Billy was a little shocked. Three alicorns that he had never seen before were sitting in the kitchen and smiling at him. One of them had a white coat and a beautiful mane that shone like the sun, with a sun on her flank. Next to her was a pink princess that had a crystal like mane and a heart on her rear. He had seen her in some of Twilight's pictures with a white stallion. The final alicorn was a pony with a midnight blue color, with a gorgeous mane that looked like a small galaxy, a moon on her flank in contrast to the sun.

"Um, hi," he said nervously.

"Hello Billy, Twilight has told us quite a bit about you," Celestia said with a smile.

"I swear whatever she said, I didn't do it," he said with a smile. The others gave a polite laugh at this, helping to break the tension. Twilight pulled out a chair for him and he sat down, nervously looking at the princesses. "Sooo...what can I do for the three of you?"

"We just wanted to meet you in person. We have never met a...human before," Celestia said calmly, trying to keep Billy from feeling nervous.

"I find it ironic that the one pony that believed in humans went on a trip around the world you find them, only to miss it when the actual human shows up," Luna said with a smile.

"Yes, it's strange how things happen," Celestia agreed. "Now then Billy, I have a few questions for you. Would you mind answering them?" Billy wasn't sure what to make of her or any of them. Due to him being half magic, he could feel the power radiating from them, the solar one seemingly the strongest. He wasn't sure how strong they were, but he needed to find out who they were first.

"Only if you can tell me who you are first," Billy asked.

"Forgive us, where are our manners? I am Celestia, Princess of the sun and co-ruler of Equestria," she answered.

"I am Luna, Princess of the moon and co-ruler of Equestria."

"And I am Princess Cadence, ruler of the Crystal Empire," the pink one said with a smile. Billy looked over them, noticing how their symbols seemed to show who they were. He also noticed the Luna and Celestia were covered in bruises and cuts, their eyes showing fatigue.

"What happened to you two? You look like crap?" he asked.

"Billy! Don't talk to the princesses like that!" Twilight scorned him.

"But that's how I talk to you and you're a princess."

"I'm different! These two are the leaders of our land!"

"It is quite alright Twilight, he is our guest and besides, I have said many times that there is no need to be so formal," Celestia told her student with a smile, turning back to Billy. "To answer your question, we got these bruises when we fought a most vicious creature up north. We managed to defeat it however, so there is no need to worry anymore." Billy listened to the last part carefully. Twilight had said that a monster had been tearing up the northern most part of Equestria and he had immediately assumed it was Doomsday. But if these two had managed to beat the creature, then he must have been wrong. He knew from experience that Doomsday could not be permanently killed and killing him temporarily only made him stronger. Celestia and Luna would've been shredded against him.

"Thanks, I'm ready to answer your questions know," Billy said, relieved that Doomsday wasn't causing problems.

"Very well. Twilight informed me that you lost your parents when you were at a young age. I know it must be painful to you, but you seem to be mostly unaffected. How do you manage to stay so cheery" The first question was defiantly one Billy would have wanted to avoid, he hated talking about this. But these ponies had been kind to him so far, so he would try to be kind in return.

"Because it's in the past and no matter how hard I try, I can't change the past. So instead I try to look at the world in a positive manner and live each day to its fullest." Celestia and Luna both nodded approvingly at his answer.

"You have wisdom for one so young," Luna said with a smile. "My question is not so much a personal one, but has to do with recent events. Do you know anything about this angel that showed up a day ago?" Another question that he wanted to avoid, yet it was one of the first to come up.

"I've never seen an angel in my life," he said in a bored tone, technically telling the truth. Unknown to him, Luna was reading his aura to see if he was telling the truth. When it didn't falter, she looked to her sister and nodded.

"Alright Billy, we believe you. Please do not take offense at my next question. Are you the angel?" This one Billy could tell truthfully without giving away his identity, as he wasn't an angel himself, more of a super-mortal really. He had also expected this one after the last question, so he was ready.

"No, I'm no angel. My uncle would tell you that," he said with a sigh. His trick worked and the princesses were now giving him looks of sympathy instead of questioning glances. Luna read his aura again and again there were no changes in it, allowing the princesses to move on with their questions.

"May I talk about your uncle?" Cadence asked, receiving a small nod from Billy. "Twilight said he kicked you out onto the streets. Why did he do that, did you anger him in some way?"

"He said I was a waste of space and of a life and that he wanted nothing to do with me," Billy answered softly, gaining more sympathy from the ponies. This one was no false truth, this was his life.

