Izzy and her friends immediately noticed something off about the blue Auroricorn who had just greeted them. Izzy was especially suspicious, not just because of what he had said reminding her of the way she had greeted Sunny when she had first met her, but also because of something she could see that the others couldn't…this Auroricorn's luminescence…
Sparky was also able to sense something different about this Auroricorn's aura compared to the aura he felt back when he first met Comet. However, both auras felt pure to him, allowing him to trust this Auroricorn.
Izzy, sensing benevolent energy too, decided to only press the Auroricorn on what was apparent to all her friends…
"What do you mean, "new" friends?" she asked curiously.
"Good…" the Auroricorn thought to himself, unphased by Izzy pressing him even as he and the others gave him suspecting looks, having planned for this. "It seems they still remember him and that he stopped casting spells to erase their memories of him, only wiping their minds of certain events. Now I'm certain of how I'm going to go about making necessary preparations…"
"I'm just teasing." he told them playfully. "Lately, I've not been feeling like myself, nor have I been proud of the way I've been acting around you all. Calling you my new friends is essentially my way of asking if we could kind of, you know…start over with a new me? I feel spending time with you here would be the perfect way for us to bond."
This caused Izzy and her friends to perk up, their looks of suspicion becoming looks of joy at the prospect of getting to spend time with Comet just like how they used to.
"That…really would be perfect." Izzy answered, despite being slightly hesitant, still seeing what her friends couldn't see.
"We can't do it tonight though…" Hitch chimed in before he looked down at Sparky, whom he held in his foreleg. "Sparky needs to get to bed. Grandma Figgy's going to be in town real soon to visit too. He and I both need our rest."
"The rest of us aren't machines ourselves…" Zipp made a rejoinder before stretching a foreleg while yawning.
"After all the time we already spent here tonight," interjected Sunny, "I think it's best for us to get some sleep and meet here in the morning."
"Totes!" Pipp exclaimed. "I want to be in tip-top shape before we do some more singing at the karaoke place here!"
"Ah-ha…" the Auroricorn thought to himself. "That must be where they were singing the song I heard…"
"We can't wait to spend some time with you here, Comet." Misty said happily. "Even before this weird stuff started happening, we never got the chance to really get to know you. I'm sure research kept you busy, but in any case, tomorrow's our golden opportunity to help you truly feel like you're one of us!"
The Auroricorn beamed after Misty said that, feeling overjoyed…but also slightly guilty…
"…What are these feelings coming over me?" he asked himself, feeling conflicted. "I'm getting the perfect chance to finally do what I've always wanted to do while fulfilling my duty…and yet…something about this doesn't feel fair. Regardless, I can't waver. I'm doing this for him too, after all…"
"I'm looking forward to it!" he proclaimed energetically. "Let's get back to the Brighthouse now and get our much needed rest!"
As he and every pony else walked out of the Boardtrot, he took a look at something he had picked up from the ground before the others had arrived…
"Just you wait…" he said to himself in his mind as he then looked up at the stars in the sky. "I'll become the new you…"
Little did he know, however, that the universe did not agree with what he was plotting as a bright, purple star faded into the darkness of the sky ominously…
The next morning, he awoke in the guest room on the first floor of the Brighthouse, having slept on a bed that had previously been moved out of the guest room and into the attic for a reason Sunny was unaware of. He, however, knew the reason why…
"Good grief…" he had told himself in thought. "To go that far…that's not just dedication, that's an attempt at self-punishment over feelings of guilt…"
He then got up from the bed and eyed the drawer where the book, Forgotten Comet, was locked by magic he was able to sense. Using his magic to unlock the drawer, he gave the book a pensive gaze.
"Ever since I was a colt, I was forced to have my entire life revolve around studying this and every spell known to my kind…" he said with disdain in his tone of voice. "But now, I finally have the opportunity to live the life I never had. Before I tell them the truth, I'm going to know what it's like to have a fun life with friends for the first time!"
After having breakfast with everyone else in the Brighthouse, the group headed to the Boardtrot. Once they arrived, the first thing they decided to do was visit a roller rink, something Sunny had suggested, given her love for rollerblading. To the surprise of her and her five closest friends, not only did their Auroricorn friend eagerly agree to rollerblading for their first activity, he turned out to be surprisingly good at it, beating all of them in a race.
"Wahoo, yeah!" he gave an exclamation and a pump of a foreleg to rejoice in his victory as the others just stared at him, dumbfounded.
"You…sure have a knack for this." Sunny said in astonishment. "I wasn't expecting you to have that much of an easier time skating on a surface less slippery than ice."
"Well, I wasn't ever actually that bad at skating on ice when I was a kid." he gave a reply that had the entire group raising eyebrows. "I just didn't have the time to practice. Plus, having you all here helped motivate me. The new me tripping over himself on his first day here with you wouldn't be a good look, heh heh."
"…That's not what matters to us." Izzy replied earnestly. "We just want you to be yourself and have fun."
"Understandable…" he made a simple response while trying to hide the fact that he was mildly irritated by Izzy and the others not being as impressed with his aptitude for rollerblading as he would've liked.
