready to head back?"

"Oh, I thought you were all sleeping here tonight?" Twilight asked the room. "Well, except for Lumberman."

Benny started to give Cerb the rest of the update for the night.

"Yeah, bud. Chris is down hard for the night, so Twilight offered us rooms until his liver starts working again. We're all staying, but Lumberman wanted a quiet night of tub-thumping or whatever at the farm. You wanna crash here with us, or want one of us to head back with ya?"

Cerb stood at the far end of the table, thinking about his options.

"Nah. Yer all good. I think a night alone sounds like a break everyone could use."

Benny stood up.

"Nope. My home, my rules. I'm going with ya."

"Ben..." Cerb's voice asked a question that Benny understood all too easily.

"Alright, fine. But I'll walk ya out. Need to stretch my legs anyway," Benny was going to at least check up on his friend before he let him wander off.

"Me too, mind if I join?" Twilight asked, sounding so cute and excited.

"Uhh, how about you catch me on the way back, Twi? We'll just be a minute or two." Benny gently turned her down.

"Oh... Okay," Twilight answered, letting them walk out together. "Is Cerb okay?" She asked as soon as they left the room.

"He's fine," Sniff told her. "I imagine something's bothering him, but that's why old Benny is tagging along with him."

Twilight was guessing this was something along the lines of what Spike and Sniff recently started.

"I take it that those two share things that they only feel comfortable talking about with each other?"

Sniff picked up a biscuit from one of the bags still on the table.

"Yep... pretty much... The stuff nightmares are made of, or so I've overheard a time or two. But! If all that's done and over with, I'm off to bed." He started his way to the door but stopped short of passing the table. "But I don't know where my room is."

Starlight picked up what was left of her bread and slid out of her chair.

"Don't worry, Twilight I'll show him where it is. I could use some more sleep anyway."

Twilight sighed, it was such an odd end to the night.

"Thanks, Starlight. I'll see you both in the morning."

Just shy of the door, Sniff turned back to Twilight.

"Just give'em a few minutes to talk about whatever. It's not that long of a drive."

Just outside, Benny and Cerb were passing the posted guards.

"Just dropping this guy off, and I'll be right back, guys," Benny said as he passed the two.

"I think I'm just gonna walk back, man," Cerb spoke up to inform his friend that he wouldn't need to drive.

"Alright. " Benny answered back, not knowing where to take the conversation. "So, did I miss something about tonight?"

"No." Cerb looked over his shoulder to see if they were alone before continuing on. "Just a little mixed up. Not sure about what I'm doing here."

"What are you doing here?"

"Making nice with the locals and killing time."

"And?"

Cerb took a deep breath and sighed.

"I dunno, man. I just feel like I really don't belong here."

"Do any of us?"

"No, I mean... These ponies are obnoxiously sweet and kind. They're too damn nice. Someone like me really shouldn't be here."

"No, Sniff is the kind of person that shouldn't be here. Kelly shouldn't be here at all. But you? You're probably the nicest guy with a kill count I've ever met."

Might as well get to the point, Cerb thought.

"I fell asleep at Rarity's place this morning."

"Oh, shit. " Benny knew right away what bringing that up meant. "How bad?"

"I don't think I was screaming, and I didn't jump off the couch and start flipping furniture, thank god. But I did a lot of talking and scared the shit out of her and Fluttershy."

"Fuck, man, sorry... Which dream was it?"

"A new one, actually."

"New, how?"

"It wasn't anything in the sandbox. It was about Kelly. Just her screaming for me like she was hurt, and then there was blood on my hands, and I was locked inside her shop and couldn't get out."

"That's... different. But certainly, a fucked up dream."

"Yeah…" Cerb thought he should check up on Benny as well. "You had any of your dreams come back since you've been here?"

Benny shook his head.

"No, thankfully. Seeing Kelly that night brought back a lot of bad memories, though."

"Same here, man. Fuck." Cerb remembered another occurrence. "Everything was a massive cluster fuck after that; I never even got a chance to tell you I had a flashback that night... Also, with Rarity and Fluttershy."

"Jesus, man. You think they're causing them?"

"No... other way around."

That didn't seem to make any sense to Benny.

"So a flashback and a night terror, both times when you were with them, and you don't think they're related?"

"No. The flashback was kind of unavoidable with all the blood on me. And I've had night terrors without them around. But... and I can't explain it, my flashback was probably the least intense and shortest I've had in years, and whatever they did when I was asleep, like... I dunno. Made it stop?"

"Did they wake you up?"

"No. The grabbed my hands and talked me out of it."

"They... talked you out of your dream?"

"Yeah, it was kinda like that night I got fucked up on saki bombs and moonshine. I passed out and started talking in my sleep, and you talked to me while I was dreaming, and when I woke up, I remembered what we talked about. Same thing."

"Okay, so you're scared that... what? That you're not going to be talked out of your next night terror?"

"That, and now they know some of the shit I've gone through."

"Yeah, you gave that away on day one, remember?"

Cerb braced himself for what he was about to admit to Benny.

"I told them about the ambush, Garcia, and how my heart stopped. Having to be revived and all that."

"Woah, Woah, Woah, Woah." Benny stopped dead in his tracks and yanked Cerb back to put them face to face. "It took you nearly a year to break down enough to confide that shit to me. And that was only after I told you about what I went through. You bring it up one other time, blitzed drunk, never telling anyone else, but within a week of meeting them, you find the courage to open up and share?"

Cerb knew Benny was personally offended and had every right to be.

"Yeah. I did..."

"Gah!" Benny turned and walked away, ready to vent, but turned back again and tried to calm himself down. "Okay, I shouldn't be mad."

He suddenly pointed his finger in Cerb's face.

"But we've always been there for you. Nobody more than me. We deserve to know these things to help you deal with this shit. Fuck. Do you know how many fights I had with Kelly because I wouldn't tell her what the fuck you went through?" He let that question settle for a moment. "Did you know that I didn't lose the sunglasses you bought me? Yeah, because Kelly slapped me so hard they fucking broke. All because you refused to talk to her, and I couldn't tell her why."

"Jesus, Ben. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Kelly for making her worry all the goddamn time. Or Sniff, who still thinks you're invincible and jokes about it. Apologize to everyone who said 'God, I just wish I knew what he was going through so I could help', but you didn't let them."

"You might be right, but fuck you, because you know exactly why I didn't tell them. Just like you haven't told anyone the horror show you went through," Cerb lectured.

Benny wasn't wrong, but he knew that Cerb was also right. He was acting like a hypocrite.

"I know, I'm talking outta both sides of my mouth. But, come on, man. Am I supposed to be happy for you about this? Yeah, sure. You're finally opening up and talking to someone other than me or Lumberman... but why them?"

There was no right answer to that question.

"I wish I knew, man. It's just-" He tried to think back to his state of mind every time he talked to them. "They care so much, and there's something about them that just makes me... feel better when I talk to them. It's almost scary how comfortable I feel around them."

"Comfortable?" Benny asked like he doubted the sincerity of such a claim.