"Why would he say that? You’re his nephew, he should love you?" Cadence asked in disbelief. They were surprised when Billy gave a humorless chuckle.

"Sorry princess, but some of the people in my world only love themselves and have no use for family. My uncle happened to be one of those people," Billy whispered. "Not that it matters anymore, I do fine on my own. Can we change the topic?"

"Yes Billy, what would you like to talk about?"

"Well, I did have one question. Why aren't the king and queen ruling Equestria?" This caught both Luna and Celestia off-guard, not expecting that from him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you are all princesses, so in order for that there'd have to be a king and queen ruling above you," Billy explained.

"No Billy, we don't have a king or queen, just the princesses," Twilight informed him. "It has been that way for nearly five hundred years." Now Billy was confused.

"Then why isn't it Queen Celestia and Luna? In fact, why aren't all of you queens?"

"Um, we just preferred being called princesses," Luna said awkwardly. "Besides, saying queen makes us sound old."

"Aren't you both a thousand years old anyway? I think you've gone above and beyond old." Billy realized what he said the moment after he said it, his eyes moving to the princesses faces as fear took control. But to his surprise and relief, the two of them started to laugh at his bluntness instead of getting mad.

"Yes, I suppose that would make us old by your terms, but to an alicorn a thousand years in the prime of their youth," Celestia said with a huge grin.

"Of course, dear Tia, you are defiantly starting to show your age. I remember when you forgot your sunglasses when they were on your head," Luna said, taking a shot at her sister.

"Well dear sister," Celestia said in mock indignation, "at least I do not have grey hairs in my mane."

"My grey hairs are to complete my look!"

"They're still grey!" The two continued to poke back and forth while Billy turned to Cadence, who was watching the two sisters argue with a smile.

"What's the Crystal Empire?" he asked.

"The Crystal Empire is my kingdom in the north, where the entire city is made of crystal."

"Wow, it must be really expensive to repair that place."

"No actually, crystals are a common material found all over Equestria, so repairing the city isn't hard at all." Billy wondered how that worked. Since he had seen ponies pay for expensive things with crystals and gems, so why would they use them to make a city? Seemed like asking for trouble.

"Cool. I have one other question for the two of you," he said, turning to Celestia and Luna. "What was that monster that you were both fighting up north?" He was fishing for information, having to make certain that it wasn't Doomsday. Their smiles vanished as they looked at each other, not sure of how to answer the question.

"Well Billy, it was-"

"A massive creature that had multiple arms and six wings," Celestia cut in, startling Luna. "It was a tough challenge, but we overcame it." Luna grabbed Celestia's shoulder and pulled her in close.

"Tia, what are you doing?" Luna whispered into her ear. "That was not the beast we battled. Why are we hiding the truth?"

"He is a child, Luna, I do not wish to impose our problems on a boy," she whispered back, keeping the confused Billy out of sight. "I don't want to get him involved, Luna. I have seen enough children die." Luna looked unsure for a moment, but after a second she nodded her head in agreement. Billy looked up at the clock on Twilight's wall and his eyes widened.

"Sorry, everyone, I promised the girls and Spike that I'd go help them crusading. See you all later!" He jumped up and ran out the door, thanking the heavens that it was not Doomsday that had attacked the city up north. He would have to find out later where Doomsday was, but for now he had an appointment to keep. The princesses watched him go, Luna looking at her sister with uncertainty.

"Are you sure it was wise to lie to the boy?" she asked.

"I do not want him to worry. He has already gone through so much in such a short life and I do not wish to add to his burden." Celestia teleported away from the library along with Cadence, leaving Luna to herself for a minute. She looked to the door where Billy had left, wondering why he had decided to lie to them. But since Celestia hadn't been honest to Billy, Luna had decided to hold a bit of the truth from her sister. She flashed a quick smile and then teleported herself as well.

{S}

While the ponies and Billy enjoyed the nice day, in the farthest reaches of Equestria Sombra was in the temple of old, trying to get his magic back under his control.

"GRAH!" he roared as his spell shorted out on him, frying his face.

"My my, it seems that unicorns really are useless without their horns," the voice in the darkness said in a mocking tone.

"Not now, War. If I am to get this statue freed, I need to concentrate!" Sombra snapped at the spirit, closing his eyes and starting his spell over.

"But he is correct in saying that you are useless," another sickly voice said through the darkness.

"Shut it, Death! I need to concentrate!" The voices went quiet allowing Sombra to finally try to cast his spell again. He opened the book and began to chant, closing his eyes. Magic began to spiral around him as his chants got louder and louder, the chamber beginning to shake. He aimed his spell at the next statue, a colossi five times the size of a regular pony. This creature was the Cyclops, another one of the greatest threats to appear in the last five hundred years.

