Chapter 13: A fated friendship

The next day after they returned from Cloudsdale, Von woke up and decided to spend some time in Canterlot, learning more about Equestria from Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It was a wondrous experience for him and he was even luckier to have the rulers of Equestria themselves tell him what he wanted to know. "Nightmare Night? What's that?" He asked. Celestia smiled. "Nightmare Night", she said. "Is a festival we hold, where foals dress up and go to each ponies homes and receive treats. It is also a time where scary stories are told to rattle the bones of the young ones. Also..." She looked in Luna's direction. "It is a time when young fillies and colts hear the legend of Nightmare Moon's return on Nightmare Night. Would you like to tell him, Luna?" Luna blinked. "But sister..." She looked at Von, nervously. "I...have no experience with such things. Must I?" Celestia nodded. "It will give you an opportunity to get along with him and him an oppurtunity for him to know you better, especially after what happened when he came here to see me."

Luna sighed and looked at Von. "The legend goes...Every year we put on a disguise. To save ourselves from her searching eyes. But Nightmare Moon just wants only one thing; To gobble. up ponies in one quick swing. Hungrily, she soars the skies. If she sees nopony, she passes by. So if she comes and all is clear. Equestria is safe for another year. Fill up her belly with a treat or two so she won't return to come eat you." When she finished speaking, she looked at Von to find him shivering in place. He saw the way she looked at him and he shook his head. "Wow. That was...um...interesting. Not scary in the least..."

Luna and Celestia giggled, getting Von to laugh in response. Von got back onto his paws and smiled at them. "Thank you for your time, Princess Celestia. Princess Luna." He said, nodding his head in respect to both of them. Celestia smiled. "I told you before. You may just call me Celestia. And you're very welcome." Luna tapped him gently with one of her hooves and he looked in her direction. "Um...If it is ok with you...I give you permission to...No. You MAY call me Luna instead." She said, blushing. Von laughed to himself and smiled at her. "Of course...Luna."

They smiled at one another, but Von looked away in shame. "I'm sorry", he said. "It was my fault that you got hurt by Nova. If I wasn't here--" Luna stopped him from finishing and pulled him in close to her and she gave him a hug. Von froze. He had no idea how to respond to this. Somepony else, other than his elder was giving him a HUG? He felt nervous and started to squirm a bit, but he looked up at Luna and saw how affectionate her face looked. She had a warm smile on her face, a smile that could make anypony feel safe. Without an elder and with a brother that hates his new friends, Von felt that the only ones that could make him feel happy, could make him smile and feel safe were his friends, Princess Celestia and now, Princess Luna. Von smiled and returned Luna's hug with one of his own.

When they said their goodbyes, Von spread his wings and took off back to Ponyville. Once he was out of sight, Celestia turned and smiled at her younger sister. "You actually wanted to go for a hug, Luna?", she asked. "Did you not say that you were inexperienced with this sort of thing?" Luna blushed and looked away. "W-well, I did not expect him to act that way. He was upset that I got hurt by his brother and blamed himself. What else could I do? I mean-" Celestia held her hoof over her sister's muzzle and smiled. "I know. It's been 1000 years. You would not know how to handle this so easily." Luna smiled at Celestia, but it soon turned back into a frown. "How do you think he'll feel? When he finds out?" Celestia sighed and looked toward the ceiling. "I'm not certain. But for his sake and the sake of Ignus, he will accept it. But the matter that must be discussed...is how to deal with Nova."

Von landed back in front of Twilight's house and opened the door. "Hello! I'm home." He announced. But there was no answer. He looked around, but he couldn't find a trace of either Twilight or Spike. But then again, he'd best stay away from Spike. He must still be mad at him for this 'something' he and Rarity did. He left Twilight's house, feeling a bit lonely. "I wonder how the others are doing?" He asked himself. With that in mind, he flapped his wings and took off to see the other ponies. First stop, Fluttershy's cottage. Von hadn't actually been to Fluttershy's home before, so he asked around Ponyville for directions until one pony told him. He arrived and was amazed at how peaceful it looked. He landed in front of the door and knocked gently. When Fluttershy opened the door, Von could see everything inside. Her house was so neat and tidy, but there were a bunch of animals inside. "Oh...hello, Von. Um...did you need anything?" She asked, nervously. "Yeah. Do you know where Twilight is?" He asked.

"Oh yes. Um...I think she said she was going to the Everfree Forest to help Zecora with something important. I think she took Spike with her, too. Um...Is something wrong?" She asked, looking at him with concern. Von laughed. "No. I was just wondering where she went. I thought it was a little weird for me to come back and she wasn't there. But thanks for telling me, Fluttershy." He turned away and waved goodbye before he took off into the air again. Hmm. Fluttershy is busy and I already went to see Pinkie. Applejack's probably working on the farm. Oh! I know! I'll go see Rainbow Dash, He thought. Just then, a streak of blue flew past him. Von blinked for a moment before he recognized the yellow hair. "Kamen!" He called out.

Immediately, the Pegasus turned around and flew over to Von. "Hey, Von. What's up?" He asked. Von smiled. "I was getting ready to go visit Dash. What about you?" "I'm going to see my marefriend." Kamen told him. Von heard him mention he had a marefriend when he rejected Rainbow Dash, so he felt that he had to ask. "Who is it?" Kamen laughed nervously and turned away. "Sorry. Can't say. I don't want to keep her waiting. Later!" With that, he took off into town. Von felt a little suspicious. He really wanted to go see Rainbow Dash, but now he was curious about Kamen's marefriend. "Well...I guess I could go take a look. I really want to see who it is." He said to himself as he flew after Kamen.

