MLP-The Gathering of Magic

by OmegaDecion

One day a nerd's seemingly normal life is turned upside down. He loses everything he has and is sent to another world. In this strange new place he manages to make a new life. Little does he know that I dark force lurks in its depths, one that was thought dealt with long ago. Gathering his own power, this nerd must save his new home or lose everything once more.

21. Chapter 21

MLP - The Gathering of Magic

Ch 21- Peace Restored

PLAY: Departure - Hunter X Hunter Opening

(The music slowly starts to build as the sun started rising over the lands of Equestria.)

Stepping firmly on the ground,

(In a grassy lands, A male bends as he stretches.)

You are awakening,

(The camera moves as it reveals Alan looking up at the sky with a bright smile on his face.)

With the smile of an angel,

(Alan pulls his book out as it opens with different symbols flying out.)

Take me away!

(Camera moves back as different monsters were summoned as they ran or flew away. The title "MLP: The Gathering of Magic" Appears we the elements of harmony flashed in appearance with the book at the top center.)

You are not alone, even in solitude,

(Rainbow Dash flies through the skies with a rainbow streak until landing at the library with the other mane six as they cheered and waved with the six elements of harmony floating above them while glowing.)

There is definitely a reason as to why we are born.

(The camera moves as Luna, Celestia, Cadence and Shining come to scene as they smiled. The sun comes to the left and the moon comes to the right with a crystal heart floating down from the center.)

You can smile again! Bathing in the sun!

(Scootaloo is seen skating on a skateboard until skidding to the CMC clubhouse with AB crafting something and Sweetie belle singing a song before they face the camera and throw a fist up with their CMC logo appearing above them.)

You can fly away!

(Alan and the mane six are seen running through the grassy fields as the sun started setting.)

The world is awaiting your brilliance!

(The scene is next with five beings in cloaks that held smiles until moving to a dark void with the camera passing a shadow being that smirked before red eyes opened up, radiating with dark energy.)

Stepping firmly on the ground,

(Twilight fires a magical beam as Rainbow flies over and does a sonic Rainboom and vanishes in the sky.)

You are awakening,

(Applejack kicks a tree with apples falling while Rarity uses her magic and levitates different variety of crystals and gems.)

With the smile of an angel,

(Pinkie fires her party cannon with confetti flying while Fluttershy holds a few woolen animals with a smile.)

Take me away! (You can smile!)

(Celestia and Luna radiate the sun and moon's light with gold and blue aura flowing until they faced the camera with a smile.)

It is never too late for a new "Beginning"!

(The scene changes with Alan kneeling, and bruised while holding his arm. The seven cloaked beings stood by his side with different colored aura flowing around them. Alan glares up at his opponent in shadows as it smirks and motions a hand at him and his allies.)

No matter what happens, keep getting back up!

(Alan rises as his book floats in front of him and opens, blasting energy around and explodes. The scene turns to Alan opening his eyes and smiles bright before throwing a fist into the air as his friends around him cheer. The title appears over with the elements and the book until the screen fades into darkness.)

Darkness had fAlan over the land of Equestria. The night was peaceful and serene...with the exception of blades slashing through vegetation and magic reducing it to dry husks. Despite not having any training, I had decided to break in a few of my summonable weapons, two mythical swords to be exact. One that glowed green and black while the other was black and white. Why the sudden need to prune the forest? Well, during my training with Liliana hundreds of black, thorn covered vines erupted from the ground as they quickly engulfed the area. Oh, and they also tried to kill us. We didn't know why this was happening, but there was a dark magic pulsing from within the vines. Something was making them grow and we need to figure out why and how to stop it.

I slashed a few vines to ribbons as I breathed heavy from exhaustion. "Shit, there's no end to these things…" Another vine sprouted and coiled my leg before I stabbed a sword into it, killing it instantly.

Liliana breathed as she too took care of one as well. "And it's strange. I can't drain their life force. It's like they're not alive at all."

"Then what could be causing these plants to grow like this?" I asked. The only reason I was able to hold my own from these plants was the blades I had summoned. I could tell the plants were of black mana origin because they were unable to touch my swords without withering. "Guess I should be lucky my weapons are pro-black magic." More and more vines swarmed the area as Lili and I retreated. "I don't remember the girls ever talking about this when I lived with them."

