PonyPOV Series:7 Dreams/Nightmares Bright Eyes Pt1

My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic
My Little Pony Tales
Pony POV Series Side Story Episode 6 of 7
MLP: POV Seven Dreams/ Seven Nightmares
Part 1 of ???
By Alex Warlorn
Edited By Kendell2

"Bright Eyes," Twilight Sparkle quietly read the chapter title.

"We believe ye will be able to relate to her, Twilight Sparkle," Princess Luna said.

"This should be good," said Pinkie Diane with two plush toys under her arms. They were a pair of dragonfly-winged ponies with feelers atop their heads.

"I thought you were done with random inaneness," the purple unicorn said before covering her mouth ashamed at herself.

Pinkie Diane kindly shook her head. "This isn't random, Twilight. I bought these from Tiddlywink's toy store a few days ago. She was inspired to make these even before she ever saw your gossamer wing spell. Too bad more ponies don't notice these toys, they're her best work."

Twilight could guess. "Pinkie Pie what's the point of indulging in these memories if all they do is hurt you?"

"They don' just hurt. The memories I have of the original Ponyville are as dear to me as the memories I have of you and everypony else in the new Ponyville, Twilight," Pinkie Diane said never raising her voice. "Like friends."

"... Make new friends, keep the old, one is silver, one is gold."

"Ye are finally learning," Princess Luna said delighted, not saying who was.

Pinkie Diane didn't mention her hope this chapter would tell her who she had been before the Third Age. She looked at the rather thick journal. "Oh boy, we'd better start reading! This looks like a long one!"

+++
Before Disaster/Revisions

How could she! She didn't even try. We're supposed to be friends. I came to her for help and she tells me to just give up? What's happened to us? We've been friends since before high school.

Oh. If you're reading this, then you must know I am Doctor Bright Eyes: veterinarian and environmentalist. I guess the pen and notebook cutie mark is a dead give away. Yes, dad was disappointed I wasn't going to be taking over the newspaper from him, but he never flat out said it. He was sure I was on my way to being an investigative reporter when I earned my cutie mark. But while I do dig on occasion, it isn't my calling. I'm not the first pony to use their special talent in a way that others didn't think of.

Do I know Patch? Very much so. She's adopted but that doesn't excuse her past behavior. Starlight, Sweetheart, and Melody (especially Melody) had entered a contest to win a date with Chain Links, you know, the lead singer for the Cleveland Bays? This was before his relationship with Dazzle got leaked. Patch thought it would be funny to impersonate him over the phone and tell all three they had won and lead them on a wild goose chase up a flight of epically tall clock tower stairs that left Melody sucking wind. At the end, they were ready to clobber her (including Sweetheart).

Doesn't sound too bad? How about this: First, Patch volunteered to help Bonbon make a recording for a cooking show she'd been accepted for, encouraged her to try and do it in one take without a rehearsal. The result was one ruined kitchen and a ruined pie. Just bad thinking on her part? Maybe. But...

That little hyena taped over my term project video with Bonbon's disaster! She’s was just as bad as Teddy sometimes! So my term project was turned in incomplete, damaging my grade, and Bonbon was humiliated by the recording in front of the whole class! We all agreed Patch needed an object lesson!

First we appealed to her ego with a decoy prank, then appealed to her fixation with the absurd with a remote-controlled UFO model and a convincingly fake life-sized version of the UFO. Aliens arrive, tell Patch since she's the smartest pony in the world, they want her brain. She confesses to be a general failure on her grades, before ending up in a tub of water we had waiting for her. Afterwards, she discussed how the prank could be improved for future use on others. We, (and her parents, and Ms. Hackney) had to give her a good talking-to about how her pranks HAD BEEN crossing the line.

Sorry. It's just everyone thinks of Patch as the pony who discovered the impossible discovery. The best friend of Princess Rosy of the Isle of Pony. Nopony remembers her selfish side. I swear, she has no real dedication and is terrified of commitment. I hope the world never rests on her shoulders.

Don't give me that look. I do value her friendship. Patch had actually applied to become a forest ranger (figuring it might give her the adventure she wanted), but she sadly her grades fell short. She thankfully was able to make ends meet as a comedian. I attended a few of her shows. I have to say that's when I saw her the most happy.

But she still wanted adventure. Her qualifications were good enough (barely), that Starlight pulled a few strings, and soon her university had commissioned Patch to map out Old Woods and some of the Coltibean. This meant Buddy wouldn't have to support her.

I'll try not ramble so much with the others.

Melody. I dare you to find a better musician. Though she's famous for her singing, but she can play an electric guitar like a veteran. I'm actually happy Ace finally managed to win her attention and Starlight got far away from him. Those two ego-driven superficial ponies deserve each other... And I guess Ace has mellowed out some, and at least he's been faithful to her. But I dread to think what their foals will be like.

Clover Bloom...what is there to say? I guess a wallflower wanting to be a ballerina is no stranger than a butterball wanting to be a model. If there is one thing Clover has, it's luck. Luck’s her special talent. Clover used to be a klutz, now she dances like an angel. What amazes me even more is she got the nerve to marry Dandy. Wonders never cease, do they?

Bonbon. She talks about being a model, but her cooking skills are absolutely wonderful. Her special talent is making sweets after all, not making herself pretty for the camera. Her theorem that the way to a stallion's heart is through his stomach holds true since she married that colt she danced with at the rollerama. I swear, Patch, Clover, and Bonbon just found colts whose personalities were clones of theirs instead of finding somepony who complimented them. Is it any wonder Patch hasn't married Buddy yet?

Sweetheart. She's the nicest pony you could hope to meet, but also shrewd and staunch when she wants to be! I swear, I never imagined she could turn that rabble-rousing colt into a decent stallion. During a high school trial, I was so perfectly certain that Teddy was our tape-player thief. Looking back, maybe the majority of my evidence was character based rather than on facts. Though I suppose Sweetheart's was too, but she was just willing to dig deeper into his character than I was. Sweetie in her own way looks more fragile than Clover. But once you get past the surface you find a mare who has a iron will and a heart of gold. She and Teddy are what I mean about finding somepony that compliments your personality I suppose.

And that brings us to my husband. Lancer. Trust me. Compared to the other colts at our school, he was gold. At any other school he'd still be gold. He's gold anywhere. And a boy who loves books. He actually owned more books than me! How could any girl not consider him wonderful? And he wasn't bad on the eyes either! And he came from a very well off family. But the real Lancer underneath all that that was truly wonderful. Another pony who shared my passion for learning and reason. He was too wonderful for a plain filly like me.

