The Wind Kingby Talon19912ChaptersI Blame LuckA swamp, bog, mire thingThe Forest BattleThe BeginningTheWheels Begin to TurnI Blame LuckYou know how people say it doesn’t hurt to teleport, well… THEY’RE LIERS!!! After the initial shock of teleportation wore off I found myself lying on my back, staring at the sky through a screen of white. I couldn’t see a thing and I could barely hear over the bells that were ringing in my ears. My body was numb below my neck. I don’t need to tell you I wasn’t having fun. After laying there a while, I soon began the numbness in my body to recede and my vision began to clear. I slowly sat up and tried to take a decent look around which was kind of hard considering I found myself laying in the branches of an enormous elm tree, I swear I must have been at least twenty feet up. I tried to shift my weight a little to get the circulation going to my lower body, well as I shifted I felt a shifting in my coat, I couldn’t very well do anything because my hands were busy holding onto my only handheld within reach. All of a sudden I felt something slip out of my jacket. I looked down only to catch a glimpse of my pistol falling to the ground and shattering on the only rock within fifty feet of my tree. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” I yelled. This is when I decided I was getting down one way or another. I reached into my coat and unsheathed my knife, an eight inch piece of extremely sharp steel; this is the time that I tell you the name of my knife, well too bad for you, it doesn’t have a name, so there. Anyways, I shimmied close to the trunk of the tree and sunk my knife as deep as I could into the wood, after testing it and finding it stable I swung off the branch with nothing but my knife to support me, now this is the part where any sane person would be having second thought about what they were about to do, of course I too was having my fair share of second thoughts. Then the knife started to slip and down I went, landing face first into a massive mud puddle, needless to say I survived the fall with only a few bruises, luckily. So there I was lying in a mud puddle went up to my shins deciding what my next move was going to be, when out of nowhere I heard shouting in the distance. “She’s getting away, after her,” One voice shouted. “Not on our watch, Lord Magnum will have our hides if she escapes again,” another shouted. Magnum? Now that was an interesting piece of info. I stood to my feet from the place I had been sitting in, still covered in mud. I followed the voices, which were steadily growing closer. All of a sudden something, or rather someone collided into me. I fell back into the mud. “Really,” I half shouted towards the sky. Then I looked at who collided with me. Sitting across from me was a young woman, or rather half woman. I instantly recognized her features, the predatory eyes, the large golden-brown wings, the trademark lion tail, she had incredibly fine feathers covered her chest and snaked their way to the borders of her face. Her brown hair was bob cut in a seemingly untidy way, however it really seemed to work. She wore a white tank top underneath a short black leather bomber style jacket; she also wore tightfitting denim jeans and what seemed to be dull black leather boots. Despite everything her clothes seemed to accentuate her feminine athletic build. She stared at me with her golden eyes, I don’t know what happened but I was hypnotized by her eyes, we just kind of sat there staring at one another. I quickly shook myself out of my dazed state. “Are you alright,” I asked quickly standing up. “Yeah, I’m alright,” She replied. I pulled her to her feet. “Thanks,” Before we could introduce ourselves. “There you are, you little traitor,” A gruff voice called. I looked over to see two more people just like the woman. The girl stood up quickly. “I told you I’m not going to be Magnums’ spy, even I have my pride,” She shouted. I stepped up next to her. “You don’t have a choice,” another voice called. I looked behind me. “Classic pincer maneuver,” I said out loud. “So how do you want to do this,” I asked the woman. “There’s no other option than to fight,” I said. “I know,” She replied. “But If I go down you will be punished as well, guilt by association,” She explained. “Screwed either way, huh,” I said. “Seems like it,” she replied. I put myself into a combat stance. “Well we can’t let that happen now can we?” I said. With that we charged at our individual targets. Now If you’ve never fought a Griffon let me tell you, unless you know what you are doing don’t bother. Something I didn’t know at the time, they are resilient fighters, and can hit pretty damn hard. Now I’m no slacker when it comes to fighting, though I lack any real formal training. I can hold my own against a trained fighter, It’s because I am so used to it, I can react on reflex, which dumbfounds my opponents. I quickly dodged a blow to the head that was meant to knock me out in one hit. I retaliated with a fierce kick to my opponents side, which lands a glancing blow to his ribs. He staggers back, obviously out of breath. He uses a wing to trip me while I make a dash towards him, I land in the dirt. He pounces towards me obviously looking to subdue me just as he was about to land on me I brought my foot up using it as a guard causing my opponent to topple over me. As my opponent lies stunned on the ground I pounce on him putting him into a fierce head lock constricting his airway, eventually he falls unconscious. I stand up and rush to the woman’s side and we gang up on the on the guy. She dives for his feet causing him to trip forward getting caught in the face with one of my haymakers. With both assailants dealt with we make a hasty retreat from the area. Author's Note Now I've noticed people down voting this story, don't think I haven't. If you are going to down vote it at least tell me why. My feelings won't be hurt any, if I receive a little criticism from others. But keep rude comments to yourself. If you like something tell me what it is you like. Seriously people I like getting feedback good or bad. A swamp, bog, mire thingMeanwhile in the city of what I would later know as Canterlot, Celes and Luna were franticly trying to figure out what went wrong with Celes’ teleportation spell, and of course track my whereabouts. “Sister, what happened? I thought you never made a mistake while teleporting,” Luna said accusingly. “That’s just it Luna, I’ve never made a mistake like this,” Celes replied. Luna placed a hand on her sisters’ shoulder. “Celestia, everyone makes mistakes now and then,” Luna said trying to calm her visibly distraught older sister. “That’s the problem sister, I’m can’t afford the luxury of mistakes, you know what happened the last time I made a mistake,” Celestia replied. “We all do,” Luna said. “And when will you stop blaming yourself for that?” Luna asked. “Never,” Celestia replied. Luna only sighed. Now let me tell you, Celestia is a worrywart, she worries about every little thing down to the last detail, as does her student, and I’ll introduce her later. Gilda and I trudged through the middle of a swamp, or was it a bog, a mire? Huh, I still can’t tell you the difference, well either way it was miserable work wading through muck that came up to our waists. “How much further until we reach this village you spoke of earlier,” I asked as I climbed over a downed tree that was laying half submerged in the muck. “Not much further, after we exit this area, hopefully without any problems, we should reach another heavily wooded area, after that it should be only a short walk to the town,” Gilda replied. “Of course since you are traveling with me, don’t expect an overly warm welcome,” Gilda commented. “Not to seem like an idiot, but why not,” I asked. Gilda sighed “The last time I was there I didn’t leave a good impression on the locals,” She said. “Well, that sucks,” I replied climbing over another tree. We kept going at a snail’s pace, apparently because there were dangerous creatures that lived below the surface of the muck, and we didn’t want to give them reason to lash out at us. =Canterlot= Celestia was still running herself ragged with worry over me (see, a total worrywart); looking back I couldn’t blame her. “Sister! I’ve located a locating spell sufficient enough to locate Max,” Luna called. “Really?” Celestia asked, the relief in her voice was clearly audible. “I’m pretty sure,” Luna replied. “I’ve brought all the necessary ingredients to perform the spell,” she said. “This spell should show his position on any map enchanted with this spell,” Luna explained. “Perform the spell, Luna,” Celestia said, regaining her control. “Alright,” Luna replied. =The Swamp= We finally reached the edge of the swamp. “This settles it, I’m adding swamps to the list of things