"Talking to them feels like I'm talking to a therapist who gives a shit, with a therapy dog, and my mom, all in one.

There was something Benny wasn't going to touch. Cerb's mother was a mother to all of them when she was still alive. The kind of mom all the other kids wished they had, growing up.

"I miss your mom, too, man. So that... that I can understand."

Another thought came to Cerb's mind.

"Fuck, man. For all I know, it could be some of the same shit that's been messing with our heads since we got here. Making me say shit I don't mean to."

"Is that supposed to make me feel more secure about all this?"

"Want me to lie about it from now on?"

Benny knew that wasn't what Cerb meant or was even asking. He was speaking honestly about what he was going through but didn't have any solutions to offer. And to be fair, neither did Benny.

"No. Obviously, not. Just be real with me. Are you slipping? Should I be worried?"

"No. I mean... no more than what should be expected after everything that's happened since we got here."

Seemed like a reasonable enough response to Benny.

"Okay... So what's up with you and you're new confidants? You breaking any hearts or doing anything stupid?"

"No," Cerb answered back with a snarl. "Well, maybe breaking hearts isn't too far off."

Benny slipped a concerned look to Cerb.

"Come on. Walk and talk." Cerb turned and started back on the path back to the house. "We've been standing in the middle of the road for too long."

"Or we could just drive back?"

"I'd rather walk, but anyway. Did you know Rarity is raising her little sister all on her own?"

Benny had seen enough of the show to remember that they never showed either of their parents. "I think so. What about it?"

"Well,-" Cerb drew a deep breath, preparing to look stupid in front of his most trusted friend. "-she takes care of her sister, runs a business, and does all the hero work fighten evil forces or whoever... I don't think she's had much of a chance to live her own life. I was her first date."

"Ouch."

"No, the ouch is that her first date was with some messed up schmuck like me, because of a joke."

"Were you at least a gentleman about it?"

"Yeah... and that might have been worse than me being an asshole."

"Okay, how'd you square that circle?"

"Ben, imagine you went on a date with a chick that was funny, laughed at your jokes, saw the best in you, just fucking clicked in all the right ways. Turns out, she thinks that everything you do makes you a fuck'n rock star in her eyes. Not only that, you think she's cool. And all the trust and feel-good shit is there... But she's a horse."

"So you're telling me that you became the world's greatest man to date, and Rarity got you as her first date, but human dick is illegal, so it was all for nothing. Right?"

"How many times you told me to jump back in the dating pool because, and I quote, 'Any woman would be lucky to have you,' end quote. Or were you just blowing smoke up my ass?"

"Alright, I see where you're coming from. But then why even agree to the date?"

Cerb turned a serious glare to Benny.

"Gee. I fucking wonder why."

"Okay, valid. We went too far. Shouldn't have pushed you into it. But-" Benny took a second to gauge how Cerb might reply to his next question. "-aren't you taking this maybe a little too seriously?"

"Look. The bottom line is, ponygirl or not, they've all been good to us. And I don't know how long we're gonna be stuck here, so beyond the fact that we need to keep these good relations with them, they don't deserve that kind of extra baggage."

"You're not leading her on, are ya?"

"No... She made it clear that things would have to be different for her to consider me."

"What she say?"

"She literally said, ' if things were different,' when I walked her home. She sounded like someone canceled Christmas when she said it."

"Jesus..." Another thought entered Benny's mind; dates are a two-person event. "So, how do you feel about it? About her and all that, I mean."

"Me? I feel like shit for showing her a good time that amounts to a friend zone. But honestly, I think it sucks that things aren't different."

Benny held back a laugh, he had to get at least one jab in.

"I think you've been hanging out with Chris too much in your downtime. He's a bad influence on you."

"Oh, fuck off," Cerb tried not to laugh at the joke and give Benny a light punch in the arm.

"Hey. No need to be so sensitive about your waifu liking you as just a friend," Benny continued to egg him on.

"Eat a dick, BenBen. Better yet, eat some more Oreos. I'm sure Pinkie would love some more of your cookie kisses."

"Oh? So I get a kiss from my waifu, and now I'm the bad guy?"

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Troll. Just make sure you eat them cookies standing up. Next thing ya know you'll be getting cookie kisses in your lap."

"Ha!... Oh, shit... You're probably not even wrong about that."

"God, that would be our fucking luck."

The slow walk had them nearly to the edge of town, and Benny had to ask one last time if Cerb was sure about his choice.

"So... you sure I can't talk ya into staying with us tonight? Or at least having one of us go back with ya?"

"No," Cerb didn't sound very excited about his own choice. "Two bad dreams in a row, I wouldn't doubt a third is on its way. Last thing I need I cause a panic in front of a Princess."

"True. But... yeah. The front door is unlocked, and the garage door is missing, so you'll have no trouble getting it. Oh, and breakfast for us back at the castle tomorrow morning at nine."

Cerb snorted a small laugh.

"Yeah, no worries, man. And I’ll be there. Have a good night."

"You too, man."

At the darkened corner of Ponyville, the two parted ways, agreeing to see each other in the morning.

The walk back to the castle wasn't anything Benny was in a hurry to do. He was worried about his friend. Actually, he was worried about all of them.

Cerb was struggling with his past more than usual, and even his night terrors were becoming more frequent. Lumberman had gone off to do his own thing for the night. Chris was still probably suffering from alcohol poisoning after he was coaxed into drinking with a character who set him off just the night before. Kelly was still recovering from her near-death experience. Becky was running low on meds and was still trying to adjust to the concoction Fluttershy had given her. Then Sniff... actually, Sniff just made him worry in general. But now that Sniff was hanging out with Spike and the Princess, both gave him hope, although it also made him worry about what would happen if he fucked up badly with either of those two.

That just left him. His house was the new embassy; he even signed the agreement making it so. He was technically the guy in charge. And yet, he wasn't really doing anything. So far, all he had done was throw a house party and delivered laundry. He was virtually stagnant in a world that was moving a million miles a minute with all the changes happening around him.

"Troll Guy!" Pinkie's voice called out from down the street.

Benny looked up to see Pinkie Pie trotting her way over to him.

"Evening, Pinkie. You're up late."

"Yeah," She snickered. "Mr. and Mrs. Cake couldn't believe how long of a lunch break I had. And we had a whole lot of baking to catch up on. So I had to stay extra late to catch up."

She suddenly noticed that not only was Benny out of the castle in the middle of the night, he was alone.

"What are you doing out here this late? Did all your friends head back home already?"

"No. Cerb is walking back to the house for the night, Lumberman is at AJ's, but me and the others are staying at the castle tonight. Twilight invited us to stay until Chris gets better." Benny explained as he started to lead Pinkie back to the castle.

"Wow! That sounds like fun!" Pinkie exclaimed before her face turned bitter. "So long as Starlight doesn't go all gross and pukie again."

"Learn the warning signs, Pink. It probably won't be the last time someone drinks too much if we're gonna be hanging around." Benny joked.

"Well, it better not happen to me," Pinkie huffed.

Benny smiled and tried to look as innocent as possible.

