Note: I apologize if some of this seems too familiar, I've tried to change enough to make it stand out on its own from the actual episode, either way, thank you, I will be attempting to make it its own thing in further chapters, but do try to bear with me on this one.

The train finally came to a stop several minutes later.

"Anyone else feeling the cold out here? No? Just me?" John said as he took the first step outside, the other ponies looking at him un-amused from behind. "I'm just saying..." ignoring him, the group passed by him, setting hoof in the snow filled floor.

"Ha! And you all thought that there would be no use to my many scarves!" Rarity coyly boasted, while Spike came right behind her carrying a few suitcases.

"She got you there"

“Shut up,” John groaned to Spike, who looked at John oddly for a second before replying.

“I didn’t say a word… Whoa!” Spike yelled, falling into the snow, the suitcases falling as well and opening on the floor, multiple scarves flew into the wind, a rushing Spike desperately following after them.

"That's great that you have scarves… So… Wanna share some with us?" John asked, Rarity turned to him, but only grinned in response and resumed her trot, leaving him behind on his own. “So was that a yes!?”

The group gazed upon the area outside, a white vastness of nothingness as far as the eye could see, all but what seemed to be a looming monolith in the distance. They stood in silent, waiting for the escort that Twilight had spoken of, and as if on cue, a figure peered from the snowstorm.

"Twili!" the looming figure called, taking off a pair of goggles on their head, revealing Shining Armor under the protecting gear.

"Shining Armor?" Twilight called back, and the both of them nuzzled in an open show of affection that did not last, as Shining took upon the sight of John shivering not far from them.

"Oh. You."

"T-the feeling is mutual, pal," John responded while hugging himself, hoping for some self-given body warmth.

“So… Where is Cadence?” Twilight quickly intervened. “I was expecting the both of you to welcome us here,” Shining seemed to considerate the question, but allowed himself a reply.

“Let’s just say that things haven’t been going well, and that’s why Cadence had to stay behind.”

“What? C-couldn’t handle it yourself?” John cut in, stuttering thanks to the cold.

“Wait, what?” Shining looked at John with rage in his eyes, but quickly shook it off, turning his attention to all. “There is no time for this, we have to get out of here, we don‘t want to stay here too long… There are things we don‘t want to run into,” Shining Armor finished ominously.

“W-what sort of things?” Fluttershy timidly asked.

“Well? Let’s just say that the Crystal Empire isn’t the only thing that’s returned. Come on, let‘s get a move on.”

Needing no further indication, the group began their trek, slowly going through the heavy blizzard that had just intensified, they made a steady trip, but two of them lagged behind; Spike, who was carrying Rarity’s suitcases, and John, who was quickly losing any body heat he had before getting off the train.

“Psst… S-Spike?” John whispered to the young dragon.

“What?”

“C-c-can I have one of those scarves please?” John pleaded the dragon, who only gave him a raised brow.

“No can do, Rarity specifically said that I was not to give you one!” John made his best puppy dog face, but the dragon would not yield.

“W-why?” John said tearing up slightly.

“She said because you should have brought a jacket.”

“I DIDN’T KNOW WE WERE GOING TO GO THROUGH A FUCKING BLIZZARD!”

“Hey, back there, hurry up! We need to get into the city,” came the voice of Shining Armor.

“W-what do you think I’m trying to do you third-rate guard!” John retorted, but was inaudible thanks to his low voice.

“So, what’s happening here? Why exactly do we need to hurry up?” asked Rainbow, approaching Shining to strike a conversation.

“There is something that wants to get into the Crystal Empire, we think it’s the evil unicorn king who originally placed a curse in the place, so I want to return as fast as possible to make sure Cadence is okay," explained, looking around worriedly. "Not to mention we are sitting ducks ourselves out here.”

“You mean King Sombra?” Twilight joined in looking confused. “But the Princess send me in order to find a way to protect the Empire, if there is something preventing him from getting in, then it must already be pro-”

HOWL

“W-what was that?” both John and Fluttershy asked at the same time, John running ahead to get closer to the group.

