Learning To Live

by Nekron Smauzog

A sensitive man was always trying his best to deal with life, whether his struggles with friendships or maintaining the best motives. Everything changes when he is supposedly killed in a deadly chase dealing with a dangerous criminal gang, and he appears in Equestria. What is his purpose there? But most to notice, why is he even there?

76. Every Little Thing She Does

A/N: It has been such a long while since I have updated this story! I can't believe I actually forgot about this story for a bit. Talk about my job being quite busy during this time of year, especially with Christmas around the corner.

I apologize for not updating for a while. If any, I have been really busy with things and as a result, I have been getting distracted from the story. Plus along with writer's block, I have been dealing with a lot of real life drama in early September. I actually thought I was going to lose one of my real life close best friends, but the friendship fixed itself so everything seems fine again.

A few things though:

1. I have seen the movie twice now. My thoughts on it was that I loved the movie and I really enjoyed the character Tempest Shadow. I'm not going to release any spoilers, but I can guarantee that it was a really good movie. If you're wondering about the movie rewrite, I'll be getting into that soon. I have begun it, but it'll probably be next year in 2018 when I start putting in ideas. If you have any other ideas on how scenes can progress with Brayden there, let me know.

2. Plans are being set forward, and I might end up visiting either BronyCon in Baltimore or going to Trotcon in Columbus, Ohio this Summer 2018. Which one should I go to? I have a poll up on my profile, so you can vote there. If anything else, let me know in the review where I should go.

3. An FIMFiction blog is something I have been thinking about. I'll have to give it some thought though. If I start, I will begin with showing around my HQ and the one station I use with writing the story. (No personal stuff will be shown though, and by personal, I mean the REALLY personal stuff.)

4. Went to a few other concerts in the months I delayed. Deep Purple with Alice Cooper, Epica with Lacuna Coil, Scorpions with Megadeth, Roger Waters, two nights of Guns N' Roses, and Dream Theater for the third time (first time meeting them). Next month, I'll be seeing Evanescence which'll end my 2017 concert spree. Looking forward to seeing the next Star Wars as well. There won't be as much concerts I'll be going to in 2018 as I'll need to save money for my trip to the United States if I want to experience a Brony Convention.

Review Responses:

guest: I appreciate that you enjoy the chapters, but please have patience. I understand you are desperate to see the new chapter, but I have my own personal and work life to focus on as well. :)

jvs12: Thank you for your review. Hope you like this chapter. It's more filler, but it'll do with adding some writing time for Alex.

4theworldman: I grew up hearing Chester a lot when he was in the band. It's sad, but it's given me reason to listen more to Linkin Park as I did back then. Thanks for the kind words btw, and I try to think positively.

ctran03931: I do realize that Brayden's 'forgive and forget' action is even a bit much for him, and even it has its limits. Eventually, something drastic could cause him to actually have a breakdown when something bad happens to one of his friends or loves. It won't be easy for me to write, but I do the best I can to share emotion in the story on how the characters feel. That alone, should learn him a lesson about knowing when to not give in yet to apologies that others are giving to him, though Equestria is one of those societies that easily forgive others when a lesson is learned. When that moment comes, he'll learn that when the biggest things happen, he can't forgive easily; but he'll need his space and time to think until he's ready to accept forgiveness.

Ashley wheatley: Thank you.

Carcass: I do miss some words, but I often re-edit them.

Ash92: Everything is okay. Personal stuff after all. No, don't worry, I'm not feeling suicidal as I was back two years ago. Having started work last year helped make me a better person to contribute to society.

rd24: Here it is. Sorry for the wait. :)

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Alex's POV

Having to wake up to the rooster crowing and Applejack pulling me out of bed for breakfast... ugh... must be another one of those days again. What day is it again? Sunday? No... it's probably Tuesday. My sleep schedule is really messed up, especially staying up a few hours to party with Vinyl Scratch and Pinkie Pie who I swear never runs out of energy. Can't really tell what day it is.

It's been four or five days since Brayden was put into the hospital, and he hasn't been released yet... so I am pretty sure that he's in a coma - and hopefully it won't take months for him to awaken from it. Should he, I'll pretty much be there to tell him the usual joke that ten years passed and aliens have taken over. Hahaha! That'll give him a shock.

I'm in my room, looking over the farmside while Big Macintosh is working on the apple trees as per usual. Same old stuff, but Apple Bloom was at school yet again today. Granny's probably napping on her rocking chair, so I shouldn't disturb her. For AJ, she's going to Twilight's castle. Why? Not sure, only thing I recall her bringing up was when she told me after a hearty morning meal that Starlight invited her and the rest of their friends there, holding a picture album in the saddlebag she wore.

Another assignment from Twilight no doubt? This school thing for me is already in the past, so no point in further trying to learn much more. Especially when it comes to magic, there's no way any human would succeed at that. Wait, oh yeah Brayden has that? Fuck... Wish I was capable of that, but it's almost impossible since he has alicorn blood in him. At least I have the guns...

I get up off from my bed and move towards my closet, opening it up. I change out from my pyjamas that I had been wearing since all morning, and change into the casual clothing. Same jeans, but different colored short-sleeved shirt.

Slipping on my socks and sneakers, I figured that I shouldn't stay inside for the rest of the day as it isn't reading up on a storm in the forecast for the next few days. Being that Vinyl is probably still sleeping a bit after a late night party, I best not visit her place as she could become grumpy if abruptly woken. Octavia probably wouldn't appreciate it either, as knowing her... yeah, not really much for that kind of music or the ones that I have shown her to say the least.

Closing the closet door and heading out my room I went, and towards the stairs I was going as I keep myself in thought.

Not sure what's going on with both Lyra and Bon Bon at the moment, but I'm pretty sure that Lyra hasn't been in a good mood for a bit of a while. Knowing that she is friends with Brayden and knew him for a little longer than I, she's probably feeling worried about him. Her friend on the other hoof... heh, that's still taking a lot of time to get used to when comparing "hand" and "hoof". Not exactly on Earth anymore, so I better learn fast.

In the right pocket of my jeans, I have my phone and earphones so I can listen to some music while I'm looking around Ponyville for somepony who is free to hang out with me for the day. If not, I'll check in on Twilight's castle and see what everypony is up to. Currently not interested in hearing music at the moment, but I'll probably pop it into my ears when browsing through town.

I made my way down the stairs, the sound of wood tapping by each step my feet took to head to the first floor. There's Granny Smith, snoozing away on her rocking chair and not hearing me head towards the front door when my feet left the stairs.

But as I was saying, not much can be thought about Lyra's friend Bon Bon. Whenever she wasn't being so mysterious as 'Agent Sweetie Drops', I would on occasion say hello to her during my trip to visit Vinyl. She would look at me and wave with a smile, but resume her conversation with Lyra afterwards. The look of annoyance on her face every time Lyra asks to touch my hands. Ha, not sure how Brayden took to it when he was introduced to her.

Probably an awkward moment for him, but I saw it coming. Don't tell him I said that though, it's our little secret.

I exit the house and begin making my way out towards the arch entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. Big Macintosh is there by a couple of trees, using one of his back hooves to buck at a random apple tree close by the entrance, letting a couple of apples fall into the baskets. His green eyes turn away from the tree and the falling fruits to see me leaving when I look at him.

"I'm heading out to Ponyville to hang out with friends. I might be back later tonight." I said to him, just to notify him ahead of time.

"Eeyup." That was the only response he gave me following a smile on his face.

I nod in response to his answer and make my way under the arch, leaving the farm and heading onto the trail to Ponyville. In the sky, I can hear the sound of the birds singing and the wind being a gentle breeze like usual when there wasn't a storm on the forecast.

Rarity probably doesn't really have anything planned today, so I could ask her what is happening today and if she wants to get out of the Carousel Boutique to do some stuff together. She could insist that we visit to the spa, but again... Brayden has been there before a few times from what he's told me. If Ann is there, I'll be sure to say hello to her like usual. Andrea I know, really busy in the Sugarcube Corner with Sonata - but I am quite proud of her for that hard work. But Rarity... Applejack didn't mention her when she was in a hurry to leave for the castle with a wagonful of photo albums.

It's another school day today, so I see a couple of young fillies galloping along and joining with their friends to talk more about the time they will have at school with their teacher Cheerilee. I haven't personally introduced myself to her, but I'll write that down on the sticky pad in my pocket. Brayden's told me she is very nice, which I have no doubt about that... but I wouldn't be as good an assistant for her if I worked with her.

Trixie? Nah, Starlight's already her... great and powerful assistant. Ugh, how I hate being reminded of those words every time that unicorn boastfully opens her mouth.

I continued walking down the dirt trail, seeing the bridge into town coming up. The gentle river stream was there underneath the bright color-painted stones when I crossed over. A couple of the townsponies can be seen trotting from one destination to another being that this was a shortcut to get to Rarity's home.

My head is turned in the direction of where I was headed off to, that I didn't expect myself to be thrown to the side on a collision from that familiar unicorn who looked quite happy to see me. Lyra Heartstrings... yet again.

"Good afternoon Alex!" She greets me with probably the happiest tone in her voice that I've heard from her today, but not enough to surpass Pinkie's happiness tone. "Didn't expect to see me coming, didn't you?"

"No," I groaned for a moment as I was on the ground, being that her hooves were on me in the pounce. "Do you always go about, pouncing on other humans?"

She giggles for a moment, moving to the side off of me, allowing me to get up onto my feet and wipe the dirt from my pants. "Brayden always enjoys it when I pounce on him, and his other friends seem to like it as well. Ann though... I just go for asking hugs. She's not really comfortable when it comes to being taken by surprise."

"Talk about her being shy. Typical Ann, of course." I commented.

"Heading out to see a friend?" She asked me out of curiosity.

