When you wake up early in the morning, the tiredness leaving your body in favor of a slow and blissful return to consciousness, you can still barely believe yesterday really happened. But it did. You gained a Stand, took a life, allied with the Princesses, crushed Discord's balls, and managed to do it all without dying yourself. Your body aches as you get out of bed, still bruised in plenty of places, but it was worth it to save Equestria as you know it.

Stumbling out of the room, you remember Canny slept on the couch, not wanting to intrude anywhere else, and so you first and foremost head to the living room to check on her. She's not there, however, instead in the kitchen, preparing some food over an open flame. "Mornin', Star," she greets, sounding positively refreshed. Her hat is on the table, showing off her dark green mane and the light blue streak in it in clearer detail. She smiles as she sets down some breakfast, just some hay on toasted bread, which you start gobbling up. "So, what's on the agenda for today, mate? Kicking more arse and takin' more names? Because I can so do that."

You shake you head as you finally raise it up from your plate. "We're taking the day off," you tell her, noting her more neutral facial expression. "Just gonna check on the Elements, nurse wounds, see the lay of the land. At least, that's what I'll do."

She accepts this, using her magic to place her hat on her head. "Makes some sense," she tells you. "Don't know what I'll do, though. Maybe look for trouble somewhere? Start up my inventions and such? Whatever works, works, so I'm not gettin' in a twist about it."

You nod and finish your meal quickly, feeling ready to start the day. First off, though, you need to fill Canny in. Sitting down, you go from the start: meeting and training with the Princesses and learning more and more and more about how Stands work. About Gravity, about improving your Stand, and about all the little artifacts Celestia teasingly let slip. When you finish, her jaw drops, before she quickly recovers with a smirk. "Sounds cool," she sincerely says. "Well, least we've got friends in high places."

With that said, you open the door and wave goodbye to Canny, with a promise to meet up and hang out later on today, as you go off to see what you can do today.

After walking around for a while, and hearing a bunch of tales of ponies having had awfully bad luck recently, you decide that the first thing to do in this case is to go visit the Elements. All of them must've summoned their Stands by now, and with that, comes your new job to help them out with them and keep a close eye on them.

BrownDog's Comment with extra details by Down With Chrysalis

First things first, you decide to check on Twilight. The way over to the Golden Oaks Library is calm and steady, thankfully: other than some errant blood stains still being cleaned from your fight with The Patient, there is no indication of any foul play or wrong-doing. You knock on the door softly and stand for a second, before Spike opens the door for you. "Hey," you greet, "is Twilight in? I would just like to see her."

"Oh, yeah, sure," Spike says, gesturing inside. "Just be careful, she...uh, is being Twilight right now." You quickly see what he means as soon as you walk in.

Twilight has her Stand out, revealing it to be a lavender equinoid with the white flash from before being it's accents, appearing as pure white on all four hooves and stripes rotating around each leg. On it's chest are three white circles, one of which has green flame inside of it, and it's face appears to be wearing opaque, shiny round glasses, covering it's eyes. She's watching it and taking notes as it hovers there, before she notices you and waves. "Oh, hello!" she greets. "What brings you here, Shooting Star?"

You look to her Stand for a second, noting the flame in it's chest moving under it's own power, before nodding. "Just wanted to check on you and your Stand," you say. "Had the day off, so I thought I'd hang out, see how everyone's adjusting. Figure out what yours does yet?"

She nods, using her magic to lift her notes into the air and bring them over for you to read. "Indeed!" she says, her findings corroborating, "well, sort of. I've figured out the bare minimum of what it does, but I don't know if that's the extent of it or not." The notes show that she named the Stand "Weird Science," utterly fitting. "I figured it out by having Spike breathe his flame outside and then having Weird Science use it's power. And to demonstrate:"

She lifts a blank page in the air, and Weird Science points a hoof to it. Suddenly, a jet of green flame pops out, burning the paper with the flame. "It traps things! Well, like I said, I don't know if that's all it does. Dragon flame, I mean. It could trap magic, or Stands, or all of the above, or-basically, I need time to figure out my limits, but this will be really useful for scientific study!"

