The Moon was slowly making its descent, along with the stars, to allow the warm and refreshing Sun rise in the sky to announce another day for all the ponies in Equestria. The sky was cloudless and welcoming for the new celestial sphere, as it made its ascent in the early hours.

In the Royal Palace of Canterlot, Luna was preparing to have breakfast before heading in her room to take a well deserved nap, after taking care of the night and laying down its representative in the skies. On her way to the dining hall, she bumped into Celestia, whom was reading an early letter of her most prized student, Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh, I’m sorry ‘Tia, I wasn’t looking where I was going. How fare you today?” said Luna with a warm smile.

“Be at ease sister, I am the one who was careless...” said Celestia, closing the letter. “I just finished rising the Sun and I got a new friendship report from my student, even though it is quite early. Probably her assistant forgot to send it yesterday, he does that sometimes” said Celestia, giving a soft chuckle.

Luna smiled and waved goodbye to her sister, continuing to the dining hall, smirking as she thought of the wonderful assortments of food that awaited her arrival. Her stomach growled in approval.

Everywhere in Equestria ponies were waking up and preparing for another wonderful day to spend with their friends and their families. But not all were happy to face a new day.

In an unfriendly neighborhood in Manehattan, which was occupied by nothing else but the poor, lived a lonely pony. As the first rays of the sun entered the ghetto, the first to awaken with a sigh of disapproval, was Tony Redmane. He was a tall, but thin earth pony, who had, despite his name, a pale white coat with a black mane and tail. His cutie mark was that of an iron glove which held a fire orb within its grip. He looked over to the window and frowned. This was another of those days… days that he would have to go back into the big city, to try and find some food, maybe steal some bits, an item, only to ensure his survival. But there was a question lingering within his mind, restless after so many sleepless nights.

‘Why? Why do I keep trying? It’s not like something will change anyway…’ he muttered under his breath. Taking a quick glance around him, he placed his eyes on his wristwatch, the only thing he had left from his parents. ‘Parents... did I even have them? If I did, where are they?’ He shook the thought off and took the watch and placed it on his left wrist, and went into the city.

Multiple skyscrapers were dwarfing him as he went unabated at a canter on the streetwalk. Some pedestrians gave him an odd look, being poor meant you didn’t have the luxury of taking care properly of yourself. He ignored them as he went further into the metropolis, throwing glances left and right to find something to snatch. On the other side of the street there was a newly opened bakery, named “The Milky Way!”

‘Hmm, a new bakery? Do they ever learn? I guess I will take what I can…’ he said to himself as he ran across the street, earning a few swears from angry carriage drivers as they stopped immediately to avoid a collision. Arrived at the scene, he stole a quick glance inside. A yellow mare with soft purple mane was preparing a new batch of sweets and pastries.

‘This is too easy…’ he smirked as he entered the bakery, his presence not being alerted due to lack of an entrance bell, like all other shops have. Eyeing the mare up and down, he saw a broom which stood by the entrance. Picking it in his mouth, he silently came closer to the unsuspecting mare.

‘Hmm, she is quite a hotie…’ he said, with a sly grin on his face. ‘Too bad I can’t have some fun with her, but I have a job to do.’

Ka-thump!

The mare fell to her knees, her face contorted into a broken scream as she tried to take a glance at what happened. Before she could turn around, she was hit again. Blackness.

“Sorry missy, but you found the worst spot to open a bakery in, my turf. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

He went into the kitchen to search for his well deserved food, and maybe some money in her jacket. Wandering in the kitchen, he found what he wanted: fresh cupcakes on the kitchen counter. His hunger got the best of him as he leaped at the tray of cupcakes and devoured them heartily, unaware of a menacing shadow closing in on him.

‘So hungry! As much as I hate to do this, but I won’t take any of their money… She seemed such a nice girl. I should have probably just asked her for some—‘ His inner thoughts were suppressed immediately as he felt a blade digging into the side of his neck. Panicking, he dove the other way around, spun uncontrollably on the kitchen floor and took a look at his assailant. It was a tall green unicorn, which held a large kitchen knife with his magic, taking aim at the pony on the floor. At HIM.

“You sick bastard! How dare you hit my wife!?” the stallion shouted from the top of his lungs, glaring daggers at a now shocked earth pony who was starting to panic.

Holding his right hoof over his wound to stop the bleeding, he watched in horror as the unicorn stallion charged again, this time goring him around his hindquarters. Screaming in agony and powered by an adrenaline surge, he bolted out of the shop through the rear door, running away from the enraged unicorn.

‘This can’t be! I can’t die!’ he angrily shouted at himself for being careless. ‘Of course it was too easy! He was probably in the storage room.’ He started to feel cold all of a sudden and stopped behind a wrecked carriage in the alley. Only then did he realize that he was shaking uncontrollably from the blood loss. Taking a peek through the alley, he could make out the shape of the stallion that was looking for him. He had bloodlust in his eyes, as he continued his search for the earth pony who dared harm his wife.

‘This is not good at all, at this rate I’m going to die if I don’t do something’.

Gathering whatever forces he had left, he left the cover of the carriage only to bump straight into the enraged unicorn. Into the dizziness that had come over him, he could make out some of the unicorn’s words.

“ … you won’t… nopony anymore … son of a…”. Blackness.

***

“Hey everypony! Look! It’s the homeless colt again! Hahaha!” several colts and fillies laughed at him from the school yard, where he had been staring for some time, through the fence. With tears in his eyes, he bolted off and hid in a side alley. Why. Why can't I go to school, make some friends... I want to become somepony in life… Somepony... Nopony.
He cried.

***

He suddenly shot his eyes open. He was in a bed, staring at a ceiling that he presumed was white, but with no true light source in the room, he didn’t bother. Looking around the room, he found out a tall window, in which he could clearly see the Moon.

‘What?’ He looked at his wrist watch. ’It’s already midnight!? But… what happened?’ To his left was a III Drip Blood bag and another one, which he presumed was a sedative. Rising his head slowly, he could discern the figure of a pony inside the room, on a chair sitting in front of his bed. It seemed asleep. Something was off. The mane, the color…

‘It’s the mare from the bakery. What is she doing here? Did she come to pity me? Or to chastise me.’ He gave a soft chuckle at the last thought.

His commotion stirred the pony resting in the chair, causing him to look straight into his eyes.

“H- Hello there…” the mare stammered, tears forming in her eyes. “I’m sorry for what my husband did to you, but he is kind of overprotective.” He didn’t say a word, he was speechless to the situation.

‘I am certainly dreaming right now, she would not have—‘

“He was pretty upset when he found me lying on the kitchen floor, but he had no right to try and kill you.” She suddenly got up and walked up to him. “Although you didn’t do quite a good thing yourself, sneaking upon me and hitting me” she said, with a serious tone in her voice. “But I can see that you were desperate. You should have just asked, I wouldn’t have minded if I could help somepony like you… “ her voice softened, soothing him.
“I… I am s-sorry… miss” he looked down to his hooves. “I didn’t want anything else but to eat something, I didn’t mean any harm.”

She came closer to him and drove a hoof through his disheveled mane. “It’s okay, you are lucky I found you two before things would have gone worse. What’s your name?”

‘My name? She’s asking for my name? Why? Does she want to turn me over to the police?’ He sighed. ‘I wouldn’t matter anyway’

“M-my name is Tony” he said, in an uneasy voice.

“Nice to meet you, Tony. I am Margaret, the proud owner of the bakery” she said with a warm smile, to which he chuckled lightly and smiled.

"Nice to meet you too, Margaret." He took a nervous glance around him. "I can't see your husband, w-where is he?"

"Oh, he is at work, but he was here earlier, to check on me. He still seemed pretty upset, but after I assured him that I was ok, he calmed down and told me that he is sorry he got this far."

Tony shifted slightly in his bed sheets. "Ah, well, he..." He was at a loss of words when he realised something. For the first time in a few months, he talked to somebody, and it wasn't swearing or throwing threats left and right... it was a genuine friendly discussion. Friendly. "Sorry, but I am a little bit tired, so I think I will try and get some sleep. You should go home, you don't have to stay here, especially after what I've done..." his ears fell.

Margaret gave him a nod. "Alright, but expect me and my husband to be here in the morning. We would like to talk with you about something. But, for now, rest at peace. Don't worry, we didn't turn you to the police" she gave him a reassuring smile, to which he blushed.

"Al-alright. G'night then..." he smiled sheepishly.

"Good night." She picked up and left the room silently, leaving the young stallion to his own thoughts.

'Tommorow morning, eh? Sounds interesting, as long as that crazed unicorn doesn't try to cut me up again' he chuckled. Closing his eyes, his mind drifted into another dream... another nightmare. His past.

***Author’s note: This fanfic is meant to be a blend of “Iron Man” and another surprise movie, which will be revealed later. Original story.

First fanfic created by me, I would like some constructive criticism on the speed of the action, the events, the emotions, everything that could help me improve. Also, I would like to find a pre-reader, that could point out mistakes in grammar and punctuation, as well as the flow of the story.

Thank you for your time!***

“Tony, wake up! Hey, kiddo, don’t keep me waiting, get up already!”

“Uh, wha…” said a young colt, as he woke up from a deep sleep. A small breeze sent shivers through his spine. “Jake, why is it so cold?” he asked with concern. “Is-is it winter again?” The simple thought made him shudder.

“Nope, kiddo, it’s just raining outside. Come on, let’s go find something to eat” said the elderly stallion as he nudged the colt to get on his feet.

“Alright, I’m up. Where are we going today, Jake?”

“Probably heading towards the Main Street, I heard some ponies talking about one of the restaurants there abandoning unused food in the back alley, so we should go there and check things out!” he said with an uneasy voice, as if he could barely keep himself in place.

“Alright, then… Ugh, Jake, do we really need to go out in the rain? Can’t we wait, just a bit?” Tony said pleadingly, to which the stallion lost patience and grabbed him by the throat and slammed him on his back.

“Our hunger won’t wait for the rain to stop, Tony! If you don’t wanna come, fine, but I won’t give you anything!”

Tony trembled in fear as he looked upon his old friend. “Alright, I’m coming, just please, let me go…” the last part of the sentence barely audible through his suppressed sobs, his lower lip quivering.

“Mhmm… let’s go.”

On their way to the restaurant, Tony tried to keep up with the elderly stallion, who was silently cursing the pegasi for bringing rain on such a day. He was shivering and cold, and the wind only made it worse. He knew that he would be sick again, but the prospect of sleeping again with an empty tummy won over reasoning.

Not paying attention where he stepped, he fell face first into a puddle, mud now staining his already dirty white coat.

“Of, that hurt.” He rubbed his forehead. In front on him stood another pony who looked surprised and concerned.

“Oh my, are you alright, little one? Here, let me help you.” A beige mare helped him to his feet. He could only stare at her. “Did you get lost from your parents?”

He shook his head. “Excuse me, miss, but, what are parents? Do you mean Jake? He is my friend.”

The mare was taken aback from such a reply, thinking he might be playing with her, but the innocent look in his eyes removed that possibility. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—“ She was stopped mid sentence by Jake, who had returned to look for his companion.

“’ey Tony, what’s keeping you?! Oh, hello there miss, please excuse us, but we are in a hurry!” he said as he grabbed the colt by his mane and pulled him.

“Sorry miss, gotta go.”

The mare was shocked, not by the rudeness of the older stallion, but by the young one, who seemed well raised, even though he looked kinda thin and dirty.

“W-wait!” Tony turned around to face the mare who was calling for them. “Take this. It will keep you warm” she said, as she put her scarf around the young colt’s neck. She kneeled in front of him. “Here, open it up and keep it above your head, it will protect you from the rain.” The young colt looked in awe at the device that was given to him, an umbrella.

“Thank you miss, thank you very much!” he said with a wide smile. He then turned around and darted after his companion, only to be stopped by a hoof on his shoulder. Turning around, he found the same benevolent mare pulling him in a hug.

“Take care, Tony…”

He was at a loss of words. Somepony did something nice for him. He was offered something he could not understand yet. Love. He sniffed, turned around and ran, occasionally glancing back at the mare, who gave him a nod, herself being in tears from such an event. 'Take care...'

“Hey Jake! Look what that nice lady gave me!” the small colt said out loud with a smile on his face as he neared the place where Jake would be waiting for him.

“Jake? Where are you?” Walking around the streetwalk, he could not find his companion. “Jake, this isn’t funny!” At the crossroads, he saw that there are ponies gathered and an ambulance was there aswell.

“Everypony stand back! Let the doctors handle this!” yelled a pony in uniform.

Gathering courage, he went to the commotion, hoping they wouldn’t mind his presence. Upon getting closer, he gasped in horror as he saw Jake laying in a puddle of blood, rain falling over him. His eyes, though open, did not move. Tony did not move. He simply stared at the doctors who were trying to resuscitate his friend, to no avail. He was gone. In the end, a pony went and closed the old stallion’s eyes. At this, Tony picked up and went straight for the lifeless body, earning a few stares and questions when approaching.

“Hey kid, this is no sight for your eyes. Go home now.”

He merely stared at the body, before he fell on his haunches and started crying.

“Jake… wake up. Jake, we are almost there, don’t you just go sleeping in the middle of the street.” No response. An officer placed a hoof on the colt’s shoulder, trying to get his attention. “Jake?...”

“Come on now, boy. Let’s take a walk, shall we?”

The colt didn’t move, nor did he say anything. He simply stared at the lifeless body of his only friend.

‘What's going on. Why isn't he responding? Jake...’

“He's gone kiddo. Please, come with me, let's have a talk, just you and me. I need you to—“ before the officer could finish his sentence the colt ran away from the crowd, away from the lifeless body of Jake. His tears weren’t masked by his soaked face, even after dropping the umbrella and rain started to pour onto his face. He could hear the officer shouting after him, but he was too slow to catch up to him.

“Aww, shoot. The boy got away. A relative maybe? His father?”

“Probably. Poor colt. Not a pretty sight, for someone so young as him. You should probably send somepony to search for him” said a paramedic. “As for him, we will try to identify him.”

“Alright, I’ll organize a search party.” With that, he headed off in the direction the foal ran. ‘I hope the kid is alright…’

************************************************************************

Arriving in a park, he sat on a bench and simply stared into the skies, tears streaming his face. Nopony was around, nopony to comfort him, nopony to talk to. Nopony.

Whimpering, he brought a hoof to his heart.

‘It hurts. Why? Why does it hurt? Jake… Come back, Jake…’ he choked out a sob.

He leaned on the bench and cried himself to sleep, ignoring the pouring rain and the pain in his abdomen, not having eaten since yesterday morning.

Hope

The Sun’s rays of light entered the hospital room, where an earth pony was turning and tossing in bed, sweating and talking in sleep. Crying. A nurse came inside the room to check on the patient.

“Good morni—“ she cut herself off when she saw the way the pony behaved. “Wake up, mister, you’re having a nightmare.” The mare shook him slightly.

“No… Jake, wait for… me” he whimpered in his sleep.

“Wake up!” the nurse said in a soft but commanding voice, eventually snapping the sleeping pony out of his bad dream.

“Huh, what, I’m awake, I’m awake… wait, what’s going on, where am I?” he asked the nurse, only for yesterday’s events to come back in a jiffy, making him hyperventilate.

“Was I almost killed?!”

“Shh! Calm down mister, you are safe. I just came in to check on you, to see if you needed anything.”

“Well, I could use some water, and… maybe something… to eat” he said, rubbing the back of his head and sighing. ‘Wait, was that mare here? Or was it just a dream?’ He shook his head gently and lay back on the pillow.

“Another nurse will come a bit later with breakfast, but for now, I must ask you, how do you feel? Any pain, dizziness?” she asked, eyeing him up and down, while checking his wounds, which were sewed up and bandaged.

“No, I just feel… weak, tired.”

“That is to be expected, it will take some time for you to feel better. I don’t think you need any more sedatives. Your blood pressure seems fine, so I will remove the blood drip.”

He watched as the nurse removed the needles from his left forearm and applied a bandage.

“There, everything should be okay. Oh, by the way, you have visitors.”

‘Visitors?! But who? Oh… OH! Buck, it’s –‘ his eyes widened when he realized who will come to see him.

“I will show them inside, be right back.”

‘Damn, what am I going to do!? He probably came here to strangle me!’ Taking a quick glance around the room, he rested his eyes upon the window. ‘The window! Maybe I can jump—‘ his thoughts were cut off by the door which swung open, revealing none other than the green unicorn, Margaret, the baker mare, and a nurse leading them in. ‘Buck, I’m done for…’ he cringed at the last statement.

“Good morning Tony” said Margaret, while nudging her husband to take a step forward and approach him. “I’m sorry we are late, but we had some business to take care off earlier this morning. How are you feeling?”

“Uh, I… well, good, I guess…” he said, shrinking further into his bed and covering his face with the sheets, hoping to avoid the piercing gaze of the green unicorn.

“Dillon…” The unicorn turned to the mare, receiving a glare that could make a dragon back off. “Say hello” the mare said to him, with a smug grin on her face.

“O…okay! Hey kiddo, how, uh, how are you?” said the stallion, rubbing the back of his neck, knowing that he was being pierced by the fiery gaze of his wife.

Tony popped his head from under the sheets and muttered a silent ‘hello’ to him.

Dillon sighed. “Look, I’m sorry for bringing you in this situation, but nopony, and I mean nopony! Will harm my wife.” Tony cringed and hid behind the sheets again, to which Margaret chuckled and planted a hard hoof in her husband’s cheek.

“Oww, what the hay was that for!?” he asked, rubbing his cheek.

“Don’t worry Tony, nopony will hurt you, now that I’m here” the mare said, with a smile so wide he could swear that her face would get stuck.

‘…stuck, hehehe’ Tony snickered to himself, earning him a few looks from those present in the room. “Uh, sorry. Random thoughts…” he said with a very bad poker face.

“It’s okay. Say Tony, the nurse told us you had a nightmare, and that you kept mumbling a name. Who is Jake, Tony? Is he a friend of yours?”

To this question, the colt cringed and felt anger building inside him, but managed to keep it within himself. “Nopony. Doesn’t matter.”

Margaret eyed him, concerned, seeing through his façade that he was hurt by the question. “I’m sorry Tony, I didn’t mean to startle you, but it seemed important. You can tell me whenever you’re ready, that is if you want to…”

“ Maybe some other day. When will I be released?”

“In a few hours, after we make a few more check-ups” the nurse replied while preparing a syringe.

“Whu, what’s that for?!” Tony asked horrified. He had never seen a syringe before. He never went to a doctor anyway.

“It’s an energizer, to help you recover” said the nurse, getting closer to him.

“Stand back! I’d rather eat these sheets than have an injection or whatever you call that!”

At this, all of them were laughing in tears, except for Tony.

“What’s so funny?! I mean it!” Tony said, confused as to why they were laughing.

“Alright, mister Tony, calm down, I won’t make you any injections if you do not wish. Speaking of which, do you have a medical insurance?”

“A what?” he asked, with a puzzled look on his face.

“Don’t worry nurse, we will pay for his hospitalization. After all, it’s a green unicorn’s mistake after all, isn’t it?” said the mare, looking her husband in the eyes.

“Yes dear!” he replied, saluting.

“We will come later to pick you up, we have some things to discuss. Me and my husband think we can help you a bit with your situation, that is if you want to.”

‘Help? Me? What can they possibly do for me, and why, after all I’ve put them through…’ he cleared his throat.

