Meanwhile, back at the royal castle, everypony and every creature whom Chloe and Aylene love and like for the most were in the middle of preparing to throw a birthday party for Chloe's twelfth birthday, and they all wanted to make sure that everything goes exactly as planned and as expected, but they're all still unaware that Chloe and Aylene won't come back home to the royal castle soon after they all finish the birthday party preparations, and it's because the two were with Yigal and they're following him into a trap, which was this time - it the form of food, which is in that case - a poisonous birthday cake.

Back in the middle of the Everfree Forest, Chloe and Aylene continued and followed Yigal all the way until they finally reached his and his brother's second and current home, and upon arriving at their much larger house, Yigal's brothers (Gilad and Ezra) and Black Heart and their animals all came into sight and then Yigal went up to them and joined them, before he turned back to Chloe and Aylene and then he, his brothers and their evil Pegasus pony friend all shouted and called all together "Happy birthday, Chloe!", and then they moved out of the way to show to Chloe and Aylene a large table with snacks, candies, lollipops, chocolate bars, and a birthday cake which looked like a strawberry cake, but this cake was in face the poisonous birthday cake Yigal, his brothers and Black Heart have all prepared for them to eat. However, Chloe and Aylene won't get poisoned if each of them takes only one or two bites from the poisonous cake, but if each of them takes three bites or even more from the poisonous cake, they will get poisoned because the special poison inside the cake starts to work and sickens the victims only if the human, pony or any other creature took three bites or more from the poisonous cake.

Then, Yigal said to Chloe and Aylene as the two started to approach the table where all the food is on "Go ahead! You can eat everything you want! This is your birthday, Chloe!", but then Black Heart asked "How old are you now?", and Chloe turned to her for a brief moment and then she said "Now I'm 12 years-old!", and then she turned to look back at the table, and then she and Aylene went up to it, took their seats to sit down close to the table and then they both started to eat the snacks, the candies, the lollipops and the chocolate bars, but they didn't yet ate from the birthday cake.

However, when Chloe and Aylene saw the birthday cake standing on the center of the table, the two were happy to see how the cake looked like, with the white, pink and red colors, the heart-shaped candies on each layer of the cake, and the strawberries on top. Then, Yigal approached the two sisters and then he said to them "C'mon, go ahead! Eat from your birthday cake! You can start eating right now!", and then he gave Chloe a knife so she can use it to cut a slice from the cake and start to eat, and Chloe cut two slices from the cake, one for Aylene and one for herself, and then the two took the two slices of the cake to themselves and they opened their mouths and they're about to take a first bite each, but suddenly they stopped and turned back to Yigal, his brothers and Black Heart, who all just stood there with fake smiles on their faces while still waiting for the two sisters to take their first bite each from the poisonous birthday cake they've baked up for them.

Then, Chloe asked Yigal "Why are you and your brothers and friend were all smiling at us like this?", and then Aylene added "There's something in the cake that you don't want to tell us about?", but Yigal said "No! The cake is good! We're just watching you two so we can all react to how you both are going to eat from your birthday cake we baked for you!", and then Black Heart added "That's gonna be so good to see you eating together from this special birthday cake we all baked for you!", and then she finished and said "Now go ahead and take your first bite each! There's nothing bad in this birthday cake! Trust us!", and this made Chloe and Aylene believe in their worst enemies' words, before the two turned back to the table so each can take a first bite from the slices they took from the birthday cake, and then the two bit down on their cake slices and then they started to chew and swallow their first bite each, and once they finished eating their first bite from the birthday cake, the felt how tasty the cake is, and they truly liked it's strawberry flavor, and it tasted like if there's nothing bad inside the birthday cake at all, and also because they didn't know that if each of them takes two more bites from the cake, the poison will start to work and it will make them both very sick and too weak to escape for their lives, and this will allow Yigal, Gilad, Ezra and Black Heart to finally finish them off for good.

Then, Yigal said to Chloe and Aylene "Go on, go ahead and take another bite from your birthday cake!", and Chloe and Aylene listened to him and then each of them took a second bite from their cake slices, and then they started to chew and then swallow their second bite each from their birthday cake slices, which means that one more bite and the poison will start to attack them and leave their bodies sick and weak enough to allow Yigal, his brothers and Black Heart to finally finish them off for good.