“That’s our cue to run. NOW!” as Shining finished his sentence, a shadowy cloud emerged from behind them, sinister looking green eyes that appeared to be smoking glaring at them all, the threatening look itself caused them all to freeze in fear, but that quickly broke as Shining called again. “I said run!” wasting no time, they began their mad dash, John quickly forgetting of the cold after his own survival instinct kicked in, and Spike being dragged away by Shining and dropping the suitcases in his haste.

“Not my scarves!”

“Don’t start, Rarity!” reprimanded Applejack in a rush..

“Just run!”

“I am, you don’t have to tell me twice, Twi!”

“Big giant shadow thingie!” yelled Pinkie Pie out of nowhere, ending the discussion instantly.

The group ran as fast as their hooves (and legs in the case of two of them) could take them, trying to keep the distance between them and the giant shadow quickly gaining upon them. Spike could barely keep up with the group, noticing this, Twilight picked up the now tired Spike and put him on her back.

“Hey, ’Mr. Untrustworthy’, care to lend a hoof with this thing?” the human asked while running, Shining instantly picked up on his tone and growled.

“Oh, I’m sorry, how about you do something yourself, care to give us some help ‘Mr. Peeping Tom’?” the unicorn retorted and grinned as the insult caused the human to glare at him.

“Hey,! *huff* I already told you *huff* that was an accident, and at least I APOLOGIZED!” the unicorn glared back, and was readying himself to shoot an insult involving the human’s hands, but was interrupted by Twilight's voice cutting through.

“Hey! You know, I bet you two are enjoying your *huff* ‘old couple’ banter, but you guys could, I mean if it’s not too much trouble *huff*, WAIT UNTIL WE ARE NOT BEING CHASED BY A MONSTER!?”

At that moment, the shadow pounced into the air, ready to strike the angry unicorn. Reacting before his brain had the chance to intervene, John who had been by her side, sidestepped and pushed her out of the way, making the shadow catch nothing but snow. Not one to give up, it quickly changed targets and made to hit John instead, but was moved out of the way just in time by Twilight’s magic. Meanwhile, John yelled in terror as a part of the shadow nearly hit him full on.

“OH MY GOD!” his mind screamed, his throat unable to find the words.

“Guys! We are almost there!” Rainbow called out to the group, causing them to look ahead and notice the giant crystal tower and its base. The group ran even faster, leaving John falling behind as he ran out of breath, realizing this, he tried to bite the bullet and run faster, but only managed to trip and fall with a grunt for his efforts.

“Damn it! Shit, shit shit!” he quickly tried to get on his feet, but the shadow was upon him before he could do anything else.

Twilight turned around at the sound of John’s voice, and her eyes widened in horror when she realized what was happening. She stopped on her tracks and began rushing to his side, but she had been too far away to use her magic. Quickly growing desperate, she only managed a blood curling scream.

“JOHN!”

Out of nowhere, a purple looking streak of magic grabbed onto him, pulling him out at the last moment, John sighed audibly and turned to thank his rescuer.

“Thank you so much, Twil—wait,” he stopped as he noticed the white stallion next to him. “S-Shining?”

“Just keep running, the both of you!” he replied. Twilight nodded, quickly realizing what had happened and resumed her run. John noticed the other ponies quickly approaching what appeared to be an immense pink bubble, and knowing that safety was soon coming, he gave an internal sigh.

As this happened, he noticed Shining falling behind. “What are you doing!?”

“It’s catching up, just keep going!” he called, shooting from his horn what seemed to be lasers into the cloud, which it quickly dodged without effort, then proceeded to pounce at Shining who was once again charging another attack.

“Like hell!” John quickly turned back and managed to grab a hold of him, to both of their surprises, pulling him, both avoiding a full hit, but still being thrown aside by the aftershock. “Aargh!” John felt a sharp pain in his forehead as he (along with Shining) was thrown into the air. After mere moments, the cold completely dissipated, and instead, he felt a comfortable warmth in his skin, followed by a rough landing in what felt like grass. “Ghh..”

