TheRyuuMaster: It wasn't terrible...just the sucky romance writing...

Freewing Alchemist: Thanks. And you made a typo on Alex's name lol.

nekolover3: Glad you're enjoying it.

Lord Curly: It was confirmed that he wouldn't be returning in Season 4.

Matthais123: No, it will definitely not end Starlight's arc.

Wow again: At least you're a lot less "assy" than you were before. Everything that happened was for a reason and simply not just done because it "seemed cool" or such. You say the relationship with Fluttershy seems weak. I don't exactly see how it could. I would if Alex simply treated her as any other pony but only included kisses and such. I try to make this relationship...really...I don't really know the word for it right now but...uh...I guess strong? But I have a limit, which you can probably figure out. No idea on how the element is "laughable". In that case, all the other Elements would be laughable too if you were like an old adult that strayed away from kids' shows. Things you bring up, like the Alicorn transformation, like I said, I didn't just do it because it seemed cool or I wanted to. In fact, I was a little afraid of doing this because some people were already complaining about him being "Gary Stuish" when he was just an Earth Pony, which I believe is people's ignorance towards OCs actually interacting with the official characters and establishing well relationships with them (ONLY in SOME cases). Anyways, back on the Alicorn transformation, I did that mainly to unlock more possibilities and open more doors and opportunities to occur and explore. Once again, his depressed mood was not added in to make him look less "Gary Stuish". There are various reasons for it, but in this case I'll mention one. We've already seen all six characters, and they all already seem to be content with their lives. Instead of seeing another character added in with his already "happy-go-lucky" personality, isn't it much more interesting and drawing to see the progression of meeting six seemingly simple mares who actually turn his life for the better by just being themselves? Not to mention the fact that holding this mood allows many more readers to relate to this character who aren't as bright and cheery as the other characters. I could honestly go on on all of this, but I'm trying to make this as brief as possible. About Luna, this situation is similar to the Alicorn transformation, you know, opening more opportunities and doors and such, but you really have to dig in to this story, go beyond the words and think outside the box, rather than just stay glued to the fact that "OMG! MOM?! STUPID GARY STU POS!" like most asses do if you really want to know why I do what I do and perhaps even actually enjoy it. The reason why I think you might think these are "poorly done" plot elements is because you're still a little stuck on the fact that it's an OC that's being explored through this story rather than a main character or even background character. It's probably my fault too, as I've seen I could have worked out the beginning of the story better, which I'm hoping to fix on soon.

Instead of saying "emo", just say emotional then, seriously. And you do know that a cutie mark isn't just a talent? Of course, this is usually a talent a pony takes on a job towards for background ponies, as they really have nothing to explore and are there just to be there. But as for the main characters, and Alex, this is more of a personality, with the talent being a perk as well. For example, yes Rainbow is a weather pony and she has a cloud in her cutie mark, but why have the rainbow included? Yes, obviously, she performed a sonic rainboom, but her job isn't doing sonic rainbooms is it? If a cutie mark was just to reveal a talent or job, then she would just have a cloud or something else with the weather. But the rainbow ties in with her personality, in some points, obviously, and most importantly, by symbolism. I probably should have brought up Pinkie Pie instead, as she's easier to explain. Her job is being a baker, or helping Mr. and Ms. Cake run the sweet shop. However, her cutie mark are balloons, because she loves to party or she parties a lot. And loving to party? I'd say that follows more on her cheerful and friendly personality/character. Yes, Alex finds a job being an Artist, which brings you to the point, why not just have a cutie mark of something with art instead? Well, that's not what I wanted to focus on. That's not his true self. I mean...it is, but not everything about him. The wolf, in this case, would be a symbol of him and his personality. Something you hopefully got after the first incident with Discord. Art, would just metaphorically be under his...cutie mark umbrella...?

The "nothing matters..." thing? There may have been a few instances where this is briefly shown, but he has no complete attitude from this. Only in the first Discord occurrence and event was this strongly instilled, but of course, that was when Discord corrupted him and fully presented the opposite of who he really was. I know how his name isn't exactly "pony-like". And there are once again many reasons why I give him his current name, which I much prefer you to figure out for yourself instead, but I will tell you one. One reason why I didn't want him to give him what you refer to a "pony name" was because it would take away the...seriousness and reality of the current situation and struggle he has to deal with in the first season. Like I said, if he would have came off as another usual "happy-go-lucky" pony, yeah, I would have given him a pony name. But otherwise, in order for the reader (if he doesn't already rage because of an OC) to drive more into the story and possibly relate to it, I chose the most appropriate name I could think of, even though I find it pretty common now among other stories...

If there's anything you want to continue discussing, dealing with this story, I'd advise sending me a message or something, as this is the last chapter in this story. Hopefully, you'll eventually see beyond these ideas you thought were "lacking" in and see why they were brought in the first place.

ReesesPieces247: Enjoy.

Azturner: Thanks.

charizardag: Hope you like.

TwilitPonyWhiteAbyss: Ooh?

Da-OGJ-Toni: :l

PRR Gangsta: *shrug*

MovienerdKing: Well, you'll find out.

Ecomonococo: Hopefully.

Antonio Harribel: Maybe... And I'm not sure. I'd have to see what goes down in Season 4.

BronyCentral: Thank you... That really means a lot.

Bronyruff Brandon: Well, I mean it's true. Even I feel that I have hard times writing out feelings I really want to describe perfectly. But thanks anyway.

Elemental Lightning: You could say that.

DeadSpace123: Hope you enjoy.

The Shadow Syndicate: You know, I've been really struggling with the comics. I don't know why. There's just something about them...probably because they aren't exactly canon. I'll try seeing what I can do with the comics, but I might take a break after this. About the Alicorn OCs. I believe they are fine ONLY when they're done right. Not for the sake of being an all-powerful pony that every single pony looks after and adores, etc. You get what I mean.

Day 3 – The Fall Formal

"Good morning students. I'm sure you're as excited as I am for today. Today's the day of the Fall Formal, the dance you've been looking forward to all this week. If haven't already picked up a ballet for this year's Prince and Princess of the Fall Formal, make sure to do so, as today is the last day. I don't want any complainers running to my office if they missed out. Remember to cast them in before the dance starts. If you have any more questions, please come by to see me."

Celestia's voice woke me up. As I stretched and yawned, I could hear Spike and Twilight moving in conscious as well.

"Morning." I greeted her.

"Morning!" She yawned and stretched out as well.

I began packing back my pillow inside my backpack until we all unexpectedly heard Rarity's voice from downstairs.

"Alex! Twilight! Are you two in here?"

"Rarity?" Twilight called, completely surprised to hear her voice.

"Go on ahead and meet with her, I'll pack up everything." I assured.

"Okay." Twilight grabbed her backpack, stood up, and began making her way to Rarity. Spike immediately ran off behind her, wanting to obviously see Rarity again.

Not wanting to waste any time, I hastily continued to pack, folding the blanket and almost stuffing it in, along with Twilight's and Spike's pillows, inside. While doing this, I heard some crumpling inside. "Huh?" I questioned to myself. I searched for the source and noticed several very thin slips of paper inside. Only when I pulled it out, it wasn't exactly paper. It appeared to be several photos of the outside field where Twilight and I were playing with Rainbow Dash. But for some reason…there were certain figures or forms that were cut out. I don't remember putting these inside my bag…

"Alex?!" I heard Rarity called again, canceling any investigation of the pictures. I quickly placed them in my bag, swung it across my shoulder, and rushed downstairs.

I saw Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack, including Twilight and Spike in the first floor. They seemed to have been waiting for us.

"What? What's going on?" I asked.

"You should come outside and take a look…" Rarity answered.

"What?" Twilight asked, confused for a moment.

Applejack waved her hand in a motion for us to follow her and led us to the doors of the library. From there, she opened them and revealed the students that walked in the hallways. Every one of them was wearing those pony ear headbands and tails. I guess our work paid off…

The school bell rang, leading for the rest of the girls to escort Twilight and me through the hallways as we continued to notice every student that seemed to support us.

Rarity chuckled a little. "Doesn't everyone look just fabulous?"

"It was a great idea, Rarity!" Twilight exclaimed, congratulating Rarity.

However, our smiles were cut short when we saw a familiar group walking our way. Sunset Shimmer and Starlight were walking side by side. Two younger kids, who I assumed to be Snips and Snails due to their obvious features, were walking by them as well. Sunset Shimmer had this evil smirk to her face, as if she had this dastardly plan going on in her head. Surprisingly, Starlight didn't look the same way. She wasn't happy. She furrowed her eyebrows a bit angrily…and she was frowning…as if she was annoyed.

"Don't know what she's smilin' about." Applejack noticed and commented. "Twilight's the one that's gonna be princess of the Fall Formal." She paused and analyzed the group more; spotting the girl they'd never seen before we came. "And what's-her-name is with her too…I saw her the other time when she was hanging around with Sunset Shimmer when they came by the gym. I've never seen her any time before that…"

"Uh…" I tried to say something, but I was too distracted as they walked by us. Sunset Shimmer obviously had that smug look on her face. So did those two other kids, but they really looked like they were trying too hard when they really didn't know what was going on. Snips placed two fingers on his eyes and then pointed at us with Snails laughing behind him. Childish and…kind of annoying…

However, Starlight interested me the most. Usually, she would have probably been wearing more of a face Sunset Shimmer had, but instead, she only glanced at me for a few seconds, and the continued forward, seeming to still be bothered by our last confrontation in the library.

They stopped at a door, continuing to look despicably smug. Only Starlight appeared different otherwise, merely waiting with her arms crossed and looking back in annoyance and perhaps even impatience.

"Vice-Principal Luna!" Sunset Shimmer cried out when she poked herself out. I widened my eyes in seeing her for the first time here. This was my mother! Well…sort of… "Something terrible has happened!" She announced dramatically, holding her hands together in grievance.

"What is it, Sunset?" Luna asked.

"You have to come see for yourself!" Sunset Shimmer returned in agony. She grabbed Luna's hand and began leading her hurriedly through the hallway.

"…what do you suppose she's doing?" Applejack asked, revealing a suspicious glare.

"What can she do?" Rarity asked, appearing to not be so worried. "We've already reached out to the other students to help Twilight and Alex win their crowns. What can she possibly do? Get the Vice Principal to ban Twilight and Alex from the dance?" Rarity laughed. "Ha! How on earth can she do that on the day of the dance?!"

I placed my fingers to my chin in thought. "I don't know, Rarity…but we already know that whatever Sunset Shimmer does can't so easily fail or be broken…" I paused for a moment. "I just…I just can't think of what she could do…"

"Well, whatever. We have her beat and she knows it." Rainbow Dash offered. "She knows no one is gonna vote for her now. She's probably just trying some last desperate attempt to get everyone's attention. You know what? She's probably trying to fake some accident to get people to feel sorry for her! What a dirtbag!"

"Oooh!" Pinkie Pie suddenly shivered. "That was weird… Why do I feel so strange all of a sudden?"

"You probably need something in your stomach." Rainbow replied. "Come on! Let's head over to the Cakes' shop!"

Applejack suddenly shushed us with her eyes darting forward. "Shh! Shh! Shh! Here she comes!" She directed to Luna, who walking our way.

However, the way she looked made me nervous. She wasn't just walking in our direction; she looked like if she was walking right towards us!

"Twilight, Alex?" She asked in a very stern voice.

"…yes…?" Twilight answered, feeling as if no good was coming from this.

"In my office. Now." She pointed to the room she had originated from.

"What? Why?" Twilight questioned, feeling shocked.

Luna didn't answer. She only narrowed her eyes and threw her finger towards the door once again.

Twilight must have felt nervous or frightened as well, as she grabbed my hand almost tightly and held on to it as we walked towards her office like puppies with no clue what we did.

"Hold on, Vice-Principal Luna!" Applejack called out. "What's going on here?"

"This is a matter between us, Applejack." Luna returned briefly before she closed the door shut once we were inside.

The room was different. It was rather bathed in darkness than securing light. Only the blinds by the window allowed seeping sunlight through.

"You sure like to work in the dark…huh…?" I asked.

"Take a seat." She coldly ignored my comment, walking towards the window and looking out.

Twilight and I glanced at each other for a moment, but obeyed her order nonetheless. We sat down across from her near the table in front of us.

"What is going on?" Twilight inquired, almost fearfully. "Why did you bring us in here? Are we in trouble?"

"There's something I'd like to show the both of you." She answered and pulled out a folder, later tossing it lightly on the table.

"What is it…?" Twilight shot another question.

"Open it and look for yourselves."

Twilight hesitantly turned the front part of the folder to the left, and what we found inside was quite…shocking…

"What the…" Twilight responded, unable to grasp control of the situation. "What is this?"

"That is the both of you." Luna answered. "And behind you is the prepared designated area for the Fall Formal, which is now destroyed. You two seemed to have an awfully good time…"

"What?!" I returned, observing the pictures closely. "Are you saying that we trashed the gym!?"

"Well, those two individuals in the photographs are obviously you two, are they not? Unless some pranksters had some very good costumes to share…"

"This is us…" Twilight replied. "…but…we never did anything like this…we have no reason to!"

"I'm sorry, Twilight, but these photos speak for themselves. Your word cannot overcome the power of evidence held against you."

"B…but…" Twilight was speechless.

I scoffed lightly. "C'mon, mom, you're overrea—"

"What was that?" Luna immediately questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Having that second to realize what I had just done, I was just as speechless as Twilight was. "…uh…" I pushed through widened eyes.

Luna placed both of her hands on the table and lurched over, sending us, but practically me, a nasty glare. "I'll have you know that I am not your mother, nor did I have any children at all, understand?" She shared in a very bold and well hidden anger.

