John watched as Ditzy flew, guessing she was heading back to the library. He wasn’t too worried over the ponies looking for him, though he was a bit concerned over what they would do to him, but nothing he couldn’t handle. “I hope…”

His thoughts remained on the words he’d heard, he knew Ditzy wasn‘t the one who had said them; she was too friendly.

“But if Ditzy didn’t say it… Then who?”

He remained deep in thought, staring at the unmoving clouds, thinking of the words, there had only been one time that had happened to him, and it had been back at the Crystal Empire.

“Maybe I’m going crazy?” he felt the lingering thought quickly disappear from his mind as he quickly passed out on the stairs.

…

“Mr. John?”

“Woah!” he turned around and found Cheerilee giving him a confused stare.

:”Is something the matter?” she asked him, smiling knowingly as she gave him an analyzing stare. “Well? Is something wrong?” she asked again.

“No,” he was quick to avoid the subject and faced Cheerilee with a smile, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “So, I’m guessing it’s my turn?” he quickly began, trying to look awake, stealing curious glances into the classroom. Thankfully, Cheerilee picked up on it quickly.

“Oh! You seem excited! Haven‘t seen a school before?” John snorted amusedly.

“Quite the contrary, I have! Mixed memories on my end thought…” he exclaimed, feeling like the right thing to respond with. “This random memory comes-and-goes thing is getting on my nerves.” he imagined himself reading about it every few lines and groaned. “I need to stop that.”

“Excuse me?” Cheerilee asked concerned. “Are you sure you are okay?”

“Yes, just talking to myself. So, can we go in, or whatever?” his change of tone was not missed by Cheerilee as her furrowed brow showed. “Sorry, just need you off my back,” he thought, hoping the apology would somehow make it into her brain.

“Yes, I suppose that’s the reason I came outside for,” she made the motion to follow her, and both of them made their way inside the schoolhouse.

“It looks bigger on the outside,” he joked as he found himself with the smallest classroom he had been in; it was the typical set up, with a chalk—"Chalk? Really?"—board and a teacher’s desk sitting near a corner, there was even an apple on top of it, which nearly brought a laugh from him. “Well, I think my potential insanity can wait for a while.”

He stared into the desks finding a number of foals that he could easily count without running out of fingers to do so, he shook the thought away and returned his attention to two of the fillies he‘d seen earlier, now dubbed ice cream swirl pony, and in his opinion for best nickname; ribbon pony. Each holding a rather large smile that brought John goosebumps.

“Why am I scared?” he thought as their unnaturally huge grins rivaled Pinkie Pie’s. “Those grins are cursed!”

“About time! What took you so long?” Diamond Tiara, who had been sitting besides the huge ribbon pony got on her hooves and ran up to John with a smirk on her face. “Well, I’m ready now!”

“Well, since this isn’t our usual show and tell, how about we allow him to tell us a bit before himself before starting?” John flinched at the suggestion, but found himself unable to deny it. It made far too much sense. “Go ahead, please.”

John gulped as he was put on the spot, unable to come up with something to start with.

“Your name might be a good start,” suggested Diamond Tiara looking annoyed.

“Of course! My name is John, and…” he stopped, looking around at the foals who only gave bored glances in return, the wonder of having something new already gone.

“That’s kids for you…” he thought.

“Right! And he comes from another world!” added DT, the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ weren’t unexpected to John, he had known they would come at some point, along with…

“What exactly are you?” Questions, of course. “Seriously, Ah‘ve been rather curious.“ ribbon pony asked.

“Apple Bloom, don’t be rude, introduce yourself before asking questions!“ Cheerilee reprimanded her before turning to John. “John, you may pick from the class if they have questions, but only after Diamond Tiara presents,” no longer ribbon pony cringed and shrank back on her seat.

“Oh, Ah’m so sorry! Mah name is Applebloom, it’s nice to meet you!” John grinned, she was at least educated enough to apologize when it was due.

“Just get to the point!” scolded Diamond who gave John a good kick to vent her anger, he’d imagined that younger ponies were weaker. He had been wrong.

“Ouch…” he mentally reminded himself that she was just like a little girl -rather spoiled for sure- and hitting her might result in a Equestrian version of child abuse, so he let it go. “Thank you,“ he said through gritted teeth deciding to allow the response. “And to answer your question, I’m what’s called a human,” mumbling among the ponies was imminent, one of them writing down what he’d said.

“Right, ahem!” Cheerilee said, trying to return order to her class. “So, Diamond. What can you tell us about John then?” Diamond gulped slightly, finding herself on the spot, her previous eagerness now gone, not expecting the questions asked to her directly.

“Well… He is not dangerous at all, he is in fact, er… Rather friendly! Yes,” Cheerilee gave her a blank stare, one of knowing, Diamond Tiara in return glared at John who only raised a brow in return.