Then, Yigal said to Chloe and Aylene "Now go ahead and take one more bite from your birthday cake, girls! Enjoy your third bite!", and then he and the others all waited for Chloe and Aylene to take a third bite out of the poisonous birthday cake slices they took for themselves so the poison can finally attack them and leave their bodies sick and weak enough to allow Yigal, his brothers and Black Heart to take them down and finish them off for good.

However, as Yigal, Gilad, Ezra and Black Heart's evil smirks grew wider, and as Chloe and Aylene were about to take a third bite each out of the poisonous birthday cake, an unfamiliar young male voice suddenly called for the two sisters "Don't take another bite from this cake!", and this made Chloe and Aylene to stop and turn back, and so did Yigal, his brothers and Black Heart as they all turned back as well, and then they all saw a human boy who appeared to be around Chloe and Aylene's age, he had a handsome reddish hair, he had beautiful green eyes, he wore a blue shirt on himself, and he also carried a brown backpack on his back, but what Chloe, Aylene and their worst enemies couldn't see in him is his legs, which were apparently hidden inside the nearby bushes.

When Yigal, Gilad, Ezra and Black Heart looked at the human boy, they're surprised to see that there's another 'human being' in Equestria, before the human boy cried "Don't take another bite from this birthday cake! It's poisonous! The cake has poison which will make you sick and weak after you take three bites from it!", and when Chloe and Aylene heard what he said, Aylene asked him "Are you sure?", and he said "Yes, that's right! Don't eat more from this cake!", but this is when Yigal, his brothers and Black Heart all decided to force Chloe and Aylene to take a third bite each from the poisonous cake against their will by grabbing and restraining them, and then they forced them to chew and swallow a third bite each from the poisonous cake, and upon finishing eating their third bite each, due to Yigal, his brothers and Black Heart's force, Chloe and Aylene slowly started to feel weird as the poison finally started to attack their bodies until Chloe and Aylene were too sick and too weak to stand up on their feet and hooves, and this is the chance Yigal, Gilad, Ezra and Black Heart all waited for.

Then, the Yigal and Black Heart gave a double punch to Chloe and Aylene's faces to knock them out cold and then they walked out of the way to allow Gilad to cut off the two sisters' heads with his axe, and as he raised his axe up into the air, Gilad said "Revenge time!", and then he's about to strike and cut off Chloe and Aylene's head with his axe, but before he can do so, the human boy jumped out of the bushes to reveal that he actually have the lower body, legs and tail of a horse instead of human legs, thus shocking and surprising the four villains who were all in shock to see what the human boy actually is.

Then, Yigal asked the humanoid creature with the lower body, legs and tail of a horse in complete shock "What in the world are you?!", and then the young male centaur said back "I'm a centaur!", and then he added "And I won't let you murderers cut off the heads of these human girl and Pegasus pony, understand?!", but this made Gilad shout angrily at him "HOW DARE YOU?!", and then he added "FINE, WE'LL CUT YOUR HEAD FIRST!", and then he charged towards the young centaur and screamed at the top of his lungs as he's about to strike him with his axe, but the young centaur moved out of the way, and then he used his hind horse legs to kick Gilad in the butt and cause him to fly a few yards away and strike into a bush, thus leaving Yigal, Ezra and Black Heart shocked and angered as they looked at what the young centaur just did to Gilad, before the young centaur turned to them and then he called for them "Let's see if you three can catch me!" and then he briefly reared up on his hind horse legs as he pulled a raspberry at the three villains, who started to get angrier and determined to take him down too.

Then, Ezra charged towards him, but the young centaur managed to stretch his arms and hands when Ezra came close to attack him, and then he managed to grab the adult human male by the neck and then he started to choke him, and then he used his horse forelegs to kick Ezra twice in the chest, and then he turned tail and kicked him once in the crotch with his hind horse legs, causing Ezra to scream in pain and fall to the ground as he got beaten too, leaving only Yigal and Black Heart to take out of the way.

