Shade the Dark Latios - That's not all magic has done, but you'll hafta stay tuned to find out what other surprises this magical land has in store for our hero.

GhostChris - As long as I don't become the next M. Night, I'll be more than happy to put in twists and turns to keep you all guessing.

A/N - Not much news this week. Who besides me is glad the weather is finally warming up? I like winter well enough, but I also like the fact that I actually got to take my motorcycle out on the road for the first time this year yesterday.

My body was on autopilot, my mind too overloaded with emotion to even care where I was going. I couldn't even tell if the sun was still up or not. I was shown that, contrary to my beliefs, there was in fact an afterlife, and I had taken solace in being able to see my loved ones again there if the princesses weren't able to bring them here. It was that thought that gave me peace when I came here; now, that peace has been torn from me, leaving only sorrow, remorse, and anger.

I wanted to be angry at the princesses for doing this to me, but I couldn't… I could have gone to the next life and not waited to see everyone again, but I chose to come here instead; this is my fault. I didn't regret my decision, but instead lamented the consequences.

I didn't know how far or for how long I walked; I didn't even know if anyone tried to stop me. By the time my mind finally came around enough for me to be aware of what was going on around me, I was surrounded by trees. The area around me had a gloomy, threatening feel to it, but I hardly noticed it in the state of mind I was in. I noticed that the moon was out and it was full.

Just when I thought my mind was calming down, a fresh wave of crushing sorrow washed over me, forcing me to my knees. I could feel fresh tears beginning to stream down my face, following channels laid by tears I was unaware I had been shedding before. I began to sob quietly, not caring if any who might have come to find me saw me like that. I couldn't tell how long I knelt there, wallowing in my sorrow, when I was suddenly brought back to reality by a harshly cold wind that carried that same fetid stench I smelled when I confronted the timberwolves.

Part of me felt like not caring, just laying back and becoming a meal for the wooden creatures; at least they wouldn't go after any ponies with full bellies. The majority of me however, was shocked that I could even think like that. I was determined not to give up like that, even if my situation became hopeless. I had no idea how many there were, how far away they were, or even if they were coming for me at all. There was plenty of light from the moon, as it seems that I managed to stop in the middle of a small clearing. If these wolves were anything like the ones back home, I doubted I would know they were coming until one sank its fangs into me.

Quickly weighing my options, I decided the best course of action was to scrape together a fire from the numerous twigs, small branches and tufts of dry grasses strewn about the clearing. It would not only help me to see better, but hopefully would dissuade potential threats from getting too close. I was hoping that these wolves would be more afraid of fire due to the… combustible… nature of their bodies.

I quickly set to work, gathering piles of tinder and kindling to get my safety fire going, keeping my vigil up at all times. With that done, I quickly pulled out my pocket survival kit, a sense of relief at having decided to bring it washed over me. I didn't dwell on that however, instead quickly opening up the kit to pull out a small firesteel and a piece of waterproofed tinder. I set the tinder down in a small 'bird's nest' of dried grasses and small twigs I had laid in the center of the clearing and struck the firesteel over it. The bundle took fairly quickly, and I began building it up. Within a few minutes, I had a relatively substantial fire going, enough to light the clearing somewhat. I had no idea if the wolves would be fazed by the young fire, but it gave me a sense of hope and safety regardless.

The fire quickly began growing in size, illuminating more and more of the clearing and the tree line beyond. Taking stock of the situation, I noticed several shapes moving just beyond the edge of the clearing, illuminated by the fire light. The shapes seemed to retreat almost as soon as the light struck them; I couldn't tell if they were just trying to remain hidden, or if they were being scared off. Deciding not to take chances, I decided to play it safe and stick close to the fire. Unfortunately I realized that there was nowhere near enough fuel to keep the fire going all night.

I was looking around for alternatives, as I knew making a break for it would be tantamount to suicide, especially since I had no idea how far or in which direction the tree line of the forest was. I had just about given up hope of finding a solution when I heard a distant voice call out. I couldn't make out what it was saying, but I had a strong suspicion they were calling for me. I was so focused on trying to determine the direction the voice's owner was coming from that I almost didn't notice the wolves taking off into the forest.

The voice called out again, definitely calling my name, and definitely female; though I couldn't make out who it belonged to just yet. "BLAKE!" The third time I heard the voice call out, I was able to tell roughly what direction it was coming from.

Was that… "TWILIGHT!" I shouted back in the direction I heard her calling from.

