Both human and pony made their way into the kitchen, with John awkwardly crouching to head past the somewhat small door, with Derpy following close behind him, and closing the door, with the muffled sound of conversation starting on the other side as soon as she did so.

“M-maybe I should go…” she told John, hearing the hushed voices of the ponies in the next room. "Mayb—" she stopped, jumping as she felt John's hand on her withers, much to her surprise.

“It’s okay. Come on.” he told her trying to keep a confident smile on his face, it didn‘t last long, as he searched for a seat, but instead found only a rather small chair, which John guessed must have belonged to Spike. “So… Let’s get to the table, shall we?” he led Ditzy, disregarding the lack of seats, John sitting on the floor crosslegged, while Derpy rested on her flank next to him, wincing momentarily as she took her spot, something that didn’t go unnoticed by John, but that he let slide for the time being.

Neither spoke for a few minutes while John twiddled with his thumbs, meanwhile, Derpy paid attention to the outside; birds singing, ponies going about their daily tasks, anything that allowed her to keep her nervousness in check in front of the human.

“Hey, Ditzy?” at the sudden call, Ditzy’s front legs gave away, making her muzzle fall straight on the table, causing her to fall back on the floor, her hooves on her snout massaging the pain away. “Ditzy!” he called out to her careful not to alert the ponies outside, Ditzy only gave him a dismissive hoof, still holding her muzzle with the other, she got back on her hooves after a few more seconds of massaging, and gave John a wide smile, her snout looking a rather comical red.

“Y-yes? What is it?” she began, ignoring the obvious incident and going back on topic.

“Huh? Oh! Right!” he cleared his throat and continued, trying to ignore the color on Ditzy‘s face. “Are you alright? Does anything hurt? That was a nasty crash you had out there. Among other things.” he finished for himself.

“Oh… W-well, it’s nothing, I’ve had worse incidents, so it’s okay, really,” she replied, giving him a sweet dismissive smile.

“You don’t have to lie, you know?” Ditzy stared at him with wonder over his statement, but didn’t let it get to her.

“What do you mean? I told you I’m FINE!” she yelped loudly, and brought her hooves to her mouth, mentally cursing herself for it.

“Is everything alright in there?” came the worried voice of Twilight from the other side of the door. Ditzy got on all fours and began heading towards it in an attempt to leave.

“You know, maybe I should go, I nee—” she was stopped by the human’s arm which blocked her path while he replied to Twilight’s worried question.

“Yes Twi, everything is fine,” she replied with a quick okay and the room was silent again, except for the fixed breathing of the pair as Twilight got away from the door.

“I’m going to ask you again,” he began, still staring at the kitchen door. “Are you alright? Or not?” he finished by turning his gaze towards her, causing Derpy to tear her eyes away from him in an attempt to avoid his analyzing stare.

“My leg…” she began miserably.

“Huh?”

“I messed up my leg when I crashed.” she explained, showing him her one of her front legs that exhibited a very noticeable bump on it. His brow furrowed worriedly as he laid his fingers on the bump, getting a soft squeak from the mare as he took out a green shard he had not noticed before..

“How did I not notice?”

“You gotta go to the hospital, Ditzy,” he told her rapidly, getting a dismissive smile from the mail pony.

“John… It’s okay, it’s just a bump. It was my fault anyway," she huffed, letting out a bitter laugh. "Twilight is right, I mean, I hurt Spike even.” she stared back at John’s face and looked into his eyes. “Pity?” she wondered as she searched the truth in his brown colored eyes, but his grimace said something else, the look that only one pony before had given her.

He was actually worried for her.

“It was an accident though,” he said in an attempt to reassure her.

“But still, it was Twilight‘s little pet dragon…” John raised his brow at the word ‘pet’, Ditzy’s view of Spike was not one Twilight would have liked to hear.

“Forget Twilight for now, besides, Spike is fine! He didn’t have any injuries unlike you did.”

“What!?” came Twilight’s voice from the other side of the door, followed by the mare herself slamming the it open.