"Arise, beast that can level mountains and bring down the sky, the one who destroys the land and can create fire from his eye!" The statue began to shake, red lines beginning to form through its stony exterior. Chunks of rocks began to fall from its skin, the beast within starting to move again after nearly five hundred years. It moved one massive hoof, the impact of the hoof step shaking the ground. Sombra collapsed to the ground as the spell finally finished running it's course, freeing the Cyclops from his stone prison.

"Well well, I didn't actually believe you could do it," Death whispered, awe in his voice.

"Ha, that's why nopony should ever underestimate Sombra," he muttered, picking himself back to his hooves. "Behold, Cyclops, I have freed you from your stone prison! Now I ask that you to return the favor and destroy Ponyville, along with the Elements of Harmony!" The Cyclops bowed and slammed it's hoof into the ground, opening the top of temple opening and allowing the Cyclops to leave. Sombra watched it go, a dark smile crossing his face.

"Good, with the Cyclops destroying Ponyville, I will be able to gather more information on this angel that everypony is speaking of."

"Wait a minute," War muttered, moving through the shadows until he reached Sombra, "Do you have no confidence in the Cyclops power? Do you truly believe this angel will be able to-?"

"Be able to defeat the Cyclops? Yes I do," Sombra said with a scowl, flipping through Star-Swirls book to the section on magical lightning. "That angel has shown that it's power far surpasses Erebus or the Cyclops, not including the fact that the two princesses and the Elements of Harmony would be able to severely weakening him. No, I will use the Cyclops to gather more data on the angel. He is strong enough to last quite a while, so he will be useful in gathering data. Only when I know how to defeat the angel will I send the four of you to finish him."

"That is positively evil. Glad to see that this new era hasn't completely given us pathetic villains," War said with a chuckle. Sombra ignored him and went back to studying, searching for the one trump card that would seat him on the throne. It did not matter how many he needed to sacrifice, as long as he obtained total rule, it would be worth it. The day would come when the darkness would bring down the mighty.

{S}

"This has to be the dumbest idea I have ever been a part of," Billy said in disbelief as he stared off the cliff into the forest below. When he had shown up to see what crazy plan the CMC had for them this time, he had been expecting something like hog wrestling or scuba diving. But hang gliding? That was crazy even by their standers. But they had managed to convince both him and spike to join in with them, so there Billy was, standing on the edge of a cliff with three grinning fillies on one side and a dragon scared witless on the other, hang gliders poised to descend off the cliff face.

"This is crazy," Billy muttered for the fifth time that day.

"Will ya stop yer complaining" Applebloom yelled over. "If anything were to go wrong, the angel would show up and save us!" Billy rolled his eyes, hating how right she was. If they did get in trouble, Billy would transform and save them. But he also noticed that she had brought a camera with her and that this would probably go wrong so that the angel would show up to save them, forcing him to reveal his identity.

"Yeah and maybe we'll get our cutie marks as well as seeing the angel!" Scootaloo said with a huge smile.

"If we're not killed first," Spike muttered, looking over the edge in trepidation.

"You won't know unless you...GO!" Sweetie yelled, pushing Spike over the edge. Spike screamed at the top of his lungs as he plunged off the cliff, falling towards the ground. Billy was about to yell out SHAZAM when an updraft caught Spike's hang glider and sent him back up into the skies. Seeing that certain death didn't await them, the CMC dove off the cliff as well, laughing as the wind carried them after the dragon. Billy sighed in relief and threw himself over the edge as well, the familiar feeling of wind rushing through his hair rising up to greet him. He laughed aloud as he sailed over the forest and across the grassy land, smelling the air as he did so. But just as he was beginning to have fun, the wind died down and he slowly sunk to the ground, joining the CMC and Spike on the ground. The girls looked depressed that they didn't get their cutie marks OR see the angel, whereas Spike was trying not to throw up.

"Well that was fun!" Billy said with a huge smile.

"Yeah, but we didn't get out cutie marks!" Scootaloo sighed.

"Or meet the angel," Applebloom grumbled.

"Look, you're both looking at this the wrong way. So what if you didn't get your cutie marks?" They both glared at him as if they would hit him, Applebloom probably would have. "But you got to have fun with your friends and experience something that a lot of other people haven't. I don't know about you, but that's a good day in my book." The CMC pondered this, thinking carefully over what he had said.

"Nah, it's all about the cutie marks." Well, he had tried.

