*Crash*

“Whoa, what?” John mumbled, waking up at the sudden noise. “What the heck was that?” he looked out the window, and noticed the still raised moon in the sky. It didn't seem like Luna would bring it down any time soon.

-I heard it too,- Crystal answered him. -Are you gonna check it out?-

“That's not even up to debate, of course I am,” he whispered, donning his pants and heading out of the room.

“John?” a low voice called to him, and he turned to notice Spike and Lemon silently staring at him.

“You guys heard it too, I take it,” John guessed, receiving nods that confirmed his suspicions. “Alright, stay close; we are gonna find out what's happening.”

Slowly, the three made their way downstairs, cringing as their individual steps did the smallest of creaks on the wooden steps.

-Aren't these stairs carved from the tree's wood? Why the heck are they creaking?- Crystal asked validly, but was ignored as the trio remained silent, slowly making their way through the foyer. Suddenly, they noticed a light peering from the kitchen's slightly opened door.

“Okay guys, stay behind me,” John warned, carefully approaching the door, and with a gulp, pushing it open. “Put your hooves up where I can see...” he shouted before suddenly stopping, blinking in confusion at what he saw. “S-see them?”

“What's wrong?” Lemon asked, peering from behind him, noticing what he meant. Spike followed suit and stared with the same level of awe. “Wait...”

“Twilight?” John said out loud, watching as Twilight stood in the middle of the kitchen. Of course, the strangest thing about it all was the numerous objects floating about, being helped along by a subtle purple glow.

Suddenly, Twilight teleported near them, making them jump in surprise. “I'm sorry, did I wake you? I just couldn't sleep!” she replied excitedly, before suddenly, teleporting back to the spot she had been and continuing her task.

“Twilight! You have your magic back!” Spike said excitedly.

“Indeed I do, Spike, and I'm making good use of it!”

John scoffed, raising a brow as he stared at the room. “Doing what, exactly?”

Twilight harrumphed. “Well, if you must know, I am organizing everything in a way that can be found, reached, and appropriately used whenever possible.”

Lemon jumped into the kitchen, looking around excitedly. “Whoa, does this mean Twilight Time is back on again?”

“You bet your little flank it is!” Twilight grinned as she finished up, standing proudly. “I'll even get back to projects I thought weren't possible! All of my research can get back on track!”

John was taken by surprise by Twilight's phrasing, but he soon forgot it as a yawn forced its way out. “Twilight, I'm glad that you have your magic back, and I'm sure I'll be very excited when I'm not passing out where I stand, but can we go back to bed? We can probably get Pinkie to throw you a party in the morning.”

As John said the word, the kitchen's window burst open, letting in numerous balloons as well as a purple cake that landed perfectly on the table.

Staring at the decorations knowingly, John sighed. “Pinkie Pie… how?”

“How am I? I'm great!” the familiar voice of Pinkie replied before her head popped in from the window, wearing a night cap. “Do you like it?” she asked innocently.

“Well, I...”

“Twilight! Congratulations on getting your magic back!” she shouted, pushing herself in, and hugging the smiling unicorn. “I'm sooo happy for you!”

“Thank you Pinkie, I'm happy too!” Twilight replied.

John rubbed his face while shaking his head. “Guys, maybe we shoul-

“Ooh! Cake! I like cake! May I have some, Pinkie?” Lemon asked.

Feeling the adult in him call out, John spoke. “Lemon, you shouldn't ea-”

“Of course! That's why it's here!” Pinkie replied.

Unable to say something to stop him, John ate his words and sighed in defeat. “I'm going to have to give up, aren't I, Crystal?”

-Uh huh,- Crystal replied, barely listening -I'm sorry, what was that?-

“Crystal? You okay?” John asked confused. “Something the matter?”

She remained silent for a few seconds before replying. -I think you are not getting any sleep.-

“Yep,” he mumbled relieved, with a small smile already on his face. “Well, I don't think I'm getting any sleep any time soon, so I might as well join the insanity!”

“Wow, that actually sounds crazy!” Ditzy said surprised, hovering besides John as he finished his tale.

“I meant to be exaggerating then, but go freaking figure I really wasn't!” he replied with a yawn, barely able to keep his focus as he explained. “I cleaned off cake from places where cake was never meant to be!”

“But that happened hours ago! I thought you'd be sleeping at this point,” Ditzy realized, looking up above and towards the sun that remained indifferent to their issues.