"Ouch…" I muttered under my breath. "Right in the feels…" Nonetheless, I had to get back on topic. "Look…um…Vice-Principal Luna. We swear, we did not destroy the preparations for the Fall Formal! We absolutely have no reason to! We were looking forward to it, tonight!" I emphasized.

"Unless you have any other proof or evidence on hand," Luna answered. "This conversation is over. I think it should be fairly obvious that the school cannot let anyone who would do something like this compete for the Fall Formal crowns."

Luna continued to eye us in a disappointed and irritated manner, as if she was expecting some confession from us. Twilight tried to explain whatever she could by holding up a finger to speak, but no words came out. She didn't know what to say. She could only surrender and place her hands on her eyes, feeling defeat.

I sighed and lowered my head towards the table, even banging it lightly. My eyes slowly drifted towards the pictures again, where we seemed to appear to be actually destroying the gym and then celebrating afterwards. Geez…why does everything look so…forced and uncalled for?

"Well?" Luna announced, slightly in impatience. "If there is nothing else you two like to share, I suppose you can only apologize or confess?"

I released an angry breath through my nose, becoming irritated with this Luna's stubbornness and closed-minded head.

Twilight sighed and lowered her head for a while. Then, she raised it back up to Luna, almost teary-eyed. She was about to speak right when I took a second glance at the pictures and suddenly realized something. "I—"

"Hold on!" I exclaimed, surprising the both of them. I quickly reached for my backpack and dug my arm inside. "I think I know what happened!" I added, causing Luna to raise an eyebrow in interest. "Look!" I pulled out those cutout photos I had found earlier this morning. "I found these in the library!" I revealed them on the table. "I don't know how whoever did this, but it all makes sense now!" I pointed to the original photos that were cut. "These pictures were taken when Twilight and I were playing soccer at the field." I explained. "Someone somehow was able to cut us out of the original photo and edit us into these!" I then pointed to the altered photos. "In reality, these photos were taken of the background of the gym, but we were edited into it, making us look like we were the ones responsible for the damage! If you look closely, you can obviously see our poses don't exactly fit or match the damage caused in the gym. I mean, seriously, how can you expect Twilight to break an entire table with one kick like that?!" I glanced over to Twilight to apologize shortly. "No offense, of course."

"Heh." Twilight grinned a little in relief. "None taken…"

Luna picked up each photograph and analyzed thoroughly. "I must admit…you do have a point..." Luna continued messing with them. "With these…I can far more believe that you two have no real intention of causing such mess… I suppose you're allowed to continue running for Prince and Princess of the Fall Formal."

Twilight gasped and immediately pulled me in for a hug, almost dropping me off from my seat. "I can't believe it! You did it!"

I chuckled a little. "I don't exactly know how…but…" I shrugged lightly.

"However," Luna spoke, catching our attention. "I must inform you that I am afraid enough damage has been done to the gym that we will have to postpone the dance until tomorrow night. If you will excuse me, I need to let my sister know about this latest development." She walked out of the office.

Nonetheless, Twilight continued embracing me tightly in happiness. "Oh! This is so great! We're back on…" She suddenly paused and widened her eyes. "Wait…Tomorrow night!?" She exclaimed, releasing me and began to shake her head in panic. "No, no no no no no, no no no no no! Nonononono! The portal! That'll be too late!"

Before I could try to speak with Twilight, holding my hand up, the door suddenly opened. Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow walked in a rushed matter.

"What happened? Is everything alright?" Applejack asked urgently.

"Well, uh…" Twilight tried to answer, but she couldn't say anything about our true intentions.

"Are you two still able to run for the crowns?!" Rarity asked desperately, holding Twilight's arms tightly.

"Well, now we are, but—"

"Ah!" Rarity released in relief. "Fantastic! Come then! We still have time before our class. We must plan out our attire for tonight!" She grabbed both of our hands and began pulling us excitedly out of the room.

"But…!" Twilight tried to interfere, but the largest obstacle in doing so was trying to explain the real situation behind the scenes.

Rarity dragged us over to this apparent dress shop, which really reminded me of her boutique back in Equestria. But there was no time to reminisce about anything from Equestria, because as of things going on right now, we might not even be able to get back in time.

"Behold!" Rarity exclaimed, presenting the entire interior of the shop to us. "The Cakes' might be Pinkie's favorite place to be, but this is surely mine! Go on! Try anything you'd like!"

"We need to talk. Now." Twilight grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the dressing room nearby.

"Uh-oh…" I could even hear Rainbow Dash mention.

As soon as we were inside, Twilight placed her backpack down on the stool and planted herself worriedly on the wall. Spike poked his head out.

"Everything okay in there?" Rarity asked from the other side of the curtain.

"Yes!" Twilight exclaimed back and then lowered her voice. "Only it's not okay. It's not okay at all! If we don't get our crowns tonight, we won't be able to go back to Equestria for another thirty moons!" Twilight allowed her body to slide down and sit on the floor. "Oh, what are we gonna do?"

"Hmm." Spike thought as I attempted to comfort Twilight by placing an arm around her. "We tell them the truth. Let them know what's really at stake if you don't get the crowns tonight. They'll help us figure something out."

"Spike…" I returned. "The whole reason why we didn't ask for the crowns back is because people here aren't really willing to believe magical ponies went through a mirror to get to this world in order to retrieve two stolen crowns."

"Well…we have to let them know somehow. You guys only have today left to get back your crowns. If you want to do that, you need help. And the girls here seem to be the only ones who know how to do things around here."

I sighed and looked away in thought for a moment. "…I guess you're right… It's better than nothing…and I feel it's the only real option we have right now to get it done by tonight."

"Even if they do believe us…" Twilight spoke. "What if they won't?" She turned towards a mirror and observed herself. "What if when they find out how different we really are...?"

"Hey, these girls rallied around you two 'cause they saw what was in each of your hearts! They aren't going to feel any differently about you when they find out you're both really a pony prince and princess in Equestria." Spike offered.

"Yeah…Spike's right." I agreed. "The hardest part is getting them to believe us. If they actually believe that we're ponies back in a land filled with many more ponies, and not think we're crazy, I'm sure they wouldn't mind helping us. We just need to show them that we're still us…despite what we really are."

Twilight shifted her eyes around for a moment and then formed a light smile. She turned back to the both of us. "I'm glad you two are here with me." She expressed softly as she brought me in for a hug and petted Spike lightly on the head.

"Me too." Spike answered. "Unless of course we get stuck here for another thirty moons."

"Hey." I responded. "At least you'll have a Rarity here too." I smirked softly.

"Eh." Spike shrugged lightly. "I think I have a better chance in Equestria. Here, I'm more of a house pet."

Twilight and I chuckled a bit to that answer.

After, I faced Twilight and held out my hand. "Come on. Let's do it together."

Releasing a soft smile, she nodded warmly and grabbed my hand. Holding on to it, I stood up and placed my other hand on the edge of the curtain, opening quickly to reveal the three of us standing, prepared to explain the truth.

"You okay?" Applejack asked us, standing in front of us, along with each of the other girls, all holding a piece of their own clothing. Fluttershy was poking her head out of another dressing room and Rarity was sitting on the seat between.

"The Fall Formal isn't happening tonight." Twilight began, motioning her eyes towards the floor and back to the girls.

"WHAT!?" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in shock.

"It had to be postponed because Sunset Shimmer had Snips and Snails ruin all of Pinkie Pie's decorations." Twilight explained.

"WHAT?!" Pinkie now shouted out louder.

"The Fall Formal has to happen tonight."

"Wha—!" Pinkie tried to yell out again, but Applejack covered her mouth with her hand, forming narrowed eyes.

Finally, Twilight sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "You see..." She commenced our long journey towards an explanation.

Pinkie unexpectedly removed Applejack's hand and began speaking. "You two are from an alternate world and you're a pony prince and princess there and Twilight's crown actually has a magical element embedded in it that helps power up other magical elements, and Alex's crown is just really a memorable treasure and keepsake that his mother, a princess that covers the night and raises the moon, gave to him on their coronation, but without Twilight's crown the magical elements won't work anymore, and you need them all to help protect your magical world, and if you don't get the crown tonight, you'll be stuck in this world and you won't be able to get back for like a really, really long time!" She ended with a wide grin while all the rest of the girls looked at her oddly.

Nevertheless, Twilight, Spike, and I were looking at her with our jaws hung open, unable to believe that she actually knew what was really going on.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that isn't the reason." Rainbow reacted.

"Nope, she's pretty much spot-on." Spike included.

"He can talk!?" Rarity screamed out in surprise, placing her hands on her head frantically.

"Oh yeah!" Spike began walking towards Rarity as the other girls, especially Twilight, returned very stunned looks on their faces. "…and back where I come from, I'm not even a dog! I'm a ferocious, fire-breathing dragon!" He exclaimed out loud, standing only on his back paws. However, he returned to all fours and rather placed a very proud and smug look on his face.

I crossed my arms and looked at Spike with a raised eyebrow. "I'd say that's stretching the truth a little…"

Nevertheless, Fluttershy pushed Pinkie and Rarity out of her way and raced over to Spike, bending over to come face-to-face with him. "This is so amazing! Tell me, what are you thinking right now?"

Spike only looked at Fluttershy questionably, as she answered with a very and perhaps too amused expression. Her smile stretched across her face gleefully as her eyes widened and pupils dilated excitedly. Spike walked over to Rarity and looked at her as he answered Fluttershy's question. "Sure would love a scratch behind the old ears!"

"Gah..." She could only respond with.

"Uh, maybe later…" He looked away, scratching his head with his paw.

"How did you know all that?" Twilight inquired about to Pinkie.

"Just a hunch!" Pinkie shrugged cheerfully.

"Wait a minute!" Applejack stepped in, holding out her hands. "Let me get this straight." She placed one on her forehead and closed her eyes in thought. "You're telling me…that you two…are ponies?"

"You're both a…prince and princess?" Rarity included, still in her state of shock.

"You're from another world?" Fluttershy finished.

Blushing, Twilight scratched her head and nervously nodded. "Mm-hmm."

I placed a hand in a pocket of my hoodie and slightly looked away. "Yeah…"

"That... is... AWESOME!" Rainbow stretched out her arms in positive cheer.

All of the girls immediately circled around us and began excitedly chattering of which I could not clearly hear.

"See?" Spike pointed out. "Told you."

Twilight and I sent a smile back at him until Rarity interrupted, waving her hands. "Wait, wait, wait." She silenced every other body and caught our attention. "Is…that why you two are seeing each other? Because you're a Prince and Princess? Wouldn't that make you…married?"

Twilight and I looked at each other for a moment, exchanging looks that expressed that we should probably come clean about the situation, since they already know what's going on.

"Uh…actually…" I rubbed my head a little. "We're not…really…dating…" I answered, widening Rarity's eyes. "I mean, we're not married. We're just…" I glanced over to Twilight and smiled softly. "…really close friends. We only mentioned that we were, because seeing as we need to become Prince and Princess of the Fall Formal, we'd need to be recognized together."

Rarity gasped and rushed towards me, leaning against my body as she looked up to me and held her hands together. "So does this mean you're available?!"

"Uh…" I hesitated and then slowly glimpsed over to Fluttershy, who held her arms behind her back and slightly looked away. "…not exactly…"

"Whatever do you mean?" She asked, forming almost gloomy eyes.

"Enough with the romance, Rarity." Applejack fortunately intervened, as I wasn't really comfortable explaining my love life. "We gotta help Twilight and Alex get their crowns back!" She looked back at us. "You said that Snips and Snails ruined the gym, so the dance is postponed for tomorrow?" She asked Twilight.

Twilight nodded.

Rainbow placed a fist on her open hand. "Then we have to see what we can do to make the dance back for tonight!"

"But…we have class in a few minutes…!" Fluttershy pointed out in soft exclaim.

Rainbow Dash sighed and thought for a moment. "Okay. Let's meet up after-school at the gym. The dance was supposed to start at eight tonight. So…if we can somehow fix up the gym in an hour or two at most…we might be able to do it!"

"Sounds like a good plan…" Applejack replied. "…I hope."

"Woohoo!" Pinkie screamed out and rushed out the door.

"See you guys there!" Rainbow announced as she walked out the door with Rarity and Applejack behind her.

Fluttershy only looked at us silently for a moment and then began walking back out. Seeing the door closed, I quickly rushed over to it and opened it for her. When she saw my gesture, she quietly gasped and slowly looked up at me. Then, she quickly retracted it with a bashful expression.

"…Thank you…"

"…you're welcome…" I returned softly as I watched her try to catch up with the others.

A hand was placed on my shoulder. I turned my head to see Twilight sigh and look at the other girls walk off back to the school. "I guess we should go back to the library, huh…?"

"Yeah…" I answered, continuing to feel my gaze succumb to Fluttershy. "…I guess so…"

When Twilight and I were back at the library, I was finding it really hard to wait the whole way until after-school. Spike figured he'd possibly sleep the whole way through, since it was something he usually didn't do, and also because he found books boring. Of course, on the other hoof…I mean hand… Twilight could read books for as long as she wanted to, so she kept herself busy with that.

I rather found myself sitting across from her at the same table. Her face was already buried in a book. I rested my cheek on my hand and tapped my finger on the desk during the wait. I wasn't exactly getting impatient. I mean…the waiting felt long, but at the same time, it felt like something I could handle.

Twilight seemed to take a break, as she lowered the book down away from her eyes. She noticed me staring at the table as I continued to tap my finger.

"Something the matter? Or are you just bored?" She asked.

