Disclaimer: All MLP:FiM characters belong to Hasbro and DHX Media. I do not own any of them except my OC.

I woke up again and finally I didn't have the sun beaming in my face. That black window tint really did help. I'm glad Twilight hasn't noticed it yet and I hope she doesn't at all. Anyways, I went down to the kitchen to find anything interesting. I found something! Dang, I'm on a roll here. I took it out and devoured it. After I had my breakfast, I headed up to the library to do some reading because I was bored. When I reached the halfway point of the book, I heard hoofsteps and I knew exactly who it was. I said "Morning Twilight." Twilight replied "Morning Zach. I see you like reading these days." I said "Well, I did used to read somewhat as a kid, but I hated reading the books that were not in my interests. I read books like Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and The 39 Clues. Man, those were so fun to read. But the books I read in school were so boring. As I got older, I started playing video games more than reading because I was so into it at the time and I still am. But since Equestria doesn't have the same technology as back home, reading is the best thing I got and Equestria is filled with such great history."

"History has always been my favorite subject to learn and because Equestria is filled to the brim with it, IT'S SO EXCITING!" Twilight giggled at that and said "Well, I get what you are saying. History in Equestria is pretty cool. I guess when you think about it, that's something we have in common. The love of history." Hmm. I hadn't thought of that. I said "Yes. It is. So why did you come over here? Did you need something from me?" Twilight said "Oh. No, not really. I was just about to go to the antique store, and I'm asking if you could join me." Hmm. Antiques. I mean, not everything in there is cool, but I do have memories as a kid looking through stuff from ancient times especially like in the Midwest. I went to this cool fort over in Iowa, I forgot what it was called, but there were tons of antiques in there and told stories about the Civil War. It was amazing. So, I think I'll go. I said "Ok. I'll go. Maybe I can find some very ancient relics in there. Who knows?" Twilight said "Maybe." I said "Well, I guess we shall be going now. ONWARDS!" Twilight giggled at that once again and we headed out to the antique store.

We made it into the store and I immediately heard two very familiar voices. I guess Sunburst wanted to show Starlight the wonders of antiquing. Is that even a thing? How do you do antiquing? You make it sound like a verb. If you know how to do it, leave it in the reviews section. I'll take a look once the author is done writing this chapter. I heard Sunburst say to Starlight "This is so great! Who knew I'd be the one showing you the cool sights of Ponyville?" This isn't exactly the coolest sight of Ponyville, but there's a lot of ancient stuff in here, so I get it. Starlight said "I'm a little surprised myself." Yeah, I can tell since you wanted to do stuff, but Sunburst had different ideas. I saw Sunburst look over at the bricks and he was amazed at it. He showed it to Starlight and said "Wow! What a difference between the hoof-molded bricks and the extruded ones, right?" Right. I have no idea what that means, but whatever.

Starlight looked at it nervously as she had no clue what he meant by it and said "Uh huh. Ha ha." It's fine. I don't really understand it either. Sunburst looked up and he said "Oooh! Check out all these chandeliers!" Hmm, they do look pretty nice if you ask me. "Sometimes, the crystals have magical properties." That's actually super cool and neat as well. Maybe I can steal it's power. Nope. I ain't Tirek. Moving on. Starlight said, interested "Oh, that's cool. How do you-" before getting cut off by Twilight who said "Sunburst! I'm so glad you're here!" Wait, you are? OW! Come on, Twilight. Sunburst asked confused "In the antique store?" Probably Ponyville in general. Twilight replied "In Ponyville!" I don't think I actually met Sunburst yet. This will be interesting. "Starlight's been really looking forward to your visit." Yes, she went on and on for the last week about it saying "how wonderful it will be" and how "they have so much in common" and other crap like that. OWWW! Come on, author, why must you make Twilight hit me so hard? Because this is your story and you can do whatever you wish with it? Okay, fine.

Starlight just smiled nervously and Twilight said "Though I'm glad you're in the antique store too! I'm usually the only one." I said "Yeah, you drag me in here when I'm not busy writing tax law. The freaking nerve. Tax law is so boring these days." Sunburst looked at me and said in the nicest possible way "Who are you?" I said "Oh. I'm "Prince" Zachary. In reality, I'm an actual prince. I didn't make it up. It's nice to meet you, Sunburst." He went wide eyed and said "How did you know my name?" I said "Uh, I don't know. Sheer luck maybe and also Starlight telling me stories about you. That's all. By the way, I also love the history in here." Twilight said "You were just complaining a second ago, and now you're saying that you like it here?" I said "I didn't complain about being here. I was complaining about tax law. Honestly Twilight, you need to know that I often am very sarcastic and say things that have a different meaning than what most ponies would define it." Twilight retorted "As if anypony will understand that. Most of the things you say don't even mean what words are defined as."

I snorted "That is completely false. Whoever told you that is a complete idiot." I heard Sunburst whisper to Starlight saying "Do they do this all the time?" Starlight replied "Occasionally, they do. But their relationship is never torn apart by it." That is a fair point. I said trying to end the argument "Okay. I get your point. But that doesn't stop me from doing that. I will always continue to do it. So just bear with me. I'm trying. Don't expect me to act perfect." Twilight said "I never expected you to be perfect. It's just annoying how you take words out of context and put your own definitions in there." I said "Well, I'm sorry. That's just how I function. I can't do anything about it. If you have a problem with that, I don't care. It's not my problem. Talk with my brain if you want to resolve it." Twilight fired back in annoyance "Oh, sure. Put the blame on your brain instead of admitting it was you the whole time. Your brain has no mind. Only you control decisions." I retorted "It was never my fault. My brain has a mind of it's own and nothing you say will make me change my mind."

Twilight said "Then you are delusional." I said with rising anger "Excuse me?" Twilight said "You heard what I said. Nopony says their brain has a "mind of it's own." It just doesn't work like that." I said "I don't care what anyone else has to say. I only care what I say. For years, I've only listened to what I believed and completely ignored other people's opinions. And as long as I live, I will continue being that way because my personality has been forever changed and never the same ever again. All because of that STUPID BETRAYAL!" The room went silent for a moment and Sunburst asked "What do you mean by betrayal?" I sighed and said "It's a long story. I'm going home since somepony won't accept who I am anymore." I went into my shadow form and dashed back to the castle. I wanted to be alone. Ever since that betrayal has happened, I was never the same person. You've heard the story a million times. My heart turned to cold hard stone, walls were built up around it, and I only listened to my own beliefs and selfishness.

