Insanity

by memorex11235

Rating: teen
Tags: Alternate Universe, Human, Sad, Adventure
Length: 39056

Blank. That is what life or lack there of is to Artyom. When there is nothing to look forward to but short episodes of reality that keep a dying hope alive, he finds that there is more than scenery that inhabits this small pocket of heaven.

What keeps Artyom going?

His world is blank and lifeless, like his existence. He is condemned to his blank hell without a trace of his past. Years, months, weeks, all go by and all of which are irrelevant as not even the end of his time can save him.

What is it that keeps him sane in a senseless world? Perhaps it's his own form of insanity that keeps him driven for something better. Or, perhaps it's an equally out of place word for his life. Hope. A word that he remembers only when he can escape his hell to a wondrous patch of forestry that may as well be a result of his own madness.

As Artyom's latest trip to the forest that keeps his hope alive, goes better than expected, he gets to see just how far his Insanity might take him.

Amazing cover art done by ImJustAnotherBrony(Newly revised and edited. (Big thanks to FloydienSlip for the review and pushing toward the changes.))

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-07-01 19:09:03 UTC

Generosity

Decisions

I got up early, very early; the sun was still only beginning to creep its way over the horizon.  My bed was a better alternative than the floor I was used to, so I slept soundly. I got up and put on my shaggy clothes. Making my way to the kitchen I paid little attention to my surroundings; I didn’t care too much for them, it wasn’t my home anyway. I grabbed a decent breakfast and set out before Twilight woke. I needed to think.

I opened the door and was met with the pleasant surprise of the streets being empty. I picked a random direction and started to mechanically walk again, a sure sign that I was about to do some deep thinking.

“What am I going to do here?” I began. “I’m obviously out of place, and my presence here doesn’t seem to be too accepted, even my “friends” don’t seem to really like me. Should I just pack up and go? There’s a whole world out there, and who knows, I might actually find a place where I belong.”

I sighed as I realized how heavily these thoughts impacted me. I have always wanted to be a part of something for as long as I can remember. I wanted to have a world where I can make a difference in, and now that I have it, it seems that the world doesn’t want me as much as I want it. I started to pay attention to where I was going and realized that I ended up in the same park from yesterday. I climbed the same hill and took a seat.

“What am I going to do with myself?”  I asked again. I had always dreamed of getting to answer these problems, but never expected to actually have to do so; now that I needed to deal with them, I was lost. “What are my options? I could run, like I always have, searching for a paradise that I hope would be given to me on a silver platter, or I could stay and fight for acceptance.” I liked that idea. Paradise was here, right in front of me. I just had to earn it. “Nothing good ever comes easy right? So why should this?” I reasoned.

“I *am** going to fight for this. I’ve ran all of my life and it’s time I fight back. I’m going to fight for my acceptance.” I was motivated now, something that rarely occurred back in my blank hell and I decided that I was going to take full advantage of it. “I will make the townsfolk accept me, I will make my friends respect me, make them actually see me as a friend.*”

I finished my little motivational speech and got up. The sun was now warming the town and I set off to make myself useful. I decided that the best way for me to gain acceptance, was to help around town in hopes of them seeing me as being useful and friendly. I walked into what I assumed was the center of the town and waited, observing. I took painful notice of how some of the residents that moved past me eyed me nervously; most attempted to avoid me completely and walked around me. Eventually I found my first target and maneuvered toward them, parting a wave of citizens that stepped out of my way, mostly out of fear.

Once the large, brown individual with a scruffy beard and a blue cap that covered his dark brown hair noticed that I was walking toward him, his movements became slightly shaky and erratic; his fear became obvious as he started to slightly perspire. He was setting up a stand to sell cherries and without wings or a horn he seemed to be having trouble setting up the tall stand.

“May…may I help you?” he questioned, his deep voice unnaturally shaky.

“No, but I think I may help you.” I replied, ignoring the fact that he was probably utterly terrified.

I gripped one of the poles that was used as a support for the stand’s fabric roof, and using my height advantage lifted it up and held it in place.

“Go ahead and secure it.” I said, voice strained under the resistance that the fabric put up against the pole.

“Uh, thanks.” He replied, securing the pole quickly.

“No problem, happy to help.” I replied, brushing off my hands and setting out to find someone else I could help out.

I couldn’t help but smirk as I walked away. The sheer surprise and confusion on his face was great. Walking through town I took the edges of the streets, hoping that this way I would be less of an issue for the townsfolk to deal with.  While scanning the streets for someone else in need of assistance, I took the time to observe the residents.

Oddly enough I was dead wrong about everyone. They weren’t as hostile as I thought they were, in fact they were quite the opposite. They greeted each other with genuine smiles, some offered minor assistance to others before I could get there, and others happily went about completing their tasks for the day. The town was actually happy, and this motivated me further. I wanted to be a part of it more than ever now.

My quest brought me to a construction site. I overheard what appeared to be the manager say something about a shortage of workers and watched intently as he advised caution to a few men carrying a heavy load. He was a bit freaked out by my presence and looked intently at his clipboard in hopes of not having to interact or acknowledge me. I was lucky. Once he dropped his watchful gaze over the workers, their shared heavy load began to tip dangerously toward one side.

“WATCH OUT!” I yelled as I vaulted the protective barrier and ran toward the line of workers to help.

“HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” yelled the manager behind me.

I ignored him and ran toward the line nonetheless. Genuine fear filled the eyes of the workers I ran toward, but they were losing balance quickly and couldn’t react in any way but stare.

“Gotcha!” I exclaimed.

I wasn’t the strongest one there, not by far, but I was definitely fit enough to balance out the long metal support beam they were carrying. If it had fallen its weight might have partially crushed someone.

“Where to fellas?” I asked, hoping that they would be thankful for my help and look past the fact that I was different.

“Thanks for the save mate.” One said.

“Yeah, good catch.” Another replied.

“We owe you one.” The third one replied.

I followed them to their destination and helped place the support beam into place. I had earned their respect. A grateful look, one that saw me as an equal, replaced the fearful stare from before. It was a slow start, but I noticed that my actions didn’t go unnoticed. My sudden outburst and yelling grabbed the attention of a few pedestrians and they had witnessed my actions, most smiled.

“Glad I can help.” I replied, parting with them and shooting the manager a smug grin as I walked by. He pulled his hard hat down slightly, cleared his throat, and mumbled something along the lines of “thanks.”

I was making a difference now, and I even noticed a few townsfolk start talking about me in hushed tones, shooting quick glances at me when they thought I wasn’t looking. I spent the majority of the day doing small tasks and helping around town. Little things like helping the elder citizens with heavy bags, fixing a broken toy for kid who seemed near tears, and small bits of manual labor all brought back positive feedback.

Eventually I stumbled upon Rumble and took his earlier offer of a tour. Seeing me follow the energetic, cute, grey kid around brought mixed reactions among the residents, but I still managed to have a good time. He showed me all sorts of places, most consisted of things that someone his age would find interesting, but I was exploring the town nonetheless and improved my overall image, so it didn’t matter.

As they day progressed and shifted to night, I noticed a huge decrease in the amount of residents who tried to avoid me; some even returned my smile. Once it was late, I went …home. Man it was good to say that.

“There you are. What have you been up to all day?” Twilight questioned, she seemed awfully wary of my random disappearance and although she didn’t show it, I knew it was because she still thought I was dangerous.

“I thought I’d make a good impression on the town. Since I’m going to stay here, with your permission that is, I might as well show the townsfolk they have nothing to fear. I went around helping anyone that looked like they needed it, most people actually seemed to like me by the time I came home.”  as I explained I tried to emphasize how tired I looked in hopes that I would be more believable.

To my surprise her attitude toward me changed drastically. Her questioning and tensed face relaxed, a smile crawled its way onto her lips.

“Good to know you’re trying to fit in.” she said.

It was late and Twilight decided to read a book, leaving me to grab a quick lunch and go to bed. As I lay in bed I revisited my thoughts and actions. “I made some important progress today.” I concluded. I also decided that I’d better start getting to know my friends better as well. Taking up Rarity’s offer seemed like a good place to start. With a plan for tomorrow set, I went to sleep content.

I’ve made the right, Decisions.

Honesty

Generosity

I woke up early and stared into the nice warm oak ceiling. The first rays of sunlight broke through the darkness in the library and rested themselves on the edges of my bed. I was excited, a feeling that was foreign to me, but I welcomed it nonetheless. Twilight was still sound asleep. Her blanket slowly rose and fell with her quiet breathing.

I took a look around my new home after making my bed, if I was going to gain my friend’s approval then I need a place to start and small favors were an ideal way to begin. The library was a mess. Books everywhere. Quills lying here and there, some spilled ink. I noticed that technology in general only excelled in a few areas such as medicine and business, the rest however seemed pretty simple; everyday problems were solved with magic.

I took a few moments to clean myself up. I helped myself to the shower and contents of her, our, bathroom. I...smelled...pretty to say the least. I then began to work on cleaning everything up after her late night studying and reading. By the time her... our, place was spotless and every book was in its (marked, really? I’ve never seen this kind of over organization.) place, the sun lit up most of the lower level.

I made breakfast for us both, which mostly consisted of non-meaty foods; the population seemed to consist of non-meat eaters, something I would have to counteract or find my own source of protein. I greedily consumed my part, and after cleaning up after myself, I set out to take Rarity up on her offer just as Twilight was beginning to stir.

It was still pretty early and only a few people walked or flew toward their destinations. They didn’t sidestep me, a huge improvement. Some shop owners were still lazily setting up their own little stands outside, a familiar cherry seller gave me a smile as I walked by. The weather was chilly, but the sun warmed my skin as I picked up my pace. I only got lost once before I found the little stand that caught my eye yesterday. It didn’t have as much to offer as sugar cube corner, Pinkie’s pastry shop, which rose menacingly above the other rooftops only a few buildings over, its colorful and welcoming exterior still slightly shaded, but its goods caught my attention.

The stand’s owner, a purple individual with green hair, still seemed half asleep. She perked up as I drew nearer.

"Hiya!" she greeted me. A warm welcome, quite the surprise.

"What would ya like?" she asked, slowly moving an arm over her stand, showing off her many colorful products.

"I’ll take the one in the middle over there." I answered, pointing to a small cupcake with white filling and a soft gooey looking, purple bread exterior. It had a piece of clear rock candy on top of the filling to complete its elitist look.

"Mmm that one took a while to bake. That would be 10 bits, but as a new and unusual customer I’ll give it to you for 5."

She bargained. I was a bit skeptical about its price, but I was pleased that my difference was seen positively now and might persuade some shopkeepers to lower their prices because the only human in town shops there. I took out a few gold coins, bits as they were called here, this country's currency. I had acquired them from Twilight as a weekly allowance till I could settle in and get a profession of my own. Handing them over, I gingerly carried my precious little package as I parted with the green eyed saleswomen.  A few more failed attempts at reaching my destination, and I arrived in front of a large, colorful, pink and purple shop.

Banners and a small little flag adorned its walls, its exterior decorations were made with precision and care. A few mannequins showed off their beautiful outfits through the large, exceptionally clean display windows. After a small stunned moment of admiration, I focused my attention to the big sign on top. "Carousel Boutique" it read, proudly announcing its title to all who might wander past it. A took a deep breath and pressed the lacking in size, but equally fashionable button next to the door. A quiet, elegant little melody was heard through the door. A few moments later and I was greeted by Rarity.

"Darling! So glad you can come. I've have so many designs and ideas in mind, I can hardly wait to get started!

Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique and magnifique!" She exclaimed, her voice indicated excitement and I was glad to be a cause of it.

"I can’t thank you enough Rarity, I'm new here and you managed to get me to look the part. Thanks. Oh, and I almost forgot, here I got you a little something, it's the least I could do."

I handed her the little package that I so carefully carried.

"Oh, what’s this?" she thought out loud, unpacking the delicious little sweet from its container by levitating it with magic.

"Oh Artyom, you shouldn't have!" she exclaimed. I breathed a sigh of relief at her liking of my little gift. She set it aside and with a more friendly approach, shoved me into a room surrounded by fabrics of all colors and textures. Without warning my shirt and pants were removed, luckily my undergarments remained. I was pushed onto a little raised platform and had some pins and fabrics thrown onto me; I was instructed to not move. I was slightly rustled by the sudden "nakedness", but I pushed my shame aside.

I was the only one of my kind here  anyway and there was no standard for models but me, which is not a bad thing considering I was in pretty good shape due to the exercising and walking that I relied on to keep me sane in whatever hell I came from. I used the time it took for her to gather and prepare supplies, to examine the little store.

Organized chaos was a good way to describe it. Materials littered the floor and were strewn about on mannequins, they all looked like abandoned projects; each seemed to wait for Rarity to continue working on it. Looking past Rarity who was preparing materials on a nearby table, I could see the store portion of her boutique. Colorful dresses covered in what looked like jewels were worn by mannequins who stood at attention, ready to bedazzle anyone who would walk in with their intricate patterns and color choices.

Some black cloth flew past me, pulled by Rarity's magic, and I returned my attention to her. My arms were getting tired, but I was far too distracted with her quick work. She wore a small, cute pair of glasses that neatly bounced up and down on the lower edges of her nose. Multiple materials of various colors and textures floated gently around her, ready to be used at a moment’s notice. I watched as she sketched some details with a little red pencil. My eyes rose and fell with her needle; it moved quickly and fluently, stitching together fabric at record speeds. It seemed to know precisely when and where to go next. I was amazed how the fabric wove itself around me, being cut off by a pair of scissors with red handles, and sewn in place by the speedy needle.

I watched her work feverishly as she hummed a little melody and her tools worked rhythmically around her. My suit was slowly beginning to take form, piece by piece articles of clothing were woven into place. She had a determined look to her, and sweat began to build up on her forehead; she wiped it away with a small handkerchief. I thought better then to initiate small talk.

Her use of magic was beginning to dull my amazement in it. Magic was beginning to make itself a part of my life, and at this point was seen more of an explanation for things rather than an out of place wonder. Time passed, and just when I was beginning to lose the sensation in my arms, the fabric stopped, neatly arranging itself in a neat and orderly fashion back to where it belonged.

"Finished.” she exclaimed with a long relieved sigh, wiping the remaining sweat, and replacing a few strands of hair that were out of place. She tried not to show it, but she was nervous, very nervous; she watched my every move and anticipated a reaction of either great approval, or utter rejection. Seeing her so worked up made me feel bad, here I was... a stranger, standing here in a world where I did not belong and had someone breaking a sweat over my opinion.

"Don't worry, if it looks half as good as it feels then it’s amazing." I reassured her.

I wasn't lying, the fabrics were exquisite. Soft and smooth. It felt tight in all the right places. I FELT new, like million bucks...er bits.

I walked toward a full size mirror, all the while being watched very closely by Rarity. I took some time to mentally prepare myself for any weirdness or out-of-place-ness in it. It was a conservative suit. Really fancy, and still held the same traditional appearance and shape that I was used to. The coat was tailored to my body shape. It hugging me where it needed to, and left space where it shouldn't. A small and elegant handkerchief sat comfortably in a little pocket on the left side. Underneath I wore a vertically striped, white and magenta shirt that was also tailored to my features. Its cuffs were adorned with two very eye catching, but due to their size, discrete light blue gems.

Lowering my gaze I could see that the pants matched the suit perfectly, not a single thread was out of place. Lastly, I looked down at my new leather shoes. They were pointed, but rounded off slightly to help increase the sharp look without sacrificing the smoothness and soft look to them. A quick turn around and a small tug at the sides of my suit, and I returned my attention to Rarity. Her face tensed a bit, but retained a hint of smugness, it as if she knew that there is no way she could fail to impress.

"Simply... stunning." I commented. "I... I just don't know what else to say. I never thought I would wear something like this. Thank you."

I moved in for a hug that caught her off guard, but was soon embraced. After hearing about how glad she was at successfully designing proper apparel for humans, she mustered the motivation and energy to make me more clothes.

By the end of the day we were both tired and I walked out with arms full of new clothes. After she finally managed to get rid of me and my non-stop thanking, it was dark outside, and I was on my way home. I smiled; I left a good impression on her, and managed to bond a little too. I had only one task in mind now, and that was sleep.

Walking in I was nearly toppled over, partially due to the heavy clothes, and partially because of the hug from Twilight.

“Thanks for the breakfast, it was great. The cleaning was a nice surprise and saved me a lot of time, thanks.” I was glad that my little surprise went according to plan; she obviously didn’t expect it, and I’m sure that I left a good impression.

“I see you went to take Rarity’s offer, it went well I suppose?”

“You bet, I’m surprised I managed to carry all this back home. You… we have great friends.” I saw she took a liking to my compliment and I was beginning to think that she might actually like me now.

Twilight was tired from staying up so late waiting for me, and went to bed. I finished my nightly routine and decided to hit the hay too, but not until my new fashionable clothes were neatly put away.  I laid in bed, and once again thought about the day's events. I thought about Rarity. Although she had her diva-ish/ overdramatic side to her personality, she was truly a giving person. She seemed to devote herself to her work and all in all was not a bad friend to have. I fell asleep with one trait that would define her in mind.

To me, she showed outstanding Generosity.

Magic

Honesty

I woke up early again. My success with Rarity led me to the conclusion that I might have a better chance at having my plan succeed than I originally thought. Whether I finally died and went to some sort of heaven, or my insanity had reached its peak, I ended up in a world where everyone was kind and accepting. With enough hard work, even I could eventually be accepted.

Lying in bed I went through the list of my friends. Applejack seemed like someone I could get along with, and I made gaining her acceptance my next goal.  I got up quickly, wanting to surprise Applejack with my sudden appearance and gain her approval though hard work; I assumed that an extra hand on her farm might not go unnoticed.

I stopped in the middle of cooking...well experimenting, with breakfast and had to think about my plan. I wanted to solidify my relationship with my new found friends and I was willing to do that through any means necessary. But, "was it worth it? Will I ever be able to get them to look past my oddity?"

I snapped at myself. "Of course it was worth it. Just the past loneliness talking, hell I should use my difference here to my advantage. Sure I was different and to them, quirky, but that didn’t have to be a bad thing. I had my desirable traits, and my form did give me advantages over others. I was after all someone who would value acceptance more than anyone else.

"Besides." I concluded. I could use the extra exercise to stay in shape if I ever want to keep up with Applejack and Dash. I didn’t have a chance to pick up on my exercising since I got here, and I was beginning to see my physique as something that could leverage a good image of me onto the town. I hastily put on my new, comfortable work clothes and set out with a full stomach and a clear conscience.

It was warm today, and a slight breeze dragged along a few leaves along the ground. The streets were empty. Good, no one to side step me this morning. I realized I was up earlier than I was yesterday, and hoped that I could make it to her farm before the bulk of her work would start. I traveled in what I hoped was the general direction of her farm. Everything was still relatively new to me, and I absorbed as much scenery as I could. I stopped my brisk pace as something caught the corner of my eye. I took a few steps backwards and tried to see what could grab my attention in what seemed to be the middle of nowhere.

It was an apple tree, no doubt worth my attention as its position seemed odd and out of place. It was a single eye catching oddity, surrounded by many bland oak trees. I drew nearer, captivated by my curiosity and the nagging thought that this was way to coincidental considering my destination.

I discarded any childish thoughts of a trap and walked toward the tree, my curiosity peeking. I stopped short of the tree, just before a small flower bed of very pretty blue flowers. Oddly enough they seemed to surround the tree, as if they were in a guarding it, like there was something that they dared no one to touch. I ignored them at the moment, but didn’t edge any closer. I wanted to observe this little mystery.

I smirked at the thought that out of all the amazing occurrences that were daily, this was something that I marked just as mind-boggling. The tree's bark was different. It seemed aged and had a very eye catching blue tint to it. It also appeared to be worn, as if struck by those who were here before me. Probably for the apples I concluded, looking up.

The... apples.  They sure were something. Bright red, like little red light bulbs they illuminated the dark leaves around them. Tantalizing is all I could come up with to describe them. I was taller than the local population whose trees were relative in size to them, as my memories of trees to me, so I could probably reach some of them if I jumped high enough; they'd be the perfect gift for Applejack.

I reaching up and fell over, forgetting that I had stopped some feet away from the tree base due to the flowers. Luckily I caught myself inches before my face met floor and flower by slamming my palms against the tree trunk, and landed in an awkward arms above my head push up position. Phew, I hoped no one saw that, I was odd enough as it was and if someone caught me acting weird it wouldn’t help my image. I pushed myself off the tree and recovered my footing; I squatted low to asses this peculiar little plant.

So...beautiful. Blue so pure that my thoughts strayed to Dash for a bit, maybe she'd like one? I shook my head to clear it from thought. "Knock it off." I growled at myself. I returned my attention to the flowers. Their insides were an even darker blue, nearly violet. They drew me toward them like flies to a Venus fly trap. Oddly enough, before I could pluck one I felt an eeriness as my hand drew near. It seemed that within a certain distance there was a cooler feeling in the air. Rather than trying to touch them, I continued to stare; they captivated me enough to keep my attention strictly to them, so I just sat there, mesmerized.  So, so pretty. They swayed a little from the breeze, enticing me, begging me to touch them. I wanted to comply, and so I did. I extended my arm once more... almost there.