"They might not ever encountered crazy, thorny vines before." The necromancer spoke as we managed to return to the campsite while her servants attempted to keep the plant life at bay. As I caught my breath, thoughts of the girls in trouble started to form. "You worry for them, don't you?" Lili asked me as she too caught her breath.

A nod was my answer. "I do...I'm not sure if this is something that they can take care of." A new shiver ran down my spine. "What if I somehow caused this? What if they're in trouble again because of me?"

"Alan, relax." Lili spoke and cupped my cheek gently. "There's no way you could do this. The energy magic from the vines is no connected to you or the book." I nodded my head slowly as I tried to calm down. "Now, I know you're nervous and don't want to go back home, but don't listen to your brain, listen to your heart."

Sighing I pulled out my book and sifted through the pages. My eyes skimmed back and forth, searching for a small artifact. With a flash of light, I summoned a small silver compass into my palm. "I'll do what I can to help them. Keeping them safe is my top priority."

"That's the spirit." The woman smiled before grinning. "Hang on, isn't that compass familiar from the memories I saw? Say...a gift to your first marefriend?~"

My cheeks flushed as I grit my teeth. "Can't you stay out?"

"Nope, your reactions are just so adorable and funny.~" She giggled before pinching my cheek like a grandmother would.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." I groaned and pried her hand away. Taking a breath, I focused my thoughts to find an answer to the outbreak of vines. The compass glowed and hummed as the needle pointed away. "I gotta go. Please stay safe."

"You as well." She smiled before planting a deep kiss on my lips. "That's for luck.~" Giving an embarrassed smile, I dashed off into the undergrowth.

(POV Twi)

Things have gone from bad to worse in our once peaceful home. The vines that recently sprouted have continued to invade Ponyville and Canterlot as well as many other regions. I attempted to call an audience with Celestia and Luna, but instead all I found out was that they had both mysteriously vanished. Even stranger was that they went missing around the time the first vines had appeared. As the last remaining princess, it was my duty to save our world.

While my friends and I were trying to hold the vines back in our home, others attempted to flee from being grabbed. There wasn't much we could do in this situation, but I know I have to find a solution to stop this before Equestria becomes a thornbush. Blasting another vine away, a familiar poof rang above us as I noticed Discord laying on a vine, as if this was normal to him.

"Hello everypony, having fun weeding?" He mocked with a small laugh and drank from a soda can.

RD bashed another vine away before glaring at the chaos spirit. "This is all your doing isn't it?!"

Discord's face twisted as if he looked hurt before appearing behind the mare. "Dear Rainbow Dash, are you accusing me for something I never did? I'm so hurt. I thought we were friends now." She growled before promptly swinging her hoof backwards into his crotch. The chaos being vanished and appeared near me. "Dear Twilight, you don't really think I did this, right?"

A heavy sigh escaped my mouth. "To be honest I can't say yes or no. Nothing like this has ever happened before in Equestria. There are no notes or books in any library that describe these vines."

"You're seriously not believing he did this, Twilight!?" Rainbow barked. "Look at him, he thinks this is normal, and the vines have chaos written all over them!" Seconds after the pegasus spoke, a new vine shot out and tied around Discord.

The spirit blinked before snapping his claws as the vine morphed into sand. "I honestly think you're mistaken, Rainbow Dash. Besides," A halo appeared on his head. "Would little old me ever do something so cruel and chaotic?" Her only response was an arched brow with an unimpressed stare.

Things weren't improving in this situation, but soon we heard hoofsteps behind us. It wasn't long before we saw our familiar alchemist zebra passing by a few of the vines and approaching us. "Zecora!" I called and ran to her. "Are you alright?"

"Fled from my home I did, for coexisting among them, the vines would not bid." She spoke in her rhyming tone.

I was glad she was safe too, but my hopes that we'd be able to end these plants were starting to fade. "I don't suppose you have a potion that kills plants?"

"Potions I have tried, but a dark magic protects them, it is no lie." Zecora answered with a shake of her head. Her eyes wandered over to Alan's factory as thopters and other small metal creatures were keeping away the vines with fire. "Your human's home is a bit run down. I haven't seen him anywhere in town."

A frown formed on my lips at the mention of Alan's absence. "Things have changed a lot since you last saw Alan, Zecora." A vine lashed out at us, but I shot it away with my magic. "I'll fill you in on the subject later, but we need to find a solution to stop the vines."

