Live A Life, or Forge It

After the self-training as swordsman, it seemed that nothing was going to stop me from pushing away my brothers for the good, and live in peace in Equestria, getting the glory that the Fate tried to steal to me.

Hell, and maybe no one apart from Twilight Sparkle, Silver Spoon, Applebloom and Bernarda was going to know my true identity until my death !

But I was wrong.

It was a day near the end of August: the Sun was setting, and everyone was eating their fill  zucchini carbonara and vegetables cooked on a spit.

Applejack was looking at Venicio, and she noticed how he changed since the start of the Summer: from the four tiny sticks that were his legs, now Venicio had four quite muscular legs, giving to the colt a more aggressive look.

Another thing that Applejack noticed was how Venicio spent his (plentiful) free time: where before the arrival of the summer, he was always reading a book like every other year, during that Summer, he passed the time... “playing” with Bernarda and a training dummy eerily similar to the training dummies usually found in the military barracks, or in the in shooting galleries; and using a knife (vainly) sequestrated, on that dummy, hitting in different ways, and every time asking to Bernarda how the attack  went, and if it was possible to repeat said attack in a true combat.

Somehow, what Venicio was doing scared Applejack: he is training... for what ?

Nothing, apparently.

And, yet, if he learns to use this improvised fencing abilities on somepony...

Applejack seriously considered the idea that Venicio was going to wound, or even kill, somepony, if he kept going to play with the knife and the dummy.

And so she thought to strip him of that thing.

Then the orange pony thought that was just begin overly-paranoid about that.

But the risk, even if tiny was still there, since he might not know his strength, and when he starts to cause harm.

And so the farmer pony decided to give him a speech about how he should not apply what he did with the dummy with the peers.

Pretty stupid to say, but considered the fact that he never had contact with other colts or fillies, and was always at home, that advice was decent.

And so, while Venicio was devouring a top-round carrot, she said:

“Venicio... what you were doing today, with that dummy  made of sacks ?”

The colt, after leaving only the stick of the aforementioned carrot, said: “I wasn't playing, I was training myself !”

Applejack chuckled: the imagination of the colts never stops.

“Ok, why you were training ? Do you to become...”

Venicio interrupted:

“Self-defense, Applejack, self-defense”

Applejack was left puzzled: self-defense from what ?

He wasn't haunted by anypony; no one was attacking him; why he should try to get some self-defense training ?

Maybe he was mimic Appplebloom's self-defense course that she was doing against eventual aggressors.

Or maybe he read so many books about sword fighting, that he wanted to try it too.

Applejack expressed her confusion:

“Defense from what ?”

Venicio replied with a bow, and said with an acid tone:

“Go to Twilight. Ask her about State Secrets. See.”

What ?

What Venicio was saying made no sense, from Applejack's viewpoint.

First of all, what kind of “State Secrets” could be there, in Equestria ?

If they existed, why they weren't mentioned to the six ponies that, practically, were Equestria's army, the resolvers of the rare conflicts that disturbed the natural flow of the things  ?

And, if they were secrets, how it was possible that a bucking colt could possibly know about them ?

The situation got weirder and weirder, and after half an hour of unfruitful asking, the orange pony gave up, and decided that the best thing to do was just go to Twilight, and ask about the “State Secrets” that Venicio mentioned, and see if they were true: after all...

Then Applejack told Venicio to go to bed: the colt complied.

That was close: a word too much, and my cover was fucked.

Luckily it wasn't: Applejack seemed too much in “retarded mother mode” that night, for notice that, unless he's VERY unlucky, a 5-years human child doesn’t know anything about self-defense and training dummies; let alone a colt in a relatively peaceful world !

But, to Applejack, hearing a colt talking about self-defense was only a bit weird, like the little boys that wish to became dancers; or the girls dreaming about military life.

Both were are a bit weird to hear, but, usually, if you think a bit on it, there is nothing wrong.

Hearing a child talking about his self-defense, and trying to train himself to do so, isn't normal at all, unless he lives in a place where it might be required.

And, even there, it isn't usually done with fervent desire by the kid.