Nodding my head, I respond to her question. "Of course. I haven't taken some time to chill with Rarity, so it would be a good opportunity to do so. Don't think Twilight will be available since she's probably at the hospital."

"I saw her heading there with Spike this morning," Her friend Bon Bon butts in and speaks to the both of us. "Brayden's been in there for a while, and we have yet to visit. We're both worried about what's happened to him, and I know Lyra knows him more than I do. I only joined with him on an adventure into... 'you-know-where'..."

Lyra's expression on her face looks to cross into looking sad and worried at the same time when Bon Bon was speaking to me. "What about the others? Have they gone to see him as well?" I asked them both.

The earth pony places her left front hoof onto her friend's back to keep her calm or from bawling. "Everypony in his close friends or best friends list went to visit him. Applejack was there at his side, leaving her hat there on the night table in the room. She feels a bit down about it, but hopes he'll wake up soon so she can thank him for what he did in Appleloosa. Rarity didn't make anything for him, but only brought a Get Well card along with Rainbow Dash that they bought from the shop. Pinkie Pie made him a cake, but knowing her... she ate it cause it's chocolate. Don't get me started on Fluttershy though, from what a few of our friends said, she was practically bawling when she saw his condition."

"I know, because I actually saw his injuries." I said to her, knowing Fluttershy would be devastated to see him in that pain. Had I stayed longer in the wreckage of that town with him - he could've died. Again, it's typical to see him charging in on deadly situations in order to keep his friends safe. "What about the princesses?"

She shakes her head. "Not that I know of, except for Nightmare Moon. Though the Ponyville Times has posted that Princess Celestia will be making a visit to see him..." She paused for a moment. "...I still can't believe he's her son. When the article days before revealed all of the information, I was in shock."

"Hey now, don't try to pull out any of the paparazzi when he gets out from the hospital," I warned her and Lyra. "The last thing he wants while on crutches is to have a large group of ponies following him and snapping pictures with their flashy cameras and demanding him for autographs and strange questions."

"Whoa... no plans to do that."

A smile of satisfaction grew on my face. "That's good, that'll ensure that his privacy is respected."

"Me and Lyra are just heading out to the Sugarcube Corner to get milkshakes, and then... sit on the bench like usual." Bon Bon says, rolling her eyes while Lyra puts on an embarrassed smile with a blush on her cheeks.

"I like sitting on benchs though."

An eyebrow rose above my eye. "Maybe because you act like a human sitting that way on the bench." I commented.

Lyra snickers to herself, the blush still on her face. "Maybe..."

Bon Bon paused for a moment in that awkward setting. "Right..." She got out for a moment, before beginning to speak with us. "Lyra, time to let Alex go and see Rarity. He'll probably be late if we continue to delay him."

"Oh!" Her attention was brought back from the situation. "Yeah! We'll see you later Alex."

I nod to her with a smile. "Of course. We'll probably meet up again when I set up a movie night at the shop there for everypony to watch." I said to her.

"Another one of those human films?!" Lyra bounces up and down, letting out a bit of a squee. "I can't wait! Last film we watched there was great!"

"Okay Lyra... and we're all not going to pick Deadpool for movie choice again. Waaaaay too violent for the fillies, especially if Pound and Pumpkin Cake were in the room. As soon as the swearing began, the look on Mr. and Mrs. Cake's faces when they had to take them out."

"I know," Lyra says, a sigh followed afterwards. "Totally not my fault that both me and Alex wanted it for the film choice." A growl follows from her friend afterwards in a tone of frustration.

"Annnnd this is the part where I depart." I said my final words of the day to the both of them as I was wasting more time than before. For gods sake, Rarity is probably outside of the Carousel Boutique, leaving already to visit the castle with the rest of our friends.

Needless to say, why the hell would Starlight Glimmer even want them at the castle to begin with?

I walk backwards while I am waving goodbye to the both of them. Bon Bon is literally trying to pull Lyra away while she stands there and waves back at me. Even though those two are close friends, I can see why Bon Bon would occasionally glare at me. Totally not my fault that I'm the best around, and she can't even admit it.

Only when I turned around after that farewell, I had bumped into a white unicorn with that elegant purple mane that I knew of. Of course by coincidence... Rarity.

"Oh goodness me!" She sounded apologetic when I took a step back from bumping into her. "Alex, it's you. I thought it was Brayden at first."

I looked at those blue eyes of hers when I spoke. "No... Brayden's still asleep at the hospital. But if I was him, I'd be wearing the normal traditional stuff he wears casually."

Rarity puts on a small smile. "He only had one pair of clothing on him that he was wearing when he first came to Equestria. I had to sew him up a pair of stuff that was similar in ways to what he was wearing. First time making jeans and shorts... quite a journey... and a bit difficult at the same time." She says to me with a bit of a giggle followed afterwards.

"Luckily I brought my own clothing from Earth so you don't have to sew anything for me." I commented as I show her my shirt and pants.

She takes a look over the ones I am currently wearing. "Looks very good," She says to me, moving her hoof forward to lift up my right foot off the ground to examine my sneaker from left to right, up to down. "Though I admit the shoes need a bit of a shining. Come by the Carousel Boutique sometime soon Alex, I'm sure that I could give them a good cleaning."

"Errr thanks." I said to her. "I suppose you're going out to Twilight's castle."

She nods to me her answer. "Starlight Glimmer invited me over," She says, showing her two pink saddlebags on her back. "It's all part of her friendship lessons with Twilight. She sounded really eager to get to work on sewing with me different kinds of dresses. What about you? Are you going to Twilight's castle as well?" She gasped for a moment with a smile on her face. "Does she want you to help with her friendship lessons too?!"

"Easy there Rari," I said to her. "No, I wasn't invited. I was actually going to see if you hadn't been invited so we could both do something together. But it looks like you are busy after all with whatever this friendship lesson is at the castle."

"Oh, I'm not busy at all Alex. You can always come with me to the castle, as I'm sure Starlight Glimmer will need the help she can to succeed in her lessons."

A smile crossed onto my face. "If she needs our help, let us go to Glimglam herself and give her what she needs!" I said to her with proud excitement. I swear, sometimes I'm close to being almost like the human version of Pinkie Pie - but not even close.

"Glimglam?"

I began to walk forwards, turning around and motioning backwards to look at Rarity, whom still looked a bit questioned about the nickname that I had for Starlight. "Quite a name I gave for her, didn't I? Now are we going, or are you just going to stand there, marshmallow?"

She looked a little surprised by the nickname I gave her. "Marshmallow?!" She sounds a bit surprised yet outraged at the same time with a bit of pink on her cheeks. "Sure, my coat is in the color of white... but I'm not a marshmallow!"

"Then wouldn't Sweetie Belle be a dictionary?"

She manages to finally giggle, the rosy cheeks fading back into a white. "I hear that kind of argument all the time with her friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo." She says to me, as she trots at a fast pace to catch up alongside me when I turned around to move forward again. "And then there comes the exchange of jokes where both Sweetie and Apple Bloom are dictionaries and Scootaloo is a chicken."

I laughed for a few moments there. "Oh, I know what you mean. The show gave it away along with a couple of fan made stuff back on Earth." I responded to her, turning my head to see her looking at me.

"Brayden's told me a lot about these fans you mentioned. They're called..." She pauses for a moment. "Brownies? No no, that's a dessert treat." Dammit Rarity, not another brain-fart that you had for a moment there. "It's been a while since I heard the name. What was it again?"

"Bronies." I stated with an annoyed expression on my face.

A smile appears on her mouth with satisfaction. "Thank you Alex," She responded to me. "I know I was only on Earth for such a short time... I never really got the chance to see what it was like on the beach due to the stormy weather on the final day and night..." She stops for a moment, exhaling a saddened sigh. "If we weren't so caught up with Brayden's enemy foalnapping us and the Dragon Queen attempting to kill us, we would have had a much longer stay..."

"Well, being that all he, myself and the both of our two friends lived there... we weren't really satisfied being there in that small town of Maine. Difference is, we four all had dreams, but now on a completely new path thanks to you and everypony here."

Rarity looks quite charmed to hear that, but in a friendly way. No... I've got my heart set on Rainbow Dash, so there's no chance ever at all in hell that I'll be having the drama queen as a special somepony. Last thing I want to do is on her days of absolute tears is to have my chest be a crying pillow for her when she is upset or spreading drama upon herself as usual when things don't go her way.

"I don't really know what to say," She says to me, placing her left front hoof onto her chest whilst still trotting beside me. "Thanks for telling me that. It's not the only time I've been told that as Brayden has said something familiar like that to me before."

"Of course. Even if I was a bit rude to you on your busy 'fashion' days, I am quite happy to know I've got one of my favorites I can totally mess around with."

She sets her hoof back down onto the clean dirt road. "You sound almost a bit like Rainbow Dash." She commented.

"Why not?" I asked with a smile, even with that sexy pegasus going into my mind. "She's the most beautiful pony I know who's not afraid in the face of danger."

"Now Alex, you've told me and everypony else that like 13 million times since you've been here in Equestria," She sounds a little bit annoyed. "Almost everypony here has their ear talked off from hearing you repeat that over and over."

"Much less than that..."

Rarity sighs for a moment to get me to pay attention. "I know... but it's your choice of words that Rainbow seems to have a bit of an issue with. It's- what can I say... it is when you are 'hitting on' her... I don't really know a few of these human-related issues."

"It's just some flirting with her, nothing more... nothing less."

"Don't try to fool me with that Alex," She sounds a bit annoyed again with quite a stern tone in her voice. "I know because I remember when she ended up bucking you to one of the haystacks, simply because you... hit her flank."

"Slapped her flank," I fixed the word for her. "But all I was trying to do was give her the best flirt I could."

Rarity has a bit of a glare on her face when she was looking at me, still rather annoyed with my antics towards Rainbow Dash. "Alex... if you're hoping to get her attention by that, as well as following her around... just forget it. She only wants you and her to be friends."