"I dunno, Pink. A party animal like you probably doesn't stand a chance."

"What! No!" Pinkie cried out in fear of falling victim to the repercussions of alcohol abuse. "Did you even see what happened to Starlight."

"Ha!" Benny couldn't hold it back. "Oh, Pink. I've already lived it. Don't get me wrong, it sucks, but you get over it in about a day. We've all done it. Doesn't stop us from getting carried away and doing it again. You'll learn your limit if we stick around enough."

Pinkie stubbornly held her view.

"We'll see about that. You won't see me tossing my cookies and looking like she did. Ou! Speaking of cookies!"

"No, Pinkie, I don't have any on me."

Pinkie gasped.

"How did you know I was going to ask you for more of your cookies?"

"Pfft," Benny spat. "Come on, Pinkie. You got a one-track mind when it comes to sweets."

"Oh! Speaking of sweets, how did the date with Rarity and Cerberus go?" She stood up on her hind legs to nudge his shoulder with her foreleg's elbow. "See what I did there? Because it was sweet of him to take her out on a date. Get it?"

"Yes, Pinkie. I get it. You're so clever," Benny mocked his enthusiasm. "And I guess it went just fine. Though, I didn't get any details. He kinda just walked in, gloated, and left."

Pinkie was about to ramble on at top Pinkie speed.

"Ou! When's the next date? Are they getting serious? Have they kissed yet? Do you think they're in love? Oh! Oh! Oh! Do you-"

"I think!" Benny shouted, quickly shutting her down. "-that this was probably a one-off thing for them. Didn't sound like Rarity was interested in anything long-term. Or at least that's how it sounded."

"Really? That's too bad. Cerb seems really nice and kinda handsome for not being a pony."

She turned her eyes up to Benny.

"You're kinda cute yourself, ya know. You thought about finding a special somepony of your own? I hear Rarity is single."

Benny turned to question the mad mare.

"Wha? No. I don't really see that happening. Going out with a bunch of friends or just hanging out, sure. I don't see any romance in my future here, though."

Pinkie didn't care to hear that. She was far too excited about this new pursuit.

"Blah, You just haven't met the right pony yet."

Benny snorted to himself. He thought it was funny just how naive Pinkie was to the ways of human culture and romance. He wasn't about to try and turn this into a debate and decided to passively move on to something else.

"I'll keep an open mind, and my eyes peeled then, Pinkie. But for right now, I'm more concerned with what we're all gonna do while we're stuck here."

Pinkie started to spit out ideas as soon as they came to mind.

"Are you kidding me? There are tons for you to do while you're here. You haven't had a chance to meet every pony in Ponyville. We have festivals, and plays, and parties. Ah! I just love parties! But I'm sure you already knew that. Then there's all of Canterlot to see. Not to mention the Crystal Empire."

She gasped as a new and exciting idea tickled her fancy.

"Maybe you can join us on one of our crazy adventures! We tend to rotate who gets to go out and fight the baddies and make new friends. Maybe if you stick around enough, you can save some pony, too."

"Those all sound like fantastic ideas, there, Pinkie, but I mean to pass the time. Celestia gave us a butt ton of coins, but that's not gonna last us forever, and we'd catch cabin fever just sitting around all day."

"Ooooh," Pinkie finally was catching on. "So you think you all need to get a job, right?"

"Well, I don't know what your labor laws are like. We're not exactly in the tax system, so I'm not sure how... Wait... Do you even pay taxes here?"

Pinkie brought a hoof to her chin and manage to walk on only three limbs without hobbling.

"Hmm... Nope! You should be fine."

"Ugh, I'll probably have to ask Twilight or some other pony that knows the labor laws and see what it takes for us to be allowed to work here, and what we're even allowed to do."

"What kind of work do you even do? What kind of work can even be done under a bridge? Construction?"

"For the love, uh... I'm not a troll, Pinkie. And I do clerical work. Office administration."

"Ouu! Sounds fancy."

"No. It's boring. Like stupid levels of boring. It's mostly just me making sure that everyone who works in the same office as me does all their paperwork and reports the right way and submits everything the way it's supposed to. Granted, I'm good at it, but it still sucks."

"Weeeeeeeell, you could always find a new job here. Ponies do all kinds of jobs. You like working outdoors?"

"Ha!" Benny laughed before he rolled up his short sleeve to show off more of his pale skin. "Skin like this burns up like a marshmallow to an open flame. I'm not cut out for the outdoors life. Back when I was a Yeoman, I also did some security and close-quarters training, but I'm not going back into that line of work."

"Why not? Maybe one of the Princesses could use a human guard."

"Bad memories... I'm better off doing paperwork."

"Benny?" Twilight's voice called out from just overhead. "There you are,"

Twilight greeted Benny again as she touched down in front of him and Pinkie Pie.

"Is everything alright? I started to worry something bad might of happened when I saw your cart was still in front of the castle, and the guards told me you and Cerb walked away."

Benny tried to play it off that nothing bad happened.

"Sorry, didn't think you'd get so worked up over me taking longer to get back. Cerb wanted to walk back to the house. Gave us more time to talk. But everything is fine."

Twilight was relieved but was still worried that something might have happened to upset Cerb.

"That's good to hear. So nothing went wrong during his night out with Rarity?"

Benny shrugged.

"Nothing that I heard about, at least. You gonna walk back with us?"

Twilight had no qualms with that.

"Why, certainly." She started to lead the way back to the castle. "Do you plan on staying up much longer?"

"No, nothing's going on, and everyone else is in bed. Might as well catch some Zs. But, while I got you here. Do you happen to know what the labor laws are? I might be looking to get a job to help pass the time if it's going to take long to get home again. Unless you have some type of estimate on how long it's gonna take?"

Twilight knew she had to control herself more carefully around the humans. If Benny was anything like Sniff, the smallest of details in her presentation could signal a lie that he might detect. Might be best to let some of the guilt come through naturally and mask that with feeling terrible for not being able to offer more help. "It's a little too early for me to give any reasonable time frame on finding a way to send you all home. But I'll look into what needs to be done for you to work here in Ponyville until then. Was there anything you had in mind?"

Pinkie Pie wanted to answer for him.

"He's an officer of obliteration. Pretty impressive, huh?"

"Office administration, Pinkie," Benny corrected her. "But yeah. Clerical work, project management, personnel oversight, and team-lead kind of activities. It's boring, but I'm regretfully good at it."

Another impressive set of skills from another human. Twilight couldn't begin to fathom what all these humans were capable of.

"Wow," She said with a gleeful high tone. "That's pretty impressive. How long have you been doing that?"

"Uh," Benny hadn't bothered to keep track of that. "I did that the last few years I was in the Navy. Then I've been doing it ever since I got out."

"I'll have to pick your brain later about your worlds Navy," Twilight beamed as she spoke. "Equestria is so far inland, we've never had a need for a Navy. There are some ponies that run their own private boats, but nothing on the scale of a maritime military force."