"AHHH"

I recoiled back with a sharp jump and a yell. A squirrel fell from a neighboring tree and plummeted straight into the flowers, sending petals and pollen rocketing into the air.  It went in a brown little fuzz ball and ran out bald. "OK, DO NOT TOUCH THE FLOWERS." my mind screamed at me. Once again I turned a lighter shade of red and kept my head down. I prayed no one saw that. I wasn't touching those flowers. Whatever they did to that squirrel was a good enough indicator that I should trust my instincts. Suddenly remembering who, what, where, and when, I bent my knees and sprung into the air, latching on to two apples and bringing them down with me. I sheltered my two precious prizes and set off once more toward Applejack's farm, this time jogging to make up for lost time.

***

After a little running along a white, well maintained fence that sheltered what seemed like miles of the tastiest looking apple trees I have ever seen, (Aside from the little surprise I obtained on the way here.) I rounded a corner and jogged onto her property. I passing a nice recently repainted barn and arrived a large, cozy looking house.

I looked around, no one seemed to be working yet, but the house radiated warmth and there appeared to be activity inside. I looked for a door bell and with no success to finding one, decided that I rather they finish up their morning routine. I found a nice stump directly outside of their house and within full view of their front door. Placing myself firmly onto the stump, I took the time to polish the apples further, almost certain that such as task was impossible. I snapped out of my little trance when a deep voice called me out on my presence there.

"Hello, may I help you?"

It rumbled. I looked and saw a rather large fellow, nearly my height. His size made him seem threatening, but there was a kind feel to him. He was red and had scruffy light orange hair. I was sure he was a farmer, judging by his strength and the fact that although seemingly quiet, he held some authority in his voice. He didn’t wear a distinct disgusted look, but I saw caution in his lazy expression.

"Not exa-, actually yes, you may." I replied trying to smile as I scratched the back of my head.  "I'm here to help Applejack with farm work.  I thought I could show my worth by making myself useful since this place is my home now."

He seemed content with my intentions, hard work was hard work it seemed, didn’t matter who did it so long as it got done.

"Alright, she'll be out in a minute, I'm her brother, the names -"

"Big mac who are you? Oh, howdy Artyom. Whatcha doing round these parts?"

Applejack interrupted, walking up to the both of us. She looked ready to begin a hard day's work and seemed particularly suspicious of my sudden appearance.

"He came here looking to help you out with apple picking." Big Mac explained, he decided to start his own chores and left the two of us alone.

"Mighty kind of you Artyom, but I don't need help, you don't need to worry about it."

I put on a visible frown and crossed my arms, hiding the apples the whole time.

“I came here early in the morning with good intent, to prove that I'm not useless and to try and help out a new friend, and you tell me this? Sorry Applejack, but I'm not taking no for an answer here."  I replied.

"Look Sugarcube, It's flattering that you want to help me out and all, but I don’t need it. Honest."

"Oh common Applejack. Look at the size of this place, there's a lot of apple trees and only one Applejack. You might not want it, especially… especially not from me, but you can sure use it. Please, let me help."

It felt like she winced slightly when I used my difference against her, which was a good thing; either she didn’t want to be seen as a bigot, or she actually didn’t mind my appearance, either way, I knew I just hit a sore spot. Apparently she was as hard headed as I was, but she sighed and in the end I had a smug and content look on my face as she willingly accepted my proposal to help her out.

Although looking a bit defeated, her independent and self-reliant pride slightly hurt, she truly seemed to be grateful for my stubbornness to help.

Sigh "Alright Artyom, to be honest I appreciate the help. Apple picking season is drawing nearer, and lately we've been having an awful lot of work. Thank you."

At that I smiled and uncovered my surprise, keeping it a small distance from her as if to emphasis my pride in what I was holding.

"Glad to see you're warming up to me. For you." I said, shaking the apple a bit.

"It was a bit of the pain to get, but it looked real good and I thought that with you being an apple farmer and all, you might like it."

Her eyes lit up with recognition and wonder at the apple; something that caught me off-guard. I wasn’t expecting this much attention.

"Is... did you get that from a blue colored tree, surrounded by blue flowers?" She asked.

"Yea, something was up with the flowers though. I nearly touched them myself, they were so pretty it felt like I was in a trance, but I was lucky though. As I was reaching to pick one, a squirrel fell into them, and after it came out hairless, I gained enough self-control to snap out of it. I quickly picked an apple and left." I explained.

"That tree is something folks round here steer clear off. What you saw there was some Poison Joke. Nasty little plant that when touched does something ironic to whoever touches it. That tree has lured quite a few poor folk to pick its apples, and they only had time to hit it once before they touched the poison joke and ended up in the hospital." She was eyeing the apple as she explained.

"When I was a kid I always wanted one, I heard stories about how the apples were extra sweet and crunchy, but Big Mac being a good big brother and all, never let me go."

I smiling extra wide now, I knew what I had accomplished and threw the apple up slightly, caught it, and offered it once more.

"So" I said with false boredom. "You gonna take it?" I asked.

She smiled and thanked me kindly, accepting the precious gift.  She began to move the apple closer, finally getting to taste what she had wanted to all those years ago, but stopped short; her expression reflected disappointment and I questioned her:

"What's the matter?  Something wrong with it?"

"No, I really want to taste it, but saving it so I can plant a few trees and have some extra special apple recipes to sell would be a better idea. It would sure help the farm." She said with a sigh.

"Weeeeell… It's a good thing I got two then, isn't it?"

I said, shrugging my shoulders and sheepishly removing the second apple from its hiding place. I held it out to her. To my amazement she dropped her bravado, her eyes lighting up, and hugged me. I was caught off-guard, I didn’t think that anyone would actually thank me this kindly for anything that I did. I smiled, satisfied with my decisions so far and let her enjoy the apple. She thanked me once more, commenting on how great it tasted.

"Whoa nelly! That tasted great. Anyway, I reckon we better get started, we have a lot of work ahead of us."

I smiled and nodded, ready to begin, I stopped as something seemed odd to me.

"Wait a second." I said.  "How could there have been marks all over the tree as if it was hit, if they didn't have time to get the apples? And why would they hit the tree anyway?"

"Like I said before, they only tried once before touching the poison joke."

I starred at her with a blank expression, one eyebrow raised. She smiled and rolled her eyes, as if remembering that I was the new guy. She walking up to a tree, and KICKED IT! I stared at her, jaw dropped from amazement, while she chuckled slightly and began to collect the apples that had fallen around her.

"Point taken. That’s ah, that’s amazing honestly."

I mumbled in astonishment. She chuckled a bit, remaining modest. I deciding that now shouldn't be a time when I chicken out, and with the hope that trees here are a lot softer than the ones I knew of, I got up and prepared for a good kick.

I found an adjacent tree and prepped for a good kick, Applejack watched intently, curious to see how this would turn out. I was getting ready to kick, but paused for a moment as some unknown memories flooded in; memories that didn’t seem to belong to me. I didn't know where they were coming from, but there was nothing I could do but experience them. I received memories of proper fighting technique, and an uncomforting amount of knowledge on weaponry. I froze, unable to move, Applejack saw the sudden change in me, and was beginning to worry.

"Are you all right, Sugarcube?" she asked, concern in her voice, but I was unable to answer.

I dropped my stance and just stood there, blank faced and oblivious to the world around me, my senses weren’t my own and I was witnessing… feeling someone's memories.

Fighting, two men, human men, I was one of them. We circled around each other, breaking our little dance with exchanges of kicks and punches. I don't know what exactly how I was able to perform the moves I did, nor how I could react with what appeared to be years' worth of experience, but I couldn't resist. It was if I was living in someone else's body. Whoever's eyes I was looking through, leaned back and avoided a right hook. Dodging left I came around with a high right kick to my opponents head and he dropped like a rock.

Applejack was really concerned at this point, she was tugging at my arm and questioning me, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. My blank look and stiff like posture was dropped quickly, surprising both of us. I  instinctively assumed what felt like a proper fighting stance, shifting weight from one leg to another a few times before using experience foreign to me, my right leg sky rocketed to the tree, hitting it with enough force to not only knock all of the apples off, but shake most of the leaves. I hadn't noticed my leg was already by my side nearly as soon as I hit the tree until Applejack's surprise was expressed verbally:

"I... I didn't know you could do that. What was that?"  She questioned, looking at me with a face of either horror or amazement, I couldn’t tell, perhaps both.

"I… I don’t know, honestly I didn’t know I could do that eithe-AHHHH" I yelled, dropping to the floor and clutching my aching leg.

Unfortunately my awesome moment was over, and pain shot up my leg with the same amount of force that I applied to the tree. Applejack was less worried now, and attempted to hide her smile and amusement at my odd actions.

"IT’S NOT FUNNY!" I light heartedly yelled, giggling at my own foolishness. My legs here hard, but kicking a tree from the side like that was a stupid idea.

"Sorry, you alright?" She giggled.

"Yea, just hurts a lot, I'll be alright."

"In that case, what in the hooey was that?"

"Honestly." I started, but stopped, thinking that I might sound crazy. Wait a second, I'm a human in their magical world, it was weird as it is. I thought. "Look, you might think I'm insane, heck I already do, but you have to believe me here." I continued; I definitely had her interest now. "When I got up to the tree, it was like I was seeing someone else's memory, I couldn’t move, I was looking through someone else's eyes. There were two guys fighting and I was one of them. Apparently whoever he was, he wasn’t a bad fighter. He won the fight, and all of a sudden the memory stopped. Now I have all this weird knowledge on fighting and stuff, honestly. I'm kind of creeped out." I decided that telling her about the weapons wasn’t a good idea.

"Shucks, that is mighty odd. Do you think you'll be alright now though?" She asked, surprising me with her concern, concern that seemed genuine, almost friendly.

"I sure hope so, can't complain though. The moves are kind of cool to know. Anyway, I'm sure it was just a stress thing. I don’t want to stress about it, besides you said we have a lot of work to do, and fortunately my leg seems as durable as my kick, so let's get started."

"Well alrighty then, glad to see you can still walk after a kick like that."

I shot her an annoyed glance and she giggled a bit. We began the pick apples and the day passed by quickly.  It was filled with the rhythmic beat of hitting a tree, hearing the apples hit the wood bucket, and each other's labored breathing. By the end of the day the sun was setting, and according to Applejack we gathered twice the amount of apples she normally collects in a day.  We put the day's load away and grabbed a seat at a table overlooking the sun set,

"Phew, My dogs are barkin." she exclaimed, rubbing her legs."

"I'm beat too." I said, stretching. "Anyways, I'm real glad I helped you out today, I'll be getting out of your hair now." I said, getting up and preparing to leave; I was promptly stopped by her,

"Now hold up just a second there mister, you worked hard, and deserve a drink and some rest. Sit back down while go get us some lemonade."

I smiled." Can't complain about that, thank you."

Big mac approached us and took a seat as well, he looked tired and wanted to relax with us. Surprisingly, he took a seat next to me, like I was an actual person and not some disease that one would want to avoid. The apple family is alright. I concluded. Applejack returned with enough lemonade for the three of us, and took her seat across from me.

"Drink up boys, you earned it." She instructed us, raising her own mug in a celebratory fashion.

"I want to drink a round for you two. You both actually treated me the respect that I've been working so hard for, and I'm glad to have you both as friends." I said, raising my own mug.

"Aww shucks, you don’t have to give us credit like that, after all you're the one who came here and offered help." Applejack responded. Dam she was modest.

"Eeyup." Big mac added; not a man of too many words I noted, but he sure seemed like a tough and reliant character, like his sister.

We all shared a round and eventually initiated small talk. Big mac wasn’t much of a talker, but he listened intently and gave a confirmation here of there. I realized that Applejack was really easy to talk to, and our conversation dragged on into night, way after Big mac had retired inside for the day. She answered all my questions with honesty that I was surprised would be given to a stranger like me. Either way, we bonded well, and eventually I went home, satisfied with my progress.

When I got home Twilight was up late reading, taking notes, and tinkering with some of her instruments. She acknowledged me slightly, but mostly remained concentrated on her work and I didn’t bother her. Although curious as to what she was up to, I was too tired to force myself to ask. A quick goodnight later, and I was face down in bed close to falling asleep and going through my usual end of day analysis. I concluded that Applejack radiated one quality above the rest.

Honesty.

Loyalty

Magic

My vision was blurred as I slowly began to wake. Oddly enough, I saw a giant, purple fuzzy glob covering the majority of my vision, and quickly rubbed my eyes in confusion.

"JEEZU...."

I recoiled back sharply, hitting my head against the wall and instinctively raising my firsts for self-defense.

"TWILIGHT WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU DOING?" I screamed, making her wince at my outburst.

"Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just saw you waking up and thought I could ask you if you were ready to fulfill your promise. I… I was a bit exited and didn’t think that you'd react this way."

"SO YOU STARE AT ME WHILE I'M SLEEPING!?"

I barked back with a whine in my voice that came from both surprise and anger. I took a moment to regain a steady pulse, and observed her standing on the other side of my bed looking guilty and sorry. I saw the damage I'd done and instantly regretted it; I calmed down enough to respond:

"Sorry Twilight I over reacted and I feel bad about it. Just wasn’t expecting to be woken up like that. Please forgive me and let me get dressed and eat, then I promise you can study me all day. Okay?"

I wasn't ready to let such an incident hinder my goal of solidifying my friendship with her. In my rough awakening I forgot how quirky Twilight acts sometimes and reacted too harshly. To my relief she perked up, and giddily started to explain all the little tests she had set up last night, and how much she could learn from me. I was too groggy and distracted by the new bump on my head to pay too much attention.

This time upon entering the kitchen I found the table neatly covered and set for two with a full delicious breakfast. I turned to her and was met with a smug looking grin.

"You aren't the only one who can cook you know. I've read three of the most popular cook books ever published, and got pretty good at making... most things well."

She stated, adding a little hindrance on "most things" that made me a bit uneasy, but my hungry stomach wasn't having any sort of argument with my brain at the moment and a:

"Thanks Twilight, it all looks amazing."

Was enough of an answer to allow us to eat. Scrambled eggs, pancakes with thick golden maple syrup, crispy tan toast with butter in between, and freshly squeezed juice made up my breakfast and weighed me down when I finished.

I sat there and silently argued with my stomach as to whether or not the extra pancake was worth the impending discomfort, before my seat was magically turned toward the door. Twilight came up behind me, and gripping my shoulders she excitedly questioned:

"Ready to begin?"

Why do I have a bad feeling about this? My groan and struggling to get up made her laugh as I grudgingly maneuvered toward the living room, surprised that I still fit through the door I came through.

"Wha...Did you do prepare this overnight?"

I asked, suddenly paying attention to the massive changes made to the living room. It was filled with all sorts of gadgets, gizmos, and scientific equipment. Monitors of all sorts for god knows what, littered the room. A little lab whose surface was nearly completely covered in beakers and unidentified fluids sat in the middle of the room. Of course, each little station had its own little blank book complimented with quill and ink. Looking more closely now I realized that it was all organized in a clockwise fashion, unfortunately starting at twelve o clock each succeeding station promised more horrors than the next.

"So. Do I sign a waiver or something?" I asked. Only half joking.

"What for silly? Now let's begin."

And with that I was promptly escorted to my first test. I had a helmet popped on my head while my arms were locked in place. "I guess this is why." I thought, answering my previous mental question, while Twilight put on her all too conveniently nearby lab coat and goggles. Over the course of this week she seemed to have warmed up to me nicely, and seemed to more or less trust me. I assumed that after today she'd be finding more… interesting ways to see if I was trustworthy.

She flicked the switch on my machine, and I swear I would have been in some sort of pain had I not been in awe at what unfolded before me. Twilight seemed like a completely different person. The quirky and nerdy character who had exercised minor caution toward me, melted away and left a determined and commanding one in its place. One that performed magic to degrees I would have never imagined. She was in her zone, in complete control, and seemed to lose any fear of me she might have had. Books came off the shelf to slowly rotate around her, allowing her access quick searching, the quills wrote down data with such speed that they threatened to set their pages ablaze.

Twilight herself was humming a light melody as she worked feverishly, but despite her speed she moved with precision that someone as seemingly un-athletic as her would normally be incapable of.  With enough data to satisfy her needs, she magically un-cuffed me and continued to stare at her data.

"Please move on to the next test."

She commanded. When I sat down at my new station she continued to amaze me by teleporting to the lab section in front of me and got ready to collect more data.

"Please remove your shirt for this test." she instructed me and I complied.

A few wires and light electrical shocks later, and she had a full estimated diagram on the human central nervous system.

 The next test didn't seem too bad. Twilight was just messing around with the lab, only glancing back occasionally as if to confirm something; or to check and see if I came to my senses and decided to leave while she was looking the other way. Fortunately for her, I didn't. Unfortunately for me, she turned around with large syringe containing questionable contents.

"That wasn't in the description of "tests"."  I said, leaning back into my chair the same way a toddler does when he refuses to eat what is given to him.

"Oh don't be such a big baby." She said, rolling her eyes while the syringe swayed with her displeasure.

"Hey, I just want to know what you plan to inject into me. I mean I'm all for science and helping you out, but that liquid doesn't look like it belongs inside of me."

"Oh come on. Don't you trust me?" She asked sadly while looking down, not even attempting to hide the fact that she knew what she was doing was wrong.

"You know this isn't fair right? Sigh. Fine. This isn't going to hurt is it?"

Smiling she proceeded to explain in an unnecessary amount of detail about the contents of the syringe and how painless it should be.

"Egghead." I replied jokingly, right before she jammed what I could only assume to be a sword into my arm; all the while maintaining a smirk that reflected her enjoyment in her revenge.

"AHH, Ok I'm sorry, jeez. Lesson learned." I said, rubbing my arm and disappointed to only find a small dot instead of a giant gash to be the source of my immense pain.

The rest of the morning was filled with all sorts of tests and eventually stretched to midday. Finally the sore and grumpy patient was released to enjoy a meal while the scientist collected her data and prepared the physical portion of tests.

I loitered around the kitchen, eventually rummaging through the fridge, and letting out a deep sigh when I concluded that there was no way I could eat until I would be over with the horrors that Twilight had in store. I couldn't say I was regretting my decision to help bond with Twilight, but I sure wasn't enjoying it either. I walked back into the living room, deciding that I rather brave the rest of her experiments sooner than later, and was met with a nice surprise.

"Now this, I can work with."

I exclaimed, as Twilight finished levitating the last of the testing course pieces into place. The room had been transformed into a large physical gym. Cones, treadmill like machines, and monitoring equipment now replaced the lab and medical machines.

"Glad you're enthusiastic about this part. Now put these on." She said, levitating a heartbeat sensor and a few other sensory equipment in the form of sweat bands or stickers.

"I'm going to be pushing you to your limits, and in the end I hope to have an accurate conversion graph that compares our species physique. Basically it should estimate as to how similar in muscle performance we are."

"Yea yea, where do I begin?" I answered, glad that this time her grin was met with mine.

***

"Faster!"  Twilight shouted at me, clicking a new lap on her stopwatch. Her clipboard and notes right beside her, obediently waiting to be used.

"YOU GOT IT!"

I shouted back, picking up my speed on the treadmill. I never thought the endless walking and absentminded exercise in whatever hell I came from would be useful, but here I was tearing Twilights tests apart and fulfilling all of her requests. The majority of the afternoon consisted of various exercises, lifting weights, and hitting the treadmill. Admittedly, she had been asking me to perform an awful lot for her, and I was getting pretty tired.

"And time."

I slowed my pace and stopped, catching my breath as Twilight finished scribbling down her observation and the data my equipment gave off.

"Alright, just one more set of physical torture and we'll be almost done."

"You sure are thorough." I replied, taking another swig at the water she provided, thankful that this would be over soon.

"Thanks, now don’t rest just yet. I need to run you through a few more tests. Can you start with push-ups?"

"You got it boss." I groaned.

I hit the ground and started doing extremely slow push-ups while Twilight carefully examined the way my muscles functioned and folded.

"Hey Twilight, care to join us for lun… What are you up to?" Dash questioned as she burst into the library without a prior notification.

I tensed and straightened myself appropriately, attempting to show neither fatigue nor improper technique. For the first time today, I actually began to sweat from nervousness.

"Dammit." I thought. I had never really addressed my odd attraction to Dash, but eventually I decided that I'll play nice and see where it takes me. After all, of all my friends, she was the only one that still held the most caution toward me, and it ticked me off considering all the hard work I had put into being accepted.

"Hello Dash. Artyom promised to allow me to study him remember? So I'm just finishing up the physical portion of the tests. I want to see how our species compare in muscle development, function, and location."

Dash listened obediently, as if from experience for dealing with Twilight's scientific ramblings.

"Uh... huh." She casually responded, mostly ignoring Twilight now and gazing over her to see what I was up to. I caught another irritating, cautious look on her.

"So how does Artyom here match up?"

She asked. I felt like she was challenging me. Giving me a chance to prove my worth. See if I can accomplish something other than being an oddity, and I prepared to prove that and more. She walked up to me and watched for a moment while Twilight finished scribbling down some data.

"Ok Artyom, you can stop now." she addressed me. Now turning to Dash, she answered. "Well actually Dash, based on the results from the tests he ran, and those you and Applejack let me run on you during your competition, he is on par with both of you physique wise. His muscle functions aren’t too different from ours, and if the data is correct he is on athlete level physique."

"Hell yea." I thought, glad that all that training and physical labor didn’t go to waste.

"The "who's a better athlete" competition last fall? I hardly tried that day. Besides I'm way stronger now."