"She's not giving up that easily," A smirk appears on my mouth. "She's just playing hard to get, and I know that I will succeed one way or another."

The only response Rarity could give to me is her just slapping her hoof onto her face. Facehoof in a way, almost like someone facepalming over something stupid. Me though? I'm not stupid at all! I just have my own way of playing hard for the girl.

She groaned for a moment. "Never mind... you're never going to get it at all," She tells me and then takes her hoof off her face. "Let's... just get going to the castle, alright? Please for Celestia's sake, don't be that way towards our friend while there."

"Whatever floats in the boat, Rarity."

I turn my head back forwards in the town, moving in the right direction that was needed to head to Twilight's castle. Sure, I'm going to have to help out with Twilight's student... but I've only talked with her a few times and barely know her. Still, can't wait to see Rainbow Dash again.

---

Twilight's Castle

"So, with your help, I figure these should be done in no time." Starlight Glimmer finished explaining her plan to the group of what her assignment was, now that she had been given it to her by Twilight.

Her list was filled with a lot of things to do that was on task. There were a few various things like helping Pinkie bake a cake... pfft, I think anypony can bake one so easily. Scrapbooking with Applejack sounds a bit fun as I recall her saying that she needed to reorganize the family album. Sewing with Rarity... ugh. You can tell the obvious there that Marshmallow ain't going to change at all with the 'fashion' stuff. Helping an animal with Fluttershy sounded easy... except I'd be a little more noisy due to the music and some of my own behavior. Chillax with Rainbow Dash... if only just me and her.

Dammit Alex! You're thinking about that sexy pegasus again!

"Are ya sure this is what Twilight would want?" Applejack asked her in that southern accented voice of her, the tone almost sounding a bit concerned about the situation regarding her friendship lessons. "Seems like ya might wanna take yer time with each of these."

"But by working as a team, we can get them done faster. And isn't teamwork a key factor in friendship?"

She thought about it for a moment. "Ah... guess." She still sounds a bit unsure about the team idea she had. I'm clueless as I wasn't there in the mornings for Starlight and Twilight's lessons. One of the reasons being that Big Macintosh usually asks me to work my ass off on some days with getting apples from the trees.

No. Don't get me even started on telling how I fucked up big time on trying to use my feet to buck the tree. Nearly had the stallion laughing away when it happened. If you want me to go into full detail, forget about it.

"Super!" Starlight exclaims as she trots over towards Ponyville's favorite party pony herself who looks rather excited. Again... she's always this excited. "Pinkie Pie, since we're baking, you will be in the kitchen."

Pinkie inhaled in a huge deep breath upon hearing about her going to the baking kitchen with her. Sure I would join them, but I'm no cook. Trust me, you don't want to know how I managed to burn muffins. (Aw shit, even Derpy would be so upset with me if she found out how I did that back on Earth.)

"Rarity, Applejack, you two can set up in the library." Starlight suggested to both 'drama queen' and AJ.

"Oh, I don't know that a dusty old library has the proper lighting," Rarity sounds a bit concerned already, just as I thought she would say. Her blue eyes look to be observing the area around us. "Perhaps we can stay out here in the foyer."

"I thought that Fluttershy and I could work with the animals right here in the foyer."

I can see the innocent yellow pegasus petting one of her critters. I think it's one of the brown squirrels she brought with her from the cottage. "Oh, um..." Her quiet, shy voice speaks out to her. "Whatever you think is best."

"Great!" She says to her friend, moving towards Rainbow Dash. I was already positioned close by the rainbow-maned pegasus, but it'll be one of those moments where I can try my best at getting her to notice me. "Now, Rainbow Dash-"

"It might depend on the animal," Fluttershy interrupted, still having caught the attention of the student. She holds onto an eagle with a bandage wrapped around his wing. "For instance, this poor little eagle with a sprained wing might be better off up in one of the towers."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure." How rude of you to shift her to the side Starlight, she's trying to suggest some ideas to you. Jesus...

Fluttershy's voice still has her attention even when she tries to continue to ask about the position of chillaxing with her. "And these adorable little chipmunks might prefer a nook smowhere. Maybe if you spend some time getting to know-"

"In a minute Fluttershy." Starlight simply dismissed her with a bit of an annoyed tone. The look on the pegasus' face drops and seems to look a little sad. I don't blame her though, as it's the usual doormat thing going on yet again.

Rainbow had been looking around the area fromw here he had been standing for the past time that Fluttershy was trying to continue talking suggestions to Starlight. "Uh, I don't know if we can chillax properly in the castle," She said to her, the tone of her voice sounding a bit unsure about the environment that this place provided. "We need very specific conditions for optimal chillaxing."

I smiled and placed my left hand onto her back. "Of course there are conditions. You and me are one of those conditions, and lying in the sun is a more important part of it." I told her, a bit suggestive on my tone. Applejack, having seen me doing another one of my pathetic attempts to flirt with her, gives me this annoyed look on her face. Almost the same one that Rarity gave me, only difference is that she's not facehoofing.

"Alex." Rainbow sounds a bit irritated in the tone of her voice. "I know that you are cool to hang out with, but unless you want to feel how strong my hooves front and back are... get your hand... Off. My. Back. Now."

I kept a smirk on my face even when she didn't turn her head to look at me with the expression on her face. That's her playing hard again, ain't it so? And Brayden tells me to back off and leave her alone... hahah. I don't think so, not until she actually turns around and sees the coolness beyond my cool. Okay that was very corny.

"...I just assumed chillaxing could happen anywhere." Starlight wondered, brushing off everything that happened between me and Rainbow.

Rainbow chuckles for a bit with a smile on her face. "Shows what you know about chillaxing," She spreads open her wings. "Let me do some location scouting."

With a dash of a rainbow trail left behind for a few brief moments, Rainbow had left to look for a good place where she and her could...yeah, that word is now getting so overrated. Just forget it.

"Okay..." Starlight pauses for a moment and then continues, turning to look at Applejack who took the wagon filled with books off of her back. "It seemed more efficient to start with the scrapbooking, so we can just get it out of the-"

Pinkie zips forward with a smile on her face, interrupting her and bouncing up and down with that cute jumping sound she made. "Ooh, ohh!" She started off, putting a bit of a smile on my face. I swear... even when Brayden and Pinkie are talking to one another, he always has a warm smile on his face. Ehh, that Equestrian magic she gives off. "Can we start with me? We're gonna need time for the cake to bake! After all..."

By the time that she was inhaling in a large amount of breath, something told me that there was something coming up. Oh geez, it's another song... isn't it?

It's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake-

Starlight places her hoof onto Pinkie's mouth to stop her from singing. "We're on a schedule, no time for a song." She says, leaving a look of disappointment on Pinkie's face for a few seconds, but grows happy again when she still figures out there is going to be baking. "We can start with baking, then-"

"But we can't design dresses after you've been baking with Pinkie." Rarity sounded a little concerned. Her voice then grew a bit hushed, but I could still hear it. "She can be a bit messy."

I can hear a bit of a squidge sound coming from where Pinkie was standing, see that she had practically licked and ate clean a whole cake, leaving only a mess around her mouth. "Mmm!"

"Fine," Starlight commented over the issue Rarity brought up. "We can start with the dresses, and then-"

"While y'all figure that out," Applejack began to speak to her, signalling for me to unload some picture books from the wagon behind her. "Alex and Ah are gonna start layin' out the pictures fer scrapbookin'. We gotta whole lotta time to cover."

"How much is a whole lot?"

"We've got at least eighty moon worth of memories to go through." She responded to her.

"Eighty moons?!" Starlight Glimmer looked like she was going to either lose her mind or faint right on the spot. I don't think she ended up with the second option, but she could end up going all 'Lesson Zero' all over again, except it's her and not Twilight losing her own damn mind over friendship reports.

I can see Rainbow coming back to the foyer. She practically groans when she looked at her and began explaining the problem. "There is nowhere to chillax in this castle!" She told her, making Starlight look a little more panicked. "We're gonna have to set up somewhere else."

Between all five of the ponies that were Twilight's friends, I could only stand there and watch Starlight herself almost to a breaking point while an argument began to overlap around the area. Probably a feeling that was coming across to her that she was really messing up on this lesson. She is almost gritting her teeth, sweat coming down from her forehead.

I don't think she can really hold in the patience among the arguing anymore. "Everypony... STOP!" She screams out, looking a little shaky and nervous.

The arguing between Twilight's friends came to an immediate halt. They all turned away and looked at Starlight who changed her expression a bit. She didn't really want to give off her nervous side and looked to be hiding something by the looks of it.

"Could you all excuse me for... one... second?" Starlight manages to get out, the tone of her voice sounding a little bit sheepish.

I can see her galloping off around the corner of the hall, heading off somewhere. Perhaps to some quiet time for thinking over the situation she was put in. I think I should check up on her though, just to see if she is okay.

"Wow..." Rainbow commented. "That pony really needs to chillax."

I moved away from the wagon that I had been at, taking the photo albums off to help Applejack. I began to move in the direction that Starlight had taken off in, keeping myself at a steady pace of speed.

"Alex, where ya off to?" Applejack seems to ask me with curiosity.

I stop and turn around to look at the gamboge earth pony. "I'm going to see if she is doing alright."

"She looked awfully stressed. I'm hope she's okay." Fluttershy says, sounding a little bit worried for her friend. Her pale yellow hoof is gently stroking on a ferret that had been quite shocked by Starlight's brief outburst a couple of seconds ago. Even as I follow into the direction that Starlight was headed, I can hear the chittering from the animal itself.

Taking to the use of the sounds of Starlight's hooves galloping down the hall, I followed the sound of them, hearing a door open up and close. Using my eyes to trace the sound, I can tell it was down the hall and to the right, around where the library would be. I turn around the hall, approach the door and put my ear to it.