"How about we take a break?" Spike offered, still doubled over and trying to keep his breakfast down. They all agreed and lay down in the grass, staring at the beautiful sky.

"So Billy, what do you think your cutie mark would be if you had one?" Sweetie Belle asked. Billy didn't need much time to think about it.

"A lightning bolt," he said with a smile.

"Why's that?"

"Cause it's cool. How about you, Spike? What would your special talent be?"

"My cutie mark would be a servant’s outfit, because that's all I seem to be good for," he muttered bitterly, remembering how Twilight had dragged him out of bed at five in the morning to have him clean the library for the princesses.

"Aw come on. Your talents got to be something different. Maybe a shield or a blazing claw. You never know Spike. You still have your whole life ahead of you."

"Yeah, I do."

"So any of you know what your special talent might be?" Billy asked the girls.

"If we knew what it was, we wouldn't be looking for them. Duh," Applebloom responded with an eye roll. "And we've tried everything. Roller blading, bowling, heart surgeons." Billy flinched when he heard that one. "None of them seemed to work."

"Have you tried to earn them in anything you're good at?" The question stunned the crusaders as the crushing weight of the obvious came crashing down on them. All this time they had been trying to earn their cutie marks in areas they knew nothing about, instead of what they were good at. That left them with only one problem.

"What are we good at?" Sweetie Belle asked her friends.

"I'm pretty good with my scooter," Scootaloo muttered. "But other than that, I can't think of anything. Thanks for the suggestion though, Billy. It will definitely help us to narrow our search."

"Yeah, you're a good friend," Sweetie said with a smile. "You know, we haven't said this often, but you're really nice."

"Yeah, you are really nice. We should really hang out more," Scootaloo agreed. They both looked to Applebloom, who simply rolled her eyes at their looks.

"Ah suppose yer nice enough, but ah still don't care fer ya," she said in a careless tone.

"Look, if you're still mad at me for calling you crazy, I-"

"How many times must ah tell ya, ah don't want yer apology," she snapped, shutting him up.

"You could try being a little nicer," Billy muttered so that the others could hear. Their talks drifted into different categories, event ending up at the angel, the topic Billy tried constantly to avoid. While Scootaloo saw the angel as a menace, Applebloom immediately spoke up to defend him, giving the different reasons for why he was such a great person.

"So Applebloom, sources tell me that you have a crush on the angel. Any truth to that?" Scootaloo asked with a smile. Applebloom's face turned red, but she was able to recover quickly.

"Ah have no idea what yer talking about. He's a hero that saved me. That's it," she said quickly. Scootaloo rolled over to her front and smiled at Applebloom, not believing a word.

"Oh, really? Then why is your face red?"

"It's not red, it's yellow."

"Fine, forget the last question. But answer this last one for me. Do you respect and or like him?" The other two turned over and looked at Applebloom, curious to see what her answer was. She looked at all of them a little nervously, knowing that the truth was the only way out.

"Fine. Yes, ah respect him. And ah kinda like him," she grumbled, gaining snickers from the others. She silenced them with a glare and went back to cloud gazing, the others trying to prod her for more information. Billy sat there trying to absorb the news the best he could. So Applebloom despised him, yet had fallen for his alter ego? He groaned, knowing that this wouldn't end well. Their talks continued for a while longer, until the sun began to set. The CMC got up and walked off, waving goodbye to the two boys. The two walked back to the house in silence, one thinking about bed, the other about what he was to do.

{S}

"Oh, hi boys!" Twilight greeted them with a smile as Spike looked over in disbelief at what had happened to all his hard work. "Sorry about the mess, but I needed to do some research on powerful titans for Celestia. I couldn't find the one she asked for, though. Spike, do you mind cleaning up? Thanks!" she said as she ran out the door, leaving a still dumbstruck dragon alone with Billy.

"I have to clean this all again!" he said in an angry voice. He let out an exasperated sigh and started to pick up the books, grumbling about how Twilight always stuck him with this kind of stuff. Billy watched for a moment before he walked over to the pile of books and started to pick them up as well.

"Hold on, there's no need for you to help. I've got this," Spike protested.

"Sorry Spike, but friends help each other," he replied with a smile, placing some of the books on the shelf. Spike opened his mouth to argue, but smiled instead and continued to put the books back on, happy to have some help for once. The two continued putting books away, Billy looking at some of the titles with interest. Equestrian Star Patterns? How to Tell a Joke from Sarcasm? Twilight had some interesting reading material. They finally finished placing all the books back on the shelves and they stood back to look at their work.