A moment later, I heard her call out again, though she wasn't calling my name this time. "HE'S OVER HERE!" So it's not just her, they got a search party together for me…

I put the last of the fuel on the fire to make it bigger and more visible, hoping that would attract their attentions better. I only had to wait a few minutes before I heard the rustle of something headed in my direction at what I considered a jogging pace. It wasn't long after that a familiar purple unicorn trotted into the clearing, accompanied by a certain orange cow… pony? "Thank Celestia you're alright Blake! We've been worried sick." Twilight exclaimed as she walked up to me, Applejack right next to her. "I wanted to go after you and bring you back to the library, but the princesses said to give you time to think. I don't think any of us would have thought you'd go into the Everfree forest." She sounded somewhat winded.

I sighed and knelt down, hugging Twilight. "Thanks girls, I'm sorry I worried everyone, I just snapped when Luna told me the news." I was looking at the ground as I spoke, still hugging Twilight, as much to comfort myself as to comfort her.

"That reminds me, Twilight never did tell us what all this was about." Applejack said.

"… Could you tell her Twilight? I don't see any reason not to tell her… I… I-I just can't bring myself to say it right now…" I could feel my eyes start to glisten with fresh tears again; I gritted my teeth to fight them back.

I felt Twilight nod into my shoulder. "Something happened when Blake was brought here; we're not sure what… whatever it was made it impossible for Blake to go home… either in the physical or the metaphysical sense…"

Applejack's face screwed up in confusion. "What in tarnation's that s'posed ta mean?" She almost sounded worried to hear the answer.

"It means that Blake can never see any of the loved ones he left behind to come here again… not even when he passes on…" I hugged Twilight tighter as she said that, and she returned it, wrapping both her forelegs around me comfortingly.

Applejack took a moment to contemplate what Twilight said before it sunk in and she placed a hoof over her mouth while her ears drooped and her eyes started watering. "Oh mah stars Sugarcube… that… that's terrible…" She walked over and joined Twilight in hugging me, wrapping me tightly enough that I knew she was there, but not tight enough to hurt.

I had no idea how long we sat there; just hugging in silence as the fire died down behind me, until Twilight broke the hug. "I know this is hard Blake; I won't pretend to know what you're going through, but we need to get out of the forest." Her horn lit up momentarily before a purple bolt of light shot up and above the canopy, bursting into a purple shimmering firework that hung in the air. "That will let the others know that we found you and to rendezvous at the library."

I nodded my head as I stood again, wiping away a few tears in the process. "Alright Twilight, let's get outta here. It's going to take me awhile to come to terms with this, but this isn't exactly the best place to do it."

She nodded silently and we began trekking our way out of the forest. It took us nearly an hour of fortunately uneventful walking to get to the forest entrance. How long was I out of it? "So Blake, what happened while you were out there?" Twilight asked, breaking the silence.

I sighed. "If it's ok with you, I'd like to wait to tell that until everyone's back at the library. I'm sure they're all going to want to hear about it, and I don't want to keep repeating it."

Twilight nodded in understanding. "Ok Blake, that sounds fair."

Once we exited the forest, we made our way back to the library as Twilight said. As we made our way through town towards the library, I couldn't help but notice how empty the streets were. "Hey Twilight, where is everyone? They weren't all out looking for me, were they?"

She shook her head. "No, only a few of us were out there, most ponies don't come out after dark."

We walked the rest of the way to the library in silence. When we arrived, Twilight used her magic to open the door. Once the three of us stepped inside, I noticed several other ponies already there. "Oh, it looks like we're the last ones back." Twilight said, somewhat surprised.

I looked around the room to see that Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Lyra, Vinyl, and Princess Celestia were all looking at me with relief. Princess Luna was also there; however, her gaze was cast towards the floor, her ears flat against her head while she sat on the floor. It looked like she had been crying. "What's wrong Luna, Were you that worried about me?"

She didn't take her gaze from the floor as I approached, but she seemed to be shuffling away somewhat. "Blake… I cannot ever express my regret for what has happened… can you ever forgive me my transgressions against you?"

I closed the distance between us, and when I was right in front of her she finally looked up to me with puffy red eyes. I looked back down at her for a tense moment before replying. "No Luna, I can't ever forgive you." Her teary eyes widened with shock and I heard a chorus of gasps from around me. Before anyone could react, I knelt down and hugged the lunar princess. "I can't forgive you Luna, because I never blamed you. You and your sister couldn't have known that would happen, and it would be wrong of me to fault either one of you for that. So I can't forgive you Luna, because there's nothing to forgive."