When Ponyville's annual roller dance contest was being held, I happened to be working at the Rollerama, along with Lancer. It was a perfect chance to ask him out.

A bug in the equation was that Lancer was good at skating, and I wasn't. My rear made contact with the floor more than my hooves did, and I crashed into Lancer (that part wasn't so bad in retrospect). My friends, and Lancer's, picked up what we didn't: that we both wanted to ask the other out. And decided it was their duty as friends to 'help.'

Having all six of my 'friends' drag me to Starlight's salon and give me the mother of all make-overs whether I liked it or not (or how many times I tried to escape), while giving me contradictory advice on how to win Lancer, to 'play it cool,' was not pleasant.

Turns out Lancer's friends had also tried to invent a 'new and improved' Lancer to ask me out.

And their 'good advice' made us detest each other.

Thankfully, that evening, a spilled tower of records courtesy of my bad skating gave Lancer the chance to show his real self, and us both to learn both sides of the story.

How good is Lancer at roller skating? Good enough that he was able to give me visible cues on the spot while the contest was going on that minute! What? You wouldn't have been able to pick those up? It was plain as day to me.

Lancer was that good a teacher, I was that fast a learner, and most of the others took themselves out of the competition first.

Dandy and Clover had eight left hooves. Sweetheart couldn't keep up with Teddy's reckless moves and crashed into the judge. Ace and Melody's egos clashed into a mess of "it was his/her fault!" Bonbon and Cookie had the bright idea of feeding their faces in the middle of the contest. And the judge didn't appreciate Patch and Buddy spicing thing up by playing roller hockey, (but did ask them to come back later about joining the hockey team). Starlight and Slipknot? No antics from those two, I can't even remember what went on with them while everyone else was making a show of themselves. And we won.

That was the most wonderful moment of my teen years. Lancer was a knight in shining armor, even if I think his taste in friends needed some improvement. If hooking up with Lancer was my most wonderful moment, I'm sure you've heard of my proudest moment during my school years.

The Green-Wing Songbird. They used to be a common sight all over Ponyland years before, but then began to vanish into thin air, no idea, no reason. Clover admitted to never having ever seen one. No one had for years. The debate was still going on whether to declare them extinct or not. Of course the conspiracy buffs said the Green-Wings had all been aliens and returned to their home planet.

After researching everything I could in the archives of my family's newspaper, I brought it up one morning at our regular clubhouse meeting. All my friends were sympathetic.

So who joined my expedition into what used to be the Green-Wing Songbird's native habituate? Our de jure 'leader' Starlight? Friend to all living things Sweetheart?

Answer: Thrill-seeking tomboy Patch. And Bonbon. Oh, yeah, and Ace came along too. Yes, that was kinda a surprise. Just don't ask how he found out about it, cause I don't know. Who'd have thought Ace had been a Pony Scout, I'd never had imagined him the type who could survive if cut off from civilization. If society fell, I'd figure him for being among the first to die.

It's amazing how many ponies say they'll do things for the environment, but when it comes to actually doing they have a habit of finding excuses.

In spite of being a modern civilization, the up-to-date map of the Old Woods had a gigantic question mark in the northeastern section. Nopony had even bothered to explore (or so I thought). And that appealed to Patch.

Bonbon began complaining about only having a week's worth of food and began feeding her face, and sat down in a nest of nettles. The itching drove her crazy until Ace applied mud. How I wish that hoof-held GPS devices were already in full use back then.

When trying to get un-lost, we got a great view of the Old Woods from the top a tall tree. It was majestic, it took my breath away. Even if it didn't give any hints where to find civilization, for a split second I didn't even care. I felt enchanted looking out over the Old Woods, I wish I was a poet so I could describe it better.

Bonbon ate a week's supply of food in one afternoon. Thankfully she had one 'super emergency candy bar' left to use as fishing bait, I know worms would have been a better choice, maybe I wasn't thinking clearly at the time.

Fishing at the top of a tree wasn't so bright when a stubborn fish resulted in the branch breaking off and all of us but Bonbon falling into the river. "I guess I better go rescue them if I want to have any lunch."

We ended up rescuing ourselves. After all that, it was Ace's saddle bag that accidentally caught us a fish...and we didn't have the heart to eat 'im. Eat grass? Why would we have done that? Bonbon had a bit of a breakdown, saying how'd we starve, and it would be years before anyone found what was left of us. And began writing her goodbyes in her diary.

That was when a miracle happened. After anything and everything, a Green-Wing Songbird landed on top of Bonbon's diary! They were alive! They still existed! It eventually took off, Patch took a picture, and we followed behind. That was when we found a nest of the beauties. And there were more where that came from!...

I swear my heart skipped a beat and I forgot how to breathe. Seeing them there, a part of the world after all, not forgotten, not a drawing or a stuffed figure, in the air, and their song, it was beautiful. No wonder they were called Songbirds. I swear every living thing resonated with them. I felt so much life around me, and I know it's not very scientific, but I swear for a brief few moment I could feel the life in the forest like a sixth sense almost. I felt something...familiar. It almost felt like something in the forest was proud of me...

The natural world wasn't something you could manufacture, it had to live. Then it turns out the Old Woods weren't as 'unexplored' as our maps showed. Right on the edge of the nesting grounds we had found, we found an abandoned landscape of stumps.

And the Songbirds, they kept coming back here, even if there was less and less here to come back to. Lost or not, if there had been loggers nearby I'd have given them a piece of my mind.

Then I realized the solution had been staring me in the face all this time. I pried Bonbon's diary from her hooves. After I had gotten our salvation out of her hooves, (why did she have to so stubborn about it?), I explained that Bonbon had been writing down our every move! We had direction with us the whole time! Ace snatched it from my hooves (the nerve of some ponies), then Bonbon snatched it back, it was her private life in there: so Patch just told Bonbon to do the guiding.

Who'd have ever thought Bonbon's diary would actually be good for something?

I bid the songbirds goodbye and we headed home.

You've read the newspapers. Ceremony at town hall. The mayor and his speech. The Green Wings were given their own private nature preserve. And a pony of the month award not only for me and my three friends as well. And it made me realize the truth, I could make a difference! I could change things. Even if it was just one little thing at the time I could do it!