“Hey, I told you to ask me questions,”

“Well, good try, Diamond Tiara! I will have to speak with your father though,” she said, instantly recovering her posture. Showing how adept she was at it. “So, seems that’s everypony, a-”

“Wait! What about me? I have yet to show AND tell!” said the pony that had arrived in the scooter hours before.

“Oh… Right! Of course! How could I forget you, Scootaloo,” replied Cheerilee, looking a bit put off.

“Um… You seemed to be working on something by the look of the paper on your desk, what is it?” John asked her, interested on what Scootaloo could find more interesting than him.

“Well, it’s only the most amazing, awesome, incredible, dashing paper in all of Equestria!” she exclaimed, puffing her chest out proudly.

“Oh, here we go again,” said Diamond Tiara on her seat, John looked confused and chose to humor the filly.

“What do you mean?” she stood on top of her desk and smiled.

A big smile adorned her face.

John felt like he had committed a grave mistake.

“Well, don’t get me wrong, you were cool before, and the talk of the town, but nothing can compare to the most amazing thing, or n this case; pony in existence!” John raised a brow at the comment, intrigued. [i"‘What could possibly be so great?" he thought.

“What could possibly be that great?” he found himself asking without realizing it.

“Oh, Faust… That‘s a great question!” said Cheerilee in obvious faux excitement. “How about you, ahem, show us? In fact, just that would be just fine,” she said hopeful.

“Yes it is! And I’m glad you asked, but this is something that everypony must hear! You see…
~There is only one!
There is only a Dash!
There is only one!
There is only a Rainbow Dash!”~ there were moans of pain in the room with John joining in as well, he realized that Scootaloo was singing in class, and to make it all worse; it was some of the worst singing he’d ever heard.

Everypony else shared his thoughts from the way they cringed.

~“She is the fastsst pony that you have ever laid you eyes on!”
Nopony can’t beat her because she is just that awesome!
You can try, but no dice, where are you? You are dead last!
There is no way that you can beat, Rain----bow, Daaaaaaaash!”~ she finished her song and brought a plushie in the form of Dash from her satchel, hugging it while standing on her desk.

“I’m guessing that’s… Your show and tell?” Cheerilee asked cautiously, one of her ears still flattened over her head.

“Yup! And that’s only the first verse! You have GOT to hear the chorus!”

“You get a passing grade, isn’t that just great!” Cheerilee didn’t bother to hide her enthusiasm. Fortunately for her, Scootaloo was too busy hoof pumping in celebration to care. “So, now that Scootaloo is done, how about we ask John some questions about himself? That‘s if you don‘t mind answering them, of course,” the fillies and colts all nodded approvingly, glad that they would skip their basic lessons for something new and less monotonous.

“Well…” he noticed the excited looks on the foals’ faces, the decision already been made. “Of course…!”

“So, John. Where are you from?” Cheerilee began right away, he was surprised to see her holding a wide smile, her eyes seemed to spark as she waited for an answer. “Oh boy… It’s Twilight all over again,” choosing to ignore her look, he thought back on what he could to recall and replied with some effort.

“I… come from another dimension, or so I've been told...wait, I said that before, but I didn’t say that I come from a planet called Earth. To add to the explanation, it’s a world inhabited of billions of creatures like me, not like-like me, but humans that are actually the only sentient species… Well, dolphins are too, but they don’t talk much. Er… They are like fish… I guess? Look, I was never too good with biology of any kind, so please, don’t ask!” he looked ahead and noticed ice-cream swirl pony writing like a madmare, not surprisingly, the sound of scribbles were heard from behind him, Cheerilee obviously taking notes as well.

“Why are you here?” asked ice-cream swirl pony. “My name is Sweetie Belle, by the way!” she added, knowing the incoming question.

“Perceptive filly,” John thought, disappointed that he couldn‘t reprimand her. He mulled on the actual question and jumped slightly. “Oh… Ahem… Excuse me?” he asked again, hoping he had heard wrong.

“Why are you here? Did some sort of phenomenon take place in your world? Is that what brought you into Equestria?” the ponies around her gave her blank stares at ‘phenomenon‘, getting her to roll her eyes at the display. “Did something strange happen for you to have come here?” she corrected herself.

“O-oh, well, I…” he struggled with the words, thinking of what to reply with. “I came because I wanted to be with Twilight Sparkle? That sounds easy enough, right?” but another thought came to him as he did. “Or… Did I do it as an arbitrary way to escape my old life…?”

“Mr. John? Are you okay?” he looked ahead to see Sweetie Belle looking over him with worry, some of the other ponies in the class doing the same.

“I-I, well, you see…”

“How about we continue after recess, kids? Go ahead!” Cheerilee instructed and the foals wasted no time, they were out the door in seconds.