Then, Yigal and Black Heart decided to work together to take down the young centaur, and so Yigal decided to face him from the front, while Black Heart prepared to ambush and attack him from behind, but the young centaur was clever enough to take them out too, as he managed to kick the evil Pegasus mare in the face with his hind horse legs, and then Yigal screamed madly as he charged towards him, but the young centaur managed to rear up onto his hind horse legs, and once Yigal got close enough to attack him, the young centaur grabbed at his shoulders with his horse forelegs, and then he clenched his hands into fists and he started to punch Yigal 10 times on the top of his head, and once he let go, Yigal fell to the ground, defeated.

With all four villains were down, the young centaur approached the poisoned and unconscious Chloe and Aylene, and then he started to think about a way to pick up the both of them and take them to safety, and once he figured out what he must do, the young centaur first grabbed and picked up Aylene and then he gently placed her down on his lower horse back to make sure that she doesn't falls off, and then he turned to grab and pick up Chloe next, but because she might fall off his back because she's bigger than Aylene in body size, and also because Aylene was already on his lower horse back, the young centaur decided to carry Chloe in his own arms, and then he started to walk away slowly and carefully, and he carried both Chloe and Aylene on himself until they all finally reached a safe spot that was too far away for the villains from reaching to them with ease, and then he finally placed both Chloe and Aylene down on the ground gently, before he lowered down and sat onto his horse haunches as he looked down at the two sisters.

Then, the young centaur took his backpack off his own back and then he placed it down on the ground and then he put his hands inside it and pulled out of his backpack an orange magical potion, and then he said to himself "I hope my magical healing potion can heal them.", and then he used his tool which was only a small pocket knife to cut two pieces of wood from a tree and he crafted from them two wooden cups - one for Chloe and one for Aylene, and then he filled both newly crafted wooden cups with some of the orange potion, and then he slowly pulled Chloe close to him and then he opened her mouth and gave her the first wooden cup so she can drink from the orange potion, and once she drank and swallowed all the orange potion that was in her wooden cup, the young centaur pulled Aylene close to him to give her a drink from the orange potion as well, and then he opened the Pegasus filly's mouth and gave her the second wooden cup so she can also drink from the orange potion, and once she drank and swallowed all the orange potion that was in her wooden cup, the young centaur gently sat Chloe and Aylene down on their backs on the solid ground and waited for the orange potion to have an effect on Chloe and Aylene and also to do its work.

Then, after no more than five minutes later, Chloe and Aylene opened their eyes and they slowly got back up on their feet and hooves with no trouble as they're now completely healed from the poisonous cake's poison effect, proving that the young centaur's orange magical healing potion was good and powerful enough to cure poisonous effects within almost no time (with a minimum time of three minutes to a maximum time of five minutes for the magical healing potion to take effect and cure completely any poison and heal the victims who got accidentally poisoned).

When Chloe and Aylene were on their feet and hooves, the two looked around them and then Chloe asked "Where are we?", and then Aylene added "How did we ended up here?", and then the young centaur said to them "Hi, girls!", thus shocking Chloe and Aylene briefly before they both turned around and saw the young centaur standing behind them, and when Chloe and Aylene saw his face and upper human body, they soon recognized him as the 'human boy' who tried to warn them about the poisonous birthday cake Yigal, his brothers and Black Heart have baked up for them, but when they looked down and saw that he actually has the lower body, legs and tail of a horse instead of human legs, the two gasped in shock to realize that he's actually a centaur, and was in fact not an adult but a young centaur who is exactly around their own age.

Then, the young centaur's ears moved to the sides of his head and pointed upwards, showing Chloe and Aylene that he also have the cute-shaped ears of a horse, before he chuckled kindly as he started to approach the two sisters, who still looked at him in the eyes with shock and surprise to see that he's not the same as evil as one of the most worst criminals who is known to steal magic from all across Equestria, who is now locked forever in Tartarus - Lord Tirek.

