The Angel of Equestria

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 1
Chapter 8

Chapter 2

Celestia and Luna led Charles through the halls of the castle to the barracks where the guards train and practice their skills. His staff was being kept with the other weapons, such as spears and swords. As they made their way through, Charles got some odd looks from other ponies, the guards were curious and the staff seemed scared. Charles noticed the looks and folded his black wings around himself as he walked with his arms folded in front of him behind his wings with a bit of a scowl on his face. He was most uncomfortable getting such looks. “Are we almost there yet?” He asked.

Luna looked behind her to answer. “Just a little farther.” Luna noticed how he was walking. “Are you all right Charles? Is something wrong?” She asked with concern for the human as she noticed his wings folded in front of him with a scowl on his face.

“I’m fine, I just don’t like the way your subjects are looking at me. I can understand since they’ve never seen anything like me, but it still bothers me.”

Clelestia then looked at Charles to address him. “I am sorry for that, is there any particular reason it bothers you so much?”

“It’s the same looks I got back on earth from other humans. I never did a single thing bad and they all just saw a monster when they looked at me. Can we just move on and forget it, I just want to get this over with.”

The sisters looked at each other with concern, Celestia looked back at Charles. “Very well, we are almost there.”

Within minutes, they arrived at an open area outside with many buildings that housed the guards that stayed at the castle. They approached one building that housed the weapons with one guard on duty protecting the door. “Your majesties, it is good to see you, to what do I owe the pleasure?” The guard saluted as he spoke. He failed to notice the human behind them.

Celestia responded. “We are here to retrieve the stick that came with the creature that appeared in my courtroom, he will be giving us a demonstration of his skills with it.” The princesses stepped to the sides to reveal Charles to the guard.

He stepped forward and took up position between them. “Wait, you want to give that……THING it’s weapon, what is the meaning of this princess?”

Celestia gave the guard a stern look, as did Luna who responded to the guards words. “Watch your tongue soldier, his name is Charles, and he has sworn an oath of loyalty to us, you will show him the proper respect, understood.”

The guard was now sweating under the night princesses gaze. “Y-yes your majesty, my apologies. Sir, please forgive my rudeness.” The guard addressed Charles.

Charles said nothing but gave a nod to let the guard know he understood him. The guard then opened the door to allow the princesses and Charles entrance. Celestia allowed Charles to enter first so he could find his bow staff. He scanned the room and saw many spears and swords hanging on racks. In the far corner of the room, he saw his staff leaning against the wall. He put his wings back behind him and went to retrieve it. He picked it up and placed it on his back where it stuck there between his wings.

Charles made his way back out and met with the princesses. “Thank you for letting me have it back your majesties.” He said as he gave a slight bow.

Celestia gave a smile. “You are welcome Charles, now how about a demonstation?”

“Of course princess, just so you know though, I don’t like showing off, but I figure it is important for you to know what I can do.” Charles informed them.

Celestia and Luna then led Charles to where a number of guards were training. One of them was overseeing their training. He was a white coated unicorn stallion with three shades of blue in his mane, he had a dark blue shield with a dark pink star on it on his flank. “Come on troops, show me some guts, don’t let your guard down!” He instructed.
“Shining Armor, we have a new recruit for you.” Luna said as they approached.

Shining Armor then turned to face the princesses and gave a bow. “Good day your majesties, a pleasure to see you.” He got up from his bow and turned to his soldiers. “All right men, take a break!” The soldiers stopped what they were doing, lined up at attention, and gave a quick bow to the princesses. “So princesses, you said you have a new recruit for me?”

Celestia spoke first. “Sort of, we will be positioning him in ponyville, since he’s new here, we figured we could place him with your little sister so he can be made familiar with our ways.”

Shining Armor gave a confused look to them. “Forgive me princess, but what kind of pony isn’t familiar with how things work?”

Luna informed. “He is unfamiliar with our ways because he is not a pony.” The princesses once again stood aside to reveal Charles. “Shining Armor, this is Charles, he has sworn loyalty to us and seeks a place in the royal guard, as we said, he will be stationed in Ponyville and be staying with your sister so he can learn our ways. I hope that is all right with you?”

Shining Armor looked at the human curiously. “Um, what is it?”

“HIS name, is Charles, he is a human, he came to our world through a magical accident and wishes to live among us. Myself and my sister had a talk with him and can see he is a kind soul.” Celestia informed.

Charles was confused by the words Celestia used to describe him. A kind soul? Him? He may not be one for killing, but he sure didn’t think he deserved such words. Luna then addressed Charles. “Charles, this is Shining Armor, he is the captain of the royal guard, he is the one in charge of all guard activities through Equestria.”

Charles took a few steps closer to Shining Armor. Shining Armor was two inches away from being eye level with him. Charles gave a salute and spoke. “Sir, I have sworn my loyalty to the crown and all those who serve it, I will do my best to protect the town I will be placed in.” He dropped his salute. “I am here to show the princesses my skills as a warrior.”

Shining looked Charles over carefully. “Hmmm, well, if Celestia thinks you’ll be good enough, I suppose I have no choice, all right, let’s see what you can do. Go and pick out a weapon.”

“I already have a weapon sir.” Charles then removed his staff from his back and held it in his right hand vertically.

“A stick, that’s your weapon?” Shining asked with scrutiny. “You’re joking, right?” This elicited a laugh from the other guards as well.

“I can assure you that it is enough, if you don’t believe me, then pit me against one of your strongest guards here.” Charles said with all respect in his voice gone.

Shining turned to his line of guards. “Swift Wing, come forward.” A pegasus guard stepped forward from the guards as they departed.

“Sir.” The Pegasus saluted. “Swift Wing ready and waiting sir.” The other guards then cleared the area to give the two plenty of room to fight, Swift Wing had a spear ready and waiting to go. The two took to the center of the circle the guards formed while the princesses watched.

Charles held his staff just behind him in a horizontal position with his right hand, while his other was just in front of him while he took a ready stance. The Pegasus guard got in a ‘ready to charge’ stance with his spear pointed straight. Swift wing flapped his wings to propel him forward at full speed. Charles saw him coming and waited at the last possible second to move. He swung his staff and knocked the spear out of Swift’s hoof, he kept the momentum of his swing and hit the guard in the side of the face with the other end, knocking him on his side. Charles then quickly had one end of his staff pointing at the downed guard as he stood over Swift Wing. Charles had moved so fast that if you blinked, you might have missed it. The guards were stunned at how quickly Swift Wing was defeated.

Charles gave one piece of advice to the guard before pulling his staff away. “Don’t underestimate your opponent.” He then pulled his staff back and offered a hand to help the guard up. Swift looked at it cautiously at first then accepted it. Charles helped Swift Wing up to his hoofs.

“No pony has ever been able to match me in speed like that, how did you do that?” The guard asked.

“First of all, I’m not a pony in case you haven’t noticed. Second, I have had training before, so I have excellent reflexes.” Charles answered.

“I’ll say.” Shining armor spoke as he approached the two. “That is very impressive how you beat him so quick. Maybe you do have what it takes to be a guard.”

Charles stood at attention. “Thank you sir.”

“But now, I’d like to see how you do against me. What do you say, care to try your hoof against me?”

“Hand, sir, I have hands, not hoofs, and if you really want to test me yourself, then I might as well let you. I did promise the princesses a chance to see another ability of my staff, well it’s really more something I can turn it into with my magic, my reserves have built back up and I can pull it off.”

Shining then paused a moment. “Wait, you have magic too?”

“Yes sir, however, the way I got here drained most of it and has just recently built back up to where I can pull off what I was talking about. It doesn’t take much to do it.”

Shining armor then levitated his sword out of his sheath. “Well then, let’s see it.”

Charles held out his staff in front of him with both hands at the middle horizontally. Suddenly, winds erupted from his hand as a kind of small tornado that went from the center of his staff and went to the sides, encompassing his staff entirely, it was only for almost an instant. When the winds dissipated, there was now a pair of swords in his hands. Both with black handles and silver hand guards about an inch wide. The blades themselves were two and a half feet long and two inches wide, the ends were sharp and pointed, the swords were double edged. The guards were a little impressed with this.

“Not bad, you any good with those?” Shining asked jokingly.

Charles twirled his swords from their backhanded grasp to facing frontward and at his sides. “I prefer not to use them in a real fight, but since this is just for a demonstration, I don’t have a problem with it. Let’s get on with this.” He held out his right sword and pointed it at Shining Armor.

Shining Armor jumped and went for a downward strike. Charles crossed his swords and blocked it. Charles then forced his sword up and, before Shining armor could make another move, Charles swung his left sword and sliced Shining’s sword in half, then thrusted his right sword and stopped it an inch away from Shining’s throat. Shining was stunned as he still held his broken sword up and looked at the sword pointing at his neck. “Looks like I win.” Charles said as he pulled his sword back.

Shining finally lowered his broken sword and looked at it carefully. It had indeed been cut clean in half. “How…..how did you do that? You moved so fast I didn’t even have time to react.” Shining asked, still stunned.
Charles then twirled his swords to where he was holding them backhanded, slammed the ends of the hilts together, and the two swords were surrounded by the same wind again and turned back into the single staff. “It was part of my special training I received, I’m the only human who is capable of moving so fast. My staff is made of a very strong metal, as are my swords.”

“You certainly have some impressive moves, perhaps you could replace me as the captain of the guards.” Shining said jokingly.

Charles flung his staff back on his back. “No thanks, I’m not exactly a leader type. I’d prefer a simple guard position like what the princesses offered.”

Celestia finally approached the two. “Are you sure about that, with skills like yours, the position of a simple guard would let your talents go to waste.”

Charles turned to Celestia. “I’m sure your majesty, like I said, I am no leader.”

Celestia smiled. “Very well then. Come, it is dinner time, let us get something to eat and I will send word to my student of your coming, from there, I will send you off afterwards.”

“Of course princess.” Charles said as he gave a bow.

“Hey Charles, Celestia said she’s sending you to stay with Twilight Sparkle, right?”

Charles turned to his new captain. “Yes sir, I am. She is supposed to help me get aquainted with Equestrian society and such.”

“Just so you know, she’s my little sister, I hope you take good care of her during your duties, and also, tell her I said hi.”

Charles gave a salute. “Yes sir, I will sir.”

“Relax soldier, you don’t need to be so formal with me.”

“Force of habit, I was in a situation where I had to show all superiors respect.” With that, Charles followed Celestia and Luna to the dining hall for dinner.

Celestia sat at the head of the table with Luna on her left and Charles on her right. A magnificent selection of food was displayed before the three. Charles chose first a nice big salad bowl for starters. Celestia chose a sandwich with all the fixings, and Luna went with a vegetable soup. Luna started up the conversation once dinner started. “So Charles, I am curious as to how it is you have wings and magic when I remember you saying that humans don’t have such things. How is it you are the only one with those?”

Charles looked at the night princess. He didn’t like that question. “Forgive me princess, but how I came to have them is not easy for me to talk about, it is a rather painful and an unpleasant tale. I wouldn’t want to spoil the meal with a sad story.”

Celestia was also curious. “Please Charles, we are very curious about this.”

Charles closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “*sigh* As you wish princess. Back on earth, I was made into a lab rat, a test subject for some twisted government experiment. They were trying to make these nano bots that could make you smarter by creating and connecting your brain cells for more thinking power.”

Luna interrupted. “Excuse me Charles, I don’t mean to inturupt, but what are……nano bots?”

“How do I put this in a way you can understand,….they’re like……tiny little metal insects that are really smart and can’t be seen with the naked eye.”

Celestia and Luna scrunched up their noses in disgust. “How horrid, that sounds most unpleasant. And they put these things in your…….brain?” Luna asked, still sounding disgusted.

Charles simply nodded. “Yes, but because of their small size, you don’t even know they’re there. Anyway, these nano bots were supposed to make me smarter, but instead, there were other side effects, somehow, they were able to wire my brain to where I actually had an understanding of magic and was able to perform it, the wings on my back were another side effect, as well as enhanced reflexes and strength. It was very painful.”

Celestia gasped at this. “Goodness.”

“The pain went away once it was over. It took some getting used to, but because of this malfunction, they ended up having to scrap the project. They wanted to study my body though and find out what went wrong and see if they could duplicate the process for another project to create super soldiers. I found out that they were going to make me brain dead so they could study my body and do this. There was no way I was going to let them do that, I also didn’t like how they planned on using what they found to make more humans like me for the soul purpose of killing. So I used my abilities and escaped, ever since then, I’ve been on the run from them, and everywhere I went, I was seen as a monster. That’s how I became an outcast and a monster.” Charles finished his story as he looked away and down.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other worryingly. They looked back and Celestia spoke up. “Charles, I am terribly sorry for what happened to you, I can’t believe such creatures could be so cruel to their own kind. Why didn’t you simply go to your family for help?”

Charles clenched his fists at that question. “With all-do respect your majesty, I shared what I told you out of respect for you. You showed me great respect despite the fact that I’m…….different from you. I thought it only fair to show you the same respect, so it was out of respect that I told you what I did, but that is all I am willing to share.”

“I understand, I thank you for sharing with us.” The rest of the meal went on in relative silence.

After the meal, Celestia and Luna lead Charles back to Celestia’s chambers where she wrote out a letter for her student and sent it along. “Come along Charles, there is a carriage waiting to take you to Ponyville now.” The princesses led him to an area outside again, where two Pegasus guards were harnessed to a closed carriage ready for takeoff. “I have also sent word to Twilight of who you will need to see to begin your guard duties in Ponyville once you are ready to start. I wish you the best of luck in your new home Charles.” Celestia said.

“Do be sure and write to us to let us know how you are getting along once in a while, won’t you?” Luna asked.

“Of course princess. Thank you for everything.” Charles climbed into the carriage and it took off for Ponyville as the sun was getting ready to set.

Author's Note

As a thank you to all my faithful readers, I would like to include any OC's you have that can be used as guards in Ponyville for Charles to interact with. They have to be Pegasus, earth pony, or unicorn. Thank you.

Chapter 3

“You wanted to see me sir?”

“Agent Jonathan, would you mind explaining to me how you let a million dollars-worth of research slip through your fingers?”

“I’m sorry sir, but it wasn’t my fault. The subject just……disappeared.”

“I DON’T WANT EXCUSSES, you had the subject cornered and you expect me to believe that he just disappeared?!”

“S-Sir, I don’t know what happened, we’ve been scowering the globe for any sign of the subject but nothing has come up, it’s like he just vanished off the face of the earth.”

“I don’t care what it takes, that subject can give us the potential to increase our military strength! YOU WILL FIND THE SUBJECT AND BRING HIM BACK! Otherwise, you can kiss your job good bye. Do I make myself clear agent Jonathan?”

“Y-Yes sir, I will do whatever it takes to find him.”

“Good, you will have access to all the latest scientific machines we have, DON’T disappoint me Jonathan.”

*****

The carriage carrying Charles soon came to a landing and stopped in front of a tree with windows, a balcony, and a door that was open, just in front was a unicorn mare with a purple coat, a dark blue mane and tail with a dark purple and pink streak through them, and on her flank was a dark pink six pointed star with five white smaller stars around it. Next to her was a small bipedal creature with purple scales, a lime green belly, green frills on the side of his head, and green spines going from the top of his head down his back.

The two stood there to greet their new house guest and waited for him to emerge from the carriage. Charles opened the door to the carriage and stepped out. The carriage shifted down and up as he stepped out. He turned his attention to the guards. “Thank you for the lift.” He said to them.

The unicorn and little dragon were stunned to see such a creature before them. They knew something different was coming from Celestia’s letter, but they had no idea how different their new guest would be. The two pegasai took off back to the castle and left Charles to meet with his new caretaker. Twilight decided to start off with introductions. “Um….hello there, welcome to my home, we’ve been expecting you. My name is Twilight Sparkle and this is my number one assistant, Spike.”

Charles eyed the two carefully, his attention seemed to be focused more on the little dragon. “Charles.” Is all he said.

“Well, it is very nice to meet you Charles, why don’t you come on in and we can get better aquainted.” Twilight offered. She and Spike turned to enter the place and Charles followed in.

Upon entering, Charles first took in his surroundings. The place was large, it had shelves upon shelves of books all over the walls. To his right, he noticed a set of stairs leading to a door. On the right, he saw another door. At the center of the room was a table with a carving of a horse head. After taking in the sight, he removed his staff from his back with his right hand and tapped one end of it on the floor once, resulting in the staff producing four protrusions on each end, turning it into a makeshift coat rack. Twilight noticed this and took great interest in it. “Whoa, what is that?” Spike asked first.

Charles stood his staff up, took off his leather over coat, and placed it on the new coat rack. “It’s my staff, it’s my main weapon, but has other uses as well, as you can see.”

“That’s really clever, can it do anything else?” Twilight asked.

Charles then turned to her and answered. “It is capable of being whatever I need it to be.”

Twilight then motioned to a light blue sofa on the far side of the room near an arch way that looked like it led into a kitchen. “Why don’t you have a seat? Would you like some tea or something?”

“No thanks.” Charles simply answered as he took a seat on the couch.

Twilight was having trouble trying to figure out what to say. “So…….what is earth like, I am curious about it. I’ve never met a human before, let alone a creature from another world.”

“No surprise there, your princesses told me that I’m the first human they’ve ever seen. No one here has ever seen a human before.” Charles responded back. “I guess I don’t mind answering some questions about it, just don’t ask any personal questions.”

“Of course, thank you for answering my questions.” Twilight then levitated a stack of scrolls, a quill, and an inkwell over to her. “Ok, ready to go.”

“So, what is earth like, best way I can describe it…….chaotic. It is a mess, no two humans are alike, humanity itself has a spectrum of good and evil.”

Twilight was writing down everything Charles said. “What do you mean by that?”

“Humans have the capacity to be good or evil, in a scale, you have humans who will gladly give their lives to save another on one end, on the other, you have humans who will do whatever it takes to get what they want, even if it means taking another life.”

“Oh my, that sounds awful.” Twilight exclaimed.

“But even the humans at the good end of the spectrum still see me as a monster because of how I look.”

“So, humans don’t usually have wings or magic, Celestia did tell me you had those in her letter.”

“No, I am the only human with such things, which is why I was considered an outcast back on earth, humans just can’t accept another human with magical capabilities.”

“Gosh, I can’t imagine what that must be like, it must have been really hard.” Spike mused.

Charles then looked at the little dragon. “I have a quick question for you.” He said to Twilight.

Twilight stopped writing for a moment. “Of course Charles, what is it?”

“What exactly is Spike, I’ve never seen a creature like him, he kind of looks like a little dragon or something.” Charles asked with a curious expression.

“Well that’s exactly what I am, don’t you have dragons on earth?” Spike asked.

“No, dragons only exist in mythology and fairy tales. Dragons don’t exist on earth.”

Twilight resumed writing. “So, if you were an outcast, how did you get along, didn’t your parents try to help you?”

Charles clenched his fists at the mention of them. He answered with a bit of a growl. “I have nothing to say on the matter and I will thank you to stay away from that.”

Twilight and Spike recoiled a bit at Charles’s mood change, they could see the anger in his eyes. “Sorry, sorry, um, let’s move on to something else then. Celestia did also mention in her letter on how you got to be how you are, something about little robot bugs or something?”

“Nano bots, tiny little metal robots that look like bugs.”

“Right, do you still have them in you, can I see them?”

“Sorry, but as soon as they were finished doing what they did to me, they self-destructed. In other words, they blew up on their own.”

“That means then that your world must have some advanced technology. What kind of things does your world have?”

“Well, so far from what I’ve seen, your world doesn’t seem to have much in technology.”

“That’s true, we do have electricity and trains, and a few other small things. What kind of things do you have in your world?”

Charles then spent a while explaining to her about the different forms of transportation to start off with like cars and planes and boats, as well as jets and such. Twilight was very amazed at all this. What really through her for a loop was when Charles revealed that humanity had developed a way to travel into space and send satellites to look at other planets in their solar system. That brought up another question that Twilight had to ask. “So wait, does that mean that your sun and moon move on their own?”

“Our sun doesn’t move at all, our planet moves around the sun, how could you not know that, isn’t that how it works here?” Charles asked with a bit of confusion.

“No, Celestia and Luna move the sun and moon. Celestia raises the sun and Luna raises the moon.”

“Your joking right?” Charles still couldn’t believe it.

“I assure you I’m not, they are the most powerful alicorns on Equis after all. So how does your planets and moons move?”

“Well, like this world, Earth has only one moon, it orbits around our planet through a gravitational force the Earth emits, it, in turn orbits around the sun which is stationary. Because of this, the moon is visible during the day as well. And also, every couple of years, we have what we call a solar eclipse.”

“What’s a solar eclipse?” Spike asked.

“A solar eclipse is when the moon moves into a position where it completely blocks out the sun and makes the Earth darker. There is a similar even called a lunar eclipse where the shadow of the earth blocks out the moon.”

“WOW, this is all so fascinating, your world sounds so incredible.” Twilight complimented.

“It’s not that great, it has plenty of things that make it bad as well, trust me, you’re better off not going there, I spared telling you about the darker side of earth because even I don’t like to talk about it.” Charles then let out a yawn.

“Oh my, I’m sorry, you’re tired aren’t you? Here, let me show you to your room and you can get some sleep. Tomorrow, I’ll show you to where you need to report to for guard duty.”

“Thanks.” Charles then got up and followed Twilight to the second door he noticed. Twilight used her magic to open the door and led him in.

“Here you go, I hope the bed is big enough for you, if not, I can make it bigger with a spell.” Twilight informed.

Charles followed Twilight in and took it in. He saw a window on the far wall with a bed just below it, a nightstand next to the bed and a door on the other wall that was open, Charles could see that it must be the bathroom. He walked over to the bed and inspected it carefully. “It is a little too small for me, but I can make it bigger myself.” Charles then raised his left hand and pointed it at the bed. Twilight and Spike watched carefully as this was Twilight’s first chance to see a strange creature she had never seen before use magic. Charles’s hand was enveloped in a white aura, the bed then became enveloped in the same aura and expanded a bit more so he could fit comfortably in it. “There we go.”

“Wow, I’ve never seen a creature that isn't a unicorn, or alicorn, use magic before, how good are you with it?” Twilight asked in wonder.

Charles turned to her to answer. “Good enough.” Was all he said. Twilight felt a little dejected at his answer but let it go, she didn’t want to offend him.

“Well, I hope you have a good night sleep. I’ll see you in the morning ok.” Twilight said before leaving him.

“Yeah, sure, good night.” Twilight and Spike then left the room for their guest to get comfy and rest. Charles sat on the bed, removed his shoes, socks, and pants, then laid down and got the covers over him for bed.

As Spike and Twilight made their way to their room, Spike couldn’t help but wonder something. “Is it just me, or did he seem rather cold?”

“What do you expect Spike, you read what Celestia wrote in her letter to inform us about him, and what he said himself, he was considered an outcast by his own kind just because he had wings and magic. He must feel very lonely. I just know we can help him, me, you, and our other friends.”

*****

“Hold him down!”

“LET ME GO, DON’T DO THIS! PLEASE!”

“Sir, His heart rate is sky rocketing, we need to stop.”

“No, keep going.”

“But sir, he’s just a boy, he won’t survive this.”

“Yes he will, keep it up.”

“STOP IT, PLEASE, IT HURTS SO MUCH!”

*****

“NNNOOOO!” Charles quickly sat up in his bed panting heavily and sweating. He quickly looked around his surroundings and remembered where he was. “Nightmares, I hate it when that happens.” Charles looked out the window to see the sun just now rising over the horizon. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and put his pants, shoes, and socks on. He got up and made his way out of his room.

He made his way over to the front door and stopped in front of his coat and staff. He put on his coat, grabbed his staff and made the protrusions disappear, made his way out the door and went around the back. Upon making it to the back, he noticed a back door to the tree house. “Wish I saw that sooner." He just made his way to a nearby small tree and leaned up against it. Charles brought up his staff and it was then enveloped in a light blue flame, turning it into a guitar, a Gibson style guitar with a black coloring. “Maybe a bit of music will help me feel better.” He started to strum a few notes. What he didn’t notice was Twilight was on her balcony and noticed Charles out there. She didn’t want to disturb him and was curious about human music.

Charles used his magic to make it so all the instruments needed for the song could be heard while he himself played lead guitar and sang.

The music faded, Twilight had made her way downstairs near the beginning of the song and stayed near the back door to listen to the whole thing. “That was beautiful, a little sad but beautiful too. What was that song?”

Charles turned his guitar back into his staff and looked to her. “Just a song that usually expresses how I usually feel, sometimes performing it helps me feel better when I’m feeling down. It’s called Away From The Sun, it’s from a band on earth called 3 Doors Down.”

“So, does that mean you’re feeling sad about something right now?” Twilight asked with concern on her face.

“Kind of, I just had a bad memory come up in the form of a nightmare.”

“Do you want to talk about it, we are friends now. If you ever need to talk about anything, I’ll always be ready to listen.” Twilight informed with a smile.

Charles kept his straight face. “That’s nice of you to offer, but the last thing I need is false hope.”

This confused Twilight. “What do you mean false hope.”

“Do you really expect me to believe that you want to be friends with something like me.” He gestured to his whole body. “Look at me Twilight, back on earth, I was an outcast, and I closely resembled humans in appearance. If it wasn’t for my wings, I could’ve passed for a human as long as I didn’t use magic. Now here I am in a world of magical talking ponies. If I wasn’t an outcast before, I’m certainly going to be one here. I doubt anyone would want to be friends with me, not that I need them. I’ve been getting along just fine on my own since I was a kid. So I don’t want, nor do I need, friends.”

When Twilight heard him mention that he had been taking care of himself since he was a kid, she just had to ask something, but then stopped herself when she remembered that Charles didn’t like to talk about his past. She opted for another route instead. “Well, whether you believe me or not, my offer stands, I am letting you stay here you know.”

“Yeah right, your only letting me stay here because princess Celestia ordered you to put up with me.”

“That’s not true!” Twilight exclaimed.

Charles looked at here with an expression that said ‘I don’t believe you.’ “Really, so did she write you a letter saying ‘Dear Twilight Sparkle, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind housing an alien from another world for a while, if you don’t want to, that will be fine and I will send him to someone else’. Then gave you the option to refuse?”

“Well….not exactly.” Twilight was trapped, he was right, Celestia did ask her to take care of Charles in a way that didn’t really sound like she was asking her and gave her a chance to say no if she wanted to.

“There you go, as far as I’m concerned, you are just following orders from her to let me stay here. I am grateful for you putting up with me, but I know you don’t want me here. It’s fine, I’m used to it, so don’t go telling me that you want to be my friend when you don’t really mean it.”

“But I do mean it, I really want you to think of me as a friend. I don’t know what you have been through to make you so cold, but I want you to know that no matter what, I will be your friend, I will be there for you and you can count on me for anything. If you even just need to talk about something, I’ll be available.”

Charles just looked away and to the side. “Whatever.”

“Come on, let’s go inside and have some breakfast. Spike is already inside making some pancakes.” Twilight said with a smile.

Charles just followed in and took a seat at the kitchen table to eat. Spike finished preparing the meal and brought them over to Twilight and Charles. “Here you go Guys, breakfast is served.”

“Thank you Spike.” Twilight thanked happily.

“Thanks.” Charles simply said. Spike then grabbed his own plate and sat at the table to join the others.

Charles took his first bite of the pancakes and was pleasantly surprised how good they were. He never showed it on his face though. “These are pretty good, thank you for the food Spike.” He said in a monotone manner.

“You’re welcome, glad you like them.” Spike said with pride.

After breakfast, Spike then took the dishes and began to wash them. “Thanks again Spike, you’re an excellent cook.” Twilight thanked again.

“Glad you liked them.”

“Now then Charles, shall we head out and get you started on your guard duty, Celestia already sent word to the guards here to expect a new recruit.” Twilight asked with a smile.

“Might as well, I just want to make a living for myself here so I can start being on my own again. I’m not exactly comfortable being stuck in a place with someone else. After being on my own for so long, I just feel like I’m mooching off of you here already, and I don’t like it.” Charles said.

“Charles, you’re not mooching, it’s just a friend helping another friend.” Charles said nothing to that. “Come on, let’s get going”

Charles got his staff on his back and followed Twilight out the door and into the town of Ponyville to start his new life in Equestria.

Author's Note

(I do not own Away From The Sun, it is from the band 3 Doors Down.) Next Chapter some, if not all of the submitted OC's will make an appearance.

Chapter 4

Twilight and Charles exited the library and began their walk through Ponyville to the center of town. As they did, Charles already noticed he was getting stares from the other ponies around him. Once again, he folded his arms in front of him and wrapped his wings around himself and just kept his eyes forward. He did find it difficult as he was also curious about everything around him. He looked up and noticed a strange sight. He saw a flying pony pushing a cloud. “What the……must be more magic stuff, but why is it pushing a cloud?” He asked curiously. He had stopped a moment to see the sight.

Twilight noticed this and turned around. “Charles, what is it?”

Charles looked back down at her and spoke. “Why is that Pegasus pushing a cloud around?”

Twilight looked up and noticed what he was talking about. “She’s just doing her job as a weather pony.” Charles raised an eyebrow at her answer. Twilight seemed to pick up on his confusion as she began to explain. “Some pegasai work as weather ponies to make the weather do what it needs to do for the day, don’t humans control the weather, I know humans don’t normally have magic, but with the technology you told me about, don’t you have something to make it do what you want?”

Charles shook his head. “Even with our advanced technology, weather control is impossible. Best we can do is try to predict what it is going to do, even then, it sometimes doesn’t always work well. That is when things can get very bad for humans that live near coasts.”

“Why is that?” Twilight was growing even more curious about this. He paused before answering as he remembered the eyes on him. Twilight also noticed this. “Why don’t we walk while we talk?” They resumed their walk and Charles began again.

“The reason for humans having it bad near coasts is because of hurricanes.” Charles informed.

Twilight looked up at him. “Hurricane, what’s a hurricane?”

“You…..don’t know what a hurricane is?” Twilight shook her head. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised since your kind can control the weather. A hurricane is the worst kind of weather you can experience, we’re talking gale force winds, torrential downpours, and massive waves being kicked up from bodies of waters. They’ve been known to destroy homes and take lives from those who either didn’t have the sense to get away before it strikes, or didn’t know it was coming until it was too late.”

Twilight’s eyes widened in a bit of fear. “Oh my, I had no idea such fierce weather could happen, that sounds awful.”

“Consider yourselves lucky you can control the weather, mother nature can be a cruel mistress.”

With the talk of weather done, Twilight thought it odd that Charles was covering his front with his wings. “Are you feeling all right Charles, why are you covering yourself with your wings?”

“I just don’t like being stared at, I can understand why all these ponies are staring at me, but it still makes me uncomfortable.” Charles explained.

Twilight felt bad for Charles. “I’m sorry, I wish there was something I could do, but don’t worry, it’s only a matter of time before they get used to you and won’t stare at you like this.”

“Whatever.” Was all he said, he just didn’t believe it. “Are we almost at this place I need to check in for guard duty?”

Twilight answered with a smile, hoping to lift his spirit. “Almost, just a bit further.”

Just above their heads, two Pegasus ponies were flying overhead. One was a mare and had a sky blue coat with a rainbow colored mane and tail, her cutie mark was of a white cloud with a rainbow colored lightning bolt.

The other was a stallion that was slightly larger than the mare, he was wearing heavy looking armor over his body so the only fur of his that could be seen was on his muzzle. It was a cobalt blue color. His mane was sticking out through a slit in his helmet and his tail was sticking out the back, both were black. The armor he wore was mostly black with gold trimmings on the joints and on the ends of his hooves and on his shoulders. On his back was a large heavy looking sword slung on his back. The handle of the sword was black while the ends were gold as well. Under his armor, his cutie mark was a dark grey tornado surrounded by storm clouds shooting out lightning.

As they flew, the stallion noticed Twilight and the human she was walking with, he nudged the mare on the side to get her attention. “Hey Dash, check it out, there’s Twilight.”

The mare looked over to her friend and looked down at where he was pointing. “Yeah, but what’s that thing following her?”

The stallion took a moment to think. “Hmmm, OH, I think I know, that must be the new recruit we were told about! Man, the captain wasn’t kidding when he said the new recruit would be weird looking.”

Dash looked over to him curiously. “What do you mean by that?”

“Oh right, I didn’t tell you, sorry. See, when I checked in this morning, captain Lightning Thrash told us to expect a new recruit for our town from the princess herself, he also mentioned that the princess said he would be different from us but to treat him with respect like any other pony.”

“Thanks for keeping me in the loop Storm Chaser.” Dash said sarcastically with a smirk.

Storm Chaser just rubbed a hoof behind his head with a sheepish smile. “Heh heh, um, come on Rainbow Dash, let’s go say hi.” He suggested.

“Sure, let’s go.” Rainbow agreed. The two then flew down towards Twilight and her companion.
As they flew down, Rainbow called out. “Hey Twilight, wait up!”

Upon hearing her friend, Twilight stopped walking and looked up at her caller. She gave a smile as she greeted her friends. “Hey Rainbow Dash, Storm Chaser, what’s up?”

The two pegasai landed in front of their friend. Strom Chaser spoke first. “Hey Twilight, we saw you walking by and wanted to come meet the new guy following you.” He said with a smile.

Twilight’s smile never left her face, maybe some more of her friends could help Charles as well. “Of course, Storm Chaser, Rainbow Dash, this is Charles. Charles these are two of my friends, Rainbow Dash and Storm Chaser, he’s the 1st Lt in the guard here in Ponyville.” Twilight stepped aside so the three could meet.

Storm Chaser stepped forward to greet him. “Hey there, Nice to meet you.” He held out his hoof for a shake.

Charles had removed his wings from in front of him. He just eyed the Pegasus carefully, he didn’t bother to shake his hoof.

Storm Chaser finally brought his hoof back after an awkward moment passed. “Ok then, well, welcome to Ponyville, looking forward to working with you.”

“Whatever.” Was Charles’s only response.

Dash leaned over to Storm Chaser and put a hoof next to her mouth and whispered in his ear. “Sheesh, what’s his problem?” She then decided to try her luck. “Soooo, I’m Rainbow Dash, the greatest flyer in all of Equestria.” She bragged.

“Oh great, she’s one of those.” Charles thought to himself.

Rainbow then continued. “So how good are you with those wings, doubt you’re as good as me, no pony can match me in speed.”

Charles gave a curt response. “And I should care about that why?”

“Because you shouldn’t get it in your head that you could beat me in a race.”

Charles just rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Twilight. “Can we get going now, I want to go ahead and check in already.”

Dash wasn’t pleased that he was ignoring her all of a sudden. “Hey, just what is your problem anyway?” She asked with a bit of a scowl.

Charles then turned his attention with anger on his face. “My problem is you.” He emphasized by pointing a finger at her. “One of the few things I can’t stand is arrogance, and right now, you just stink of it, so I will thank you to stay out of my way and leave me alone.” Charles then turned his attention to Storm Chaser. “And as for you, since we’ll be working together and you will be my superior, I will be sure to show you the proper respect, but don’t confuse it for friendliness.” He then just continued on without Twilight in the direction they were heading past the two pegasai.

“Ok, what is his problem?” Dash asked louder than before.

Twilight came up to them to tell them. “Sorry guys, it’s just that where he came from, he was considered an outcast and hated by his own kind, all because he has those wings and is capable of using magic.”

The two pegasai then looked sad at this. “Wait, so he never had a friend, what about family?” Storm asked.

“That is something he doesn’t like to talk about, when I brought it up once last night, he got mad, so I don’t know what the situation is with his parents.”

“HEY TWILIGHT, CAN WE GET GOING NOW!” Charles called from a distance.

“Sorry guys, I’d better go, see you later ok?” Twilight then galloped off to catch up with Charles.

“Wow….poor guy, hated by his own kind? I can’t imagine what that must be like.” Storm thought out loud.

“What exactly is he anyway, did Lightning Thrash tell you?” Dash asked.

Storm then faced Dash. “He said princess Celestia said he’s called a human, never heard of one before, I wonder where he came from?”

“Maybe Twilight can tell us later, he must be staying with her since they’re walking together.” Dash figured.

After catching up, Twilight resumed leading Charles through the town. “Sorry about that, but why were you so rude to Rainbow Dash?”

“I hate arrogance, anyone who is arrogant only cares about showing off and proving that their so much better than anyone else. That friend of yours, Rainbow Dash was it….., she came off as REALLY arrogant, and I hate that.”

“I know she seems that way, but she’s really a good friend. Just give her a chance and you’ll see.” Twilight tried to make Dash sound good to Charles.

Charles stayed silent. Soon, they finally reached their destination, a large building that was shaped like a big cylinder with a cone top. “Here we are, town hall. This is where the royal guard caiptain’s main office is.” Twilight led Charles inside the building. Charles followed her through a hall way down to the end where a door with a glass window was. Twilight used her magic to open the door and walked in with Charles behind. “Good morning captain Lightning Thrash.” Twilight greeted happily.

Sitting behind a desk was another Pegasus wearing gold armor, minus the helmet. He had a red coat with a yellow mane and tail with green streaks through them, his eyes were an emerald green color. His cutie mark was a yellow lightning bolt.

“Ah, Twilight Sparkle, good morning.” Lightning thrash greeted back, he then noticed the human behind her. “And this must be Charles. Welcome, I am captain Lightning Thrash, welcome to the royal guard. I must admit, when the princess told me to expect some pony who wasn’t a pony, I was a little skeptical, but seeing you now…..well, never mind, so you’re going to be serving as a guard under me huh. Very well, it may take some time to get you the armor for duty.”

“That won’t be necessary sir, I prefer not to wear armor, if that’s all right.” Charles responded.

“Well, it is part of the uniform, that way, the ponies know who’s a guard and who isn’t.”

“Very well then, but you don’t need to have someone make armor for me.” Before the captain could ask what he meant, light blue flames began to emerge from the bottom of Charles’s feet, they traveled up his body, as they did, they turned the clothing they passed into metal. The flames traveled up and up, when they reached his coat, it just started to disappear. His hands became encased in gauntlets. The flames continued until they reached his head and soon he was now wearing a helmet with a visor up. Charles was now in full body armor colored black. “Will this be acceptable sir?”

Twilight was impressed and the captain was left speechless. Only his face and wings were now visible as his staff still remained on his back. The captain finally found his voice. “Well, that was…..interesting. This will be just fine, um, I just need you to fill out a few forms, then I give you your badge and you’re ready to go.”

“Wow Charles, you look amazing. You’re just full of surprises aren’t you?” Twilight complimented.

“Thanks.” Charles then turned his attention back to his new captain. “Sir, if it’s all right, I’d rather have this armor on whenever something comes up where I need to perform my duties as a guard.”

“Weeeellll, since you’re able to make it appear so fast, I see no harm in it, all right then, but you still need to have the badge on you while on duty.” Lightning Thrasher informed.

“That’s understandable, thank you sir.” Charles then made his armor disappear in the same manner it appeared almost in an instant. Charles filled out the forms necessary and Captain Thrasher hoofed him his badge. It was a gold badge with a picture of the sun on one side and the moon on the other, an image of the princesses were depicted below the two. It was shaped like a three pronged shield.

“Now then, you will start your new guard duties tomorrow, for now, get to know the town. When you check in, you’ll have free roam of it and just patrol wherever, help out whenever trouble comes up.”

“Yes sir, I will do my best to uphold the law here sir.” Charles said.

Before anything else could be said, another pony walked in. This one was wearing silver armor, he was a unicorn with a black coat with a black mane and tail with gun metal grey highlights, he had three knives on each side strapped to his armor. His cutie mark was a light blue cross hair over a red pony skull. “You wanted to see me captain?” the stallion asked.

“2nd Lt Carbon, thank you for coming, I wanted you to meet our newest member of the royal guard, I trust you remember our talk this morning?”

“Of course captain.” Carbon then turned his attention to Charles. “Greetings, I am 2nd Lt Carbon of the Ponyville royal guard. Welcome aboard."

Charles found it curious that this one didn’t seem so surprised to see a creature of a different species. “You seem rather lax about seeing something you’ve never seen before.” Charles pointed out.

“Well we were informed already about you by the princess through Captain Thrasher.”

Captain Thrash then got every ponies attention. “Carbon, I would like it if you could introduce our new recruit to some of our other officers. They should be waiting outside.”

Carbon gave a salute. “Yes sir, they are just outside the building sir.”

“Very good, Thank you Lt.”

“Come along then Charles, lets meet the others.” Carbon said.

“Yes sir.” Charles followed Lt Carbon out with Twilight trailing behind.

“By the way, it’s good to see you miss Sparkle, I understand Charles here will be staying with you while he’s here?” Carbon asked.

“He is, and it’s good to see you as well, how have you been Carbon, I understand you and Octavia have been seeing each other quit often.” Twilight asked.

“Sorry miss Sparkle, but such gossip is best saved for when I’m not on the job……but yes, we have, she is such a wonderful mare.” Carbon said with a smile.

The three finally made their way out of the building and were greeted by three ponies just in front of town hall. One was a pony Charles met already, Storm Chaser.

Two others were ponies Charles had yet to meet and looked exactly the same, they must be twins, the only difference between them was their eye coloring. They were both pegasai and had a grey coat, mane, and tail. One of them had red eyes while the other had blue. Charles also noticed that the blue eyed Pegasus had bat like wings instead of regular feathery ones like the other pegasai he had seen. On their sides were swords that also looked exactly the same except for their coloring. They both were split down the middle and were jagged from the center of the blade up to the tip. The swords curved in from where the blade came from the hilt up to the middle and back out and in again at the end. The hilts where the sword came out looked like a pair of snakes on both sides with their heads curved down. Gems were placed on the front and back side of the blades between the snakes. There was also two other gems protruding on the sides of the hilts and another orb shaped gem at the bottoms of the handle.

The gems in the hilt of the sword with the red eyed Pegasus was yellow while the orb at the bottom was red. The gems in the other sword with the blue eyed Pegasus were blue while the orb at the bottom of it was purple.

Carbon approached Storm Chaser first. “Lt Strom Chaser sir. This is….”

Storm Chaser interrupted him. “No need for introductions Lt Carbon, we already met this morning.”

“Sir?” Carbon asked in confusion.

Storm Chaser explained. “While I was flying with rainbow Dash this morning during my rounds, we came across him and Twilight, we’ve met.”

“Very good sir.” Carbon then went over to the twins. “I take it you haven’t met yet have you?” He asked the Pegasus twins.

“No sir.” They answered in unison.

“Very well then. Charles, this is Dusk Fang…” He pointed to the Pegasus with red eyes, “And Dawn Fang.” He then pointed to the Pegasus with the blue eyes. “They are privates like you. I trust you three will get along fine. Dusk, Dawn, This is Charles, out newest recruit.”

The two eyed Charles carefully, he, in turn, did the same. Charles then noticed the marks on their flanks. Dusk Fang had a white shield like disk, while Dawn fang had an orange red disk like shield on his flank.

“Ok, what is up with all these marks on these ponies flanks, I’ll just ask Twilight about it after this is over.” Charles thought to himself.

Dusk was the first to step forward to greet him. “Hi there, welcome to the royal guard of Ponyville, Dawn fang here is my twin brother.”

Dawn then stepped forward to join his brother. “Hey, what’s up?” He said with a rather bored tone in his voice.

Storm Chaser then spoke up. “Now that introductions are out of the way, you can all go back to your patrols now, keep an eye out for trouble.” The two pegasai and unicorn saluted. “SIR!” They said in unison and left the area. Storm Chaser then turned his attention to Charles. “See you for duty tomorrow Charles.” Storm Chaser then took off as well.

Finally alone, Twilight spoke up. “Well then, why don’t I take you around town and introduce you to the rest of my friends.”

Charles looked at her. “Not like I have anything better to do.” He said in his usual monotone voice.

Twilight frowned at Charles’s cold personality, but she was determined to show him that he could trust her and help him make friends. She just had to show him that no pony here saw him as a monster. She just had to help him feel better and smile.

Author's Note

CREDIT TIME. This is the part where I tell all my readers where the OC’s I used in this story came from.

Lightning Thrash came from LightningThrash on fanfiction.net

Storm Chaser came from Apollyon602 on fanficton.net

Duskfang and Dawnfang came from Ultimo The Great on fanficton.net. For a picture of the swords they have, google oblivion duskfang and danfang

Carbon came from Jman796 on fimfiction.net

I want to thank you all again for your submissons and my readers for taking the time to leave reviews, I am so glad you all like my story so far.

Chapter 5

As Twilight led Charles away from town hall, she had no idea she was being watched by a mysterious pink pony from a distance. One could only guess what was going through this pink mares mind as she eyed the mysterious new being that has appeared in Ponyville.

Twilight decided to Take Charles to Sugarcube Corner to introduce Charles to the friendliest pony she knows. Along the way, Charles decided to take this opportunity to ask Twilight about the marks on every ponys flanks. “Twilight, I have to ask you something that has been bugging me for a while now.”

Twilight craned her neck to face Charles while still walking. “What is it, you can ask me anything.”

“What’s with the marks on every ones backside?”

“OH, you must mean our cutie marks.” Twilight happily answered.

Charles raised an eyebrow at her answer. “Cutie marks, you’re kidding right?”

“I assure you it’s no joke, the marks on every ponies flanks are called cutie marks, a young pony earns a cutie mark whenever they discover their special talent, the mark represents what their special talent is. Mine represents my talent with magic.”

Charles, satisfied with this answer, gave a simple ‘huh’ and continued to follow Twilight. The pair soon arrived at their destination and Charles was once again in a bit of awe at the wonders of this new world. The building Twilight led him to looked like a giant ginger bread house. There were giant candy canes on the corners of the building, frosting on the roof, and peppermints on the walls. “You have GOT to be kidding me.” Charles said out loud.

Twilight looked to him again “What is it?”

“This place looks like something from a fairy tale land…..” Charles stopped himself there, after some thought, he realized he pretty much was in a fairy tale land with colorful magical talking ponies that could fly and use magic. After that thought, he decided to dismiss his previous thought. “Never mind, so what is this place anyway?”

“This is Sugarcube Corner, Ponyville’s number one bakery shop. This is where one of my best friends live and work. The place is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Cake. I’ll introduce you.” Twilight said happily.

The two just made their way into the shop. Upon opening the door, a small bell rang to inform the owners of customers. “Good day, and welcome to sugar cube corner.” A mares voice greeted. “Twilight, how good to see you, how are you this……oh my.” The mare stopped upon seeing Charles.

Charles looked at the mare behind a glass case with baked goods on display that served as the counter as well. She was a chubby looking, blue coated mare with a yellow apron with pink frills on the shoulder straps. Her mane and tail were swirled like ice cream on an ice cream cone and was Pink with light pink highlights in them. Her cutie mark was of three cupcakes with pink frosting.

Twilight greeted the mare. “Good day Mrs. Cake, this is Charles, he’s new to Ponyville and is a new member of the royal guard of Ponyville here. Charles, this is Mrs. Cake.”

Mrs. Cake came around from behind the counter to meet Charles. “Well…..hello there, it’s nice to meet you Charles.”

“Hello.” Was his only response.

“Honey bun, is some pony there?” A males voice sounded from beyond the archway that led to the kitchen. A lanky looking stallion came out from the kitchen to see what was going on.

Mrs. Cake turned around to address the new comer. “Dear, Twilight is here with a new friend.”

The stallion had a yellow coat with a paper hat colored red with white on the bottom, he was wearing a white apron, his mane and tail was cut short and colored orange. His cutie mark was of three slices of cake. He came up to Mrs. Cake and looked at the new guest. “Oh my, well hello there son, any friend of Twilight’s is always welcome here. I’m Carrot Cake, this is my wife Cup Cake.”

“Nice to meet you.” Charles kept his greeting short.

“Well, I was wondering if Pinkie Pie was around. Is she here?” Twilight asked.

“Sorry dear, but we haven’t seen her since this morning, we don’t know where she is.” Cup Cake answered.

“Knowing her, she probably already knows about Charles being here, it’s only a matter of time before she shows up I suppose.” Twilight said.

“Well we haven’t heard her mention anything about making a party yet.” Carrot Cake said.

“So Twilight, I don’t suppose your new friend here could use a nice treat to snack on?” Mrs. Cake offered.

Twilight turned to Charles. “What do you say Charles, want something to eat?”

“It’s our treat dear boy, you look like you could use something.” Mr. Cake said jokingly.

“No thanks.” Charles, once again, simply answered.

“Oh come now deary, surely you must like to have something to snack on, we won’t take no for an answer.” Mrs. Cake said with a cheery smile.

Charles was at a loss for words at the moment, these ponies were being so nice and insistant, then again so has the other ponies he met so far, including the other ponies in the guard he would be working with. “Well, I suppose I could use something.” He answered carefully. “I don’t suppose you have doughnuts here do you?”

The cakes looked at each other with a smile. They looked back at Charles and Mr. Cake started. “What kind would you like, glazed, chocolate covered, sprinkled, we have all kinds.”

“Chocolate with sprinkles has always been my favorite.” Charles answered.

Twilight was feeling glad that this meeting was going so well, maybe with more acts of kindness like this, he would open up more and not feel so distrusting. “One chocolate with sprinkles coming up.” Mrs. Cake said, then went to the back to get the requested pastry. A moment later, she returned with a small bag of a few doughnuts Charles asked for in her mouth. She let Charles take it from her and spoke. “Here you go deary, think of it as a welcoming gift.”

Charles looked in the bag and saw five of the doughnuts he asked for. “These are all for me?” He was confused by the act of kindness.

“Of course son. Like we said, think of it as a welcoming gift.” Mr. Cake said.

“Um……thank you.” Charles said.

“You’re welcome, come by anytime.” Mrs. Cake said with a smile.

Mr. Cake then turned to Twilight. “Would you like anything Twilight?” He asked.

Twilight simply answered. “No thank you, but thanks for the offer, we should probably get going.”

While this exchange was going on, Charles took out one of the doughnuts and took his first bite. “These are…..really good, uh, thanks again Mr. and Mrs. Cake.” He said carefully again, then continued to chow down on his first doughnut.

“You’re welcome dear, you have a good day now.” Mrs. Cake said.

With his bag of doughnuts in hand, Charles followed Twilight out. “Well?” Twilight asked Charles as they walked away from the bakery.

“Well what?” Charles asked through a mouthful of doughnut.

Twilight chuckled at his enjoyment of the confectionary delights he was gifted with. “Weren’t they nice, they did give you free doughnuts. If they thought of you as a monster, do you think they would have given you those doughnuts you’re eating?”

“Well I…..” Charles stopped, he had to really think about it, but no matter how hard he tried, he saw that Twilight was right, no way they would have been so nice to him like that if they saw him as a monster or freak. He swallowed his bite before speaking. “They were just……..well…..never mind, where are we going next.”

Twilight smiled big, she won this fight, she was able to show him not all ponies are bad. “We’re going to another friend of mine, her name is Rarity, shes the town’s local dress maker.”

“A dress maker, great, just great. I’ll bet she’s going to be one of those stuck up snobbish types, as soon as I walk in that door, I know she’s going to be all, oh my goodness, what is that beast doing in my shop get rid of it this instant.” Charles thought to himself.

After a bit of walking, Charles finished his doughnuts and threw the bag away in a trash can they passed along the way. Soon, they came upon a building that was fancy looking. “This is Carousel Boutique, Rarity’s shop.” Twilight informed. Upon entering the shop, another bell rang from above the door to inform the owner of customers.

The inside of the shop had pony shaped manequins with fancy dresses with gemstones embedded in them. There was a stage near the back of the store with red curtains and a three way mirror on the other side of the wall, opposite the stage. Everything was so clean and spotless. “I’ll be with you momentarily dear.” A mare’s voice sounded from up a stair case in the very back of the store.

Soon, a unicorn mare with a white coat and a blue mane and tail styled in curls, and blue eyes emerged from the stairs. On her flanks were three light blue diamonds. “Hello dear and welcome to Carousel Boutique. Twilight, darling, how good to see you…..oh good heavens, and who do we have here?” The unicorn mare spoke with a bit of hesitation upon seeing Charles.

Twilight greeted the mare. “Hello Rarity, it’s good to see you too, this is Charles, he’s new to Ponyville and has enlisted in the town’s guard. I wanted to bring him by and introduce you two. Charles, this is my friend Rarity.”

“Here it comes.” He thought, Charles figured right about how she would be like, already he could tell that this pony was one of those high class types by the way she sounded and talked. Any minute now she’s going to freak out about him and tell him to get lost.

“Well, um…..hello there…..good sir, I am Rarity, proprietor of this establishment.” Rarity introduced warily.

“Ok, so maybe I was wrong, she’s not freaking out or calling me a beast. Just give it time though.” Charles thought again. “Hello, It’s…..nice to meet you.” He decided to improve his greeting this time.

Twilight was pleased that Charles said more than just one word for a greeting. It may not be clear, but she felt like she was making progress already. “Such manners, how nice. If you don’t mind me asking, where do you come from, I’ve never seen something like you before.” Rarity asked as politely as she could.

“I’m a human, I came from another world, if you can believe it. I just arrived yesterday in Celestia’s throne room. It was an accident, me appearing there.” Charles said.

“Just yesterday, good heavens, then you must not have any clothes to wear do you….we can worry about other details about you arriving here later, you must come with me and let me make you a new wardrobe. But before that, I must ask, since your new here, where are you staying?”

Twilight answered. “Charles is staying with me. I’m going to help him learn about our world so he can fit in better.”

“Marvelous, now then, you must come upstairs with me so I can take your measurements to make you some new clothes, you simply must inform me about the fashion in the world you come from.” Rarity was wreaking of excitement. “Oh, do forgive my enthusiasm, it isn’t every day I get the chance to make clothes for some pony of another species, let alone from another world. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Charles looked at the unicorn with caution. “But, I don’t have any money.”

“Oh nonsense dear, money is no object here, I simply cannot allow you go with just one set of clothing on you. Now come with me and we can get started.”

“Is she serious, she’s actually willing to waste materials she could use for a paying customer just to help me out?” Charles was stunned again, this pony was already being so generous to him and she doesn’t even know him.

“Well don’t just stand there, come on then.” Rarity said at the base of the steps, waiting for Charles.

“Um, look, this really isn’t necessary. I appreciate the offer but…”

Rarity cut him off. “Now see here, I said I would not allow you to go with just one set of clothing and I meant it, now come up stairs with me to my work room so we can get started, also, I will need to ask you about the clothing from your world.”

“I don’t believe this, she’s not giving me the option of refusing, why, WHY?” Charles just followed Rarity upstairs with Twilight behind him.

Upon entering Rarity’s work room, Charles saw more Ponyquins, a wooden desk with drawers, square shelves and various designing items on the desk, rolls of fabrics were leaning up against the desk.

“Now then, if you wouldn’t mind, I’ll need you to remove your clothing.” Rarity stated.

“WHAT, oh no, I am not stripping in front of you.” Charles was afraid this was going to happen.

“Oh come now darling, I need you to remove your clothes so I can get an accurate measurement of your body so I can make your clothes.”

“Sorry, but I am not comfortable taking my clothes off in front of anyone.”

“Why not, in case you hadn’t noticed, we don’t normally wear clothes either.” Twilight informed.

“It’s….it’s a human thing. We’re just not comfortable showing our bodies to others in public.”

“Why is that Charles?” Rarity asked innocently.

“Ugh” Charles grunted as he face palmed. How do you explain modesty to a race that seems to lack such a thing. “Well….I suppose I should start with the reason humans wear clothes all the time. In case you didn’t notice, we don’t have fur like you ponies do. Because of this, our skin is susceptible to the elements, so we need to wear clothes to protect our skin. It’s been going on for centuries that it became a way of life. Humans now wear clothes every day and are uncomfortable otherwise, plus, it is against the law to go in public naked in just about every place on earth, which is the planet I come from.”

“I see, how fascinating.” Rarity cooed. “well then, I suppose I can understand that, all the more reason for me to make you some extra clothes, which is also the reason I need you to remove your current clothing so I can get accurate measurements for your body.”

“*SIGH* Fine, but I’m not taking off my underwear.” Charles removed his staff and tapped the bottom of it on the floor once just like his first night at Twilight’s, once again, it turned into his makeshift coat rack.

“Oh my, how clever, you have your own clothing rack.” Rarity complimented.

“That’s just what I use it for when I need to hang up my coat, mainly I use it as my weapon of choice.” Charles explained. He then removed his jacket and hung it on the rack, followed by his black T-shirt. Then he bent down and undid his shoelaces and removed his shoes, then his socks.

“Charles, if I may ask, what are those things you’re taking off?” Rarity asked.

Charles began to explain. “They’re called shoes, human feet aren’t hard like hooves, so shoes provide protection for them.”

“Well we have shoes here but nothing like those, the shape of them just threw me off, and what are those black cloth like things, socks?”

“Yes, the socks protect the feet from being rubbed raw and breaking out in a rash from the hard material shoes are usually made from.”

“Hmm, I don’t suppose you know what your shoes are made from do you?”

“Heck if I know, I don’t have a clue, all I know is it does what it’s supposed to do.” Once his socks and shoes were off he stood back up.

“I don’t suppose you wouldn’t mind letting me borrow your shoes for a moment so I could analyze the material so I could make another pair for you do you?”

“It wouldn’t take long would it, they’re the only pair I have.”

“Don’t worry dear, I can just use a spell to get the information I need.”

“I guess so then. Just remember to return them.” Charles then went to take off his pants.

After that conversation, it was then that Rarity and Twilight noticed his finely toned muscles and abs. “Oh my, look at those muscles, you certainly are a handsome stallion aren’t you?” Rarity complimented while Twilight just quickly looked away with a blush on her face.

“Dear god, is she coming on to me, that’s even worse than what I thought she’d do when she first saw me.” “Um…..thanks.” Charles finally got around to removing his pants and left his grey underwear on.

“Now then, on to business, if I may, what purpose does that bit of cloth around your waist serve?” Rarity asked, motioning to his underwear.

“Kind of the same as the socks, protection for the skin in that area from the pants.”

Rarity then got to taking measurements of his form, arm lengths, shoulder width, leg length, she even took measurements of his wing span, they streched out about five inches further than his fingertips. She even got his foot size. After that, she then cast a quick spell on his shoes to figure out the material they were made of. “There we go, all done, I will get to work on your new wardrobe as soon as possible.”

Charles started getting his clothes back on. “Um, thanks Rarity.”

“Not at all dear, do have a good day. Good day to you as well Twilight.”

“Bye Rarity, I’ll see you later.” Charles, now fully clothed with his staff on his back, followed Twilight out of the boutique.

Upon exiting, Charles just had to ask. “OK, what was THAT all about?”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked confused at his sudden outburst.

“THAT!” He waved a hand behind him towards the boutique. “She is just willing to use valuable material to make a set of clothes for FREE for a total stranger she knows nothing about? What is up with that pony?”

Twilight smiled at Charles. “That’s just how she is.” Was her only answer.

“But it makes no sense, why would she do such a thing?”

“Are you saying you aren’t grateful?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well…….no, I am grateful, it’s just….I don’t know.” Charles was confused by another kind act by a total stranger.

“Maybe it’s something your just not used to, it is what friends do for each other.”

“And how are we friends, we’ve only just met and right away she’s doing this for me.”

Twilight continued with her smile. “Like I said, that’s just how she is.”

Charles let his shoulders and wings slump and his head look down in defeat, he just couldn’t win this argument, or figure this act of kindness out, no one had ever done something like this for him before. “Where to next?” Charles asked tiredly.

“Next stop is Sweet apple acres, my friend Applejack and her family run the place, it’s Ponyville’s Prime apple supplier.”

“Lead the way.” Charles said in a defeated tone.

Twilight could tell she was definitely making head way now. She didn’t like that he seemed to act like he was losing something though, but she knew this was for his own good, so she continued onward to Sweet Apple Acres.

The road there led just out of town along a dirt road, they soon came to a section where a fence followed along the road, beyond it was acres of apple trees. “Wow, that’s a lot of apple trees, must be hard to keep up with them all.” The three continued till they came to a break in the fence which was a wooden arch way that opened to a smaller dirt road leading to a large house.

“Here we are, Sweet Apple Acres.” Twilight announced. They passed through the archway and went up to the house. Twilight knocked on the door and waited for a response. An orange coated mare with a blonde mane and tail tied at the end with red ribbons, a picture of three apples on her flanks, and wearing a Stetson hat answered the door.

“Twilight, how nice of ya ta come visit, what brings ya by?” The mare spoke with a heavy country accent.

“Hey there Applejack, I wanted to introduce you to a new friend of mine, this is Charles.” Twilight said as she stepped aside so the two could meet.

“Hi there, I’m Charles.” Charles actually introduced himself this time. Twilight was smiling so big on the inside at this.

Applejack took a moment to eye Charles over. “Well I’ll be, never seen a critter like you before, welcome to Sweet Apple Acres.” Applejack greeted with a bright smile.

“Yeah, I’ve been getting that a lot all day.” Charles responded.

“Sorry, didin’t mean ta offend ya.” Applejack apologized.

“It’s fine, I’m used to it.”

“Why don’t ya come on in and meet the rest of ma family?” Applejack offered as she steeped further in to let her guests enter.

Twilight entered first, Charles then followed suit. “Thank you Applejack.” Twilight said as she entered.

“APPLE FAMILY, WE’VE GOT COMPANY!” Applejack called out.

Charles winced at her shouting. “Jeeze she’s got a set of lungs.”

Soon, three new ponies entered the room, one was a large red stallion with a red coat, a short orange mane and tail, a wooden yolk around his neck, and a green half apple on his flanks.

Another was an elderly looking mare with a lime green coat, a grey mane and tail tied up in a bun, and an apple pie for a cutie mark.

The third was a little filly with a yellow coat, a red mane and tail, a big pink bow in her mane, but no cutie mark on her flank. The little filly was the first to greet Charles. “Sweet apple sauce, what are you, I’ve never seen anything like you before, where’d you come from, nice wings, how fast can you fly, do ya-“

“Applebloom!” Applejack shouted to cut off the little filly. “Now don’t be rude, he’s our guest.”

“Sorry Applejack.” The filly identified as Applebloom then turned to Charles. “Sorry mister, I hope I didn’t offend ya, I tend ta get over-excited like that.” She apologized while making her eyes as big as dinner plates.

“Sweet merciful Jesus she’s adorable, keep it together, don’t let her cuteness get to you.” “It’s…fine, no harm done.”

Applebloom perked up at this as she gave a big smile. Applejack smiled as well. Applejack then began introductions. “Now then, you’ve already met ma little sister Applebloom, this here is ma big brother Big Macintosh.” She pointed to the big red stallion which was almost eye level with Charles. “And this here is Granny Smith.” She pointed to the elderly mare.

“Well howdy there youngin, ya come with Twilight ta join us fer lunch.” Granny Smith said.

“If you all don’t mind, we would love to join you.” Twilight said.

“WE” Charles raised an eyebrow at Twilight’s words.

“Shoot, we would love it if you’d join us.”

Charles objected. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m not hungry.” As if to disagree, his stomach rumbled so loud, every pony could hear it.

“Ya sure about that feller.” Granny Smith said.

“Come on mister, we’ve always got room fer one more, besides, I’m awful curious ta hear where ya’ll came from, ifn’ ya don’t mind sharin that is.” Applebloom said.

“Come on Charles, if there’s one thing the Apple family knows, it’s how to cook. You won’t regret it.” Twilight informed.

With no room to argue, he hesitantly accepted the offer. At the table, Charles was seated between Big Mac and Appelbloom. Granny Smith was seated at the head of the table and, once the food was served, Applejack sat across from her brother and next to Twilight who was seated across from Charles. They each had a delicious meal of apple based foods. Once the meal started, so too did the conversation, which, of course, centered around Charles. He explained where he came from, how he got here while leaving out the part about being hunted, and becoming a member of the Ponyville guard.

Applebloom decided to ask a question of her own. “So what kind of cutie mark do ya have?”

Charles looked at the little filly with a straight face. “Humans don’t get cutie marks.”

“Well then, how do ya know what yer special talent is if ya don’t have em’?”

“Humans are capable of having many talents, we don’t need marks to show us what our special talent is. Besides, like I pointed out, there’s no magic in our world, hence no magic to make cutie marks.”

“Gosh, I can’t imagine what that must be like.”

Charles then decided to try and talk with the big stallion next to him. “So……Big Macintosh, you and your sister run this place on your own huh?”

Big mac looked at Charles to answer. “Eyup.”

“Must be hard to take care of so many trees by yourselves?”

“Nope.”

“……do you ever higher any help with it sometimes?”

“Nope.”

“…..Can you say anything else?”

“Eyup.”

Every pony at the table laughed at the conversation. “Heh heh, sorry bout that Charles, but Big Mac here is kinda shy, once he gets used ta ya, he’ll say more, fer now, that’s all you’ll get outta him.”

“Oh ha ha ha, very funny. Although there’s something familiar about this setting, the way they all get along, it almost reminds me of…….NO, no, I…I can’t think about that, it doesn’t matter anymore, it…..it doesn’t,…..but, why do I…..”

“Charles, are you ok?” Twilight broke his train of thought as she called to him.

“What, yeah, I’m fine, why?”

“Why are you crying?” She asked concered.

“What are you talking about?” Charles felt something wet on his cheek, he moved his left hand and felt it, without realizing it, he had shed a single tear from his eye.

“Charles, is something bothering you?” Twilight asked again. The apple family had all eyes on him now with concern etched on their faces.

“I…..I’m fine, I just…..got something in my eye. Please excuse me.” Charles got up from his seat. “Thank you for the meal Applejack.” Charles then left the room and headed for the door. By the time Twilight got up, said her good bye and went after Charles, he was already out the door.

“Charles wait, what’s wrong?!” Twilight galloped to catch up to him, he was just walking a little faster than normal.

Charles kept his eyes forward when he answered her. “Nothing’s wrong, I just had something in my eye.”

Twilight had caught up to him by this point. “I know something’s bothering you, you can tell me.”

“What’s bothering me is something that isn’t any of your business, it’s in the past and that’s all that matters, now just leave it alone.”

Twilight tried again, fearing that all the progress she maid may have been lost. “But Charles-“

He stopped in his tracks, turned to face her and spoke. “I said LEAVE…IT…ALONE! Talking doesn’t do any good but bring up bad feelings and sad memories. The past is the past and nothing and no amount of talking can change it!”

She was so close, she could feel it, then just like that, it may have all been lost. She didn’t know what to do, she just had to hope that she could regain the ground she lost with him.

Charles could just up and leave then and there, but he still was unfamiliar with the area and could easily get lost, he was pretty much at Twilight’s mercy. For once in his life, he was in a position where he needed someone, and he didn’t like it. “Let’s just go already. How many more of these…..friends…are you going to introduce me to?”

Twilight gave a weak smile, maybe all hope wasn’t lost after all. “Just one more, since we can’t seem to find Pinkie Pie, but I have a hunch she’ll find us.”

“Whatever, so what’s this friends name?”

“Fluttershy, and just like her name suggests, she is rather shy, so try to be nice to her, she is very sensitive.” The two then began their trek to Fluttershy’s cottage.

Chapter 6

After a while, they came upon a small cottage near a forest, the house had green grass growing on top of it, a small stream with a bridge going over it was in front of the house, it also had all kinds of dens, burrows, and bird houses all over the place. “Sheesh, this Fluttershy must really like animals.”

The two crossed over the bridge and walked up to the front door. Twilight gave a knock and waited. The door creaked open just a crack and a single green eye poked out. Upon seeing Twilight , the door opened completely and revealed a cream yellow Pegasus with a long soft pink flowing mane and tail, upon her flank was a trio of butter flies with pink wings. “Twilight, hello.” Her voice was soft and dainty. “What brings you by? Not that I’m not happy to see you.” She was definitely timid.

“Good day Fluttershy, I brought some pony I would like you to meet. His name is Charles.” Twilight motioned a hoof over to Charles which brought Fluttershy’s attention to him.

Upon seeing him, she gave a yelp and dashed back in her house and closed the door behind her. Charles crossed his arms and looked down at Twilight who, in turn, gave a sheepish smile and a nervous laugh. “Ah heh heh, what’d I tell you, shy.” Twilight knocked on the door again. “Fluttershy, it’s all right, he’s really nice, please come back out!” Twilight pleaded with her shy friend.