“Exactly how would you like to help me?”

“Maybe enrolling you into a school, so you can get on your feet and maybe improve your life. If you accept, we will help you with school taxes and such, until you can take care of yourself properly.” Margaret was smiling brighter than the sun.

‘School? This has to be dream come true! I can finally attend a school, have some friends! Oh boy, I did not think I would end up here after yesterday’s events.’

“I... I might accept your proposal, if it’s not a burden for you” he replied, with an appreciative smile.

“Not at all, we always wanted to have …” at this, the mare suddenly stopped and averted her gaze to hide her tears that started streaming down her face.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say anything to hurt you!”

“No, it’s okay Tony” said Dillon as he grabbed his wife in an embrace. “What she wanted to tell you, is that she wants to adopt you, since we can’t, well, you know…”

Tony was hit by this like a wall of bricks. ‘Adopted?! That’s why they are all so helpful!? But wait, through this maybe I can finally make a change in my life, become somepony. Somepony…’ the last word echoed through his mind. His lips curled into a wide smile.

“I understand. But I want you two to understand something about me.” At this, the mare stopped crying and looked straight into his eyes. “All I want is to study, learn something so that I can change my current life. All I want, is to have some friends, to be happy. If that is possible with you, then yes, I’d like to go with you.” At this, the mare cleared her throat and spoke softly.

“Welcome to the family then.” She then gave him a warm hug, which he returned with tears forming in his eyes. ‘A family huh? Sounds… good… Just like... Jake.’ He closed his eyes and cried softly.

Determination

The three ponies were trotting along the Main Street, heading towards the bakery, his new home. When Tony approached the door, he halted all of a sudden, the memories of the day before still dawning on him.

‘Are they really going to forgive me? Or… or they want to cut me up and bake me!’ He shook his head and sighed. ‘That was probably the most retarded idea you’ve had so far.’

“Coming Tony?” the voice of Margaret snapped him out of his trance.

”Yeah, coming.”

The same bakery, nothing changed. Tony followed the couple through a door in the right, leading into a lobby where they left their clothing. He looked over himself. ‘Silly me, I have nothing to lay here.’

“Come with me.” The colt followed the unicorn stallion upstairs, in a room on the left side. Opening it, his mouth fell and his eyes widened in awe. The room was as big as the kitchen downstairs, with a bed large enough to hold 3 ponies, and a leather chair? ‘I hope that leather is fake.’ He gulped.

“This here will be your room, you have everything you need, from books” he glanced at the rather large bookshelf filled with books of different shapes and colors, lined up in such a way that he could see the color transition, like in a rainbow. “… to parchments and quills. About school, we might need to introduce you to the basics of writing, math, geography and physics, so you will be able to enter the school next year with the required knowledge.”

“Uh-uh.” That was all that he could say, still shocked by the magnitude of the change that was happening to his life.

“I’m glad you like it” said Dillon, with a soft chuckle. “You can rest for today, and tomorrow we can start working on your lessons. Next week we are expected at the hospital to change your bandages and inspect the wounds… again, I’m sorry for that.”

“It’s okay, Mister Dillon—“

”Call me Dillon, mister sounds too formal.”

“Alright, Dillon. But I think I will start right away with some reading, maybe some math.”

“But, can you read? Or, write? No offence Tony” said Dillon, trying to avoid his gaze.

“None taken, Dillon. I’ve managed to learn how to read and write a few years earlier.” He shifted uneasily.

“Alright then, we will come by later to check on you. Have fun!” said the stallion as he left the room. ‘I hope we won’t regret this…’

Back in the room, Tony looked over the bookshelf then picked a few books, some were math related, other books were basic physics terminology and formulas. ‘If only they’d know… I think I was nine.’

---

Tony and 2 other ponies, a pegasus and an unicorn were waiting outside a school, hoping that the foals playing inside the courtyard would be too distracted to notice them stealing from their backpacks. Among their lunch and pocket money, Tony wanted to take some of their books aswell, his dream of attending a school still lingering within his mind.

The other two ponies stood right beside him and formulated a plan.

“Look, I’m going to fly above and distract them to turn towards the school. Grinder, you take the bags with your magic and try and bring them in this spot. Tony, if they see us, try to block their way, delay them while Grinder here works on their backpacks.”

“Alright, but don’t forget about the books, Grinder.”

“Why would you need that bucking hay, Tony? It’s not like you can read or anything.” Grinder and Firefly laughed at their friend’s intention of learning.

“I can learn to read. Anyway, if you won’t save some books, maybe I won’t hold them off.” At this, Grinder picked him up with magic and slammed him into the fence.

“Now you listen here, you sorry excuse for a bucking pony, if you won’t help us I will make sure I break every bone in your body. The choice is yours.” He then dropped Tony on the ground.

Catching his breath, he nodded weakly.

“Alright, let’s get this rolling. Go ‘fly go!”

With a military salute, Firefly bolted into the yard and started throwing small rocks and calling names, earning some fierce replies from the foals below. He laughed at the small pegasi and unicorns that tried to reach him.

“I’m too awesome for dweebs like you!” he chuckled and did a barrel roll, avoiding everything the crowd was throwing at him.

In the meantime, Grinder was already working at extracting the backpacks and removing them of their contents.

“Hurry up Grinder, ‘fly is tired!” But Grinder did not listen, instead he started eating a daisy sandwich, earning a hoof in his snout from Tony. “Not without us you scumbag!”

Startled by this, Grinder put the sandwich aside, signaled for Firefly to retreat, then forced every ounce of magic into Tony’s body, sending him flying into the crowd of foals. In the meantime, their older siblings that came to pick them up had watched all of the act, but before they could capture Grinder and the Pegasus, they had bolted off, the only one remaining behind was a confused and angry earth pony.

“Hey, look, one of them remained behind!” one of the ponies shouted. The others stood at attention and glared daggers at the now helpless pony that took notice of his surroundings.

‘Oh no, no no NO!’ He looked around, trying to find a way to escape. One way. The back entrance to the school. With this in mind, he bolted off and ran as fast as he could to exit the yard, being chased by several angry ponies. He slalomed through the pedestrians and turned left into a dead end. Before he could back off, he was already surrounded. 'Buck, where the hay did they go!? They left me behind? Some good friends I made...'

Starting to hyperventilate, he shouted at them.

“Leave me alone! I didn’t do anything!”

“Shut up, prick. I will teach you not to mess with my sister again” said a brown coated earth pony.

"Yeah, show him Duster!" many of the other ponies present were encouraging the one they labelled 'Duster' to clean out the trash.

Before he could reply to him, his face met his back hooves, as he spun around on his front legs and bucked with all of his force. Normally, a kick like that would leave a pony unconscious, but Tony got up, his vision blurry from the hit and tears that now freely streamed from his eyes. His nose hurt a lot, and a reddish ichor was dripping from it. Instinctively he covered his bleeding nose, only to receive another buck in his chest, knocking out all of the air. The others started hitting and biting him, like a beast gnawing at its prey. He was helpless to resist.

“STOP IT RIGHT NOW!” everypony stopped and looked toward the source of the noise. At the entrance of the alley stood a white pegasus filly, with a bow as a cutie mark and a soothing blonde mane. “You have no right to harm that pony. Leave him alone.” Her request was met with snarls and growling.
“NOW!” She shouted from the top of her lungs, something similar to the Royal voice of Canterlot, rendering the crowd unable to speak any further. One by one, they all left the scenery, leaving behind only the filly and the broken pony, who was whimpering in pain.

“Hey, are you alright?” She asked, in such a soft voice that he stopped crying and turned to face her. He didn’t say anything.

“It’s okay, nopony is going to hurt you, I’m here to help. Let me take a look…”

Pain was replaced by fear. “W-what do you want?” he said, spitting some blood from his mouth. “Leave me alone.”

She ignored his request and started cleaning him of the blood. After a few moments she spoke up.

“It will hurt for a while, but at least the bleeding has stopped. Hey, are you alright?" Her question was met by a soft hug and a ‘thank you’. “It’s okay.”

‘There is something about this filly… her smile. Why does it feel so good to touch her? She’s so… soft.’His glance stopped on her backpack. She noticed it.

“Are you hungry?” she asked, expectantly.

“No, I just… can I … can I take a look at your books, just for a moment?”

The filly was surprised at such a question. “Of course. I can borrow them for you to read if you wish.” Tony gulped and sighed.

“I don’t know how to read, in fact I don’t know anything.” He looked at her with a sad frown.

“It’s okay, I can teach you! It’s simple really.”

The colt was taken aback by her proposal. “I-I’d love to.”

She gave him the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. "Come with me, I’ll show you a spot where we can read without being disturbed. There is a park nearby.”

Together they walked to the said park, and sat on a bench. It was a beautiful, sunny day with gardens full of flowers and trees being occupied by birds that chirped happily around. In the middle, there was a fountain which portrayed Princess Celestia rearing up and raising the Sun. It was surrounded by roses of all colors.

”Oh, I forgot to ask, what’s your name?” the filly looked at him straight in the eyes, with an expectant grin.

“Tony. Tony Redmane.” She chuckled and patted him on the shoulder.

“I’m sorry, it’s just weird that your mane is black and, well…” she rolled her eyes playfully. “My name is Sundancer, Alexa Sundancer. Nice to meet you Tony. Shall we begin?” He nodded and gasped silently when the filly leaned on him to hold the book so they can both read at the same time. Suddenly he felt his heart pumping faster than ever and starting to sweat. It felt… good, to have somepony, especially a filly, lean against you. He sighed happily and focused his attention on the book as they began. After a while, he paused and got up. Sundancer looked at him puzzled.

"Are you tired, Tony? Or do you want to--" she stopped mid-sentence when he came back with a large red rose in his mouth and gave it to her. "F-for me?! That... that is so sweet of you..." she then leaned towards him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He could swear his face was set on fire, blushing furiously.

"Buh-uh..." He looked into her eyes. "Did I tell you that you are the most beautiful girl I have ever laid my eyes upon?"

She was blushing. "Uh, thank you...".She leaned back against him, giving a soft yelp when he put his forearm around her and leaned his head onto hers. "You are pretty determined to learn, aren't you?" she said, giggling playfully.

"Yeah, I'm pretty determined to learn. It seems so fascinating. Too bad other ponies hate school, it's a wonderful environment."

"Indeed it is..." she said, staring at the statue of the Sun Princess. "You're cute..."

---

Three hours passed, and he already finished a math book. He was working on geometry when he noticed the watch on the wall. ‘Three hours?’ Suddenly he realized something. His wristwatch was no longer there.

“What the hay?!” he bolted through the door and headed downstairs. In the kitchen, Margaret was humming to herself while preparing a new batch of sweets. Dillon was at the counter serving the clients. He saluted respectfully the clients then entered the kitchen and nudged the mare lightly.

“Um, excuse me Margaret, but, do you happen to know where my watch is? I had it on my wrist yesterday, can’t remember anything about it in the hospital though…”

“Oh, yes, they needed to remove it so they can put infusions. Don’t worry, I got it for you, it’s somewhere in my purse. Can you grab it for me, please? It’s in the lobby.”

“Alright, be right back.” As he walked to the lobby to pick up the purse, he asked himself out loud.

“Why do I need it anyway… it’s from my parents… whoever they were…” He then grabbed the purse and headed to the kitchen. “Here it is.”

Margaret took it and started searching through it. “Aha, there is is. It is quite a beautiful watch, where did you get it?” she asked, impressed by such a luxurious watch. “I hope you didn’t steal it or anything…"

“No, not at all. Jake…“ he cringed at the name. “Jake told me that its from my parents. Other than that I have no idea how it got to him.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Ah, by the way, Dillon told me you started studying, how far did you get?” she asked, a glint of happiness in her eyes.

“Well, so far I finished the algebra book, just started on geometry. By diner I hope to finish that too.” He said with a smirk on his face. Margaret was stunned.

“Y-you finished an algebra book in 2 hours?! That is fantastic!”

“It’s nothing, really… I hope I can recuperate enough to join a normal school.”

“At your rate of progress, I can safely say that in a few years, you will graduate the Manehattan Institute of Technology! I am truly impressed.”

“Thanks… wait, did you say that I could graduate the MIT?!”

“Yep, you really can.” She stopped working and went for a tight hug. “I believe in you. WE believe in you.”

He was speechless. His dreams would come true if he kept studying like that. But seeing that somepony believed in him only served in increasing his determination. A warm feeling coursed through him.

“I will not disappoint you… mother.” He hugged her and smiled.

“I know you won’t… son.”

Dillon stood in the doorway. “I don’t want to interrupt you, but we have some customers, Margaret” he said with a smirk on his face.

”Oh, shush you…” she snickered. Tony laughed and turned to see Dillon.

“Hello there, father.” Dillon came in and hugged him.

“We believe in you Tony. There’s one thing though.” He looked at Dillon questioningly. “If I ever catch you eyeing Margaret’ flank again, I’ll flatten your ass.” All of them laughed heartily and joined in a group hug.

‘Yup, a family…’

‘Four years. Four years of hard work and accomplishments. One could not understand how much I worked myself to reach this point. This is it. This is where I will become acknowledged. They were right. I can do this!’

Tony smiled as he approached the class room. He was quite something eccentric, being the only earth pony in the M.I.T. The Institute was mostly ‘populated’ by unicorns. Some pegasi were around as well, but in comparison with the unicorn numbers, they were like the needle in the hay. The large lobby was dazzling with students, each talking excitedly about the new year. But almost everyone took a quick glance at him. It was very rare for an earth pony to reach the doors of the Institute. One similar case was that of the now renowned Doctor Whooves, which resided in Ponyville.

‘I really wonder what is he doing there anyway, with his intellect. What a waste…’

The bell rang loudly, announcing everypony to head to their class rooms. Tony trotted around the lobby, searching for his class room.

‘291… 291… where is that class?! Ah here it is. I hope I’m not tardy on my first day’ he muttered to himself. To his relief, the professor had yet to enter the class room. Only a few spots were unoccupied. Walking between the rows, he found a spot close enough to the desk, and at equal distance from any other pony. He did not want to make friends, yet. ‘So many unicorns, I think I can see a few pegasi, but no earth ponies. I might be all alone in here.’

The class rose as the professor entered the class room and placed his books on the desk. Turning to see the class, he shot a glance, from left to right, to inspect his new class. Scanning the crowd, his eyes rested upon the only earth pony present. ‘Hmm, another one? Reminds me of Whooves…’

“Good morning, class! I am professor Michail Hoofinten. You will study physics this year with me, and as such I have a few rules that you must follow if you want the class to be pleasant. One, nopony is to say anything without raising their hooves; two, class assignments must be done on time, tardy ponies will not be forgiven.” At this, he received a few groans. “And third, I want everypony to be quiet during class and to participate in the lesson, either by answering questions, or posing questions, the choice is yours. Have I made myself understood?”

“Yes, sir” said the class in unison.

“Alright, I want you to introduce yourselves and tell me the exact reason you came here. Let’s start from the left, shall we?”

The class started introducing themselves one by one. Nothing special was happening, just the plain, old and boring introductions. Until...

“My name is Alexa Sundancer and I came to MIT to further develop medical technologies.”

Tony’s heart skipped a beat at the sound of her name. ‘It can’t be!’ Stealing a quick glance toward the source of the introduction, his gaze rested upon the most beautiful Pegasus he had ever seen, his old marefriend… Sundancer. ‘It IS her!’

“Interesting, Sundancer. Sit down please. Next.”

A few more minutes passed until it was his turn to introduce himself.

“My name is Tony Redmane, and I came to MIT to study robotics and to study nuclear physics.”

“Very well, sit down please. Next.”

The introductions continued for another 3 minutes. During that time, Tony shot a few glances toward Sundancer. Apparently she either did not hear him, or did not remember him. ‘I gotta talk to her after class. I want to know what happened, where did she go.’

“Alright class, let’s start on today’s assignment, shall we?” the professor then turned toward the board and started the lesson.

---

The bell rang.

Two hours of complex math. Most students looked like they had been hit with a sack of bricks. But not Tony. He was rather bored that he finished his class work before everypony else and even started on the next lesson, ahead of his teacher. ‘Are these guys serious? That was so easy…’

Walking to the mess hall, he saw Sundancer accompanied by 2 other pegasi, one was a mare and the other was… a stallion. The way they walked together. ‘It can’t be… No, this is merely a misunderstanding. I better go talk to her… but not when he is around… ‘ he growled.

“Mister Redmane?”

He turned around to see the face of his professor, Michail Hoofinten. “Hello sir. Is there anything I can help you with?” he shifted slightly, nervous that he might have done something wrong.

“No, I just wanted to congratulate you. I took a peek through all the students’ notebooks, and eventually I ended up at yours. I must say I am impressed.” He rested his left forearm on his shoulder. “I can’t wait to have you in the workshop.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The professor smiled and trotted away, leaving him with his thoughts.

‘Phew, I thought I screwed up.’ He sighed. ‘Better go eat something.’

Entering the mess hall, his mouth fell agape when he saw the large number of ponies gathered. Yet one stood out in the crowd. His love, in the company of the same stallion, but without the other mare. He tried to ignore it. Placing himself in the queue, he waited patiently for his turn at the cafeteria. However, he could not shake off this dreadful feeling, this pain. It was so similar, but where? Where did he felt such a tremendous pain in the past? Turning his head around slightly to see her again, he gasped silently as he saw her locked in a kiss with that stallion. He remembered. This pain. ‘Jake…’

“Next” said the mare at the cafeteria, expectantly.

“I’ll have a large coffee and a hay sandwich, please.”

“That will be 25 bits, please.”

Placing the bits on the counter, he picked his tray and headed for a table where there were 3 empty spots. He took the spot furthermost from the other ponies. However, he could still hear some hushed whispers from those around him.

“An earth pony, what is he doing here, did he get lost or something?”

Glancing left and right, he could see many eyes were upon him, like he was some sort of a freak. He decided to ignore it, until a yellow unicorn mare with navy blue mane sat in front of him and asked him loudly.

“Hey sweetie, I think you entered the wrong school, the Agronomy University is in the other part of the town.”

He stopped drinking his coffee and stared her right in the eyes. “I think you are mistaking the school with a strip club, from where you came from.”

The mare was stunned. Only then did he realize that he was the only one talking at the moment, every other discussion ended and everypony was staring at him. ‘What the buck are they looking at…’

The mare, released from her trance, huffed then went away. In her place now came a male unicorn, who had a beard and a slightly crazy hairstyle.

“You shouldn’t have done that” he said in a calm tone.

“Do what?”

“Y’know, insulting that bitch. Let me give you a piece of advice. Leave the school while you can. Things will get ugly. Not everypony here has a brain, there are some losers who have a high tendency towards violence. Just sayin’.” With that, the unicorn pony left the mess hall. Three unicorns were glaring at him from the other side of the mess hall. That mare was present there aswell, talking to a rather bulky red unicorn stallion.

‘Leave school, for HIM? Hay no.’

The bell rang again, signaling the beginning of the second class session.

Everypony started trotting to their respective class rooms, with Tony following behind them. On his way out of the mess hall, his path was blocked by the same Pegasus that kissed his love. Looking behind he found the red unicorn along with his friends standing in a semi circle around him. Looking back at the Pegasus in front of him, he could see the form of Sundancer, staying behind him, not caring what was going to happen.