Even if it had been years since he left the Navy, he remembered how it was stressed not to divulge military information to anyone without a need to know. Especially foreign nationals. Ponies still fell into both categories. "Not much to tell. Boats float, and the cannons go boom. The rest is just showing up on time in the right uniform and following orders."

Twilight could tell he was oversimplifying what he knew. "I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to a Navy than making sure the boats stay afloat, and the cannons go boom in the right direction."

"Not for a paper-pusher like me," He answered back.

The conversation on the rest of the walk back consisted mostly of what little Twilight knew of naval operations, in theory at least, and Pinkie trying to equate whatever Twilight was talking about to baking. The two never really could work off each other's comments, so it felt more like two separate conversations fighting to win over Benny's attention. Pinkie only escorted them as far as the steps to the castle, being how she was only heading over to say hello to everyone, but with Benny the only one up, she was already done.

They waved her off, and Twilight escorted Benny up to the guest room she had set aside for him.

"You can sleep here tonight." Twilight opened the door to one of the many guest rooms the castle had to offer. "But there are plenty of other rooms available if you would prefer to stay on a different floor or have a window that faces a different direction. I know for me, I prefer the sun to wake me up in the morning. But some ponies would much rather... I'm rambling, sorry."

Benny could appreciate the extra concern and the now shy nature of Twilight. It was cute and came off as wholesome and sincere.

"This is fine. And thank you again."

Twilight stepped in first to give him the overlay of the room.

"This is your bed, obviously." She mentally scolded herself for coming off so awkwardly. "There's extra linens in the dresser. If you have any garments that need washing, there's a hamper in the closet."

"Twi... I think I got it. I'm just spending the night, not crashing here for the week. " Benny sat on the foot of the bed. "You don't need to put in all the extra effort on my account."

Twilight started to roll her eyes, more embarrassed than anything else.

"Sorry. I don't get many guests. And this is just how things are done in Canterlot."

Benny smiled in response.

"Now, I could see Celestia giving the grand tour of a singles bedroom, but I also doubt she does."

"Egh," Twilight sighed, remembering it was generally a housekeeping staff pony that took care of such menial tasks. "True, but I don't keep the extra staff to do all that work for me. I prefer to be more self-sufficient, you know. I don't like the idea of having ponies waiting on me hoof and mouth."

"Hoof and mouth? Is that like our hand and foot?" Benny asked before remembering the lack of cross-cultural references still being an issue. "Wait. Nevermind. Stupid question. It is."

"Hand and foot?" Twilight eyed Benny's appendages as she requestioned aloud his phrase. "Oh, that makes sense. I still can't believe how much of our culture is so similar. Just little changes here and there that more closely match our species."

"Well, that's what parody usually is." Benny mindlessly mentioned.

Twilight was taken aback by the comment.

"Parody? What do you mean parody?"

This was a conversation Benny hadn't planned on having yet.

"The My Little Pony show about you and everyone else. A lot of the content was made to be a parody of our world. That's all."

"I can see the correlation between our two cultures, but we didn't parody yours. Are you sure you didn't parody from us?" She stared at him with doubt.

Benny couldn't hope to sell the fact that he didn't believe that pony culture had shaped the human civilization.

"Uh, maybe?"

As appealing of a topic as it would have been to dive into, Twilight wasn't very concerned with that right now. She had other guests to worry about.

"Nevermind, that's not important right now. Do you mind if I sit next to you?"

"Your house, your rules, Princess." He jokingly answered before scooting over.

She jumped up on the bed with him and got situated, sitting over the edge of the foot of the bed next to him.

"Thanks."

"So?" Benny knew there was a question coming. "What's up?"

"Is there anything more I can do for you and your friends?" She finally asked, sounding more like she was hoping there was a problem she could fix than a passing question.

"Our only concern right now is making sure that Becky gets some type of medical help and Kelly heals up. We're pretty self-sufficient ourselves, actually." He nudges her arm gently. "Ya, know?"

She was hesitant to acknowledge how resources and resilient humans seemed to be.

"Yes, I can't help but feel partially responsible for anything that happens to you and your friends while you're here. And so much has already happened that none of us have been able to begin to even start fixing for you. I haven't been a princess for very long, as I'm sure you must know from your show about us, but I've never felt this frightened or inadequate before. Equestria has never had any creatures like you with us. And I've never heard of visitors from another world being stranded here like you are. It's all so overwhelming trying to handle every issue and every new concern that pops up, trying to keep you all safe without putting you in some protective bubble twenty-four-seven."

Benny placed a hand on Twilight's shoulder. "Twilight, we're doing fine. Outside of Kelly getting hurt, we've all been through everything we're going through now. Just now, with a change of scenery."

"You can't be serious?" Twilight groaned.

Benny withdrew his hand and placed it in his lap.

"Well, this would be theeeeeee second time this year Chris drank too much and puked his guts out. And he's not the only one of us, so that's nothing new or special. Even the whole issue of what happened between him and Starlight is something he's always had to deal with. But at least they actually made up. That's new for Chris. What else? Um... Oh, most of us have had to deal with being unemployed more than once, so not having a job is par the course for us. Uhhhhh, oh yeah. You thought Sniff was going to be a bad influence and we've had to deal with ever since we were kids and hung out with him. And actually, with Kelly, Lumberman got the call when Cerb was shot. And it took days for us to get any kind of update on if he was even going to live or not. But you all saved Kelly in a matter of hours. Twi, you're ahead of the game, as far as I'm concerned."

"You know," Twilight's outlook didn't seem to change, despite Benny's best efforts. "I know you're trying to cheer me up, but all your doing is making me feel even worse for you and your friends."

"Well, what are you hoping for with us?"

"Is it so much to ask that I might be able to watch over a kingdom where you and your friends can all be safe, healthy, and happy? I've never had to work so hard for so long to help others fix their friendship problems or save every pony. How am I supposed to feel about this?"

"Have you tried getting over it?"

"Excuse me?" Twilight asked, sounding offended.

"Yeah, sounds like a load of crap, right? Just 'get over it,' doesn't come with all the instructions on how to do it."

"That's not very good advice."

"On its face, no. But it's some of the best advice I ever got once it was explained to me."

"And what was that?"

Benny took a deep breath and forced a smile. A very fake smile, but he felt like he had to.

"A long time ago, I was in a really bad place. I tried to help someone. But I couldn't. I was... angry. I was hurt. It crushed me; kept me up at night. Couldn't sleep, barely ate, and lost the desire to even try. I didn't want to be alive thinking about how I couldn't be the hero I wanted to be. It wasn't until Cerb came out to see me."

Twilight was listening intently and grew anxious when he trailed off and stared blankly ahead.

"What happened? Did he help you?"

"He told me get the fuck over it... just like that," Benny answered with an angry smirk. "He said it like he was mad at me. He was, actually. Really mad."

"Why would he be mad at you?"

"Partially because he didn't know what happened to me."

"Did you tell him?"

Benny snorted. "Not at first."

"Is it because you needed more time to-"

"I hit'em," Benny answered abruptly. "Punched him right in the face."

"What! Why would you do that?"