I don't want to be that way, but after that day, I could never go back to the way I was before that day. That person questioned my identity, my place in the world, and made me look soft. Some friend she was. That betrayal has really influenced how I act these days. I'm much more mentally tough, I joke and be sarcastic all the time, and I don't care for people's feelings when they do something that I consider dumb and stupid. I allowed Twilight to enter my life, but I don't let her into my heart to break all that cold stone and wall barriers surrounding it. It's purpose is for my heart to never be broken again. I don't care about certain things anymore, and got super defensive. I know I should allow Twilight into my heart, but all those years of the burdens and pains is just impossible to get rid of. They will always remain planted in me, and the only way for it to go away was if the person apologized.

Which, let's be honest. That was never going to happen. It's been a little over 3 years now since I moved away from the Washington Metropolitan Area and down to Tampa, FL, so there's no chance for me to do it now. I often surrounded myself with fun things to entertain myself with, to hide the pain, but when something happened that reminded me of it, it resurfaced. The pain will always be there and it will never leave me ever. It would have lasted until I died, but since I'm immortal now, I can't. I'll be stuck with this pain forever unless Jesus miraculously came back and made me ascend to heaven. But I doubt that will happen anytime soon. (AN: I'm not trying to predict end time prophecy here, so everyone calm down. This is just for entertainment purposes only and nothing else.) I went to my bedroom and projected a screen in front of me to see what was happening. It seemed everything went back to normal as if I didn't exist and nothing happened. I heard Sunburst say "That's crazy! Who doesn't like antiquing? Right?"

I did and still do. But after what just happened, I'm not in the mood for it. Starlight laughed nervously and said "Right!" Twilight said excited "Oooh, look! An ancient map of Equestria made by the Mighty Helm!" That's pretty cool, but I don't really care right now. Sunburst explained "Without the help of unicorn magic or pegasus flight, the earth ponies of the Mighty Helm were able to map the entire coast of Equestria." That actually reminds me of the times when all those countries in Europe were sending explorers to different areas to find gold and whenever they returned, they added another section to the map. I think it was in the 1400's if I'm right. If I'm wrong, please correct me. Starlight said with a fake smile "Cool." Twilight and Sunburst took off and Starlight followed with a sad expression on her face. I know how you feel Starlight. Learning your best friends have more in common with your childhood friend than you. It sucks, but there are ways around it. As time went on, I saw Twilight and Sunburst have a lot of fun while Starlight was completely bored to death and felt sad.

It seems to appear that Twilight has completely forgotten about me and just moved on with her life. When I say it like that, it stings pretty bad. I tried. I might as well try to find a way back home to Tampa so I can get out of her mane and not be a burden to her anymore. I'll figure that out later. I noticed the sad expression on Starlight's face and it made me feel empathy for her since I have been in the same situation as she has. It was a long time ago and I don't feel like going into detail right now. Sorry. If you're offended, I don't care. Sunburst said, noticing Starlight's expression "You don't have to pretend to like all this stuff." You honestly don't have to. I understand you're being polite, but it just makes it more obvious that you aren't interested that much and don't care. Starlight said in surprise "What? No. I do like it." No you don't. I can tell by the faces you have made and the sheer amount of boredom reeking out of your face.

"I mean, if you like it, I like it." That's nice, but it doesn't really help your case here. "Besides, we've almost looked at everything, right?" No, not really. Twilight said "Oh, wow! You have got to see this Saddle Arabian vanity!" I have no idea what that even means, but whatever. Sunburst ran over to Twilight to check it out and Starlight said "This shop looked a lot smaller from the outside." Interiors do that to you sometimes. It's quite annoying, but that's just how architecture works. After a bit, I heard Twilight, Sunburst, and Starlight return to the castle. I went into my shadow form and spread myself across the entire wall so I can hear everything and can talk whenever I wish. I saw this chest of stuff and I rolled my eyes. Sure, looking at ancient relics was amazing, but these two are taking it a little too far if you ask me. Of course the same thing happened here as in the shop. Twilight and Sunburst looked at all the stuff, while Starlight maintained a bored expression, but quickly put on a fake smile when either of them looked at her.

After all that crap, Sunburst asked "Did you see this Palominian letter opener?" A what? I have no idea what that is. Twilight replied "Wow! That goes well with this ancient Phoenix feather quill. We could write to each other!" They both said "PEN PALS!" Yay, how exciting. I was being sarcastic for all you uneducated people. If you're offended by that, I don't care. Not my problem. Get over it. Starlight said "I really like this old-timey barrel." I don't think it's just a barrel, Starlight. Sunburst said "Actually, the stuff I bought is inside the barrel, but I can't wait to see what it is." Oh goodie, how exciting. Once again, being sarcastic. If you picked that up, God bless you, if not, you're uncultured. Starlight asked in confusion "Wait, you don't know what you bought?" They call it a blind buy. I'll let Sunburst explain this one.

He shook his head and said "It's a blind buy. Sometimes, shops get too busy to go through everything, so they load up a box or barrel and sell it without knowing what's inside." That can be both a good and bad thing. It's good because you can discover what you got, but it's bad because sometimes you find stuff lurking in there that is highly dangerous or illegal. But that doesn't happen most of the time. It's pretty rare for that to happen. Twilight said "Buying one is sort of like a treasure hunt." Starlight just fake smiled at that and Sunburst said "Once, I found a first edition History of Equestria in the original olde ponish." Twilight said "Hliet foresettan pliht." What it's supposed to mean in today's language is something along the lines of "Reward prefers risk" or something like that. Sometimes, things get lost in translation and it says one thing when it's supposed to mean something else. It's kinda complicated. Of course, Starlight had no clue what that even meant, and she just stared in confusion.