I hate most, next to spiders, bananas, and door to door salesmen,” I complained finally climbing out of the muck. “Quit your bellyaching, Max,” Gilda replied offering a hand, which I graciously accepted as I climbed to my feet. “But I agree, It’s going to take forever to clean the muck out of my feathers,” She said. “Of course it didn’t help when that hydra decided we were going to be its next meal,” I replied. “Yeah, but you should’ve seen your face, absolutely priceless,” Gilda laughed. “Well excuse me for being scared witless,” I defended. Gilda stopped laughing “Speaking of which, hydras are scary, yeah, but you took it to a whole new level of being scared,” Gilda said. “Well I never knew hydras existed outside of legends until now,” I explained. “Old legends don’t prepare you for the real thing, next thing you know we’ll be staring down a manticore,” I said. A nervous look appeared on Gilda’s face. “Don’t tell me they exist as well!” I said louder than I intended to. Gilda crossed her arms “Okay, I won’t tell you,” She said with a smirk. I huffed “Don’t get lippy with me missy,” = A Little While Later= Now we, or rather I was hacking my way through thick vines that were hanging down from the tree tops with my knife. The going was slow, because let’s face it a combat knife isn’t really suited for that kind of thing. I eventually cut my way onto a well-traveled path way through the forest. “Hey Gilda I found a path,” I said. “Really?” Gilda asked. “Yeah, which way should we take,” I asked. Gilda stepped up beside me and looked. “We should follow the path west from here,” She said. “Give me a second,” I said. I knelt down on the ground and planted my knife in the soil. I looked at the compass built into the pommel we were facing north. “All right, so we take a left onto the path and it should lead us to the village?” I asked. “It should,” Gilda replied. “Alright then, let’s get moving,” I said as I stood up, grabbing my knife as I stood. “Oh, by the way I don’t know if I asked this earlier or not, but what is the name of this village?” I asked. Gilda thought for a moment. “If I remember correctly it should be called Ponyville,” Gilda replied. I couldn’t help but snicker at the name. “Oh just wait until you see the residents of the town, if you aren’t laughing now you probably will when we arrive,” Gilda said. “Alright, well let’s get going,” I say as I start down the path only pausing for Gilda to catch up. =Canterlot= Luna and Celestia were watching my progress on the enchanted map. “Tell me Luna, do you see where he is headed,” Celestia asked. Luna nodded “He seems to be headed towards Ponyville,” she said. “And a certain someone in Ponyville is?” Celestia asked with a faint smile appearing on her face. Luna thought for a moment, then a look of realization appeared on her face. “Your student, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said. “Yes, let’s have Twilight meet him and whoever is obviously guiding him at the edge of the forest, where she will meet him, and act as his guide in Ponyville until we can pick him up in person,” Celestia said. “That plan should work, but you might need to send him a letter explaining the situation to him, signed as your human self,” Luna said. “Yes that’s a wise idea, sister,” Celestia agreed. Celestia picked up a nearby quill and quickly penned a letter to her student and another to Max. She sent them via spell to her student. “Now all we do is wait,” Celestia said. “Oh we might want to send a map to her,” Luna said quickly. “Right,” Celestia agrees and sends the enchanted map as well. The Forest BattleGilda and I were reaching the edge of the forest, I could tell by how the trees were thinning and the amount of light coming through the canopy. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little tired, after all being caked in mud and wearing soaking clothes only added to my fatigue. Gilda wasn’t faring much better than I was; she too was cake in a thick layer of mud. “I think we should rest a minute,” She said. She was trying to hide how tired she was. “Rest sounds good,” I reply. We reach a nearby clearing that had the remnants of a campsite. A couple of logs were lying around a fire pit in a half circle. The Clearing was brighter than the rest of the forest on account of the significant gap in the canopy. The sky however was dark from the storm clouds that had gathered over the course of the day. “So, Max, how did you get to this corner of the world,” Gilda asked. I proceed to tell her of the event before I had run into her. =Ponyville= Twilight had been making good time towards the forest, from her library the edge of Everfree was roughly fifteen minutes away. She had decided to stop by a friend’s house. This friend in particular was Named Fluttershy, and her name was well earned. She was a timid young woman, fair skin, long pink hair that covered her face and acted as a barrier to the world, she had blue eyes, she also had a delicate build, the feature that stood out the most however, were her wings, and they were as petit and delicate as their owner. She almost always wore a yellow sundress and white shoes. Like was said before Fluttershy is timid and unless she is pushed downright cowardly, however when you get her into a situation where her friends are in danger, you’ll see a whole other side of her, behind that timid façade beats the heart of a lion, she adores life in all its forms especially animals, her house is always open to any woodland creature that is in need of shelter, she is an incredibly kind and caring person. Twilight walked up to the fence of the side of Fluttershy’s house. Her friend was busily tending to the many animals currently under her care. Twilight had always been impressed by her friend’s ability to handle animals, special talent or not. “Ahem,” Twilight coughed. Fluttershy jumped and turned around sharply, she noticed Twilight standing at the edge of the fence. “Oh, good morning Twilight,” She said in her characteristically quiet voice. “Good morning Fluttershy, how are you,” Twilight replied kindly. “Oh, I’m fine this morning, Twilight. What about you?” Fluttershy asked. “I’m fine as well, I was just on my way too meet an acquaintance of the princesses, he’s do to arrive any time, oh, speak of the time I better get going, I’ll talk to you later, bye,” Twilight said quickly. With that Twilight headed off quickly towards the forest. =The Forest= Gilda and I were relaxing after the trek through the forest when suddenly a low and ominous growl came out of nowhere. “Um, Gilda?” I asked rather nervously. “Y-yeah Max,” Gilda replied equally nervous. “You heard that right?” I asked. “Y-yeah,” Gilda replied. “Great,” I sighed. A branch snapped from behind me causing me to turn sharply reaching for my pistol, which I had conveniently remembered lay broken in pieces in the forest. Instead I drew my knife, all eight inches of it. Of course, even having my knife drawn gave me no comfort when I saw what approached from the tree line. Towering before me stood a massive shape cloaked in shadow. Standing roughly two feet higher than myself loomed a beast with the body and head of a lion, next to that head was the head of a goat, at the rear of the beast was its tail only it wasn’t a tail it was a massive poisonous snake, on its back was a pair of large bat like wings, it was coved in a coat of thick black fur and its eyes, all six of them, glowed with an eerie red light. I reached lowly to my waist, towards where I kept a second eight inch knife and drew it from its sheath. I slowed my breathing and focused on the beast in front of me. Then the weirdest thing happened, I smiled, no seriously, I smiled, I have no idea why and to this day I still don’t. It could have been the fact that I was staring down a mythical chimera, but who’s to say. Then it happened, as quick as lightning, it raked me across the chest with its claws, the sheer force of the blow sent me flying across the clearing like a skipping stone. I must have bounced at least three times. Luckily It was me and no one else or they would have been killed. I forgot to say this earlier but I’m incredibly robust for a human take into account that I was wearing a padded armored vest under my coat, which absorbed and dispersed the kinetic energy from that blow enough for me to escape severe bodily harm; it still hurt like hell though. The front of my coat was now shredded, and my armored vest had four huge gashes in the fabric that revealed the steel plating beneath it and the dense ceramic plating behind it. I struggled to my feet breathing raggedly; the wing had been knocked clear out of me and it was a struggle to stand upright. Then out of all the stupid things Gilda could have done, she attacked the thing. She must not have been thinking clearly, I mean she saw what