Her forelegs shot out to either side of me, wrapping around me and returning my embrace. I could feel her slender form begin to shudder slightly as she began to weep silently against my shoulder. After she had calmed down somewhat, I pulled back enough to look her in the eyes. "What do you say, Luna; friends?"

Her eyes widened again before she pulled me back into her embrace. "I would be honored to call you my friend, Blake." She whispered into my ear, her voice shaking slightly.

The others apparently heard this, as there was a quiet chorus of 'aww's coming from around us. We were suddenly enveloped in a white feathered wing. I looked up to see Celestia wrapping her wings around us in hug, with a warm, motherly smile. "I can count the number of times my sister has wept over the course of our long lives on one of your hands. It is easy to see that she truly regrets what has happened, as do I. Many of my ponies would not be so quick to forgive. I'm glad to see you have handled this as well as you have." This caused a spark of anger to flare up inside me; I wasn't handling this well, I was tearing apart inside.

It took a force of will to keep myself from snapping and telling her exactly how I felt. Luna seemed to pick up on this. "Sister, I believe it would be best if we gave Blake some time to deal with this." She broke her embrace with me and stood next to her sister.

I looked up and offered a weak smile. "Thank you Luna, while it may seem so, I am definitely not handling this well. It's going to take me some time to come to terms with this, if I ever do. This is something too big to try and assimilate all at once though, so the best thing for me to do is to try and keep my mind off it and deal with it a little at a time so I don't break down again."

Celestia nodded at this. "Very well Blake, if you feel that is best. We'll respect your wishes and refrain from bringing it up unless you wish us to."

The whole time we were talking, everyone but Twilight and Applejack had confused looks on their faces. As I got back to my feet, Vinyl spoke up. "Dude, what's goin' on; what's with all the depressing talk?"

I sighed. "Well, I'm sure you're all going to find out eventually, and I see no reason to hide it…" I took a few deep breaths to steady myself.

Rarity interrupted, "Darling, if it's something that's difficult for you, you don't need to tell us if you don't feel ready to."

I shook my head. "No, I may as well get it over with now, because it'll probably just be harder later. I'm not sure exactly how it happened, as I know almost nothing about magic, but basically the spell that brought me here backfired and caused some damage that prevents me from ever returning to my homeworld or going to its afterlife; which means I can never see my loved ones there ever again." I had to pause for a few more breaths to keep myself from cracking. "It also prevents other humans from being brought here, meaning that I'm effectively the last human ever to walk the face of Mythis." There was silence for a moment, and I started to worry that I would either need to explain it again, or that they didn't believe me.

That didn't last long though, as Rarity walked over to me, and reared onto her hind legs to hug me. That was enough to cause me to sink to my knees, as it was taking everything I had just to keep myself standing. The others quickly followed Rarity in attempting to comfort me, offering an indecipherable chorus of apologies and condolences. Even though I couldn't make out what was being said, it was comforting to know that they cared so much about me after such a short time.

Eventually the group hug broke, and I noticed that even the princesses had joined in. Once everyone had given me some space, Celestia spoke up. "There's one more thing we wish to discuss before we must depart. We would not bring you to our world just to fend for yourself, so as I'm sure you've already guessed; you'll be staying with Twilight for the time being. We were also going to gift you one hundred bits to help ease your transition; however, due to your heroic actions in defending two of my subjects, and the injuries you received in the process, we feel that this amount is insufficient. We will instead be gifting you with five hundred bits to do with as you please."

Rarity spoke up again. "What about his predicament? Surely that deserves some form of compensation!"

I placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's ok Rarity, there isn't a way to compensate for something like that, and I wouldn't want anything anyway. The only way to cope is with time and the support of friends."

She looked up to me, eyes shimmering, "Alright Blake, I believe I speak for everypony when I say we'll be here for you if you need us." This was met with various affirmations.

Celestia spoke again. "Sadly, we must take our leave; as much as we wish to stay, we've still royal duties to perform. Your gift shall arrive in the morning, Blake. We would both like for you to visit us in Canterlot whenever you wish."

With that, the princesses walked out of the library, Luna glancing back at me as she walked through the door. Once they had left, Rainbow Dash flew up next to me. "So Blake, what happened in the Everfree? You were out there for like three hours."

Rarity spoke up before I could answer. "Rainbow Dash! After a traumatic day like today, I'm sure Blake would like nothing more than to get some rest and take his mind off of things, not relive more painful memories."