Sunburst said "It's an Olde Ponish saying." It sounds more like a foreign language to me. "Reward prefers risk." Of course, he was a bit confused and Twilight had to think about that. Sunburst chuckled nervously and said "It… loses something in the translation." I figured that. It happens in the Bible too and that's the best selling book in the world. So how does that happen? I don't know really and I don't think I'll ever find out. Starlight said in fake understanding "Mmm." However, Twilight and Sunburst could notice the sad expression on Starlight's face, so Twilight said "Why don't we look through this stuff later?" Sure, now we can move onto more important things. Sunburst said "Yeah. What do you want to do, Starlight?" I'm sure she could think of something. Starlight said "Well, I don't know if you're going to remember this, but…" She picked up something and slides it over to Sunburst. He was completely shocked at this since it's been a long time since he's seen it. He said "Is this…" when Starlight said "DRAGON PIT!" Twilight said "I remember that game. You two used to play it?"

Obviously so. Sunburst said "Pretty much any time we weren't working on magic." I don't know how often that was. "I can't believe you found a copy!" It's not that hard to find these days. Starlight smiled at this and they set it up. Starlight said "Sunburst would get so excited whenever his dragon got trapped, he'd knock the whole board over!" Twilight said with a monotone voice "That's adorable." Sunburst said "Uh, well, it's an exciting game." Sure it is. "But I have a little more control over my horn now." Sunburst rolled the die and he moved two spaces. Starlight said excited "Uh-oh! Somepony's dragon's gonna get trapped!" What's so exciting about that? The little volcano erupted and a little ball came out. It went over to Twilight's dragon and she said "Doesn't seem so exciting to m-" before the trap activated and she used her magic to flip the whole board over. Twilight went red in embarrassment and Sunburst said "Huh. I guess it's adorable."

I still don't understand what's so exciting about it. I probably never will. I'm fine with that. I went to a different part of the castle, but when I passed my room, I noticed a note sitting there. Huh. That's odd. I picked up the note and began to read it. Of course it had to come from Twilight. Go figure, she couldn't stay mad that long. It took me a little longer for me to let it go. It's just how humanity functions. It read:

"Zach, I'm sorry for our argument earlier. Sometimes, you drive me nuts and I can go a bit overboard. However, I was never implying that I don't accept you anymore. I like you for who you are. You tried to end the argument, but I kept on going. Please do understand that nothing could ever break our relationship apart and that you aren't worthy of joy in your life. I might not understand the pain you felt throughout all those years, but don't let that be the reason you aren't capable of change. I know you are, you can forgive yourself and move on with your life. If you are reading this, just know that I still care for you and that nothing will ever change that.

From,

Twilight"

She actually still cared about me? Maybe I should reconsider going back home to Tampa. It's quite obvious that she still cares and it makes me happy and sad at the same time. It's happy because she still cares, it's sad because she still wants me to be around and I don't want her to have to deal with my problems. I don't have time to deal with this right now. I'll take care of it later. I sneaked into where Sunburst was staying and hid inside the wall. I heard Starlight say "I hope you're enjoying your visit so far." I'm sure he is. Better than my day. Sunburst said "Are you kidding? I mean' first antiquing and then spending time with Twilight." Why did he have to bring her up? I don't want to think about it right now. Starlight said "Oh. Yeah. She's pretty great." *sighs* I do admit, she's wonderful, but I don't want to think about it right now. It's making me emotional and I can't do that. I have to stick to the guy mentality "Men don't cry." I don't care if you say real men show their emotions, it doesn't seem like it to me.

My counter argument to that is it makes you look soft and I don't want to look soft, I want to look tough and hide away my feelings because they aren't worth having pity over. Sunburst said "Right? I mean, I know she's a Princess, But I never thought she'd be so fun to hang out with!" What? Don't you dare pull something like that on me! Time to show him not to mess with me. I made the table completely disappear and made all the books floating. Yes, I have the power of Discord. This kinda scared Sunburst and he asked "Uh, Starlight? Why are the books doing that?" Starlight said through slight anger "I think I know who it is." Oh no. She's gonna call out Discord. Not on my watch. I cast a spell to where Starlight could call out Discord's name, but nothing would happen. She said "Discord! This is not funny!" I said "Oh, you obviously think it's Discord? You are sadly mistaken. It is none other than I. You know, I have the power of Discord, but I have the appearance of Sombra. It's quite funny actually."

Sunburst asked again "Uh Starlight? How can he do that?" I replied "There are many things you don't know about me, Sunburst. I have a lot of overpowered alicorn magic that would make me more powerful than Discord himself. Besides, it would be a bad idea if somepony were to hit on another's girlfriend." Sunburst asked "What are you talking about?" Starlight sighed and said "Twilight is his girlfriend. Anytime other males try to hang out with her, he gets very protective of her and will make you suffer his wrath if you try to pull any "funny business." I was enraged that she put quotations around the words funny business and I said "It's a serious matter! Besides, I'll make one thing clear." I came out of the wall and straight up into Sunburst's face. I said "If you ever dare to try and hit on Twilight, I will make sure I'll take your sorry rear end and yeet you all the way to the sun's core. Do I make myself clear?" Sunburst gulped nervously and nodded. I said "Good. Now see you two later. I'm headed to bed. Night." I went out and slammed the door.

I had cast another spell to make sure Twilight didn't hear my conversation nor feel any movement when I shut the door. I do that a lot. Since I was going to bed, I headed towards my bedroom, but I wanted to hear the last part of the conversation just to see their reaction. Yes, I'm a very evil person. But I don't give a heck about it and don't even start in the reviews saying "You need to stop making threats to innocent ponies." Boi, I can make threats whenever I wish. If I feel I need to take action, I will and nothing will ever stop me from doing it. If you say anything against it, I will come to your house, beat you up, say insults about how you're a poor excuse of a person, and take your sorry rear end and yeet you all the way to the sun's core. Woah. Okay. I'm getting quite heated here. Maybe I need to calm down a bit. Okay. Sorry. But I'm not sorry! OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Uh, heh heh. Moving on.