The zebra thought for a moment before ruffling through her bag and held out a white glowing potion to me. "If it's answers you seek, perhaps this brew will give you a peek."

I looked at the potion before taking it. "What does it do?"

"Your mind will be filled with the memories of the ancient past, as if you are truly there, the effects are truly fast." She explained. Without a second thought, I pulled off the cork and took a gulp of the liquid. Immediately, my eyes flashed white as everything shifted and changed.

When I opened my eyes, I noticed I was not in Ponyville anymore. Instead, the scenery was a royal castle at nightfall. For some reason, it felt like I've been here before...but what was this place?

The quiet was shattered as I saw Celestia crash through the ceiling above me and land on the floor. "This land shall forever more be shrouded in darkness, dear sister." Spoke a chilling voice. I turned as I saw a familiar alicorn I thought to never see again.

The pony had a dark foggy blue mane with sharp cyan dagger eyes, fur as black as night while wearing dark cyan armor. "Nightmare Moon…" I breathed.

Celestia rose a bit while holding her shoulder. "Luna, please don't do this! This is not you and I know you would never try to hurt me!"

Nightmare moon sneered. "Then clearly you don't know me well at all." Her horn glowed before blasting a dark blue beam at Celestia. My mentor avoided the blast as smoke filled the area. I managed to bypass the smoke and see celestia crawling to a statue.

"I'm sorry, Luna...but you leave me no choice…" She breathed sadly as her horn glowed. The statue moved before six colored gems emerged from the bottom. They orbited around the princess while their glows washed over her fur. Celestia's horn ignited with a rainbow of colors before blasting her own beam of magic towards her sister. Nightmare Moon screamed in pain before the beam shot her out into orbit and hit the moon. A moment later, an image of the night princess was imprinted on the moon itself.

All of this came back to me now. This was the night Luna became Nightmare Moon and Celestia banished her to the moon. The world flashed white again as the scene shifted again. Ponyville was in chaos, the same thing that happened when Discord was awakened. Now, he sat on a throne while laughing at his handiwork.

At the foot of his seat were both Celestia and Luna. They both held glares at this being who literally brought chaos to their home. "This is your last warning, Discord." Celestia growled. "Return everything to the way it was or else."

The chaos spirit was holding a sac while sloppily shoving what looked to be black seeds in his mouth. "Oh come now, Celestia. Nothing is wrong with having a bit of fun." He shoved more seeds into his mouth as some hit the ground before sinking into the dirt.

Luna turned to the sun princess and gave a firm look. "Now?" Her sister nodded as their horns ignited as the same gems from before rose up.
Discord took notice them and dropped his sac. "Ooo, and what do we have here?"

"A way to erase your chaos and restore harmony." Spoke Celestia as a rainbow aura surrounded the sisters.

"Seriously!?" Discord started laughing as the two charged their magic and shot a rainbow beam at him. "HILARIOUS! HAHAHA-!" His laughing froze when he suddenly turned into stone. With his magic cut off, the world corrected itself just before the scene shifted once more.

Now I was staring into a ravine as both princesses were walking down a ledge along the canyon wall. Both looked like they had been on the receiving end of Pinkie's party cannon. "Are you sure this road leads to these stones? We don't even know if they're real. They were just in stories mom and dad would tell us at night." Luna groaned as she kicked at a pebble.

"We have to try, Lulu." Celestia spoke. "We need the elements of harmony to stop Discord. Mother and father told us they will be in this trench in their birthplace, the Tree of Harmony."

The princess's words echoed in my head as I followed them deeper. "Tree of Harmony? What does that mean?" I asked myself. When they reached the canyon floor they pushed along until an opening was revealed. In a pocket of the rock was a glowing crystal tree. The main trunk had my element embedded inside with the other five elements at the end of each branch.

"Will the tree be fine without the elements?" Luna asked cautiously.

Celestia stepped forward with her horn glowing. "The tree should be fine, the elements only make up a small portion of its power." The tree shuddered before the elements floated free of its hold and down to the princesses. They packed the elements into their bags as everything soon went white again.

My vision came clear as I was now back in the present with my friends around me. "Did ya find anythin about how ta stop this?" AJ asked me.