“Twilight? What are y—” he didn’t manage to finish his sentence when he was levitated off the floor and taken outside the kitchen. He tried squirming in his grip, but found it impossible to move. He traced the magic back to a certain white pony, to which he gave a resentful glare that she only ignored, all while Ditzy was basically thrown into the lobby by Twilight.

“Not hurt!? What do you call that then?“ she fumed at John while pointing at the unconscious Spike. “And you need to apologize to Spike! Who for your information, happens to be family!” Twilight this time turned to Ditzy and wasted no time getting straight to the point, staring daggers at the cross-eyed mare while she only trembled in the spot, muttering silent ‘I’m sorry’s over and over, John searched the place for some other pony to help stop the chaos, but only saw Fluttershy (who was hiding behind the white demon) and Rarity present, and neither would be of much use.

John’s attention went back to Ditzy and Twilight, two thoughts on his mind; he was worried about Ditzy’s injury as well as her own mental health. And he wanted to scream at Twilight for the way she was acting.

“This is NOT the pony I met on Earth!” he tried calling out to her, but his mouth would not open, he turned back to Rarity who only shook her head at him before turning her attention back to the pair.

If John had thought the mare to be unpleasant, he now downright despised her.

“Well?” Twilight asked Ditzy with forced control on her voice, John could only stare at his foster sister, a feeling of uneasiness rising in him.

“I-is her coat catching on fire…?” smoke seeped out of the mare’s coat, seemingly spontaneously as her face was contorted in anger, her eyes glistening as her mind seem to race.

“I’m so sorry…”

“Huh?” John gave an internal sigh of relief as he noticed Twilight’s features soften at Ditzy’s words.

“I-I’m sorry… I’ll make my leave. I am deeply sorry for hurting your baby dragon, and I‘m sorry for hurting John… And, well… I didn‘t know he was family, I also apologize for assuming…” Ditzy began shuffling towards the door, trying her best to hide her own limping while John gave her a pained look, she reached the door and turned to face him one last time before leaving.

As soon as the door was closed, Rarity lowered John to the floor, gently placing him down and levitating his crutches towards him.

“What the hell, Twilight!?” the three ponies jumped at the sudden breaking of silence, while Spike stirred in his sleep.

“What do you mean ‘what‘? You saw what she did to Spike! She could have killed him, just as she could have killed YOU before!” she stopped to catch her breath and continued “Not to mention she assumed Spike was a’pet’? she cringed as she let the words out, having difficulty using them in a sentence.

John wanted to argue back, but he knew that she raised a good point, he put his palms into fists, and groaned in pain as something stabbed into his left palm, he opened it just to see the green shard he had gotten from Ditzy’s wound.

“I think everything is as good as it‘s going to get, so I will make my leave for now. Twilight dear, please take care of Spikey and yourself, would you?” Twilight responded with a curt nod to Rarity who left without nary a glance to John. He was glad she was gone, but he certainly would need to speak with Twilight over her behavior.

“I’ll deal with that road when I happen to cross it again,” he figured as Rarity closed the door, visibly relaxing.

“Umm, are you okay, John?” he turned his gaze from the front door and saw Fluttershy giving him a worried stare which he returned, albeit in a depressing manner.

“Yes. I’m okay Fluttershy.” he stared at the shard once more then turned to his attention to the shy pony. “Don’t worry about me, really. I’ll be fine,” he gave her the best smile he could manage at the moment before continuing, “I’m sorry to do this, but can you give Twilight and I a few moments, I need to talk to her.”

Fluttershy seemed stunned for a moment, but she composed herself quickly. “Oh, yes. I need to go anyway, it was a pleasure to meet you, John,” she shook his hand a bit more comfortably than before, and then trotted towards Twilight.

“It’s good to have you back Twilight, maybe you can tell us more about your time in there later, I mean, if you don’t mind.” Twilight smiled kindly and Fluttershy gave her a hug before heading out, leaving the pair alone. Or as alone as they could be with a sleeping dragon in their midst.

John wasted no time and began “Listen Twilight, I know that what Ditzy did was bad, and that she might have hurt Spike, but-”

“It was an accident?” she completed his sentence for him.