As the pain slowly subsided, he opened his eyes, and the events from the previous minutes returned to him, cold sweat running down his forehead, his heart at his throat, his thoughts ran wild as he looked upon the strangely clear skies over him.

“Holy shit… What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck!?? Is… Is this what they do on a regular basis!?”

John instantly got on his feet, ready to give his thoughts to Twilight.

“ARE YOU SERI-” he stopped suddenly when he noticed it. There was nopony in sight, John scratched his head in confusion, looking frantically about for a sight of the other ponies, stopping as his eyes fell upon the place; from houses, to every road, the place sparkled beautifully under the sun, the most noticeable thing being the huge monolith of a tower in the middle. “How did I…?”

“John? JOHN!”

“Oh dear… Where could he be…” said Fluttershy, flying around the area.

“He was holding onto me as we were send through the air, but he let go sometime after that… Ugh,” grunted Shining, grabbing his aching head, barely passing his hoof over his horn that now adorned some sort of dark crystal on it.

“Don’t touch it! It looks like some sort of dark magic… Can you do magic of your own?” Twilight wondered.

“Let me check… Ugh!” he held his head once more, a few sparks coming out from his horn at his attempt.

“I’ll take that as a no…” Twilight concluded.

“Twilight!” the unicorn looked up from her brother towards Rainbow, who landed in front of her, looking worse for wear.

“Did you find him?”

“Not around the area, I‘m not even sure if he is here at all.”

“He made it in. I saw him flying along with Shining, I’m confused as to why he isn’t here either,” Rarity joined the conversation, putting a comforting hoof over Twilight.

“Great, just great!” Twilight began, shaking uncontrollably. “I-I… I feel terrible! Here we all are, we are SAFE, and he is… CELESTIA knows where! Alone, in danger maybe… A\and I didn’t even give him a chance to talk when he wanted to before, he tried to apologize, a-and…” another hoof joined Rarity’s on her back, she looked to the side to find Shining giving her a weak smile.

“He’ll be fine,” he said without looking away.

“How do you know that…? He is probably scared out of his mind right now! I… shouldn’t have let him come!” Twilight exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes.

“He was scared alright, but if somepony who risks their life regardless to save somepony else’s despite that fear and succeed, well, I think that kind of being can survive. Right?” Twilight returned Shining a weak smile, wiping her eyes, then looking ahead, where her friends stood there with worried faces, waiting for her.

“Come on Twilight, you know we can’t hold this group without ya’, so how ‘bout you get your flank off the ground and get ready to go?” Twilight nodded at Applejack‘s remark, giggling slightly, stopping instantly as she noticed the sight of the empire shining brightly under the sun.

“Sparkle-rific! Right, Twilight?” asked Pinkie, jumping in front of her as she got on her hooves.

“Yes Pinkie, it sure is,” despite her improved mood, Twilight frowned, worry over the human filling her thoughts.

“We’ll find him. You’ll see," Shining assured her. "Now, care to give me a hoof? I’m a little weak at the moment…” he huffed, laying on the grass, unable to stand by himself.