My one regret is that there wasn't much to be done to the loggers since they had been operating in what was basically 'no pony's land' where you technically didn't need a license for much of anything. Of course, dad's newspaper made sure the story of how they had been secretly destroying the homes of one of Ponyland's national treasures made the front page. Patch told me later she'd have liked to have seen the looks on their faces when they saw that...I MIGHT have agreed with her.

Then came my first chance to experience a different culture on Tropical Island (yes that's its name). I got to be an exchange student for a week with a new family. It was great! Of course I told my friends!

Then Patch, Bonbon, and Sweetheart, filled my head with rumors about sea-monsters, cannibals, and live pony sacrifices to volcanoes. And Melody and Starlight did nothing to contradict them and Clover was a no show.

I brushed off them as absurdities. But they had planted the idea in the base of my brain.

Yes, Tropical Island is shaped like a pony if you're approaching by air, it's not just a trick of the camera. I was prepared to behold new wonders.

Then I saw the volcano was active. I closed the seaplane door and wanted to go home. Yes I was pulled out of the plane. Considering what happened the last time I was pulled into something I wanted out of, I didn't step in with a good mind set. I was greeted by my exchange family. What stunned me was how normal they looked. My exchange sister introduced herself as Moki.

I was accepted with open arms. When I was given a ring of wonderful flowers (No, why the heck would I eat them? Stop asking such weird questions). Moki's mother Momi explained the whole island was her garden, and the ocean was their swimming pool.

My friends' myths began to creep into my brain however, when I tried to turn down a canoe ride by saying I was allergic. I was calming down and enjoying the ride, when I saw a someTHING rise from the depths covered in seaweed. I made a great impression on my exchange family by screaming hysterically and bashing the sea-monster with a paddle. Turns it out was Moki's father back from pearl diving. Who then saved me from drowning after I just tried to bash his head in. Then apologized for scaring me. So yeah.

At lunch time Moki's brother, Ichi, said how happy he was that they were having me for lunch. Thankfully, I found out we were having peas and carrots (my favorite) before I made a fool of myself again.

I sent a letter to my friends who filled my head with such nonsense about how nice Tropical Island and Moki's family was, and how silly their stories actually were. I swore that was the last time I let my imagination get the best of me. Less than a minute later Moki told me we were going on a hike, which Ichi added, to the volcano. You can guess what I thought next. Moki said they weren't supposed to tell me where we were going.

Not having a clue what I was so nervous about, Ichi added that they hadn't visited the volcano since they had another exchange student, who was 'gone' now.

Get me out of here!

I ran straight into Momi and Popi outside with walking stick that resembled spears way too closely!

Off we went.

They weren't going to feed me to the volcano, they weren't going to feed me to the volcano, they weren't going to feed me to the volcano...

"Bright Eyes come here," said Popi, "You can get a closer look."

"Closer? No way."

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Moki said as she pushed me closer to the edge.

THEY'RE GOING TO FEED ME TO THE VOLCANO!

I was so scared that I couldn't see straight! A shouted warning ignored. I slip on some loose rocks. I fall in. By god's kindness I land on a ledge. Then the volcano begins to rumble. This was it. "I want to go home."

That was when a stick was point my way from above. "Grab the stick!" Popi shouted.

"You're helping me?"

"OF COURSE WE'RE HELPING YOU!"

I got out. And we all ran like Pony Hell.

Turns out the Volcano is called Sleeping Rock because it erupted so rarely. They never imagined it would go off when I visited.

I confessed the paranoia fantasies my friends had shared with me and I chose to believe. Popi confessed he thought Mainland ponies could fly until he learned about airplanes. Flying ponies. How silly can you get?

After that, the rest of the week really was paradise. I was able to finally let go of those absurdities and finally recognize Moki and her family were just ponies like me. And let me tell you, Tropical Island IS beautiful, the tourist trade aren't lying about that. And it's just as beautiful above the waves and below, life is everywhere.

At the end of my trip Moki offered to be an exchange student to Ponyland later. She did, a year or two later. Thankfully she had read the book I gave her on Ponyland so she didn't suffer as deep a culture shock as mine. That doesn't mean she didn't have her awkward moments. I had to take her outside to breath when she went to her first nightclub and it took her a bit to appreciate rock and roll. And don't get me started what she thought of television.

I had to explain to her that 'groovy' hadn't been a 'hip' word in decades. And she had to explain more than once that her family hadn't worshiped a volcano god in hundreds of years. And,

"No Patch, I have never met a pirate."

"Oh, okay, what about seaponies?"

In the end though, she learned the same lesson I did: that our culture wasn't better or worse, just different.

As the school year was drawing to a close, me and my friends found time for one last adventure. I was taking one of my nature walks when I saw Big Pony Bend had a mountain of trash stacked up along Big Pony River. Still at heart being a naive teenager, I rushed to my friends, telling them that there had to be a single group or pony responsible.

Melody was thankful it was nothing important. Idiot. There was enough garbage to legally count as its own landfill! I had to explain that the problem with refuse was that the damage it could cause was unpredictable. Undrinkable water, a river full of dead fish, birds getting strangled in trash, there was no telling.

What do you mean that deep sea oil spill cleaned up itself when the bacteria that naturally inhabit the ocean bottom just ate it?!

That's...that's not the point.

The point was that this wasn't just some tiny pile of litter, it could turn into a dam and cause a flood it was so bloated with garbage. All those dead fish wouldn't just stink up the place, they'd breed disease.

I organized us into teams to search along the streams leading into the river for any signs of who was doing the dumping. I meanwhile began using my dad's newspaper to print out posters to this menace. My parents were more than willing to help. They knew how passionate I was about protecting the natural world.

My friends turned up zero. To top it off, Patch due to her limited literacy had mistaken a delivery to a recycling plant for a pay-off.

We set up the posters, I was sure we'd catch our criminal in no time. That night we had the mother of all rainstorms out of nowhere. In the morning I woke up to my bed floating in my flooded room in my flooded house, in flooded Ponyville!! Thankfully, I was rescued by Bonbon's father.

You have no idea what it was like. Everything I had feared had come true. There WAS so much pony made filth that the river had blocked up and had flooded all of Ponyville. Ponyville was flooded. My home. My friends' homes. Our school. Patch and Rosy's old orphanage. The parlor. The studio Melody had won her battle of the bands at. The Berrytown family's house and our clubhouse. The flood it was... everywhere.