You chuckle and nod, accepting this. "Well, Stands develop. Even when you think you know everything, you'll often have no idea what you're capable of," you tell her. Twilight notes this down, smiling as you dispense your advice. You have a cordial chat with her about yesterday and the plans for today, before bidding her farewell with a wave.

Up next is possibly the member of the Elements you're the closest to, Rainbow Dash. She's sitting on a cloud, watching her Stand float around her. An absolutely small Stand with a Resolution Blue, almost metal looking body, with the signature Rainbow mane and tail sparking past a racing helmet on it's head with a shimmering visor. Rainbow doesn't look too pleased with it, and you fly over to her. Waving a hoof, you greet "Heya, Rainbow Dash. You doin' alright?"

She sighs, though not sadly. More just exasperatedly. "Yeah, hey Star. Doin' fine, just trying to figure my Stand out. Rainbow in the Dark?" It floats over when she calls it's name, and she stands up and stretches. "Just watch," she tells you. She raises her wings, and flies around quickly, about as fast as you've normally seen her. When she flies back, she kicks the cloud in irritation. "A tiny speed boost that might as well be nothing!" she says before you can ask. She shakes her head and continues "Damn it! Everyone else is getting a cool Stand, but mine's pathetic."

It's at this point that Canny catches up. She waves and you wave back, before holding up a hoof to indicate giving the two of you a second. She nods and sits down on a bench next to that Time Turner fellow, messing around with what looks like a small, metal stick. With that distraction done, you figure out within that span of time how to reassure her. "RD," you say, using a shorthand you hear from her, "Stands develop, this I learned from the Princesses. I'm sure Rainbow in the Dark's gonna get better, you just need to keep pushing the limit."

"Heh, well, pushing limits is what I do," she says good-naturedly. "I...guess I can try and be patient with it, I just, I need something cool! I can't be dead-weight, y'know?" And you do, nodding to affirm as such. She looks back to Rainbow in the Dark and nods, stating "Come on, let's keep going. Maybe you can do something cool soon."

With that done, you float down to see Canny, listening in on her talk with Time Turner. "And that is why time travel's so hard for a lot of people to learn," he tells her, in an accent similar to her own. "Me, I've found the concept super-simple, since my childhood, almost."

"Lucky git," Canny snarks. "Well, my friend's here, so I'll catch you around, Mr. Turner." He nods and waves as she walks over to you. "Always nice to meet someone from the old homestead."

"Not really," Time Turner responds, before shaking his head. "Just have a lot of experience with the place!" With that done, Canny follows you to the next pony, listening to you explain the Stands so far as you head to the Boutique.

"So, lemme get this straight," Canny says. "Rainbow's is basically in nappies, and Twilight steals others' shtick?" You nod as the two of you stand on what is essentially Rarity's front porch, seeing no other way to explain it. "...Feel kinda bad for Dashie, but hey, 'ere's hopin' it grows up strong." She knocks on the door for you, and you listen as Rarity hums on her way over to the door. "Maybe it can shoot lightning!"

"Right, 'cause that'd cause less damage," you snark, smirking as the door opens.

Rarity stands there, a knitting needle behind her left ear as she smiles. "Ah, darlings!" she greets. "Come in, I was expecting you two." The two of you walk in, and she leads you upstairs towards her bed/work room. With each step, the anticipation as to her Stand increases as Canny looks around the decorations of the place, clearly not being a native. When at the top, she pushes the door open, leads the two of you inside, then shuts it behind the three of you.

She brings out her Stand immediately. With four forelegs, each hoof having a different item used in the cutting or sewing of fabric (a knitting needle, some scissors, some extra fabric, and some string), her equinoid Stand hovers in a black dress, the only visible skin or coat being a chalk white muzzle with eyes covered by a black veil. "Cool!" Canny says. "Didn't expect your Stand to be emo, though."