I heard Sunburst say "Well, that was very interesting. I can't tell if he's nice or quite terrifying." Starlight sighed and said "He's quite a challenge. He's had a difficult past, so it often influences his behavior. Also, since he's crazy overpowered in magic, it makes him even more on edge because his emotions are connected to his magic. If he's happy, his magic can do wondrous things. If he's angry or upset, his magic can become very dangerous very quickly." I guess you are right. But it doesn't concern me as much because I have six friends who can reel me back in when I turn to the darkness. "However, Twilight still cares for him anyways. From what I heard, it seems like he felt that no one really cared about him growing up and it's part of the reason why he's the man he is today. For some reason, Twilight sees something in him that nopony not even himself sees. I don't know what it is, but it's a good feeling to know that somepony out there cares." Yeah, that is a nice feeling. Sunburst said "I guess that's interesting." What? He didn't care? Oh, why do I even bother.

Starlight said "Anyways, tomorrow I thought-" before getting cut off by Sunburst saying "I suppose I'm just surprised at how well we get along." I knew he meant Twilight, not Starlight. Did he not listen to the warning I gave him? Oh, well. I'm too tired to do anything about it right now. "I don't have much in common with most ponies." Oh. I didn't know that. I know exactly what that feels like. Maybe he understands me more than I thought. Starlight said "You two are pretty similar. I don't know many ponies who are fluent in Olde Ponish." I don't like it when Twilight attempts to talk like that. I just don't understand it because the words don't even make sense and no one talks like that these days unless you're a boomer. Sunburst said "Exactly! I probably have more in common with Twilight than any pony in Equestria!" WHAT? That stung really bad and makes me feel sad. I hardly have anything in common with Twilight except history. That's it. Everything else is the complete opposite.

Everything I suck at, she does better than me. For example, she is better at controlling her anger than I am. She has more patience than I do. Twilight is more tolerant of ponies than I am. See what I mean? I barely even have anything in common with Twilight at all and she's my girlfriend for Celestia's sake. I know opposites attract, but that can backfire. Anyways, I rather talk about something else. I know that didn't just hurt me, but also Starlight. She always claimed her and Sunburst had more in common than any two ponies in Equestria, and to her, it seemed like Sunburst just threw that out the window shattering Starlight's heart. She said hiding the pain "Right." I can see the pain right through you Starlight. Sunburst said "Anyway, I better get some sleep. Ponyville might be small, but there's a lot to do." There is? Maybe. I don't know and I don't care right now.

"Maybe we should ask Twilight what she recommends we see!" I have an idea. How about the inside of Tartarus and lock you in there forever never to return? Okay, I understand that was a dark joke, but like I said "I DON'T CARE! It doesn't matter to me and it never will. Get over it. Starlight said hesitantly "Um, sure." I know you won't do that. Sunburst said "Great! Goodnight, Starlight." Starlight was about to speak, but he closed the door before she could say anything. She said "Um, goodnight." She headed off to her room and I headed in the other direction to mine. As I headed down the hallway, I heard a noise. I looked beside me and it was none other than Twilight's royal chambers. I pressed myself against the door and I could hear the noise coming from in there. So I went into my shadow form and went inside. The noise became louder in this room and it was none other than the bed. I saw Twilight have her back face me, so I wanted to take a closer look. However, I wasn't sure if she was awake or asleep so I went inside the wall that was facing her.

What I saw shocked me. She had tears running down her face and her mane was a mess. What the heck could she be crying about? I heard her whisper "How could I treat Zach like this? He'll probably never forgive me." What? That's not true at all. That's what she's crying about? She shouldn't have pity on me. My problems aren't worth her time, so she can stop the sympathy towards me because I do not deserve it. I wasn't the nicest to her today, but that doesn't mean it was her fault. I opened my mouth first and caused that argument. If there's anyone to blame, it's me. I heard her say "He probably doesn't even care about me anymore." Okay, that is completely FALSE! I care about you just as much as you do with me. Don't you EVER say that I don't care about you! That is a big fat white lie. I needed some way to comfort her. I didn't want to reveal myself, but I don't want her to wallow in her despair. Hmmm….

IDEA! I began to write out a full apology letter and I was going to put it next to her in her bed and when she finds it, hopefully that will settle everything. After I finished writing the letter, I set it next to her in the bed, and quickly left the chambers. I know some of you might consider that eavesdropping, but she was upset and I hate it when she's upset. That proves that I still care about her. She's the only reason I would never go back home to Tampa. I went to my bed and closed all the curtains. I hope things will turn out better tomorrow. I guess Sunburst deserves an apology too. Let me write one real quick.

One exposition later….

There. All done. Now I can finally go to sleep. It felt like five hours had passed. So I headed down to where Sunburst was sleeping and put it on the nightstand where his glasses were. I'm very smart and can usually always get away with it. After I had set it there, I headed out of the room and headed to my bedroom again. The curtains were already closed, so I didn't have to do that again. I headed towards my bed and quickly went under the covers. Now I can get some much needed rest. I turned off the lamp and fell asleep.

The next morning….

I woke up early and boy was it dark outside. It wasn't even the crack of dawn yet, but the scepter insisted on me getting up. So I growled in annoyance and got up. I went down the hall and I heard hoofsteps. So I went into my shadow form and hid in the wall. It was just Starlight. She probably was going to wake up Sunburst. I went inside his room and hid inside that wall. I just like hiding in walls because I can spectate and no one can see me hehe. I heard Starlight say with excitement opening the door "Knock, knock!" Sunburst heard this and put on his glasses to see who it was. Starlight stared at him creepily like a person watching you sleep at 3 AM. This caused Sunburst to jump in fear and he said "Wh-what? Oh. Hi, Starlight. Is it morning already?" A little too early if you ask me. It's not even the crack of dawn yet. He looked over at the window and was confused.

Starlight said "Yep! Maybe a bit early, but like you said, there's a lot to see in Ponyville!" Sunburst was staring quite nervously as if he was embarrassed by something. Oh wait. Bruh, ponies don't wear clothes. I understand if you were a human, but it's not inappropriate for ponies to not wear clothes. It's just bad form at the Grand Galloping Gala. He said "Uh, right. OK." Starlight said "Plus, I couldn't really sleep." Gee, are you like me when I was going on vacation? Couldn't sleep the night before because you were too excited of all the fun you were going to have? I was growing up. "I just kept thinking about all the stuff we have in common and how much fun we'll have today." Yeah, keep the positive thoughts rolling while you're sad on the inside. Sunburst asked "Great. Is Twilight up yet?" Uh, I hope not. I dashed over to her chambers and thankfully she was still asleep. However, her mane was a mess. I didn't care though.