“Heh heh, of course BBBFF,” she went to his side and helped him up, and the group began their trip towards the tower.

~~~~~

MEANWHILE, IN THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE…

“Sister, I thought you said they wouldn’t be in any immediate danger.”

“Forgive me, but I did not expect him to acquire the ability to become a threat so quickly. Despite all that, I insist that you do not intervene more than you have to.”

“I only intervened to save the human and Shining Armor, but it seems they did not notice as I pulled them from danger. unfortunately, I wasn’t fast enough, and Shining’s magic seems to be out of commission for the moment, and the human could've died as one of the protruding pieces of the empire nearly skewered him! Fortunately, I managed to teleport him, but I accidentally sent him to the other side of the empire.”

“I see… Perhaps you should keep a closer eye on them; at the very least on John. Make sure he doesn’t get hurt, as unlike the others, he is not used to these kinds of situations, much less considering he is on his own at the moment."

“Yes, I know, sister,” Luna said irritated as she came out from behind a rock, looking upon the group of ponies heading to the palace in the distance. “I will now attempt to catch up to the human, but I will not be able to communicate while doing so.”

“I understand, take care, Luna.”

“I will, Celestia.”

“Did I make it inside?” John thought as he tried to get on his feet, quickly losing balance as his head began to throb. “Dammit… My head.”

“Need some help?” John looked up, only to notice an obscure figure of a pony offering their hoof to him.

“A-aren’t you scared of me?” was the first thing that came out of his mouth as it pulled on him the way only ponies could, getting him on his feet in no time.

“Rather strange way to start a conversation, but to answer it, no, we have seen more things that we could be scared of here—you are not even close,”

“That’s a rather blunt way to put it… and we?” avoiding the need to ask any unnecessary questions, he thanked the helpful pony. “Thanks anyway, Ms…” he began as he noticed more of what he realized was a mare; she had a whitecoat, with a mane colored silver on her head, her cutie mark had the shape of a cloud with a few strange letters in the side, her face was a mask without any emotion.

“Dream Chaser, it’s a… pleasure to make your acquaintance,” she finished clumsily.

“John, and likewise,” they stood silent for a few seconds before Chaser cut it short.

“I don’t think you are from around here, are you lost by any chance?” she asked, patiently awaiting for the answer.

“Well… none of my pony frien- I cannot believe I actually said that with a straight face… Friends are not around, so I’m guessing that I am,” he finished, giving her a sheepish smile. “How that happened is anyone’s guess”.

“I see”.

“Stupid question, but are you from around here?” John asked hopeful.

“I am not, but I know this place well enough. I was one of the few traveling ponies who reached this place at, well, let‘s just say a bad time,” she shook her head and continued. “In any case, I assume you would like some help finding your friends?”

“Yes!” John replied eagerly..

“Very well then, follow me, and I will do my best to assist you on your quest,” she began trotting away, John setting into a quick jog to catch up to the mare.

“Um… Can you please not leave me behind?” John asked with a squeak in his voice.

“What’s the matter? Are you afraid?” she asked uncaringly, catching John off guard.

“Um, no! Er, I mean… Yes, I’m very afraid, I mean, how could I not! My pony sibling brought me to such a dangerous place!” he began, letting his frustrated thoughts out. “Heck, SHE came to a place like this! WE were all nearly killed!” the mare kept on, apparently not listening to him at all, so he didn’t expect it when she suddenly stopped and turned to him with a scowl on her face.

“Tell me, is this the first time Twilight has been in danger?” she asked looking at him, her face showing some hints of emotion he quickly identified as irritation.

“Um…” he stopped to think for a few moments, bringing to mind the few memories Twilight had shared with him, one specifically coming on top.

“Well, no. She once fought a lion with wings,” then another. “Or when she along with the others attempted to get rid of a… Dragon!?” he stood in mere shock at the memories he was recalling, unable to comprehend how Twilight had been able to overcome those challenges. As if reading his mind, Dream Chaser continued.

“That’s because that pony is stronger than you give her credit for. Maybe you shouldn’t insult her with your worries,” she turned back to the front and continued as if nothing had happened.