"Because I was so mad. Mad at everything; mad at the world. Mad at Cerb for thinking he knew what I went through. So... I told him how wrong he was. That he couldn't understand."

"What did he say?"

"Well, first, he made me stop punching him. - " Benny raised a hand to Twilight to prevent her from asking any further questions - "And no, he didn't ask me to stop. He grabbed me and threw me to the floor. Then he held me a choke hold and kept slapping me in the chest, telling me he wouldn't stop until I told him why I was acting like a little bitch."

"Oh, my goodness," Twilight showed real concern. "Your friend Cerb is... huge. Please tell me he didn't hurt you."

"Oh, no. He did. My stubborn, stupid ass kept up for about ten minutes until I finally caved."

"I'm impressed you managed to last that long."

"Egh... I could have gone longer. My original plan was to wait him out until his hand hurt too much keep beating me... But I got too mad and decided that I'd hurt'em with the truth. Make him feel bad for forcing me to tell him."

Twilight took a moment to let that digest. "Was what happened to you really that bad?"

"Yeah," Benny sulked and lost the nostalgic smile he had. "It was. And so was everything he told me that he went through. And don't bother asking what we talked about. That's not what this story is about."

"Okay?" Twilight was actually afraid to ask what could have been so horrible that he wouldn't bring it up, even after Cerb had flashed them all his battle scars.

"After we swapped our sob stories, I asked him how he got rid of all the pain and stopped the memories and nightmares from coming back..."

Benny's face turned to one that was a mix of emptiness and regret, but his shift to silence was short-lived.

"He told me he didn't. That he tried and he couldn't. He just told himself to get over it. He said..."

He took a moment to gather himself, bobbing his pointer finger up and down as he tried to recall that moment.

"Ben... The scars heal over the wounds, grass grows over the graves, and every day, the bad things that happen to us move farther and farther away. All you're doing here is picking at the scabs and digging up the graves, trying to run back to the pain. Let it go. Move on. I did it, you can do it..."

"Wow," Twilight was impressed at the depth of his words. "and that's what made you turn things around?"

Benny chuckled.

"No. I just cried and told him to let me go. So he kept slapping me until I finally agreed to stop acting like a little bitch."

Twilight had no words to that, sitting silently, too awestruck to even let her jaw drop.

Benny laughed a little more at her reaction before adding a little more levity to his past situation.

"I figured trying it his way was better than the bruises he was giving me."

"Wait." Twilight shook her head. "Why are you telling me this? How does that... horrible story apply to me?"

"It applies to you because you care too much. Not that caring is a bad thing. It's not. But you, when you care too much, like I did, or like you are now, you start focusing on how things went wrong because you make yourself feel responsible. When you should be focusing on what you can do to find the best outcome with what you have. Becky is sick. Make sure you find her the right doctors. Kelly is still recovering. Make sure Big Mac keeps her taken care of until she heals. Chris... is an idiot. You probably can't fix stupid, so leave that to us."

"That's so mean," Twilight laughed and playfully shoved Benny. "But I see what you're saying. And it's not like I haven't learned that lesson before, I suppose I just needed a good reminder that it can apply to bigger problems, too. Thank you."

"No problem," Benny answered, though some sorrow in his eyes seemed to linger.

Twilight could see there was something still unspoken, some thought or concern on his mind he was holding back. Something about his story.

"Is there another reason you wanted to tell me this story? Something else you wanted to say?"

Benny blinked a few times. She wasn't far off, there was something on his mind about it.

"Not really. I just haven't talked about that for a long time. Actually, most of my friends don't know all that much about what happened between me and him as I just told you."

"But they're your friends. Why wouldn't you tell them? Isn't that what friends are for?"

"Yeah... they are. But back then, I wasn't strong enough to deal with going over it over and over again. Plus, going into it would bring up secrets that Cerb had. And they're secrets we still both keep. We've moved past them, and it would only hurt our friends more if we put it on their shoulders."

"I don't think that's the case at all," Twilight replied, gently trying to convince him.

"Maybe... maybe not," Benny countered. "But they're our secrets to keep. They'll come out in time if they need to."

"Well, your secret about having secrets is safe with me," Twilight reassured him. "But for now, I think we should all get some rest."

"Yeah, you right. G'night, Princess," Benny said in a soft voice.

She smiled sweetly.

"Just Twilight is fine. Good night, Benny."

Trixie slowly opened the door to her wagon, her breath was slow and shallow. Carefully, she surveyed the empty streets. After a short passing over the barren walls and dirty cobblestone, she stepped out, keeping her hat snug and cape tucked in low and tight, trying to cover her as much as possible.

"Okay, Trixie," She whispered with caution and fear gripping her voice. "Stay, low. Stay quiet. Just keep moving, and when the timer runs out, it will be safe to start over. Just like yesterday... and the day before that... tomorrow."

A crackle of crumbling mortar from behind her made her flinch. She looked back to see a well-weathered wall collapsing under its own weight.

Like a well-trained soldier, she held her tongue and scanned for any danger. She counted the seconds as they passed, waiting to see if anything would follow the debris, but nothing revealed itself.

"Just keep calm, Trixie," She told herself as she started down the deserted road. "Everything is broken down here. All the buildings crumble, all the windows are broken. No food... no water... no-"

A creak of twisting metal stabbed through the air just down the road.

"No time to stick around," Trixie whispered before breaking into a gallop, running away as fast as her legs could carry her.

What little light could be seen around her wagon started to fade. Not from the distance, she put between its source, it was slowly being swallowed. Trixie, however, would pay it no mind. She darted down the paved road with her horn lit with her aura, giving her just enough light to see the path before her. Barely visible were the abandoned buildings of a once thriving Las Pegasus surrounding her, now a husk of its former self.

She came across a crossroads and took a moment to catch her breath.

"Okay... where to go? Where to go?" She questioned herself, trying not to be taken over by the sights of the broken city before her. "Ugh... This was so much easier in the forest. So many less places to hide where the ponies used to live."

She paced herself in a circle, trying to get an idea of where she had taken herself to/

"Hmm... Not many good choices. There's even fewer places left to go to than the last time."

The familiar sound of metal bending and snapping echoed through the dark sky, alerting Trixie it was time to move again.

"Well, this way sounds a lot better than that direction."

Wasting no time, Trixie headed off to a collection of buildings away from the sounds of what lurked in the dark. She ran herself just fast enough to outpace whatever might be making its way to her, but not so fast she couldn't examine the remaining markings on the buildings around her.

By the third building, she finally recognized where she was.

"Oh, for crying out loud. Really? Of all places..." She took a moment to glare at a painted sign advertising a Tofu Sticks special offer. "Well, at least I know I'm somewhere that not a lot of ponies would be."

Thinking she would be safe for a while, she stepped inside the building. Not much trouble since most of its doors had long since been either broken off from patrons trying to flee or left jammed open. Once inside, she immediately noticed something was off. She knew this place, but even for a dystopia, it looked wrong.''

"They must have really spruced the place up after I left," She said to no one, admiring the elegantly crafted railings and fixtures. "Figures I leave, and they finally make the place... What in the?"