happened to me, right? Her blind attack didn’t last long, out of nowhere the chimera struck her with its paw, like swatting an annoying fly. The next sound I heard I don’t think I’ll ever un-hear, the sound of breaking bones and a loud scream of pain from Gilda. The Chimera tuned its attention towards Gilda stalking ever closer to her unmoving body with a look of predatory hunger written on its face. Without thinking I rushed it vaulting onto its back and sinking a knife into its shoulder. The Chimera howled in pain and started thrashing around, luckily I had a good hold on my knife or I would have been thrown off. I sunk my other knife into its back, which made it thrash around even more. All of a sudden the thing pitched over onto its side and began to roll on its back with me still clinging to it. It was now thrashing around in the dirt. My knives came loose and I was left lying on my back in the dirt. As the chimera got to its feet I rolled under it. I was now crouched beneath a two ton monster that was looking for me. I was just below its neck when I quickly brought my knives up in a fluid motion sinking both blades into its neck, no doubt severing the artery that was located within. I rolled to the side and got away from the beast. I got as much distance between me and the chimera as possible; I was now a good twenty yards away. The beast turned towards me. It took one lumbering step towards me, then another, then another, all the while its own blood spilled on the ground. Soon it stood within reach of me, it brought a claw up, and brought it down, however there was no strength behind it, its claws harmlessly scraped against my armored chest, then it fell over, it was dead. I ran over to Gilda who was lying almost lifelessly on the ground. I checked her vitals, she was still breathing and her pulse was moderately strong, so she would live. However she had multiple fractures and she was severely bruised. I picked her up in my arms and carried her like a child towards Ponyville. =The Edge of Everfree Forest= Twilight had been waiting for an hour more than what the princess told her to wait for. She was starting to get frustrated. Apparently punctuality wasn’t in this guy’s vocabulary. However just as she was about to head home the noticed a figure headed in her direction. As it got closer she noticed a young man covered in mud and, was that Blood!? A thousand thoughts raced through her head. What happened to him? However as the man grew closer she notice that he held another person in his arms, also covered in mud, it was a familiar looking young woman, it was Gilda, an old friend of Rainbow Dash, She was extremely injured. What the heck had happened to put them in this state. The man approached her. “Excuse me, is there a hospital close by,” He asked. Twilight took notice of his voice, he was definitely young, maybe around her age, he had light brown hair and blue eyes, he wore what appeared to be a tattered black trench coat and blue jeans, and under his coat she caught sight of two large knives, one at his waist and another inverted on his chest, he had an armored vest with four large gashes across it and under that he wore what was once a white t-shirt. “Yes, there is,” Twilight answered. “Come with me,” she said. “What’s your name,” the young man asked. “Twilight Sparkle,” she answered. “And you?” “Max Porter,” The BeginningIt was late on a Monday night in the middle of winter. It had been a pretty good day and I was driving home after a long day at work. I had turned onto the street my home was located on; it had started snowing a short time ago and visibility was poor to say the least. I pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. It was eerily quiet this night, even more so than usual. The nearby streetlights dimly illuminated the surrounding area. I grabbed my duffel bag from the passenger side seat and stepped out of my vehicle. I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed for my house. At this time I lived alone, I was more or less a recluse; I didn’t really see the need to interact with others. Now that I think back I lived a pretty sad and dull life. I never really cared for the company of people, mostly because most people I had ever met were selfish and incredibly greedy, cruel, and unpleasant. Of course I could be pretty selfish myself at times as well. But I’m off track. I had entered my house and locked the door behind me. It was roughly eight p.m. and it was time for me to just kick back and relax. Little did I know that tonight I would get a visitor that would change my life forever. As I was watching TV there was a knock at the door now being the recluse that I was at the time I thought little of it at first but I stood up and walked to the door grabbing my 9mm pistol out of my nearby gun cabinet, I always kept it locked and the key on me, just in case. I looked through the peephole in the door and saw on the other side a figure wearing a white hooded jacket. I loaded my pistol and flicked the safety off. I undid the deadbolt and cracked the door. “Who’s there?” I asked in a weary tone. “I realize it’s late at night but is this the residence of a Mr. Maximillian Porter?” The figure asked. I realized that the figure was a woman. “Who’s asking,” I replied. “Oh, Sorry, My name is Celes,” she replied. Celes? I remembered my parents talking about a woman named Celes when I was younger. “Well miss Celes why are you here so late in the evening?” I asked. “I’d really like to say but it’s quite cold out here, do you mind if I come inside so we may talk?” She asked politely. I thought about it for a moment. On one hand she could be the person my parents talked about. On the other hand she might be lying through her teeth. I decided to take a leap of faith. “Alright, but I’ll be watching you,” I replied as I slowly opened the door. Celes walked into the house. “Thank you,” She replied. This was a strange situation I had found myself in, I mean sure she was a friend of my parent, but for some reason I had my doubts. I took a look at Celes, for someone claiming to be a friend of the family, who should have been much older than me, she was incredibly youthful. There was a sense of agelessness to her; she had a slender, athletic body, long blonde hair, striking blue eyes that showed the wisdom only gained through a long life filled with hardship, but they seemed to exude a sense of tranquility. I took my seat across from her. “Alright Miss Celes, what is the reason that compelled you to visit this late at night?” I asked her. “Getting straight to the point, not much for pleasantries, are you?” She asked calmly, taking a sip of hot cocoa for the mug I had provided for her only moments before. “No, I guess I’m not,” I replied simply. Celes sighed. “I was instructed by your parents almost ten years ago to give you a letter in the event something should happen to them, before you ask, they specifically told me to give it to you shortly after your twentieth birthday, I tried to locate you at that time, however you had just seemed to disappear, my sister and I have spent the last six months trying to find you, you’re lucky I found you first,” She explained. “What are the contents of this letter exactly, what does it say,” I asked, the curiosity in my voice plain as day. Celes shook her head. “I’m unsure myself, I was told nobody but you were allowed to read it.” She replied. “Before that though. What did you mean by I was lucky you found me first?” I asked. I had a sinking feeling that I wasn’t going to like what Celes was about to tell me. “How much do you remember about your parents?” She asked me. I thought for a moment. “Well I remember them being distant at almost all times, they, as in both of them had a mile long stare, I knew they weren’t born in this country, and they told me stories of their first home, A country known as Gryphus. I’ve tried to locate the country but I’ve never found even a shred of evidence that proved the country even existed,” I explained. “Do you know why they left?” Celes asked me. “They never said,” I replied. Celes looked sharply to her left. “You better brace yourself,” She said. “Huh?” I asked. “Maxi!!!” a female voice called out from my right. I turned to look only to be tackled into a bone crushing hug. After struggling to free myself from my unexpected situation, I finally managed to escape, of course that was a lot easier said than done, I won’t bore you with the details. I now sat across from Celes and another woman, this woman was younger with dark hair and blue eyes, she wore a dark blue jacket with a black blouse and black dress pants, like Celes her eyes shone the wisdom one would only acquire from a long life, but unlike Celes her eyes held a darker edge that I couldn’t quite place, In hind sight I should have recognized that look, it