“I guess you have a point…” he said to himself in a low voice, he caught up and walked alongside her as they made their way into what appeared to be a housing district.

“Um, can I ask you a question?”

“That may very well depend on what that is.”

“Is it just me? Or is this place a ghost town?”

“So wait, none of the ponies here have talked?”

“Again, no Rainbow, how many times do I have to tell you?” Shining explained, becoming increasingly irritated at her.

“Rainbow, please, he already explained what he knew, no need to keep bothering him about it!” Twilight cut in, causing Rainbow to back away.

“Fine, sorry!” she apologized and flew off with crossed legs.

“So, where are these famous Crystal Ponies anyway?” asked Applejack to Shining, who welcomed the different question openly.

“Well, they are all home, and as I previously mentioned, I wasn’t able to get them to talk, they seemed out of it… Ah, here we are!” the ponies stared ahead at what appeared to be the central square, the already huge tower was more apparent from the short distance, along with its literal brilliance.

“It’s gorgeous! Absolutely gorgeous!” Rarity began, her praising quickly derailing into random fanmareish babbling, ogling the structure without remorse. “There are NO words!”

“Focus Rarity," Applejack cut her celebration short. "We are here to help Twilight, and no offense, but she really needs the help right about now,” Rarity instantly made an undignified face.

“Besides, what’s so impressive about this place, it’s just like any old castle,” Rainbow Dash joined in.

“Agreed. Canterlot Castle looks much better,” at this point, Rarity seemed to have trouble grasping the words to respond with.

“Have you lost your minds!? This place is amazing! Gorgeous! Nothing EVEN compares to the magnificence of this pla- Wait, who said that?” the ponies quickly turned their heads in the direction of the voice, quickly finding its source being John, standing with a grin on his face.

“John!” Twilight yelled, letting go of Shining who fell to the ground with a huff, growling lowly as he hit the ground. Meanwhile, she reached John and enveloped him in a hug. “John! You are okay! Oh thank Celestia that you are okay!” John seemed taken aback by his surrogate sister’s reaction, and blushed a bit at the great amount of affection she showed.

“Geez Twilight, you are embarrassing me. Besides… Weren‘t you angry?”

“Stop complaining, you liked this when we were on your home, and the keyword is ‘was‘,” she replied playfully, wiping her tears on his shirt.

“That’s because we were, I don’t know… alone?” he got close to her ear and whispered. “And thank you, I still feel bad thought,“he ruffled Twilight’s mane, causing the pony to groan in annoyance.

“Oh, just drop it, it’s fine!” she poked his rib forcefully, causing John to stumble back in pain.

“Okay, okay, geez… Don’t hurt me!” he joked, still grabbing his pained body.

“How did you make it here anyway!? I thought you were lost!” Twilight asked him, eager to hear his tale.

“Well, actually, I had some he-” he turned to his side to introduce the mare that had helped him, but found nopony by his side. “Odd, she was actually right he-”

“Ahem,” Shining cleared his throat loudly, causing the pair to turn quickly towards the group, blushing at the same time at the giggles coming from the ponies. "If we could please? My wife is waiting.”

“Um, yeah, right,” Twilight cleared her throat.

“Guess we should go in then," John agreed, walking ahead.

“You are not leaving my side, mister,” Twilight said and began her trot, John walking by her side, the group made their way to the entrance in the middle.

“Where did she go….? I guess I’ll tell them later,” John wondered of Dream Chaser as they went into the building, all except for Rarity who held her mouth open.

“… The nerve of some! Not accepting the brilliance of this place!” she huffed before making her way inside the tower, following the rest of the group.

After making their way through the empty palace, they found their way into what appeared to be a throne room, where Twilight instantly perked up and left John’s side, setting into a small run after noticing a pony sitting in the throne itself looking miserable.

“Cadence!”

The pink pony in the throne perked up at the sound of the voice, relief, and a hint of happiness noticeable lifting whatever sour mood she had been in.

“Twilight!” she got on her hooves and trotted towards Twilight, the both approaching each other quickly and stopping inches from each other.

“Um… What are they waiting for?” John asked.

“Oh, you’ll see,” groaned Shining, his tongue sticking out in fake disgust.

“Sunshine, sunshine, lady bugs awake! Clap your hooves, and do a little shake!” they finished what appeared to be a dance by lifting their flanks into the air, like they didn’t care.