It seemed to work as the door once again creaked open to reveal the Pegasus. “Um….h-hello there.” She said nervously.

Twilight tried introductions again. “Fluttershy, this is Charles, Charles, this is my good friend, Fluttershy.”

“Um…..it’s….nice to….m-meet you.” She said so quietly it was almost inaudible.

“Fluttershy, Charles here is new to Ponyville and has joined with the Ponyville guard. I wanted to introduce him to all my friends, may we come in?”

“Uh….ok…..I guess.” Fluttershy then opened the door more to let her guests in. Charles uncrossed his arms as he followed Twilight in. Fluttershy led the two to her living room. “You can have a seat here….if you’d like.” She offered as she pointed to a light blue sofa in the middle of the room. “Would you…..um….l-like some tea?”

“Why yes please, thank you Fluttershy.” Twilight thanked with a warm smile. Charles removed his staff and leaned it against the side of the couch against the arm rest and the two sat on the sofa with Twilight on Charles’s right side.

Fluttershy smiled back. “Ok….it’ll be a moment.” She then fluttered to her kitchen to make the tea.

Charles took this time to examine this pony’s house. There were mouse holes and bird houses all over the place, just like outside, every so often he would see a mouse scurry by or a bird fly about, or even a ferret run past. It was then that he felt a tapping on his left leg. He looked down and saw a little white rabbit giving him the stink eye. “Is this bunny seriously trying to give me a stink eye or something.” “Can I help you?” He asked the bunny.

The bunny then proceeded to make the universal sign of ‘I’m watching you’ with it’s paw. Charles just ignored it and looked back up. The bunny did not like this, as it then lifted one of Charles’s pants leg and bit hard on his leg. “OW, WHAT THE,” Charles stood up in surprise and kneeled down to grasp at the spot he was bitten. “WHY YOU LITTLE!”

“Charles, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked with concern.

Before he could answer, Fluttershy then came in from the kitchen with the cups and pot of tea on a tray in her hooves. “What’s going on out here?” She asked more loudly.

“This rabbit here bit me!” Charles explained by pointing with one finger while keeping the other hand on the offended area.

Fluttershy then fluttered over and set the tray down on a table in front of the sofa. “Angel, that wasn’t very nice, you should know better than to bite our guests.” She gently scolded the rabbit. “I’m terribly sorry Charles, he’s usually so well behaved, I don’t know why he did that. Here, let me take a look.” She moved to get close before she was stopped with a raised hand.

“I’m fine, it’s just a bite.”

“But you could be bleeding, rabbits do have sharp teeth for eating hard vegetables. Please, as a way for apologizing for Angel’s behavior.” She was pleading.

How could he possibly say no to such adorableness. “Fine, just make it quick.” Charles could swear he heard her let out a kind of squee when she smiled at his answer. He pulled up his pant leg and revealed the spot he was bitten.

Fluttershy looked carefully at the spot. “Oh my, you are bleeding a little, I’m terribly sorry for Angel biting you, just a moment and I’ll have you fixed up in no time.” Fluttershy then went off to a set of stairs leading to a door. A few short seconds later, she came back down with a first aid kit in her mouth. She set it down on the floor, opened it up and began to treat the wound. “Now this may sting a bit.” She warned as she was about to put on the hydrogen peroxide.

“I’m not a kid, I can handle a little pain.”

Fluttersy recoiled a bit at this, but continued on. She applied the medicine and Charles bareley flinched at it. Once the wound was cleaned, Fluttershy wrapped his leg up so it could heal. “There you go, it should be fine by tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” “I don’t get it, a minute a go she was practically scared to death of me, now the minute her bunny bites me, she doesn’t waste any time trying to help? What is up with this pony?” Charles was perplexed by this mares sudden change in attitude towards him.

“Are you going to be ok Charles?” Twilight asked with concern.

Charles looked at Twilight from over his shoulder.“Don’t you ever get tired of asking that, I’m a grown man, I can take care of myself……..but yes….I’ll be fine, I’ve had worse injuries than a bite from a bunny rabbit.”

“Oh my, you have, like what?” Fluttershy asked in concern as well.

Charles looked back at her. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

“Oh, ok then, anyway, the tea is ready if you want some.”

The three sat on the sofa and Twilight and Fluttershy chatted away, Charles tried to stay out of the conversation as much as he could, but was made impossible when Fluttershy became curious about the animals in the world he came from. He just said that they were the same here as they were on earth. The only difference was the animals here seemed a bit more intelligent.

It was then that Twilight decided to ask him something else. “So Charles, I wanted to ask you about that instrument you were playing this morning.”

“What about it?” He responded as he set his cup down and looked at Twilight.

“I’ve never seen one like it before, what is it called?”

“Don’t you have music here?”

“Yes, but we don’t have an instrument like what you were using this morning.”

“It’s called a guitar, they come in different styles on erarth, each look has a name, the one I was using was called a Gibson.”

“Would you mind playing a song for us, I just know Fluttershy would enjoy it, wouldn’t you Fluttershy?” Twilight asked as she turned her attention to Fluttershy.

“Oh yes please, I would like to hear something, if you don’t mind that is.” She responded timidly.

“I guess so, I do appreciate you tending to my leg and serving the tea.” Charles then took hold of his staff and changed it to the guitar again. He readied himself to perform for the two mares next to him. Once again, he used his magic so the other instruments needed for the song could be heard while he played lead guitar and sang.

The music faded, Charles heard a strange sound, he looked around and saw all these animals had gathered around him and were applauding in their own way. Charles looked over to Twilight and Fluttershy. “That was beautiful. Human music sure is amazing.” Twilight complimented.

“That was beautiful, and my animal friends seemed to like it too. Thank you for sharing it with us. You have an amazing voice too.” Fluttershy also complimented.

Charles just looked away and to the side. “Thanks.” He then turned his guitar back into his staff. The animals ceased their sounds and scurried off.

“Fluttershy, thank you for having us, but we should get going now.” Twilight informed.

“Of course, thank you for coming, and Charles, sorry again for Angel biting you, and thank you again for the lovely music.” Charles and Twilight then left Fluttershy’s house and headed back to the library.

By the look of the sun, it was now about four in the afternoon as they neared the library. As they approached, Twilight noticed the lights in the library were out. Judging by the time of day, she already knew what this meant, she just hoped Charles wouldn’t react badly to it. Twilight approached the door and used her magic to open it, Charles followed her in and the door closed behind them. “Hey Twilight, why is it so dark in-“

“SURPRISE!!”

“SWEET JESUS!” Charles was very startled by this, he quickly went for his staff and got in a battle ready stance. “All right, which one of you want’s it first!” He declared to the crowed of ponies before him.

“Charles relax, it’s a surprise party.” Twilight informed.

Charles looked at her first, then at the ponies who seemed confused at his stance, then at the room. There were streamers, balloons, and confetti all over the place. There were tables set up with all kinds of treats like cookies, cupcakes, candy, and a large cake at the center.

“Oh no.” Was his only thought about this, he relaxed and put his staff back on his back. “What is all this, what’s this party for?” He asked Twilight, but before she could answer, a pink coated mare bounded up in front of him with a huge smile on her face.

Her mane and tail were a darker shade of pink. Her eyes were a light blue color and on her flank were three balloons, two of which were also a light blue and the third was yellow. “HI, I’m Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you, were you surprised, were you were you were you, I love surprises especially big ones, I hope you like the party this is your welcome to Ponyville party, I invited every pony I could, too bad the guards couldn’t come for this though that would have made this party more fun but I did manage to invite my other friends that you met I hope you have fun here what’s your name?”

Charles just stared at her for the longest time as his brain tried desperately to figure out exactly what this pony just said, unfortunately, it was so fast, he couldn’t catch any of it, except for the last part where she asked for his name. “Um….it’s Charles, and you are?”

“Didn’t you hear, it’s Pinkie Pie silly, and this is your welcome to Ponyville party. Do you like it?” Pinkie spoke a little slower this time so Charles was able to understand her.

“Great, a party, why did it have to be a party.” He hated parties, it just meant he would have to be around those who hated him. “OK, why exactly are you throwing me a party, you don’t know me, and I’ve never seen you before”

“Because silly, I love to throw parties, especially parties to welcome new ponies to Ponyville, but you’re not a pony, so this is the first time I get to throw a welcome to Ponyville party for a non-pony, what are you anyway, it’s really nice to meet you.” Pinkie was speaking rapidly again, Charles had a little trouble keeping up. He looked to Twilight for advice.

Twilight stepped in and spoke to Pinkie on his behalf. “Pinkie, Charles here is a human, he came here from another world called earth.”

Pinkie smiled even bigger, if that was even possible. “WOW, another world, that is so amazing, I’ve never met some pony from another world, this is so GREAT! This could be a welcome to Ponyville, Equestria, and Equis PARTY! THREE PARTIES IN ONE!”

Even Charles was starting to get freaked out by this pink pony of endless energy. He wanted to refuse the party and get out of there, but with how this pony was acting, he was afraid of what she would do or how she would react to it. There was no telling if this pony had the potential to turn into some kind of nightmarish monster, he wouldn’t put it past her either, he still had no idea what these magical ponies were capable of. So he just let the party go on.

He just grabbed himself a cup of punch from the punch bowl and found a corner to stand in. As he looked at the ponies, he noticed the other ponies he met today that were Twilight’s closest friends. They were all mingling with other ponies while he just stood there in the corner, minding his own business. That didn’t last long though, as Pinkie hopped over to him and noticed a frown on his face.

She just spoke to him in her usual bubbly happy-go-lucky attitude. “Hey Charles, why you hiding in the corner her all mopey dopey? Why don’t you mingle and get to know every pony?”

Charles just eyed her. “No thanks, I’m fine here.”

“Awe, don’t be silly, how can you have fun just standing in a corner with punch, come on, get out there and have some fun.”

“No thank you, I’m fine right here.” He continued to insist.

Pinkie obviously wasn’t getting it, he just wanted to be left alone. “Come on Charles, why don’t you come and dance with me, I’m sure that’ll put a smile on your face.”

“I said I’m fine. What part of that is so hard to understand?” Charles was starting to get annoyed.

Pinkie still didn’t get the message. “Your funny, come on, let’s boogie.” Pinkie then grabbed his hand with her hoof and started dragging him to the dance floor. Charles was really starting to lose it, he didn’t care what this pony may be capable of. He jerked his hand out of her hoof, Pinkie turned around to face him just in time for him to yell at her, but not before crushing his cup and throwing it to the ground.

“DON’T YOU GET IT, I DON’T WANT TO DANCE, I DON’T WANT TO PARTY, OR HANG OUT WITH YOU OR ANY OF THESE PONIES, DON’T YOU GET IT?!” Pinkie recoiled at his shouting and frowned. This also got every ponies attention as they stopped what they were doing and looked at the scene.

“But……how could you not like parties? Every pony likes my parties.” Pinkie asked sadly.

Charles saw the attention he was getting, he looked around at all the scared faces at him. He just scowled back, he walked past Pinkie and made for the door. Twilight quickly chased after him, along with the other five ponies, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie.

Charles burst through the door and headed out. Twilight was the one to call out to him while the others hung back with worried expressions. “Charles wait, what’s wrong, why are you so mad?”

Charles stopped in his tracks, he turned around and faced Twilight. “I hate parties, that’s why, do you really think I want to be around others who think I’m a monster?”

“But Charles, no pony here thinks you’re a monster.”

“And why should I believe you huh, tell me, why should I trust what you say, or any one for that matter?”

Twilight looked as if she were on the verge of tears. “Why are you like this Charles, why is it so hard for you to trust any pony? Please tell me, maybe I can help if you just trust me.”

That was the last straw. He answered in a low growl. “You want to know why I have so much trouble trusting others, why I don’t want to be around others?”

“Yes, please Charles, just tell me and maybe I can help.”

Charles began to walk towards Twilight as he spoke, causing her to back up. “The reason I don’t trust anyone is because MY PARENTS DID THIS TO ME! THEY’RE THE ONES WHO TURNED ME INTO A SCIENCE EXPERIMENT, THEY’RE THE ONES WHO INJECTED ME WITH THOSE DAMN ROBOT BUGS THAT MADE ME THE WAY I AM, THEY’RE THE ONES WHO AGREED TO MAKE ME A DAMN VEGETABLE JUST SO THEY COULD STUDY MY BODY AND REPLICATE MY ABILITES!”

At this point, Twilight had backed up as much as she could until her back was against her tree near her front door where the other five were.

“I….I had no idea, I….I’m so sorry Charles.”

“Sorry doesn’t help. Sorry doesn’t make me a regular human. If you can’t trust your own parents, then who can you trust. I was only 15 years old when it happened, 15 YEARS OLD! Because of my parents, I had to make a run for it with my new abilities and escape the damn military base where they held me. Ever since then, the only person I could trust was myself, no one else, every time I tried to ask for help, the person I asked would either scream at me and call me a freak or beat me up. I had to toughen up and get strong, so that’s exactly what I did. I took care of myself and I’ve been doing just fine on my own. Now here I am in an unfamiliar world with no idea how anything works or what the laws are or ANYTHING, and now I have no choice BUT to put my trust in a pony who’s supposed to help me learn about this world!”

The entire party of ponies there heard the whole thing and couldn’t believe a single word, how could parents do such horrible things to their son. Twilight herself was crying now. “Charles, I….”

He cut her off. “Just forget it. I need some time alone.” He then turned around and flew off Towards the forest he saw near Fluttersy’s house.

Twilight tried to stop him. “Charles, wait, PLEASE DON’T LEAVE!” She started to gallop after him.

“Come on ya’ll, we’d better go too, ya’ll heard what he said, we just gotta let him know that we care about him and let him know he DOES have friends.” Applejack said to the other ponies with her, they galloped after Twilight to try and catch up.

Charles flew as fast as he could towards the forest, he just had to get away, to escape the horrible memories of his parents betraying him. As he flew, he could swear he heard Twilight’s voice call out after him, but he didn’t care, the last thing he needed was to speak with the unicorn who practically forced him to remember something he wanted to forget for so long. He hoped he could lose her in the forest he saw just outside of town.

He came to a landing just outside the forest and walked in, trying desperately to forget. He walked and walked as his mind was haunted by those horrible memories that plauged him his whole life. Finally, his legs got tired and he decided to rest, he walked up to a tree, removed his staff from his back, sat down and rested his back against the tree. “It’s not fair, why did they do that to me, IT’S NOT FAIR!” He shouted to no one in particular. He just sat there in sorrow, still trying to forget.

It wasn’t long though before he started hearing some familiar voices call out for him. “Charles, where are you?!” It was Twilight

“Please come out, it’s dangerous in this forest!” Fluttershy.

“We just want ta help!” Applejack.

“Darling, please come out, let’s talk about this!” Rarity.

Talk, that was the last thing he needed, he didn’t want to talk, he just wanted to be left alone. He just ignored them and hoped they would go away. But then, something caught his attention. All toghether, he heard them scream in terror. “AAAAAAHHHHHH!” This forced Charles out of his mind as he stood up with his staff in hand. He may not want to be found, but it sounded like they were in trouble. Despite what he was feeling towards them, he couldn’t just let them get hurt.

He ran to the source of the screaming and was met with a terrible scene. He stopped behind a pack of strange creatures that had the girls surrounded on all sides. They were huddled together hugging each other in desperation. “SOME PONY HELP US!” Twilight called out. Right after she did, one of the beasts leapt for them. They closed their eyes for the inevitable, but when it didn’t come after a moment, they opened their eyes and was greeted with a wonderful but hurtful sight, Charles now stood before them with his back to them. One of the beastst had his arm in its jaws. Charles had leapt over the pack of monsters and placed himself between them and allowed the creature to sink it’s jaws in his left arm instead of one of the ponies.

“CHARLES!” Twilight called out in hopeful fear. What she could see on Charles’s face was a pained struggling expression. The creature now visible to Charles looked like a wolf made out of wood and leaves, it had green glowing eyes. It growled with Charles’s arm in its mouth.

“GAH, Oh no you don’t, not on my WATCH!” On the last word, he flung his arm to the side, causing the beast to let go and jump back to rejoin the others. Charles winced in pain from the bite wound on his arm. It was now bleeding. “All right you wooden mutts, if you want to get to these ponies, then your gonna have to get through me!” He called to the dogs.

“Charles, thank Celestia you’re all right.” Pinkie said through teary eyes.

Charles looked back at them over his shoulder. “Celestia’s got nothing to do with it.” Just as he did, another wooden wolf jumped at them, Charles saw this and quickly swung his staff around to knock it back, to his surprise, the beast shattered into piles of sticks. “OK, what are these thing?!” He asked out loud.

Twilight informed as fast as she could. “They’re called timberwolves, they live in this forest.”

Before Charels could ask if he just killed it, his question was already answered as he saw the shattered wolf reassemble before him. “You have got to be kidding me.” Two more jumped out at him, once again, he swung his staff horizontally, catching one and slamming it into another, sending them flying into a tree and causing them to fall apart as well, only to reassemble a moment later. “All right, no more mister nice guy.” Charles took his staff in both hands and formed his swords. He kept his right one in a back hand held position while he twirled his other to a standard position. “So how do I beat these things?” He asked Twilight.

“The only way to truly stop them is with fire.” She informed.

“Great, I don’t know any fire spells, how am I gonna do this. I’ll just have to try and clear a path for them.” Suddenly, three more lunged at him. Charles managed to slice two of them, but one got below and bit him hard in the same leg Angel bit him. “GAAH, WHY YOU!” Charles sliced the wolf with his right sword and turned it to twigs. But another one came at him and got him by surprise. He only had time to see it coming before the wolf sunk it’s jaws in his left shoulder. “AAAHH, SON OF A!” He used his right sword again and sliced it up.

“Charles, oh man, are you ok?” Rainbow Dash asked in fear.

“Come on THINK, there’s just too many of them. Plus they keep reforming, not to mention I’m starting to lose blood.” “I’m going to cut us a path, stay close to me and do exactly what I say, understand?” He said while keeping his eyes on the pack. The girls responded in unison. “All right, here we go." Charles ran forward and started slicing and swinging with all the speed and might he could muster to chop up the timberwolfs for the girls to escape. The six ponies stayed close behind as they galloped behind him. Each time a timber wolf tried to get at them, Charles sliced them up. Soon they finally broke through the mess of wolves and Charles had gotten the girls free from being surrounded. There was still the problem of the wolves giving chase of the ponies should they make a run for it.

Once he turned around to face the horde again, the ponies were behind him. “Keep going, I’ll hold them off, you get to town and safety!” He called to them.

“But what about you?” Applejack asked.

“I’ll hold them off.” He slashed both swords at two more wolves trying to get past him. “If I don’t, these things will overtake you in no time.” He informed as he continued to slash and slice at the wooden fangs baring down on him.

“But we can’t just leave you.” Rarity said.

“I’ll be fine, get out of here, NOW!” He yelled at them from over his shoulder. The girls saw he wasn’t about to move, so they reluctantly left and headed for town. Once they were gone, he continued to slash and cut at the wolves that continued to come after him. “Don’t you mongrels ever give up!” In his fit, he failed to notice another timber wolf sneaking up behind him while his attention was on the numerous ones in front of him. The wolf got low to the ground and let out a growl. It leapt into the air and sunk it’s jaws in Charles left shoulder. “GAH!” He cried out in pain and fell to the ground on his hands and knees. He managed to get up and shake the beast off him, but that last bite really did a number, he had lost so much blood by now and was starting to feel weak. He tried to stand up but was wobbly on his feet, his vision was starting to blur, he held his left sword out in front of him and his right sword backhanded style just behind him. He panted heavily as he looked at the blurry mess of wolves ready to tear into him.

He couldn’t stand any more, he fell to the ground, he tried to keep himself up by jabbing his left sword in the ground. Before he passed out, a wall of flames suddenly erupted in front of him. A pony with bat like wings emerged, his vision wasn’t clear, but he could just bareley make out the cutie mark, it was one he hadn’t seen before. It was a full moon with clouds. The flames drove the wolves back into the forest as they yelped and ran off. Charles lost consciousness and blacked out.

Author's Note

AN: The reason for two chapters at once was because I got a little ambitious when I started writing the fifth chapter and made it longer than I meant to. So here you go, two chapters at once. Also, a full description of the pony that appeared will be given, the submitter is ebyer5.

Chapter 7

“Well, any readings now?”

“Sir, we are picking up faint readings, they’re unlike any we’ve ever encountered before.”

“Can you trace it, can you find a trail?”

“It will take a lot of work, but yes, I believe we can find a way to follow the signal.”

“Good, let me know the moment you find out anything.”

“Yes sir, I will do so.”

*****

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

“Ugh, my head, make it stop.” Charles was awoken by an annoying beeping sound that only served to agitate the major headache he was having. He placed his right hand over his face and rubbed at his forehead, he then removed his hand and slowly opened his eyes to the view of what could only be described as a hospital room. He was in a large bed with white sheets, his clothes were gone and replaced with a hospital gown, the smell of disinfectant wafted in the air. He then noticed his left arm and right leg were wrapped up in the places he was bit, his shoulders were also wrapped up, the bandages came up and over his shoulders where they met more wrappings around his stomach. He also noticed wires hooked up to him and to the infernal machine that was giving off the offending beeping noise, a heart monitor.

Just then, a unicorn stallion with a dark yellow coat and a brown mane and tail walked in, his cutie mark looked like a green x-ray screen with a bone on it. He was wearing the standard doctor’s coat with a stethoscope hanging around his neck and a pair of glasses rested on his nose. Charles carefully sat up as the doctor approached. “Ah good, your awake, I didn’t think you’d wake up so soon after the amount of blood you lost. You are a very lucky stallion my boy.” Said the doctor in a friendly tone. “I am doctor Stable, I will be overseeing your recovery while you’re here.”

“Wh-where am I?” Charles asked weakly, still feeling worn out.

“You’re in Ponyville hospital my boy, don’t you remember what happened?”

Charles struggled to remember. “I-I remember……screaming, and……these wolf things.”

“Timberwolves Charles, those things were called timberwolves.” The doctor informed. “You’re lucky to be alive after an attack from those things. Captain, you can come in now.” The doctor called out to the hall way from over his shoulder.

Captain Lightning Thrash then walked in with two other ponies with him. One was a little shorter than the captain. He had bat like wings, slited irises, grey fur with blue streaks running down his legs, a thunder cloud grey mane and tail with blue and white streaks through them that looked like lightning, his mane was done up in kind of an afro style. His cutie mark was the one Charles saw before blacking out, a full moon with dark clouds around it. On his left foreleg was a kind of metal tube that came up half way up his leg to an orange orb gem in a glass casing, followed by a hose that ran up to his back to a small metal back pack, it looked like it was designed to suck in air and move it through the hose, to the gem and out the tube. He was wearing the standard gold armor as well as the other pony.

The other pony was a unicorn stallion, just as tall as captain Thrash. His coat was very unusual, it was Russian blue camo, waves of blue and white mixed together in a strange fashion. His mane and tail were black with light blue edges. His cutie mark was a white star. On his front right leg was a tattoo of a parachute behind a Pegasus wrapping it’s forelegs around a planet and the words ‘That Others May Live’ on the planet. On his other leg was another tattoo in red ink saying 'Brothers The End'. Around his neck was a pair of dog tags, on one was a name, Pyro. The other had a set of numbers on it. Finally, instead of gold armor, he was wearing light armor where the design was similar to a uniform back on earth, it was like an airman battle uniform.

Captain Thrash spoke up. “Charles, good to see you still among the living, I suppose you have these two to thank for that.” The captain said as he motioned to the two new ponies next to him. “This is private Black Cloud….” He motioned to the pony with the bat wings. “…And this is specialist Stunner, he’s a part of the specialist division here in Ponyville. He’s the one who managed to patch you up a bit before you bled to death and brought you to the hospital, and Black Cloud here is the one who scared off the timberwolves with his flamethrower there.”

Black Cloud looked up at Charles then quickly looked down with a small smile. Stunner then stepped forward. When he spoke, he sounded like a surfer dude or something. “Nice to meet you, sorry I wasn’t there when we were supposed to meet you your first day here, but I was busy with a rescue, some fool unicorn tried a teleport spell for the first time and ended up a few feet up in a tree. Too scared to try and get down on her own, I was around at the time so I just helped her out.”

Charles listened to the unicorn’s explanation then turned his attention back to the other pony, Black Cloud. He just stared at Charles before the captain saw this. “Private Cloud here doesn’t say much, he’s good in a fight but rather shy and not easy to make friends with, he is a genious though. Had a unicorn help him make that flamethrower of his there, the gem inside is a rare fire orb, in the right conditions, it can emit a flame. He figured out how to make the orb create the flame and harness it into his weapon there.”

Stunner then stepped in. “He seems to have taking a liking to you, he’s been following you around all day when you first came in to sign up for the guards, he’s the one who informed me that you had gone into the Everfree forest, I followed him in to find you and he started using his weapon to scare off the timberwolves.”

Charles became curious about something. “How long was I out?”

The captain informed. “Almost a day and a half, it was two days ago, counting today, that you went in there and it is now around midday. You’re lucky they came around when they did. What were you doing in that forest anyway?”

“I……I just needed some time alone sir.” Charles looked away from the captain as he answered.

“So I heard, the girls you saved told me all about what happened that day. I suppose I can’t get at you for going in there since you didn’t know about that place. For future references, that forest is called the Everfree forest and is home to many dangerous creatures, timberwolves are just one of the many things that live there. Anyway, you have others here that would like a word with you so we’ll be on our way. You take it easy now private.” The captain then led the other two out of the room.

“Other visitors?” He asked as he looked at doctor Stable.

“Of course, since you’re awake, you can have visitors now and there are a few who would like to see you. One moment please.” The doctor then left the room as well. After a minute, princess Celestia and Shining Armor came in.

“Princess, captain, what are you doing here?”

Celestia spoke first. “I came to check up on you, Twilight wrote to me about the events that happened the day you signed up to join the royal guard in Ponyville and I just had to come by and thank you personally for saving her and her friends. ”

“Same here, you saved my little sister after all.” Shining said.

“I was only doing what I thought was right.” Charles responded.

“And those actions saved lives Charles, you’re a hero.” Celestia said. “I am grateful to you for what you did, you have proven that you truly belong with the royal guards for your act of bravery.”

“You’ve got some guts taking on timberwolves like that.” Shining complimented. “Are you sure you don’t want to be anything more than a private?”

“Like I said, I am no leader, I’m fine with the position I have in the guard.”

Celestia gave a smile. “Very well then, I just wanted to come by and personally thank you for your actions.”

“Same here, I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you saved my little sister Twilight.” Shining stated.

“We’ll leave you to recover now, but you should know that the girls wish to meet with you now and give their thanks as well. And just so you know, your past has been made clear to every pony here in town.”

Charles tensed up at this. “WHAT, what do you mean my past has been made clear?!”

Celestia recoiled a bit at his shouting but regained her composure. “Well, you did practically shout out about how your parents are the ones responsible for what happened to you at the party Pinkie Pie threw for you.”

Charles slumped at this. “Great, just great.”

Celestia, not sure what to say from there, decided now would be a good time to leave. “Farewell Charels, take care of yourself.”

“See you later private Charles.” Shining gave his goodbye.

Charles looked back up to see them leave. As soon as they were gone, the six ponies, who’s lives he saved, walked in and gathered around him with smiles on their faces. Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash on his right, and Twilight, Applejack, and Fluttershy on his left. Twilight was the first to speak. “Hey Charles, glad to see you-“

“Why did you follow me?” Charles cut her off with his question as he kept his eyes looking down so as not to make eye contact.

A second passed before she answered. “We were worried about you, after what you said about what your parents did to you…..well.” She didn’t know what to say from there.

Charles looked at Twilight. “If you knew that forest was dangerous, then why did you come after me, I can take care of myself.”

“Like I said, we were worried about you.”

“So you put your selves in danger just for me?” He asked a little louder.

Applejack then cut in with a bit of a scowl. “You shouldn’t have gone in that forest in the first place ya know.”

Charles then turned his attention to Applejack. “Hey, it’s not like I asked you to follow me in there, you chose to go in there and put yourselves in danger, now because of me having to save your sorry hides, I’m in the hospital.”

Rainbow then interjected with a scowl of her own. “So WHAT, are you saying you regret saving us?” While all this was going on, Fluttershy started cringing while the others looked on in worry.

Charles turned to Dash who was now hovering in the air. “OF COURSE NOT, I may not like having to be stuck with others, but I’m not about to let someone…..or somepony die just because I don’t like them!”

“So WHAT, NOW you’re saying you don’t like us?” Rainbow asked again.

“I…..” He stopped, now that he thought about it, these ponies he’s been meeting has been nothing but nice to him, not once has he been insulted or yelled at or spit on or beaten. Sure he’s gotten a few odd looks, but that was it. “So…..are you saying that you all like me?” His voice softened .

Applejack answered again. “Of course we like you sugar cube, why else would we have worried about you when you ran off like ya did.”

This confused him more. “How could you possibly like me, I insulted her…” He pointed his finger on his good hand at Rainbow Dash. “I yelled at her…” He then pointed at Pinkie Pie. “And I yelled and cursed at her!” He then pointed at Twilight. “Not to mention how cold I’ve been acting to all of you, how can you all possibly like me?!”

Twilight answered again. “Because you need a friend, with everything you’ve been through, you must be in a lot of pain. Friends help each other with their pain, friends look out for each other and are there for one another when they’re needed.”

“How many times do I need to say it before you get it, I don’t need anyone!” Charles exclaimed.

“Oh really, like you didn’t need anyone when you were about to get eaten by those timberwolves?” Dash pointed out.

Charles turned his attention back to Dash. “Again, I wouldn’t have been in that position if you all hadn’t followed me in there.”

Applejack then interjected again. “And we wouldn’t have followed you in there if you hadn’t gone in there in the first place!”

Twilight then interjected. “WILL YOU THREE JUST STOP IT ALREADY! You’re going in circles with this!” She shouted which caused Applejack and Rainbow Dash to recoil. Charles just looked at her. “Charles, you need us, you don’t know anything about our world, you proved that when you flew off into the Everfree forest without knowing what dangers where in there. You’re lucky it was just a pack of timberwolves that you had to face.”

“And how do you think this makes me feel Twilight, all my life the only one I could count on and trust is myself because everyone else wouldn’t lift a finger to help me. Now here I am, stuck in a world I know nothing about, being forced to have to put my trust in a total stranger.”

“Charles, I know this isn’t easy for you, but you CAN trust me, I promise I will do everything I can to help you learn about this world. You can trust me, you can trust us.” She said as she laid a hoof on his lap.

Charles looked down at her hoof then back to her with a solemn look. “I….” He looked away again. “I don’t know if I can.” He admitted.

Fluttershy decided to chime in. “Charles, if you don’t mind me saying, maybe it’s time you just let go of the past and forget about what happened…if that’s all right.”

Pinkie agreed. “Yeah, it was your parents that did all that mean stuff to you, not others.”

Rarity then chimed in. “From what we can understand about what you said, it was your parents that betrayed you and did what they did to you, no pony else is responsible.”

Rainbow then spoke up. “Yeah, just forget those jerks and move on.”

“Charles.” Twilight called to him to get his attention. Charles turned to meet her gaze only to see the sweetest smile Twilight could give. “I promise we’ll be there for you when you need us, you can trust us.”

Pinkie spoke again. “We Pinkie promise.” Then all together, they chanted. “Cross our hearts and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in our eye.” As they said this, they first made an x over their hearts, flapped their forelegs like wings, then put a hoof over one of their eyes.

Charles just looked at all of them with a raised eyebrow. Pinkie explained. “That was a Pinkie promise.”

Rarity continued. “And no pony breaks a Pinkie promise.”

“So no matter what, if you need us for anything, we’ll be there for you.” Rainbow said with a smile.

Charles was at a loss for words. He just didn’t know how to respond to all this. These ponies made it perfectly clear that they were actually willing to help him no matter what. “I….I don’t know…..what to say…..I.” He couldn’t finish, he was actually overcome with emotion that he just couldn’t speak.

“Charles.” Fluttershy had called to get his attention. “We know it won’t be easy for you to put your trust in us so suddenly, just take your time, we can wait.” The girls all nodded.

“Um…..sure, ok, um……..thank you.” Was all he could say to this.

Twilight spoke again. “We’ll let you rest now, I hope you feel better soon. If you want, I can start teaching you about our world tomorrow when I come to visit. Would that be ok?”

“Sure…..that would be……nice.” Charles was still trying to understand all that was said to him.

“Perfect, then tomorrow, I’ll come by with some books for you to read and I’ll help you along. For now, get some rest, you’ve had a rough time already.” With those words, the girls all said their goodbyes and left Charles to think.

Could he really put his trust in them, they made it clear that they just want to help him. Every pony he’s met, even the guards, have been nothing but accepting of him, how could he not have seen it, would it really be so bad to trust someone other than himself for once? It wouldn’t be easy, but those mares pointed out that they knew this too and were willing to wait for him to get to that point. This was all too much for him to take in at once, he is just going to have to sleep on it for now and hope to figure this out tomorrow.

*****

The next day came after a peaceful nights rest for Charles since the heart monitor was removed from him yesterday after his visits. The sun was just now rising over the horizon to start the day. Charles let out a yawn as he stretched his unwrapped arm up. A nurse walked in, pushing a cart with a tray of food for breakfast. She had a white coat with a soft pink mane and tail, her mane was tied in a bun, her cutie mark was a red plus sign. “Good morning Charles, I’m nurse Redheart, how are you feeling this morning?” The mare asked.

“Ok I guess, my arm, leg and shoulders are still sore though.”

“That will go away soon. I hope you like your breakfast.” Nurse Redheart then set a tray with food on it. “I’ll be back shortly to take the tray from you when you’re done, do you need anything else before I go?”

“No thanks, I’m fine.” The nurse left and Charles ate up. The nurse returned shortly after and took his tray. Charles’s mind was still a buzz with everything that happened yesterday. He still wasn’t sure about what those ponies said, but they sounded so sincere it was impossible to think otherwise. “Maybe I really can trust them. I just need to be careful, that’s all.” After a while of nothing to do but think, Twilight came in with a pair of saddle bags full of books.

“Good morning Charles, feeling any better today.” She greeted with a big smile and a cheery tone.

“I’m still sore in the places I got bit by those……timberwolves were they?” Twilight gave a nod.

“I brought a few books that can help you learn some things that will be important for you to know.” Twilight informed. She opened her bag with her magic and levitated a book out and moved it in front of Charles for him to take.

Charles took it in his hands and held it up to get a better look. “If you have any questions about it, just let me know.”

“Thanks Twilight…..I…really appreciate this.”

When Twilight gave him a smile, he could swear he heard another squee like when Fluttershy smiled at him for letting her help him when Angel bit him.

Before he could get started though, 2nd Lt. Carbon entered with an earth pony following him in. This one was standing slightly taller than Carbon. He was wearing blue and black dragon scale armor. His fur was white and his mane and tail was black. He had no cutie mark but there was a symbol on his right shoulder, it was an outline of a cross with strange symbols that could only be described as ancient or foreign writing, a black bodark insignia. On his back were a pair of kukri machetes sites.

“Charles, good to see you up, hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Carbon answered.

Twilight answered for him. “Not at all Carbon, what brings you two by?”

“Sorry for the intrusion, but 1st Lt. Shadow Fang here wanted to come see the new recruit for himself, he heard about what Charles did and wanted to meet him.”

“So, this is creature called a human that every pony is talking about? Doesn’t look so impressive to me.” He spoke with a heavy Russian accent. “If you ask me, you were fool for taking on timberwolves on your own.”

Charles looked to Shadow fang. “Well it’s not like I had a choice, Twilight here and her friends would be dead if I hadn’t stepped in when I did.”

“This is true, you did save ponies from death.”

“And we are very grateful to him Shadow Fang, so I would like it if you didn’t insult him.” Twilight defended.

Shadow Fang then turned on Twilight. “And you were fool for following him into forest, what were you thinking you foolish mare.”

“That’s enough Shadow Fang, I didn’t bring you here to insult any pony, you wanted to meet Charles, now you’ve met.” Carbon intervened.

“Hmph.” Was Shadow’s response.

“Sorry about him, he’s not exactly the sociable type.” Carbon informed.

Charles then realized something. “Say, are you related to Duskfang and Dawnfang?” He asked Shadow Fang.

“HA, those two, hardly, is only coincidence that we three have Fang as last name. They are nothing compared to me.” Shadow Fang scoffed. “If you excuse, I have duties to perform now. I suggest you toughen up if you want to be guard private Charles.” He said private with a mocking tone. Shadow then turned and left the room.

“Sheesh, what’s his problem?” Charles asked.

Carbon informed. “He’s from Stalliongrad, a country far to the north from here, he was experimented on as well like you to create super soldiers, it worked, but not how they expected, so the project was scrapped, but they kept him around because of his abilities.”

“So what can he do, what sort of enhancements does he have?”

“He’s a werewolf.” Twilight closed her eyes and shuddered after she answered.

Charles looked at her with wide eyes. “What…..a…..a WEREWOLF. YOU have GOT to be KIDDING, a REAL WEREWOLF! But…..they’re just a myth…..they only exist in scary stories and horror movies!”

“Isn’t that what you said about unicorns and Pegasai to the princesses?” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow and a smile.

Carbon began to inform. “Thankfully, he’s the only known were wolf. From my knowledge, there used to be real ones a long time ago, but they died out somehow, now, Shadow Fang is the first pony made were wolf. You saw that symbol on his shoulder right?” Charles nodded. “That symbol lets him transform whenever he wants, it glows red before he changes and he becomes this huge wolf beast. But it comes at a cost, when he changes back, he is very exhausted and becomes temporarily psychotic. I think I’ve said enough, I’ll let you two get back to your study session. Charles, I want you to concentrate on getting better so you can start your job as a guard, understand.”

“Yes sir, I understand.” Charles said.

“Good, have a good day Ms. Sparkle.” Carbon gave a wave and left.

“Well, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get started.” Twilight said with a smile, eager to begin her role as teacher for Charles.

Author's Note

AN: Guess who figured out how to post pictures in his stories? HA, ok enough of that. I want to thank Jman796 who provided me with the links for the images in this chapter.

The newest OC’s have appeared, as I said in my last author’s notes, the OC identified as Black Cloud comes from ebyer5 from fimfiction.net

Stunner and Shadow Fang comes from Jman796 on fimfiction.net. I tell ya, that guy came up with so many cool sounding OC’s when I put in a request for them, and he said he did it just for my story. Great guy, but he submitted so many, I couldn’t use them all. Also, I am definitely going to have fun writing Shadow Fang’s lines. Thanks again Jman XD

Chapter 9

Spike led Charles outside of Ponyville to a rocky area just west of the town to a mountain with a cave entrance, there were two diamond dogs wearing crude looking metal armor, a simple chest guard and a helmet, guarding it. Spike and Charles were hiding behind a big rock a few feet away from the cave, Charles was peeking around the side of the rock to analyze the situation. “Only two guards, no sweat.” He whispered.

“So what now?” Spike asked, also in a whisper.

Charles brought his head back to behind the rock and looked to Spike, continuing to speak in a hushed tone. “Now you go back to Ponyville where it’s safe while I take care of this.”

Spike got a little worried at Charles’s plan. “No way, I’m coming with you, you can’t go in there alone, there’s no telling how many of those diamond dogs there are.”

“And what help could you be Spike, your just a baby dragon, you’ll only get in the way. It’s too dangerous for you, so just go back to town where it’s safe and I’ll come back later with Rarity. NO BUTS.” Charles said with authority.

Spike answered in a defeated tone. “All right, but please be careful.”

“I’ll be fine, I can handle a few mangy mongrels.” Spike then headed back to town to leave Charles to do the heroics. Charles took out his badge and pinned it on the upper left side of his chest. He removed his staff from his back, holding it in his right hand, and made his black armor appear, his badge still in its pace, looking as if it were part of his armor. Charles came out from around the rock and stepped in full view of the two dog guards. “In the name of the royal guard of Ponyville, I hear by order you to release the pony you have taken captive.” He stated as he pointed one end of his staff at the guards and spread out his wings.

The guards looked at each other in confusion, then back at Charles and started to laugh. One of them spoke. “HA HA HA, is this some kind of joke, what are you, some kind of hairless winged monkey? HA HA HA HA!”

This made Charles scowl at them. “This is no joke, you have taken a citizen of Ponyville and I am here to get her back, if you fail to comply, you WILL be sorry, now let her go or else!”

The other guard responded. “Fat chance creature, that pony is ours now.” The two guards then charged towards Charles. He took a fighting stance with his staff in both hands and his left side prominent. The two guards drew closer and closer, once they were just a few feet away, they leapt at him. Charles waited at the last second and used his wings to jump up, he then came back down on the backs of the diamond dogs with both his feet, forcing them to slam into the ground. The two let out a loud grunt of pain upon impact. Charles jumped back off them and landed in front of them. He reached down and picked one up by the throat. “Now, where is the pony Rarity?” He asked as he glared into the dog’s eyes.

The dog didn’t answer, instead, put two fingers to his mouth and gave out a loud whistle. Charles looked at the dog with a confused expression, then it quickly disappeared and he slammed the dog back into the ground, knocking him out. He then turned to the other dog and slammed one end of his staff into the dog’s head to knock him out as well. “Lousy mutts.” Charles muttered. Charles then turned his attention to the cave entrance, he was about to go in but soon started hearing a rumbling coming from the cave. A whole mess of diamond dogs came charging out towards him. “All right then, let’s do this.” Charles took on the same stance he took earlier and readied himself for combat.

Before the hoard of dogs reached him though, a large shadow washed over him, he looked up and saw a massive wolf beast fly overhead and landed in front of him, the wolf charged head first into the mess of dogs and started to tear into them. It was wearing the same kind of armor as Lt Shadow Fang had on, it used its massive claws to rip and tear them apart, slashing and swinging at them and sending a few of them flying off to the sides as well. It was letting off fierce growls and grunts as it fought. Charles only watched in horror and awe at the scene.

In what seemed like minutes, but was actually only a few seconds, the surviving diamond dogs were sent running and screaming in fear back into the cave. The wolf beast stood as tall as Charles on all fours. It had black fur and red eyes that were now staring at Charles. To his surprise, the wolf stood up on its hind legs and towered over Charles. Charles readied himself for a fight with the beast, only to be surprised again when it spoke in a low growling voice. “You were fool for coming here alone. Did you honestly think you could do this alone, you should have alerted the rest of us of this! I SHOULD KILL YOU FOR YOUR IDIOCY!” The beast shouted.

“Lt. Shadow Fang, that’s enough, change back now!” Came Lightning Thrash’s voice. Charles looked behind him and saw all the guards there. He turned back around and saw the wolf beast now on all fours again. It started to shrink down a bit. It’s black fur started to turn white, it’s claws shrunk in and turned to hooves, it’s long canine snout also started to shrink. Eventually, the wolf beasty was gone and Lt. Shadow Fang was now standing in its place, panting and glaring.

“I’LL KILL YOU FOR YOUR IDIOCY!” Shadow Fang called, he leapt at Charles but was suddenly held back by Lt.’s Carbon and Storm Chaser. “Let me go, I’ll kill you!”

“That’s enough Shadow Fang, snap out of it!” Carbon said through grunts as he struggled to keep Shadow fang under control.

Soon, Shadow Fang clenched his eyes shut and seemed to calm down a bit, his body became relaxed. “Lt. are you all right now?” Storm Chaser asked.

Shadow Fang opened his eyes and responded through pants. “I’m….fine now….you can….release me.” The two Lt.’s released Shadow Fang hesitantly.

Charles looked on confused, then remembered about what he was told of Lt. Shadow Fang being a were wolf. The captain came up to his side to speak. “Another side effect of his werewolfism, the longer he stays in his wolf form, the longer he’ll act psychotic, the reason the super soldier project he was a part of was scrapped. Mind telling me why you didn’t come and inform me of the trouble here private Charles?”

Charles stood at attention to begin to explain. “Sir, I was here at the time and figured that I could handle this on my own. There’s no telling what those dogs are doing to Rarity in there and I figured it would be best to act as fast as possible. But, how did you find out about this?”

“Spike informed me, he was worried about you and came to tell me what happened. YOU should have come to me first before coming here to rescue her yourself.”

“I figured I could handle it on my own sir. It’s just a few diamond dogs.” Charles said.

“It doesn’t matter how many you think there are, you don’t know their numbers, as a member of the royal guard, you are part of a team. We work together, NOT alone. Understand.”

“Yes sir.”

A new voice spoke up. “Now that that’s out of the way, I believe there is a pony we need to rescue.” An earth pony wearing a full body suit that was grey, his entire head was visible, so his coat, mane, and tail could be seen. His coat was an olive drab color and his mane and tail was black with hints of grey. On his right foreleg, he had a crossbow attached. His rear left leg was replaced with a steel prosthetic leg. He had a southern accent. He came up to Charles and introduced himself. “I am Master Sgt. Fuse, EOD specialist. That’s Explosives and Ordinance Disposal. It’s nice to meet you Charles.”

“Like wise sir.” Charles responded.

Captain Lightning Thrash then got every pony’s attention. “All right, listen up, we’ve got a pony being held prisoner by a group of diamond dogs, we are to go in there, find her and get her out, failure is not an option. Any questions?” No response. “All right then,2nd Lt Carbon, you will take the lead and use your eye’s to help us navigate the tunnels in there. I will follow close behind, followed by Master Sgt. Fuse, then the other Lt.’s and finally the rest of you bring up the rear in no particular order. Let’s move.” With that, Carbon then took the lead and the others followed in to the cave.

Upon entering, Carbon lit up his horn and his eyes began to glow a light green color, like this, Carbon was able to see in the dark. Charles was in the back with privates Black Cloud, Dusk Fang and Dawn Fang. He was still carrying his staff in his right hand. Dusk fang was the first to speak up. “So Charles, how come you didn’t come to us and let us know what was going on?”

Dawn Fang then came in. “Yeah, it would have been fun to take on those diamond dogs.”

Charles began to explain. “I’m just not much of a team player, I’ve only ever had to look out for myself pretty much all my life. I was never able to count on anyone but myself.”

Storm Chaser then came in from ahead. “Well you’d better get used to it private Charles, your part of the Ponyville royal guard now, and we work as a team, even Lt. Shadow Fang knows that.”

As they walked, the tunnel seemed to start to light up a bit with a soft light blue glow. Lt. Carbon had to stop, thus causing the others to stop as well. He had to deactivate his night vision spell to see clearly. He spoke up and addressed the group. “Looks like the rest of the underground area here has some florescent plant life, we should be able to see fine the rest of the way.” They continued on then and soon came to a large cavernous area. It was huge and well lit up with glowing mushrooms lining the cavern walls.

“Well, this will be a problem, which way now?” Storm Chaser asked out loud upon seeing different tunnels laid out before them from the open area.

Stunner spoke up. Relax Storm, we’ll figure this out, right captain?”

Before captain Lightning Thrash could answer, a rumbling was heard. A huge number of diamond dogs emerged from each of the tunnels and soon had the group surrounded, a single diamond dog in what looked like scale armor stepped forward from the others and addressed the group. “You are trespassing on diamond dog territory, leave now or die!”

Captain Thrash answered. “I am Captain Lightning Thrash of the Ponyville royal guard, you have taken a citizen of Ponyville and we are here to retrieve her, I ask that you return her to us now so we can end this peacefully.”

The dog responded. “Pony is too valuable to us, she is good gem hunter, we no release her, you go now.”

Lt. Shadow Fang then spoke up. “Looks like we do this hard way.”

Dusk Fang then responded. “Just the way I like it.” The twins then drew their swords. Followed by Shadow Fang, then Storm Chaser took his sword out, and all the others followed. Black Cloud got his flamethrower at the ready as well.

Captain Lightning Thrash started barking orders. “Black Cloud, provide air support with your fire, Fuse, you provide artillery assistance with your explosive crossbow. Every pony else, CHARGE!”

Black cloud took to the air and let loose with his flamethrower. He flew over the battle field and set dogs ablaze, being careful not to burn his allies. He fired a continuous stream of flames, reducing those unfortunate enough to get hit by them to a burning mass of flesh. The dogs tried throwing spears at him. Black cloud saw the spears coming, he was able to avoid their bad aim or burn the spears to ashes before they reached him. He then switched to firing orbs of flame from his device, each orb he fired resulted in an explosion of flames that burned the dogs to the bone.

Down below, the twins were working together expertly, they would switch between defending one while the other delivered a killing strike with their swords, as they did, their swords let off a kind of flame that was colored similar to the gems imbedded in their swords. One seemed to burn the enemy while the other froze the dogs and shattered them to pieces. Dusk Fang jumped over his brother while Dawn Fang rolled under and both struck with their swords at two dogs, then they got back to back and crossed their swords together, creating a swirling vortex of fire and ice. It spread out around them and burned or froze the dogs close to them. They continued with their strategy of one blocking while the other struck.

Fuse hung back and fired his crossbow bolts at the enemies from afar, each shot he made resulted in the bolts exploding upon impact with the ground or, to the misfortune of its victim, a diamond dog, either way, numerous dogs were being taken out from a distance by Fuse.

Carbon was making full use of his daggers, he took hold of his knives with his magic and threw them at dogs that tried to get near him, one charged at him and he took hold of one of his knives in his magic grasp and flung it with ease, landing it right into the dog’s head. Another came from the side, and Carbon threw another, landing it in the dogs chest. Carbon was able to retrieve his knives so he would always have something to throw. He then had all six of his knives floating around him in a perfect circle around him and flung them in all directions, taking out the dogs around him, he brought them back to him and readied them for more flinging. He got them in another circle, but this time in a vertical fashion with the points at an angle, he made it spin with such speed making a kind of buzz saw, he sent it forward and had it slice any dog in its path in half.

Shadow Fang had his twin weapons in his hoofs as he fought. He managed to expertly dodge or block attacks while countering and killing the enemies around him. A dog tried for a down strike with a spear, Shadow crossed his blades to block it, he forced the spear up and did a cross slash with his blades, slicing the dog in half along its waist. Then did a quick turn and slice to another dog that tried to sneak up behind him, he slashed at two more on his side and killed them. He was fighting almost as ferociously as when he was in his wolf form. Not a single move he made was wasted, he kept up fluid but fierce motions as he fought.

Stunner was fairing just as well. No dog stood a chance against him. He was using his magic to manipulate his sword around him to counter and kill any diamond dog foolish enough to fight him. Multiple dogs surrounded him, Stunner got his sword ready and swiped it in a circle around him so fast, he managed to slice off their heads. He flung his sword into the chest of another dog and drew it back just in time to stab it into another dog behind him. He brought it around again and sliced at another dog on his side. Another dog tried to get the drop on him by jumping at him. Stunner saw this and grasped the dog in his magical grasp, he then sent his sword right through the foolish mutt.

Charles, sticking to his no kill policy, was using his staff to disarm and knock out any diamond dogs that challenged him. He jabbed his staff at a diamond dog in the face and knocked it out. He swung it around in a circle to catch another dog in the side of the face and sent it flying backwards. A dog thrust its spear at Charles, he swung his staff up to redirect it and continued the momentum until the other end of his staff was facing the dog’s face and thrust it forward. Then Charles flared out his wings, he jumped up, brought his staff over his head, and fell to the ground and slammed his staff down, creating a shock wave that sent any dogs nearby flying. Charles then jumped back again and started hitting each of the dogs with his staff to knock them out. He knocked one so hard it was sent flying into other dogs and knocked them down. He twirled his staff around and threw it, using his magic to keep it spinning and knocking it into other dogs like a boomerang, he called it back and twirled it above his back as he bent over, came back up and swept it around him, taking out more dogs around him.

Storm Chaser was busy with his own dogs as well. A dog thrust his spear at Storm, Strom blocked with his sword and forced the spear upwards and out of the dogs hand, Storm then swiped his sword down and cut off the dog’s arm, the dog cried out in pain as it fell over. Two more dogs tried to double team him, he just gave his wings a mighty flap to kick up dust and blinded them, he then took the opportunity of their blindness to finish them off by cutting off their heads with his big sword. Another came up behind him and tried to stab him in the back. Storm jumped up and landed behind the dog instead and stabbed him in the neck. The dog fell down dead.

Captain Lightning Thrash fought his way through the diamond dogs to the commander of the dogs. This dog was slightly bigger than the others. This one had a big sword that needed to be held with both of its hands. Lightning Thrash called out to the dog. “Surrender diamond dog, you don’t stand a chance against the royal guard!”

The commanding dog glared at Thrasher. “We no give up pony, pony is too valuable to dogs, you no get her back!” As the dog spoke, he raised his sword above his head, on the last word, he swung it down to try and cleave Thrash in half, but Thrash was too quick. Lightning Thrash dodged right and swung his sword at the dog, the dog blocked it with his own sword. They broke their lock and stepped back from each other. Thrash took a flying leap at the dog to try and strike him down, the dog brought his sword above his head horizontally to block. The swords clashed again, resulting in sparks. Lightning flew back and landed on the ground. He used his wings to propel himself forward at the dog, hoping to impale him with his speed. The dog swung his sword down to try and cut the captain in half again. Thrash managed to maneuver to the side to avoid the strike and jabbed his sword with such force, it pierced the dogs armor and went right into his gut. The dog cried out in pain, Thrash drew his sword from the dog’s chest, the dog stumbled back and fell over dead.

The battle didn’t take long to end after that, soon, every last diamond dog in the area was now dead, at least those that fought against the older members of the guard, the ones that Charles fought lay unconscious or groaning in pain. The soldiers all regrouped at the center of the area. The captain then spoke up. “Well done men, we made quick work of those dogs.”

1st Lt. Shadow Fang felt the need to comment on Charles’s choice to not kill. “Hmph, why did you not kill dogs private Charles, they are enemy.”

“I just didn’t see the point in it as long as they are no longer able to fight back, Sir.” Charles responded.

“They wouldn’t be able to fight back at all if they were dead, what do you think they will do once they can get back up?”

“Trust me sir, they won’t be getting up anytime soon. We’ll be long gone by the time they recover.”

Sgt. Fuse then stepped in. “That’s enough you two, let’s not get into a fight about this. Charles, I can understand you not wanting to kill, but you will have to take a life eventually, in this line of work, it will happen where you’ll have to kill a trouble maker. There are some ponies in this world that would rather die than go to a prison or do whatever it takes to get what they want. I suggest you suck it up and be ready to kill.”

Charles looked away with a solemn expression. “Yes sir.”

The captain then spoke up. “Looks like we may have to split up here then to find Rarity, we’ll each take a tunnel and rondevous back here in an hour. Once we meet back, report your findings.”

“Yes sir.” They all responded together. Before they could start to split up, the ground under Charles’s feet suddenly opened up and Charles fell through a hole. Before any of the officers there could react, it closed up behind him, preventing any soldier from following him.

Charles fell through darkness as he slid down the hole, within minutes, he soon emerged into another large cavern, he was able to stop himself from hitting the hard floor by using his wings. He came to a landing and looked around, this cavern also had bright luminescent plants lining the walls. Charles then looked straight ahead, only to be greeted with more diamond dogs. Behind them was what looked like a large prison cell, and in it was Rarity.

Rarity called out to him. “CHARLES! You came for me!”

Charles answered back. “Don’t worry Rarity, I’m here to get you home!”

One dog stepped forward from the crowd. This one was the usual height of a diamond dog, he had on a golden crown with many gems embedded in it. He wore a red velvet cape with white trim and was holding a wooden dark brown staff with a big white diamond on it. “Greetings creature, I am glad you could come. I am King Cerberus, ruler of diamond dogs.”

“Just the mutt I wanted to see.” Charles stated. “Listen here you mangy mongrel, you have taken a citizen of Ponyville and I am here to take her back, release her immediately or else!”

“I did not bring you here to make threats creature, I brought you here to add you to my collection, you are a new species and would like to add you to my personal collection of oddities, will you surrender or is this going to be difficult?” The king asked.

“I am NOT an item to be added to a collection you lousy flea bitten canine! I will not ask again, let Rarity go or I’ll take a newspaper to your sorry but!”

The king did not like this, he scowled at Charles. “That does it, BRUTUS, come forward!” Another diamond dog stepped forward, this one had scale armor as well and was wearing a gold medallion with a small white pearl at the center. “Brutus, kill creature.”

The dog stepped further from the crowd and stopped. Suddenly, the pearl on the medallion started to glow, the dog started to grow in incredible size, it let out grunts as its body grew larger and larger, soon the dog had grown gigantic, it let out a monstrous roar at Charles as it took hold of a giant two handed sword from off its back.

“Oh my god.” Charles was put off by this a bit but didn’t show it, he got his staff ready for the fight of his life.

Chapter 10

Charles was now facing down a massive diamond dog with a ridiculously huge sword in one of its hands, Charles figured that his staff wouldn’t be enough, the best he could hope to do with his staff against such a massive foe is cause minor pains with his strike. He formed his twin swords and readied himself for combat. Charles gave a determined look as he charged at Brutus, Brutus raised his massive sword and swung it down. Charles Stopped in his tracks and crossed his swords over head to block, the sword came crashing down, Charles mangaged to hold the blade off, but when the massive blade and his made contact, the earth around him cracked and formed a crater. He dropped to his right knee, struggling to keep the blade at bay, he then managed to thrust the sword up a bit allowing him to roll to the right.

Charles used his wings to jump up and readied his swords for a strike, but Brutus formed a fist with his free hand and swung it at Charles, Charles saw it coming and crossed his swords in front of him to block, the blow sent him flying backwards. He managed to land on his feet and skidded backwards a ways. He stood up again and took to the air, he flew straight for Brutus again and readied his sword for another attempt at a strike. Brutus brought his sword up and blocked Charles’s strike which resulted in sparks flying and the sound of metal clashing rang out. With Charles’s focus on Brutus, he failed to notice Brutus’s fist coming at him. The fist made contact and sent Charles flying to the left, causing him to impact against the cave wall hard and making a crater, Charles cried out in pain, still managing to keep his grip on his swords.

“CHARLES!” Rarity cried out in fear. Brutus then went for another punch while Charles was still on the wall. The fist impacted hard into Charles. This caused him to lose his grip on his swords, they fell to the ground, his right sword’s tip stuck in the ground, allowing it to stand while the other just fell and lay on its side. Brutus brought his fist back slowly, Charles fell from the wall and to the ground with bits of rock on his back as he lay there. “Charles! Please, if you can hear me, just get out of here, you can’t win this! I don’t want to see you die, just leave me, I’ll be fine!” Rarity called out again.

“Quiet pony, keep your muzzle shut!” King Cerberus instructed with a scowl as he pointed his staff at her. He then turned his attention back to the battle with a smug grin.

Charles got up on his hands and knees, keeping his head down. “Did she just……tell me to leave her so I would live? She doesn’t want to see me hurt? She’s more concerned for my safety than her own. If she really does care, then……I can’t leave her here, I won’t. I will win this somehow, I have to!” “Rarity…..I’m….not about to....*COUGH*…..to leave you at…..the mercy of these....*COUGH*….mongrels.” Charles reached for his swords. He used his right sword, which was standing up, as a support to help himself up on one knee, his left eye closed with blood from his head dripping down over it. He looked up and to Rarity as he spoke, his upper body rose and fell as he breathed heavily. “I owe you and….and your friends too much to just……abandon you like this *COUGH*. You have all done so much for…….me. More than….than anyone has ever done.” Charles’s body then became enveloped in a white flame. He slowly rose to his feet and removed his right sword from the ground. “All my life, the only one I’ve ever fought for was myself……but you and your friends…..gave me something…..something I never thought I would ever have……and now……I have someone to fight for OTHER than myself.” His wounds started to heal as he spoke. The blood around his eye evaporated and he was able to see out of it again. “I…have…..FREINDS!”

Charles charged forth with a might yell. “YYYYYAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” Charles jumped into the air and readied his swords for a vertical strike. Brutus brought up his sword to defend, the two swords clashed, erupting in sparks. Charles struck again and again, but the sword was too strong for Charles to cut through, the sound of metal hitting metal sounded out throughout the cavern. He was leaving marks, but at this rate, it would take him forever to break through the massive blade.

Charles then dropped back down to the ground and rushed forward to the dogs left leg, he slashed at the dogs leg, leaving a massive gash that started to bleed. Brutus cried out in pain as he fell to his right knee. Brutus used his sword for support as he drove the tip of the blade into the ground. In a fit of anger, Brutus brought back his left hand, made a fist, and thrust it at Charles on the ground.

Charles used his wings to jump up just as the fist came down and hit the ground. Charles switched his swords to back hand style and brought them down on Brutus’s fist, driving his blades into his hand and getting down on one knee. Brutus cried out in pain again as he lifted his hand from the ground with Charles still holding on with his swords in Brutus’s hand. Upon the hand reaching level with Brutus’s head, Charles leapt off and flew towards the wall, he flipped forwards and was upside down when his feet made contact with the wall.

Charles propelled himself forward with his swords ready for a cross slash as he spun right side up again. Charles whisked past Brutus so fast, all that could be seen was a white streak going past Brutus’s hand. A second later, Brutus’s hand fell off and blood gushed out of where his hand used to be. Brutus yelled out in pain again. Charles kept flying forward and made contact with a wall on the other side of the cavern. His feet made contact once again and he propelled himself forward with the tips of his sword pointing straight. He started to spin his body so fast, it created a kind of tornado around him. He soon made contact with Brutus in his chest and started drilling away at his armor, causing more sparks to fly. Brutus was in too much pain to try anything.

Cracks began to form in his armor, they slowly grew larger and more numerous as Charles drilled away at it. Eventually, the armor shattered to pieces. Charles stopped his drilling. He flew backwards and quickly went forward again with the same speed as before where he was just a white streak through the air. He bounced off walls and repeated this several times, slashing at Brutus’s body. After the sixth time, Charles stopped in front of Brutus, he floated there and raised both his swords up, he brought them down with a mighty yell and all the way to the ground. “RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” After another second passed upon Charles meeting the ground, Brutus’s body erupted in blood from the numerous gashes that formed, but none more prominent then two long ones that went from both his shoulders down his body. Brutus stumbled backwards, dropped his sword which fell with an earth rumbling clang, and fell backwards dead.

Charles’s body was still enveloped in the white flame as he walked towards the cringing diamond dog king while the other simply stood aside. Charles stopped right in front of the king who was standing next to Rarity’s cell. “If I ever catch you taking ponies ever again, you’ll wind up like your overgrown friend there, do I make myself clear.” He said as he pointed his right blade at the king. Cerberus gulped then nodded. “Good.” Charles raised his right sword over his head. The king closed his eyes, thinking this was the end for him. His ears were met with the sound of metal striking metal. Cerberus opened his eyes and looked to the side. Charles had sliced the lock on Rarity’s cell off. The door opened and Charles stepped inside, the white flames around his body now gone.

Rarity was practically crying tears of Joy as Charles approached her. “Hey Rarity, are you all right?”

Rarity gave a small smile at Charles as she responded. “A little dirty, and I’m afraid that when those dogs brought me down here, they were rather rough with me and injured my right back leg. I’m not sure I can walk.”

Charles dismissed his armor, summoned a pair of sheaths for his swords, both on his left side, and put his swords in them. He turned around and knelt down. “Come on, I’ll carry you out of here.”

“Are you sure dear, you aren’t hurt yourself are you?”

“I’m fine, come on, get on my back and we can get out of here.” Rarity smiled and complied with Charles’s request. She limped over to him and draped her forelegs over his shoulders. Charles held her hind legs with his hands as he gave her a piggy back ride. Being careful not to bounce her too much, he carefully stood up and carried her out of the cell and gave the king one last death glare which caused him to cringe more, he dare not anger this human anymore. Charles made his way to a nearby tunnel when suddenly the rest of the guards emerged.

Captain Lightning Thrash was the first to speak upon seeing Charles. “Private Charles, there you are, what happened…..here?” He asked as he beheld the massive dead diamond dog.

Stunner stepped forward and spoke. “Charles, did you take on that giant dog on your own?” He asked in surprise.

Charles was standing in front of his fellow guards with Rarity on his back. “Yes sir, it wasn’t easy, but I managed to deal with it…..and as you can see, I found Rarity.” Rarity gave a smile to the guards from over Charles’s left shoulder.

“Hello gentle colts, glad to see you could make it.” She joked at their lateness for showing up when it was all over.

1st Lt. Shadow Fang then spoke up. “Sooo, you beat giant dog on your own did you? I guess you aren’t as weak as I originally thought, there may be hope for you yet private.”

Charles gave a simple nod. “Thank you sir.”

2nd Lt Carbon then spoke up. “But what about the rest of the diamond dogs?” He asked with concern as he suspiciously eyed the dogs behind Charles.

Charles looked back at them over his right shoulder. “I don’t think they’ll be any more trouble.”

“Awe man, I wish I could have seen the fight, I bet it was awesome.” Complained Dawnfang.

Duskfang just rolled his eyes at his brother.

Stunner then got curious at Rarity being carried piggy back style. “Rarity, are you all right?” He asked.

“I’m afraid those dogs broke my right hind leg when they dragged me down here.”
Stunner came up on Charles’s right side and eyed Rarity’s leg. His horn lit up as he scanned her leg for injuries. “Hmmm, it doesn’t look too bad, seems like it’s just a sprain, but I’m afraid I’m not much for mending bones, and we don’t have any supplies for a make shift cast. I could cast a spell to numb the pain temporarily if you’re feeling any.”

“I am in a bit of pain yes, that would be very nice thank you.” Rarity responded. Stunner nodded and his horn lit up again, he cast the spell on Rarity’s leg.

“There you go, how’s that, any pain now?” Stunner asked.

“No, that feels much better thank you.”

Captain Thrash then interrupted. “All right then, now that that’s settled, let’s get out of here before those dogs decide to try anything and get Rarity to the hospital.” They all agreed and began to make their way out.

Along the way, Charles decided to ask Stunner about the tags around his neck. “Excuse me Lt. Stunner sir?”

Stunner turned his attention to Charles. “Yes private Charles?”

“I was wondering about those tags around your neck, if you don’t mind me asking, who is Pyro?”

Stunner smiled at Charles. “Pyro was my brother, he was KIA a few years ago. It wasn’t pretty.”

“I’m……sorry sir, I….I didn’t know, I’m sorry I brought it up.”

Stunner shook his head. “It’s fine, I’ve gotten over his loss, I still miss him though. I keep his tags with me so I’ll always remember him. I don’t suppose you have any sibling do you?”

“No sir, I was an only child. I never had a brother or sister.”

Dawnfang then interrupted. “Enough of this sad talk, come on Charles, tell us how you took down that big dog.”

Duskfang then had a thought. “Hold on, how did that diamond dog get so big in the first place?”

Sgt. Fuse then got in on the conversation. “That is a good question. Private Charles, I believe a full debriefing is in order. Would you mind telling us what happened?”

“Yes sir, you see, after I got separated from you all…..” Charles recounted his fight with the diamond dog to his superior officers and other privates. Duskfang was hanging on every word. Black Cloud listened with amusement on his face. “…..and that’s what happened.” He finished his tale.

“That was so awesome, I wish I could have seen it, you are amazing Charles.” Duskfang complimented.

“I swear Dusk, you are impossible.” Dawnfang complained.

Dusk turned to his brother. “Hey, you know how I enjoy a good fight, excuse me for finding entertainment in Charles’s story.”

“Whatever.” Was Dawnfang’s only response.

“Even I have to admit it was rather heroic of him to come to my rescue like he did.” Rarity said as she rested her head over Charles’s left shoulder and rubbed her cheek against his with a smile. “Did you really mean what you said about us being friends Charles?”

“Well….I mean…..you girls WERE the first ones to be so kind to me, which was more than anyone back on earth ever did for me. Like I said before, I was viewed as a monster by others, no one lifted a finger to help me after I became……..after I was changed. So, I guess so.”

Stunner then remembered something he wanted to say. “Say Charles, I never thanked you personally myself for saving the girls from those timberwolves that day, Fluttershy specifically.”

Charles turned to Stunner. “Sir, why would you thank me for that personally?”

“Because me and Fluttershy are kind of an item, I feel real lucky that she and I are mare friend and colt friend.” Stunner responded.