“Yes, an accident. So I think you need to cut her some slack,” he knew she had the right to be mad at Ditzy, but he didn’t want Twilight to be too mad at her. He felt conflicted in his thoughts; defending a pony he met less than a day ago over his own best friend? As he delved into his thoughts, he made his way to the bag of muffins on the floor, trying to bend down to pick it up, but finding little success with one leg.

“Crap…” as he was going to leave the crutches, the bag floated easily towards him, surrounded by a purple glow.

“Thank you, Twi,” he walked to the couch where the young tyke snored quietly, seating himself on the floor and holding himself with the couch. He tried to avoid Twilight’s gaze by looking at the still surprising mess of books in the place, he caught a few words in English in a few covers, something that made him grin in the satisfaction of knowing he would have something interesting to read.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Twilight reluctantly approaching him, he moved his arm aside, and let the mare sit next to him.

“Here,” he handed her a muffin which she accepted without a second thought, John took another for himself and dug in, savoring the tasty treat while thinking of the events of the day. “And what a day it was," he thought as he bit into a blueberry muffin.

“Hey John?” Twilight called without keeping her eyes from the muffin on her magic grip.

“Yeah?”

“Why did you forgive Ditzy so fast?” he grimaced at her question, already disliking the way the conversation was heading.

“I know, I know it depends on you Twilight, he is like your brother, right? I should know what is like to worry about a sibling.” Twilight turned to him with a look of mild surprise and giggled a bit before biting into her own muffin. “Did I say something funny?” he asked annoyed at her tone.

“No, not particularly. But you didn’t seem to understand my question,” she responded still smiling.

“Okay, humor me.”

“I was asking why you forgave Ditzy so fast over what she did to YOU.”

The question hadn’t taken him completely by surprise, he had actually expected it at some point, but Twilight’s own perceptive nature had managed to bring it out sooner. Still, he didn’t have an answer to give her; he still hadn’t quite found it himself.

“I…” he opened his hand once again and stared at the shard, its green color seemed alluring enough that he had forgotten to throw it away, he knew he held no need for it anymore, but he couldn’t bring himself to toss it aside. He examined it and noticed the dried blood on it as well as some new joining it, likely his own.

“Well?” Twilight asked.

“She… Reminds me of myself?” he chuckled as he let the question hang in the air, while Twilight could only stare with confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“I guess when I look in her eyes… I see myself in them.” he let the words leave his mouth, not sure where he was going with it, but unable to stop. “You know? Before I met you,” neither spoke as both tried to find the meaning of the words. Twilight seemed to grasp the concept much more easily as she nuzzled John’s face with a warm smile on her face.

“I’m still not apologizing, though,” John chuckled at this but didn’t argue.

“Here.”

“What is this?” she wondered as she noticed what she had grabbed with her magic.

“If my guess is correct, I’m guessing it’s one of Spike’s scales.”

“What does that have to do with anythi— oh…” John waited as Twilight noticed the redness smeared across its otherwise beautiful green surface.

“She hurt Spike, I can‘t argue that, but she still tried to save him from a serious injury, right? It may not be much, but I think this deserves some sort of ‘slack‘ and ‘cutting‘ or some other phrase created by those words. Don‘t you think?” Twilight poked his shoulder at the jest, and gave him an understanding nod.

“I guess you a— No, I mean to say you ARE right,” she corrected herself quickly.

“Well, glad to see all this drama has been solved,” both turned towards the source of the voice, just to find Spike laying on the couch with his eyes wide open.

“Oh, hey Spike… How much did you hear?” John asked unable to formulate a better question.

“I heard enough," he turned to face Twilight. “I know I’m not good with mushy stuff, but still, I want to say… Er…”

“Thank you?” John completed, making the dragon glare at him.

“Hey! I’m the one who is gonna say it,” he turned to Twilight ready to come up with a better word, but found himself enveloped in her magic grip where he was directed straight into Twilight’s waiting hooves.

“Oh, you don’t have to say it, I know what you mean.” she hugged Spike affectionately for several seconds before putting him down.