“Quite a bad mouth you have there, Redmane. You think you can start throwing insults left and right just because you are the teacher’s favorite? Well, let me tell you something. Continue being a loud mouth, I’d like to see you talk without your teeth!” The Pegasus snored loudly in front of him, then trotted away in the company of his lover.

“I wouldn’t mess with Spectrum if I were you” said the red unicorn behind him.

“Or what? He’s going to tell the teacher on me?” Tony said in an uncaring tone.

The red unicorn laughed heartily. “You won’t last a month here with that loud mouth of yours. Enjoy your stay!” he said while passing beside Tony, laughing. The yellow mare beside him whipped her tail to hit him on the rump. He didn’t flinch.

Snapping out of the situation, he remembered he was late to class. He galloped to the class room and entered quietly, taking the nearest empty seat.

---

It was 18:00 hours when he finally escaped school and started trotting home. ‘First day and I already have enemies? Good job, featherbrain. At least the teachers appreciate my work.’ His lips curled in a smile. ‘I can handle them. I won’t back away from a fight if they want it. After all, I’m an earth pony. Strength is my middle name.’ He was deep in thought as he passed by pedestrians. At the corner of the street, he met none other than Sundancer. He decided to approach her.

"Hey Sundancer." The mare turned to face him and sighed.

"What do you want, what-was-your-name-again?" she said, in a very uncaring tone. He bit his lower lip.

"Don't you remember me? It's me, Tony. You're the one that helped me a few years ago after I got a beating from an angry crowd of ponies, remember?" he asked, pleadingly.

"Of course I remember. So, what's with it? You need something or what the buck is your problem?!" she hissed at him.

"Why are you angry with me? Sundancer, you were my best friend, even more than that, I loved you... what happened, you dissapeared all of a sudden back then."

"I moved out with my parents. Long story short, I don't give a buck on you or what happened back then, now leave before Spectrum arrives and handles you. For your own good" she said to him, turning around and taking flight.

Tony was heart broken. 'What happened to you, Sundancer... this isn't you.' He held back his tears and resumed the walk home.

---

“Mom, dad, I’m home!”

“Hey kiddo, welcome home! Mom’s in the shower, she will be out shortly. How was your first day?”

“Oh, well, nothing much, the teachers appreciate me a lot. I’ve made some enemies though, apparently their attempt to make fun of me backfired and I earned a few threats. Nothing I can’t handle, dad.” He said, puffing his chest.

“That’s my boy! Just be careful, there are some types of ponies in this world that can have some real problems in the head, if you get the idea.”

“Of course, dad, I will be careful.”

“Hey sweetie! I’m glad you’re home! How was your day?” Margaret said with happiness emanating from her like heat from the Sun.

“It went good, I made some friends and I impressed my teachers.” He received a small wink from his dad. They had secretly made a pact not to tell his mother anything bad about his life.

“Glad to hear it! I have some good news aswell!” she squealed. “I went to the doctor today to run some tests, since you know I don’t feel really well in the morning. He told me that the only reason that I was feeling sick is because I am pregnant in four weeks!” she let out another squeal, as he grabbed her husband and her son and pulled them in a tight hug. “I can’t believe my dream is coming true after all these years!”

Tony was stunned. He was going to have a sibling. But will they love him as much as they did so far? He shook the thought out of his mind. They loved him and he knew it. He made them proud.

"I love you, mom... dad."

"We love you too, sweetie."

---

Several weeks into the semester, he was at the top of his class, earning him praise from all of the teachers. They would refer to him as ‘the brother of Whooves’. Even his class mates have accepted him, except for one mare, who didn’t even bother to reply to his salute. It broke his heart knowing that the mare that once helped him and loved him, became a soulless pony. But he had a reason to be happy.

Today, after school, he would go with his parents at the concert of his favorite artists, Marilyn Maneson and D3adHors3. It seemed odd for his parents to accompany him to a concert, but they loved their music a lot and were long time fans of the artists. Sitting in the queue, they each shared their opinions on the newest releases in terms of music.

“Come on sweetie, you know Death Metal is my absolute favorite.” Margaret was literally hopping like a newborn foal expecting candy.

“Calm down Margaret, you’re giving the filly a head ache.” Dillon snickered softly. He was the proud father of a filly, now developing in the womb of his wife.

“Mother has the best tastes in music, we can all agree on that!” Tony said with a large smile on his face. “Oh, look, its our turn!” But before the trio could enter, a hooded figure stepped between the guards and turned to see those waiting in the queue, who were now glaring daggers at the newcomer.

“What the hay do you think you’re doing?!” Said Dillon, being very pissed that somepony just stepped ahead of them. Other ponies joined him.

The hooded figure dropped her hood, revealing the character to be a zebra stallion, which had a red mark on its forehead. He reared up and yelled:

“EQUESTRIA WILL FALL! DEATH TO THE PRINCESSESS! LONG LIVE ZABRAJIN!”

Before anypony could get a hold of him, he revealed all of the explosives attached to him.

“MY LIFE FOR ZABRAJIN!” he cried out before pressing the button on the harness.

A bright light and a thunderous roar echoed throughout the stadium and into the city, along cries of agony and fear. Then silence.

“Stay with us kiddo…” said a shadowy figure. There was movement around him, but it was too hazy to register anything significant.

“Blood pressure is dropping, I need that adrenaline now!”

“Liquid in the pericardial sack, get it out. Clear.”

His eyes shot opened at the sudden pain in his chest. Two doctors were holding him down while another one was pulling something out of his heart with a syringe.

“Prepare block 4 for immediate surgery. There’s shrapnel in there!”

His vision started to blur again, barely registering anything that was said or was happening.

---

“…too many… only a matter of time…” said a doctor, apparently working his magic into his chest. “He won’t make it.”

“Step aside.” Said a new, commanding voice, but somehow familiar. He could hear gasps.

“Doctor Whooves?!” Then silence.

---

Tony shifted in his bed sheets. He groaned and opened his eyes slightly. A blur of colors, coupled with the room spinning only made him feel sick. He closed his eyes.

“Mister Redmane?” asked an unknown voice. “Can you hear me?”

Tony opened his eyes again and looked around. At his left stood an unicorn doctor, who was writing something on his clipboard. The room was still spinning. He reached out a hoof to his forehead, no doubt very disoriented. The doctor then turned to see him.

“Any pain? Sickness?” he asked, in a rather unconcerned voice.

“Uhh… I…” his throat was sore.

“Here, drink this. It will calm the pain in your throat.” The doctor gave him a glass of what appeared to be some tea. Drinking ferociously, he sat back on the bed and sighed.

“Wh-what happened, where am I?” he asked, coughing up.

“You are in the Manehattan Hospital, in the E.R. I must say you are very lucky to be alive.”

“But… what happened, how did I get here?” he was starting to get impatient.

“Three days ago there was an explosion at the stadium, one hour before the concert. You were in the front line at the queue, when a zebra came and committed suicide, taking with him many more. You are the only one close to it that survived.”

Words began to sink in when he realized something. ‘Only one survived that?! No… no… this can’t be happening! They are alive too! They have to be!’

Clearing his throat, he made courage to ask about his parents’ fate.

“What about… my parents, a green unicorn and a yellow mare that was pregnant… where are they? Are they okay? Please…tell me they're fine.”

The doctor shook his head and sighed sadly. “I’m afraid they died shortly after the explosion. I’m sorry. Their wounds were severe. The green unicorn tried to save you and the mare, but she was too exposed. He took most of the damage on your side.” With that, the doctor picked up his clipboard and turned to exit the room. “Oh, by the way, somepony left a letter for you. It’s on your right.” The words didn’t seem to register, as the broken pony that lay in the bed just stared at the ceiling. “Well, I’m going now.” The doctor now left the pony to his own living nightmare.

Tony was too shocked to think. His heart ached so hard he thought it would explode in a million pieces. He simply cried.

---

Somehow he fell asleep after crying so much. The Sun was already rising in the east, bathing Equestria in its light and warmth. A new day. A new beginning. A new nightmare.

Tony woke up with an angry groan, wishing he would never wake up again. He had lost hope. His family, the only one he had, was dead. Killed by somepony else. Just like Jake. His heart ached. Sorrow and depression was soon replaced by seething hatred, as he hastily removed the covers off him to reveal a strange metallic device embedded into his chest. He stopped breathing in fright. ‘What the hay is this!?’ It resembled a miniaturized version of an energy reactor, although what kind of reactor this was, he wasn’t sure. I glowed a blue light. It was encased in a metallic cylinder that shielded it from the interior of his chest, the lungs and his heart. He then remembered that the doctor had told him that he received a letter from Doctor Whooves. Glancing to his right, he picked the envelop with his right hoof and opened it hastily. It read.

Dear mister Redmane,

You have my condolences on the loss of your family. I assure you the police is working hard to put together the pieces, as to why such an event occurred.

Now, onto the main reason for this letter.

I would like for you to visit me immediately after you exit the hospital. There are some important matters to discuss, regarding your future. As for the institute, do not worry, I have announced the principal of your situation and my intentions, and he allowed for you to leave school for a few weeks. Take as much time as you need to recover.

Regarding the device embedded into your chest, I will answer any questions you have when you reach me, although I presume you will figure out most of them, since you, as me, are a genius in development. I placed under your bed a small rectangular metallic carrier. Inside it lies the replacement cores for the generator. The device will let you know when the core inside it has been depleted by lowering the intensity of the glow. Now, to change the core, you have to unscrew it, and tap its back end.

That’s all for now.

P.S. It is of utmost importance that you look for me, in Ponyville.

Yours,
Dr. W.

‘This doesn’t make sense, what the buck does he want, and why did he put this inside me anyway?!’ he dropped the letter on the floor and lifted himself up. To his surprise, he wasn’t connected to anything else but a heart monitor. Ripping the suction-cup wires of him, he leaped off bed, only to land on his face after his legs gave out. ‘Oww, stupid, stupid floor.’ He looked directly under his bed. There was a metallic case with an ‘hourglass’ inscription on it. Picking it up, he opened it to reveal no less than 7 cores. By their looks, he assumed it was either platinum, or palladium. ‘So, I have to put this inside me? Buck that.’ As a sort of response to his question, the glow in his chest dimmed. ‘I guess I have to change it…’ With a frown, he gently unscrewed the generator and took it out. It looked like… a miniature ionized arc reactor! ‘How the buck did he managed to minimize that thing?! As far as I can remember, the arc reactor base model was huge… it’s impossible to make it this… small.’ He tapped its back end and gave a small yelp when it opened and revealed a rather steaming core, that was accompanied by a smell that reminded him of storms, a metallic taste in his mouth. 'Neutron damage, I presume.' He gently removed it and put in a new core, the device closing itself freely and radiating a brilliant light once more. Placing it back, he screwed it in position and gave a sigh of relief. 'That was odd.'

A doctor entered the room and gasped loudly.

“Mister Redmane, what in Celestia’s name are you doing down there?!” the doctor was shocked to see him moving around, having suffered such serious wounds.

“Ugh, I opened my Christmas present, something wrong doctor?” he replied, clearly annoyed.

“N-no, not at all, but it’s a surprise seeing you out of bed. How are you feeling?”

“Absolutely wonderful, I have lost my family once again and I’m the happiest pony in all of Equestria!” he yelled back at the doctor, then fell on his haunches, and brought a hoof to his eyes to stop any tears.

“I am very, very sorry to hear that…” the doctor looked away from him for a second, then spoke.

“The Doctor told me to give you this, as to give you an idea for… that thing.” He pointed out at the arc reactor. He then revealed a small plastic jar that contained something… Something vile. Upon closer inspection, he could make out the black objects as being shrapnel.

“If he removed it all from my body then—“ he stopped suddenly. ‘If he would have removed them all from my body, then there wouldn’t be a reason for me to have this thing inside me. That only means…’

“Not all were removed, Mister Redmane. Simply because they were unreachable, and any further attempt to remove them would have resulted in your death.”

“I understand. So, it's some sort of an electromagnet that keeps the shrapnel in place?"

“Indeed, it is. You will be released tomorrow morning. I will come later to check on you.” He received a weakly nod. “Good day, Mister Redmane.” The doctor then turned and left through the door.

Tony got up from the floor and sat on his bed. ‘I’ll see you soon, Doctor…’ He looked towards the window. 'I’d rather have myself killed, and have them live… Dillon, Margaret… Sister…’ At this, he started crying freely. ‘I will avenge you all. I swear on my heart!’ he yelled in his heart.

---

Tomorrow morning, he sat at the desk to check out. One receptionist was talking to him while the other prepared the papers for his release. His chest was covered in a large gauze, to hide his deformity.

“That is all, Mister Redmane. Have a nice day.”

“Thank you.” He then turned to leave. As he exited the hospital, he went close to the street and shouted for a ride. “Taxi!”

A carriage stopped near him. “To the train station.” The driver gave him a nod and started cantering towards the destination. During the whole trip, there was only one thing on his mind: pain. The pain of loneliness. He knew it all too well. With a sad sigh, he resolved around re-reading the letter he received from the Doctor.

Several minutes later, he arrived at the train station. He paid his fare to the driver, then trotted towards the ticket booth.

“One ticket to Ponyville, please.” The cashier nodded and handed him the ticket.

“That will be 30 bits, sir.”

Placing the money on the desk, he picked the ticket and boarded the train. A loud whistle followed by the shriek of the locomotive announced the departure of the train, which now gained speed and approached the exit of the town. ‘Funny, I’ve never left Manehattan before…’

The open plains were shadowed by large mountains that still carried marks of the winter, snow still visible on their tops. Meanwhile, in the fields, earth ponies, pegasi and unicorns worked together to harvest the crop. Fillies and colts were helping the elders as if playing a game, enjoying the activity, together with their friends.

As the train passed more and more villages, it was nearing a chain of mountains, surrounded by a very large forest. Tony could make up the shape of the Capital City of Canterlot into the mountain beyond the forest known as the Everfree Forest. Something felt special about this location. The scenery was stunning, green plains surrounded by forests and mountains. It felt like... home.

The train was now exiting the forest and whistled sharp three times to announce the next stop before Canterlot: Ponyville. He rose from his seat and grabbed his saddlebags and prepared for the stop. Upon arrival, he exited the train and started trotting around town, to find the Doctor.

Ponyville was unlike any other village he had ever seen. It was full of ponies that had something in common: a wide smile on their faces. The village itself wasn’t spectacular, aside from a few shops he could make out, like the bakery shop, looking like it was made of candy itself. ‘Sugarcube Corner, eh? Sounds good for now.’ He entered the shop and approached the couple sitting at the counter. One was a blue mare with her mane in two shades of pink, while the stallion next to her was a thin and tall earth pony with a yellow coat and orange mane. Both had sweets for a cutie mark.

“Hello and welcome to Sugarcube Corner! Can I get your order?” Said the blue mare, with a smile on her face.

“He-hello, I’d like a cupcake with strawberries and rainbow frosting please.”

“Right away, sir. That will be 15 bits.”

He opened his saddlebags and placed the money on the counter.

“Thank you kindly, sir. Here is your order. Enjoy!” said the stallion as he pushed the cupcake towards him.

“Thank you. Farewell.” Right as he was about to exit the shop, he bumped into a pink earth pony with her mane poofy like it was cotton candy. She gasped loudly and disappeared faster than the speed of light. “What was that?!”

The Cakes chuckled. “Oh, it was just Pinkie Pie. She does that usually when she meets new ponies, since she knows everypony in Ponyville. Don’t worry about it.” Said the mare.

“Alright…” he said and turned to leave. ‘That mare scared the buck out of me.’

Trotting around town, he stopped in the park to rest for a while. ‘Now where the buck is that pony? I think I will go and make reservations at the inn for a night.’ He sat on a bench and looked towards what he could make out to be Cloudsdale. ‘Wow, quite the city in the skies. I wonder how does it feel to fly… Wait, what’s that noise?’ Turning around towards the source of the sound that was closing in he could make out a few words.

“WATCH OUT!!” said the figure which now crashed into him and send him into the small lake in the middle of the park.

Gathering all of his strength, he pushed the form off him and shot his head upwards, to breathe.

“Aughh, what the hay!? He said angrily as he inspected himself. No damage, but the gauzes were soaking wet and had to be changed. Looking around him he took notice of a blue Pegasus mare, that had a rainbow mane that was coughing and swearing.

“Bucking hay, I almost did it!”

“Yeah, you almost killed me!” he replied angrily at the mare, who was now flying and gave him a sheepish grin.

“Sorry, here, let me help you with that!” at that, she shot upwards and came down in a spiraling move at high speed, drying his coat. “There, you look just fine. It’s better than the first time I tried this on a soaked pony.” She couldn’t hold back a snicker. He still look unimpressed.

“Thanks. I gotta go. I must change my gauzes.” He then went over to his saddlebags, picked them up and left the park, not saying anything else to the now puzzled mare. She didn’t even follow him.

Nearing the exit of the town, he laid his eyes upon a clockwork shop. ‘If he isn’t here, he doesn’t exist.’ Entering the shop, he was amazed by the large number of watches present, each more beautiful than the other. It reminded him of his own, which got broken in the explosion. At the desk was a small bell. He rang it once.

“Coming” said a voice behind a door. Several moments later, the door opened and revealed a tall, cream colored earth pony, with dark mane and an hourglass as a cutie mark.

“Doctor Whooves I presume.”

“Ah, Tony, I’m glad you could make it. Come, we have much to discuss.” He motioned for Tony to follow him through the door he came. Taking a deep breath, he followed suite. ‘He looks similar to me. Now I know why some teachers called me ‘the brother of Whooves’.

Tony followed the Doctor through a small lobby, then downstairs into what appeared to be a large laboratory, filled with watches and other electrical devices. Several robotic arms were apparently assembling a scoreboard. He went at it and watched in awe at the precision of the arms.

“I call it ‘Jarvis’. He’s a friendly autonomous software.” Tony turned to look at the large computer that stood on a table. “Come, he won’t bite. Maybe.”

Tony took a few steps toward the Doctor and took a seat next to him. Clearing his throat, he concentrated on what he was about to say.

“What happened to me? Can you also explain this arc reactor in detail? Who are you anyway!?” He sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Well, let’s answer those in order. I saved your life with that generator, the arc reactor is made up the same way as its larger version, the only difference is that this one is running purely on palladium as an accelerator. I have no doubt you changed it at least once, if not, I will tell you anyway. Even though I saved your life, you will die earlier than you should. You see, the neutron damage from the core is poisoning your body, and as such, you will be required to consume a few ounces of stabilizer to slow down the reactions in your blood. I will give you the recipe, nothing out of the ordinary. Here, have a shot I prepared for you. As to who I am? A pony, duh."

Tony eyed up the glass with the strange blue-ish liquid inside it. “Is it safe?”

“Of course, what do you think I am, a moron?!” the Doctor said in a playful manner.

“Probably.” Tony snickered. He then took a deep breath and started drinking, only to spit it all out in disgust.

“Bleaaargh, it tastes like shit! What the buck, are you making fun of me?!” He blurted out angrily, to which the Doctor laughed.

“No, and to be honest, I had no idea it tasted like that. But it DOES work. So be a stallion a drink it up. Trust me.”

Taking a look at the liquid again, he held his breath and drank it all. He immediately felt the need to throw up, but fought to keep it inside him.

“If I don’t die from the poison, I will surely die from this crap you call medicine.”