Trixie came face to face with a thing of beauty that only served to mock her. Painted large enough for all to see on the wall leading to the theater room was a mural of Trixie jumping out to greet the audience. There was something more to painting that she couldn't make out. She trotted closer to see.

Trixie stood in awe of what she beheld.

"That looks just like her? Like in my dream?"

Painted next to her in the mural was the human Kelly. Only, her hair was dyed a different color to match Trixie's, and she wore a revealing spandex outfit that seemed to mirror Trixie's entire look. The whole thing was one large ad for what had to be a show they put on together.

"Come see the Amazing Trixie, Master of Magic, and her otherworldly assistant, Kelly, the 4 of 10 Travelers," She read allowed. "Are me and Kelly supposed to be friends or something?"

Trixie figured she could spare a little time before moving on and decided to investigate. The first stop was the auditorium where she would have performed. There was nothing out of the ordinary there, so she went on to dressing rooms. To her surprise, the largest of the rooms was adorned with her cutie mark and name. She had no choice but to investigate.

The inside of the room was just as fancy as it looked the last time she snuck in, only this time, it was clear to see that it was intended for her to use. Decorations littered the room, all of them to her style and liking. Different variations of her cape and hat hung on hooks and appeared to be well-tailored. On a smaller makeup table, a small book lay untouched.

"Oh, great. Must be one of my spell books. I wonder what doozies I scribbled on to this one?" She groaned. "Wait. What if it's actually something good?"

The book levitated up to Trixie and she opened it to the first page.

Mar 27, 2016
Hello... myself? LOL, okay, so I have no idea how to start this stupid journal. Eric said I should start one while I work with Trixie. He still thinks that maybe someday we can do our own magic instead of helping Unicorns and the Princesses with theirs. I wish!

Anyway, I'm still bummed out that all the cool stuff is over with. No more centaurs to beat down, or changeling armies to fight off. Hell, even another uppity filly with a mean streak would be better than settling down on doing show biz. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going back to Indiana. We were asked to come here for a reason, and I feel like there is still more for us to do. It's just boring having to wait for the next adventure.

I can't complain too much, though. Trixie is always a blast to hang around. I certainly won't be crying over these bits I'm gonna be raking in! I think if this pace keeps up, Eric and I will finally afford to get a bigger house and not have to share a place with Justin, the big sweetheart that he is. But I don't think he wants us moving too far away. He keeps saying that all the signs are there that the light we bring won't be bright enough. Then again, I hate to think that he might be right.

The last thing the crystal rose told us was that light of our friendship was the magic Equestria needed to ward off the forces of darkness. And something about the echoes of the mirror warns of disaster from a world of darkness. We thought the echo warned of Sunset's return, but all of those mirrors are broken (or so I'm told).

Mar 18, 2016
I'm terrible at keeping journals. I didn't even finish my thoughts in my first entry. Anyway, I think the darkness will come from the Storm King. Shining Armor says there's intel from sources far away that he's been building up his forces and has a Unicorn of his own.

Also, I'M MAKING BANK!!!

Dec 29, 2016
I'm drunkk.

Dec 30, 2016
Okay, had some time to sober up. So glad they made alcohol legal again. It made for the Best Hearth's Warming and Christmas season since we got here! Celestia and Luna are the best when they get drunk together. Amber might have to watch out if she ever hopes to ever have a chance with Peter. LOL, if even! AMBER FTW!

Anyway, tomorrow starts a new year, and I'll probably not be awake for the entire first day. So glad they made alcohol legal again!

Jun 5, 2017
Found my journal again. Eric is mad at me. Oh well, time to get serious with this stupid thing.

Sept or Nov 2021
I wish I would have listened to Eric. Had I done what he asked, this book would be filled with precious memories of our time together. Instead, all I have regret and a family I can't even lay to rest.

I still can't believe he's gone. No. I can't believe how many are gone. There are so few of us left. Luna still believes that her sister is still alive in the darkness, burning a way out. If she is, I hope Peter is alive, too. I have never seen her burn or shine so brightly as she did to save us. Maybe she'll find Twilight in there, still chasing echoes.

Justin is pulling triple duty to help Cadence, Shining, and Flurry hold up the shield. I honestly don't know how he has enough of his heart left to help with their magic. I'm pretty sure all of mine is gone. Trixie keeps telling me not to give up hope. The echoes wouldn't have warned us if there wasn't a way to beat the darkness. But without the crystal rose coming back, we still don't know what to do.

I'm only writing in this because I can't help anyone. Not even Trixie. After all these years, I have nothing left to give. I'm sure by the time I walk over to the rest of the survivors, Benny will be awake, and we can join everyone in the darkness together. I know Celestia isn't burning her way through to save us again. Peter's heart belonged to Amber, that flame would never last, no matter how much Celestia wished it would.

Date Unknown
Kelly, I miss you so much. I miss you like I miss Chris. I miss everyone. I'm all that's left. My only joy is that as the shield shrinks a little more every moment, I get to spend my last moments in the room we spent so much time together in. I was nothing without you. You gave me the power I needed to be the Great And Powerful Trixie. You helped me care, you gave me purpose, you even gave me hope. But now I understand the story of Pandora's Box. Maybe I was wrong to say hope isn't a curse. If I never had it, I don't think I would be here suffering without it.

Wherever you are, I'll be with you shortly.

P.S. I hope alcohol isn't illegal wherever you are. I can't wait to see you again. We should celebrate being together again. Drink away all these horrible memories. Wouldn't that be nice?

Trixie dropped the book. "That is by far the most disturbing and heart-wrenching journal I have ever had the misfortune of reading. And it still doesn't help me figure out a way out of here."

She turned to exit the dressing room when she heard, "Wouldn't that be nice?" In her own voice, speak up behind her.

Trixie spun around to see another version of herself weeping as she finished writing in the journal she just read.

"No!" She cried out in terror. "No! No! I stayed here too long."

She bolted to the door and pressed it open, but it wouldn't budge. She flexed her magic on the door. It creaked and warped under her push but wouldn't open. As a last-ditch effort, she charged up her magic into her horn and point-blank range, unleashing her attack.

The debris from the door quickly settled, but what she saw in place left her skin and fur pale. What had held the door shut was a magic shield acting as a barrier between the room and her worst nightmare.

Just beyond the translucent barrier was pure darkness. The black oil saturated the scene and clouded the view of dark muscle fibers flexing and twitching. Sporadically, black crystal shards were pressed against the shield, breaking under the tension, while jagged pieces of metal scratched along its surface.

Trixie slowly backed away. Whatever this dream world was that she found herself stuck in every time she slept, it again found a way to trap her.

"Please wake up. Please wake up. Please wake up. -"

The magic shield that was protecting them contracted and crashed against the walls, fracturing it's foundation and sending dust into the air. Of all the dreams she's had so far, that had to be the most of the darkness she'd ever seen collected in one place. It would have to be if it was surrounding the dressing room, or at least that's what she figured it was doing. Another contraction and the shield cracked, letting oil spray through, stopping just inches away from Trixie's hooves.