“OH, well, you’re welcome sir, I’m just glad none of them were hurt.” After about an hour of walking, the guards finally reached the exit of the underground tunnels.

“Fresh air at last, FINALLY!” Dawnfang said out loud.

“I hear that, what a relief, pegasai are meant for the sky, not underground.” Duskfang agreed with his brother.

Captain Thrash then spoke up. “All right soldiers, now that that little escapade is over, you can all return to your posts, Private Charles, I want you and Lt. Carbon to take Rarity to the hospital so she can get treated for her leg. The rest of you are dismissed.”

“SIR” They all responded. Carbon and Charles then made their way into Ponyville with Rarity still on Charles’s back.

Upon entering Ponyville, the trio was greeted with five frantic mares and a stressed Spike. Upon seeing their friend being carried by Charles, they all cried out and rushed over. “RARITY!”

“Hello girls, before you ask, I am fine, other than possibly having a broken leg.” Rarity said with a light chuckle.
Twilight was the first to speak up. “Rarity, what happened down there?”

Spike then spoke up. “Those dogs didn’t hurt you did they, I swear if they harmed one hair on your mane.”

Spike was then interrupted by Pinkie. “Oh Rarity, we were all so worried about you, did they hook you up to a cart and make you drag it around, did they make you dig up gems, did they…..”

Pinkie was then interrupted by an orange hoof to her mouth. “Easy there partner, we can let her or Charles her explain everything.”

Rarity then started. “OH girls, you should have seen him, he was so brave and gallant, he was my knight in shining armor today, he really saved me back there.”

Spike seemed to furrow his brow as Rarity seemed to start gushing over Charles.

“He did? What did he do, what happened down there?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Carbon finally interrupted. “Easy girls, you can all talk about what happened later, right now, we need to get Rarity to the hospital and get her leg looked at.”

“AAAAWWWWEEE!” The girls all expressed. “Can we at least come with you?” Asked Spike.

Charles answered. “I don’t see why not.” So the group made their way to the hospital.

After having her leg looked at, she was told she just had a sprain. She was ok to walk but she would have to go easy on it. Carbon took the opportunity to leave, and since this was supposed to be Charles’s off day, he was permitted to stay with the girls and Spike. While there, Rarity told the others of the bravery Charles displayed. “Wow Charles, I can’t believe you were able to take on a giant diamond dog on your own.” Twilight said.

“I’ll say, that was so awesome, pretty gruesome though, but still, YOU BEAT A GIANT DIAMOND DOG!” Rainbow Dash stated as she spread her forelegs out.

“You know what this calls for…..A PARTY! This will be a ‘THANKS FOR SAVING OUR FRIEND PARTY’ for Charles!” Pinkie shouted. “Oh, uh, I mean, if you want one that is.” Pinkie then said sheepishly after remembering the last time she threw him a party.

Charles then did something he never thought he would be able to do again…..he smiled. “That sounds like a great idea Pinkie, I think I’d like to try a party again, and this time……I promise to try and have fun and not yell at you.”

Pinkie smiled even bigger then. “YAHOOOO, ALL RIGHT THEN, I can get the party set up later this evening and we’ll invite every pony to Sugarcube Corner for it. I think that by then, the other guards will be off duty so they can attend. OOOHHH I just can’t wait.” Pinkie then rushed off in a pink blur to Sugarcuge Corner.

“Well then, me and Spike should get back to the library, Charles, thank you so much for saving Rarity today, we are very grateful for it.” Twilight said.

“We sure are sugar cube, sounds like you showed a lot of guts today.” Applejack Complimented.

“I’ll say, you’re way cool in my book.” Rainbow Dash complimented.

“Thanks Dash, and, um, I’m sorry for insulting you when we first met, I never said it before so I figured this would be a good time to say it.” Charles said as he looked at Dash.

“Hey, it’s cool, you’re an OK stallion. No hard feelings.” Dash said as she put her hoof out for a hoof bump. Charles complied by bumping his fist with Dash’s hoof.

After exiting the hospital, all the ponies, but Rarity, went their separate ways to prepare for the party tonight. Rarity spoke to get Charles’s attention. “Charles, I can’t thank you enough for saving me again, first from those timberwolves, and now from those diamond dogs, I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

Charles looked into her blue eyes. “It’s….no big deal really, I just did what had to be done.” He looked away and rubbed the back of his head.

Rarity then got a thought in her head. “Charles, I….don’t suppose you would want to go with me to the party as….my….date would you, you know, to show my appreciation and all.”

Charles looked back at Rarity with a stunned look. “You……want to be my…….date.....for the party?” He looked away again. “I….I don’t know, I’ve……never been on a date before, let alone some girl show even a little interest in me.”

“Well, it’s not too difficult, and I don’t see why any mare wouldn’t want to be with you, you’re strong, you’re handsome, you’re brave, and you have a good heart. Surely you must have noticed the looks the mares have been giving you while you were carrying me to the hospital?” Rarity pointed out.

He looked back to Rarity, surprised. “Really, mares were looking at me?”

“In a good way of course, and yes, so what do you say, I’ll…..understand if you refuse of course.” Rarity said as she looked away and blushed a little.

“Um……ok….I guess, sure, I would be honored to have you as my date for the party tonight.” Charles answered with a smile.

Rarity smiled as well as she looked at Charles. “Wonderful dear, you can come pick me up at my shop tonight at five. Ta darling.” Rarity then trotted off to her store, leaving a stunned and happy human behind.

“I actually have a date?, I can’t believe it, have I really found someone for me? Or in this case some pony? Ok sure she’s a pony, but she’s just as smart as me, we both have feelings, we both talk. Easy there, don’t get your hopes up, it’s too soon to get too excited about this, still………I have a date.” A smile appeared on his face. “I have a date.” He just couldn’t believe it. “I have a date. HA HA, I don’t believe it, I actually have a date. Oh man, this is amazing.” Charles was so overcome with joy. “I HAVE A DATE!” He yelled out as he flung his arms up in the air and spread out his wings. He then took off into the air in elation. “WOOO HOOOOO YEAH!” He just couldn’t contain his joy. He did loop de loops, flips, and spins in the air on his way to the library. His mirthful laughter and shouts of joy echoed throughout Ponyville.

Upon arriving at the library, he burst through the door with a big smile on his face. “Twilight, you’ll never guess what happened today!”

Twilight had her muzzle in a book when Charles came in. She turned her head around to face him. “Charles, what’s going on?” She asked with confusion etched on her face.

“What’s all the racket?” Spike asked as he poked his head from out of the kitchen.

“Only the greatest thing ever to happen to me.” He said.

Twilight then noticed something. “Charles, are you…..happy?” She said with a smile of her own.

“Yeah, can you believe it, this is the happiest I’ve felt since….” He had to pause for a minute to think. “….Well, EVER! Oh man this is so fantastic.”

“That’s great Charles.” Said Spike with a smile of his own.

“Yeah great, but…” Twilight’s confused face returned. “What are you happy about?”

Charles then remembered why he was so excited. “OH right, well you see…..I have A DATE, can you believe it!? Somepony actually asked me to be their date for the party Pinkie is throwing, can you believe it?!” Spike and Twilight both grew smiles for their friend.

“That’s wonderful Charles, who’s the lucky mare?” Twilight asked.

“Rarity!” Spike suddenly frowned. “After you girls left the hospital and it was just me and her standing there, we talked for a bit and she just asked if I wanted to be her date for the party! Isn’t it great?” Charles said as he spread out his arms and wings in joy.

“That IS great, congratulations Charles.” Twilight said.

“NO it isn’t great!” Spike exclaimed. “What’s the big idea taking Rarity as a date huh?” Spike was glaring at Charles.

Charles’s smile faded to a frown as he remembered that Spike had a crush on her. “Oh, right, I forgot you have a bit of a crush on her don’t you?”

“WHAT, how did you know about that?!” Spike asked in anger.

“Oops, sorry Spike, but I kind of told him about it.”

Spike then turned to Twilight with a frown. “Twilight, how could you?”

“I’m sorry Spike, I just….forgot it was supposed to be a secret, but she already knew how you felt about her.”

Spike started to look like he was about to cry. “But then….if she knew I liked her, then why did she ask him out instead of me?”

Twilight walked over to him with a frown and embraced him in a foreleg. “Oh Spike, I’m sorry, but you have to understand that your just too young for her, you’re a BABY dragon, she’s a full grown mare, it just isn’t meant to be.”

Spike was sniffling at this point. “I…..I guess you’re right, I just didn’t want to believe it. I…..I think I need some time alone.” Spike then removed himself from Twilight’s foreleg and made his way upstairs to his room.

Charles wasn’t sure what to say at this point. “Um…..sorry Spike, I really am.”

Spike stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at Charles. “It’s fine Charles. Just…..take good care of her and show her the respect she deserves.” Spike turned his head forward again and continued on.

“Gosh, is he going to be all right?” Charles asked Twilight.

“Give him time, he’ll get over it eventually.” Twilight said as she continued to watch Spike climb the stairs.
After lunch, Charles got himself cleaned up with a shower and put on his black clothes.

Later that evening, Charles arrived at Rarity’s shop at the specified time Rarity gave and knocked on the door. “Coming!” Came Rarity’s voice from inside. Rarity answered the door, Charles was stunned at how beautiful she looked in what she was wearing. A dark pink dress, a white wavy waist band with small pink round gems separating it from a long pink skirt with light pink edges and white frills under it, a light pink collar with more whit frills under it and pink glove like clothing going up her forelegs, her hair was put up a bit in a bun while still keeping the curls in her mane on the front as they always are.

“Wow Rarity…..you look…..amazing.” was all Charles could say.

Rarity bounced her hair as she looked to the side. “Why thank you darling, I see you’re wearing your black clothes. That’s quite all right though, you don’t really have anything else do you.”

“Well no, but you said you would make me some clothes and I can wait, you don’t have to rush.” Charles said with a smile.

“Well then, shall we go to the party?”

“Of course.” Charles then stretched out his right elbow for rarity to wrap her foreleg around. The two then left for the party.

Upon arriving, the party was already in full swing. It seemed every pony in Ponyville was here. “Wow, you’d think a party like this would take days of planning. How did Pinky put this all together so fast?” He asked Rarity.

“Pinkie is an expert at putting parties together. It’s just her special talent.” Rarity explained.

Music was playing loudly as all the ponies were having fun, Charles then noticed Carbon without his armor on coming up to him with an earth pony mare by his side, she had a grey coat, a black mane and tail, a pink musical note for a cutie mark and was wearing a white collar with a red bow tie. “Charles, good to see you.”

“Lt. Carbon sir, good to see you too.”

Carbon gave a laugh. “HA HA, easy there soldier, were off the clock, no ranks here. This is my mare friend, Octavia. Octavia, this is Charles, the one I told you about.

Octavia took a few steps forward, she spoke with the same elegance as Rarity did. “Good evening, it is a pleasure to meet you. Carbon has told me so much about you.” She said with a smile as she extended her hoof for a shake.

Charles took her hoof in his hand and shook. “A pleasure to meet you too miss Octavia.”

“Such manners, how nice, and hello to you too Rarity, how are you doing this fine evening, I love your dress.”

“Why thank you dear, I am doing just fine thank you.”

Carbon then came to Charles’s side and whispered to him. “Come on, let’s go get some drinks before they start talking about high class stuff.”

Charles nodded in agreement. “Please excuse us ladies while we go get a drink, Rarity, would you like something?”

Rarity looked to Charles. “Why yes, thank you dear. A nice cup of punch would be wonderful.
The two then made their way through the party to the punch bowl, only to be greeted by Fuse, who was also out of uniform, and another unicorn mare with a white coat, a blue and light blue mane and tale, and a pair of purple sunglasses over her eyes, she had a musical note for a cutie mark as well, a pair of notes connected at the top.

Charles was now able to see Fuse’s cutie mark. A star surrounded by a wreath on top of an oval with a bomb with four lightning bolts coming from it and another larger wreath coming out from the bottom of it but not in a full circle.

Fuse greeted the two. “Carbon, Charles, good to see you, you enjoying the party so far?”

“Actually, I just got here, I came with Rarity as my date.”

“Really, well how about that, this is my date and mare friend, Vinyl Scratch.”

Vinyl stepped forward. “Yo dude, what’s up, Fuse here told me all about how you took down a giant diamond dog, pretty sweet dude. You’ve got guts.”

“Vinyl here is providing the music for the party, pretty sweet huh.”

“It sure is, nice work Vinyle.” Carbon complimented.

“Thanks dude, glad you like it. That’s my baby over there by the way, I’ve got her on auto pilot right now so I can chill for a bit.” She said as she pointed to a mixing table with large speakers blaring party music.

This gave Charles an idea. “Say Vinyl, would it be all right if I borrowed it for a minute, I’ve been feeling so great recently ever since Rarity asked me to be her date, I’m kind of inspired to perform a song for every pony here.”

Vinyl rubbed a hoof to her chin in thought. “I don’t know, you sure you know how to work it?”

“I promise, I won’t harm it in any way, I have magic that will help me make the music I want to perform the song. No harm will come to it.”

“Well, alright, but it better be party worthy.”

“Trust me, every pony in this place will be jumpin when I get started." Charles then made his way to the table, picked up the microphone and scanned thecrowd before speaking. He noticed the other five mares were in the crowd as well. “Perfect.” He said to himself. Charles then spoke to address the crowd through the microphone. “Hey everypony, what’s up!” He called, the ponies cheered upon seeing the hero of the hour. “I see my heroics haven’t gone unnoticed. First, I want to thank Pinkie Pie….” He pointed to Pinkie in the crowd. “For putting this party together, it looks amazing doesn’t it?”

The ponies cheered again. “Secondly, I want to thank Rarity for asking me to be her date here tonight.” The crowed cooed at this and Rarity just blushed. “Finally, I want to thank the DJ of the party, Vinyl Scratch, for not just some amazing music tonight, but for allowing me use of her equipment so I can share with you all a song I have been inspired to put together for my six main friends. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle.” Charles then fiddled with the machine a bit and started adding his magic into it. Once the song started playing, he got out and danced with the other ponies as he sang.

Needless to say, every pony in the party was jumping and whooping it up during his performance. Every pony had a great time and enjoyed the song Charles performed. Once he was done, he came back to Vinyl to thank her again for letting her use her machine. “Dude that was AWESOME! That was way cool, I am SO glad I agreed to let you use it.”

“Thanks, please excuse me, I believe I owe my date a drink now.” Charles then grabbed two cups, filled them with punch and made his way over to Rarity to enjoy the rest of the party.

Author's Note

I kind of feel bad for how I made things go for spike, I'll have to make it up to him somehow later, don't worry little buddy, this author won't let you be miserable.

Chapter 11

Charles got back to Rarity with two cups of punch in his hands, one for himself and the other for Rarity. “Here you go Rarity.”

Rarity floated her cup out of Charles’s hand. “Thank you dear, and I must say that was quite an entertaining performance you just gave.”

Charles smiled at Rarity. “I’m glad you liked it.” Then the other members of the guard, minus Shadow Fang and Black Cloud, approached, along with the other girls. Fluttershy was with stunner, Carbon had made his way back with Charles to rejoin his date Octavia, and Fuse came along as well with his date Vinyle Scratch.

Lightning Thrash was approaching with Rainbow Dash on one side and another mare Charles hadn’t met on the other. “Charles, nice performance there.”

“I’ll say, that was awesome.” Rainbow said.

“Thank you, and who is this other mare your with captain?”

“No need for titles here Charles remember, we’re off the clock, this mare is Derpy Hooves.” Derpy was a grey coated Pegasus with a blonde mane and tale with bubbles for a cutie mark and yellow eyes that seemed somewhat askew.

“It’s nice to meet you Charles.” Derpy said as she extended a hoof.

Charles took her hoof and shook in greeting. “It’s nice to meet you too. Rainbow Dash, aren’t you and storm chaser an item, I would have thought since I saw you two together my first day.”

Storm Chaser and Rainbow Dash looked at each other with confusion, then back at Charles and let out a laugh. “HA HA HA, yeah right, we’re just good friends.” Rainbow informed.

Storm Chaser continued. “We know each other from flight camp, we got to be good friends there but that’s as far as it went, she’s like a sister to me.”

Charles then gave a confused look at them. Fluttershy saw this and informed. “Um….Charles, flight camp is a camp where young pegasai go for learning the basics of flight. Me and Rainbow Dash met there too and became friends.”

“Oh, I see, thanks for clearing that up Fluttershy.” Charles said to Fluttershy with a smile. “So I guess Shadow fang and Black Cloud aren’t here are they?” He then asked noticing their absence.

Pinkie bounced forward to answer. “Nope, Shadow Fang is a bit of a sour puss and Black cloud is a little too shy to come, I tried to invite them both, but they just didn’t want to come.”

“I don’t mean to sound rude, but I’m actually glad Shadow Fang didn’t show up.” Rarity said.

Fuse agreed. “Yeah, that stallion can really bring down a party if he wants to.”

Twilight then spoke up. “So Charles, since we have this opportunity, I’m wondering if you wouldn’t mind sharing a bit more about yourself with us.” She asked with a smile.

“Yeah, you haven’t really told us a whole lot about yerself other than how yer parents betrayed ya and ya had ta live and take care of yerself. I don’t suppose there’s more to it is there.” Applejack asked.

Charles was silent for a moment, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to say anything else about himself. Charles then felt a gloved hoof on his arm. “Charles.” Rarity spoke to him. Charles looked her in the eyes. “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”

“Yeah, we all know it must be hard for you to talk about stuff from your past.” Rainbow said.

Charles closed his eyes and shook his head. “No, I want to share, like I told Twilight before, I think you all were right when you said that I need to let the past go, the best way to do that is to try and just let it out. But you all pretty much already know how my life was, just doing what I could to survive.”

Pinkie then spoke up. “What about before all that stuff happed, you know, before your parents turned you into a science experiment.” Charles looked at Pinkie. “We all already know about all that stuff remember, you shouted it at Twilight at that welcome to Ponyville party I threw for you?”

Fluttershy then added her voice. “Surely you must have had some good times before that dreadful event.”

Charles began. “That’s just it though, I don’t really have any really happy memories from before then. My parents were there to take care of me sure, but it’s like that was it, they were just there to make sure I got what I needed to live. They sent me to school, they fed me and clothed me, but that was it, we never even celebrated my birthday. Because of that, I don’t even know when my birthday is.”

Pinkie then spoke up with disbelief in her voice. “you don’t even know when your birthday is?”

Applejack then came in. “Hold up, if you don’t know when your birthday is, then how in tarnation do ya know how old ya were when that bad stuff happened to ya?”

Charles answered. “Well, it was really more of a guess as to how old I was then, I’m probably wrong about that, so I don’t know how old I really am.”

Pinkie spoke up again, still with disbelief in her voice. “I can’t believe you don’t know when your birthday is. Every pony knows when their birthday is, how am I supposed to throw you a birthday party if we don’t know when your birthday is?”

Charles actually managed to get a smile back on his face from Pinkies wondering. “I don’t know Pinkie, but it’s not a big deal for me. You don’t have to worry about it.”

“Are you KIDDING, birthday parties are one of my most favorite parties to throw, we just have to find some way to fix this, maybe we can just celebrate the day you first came to Equestria. That will work.”

Before anything else could be said, there was a bright white flash near the group and a tall creature that looked like a mash up of different animals put together appeared. “HELLO MY LITTLE PONIES!” The creature announced.

This surprised Charles. “HOLY CRAP!” He dropped his drink, summoned his armor and staff, and flew at the creature, ramming his shoulder into it. Charles managed to knock the creature on its back and had his staff pointing right at its head. “I don’t know who or what you are, but if you harm one hair on these ponies head, you’ll be in for a world of hurt pal!” Charles then raised his staff above his head to strike. The creature snapped its eagle claw and sent Charles flying backward into the wall with a scowl. Charles crashed into the wall and landed on the floor on one knee.

The ponies watched in fear when Charles made his first move, they were too shocked to say anything. Charles got back up, jumped in the air with his staff raised again for another strike. The creature held up his eagle claw and lion paw in fists ready to fight. Fluttershy cried out. “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIT!” She put herself in between the two. Charles stopped in mid-air.

“Fluttershy move, you’re in the way!” Charles called.

Twilight then interjected. “Charles NO, he’s not a threat!”

Charles looked at the ponies confused. Lightning Thrash then stepped forward. “At ease Charles, he’s not a threat, we are in no danger here.”

Charles came back down to the ground. The creature then glared at Charles as he spoke. “Just what is the big idea attacking me out of the blue like that? What have I done to deserve that?”

Fluttershy turned her attention to the creature. “I’m terribly sorry for that Discord, I guess you must have just surprised him. He doesn’t know you.”

The creature continued with his displeased look. “And just who or what is HE?”

Charles turned to Twilight. “Twilight what is going on, who is that?”

Rarity took Charles’s hand and led him over to Discord, while Fluttershy led Discord over to Charles. Rarity spoke first. “Charles, this is Discord, he’s a friend…..sort of.” She said with a bit of hesitation.

Fluttershy then spoke to Discord. “Discord, this is Charles, he’s a new friend of ours.”

Charles and Discord then said together still wearing displeased looks. “And just what is he?” They both then looked at each other, Charles had to crane his neck up as this creature identified as Discord was so tall and slender.

Before anyone could answer, Pinkie gave a joyful shout as she leapt toward Discord. “DISCORD!”

Discord saw the hyperactive pink pony flying at him and smiled big as he opened his arms to catch the pony. “PINKIE PIE!” Discord caught Pinkie in mid-air and the two shared a hug.

“OH, I missed you buddy, where have you been, what was it like, OH OH, did you bring it, did you did you did you?” Pinkie said with excitement. Dscord put Pinkie down and gave a mock pout.

“I swear Pinkie, it’s like you only like me for those things.” He said as he stuck his goat nose in the air with his yellow eyes with red pupils closed. During this whole scene, the ponies present merely looked on.

Pinkie spoke again. “Oh Discord, you know that’s not true.”

Discord looked at her with one open eye. A smile crept across his face. “Fine, here you go.” He snapped his lion paw and a pink cloud appeared before Pinkie. Without wasting another second, Pinkie started eating it to Charles’s disbelief.

Then Discord turned to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, my dear friend, how good to see you again after so long.”
Fluttershy then fluttered up to Discord and they embraced each other in a light hug. “It’s good to see you too Discord, welcome back.”

Charles was starting to get annoyed being left in the dark like this. “OK, will SOMEPONY please tell me what’s going on here, WHO IS THIS GUY?!” He exclaimed as he flared out his wings and pointing his free hand at Discord.
Discord released Fluttershy from their hug and his sour expression returned. “Fluttershy dear, who is this ruffian who thought it amusing to ambush me like that.”

Applejack had enough and decided to step in. “ALL RIGHT, THAT’S ENOUGH, Charles, Discord, come over here.” She said as she stood between them. They both reluctantly made their way over to her. “Charles, this here is Discord, he’s a draconaquis and the god of chaos. Discord, this here is Charles, he’s new to Equestria and a good friend of ours.”

Twilight then stepped in to continue. “Charles, Discord is a friend of ours.”

Charles looked at Twilight. “So, he’s not a threat then?”

Discord interjected. “I should say not, I wouldn’t dream of hurting my closest friends. I USED to be evil and was bent on plunging all of Equestria in eternal chaos until Fluttershy and her friends here showed me the light and reformed me.” He said as a golden halo appeared above his head and his bat wing and Pegasus wing became like angel wings in a flash.

Charles then took on a straight face. “Oh, oops, um, sorry about tackling you earlier then, you kind of surprised me when you showed up how you did, I’m really sorry.” Charles said, then dismissed his armor and staff.

Discord dismissed his halo and his wings went back to their mismatched form. “Well, I suppose I can forgive you, but what exactly are you, being a god, I know about every species on this planet, but I’ve never seen anything like you before, the closest thing I can think of would be a monkey.”

Fluttershy then informed Discord. “Charles is a human, he came here from another world.”

Discord took on a look of curiousity. “You don’t say, another world huh, most interesting.” Discord then summoned a magnifying glass and looked at Charles closely with it with one eye open.

Charles backed up a little. “Well then, it’s…..very nice to meet you Discord, sorry again for attacking you.”

Discord dismissed the magnifying glass and smiled at Charles. “No problem my fine human, any friend of Fluttershy’s is a friend of mine. So what is this party for anyway, I’m guessing Pinkie put it together?”

The group turned to Pinkie who was more than halfway through the pink cloud. Charles just had to ask. “OK, what is that thing Pinkie is eating, it looks like a cloud, but it’s pink, and how is she eating it?”

Discord informed. “It’s one of my favorite things, a cotton candy cloud filled with chocolate milk.”

Charles looked at him with confusion. “A cotton candy cloud filled with chocolate milk? Ok then, that is the weirdest thing I have ever heard of since being here.”

Discord’s smile grew slightly bigger. “Oh you should try it sometime, it’s absolutely delicious.”

By this time, Pinkie had completely finished with the cloud now and was free to talk. “Discord, this party is to celebrate Charles saving Rarity from a bunch of diamond dogs that pony napped her and took her to their underground tunnels to use her ability to find gems for themselves.”

“Really, you saved Rarity from a pack of diamond dogs?” Discord asked.

Rarity stepped forward and took hold of Charles's hand with her hoof. “Oh indeed, you should have seen him, he was so heroic and brave, he took down a giant diamond dog to save me. It was so brave of him to do it.”

Charles gave a sheepish smile as he used his free hand to rub the back of his head. Discord then looked curiously at Charles. “A giant diamond dog you say, interesting, how did a diamond dog get so big?”

Charles answered. “It was wearing this gold medallion with a pearl at the center, it let off a glow before the dog grew to a massive size.”

“Curious, I wonder where a pack of diamond dogs got their filthy paws on something so powerful as a medallion for size increase? Very peculiar. Well anyway, all is settled and the lovely miss rarity is safe, that is all that matters. Well done my new friend, put her there.” Discord said as he extended his lion paw to Charles for a shake.

What Charles didn’t notice that Twilight did was Discord had a small round metal device on one of his fingers. This worried Twilight and she called out to try and stop the shake. “Charles wait!”

Too late, Charles grasped Discord’s paw and a jolt of electricity surged through his body, causing him to spasm involuntarily at the shock for a moment. Discord released his grasp and Charles fell to the floor. He got back up quickly and looked at Discord angrily as discord gave a smiling pout and revealed his hand buzzer on his paw. The only ponies who weren’t laughing at this point at Discord’s prank were Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy. Every pony else was laughing hystericaly at the joke Discord pulled. The ponies not laughing looked on worried as they were afraid this would upset him given his past.

They were right, Charles clutched his head with his hands as he tried to block out the laughter on his knees. Rarity tried to approach him to talk to him, she said his name softly. “Charles, are you all right?” She asked with concern.

“No….not again…..it can’t happen again.” Charles said silently to himself. “Make it stop make it stop make it stop.” The girls, Rainbow and Pinkie excluded, looked on in worry.

Twilight approached to try and talk to Charles. “Charles, it’s ok, it was just a joke.”

“no….please make it stop, I can’t take the laughing.” Charles closed his eyes and wrapped his wings around himself.

Applejack had enough. “THAT’SENOUGH, ALL A YA’LL SHUT YER YAPS NOW!!” Applejack’s shout worked as all the ponies laughing stopped. “Ya’ll should be ashamed a yerselves, look at him!” Applejack said as she pointed to Charles in his current position with his hands over his ears, his eyes closed and his wings wrapped around him. “Ya’ll should know better than ta laugh at some poor feller whos been through so much pain.” Dash and Pinkie really felt guilty now. Discord just had a straight face.

Rarity put a hoof to Charles to try and get his attention. “Charles, look at me.”
Charles looked up with a start, he moved his hands away from his ears slightly and looked at Rarity. He then looked around to see the mane six staring at him with worried expressions. “I….what….” He unwrapped himself from his wings, placed one hand down and the other on his forehead. “I’m sorry, I….I just couldn’t take the laughing, I was laughed at a lot.”

Fluttershy came forward. “It’s alright Charles, you have nothing to apologize for.”

Rainbow then spoke up. “Yeah, sorry for laughing at you.”

Pinkie apologized as well. “Me too, I’m super-duper sorry if I hurt your feelings Charles.”

Fluttershy then looked at Discord. “Discord, don’t you have something to say as well?”

Discord crossed his arms and stuck his nose up. “Well it’s hardly my fault he can’t take a joke.” Fluttershy gave him a stern look. Discord caved in and sighed, his arms slumped to the side as he hung his head with an annoyed expression. “Fine, Charles, I’m sorry for pranking you.”

Charles glared at Discord as he stood up. He didn’t say anything. “Rarity, would you care to go to another part of the party so we can chat alone? I would very much like to learn more about you yourself.” He said as he looked at Rarity.

“Oh, um, of course, come along then.” Rarity said with hesitation. They walked off, leaving the others to their own. The rest of the party went on without any incidents since then. Charles just did his best to avoid discord.

***

The party came to an end and the ponies all left for their homes. Charles offered to walk Rarity home which she gladly accepted. It was starting to get chilly out as the moon rose to its position in the sky and the stars decorated it. “Charles, are you feeling any better?” Rarity asked.

“A little, I just don’t like being laughed at. That’s one of the many things I had to put up with on earth, and it was always unpleasant.”

“I can only imagine, but it was just a prank that Discord pulled on you, he didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. That’s just how he is.”

Charles said nothing. He looked up at the sky and had to stop in his tracks for a moment.
Rarity stopped with him and looked at the sky with him. “Beautiful night isn’t it?”

“Are you kidding, the sky back on earth wasn’t anywhere near as pretty as this.” He said as he gazed at the numerous stars decorating the clear sky.

“Weren’t you able to see the stars back on earth?”

“Sort of, because of all the numerous cities, the light from them made it nearly impossible to see the stars, only the brightest of stars could be seen, and there wasn’t that many of them. Here, It’s like I can see all the stars in space, it’s incredible.” A wind blew past that made Rarity shiver. Charles noticed this. “Come on, let’s get you home where it’s warm.”

They arrived at Rarity’s boutique. “So Charles, other than that little incident with Discord, did you have a good time at the party?”

“I did actually, thank you for being my date, it was the first one I’ve ever had.”

Rarity smiled. “I’m glad you liked it, maybe….sometime we could do this again later?”

“I think I’d like that Rarity, thank you.” Rarity then got up on her hind legs and gave Charles a quick peck on the cheek, then returned to all fours.

“Good night Charles, have a wonderful sleep.” She said as she entered her house.

Charles stood there for a moment in shock, his first kiss from a beautiful girl, or in this case, mare. But he didn’t care, it was his first kiss. Charles just made his way back to Twilight’s place with a smile on his face.

Upon entering, Twilight greeted him. “Hey Charles, you feeling any better, I’m really sorry about what happened with Discord, he just likes to pull pranks like that. I hope you’re not too upset about it.”

“Huh, oh no, I’m ok.” He said as he was brought out of his thoughts. He was still pondering the peck Rarity gave him.

Twilight noticed his expression. “Charles, are you sure your ok, you look like you have something on your mind.”

“Rarity kissed me on the cheek, it was the first time I’ve ever been kissed. It was……wonderful.” He said with a smile.

Twilight gave a smile back. “That’s great news Charles, I’m going to head off to bed now, do you need anything before I go?”

“No, I’m fine thanks, good night Twilight.” Charles headed for his room. Twilight then did the same.

***

Charles found himself floating through a sunny sky with clouds everywhere, he wasn’t even flapping his wings. “What……what’s going on here?” He was rising straight up. He rose through a big white cloud, upon coming out the top, he was greeted with a strange sight. There was a large roman style temple with gold pillars. Charles found himself uncontrollably floating towards it. It was a very open temple too, upon entering, there was a solid looking gold floor with a depiction of the sun surrounded by the different phases of the moon. Charles found himself being gently settled upon the floor. He looked around once he was settled. “Hello! Is anyone….or pony here?!” He called out.

Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash before his eyes. Charles had to shield himself from it. Once the light faded, Charles could look again, this time, he was greeted with two new creatures before him, both were alicorns, and both were very tall, possibly taller than Celestia was. One had a black coat, Stars and nebulas could be seen through its mane and tail, they both swayed in an invisible wind, but the stars and nebulas did not move with the mane and tail. Its eyes were pure white, and it wore a golden crown atop its head.

The other had a pure white coat with a golden sparkling mane and tail that also moved on its own. It also had pure white eyes and wore a golden tiara atop its head.

The black coated alicorn stepped forward and spoke in a voice that was gentle but firm, like a caring fathers voice. “Charles, we are sorry for dragging you here, but there is an urgent matter that we need to discuss.”

The other spoke with a gentle voice like a caring mother. “Equestira will be in great peril in the future.”

Charles stood there stunned at the two creatures before him. After a moment, he finally found his voice. “Hold on, excuse me, but who are you two? And what is this place? Whoever you are, would you please explain to me what is going on, and how do you know my name?”

The male alicorn spoke. “Our apologies, it has been far too long since we have conversed with others. My name is Solaris.”

The other introduced herself. “My name is Cosma, we are the former King and Queen of Equestria, and you are in the realm of the eternal heard.”

“Eternal heard, wait so like, is this the place where ponies go when they die? Does that mean I’m DEAD?! HOW DID I DIE?”

Cosma chuckled at his reaction. “Calm yourself human, you are not dead, while this realm is the home for all ponies when their time on Equis is over, yours is not.” This is when Charles noticed that when they spoke, their mouths didn’t move.

Solaris than spoke. “We merely needed to bring you here so we may speak with you.”
Charles then realized something else. He put both his hands up and waved them in front of him. “Wait wait wait, back up a second here, did you say the former king and queen of Equestria? Sooo….does that mean that…..you two are…..”

Solaris answered. “Yes, we are the father and mother of the current rulers of Equestria, Celestia and Luna, our daughters.”

Charles was stunned to hear this. “Their parents? I…..I don’t believe this.”

Cosma then spoke up. “We realize this is a lot for you to take in, but we really need to speak with you.”

“Wait, how did you know my name?” Charles asked.

Solaris answered. “We have been watching you since you first arrived here. We are well aware of what you have done, and your capabilities as a warrior. We have seen you risk your own life twice now to save some pony.”

“And because of the unusual circumstances that brought you here, you are our only hope to help protect our daughters and their home.” Cosma informed.

“But how am I its only hope, isn’t there something in Equestria with magical capabilities that can help fight off any threats?”

Cosma explained. “There is something Equestria has, but I’m afraid it will not be enough.”

“What is this power?”

Solaris explained. “There are six magical artifacts known as the elements of harmony, they are powerful items that can harness the positive energies within one’s self to fight off dark magic and corruption. The positive energies are ones that make up a powerful friendship and focus those energies into a powerful beam. One must be very in tune with one of these elements in order to use them to their full power.”

Cosma continued. “Currently, these elements rest with Twilight Sparkle, she and her five friends are the wielders of the elements of harmony. The six elements are as follows. Honesty, wielded by Applejack, laughter, wielded by Pinkie Pie, loyalty, welded by Rainbow Dash, kindness, welded by Fluttershy, generosity, wielded by Rarity, and finally, magic, wielded by Twilight Sparkle herself. While these elements are powerful, as we said, they will not be enough. They are only good for purifying one who has been corrupted by dark magic or turning a creature of pure evil to stone.”

Solaris continued. “This will not be enough to stop the threat we have foreseen. There is another power that our daughters do not know about, the elements of life. It is the power to control the very elements of nature, earth, fire, wind, water, and lightning.”

“You, Charles, are the only one who may very well have the courage and strength to wield this power.”

“Why can’t you tell Luna and Celestia about this, why tell me?”

Cosma explained. “Because we are forbidden from interfering directly with the course of things in Equestria, we are unable to speak with our daughters.”

Solaris continued. “That is why you are here, you are not originally from this world, your arrival was most fortuitous. Because of you being from another world, we are capable of speaking with you like this. You can pass on this message to our daughters, we are sorry for putting such a burden on you, but you must understand that we care deeply for our daughters and want to make sure they have everything they will need to protect themselves and their kingdom.”

“We will understand if you refuse our request, we cannot force you to do this, we will be eternally grateful to you if you choose to help. Will you aid us and our daughters in their time of need? You do not need to go after the elements of life right away, the threat is still far off. You can continue to live in Ponyville and work on your own magical skills so you can strengthen them to be stronger.”

Charles couldn’t believe all that was being put on him, the former king and Queen of Equestria , the parents of Celestia and Luna, were standing before him, begging him for his help to find these elements of life and protect Equestria. He looked donw in thought, he remembered all he had been through since coming to Equestria. It had been a short time, but in that time, he had already met ponies who had nothing but his wellbeing in mind. He also remembered what he did after he had a talk with princess Celestia and princess Luna. Charles came to a decision.

He looked up at the two with a smile. “Where can I find the elements of life?”

Author's Note

Discord is in the house, look out ya'll, things about to get crazy up in here. This whole elements of life thing is something I've been wanting to do for some time now, and this is the perfect opportunity to bring it out. Hope you all enjoy it.

Chapter 12

The morning sun beamed through Charles’s window, stirring him from his sleep. He sat up, stretched and yawned. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and just rubbed his face with his hand. Soon, memories of the dream he had came flooding back into his head. He had a meeting with the former king and queen of Equestria, they had warned him of a looming threat to the country and asked him to try and find an ancient power known as the elements of life. The power to control the elements of nature. Charles debated as to whether or not inform Twilight of this news just yet. It was a lot to take in and he had some time before he had to actually attempt to go after them.

He was told there was an ancient and forgotten temple in the southern regions of Equestria in another forest there. He figured it was best to save this information for later until he was sure about everything himself. He got up, made his way to his bathroom, took a quick shower and dawned his black outfit with his red coat and placed his staff on his back. Upon exiting his room, his nose was met with the pleasant aroma of breakfast being made, it was the unmistakable smell of pancakes. He made his way to the kitchen where the table was.

Upon entering, he was greeted by Twilight who was already seated and waiting for her number one assistant to finish cooking and serve them their meal. Twilight looked up from a book she was reading while waiting and greeted Charles with a smile. “Good morning Charles, did you have a good sleep?”

Charles removed his staff from his back, leaned it against the table, and took a seat across from her as he responded. “Yeah, I did, how about you?”

“Fine, Sorry about Discord last night, that’s just how he is….unfortunately. I hope you’re not too upset about it.”

Charles didn’t respond right away. “I just don’t like being laughed at. He better not do something like that to me again.” Charles then turned his attention to Spike who was standing on a stepping stool in front of the stove cooking breakfast. “Good morning Spike, I…..hope you’re not still upset over what happened with Rarity.”

Spike didn’t turn around. He just kept his eyes on the stove as he responded. “Whatever.” He said almost too low for any to hear.

Twilight whispered to Charles. “I’m afraid he’s still a little upset about what happened. I’m sure he’ll get over it soon. Just…..give him time.”

It wasn’t long before Spike was done with the pancakes, he served up every one at the table and just sat there in silence as he ate.

“MMM, delicious as always Spike, you are such a great cook.” Twilight complimented in an attempt to cheer her number one assistant up.

“Thanks.” He said again in a low monotone voice.

“Yeah Spike, these are good. Don’t think I’ve ever had pancakes this delicious.” Charles said in an attempt to try and start on patching things up with him.

Spike looked up from his meal and glared at Charles for a moment before going back to his meal. The rest of the meal was spent in awkward silence as the trio ate. Once Charles was finally done, he got up, took his plate to the sink and said his farewell. “Well, this is going to be my first official day on guard duty, so I’ll just be on my way and report in to the captain, I’ll see you all later.” Charles collected his staff and made his way out the door, but not before getting a goodbye from Twilight.

Upon exiting, Charles took notice of the weather, it was a bit of an overcast and there was a chill in the air, he also noticed some of the leaves starting to change color. “Must be fall here." Charles said to himself. Charles spread his wings and took off for the center of town.

Sometime after Charles left, Twilight and Spike had finished their meal. Spike took the plates to the sink and began to wash them. “Spike, I need to catch up on some studying in my room, can you take care of the library for a few hours?”

Spike didn’t take his eyes away from the sink. “Sure, no problem.” He said with all the enthusiasm of a rock.

Twilight frowned that her little dragon brother was so down over the whole Rarity thing. “Come on Spike, cheer up, I’m sure there’s some pony for you out there somewhere just waiting to find you, you just can’t lose hope, ok.” Spike didn’t respond. “I’ll be down in a few hours, try to cheer up Spike, I don’t like seeing you so upset.” Twilight then turned and headed for her room.

Once Spike was finished with cleaning the dishes, he made his way into the main room of the library to begin his duties. “It’s not fair, I saw her first, why did he have to show up and ruin everything for me, I just know I could have won Rarity over eventually.” Spike muttered to himself. Before he could continue, there was a knock at the door. Spike made his way over and opened it to be greeted by Derpy Hooves.

“Good morning Spike, I have a special delivery for you.” She greeted him with a smile.

Spike looked up at the wall eyed mail pony with confusion. “A special delivery, for me, who’s it from?”

Derpy used her wing to open her saddle bag and reached her muzzle in to pull out a small pink and white envelope. She let Spike take it before answering. “Sorry, but that’s confidential information. I better get going, plenty more mail to deliver. Have a great day Spike.” Derpy said before taking off. Spike closed the door as he eyed the strange envelope in his claw. He made his way to the center of the room and opened it up. He pulled out the letter inside and read it.

Dear Spike,

I am sorry about what happened between you and Rarity, but I hope this letter will cheer you up. I have admired you from afar and hoped for a chance to finally tell you this. I know this is a long shot, but I hope that you and I can get together some time for a kind of date. If you want to meet me, I will be waiting in the park under the tree at the center of the park this afternoon at four. From, your secret admirer.

Spike wasn’t sure what to make of the letter, the wording was squiggly and looked like a little kid wrote it, but still, what stuck with him was the fact that there was somepony out there who had a crush on him. He just couldn’t believe it. “Some pony has a crush on me? Who could it be? Should I meet with them this afternoon?” Spike just wasn’t sure what to make of this, for the longest time, ever since he and Twilight first showed up in Ponyville, he had eyes only for Rarity, but now that was just a distant dream that was sure to never come true. Should he pursue this and try to move on? It was going to take some time for him to think about this, luckily, he had until four this afternoon to decide whether to meet with his secret admirer or not.

***

Charles just landed in front of town hall and made his way to the captains office. “Captain Lightning Thrash sir, Charles reporting for duty sir.” Charles said as he entered.

Lighting Thrash looked up from some papers he was going over. “Good morning private, good to see you finally reporting in.” He joked.

“Sorry I didn’t report in on time like I was supposed to captain but-“ He was cut off from the captain’s laughing.

“HA HA, relax private, you had a perfectly good reason for not reporting in, I was just messing with you. Now then, before you get to work, I have something for you.” Captain Thrash then opened a drawer on his desk. He pulled out a small brown pouch and set it on his desk with a jingling sound coming from it. “This is your pay Charles.”

“But sir…..I haven’t been on duty.” Charles said confused.

“Not officially, no, but you still performed the duties of a guard ever since you got here, protecting Twilight and her friends, coming with us to rescue Rarity from those diamond dogs and taking down that big one. I’d say you’ve earned it, all 150 bits. Now take your pay and go out to protect the town, just go wherever and help out how you can.”

“Yes sir, thank you sir.” Charles took the pouch, put it in his pants pocket, and left. Upon exiting the building, Charles took his badge from his jacket pocket and pinned it on his shirt.

Charles just wandered around a bit, keeping an eye out for any sign of trouble. It was a lazy morning for him so far, nothing was happening. He was greeted by the other ponies as he walked by with smiles and waves, he just returned them with his own. “Man, I could definitely get used to this, this place is so nice and pretty, maybe-“

“Good morning Charles.”

“Oh no.”

Charles’s cheerful mood had now dropped like a stone upon hearing the voice of the last creature he wanted to see today. “Hello Discord.” Charles greeted in a monotone voice.

“Well, you seem like a ball of sunshine this morning, care to tell me what’s wrong?” He asked as he floated by Charles who just kept his pace.

“What do you want Discord, why aren’t you hanging out with Pinkie Pie or Fluttershy since they seem to be such good friends of yours.”

“Well I would, but I’m afraid they’re busy at the moment, Pinkie is busy helping the cakes with baking for today and Fluttershy is too busy taking care of her animals at the moment.” Discord said as he continued to hover around Charles.

“What about the other ponies, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, or perhaps Applejack?” Charles asked, trying to hide his annoyance.

“They don’t exactly share their enthusiasm of me being here like Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, I think they still don’t trust me.”

“Gee, I wonder why?” Charles asked with sarcasm thick in his voice.

“So I thought to myself, why not hang out with the new guy, he’s sure to be a barrel of laughs.” Discord said upon producing a barrel full of gags and pranking items. “What do ya say new friend, care to spread some light chaos for fun?”

Charles stopped in his tracks and looked at Discord. “Look Discord, I’m on duty right now, so I don’t have time for any silly games with you, second, I am still mad at what you did to me at the party last night, so you’ll have to excuse me if I’m not all that happy to see you.”

Discord made the barrel vanish. “Oh come now, your still mad at me for that harmless little prank I pulled?”

Charles got a little mad as he furrowed his brow. “You got every pony at the party laughing at me, and I do NOT like being laughed at.”

“I said I was sorry didn’t I?” Discord said as he crossed his arms and put his head up.

“You know what, why don’t you just stay here in town while I patrol the borders of the town or something, because I’m not sure I’m ready to forgive you just yet.”

“Well fine, if that’s how it’s going to be, then have it your way. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some mischief to catch up on.” Discord then vanished in a flash. The next moment, a scream was heard around the corner from a mare. Charles ran in the direction to the source, thinking there was trouble.

Upon rounding the corner, he saw a mare getting sprayed with tea by a tea pot and the cups on the table were dancing around. Charles looked on in confusion, not sure what to make of the scene. Then he heard a familiar laugh, he looked up and saw discord laughing as he hovered over the mare. Charles furrowed his brow and left.

***

Charles soon found himself on the path to Sweet Apple Acres. He figured maybe some time helping Applejack with her orchard would help him take his mind off his current encounter with the mischevious god of chaos. He was given free roam and told to help out wherever. He made his way up the path to the farm and saw Applejack coming from around the barn with a few empty baskets stacked on her back. “Hey there sugar cube, good mornin’ what brings ya by here?” Applejack greeted.

“Hey Applejack, I was just wondering if you might need any help with harvesting apples, I just need something to distract me from an….unpleasant encounter I had today.”

“Well, shoot, what kind of unpleasant encounter?” She asked.

“It’s not important, I just want to take my mind off it. So what do you say, need a hand?” Charles asked as he held up a hand and waved it.

Applejack chuckled a little at him. “All right, you can help me carry a few more baskets and set em’ up under a few trees. They’re in the barn there, once ya get a good stack, follow me.” Charles nodded and went into the barn to gather a few baskets. Charles carried two large stacks on his shoulders out of the barn while keeping them balanced with his hands.

“Right this way.” Applejack instructed. Charles followed Applejack through the orchard to an area of apple trees with numerous baskets under them. Applejack came to a group without baskets and told Charles to set them up around the trees. Once done, Applejack continued with instructions. “All right then, now we just need ta buck the apples out of the trees.”

Charles looked at Applejack in confusion. “Buck em’?”

“Here, I’ll show ya.” Applejack walked up to a tree, turned her backside to it, reared her hind legs and gave the tree a good hard kick, causing it’s fruit to fall neatly in all the baskets around it. “See, like that, now you try.”

Charles gave a smile. “I have another way to do it if you don’t mind.”

“As long as you get the apples out of the trees, what’s this other way of yers?” She asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Charles took his staff from his back, gave it a twirl and swung it hard against a nearby tree. The apples all fell out of the tree into the baskets around it perfectly just like with Applejack. Applejack smiled at Charles. “Well all right then, I’ll get ta buckin, and you get ta whackin.” But before Applejack made it to another tree, Charles started flipping and swinging his staff at all the trees in the area, he did so in fluid motions, it was like a dance, he moved and swung so fast, giving each tree a single whack, Applejack didn’t get the chance to make it to another tree. Within five minutes, every tree in the area had been cleared of its fruit.

Applejack was stunned at how fast the trees were cleared. Charles walked up to Applejack and placed his staff on his back again. “Well, how was that, we all done her or what?” Applejack didn’t answer. “Appleack, hey Applejack!” Charles’s shout snapped her out of it.

“Huh, what, oh Charles, well um…….that was some fancy hoof work there, thanks a lot, I figured it would take me at least half the day ta clear all these trees.”

“No problem, glad I could help, so where do we take the apples?”

“Now we need ta haul them back to tha barn. Come on, pick up what ya can and haul them back.” Applejack then managed to stack two baskets on her back to take back. Charles picked up three in each arm and started following Applejack back to the barn. Applejack took notice of the six baskets Charles was carrying. “Well I’ll be, I ain’t never seen Big Mac carry so may baskets at once, you sure are strong.”

“Thanks, I try to stay fit.” Charles responded. Charles didn’t see the slight blush on Applejack’s face after she faced forward again.

One thing Applejack liked to look for in a stallion, was strength, and Charles was demonstrating that with how he cleared so may trees in such a short amount of time, and how many baskets of apples he was carrying all at once. She also hadn’t forgotten how Charles saved her and her friends from the timberwolves a few days ago.

Within the hour, thanks to Charles’s help, all the baskets were put in the barn. “Thanks again fer helpin me with the harvest today Charles, I’ve never gotten through a day’s work so fast.”

“Hey, like I said, I’m glad I could help.” Charles said with a smile.

Applejack blushed again as she started to wrestle with a thought in her head. Eventually, she decided to let it out. “Say Charles, I was wonderin, after you get off a guard duty today, maybe you and I could-“

Before she could finish that sentace, a trio of screams pierced the air. Charles and Applejack turned around and faced in the direction of the screams. “That sounded like Applebloom and her friends!” Applejack exclaimed.

Charles didn’t miss a beat, he got his staff off his back in his right hand, jumped into the air and took off in the direction of the screams, his armor appearing in mid-flight. Applejack galloped behind on the ground.

As he flew, Charles was scanning the ground for any sign of trouble, it didn’t take long for him to find it, he spotted a lone timberwolf near a tree with a small house built into its branches. Charles came down, formed his swords, and readied himself for a fight. The wolf did not move, Applejack then came up behind Charles and gasped when she saw the wooden wolf. What she was really gasping at was a red ribbon the wolf held in its jaws. Panic raced through Applejack’s mind. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MA LITTLE SISTER YOU MONSTER, I SWEAR IF YOU HARMED ONE HAIR IN HER MAIN, I ‘LL BUCK YOU CLEAR TO TARTARUS MYSELF!”

Charles first looked at Applejack as she had angry tears stream down her face, then back at the wolf and saw what she saw. The timberwolf tossed the ribbon over to them. The wolf then turned to its side and made a motion of its head as if to say ‘follow me’. Charles wasn’t sure if he saw what the wolf just did. “You better not have harmed that little filly bark brain!” Charles called out. The wolf seemed to glare at him and did the same motion a little fiercer as if to say ‘come on’. Charles was hesitant. “I think it wants us to follow it.” He said to Applejack.

“Are you NUTS! It’s a timberwolf, a savage pony eating monster, it may have already eaten Applebloom!”

“Then why did it have her ribbon and just toss it to us, I know this seems strange Applejack, but I think something is going on here, my gut says something is up.”

Applejack thought about it, it was strange that a timberwolf would do what it just did. She reluctantly agreed with Charles. “All right you, we’ll play along, but if Applebloom is hurt, don’t think I won’t follow through with my threat.” Applejack said to the timberwolf. The wolf then faced in the direction to go and started to run, Charles and Applejack behind it.

Soon , the timberwolf led the two to the edge of the Everfree forest where there were three more wolves standing guard over three little fillies. “APPLEBLOOM!” Applejack called out upon seeing her cowering with the other two fillies.

“Applejack, help us!” Applebloom cried out with tears in her eyes.

Charles stepped forward with his swords at the ready. “All right, we followed you here, now let those fillies go right now!” Charles called out.

One of the wolves stepped forward, Charles noticed it had a strange symbol on its chest, a circle with strange arcane symbols and a star. The timberwolf sat in front of them and, to every pony and human’s surprise, it spoke, it spoke with a growling voice. “Creature, our king wishes to meet with you, you will come with us and we will release the little ponies unharmed.”

Applejack’s mouth hung open in surprise. Charles was the one to speak. “Did….did that thing just talk?” He asked Applejack.

“I……I think it did.”

Charles didn’t waste any time, there were three scared fillies in need of help. “Listen up, you better let them go right now or else.”

The wolf spoke again. “We have no intention of harming them.” One of the two wolves that were guarding the fillies motioned with its head for them to leave. Applebloom and the other two wasted no time, they ran forth to Applejack and all four hugged eachother.

“Applebloom, thank Celestia yer all right, and you two as well, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, are you gals all right?”

Scootaloo, a little Pegasus with a dark orange coat and a hot purple mane and tail responded. “Applejack, we were so scared, we were on our way to our clubhouse when these timberwolves showed up.”

The other little filly, a white coated unicorn with a two toned mane and tail, light pink and light purple, cried out. “We thought we were goners, but then that talking one said we wouldn’t be hurt as long as we did what it said.”

Charles didn’t take his eyes off the timberwolves as Applejack comforted them. “It’s all right girls, yer safe now, you don’t have ta worry anymore.”

“All right, what’s the big idea kidnapping and scaring three little fillies just to let them go, what’s going on here, and how are you able to talk?”

The lead timberwolf lifted its left wooden paw and used a claw to point at the symbol on its chest. “This symbol allows me to speak in your language. We took the three young ponies to get your attention creature, our king wishes to speak with you.”

Charles answered back. “And why should I go along with you, how do I know this isn’t a trick?”

The timberwolf snarled. “DON’T think that just because we are savage beasts we are without honor.”

Applejack cried out as she continued to hug the three fillies. “And what honor is there in scaring three little fillies half ta death?!”

“It was the only way we could think of to get the creatures attention.”

Charles then barked out. “I’m a human, not a creature, and why should I go with you, the fillies are safe and that’s all we wanted.”

“Because if you don’t, we will come out of the forest in such great numbers you won’t stand a chance, we will overrun the town and kill all the ponies. Now will you come with us or are we going to make a meal out of the ponies in the town?”

“Your not giving me much of a choice here, I will go with you.”

Applejack looked at him in shock. “Charles no, they just want to make a meal out of you!”

“If I don’t go, they’ll make a meal out of Ponyville, I’m not about to let that happen, I’ll be fine, I promise, you need to get those three out of here and to safety, they’ve been through enough, now go on, I’ll be fine.”

Applejack gave a reluctant nod and led the three away. Charles turned his attention back to the wolves. “All right you termite bitten mongrels. Let’s go.” He said with a scowl. The talking timberwolf turned around and started walking, Charles followed behind into the unknown dark of the Everfree forest.

Chapter 13

Charles followed close behind the group of timberwolves that led him through the Everfree forest, not knowing if this was indeed a trap or not, but the creatures before him didn’t give him much of a choice. If he didn’t agree to come along, they would have turned Ponyville into their own private buffet, he didn’t know how many of themethere were but he didn’t want to take the chance that the wolves could make good on their threat. He still had his armor and swords at the ready just in case.

The forest grew dark after a while of walking into it, it felt like hours had gone by while they walked, but had to only of been two hours. “Are we almost there yet.” Charles asked, annoyed it was taking so long to get to their destination.

The leader with the symbol answered back. “Be silent creature, we are almost there, you will remember to show our king the proper respect upon meeting him.”

Charles furrowed his brow. “Stop calling me creature, I’m a human, and my name is Charles, got it.” The timberwolf didn’t respond back.

After another hour of walking, the wolves led Charles to a somewhat open area, there were ancient looking pillars with moss and vines growing on them, around them were hundreds of timberwolves all sitting or standing on the ground or perched on fallen trees, also covered in vines and moss. Charles looked at the sight in a bit of fear. “Looks like they weren’t kidding, there’s so many of them, no way Ponyville would survive an all-out attack from these things.” There was a clear path through the horde of timberwolves along an ancient stone walkway that led to a large rock with crudely carved steps.

Atop the rock sat a massive timberwolf, it looked just like the others, only much bigger and looked older than the others. The lead Timberwolf led Charles to the foot of the rock and stepped aside. The large wolf then motioned with a claw to one of the other wolves on its right. Another timberwolf came forward and got in front of Charles. The talking timberwolf spoke. “Take the necklace.” Charles looked at the speaker first, then back at the wolf in front of him.

He noticed a necklace in the jaws of the timberwolf, the necklace had a small ruffly carved green crystal wrapped in a spiraling wooden setting with green leaves near the bottom. Charles stuck his left sword in the ground, took the necklace from the wolf and asked. “What is this, what is it for?”

“It is a necklace that will allow you to hear the language of the animals, it will allow you to understand us and our king, as well as any other animals.”

Charles looked at the necklace again, the green stone seemed to give off a faint glow. He placed it around his neck and took his sword up again. “Now what?”

The massive timberwolf spoke in a voice that seemed to ring deep with wisdom. “Now we can speak, I am Forest Fang, pack leader and king of the Timberwolves, I thank you for coming here creature.”

“It’s not like you gave me much of a choice, your troops kidnapped and frightened three innocent little fillies and threatned to destroy Ponyville if I didn’t come.”

One of the other timber wolves spoke up with a snarl. “GRRR, you will show our king the proper respect human!”

“You want my respect, don’t go trying to make a meal out of my friends you termite infested bark brain!”

This set off all the wolves as they started growling and snarling, Charles readied his sword to defend himself. “ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU BE STILL!” Forest Fang shouted. The wolves fell silent and went back to their positions. “I did what I felt was necessary to get your attention creature, would you have come any other way?”

Charles thought for a moment, the king was right, Charles wouldn’t have come any other way. “All right, fine, you made your point, I’m here now so what was so urgent that you needed to speak with me, and why me in the first place?”

“There is a threat in the forest, a threat that we timberwolves cannot fight, it threatens to take over our territory and may very well destroy us. My scouts have seen you in combat during your fight with the diamond dogs in the caverns, ever since that day when you defended the six ponies from my subjects, I grew curious as to what you were, so my scouts kept an eye on you. Your strength is greater than anything I have ever witnessed from what I have heard.”

“And why should I help you?”

“Two reasons, one is that this threat will only grow and expand from the forest to the town you call Ponyvill. The other is that there is an even greater threat approaching this land, one that will be too much for the ponies to handle and will threaten this forest as well, and we will not give up our home without a fight. It is so great that even the manticores have agreed on a pact with you.” With that, the King of the timberwolves stepped aside and a large creature about the same size as the timberwolf king approached. It had the body of a lion, the wings of a dragon, and the tail of a scorpion, one eye was pale and had a scar going down it.

Along with it, the timberwolves around Charles stepped to the sides a bit and were joined by other creatures similar to the giant one on the rock with Forest Fang. The new creature spoke. “I am Swift Sting, King of the manticores, we have made an alliance with the timberwolves for we too fear the threat that is coming in the future, we ancient ones can sense a threat looming, one that will require all the strenght that can be mustered to face it.”

Forest Fang continued. “We are not enough to face the current threat of the forest, but our streangth combined with the ponies will hopefully be enough to face the future threat.”

Charles looked over the gathering of timberwolves and manticores. “If you all aren’t enough to stop the current threat, what makes you think I can stop it? And what is this threat that’s looming anyway that would make you join forces with the ponies?”

Swift Sting answered. “The threat in the forest is the fiercest in the land, a dragon, no creature in current existence can stand against such a beast, normally, dragons are content to keep to themselves and ignore others, but this dragon seems to have become greedier than most, so greedy that he seeks to rule this forest and the rest of the land. Your strength is greater than any we have seen. If you can defeat this foe, you will have our allegiance and may call on us for aid whenever you need it.”

“If you are able to sense this great threat, then why hasn’t Discord said anything, if you can sense it, then surly he has, you do know who Discord is don’t you?”

Forest Fang answered. “We do, my only guess as to why he has not said anything is because he is not completely reformed or he is just enjoying others being in the dark for a time, then he will act or say something.”

Swift Sting spoke up. “Discord is a mischevious creature, he may not be trustworthy, but if he is reformed, then perhaps you can speak with him about what we have sensed and see if he will be willing to help.”

Charles couldn’t take it anymore. “All right hold up, let me make sure I have all this down. There is a threat in the forest that you believe only I can defeat, a dragon, if I do so, than the timberwolves and the manticores will aid me against whatever greater threat is coming. On top of that, Discord, the god of chaos, as well. Am I on the right track here or what?”

Forest Fang answered. “You are correct, IF you can convince Discord to join you.”

“Look, I’m just a simple guard for Ponyville, I may have been able to defeat a giant diamond dog, but I’m willing to bet a dragon is a lot bigger and stronger, how do I stand a chance against such a thing?”

Swift Sting spoke up. “Because you have a reason to fight, you have great power within you, you just need a reason to let it all out and use your strength to win. If you do not, the ponies you call friends will be doomed.”

Charles started pacing in confusion. “I don’t BELIEVE this, first Solaris and Cosma come to me in my dreams telling me about this great threat, asking me to find the elements of life, and now the kings of the timberwolves and manticores are asking me for help?! I DON’T BELIEVE THIS! This is CRAZY!”

Forest Fang and Swift Sting looked to eachother, then back to Charles. Forest Fang spoke up. “You met with the former king and queen of Equestria?”

Charles kept his pacing as he looked at the two before him. “Yeah, they spoke to me last night in a dream, asking me to find the elements of life so I would have the strength to fight off this threat that you all are afraid of. How am I supposed to do all this?! I’m just a human, A HUMAN! One…..individual, how am I supposed to protect an entire world from such a threat, and why would you throw your support behind ME? I’m no leader, I’m just some poor shmuck who got dealt a bad hand in life and now all of a sudden, I’m expected to save the world from some great THREAT? THIS IS ABSOLUTLEY NUTS!” Charles stopped his frantic pacing and just stood there breathing heavily.

“Are you saying you will not help us?” Swift Sting asked.

Charles looked at the two. “I…..I didn’t say that, it’s just…..a lot to take in, I guess the gravity of the situation is just now starting to get to me. I want to protect my new friends, I do, but to be given so much responsibility is so much, I’m not only expected to protect my friends….or the country I now call home, but the entire world from what I understand.”

A manticore nearby spoke up. “Hmm, we should have known better than to seek help from an unkown creature, he is weak.”

A timberwolf next to it argured. “GRRR, you dare doubt our king’s wisdom?”

The manticore argured back. “It is scared, it cannot help us, it is weak.”

“If our king says it can help than it can help, you will not question our king feline.”

“Bring it on bark breath.” The timberwolf snarled and the manticore roared in anger.

“ENOUGH, THERE WILL BE NO FIGHTING AMONG US!” Swift Sting yelled. The area fell quiet. The two kings turned their attention back to Charles. “Human, will you or will you not help us with the current threat in the forest? Do so and we will help you with the future threat approaching.”

Charles took a moment to collect his thoughts. “I suppose I might as well take this whole save the world thing one step at a time, all right, I’ll do what I can against this dragon that seeks to control the forest, but to be honest, I don’t know what good I’ll do against it.”

Forest Fang spoke. “You have our gratitude human, our subjects will guide you to where the dragon is.” Two timberwolves and two manticores came forward. “Be warned, we are not the only creatures in this forest to fear, there are cockatrice about, they are simple creatures and are not as smart as us. They will see you as trespassing should you stumble in their territory.”

Swift Sting then spoke up. “Our subjects will act as bodyguards as well as guides should you encounter such things.”

One of the two manticores to guide him spoke. “Come along human, let us not waste time.” Charles put the bottom of his swords hilts together and reformed his staff. He placed it on his back and began to follow the two timberwolves and manticores away.

***

Charles followed the four through the forest with unease heavy on his mind, he was in the middle of a dark forest he was told was dangeruous, being led through it by two manitcores and two timberwolves to fight a dragon, not to mention he had to keep an eye out for cockatrice. Then a thought hit him, what was a cockatrice? Twilight seemed to forget to tell him about those while he was in the hospital. He decided to try and ask his guides through the woods. “Excuse me, I have a question.”

The lead timberwolf looked back. “Speak human, what is your question?”

“I’ve never heard of a cockatrice before, what exactly is it?”

The lead Manticore answered. “It is a small creature with the head of a chicken and the body of a snake with bat like wings.”

Charles looked a little confused. “And why do you need to protect me from something so rediculuous?”

The second timberwolf answered. “While the creature may look silly to you, it has a dangerous power, if it stares you in the eyes, it will turn your body to stone. It is best to avoid such a creature.”

“That does sound bad.” Charles commented. “So, do your kings know what this bigger threat is that got them to agree to side with me should I succeed in dealing with this dragon?”

The lead manticore answered. “No, our king does not.”

The lead Timberwolf answered next. “Nor does ours. However, it most certainly is real if the former king and queen of Equestria had contacted you and asked for your help.”

“So you know of them?” Charles asked.

The second manticore answered. “indeed, all know of the former king Solaris and former queen Cosma. They are revered by all ancient and powerful creatures, we ourselves only know of them through our rulers.”

“And why is that?”

The second timberwolf answered. “There is a legend that says it is believed they were once gods among the stars, they fought a great evil to protect the galaxy, they were successful but were weakened and could no longer sustain themselves among the stars, so they created a world and filled it with life, they watched over the world for a time until the evil they thought they defeated returned in a weakened state, but still powerful. They took on forms that allowed them to be a part of the world they created. Because of this, they were vulnerable so they had to hide in a part of the world where they could not be found for a while until they could find a way to stop it, that evil was Discord. The king and queen knew they would be unable to fight the being in their current state, they had daughters and raised them for a while, once the two were old enough to take care of themselves, the king and queen used all their power to create powerful weapons their daughters could use against discord. Upon doing so, they gave up their mortal bodies and went to a place known as the realm of the eternal herd. A place only for the ponies.”

The lead manticore continued. “The elements of harmony and the elements of life, the elements of harmony to combat dark magics, and the elements of life to combat any evil with pure strength, the sisters used the elements of harmony to turn discord to stone and imprisoned him. we are aware of this legend as it is passed down from our kings to us. Our kings had it passed down from their fathers and so on.”

“Wow, that’s some legend, but wait, how are they considered the former king and queen if they never ruled Equestria?” Charles asked.

The lead timberwolf answered. “because of what they had done, in the legend, they formed our world and created the life it now has.”

“Do the other ponies know of this then?”

The second timberwolf answered. “No, the legend has been lost to them, the princesses are most likely the only ones alive today to know of the story, if it is even true. Even we are unsure if such a tale is true or not, but we dare not question our king, we have no reason to either. It is merely an entertaining story.”

“I thank you for sharing it with me. I guess you aren’t such savage beasts after all, just creatures who follow closely to your baser instincts while keeping some intelligence. It just so happens that your carnivorous.” Charles commented.

“We are almost there.” Said the lead timberwolf. “For your sake, I hope you survive.”

The four had led Charles to an ancient looking stone town covered in moss and vines, barely any buildings were still standing, it looked very ancient, like it had been here for centuries. “What is this place?” Charles asked.

“Our king has not told us, therefor it does not matter.” Said the lead manticore. “The dragon lies at the center of this place.” It was easy to spot, the ancient looking place wasn’t very big and, because of how much of it had fallen down, it was easy to see the center of the place where the dragon lay. Charles formed his swords and made his way to the dragon, maybe he could get the drop on it while it slept. Charles snuck through the ancient ruins in hopes of ending this quickly. The manticores and timberwolves just stayed where they were to watch in case Charles failed and they had to report to their kings the human died.

Charles dared not use his wings for fear of his flapping draw the dragons attention. He snuck and ducked behind what ruins he could, as he drew closer, he could hear the dragon breathing as it slept. It had black scales with a white underbelly and red spines down its back. It was a massive beast, easily bigger than the diamond dog Charles faced.
A little close and he could behead the dragon and be done with this, closer and closer he got. Just a little closer and the dragon would be dead…..if only he had seen the out of place stone in his path. Charles’s foot got caught and he tripped.
He fell to the ground with an ‘OOMPF!’ His armor didn’t help either, it made a loud clattering sound as he hit theground.