I wish I could say we took part in saving Ponyville, we didn't, all we could do was wait in the life raft waiting for Bonbon's father and the other divers to punch a hole in the dam of garbage that was choking the river.

I felt so helpless because I was helpless! All I had done, all I had set out to do, it suddenly felt like, like it was all for nothing. And I couldn't even do anything to fix it.

I hated that feeling of us not being able to help at all.

"My dad has to risk his life and it's all that big polluter's fault!"

"Who could be so mean and thoughtless?" Sweetheart asked.

That was when I was, when we all were given a cold hard slice of reality.

The junk we had thrown into the river yesterday, Bonbon's disposable ice-cream dish, Melody's CD cover...maybe even some of my posters. It was all part of that monstrous dam of garbage. We had done this. Every pony in Ponyland. One tiny bit, adding to the whole. I had been a fool. Again.

Ponies associate big things with big things. That was why whenever there was a disaster or something tragic, conspiracy theories always appeared. Never mind some angry and alone pony off his medication, there had to be some cabal of evil greedy idiots behind everything.

I was so fixated on the idea of some evil villain, some loathsome beast who loved the idea of seeing the world destroyed just for the fun of it. I never stopped to think about a moment of thoughtlessness spread over millions of ponies who figured everyone else would pick up the slack. Or, for that matter, to try and take care of the dam before this HAPPENED due to being so worked up looking for a big bad to blame for it.

The divers unclogged the river. There wasn't single loss of life. Thank Pony Heaven. Ponies think of tap water, the beach or swimming pools when thinking about water, never mind the vicious force a flood has, or the mass destruction it causes. The flood lasted less than a day, but that as more than enough.

As the water went down, we all cheered. I noticed first that the litter was still everywhere. Bonbon said the obvious, "And it's all our fault." I pointed out that we were hardly the only ponies who had been careless.

We began the clean up then and there. There was a lot to pick up. Melody took more teaching than the rest. This time we fought the litter with information. The flood was an object lesson I don't think any of us forgot.

One truth I think it taught me. It wasn't just the laws that needed to change. It wasn't just society that needed to change. Ponies themselves needed to change, at the fundamental level. I know that last part is a fantasy, but I can't help but think it's somehow the only way we'll keep from destroying ourselves.

Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I'm really sorry. It's just, it gets a little depressing now and then, it's just... you don't win every fight, and when you lose, something beautiful and irreplaceable vanishes forever.

Starlight... She wasn't smarter than me. She wasn't more talented than Melody. She wasn't kinder than Sweet Heart. She wasn't braver than Patch (thank Pony Heaven). She wasn't luckier than Clover. She couldn't cook better than Bonbon. But we always kept turning to her when we needed to put our head together? Why? It was like magic (ha).

Ms. Hackney thought of Starlight as fair-hearted and willing to listen to every side, which was why she was appointed judge in our high-school trial. I got better grades than her, but she looked up to old Ms. Hackney like they were family almost.

Looking back on it, it's amazing we seven became friends with our different hobbies and personalities, it's incredible we found any common ground at all. But Starlight did. It wasn't the same as with Lancer and his friends, there were so fewer boys in class they had to stick together out of necessity. Starlight, always the mediator, being careful not to take sides. Never treating any of us better or worse than the others. Stay neutral when things turned hot, and being there when the dust settled. I wonder if Starlight's averageness was actually part of her strength. I wonder if her cutie mark is a star that guides through the night.

But she didn't understand. Being an ecologist wasn't exactly simple, when we could get funding, there was always somepony saying it was better spent on something else.

Was this what we had become? Professor Starlight and Doctor Bright Eyes?

I thought when I came to her asking for help on expanding the protected zone, that she'd jump at the chance. Not to mention it would be an excuse for us to work together again. Instead I got a lecture on economics, social dynamics, and a pessimistic view I never dreamed I'd hear out of Starlight mouth!

What the buck happened to us? I left her in her office snapping the door shut behind me. Not able to change the world? It was the job of everypony to change the world, even if it was just a little bit at a time. Now I sounded like Patch. I laid my head against the campus walls, pulling in a shuddering breath.

First time I had seen Starlight in so long, and I had to end it like that. What was wrong with me? What was wrong with Starlight? We had both achieved our dreams in ways we never could have imagined. Yet...here we were... at each other's throats. When did the world change? When did we change?

I had already learned a long time ago that protecting the environment meant more than petitions, sit-in protests, and catching illegal harvesting and dumping in the act. You had to be more than a media sideshow, it wasn't about making ponies feel guilty, it was about getting them to act, to change. Starlight thought I didn't know all that?

And why should economics take precedence, over keeping the air breathable and drinking water safe? And keeping a landscape from becoming a strip-mined wasteland? Why? Was being able to afford a giant flat screen TV really that important?

...But more importantly, how could I have said those things to Starlight? I almost wish I was still a filly, because adults can't cry in public.

I left. I was due for a shift at the animal hospital. I don't know what disturbs me more. Pets who were abused by their owners, or the ones who suffered because their owners didn't know how to properly care for them. One of the worst I'd seen was a little filly who had fed her new puppy chocolate.

I was happy to see Night Eyes in Lancer's hooves at the mansion.

When we engaged, the first thing Lancer's parents did was make sure I wasn't marrying him for his inheritance. Next, I had to convert to Lancer's religion, but that was a small price to pay to be with the stallion I loved. And no, I'm not someone who SAYS I believe something I don't; I deal in facts, remember? I had Lancer tell me all about it, testing it as rationally as I could. And when he could give me the answers I needed to hear, I believed.

Mom and Dad were overjoyed that I was now financially secure. We could afford a foalsitter easily. But Lancer preferred spending time with our foal. Once she was out of diapers, we talked about taking her on one of Lancer's expeditions. Don't you dare give me that look. Lancer would never put Night Eyes through anything dangerous!

+++

Luna looked to Twilight. "Twilight Sparkle, thou seem troubled."

"Just...the others talked about them drifting apart, it hits a lot harder reading it from her. How she talks about it," said the purple mare, looking down.

"We understand your discomfort. Do not forget that our sister and us...drifted apart and that is part of how we became Nightmare Moon. This is uncomfortable for us to read as well. But we believe thou told Nightmare Whisper and Discord thyself; friends may change, but to maintain friendships is something we must work hard to do, and it is worth it."