Dash answered, seemingly offended that something like me could compare to her. She was pushing my buttons, but I'd be damned if she didn’t look good going it. Not wanting my capabilities thwarted prematurely, and deciding that earning Dash's respect was going to be a challenge anyway, I pushed off hard and hopped back on my feet.

"Why don’t we see how well I really match up before you go about raining on my parade huh?"

I stated with a confidence that Dash's apparent "new found respect" gaze bore through. I wasn’t going down easy, and that caught her attention.

"Alright. You got spunk. I like that. Tomorrow 10 sharp at the track, bring you’re A game if you want to keep up." She chuckled, apparently taking a liking to my enthusiasm and gave me a slight smile of approval.

"Yes ma'am" I replied, returning the smile. Wow, I'm actually going through with this, I must be crazier than I thought.

"So that's a no, huh you two?" Dash asked Twilight.

"You two? As in I was invited? That’s new." I thought.

"I still have the psychological portion of the test left. Although a bit more personal, it can give some valuable data." Twilight answered, glancing at the long checklist on her clip board.

"Sorry Dash, but I promised Twilight ill test all day, so if she says I got to do this, then I got to do this."

"That’s alright, I'll tell the others you couldn’t make it."  Dash responded, turning around to leave.

"Well actually, this test can be more interesting if you participate too Dash." Twilight said, her exited face on.

"Uhhh. I'm kind of hungry and the."

"Pleeeaaase?"

Twilight cut her off and leaned forward slightly, putting on her sad pouting face. Not wanting to endure any of her tests alone, and to spend more time with Dash, I knelt down beside her and mimicked her face the best of my abilities. It hurt to see Dash look at me for a moment, her answer mainly depending on whether she could stomach or trust me.

"You guys aren’t fair." She groaned as we all shared a laugh. A thought of how lucky I was to actually share such a moment at all, crossed my mind, but I pushed it away for later not wanting to ruin the moment with my troubles.

"I'll go tell the gals and be right back." Dash stated once the moment wore off.

"Sounds good. We'll get things set up here." Twilight answered.

Once Dash left, I sprinted to get a change of clothes and take a shower, suddenly aware of my smell after Twilights tests, and glad Rarity wasn’t here to point it out. I sprinted to the bathroom before having to double back and ask if Twilight needed help moving the furniture and equipment around. Upon my arrival into the living room Twilight raised an eyebrow as she magically levitated the extremely heavy equipment with ease.

"Point taken."

I yelled as I ran back to sanitize myself. I got back just in time to witness Twilight set up a couch, presentation easel, lights, and a small chair in front of the couch for her. She put on a small pair of glasses and prepared her notebook and slides. As if on cue, Dash came back looking slightly annoyed, but obediently took her place on the couch next to me and leaned on one arm, looking bored.

"Alright you two. Let's make this quick. Now what does this look like?" Twilight asked pointing to an ink blot.

"Eagle."

Dash and I both responded simultaneously. We both perked up and stole a quick glance at each other before returning our new found attention to Twilight.

"Wow, alright you two. What's this?" She asked again after adjusting her glasses and flipping to a new ink blot.

"The sky." I answered.

"Clouds." Dash responded.

"Interesting."

Twilight analyzed, silently pondering the current situation, but deciding to remain silent. She flipped the next slide and stayed silent. Dash and I no longer answered to Twilight, but to each other. With every new slide we looked at each other and described what we saw. With each slide we giggled and laughed as our answers if not identical were too similar to not take interest in.

"Dragon."

"Sword."

"Wings."

We exchanged answers back and forth. One by one. There was no need to repeat each other's answers and eventually it was more to just confirm the obvious than to participate in Twilight's test. The last slide was shown and we both froze. I looked at Twilight first. She had been silent this whole time, slowly observing the connection Dash and I shared. Apparently we had given her a new test's results, one that she did not expect. I wondered about what she was thinking, but I was too excited about my bonding with Dash to think about it now. I gulped once and stared at the picture, then at Dash. I was sure she was thinking the same thing, but who was brave enough to say it first?

She had obviously begun to take an interest in me, I didn’t seem like a disease anymore now that I shared common opinions. We had spent the past hour bonding and breaking off about the things we saw in the ink blots, laughing and getting caught up in the moment. The last slide however, caught us both off guard and seemed to have killed the moment. I knew Dash was beginning to like me, but I was sure that this might have been pushing it too far. She definitely thought the same thing I did, otherwise she wouldn’t remain this silent. I mentally cursed Twilight at the moment, sure that this was part of her experiment.

"Looks...looks like a couple." I started.

"Kissing."

Dash finished. The moment remained tense. Things wanted to be said. Others wanted to be done. In the end a good natured laugh shared by the three of us broke the ice. Dam I was glad that didn’t end up badly. Dash seemed like someone who effortlessly spoke her mind about anything she needed to, and the fact that she didn’t seem like she wanted to puke at the thought that we shared a common romantic opinion about something, really meant something.

"It's getting late." Dash said as she got up and yawned loudly. "Tomorrow, 10 O clock sharp. Got it?"

She added as she walked toward the door, gazing back at me with a... different kind of smile. One that I would remember for the rest of my life.

"Got it."  I replied, returning the smile, heart beat intensifying against my wishes.

As she walked out into the cool night and took flight, I stood in the doorway unable to gaze away until I no longer recognized her silhouette against the dark night sky.

I closed the door, and was met with a light smile from Twilight. She had sure seen a lot today, and was more than smart enough to not be oblivious to what just happened. I was glad she decided not to openly confront me on what just happened and remained silent. This meant I had her support, or in the very least, didn’t have her objection. And that was a sign of our friendship.

I suddenly realized how tired I really was. Yawning loudly, I stretched and offered to make a quick snack as neither of us had eaten more than breakfast all day. Apparently realizing her own fatigue as well, she yawned and gladly accepted. I went to the kitchen and whipped up a quick, yet tasty meal for us to share before retiring for the day. When I finished, Twilight teleported herself to the kitchen table and we both got to silently enjoy the meal in each other's presence. Once we finished, I cleaned everything up and be both went upstairs to sleep.

"Twilight." I said, right before we went to the opposite sides of the room.

"Thanks. For everything. I'm... I'm glad I have you as a friend."

She hugged me and responded:

"I'm glad to have you as a friend too."

We stood there for a bit, embracing each other. The moment ended and we went to our respective corners of the room to sleep.

I was excited about tomorrow and exhausted from today, so I cut my analysis short. Twilight was a valuable friend to have, one that had many quirky qualities that only made her that much better of a friend. As I went over the little funny sides of her that I had seen today, I got tired and fell asleep as one last word escape my thoughts on her. One that stood above the rest.

Magic.

Laughter

Loyalty

"He's losing a lot of blood!"  A commanding voice notified whoever else was there.

"Move, make room!" Commanded another.

"You are going to be alright."

The first voice told me, gently this time. My vision restored itself slightly in time to see a man. A human man, was leaning in close. A white, slightly bloodied cloth on his face. I wanted to move, to scream, but my body refused to respond and I had no choice but to watch as he regained his posture and continued to move my body to wherever this endless white ceiling led to. I tried to get one good look at whoever this mystery man was, but darkness soon fell when my eyes shut without my permission.

"Ahh" I gasped.

I woke up in a cold sweat. It was dark in the room, and the sun was just beginning to crawl its way over the horizon. Twilight still slept soundly across the room. I brought a hand up to my face to wipe of some of the sweat and to have something to lean on while I attempted to process the nightmare over. Whatever it was I didn’t want it to trouble me further, so I decided to lay in bed for a bit. I am going to have my meeting/date with Dash in a few hours and I don’t want to stress myself now before I get a chance to prove myself to Dash.

After a few minutes in bed I decided I wasn’t tired and got up to start my morning routine early. Once clean and dressed I started to make breakfast. Twilight woke up to the smell of eggs and met me in the kitchen later while I finished cooking the last bits of food.

"You're up early. Exited?" She teased while magically cutting the omelet I prepared.

"A bit yea." I chuckled and smiled while looking down. I hoped I wasn't blushing.

"Act-" I hesitated, thinking that it was better to let the dream go, but Twilight noticed my stuttering and proceeded to give me her concerned look.

"Actually I had a pretty bad nightmare. I woke up in a cold sweat and couldn't go back to sleep so I just decided to start my morning."

I sheepishly admitted. Thankfully this piece of heaven that was my home had caring and nice residents. Twilight was no exception and she questioned me with honest concern, pressing for answers when I refused to give them. Eventually I told her everything and slumped lower into my chair; I began to aimlessly poke at my breakfast while my nightmare once more plagued my thoughts. I was sure it meant something, but I couldn’t understand what.

Twilight was pondering the situation as well, but eventually saw me looking glum, so in an attempt to cheer me up she said:

"Hey, common, you have an important meeting later right? You can't prove your stuff if you’re not focused."

I looked up to meet her slight, teasing smile.

"Knock it off." I chuckled, glad that she was being as supportive as she was, and curious as to whether or not she meant that in a romantic way.

We finished our breakfast with a new topic and I let my nightmare sink and burry itself into the back of my mind. She offered to clean up while I quickly got dressed and packed supplies into the backpack that Rarity hastily stitched together as per my request.

"How do I look?" I asked, spreading my arms wide and spinning to show myself off.

"Good."

Twilight re-assured while she magically corrected my apparel, making the clothes I hastily put on feel more comfortable as they now sat properly on me, and re-adjusting some of the things in my backpack to make it less bumpy and actually wearable.

"Thanks Twilight."  I shouted as I made my way out the door and ran out to town.  I returned shortly and was met with a confused Twilight.

"Uhh the track. Right. Where is that exactly?" I asked while rubbing the back of my head.

Twilight laughed and gave me precise directions.

"Thanks again!"

I shouted once more as I ran back toward the town. I ran quickly, eager to get there on time and get a chance to prove myself. The run was great, the breeze hit me hard as I ran through the deserted streets. I took this time to enjoy the town that I inhabited. It was clean, organized, and radiated security within its borders. Not a bad place to live in, so long as you’re accepted. I rounded a few more corners and the empty track became visible on the horizon. Completing my sprint, I dropped my backpack on a vacant table and took a moment to regain my breath.

In my excitement I failed to realize that I still had an hour until Dash got here. Looking up, I could see why Dash fancied this track. For one it was vacant, not a single hint of life other than my own made itself apparent and taking full advantage of the track for personal use was an easy task. The track itself was well maintained. The marking paint looked new, its bright white color seemed freshly painted. Not a single blade of grass dared to stand taller than the rest. Looking further ahead toward the far edge of the track, a small cleanly kept shed proudly displayed its "Sporting Equipment" sign.

I clasped my hands together and mentally motivated myself to begin exercising. I decided a quick sprint to test my time was a good motivator, and fished a timer out of my backpack; I reset it and made my way to the starting line. One long gaze around the entire track and I was motivated to clear it in an impressive time. I was ready to impress both myself and Dash. My foot found its place on the metal pedal. I crouched, fingers pressed to the ground. All of my energy was being quickly pushed to my muscles, which were now tense with anticipation. I was an energy bomb and the last seconds of warm-up ticked away on the timer.

The beep was insignificant in comparison to the quiet emptiness. Its small, pathetic sound quickly devoured and forgotten, but I felt nothing short of an explosion.  All of my energy was released at once. Each fiber of my being bled energy. My speed matched my determination and I flew across the track, kicking up small bits of dirt and stone as I slid around the curved turns. Nothing else mattered now. It was just me and the finish line. Half way through my muscles reminded me of the consequences that come when the body is pushed without a prior warm-up, and resisted my commands as I continued to push them. Almost there I reminded myself as I was rounding the 2nd curve of the oval and ignored the pain.

"Wooh!"

I exclaimed breathlessly as I simultaneously crossed the finish line and marked my time. I bent over and leaned on my thighs, breathing loudly, my lungs complaining about what I put them through. I brought the timer up to my sweaty face.

"Not bad."

A voice answered, reading my thoughts.

I looked up in surprise, suddenly aware of the rest of the world.

"Could use some work though."

Dash continued, doing a good job of concealing the fact that I might have just impressed her.

"That’s…why… I'm here." I answered in between breaths, copying her bravado and straightening my posture.

A familiar smile found its way onto her face as Dash narrowed her eyes.

***

Half way through the pushups that came after 3 laps of jogging, 30 squats, and 30 crunches, and I realized that this wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought it would be.

"Getting tired?" Dash questioned teasingly, mid push-up.

"No, you were sweating, and I didn’t want you to be the only one." I answered, keeping up my bravado act while in reality I was glad that I could keep up with her at all.

How the hell does Applejack manage to give her a challenge? I pondered. The work out was intense and it was obvious that Dash loved to push herself to the limit, no doubt to pursue her dream of being a top athlete. She had me sweating and aching since the beginning, and I was sure that the only thing that kept me from collapsing from exhaustion was the fact that I wouldn't be able to spend time with her. The things I do for love.

"Well, now that you're all warmed up, let's start the real part of training." She said, getting up and jogging to the equipment shed, chuckling at the high pitched whine I gave off in response.

I stood outside the shed and leaned against the door frame while she went in to fetch some supplies. I eyed her absentmindedly, silently thanking whatever was responsible for my view.

"Catch."

She shouted, catching me off guard and threw various boxing equipment my way. I caught 2 pairs of hand wraps and bag gloves, which I set down and then moved in to help her with the large boxing bags she wanted to set up.

"I didn’t know you were into fighting."  I grunted, while shoving the first heavy bag into place.

"I'm not, but it's great for stamina and endurance." she replied.

I watched her attack the bag and once more marveled at her body. I paid close attention to the way she moved, the beads of sweat on her brow, how her hair swayed slightly with each movement; not a single detail escaped me. I eyed her wings, the way they remained tucked away, ready to be used at any moment, and once more felt a ping of jealousy.

"You going to continue to stare, or are you going to do something?" She asked, noticing the fact that I took longer than I should have to put on some hand wraps.

I had no words to say. Most of them were already being used to scold myself mentally. I took my place at the bag next to hers, ashamed of being caught staring. I looked at her a moment, only to see her watching me intently. She looked angry, and I prayed she'd forgive me. I returned my focus to the bag and letting my shame fuel my actions, attacked the bag with the same professionalism that I showed at Applejack's farm. I hoped that it was enough to pardon me of my actions.

"Not… bad." Dash responded, clearly impressed with my swiftness and moves.

A few moments of exercise, filled with each other's labored breaths, and our training session was interrupted as 3 new individuals appeared, they seemed to know Dash.  A tall, tan male with Brown hair that covered his eyes was flanked by 2 more. A grey fellow with black hair on one side, and a brown one with blonde hair on the other. All three flew down to meet us with unsettling smirks.

"Well look who it is. Our friend Crash and her new friend Artyom the human." The tan one announced upon his entrance. The other two laughed, apparently thinking his statement was incredibly funny.

"Not these guys again." Dash quietly whispered, appearing annoyed with their presence.

I looked at her with concern, then back at the trio in time to get bombarded with insults and rude remarks about my autonomy, and the fact that Dash was only worth having someone as useless as me around to keep her company. I was met with mixed feelings.

Between their laughs and snickering I felt angry, sad, and insignificant.  I was angry, very angry. With each new comment and snicker, my bag swayed more from the punches I was giving it. I was losing it. It was one thing to be made fun of after all my work, after all the times I put effort and emotion into my actions, hoping to be accepted. It was another to insult Dash like that. Whether or not I liked her didn’t matter. She had been accepting enough to put herself out there and spend time with me. Something that not many would do despite coming to accepting terms with me.

I felt sad. Having never been able to be picked on in my empty past, this was a first and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Their remarks started to hurt more than they should have. I was an outsider, a no-body, an Oddity. But was it a bad thing? I was beginning to think my difference here wouldn't be a bad thing, but now I was beginning to think otherwise. Dash saw my frustration. She saw me wanting to do something, to stand up, to punch them, and show them who was useless and pathetic, but like me she knew that I couldn’t for the sake of my standing with my friends and the public. She seemed to know how their words felt, she saw their effect with a familiar look of pity. For a moment I just stood there. Taking their insults, knowing that if anyone interfered then they would be caught by the insults too.

I wanted to stand up for myself, to show them I'm not someone who gets picked on, I was ready to make them nothing but dirt stains against the grass. If I get into a fight now then I won't be looked highly upon by the rest of the residents. I was an outsider, a no-body, an oddity worth keeping. Someone that according to these three, was kept around for nothing more than amusement, but I didn’t care. They'd gone too far.  I was about to turn around and express my frustration before the unexpected happened.

"Hey! Knock it off or else!" I heard. Heard the impossible, the unlikely, and the improbable.

I looked up to see Dash take an assertive pose nearby. Her tone hinted toward a negative familiarity with these three.

She seemed ready to fight, for… me! Me. The oddity, the outsider, the no-body. She was willing to put herself out there when most wouldn’t. I watched as they laughed louder and made comments on her inability to fly well, watched as they called her Crash over and over. Watched as Dash fought for me and herself as well. I snapped. Lost it. My anger bested me and I let it loose.

"That’s ENOUGH!" I barked, catching all four off-guard.  "You can make fun of me all you want, but you do not, I mean do NOT make fun of my friends. My friends, who overlooked my difference and took me in, who accepted me. So listen here. If you came here looking for a fight then you sure got one." I said, showing off my rage and reinforcing my statement by tightening my hand wraps and taking a fighting stance.

Dash watched me with stunned surprise as I placed myself in front of her and raised my fists. She didn’t expect such a forceful argument from me, and the amount of force that was present in my words left all of them surprised. The leader recoiled slightly, taking a step back, his smirk clearly wiped from his face; his two lackeys sharing the same surprise and fear.

"Alright alright. You aren't worth our time anyways." The tan one, the leader, stated.

And just like that the trio flew off without another word. I lowered my stance, breathing heavily.

"Assholes." I muttered quietly enough for Dash not to hear. Cursing wasn’t looked too highly upon here and I wasn’t going to let my anger leave a bad mark on my name. I walked over to my bag and showed it what I wanted to do to those three.

"Thanks for the support Dash. It… It meant a lot to me." I told her, having stopped my rampage on the bag and sat down.  "I couldn’t do anything at first because I didn’t want to get in trouble, but after they started making fun of you… I… I lost it. I'm sorry for my outburst. I never had friends before, and I couldn’t stand seeing you get insulted like that after being so accepting of me."

I rambled on, not being able to stop my explanation short as I felt that I needed to redeem myself for my actions. I wished I had a little more self-control, wished I could have handled that way more cleverly. Dash stopped my monologue with a light smack on my arm, and I look at her as she sat down beside me.

"Hey, no problem. Those guys were always jerks. They bothered me when I was a kid. And even though I proved their remarks wrong, they still feel like they should bother me. They act tough, but when it comes to doing something they chicken out." She laughed a bit before continuing. "In fact, thank you for standing up for me too. I haven't seen them run away that way before and it was a great sight to see."

I smiled, her words meant more to me then she knew. I hugged her with one arm. The action caught her off guard and the anticipation of her response scared me too. To my surprise she accepted it and leaned in to contribute to the hug. I felt proud, scared, and light headed all at once. We sat there for only a moment, but to me it felt like forever. After breaking the hug we noticed it was getting late and packed up all of the equipment we used.

"Nice hanging out with out today, anytime you feel like working out, you know where to find me." Dash said as we faced each other near the table that had my bag on it.

"I thought it was great too. You were right with your earlier statement of being awesome, and anytime you want to hangout, just ask, I’d be glad to." I responded, a new confidence handling my responses for me.  I was certain she accepted me.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." Dash responded.

A fist bump (or at least as close to a resemblance of one as I could think off) later, and she flew home while I watched in the silence of the sunset. I was exhausted, but my excitement over getting closer with Dash than I initially hoped gave me enough energy to sprint hope. It took a lot of willpower to not jump up in the air and do a cartoonish yeehaw heel clapping jump.

When I got home I dropped my bag and nearly fell with it.

"How'd it go?"  Twilight asked, looking up from a book she was reading.

"Food first, answers later." I responded, realizing how hungry I was.

She laughed and rolled her eyes, but got up and helped me make dinner. As we ate I recalled the day's events for her and we chatted for a while before I decided that now was as good of a time as any to ask her what has been on my mind the whole time. I once more considered my options, but I was too nervous to come up with a clever way to ask. Instead I dropped my hands on the table, got up with force, and asked:

"Twilight… Are you ok with me trying to date Dash?"

My question caught her off guard and she sighed a bit, taking time to address the elephant in the room that I pointed out.

"Artyom." she began.

"Look Twilight, I'm sorry. I know this can't be comfortable, I know I'm different, odd, but I meant it and I need to know I have someone's support in this. You and Applejack have been the most accepting by far, but only you know of this. Please Twilight. I need answers. Honest ones." I interrupted, frustration clearly making itself present in my voice.

"Artyom. Yes, you are different. Not like her, or any of us, but love shouldn’t have boundaries. You have shown considerable amounts of determination to fit in, and your hard work didn’t go unnoticed. To tell you the truth, Dash didn’t seem like someone who was too into relationships, but if you are one to change that, then there shouldn’t be a reason to stop you. You seem like a good guy and unless that changes, then as a friend of both of you, all I want is the best."

I walked around and hugged her. I loved her at that moment more than any other. She had been my support through a tough time, and I thanked her for that.

"Thanks Twilight. This is new to me too, and I'm just glad to have your support. It… It means a lot to me."