Starlight replied "Actually, I'm pretty sure she's busy with Princess stuff today." No, she's not. What she'll do is have a bathrobe on and drink coffee from her mug while her mane is a mess in her one bedroom. I added the coffee machine and mugs there just so that I could witness it happen. Sunburst said "Oh." He took off his glasses and went back to sleep. However, Starlight didn't leave. She got up in his face and said "But I've got a full day of stuff planned, just you and me." Sunburst said "Uh great!" He went to get his glasses, but he noticed something else there. It was my letter sitting there. He said "Huh. What's this?" He picked it up with his magic and began to read it. Starlight asked "What does it say?" Sunburst replied "It was an apology letter from the prince saying he was sorry and that he'll try to be nice next time. That's quite nice of him to do." Starlight said "Oh right. Yeah, Zachary does that. After he does something he regrets, he writes a letter as quickly as possible."

Sunburst said nervously "Um. Would you mind turning around or preferably… leaving the room so I could get changed?" I could see that sheer amount of awkwardness and embarrassment in the room. Once again, it's not inappropriate for ponies to not wear clothing, so you're fine. But I understand. If you want to change, you need your privacy. Carry on. Starlight said nervously "Oh! Right! Ha ha, sorry, ah ha…" She closed the door and Sunburst got changed. After he did that, we headed out to Sweet Apple Acres. I have no idea why we're out here, but whatever. Starlight said "One, genuine, Sweet Apple Acres apple tree!" Okay, what's so great about it? Sunburst looked up and then to Starlight in confusion. She said "Because we used to drink so much apple juice as foals." You did? Hang on. Let me check the timeline here.

One extremely complicated timeline later…..

Okay, that was interesting. Anyways, why would you bond over this? Sunburst said "I don't remember that." It was a long time ago, so I understand that you would forget about that. Starlight said "Really? I mean, it was all we drank." At least you weren't drinking Red Bull or Monster Energy drinks like most kids these days. "Here. Try an apple. I bet that'll jog your memory." Doubt it. Starlight went to buck the tree and as the apples fell down, we all heard an "OW!" come from behind it. I recognize that voice. None other than the Prideful and Egotistical Trixie. Starlight asked "Trixie? What are you doing here?" Reasons probably. Trixie said "I often seek the privacy of the orchard to practice new feats of amazement." Sure, yeah. "Feats of amazement." Pathetic. Sorry, I don't like Trixie too much because of the sheer amount of arrogance and pride that reeks from her character. I guess that's another thing me and Twilight has in common. We both don't like Trixie that much because of her character. I rub off her too much sometimes. "And, also I fell asleep." That's strange. Whatever. None of my concern.

Starlight said "Oh. Well, Sunburst and I were just catching up, so…" before Trixie said "I don't suppose the two of you want to see a never-before-witnessed magical marvel?" It's probably some piece of crap made by a person who just crapped themselves. Sunburst said "Sure!" He looked to Starlight and she sighed and said "Why not." Yeah, let's see how much crap this is going to be. Trixie said boastfully "Behold, visiting friend from Starlight's past and be amazed by the Great and Powerful and current best friend of Starlight, Trixie!" I don't know how Starlight could get along with Trixie. It's truly a miracle with her being able to do that. I probably couldn't even last five seconds without telling Trixie how much of an arrogant pony she is and constantly roasting her. Of course, Trixie had to do that ridiculous firework thing which is in my opinion, better than the lightning and thunder that appeared when she had the Alicorn Amulet back in Season 3.

Flashback to Season 3 Episode 5 "Magic Duel….."

"Well, Trixie, looks like my amulet is more powerful than yours- HEY! GIVE IT BACK!" *Trixie laughs evilly* "With this amulet, I shall now RULE ALL OF EQUESTRIA!" *Trixie takes off the Alicorn Amulet and puts on the one she stole from Twilight* "Witness my subjects! Gaze upon an ever Greater and Powerfuler TRIXIE! *lightning and thunder go off as Trixie holds up the Amulet high in the air with her fore hoof for all to see.*

Back to the present…

Yeah, now that I look back on it, this is far better than what happened back then. It wasn't that terrifying. I could be much more terrifying of a villain. That's the thing. I personally believe that Trixie wasn't that great of a villain. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek, Starlight even, the Pony of Shadows and Cozy Glow were all legitimate threats to Equestria. Trixie, not so much. Even Sunset Shimmer and The Dazzlings were better villains than Trixie. Speaking of which, Trixie pulled out some chains to wrap herself around and put on a lock so she couldn't just untangle herself from it. She said "I give you… THE UNICORN ESCAPE!" This will probably be a bust in some way or another. Sorry for the lack of enthusiasm, but when it comes to Trixie's magic tricks, they are quite bland and always turn out to be busts. She never really amazes me. I could amaze her though. She put a curtain in front of her and tried to "escape" from the chains. She was struggling though. I could tell.

I heard her say after some grunting "One more… twist… and… *grunts some more* The great and powerful Trixie requires a little assistance." Oh dear. How bad is it? Starlight and Sunburst had nervous expressions and quickly rushed over to help her. I just rolled my eyes since she just got herself in this situation. I rarely show any sympathy for this pony and I have good reason to. Don't like it, screw you. I don't care. Get over it. It looks pretty bad to me. That probably hurts though. I'll show sympathy for this part, but nothing else. Sunburst said "I know this trick. There's a special link, but I could never hold the chain up long enough to find it." He pulled up the chains to find that "special link," and it caused Trixie to be in even more pain. Ouch. Okay, I know that's not fun at all. Time to fix this. I knew in the original episode that Starlight would do this, but I was going to do it this time.

I concentrated my magic and not only teleported Trixie out of the mess she was in, but also found the special link and unlocked it. Trixie was completely surprised at this and so were Starlight and Sunburst. He said "Uh, Starlight? I don't remember your magic aura being red." Starlight said "It didn't. I don't know who it was." I said "It was none other than I." I came out of my shadow form and into my lion form and presented myself like how King Sombra did in the Season 9 premiere when Grogar or excuse me Discord revived him. Sunburst asked me "How did you do that?" I replied "Like I said yesterday, there are many things you do not know about me, but I'll answer your question. If you look right here, this is the link. If you yank it to the left, then the right, and then up, the whole thing will come loose and you'll be freed. Also, my magic aura is red because of this bad boy right here."