Twilight smiled. "Thanks, Princess Luna..."

"We believe if there is one thing we have had to learn, it is that a deity, and a Princess' duty is to protect their subjects...Now, any other questions before we continue?"

"...Are there really volcano gods?" Pinkie Diane asked.

Luna looked thoughtfully. "Not concisely, though we believe some of Queen Tiamat's siblings or our relatives may qualify, a volcano is both a destructive and creative force after all. Though we believe it was the Lava Demons who inspired the myth they ask for sacrifices. Now, let us continue."

+++

With everypony having gone to bed except the two of us, we got a phone call we never saw coming.

From Patch.

Not the magic ponies again.

Seriously it was fun the first dozen times, but it was getting old.

Swearing up and down that they'll meet us? Patch, haven't you gotten too big for pranks?

Paying for my train ticket? Huh? Isn't this a little far for a prank?

She's calling everypony? Oh boy. Either she's REALLY serious or gotten into more poisoned mushrooms.

Sigh. Who am I kidding? Even if it is one of Patch's games, just seeing everypony together will be worth it.

When Patch mentioned over the speakerphone that she hadn't been able to contact Starlight, I shrugged it off. I didn't want to see her again today, or I might say something I couldn't take back. It stung a little inside realizing that. What in pony's name had gone wrong?

We should have been able to wait until tomorrow morning. Not Patch. Never Patch. Patience wasn't a part of her vocabulary. With me not feeling up to it, Lancer volunteered to tell Starlight himself. Always making sure our friendship stayed whole.

I left Night Eyes with Lancer at home. Given Patch's history with practical jokes, I wasn't taking chances. And Sweetheart had already said she'd be making sure she brought her medicine bag, just in case. I took a different train than Starlight. I actually started to turn excited, almost giddy as the train road along. Territories that made the Old Woods look downright suburban? Maybe the idea of being goofed by one of Patch's pranks was making me feel all nostalgic. Sure I hated her thoughtlessness, but since I saw this one coming, I was prepared for it. Maybe I'd laugh at this one. And if it was a prank, at least it was in an area I could REALLY like.

Maybe this was Patch's way of trying to get us all back together, maybe after whatever inane trick she pulled I should really just thank her for giving us all an excuse for the seven of us to be united as one again.

Maybe this weird dream I had about us facing off with this big, dark colored pony with a horn and wings in a ruined castle while wearing jewelry had got me WANTING us all back together again...What? You think I DON'T have weird dreams like everyone else?

Dang. When Patch picks a place to pull the mother of all comeback pranks, she doesn't mess around. I swear I should be going in circles, but I can't deny that I'm decidedly moving forward. This place really does remind me of the Old Woods. But there's something different. If I didn't know better, I'd swear the animals were all looking at me. They weren't acting scared or territorial, more like I was just something new to check out. This wasn't normal animal behavior!

I was overreacting. Maybe this was somepony's personal estate and the animals were all tamed. I was getting myself worked up over nothing. Thank goodness the others were all already at the spot Patch's instructions pointed out, including Patch herself. Older, stronger, more focused. But it was Patch.

"Hey, Bright Eyes, nice to see you could make it," she smiled at me. That glint in her eyes hadn't changed at all. It hit me I was relieved to see it hadn't.

There was Sweetheart, pregnant, and Teddy following closely behind her like a bad ninja. Yes. We were all here. Melody with as much luggage as she could carry. Gotta give her props for carrying it all the way here on her own back. Clover looking like she had a bad encounter with a thorn bush. Not that she's letting it damage her mood much.

Bonbon looking like she had lost some pounds, and was trying to get them back from her 'week in a day' supplies. Just like old times.

And finally, there was Starlight.

It was surreal. After our vicious meeting a few days before, she looked at me like nothing had happened. As if her life as my friend and her life as a professor were two separate universes. Actually, that felt a bit trivializing, that my time with her could be slipped into neat simple categories.

But this was my world now. The natural world I had come to love and know so well, out here in the forest. A living breathing thing all its own.

...I'd forgotten how much I'd missed them all. Just being there together...it felt like old times...Looking back on it I wonder how I could've thought so badly of any of them...I guess when you're hurt, you tend to focus on the bad and forget the good.

"Starlight, it's great to see you."

"You too, Bright Eyes."

You've all read what happens next.

Green fields. Pink estate. Flying ponies (Popi was right after all). Horn ponies. A dragon. And lots of fainting all around. Did I faint? Not telling.

I remember the glowing robes and crown the king and queen of the Isle of Pony used to see if Rosy was really their foal. I had always pushed it right out of my mind as just some complex trick or something. I didn't want to believe. Even the royal family had outright called it magic, ponies had always brushed it off a some form of stage magic or trick of psychology. They never hide it. They never denied it. They never danced around it. Ponies simply didn't want to see it.

You've all read the names before. Twilight. Firefly. Posey. Surprise. Sparkler. Glory. Applejack. Little Ember. Shady. Lickety Split. Magic Star. Wind Whistler. Masquerade. Medley. Flutterbye. North Star. Galaxy. Mimic. Moondancer. Gusty. And a DRAGON named Spike.

Normally I'm quite good at taking in details. But I felt so dizzy that the world was tilting on its side. It reminded me of when I thought Moki's family was going to feed me to the volcano. I was led by one of them to a guest room, it had belonged to a friend of theirs who had loved storybooks, it was... Paradise? No. That was the name of this impossible place. Right?

Our hosts took turns keeping me company as I rested. While my friends got to know these impossible ponies better. Yes. Impossible. There was no way this could have been hidden for so long. This was impossible.

Gusty and Lickety-Split took turns telling me how they and a friend of theirs, Heartthrob, were kidnapped by bird people for a pig queen to cut off their manes (that grew back right away of course) to make a magic cloak and turned all Dream Valley (apparently the name of this place) and the ponies in it into glass.

Masquerade, (those eyes, they can't be real jewels, they must just look like jewels), told me a story of how Posey was tricked by talking flowers that grew into monsters that told her that giant crab monsters were the bad guys when the crab monsters were really the good guys.

Then North Star talked about meeting Robin Hood, Hercules, and the genie of Aladdin's lamp through some doorway that led to the land of myths and legends. I wonder if they had met the Christmas Pony. Agh! I'm going crazy!