The Doctor chuckled and looked him in the eyes.

“Tony, there’s something I want to show you.” He then got up and picked an envelope from a drawer and gave it to the confused pony.

“What’s this?”

“Read it.”

Tony opened the envelope and took the letter. The schematics to the arc reactor, along with descriptions and figures. The last paper was a buy/sell document, in which he would be the buyer to Whoove's business.

“I am retiring from the business, too tired to do anymore of this stuff. And since you are like me, and I know you are, I hereby relinquish all of my worldly possessions to you, Tony.”

“But, what about you? What are you going to do? And that is an AWFUL lot of money... I can't pay this stuff!”

“You don't need to pay anything, it's just for show. As for what I'm going to do, I’m just moving into the Royal Palace, as an advisor to the Princesses. Pretty neat huh?”

“Yeah… I think. Hey Doctor.”

“Yes?”

“Thanks, for all of this, but I refuse. I have my life in Manehattan, and my own future to worry about. Sorry.”

The Doctor smiled warmly and gave him a nudge in the shoulder.

“Don’t worry. My offer remains available forever, so whenever you need materials, or a means to escape, you know where to come to. Don’t hesitate to contact me through the Princesses’ student, Twilight Sparkle. She lives in the Ponyville library. Ah, it’s 20:00 hours, let’s go. We have a place to be.”

“What, where?” he said, as he got pulled by the mane by the Doctor.

“You’ll see.”

---

Arriving at a barn in the middle of what seemed to be an apple orchard, the Doctor motioned for him to go ahead and enter the barn.

“But it’s illegal to enter another’s property!”

“It didn’t seem to bother you a few years ago.” At this, Tony gave him a growl.

“That was something else.” Gathering courage, he entered the barn cautiously. Darkness. He could make out a few noises. Movement. It reminded him of a horror movie. ‘I hope I don’t get eaten by a dinosaur or something…’ then, all of a sudden, the room was filled with light, and some pinkish blur that yelled at the top of her lungs, in unison with the others present in the barn.

“SURPRISE!!”

“Aaahhh don’t eat me!”

He could hear laughter all around him. Lowering his arms, which he raised to protect his face, revealed a lot of ponies, that were apparently waiting for him. He turned to ask the Doctor about this, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“HI! My name is Pinkie Pie? What’s yours? Were you surprised, huh huh? *gasp* I totally forgot something, your party hat!” She disappeared and reappeared in less than a second with a party hat that now adorned his head.

“Gee, thanks, but who is this party for anyway?” he asked. “Can you make the room stop spinning please, I’m getting a head ache.” The party pony giggled heartily.

“The room isn't spinning, silly, and the party is for you of course, silly! I know everypony in Ponyville, and if there’s a new pony in town, I organize a party for that pony so that he can make lots of friends, have some fun and get drunk to boot!” ‘Somehow she said all that in one breath… creepy.’

“What? Oh, well, alright. Let’s get this party started!” he yelled out loud, earning cheering from the crowd.

---

Two hours later and a lot of apple cider, he was standing at a table discussing with an orange mare with a blonde mane, named Applejack. Apparently she was the owner of the orchard and the barn, so he owed her some appreciation for that.

“I gotta shay, thish has to be *hic* the besht apple whatever-is-it-called I have ever drank. Oh, I’m drunk as buck… excushe me missh *hic*.” With that, Tony picked up and left the barn for a while, to empty the contents of his stomach outside the barn. In the meantime, Applejack went over to her friends.

“Ah shwear gurls, that stallion over there can compete against Berry Punch when it comes ta being drunk *hic*.”

“Oh, Applejack, you shilly filly, everypony ish drunk, except Twilight.”

A lavender mare with a dark purple mane and a 6 point star cutie mark lifted her head from under the table and belched something. “Wha, shomepony shaid my name? No? Okay…” she fell back asleep under the table.

“Nevermind. Party’s over, poniesh, o-wait, there’s nopony left in here. Ah well, I get all the sweets and… *belch*” the pink party pony laid down on the hay and fell asleep, drool coming out of her mouth.

Tony came in to find half of his new friends asleep, with the other three being close aswell. ‘Might take a nap here, I’m too tired to move anywhere else.’ With that, he fell asleep in the doorway, grabbing a nearby pile of hay and covering himself with it. Another round of painful memories waited for him.

---

The young colt was hopping around his protective friend. Jake. The stallion was trotting casually towards the place they called ‘home’ an empty apartment in a desolated building. It’s the best shelter they could find. Enduring a winter on the streets was far worse than anything they could think off. They barely lived through last winter, and only because they found a spot in the sewers, where the pipes with steaming water warmed up the place.

Jake was always there for him, he was his friend, his protector. Gathering courage, he asked the elder pony.

“Hey Jake, are you my daddy?”

“Nope, sorry kiddo.” Jake heard the young colt sigh sadly. “But I will tell you the story of how I found you when we get home, alright?”

“Alright!” the colt was already happier. Even if Jake wasn’t his daddy, he loved him very much. It was the only one who cared for him. For him, he was his daddy.

---

“Hey Tony, wake up silly! It’s already noon!”

“Huh, what?” He replied weakly, the effects of the hangover clearly visible. But he felt something else. Sickness. It was coming from his chest. “Aww, what the hay…” he tried to get up, but it was too much for his body.

”Tony, are you alright? You don’t look too well. Twilight, come here!”

“What is it Pinkie? Oh, my, Tony are you alright? You look terrible!”

Disoriented, he lifted himself on his haunches and looked around for his saddlebags.

“My saddlebags, my medicine is there… I need to get them.”

“’ere they are, partner.” Applejack brought them. The three mares eyed him concerningly.

He opened them, took the container and opened it. ‘Wait, these ponies don’t know of my accident, I might scare them.’

“Girls, can you turn the other way, please? It’s a bit embarrassing.”

“Alright, if you say so.” With that, Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie turned around and walked towards the door. “We will be right outside, give a holler if you need anything.”

“Alright, thanks.” Tony hastily removed the gauzes around his chest and removed the arc reactor. Just in time for a certain cyan Pegasus to come inside from the other door and give a yelp. ‘Buck.’

“What in the hay is that thing?! Are you a robot or something?” she asked, angry and surprised at the same time.

“Rainbow, what’s wrong *gasp* oh my gosh, Tony, are you alright?”

“I’m fine… just give me a second.” He switched the damaged core with a new one, then placed the reactor back inside. It took him a few seconds to recover from the sickness. “Alright, I’m done.” Turning around, he was met by 6 figures, ranging from shocked, to confused and ultimately angry. “I can explain everything, if you can keep quiet.”

Pinkie Pie gasped “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!”

Tony blinked twice. “What?”

“Pinkie Pie swear, don’t worry about it. We won’t tell anypony about that, right girls?” Everypony nodded. “Alright, so what’s that thing anyway?”

Tony sighed, having to remember why he had it in him, the explosion, the stadium… his family’s death. Clearing his throat, he turned to face the container in front of him.

“About a week ago, some freaky zebra blew himself up, in front of me and my family, and… I’m the only one who survived it, if only for a few more hours.” The group in front of him gasped. “The doctors didn’t give me any chances, seeing as my chest was full of shrapnel. It’s nickname is ‘the walking dead’, simply because it takes a week for them to reach out vital organs and kill you. Doctor Whooves saved my life by planting this generator here, which stalls their movement. But every once in a while, the ‘battery’ as you can call it, depletes and needs to be replaced, otherwise it will poison my body to the point that my internal organs will liquefy.” The group now in front of him was shocked.

“I’m sorry Tony, we didn’t knew.” To their surprise, the pink mare got up and hugged the now shocked stallion, followed by the other mares. He could only blush and hug them back, in appreciation.

“As much as I’d like to stay, I still have a school to finish, back in Manehattan.”

”But, you will come to visit us, right?” Said the pink pony, obviously hurt.

“Of course, Pinkie. After all, what kind of a friend I would be if I wouldn’t.”

The pink pony squealed and tightened the hug, causing Tony to gasp for air.

“Pinkie Pie, that’s enough! He can’t breathe! PINKIE PIE!” Rarity yelled at her friend.

“Aww, Rarity, he’s okay, right Tony? Tony? OHMYGOSH he fell asleep again, he must be very tired.” Pinkie shrugged.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Pinkie Pie, you are soooo random.” Everypony in the room started laughing, with the exception of the breathless stallion that was recovering from the death hug.

Monday. First day of school after 2 weeks. It was very difficult for Tony to return to school. It meant homework, assignments, things that he had to do at home. The bakery, or so it was. He officially closed the bakery, since the Doctor gave him all of his money, and sweet Celestia, it was alot of it.

It was too painful to stay home too much. It felt… so empty without them. Everytime he got home, he did nothing else but cry. He felt all alone again. During the day, he would mostly go for a walk, even when it was pouring outside.

Eight o’clock. The bell rang loudly, prompting the student to enter their class rooms. As usual, he sat in the back of the class, away from other students. He had his gauzes changed everyday, not because it was needed, but to hide the device in his chest. Sweating made him consider changing them everyday. He was stopped by several students who wondered what happened to him. His reply was always the same, an accident.

“Good morning class.” Said a familiar voice. It was professor Michail Hoofinten.

“Today we are going to study the effect of—“ the professor continued with his lesson as usual. But Tony wasn’t focused today. Rather, he was thinking about a certain Pegasus mare that sat a few spot to his right. She didn’t seem to care at all.

“Mister Redmane, can you tell me te answer to number 2?”

“Sorry professor, can you please repeat the question?” he said, while trying to find the lesson in his book.

“What is the answer to number 2?”

Tony gave up. “I don’t know.” All of the class laughed. He embarassed himself. The laughter seemed to never end. The only ones who weren’t laughing were the professor, who was obviously very worried, and Sundancer. They didn’t join the class in the act.

“Settle down class. Tony, if you wish, you can go take some fresh air outside.”

“Thank you professor.” He got up and left the classroom for a few minutes. ‘I screwed up.’ He walked silently along the corridors, trying to calm himself. ‘I need to wash myself.’ With that in mind, he entered the bathroom to wash his face. He opened the flow and sunk his face in the sink. It felt refreshing. When he raised his head, he gasped when he saw Spectrum behind him in the mirror. Before he could react, Spectrum grabbed his mane and hit him hard against the mirror, breaking it, fresh blood now mixing up with the water in the sink.

“What’s the matter, Tony? I thought you had guts. Why were you looking at my marefriend like that? Do you want to have her? Huh? I’ll be dead before that happens!”

Tony felt himself lifted up then slammed hard against the wall, knocking out the air out of him. But Spectrum didn’t stop here, he continued hitting him, eventually landing such a powerful blow that Tony felt his mouth full of blood all of a sudden, accompanied by something solid. When he spat on the ground, amongst the saliva and blood there were two teeth.

“I told you I’d pull out your teeth.” He spat at him. “Consider this a start, if I ever catch you looking like that at my mare I’ll bucking kill you, you hear me Redmane?!” Grunting, he picked up and left the bathroom.

Tony sat there, on his haunches, leaned against the wall, speechless. His forehead was bleeding severely and his face ached. He moved his tongue around his mouth, trying to find the place where there were teeth missing. He felt strange. Instead of empowering him, the adrenaline rush sent his body into shock, rendering him unable to move.

He heard soft hoofsteps at the entrance of the bathroom. But he didn’t care. Why should he care? After all, everypony only tried to hurt him. He lowered his gaze to his front hooves, coated in blood. The new pony trotted in front of him and grabbed his face to lift it up. He was very surprised to find that the pony now holding him was none other than Sundancer. She looked worried. He didn’t say anything.

She pulled out some tissues from the drying machine in the corner and started wiping his face of blood. She gave up when she noticed the large gash that was on his forehead, bleeding profusely.

“Tony, listen to me, I’m going to get help, you need an ambulance.”

He didn’t reply, merely turning his head the other way to avoid her eyes.

“Tony…it’s going to be okay, you hear me? I'll be right back.” Sundancer then got up and ran through the corridors to the principal. Entering the office, she asked for help.

“Principal, please call an ambulance, we got a pony seriously injured in the bathroom, he’s bleeding severely!” Not wanting to wait for a reply, she bolted back towards the bathroom, where she found Tony now lying face down into a puddle of his own blood.

“Tony! Stay with me. Don’t you sleep, you hear me!?”

Several minutes later, a few paramedics entered the bathroom and placed the unconscious pony on a stretch and headed for the hospital. She knew exactly who did this, but she had to deal with him later.

---

Feeling slowly returned to the earth pony, going in and out. Eventually, he woke up and opened his eyes, to reveal a room he was quite familiar with. ‘A hospital, what a surprise…’ The clock on the wall indicated that it was close to 19:00 hours, almost 10 hours after the incident. ‘What can I say, I sleep like a rock.’ Light snoring caught his attention. To his left, standing on a chair, was professor Michail, who was reading a book. So it wasn’t him who was snoring. Then who? Turning to his right, he laid his eyes upon the sleeping form of Sundancer, who was resting her head on his bed.

The professor noticed that he was awake, so he closed his book and placed it on the chair next to him. Taking a deep breath, he approached the injured pony.

“How do you feel, Tony?” he said in a hushed whisper, so he didn’t wake up the sleeping mare.

“Like I got hit by a meteor… What is she doing here professor?”

”She spent the day here at the hospital with you, until I arrived. She fell asleep about an hour ago, she was really tired. Stress combined with exhaustion sent her over the edge.”

‘She was here all the time, with me?’

“Mhmm… mhhh…” she mumbled in her sleep, before waking up and stretching her wings and forelegs. She then looked him into his eyes.

“Hey.” Her disheveled mane rested upon her face, hiding part of it. It looked marvelous.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” he asked her.

“I think I’m going to let you kids alone, see you at school, Tony!” said the professor, taking his leave.

“Alright, good night professor.” The professor nodded and left the room. They were all alone in the room. A few minutes of complete silence passed. She was the first to speak.

“Look, Tony, I’m sorry for everything, from the way I treated you to my friends’ behavior. I also owe you an explanation for why I left you so many years ago.”

He was taken aback. Was this her class mate, the same mare that threatened him a few weeks ago? “It’s okay, you don’t owe me anything.”

“No, you must know.” She sighed. “My parents were fighting alot back then, and I hated to be anywhere near them when this happened. So I resolved around sitting in the street, all alone. Until I found you that day.” She took a deep breath. “Well, you pretty much know how we spent every day after together, playing and studying together. I was happy with you, you truly were a good friend. But not everything lasts forever. Eventually, my parents broke up and I was forced to go live with my dad in Phillydelphia.” At this point she was sobbing openly. “Up until now I lived in hell, having to cope with some bucking assholes at school and a father who did nothing but drink up his mind. I despaired.”

Tony was speechless. ‘If only I knew…’

“I’m so sorry, Sundancer. I wish I was there for you. What happened next?”

She took a few seconds to stop herself from crying and continued.

“I ended up in such a situation that I wanted to kill myself. But a certain pony saved me. Not because he talked to me or anything, but he offered me protection in his group of bullies.”

“Spectrum?”

“Yes, him. I only accepted to evade all of the pain I endured so far. Of course I had to act as his marefriend, even though sometimes he exaggerated, like 3 years ago when… when he raped me…” She broke down completely now, crying like she never had before.

Tony couldn’t stand seeing the mare he loved suffering like that. Her pain was so similar to his. Despite his wounds, he rose from his bed and hugged Sundancer tightly.

“Shh, everything will be fine. I’m here now sweetie. I will take care of you, no matter what. You hear me, Sundancer?”

She gave a small nod. “Tony, when I heard your name in the first day, I was angry with you, but also sad. I wanted to talk to you so badly, to tell you how much I missed you, how much I actually loved you. I want to make up for all those years, Tony!”

He tightened his embrace around the mare and whisered softly. “It’s okay, Sundancer, I will always be here for you.”

She rose her head and smiled, tears still streaming down her face.

“Good girl.” He kissed her on the forehead.

“Oh Tony, I’m sorry, I soaked your bandages, here let me change them for you.”

‘Oh buck!’ he let go of her and covered his chest. “It’s fine really, no need to bother sweetie.”

”Silence! I know what’s good for you and you will listen to me, you hear?!”

‘She hasn’t changed a bit since that day…’ He thought, gulping loudly.

“Let’s see, what do we have—" she stopped. "*gasp* Tony, what is this?!” she asked, pointing at the arc reactor.

“Oh, that, well… it’s a long story. Do you want to come up in bed, with me? I promise I won’t do anything bad. I have a bed time story too.”

She chuckled heartily. “Oh Tony, you haven't changed one bit.” She said, as she climbed up in bed and cuddled against him. “Let’s hear the bed time story, daddy.” She snickered and kissed him playfully.

He took a deep breath and started explaining the situation to her. By the time he was done, Sundancer was crying yet again and embracing him tightly.

”Oh, Tony, I’m so sorry! I never thought... that you suffered so much.” she sniffed.

“It’s okay. At least, now I have a friend I know I can rely on, right?” he asked her, giving a wink.

“Of course, sweetheart. However, I think you need to be taught some respect…”

“Wha-hhhaaaaa…” he couldn’t say anything, having his muzzle locked into a passionate kiss with his lover, feeling her tongue pressing against his. His heart was racing and his mind was processing a million thoughts over. His breathing intensified. Then the kiss broke.

“Ah, wha… huh… is this heaven?” he asked, obviously entranced by the kiss.

She giggled playfully and hit him on the rump with her tail.

“Playing dirty huh? How about this!” he said, as he pulled her on her belly and climbed upon her, preventing her to escape.

“Tony, what are you… oooh… oh Celestia…” she moaned softly, as to not alert any ponies on the hospital corridors, while Tony was caressing her wings, which were now fully exposed, with soft kisses and licking.

After a fifteen minute session, she broke from her prison and turned around beneath him to look into his eyes, spreading her legs in anticipation. He didn’t wait for any invitations, leaning in and kissing her like he never had before, putting in it all the love he had for her.

“I love you Tony… I love you so much!” she cried tears of joy, having been reunited with her oldest and best friend.

He didn’t reply, he merely continued kissing her passionately. The night was just beginning for the two lovers.

Two weeks have passed since Tony left Ponyville, after spending here a night to have some fun, on the recommendation of the Doctor.

It was a sunny day in Ponyville, the Sun shooting its rays towards its inhabitants. It was a busy day, for two of the most loved ponies in the village were about to get married the next day. Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon. It was quite the event, seeing as it was the first official wedding between two mares, made legal by its loving ruler of the Sun, Princess Celestia. She knew that love could overcome any differences, and such, legalized the marriage between ponies of the same gender.

Sugarcube Corner was working non-stop to prepare the sweets and pastries needed for the party afterwards. Pinkie Pie was concentrated on combining several types of frostings to complete her new recipe she called ‘Twix’, a caramel and chocolate based cupcake. She thought of it as ‘a piece of heaven for everypony’. Satisfied with her work, she gave a loud squeal of excitement and prepared to mass produce the new sweet.

---

In the other part of the village, at Carousel Boutique, Rarity was working on several dresses at the same time, working overtime to finish the dresses.

“Some red over here, maybe some blue… oh no no no, just no! It won’t do!” glancing at the clock, she yelped and started working faster. “Come on Rarity, I have enough time, no need to worry! I also have an appointment at the spa later today with Fluttershy. Oh my, I won’t have enough time for the dresses, ahhhh!” she gritted her teeth in frustration.