She laughed and embraced my awkward hug. We finished out meal and continued to chat a while longer before night fell, and we retired to our beds. My body remembered the stress it endured, and eagerly collapsed on the bed once within distance. Once again, I reflected on the day's events. The dream, the hurtful comments, Twilight's support, and Dash. Dash. She was something. Beautiful, charismatic, all I wanted in someone that I would devote time to. There were many words I could use to describe her, and as they ran through my mind the last one stuck. Through our differences and my strangeness she still expressed great,

Loyalty.

Revisiting Kindness

Laughter

The quiet pitter patter of the rain against the windowsill was starting to lose its tranquility and began to get on my nerves. My body ached from three consecutive days of physical activity and emotional stress. I lay in bed and once more attempted to persuade my body to get up, but it protested and I made no progress. It was early morning and the sky was covered by thick rain-filled clouds. Twilight was already up and cooking something in the kitchen.

I forced myself up and robotically went through my morning routine, and once completed, met her in the kitchen. After a bit of our usual small talk I decided that I needed time to think. Twilight questioned my sad demeanor, but I waved her off, mustered some excuse, put on rain resistant clothes, and went outside.

It was cold out. A calming and light fog clogged the air. The smell of fresh rain was invigorating and I found the strength to make my way to the park that started this all. It was empty now, a place for thought and rest once more. I made my way to the same large tree that sheltered my friends when I got here, the same tree that guide my actions, and took refuge from the rain under its leaves. It was peaceful and quiet, the hill I sat on overlooked the rest of the park and a good portion of the town. I leaned back on the tree's large and sturdy trunk and absentmindedly plucked the soft, dewed grass under my fingers as I let myself drop into thought.

What am I doing here? Do I belong? Do I deserve this?

Such thoughts found their way into my mind and forced me to change my posture. I brought my legs up to my chest and dropped my head. I felt lost, out of place. I was a mistake drawn into a perfect world. A nuisance that could not leave. The bullies were right about some things. I was weird, strange, lost, and useless. I did not belong.

But does that have to be a bad thing?  I questioned myself once more.

I hugged my legs tighter, I hoped the trio wasn’t right about the rest of the things they said.  I couldn’t have been an attraction could I? A burden, a smudge on society. Gripping my pants tighter out of both anger and fear, I remembered.

How could I have forgotten something as simple as my very clothes? I wondered, loosening my grip and feeling the soft texture.

My clothes were a perfect example. Soft, well woven. Made with care. They weren't given to me as a payment, as a kit for a job as an oddity. They were woven with the intention of kindness. Rarity didn’t have to make them, didn’t have to sweat with anticipation when I first gave my opinion on them. She didn’t make me more clothes because she needed practice. She made them in her excitement of pleasing me, she made them because when wanted to do something generous for me.

Flutters didn’t listen to me because I was out of place. She didn’t feed me because I could be useful. She didn’t show me her friends because I was amusing. She did out it of kindness and compassion for me. She didn’t give me a new chance. A start. A beginning because I could be serviceable. She saw me as a person. An equal.

Applejack didn’t talk to be because I could have been used for more labor, didn’t express concern for fear of losing a useful tool. She meant what she said. She was Honest. She trusted. She accepted who I was and talked to me for hours because I was me, not because I needed to be acknowledged for my service of her entertainment.

Twilight didn’t take me in just to take tests and dispose of me. She didn’t use me and then throw me away when I lost my value. Didn’t contribute great concern, advice, and support to pay me for my use. She provided me shelter when I needed it most, gave support when I felt out of place, helped me when I had no other.

Dash. She didn’t need to stand up for me. To put herself in front of me like she did. Didn’t have to take my insults, but she did. And she didn’t do it out of possession of a belonging. She did it to protect me. To protect her friend. Her different, odd, outlandish friend.

I raised my head now. Looked out into the cool day, into the fog that hid me from the rest of the world.

I may not know how and why I got here, but I am not going to let that or anything else get to me. I have been blessed. I stumbled upon a miracle, and I am not going to let that go to waste. I am going to do the best I can for my friends, for this world, my… home. I have a place now. I belong. I will make the most of this.

As I reinforced my damaged conscience with these thoughts, I couldn’t help but begin to think of the rest of my complications. I might have a purpose now, but my problems don’t end there. I sighed and got up. I had spent more time on my thoughts than I realized, and it was around mid-day now. With my hands in my coat pockets I slowly made my way through town.

The streets were slick with rain. Few residents scattered here and there while going about their daily chores. Few greeted each other, probably busy or too focused on getting out of the rain to bother. I chuckled a bit at the thought of how I looked to the others. I was a considerably taller, a long figure dressed in a charcoal coat and a brimmed hat. Despite my out of place figure I was paid no mind. I continued my little stroll through town, paying little attention to how the water dripped off the very tip of the brim of my hat, and how with each step my shoes made a loud click against the pavement.

I made a quick stop at a café to grab a bite to eat, dry off slightly, and to ponder my problems in peace once more. I paid my bill and returned the warm goodbye to the nice yellow colored waiter. I was out in the streets once again. This time I planned on going home to settle my annoying thoughts once and for all.  The day was starting to end and Twilight might have started to worry, but as I neared the library I noticed the lights were off and assumed she left to run an errand.

With a heavy sigh, I opened to door and flicked the nearby light switch.

"SURPRIIIIIIIIISE!"

I leaped back and was stopped by the door. Pinkie was standing only inches from where my face was when I first got here. She had a party hat on and her arms were open, as if waiting for a hug. She wore a comforting smile that would probably be contagious had I not needed to keep my heart in my chest. Behind her were an assortment of decorations. Streamers and balloons littered the floor and ceiling. A giant "WELCOME" banner was proudly displayed across the room. There was a number of equally happy residents behind her as well. All of which had party hats on, and all of which I did not recognize other than my friends who made up the center audience. My eyes darted left and right and found games, drinks, snacks, and a DJ booth had replaced the furniture and stood where my testing stations once did.

"Wha… what's this?" I squeaked, still recovering from shock, but now standing upright.

"A party silly! What else could it be?" Pinkie replied, bouncing with excitement that made me want to join in.

"For … me? Really?" I asked still speechless as I was still taking in my surroundings. The most shocking part were the other residents. They looked like they actually wanted to be here. To throw a party for me, and it was a lot to take in.

"Of course silly! I ALWAYS throw a party for anyone new in town. I couldn’t miss a party for one of my best friends now could I?" She finished, making it look like I was partially insane for not seeing this coming and smiling at me real wide.

"Wow… this is… this is just amazing! Thank you Pinkie! Thank you everyone!" I shouted with a cheer that I could only have caught from Pinkie at the moment, and hugged my spontaneous pink best friend.

"Let's get this partay started!" Pinkie shouted, blowing a party horn and having the room erupt in cheers, whooping, and loud music.

The night went far better than I could have ever dreamed of it going. It was filled with games, talk, and dancing that made me forget about all of my troubles. I felt ALIVE. Throughout the night I managed to muster up courage to engage Dash, relax, bond with all of my friends, and make a great impression on all of the friendly town folk who showed up. The camera that was brought along, caught some of the greatest moments of my life. Scenes like Dash and I trying to not laugh as we pulled a prank on an unsuspecting party goer, funny pompous posses with Rarity, a back to back pose of me and the talented DJ Vinyl Scratch, and the rest of my group posing near Flutters, who was too shy to openly participate, and having her embarrassed expression be painted on film along with the rest of our laughing faces.

I learned that Pinkie was well known for her overly friendly personality, strong attachment to all of the town's residents, and for her great parties. I was honored at being worth one of them and greatly enjoyed her presence and what she had done for me. She made sure that I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face with her shenanigans and jokes, she left me feeling whole and liked by the time everyone had to leave. I parted with all of the guests individually and hugged my close friends as they left, glad to have cheered me up and to have made an impact on me that I would never forget. Twilight made quick work of the mess left behind, and soon we both retired to our beds, tired and content.

Pinkie. She had made my whole day, and in one night cleared my conscience of any remaining doubts about my friends. My family. She had done for me what I never thought I could do before out of good will and consideration. My nightly analysis left her with what she had given me all night.

Laughter.

Royal Guard

Revisiting Kindness

I woke in pain once more, this time I didn’t mind it. It was still early and I had a lighthearted smile on my face that was left over from yesterday's party; I was feeling particularly cheery. I had gone through the usual routine as always, and left Twilight's breakfast on the table for when she would wake. I wanted to thank Flutters. Had it not been for her kindness I would not be here. My mood mellowed out as I realized that I had not visited her since I got here, and I was determined to change that. I pulled on some casual wear and began my little quest.

It was warm outside, and the ground was still moist from yesterday's weather. A few residents were milling about and completing tasks that they had put off due to the weather; I exchanged greetings with a few that were recognizable from the party. Looking around I realized the full extent of the damage caused by the late night storm. Trees had fallen over and loose branches littered the streets. The winged residents were particularly busy with the weather today and I scanned the sky for Dash. I couldn't find her and resumed my journey.

Flutter's house was near the edges of the woods where I had arrived here, so I picked up my pace in homes of catching her while she was still at home. Once out of the town's borders I took a different path from the one I used when I got here, in hopes of becoming more familiar with the landscape and heeding the warnings from Twilight and Flutters about the woods.

"Steer clear of the Everfree Forest. It's filled with all sorts of dangerous plants and creatures. Never ever go there unless you absolutely have to, and never do it alone."

I remembered Twilight say. She seemed incapable of stressing that enough, and after finding out that it was also home to poison joke, I understood her concern and promised to stay away. Luckily the woods near Flutter's house were safe, but I tried to distance myself for fear of getting lost or attacked by its inhabitants.

After clearing an old tree that had fallen on the pathway, Flutter's house came into view and I made my way up to the door. To my dismay no one answered when I knocked and no light shone through the windows. Disgruntled but not dismayed from my quest, I scanned the surrounding perimeter for hopes of finding my shy and kindhearted best friend. Rounding the house's exterior made my heart and jaw drop.

Flutters was standing in the open, surrounded with a variety of woodland creatures, while a bear twice if not three times her size towered over her with its mouth open wide, and was leaning toward her; my eye twitched as a drop of saliva fell from its mouth. What made it worse was Flutters was just STANDING THERE, SMILING like nothing was wrong! With adrenaline blasting through my veins, I ran toward her incapable of making a sound other than:

"NOOOOOOO!"

My sudden interruption shocked everyone there. The bear and Flutters more than the others as both of them turned to stare at me simultaneously with a puzzled, one eyebrow raised expression.

"What's wrong Artyom?"

Flutters asked in a kind, timid, and concerned voice. She was completely unfazed by the fact that she was about to be a snack for the bear next to her.

"THERE IS A BEAR TRYING TO EAT YOU! THAT IS WHAT'S WRONG!"

I screamed, adrenaline still coursing through my veins and making me scream from frustration and anxiety for the lack of concern on Flutter's face, and the fact that neither the bear nor her made any changes in their actions. They just looked at each other once before staring at me like I was a mad man.

***

"So he doesn’t bite or anything?" I asked, not breathing violently anymore.

"No, he's actually pretty well mannered. Aren’t you mister bear?"

Flutters answered me and asked the bear near us. He was sitting patiently now ,and let out a quiet roar of acknowledgement; He smiled contently at Flutters and me. My heart attack from earlier was soothed when Flutters explained that Mr. bear was here to have Flutters check out a pain in his teeth and NOT to eat her. Apparently Flutters had a strong connection with animals, far superior to anyone else, and the forest animals often sought her out for help and medical care. Apparently my description of her kindness was extremely under exaggerated, I thought as I quietly watched in astonishment as she took the time to address each woodland creature's complaints, and actually comprehended what they were squeaking at her.

"Anyway Flutters." I stated, getting up and interrupting her conversation with a squirrel. "I came here to thank you. If it wasn’t for you amazing kindness then I would have never been where I am today. I also came here in hopes that I can repay that kindness by helping you with anything that you need, so… got any jobs for me?"

"Uh actually, last night's storm caused quite a bit of trouble in the forest and my forest friends here came to ask me for help." As she finished she nodded toward the little mass of creatures who all squeaked something, as if to emphasis her point.

"Well I'd be glad to help if I can."

To this Flutters perked up a bit and thanked me for my support. We set off towards the woods with our fuzzy little mob in tow. We started off addressing the smaller animal's complaints, which mostly consisted of rubble removal and replacing nests, hives, and re-hollowing collapsed burrows. Eventually the birds, small mammals, and reptiles had new or rebuild homes; surprisingly they comprehended anything I said and obediently responded to my attempts to help them without fear or confusion. I noted that my faded memories of animals were nothing similar to those of this world as a small big-eyed squirrel brought me an acorn as thanks for my help. I glanced at Flutters for permission to which she nodded reassuringly, and smiled at the fact that I was bonding with her forest friends. I bent over and accepted the gift, thanking the squirrel and watched it run up a tree to its family and new home.

"I haven't seen them trust anyone but me this much before." Flutters said with a hint of surprise in her soft, quiet voice.

"Me neither."

I replied. I was in a scarecrow position and covered in various animals. A few small birds nested themselves in my hair and shoulders, squirrels sat on my arms and clung to my clothes. Flutters gigged as a beaver tugged at my pants and pointed urgently, squeaking for my attention as I could do nothing more than look down without bending my neck for fear of frightening the birds.

"Ok, ok little guy, I'm coming just give me a sec." I addressed him and started to shuffle after him. I shot a glance at Flutters who was now laughing at the scene before her.

Eventually most of the animals got off me and we followed the beaver to a beautiful river. It looked like it was pulled right out of a painting; it had crystal clear waters, a gentle current, and a variety of beautiful multi-colored fish. It gave a mystical feeling to it as the two banks that it separated varied in feeling and appearance. Our side was light and colorful, it radiated warmth and freedom. The other side however, seemed darker by comparison. It had a wild and dangerous feel to it and looking in made it seem untamable; the trees themselves felt like they hide danger rather than provided comforting shade. I thought of the Everfree forest for a moment, but my thoughts were soon interrupted as the beaver began to squeak something at me.

"What's he saying?" I turned to ask Flutters.

"Poor guy. He says last night's storm damaged some of his dam and an important piece fell to the bottom. He can't get it because there are some rocks on it."

"Can't he just make or find another piece?" I asked, annoyed of being brought here without a valid reason, and looked at the beaver who squeaked angrily in reply while crossing his arms. I looked to Flutters for a translation with a puzzled expression.

"Oh, well he says that’s it's an important piece and he worked hard on it before. He doesn’t want to make another when his is just sitting there."

"Well he isn't expecting me to dive right now and get it, does he?"

The beaver made an agitated sound while waving me off and approached Flutters for support. Apparently he knew he could take advantage of Flutter's amazing kindness, and I watched as Flutters flew up and over the river; she was actually considering diving for it so she could help out the beaver!

"Whoa it's ok, I got this!" I exclaimed quickly before Flutters got any more ideas. "The river looks pretty deep and I don’t want you to get hurt or wet unnecessarily. I'll get the beaver his dam stick."

Flutters smiled at my wanting her help her and flew back down to land beside me.

"Watch my clothes please." I told her as I removed my shirt, socks, and shoes. "I hope this river is as clean as it looks, because if rarity finds out what a mess I have made out of the clothes she made for me she'd kill me." I added while gazing into the deep river.

I looked back to see Flutters watching intently and an angry beaver who waved me on. "Little…bugger." I thought to myself before I dived straight into the river and parted a school of shiny green fish. I took a moment to adjust my body to the cold river and observed in awe the beauty around me.  The dark surface of the water did a good job at hiding the beauty of life below. Although not too diverse in life, the fish and plants that inhabited the river painted an eye catching scene that distracted me long enough to have my lungs remind me of my task. I resurfaced to catch a fresh breath and dived once more, this time I went straight for the bottom. Once there, I released a bit of air to allow myself to stay submerged as I gripped the large stick and pulled hard. I only managed to loosen it up a bit before running out of air and needing to come up for more.

"Artyom… I…I think we should."

"Don’t worry I'll get it this time." I interrupted Flutters and let my competitive side get the better of me as I once more dived and attempted to loosen the stick. I succeeded this time and resurfaced, exclaiming:

"There's your darn stick." The smile on my face quickly dropping as the beaver was nowhere to be seen, and Flutters was visibly shaken.

"What's wrong Flutters?" I asked calmly, I was worried and concerned for my friend.

"T…t…timber wolves." She answered in a shaky voice and pointed behind me.

I looked back and copied her expression of fear and shock. On the opposite side of the river were three wolf like creatures. My jaw dropped as they drew nearer and snarled. They were made out of wood and in-between different pieces of it flowed a green aura, similar to the one that Twilight and the other horned individuals had when using Magic. I gulped hard and slowly rose to stand in front of Flutters in a protecting manner. I realized that the animals with us were long gone, and Flutters only stayed because she was afraid to leave me alone. Cursing at myself, I led Flutters as we slowly walked backwards.

With each step we took backwards they took a step forwards. They had cleared the river now and the largest one glared at me with a hungry menacing look in his eyes. I never broke eye contact with those glowing green eyes. Our backpedaling got us nowhere as a large tree blocked our escape. Pressed against it I could feel Flutter's shaking next to me and adrenaline took over my actions.

"Flutters, I need you to listen. When I say "now" you go around the right side of the tree and run. Don’t stop no matter what you hear. Just run and don’t look back. Got it?" As I finished, I gripped the damp stick tightly and clenched my jaw.

I was ready to fight for my best friend and do what was necessary for her safety. Sweat mixed with the river water on my temple as the trio closed the distance between us. I scanned the leader’s eyes in hope of predicting his moves and returned his fierce glare with mine. We were both ready to fight and we knew it. He opened his mouth once and let out a growl that had a wretched smell behind it. I caught the tension in his hind legs.

"NOW!"

I shouted as the leader leaped at us and I swung. My stick met his face and seemed to dislocate his jaw. His body crashed against the tree that Flutters and I were just pressed against. I was running now, having turned left and caught up with Flutters as we ran for our lives. I took a moment to observe how her pink hair flowed behind her and slightly obscured her vision before being reminded of our pursuers, who were barking and growling behind us.

"Shit." I thought as I looked back and saw that despite our efforts of losing them in the trees, they still managed to keep up and were gaining distance. As we ran back toward Flutter's cottage I scanned the ground for a weapon, but failed to find one.  We were nearing the forest clearing, but our attackers were starting to close the distance between us.

"GO!"

I screamed to Flutters as I grabbed the side of a tree and used it to propel myself around it. I met the wolf's face behind it with my knee. His wooden face shattered and he became a heap of firewood in an instant.

"YEAH!"

I celebrated my victory, but to my dismay the third wolf had slid to a halt and stood before me. My heart pounded with my pained knee, and I found myself backing up slowly and out of options. The wolf drew close enough to have my eyes tear up at his rancid breath. With my back to a tree, I closed my eyes and smiled; I saved Flutters and that is all that matters.

"Hey you big meanie! Leave him alone!"

I opened my eyes and saw my shy friend standing aggressively for once. She had thrown a rock and caught the wolf's attention and anger. It snarled once and took off after her. Flutters yelped once and took off. I followed them both as they ran closer to the clearing and stopped when Flutters was cornered. She was shaking next to a large tree and the timber wolf was less worried of her posing a threat. As he lunged, I did too. My body connected with Flutters hard and knocked the wind right out of her lungs. We hit the ground as the wolf hit the tree. I got up quickly to follow through with a kick to its head.

Flutters and I hugged quickly. We were both glad that we were ok, but our hug was cut short as the pieces of the wolf started to vibrate and glowed green. They began to rebuild the creature and Flutters and I took off. We never stopped until we were at her house. Once out of the woods we started to laugh uncontrollably despite being out of breath, and I hugged her again. We were glad to be alive.

Once more our moment was cut short as Rarity cleared her throat and was obviously curious as to what was going on. It would have been easy to explain, had I not been shirtless and we were not both sweaty and out of breath.

"It's… It's not what… it looks like." I tried to explain through labored breathing and deep breaths. Flutter's cheeks had reddened slightly once she realized what our appearance looked like, and made the situation that much harder to explain.

Eventually I calmed down long enough to explain what had happened and we shared an awkward laugh.

"So. Anyway I'm real sorry about having to leave the clothes you made for me Rarity." I said.

"Oh, don’t worry about it darling. It simply couldn’t be helped." Rarity answered.

"Anyway, may I ask what you are doing here, or is it none of my business?"

"Well today is mine and Flutter's spa day and I was here to pick her up when I met you two outside." she answered.

"Alright then. I'm sure that after that ordeal a spa day might be a good idea. I'll let you two get to that. I need to get back home before someone questions my lack of clothes. See you later Flutters, thanks for saving my life back there." I said as I hugged Flutters once more.

"Thank you for saving mine." She replied returning my hug.

I took off and ran home, cursing at my lack of footwear and blistering feet. I took the less used streets and ignored the puzzled looks I received from the townsfolk. I got home and took a long bath, happy that for once Twilight was not here to bombard me with questions and concern. I dried myself off and decided that I had more than enough exercise for today and grabbed a book from Twilights huge library. As I settled myself into one of her comfy chairs, I thought once more about my timid friend. I updated my knowledge on her extreme kindness, and noted how fierce she gets when she stands up for her friends.

I looked back down at the book in my hands. Timberwolves- The full guide on everything you need to know about these magical creatures. I smiled and flipped the cover.

It was hell of a day Revisiting Kindness.