Trixie said "Well, If I could do magic like that, I'd have a whole slew of new tricks at my disposal." I said annoyed "Yes, I'm sure you could, oh arrogant and egotistical Trixie." Trixie glared at me, but before she could say anything, I said "Now if you excuse me, I need to go write a new law prohibiting the use of alcohol and drugs on Hearts and Hooves Day. See ya." I went back into my shadow form and disappeared. Or so they thought. I was just hiding under the platform to hear what was going on. I heard Sunburst say "Anyway, I always liked close up magic because I knew I could do it if I just practiced enough. He pulled that thing that Trixie was going to use back at the Season 6 finale. This was going to be a long day. While all that boring stuff was going on, I went to see what Twilight was doing. I looked through her window and saw that I was right. She was sipping her coffee in a bathrobe talking to herself while her mane was messed up.

Next thing you know, she'll write a letter to Celestia saying that she's gonna retire as being a princess for the rest of her life. I heard Trixie say to Starlight "Starlight, why didn't you tell me how much Sunburst and I had in common?" Uh, she couldn't, you do-do. She didn't expect you to have bonding time with Sunburst. Starlight said with annoyed sarcasm "Gee. I don't know." After all that garbage, I saw Starlight and Sunburst head into the Everfree Forest. I followed after them for obvious reasons. I knew where they were going and the entrance was sealed by Twilight I think. She's not going to be happy about that. After Starlight blew up the entrance with her magic, she and Sunburst headed down. She said "I know Trixie's "magic" is, you know, fun… but the mirror pool is actual magic." Sunburst said "Whoa. This place is pure ponylore." I said appearing "Yes, but this is highly dangerous and something that must not be tampered with like I don't know TIME TRAVEL?! Does that ring any bells?"

Sunburst gasped in fear at this and asked "AH! How did you get in here?" I said "I have my ways. Anyways, Twilight sealed this off for a reason. Pinkie became copies of herself just so she could hang out with her friends and it actually caused more harm than good. It was so bad that it resulted in watching paint dry in the middle of Town Hall." Sunburst said "Really? That seems pretty boring and overwhelming." I said "Yeah, it was quite hectic. I wasn't there for that, but I could look back at the timeline to see what went down." Starlight said annoyed "I thought you just said Time Travel was dangerous." I retorted "This is different. All I do is play a certain event without actually being there. What you did was actually going back in time and making a change in history that led to several disastrous outcomes. What I do is not considered dangerous in the slightest." Starlight rolled her eyes and said "I guess I shouldn't have broken the seal to get in, but you wanted to see the sights of Ponyville, right?" I said "You could have asked me to let you in. I have ways of getting you in here without blowing up the rock that was blocking the entrance."

Starlight said annoyed "Well, I could have, but since you were writing some stupid law, I couldn't do that." I laughed at that and said hysterically "You actually thought I would write something as dumb as that? Ha ha! I don't have time for that crap, I was lying to you the whole time. You should have seen the look on your face. Priceless." Starlight said annoyed "Okay, Discord. We get it. But it's no longer important." I said annoyed "I am NOTHING like Discord! I did not terrorize ponies for entertainment and made it rain chocolate milk from cotton candy clouds. How dare you make an accusation like that!" Starlight said even more annoyed "That's not what I mean. What you said is something Discord says. Okay? Did your dumb brain get that?" I said loudly "YES! I DID GET THAT! And my brain is smarter than yours! Ugh, you know what? Forget I said anything. I'm going somewhere else." I disappeared once more and let them continue.

Starlight said "Sometimes, that lion is such a nuisance." I said in my Royal Canterlot Voice shaking the whole place "I HEARD THAT! SAYS THE PONY WHO NEARLY CAUSED THE WHOLE TIMELINE TO BE MESSED UP!" I shook the whole place that the entrance was covered in very heavy rocks. Don't worry. I cast a spell so that nopony else in all of Equestria could hear me. Starlight said "I think he's more like Discord than I thought." That is true. I have the appearance of Sombra, but have the power of Discord. It's quite funny actually. Suddenly, there were some clanging noises and Sunburst said "Do you hear that?" Yes, I think we all did unless your ears had gone deaf by my shouting. They went further in and Starlight said worried "I hope it's not a left over Pinkie Pie." I don't think so. I heard Pinkie's sister Maud say "Not exactly." It surprised Starlight and she asked "Maud? How did you get in here?"

Maud replied "This cavern's actually connected to mine." That's nice I guess. Sunburst asked "What are you doing?" Maud replied "Tapping." Starlight said "Maud isn't super chatty." I can tell. When she talks, her voice is so monotone it's like she doesn't show any enthusiasm. "I mean, you and I could sit around and talk all day, but she looks pretty busy." It's not what you think, Starlight. Sunburst asked Maud "Are you taking some kind of core sample?" What? I have no idea what you are talking about. The only thing I know about rocks is the three different kinds and where they come from. Sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. Something I learned in 5th grade science. Maud replied "Not exactly. I'm uncovering this section of strata for closer study. You might want to step back." I'm fine since I'm in my shadow form. Sunburst quickly stepped back and the rocks began to crack. It revealed something beautiful. It was some sort of crystal that looked like Twilight's fur color. I'm taking this home. There's something I'm going to do with this later on. You'll find out what I'll do with it in a later chapter.

Anyways, when the dust came, Starlight coughed at it. After it faded away, Maud said "I'm studying this area's metamorphic-" before Sunburst finished the sentence saying "...foliation! Is this gneiss, phyllite, or slate?" Now here we got 9th grade Earth Science terminology. I studied all of that in my 9th grade science class. "Wow. The pressure above must be pretty uniform to get the planar fabric to be this consistent." You've lost me there. Maud asked "You know about geology?" Apparently so. Sunburst said "I dabble. For example, by the speleothems in this cave, I kinda figured there was another way out." I guess so. I don't know this stuff, so I'm completely clueless about this. If any of you know what he's talking about, leave it down in the reviews section so that I could read it and better understand it. Maud said "Because of the calcite deposits." I said "I'm taking this home! L would love to stay and chat, but I have better things to do, so see ya!" I quickly disappeared the crystal and hid it somewhere that I could remember, but nopony could find.