I shook my head. "Afraid not." They all groaned slightly. "But I do know one thing. In one of the visions, I saw the birthplace of the Elements of Harmony. It's called the Tree of Harmony."

Discord laughed with delight. "Ah yes, that one little tree that seemed to be able to hold the answer to my imprisonment. If I may, perhaps it has been too long since the elements have been parted with their tree."

"If that's true...the vines must also be attacking the tree." I mentioned. "Discord, can you teleport us there?"

The spirit yawned and turned away as he continued snapping his claws at vines. "I'm afraid I cannot. The stress of all this pruning is wearing out my powers." He fell back onto a couch that appeared behind him. "You'll have to find it without me."

I gave a groan, but didn't argue. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can start looking for Alan. "Alright girls, let's head to the forest and find the Tree of Harmony."

(POV Alan)

It seemed like hours I had been following where my compass led me. After reaching a clearing of the trees it directed me down into a trench. All along the sides were more of the vines. The deeper I went, the more dense they became. "Alright...they appear to be focused around here. Maybe if I can destroy the source…" Various ideas rambled through my skull as I walked along the trench bottom. Every few seconds a vine attacked which I would quickly slash to ribbons. Turning the corner, I spotted something strange. More of the vines appeared to be coiled around some sort of tree shaped crystal.

"That's the source?" I asked myself. My compass appeared to be locked onto the tree as I stepped forward. "Ok maybe if I can get these vines away I can-" A new vine launched out from under me and slammed my chest. All the wind was knocked out of my lungs before I was flung backwards. I skidded to a halt and groaned. "Owwwww...well that fucking hurt." As I sat up, I ripped out a foot long thorn the had pierced my gut. Blood oozed out while the pain set in.

I got up, holding my wound. "Okay, this might be harder than I thought…" I looked at the crystal tree and noticed that there were six shallow holes in the branches and center, as if there was something missing from them. My eyes strained to get a closer look before it clicked. These holes resembled the Elements of Harmony that Twi and the others held. "No way…." The tree must be the birthplace of the Elements of Harmony.

It was fine that I knew what was supposed to fit in this tree, but I had no way of getting the elements. I glanced back up the canyon walls with a sigh. The only thing I can do to help is try and lure the mares here. With no other option in mind, my book glowed as several new thopters materialized near me. Waving my hand, the artifacts soared up into the sky above the canyon in a slow circle and proceeded to emanate bright lights.

"Hopefully that'll be enough to draw their attention." I groaned. "With any luck they'll have the elements with them. Now I just need to hide so that they don't find me." I wandered off to the side of the canyon and hid behind a few boulders.

(POV Twi)

My friends and I explored the everfree forest, heading in deeper than we ever had before. All I can think of was saving my home and finding Alan. Things were chaotic for us when we encountered a rockodile, a large reptile made of stone. We barely managed to escape its jaws and took a breath.

"Is...everypony alright?" I asked while taking deep breaths. Nods were seen by everyone except RD. She had her chin on her knees as she hugged them tightly. I grew concerned for my friend's condition, so I walked to her and kneeled. "Rainbow...are you alright?"

She remained quiet for a bit. "What if...what if we find Alan and he doesn't want to come back?" Her voice cracked as though she were fighting not to cry from the thought.

"Rainbow, we all want Alan to come home." I assured. "At the time he thought this was the right decision. When he finds out how much we need him to be around us, I'm sure he'll come to his senses." The pegasus's mouth quivered as tears slowly formed. This was the first time I ever saw this from Rainbow. She's NEVER shown sadness before. "Oh Rainbow…" I frowned before I pulled her close and embraced her tightly.

The others watched in silence before Fluttershy spoke up. "Um...c-can anypony h-hear that?" She asked nervously. I perked my ears up as I heard a noise. It sounded like….beeps and hums.

"What in the name of…?" I stood up as I listened to the sounds. They grew stronger in one direction before I saw lights flashing in the distance. I pulled my compass out, and it was pointing in the direction of the lights. "...Alan…" I breathed before a smile formed with tears in my eyes. "Girls! That's Alan!" The five of them jumped to their feet as we dashed through the bushes and trees. The closer we got, the louder the beeps and brighter the lights became. We were close, I can feel it. Hope surged in my heart. Alan will finally come home.