“Geez… can we stop with the sorry atmosphere around here? It’s cramping my style!” at this both John and Twilight laughed heartily, letting any previous tension behind.

“But we are still going to go talk to her, got it?” John reminded Twilight giving her a serious look before bursting into uncontrollable giggles at her dignified stare.

“Yes, yes, I know. But we are already here, so don’t you think I should give you the grand tour of your new home?” he gave her a disapproving look which she quickly countered with a pout attack.

“Darn your cuteness to hell” he thought in defeat.

“Then it’s settled!” Twilight said, boasting over her small victory which John quickly fanned away.

“I guess…” he painfully got on his foot, looking down at his sorry state, realizing how his life was going so far. “Hey Twi?”

“Yes?”

“Isn’t it funny how non-perfect everything is around here?” he chuckled as he said this, getting a playful grin from Twilight.

“I never told you it would be, John.”

Celestia’s sun glaring beams rained upon all ponies alike, giving all the energy and the morale they needed to get work done, all while the fillies used the energy to act rambunctious, something that many adults didn’t appreciate as they went about their business. All alike rushed to get everything done, or in the young, play as much as possible, as the end of the day was quickly approaching.

This was easily ignored by Lyra Hearthstrings who ran in full speed, mouthing non-caring apologies to whatever pony she happened to bump with, all her energy focused on her running, as well in ways to apologize to a certain cream colored pony.

“I was stupid, please, can you forgive me, a pony that doesn‘t deserve you? No, that‘s way too dramatic!” she thought as she ducked under what it seemed to be a flying turtle in her path avoiding a potential head injury. She did not dwell on the near-incident as she went back to her planning. “I’m sorry Bon Bon, please forgive me. I was a foal… No! Then she’ll think I’m not serious about it! Ugh!” Lyra rattled her brains in search for the perfect apology.

She of course had not realized that by the decision of the Ponyville housing district, a house was to be build in the area she had just run into, and that house stood there already five years prior to the events of the day, that house being the abode of both Bon Bon and Lyra. Of course, Lyra did not realize this as her head had much more worrisome thoughts that were by now, washed away by her senses telling her that pain was coursing through her body as she had just run into the door, slamming herself against it.

“Buck!” was all she could think of as she fell on her back, holding her muzzle and trying to hold back the tears that were already leaving her eyes. A rather simple giggle could be heard from over her, Lyra’s eyes searched the source of the sound, seeing the window to her room open, her lover Bon Bon sitting on her front hooves and staring down at her.

“What are you doing down there?” she called to her with a slight bemused tone.

“Er… Nothing, just… enjoying the day,” Lyra replied putting her hooves behind her head and laying on them as a pillow in an attempt to look nonchalant.

“Uh huh,” with that, Bpn-Bon headed inside the house, closing the window behind her.

“Gah!” Lyra hit herself for her poor handle of the situation and headed for the door, she tried opening it, but found herself unable to. “It’s locked…” of course it was locked, she had pretty much betrayed her partner over her obsession, and now she had gotten punished for it. It was what she deserved, she was destined to be alone once again, she w-

“Are you gonna stand there looking sorry for yourself? Or are you coming in?” Lyra looked up only to see the cream mare standing by the door, giving her an annoyed look.

“Huh?”

“I’m closing the door now,” she slowly began closing the door and heading inside.

“Okay, I’m coming!” Lyra swiftly jumped inside, landing on her already pained muzzle, and groaning in ever increasing agony.

“Payback can be quite annoying.” she rubbed her muzzle, nursing it back to the dull pain that would stay for quite a while, Lyra got on her hooves and noticed Bon Bon, who instead of the angry glare she expected, held another facial feature she had not foreseen.

She was frowning.

“Bon Bon? What’s wrong?” despite the obvious reasoning, she could not help but ask the obvious.

“I think you know.“

“If you are talking about earlier today, I know, and please, I am really, REALLY so—“ She was unable to finish her sentence, being kissed tends to have that effect on ponies.

“H-huh? W-what?” Lyra stood there dumbfounded, she didn’t expect any care from the mare, much less such an obvious sign of affection.