As the oil began to shift and pool together, raising its jagged crystals and mangled metal pieces up from the goo, Trixie also charged her horn, getting ready to defend herself.

"Be patient, won't you," Calmly spoke the dream version of Trixie.

Before Trixie knew what was happening, a torrent of flames passed beside her from behind and engulfed the nightmare creation. The oil burned, and the crystals and metal edges snapped and popped in the fire. The flames were intense enough that the oil, untouched by the flames, forced itself back out through the shield, letting the magic repair itself.

"Sorry, Kelly," Trixie's double spoke again. "Chris made me too stubborn to just let myself go out like that. You'll have to wait a little longer."

"Trixie," Twilight's voice reverberated in the room like a whisper from the dead.

"Twilight?" Both Trixie's called out in unison.

Suddenly the room became hotter. Like standing in front of a campfire in the summer months in Saddle Arabia. Screeching and hissing started to build to a painful pitch as the darkness began to boil. Even the metal and crystals lit themselves into a glow of red and orange as they heated, and soon all burst into flames. What followed was a brilliant flash of light and smoke and ash as the magical barrier fractured and dissipated.

"Twilight! The dream Trixie shouted with bile and anger.

Trixie finally had her eyes readjusted enough to see through the smoke. Her dream self was peering up above them, a scowl on her face and her horn ready to attack the silhouette of Twilight slowly descending.

The dream Trixie poised herself with a firm battle stance. "Give me one good reason why I should tear you apart for abandoning us to chase after your stupid echos!"

"Because of me!" A dark voice screamed.

Both Trixies lowered their eyes towards a ball of fire that hurled itself into the room. Too fast to react, the inferno crashed into the floor, knocking both Trixies back. As they came too, what they saw was a sight just as frightening as the darkness. It was an alicorn mare. Pure white fur, with flaming yellow eyes and black where the white should be. Her mane and tail were alive with flames that wafted and flickered in the breeze.

"You will not!" The alicorn cried out before pulling back and what looked to be struggling to put her words together. "You would not want to do that, Trixie," She finally spoke in a familiar voice.

"Princess Celestia?" The dream Trixie quietly asked.

The alicorn looked over her body to examine herself.

"Day Breaker, it would seem to be now, but yes."

While there must have been a story to tell behind this new revelation, Trixie was frantic to know about the location of the rest of the survivors.

"Wait! Where's Peter?! Where are the others?"

Day Breaker lowered her gaze. The mourning on her face and flames that shifted to dark blue gave the answer.

Before Day Breaker could start to explain, Twilight finally finished her descent with a trickle of blood that fell from her open wounds. She collapsed as soon as she landed.

"Twilight?" The dream Trixie's words reflected the sorrow she felt for her old friend as she looked down upon the mare's war-ridden body.

Twilight could barely move. Much of her body had lost its fur, which had been either stripped away or burned. Only part of her tail remained, and only enough of her mane was left to cover her brow. Her wings were tattered, and her hooves were in shambles. Gouges had been stripped away, and other sections had been split open and bleeding. Other lacerations and dark markings covered her. It was clear that she had fought like hell, but the damage she wore made it clear that she could not count her escape as a victory.

"I found the echoes," The Twilight answered in her raspy voice.

Beyond her limits, The dream Trixie cried out, "I... I don't understand! What are the echos? Why does that even matter anymore!? There isn't even anypony left to save!"

"There is," The Twilight answered with some hope in her eyes. "Take this."

From what remained of her hoof, a small crystal in the shape thorn, covered in her blood, fell to the floor.

"It's all that remains of the Crystal Rose of Harmony. It called out to the 10 Travelers, asked them to come, so they could give us the power we needed to fight off the darkness."

"They were supposed to stop this?" The dream Trixie whimpered. "But why? What did we do wrong? No one was saved."

"The Rose didn't know that," The Twilight told her with regret. "None of the echoes knew that. The echoes have been trying to save all of us. They're still trying to save the others."

"Others!" The dream Trixie shouted, some faith being restored. "There are still ponies out there?! How many?! What about any of the humans!"

"No," Day Breaker interrupted. "We three are all that remain, but only you are the one who can save the others."

"What! Others!" The dream Trixie demanded.

The dream Twilight nudged the crystal rose thorn closer to the dream Trixie.

"Take the thorn. Become the new Crystal Rose of Harmony. Join the echoes... save them..."

Twilight's voice trailed off. Her lips tried to move, but the rest of her words could not be heard. Within moments, her lips grew still, and her eyes relaxed as her last breath escaped.

"Twi?" The dream Trixie's voice fell. "Twilight, no!"

She rushed over to pick up the limp body of her old friend.

"Twilight! I'm sorry I said all those things. I'm sorry I kept Chris from you. The Rose should have chosen you! Please come back."

She looked up to the new Celestia, her heart broken again.

"Princess... what I'm I supposed to do?"

Rumbling from somewhere close and the defining sounds of grinding metal rose up all around them. Sending them both on alert.

"Trixie, you were more right than any of us about humans. That's why you were chosen," Day Breaker barked.

The dream Trixie looked up in confusion. "What?"

"The humans, they were always the key. But we all missed something. Our magic wasn't enough. Before we lost Discord, he told us of the magic we held, and it can't stop the Void, alone. The magic of Harmony in humans wasn't what we needed. So find the echoes, talk to them, find out what is needed to stop this from happening again!"

"Happening again?" The dream Trixie asked, even more lost than before.

"Happening again," The real Trixie asked herself. "How many times has this happened?"

She continued to watch and listen carefully to what was unfolding before her.

"Trixie, take the thorn, listen to it, and you'll know what to do."

The dream Trixie eyed the bloody thorn, hesitant on what to do.

"Trixie," Day Breaker pleaded. "If I'm right, all of our mistakes can be avoided. The love we denied ourselves can be discovered again. But you need to join the echoes. I'll buy you time."

She poised to take to the sky and held that pose before turning an eye back to the dream Trixie.

"Figure it out. I have an old flame I wish to rekindle."

Both Trixies watched in awe as Day Breaker rocketed to the dark sky above, flaring in a brilliant light that shined bright enough to turn the night to day. Then as the light drew back into Day Breaker, she flew off to fight off the darkness.

Trixie turned her attention back to the dream Trixie.

"Okay, new... old Trixie. Help me out here. I know you can't see me. I know you can't hear me. But I can hear you and see you. Please show me something to help."

The dream Trixie lit up her horn and raised the crystal thorn.

"Okay, so what do I-" The crystal shard started to glow in a bright white light that paralyzed the dream Trixie. The light spread from the shard and surrounded the dream Trixie, levitating her from the floor.

"Yes. Yes! Something's happening," Trixie shouted in excitement, hoping some new enlightenment could come from this union.

Slowly, the dream Trixie's body started to change. Starting from her horn and spreading to the fur that melded into the skin and gave way to a sparkling and dazzling crystal pony-like shine.

"Wait a minute? That looks just like Twilight's doppelganger," Trixie announced to herself as she circled her dream version to see watch the transformation work its way down to the last hoof.