"I don't know…" I continued my stare at the table, but stopped my tapping.

"Come on." She playfully encouraged me. "Is it about Fluttershy again?"

I remained silent for a moment. "I've…just been thinking…"

"You always think." Twilight responded. "If you're not having fun with us, you always seem to be in your own little world. Sometimes, I can't even get your attention for a while."

"I guess I just don't know how to cut loose sometimes. It seems like…there's always something I have to worry about." I returned.

"I guess I know what you mean…" Twilight answered, thought for a moment, and chuckled. "I've been there…a lot…"

"I hope I don't bother you with all this talk from me. I hate it when I annoy others."

"What?" Twilight reacted with an almost disbelief look. "You could never do that. Geez, I'm the one who's always blabbering about stuff you probably don't really even care much of." That statement caused me to smile a little. Twilight hovered her hand over the one I was using to tap my finger and placed it on there. "Just keep it in your mind and heart that I'll always be here if you need someone or can't find anyone else. Just like when you needed somepony to talk to when you were in conflict about your family past. I love you, Alex, and I'm willing to do anything to make you feel better. I mean…I know we're really close friends…but I feel like maybe we're even more than that. Of course, I don't mean getting into the romantic zone, but…not just friends… It's like…we're really connected. Not even just brother and sister…but…I don't know. I don't even know if there's a word for what I'm trying to explain."

I placed a little more emotion to my smile and looked at Twilight with understanding eyes. "I don't think you need a word for it… I…I get what you're trying to say… If someone else needs a word and definition to understand this kind of connection or feeling…then I'd say they aren't true to know. In other words, if someone needs a word to describe this, then they probably aren't really feeling it."

Twilight giggled lightly. "Oh, Alex. You and your deep words."

"Psh." I brushed off humbly. "Don't mention it…"

I heard some noises coming nearby, as if we weren't the only ones in the library. I looked past Twilight to notice a smaller girl trying to reach for a book on the shelf. What frightened me was that this girl was standing on a stack of books to reach hers…and it didn't look stable. I excused myself from the table Twilight and I were sitting at and jogged over to this girl.

"Almost…got it…!" She grunted as she finally was able to touch the book she wanted. However, she seemed to pull the book back too hard, making the stack of books shake to the side and have her wave her arms around as she attempted to balance it out. Despite her effort, she began falling, dropping the book to the ground.

The fall obviously wouldn't kill her, but I didn't want her to get hurt at all. Fortunately, I was right behind her to catch her. As soon I saw her face, I smiled warmly.

"Not exactly the safe way to reach for a book…" I joked.

"Oh." She noticed me as she looked back. "Thanks."

I straightened her out on the floor and placed my hands on her shoulders, kneeling on the floor and making sure she was fine. "Are you fine? Did you hurt yourself?"

She giggled. "I'm fine. You don't need to overreact like if you were my dad."

I looked up to her and smiled. I pushed myself back and continued looking down at her. Even here, she was still adorable. "Just making sure…"

"Hey…" she brought up, looking at me closely. "Haven't I seen you around before?" She asked.

"Well…" I thought back, remembering all the times we had encountered each other. "I'm pretty sure…" I held a hand to the back of my head.

"Alex, right?" She questioned, leading me to nod. "I figured. My sister never stops talking about you. And I find it really weird because she usually has such high standards for a guy!"

"Huh…really…?" I merely responded with, making the connection back home.

"Anyways, I'm Sweetie Belle!" She looked down at the floor at the book she dropped.

I noticed it and quickly gasped. "Oh!" I bent down and picked it up, giving it to her after.

"Thanks!" She gleefully expressed. "I guess I can see why she really likes you. Then again…it might be because of your 'charming looks' she talks about." I merely looked away and blushed slightly. "Anyway," She held up a piece of paper in her other hand. "I better get going. I don't want my teacher to think I'm skipping her boring reading in class." Before she went off ahead, she looked at me and asked another question. "Hey, you're going to the Fall Formal, right?"

"Oh…yeah." I answered.

"Right…!" Sweetie Belle widened her eyes in realization. "You're the guy running for Prince of the Fall Formal! Along with that other girl Twilight Sparkle?"

"Mm-hm." I returned.

"Yeah! Now I know!" She exclaimed. "I'll be sure to vote for you both! I've never been to the Fall Formal before, since this my first year in high school, but I can already tell Sunset Shimmer is a jerk when I've seen her in the hallways." Sweetie Belle appeared as if she wanted to continue talking, but she widened her eyes once again. "Oh! Sorry! I really need to go!" She held on to her book and began rushing out. "Bye!"

I waved slightly and released the word softly. "Bye…"

I turned back and returned to my seat at the table Twilight was in.

"So…how was it talking with Sweetie Belle?" She asked, keeping her eyes on the book.

"It still makes me feel a little more homesick…now to when we get back, as soon as I see her, I want to give her the biggest hug ever…"

Twilight closed the book and placed it on the table. She rested her chin on her hand and continued looking at me with a tilted head, which actually looked pretty cute.

"I have a feeling you're going to hug every single one of the girls when we get back…" She responded with a warm smile.

I chuckled a little. "You're probably right."

We, along with Spike, arrived at the gym a little earlier before the school day had officially ended, which was the reason for the empty hallways. The doors were closed, but I knew the look inside wouldn't be pretty.

"Well…here we are…" Twilight mentioned.

"To be postponed until tomorrow…it must not be pretty." I answered.

Twilight only kept silent as she looked over to the doors, holding her left arm with her right hand.

A few seconds later, the school bell rang. Immediately after, doors flew open and the hallways were flooded with students. It was a moment before the girls, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash, came into the picture and appeared from the crowd. It seems that they had hurried towards us.

"Oh! You guys are already here. Cool." Rainbow spoke.

"They don't have class, remember?" Applejack returned softly. "Considering their situation."

"Right…" Rainbow turned her attention towards the door. "Well…let's see the damage."

"I'll go ahead and take the first hit…" I offered and walked towards the doors. I placed my hands on them both and pushed them open. I remained silent, only noticing a part of it until I walked in and observed all around me to notice the actual damage.

Twilight followed me and stopped by my side, leading the other girls to join us. We all only stared in shock and negative awe as we looked all around. Banners were ripped. Chairs were thrown. Tables were broke in half. Even that huge disco ball on the ceiling was broken into pieces. This was throughout the whole gym…

Rarity released a small gasp. "I simply cannot believe they did all this."

"If I only had some kind of party cannon that could decorate everything super fast!" Pinkie commented, causing me to remember Pinkie back home.

I sighed lightly, crouching down to touch shattered pieces from different broken things. "I'm not so sure we can even get this place cleaned up in time…"

Twilight's hand grabbed mine and pulled me back up to stand next to her. "I know it seems impossible…" She mentioned, looking at me for a moment before she turned towards the others. "…but, maybe if we all work together…?"

"Yeah…" I pitched in, smiling as I now felt her comfort and company. "We can do this… We can fix this…together…"

This caused the others to form smiles, despite the horrid surroundings around us. Applejack nodded confidently, ready for action. "Now that's the kind of can-do spirit I'm lookin' for in a Fall Formal prince and princess! Let's do it, y'all!" She exclaimed, holding out her hand for the others to see.

"Absolutely!" Rarity firmly placed her hand on Applejack's.

"Rock on!" Rainbow Dash boldly followed.

"Yes, indeedily!" Pinkie cheerfully added.

"Yaaaaay!" Fluttershy ended so adorably, causing me to form a warm and sincere smile.

They all looked at us, waiting for our confirmation. Twilight and I looked at each other. She slowly lifted up her hand and then placed it on mine. Instead of willingly placing my hand on the other girls' alone, she rather moved both herself and me forward, placing the both of our hands in the group together at the same time.

After, each of us threw our hands towards the sky, each of the girls forming different positive and cheerful expressions while I slipped out a soft yet happy grin.

Twilight and I found a supply closet in the back of the gym. Inside the heavily darkened room, with what little light the outside gave us, we were able to see seven sweeping brooms held up inside a can. I grabbed four while Twilight retrieved three. Spike, even adorably as well, managed to fill up an empty bucket with water and carry it with both his front paws, walking on his two back ones. When we saw the other girls waiting for us outside, I threw one broom over to Rainbow Dash, who caught it and twirled it around. I then threw another one over to Applejack and finally Rarity, who was slightly disgusted and formed a repulsive look on her face. I kept the last one for myself. Twilight took the initiative and threw the rest of the brooms to the others. Pinkie Pie, with a wide grin, jumped up and caught it excitedly. However, I noticed Fluttershy wasn't exactly prepared to receive the broom. She was too busy looking at the others catch their own brooms as she held a hand to her left arm. She moved her eyes left and noticed Twilight throwing her a broom of her own. Instead, she returned a surprised look and turned to flinch. I quickly stepped in and wrapped my arms around Fluttershy, covering her and having the broom hit me instead of her.

I pulled back my head to look at her. She had noticed that something was different. She turned her head back and noticed me right in front of her, actually holding her delicate body. I couldn't help but only send her a tender smile. Her face immediately flushed with redness, but I was really happy to see her smiling bashfully nonetheless, rather than frowning with fear.

Afterwards, we immediately began sweeping the entire gym floor. Pinkie Pie bounced excitedly, seeming to have lots of fun with us in our task. On the contrary, Rarity was sweeping…but she placed herself as far away from the broom as possible, flinching back with clenched teeth. All while Spike was hopping after her, looking love-struck as usual. As each pair of the girls brought their trash together in a straight line, I cut in the middle and swept the cluttered mess forward, shooting it towards a trash bag Spike managed to hold open.

Once we filled the bag up, I quickly tied it up, picked it up, and tossed it over to Applejack. She caught it with both her arms underneath. She turned to her left and tossed it over to Fluttershy, who seemed to have trouble holding it, so she passed it on to Rarity, who, in a split-second, grabbed the top with her hand and tossed it over to Rainbow Dash in a disgusted and fearful manner, who then took a few seconds to aim and shoot it over to the trash can Pinkie was holding.

Next, I was fixing stuff, like banners, on the walls while also picking up the chairs that were thrown on the floor. Behind me, someone had bumped into me. I turned around and noticed Twilight attempting to drag a broken table all by herself, which she was clearly having trouble with. I smirked slightly and crossed my arms. "Need some help?" I asked, half-jokingly and half serious.

Twilight looked back and noticed me as she panted a little. "I would really appreciate it…" She responded, smiling a bit.

I sent back a smile as well and walked around to the other side. I grabbed the end of the table and picked it up. Then, I looked towards Twilight and nodded, commencing our slow walk out of the gym. I noticed two other athletic guys peek in and notice the restoration we were doing. They began walking in past us, looking around and seeming to be willing to help. However, to my surprise, I spotted Applejack walking past us, carrying an entire table by herself like nothing! I was not the only one who was astounded and impressed by her strength, even though I knew the strength she held back home. The two other athletic guys that came in were holding their jaws wide open while Twilight could only giggle at our reactions. Behind us, Pinkie Pie was finishing up on the floor, but instead of using the broom, she used her hair instead. When she lifted up her head, she giggled as a bunch of the mess from the floor was stuck and caught in her hair.

Once we finally finished removing the broken items out of the gym and into the trash, we walked in to see Rarity and Fluttershy throwing streamers across the ceiling. They caught hold onto the support beams and remained on there. Rarity and Fluttershy hopped past each other and slapped hands, throwing the remainder of their streamers. A group of girls outside noticed this and walked in, seeing our efforts. To our fortune, they began helping us as well, allowing us to get this done much quicker. As they worked on the streamers, we were allowed to set up new tables and began decorating them.

Excitedly, more and more students from the school had passed by the gym and joined in our project to fix everything up for the dance. Even one of those, if I remember correctly, eco kids caught a streamer that flew upwards. The girls that helped with the streamers joined him and seemed to actually get along with him, rather than stay in their own separate groups. By them, one athletic guy and "techy" girl both carried a large speaker towards the stage. Another one of them was attempting to set up a light at the top of the stage using a ladder. However, I lightly panicked when I saw the ladder begin to wobble greatly. I was already beginning to rush over to help him, but someone had beaten me to it. It was another one of the athletic students, once again, breaking the separation between them. He held the ladder down with his hands and foot, sending a thumb up to him.

I honestly felt so touched and…happy… Never before had I seen so much friendship at a school. Back at my school in Fillydelphia…it wasn't as friendly like this. If it wasn't the situation where everypony was against me, it was where some kids may have been against one another when I wasn't there to be their punching bag. If only it was like this back when I was going to school…

Twilight walked to my side and noticed the work produced together as well. As I held a more sympathetic face, she rather looked slightly more smug and proud, in a good way.

Seeing a girl walk out of the gym with a trash bag, one of the guys mop the floor, and another setting up a table with a bowl and a pitcher of punch, I decided to take over when he was called over by someone else for some help. As I looked at the punch bowl, I stretched my hand over to the pitcher in order to pour in the punch with ice cubes. However, when I placed my hand on the handle, another delicate one was placed on top of mine. I was slightly startled, and looked to see who it was. As soon as I turned, I spotted Fluttershy and her eyes locked onto mine for a moment. Immediately after, she pulled back her hand from embarrassment and turned to the side, wanting to hide her face. Feeling my heart flutter itself, I couldn't help but grab her hand nonetheless and pull it back to me. She slowly looked back to see me gazing at her intently, blush beginning to form in her cheeks and spread towards the middle of her face. I began to slowly move forward to her with no exchange of words. My heart was taking over. I was even excited inside when I saw her shyly performing the same action. I slowly closed my eyes, wanting to press my lips against hers. Just as I felt we were about to finally come together, we both heard a clearing of a throat.