was the same look of loneliness that I had carried most of my life, I think If I would have caught it sooner It may have saved me from many awkward situations, But, Back to the story. “Max, you don’t remember her, but this is my younger sister Luna, You met her when you were still a baby,” Celes said. I just nodded, still reeling from my encounter with her. “Now, as I was about to explain, Your parents had enemies, Max, and they are not the kind of people you want after you, they are led by a man known as Magnum, and he has been hunting for you for the last ten years, much like we have, only he wishes to get rid of you,” Celes explained. “Why?” I asked. “You are the only person that can stand in the way of his ambitions,” Luna replied. “What ambitions are those?” I asked. “It’s best we leave that alone, at least until you’re ready for the entire story, plus, we don’t have much time, Magnum and his forces are on their way, which is the reason of our visit, we promised your parents that, should anything happen, we would step in and do anything within our power to keep you from harm,” Luna explained. “Luna are you positive?” Celes asked. “Definitely,” Luna replied. “Max, quickly pack up anything you may need, we don’ have time for an explanation, just do it!” Celes said quickly. Hearing the panic in her voice forced me into a state of compliance. I dashed to my room and grabbed a suitcase and threw my clothes into it, I put on a Kevlar vest over my shirt and put on my black winter trench coat, I grabbed my black leather steel toed boots and put them on, I grabbed one of my many combat knives and fastened it to the inside of my coat, in its sheath of course I’m not stupid, I grabbed a weapon case and started putting many of my more useful weapons inside it, an M4 carbine, a Barret 50 caliber precision rifle(yes, you can own one as a civilian, with the proper license), an mp5,an M1911, multiple cases of ammunition and magazines, and various scopes and attachments, oh and my custom longsword which I still carry to this day. I headed back to Celes and Luna, I grabbed my pistol from the table and stuffed it in my jacket. “Alright, I have everything I need,” I said. “Are you positive,” Luna asked. I nodded. “Okay, take my hand, Max,” Celes said. I took her hand in mine. “This may hurt a bit,” She said. “What?” I barely had time to ask before everything went white. Author's Note Well let me know what you think, I've spent a lot of time planning this story out, but any input, helpful advice, or unique ideas would be appreciated. TheWheels Begin to TurnGilda and I were walking down the path towards Ponyville. It was roughly mid-afternoon, and since I didn’t have a watch on me I couldn’t accurately tell the time. It was a welcome distraction to be able to navigate without tripping over a branch or a conveniently placed (or should I say misplaced) rock. I followed behind Gilda at a respectable distance contemplating recent events. ‘Alright, first I met a pair of strange women who brought me to an equally strange place, Then I fall out of a tree more than twenty feet high and walk away with only minor scrapes and bruises, I meet another strange woman, who happens to be a decent fighter, I should spar with her some time, we fight off a couple of Magnum’s soldiers, We wade through a waist deep swamp, We accidently stumble upon a hydra, note to self: Hydras have very sensitive hearing, Finally we escape the hydra, and are now on a hopefully safe path to a hopefully safe location. Geeze, talk about a strange set of circumstances,’ =Ponyville= Twilight Sparkle, Librarian of Ponyville. When you first meet her you’ll see a young woman in her late teens to early twenties, she stands roughly five foot eight with a slender build, long dark midnight blue mid-back length hair with a purple highlight running through it, she has a strange glowing rune on her forehead to help with focusing magical energies, she also has violet eyes. Her clothing style reflects her personality, neat and simple, always carrying a bag full of books for almost any situation. She is studious in nature, and tries to be polite at all times. Of course she is quite the worrywart, has a tendency to jump to conclusions, and obsess over little details. A girl of science and of magic, she is a logical thinker; she is more than willing to take on any mental challenge. Her trademark look includes a white blouse, and violet blazer, with a violet mid-thigh length skirt; she also wears a pair of dark tights and a pair of nice dress shoes. Twilight sat at her desk on the main floor of Golden Oaks Library (At least I think that’s the name) she was currently filling out the numerous return forms for recently returned books. “Hey Twilight, there’s a letter from the princess, and a package for you,” A young dragon stepped out of the kitchen. He was short covered in purple scales with flexible green spikes on his head, styled in such a way that they were reminiscent of a Mohawk. “Bring me the letter spike,” Twilight said as the put down the quill she was using. Spike held out the letter to her, which she promptly took and opened it. Dear Twilight, Earlier I’m the day while conducting a routine teleport there was a slight malfunction and an acquaintance of mine that I was teleporting was teleported to an unknown destination. After some searching we have now located him, however due to certain circumstances, neither I nor my sister is able to retrieve him at this time. So I would like to ask you to meet up with our acquaintance and guide him and anybody he deems friendly to Ponyville and give whatever assistance he may need, until Luna or myself am able retrieve him. Signed, Princess Celestia P.S. Twilight I’m letting you know now that I trust his judgment in certain things. So I’ll ask you to do the same. He may be different than us, however he is a superbly gifted individual and is one of the few who Luna and Myself can trust our very lives with. I’m letting you know that you and your friends can trust him as well. P.P.S. Please keep any question about his past to yourself. If I know him, and I’m pretty sure I do, he’ll talk to you when he’s ready. General knowledge questions are perfectly acceptable. Oh, and the name of this person is Max Porter, you are to meet him in twenty minutes on the path leading out of the Everfree Forest. Also, remember to watch yourself out there Twilight, in a short time Equestria may no longer be safe to just walk around freely, by the way the package sent to you contains a map that will show you where Max is, and a letter addressed to him, for his eyes only, give it to him when you reach him, tell him it’s from a friend. Twilight set down the letter “Spike, I’m heading out for a bit, keep an eye on the library for me,” “Sure thing Twilight,” Spike replied. Twilight grabbed her jacket from the hanger by the door, slipped her shoes on and headed towards, the Everfree Forest. =Unknown Location= A gnarled old man sat in the darkness of his throne room, wearing a tarnished golden helmet with an equally tarnished silver crown merged with it. He had a long unkempt grey beard and large eyebrows; He had an ugly scar going down the side of his face, he wore a tattered black robe, and a dull wolf skin cloak draped over his shoulders. The only thing anybody could see in the darkness was a shadow with glowing red eyes. The door to his throne room opened and in walked a guard, wearing tarnished steel armor, he stopped before the old man and kneeled. “Speak,” the old man said in a deep voice. “My lord, our guards lost the target,” The guard said. The old man raised an eyebrow. “Really,” he asked. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that a single untrained girl managed to evade two of the best trackers in Gryphus,” The old man asked a considerable edge in his voice. “N-no my lord, but~~” The guard started. “But what, soldier,” The old man asked, his temper beginning to flare up. “W-we don’t believe she is alone sire, she appears to have had help,” The guard explained. His interest was piqued “Help? From who?” “We’re unsure my lord, but whoever it is put the two trackers into the intensive care unit, with severe injuries,” The guard replied. The old man stroked his beard with a hand. “Interesting,” he said out loud. “When one of them wake question them for information,” The old man replied. “Dismissed,” “Yes lord Magnum,” The guard said. The guard turned and quickly left the throne room. “Well, well, It looks like Celestia has finally revealed her hand, No matter, I’ll catch that filthy little traitor, Gilda, and when I do I’ll savor the feeling of squeezing the life from her very soul,” His eyes flared red with arcane magic as he began to laugh diabolically. Author's Note Hey everyone, I felt I was dragging my feet a bit with the story, so this is to help get the ball rolling. Please let me know what you think so far.