Anyway, after that discussion, Applejack told me to go to bed, and I complied: I went upstairs, put on my pajama, usually found bend under the pillow; gave Bernarda her dinner and put her in the crib; and, finally, placed myself under the blankets.

Until that night, I always tried to lock up mind in the best way possible, by thinking hard to a fake imminent danger, and imagine to close my thoughts as soon I felt a noise, and prepare myself for what was going to happen.

When I used it for the first time at two years of age, I literally wake up at the minimum noise, and it took me a while to going back to sleep, since my mind was locked up, and didn't opened without continued orders of opening by my soul.

As the time flowed, I started to not wake up at the noise, and just make off-limits my mind against external influences.

But that night I didn't did the procedure, and I regretted that choice.

As soon I drifted in sleep, I started to dream...

I dreamed me, as a pony, wandering around in the Canterlot Palace, talking with Twilight about politics, and the army.

I said “Twilight, I know that, usually, there aren't enemy armies going around Equestria, but... why the only armed force is the Royal Guard ?”

The purple alicorn answered: “I have no idea. I guess it's becau...”

Twilight was interrupted by a loud boom coming from out the building: worried, I ran towards the balcony to see what happened.

The sight left me bewilded.

In the distance, it was visible a gigantic black army marching towards Canterlot, presumably changelings.... problem was, there wasn't Chrysalis, or  a “Mother of the Brood” leading the shape shifting bugs: instead, four colored shapes standed out in the horde.

I gave the order to Twilight to teleport me nearer, but she refused to do so, saying that was a suicide.

I persisted, saying that I had my reasons for asking such a dangerous things.

Twilight seemed understanding, and teleported me on the walls, where some crossbowmen were killing, vainly, the changelings flying into the city.

After killing ten changelings with my kicks, and told Twilight of keep firing, I saw who lead the army.

The Right wing was lead by Diana and Franco, and they seemed enjoying their killing spree.

The Central part of the changeling army was lead, bizarrely, by a kid with a blue night vest too large to fit him, and a plastic crown: said kid was doing bubbles, and eating biscuits by a jar, without caring about what was going on around him. Since the look seemed, oddly, familiar to me, I assumed that the kid was Fate.

The Left wing was lead by Enrico, my other brother, and said wing seemed the weakest: the changelings on the Left wing died easily by crossbows' darts, while the other changelings seemed almost invulnerable.

I knew what to do in this case: hit the leaders.

I told to a couple of guard ponies of aim to Fate's head, and to the head of the other leaders.

Then I told to Twilight of teleport me back to the Balcony.

When I was finally again in a safe position, I watched the going the course of the battle worried: after all, if they reach the Palace, then I was surely dead.

For a time that seemed infinite, nothing seemed happening: the battle was in stall, and, meanwhile, a good chunk of the population was running away, or panicking, and screaming aimless.

That went on, until the gate broke down, and a flood of changelings carrying Fate, who was now, supposedly, throwing a tantrum, in the city.

As soon Fate entered in the city, a war horn was heard, and a voice propagated for the whole city:

“We stand toghter !”

And, shortly after:

“Drown them in flames !”

When these phrases were heard, everyone stopped, and was left puzzled by the declarations coming from nowhere.

After a minute of pure, tense silence, from the houses that I thought evacuated, exited platoons on platoons of modern soldiers with machine guns, who shredded every changeling that was so unlucky of not react.

Then, from BEHIND the changeling lines, some crude trucks with some tanks of some kind arrived.

Said trucks went near the confused changelings, and, literally, opened fire: a river of flames propagated down the bug's lines, roasting countless.

Only then the changelings reacted, and started to counterattack.

Naturally, they failed.

When the most of the army was killed off, only small packs of black bugs, and the leaders were left standing.

Since I thought that it was safe to get near and laugh in the face of my defeated brothers, I asked to Twilight of going down in the streets.

In front of me, the kid Fate was raging, and screaming :

“Why can I not win this ? Not fair ! Not fair ! Not fair !”

The voice itself was irritating, the source  was even more.