“Can’t you just cancel your appointment and continue working on the dresses?” asked Sweetie Belle in an uncaring tone, waving around her hoof.

“Why, Sweetie Belle, I need to relax or else I will look like a diamond dog at the wedding! I can’t have that!” Rarity huffed and waved her sister away.

“I’m going to play with the Crusaders. Later, Rarity!”

---

In the Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and her older brother, Big Macintosh were bucking the apple trees, gathering as many as they could to deliver to the Sugarcube Corner to prepare them. It was a rare occasion for them to sell so many apples, and bucked as many as they could.

After a while, Applejack took a short break and looked towards the fields.

“Ah tell ya Macintosh, this here wedding is gonna make us rich!” She said, rearranging her Stetson hat on her head.

“Eeyup. Although we might want to buck just a few more then go prepare ourselves, cos tomorrow morning we won’t have enough time.” He replied calmly, with the best poker face one could only wish for.

“Ah agree. Let’s git to work, brother!” Big Mac gave her a nod and resumed their activity.

---

If one pony would stand and listen to the wind for a second, they could hear what appeared to be some angels singing, or birds, in this case.

In the backyard of her cottage, Fluttershy was singing along with her numerous bird friends, preparing a song for this special event. She was so entranced by the song that she did not notice a little white bunny gesturing something. Getting impatient, he went inside the cottage, grabbed the largest carrot he could find and took aim for her muzzle. Happy with the angle, he poured his strength into the motion, sending the carrot flying straight into Fluttershy’s mouth, silencing her.

“Off!” she stammered. Pulling the carrot out of her mouth, she glanced at the impatient bunny, who was tapping his foot expectantly. “Angel Bunny, what's wrong? Are you hungry?”

He brought his paw to his face and sighed. Raising both of his arms, he gestured the Pegasus towards the cottage.

“What is it? I still have some work to do, Angel. The birds almost learned the song.”

Angel’s reply was a rude gesture, pointing at the birds then at his flank.

”Oh Angel, that is very rude! You should be ashamed of yourself.” With that, Fluttershy went into the kitchen to prepare herself some tea. Her eyes landed on the clock that pointed 17:00 hours. “Oh no, I was supposed to meet with Rarity at the spa in 15 minutes, but I won’t have time to finish the song! Ohmyohmyohmy! I can’t let Rarity down… I can only imagine her reaction…”

‘Rarity was lying in the bath tub at the spa, whining about her missing friend.
“WHY, FLUTTERSHY, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? WHY?" She wept. ‘

Fluttershy giggled at the thought. “I guess I can’t disappoint her, can I, Angel?”

The bunny shrugged and hopped on his bed.

Preparing her saddlebags, she set out for the spa.

---

In the Ponyville Library, Twilight Sparkle was, as always, reading a book, on weddings this time, while taking notes on a nearby parchment. She sighed and rolled on her back.

“Love is like friendship, only more complex, more intense. I wonder how it feels to love somepony. Hey Spike!”

A purple baby dragon with green spikes emerged from a mountain of books and zoomed to the lavender mare.

“Number One Assistant, Sir Spike, at your command!” blurting out nonsense while saluting like a soldier.

“Spike, we all know you have a crush on Rarity. So, how does it feel? Can you describe it precisely? I want to write a report on that!” she grinned, making the baby dragon shuffle away from her, blushing a deep shade of crimson.

“W-well, it feels like… like…”

“Like, like, like what?!”

“I haven’t got the slightest idea.” He shrugged and began pacing away from the irritated mare.

“Ugh, then how do you now you love her then?”

At this, the baby dragon turned around to face her and thought a bit. “Well, it’s a warm feeling I have in my chest whenever I think of her, or I see her. It feels… right. But…” he shuddered for a second. “If the pony you love doesn’t return the feelings, it hurts more than any physical pain you can imagine.”

“Uh-uh…” she motioned for him to continue while she was writing down on the parchment.

“That’s all, I guess.”

“Alright, whatever. Thanks anyway.” She huffed and got up from her bed and trotted to the window. “I hope I will find somepony that I will fall in love with. Sounds… good, in the least.”

The dragon coughed once then belched a green flame, revealing a scroll with the royal seal on it. “Ugh, Twilight?” But the mare wasn’t listening, she was daydreaming at the window. “TWILIGHT! Letter from Princess Celestia!”

“Oh, sorry!” she trotted and picked the letter with her magic. “Bla bla bla, tell Rainbow Dash to come to Canterlot immediately after the wedding… bla bla bla, one chance in a lifetime.” She paced around the room. “That doesn’t make any sense…”

Another belch and green flame revealed yet another scroll.

“Let’s see that Spike.” With a swift movement, she unrolled the scroll and began reading. “Miss Rainbow Dash has been chosen to join the ‘Elite Air Force of Canterlot’, having proven the qualities needed for a captain of the Royal Guard… ROYAL GUARD?! RAINBOW DASH?!! It’s like putting together a flower with … um… I can’t find the correct term, SPIKE!”

“Calm down, Twilight. But, what is this, elite thingy?”

“I don’t know myself, but I have a feeling we are going to find out tomorrow. Spike, please forward these letters to Rainbow.”

“Yes ma’am!” With a deep breath, Spike set the letters on fire.

---

High above Ponyville, a small cloud drifted lazily in the breeze. Atop it, was a cyan Pegasus mare, drooling out while sleeping, occasionally kicking away with her hooves at an invisible enemy. “Take… that…. Discord….*snoring* thanks, everypony… *snoring* hey Soarin’, you’re looking hot today…” she grinned.

A green flame followed by a small thud shot the Pegasus awake.

“Who’s there? Huh, oh, letters from Twilight… wait, this one is from the Princess and the other… I’ve got no idea…” She sat on her back, unfolding the scrolls and started reading. “Canterlot? Tomorrow after the wedding? Aww, no cake for me…Ugh, I hope Pinkie saves some… Alright, next!”

After she finished reading the second letter, she was confused. “The captain of the Royal Guard? ME? I don’t really have something for the military, but if they think I’m the best, well here I come, Celestia!”

---

The next day.

The wedding was fabulous, but instead of Princess Celestia handling the ceremony, Princess Luna offered herself to unite the two loving ponies, even though she was using the Royal Canterlot Voice, earning a few shrieks every time she spoke. The six friends enjoyed a good laugh once in a while, knowing Princess Luna personally.

“WE DECLARE THY MARE AND… uh, MARE! THOU MAY KISS YOUR BRIDE!” she blared out, smiling as the mares now enjoyed a passionate kiss, accompanied by the cheering of the crowd and the birds singing.

After the ceremony ended, everypony started heading out towards the Grand Hall of Ponyville for the party. Princess Luna and her six friend met outside and shared a small talk.

“Well, I must say, dear Luna, you were fabulous! Although you may want to lower the volume a bit.”

“We still have minor issues getting used to such a low volume. But, we think we did alright, did we not?” asked Luna, giving the group a sheepish smile.

“You did wonderful, your majesty.” Twilight gave her an assuring nod.

“Alright ladies, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have to leave, Princess Celestia is expecting me at the Palace. Pinkie Pie, please, and I mean please please please promise me that you will save me some cake!”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” the pink pony squealed and hopped off to the entrance. “See you girls at the party!”

“We will be accompanying thou to the palace, Miss Dash.” Luna spoke in a soft tone, bearing authority to it.

“Yes, your majesty. I am ready whenever you—“ A large blue aura enveloped them and teleported inside the throne room in Canterlot Palace “ –are…”

Inside the throne room there were several ponies that wore a black suit with a white lightning that crossed their sides, from the neck to their flanks. Their color was a dark grey, with pitch black manes. ‘Enchanted probably...’ Amidst them stood Princess Celestia, apparently waiting for them to arrive.

“Welcome back, sister. How did the ceremony go?”

“Very well, no incidents were registered, aside from several ponies fainting from the Royal Voice.” Princess Luna scratched the back of her head. Celestia chucled heartily.

“Oh, Luna…” Clearing her throat, she directed her gaze towards the cyan Pegasus.

“Miss Rainbow Dash, I thank you for answering my summoning. Let me introduce you to the elite of Equestria, the ‘Celestial Defenders’. As much as you’d like to believe, you aren’t the only one capable of pulling off Sonic Rainbooms.”

“Wh-what?! But, I haven’t seen or heard of anypony doing that until now…”

Celestia smiled. “Well, it wouldn’t be a secret agency then, would it?” The cyan Pegasus was at a loss of words. “And that’s why, since you pulled it off since you were but a small filly, you have been chosen to lead them, and keep the skies of Equestria safe.”

Rainbow Dash was stunned. “Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh! But wait, does that mean that I won’t be able to join the Wonderbolts anymore?!”

“Not at all, young one. In fact, it could be the best disguise, since you already performed the Sonic Rainboom in front of many other ponies. I will ask of them to accept you in the team. After all, you would already have been a Wonderbolt, if not for the Rainboom.”

“Wait, what? You’re saying that the only reason I wasn’t accepted earlier by them was because of the Rainboom?!”

“Indeed. We needed to keep you away from the general populace. Oh, and don’t worry, another Wonderbolt is one of the elite aswell. Isn’t that right, Seargeant Soarin’?”

“Sure is, your majesty” said one of the Pegasi that were aligned. Taking a step forward, he removed his hood and revealed his face to the shocked cyan mare.

‘OHMYGOSH IT’S SOARIN’ OF THE WONDERBOLTS!’

“Well? Does thou accept this mission?” the Ruler of the Night asked.

“Yesyesyesyesyes a thousand time yes!” the cyan mare squealed as she started flying around in circles around those present, earning a few chuckles. Soarin' flew up to her and blocked her way. With a satisfying grin, he said out loud for everypony to hear.

”Welcome aboard, Rainbow.”

Rainbow felt her cheeks burning and turned her head to avoid his gaze.

“Ahem” the Ruler of the Sun cleared her throat. “I must remind you, that nopony except the other elements of Harmony are to hear about this. If you happen to tell anypony else, we will deny everything and silence you. Is that clear?

Rainbow gulped and nodded frantically. “Yes, your majesty!”

“That was all. Return to the party for now. You shall receive your uniform and instructions directly through a magical seal that I will give you.” Celestia’s horn glowed brightly and summoned forth a brilliant sea blue pendant, and placed it on Rainbow’s neck.

“Thank you, Princess.”

“You’re very welcome. Now, onto the party with you!”

In a bright flash, she appeared in Ponyville. Shaking her head to get rid of the dizziness caused by the teleportation, she sped through the village to where the party was held. Only one thought ran freely through her overjoyed mind. ‘Cake… must reach… the cake! My stomach depends on it.’

A thunderous roar swept across Manehattan, quite early in the morning. The weather pegasi team of the metropolis were working against the clock to assemble a big storm, to cool down the atmosphere and clear the air from the dust that rose everyday, choking it up.

The sudden cracks and flashes of lightning awoke most of the ponies asleep at the time, prompting them to prepare for the day ahead of them. Even if it was a scheduled downpour, the citizens weren’t looking forward to it. Rain drops started falling hard against the concrete and the roofs of the buildings, making a lot of noise as wind further increased their speed.

However, this wasn’t enough to wake up two exhausted ponies which laid on a hospital bed, who had a rather ‘lively’ night, ending with a deep sleep. With each flash, the light revealed the two ponies, hugging tightly under the bed covers and snoring lightly, neither of them being a morning pony.

Their peaceful slumber was disturbed by a nurse who entered the room and shook them lightly.

“Wake up, Mister Redmane. Time for a small check up.” The nurse yelped and jumped back when the figure rising from under the sheets was not the patient, but rather his marefriend.

“What are you doing in there, get down right this instant or I’ll get security!” The nurse shouted, causing the still sleeping earth pony to stir in bed.

“Huh, what? Security? What for? I didn’t kill anypony, I merely kept him warm.” Sundancer replied as she stretched out and climbed out of bed, yawning. A sudden roar of thunder caused her to yelp and duck for cover.

“Well, alright then. But I’m warning you. It’s not allowed to stay after visiting hours, let alone sitting with the patient in bed.”

Sundancer peeked from under the bed towards the nurse and nodded, stifling a giggle. “Alright nurse, it won’t happen again.” All of this noise caused Tony to wake up and give a fierce yawn. Glancing around him, he spotted the nurse as she left the room.

”Anypony here?”

“Ahem.”

Confused, he looked under his bed, only to find a pair of lips pressing against his softly. Hypnotized by the kiss, he leaned too much, until his head met with the cold floor of the hospital.

”Ouch ouch ouch! That hurt!” He stammered, rubbing his head and shaking it a bit.

Sundancer was laughing whole heartedly, seeing him in such ridiculous situations only increasing her love for him tenfold. “Oh, oh my stomach, ha ha ha, that was brilliant!”

“It’s not funny. Ouch.” Tony got up and stretched a bit, looking at Sundancer expectantly. “Are you going to stay under that bed all day?”

“No, I was just—*thud* ouwie oww!” on her way out, she hit her head on the metallic skeleton of the bed. It was his turn to laugh. “Cut that out, it isn’t funny!” She said, laughing herself. Laughter died after a few seconds, leaving them to stare into one another’s eyes, memories from the last night flashing in their minds, causing both to blush a deep crimson shade.

“So… what now? Are you going to move in with me?” he asked, scratching at the floor with a hoof.

“If it doesn’t bother you, yeah… I’d like that a lot.” Sharing a quick embrace with an excited earth pony, she continued. “But I have to deal with that jackass first. It won’t be easy…”

At his, Tony broke the embrace and looked at her worryingly. “You can’t face him alone, he’s insane! He will hurt you Sundancer! I can’t have that… I can’t lose you, not again! No! I won’t have that! I will deal with him…”

“No, Tony, you can’t! He roughed you up easily back then. I don’t want you to get hurt, not again! I can’t stand seeing you hurt…” she started cried softly, fresh tears pouring down her cheeks.

“Then we will both deal with—“ his sentence was cut midway by the violent swinging of the door, followed by a window crack. In the doorway, stood none other than Spectrum, a look of pure rage on his face.

“So, this is were you were hiding after all, you ungrateful sack of buck!”

Sundancer was shocked to see Spectrum in front of her, all of her courage dissipating like ice on fire. She tried to gather whatever courage she had left and charged at Spectrum, only to have herself pinned down and knocked unconscious by a powerful blow at the back of her head. Tony, who was stunned this entire time, seeing Sundancer knocked out like a rag doll, felt anger built inside of him like a volcano, ready to explode at any time. Looking straight into his eyes, Spectrum prepared himself and charged at the seemingly defenseless earth pony.

“She’s mine, you homeless son of a bitch!”

Tony reacted instantly, putting all of his weight on his front hooves and spinning around, delivering a near-fatal blow right into Spectrum’s chest, sending him flying through the doorway and into the wall behind him. Sounds of bones cracking, coughing and wheezing were heard, from the Pegasus who now tried to pull himself up, only to fell back on his haunches and cough up blood, his body trembling in pain and shock. Rising his head to look into his enemy’s eyes, he gasped in horror, seeing obvious bloodlust behind those blue eyes.

Positioning himself, Tony charged at the defenseless Pegasus, biting and kicking like he had never done before, trying to inflict as much pain as he could. He then felt hooves picking him up and restraining him.

“LET ME GO!! NOW!”

“Give him a dose and put him on the bed! Freddy, call the police. John, get a stretch immediately. I’ll check the mare.” Said a doctor hurriedly to his companions, then sat on the floor next to the unconscious mare, looking for vital signs. In the meantime, Tony calmed himself and asked for him to be allowed to stay with her.

“What happened here?” the doctor asked, gently lifting the mare with a nurse and setting her on the bed.

“Will she be alright?!” Tony asked, not replying to the doctor’s question.

“She will be fine, trust me. She will wake up with a slight head ache. Now, would you be so kind as to tell me what happened?”

Tony calmed down and explained the given situation, giving as less details as possible, to protect themselves. The doctor wrote everything on a piece of paper then left the room, allowing Tony to look over Sundancer. At the door, there were two ponies placing the broken pegasus stallion on a stretch and carrying him away.

Tears welled up in his eyes. He had disappointed her. He vowed that he would protect her, yet she was the one to stand up for him.

‘Sundancer, forgive me… please forgive me…’ he wept softly into her mane.

“It’s okay Tony… stop apologizing, will you?” he opened his eyes to stare into her emerald green eyes. “I’m proud of you, Tony. You stood up for me and roughed him good. That should teach him not to mess with you again…” she smiled softly and kissed him gently on the nose.

“Sundancer, I am so sorry… wait, how did you knew I was apologizing before, since I didn’t say anything?!” he was very confused.

“It’s simple really. All I had to do, was listen to your heart.” She gave him a warm hug then rose from the bed.

“And… what does my heart tell you now?” he asked in a soft tone, leaning in closer to him. Just as they were about to share a passionate kiss, a loud growl broke the moment, causing them to collapse to the floor in laughter.

“Your heart tells me that you’re hungry.” Giving him a nudge, she motioned towards the door. “Let’s check you out before we meet any more crazy ponies.”

“Agreed.”

With that, they trotted along the corridor, and down the stairs, to the receptionist. Tony felt anew, the recent events proving just how much strength he can gather when he fought for the ones he loved. In his heart, he felt he could kill anypony for her. Like a beast defending its family.

However, there were a few more things to do before he could leave the hospital. Firstly, he had to pay for the damage caused to the corridor and door, and secondly, he had to visit the police to put up a statement. It was going to be a long day, but having Sundancer with him, it made it easier to endure.

“Let’s go home sweetheart…” she said, nuzzling his cheek and leaning against him as they walked away from the hospital.

It was a dark, rainy day in Manehattan. Ponies were dashing for cover from the unrelenting frigid wind that accompanied the rain. Barely any shops were opened during such unstable weather. Not even taxi ponies were seen, not wanting to catch a cold.

Cantering through the streets accompanied by giggling and chatter were two ponies who were headed towards the Main Street of Manehattan. Soaking wet, they could do nothing but silently curse and laugh at the mad weather that welcomed their new relationship.

“Ugh, why can’t they announce when they are going to create a rain, I mean, do I have to bring an umbrella with me everyday?!” Sundancer huffed and rolled her eyes.

“You know, they do announce them, everyday on the TV.” Tony replied with a stifled laugh.

“Oh… well, I don’t really watch TV, except for when D3adhors3 is on the U99 channel. That’s like… everyday!” She grinned from ear to ear.

“I forgot you’re a fan of D3adhors3 too! Oh, wait, you’re the one that introduced me to him a few years earlier, silly me.”

She didn’t reply, merely just running forward. “Say Tony, where is your house now?”

He suddenly stopped and facehoofed hard. “We just passed it a few blocks now… I’m an idiot I know.” Sundancer sighed and drove a hoof through her soaking mane, that clung to her neck; this motion sent chills through Tony’s bones. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

Finally they arrived at the house, entering hurriedly and trying to dry themselves off.

“I need to retrieve my saddlebags from Spectrum the next day. I have all of my stuff there,” she said, drying herself with a clean towel.

“Alright. Are you hungry? I can make up something edible. After all, this was a bakery…” he winked at her and trotted to the kitchen. “Coffee? Tea? Juice?”