As we passed by a few more trees, we came to the bridge which lead to the old castle of the pony sisters. Beneath the bridge, the trench below looked...familiar. "Wait a minute…" I examined the trench carefully before I gasped. "Girls! The Tree of Harmony is down there!"

Rarity pointed to a farther section of the trench. "Dear, aren't those thopters Alan's?" She asked. My eyes spotted about eight of the flying robots as they seemed to be circling above a gap in the stone wall.

"Hurry!" I spoke as we ran into the trench. There was a narrow ledge that led us to the bottom. Now at the deepest point, we raced in further before making it to the end. Like in the vision, the Tree of Harmony stood, but was covered in the vines.

"Golly, they're darn near strangling that there tree." AJ spoke in shock.

"How do we fix this?" Pinkie Pie asked.

I pondered a bit before what Discord told us floated into my mind. "If I may, perhaps it has been too long since the elements have been parted with their tree." I pulled out my crown with my element from my bag before turning to the others. "Girls...we have to give the tree the elements back."

"But…" Fluttershy started. "if we give them up we won't be able to power the compass to find Alan…"

Her question hit me hard. It was true, our elements were powering the compass. Without them, we'll never find him. "You're right….but listen girls, if we don't heal the tree, our homes will be destroyed. We have no choice, even if it means losing our only chance to find Alan….but I know he would want this from us….to protect our home." One by one the others nodded. Tears fell as they each parted with the elements and handed them to me.

I flew up in the air before my horn glowed. My magic held the elements while I gave them one last look. "Celestia above, please help us find Alan when this is all over…" I whispered and I held my hand out. The six elements flew to their spots at the tree. One by one, the holes shrank and held the elements firm in their hold. Magic poured into the tree as it glowed a pale blue. Around it, the vines cringed and shook violently before evaporating into dust.

We all covered our eyes from the light the tree radiated. A moment later, the light faded as the tree of harmony was healed to proper health, and more. Princess Celestia and Luna emerged from a pile of the vines near the tree. "Thank you, Twilight, you saved us." The sun princess spoke warmly.

(POV Alan)

It didn't take long for the vines around the canyon to vanish once the girls gave up their elements. Now that I knew they were safe, all I had to do was wait for them to leave. "...well at least that's settled." I thought while my thopters self destructed.

"You made me proud, Twilight." Celestia spoke with her smile.

"Thank you, Celestia...but now we'll never find Alan…" Twilight sighed as she held her compass up. "This compass was made by Alan, and he gave it to me. It was powered by the Elements of Harmony, but now...it doesn't work anymore." Her teacher sighed softly as she rested her hand on her shoulder.

"Twi!" Pinkie called out as she bounced around at the foot of the tree.

"What is it?" She asked before the pink pony bounced to her.

Pinkie pointed up at the top branch of the tree. "It's not christmas, why did you hang Alan's gift to you on the tree?" They all blinked before they looked up and saw a copy of the compass Twilight had.

I myself was concerned. In vain I patted my pockets trying to find the compass I had been using, but it was gone. "Crap! Must have lost it when that vine hit me!"

Rainbow flew up to the compass and grabbed it before landing. She opened the device, and it sparked to life. "Hey! This one works without the elements!"

Twi gave a gasp. "Then this must be Alan's...he must be nearby!"

Rainbow held the compass up as the needle spun around. A second later, it stopped and pointed to where I was hiding. The others turne before Rainbow spoke up. "Alan! Come out! We know you're there!" I tried to keep still, but a cough managed to blow my cover. I was caught, and they know I was here.

There was a flap of wings before the rocks behind me shattered. Two arms wrapped around my torso as we were launched away on the rocky ground. I felt myself land in front of the others, but I didn't dare look up. "...hey." I spoke softly.

At my chest was a cyan mare sobbing loudly. She kept a tight grip on me as one fist was banging against me. "You idiot! Why did you have to leave us!? Didn't you know how sick and worried we were!?" Rainbow screamed in anger, pain and sadness.

My gaze remained on the ground. "...I thought it would be safer for all of you. I told you not to look for me. It's too dangerous for me to be near you."