Grunting, he continued. “Yeah, well, I kinda Pinkie promised—obviously, you know—that we would be throwing her a bigger party over at Sugarcube Corner later today, and I was off to invite everypony… that's still the plan, but I got derailed by finding you—speaking of, shouldn't you be working?” he wondered.

“Oh! I am!” she yelped, unfolding her wings in a panic. “S-sorry to cut your time! I wish I could help, but I need to deliver these packages!” she said in panic, pointing at her bags.

“I jest,” John laughed amused. “But I really don't want you to get in trouble, so how about you help by telling any of the girls you are delivering to, if any?”

“Great idea!” Ditzy said, bursting in excitement at the prospect of helping out, taking out a sheet, and quickly, looking it over. “I'm going to Fluttershys, oh, and Rainbow Dashs too! So I'll tell them!”

“Thank you,” John said in relief. “To be honest, I was considering throwing rocks at Dash's home since she lives on a cloud. I'm pretty sure the result of that wouldn't end up pretty.”

Ditzy giggled, and shook her head. “Don't you worry, I will tell Dash and Fluttershy about the party at Sugarcube! I'll even avoid throwing rocks in the process!”

Laughing, John shook her mane. “And that's why you are the best mailmare.”

“I, um...” with a blush on her cheeks, she said nothing more and flew off.

“And you better come too, you hear?” he shouted after her, getting a meekly wave in return before she sped off.

-You know, you really should've gone for the kiss there.- Crystal commented.

Audibly groaning, he replied. “You did this yesterday too, what's your deal with the kiss thing?”

-I don't know,- Crystal sighed. -I just get the feeling you two will be good together, is all.-

“Well, isn't that adorable.”

John turned around at the sound of the new voice, noticing Rarity standing a few feet away with a playful smile. She carried a pair of saddlebags which she focused on fixing as she walked towards him. “Rarity? How long…?”

“Long enough,” she answered with a still lingering grin. “At least long enough to hear the great news!”

“And long enough so I don't have to make two trips, talk about saving time!” John said relieved.

“Right, well…” Rarity rolled her eyes and walked ahead of him. “In any case, let us go, then!”

John stood in place, confused, so he set out to correct that. “Us? Where do you think WE are going?”

“Applejacks, of course!” she replied with a wry tone. “I need to go see her anyway, and seeing how you are heading there too, I figure you can accompany me, is all.”

“Oh, well, then I guess we can go then,” John shrugged, joining her. “But you are not my boss out here!”

“Naturally,” Rarity giggled, turning her attention to the road in front. “By the way, where is Twilight?”

“She is at home. She said she wanted to get some magic stuff done,” he explained. "Guess it's her way to rest after the second party."

“Second party?”

“Pinkie Pie. Don't ask,” he quickly replied.

“Of course,” she laughed. “Hmm… and John?”

“Yeah?”

“You really need to sleep more, you look dreadful!”

Silence was the only thing John could hope to respond with.

“Hmm, maybe if I move this here...”

Twilight murmured to herself, keeping an eye on not just one book, but two other that floated next to the one on her podium. She rhythmically switched between each as she flipped the pages with her magic.

From a distance, Lemon and Spike watched her, awestruck at the amount of work she seemed to be doing.

“Is Ms. Twilight usually this diligent with magic?” Lemon wondered, barely dodging a book that floated by him.

Spike shook his head. “No, I mean, yes, she was diligent, but she never used this much magic to do like ten things at the same time. She always said that using up her magic that way was more of a waste! Not to mention she told me to NOT send the Princess a letter about this until she said it was okay to! At least she let me send Cadence one.”

Lemon scratched his head, keeping his eyes on Twilight who continued without any sign of stopping. “Oh, I know how you can get her out of it!" he said suddenly, tapping his stomach. "I bet she is a bit hungry, you should take her something to eat!”

Spike's face lit up at idea. “That's a good plan! She needs the break anyway.”

Heading into the kitchen, Spike was quick to gather the ingredients and prepare a sandwich. He wasted no time taking back to Twilight, who still bore through the books, taking notes with reckless abandon.

“Hmm… Twilight,” he called in a low voice, getting no response. “Twilight?” he called louder.

Twilight remained on her task as if she hadn't been interrupted.

Growing annoyed, Spike took a deep breath, and shouted. “Twilight!”