“I’m sorry, Lyra,” if Lyra had not been confused before, she was utterly lost now.

“Okay, what’s going on? Did Pinkie Pie set a joke up and you are giving me payback for being a horrible mare friend?” the stare Bon Bon was giving her told her otherwise.

“I’m apologizing because I should have been supporting of you, I know you sort of left me on my own back there, but I didn’t have time to think on what you wanted—I only cared about what I wanted,” she then brought out a book from a drawer and gave it to Lyra. “And this is yours,” Lyra instantly recognized the book and swiped it out of her hooves with her magic.

“Bon Bon! I told you not to let it out!” she stopped herself and took a deep breath, leaving the book on a table for the time being, looking back upon the flinching Bon Bon. “No no! It’s okay, you didn’t damage it! I‘m sorry!” she reached out and reluctantly hugged her, making the trembling mare shiver slightly.

“I-I…” Bon Bon seemed to be in the verge of tears, and was trying her best to hold it in.

“Don’t cry, it wasn’t your fault, it was mine…” she walked away from Bon Bon, making her give her a confused stare.

“What do you mean?” she asked holding back the flood works.

“I shouldn’t have let my obsessiveness get the best of me, I just lost it when I was so close, and I was… Well, I was afraid that I would lose you, and…” tears began falling down her eyes as she recalled the events from just hours before, regret hitting her full force.

“It’s all that books’s fault!” she thought, giving the dreaded thing a hateful stare, hoping that it would burn, but she didn’t have the heart to do it.

She had devoted too much to just let it go.

She felt herself getting enveloped in a pair of hooves, she looked up and saw the smiling face of her loving partner.

“How about we just let this go for now and do something to… relieve the tension?” Bon Bon began giving Lyra small pecks on her muzzle, while passing a tempting hoof over her flank.

“Oh my… she can be quite dominating when she wants to…” Lyra thought as her tears stopped and her instincts nearly took over, unfortunately for her, the dulling pain took over the good feelings she was having.

“Ugh!” her partner noticed the pained look on her face and giggled shamelessly, getting a grunt out of the mint colored pony.

“You know? Maybe we can take it easy for today. Come on, I think you deserve a good therapy.”

“What do you have in mind?“ Lyra asked wiping the tears from her smiling face.

“Well… I could do what my mother used to do with me when I was hurting somewhere.“

“And what is that?“ the answer was given when Bon Bon kissed her face, then heading upstairs, leaving a content Lyra behind.

“I think I probably have the best partner ever conceived,” she thought proudly.

“Come on! You are returning the favor, you hear?” Lyra grinned bemused at the upstairs call, and headed to the room, ready to let the day’s worries fall behind.

As Lyra headed to her room, the book stayed on the table, forgotten for the time being by both mares as they headed upstairs, ready to share time with each other and forget their problems.

~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back in Canterlot, Princess Celestia shivered for the first time in months.

She headed towards the stained glass containing the static drawings of the elements of harmony defeating Nightmare Moon. Fittingly enough, Princess Luna walked towards her sister, noticing her odd behavior.

“What is the matter, sister? You seem to be acting rather strange.”

“I’m not sure, Luna, but I feel a new threat is upon us. We must be prepared,” she then turned to Luna giving her a serious stare.

“Twilight’s time to be tested might be closer than we expected,” Celestia turned back to the glass and thought.

“I just hope that he won’t bring too much of a change.”

Author's Notes:

Aaaaand here is the new chapter!

I worked hard to get it finished before the week was over, and I hope you guys enjoy it.
I think I might have a more concrete idea on what I want for this story, but we shall all see.

Be sure to tell me what you think on the comments below.

Happy reading!

Notes 8 4/4/2018

And we rolling, rolling, rolling with the updates! Boy did I truly notice the OoC from characters in this one. I won't dwell on it, but Rarity is a big one. Then there is the whole thing with Lyra and Bon Bon; the last part of the exchange feels so wrong to me now.

Anyway, this is the chapter where I began setting up something bigger, which should be pretty obvious if you've read it before (pfft, right) but it's where I start going places.