“Um, I…” he cleared his throat and turned to Cheerilee with a thankful smile. “Thank you, you saved me the… You saved me,” he finished simply.

“Come on, John, sit down,” she brought a pillow from the closet and set it down next to her desk, for him to sit on. “There is something in your mind, would you like to talk about it?” John fell the sweat fall from his brow at the question. “I’m not sure what the problem really is, but I sure can at least tell you that you can talk to me if the need arises, alright?” she put a tentative hoof over his arm on the desk and smiled warmly.

“I… Why are you doing this so willingly? I barely know you! I know this is ‘Happy Pony Land‘ but this is just odd!” John blurted out, uncertain of her motives, Cheerilee visibly wincing at the term.

“I’m going to tell you a little story about a pony from… ‘pony land‘,” she replied, taking a bite out of the apple on her desk. “Once upon a time, there was a filly who lived happily with her parents. However, she was never able to go to school, as she lived in a very remote part in Fillidelphia ,” she stopped, checking if John was paying attention. When he nodded, she continued. “As such, she spend most of her years without much knowledge outside her farm work and some simple things like writing, at least that was until her parents died in a terrible disaster that struck in the form of stray clouds from the Everfree, which brought a rare case of natural tornadoes,” John raised a brow in confusion. “The Everfree forest is a gigantic forest that expands far, it touches Ponyville, as well as Fillidelphia and other cities despite the distance between each other. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention it's pretty dangerous, so please, never go in,” she added knowingly.

“Got it…” he acknowledged, still mentally mulling over the ‘Fillidelphia’ part.

“Anyway, hours afterwards, she was found in the ruins of her old home and taken into custody, and she had to move to an orphanage in Canterlot, as she was only ten. She learned quickly that she was one of the least knowledgeable ponies in the city, and she was rather embarrassed by it,” John raised a hand to stop her.

“You were that pony, and you were picked for it. You studied hard and became a teacher,” Cheerilee frowned slightly, taken by his interruption.

“Well, yes, that’s the gist of it.”

“I’m sorry…” John apologized realizing the rude interruption.

“Don’t worry about it, I should have been more specific,” she got on all hooves and pointed to her flank. “It wasn’t until I was sixteen when I got my cutie mark. Funny how the most obvious thing can be the most difficult to realize, huh?” she explained, looking at him curiously. “And speaking of them, not to be rude or anything, but, I’m surprised you cover yourself with clothes, it’s not really a special occasion, don’t you wanna show off your cutie mark?” John chuckled.

“Okay, so one; we don’t have cutie marks, two; clothes are what your coats are to you… Also, we don’t do the naked thing, okay?” Cheerilee seemed amused.

“I see… I imagined that was the case.”

“We are getting off topic thought, what does that have to do with helping me?” she bopped her head and nodded.

“Well, a bit, actually.”

“What do you mean?”

"You see, despite what I may say, my cutie mark symbolizes the love I have for each of my students and the need to help them grow,” John stared with a blank look. “This doesn’t really mean it’s for them only, I wanna help you learn things you couldn’t learn otherwise, if you’d let me, that is,” she allowed herself a little smile as she continued. “Which is why I shared my story with you, so I believe it’s fair if you were a bit more trusting of me. No?” John snickered.

“You play dirty… And I‘ll think about it. Thank you, Ms,” he said amused, Cheerilee only shook her head.

“You can just call me Cheerilee without the Ms part, but only when outside the classroom, got it?” she said matter-of-factly, eliciting a laugh from John.

“Got it!”

“By the way…” Cheerilee seemed to think of something as she looked at the clock in the wall. “Why exactly are you helping Diamond Tiara with her project?” John noticed her raised brow, wondering what she had in mind.

“I’m thinking that you think I’m doing something shady.”

“I didn’t say that,” she giggled. “But you certainly put the idea in my head now, so you might as well spill it,” John sighed in response.

“Her father hired me, somewhat roughly, I must say… I don’t wanna talk about it,” Cheerilee rolled her eyes at the mention of the Rich stallion.

“Figures. I can see you already know how Diamond Tiara can be, just be careful with her, I have never wanted to accept it, but she can be downright nasty,” she said with a bit of regret.

'The magic of friendship can help you,' he suddenly remembered, being the last line Celestia had written in the morning’s letter. “Well… I can try to be friends with her…”

Cheerilee looked shocked. “I bid you good luck,” she replied simply, getting off her hooves and making her way to the door. “I’ll be right back, it’s time for the kids to go back to class. And don’t worry, I’ll help you if some question you find uncomfortable is asked.”

“Thank you.”

“And John?” Cheerilee called.

“Yes?”

“A blank flank is a phrase used negatively for ponies without cutie marks, you can see why it would be an insult,” she showed a genuine look of sadness as she exited the building.