The dragon stirred from its sleep as it slowly opened its eyes, it sat up, let out a loud yawn and stretched. Charles tried to find a place to hide before it noticed him, but he had passed all the buildings that could hide him. The dragon looked down to the source of the sound that had awoken it from its slumber and saw Charles with his swords at the ready. The dragon growled in anger and narrowed its eyes. “Who are you to intrude in my home and disturb my slumber, I should roast you alive you pest.”

Charles stood defiantly, a little unsure if he could defeat this beast or not. “Surrender dragon, I will not let you rule this forest or the land beyond, I am well aware of your plans to take over the land! I will not let you do so!”

The dragon smiled and started to laugh. “AH HA HA HA HA! AAAHH HA HA HA HA, OH my, that is too funny, do you really think you can beat me, I can squash you like a bug, and how do you know of my plans creature, what are you?”

“My name is Charles, I am a human, I am aware of your plans for the king of the timberwolves and the king of the manticores has told me thus, I will not let you take over Equestria! In the name of the royal guard of Ponyville, I order you to surrender or face death!”

The dragon just laughed harder at Charles’s proclamation. “AH HA HA HA HA HAAAA, AH HA HA HA HA, this is too much, please stop, I can’t take anymore!”

Charles was getting mad the dragon wasn’t taking him seriously, he decided now was the time to act. He flared his wings and charged for the beasts gut, if he hadn’t been yelling as he charged, he might have succeded in his attack, the dragon ceased his laughing and saw Charles coming at him for a cross slash. The dragon brought his left claw up and swung it down, Charles was too focused on his target to see the claw coming at him, it struck him and slammed him into the ground.

The dragon lifted his claw up, Charles was now lying face down in a crater with bits of rock on his back, he managed to pick himself up with a groan. “Oh man, I just had to yell while charging.” He complained to himself. Charles picked himself up on one knee and glared at the dragon, he just now saw the claw coming back down for another slam. Charles rolled out of the way just in time. He jumped up to his feet and too to the air.

The dragon looked at Charles now hovering in front of him. The dragon took in a breath, Charles saw this and figured the dragon was about to do what dragons are known for, he quickly started zipping around as the dragon let out a massive flame from its mouth.

Charles was able to avoid the flames, but just barely, his right wing was nearly singed. He tried to circle around the dragon and went for a strike at its back, but he forgot that dragons have tails. The dragos tail whipped up and slapped Charles in the air, causing him to go falling backward and back to the ground at an angle and with such force he skidded along the ground. He pushed himself back up. “UGH, how do I beat this thing?” He grumbled to himself. He got all the way up and turned around just in time to see the dragon readying to stomp on him.

Charles then got an idea, he quickly pointed both swords straight up and braced himself in case he got stomped on. The dragon brought his foot down and was met with great pain as Charles’s swords pierced the bottom of his foot. The dragon cried out in pain as he quickly lifted his foot up and grasped it with both claws, jumping on his other foot. “OOOOOOOOOOHHHHH, OW OW OW OW OW!” Each hop caused the earth to shake. The dragon had pulled his foot up before it came all the way down on Charles.

Charles saw this as another opportunity to try and get in a blow. He charged forth with his swords ready to try and take the dragon’s head. He flew fast for the neck as the dragon was distracted, just as he was about to cut off the head, the dragon moved at the last second away and Charles missed, causing him to slam into a stone pillar. “OOF!” Charles was able to keep himself from falling back down, he pushed himself off the pillar, kept himself afloat as he shook his head to regain his senses. He turned to see the dragon sitting down, blowing on his foot to try and relieve the pain. Charles charged forth again.

The dragon saw him coming again and went for a swipe of his claw to slash at Charles. Charles was ready this time, he swiped his right sword, causing a deep cut in the dragon’s claw before it reached him. The dragon brought it back and yelped in pain, Charles was still coming and swiped at the dragons right shoulder. Charles left another deep gash that spurted blood. The dragon winced in pain and grasped at it with his left claw. Charles had continued on his path and was now behind the dragon, he flew and swiped at the dragons other shoulder, the dragon winced again and cried out in pain again.

The dragon growled out. “I am getting tired of this you little pest!” Charles was a good distance away from the dragon. The dragon let out a monstrous flame towards Charles, Charles quickly formed his staff and twirled it around in front of him creating a tornado. It was almost as big as the flame coming at him, the wind met the flame at the center. The dragon tried to increase the power behind his flame, it worked as it grew fiercer. It started to push Charles’s wind back. He thought quickly and came up with an idea. Once he stopped spinning his staff, the wind died down and the flames closed in on his location.

The dragon saw his flame reach the spot where his enemy was and continued his flame until he was sure the human was nothing but a pile of ash. The dragon finally relented and sneered at his victory, he laughed. “Ha ha ha , that’s what you get for messing with me you ant.” What the dragon failed to notice was a hole in the ground below where Charles was flying. Charles erupted from the ground from behind the dragon, his body glowing white. The dragon was too caught up in his false victory to notice Charles. Charles then launched himself forward with such speed, he was just a white streak, he zipped past the dragons neck. As soon as he did, the dragon stopped laughing. Charles landed on the ground on one knee, his wings spread and his swords pointed straight out to his sides. A second later, the dragon’s head fell off and a fountain of blood gushed from his neck. Charles was victorious.

The headless body fell over with an earth rumbling ‘THUD’. The glow around Charles’s body faded and he reformed his staff. He placed it on his back and made his way back to where his escorts waited.

***

Charles was now standing in front of the two kings that had asked for his aid. King Forest Fang spoke first. “Human, we are in your debt, as promised, we will side with you and the ponies for when the danger to this world emerges.”

King Swift Sting then spoke. “Should you need us, call on us, and we will be ready to help. Also, we swear that from this day forth, no pony shall come to harm should they wander into the forest.”

“Thank you your majesties, and thank you for the necklace, I suppose I should inform Celestia of this as well.” Charles responded.

Forest Fang responded. “Indeed, if she has not sensed it yet, she must be made aware of the growing danger. Four of my subjects will escort you out of the forest.” Charles then followed the four timberwolves, and his new allies out of the forest and back to Ponyville where he would inform Celestia of their new friends from the woods.

Author's Note

DOUBLE CHAPTER DAY!! SURPRISE! :pinkiesmile:

Chapter 14

“Sir, we almost have a lock on the signal, it is definitely coming from another dimension.”

“Interesting, how long before you get a full lock? I want that subject found as soon as possible.”

“It will still take some time, we’re talking about crossing worlds here after all, once we get a lock, we can begin construction of a way to transport soldiers and equipment to where the subject is.”

“Excellent, keep me informed of any updates. Are the scientists that headed the project on board with all this?”

“Yes sir, they were quit adamant about being included.”

“Keep up the good work.”

***

Charles had just now emerged from the woods with his four escorts. “Thank you for showing me the way out.” He said to them.

“We are grateful to you for dealing with that accursed dragon that threatened our territory, you have our support.” One of them said. Before the timberwolves could leave, a shout was heard.

“Charles! Look out!” A ball of flame came flying at one of the timberwolves. Charles saw it coming and quickly deflected it with his staff. The call came from captain Lightning Thrash. The flame came from Black Cloud’s flame thrower.

Charles saw the two guards along with Stunner and Storm Chaser. Charles’s six friends were also there with the guards.

Charles called out to them. “Stand down, don’t attack!” Charles had his free hand up towards the guards and the staff towards the timberwolves.

Storm Chaser called out. “Don’t attack?! They’re timberwolves, what are you waiting for, attack!”

“NO, STAND DOWN, THEY ARE NOT A THREAT!” This caused the ponies to pause. Charles turned to the wolves. “You four better get back to the forest, it will take some time to spread the word of our alliance.”

The wolf Charles defended spoke. “Thank you for saving me from the flame.” Charles gave a nod and the four wolves headed back into the forest.

From the pony’s perspective, they just heard a few snarles and growls from the wolves after Charles spoke. The captain finally spoke up. “Private Charles, what is going on? Applejack comes bursting into my office with her friends saying you were taken by timberwolves and now you come out with a group of them just to let them go?! What in the name of Celestia is going on?!”

“Sir, please calm down, I will explain everything.” Charles then explained all that happened during his time in the forest. Needless to say, the group was stunned at the end of the story.

Once Charles finished his tale, there was a moment of silence before Storm Chaser spoke up. “So let me get this straight. You met with the king of the timberwolves and the king of the manticores, defeated a dragon threating to take over the forest and Equestria, killed the dragon, and secured an alliance with the manticores and timberwolves?”

“Pretty much.” Charles simply answered. Another moment of silence.

Rainbow Dash broke it this time. “That….is so…..AWESOME! You actually beat a dragon?”

“Eyup.” Charles simply answered again with a smile.

“Charles, this is incredible, nothing like this has ever been heard of!” Twilight exclaimed. “But how did you speak with them, timberwolves can’t talk, yet Applejack said one of them did during the incident with Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.”

Charles answered. “She’s right, one of the timberwolves we first encounted had a weird symbol on its chest, it said the symbol gave it the ability to speak like us, they led me into the forest to speak with their king, one of them gave me this necklace…” Charles held up his new necklace to show the ponies, “…so I could understand them, it lets me be able to understand any animals.”

“Celestia needs to be made aware of this right away. Come on, let’s get back to the library and send a letter to her.”

Charles held up his hands to stop Twilight. “Whoa Twilight hold on, before we do that, there’s someone I need to talk to first.”

“Who?”

Charles winced a little as he said the name. “Discord.”

The ponies looked at him curiously. Rarity spoke up. “Why do you need to speak with Discord?”

“Because he can be of help with whatever is coming, and I need to see if he’s even aware of it.”

“Well, all right, if you’re sure.” Twilight commented. The group made their way back to Ponyville.

Along the way, Charles was at the back of the group with Applejack. He spoke low to get her attention so the others wouldn’t hear. “Hey Applejack.”

Applejack looked to Charles as she was walking right next to him. “Yeah Charles?” She spoke low as well, just enough so only he could hear her.

“How is Applebloom and her friends holding up? I imagine they’re pretty shakin up after that incident with the wolves.”

“They are a little shakin up, but they’ll be fine, thanks fer askin.”

“So who were those two other fillies with Applebloom?”

“The little unicorn was Sweetie Belle, she’s Rarity’s little sister, and the little Pegasus was Scootaloo. Those three are real good friends, even formed a club calling themselves the cutie mark crusaders.”

“That’s nice, maybe later I can come by and see if I can cheer them up or something, I’d like to meet the other two.”

Applejack looked up at Charles with a bit of a surprised look. “You’d do that?” She then smiled. “Well shoot, that’s real sweet of ya Charles, I just know those three will appreciate it, might even help take their minds off what happened to them.”

“So anyway, I remember you were trying to ask me something before this whole mess started, what was on your mind Applejack?”

Applejack turned away slightly and blushed a little. “Well Charles, I was just wonderin……I’m real grateful fer yer help with the harvest today and I was wonderin…..if’n ya’ll had the time…..maybe you and me could get tagether fer dinner er somthin’ just the two of us.”

“You mean like…..a date? I don’t know Applejack, I mean, I think I might be starting up a relationship with Rarity. Don’t get me wrong, you’re a real fine mare and all, but….ugh, why am I so bad at this.”

Applejack caught on to his confusion and laughed a little. “Heh heh, Charles, don’t ya know? Stallions can have more than one marefriend and partner, isn’t that how it worked where yer from?”

Charles did a light face palm. “Oh right, Twilight was telling me about that while I was in the hospital.” Charles pulled his hand away from his face. “No, that’s not how it worked on earth, there are so many humans there, in most parts of the world, such a thing like what you have here in terms of relationships, a male having more than one partner is frowned upon, even illegal.”

“Gosh, how many of ya critters are there?”

“Pfft, heck if I know, last I heard, it was somewhere in the billions, or somewhere around that, probably a lot more than that.”

“Golly, that is a lot.”

“Anyway, back to your first question, about us going out…….I…..um.” Charles started to blush a little himself. “….sure, I’d love too, gotta say, this whole relationship with a pony would also be frowned upon on earth…….GREATLY frowned upon.”

“Why’s that?” She asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“Because back on earth, now don’t take this the wrong way, but ponies on earth were just animals, they are used on farms as work animals and some are treated as pets, not as intelligent as you ponies here. Humans are the only sentient life forms on the planet.”

“That is so fascinating.”

Applejack and Charles turned ahead to the new voice, it was Twilight looking at them over her shoulder. Charles responded. “T-Twilight, how long have you been listening in?”

“Well it was kind of hard not to when Applejack asked you out.” Twilight answered. “In fact, we all heard.”

Fluttershy commented. “I think it’s sweet. It was very nice of you to help her today.”

Rarity then chimed in. “Personally dear, I have no problem with you going out with her on a date, as long as you can handle the two of us and give us both an equal amount of attention. In fact, why not make it a triple date, you Applejack and me. Would you both be all right with that?”

Pinkie giggled. “OOOH, this is just so super-duber fantastic, three of my best friends are dating. I’m just so happy.”

Charles then spoke up. “I know I’m happy about this, I can’t believe TWO girls…….or in this case, mares, are actually interested in me.”

Twilight then commented. “Well, given your recent heorics, I’m not surprised.”

Charles smirked. “So does that mean that you might have a crush on me too Twilight?”

Twilight then blushed. “WHAT, no, I mean, I’m far too busy with my studies to get involved in a relationship.” She defended frantically.

Pinkie chimed in. “Oh come on Twilight, you know you like him.”

Rarity then added in. “Besides dear, one is never too busy when love is concerned.”

Lightning Thrasher interrupted the conversation. “All right you girls, that’s enough, if she wants to ask Charles out, let her do it at her own pace, don’t be trying to pry it out of her.”

Charles then brought the conversation back to the date. “So, when shall we have this little three way date?"

Rarity answered. “Let ‘s see, today is Wensday, how about this Friday night?”

Applejack answered. “Works fer me, how about you Charles?”

Charles answered. “Fine by me, I’ve got nothing else to do.”

Rarity perked up. “Then its settled, the three of us shall enjoy a lovely evening together on Friday night.”

The group finally made it back to Ponyville and the guards returned to their posts while Charles and the girls began to look for Discord. “So how are we supposed to find Discord anyway?”

Pinkie answered. “That’s easy, watch this.” Pinkie stepped forward in front of the group, cleared her throat and put a hoof to her chest. She then overdramatically spoke. “Oh, I am so bored, if only there were someone who could liven things up with a bit of chaos.”

In a flash, Discord appeared. “Did some pony say chaos?”

Pinky immediately perked up. “Hey Discord ol buddy.”

“Pinkie, don’t tell me your actually bored, I’ve never known you to be bored.”

“Nope, I just needed to get you here, sorry for tricking you like that, but it’s kind of important.”

Discord raised an eyebrow as he looked down at Pinkie. “Oh, what is it?” Pinkie pointed a hoof at Charles. Discord frowned. “Oh, it’s you, what do you want?”

Charles stepped closer to Discord, inhaled deep through his nose, and exhaled out his mouth. “Discord, I forgive you for the prank you pulled on me at the party, and I’m sorry for not forgiving you sooner, I just don’t like being laughed at.”

Discord perked up a bit. “Really, you forgive me, well that’s interesting, I guess you’re not such a sour puss after all.” He said with a smile.

Charles continued. “I would like it if we could be friends, I just don’t want to be pranked on.”

“Very well then.” He said with a bigger smile. “We shall bury the hatchet.” Discord made a hatched appear in one hand and a shovel in the other. “Here, you dig the hole and I’ll drop the hatchet in it.”

Pinkie giggled at Discord being literal. Charles looked at him confusingly as the shovel was placed in his hands. “Um, I don’t think that’s meant to be literal.”

“It’s not, oh well.” Discord made the shovel and hatchet disappear.

“Listen Discord, I know this may not be easy for you, but I need you to focus, there is something serious I need to talk with you and the princesses about, I’m going to send a letter to them to inform them that it is important I meet with them. Can you please be there with me when I speak with them.”

“If it is a matter so important that you would need me to know about it as well, I suppose. Very well, I’ll come around when the princesses do, or go with you to the castle if they want you to come.”

“Thank you Discord, I really appreciate it.” Charles said with a smile.

Discord smiled back. “Hey, what are friends for, put er there chum.” Discord put his lion paw out for a shake.

Charles was about to grab it but then stopped. “Hold it, you’re not going to try THAT trick again are you?”

“What, me, pull the same trick twice, puh-lease, give me some credit.” Discord said as he held up his lion paw, and in it was a bigger hand buzzer.

Charles smirked at Discord. “Nice try, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Girls, I believe you should all go about your buisnesses now, I need to head back to the library with Twilight and inform Celestia of today’s events. Rarity, Applejack, I’ll see you two Friday night, if not sooner.” The girls but Twilight said their farewells as Twilight, Discord, and Charles headed back to the library.

Upon arrival, Discord, being as tall as he is had to slink in behind Charles as he followed Twilight. “Spike, I need you to take a letter please.” Twilight said as Spike was busy with a bit of dusting.

“Hey Twilight, sure…..thing?” Spike saw Discord in the library with Twilight and Charles. “Um….Twilight, why is Discord here?”

“There is something of great importance that the princesses need to be made aware of and Charles thinks it concerns him as well.” She explained.

It didn’t ease Spike’s nerves, he just nodded and ran off to fetch a quill and parchment. “Ready when you are.” He said upon his return.

Charles began. “Dear princess Celestia and princess Luna, I have achieved and learned something today that is of the utmost importance that you be made aware of. This is too important to reveal through a letter, I must meet with you face to face to discuss the matter, it also concerns Discord so he will be with me when we meet, please respond at your earliest convenience. Your loyal Ponyville guard, Charles.”

Spike finished with the last of the letter, rolled it up and sent it on its way in a puff of green flame and smoke. “So, what’s going on, Applejack came in here some time ago acting all frantic, something about timberwolves or something?”

Charles looked to the little dragon. “It’s kind of a long story, I think I should inform the princesses about this first, if they come here, you can be present for when I tell them about today.”

“Fine, I’ll wait.” Spike said with a bored sigh.

Charles then started rubbing the back of his neck a little nervously. “So Spike, you’re not….still upset at me about……dating Rarity, are you?”

Discord perked up at this. “OOH, Spike is upset at you for dating Rarity, Do tell.” Then in a flash, everyone in the room was on pillows with curlers in their hair….rather, those who had hair had curlers in them. Discord even went so far as to have a bowl of popcorn and everyone in pajamas. “Now tell me all the details Spike, or Charles, don’t leave out any of the juicy parts.”

Charles was just confused at the sudden change Discord made, while Twilight and Spike were just annoyed. “Discord, that is between them.” Twilight scolded.

Discord gave a ‘harumpf’ and the pillows, pajamas, curlers, and popcorn was gone. Spike finally had a chance to answer Charles’s question. “Well, I guess not, I am still a little down about it, but it seems I may have a secret admirer.”

Twilight went a little wide eyed at this bit of news. “Really Spike, who is it?”

“I don’t know, that’s why they’re called a SECRET admirer.” Before they could say anymore on the subject, Spike belched out a letter. Spike picked it up and began to read it out loud.

Dear Charles,

I understand that you feel this news is important, and I am curious as to what it is that you need to tell me in person, however, myself and Luna are too busy with our duties today to speak with you, we will come to Ponyville tomorrow to meet with you so you may tell us what is going on.
From, Princess Celestia.

Discord was the first to comment. “Well then, looks like I can be on my way, I’ll be seeing you all tomorrow.” Discord then disappeared.

Charles then spoke up. “Guess I should be on my way as well and get back on the job.” His stomach then rumbled. “Um, after lunch. Do you know of a good place to eat around here Twilight, I just received my pay today and would like to try one of the local eateries.”

Twilight thought for a moment. “Why don’t you try Sugarcube Corner, I’m sure Pinkie would be more than happy to serve you.”

“Sounds good to me, I’ll see you two later this afternoon.” Charles took his leave and made his way to the bakery.

On his way, he took notice it was very cloudy now, and the tempature was still rather low. “Brr, good thing I have a coat. What season is it here?” He thought out loud. During his walk, he saw Rainbow Dash flying overhead. He figured he might as well ask a friend about the season. “Hey, Rainbow Dash, you got a minute?!”

Rainbow stopped in her flight and looked at Charles. “Hey Charles, sure, I got a minute!” She answered back and flew down to meet him, she continued to hover next to him as he walked. “What’s up Charles?”

“What season is it around here, what month is it?”

“It’s October, almost time for Nightmare Night.”

Charles cocked an eyebrow as he looked at her. “Nightmare Night, what’s that?”

“Only one of my most favorite holidays of the year, it’s when we dress up in costumes for fun and games, the fillies and colts go around from door to door asking for candy, it actually got started because of how Luna turned into Nightmare Moon.”

Charles continued to look at her with a confused expression. “Who’s Nightmare Moon? And wait, Luna turned into some one……er, some pony else?”

“Oh right, you don’t know about that do you, you’ll have to ask Twilight about it sometime.”

“Huh, well this Nightmare Night sounds a lot like a holiday back on earth we humans celebrated. We called it Halloween. Despite what I had been through in life, it was my favorite holiday, as long as I didn’t use my wings or magic, I could just say I was in a costume, that my wings were fake.” Charles got a little more somber by this point. “It was really the only night of the year where I felt like I fit in, I didn’t have to worry about people messing with me.”

Dash picked up on it. “Hey, you don’t need to worry about that anymore, sure you’re a different species than us, but so far, you’ve been fitting in pretty good haven’t you? Just forget those jerks from your world and try to make something of yourself in this one, I’d say your off to a great start so far.”

Charles smiled at Dash’s words. “Your right Rainbow Dash, all that stuff is in the past, this place is so much better. Thanks for talking with me. I guess you were busy with something so I’ll let you get back to it. I’ll see you later Ok.”

“Sure, see ya later Charles.” Dash then took off and went back to whatever she was doing.

Charles reached Sugarcube Corner and entered through the door, causing the little bell hanging over it to ring.

He was greeted by Pinkie at the counter. “Hey Charles, didn’t think I’d see you so soon, what’cha doin here? Not that I’m not happy to see you, I’m always happy to see my friends.”

“Hey Pinkie Pie, thought I’d come by for my lunch break. I seem to have worked up an appetite today.”

“I’ll bet, with everything you went through, you must be super-duper hungry, so what can I get ya, it’s on me.”

Charles put a hand up. “That won’t be necessary Pinkie, I got paid today before I started my job. I can pay for my food, I insist.”

“Well, OK, so what do you want, we got all kinds of great things.”

Charles thought for a minute. “You know what, I’m in the mood for something I haven’t had in a long time, I don’t suppose you all serve pizza here do you?”

Pinkie looked at Charles curiously. “What’s a pizza?” Pinkie asked as she cocked her head to the side. Then she smiled again. “Oh oh, is it some kind of dessert, or maybe a new kind of bread I never heard of? Wait I know, It’s a-“
Before she could finish, Charles put a hand over her mouth.

“Easy Pinkie, just stop talking for a moment please.” Pinkie nodded, still with a smile. Charles took his hand away and began. “So you ponies don’t have pizza huh, well I’ll just have to change that.”

“Really great, because I really want to know what a pizza is, it sounds interesting.”

“Pizza is only the most delicious thing in the world, at least in my opinion, let’s see.” Charles thought for a moment on how to tell Pinkie what Pizza was. “Well, I can tell you how it’s made, sort of.”

Pinkie smiled bigger, if it were possible. “Really well come on, tell me, don’t leave me in suspense, how do you make a pizza?”

“I doubt this bakery has all the ingredients for a pizza, but here goes.” Charles then did his best to describe how one makes a pizza, the bread dough, the tomato sauce, the cheese. “And after that, you can just leave it like that, or you can add anything else you want on it, my personal favorite is when it has red and green peppers with onions, but you can also put pineapples, or olives or any other vegie style stuff, though some humans like to put certain kinds of……..you know what, let’s stick with the veggie stuff. Then you bake it for a while until the crust is a nice golden brown. What do you think?”

Pinkie started to lick her lips at the end. “MMM, that does sound good, oooooh, I can’t wait to try it out, you just have to help me make it when I have all the stuff together. Please say you’ll help me, please please please say you’ll help me.” Pinkie was begging Charles.

“Well, sure ok, I can help, when do you want me to come by, I’ll be free later this evening.”

“GREAT, I can’t wait to try this out. This is going to be so much fun.”

Charles then got another idea that he knew she would just love. “Say Pinkie, since you ponies have never heard of pizza before, I’ll bet humans have something else you’ve never heard of before either.”

“Really, what?” Pikie asked, still smiling.

“It’s a kind of party you never heard of.”

Pinkie gasped. “There’s a kind of party I never heard of? But how can that be, I’m Ponyville’s number one party ponie, how can there be a kind of party that I never heard of?”

Charles smiled a little devilishly. “Because it involves the thing I just told you about, the party I’m talking about, it’s called a pizza party.”

Pinkie’s monstrous smile returned. “A pizza party, that’s a GREAT IDEA! How does it work? What do you need for it? How many-“ Pinkie was cut off again by Charles’s hand.

“Pinkie, it is simple, a pizza party is just a party where pizza is the main thing served at it, you can serve other things, but the pizza is the main thing. So this evening, once I’m off duty, I’ll come by and help you the best I can to make a pizza and, as I’m sure, come up with a time to throw a pizza party, you want to put one together right away don’t you?”

“Well yeah, of course I do, this is HUGE, I can’t wait to get started, thank you Charles!”

Charles chuckled at Pinkie. “You’re welcome Pinkie.”

Author's Note

This is where you readers get to take a bit of an active roll in the stories production.....or something like that. WARNING, MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Do you think I should add other races to aid Charles and the princesses for the fight to come? Let me know in the comments or pm me and you will see the results of your comments in later chapters.

Chapter 15

It was now three in the afternoon and Charles was now off duty, he decided now would be a good time to follow through with what he told Applejack about checking on the three fillies that were nabbed by the timberwolves. He just arrived at the farm where the three were, he approached the house and knocked. The door opened and Applejack greeted Charles with a smile. “Well howdy Charles, you here to check on the girls like you said?”

Charles answered back with a smile of his own. “Yeah, I’m hoping I can help them forget the incident they were through. Are they inside?”

“They’re actually at their clubhouse right now, I’ll take ya to it, follow me.” Applejack stepped out of the house and led Charles away.

“You’d think after what they’ve been through, they’d want to be at home with their families or something.” Charles mused.

“They’re very dedicated to their club, even after what happened, they still wanted to continue with their club meeting.” Applejack responded.

Charles then had another thought. “Wait, if today is a weekday, shouldn’t they have been in school, you do have schools right?”

“Well of course we have a school. But their teacher, Ms. Cheerilee, was sick today so the kids had a free day.”
Applejack led Charles back to the clubhouse where the timberwolf they first met today was. Applejack called out for them. “Girls, you have a visitor!” The three fillies came out of the clubhouse and looked down over the rafters of the porch.

Applebloom was in the middle of the three as she greeted Applejack. “Oh, hey Applejack, what’s up?” She seemed to greet with a bit of nervousness. It was clear she was still bothered about their little scare.

“Girls, Charles here wanted to come by and try to cheer ya’ll up, ta help ya ferget about yer troubles, why don’t ya come on down.” Applejack instructed. The three slowly made their way down and stopped in front of Charles and Applejack.

Scootaloo was the first to speak up. “Applebloom, is this the guy you told us about earlier?”

Sweetie belle spoke up. “It has to be, he’s the one who came and got us away from those timberwolves.”

“Don’t reminde me, I just know I’m going to have nightmares for weeks after this.” Scootaloo said, clearly in a poor mood as she hung her head.

Charles squatted down to speak to them, he did so with a comforting smile. “Hey there, you don’t need to worry about that anymore, it’s all over, I’m Charles, it’s nice to meet you two.”

Scootaloo introduced herself. “I’m Scootaloo.”

Sweetie Belle then introduced herself. “I’m Sweetie Belle.”

“So, now that introductions are out of the way, let’s see what we can do to put smiles on your faces.” Charles announced as he stood back up. Applejack just watched the scene.

“I don’t see how we'll feel better after……that.” Applebloom shivered upon remembering again. Charles frowned a little, but then it was quickly replaced with his smile again.

“Let’s see, I think I know of one way to cheer you up.” Charles placed his hands behind his back, Applejack then noticed his hands start to glow white. Soon, the three fillies bodies were enveloped in the same glow, then without warning, the three lifted up off the ground.

“WHOA!” Scootaloo was the first off the ground.

“What the, Whoa, hey!” Applebloom was next.

“What’s going on, hey.” Sweetie Belle was the last.

Applejack became a little worried. “Uh, Charles, what are you doin?” The three fillies were surprised by the sudden elevation but started to enjoy the fly around they were doing as the air was filled with their laughter.

Charles looked to Applejack as he had the three fly around him with Scootaloo in the lead. “Don’t worry Applejack, I won’t let them fall, I know what I’m doing.”

“Yahoo, this is fun!” Scootaloo exclaimed. Charles had them fly around Applejack and around the tree house.

“WOO HOO! This is great!” Applebloom cried out.

“YAHOO!” Sweetie Bell yelled.

Charles smiled bigger at their enjoyment. “You girls want to go higher?” He brought them back to him and had them hover in front of them.

“Yeah.” Scootaloo.

“Can we?” Applebloom.

“I don’t know, what if we fall?” Sweetie Belle asked with a bit of fear.

“Hey, don’t worry, I won’t let you fall, I’m the one making you fly remember, so what do ya say, wanna soar over the clouds for a while?” Charles assured.

Sweetie Belle smiled then, she seemed to gain a bit of confidence at Charles’s words. “Well, all right.”

“All right then, her we go.” Charles spread his wings out and took to the sky with the three fillies in tow flying around him. Applebloom above him with Scootaloo on his left and Sweetie Belle on his right. He went slow so as not to scare them too bad. As he went higher, the air was filled with the three fillies laughter as they enjoyed their flight.
They drew closer and closer to the clouds above, soon, they burst through the cloud cover. Charles then just hovered there with the three in front of them. “Take a look girls, nice view isn’t it.” Charles let the girls get a good view of the area. They were greeted with what looked like a sea of white, the clouds below them and the blue sky and bright sun in front of them.

“Woooooww.” The three exclaimed. “This view is amazing, look at it.” Applebloom commented.

“It sure is, when I’m able to fly, I’ll get to see views like this all the time.” Scootaloo said.

“You pegasai are so lucky, almost makes me wish I was a pegasus instead of a unicorn.” Sweetie Belle said.

"All right, how about a few flying tricks." Charles said, he proceeded to fly forward with the three in front of him as they faced forward. he let them do barrel rolls and loop de loops all over. They were having a blast with the flying, they laughed and giggled away. Charles let them fly low so they could drag their hooves along the cloud cover, creating a wavy effect as the clouds were disturbed by their forward momentum.

After a while, Charles figured it was time to head back down. “Well, we’d better head back down now, Applejack is probably getting worried, despite my reassurance that I wouldn’t let you fall.”

Charles was met with a collective disappointing ‘AAAWWWWEEE’ from the girls. He just gave a light chuckle at the fillies. “Don’t worry, we can do this again sometime, let’s go.”

That did cheer them up some but were still a little disappointed their flight was ending so soon. Charles began his descent with the three in his magic grasp slowly and came to a landing in front of Applejack. Applejack trotted up to Applebloom and hugged her. “Applebloom, are you okay?”

Applebloom was feeling rather squished by her big sister’s embrace. “Applejack, I’m fine, you don’t have to hold me so tight.” Applejack released her hug. “That was a lot of fun sis, he even said we could do this again sometime.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait for that. It was so amazing, you should have seen the view up there.” Sweetie Belle commented.

“It was like a sea of clouds. We couldn’t even see the ground below us.” Scootaloo said.

Charles then got their attention. “Before I go girls, there’s one more thing I’d like to share with you. A little song that has a bit of a message that I want you to remember.”

The three looked at Charles with smiles. “What kind of message?” Applebloom asked.

Charles took his staff from his back and formed his guitar. “No matter how bad a day you may be having, never give up and don't let it get to you.” The three then sat there and readied themselves to hear Charles’s song. Once again, he used his magic to produce all the instruments while he played the lead guitar and sung the words.

Around the beginning of the song, the girls, even Applejack, started to bob and dance to the music Charles played. By the end of the song, they were all smiles.

“That was awesome Charles, what a cool song.” Scootaloo said.

“I’ll say, it was really great.” Sweetie Belle commented.

“Thanks fer sharin it with us Charles, and we’ll be sure to remember the message. And thanks again fer takin us flyin too, that was a lot of fun.” Applebloom said.

Sweetie Belle then got a thought. “Say, what time is it?” The two others looked at her for asking such a thing out of the blue.

Applejack answered. “I think it’s almost four in the afternoon.”

Sweetie Belle then got a little panicked upon hearing this news. “Oh my gosh, I’m going to be late, I’ll see you girls later ok, Bye.” She then took off for town in a rush.

“What was that about?” Scootaloo asked.

“Beats me.” Was Applebloom’s only answer.

Charles was also a little perplexed by Sweetie’s sudden departure but figured it was none of his business, so he let it go and turned back to the other two fillies remaining. “Well girls, I need to get going too, I need to meet up with Pinkie Pie later, I’m going to try and help her make a dish from my world that you ponies don’t have.”

Applejack looked to Charles curiously. “Really, what kind o’ dish?”

“Sorry, but that is going to be a surprise for later, you’ll find out in due time, and I promise you’ll like it.” Charles’s voice then trailed into an unsure sounding one. “If it turns out how it’s supposed to. I’ll see you all later, take care now.” Charles gave a wave as the others waved back as Charles flew off to Sugarcube Corner.

***

Spike had wondered about his secret admirer and decided it was just too intriguing to ignore. “Come on Spike, this could be your chance to find that special somepony, since it can’t be Rarity, you’ll never now if you don’t take a chance.” He said to himself. He decided to go for it, he made his way to the door and left the library to meet this secret admirer of his.

As Spike neared the park where he was supposed to meet this secret admirer, a knot was starting to form in his stomach, he was starting to get nervous about this. “Come on Spike, you can do this, it’s just a meeting with some pony.” He thought to himself. As he drew closer to the tree where his secret admirer was waiting, a figure of a pony came into view, he was still too far off to make out any distinct features, but from what he could tell, it must be a little filly.
Spike drew close and closer, soon, the pony started to look very familiar to Spike, she was definitely a unicorn filly. She had her back turned to Spike as he approached. He could make out a white coat and the mane and tail were a two tone color of light pink and light purple. “Sweetie Belle?” Spike asked as he came up behind her.

She turned to face spike with a smile. “Oh, hey Spike, I’m glad you came.”

Spike wasn’t sure if this was right or not. “Um, Sweetie Belle, what are you doing here?”

“What do you think I’m doing here?”

“Well, I don’t know, I mean…….are you the one that sent me that letter?”

Sweetie Belle looked to the side for a moment with a blush. “Well, yeah, I sent you the letter, I’m your secret admirer Spike.”

Spike went silent, he couldn’t believe that the sister of the unicorn he had a crush on was his secret admirer. “Gosh Sweetie Belle, um, I…….uh.” He couldn’t form words. He always thought Sweetie was cute, good looking and sweet, she was like a little Rarity, but not as dramatic and formal as Rarity.

Sweetie Belle started to feel a little down as she took Spike’s silence as rejection. Her smile slowly turned to a frown as she began to turn her head away. “I see, I figured it was pointless, I understand if you don’t like me.”

Upon hearing this, Spike finally found his voice. “Sweetie Belle wait, I….didn’t say I don’t like you, it’s just….this is so sudden, I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think your cute and all but.”

Sweetie finished for Spike. “But you just can’t like me like the way I like you.” Sweetie’s eyes were starting to water.

Spike just couldn’t stand to see her cry. He looked to the side for a moment in thought. He turned back to her and spoke. “Sweetie Belle, as you know, ever since I first came to Ponyville with Twilight, I had a crush on your sister as soon as I laid my eyes on her. But as you know, recent events have made it clear that I’ll never be with her in the way I wanted.”

Sweetie started to sniffle at Spikes words.

Spike continued. “But that doesn’t mean I’ve given up hope in finding that special somepony for myself and…..well, since you’re here and have made it clear that you like me, I suppose I could give it a try and see how it goes.”

This perked Sweetie Belle up as she gave another sniffle and wiped her eyes with her forleg. “*SNIFF* Really, you mean it?”

Spike smiled at her. “Really, I might as well look for somepony closer to my age, and it just so happens you are, so why not.”

Sweetie’s smile grew bigger. “Oh thank you spike, you don’t know how happy you’ve made me.” She quickly went up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, she held it for a second and pulled away.

Spike let out a blush of his own. “Thanks Sweetie Belle.”

***

Charles was now entering Sugarcube Corner and was greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Mr. Cake was the first to say hello. “Well hello there Charles, good to see you again. I take it you’re here to see Pinkie?”

Charles greeted the Cakes. “Good day Mr. and Mrs. Cake, yeah I’m here to see Pinkie, I take it she’s around here somewhere?”

Mrs. Cake answered. “She’s in the kitchen, she’s been so excited for you to come, she wouldn’t tell us why, but it has something to do with trying a new recipe, do you know what she’s talking about?”

Charles grinned at them. “Maaaaybe, I’m sure Pinkie wants it to be a surprise, am I right?”

The Cakes looked at each other, then back to Charles. Mr. Cake responded. “Yes, she does, I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see what this surprise is then. Just remember to clean up afterwards if you make a mess.”

“I promise Mr. Cake, I will.”

“CHARLES, you’re here!” Pinkie called from the archway to the kitchen, she quickly rushed out and bounced at Charles, nearly tackling him to the floor in a hug. “Ooooh, I can’t wait to get started, come on let’s get to baking!” Pinkie released her hug and started pushing Charles with her head to the kitchen.

Charles couldn’t help but laugh at her eagerness. “All right Pinkie, all right, I’m going, sheesh calm down.”

“You two try not to make too big a mess in there.” Mr. Cake said as Pinkie pushed Charles into the kitchen so fast, his heels were skidding across the floor.

Charles could only call back as he passed the Cakes with the wave of a hand. “I promise we’ll try not to, and if we do, we’ll be sure to clean up.”

“Well, here we are, I remembered all the stuff you told me about what can go on a pizza and got what I could, along with the ingrediants.” Pinkie said as she gestured to the counter with all kinds of stuff sitting there, all of it was what was needed to make a pizza. “Let’s get started.” Pinkie cheered.

“Just remember Pinkie, I’m no baker, I’m just here as a kind of advisor for this project.” Charles informed.

“Awe don’t be silly, anyone can bake, it’s easy, you just have to follow the directions a cook book gives you. After a while, you’ll have it memorized and you’ll be able to do it from memory.” Pinkie encouraged Charles.

“But Pinkie, we don’t have a cook book with a recipe for a Pizza since it doesn’t exist here. We’re going off of what I know about making a pizza and that’s it.”

“Stop being such a negative nelly. We can do this, just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

Charles couldn’t believe the positivity of this pink pony, it was starting to get infectious. “All right then, let’s make the first ever pizza in Equestira.”

It was fairly simple, Pinkie made the bread dough, spread out the tomato sauce, put on the shredded cheese, then for the toppings, they went with Charles’s favorite, red and green peppers with onions. “All right, looking good so far, now we just need to stick it in the oven for a while until the crust is nice and golden brown and the cheese is all melted.”

Pinkie was getting very excited that they were almost done. “It looks so good already. Are you sure it’s not done?”

“Trust me Pinkie, it isn’t done yet, we need to cook it.” Pinkie then put the uncooked Pizza on a flat wooden slab and stuck it in the oven. “And now we wait.” Charles took to lean against the counter next to the oven while Pinkie sat on her haunches in front of the oven to keep an eye on it.

Charles decided to take this opportunity to try and get to know Pinkie a bit more. “So Pinkie, for conversations sake, I don’t suppose you have a very special somepony do you?”

“Nope.” Pinkie simply answered.

“Really, some pony as happy and friendly and energetic as you doesn’t have a stallion in her live, I find that hard to believe.”

“I did have one a few years ago.” Pinkie’s smile faded a bit.

Charles noticed this and frowned. “Oh, I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t stir up anything sad.”

Pinkie shook her head. Her smile returned, but it was a small one. “It’s fine, I do miss him sometimes, but I’ll be ok.”

“Mind if I ask who it was?”

“His name was Pyro, he’s Stunner’s brother. He was a great guy.”

“Pyro, huh. I guess you two were close then?”

“Yeah, we were, he really knew how to have fun and party. He always knew how to make me laugh and stuff. Once a year, me and Stunner get together to honor his memory.”

“I’m sorry for your loss Pinkie, I didn’t mean to drudge up old memories and sad feelings.”

Pinkie looked Charles in the eye. “It’s fine, really. You’re a great friend Charles, and I really like how your showing me how to make a pizza and telling me about a new kind of party to go with it.” Pinkie’s happy attitude returned. “And that’s why once we finish with this, we are going to start planning a pizza party to introduce every pony to Pizza.”

Charles’s smile returned as well. “Darn right Pinkie, I just know you all are going to love it.” The two then just chatted while waiting for the Pizza to cook.

After a few minutes, Pinkie Pie looked in the oven. “Oh boy, it looks like it’s ready, what do you think Charles?”

Charles bent down and looked in the oven with Pinkie. “Looks ready to me.”

“Then what are we waiting for, let’s get it out.” Pinkie moved to open the oven and take out the pizza, only to have Charles stop her.

“Hold on Pinkie, don’t you realize what this is?”

Pinkie looked at him with confusion. “A pizza?” She asked with a tilted head.

“Yeees, but the very first pizza to ever be made in Equestria, we need to savor this moment while it lasts.”

Pinkie perked up. “Oh my gosh your right. Let’s do this nice and easy.” Only then did Pinkie slowly open the oven, and with a padded heat resistant tool that was meant for hauling things out of the oven by mouth, she slid the pizza out and placed it on the counter. Charles closed the oven and shut it off.

“Take it in Pinkie Pie, the sight, the smell, the warmth, THIS is a pizza, looks like we did it, only thing left is the taste test.” Charles said with a smile.

Pinkie got close and took in a good long whiff of the new confection. “Mmmmm, it does smell good, I can’t wait to try it.”

“Say Pinkie, you know who we should share this moment with?”

“Who?”

“The Cakes of course! This is their bakery and we just created a new dish in their bakery, I think it only fair that they get to revel in this new dish.”

“You are so right Charles, I’ll go get them and bring them in.” Pinkie then bounded away out of the kitchen.

“Now how are we going to cut it without a pizza cutter, guess we’ll have to make do with a knife or something.” Charles thought out loud. Then he had a thought. “DUH, I can just use my swords. I’ll wait for Pinkie and the Cakes to come back first.”

A minute later, Pinkie reentered the kitchen with Mr. and Mrs. Cake in tow. “All right Pinkie, we’re here, now what is all this about.” Mr. Cake asked.

Pinkie Stopped in front of Charles who was using his body to hide the new food item. Pinkie spoke in a rather dramatic fasion. “Mr. and Mrs. Cake, I present to you, Equestria’s very first ever…….” She paused as Charles stepped to the side and pointed his hands at what they had come to see. “….PIZZA!”

Mr. Cake looked to his wife in confusion as she did the same. They both looked back at Pinkie and Charles, Mrs. Cake spoke up. “A what now?”

Charles answered. “A pizza, it’s a dish from where I came from, it’s really good, I just hope it turned out ok. Me and Pinkie wanted you two to be a part of what is sure to be the hottest new food item in Ponyville.”

Mr. and Mrs. Cake came close to look at the item better. They both took in the sight, they inhaled deeply at the smell. Mrs. Cake was the first to comment. “Well, it certainly looks and smells good, what is it made up of?”

Charles listed off the items that were used to put it together. “Bread dough, tomato sauce, cheese, and topped with red and green peppers and onions. This is one of my personal favorites, but you can put other things you like on it as a topping.”

“It does sound good, but how do we eat it?” Mr. Cake asked.

Charles smiled with his plan. “Easy, we just need to slice it up evenly. Watch this.” Charles motioned for the three to stand back. Once they were away from the counter, Charles formed his swords. He surrounded the pizza in his white aura and levitated it towards him. In a few quick slashes and swipes of his sword, the pizza broke into ten evenly sliced triangular shaped slices. He moved it back to the board it was on and dismissed his swords, placing his staff back on his back. “Now Pinkie, would you mind getting us some plates please?”

Pinkie gave a salute. “Sure thing.” She trotted over to one of the cabinets and retrieved four plates with her hooves, she placed them on her head and balanced them expertly as she made her way back to Charles. “Here you go, four plates.”

Charles levitated the plates from Pinkie’s head, then one slice of the pizza for each of them on to the plates. “Here you go, this is a big moment in Equestrian history, the taste test. I hope you all like it.” All-together, they picked up a slice and took a bite. The kitchen was filled with a satisfied ‘mmmm’ as they enjoyed the new confection.
“Oh my, this is amazing, this taste so wonderful, I’ve never had anything like it.” Mrs. Cake complimented.

“I’ll say, this is amazing, this is sure to be a big hit.” Mr. Cake said.

“No kidding, it’s so super duper fantabulously delicious! Thank you for sharing this with us Charles.” Pinkie said.

“You are welcome Pinkie.” Charles said with a mouth full of pizza.

Pinkie then had a brilliant idea upon realizing how many slices were left. “OH MY GOSH, Charles, do you think we could share the rest of this with our friends? There’s six slices left, I’ll bet the others would like to try it too.”

Charles smiled at Pinkie’s idea. “I don’t see why not, we should definitely let our closest friends in on this momentous occasion.”

“Great, I’ll go get a good sized box to carry the pizza in.” Pinkie started to rummage through the cabinets and such to find a box to use. It took a while but she found something. It was square and seemed big enough. “This is the best I could find, I hope it works.”

Charles eyed it for a moment. “I think I can make it work.” Charles remembered the spell he used to resize the bed Twilight gave him in his room. He figured if he can resize a bed, why not a simple box. He took it in his magic grasp and levitated it up as well, he concentrated on the box and shaped it to the form needed to fit the pizza perfectly. Once done, he gave it back to Pinkie and smiled. “There we go a perfect pizza box.” Charles then levitated the rest of the pizza in the box.

“Wow, nice work Charles, let’s hurry and get this to our friends before it gets cold.” The two then left the kitchen to share the new food item with their friends.

On their way out, Charles called out to the cakes. “See you two later, I’m glad you like the pizza.” Their first stop, Golden Oaks Library and Twilight.

Author's Note

And thus, pizza was born in Equestria. Hope you all liked the next chapter, another is on the way soon.

Chapter 16

“Um, boss, why are we in this forest again?” A diamond dog asked the leader of their group of five.

“You idiot, because she asked us to meet her here at that old castle Celestia and Luna used to use.” Responded the leader, king Cerberus of the diamond dogs.

“But, isn’t it dangerous in here, you know with the manticores, timberwolves, and cockatrice about?” Asked another.

Cerberus was getting annoyed that his lackeys were acting so nervous. “Look you fools, do you want to be the one to anger her, I don’t, now quite whining and keep up.” Cerberus led his troops through the woods to an ancient looking castle that had been abandoned for what looked like centuries, walls were fallen, windows were shattered, and vines were taking over the structure.

Cerberus led them through what was left of the castle’s front entrance to the center of the room. The diamond dogs looked around nervously. Cerberus called out to the empty room. “Dark Flash, we came just like you asked, are you here?!” From behind a stone structure at the center with multiple pedastals, a small fox came out from behind it. The fur was black and it had very dark blue eyes.

It’s eyes seemed to pierce through the kings as he stared back in curiousness, after a moment, the king had enough. “Shoo, go away you pest, beat it.”

The fox seemed to glare at him, in a brilliant flash of dark light, the fox changed form. Standing before the diamond dogs was a tall slender pony form, an alicorn with dark grey fur and a purple and blue mane swirled like Luna’s. Cerberus and the dogs immediately were startled by this. “Is that any way to greet your hostess?” She asked with a smirk.

Cerberus immediately began apologizing. “Lady Dark Flash, forgive me, I didn’t know it was you.”
The alicorn approached Cerberus. “I know, I was just messing with you. I needed a good laugh.” Her good humored voice then turned sour. “You know, since you let the element of generosity get away from your dirty claws!” She expressed as she glared at Cerberus. “I gave you that amulet to make a strong warrior for your elite fighting dog and you still were unable to hold on to her, care to explain?” She asked as she lowered her head to Cerberus's eye level.

Cerberus gulped as he gave a nervous smile. “Well, uh mistress, it’s like this, you see, there was this creature, he came out of nowhere and just beat Brutus. I swear it wasn’t our fault, the creature’s strength was unlike anything we had ever seen.”

Dark Flash pulled her head back from Cerberus. “A creature, what kind of creature, what could possibly have the strength to fight off such a huge diamond dog?”

“We….we don’t know what it was, we’ve never seen anything like it before, it was similar in form to us, but it had no fur and was taller, it also had these black wings and was wearing black armor.”

Dark Flash raised a hoof to her chin in thought. “Hmmm, perhaps this creature is the same one that killed that dragon I placed a greed spell on. He was meant to be a way to weaken Celestia’s forces so I could take over, but since he failed, I need a new plan.” She turned her attention back to Cerberus. “Where is this creature now?” She asked.

“It is living in Ponyville my lady.” Cerberus answered with a nervous gulp.

“It looks like I may need to investigate this creature for myself. You have fouled up one too many times, consider yourself lucky I’m letting you live.” With that, she shot out a bolt of magic and turned one of the diamond dogs to dust. The others cried in fear and were now shaking. “Consider that a warning, I never want to see you foul ups again, understand?” She said as she lowered her head to Cerberus’s eye level and locked eyes. Cerberus simply nodded. “Good, now be gone with you.”

The dogs turned tail and ran out as fast as they could. Now she was alone, she began to think. “This creature may prove to be a hinderance to my plans to rule. Something will have to be done about it.”

***

A young boy in nothing but white underwear stood in front of a bathroom mirror with brown tiling on the floors and walls, he glared at his reflection with angry tears forming, his black wings slowly spread out, he brought them back to their original position. He gritted his teeth, raised his hand and formed a fist, just before he thrust it forward, a white aura surrounded it, he thrust his fist forward at the mirror, shattering it and making a crater in the wall behind it. The boy slowly pulled his fist back with shock on his face, he opened his fist and looked at his hand, he feel to his knees and covered his face with both hands as he cried.

The scene dissolved away to a new one, the same young boy was now wearing clothes and was eaves dropping on a man and woman while looking at them through a cracked door. He could hear that the man was on a phone.

“Yes sir, I understand…….yes…..yes of course, we will do as you ask.” The man said as he spoke over the phone, the conversation finished and the man hung the cordless phone up.

The woman spoke up. “Well, what did he want?”

“We are to put the subject under and study his body for a way to duplicate the process. This is a top priority.”

“What, you mean shut down his brain? But we can’t, he’s just a kid!” The woman argued.

“We did this much to him already, there is no turning back now, if we don’t.”

“I know…..all right, we’ll do it.” The woman interrupted.

“No.” The boy whispered. He stepped back from the door with tears in his eyes. He ran from the door as fast as he could.

***

“NO!” Charles awoke with a start, panting heavily as he sat up in his bed. He looked around again, upon realizing he just had another dream, he placed a hand over his face. He felt the skin under his eyes were wet. He had been crying in his sleep. “Damn nightmares, when will they stop?” He asked himself in a whisper.

“Charles, are you all right?” Twilight asked as she came into the room. “Were you…..crying?” She saw his eyes were a little red, his cheeks were a little wet too.

Charles looked over to Twilight as she approached. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and sat there. “It’s nothing, I’m fine.”

Twilight gave a concerned look. “Charles, I’m your friend remember, you can trust me, please tell me what’s wrong.”

Charles gave a sigh as he hung his head, he brought it back up and rubbed his hand over his face and stopped it over his chin. He removed his hand and began to tell her what had happened. “I……had another nightmare last night.”

“Another nightmare, you’ve been having these before?”

“Unfortunately, it’s not every night, but it’s very annoying when it happens. I just want to forget.”

“Charles, what are these nightmares you’re having, what are they about?”

Charles looked to the side. “Memories…..of my past, of what I went through.”

Twilight put a hoof on his knee. “Oh Charles, I wish there was something I could do to help.”

Charles looked at Twilight again and gave a small smile. “Hey, don’t worry about it, it’s my problem, I never let them get to me before and I’m not about to let them get to me now.”

Twilight’s concern was still apparent on her face. “Charles, are you sure your all right?”

“I’m fine, now why don’t you let me worry about making breakfast this morning, since you liked the pizza me and Pinkie made, I just know you’re going to love another dish from my world, just let me get cleaned up and ready for the day and I’ll make it for you and Spike.” Charles stood up and made his way to the bathroom.

Twilight was still worried for Charles but there wasn’t really anything she could do, so she left his room and let him get ready.

A few minutes later, Charles emerged from his room wearing his all black outfit, he was also wearing the necklace he received from the timberwolves. Twilight and Spike were in the kitchen waiting for him. “All right then, I hope you two are ready for something new and delicious. If you thought the pizza was good, wait till you try what I have in store.”

“Who.” (Hello.)

“What?” Charles asked at the mysterious voice that came from nowhere.

“Who.” (I said hello.)

Twilight heard the voice too, but of course all she heard wash the who. “Oh, Owlowicious, there you are, I was hoping you and Charles would get a chance to meet.”

Charles looked to Twilight who now had an owl perched on her head. He looked curiously. “Oh, hello there.” Charles said to the owl, a little confused at the sudden appearance.

Twilight introduced. “Charles, this is Owlowicious, he’s my pet and nighttime assistant. Owlowicious, this is Charles, the one I told you about.”

“Who.” (Nice to meet you.)

“Well, it’s nice to meet you too, you kind of startled me there.”

“Who.” (Sorry, I didn’t mean to.)

“That’s fine.”

Spike and Twilight looked at Charles curiously. Spike decided to speak up. “Um, Charles, can you understand him?”

Charles looked at Spike. “Yeah, remember, my necklace lets me understand other animals.”

“Your what?”

Twilight understood. “That’s right, Spike, Charles had a bit of an adventure yesterday and got a necklace that lets him understand other animals.”

“Really, cool, that’s pretty neat. So Charles, what’s this other new dish you want to make for us?”

Charles replied happily. “It’s called French toast. It’s simple enough to make. If you want, you can watch me make it.” Twilight smiled at this prospect, she and Spike agreed. The three gathered around as Charles went through the kitchen to first make sure they had the ingredients for it. Luckily they did.

The two watched as Charles prepared the meal and cooked up the food. “Oh boy, this is looking great. I can’t wait to try it.” Spike complimented.

“It sure does, what is it called again?” Twilight asked as Charles watched the bread cooking in the pan.

“It’s called French toast, it’s a recipe from a country back on earth.”

“So, is the country called French then?” Spike asked.

Charles snickred. “Tch, no, the country is called france.”

“How many countries are there on earth?” Twilight asked.

“I’m not exactly sure, but I think it’s over a hundred.”

“Over a hundred, that’s incredible.”

“Well, looks like the food is done.” Charles made use of the multiple cookers on the stove to make three pieces for each of them. He used the spatula and placed the food on the plates. “Now for the butter and syrup.” Before serving, Charles spread the butter on each piece then put on the syrup as the French toast was stacked. “And voila, French toast. Bon appetite.” He said in a fake French accent.

The three sat down and began to dig in. Once again, Charles’s ears were met with a satisfied ‘MMMMM’ from Twilight and Spike. “I take it you like the new recipe?”

“You bet.” Spike said with a mouthful.

Twilight, who had manners, chuckled at Spike, then answered when her mouth wasn’t full. “It is very good Charles, thank you.” The three then just sat there and ate until they were done and it was time for Charles to head out and check in for his duties until Celestia and Luna arrived.

Charles arrived at town hall just in time to see Shadow Fang coming out wearing his full body armor and weapons on his back. “Charles.” He simply greeted.

“Shadow Fang.” Charles returned the favor.

“You are starting to slowly gain respect, but don’t let it go to head, I still say you are weakling.” He scoffed.

That seemed to rile Charles up. “Weakling, who are you calling a weakling!” Charles pointed a finger at Shadow Fang, then spread out both his hands and spread his wings. “I helped you all fight off a hoard of diamond dogs, killed a giant one and rescued Rarity, killed a DRAGON, and gained an alliance with the timberwolves and manticores! Tell me, does that sound like a weakling to you?”

Shadow Fang scoffed. “There is more to strength then what enemies one can kill, you want prove you are not weakling, don’t show fear.”

Charles crossed his arms in front of him. “What are you talking about?”

“Having ability to turn to wolf beast, I have ability to sense fear, you wreaked of it before.”

“So, what’s wrong with feeling fear, I may have been afraid, but I came out on top.”

Shadow Fang pressed on. “Fear makes you weak, fear makes you hesitant, or too quick to act, makes you unable to think straight, you want I should stop calling you weak, show no fear, only then will I think better of you.”

“Yeah, well I don’t need you to think better of my, I have plenty of friends who think highly of me, so you can keep your no fear notions to yourself. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to check in.” Charles walked past Shadow Fang and made his way to Captain Thrash’s office.

Upon entering, Lt. Storm Chaser and private Black Cloud was there. Charles gave his greeting. “Good morning captian, Lt. Storm Chaser, sirs, and hello Black cloud.”

Black Cloud just gave a warm smile. Storm Chaser greeted back. “Good morning Private Charles, the captain here just told us about what happened yesterday, is it really true that you managed to kill a dragon and secure peace with the timberwolves and manticores?”

“Yes sir, they gave me this necklace…” Charles held up the necklace to show it. “…so I would be able to understand them, it can allow me to understand all animals.”

“Nice, well done private, I’d say your off to a fantastic start as a guard.”

Charles let the necklace drape back down. “Thank you sir.”

Captain Lightning Thrash then interupted. “Charles, today I want you to patrol the town with private Black cloud.”

“Yes sir, but I should inform you that later today at about ten I think, the princesses will be coming by to speak with me. It will be about the alliance I have made.”

“Understood private, until then, I want you patrolling the town, understand.”

Charles gave a salute. “Yes sir, I won’t let you down sir.”

Black cloud then gave a salute as well. “Good, now you two get out there and make sure there’s no trouble.”

“That may be hard to do sir, considering Discord is around, from what I’ve seen so far, it may be hard to tell when someone is in real trouble, or if Discord is just playing one of his pranks.”

“I understand that, just do your best.” Lightning Thrash instructed.

“Yes sir, we will sir.” Charles and Black cloud then made their way out to begin their patrol. This was going to be awkward for Charles since Black Cloud didn’t talk much. “So, Black Cloud, um,…..” Black Cloud looked up at Charles. “What town are you from?”

Black Cloud looked away for a moment, then back to Charles. “Like Shadow Fang, I too am from Stalliongrad.” Black Cloud had a russian accent as well, his voice sounded young.

“I see, are you and him friends?” Charles asked.

“Nyet, we may be from same place, but we are not friends.”

Charles smirked a little. “Gee, I can’t imagine why, he’s such a charmer.” He said with sarcasm thick in his voice.

Black Cloud looked at Charles curiously. “You, think he is good? But you have had arguments, yes?”

“I was being sarcastic.”

Black Cloud was still a little confused as he thought about it. Realization finally struck. “Oh, you were making joke yes? I get it, you say he is charmer when he is not, funny.”

Charles snickered a little at Black Cloud. “So Black Cloud, if you don’t mind me asking, why did you come to Ponyville?”

Black Cloud’s smile faded. “I was…..no longer welcome there.”

“Really, what happened? That is, if you don’t want to talk about it, I’d understand.”

Black Cloud shook his head and looked back at Charles. “Nyet, I can talk, is just……difficult to discuss. I am what the ponies call, a pyromaniac. I enjoy fire.”

Charles took a good look at Black cloud now and noticed a large scar over his left eye, and an even bigger one that ran from just under his jaw down to his stomach. “I see.” He said uneasily.

“I set fire to the town hall of Stalliongrad. I was chased out, was bad enough being bat pony, but one who sets the town hall on fire was last straw, I had to leave, I do regret what I did, but has not quelled my love of the flame.”

“So you came to Ponyville after that?”

“Yes, I wanted to make up for my mistakes, I couldn’t do it at home town, so I came here, hoping I could help the guard. Captain Thrash let me join and I have done what I could ever since.”

“And the flamethrower?” Charles was curious about it.

“As was said, a unicorn friend of mine named Holy Singularity made it for me, he is head of science department for Celestia.”

“So, about the whole bat pony thing, I don’t mean to get personal, I’m just curious about it, how many of you are there, and why are they looked down on, or is it just you?”

“I do not know how many of us there are, just because we are similar to bats in appearance, does not mean we act like them, we are just like every other pony in Equestria. For some reason, the eyes and wings seem to….how you say, creep them out. The pink one, Pinkie Pie, is only pony in Ponyville who is not afraid of me, I am grateful for it too. She is only friend I have in town.”

“What about Dusk Fang and Dawn Fang, Dusk Fang has wings like you but his brother doesn’t, are they bat ponies or what?”

“I think they are part bat pony, but gene is more prominent in Dusk Fang.”

“I see.”

“About my friend, Holy Singularity, I have been writing to him about you and is most curious to meet you as well, seems he has taken liking to you as well just from my letters. He too is looked down upon by others for his beliefs.”

“And what beliefs would that be?”

“He and his team believe strongly in technology, they try to make such things and enchant them with magic, they practically worship it, despite the fact there is not much here. Pinkie and Holy are only friends I have.”

Charles looked down at Black Cloud in thought. “Well, I’ll be your friend, you seem like a nice enough pony. Besides, I do owe you for saving my butt from the timberwolves the first time I tried to fight them.” He gave a warm smile to Black Cloud.

Black Cloud looked a little surprised by this. “Really, you would like us to be friends?”

“Why not, your pretty handy, or…..hoofy or…….WHATEVER, what I mean is you are good with that flamethrower of yours, so yes, I would like us to be friends.”

Black Cloud grew a big smile on his face. “Thank you Charles, I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to have friend, especially one who knows what is like to be considered out cast like me.”

Charles smirked. “Hey, we outcasts have to stick together, right.”

Black Cloud nodded. “Da, we stick together, like good comrades.”

The two continued on their patrol without any incidents, no trouble in ponyville today, other than the occasional prank from Discord who thought it hilarious to give some poor pony’s mailbox sharp teeth, frightening Derpy when she came by to collect the mail. Charles and Black Cloud were passing by as the scene occurred. They weren’t sure what they could do about it other than try to comfort Derpy.

Well, Charles comforted Derpy while Black Cloud hung back. “Derpy, are you all right?”

She was on her back as Charles supported her, she was shaking and pointed a hoof at the mailbox. “That…..that thing tried to bite off my hoof.” She cried.

Charles looked at the mailbox and saw sharp teeth nashing away as it barked. Charles frowned. “DISCORD!”

In a flash, Discord appeared, laughing at Derpy’s misfortune. “HA ha ha ha ha, oh you should have seen the look on your face, PRICELESS, HA HA HA!”

Charles glared at Discord. “Discord, that wasn’t very nice.”

“Oh lighten up, it was just a harmless prank, you know how I like to do such things right?”

Derpy got up and glared at Discord as well. “That wasn’t funny Discord, I almost lost a leg.”

Discord looked to Derpy. “Relax, the teeth are rubber, look.” Discord then moved over to the mailbox and stuck his hand in, the teeth tried desperately to chew his lion paw off, but the teeth just bent in different directions. “See, harmless.”

Charles rolled his eyes. “Even so, you still scared Derpy here.”

“Fine, I’m sorry Derpy, I was just having a bit of fun. Can you ever forgive me.”

Derpy finally got up on all fours and raised a hoof to her chin in thought. “Well, I guess it was pretty funny, all right, I forgive you.”

Discord snapped his fingers and the mailbox was back to normal. “There we go, back to normal. Well, I’m off, I’ve got lots more things to do. See you later Charles.” Discord then disappeared in a flash.

Charles turned his attention to Derpy. “Are you all right Derpy?”

Derpy looked to Charles with a smile, her eyes still askew. “Yeah, I’m ok, thanks for coming to make sure.”

“No problem, me and Black Cloud better get back to our patrol, you take care of yourself now.” Charles then left and continued on.

The rest of the patrol was uneventful and soon, it was finally time for Charles to head off to the library for his meeting with Celestia and Luna. “Well Black Cloud, it was fun, but I need to get going, I’ll see you around, you take care now, bye.” Charles waved to Black Cloud as he began to leave.

Black Cloud returned the favor. “Farewell my new friend, I will see you later yes?”

“Yes, once the meeting is done, I imagine I’ll need to get back to my patrol, we’ll meet up then.” Charles spread his black wings and flew off for the library.

As he approached, he saw a golden chariot being pulled by four pegasai approaching with Celestia in it, next to it was a dark blue chariot with bat ponies pulling it in dark blue armor, Luna sitting in it. “Well, looks like it’s time, I wonder how they’ll take the news that I met with their parents.”

Author's Note

AN: Dark Flash was submitted by a guest on fanfiction. I have to say, I am blown away by how many of you have favorite and liked this story, thank you all so much. Brohoof /)

Chapter 17

Charles was now on approach to the library on foot as he saw the princesses flying in on their carriges, as he came close to the library, Spike suddenly rushed out and past Charles. It startled Charles when he came out so suddenly. “Whoa, Spike, what’s the hurry, why are you rushing off?”

Spike called back as he continued to run off with a smile on his face. “Can’t talk now, got a date, gonna be late, later Charles!” Spike was now gone and out of view.

“A date, how does he have a date, well, I guess he’s over Rarity then, way to go little guy.” Charles turned back to the library and waited for the Princesses to land.

Twilight soon came out to accompany him and greet Celestia and Luna. “Hey Charles, your just in time.” She said.

“Yep, I just wonder how they’ll take the news that I had a meeting with their parents the other night.”

“Yeah, that is….” Twilight’s face suddenly straitened, she looked to Charles with a shocked look. “Wait…..WHAT? You…..you met with their parents, but how……how did you?”

Charles put a hand up to silence her. “Don’t worry Twilight, I’ll explain when they get here. But first, I think we’re missing someone.” Charles asked as Celestia and Luna pulled up. Charles and Twilight gave a bow.

Twilight was the first to greet them. “Hello Celestia and Luna, it’s a pleasure to have you over.”

Celestia smiled. “Hello Twilight, it’s always good to see you.”

Luna responded as well. “Yes, we are always glad to see a friend.”

Charles and Twilight got up from their bow. “Greetings princesses, it is always a pleasure, but before we begin this meeting, we need Discord here as well as the matter I wish to discuss with you concerns him as well.”

Before they could respond, Discord appeared in a flash next to Luna. “No need to wait, I’m here as promised. Good day to you Celestia, Luna. Now then, shall we get this over with?”

Twilight spoke. “Of course, come on in.” Twilight led the group inside to her house. “Would any of you like some tea? I can make some if you’d like.”

Celestia responded. “That won’t be necessary Twilight, but thank you for the offer.” Celestia then turned her attention to Charles. “Now Charles, what is so important that you had to meet with us like this?”

Charles took in a deep breath, exhaled, and spoke. “I had an impromptu meeting with King Solaris and Queen Cosma, your parents.”

A still silence filled the air. Celestia and Luna’s mouth hung open in surprise. Discord broke the silence. “You met with those two, interesting, tell me, how are they doing these days?”

Charles didn’t answer, instead, Luna spoke. “You…….met with our parents, but how, when, what did they say?”

“Calme down princess, I’ll explain everything.” Charles said with a smile. He then proceeded to tell them everything Solaris and Cosma told him, then went on to tell the princesses about the events of yesterday that led to him making an alliance with the timberwolves and manticores. Discord was intruiged while the princesses were curious.

Once Charles finished his tale, Celestia spoke. “So, you met with our mother and father telling you of an imminent danger that is coming, and they want you to find these elements of life so you will have the strength to fight off whatever it is that is coming?”

Charles answered. “That is correct your majesty.”

Luna then spoke. “And yesterday, you managed to secure an alliance with the timberwolves and manticores by killing a dragon that was not only threatening to take over the Everfree forest, but Equestria as well?”