We opened her eyes and looked to the side to see Twilight standing there with her arms crossed. She was looking at us with a playful and friendly smirk. Fluttershy took back her hand and quickly looked away embarrassingly as I could only rub the back of my head with my hand and reveal a bit of bashfulness as well.

Before we knew it, there was an insanely amount of students helping us out in the gym and placing on the final touches. Twilight and I were standing in the middle of the prepared stage. The girls had come by with Applejack placing a hand on my right shoulder, and Pinkie placing her hand on Twilight's left shoulder. All of us then outstretched our arms, placing them around each other in a horizontal line and unison, leaving me between Twilight and Applejack.

All of us looked at the amazing accomplishment we all achieved together. It was outstanding. The time to get all this done didn't even feel long or wasted. We were all able to do this by working and getting the other students together!

"This... looks... sooooo... GOOD!" Pinkie screamed out loud in joy.

A clapping sounded and echoed from the doors of the gym, silencing everyone. It was Celestia by Luna, who was holding a big box with a hole on top. "All right, everyone! Fall Formal is back on for this evening." This led to every single student in the gym releasing a huge loud roar of cheer. "So you'd better get out of here and start getting ready." This then led the students to excitedly talk and walk out, holding up pieces of paper or dropping them in the box when they passed Luna. "Don't forget to cast your ballots for the Fall Formal Princess on your way out!" Celestia reminded.

"You got my vote, you two!" A boy told us as he walked out.

"Mine too!" A girl added as well.

"Mine too!" Another followed.

"Mine too!" Yet another continued.

"This is great!" I exclaimed. "We've totally got this!" I turned around to face the others. "And it's thanks to all of you…"

The girls revealed expressions as if they were all ready to form a group hug until Rarity intervened.

"Hugs can wait until later, girls! We must prepare for this dance immediately!" She held out a finger pointed outside. "To my favorite shop!"

The girls and I had ran/jogged out of the gym and school, but once we were on the sidewalk, closing in on the store, I felt an arm slip around my own and lightly pull me back behind the girls. I looked back to notice it was Rarity. She had pulled me away far enough from the girls, but continued walking with me.

"Ahem…" She cleared her throat, placing a fist in front of her mouth. "I was um…since you're not actually dating Twilight…um…I was wondering…if you would be able to attend the Fall Formal with…moi." She chuckled a little nervously as she twirled the strands of her hair around.

"Oh…um…" I didn't really know what to say, but somehow, the truth was able to save me soothingly anyway. "I would…but…I kind of need to go to the dance with Twilight…since we're running for Prince and Princess of the Fall Formal…you know…"

"Oh. Ahem. Um. Of course…" She returned, looking a little saddened by the news. "I don't suppose…you could at least…have…one dance…with me?"

I managed to return a soft smile at her, seeing that request okay. "Sure. That sounds fine."

Rarity squealed for a moment and embraced me tightly with closed eyes. However, when she opened them and noticed what she had done, she pulled away a little embarrassingly and slightly looked away. "Hm. My apologies…"

I continued smiling; not feeling bothered by her actions at all. "Don't worry about it." I wrapped an arm around her and brought her a little closer, which she seemed to completely adore and even blush a little as a result.

"I still can't believe we pulled that off!" Fluttershy exclaimed softly as we walked in the store.

"I can! We're awesome!" Rainbow returned boldly.

"Enough chatter." Rarity took the lead in front of them and eyed us seriously. "We need to get ready…" She pulled out a cart full of dresses and presented them. "…and we need to look fabulous!" She threw a group towards the girls. Before heading off to begin dressing herself, she stopped by me. "Don't worry... I have something just for you…" She tapped the tip of my nose with her finger.

I chuckled softly. "You always do…"

As the girls began looking for dresses and trying them on in the dressing rooms, I only watched and waited for the outfit Rarity promised…just like old times…

However, Fluttershy specifically caught my attention. I couldn't stop gazing at her when she was looking in the mirror at this dress she thought was beautiful, as I could see it in her eyes. However, Pinkie on the left side was trying out multiple dresses, flashing in and out of the dressing room with a new one. Each one matched her, as they carried the depictions of balloons or something just bright and crazy, in a good way. Rarity was messing with Rainbow's outfit for the dance, giving her some…I believe what she'd call…froo frooey…depiction. Rainbow had clearly had negative feedback for this dress, presenting irritated narrowed eyes. Rarity noticed this, grinned and shrugged nervously, and then pushed her off to make some drastic changes.

Applejack presented herself with a long plain dress that reached her feet. With those familiar signature red glasses, Rarity tapped her chin in thought, later retrieving an idea. She quickly knelt over to Applejack and began working with the hem of the dress, bringing it up to her knees. Applejack returned the almost same expression Rainbow had had. Pinkie then revealed herself in the mirror trying out different wacky hairdos which would seem fit. It wasn't until she had drenched her hair in water, blew a strand boringly, and left it to inflate back out, which she was completely content with.

But at a vanity table, Fluttershy's animal friends, a bird and a bunny who I assumed to be Angel here, helped brush the right side of her hair while she brushed the left. However, Spike was tending to his own appearance on the mirror close by. He analyzed several fake mustaches on his face and switched to see which would fit better, leading me to chuckle lightly.

Rarity then worked on her hands, seeming to place on similar application the spa ponies would use for hooves, only it was on the tip of her fingers. She winked at their finished reflection. After that, she finished with mascara, blush, and lipstick.

Rarity left the girls for a bit to freshen up. Pinkie was spraying a bottle of perfume in front of her face. Twilight was helping Rainbow with her hair, which she appeared to be a bit worried about. Applejack was fixing her hat while Fluttershy took a turn at the mascara. Rarity came back with a chest. She opened it to reveal a large amount of jewelry for the girls. They returned excitedly surprised expressions due to the shiny presence of them.

This led to Pinkie placing on balloon earrings on her ear, Rarity attaching a diamond necklace around her neck, and the rest of the girls to finalize their dresses. After looking at all of them present themselves by their personalities, I couldn't help by stare in awe at their beauty…especially Fluttershy…

However, as Twilight clapped excitedly for them, my gaze was cut short when Rarity pushed Twilight and me into a dressing room with our formal attire: a tuxedo for me and a dress for Twilight. Once we placed our outfits on, we opened the curtain and presented ourselves. Twilight looked just amazingly beautiful herself. In front of us, the girls could only stare at our appearances and walk towards us to excitedly talk by us.

Allowing the girls to be girls, I watched as they talked quickly and anxiously towards one another with a smile.

"Oh, you two look so fabulous!" Rarity exclaimed, but seemed to pay attention more to me.

"So, how are we getting to the dance?" Twilight asked. "Are we walking?"

"Pssh!" Rarity flipped her hand. "Of course not! I called in a limo."

"A limo…?" Twilight questioned, as we really never heard of such a thing before…I believe…

There was a honking noise that sounded from outside.

"It's here!" Rarity exclaimed. "Come on! Come on!" She excitedly waved her hand for us to follow her outside. Making sure I still had my backpack with me, I followed them outside, where we encountered this very long and strange vehicle… Rarity walked towards a door and opened it. Inside, there was a large area in length with seats to the sides. "Well, go on!" She encouraged us.

Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack sat on the seats to the right side of the door while Twilight and I decided to sit on the left side. Seeing as the seat to my right was free, Rarity quickly beamed and got in, closing the door and sitting by me very closely. As soon as the vehicle seemed to be moving, hence the moving scenery outside, Rarity appeared to take the liberty of wrapping her arm around mine and resting her head on my shoulder.

"Wow…" Twilight whispered to me. "Here, Rarity really seems attracted to you…"

"Heh…" I chuckled a little nervously. "Yeah…"

I personally wouldn't really have minded Rarity doing this, but in this situation, I began feeling bad. I looked at Fluttershy, who seemed to look away slightly or turn her head towards the window to pay attention outside. Fluttershy seemed to…actually…like me here too, but seeing Rarity kind of always hold on to me like if she had dibs on me, it seemed to…put her down a little. I didn't want to be mean to Rarity and stop her from expressing her interest in me…but I didn't want Fluttershy to feel bad about this either… Maybe I can dance with her at the Fall Formal thing…I really want to anyway…

"Hey, Rarity…I just realized something." Applejack spoke up. "Why'd you get a limo if the school's right there?" She pointed out the window, where the school was clearly visible. But being in this long vehicle, we had to go around the front where the area was big enough for the vehicle to stop.

Rarity gasped. "And risk one drop of sweat on our fabulous dresses? I think not!"

"And what about your sister, Sweetie Belle?" Applejack included.

"My parents are taking her and her friends, no biggie."

"Uh-huh…" Applejack seemed to react as if she thought the limo was really unnecessary, but waved it off as it did suit her character.

It really didn't take long to get the school, considering it was only like right across the street the dress shop was in. But hey…this "limo" did seem to be really comfy and nice. I looked out the window to see the full moon, which heavily reminded me of my mother. I kept my sigh to myself and waited patiently to reach our designated spot as Rarity continued to keep her arm around mine.

The vehicle soon came to a stop, allowing Pinkie to open the door and for the rest of the girls to sit up and exit. Rarity brought me along as she continued holding me. Twilight followed behind. As Rarity looked around in soft excitement and awe, I realized it was time to notify her of the escort.

"Uh, Rarity…" I spoke.

"Yes?" She turned around to look at me.

"Sorry…but I have to escort Twilight now…since she's my…you know…"

"Oh. Yes…of course." She gently removed her arm around mine. "Well…thank you for allowing me on the ride over here…"

"Yeah, of course…" We were silent for a moment. "Don't worry." I assured. "We'll still have that dance."

This caused her to remove the slight embarrassment from her face and form a short smile. "Thank you." Afterwards, she turned around and walked towards the area of the dance while still looking at me for a bit. Then, she turned her head back.

"Well." I turned to Twilight and offered my arm. "Shall we go then?"

Twilight giggled at my gesture and accepted it. "Sure." She now placed her arm around mine and we began walking up the steps towards the school entrance and towards the dance.

We heard the sounds of music even before we got inside the actual dance. It was very…upbeat and energy-inducing. As the music entered into my body, I already felt like I wanted to dance… When we entered, we saw a crowd of people everywhere. Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, and Scootaloo were even in their own group, dancing along with the music. We tried to look around for the others, but fortunately Rainbow had found us.

"Over here!" She yelled out for us to be able to hear. She grabbed our arms and led us through the groups surrounding, eventually taking us to the rest of the girls, who were all dancing in their own cute way. Spike was there too, as he must have gone on ahead of us. Afterwards, Rainbow Dash let go of us and joined in with their dancing.

Never actually dancing before in our new bodies, Twilight and I looked at the others and tried to match the use of our new body parts with our old pony selves. After some time of attempting to keep up with the others, Twilight looked around suspiciously. "Anybody see Sunset Shimmer?" She asked.

"Maybe she was too embarrassed to show!" Rainbow answered. "She's gotta know you two won by a landslide!"

"Maybe..." Twilight returned with a hint of doubt.

Nonetheless, the current song soon ended and Celestia walked onto the front of the stage, catching all of our attention.

"Now…before I start announcing the Prince and Princess of the Fall Formal, there's a couple of things I want to do… First off, I want to say how wonderful everything looks tonight. You all did a magnificent job pulling things together after the unfortunate events of earlier. Second, I'd like to have our traditional slow dance for our couples out there. You deserve it, especially after the hard work and coming together to bring the dance back on tonight. Enjoy!" She left the stage.

We looked up to see the lights altered to where it was dim…and seemingly…more romantic…

Twilight and I noticed the others walking off out of the dance floor.

"Hey! Where are you girls going?" Twilight asked.

"It's the slow dancing! You know…for the couples?" Rainbow Dash answered to a slightly puzzled Twilight.

"Which means you two have to dance together, since y'all are running for Prince and Princess!" Applejack made clear.

"Uh…" Twilight held a hand out as they continued to leave us.

Twilight and I looked around to see the others, who had dates, begin to get together more intimately to dance. Twilight slowly turned towards me, rubbing her hand on her arm. "Um…I don't know how to…'slow' dance…"

I smiled lightly, immediately gaining memories of Fluttershy and me back after the Grand Galloping Gala. "Fluttershy taught me…I can help you." I grabbed her left arm and placed her hand on my right shoulder. Then, I positioned my right hand on the right side of her waist. Finally, I grabbed her right hand with my left and held it up. I could tell she was really completely new at this, and perhaps she felt even a little embarrassed, in a good way. "Of course, it's like dancing…you just move…slower…" I chuckled a little.

She chuckled a little as well, but in a more nervous manner. "Okay…"

I took the lead and guided her in her steps. She seemed to handle it pretty well, considering it was her first time. We danced softly for a while until Twilight noticed something about the other couples, causing her to retract her hands and place them around my body through under my arms. This surprised me as she rested her head on my chest, close to me like if she was hugging me. I looked at the others around us and noticed that they were all doing this, which was why Twilight repeated their action. I slowly lowered my hands and placed them back on the sides of her waist.

This dance was nice, but I still couldn't help but feel more homesick. This reminded me of Fluttershy… Thinking about her, it led me to slowly search the crowd that wasn't dancing. Rainbow Dash and the others were there, talking happily and even sharing a few glances at us. But my eye was drawn to Fluttershy. She wasn't conversing like the others. Instead, she sat down and looked a bit gloomily at the floor and then around her. She looked alone…and I really wanted to change that…

"How are you doing?" Twilight asked, surprising me. She looked up to see me.

"Oh…um…" I was too focused on the thought of Fluttershy to come up with anything to say.