The response was instantaneous. “What!?” she shouted back, glaring angrily at Spike. “What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?”

Spike stood in place, calming himself down after Twilight's loud response. “W-well, I made you some food, Twilight… I was hoping you could stop, a-and...”

Twilight closed all three books at once, and turned to Spike. “I don't know if you can see, but I am catching up on work that I fell behind on for months! So you'll have to excuse me if I'm not in the mood to eat!” she finished, grabbing the plate with her magic, and tossing it to the wall where it easily shattered, to Spike's horror. “Now, go!”

“T-Twilight…” Spike whispered, running out of the room past Lemon, who had watched the entire scene unfold.

“Miss Twilight,” he whispered in disbelief. “What is going on with you?”

Sweet Apple Acres came up in the distance as the familiar fence popped into view, followed by the sight of the reddening trees, signaling the start of a colder weather, which John observed as he and Rarity walked, trying to entertain himself.

“You know, you don't have to be quiet, John,” Rarity noticed, complaining in turn.

“Oh, sorry,” he quickly apologized. “I'm not really sure what to talk about, really.”

Rarity closed her eyes, taking a breath of air. “Well, maybe you can tell me how you and Ditzy are doing, for one.”

“Us!?” he gulped, until suddenly realizing something else. “Wait a minute, did you just say 'Ditzy'?”

“That is her name, is it not?”

John stopped walking while Rarity continued ahead. “How did you know?”

Rarity stopped as well, turning to John and replying. “I have no idea what her deal is, but the secret is safe with me.”

“Rarity...” John whispered. “Wait a m-”

“Heya, John! Hey Ms. Rarity!” John was cut off, as the filly Applebloom suddenly popped up, jumping on him. “What are y'all doing here?”

-Apparently being run over by little fillies, that's what,- Crystal giggled.

After successfully pushing Applebloom off him, the three arrived at the main building where they noticed the family cleaning up the table, a task that Applebloom was soon forced to join in, while Applejack took it to herself to greet the pair.

“Well, Ah'll be, if it isn't John!” Applejack said surprised. “Haven't seen you 'round these parts for a good while, bud.”

“Yeah, well, I've been busy, and I figured you were too,” he shrugged.

“You figured right,” AJ laughed, turning her attention to Rarity. “And you are even a bigger stranger, aren't ya'?”

“I've been quite busy as well,” Rarity laughed, waving her hoof. “The holidays are fast approaching, and I've been receiving more orders than usual. I even have a Canterlot backlog!”

“Well, it's nice that we've been having our moments, but Ah' figure that pleasantries ain't the reason you two are here, is it?” AJ guessed, raising a brow.

“Yeah…” John was quick to admit. “Sorry about that.”

AJ raised her leg, and playfully punched John's arm. “Oh, come now, we are all busy, besides there is no need to be feeling sad when an excuse to meet comes up, is it?”

John winced as he answered. “Can I be sad over the pain I am in?”

Ignoring the pained John and continuing her newfound eye rolling hobby, Rarity interjected. “In any case, I'm here to deliver the sweater you told me to knit for Granny Smith. I would usually give it to her myself, but I'm not sure she would take kindly to asking her if I got her measures correctly after what you told me.”

“Ha! And you would be right again,” AJ chuckled, grabbing the sweater that Rarity levitated to her. “Don't y'all worry, Ah'm sure it'll fit nicely. Thank you, Rarity.”

“It's no problem, you know I'm always willing to help,” she replied. “And don't worry about pay, this didn't really take me long to do anyway,” she added.

“Aw, shucks, Ah' owe you one, Rare,” Applejack laughed. “But before I go give her this, is there something you wanted to tell me, John?”

“Huh?” John mumbled, as if taken out of a trance. “Oh, sorry, I was just so fixated on how friendly you two are, is all. Even after all this time I can't get used to it.”

Rarity scoffed. “Well, we ARE all friends, darling.”

“Right…” he laughed nervously. “So, big news! Twilight got her magic back, and we are throwing her a party at Sugarcube Corner!”

AJ smiled in an instant before letting out a loud 'yeehaw. "Well, I'll be! This is great! When is the get together?”

“An hour, but...”

“Ah'll be sure to finish by then!” she said quickly, running back to the house in a rush, and after a few seconds, running out and passing by them. “See ya'll later!” she said quickly, before running off to another part of the farm.