“Well, that wasn’t inappropriate at all… Ouch! Hey!” he glared at Pinkie who held a scrutinizing look.

“Hey, it’s cute! Don’t mock it just cause YOU don’t have a super secret flank move!” she replied looking smug.

“Ugh!” Cadence whined, John noticing the bubble flickering in the distance. “One of these days we need to get together when the fate of Equestria ISN’T hanging in the balance,” she sighed, looking defeated.

“Um… Are you okay, Mrs?” John asked, approaching her with Shining trotting ahead of him, reaching his wife instantly and nuzzling her affectionately.

“Oh, hey John, it’s good to see you again. Sorry if the circumstances for this meeting weren’t proper either,” she mumbled something in a low voice and turned to John again. “And please, just call me Cadence, ‘Mrs’ makes me feel old.”

“Will do,” John humored her.

“Not to interrupt, but… Are you okay?” Twilight asked, looking at her fatigued ex-babysitter, to which Shining obliged an answer.

“Cadence’s been able to use her magic to spread love and light, that seems to be protecting the kingdom, but… She hasn’t slept, or eaten much, and I want to help her, but as you can see, my magic has been blocked by King Sombra.”

“How convenient,” John thought, not wanting to face the wrath of a fatigued/probably annoyed Princess.

“Shining, it’s alright. I’m fine,” she tried to assure him.

“Cadence, you are NOT fine,” he corrected her, then turned to Twilight. “She can’t go on like this forever, and if her magic were to fade, well… Let’s just say a magic blocker would be the least of our worries.”

“Is this the part where we volunteer to help! Oh, cause I wanna help!” Pinkie jumped in, getting in between John and Twilight.

“Oh yeah! I’m ready for anything!” proclaimed Spike.

“Yeah!” the other ponies responded in kind.

“She can take care of herself… I know that much… But I just can’t let her do this on her own,“ John thought, he sighed and turned to Cadence with a look of determination. “I will do what I can as well.”

“Well, that would be great actually, what with Cadence using her magic constantly, and me keeping an eye for trouble in the arctic, we haven’t been able to gather much Intel from the Crystal Ponies.”

“Crystal Ponies!” exclaimed Rarity out loud, holding her mane in an excited fashion.

“But Rarity, didn’t we just talk about them on our way here?” asked Fluttershy eyeing her warily.

“Well sure, but I mean, the mere mention of them! It just makes me so giddy! Eeeek!” she squeaked, jumping in excitement.

“Geez, don’t let your excitement drip on the floor, we are in a palace,” the ponies all turned to John with flustered looks on their faces, Rarity herself more apparent than the rest, Spike being the only one giving him a confused look.

“Um… What does that mean J-” began a curious Spike before being cut off.

“I’ll tell you when you are older,” said John sheepishly.

“Um… Shining, what was that about the Crystal Ponies?” resumed Twilight, trying to derail the conversation from its current awkwardness.

“Say what now?” he asked, his face a bright red. “Ouch!” he turned to look at his wife with a scowl on her face. “Um, yeah, well, you see, we want to believe that one of them know of a way to protect the empire outside Cadence’s magic,” he explained, while Twilight stood thinking over his words.

“A research paper…”

“Um, excuse me?”

“A research paper! Of course! It must be part of my test!”

John eyed her incredulously. “You can’t really mean th-”

“Of course I do! Don’t you see? It’s part of my test! To gather information from the crystal ponies and deliver it to Shining!” she skipped giddily in place. “I mean, I love research papers!”

“Oh really, that’s news to me,” began Rainbow while smirking.

“Oh come on Dashie, we all know she loves them, youJohnRarityFluttershySpikeApplejackShiningArmorPrincessCadencePinkiePie, oh wait, that’s me! Of course I know!”

“As you can see, my friends can vouch for me, so no worries, okay?” Twilight assured him.

Shining grinned content and nodded. “Then, I leave it to you guys, we are counting on you,” he saluted them and turned away, taking Cadence who could barely stand on her own back to the throne. The group made their way outside and regrouped in the middle of the open plaza.

“Okay girls, here is the plan, Spike, John, and I will go north, you guys take the other streets visible from here,” the ponies nodded at the instructions and began agreeing into what places they would look in.

“She doesn’t trust you, what the heck is her problem, keeping you by her side?” clearing his head from the odd thought, he turned to Twilight, who now held what appeared to be a badly drawn map.

“A map?”

“Not just any map, a rememme-map!”

“Say what now?”