“Oh…” he mumbled as the door closed behind her. “Note to self: rethink my ‘Happy Pony Land’ statement.”

I stared into the mirror, my eyes never leaving my flank, that same ‘star’ staring back at me, I grimaced as I looked into the dark dot right in the middle.

Cutie Marks are what identify the pony’s talents, and mine, was practically useless. It might as well be just a tattoo, of course, it was a tattoo that grew perfectly no matter what, the coat always returning the same way, leaving the cutie mark intact.

I always liked to call it ‘powerful stylist magic’ as a joke.

I looked to my drawer and noticed the bottle with pills that the Princess had given me, the yellow contents glowed as I stared. It wasn’t hard for me to see that it was the Princess’ magic in physical form, meant specifically for my ’condition’. I hated it, of course, but the way things were going, I might have to take them for the rest of my natural life.

…Not a very happy thought.

“Stupid black mark… If only I hadn’t…” I shook my head. I mean, just how many times had I been over the same thing? I felt my eyes water again as the tears fell from my eyes; I-I just couldn’t stare at it anymore. I returned to bed and surrounded myself in blankets.

“I guess I’ll just stay here forever, being useless,” I cringed at the smell; I’d showered the night before, but the bed still had the same sheets I had been lying on for over a week had become a stink fest. I didn’t dare go outside, unless I wanted to get another “get-well” speech from that moron. “Maybe I shouldn’t have snapped at Spike…” my number one assistant had come in to keep me company a few hours ago, I kicked him out without hesitation, but not before a few hastily thrown words. Was it the right thing to do?

… In all honesty, I didn’t care.

“They’ll never understand…” I pulled the blanket up and covered myself completely, searching for sleep as the only way to avoid the pain.

Most of the class was spend with the foals asking questions about John; thankfully, Cheerilee didn’t need to intervene for any of them, as most of them were questions that concerned his physique.

“So… No magic?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Or wings?” continued Scootaloo before he could reply.

“Nope,” he felt more confident as he went on. “The only differences we really had was in the color of our skins, but we didn’t get any special ability or something like you do,” he finished, clearing his throat afterwards.

“Well class, I think Mr. John has had enough, and by the looks of that clock, so have we all. Class is dismissed!” the foals all cheered happily at Cheerilee's words, and trotted outside in small groups.

“Thanks, my throat is parched," John said relieved.

“Don’t mention it, you taught u- I mean, you taught the kids a lot!”

“You don’t have to hide your enthusiasm, I can see you enjoyed listening as well,” John laughed, noticing Cheerilee's coat shone a slight tint as she blushed in response. Sharing one final laugh, she followed John outside.

“Yeah, you are correct,” she turned to the schoolhouse and waved. “Well, John. Feel free to come visit whenever there isn’t classes. Any questions you may have, I’ll gladly answer them,” John smiled thankful and waved back.

“Will do,” she closed the door to the classroom, and as she did, John felt something tugging at his pants. “What the?” he looked down and noticed Diamond Tiara staring at him, Silver Spoon standing right behind her.

“Thanks for the help,” she began sarcastically, huffing as she said it, referencing the events of her presentation.

“Hey, you could have asked questions, you know?” he replied in an attempt to defend himself.

“I did, and you were useless on that end!” she replied with an arrogant scoff.

“Well… Okay, you are right. I’m sorry DT… I can call you that, right?” she rolled her eyes and trotted ahead.

“Sure, whatever, can we go now?” John raised a brow amused.

“Progress!” he thought excited. “Wait, go where?”

“I’m guessing you don’t want your money then? Take me home,” John jumped back surprised.

“O-of course I do!”

“I thought so,” she replied satisfied with a smug smile on her face, already trotting towards the exit.

“Er…” John searched around, hoping to see the mares as he’d hoped, to his disappointment, he found none. “Did Ditzy forget?”

“John!” he heard his name called and he jumped back surprised.

“No, I said I was sorry!” he covered his face by instinct, but found no further comments. He dropped his hands to see three familiar fillies staring at him with puzzled looks. “Er… Apple Bloom? Scootaloo? And… Sweetie Belle? I got your names right, right?” the three fillies smiled in acknowledgement.

“That’s right, mister!” confirmed Sweetie Belle, the other two nodded agreeing as well, holding looks of anticipation.

“So… How may I help you?” he crouched to be more at eye level with the group.

“We were wondering if you wanted to hang out with us sometime!” explained Apple Bloom, barely holding her excitement.

“Well…” John thought of his options. “I could know a bit more about the world from the eyes of fillies or… I could be a pedo… No, fillyphile on the eyes of other ponies by just hanging out with them… Yeah, no.”