“Correct again princess.”

Celestia then asked. “And, how exactly did you say you were able to understand them again?”

Charles lifted his necklace up for them to see. “With this necklace they gave me. Appearantly, it gives me the ability to communicate with animals.”

“Interesting, may I see that for a moment?” Discord asked.

Charles was a little hesitant at first. “I guess so, just be careful with it.” Charles took it off and handed it to Discord. Celestia and Luna watched as Discord studied it.

“Interesting, this is a nature crystal, very rare, those timberwolves must have gone through a lot of trouble to get it. These things are simple crystals at first, but over time in a forest like the Everfree, they absorb the magic of the nature around them, it is said that they can grant any pony the ability to understand nature, in this case, the animals.” Discord gave the necklace back to Charles.

He placed it back around his neck. “So there you have it, I don’t suppose you’ve been getting a sense of foreboding have you Discored?”

Discord raised his eagle claw to his chin and thought for a moment. “Well, now that mention it, I have been getting these goose bumps as of late.” He pointed to the back of his neck with his lion paw and, sure enough, bumps in the form of geese started to form and moved up his neck and disappeared the same way they came up, like a line of ducks at a carnival shooting game. After a second, they all just sunk back down and were gone. “I am definitely getting the vibe that something big is on the way.”

Celestia then spoke up. “This is grave news I’m afraid, Discord, do you know what it is that is coming?”

“Sorry, but no.”

“I see, Charles, would it be possible to arrange a meeting with the timberwolf king and manticore king, I would like to meet with them to discuss this alliance.”

Charles looked to Celestia. “I don’t see why not, if you have the time, we can go now and meet with them.”

Luna responded. “I think the sooner the better, wouldn’t you agree sister?”

“Yes, it would be good to meet them as soon as possible, especially with a matter as urgent as this.”

Before they could leave, a pony suddenly burst through the door. “Your majesties, your majesties!” It was a mare voice calling out.

Charles tried to look past the princesses as they faced the pony since he seemed to recognize it. “Derpy, is that you?”

Derpy was panting heavily as she tried to speak. “I……have…….important……..message.”

Charles made his way around the princesses and came up next to Derpy, he kneeled down and placed a hand on her back. “Whoa, Derpy, calm down, relax and take deep breaths before you try to talk.” Charles rubbed her back to try and calm her down. Derpy looked at Charles and nodded. She started to take deep calming breathes to relax. After a while when it seemed she had caught her breath, Charles spoke. “Feeling better?” He asked. She nodded back as she looked at him. “Good, now what is so urgent that you were in such a rush?”

Derpy looked up at the princesses, she stepped away from Charles and bowed before speaking. “Forgive my intrusion your majesties, but Ponyville post office just received an urgent letter for you. Appearantly, it arrived at the Palace just as you left and was forwarded to us, it fell to me to deliver the message to you.”

Celestia addressed the cross eyed mare. “I see, what is this urgent message?” Derpy used her wing to open the flap on her bag and reached in with her muzzle, she pulled out a scroll and presented it to the princesses. Celestia took hold of it with her magic and levitated it in front of her. She opened it and began to read. Only when she was done did she speak. “It seems we have a much more urgent matter to deal with than the alliance you have formed Charles.”

Twilight finally spoke up. “Princess, what is it, what does it say?”

Luna spoke as well. “Sister, whatever is the matter?”

Celestia began. “It seems the dragon lord is furious, he has found that one of his kind has been slain and he is not happy about it. He is demanding a meeting with us to discuss the matter.”

Charles cringed on the inside. “Oh no, one of his own kind, that dragon I killed in theforest, this is my fault, what if this brings the dragons to attack Equestria? What have I done? I have to do something to make this right.” “Princess, would it be all right if I came along?”

The princesses Derpy, Twilight, and Discord all looked at Charles. Celestia was the one to speak. “Charles, why would you want to come along?”

“Because I believe this is about the dragon I killed in the Everfree forest, if a war with the dragons is the cause of my actions, I would never forgive myself, let me come along to meet with this dragon lord.”

Luna responded. “Charles, that will not be necessary, I’m sure we can discuss this with him, we have been on good standings with the dragons thus far.”

Charles was rather insistant. “And what if the talks fail, what if he wants revenge for this death, I’m the one responsible for it, thus I should be the one to take the blame, that at least might settle this dispute.”

Twilight got fearful. “But Charles, you can’t, what if he wants to kill you for this? You can’t just do that!” She exclaimed.

“I’m sorry Twilight, but this is something I have to do, I can’t just sit here knowing my actions might be responsible for whatever trouble it causes. I have to do what I can to set this right.”

Celestia then spoke up. “Charles, are you absolutely sure about this, do you realize what could happen if you take responsibility for your actions?”

Charles nodded for confirmation. “I do princess, I could not live with myself if a fight broke out between Equestria and the dragons because of me. Please, let me come with you.” Charles said with finality, determination clear in his voice of what he felt was right.

Celestia looked to her sister, she looked back, they both turned their attention back to Charles, fear evident on Twilight’s face. Celestia spoke again. “Very well, you may come.”

Twilight looked up to Celestia. “WHAT, Princess, you can’t be serious, you can’t let him do this, what if they sentence him to death, you can’t just let him do this!”

Celestia addressed Twilight. “Twilight, I understand your fear, but this is the best action to avoid war, I will do what I can to ensure Charles’s safety, have faith my student, I will let no harm come to Charles.” She said in such a soft voice, Twilight’s fear seemed to die down a little.

Twilight looked at Charles again, she approached him. “Charles, please, at least promise me you’ll come back alive, Pinkie promise me.”

Charles smiled at Twilight. He proceeded to make the promise. “All right Twilight, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. There, happy now?”

Twilight smiled. “Yes, but I’m still unsettled about this, we’ll all be waiting for you to come back Charles, I’ll tell the girls know about this so we can have a welcoming party ready, Pinkie will certainly want to throw one to celebrate the fact you came back alive.”

“All right then, I’ll see you all later.” Derpy then started to leave to get back to her job. “Charles, I’ll be there waiting for you too. Come back safe.” Derpy then left.

“Well then, I guess that’s all that’s needed from me, I’ll be going too, until next time Charles, good luck with your meeting with the dragons.” Discord said before disappearing.

Celestia and Luna then made their way out the door with Charles behind. Celestia spoke before boarding her chariot. “Charles, before we leave, we will head back to the palace and head off in my closed chariot so me Luna and you may travel together.” Charles nodded in understanding and boarded Celestia’s chariot with her. The chariot took off and headed off to the castle, Twilight just watched with worry on her face as they left.

“Please, please come back safe Charles.”

***

Charles was sitting in the closed Chariot between Celestia and Luna on his way to meet with the dragon lord about the killing of a dragon. Charles was a little nervous, no matter what was decided, he would not fight back, and he was worried that this would lead to his death. He was also feeling guilty about making a promise to one of his closest friends that he may never be able to keep.

Luna noticed Charles’s apprehension as he was slumped over with his hands clasped together. “Charles, are you alright?” She asked with genuine concern.

Charles looked up at her as he answered. “Who me, sure, I’m just fine, I’m only on my way to meet with a dragon king to discuss my punishment for killing one of his own subjects which could very much lead to me being sentenced to death. Not to mention I made a promise I may not be able to keep to Twilight. Other than that, I’m just fine.” Charles hung his head back down.

Celestia and Luna looked at each other with concern, then back to Charles. Celestia decided to try and comfort Charles. “Charles, don’t worry, we will do whatever we can to convince the dragon lord not to punish you. We will not let you be sentenced to death.”

Charles looked up at Celestia this time. “I appreciate the concern princess, but I don’t see any way out of this. I’ll just face him and tell him what happened. Maybe he’ll be lenient if he knew that the dragon I killed was threatening Equestria.”

“Just stay behind us first and let us speak with him first before you say anything, ok.”

Charles hung his head back down again. “Sure, ok.” He did everything he could to keep himself from shaking with fear.

The rest of the ride went on in relative silence. Charles felt the carriage begin to descend, which only meant one thing, it was time to meet with his possible doom.

With a few bumps, the carriage found solid ground and landed. Celestia and Luna were the first to step out of the Carriage, Charles soon followed suit, hidden behind them. Upon exiting, Charles was met with a sight that was wonderfully scary, dragons filled the skies above. The air was filled with the sound of the dragons roaring as they soared overhead. Charles and the princesses were in an area devoid of plant life, nothing but mountains around and an orange sky above.

Celestia and Luna didn’t walk far, they led Charles to an area where a cliff was curved in a kind of crescent shape, surrounded by a few rocks set up like stands for other dragons to sit, which was occupied by dragons already, at the head of the set up was the biggest dragon of them all. His scales were black as night, his underbelly was ashy grey, his eyes were a fierce yellow as his black slited pupils stared at the approaching princesses. Charles was really feeling the fear now. Charles stayed behind the princesses as they instructed as they approached the dragon lord.

The large dragon spoke in a seemingly friendly tone. “Princess Celestia and princess Luna, a pleasure to see you, thank you for accepting my invitation.”

Celestia responded. “Lord Iron Scales, a pleasure to see you.”

The dragon lord identified as Iron Scales then addressed Luna. “Princess Luna, I trust you are adjusting well since returning from your banishment.” He said with a smirk. Clearly he was just trying to be rude.

Luna did not let the remark get to her, she instead kept an air of grace about her as she responded. “I am doing just fine thank you. I believe we have business to discuss.”

Iron Scales then frowned. “Yes, we do, such as how one of my subjects was killed by someone in your kingdom, care to explain Celestia?”

“I do.” Celestia responded. “It is my belief that the dragon in question was a threat to my country, thus he was dealt with before he could make an attempt on our country.”

The dragon lord’s face then became fiercer, he slammed his fisted claw on the ground with all his might, creating a loud earth shaking thud. He then quickly brought his head down and close to the princesses as he roared out. “HE WAS MY NEPHEW, HOW DO YOU JSUTIFY KILLING MY KIN, YOU HAVE A LOT OF NERVE MAKING SUCH AN ASSUMPTION!” He was snorting through his nostrils in anger now.

Charles finally decided to speak up. “It is not an assumption your majesty.”

Iron Scales looked at the princesses curiously at the new voice. “What is this, have you brought some pony with you?”

Luna responded. “We have.” The princesses then stepped aside to let Charles step forward and speak.

Charles walked past the princesses with nervous steps. He looked up at the dragon lord before him. The dragon eyed the creature before him carefully. “What is this thing before me?” He asked.

Charles answered. “I am a human sir, and my name is Charles.”

Iron Scales still wore a confused look. “And what pray tell is a human?”

“I am my lord, I am the one responsible for your nephew’s death.”

Iron Scales’s face then went straight. For a moment he just took in the human’s appearance. A smile soon crept on his face and he started to laugh hysterically, as did the other dragons around. “AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA, AH HA HA HA HA HA, You…..you must be joking, AH HA HA HA, You…..kill my nephew, a dragon, HA HA HA HA, that is too rich, this is some kind of joke, HA HA HA HA HA.”

Charles looked down and to the left as the dragons laughed at him. The laughing was starting to get to him as his anger began to build up, he tried desperately to keep his anger in check. His fists clenched and his teeth started to grind. Celestia and Luna saw Charles starting to get mad, they weren’t sure what to do.

Finally, when it got too much for him to bear, Charles shouted out with all his might. “STOP LAUGHING AT ME, I AM NOT A JOKE!!” His shout was so loud, it reached all the ears of the dragons nearby and silenced them. “I AM NO LIAR DRAGON LORD, I KILLED YOUR NEPHEW BECAUSE HE WAS A THREAT TO EQUESTRIA, HE WAS GOING TO TRY AND TAKE IT OVER HIMSELF!”

Iron Scales narrowed his eyes at Charles. He took a few thunderous steps forward and lowered his head to Charles, reminding him of how big the dragon lord was. In size, Charles was like the size of a large bug compared to the dragon lord Iron Scales. Charles’s new found boldness suddenly disappeared and was replaced by the fear again. “You have some nerve creature, do you really expect me to believe that you killed a dragon, my nephew?”

“Whether you want to believe it or not, that is the case, I killed him and I am prepared to take whatever punishment you see fit for my crimes to secure continuing peace with Equestria.”

Iron Scales pulled his head back, keeping his eyes on Charles. “I see, and you say that no matter what, you will accept my punishment for what you have done? Even if it means your death?”

Charles hesitated with his answer for a moment, he collected himself and finally answered. “I am lord Iron Scales, I could not live with myself if those I cared about suffered for my actions. I will take whatever punishment you see fit. I await your judgment.”

The princesses looked on in worry for Charles, tension was very thick for them as they waited what Iron Scales would do. Then, to everyone’s surprise, a smile crept on the dragons mouth. “Hm hm hm, you know, I never did like my nephew, it seems you have great courage in you creature. Despite the threat of death, you still were willing to come forward and accept responsibility for your actions. That is something I can respect.”

Charles was now very surprised by this bit of news. “So…….you’re not….going to punish me for what I did?”

“My nephew was a fool, too greedy for his own good, he was giving a bad name to us dragons. This wasn’t the first time he disappointed me. In fact, he’s lucky I didn’t kill him myself, I would have made it much worse for him than what you did. No, I will not be punishing you, if anything, you have earned my respect for showing such courage. And you clearly have great strength as well if you were able to take down one of our own kind.”

Charles released a sigh of relief at this, Celestia and Luna then came up beside him with a relieved smile on their face. Celestia then addressed Iron Scales. “Thank you Iron Scales, we are very grateful to you for your decision.”

Iron Scales nodded. “There is something I wish to speak with you about though, as of late, I have been getting a feeling of forboding, I believe something big is coming, something that may prove to be a great threat to the land.”

Luna responded. “Yes, we are aware of this, Charles here has made an alliance with some timberwolves and manticores who’s kings have also sensed this, he has also met with our mother and father. They believe that Charles is the one to aid us in this fight that is to come.”

Celestia then spoke. “Iron Scales, can we count on your support for this threat that is to come as well? It would be most appreciated.”

Iron Scales looked to the side and down in thought, he held for a moment before looking back. “Princesses, we have been on good standing for a long while now, also, you have quit the strong subject here, his courage is something to be respected, therefore, I would be happy to offer my allegiance as well. The dragons will answer your call when the time comes.”

Celestia gave her thanks. “Thank you Iron Scales, we are again very grateful for your assistance.” The princesses and Charles then turned and headed back to the carriage.

Once back inside and on their way back to Equestria, Charles was sitting between the princesses again. Now that the ordeal was over, Charles felt free to express himself, he was still trembling a little after that. He could have easily been sentenced to death, but he was spared, and the gravity of the situation finally caught up to him. “I…..I can’t believe it, he just……let me go.” Charles was visibly shaking.

Luna was the first to try and comfort him this time as she placed a wing on his back. “Charles, you have done an incredible thing today, you just helped secure an alliance with the dragons.”

Celestia then threw in her voice. “You have shown exceptional courage today Charles.”

Charles then spoke, keeping his eyes forward. “Courage? I was scared out of my MIND. I thought for sure he was going to have me beheaded, or serve me up for lunch, or…..something.”

Luna continued. “But he didn’t, instead, he admired you for coming forward, willing to take punishment for your actions, even if it meant your death. That is something to be proud of.”

Charles looked up at Luna with a small smile. “I guess you’re right, thank you, both of you.” With Charles now feeling more at ease, the rest of the ride back was a peaceful one. Charles was glad that he would be able to keep the promise he made to Twilight, and he was also looking forward to seeing his other friends as well.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait on this chapter, had a bit of writers block, I'll try to get the next chapter up sooner.

Chapter 18

Pinkie Pie was busy in the library setting up a welcome back party for Charles, Twilight did as she said she would and informed her friends of what was going on. Pinkie went about setting up streamers and balloons and all the party treats with a smile on her face. Derpy was helping as well. Vinyle Scratch was busy setting up her mix table at the back of the room and getting it ready to play.

Meanwhile, Twilight just sat outside the library keeping an eye out for Celestia’s carriage. Ever since they left, she just couldn’t stop worrying about the whole situation. Applejack came out to try and comfort Twilight. “Twi, you all right sugar cube? You been out here the whole time since you came back after tellin us what was going on.”

“Oh Applejack, I’m so worried about him, what if he doesn’t come back, what if the dragon lord wants revenge for Charles killing the dragon?”

Pinkie heard the conversation and came out to help comfort Twilight as well. “Don’t worry Twilight, you said he made a Pinkie promise to come back right, he’s sure to come back. No pony breaks a Pinkie promise.” She said cheerfully.

Twilight turned to Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, I think he just made that promise to ease my worry, I doubt even he thought he’d be coming back.”

Rarity then came up out of the library. “Twilight, darling, your worrying too much, Celestia and Luna won’t let anything happen to him, you must have faith in the princesses.”

Twilight looked to Rarity with a glare as she responded. “Rarity, don’t you get it, he killed a dragon and the dragon lord is furious, do you really think Celestia and Luna will risk a war for Charles’s sake!”

Rainbow then came out as well. “Twilight, calm down, he’ll come back, he can handle this, he’s strong, remember.”

Twilight looked behind her at Rainbow. Fluttershy followed behind Rainbow as she came out. Twilight was now glaring at Rainbow, her look soon softened as she looked away and back to the front, gazing back up to the sky in search of the princesses carriage. “I hope your right Rainbow.”

“Listen here sugar cube, we’re all worried about Charles, but sittin here worryin aint gonna do you no good, come on in and help us set the party up, that’s sure ta take yer mind offa this, what do ya say?”

Twilight closed her eyes and looked down. “I’m sorry Applejack, but I’m just too worried about him.”

Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder. “You really care about him, don’t you?”

Twilight looked to Rarity with sad eyes. “Of course I do, he’s put his own life in danger for our sakes three times now, he’s been so nice to us and now, with this going on, I……I’m afraid that he…” She couldn’t finish her sentence as a tear formed in her eye, it rolled down her cheek and fell to the ground.

Applejack then put a hoof on her shoulder as well. “You love him too, don’t you sugar cube?”

Twilight turned to face Applejack. “He shared such wonderful music with us, delicious new foods, and has done everything he can to protect us.”

“We feel the same way darling, it just doesn’t do any good to just sit here and think about the worst case scenario, you just have to have faith that he will come back to us.” Rarity said with a smile.

Twilight returned with a small smile of her own. “Your right Rarity, I just have to have faith he’ll come back.”

Fluttershy then called out. “Look, the princesses carriage!” She said as she pointed a hoof to the sky. Sure enough, there it was, being pulled by six of Celestia’s guards.

They started to make their descent as every pony came out to greet them, Derpy and Vinyl came out as well. “Oh, I hope Charles is ok?” Derpy asked with worry.

“Relax babe, I’m sure he’s fine.” Vinyl assured with no hint of doubt in her voice.

The carriage came to a rolling stop in front of the library. Celestia and Luna were the first to step out. The ponies all bowed before speaking. “Hello my little ponies, it is good to-“ Before she could finish, Twilight cut her off.

“Princess, is Charles ok, did the dragon lord want revenge, where is he?” She asked in a near panic.

Luna spoke to try and ease her. “Twilight calm down.”

Twilight did not calm down. “How am I supposed to be calm, Charles cold be dead, where is he?”

“I’m right here Twilight.” Charles said as he came out from behind the princesses to Luna’s side. “I’m ok see.” He said with a smile.

“CHARLES!” Twilight called out before galloping over to him, she glomped on to him and almost caused he to fall over, but he managed to keep his balance as Twilight wrapped her hooves around his neck. “I was so worried about you, I thought you wouldn’t be coming back.” All the fear she had of Charles being gone for good were finally relieved and came out in a few tears.

Charles could tell how upset she was, he just wrapped his arms around her in a hug as well, he spoke in a soothing voice. “Twilight, its ok, I’m fine, see, I’m right here. I promise I’m not going anywhere any time soon.”

“Oh Charles, when I thought you wouldn’t be coming back…I…I was so afraid I wouldn’t get to see you again.”

Charles and Twilight pulled back from their hug and looked at each other in the eye. “Hey, I made a promise to come back didn’t I, and I kept that promise.”

“I know, it’s just, well….” Twilight wasn’t sure how to find the words.

Luckily, Applejack could. “She loves ya too Charles, just like me and Rarity. She’s really taken a likin ta ya.”

Charles looked at Applejack first, then back to Twilight. “Really Twilight, you like me in that way too?”

Twilight smiled, she closed her eyes and nodded. “You’ve done so much for us, I’m just so grateful to you.” Twilight then gave a light peck on the cheek.

“Well then, looks like I got three mare friends now don’t I?”

Twilight then stepped aside to let Applejack and Rarity greet Charles. Applejack was first. “Hey there partner, glad ta see ya still in one piece.”

Rarity then welcomed. “Yes, we were all quit worried about you.” They both then came up and gave him a hug, followed by a kiss on the cheek, Charles returned the favor with a kiss of his own on their cheek.

“And how are my favorite fashionista and farm pony doing?” He asked.

Rarity answered. “We are just fine thank you for asking, how are you, how did things go with the dragon lord?”

“I’ll tell you about it later, for now, I believe Pinkie has a party set up, isn’t that right Pinkie Pie?” Charles called to the hyperactive pink pony.

“Yepperoonie, it sure is, come on, let’s head inside and get it started. OH, princesses, will you be joining us as well? Please say yes, oh please oh please oh please!” Pinkie Begged before Celestia and Luna.

The princesses looked at each other for a moment, then back to Pinkie. Celestia answered. “Well, I suppose we could, we don’t have anything going on at the palace right now.”

Luna then continued. “And I have never been to a party thrown by the element of laughter, I am most intrigued to partake in such an event.”

Pinkie cheered out at the news. “YAHOO, this is great! I promise you two are gonna have so much fun.”

Celestia turned to the guards still hooked up to the carriage. “Would you all go on ahead and take the carriage back to the palace, we will return under our own power.” The guards gave a nod and took off toward the castle.

Charles walked past Applejack and Rarity to greet the others. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were next. “Hey there Rainbow, Fluttershy, what’s up?”

Fluttershy was the first to answer. “Oh Charles, we’re so glad you’re safe, you had us all worried.”

Rainbow scoffed at Fluttershy’s comment. “I wasn’t worried, I knew you’d be coming back.”

Charles looked to Rainbow. “Well, it’s nice to know you have such confidence in me, thanks Rainbow Dash.”

“Hey, you’re a tough stallion…..er, human, I knew you’d be fine.”

Derpy and Vinyl then came up. Derpy was the first to speak. “Hey Charles, glad to see you okay.”

Charles gave a smile at Derpy. “Hey Derpy, it’s good to see you too.” They gave each other a brief hug. Charles then turned his attention to Vinyl. “Hey there, Vinyl right?”

Vinyl looked at Charles through her violet sunglasses. “Yep, hey there dude, welcome back.” She extended her hoof for a hoof bump.

Charles returned it by tapping his fist on the bottom of her hoof. “Thanks, so I guess your DJying this party then?”

“You know it, Pinkie always hires me for music for her parties. Since were good friends, I sometimes do them for free, like this one.”

“Well that’s real nice of you, Pinkie is lucky to have a friend like you.”

“Thanks dude.”

“Well then, now that greetings are out of the way, let’s get this party started!” Charles announced as he threw his hands out and spread his wings. Charles, the ponies, and the princesses filed into the library to begin the festivities. “So Vinyl, mind if I kick this party off with another song from my world?” He asked as he walked next to Vinyl.

“Sure dude, the last one you performed was awesome. What’s this one called?” She asked with interest.

“This one is a song that I just know you’re going to love Pinkie.” He said as he stopped, turned, and pointed a finger at her.

Pinkie looked at him with a smile. “Really, why is that?”

Charles retracted his finger and folded his arms in front of him. “The title alone should give it away, it’s called…….Party Rock Anthem.” Charles then jumped backwards, did a flip in the air and landed on his feet behind Vinyl’s mixing table. “I hope you ponies are ready for a real party song, because this one is sure to knock your horseshoes off.” Charles raised a hand, and brought down his palm onto the table, slapping it, magic surged through his hand and into the machine, the music started and Charles sang out and started dancing to the beat.

As the song played and Charles danced and sang, he got the others to dance along with him, they managed to keep in step with him as he danced. Fluttershy was content to just watch from the side with the princesses. Around the middle of the song, Charles pulled off some wicked breakdancing moves the ponies couldn’t follow and just watched till he went back to what they could follow. They were all having a blast with the music and dancing.

By the end of the song, the ponies were all applauding Charles for his performance and singing. “Thank you, thank you, I thought you all would like that one.”

Pinkie approached Charles with a big grin on her face. “Like it, I loved it, that was amazing, it’s the perfect party song, thank you for sharing it with us Charles.”

Charles smiled back. “No problem Pinkie, glad you all liked it.”

Vinyl then came up. “Dude, that was sick, that song was totally awesome. That was like one of the coolest party songs I ever heard.”

“Thank you again, anyway, your mixing table is all yours now.” Charles then began to mingle with the others as Vinyl began playing more music for the party. He approached the princesses first who were currently seated near the middle of the room. “So princesses, did you enjoy the music as well?”

Celestia answered first. “That was very interesting Charles, I’ve never heard music like that before. It was very invigorating.”

Luna then answered. “I must agree, that song was quite energetic, and the dancing was most amusing.”

Celestia’s face then straitened but continued in a friendly tone. “Now Charles, about the other alliances you made, It is too late in the day to do anything about it, but I would like you to help us arrange a meeting with the rulers of the timberwolves and manticores. Whenever you can, just send me a letter telling me when they will be willing to meet, and since you are the only one to understand them.”

Celestia didn’t need to finish, Charles knew where she was going. “You want me to act as translator for you at the meeting, I understand princess, I will do so. In the meantime, would you two like me to get you some punch?”

Celestia nodded. “Thank you Charles, that is very kind of you.” Charles then went to get the princesses the punch.

After the party had gone on for a while, Charles had a chance to talk to Vinyl alone. He approached her as she was at the snack table while her machine was on auto pilot for a while. “Hey Vinyl, great music selection for the party, you’re doing a great job as a DJ.”

Vinyl turned to face Charles. “Thanks dude, it is my specialty after all.” She said with a smile.

Charles smiled back. “I know, which is why I was wondering if you’d be willing to help me with a plan I have for.....for…” Charles screwed his face in confusion trying to remember the name of the holiday coming up. “Darn it, what was it called? Vinyl, what’s the name of the holiday coming up again?”

Vinyl then looked at Charles with a bit of confusion. “You mean Nightmare Night?”

Charles’s face lit up. “That’s the one, Nightmare Night. I had an idea for a performance for nightmare night I want to give, there’s another song from my world that would be perfect for it and I want to share it with the others, I’ll need your help with the music this time though. What do you say, will you help me out?”

Vinyl smiled big. “Sure dude, no problem, so what is this song you want to perform for every pony on Nightmare Night?”

“Trust me Vinyl, this will be a night, you and every other pony will not forget.”

***

Spike was busy in the library helping Twilight with her usually studies, he seemed to have a distant look on his face as he was smiling. Twilight took notice of this. “Spike, what has you in such a good mood?” She asked cheerfully.

Her question seemed to startle him out of his mind. “Huh, what, oh uh, nothing, it’s just that I met with my secret admirer and I have a date with her today.”

Twilight’s smile grew. “Really, that’s great news, congratulations Spike, who is it, when is the date?”

“It’s Sweetie Belle, our date is going to be at ten today.”

“Sweetie Belle, Rarity’s sister, I didn’t know she had a crush on you, wait a minute, ten, Spike, it’s almost ten now.” She informed.

Spike then began to panic a little. “WHAT, oh no, I’m gonna be late, I gotta go, you don’t mind do you Twilight?”

Twilight chuckled. “Hm hm, of course not, you better get going if you don’t want to be late.”

Spike smiled back at Twilight. “Thanks Twilight, I’ll see you later.” Spike then rushed up to their room, went to his bed and pulled out a small bag filled with bits he had. He then turned, ran back downstairs and out the door. As he did, he ran right past Charles who seemed startled by Spike’s sudden appearance.

As Spike ran past, he heard Charles call out to him. “Whoa, Spike, what’s the hurry, why are you rushing off?”

Spike didn’t slow down as he answered. “Can’t talk now, got a date, gonna be late, later Charles!” He continued running through town with a smile on his face, eager to get to his date.

***

Sweetie Belle was busy helping her big sister Rarity with her work.....by staying out of the way. She was expecting someone to show up anyway. “I hope he isn’t late.” She said with a bit of worry. It was almost time for their date, Sweetie Belle had yet to tell her sister about her crush on Spike.

Rarity picked up on Sweetie’s words. She turned her attention from her sewing machine she was using, she was in the middle of making a new outfit for Charles, she looked at her little sister and asked. “What was that Sweetie Belle, are you expecting some pony?”

Sweetie Belle was unsure if she should tell her sister about how she had a crush on spike since he first showed up but only now was she able to act on it because he always had a thing for her older sister. “Well, yes, I……met a nice……someone, and we have a date today at ten.”

Rarity smiled at her little sister. “Really, my little sister has a very special somepony, oh how wonderful, who is the lucky colt, is it some pony I know?”

“Well….yes, but……he isn’t a colt.”

Rarity seemed a bit taken back by Sweetie’s words. Her face turned to one of confusion. “Not a colt, then what is he?”

“Well……it’s Spike, I met with him yesterday and…..we decided to try and hang out together for a bit today. I hope you’re ok with it big sis.”

Rarity’s smile returned. She approached her sister and gave her a hug. “Oh Sweetie, of course I don’t mind, I do feel sorry for breaking the poor dragons heart, but I am so glad you can be the one to mend it, of course I don’t mind, I hope you two have a wonderful time together today.” Rarity released her hug and looked down at Sweetie Belle who now had a bright smile of her own.

“Thanks Rarity, I’m glad you’re ok with it.”

“Now tell me dear, what time is your date with Spike?”

"It’s at ten today, but it looks like he might be late, I’m afraid he might not show up at all, he seemed rather unsure about the whole thing.”

Rarity kept her hoof on Sweetie’s back. “Now Sweetie Belle, don’t you worry about a thing, if I know Spikey wikey, he is on his way right now to take you on a lovely date.” Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Rarity looked out to the hall way. “And I’ll bet that’s him now, you hurry along now and have a good time.” She instructed with a smile.

Sweetie Belle Smiled big back. “I will Rarity, thanks, I’ll see you later ok?” Sweetie then charged out into the hall and down the stairs to the first floor, she ran up to the door and opened it, her heart aflutter. To her delight, on the other side was Spike, panting.

“Hey…..Sweetie Belle…..Sorry if…..I’m late…..I……got here….as fast….as I could.” He said between breaths.

Sweetie Belle Chuckled at Spike, she thought it was cute he was so eager to get here. “Heh heh, actually Spike, your right on time, so where are we going first?”

“Let me just…….hang on.” Spike was now bent over with his claws on his knees trying to catch his breath. Sweetie waited patiently for Spike to catch his breath. After a minute, he was finally able to stand up straight and talk. “Ok, sorry about that, so how about we go to Sugarcube Corner, I brought my bits with me. Twilight gives me an allowance.” He then held up his bag of bits to show Sweetie belle.

“Great, sounds good, thanks for doing this Spike, I’m really glad you agreed to this.”

“Hey, I’m feeling pretty good about this myself. Shall we my lady?” Spike said as he gave a bow then held out his elbow for Sweetie to take.

She chuckled at his antics and accepted his gesture. “Why thank you my good sir.” She continued with his joke. The two then happily made their way to Sugarcube Coner to begin their date.

Author's Note

The song in this chapter is Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, next one coming soon.

Chapter 19

Spike and Sweetie Belle happily made their way to Sugarcube Corner for their date. Upon arrival, Spike, being the gentle dragon he is, opened the door for Sweetie. “After you my dear.”

“Why thank you spike, how nice of you.” The two approached the counter and were greeted by Mrs. Cake.

“Oh, well hello there you two, what brings you two dearies by?”

Sweetie Belle answered. Me and Spike are on a date.” She answered happily.

Mrs. Cake couldn’t help but smile back. “Well isn’t that wonderful, what can I get you two?”

Spike spoke up first. “Go ahead Sweetie Belle, you can get whatever you want.”

Sweetie Belle looked over to Spike. “Thank you Spike.” She then turned back to the counter and began to look over the selection in the display case before her. “Let’s see, it all looks so good. I’ll haaavvvvve, one cupcake and a chocolate milkshake please.”

“Make that two.” Spike responded.

“You got it, two cupcakes and chocolate milkshakes coming right up for the love birds.” Mrs. Cake responded as she then headed into the kitchen to get their orders. She came back a few moments later with the order on a trey in her mouth, she set it on the counter. “That will be eight bits please.”

Spike reached into his pouch and fished out the amount, placed it on the counter and took the trey. “Thanks Mrs. Cake.”

“You’re welcome dearies, enjoy.”

Spike carried the trey over to a table so he and Sweetie could sit and talk while they enjoyed their sweets. He chose an empty booth against the wall. As they sat enjoying their treats, Sweetie Belle decided to speak up. “Spike, thanks again for agreeing to go out with me like this, I really appreciate it.”

Spike locked eyes with Sweetie as she sat across from him. “Awe, it was nothing, you’re certainly a nice enough filly. But, I am curious, what attracted you to me in the first place?” Spike asked.

Sweetie looked to the side with a blush before she answered. “Well, I’ve noticed how helpful you are to everypony, and Applebloom told me about the time you saved her big sister from a giant timberwolf, I thought it was so brave of you to do something like that. I was just afraid to tell you how I felt about you since you still had a crush on my sister. And then, when she made it clear that she didn’t feel the same way about you as you do about her, I felt sorry for you, but I also saw it as my chance to tell you about my feelings for you. I hope you’re not mad at me for that.”

It was now Spike's turn to look to the side as he rubbed a claw on the back of his head. “Well, gosh, I don’t know what to say to that.” Spike looked back at Sweetie Belle. “But I am definitely not mad at you. In fact, I’m glad things turned out this way, I guess a part of me knew that it would never work between me and Rarity, I just didn’t want to believe it.”

Sweetie Belles smile grew even bigger then. “Oh Spike, I’m so glad to hear you say that.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, I’m just glad I get to enjoy some time with a cute filly.”

Sweetie Belle blushed at Spike’s compliment. The rest of the date for the two went on swimmingly as they talked about various things and enjoyed a few laughs, Spike had found a wonderful mare friend, and Sweetie Belle got to be with the colt……er dragon she admired for so long.

***

The rest of the day upon Charles’s return from his meeting with the dragon lord went on without incident on to the next day in the afternoon, it was getting close to time for Charles’s date with his new marefriends. At the party yesterday, Rarity presented Charles with a new suit that fit him perfectly, it was a white button up shirt under a black light jacket, black pants, black dress shoes and a black bow tie with a white diamond embedded in the center. And of course, there were holes in the back for his wings to fit through. Rarity also included gold cufflinks with diamonds as well. Charles was looking himself over in a mirror in his room with Twilight just behind him. “Do I really need to wear this, it is nice and all, but I’ve never worn a suit before. It just feels……I don’t know, weird.”

Twilight had dressed up as well. She was wearing a dark blue dress with stars spread out on it, a star ornament in her mane just above her ear, and blue shoes on her hooves. “Don’t worry, besides, Rarity might throw a bit of a fit if you didn’t wear something nice for our date.” She laughed a little at the thought.

Charles then turned around from the mirror and faced Twilight. “Well, how do I look?” He asked as he gestured to himself with his hands.

Twilight smiled as she responded. “You look very handsome Charles.”

“And you look very beautiful Twilight.” Charles complimented.

“Thank you Charles.”

“Yeah, you two look great, I hope you all have a great time tonight.” Spike said from Charles’s bed.

Charles turned to the side to face Spike. “Thanks buddy, and I hear you had a good time yesterday too, who was the lucky filly again?”

“Sweetie Belle, she is so sweet and nice. I had a great time with her yesterday.”

“Ah, Rarity’s little sister, well I’m glad to hear it Spike, I hope you two have a great relationship.” Charles said as he smiled at Spike. “Well then, before we go, I have a question for you Twilight.”

“Yes Charles?”

“I don’t suppose you have any spell books that can teach one how to create illusions and such do you?”

Twilight smiled. “Of course, I have a couple of books with sections that cover illusion spells.” Twilight’s face then turned to confusion. “But why did you want to know that?”

Charles smirked. “Because I have a brilliant idea for when Nightmare Night comes along, I want to put on another show for all of Ponyville that is sure to have you all shaking in your horseshoes. Trust me, this is going to be a night Ponyville won’t soon forget.”

“Really, what do you have planned?” Spike asked.

“Sorry little buddy, but that is a surprise. Now then, shall we be on our way my dear?” Charles said to Twilight.

“Of course, Spike, we’ll be back later, behave now.” She said as she and Charles left the room. Spike waved them off as they headed out the door

As they headed out, it was a chilly afternoon, it was somewhat cloudy as the sun hung low in the sky, getting ready to rest for the night. They first headed to pick up Applejack. Charles was still blown away at the fact that not one, but three mares were interested in him. Granted, they were of a different species, but he was just glad that someone was actually interested in him romantically. Besides, these ponies felt and acted like any other human, the only difference really was the whole species thing.

They soon came onto the dirt road that lead to the farm. They soon approached the archway that started the small path up to the house. They walked up and Charles was the one to knock. The door swung open after a moment and Big Mac was on the other side. Charles greeted him. “Hello Big Macintosh, I’m here to pick up Applejack for our date, is she ready?”

Big Mac took a moment before answering. “Eyup.” He then stepped aside to let the couple in. Twilight and Charles opted to wait in the living room for Applejack as Big Mac went to get her.

A few moments later, she came out behind Big Mac with no dress on. “Howdy ya’ll, I’m ready fer our date.” She said happily.

Twilight looked Applejack over carefully. “Um, Applejack, you do know Rarity will probably freak out or something if you don’t show up in something nice don’t you?”

“Well shoot Twilight, you know I don’t like all that girly dress up stuff, besides, it’s just a date.”

Charles decided to interject, thinking the two were about to get into an argument. “I think she looks just fine, you girls all look beautiful, with or without a dress.”

Applejack blushed a little at Charles’s words. “Well shoot, thank ya kindly Charles.”

“Yes, thank you very much.” Twilight also gave her gratitude. “Well then, we might as well be on our way to get Rarity.”

“Don’t worry, if she isn’t happy about Applejack not being in a dress for this, I’m sure I can say something to ease her.” Charles said with a smile.

Applejack agreed. “All right then, Big Mac, I’ll be back later tonight, see ya then.” She waved a hoof goodbye to her big brother.

“Eyup.” Was his response as he waved back.

The trio then left the farm as they made their way back into town to get Rarity, the walk back was made in a comfortable silence. They soon arrived at Rarity’s place and Charles knocked on the door. “Come in.” Came Rarity’s voice. Charles opened the door for the two mares who made their way in with Charles behind.

Charles then called out. “Rarity, we’re here to pick you up for the date, are you ready?”

Hoof steps were heard as Rarity made her way down the stairs from her second floor, she emerged from the staircase wearing a red and white striped dress. The best way Charles could describe it was it reminded him of a candy cane, but he still thought Rarity looked beautiful in it. “Wow Rarity, you look great as usual.”

Rarity flipped her mane in response. “Why thank you darling, you always know the right thing to say to a lady.” Rarity then took notice of Charles. “And you are looking most dashing yourself dear.”

“Thanks, you did a great job on the suit, I’m just not used to wearing something fancy like this though.” He replied with a smile.

Rarity then took notice of Twilight. “And you look marvelous too darling, I see you chose to wear your gala dress for the evening.”

Twilight smiled. “Yes, I didn’t really have anything else.”

Finally, she noticed Applejack and her face fell. “Ah, I see you decided to not dress up for this night Applejack, though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.” She finished with a sigh.

“Well, you should know by now I ain’t one fer fancy getups.” Applejack replied.

Rarity regained her composure and addressed the three. “At any rate, let’s be on our way shall we.” And together, the four left to head out for their evening.

As they left, a thought occurred to Charles. “Um, one question ladies, where are we going to eat?”

The three mares stopped in their tracks and turned to face Charles. Rarity then put a hoof to her chin in thought. “Well, I suppose that depends on your taste in food, do you like it fancy or simple?” She asked.

Charles gave a shrug. “I don’t care, as long as it tastes good and is edible, I’m fine with whatever, I’m not picky.”

Applejack responded. “Same here, I’m fine with whatever place we go, long as they give good sized portions.”

Rarity then turned to Twilight. “Twilight, do you have a preference?”

Twilight also took a moment to think. “Hmmm, how about Chez Gourmet, it’s a little fancy but not real high class, would that be ok?”

Rarity smiled at Twilight. “Twilight, that is a great idea, Chez Gourmet it is. Shall we then?” Rarity said as she took the lead.

As they walked, Charles started to feel a little uneasy about something. He was starting to look a little nervous as he walked with the three mares next to him. Applejack on his right, and Rarity and Twilight on his left. Applejack was the first to take notice and spoke up. “You all right there sugar cube, you look more nervous than a worm on apple harvestin day.”

“Well, it’s just……..I mean, my first date with Rarity at that one party was rather casual, but this, this is more like a real date, and I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Is there a certain way I need to act for you or what?”

The girls chuckled at him. Twilight was first to address his fears. “Relax Charles, all you have to do is be yourself, that is what we like about you.”

Rarity continued. “Yes dear, you don’t need to worry, you’ll do just fine, this is just a chance to spend some quality time with one another, it’s just at a place where we can get something to eat, that’s all.” Rarity finished with a reassuring smile.

Charles smiled back. “Well, all right then. So I just need to be myself, I can do that.”

“You sure can.” Said a bubbly all too familiar voice next to Applejack.

Every pony and Charles stopped in their tracks and looked to the source of the voice. Standing next to Applejack was Pinkie Pie with a bright smile on her face. The others had a confused look. Applejack spoke to address her, confusion and shock evident in her voice. “Pinkie Pie, what in tarnation are you doing here?”

Pinkie looked at Applejack with a confused expression of her own. “Aren’t we going on a date with Charles?”
She asked as if it were obvious. Pinkie was wearing a pink and white dress with candies decorating it, a pink and white hat and pink shoes covering her hooves with bows.

Twilight then spoke up. “But Pinkie, you never asked him out?”

“I didn’t?” Pinkie asked.

Charles answered. “Um, no you didn’t, I think I would remember you asking me out.”

“Oh, well, Charles, will you go out on a date with me?” Pinkie then asked with a smile.

Rarity then interjected. “Pinkie Pie darling, this is all so sudden, what is going on?”

Pinkie looked to Rarity as she answered. “Well, Charles is really fun, he knows some great music, knows how to dance great, and has a great appreciation for cupcakes, so why wouldn’t I want to be his marefriend?”

Charles couldn’t help himself. He tried to hold back giggles, but failed as they turned to laughter. “TCh, ha ha ha , oh man Pinkie, you sure have a funny way of letting a guy know you like him, your just asserting yourself right into this.”

“So what do ya say, can I be your mare friend too?” She asked, still wearing her trademark smile.

Charles managed to collect himself. “Well, ladies, what do you think of all this?” He asked as he looked at the others.

Rarity answered. “Well, I’ll admit this is a rather odd way of making your feelings known, but it is really up to you Charles, as to whether she joins us or not.”

Twilight continued. “You are the stallion in the group here Charles, whatever you choose is fine with us.”

Then Applejack said her peace. “Besides, Pinkie is one of our best friends, so whatever you decide is fine by us.”

Charles then looked over the mares before him. “Well, that is just fine, I don’t suppose there are any other mares in town that want to throw themselves at me are there?” He asked with a smile.

Rarity answered. “While I am not one for gossip, you have become quite the talk of the town, I have noticed some of the mares swoon over you and some of the stallions are jealous of you getting all the attention.”

“Gosh, that’s interesting to know, but I think four marefriends is enough.” Charles said as he winked at Pinkie. “Pinkie Pie, I would love it if you would join us for our date tonight.”

Pinkie was now beaming big. “Really, okie dokie lokey. Thank you Charles.” The five then continued on their way to the resturaunt Twilight suggested.

Within a few minutes, they arrived at their destination, Chez Gourmet. The place did indeed looke nice, the kind of place that serves fancy dishes but you don’t need a reservation to get in to. Charles decided to exercise his gentlemanly skills and held the door open for his dates. “After you ladies.” He said to them. They each gave a thank you as they entered. Charles then stepped forward to address the pony in charge of seating.

It was a stallion unicorn with a green coat and a black mane and tail. He was wearing a white collar with a black bow tie. “Good evening, how many in your party?” He asked in a friendly tone. His voice and way of speaking was indeed very welcoming.

Charles answered. “Table for five please.”

The stallion then lit his horn in a green aura levitating five menus and spoke. “Right this way good sir, and ladies.” The group followed the stallion to a round table with five chairs. “Here you go, a waiter will be by momentarily to take your orders.” The stallion then left after placing the menus on the table in front of the chairs.

Charles then used his magic to pull the chairs out for his dates. “Here you go girls.”

“Why thank ya kindly Charles.” Applejack said as she sat down.

“Thank you Charles.” Twilight gave her thanks as well.

“You are such a gentle colt.” Rarity complimented.

“Thanks Charles.” Pinkie beamed.

Once the mares were seated comfortably, Charles took his seat and they began to purose the menu for what to drink first. “Let’s see, hmm, looks like quite the selection. I’m surprised a place like this doesn’t have alcohol.” Charles absentmindedly said aloud. He never did approve of the stuff, and the comment he made slipped out. This world was pretty similar to earth, he figured there might even be the same kind of drinks here.

Twilight was the one to comment on Charles’s thought. “What’s……alcohol?”

Twilight’s question caught Charles’s attention. “Oops, wait, if they don’t know what alcohol is, then it must not exist here. Great, but I don’t want to be the one to introduce it to them.” “Oh, uh, nothing, just forget I said anything.”

Applejack eyed him carefully. “Charles, is there somethin you’re not tellin us?”

Charles looked at Applejack nervously. “It’s nothing really, trust me. It’s…….just a kind of drink that was back on earth. Don’t worry about it.”

Pinkie perked up at the mention of a new kind of drink. “OOH, a new kind of drink that we don’t have here, what is it what is it?”

Charles was feeling very uneasy now. “Pinkie, please just trust me and let it go, it’s not something you girls would like, even I don’t like it.”

“Oh, but I’m really curious now, won’t you please tell us. Pleas, please, PLEASE!” Pinkie was being very insistant.

Rarity spoke. “Charles, you might as well come clean, she won’t rest until she finds out about this drink you mentioned.”

Charles gave a defeated sigh. “All right, but you girls need to keep this to yourself, what I am about to tell you about is stuff that is not pleasant, all right?”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Pinkie made her trademark Pinkie promise, the girls soon followed suit.

“All right. See, alcohol isn’t really a drink, but an ingredient for a drink. It’s bad stuff in my opinion, it makes you goofy in the head if you drink too much of it. You get inebriated, makes you wobbly on your feet…..er hooves, and it can make you a real talker. By that I mean it can make you tell people things you didn’t want them to know about. Also, Twilight, you remember those cars I told you about?”

Twilight nodded. She went ahead and explained to the others about the cars Charles mentioned. “They’re these large metal contraptions that can travel at high speeds. It is a form of transportation for humans to go long distances.”

“Well golly, that’s real intrestin, but what’s that got ta do with this stuff you was tellin us about?” Applejack said.

Charles continued. “Well, most people make the stupid mistake to drive a car after they had too much to drink from whatever they were drinking with alcohol in it, and because of that, they get into accidents with those cars. Pretty much every case ends up in a horrible accident where someone gets seriously hurt, or worse………dead.”

The girls gasped at this. Pinkie then asked a question. “But then, if it can do that, then why do humans still try to drive after they drink this stuff?”

“Because for one, they aren’t very bright to begin with or just don’t care, or two, because the alcohol makes them stupid and unable to think straight. That is why I was so hesitant to tell you all about that stuff. But since you don’t know what it is, that means you don’t have it here, and I don’t know how to make any of those drinks that would have it in them. So there really is no chance of it coming into existence here.”

Twilight gave an appreciative smile. “Thank you for being honest with us Charles.”

Rarity continued. “Yes, after hearing all that, I think we can all understand your hesitance to tell us about this……alcohol.”

Charles began. “At any rate, let’s see what we want to drink shall we, and forget about that little discussion.” They all agreed and found what kind of drinks they wanted.

Just in time too, as the waitress approached, an earth pony mare with a yellow coat and a red mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a silver tray. She was wearing a black vest with a white undershirt and a white apron. “Hello there, I’ll be your server this evening, my name is Quick Serve, what can I get you?” She asked with a smile.

Twilight started. “Let’s see, I’ll have the apple cider to drink and a bowl of the pasta salad.”

Pinkie gave her order next. “I’ll have the lemonade and a nice hay burger please.”

Applejack was next. “I’d like the apple cider too and spaghetti and hay balls.”

Rarity gave her order. “I’d like a nice glass of iced tea and a delightful salad.”

The waitress then turned to Charles. “And four you sir?”

He seemed to be struggling on what to decide to eat. “Well, I don’t know, some of the stuff on here has either hay or grass in it, and I can’t eat that stuff. I don’t suppose you could make any reccomendations?” He asked as he looked at Quick Serve.

“There are a few selections on our menu that don’t include such items. There’s the Rosemary salad, a nice salad with lettuce tomatoes onions a bit of rosemary, of course, for seasoning, some carrots and we can also top it off with shredded cheese. Does that sound good?”

“That sounds perfect, I’ll have that and some iced tea to drink as well.” Charles agreed happily.

Quick Serve then jotted down the orders and took the menus from them. “All right then, two apple ciders, two iced teas, one lemonade, a pasta salad, a hay burger, spaghetti and hay balls, a simple salad and one rosemary salad.
Coming right up. Your drinks will be out shortly.”

Charles gave his thanks. “Thank you miss.” She then trotted off and went to get the drinks.

Rarity felt compelled to point something out. “You know dear, you also could have ordered what I did, there isn’t any hay or grass in the salad I ordered.”

Charles then looked to Rarity to respond. “No, but there were flowers in it, I can’t eat that either remember?”

Rarity then blushed a little in embarrassment for having forgotten that. “Oh, right, do forgive me for my forgetfulness."

Charles gave a comforting smile. “It’s all right Rarity, we all tend to forget things sometimes.”

Pinkie agreed. “Yeah, like remember that time I forgot it was my birthday and I thought you all didn’t want to be my friends anymore because I thought you were all lying to me and avoiding me when in fact you were all just planning a surprise party for me?”

Twilight chuckled at the memory. “Yes Pinkie, we remember.” They all then just started talking about idle things while waiting for the food to arrive. It gave Charles a chance to learn more about them.

What caught him by surprise was the adventures they had starting with the first day Twilight came to town. As they reminisced, halfway through the story, the food arrived.

Once every pony had their dish and drinks, they continued with the story taking turns telling it. When it came to Nightmare Moon, that reminded Charles that he wanted to know about how Nightmare Moon ended up with her own holiday. He first waited for the girls to finish before asking.

Once done, he saw his chance. “So girls, if this Nightmare Moon was so wicked, why does she have her own holiday?” He asked as they ate, of course, no pony spoke with their mouth full.

Twilight answered. “Well, you see, it was really Celestia’s idea. She figured if she could put a positive spin on Nightmare Moon, it might help the ponies accept Luna if she ever returned, which she did.”

“And, how did her first Nightmare Night after returning go?” Charles asked with genuine curiosity.

“It went not so good at first, every pony still saw her as Nightmare Moon and were afraid of her, but with mine and my friends help, we managed to help the ponies see that she wasn’t Nightmare Moon but princess Luna. After that, the rest of the night went great, every pony had fun with Luna.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Sounds like she was seen as a monster too huh, I’m kind of jealous of her.” He said as he looked down at his meal.

The girls looked at each other with a bit of concern. Applejack was the first to speak. “What do ya mean by that sugar cube?”

He looked back up at them. “I was seen as a monster too, yet in just one night, she was able to find acceptance from others, it took me coming to another dimension to do that, and it was after so many years of being on my own.”

Charles then shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts. “But hey, it all worked out in the end for me. I’ve got a new place to live, a nice job, great friends, and four beautiful marefriends. All in all, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” He said with a big smile.

Rarity then spoke up. “Glad to hear you say that Charles.”

It was then that Charles had another idea. “Say Rarity, I was wondering if I could ask a favor of you?”

“But of course dear, you can ask me anything.”

“I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind designing a suit for me for Nightmare Night?”

Rarity gave Charles a confused look. “But darling, you already have a suit, you’re wearing it right now.” She pointed out.

“I know, but the suit I have in mind is a bit old fashioned from my world. In a certain era on earth, it was a fancy looking suit that high class humans wore. Now adays, in the right setting, it can be considered creepy. I want to wear this suit for nightmare night and I need your help, I would like you to make it for me and I will give you all the details about it later. Is that all right?”

“An old fashioned suit, I suppose, sure, it would be interesting to learn a bit more about the fashion of the world you came from, especially old ones.”

Charles smiled big. “Great, I’ll come by tomorrow while I’m off duty to help you and tell you what is needed. I really appreciate it Rarity.”

Rarity gave a dismissive wave of her hoof. “Think nothing of it dear, I am more than happy to help my dear colt friend.” After that, Charles just let the girls talk during the rest of the meal and heard more about the adventures they had together. The evening couldn’t have gone better in Charles’s opinion, he had a nice time with his new marefriends. Things couldn’t possibly get any better for him.

Author's Note

I want to thank you all for your support, it really bolsters my confidence as a writer. Thank you again. Please don't get on me about the food, I just made up whatever for them to eat.

Chapter 20

Charles awoke the next morning with a yawn as he sat up, he went to the bathroom for a shower, slipped on his clothes, the blue jeans, grey shirt and red jacket, placed his crystal around his neck and took his staff up and put it on his back. He stepped out of his room with a smile on his face, as soon as he did, his nose was greeted with a delightful familiar smell. “Mmmmmm, smells like someone’s trying to make the French toast I shared with them, and from the smell of it, they are doing a good job.” Charles made his way to the kitchen and greeted Twilight as she sat at the table reading a newspaper.

“Good morning Charles, did you sleep well?”

“I slept great, thanks for asking.” Charles made his way over to Twilight, bent down and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

Twilight blushed a little and chuckled. “hm hm, my, someone’s in a good mood.”

“And why wouldn’t I be, I got a great life forming before me, I got a job, friends, a place to live, and, not one, but four fabulous beautiful marefriends.” Charles then turned his attention to Spike who was busy at the stove. “And how are you doing this morning Spike?”

“I’m good, just trying to make that French toast you showed us that one morning, I think I got it right so far.” Spike replied as he eyed the food on the stove.

Charles walked over and looked down at the stove over Spike’s shoulder. “Looks like you’re doing a fine job Spike, you got it down. It smells great too.”

“Thanks.” Spike said with a smile back at Charles.

Once breakfast was finished, Charles announced that he had to head out, he had a few things to take care of. “Well, I need to be heading out, got a few things to take care of.” He said before giving Twilight another kiss on the cheek. “See ya later beautiful.”

“What are you up to Charles?” She asked.

“I have a few things I need to take care of to get my plans for Nightmare Night together. I’ll be back later today, I’ll see you then. I do need to get started on studying those illusion spells after all.” Charles then headed out, it was another cloudy day, but there were breaks in the cloud cover allowing a few rays of sun to shine through.

On his agenda for the day, Rarity’s place. He decided to walk there, deciding that it was too cold to fly there, the wind chill factor just wasn’t worth it. As he walked, he saw a few of the ponies around town wearing coats or just scarves. He noticed the pegasai didn’t have anything on to protect themselves from the cold weather. “Huh, I wonder why the pegasai aren’t wearing anything.” He thought to himself.

It was in his looking around that he noticed Stunner and Fluttershy sitting at a table in front of a kind of bistro. He went over to say hello. “Good morning Fluttershy, Lt. Stunner sir.”

Stunner gave a smile as he greeted Charles. “Charles, good morning, and no need for the titles here, I’m off duty today, I’m just on a morning date with Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy greeted as well in her usual soft voice. “Good morning Charles, how are you this day?” She asked with a smile of her own.

“I’m doing great, I was just on my way to see Rarity. I’m going to help her with a design from earth that I’m going to wear on Nightmare Night.”

Stunner then got curious about his statement. “Oh, is it some kind of costume?”

“Sort of, it’s really a kind of suit that was worn a long time ago from old times. In the right setting, it can be considered creepy.”

Fluttershy recoiled a bit at this. “Oh…my. Um, Nightmare Night isn’t exactly my favorite night. I just get so……scared.

Charles looked to Fluttershy with a sympathetic eye. “Really, so does that mean you won’t be there when I perform?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I’m sorry, but Nightmare Night is just too scary for me.”

Charles hung his head in disappointment. “I see, I was hoping you and the others would be there, I just know you all would like it.”

Stunner decided to speak up then. “C’mon Fluttershy, I’ll be there to protect you, I promise, I won’t leave your side, I love Nightmare Night, but it won’t be any fun if you’re not there with me.”

Fluttershy looked to her coltfriend, then to Charles. “Oh, all right, I’ll be there.”

Charles smiled at Fluttershy. “Great, thank you Fluttershy, I promise it won’t be too scary. I’ll leave you two love birds alone now, I gotta get going, see you later.” Charles gave a wave as he left.

***

The days went by and Charles was just about ready for Nightmare Night, on the day he stopped by Rarity’s to tell her about the outfit he wanted, he also went by Vinyl’s place to help her put together the song he had in mind for the show he wanted to put on, then, of course, he had to go by the mayor’s office to discuss having use of the stage and setting up a scenery. Thankfully, she agreed and he supervised the construction of the set.

For the few days leading up to Nightmare Night, Charles went by Vinyl’s in the afternoon to work on the music, and helped set up the stage at the center of town for the show he wanted to put on. He had the ponies setting up the stage make an easy to build makeshift house on the stage. It was a dark blue color and looked really old with shudders that were broken, one of them just hung on the window, there was also a stone chimney on the top of the house. The background had a cliff just behind the house and on the left, a fake moon was painted on the backdrop and coffins were set up and lined on the sides of the house.

Nightmare Night was finally here and Charles was wearing the suit he asked Rarity to make, he was wearing a white undershirt with frills that were thin at the bottom near the center of his chest and spread out further up to the neck, the sleeves had frills at the end as well. Over the shirt, Charles wore a black light over jacket with pants and shoes to match. He also had on a cape that was black on the outside and red lining on the inside. It certainly looked like something from a few centuries ago.

Charles had a satisfied smirk on his face as he looked himself over. “Not bad, once again, Rarity does a great job.” Then his smirk faded. “But it just isn’t enough. I just don’t look all that scary with a suit on. Let’s see, what can I do to make myself look scary.” Charles put a hand to his chin in thought. “AH HA, I got it.” He smiled brightly as inspiration struck. Before he could do anything, Twilight entered.

“Hey Charles, you ready for your first Nightmare Night.” It was then she noticed his outfit. “Well, I’ll admit you do look handsom, but not scary really.”

Charles smiled at Twilight. “I just had an idea to fix that. Watch this.” Charles then closed his eyes and looked as if he was concentrating. A second later, a small flash emitted from between his eyelids, Charles opened them and Twilight gasped in surprise at what she saw.

“Oh my, Charles, your eyes.” She looked into his eyes and saw his irisis were now slitted.

Charles then turned to the mirror to look at them. “Nice, it worked, now to continue with the illusion.” Charles then focused his magic again and another flash emitted from his mouth. He opened his jaw and grinned, his teeth now appeared jagged and sharp. “Whoa, nice, what do you think Twilight?”

Twilight recoiled a bit in fear. “Wow, um, that is rather scary.”

"I’m not done yet, two more adjustments to make and I’ll be ready.” Charles then decided to get the last two things out of the way at once. He focused his magic again, and in a flash, his hands and wings had changed. His hands now had long sharp fingernails that looked very sharp. His wings now no longer looked black and feathery, they were a dark brown color and looked like bat wings. Once done, Charles gave himself another look in the mirror. “Perfect, well Twilight, what do you think?”

“Wow, you look very scary Charles.” Twilight answered with a smile.

It was then that Charles noticed what Twilight was wearing for her costume. She also had on what looked like a white button up shirt, her mane was put up in a bun, she was wearing a black skirt and fake glasses rested on her snout. “Um, Twilight, what exactly are you supposed to be?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m a librarian of course.” She answered non-chalantly.

“Riiiiiight, but……don’t you have a job as a librarian already, why wear a costume that makes you look like something you already are?”

Twilight’s face fell. “Because last year at Nightmare Night, the costume I chose before didn’t go over as well as I hoped. This is all I could really come up with for a costume.”

“Ah, well, that doesn’t change the fact that you look good. I think you look cute with glasses.” Charles stated with a wink. He then followed up with a kiss on the cheek. This elicited a blush from Twilight. “Any way, is Spike ready yet?” He asked as he made his way out of his room.

As if to answer his question, Spike emerged from the room he and Twilight shared wearing an interesting costume. He had on a helmet with horns on it, a grey moustache, and brown clothing with brown boots on his feet. “Tadaa, what do ya think, pretty cool huh?”

Charles looked him over as Spike made his way downstairs. “Not bad Spike, are you supposed to be a Viking or something?”

“Yep, what do ya think, pretty cool huh?”

Charles nodded in agreement. “Not bad Spike, not bad, but don’t you think your missing something?”

Spike then looked up at Charles with confusion. “What do you mean, what am I missing?”

Charles gave a smile. “No self-respecting Viking would be caught dead without his weapon, that is what your missing, and I believe I can help with that.”

Twilight then tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. Charles leaned down so Twilight could whisper in his ear. “Charles, what are you thinking, he’s a baby dragon, I don’t want him messing with weapons.”

Charles whispered back. “Don’t worry Twilight, I’m not going to give him a REAL weapon, I’ll let him borrow my staff after I make a change to it, it will be perfectly harmless, I promise.” Charles then went to his room to retrieve his staff and came back out. “Now then Spike, would you like a sword, or an axe?” He asked with a smile.

Spike then looked to Charles with a surprised expression. “Wait, you’re going to let me use your staff? Thank you Charles.”

“Hey, don’t mention it, now what would you like?”

“I think an axe would be cool.”

“you got it, one axe coming up.” Twilight still wore an unsure expression on her muzzle. Charles began to focus his magic in to his staff, soon it shrank down, the color and shape changed and soon, the staff looked like an old fashioned axe, like the kind a true Viking would have.

“Charles, why are you giving Spike an axe?” Twilight asked.

Charles then turned to Twilight to alleviate her fears. “Twilight, relax, its not even sharp, I made the blade of the axe plastic, it’s completely harmless, look.” To demonstrate this, Charles banged one side of the blade against his hand, leaving no marks what so ever. “See, totally harmless. Here you go Spike.” Charles handed the toy axe Charles made to a very grateful little dragon Viking.

“Thank you Charles, this is so cool, now I look like a real Viking.”

With Spike looking so happy, and the fact that Charles proved that the axe wasn’t dangerous, Twilight’s fears melted away. “I’m sorry for doubting you Charles, I should have known you wouldn’t give Spike a real weapon.”

As Spike gave his new axe a few test swings, Charles turned to Twilight. “It’s fine, I can understand why you were worried, Spike is like a little brother to you, isn’t he?” His answer was a simple nod from Twilight.

“I got him when he was just an egg, I hatched him from an egg as part of an entrance exam to get into Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns. Ever since then, my parents and I took care of him, he’s not just a good friend, he’s my little brother.”

Charles happy demeanor turned slightly solemn, his smile was still there, but it was more like a sad smile. “Yeah, It must be nice having family that cares about you.” He said absent mindedly.

Twilight quickly turned to face Charles. “Oh, um, what I meant was, um……I.”

“It’s fine Twilight, I know you didn’t mean anything.” Charles interrupted her. “It’s just hard for me to let go of what happened, they were my parents…….but even so, they…..they still….” Charles stopped his thought. “But it doesn’t matter, that’s all in the past, and I NEVER have to worry about seeing them again, so come on, let’s go out there and have a spooky time, shall we?”

Twilight could see it, he was still hiding his feelings, despite everything he had gained, he still chose to hide some of his emotions away. She decided it was best to let it go for now.

Before anything more could be said, there was a knock at the door, Twilight opted to get the door. She trotted over and used her magic to open the door, she was then greeted by three fillies with the standard Nightmare Night greeting. “Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something sweet to bite!” They exclaimed together.
Twilight greeted the three fillies. “Well hello there cutie mark crusaders, don’t you all look great.” Sweetie Belle was wearing a pink dress with a pink cone hat and white stars on it with a pink veil hanging down from the top of it. Scootaloo was wearing a rainbow colored wig and had a picture of Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark on her flank. Applebloom was wearing a cow costume of white with black spots.

Spike Came to the door too to greet them, he then saw Sweetie Belle and just had to compliment her. “Wow Sweetie bell, you look great.”

Sweetie Belle blushed at Spike’s compliment. “Thank you Spike, Rarity made the costume for me. I’m a princess.”

“Hey, what about my costume?” Scootaloo complained. “Don’t I look just awesome?” She said as she struck a pose.

Applebloom decided to speak up. “I don’t think it’s that great, it’s just a rainbow wig with Dash’s cutie mark."

This earned a glare from Scootaloo. “Now girls, lets not fight.” Came Rarity’s voice from behind the fillies.

Twilight then looked to Rarity to see what her costume was. She had on a pair of red devil horns, a red cape, and was wearing black eye shadow. “Wow Rarity, nice look.”

“Thank you darling, is our stallion ready for the night?”

“Be right out, I’ll just get the candy for the fillies.” Charles called from inside the library. He came back and beside Twilight with the bowl in his newly gained claws. “Hello girls, care for a……bite to eat?” He said sinisterly. Then followed up with a cackle as he revealed his sharp looking teeth.

The girls gasped, Rarity did the same and spoke. “Goodness Charles, you look absolutely frightful, what in heavens have you done to yourself?”

“You like it, pretty scary huh?” He asked with a grin, making sure to show off his teeth.

Scootaloo was the first to compliment. “Whoa, cool, you look real scary Charles, how did you do that?” She asked with a smile.

“Magic.” Was his simple answer.

“Gosh Charles, you look real fearsome, is that still you?” Applebloom asked with a bit of fear.

Charles pulled back from the girls so as to not look as threatening. “Relax girls, it’s still me, I just used my magic to look like this for Nightmare Night.”

“Well I think it looks cool.” Scootaloo said.

Charles bowed his head to Scootaloo. “Thank you Scootaloo.” Charles finally turned his attention to Rarity. “And Rarity, I see your looking rather…….devilish, HAH.” No response from his little joke was made. “Oh come on, you got to admit that was somewhat funny?” Still no response. “Whatever, anyway, you really do look nice Rarity.”

“Thank you dear.” Rarity said.

“Yeah, you really fit the bill for my,” Charles then adopted an old Transylvanian accent. “Mistress of the night, mwa ha ha ha ha.” Still no response. “I give up.” Charles finally decided the fillies waited long enough for their candy and deposited two pieces in the bags that hung around their necks. “Here you go girls, enjoy.”

“Thank you.” They said in unison.

“Well then, shall we be on our way?” Rarity asked.

“Of course, just give me a second.” Twilight then levitated a stool outside, then a quill and parchment and proceeded to write a note on it. She then placed the note on the stool and Charles set the bowl on the stool so the note would be held in place by it. The note simply read, take one piece each. With that now out of the way, Twilight, Spike and Charles headed out with Rarity while Spike and the fillies went off on their own for fun.

It was a clear night tonight, all the stars could be seen as the moon was full in the sky. Charles, Twilight, and Rarity made their way to the center of town where all the festivities were taking place. There was a pumpkin catapult game, a game with spiders and a web, a bobbing for apples tub set up and being run by Applejack, a ring toss game and many other booths with games to play. The three made their way over to greet Applejack. Charles was the first to say hello. “Hello Applejack, how are you this fine evening? Nice costume by the way.”

“Thanks partner.” She was wearing a light brown shirt with patches on the elbows……or whatever part of the leg that was called, with bits of straw sticking out, and a straw hat. “I’m a scarecrow.” She said with a smile. “Care ta try yer luck at bobbing fer apples?” She asked as she gestured to the tub.