Then, the young centaur stopped on front of Chloe and Aylene and then he stretched a human arm and hand for them to shake their hand and hoof, and at first, Chloe and Aylene hesitated, but then, the two decided to shake his hand, with Chloe being the first to shake hands with the young centaur, and then Aylene did the same by shaking her own hoof with his hand, thus the two sisters gained the trust of a newfound friend. Then, the young centaur spoke up and said "Usually, I would expect both ponies and non-ponies, including humans, to run away from me because I'm a centaur, and also because a demonic centaur whose name is Lord Tirek have caused many troubles to Equestria, like how he stole magic from all across Equestria, used magic for evil to make mass destructions, and even fooled Discord the Draconequus into listening to him and believing in him before eventually draining off his magic as well, despite that excuse for a centaur is eventually defeated in the end and was re-imprisoned back in Tartarus where I suppose he belongs.", and when Chloe and Aylene heard what the young centaur just said about himself but also about Lord Tirek, the human girl said to him "Yeah, I know who's that Lord Tirek you just talked to us about, and Aylene knows about him too, but you don't look evil or demonic like him at all. In fact, you look just like a normal human boy with the lower body, legs and tail of a brown horse, and I also like your reddish hair and tail. They truly look to me so lovely.", and then Aylene added "I truly think so the same way, but I must ask you something.", and then the young centaur asked her "What do you want to ask me about?", and then Aylene asked "What's your name?", and then Chloe introduced herself and said "I'm Chloe, and I'm a human being.", and then Aylene added "And I'm Aylene, and despite I'm a Pegasus pony, I'm still Chloe's beloved sister, and we're sisters for almost 3 years!".

Then, the young centaur said as he introduced himself "Well, anyway, I'm Stephan, and I'm a centaur.", but then Chloe said to him "You don't have to tell us about this. I already know what centaurs are and what they look like, because when I was very little, my grandmother, Elizabeth, told me tales, legends and even mythological stories about centaurs, and I wondered for once back then how centaurs were really like.", and then Aylene asked her "Did you just said that long before you arrived in Equestria your grandmother told you about centaurs?", and Chloe said "Exactly. I was like three or four at the time my grandmother told me about these creatures, and back then I even wanted to see a real one for myself, and now when I see Stephan just in front of me, I'm finally happy to have my old wish to see a centaur granted.".

Then, Stephan the centaur asked Chloe and Aylene "Anyway, what are you two doing here?", and then Chloe answered "Well, we came here after Lin Raju who wanted to show us a kind and tolerant family of okapis, and then he just left us alone with them to see how we'll get along with them, and we explained and told about ourselves to the okapis, but then one of them, an adult male named Akeno, came to us and he started to insult us for not being okapis, and then he called me a hairless ape and Aylene a stripeless zebra with chicken wings, and he even attacked us physically, telling us that he would like to attack us some more if we dare to mess up with him or with any other okapi, and he even wanted us to be locked in a cage and to be sent together to a zoo or better yet a circus!", and then Aylene continued for her and said "And in an attempt to defend ourselves and each other from more harm, we attacked Akeno back, then we both shouted at him, and then we started to cry and run away from the okapis and we mamaged to lose them, and then Yigal came out of nowhere and took us along with him to 'celebrate' Chloe's birthday, but then you suddenly showed up and told us not to eat from the birthday cake because it was poisonous, but then we're forced to take a third bite each from the poisonous cake by Yigal, his brothers and my biological, yet former mother, Black Heart! Then they all knocked us out cold after we got poisoned! I don't know what happened next and I don't even know how did Chloe and I managed to escape and heal!".

Then, Stephan said "It was me who saved you both. I used my magical healing potion to cure the poison and heal your bodies and help you both to recover in almost no time.", and when Chloe and Aylene heard what the young male centaur said, the human girl and the Pegasus filly both looked at him with happy smiles and with tears of joy forming in their eyes, and then the two sisters approached him and hugged him and locked him in a tight embrace with them, and this made Stephan happy too, because Chloe and Aylene were the first non-centaurs to actually befriend him, and so he wrapped his arms and hands around Chloe and Aylene to hug them too, and once the three eventually broke off from their tight embrace, a new friendship bond have just started to form between not two but three creatures - a human being, a Pegasus pony and a centaur.