“Oh, well, I don’t know? Can we talk some other time? I really need to g-”

“Yeah! Why don’t you just go and do your… Lose-a-ding!” DT and Silver Spoon appeared out of nowhere, laughing at their terrible wordplay, Applebloom and company delivering a glare to the pair.

“It’s crusading! And we ain’t talking to you, DT!” Apple Bloom retaliated angrily, falling for the obvious ruse.

“Lose-a-ding, crusading—same thing, really,” she turned to John who only stared in shock at the exchange. “Come on, you don’t need to talk to these losers, they just want to use you to get their cutie marks,” Sweetie Belle seemed ready to talk back, but held her tongue, her eyes tearing up at the implied comment.

“How dare you! We just want to get to know him!” countered Scootaloo, her tiny wings flapping rapidly, the image of a hummingbird coming to John’s mind.

“Oh, Scootaloo, how goes the flying?” Diamond asked, and Scootaloo recoiled at the question, slowly backing away. “That’s what I thought,” only Applebloom remained, staring daggers at the filly.

“This is too eerily relatable for my taste,” John thought, looking at the scene play out in front of him, realizing that it had gone far enough.

“That’s enough, DT,” the filly glared at John at the request. 'Friendship'. The word ran throughout his head, the reminder of Celestia making its way into his thoughts once more. “Er, please, there is no need to be mean. Why don’t you just try to be friends or something?” he said looking slightly flustered at the suggestion.

“What?” it was the only thing that Apple Bloom could respond with in her shocked state.

“Friends? With them? As if!” Diamond Tiara turned her head away avoiding them completely. “Who would want to be friends with some blank flank that’ll never do anything in life!” at this point, Apple Bloom looked slightly upset, her frown slowly turning into a grimace.

“A blank flank is a phrase used negatively for ponies without cutie marks, you can see why it would be an insult,”

“Diamond Tiara, stop.”

“Why? You don’t have anything to say to them. I do,” Diamond got closer to Apple Bloom, a wide grin plastered on her face.

“Please? I really wanna go back home,” John said, quickly making up an excuse, she turned to him with an annoyed look.

“Go ahead on your own then, but have in mind that my daddy won‘t pay you if you do,” he was taken aback by the threat, but a look into the crusader’s faces snapped him out of it.

That had been the last straw.

“Friendship? Yeah, screw this. Sorry Celestia.”

“Good, now I sh- Hey!” DT stopped, not surprising as she was currently being picked up by the ‘waist’ by John at that moment.

“I said to leave them alone!” DT was unable to retort, being placed face to face with John, shaking terrified. “You can keep the money, I don’t want it,” he breathed heavily, untapped anger being released at the terrified filly. “I’m not going to stand here while you pick on someone for some dumb reason like that. YOU need to learn some manners,” he set her down without removing his eyes from her. “You are going to go back to your daddy, and tell him what happened here, you hear?” she nodded slowly, unable to run, by that point, she had begun to cry.

“Y-y-you’ll see!” she finally managed to respond. “ Come on!” Silver Spoon who had been frozen in fear at John’s outburst till then ran after Diamond, weeping to herself as she went.

“Well… That’s done,” he looked around and found no one, it had been lucky for him that the school had been secluded, keeping any other pony from observing his treatment of the filly. “Crap, I’m gonna get in trouble for this, aren’t I?”

“John! You… Thank you!” Apple Bloom didn’t hesitate and hugged his leg, Sweetie Belle following right behind and hugging the other.

“That was so nice of you to do!” said Sweetie Belle.

“I don’t know, picking on somepony younger than you doesn‘t really seem very nice…” commented Scootaloo, the other two fillies glaring at her in response. “What? I’m just telling the truth, but still, it was nice. Thank you, hum- John,” she stared at him, her eyes glassy, tears being forcibly held back to keep up appearances.

“No girls, she is right, I’m going to get in a lot of trouble. Still, that was worth it, if only to help you gals. I just hope this teaches you to try better when dealing with her,” the three got together and nodded furiously.

“That gives me an idea!” they formed a circle, speaking in hushed voices as to prevent John from listening, until suddenly. “Cutie Mark Crusaders Bully Control Yay!” John jumped back, covering his ears at the loud shout.

“Okay, not sure how that‘ll do,” he simply said at their outburst.

“What do you suggest then?” challenged Scootaloo.

“Well… Sweetie… You are an unicorn, right?” she looked to her friends with a confused look, looking for answers to the obvious question. “I mean to say, why don’t you get a cutie mark in magic? Kind of like Twi-” he stopped, rubbing his temples as the reminder of his pony sibling returned. “So yeah, her, and you two could do it in flying and bucking apples,” he finished motioning towards Scootaloo and Apple bloom respectively.

“Ah; guess we can try that…” Apple Bloom nodded hesitantly and huddled up with the group in another meeting. “We’ll be going now then, thanks for the idea!” she said in an obvious farce, running from him with Scootaloo, leaving Sweetie behind with John.