"BULLSHIT!" Rainbow bellowed and punched me in the gut. She hit my wound as I groaned loudly and fell back. "WE DON'T CARE WHAT DANGERS WE HAVE TO FACE WITH YOU AROUND! WE'RE YOUR FRIENDS! WE ALL CARE ABOUT YOU! NO FUCKING WAY A DAMN MONSTER YOU MADE BY MISTAKE WILL CHANGE THAT!" It was hard for me to remain calm. A mixture of sadness for leaving them along with the flaring pain in my gut forced tears in my eyes. "YOU FUCKING LEFT US BECAUSE OF THAT DAMN MISTAKE, AND WE WERE AFRAID THAT YOU WERE GOING TO KILL YOURSELF! WHY WOULD YOU THINK OF SUCH A THING!? DO YOU WANT US TO FORGET ABOUT YOU!?

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!?" I Finally bellowed from my pain and sadness. The mare gasped slightly as her tear filled eyes locked to mine. "YES IT WAS A MISTAKE, A MISTAKE THAT NEARLY TOOK AWAY EVERYTHING THAT I CARED FOR! I ALREADY LOST MY FRIENDS WHEN I CAME HERE! I WAS ABOUT TO HAVE THE ONES CLOSEST TO ME RIPPED OUT OF MY LIFE AGAIN! I WANTED TO DESTROY MY POWER SO YOU WOULDN'T GET HURT OR KILLED! THIS ISN'T MY WORLD, I HAVE NO RIGHT TO GET YOU ALL KILLED BY ANYTHING I CAUSE!"

All of the girls were silent while Rainbow's anger vanished. I took a few deep breaths when my screaming faded. Tears flowed from my eyes as I looked down again. "I didn't want to lose you all...you all mean so much to me. If I lost you all….I don't know if I had a reason to live. I never meant to hurt you all, or tear you all apart by my choice...I just…" A sob fell from my throat. "...I'm sorry…" In the end I couldn't even keep them from finding me. How was I supposed to keep them safe if I couldn't keep away?

A white hand pressed to my shoulder. "Alan, look at me." I heard Celestia's motherly tone.

"Please...don't…" I whimpered softly.

"Look at me." She spoke again, her tone never changing. Against my better judgement I finally opened my eyes to look up at her. "I know you are afraid, and I know you wish to protect us. But you don't need to be alone." She wiped a tear away with her thumb. "You have us, and no matter what, we'll be by your side, no matter what happens. You mean the whole world to us. Nothing will ever change that. Whatever we have to face, if it's from a mistake you made, or from something else, know that we will always love you, and we will support you till the end." I clenched my eyes and jaw before releasing a loud sob which caused Celestia to pull me into a warm hug. "Shhh, it's alright. Just let it out."

As Rainbow moved away I heard Flutters gulp. "Rainbow, is t-that...is t-that...b-b-blood?" She asked in terror.

The others saw the blood on her hand as they paled a bit. I managed to pull away from the sun princess and coughed as a bit of blood dripped from my mouth. "Dammit…" I groaned as I held my gut while the red liquid continued to ooze from my wound. I took one shaky step and face planted on the ground. "Oooooow…why is the world going dark?"

Luna, Celestia and Twilight circled me before their horns lit and I was covered in a gold, blue and lavender aura. The burning in my gut faded as the hole from the thorn began to close. Second by second, I felt relief in the wound until it was nothing more than a scar. I got to my knees and sighed. "Thanks…" They smiled a bit. "...I know I did so many wrong things….and I feel guilty for hurting you all. I never meant to hurt you all. I...I just wanted to keep you all safe." My eyes moved up at the others. "Can...can you all forgive me?" Together the mares smiled softly and nodded. Happy, I sniffed and wiped a stray tear. "...Thank you…"

"Group hug!" Pinkie chirped and embraced me from behind. The others laughed before closing in and hugged me as well. All this warmth, I missed it. After so long, I felt a true and warm smile return to my lips as I embraced them back as well.

AJ nuzzled my cheek a little before speaking. "Not fer nothin, yer plan had sum serious flaws. If ya had managed ta kill yaself, ya still would have lost us. Ya know that, sugarcube?"

"Yeah...guess I didn't think this through much." I replied. Eventually the girls pulled back...all except Rainbow. "...Skittles?" I asked.

Her grip tightened a bit. "Sorry...but after what you put us through...I don't want to risk you disappearing again…"

Another small smile rose as I cupped her cheek, having her look up at me. "You won't, I promise." I sealed that promise with a soft, yet loving kiss on her lips.