Since I was tired of hearing him screaming in rage, complaining for the defeat, and demanding to win like if he had lost to a boardgame; I decided of kill him once for all: I told to a nearby crossbowman to hit Fate's head, and not question it, even if the target was a kid .

The pony nodded, and hit the head of Fate, who fell down on his knees, cursing his “mother” with “insults” typical for a toddler.

What happened next was unexpected.

As soon Fate breathe his last breath, I heard a scream of pure rage filling the air, and the sound of claws tearing apart flesh.

Soon after that horrible sounds, someone creamed:

“They are everywhere ! And they feel no pain !”

Oh God.

Now my brothers and the changelings where inspired by Fate's death.

Dammit, dammit, dammit !

I gave the order to every soldier in the area of going to the palace, and cover every entrance, trying to kill as many changelings as possible.

After a general “Yessire” coming from the soldier present there, I returned back to my palace, waiting the outcome of that situation.

After arriving back to my palace, shut down the door, and waited anxious for the outcome.

Half an hour passed: somebody screamed that the east sector was overran, and that they needed to send reinforcements.

An hour passed: boots steps were heard coming near our shut door.

Two hours passed: sustained fire shots; screams of pain both human and bug; taunts coming from my brothers.

Five hours passed: the seemingly last soldier dies wheezing; bug steps get near.

When the door finally opened, a blinding light lit up from nowhere, vaporizing everything in sight, and a voice was heard:

“GET OFF FROM HIS INNOCENT MIND, THOU BEASTS !”

The light was so blinding, that I closed for a while my eyes, and when I opened them, two big irregular purple spots where in my vision.

Not that it forbade me form seeing what was going on.

In front of me, a blue equine with a blue ethereal mane stood up: didn't took me long for recognized who it was: Princess Luna.

The sight left me quite surprised, leaving me with a face between the scared and the bewilded, but I went over it very quickly, and I immediately gave her the apt greet:

“Ave, Excellentia Luna noxfera; patronus somnios. Quod vos portatis hoc ?”

Princess Luna watched me a positively surprised look and said:

“Thou are a very polite and sapient colt. We never saw a colt calling us with this greeting. We came here for doing out task: avert the nightmares afflicting the ponies”

I smiled:

“Interesting...”

Luna asked:

“Your dreams seems dimmed by blood and violence... not a common sight, in the minds of the little ponies living in loving families such this”

“Even the ones living in peace dreams about death and blood, if enough stressed”

“But.. thou are stressed ?”

In a moment of pure dementia, I revealed my secret:

“Yes, a bit: the Fate signed a deal with my brothers for kill me. They are not ponies, thought: they are humans, as I was. And they are coming in blue lights”

Since I knew that Luna was a loner, and with, we can call, “professional secret” towards what's in the dreams of ponies, I was sure that my confession was risk-proof.

Boy, I was wrong.

As soon I said that, Luna watched me surprised, then smiled widely, and said:

“Thou are a human ? Really ? Oh, joy ! Can we host you for a while ? Don't worry about your brothers and the risk of coming back to Earth: we won't tell to Celestia. In exchange, just come with we. Do you accept ?”

The question left me surprised over every limit: Princess Luna, controller of the nigh, and once a villain; the most solitary by choice thing in universe; the one that you'd never expected to have even a pet hamster; fangirling over  me BECAUSE I WAS A HUMAN ?

That was just incredible.

My silence was ready as a yes by Luna, who said, clearly losing her shit by the joy, saying in her Canterlot voice:

“ALRIGHT ! IT'S SAID 'WHO STAY QUIET AGREERS', AND YOU STOOD SILENT ! I CAN'T PICK YOU UP NOW, BUT I WILL NEXT NIGHT !”

After that, she sqeed. Squeed. SQUEED.

That could not get anymore dangerous and awkward from that.

Worse of all, that left me speechless.

But I dare you to react differently: you are in your own mind; with a physical goddess capable of entering your dreams; said goddess is excited to discovery your identity as human; and she doesn’t seems aware about your reaction.

Imagine it.

I dare you.

Only when Luna said that she must leave me for other business, I regained my ability of speech.

But it was too late.