An explosion rocked the building. The fight between Day Breaker and the Darkness grew closer. Flames and burning debris from the city and the darkness itself soared overhead and crashed nearby.

Trixie turned back to her dream self, knowing her time was growing short.

"Come on already! Say something! What do we need to do?"

The transformation was complete. The dream Trixie opened her eyes, and a flash of light gave way to a prismed hue that fell to the ground, revealing the same soft-colored violet eyes that Trixie had, only now with a bright crystal shine.

Day Breaker gave a scream of pain that grew louder and closer. The cry ended with a crash and a cloud of dust being kicked up just outside the room. Trixie looked over to see what had landed. As the dust began to settle, it was clear that it was burning. Burning and moving. Moving and groaning.

"Oh, no..."

The dust cleared enough to reveal Day Breaker impaled through her side by a massive black spike, pinning her to the ground. Day Breaker looked up to see the new dream Trixie had, and a look of relief took over.

"Go," Day Breaker hushed in pain.

Trixie looked back to her dream self.

"Don't go! You have to save-"

A bolt of lightning struck down on the dream Trixie, and in a flash, she was gone.

"What!" Trixie stood there, stupefied. "That... That gave me nothing! What the hay, Dream Me!"

Day Breaker's groans grew to a shriek, and Trixie turned back to see the dark spike slowly expanding. The fiery alicorn gritted her teeth and strained her focus into her horn. Flames gathered overhead and started to swirl into the shape of a brutal weapon of war.

"With an ax!" Day Breaker shouted as the flames overhead flashed into the shape of a battle ax and crashed down on the spike, severing it from her body and its source. She flapped her wings and kicked off the ground to rip herself away.

It did more damage to her torso in the process, but at least she was free from the ground. Unfortunately, the spike still pierced her, and she was bleeding heavily.

"Okay," Her angry voice growled as she hovered in the air. "One last fight."

The flames on her body kicked up stronger.

"For Twilight! "

The flames brightened.

"For Peter!"

The heat grew stronger and the spike sticking through her began to glow as it reached its melting point making the molten remains pour out from gaping holes in her chest.

"For my sister and all of my subjects and creatures far and wide!"

The heat reached an intensity that hurt Trixie just to be in the light it casts.

"BURN IN HELL!" Her royal Canterlot voice demanded.

Day Breaker poured all of her remaining strength together, pulled back her giant flaming ax, and flapped her mighty wings. The power of her flight shot her forward with a sonic boom that sent the buildings and distant darkness behind her to embers as she shot toward the awaiting darkness. The impact couldn't be seen, but the eruption was everywhere and shook the Earth. Flames shot around the building and cast out the sky.

Trixie was surrounded by a world of fire. The air was thinning as the heat started to overtake her. She forced herself to the floor, trying to crawl for cover, but with so little oxygen, it was becoming hard to move. Then the heat. Burning, intense, and unrelenting heat. The sweat that had started to wet her fur was now steaming away. She reached her hoof out, just hoping to get another inch away if she even could.

Suddenly the air was back, and the wind was blowing through her hair. She could breathe again. The heat had stopped burning her, a ringing was blaring in her ears, and floorboards to her wagon were approaching her face at free-falling speeds. She opened her eyes.

"Wha-Umph!... Oww!"

Her face slammed with a crack against the floor. She was awake again and had fallen off her bed.

"Son of a bee sting," She groaned as she held her nose and forced herself up back onto her bed.

The more she came to, the more she could put together what was going on. First, she noticed that she was soaked in sweat. Then the alarm clock she had set was still ringing. She turned it off and set it back on her shelf. Once the alarm was stopped, the busy streets of Las Pegasus could be heard from the back alley she had parked her wagon.

"Hey! Magic pony!" An angry stallion's voice called out from the back door of the building she was parked behind. "This ain't a hotel, a campsite, or a parking lot! Beat it, would ya!"

Trixie donned her cape and hat again and braced herself for the outside world. Actually, she wasn't ready. The fear of almost dying again had stuck to her. She pushed open the door to her wagon and had to focus on not letting the weakness in her knees take her down.

The angry stallion glared down from his stoop at the trespasser.

"Yeah, you know what you did. And don't think this is the first time I've seen yer... yer uh... Hey, lady. You alright?"

"Trixie is just fine, thank you," She lied. "The Great and Powerful Trixie just wanted a moment to rest before moving on to her next big show."

"Trixie, egh? Hey! I remember you now. You used to work down at the uh... Oh, which place was that?"

Trixie raised her nose and sniffed hard to draw back in some build-up from her short nap.

"Trixie has worked many theaters and showrooms here in Las Pegasus. You could have seen me working just about anywhere."

"Nah... this place had the big window to the kitchen that ponies could look through. That's where I saw you get'en fired because you wouldn't wash the dishes all the way."

Trixie turned away in disgust. This night couldn't get much worse after adding insult to injury.

"Hey? Trick lady. What's dat on ya face?"

Trixie stopped getting herself into the harness to address the stallion harassing her.

"The name is Trixie, The Great and Powerful." She raised a hoof to inspect what she now felt on the tip of her muzzle. "And nothing's on my face. It's just a little."

She shouldn't have been surprised at what she saw painted on her hoof; dark red blood.

"It's nothing... just a bad omen."

The stallion could tell that Trixie was in some kind of trouble. He just couldn't put his hoof down on what it was. He actually felt bad for her now.

"Hey, uh Tricky-Trixie! Do you need help?... Could I go grab some pony for ya?"

"Don't bother," Trixie hollered back. "It never seems to pan out for them."

Trixie continued down the back alley to the main road. Las Pegasus was just like in her dream, only not abandoned and decrepit from what terror her nightmares held. It was still bright and shiny and alive with clueless ponies. As she stood there, contemplating where to go next, she levitated a book out to her and opened it with a pen at the ready.

Clues -
Darkness has 4 forms:
Oil, Muscle, Crystal, Metal.
Cannot stay close to the light pillars. All forms can find me Cannot tell apart dream darkness apart from the darkness that enters my dreams.

Echos
Can communicate. Talked to Twilight?

Mirrors
More than one. Other worlds exist.

Forest
Easy to hide from the darkness. (less ponies)

Humans
Improve magic or hold magic. Connected to Echoes or Harmony?
Some dreams have 10 travelers?
Some dreams the humans come willingly.

5 years?
The world ends.
Darkness destroys everything.

Princess Celestia becomes Day Breaker? Who or what is that? Lots of fire

The darkness can burn.

Why am I chosen?

"So... more questions than answers. Another spot I can't stay in... and five hours is too long of a time for me to sleep... Great. Off to somewhere new."

Seems like there was some miscommunication between Rarity and Cerb if he thinks she's not interested. Seems almost like Cerb was a little disappointed by it, too. But then there's Pinkie was honestly can't be bothered to give a shit crossing the species barrier if it means falling in love.

Otherwise... how many guessed that Harmony was directly involved with these Trxies?

Also, Chapter 30 will be much of a 180 in terms of the feel and content. Look forward to a little lewdness.