“It’s my own creation; it allows the pony who touches it to have a birds eye view of the area they’ve been in drawn, all based upon any details picked both subconsciously by the brain and otherwise,” she explained, but John cut in before she began her complete monologue.

“Only half is there, thought.”

“Well, put your hand, I made sure it worked for you too,” Twilight urged him, and finding no reason to refuse, he put his hand on the odd paper, and seconds later, he felt a tingling sensation as the magic ran through his body. As the feeling passed, the top half of the map filled up. “And now we have a full map,” she finished smugly.

“Wow… That‘s pretty cool!” John exclaimed excitedly.

“Oh, it‘s nothing,” she replied looking embarrassed. “Anyway, ready to go?” John let the question hang for a moment before replying.

“Oh, well, I actually wanted to tell you about that,” the other ponies stopped their own talk and turned to the pair.

“What is it?”

“Um… Wouldn‘t it be more efficient if I went on my own?” asked John, twiddling his fingers nervously, Twilight eyed him and bit her lip as she seemed to think of something.

“I’m not gonna fight, but the answer is no,” she replied calmly.

John sighed. “And pray tell, why not?“

“Well, I think it might be best if you were to stay with me…”

“What!? But I would just be extra luggage with Spike going with you as well!” he argued.

“Well, you are not going alone,” she responded, seemingly firm on her own plan on the matter.

“He can be my luggage!” cut in Pinkie, hanging on to his shoulder in a friendly manner, Twilight sighed in defeat, already knowing that arguing with the pink pony would be wasted effort.

“Alright, he can go with you, but be on your guard, this goes to all of you. Report here back in an hour regardless of the outcome. Good luck,” the ponies nodded once more and went on their separate ways, when they were out of earshot, John finally began talking to Pinkie.

“Thank you, Pinkie, geez, first she avoids me, and now she doesn’t want to keep her eyes off me.”

“She was worried about you, but she tends to overreact over the smallest thing- Oh, look!” Pinkie Pie dashed forward and stood in front of a bench.

“Um… It’s a bench…”

“It’s a 1,000 year old bench to be exact!” Pinkie corrected.

“Thank you for the irrelevant information. So anyway, what’s the plan?” Pinkie pulled out her umbrella hat and put it on, getting deep in thought, it wasn’t long before an unnatural grin filled her face.

“I know! Put this on!” she brought out what appeared to be a suit, it was completely black.

“What is this…?” he picked it up and noticed how seemingly familiar it looked to…“A gimp suit…” he dropped it without remorse and grinned nervously. “… So, is it too late to get Fluttershy or Rainbow as my partners?”

Shining looked down at the group, he stood in the balcony from the throne room, noticing John trying to run away, only to be dragged back by the pink pony, he sighed as he watched them trot away.

“What’s the matter, dear?” came the barely audible whisper from the palace, the echoing of the otherwise empty room helping him listen.

“Oh, it’s nothing, really. And how are you feeling?” he worriedly asked her, making his way back to her side. Looking at her tired face, it tore him inside seeing her in that state, but there was nothing he could do for her but be there and just be strong for the two of them.

There wasn’t much for him to do to help his own sister either.

“It’s not like she even needs me anymore,” he nuzzled his wife, who gave him a weak smile, it was all he needed to help him forget his family worries for the moment.

“What’s the matter, Shining?” she asked, cutting him from his thoughts.

“It’s nothing, Cadence, just focus on the kingdom, okay?”

“You are still her brother, you can’t be forgetting that,” Cadance said, closing her eyes, allowing herself to concentrate once more, missing her husband’s face of shock.

“Right... of course, Cadance…”

“Still, easy for you to say. It sure doesn‘t feel that way lately.”

Author's Notes:

WOOH, finally released this thing, it's getting harder to write them I must admit, but that won't stop me!

Again, sorry if the chapter seemed a bit too familiar, I will attempt to make it its own thing in future attempts, for now, thought, I hope you enjoyed this.

Edit: If you can, make sure to tell me what you didn't like about this chapter, I feel some of you may not have enjoyed it as much as (if) you enjoyed the others, as always, I welcome it in order to better myself.

Notes 15 – 4/18/18

Man, I'm super bummed that I used so much of the episode in this one. While you can see I did try to spice it up, the barebones of the episode is there to aid it. Now, you could say that I'm already using a clutch by writing fanfiction about MLP, but shut up though.

Other than that, this is where I tried to make Twilight chill. I knew that it was starting to get bad, so I'm glad I did.