Decisions

Royal Guard

My surroundings were peaceful. There was a refreshing breeze that lightly tugged at the loose edges of my clothes. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply; I held it for a moment and let out a content sigh.  I was in bliss. I looked over the cliff I was sitting on and observed the beauty before me. A bird zoomed by while another chirped in the trees. Below me was a canopy of trees that seemed to stretch on forever, and I could hear a river nearby.

I looked to my left and saw the girl of my dreams sitting and enjoying the view as well. A smile on her tantalizing lips. She turned to me, smile still on her lips, and I stared into those beautiful cerise eyes. Everything was said and done and all that remained was for me to take what I longed for. And taking it was what I intended to do. We leaned in toward each other, not a word spoken, and our lips connected. I felt warmth at first, but something was off. The warmth felt tangible, and it as if it was slowly being pulled away from me.

"I SAID, GET UP!" Twilight screamed, as she magically ripped the blanket off of me and launched me toward the floor.

"OH SHI-!" I yelled as I was torn from my dream, but was cut short as my face connected with the ground.

My blankets neatly folded themselves around my bed behind me as I got up rapidly. I was disoriented, confused, and angry all at once.

"TWILIGHT! WHAT ARE YOU?!" I yelled, but was once more cut short as she thrusted clothes that she had selected for me into my arms, and turned me around. As she pushed me toward the bathroom she commanded:

"The princesses themselves are coming to see you, so go wash up and look presentable."

With one final push I stumbled into the bathroom and had the door slam itself shut behind me. I was still confused, but now curiosity replaced anger and I took extra time into making myself look nice. Once dried, I looked at the clothes Twilight had given me and smirked. I sure as hell wasn’t wearing this combination. I made my way into the living room and watched as Twilight was on edge. She was extra jumpy and completed tasks with an unnerving speed.

"Twilight?" I asked, nearly whispering. "Are you -?"

"WHY AREN'T YOU DRESSED? I THOUGHT I GAVE YOU SOME CLOTHES!?" She questioned me, an uneasy tone in her voice.

"I sure as heck aren't going to wear that. If you want me to look nice, then let me pick out my wardrobe." I answered with confidence. "Besides." I added. "Don’t you want to explain what is going on and why you yanked me out of bed like that?"

She took a deep breath and pointed toward her chest. As she breathed out she straightened her arm. She seemed calmer now, and opened her mouth to speak:

"I'm sorry, I'm just really stressed right now. Get dressed and meet me in the kitchen. I'll explain everything there."

I did as she said, putting on a fancy shirt and pants. I looked myself over and smiled. I wanted to look nice without making it too formal and uptight. I met Twilight in the kitchen shortly, and pulled back a chair while asking:

"So, now that I'm all neat and shiny, you want to explain what is going on?"

Twilight set down the last plate, and took her usual seat across from me.

"In case you didn’t know already, you live in the Solar Empire under the rule of my mentor, Princess Celestia."

"Princess Celestia." I repeated while chewing on an omelette. "Fitting name." I added once I chewed over the idea in my head. "You mentioned something about you being her student. I'm guessing that’s how you know her, huh?"

"Yes, when I was little my parents signed me off to her magic school, and she took me under her apprenticeship after seeing a natural talent in me. Unfortunately, as I kid I wasn’t the most social and spend my time reading books and studying rather than making friends."

"Really, haven't noticed." I interrupted while very openly taking a good look around the library and all of its books. She gave me a hard scowl as I laughed. "Ok ok, I'm sorry. Please continue."

"As I was saying. The princess sent me off here to make friends so that I can further expand my knowledge on magic, and learn something about friendship as well. I have been writing to her about anything new ever since."

"Glad to know I'm not the only one new to friendship, but what does this have to do with me? And you said Princesses as in… more than one, right?"

"Yes, I was getting to that. Now in my latest letters I have included information on you and your progress as well. She took interest and wants to take her sister, Luna, and meet you today."

I let out a long whistle before continuing. "Wow, royalty has taken interest in me. This is going to be awesome, but might I ask. What makes them so special? With names like Celestia and Luna, surely they must represent something more than just royalty."

"Well, you see they aren't like everyone else. We all poses our own unique characteristics, be it magic, flight, or a strong connection with nature and general heartiness. There is a balance that we keep in check and maintains peace. The princesses, besides being nearly immortal and powerful, have all three properties as well."

"Wow." I breathed. "And their names?" I asked, leaning in close.

"Well their power helps keep night and day in check. Celestia controls the day, while Luna, her sister, remains princess of the night. In fact there was a struggle a 1000 years ago in which Luna wanted the night to last forever as her jealously of the day got the better of her. Celestia was forced to banish her to the moon."

As Twilight explained I sat there listening with great interest.

"Not too long ago, her magical prison was broken and Luna returned vengeful and angry. Our friends and I stopped her, and now she resides at the castle once more."

"That’s some history." I said.

"Yea, so I need you to get it together today. The princesses are very busy and we can't mess up on introductions."

"You don’t need to tell me about not messing up on introductions." I replied. Twilight opened her mouth to speak but stopped.

"Good point." She said. "Now finish up and meet us all at Sugercube corner, they should be here in a few hours and we have to set up dinner now."

"Dinner? That’s like 4 hours from now!" I exclaimed.

"Exactly! We don’t have much time. Now finish up and meet us there." She got up and put away her plates. I watched in disbelief as she walked out the door, quickening her pace slightly.

"I hope she's not running the others like she is me."

I thought aloud. I finished my breakfast and cleaned the dishes. Once finished, I double checked my apparel and set out toward Sugarcube corner. The weather was nice and the streets bustled with townsfolk. A few commented on my nice clothes and I thanked them. "Life is not as bad as my mind makes it out to be." I thought. A short walk later, and I arrived at the colorful building, its exterior made to appear as various tasty pastries.  I opened the door and was met with quite a sight.

All of my friends were there, and all of them seemed tense and on edge. Twilight was worked up again and the others expressed both concern for her, and shared a similar feeling of tension. It took a while for them to notice I was there and eventually I received a group hello.

Dam. These Princesses are starting to look a lot less kind and good, and more like harsh mistresses. I thought, as even Pinkie who was usually completely oblivious to the general feeling of a crowd, seemed tense while working on setting deserts and silverware. Applejack was in the kitchen preparing the none-sugary portion of dinner. Dash and Flutters were hanging decorations under Rarity's instructions, and Twilight was milling about with a checklist to make sure things were going as planned.

I decided to make myself useful and started helping around. Time flew by quickly and soon a loud assortment of trumpets played a distinct tune outside. Shortly after, two winged guards in golden armor rounded the entrance and took their places on opposite sides. They stood there, stone faced. A white princess with beautiful long hair walked in first. My eyes traces how her hair seemed to move on its own, showing off its blue, green, purple, and pink spectrum of colors. She wore a golden crown and necklace, both were complimented by her golden bracelets. I mimicked my friends and bowed on one knee before her, exclaiming:

"Princess Celestia I assume, it’s an honor to meet you."

"Thank you, the feeling is mutual."

She replied in a calm and soothing voice. Despite its warming feeling, it held authority behind it. I quickly glanced at her large, powerful wings and hornlike appendage before focusing on the second princess who entered. I stifled a gasp as she entered. She was deep sapphire blue, and her hair was light azure in color; it had its own lighter in shade aura around it, and small sparkles that resembled distant stars nested in it. She wore her own accessories, but they were black in color.

"Princess Luna, It is an honor." I replied, taking note of her height. She was taller than the other residents, but shorter than Celestia who excelled even me in height.

"Thank you. Pleased to meet you as well." She answered, I was surprised at how her voice although smoother than Celestia's, held a distinct authority; It felt much louder despite being said as quietly everyone else's.

After our introduction, the princesses shared warm greeting with my friends, who they were already familiar with. We took our seats at the table, and my interrogation began.

"So Artyom." Celestia began. She clearly shared a cautioned and curious feeling toward me. "Twilight tells me you are getting along well with my subjects. How are you enjoying our kingdom?"

"It's simply amazing. It truly saved me from the Insanity that was wherever I came from. I have my friends to thank for that, and would like to give you just as much credit for making this place as amazing as it is."

She seemed pleased with my answer, and it was Luna who questioned me next. She appeared more curious than cautious of me.

"This place you have described. Where is it exactly?"

"I wish I could answer your highness, but I truly don’t know. Wherever it is, there are no words to explain its horror, simply because there is nothing in it to describe."

Upon seeing a light dissatisfaction in my answer, I proceeded to describe my brief past and memories. I really didn’t want to mess up my one shot at being officially accepted.

"If that is the case, then I hope that we can provide the home you lack." Luna said. Celestia reaffirmed her answer with a smile and a nod. I was stunned. They were a lot kinder than I anticipated, and their lack of further questioning surprised me.

My friends mostly remained silent, and let the interrogation process continue; they all seemed to be pleased with how I was dealing with the princesses.

"Thank you, If only you could understand what that means for me. I hope to not let you regret that decision. But, there is one more thing I wish to ask. A… favor if you will." I was starting to get nervous. I noticed that I now had everyone's attention, and realized that asking a favor of both of the princesses was a bold move, given my current standing. I swallowed hard before continuing. "You see. I want to contribute to the community and not mooch of the kindness of my friends, but that would require a job." I paused a bit to rethink my next words. "There are so many places that are already filled, and my… difference makes finding one a difficult task." I stopped again in order to observe their reactions. Upon seeing Celestia smile slightly, I continued.  "What I'm trying to ask is… do you have a position I can fill?" I watched Celestia's smile intently.

"I'm glad to see that you are a hard worker and wish to contribute your part. I just might have a job in mind actually." She stopped there. She was teasing me and I knew it.

"Really?" I asked, leaning closer. "What… what is it?"

"Twilight tells me of your athletic ability. You were able to keep up with Dash during her vigorous training, help Applejack with demanding farm work, and passed Twilights tests with flying colors. She also tells me of how your fast thinking helped save Flutters when you were attacked by timber wolves, and how you were willing to physically stand up for Dash during your encounter with her bullies." As she spoke I gazed sheepishly at my friends, who all returned a reassuring smile.

"I couldn’t have done it without them to support me." I answered and prayed I was not blushing.

"Modest as well it seems." she continued. "Those qualifications seem to make you an ideal candidate for one of my personal royal guards. That is, if your friends here can vouch for you, and you wish to accept it."

I was speechless.

"Royal Guard! Me?!" I exclaimed looking toward my friends in disbelief. Things were changing rapidly for me, and remembering my luck only made my situation that much less believable.

 "He can sure kick some butt if he wants to." Dash said as she chuckled.

"He sure is a tough worker." Applejack supported.

"He sure passes all of my tests." Twilight vouched.

"He would be a nice guard." Flutters added.

"As long as he comes to me so that I can make him look the part." Rarity said, a supportive smile on her lips.

"And if he can still party with us!" Pinkie happily exclaimed.

I was beaming. Words could not describe how much I wanted to hug my friends.

"It seems that their decision is clear, but what would yours be?" Celestia asked me.

"I… I don’t know what to say. Yes! I would love to!"

The rest of the evening consisted of Twilight catching up with the princesses as my friends all celebrated my new job. Once finished, I followed the princesses outside and finally got to hug and thank my friends for what they had done for me. I got on their chariot-like vehicle as Celestia's guards took the front, and Luna's darker armored and bat-winged guards took the back. I wondered if they were actually going to escort us this way, but quickly grabbed the railing as they used their strong wings to propel us toward Canterlot, the capital and where Twilight's original home, and the royal castle were.

We arrived shortly, making a 4 hour long train ride into a 30 minute flight. I got off after the Princesses and deeply thanked the guards for the ride.

"Thanks for the ride fellas, I really appreciate it and hope I didn’t bother you too much." I was still an oddity, and the guards didn’t seem too keen on me. I wasn’t used to this sort of luxury, and I felt horrible taking that kind of advantage on them.

Luna's guards just waved it off; they seemed mad about something.

"No problem mate, glad to see our new guy has a sense of decency." Celestia's guards answered. They were pleased with my actions, and their judging expressions soon melted away. They actually didn’t seem mad to be gaining me as an equal.

As I jogged to catch up I couldn’t help but feel like I was part of some sort of argument the two pairs had with each other.

When I caught up with the princesses, Luna wished me a good day and congratulated me once more on my position. I thanked her kindly and promised to not let her down. We parted ways as she walked off into another section of the castle. I was left alone with Celestia now, and made multiple awkward circles as I followed her, in an attempt to take in as much of the scenery as possible. The castle hallways were long, and it felt like it had an endless string of rooms that promised their own secrets behind their doors.  I was eventually led to a room that had two wooden doors reaching all the way to the ceiling, blocking our path. With ease Celestia magically parted them and escorted me inside.  I once more stifled a gasp.

The room had huge painted windows littering its walls. Each one displayed what appeared to be a major event in history. There was a soft red carpet down the room's center that led to two beautiful thrones, side by side.  Huge decorated columns supported the vast ceiling above. I was distracted by the fact that my friends were on some of the windows, when Celestia called for my attention. I returned my attention to her and listened. She had taken her place on the larger throne now, and a guard that I had not noticed before, stood at attention next to her with a chest. Celestia cleared her throat while I took a knee, bowed my head, and brought a fist up to my chest. I knew what was coming.

"Do you, Artyom, swear to take the oath of the Royal Guard of the solar empire?" She boomed.

"I do."

"Then recite the oath after me. I hereby swear to protect all of the citizens of the Solar Empire regardless of their status and to enforce fair justice where it is required."

"I hereby swear to protect all of the citizens of the Solar Empire regardless of their status and to enforce fair justice where it is required." I repeated.

"I swear to set out and become an example of excellence, and a beacon of light wherever darkness may find itself over this kingdom."

I repeated her words once more.

"Good. Do you, Artyom, swear to do anything that is necessary for the safety of the royal bloodline, the people it governs, and your fellow protectors?"

"I will give my life if necessary." I responded, realizing how devoted I actually was to my home and its people. How devoted I was despite the fact that I only gained acceptance in my little village.

"Then I Knight thee a Royal Guard of the Solar Empire." She finished and magically opened the chest that the guard, my    co-worker, presented. She lifted out a custom made chest plate and helmet, both were made of gold. They were eye catching, and I realized that my initiation was planned beforehand. I graciously accepted them and put them on, along with a sword that was small for me and resembled more of a dagger.

"Please arrive tomorrow and I will give you your shifts, and introduce you to the rest of the guards." Celestia instructed me.

She had arranged transportation back home, and I awkwardly marched my way to the chariot. The armor, although amazing in every way, was very awkward and bulky. It didn’t fit me well at all, and its separate plates restricted movement and made me vulnerable. I took it off once I got home and once more thanked my new comrades as they commented on I was an anticipated new recruit; I wasn’t sure if that was a threat, but I took it positively anyway. If they wanted someone to pick on, then they picked the wrong guy. I had one more destination in mind and I jogged to it in hopes of making it before the sun set.

I arrived at a simple building. "The Black Anvil" as it was called by the sign outside. I walked in and instantly had a familiar smoke attack my eyes, I coughed a few times before my lungs adjusted to the smoke. Behind an anvil stood a rusty colored male with shaggy brown hair, and a hornlike appendage; he appeared to be aged slightly but his physique didn’t show it.

"Rusty!" I exclaimed. "I have a favor to ask."

He looked up and smiled. Dusting off his gloves he replied:

"Well look who it is! Congrats on the new job my friend!"

"Thanks Rusty, How'd you know?"

"The whole town is buzzing about its very own royal guard, that and the armor kinda gave it away."

We shared a laugh. Man I liked Rusty. I saw him struggling with some heavy equipment in the rain one day, and after helping him out, started to hang around a bit. He liked the fact that I knew how to work with metals to a degree, and was shocked when I told him I had no prior experience. I told him it was my knowledge of weaponry, but never fully answered his questions on what kind. I wasn’t ready to give away such dangerous things. Over some time we became good friends.

"Look Rusty, I love this armor. It's great and all, but it's way too dam bulky and the helmet is too big and uncomfortable. The sword handle is stunning, but the blade is too short and weak. Think you can help?"

"Anything for you my friend."

"Thanks."

We spent hours customizing my armor.  He removed all of the plates and readjusted them to my measurements. Rather than plate on plate the suit now had plates that were supported with a tough leather behind them, giving me amazing flexibility. He removed a shoulder plate, and reshaped my other one into a rounded, roof-like structure rather than the dome that it was before. Now I could utilize both my arms without my armor hindering me. My helmet was also readjusted and sat on my head comfortably. It resembled a roman helmet, and had blue fur above it. Finally, he replaced the weak short metal with a heavily reinforced steel that had a dark tone to it. As he finished, I took a few moments to look at my new appearance in his large mirror.

"Well I'll be damned Rusty, you even kept all of the small details on the plates." I was glad that he accepted swearing more than the others, and even did so himself from time to time.

"It sure was a pain in the ass, but it's a big role and you better look the part. Remember, if anyone asks where you got it done, you know in what direction to point em."

"Of course my friend." I laughed as I removed my hand off his shoulder and walked out into the night.

"Hey, what about the left over pieces! These are some valuable materials!"

"Keep them. You earned them, and it's the least I can do for such craftsmanship." I replied.

When I got home I nearly gave Twilight a heart attack.

"JEEZ! You look so intimidating in that thing!" She yelled at me while I was having a hard time holding back my tears after laughing. "Anyways, it seems that you got it remade, looks nice." She added.

"Thanks Twilight. I had Rusty fix it up for me. Now I can actually move, and quite well too."

"I'm sure." she said and caught me off guard with a quick and strong hug.

"Wha… what's up?" I asked, returning the hug.

"Nothing, I'm just so proud of you." she answered, nearly bringing a tear to my eye and forcing me to hug her tighter.

"Well it’s late, and you have a big day tomorrow I'm sure, so let's get some rest."

We retired to our beds and I set my armor on my new armor stand, another surprise from Twilight that earned her a hug and many thanks.

I thought about how great it was that I was a somebody now. I thought of all my progress, the friends I've made, the decisions I made that got me to where I was today. All the struggles I had to go through. I smiled. I was a somebody now, and not just anybody.

I was a Royal Guard.

Change

Change.

Hell of a word. I thought.

Such a strange word; Its very meaning can't make up its mind. Either insignificant and easily forgotten, or monumental, life changing. Either good, or bad; that’s up to a different word to decide, fate. Both words show themselves in my existence often enough to make me think they want to be seen. Change plays its role well enough to allow me to question fate.

I escaped my thoughts for a moment and looked down onto the courtyard below. I was on guard duty, keeping a watchful eye during my patrol of the second floor of the castle, west side. Standing out on one of the many balconies, I watched the new recruits march below, motivated by the obnoxious screaming of Rex. I laughed quietly. Dam bastard made my life hell, but he was a good guy. Everyone saw him as the gentle giant. The menacing, large, scarred beast of a man actually had a heart, when he wasn’t training the new recruits that is.

I looked back up into the vastness outside, past the courtyard. Change. Lots of things changed in the past few weeks. Some for the good, many for the bad. I had progressed through a few ranks, granting me a higher status and making my word noticeable, I had gained my town's approval through manual labor and the up keeping of peace, and I made lasting bonds with my friends. I smiled, content with the good changes. Unfortunately good things come at a price, and I began to question the holiness of my new home.

Something so destructive, so painful, so consequential that it was made an impossibility for my slice of heaven. The residents, although many still wary of me, were accepting and kind. Crime was a minimal and consisted mainly of petty robbery or brawling. The whole nation radiated warmth, peace, and security. Pain was foreign and strange. Violence was a last resort and not an excuse to cause meaningless harm.

All this made me question my sanity first, and Celestia's judgment second. The unbelievable rumors of war were spreading among the higher ups. I was lucky, although not up there just yet, I overhead the growing tensions with the neighboring nation and how Celestia was being pushed toward the edge, pushed toward war.

I sighed. What is this place coming to? Why is it that after I jump over one set of obstacles there is another, larger set of them to go over? More importantly, would I fight? I couldn’t say I haven't hurt anyone, but I surely haven’t killed anyone and I wasn’t planning to anytime soon. But, would I do it if asked? Would I take lives for the sake of my nation and my friends?

Dammit. I dropped into my arms, letting my hands slide over my helmet. So much has been asked from me already and my emotions are stretched as thin as they can go. I thought of my friends, of Dash, of the happy citizens and how every day I was met with a smile and a friendly hello. I began to get agitated again. No-one and nothing was going to take them away from me. I fought so hard for my place, and if others want to take it away from me, then they'll have to come and get it.

"Well, if it isn't the man of the hour! Why so down Artyom, promotion weighing you down or did ol' Red Eyes keep his promise?" Remarked Patches, a trained combat medic and my closest male friend. I looked back, my thought bubble popped. His long blue hair stuck out of his helmet again and came to a stop at his white cheek. He was smiling wide, and genuine happiness radiated from his large, blue eyes.

While everyone distanced themselves from me on my first few days, Patches remained enthusiastic toward me. He kept me company while I ate alone, was my training buddy during group activities, and an open ear to hear out any manly troubles. We had soon grown inseparable, and became acknowledged by the others after our good performance as a team. I had made new friends with him around, and I helped keep the bullies off of him.

I looked forward again, leaning on my crossed arms.

"No. Just thinking."

"You're always thinking Artyom, you do that too often and you'll be lost in your own head." He was leaning on the balcony next to me now. "What is it? Red Eyes? If it is, you know he isn't going anywhere. No need to worry."