I can hear her hyperventilating in panic and her hooves sound like they have slowed down to a trot. I knew that kind of breathing wouldn't be good for her if she did it too long. I opened up the door and entered the room.

The creak from the door looked to have startled her a bit, even with the iris' in her eyes that have shrunk in her panic. She looked absolutely nervous about the situation she's been put in, but hey... that's the consequence of trying to do everything at once.

"The hell's been pulling your tail?" I asked her, wondering what's been going on with her.

Starlight tries for a bit, eventually getting ahold of her breathing and maintaining a bit of control over herself. "I thought I would be able to take ahold of this and get things under no pressure, but it looks harder than it seems," She tells me, pacing back and forth which is left to right from where I was standing. "What am I even going to do Alex? I can't just go out there and try only one thing! I'd disappoint Twilight!"

"You're sounding just like her in that one episode..." I said to her, an annoyed expression crossing onto my face.

Starlight of course, takes in a bit of breath and exhales it out slowly. "Okay... I got this. A handful of friendship lessons is nothing compared to the spells I've mastered." She has a bit of nervous laughter as her horn begins to channel magic, seeing that she was getting something in the room.

A book of spells floats downward from the bookshelf and places itself down onto the table. She trots over, allowing the book to open up and begin scrolling through the pages in search of something. My right eyebrow is brought upward as I recognized that something seemed suspicious, as I knew her... she wouldn't be thinking just like that.

"Maybe if I cast a little spell to help things along..." She paused for a moment when she turns to glance briefly at my suspicious look, putting on an innocent smile. "Something simple and safe," She notified me, even if my expression doesn't change at all. Her head turns around and goes back to the book's pages.

"Oh yeah, sure... something safe indeed." I said with a bit of sarcasm in the tone of my voice.

I don't think she heard my comment as she continues reading. "Fiducia Compelus... that's not bad. They would barely notice it, but... is it enough? Oh... maybe Cogeria so they're more... open to suggestion," Now something really was up by the normal volume she spoke in as I watched her. Was she really going to cast a mind-altering spell on our friends? That's just really low on that level and wouldn't exactly be fair. Even so, I'm surprised that none of our friends trotted in at this point. "Oh, or maybe Cogeria combined with Fiducia Compelus! Yes, that could work nicely!" I literally slapped my hand onto my own face. "...With a hint of Persuadere to be sure it sticks."

The aura that had been covering the pages of the book settles out and I begin to watch her as she begins to conjure up a ball of magical energies from her own horn. The energies within the orb look to be the colors of purple and light blue that are being put in. When the magic energies are seeping into the orb and the spell building in completion, I can hear Starlight activate her horn, pushing the orb.

"Oh shit!" I saw that it was coming towards me, and I almost had to jump out of the way when it came past from where I was by the open door of the library.

I turn around once I have cleared the path for the spell, watching as the spell drifted above the crystalline purple floor and began heading on its way out of the library and back to the foyer. Following it is something I would do, but if it is cast, I'd probably feel some funky kind of mindfuckery - so yeah... not a good idea on my end.

"Everypony'll probably thank me for getting it all done so quickly," I can see a confident smile cross onto the face of the pale, light-grayish heliotrope unicorn herself. "And Twilight will be thrilled I've completed so many lessons. Everypony wins!"

"Umm, Starlight?" She doesn't blink an eye or turn to look at me when I ask for her attention. "I don't think what you did was a very good idea, and I think you're-"

There is a white flash that comes from the foyer itself outside of the room. I had to shield my eyes with my right hand when I turned to see that brief flash. I don't think that Starlight seemed to be affected by its brightness considering that she was the one who cast the spell.

"Congratulations, Starlight!" She sounds quite proud of herself after the sound of zapping fades out. She begins to trot back to the foyer, me following behind her as she continued to talk... almost ignoring me. "You're a genius."

We both left the library and proceed down the hallway where I had to follow her, returning to see if that spell she had cast affected our friends. Part of me inside saw that something was wrong, but was a little afraid to admit it to her. I know Twilight has her own bookworm ways and learned the hard way, but Starlight is really not getting the entire idea of a 'friendship lesson' at all.

She gasped for a moment upon turning from the hallway. I turn from the hallway, not getting any speed as I didn't run at all. From even turning to see what it was, even I seem to be in a bit of a shock...

...Our friends seem to look a bit petrified, but not in the way that they turned to stone. They were still all coats and manes, but they looked like robots waiting to be activated - just like one of those movies back on Earth. Oh yeah... I think I brought it with me from Brayden's cottage back in Maine, so I could turn it on when I'm back at Sweet Apple Acres or doing another movie night with the town of Ponyville.

"Maybe the congratulations were a little premature..." She commented to herself, while I can hear her saying that.

"Or I think you might have turned them into cyborgs, waiting to be activated in order to ensure they go into a killing spree of some sort." I said to her, a sarcastic tone in my voice.

She trots in front of our friends who don't even blink an eye. "No time for jokes, Alex," She tells me as she looks at Rainbow Dash and waves her hoof in front of her - hoping she will notice. No response. She continues to look at them, studying their frozen positions. "Cogeria... Persuadere... Fiducia..."

A thought came across her when she realized a solution for all this. Don't look at me, I don't even have any magical abilities - so I'm no genius at these magical tricks. "Of course! Fiducia Compelus needs a trigger."

She takes a few hoofsteps back and looks at the five of our friends. Her horn begins to spark with magic again as her eyes close for a few moments and re-open to reveal a complete white color.

"PONIES! HEAR MY VOICE AND LISTEN!"

Her voice and the temporary aura of magic that blasted through nearly had swept me off of my feet when she spoke. Here, I thought that Princess Luna had the worst at its best whenever she resorted to using the method of the 'Royal Canterlot Voice', and I haven't seen her using it for a long time. If any, I'm glad Rainbow didn't see that or I'd be humilated with her laughing at me.

Equestria logic... I forgot.

Not really much happened to have changed, but our friends were now staring at Starlight with a proud smile on her face seeing that her spell 'supposedly' worked. The iris' in their eyes now staring at the unicorn in front of them.

She began to give them orders. "Pinkie, kitchen. Rarity, Applejack, library. Fluttershy, stay here," They all nod in agreement and those who weren't ordered to stay where they were, began to turn around and trot in the direction to the places they had to go to. "Rainbow Dash, find somewhere inside the castle and set up a place where we can chillax."

While I can hear Rainbow agreeing with her, they almost sound a bit like robots without emotion... yeah, I can totally tell something is going to go wrong if Starlight isn't careful.

"Alright Alex, come along. I'll need your help to make sure that everything I am doing is under control," She tells me as she proceeds to trot forward. "We're starting off with the kitchen where Pinkie is."

I sighed only for a moment. "This day won't end well." I commented as I begin moving at a fast pace to join up with her and then slowing down to a normal speed when I was beside her. She turns her head to look at me with a smile, and then makes a turn to the right.

Two minutes and we're already at the kitchen door. Even if I don't know every location yet in the castle, I am a bit thankful that Starlight is there to show me around the place and to get me knowing it. I mean, Brayden would have given me a map if he wasn't in the damn hospital in that coma of his. Jesus, the scars that was left behind from that battle though. Something that could haunt me.

She opens up the door and I follow into the room from right behind her, monitoring everything she is doing. Pinkie is standing there at the table with the mixing bowl on the table, her pupils slightly shrunk which is rather strange. Creeps me out a bit to see everypony's favorite pink pony like that.

That'll be a story Glimglam is 'definitely' going to avoid telling when she is as big as the others who saved Equestria many times.

I gathered at the table, placing the both of my hands onto the wood. I can see Pinkie to the right, and I could probably say something to her - but I would expect in that state she is in... no response at all. No point in actually trying when the influence of the spell has kicked in.

"Let's get to work, Pinkie!" Starlight says with a smile on her face when she trots past Pinkie and joins with her on the other side.

Pinkie turns the iris' in her eyes to look at her, putting a smile on her face. "Okie-dokie!" She says in a mechanical tone. Dammit Starlight... "What would you like to do first?"

The unicorn began to look a little confused by Pinkie's question. "Uh, what are we supposed to do first?" She asked, not hearing my annoyed groan in the end.

"Whatever you want to do first, Starlight Glimmer."

"Oh for gods' sake..." I just couldn't stand it, and I just had to raise my voice - especially with Pinkie turning to look at me and not reacting at all to my annoyed tone of voice. "Twilight asked you to do the cakes! Bake the cakes already, dammit!"

"Language please, Alex." Starlight advised to me, trying to keep me as calm as possible. Her head turns around and she looks at the cookbook lying on the table. She opens the book to the page that the cakes were located on, despite my impatience on such a small issue. She looks to have landed on the right page, using magic to levitate the book to her to read. "Now... in a medium-size mixing bowl, beat together eggs, sugar, and two teaspoons of vanilla..."

While she had been reading the instructions on how to make a cake, I could see by my own surprise and even Starlight's, that Pinkie had the ingredients all there and ready in the bowl, at a quick and fast pace, beating the eggs into the bowl, pouring the salts of sugar and dripping the vanilla extract in. Wowza... talk about listening to her.

"Mix in flour..."

In goes the flour with a bit of stirring at the fastest speed I've ever seen Pinkie Pie do, even if it wasn't her and that it was her under the spell.

"...add baking soda, salt and cinnamon." All the notified ingredients move into the bowl, and Pinkie stands there like it was nothing. Starlight eyed the bowl for a moment and then looked at me in a glance of a few moments before turning to look at Pinkie, sounding like she was thinking. "I think you can take it from here."

"Take what from where?" Geez... and I thought I'd be part of that spell if I didn't jump out of the way.

"The baking," Starlight said to her, putting the book down to the page that it was on. "Just keep following the instructions in the book until I get back."