Rarity scoffs and shakes her head. "Emo? Hardly!" she responds. "It's a fashionable cloak of dark accents, complimenting the ominous power something like this truly holds!" She holds out an apple and the Stand begins hovering over. "Black Veil Bride, if you'd be so kind." It touches the apple with the hoof with extra fabric, transforming the apple into fabric. The red apple is turned into a three dimensional sewn crochet of the same apple. With the scissors and needle, it cuts a piece of fabric out, then restores it with the string. With another touch of the fabric, the apple becomes real once again, with the fabric cut off turning into an apple slice that is quickly eaten by Rarity's cat. "Quite a bit of utility, wouldn't you say?"

You and Canny stand there for a second, surprised by the ability, before both nodding. "Super cool," you comment, which Canny accepts with a gesture of her hoof. "Nice job, Rarity." Once again, you and Canny make good conversation with her as she demonstrates the power on a couple of other things (including a whole chair), before departing to Sweet Apple Acres.

"Extra, extra, read all about it! Floating Diamond Dog in white suit spotted by citizens!" you and Canny hear a newspaper vendor say, and the two of you quickly whisper about it.

"Stand User?" she starts.

"Most likely," you reply.

"Deal with it now?" she says, raising an eyebrow and looking back over to the vendor.

You shake her head your head, finishing by whispering "Nah, just make a list of things to check in on." She grunts, but otherwise goes along with it. The two of you make it into Sweet Apple Acres proper, immediately seeing Applejack using her Stand in the field. It has no physical body, though, instead appearing as some kind of armor. Wooden armor covers her as the tree her Stand presumably took the wood from collapses over as though cut in half with a powerful tool, dropping apples all onto the ground from the force. "Hey, Applejack!" you wave.

She wipes a bit of sweat off her brow with her leg before looking over to the two of you. "Well, howdy!" she greets back. "Canny, Star, guess y'all wanted to see what my Stand-thingie does, right?"

"You bet!" Canny speaks for the two of you. "Guessin' it's that sweet armor? Looks fancy."

"Yep!" she confirms, surrounding herself in a purple aura as she taps on the ground. Immediately, the ground gives way, equivalently exchanging into an armor made of dirt and some grass that covers her entire body. "Ah call it Folsom Prison. Should be handy iffin' we find more trouble."

You smile in excitement and ask "Can you make armor out of anything?" To which she nods and de-summons the armor.

"Well, ain't tried everythin'," she clarifies, "but ah can certainly use any kinda wood and any kinda ground. Plus some rocks made neat stone armor. I'd need to play around to see if I could make some sturdy stuff." She then looks up at the sun for a second, before saying "Sorry, ahm on a time-crunch. Gotta clear this part of the orchard out. Ah'll see y'all later!" You and Canny wave and walk off.

Next is Pinkie, and as you enter Sugarcube Corner, the mare you're looking for is right behind the register, selling ice cream to a mare with a yellow coat (you can already hear Rarity, ever the enthusiast, comment that it's clearly goldenrod) and an orange mane and tail. "Here ya go!" Pinkie tells the mare, before looking over to you and Canny. "Heya, guys!" she enthusiastically shouts, waving her hoof. "Come on, come to the register, I'll get us cupcakes!"

"I could go for a cupcake," you respond, chuckling as you and Canny walk over.

Canny looks around with wide eyes and says "Blimey, this place could give me a cavity and I 'aven't eaten anything yet."

Pinkie walks up with the tray balanced on her back, bouncing it onto the counter. "I'll pay for it," she assures, "and I know the feeling, Canny. First day I got here, I tried to eat the bricks!" She eats a cupcake before you and Canny can grab one of the other two, inhaling it and swallowing as she then continues with "So, what brings ya here?"

"Stands, mainly," Canny smoothly responds, grabbing her own cupcake with magic and taking bites out of it like a normal pony would.

You nod and take your own in your hooves. "I've known you've had one before I knew anything else about them," you explain. "So, could you show us yours? Tell us about it?"