“I actually think that’s a good idea, I’ll try it on my own time thought, thank you,” said Sweetie Belle cheerfully.

“You are welcome, Sweetie Belle,” he replied satisfied.

“Come on, Sweetie Belle, We’ve got to get to the clubhouse!” hurried Apple Bloom, causing her to run to her side. “And Mr. John, we would really like to have you over some time, if you can, of course!”

“Ask your sisters and then we’ll see!” he shouted as they were quickly leaving the area, and without wasting more time, the group waved him goodbye one last time, and hurried to their ‘crusading’, leaving John on his own.

“Well, so much for the pay… Dammit, I need a good job, I guess I’ll worry when I get back to the li…” he stopped himself as realization hit him in the face.

“… Fuck… “ he turned back, heading back towards the schoolhouse, shouting as he got closer, thankful that no other ponies were around. “Cheerilee! How do I reach the library?”

~~~~~

“He what!?” Rainbow Dash asked angrily.

“Yeah… He should be making his way here now. I would have made it here earlier but I had to stop by the post office since Dar- my boss called me in to… Do things!” she finished awkwardly, the other ponies only looked at each other with varying degrees of shock, Rarity being the first to speak.

“I’m going home,” she informed, making her way to the door. “I have a very important order to take care of,” she waved her friends goodbye and left, the rest looking at each other with unease.

“Um…Actually, I also have to go," Fluttershy said next. "I need to go give the animals their lunch, and it’s getting late for that, sorry… Say hi to John for me,” she said her goodbyes and left after Rarity.

“I have to go too,” joined in Derpy. “It’s my turn to make supper, I’ll talk to John some other time, see you girls!” she left in a rush, closing the door on her way out.

“Well, I’m staying!” Rainbow shouted, crossing her limbs angrily. “He interrupted my training!”

“Dash, this is usually the time you are sleeping on a cloud, Ah’ don’t recon you had anything better to do,” Rainbow fumed at Applejack's words, but didn’t comment. “Well, Ah’ll stay, just to keep an eye on Rainbow. Would that be okay, Spike?”

Spike eyed Applejack knowingly and sighed. “Huh? Oh, well… Yeah, sure,” he replied, looking down.

“What the matter, Spike?“

“Well, let’s just say that Twilight is not really in the mood for visits, and leave it at that,“ he presented a tray with some glasses. “You want some water? It’s all we have for the moment.”

“Thanks kindly, Spike. And what about you, Pinkie, will you wait?” the pink pony didn’t reply, as she laid her head on a pillow, sleeping soundly as Applejack spoke. “Well… That explains the pillow now.”

“At least she gets to sleep,” added Rainbow.

“Can’t you just drop it already!?” asked Applejack irritated of her friends’ complaints.

“No! He’ll have to hear from me!” she retorted, her nose fuming. “He could have come back and told Spike, but instead he goes Celestia knows where to… Do a show and tell!? What the hay?”

“Well, we can at least give him the chance to explain, there is no need for that attitude! Besides, Ah’ had to leave the farm to search for him! It’s Zap apple season if you remember, and tomorrow is harvesting day, so how about you calm yerself, and sit down?” she finished, breathing heavily after her short rant.

“W-well… I-”

“Would you two be quiet!?” both mares turned towards the sound of the voice, their eyes widened after noticing Twilight with an annoyed look on her face.

“Twilight!” Pinkie Pie got woke up and rushed to Twilight, hugging her and nuzzling her affectionately.

“Twilight! You feeling alright?” Applejack approached her with a relieved look.

“Yeah, we were so worried about you since… Well, what happened,” added Rainbow.

“You couldn’t leave that part out, could you, Dash?” Spike groaned

“Well, excuseee me! I was worried too, you know!” she retorted.

Ignoring the argument and staring at Twilight at the moment, Pinkie spoke up. “Um, Twilight? Why is your coat going all dark and spooky, and why is my Pinkie Sense going off like crazy?”

The door knob rustled.

“For someone who has been in Ponyville for days, I’m surprised you don’t know your own way back home.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” John answered through gritted teeth. As it turned out, the school had been three miles from the library, something that he wasn’t ready for. “Well, at least the walk is good for me?” he said in defeat.

“Don’t worry, the library is sort of the beacon of the town,” the library came into view just in time, sticking out like a sore thumb. “As you can see, it’ll be difficult to get lost from now on.”

“Huh… Lesson learned.”

They walked in silence, Cheerilee received a few hellos from other ponies as they passed by, her status as teacher being common knowledge in Ponyville due to its size.

John looked up into the sky; despite the whirlwind of events, the sun still stayed up in the sky just as high as it had been earlier, courtesy of Celestia.

“Getting used to this place is harder than I expected,” John said loudly to himself, unaware of Cheerilee at the moment.

“I like to think that you are handling it pretty well, seeing how you even managed to let such outburst on a filly,” John froze, he turned his head slowly to see Cheerilee holding a stern look.

“Oh… You heard that?”

“I did more than hear, but yes. I was about to intervene when you decided to do it yourself,” she sighed. “John, that wasn‘t very nice—why would you do such a thing?” she asked curiously.

“Well… I guess because they remind me of me when I was younger,” John sighed.

Cheerilee’s eyes widened. “You were bullied as well?”

“I… Yes, somewhat, it was a long time ago, I can barely remember it, okay?” he groaned in frustration at the mixed memories. “I did get over it, I can tell you that.”

“Well, they’ll get over it too, once they get their cutie marks, that is.”

“It was wrong, wasn’t it?” he asked regretful.

“Well… I can’t say that picking her up like that was okay, but I won’t say that you were wrong per se,” John gave her a puzzled look.

“I yelled at a filly, how was I not?”

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? Some ponies just don’t learn with a few simple stern words, sometimes… You have to be a bit more tough on them. Sometimes, all you need is a harsher approach,” she looked up to the clears skies and smiled. “Everypony is different, right? And different situations lead to different solutions… At least that‘s what I heard,” she looked at John, awaiting a response.

“Well… I guess you are right,” the pair turned a corner and found themselves staring straight at the library.

“And to your right, we find ourselves in Ponyville’s library; Golden Oaks, founded by Celestia herself over 50 years ago. It’s one of our most beloved icons alongside Sweet Apple Acres,” she mockingly explained.