I Blame LuckYou know how people say it doesn’t hurt to teleport, well… THEY’RE LIERS!!! After the initial shock of teleportation wore off I found myself lying on my back, staring at the sky through a screen of white. I couldn’t see a thing and I could barely hear over the bells that were ringing in my ears. My body was numb below my neck. I don’t need to tell you I wasn’t having fun. After laying there a while, I soon began the numbness in my body to recede and my vision began to clear. I slowly sat up and tried to take a decent look around which was kind of hard considering I found myself laying in the branches of an enormous elm tree, I swear I must have been at least twenty feet up. I tried to shift my weight a little to get the circulation going to my lower body, well as I shifted I felt a shifting in my coat, I couldn’t very well do anything because my hands were busy holding onto my only handheld within reach. All of a sudden I felt something slip out of my jacket. I looked down only to catch a glimpse of my pistol falling to the ground and shattering on the only rock within fifty feet of my tree. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” I yelled. This is when I decided I was getting down one way or another. I reached into my coat and unsheathed my knife, an eight inch piece of extremely sharp steel; this is the time that I tell you the name of my knife, well too bad for you, it doesn’t have a name, so there. Anyways, I shimmied close to the trunk of the tree and sunk my knife as deep as I could into the wood, after testing it and finding it stable I swung off the branch with nothing but my knife to support me, now this is the part where any sane person would be having second thought about what they were about to do, of course I too was having my fair share of second thoughts. Then the knife started to slip and down I went, landing face first into a massive mud puddle, needless to say I survived the fall with only a few bruises, luckily. So there I was lying in a mud puddle went up to my shins deciding what my next move was going to be, when out of nowhere I heard shouting in the distance. “She’s getting away, after her,” One voice shouted. “Not on our watch, Lord Magnum will have our hides if she escapes again,” another shouted. Magnum? Now that was an interesting piece of info. I stood to my feet from the place I had been sitting in, still covered in mud. I followed the voices, which were steadily growing closer. All of a sudden something, or rather someone collided into me. I fell back into the mud. “Really,” I half shouted towards the sky. Then I looked at who collided with me. Sitting across from me was a young woman, or rather half woman. I instantly recognized her features, the predatory eyes, the large golden-brown wings, the trademark lion tail, she had incredibly fine feathers covered her chest and snaked their way to the borders of her face. Her brown hair was bob cut in a seemingly untidy way, however it really seemed to work. She wore a white tank top underneath a short black leather bomber style jacket; she also wore tightfitting denim jeans and what seemed to be dull black leather boots. Despite everything her clothes seemed to accentuate her feminine athletic build. She stared at me with her golden eyes, I don’t know what happened but I was hypnotized by her eyes, we just kind of sat there staring at one another. I quickly shook myself out of my dazed state. “Are you alright,” I asked quickly standing up. “Yeah, I’m alright,” She replied. I pulled her to her feet. “Thanks,” Before we could introduce ourselves. “There you are, you little traitor,” A gruff voice called. I looked over to see two more people just like the woman. The girl stood up quickly. “I told you I’m not going to be Magnums’ spy, even I have my pride,” She shouted. I stepped up next to her. “You don’t have a choice,” another voice called. I looked behind me. “Classic pincer maneuver,” I said out loud. “So how do you want to do this,” I asked the woman. “There’s no other option than to fight,” I said. “I know,” She replied. “But If I go down you will be punished as well, guilt by association,” She explained. “Screwed either way, huh,” I said. “Seems like it,” she replied. I put myself into a combat stance. “Well we can’t let that happen now can we?” I said. With that we charged at our individual targets. Now If you’ve never fought a Griffon let me tell you, unless you know what you are doing don’t bother. Something I didn’t know at the time, they are resilient fighters, and can hit pretty damn hard. Now I’m no slacker when it comes to fighting, though I lack any real formal training. I can hold my own against a trained fighter, It’s because I am so used to it, I can react on reflex, which dumbfounds my opponents. I quickly dodged a blow to the head that was meant to knock me out in one hit. I retaliated with a fierce kick to my opponents side, which lands a glancing blow to his ribs. He staggers back, obviously out of breath. He uses a wing to trip me while I make a dash towards him, I land in the dirt. He pounces towards me obviously looking to subdue me just as he was about to land on me I brought my foot up using it as a guard causing my opponent to topple over me. As my opponent lies stunned on the ground I pounce on him putting him into a fierce head lock constricting his airway, eventually he falls unconscious. I stand up and rush to the woman’s side and we gang up on the on the guy. She dives for his feet causing him to trip forward getting caught in the face with one of my haymakers. With both assailants dealt with we make a hasty retreat from the area. Author's Note Now I've noticed people down voting this story, don't think I haven't. If you are going to down vote it at least tell me why. My feelings won't be hurt any, if I receive a little criticism from others. But keep rude comments to yourself. If you like something tell me what it is you like. Seriously people I like getting feedback good or bad.
A swamp, bog, mire thingMeanwhile in the city of what I would later know as Canterlot, Celes and Luna were franticly trying to figure out what went wrong with Celes’ teleportation spell, and of course track my whereabouts. “Sister, what happened? I thought you never made a mistake while teleporting,” Luna said accusingly. “That’s just it Luna, I’ve never made a mistake like this,” Celes replied. Luna placed a hand on her sisters’ shoulder. “Celestia, everyone makes mistakes now and then,” Luna said trying to calm her visibly distraught older sister. “That’s the problem sister, I’m can’t afford the luxury of mistakes, you know what happened the last time I made a mistake,” Celestia replied. “We all do,” Luna said. “And when will you stop blaming yourself for that?” Luna asked. “Never,” Celestia replied. Luna only sighed. Now let me tell you, Celestia is a worrywart, she worries about every little thing down to the last detail, as does her student, and I’ll introduce her later. Gilda and I trudged through the middle of a swamp, or was it a bog, a mire? Huh, I still can’t tell you the difference, well either way it was miserable work wading through muck that came up to our waists. “How much further until we reach this village you spoke of earlier,” I asked as I climbed over a downed tree that was laying half submerged in the muck. “Not much further, after we exit this area, hopefully without any problems, we should reach another heavily wooded area, after that it should be only a short walk to the town,” Gilda replied. “Of course since you are traveling with me, don’t expect an overly warm welcome,” Gilda commented. “Not to seem like an idiot, but why not,” I asked. Gilda sighed “The last time I was there I didn’t leave a good impression on the locals,” She said. “Well, that sucks,” I replied climbing over another tree. We kept going at a snail’s pace, apparently because there were dangerous creatures that lived below the surface of the muck, and we didn’t want to give them reason to lash out at us. =Canterlot= Celestia was still running herself ragged with worry over me (see, a total worrywart); looking back I couldn’t blame her. “Sister! I’ve located a locating spell sufficient enough to locate Max,” Luna called. “Really?” Celestia asked, the relief in her voice was clearly audible. “I’m pretty sure,” Luna replied. “I’ve brought all the necessary ingredients to perform the spell,” she said. “This spell should show his position on any map enchanted with this spell,” Luna explained. “Perform the spell, Luna,” Celestia said, regaining her control. “Alright,” Luna replied. =The Swamp= We finally reached the edge of the swamp. “This settles it, I’m adding swamps to the list of things I hate most, next to spiders, bananas, and door