“No thanks.” He politely dismissed Applejack’s offer. “But it is always nice to see you.” Charles walked up to her and gave her a peck on the cheek.

“Aw shucks, thanks Charles.” She blushed.

“Charles, comrade, how good to see you.” Called a familiar voice from behind. The girls and Charles looked in the direction of the voice off to the side. Black Cloud was approaching.

Charles gave a smile at his friend. “Black Cloud, nice to see you buddy, how are you enjoying Nightmare Night……wait, you’re not wearing a costume, is something wrong?” He asked with concern.

“Nyet, nothing is wrong, it is just that we did not have Nightmare night where I came from, I was not sure how this holiday worked. This is my first Nightmare Night. So far, it is very interesting, so many games to play and treats to eat.”

“Well, that is the idea behind Nightmare Night. You having fun so far anyway?”

“Da, is a most interesting holiday, is very fun yes? I am having a, how you say, the time of my life.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Charles, how are you making yourself look like dat?” Black Cloud asked, finally getting curious about his appearance.

“I just used my magic to make myself look like this.”

“I see, you really look very spooky.”

“SURPRISE!” Came a shout from behind everyone. They all gave a shout and jumped.
The shout came from behind where Rarity and Twilight were standing, the girls and Charles turned to see Pinkie with a wide smile on her face. “Were you surprised, were you were you were you?” Pinkie asked rapidly. She had somehow died her coat chalk white and her mane and tail were now blonde. She also had a pair of fake wings attached to her sides like a Pegasus.

Rarity scolded. “Pinkie Pie, dear, that was not very nice.”

Twilight agreed. “You almost gave us a heart attack.”

Pinkie waved a hoof in a dismissive manner. “Awe come on, it was a joke, it is Nightmare Night after all.”

Charles couldn’t help but agree. “I guess your right there Pinkie, but what or who exactly are you supposed to be?”

Pinkie kept her smile as she answered. “SURPRISE!” She shouted again.

The girls, and Charles looked to eachother in confusion, but none looked more confused than Black cloud. “So, you are pony named surprise?” He guessed

“That’s right! You’re the first pony to get it!” Pinkie exclaimed.

Applejack then interjected. “Uh, Pinkie, who in the hay is Surprise, I don’t know any pony by that name.”

“Well DUH, that’s because no pony has ever met her.” Pinkie said.

Charles then asked. “So, is she a new pony in town then?”

“Nope.” Pinkie simply answered.

“But then, who is she?”

Pinkie giggled. “Heh heh heh. Oh silly, it doesn’t matter, now come on, let’s go have some fun.”

Charles, along with the others, just shrugged off Pinkie’s antics. Applejack had to stay where she was to monitor the bobbing for apples station. Charles invited Black Cloud to hang out with him and his three other mare friends while they looked for the other girls. He accepted happily and the group went on their way.

Little do they know, they were being watched by a Pegasus mare from the shadows, Dark flash had come to Ponyville to monitor the human that ruined her plans so far. Her horn was missing though, she was using her magic to make herself look like a regular Pegasus. “Enjoy the night while you can creature, I will make sure it is your last.” She said to herself. She had a wicked grin form on her muzzle. “I’ll let these ponies enjoy their night a little longer, then I shall make my move.” What dastardly plans could she have in store for Ponyville, or our hero?

Chapter 21

It didn’t take long for the group to locate the others they were looking for, the other guards and their mare friends were all together. Carbon was with Octavia, Lightning Thrash was with Rainbow Dash and Derpy Hooves, Stunner was with Fluttershy, and Fuse with Vinyl Scratch. The other guards, except for Shadow Fang, were there. Charles greeted the group.

“Hey every pony.” Charles decided to start using the pony terminology. Charles also noticed all the costumes each one was wearing. Rainbow Dash was wearing a tan button up shirt and a pith helmet. Fluttershy was wearing a butterfly costume with butterfly wings over her own and little antennae on her head. Derpy was wearing a muffin costume, making her look like a giant muffin with legs. Octavia was wearing a black dress that sparkled and was curved and pointed along the end, a black wig that made her mane look longer, and black eye shadow. Vinyl Scratch was wearing what looked like a denim jacket and a black shirt, giving her a punk rocker look.

Lightning Thrash was wearing a spider costume, making himself look like a giant spider. Stunner was dressed like a tiger. Dusk Fang and Dawn Fang were dressed to look like timberwolves. Storm Chaser was dressed up like a zombie, he had died his coat green and had fake scars on his body. Fuse was made to look like a ghost, he managed to make himself look pale and had fake webs hanging off his mane with fake spiders on them.

They all had a different reaction to Charles’s spooky look. The guards were impressed, as was Vinyl, Octavia gasped in surprise, and Fluttershy let out an ‘eep’ and ducked behind stunner. Lightning Thrash was the first to compliment Charles on his look. “Charles, wow man, you look creepy, how are you doing that?”

Charles gave out a sigh, he was getting tired of having to keep explaining how he was making himself look like how he did. “I used my magic to make myself look like this.”

Stunner then spoke up. “Nice, you look real scary.”

“He looks….um….very scary, eep.” Fluttershy said from behind Stunner.

Charles looked concerned at Fluttershy’s direction. “Fluttershy, it’s all right, it’s still me, I just look different.”

Fluttershy poked her head out from around Stunner. “Um, I know, you just…..surprised me is all.” She said quietly. She finally came out from around Stunner to greet him.

“I must say, you do look awfully ghoulish Charles, very nice.” Octavia complimented.

Charles gave a bow and a grin at Octavia. “Why thank you my lady.” Charles then turned to Vinyl. “So Vinyl, is the music ready to go for my performance?”

Vinyl raised her sunglasses and revealed her red eyes, she gave Charles a wink as she answered. “You know it, you ponies are gonna love this stuff, the music is very spooky, definitely perfect for Nightmare Night.” Vinyl then lowered her glasses back down.

Charles then got curious about Rainbow Dash’s costume. “So dash, I gotta ask, who are you supposed to be?”
Rainbow took a heroic pose. “Daring Do of course, DUH.”

Charles cocked an eyebrow at her. “And Daring Do is…..who exactly?”

Rainbow Dash Gave Charles a bit of a glare. “Are you serious, do you seriously not know who Daring Do is?”

“Um, should I?” Charles asked carefully.

Rainbow Dash facehoofed and grunted. “Gaaahh.” She removed her hoof from her face and began to explain. “She’s only the most popular fictional character in an excellent series of adventure novels!” Dash explained with a glare.

Charles raised his hands in defense. “Whoa Dash, take it easy, I didn’t know, I never saw any Daring Do books so I didn’t know who she was.”

Rainbow Dash backed off. “Yeah ok, sorry about that, I’m just such a huge fan of the series.”

Charles smiled at her and put his hands on his hips. “I kinda figured that.” He then spoke to all the ponies there. “So, you all ready for the show I’m gonna put on?” Every pony, but Fluttershy, agreed. “Good, me and Vinyl will be starting soon.”

Just then, the wind picked up, clouds began to form into a spiral and shoot out lighting, and a dark carriage emerged from the swirling vortex of clouds. A cloaked figure was seen on the carriage that was being pulled by other bat ponies. Fluttershy cringed and once again hid behind Stunner. Stunner just rolled his eyes at her and turned his attention back to the scene.

Twilight immediately knew who it was. “Princess Luna.” She said out loud.

Charles gave a low whistle. “Nice entrance, wonder if there’s an encore.” He joked.

The carriage stopped in mid-air just above where the group was and the cloaked figure floated down. The cloak then turned into a small swarm of bats and flew away, revealing princess Luna as she spread her wings. Every pony and Charles bowed before her in respect. Once they all rose, she spoke. “Greeting my subjects, I wish you all a happy Nightmare Night.

Twilight was the first to greet her as she approached Luna. “Princess Luna, thank you for honoring Ponyville with your visit this night.”

Luna responded with a smile. “How could I possibly stay away from my good friends here in Ponyville. Besides, I am eager to see this show Charles is going to put on that you told me about in your letters Twilight.”

Off in the shadows, watching the scene unfold, Dark Flash mused to herself. “Princess Luna is here too……interesting, perhaps I can kill two birds with one stone, however, I am curious about this performance the creature is going to put on, I could go for some amusement before I make my move. Then I can crush this…..human and princess Luna as well, then taking out Celestia should be easy, hm hm hm.” She grinned as she believed in her success.

The group of ponies chatted away as they made their way to the center of town where the stage was set up, they met up with Applejack again and they all gathered at the front, except for Charles and Vinyl. Before leaving, Charles gave each of his marefriends a kiss on the cheek, then took off with Vinyl to get the show ready. All of Ponyville then gathered, even Spike and the crusaders found a seat near the front, Twilight sat next to Luna as the other six girls took seats around her. Dark Flash was curious about this and took a seat in the back so as not to draw attention to herself.

Charles hid himself in the creepy house on the stage while Vinyl was backstage, ready to start the music. Charles’s voice rang out through the speakers set up on the sides of the stage. “Mares and gentlecolts, I thank you all for coming. On this night, the show I am putting on is sure to bring fourth your worst nightmares, but I assure you that everything your about to see is all an illusion and nothing can hurt you, I hope you all have a frightful time. This night, I will be performing a song from my world called…….THRILLER.”

The door to the front of the house creaked open as Charles stepped out, the sound of his shoes echoed throughout the audience, a flash of light and the sound of thunder erupted, soon followed by the sound of an eerie wind blowing, the shadows of wolves emerged on the cliff in the background and howled at the moon. Charles stopped at center stage and the music began to play. It started low but slowly picked up, upon the crescendo, the eyes of each of the wolves, that were now looking out over the audience lit up in a red glow with each beat. They then jumped from the cliff and joined Charles on the stage, each one was a ghostly white and seemed to have a fog emitting from their paws, their eyes kept the red glow.

There were six of them in total, they all lined up next to Charles, three on each side, they continued their howling for a bit. Charles began to sing.

It’s close to midnight, and something evils lurking in the dark,

The coffins that were set up began to open and human zombies stepped out, slowly making their way to behind Charles. The ponies gasped in horror as they watched the things stumble over on to the stage. But then, to their surprise, they started to dance as the wolves ran around in a pattern.

Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart.

You try to scream, but terror takes the sound before you make it.

Charles had a horrified look on his face as he moved his hands up to his neck, then moved them away as he continued to sing.

You start to freeze, as terror looks you right between the eyes, your paralyzed.

At this part, Charles looked right at Rainbow Dash and locked eyes with her, giving her a sinister look. Rainbow recoiled a bit but shook it off as the show continued. After the line, the zombies began to sing along as well with the next line as they danced with Charles.

Cuz this is Thriller, thriller night, and no ones gonna save you from the beast about to strike,

You know it’s Thriller, Thriller night, you’re fighting for your life inside a killer…thriller….tonight.

The music played on its own for a bit before Charles started again.

You hear the door slam,

The front door of the house slammed just as Charles quickly turned to face it, then turned back around to face the audience.

And realize there’s nowhere left to run. You feel the cold hand,

Charles made a ghostly hand appear and touch Twilight on her shoulder, she yelped and quickly caught sight of it just as it faded out.

And wonder if you’ll ever see the sun. You close your eyes,

Charles flew behind Luna and placed his hands over her eyes upon his next line. He then removed his hands from her and got in front of her.

And hope that this is just imagination.

He then went over to Pinkie Pie in a way that she wouldn’t see him as she sat on Luna’s other side and got up behind her.

Girl, but all the while, you hear a creature creeping up behind.

Charles then put his hands on her shoulder, startling her, she just laughed afterwards and continued to enjoy the show. He got in front of her and continued.

You’re out of time.

He flew back on to the stage and continued.

Cuz this is Thriller, thriller night, there ain’t no second chance against the thing with forty eyes girl.

This time the zombies just sang.

Thriller, Thriller night.

Your fighting for your life inside a…killer…thriller….tonight.

Charles and the zombies threw up their hands at the last word.

Night creatures calling, the dead start to walk in their masquerade.

There’s no escaping the jaws of the alien this time.

A flying saucer appeared and flew over the audience, then shot straight up into the night sky and disappeared.

This is the end of your life.

Charles then had the wolves jump from off the stage and circle the audience.

They’re out to get you, there’s demons closing in on every side.

A ghost then flew out of the house and up behind Charles.

They will possess you,

The ghost entered Charles and his eyes went swirly, making himself look like he was possessed.

Unless you change that number on your dial.

Charles went back to normal and continued as the wolves returned to the stage after giving the ponies a fright. Charles then jumped off stage again and got up to Rarity. And cuddled up to her as he sang.

Now is the time, for you and I to cuddle close together.

He got in front of Rarity and looked her in the eyes.

All through the night, I’ll save you from the terror on the screen, I’ll make you see,

He then went back on the stage and continued dancing with the other zombies as the wolves ran about in a rhythmic pattern to the music.

That this is Thriller, Thriller night, cuz I can thrill you more than any ghost would ever dare try.

Thriller, (WOO HOO) Thriller night, so let me hold you tight and share a killer…diller…chiller… thriller…here tonight.

Cuz this is thriller, thriller night, girl I can thrill you more than any ghost would ever dare try.

Thriller (WOO HOO) Thriller night, so let me hold you tight and share a…killer….thriller (OW)

The music then played on its own again as Charles took center stage at the edge, the wolves howled some more as the dancing became less extatic. Charles was then bathed in an eerie red light as he looked over the audience and just spoke in a creepy voice. The wolves AND the zombies slowly began to surround the audience, as Charles spoke.

Darkness falls across the land, the midnight hour is close at hand.

Creatures crawl in search of blood, to terrorize y’alls neighborhood.

And whosoever shall be found, without the soul for getting down.

Must stand and face the hounds of hell, and rot inside a corpses shell.

The music played on a bit more, Fluttershy was holding tight to Stunner in fear at this point, as was a few of the mares that had a stallion to hold on to. Twilight and the others were scared as well, but also very entertained by the whole spectacle.

The foulest stench is in the air, the funk of fourty thousand years.

And grizzly ghouls from every tomb, are closing in to seal your doom.

And though you fight to stay alive, your body starts to shiver.

For no mere mortal can resist, the evils of….the THRILLER.

Upon the last word, the music stopped, the wolves and zombies froze, Charles began to cackle evilly. The wolves and zombies began to shudder, then turned to smoke. They flew up and shot towards the chimney and down it. As Charles continued his cackling, once the last of the figures were gone, he too, flew up with a trail of smoke behind him and shot down into the chimney, his cackling continued on. Suddenly, Smoke shot back out fiercely and gathered above the stage, Charles’s twisted form emerged from the smoke and the ponies all gasped in fear as his eyes could be seen looking over them. The smoke then swirled violently and shot up into the sky, disappearing into the night.

Charles just hovered high above the town high out of view of the ponies with the performance done, he put a hand to his ear and was soon greeted with the sound of hoofs stomping the ground and cheering. His show was a complete success. Charles swooped back down and took center stage. The ponies cheering continued. He took a bow and raised his hands to get every ponies attention. Once they finally stopped their cheering, Charles spoke. “Thank you all, I’m glad you liked the show, but please be sure to give some credit to the pony who helped me with the music, Vinyl Scratch.”

Charles looked to the left of the stage with a palm outstretched, Vinyl came trotting out and joined Charles.
The ponies erupted in more Cheers as Vinyl took a bow. “Thanks every pony.” She said.

Once things finally settled down and many compliments on the show he put on, Charles was finally free to be with his marefriends and friends. Spike decided to join the crusaders in some more candy hunting and games, so he scurried off with his little marfriend, Sweetie Belle, with a smile on both faces.

Dark Flash decided now was the time to make her move. “That was quite a show the human put on, shame I have to kill him.” She made her way away from the crowd and found a secluded spot, she removed the spell that was hiding her horn and began to concentrate on another one.

Back with Charles, he was just chatting it up with his four marefriends, and Luna. “Charles, that was quite a show you put on, I must say.” Luna complimented.

“I’ll say, I nearly jumped out of my fur when you made that hand touch my shoulder.” Twilight said.

Charles looked at her. “You liked that huh, that was the whole idea, this night is meant for scares after all isn’t it?”

“It sure is, and you gave me a good one when you snuck up behind me.” Pinkie cheered.

A rumbling started to shake the ground under their hooves. “Ya’ll hear that?” Applejack asked as she and the others looked around. A dragon soon emerged from behind a few houses and let out a mighty roar.

It had black scales, a white underbelly, and purple spines. Twilight kept her eyes on the dragon as she asked Charles in a big of fear. “Uh, Charles, I don’t suppose you’re doing that too are you?”

“Afraid not, I’m not doing this, and something tells me that dragon is not an illusion.”

Rarity then asked. “Then what is a dragon doing here, it doesn’t look very friendly.”

As if to confirm this assumption, the dragon smashed a home and chuckled. Charles saw enough. He gave a determined look. “Right, that’s it, this dragon is history.” Charles dropped the spell he was using to make himself look creepy, summoned his armor and…….couldn’t summon his staff. “Uh oh.” Charles muttered.

“What is it partner?” Applejack asked with worry.

“I can’t summon my staff.” Charles answered.

Twilight responded in shock. “What, Why not, you did it before when Discord first appeared here in town!”

“Because then, I knew where it was, right now, I gave it to spike as that axe remember, and I don’t know where he is so I can’t summon my staff!”

“Then what are you gonna do?” Pinkie asked. The dragon let out another roar as ponies ran screaming and the dragon continued it’s rampage.

Charles steeled his eyes as he glared at the dragon. “Whatever I can to keep this town safe.” He then turned his attention back to his girls. “Girls, I want you to find the others and the guards and get them to try and lead every pony to safety, I’ll try and draw the dragon out of town so it can’t destroy anything else.”

“But Charles, how are you going to fight that thing if you don’t have your weapon?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t know, but I’ll think of something, now go.” Charles then turned his attention to Luna. “Princess, you go with them and get to safety, I’ll handle this thing.”

“No Charles, you can’t possibly hope to stop that thing on your own without your weapon, I can help.” Luna stated.

Charles looked to the princess. “Your majesty, you are too important to Equestria, I can’t let you put yourself in danger, go with the others and get to safety.”

Luna gave Charles a stern look. “Charles, as a princess, it is my duty to look out for my subjects, I can fight as well, I am not about to let you take on that thing on your own, that is an order, understand.”

Charles had no choice now, she gave him a direct order, he sighed in defeat and looked at Luna. “Yes your majesty, we will work together then and take out this beast.” Charles turned back to the four mares. “Now you four get going and get out of here.”

“Please be careful Charles.” Twilight said to him.

“You best come back in one piece partner.” Applejack warned.

“We’ll be rooting for you.” Rarity said.

“Ooh, I just know you can beat that thing, Charles.” Pinkie said. Charles then gave each of them a kiss on the lips.

Twilight then spoke to Luna. “Princess, you come back safe too all right.”

Luna smiled at Twilight. “Do not worry, I will return safe.” Charles and Luna then turned to face the dragon and readied for a fight as the four mares ran off to find the guards.

Charles gave another glare at the dragon. “All right you overgrown lizard, I don’t know why you came her to attack our town, but I’ll make sure it’s the last thing you do.” Charles and Luna spread their wings and charged forth at the beast.

Author's Note

And there's a cliffhanger, hope you like it, just wait till the next chapter, princess Luna and Charles fight this mysterious dragon that came out of nowhere.

Chapter 22

Charles and Luna flared out their wings and readied to charge, they took to the air and sped forth at the dragon that was invading the town of Ponyville. As they flew, Luna asked Charles a question. “So Charles, how do we lure this thing out of the town?”

Charles smiled at Luna. “Easy, we agitate it and get it to follow us, simple right, just follow my lead.”
The dragon saw the two coming and smirked. Charles stopped just in front of it with Luna next to him. “HEY UGLY, YOUR MOTHER WAS A GECKO! BLAAAHHH!” Charles proceeded to stick out his tongue and shake his head around. Luna looked at Charles with confusion.

The dragon snarled at Charles’s insult. “You little pest.” The dragon spoke.

“You want us, come and get us!” Charles then whispered to Luna. “Go ahead, you try.”

Luna responded. “Oh uh yes, ahem, you foul smelling…….lizard!”

“Not bad Luna.” Charles complimented.

The dragon took a swipe at the two, both saw it coming and were able to evade the beasts claws. “Is that the best you can do, my grandma hits harder then you!” Charles insulted again. “Come on you big lug, come and get us.” Charles then turned to Luna. “Come on, that should do it, let’s fly and see if it’ll follow.” The two then turned and sped off, the dragon spread it’s mighty wings and gave chase after them.

Back down in Ponyville, before Luna and Charles started to lead the dragon away, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie were hoofing it to find the other guards. Captain Lightning Thrash saw the dragon emerge along with the others. “What in the name of Celestia is that dragon doing here?!” Lightning asked. Fluttershy gripped tightly around Stunner’s neck.

Twilight and the others came up to the captain. “Captain, we need you to begin an evacuation, we need you to get every pony to safety.”

Lightning looked at Twilight. “What about princess Luna, and where’s Charles?”

Applejack answered. “They’re gonna lead that critter away from the town, but fer now, Luna said you need to gather everypony and get them to safety.”

Lightning gave a nod. “Right, Dusk Fang, Dawn Fan, you two take the north side of town, gather every citizen you can and have them head for town hall.”

Dusk and Dawn gave a salute, “Yes sir!” They said in unison, then they discarded they’re costumes and took off for the north side of town.

Lightning then turned to Stunner and Carbon. “Stunner, you and Carbon take the west side.”

They gave a salute, Carbon responded. “Yes sir, on it.” They too discarded their costumes. Stunner gave Fluttershy a quick kiss “You be safe Fluttershy, head for town hall with the others and stay there, I’ll come back with others and check on you.”

Fluttershy gave him a sad smile. “Ok, please be careful.”

Carbon spoke to his marefreind. “Octavia, I’ll come back for you, I promise.”

Octavia gave Carbon a smile. “I know you will, I’m looking forward to it.” Stunner and Carbon then left to do their job.

Lighting then addressed Fuse. “Fuse, you and me are going to the south side of town.”

“Yes sir.” Fuse turned to Vinyl. “You stay safe Vinyl, you hear.”

“I know, you go and do your thing.” Vinyl responded before sharing a kiss.

Lightning finally addressed the last two. “Storm Chaser, you and Black cloud take the east side of town.”

Storm and Cloud gave a salute. “You got it boss.” Storm responded.

Derpy spoke. “Lighting, please come back safe.”

Lighting smiled at her. “Hey, I’m the captain of the guard here, I can handle this.”

Rainbow agreed. “Yeah Derpy, he’s a tough stallion, have a little faith.”

He looked them both over. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back, I’m just going to lead the other ponies to safety, you two head to town hall with your friends, I’ll meet you there.” He then gave each of them a quick kiss.

Rainbow Dash and Storm Chaser then decided to share a few words, Dash started. “You be careful too Storm.”

Storm gave a hoof wave. “Hey, this is child’s play, no sweat, I’ll be fine. I’ll see you at town hall.” The two then gave a hoof bump. Storm and Cloud then took off to their assigned area, Followed by the rest of the guards.

Twilight then spoke. “All right girls, let’s go.” The six mares then headed to Town hall.

Spike was with the CMC getting candy, when their candy hunt was interrupted by a dragon letting out a monstrous roar and ponies started to run and scream. Spike stood in front of the three fillies as they clutched each other in fear and screamed. Spike also had a look of fear on his face. “A dragon, what’s a dragon doing here?”

Sweetie Belle found the courage to speak. “Spike, we have to go, we gotta find a safe place to hide.”
Spike turned to face the three fillies. “You're right, come on, let’s find the guards and see where they want us to go.”

“Good idea.” Applebloom agreed.

The four did their best to make their way through the crowed, trying to find one of the guards. It didn’t take long for them to find Dark Cloud and Storm Chaser trying to heard the ponies to town hall. “Guys, over here!” Spike called out to them.

Black Cloud was the first to address them. “Spike, you are ok, dis is good, you four need to head to town hall now, we are gathering every pony there for safety.”

“But where’s Charles?” Spike asked in worry.

Storm Chaser answered. “he’s fighting the dragon with princess Luna.”

Spike then remembered something important. “Oh no, guys, you got to take me to Charles!”

The two looked at him with surprise. “What are you talking about, is where danger is, why you want to go to Charles?” Black asked.

Scootaloo protested as well. “Are you NUTS, you want to go to where the danger is? That’s crazy!”

Spike began to explain. “You guys don’t understand, Charles changed his weapon into this toy axe I have for my costume, if I have it, he doesn’t have it, if he doesn’t have it, then he could be in trouble. Please, you got to let me get it to him.” Spike pleaded.

Applebloom tried to argue as we. “Spike, it’s way too dangerous there, you can’t go.”

“I have to, he’s put his life on the line so many times for us, don’t you think it’s about time some pony here does the same for him, I have to return it to him.” Spike gave the guards a pleading look. “Please you guys, let me do this.”

Black cloud looked deep in thought, he finally looked to spike to speak. “All right, I will take you to Charles.”

Spike smiled. “Thank you Cloud.”

Sweetie Belle approached Spike from behind and put a hoof on his shoulder to get his attention. Spike turned around and made eye contact with Sweetie Belle. “Spike, if you’re really doing this, please be careful and come back safe.”

Spike gave Sweetie Belle a smile. “Of course I will, you take care of the other two and get to town hall. I’ll be back, I promise.”

Sweetie lifted one eyebrow at him. “Pinkie Promise?” She asked.

Spike went through the motions of the Pinkie promise. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, I’ll come back.”

Sweetie smiled at Spike. “Ok then.” She then gave Spike a quick peck on the cheek.

Spike smiled big as he gained a goofy look on his face. Black Cloud cleared his throat to get the little dragons attention. “Ahem, comrade Spike, I believe we need to go.”

Spike shook his head. “Huh, oh yeah, right.” Black Cloud then lowered himself and let Spike on his back.

Storm Chaser then spoke to Cloud before he took off. “You do realize you both will get in trouble for this right?”

Black Cloud looked to Storm Chaser for an answer. “What you mean comrade?”

Storm first pointed a hoof at Cloud. “You for taking a civilian into a dangerous situation.” He then pointed a hoof at Spike. “And you with Twilight for doing this.”

“I’ll worry about that later Strom, we gotta get Charles’s weapon to him.” Black cloud then took to the air with Spike on his back and flew after the dragon that was now heading out of the town chasing Charles and Luna.

Charles and Luna were speeding through the air with a black and purple dragon on their tails, Charles spoke aloud so Luna could hear him over the sound of the wind rushing past them. “All right, I think we’ve led the dragon far enough from…..LOOK OUT!” Charles looked behind him to the dragon just in time to see a big ball of dark purple flames heading towards them at an alarming rate, Charles shouldered Luna out of the way just in time, but took the full blunt of the force on his back and was set ablaze. Charles cried out in pain. “AAAAAAHHHHHH!”

Luna managed to recover in mid-air and saw Charles fall to the ground like a meteor, she cried out in fear. “CHARLES!” She quickly flew to him lying on the ground in a crater, the dragon landed a few feet away and started walking up to them.

Luna looked at Charles as smoke rose up from his body, he was lying on his stomach groaning in pain. “Ooooohhhh.” He managed to turn himself over but stayed down on his back.

Luna tried to speak to him. “Charles, are you all right?”

Charles groaned out. “Yeah, I think so……BEHIND YOU!” He then shouted, pointing at the dragon right behind Luna.

It raised its head, ready to shoot out flames, Luna quickly turned to face the dragon and quickly put up a blue magic shield around herself and Charles. The dragon shot out a stream of purple fire, it encomposed the entire shield as Luna held it up. “I REALLY need to learn more magic like that.” Charles mused to himself. Charles was able to recover, he pushed himself up but kept low to the ground.

The dragon finally let up on its flames and spoke. “You little worms, do you really think you stand a chance against me?” It’s voice was deep but feminine, the dragon was female.

Luna dropped her shield and addressed the dragon. “Why are you doing this, we have a deal for peace with the dragons, what reason do you have for this act of betrayal?!”

The dragon responded back. “Does it matter, you’ll both be dead soon anyway, I see no reason to tell you my plans.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Charles called out as he suddenly zipped up and towards the dragon, ready to give her a mighty uppercut. He made contact with something all right, but it wasn’t the dragon’s jaw, at his high speed flight, Charles impacted against a dark purple magic shield. He ricocheted off it and back to the dirt, leaving a trail in the ground. “Uh, ok, OW, since when can dragons do magic?” Charles groaned out.

Luna quickly made her way over to Charles. “They can’t, at least I didn’t think they could.”

“It’s so funny watching you squirm like this.” Said the dragon.

Luna glared at the dragon. “Then perhaps it’s time for you to squirm!” She called out. She then lit up her horn and her body became enveloped in her aura. Her eyes began to glow pure white. The aura grew bigger and bigger as Luna lifted up off the ground. In mere moments, the aura was as big as the dragon, it then shifted about and took on a semi-transparent form that was very much like Luna herself with her at the center of it.

Charles looked on stunned. “Whoa, that is a neat trick, I really, REALLY need to start working on my magic.”

Luna’s voice boomed out through the magic clone. “You shall not harm another pony, as princess, it is my duty to protect my subjects, I will not let you get away with this assult, you WILL pay!”

The dragon was surprised by this, too surprised to react when Luna, in her new giant form, rammed right into the dragon and sent her falling on her back. “GAH!” She cried out when she hit the ground. “An amusing spell, but you still won’t win.” The dragon got back up, but before she could do anything, Luna fired a massive magic bolt at the dragon from the silhouette’s horn. The blast sent the dragon stumbling backwards. “Fine, you want to play rough, we’ll play rough!” The dragon charged forth, Luna doing the same with determination in her eyes.

Charles finally managed to get up and took to the air. He circled around as Luna and the dragon clashed. They both collided with one another, the dragon pushed Luna back and swiped at her with her claws, Luna managed to back up to avoid them then fired another bolt from her horn, the dragon managed to put up a shield to stop it then fired another stream of flames. Luna blocked that as well with her own shield. Charles was starting to feel useless at this point, Luna was doing most of the work and all he was doing was just floating there watching the fight.

“One way or another, I got to do something.” He said to himself. He noticed that the dragon had its magic shield down whenever it shot out flames, that was when Charles would make his move.

The dragon swiped it’s tail at Luna, Luna ducked, reared up and shot her front hooves at the dragon, she made contact with the dragons back and sent it down to the ground on its belly. “Maybe now I can do some damage.” Charles shot downward to the dragon with all his speed, pouring magic into his left fist. Luna saw Charles charging and waited to see if he would succeed in his strike.

The dragon pushed herself up off the ground, Charles made impact and slammed into the dragon’s back, forcing her back to the ground. “GAAAHH!” The dragon cried out in pain.

Charles began to punch the dragon repeatedly with his fists, hoping to do some damage, his success was evident as the dragon let out a grunt with each punch. Having enough of this, the dragon snaked its tail to Charles and managed to catch him by surprise by wrapping him up in it. She gave a squeeze and Charles cried out in pain. “AAHHH!”

Luna began to worry and feared for Charles. The dragon quickly got up and took Charles into her claws, she faced Luna and Spoke. “If you don’t want me to kill this little pest, then I suggest you surrender.

“Don’t do it Luna, she’s just going to kill us both anyway!” Charles said with his eyes scrunched shut. His words were met with squeezing. “GAH!”

“QUIET YOU LITTLE WORM!” Said the dragon. “Well Luna, what’s it going to be?”

Luna began to think, what could she do, the dragon had Charles now. “I….I,” Before she could answer, the dragon let out a cry.

“GAH! WHAT THE….” Black Cloud flew at high speed and struck the dragon in the back of the head, causing her to lose her grip on Charles, he fell a ways before recovering and flew away from her. Black Cloud was doing his best to distract the dragon as she swiped and clawed at Black Cloud, but was too fast for her. Charles glided down to the ground next to the front left hoof of the silhouette, he came and got on his hands and knees trying to catch his breath.

Luna dismissed her giant form to be next to Charles. “Charles, are you all right?” She asked with worry.
“I’ll……I’ll be fine, it’s nothing.”

“CHARLES!” Spike came running up to Charles with the axe in claw.

Charles and Luna looked to Spike in confusion, Charles addressed him first. “Spike, what are you doing here, it’s dangerous, AH!” Charles winced and clutched at his side as he tried to move.
“I had to come, so I could give you back your weapon, you need it don’t you?” Spike stretched out his claw holding the little axe to Charles.

Charles smiled at Spike, he took the axe out of Spike’s claw. “Thanks little buddy.”

Spike smiled up at Charles. “Now get out there and show that dragon whose boss.”

Charles gave a nod. “Charles, are you sure you’re ok, you look hurt.” Luna asked.

“I’ll be fine princess, we have a dragon to slay, HEY BLACK CLOUD, YOU CAN STOP NOW!” Charles called to Black Cloud who was keeping the dragon distracted. Black Cloud Quickly flew away and picked Spike up quickly before the dragon could do anything else. He zipped off and to town, away from the fight. “All right, Luna, you get big again like before, we’ll work together to take down this beast.” Charles turned the little axe back into his staff, then formed his twin swords.

Luna reformed her giant self, Charles took to the air and hovered next to Luna’s silhouette head. The dragon glared at the two. “So you got your weapon, big deal, it won’t make a difference.”

“We’ll see about that you overgrown gecko!” Charles shouted. The dragon let loose with its stream of purple flame, Luna formed her shield, protecting herself and Charles. Once it stopped, Charles zipped around to the left side of the beast while she kept her eyes on Luna. Luan charged up her horn and fired a massive bolt of energy at the dragon, the dragon once again produced her own shield and guarded herself, however the blast sent her recoiling a bit. Charles saw his opportunity and charged forth at the beast to slash at it.

The dragon swiped her tail and smacked Charles away, he was sent flying backwards and collided into the ground again. “Nice try worm, you’ll have to be quicker than that.” She spat at Charles.

Charles struggled once again to get up just in time to see Luna slam into the dragon, the two struggled to push the other back. “You….will not……harm my subjects!” Luna spoke out through the silhouette.

Charles got up again and tried to fly again, he was starting to feel the effects of the beatings he took thus far, but he pressed on, knowing that there was too much at stake for him to fail. He flew up and charged at the dragon’s leg. He slashed at it with all his might, leaving a large gash in the leg.

The dragon cried out in pain. “AAAAHHH!” She lost her balance and Luna managed to force her back, gave a mighty shove and forced the dragon on her back, she then reared up and stomped down on the beast’s belly. “GUH!”

Charles then flew to the head ready to try and take off her head, but the dragon had other plans, she managed to shoot off another bout of flames from her mouth, causing Luna to get off her and back up, Charles tried to get at her but the dragon managed to smack him away with a claw, he was, once again, face down in the dirt. “I am getting really tired of this.” Charles groaned out. He pushed himself up and turned to face the dragon.

“I am getting fed up with you fools, why won’t you just DIE!” The dragon bellowed out at the two. Before another thing could be done, the dragon was struck by a powerful yellow magic bolt from the right. “YAHH!” The dragon looked to the source, as did Luna and Charles. “WHAT, NO, Celestia, curses, I thought I would have more time! I can’t handle all three of these pests.” Celestia was flying fast to the dragon with an angry look on her face. Heavens help the poor souls that mess with Celestia’s ponies, even more so if you threaten her sister.

She was flying at high speed with Pegasus pulled chariots holding unicorns in them, Shining Armor at the front of the group.

The dragon raised her claws over her head and started to gather a white aura, it formed a ball of light that then exploded, blinding every pony in the area. Celestia stopped in mid-air and shielded her eyes with her left wing, the other Pegasus guards had to stop in mid-air as well.

After the light faded and every pony tried to regain their sight, the dragon was gone and a small fox scurried away from the scene unnoticed.

Celestia quickly flew to her sister’s side after Luna dismissed her silhouette. “Luna, are you all right, what happened?” Celestia asked with great worry.

Luna looked up to her sister. “I’m fine big sister, I am all right, my magic protected me from any harm.”

Celestia sighed and smiled. “*sigh* that’s good, but what happed, why was that dragon attacking?”

It was then that the other chariots landed. “I don’t know sister, it just appeared in Ponyville and started terrorizing the town, me and Charles……CHARLES!” Luna then remembered Charles.

“I’m over here, I’m ok.” Charles waved as he limped over to the princesses and the guards with his armor now gone.

Shinning galloped up to him. “Charles, you look hurt, are you sure your fine?”

Charles stood at attention and gave a salute. “I’m fine captain, not the first time I fought a dragon, plus, Luna was helping, though it seems she did more than me I’m sorry to say.”

The princesses turned to Charles and approached, they then gave a gasp as they noticed something. Celestia was the first to point it out. “Charles, you’re bleeding.” A close look revealed that Charles was indeed bleeding, there was blood dripping down his head, and claw marks across his chest, apparently, the dragon’s claws got through Charles’s armor. He looked down at himself, he dropped down to his knees and fell to the ground face first, his vision was starting to fade as all he could hear were faint voices calling out.

Author's Note

And here we have the next chapter, I hope it was action packed enough for you.

Chapter 23

The girls were all gathered at town hall with the other citizens of Ponyville, Twilight was giving Spike a good scolding for going into a dangerous situation, but she couldn’t help but feel some pride for him for showing courage and going to return Charles’s weapon. Black Cloud was getting a berating of his own from captain Lightning Thrash for bringing Spike into such a situation in the first place, regardless of reason.

The other ponies were all chattering amongst themselves and worrying about the situation they were in. The chatter was soon interrupted when the door to town hall just burst open and Shining Armor stood before them. “QUIK, WE NEED A DOCTOR NOW!”

Twilight looked to her brother and trotted up to him with worry followed by the other girls and the rest of the guard. “Shining, what’s wrong?” Her question was soon answered when she saw the princesses coming up from behind Shining, Luna levitating Charles next to her. “CHARLES!” She called out. Twilight quickly galloped over to the princesses. “Oh no, what happened, is he ok?”

The other three soon followed, then Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash with the other guards. “Oh no, Charles, this is bad.” Applejack commented. All four of Charles’s marefriends were practically in tears at the sight of his horrible condition.

“WE NEED A DOCTOR NOW!” Shining called out.

Doctor Stable emerged from the crowd quickly. “Let’s get him to the hospital right away.”

The main six, Spike, Shining Armor, and the princesses were all gathered in the hospital waiting room, hoping and praying that Charles would be ok, it had been about two hours since he was brought in and every pony there was exhausted already as it was. Spike, being a baby dragon, couldn’t stay awake and had fallen asleep. It was almost midnight, a dragon attacked the town, and to make matters worse, a very good friend and loved one was in a dire situation. Twilight was being comforted by her big brother while Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack were being comforted by their friends and the princesses. “Oh Shining, I hope he’ll be ok, he has to be.” Twilight worried.

Shining did his best to assure Twilight with a frown of his own. “Don’t worry Twily, he’ll be fine, he’s a tough stallion remember?”

“That mean ol dragon, why did it have to come here and hurt Charles, it’s not fair.” Pinkie cried.

“We just have to have faith that he’ll pull through ya’ll.” Applejack said, not really believing her own words. She was just as worried as the others.

“Quite right, we have to believe that Charles will make it.” Rarity said.

“Do not worry my little ponies, Doctor Stable is a fine doctor, he will take good care of Charles.” Celestia said to try and comfort them further.

“Yeah, what she said, he treated Charles before, he can do it again.” Dash said.

“Oh, I hope your right Rainbow Dash, it just isn’t fair, why would a dragon attack us like this after the princesses made a deal for peace with them?”

“That is a good question Fluttershy, one I intend to get an answer for.” Luna responded. “Sister, I believe that once we make sure Charles will be fine, we pay a visit to the dragon lord and see what he has to say about this.”

Celestia looked to her sister. “Agreed Luna, this is a treasonous act, we must get to the bottom of this.” The ponies stayed and waited for what seemed like forever.

Doctor Stable finally came out from the operating room. “Girls, I have news on Charles’s condition.

Rarity was the first to speak. “Is he all right, will he make it?”

“Please tell us he’s fine doc.” Applejack said.

The doctor looked over the ponies. “His condition is stable for now, it’s all up to him now.”

“Can we see him?” Twilight asked.

“I’m sorry, but he’s under at the moment, we had to put him to sleep, you can all come back tomorrow to check on him, we’ve done all we can.”

“I’m not goin till I get to talk to him, I can wait till he wakes up.” Applejack declared.

“Me too, I’m not about to leave him.” Pinkie agreed.

“Same here, we have to be here for him till he wakes up.” Rarity said.

“I’m not leaving either, he risked his life for us so many times, the least we can do is be there for him, and Spike certainly did what he could to return the favor.” Twilight declared.

“Very well then, you are all welcome to stay as long as you like.” Doctor stable said, he then turned and headed back to the ER.”

Twilight then turned to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy?”

“Yes Twilight?” Fluttershy answered.

“Would you mind watching Spike for me while I’m here, I don’t want to leave Charles.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Of course Twilight, I’d be more than happy to.”

Twilight smiled. “Thank you Fluttershy.” Twilight then enveloped Spike in her magical aura and gently lifted him up and placed him on Fluttershy’s back.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him.” Fluttershy then began to trot out of the hospital and to her cottage.

“You can go too if you want Rainbow Dash, I imagine you’re just as tired as the rest of us.” Twilight said.

“I’m not going anywhere, he needs us, I’m staying right here until he wakes up.” Dash stated.

“Thanks Rainow Dash.” Pinkie said.

The princesses then decided it was time for them to take their leave. Celestia addressed the girls. “My little poinies, I believe that me and my sister should head back to Canterlot and make preperations to meet with the dragon lord about this assault.”

“Guess that means I have to go too, I’ll be hoping for the best of course.” Shining said to his sister.

“Actually Shining, if you want, you are more than welcome to stay here for a while, I imagine your sister needs you more than we do, think of it as taking a break.” Luna said to Shining.

Shining looked up to Luna with a small smile. “Thank you princess.” He then gave his sister a big hug. This was greeted with a smile from Twilight. The girls that chose to stay settled in for a long haul while the princesses left for Canterlot.

Two days went by and still no word from the doctor as to whether Charles was awake or not, after the first day, they each voted to take shifts and stay at the hospital for when he awoke. They took shifts of a couple hours before one of the others relieved them from their vigilance. It was Applejacks turn to stay at the hospital, the girls were allowed in his room now, Applejack came and relieved Pinkie of her watch. “Hey there sugar cube, any change?” She asked Pinkie.

Pinkie took her eyes away from Charles’s unconscious form and turned to Applejack. “Afraid not, I sure hope he wakes up soon.” Charles had his entire upper torso wrapped up in bandages, as well as his head, his right leg and left arm were in casts.

“Me too darlin, me too, but we can’t give up hope, he’ll wake ups soon, you’ll see.” Applejack gave a comforting smile to Pinkie.

Pinkie smiled back. “I know, and when he does, I’m going to throw the biggest party for him.”

“I think that sounds like a swell idea Pinkie.”

“nnnnnnnnggggggg.” A low groan grabbed their attention. The two mares looked to Charles and saw him beginning to stir. The two mares looked on as Charles seemed to begin to wake. “oooohhhhh, my head, my body, my…..everything.”

“Charles?” Pinkie ventured.

Charles’s eyes slowly opened, he looked to his left and saw two ponies next to him. “Pinkie, Applejack, is that you?”

“CHARLES!” The two exclaimed in excitement, they lunged forward and wrapped their hooves around Charles.

“AHH, GEEZE!” His cries of pain quickly caused the mares to back off and release him.

“Oh, sorry darlin, we’re just so glad to see you awake.” Applejack said, with tears of joy in her eyes, Pinkie in the same condition.

“Charles, we were so worried about you, we thought you…….well, when we saw the condition you were in when the princesses brought you back, we…..we.” Pinkie was unable to finish her sentence, she got too choked up with emotion, she then buried her head in Applejacks shoulder.

Charles smiled sweetly to the two. “Hey now, no need to cry, I’m fine, see…….well, mostly, the important thing is I’m alive right?”

Pinkie removed her head from Applejack’s shoulder and the two smiled at him. “Right you are darlin, I’ll go inform the doctor that yer awake now, then I’ll head out and tell the others the good news.” Applejack then turned and left the room, leaving Pinkie and Charles alone. Pinkie kept her eyes on Applejack until she was out of the room, then turned back to Charles, tears were still fresh in her eyes.

“Pinkie, are you all right?” Charles asked with concern.

“Charles, I’m really glad you’re ok, I just don’t know what I would do if I lost someone I love again.”

“You mean Pyro don’t you?” He asked. Pinkie simply nodded. “You two must have been very close, weren’t you.”

“Yes, he was a great stallion, and I do miss him sometimes, but you remind me of him in some ways, you know how to have fun, you’re a great dancer, and you have a great singing voice.”

Charles reached his right hand over to Pinkie and placed it on her cheek, Pinkie leaned into it and smiled. Charles gently rubbed her cheek. “Pinkie, I promise you I will never leave you, or the others, you’re all too important to me, I could never do that to you, I love you Pinkie Pie.” Charles then pulled Pinkie in close and gave her a nice loving kiss on the lips. Pinkie kissed back as they shared this romantic moment, granted it could have been more romantic if it was taking place somewhere that wasn’t a hospital, but that didn’t matter.

“AHEM, excuse me.” The moment was sadly interrupted by doctor Stable clearing his throat at the entrance to the room. “Sorry to interrupt, but I’m here to check on the patient.” The doctor said as he trotted in, Pinkie pulled away from Charles and the doctor came up to him. “Now then, tell me Charles, how are you feeling.”

“Like I got mauled by a dragon.” He answered.

Pinkie couldn’t help but let out a little giggle at Charles’s joke, as he pretty much was mauled by a dragon. “Yes, well, that is to be expected after what you had been through, it is a good sign that your awake now, but I’m afraid you’re going to be bed ridden for a while.”

“Give to me straight doc, how long do I have to live?” Charles asked in an overly dramatic way. This too got Pinkie to laugh some more.

Even the doctor couldn’t help but chuckle a little at his attempts to brighten the mood. “You’ll be fine, you just need to stay in bed for at least a few weeks till your body heals. You did take a lot of damage after all.”

“Well, considering I was fighting off a Godzilla wannabe to save a town, I figured as much, but what am I going to do for a few weeks in bed.” Charles was not happy about this bit of news, but there was nothing he could do about it.

“Awe, don’t worry, me and the others will come and visit you every day until your better.” Pinkie stated.

Charles smiled at this. “I figured as much.”

It was then that Twilight and Rarity came rushing in with Applejack trotting up behind them, followed by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, Shining Armor trotted in without a uniform. “CHARLES!” The two unicorns called out. Twilight rushed to his right side, while Rarity got to his left in such a rush, she knocked over the doctor.
“Oh Charles, we’ve been ever so worried about you.” Rarity stated.

“Thank Celestia you’re all right.” Twilight stated, both with a few tears in their eyes.

“Hey now, no need for tears, I’m fine see, well, mostly fine, I’m alive anyway.” Charles said as he looked over the two.

Applejack trotted up next to Twilight while Doctor Stable picked himself off the floor and stepped away from the bed so the four mares could have their moment with their love.

“It’s a real might pleasure ta see yer ok partner.” Said Applejack

Twilight agreed. “I’ll say, we were all so worried about you, when Luna brought you back and we saw the condition you were in, I….we were afraid that you.”

“Hold on there Twi, I already went through that with Pinkie.” Applejack said as she placed a hoof on Twilight’s back.

Twilight smiled back at Applejack. “Oh darling, I missed you so much.” Rarity said before finally lunging forth and planting her lips on his.

Charles did his best to not let out any cries of pain as he kissed Rarity back. After a moment, they finally broke apart. Rarity then started to blush a little. “Oh, do excuse me, I seem to have acted rather unlady like there.”

Charles let out a little chuckle. “Heh, heh, it’s all right Rarity, it’s perfectly understandable.”

“Charles?” Twilight said to get his attention. Charles turned to face her. “I’m really glad you’re ok.”

Charles smiled at her. “I know you are.” He then reached up with is right hand and placed it on her cheek like what he did with Pinkie, she then moved her head in and the two shared a kiss.

After they finished, Twilight stepped aside so Applejack could talk with Charles. “I’m glad ta see you ok partner, I knew you’d pull through.”

“Thanks Applejack, it’s good to see you too.” Applejack then leaned in and shared a kiss with Charles as well.

“Oh brother.” Rainbow said to herself quietly, while Fluttershy just smiled at the scene. Shining just had a smile on his face.

“Awe, isn’t that nice?” Fluttershy said.

Once Applejack and Charles finished their kiss, Shining finally made his presence known. “Well, now that that’s out of the way, it’s good to see you awake Charles.”

Charles looked to Shining Armor. “Captain, it’s good to see you sir.”

“Good to see you too, that was some feat you pulled on Nightmare Night, helping Luna with that dragon.”

Charles looked to the side and down. “I’m not sure I was much help sir, it felt like princess Luna did most of the work.”

“Are you kidding, Luna informed us of how you saved her from getting hit with that fire ball, she would have been toast if you hadn’t taken the hit like you did, and she also says that you really were a big help.”

Charles looked back up to Shining. “Really, but I survived that fireball, surely she could have too?”

Shining shook his head. “You are sturdier than you think, that fireball would have incinerated her if you hadn’t done what you did, you saved her life.”

Charles was surprised by this, he didn’t know what to say to that. “Gosh, well, how is she anyway, was she okay after that fight?”

“She was, and she wanted me to give you her thanks, and you don’t have to worry about the hospital bill, the princesses are going to take care of it.”

“All right, I think that’s enough, Charles needs his rest now.” The doctor stated to the others. This was met with a disappointing ‘awe’ from Pinkie.

Shining agreed with the doctor. “All right girls, let’s go, you heard the stallion.”

“We’ll see you later dear, do get better soon.” Rarity called before leaving.

“I’ll come by every day to visit and have a big party ready for you when you get out of the hospital.” Pinkie said.

“Take care Charles, I’m glad you’re okay.” Said Fluttershy before leaving the room.

“Catch ya later Charles, and way to handle that dragon.” Stated Rainbow before leaving.

“Take care partner.” Applejack said as she left.

“We’ll see you tomorrow Charles.” Twilight said before leaving.

“Twilight, wait, before you go, I would like to ask a favor.” Charles called out to Twilight before she left.

Twilight turned to face him and spoke. “Of course Charles, what is it?”

“That fight with the dragon, it made me realize how inept I am at magic, there is so much more I could do, so I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind being my magic teacher and help me learn a few things.”

Twilight’s smile grew bigger. “Of course I would, I’d be more than happy to teach you.”

“Great, looking forward to it."

Meanwhile, Celestia and Luna were meeting with the dragon lord to see if they could get to the bottom of the dragon attack. “Iron Scales, You have some explaining to do!” Celestia called out to Iron Scales as she stood before him with her sister at her side.

“What is this about princess?” Iron Scales asked.

Celestia began to explain. “Two nights ago, a dragon attacked a town in my country and assaulted one of my guards and my sister, what is the meaning of this attack, I thought we had a peace agreement!” Celestia was fuming.

“I can assure you princess, that whoever this dragon was, it was not one of my subjects, they all know of the agreement we have.”

Luna then spoke up. “then tell us Iron Scales, who was this dragon that attacked us?!”

“What did the dragon look like?”

“She had a white underbelly, black scales, and purple spines, she also spout purple fire, and to top it all off, she was using magic in our fight.”

“WHAT, THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!” Iron Scales cried out in surprise. “Princesses, I can assure you, no dragon alive is capable of such a feat, whoever this dragon was that attacked you must have been some sort of imposter.”

Celestia looked at the dragon lord with confusion. “If that is the case, then who could possibly take on the form of a dragon?”

“I don’t know, but I can assure you, Celestia, whoever this dragon imposter was, I will do all I can to help you find her and make her pay for her crimes.” Iron said to the princesses with pure determination.

“We thank you for your assistance Iron Scales.” Luna said to the dragon lord. “If that is the case, then we have nothing further to discuss, we are most grateful for your assistance.” The princesses then took their leave and headed back to Ponyville to check on Charles. With dragons now coming after her, Dark Flash will have to have something devious up her foreleg to avoid being caught.

Author's Note

Hey guys, sorry if it seemed like I took longer with getting the next chapter out, I was busy with a move, anyway, here you go, hope you like it.

Chapter 24

It was another quiet day in Ponyville, it was the day after Charles woke up. Fluttershy was busy tending to her animals around the outside of her cottage in the back, when suddenly, she heard a rustle in some bushes nearby. “YAH!” The rustling startled her at first as she dropped down and covered her face with her fore hooves, then she heard whimpering, she got back up on all fours and looked to the bush the whimpering was coming from. She trotted over to it and lowered the top of the bush with her foreleg to look behind it. “oh my goodness, it sounds like some poor animal is hurt.” She looked down and saw a black furred fox shaking with fear in front of her, she noticed it’s left hind leg had a nasty cut on it.

“Oh my, you poor dear, come here, don’t worry, I won’t hurt you, I just want to help.” She cooed to the fox. The fox stopped its shaking and slowly limped up to her, keeping its injured hind leg lifted up. “There there, it’s all right, I just want to be your friend.” Fluttershy spoke to the fox. “Don’t worry, doctor Fluttershy will help you make that leg all better.” The fox approached her and looked into her eyes. “There, see, come with me and I’ll fix you up.” Fluttershy picked up the fox and hovered back to her cottage inside to tend to the fox’s wounds. What she failed to notice was as she carried the fox inside, it put on a smirk.

*****

Twilight was going over a few books with Charles on the basics of magic, she figured it would be best to start him off at the beginning, he was able to control his magic just fine, but he lacked an understanding of it. She had two saddle bags draped across her back, both filled with magic books, She was currently levitating one in front of her and had it at an angle so she and Charles could see it. As Twilight went over a book with him, Charles received an unexpected visitor. “Charles, my friend, I can’t believe this!”

Charles and Twilight both looked to the doorway and saw Discord standing there. “Discord, there you are, where were you on Nightmare Night?” Twilight asked out loud in annoyance, she set the book she was levitating down on the floor next to her. She figured with all Discord’s power, Charles would have been spared the pain he was going through.

“Twlight, I am so sorry I wasn’t there to help, as soon as I got back to the palace, Celestia and Luna told me all about what happened, I am so sorry I wasn’t there, but the princesses sent me to a country on a diplomatic mission. Believe me, if I was there, I would have done all I can to help, though, I’m not much of a fighter, even with all my chaotic powers, they’re really only good for causing chaos and pulling pranks.”

“Well it’s still good to see you Discord.” Charles said from his bed.

“And it’s always a pleasure to see you too, but look at you, your practically in a full body cast, it is so hard to look at you like this.” Discord then made a sleeper blindfold appear over his eyes. “There we go, much better.”

Charles snickered at Discord, Twilight was not amused. “Well, I suppose I can’t be mad at you for not being here to help since it was because of the princesses sending you away.”

Discord lifted the blindfold up off his eyes and looked at Twilight. “You see, it wasn’t even my fault that I wasn’t there, but I am still sorry about it.” Discord then made it disappear.

“I forgive you discord.” Twilight said.

“Same here, but I don’t see why you have to apologize, like you said, it wasn’t your fault you weren’t here, and besides, everything turned out fine.” Charles said.

“Rest assured my friend, I will do everything in my power to find out who it was that attacked Ponyville that night and put you in such a horrendous condition. I’m off to find the culprit, wish me luck.” Discord then disappeared in a flash and was gone, leaving Twilight and Charles alone.

*****

Back at Fluttershy’s cottage, Fluttershy had just finished bandaging up the fox’s hind leg. “Now you stay off that leg and rest here on my couch for a while, ok miss fox? I’ll go and get you something to eat, don’t go anywhere.” Fluttershy then fluttered to her kitchen to fix something for the fox.

“Finally, I thought she’d never leave, that annoying, pathetic pony.” The fox spoke. “That human and Luna were stronger than I anticipated, if I’m going to take over Equestria, I’m going to have to come up with something big to get that human out of the way first, but what?” Dark Flash mused to herself.

Angel bunny was in another room and heard all the fox said. Angel was fearful now, he had no idea who the fox was, but if it was trying to get rid of the princesses and take over Equestria, then it must be bad news. Angel was looking at the fox from behind a wall through the entryway to the living room. After hearing the fox speak, he quickly brought his head back and pressed his back to the wall, trying to avoid from being seen. Angel decided he needed to warn Fluttershy that this fox was not what she seemed.

Angel turned and began to sneak away, keeping his eyes on the entry way, but he failed to notice something in front of him. He bumped into it and fell back on his back. He shook his head and looked at what he bumped into, the fox now stood before him sitting on her hind legs. “Well, what do we have here, a little spy perhaps? Tell me little rabbit, how much did you hear?”

Angel gave out a squeal in terror, he got up and quickly tried to run, but Dark Flash had other plans, her eyes glowed and Angel was lifted up off the ground. He was moved to in front of Dark Flash and forced to look her in the eyes. “Listen here little rabbit, you will do exactly what I say, understand?” Dark Flash’s eye’s glowed brighter, Angels eye’s became glazed over, he looked zombiefied. “You will forget everything you heard, you will remember nothing.” Angel simply gave a slow nod. “Good, now go, and say nothing to anypony.” Angel was released from Dark Flash’s aura and set free, he just slowly walked off. “Hmpf, wish I could do that to ponies with strong minds instead of weak ones. That would make a takeover so much easier, soon, I will be the queen of this land. But for now, I will have to play fox for this pony and keep a low profile until my leg gets better and I can come up with a brilliant scheme.” Dark Flash then made her way back to the couch and lay down.

*****

The afternoon was approaching and Twilight was still going over some magic books with Charles, he had received visits from Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack throughout the day. As Twilight went on with a lecture, Charles interrupted. “Um, Twilight, sorry to interrupt, but there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

Twilight looked up from the book and to Charles. “Yes, what is it?” She asked with a smile.

“Well, I can’t help but wonder something, I’m just curious, but……what was it about me that attracted you to me? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you like me like you do, I’m just curious as to why.”

“You are, well….I guess one of the things that got my attention about you was how protective you are, you never hesitate to jump into action to protect somepony. You’re just not afraid to put yourself in harm’s way for another’s sake.”

“I’m really just doing my job as a member of the royal guard, still, even if I wasn’t, I would still be doing things like that I guess, I just can’t stand by and watch when someone…..er…some pony needs help and there’s something I can do to help.”

Twilight smiled at Charles’s words. “And that is what I admire about you.” She put a hoof on his hand, Charles took hold and gave a light squeeze in response. “Now….I have to ask, what is it about me that you like?”

“Well, for starters, you’re smart, level headed, very organized, and to top it all off, you are very pretty.”

Twilight blushed at Charles’s words as she smiled. “Oh come on now, I can’t be that pretty.”

“Don’t be so modest Twilight, I’m sure you’ve been asked out on dates before haven’t you?”

“I…was never one for trying to find a relationship, all I ever did was mostly stay indoors and just study, then I met my friends and started getting out more, even then, I was never one for trying to find a relationship with a stallion, I was just too busy.”

Charles looked at Twilight curiously. “Then how is it your in one with me, what changed that you decided to pursue a relationship with me?”

Twilight looked at Charles in the eyes. “The first time you stood up for me and my friends and protected us from the timberwolves, you put your life at risk for us and nearly died.”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Charles asked.

Twilight looked at Charles with confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Your forgetting the most important thing about me that the mares love.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

“My rugged good looks.” Charles commented as he raised an eyebrow at Twilight with a smile.

Twilight just smiled and soon started to giggle. “Oh of course, how could I forget?” She said, playing along with Charles’s joke.

The two soon started to laugh together. “HA ha ha OW…..ok, mental note, for now, laughing hurts.” Charles said after wincing in pain from the laughing.

“Oh my gosh, are you ok?” Twilight asked with worry.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just gotta be careful for now, too much laughing can hurt.”

It was then that doctor Stable walked it. “All right Twilight, I’m afraid visiting hours are over, you’ll have to leave now and come back tomorrow.”

“All right, I’ll see you tomorrow Charles.” Twilight said as she gathered her books in her saddle bag and left, but not before sharing a quick kiss with Charles.

Soon after Twilight’s leave, nurse Redheart came in with Charles’s dinner. “Dinner time Charles, hope you’re hungry?”

“Great, hospital food, my favorite.” Charles said sarcastically as nurse Redheart wheeled the cart up to Charles.

“Now I know it isn’t exactly five star resturaunt quality, but it’s the best we got.” Redheart said.

“I know, I’m just kidding around.”

*****

Morning arrived as Celestia’s sun rose over the horizon, the morning light beamed into Charles’s room and stirred him from his sleep. He gave a yawn as his eyes opened and he stretched out his good arm. Shortly after, Doctor Stable came in. “Good morning, how is my patient doing this morning?”

“Not bad, still sore, but I guess that’s to be expected.”

“Indeed, you have visitors this morning.”

“I thought so, wonder which of my friends it is this time?” His question was answered as doctor Stable stepped aside and Celestia and Luna walked in. “Your majesties, this is a surprise.”

“Good morning Chareles, it’s good to see you awake and well.” Celestia said.

“Mostly well anyway.” Luna added.

“It’s good to see you too princesses, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” Charles asked.

Celestia answered. “We met with Iron scales about the dragon attack, after our discussion, we have reached a conclusion that the dragon that attacked may not be a dragon at all, no dragon is capable of magic like that one was.”

Luna continued. “Therefore, the dragon imposter was some sort of shapeshifter. We have informed the guards here to be on the lookout for anything suspicious around town.”

“Understood your majesties, I’ll be sure to keep an eye out as well.”

“YOU need to concentrate on getting better, let the other guards worry about this for now.” Celestia said with a smile.

“And I would like to give you my thanks for saving me from the fireball that night. I am most grateful for you taking the hit like that for me.” Luna said.

“Anytime princess.” Charles said.

“Well then, we should take our leave now and get back to the castle, thank you again for saving my sister Charles.” Celestia said before the two princesses took their leave.

A couple hours went by before Charles got his next visitor of the day, Applejack. She came trotting in with a smile on her face. “Mornin darlin, how ya feelin today?”

“Not bad, can’t complain really, still a little sore but it’s not too bad, I just have to be careful how I move.”

Applejack trotted up to his left and the two shared a quick kiss. “That’s good to hear, it’d be better if you were out of the hospital.”

“Ain’t that the truth? So I take it your visit is going to be short, I imagine you got chores up at your farm to take care of.”

“Awe, don’t worry bout that none, Big Mac said he’d take care of a few of them so I could come visit ya.”

“Really, well that was nice of him, be sure to send him my thanks when you see him again.”

“Will do partner.”

“So Applejack, there’s something I wanted to ask you, if you don’t mind.”

“Course not darlin, ask away.” Applejack said with a smile.

“I’m just curious as to what it is about me that you like, what was it that attracted you to me?”

“Why are ya curious about that?” Applejack asked with confusion.

“Don’t take it the wrong way, I asked Pinkie and Twilight the same thing, well, Pinkie kind of just told me, I asked Twilight, I’m just wondering why you girls like me is all, I’m going to ask Rarity the same thing.”

“Well shoot, is that all? Well, I guess one of the reasons I like ya is that you’re a hard worker, ya’ll were a big help that one day on the farm when you helped me with the harvest, I probably woulda been out there half the day getting them apples out of the trees if you hadn’t offered ta help.”

“I was more than happy to help Applejack.”

“And I’m might grateful for it too. The other thing was how you jumped into action to help my sister when she was bein held captive by the timberwolves, you were ready to help without hesitation, and Applebloom and the others seem to have taken a real shine to ya.”

“Really, well that’s nice to hear, how is she doing lately by the way?”

“She’s doin fine, still hadn’t earned her cutie mark yet, she is so persistant to get it.”

“She’ll get it eventually won’t she?”

“Couse she will, all ponies get their cutie mark at some point, she and her two friends are just too impatient.”

“I'll bet.”

“Anyway, I also can tell that you really care about her too, with the way you showed up and helped Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo try to forget that trouble they went through, it was real nice of ya to do that. You really care fer the youngins. That is another thing I like about you, you been treatin Applebloom like she was yer own little sister.”

“Yeah……sister.” Charles looked away from Applejack.

“Charles, somthin wrong?” Applejack asked with concern in her eyes.

Charles looked back at her and shook his head. “No, it’s nothing, I just don’t know what it’s like to have a sister, as you know, I don’t have a family, seems like I never did.”

“Hey now, I thought you were gonna forget all that stuff, remember?”

“Sorry, it’s not exactly easy to forget what I went through, the pain I…….never mind, lets change the subject.”

“Agreed.” Applejack said with a smile. “Now I want to ask you what it is about me that you like, if’n you don’t mind.”

“Course not, the first thing is that you’re a hard worker too, you also give off this ‘no nonsense, honest hardworker’ vibe, I can really respect that.”

“Well I am the element of honesty.”

“Right, plus, I really dig the whole farmgirl…..er….farm mare thing, it’s just real refreshing. It means that you’re not afraid to get your hooves dirty.”

“Darn tootin.”

“You’re a fine mare Applejack, that is why I like you.”

Applejack blushed. “Shucks, thanks Charles.” The two then shared another kiss. Afterwards, they just talked for the rest of the time Applejack was there until she had to get back to the farm. It was then that Twilight showed up. “I’ll be sure ta bring Applebloom and her two friends by fer a visit later, I’m sure she and the others would like to see how yer doin.” Applejack said as she left.

“I would like that, see you later Applejack.”

With Applejack gone, Twilight began. “Now then, shall we continue, there isn’t much left to go over without actual application to the lessons, so let’s finish this today.”

*****

Twilight left in the middle of the day with verbal lessons done and it was now early in the afternoon, Rarity had taken time off from her day to pay Charles a visit. “Good afternoon dear, how are you feeling today?” She asked in a chipper attitude.

“Hey Rarity, not too bad, better than yesterday anyway.”

Rarity came up to his left side. “That’s good, how have your magic lessons been going?”

“All right I guess, Twilight says there isn’t much I can do as far as learning goes without actually trying some spells now.”

“Well then, you’d better hurry up and get better haven’t you?” Rarity said with a wink.

“Rarity, there’s something I want to ask you if I may.”

“Of course dear, what is it you want to ask me?”

“It’s something I asked Twilight and Applejack about already and I just want to ask you the same thing, what was it about me that attracted yourself to me?”

Rarity gave a curious look. “Why would you want to know that darling?”

“I’m just curious is all, of all the stallions in Equestria, as pretty as you are, you could have any stallion you want, instead, you chose me, a human, I’m just wondering why is all. Don’t take it the wrong way now, I’m glad you did, I’m just curious as to why if you don’t mind.”

Rarity blushed at Charles’s comment on her beauty. “Well, If you must know, I suppose the start of it was when you came to my rescue and saved me from those horrid diamond dogs. You were very brave that day. Then you went so far as to carry me out when my leg was hurt, that was very chivalrous of you Charles. And lastly, well, let’s not forget your handsome looks.”

“Why thank you Rarity.”

“You’re welcome, now since I told you why I like you, perhaps you can share with me why it is you like me so much?”

“You mean besides your ravishing beauty?”

“Yes, of course, there is more to a lady then good looks after all.”

“Let’s see, you really carry yourself with an air of grace about you, like a real high class mare, but at the same time, you don’t act all stuck up and snobbish like some high class characters do. Plus, you were generous enough to make me clothes when you found out I only had one set of clothing, I was grateful for that. Your generous, kind, and very graceful. So there you go, why I like you so much.”

“Why thank you dear, you are very kind.”

“CHARLES!” Three little voices called out and three fillies ran in with Applejack coming in from behind. Sweetie Bell, Applebloom, and Scootaloo came up to Charles’s bedside on his right with bright smiles on their faces.

“Hey Charles, good to see you again.” Applebloom said.

“Hey you three, how are you all doing?” Charles greeted with a smile.

“We’re fine, but look at you, you’re gonna be ok aren’t you?” Scootaloo asked as she and the others looked over him.

“Don’t worry, it’ll take more than a dragon to put me down for good. Besides, I had princess Luna for backup. That dragon didn’t know what hit it.”