Sunburst and Maud went the other direction, and Starlight just sighed and headed back to the castle. I said appearing across from her in the castle "It must really suck having your best friend have more in common with your other friends." Starlight said annoyed "What do you want? All you have done all day is argue with me and be nothing but a nuisance." I just stared in blank silence. She did have a point, but now's not the proper time to do that. I said "I'm going to pretend you didn't say anything. To answer your question, I know what it's like because I've been where you are." Starlight looked up at me and asked "Really?" I said "Yeah. I had some really great friends back home, but when my best childhood friend came to visit me, it seemed that he had more in common with my friends than me. I did something crazy one time, but it was a disaster. After that happened, me and him sat down and talked. I said how I felt, and he said that just because he had more in common with my friends didn't mean that our friendship had no purpose. He said that I was always the best friend he had and nothing could replace that."

Starlight said "Wow, it seems you drive everypony nuts sometimes, but when somepony's hurting, you bring them comfort and listen to what they have to say. Quite the character." I said "Yeah, I do that a lot. My past often affects my behavior, but when I see that something destvating happens, I stop acting that way and try to be the best comforter I can. It's weird, but that's how I function." Starlight said "So, why did you tell me that story?" I said "The whole point of the story is just because your friends change doesn't mean that your friendship grows apart. I thought that's what happened, and it led me down a path that I deeply regret to this day. Which I don't want to say. Even if you don't have as much in common anymore, there are still things you have in common." Starlight asked sadly "Like what?" I said "Well, magic I suppose." Starlight asked me "What makes you say that?" I replied "Well, you are really good at it, and Sunburst probably knows every book, spell, and scroll there is." Starlight thought for a second and said "Hmm. Of course! Thanks, Zachary! You're the best!" I said nervously "Heh heh. I try to."

Starlight headed to the throne room and I followed suit as well. I was in my shadow form and when I got there, I spread myself across the entire wall and watched to see what was happening. I cast a spell to prevent myself from being an effect of another spell. It sounds confusing, but it's really not. Sunburst came in and asked Starlight "Starlight, what happened?" She went home because she thought that your friendship would go extinct. Does that ring any bells? "Maud and I found some fascinating sedimentary stratum, but when I turned to show you, you were gone." Oh how wonderful. News flash: I don't care and never will. Starlight said "Maud does have a way of making rocks really interesting, but I wanted to work on something a little more "us." That sounds promising. She picked up the scroll and showed it to Sunburst. He asked "What's this?" Starlight replied "Just a little something I made up." Sunburst read through it and said "Whoa! You made up this spell? Just now?" Apparently so.

Starlight said "Yep!" and she put the scroll up in the air activating the spell. Since I cast my own, I could not be affected by this one. The text became golden and aqua green magic surrounded them turning the throne room into the room they used to play Dragon Pit in as young kids. Sunburst said in amazement "Wow." Starlight said "I know, right? But wait, there's more." She activated the scroll again and did the same thing, except instead of the setting, it was themselves. After that settled, Sunburst was looking all cool and everything, but when he saw the changes, he freaked out. Starlight said "Cool, right?" I guess. Sunburst said "Um, sure." Starlight pushed him to the table and said "Now we can play Dragon Pit!" I think when I menat magic, I didn't mean this. Well, this might have worked, but the changing into kids part you could have left out. "Just like we used to!" She dashed away and grabbed the copy of Dragon Pit.

Sunburst said "Actually, I thought we could go with Maud and-" before getting cut off by starlight who said "I mean, nothing was better than just you and me playing this game when we were foals, right?" Right. Although, you may have misinterpreted what I meant by magic. Sunburst said, trying to get her attention "Starlight." She didn't listen and asked "Do you want to be red or blue?" Oh dear. Sunburst got mad at this and said "Starlight! I don't want to play the game at all!" Starlight was heartbroken at this and reversed the spell. After everything was back to normal, I reappeared in my lion form and asked "What's going on in here?" I obviously knew what happened, I just wanted to see if she had paid attention. Starlight said "Nothing. I was trying to have fun doing the ONE thing I thought we still had in common, but I guess we don't even have that anymore." Starlight had tears in her eyes and ran out of the throne room. She has done that a lot these past two seasons. Sunburst looked at me, and I looked at him.

Sunburst started pacing back and forth and said rambling "I don't understand. Starlight and I have known each other since we were foals, but that doesn't mean we have to be foals to hang out." I said "I think she misunderstood what I meant by magic. I do admit, the spell was cool, but the foal part was a tinsy bit overboard. She does have a tendency to over-do stuff sometimes and I admit, I'm guilty of this too, but I apologized afterwards and had a talk with the others as well." Sunburst said "I mean, it is surprising how well I get along with all of her friends, but she and I still have tons in common." I said "Do you really think that?" Sunburst said "Of course I do! Why wouldn't I?" I said "Well, you think so, but Starlight seems to think your friendship has faded away and you no longer want to be friends." Sunburst said "What? That's not true at all! I still am her friend and I will continue to be her friend." I said "Well, maybe you need to remind her of that somehow."

Sunburst said "Hmm. That's it! That's exactly what I'll do. Right after I think of them. For a lion, you seem to give great advice." I said "I try my best. I'm not that great at it, but I try." After all that crap happened, I watched as Sunburst had a great idea. I saw Starlight and Twilight coming down the hall. Hmm, finally out of that bathrobe and messy mane are we? No long talking to ourselves while sipping away the coffee and writing letters to Celestia about how you don't want to be a princess anymore? Such a shame. I was enjoying it actually. Starlight said "I appreciate your trying to help, Twilight. But it seems pretty clear that Sunburst and I have grown apart." I wouldn't say that. Thankfully, Twilight knew what to say. She said "I understand. But I feel like that only happens if you both let it." She makes a good point. "You still want to be friends, right?"