to door salesmen,” I complained finally climbing out of the muck. “Quit your bellyaching, Max,” Gilda replied offering a hand, which I graciously accepted as I climbed to my feet. “But I agree, It’s going to take forever to clean the muck out of my feathers,” She said. “Of course it didn’t help when that hydra decided we were going to be its next meal,” I replied. “Yeah, but you should’ve seen your face, absolutely priceless,” Gilda laughed. “Well excuse me for being scared witless,” I defended. Gilda stopped laughing “Speaking of which, hydras are scary, yeah, but you took it to a whole new level of being scared,” Gilda said. “Well I never knew hydras existed outside of legends until now,” I explained. “Old legends don’t prepare you for the real thing, next thing you know we’ll be staring down a manticore,” I said. A nervous look appeared on Gilda’s face. “Don’t tell me they exist as well!” I said louder than I intended to. Gilda crossed her arms “Okay, I won’t tell you,” She said with a smirk. I huffed “Don’t get lippy with me missy,” = A Little While Later= Now we, or rather I was hacking my way through thick vines that were hanging down from the tree tops with my knife. The going was slow, because let’s face it a combat knife isn’t really suited for that kind of thing. I eventually cut my way onto a well-traveled path way through the forest. “Hey Gilda I found a path,” I said. “Really?” Gilda asked. “Yeah, which way should we take,” I asked. Gilda stepped up beside me and looked. “We should follow the path west from here,” She said. “Give me a second,” I said. I knelt down on the ground and planted my knife in the soil. I looked at the compass built into the pommel we were facing north. “All right, so we take a left onto the path and it should lead us to the village?” I asked. “It should,” Gilda replied. “Alright then, let’s get moving,” I said as I stood up, grabbing my knife as I stood. “Oh, by the way I don’t know if I asked this earlier or not, but what is the name of this village?” I asked. Gilda thought for a moment. “If I remember correctly it should be called Ponyville,” Gilda replied. I couldn’t help but snicker at the name. “Oh just wait until you see the residents of the town, if you aren’t laughing now you probably will when we arrive,” Gilda said. “Alright, well let’s get going,” I say as I start down the path only pausing for Gilda to catch up. =Canterlot= Luna and Celestia were watching my progress on the enchanted map. “Tell me Luna, do you see where he is headed,” Celestia asked. Luna nodded “He seems to be headed towards Ponyville,” she said. “And a certain someone in Ponyville is?” Celestia asked with a faint smile appearing on her face. Luna thought for a moment, then a look of realization appeared on her face. “Your student, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said. “Yes, let’s have Twilight meet him and whoever is obviously guiding him at the edge of the forest, where she will meet him, and act as his guide in Ponyville until we can pick him up in person,” Celestia said. “That plan should work, but you might need to send him a letter explaining the situation to him, signed as your human self,” Luna said. “Yes that’s a wise idea, sister,” Celestia agreed. Celestia picked up a nearby quill and quickly penned a letter to her student and another to Max. She sent them via spell to her student. “Now all we do is wait,” Celestia said. “Oh we might want to send a map to her,” Luna said quickly. “Right,” Celestia agrees and sends the enchanted map as well.
The Forest BattleGilda and I were reaching the edge of the forest, I could tell by how the trees were thinning and the amount of light coming through the canopy. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little tired, after all being caked in mud and wearing soaking clothes only added to my fatigue. Gilda wasn’t faring much better than I was; she too was cake in a thick layer of mud. “I think we should rest a minute,” She said. She was trying to hide how tired she was. “Rest sounds good,” I reply. We reach a nearby clearing that had the remnants of a campsite. A couple of logs were lying around a fire pit in a half circle. The Clearing was brighter than the rest of the forest on account of the significant gap in the canopy. The sky however was dark from the storm clouds that had gathered over the course of the day. “So, Max, how did you get to this corner of the world,” Gilda asked. I proceed to tell her of the event before I had run into her. =Ponyville= Twilight had been making good time towards the forest, from her library the edge of Everfree was roughly fifteen minutes away. She had decided to stop by a friend’s house. This friend in particular was Named Fluttershy, and her name was well earned. She was a timid young woman, fair skin, long pink hair that covered her face and acted as a barrier to the world, she had blue eyes, she also had a delicate build, the feature that stood out the most however, were her wings, and they were as petit and delicate as their owner. She almost always wore a yellow sundress and white shoes. Like was said before Fluttershy is timid and unless she is pushed downright cowardly, however when you get her into a situation where her friends are in danger, you’ll see a whole other side of her, behind that timid façade beats the heart of a lion, she adores life in all its forms especially animals, her house is always open to any woodland creature that is in need of shelter, she is an incredibly kind and caring person. Twilight walked up to the fence of the side of Fluttershy’s house. Her friend was busily tending to the many animals currently under her care. Twilight had always been impressed by her friend’s ability to handle animals, special talent or not. “Ahem,” Twilight coughed. Fluttershy jumped and turned around sharply, she noticed Twilight standing at the edge of the fence. “Oh, good morning Twilight,” She said in her characteristically quiet voice. “Good morning Fluttershy, how are you,” Twilight replied kindly. “Oh, I’m fine this morning, Twilight. What about you?” Fluttershy asked. “I’m fine as well, I was just on my way too meet an acquaintance of the princesses, he’s do to arrive any time, oh, speak of the time I better get going, I’ll talk to you later, bye,” Twilight said quickly. With that Twilight headed off quickly towards the forest. =The Forest= Gilda and I were relaxing after the trek through the forest when suddenly a low and ominous growl came out of nowhere. “Um, Gilda?” I asked rather nervously. “Y-yeah Max,” Gilda replied equally nervous. “You heard that right?” I asked. “Y-yeah,” Gilda replied. “Great,” I sighed. A branch snapped from behind me causing me to turn sharply reaching for my pistol, which I had conveniently remembered lay broken in pieces in the forest. Instead I drew my knife, all eight inches of it. Of course, even having my knife drawn gave me no comfort when I saw what approached from the tree line. Towering before me stood a massive shape cloaked in shadow. Standing roughly two feet higher than myself loomed a beast with the body and head of a lion, next to that head was the head of a goat, at the rear of the beast was its tail only it wasn’t a tail it was a massive poisonous snake, on its back was a pair of large bat like wings, it was coved in a coat of thick black fur and its eyes, all six of them, glowed with an eerie red light. I reached lowly to my waist, towards where I kept a second eight inch knife and drew it from its sheath. I slowed my breathing and focused on the beast in front of me. Then the weirdest thing happened, I smiled, no seriously, I smiled, I have no idea why and to this day I still don’t. It could have been the fact that I was staring down a mythical chimera, but who’s to say. Then it happened, as quick as lightning, it raked me across the chest with its claws, the sheer force of the blow sent me flying across the clearing like a skipping stone. I must have bounced at least three times. Luckily It was me and no one else or they would have been killed. I forgot to say this earlier but I’m incredibly robust for a human take into account that I was wearing a padded armored vest under my coat, which absorbed and dispersed the kinetic energy from that blow enough for me to escape severe bodily harm; it still hurt like hell though. The front of my coat was now shredded, and my armored vest had four huge gashes in the fabric that revealed the steel plating beneath it and the dense ceramic plating behind it. I struggled to my feet breathing raggedly; the wing had been knocked clear out of me and it was a struggle to stand upright. Then out of all the stupid things Gilda could have done, she attacked the thing. She must not have been thinking clearly, I mean she saw what happened to me, right? Her blind attack didn’t last