“I would like some tea please, I want to warm up. Brrr, it’s quite freezing outside. Kinda unusual, don’t you think? Winter starts only next month…”

“Yeah, pretty much. Go take a shower if you’d like, you’ll feel much better after,” he smiled and motioned for her upstairs. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

“Alright, but I barely dried myself. Still, a hot shower could prove very relaxing, thank you for the suggestion. I’ll be right back.”

“Alright, I finished your tea here, so I’m going to wait for you.” With that, she left the kitchen and headed towards the bathroom

‘Ugh, which door was it again… not this one… oh here it is.’ She entered and smiled wickedly when she saw the size of the bathtub. ‘Not bad, not bad. Let’s see, some shampoos over here… must be his mother’s.’ She took in a deep breath and sighed. ‘Poor Tony… he didn’t deserve this much pain.’ Picking up a shampoo, she took some in her hooves and started washing her mane and tail, then continued with the rest of her body. Until she reached the most annoying spot for a Pegasus: between the wings. ‘UGH I HATE THIS… happens every damned TIME! And there’s no brush anywhere in sight…’ Thinking for a while, she adopted a sly grin and called for Tony.

“Hey Tony! Come here quick! Hurry!”

Five seconds later, he knocked at the door. “Is there something wrong, I heard you scream!”

“Well, firstly, you could come inside, it’s not like you haven’t seen me naked.” She waited for him to enter the bathroom, a shade of red visible in his cheeks. She smiled and continued “…secondly, would you be so kind as to wash me between my wings? I never reach that spot without a huge brush… It’s so annoying!”

Tony gave her a quick nod and proceeded to pour some shampoo into his hooves and gently started to rub her in between wing bones. As a swift response, they shot to her sides, displaying them fully. He had heard of ‘wing-boners’ before, but he never actually saw one… well, except maybe the night before. He snapped out of the steamy thoughts, realizing he had stopped.

“Something wrong, sweetie?”

“N-not at all! I was thinking I need a shower too, after you finish…”

Sundancer turned and pulled him under the shower, letting hot water stream upon themselves. “There’s plenty of room for two, Tony. You could have asked before, I wouldn’t have minded.” Grabbing the shampoo from his hooves, she poured some on his mane and started rubbing down, on his neck… on his back… then to the front. The chest, his belly and—

“Whoa, take it easy. I can wash myself…” he said, trying to recover his breath, the feeling of her hooves down his body sending shivers and mixed feelings towards his brain. “It’s alright, I can continue from here myself—whoaaaha whooo, Sundancer! What ooh what are you doing!” he could barely contain himself now, lowering his head to see her hooves playing around with his member.

“What’s wrong, can’t handle a mare of my caliber?” she whispered and his ear and started kissing him gently. He felt his heart pumping a thousand times faster than before, and started shivering with excitement. Not holding back anymore, he grabbed her in his forehooves and kissed her passionately, reigniting the flame. Breaking the kiss, Sundancer fell on her haunches, breathless. “Take … take it easy… we have all the time in the world…” she motioned for him to sit aswell. Hot water still pouring on them, she sat on his belly, grinding against his body, causing him to clench his teeth in excitement. “All the time… in the world.”

---

One hour later, the two finally descended from upstairs, having to shower again after the inevitable ‘steamy’ activity. He felt that with each minute he is with her, the more he loved her. Sundancer was leaning on him, obviously very exhausted from this affair, having to do all the work this time. Her muscles were tired, but relaxed.

“Hey Tony, you grew up in a bakery. Do you know any cool recipe or something?”

Screwing his face in concentration, he thought of his short trip to Ponyville, where he switched recipes with Pinkie Pie.

“Well?” she asked, getting somewhat impatient, while blinking expectantly.

“I have something. It’s a recipe from a friend, who lives in Ponyville. Her name is Pinkie Pie and she’s an artist of the baking. She can make everything possible. Last time I went there, we exchanged recipes, and she gave me a ‘super-duper-uber’ secret recipe she said she was going to try to bake for a wedding that was happening two weeks after we talked. So, with that in mind, would you like to help me make it? It’s pretty complicated.”

“Sure, you can count on me! Do you have house insurance?” she asked playfully.

“What?!”

“Nothin’…” she said rolling her eyes and stifling a giggle. “Alright, what do you need?”

---

Two hours later, after several cuisine disasters, they finally managed to get the thing done. It was a chocolate cupcake with caramel, hazelnut and multiple types of frostings. She eyed the creation skeptically, glaring at it so hard Tony could swear it would have caught fire.

“Hmph… Captain, I’m going in!”

With that, she picked the cupcake from the tray and bit into it. Chewing it thoughtfully, her eyes widened in awe and pleasure, occasionally moaning in delight. Swallowing, she prepared for another bite, but instead choose to devour it like a beast, prompting Tony to raise his hooves to defend himself from leftovers flying left and right.

“Tony, this stuff is incredible! It’s like you detonate a bomb of chocolate inside your mouth, its amazing I want more what do you mean I can only have one hey give me that!” she tried to reach for the tray that was now in Tony’s hooves, trying to save the remaining cupcakes from the starving beast.

“Whoa there, Sundancer! Too much sugar isn’t good for you! Plus, you’ll get fat.” He added the last part with a smug grin on his face, which invited Sundancer to punch him. “Ooof, what the hay was that for!?” But she wasn’t there anymore.

“Sundancer? Where’d you go?” his attention was distracted by the sound of chewing and flapping above him. “Hey! That’s not fair!”

“Awww, come on, I only ate one more. I deserve it…” She tried putting up a puppy smile, but all the chocolate on her muzzle was rather comical.

“Come down, let me clean that.” In a swift motion, she landed and planted her lips on his, sharing the chocolate leftover on her lips and tongue. “Wow… I don’t know if the cupcake tastes that good, or your lips…”

“Tsk tsk, enjoy the chocolate and shutup, will you?” she huffed and planted her lips once again, locking tightly with his.

‘If this will be my reward for baking anything, I will bake every day for the rest of my life…’

---

Meanwhile, in the other part of town, in the Manehattan Hospital, one very pissed Pegasus was waking up from the short coma he was put into. Surrounding him were his closest friends, and members of his little mafia-sort group. They liked to call themselves ‘The Punishers’, playing with peoples lives as if they were belonging to them.

With a groan and a snort, Spectrum rose from his bed and stared deeply into the eyes of a red bulky unicorn. Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he glanced around and scowled.

“Where is Sundancer?” he asked angrily, but in a calm tone of authority.

Everypony present in the room shifted uneasily and stood silent.

“WELL?!” Spectrum yelled, beginning to lose his patience.

“She… she left with Redmane, boss!”

Upon hearing the news, he growled in frustration and tried to get up, only to be stopped by the sudden pain in the chest.

“Take it easy, boss! The doctor said you have four broken ribs.”

Spectrum glanced to the pony who replied to him. It was the yellow mare that tried to insult Tony on his first day.

”Four? FOUR!? I will break more than four bones in him next time!”

Taking some time to calm himself, his lips curled into a smile. “No… physical pain won’t do… Do you remember what Starswirl the Bearded said to Leonidas the Warrior?” Everypony present shook their heads.

“The cunning warrior attacks neither body nor mind.”

“But what?” asked everypony in unison.

“The heart, you idiots! First, we attack his heart!”

---

It was already evening and the rain still went on. In a certain bakery across town, two ponies were preparing to attend the classes of the next day. Tony was more than impatient to grab everything he needed, while Sundancer was laying on the bed, watching the breathless stallion running around the room.

“I need this… this… and that… oh and this!”

She sighed and rolled on her belly, head on her front hooves.

“Tony… you have everything prepared, you can stop. Come sit with me… please.”

He stopped from a second from his frenzy and looked at the mare that laid in front of him, her tail swinging from side to side. He learned that it was not wise to ignore a mare’s invitation. He rolled his eyes and smiled, then sat beside her and cuddled up, sharing a few soft kisses.

“Say, Tony, is there anything special you’d like to do with your life?” she asked, placing her head on his chest.

Tony sat for a while to think. He never really thought of something special for his life.

“Well… maybe there’s one thing I’d like to do. I want to fly, freely. I think I dreamed of this ever since I was a colt. The sky looks so… welcoming. There is a reason for why it symbolizes freedom.” He lowered his gaze to look into her half closed dreamy eyes. A wide smile spread on her muzzle.

“Sounds beautiful. It may not be possible for doctors to do anything about it, but hey, we are engineers in the making. Maybe you can think of something.”

“Sounds good to me. What about you, Sundancer? Is there anything special you’d like to do?”

“Hmm, there is something.” She rose her head from his chest and stared into his eyes. “I’d like participate at the Grand Galloping Gala. It seems so wonderful… everything there is brilliant. And…” she stopped, her smile breaking into a frown, tears welling up in her eyes. “I… I want to be yours. If there’s anything more important than the Gala, or even the Princesses themselves, it’s you.” He grabbed her head and kissed her deeply.

“Thanks… Sundancer. I will make up to you, I promise. And thanks for the brilliant idea of a flight suit.”

She rose her head yet again, to witness the most idiotic grin she had ever seen, causing her to laugh heartily. “Oh, oh your face… pure gold.” She laughed for a few minutes, before falling silent and cuddling against him.

“Good night Tony…”

“Good night, sweetie.”

Several minutes passed.

“Um, Tony? Is there anyway to shut that light down? Or cover it with something?”

“Uh, yeah. I’ll handle it.” He jumped out of bed and trotted out of the room. Several moments later some glass breaking followed by swears were heard, causing the mare to snicker. He eventually came back inside the room, having duct tape all over the reactor, partially blocking the light. ”This should do.”

They cuddled once again and fell asleep, light snoring being the only noise audible.

A new day was dawning upon Equestria, the Sun’s light warming the landscape gradually, and drying it off after the scheduled rains soaked it over. The first rays of light shone through the windows, revealing the ponies that slept peacefully. It also served as a natural clock for the pony farmers, who have to wake up early to work the fields.

Applejack woke up slowly, rubbing her eyes and yawning. It was the ‘ Late Applebuck’ season, so she had to prepare for the day and start working. Stretching a little, she trotted over to the mirror and brushed her mane and tail, then tied them. Giving herself a double check, she smiled, satisfied with her work and grabbed her Stetson hat that stood on the door knob. Down stairs, she met with her brother, who was already preparing breakfast for both.

“Howdy Big Mac, startin’ early today, huh?”

“Eeyup. Them apples won’t buck themselves.”

She sat at the table and ate her breakfast with her brother, discussing future plans for the expansion of the orchard. Minutes later, Applejack finished her meal and left the house. She stood a few minutes, bathing herself in the sunlight, the warm feeling giving her a sense of relaxation. She closed her eyes and raised her head, enjoying the few moments of peace. Upon opening them, her eyes rested upon the cloud home of her best friend, a certain stubborn cyan Pegasus. ‘Ah suppose she’s gonna sleep until afternoon, like always…’ She smiled to herself and trotted away towards the orchard.

---

High above the ground, resting on her soft cloud bed, Rainbow Dash snored away, tired after the wedding party. Despite being away in Canterlot for a while, she made it in time for the cake and ate heartily, spending her time with her friends and having fun. At the end of the party, she gathered her friends and told them what transpired in Canterlot, earning gasps and congratulations.

Still sleeping, she sniffed something strange in the air. Smoke.

“Huh, what… Oh horseapples, where did this smoke come from!?” she yelled and jumped off her bead, landing on her flank. Looking around fast, she found the source of the smoke being the strange black box that appeared in the middle of her room. Her eyes caught sight of her special necklace, glowing a soft blue.

“I think it’s time for me to work. But it’s sooo early…” She sighed and paced towards the mysterious box. Opening it, Rainbow found inside a blissful black uniform, adorned with several royal markings. Picking it up, she placed it upon herself and headed towards the mirror in the corner. “Wow… now this is what I call an AWESOME uniform… It’s so… tight, yet so flexible at the same time.” Moving a hoof along her back towards her flank, she grinned like a wolf. “If this doesn’t make Soarin’ drop his jaw… I don’t know what will.” Picking up her necklace and placing it on her neck, she started hearing voices.

“Good morning Captain Dash! Beautiful day isn’t it?”

“Who’s there!? How did you enter my house?” she raised her fists expectantly. She immediately dropped them when she heard chucking and snorting.

“Calm down, Dash, it’s me, Soarin’. I’m talking to you through your necklace. Get dressed up and lets meet up at the training camp north of Canterlot. You need some combat expertise and hoof-to-hoof lessons. After all, you are the new Captain!”

“Oh… oh, I get it. I’m already dressed up so I’ll be on my way.”

“Alright, see you there.” With that, she no longer heard anything. Standing upright, Rainbow bolted out of her house towards Canterlot, mentally preparing for her new type of training. 'Ugh, sooo sleepy...'.

---

In the other part of Equestria, at the Manehattan Institute of Technology, Sundancer and Tony were attending the first class after a few days break. Tony’s presence was received with cheering and hoof-clapping, congratulating him for standing up to Spectrum for his marefriend. He never felt so good before, blushing from all of the attention. He was brought back to reality by Sundancer, who whipped his flank with her tail, giving him a warm smile.

“Sorry, I lost myself there…” he grinned sheepishly.

“It’s okay, I was just teasing you. Let’s go find our seats, before we end up split again.”

He simply nodded and trotted alongside her. Turning left around the corner, they bumped into Spectrum’s friends, who immediately made way for the two ponies, who bore confused looks on their faces.

“It’s rather strange, getting respected all of a sudden, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, it’s quite concerning. Just, don’t lose yourself into it, alright?” she gave him a peck on the cheek and entered the classroom.

Finding a decent spot in the rows, they sat down and were having a small chatter about his plans for a flight suit.

“So, did you think of how are you going to power it? I don’t think you will have a place to hold a fuel tank or anything like that.” She chuckled lightly.

“Not at all, I got this” he pointed at the arc reactor, now fully visible to the other students, who gasped in astonishment. “As for the propulsion method, I read an article about those new electrical energy-based rocket propellers. They seem quite efficient.”

“What, you mean the repulsor technology? Isn’t that a bit too hard to control?”

“Well, I think I could manage to create some sort of an energy resistance calibration unit, that acts upon the way I move my hooves around. Sounds complicated, but it isn’t that hard. It just takes time. Still, if there’s one thing bugging me about flying, it’s the air currents. I am sure that I will encounter strong air currents that will either knock me of my track, or just burn my face when moving. I need to find a way to fix that…”

“Hmm… I think there is a way… let me show you something.” She pulled out a magazine out of a stack that rested inside her notebook. With a satisfied grin, she showed the cover to her friend. “Check this out.” The cover of the magazine revealed a massive earth pony adorned in a new, lightweight armor, strong enough to repel any melee attacks, but light enough to run in it. The title read 'Titanium & Light Mithril: Newly discovered alloy. Light as a feather, strong as Black Steel!'

“Umm… Sundancer, I doubt that I can fly with that thing on me… I mean, look at the size of that stallion! He’s twice my size! I only look big because I’m fat right now…” he looked away, embarrassed.

She snickered and nudged him on the shoulder. “Oh Tony, in your first day, here at the Institute, you said you are interested in robotics, didn’t you?” She gave him a wink.

He thought for a second, wanting to reply that he needs a powerful software base for such a complex machine, but dropped his idea when he thought back to the Doctor and his contraptions.

“Armor… robotics… Jarvis. That’s it!”

“What's it? And who’s Jarvis, sweetie?”

“It’s an autonomous software created by the Doctor. I think I can use him and your idea for the project! Say, are you busy in the weekend?”

She smiled and shared a soft kiss.

---

Two days later, Tony and Sundancer were on their way to Ponyville, to visit his friends and to recover the Doctor’s inventions and tools. The train was speeding towards its destination, puffing smoke and howling occasionally. During the trip, Sundancer was napping on his shoulder, while he was drawing different schematics of the upcoming flight suit. None seem to work out. Sighing in defeat, for the moment, he closed his notebook and rested his head upon hers, slowly drifting into a dream, only to awaken suddenly at the sound of the train pulling to a stop.

‘Wow, it was way slower when I came first…’

Nudging the sleeping mare gently, she woke up and yawned, accidentally hitting him in his left eye.

“Ouch… Watch where you’re stretching, will you?” He retorted playfully, rubbing his swollen eye.

“Sorry sweetie, sometimes I forget how soft you truly are,” she replied, craning her neck upwards, to bear an air of superiority.

“Soft? I… well… Never mind, let’s go.”

Exiting the train, he trotted directly to the former Clockwork Shop, to prepare the machines for moving, while Sundancer flew above him. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the shop. ‘Didn’t change one bit.’

“Is this the shop where the legendary Whooves worked?” she stared in amazement, that such an incredible pony would just run a clockwork shop. “Maybe he wasn’t right in the head, you know…”

“Oh, I know what you mean,” he said, rolling his eyes and thinking back to the moment when he met him. “Let’s go, we need to pack things up then head for the Library. I only hope my friends are home today.”

“Alright, lead the way, ‘Iron Pony’…” she snickered and sighed happily, landing besides him.

“Iron Pony? Not bad.” He returned the smile and entered the shop.

---

Several hours later, in the Canterlot boot camp for the Royal Guard, one very exhausted cyan Pegasus was panting heavily after such a long and harsh training It’s been several days since she started this kind of training, and it was very exhausting to say the least. Soarin’ wasn’t doing any better, so they called it a day and went to take a shower.

“Hey Soarin’, do you wanna… uh… do you wanna go have a coffee, some time?” Rainbow asked the blue Pegasus trotting next to her.

“I’d like to. Hey Dash, let me show you around the scientific compound just beneath the camp. It’s so awesome to see the new experimental weapons! It’s rumored that Doctor Whooves is assisting the scientific team in some ultra-secret project revolving around some kind of a large bomb.”

“Uh-uh…” she replied with disinterest, science being something she despised. Taking the elevator down, they trotted along a very large corridor, littered with large windows and metallic doors. Taking a peek through the windows, Rainbow could see ponies assembling different weapons, armors and magical tools, such as staves and wands. Why did they even bothered with magical weapons it was beyond her imagination. Soarin’ went ahead of her and headed right. She didn’t notice this and bumped straight into a unicorn mare carrying a large number of files and documents. Rubbing her head, she stood up and noticed the chaos she created.

“Ohmygosh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean it.”

”It’s okay, happens from time to time. Can you help me put them back?”

“S-sure thing.” She then kneeled over and started stacking files and documents, occasionally reading the contents. Boring scientific schematics, personal records and weapon designs. She then reached out a file and read it prematurely. Rainbow hushed a gasp and covered her mouth with her hoof. ‘No way am I letting this slip away.’ Looking around quickly, she searched for a way to distract the unicorn mare, long enough for her to fit the file inside her suit.

“Hey, is that the Doctor in that room?”

The mare rose and starred through the windows behind her, allowing the cyan mare to hide the file in her suit. “No, it’s your imagination. Besides, he isn’t working here.”

“Oh, sorry then… Here, all done.”

“Thank you for helping me, Captain. Have a nice day.”

Rainbow nodded and left the building through the elevator, setting out for Ponyville as fast as she could. ‘This has something to do with that thing in him… I can feel it!’

---

Back in Ponyville, Tony and Sundancer were heading towards the Library, hopping to find Twilight home. It was already sunset when they finished packing the equipment.