“Cool.” The three said in unison. “So how long are you going to be in the hospital?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“The doc says it’ll be a couple weeks. I don’t know how I’ll last that long, being stuck in bed with nothing to do.”

“Why don’t you try reading a book, I read a real good one when I was laid up for a week in the hospital after I broke my wing.” Rainbow said as she entered the room.

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo cried out and ran over to her. The two shared a hug.

“Hey there squirt, whatcha doin here?” Rainbow asked.

“Applejack brought us over to see Charles.” Scootaloo answered.

“These three have been real antsy ta see him since that dragon attack on Nightmare Night.” Applejack said.

“Well we were worried about him, dragons are really strong after all.” Applebloom responded.

“Like I said, that dragon didn’t stand a chance against me and Luna.” Charles said as he reached down and playfully mussed Applebloom’s mane. She laughed in response.

Applejack and Rarity smiled at the scene. “So once you get better, can you take us flying again like you did before?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Rarity became confused at Sweetie’s words. “Flying, again, Charles, what is she talking about?”

Charles grew nervous from Rarity’s tune in her voice. “Uh, heh heh……you see, it’s like this.”

Author's Note

Again, I apologize to my readers and followers for keeping you waiting for so long, as an apology, I am posting two new chapters for this story, one new chapter for Tales From Blackwood Forest, and starting a new story as well, you will see for yourself the title and what it is.

Chapter 25

“You did WHAT?!” Rarity shrieked. “You took my little sister up in the sky and flew her around?”

“Now Rarity, just calm down, I had the whole thing under control, I wasn’t about to let them fall or anything.”

“Yeah sis, besides, it was a lot of fun, Charles would never let anything happen to us.” Sweetie Belle defended.

“Sweetie Belle, you stay out of this, this is between me and him. Now Charles, I can’t believe you put my little sister in such a situation, how could you?” Rarity scolded.

“Uh, Rarity, don’t you think you might be over-reacting a bit, Charles wouldn’t let the little fillies fall." Applejack defended. “I was there the whole time and the little ones certainly had a lot of fun.”

Rarity sighed in defeat. “*sigh* I suppose your right, very well Charles, I’ll let it go, but if you do do something like that again with the little ones, please be careful.”

“Of course Rarity, I know what I’m doing.” Charles answered.

“So does this mean you’ll be all right if Charles takes us flying angai?” Sweetie asked.

“Yes, I suppose so.” Rarity answered, the three fillies gave a cheer.

“YAY, we get to go flying again!”

“So when can you take us flying again Charles?” Scootaloo asked.

“As soon as I get out of the hospital, I am hurt you know?” Charles said with a smile.

“Well then, is there anything we can do to help you get better faster?” Applebloom asked with a big smile.

“Sorry girls, but what I need right now is just bed rest, you’ll just have to be patient.”

“AWWE.” The three responded.

“I know, I know, your all very anxious to do it again, but don’t worry, you’ll get to once I’m all better.”

The three mares present smiled at the interaction between the fillies and Charles.

“Um, Charles, this may sound like a weird question and all, but, would it be all right if I could think of you as my big brother?” Scootaloo asked.

Charles looked at her curiously. “You….want me to be like your big brother?”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, it was a silly idea anyway.”

Charles looked at Scootaloo with sympathy. “Scootaloo, why would you want me to be like your big brother, don’t you have a family?”

“Sure I do, I got a mom and dad, and Rainbow Dash is like my big sister already, but I would like to know what it’s like to have a brother too. Like I said, it was a silly idea.”

Charles then smiled at Scootaloo. “Hey, Scootaloo, I would love to be your big brother…..little sister.”

Scootaloo looked at Charles with a big smile. “Really, all right, thank you Charles…….I mean, big brother.”

“Anytime, little sister. In fact, you two can think of me as your big brother too, you three are practically sisters already anyway aren’t you, with how close you three are?”

“You know, I never thought about it before, we are like sisters.” Sweetie Belle said “That means I get a big brother too, cool.”

“And I get two brothers, awesome, thanks Charles.” Applebloom cheered.

“You’re welcome.” Said Charles.

“Charles, that is very nice of you.” Rarity commented.

Charles smiled at Rarity. “Yeah well, I never had a sister, so why not? Besides, these three are just too cute.”

“You’re a real sweet heart Charles.” Applejack complimented.

“Yeah, I know, I’m a giver.”

*****

The next day came and Charles’s first visitor of the day was Fluttershy. “Good morning Charles.”

“Hey Fluttershy, good moring, glad to see you finally decided to pay me a visit.”

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, I’ve just been busy with taking care of my animals, please don’t be upset.” Fluttershy said worriedly.

“Fluttershy, relax, it’s fine, I was just kidding.”

“Oh good.” She said as she gave a sigh of relief. “It’s just that I’ve been busy caring for this fox I found with a hurt leg.”

“Really, how nice, I bet it’s real cute.”

“Oh it is, and it has a very unusual coloring too, I’ve never seen a fox colored like this one before.”

Charles grew curious about it. “Unusual coloring, like what, how is it colored?”

“Well, it has black fur and a white underbelly and purple eyes.”

Charles then grew suspicious. “Black fur, white underbelly, purple eyes? Interesting, what did you say was wrong with it?”

“Um, oh yeah, her left leg was hurt, the poor dear had a nasty cut on it, so I bandaged it up.”

“A cut on it’s left leg? Wait, you said her? The fox is a girl?”

Fluttershy grew nervous at Charles’s questioning. “Um, yes, why, is there something wrong?”

“Black fur, white underbelly, purple eyes, cut on left leg, THAT’S IT! GAH, OW!” Charles cried out when he realized what this could mean, then winced in pain at his sudden movement.

“Oh my goodness, are you ok, what is it? Why are you so excited about?” Fluttershy asked in worry.

Charles had one eye closed as he answered. “I’m fine.” Then opened both eyes. “Fluttershy, I need you to go get spike for me, there’s something the princesses need to be informed of, have him come by with what is needed to write a letter. While you’re at it, could you find Discord and have him come by too?”

“But what’s all this about Charles, does it have something to do with that fox I found?”

“I’ll explain everything once everyone is all together, please Fluttershy, this is important.”

“Ok, I’ll go get Spike and Discord.” Fluttershy then took off to follow through with Charles’s request.
Half an hour went by before Fluttershy came in with Spike and Twilight behind her. “Charles, what’s going on, why do you need Spike for?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, what’s all this about?” Spike asked.

“It will all become clear in the letter I want you to write to the princesses, but first, we need Discord here too.” Charles said. It was then that Discord walked in as well.

“Hello Charles, what did you need to see me for?” He asked.

“It will become clear in the letter I want to send to Celestia and Luna, Spike, I’m ready for you to begin please.” Spike raised up a blank parchment with quill, ready to write. “Princess Celestia and Luna, I believe I have found the shape shifter you informed me about, or rather, Fluttershy found her.”

“Shape shifter?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

Charles continued. “It seems the culprit has taken the form of a black fox that is currently at Fluttershy’s place, please come as quickly as you can, I have requested Discord’s presence here as well so he can provide additional backup in apprehending this shape shifter. Your faithful subject, Charles.” Once Spike finished writing the letter, he sent it on its way.

“Charles, what is all this about a shape shifter?” Discord asked.

“That dragon that attacked wasn’t a dragon, it was using magic in that fight me and Luna had against it. The princesses visited me this morning and told me about the meeting they had with Iron Scales on the matter. According to him, the dragon wasn’t a dragon. She must be something else, but what?”

“And you think the creature that attacked is currently in the form of that fox I found?” Fluttershy asked.

“I do, the description you gave of the fox matches the dragon that attacked, she had black scales, a white underbelly, and purple eyes, plus, during the fight, I cut her left leg.”

It was then that a bright flash occurred in the room and Celestia and Luna now stood before everyone. “We came as fast as we could when we got your letter Charles.” Celestia said. She then turned her attention to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, please take us to your cottage, we must make sure that what Charles says is true. If this fox is indeed the shape shifter we’ve been looking for, then we must make haste.”

“Of course princess.” Fluttershy said. She then led the princesses and Discord away to her house. Twilight and Spike stayed behind with Charles.

The four soon arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy led the four in and to her couch where the fox lay. Dark Flash saw the four approach and grew fearful. Celestia, Luna, and Discord all stood in front of her now, glaring at her. “The game is over little faker, time to reveal your true colors.” Discord announced.

“NO, how did you find me so fast?” Dark Flash asked.

“So you ARE the one that attacked Ponyville and tried to kill my sister and a member of the royal guard.” Celestia announced. “Who are you?”

Dark Flash growled. “Know my name well, for it will one day be the name of the new queen of Equestria, I am Dark Flash. I will not give up without a fight.”

“Oh but there won’t be a fight.” Discord said, he then snapped his eagle claw fingers and Dark Flash was forced into her true form. “Well, that explains a lot, she’s an alicorn.”

“Acursed god of chaos, have you really sunk so low that you serve these pathetic princesses.” Dark Flash said.

Discord then snapped his fingers again and a silver ring with runes on them appeared on Dark Flash’s horn. “I am just fine with my position, I have real friends, unlike how I did things before, I’m quite happy with how things are for me.”

“This isn’t over, I WILL be queen of Equestria.” Dark Flash snarled.

“Dark Flash, you are under arrest for the attempted assassination and assault of my sister Luna, and the attack and assault of a member of the royal guard, Charles. You will be taken to Canterlot and placed in the dungeons to await sentencing.” Celestia said to Dark Flash. “Discord, would you please send her to the dungeons and make sure every precaution to ensure she doesn’t escape is taken.”

Discord gave a smile. “Of course princess.” He then turned his attention to Dark Flash. “Let’s go you, you’ve got a lot to answer for, after all, you did hurt a good friend of mine.” Discord then made himself and Dark Flash disappear.

“Thank heavens that is resolved.” Luna said with relief.

“Um, excuse me your majesties, but what are you going to do with her?” Fluttershy asked.

Celestia turned to look at Fluttershy with a smile. “Fear not my little pony, you need not concern yourself with such matters.”

“Oh, ok then.” Fluttershy said.

“Come, let us inform the others of the good news.” Celestia then led the others out of Fluttershy’s house and went back to the hospital to tell Charles the good news of Dark Flash’s capture.

*****

The rest of Charles’s days in the hospital were uneventful as he continued getting visitors during his recovery, Shining Armor even paid a visit once in a while to check up on Charles while his vacation was going on. Eventually though, he had to return to Canterlot. Charles also got visits from the guards of Ponyville. The day finally came when Charles was released from the hospital and Rarity presented him with a new set of clothes. This took place in Charles’s room on the day he was being released. “Her you go Charles, I made some new clothes for you.”

“Thank you Rarity, they look great.” One of the shirts Rarity presented Charles with was a white short sleeved shirt with four cutie marks on them, each were cutie marks belonging to his marefriends. Rarity’s was positioned at the top right corner, Applejack’s was at the top left, Twilight’s was below Rarity’s, and Pinkie’s was positioned below Applejack’s. At the center of the four were a pair of black wings. Four other shirts, matching the coat colors of his marefriends with their cutie marks on them as well. Four new jeans for him, one was tan, one blue, one black, and one white. Finally, two new pairs of shoes, one pair was white with black trimming, and one pair was beige colored.

Once the doctor removed all his bandages, Charles went ahead and put on the shirt with the four cutie marks on, the white pair of jeans, and the white shoes with black trimming. “Very nice, you did a wonderful job Rarity, as usual.” Charles then gave Rarity a peck on the cheek.

“Thank you dear. By the way, your things are in your room at the library, and Pinkie already has a party set up for you at Sugarcube Corner.”

“Great, I’ll fly right over, I want to stretch out my wings after having been in bed for so long. I’ll meet you there.”

“All right then, I’ll take your other new clothes with me and drop them off at Twilight’s.” Rarity then left with the clothes in her saddle bag, Charles followed her out.

“Thanks for everything doctor Stable, I really appreciate it.” Charles said to Stable before leaving.

“I’m just doing my job, you take care now.” Stable said, he then waved goodbye to Charles as he waved back.

Once outside, Charles took in a deep breath through his nose and exhaled. “Haaah, it’s good to be out of that hospital.” He then stretched his wings out and shook them up to loosen them and get them ready for use. “See you at the party.” Charles said to Rarity before running forward, jumped up into the air and started flapping his wings. “WOOO HOOOO, YEAH!” He cried in joy.

Rarity just shook her head with a smile as she watched him go. She then started for the library to drop off the clothes.

Before heading for Sugarcube Corner, Charles flew around above town and did a few loop de loops, barrel rolls and spins, enjoying being able to fly again and being free from the hospital. After a few more stunts, he came to rest and sat down on a cloud with his legs dangling over the edge. “Man it feels good to be out again.” It was then that a chill wind blew by that made Charles shiver. “Brrr, I forgot, its November, one of the cold months.” It was then that Charles had a thought. “November…..the month before December, which is when that holiday is……great.” He shook his head. “Well, I can’t worry about that now, besides, what are the odds the ponies celebrate THAT holiday, there’s a party waiting for me, I’d better get going.” He stood up and took off for Sugarcube Corner.

Upon arrival, the party was ready to begin, a lot of ponies showed up and were waiting for him to arrive. Charles saw Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all waiting for him as well, along with the cutie mark crusaders. He also saw Black Cloud, Lighting Thrash, Carbon, Stunner, Dawnfang and Duskfang, Fuse, and to his surprise, Shadow Fang.

Charles first made his way to the guards to greet them. “Hey there fellas, glad to see you all here.” Charles then turned his attention to Shadow Fang. “And why are you here Lt., I didn’t think you were the party type.”

Shadow Fang had a straight face as he answered. “Ponies were most persistent that I attend, especially pink one, she would have annoyed me to no end if I hadn’t agreed to come.”

“Ok then, and how are the rest of you doing?" Each guard gave good as an answer.

“Is good to see you up and about comrade Charles.” Black Cloud said.

“Thanks Cloud.”

“Nice shirt, who made it for you.” Storm Chaser asked.

“Take a wild guess.” Charles said as he pointed to Rarity’s cutie mark on the shirt.

“Not bad.”

“CHARLES!” Came a hyperactive pink ponies cry as she lept up and wrapped her forlegs around Charles’s neck, nearly toppling him over.

“*OOF* Hey Pinkie, good to see you too.” Pinkie released her grip and dropped down to the floor. Charles turned around to face her and was greeted with a pair of lips coming right for his. This surprised him again as it was so sudden, followed by his neck being wrapped up by Pinkie’s forelegs again. Charles just hugged and kissed back.

Pinkie finally released her love grip and looked Charles in the eyes. “Your all better now, this is great. Let’s get this party started!”

“Hold on Pinkie, let’s wait for Rarity, she’s dropping off some clothes she made for me at Twilight’s place.”

“No need to wait for me dearie, I’m right here.” Rarity said as she walked in.

“YAY, we don’t have to wait, let’s start this party!” Pinkie then rushed over to a Vinyl’s mix table, pulled Vinyl up from behind, and Vinyl started up the party music.

“All right all you ponies, lets party.” Vinyl Cheered. The music played and the ponies started to celebrate.

Suddenly, there was a flash at the center of the room and Discord appeared. “What, and start a party without me? I’m insulted.” He said with a smile.

“Discord, you made it!” Pinkie cheered again as she ran over to him, the two shared a quick hug.

Discord then turned his attention to Charles. “Hello Charles, glad to see you finally out of the hospital.”

“Hey Discord, and thanks, it’s good to be out. It wasn’t a lot of fun being cooped up in bed for two weeks straight.”

“I’ll bet, I can’t imagine how bored you must have been.”

“So Charles, you gonna perform another song for us at the party?” Rainbow Dash asked as she approached.

“Yeah, you always give great performances.” Pinkie complimented.

“The music you share with us is always wonderful.” Fluttershy complimented.

“Hmmm, maybe.” Charles thought. “Why not, I got a good one I think you all would enjoy. Besides, Discord never got to be around whenever I played for you all.”

“Wonderful, the others have told me about that performance you gave on Nightmare Night before the celebration was ruined by that awful Dark Flash.” Discord said.

Charles made his way to Vinyl to ask for her permission to use her setup. “Hey Vinyl, the other ponies want me to put on a show, mind if I use your equipment again?”

Vinyl gave a big smile. “Course not dude, your stuff is always awesome, knock yourself out.” Vinyl stepped aside to give Charles control.

Charles placed his hand on the machine and let his magic flow into it so it would play the music necessary for the song he wanted to perform. He picked up the microphone and made his way to the front of the machine and waited for the music to start. He also decided to make use of his new illusion magic and produced two other copies of himself and had them standing next to him. When it came time for the vocals, the two clones sang first.

When the song ended, he was met with applause. Every pony was cheering and Discord was clapping his claw and paw. “Bravo,bravo, that was magnificent, I’ve never heard anything like that before.” Discord cheered.
Charles dismissed his clones and gave a bow. “Thank you, thank you, I’m glad you all liked it.” Charles then just joined the party and enjoyed it with all his friends and mare friends.

Chapter 26

The days went on again as normal with no incident to speak of. Charles was being taught more magic by Twilight so he would be a more capable guard. Rarity had made Charles some other clothes for the winter, a red jacket with a red and yellow scarf with yellow cotton gloves and red earmuffs, a blue jacket with a blue and light blue scarf with light blue colored cotton gloves and blue earmuffs, and a grey jacket with a grey scarf and white tassels, grey gloves, and white earmuffs. With the weather now cold as it was, Charles’s overcoats wouldn’t be enough to keep him warm.

December rolled around and the snow started to fall. When December came around, Charles was not pleased with what was going on around town. It was now morning and the first day of December, he got on his blue winter clothes and his white pants, got his staff and his necklace on and headed out for the day. Once he started walking through town, he slowly started to realize something as he saw every pony decorating their houses with colored lights and wreathes and red ribbons on lamp posts. “Oh no, say it isn’t so.” It was looking like they were getting ready for Christmas. His mood dropped.

During his walk, he came across Fluttershy wearing a yellow and pink scarf around her neck. “Oh, good morning Charles, how are you today?” Fluttershy greeted with a smile.
“Fluttershy, what is going on around here, what is with all the decorations?” Charles asked, hoping it wasn’t what he thought it was.

“Oh that’s right, you don’t know about our holidays, do you, except for Nightmare Night. We’re all just getting ready for Hearths Warming day.”

“And what is Hearths Warming day?”

“it’s the time of the season when families and friends get together and enjoy one another’s company and give gifts to each other. It’s one of my favorite holidays, the only thing I don’t really like about it is that during this time of the year, most of my animal friends are hibernating, so I don’t get to see them until spring.”

“Great, just great.” Charles said to himself as a frown formed.

Fluttershy saw this and became a little worried. “Is something wrong Charles?”

Charles quickly put on a smile and looked at Fluttershy. “No, I’m fine, it’s nothing really, I need to get going, I’ll see you later.” Before Flutteshy could push the issue, Charles took off for town hall to check in for guard duty. “It may not be Christmas, but it sure looks like it.” His frown returned, Christmas was not a good time of the year for him.

After checking in, he just patrolled the town like normal and saw all the ponies going about their business, getting ready for the holidays. He saw families coming together, friends meeting up and making plans. The more he saw, the more it soured his mood. “Great, this is just what I need.”

*****

The days continued on and Charles’s mood just seemed to get worse and worse as Hearths Warming approached. His marefriends and friends noticed this and tried to talk to him, but he just blew them off with a ‘it’s nothing’ or ‘I’m fine, it’s nothing to worry about.’ They didn’t believe him. One morning, when Hearths Warming was just five days away, Twilight went to Charles’s room to check on him, he hadn’t gotten up yet and Twilight was worried, especially with how he had been acting. “Charles, are you up yet?” Twilight called through the door. No response, she opened the door and went over to his bed, she removed the covers and found he wasn’t there. This got her worried. “Charles, are you here?” She asked again, still no response.

Spike then walked in. “What is it Twilight?”

“Spike, do you know if Charles went somewhere?”

“No, I saw him last night before we went to bed, but he never said anything about going anywhere.”

Twilight looked around the room for a clue as to what could have happed, but everything was in order. It was then that a note caught her eye sitting on Charles’s dresser. She trotted up to the dresser and picked up the note with her magic, she floated it in front of her and read it out loud. “Dear Twilight, I’m sorry for my abrubt departure, but something came up, princess Celestia sent me a message herself asking me to take care of something for her, I will be gone for a few days and will not be here for Hearths Warming, I’m sorry. Don’t bother asking Celestia about it because she wanted this to be secret. Yours forever, Charles.”

“That’s weird, I wonder what Celestia wanted Charles to do, and why would she send him somewhere when Hearths Warming is coming up?” Spike asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to ask her.”

“But, didn’t Charles say that this was supposed to be a secret and Celestia wouldn’t say anything?”

“Spike, I’m Celestia’s personal student, she knows she can trust me with a secret, besides, Charles is my colt friend, I think I have a right to know where he went. Now then, would you please go and get a parchment and quill to write down a letter for me?”

“You got it.” Spike gave a salute and went to get the items.

Twilight met him in the center of the library and began to dictate. “Dear princess Celestia, I am aware that you sent Charles somewhere for something and would like to know where you sent him and why, he left a note for me this morning saying he received an urgent message from you, telling him you needed him for something. I realize that this needs to stay secret, but you know you can trust me, I am just worried about him is all. Please tell me where you sent him and why. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

Spike finished the note and sent it on its way. They then just waited for Celestia to respond, they didn’t have to wait long though, but the response wasn’t a letter. Celestia appeared in a bright flash before them. “Princess!” Twilight exclaimed. She and Spike then gave a quick bow.

“Twilight, are you sure the note Charles left you was in his writing?”

Twilight was confused by Celestia’s question. “Well, yes, why? Princess, I just want to know where you sent him, he wasn’t in his room this morning, I found that note, and I’m just worried, I just want to know where you sent him.”

Celestia gave a serious look. “Twilight, I never sent him a message asking him to go somewhere, I can assure you if I had, I would have told you and the others.”

This made Twilight worry more. “But, if you didn’t send him anywhere, then where is he? Where did he go?”

“I don’t know, but we will do what we can to find him. Come, let us inform the others and the guards of this matter.” Celestia took the lead as she headed for the door with Twilight and Spike behind her.

“Oh, talk about bad timing, my parents are coming over to spend Hearths Warming with us so they can finally meet Charles. Pinkie’s parents are coming too, as are Applejack’s. Rarity still hasn’t had the chance to introduce Charles to her parents and she was going to do that today.” Twilight said as they walked.

“Don’t worry Twilight, we’ll find him.” Spike tried to reassure her.

Along the way, Celestia, Twilight, and Spike ran into the other girls and informed them what was going on. They followed Celestia to town hall to speak with the captain of the guard. Upon their approach, the guards were all lined up in front of Lighting Thrash receiving their orders for the day. Upon Celestia’s approach, Lightning saw her and ordered the guards to turn around and salute. “Guards, about face.” They did as commanded. “Salute.” They all saluted before Celestia. “At ease.” They dropped their salute and Lighting Thrash stood in front of them. “Good morning your majesty, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?”

“Captain, I have urgent news, it seems Charles has gone missing, we need your help to find him.”

“Charles is missing?” Dusk Fang asked.

“Not good.” Dawn Fang said.

“Comrade Charles has disappeared, this is most troubling.” Came Black Cloud.

“HAH, perhaps human got tired of being guard and decided he couldn’t handle it, good riddens.” Said Shadow Fang.

Pinkie did not like that comment. “HEY, you take that back, Charles is a wonderful stallion….human….man…….you know what I mean.”

Rarity then chimed in. “Quite right, he is a hero, if something has happened, we have to find him.”

Celestia addressed Shadow fang. “I don’t know what you have against him, but Charles is a brave soul, he has put his life on the line many times for my ponies and once for my sister, I expect you to take his disappearance seriously.”

Shadow Fang frowned. “Of course princess.”

Cobalt stepped forward. “Don’t worry your highness, we will do everything we can to find him.”

Storm Chaser then chimed in. “Yeah, he’s not just a guard, he’s our friend.”

Fuse threw in his two bits as well. “We will not rest until he is found.”

Lightning Thrash then turned to address his troops. “All right men, we got a guard missing, I want all of you to fan out and search everywhere, leave no stone unturned, try to find some clues as to where he might have gone. SPREAD OUT!”

“YES SIR!” They all said in unison, then took off in different direction.

Lightning then turned again to face Celestia. “Don’t worry your majesty, we will not rest until Charles is found.”

“Thank you captain.” Celestia gave a nod of her head.

“Princess, isn’t there something we can do to help, we want to find him more than anythin and make sure he’s ok.” Came Applejack.

Rainbow Dash then had an idea. “I know, maybe the timberwolves and manticores could help.”

“Of course, we do have a peace pact with them thanks to Charles, I’m sure they’d be willing to help us look for him.” Twilight said.

“I don’t know, what if they forgot about that and try to eat us?” Fluttershy worried.

“Oh don’t be ridiculous, of course they’ll remember, come on, let’s go to the Everfree forest and talk to them.” Pinkie cheered.

“But how, we can’t understand them, how are we supposed to communicate with them?” Rarity asked.

Applejack thought for a moment before she remembered something. “I remember there was one of em that had a funny lookin symbol on its chest that was lettin it talk like us so we could understand it.”

Twilight smiled. “Perfect, we’ll go to the forest and see if the timberwolves will help, come on every pony, let’s go. Spike, you can wait at the library if you want.”

“Thanks Twilight, I hope you find Charles soon.” Spike said as he took off back for the library.
Celestia looked over her ponies. “I wish you all luck in your search, I’m afraid I have to head back to the castle, royal duties and all, please let me know when you find him.” Celestia then lit up her horn and vanished.

“All right girls, lets head to Everfree forest and get some help to find Charles.” Twilight declared to her friends. They all then headed off.

They arrived at the forest’s edge and stopped a moment. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Fluttershy asked as she shook a little.

“Come on Fluttershy, we could really use their help, I’m sure once they hear about this, they’ll agree to help us find Charles.” Twilight said. The six mares then walked in to the forest.

As they walked, Rainbow called out to try and get the attention of the manticores and timberwolves. “HELLO, MANTICORES, TIMBERWOLVES, YOU AROUND HERE?”

A rustle in the bushes was heard, Flutershy hid behind the group. A pack of four timberwolves emerged. They gave a growl, but stopped when they say the ponies. “Um, hello.” Twilight started. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, I was wondering if we could speak with your leader?”

One of the wolves stepped forward, it had a symbol on its chest. “That’s the timberwolf I mentioned before!” Applejack cried out.

It gave a snarl before speaking. “What is it you want ponies? You cannot simply walk in here and ask to speak with our leader.”

Rarity got brave and stepped forward. “Please sir, Charles has gone missing, we don’t know where to find him, we were hoping you all might be willing to help us find him.”

The timberwolves looked at each other, the speaker wolf looked to the group. “Come with us.” The wolves then began to walk away, the six mares followed.

Charles was sitting on a rock in his grey and white winter attire with his white pants and white shoes with the black trimmings. His staff on his back and his necklace around his neck but was tucked inside his coat. His wings wrapped around him for extra warmth. He was sitting on a rock with his left knee near his chest while the other just dangled, his left arm resting on his left knee. He was sitting between Forest Fang and Swift Sting, watching a timberwolf and a manticore fight. The other manticores and timberwolves around gave snarls and growls, cheering on their respective species.

Charles just watched, uninterested. Forest Fang looked down at Charles and spoke. “Tell me Charles, why is it you wish to stay in the forest with us for a few days again?”

“The ponies are celebrating a holiday I want nothing to do with, that’s all.”

Swift Sting then spoke up. “And why is that, are you sure you’ll be fine in this forest for a few days in this weather?”

“It’s not the first time I’ve slept in cold weather without a roof over my head, I’ll be fine.”

“Very well, you are welcome to share a cave with us timberwolves.” Forest Fang offered.

Swift Sting also offered. “Or us manticores.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

A timberwolf then approached Forest fang. “Sire, some ponies have come to speak with you.”

“Really, interesting.” Forest Fang said.

Charles quickly stood up on the rock. “What, oh no, Forest Fang, Swift Sting, whatever you do, don’t tell them I’m here, I don’t want to be in the town while that holiday is going on.” He said desperately to the two kings.

“CHARLES!” Four mare voices rang out.

“Oh crud.”

“There you are, what are you doing here, why are you here, what’s going on?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“We’ve been worried sick about ya partner, why’d ya up and disappear like that?” Asked Applejack.

Rarity chimed in too. “Do you have any idea what you put us through, I can’t believe you would do such a thing.”

Pinkie chimed in too. “Charles, I’m so glad you’re ok, I thought something awful happened to you.”

Charles spoke nervously. “Hey girls, uh, heh, uh…..how are you?”

Applejack gave Charles a glare. “Don’t you ‘how are you’ us, we were worried sick about ya.”

Twilight gave a stern look. “Even Celestia was worried when I told her you were missing.”

Charles jumped down from the rock and looked at Twilight. “Didn’t my note tell you not to bother Celestia?”

Applejack scolded. “It’s a good thing she did, you lied ta her in that note, you said Celestia sent you somewhere, but she didn’t.”

Fluttershy was hiding a bit behind rainbow Dash while she just watched the scene. “I can’t believe you would lie like that, and in a simple note. You probably worried Pinkie more than us after the last colt friend she had, she thought something really terrible might have happened.” Rarity scolded.

Charles looked at Pinkie and saw her hanging her head and looking down at the ground. “Ok, so maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, I am SUCH a heal.” He scolded himself inwardly. “Look girls, I can explain.”

“You better explain, we knew something was wrong but you just kept us away.” Twilight said with a glare, then her look softened. “We care about you Charles, we love you, why won’t you tell us what’s bothering you?”

“You should know by now you can tell us anythin, so why would you just up and disappear like that? Especially when it’s close to one of the happiest times of the year.” Applejack’s look also softened.

Charles furrowed his brow. “It may be a happy time for you, but it’s not for me.”

The girls looked at him with confusion. “What do you mean?” The girls and Charles all looked behind them to see Fluttershy looking at Charles with sympathy in her eyes. “Why isn’t Hearths Warming a happy time for you?” The girls looked back to Charles.

He hung his head with his eyes closed and gave a sigh. “If you must know, this holiday has another name back on earth. The humans call it Christmas.”

“Chris-mas?” Rainbow asked. “What’s that?”

Charles looked back up at the mares. “It’s a holiday similar to Hearths Warming, it’s a time for families and friends to get together, enjoy one another’s company, and exchange gifts.”

“So, why is that so bad?” Pinkie asked.

“Why do you think, it’s about families getting together, something I never really had. After I ran away from my parents and escaped that place I was held at, I was on my own. Whenever Christmas rolled around, I saw families happily getting together, having fun, and doing what families do. All THAT holiday did for me was remind me of something I didn’t have, and still don’t, I just can’t stand it.”

Twilight started. “Charles, you…”

Charles interrupted. “The reason I left was because I don’t want to be around something that just reminds me of what I don’t have, Hearths Warming is just too similar to Christmas and I don’t want anything to do with it.”

“But Charles, dear, we were going to introduce you to our parents for Hearths Warming.” Rarity informed.

“Well, I’m sorry, but they’re going to be disappointed, you can introduce me to them after the holiday is good and done, for now, I’m just going to stay here with the manticores and timberwolves.”

Applejack smiled as she got an idea. “Well then, if you won’t come back to Ponyville with us fer the holiday, then we’ll just bring our folks to you.”

Charles eyed her. “You can’t be serious.”

Twilight then smiled. “Oh we are very serious, since you won’t come to Hearths Warming, then we’ll bring Hearths Warming to you.”

Charles cocked an eye brow at her. “You mean celebrate the holiday in this forest….with your families? As in you’re going to bring them here just to meet me?”

“Yep.” Pinkie said with a smile.

“Oh no, you are not doing that, you should celebrate it back at your nice warm houses, this won’t be the first time I slept outside in the cold, I’ll be fine. I am not letting you bring your families out here to celebrate this holiday just for me, now you all should just go on home and get on with the holiday.”

Rarity smiled at Charles. “Darling, one way or another, we are not leaving you alone for the holidays, now you either come with us back to Ponyville, or we will bring our families out here and celebrate the holiday with you.”

“Charles, no pony should be alone on the holidays, please come back with us.” Fluttershy said with the kindest voice.

“Come on dude, aren’t you forgetting that you DO have a family here? Your pretty much well on your way to making it.” Rainbow informed.

Charles looked at her curiously. “What do you mean?”

Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack all looked at each other first, then to Charles and all chimed in at once. “US.”

“Don’t you get it ya goofball, we’ve been a heard for a couple months now, we’ve only grown closer.” Applejack informed.

“We pretty much are a family darling, not just the five of us, but Rainbow and Fluttershy too, they are your friends who care about you as good friends should, we are your mare friends who love you.” Rarity informed.

“Not to mention how you said Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo could think of you as their big brother.” Pinkie informed.

Charles facepalmed. “I’m such an idiot, I’ve been letting my past drag me down again and blind me from something I had in the making, how could I be so STUPID!”

Twilight smirked. “No argument here.”

Charles smirked back. “Ha ha, very funny.” He then just smiled. “I’m really sorry I worried you girls, especially you Pinkie, the last thing I want to do is hurt you all.” Charles frowned. “Can you ever forgive me for my stupidity?”

Twilight smiled. “We’ll think about it.”

Rarity took a step forward. “For now, what say we head back to town so you can meet our folks, my mother and father have been dying to meet you.”

“My parents have been anxious to meet you too.” Came Twilight.

Applejack then came in. “Mine too, they’re comin from a long way just ta meet ya.”

Pinkie then hopped in front of the group. “And mine, I’ve been super-duper excited to introduce you to them.”

Charles then turned his attention to the two kings. “Forest Fang, Swift Sting, I thank you for your hospitality, but I’ll be heading back to Ponyville now, I hope I wasn’t a bother.”

Swift Sting addressed Charles. “You are always welcome her Charles.”

Charles gave a bow. “Thank you your majesties.” He then turned and left with his four loves and two close friends to celebrate a holiday that was sure to be a happy time for him for the first time ever. But not before receiving a kiss from each of his mare friends.

Chapter 27

The day Charles made his disappearance from Ponyville and Celestia left to investigate the matter a little. Luna took the opportunity to have a little chat with Dark Flash. She was curious as to why this alicorn was so desperate to take over and where she came from. Luna made her way down to the dungeons and to the cell she was being held in. Her legs were bound by chains, her wings strapped to her side, and a magic inhibitor ring was on her horn thanks to Discord. Luna approached Dark Flash’s cell and practically glared at her. “Hello Dark Flash.”

Dark Flash narrowed her eyes. “Princess Luna, you’re the last pony I want to see right now. You have some nerve coming down here.”

“You’re the one who attacked me and Charles in the middle of Ponyville, I’d say you’re the one with nerve.”

“Charles, is that the humans name, interesting.” She said with mock interest.

“Tell me Dark Flash, why, why are you so set on taking over Equestria.”

“I want one thing and one thing only…….revenge.”

Luna cocked an eyebrow. “Revenge, why, what have we ever done to you that you would want revenge against me and my sister?”

“Oh, my grudge isn’t with your sister, it’s solely with you.”

“Me, why, I don’t even know you.”

“Don’t you? Well, I suppose it has been a long time since last we saw each other, and I did look different back then.”

Luna was getting confused by her words. “What are you talking about?”

Dark Flash smirked. “Why luna, I’m hurt you don’t recognize your old friend, don’t you even remember me, then again, I did go by a different name back then too.”

Luna’s eyes began to widen in realization. “It……no, it can’t be……..you aren’t.”

Dark Flash then scowled. “That’s right, it’s your old friend Night Shine.”

Luna looked at her with sympathy. “Night Shine, what….how……..what happened to you, how did you get like this?”

“DON’T….call me that, my name isn’t Night Shine anymore, she died the day YOU turned your back on her, I am Dark Flash now.”

“But, what happened to you, how did you ever get like this?”

“I didn’t always have a silver coat like how you found me when I was just a fox. I had black fur. I was formed from a spell that was meant to create dark matter to form powerful assasin’s, but the foolish unicorns that used it didn’t do it right, they died in the process and I was born as a black furred fox. I lived my life alone and hungry, doing what little I could to survive, not knowing my place in the world. As time went on, the dark matter in me faded and my fur turned grey. Then you came along and found me, took me in, cared for me, loved me. It was your love that turned me into an alicorn.”

“I tried to fit in with the others, and sure, we were friends, but what you failed to notice was that the other’s just made fun of me, laughed at me, said I was worthless and good at nothing, that I didn’t belong.”

Luna tried to Speak. “Night Shine, why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“I tried to, but you didn’t listen, you just thought I was being silly or something. One day, I had enough of it, I couldn’t take the ridicule anymore, so I blew up the city in my rage and flew off.”

Luna’s eyes grew wide again in surprise. “YOU, YOU did that, I……I can’t believe it.”

“Believe it Luna, you turned you back on me when I needed you and you just ignored me, you betrayed me.”

Luna was on the verge of tears at this point. “Night Shine, I…I’m so sorry, I…..I didn’t…”

Dark Flash cut her off. “DON’T CALL ME THAT, I told you, I’m not Night Shine anymore, I am Dark Flash, my anger and desire for revenge fueled my power, turning my fur black again, and gave me the ability to turn into my former fox self AND that dragon that attacked you and your precious human guard.”

“Night…..I mean, Dark Flash, I’m sorry, I am truly truly sorry, I know now I should have listened to you when you said what was going on, but I…..”

Dark Flash cut her off again, her glare intensified to a crazed look. “SAVE IT, It’s too late for apologies, you broke my heart Luna, so now I want to break you! Killing you won’t be enough to satisfy me, I want to destroy everything you cared about to make you pay for what you did to me, for what they did to me!”

Luna’s eyes were wet with tears, seeing her old friend in such a state. “Dark Flash, is there anything I can do to change your mind, anything I can do to make it up to you?”

Dark Flash smirked. “There is one thing.”

“Name it.”

Dark Flash’s frown returned. “You can die.”

Luna straightened her face, her eyes still wet with tears. “I see, then I suppose there is nothing I can do to make it up to you so we could be friends again.”

“No….there isn’t, I never want to be your friend again, you turned you back on me and ignored me when I needed you, so why would I want to be your friend after all that.”

Luna wiped a foreleg across her face to wipe away the tears, she gave a stern look at Dark Flash. “Very well then, you will stay here in the dungeons for the rest of your life.”

“All eternity? I am an alicorn, I am immortal like you, do you really thing keeping me locked up in a dungeon is the best way to go? I will find a way out, and when I do, I will rule Equestria.” As Dark Flash said that, her eyes flickered to slits, then back.

Luna saw this but did not react. She kept her composure. “I suppose you have a point, I will talk with my sister and figure out the best course of action to take. Fare well Dark Flash.” Luna turned to leave, she took a few steps forward then stopped. She looked over her shoulder to Dark Flash. “For what It’s worth, I really am sorry I didn’t listen to you, if you’re ever willing, I promise that if we we’re friends again, I will listen to you when you say some pony is insulting you. I would like my old friend back.”

Dark Flash said nothing, she just glared at Luna. Luna then continued on and left.

Back at Ponyville:

Charles was now standing in front of town hall with a line of guards behind him and captain Lightning Thrash giving him the berating of a lifetime. “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU, you run off without telling any pony where you’re going, desert your post, worry all the guards in Ponyville and force them to waste time looking for your sorry flank only for six mares to find you hanging out in the forest with the manticores and timberwolves safe and sound! Do you have ANY idea how much trouble you’re in?”

“I’m getting the idea sir.”

“I don’t think you are private, you wasted not only the guard’s valuable time, but the princesses as well, she came down her and got worried about you as well when Twilight told her you were missing, if it was up to me, I’d fire your sorry flank for such insubordination.”

“But it’s not up to you, is it captain?” Came Celestia’s voice.

The guards all turned around and saw Celestia stroll up with the girls behind her. “Princess, what are you doing here?” Lightning asked.

“Twilight sent me a letter informing me that Charles was found, I came here to see for myself.”

“Greeting princess, I suppose you’re here to chew me out as well for my stupidity?” Charles asked as he bowed before the princess.

Celestia kept a straight face. “While I believe your actions were irresponsible, you have proven yourself a capable guard on multiple occasions, I think taking you out of the guard wouldn’t make much of a difference, would it?” She then smiled.

Charles smiled back. “No princess, even if I were to be fired from the guard, I would still act to protect every pony from any danger. And I am sorry for my actions, I know it was stupid of me, and reckless, and irresponsible.”

“Not to mention boneheaded.” Came Applejack.

“And foolish.” Rarity threw in.

“And let’s not forget completely dumb.” Twilight added.

Charles jumped in. “I get it, I was a total moron…..and I’m sorry for it.”

Lighting then came in. “You better be sorry, you deserted your post without permission. You should be court marshalled for this.”

“Captain, I think that’s enough.” Celestia interrupted. “As Charles has sworn an oath to me and my sister, his fate is up to myself and her, but she is not here right now, so I will decide his punishment. Besides, you can’t tell me you weren’t worried about him yourself, with the way you were going on.” Celestia gave a playful Smirk at Lightning Thrash.

He said nothing. Fluttershy found the courage to speak up. “Um, Princess, you won’t be too hard on him will you?”

Rainbow agreed. “Yeah, I mean, sure he caused us all to worry, but Hearths warming is coming up.”

Twilight then came in. “Surely you can forgive him for the sake of the holidays.”

Celestia raised a hoof in thought. After a moment, she spoke. “Charles, I am willing to forgive you and forget your punishment on one condition.”

Charles looked up at Celestia. “Yes princess, what is it?” Celestia leaned down and whispered in his ear. Charles’s eyes grew wide as Celestia whispered. “You want me to WHAT…..but….I mean….is it really your place to…..I mean….you are a princess and all but….is it really ok for you to suggest that?”

Everypony was looking on in confusion…..almost every pony. There was one sour puss in the bunch. “Charles, that is my condition, I merely said this because I thought it about time for you to do such a thing, do you disagree with me?”

“Well, I……that is…I….um.” He looked at Celestia, then to his mare friends looking at him with confusion. He smiled at them. He then looked back at Celestia smiling at him. “I suppose your right your majesty.”

Celestia gave a nod. “Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, I believe Charles has something he wants to ask you.”

The four mares looked at each other with confusion, then back to Celestia. “Princess, what is going on?” Twilight asked.

Celestia kept her smile. “It will all become clear soon enough.”

The four mares then just walked up to Charles while Celestia stepped aside. Charles got down on one knee and began. “Girls, I can’t tell you how sorry I am I worried you, as I said before, the last thing I want to do is hurt you, I love each and every one of you very much. You have brought me happiness into my miserable life and helped me make it better. For that, I am eternally grateful, and I don’t know how I could ever repay you four for it. For now, I hope that what I want to ask is a good start.”

“What is this all about Charles?” Rarity asked.

Charles just smiled. “Rarity, Applejack, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, it would make me even happier if you all agreed to marry me and be my wives, will you marry me?”

Rarity raised a hoof to her mouth in shock. Applejack had a look of shock on her face as well. Twilight’s eyes widened as she smiled. Pinkie was smiling the biggest and started shaking with joy. “YES!” Pinkie shouted, she then pounced on Charles and knocked him to the ground and kissed him furiously on the lips.

Once Pinkie FINALLY released Charles, he sat up. “Well, that’s one answer, what about you three?”

Twilight was the second to answer. “Yes Charles, I will marry you.”

Rarity then answered. “Oh Darling, I thought you’d never ask. Of course I will.”

Finally Applejack. “All I can say is, it’s about time, you got a deal partner, come here.”

The other three then each took turns giving Charles a kiss to seal the deal.

Fluttershy put both hooves up to one cheek with a smile. “Oh Rainbow Dash, isn’t this wonderful, our friends are getting married.”

“It sure is.” She agreed, she then looked to Celestia with a curious look. She flew up to Celestia’s ear and whispered in it. “You weren’t really going to punish him were you?”

Celestia smiled and looked at Rainbow Dash. “Let’s keep that between us, shall we.”

Rainbow Chuckled. “Heh heh, sure thing princess.”

“How wonderful, comrade Charles is getting married.” Black Cloud said with a smile.

“Yes, wonderful, now there is going to be wedding.” Shadow Fang said with sarcasm.

During the kissing, Dusk Fang and Dawn Fang just gagged. “Way to go dude!” Storm Chaser cheered.

Once things settled down, Celestia left for Canterlot again and Charles made his way to the train station with his four future wives, but not before Lightning Thrash informing Charles that his pay was being docked for the week. Charles didn’t mind though, he was fine with some kind of punishment for what he did.

Upon arrival, Rarity’s mother and father were there, Rarity trotted up to them and gave them a hug, Sweetie Belle was with them. “Hello mother, father.” Rarity greeted.

“Hey there sunshine, how ya doin?” Her dad asked. He had a white coat, and a brown mane and tail with a brown mustache. He was wearing a straw hat and a blue shirt with flowers on it, his cutie mark was of three footballs.

“Oh mother, father, I have such wonderful news, but first, I must introduce you to the stallion….er..human, I’ve been telling you about.”

“Well it’s about time, I was beginning to wonder if you just made him up or something.” Rarity’s mother asked jokingly. “HAH, I’m just teasing, we have seen him around town before and heard about all he’s done.” She had a light pink coat and a purple mane and tail of two shades. She was wearing a blue visor hat, a red shirt and white pants, her cutie mark couldn’t bee seen.

Rarity’s dad then came in again. “I’ll say, we’re real proud you found yerself a real standup stallion to be with. Sweetie Belle here can’t stop talking about him either.”

Rarity motioned for Charles to come over. “Mother, Father, I would like to properly introduce you to Charles, my colt friend. Charles, this is my mother, Pearl, and my father, Magnum.”

Charles gave a smile. “It’s very nice to meet you. Rarity is a real fine mare, you should be proud of her.”

Magnum stuck his hoof out for a shake. Charles took it and shook. “We are son, believe me.”

“Now then, about that good news I mentioned.” Rarity said. She looked down at Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle dear, you know how Charles said you could think of him as your big brother?”

Sweetie looked at her sister with a bit of confusion. “Yes?”

“Well guess what, it’s going to be official, he’s going to be your big brother in law.”

Sweetie Belle’s face lit up. “REALLY, does that mean?”

“Rarity dear, are you saying he proposed?” Pearl asked.

“YES, we’re getting married. He proposed to me, Applejack, Twilight and Pinkie earlier and we all said yes.”

Magnum was smiling big now. “That’s wonderful news dear, congratulations.”

“So when is the wedding?” Pearl asked.

Charles answered. “We haven’t discussed that yet.”

“I’M GONNA HAVE A REAL BIG BROTHER!” Sweetie Belle cheered as she hopped around Rarity and Charles.
The two just laughed at her enthusiasm. The group of ponies and human made their way into the train station to meet the others that were coming.

The train arrived and came to a stop. The first ponies off the train were Twilight’s family. To Twilight’s surprise, Shining Armor came off with her parents. “Shining Armor!” She cheered as she ran over. The two shared a hug.
“Hey there Twily, good to see you again. Celestia gave me some time off so I could spend the holiday with you and mom and dad.”

Twilight then went over to her parents and they shared a hug too. “Mom, dad, it’s great to see you.”

“It’s great to see you too dear, we missed you so much.” Twilight’s mother said. She had a grey coat and a white and purple mane and tail, her cutie mark was of three purple stars.

“Hey there, how’s my little girl doing?” Twilight’s dad said. He had a blue coat with a dark blue mane and tail, his cutie mark was of two crescent moons, a small one within a bigger one.

“I’m doing great, and I got big news for every pony, but first, I want to introduce you two to Charles. Come on.”

While Twilight met up with her parents, Pinkie and Applejack met up with theirs.

Pinkie excitedly went over to another part of the platform where her parents and two sisters were getting off. “MOM, DAD, SISTERS!” She cheered as she rushed over to them.

“There’s our little baker, hey there Pinkie.” Her dad said with a big smile. He had a light brown coat with a grey and light grey mane and tail, he was wearing a black hat and a white collar with a black tie. His cutie mark was of a pick axe.

“Pinkie, my little girl, I’ve missed you so much.” Came Pinkie’s mom. She had a light grey coat with a dark grey, almost black mane and tail, she was wearing glasses with chains attached at the corners like a necklace and a black scarf with white stripes. Her cutie mark was of three rocks.

“PINKIE!” Her two sisters cheered, they all shared in a group hug.

“OOOHHHH, I’ve missed you all so so so so much!”

One sister spoke up. “We missed you too Pinkie.”

The other than chimed in. “Yeah, it’s not as much fun on the farm without you.”

Pinkie looked at them with a smile. “I’m sorry, I’ll be sure to visit more often. OH, I got big news for every pony I want to tell you later, right now, I want you to meet the human I’ve told you about in my letters.” Pinkie then started hopping away with her family following.

Applejack was greeting her family as well. “Ma, pa, so glad you could make it.” Applejack cheered as she hugged her parents.

Her dad was an earth pony with a light yellow coat and a dark red mane and tail with a half apple with four seeds in it, he was wearing the same kind of hat Applejack wore. “Applejack, my little appleseed, how ya doin.”

Her mother, another earth pony with a light green coat and a light blue mane and tail with an apple tree for a cutie mark, gave her a hug. “Applejack, It’s good to see you again, but where’s your brother and sister, why aren’t they here to greet us?”

“They’re up at the farm getting it ready fer every pony, we got a lot to celebrate and we’re gonna need the room, every pony is meetin up at Sweet Apple Acres fer the holiday, so we’re gonna have a lot of ponies in one place.”

Her dad gave a bit of a stern look. “And why aren’t you helpin them, we coulda found our own way ta the place.”

“It’s kind of a long story, it don’t matter, come on, let’s go meet the feller I been writin to ya about.”

Her mother agreed. “Well I am eager ta meet this stallion that got ya fallin head over hooves over.”

“MOM!” Applejack whined with embarrasement.

“It’s about time ya found yerself a stallion ta be yer colt friend.” Her dad said.

“Dad, please.”

Twilight had her family standing in front of Charles now. “Mom, dad, this is Charles, my colf friend. Charles, this is my mother, Twilight Velvet, and my dad, Night Light.”

Charles first greeted Twilight Velvet, he took her hoof in his hand and said his hello. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, I see where Twilight gets her good looks from.”

Velvet laughed. “Oh you, thank you.”

He then turned his attention to Night light. “It’s very nice to meet you sir, I imagine you two are very proud of your daughter.”

“You bet we are, and we’re real grateful you’ve been looking out for her here, we really appreciate it. Looks like she landed her-self a good one.” Night light said with a laugh.

“Dad, please.” Twilight said with a blush and a smile.

“Oh come on dear, you know I’m just kidding.”

Charles then turned to Shining Armor. “Hello Shinning, always a pleasure.”

“Hey there Charles, staying out of trouble?” He said as they bumped hoofs/fists.

“Well, mostly, there was a small incident earlier today, but you don’t need to worry about it.”

“Really, what happened?”

Twilight interjected. “We’ll explain later, once every pony gets to say their hellos to Charles we have an announcement to make.”

Twilight and her family then trotted off somewhere to talk so the others could say their hellos. Pinkie was next. “Charles this is my family, my mom, Cloudy Quartz.”

“A pleasure ta meet ya young fella.” Cloudy greeted.

Charles greeted back. “Likewise miss.

Pinkie continued. “My dad, Igneous Rock.”

“A fine pleasure sunny.” He greeted with a smile.

“Same here, real nice to meet you sir.” Charles greeted back.

“And my two sisters, Marble Pie, and Limestone Pie.”

“Hello.” The two said together. “It’s nice to meet you.” Marble Pie said with a smile. She had a grey coat as well, but darker than her mothers, with a darker grey mane and tail, her cutie mark was of a geode.

“Pinkie’s been so excited for us to finally meet you.” Limestone Pie said. She had a purpleish, greyish coat with a grey mane and tail. Her cutie mark was of a rock with gems in it.

“You sure are funny looking though, but not in a bad way, just……something we’ve never seen before.” Marble said.

“He sure is cute though.” Limestone said with a bit of a dreamy look in her eyes.

“I’ll say.” Marble agreed.

“Easy there girls.” Cloudy said with a smile.

Charles got nervous at this. “Well, *AHEM* it is very nice to meet you all, Pinkie has told me about you and I am glad to finally meet you.”

“Like wise sunny, a real pleasure.” Said Igneous.

Pinkie spoke happily. “Come on family, let’s let Applejack bring her folks over to meet Charles.”

“All right dear, we’ll get plenty of time ta get ta know him durin our stay here.” Came Cloudy.

“I know I’m looking forward to it.” Said Limestone.

“Me too.” Came Marble, the two just walked past him on both sides and rubbed up against him.

Charles brought his arms up to him as they did. “Uh, he he, yeah.” He gave a nervous smile.

Applejack then came up with her parents. “Ma, Pa, this here’s Charles, my coltfriend.”

Applejack’s dad came up to him and held out a hoof for Charles to shake. “Nice ta meet ya.”

Charles grabbed his hoof. “Likewise.” His hand then started being shaken rather violently by the stallion who’s hoof he was holding.

“Names Appleseed, glad ta finally meet the stallion that stole my daughters heart.”

He finally stop his shaking, Charles brought his hand closer and started rubbing it with the other. “Yeah, I’m glad to meet you too, I imagine it must have been hard to find time to get away from your own farm for this.”

Applejack’s mom came in. “Not at all darlin. This time of year, the crops don’t really grow, we always get some downtime during this time of year. Names Appletree.”

“A pleasure.”

Applejack then made an announcement for all the ponies to hear. “All right everypony, now that introductions are out of the way, let’s head on over to Sweet Apple Acres so ya’ll can get settled in, once there, me and my friends got an announcement ta make.” The group then headed off for Sweet Apple Acres.

Author's Note

OK my readers, this is another part of the story where you can get a say in what happens. Do any of you think I should make it where Charles starts getting involved with Pinkie's sisters, or just make it awkward for Charles as they flirt with him, do any of you think four marefriends is enough, or should he have at least one more. The winning votes will be revealed in the next chapter. so leave comments in the section and let me know what you think, thank you all so much for all the favorites.

Chapter 28

The day was still young as the clouds completely covered the sky and a blanket of snow covered all of Ponyville. Hearths Warming was just five days away and Every pony had all kinds of colorful decorations set up around the town. It was a perfect winter day for a date, which is why Carbon was now off duty, not wearing his armor and weapons, and enjoying it with his marefriend, Octavia. “A beautiful day isn’t it Octavia?”

“Oh yes, a bit cold, but that is to be expected during winter.” Octavia said with a smile. The two were strolling through town as they admired the decorations and such. “Hearths Warming is, without a doubt, my most favorite holiday.”

Carbon agreed. “I don’t know anypony who doesn’t like Hearths Warming the most.” They came to a bridge over the frozen river and stopped to look down.

Octavia looked down at the river just in time to see a couple skate under the bridge with smiles on their muzzles. A thought then entered Octavia’s mind. “Carbon, have you ever been Ice skating before?” She asked with a smile as she looked at him.

Carbon looked back at her. “Well, no, I don’t know how.”

“What do you say we give it a try, It could be fun.”

“Or I could fall flat on my flank.” Carbon’s comment elicited a giggle from Octavia.

“Oh come on, let’s at least try it.” She grabbed Carbon’s hoof and began walking him away to an Ice rink that was set up at the park’s pond. The water around Ponyville always froze up solid, the frozen pond was a popular skating place for couples and herds.

Carbon spoke with a bit of nervousness. “I don’t know about this Octavia.” He said with a frown.

Octavia just smiled at him. “Oh don’t be such a foal. I’ll be right with you the whole time.”

Carbon approached the pony running the skate rental hut and paid for ice skates for himself and Octavia. They found a nearby bench, sat down, and slipped on the skates on their hooves. They approached the rink with other couples and herds skating around. “Octavia, have you ever done this before?”

“Yes, Canterlot has a wonderful Ice skating rink there, I used it every year around winter, so I’m pretty good at it.” She walked on to the ice before Carbon did. “Come on now, I’ll be right here to help you.” She encouraged him with a smile.

“All right.” He said unasuredly. He placed his front right hoof on the ice and tested the balance. He then placed his left hoof on the ice, his front legs wobbled a little under him. He fell down and slid on the ice up to Octavia who just laughed at him.

“Hm hm, not a bad first try Carbon.” She offered a hoof and helped him up. She never let go so Carbon could find his balance.

“Not bad, I told you I would fall flat on my flank.” He said with a smile.

“Technically, it was your belly, but still.” The two then just shared a laugh. “Ok, just keep your eyes on me and I’ll show you how to do this.” She started skating backwards while holding Carbon’s hoof. Carbon looked down every once in a while at his hoofs and back at Octavia. “That’s it, you’re doing good, just keep your eyes on me and try to move with me.” Octavia instructed.

Carbon did as she instructed and was skating along with her as they kept their hooves locked. “Hey, I think I’m starting to get the hang of this.” He smiled.

“Think you’re ready for me to let go now?” Octavia asked.

“I guess so.” Octavia kept her hoof with his as she came up next to him and faced the same direction. They let go of each other’s hoofs and Carbon was able to keep his balance, he was a little wobbly at first as they went along, but Carbon was able to keep himself from falling over.

“There you go, you got it. You’re doing fantastic Carbon.” Octavia cheered.

“Heh heh, yeah, I guess I am. WOO HOO, HA HA!” The couple then just skated around, laughing and having a good time as they enjoyed each other’s company.

At one point, they locked their front hooves and spun each other around as they laughed some more. They then just looked each other in the eyes with light smiles. They stopped their spinning and just looked at one another for a moment. “This has certainly been fun, thanks for teaching me how to skate Octavia.”

“You’re welcome.” The two then shared a loving kiss on the ice. They continued skating around a bit longer.

After they finished skating, they left the ice, returned the skates and continued their walk though Ponyville. Carbon began to speak. “Octavia, this has been a wonderful time with you.” He said as he smiled at her.

She returned the smile. “I had a wonderful time too Carbon.”

“I have some big news to share with you.”

“Really, what is it?”

“Well, Charles proposed to his marefreinds earlier today, and they all said yes.”

Octavia’s smile grew bigger. “How wonderful, that is good news, I’m very happy for them.”

“And, it got me thinking.” He looked away as he said this.

Octavia’s smile dropped into one of curiosity. “Thinking, about what?”

He looked back to her. “About us.” He stopped in his tracks, as did Octavia. “Every day with you has been just wonderful, and today just seemed so magical. And Charles’s proposal got me thinking, maybe it’s time we took the next step in our relationship.”

“Carbon…….what are you saying?”

Carbon turned his whole body in her direction. He took her hoof in his. “Octavia, I want to make every day of my life magical like it was today, and the only way that can happen is with you. It would make me the happiest stallion in the world if you agreed to be my wife……will you marry me Octavia?”

Octavia’s eye’s widened in shock, her smile slowly returned as tears formed in her eyes. “Oh Carbon…..yes, yes I will marry you, oh thank you!” She wrapped her forelegs around his neck and they shared a passionate loving kiss that lasted a good minute or so. As they kissed, a light snow started to fall, as if to celebrate a new union of hearts.

*****

Fluttershy and Stunner had just met up for their own date. They were taking a stroll through Whit Tail Woods, a forest that wasn’t as thick as the Everfree forest. “Isn’t it lovely, I love taking a stroll through the forest at this time, the snow looks so beautiful.” Fluttershy commented.

Stunner, who was also out of uniform, commented. “That’s not the only thing that’s beautiful.” He said with a smile as he looked at Fluttershy.

She smiled and blushed at the comment as she looked to the side, her mane hiding part of her face. “Oh Stunner.”

“No, I mean it, you have the grace and beauty of a butterfly. I bet that’s how you got your name, isn’t it?”

Fluttershy’s blush grew a little. “Um, thank you stunner.”

“You’re welcome.” As they walked, a few birds were seen fluttering about the forest.

“Oh my, it seems some of the birds decided to stay, I hope they’ll be all right.” Fluttershy said with worry.

Stunner looked to Fluttershy to explain. “Have you forgotten, some birds always stick around White Tail Wood at this time of year, some of the ponies in charge of this area take good care of them, remember?”

“Oh, right, I forgot, still, I do worry about them. Winter is such a cold time of year.”

Stunner Chuckled. “He he, that’s what I really like about you Fluttershy, you’re so caring and kind.”

“Well, thank you again Stunner.”

“I mean it Fluttershy, you have so many wonderful traits about you. You are an exquisite mare.”

Fluttershy started blushing again. “Oh my….you really think so?”

“Hey, I wouldn’t be saying it if I didn’t think so. Fluttershy, you’re an amazing pony, you’re kind, caring, gentle, loving, always eager to help out a friend, and you love animals. I can’t tell you how lucky I feel that I have you as a marefriend.”

“u..um…..Stunner, you’re embarrassing me.” She said as her blushing intensified more.

“I gotta say, that’s quite the step Charles took today isn’t it? Asking those four to marry him?”

“Oh, yes, it was, I’m so happy for them.” Fluttershy’s blushing faded.

“Yeah, makes me think he’s luckier than I am, that he’s about to share the rest of his life with the ponies he loves.” He said as he looked straight ahead.

Fluttershy looked at him curiously. “Stunner?”

Stunner stopped in his tracks, Fluttershy walked ahead a little then stopped and turned to look at him. “I can’t help but think, where will we go with our relationship, what do we want out of it?”

“Well, I do enjoy your company and all.”

“That’s just it, I enjoy your company too, and I care about you very much. One might even go so far as to say…..love you, but then….we wouldn’t be dating if we didn’t feel something for each other, would we?”

Fluttershy was getting confused by what Stunner was saying. “I suppose not, but what are you trying to say?

Stunner looked to the side in thought for a moment, then looked back to Fluttershy with a smile, the snow began to lightly fall around them. “Fluttershy, I guess what I’m saying…..is I don’t see why Charles should be the only one who has all the fun. We love each other, we care about each other, we like spending time with each other, so why not do something so we can be together every day?”

Fluttershy started blushing again as if she knew where Stunner was going with this, she stuttered. “St-stunner, wh-what are you s-saying?”

He walked up to her, took her hoof in his, looked her in the eyes, and spoke. “What I’m trying to say…..is I would like it if you would be my wife Fluttershy, why should Charles be the only one to have such a joyous thing happen to him today, will you be my wife, Fluttershy?”

“Oh my…..I….I don’t know…I mean……I……Oh my.” Futtershy was speechless.

Stunner became slightly worried Fluttershy was stuttering, he was afraid that she might say no. “Please Fluttershy, I love you, and I want to spend every day of my life with you, don’t you feel the same way?”

“I…..I…….” Fluttershy paused. She looked into Stunner’s eyes, she looked away for a moment, she slowly turned back to face him, a smile slowly crept on her face as her eyes began to water. “Oh Stunner, of course I’ll marry you, you make me so happy.”

Stunner smiled the biggest smile he could. “Really, you mean it?”

Fluttershy just nodded with her eyes closed. She opened them again and looked at Stunner.

“YAHOOOO, OH YEAH, oh thank you Fluttershy, you have no idea how happy you made me.”

“You’ve made me happy too Stunner, I was just surprised you asked me is all, I’m sorry if I worried you.”

“Not at all Fluttershy, not at all.” The two pressed their lips together in celebration. As they did, they heard birds chirping and wings flapping. They broke their kiss and looked around, there was a flock of birds perched on the branches of the nearby trees chirping happily and clapping their wings together as if to congratulate them on their new union. They looked around to see all the birds, they then looked back at each other with smiles and laughed a little. They kissed again and continued with their date.

*****

Sweet Apple Acres was a buzz with ponies going around, some were helping in the kitchen to make a big dinner for every pony, while others just sat around and chatted up a storm. Charles took a seat on the couch. As soon as he did, Marble Pie and Limestone Pie quickly rushed up and took sides of him as they looked at him dreamily. “Uh….hey girls, can I help you with something?” He asked them nervously.

Marble answered. “No, just admiring you is all.”

“Yeah, you don’t mind do you?” Limestone asked.

“Uh, he he, Pinkie Pie!” Charles called out. Pinkie hopped over.

“Hey Charles, what’s up?”

“Pinkie, do you think you could help me out here.” He asked pleadingly.

Pinkie giggled with a snort. “He ha ha *Snort* oh Charles, they just have a bit of a crush on you.”

“I noticed, do you think you could explain to them that I’m happy with the mare friends I have and not really looking for any more.”

The two mares sitting next to him frowned. “Awwe, really?" Marble said.

Charles looked at her. “Look girls, I’m sorry, I’m sure you two are fine mares, and you do look pretty and all, but I don’t know if I could handle two more marefriends.”

Limestone then chimed in. “Are you sure, we wouldn’t need much.”

Marble came in. “Yeah, come on.”

Charles continued. “I’m sorry girls, but that’s how it is.” The two mares just got off the couch and slunk away. “Oh boy, I hope I didn’t hurt their feelings.”

“Don’t worry, they’ll be fine, it’s just, they don’t get to meet too many stallions. They do work on my family’s rock farm, and it’s pretty far away from any town.”

“Geeze, now I really feel bad for them.”

Twilight then got to the center of the room to make an announcement. “Attention every pony, attention please!” The ponies all stopped talking and gathered around to hear her. “Thank you. Would my friends please join me up here, and Charles?” Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Charles all lined up next to Twilight. “All right everypony, now that we’re all gathered here, it’s time to make the announcement and tell you all the big news we mentioned.”

Rarity’s parents already knew the announcement, but they kept quiet about it.

Twilight continued. “As you all know, me and my three friends here have been dating Charles, he is a wonderful stallion and has saved us and Ponyville on multible occasions, we feel very lucky to be with him. Earlier today, he asked us a very important question, and we all agreed.” She paused for a moment. “He asked us to marry him and we all said yes!”

The room erupted with chatter of joy and congratulations. “MARRIED!?” Shinning called out. This silenced the room. “Now hold on, Twilight, are you sure you’re ready for this?” he asked as he stepped forward.

Twilight cocked an eyebrow at him. “Of course I’m ready, I wouldn’t have said yes if I wasn’t.”

“But are you absolutely sure, I mean, this is a big step. Do you really think your ready for this?”

Twilight narrowed her eyes at her brother. “Shinning, what are you getting at, I’m agrown mare, I can make my own decisions.”

“I just don’t want you jumping into something without being prepared.”

Night Light stepped forward to intercede. “Now Shinning…..”

Twilight cut him off. “Jumping in to something, Shinning, me and Charles have been together for months now, you know he’s a good person.”

Twilight Velvet tried to interject. “Shinning dear, I think….”

Shinning interrupted. “It isn’t a matter of whether or not he’s good, it’s a matter of whether or not your ready.”

Twilight was now glaring daggers at Shinning. “I can’t believe you, you aren’t my father, I can make my own decisions Shinning. I am a grown mare and I want to do this, you have no right to tell me what I can and can’t do with my life, so why don’t you just…..BUCK OFF!” Twilight then stormed off down a hall way and went to the room at the far end, slamming the door shut.

The room was filled with an awkward silence. Night Light finally broke the silence. “Shinning, your mother and I would like a word with you in private.” Night Light addressed every pony in the room. “Everyone, I’m sorry for my son, please go about your business.” Night light and Velvet then started to walk off, but not before Velvet said something to Charles.

“Dear, maybe you should go talk to her and see if you can calm her down.”

“Me, but….I don’t know what to say.” Charles was nervous now.

Velvet gave him a smile. “You’ll think of something, she is your marefriend and future wife, this will be good practice for you.” She then went to join her husband and son.

Charles looked down the hallway nervously. The girls came up to him, Rarity spoke first. “Don’t worry dear, you’ll do fine, just…..speak from the heart.”

Pinkie encouraged. “Yeah, just talk to her and let her know things will be fine, you can do it.”

“Well, ok, I should try to talk to her.” Charles then headed down the hall and to the room Twilight went into.

Applejack’s parents then came up to her. Appleseed started. “Applejack, can we talk in private, there’s something I need to discuss with you, let’s go to the barn.”

Applejack answered confusedly. “Uh, ok, sure thing dad.” Applejack and her parents then headed out the door to the barn.

Charles knocked on the door and cracked it open. “Twilight, can I come in?” He saw her lying on the bed in the room with her back facing him.