long, out of nowhere the chimera struck her with its paw, like swatting an annoying fly. The next sound I heard I don’t think I’ll ever un-hear, the sound of breaking bones and a loud scream of pain from Gilda. The Chimera tuned its attention towards Gilda stalking ever closer to her unmoving body with a look of predatory hunger written on its face. Without thinking I rushed it vaulting onto its back and sinking a knife into its shoulder. The Chimera howled in pain and started thrashing around, luckily I had a good hold on my knife or I would have been thrown off. I sunk my other knife into its back, which made it thrash around even more. All of a sudden the thing pitched over onto its side and began to roll on its back with me still clinging to it. It was now thrashing around in the dirt. My knives came loose and I was left lying on my back in the dirt. As the chimera got to its feet I rolled under it. I was now crouched beneath a two ton monster that was looking for me. I was just below its neck when I quickly brought my knives up in a fluid motion sinking both blades into its neck, no doubt severing the artery that was located within. I rolled to the side and got away from the beast. I got as much distance between me and the chimera as possible; I was now a good twenty yards away. The beast turned towards me. It took one lumbering step towards me, then another, then another, all the while its own blood spilled on the ground. Soon it stood within reach of me, it brought a claw up, and brought it down, however there was no strength behind it, its claws harmlessly scraped against my armored chest, then it fell over, it was dead. I ran over to Gilda who was lying almost lifelessly on the ground. I checked her vitals, she was still breathing and her pulse was moderately strong, so she would live. However she had multiple fractures and she was severely bruised. I picked her up in my arms and carried her like a child towards Ponyville. =The Edge of Everfree Forest= Twilight had been waiting for an hour more than what the princess told her to wait for. She was starting to get frustrated. Apparently punctuality wasn’t in this guy’s vocabulary. However just as she was about to head home the noticed a figure headed in her direction. As it got closer she noticed a young man covered in mud and, was that Blood!? A thousand thoughts raced through her head. What happened to him? However as the man grew closer she notice that he held another person in his arms, also covered in mud, it was a familiar looking young woman, it was Gilda, an old friend of Rainbow Dash, She was extremely injured. What the heck had happened to put them in this state. The man approached her. “Excuse me, is there a hospital close by,” He asked. Twilight took notice of his voice, he was definitely young, maybe around her age, he had light brown hair and blue eyes, he wore what appeared to be a tattered black trench coat and blue jeans, and under his coat she caught sight of two large knives, one at his waist and another inverted on his chest, he had an armored vest with four large gashes across it and under that he wore what was once a white t-shirt. “Yes, there is,” Twilight answered. “Come with me,” she said. “What’s your name,” the young man asked. “Twilight Sparkle,” she answered. “And you?” “Max Porter,”
The BeginningIt was late on a Monday night in the middle of winter. It had been a pretty good day and I was driving home after a long day at work. I had turned onto the street my home was located on; it had started snowing a short time ago and visibility was poor to say the least. I pulled into the driveway and cut the engine. It was eerily quiet this night, even more so than usual. The nearby streetlights dimly illuminated the surrounding area. I grabbed my duffel bag from the passenger side seat and stepped out of my vehicle. I slung my bag over my shoulder and headed for my house. At this time I lived alone, I was more or less a recluse; I didn’t really see the need to interact with others. Now that I think back I lived a pretty sad and dull life. I never really cared for the company of people, mostly because most people I had ever met were selfish and incredibly greedy, cruel, and unpleasant. Of course I could be pretty selfish myself at times as well. But I’m off track. I had entered my house and locked the door behind me. It was roughly eight p.m. and it was time for me to just kick back and relax. Little did I know that tonight I would get a visitor that would change my life forever. As I was watching TV there was a knock at the door now being the recluse that I was at the time I thought little of it at first but I stood up and walked to the door grabbing my 9mm pistol out of my nearby gun cabinet, I always kept it locked and the key on me, just in case. I looked through the peephole in the door and saw on the other side a figure wearing a white hooded jacket. I loaded my pistol and flicked the safety off. I undid the deadbolt and cracked the door. “Who’s there?” I asked in a weary tone. “I realize it’s late at night but is this the residence of a Mr. Maximillian Porter?” The figure asked. I realized that the figure was a woman. “Who’s asking,” I replied. “Oh, Sorry, My name is Celes,” she replied. Celes? I remembered my parents talking about a woman named Celes when I was younger. “Well miss Celes why are you here so late in the evening?” I asked. “I’d really like to say but it’s quite cold out here, do you mind if I come inside so we may talk?” She asked politely. I thought about it for a moment. On one hand she could be the person my parents talked about. On the other hand she might be lying through her teeth. I decided to take a leap of faith. “Alright, but I’ll be watching you,” I replied as I slowly opened the door. Celes walked into the house. “Thank you,” She replied. This was a strange situation I had found myself in, I mean sure she was a friend of my parent, but for some reason I had my doubts. I took a look at Celes, for someone claiming to be a friend of the family, who should have been much older than me, she was incredibly youthful. There was a sense of agelessness to her; she had a slender, athletic body, long blonde hair, striking blue eyes that showed the wisdom only gained through a long life filled with hardship, but they seemed to exude a sense of tranquility. I took my seat across from her. “Alright Miss Celes, what is the reason that compelled you to visit this late at night?” I asked her. “Getting straight to the point, not much for pleasantries, are you?” She asked calmly, taking a sip of hot cocoa for the mug I had provided for her only moments before. “No, I guess I’m not,” I replied simply. Celes sighed. “I was instructed by your parents almost ten years ago to give you a letter in the event something should happen to them, before you ask, they specifically told me to give it to you shortly after your twentieth birthday, I tried to locate you at that time, however you had just seemed to disappear, my sister and I have spent the last six months trying to find you, you’re lucky I found you first,” She explained. “What are the contents of this letter exactly, what does it say,” I asked, the curiosity in my voice plain as day. Celes shook her head. “I’m unsure myself, I was told nobody but you were allowed to read it.” She replied. “Before that though. What did you mean by I was lucky you found me first?” I asked. I had a sinking feeling that I wasn’t going to like what Celes was about to tell me. “How much do you remember about your parents?” She asked me. I thought for a moment. “Well I remember them being distant at almost all times, they, as in both of them had a mile long stare, I knew they weren’t born in this country, and they told me stories of their first home, A country known as Gryphus. I’ve tried to locate the country but I’ve never found even a shred of evidence that proved the country even existed,” I explained. “Do you know why they left?” Celes asked me. “They never said,” I replied. Celes looked sharply to her left. “You better brace yourself,” She said. “Huh?” I asked. “Maxi!!!” a female voice called out from my right. I turned to look only to be tackled into a bone crushing hug. After struggling to free myself from my unexpected situation, I finally managed to escape, of course that was a lot easier said than done, I won’t bore you with the details. I now sat across from Celes and another woman, this woman was younger with dark hair and blue eyes, she wore a dark blue jacket with a black blouse and black dress pants, like Celes her eyes shone the wisdom one would only acquire from a long life, but unlike Celes her eyes held a darker edge that I couldn’t quite place, In hind sight I should have recognized that look, it was the same look of loneliness that I had carried most of my life, I think