“Amusing. You are a teacher, aren’t you supposed to be boring?”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. In any case John, be careful, and take care,” she waved him goodbye and left back the same way she’d come.

“Yeah… She totally came just to teach me a lesson,” he made a beeline for the library and sighed content. “Home sweet home.”

‘Why is your coat going all dark and spooky, and why is my Pinkie Sense going off like crazy?’

“Oh no…” the first thought on his head was annoyance at Twilight’s neglect of the medicine to panic, as he rushed inside and noticed what he’d expected; the area around Twilight was already being burned, black flames already surrounding her and slowly spreading.

“Spike! Get the pills from her room!” Spike, who had been frozen at the sight, quickly snapped out of it and complied, running downstairs.

“John? What in Tartarus is this!?” asked Applejack.

Simply ignoring her, he ran to Twilight as she writhed in pain, he kneeled by her and placed his arms around her in a hug, thankfully, the flames around her died down, his early arrival preventing any real damage.

“It’s… Complicated, Applejack,” he sighed.

“Here you go, John!” Spike handed him the bottle, and he wasted no time shoving one of the yellow pills into Twilight’s mouth.

“And don’t touch those flames, the Princess said they were dangerous,” he warned as Pinkie Pie approached a dying fire cautiously.

He placed Twilight on the couch where she sighed peacefully. Knowing that the worst had passed, he took the ponies and Spike to the kitchen where he explained everything, knowing that after seeing the phenomenon, they would undoubtedly question him over it.

“So… That’s what happened on her room a few days back?” asked Spike at the same event days ago.

“Yes, sorry to keep you out of the loop, the Princess didn’t want this information out, only reason I know was because I was in the middle of it all—this happened when I visited her, after all,” the others all looked at him with different emotions on their faces; Applejack seemed resentful, but accepted it rather quickly; Spike still looked scared, his short claws trembling as he took the information; Pinkie Pie looked down on the floor unable to speak, the shock of the event causing her mane to deflate.

And Rainbow Dash?

“That’s just great! Keep important secrets from us, why don’t you?” she groaned angrily.

“Dash, this was on a need to know basis. The princess forbid me to speak of it, that was the reason I didn‘t want you guys to see her!” this seemed to calm her down a bit, so her sudden outburst was unexpected as she slammed her hoof on the table and displayed her wings in anger, without anything more to say, she ran out as the others watched her in silence.

“I-I’m gonna go too, Gummy probably wants me to help with the bakery and Mr. Cake needs food, so…Yes, bye…” Pinkie slowly made her way out, leaving only AJ with John.

“… So John, where were you?” John let out a mocking laugh at AJ's question.

“Not one to waste time, huh? Still… Really?”

“Might as well. John. Ah’ waited for you for that reason—we all did. We were worried about you, you know?” John clicked his tongue at the response, not being one he expected.

“Fine, I'll get to the point: I was wrongly kidnapped, apologized to, got sort of a job, lost that job, and learned things throughout the day. It was still dumb of me to not have returned here first, so I‘m sorry,” he didn’t react as Applejack put her hooves around him in a hug.

“That’s alright, pardner, glad that you are at least owning up, Ah’ll talk to the others later about it, just make sure to take care of Twilight.” John gave her a sad smile and nodded. “Ah’ have to go, so take care yourself as well.”

“Will do,” left without any more words to exchange, she bid Spike goodbye and exited the library, leaving John and Spike on their own.

…

“Sorry, Spike.”

“Don’t mention it, at least you are okay…“ he waited a few seconds before continuing. “So… What now?” \

John sighed, he expected the question, and he was ready with an answer. “We wait for Twilight to wake up.”

The wait had been longer than they expected, going through midnight, Spike having passed out by that time and being taken to bed by John. By that point, he returned downstairs to find Twilight heading back downstairs.

“Hey,” he called, stopping her in her tracks, she turned around lazily, giving him a wary look.

“Yeah, hey… I’m going to bed, I don’t feel too good, so I-” before she could finish, he ran downstairs, blocking the path to the basement.

“No.”

“What do you think you are doing?” she asked with a tired look..

“Couch. Now,” he barely held his voice. Twilight shivered slightly at the tone and did as she was told.

As they took a seat, Twilight looked around for a moment before giving John a quizzical look. "Okay… Now what?”

“What? You mean outside not taking the pills like the Princess said? You know how dangerous that can be! She told you!” he reprimanded her seriously, though her eye rolls showed that he was being taken as anything but.

Twilight sighed. “Well, I forgot. I am allowed to forget am I n-”

“Shut up,” he ordered her. Twilight jumped, noticing his harsh stare. “You never forget such things. Ever. This could have ended up badly.”

“W-well, I'm sorry! I did today an-”

“No, it’s gone far enough."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, you think because something this terrible happened we all have to be in your pity party? Well, no, I’m done!” his hushed voice quickly raised in volume until he was finally screaming at the top of his lungs. “You lost your magic, big deal!”

Twilight didn’t hold back at this point, getting on her hooves and confronting him head on. “What!? You know full well that it is a big deal! Don’t try to pretend it’s otherwise!” she shouted back, shooting him a glare of her own.

“Well, if it is, why haven’t you tried to find a solution to the problem!?” the glare in Twilight faltered slightly as she thought over the question.

“W-well, the Princess hasn’t found a solution, what makes you think I can!?” she stuttered weakly.

“She isn’t doing this 24/7! Doesn’t she have royal duties to attend to!? You may be her student, but she has to place her subjects before you alone!” John shot back. "All I'm hearing from you now are excuses!"

“You…” she said in a low voice, holding herself from doing something. “You don’t know what I’m going through!”

Smack!

…

The sound echoed louder than it should have, Twilight was on the floor, her eyes wide open in shock at the action that had just taken place. John stood over her, his hand still in the air, he looked at it in the same shocked expression that Twilight had, and neither spoke for a moment.

“I… I’m sorry Twilight, I didn’t mean t-”

He didn’t have time to finish as Twilight jumped on him, he fell on the floor roughly, expecting a beat down from Twilight that never came. The only thing that came were the silent sobs of Twilight as she cried into his shirt. Neither of them spoke, allowing the silence to mend what had transpired.