Rainbow dash huffed and crossed her forelegs over her chest. I decided to speak up. "Actually Rarity, I don't mind talking about that, plus I did promise Twilight I'd tell everyone once we got back to the library." They all gathered around me. "I don't remember any of the walk out into the forest; the first thing I do remember is coming back to my senses in a clearing. I don't know how long I was there, but I just sat there for a long time and wept; I didn't stop until I smelled that same fetid stench from the day before when I fended off the timberwolves. Part of me just wanted to lay back and become a meal." They all gasped at that. "But I knew I couldn't do that, so I built a small fire to keep them at bay. I could hear and see them moving at the edge of the clearing, waiting for what little fuel I had for my fire to burn out. I was about to throw the last of it on when Twilight started calling out for me, driving the timberwolves away; which is good, because I have no idea how many of them there were."

None of them made a sound for a few seconds until Twilight spoke up. "I was meaning to ask you about that; how did you start that fire? It would have taken way too long to set anything up on the spot; did you already have something to start it with?" She gasped. "Do humans have magic?!"

I shrugged. "Not that I'm aware of. I just used this." I pulled out my survival kit. "It's a pocket-sized survival kit, it has things for starting fires, catching fish, cutting wood, some basic first aid, signaling for help, and a few multi-purpose tools for whatever might come up. Feel free to take a look if you want."

Twilight took the kit with her magic, opening it up as the others crowded around her to get a better look. She began pulling various pieces out with her magic, taking several minutes to examine the miniature multitool I had stored, then moved on to the firesteel. It took nearly a minute, but she eventually discovered how to strike it with the small striker to make sparks.

She looked over to me as she handed the kit back. "I get how most of that works, but how did you start a fire with just that strange metal stick? And what do you have to cut wood with?"

I reopened the kit and took out one of the tinder bundles. "I used the firesteel, which is that metal stick, to ignite this." I held it up to show her. "It's a piece of cotton soaked in a wax-like substance that will ignite easily and burn for several minutes."

Rainbow dash flew over and looked at it closer. "I don't see any cotton! It just looks like a little colored tube."

I chuckled. "Well, you're not wrong; the cotton is inside the tube, which is just a piece of a plastic straw that I sealed on both ends to make the whole thing waterproof." I put the tinder away and pulled out a length of wire with metal rings on either end. "This is the thing that cuts wood; it's called a wire saw, and while it's not terribly efficient, it's better than nothing."

Fluttershy spoke up in her quiet voice. "What about that little knife? It looked like it might be… dangerous."

I nodded. "It can be, if you're not careful, but it's mostly used for cutting, like lashings for a shelter; or stripping small branches for use as kindling, things like that." I wasn't about to tell them that you could tie it to a stick and use it as a weapon. She nodded, seeming to understand.

Twilight spoke up. "Well girls, it's getting late, and I'm sure Blake would like to get settled in and try to get some rest after a long day like today. I'm sure he'll be willing to answer more question later."

Voicing their agreements, the others began filing out, expressing various goodbyes and condolences as they left. Soon enough, it was just me and Twilight. I took a quick look around the main room. "Where's Spike?"

"Oh, he's asleep already; he is just a baby dragon after all. Now, let me show you where you'll be staying." She led me up a small flight of stairs to a loft with a bed and a basket with a sleeping Spike in it. "This is where Spike and I sleep; you'll be in this room."

She led me to a door on the opposite wall from her bed. She used her magic to open the door. On the other side was a large roll-away mattress with sheets and pillows on the floor. There was another door that looked like it led out to the balcony I had seen earlier. "This is your room, we were just using it for storage before, but you can do whatever you like with it to make it feel homier. There's a washroom adjacent to the main loft room, the door is on the right as you leave this room. I have several hygiene products already, but feel free to buy your own if you'd like. You should also invest in a toothbrush and toothpaste; Colgate, our resident dentist can help you with that. If you need anything else, I'll be right out here. So feel free to ask. Oh, and Spike will make breakfast for us in the morning."

"Thanks Twilight; I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight with all that's happened, but I appreciate you doing all this for me."

She smiled warmly. "It's no problem Blake, I'm sure we'll get along just fine. Now, before I head to bed myself, is there anything you need?"

I looked around for a moment. "No, I think I'm good for the night. Goodnight Twilight."

She smiled at me again. "Goodnight Blake, I'll see you in the morning." With that, she left to her own bedroom, sparing one last glance back to me as she did.

I sighed and turned towards my bed, I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep, but I could at least check it out and see what I had to work with. After a quick inspection, I found the bed to be comfortable, if a little soft. When I was done with that, I decided to head out to the balcony and do some reflecting in the company of the stars.

At least I'll have friends to help me through this…