++++

Twilight Sparkle dropped the book. "Christmas?" She gasped in shock. Pinkie on the other hoof gave a bright smile.

"Yes Twilight Sparkle," Princess Luna said. "Christmas, X-Mas, Christ Mass, the day humans chose to honor the birth of one of their spiritual heroes. After Megan came to Ponyland and became a hero, and later brought with her her two siblings, their faith and traditions found their way here as well. Ponies happily adapted and adopted them."

"But...Hearth Warming's Eve," Twilight Sparkle whispered.

"Wouldn't happen for over a thousand years. Megan and her people were already myths by Bright Eyes' time, though ones everypony believed in, by the end of the age of the three tribes, they had grown from legends into the fictional stories you know. New traditions assimilate old traditions to allow for easier transition. With the end of insane racial hatred, ponies looked back for inspiration as they created their new holiday.

"If you wish, my sister still has a copy of a book that contains the origin of many human traditions. Its human name would be just a word to you, in low-equestrian it translates as 'library.'"

"So it wasn't just chance Christmas and Hearth Warming's Eve are so much alike," Pinkie Diane said in awe, and Twilight swore Pinkie Pie's heart look ten time lighter than it had been. Pinkie Diane smiled brightly.

"No it isn't." Princess Luna smiled. "It may have a different name now, but in a way it is one of the things along with ponies' love for singing to survive all four ages. In a way Pinkie Pie you are the last pony in the world to practice the faith that Megan brought to Equestria."

Pinkie Diane looked like Twilight Sparkle couldn't remember ever really seeing her, Pinkie Diane drew attention to her like a magnet, unlike Rainbow Dash who always grabbed for it, but now, Twilight Sparkle saw in Pinkie a looking of belonging. "Thank you Princess Luna."

"It was our pleasure... our little pony."

Twilight Sparkle gently picked up Bonbon's journal and continued reading.

++++

Shady mentioned how she, Wind Whistler, Gusty, and their old friend Fizzy had their attitudes and personalities switched around among them by accidentally unleashing some raindrop like creatures called "Frazzits" underground, and she remembered Wind Whistler being silly and herself being brave. Shady said she wished they had all walked away from that at least learning from each other instead of ignoring it. Oh. And they might have messed up the little men who lived underground who did the seasons. Of course. Heheh.

Then Magic Star came in. She was a normal pony like me. But then she talked about how she used to have a magic wand that let her practice magic like a unicorn until she had lost it. How in Pony Hell did you lose something like that?

The list went on, and on and on and on and on!

Elves, Ice Orcs and Lava Demons, talking birds, talking shape shifting birds trying to keep a magic stone away from a squid monster by pretending to be a ghost, bushwoolies (who always agreed) and Furbobs (who never agreed), Grundles, Dell Dwellers, giant talking penguins, talking gofers, giant puppies, demon centaurs, talking mice people the size of ponies, trolls, ogres, gnomes, cat women, lizard men, bee people, witches, monkey people (apparently different from humans) 'Stonebacks', a sapient mountain, HUMANS (evil humans? The idea struck me as a violation of the original myth). And apparently there were also fish ponies and butterfly ponies.

A small part of me wanted to me to believe this was all an hoax, a hallucination, a dream, a joke, anything than other what it appeared to be. But I wasn't a teenage filly anymore, I was a fully grown mare. I couldn't deny what my senses were telling me. I couldn't deny what was right in front of me. What was all around me. I had been part of our high school stage troupe, I knew stage magic, animatronics, make up, and special effects when I saw them. These weren't those.

"Excuse me, may you tell me why you are upset?" Said a calm reserved voice.

I saw it was that blue pegasus with the whistles cutie mark (her special talent was whistling?). "Go away."

"As you wish." The winged-pony, the pegasus, turned around to leave.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

"You asked me to leave, I am abiding by your wishes."

"I've...just never seen that work before. Normally, the pony is too stubborn to give up if they see someone is upset."

"Well, that is rather inconsiderate. If a pony wishes to be alone, other ponies should let them be. Forcing a pony into interaction when they clearly do not desire it is often counterproductive and results in the pony constructing more emotional barriers around themselves."

"...That's, very reasonable. My friends are always about pushing forward then and there, even the members of my environmental group."

"Always pushing forward can make things push back when it can be simpler to go around the problem or simply look at it from another perspective."

"That's very... logical."

"Thank you. I like to believe that I adhere to the creed of thinking first, acting second."

"Wish a few of my friends could have followed that advice, I could have used it one or two times myself."

"As is the nature of ponies, when in stressful situation, we often resort to our flight or fight instinct."

"Flight or ..." I looked at her wings, "was that supposed to be a joke?"

"No. It was not."

"You're really rational for a magic pony."

"That is redundant. All ponies are magical."

"Me and my friends and every pony I've ever known aren't."

"Incorrect. You're an Earth Pony, your magic is internalized. For some Earth Ponies this manifests as strength and endurance beyond what would normally be possible. For others, it manifests as a link to geothermal activity or, most commonly, an intangible connection to life, and sensing and directing its flow."

"If something isn't tangible, it doesn't exist."

"That is two-dimensional logic. Just because something can not be observed directly, is not justification to dismiss its influence."

"So because the invisible pony in the corner is invisible is proof she's there?"

"Now you are just being defensive."

"What am I supposed to be?!" I cried. "I've spent my whole life learning! Learning about how the world works! Learning about the world around me. Learning how beautiful and self-sustaining yet fragile nature is. Learning to think of things logically and rationally after superstitious fears almost got me killed. Approaching everything scientifically. And now I'm told eye of newt gets you what you want and that someone dyes grass and paints frost on windows instead? Everything I've spent my whole life learning is a lie?!" I heaved. My breath coming in shuddering gasped.

Wind Whistle looked at me hesitantly, then laid down next to me and place a wing around me, so soft.

"Everything you have learned is not a lie. Has never been a lie. Everything you've learned is true. Has always been true. But there are things you have not learned. Things you have not seen yet. Things you have not discovered. Perhaps the nature you see has been engineered to be self-sustaining, maybe their duty is to terraform wastelands into self sustaining areas, or maybe they have integrated themselves so deeply with the natural world you love that they have become part of its function. What you know are the rules on which it runs on. Nothing has changed those rules. There are simply more rules than what you know. We tell first grade foals that atoms are like a solar system, when they in fact are effectively nothing like it, but it acts as a base for them to compare and learn. Learning something new does not always disprove something previous, often times it simply adds to its understanding."