"I have to admit, that went a lot faster with a friend," Spike admitted with a smile. "Also the fact that you could reach the top shelves helped too. Thanks for your help."

"No prob." The sun had finished setting and the moon was starting to rise. Spike headed back upstairs while Billy headed outside and started to walk around Ponyville. The sun had finally finished setting and the moon began to rise into the sky. He looked around at the town, which was finally recovering from the devastation from Erebus. Twilight had been spending most nights using her magic to repair homes and buildings, a task that kept her out most the night.

"HI!" Billy jumped higher than a normal human could, turning around to find a smiling Pinkie Pie standing behind him.

"Hi Pinkie, please don't scare me like that," Billy panted, holding his beating heart. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," she said with her smile. "I wish I could throw you a welcome party, but the Cakes home got stepped on when Erebus showed up, so I've been busy helping out. Hope you're not disappointed."

"No, I'm not upset. Thank you for thinking about me though."

"Sure, anything for a friend." There was that word again. Friend. In his two years of living on his own he had never once had someone he could call a friend. Now that he was here, almost everyone wanted to be one. It felt...nice, having those that cared about him, despite him being human. But while they might accept him as a ten year old human kid, they'd probably never accept Captain Marvel. He had to keep that side of him secret at all costs.

"So, how are the CMC and Spike?" she asked him, bringing him back to reality.

"Oh, they're fine. Spike and I get along fine and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are nice, but for some reason Applebloom seems to hate me," he said with a sigh. Pinkie put her hoof under her chin and put her thinking face on.

"Hmm, maybe you said something to her that made her mad," she offered. "What did you say to her?"

"Well, I called her a psycho for hitting me, she hit me some more, I asked what was wrong with her and asked did her parents raise her wrong." Pinkie winced when she heard that, telling Billy that's what was wrong. "What, does she not get along with her parents or something?"

"Um, Applebloom's parents kinda of...died a few years ago." And suddenly, Billy was the biggest jerk in Equestria. That's why she got so mad at him, he had not only brought back bad memories for her, he had called her crazy in the process. He had to make things right with her.

"Thanks for clearing that up Pinkie. I...need to go apologize." Billy took off towards the library, planning to tell Spike where he was going before he headed off. He waved goodbye to Pinkie and sprinted to the library, hoping Spike was still awake. He was and after a moment of knocking, Spike let him inside.

"Hey, Billy, what's up?"

"I need to go apologize to Applebloom. Just came by to-" A massive earthquake shook the building, knocking over the two as well as knocking all the books off the shelves. While Spike vented his rage to the heavens, Billy ran outside to see what was going on. The answer blew his mind.

A massive pony with one eye was walking towards the town, it's one eye glowing red. His reaction was nothing compared to Spike's, whose jaw was on the ground. As quick as they could, they ran over to where the massive creature was entering the city. They both watched as the ponies in the town began to flee, screams erupting from the fleeing crowds. The massive pony’s eye glowed red and a blast of heat fired into the city, setting most of the buildings on fire.

"I don't believe it, it's the Cyclops," Spike whispered in terror. "One of the creatures that helped kill the king and queen centuries ago." Billy wasn't sure what he meant, but he did know it was time to act. He was about to call out the magic word, when a blast of magic struck the titan in the side of the head.

"Why do all you freaks keep attacking my home?" Twilight yelled as she barraged the Cyclops with another magic attack. "Girls, we need to show what happens when somepony messes with our town!"

The creature turned it's gaze towards her and let loose it's flames, smashing into the barrier that Twilight threw up and driving her into a building. The situation was getting out of hand fast, as the other Elements joining Twilight in the battle and tried to stop the beast, but where also unsuccessful. Rainbow slammed into its head, doing more damage to her than it. Rarity's gem barrage didn't even gain her the creature attention, neither did Pinkie's party cannon nor Fluttershy's stare. Applejack lassoed the Cyclops’s nose and tried to yank it down. The creature barely glanced at her to fir of its laser, blasting her across the square. It looked down at her with interest, it's eye scanning her and confirming that she was one of the Elements. But before it could do anything, Applebloom ran out into the square to protect her sister.

"Ah won't let you hurt Applejack!" she screamed, staring up at the creature. Her friends tried to motion for her to come back, but it was too late. The Cyclops lifted one massive hoof above the two Apple's, poised to crush them. Time slowed down as Applebloom and the others watched the hoof slowly descend onto the two. She closed her eyes, expecting the end, but a thunderous roar echoed in her ears.

"SHAZAM!"