“As I was saying, these mares are the Elements of Harmony, and they banished Nightmare Moon and Discord, the Lord of Chaos. Twilight Sparkle is Celestia’s prized student, and represents the element of magic—“ he continued detailing his friends to Sundancer. “—and Rainbow Dash is the element of Loyalty. She’s quite a nice girl, but a bit too active…”

“Rainbow Dash?! THE Rainbow Dash? The one mare that won the Young Flyer’s Competition a few years ago by performing a Sonic Rainboom?!”

“Yep, that’s Rainbow alright!”

She gaped in amazement and squealed in delight. “I want her autograph!”

Tony smiled and looked upon the library built into the massive tree. “I will do what I can, but I can’t promise anything. Here we are, Ponyville Library.”

Knocking on the door, a voice from behind it answered swiftly. “Coming!” The door opened slowly, revealing … nothing? They looked around confused, until something poked their legs. “Hey, I’m down here!”

“Huh? Ohmygosh, Tony what is that?!” Sundancer leaped in his arms.

“Calm down sweetie, this is Spike, Twilight Sparkle’s number one assistant, isn’t that right?”

Spike blushed and puffed his chest. “Well of course I am! Come in, Twilight is upstairs, I’ll go get her.” With that, the small dragon ran away from the door and yelled for the lavender mare. “Twilight! Somepony’s here for you!”

“Coming, Spike!”

Several moments later, the lavender mare noticed the ponies present in the library and recognized the stallion.

“Tony! Welcome back!” She trotted up and hugged him, then turned and greeted the mare next to him. “H-hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, I’m a friend of Tony’s.”

“Nice to meet you, Twilight. I’m Sundancer, Tony’s soon-to-be fiancée.” At this, Tony's mouth dropped and gasped loudly, while blushing furiously.

“Congratulations to you two! I'm happy for you, Tony. Come, we have much to talk!”

“We sure do Twilight, we sure—“ their discussion was abruptly ended by a cyan Pegasus mare that crashed through the windows upstairs and tumbled on the floor next to them, panting. The three ponies were shocked and stared at the pegasus that laid on the floor, looking towards Twilight.

“Rainbow! What happened, you look like you saw a ghost!”

“Sorry Twi, but we gotta talk! I found something that’s probably related to that pony from Manehattan.”

“Ahem.”

Rainbow, looking around, locked eyes with two pairs of confused eyes, staring directly at her. ‘Buck’

“Hey Tony, how’s it hanging?” She tried to change the subject.

“Hi Rainbow, nice to see you too. If you don’t mind, you were saying something about a pony from Manehattan. Can I see it too?”

Rainbow gulped and frowned. “Sorry, but I am not allowed to share such information. Twilight is Celestia’s student, so I can tell her everything security related.”

“Since when do you handle security, if you don’t mind?” he huffed, a bit irritated by her reply.

“Oh, you haven’t heard of my promotion to Captain of the Royal Guards, did you? Also, I was accepted into the Wonderbolts in my free time, isn’t that awesome!?” At this, Sundancer's eyes widened.

“WOW Rainbow that’s soooo AWESOME!!” Sundancer squealed and leaped at her, hugging her tightly. “You must give me an autograph! Please!” She begged the cyan Pegasus, overwhelmed by her enthusiasm.

“S-sure thing… but where shall I sign?”

Thinking quickly, she turned around and patted her rump. “Right here, if you don’t mind…”

Tony was shocked and stared in disbelief. ‘Is this mare for real?’ Rainbow blushed slightly and signed herself on her rump.

“Thankyou thankyou thankyou! You’re the best!”

"Well, I almost forgot the reason I came here. Twilight, can you please send a letter to Doctor Whooves and ask him to send me 10-no, 20 missile repulsors, along with their schematics? Just tell him I need them for an experiment, nothing dangerous."

"Alright. Spike, take a letter please!"

In the meantime, the cyan pegasus sighed in relief, having avoided a possible fight. 'He's not ready... No, he will have to wait.'

Tony and Sundancer were trotting through Ponyville alongside Twilight, making their way to Sugarcube Corner for lunch. They were chattering and giggling all the time, except for one very distraught earth pony, who seemed phased out.

“…and then, Fluttershy entered the Ball Room and yelled at the animals who ran rampart! It was the scariest thing I have ever seen, I tell you!” Twilight was talking about the Grand Galloping Gala she and her friends attended to a few years ago, which ended in a total disaster.

“That sounds like it was a lot of fun! I wish I could attend a Gala myself, together with this fat boy next to me.” She turned with a smug on her face to meet his expressionless face, immediately dropping her grin and frown.

“Sweetie, is everything okay?”

Snapped out of his trance, he shook his head and sighed. “I’m fine. I just...“he took a deep breath. “I keep thinking about what Rainbow brought with her. Was it about me? Why would she hide it from me?”

Twilight smiled and reassured the stallion. “Don’t worry Tony, it was about an old friend of us who DJ’s in Manehattan, and came here in a 3 weeks vacation. He was a bit weird, with his crazy hairstyle and such.” Twilight chucled slightly and glanced the other way. She was a very bad liar, and she hopped they would not notice.

“Oh… well, I guess I got carried away, sorry ‘bout that girls.”

“It’s okay Tony.” Sundancer shared a soft kiss with Tony and followed Twilight into the bakery. At the counter sat Pinkie Pie, serving a couple. Upon noticing the newly arrived, she cried out loud in excitement and leaped at her friends, leaving the couple stunned.

“TWILIGHT! TONY! And *gasp* new pony?! HI my name’s Pinkie what’s yours—“ she was briefly interrupted by Twilight’s hoof hushing her mouth. Sundancer, in the meantime was struggling to catch her breath.

“Wow, you *pant* are a strong pony…” Taking a moment to relax, she answered the pink pony’s questions. “I’m Sundancer and I’m Tony’s marefriend.” At this, the pink earth pony gasped loudly and hugged the two lovers.

“OHMYGOSH do you know what that calls for!?”

“A party?”

“A PARTY! Wait, how did you know?”

Tony rolled his eyes and grinned. Sundancer stifled a laugh and leaned against him.

“Let’s eat something, Pinkie.”

"Okie dokie lokie!" With that, the pink pony blured in and out of the kitchen, carrying a tray with four plates of food on them. Sundancer blinked twice and sighed, smiling. 'What a strange pony...'

---

The four ponies were now sitting at a table, eating their meals and chatting about different subjects. Twilight was discussing medicine with Sundancer, while Pinkie Pie listened intently to Tony’s improvements to her chocolate cupcakes. Twilight turned to the stallion.

“Wow, Tony, you were very brave for standing up for Sundancer against that jerk! I’m genuinely impressed.”

“Thanks… I guess.” He rubbed the back of his head.

“I forgot to tell you, last night after you went home to get some sleep, I received a reply from the Doctor, along with piles of engineering schematics and plans. He also told me that he will not give you the equipment you asked for, simply because he wants you to build them following the plans he sent you.”

Tony sat thoughtfully, staring at the empty plate in front of him. “Yeah, I can do that. Do you have them at the Library?”

“I have them.” Sundancer replied, patting her saddlebags.

“And when did you wanted to let me know about them?”

“At your birthday, sweetie.”

Thinking for a bit, he facehoofed and gave a small giggle. Turning to face Sundancer, his lips met hers and shared a passionate kiss.

“Happy Birthday Tony…” she whispered in his ear and nuzzled him.

“I can’t believe I forgot! Hey, where did Pinkie go?”

“She went to grab her supplies and throw you a surprise party…” Upon realizing what she said, Twilight facehoofed hard and apologized for giving out the surprise.

“It’s okay, you don’t need to blame yourself, happens from time to time…” Looking at the clock hung on the wall, he nuzzled Sundancer and motioned towards the door. “Let’s go sweetie, we gotta call in the movers.”

“Are you two moving to Ponyville?!” Twilight asked, shock evident on her face.

“No, we are just moving out some equipment the Doctor gave him. We are sending it to Manehattan, to prepare for his project.”

“Oh. What project are you two working on?” Twilight asked, having piqued her interest.

“A suit capable of flight, something mechanical.” He replied, puffing out his chest.

Thinking for a while, Twilight made the connection between the items he requested and his plans.

“That’s amazing! It won’t be easy, though.”

“Yup, gonna take quite some time… Let’s go, honey. Catch you later Twi’.”

“Sure thing.”

Tony and Sundancer left the bakery, leaving Twilight with her own thoughts. She got up and headed for the exit, having one thing on her mind. ‘I can’t believe the Princess has done such things! But… what Rainbow Dash brought me… those poor ponies. They never knew what they were exposed to…’ Trotting slowly towards the Library, several lines from the report kept repeating in her head.

‘Test Subject no. 601449… Subject Name… Madeline… Redmane. Test type… Involuntary radiation exposure. Conclusion... massive cardiac and respiratory failure, resulting in the death of the subject.’ The last line made Twilight’s stomach turn. She knew exactly what that meant. She could only wonder… if this mare was somehow related to Tony. ‘No… they can’t be… she’s a Pegasus and Tony is an earth pony. A strange earth pony for that matter…’

---

The two lovers reached out the Doctor’s house, making final arrangements for the equipment to be carried to the train station. The lobby was crowded with object of varying sizes, going from mouse-like to a fully grown earth pony stature. Everything was wrapped up in plastic and cloth, to protect them for the journey. Especially the fragile computer.

“Can’t we stay to Pinkie’s party? Please… I want to test out her creations…” Sundancer pleaded, wanting to spend another day in the village. Tony stopped from rummaging through some boxes and looked up to her, giving an uncaring glance. Seeing this, she ran a hoof from her back to her flank, and down her tail base. Tony wanted to pretend he wasn’t affected by this, but nothing could hide his ‘fifth leg’, now swinging in the air.

‘Damn it, she always gets to me with that…’. He blushed slightly and turned away from her, trying to hide his ‘deformity’. “Alright, alright, we’ll stay at the party, but tomorrow morning we are leaving for Manehattan, understand what I'm saying?”

She grinned widely and leaped at the earth pony, pushing him on his back and kissed him deeply. “Thanks! I can’t wait to taste her cupcakes… but for now, you will have to do…”

“Wha….” Was all he could stammer before locking again in a kiss, closing his eyes to take everything in. Ponies passing by the house could make out some strange noises, accompanied by barely audible moans, causing them to blush and trot away in a hurry.

Overlooking Ponyville from a hill far to the south of the Apple family orchard, stood seven shadowy figures, covered in black cloaks with red markings on the cowl. The leader of the group snorted silently and motioned for his companions to follow, taking the path towards the village.

---

The Sun made its way off the skies, to make way for the moon, signaling the beginning of the celebration party for Tony’s anniversary, at Applejack’s barn. Pinkie had outdone herself, the party turning out to be the best she ever made for an anniversary, preparing everything in less than a day, all thanks to her improved party cannon. Everypony was having fun. In the middle of the dancing ring, Sundancer and Rainbow were competing in a dance show off, the first clearly dominating, receiving loud cheering and hoof claps. Tony was the most impressed by this. He had never seen her dance before. She sure was good at it.

The song ended, prompting the two ponies to rest for a while, sipping on some apple cider. Tony approached his lover and kissed her deeply, before breaking it and staring into her emerald eyes.

“You are the most talented dancer I have ever seen, Sundancer. Your name fits all too well. It’s really weird that your cutie mark is a bow with three arrows…”

Sundancer giggled and pushed him a bit. “Thanks, as for my cutie mark, before I met you I was junior champion in the archery contest. Although I liked practicing archery, it’s dancing which I fell in love with. It’s sooo… refreshing, you feel so free, and your body follows the music flow.” She shuddered.

Tony smiled and hugged her, sniffing her mane. It bore the smell of her sweat, along with her perfume fragrance. Blissful.

“Tony, look! Pinkie brought the cake, I want some!” she whinnied when she saw the pink pony pulling a massive cake on a cart.

He could only smile and sigh happily. “Alright, don’t worry, it’s enough for everypony. Let’s have some.” Trotting closer to the huge cake, he could only stare in amazement at the design of it. It resembled the arc reactor in his chest, with rainbow frosting acting as the glow, while chocolate acted as the copper coils. In the middle of it, there was a large heart, in which something was written. 'Happy Birthday Tony! The most awesome genius ever!' It was magnificent.

“Thanks everypony, thanks for everything! You guys are the best friends a pony could ask for!”

All of the ponies in the room gathered for one big group hug, which lasted for more than two minutes. After that, Sundancer went straight at the DJ that sat at a table, sipping on her energy drink.

”Hey DJ P0N-3, can you play this? It’s the newest techno dubstep mix.”

“Sure thing, missy.” The DJ smiled through her purple shades and went straight for her plates. Using her magic, she started playing the song.

Satisfied with the choice, Sundancer began head bobbing to the strong bass, grinning from ear to ear. Everypony joined her in the ring. The music blared into the night, the fun having only started. The music reached out well into Ponyville, where the menacing shadowy figures took shelter in the house of the Doctor… waiting for their unsuspecting prey. The leader sat on his haunches, meditating… preparing. ‘Soon, Equestria will fall at the hooves of its own kin… That is, if that annoying pegasus’ words were true.’ His face contorted into a sly grin. ‘Not that it matters anyway… Zabrajin is supposed to receive his head in a few hours. Nopony should sell out other ponies out of their own greed.’

---

In the distant lands of the zebra homeland, Zandalari, in the capital city of Zul’Drak, a package was received by the leader of the nation. Zabrajin eyed the package carefully. There have been many attempts at his life, all of them in vain, as the packages exploded before reaching him. But this one was different. It bore the mark of Amani, the shadow hunter. Opening it, he found inside the head of a pony. A Pegasus stallion with his eyes wide open in horror. A note was attached to it. Opening it, Zabrajin read carefully the words written in the dead pegasus' blood. He scowled and ripped the note.

“So, Amani, you found a way to support our warfare. And I presume this is the traitor that sold him out… Amani, Amani… why do you still clung to that piece of shit you call ‘honor’… this war is anything but honorable.” With that, he kicked the box, sending the head rolling on the floor.

“Prepare a workshop, I want it to be ready by next week. We are going to be having a guest…”

The party went on well into the night, the first rays of the Sun announcing its end. Everypony had fun, in the company of the best DJ, the best dancers and the heart of the party, Pinkie Pie. Tony was happy, this was the best party ever, and it was for him. Being in the company of his marefriend and best friends, it only made him happier.

As the first rays of the sun peeked through the windows of the barn, everypony parted towards their homes, for some well deserved rest. Rarity and Twilight had left the party earlier, for varying reasons, such as ‘beauty sleep’ time, and usual exhaustion from being a student of Celestia. Rainbow Dash remained to help Applejack and Pinkie Pie clean up the barn a bit, and then picked up and left for her home, soaring slowly in the skies. Arriving home, she sat up on her bed, yawned tiredly and closed her eyes, picturing the image of Soarin’ in her mind, wanting to dream about him. It wasn’t long after she fell asleep that she heard a blood curling scream, ruining her nap.

---

Tony and Sundancer walked slowly toward the Doctor’s house, leaning against one another, occasionally kissing and giggling. It was still early in the morning, so Ponyville seemed empty, as its inhabitants were just waking up. Both of them, not fully sober yet, were talking nick-knacks, about their future careers, and, why not, their marriage. Sundancer seemed bent towards that idea from the very start.

“I’m telling you, sweetie, we gotta get married shoon… Know what I’m shaying?”

“We will get there, soon *hic*… pardon me.” Sundancer giggled and nuzzled him softly.

A few minutes of silence passed before she spoke up again.

“Tony, I don’t kno *hic* what to shay… but… I really… really… ugh… what wash that again… oh yeah. I love you, silly!”

He rolled his eyes playfully and kissed her on the cheek. “I know you do, but I love you more.”

“Fair enough,” she smiled and rested her head on his neck.

Arriving home, he unlocked the door and allowed her to enter first, remaining behind to close the door. Sundancer trotted slowly to the room where the bed was supposed to be, and opened the door with a small creak. Upon entering it, she suddenly felt something very cold in her belly, and a burning pain that was increasing in intensity. Not having strength to even yell, she collapsed to the floor, heaving as waves of pain washed over her body. Only then did she saw the cloaked entity that stood behind the door, a bloody machete hanging in his teeth, with a vile look in its eyes. Slowly tracing the blood from the weapon, she laid her eyes upon a large gash just above her stomach, right beneath the diaphragm, which oozed blood with every breath she took. Her eyes widened in horror and gathered whatever strength she could muster and let out a deafening scream, a wail of pain that reached out well into Ponyville, shocking its denizens.

Upon hearing the terrifying scream, Tony ran towards the room and entered the room, his eyes landing on a sickening sight. Sundancer was laying on the floor, blood seeping from the large wound in her stomach and having a look of pure terror in her eyes, as she tried to motion towards the door. Before he could react, the cloaked figure hiding behind the door dropped his machete and bucked the door full force, hitting him and sending him flying through the room, landing on a nightstand and hitting his head hard against a mirror. He rubbed the back of his head for a second, noticing blood slowly seeping from fresh cuts. Enraged, he prepared to charge head on the figure, only to get himself restrained from behind, by yet another hooded entity. But something was off. Their color… it resembled the suicide attacker at the stadium… Zebra terrorist group Atal’Hakkar, led by the infamous Zabrajin of the Zandalari. His attention was drawn back to Sundancer, who was being eyed menacingly by the other zebra, who picked up his machete and prepared to swing at her head.

“NO!!” With renewed strength, he bucked his head backwards, breaking the muzzle of the one behind him, causing him to lose its grip, allowing Tony to charge and hit the attacker straight in the neck full force, sending him flying in the process. The only sounds audible were that of Sundancer’s whimpers of pain and the sound of bones breaking. The zebra landed on its back, but did not move. Seeing this, the other one yelled in anger and tried to stab Tony in the back of his neck, only to get tripped by the mare, landing face down into the floor, the machete twisting in such a way that it penetrated his neck in return, severing the main artery. It was too late for him to do anything, the blood literally exploding with force from the wound, killing him nearly instantly.

“TONY BEHIND YOU!” she yelled in horror as another figure stepped from the shadows with a cloth in his hooves, trying to incapacitate the enraged stallion. Tony yelled in return at his marefriend, urging her to get help.

“Sundancer! You must get out of here! I can keep them busy, go get help! PLEASE!”

She nodded weakly and shakily got herself on her feet, and started running towards the exit. Upon reaching the door, she tried yanking it open, to no avail. Glancing quickly around, she found the key, broken, on the floor. Light hoof steps alerted her and she prepared for attacking. But before she could do anything, she felt something else. A metallic spike locked itself in the marble floor, accompanied by a severe pain in her lower back. Glancing around, she took notice of a spear embedded just above her rump. She couldn’t move anymore, and blood oozed even faster than before, from her agitation. Her attacker casually moved towards her head and stared her in the eyes. She braced herself for the final blow, whimpering in both pain and sadness, that she won’t ever see her lover again.

“Poor little mare… Now, now, you sit here, while I handle your coltfriend, alright?” he said, with a frown on his face.

She stared in disbelief. They came after Tony, not to steal something. She immediately thought back to Spectrum. ‘Did he send them?!’ Gathering courage, she asked the figure that slowly trotted towards the conflict area.

“Were you sent by Spectrum?” she asked, fury obviously evident in her tone.

“He merely told us that your friend has a vast knowledge of physics and technology, so he sold him to us. But don’t worry, since I am a zebra of honor, I already punished him for betraying his mates for money.”

“Wh-what do you mean?!”