Red Eyes was the recruit manager the first few days I was a guard. He was a devil of a man. The fact that he was red, had red eyes, and shaggy red hair really supported that idea; luckily he was missing a pitchfork. He made the lives of all the recruits hell, beating them, screaming, and conducting things in a non-professional manner. Everyone hated him, but we all feared him too much to report it or stand up. One rainy day he forced us all out with nothing more than our helmets and began to bark orders, hitting anyone who he deemed was slacking or annoying. Patches was next to me, shivering like the rest of us. Red Eyes came up to him and kicked his arm out from under him during push-ups. As he fell on his face Red Eyes barked at him:

"SLACKING OFF ARE WE PATCHES!? HOW ABOUT I TEACH YOU A LESSON FOR YOUR INCOMPETENCE!"

He then kicked him square in the head, right under his horn. I lost it and sprang up, sucker punching him in the jaw and restraining him once he was on the ground.

It took a few moments to get me off of him, partially because I was seeing red, and partially because everyone liked seeing him get beaten. A few senior guards restrained me while the recruits tended to Patches.  Upon further investigation it was established that Red Eyes had been abusing recruits for a year now. He was stripped of his position and arrested, but not without swearing and promising to ruin me all the while being dragged by two senior guards, his old students. I was given a promotion the next day and gained a good amount of credit from the other guards. Rex soon replaced him as our trainer, and some of us started to miss Red Eyes.

"Yea, you're right." I replied, lying. He didn’t know of the war yet, few did. There was no reason to tell him now.

"That's the spirit! Anyway Mr. Romance, how you feeling about today? You ready to impress her like you planned, or you going to sit here and think all day?"

I blushed, looking the other way. "Uh, I still have a few more hours of my shift left. I'm not sure if I can do it today. I, didn’t even get the flowers." I was lying again, at least about the flowers part.

"Non-sense you big chicken. Go! Get out of here, it's late as it is. I'll cover for you." Patches said, pushing me back into the castle.

"But, I…"

"No buts, you planned this for too long and you already made a date, get… OUT!" he yelled, giving me a final push and waving me off before turning around.

"Hey Patches."

"What?" he asked, turning around and glaring at me.

"Thanks." I replied, and watched him smile and laugh as he walked out into the balcony again.

I walked out of the castle nervous. The fact that the two stone-faced guards at the entrance laughed, and wished me luck made me that much more self-aware. On the list of positive changes was the closing of the distance between Dash and I. Although nothing had been said openly, our relationship had been growing ever closer, and our friends were beginning to notice. Today was my big day. I had been planning a date with her for far longer than I would like to admit. 3 days ago I finally did it. I asked her out, looking like a nervous wreck and a horny teenager. To my surprise she accepted and agreed to meet me at Twilight's/my house.

I had planned this all in my head and played it over and over looking for mistakes. I had found none and decided to go with it. I got home early, showered, and began to pace in the living room while waiting for Twilight to come home.  She was essential to my plan, and I paced back and forth, praying she didn’t forget. You can do this man, it's going to be alright. Nothing to worry about, she'd done it before. This is going to be the best day ever, relax, and focus.

"Ahh!" I jumped, my thoughts were interrupted by a sudden "Hello." My punctual friend was standing in the doorway, giggling.

"Nervous?" Twilight teased, setting down the groceries she bought and moving to the shelves to pick out a spell book.

I just glared at her, slightly furious of the way she played with me on such an important day, but common sense kicked in soon and I broke down laughing.

"Yea Twilight, just been a long day and now this… I'm not sure I can take it."

"You have to relax. Look at me." She commanded, standing next to me. She brought her arm to her chest and took a deep breath. I mimicked her. As she extended her arm and breathed out, I did too.

"Thanks Twilight, I feel much better now."

She smiled. "Good, now, you ready for this? It won't hurt, but I haven't used it on humans yet."

"Now or never I suppose. Do it."

I had convinced Twilight to use a spell of hers that allowed non-winged residents to walk on clouds. I planned to have Dash show me around Cloudsdale while we went to anything that looked cool enough to go to. I gulped once before I was hit by Twilights spell. It tingled a bit, and I opened my eyes to meet her concerned look.

"How do you feel?" She asked.

There was a knock on the door and I moved to unlock it, making sure to grab my bits.

"I'm about to find out" I responded before opening the door.

"Dashie, you look stunning as always." I said. Dash was at the door and although her tomboyish nature didn’t lead to anything extraordinary, I could see she took extra time into her looks and ended up looking fantastic as always.

She blushed for only a second. "Thank you, you look great yourself." she responded, giving me a quick judgmental look up and down. It's little things like that that made me grow attached to Dash. She was tough and didn’t share her feelings often, me being the only exception. I became good at catching her small, cute, little motions that showed off her feminine side.

"So what is it that you had planned to do today?" She asked.

"Well, I thought you could finally give me a tour of Cloudsdale. We'll see where things go from there."

"Cloudsdale, but how will yo-?" I saw the idea click. "Did you?"

"Yup, so you game?"

"I'm game." She responded, giving a smile to Twilight, who was standing behind me, listening intently.

"Let's go then, I'm using a hot air balloon that I rented and I really want to get that part of today over with." I began to lead Dash to where I had the balloon tied down, and turned around to face Twilight. "Thanks Twilight, don’t wait up."

"Have fun you two!" She responded, smiling, and closed the door.

***

"I REALLY hope this thing is study." I said, climbing into the hot air balloon and offering my hand to Dash."

"You know how to fly this?" Dash asked once inside.

I gave her a hard look, smiled, and replied: "Not a clue." before letting go of the rope that held us to the ground.

We got to Cloudsdale in one piece and I mounted the balloon to the best of my ability. Upon taking my first step onto a cloud, Dash nearby and ready to act, I was surprised by the texture. It was soft and molded perfectly to my shoes while still feeling sturdy enough to hold my weight.

"Awesome." I said, smiling at Dash who returned it. I returned my attention to the amazing city. It was made out of clouds, but still radiated many colors and general feeling of wonder. "Where do we begin?" I asked.

"Uh, we can start at the Rainbow Factory if you want."

"That sounds great." I replied.

We were off. The day melted away as Dash took me to all sorts of eye catching destinations, sharing laughs and all in all having a great time with me. We stopped traveling only once when she told me about an amazing restaurant, and I took us there for dinner. The day passed smoothly, other than me flashing a quick glare at a certain trio, and soon it was night time. Dash and I were at a coliseum type arena now. Alone. It was closing time, and many residents went home while Dash and I snuck in. We found seats on the highest row overlooking the whole stadium.

"And this is where I won the junior fliers tournament and saved Rarity's life by flying fast enough to make a Sonic Rainboom." Dash stated, taking a seat and catching her breath after a long day of touring. She had done most of the talking, but I didn’t mind. I loved to watch her.

"That's pretty awesome." I replied, like I had most of the night, mostly focused on her than her recollections.

We just sat there for a moment, cooling off after the long day and overlooking the quiet scenery.

"Dashie." I began, hesitant. "I… you're awesome." I started. Dam those beautiful eyes, I can't focus. She watched me, knowing exactly what I wanted to say and do. She saw me struggle and started to lean closer. "I mean, I want to say-" I was soon interrupted by her. She leaned in close and ended my struggle quickly, catching me off guard. Her lips are soft. I thought, closing my eyes and letting instinct take over.

Fate apparently had a lot in store for me, but today I was alright with its decisions. After today, I knew a lot of things would

Change.

Color

Color. A beautiful thing. Something that provides a huge impact on everyone. Something so wonderful it's unfortunate how often it is unsurprisingly overlooked. It's a part of life to most, and often its value is overlooked as it becomes so common we lose appreciation for it.  Color is simply amazing. It's a form of expression that requires no words. It can be used to express emotions ranging from hate, fear, and violence, to life, freedom, beauty, and love. Often I and countless others fail to recognize the wonder of experiencing color, and in the end we seem to take it for granted.

It was a cold day in spirit and temperature. The weather reflected the mood and clouds covered the blue sky. Most of my village was off to the front, or at home, grieving, like all the others. The rumors of war proved to be true and it wasn't long before the spirit of extreme nationalism spread like a wildfire among the people, engulfing young males and females under its influence. Few escaped the grasp of nationalism, my friends and I inclusive. I was a guard and it was my duty and honor to protect and serve, while my friends could not stand by and watch others suffer, especially when they were regarded as such high quality heroes already.

Twilight was put in charge of The Administration of Technology and Armament Innovation, her amazing use of magic and vast knowledge would now be used to take lives, or in the eyes of the Solar Empire, save them.  Flutters was now the head of the Medical Innovation and Implementation Corps, her kindness and willingness to help prevailing in these dark times. Rarity was now the head of the Department of Military Apparel, her talent of making something beautiful out of cloth, was now used to design clothes used to save lives; I had no doubt they would look great, seemingly out of place for something so terrible as war. Pinkie was in charge of The Department of Moral, undoubtable due to her natural talent of bringing a smile to everyone's face, regardless of the situation they were in. Applejack and Dash both refused to have office and management jobs, and were each given their branch of Special Forces. Applejack was in charge of the Apple Rangers, the toughest land infantry in the army, and were to be assigned to only the most difficult and important of tasks. Dash was given leadership over the Wonderbolts. Once famous for their amazing aerial speed and maneuverability, they now consisted of the greatest air force we had. Since our enemy didn’t have any aerial forces of their own, the Wonderbolts were reserved for only the most covert and important of missions since our normal air infantry can take the brunt of the enemy's attacks.

Unlike my friends, I was just a corporal in the main army. Nothing too special, but my Royal Guard duties saved me from the average soldier training and gave me a good amount of respect among my peers. I was on my way to The Black Anvil to pay Rusty a visit and collect my special request. Today was the first day we would be seeing combat and I was expected to be on transport in a few hours, so I quickened my pace through the desolate streets.

I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things, but the whole town seemed to be drained of color. The bright, cheery paint seemed dark and old, almost sad even. A few military propaganda posters were scattered among the walls, their soldiers permanently locked in a proud stance. The depressing atmosphere was beginning to get to me, but luckily I reached Rusty's shop before I had time to think about it.

A very tired looking, old, rust colored man was working on some project when I entered.

"Hey Rusty, quite looking so down, it's bad for business." I said, walking in and distraction him from his project."

"Artyom! How great it is to see you my friend, I have your secret order right here."

"And you told no-one about it and burned the designs right?" I questioned, leaning toward him slightly.

"Of course, although I must complain, such weaponry might save lives out there and you refuse to share this."

"Look Rusty, this is nothing in comparison to some of the other things I know of, that is why this must remain in only my hands. Such weaponry would only lead to bigger weapons that will take more lives. We don’t need that. I can't and won't be responsible for bringing more death that is already in store for us."

"Okay Artyom, I understand. I'll keep this between us because we are friends, but know that I do not support you in this." He answered, sighing heavily and using his magic to bring out my new weapon.

When the war was announced and people were beginning to be trained and supplied, I asked Rusty to build one the weapons I knew of. It was a simple bolt action rifle, but was a huge improvement on the black powder based weaponry that the Solar Empire still used. I occasionally stopped by and helped design the weapon based on the faded memories I still had of war and weapons.  Rusty often complained about the revolutionary design, but I forced him to keep it a secret for fear of an arms race.

I grasped the gun and examined it carefully, running my hand against the wood and steel as if I had done so countless times before. I didn’t know why this foreign object felt so familiar, but in my current situation I didn’t argue.

"How's it feel?" asked Rusty, obviously pleased with his fine craftsman ship.

I flipped the rifle over and was met with a small set of markings. Artyom's Boomstick, made by The Black Anvil.

"Glad to see you still kept the name." I laughed.

"Well that's what it was called on the blueprints and I kind of liked it." Rusty answered, laughing as well.

We shared a nice warm moment of laughter and for a second it felt like old times, when war was distant and impossible.

"I don’t like saying goodbye, so I'll see you later Rusty." I said, tears threatening to take me.

"Stay safe out there Artyom." He answered, hugging me. "Many might not show it, but a lot of folk look up to you and hope you can help save a lot of lives."

"Thanks Rusty." I hugged him back. "Keep this good old place running while I'm gone.

"You bet I will." He chuckled, tears threatening to pour from him too and I grabbed my backpack of munitions in hopes of sparring both of us the unnecessary tears.

I had a unique weapon, so I hoped the 500 or so rounds Rusty provided were enough to last. Even more I hoped I wouldn’t need to use most of them. I got back onto the streets, my new weapon shouldered, and began to make my way to the transport trains.

By the time I got there the train was already packed with sad faced recruits. Most had not seen real violence, and already they were asked to kill for their nation. There were five branches total. Army, Air force, Wonderbolts, Apple rangers, and the Lunar Ops, a special service that pulled particular members of all the other branches for Special missions. Each branch could be identified by the camo of their uniforms, and my train was full of a sad faced soldiers wearing a woodland camo.

On any other day I might be given strange looks, some might even try and fill up their seats in hopes that I would not sit near them, but today no-one batted an eye at me. I was one of them, just another soldier reporting for duty and taking on the task of sharing their burden. Odd how it takes such tragedy to bring us together. A few eyed my gun and seemed like they wanted to complain about their inferior rifles, but the gold shoulder pad, chest plating, and sword handle silenced them. I was a Guard. A superior to be looked up to. My difference as a human didn’t matter, our enemy wasn’t like them either, and as long as I used my advantages in combat for them, they didn’t care. All that mattered now was rank, branch, and your combat efficiency.

I walked through the train, past the sleeping and grieving soldiers, to look for my squad mates or anyone of my rank. Eventually I was met with an unusually cheery face on a white male soldier. He was a guard as well, but he had the mark of three small pink butterflies on his shoulder pad, indicating that he was a medic and worked with the M.I.I.C.

"Artyom! Come here sit down. I see you brought a fancy new toy, what's up? Can't settle for different so-"

"I go with different and awesome." I replied, sharing a good laugh with Patches. We had this conversation every time I got something new and different. I was glad that despite the crushing feeling of despair and looming death, Patches remained cheery and optimistic.

"You mind explaining what kind of weapon is that? You are after all close friends with six of the most important organizations. Who knows what kind of perks you get." He leaned in close and nudged me, loudly whispering: "And everyone knows what perks you get from the Wonderbolts, who knows what else they might give you."

I swear I loved Patches, but he had hell of a hard time keeping his dam mouth shut at times and it really aggravated me. A few of the other nearby soldiers, and the rest of my squad mates laughed, making me clear my throat and pull my camo cap down.

"Patches, you're doing that thing again. You know, the one where you act like an ignorant ass." This resulted in more laughter from the others and Patches smirked, crossing his arms.

"Alright alright my bad, but you want to explain as to what you have there?" He asked again.

Dammit Patches, you really need to take a hint the first time and shut up. I thought. I had hoped no-one would question my gun, but it was too late for that as my squad mates were all listening intently now, and the train was already in motion. There was no escaping this so I sighed and replied:

"You know how I'm really good at fighting right? Well, when I remembered how to do that I also remembered a lot about weaponry from wherever it is that I was from. I can't really explain, but I remember devices of mass destruction and death that make my little gun insignificant. In fact, my gun is old, outdated by new even more deadly weaponry that is too complex for me to remember fully. I only hope that we would never have to use or make the weapons I know of. So to answer your question, this is a simple gun from my memories. That is all."

The rest of my squad and a few other soldiers, recruits, listened intently. They were all curious about the stories I had to tell; they were a good distraction from the impending battle.

"Well why don’t you just give us the blueprints for the guns and we'd be done with this war much faster. Less people will die." Asked Cinderblock, a strong and hard-headed brown colored squad mate. He wasn’t called Cinderblock for nothing.

"Seems logical." Supported Ghost, another squad mate. He was a thin, lime green fellow with teal hair. His green eyes were half shut and he peered at the rest of us from the corner of his vision. He was called Ghost for more than his appearance, he could disappear better than any of us and lay down good cover fire.

I sighed, hating to have to repeat myself. "Again. If I give you this starting point it would pave way for the more dangerous weapons that I told you about earlier. High command says our enemy, these "Savages" as they're called, don’t have the same tech we have anyway. We have magic, guns, and swords. They have bows, arrows, and spears. You don’t need the fire power anyway. It's unnecessary and would eventually lead to everyone's downfall. Trust me. The little I remember about these weapons has to do with mass destruction and in some cases, genocide."

"Yea, but we'd be done faster. If we have no enemies then we won't need to evolve the weapons." continued Cinderblock. He seemed really intent on being able to kill faster and more of these "Savages."

"You'd make new ones. With that kind of firepower you'd be seen as a threat. Neighboring nations don’t like threats." I retorted.

"But-" he began again before being interrupted by our squad leader, my final squad mate, and my superior by one rank, Dog. Nicknamed Dog due to his constant barking, he was a smart guy, but lost his cool often.

"No buts Cinderblock. He's right about the weapons. Better not mess with what's not ours to mess with. If the war will call for it, we'll make our own tools for destruction." He turned to me now, seeming to take interest in my decisions. "As for you Artyom. Don’t underestimate our enemy. High command will say anything to get us into the battle. This time, they forgot to mention that our enemy outnumbers us 3 to 1. Sure, they aren't as well armed, but they do have guns of their own. As for magic. They have something equally fearful. Alchemy. Horrifying thing." Some of the new recruits began to shift uncomfortably at the announcement of more danger. "They know many recipes that can compensate for magic, but what's worse is the mutation to themselves that they can accomplish. Temporary extra strength, extreme numbness, enough to ignore bullets, and even flight via batwings if they wanted to. Never, ever underestimate them. It will get you killed." He finished and leaned back into his seat, content, and closed his eyes.

"Doesn’t matter who they are to me. No way I'm going to let them hurt our guys without going through me first." I answered.

"Amen." responded the rest of my squad mates and a few of the more confident recruits.

The rest of the ride was short as we all tried to catch what little sleep we could. That's something you learn quickly as a soldier. Sleep whenever you can, and on whatever you can.  Eventually the train slide to a grinding halt and we began piling out into trenches that were dug out by the rest of our battalion.

"MOVE IT, GO GO GO!" shouted Dog.

We obeyed him and began our long run to one end of the trench. We were on the western front, next to Tall Tale city. Our current objective was to protect the city at all costs, and when we are to crush the invading forces, to gain ground and begin our campaign on invading Savage territory.

We got to the end of the trench and immediately took up firing positions, pointing our rifles toward the direction the invading force will be coming from, and using the dugout sand for protection. We had a radio soldier stationed not far from our squad and he warned that we will be seeing action in the next ten minutes. Our air scouts have a visual and will be giving positions. Good, we had some air support.

Ten minutes. That was a lot of time in war. Enough time to make peace with yourself, or to lose it completely. I quickly gazed over my battlefield. Normally it would be a lush green field with tall grass, and the beginning of a forest would be ahead of us. Today the field was dark, dim, and almost colorless. The forest promised to protect our enemies, and thus death loomed at its entrance. I sighed, realizing how much I missed bright colors. A particular set of colors too. I leaned back against the dirt for a moment, leaving my rifle in the ready position, and took out a photograph. It was the only thing I had that still radiated as much color as it had before the war, and it comforted me.

"She'd be alright man. She's got the best of the best protecting her. Don’t worry. All that matters now is that you survive long enough to see her again." Consoled Patches. Dam I loved that guy. He always did know what to say when I needed it. "Besides." He added, sliding down next to me. "You better do more than just survive if you want to impress her."

"Dam straight." I said, putting my photo away and taking up my rifle again. "Thanks Patches." I was still worried, considering she was on the southern front, providing air support. Sure patches was right, but I still felt like I needed to protect her. Nonetheless I swallowed my concern and focused.

"That's the spirit." he answered, grabbing his own rifle behind me and the rest of the squad. He needed to stay alive so that he can make sure we did too.

"GET READY, THEY'RE HERE." Screamed the radio soldier.

We took aim. All of us were silent. Each shot mattered as it took a long time to reload. Nothing came at first, but then we began to see them. It felt like there were only a few at first, but soon more emerged. For every one of us, there seemed to be three of them, like Dog said.  Everything was tense and quiet. Neither side moved, nor made a sound, and for the first time I got to see these Savages, these monsters that threatened to take away everything that was dear to me.

They actually looked partially normal! Their autonomy seemed extremely similar to that my squad mates, and aside from their slightly bulkier frames and spikier hair, nothing seemed too out of place. The only thing that really set them aside was their color. They didn’t have the variety of colors my side did, instead all of them were stripped. Black and white stripes formed a wall that seemed inseparable. Like my side the few that had guns, aimed them, while the rest prepped their bows. The soldiers in the front wore a seemingly durable armor and clutched their machetes, waiting, their muscles tensed under the armor.

The small amount of sunlight we had was now blocked by clouds and I took aim. I zeroed in my gun on a seemingly important savage. His armor was decorated, and he stood on the frontlines confidently. Unlike the rest of my army, my range was much less limited, and my sights aligned themselves with his head. I didn’t know how good of a shot I was, but if my instincts reflected anything, then I would not miss. Time seemed to slow, the only thing I heard was the sound of metal slowly sliding against metal. I was squeezing the trigger after taking a deep breath. In the colorless field a bright flash was seen for only a second as my gun roared and I painted the men behind my target with red and goo.