Pinkie smiled when given the command. "Abso-tively! Instruction following starting... now!" She said, resuming with the repeated following of the same ingredients into the bowl.

The unicorn trots away from the table, and I have the instinct of following behind once again as she thinks to herself. "Baking a cake - check! Now... on to sewing!" She exclaimed proudly. "Come on Alex, I think I'm on the road to success of the lessons!"

Sigh... still have the boastful mouth...

---

The library looks to be awfully quiet as usual, especially when I looked to see both Rarity and Applejack standing in two different spots. They too, seem to be acting like robots - just like Pinkie in the kitchen. Applejack looks to be with the old photos at the round table, waiting at any moment to find out what to do with them.

"Aw gee, Rarity is totally not going to be happy when you tell her that she was under your spell," I said to Starlight as the white unicorn is the first one we will be approaching first. "Next thing, you'll be owing her many sessions that involve making dresses with her for many days."

"Relax, Alex... I've got this with no sweat. Your comments aren'teven trying to sway me, because it's not really encouraging when I'm trying to keep this all together." She says to me when she approached Rarity who looks unaware and controlled. "What did you have in mind, Rarity?"

"Whatever you want me to have in my mind, Starlight Glimmer." The elegant unicorn responds to her. Oh, not again!

Starlight paused for a moment, looking at the small table she stood by, with her sewing supplies placed down on the table. There was a book on the table about... dresses that Rarity looked to have brought from the Carousel Boutique. She used her magic to lift up the book, and turn it to face the white marshmallow.

"Can you make a dress exactly like that one?" She asked.

"Just like this one?"

"IT'S OBVIOUS!" I almost ended up crying out which managed to surprise Starlight Glimmer that time.

"Umm..." Starlight paused for a moment to get the right words out. "Just like it."

"Absolutely," Rarity says as her magic collects a few of her supplies and begins to start sewing on the pattern of the dress. Starlight turns towards AJ at the round table who looks to be eyeing her. "It will look perfectly divine."

I followed behind Starlight and stood beside her at the table, looking at all of the photos that was laid out on the table. Followed by that was a cart on the side of the table, with albums of photos still needed to be organized.

"That's a whole lot of photos. How do you usually organize them?" She asked the gamboge earth pony.

The Stetson hat wearing pony turns to look at her with a forced smile on her face. "However ya want me to organize them, Starlight." She responded mechanically to her.

"Okay," Starlight said as her eyes look to examine the pictures on the table. She points her hoof to the closest one, but doesn't look to touch it. "Tell me about this one."

Applejack nods and picks up the photo and proceeds to look over it. I am eager to hear about the story that she is going to tell about Sweet Apple Acres, and even if I didn't see the photo... maybe I could remember what happened, because I have been there at the farm for a while now.

"Sweet Apple Acres, twenty moons ago," Oh boy, I'm already excited since this was after the beginning of my stay there on the farm. "Granny Smith was lookin' for her favorite pie tin. She looked in the kitchen, but it weren't there. She looked in the barn, but it weren't there either. Then-"

There was a groan from Starlight Glimmer, interrupting the story and leaving a HUGE disappointed look on my face when I turned. "I don't need to hear every little detail," She says to her followed by a chuckle. Goddamnit Starlight, there wasn't any little detail. But what the hell, it's Equestria logic so there's obviously no say for me! "Just sum up the story in one sentence."

Applejack paused for a moment, not smiling for a moment there. "...Huh. Turns out Granny Smith didn't know how to make a pig do the backstroke." She says, shrugging with the both of her hooves raised.

"Uh-huh..." Starlight said, understanding a bit of the story while I was left with confusion. She was explaining about the pie tin, and now all of a sudden... making a pig do the backstroke? What the fuck! I knew that I had to keep it under control while Starlight was getting this underway. "Why don't you keep putting these photos in chronological order, and when I come baack, you can give me and Alex more... highlights?"

"Sure thing, Starlight Glimmer." Applejack responded as she begins to work on switching the photos around to their places and the possible pasts.

I was sure from Starlight that next up when I was walking alongside her that it would be either Fluttershy or (the incredible sexy) Rainbow Dash that will be asked on the progress so far for what they would be doing. Me though, if it's Dashie first... definitely will have to ask Starlight if she'll give me and her some time together especially under that spell she cast. Perhaps something to spare the time.

Aw, never mind. It's Fluttershy we are approaching first back in the foyer.

Only difference is, that I remember seeing her with animals when me and Rarity were coming in. But at this point, there were none. Not even Harry the Bear or that douchebag bunny rabbit Angel was with her. To be honest, Angel not being there is quite a huge relief, even for me. Next time that bunny kicked my ass, he'd experience quite a big butt-whuppin' in return from me.

"Fluttershy, where are all the animals?" Starlight asked her when we approached her.

She turns to look at us, even from just standing there. "They ran away." She responded to her in the same tone like all of our other friends. Pretty sure I have a good idea now on what Rainbow is going to sound like.

This gave me a good opportunity to actually speak to the yellow Pegasus. "And why... didn't you stop them?" I asked her with a low, annoyed tone in my voice - interrupting Starlight who I felt was going to say the same thing as me.

"Because Starlight Glimmer didn't ask me to, Alex."

"Obviously I wanted you to..." Starlight continued for a moment, sounding only a little bit annoyed. She paused for a moment, and looked to have been thinking for a moment there. She finally has the voice to speak again, but with a more questioned tone. "Never mind. Can you please round up all the animals in the castle and bring them back here to the foyer?"

"All the animals. Got it." Fluttershy says to her, turning towards the front door and trotting away to go retrieve those that ran away.

Noooo... now I have to deal with that Angel asshole. Still, being that Brayden's been here for much longer than I have - I don't get how he was able to tolerate that nonsense when he was still living with Fluttershy at her cottage.

Though even in the discussions for me and Fluttershy, I can still notice her cheeks whenever we talk about him. I'm nearly close to laughing every time I see them, because I know she likes him in that way, but just doesn't want to admit it. Someday though... the truth will all be revealed to him from her own mouth. I mean honestly, I know Brayden already has his four loves in heart. But it's just... Brayden and Fluttershy would be so cute together!

Fuck me for having these wild fantasies about 'shipping'... I spent way too much time on the internet back at home. But again without the internet, I wouldn't be here in Equestria.

That cyan colored pegasus with the familiar rainbow mane and tail came flying by up above our heads. Yes yes, same expression with the blankness including the smile on her face. But still, maybe this will get me the opportunity to ask Starlight to get her to hang out with me.

Starlight turns to look in the direction of the pegasus, directly looking at her rose colored eyes. "Did you find a place to-"

"Quick, quick!" I interrupted her. "Get her to hang out with me!"

She shot me an expression on her face that just about said 'Are you serious' when I had interrupted her. I can see her moving her hoof onto my mouth, silencing me from saying anything else while I cross my arms in annoyance when she turned back to Rainbow Dash. "What I was trying to say... was if you found a place to chillax?"

"Sure thing, Starlight Glimmer." She responded back to her.

I tried to say something, but Starlight's hoof even on my mouth pushes harder to keep me silent. "Great!" Starlight exclaimed happily with no problem being seen unlike the other friends. "Let me know when it's ready."

"Yes, Starlight Glimmer." The same tone was said in Rainbow's voice as she flies off to continue preparations.

At this point, she finally uncovers her hoof off from my mouth and just glares at me. "Are you serious?" She asked me with a now-annoyed tone. "You seriously actually want me to do that?"

"By seriously, I mean I actually am serious." I said to her.

"Look, I know you have feelings for her. But this kind of activity and ridiculousness is not going to get her with you. Before Sunburst became my special somepony, I wasn't stalking him in any way or trying to sway him and force him into a relationship... I kept it slow and steady."

I exhale a sigh at the overrated quote. "Because slow and steady wins the race, right?" I said to her.

"Exactly. I think even Twilight will want to tell you that as well." Starlight says, putting a small smile on her face. "The childrens' books that was brought along back from Earth, really does make a good impression for Cheerilee to read to her class."

"Fairy tales..." I remarked with defeat.

The unicorn giggled for a moment. "Unless you take it slow with her and not act ridiculous like that, then you'll never have Rainbow as a special somepony," She said to me. "I mean, ask Brayden what it was like for him to tell Twilight his true feelings."

"Told the truth about where he came from, chased by timberwolves, nursed back to health with Aloe Vera and confessed his feelings on a park bench to her... featuring Pinkie with a sign behind a bush to help him out," I stated with the same annoyed expression as before. "I get it. I know the whole story behind it. It's been repeated so many times by our favorite pink pony in all of Ponyville. Quite annoying after a while if you ask me."

"You'll get used to it." She responds with a smile on her face.

"No wonder... and I still have no clear idea how Brayden tolerates her hyper behavior."

She raises a hoof off the ground and moves as in conversation. "If Brayden ever gets out of that coma, that'll be a question you'll have to ask him. Believe me when I say this from the experience that I have, but you require loads of inner patience when it comes to Pinkie Pie. Especially with those surprise parties she pulls out from her hoof in the blink of an eye."

I do remember when Brayden brought me, Andrea and Ann back to Equestria and that even gave me a brief memory flashback of when I had left the castle and entered Ponyville for the first time, still feeling in awe that Equestria was actually real before my own eyes, and was something I hadn't seen before. Being that it was the first time at Sugarcube Corner, there was already a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party being expected for both myself and my two other friends. I practically will always remember that look of glee on Pinkie's face.

Again, she probably takes in high amounts of sugar due to the sugary foods she eats. She better be careful not to eat too much junk food.

Starlight looks to be thinking critically for a moment. "I wonder how our friends are doing with the tasks I've given to them," She says to me, putting a smile on her face that could tell that everything was going to be all a-okay. "Come on now. Perhaps we should see if Rarity has made a dress. Maybe she made one in the blink of an eye. Her creativity for making dresses really does pay off after all."