As the pegasus 'epped' in surprise I heard AJ chuckle. "Ah'm actually agreein with RD. From now on, ah think one of us should be with'em at all times."

I broke the kiss from RD and looked at her. "I can live with that...besides, I missed being with you all." I said with a small blush.

"Dibs on first." Skittles grinned at the others.

A laugh rippled through all of us. I took a moment to think before something popped in my mind, an accident that I could now correct. "Girls, can you take me to Dinky's grave?"

Luna breathed softly. "You want to pay your respects to her?"

I gave her a small smile. "More than that." They grew a bit confused. "I'll explain when we get there, and bring Derpy. She needs to be in on this too."

The girls nodded as Luna smiled. "I'll catch up with you all later. I'm going to stay here for a bit and examine the tree." We nodded before heading out of the canyon.

The rest of us headed back to Ponyville, while Skittles left to grab Derpy. The cemetery was quiet and deserted. We wandered around until we reached one tombstone in particular.

R.I.P

Dinky Muffin

January 30, 2014 - August 12, 2018

A young filly with the smiles of a hundred suns. May she never be forgotten. May she find peace and happiness with Equis herself.

We all remained silent as I stared at the piece of rock. Death had always been something that made me feel uneasy. When someone close to you dies, there was always a period of time that you would have to get used to not seeing them. Every so often you'd get an idea like, "I think I'll go spend the day with them." then you remember they are no longer of this world...and it crushes your heart. A small breath left me as I kneeled in front of Dinky's resting place.

"Rainbow, please. I'm not in the mood to be here." I heard a familiar voice of Derpy behind us. As I turned around, the grey pegasus gave me a surprised look. "Alan? Is that really you?"

All I could do was give her a small smile. "Hey Derpy…"

She turned her gaze away from me and awkwardly rubbed her arm. "Look...I don't blame you for what happened. You only reacted to what you were told. Her death was not your fault…" I could tell by the tone of her voice that despite what she said part of her wanted kick the crap out of me anyway.

"I know.." I sighed. "And I know you're upset about the death of your daughter. It wasn't fair to her that she died because of my actions…" The grey pegasus's golden eyes looked at me. "And I know you probably don't want to forgive me for what I did….but…" I pulled my book out. "I can fix my mistake."

Everypony blinked around me as confusion covered their faces. Derpy gave a sniff as her eyes lowered. "...Nothing can bring my Dinky back to me."

"I can." I spoke and smiled. "Believe...and watch." I faced the filly's grave as I put all of my concentration on the line with my eyes closed. My book opened and floated in front of me. The pages flipped as mana circled around it. The girls backed away while the ground gave a tremble. The dirt and grass pushed up and fell away, revealing the coffin that contained the filly. Collecting all the black mana I could, I poured all that magic into the filly's body. The coffin gave off a black aura as the wind swirled around us.

The girls braced from the surging wind. Derpy watched in shock, even horror at what I was doing to her already dead filly. After what felt like an eternity, I finally finished the spell as I collapsed to my knees, panting heavily. "It….is done…" I breathed with beads of sweat dripping my face. A sharp pain rippled in my heart making me clutch my chest.

"What did you do?" Derpy asked me in mixed emotions.

"Take...a look...in the coffin…" I breathed while trying not to faint.

The mare glanced at the dirt covered box. Hesitation filled her very being before she slowly approached. She carefully gripped the side handle and lifted it up. Inside, her daughter gave a soft moan as her eyes fluttered open. "M...Momma?" Dinky yawned.

Everypony was now in shock. She was alive. Derpy, she was shaking, her eyes flowing with tears. "Dinky…" Her arms reached down and picked her daughter up. "My little muffin…"The mare sobbed ever so softly while holding her daughter close.

Seeing them happily reunited, I sat down and winced again from the pain in my chest. "Ow...guess the side effect...is more painful than I thought…" I breathed.

"Side effect?" Twilight asked.

"The price to pay for reviving Dinky." I breathed. "In order for me to revive anyone from the dead...I have to give up my own life energy. If she had been a spell summoned creature it would have drained a portion of my life force, that I could easily heal from. However, since she isn't...I think I had to...shave a few years off my life expectancy and give them to her."

The others grew shocked again, especially Depry. "You...gave up your own years living...for Dinky?" She asked.