The silence erupted into screaming and gunfire. I barely heard the "NICE SHOT" that was yelled my way. I had just killed my first man. The feeling was horrible. I felt like a thief. I had stolen another life. Stolen a possible father from his children, and a potential husband from his wife. I nearly puked, but with more shouting going on and the sound of death and screaming filling the air, I retook my position and began firing again. For every shot my teammates took, I took 4 out of my 5 shots.  Eventually it became mechanical. Emotions were not a factor anymore. Simply spot an enemy shooting at, or running toward my men, and I fired. Shoot, chamber, shoot, chamber.

I had gone through 6 clips of my ammo, making it 30 total bullets fired, before the savage advancement was gaining a lot of ground. Archers and marksmen hid in the trees, taking out our men one by one, while the infantry began descending into trenches. Screams of agony and pain were now louder than before. Being on the end of the trench, Ghost and I still laid down fire toward the further away savages, while the rest of my squad focused fire down the trenches.

"Dammit! Those marksmen are taking down too many of our men, we need to charge, NOW!" yelled Dog.

He was standing, yelling at us. It only took a second. A bullet penetrated right through his skull as he was shouting, painting me with my new promotion. Just like that I had watched someone close to me die. I couldn’t look away. Despite the screams and gunfire, I heard nothing. I stared at is lifeless body, motionless. Little red worms oozed out of the hole in his head. It felt like I was watching him for an eternity. Finally I was ripped from the little world that the two of us inhabited by Ghost. He and everyone else from my squad looked at me nervously, even Cinderblock was shaken.

"ARE YOU OK?" Ghost yelled.

Patches quickly examined me. He was visibly shaken, his arms nearly vibrating as they examined me.

"I… I'm fine." I finally mustered.

The shock subsided quickly, far faster than I expected it to. My brashness took control. I was mad. REAL mad. I grabbed my rifle and loaded a fresh clip. I was going to make every single one of those bastards pay.

"What do we do now?" questioned Ghost, looking to me for support. I wasn't second in command anymore, and I had the stains to prove it.

"We're going to take that forest and save our men." I answered sharply, a new emotionless tone in my voice. For once, I was glad to be crazy.

To the surprise of my squad mates I vaulted over the trench and began running to the nearest cover.

"SHIT, WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" yelled Ghost, sharing the same confusion and fear that the others had.

"TAKING THE FOREST!" I yelled back.

Arrows and gunshots whizzed past me. A bullet scraped my arm, ripping shirt and flesh. SHIT THAT HURT. I leaped behind a large pile of dirt located about 30 yards from the forest. A single infantry man saw me and came running. I mercilessly aimed at his head and fired. He dropped at the same time my spent shell did.

"WELL WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? YOU HEARD THE SERGANT, GET GOING!" Cinderblock yelled.

He vaulted over and began to sprint toward me as well. Our actions inspired the rest of my squad, and a few more soldiers to join us. Soon our battle moved into the woods, and we were moving from tree to tree taking out hidden marksmen. I moved like a machine. Anger and adrenaline fueled my actions. I pointed, fired, took cover. Over and over. Soon my kill count had increased dramatically, and the last of the marksmen where running or being gunned down.

The fighting in the trenches, with my little group's help, was soon won as well. The screams died down, and soon only the moans of the wounded were heard. Patches was working on my arm and muttering something about me needing to be more careful. Meanwhile we all took a long break. Despite the long day, no one was hungry or tired. We had all killed today, some more than others. It was hard taking it all in. Once the adrenaline wore off, emotions and rationality came back, and with them grief and regret.

My promotion was made official, and I received a good amount of praise from everyone. The idea of this battle's victory being the result of my leadership and actions was spreading quickly. Despite the praise and acceptance, despite the good news and victory, I felt empty. We all returned to our new base camp, located behind our trench, and began to eat and share our complex emotions. I made sure my squad was settled down, and stepped outside. I found a seat next to the spot where I had seen Dog die. The spot where I took my first life. Of course Dog's body wasn’t there anymore. It was taken away like all the others, and his equipment was scavenged, but I could still feel its presence.

From the end of the trench, I could see the whole field. Arrows, swords, and a few scattered bodies still lay in the grass. All lifeless and colorless. I took a few moments to just take it all in. War was a new concept to me, to everyone. It seemed so impossible before. Nearly all off the men who now rested, were seriously affected by today. Hell, those that died might have been the lucky ones. They wouldn’t suffer like the rest of us.

I took out my photo, the only remaining piece of my sanity, and the only unstained possession I had. It really felt like it was the last sane and good thing left in this world anymore. It was the only thing that really had color to me. Out of all the things I would miss, I decided that there was one thing that I would probably miss the most. One thing that I took for granted all this time.

Color.

Luck

Luck. You either believe in it, or don’t. During war you may find it as the only thing that keeps you alive. Personally, I never did consider myself lucky, not after I found this world, not after dating Dash, and certainly not after a few bullets just barely missed my skull.  I had always felt I earned what I got, but war tends to change your view of things. I couldn’t have deserved such misery, could I? Surely these people never did anything that would deem them worthy of death and destruction. Luck just might be more real and a bigger pain in the ass than I thought.

I guess if I was starting to believe in luck, then I sure as hell wasn’t lucky. A few more weeks of war and the changes in soldier moral and thought process, and it was apparent that this war wasn’t going to end soon. The soldiers, like me, became grimmer with each death. We were beginning to actually adapt to death. Something that was a sure sign of how much we were changing for the worse. Each corpse was beginning to be just that, another corpse and not a soldier who used to be somebody. Deaths became numbers, not people. New attacks took effectiveness into consideration and not the lives lost. Every new recruit and battle-scarred veteran began to become grim faced, their innocence and mercy fading away like their happiness and morality.

I personally felt like I was becoming bitterer with each attack. I found myself needing to use my photo for comfort less and less, and I now had to rely on will to keep my sanity in place. The war was changing everyone and everything quickly. Dog's words didn’t go unnoticed by me, and soon the rows of muskets were replaced with rifles that excelled even mine in performance and function. With The Administration of Technology and Armament Innovation's help, the number of deaths skyrocketed. It looked like a good idea at first, the savages were losing a lot of ground, but soon their own advancements led to our destruction. It was an arms race, and in my opinion, no matter how much either side excelled the other in technology, we both lost. It wasn’t long until the Solar Empire's forces started to resemble my faded memories of soldiers and harbingers of death and destruction.

I had become a hardened soldier, gaining respect and a few more ranks quickly. It was not something I was proud of, but I was glad that I could manage a few lives properly, prioritizing my men over the objective. The fighting itself had been going terribly for both sides. The western front, where I had been stationed, was doing well. Under the leadership of a few good captains who were former royal guards, and myself, we made good advancements that solidified our position in savage territory. The war on the southern front was what had worried me. Major spikes in death counts and huge savage progression took its toll on moral. Rumors had it that they even began to advance into some of the local villages, destroying prisons in hopes of gaining new recruits, and attacking civilians.

I was worried sick about Dash and Applejack, both had been involved in the fighting and chances are might even have taken direct fire. It wasn’t long before my squad and I had been drafted into the Lunar Ops to help with the fighting. We were stationed at Tall Tale city where an Aerial Transport Vehicle would come to get us to the southern front.

"E.T.A 5 minuets! Pack your gear and move! You will be de-briefed in the chopper!" Announced the base communicator.

My grim faced team got to work quickly, our actions more mechanical than actually thought out. We had all bonded quiet well over the weeks, and it wasn’t long before we didn’t need to communicate to get things done right. We had been in combat most of the time stationed here and we were all tired, but the idea to help our soldiers back home was motivation enough.

"You fellas the ones who are being drafted to the Lunar Ops, right?" Asked a military mail man, he wore a pleasant smile and his badge had seven bubbles, proof of his mail man profession.

"That's us." I answered, curious as to what we could be getting at a time like this.

The mail service was started by a nice mail women at the start of the war. Her goal was to get important letters from loved ones to soldiers to help remind them that they were loved back home. She started off alone at first, delivering only a few letters and supplies despite the dangers of war, but soon she had gained enough love and support to start a whole system that delivered arms, mail, and supplies to those on the front.

"The D.M.A, A.T.A.I, and M.I.I.C send their warmest regards." He answered, dropping off 3 large duffle bags and leaving to fulfill his duties elsewhere.

I returned the skeptical looks I had from my squad mates, and proceeded to inspect the contents of the surprise mail. Upon opening them it was clear that my friends hadn't forgotten about me.

"HELL YEA, DIBS ON THE MACHINE GUN!" Cinderblock shouted upon me pulling out the large assortment of specialized weaponry. Each of them at the official A.T.A.I logo, a six pointed star surrounded by 5 sparkles.

"That's pretty cool of them, I'd love to grab the assault rifle if you guys don’t mind." Supported Ghost.

"Guess you have been holding out on us huh Artyom?" joked Patches, reaching for the submachine gun himself.

I remained silent, overtaken by the kind gestures. God I missed my friends. Throughout the war I decided to stick to Artyom's Boomstick since it provided me comfort and did a decent job of defending me, but seeing the nice .44 revolver that had been made for me, and whose production had probably been overseen by Twilight herself, I couldn’t resist. I opened the next bag and once more the room was filled with astonishment as I pulled out the new black combat gear. Now we were well equipped and looked the part. Each of us wore a black combat vest with magically enhanced ballistic plates, a combat helmet, and combat pants. Mine and Patches gear had been designed to accompany our guard armor, and now our gold pieces had black strips running through them.

The last duffle bag had been the one that hit me the most. For my squad mates it was just a bag filled with actual edible food, medical supplies designed to fit out gear, and an envelope. To me it was a painful reminded of the amazing friends I had. I let my squad enjoy their little portions as I took a seat in the corner of the room and opened the envelope, nearly being brought to tears. Inside were written messages from my friends.

Dear Artyom, Dash and Applejack are safe, so don't worry. I hope these weapons will keep you safe too. - I miss you, Twilight.

Darling, I hope I these threads will get you looking as fabulous as the commander you are. - Stay safe and stylish, Rarity.

It's nice see you and your squad are doing well. I hope my measly supplies will help you end this war. - Stay safe and kind, Flutters.

I just sat in the corner for a moment, lost in my own little world.

"E.T.A TWO MINUTES!" reminded the communications women.

I re-read the letter a few more times, absorbing all the words before finally folding it and placing it into my vest pocket, close to my heart. I inspected the envelope to find two patches. One of them had three apples, a mark of the Apple Rangers, and the other had a red, yellow, and blue lightning bolt coming out of a cloud, the Wonderbolts emblem. I was once more caught in a wave of emotions, but soon it was time for us to move out and I grabbed my gear. My rifle accompanied by a few clips, my new revolver, a combat knife, and an magically enhanced medical pack that used magic to clot blood faster and numb pain made up my gear.

We were quickly loaded onto the Aerial Transport Vehicle, designed by the A.T.A.I to enable winged residents to carry other non-winged soldiers and supplies via a large wagon. It remained lightweight via a magical core on the bottom of the wagon. We were on our way to Dodge City, home to the Royal prison, and a few hundred civilians. It had currently been overrun by a small force of savages, and our task was to clear the town of any convicts and enemy soldiers without giving them the chance to hurt any civilians.

"You alright there Artyom? Are you sick?" Asked Patches.

Ghost and Cinderblock eyed me as well. I sighed, shifting my gaze from the floor to the outside of the vehicle.

"Just remembering all the nice places I knew before all of this. For me it was this little park near my village." I answered, smiling as I remembered the little park where I met my friends and spent a lot of time with them, Dash in particular. "You guys ever had a place like that?" I added, turning to face my friends.

"There's this apple tree that sits right on top of a hill. The view is simply breathtaking. Hell, when this is over that will be the first place I go." said Patches. He also smiled and looked down, remembering his own little place of bliss.

"Brother and I had this nice little bar we would always go to and eye the pretty chicks that walked by. Good times." Ghost chuckled a bit and continued more to remember than to share. "All the crazy things he used to do to get attention. This one time he had the corniest of pickup lines and walked up to this chick. Needless to say, he ended up with a hell of a slap and her number."

We all got a good laugh and looked toward Cinderblock. Someone as manly and scary as him must have had a good spot of his own.

"The hell all of you staring at me for?" he asked, looking around the carriage and shifting closer to his corner.

"Come on Cinderblock, you got to have someplace that you really miss." Patches pressed. Ghost and I put our two bits in as well.

"You guys should mind your own business." He answered.

"What do you have to hide? We all lived with each other long enough to not care about small stupid things, common out with it. That's an order." I said.

"Permission to ignore request, sir." he asked.

"Permission denied."

He sighed and shifted his weight. "Gram gram's house was always the best. As a boy she would always cook the greatest food for me, and we would hang out in the nearby lake. I could always unwind there." he admitted, looking away shamefully.

Ghost had his helmet pulled down and looked away from Cinderblock, a visible smile on his face. Patches had brought an arm to his face, apparently finding his nose extremely itchy. I had a sudden, unexplainable coughing fit. It was silent for a moment, but I calmed down faster than the other two and stated:

"Sounds." I stopped, catching the high pitch in my voice. "Sounds nice Cinderblock. Honestly, it's cool you have a place where family cares for you."

He smirked, apparently not taking my comment sincerely.

"Hope you guys aren't getting comfortable in there, we're here." Announced our flier, a former Lunar guard.

It was night time now and we had landed not too far from the village. We disembarked the A.T.V, our expressions serious. A simple nod to the flier and he was off. We were alone. Four men hidden in darkness.  We were beta squad, tasked with taking the western part of the town while Alpha squad took the eastern front. We were to meet at the town hall in the center.

I moved out onto the edges of the little patch of swamps we landed in, and took a quick look at the town. A few lights shone as armed guards patrolled the streets and rooftops.

"Sniper, third house to the left, 2nd story, right window." I said.

"Targeting." Ghost whispered, aiming his silenced assault rifle at the guards head.

"Two guards on the streets below, one block apart. Cinderblock, move up close to the one on the right. When the other one gets shot, drop him."

"Yes sir." He told me, sneaking out of cover and beginning to inch toward his target.

"Patches, give me some silence." I ordered, lying down and targeting the other guard with my rifle. Patches' horn glowed for a moment and I felt the change in my gun. He was magically silencing it since I couldn’t fit a suppressor on it.

"Good to go." he notified.

Cinderblock was in position, knife out, and crouching behind the wall of his unsuspecting target. I took a breath, adjusted for windage and elevation, and focused.

"Drop em." I ordered.

Three bodies hit the floor underneath them.

"Clear." said Ghost.

"Regroup on Cinderblock."

We met up shortly and progressed through the town, stopping a few times to dispose of a few savages, and even worse, convicts, our own. It wasn’t long until we were at our objective, and we had stopped at a house so I could give orders.

"Cinderblock get on the roof and get ready to give us some suppressive fire if we need it." He nodded, turning to take the stairs.

"You two, clear out the center hall. Be careful, reports say we might have a few hostages in there. Watch your shots. As for the enemy. Make it quick and quiet. I'll regroup with both of you once I cleared the outside perimeter."

They nodded and moved past me, cautiously opening the front door and moving out to complete their objective. Dam I loved these guys. They were like a well-oiled machine. I escaped out the back door and proceeded to slide across the wall. I stopped short of the corner as a guard was standing in my direction. Ghost and Patches forced their way into the back of Town Hall and my guard turned, distracted and curious.

The first time I had done this I couldn’t wash the blood off my hands for days. Now I just quietly held the savage's mouth as my cold knife quickly slid out of his warm throat, painting the street and his clothes crimson. As his eyes rolled back into his head, I dragged him into the alley way nearby, discretely disposing of the body. The rustling behind be didn’t go unnoticed and I swiftly turned, pointing my new .44 down the alley, toward a short brick wall. The bright chrome reflected the moonlight in the dark, dim alleyway as a soldier quickly vaulted over the wall with the help of another. He stopped and raised his gun as well. None of us shot.

"You guys sure work fast. Just tell me you still saved some of these bastards for us." He said.

"Thanks for the complement, but I'm afraid not. My boys are taking the hall now."

He helped his other 4 squad mates vault over the wall and we stacked up on the wall, I was in the lead. With Alpha squad's help we disposed of another few guards, these were convicts, and Alpha squad found it hard to hide their disgust with them.

We regrouped in town hall, past the few piled up bodies in the corner. Each had a hole in their head or neck, and was taking a nice, long nap. A few colors mixed with the usual bland black and white.

"Nice work." I commented, nodding at the both of them.

"Hostages are free and in the kitchen. Don’t worry, they're glad we're here and will stay silent. Should have no problems with them." Patches notified.

"Ok then. Alpha squad, you guys are leading this. Where do you want us?" I asked.

The leader, Iron Hide, cleared his throat.

"The town is mostly taken over, but it isn't long until they start noticing the lack of patrol. We can take care of the rest of the guards throughout the town, but here's the problem. A good number of these bastards had found a good hiding spot in case we were to launch a larger scale attack. That's where you guys come in. We will need you to infiltrate and clear the -"

Our radios buzzed to life, interrupting him. It was Cinderblock.

"Guys, it's looking real messy out here. We got a patrol heading our way. Eight soldiers and a dog. Looks like a search party. They know we are here."

"Just our luck." I muttered. We all moved to the back door and waited for a moment.

"What do you want me to do sir?" Cinderblock questioned.

I looked at Iron Hide and he returned my nod.

"Open fire when I give the order."

"Thought you'd never ask." Cinderblock responded. The sound of metal grinding against metal was heard as he pulled back the bolt on his machine gun.

We tensed, waiting. A few rays of light shone through some of the windows in the front of the building and a dog barked.

"NOW!" I ordered, screaming into the radio.

Soon the quiet night erupted into gunfire and screaming as the patrol was liquefied on the streets and the rest of the town was awoken. We burst out of the back doors, guns up, and disposed of any guards in our way.

"This way, we'll take you to your objective. MOVE!" Iron Hide commanded.

We continued down the street, shooting, never stopping. We finally fought our way to an alleyway. Iron Hide shouldered his weapon and propped up the man-hole leading to the sewers.

"Infiltrate and clear. Watch out for explosives. The dam bastards rigged some of it to blow."

Normally I would have shouted at him, verbally abused him, maybe even punched him in the face, but I was a soldier. And like any good soldier I obeyed, shouldering my weapon and climbing down first. Ghost and Patches followed, and once we were on our feet Iron Hide closed our last source of light.

The smell was horrible. The three of us coughed and gasped for a bit. It felt like we were thrown into a pool of shit, blood, urine, and god knows what else. We manned up after a while, and turned on our flashlights, moving slowly. Lady Luck's a cruel bitch. I thought, making a disgusted face as my boots stepped in some unholy sewage. It was quiet, only the rhythmic dripping of some run-off water could be heard. We continued until the pathway had become submerged under murky water. I stopped, looking back at my squad mates. They both just looked at me for support. I rolled my eyes, shrugged my shoulders, grit my teeth, and started wadding into the sewage. I prayed Rarity would not find out how we were treating her new threads.

My squad mates grudgingly followed, and the three of us silently waded through. It was unsettlingly quiet. Our radios buzzed for a moment and everything went to hell. The convicts and savages in the sewers had been silently waiting for us around the corners, and the radio just gave away our position. The sewers were filled with ear shattering explosions as the sound of gunfire was amplified by the closed surroundings. Miraculously we fought our way to some ground without any injuries and held it.

"Something's not right. There are too many of them to not move up on us." Ghost commented, reloading his gun.

"Are… are they RUNNING!?" Patches shouted, frustration and fear in his voice.

"Oh, SHIT!" I yelled, noticing the few wires along the section of wall we were hiding behind.

I pushed Ghost toward Patches and jumped the other way. The wall between us exploded, throwing me and my gear further into sewage. I got up onto my knees, eyes shut and covering my ears. Everything was ringing and every bone in my body felt broken.  I regained enough sense to wade through the water and get my rifle. I walked up to the rubble and leaned against it in pain.

"PATCHES! GHOST!" I shouted, distressed.

To my relief I heard coughing.

"We're alright. Thanks…*cough* for the save. What the hell do we do now?" Ghost replied.

I jammed one of my med-kit's needles into my arm, letting the cooling magic soothe my burning pain.

"Shit, regroup with Alpha Squad and Cinderblock! There's no way the enemy can get back into the town now! It's too dangerous, just go back!" I yelled, the cooling feeling of numbness coursing through my veins.

"What about you!?" Ghost asked.

"Yea, we sure as hell aren't leaving you down here, especially not when you are on the only side the savages can escape through." Patches added, coughing loudly.

"I'll find my way out of here. You can't get to me now anyway. Alpha squad might need the help. I'll find a way up top and regroup with you there." I answered, pushing myself off the wall and stumbling a bit.

I was disoriented, in pain, alone, and for once, scared. I could hear Ghost and Patches move out, and set off to fulfill my own task. Every corner threatened to hide the end of me. I grasped my damp rifle tightly, checking each corner with a new fear. The worst part was there was never anything there. Like a game, the sewers toyed with my mind. Everything was silent now, no gunshots, no footsteps, nothing. Dead silence that made me question my own living existence.

I finally caught my break when I found the sewer exit. A few savages were climbing up the ladders and I decided to wait. If I gave away my position now, I might just die here and add to the rotting smell of death. Once they were clear, I sprinted, blinded by my desire for salvation. There was one corner left for me to pass. The light was so close.

I received a hard smack to the face and was knocked backwards, my rifle sliding across the pavement. The last corner was what brought me my downfall. I looked up, my vision darkening around the edges. It was the devil himself.