Then, Stephan said to Chloe and Aylene "Now that we know each other as new friends, how about I'll take you both with me to show you a way to get out of the Everfree Forest. Will that be fine?", and Chloe said "Yes, and since you saved both of us, we both trust you.", and then Aylene added "Please, show us the way out of the Everfree Forest, Stephan, and in midway, we'll both get to know more about you.", and then Stephan said "Then let's go now!", and so he started to lead Chloe and Aylene after him as he took them both with him to show them the way out of the Everfree Forest, and in midway, Chloe and Aylene got to learn more about Stephan's early years of his life, how he was born to a malevolent father and to a benevolent mother, and how somewhere at some point, he became an elder sibling when his mother gave birth to twins who looked up to him and loved him and not just to his mother, but Chloe and Aylene also learned about how Stephan's father mistreated his own family as he wanted to make both his elder son (Stephan himself) and even the twins to be his revenge soldiers so he can use them all for a bad purpose, which was in fact to steal all the magic from all across Equestria so he can avenge Lord Tirek's failure and succeed where he failed.

But then Stephan also said that he and the twins refused to be evil centaurs like their father, and he also explained that even his mother didn't accepted his father's misuse of him and the twins, who hated their father for being cruel and mean to them without showing any love, and he also explained that his mother got sick and tired of his father's ambitious and extremely heartless plan so she decided to leave her mate and take Stephan and the twins with her, and this is when Stephan suddenly stopped as tears of sadness started to form in his eyes as he's now close enough to tell the most saddest part in the history of his life.

Chloe asked him "Why are you crying?", and then Aylene added "What are you hiding from us that you don't want us to know about?", and Stephan said sadly as the tears started to roll down his eyes that he and the twins ended coming back with their father after their mother got killed by a Beartaur, which was a cruel, heartless, meat-eating centaur with the upper body of a human and the lower body, legs and tail of a grizzly bear, which also has the claws of a grizzly bear on its human hands, and also has the front sharp teeth of a grizzly bear inside its human mouth, which makes it extremely dangerous to all kinds of creatures, including ponies and even humans.

Chloe and Aylene understood Stephan's pain because of the lose of his mother, and so Aylene explained that she lost a loving parent too, which was in her case - her father, and Chloe explained that she too lost a loving family member, which was in her case - her grandmother. Stephan was happy to know that Chloe and Aylene have somthing with him in common, but he also knows that there's another thing which all three have in common - they've all been abused by their own and respective bad family members before and/or after their last good members they knew from each of their own families died out.

Then, after talking and expressing each other's feelings about the the loss of Stephan's mother, the three continued together until they all finally found a pathway which leads out of the Everfree Forest, and so the three run on the pathway together until they finally found their way out of the Everfree Forest, but before they can finally run free out of the Everfree Forest, Akeno the proud, snobbish and disrespectful male okapi suddenly came out of nowhere and blocked the trio's path.

Then, Akeno asked in a quite insulting tone "Going somewhere?", but Chloe said to him "Please leave us alone!", and then Aylene added "And get out of our way!", but Akeno said "No, I don't think so!", and then he added "I gonna teach you two filthy abominations to respect me!", but then Stephan asked him "Excuse me, but who are you?", but then Akeno turned to him and said "I'm Akeno, the proud and most beloved okapi from Asha's family!" and then he asked him while insulting him at the same time "And what are you supposed to be? Some kind of a hairless ape with the lower body, legs and tail of stripeless zebra or something?", and when the insult hurt the feelings of the young and kind centaur, he said back to him "How dare you calling me like that?! Don't you know what a centaur is? I'm a centaur!", but Akeno just ignored his words and only said back "Yeah, whatever! Now if you excuse me, I'm going to give these hairless ape girl and her chicken-winged stripeless zebra friend a payback time, so if you don't want to get hurt, just turn around and go away before I decide you're a threat to me and to my family too!".

However, Stephan stood his ground and said "I'm not listening to a disrespectful ungulate like you! Who do you even think you are that you have the rights to pick on girls?! I'm not letting you go anywhere near my new friends!", and what Stephan just said shocked and surprised both Chloe and Aylene who looked at him as he stood his ground against Akeno, proving them that they can clearly accept him as their B.F.F (Best Friend Forever).