"I was willing to." I breathed as the pain subsided a bit. "I did say I would fix my mistake, and I didn't care if I had to give my own years up for her. As long as it meant bringing her back, I was willing to." The mare teared up again as she kneeled next to me with Dinky still in her arms.

"Thank you, Alan." She leaned closer and planted a kiss on my lips. This was not what I expected from her. My face burned with a dark blush. But, I knew she wanted to express her thanks to me, so I simply sighed softly and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her and Dinky closer to me in our lip lock.

Dinky brushed up against my chest and blinked at us. "Momma, is he Daddy now?" Her question caught us off guard as our kiss broke. I was not expecting that either. I was still kinda young, never even thought of starting a family.

Celestia giggled slightly. "Alan, since you showed you were willing to give up your very life for sweet, little Dinky, I believe that I know the best way for you to atone for what transpired in Ponyville."

"What is it?" I asked her.

She only smiled. "You shall be Dinky's guardian, look after her and protect her till the day has come for you to pass."

Her words echoed in my head as I looked at the tiny filly. She gazed back up at me with bright curious eyes. Finally with a smile, I ruffled her mane. "I would be honored to. I shall protect her with my life."

Hearing my words, the little earth pony smiled brightly and hugged me tightly. "Daddy!" I laughed softly as I embraced her.

Twilight smiled before turning to Rainbow. "You know Rainbow, since Alan is looking after Dinky from now on, how about you have Derpy watch Alan with you as well? I'm sure Dinky would love to bond with her new father."

Skittles rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh alright. Wait...does this mean she's in the herd now too?"

This made me chuckle a bit. "I'll have Derpy decide that. I want her to be with who she wants."

All eyes turned to the grey mare as she wiped her eyes. "Words can't begin to express my feelings. You brought my little filly back to me...and you're the first one that ever complimented me on my eyes. If the others are fine with it, I would love to join."

I gazed at the others as they smiled. With their answer, I turned to Derpy and smiled. "Welcome to the herd, Derpy." I cooed before I captured her lips with mine again. She gave a soft moan as her arms wrapped around my neck.

Just below us, Dinky started to squirm. "Momma! Daddy! That's gross!" The two of us pulled back and laughed a bit.

"Oh come here." The mare grinned and hugged her daughter before kissing her face. Dinky squirmed more with a grimace but laughed with each contact. The rest of us laughed as we took in this moment. In the end, I'm happy to be back. I truly missed everyone. The ponies I love, the friends I made. I'm happy to call Ponyville my home. I won't fail ever again.

Meanwhile, at the tree of Harmony, Luna continued to examine the crystal tree. She knew the stories from her parents, but now getting a true look, she could feel the incredible energy it flowed with. "Mom...dad...I hope you're proud of us all…" She spoke with a smile.

Suddenly the air became dense and heavy. A dark shroud covered the canyon as a menacing aura took form in front of the night princess. "Princess Luna. At long last. Or should I call you...Nightmare Moon." It spoke in a dark voice.

The princess gasped and jumped backwards. "That was long ago...who are you? Tell me, I demand it."

The aura gave a small chuckle. "All in good time, my dear. But first, I came for you. For you see, a pawn of mine has watched over you for some time, and would take the delight of making you, his dark queen."

Luna growled before her horn started to glow. "I'll pass."

"Hmmm...very well. I was hoping you'd refuse...makes things more fun for me." Out of the bloom, dark tendrils lashed out and took hold of the alicorn in a tight grip.

Luna struggled to break free and attempted to blast the tendrils with magic. "What is the meaning of this?! Unhand me at once!"

The dark aura approached her as it formed a shadowy claw before it glowed purple and pressed to her head. "Sleeeeeeeeeep." The mare tried to resist, but her eyes grew heavy and her energy drained. She gave a soft moan and fell unconscious. The aura chuckled as the tendrils coiled her in a cocoon. "Hehehehehe, the pieces are coming together. Soon, all will bow to me." It laughed softly before vanishing into thin air.

(Extra content)

Heya guys, hope you liked the latest chapter of the story. I apologize for taking so long to post it. Life had gotten somewhat busy, and I had a set back from a death in the family. Regardless, I will do my best to try and be quicker about uploading the chapters. Please leave a review so I can see how all enjoyed it. If you have any ideas on characters that you want to see make an appearance, or events that you would like to see happen please feel free to pm me or leave it in a review. Till next time.