“Well, shall we go back?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, I think our work is done,” he replied.

John took a deep breath, taking a gander of the farm as they walked back. “You know, it was nice to come over here and see AJ. I actually think I'm awake now,” he said, slowly rubbing his still pained arm.

Rarity nodded. “I'm quite glad you are, John.”

Mulling for a moment, he turned over to her and asked. “Hey, Rarity?”

“Yes, John?”

“I just realized that I could have had you deliver the news for me… you knew this, didn't you?”

Still smiling, she nodded. “I did, John, yes.”

Careful to avoid her mane, he tried an awkward attempt at a hug. “Thanks for not doing that.”

Rarity giggled, and together, they continued their way back to Ponyville.

Reaching the edge of town, John spoke up. “Hey Rarity, you can head straight to Sugarcube Corner, I need to go get Twilight off the books for the 'surprise' party.”

“I see. In that case, I'll go help Pinkie with whatever she needs to do, although I'm sure she is already done with it all by this point.”

“You sure about that?” John asked, teasingly poking her side. “I thought you had a lot of work to do?”

“John, please,” Rarity scoffed, indignant to what he implied. “I may take my work very seriously, but I put my friends above all else!”

“Don't worry, I know,” he grinned, waving her goodbye, and making a beeline towards Golden Oaks.

-For someone who only slept three hours you seem surprisingly awake,- Crystal noted.

“Hey, I did state I would be happy when I was fully awake, which I now happen to be!” John shot back. “I'm just happy that after all the crap we've gone through recently, we can have a moment of relief.”

-Yeah, I wonder…-

“What is that supposed to mean?”

-I don't know, just I feeling I have. I'm probably just being overly dramatic.-

“I can only hope so,” he thought, just as he noticed the library come up in the distance, being surprised as he noticed three figures standing outside. “What's going on here?”

“Afternoon, John,” replied Patch, who turned her attention from Lemon and Spike, who she seemed to have been speaking with. John paid special attention to Spike, who seemed sad for some reason.

“What's going on? Why are you guys out here?”

Turning back to the pair, she said. “Kids, can you take a walk for a bit? I need to talk to John for a bit.”

John watched them nod, and walk away, talking to each other in low voices before turning his attention to Patch, looking more on-edge than usual.

“What happened, Patch?” John asked in a calm tone, doing his best to hide his dread.

“I'll be concise,” Patch prefaced before going through with her explanation, which ultimately, left John more confused than worried.

“Wait, are we talking about the same Twilight? You know, the one who believes in friendship and is usually nice?” he asked mockingly.

“Don't shoot the messenger, John,” she sighed, shifting uncomfortably in place. “I only came here to send my report about Twilight, and turns out I only got here to see the two waiting outside.”

“I'll go talk to her,” John quickly offered, reaching for the handle.

“John,” Patch intervened, putting her hoof on the handle. “From the sounds of it, it seems that she is pretty volatile, so don't say anything that might upset her while I go get Recon to send the report. I'm sure she'll know what's wrong with her,” she suggested, right before running off, and leaving him staring at the door.

-Tact is the answer here, bud,- Crystal added as John opened the door and headed inside, quickly finding Twilight in the middle of book rearranging, squinting her eyes as she tried to focus.

“Hey, Twilight?” he called in a low voice.

She jumped in place, quickly turning around and seeing John, and smiled when she noticed him. “Oh, hey John! Sorry about that, you caught me taking a break!”

Watching how the unattended books continued the task, John raised a brow. “Right… break. So, you are shelving books, then?”

“It's rather therapeutic, you should try it sometime,” she noted, turning her attention back to it with a content sigh.

“I'll keep that in mind, but that's not what I'm here for,” he shot, straight to the point. “Twilight, what was your deal with treating Spike that way?”

-That was the complete opposite of what I just said!- Crystal growled annoyed.

“I see he told you,” letting the books idle midair, she turned her attention to him, her soft smile now gone. “John, please, Spike was interrupting my studies! I needed to get him out of my way.”

“By treating him like a pest? Come on!” he countered. “That's not how you do things, and I'm not just lecturing you, that is just not how you of all ponies do things!”

Twilight walked to John, giving him an amused grin. “John, I had my magic taken away, and now I get the chance to finally use it after so long. Is that such a bad thing?”

“Er,” John trembled, gulping at the look she gave him.