Von started sneaking as quietly as he could, making sure that Kamen wouldn't notice him. After tailing him for a bit, he saw him go inside Sugarcube Corner. It confused Von, so he got closer and peeked into the window. There he saw Kamen and Pinkie Pie putting on aprons. "Are you ready to make some cupcakes, sweetie?" Pinkie asked, smiling widely. Kamen smiled back in response. "Of course. So...do I really have to sing the song, too?" He scratched his mane and gave her a nervous look. Pinkie giggled and gave Kamen a small kiss on his muzzle. "I'm sure you'll do fine. Besides, it'd be boring trying to make them if you didn't sing the song. Come on. Give it a try." She started bouncing up and down happily, looking at Kamen all the while. He finally gave in and gathered the ingredients together. "Alright. I'l do it for you, Pinkie." He said. Von blinked and listened as Kamen began singing. "All you have to do is take a cup of flour. Add it to the mix. Now just take a little something sweet, not sour. A bit of salt, just a pinch. Baking these treats is such a cinch, add a teaspoon of vanilla. Add a little more and you count to four and you never get your fill of...Cupcakes! So sweet and tasty. Cupcakes! Don't be too hasty. Cupcakes. Cupcake. Cupcakes! Cupcakes!!!"

Von couldn't help but laugh to himself, but he didn't want to be caught spying on his friends. So, he spread his wings and left. "Pinkie and Kamen, huh?" Von thought about the compatibility between the two and came to the solid conclusion that they were right for each other. Kamen used to brighten Von's day all the time and he always appreciated a good joke and Pinkie...was Pinkie. He made his way outside of Ponyville, looking around for any trace of Rainbow Dash he could find. Just then, Rainbow Dash appeared behind him on a thundercloud. She stomped her front hooves on it, causing lightning to strike behind him and thunder to rumble. Scared, he flew into a bush and hid but he popped his head out when he heard the Pegasus laughing loudly. He laughed a little and came out from hiding. "Ok. I'll admit. You got me, Rainbow." He said. She smiled and came down to him. "Hehehe. I did, huh? But it's all in good fun. You weren't too scared, were ya?" She asked. Von looked away and blushed. "N-no. Of course not. You just caught me by surprise. That's all..." They looked each other in the eyes and burst into laughter.

They walked side by side through the park, sharing things with one another like they did when they met. But rather than stories, they talked about trivial things such as, their favorite foods, activities and more. "Wow. I never knew dragons ate all that stuff." She exclaimed. He laughed. "Not all of them. Just me. So Rainbow Dash...how are you feeling? You know..." Von didn't feel comfortable bringing up what happened in Cloudsdale, but he was worried about her. "Oh, that! Don't worry. I'm OK now. Thanks for worrying.." She assured him. They smiled and talked more until something occured to Von. Rainbow Dash told him she show him some tricks. He asked and she gave him a smug grin. "Heh. Get ready to be amazed. Sit here and watch closely." She said as she took off into the air at high speed. She started out with some somersaults and worked her way into a few barrel rolls. Von watch her perform so flawlessly. I wonder if she's ever...whoa! I shouldn't think that. I might jinx her, he thought.

"Get ready to have your mind blown!" She yelled down to him. Rainbow Dash then flew high up into the skies to the point where Von could no longer see her. "Dash?" He called out. There was no response. He kept staring into the sky until he saw a figure start coming down at extreme velocity. Rainbow Dash felt like the air could tear her face off, but she was enjoying every second of flying so fast. The air around her began to compress as she flew faster. And then, Von saw something amazing. Rainbow Dash let loose a rainbow colored shockwave and she flew over Von's head, leaving a rainbow trail behind her. Von couldn't believe his eyes as he was watching her do this. To him, it seemed as though she became the rainbow itself. The force of the shockwave echoed across Ponyville and a rainbow formed overhead. Rainbow Dash slowed down and made a U-turn and landed by Von's side. "So? What do you think of my Sonic Rainboom?" She said with a boastful tone. She didn't get a response.

Von was at a loss for words. But as he examined the Sonic Rainboom, something popped into his head. He felt like he had seen it somewhere before. "I...I remember." He muttered. Rainbow Dash gave him a confused look. "Huh? Remember what? My Sonic Rainboom? This is the first time I've shown it to you. I've only done it two other times." She told him. He looked at her. "When did you do it?" She thought for a moment. "Well...My friends saw it during the Best Flier Competition, but the first time I did it was when I was a filly. That's how I got my Cutie Mark. Why do you ask?" Von closed his eyes, slowly gathering his thoughts. "I told Twilight about a dream I had. I saw some kind of light spread over the sky. It looked like a rainbow. And seeing this...it made me think of that dream again. But it wasn't just a dream. It was a memory that I forgot a long time ago. ...The first time I had seen your Sonic Rainboom was when I was a pup."

Rainbow Dash's eyes opened wide at Von's statement. She didn't know what to say, but she had to say something. "But...My friends told me that the first time they saw it was when they were fillies, too. And now you're telling me that you saw it?! H-how?!" He scratched the back of his head and looked at her. "When I was a pup, the only family I had was the elder. I didn't know anything about Nova then. I was alone alot whenever the elder and the others left. I talked to Kamen here and there when they were gone. Sometimes I would have to go with them so nopony would know that I was friends with him. Most of the time, I didn't like going out much. But one day, when I was alone on the mountain, I saw your Sonic Rainboom. It was...too beautiful for me to even describe." As he said that, Rainbow Dash blushed and smiled. Knowing that she was the one who made it, she felt flattered. "I wanted to know where it came from", he continued. "So I climbed down the mountain to find it. But as I was climbing, I lost my grip and fell. I hit my head and after that...everything was a blur." Rainbow Dash looked at him in wonder. So he really saw it, She thought. The girls saw it, too and that meant we were connected somehow. So I guess this means...we were meant to meet Von, too.

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