Then, Akeno said to him "Yeah, nobody even cares about what you filthy half hairless ape/half stripeless zebra are even saying! And I'm gonna make sure that you stay out of my way so I can finish these two new so-called friends of yours for not being okapis like me!", and then he's about to attack him, but Stephan reared up onto his hind horse legs, and then he wrapped both his horse forelegs and his human arms around Akeno's neck, and then he used his own head to give three head-butts to the side of the male okapi's head, causing Akeno to scream and cry in pain as he tried to throw the young centaur of himself, but when Stephan let go, he then turned tail and used his hind horse legs to buck Akeno in the chest, causing the okapi to scream and cry some more, before Stephan started to run around him until he reached his backside, and then Stephan turned tail again and then he used his hind horse legs to buck Akeno square in the crotch, causing the male okapi to scream and cry as the pain in his body has doubled itself, before he turned to see Stephan looking at him directly in the eyes and with a determined look on his face.

Then, Stephan said as he kept looking at Akeno directly in the eyes with his determined face "Don't you dare mess up with girls, you big, bad, helpless coward!", and then he clenched his hands into fists and then he used his fists to punch Akeno five times in the face, causing Akeno the cry in pain until he finally fell down to the ground, defeated. Then, Chloe and Aylene approached Stephan and each of them had something to say about his toughness and bravery. Then, Chloe said "Stephan, I can't believe you'll dare to fight this bad okapi to save us!", and the Aylene added "This is the most tough and bravest thing you have ever done for us before!", and then Chloe said "And it's just the second time you saved us!", but then Stephan said "It's okay, it was nothing.".

However, this is when Chloe came close to him and then she kissed Stephan on the left cheek, causing him to blush as he rubbed at his cheek with his left hand and looked with a shocked expression at Chloe, who just gave him a warm smile, before she's joined by Aylene, who also smiled warmly at Stephan, and then Chloe said to him "Thank you for saving us twice, Stephan!", and then Aylene added "You're a real friend indeed!", and then Chloe said to him "Goodbye, Stephan! It was so nice to meet you and get to know that you're a good centaur!", and then Aylene added "Goodbye, Stephan! And thank you for so much for standing up for us! We both owe you something good in return!", and then he kindly said to them "Goodbye, girls! Thank you two so much for accepting me as your best friend!", and then Chloe and Aylene waved for him before they turned and walked away together as they finally left the Everfree Forest and went all the way back to Canterlot and to the royal castle, while Stephan turned and walked back in the opposite direction back to the Everfree Forest, and he smiled to himself and he hoped that one day he'll get to see both Chloe and Aylene again.

After walking together for more than an hour, Chloe and Aylene finally arrived in Canterlot and then they continued and made their way and arrived back at royal castle, and the they finally went inside to see their mother, Celestia, and their aunt, Luna, who already finished the preparations for Chloe's twelfth birthday, along with the help of everypony and every creature, including Trixie Lulamoon and Discord the Draconequus, who also came to the royal castle because they're both so excited to see Chloe so they can show her some of Trixie's magic and Discord's chaotic powers.

Upon opening the doors to the Grand Galloping Gala ballroom, Chloe and Aylene were congratulated upon arriving back in time for the birthday party, and they're also rewarded with meeting two new friends - Trixie and Discord, whom are both happy to meet them, and especially Chloe, before Trixie used her magic tricks to make Chloe and Aylene amazed, and then Discord used his chaotic magic to make Chloe and Aylene even more amazed, and the two were so happy to meet their two newest friends, as everypony and every creature started to throw the birthday party and celebrate Chloe's twelfth birthday, which includes snacks, candies, lollipops, chocolate bars, and a real birthday cake that was safe to eat as it was not as poisonous as Yigal's cake, and to make sure the birthday is not poisonous, Chloe and Aylene took two slices from the cake and then they took from their slices three bites each and waited for something bad to happen, but luckily nothing bad happened and Chloe and Aylene didn't got poisoned, thus proving to them that the birthday cake they just ate from is NOT poisonous and it was safe to eat.

When evening came, everypony and every creature left the royal castle and went back to their homes, and Chloe and Aylene went to the table to eat some dinner, and once they finished eating their dinner, the two went together to their bedroom and when it was nighttime, they're about to fall asleep, but then they remembered how friendly and kind was Stephan the young male centaur to them, and how did he dared to defend them all by himself when they faced Akeno the bad okapi once again, and as the two finally fell asleep, the two hoped that one day, they will see their new best friend, Stephan the young male centaur, again.