Pinkie nods with an "Mmhmm!" and, as easy as breathing, summons hers in. It looks like candy. Its equinoid, but it's pink, purple, and red, with licorice hair. It's mouth actually moves, and smiles with yellow teeth like lemon candy, and it's eyes shine with a deep crimson. On each hoof is dancing shoes, sparkling sequins dazzling through the air. "Safety Dance!" she announces, with jazz hooves. "Do your thing!" It begins dancing, and as it dances, the cupcake in your hooves bounce out of your hooves, jumping onto the counter and hopping like it's on a trampoline. Then, Safety Dance switches gears to a slower tempo, more aggressive walking dance, and the cupcake bursts, but the pieces of cake and frosting stop in mid-air before splattering over you, Canny, or Pinkie, and simply drop to the ground harmlessly. "See, when it dances, it messes with reality!"

"...WHAT?!" both you and Canny ask, wondering just how that works. Pinkie Pie, of course, answers.

"Well, it's kind of like my Pinkie Sense!" she says, and then quickly realizes that neither you nor Canny directly knows what that is. "Okay, so, my body twitches in weird ways sometimes, and it predicts something without scientific sense. Twilight tried to analyze it once, and she was emotionally and physically beat up by the end of it. It's just something weird I was born with. Well, Safety Dance is my weirdness personified. When it dances, random things happen. Sometimes I control it, sometimes not, but most of the time, it turns out well!" she motor mouths out the explanation.

Both you and Canny still have no idea where to actually start with that, but you eventually just say "That's really cool," to which Pinkie nods. Safety Dance does another quick jig, and spontaneously, a loud bang sounds off as confetti blasts from behind the counter. "...What was that?"

"Safety Dance setting off my party cannon," Pinkie responds, saying that as if it's completely normal. Which, to her, it might be.

Canny peers over the counter and indeed sees a cannon behind Pinkie. "Cool spot o' tech,"she tells Pinkie. "Mind if I look at it? Not as advanced as my gear, but it's cool."

"Go ahead!" Pinkie says, moving over to stand beside you as Canny looks it over. You turn to Pinkie, who smiles at you.

You smile back and ask "Well, that's super-cool, and super-random, but how come you had it before the rest, considering they couldn't see New Divide?"

Pinkie responds with "I had Safety Dance since the first time we had the Elements. It just took the rest this long to get theirs. Elements, man, they work in mysterious ways. Like my sister, honestly."

"Yeah, speaking of your sister, you said she does something with breathing and sunlight?" you respond, sounding curious as you can see Canny walking away from the cannon and beginning to explore about the store-front, eating a broken piece of your cupcake. "Mind explaining that?"

"Not at all!" Pinkie responds. "Yeah, Maud met this Neightalian Zebra when we were teens and he taught her how to stand on water and to punch with the power of the sun while breathing loudly, now she can break giant boulders with a single punch and often she goes out "Hunting" as she calls it for weeks on end. Something about fighting the terrors of the night. I don't know, but it's not a Stand."

You stand there, jaw agape, and simply stammer out "That's...interesting." You are clearly overwhelmed by the info. Which makes it even more shocking when Pinkie manages to keep going.

"Yeah, I thought so too. My sisters Limestone and Marble tried to get this sunlight punching power, but I guess they weren't good at it. They did learn this neat trick where they can make rocks and other things spin real fast in their hooves before launching them though," Pinkie again says. This time you flat out double-take, looking Pinkie over.

No horn, no wings, nothing. You ask "...You're all Earth Ponies, right?" because you are genuinely unsure by this point.

Pinkie giggles and nods, telling "Yepper depper!" with a smile like the knowledge that these tactics exist isn't utterly mind-blowing.

Soon after you leave Sugarcube Corner, you and Canny make your way to Fluttershy's cottage. On your way over, though, you spot, of all creatures, a deer running from Ponyville back to the direction of the Everfree Forest with a black sack over the shoulder of it's right foreleg. You and Canny look at it for a while before pressing on.