-Remember that bad feeling I seemed to have earlier? It's here again,- Crystal whispered.

Taking a deep breath, he continued. “T-Twilight, I think we should head off to your party at Pinkie's place. Remember? The one where all of our friends are going to be attending?”

She grabbed her chin as if thinking over the idea, but quickly replied. “Nah, I don't think so. I don't have time for that,” she scoffed, turning back to her task. “In any case, there are other parties.”

At this point, John was at a loss of words. “Twilight! What the hell are you saying? We had a plan!” he said, barely holding his voice. “You can spare a few hours away from your silly magic.

“What?” Twilight growled, turning her head and glaring at him. “You said 'silly magic'? What would YOU know about magic? You have no idea, that's what!”

“I, what!?” John shouted, unable to hold back. “I'm sorry, did I go into a bizarro Ponyville? Because you sound like a total prick right now!”

-John! Stop!- Crystal reminded him, but John simply ignored it.

Twilight harrumphed, turning away from him. “It doesn't matter, you know nothing about magic, and I do. It's as simple as that!”

He shook his head, and in a low voice he said. "What is wrong with you?"

She barely turned her head as she replied. "I guess I found out that there are more important things to worry about, huh?"

“I see, fine, I'll just leave then! I'll just...” he trailed off, a memory popping into his mind, one that he hadn't thought of for months. “I'll just go back home!” he threatened.

Twilight's smugness was understandably replaced by a confused one. “W-what?”

Sensing the hesitation in her voice, he continued. “Yeah, remember when you first lost your magic? Celestia told me that I had to choice to go back, but I stayed. For you.”

Twilight just stared blankly "B-but I thought you couldn't."

"You thought wrong."

She said nothing more, her face showing her deep in thought.

“I think you know what happens next,” he snorted, heading upstairs, and heading into the closet, where he picked up the backpack he had first arrived with.

-John, what are you doing? You are not really planning on leaving Equestria, are you?- Crystal asked in a panic.

“Don't worry, I won't. I just… need to get out of here,” he explained, grabbing a change of clothes and packing it in. "I'm not really gonna leave here anyway."

-Is it a good idea to leave at all? It looked like you really gave Twilight the wrong idea there,- Crystal noted.

John shook his head, tossing the backpack aside. “Yeah, you might be right. I should go talk to her.”

-Good! If anything, maybe this'll stop make her realize that pushing your friends away like that isn't a smart idea,- Crystal noted.

“Hey, Twilight!” he called, running back downstairs. “I wanna apo- what the?” he stopped short, watching Twilight take deep breaths, keeping her eyes closed. What really caught his attention was the strange black smoke emanating from her.

“John...” she whispered, opening her eyes, which glowed in a strange green color.

Panic rising in him, he ran to her aid. “Twilight!”

He stopped at Twilight suddenly smiled, and said. "Not anymore..."

“Oh boy, I can't wait for this party to get started!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed excitedly, jumping in place.

Rarity, who sat with Fluttershy nearby, chuckled. “Now, now, I'm sure you can let all that excitement out when John and Twilight are here.”

Out of nowhere, a loud explosion reached their ears, causing Pinkie to nearly trip as the ground shook.

“W-what was that?” Fluttershy whimpered, looking at the others before they all ran out, noticing an already gathering crowd of ponies gazing up at an already dissipating cloud of smoke.

“Fluttershy, could you be a dear?” Rarity asked, pointing to the sky.

“Oh! Right!” she replied timidly, unfolding her wings, and taking off straight up. It didn't take her long to notice where the smoke hailed from, and she gasped. “Oh my goodness! No!” she yelped horrified, and flew back down.

Meanwhile, from the source of the smoke, ponies gathered to look at what remained from Golden Oaks library.

Author's Notes:

And here we are! I said it'd be quick, didn't I? Hope you liked it!

Right, so now that this is out, I can now focus on the final arc! This will likely be a long-ish wait, since I plan to release it all in a span of one week.

Here comes the final stretch!

Spoiler Notes 37 - 06/15/18
Talk about a long-ass final stretch. This was very good-feel for the most part, kinda cheap in a way. I regretted having John angry back then, but from what I had written for his character before, it was consistent with how angry he could get in the original, especially in a situation like this that he hadn't dealt with before with Twilight."

It's still a bit clumsy in places, but it did what I set out to do.