Starlight said annoyed "I created a spell so we could re-live playing a game in our childhood home… and bodies." Yeah, the body part was a bit much. Twilight said "Right." Starlight said "I'm just not sure Sunburst wants to stay friends too." That's where you're wrong. Twilight smiled and said "I think you might be surprised." Twilight opened the door and Maud said "Prepare yourself…" and then Trixie said "For the new and improved Dragon Pit!" She pulled back the curtain and it revealed a life size version of the game. Starlight looked confused and walked over. Sunburst said "We had to take out a few spaces to get it to fit, but you hardly miss them. Maud made the dice." Woah, that's actually pretty cool. Maud said "Pumice is the lightest igneous rock." Huh, it doesn't look like it. Maybe because I'm thinking of obsidian and thought all igneous rocks were dark like that. I guess I didn't pay as much attention in science class as I thought.

"It seems the best choice." Probably since you don't want something that is physically impossible to move. Trixie said "And I added the special effects." Gee, that's wonderful. Once again, being sarcastic. "There's nothing like a little well-placed magic smoke." I do admit, that looks like an actual volcano about to erupt without no one being burned alive for it. I'll give you that Trixie, but that doesn't mean I like you at all. I made a letter appear in front of Starlight and she read it. I said I added the booby trap when the balls rolls to a dragon. Twilight said "Looks like somepony's dragon is going to get trapped." Starlight said "I thought you didn't want to play this game." You misunderstood what he meant by it. He said "Well, I didn't want to pretend to be a foal, but I know you wanted to play. I thought it would be fun to play a version big enough for full grown ponies. What do you think? Fun, right?" I think so.

Starlight looked at all of her friends and then said "Actually it's missing something." She charged up her horn and the booby trap activated. Sunburst fell and said "AHHHGHHHHHH!" and caused him to fall to the ground with a thud. Starlight walked over in her costume "Now it's fun." They all laughed except for Maud who kept the monotone expression, but I could tell she was having a good time. After all that, it was time for Sunburst to go home. We had all of his stuff and loaded it onto the train. Starlight said "I don't know why I got so worried about us not having anything in common." It was a genuine concern. There's no reason to be sorry about it. It was a great learning experience for you. Sunburst said "Yeah. I kind of think it doesn't matter as long as we enjoy each other's company." Starlight said "Yeah, maybe if I had taken Zachary's advice into hand, things might have not gone so overboard. It's quite interesting how he can drive everypony nuts, but be there in times of need."

Sunburst said "Yeah, he sure is something. But he's still a good uh erm lion regardless." Trixie said "And that game was certainly enjoyable." Yeah, it was. I just watched it and let them play. It was good entertainment for me. Starlight said "What made it even better was getting to play it with all my friends." They all came in for a group hug and I secretly wrapped my shadow around them as a sign to show I care. After we broke apart, Sunburst headed on the train. He said "See you soon?" Starlight said "You bet. I want to hear if you find anything interesting in that barrel." I believe so. Sunburst said "Trust me, Starlight. You'll be the first to know!" He headed over to his seat and the train took off. We all waved at him and he began to look at what was in there. Wait. Is that? Oh my gosh. That's Starswirl's journal in there. Now my scepter is glowing like crazy. Something big is going to happen. I know what will happen. But that's for next chapter.

After all that, it was late and the sun was setting. I was walking through the castle when I noticed something. The exact same balcony that I often come out to is where Twilight was currently sitting. I could tell from a mile away that she had a sad look on her face. Enough fooling around. I walked over and appeared beside her. She looked at me and hugged me with all her might while letting the tears flow from her eyes. I said "I heard what you said about me not caring about you anymore. I just wanted to say that is not true at all and I still care about you. I had considered leaving for back home, but after seeing you like this, I threw that idea out the window." Twilight said through her tears "Why… why would you do that?" I sighed and said "Because my problems aren't worth your pity. I don't deserve sympathy from anyone. My problems and mere presence are just a burden to you, so that's why I considered it, but after seeing you cry, it made me want to stay."

Twilight said "Zach. I do care about your problems and you aren't a burden to me. Whoever told you that is a liar. Nothing will ever make me believe that you don't mean anything to me. You mean everything to me. I still care about you, but do you as well after our argument?" I said "OF COURSE! I always cared for you and still will. Not a small argument such as ours could ever change that. Nothing more." We both just sat in silence giving each other the proper amount of comfort to mend our relationship. After that, I said "You are always so better at different things than I am. I don't know how you do it, but it's a miracle." Twilight said "There are things that I struggle with, that you don't at all either. It's not just one sided." I said "I guess you're right." After both of us yawned, I was about tired. But before I could get up, Twilight had already fallen asleep. I just sighed smiling and fell asleep next to her. Once again, another day taken care of and something to remember. Friendships don't fade.

AN: So sorry about this chapter being late again. It was a lengthy chapter and I put some more effort into it this time. Anyways, we have finally reached the end of the season and we'll see the lion meet Starswirl face to face while stopping the Pony of Shadows. I can't wait for it. A couple of things to address here. First off. I know the format of this fanfiction might not be the best, but this is how I want to write it. This is not a high school english class, so don't tell me how to write. I will fix grammatical errors, but nothing else. This is my fanfiction and I can write however I like. Second, starting next week, I will only be posting a new chapter on Saturdays since I have to return to school. I might make it two days a week, I'm not sure. I'll have to see about that. So I just wanted to give that heads up so people don't comment "Why is this fanfiction dead?" That's all. Finally, I decided to change the title of chapters 2 and 3 to Revenge of Chrysalis Part 1 and 2 because it fits more with the Season 6 finale than Be Prepared for Danger Part 1 and 2. That's all the announcements I have, so hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and have a good day.

Next Chapter: The return of the Pillars of Equestria! After Sunburst discovers Starswirl's journal in the barrel he bought from Ponyville, Twilight and her friends search for answers on how they disappeared and how to free them. Once Twilight finds the way to free them, she goes over to Stonehenge to see what happened all those years ago. Once her friends grab all the artifacts, Twilight summons the spell. It brought the pillars back, but it brought back somepony else too. None other than the Pony of Shadows! Will Twilight along with her friends and the pillars find a way to send him back to Limbo, or will the Pony of Shadows become the next ruler of Equestria?

Until then, my fellow readers