~~~~~

Dear Princess Celestia

Friendship is more complicated than I expected.

I tried my best to comfort Twilight, to make her see that I was there for her, just like you told me, but… It only ended up backfiring.

Then, I spoke with a rather good schoolteacher after a certain event that I’d rather not repeat (which let’s face it, you already know what it is) I found that sometimes, being just “nice” can be a bad thing, that sometimes, you need to be harsh to help those you care for.

I know this isn’t the sort of letter you were expecting when you told me to write to you about what I had learned weeks ago, but I felt it imperative to write you about this.

Hope you don’t think any less of me for this.

Your pen pal
John

Author's Notes:

So yeah, I've been super busy, and I've actually used my time for other very important things.

However, I DID try to get this chapter in the way I wanted to, not really too proud of this one due to the stuff I had to go while doing it, ended up tired most of the time, so forgive me if it's less focused than usual.

Mind you, it set up an event for next chapter which should be easier to write, and it will feature 2 of the mane 6 instead of just John or Twilight.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed regardless, and hope you weren't put off by the size.
-Derpy Butt

Spoiler Notes 23 - 5/17/18
I swear, there is a lot of reprimanding this chapter.

Now, I don't know what brought up the idea to begin with. It was probably a myriad of reasons that I alone noticed. Point being, it was something that I felt needed to happen in order to stop Twilight from being such a jerk. I'm kinda happy I went about it. And hey! People liked it, so no harm done.

As for something I started noticing, I sometimes make it VERY difficult to point out who is talking. I know who it is, sure, but is the reader? Going through this chapter, it feels like I made a LOT of assuming on that end. Hopefully I fixed a lot of it by this point, and any potential new readers will read the best version of it.

Well, 17 chapters to go!