Izzy and the others, able to read how he was feeling, decided it was best to give him a smile and move forward.
"In any case," interjected Hitch, "I feel the winner deserves a prize for his sick skills. All this rollerblading has had me feeling thirsty, so how about we go get some refreshments next? I'll treat you to something!"
The Auroricorn happily agreed to Hitch's offer and left with the others to a café at the Boardtrot. Sunny, Izzy, Zipp, Pipp, and Misty all ordered their favorite frappés while Hitch ordered Sparky cocoa in a kiddie cup, hot coffee for himself, and to his surprise, another hot coffee as the treat he had promised.
"Are you…sure you don't want cocoa?" Hitch had asked, knowing Comet was a cocoa specialist.
"The cocoa here's probably not as good as what I've had in Starlight Ridge." the Auroricorn answered in a tone he tried to keep from sounding snooty. "Besides, I've always been more of a coffee pony."
"Well, I…guess we can be coffee buddies then, heh heh!" Hitch exclaimed playfully despite feeling bemused.
Soon, every pony was sitting in a booth and enjoying their drinks. Hitch began pouring sugar in his coffee from a container before holding it out to the one he had ordered coffee for, offering it to him. To the surprise of him and everyone else, the response he received was…
"No thanks, I usually like to drink it black."
"…Really?" a perplexed Zipp asked. "You make all different kinds of cocoa and you're partial to black coffee?"
For a brief moment, the Auroricorn was also perplexed, staring back at Zipp and the others with an awkward look on his face. Eventually, he sheepishly gave them an explanation of…
"Well, I…like my caffeine for when I'm doing my research. I'd rather drink black coffee as opposed to cocoa when I have a lot of work to do to cut back on my sugar intake."
"Wouldn't you know?" Zipp retorted. "I do the same thing."
"I don't." Izzy chimed in. "When I'm super busy, I must have sugar!"
Every pony chuckled, even with a feeling of suspicion growing…
After they were all finished with their drinks, Pipp decided this was the perfect time to visit the karaoke place, given that every pony had just had their caffeine. The Auroricorn eagerly agreed with what she suggested to the group, almost too eagerly…
"Oh yes, we ABSOLUTELY have to go there!" he proclaimed with a type of vigor that felt off-putting. "And there's this one song that we DEFINITELY need to sing!"
"Chillax, we'll go there and sing what you want to sing." Pipp replied nonchalantly as the others smiled and nodded.
"Even my Pippsqueaks who are still kids don't tend to get this overexcited…" she said to herself in thought, keeping feelings of increased suspicion to herself, something her equally suspecting friends did as well.
Once they arrived at the karaoke place, the Auroricorn insisted on singing the song the others had sung the night before, Let Your Magic Run Wild. He got on a stage by a microphone and began singing the lyrics of the song alongside the others standing beside him. Being by themselves with no other ponies in the karaoke place to judge their performance, mostly thanks to the Boardtrot being very new, it was easy for them to concentrate. They performed without any issue until the chorus, when a troubling event occurred...
"ASTER…"
The Auroricorn froze in place, he and the others ceasing to sing as this name was uttered by a loud, intimidating voice that was seemingly coming from nowhere. Out of everyone in the group, Izzy was the least surprised to hear the voice, recognizing it as the voice of the universe. She quickly noticed though that the Auroricorn was the most surprised to hear it because he recognized it…
"Wha…what?!" he cried in shock in his mind, responding to the universe telepathically. "Why did you say my name for them all to hear?! What are you doing?!"
"YOU CAN NOT REPLACE HIM…" the universe explained to him in his mind. "LOOK AT THE STONE…YOU WILL SEE THE TRUTH…"
Listening to what the universe told him, he examined the object he had picked up from the ground the night before, the purple stone that had come off Comet's star-shaped accessory and realized that there was dark energy emanating from it. Looking up at his own star-shaped accessory, he observed the same phenomenon…
"No…this can't be right…" he thought to himself in disbelief. "You mean…I'm not the seventh element?!"
He started breaking out in a cold sweat, having great difficulty processing this revelation. The others quickly noticed and asked with concern…
"Hey, are you okay?"
"…Y-y-yes…" he answered nervously, stammering. "I just…need some time alone for a little bit. How about we regroup at the café later?"
"Sure." they readily obliged, seizing the opportunity to have their own private discussion.
Once he had departed the karaoke place, making his way to a bench where he could sit and contemplate what had just happened, the others began their private talk…
"Okay, we need to talk turkey, gang." Zipp stated outright. "Something's seriously not right here."
"You can say that again." Pipp made a rejoinder. "Definitely not every day when that kind of thing happens."
"Not to mention the uncharacteristic way Comet's been acting…" Misty interjected.
"I could sense a dark energy around him…" Sunny remarked worriedly. "Like the energy from that purple glow in the Brighthouse, but corrupted…"
"He's hiding something from us, there's no doubt about it." Hitch proclaimed with certainty. "Did that voice call him…Aster? I wonder if he even really is…"
He, Sunny, Zipp, Pipp, and Misty all wondered the same thing before deciding to put the thought aside for the time being.