I look at her face, blurred by my tears, I couldn't tell she had wings, she was just another pony. She had spoken politely and peacefully, never raising her voice or acting 'superior.' She let her words speak for themselves instead of me being impressed by what she was. I nuzzled her. She was as real as I was.

"Thank you...uh," I was embarrassed that I couldn't remember her name.

"Wind Whistler. It's a pleasure to meet you Bright Eyes."

And the rest you've read about no doubt in my friends' memoirs. All the biographies and stories focus on my friendship with Wind Whistler. And let me tell you, she was a real true blue friend. If I hadn't met her, I'd have likely become a broken pony learning what I did. I'll always be happy to have her counted as a friend. We spoke and chatted at length. She confessed there were times when she had headaches at how up in the clouds her friends heads could be, and her sadness to learn her own friends had once thought she didn't have a heart. But what's a lot less known: is another pony I made a connection with in a very unusual way.


"Hey, you like roller skating?"

Unicorns, pegasi, seaponies, flutterponies, magic, dragons, and here I am, being asked that question, by a magic unicorn.

"I was talking with your friends about roller skating, and they told me you met your husband that way and you won a roller derby. So, do you like roller skating?"

"I...I haven't done it in years. But once I got used to it, yes, it was sort of fun."

"'Sort of' fun? Come on, it's wild! I'm Glory! Remember?"

That's right. A white unicorn with a purple mane with a blue streak with a pink bow at the base of her tail, was talking to me not about fairies or princesses, but about roller skating.

She continued, "It's been forever since I had someone to skate with since the fillies all left."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, Ember. The point is that I haven't had another pro to skate with in a long time. So could ya please maybe race with me for a bit?"

What was I supposed to say? Besides. It was so shockingly normal a request in this place full of magic!

Her collection of roller skates wasn't large. Or strange. But it was very well preserved.

Lancer had taught me everything he knew about skating, and I'm not the kind of pony to forget. I was rusty, but I got the kinks out after a few minutes. When we got outside, my jaw dropped. Glory was skating on grass! Something I'm certain was supposed to be impossible.

Oh well. It's magic. Just go with it.

In a way, Glory was almost a second teacher. She talked about the 'magic inside' which sounded like out of a first grader's cartoon show or self-help book. It felt I was back at square one skating on grass but Glory insist she could teach me.

She even showed me Dream Castle. It was incredible. Not as big as Rosy's family castle but it was incredible. Apparently it had been restored following damage caused by a family of witches with a giant blob monster.

At that point, I had stopped freaking out learning this things and Glory had told me that was one bit of magic they'd done everything in their power to make sure no one would ever have to worry about again.

"Majesty used to live here, acting as queen, until she decided she wanted to just live out her days."

"I don't suppose she said she'd settle on a place called the Isle Of Pony did she?"

"I wouldn't know. She didn't really have a destination in mind..."

"It's still amazing, all this magic."

Glory let out a slight chuckle. "It's funny to hear you say that. Once upon a time, I thought of all this as mundane and ordinary. I wished to be a magic creature in a world of magic. This was before it was explained to me that pegasi and earth ponies have magic too.

"The magic thing was, my wish came true. I don't know if it was wild magic or myself, but I suddenly found myself in a human world. A world overflowing with magic of candy bushes and present trees. I went to the first place I saw, not caring how I had gotten there. I thought I was where I belonged. A giant silver castle's doors opened on their own for me. In the castle market place I saw humans flying without wings, a mother making their child clean with a snap of her fingers, a man unloading an entire cart of apples with a wave of his hands. And the humans accepted it all as normal, and me too!

"But the first human I spoke to was the court wizard, Olmar, who put on a friendly face, and lured me to his workshop. He wanted me, since it seemed even in this world of magic, unicorns were exceptionally rare. No, he wanted my horn. He magically removed it without even a scar, and had dismissed me without a second thought. Broken and scared, I had simply left the workshop. No longer magical in an ordinary world, but ordinary in a magical world." Glory shivered. So did I...the thought of losing a PART of you, even a part I didn't have, probably would NEVER have...I won't lie, I had nightmares after hearing that.

"I wandered the castle in a daze, until I happened upon a prince, Rudolph, who looked even more miserable than me. This young boy had already figured out being a prince meant not having other children to meet and play with, and only having servants who'd always tell a happy lie and never the truth.

"Rudolph, seeing a chance to be of worth, chose to visit the magician himself and-"

"Why didn't you just go to the king?"

"Huh?"

"You said you met the prince, why didn't you just go to the king for help?"

"...Maybe...I didn't really think of that. I was..." she shuddered, "Broken at losing my horn, and Rudolph saw a chance to be a hero. We were both young and, we were both being impulsive. But everything worked out in the end."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really. The prince asked the wizard for the moon. Rudolph appealed to Olmar's ego, saying there was no way it was impossible for a powerful wizard like him. Not wanting to admit he couldn't, the wizard excused himself to take a flight outside the castle. Rudolph took the chance to read from the wizard's spell book and got me back my horn! We were gone by the time the wizard was back. I thanked the prince. Rudolph thanked me for giving him a chance to show he wasn't just a spoiled prince."

"How did you get back home?"

"I closed my eyes and wish to be home. If a wish brought me there, then a wish could bring me back right?"

"That's...logical...I guess ..."

It all sounded out of a fairy tale to me. But so did the pony in front of me.

"It's okay, Wind Whistler thought I was just having an overactive imagination too. But I did learn a lot that day."

"Not to blindly trust strangers when you're all alone in a strange land?"

"Well that too. But it got me thinking. My magic made me unique, but that didn't mean it isolated me. I didn't need to be in a world overrun with magic to belong."

The way she said that she sounded like... any other pony. Made a little bit of light tickle me inside. These ponies were immortal and hundreds of years old. But they were still just ponies.

And she taught me an important lesson.

Fantastic and mundane are all relative. To cave ponies, fire was some unknown and fearful power not to meddled with that could destroy the world. Three hundred years ago, ponies had no clue what germs were, and the mere idea of things so small that they couldn't see them with their own eyes was absurd. And ponies two hundred years ago would have considered us weak and spoiled with completely insane comforts and insane prices and overpowered weapons. Let alone the idea of environmental protection or animal rights.