Sounds like she's hiding the fact that she actually cast a spell that would control them, and I have that uneasy feeling as this is just like back in school. It's like you're copying off the sheet of another student in order to cheat on an exam or a test. At least I was smart enough to know not to do that ever, unlike my past self in elementary or middle school. Believe me, I got in trouble so many times for doing that... but it was worth it in the end to see the teachers get pissed.

We turn and head back towards the library door. We approach towards the door and I am the first to place my left hand onto the right-sided door to push it open. I go on ahead while Starlight's magic opens the rest of the doorway for her.

Applejack was still standing there in that exact same spot she had been standing at, looking at each of the photos and talking about them to herself. Jesus... I thought she would actually get bored standing there and talking about each one without Starlight there to listen to her. Guess I was completely wrong. But the only thing is... she's going way too fast through them.

She read through, describing each of the pictures one by one. "Granny Smith knew she was gonna need a bigger boat..." She goes to another photo. "Goldie Delicious says to Apple Fritter: 'If ya can't say anythin' nice 'bout anypony, come sit by me!'" Then yet another photo while I join with Rarity that my ears could pick up. "Big Mac knew if he just covered 'imself in mud, the creature wouldn't be able to see him!"

Rarity stood there, looking to be blank-faced as usual and with her sewing stuff still there on the table as if she didn't do anything. She turns to look at Starlight who has approached from behind me. Marshmallow trots forward, commence awkward robot speak. Yeah... you get it by now. As do I.

"Starlight Glimmer, I have finished the dress." She stated, magic being channelled through her white horn to unveil the dress which I certainly didn't expect when she brought it out from behind. "Isn't it gorgeous?"

The student looks a bit awkwardly at it. "What is that?" She questioned when she saw how small the dress in size was... practically the same size as the one in the book, looking almost the same except it's made from fabric and not paper.

I had burst out into fits of laughter when I saw its actual size, generating a glare from Starlight when I began chuckling. That was the biggest fuck-up I've seen a mind-controlled Rarity do, and this was no doubt the biggest failure for me to laugh at. Ohhhh, I'll have quite a story to tell her when she's ever out of that spell's grasp.

"It's that small? It'd practically fit a Breezie if possible!" I gasped and managed to get out followed by more laughter, before turning to look at Starlight and point at her in my laugh. "And you wanted her to make it! You must be so embarrassed!"

Starlight's moderate persian blue eyes continue to glare at me while I am laughing at both her and Rarity. "Alex..." She growls for a moment as if she is telling me that Rarity was going to say something before I had interrupted. I began to calm down from my laughter and eventually settled down while Rarity continued to levitate the 'fabric' to her. Only a glance from Starlight at me for those few moments pass before turning back to her friend.

"You wanted me to make a dress exactly like the one in the book." Rarity stated.

A frustrated sigh was exhaled from the heliotrope unicorn's mouth. "Go make a real dress out of fabric, exactly like the one in the book." She commanded.

"Ah... I see," Rarity paused for a moment as I think her thought were processing about the dress that was the same as the book provided. "Yes... of course, Starlight Glimmer."

She turns towards a mouse that was standing there on the table by it's two back legs as support for the dress-making, which seemed to catch me off-guard. Had Fluttershy not been under the spell, she too would have found it awkward as something to work for as a dress. I'm sure even the mouse that was squeaking with confusion would find the dress that small uncomfortable for them.

"Rarity!" Starlight's alarming exclaim had gave me a bit of a shock, especially from her voice being raised all of a sudden. "Make it bigger than the one in the book."

The white marshmallow paused yet again. "Of course darling," She said in the exact same tone, moving the sewing material away from the mouse. "Bigger it is."

The shuffling of photos are heard right behind me as Starlight displays a strange look on her face, as if she is realizing something is wrong. "She was just a pony standin' in front of another pony askin' him to love her." Our southern accented friend spoke out loud while looking at a photo.

Heh... I could get used to all those summaries. I wouldn't be surprised if she at any moment began to make pop culture references just like in some of the past episodes.

CRASH!

That loud sound had caught our attention, and I would think at first that it would be the animals returning from leaving in the first place. Nope... sounded more iron-like to me, so I can tell that it was coming from the direction down the hall where the kitchen was.

In fact, what the hell was Pinkie doing in there? Haven't checked up on her for a bit, so I guess I can make the open suggestion to ensure that Pinkie wasn't getting into everything in there and that she was close to completion with making a cake.

"Maybe we should check on Pinkie. Hopefully she hasn't eaten pounds of sugar from the pantry." I said to Starlight as I turn in direction to exit the library.

She too looks to follow beside me as we head out. For the speed we are going at, she's trotting at quite a fast pace in order to catch up. I practically am at the same pace in walking when she is moving past me. Though curious, I can tell she is eager to know about the crashing in the kitchen.

What could that crashing have been though, is the question? Perhaps Pinkie accidentally bumped into the pots and pans in order to find the right cake pan.

The kitchen door was still there thankfully, as I knew it was something Pinkie hasn't blown up yet in the continuous instructions that Starlight left with the cookbook on the counter. I remain unsure while Starlight moves over towards the door and used her magic to open it up.

A few hoof-steps in, and I can see a pot already being thrown past her, having nearly hit her across the face. Had she got hit with it, would've given me something to laugh at. What? It's a different story if I ended up seeing Dashie get hit by accident. That pot banging into the wall is enough to put her in alarm.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?!" I can hear Starlight's voice as she approached the counter where everypony's earth pony was still standing there with a bowl, continuing the onslaught of ingredients in order to make them into cakes. Even the rows of bowls, pots and pans that stacked up were quite surprising to me.

"Following all of the instructions in the cookbook in order, Starlight Glimmer!" Pinkie says, sounding quite proud even with a blank look on her face.

I groaned for that moment. "She meant just one cake, Pinkie!" I shouted at her, though she doesn't react to my shouting. "We were only gone for a few minutes! Could have just waited until the cake was ready to go into the oven!"

Starlight places a hoof onto her forehead, looking a little bit stressed from the outcome and the sweat coming down her forehead. She does sound a bit frustrated when she spoke. "How in Equestria did you get all of this done so fast?"

For that question, Pinkie stops mixing in the bowl and turns to look at the stressed unicorn. "First, I combined three eggs, then I-"

The sound of magic was faintly heard, especially when Pinkie's mouth had been zipped together with the sound of her voice being muffled by Starlight's light turquoise colored aura cast around it.

Starlight looked like she got the point for what our pink friend here was getting at. "Think the baking lesson is done." She stated as her magic now surrounds Pinkie and lifts her off from the ground in levitation to keep her ahold.

A growl outside in the foyer is heard, which sounds quite familiar. It sounds like Harry the Bear had come into the room, but there were nothing else that followed his growl. Still, nearly gave me a shock since it can be frightening to see a bear right in front of you or chasing after you.

Having been stunned there, I can see Starlight turning her head to the open kitchen door with that mixture of stress and worry. "Oh, what now?"

With Pinkie under the magic she had surrounding, I follow behind Starlight into the foyer to see if Fluttershy's animals were causing a bit of a fuss. If so, Harry must not have had his honey today from the bees which could explain his growling since he'd be fussy about coming back to the castle.

"They can take our farm, but they can't take our freedom!" I can hear Applejack in the library out loud while me and Starlight are already practically running to the front of the foyer where everypony comes in.

Everyone... everypony... practically the same thing. I REALLY need to get used to this Equestria vocabulary.

We arrived right in the nick of time to the foyer, as I didn't have to run that far. I halted to a skid, but thankfully didn't slip and fall onto my back. That'd be the worst of my concerns if Brayden saw that. Knowing that I always laugh my ass off when he gets hurt in the funniest way, it'd be practically comeback for me as he's never seen it happen to me before.

"What's going on?!" Starlight says with the same tone of alarm in her voice.

The animals were there at the entrance, but they looked practically frightened out of their minds. Harry the Bear was with them as well, which did tear apart my expectations. He responded with a scared growl, more than an angry growl. He raises his paw and looks to point at something.

Well, whatever is there in front of them, I am sure that it's not as big a deal- GREAT JIMINY CHRIST!

It was Fluttershy herself, and she looked really messed up with all of the other animals and creatures that weren't at her college. She must have gone into the pond, because there were spiders crawling on her coat and leeches on her (something I teased Brayden about when hanging out with him on occasion) and all kinds of other insects that didn't belong. No wonder Fluttershy's REAL animals are lying down on the carpet at the front door, practically frightened out of their minds to why their pegasus friend would be acting like this in the confusion.

"I gathered all of the animals like you asked, Starlight Glimmer." She blankly responded to the shocked Starlight.

Raising the both of my hands, I took the matters into my hands with the animal hippie herself. "No offense, but she didn't mean every single animal." I stated the truth to her, which she doesn't react to in any way.

I can hear the sound of hooves trotting to the left where the cottage animals were. I turn my head and could see Rarity approaching them followed by a smile. Even so, I am sure she is looking at the carpet as her blue eyes weren't in contact with either animal. The animals were lying on it, but I watched carefully.

"Oh yes! This will do nicely." She said as her magic surrounds the carpet below.

The carpet that was lit with the aura of cornflower blue stretched for a moment since all of the animals were lying down on it with fright. After a few moments, the carpet slid off from them and both Harry and the cottage animals were slid to the floor by their sides with a bit of confusion and a thud when they hit the floor.

Granted, it gave me a bit of a chuckle. Must have hurt the animals though. "A much bigger dress!" I hear Rarity exclaim as she trots away with the carpet now rolled up by her magic.

"T'was the best of apples, T'was the worst of apples..." Applejack says in the library out loud once again.

I turn back to Starlight and I can see that she is close to having a panic attack over this, plus the fact that she looked really stressed. Ugh, being that Brayden isn't here to help her keep things in order - it looks like it is up to me... the one and only Alex to calm her down. Fuck, hate doing things like this. Not my profession in any way, just being the one who others think I am. (You know, acting perverted and being sarcastic at the worst times.)