“I cut off his head and sent it to my leader,” he said, earning a shocked glare from the petrified mare.

“What do you want from Tony?!” she yelled back at the entity, which took her hood off and stared her in the eyes.

“We need his skills in technology for our war effort against your precious Princessess! We will rain down hell upon you all!” He yelled at her, turning around and entering the room, in which two stallions were fighting fiercely. Tony had a machete in his mouth, swinging relentlessly at his enemy. Upon noticing his leader, the zebra hesitated a bit, allowing Tony to sever his head off in one strike, surprising the zebra leader.

“You fight with valor I have yet to see in your countryponies. However, we played enough. Surrender now, if you wish to prevent further injuries.”

“Buck you! You tried to kill Sundancer! I won’t allow you to live for that!” Tony yelled in anger and charged at the seemingly defenseless zebra standing in the door way. Upon getting closer, the zebra pulled out what seemed to be a small blade, and yanked it in Tony’s left side, causing him to stumble and land head first into the wall behind the figure, breaking his muzzle in the process. Upon trying to lift himself up, he gasped in horror when he noticed he couldn’t move anymore, and his sides were burning.

“Paralyzing agent, from the savannah manticores. Doesn’t kill, but hurts as hell,” the zebra told him sternly, earning a glare of pure rage.

Trying to move, he placed his head in such a position that he noticed another figure in the corridor, standing upright, heaving in pain and crying. He tried to yell, but he couldn’t open his mouth. Every muscle in his body went numb. He occasionally spat some saliva, but nothing else, trying to form words. The figure finally spoke.

“I am Amani, shadow hunter of the Zandalari. As you may have figured out, we came here for you.” He trotted towards the mare, grabbed the hilt of the spear in his mouth and pulled out with power, pulling the mare on her haunches, earning a wail of pain from her. She couldn’t stay in that position and dropped on her belly. Getting weaker and significantly weaker, she cried softly and called his name.

“Tony… Tony, I’m so cold… where are you…”

“Isn’t this heart breaking… Seeing your marefriend die, and not being able to even hold her. Tragic.” He gave the incapacitated stallion a sly grin and whistled three times. Three other shadowy figures came from the other rooms of the house, hauling carts of stolen items and equipment. One of them leaned and grabbed Tony, pulling him on the cart he was dragging. “We mustn’t let any evidence that we were here. Gather the corpses quickly and set a fire. Burn down the house.” Glancing at the dying mare, he motioned towards her aswell. “Burn her too.” The group nodded and started immediately on their task, one of them grabbing the mare by her tail and dragging her through the corridor towards the room, planting her near the bodies. Tony could only stare in disbelief as once again, life was taking away the ones he loved most. Anger was replaced by fright. Pouring his every ounce of power and will left, he managed to drag himself off the card, onto the floor, earning the gasps of those present, and tried going after Sundancer.

“I’m… comin… I … save you… love you… I CAN’T LOSE YOU!!” with a roar of pain, he grabbed the mare by her mane and dragged her towards the window, before collapsing under the strain in his muscles. Those present went on with their duty, while Amani stood and eyed the fallen stallion carefully.

“We are ready to leave.”

“Let’s go,” said Amani, his tone bearing amazement at the force of Tony’s will. He motioned towards his body, as one zebra pulled him back in the cart and fled the scene through the back door, running full speed towards the Everfree Forest. Their leader remained behind, trotting closer to the dying mare and prayed silently for her. ‘Forgive me. It is not your fault…’ With that, he pulled out a torch out of his cloak and lit it up. Dropping it on the bodies of his comrades, he fled the house, which now fully caught fire and was spreading rapidly.

Rudely awakened by the smell of smoke, Sundancer slowly rose to the window and hit her forehead hard on it, breaking the glass, cutting herself in the process. With her final power, she yelled once again for help, but, to her surprise, her shout was barely audible. Crying in defeat, she lowered herself on the ground and closed her eyes, preparing for the worst.

---

Rainbow Dash woke up with a start and flew towards Ponyville, trying to find the source of the scream. After flying for more than 20 minutes, she gave up and was ready to head home, when she noticed three cloaked figures trotting away hurriedly towards the Everfree Forest, pulling carts filled with equipment and other items. Among the items stood out the white form of Tony, unconscious. She immediately bolted straight towards them, but stopped suddenly. ‘I should follow these guys and see where they are going. Something is very wrong here.’ With that in mind, she resumed her pursuit, following the running group through the forest, while avoiding being seen.

---

Back in Ponyville, its citizens were alerted by the black smoke rising from the old house of Doctor Whooves. The most worried in this situation were Twilight and Rarity, having being woken up by the shouts. What really troubled them was that they didn’t catch a glimpse of their friends, who were probably trapped inside. Several moments later, a panting orange earth pony arrived at the scene and gasped in horror at the smoldering house.

”Where is Tony and Sundancer!?”

“They are probably trapped inside, but we can’t reach them!” Rarity exclaimed, earning a death glare from Applejack.

“Ya mean ta tell me that while our friends are burnin’ inside that house, you are staying here outside an’ do nothing?!” With that, Applejack ran past her friends, towards the burning house and bucked open the front door, which came crashing down from the force of the kick.

“TONY! SUNDANCER! WHERE ARE YA?!”

All she received was the sound of wood cracking from the heat, as well as the song of the flames. As she stepped inside, she noticed the bloody floor and immediately recognized that something terrible had happened here. Slowly pacing through the falling debris, avoiding the walls aflame, she reached out into the bedroom, where she was met with a smell of burning flesh and hair. Shooting a quick glance around the room, she noticed a slightly singed Pegasus mare, leaning against the wall, gasping for breath.

“Oh sweet Celestia… Sundancer! Hang on!” She leaped over the burning pile of corpses, slightly burning her underbelly, but she ignored the pain and pressed on. When she got closer to the white mare, Applejack immediately saw her wounds and gasped loudly in disbelief. Gently picking up the barely conscious mare, she jumped through the window, landing in the backyard. Once clear of danger, she yelled at the top of her lungs for the other ponies in the front of the burning house. Several paramedics surrounded her and the injured Pegasus. Sundancer was laid on a stretch and carried away to meet a group of medical unicorns which were preparing a teleportation spell for Canterlot Hospital. One of the paramedics approached Applejack and offered to tend to her wounds. She snarled at him and proceeded to enter the house again, despite the other ponies protesting against it. Just as she prepared herself to run through that window again, a powerful explosion sent debris in every direction. Applejack dropped to her haunches and raised her hoofs to protect herself from the deflagration. Unfortunately, a loose piece of wood hit her in the head and knocked her out cold.

All ponies present at the site of the disaster panicked and ran in every direction, away from the still burning ruins. Debris lied scattered through the area. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy met with Rarity and Twilight at the site, eyes widening in horror when they noticed the smoldering ruins, and Applejack being carried away on a stretch.

“Oh my, what happened Twilight? What happened to Applejack?” Fluttershy was on the brink of tears and sniffed silently.

“A fire started out in the house, and Applejack went inside and saved Sundancer… No sight of Tony, though. I’m afraid he is still inside the house…” Twilight shakily exhaled, still shocked by the tragedy. ‘Did he do this? No, he would never, ever, hurt Sundancer… I saw just how much he loves her… Then what, what could have possibly happened?’

---

The group of zebras cantered towards the rendezvous point. Unbeknownst of them, a cyan Pegasus was following them through the woods, into a secluded area in the forest. Arriving at the spot, they stopped from their run and rested for a while, waiting for the signal. Rainbow Dash sat in the tree corona, eyeing them carefully. ‘What is Tony doing in there… and where is Sundancer?’ Turning her head for a brief moment towards Ponyville, she noticed the heavy black smoke rising from what appeared to be the location of their house. She gulped silently and prayed that somehow, her fan has escaped the inferno. Spending a few more minutes in hiding, her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when a large explosion occurred in Ponyville, causing her to shake uncontrollably. ‘I hope she is alright…’

A red flare was shot into the sky, as a large airship descended seemingly out of nowhere and landed in the opening. A zebra with a black eye patch over his left eye motioned to those on the ground to haul the carts aboard. Rainbow Dash saw this opportunity and flew up to the ship and hid in the back of the storage area, without anypony noticing. There, she found the cart where Tony should have been, but he was nowhere to be found. She was interrupted from her thoughts by the movement of the ship, as it rose into the skies and set for the unknown.

Rainbow looked through a small window, staring at the form of Ponyville, shrinking as they distanced themselves. Sighing sadly, she found a spot where to hide from potential attackers, and tried to recover some sleep. She regretted not picking up her enchanted medallion. Now, she had to save Tony all by herself, from some guys who didn’t seem to know of mercy.

It’s been two hours since a disaster hit the peaceful village of Ponyville, ending in the disappearance of two ponies and the injuring of many others caught in the deflagration. The ‘Immediate Threat Response’ squad of the Royal Corps of Canterlot arrived at the scene of the destroyed house within minutes after the explosion. Amongst them was none other than the Doctor, staring in disbelief at the spot where his house should have been. Many thoughts raced in his mind as he thought to solve this mystery, as to where had Tony and the captain of the Royal Guard disappear to.

A silvery armored unicorn mare approached the Doctor and saluted him.

“I have come to report our findings, Doctor.”

The Doctor merely nodded weakly, not breaking eye contact with the smoldering remains, still puffing smoke. The stench of burnt flesh and hair permeated the air around the site. Taking a deep breath, he turned to the guard and motioned for her to explain the situation.

Clearing her throat, the guard spoke. “It has come to our attention that unknown ponies entered the village very early in the morning and headed towards your house. We have identified them as zebras, but nothing else. From the debris, we learned that the house exploded when the fire reached well into the basement, where we found traces of explosives.”

“What about the girl… what’s her condition?”

“She was immediately taken to the Canterlot hospital and went straight into surgery. She lost a lot of blood and was gravely injured, but despite all this, she is stable right now. However…,” the mare lowered her gaze “the spot where she was impaled was directly above the uterus. It had to be completely removed…”

The Doctor sighed and turned around towards a carriage waiting for him. “To the Canterlot hospital, and make it fast!” he hissed at the pegasai in front of the carriage. They gave quick nods and flew off.

---

At the hospital, Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy stood by the bed of Applejack, who was barely recovering from the concussion she received after taking a direct hit from flying debris. Applejack stretched a bit and sighed. Raising her head slightly, she noticed the three ponies smiling at her, their eyes brimming with tears of joy and relief. The pink pony gave a loud squeak and gripped the orange earth pony in a strong hug.

“Whoa there, sugarcube, Ah’m fine, ya can stop now…”

“Oh Applejack, dear, we were so worried about you! What happened, Twilight was barely able to give us any details of what happened.”

The information sunk in slowly, and Applejack gasped loudly when she realized why she was here in the first place. The burning house, Sundancer, the explosion…

“Wh-where is Sundancer?! Is she alright?”

“Hush now, dear.” Rarity pointed her hoof to her left.

Applejack followed the gesture and hushed a gasp when she laid her eyes upon the form of Twilight resting her head on Sundancer’s chest, slowly but steadily rising. Her body was completely covered in bandages, save for parts of her face. Her mane and tail were cut off to grow anew. Her wings were carefully tucked at her sides, covered in casts and bandages as well. Applejack could only stare sadly at the depressed expression on her face, seemingly crying.

Twilight raised her head and stared into Applejack’s own eyes, then lowered her gaze. She got up and trotted towards her bed and hugged her.

”Oh, Applejack, I’m so happy you’re awake. You scared us pretty good. I’m really sorry for what happened, I should have—“

“It’s okay sugarcube, don’t worry about it. How is she?”

Twilight sniffed and took a deep breath. “From what I’ve learned from the doctors, she is in a coma, after losing a large amount of blood. Also, her injuries were severe, third degree burns on her sides and back legs. She will make a full recovery, but I’m afraid she will never be able to conceive…”

Applejack stared dumbfounded for a minute before mumbling something. “Why… Why did this happen… did they find any trace of Tony in the rubble? And where is Dash by the way… I’m not seeing her here.”

“They are both on their way to Zandalari,” said the Doctor, who just entered the room, earning shocked expressions from everypony in the room.

“But… why? What’s going on?!”

“Settle down, Miss Pinkamina, I will explain everything I have learned so far.”

After everypony took a seat, he drew a breath and began. “It appears that Tony was ponynapped by the Atal-Hakkar of Zandalari. They attacked him earlier this morning and severely injured his marefriend, as you can see. As to how I’ve come to this conclusion, we have found traces of specific poisons that are only obtained in the south west regions of the continent, towards the savannas. And since we are at the beginning of a war with the northern Zebra tribes, they have set on acquiring all possible technologies to aid their warfare. Our scouts have detected a massive airship traveling towards Zandalari as we speak. There is no doubt that Tony is aboard that ship. As for Captain Dash, she is in pursuit and is attempting to save him by herself. I’m afraid the only thing we can do is take the ship down.”

“WHAT?!” a collective gasp from the group of mares present.

“We can’t take any risks! If Tony actually gives them the technology they need, we might soon face a second Equestrian War. Right as we speak, we have sent battle ships to take it down. As much as it pains me, Equestria’s survival comes first.”

“You can’t do that!!”

Everypony in the room stared in shock at the stirring form of Sundancer, who was whimpering in pain as she rose from bed and glared daggers at the Doctor. “I won’t allow you to kill him… not after what he endured to try and protect me. I won’t have it!”

“Sundancer, please, calm down! Everything will be fine, we won’t allow him to do anything. We will save Tony!”

”P-promise…?” she said with a faltering voice, fading into blackness again.

“We promise on our livelihoods that we will bring them back!” Twilight said with renewed strength as she grabbed Sundancer’s hooves and held them as she fell back into a deep sleep.

The Doctor cleared his throat to get everypony’s attention.

“I am really sorry girls, but you are to head back to Ponyville and continue your lives as until now. This operation has been approved by both Princesses and they clearly specified that you will not interfere.” The Doctor sighed, not enjoying what he had to do.

“We won’t do that! We will go and help Rainbow save Tony! Not even the Princesses can stop us.”

“Oh, but we disagree.”

“Wha—“ Twilight was interrupted by a sudden powerful light, forcing her eyes shut to prevent damage. Taking a few seconds, she slowly opened them to reveal the Rulers of the Sun and Moon respectively, standing in the middle of the room, with frowns on their faces. The Ruler of the Moon spoke first in a commanding tone.

“Thou are to return to Ponyville immediately, either by yourselves or under Royal escort, along with power seals, until we solve this problem.”

“We will not stand by and let out friend die out there! Princess Celestia, I always thought you cared about everypony under your rule!” Twilight cried out at the Ruler of the Sun.

Celestia scowled and raised her head, taking an air of authority. “My faithful student, of course I love my subjects as my family, but I cannot and WILL NOT sacrifice the lives of many ponies for one pony, no matter who it is. I am terribly sorry, but I’m afraid I will have to ensure that you will not attempt anything folly. Summer, Brighthooves, at my side!” Celestia barked.

Immediately, two heavily armored unicorn guards entered the room and bowed down to the Princesses.

“Take these ponies and escort them safely to Ponyville. They are not to leave the village in anyway without my permission. Did I make myself understood?”

“Yes, your majesty!”

Turning towards the shocked and confused ponies in the room, she closed her eyes and mumbled something under her breath. Immediately her horn shone bright. After several minutes, the spell faded out, leaving the Sun Ruler exhausted from over exerting.

“There, all sealed. Twilight, Rarity, you will not be able to use magic; Fluttershy, you will not be able to fly. As for you, my little earth ponies, you are now bound to the earth below your hooves. Should you leave the perimeter of Ponyville, the guards will know and will find you and send you back.

“You can’t do this! Princess Celestia!”

“I already did…” the Ruler of the Sun sighed and teleported herself and her sister away, leaving the guards to battle with the struggling ponies. As she was forced out of the room, Twilight could only look helplessly at the sleeping form of Sundancer and the shocked expression of Applejack, who sat in her bed, not being able to move.

---

Low rumbling and shaking had made sleeping difficult for the white earth pony, who opened his eyes slowly to reveal a metallic cage of sorts. He tried touching it, but found himself tied up by several chains and ropes. ‘What am I doing here… and where is—' he stopped mid sentence when his memories came flushing back, the attackers, blood everywhere, paralyzing agent, Sundancer lying on a pile of corpses. His eyes grew wide and his pupils shrank as he let out a blood curling scream of wail and agony, finally realizing he had failed in defending the ones he loved. A soft thud snapped him out of his trance. Turning around with fire in his eyes, he looked upon the confused form of Rainbow Dash, rubbing the back of her head after she seemingly fell.

“What are you doing here…” he spat at her. Looking around, Dash found his target.

“Tony! You’re safe! Quick, we have to get you out of here, before they come!”

“Don’t bother… There’s no reason for me to try and live anymore…” he lowered his head and cried soflty. Rainbow immediately understood what happened.

“I’m sorry… I truly am, she was my friend too. But you can’t let that get in your way! You must live! She would have wanted you to be happy. Don’t lose faith Tony, you hear me?”

Sudden explosions and loud rumbling snapped the two out of their conversation, as fire began to spread all around them. Rainbow panicked and started looking around for a way to get him out of the cage before the flame engulfed them.

“Save the cargo!” A yell came from above the deck, and suddenly seven zebras entered the cargo hold and went directly for the cage.

“HEY! Get away from there!”

Rainbow noticed them and looked around for a weapon to defend herself. Too late. The zebras charged the distraught Pegasus and managed to grab her by the hooves and pulled her off the cage. Pinned down, she let out a scream of pure agony, as one of the zebras swung his machete at her left wing, nearly severing it. In the meantime, 2 other zebras unlocked the cage and chains and pulled Tony out, only to get hit straight in the face, causing them to stumble on their backs, leaving them open for a rain of fatal blows, aimed at the vital organs and neck, rendering them immovable.

Tony then immediately shot towards the zebras that were beating Dash savagely and attempted to strangle one of them with the chain that was still attached to his front hooves. Rainbow didn’t have time to flinch, as another powerful blow struck at her other wing, completely paralyzing her in pain. She then felt somepony grab her and drag her towards the open windows, and before she could even scream, she was hurled out.

“Tooonyyy!!” she screamed helplessly as she fell towards the ground, gaining speed. She attempted to recover from the dive, only to scream in agony as her severed muscles and tendons pulsed with pain. She closed her eyes and prepared for the worst.

Suddenly she felt two hooves that grabbed her and slowed her descent to a halt in mid air. Opening her eyes, she started tearing up when she saw the face of her savior.

“Soarin’… I-I’m sorry…”

“Shh, no need to apologize, Dash, you did what you had to…” She began to sob openly, lowering her head. Soarin’ landed with her on an opening in the woods, gently embracing her, careful to avoid her almost severed wings. “I will never leave your side again, Dashie…” She silently gasped at the nickname.

‘Only Pinkie called me like that…’

“Dash, I know this is the worst moment possible, but, I want to tell you something…” he gulped loudly and looked into her magenta eyes, as she stopped crying and listened intently. “I-I love—“ his confession was interrupted by a very powerful explosion and a loud rumbling. Glancing around, they both laid their eyes on the burning frame of the zebran airship.

“TONY NOOO!!” Rainbow cried out in anguish at her failed attempt to save her friend. Soarin’ hugged her again and turned her back towards the wreckage, to avoid further hurting the already-broken Pegasus. She dropped her head over his shoulder and sobbed loudly.