If I would have caught it sooner It may have saved me from many awkward situations, But, Back to the story. “Max, you don’t remember her, but this is my younger sister Luna, You met her when you were still a baby,” Celes said. I just nodded, still reeling from my encounter with her. “Now, as I was about to explain, Your parents had enemies, Max, and they are not the kind of people you want after you, they are led by a man known as Magnum, and he has been hunting for you for the last ten years, much like we have, only he wishes to get rid of you,” Celes explained. “Why?” I asked. “You are the only person that can stand in the way of his ambitions,” Luna replied. “What ambitions are those?” I asked. “It’s best we leave that alone, at least until you’re ready for the entire story, plus, we don’t have much time, Magnum and his forces are on their way, which is the reason of our visit, we promised your parents that, should anything happen, we would step in and do anything within our power to keep you from harm,” Luna explained. “Luna are you positive?” Celes asked. “Definitely,” Luna replied. “Max, quickly pack up anything you may need, we don’ have time for an explanation, just do it!” Celes said quickly. Hearing the panic in her voice forced me into a state of compliance. I dashed to my room and grabbed a suitcase and threw my clothes into it, I put on a Kevlar vest over my shirt and put on my black winter trench coat, I grabbed my black leather steel toed boots and put them on, I grabbed one of my many combat knives and fastened it to the inside of my coat, in its sheath of course I’m not stupid, I grabbed a weapon case and started putting many of my more useful weapons inside it, an M4 carbine, a Barret 50 caliber precision rifle(yes, you can own one as a civilian, with the proper license), an mp5,an M1911, multiple cases of ammunition and magazines, and various scopes and attachments, oh and my custom longsword which I still carry to this day. I headed back to Celes and Luna, I grabbed my pistol from the table and stuffed it in my jacket. “Alright, I have everything I need,” I said. “Are you positive,” Luna asked. I nodded. “Okay, take my hand, Max,” Celes said. I took her hand in mine. “This may hurt a bit,” She said. “What?” I barely had time to ask before everything went white. Author's Note Well let me know what you think, I've spent a lot of time planning this story out, but any input, helpful advice, or unique ideas would be appreciated.
TheWheels Begin to TurnGilda and I were walking down the path towards Ponyville. It was roughly mid-afternoon, and since I didn’t have a watch on me I couldn’t accurately tell the time. It was a welcome distraction to be able to navigate without tripping over a branch or a conveniently placed (or should I say misplaced) rock. I followed behind Gilda at a respectable distance contemplating recent events. ‘Alright, first I met a pair of strange women who brought me to an equally strange place, Then I fall out of a tree more than twenty feet high and walk away with only minor scrapes and bruises, I meet another strange woman, who happens to be a decent fighter, I should spar with her some time, we fight off a couple of Magnum’s soldiers, We wade through a waist deep swamp, We accidently stumble upon a hydra, note to self: Hydras have very sensitive hearing, Finally we escape the hydra, and are now on a hopefully safe path to a hopefully safe location. Geeze, talk about a strange set of circumstances,’ =Ponyville= Twilight Sparkle, Librarian of Ponyville. When you first meet her you’ll see a young woman in her late teens to early twenties, she stands roughly five foot eight with a slender build, long dark midnight blue mid-back length hair with a purple highlight running through it, she has a strange glowing rune on her forehead to help with focusing magical energies, she also has violet eyes. Her clothing style reflects her personality, neat and simple, always carrying a bag full of books for almost any situation. She is studious in nature, and tries to be polite at all times. Of course she is quite the worrywart, has a tendency to jump to conclusions, and obsess over little details. A girl of science and of magic, she is a logical thinker; she is more than willing to take on any mental challenge. Her trademark look includes a white blouse, and violet blazer, with a violet mid-thigh length skirt; she also wears a pair of dark tights and a pair of nice dress shoes. Twilight sat at her desk on the main floor of Golden Oaks Library (At least I think that’s the name) she was currently filling out the numerous return forms for recently returned books. “Hey Twilight, there’s a letter from the princess, and a package for you,” A young dragon stepped out of the kitchen. He was short covered in purple scales with flexible green spikes on his head, styled in such a way that they were reminiscent of a Mohawk. “Bring me the letter spike,” Twilight said as the put down the quill she was using. Spike held out the letter to her, which she promptly took and opened it. Dear Twilight, Earlier I’m the day while conducting a routine teleport there was a slight malfunction and an acquaintance of mine that I was teleporting was teleported to an unknown destination. After some searching we have now located him, however due to certain circumstances, neither I nor my sister is able to retrieve him at this time. So I would like to ask you to meet up with our acquaintance and guide him and anybody he deems friendly to Ponyville and give whatever assistance he may need, until Luna or myself am able retrieve him. Signed, Princess Celestia P.S. Twilight I’m letting you know now that I trust his judgment in certain things. So I’ll ask you to do the same. He may be different than us, however he is a superbly gifted individual and is one of the few who Luna and Myself can trust our very lives with. I’m letting you know that you and your friends can trust him as well. P.P.S. Please keep any question about his past to yourself. If I know him, and I’m pretty sure I do, he’ll talk to you when he’s ready. General knowledge questions are perfectly acceptable. Oh, and the name of this person is Max Porter, you are to meet him in twenty minutes on the path leading out of the Everfree Forest. Also, remember to watch yourself out there Twilight, in a short time Equestria may no longer be safe to just walk around freely, by the way the package sent to you contains a map that will show you where Max is, and a letter addressed to him, for his eyes only, give it to him when you reach him, tell him it’s from a friend. Twilight set down the letter “Spike, I’m heading out for a bit, keep an eye on the library for me,” “Sure thing Twilight,” Spike replied. Twilight grabbed her jacket from the hanger by the door, slipped her shoes on and headed towards, the Everfree Forest. =Unknown Location= A gnarled old man sat in the darkness of his throne room, wearing a tarnished golden helmet with an equally tarnished silver crown merged with it. He had a long unkempt grey beard and large eyebrows; He had an ugly scar going down the side of his face, he wore a tattered black robe, and a dull wolf skin cloak draped over his shoulders. The only thing anybody could see in the darkness was a shadow with glowing red eyes. The door to his throne room opened and in walked a guard, wearing tarnished steel armor, he stopped before the old man and kneeled. “Speak,” the old man said in a deep voice. “My lord, our guards lost the target,” The guard said. The old man raised an eyebrow. “Really,” he asked. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that a single untrained girl managed to evade two of the best trackers in Gryphus,” The old man asked a considerable edge in his voice. “N-no my lord, but~~” The guard started. “But what, soldier,” The old man asked, his temper beginning to flare up. “W-we don’t believe she is alone sire, she appears to have had help,” The guard explained. His interest was piqued “Help? From who?” “We’re unsure my lord, but whoever it is put the two trackers into the intensive care unit, with severe injuries,” The guard replied. The old man stroked his beard with a hand. “Interesting,” he said out loud. “When one of them wake question them for information,” The old man replied. “Dismissed,” “Yes lord Magnum,” The guard said. The guard turned and quickly left the throne room. “Well, well, It looks like Celestia has finally revealed her hand, No matter, I’ll catch that filthy little traitor, Gilda, and when I do I’ll savor the feeling of squeezing the life from her very soul,” His eyes flared red with arcane magic as he began to laugh diabolically. Author's Note Hey everyone, I felt I was dragging my feet a bit with the story, so this is to help get the ball rolling. Please let me know what you think so far.