"You're not uncomfortable with this, are you?" She questioned, forming a concerned expression.

"What? Of course not… It's just…" I paused and then glanced over to Fluttershy.

Twilight noticed this and turned her head to Fluttershy. "Ah. Why don't you go dance with her then? I'm sure she'd love that."

"But…what about…"

"Don't worry about it." Twilight responded with a smile. "Go ahead and dance with her."

I managed to form a smile at her offer and then wrapped my arms around her waist and back, slowly tightening the grip.

"You're the best…" I whispered to her.

Twilight lightly blushed. "Just go make her happy…"

We lightly pulled away to see each other for a moment. Then, I began making my way towards Fluttershy while Twilight headed towards the others. She was staring at the floor when I reached her. Beginning to feel nervous again, I sucked it in and knelt before her, allowing myself to see her eye to eye. She was startled when she saw me as she gasped loudly.

I held out a hand towards her and smiled warmly. "Wanna dance?"

"But…" She responded very softly. "Aren't you…with Twilight…?"

"It's fine…" I returned assuringly. "She's with the others. You look like you could use someone to dance with…"

"Um…" She rubbed her hands together very timidly. "I…I don't know… I'm not sure…"

I grabbed and held on to one of her hands. "Come on. I know you can dance. You don't need to be afraid…"

"Um…" She began blooming with redness in her face. She looked around a little worried, but then back at me tenderly. "O…Okay…"

Feeling very content with her response, I gently pulled her up and brought her to the dance floor with me. Once we had our own little spot, I waited for her to position herself first, but she rather stared at the floor, unable to look back at me.

"Come on…" I encouraged. "Don't be shy… It's fine… It's all okay…" She lifted her eyes towards me, keeping her continuous flushed expression. "Here…" I offered. "I'll start…don't be startled…" I slowly placed my hands around her waist, surprising her and causing her to gasp as I brought her closer. "It's okay…" I soothed. She winced a little, but she was able to accept my action by slowly and somewhat hesitantly wrapping her arms around me to initiate our slow dance. "Relax…" I shared as I held her close. I shut my eyes and allowed my heart to take the lead on this dance.

I only focused on us. I imagined as if we were the only ones inside, creating the artificial loneliness as if we were reliving our first dance after the disaster at the Grand Galloping Gala. Fortunately, Fluttershy revealed no real signs of discomfort. She may have been a little tense here and there, but after a moment…she grew used to it…and I was glad.

As I embraced every second of it, the song eventually had to come to an end. Once we reached that point, we slowly pulled away and looked each other softly for a moment. However, our moment was slightly interrupted when Celestia came back on the stage.

Twilight and the others came running to Fluttershy and me once they noticed Celestia.

"Here it comes!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"I hope you've all had fun." Celestia announced. "Don't worry, there'll be a lot more dancing after this, but right now, I'd like to finally begin the event everyone has been waiting for. And now…without further ado…" She looked over to the side, where Luna was carrying a chest. "I'd like to announce the winners of this year's Fall Formal crowns." Luna opened the chest revealing the two shiny objects inside that we had longed for. Upon seeing especially mine, I was anxious and eager to retrieve it as soon as possible, my heart joining in for the occasion. As Luna stood by her sister, she also handed her a closed letter. Celestia began opening the letter. "The Princess and Prince of this year's Fall Formal are…" The girls behind Twilight and I were struggling to hold in their excitement, except Fluttershy, who contained more of a worried face. Twilight held Spike with his top hat and bow tie in her right arm as she grabbed my hand with her left keenly. Celestia removed the slip from the letter and brought it to her eyes. "Alex and Twilight Sparkle!" She exclaimed.

The girls behind us immediately cheered loudly as Twilight quickly embraced me tightly, almost suffocating Spike, who poked his head out of the joining. I would have been stupid if I didn't grin happily in both relief and comfort.

"Go on!" Spike told us. "Go finally get your crowns back!"

Twilight nodded and gently placed him on the floor, where he continued to hop excitedly for us.

Continuing to hold each other's hand, Twilight and I walked on towards the stage to be awarded our crowns. Celestia retrieved Twilight's crown. Luna then placed the chest down and grabbed mine. I was extremely content to be standing before her by Twilight's side…just like the coronation…

"Congratulations, you two…" Celestia expressed softly, placing the crown on Twilight's head as Luna placed my crown on mine.

Memories of dates not too long ago instantly came back. Twilight and I stood at the center of the stage, smiling and waving at the audience before us. Although, they weren't as immense as the crowds back at the coronation.

Before we could put our fears to rest and finally be prepared to return back home with our crowns, we heard a sudden cry for help.

"Twilight! Alex! HEEEEELP!"

"Spike?!" Twilight quickly looked around. We turned our attention towards the gym doors, noticing those two troublesome boys once again. Snip and Snails were kidnapping Spike as he attempted to fend them off but unfortunately failed from his small size. "They've got Spike!" Twilight yelled out and jumped off the stage and ran after them with me quickly following behind her.

We sprinted towards the hallways, seeing the boys make a sharp turn to the left. Twilight attempted to make this turn, but slid instead towards the lockers. However, I quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her away from doing so. We noticed the rest of the girls right behind us to support us.

"Come on!" I notified Twilight.

She nodded and we hastily resumed our chase. The two ran past Trixie, who was busy retrieving another snack from the machine but stopped to notice the scene. We followed them, passing by Trixie. However, I accidentally collided my shoulder with hers, having me to stop really quickly and apologize before I pressed on and caught up.

We made a couple more sharp turns until they led us towards the front of the school, where they then headed straight for the mirror; our only way back to Equestria tonight. Before we could finally catch them, another pair of feet emerged out from behind the statue holding the portal.

"That's close enough!" Sunset Shimmer exclaimed, holding a gigantic sledgehammer against the mirror, immediately stopping us.

We stared at each other for a moment in silence until Spike cried out for help again.

"Twilight! Alex!" He snout was forcibly closed when Snails held it shut.

"Don't hurt him!" Twilight ordered fiercely.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. I'm not a monster, Twilight." She responded and looked towards her assistants. "Let him go." Snips and Snails looked at each other confusingly for a moment, but released Spike nonetheless. Spike quickly ran towards Twilight, who immediately held him in her arms. "You two don't belong here. I'll make it easy for you two. All I need is one crown. Give it to me, and you all can go back to Equestria tonight. Or keep it, and never go home." She raised the sledgehammer aggressively and looked towards the mirror.

"What…?!" I exclaimed softly, wondering about the change of her plans until I realized someone was missing from her group. "Where's Starlight!?" I demanded.

"Oh, her? Psh." Sunset Shimmer shrugged off. "I should have never trusted her to begin with. I can't believe I actually thought she would prove to be useful when she's really such a weak backstabbing fool at heart! But no matter." She eyed me as she continued readily holding up the hammer. "It's not like she made any difference anyway. She may have slowed down my plans a bit, but she didn't stop them."

"Huh…?" I questioned, not exactly sure what she meant.

"So…what's it going to be? We don't have all night." She tapped her fingers on the handle of the sledge hammer.

Twilight and I looked at each other for a moment in silence. I turned back and stared at the floor. Twilight couldn't give hers. Hers was actually a part of the elements. Mine… I placed my hands on my crown and brought it to my sight. Mine is not… Even though it means a lot to me…my friends…they're more important to have than objects that only remind you of past events…

"Take mine…" I released holding out my crown.

"Alex…" Twilight whispered softly.

"If you let us go back…you can have it…" I included.

Sunset Shimmer smirked. "Smart boy. Toss it over here." She held a hand out.

I silently sighed through my nose and tossed it, looking away in despair.

She caught it and gazed at its glory and power she believe she would receive while keeping the sledgehammer by her feet.

"Now let us go home!" I demanded.

"Hold your horses…" She returned, smiling defiantly. "There's still plenty of time left…" She raised the crown towards her head and gently placed it on her. She grinned widely, expecting something huge, but there was only silence. She looked around, slowly beginning to realize her mistake. "What…? Nothing's happening…!" She grabbed the crown forcefully with her hand and glared at it angrily. "This is a piece of junk! You lied to me!"

"I didn't lie!" I answered boldly. "I told you that my crown held no power! And you were too conceited to believe it! You're the idiot here!"

"Why you…" She formed a growl that started soft but quickly ascended roughly. She threw the crown towards the floor and raised her sledgehammer above it.

"NO!" I cried out, running towards her to try to stop her.

But our disadvantage in distance made her successful. The sledgehammer flashed downwards to the crown before my very eyes. Before I was able to stop her…the crown was shattered into a million pieces. I froze in front of her in shock. My knees grew weak, leading me to fall on them as I could only stare at what used to be my crown. My hands shook as I slowly hovered them above the pieces, touching them delicately and realizing my gift from my mother was gone…

Twilight gasped as she witnessed this scene.

"Tick-tock, Twilight, we haven't got all night." Sunset continued, pressuring her and moving on to her crown. "The portal will be closing on its own in less than an hour." She turned her head towards the moon, emphasizing the limited time. "So, what's your answer?"

Twilight looked at the girls behind her. Then, she removed her crown off in thought. "No." She answered.

"What!?" Sunset Shimmer exclaimed. "Equestria. Your friends. Lost to you forever." She emphasized as she pointed towards the mirror. "Don't you see what I'm about to do to the portal?"

"Yes, but I've also seen what you've been able to do here without magic." She released Spike, who boldly landed on his planted paws. "Equestria will find a way to survive without our Elements of Harmony. This place might not, if we allow it to fall into your hands. So go ahead, destroy the portal. You are not getting this crown!" Twilight fiercely placed her crown back on her head.

Sunset Shimmer was silent for a moment. "Fine. You win…" She allowed the sledgehammer to fall in front of me. It landed harshly on the broken pieces of my crown once again.

Twilight handed her crown over to Spike to hold while she approached me. She stretched out her hand, grabbed mine, and pulled me up. "Come on…" She began walking me away from the scene and back to our friends. "I know I made a tough decision…especially for you…since…we wouldn't be able to see our friends back home again but…you know it was for the best…right…?"

"Yeah…I know…" I returned as I continued staring at the ground.

"I'm sorry about your crown…" Twilight apologized softly.

"It's… It's fine…"

Despite our mood, the girls began to congratulate us when we returned. "You guys... are... so awesome!" Rainbow squealed out at the both of us.

"I can't believe you two were willing to sacrifice so much for us!" Applejack added.

"I know it was a lot…" Twilight answered. "But…" She looked towards me and smiled lightly. "I knew we'd at least have each other…" She embraced me passionately. I was still down about what happened to my crown, but the warmth of her heart allowed me to share a small smile with her as well.

"It's no wonder you two are a real live prince and princess!" Rarity added into their excitement.

We heard Sunset Shimmer scoff and exclaim behind us. "Yes, they're so very special!" She yelled out sarcastically. Immediately after, she ran towards Twilight, aiming for her crown. Instead, they were both taken to the floor with Sunset Shimmer unable to grasp the crown that flew off her head.

"Twilight!" I exclaimed and immediately reached for Sunset Shimmer. "Get off of her!" I shouted and forcefully pulled her off. I knelt by Twilight and placed a hand on her. "Are you okay?"

She turned and noticed the crown freely flying away, which Sunset Shimmer was heading after. "The crown! Don't let her get it!"

It rolled past Spike, who took action to quickly seize it with his mouth.

"Grab him, you fools!" Sunset Shimmer yelled towards Snips and Snails to assist her.

They began running after him, leading me to quickly get on my feet and run towards Spike. Spike was surprised to see them right behind him. I sprinted and cut through the both of them, holding out my arms and picking up Spike off the ground. I had no place to run but towards the school doors. Sunset Shimmer had also cut between the two boys, but pushed them aggressively out of the way. I ran up the steps and tried opening one of the doors, but it wouldn't budge. It must have been locked!

I turned to see Sunset Shimmer creeping towards me, with the two of her assistants beginning to surround me. Spike began whimpering as we were slowly being closed in.

"Alex! Alex!" I heard Rainbow, seeing her past Sunset Shimmer with her arms waving around in the air. I retrieved the crown from Spike's mouth and threw it over to Rainbow. She jumped into the air, expertly caught it, and flipped frontward in the air. However, Snips had ran towards her and tried to snatch it away. Rainbow pulled it away, leaving him to fall on the floor. Snails then took his turn, but Rainbow merely smacked a hand to his face and prevented him from moving any forward. "Fluttershy!" She tossed it over to Fluttershy, who was completely unexpected of retrieving it.

I gasped, knowing how fragile Fluttershy was. I quickly placed Spike down on the floor and raced towards her, seeing Sunset Shimmer and her pets already storming at her. Reaching her seconds before the others, I wrapped my arms around her, protecting her from the attackers. During so, I managed to grab the crown from her hands and throw it blindly over my head. "Catch!"

Pinkie Pie hopped into the air, handing it to Applejack, who then tossed it to Rarity. Rarity, seeing Snips run after her, quickly pitched it to Twilight. Twilight caught it with both her hands, but was startled when she saw Snips and Snails try to reach for it. She accidentally threw it backwards with no one behind to catch… None other than Sunset Shimmer…

"I'll take that!" She exclaimed, firmly clutching the crown. She laughed evilly and even a bit manically. "At last…" She spoke softly to herself, leaving Spike to growl furiously. "…more power than I could ever imagine." She placed the crown on her head, but as soon as she did, something odd and terrible happened. A strange aura surrounded her and soon exploded into a ray of strange light with her inside.