"In any case," he continued, "there has to be some way to get him to come clean, but what?"
Izzy, unlike her friends, had kept quiet. She had known from the start what had really been going on with their Auroricorn friend…looking over at Sparky and remembering his love for cocoa, she had an idea, communicating it to him with gestures. She brought a front hoof to her mouth and acted like she was sipping something out of a cup before blowing on it while using her magic to make something that looked like a small flame appear with her horn. She then winked at Sparky, who winked back at her…
"I have an idea, Hitch…" she proceeded to tell her friend while grinning eagerly.
Meanwhile, their Auroricorn friend had been communicating with the universe telepathically and was told more about how he couldn't replace the true bearer of the seventh element. He was not Comet, the true bearer. Aster, the name the universe addressed him as, was his real name and he was the relative Comet had taken from him by the Forgotten Comet.
He'd fully regained his identity. The power of Comet's magic combined with the power of his own magic had restored him, but unfortunately, it was at a great cost. He had been made whole again just as the universe had promised Comet, but Comet's mistake had caused him to merge with the Forgotten Comet, having failed to break the cycle. With Comet unwittingly neglecting to fulfill his duty as the seventh element, even uniting his magic with his brother's could not surpass the comet's power…
In just two days, the Forgotten Comet would return yet again, coming back sooner than ever before as a result of the seventh element's creation and the strong desire in the hearts of Comet's friends and brother to have him back, bolstered by remembering him through his link to the elements. Aster always knew he had to tell Comet's friends the truth, but he was disillusioned over how it seemed he would have to tell them immediately as opposed to letting them gradually find out.
"So much for my first day of fun with friends…" he told himself despondently. "I guess I really am meant to be alone…"
"No, you're not." Izzy gave him comforting words, surprising him as he turned to face her coming up to the bench. "You just need to understand that we want the real you…"
"Uh…" Aster could only say that in embarrassment while blushing red over his mistake of talking out loud.
"I have a feeling you like cocoa more than you let on…" Izzy said in a sly tone of voice. "Why don't you try making some back at the café? Sparky's craving salty cinnamon cocoa…"
"Uh…sure." Aster answered nervously, seeing no other option but to just go along as he followed Izzy to the café they agreed to regroup at.
Soon, Aster found himself at the same table in the café he and the others had sat at before. This time, however, he was greeted with a small kettle filled with hot water, a small cup with a small spoon in it, and a container of cocoa powder, all of which had been borrowed from the café's kitchen by Izzy and her friends with permission from the kitchen staff who appreciated them and their patronage.
"As much as my little buddy likes the cocoa they make here," explained Hitch, "what he really needs to satisfy his cocoa fixation is cocoa made by a cocoa specialist. Making a little cup of salty cinnamon cocoa wouldn't be too much trouble for you, right?"
"…Nnnot at all." Aster replied sheepishly, trying to mask his discomfort with a big grin.
Looking at what was on the table, Aster quickly noticed that there was no salt or cinnamon in front of him. Using his magic, he levitated a saltshaker and a cinnamon container, both put out where sweetener packets, stirrers, and napkins were, over to the table. He then proceeded to put salt and cinnamon into the cocoa cup before adding hot water to it, unaware of the fact that there was no need for this with the cocoa powder already being salty cinnamon flavor.
As Aster stirred the cocoa with the spoon, he was fearful that he had messed it up as he gave it to Sparky. However, to his surprise, when Sparky brought the cocoa to his lips to blow on it before drinking it, he could see Sparky put a bit of his dragon fire into the cocoa, transforming it into the kind of cocoa he remembered drinking when he first visited Starlight Ridge.
"Uroo, woo!" he cried cheerfully, loving the taste of the cocoa.
Everyone besides Sparky and Izzy looked confused. Izzy just smiled a sweet smile at Aster, a look that was soon shared by her friends, who knew Izzy had suggested this for a reason. Izzy then came over to Aster and whispered this in his ear…
"As much as we want the real you, we want you to be the real you because you want to."
Aster blushed again, briefly gasping as he started catching on.
"Now it makes sense to me, the remarkable purity of the hearts of these ponies…" he thought in realization and admiration. "They're just like the universe, knowing that we can't be forced to be who we're meant to be. They know it takes time for us to discover who we really are and what we're meant to do in this world. I always pushed myself because of pressure from others and wanted to show them that I could be just like my brother, but better…but now, I see that no pony could ever replace my brother. I'm not better than him, and they don't want a better version of him anyway…they want me…"
Aster began smiling himself, now ready to tell everyone the truth…
"I'm not Comet. I'm Aster, his long-lost twin brother. The real Comet sacrificed himself to bring me back."
Izzy and her friends gasped upon hearing his confession, and immediately began asking questions of concern about what exactly happened to Comet the night before. Aster then began explaining everything Comet had erased from their minds about the Forgotten Comet, as well as all of the new information the universe had relayed to him. He told them all the necessary preparations they would have to make to end the cycle of the Forgotten Comet for good…
To do this, they would have to go to the root of its darkness...the darkness may be able to grow stronger as light grows stronger, but what determines the triumph of one over the other is the stronger will…