"You're going to have to have a bit of some calming to do, Starli-bear. So breathe in and out." I said to her.

"Starli-bear?!" She exclaims with a bit of shock, before a glare came on her face. "Alex! Enough with the flirty nicknames! This is absolutely no time to joke around! This castle because of me is becoming a disaster area and-" She was shouting at me which made me jump with surprise. She did however, manage to stop herself from continuing to yell at me as she knew about her panic that I must have brought to her attention.

Inhaling a breath of air into her lungs, she holds for a few brief moments and what came out was a sigh that was exhaled. "Okay Alex..." She sounds a little calmer when she spoke to me. "I can handle this, no thanks to your commentary."

"What?" I said with question while shrugging a bit. "Just trying to help give you some cheering up."

"Not helping at all," She responded to me. "But this... it's just magic, and I know magic." She paused for a moment when her eyes turned to look up past me for a moment, breaking the calmness and sounding a bit panicked again. "What's that?!" I can hear her shout in that alarm.

I didn't know if she had gone 'Lesson Zero' crazy, but I looked up to the ceiling to see whatever she was talking about. It was to my shock, black smoke clouds that were filling up the room. Let me guess, Applejack's really got into the books, right? Oh wait... this is Equestria, I don't think those kinds of stuff would be here anyway.

I can hear Pinkie trying to say something in the zipped up mouth, but it was hard to tell what she was saying. I can hear Starlight's magic channel to her horn again as she unzips the mouth of our friend. "What did you say?" The unicorn asked with curiosity.

"The cakes are burning," Pinkie responds to her. "You left the ovens on."

OH SHIT! I FORGOT HOW MUCH I REALLY HATE FIRE!

Starlight began to panic a whole lot more now that the word 'burning' was mentioned and the smoke was beginning to pile up into the foyer from the kitchen. I can't believe I didn't even notice either on my way out from there. I too don't want to panic either, because growing up... I really had a fear of fire in the first place. And that's not even close to when I found out Brayden had a huge deathly fear of bees that I teased him about through his tenth grade.

You didn't know he was frightened of bees? Well, now you do.

Rainbow Dash came flying back to talk with Starlight by chance when she jumped forward with panic in her voice. "We need water!" She cries out.

"Yes, Starlight Glimmer." Rainbow is happy to acknowledge her request when she speeds off to head somewhere outside.

I certainly didn't expect to see dark clouds come in above the smoke that was crawling downward. Crap, they seem loaded with loads of rain water inside and bolts of lightning to be thrown down at us at any given moment.

"Storm clouds?!" Starlight exclaims in shock, especially when the rain began to pour down on us.

There is a roll of thunder, and I can see the water level beginning to rise in the foyer and climb up above my feet to where I can practically start swimming to this point. Even the animals were starting to float onto its surface as well, and I can feel myself sink into the water as it rose higher to the ceiling.

Before getting sunk into the water, I managed to take in a deep breath so I could hold it under the water, though I was sure it would be timed as I couldn't do that forever. I could just float there, with Starlight floating under the water surface, trying to ensure that her breath was held as well.

The water rising part didn't last long though, as the water began to go down at quite a rapid rate. From above us was a light along with a couple of doors being opened up to allow the flow of the water to be directed out of all four sides of the castle - top to bottom. I was able to bring my head past the surface, giving myself a breath of air when the water began to settle downward.

Starlight as well as myself, were all soaking wet when the water had left the ground in the flow outside, only leaving puddles scattered throughout the main floor of the foyer. Great though, my clothes were all drenched from the rain water, and if Rarity could snap out of the spell at this given moment, she'd go on a rant of some sort about how wet I am and that I should change out of them.

By this point, she'd be making a reasonable answer. At least with the electronics I have in my pocket like my phone, the water here shouldn't short them out, being that they're outside of Equestria.

From the small river that was flowing outward to the other side of the room, I can see Applejack sitting there on the top of the table. Her mane, just like Starlight's was wet and even her Stetson-like hat looked to be soaked as well. Oh well, if any... she probably has millions of hats that look exactly like the one she is wearing.

"Big Mac told me: 'With a whole lotta power comes a heck of a lotta responsibility.'" She summarized yet another photo, making a pop culture reference to a fictional hero back on Earth that was in New York City.

Well, if the ponies go back to Earth for a visit in hiding... maybe Brayden will take them to the Big Apple. I know Rarity, she'd practically adore it since it's so similar to Manehattan.

A groan came out from Starlight's mouth as she looks around the wet area and the confused animals in huge disappointment in herself, along with all our friends now gathered around with blank expressions on their faces, the smiles not being wiped off their mouths. "This can't get any worse!" She tells me.

"Don't fear though," I manage to say with my back turned towards the front door behind me. "We should clean up and do it quickly. As long as Twilight hasn't come back yet, we both should be perfectly fine."

Needless to say, I can hear those large golden double doors open up. I almost didn't want to turn around, but I was forced to when I saw the recognizable figures standing there at the door with shocked expressions on their faces over the area.

It was both Twilight and her dragon assistant Spike, and I must have had the string of bad luck for this point. They were looking at both me and Starlight in the shock of seeing the castle in this situation gone wrong. The mulberry coated alicorn I know though, managed to get herself back into focus and half-glare at her student behind me.

"What is going on?!" She asked with a bit of a stern voice, though sounding horrified to see the castle like this. Especially being that it was her castle.

That question alone gave me the right time to act. "It was her!" I shouted with a faux panicked tone in my voice as if I was the culprit and wanted to frame another. "It was all her idea about doing this kind of magical stuff to our friends, and I did all I could to tell her not to do this... but silly Starlight, she did it any way!"

"Alex!" Her student's voice rose in surprise for giving her away - even though it was already the case that was witnessed.

Twilight trotted forward by a few steps. "Both of you, enough." She said to the both of us in her stern voice. "Get yourselves both cleaned up and wait for me and Spike in the upstairs library. Me and Spike will take care of things here, and we'll speak to you both when we're done."

Starlight's ears flop in disappointment as she turns around towards the stairs on the other side of the foyer. I follow right beside her with a bit of shame being felt inside. Didn't think that Twilight would be this stern towards us. Again, it's her castle that we almost destroyed.

Time for a bath though. And of course... separate bath from the other. Starlight will be in the other, but hopefully they have the stuff I need to clean myself.

"Oh, and Alex!" Twilight calls to me from the front I was walking away from. I raise my head to hear what she was going to say. "Make sure to change out of those. I'm lucky that I have extras in your size stored in case you were coming."

Well crap, she makes a point. Thankfully I can do that as well. After the bath, I guess it'll be confrontation time where Spike plays good cop and Twilight, bad cop.

You never know though...

---

I certainly can say that it feels refreshing to be in completely new clothing that Twilight has been saving for me in case I came to sleep over and didn't have an extra pair of clothes. All made with heart from Rarity herself, so I feel just about at home here in Ponyville. Well, can't get all of the free stuff since I now have to work for it at Sweet Apple Acres.

Both myself and Starlight are on the second floor of the castle in the upper library which I could tell is where Twilight did the most of her studying, along with the mirror portal sitting there to the alternate world that featured Canterlot High, and most recently - Crystal Prep. I have no interest in entering the portal, but if any; I know that both Brayden and his friend Sunset Shimmer will visit our friends there who are the same as here. Only con: If I was to go there, they wouldn't know me.

Starlight shares an expression on her face, as if she was both guilty for what she did or was just thinking about what she could have done better. Being that there could be her getting scolded, I knew she needed a bit of comforting. Wait... I'm not really suited to cheering somepony up unless I'm cracking my jokes, so I've run out of cards.

From the doorway in from the hall on the right side, I can hear the sound of those familiar dragon feet walking forward. I turn my head around to see our dragon friend coming in.

Spike himself looked to have a broom in the both of his claws, brushing away at a bit of the cobwebs and dust that had been scattered around during the water rush. He looks to have the shivers as if he had witnessed something terrifying. I don't blame him if it was Twilight getting pissed over the spell she cast, but should she be feeling that way - this'll be a shitshow to watch.

"I had no idea we had spiders in the castle," Spike commented over some of the spiders that were running about in the castle still, all thanks to Starlight. "I'm never sleeping again!"

An eyebrow rose above my right eye at his statement of the day. "You're afraid of spiders?"

"Yeah. They're creepy," Spike says, sweeping more cobwebs into the side. "I don't even know why Twilight leaves them around in a few of the hallways."

"Maybe flies come into the castle and they are just there to get caught in the web. You know, food for the spiders," I said to him. "If they weren't there, the flies would be quite a bother around here - especially in the kitchen."

Spike rose his left claw with the index finger and was about to speak, but stops for a moment and lowers his claw down. He looks a bit relaxed about what I've said, especially with the smile on his face. "That's actually a really good point there Alex." He said.

"It's something I learned back on Earth while in school."

"Maybe if I had reversed the Fiducia Compelus and Cogeria... or maybe I added too much Persuadere..." Both myself and Spike could hear Starlight talking to herself over the problem that's been happening today. When she saw that both of us were looking at her, her attention was brought to us as she turns her head towards me, and then Spike. "What?" She asked.

Spike has that look on his face that knows she is either in trouble or is stupid to realize what the entire thing was really supposed to be about. "You're really missing the point here." He responded to her question.

"That's what I have been trying to tell her too, even when you both weren't here!" I said to him, a little surprised that Starlight was still trying to find a solution to a problem she created.

Just in the nick of time though, we both could hear those hoofsteps outside from the upper foyer coming into the library. It was Twilight, of course. She looks to be a bit exhausted since the spell her student cast on her friends, had to be removed. From the way it looked, the spell must have affected them really deep inside.