Every one of us had to shield our eyes as the light was too intense. I managed to turn my head slightly around to view somewhat of what was occurring. This brought the attention of the students inside. They opened the door and looked at what was going on. Sunset Shimmer was now far above us in the sky, and I could absolutely not explain what in the world was occurring before us. Something emerged from her crown…some kind of darkness… Her eyes were forced wide open with only white being seen inside. It was somewhat like how Twilight appeared when she used her element, only this version was more negative and distorted. Suddenly, her whole body transformed and turned horridly. A huge bright light exploded in front of us, blinding us for a second until we were able to see the aftermath of this transformation.

Sunset Shimmer…she was…some kind of…demon! Once she noticed her new appearance, she laughed out loud villainously. She even had wings to keep her afloat. She moved her…claws upwards towards Twilight's crown. Then, she jerked downwards and threw out her hands. This negative light was contained in the crown, but it gave Sunset Shimmer powers with her new claws. The same light shot out from her claws and towards Snips and Snails.

This caused them to become the same form she held!

"This is going to be so cool!" Snips exclaimed in excitement.

They slowly began creeping towards Rainbow and the others girls while Twilight growled at Sunset Shimmer.

The students began releasing frightened screams and quickly retreated back into the school, closing the door shut when Sunset Shimmer noticed them. "I've had to jump through so many hoops tonight just to get my hands on this crown, and it really should have been mine all along!" She exclaimed, aggressively eying the school doors. "But let's let bygones be bygones. I am your princess now, and you will be loyal to me!" Using her magical powers, she grabbed the entire front of the school, crushed it into pieces, and threw them away. She flew inside, causing the students to run in panic.

All of sudden, the students ceased their running, turned around, and slowly walked, moaning as if they were…zombies or something!

"Round them up and bring them to the portal!" She ordered Snips and Snails, who quickly saluted and obeyed. Sunset Shimmer looked towards us. "Spoiler alert: I was bluffing when I said I was going to destroy the portal. I don't want to rule this pathetic little high school; I want Equestria! And with my own little teenage army behind me, I am going to get it!"

"You're insane!" I pointed out angrily to her. "Even if we don't have the Elements, all of us, especially including the Princesses, will stop you!"

She chuckled rather mockingly to my comment. "Even the Princesses don't stand a chance against my new powers. Not to mention they'll be outnumbered to my new army! I'll have Equestria in a matter of no time!"

"No, you're not!" Twilight stood by my side, joining me.

Sunset Shimmer flew towards us, sending strong winds against us.

"Oh, please! What exactly do you think you're going to do to stop me? I have magic, and you have nothing!"

"She has us!" Rainbow countered Sunset Shimmer's statement, bringing the others with her.

Sunset Shimmer laughed loudly evilly. "Gee, the gang really is all back together again!" She continued laughing, even forming tears in her eyes. "Now step aside!" She formed a ball of some strange energy between her claws. "Twilight and Alex have tried to interfere with my plans one too many times already and they need to be dealt with!" After those words, she shot out the ball towards us.

This caused the girls to immediately huddle around Twilight and me in attempts to protect us, but I quickly stood out in front of them and took the hit…or at least… I thought I did…

When I opened my eyes, removing my flinching posture, I felt unharmed. And then I believed that…perhaps my element had actually negated this attack.

"What's this?!" She cried out in surprise. "How are you…?"

"I told you, Sunset Shimmer!" I shouted out, pointing a finger towards her. "My Element wasn't in my crown! It's been inside me the whole time! I hold the Element of Purity! And that Element is my heart! That's something you can't take away! No matter how hard you try!"

"Oh really…?" She asked with an amused expression and unexpectedly swiped me off the floor. I struggled to free myself, but she kept her grip on me tightly. "How about now? Can your little heart free you now?" I only grunted and growled as I glared at her right in the eyes. She stared into my eyes as well, but then changed her expression after. "Oooh… This is interesting…" She commented. I only returned silence. "Yes…I can see him in your eyes… Reveal yourself, Beast!"

"What are you talking about?!" I continued grunting and squirming around. "Let go of me, you freak!"

"Hm…" She tapped a finger on her chin. "Okay… If he won't come out voluntarily…I'll just have to make him come out!" Using her claw, she began forming another source of energy directly at me. "By destroying you!" She increased its power and brought it closely. It appeared she wanted a completely direct approach with no signs of defensive for me whatsoever. She was going to do it. Strike me with her magical power that was only inches away from me… I don't even know if I'll survive this one…

"Alex, no!" I heard Twilight cry out from the ground.

Just as Sunset Shimmer was about to obliterate me in some way, someone else suddenly cried out from beneath us.

"Hey!" A girl yelled out, catching Sunset Shimmer's attention. We both looked to be awfully surprised of who it was. Despite her large bang covering the right side of her eye, she glared intently at Sunset Shimmer, holding the sledgehammer boldly with her two hands. "That's my job!" She twirled herself around and threw the sledgehammer towards Sunset Shimmers. It was a direct hit, causing her to be forcefully pushed away from me as she lost her grip. I fell to the ground, landing harshly but enduring nothing too harmful. Starlight, the girl who actually saved me held out a hand towards me. She wasn't smiling, but she didn't look exactly like she hated me either. I could only be deeply surprised by her offer. "Come on. That monster isn't killing you; otherwise I won't be able to mess with you anymore."

I scoffed, but even then I was appreciative for her offer and action. "Gee… Thanks…" As I grabbed her hand, I noticed she was wearing a light-blue dress as if she was attending this dance as well. She pulled me up and then turned her head towards the recovering Sunset Shimmer, keeping her serious frown on her face.

"Why Starlight…" Sunset Shimmer began speaking. "How I should have known you'd come help that dastardly being you call your little brother… But tell you what. I'll forgive you if you decide to come back and assist me in taking over Equestria."

"No." She, with no hesitation, answered to her request.

"No?!" Sunset Shimmer returned. "Isn't that the reason why you decided to join me on this annoying and bothersome chore?!"

Starlight looked towards the floor for a moment. "No…it isn't…"

Without getting into it, Sunset Shimmer immediately growled out furiously and angrily. "Grrragh! I've had enough of your insolence! All you've ever done is be a despicable irritating child! I'll teach you to waste my time and slow me down!" Releasing another fuming snarl, she formed a large ball of her magic and threw it towards Starlight.

This time, I wrapped my arms around her to protect her and most importantly repay my debt towards her. This concentrated piece of light from within me released to protect us once again, just like it did for the others. As the light faded away, Starlight was surprised to see what I had done. Before she could say anything, I placed my hands on her shoulders and looked at her intently. "Go hide."

She only continued staring at me seriously for a moment until she turned away and began hurrying off.

I switched my attention towards Sunset Shimmer who was really steaming now.

"Arrragh! I've had enough with your petty little heart! Stop interfering with my plans!" She demanded.

"This is the price you pay for your selfish acts!" I responded valiantly.

"Grr! You'll see what price you pay for your childish ones!" She faced towards her so called army. "Go! Get him!" They all faced me and slowly began walking towards me.

Fortunately, Twilight and the others ran over to me.

"Don't worry! We're right with you!" Twilight stood by my side, grabbing my hand and holding on firmly as she stared at the army beginning to come closer to us.

"No way will we let anyone threaten a friend of ours if we have anything to say about it!" Rainbow stood on her ground aggressively.

"She's right!" Applejack tipped with her hat and readied her lasso. "You two are the most dang special friends we met. No how we're just gonna stand by and do nothing!"

"And most handsome…" Rarity managed to slip softly, which only I could hear.

"Come on! Let's show them what we're made of!" Pinkie hopped energetically.

Fluttershy slipped her hand in mine and blushed lightly. "With you…I can be brave…"

I was touched by not only Fluttershy's words…but…but all of them… Just like back home…I couldn't be any happier. I softly smiled warmly…even feeling myself grow emotional and slip out a tear to all of them. "…thanks…girls…" I announced gently towards all of them. "You're…the best…" I closed my eyes, feeling more tears wanting to reveal themselves.

Instead, something inside me grew with great strength. I opened my eyes and noticed a glow being visible on my chest. All the girls reacted with awe towards this. The light then seeped through Twilight, surprising her. After, her magic aura formed around her and then connected to me and Fluttershy.

"Girls! Hold hands!" Twilight directed.

They did so, and soon the magic aura was surrounding all of us.

"No! What's going on?!" Sunset Shimmer cried out, now in fear and desperation. To prove this, she shot out multiple magical attacks towards us, all which were completely ineffective.

"I'll tell you what, Sunset Shimmer!" Twilight exclaimed out. "The magic contained in my Element was able to unite with those that helped create it! Every single Element stands with us together! And Alex's pure heart was able to recall the love and union of the Elements back home!" The crown upon Sunset Shimmer's head now shot out a familiar tinted purple glow towards us. We were levitated off the ground, reminding me of this process I had not gone through in so long. The power of the Elements of Harmony. Each one of the girls, even including me, began going through these odd transformations. Applejack formed pony ears on her head instead, and her hair was lengthened longer to represent the tail she had in Equestria. "Honesty!" Fluttershy underwent through this same process, only she actually and surprisingly formed wings on her back. "Kindness!" Pinkie Pie had her turn in the transformation, waving her arms excitedly after. "Laughter!" Rarity then received the perks she had back home. "Generosity!" Rainbow received her wings as well. "Loyalty!" I noticed my wings returned, along with my old ears. "Purity!" Finally, Twilight allowed herself to undergo the transformation lastly, gaining her wings and extended hair. "Magic!" We all remained together, feeling the underrated power surge within us. "Together with a crown, they create a power beyond anything you could imagine, and it is a power you don't have the ability to control! The crown may be upon your head, Sunset Shimmer, but you cannot wield it, because you do not possess the most powerful magic of all: the magic of friendship!" Twilight brazenly explained and grabbed my hand strongly, allowing for the rest of us to connect each other's hands once again.

Twilight shared one last look with me. Both of us looked at each other confidently and nodded. Finally, we closed our eyes in order to end this chaos. We felt the power of the elements burst from inside us. The rainbow of our colors twirled around in the sky and then swiftly shot down straight towards Sunset Shimmer.

"No! What is happening?" Sunset Shimmer exclaimed as the Elements surrounded her like a large tornado.

"Here and in Equestria, it is the only magic that can truly unite us all!" Twilight continued, initiating our Elements to send out more beams towards the army of students.

"The only magic that can never be truly defeated…" I ended softly before we finally released the last of our light.

Everything settled down. Everything seemed…peaceful… Did we…do it?

I slowly opened my eyes and no longer saw a horrid Sunset Shimmer. There was a huge crater in the middle of where Sunset Shimmer had flew above, but I focused my attention towards Twilight. She was lying on the ground, her cheek pressing against it as her eyes remained closed. I moved towards her and softly knelt by her. I gently placed a hand on the top of her arm and lightly shook. She slowly opened her eyes and noticed me, only to see me smiling in both accomplishment and love at her. She sat up and quickly embraced me, which I tenderly returned. She looked to her side to notice Spike happily panting by her. Afterwards, she stretched out her arms to him as well, which he followed by jumping into them.

The girls had walked over to us, but they reacted painfully towards our direction. Wondering was this was about, we turned our heads to look inside the huge crater near us. Twilight stood up and walked towards the edge. I followed behind her.

"You will never rule in Equestria." Twilight announced towards Sunset Shimmer, who was weakly attempting to get back up as a cloud of smoke surrounded her. "Any power you may have had in this world is gone. Tonight, you've shown everyone who you really are." Twilight presented everyone else, as a few of them walked around the crater as well to look inside. "You've shown them what is in your heart."

Sunset Shimmer was silent for a moment until she sniffled, speaking with her broken voice. "Keep your mouth shut, Twilight Sparkle! You don't know me! Just because you can so easily obtain your friendship, doesn't mean I can!" She continued allowing her tears to fall freely from her face. Twilight didn't respond so quickly to this. I realized that I should handle this instead. Despite having wings, I slid on the steep rocky curve in the crater. Then, I was in front of a weeping and messy Sunset Shimmer. I crouched down in front of her and held out my hand. "Keep your hand away from me…" She ordered softly.

"You've never really had friends…have you?" I asked, shocking her as she gasped and looked up to me. "One way or another, it was hard to make some…and this brought spite into you, didn't it? You were so angry that you couldn't have this… And then, when you were a pupil under Celestia…you just snapped… You were absolutely through with not getting what you desired." I paused for a moment and looked at the ground. "But it all started with friendship…"

"How…how can you say that…?" She spoke through quiet sobs. "You have your friends…right there…especially her…" She pointed at Twilight. "…my replacement…"

"Because I've been through what you have." I gestured my hand closer to her. "Heck, I probably would have done the same thing somewhat close to what you did tonight…if it wasn't for them…" I looked over to Twilight and the girls. "But our final choices rest within us, only to have our past events persuade to which choices we choose to stay with. But in the end, Sunset…" I looked towards her. "Our final choice ultimately depends on us… You can still make the right choice…no matter how difficult or unsatisfying it might be at the time. It'll always lead to a brighter future."

Sunset continued to stare at me through teary eyes, speechless. She held a fist in front of her mouth in attempts to silence her sobs and grabbed my hand. "I'm sorry…" She apologized to me and then looked out to everyone else. "…I'm so sorry!" She returned her apologetic look at me. "I…didn't know there was another way…"

"The magic of friendship doesn't just exist in Equestria…" Twilight included. "It's everywhere." She looked out to our friends. "You can seek it out, or you can forever be alone… Like Alex said…The choice is yours. And it's your responsibility to make the right one, no matter how hard it might be…"

"But... But all I've ever done since being here is drive everyone apart. I don't know the first thing about friendship." She confessed.