"Well, well, well. Welcome back to hell recruit." laughed Red Eyes.

One thought escaped my mind as he struck me across the face with the butt of his rifle again.

Just my,

Luck.

Insanity

"Insanity"

I concluded.

That has to be it. I think that is the only explanation there is. The only thing that makes sense now.

I was walking again, walking through this white, empty, colorless, noiseless, insanity driven blank world that I belonged to.

"Insanity"

I said again, out loud just to hear something. My voice was quickly devoured by the silence that is this hell. No not hell, for that would be a better alternative than this emptiness. Not even the most damned deserve to suffer like this.

Here I was walking ...alone, thinking. It was my only past time aside from instinctive walking that hardly gets noticed anymore, and exercise that I rigorously maintain so that I can continue my endless torment of a journey.

What keeps me so sane?

Why do I still suffer from the sanity that keeps on reminding me of my surroundings?

Why am I damned to this shithole?

What monster could I have been to deserve this?

Such questions find their way into my mind often enough to teach me that they are better left unanswered.

Who was I anyway? The only thing I had to hold on to my pitiful existence was my name, Artyom, a hint at what my past might have been. Sadly I could not even have the satisfaction of having a past to call my own. Be it the corrosive damage of time, or the wrath of a cruel deity, my past had been erased, seemingly like my existence.

I had much time to grasp whatever shreds of memory I retained and patch together a mangy profile of myself. I was Artyom. I had potential Russian origins. I was bold and hard headed, not many wanted to hear what I had to say, but that was not my problem. My kindness was often overlooked by my need to express myself in whatever colorful way I needed to. I estimated my height to be 6 feet tall, and I had an average build.

I remembered how I had found minor comfort in making a profile for myself, but all good things come to an end I suppose. I no longer cared about the characteristics I had, it was all pointless, and with time my insanity will wear away at what little sanity I retained. My being would be lost like the time that inhabits my world.

Many questions have been brought up in my mind. Most were a result of self-pity, and over time I lost that too. As time passed and corroded my rationality, the questions eroded with it.  But yet one remains.

Why do I go on?

What form of madness keeps me going? Self-pity? Lust for self-torture? Reflexes?

Or...hope… there it is again. That word.

"Hope"

I whisper, yet it seems to fill this void far more than any frustrated shout.

I've learned to hate that word. It seemed so foolish of a thought that it excelled even Insanity as a motivator. Hope.

"What is it to a mad man?" I asked myself. "What could this petty little word do for a man like me?"

I laughed at the stupid idea of it being the only thing that keeps me from wasting away, something I wanted to happen long ago, but as I laughed the same old thought came to mind:

"Who are you lying to?" passed through the very back of my mind.

A heavy sigh escaped from me as I knew dam well that it wasn’t foolish. That place. Paradise as I liked to call it; that was what kept the hope alive. Whatever it was, it was wonderful, and was the only thing that hope was linked to.

Hope I concluded, was something more insane to me than wherever I am now.

I got tired of walking and eventually forced my legs to stop moving. I made this texture-less floor my bed and stared up into more blankness; I forced my eyes shut.

Falling. That’s what it felt like. Down I fell without a care in the world. The wind was a new and welcoming sensation that made me forget about the eventual bottom I would hit. The pain was familiar, I welcomed it as I knew I was in the only place that kept the hope alive.

I decided that I would just lay here for a bit. The quite moving river, the whistling air, cold breeze, the sound of other living things, the feel of the soft grass and the hard ground underneath. Everything paralyzed my senses and left me in a stupor where I tried to memorize everything I could before this beautiful world would once again be yanked from me, never to return till what seemed like ages passed, only to once again swallow me whole into this heaven. It teased me every time with something that I tried over and over to obtain. I lay here, having learned that going too far will just end this bliss faster, all the while suppressing the fear that I will lose this sensation soon.

I waited and nothing came. I was surprised at first. I knew my luck, and this didn’t seem like my lucky day. A few more minutes of sitting upright, waiting, and I got up. I took a moment to once more take in my surroundings. The blue sky, the little bird that zoomed past, the smell, life other than mine; It was amazing. I closed my eyes and just listened.

My vision and hearing had grown acute from all that time of silence and blankness; all the sounds and movements of whatever patch of forest I was in were amplified, and they surged through my nerves, motivating me to try and pick a direction to travel in.

I pondered what path would take before an angelic melody was picked up by my ears. It captivated me and I couldn’t resist its tantalizing melody. I began to walk in its direction. As it increased in volume I found myself enticed in the harmonic tune as I was uncontrollably pulled toward whatever was making it.

I found a clearing in the forest and saw that the melody seemed to be drawing all sorts of animals toward it. I hid behind a tree and following the trail of small animals with my eyes until they finally came to rest on someone. Once I saw her I froze, transfixed. I was surprised not only by the melody she was singing, but for once seeing someone capable of having a mentality and emotional range equal to mine. Admittedly I was also captivated by her beauty.

She was… different, I worded mentally. Not human that’s for sure, but I considered myself lucky as is. One of her most striking features were her wings, something that not only added to her beauty, but to my jealously from a lust to be that free. For another she was reasonably shorter, yet I did consider myself tall. Lastly her coloring caught me off guard; she was pale gold in color, and had flowing pink hair.

She kept singing, unaware of my presence. Eventually her gaze met mine when I failed to hide more efficiently. Hers widened and she recoiled, darting to the nearest cover with a fearful yelp.

"Oh no please, I didn’t mean to intrude, keep singing."

I pleaded, desperately trying to not lose this opportunity at making a possible and only friend.

"Who...what are you?"

Her soft and gentle, welcoming voice, trembled as she peeked at me from her cover; she seemed interested in my friendliness. Casually I raised my hands up and moved to where she could see that I had nothing to harm her and said:

"My name is Artyom. I'm a human and I have no idea where I am nor where I'm from. You are the only being capable of conversation that I have met for a very, very long time."

I felt pretty awkward at having to introduce myself like that, but whatever, it was the sad truth. She seemed pleased to see my desperate openness with her and came out of her cover; she remained wary of me. Her wariness got the better of me and I became slightly agitated at the way she seemed to avoid me, like a disease. I kept quiet though, I knew I wasn’t socialized and this was not a time for me to mess up on introductions.

"Oh, I never met anything like you before. You are kind of... strange." she stated.

"Likewise"

I replied quietly for her not to hear; I was starting to lose my patience at being treated like a threat.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

She said, apparently noticing the disgust in my voice. I felt terrible, perhaps I was wrong about her. I was out of place and admittedly not the most charming at first glance.

"No I’m sorry, I’m the stranger here." I replied.

Luckily she was satisfied with my reaction and offered me some food (while I explained what little I knew about my existence) that I eagerly accepted; I was suddenly aware of an appetite that was never there before. I grateful for feeling a new sensation, be it good or bad. I was also grateful for her kindness, noticing that it rekindled a hope that was near extinction.

Kindness, I concluded, was what I she would now represent for me.

When I had eaten my full and told her my short story of torment, as well as how I was surprised I lasted long enough to meet her, she offered to go meet her friends in hopes of brightening my mood; I gladly accepted.

"Oh, I forgot to ask. What's your name?"

I asked as we rounded a path from her isolated house. I wanted to give a title to my new found friend.

“Well, my friends call me Flutters."

Flutters? I puzzled. Odd, but then again I'm here in some sort of heaven, far away from my personal hell, and talking to a...different individual who is extremely shy. I was lucky she was kind enough to help me, not to mention taking me to her friends.

Odd wasn't the right word to use, I concluded. I let her drag me along as I took in the scenery, absorbing all that I could.

As we passed the last few trees obscuring my vision, I froze in my tracks. Jaw dropped, I just stood there, stunned. I captured the world quickly as the entire scene was picked up by my heightened senses.

Everything was colorful beyond what I would have ever imagined. The town I had an elevated view over bustled below, its citizens reflecting just as much color as their town. I had mixed feelings of horror and jealousy as I witnessed that some of the residents had a sort of protrusion on their head that performed feats my simple and unsocial mind can only pair up with the word -Magic-. I noticed some had wings like flutters, while others had no extra appendages.

By now Flutters noticed my statue act, and her questioning eventually pierced my thought bubble; I was met with a concerned and questioning look, but I snapped out of it and she edged me on further. There was only one explanation that can begin to explain everything to me now.

Insanity.

And I couldn't get enough of it now.

Friends

Friends.

The word itself was foreign to me and tasted funny in my mouth as I silently repeated it over and over. Its existence in my life became a fantasy that could only be achieved through utter miracles. This idea led me the conclusion that my situation is nothing short of one.

Flutters continued to say something here and there as the town continued to grow in size with each step that I took toward it. Finally we cleared the entrance and I had all of my senses aroused by all the activities in the town.

I marveled over the colors, sights, sounds, and smells, each promising me new wonders. I nearly forgot where I was going and what I was doing. My astonishment was cut short as nearly everything abruptly stopped, the sudden interruption caused me to return my focus to my surroundings. The little town I ended up in had all of its citizens drop their activities and stare. On the streets residents backed up, mothers held back their young, windows opened, their owners peeking out with cautioned curiosity, yet they threatened to shut at any moment. There was an ominous silence; one would imagine a baby's cry being stifled in the farther edges of the town. The main attraction, and cause for their stares seemed to be both hated for its sudden appearance, and feared for its unpredictability and alien presence.

I just stood there, paralyzed, having no social experience and this much uncalled for attention froze me in my tracks; my mind fed me blanks. Was this a nightmare, or a dream come true? "I'm about to find out." I thought as I realized any movement I made sent a wave of fear toward whatever direction I happened to move in. The energy of a mass panic could be felt in the air, all it needed was a reason. One stupid move on my part and it will explode, this entire world of wonder would rapidly change, pulling the ground right under me and letting me drop into chaos.

I gulped loudly, suddenly aware of the sweat that accumulated on my forehead. I became painfully aware of each bead's path as it traveled down my face and came to rest on my chin. I tried to look toward Flutters for support, but the shy character was afraid of the unwanted attention and retreated out of earshot toward a less populated section of the crowd. "Some friend." I thought, but dismissed it for the greater problem at hand. They all waited, they wanted something… they wanted a reason. I felt slightly betrayed by Flutters and a growing need to run away. Gritting my teeth, I pushed my feelings aside and tried to stand tall.

"Uh…hi."  I managed to muster, cursing myself silently as my voice cracked.

The thing spoke and everyone stifled a sharp gasp. I was beginning to get agitated again, I didn’t escape my shithole of a reality only to be seen as an odd attraction. Using my anger for motivation, I pulled myself together and decided that now is as good of a time as any to man up. "I'm not hurting anyone, and if they want a fight then they'll get one." I resolved. I spoke:

"My name is Artyom. I don’t know how I got here, nor where I am. I…am a human. I apologize for my sudden interruption of your tasks. All I ask is that you remain at the very least, neutral toward my presence, and I would like to assure you that I would do my best to fit in."

As I finished I stood there, rigid. I didn’t know how they would react and I was ready for anything. The town's tension seemed to decrease, but shot up immediately as a small, brave grey child with wings ran up to me, his mother gasping and regretting her loose hold.

"You don’t look so mean." he told me. "Want a tour of the town?" he asked, smiling kindly, innocence and lack of understanding reflecting in his large, light purple eyes.

Everyone was tense, all waited to see what this new creature would do. I took a knee to try and reach the child's eye level, but instantly regretted it as the residents in front looked like they were ready to attacked me out of fear, yet it was fear that held them back. Ignoring them, I answered the child:

"Thank you for your acceptance little on-"

"Rumble." he corrected me.

"Rumble." I resumed.

"I wish everyone would be this accepting too. I would love a tour of the town, but some other time would be better. Flutters promised to introduce me to her friends and it seems that people here don’t take too kindly to me."

Although he was slightly disappointed, Rumble seemed eager to have made friends with me and with a quick bump of our arms he ran off to his mother, who now scolded him quietly. The town exploded with relieve. My acceptance was now a negotiable topic, and with a few apologies for the harsh treatment, I began to forgive them. I answered the questions thrown my way, some more bold than others, but I answered them nonetheless; I was the only one of my kind here anyway. I set the standards for humans and had no need for whatever social norms I previously accepted. It took me a few hours to finish, but after I satisfied everyone's questions I realized that I might have been wrong. This town was not as hostile as I first pictured it. It seems that once again my rashness got the better of me and I noted that down for an attempt at self-improvement later on.

Now that I was made an acceptation here, and the news of my presence spreading quickly, I set out to find Flutters. She appeared out of seemingly nowhere wearing an apologetic look on her face. She surprised me with the good news that she managed to gather her friends for a small picnic. It was an apology for her abandonment from earlier. I smiled, taking note that this would be the first time I would take a bad event and forget it for the sake of a friend. I accepted her apology and invitation. I planned to make this introduction right and get a chance to actually make some friends my age.

The park seemed to be ripped straight from the famous painting "A Sunday in the Park". People… I decided I could mentally categorize them as such given their range of emotions and life being no different than mine, were relaxing, taking in the sun, and playing with pets. The younger ones were playing games and others were just enjoying the little pond nearby and all had to offer.

I followed Flutters up a gently ascending hill to meet her friends under a large oak tree. It casted a steady and comforting shade over the majority of the hill.

"Everyone, here is Artyom, the human I was talking about earlier."

Flutters introduced me without any usual shyness in her voice, indicating that these were in fact close friends of hers.

"Pleased to meet you all."  I said, allowing myself to finally gaze at her friends.

They all seemed cautious and shared the same uncomfortable look that I had first met upon my arrival at the town. Neither of them spoke and an awkward silence fell. I cleared my throat, impatient once more, but starting to feel more sad and out of place than angry.

Luckily the Purple colored one, with purple and pink streamed colored hair and a horn like appendage on her head was the first to engage me.

"Wow, you weren't kidding Flutters." she started. She seemed like she was testing her words to see if they were hurtful, or if they would cause an unwanted reaction. Despite her awkward start at a conversation, she seemed far more fascinated by me then the others. “It’s nice to meet you Artyom. My name is Twilight. I’m the town’s librarian, and these are my friends, Rarity, Dash, and Applejack.” She pointed to each of her friends as she said their names.

I gave a nod to each of them and brought my attention back to Twilight who seemed to have regained some nerve. Oddly enough I swore she looked like she wanted to say something, but held it back. I caught it and pressed for her to ask.

“You look like you want to say something, go ahead. I know I’m weird, the rest of the town made that clear enough. Just ask.” My statement caught her off-guard and I swore she sounded a bit flustered, but I dismissed it.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” she began.

“Now I know you have something to ask. Out with it.” My unintentionally harsh answer made her wince, but she continued:

“Well, I wouldn’t use weird to describe you… but you are interesting and an opportunity for research… I want to know if I can study you at some point.” She said the last bit quickly and I saw how uncomfortable she was for asking.

“Not a problem.” I responded, giving a friendly smile in hopes that it reassured my agreement.

“Really? I… didn’t expect that. Thank you.” She said, relieved that I took her question so lightly while still giving her the answer she wanted.

I chuckled a bit at her awkwardness and reassured her that I was not offended. The others seemed to have relaxed as well and gained courage to speak. My attention was now held by a pretty, white individual. She also had the distinct appendage on her forehead.

"Oh poor thing must not have fashion were you are from.” She began, her words unexpectedly harsh. I particularly took offence to being regarded as an “it”. “I mean those threads are simply not your color." She remarked in a pompous accent, as if she took personal offense at my clothing. Rather than mad I became highly conscience of my slightly faded and worn clothing; I didn’t know where I got them from either, but I still felt a burning feeling of shame. Dam she sure has a way of making you feel insignificant. I thought.

I remained silent for a moment, considering my options. Her immediate criticism angered and shamed me, yet I wasn’t in a place where I could object without fear of losing good ground with the others; that and my new awareness at my clothing contributed to my silent embarrassment. I was just about to ignore her and move my attention to someone less criticizing, but she began to introduce herself and her profession, so not wanting to mimic her rudeness, I grudgingly sat though her introduction.

“As Twilight mentioned, I am Rarity, the town’s most prestige fashionista, and I simply cannot let such a crime against fabulosity go uncorrected.” The way she dramatically prolonged her introduction really tested my control, but I decided to hear her out. “Anyway darling, I simply must take on the challenge of designing human apparel, and you seem like the perfect candidate.”

“Me? Really? Th…thank you.” I replied. I wasn’t expecting to receive anything, especially not from someone that was as highly specialized as Rarity was. Maybe she isn’t as bad as I thought.

“Of course, it would be my pleasure.”

With that she pardoned herself of all the insults she had thrown my way, and I brought my attention to another… stunning… friend. Her appearance seemed tom-boyish, lacking the feminine care that the others had, (Rarity in particular looked like she just finished a long day at the spa, pampering herself with makeup and hair curling.) yet in itself was far more appealing to me than the others. Her hair boldly radiated all the colors of the rainbow, catching me in a speechless awe. My eyes, uncontrollable at this point, in-discretely drifted lower toward her powerful wings and then further down her slender body. I noticed it did an amazing job of covering the muscles underneath.

What the hell am I thinking!? It’s impossible! I can’t, simple can’t really be finding her attractive! I mean common, she isn’t even human! Such thoughts ran across my mind as I quickly noticed how odd I was beginning to look. I redirected my vision to her eyes. Her large, beautiful, magenta colored eyes. Reasoning was futile as her eyes captivated me to a degree I never thought was possible. Luckily her strong voice instantly put me back into my place; it seemed to challenge me, as if to sum up my worth. Whether it was my unexplainable attraction, or some other reason that I failed to make up in time, but I also found her voice soothing and reassuring. Dammit.

I was lucky that she seemed dis-interested in me, cautious and untrusting even. She hadn’t noticed my eye groping and began her introduction. I cursed at myself as I realized that I was too busy treating her as eye candy to pay attention to her introduction. All I managed to catch was her occupation as a lead weather regulator (seems that winged individuals could manipulate clouds and the weather, as if they were tangible), and the fact that she was a top notch flier, apparently the best in all of…what was it again? oh well, her country. She reinforced her statement with a jaw dropping aerial trick that nearly dropped me on my ass. I had to make sure my jaw wasn’t tangling about. (Dash seemed to be a fitting name based on her speed.) Lastly she mentioned something about where she and the other winged individuals came from, a large city in the clouds. Cloudsdale as it was called. (Wow this place really is full of miracles.)

“I… like your moves.” I mustered, still captivated by her talent and looks.

I got off lucky, she liked the acknowledgement of her talent and resumed to eye me cautiously, as if ready to protect her friends from me. I decided that I really needed to set my internal opinions about her in order soon as I get the chance and my attention was now held by an orange individual. She had blonde hair that was neatly tied into a long ponytail, and wore a very distinguishing leather cowboy hat that rested itself on her head.

"Howdy, real nice meeting you. The names Applejack." She introduced herself, and I immediately noticed the southern like accent.

Apparently my expression showed my curiosity at the slightly masculine name and it was soothed when she explained her family's apple farm, and her profession of collecting apples and managing her farm. Her nickname was given to her by the townsfolk and she hasn't corrected anyone since. Oddly enough, even with Dash still stealing most of my attention from Applejack’s short introduction, she seemed to grow on me more than the others. She seemed like a hard worker, someone you could trust. My opinion was backed up by her muscled appearance, one that I assumed was the result of years of farm work. She was finishing her introduction when a high pitched voice interrupted her and stole everyone's attention.

"Oh my gosh! A new person in town! Why did no one tell me!?” she shouted. She leaned in uncomfortably close, breaking any personal boundaries I had. “Hi! My name is Pinkie, and we are going to be the best of friends, and..."

I was taken aback by her energetic introduction and found it hard to concentrate on what she was saying with all the bouncing around. I managed to catch only bits of what the pink (appropriate for her name.) haired, pink individual (God I have to come up with a name but I can’t be rude.) was saying. She was bouncing around with contagious excitement. I nearly forgot all my troubles with her around, but none the less once again tried to focus on what she was saying.

All I could get out her none-stop chatter, (Complimented by her self-interruption and starting of new topics) was that she was well acquainted with basically all of the town's residents. Her profession was at the town’s bakery. Lastly at the end of her hyperactive, and to a certain degree adorable speech I learned that I was now apparently best of friends with her.

The remainder of the day went well as I spent it at the picnic, finally getting a chance to share my story and past along with any knowledge of who I was. As the sun set and this world's first beautiful stars marked their place in the, thanks to Dash, cloudless sky, everyone started to scatter and return home.

Noticing my lack of one, I was given a place to stay by Twilight at her home, the library, which at this point unamusingly was located inside a large, hollowed out, oak tree that was magically preserved. She managed to enlarge a bed for me via magic and I was allowed to take a small portion of the upper levels to myself. Wishing her a good night and thoroughly thanking her for the accommodations, I remained seated on my bed, gazing out of a nearby window. Once I managed to calm down a bit from all the excitement I lay in bed and allowed all of the day's events to sink in. Shortly worded, words could not describe my emotions.

I couldn’t believe that for once I actually have something to wake up to. A new world with many possibilities. I didn’t know if I finally cracked and insanity has gotten the better of me, but whatever it was I was beginning to like it. The most comforting realization however, was my sudden drastic lack of loneliness. There was a whole world out there and loneliness wasn’t an option whether I wanted it or not, and that was a good thing. I finally fell asleep with a content smile on my face. A smile that I could never have anticipated having.

A smile that came from having,

Friends.