The mulberry colored alicorn exhaled a sigh after all the hard work. "I finally untangled that mess of a spell and got everypony home. It was really powerful stuff. They're going to feel that in the morning," She says to me with a smile on her face. When Starlight turned around to look at her, her expression changed with a glare on her face and the tone of her voice changing to ask her about what happened. "Now, please try to explain to me how in the name of Celestia things got this out of control."

Starlight's disappointment grew onto her face again. "Well, it was the first time I cast that particular spell, and I didn't fully think it through," She confessed. "I-I bet if I had reversed-"

Her teacher rose a hoof to interrupt the next thing she was going to say. Again, she had already said it before. "I think you might be missing the point here." Twilight spoke to her.

"Exactly what Spike said." I opened my mouth to say. Spike who was going to probably say the same thing, stops and shot me a bit of a glare for taking the words from his mouth in a different way.

"What made you think that casting a spell on your friends to do your bidding was even remotely a good idea?" Twilight asked, waiting for an answer from her.

Starlight looks at her with a saddened, yet curious expression. "Well, when you put it that way, it sounds really bad."

"That's because it IS really bad!" Twilight doesn't yell, but more solely exclaims to her with a bit of a funny expression.

Starlight was stammering to get some words out for defending her reason to cast the spell on our friends, but was unable to find any. The expression on her face looked absolutely defeated from what Twilight scolded her about.

"Starlight, I'm not mad at you," The tone of Twilight's voice calmed down and began to speak with worry. As she is speaking, she places a hoof onto Star's shoulder. "But I am disappointed. You've been doing so well. I just don't understand how a friendship lesson turned into all of this."

"Ugh, fine!" Starlight openly admits defeat. "I've been avoiding the friendship lessons on purpose."

"Why?" I asked her.

Turning to look at me, she begins to explain to us. "I can cast complex spells, but baking a cake with Pinkie Pie freaks me out!"

For that moment of her explaining about making cakes, I burst out into a bit of laughter at this hilarious remark. "You flip out when you bake stuff?!" I said in my fit of hilarity while both of them including Spike shoot me a glare. "Ooooh, I'm scared of baking! Help me, there is ingredients!" I mocked her. (In a good way, of course. Nearly am falling out of the chair though.)

"Alex!" Twilight scolds me, raising her voice a bit that stopped me from laughing. She turns back to her student, lowering her voice and listening to more she had to say.

Starlight continued to explain. "Yes, I know how ridiculous that sounds. That's why I didn't say anything. I thought if I just kept wowing you with my magical abilities, you might just... not... notice?"

"Baking a cake freaks you out?" Twilight calmly asked, ensuring that I don't go into another laughing fit to mock her student. I do manage to get out a bit of snickering.

"Yes! Baking a cake, sewing - all of it!" Starlight confessed, a bit of stress in her voice being heard. "What if I was bad at it? I didn't want to be a disappointment to anypony, and I ended up being a disappointment to everypony." She hung her head in shame, her ears flopping downward.

"Starlight," Twilight gently rubs the back of her student to keep her calm. "Do you think anypony cares if you can bake a cake?"

"But the lesson-"

Twilight interrupted her by continuing what she was going to say. "Was to get to know Pinkie Pie better by doing something she loves." Twilight puts a smile onto her face. "It was a friendship lesson, not a baking lesson."

"Oh." Starlight could only say, until she finally realized about the point she was supposed to get in her lesson. Her ears rise up again. "You know, I think I might have missed the point here."

"Told ya." I said, taking the words from Spike again. This time, he doesn't shoot a glare towards me. Being that he was next to me, he just expressed a 'there-it-is' look on his face, followed by me and him fist-bumping. Being that I've visited a castle a few times, I did get along well with the baby dragon himself, even if I spoke before he could get out a word.

"So now what?" Starlight asked her.

"Now it'll soon be time for a pretty advanced friendship lesson. It's called apologizing." Twilight says to her, her tone turning normal in her voice. "But it shouldn't be done now, being that it's been a hard day for everypony including myself. The lesson can begin tomorrow, so we might as well get some dinner ready."

Spike snaps a claw with a happy expression on his face. "You got it, Twilight! Three dinner meals coming right up!" He is about to go out, but stops to look at me. "You want to join us for dinner, Alex?"

"Me?" I asked, before stifling a laugh. "Oh no Spike. I'll be heading out shortly."

"Suit yourself," Spike commented. "But you'll miss out on the fantastic chef skills of Spike the Brave and Glorious himself when he creates the special tonight." I'm pretty sure the special is the typical food in Equestria that ponies normally eat. The baby dragon leaves the room to head down into the kitchen that had been cleaned up, thanks to him and Twilight.

"I do want to apologize for the lecture and if I raised my voice a bit," Twilight says to both myself and Starlight. "I know things around here haven't easy on ourselves either. The events that happened with my husband is paying a bit of a toll on me. Being that I had to visit him today, was really hard for me as well when he's out in that coma. I worry about him almost every day since he was brought in there."

She was talking about Brayden, of course. I too am worried about him, since I had to carry his ass all the way from the military train to the Ponyville Hospital nearby. He could have died if I delayed more in the sprint to get him to the doctors. Wasn't allowed in the emergency room along with Twilight, but I remember the pain.

There were tears in her eyes when I remember being there at the hospital with her, and being that this was my best friend having been hurt, and his now-wife now in despair over what pain he's going through, I had to go on my calm side and not joke about it as it is never a good time when he's this hurt.

"I know. This castle feels empty without him here." Starlight commented.

"Girls," I said to the both of them, getting their attention. "Brayden's a strong man. He'll get through this and make it out okay. I swear, honestly."

Twilight trots over towards me. "I hope so, Alex. On days like this, I almost can't get to sleep without thinking of him. I doubt I'll still be able to get to sleep even tonight." She says to me, lowering her head and exhaling a sigh.

I gently place my hand onto her left shoulder. "Do you need a hug?" I asked her.

She looked up back at me and moved forward, placing a hoof around my back. I too move closer to her, moving my arms around to her back and placing them there. From there, I was giving her a friendly hug. I almost didn't want to let go, because I knew that Twilight all the comfort she could from friends in the hopes that Brayden will be okay.

"Can I join the hug as well?" We could both hear Starlight Glimmer asking us.

Twilight opens up a bit of space for her student to come on into the hug, letting the heliotrope colored unicorn join us in the hug. I can feel Starlight's right front hoof move around my shoulders as all three of us embrace in a friendly way. (I don't even have feelings for either of them. Brayden would kick my ass if I tried to flirt with his Twilight, and Starlight's already in a relationship with Sunburst as her special somepony. I already made my choice of who I plan as my special somepony. Yeah... you know who it is. Wink, wink.)

After the few moments pass, me and the two separate from the hug. "I might have to get going now, but I hope I was able to cheer you up in some way." I said to the both of them, getting up off the chair.

"It's no problem, Alex." Starlight says to me. "We do get annoyed sometimes when you rack jokes at the wrong time or act weird... but you are weird in your own way. I'm sorry if I had to tell you to stop sometimes."

A smirk appeared on my face. "More apologies and I'm going to start thinking you're a Canadian at heart." I said to her.

The unicorn looked confused as to what I meant by Canadian. I don't think she really understands the concept of a few Earth jokes, so it's best that I save the explaining for another time about what this kind of stuff is; I mean, I am an American after all. So perhaps on some spare time, I can teach her about the people of Earth and more histories about the backgrounds of others like me.

What do you expect though? I'm part American, part Norwegian with a hint of Indian in my human blood.

Twilight does giggle a bit at my joke though, so I guess Brayden must have given her more information about the homeworld I grew up on.

"We'll see you later Alex, and hopefully we'll watch a 'non-violent' movie on the next time you're available at Sugarcube Corner." The alicorn says to me with a smile on her face.

"Definitely, and it'll be one spice of a time."

Starlight giggled. "If it's spices, make sure you don't bring the really extra hot ones though. I practically burnt my tongue from trying the mix for a bread you made at Sweet Apple Acres."

A blush came onto my face briefly when I was walking out towards the door into the foyer and stopping there to look back at them. I recall having made it at the farmhouse with Granny Smith. After a couple of pony tongues had been burnt, Twilight literally had to snatch the spices I snuck into Equestria away so I couldn't make any more spicy bread for anypony to eat. Plus, it was one of those extreme ones.

"See you." I said to the both of them, pointing both index fingers from the both of my hands at the unicorn and her teacher.

Both of them waved goodbye to me with smiles on their faces, and I turn around and head out into the upper foyer. I begin to make my way for the grand staircase so I could head back onto the main floor and out the front door.

Celestia's sun outside looked to be setting over the western horizon, so I guess it'll be as good a time to head back to Sweet Apple Acres and get dinner from the rest of the Apple family. Not sure what they've made over there, but I am very sure there will be something apple-related for dessert. If it's apple crisp or apple fritter, I'm all game for it.

Applejack will be home, but I shouldn't bother her if she's lying in bed and not feeling too well from the outcome of the spell. Knocking on her door would irritate her more, so I should leave her alone. Okay, maybe a bit of trolling will give me a laugh for the night. I guarantee she'll want her dinner brought upstairs though.

Granny Smith cooks well enough when she isn't napping or outside of the farm in town, so I can't wait to dig into deep-fried hayfries if she is making them tonight. Mmm, hayfries.

Enough talk, time to head back to the farm. Stomach's rumbling and the hunger can't wait any further.

---

A/N: Before I end this chapter, yes, I have seen all of Season 7 and it's two-part finale. My thoughts on Starswirl the Bearded appearing in it? I did enjoy it, though it seemed a bit crazy that he was not actually a legend himself. Putting him into the story? Maybe, but I did say that after a rewrite of "A Royal Problem", I wouldn't be doing any more rewrites. If any, I will probably mention him and have him appear in the story along with the other legends.