Feeling her pain, I pulled her up from the floor. Then I carried her gently and flew back to where Twilight and the others were waiting. "If that's the case…" I spoke as I placed Sunset before them. "As long you promise to make the right choices and not try to separate everyone again…I'm sure they can help you with that…" I directed towards Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.

"Those are my girls! Woo-hoo!" Spike cheered from the side, clapping his paws together.

"Did that dog just talk?" One of the guys near him instantly questioned. "Whoa. Weird."

"Seriously?" Spike asked in irritation. "The talking dog is the weird thing about all this?"

"I, for one, think you're adorable." Rarity responded, picked up Spike, and began scratching him.

"Oh, yeah…" Spike released in pleasure.

"I believe this belongs to you." Celestia had recovered the crown and presented it in front of Twilight. "A true prince and princess in any world lead not by forcing others to bow before them…" Twilight knelt respectively in front of Celestia. "…but by inspiring others to stand with them." Celestia placed the crown upon her head. "We have all seen that you two are capable of just that. I hope you see it too, Princess Twilight…" She then turned her head to see me. "…and Prince Alex…"

Twilight glanced at me for a moment, sharing a heartfelt smile, and then answered Celestia with a nod. "We do."

As soon as Twilight stood back up, the crowd around us immediately began cheering.

Sunset hesitantly walked towards me, still a little devastated about what happened. "Do you…really think that your friends would…actually be mine…?"

"Of course." I faced her, answering her yearning question. "Like I said…only if you promise never to pull any stunts like this again, or do any of the sorts. Treat others…how you'd like to be treated." This caused Sunset to smile lightly. Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me. I was deeply surprised, but somehow expecting this as well. I laughed inside, realizing how prone I was to feeling sorry for our past enemies and willing to become their friend… After all… The most effective way to defeat a foe is to become their friend… That is the power of friendship… Once Sunset was finished with her embrace, I had to let her know of the bad news, of course. "Although…" I placed a hand on her shoulder and directed her to the front of the school with my other one. "You do have consequences for the choices you make…" I presented the broken front of the school, which obviously needed to be rebuilt once again. "And this…is a pretty big consequence. But hey, all in all, it makes you a better person. And without consequences, we can never realize how our actions affect and hurt others. But don't worry…your friends will be there to take care of you…"

"Come now." Luna stopped by Sunset Shimmer and me and pointed towards the damage. "You know what you must do."

Sunset sighed and walked towards the direction.

Luna and I watched her for a moment before Luna decided to speak. "You know…" I turned to face her. "I always wondered about having a boy…and naming him Alexander…just like you…" This statement made up for her other hurtful one back when she was interrogating Twilight and me. I didn't say anything, but smiled warmly. She smiled as well and patted my shoulder. Then, she walked off to attend to Sunset.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL WAITING FOR?!" Pinkie screamed out loud. "LET'S PARTY!"

She led the others back into the building as Rarity walked by me.

"Of course…" She mentioned. "I'm still waiting for that dance…"

I chuckled and then grabbed her hand, taking her back inside so I could give her that dance I promised.

Despite everything that had had happened, everyone dance and partied enjoyably. After I had satisfied Rarity with a dance she so longed for, she decided to join Pinkie Pie in that line "follow the leader" dance. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, grabbed Scootaloo from Applebloom and Sweetie Belle to fly her around. I smiled gently and scanned the crowd for Twilight.

She wasn't hard to find when I noticed a crowd gaining awkward distance away from a single being. In the middle, that being was Twilight. She was absolutely letting loose and dancing crazily to her heart's content, just like her birthday in Canterlot! I grinned and jumped in eagerly to join her. Getting on all fours by her side, I copied her movements exactly. Noticing me when she looked my way, she grinned widely in excitement, which I reacted with as well.

Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Spike were about to join us until, what appeared to actually be Photo Finish, waved towards us and presented a camera. Twilight and I stood up, realizing that she wanted a picture of us.

Each of us happily and excitedly got into position for the picture, recognizably and memorably the same positions as we did back in Equestria when I took my first happy picture with them…

Lowering myself to Fluttershy's height, I glanced towards her and drew myself just a little closer to her. Finally, we all stared jubilantly towards the camera and allowed Photo Finish to snap the photo.

Unfortunately, our night had to be cut short, due to the limited time of returning back home. I began walking outside, using the broken entrance of the school. I stopped by Sunset and smiled assuringly towards her. "You'll have to pay a price now…" I began, offering some words of encouragement. "But it'll be worth it in the end…all right?"

She remained silent, but only nodded.

I continued smiling and walked on towards the group of girls waiting for me outside.

"Hold on…" Twilight brought up as I approached her. "I just totally forgot about something… What happened to Starlight? Have you seen her?"

I looked around for a moment, but knew it was a little unnecessary as I already had an idea of where she was. "I'm sure she's already back in Equestria… She probably left after I told her to hide…"

Twilight placed her fingers to her chin. "I can't tell whether that's a bad thing or a good thing…"

Nevertheless, I just returned a smile and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it." After, I looked out to all the girls in front of us. "Well…I guess this is it… I mean…" I lowered my head and rubbed it a bit, sticking my other hand in my pocket. "You girls have been great…truly…" I lifted my head to see them. "Twilight and I wouldn't have been able to do this without any of you…"

"Oooh!" Rarity cried out and ran towards me, immediately squeezing me. "Why do you have to go?! One boy I actually find to be absolutely magnificent and you're only here for three days!" She sighed sadly.

I chuckled lightly and patted her. "I'm sorry, Rarity…It's been fun here, but we belong back in the other world beyond that mirror."

She sighed once again and nodded. "Okay… I understand… You must…" After a moment, she pulled away, wiping her eyes a bit.

I looked towards the others, smirked a bit, and held out my arms. "Come on. Don't be shy."

Pinkie Pie didn't hesitate for a second; she hopped to my arms and gave me a very huge and tight squeeze, almost leaving me breathless for a few seconds.

Applejack had her turn next, sharing a few words with me. "Been fun having you two here, partner."

"Same here, Applejack." I returned.

After Applejack, Rainbow embraced me as well.

"Stay gold, Ponyboy." She offered.

I laughed a little.

"Thanks…"

When Rainbow Dash pulled away, that left me with one more… Fluttershy.

I looked at her, but she handled the situation a little timidly. For her, I decided to embrace her first instead. She whimpered a little again. Only this time, it seemed that she forced herself to return the hug. It wasn't the kind of force where you didn't want to do it but felt like you needed to. By force, her head was too shy and afraid of hugging me back, but she wanted to do it, and despite all her fears, she accomplished this task. I could feel her warmth radiate from not only her body...but her heart as well. I even felt the heat from her cheeks, as she was in her flushed state once again.

"How about one more together, huh?" Twilight asked, inviting all of us for a major group hug.

Fluttershy and I gently pulled away and looked at each other before accepting this offer. We joined Twilight, along with the rest of the girls, to all share our love for one last time. The girls even released their own somewhat saddened giggles for our departure.

After we broke away, Twilight noticed Sunset Shimmer, who was looking at our scene from behind the broken school wall. "You'll look out for her, won't you?" She asked them.

"Of course we will." Rarity responded. "Although I do expect some sort of apology for last spring's debacle." She added, crossing her arms a little irritatedly.

"I have a feeling she'll be handing out a lot of apologies." Twilight shared as we noticed Luna walk towards her and hand her the tool she'd need to replace bricks, which Snips and Snails carried a plentiful amount of to her in a wheelbarrow.

"We better get going." Spike advised, seeing as it was almost midnight.

Twilight nodded and faced towards the girls. "I know we've only been friends for a short time, but we're going to miss all of you so much." The girls returned earnest expressions…but Fluttershy…she…she still appeared to be a little sadder for my departure as she continued to glance shyly at me with a frown. "Come on…" Twilight placed a hand on my back.

"Alright…" I lightly hesitated and finally turned around with Twilight to walk towards the portal back home.

Walking by us, Spike spoke to Twilight. "That crown really does suit you, Princess Twilight." He winked.

"You know what, Spike? I am starting to feel a little more comfortable wearing it." Twilight answered happily.

"And the wings?"

"I've been walking on two legs and picking things up with these." She presented her hands. "Wings? I'm thrilled that's all I'll be dealing with back in Equestria!"

Before they entered the portal, Twilight grabbed something that was resting besides it. She handed it towards me, surprising me a bit with its appearance. "Here."

I grabbed my backpack and observed it for a moment. "My bag! I almost forgot it!"

"That's why I'm here to watch out for you too…" Twilight shared, causing me to look at her. "Spike and I picked up the pieces of your crown and put them inside… I hope that's okay…"

I smiled lightly, heartfelt by their gestures. "It's great…" I hugged her. "Thank you…"

She smiled as well. "Let's go home…" She turned to begin walking, but I remained standing there…unable to get her out of my mind. Twilight stopped herself and turned back, noticing me hold my head down. "…are you coming?"

I didn't answer. My eyes moved to side. I wanted to turn around. I wanted to do it. I threw my backpack around my shoulder and took in a deep breath. I silently turned around and faced directly at Fluttershy.

I ran. Straight towards her.

Before she could say anything, I grabbed her arms and fervently placed my lips on hers. She was extremely startled, and her face intensely flushed so much. Nonetheless, she closed her eyes and was sucked into our kiss. After a moment, I pulled away, leading her to open her eyes.

"I…" She tried to speak, but was utterly speechless.

I only smiled in response.

"Hey! No fair! What about me?" Rarity predictably spoke up about the situation.

I chuckled and looked towards her. "Fine." Her eyes widened and she grinned beamingly in excitement. Then, she puckered out her lips and closed her eyes. Instead of giving her what she expected, I rather placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. She opened her eyes, quite puzzled. "Sorry…it's…as much as I can do…"

Rarity sighed, but smiled nevertheless. "I'll take it. It's an honor from a prince such as yourself."

I smirked, but looked back to see the moon and our time running out. I began jogging lightly away as I waved back towards them. "It's been nice being with you girls! I love you all!" Afterwards, I reached Twilight, gesturing her that I was ready.

Finally, we both entered through the mirror, possibly just before our time ran out.

On the other side, Twilight and I were standing on our back hooves, just as if we were standing back in that other world. However, the weight of our old bodies brought us back on all fours.

"Alex! Twilight!" We heard in front of us.

"Ah, you're back!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed at us as Twilight was recognizing her old pony limbs.

"You've got your crown!" Rarity announced, hopping towards Twilight.

"I knew you could do it!" Pinkie Pie hugged the both of us.

They didn't know the actual appearance of my crown…but I did technically get it back…

"Oh, we were so worried!" Applejack wiped the tears out of her eye with her hoof.

"Sunset Shimmer, is she alright?" Tia asked.

"I think she's going to be fine." Twilight answered as she looked at me with a smile. "We left her in good hands."

The girls only responded with puzzled faces.

"What are hands?" Rainbow inquired, shrugging in mid-air.

Twilight blushed, realizing she had accidentally used the word from the other world. However, Spike came and saved the day when he flew out of the mirror, noticing he was dragon once again. Twilight leaned her head forward to him, grinning at his usual appearance.

I smiled softly as well until Luna embraced me, rubbing my mane gently. "Oh, son…" She pulled back and placed a hoof on my cheek. "You received your crown, correct?"

I immediately felt myself frown sadly. "Uh…yeah…I did…but…" I removed my saddlebag and pulled out the pieces with my magic. "…it's…" I couldn't finish. I felt too saddened about the thought of my mother being disappointed with me. "…I'm sorry…"

"Don't be…" She lifted up my lowered head with her hoof. "I'm just completely exhilarated that you are perfectly fine…" She focused her magic on the broken pieces and took them with her. "Allow me to hold on to these…"

"Thanks, mom…" I smiled lightly and embraced her for a moment. After, I turned around and faced each one of the girls and grinned widely. "Okay! Time to hug each and every one of you!" I announced loudly, remembering the conversation of homesickness Twilight and I had.

"Yay! Hugs!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed and immediately was the first one to squeeze me.

After Pinkie Pie, I raced towards Fluttershy, kissed her, and held her tightly. "Oh, I missed you so much!" Then, I moved on to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "Come here you two!" I pulled them close with both my hooves, even Rainbow who was flying in mid-air. Next, I moved on to Rarity and surprised her when I threw my forelegs around her.

"Oh-Oh my!" She blushed at my sudden but great expression of emotions.

I hugged Miss Cadence, who even giggled at my behavior.

Lastly was Tia. She returned my action, but spoke to me in a more serious tone.

"Alex…I'm sorry to interrupt your excited reunion…but…there's someone you need to see." She stepped to the side and revealed Starlight, who was leaning on the wall and looking away with her eyes.

"Yeah! Her!" Applejack angrily pointed. "She's the one who helped Sunset Shimmer steal your crowns!"

Starlight didn't say anything.

"So what are you gonna do, Princess?" Rainbow asked. "Throw her in a dungeon in the deepest and darkest part of the Everfree Forest? That sounds about right!"

"Alex…" Tia focused her attention on me. "…do you have anything to share on this situation?"

I stood silent for a moment. I observed her. There was just…something different about her. The Starlight I knew probably would have been attempting to lie her way out of this one…but she just stood there. She didn't look at me. She didn't look at anyone. She stared at the floor and said nothing… I continued looking at her…until I made a decision.

"…let her go."

"WHAT?!" Every one of the girls exclaimed out loud in total disbelief. Even Starlight looked at me surprisingly, but silent.

Applejack quickly attended to me and grabbed my head, looking around. "She didn't somehow brainwash you in the other world, did she?"

I grabbed her hooves and gently placed them down. "No. I'm completely fine. Just…let her go."