When you make it to Fluttershy's cottage, and before you two can open the door, you two can see the green eyes of a Timberwolf watching you closely. Something seems off about it, as it's stalking more than hunting as though it had the intelligence to keep an eye on you and Canny. It leaves without trying anything, making Canny idly comment "What is it with today and random occurrences?"

"Beats me," you respond, knocking on Fluttershy's front door. Suddenly, and to your horror, it flies open as you are pushed to the ground. Canny lets out what looks like a scared gasp, and you look up to see why. It has to be a Stand, and the scariest one there is. A bipedal wolf in a black cloak, the Stand gnashes sharp, brutally dangerous looking fangs at you as it's orange glowing eyes stare into your soul.

From behind it, you hear someone clearing their breath, stopping the attack. "Powerwolf, stop snarling at our guests!" the normally timid voice of Fluttershy bellows out, scolding Powerwolf and stopping it in its tracks. The menacing aura around it fades even though you still feel like pissing yourself, and it seems to have some modicum of sentience as it turns back to Fluttershy with a grimace. Surprisingly, she holds her ground and scolds "No! Go back inside and leave these two alone or I am de-summoning you for a while, mister!" It complies, walking in on bipedal paws with a groan.

She turns back to you and Canny and says, sheepishly, "I-I'm so sorry for his behavior," she apologizes, "I'm still trying to teach him right and wrong, friend or foe."

"R-Right, sure," Canny comments as you stand up on shaking hooves. "Well, I think I'm gonna go explore Ponyville for a tick. Star, you fine by yourself?"

"So long as Fluttershy has a working bathroom," you quip.

Perspective Shift: Canny Clockwork

As Shooting Star enters the cottage, you watch it carefully. Sighing, you look back through Ponyville as you pull out a small notepad from under your hat with your magic. On it are four things listed:

Whispers of Bad Luck
Floating Diamond Dog - Drugs?
Deer Stealing Shit - Drugs?
Timberwolf Lookin' At Me Funny

Between that, and a whole town to explore, you feel confident you can occupy your time well.

So, what will you, Canny Clockwork, Do?
Stand for Equestria: Origin of Harmony.

Author's Notes:

Yes, I put in Ziggy the Diamond Dog (with an assumption made about Space Oddity's ability, I can re-write the chapter if BrownDog has another idea), Lupina, The Deer, and Cinders/Endless Debt in without comments, instead weaving them into the narrative. That was easier than cluttering up the narration with constant references to comments, one of which is from two chapters ago.

I apologize if this chapter is overlong for basically just being vignettes. Despite my skill in prose, exposition is something I struggle with. Probably could have combined a few Element segments, but I'd need to rework the chapter quite a bit first, and having each Element separate illustrates their unique power well enough. Speaking of which:

Musical References:

Twilight's Stand, Weird Science, belong to the song of the same name by Oingo Boingo. Applejack's is Folsom Prison, named after the Johnny Cash song Folsom Prison Blues. Rainbow Dash's currently weak Stand, Rainbow in the Dark (because of course it is), is named after the song of the same name by Ronnie James Dio (because of course it is.) Fluttershy's is named after the band, Powerwolf. Rarity's Stand, Black Veil Bride, is named after the rock band Black Veil Brides. And Pinkie's is named after the iconic song by Men With Hats.

So, question of the day is:

What would you say was your favorite moment from the Return of Harmony Arc?

Beating up The Patient, battling Luna, meeting Canny, crushing Discord's balls, or even just getting New Divide and Smooth Criminal, the first arc of this little fic was full of cool things, and I wanna know how my readers felt about some of the highlights.

Anyway, yes, you are Canny, and you have total freedom. Explore Ponyville, talk to ponies you like, chase down the leads, make more references to Doctor Who, get into scrappers, eat a hayburger-point is, I have no stipulations beyond the obvious "Don't kill anyone off yet." So, I'll see y'all next time!

P.S: Because I forgot to respond last time: yes, you can suggest new Ending Songs for the fic. Have fun with that!