By the time we were done skating on grass, Glory and I were exchanging stories about our friends. Glory actually seemed refreshed our stories didn't involve slaying demons or stopping the end of the world. We just sat on a hill near a waterfall watching the sun drift down. We saw a while away Medley giving Melody a free ride down a rainbow. This time I didn't freak, I just accepted it.

I may have had a break down earlier, but I still have an organized mind. And I noticed a detail left out.

"What about Flutterbye?"

"What about her?"

"You mentioned all your other friends at least once in your stories. But you didn't mention her at all. Is she new?"

Glory opened her mouth, then closed it and put a hoof to her chin. "Actually, I can't remember when she came to the estate. It was a long time ago. I remember before she was here with us. But...it was just so natural to have her here with us."

Maybe I am my father's daughter deep down after all.

And maybe I'm still a bit of an impulsive teenager somewhere too. I excused myself with a hug and a nuzzle and went back to the estate. And Glory followed me. "I live there remember?"

Oh right.

So off we both went. Ugh.

I found Flutterbye, a yellow pegasus with a long green mane and four blue butterflies for a cutie mark.

She was still as a statue, watching Posey as she happily tended her garden, it was like Posey didn't even notice she was there. The look in Flutterbye's eyes, it didn't look indifferent, or harsh, if anything, she looked -protective- of her.

I had to sneak up on her and gather more information.

"Flutterbye when did you first come to Paradise Estate?" Glory asked after tapping her on the shoulder. So much for that idea. Here's hoping she's not a brain sucking alien who's going to vivisect us now.

The pegasus looked startled at the answer, then smiled and nodded, keeping her voice low. "I first came here to protect and look after Posey. She's, a pony who some might try to take advantage of. I don't really 'need' to, but...well, you could say she's family, and it feels good to look after your family."

Glory stood in awe at the kind words.

"She asked when, not why," I said instead.

"Oh! I guess soon after Megan went back to her world. I was told I could have inserted myself into your pasts, but it didn't feel right, I shouldn't take credit for things I didn't take part in."

"What are you?" I asked.

"I'm a pegasus pony. I'm a resident of Paradise Estate. And I'm Posey's friend. And the friend of ponies here. And I hope I can be your friend too Bright Eyes."

"That's a mathematical answer."

"There weren't any numbers," Flutterbye said.

"No no no, I mean you gave answers that while correct, didn't answer the precise question."

"But I can't answer directly."

I sighed. "Magic?"

"Um... not exactly."

"Look, if you used some sort of mind control magic to make everypony here just accept you, then that isn't putting you in a honest light."

"...it's...well, yes and no. I didn't use any sort of magic, I don't think. I think it's just the way I am. Because the ponies here are all friends with Posey and accept her, you all accept me too."

"So when you helped us fight Grogar?..." Glory asked.

"That was me. I was there," Flutterbye said honestly.

Glory nuzzled her, "That's all I need to know."

I startled along with Flutterbye. We echoed, "But... but... "

"You said you're our friend, you said you've helped us. You said what we remember is real ..." Her horn glowed. "And you're my friend."

"I...thank you."

Just like that? What was with these ponies? Or...what was with me? These ponies, they'd have been alive for centuries. And...they were more willing to accept each other.

"We're friends, aren't we?" Glory asked.

"Yes, yes we are."

"That was all very informative," Wind Whistler said approvingly as she fluttered down next to us, while we had been keeping an eye on Flutterbye, Wind Whistler had been keeping an eye on us.

"Yes, Flutterbye, it's very nice to know you care so much about me," said Posey. We all did a double take. She was as quiet as her flowers when she tried.

"Hey guys, next time you want to have a secret revealing discussion, try having it somewhere a little more private," Spike suggested as he poked his head out the window.

Flutterbye and I blushed under our fur.

"I gotta tell Sparkler!" Glory exclaimed happily.

After that, it was Moki and Tropical Island all over again after I got my head on straight. We all learned so much from them.

Bonbon even learned about some supposed family history of hers, along with Melody, Sweetheart, it was amazing how many of us could be related to ponies here.

I also got to meet the seaponies and Flutterponies, and I acted a lot more mature in my meeting with them than I did the Paradise Ponies. They were magnificent. The flutterponies of Flutter Valley used to be reclusive until the human Megan convinced them they couldn't ignore Dream Valley's problems. Despite how fragile they looked with butterfly wings, they were the 'big guns', since their combined magic was evidently powerful enough to stop an unstoppable blob monster. The seaponies, if they could have a negative trait, it was being too friendly. They were excellent singers, though, and had apparently gone out of their way to save drowning sailors. And it took me weeks to get their song out of my head.

I promise you this next part didn't make it into any of my biographies.

Early in the morning before we headed home, I was surrounded by Posey, Applejack, Ember, Shady, Lickety Split, and Magic Star in a grove of trees.

"You sure about this?" Shady asked as Applejack yawned.

"I'm sure I'm sure: it's my idea," I said. "If everything you've told me is true, this could work. And if it can work, I want to know. If I am an Earth pony, and Earth Pony magic is based on life: then I want this to work."

"There's no harm in trying," Ember said.

"I think this is wonderful for you to want to do, Bright Eyes," Posey said.

"Did you have to get us all out of bed?" Lickety Split asked.

Magic Star gave her a glare.

"If what Magic Star and Wind Whistler said is true and ponies don't just contain magic but are conduits of magic. Then maybe all of you together can help... wake me up."

What came next had been Magic Star's suggestion. She said it was the one tangible form of magic all ponies shared.

"Look around you
Now Look beyond."

"You possess an unbreakable bond."

"The world around you is more than it seems
Stand revealed beyond your wildest dreams."

We each spoke a line as we sang.
I felt my very heart entranced.

"Unicorns have their horns and pegasi their wings.
Listen and hear life's eternal spring."

"So many things I never could see
So much flowing through every rock and tree." I heard myself sing.

I can now feel my soul
asking out to play this role

Could this have always been a part of me?
A hidden part of my identity?
Could this of always been my destiny?

"The world is not a dead thing.
We can all sense this great ring."

With joy I danced around.
Everywhere there was life to be found.

"I can look at the world in a brand new light
I know what it takes to make it right
And I won't give up the fight

The time has come to end the night
The morning is shining bright."

"Bright Eyes?" Magic Star asked inching close as the song ended.

"I can feel it!" I shouted with joy. "I can feel it! Everything! The song of the forest! I can hear all of it!"