"But…why?!" Rainbow Dash inquired greatly. "She helped steal Twilight's and your crown! Heck. She was probably even the reason why yours is broken!"

"She didn't mean any harm from it, Rainbow…" I stated. I actually couldn't tell if I was lying or just…perhaps…even telling the truth. But I was releasing whatever was in my heart after she had saved me… "She was just…confused at the time…" I switched my view on Rainbow to Starlight. She was looking back at me in an unreadable expression. By this, she wasn't sad…she wasn't angry…she definitely wasn't happy…she just seemed…a little blank. "This may be hard to believe but…she even saved me back there…" As I slipped this out, she looked away and furrowed her eyebrows lightly. "Just let her go. Please. And don't think of her any less than before. It was just…a mistake…" Her eyes widened for a moment, but then slowly recuperated.

Tia looked her way toward Starlight's direction and made a gesture with her head. Starlight began to leave in silence.

"What the hay did you do that for, Alex?!" Rainbow demanded. "You could have finally had your revenge! She could have gotten her just desserts!"

"Wh-what?" Miss Cadence asked, oblivious to our backstory.

"Revenge for ruining Alex's—"

I placed a hoof on Rainbow's mouth, shutting her up before she could blurt anything out.

"It's nothing, Miss Cadence." I looked towards the doorway where Starlight was allowed to leave. "I'll be right back…" I removed my hoof and began walking through and past the doorway. I reached Starlight just as she was heading towards the stairs to begin heading out of the castle. "Hold on." I called. She hesitantly stopped and slightly looked back. "You owe me an explanation…"

"I don't owe you anything." She coldly answered.

"Come on." I emphasized. "There's something more to us than you're letting go. I just know it."

"You're an idiot." She answered. "I hate you. That's that." Afterwards, she continued walking.

"If you really hated me…you would have left me for dead back there…" I spoke softly, my voice echoing towards her ears for her to hear. She stopped. Her back was to me, so I couldn't see anything in her facial expressions. "I know now, Star…" I continued. "You helped me and disobeyed Sunset Shimmer. You were the one who put the pictures in my bag…weren't you?" She was still silent. "…well…you might not admit it but…thank you…"

After another moment of silence, she slightly turned her head back, allowing me to only see her mouth move. "Whatever happened happened. Nothing changed. I still don't like you. Don't think you can talk to me whenever you want. Don't even think that we're friends. Just…stay away from me."

I didn't know what to do after that. She continued walking, and I could still hear her steps echo as she walked down the staircase. I sighed heavily and turned around, heading back towards the others.

"So what happened?" Rainbow asked when I returned.

"She left." I briefly answered.

"What?" She scoffed. "You should have sent her far from Equestria! You should have—"

"Just drop it." I cut her off, presenting a stern and upset tone in my voice.

Tia must have noticed the tension begin to grow, so she decided to make an announcement for all of us. "You all should head to bed. Especially you two." She directed at Twilight and me. "It must have been a long journey, and I'm sure you two are terribly exhausted."

"Heh…" Twilight rubbed her head lightly. "I guess I am."

Princess Luna and Princess Celestia attended to their duties as the other girls, along with Miss Cadence, followed us in the long hallway. They began to each bombard us with questions about our long adventure.

"So what happened after you crossed the mirror?" Rainbow inquired about.

Twilight and I looked at each other, exchanging a look that explained it would be a long night in recalling every single thing that happened.

"To make a long story short…we had to adjust to the new world. We met a group of girls just like you all. Same personality. Same names. Same everything…only they weren't…ponies." I chuckled a little. "In fact…being with them made me homesick. You could say these girls were you…just…" I sighed, too tired to really think too much into it. "…in a different world."

"Where did you stay?" Fluttershy asked.

"What did they wear?" Rarity included.

"Did you have fun?" Pinkie continued.

"What'd you eat?" Applejack questioned.

"Would you say she's just as awesome as me?" Rainbow finished, referring to her alter-dimensional character.

Twilight groaned exhaustedly. "We want to tell you all everything, we do, but we're just so exhausted from all the dancing."

"Dancing?" They all inquired simultaneously.

"Listen…" I spoke. "I know you girls are really excited to know what happened…but can it please wait until tomorrow or something?"

"He's right." Miss Cadence agreed with me. "Let's just leave them be. They'll be glad to give us the whole scoop when they're fully rested."

The girls groaned, but surrendered nonetheless. They all began walking and heading out their own way. I faced Twilight, who was smiling tiredly at me.

"You best start getting your rest, Twi." I suggested, playfully nudging her.

She lightly giggled and rolled her eyes. "Okay, Alex." She looked towards Spike who stayed behind. "Come on, Spike."

"Right behind you!" He pointed out and ran after her as she walked towards the direction of her room.

After, I felt the need to talk with Fluttershy about the little thing I did before returning to Equestria, just to make sure. I turned around and walked towards the room Fluttershy and I inhabited.

I found Fluttershy brushing her mane gently as she looked towards the mirror on the vanity table.

"Hey…" I announced, catching her attention.

"Oh, hi…!" She turned around, placing the brush down.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

"Oh…um…sure? What is it?" She wondered, returning worried eyes.

I walked towards her and sat in front of her. "Remember…when I mentioned about those girls we met on the other side who were pretty much exactly like you all?"

"Mm-hm." She nodded.

"Well…you see…" I tapped my hooves together. "I…wasn't sure if it was right or not…but you…the Fluttershy in that world…before we left…um…I…well…" I sucked in a heavy breath and slowly released it. "I kissed her… I hope you're not well…upset…" Fluttershy didn't say anything. Instead, she looked towards the floor and rubbed her hoof on it. I brought my head closer. "…are you…?"

She shook her head gently. "No… I think…I felt you…"

"Huh?" I was now a bit confused.

"I…I kind of…I don't know…felt something from you seconds before you came back… It was…really warm. Maybe…maybe that was it…"

"I…I really missed you…you know that…?" I mentioned, bringing myself ever so closer to her.

"I know…" She responded softly. "I really missed you too…"

After, we engaged in physical contact between our lips. It wasn't until a knocking startled us. I turned towards the door to get it. Beyond the door was my mother, smiling sympathetically at me.

"Oh…hey, mom. What's the matter?" Without speaking one word, she retrieved something behind her with her magic. My eyes widened at the majestic appearance of the gift she brought forward. It was my crown, and it was like completely new once again. She placed it delicately on my head. "…how?"

"I was able to mend the broken pieces with my magic…" She explained. "Just as if any piece of my heart is broken…you're able to do the same with your light…"

Releasing almost teary eyes, I wrapped my hooves around her tightly. "I love it… Thank you."

She nuzzled her head among mine for a moment. "You're welcome. Have a Goodnight's rest, Alex…"

"You too, mom…" I answered.

She smiled for a moment before she turned away and walked off along the hallway. I slowly closed the door shut and turned around. I grabbed my crown and lowered it to my eyes. It's just like it never happened… I moved it over to the nightstand and turned to Fluttershy.

"It looks beautiful…" She commented.

"Hm." I gazed at her. "Maybe I should wear you for a crown instead." Fluttershy both giggled and blushed, reacting bashfully at that comment. "Hey, I'm going to go out for just a bit. You can get ready for bed right now, if you want. I'll be back, okay?"

"Okay." She nodded, allowing me to turn towards the door and walk out into the hallway.

I wanted to see Twilight before we finally headed to bed for the night, so I knocked her door, opening it after. However, I didn't see her inside. I only saw Spike, who was fixing up his bed for the night.

"Hey, Spike. Do you know where Twilight is?" I asked.

"Oh, I think she said she was going out for some fresh air or something." He returned, keep his attention on his bed.

Going out for some fresh air…? I hope she's okay…

"Thanks." I expressed and walked out of there.

I took the crystal stairs out of the castle to look around for Twilight. The first thing I noticed was the Crystal Heart. It spun rapidly as it was held in the center for all to see. Beneath this sight was Twilight. She was sitting down and staring at it. I began feeling even more concerned for her, hoping she wasn't sad for some reason.

"Twilight?" I called, walking towards her.

"Alex…" She answered softly without moving her body, keeping her eyes on the heart. "There's something I need to tell you…"

"What?" I quickly approached her, wanting to know what was troubling her.

"I think…" She began turning her head towards me. "I think I'm falling for you…" She spoke with a straight and serious face.

My heart jumped and I slightly flinched back. "Wh-what?!" All these new things rushed through my mind. Having to deal with not only Rarity's situation, but possibly Twilight's as well.

However, she couldn't keep her serious face for long. She snickered and soon burst out laughing. I realized her behavior and sighed in relief, placing a hoof on my chest.

"I'm just playing around with you!" She continued giggling. "Geez… Rarity was really over you back on the other side, huh?"

"O-Oh… Yeah…" I looked towards the ground a little embarrassingly.

"You know…it's kind of weird though…" She wondered. "I don't think I've ever seen Rarity act like that around you here… Hm… Oh well." She shrugged. "It's nothing super important or anything." I allowed myself to feel relieved once again. "Hey…there's one thing I really want to know…"

"Hm?" I sat by and looked at her.

"How in Equestria did Sunset Shimmer know Starlight? I mean…how is it that she was able to get her to help her in the first place? I know Starlight is a jerk, but I don't think she'd have plans to take over Equestria or anything…"

I sighed. "Starlight's really the only pony to ask about that…but…she's complicated right now… I don't understand her…and she doesn't want me to…"

Twilight placed a hoof on my shoulder. "Well, I haven't seen much, but I did notice she wasn't being aggressively cruel to you. Maybe…you are changing her…even if it's just baby steps…"

"Yeah… I guess…" I looked towards her and smiled.

We looked at each other in silence for a moment before Twilight began to speak again.

"Hey…I can tell you anything, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, of course." I nodded assuringly.

"Even if it might be super embarrassing? And anything that might make you feel mad or something similar?"

"Come on. You know what you are to me. I could never care less for you than I do now."

"Well…" She rubbed her hooves together. "This is just a thought…but…" She looked away a little reticently. "Like I said, just something I've kind of had in my mind." I waited until she was ready to tell me what was stored. "Do you think…we would have made a good pair?"

"Pair? What do you mean?" I questioned.

"You know. Like how you and Fluttershy are."

"A couple…?" Twilight nodded. "Well…" I paused and stared at the Crystal Heart. "I mean…sure. Why not?"

"That's good…" Twilight released almost quietly. "Sorry for asking this… It's just… It was kind of fun with that whole… 'pretending couple' thing. I've never been in such a relationship before so…it was…you know…it was kind of new to me."

"Yeah… I know what you mean…" I replied with a smile of the memorable event, but then frowned in concern when I faced her. "But…that doesn't bother you, does it? What we have is enough, right?" I was hoping that she wouldn't actually do what Rarity did in the end.

She looked towards me, smirked proudly and nodded confidently. "Yup! Having friends is such an amazing feeling to hold…and I really try not to take that for granted." She chuckled a little. "I can tell you're the same way. I still remember when you weren't so comfortable with us…yet…you still got angry…but it was only because you really cared…and you didn't want to see our friendship break. Even now, you don't want to risk anything if it meant messing with our friendship. You know not to take us for granted because…you really enjoy our involvement in your life. This is just a little piece of why you hold the Element of Purity…your Element…your pure heart…"

I could only stare at Twilight. I could tell. She spoke from her own heart. I could feel it. And because of this…I was speechless.

"Wow… Well… I'm glad Twilight… I really am…" I even began feeling a tear slowly slip out. "You've left me speechless…"

She sent me half-lowered eyes and continued to playfully smirk. "That's not everything."

"Huh?" I returned to her unexpected continuation.

"You see…" She closed her eyes and cleared her throat.

"A friend for life~

That's what you are to me…" She began singing when I thought it couldn't get any better. I widened my eyes in both astonishment and amazement.

"A friend for life~

That's what you are to me…" She stood up and pulled me up along with her. After, she continued singing, walking around me rhythmically while I could only gaze back.

"I couldn't see what was right there in front of me

Turned my back, got my mind off track, yeah

You saw a world, there was something new entirely

Helped me to see all the possibilities"

Feeling emotionally self-reliant, I opened my mouth and heartily joined her.

"Oh, like a star in the daylight

Oh, like a diamond at night

Your light was hidden

Follow my sign!"

Twilight and I began lightly dancing now as I could really feel her heart opening up.

"A friend for life~

That's what you are to me...

A friend for life~

That's what you are to me..."

She then wrapped her foreleg around me as she stood by my side, singing alone for a moment.

"Every friendship is tested

You say you're sincere but it's all unclear now

With a word, everything changes

And just like that, you and I go right back" She winked, and then stretched out her foreleg towards the sky, leaving me to join in once again.

"Oh, like a star in the daylight

Or like a diamond at night

The light will shine" She tapped my chest with her hoof.

"When the time is right~

A friend for life~

That's what you are to me...

A friend for life~

That's what you are to me…"

Twilight looked more into her heart and meaningfully sang.

"When I put my hand out.

And I thought I would fall~

You knew what I needed

And you came around to fix it up!"

Twilight and I looked at each as we finalized softly.

"A friend for life~

That's what you are to me...

A friend for life~

That's what you are to me...

A friend for life~

That's what you are to me...

A friend for life...

That's what you are to me…"

Twilight finished when she embraced me softly.

"Geez, Twilight…" I managed to say, as I was utterly even more speechless than before. "That…that really means a lot to me… Thank you…"

"Hehe…" She slipped. "You can thank me by promising me something…"

"What's that?" I asked.

"Don't ever change."

I stared at Twilight in silence for a moment. However, my shocked mouth slowly stretched out to a smile.

"I promise."