Twilight looked up and behind her at Charles. “Hey Charles, of course you can.”

He closed the door right behind him and stood there a moment as he spoke. “So…..what was all that about huh, he he.” He gave a light chuckle. He then made his way over to the bed, around it, and sat down so he was next to Twilight.

Twilight narrowed her eyes a bit. “Ugh, that Shining, sometimes I just want to…..to….GRRR!” She made a choking motion with her front hooves as she spoke. “Gah, I can’t BELIEVE him sometimes.” She was breathing heavily.

Charles placed a hand on the back of her kneck and started stroking her mane to try and calm her down. “Whoa, Twilight, calm down, I’m sure he had his reasons.”

Twilight cocked an eyebrow at Charles as she looked at him. “Don’t tell me your defending him?”

“NO, of course not, I mean…..well…maybe…..look, he’s your brother right?” Twilight nodded. “And as a good brother should, he cares about you right?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t give him the right to try and tell me what I can and can’t do with my life, I’m a grown mare, I can handle myself.”

“And I don’t think that’s what he thinks, I think you just took his concern for you the wrong way.”

Twilight’s look softened. “What do you mean?”

Charles removed his hand from Twilight’s back. “Did he just come out and say ‘Twilight, I forbid you to marry Charles, you are not ready for it.’” He said in his best Shining armor impression.

Twilight giggled at Charles’s impression of her brother. “Hm hm hm, no, he didn’t.”

“Right, all I heard him saying was, are you ready, are you sure you’re ready, do you really feel ready for this. What I gathered was he just wanted you to make sure you’re ready for marriage, I mean, it is a big step in life after all.”

Twilight adjusted her position and lay herself across Charles’s lap, he placed his hand back on Twilight’s back and continued stroking her. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, I just wish he didn’t have to make such a big scene out there like that, then again, he never was one for subtlety.” Twilight giggled again.

“There ya go, see, he was just trying to look out for you like any big brother should. So what do ya say, can you forgive him?”

“Well, he’ll have to apologize for making such a scene first. Then I’ll consider forgiving him.”

“Fair enough.”

Twilight looked up at Charles with a smile. “Thanks Charles, you really know how to cheer me up.” She then sat up, pressed a hoof on Charles’s shoulder and was looking at him with half lidded eyes. She then leaned in and the two shared a kiss.

After they broke apart, Charles spoke. “Glad I could help, now come on, let’s go rejoin the others.”

Twilight then pouted playfully. “Awwe, do we have to, I was hoping we could have some fun by ourselves here.”

Charles chuckled at Twilight. “Heh he, sorry Twilight, but I don’t think that would be a good idea with all those ponies out there, besides, we’ll have plenty of time to do things like that when we’re alone.” Twilight hopped off the bed and walked out of the room with Charles.

*****

Out in the barn, Applejack was having a discussion with her parents. “You WHAT?!" Applejack shrieked.

“Appleseed, I can’t believe you!” Appletree said in disbelief at what she just herd.

“Now Applejack, I know this is hard ta hear, but you need ta see reason here.” Appleseed said.

“Reason, what reason, how can you just stand there and tell me you don’t want me ta marry Charles!?”
Applejack asked in anger and surprise.

“It’s simple, he ain’t a pony.”

“That’s it, he ain’t a pony?! I can’t believe you dad, so what if he aint’ a pony, he’s a good stallion, and he has saved my life and my friends lives on multiple occasions! He’s a great guy and I love him!”

“His accomplishments aren’t what are in question here, when you wrote us a letter sayin ya were datin a human, I didn’t know what ta think, then news starts comin our way bout a strange creature callin itself a human, runnin around and such. When I finally saw a picture of it fer myself in the papers, I believed ya and figured this was just some silly crush ya had on it and it would pass, but marriage? I’m sorry hun, but I have ta put my hoof down.”

“IT, you’re calling him IT now, I can’t believe I’m hearin this, how can you be so close minded dad, what is wrong with you?! He saved Luna from gettin fried by a DRAGON fer corns sake!”

“Appleseed, I can’t believe I’m hearin this from ya, how can you be so cold?” Appletree asked.

“Stay out of this Appletree, I’m handlin this.”

Applejack was glaring at her dad with such intensity, it could set the barn on fire. “Handlin this….HANDELIN THIS?! Look here, I love Charles, and I’m gonna marry him whether you like it or not!”

Appleseed kept his straight face. “And what about grand foals?”

Applejack let up slightly. “What about em’?”

“Can you look me in the eye and honestly promise me that the two a ya can produce grand foals fer me and yer ma?”

Applejack was trapped there. “Well….I….that is..”

“Exactly, you two are completely different species, I highly doubt you two can make children together.”

“Well, if we want kids, we’ll just adopt.” Applejack answered.

Appleseed lowered his head and shook it as he closed his eyes. “So stubborn.” He looked back at Applejack. “Look, children or no, the fact is he ain’t a pony, and I don’t want no non pony as a son in law. I forbid you two ta get married.”

“You forbid me? You can’t forbid me from marryin who I want! I’m a grown mare, I can make my own decisions and live my life how I want, I am marryin Charles and there aint nothing you er any force on all of Equis can do to stop me, now if’n you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go rejoin my future husband and herdmates!” Applejack then stormed out of the barn, leaving her parents behind.

Appletree stood in front of her husband. “Appleseed, I can’t believe you, I thought you were better than this. This is our daughter’s happiness we’re talkin about, that should be what matters, not who she’s marryin. As long as Charles makes her happy, that should be enough. Now if you want, you can go and apologize to our daughter, or you can just stay out here in the barn, I’m gonna go and see if I can comfort my daughter.” Appletree then left Appleseed alone.

Author's Note

The voters have spoken, and the answer was pretty much what I thought it was, things are getting pretty tense here between Applejack and her dad, just wait till next chapter to see if her dad will come around, or if he’ll stay the same close minded mule he showed himself to be.

P.S. I would like to give thanks to Jman for providing the cover art I’m using for this fic, I would like him to think of the parts where his OC’s propose to their mare friends as a thank you. Hope you thought it was romantic enough for them.

HAPPY HEATH’S WARMING

Chapter 29

Charles and Twilight had rejoined the others after their talk. Twilight was now standing before her big brother. Shining Armor started. “Twilight, I’m sorry for making a scene like I did, I just wanted to make sure you were sure you’re ready for this.”

Twilight smiled at Shining. “I know you do, and Charles helped me realize that, so I forgive you.”

Shining smiled back. The two then shared a brief hug. Night Light and Twilight Velvet watched their kids with pride. Velvet then came up to Charles. “Looks like you did a good job there, I knew you could handle it.”

Charles smiled at her. “Heh, thanks.”

Marble and Limestone were looking at Charles from around the corner of the hall, trying to keep themselves hidden. They brought their heads back around and Marble started. “Ok, we need to find some way to get Charles to like us.”

Limestone was a little hesitant. “I don’t know Marble, he said he didn’t want any more mare friends, maybe we should just forget it.”

“Oh come on Lime, how many stallions have come up to us to ask us out or something?”

“Well……..”

“Exactly,” Marble said as she pointed a hoof at her sister’s barrel. “Not a single stallion has ever come up to us and complimented us on our looks, then we meet Charles and he says he thinks were pretty. We just gotta try and get him to fall for us.”

“Well…..” Limestone looked in thought, she then looked back at her sister with a confident nod. “OK, so what’s the plan?”

Marble then brought her sister's head closer to whisper. “Ok, here’s what we do….”

Applejack just walked in with her mother looking very unhappy. “Stupid dad, I can’t believe him.” She said to herself.

“Applejack dear, I don’t agree with yer father either, I want you ta know that ya have my full support in yer decision, I think Charles is a fine stallion….uh….human…..you know what I’m sayin.”

Applejack smiled as she looked at her mother. “Thanks ma. It means a lot ta me.”

Applebloom then came running up to them. “Hey ma, where’s dad?”

Appletree looked down at her youngest daughter. “He’s stayin out in the barn fer now dear, he has some serious thinkin ta do.”

As if to contradict that statement, the door slammed shut and the apples turned to see Appleseed standing there, still with a straight look on his face. Appletree and Applejack glared at him. Appletree came up to him and spoke. “So, I take it yer here ta apologize ta Applejack?”

Appleseed just looked at her. “Before I make any kind o decision, I want ta have a word with this human Applejack is dead set on marryin.”

Appletree’s look seemed to intensify. “Appleseed, I swear, you better not do nothing ta ruin our daughter’s happiness.”

“Appletree, I just want ta talk with him.” He then walked past his wife and daughters, Applebloom was looking worried, Applejack just kept her glare on her father.

Charles was standing with his other marefriends now just talking when Appleseed came up to him. “Charles, I’d like ta have a word with ya in private if I may.”

Charles looked at him confused. “Um….sure, ok, excuse me girls.” Appleseed led Charles outside and just off the porch.

He turned to face Charles. “Charles, I’m gonna be straight, I don’t approve of my daughter marryin some non-pony creature.”

Charles wasn’t sure what to make of that. “Excuse me?”

“Look, you two are completely different species, I don’t want my daughter marryin somethin like you.”

Charles narrowed his eyes. “Something like me? So your one of those types.”

Appleseed cocked an eyebrow. “One of what types?”

“Where I came from, there were some who didn’t like others that were different just because of the color of their skin, they didn’t care what that person’s personality was like or anything. That kind of thing was known as racism, and it has been responsible for so many innocent lives lost because of it. Now you may not like me, and that’s fine, but I don’t care that your daughter is a pony, I love her for who she is, and she loves me for who I am, if you can’t accept that, that’s your problem.”

“Now look here son….” Appleseed was about to say something, but Charles cut him off.

“If you truly love your daughter, you’ll let her have this, now you can hate me all you want, I don’t care, all I ask is that you at least tolerate it, despise me all you want, go ahead, I’m used to it, but don’t do it at the cost of Applejack’s happiness.”

Appleseed looked deep in thought as he looked to the side and raised a hoof. He looked back at Charles and began. “Charles, you may not be a pony, but you do seem to make sense, now I haven’t changed my feelings on the matter, but you are right about me carin fer my family. From what you been sayin, I can tell you truly care about her, so as much as I hate it, I guess there’s nothin I can do about it. So fer the sake of my daughter’s happiness, I’ll do what you say and just tolerate it. I won’t like it, but I’ll tolerate it.”

Charles smiled at Appleseed. “That’s all I ask sir.”

Appleseed actually smiled back. “Fer a non-pony, you ain’t so bad.” The two then headed back inside.

Appletree greeted them as they came in. “Well Appleseed?”

Appleseed went up to Applejack first. “Applejack, I may not like it, but fer Celestia knows whatever reason, this feller makes ya happy, and the last thing I want ta do is get in the way of that, so fer the sake of yer happiness, I’ll put up with ya marryin him, I won’t like it, but I won’t say no more on the matter.”

Applejack’s glare turned to a smile. “Really dad? Ya mean it?” Appleseed just nodded. “Thank you daddy.” Applejack hugged her dad.

Appletree then whispered to Charles. “What did you two talk about, I never thought he would budge on this.”

Charles whispered back. “I just let him know how much I care about Applejack.”

Appletree smiled at him. “Thank ya Charles, yer a real gentle colt.”

Charles just made his way to the middle of the room. “OH Charles!” Marble and Limestone called out together.

Charles looked to see that they were standing in the hallway entrance with a mistletoe hanging over their heads. They were looking at him with half lidded eyes. “Oh boy.” He said to himself.

Marble started. “Oh my, it seems you have caught us under the mistletoe.” She said in an unconvincing way.

Limestone continued. “I guess that means you have to kiss us, doesn’t it Marble?”

Rarity, Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie saw this and just chuckled to themselves, Cloudy Quartz couldn’t help but laugh at her daughter’s antics as well. Igneous just rolled his eyes with a smile.

Charles walked up to them. “Now girls, didn’t I say…”

Marble interrupted with a sly look. “Oh come on, it’s just one little kiss, what harm could it do?”

Limestone agreed. “Yeah, come on, it is tradition after all.”

Charles could see where this was going. “*Sigh* Fine, ONE…KISS.” The two looked at each other eagerly, they then turned their heads to Charles, closed their eyes and puckered their lips. Charles kneeled down and went for Limestone first, he gave her a quick one second kiss on the lips. Once he pulled away. Limestone gave a contented sigh. Charles then did the same for Marble with the same result, the two sisters leaned against each other and slid down to the ground.

“Step one….a success.” Marble said quietly.

“HEY GUYS!” Spike called out as he came in with Owlowicious on his head.

“Spike, there’s our little dragon son, come here you.” Nightlight said as he approached him.

“Spike, my little boy, there you are.” Twilight Velvet also made her way over to him.

“Hey mom, hey dad.” Spike embraced the two as they hugged him back. Owlowicious flew off Spike’s head and went over to Twilight.

“Hey there little bro, good to see you again.” Shining said as he too came over to greet him.

Spike then hugged Shining. “Hey there Shining, glad to see you again, so did I miss anything exciting?”

Shining gave him a sly look. “Oh, nothing much, just that Charles had proposed to Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie and they all said yes.”

Spike’s eyes went wide with surprise. “Really, whoa awesome, congratulations Twilight, girls!” Spike ran over to Twilight and gave her a hug.

Twilight smiled as she hugged back. “Thanks Spike.”

After they broke their embrace, Sweetie Belle came up to Spike. “Hi Spike.”

Spike smiled when he saw her. “Hey Sweetie Belle.” Spike gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Sweetie belle just giggled with a smile. “Hee hee, awe Spike.”

Granny Smith then came out from the kitchen with Big Mac and called out to them. “All right every pony, dinners ready, grab a plate and stack up on grub!”

*****

The next day came and Charles wanted to take a walk through town on his own, it was nice being around so many, but it was also getting pretty noisy, plus he needed to get away from Pinkie’s sisters for a bit as they tried to convince him to share a room with them last night. He was wearing his blue winter attire with his blue jeans and his shirt with Applejack’s cutie mark on it underneath. He left his staff at the farm but was wearing his necklace under his coat. He was wearing his black shoes as well.

He came to the park and sat down on a bench for a bit. “Charles, just the guard I wanted to see.” Lightning Thrash’s voice called out.

Charles looked up and saw Lighting Thrash out of uniform as he floated down to him from the air. “Good morning captain.” Charles greeted.

Lighting landed right in front of him. “Relax Charles, I’m off duty, I’m just out enjoying the day much like you I imagine.” He said with a smile.

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“I never got to say this but, congratulations on your getting married thing.”

“Thank you Lightning.”

Lightning Thrash then looked in thought for a moment as he looked to the side, he then looked back to Charles with a somewhat nervous look. “Eh, look Charles, I’m sorry if I seemed harsh on you when you disappeared that day, it’s just that you really did worry me, we are friends after all aren’t we?”

Charles smiled at him. “Of course we are, frankly, I don’t think I would’ve been comfortable without some kind of punishment for what I did, I was letting my own emotions cloud my judgement. I’m sorry about what I did.”

Lighting waved a hoof at him. “It’s fine, everything turned out all right, so any idea when the wedding will be?”

“Not yet, we still need to discuss that.”

“Any idea who your best stallions will be?”

Charles raised an eyebrow at this. “Stallions, as in more than one?”

“Well yeah, when a stallion gets married, he can have one or more stallions as his best. Any idea who yours will be?”

“Is there a limit?”

“Well, traditionally, the stallion getting married can have two or three.”

“That’s good to know, then I think I know just who I want to have for my best stallions then, well, at least one stallion to be my best stallion.”

“And who would that be?” Lightning asked with a smile.

Charles smirked. “I would like it if you would be one of my best stallions captain Lightning Thrash.”

Thrash was surprised by this. “Me, really.” He smiled as Charles nodded. “HA HA, I would be honored, you got a deal Charles.” Lightning stuck out his hoof for a shake, Charles grabbed it and shook on it. “Well, I’d better get going, I got a date with my marefriends, I’ll see you later private.” Lightning then flew off.

Charles got back up and continued his walk. “So, I can have more than one stallion to be my best stallion, who else should I pick then?” He asked himself quietly.

“Comrade Charles, good morning.” Black Cloud called as he flew up next to Charles.

“Oh, hey Black Cloud, good morning.” Charles greeted as he continued to walk with Black Cloud flying next to him.

“Good morning to you too, I take it you have been having good time at Applejack’s place with so many ponies there?”

“Kind of, it’s nice to be around others like that, but it gets so noisy sometimes, plus, Pinkie’s sisters have been trying to convince me to let them be my marefriends.”

Black Cloud laughed. “HA HA, I would love to see that, I bet is funny no?”

“It’s kind of annoying is what it is, they’re nice and all, but I don’t know if I could handle a relationship with two more mares. In fact…….well.” Charles lowered his head.

Black Cloud landed and looked at Charles with worry. “Is something wrong comrade?”

“It’s just that I don’t know if I AM ready for this, I mean, FOUR MARES, how am I supposed to provide for them? I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Comrade Charles, let me ask you something, do you know how herdship works?”

“I.....guess not.”

“Is simple, herd is family, family helps each other and looks out for each other, you think stallion does all work to keep family together?”

“Well, back on earth, the guy is usually the one to take care of everything in a marriage, and he just has one wife a few kids.”

“Interesting, but not how it works here, because there are more than one in herd, herd works together to provide for one another, each of your marefriends have job no?”

“Yes, they do.”

“Then is no problem, they help you and each other as you will help them.”

“But, what if things don’t work out, what if I’m not ready for this, what if….” Charles was saying in a bit of panic.

Black Cloud flew up and put a hoof to his mouth to stop him. Charles stopped walking when he did. “Comrade Charles, calm down.” He removed his hoof. “Let me ask you another question, do you love the girls you are to marry?”
Black Cloud was now on the ground standing in front of Charles and looking him straight in the eyes.

“Well, yes but….”

“AH, let me finish, do they love you?”

“Yes, but….”

“AH…..then what is problem, you love them, they love you, you have been with them for a few months now and have only grown closer, yes?”

“We have.”

“Then you are ready, as long as you all love each other, there is no problem and you are ready for this, you can do this comrade, is no problem.” Black Cloud finished with a smile.

Charles smiled back. “Thanks Black Cloud, that was quite a pep talk.”

“Am always happy to help friend.”

Charles then got an idea. “Black cloud, would you like to be one of my best stallions for my wedding?”

Black Cloud smiled at this. “You want me as best stallion?” Charles nodded. “It would be honor Charles, I will happily stand by you on wedding day.”

“Glad to hear it Cloud, I should probably get back to the farm now, I’ll see you later, I’ll be sure to let you know when the wedding is, Oh, and also, I asked Lighting Thrash to be one of my best stallions too.”

“That is good to hear, we will be there for you on wedding day.” Black cloud then took off.

Charles decided to exercise his wings and flew back to the farm.

*****

Charles landed a few feet away from the house when Limestone and Marble saw him come. They quickly rushed to his sides and each grabbed an arm with smiles on their faces. “Hi Charles, welcome back.” Marble said.

“We missed you, you hunky stallion.” Limestone added.

Charles just shook his head as he walked in with two mares around his arms. Pinkie was out on the porch and saw this, she just laughed. She then remembered something. “Hey Charles, me and the girls have been telling every pony about how great you are with music, you wouldn’t mind sharing a little something with us would you?”

Charles smiled at this. “I’d be more than happy to Pinkie.”

“I can’t wait to hear you sing.” Marble commented.

“I just know you’ll be good.” Limestone commented.

Charles rolled his eyes while Pinkie giggled. “All right you two, I kind of need my arms if I’m going to do a song for every pony.”

“Awwe.” They said with a frown, they reluctantly released Charles from their grasp.

The four walked in and Pinkie announced Charles’s arrival. “Hey every pony, Charles is back, and he’s going to do a song for us, he’s been sharing music with us from his world and it is just fantastic!”

Charles stood in front of the fire place while every pony else gathered around to hear him perform. “Ok, the song I have in mind to share with all of you comes from a holiday similar to Hearths Warming, it’s a holiday called Christmas, just letting you know so no pony gets confused when I bring it up. Also, I want to dedicate this song to four very special mares that changed my life for the better and am happily marrying. Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack.”

The four smiled at Charles. He used his magic to create clones of himself, each with instruments for the song he would perform, the music started and Charles sang.

*****

Lightning Thrash was walking with Rainbow and Derpy through town on their date. They each had a smile on. Derpy was on his left and Rainbow was on his right. “Sure is a beautiful day huh?” He asked them.

“Yup.” Dash simply answered.

“It sure is, I love the snow.” Derpy also answered.

“That sure is something, Charles proposing to your friends and all?” Lightning thought out loud.

“I’ll say, I can’t wait for the wedding.” Derpy said with a bigger smile.

“It sure is, I’m real happy for them.” Rainbow Commented.

“You know, Stunner and Carbon proposed to their marefriends as well.”Lightning informed.

Dash looked at Lightning with surprise. “So Fluttershy’s getting married too?”

“Yep, Stunner and Carbon told me about it today when I ran into them.”

“How wonderful, that is so romantic.” Derpy said with a dreamy look in her crossed eyes.

Dash was a little surprised too. “Wow, it seems all our friends are getting married.”

Lighting looked straight ahead. “Yeah, it seems so.” He said quietly.

Dash and Derpy stopped in their tracks and looked at him with confusion. Derpy was the one to ask. “Is something wrong Lightning?”

Lighting walked ahead a little more then stopped. He gave out a loud sigh, then turned around to face them. “Girls, do you have any idea how happy I am to have you two in my life?”

Rainbow answered with a smirk. “I think I can imagine.”

Lightning continued. “All our friends are getting married to the ponies they love. Charles with Pinkie, Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack. Carbon and Octavia, and Fluttershy and Stunner, they all are getting married because they love each other.”

Derpy spoke up with a smile. “Well that is what happens when ponies love one another.”

Lighting pointed a hoof at Derpy. “Exactly, and I love you two with all my heart, which is why I figured why should we be left out of all this joy going around?”

Rainbow then looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. “What are you getting at Thrash?”

Thrash smiled at his marefriends. “What I’m getting at….is I would like it very much if you two agreed to marry me, will you two be my wives and make my life complete?”

Derpy’s and Rainbow’s jaw dropped. They slowly turned to each other for a moment, then looked back at Lightning. Rainbow Smirked as Derpy’s eyes got all watery. Derpy was the first to answer. “Oh Lighting, of course I will, thank you so much.” She then launched herself at him and hugged him tight. They then shared a passionate, open mouthed kiss.

Once they finished, Dash trotted up with that same smirk. “It’s about time you asked, I was starting to think you’d never propose.” Rainbow then wrapped her forelegs around Lightning’s neck and dipped him down so he was looking up at her. She pressed her lips to his and gave him a good hard passionate kiss. She stood him back up and mussed her mane a bit.

Lighting just stood there dumbstruck. “WOW….I mean……WOW.” Dash just chuckled.

*****

Charles finished the song and all the ponies were stomping their hooves in approval. He dismissed his magic duplicates and looked over the ponies. “Thank you all, I’m glad you liked it.”

His marefreinds then came up to him with smiles. Rarity was the first to speak. “Oh Charles, that was absolutely beautiful.”

Twilight then came in. “That was very lovely Charles, thank you.”

Applejack then gave her compliment. “I gotta say, I ain’t never heard anythin so pretty before.”

And Pinkie then came is as her usual bubbly self. “Wow Charles, that was really pretty, that was very sweet of you.”

Charles looked at each of them as he spoke. “Thanks girls, I’m glad you thought so.” He then went and gave each of them a kiss. Apllejack, Rarity, Twilight, Pinkie, and…….wait. Charles stopped after Pinkie, he looked and saw he was about to kiss Limestone. Charles pulled back, he looked and saw Limestone and Marble lined up with his marefriends, lips puckered and ready for a kiss. Charles couldn’t help himself, he just smiled at them. “Nice try girls.” He said to them.

They opened their eyes. “Awwee.” They said with disappointment. Once again, Charles’s mares couldn’t help but laugh a little at this.

Author's Note

For those of you feeling sorry for Limestone and Marble, I plan on making something nice happen for them.

Chapter 30

“Agent Jonathan, come in please.”

“You wanted to see me Mr. Alex?”

“Have you made any progress on tracking your target?”

“Yes sir, we are currently working on a device that should allow us to travel through dimensions and to the one the subject escaped too.”

“Good, how long till it’s done?”

“You must understand, this is delicate and complicated, we’re talking about traveling between worlds here.”

“How….long?”

“It should be ready in a few months or so.”

“Agent Jonathan, what about the two scientists heading up this project?”

“They are in full cooperation sir, they are doing as told and working very diligently.”

“Don’t screw this up Jonathan, or the only work you’ll be able to get is cleaning toilets for a living. Understood?”

“Yes sir, Understood.”

Back in Equestria:

“CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP!” Charles was in a panic, it was two days to Hearth’s Warming and he had completely forgotten to get his marefriends a gift. “Crap! How could I be so thoughtless? These girls give me their love and I don’t even have the common sense to get them anything for the holiday…….CRAAAAAAPPP!” He was flying frantically over town in his red and yellow winter outfit with his black jeans and shoes, trying desperately to think of what to get the mares he was to wed. “Come on THINK, there has to be something you can get them……ok, personalities, Rarity is classy, generous, and is a fashion designer. Pinkie is happy-go-lucky, loves parties and is an excellent baker. Applejack is a hard worker, honest, works on an apple orchard, and isn’t afraid to get her hooves dirty. Twilight loves books, is very smart, and has a caring heart. So what can I get them?”

“Use that brain of yours, now Twilight, I guess is simple enough, I could get her a book….oh but what kind of book, she has so many already. It would have to be something special.” Charles stopped and landed on a cloud to sit and think for a moment. “Let’s see, book, book…….AHA, perhaps a piece of literature that doesn’t exist here…..which means I may have to go back to earth………….AM I OUT OF MY MIND?! I can’t go back there, well, I could thanks to Twilight’s teachings and teleport back, but how would I be able to get her anything, I don’t have earth money, I would just end up stealing. Then again, why should I worry about stealing from anyone there, all THEY ever did was hurt me. Besides, the kind of book I have in mind for Twilight is sure to impress her, and she is definitely worth it, they all are.”

“Ok, so I know what I want to get Twilight, what about the others, Rarity likes jewelry and dresses, maybe I could get her a nice dress or fancy jewelry, but what? I do recall some fashions on earth that Rarity would simply love, perhaps I could get something like that for her from earth too, maybe a fashion magazine that could give her ideas on some new fashion designs to help her business. HAH, that would be perfect. Ok, Rarity and Twilight are covered.”

“Ok, now Pinkie Pie, let’s see, Pinkie, Pinkie……she loves parties, loves baking…..perhaps something to do with that, but what?” Charles stood up and paced in thought on the cloud. “Baking, baking, baking……a cook book? I suppose, but what kind? If it’s going to be something special, it should be a cook book with recipes she doesn’t have. Hmmm, perhaps I would have to get something from earth for her too. YES, that’s it, HA HA, I am so brilliant!”

Charles stopped his pacing. “Ok, Pinkie, Rarity, and Twilight are covered, now what about Applejack? Think, think, think…….GAH! This is going to be hard, how do get something for a farm pony that’s already happy with what she has? There has to be something I can get her to show her how much I care about her……come brain, WORK!” He proceeded to rub his hands on his head and messed with his hair. “A new hat maybe…..no that’s too simple, then again, she does seem to love that hat she’s always wearing, would she even want a new hat? I don’t know, I just can’t seem to think of anything else, so I guess I could try and get her a nice new hat for her, I’m sure she would love it.”

Charles finally made his decisions on what to get his marefriends for Hearth’s Warming. “All right then, I’m going to have to make a trip back to earth and just get these things, good thing I remember a one stop shop type of store I saw when I was in New York, I can pop in, get the things I want, then pop out back home…..home, heh, I really have a home here. MAN that feels good to say.”

Charles focused his magic as Twilight taught him to when using a teleport spell, but since he would be crossing dimensions, it would take a lot more than what was needed for a simple teleport, luckily, he had it since he was able to do it befor. Last time when he tried it, it was an accident, now that he had training and knew where he was going, it was going to be easier. “Come on, New York, Time Square, here I come” His body became enveloped in his white aura as he closed his eyes in focus. In a brilliant flash, he vanished.

The void between worlds:

“WOO HOO!” Charles cried as he flew through the dimensional void to earth, he was surrounded by the same swirling colors as before when he first came to Equestria.

New York City, Time Square:

In a brilliant flash in a random alley near time square, Charles appeared. “Whoa, what a rush.” He wobbled on his feet a bit. “Ok, need to sit down now, whew, man. That takes quite a lot out of me, gonna have to rest for a bit before I try that again.” He sat down and leaned against the brick wall behind him. He looked to his right and could see the busy streets of New York before him, the whole city and streets were a bustle with people and the stores were decorated for Christmas, it was night at the time. “Hmpf, humans, I can’t believe I’m actually calling myself one with the way they treated me. What am I saying, I am a human, they’re the monsters.” Charles said to himself as he glared at all the people passing by. The alley was dark so if anyone happen to look his way, they would most likely not see his wings.

After almost an hour, he felt he had gained back enough of his magic to teleport back to Equestria, he stood up and was about to walk out but then remembered something. “My wings, I can’t let them see my wings, if they do, it’ll all start over again and I won’t be able to get the gifts for my mare friends. I know, I’ll just cast a simple illusion spell to hide them.” He focused his magic to his wings and they faded out. “Perfect, now to just make my way to the store I recall seeing the last time I was here, just hope it’s still there.” He made his way out of the alley and joined the other humans going about their business, unaware of the being from Equestria.

“It sure is weird being back in this world, after being among so many that actually care about me, this place is the one that feels alien now.” After a bit of a walk, he finally came to the store he was searching for. “HAH, perfect, it’s still here.” It was a large building with glass double doors, the inside had two floors with books in one section, clothing in another, various nick knacks in one and food in another. Charles first made his way up the second floor where the books were. “Let’s see, literature, literature, AHA, here we go, perfect, the complete works of Shakespear, Twilight is sure to love this.” Charles took the book under his arm and went to the section with magazines.

“Ok, gaming….no….news…no….celebrities…no…..here we go, fashion magzines, the latest trend. Rarity is sure to love this.” Charles placed it under his arm with the book he picked up. “Now to find a cook book for Pinkie.” He went on and continued searching for said item. It didn’t take him long to find the section with cook books and found one with vegetarian dishes and one with recipes for sweets that pinkie had never heard of. “And now for Applejack.” Charles made his way back to the first floor with the clothing and searched through a section that had western style wear.

He searched through the hats trying to find the perfect one for Applejack. “No…no….no…no…hmmm, this looks nice, and it even has an apple on it, this is perfect, I just know she’ll love it.” Charles picked out a hat that was similar to Applejack’s in color, but had a braid surrounding the base and an apple attached to it on the front.

“Applejack, that’s a funny name for a girl.” A woman commented who had come up next to Charles as she went through the hats.

Charles turned to her and retorted. “And just what is wrong with Applejack for a name?”

“It just sounds weird to me.” The woman appeared to be in her 30’s, she had long black hair and stood two inches taller than Charles.

He didn’t like some stranger bad mouthing one of his marefriends. “Look here, I think it’s a fine name, just like Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight. They are fine names belonging to four fine mares that I’m marrying.”

The woman looked at him with shock and confusion. “Four…..mares? Are you saying you’re getting this for a horse and marrying four?”

He decided to have fun here. “Actually their ponies, and they are four of the kindest, nicest, sweetest ponies I have ever met, of course I don’t expect a human to understand.”

“Excuse me?” the woman raised an eyebrow.

Charles kept his smirk as he dismissed his spell hiding his wings. The woman backed off with fear on her face. “That’s right, you heard me, now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going home. So long freak.” He gave a small salute as he focused his magic and once again his body was enveloped with his white aura, and in a flash, disappeared from sight, leaving behind a confused and bewildered woman.

The void between worlds:

“WOO HOOO, YEAH!” Charles cheered for joy as he flew through the void between dimensions surrounded by the colors he saw the first and recently second time he did this.

Equestria, Ponyville:

Charles reappeared, keeping his forward momentum. He made a bit of a rough landing and rolled in the snow upon re-entry, he landed on his back in a fit of joy. “HA HA, WOO, oh man HA HA, that was fun.” He lay on his back sprawled out with his gifts for his marefriends lying on the ground next to him spread out a little.

“Um, Charles, what are you doing?” Shinning had asked as he looked down at Charles.

From Charles’s point of view, he looked upside down. “Oh hey Shining, I just got back after doing a bit of last minute shopping for my girls.”

Shining stepped back to let Charles up. He picked up the things in his aura and looked at them curiously. “What is all this?”

Charles informed him. “I got a book for Twilight, a pair of recipe books for Pinkie, a fashion magazine for Rarity, and a new hat for Applejack. I just made a little trip to earth to get them, and quite frankly, I’m a little worn out, crossing dimensions isn’t easy.” He said as he sat back down.
Shining looked at Charles with confusion. “You went to earth?”

“well yeah, it was the only place I could think of to go to get something special for them. What better place to go shopping for someone you really care about than another dimension right?”

“I…..guess so.”

Charles looked around and noticed he was in front of Applejack’s house. “Oh crud.” He said a little worried.

“What is it?” Shining asked upon picking up on Charles’s distress.

“I can’t let the girls see this stuff yet, it’s a surprise, Shining, think you can help me hide these until I can get them wrapped up?”

Shining Armor gave him a smile. “No problem.” He then made them disappear.

Charles looked at him curiously. “Where did you…”

Shining cut him off. “The room I’m staying in while I’m here.”

Charles smiled again. “Thanks Shining, I owe you.”

“No problem.”

Charles then got an idea. “Shining, how would you like to be one of my best stallions at the wedding?”

Hearths Warming Day:

Hearths Warming Day had finally come. Everypony had gathered in the main living room and families passed out gifts for one another. Charles was wearing a new grey sweater with a white zig zag line at the center Rarity made him. It was now his turn to pass out his gifts to the ponies he was marrying. Shining brought them out for him and floated them over to him. “Thanks Shining, I appreciate it.”

“Thank you for giving me the honor of being one of your best stallions.”

Charles was sitting down on the floor next to the fire place as he presented each gift to his marefriends, Twilight was first. “Twilight, I know how much you like books and reading, so I got you something I just know you’re going to enjoy.” He handed her a large rectangular object that was wrapped up.

“Thank you Charles.” She opened it and saw what it was, she eyed it curiously. “The complete works of Shakespear, who is that?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure what to get you all so I made a quick trip to earth and got you all something from there, Shakespear was a popular play writer from earth history and that book holds every piece he ever wrote, I hope you enjoy it.”

Twilight smiled. “Charles, you went back to earth to get this?” He just nodded. “Thank you so much, I can’t wait to take a look.” She then came up to him and they shared a gratifying kiss. Twilight held the book in her aura and set it aside for now.

Charles then presented Rarity with her gift. “Rarity, since you like fashion and all, I figured maybe you’d like to know more about earth fashion, so I picked up a fashion magazine and thought you might be able to come up with some new designs or something.”

Rarity opened her gift and smiled as she looked through the magazine. “Oh my, just look at those dresses, and those suites, heavens, this is magnificent.” She turned her attention to Charles. “Thank you Charles, this is very thoughtful of you.” She then came up to him and gave him a kiss as well.”

Then it was Pinkie’s turn. She was smiling big before Charles gave her her gift. “Pinkie, since you like to bake and stuff, I figured you might be interested in a few earth recipes.”

Pinkie opened her gift and gave each book a quick look through. “Wow Charles, these recipes look tasty thank you so much.” She just leapt at him and pressed her lips to his, which he gratefully accepted.

Finally it was Applejack’s turn. “Applejack, I’ll have to admit, I wasn’t sure what to get you at first, but after some thought……well, I just hope you like it, it may not seem as thoughtful as the other gifts, but I just wasn’t sure what to get you, I just hope you at least like it.” Charles then handed Applejack her gift.

She unwrapped it to reveal a box, she took off the lid and lifted the hat out. “Well I’ll be.” She smiled at it. “Charles, this is perfect, I love it.”

Charles spoke nervously. “Really, you sure, cause if not, I’m sure I could come up with something better to get you.”

Applejack chuckled. “He he, this is just fine partner, thank ya.” She took off her old hat and tried on the new one. “It fits perfectly, thank ya so much Charles, I love it.” She too then gave Charles a grateful kiss.

The day pressed on as everypony enjoyed one another’s company during the holiday. Before it came time to turn in for the night, Charles figured now was as good a time as any to begin the discussion of when the wedding will be. “All right, can I have everyponies attention please.” Every pony quieted down and turned their attention to Charles. “Thank you. Now then, I believe now would be a good time to discuss whent the wedding will be.”

“Ooh ooh, can we have it in the summer, summer is nice.” Pinkie said.

“I think we could have it during fall, it would be so romantic to walk down the aisle with all those leaves at that shade of orange as we say our I do’s.” Rarity swooned.

Charles interjected. “Actually girls, I would like to have it before spring.”

They looked at him curiously. Twilight stepped forward. “Charles, why so soon?”

Charles began to explain. “Twilight, in case you all forgot, I’m supposed to go off and find these things called the elements of life, it’s a long trip to where I have to go and I would like to know I have four beautiful mares I can call my wives waiting for me back home. I know this isn’t an easy subject, but there is a threat looming that I need to be ready for. I’ve learned all I can from you Twilight, and It’s about time I go and find the elements of life.”

“Oh, right, guess we kinda forgot about that.” Applejack hung her head.

“Awwe, but we don’t want you to go.” Pinkie whined.

Charles took them all in a hug. “I know you don’t want me to go, I don’t want to go either, but this is something I have to do, besides, once this whole mess is over and done with, we’ll have our whole lives ahead of us as a herd.”

Rarity started. “Well, if you have to go, couldn’t we at least get married on the first day of spring, after winter wrap up, please.” She looked at Charles with saucer sized eyes.

“Rarity, I don’t know if…”

Charles was cut off as all the mares in his arms gave him the same look, he was completely and utterly helpless. “Ugh, fine, I guess I can wait until Spring comes around, but after that, I have to go.”

The mares all smiled at him. Night light came forward. “So then its settled, we’ll have the wedding the day after winter wrap up.”

“YAHOO, A WEDDING ON THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING!” Pinkie cheered.

Charles then asked. “So, who are we going to get for our wedding planner?”

“I can do it, I am very organized after all.” Twilight offered.

“Really, you want to be the wedding planner for your own wedding?” Charles asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course, why not?”

“Well, ok then, so who are we going to get to plan the party?”

Pinkie spoke up. “Uh, DUH!” She said as she pointed to herself with a smile.

“I should have known.” Charles said with a head shake.

“Of course, who else to plan a wedding party than some pony who’s specialty is planning parties?!” Pinkie cheered again. “And don’t worry, I’ll make sure to coordinate everything so it’s to every ponies liking. I’m of course referring to you three.” She pointed to Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack.

“OOH, and I could design the wedding dresses.” Rarity perked up.

“And I can take care of the catering.” Applejack offered.

Charles was smiling big. “Well then, I guess the wedding is well taken care of. We’re going to have one fine spring day wedding.”

Out of nowhere, Spike belches out a letter. “Twilight, we got a letter from Celestia.” Every pony turns their attention to Spike as he reads it out loud.

My dearest student Twilight, I do hope I am not interupteing your holiday, but something urgent has come up, I need you, the other elements of harmony, and Charels to come to Canterlot right away, please come as soon as you can.

Princess Celestia.

Twilight was the first to comment. “Gosh, I wonder what could be wrong, we’d better get going. Come on girls, and Charles, let’s go.”

Earth, undisclosed location:

“Keith, are you sure about this?”

“Marie, we have to do this, this could be our only chance, we have to take it.”

“Your right, we have to get him back, I just wish we never made that agreement all those years ago.”

“Don’t worry Marie, we’ll do whatever it takes to get him back, I promise.”

“Do you really think he’ll come back to us after what we did to him?”

“I……I don’t know, but we have to at least try.”

Author's Note

And so Charles's wedding has been set for spring, but what could Celestia possibly want the girls for? Stay tuned to find out in the next chater of......THE ANGEL OF EQUESTRIA! -cue echo-

Chapter 31

On the train ride to Canterlot, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash informed the others of the good news they had about getting married as well. Needless to say, a round of congratulatory hugs and such were given. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were also informed of when the wedding for their four friends and human would be. None of them were sure as to why Celestia asked them all to come to Canterlot though, but they would soon find out. The train pulled up to the station and the group made their way through the town up to the castle. The guards opened the door and the group of mares and human made their way in.

Upon entry, Celestia stood at the top of the staircase to greet them with a smile. “Good evening my little ponies, and Charles.”

The girls and Charles all bowed. “Good evening princess.” Twilight greeted.

“I am terribly sorry to call you all here on this holiday, but something important has come to my attention.”

“It’s all right Celestia, we’re always happy to help, so what do you need us for?”

Celestia’s smile faded. “As you know, we have Dark Flash in the dungeons, she has been secured so she can’t cause trouble, however, as it turns out, she was once a friend of Luna’s.”

Rainbow hovered above the others. “What? You expect us to believe that she and Luna were friends?”

Celestia looked over at Dash and continued. “I know it sounds hard to believe, but it is true, she was once known as Night Shine. She lived here in the castle for a time until she started getting made fun of by some of the staff. She tried to inform Luna about it but was blown off as her being silly. In the end, she had enough, blew up part of the castle and flew off.”

Twilight’s eye’s widened in shock. “SHE did that?!”

Celestia just nodded. “I believe she has fallen prey to her own dark emotions of rejection and sadness, thus turning her into something else, much like what happened to Luna before when she turned into Nightmare Moon.”

Rarity then began. “So I take it that you want us to use the elements of harmony to change her back, correct?”

Celestia smiled at them. “I do, I would like this to be a Hearth’s warming gift to my sister, she has no idea of what I am planning, I believe you can change her back and restore her to what she was before.”

Charles then came forward with a question. “Ok, so you want the girls to use the elements of harmony to change Dark Flash back to Night Shine, but why am I here, I’m no bearer of an element of harmony.”

“I would like you nearby in case Dark Flash manages to break loose and tries to escape.”

Charles suddenly looked sullen. “Forgive me princess, but last time I tried to fight her, I wasn’t really much help, Princess Luna did most of the work in that fight. I think that made it obvious that you two are stronger than I am, you could probably handle her yourself. ”

Celestia kept her warm smile. “Charles, haven’t you been training in magic with Twilight?”

“Well, yes but……”

Celestia raised a hoof to cut him off. “And didn’t you save my sister from being hit by Dark Flash’s fire ball that would have killed her?”

“Yes but…”

She cut him off again. “Charles, you are a strong warrior, you have proven yourself capable time and again, and with Twilight’s training, I know you have grown a little in strength, I have every confidence you can handle this if she breaks loose.”

Charles thought for a moment, then looked up at Celestia and smiled. “You can count on me your majesty, I will do my best if worse comes to worse.”

“Glad to hear it, now come, we shall retrieve the elements of harmony and take Dark Flash to a more open area so you six can use them.” Celestia began walking as they followed her to the chamber where the elements were kept.

Along the way, Discord appeared and followed. “Hello my friends, so good to see you on this joyous holiday.”

Charles, Fluttershy and Pinkie smiled upon seeing Discord, the others still were wary around him. “Hey Discord, Happy Hearth’s warming.” Pinkie cheered.

“And a happy Hearth’s warming to you too Pinkie, and to all of you as well, tell me, what brings you all by the castle at this time of the year?”

Fluttershy informed. “Princess Celestia asked us to use the elements of harmony to turn Dark Flash back to what she was before so Luna can have her friend back. Her name used to be Night Shine.”

Discord put his lion paw to his chin in thought. “Ah yes, I remember hearing about that. So you six are going to change her back to Night shine, splendid, I’ll bet Luna is very pleased about this.”

Celestia then spoke. “Actually, my sister doesn’t know about this, I want this to be a surprise gift for Hearth’s warming for her.”

“But then how does she not know about this going on right now?”

“I have her busy entertaining a visiting dignitary I invited over for a visit.”

With Princess Luna:

“I must say, it seems rather rude for your sister to invite me over and not be here herself.” The dignitary said as he and Luna sat at a table to enjoy a nice meal. The dignitary was a griffon ambassador.

Luna responded with a fake smile. “I am terribly sorry about that, I’m sure she will be along any moment.”

“Well, that will give us plenty of time to talk, did I ever tell you of the time I went to visit the country of Saddle Arabia, I know your sister went there, but you simply must go yourself, it is a wonderful country with……” The griffon ambassador just started rambling on with boring details.

“I think I’d prefer being banished to the moon than this. Next time I see you big sister, you’re going to get it.” Luna thought to herself.

Back with Celestia:

The group had retrieved the elements of harmony and were now on their way to get Dark Flash.

Discord took notice of Applejack’s hat. “Applejack, is that a new hat your wearing?”

Applejack answered with pride. “Darn tootin, Charles got it fer me from his old home.”

Charles responded from the back of the group. “That place was no home, I was treated as a monster there, that was just a place I was stuck in till I found my real home here.”

Discord used his magic to levitate Applejack’s hat off her head. “Hey, what in tarnation are ya doin? Give it back.” Applejack was glaring at Discord.

“Oh relax, I just want a closer look. Hmm, sturdy….nice braid, it even has an apple on it.” Discord then floated it back to Applejack and placed it on her head. “There, see, I just wanted a better look.” Discord then turned his attention to Charles. “So Charles, you really went back there?”

Charles answered. “Believe me, I didn’t want to, but I knew it was the best place to go to get something special for my girls.” He smiled as he spoke.

His mares smiled back at him. Discord then started. “Well frankly, I think that place is rather boring, not enough chaos going on.”

The girls and Charles stopped in their tracks, Celestia stopped as well and turned around while keeping a straight face. The girls all yelled. “YOU WHAT?!”

Charles then spoke on his own. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, let me get this straight, are you saying you can travel between worlds too?”

“But of course, being a god of chaos, I am capable of it, Celestia is too. I would think you thought that possible since she, Luna, and myself have more power than you do and you were able to cross the dimensional borders, though Celestia and Luna never do.”

Celestia then started. “Because it could be dangerous. We have used our powers to peek into other worlds, but never travel to them. Now come, let us continue.” Celestia turned and started walking again, the others followed.

They soon reached the dungeons and Dark Flash’s cell. Dark Flash looked up at her visitors. “Well, well, what a pleasant Hearth’s warming surprise, nine visitors. What do you want?” She said sarcastically.

Celestia answered. “Dark Flash, because you have proven to be a threat to Equestria, I have no choice but to sentence you to…….” Dark Flash figured it was death and just hung her head with a scowl. “Be purified by the elements of harmony.”

Dark Flash then raised her head and looked at her confusingly, Celestia was wearing a smile. “Excuse me?”

“I am well aware that you have been corrupted by your dark emotions which turned you into what you are, much like what happened to my sister many years ago.”

“You must be joking, I am how I am because your sister betrayed me, she turned her back on me and ignored me when I asked for her help.”

“She was only part of the problem and learned from her mistakes, the other part of the problem is you for letting your emotions get the better of you and turning you into what you are now. But the elements of harmony can change that, they can remove the darkness from your heart and make you Night Shine again.”

Dark Flash stood up and glared at them. “I TOLD YOU, NIGHT SHINE IS DEAD, LUNA KILLED HER THE DAY SHE TURNED HER BACK ON ME!”

Celestia looked at her with pity. “Tell me, if you could go back to the way things were and make them better, would you? To be with Luna again, to be friends again? Would you?”

Dark Flash hung her head and turned away. “There is no going back.”

“Yes there is, the elements of harmony can make you who you were, who you are supposed to be, surely there is some part of you inside that is still Night Shine who longs for the days that you and Luna were friends.”

Dark Flash just looked sad with her head still turned. “How can things possibly go back after what I did when I left?”

“Because Luna realizes it was her fault this happened, and she is terribly sorry about it, she wants you back, she wants her old friend Night Shine with her again.”

Dark Flash lifted her head and looked at Celestia. “She really wants me back, after what I did, after I nearly…….” She couldn’t finish her sentence.

Celestia smiled. “She does, so what do you say, can you forgive her for what she did to you, she forgives you for all the wrong you’ve done so far.”

Dark Flash looked to the side again in thought. “I…..I…..GAH!” She winced as she clenched her eyes. “NO,…get out of my head!” She started thrashing a bit, causing her chains to rattle. She glared at Celestia. “I will never forgive you or her for rejecting me.” Her eyes were slitted. “I will rule all of Equestria and be its queen.”

The group all became worried. Celestia spoke to Discord in a hurried manner. “Discord, teleport us to the garden.”

“Right.” Discord snapped his eagle claw and the group disappeared from the dungeons with Dark Flash in tow.

They reappeared in the gardens and Celestia quickly placed the elements of harmony on their respective owners. Dark Flash was still in chains with the magic inhibitor ring on her horn. The chains were attached to the ground.

“Girls, use the elements now!” Celestia commanded. Dark Flash looked as if she were struggling with something.

“NO…….get out of my head.” “You need me, remember how she hurt you, how she betrayed you?” “I……DON’T……WANT……YOU!”

Twilight and her friends activated their elements. Their necklaces started to glow, their bodies enveloped in the same color glow as their element, they rose up in the air, Twilight’s eyes opened to reveal pure glowing white eyes. A rainbow shot forth from them in a spiral, the two connected just above their heads and shot down in one big rainbow at Dark Flash. Her body became encased in a swirling vortex of colors as she screemed out. “NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Charles, Celestia, and Discord shielded their eyes from the bright flash that erupted from the magic that was affecting Dark Flash.

Princess Luna:

Princess Luna was walking down the hall with the griffon ambassador next to her as he continued rambling on about something the night princess held no interest for. The hall they were walking had windows lining it that looked out to the garden. A bright flash outside caught her attention. “What was that?” She said quietly to herself as she stopped and looked outside. “Sister? Discord? What are the bearers of the elements doing here?” She saw them standing in front of Dark Flash. “Dark Flash too, what is my sister up too?”

The griffon ambassador spoke up. “Princess, is something wrong, oh, there is your sister, what is going on out there?”

An answer was given as the elements of harmony activated before their eyes. Luna’s eyes widened as she soon realized what may be going on. She quickly turned to the griffon. “Ambassodor, I’m terribly sorry, but I must take my leave.” Luna then flew through the halls as fast as she could to get to the door that led to the garden.

She reached it in no time and stepped outside just in time to see the rainbow from the elements of harmony strike Dark Flash and hear a scream. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Luna raised a hoof and used a wing to shield her eyes from the bright flash that followed. The light faded and Luna lowered her wing, before her, the six mares were on the ground looking tired. Charles, Celestia, and Discord helped each one of them back up. Luna trotted up to her older sister. “Sister, what is going on, what is all this?”

Celestia smiled. “A present for you for Hearth’s warming sister.”

Luna just looked at her quizzically, a moan was then heard. “Oooohhh.”

Every pony, god, and human looked to the source. Lying on the ground was an alicorn with a silver coat, mane and tail, the mane moved and glittered much like Luna’s. The chains and ring were gone. Luna slowly made her way over to the downed alicorn that slowly opened her eyes. “Night Shine, is that you?”

The alicorn sat up on her haunches and looked at Luna. “Luna, is that you?”

Luna smiled with tears forming in her eyes. “Night shine, it is you!” Luna glomped onto Night shine knocking them both over. “I missed you so much Night Shine, I’m so sorry for not listening to you when I did.”

Night shine narrowed her eyes. “GET OFF ME!” She pushed Luna off of her, stood up, and just looked at her.

Luna was surprised by this. “Night Shine, it’s me, Luna, your old friend.”

“I know who you are, you’re the one that hurt me, do you really think I had forgotten how you ignored me when I needed you the most!” She spoke with anger clear in her voice.

Luna was now looking rather regretful. “Night Shine, I’m sorry, I really am, I just didn’t think any pony could ever thing the worst of you, I’m sorry I didn’t listen. Please believe me when I say that if I could go back and change things I would, I would have listened to you and done something.”

“Well you can’t, and you didn’t, I may not be Dark Flash anymore, but I still remember what happened.” She traded her angry look for one of sadness as she turned her head away. “I thought we were friends, I thought I could count on you to be there for me, but you weren’t.”

Luna came closer. “Night Shine…..I can’t tell you how sorry I am that I did that, I’ll say it as many times as you want me too, I just want you back, I miss you.”

Night Shine looked back at Luna. “I missed you too, but you really hurt me. I don’t know if I want to take the chance of being hurt again”

Luna came closer and put a hoof to Night Shine and looked her in the eyes. “Night Shine, I promise from now on, I will listen to you and be there for you no matter what, if you ever need me for anything, I will be there, I swear by my moon.”

Night Sine’s eyes started getting teary. “Really, you promise?”

Luna gave a smile. “I do, I did just swear by my moon didn’t I, and you know I mean it when I do that.”

Night Shine smiled back. She embraced Luna in a hug as she spoke. “Oh Luna, I missed you so much, can you ever forgive me for all those things I did as Dark Flash.”

Luna hugged back as she started to cry tears of joy. “I already have, I’m just happy to have my friend back.”

While this was going on, Pinkie pulled a hankerchief out of nowhere while Discord made one appear, they both blew their noses noisily making confetti come out. Fluttershy, Twilight, Applejack and Rarity just had a sweet smile on, Rainbow Dash just looked bored. Charles watched the whole scene with a smile of his own as well with his arms crossed.

Celestia finally came forward once Luna and Night shine broke their embrace. “Luna, this is my Hearth’s warming gift to both of you.” She said to both Luna and Night Shine. “Happy Hearth’s warming sister.”

Luna looked to her sister with a smile. “Thank you sister, I was going to let you have it for sticking me with that boring ambassador, but I think this makes up for it.”

“Boring, excuse me?” Came a voice from behind the group. “So you think I’m boring do you?” The griffon ambassador asked looking none too pleased.

Celestia came forward and addressed him. “Ambassador, do forgive my sister’s comment, she’s just having a long rough day.”

“Well, I don’t know what’s going on here but I do not appreciate being ignored, you invite me here for a casual visit, don’t greet me yourself, your sister ditches me in the hall and comes out here, then I find my way here and she calls me boring, I can assure you this does not sit well.”

“I’m terribly sorry ambassador, I can explain everything, why don’t we go to the dining hall for a nice dessert as an apology.” Celestia then led the ambassador away from the gardens.

Charles spoke up. “Come on every pony, let’s leave these two alone so they can catch up.” They all agreed and left.

Author's Note

So.....was that touching or was that touching. Leave comments and let me know what you think.

Chapter 32

After much planning and anticipation, Charles’s wedding day had finally come. Celestia offered to let Charles have the wedding at the castle and would be presiding over it. Charles was in a room with his best stallions Lightning Thrash, Black Cloud, and Shining Armor. All were wearing tuxedos. Charles was pacing back and for the nervously while the three stallions with him just watched. “Oh man, oh man, I can’t believe it, the day is finally here, I can’t believe I’m actually getting married.”

Lighting spoke up. “Why not, you proposed to them, they said yes, you all agreed on a day, so now the day is here. What’s not to believe?”

Black Cloud agreed. “Yes comrade Charles, why so nervous?”

Charles looked at the three as he answered. “Because I never in a million years thought something like this would ever happen to me. I never thought I would ever fall in love and get married, yet it’s actually happening. I can’t do this, how am I supposed to do this?”

Shining Stepped forward. “Charles calm down, you CAN do this, no sweat.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re not the one getting married.”

“Well I might be soon, I’ve been seeing a beautiful mare in my spare time, her name is Cadence, she’s Celeistias niece, plus, she used to foal sit for Twilight.”

“Well that’s all well and good but that doesn’t exactly ease my nerves. I can’t do this, I just can’t.”

Lightning then came forward. “Yes you can, come on, you’ve faced worse than this, this is nothing.”

Charles paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “Your right, I have, I can do this, I can do this.” He started making for the door to the hall to take his place at the altar. “I can do this, I……” He turned back around looking a little panicked. “Can’t-do-this-I’m-scared-out-of-my-mind.”

Lightning threw his head back, Shining rolled his eyes, and Black Cloud facehooved, all giving out a collective grunt. “UGH!”

“Look, I’m sorry guys, but I’m taking a big step in life here, I don’t know how things will work out.”

Black Cloud came up to Charles. “Comrade, do you not remember talk we had a few days before Hearth’s warming?”

Charles thought for a minute. “Yeah, I remember, a herd looks out for each other, they work together to support one another and love each other.”

“Exactly, so no matter what, you are not alone.”

Shining then came forward. “Besides, knowing my sister, I’ll bet she’s probably stressing about all this too.”

With Charles’s brides to be:

Twilight was pacing nervously back and forth in front of Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie, all wearing white dresses. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Octavia, Vinyl, and Derpy were there as well, they were acting as the best mares for the four. “Oooh, this is it, I can’t believe this is it. We’re actually getting married. How does my dress look, is it on straight?”

Applejack answered. “Fer the hundredth time YES Twilight, you look fine, would ya just calm down.”

Rarity came in. “Darling, you’re working yourself up too much, just relax.”

Twilight turned to Rarity. “Relax, how am I supposed to relax, we’re about to get married here, maybe I’m not ready for this, maybe I answered too soon, ooh, what am I going to do?”

Pinkie wasn’t really much help, she was just jumping for joy and was very excited about it all. Rainbow Dash came up to her and put a hoof on her back. “Chillax Twilight, you’re not alone in this remember, we’re all here for you, besides, in case you forgot, you’re not the only one getting married.”

Vinyl came forward. “Yeah Twilight, you got Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie with you, they’re marrying Charles too you know.”

Twilight smiled at her. “Your right, I need to just calm down, take a deep breath and relax.”

Pinkie finally spoke up. “Yeah, that’s what you need to do. I can’t wait to get this started.” She said as she continued jumping.

Rarity looked to Pinkie. “Pinkie Pie, darling, would you please stop jumping up and down like that, you’re going to get all sweaty and ruin your dress.”

Pinkie stopped with a frown. “Fine.” She quickly smiled again.

Back with Charles:
(Lights, by Aviators)

Charles was taking calming breaths after his little freak out. “Feeling better comrade?” Black cloud asked.

“A little, yeah, ok, I can do this. Time for me to get married.” Charles walked out of the room with his best stallions behind him and made his way to the throne room where the wedding would take place. Celestia was standing at the head of the altar and smiled upon seeing Charles enter. Luna was next to her with her friend Night Shine. On each side of the room were ponies ready to witness the wedding. Charles looked around and saw the parents of the four mares he was about to marry gathered near the front. He took his place in front of the two princesses. His best stallions took their place on his right with Shining first, followed by Black Cloud, then Lightning Thrash.

Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo soon entered with baskets of pedals in their mouths as they happily made their way to the altar leading the four brides with their bride’s maids behind them. Charles Smiled as he looked upon his wives to be as they approached. They all simply smiled back. The little fillies took their place to the side with their families and the girls took their place at the altar. Twilight and Rarity got on Charles’s right, while Applejack and Pinkie took his left. The brides’ maids, took their place to the left of the altar as Celestia began.

“My little ponies, we are gathered here today to join these five hearts in in love and unity. Their love is undeniable, their commitment is unquestionable. Today we join these hearts in herdship and wish them all a long happy life as one. Let their love prove that no matter the race, love will find a way, let us also let their love be a shining example for us all. And so, it is with great pleasure that I, princess Celestia of Equestria do hereby unite you five in herdship and love, you may now kiss your brides.“

Charles turned to the two mares on his right first and gave them each a kiss, then turned to his mares on the left and gave them a kiss. With that, Charles was now married to his four loves, and he couldn’t be happier. The ponies all stomped their hooves in approval, well, all but one, Applejack’s dad Appleseed just watched the whole thing with a stern face. He was still unhappy about this, but he did care for his daughter’s happiness, so he just watched.

Later at the reception, every pony was gathered in the ball room and having a good time at the party. Charles was near the buffet table which was placed along the wall next to the entrance of the ball room, He was chatting with his new wives. “Wow, I can’t believe it finally happened. I’m really married, and to four wonderful girls. I never imagined something so wonderful could ever happen to me, I can’t thank you four enough for all you’ve given me.”

Pinkie giggled. “Oh silly, you’re a wonderful human, and you make us all happy. You deserve this, and us.” She said as she gave a sly smile at the end.

“Charles, darling, you are a hero and a fine guard, how those other……humans treated you was horrible, but I think they just didn’t see the kind soul you are that we see in you.” Rarity informed.

Twilight agreed. “They’re right Charles, we all love you and are very lucky to have found one another.”

Applejack followed up. “Besides partner, you been so wonderful ta all of us, not just us four.”

Charles smiled. “Thanks girls, I am so lucky to have met you, now I’m even luckier to have you all as my wives. I feel so great right now I just want to…..to…..I don’t know, something.”

Pinkie hopped up and down with an idea. “I know, why not share another song with us, you’re so good at that, maybe that will help.”

Charles responded. “You know what, that’s a good idea. Why not, I’m sure every pony here would like to hear me perform a little something.”

Before he could make his way to the stage, Celestia, Luna, and Night Shine came up to them. Celestia addressed them first. “Hello my little ponies, and Charles.”

The five gave a bow, Twilight greeted them. “Hello princesses, hello Night Shine.”

Luna came in. “Congratulations you five, you all must be very happy.”

Pinkie answered. “You bet we are, we’re finally married to a great stallion.” Pinkie then hopped onto Charles and wrapped her hooves around his neck, giving him a big kiss.

Once Pinkie let go, Charles addressed them. “I am most grateful to you princesses, I don’t think any of this would have been possible without you.”

The two princesses raised an eyebrow at this, Luna was the first to ask. “And how is that so Charles?”

“You two were the first to accept me as I am, you allowed me to become a guard and sent me to Ponyville to start a job and get my own life going, because of this, I got to meet my four wives. I can’t thank you enough.”

The princesses smiled, Celestia responded. “You are most welcome Charles.”

He then turned to Night Shine. “And hello to you Night shine, it is nice to meet you on better circumstances.”

Night Shine smiled. “Thank you, it is good to meet you too, I know you will be most happy with your new life.”

“Now then, with your permission princess Celestia, I would like to play a little number for every pony on this occasion to express myself, I’m just so happy about all this.”

Celestia nodded. “Of course Charles, go ahead, I am curious as to what song you will be performing.”

Charles made his way through the crowd and got up on the stage, there was a microphone set up already for the band that was playing earlier. He took hold of the microphone and spoke. “Excuse me, can I have every ponies attention?” The crowd quieted down and turned to him. “Thank you, first of all, I would like to thank Shining Armor, Black Cloud, and Lightning Thrash for acting as my best stallions for this day, second, I would like to thank the princesses for allowing us to have our wedding here in the castle, thirdly, I want to thank all of you for being so accepting of me when I first came here. I figured I would just be treated like how I was in the other world I came from, but you all just accepted me for who I am and not what I am. For that I am eternally grateful. Now here we are at my wedding day, something I never thought would happen. I am just so happy, I would like to share a song with all of you, I would like to dedicate this number to my new wives, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle.”

“This song I want to perform pretty much sums up how I was before I met you four, so I felt it appropriate to share this one with all of you.” Charles summoned his staff, turned it into his guitar, and used his magic to form clones to perform the instruments. “This number is sure to get you all stomping your hooves. This one is called Feel Again.”

The ponies did indeed enjoy the music as they danced along to the beat of the music. Charles was also having a blast as he danced while playing. Once he was done, the ponies were cheering in approval as they stomped their hooves.

He gave his thanks to the crowed and made his way back to his wives. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were standing with them as he approached. Applejack was the first to compliment him on his performance. “HOO doggy, that was some number you put on, nice Charles.”

“Thanks.” He responded with a smile.

Twilight then came forward. “So did you really mean what you said about that song?”

“I do, ever since I ran away from……well, you know…..and I was treated so badly by others, I eventually just stopped caring, I closed off my heart and just became numb to the world. Then I met you six, you all changed my life for the better. You showed me friendship when no one else did. Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, you four showed me love. Thank you all for everything.” The girls all smiled at him. He shared another kiss from each of his wives.

Celestia came to them again. “Charles, girls, I have something I wish to tell you.”

Rarity responded. “Yes princess, what is it?”

Celestia smiled. “I have a wedding gift for you all.”

Twilight responded with a smile. “Princess, you didn’t have to do that.”

“But I did, Charles, think of it as a thank you as well for all you have done for this country.”

Charles looked up to her. “So what is this wedding present you have?”

Celestia smirked. “Remember that large house that was recently built in Ponyville?”

“You mean that large two story house near the middle of town?” Rainbow asked.

Celestia nodded. “That house is for you Charles, and your new family.”

Charles smiled big. “Really, I get……I mean, we all get our own house?”

“But of course, I think it would be easier if you all lived under one roof, don’t you?”

Twilight responded with a big smile. “Oh thank you princess, thank you!”

“You’re welcome, I’m guessing you would all like to move in soon.”

Pinkie responded happily. “You bet we would!”

“Well you’ll all be glad to know I’ve taken care of everything, while the wedding was going on, I arranged for all your things to be moved to the new house you all will be living in.”

Applejack tipped her hat. “Well I’ll be, thank ya kindly princess, you sure are full of surprises.”

Celestia winked. “I know.”

Twilight got a little worried about something. “Wait, what about Spike?”

“Don’t worry Twilight, he has his own room there too. I made sure to take care of everything, there is a bed large enough for all five of you in one room and Spike will have his own room.”

Twilight’s smile returned. “Thank you princess.”

Later on in the party, Charles went to hang out with his friends in the royal guard. It was a surprise to Charles when he saw Shadow Fang there. “Shadow Fang, I didn’t you’d come.” He said with a smile.

“Believe me, I would rather not be here, but other guards practically dragged me here.” Shadow said with a frown.

“I see, well I’m glad you’re here anyway.”

Shadow raised an eyebrow at this. “You are, why?”

“Hey, every party needs a party pooper, HAH!”

Shadow Fang narrowed his eyes. “Oh ha ha ha, dat was so funny I forgot to laugh, I’m going for drink.” He then walked off in a huff.

Black cloud came up to him. “Ha ha, dat was good one comrade, you are funny.”

“Glad some pony thinks it was funny. I thought it might have been lame. I’m not good at jokes.”

Dusk Fang came forward to agree, “I’ve definitely heard better.”

Dawn Fang then came forward. “I thought it was a little funny.”

Fuse then spoke up. “So Charles, now that your married, what now?”

Charles looked downcast as he responded. “Well, I guess tomorrow I need to leave and go find those elements of life, I’d hate to leave the day after I just got married, but this needs to be done.”

Carbon spoke up. “Any idea how long you’ll be gone to find them?”

Charles shook his head. “Not sure, from what I can remember from the information that was provided for me, they’re pretty far off, I could be gone for months, and I’d really hate to leave my girls alone for months after we just got married. Hay, I’d hate to leave them alone at all.”

Lightning Thrash came up to Charles and put a hoof on his shoulder. “Charles, you said yourself this is something you have to do, the girls will be fine without you around, sure they’ll miss you and you’ll miss them, but think of it this way. You have something to come back to, a reason to try and do this as fast as possible. You’ll have a home waiting for you.”

Charles smiled at him. “Your right captain, I do have to do this, but I’ll also have a home waiting for me.”

Dawn Fang came forward. “So that just means you’ll have to make this night extra special for your girls right? Eh eh?” He said as he nudged and winked at Charles.

Charles just looked at him. “Believe me, I plan to, I’m going to make this night very special for my wives. But I’m not about to go into detail with you guys.” He said with a smirk.

“I should hope not.” Shining responded from behind Charles.

Charles quickly turned around and saw him frowning. “OH, uh, hello captain.”

Shining then just smiled. “Just remember to take good care of my sister when you get back from your journey.”

“Yes sir, I plan to.”

Later that evening, after the party had died down, every pony decided it was time to head home, Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie said their goodbyes to their families. Charles said his goodbyes to them as well, he did have a chat with Marble and limestone Pie. “Well you two, it has been interesting.”

Limestone started up. “Charles, do we really have to say goodbye?” She said sadly.

“Yeah, are you sure there’s nothing we can do to change your mind?” Marble asked.

Charles kneeled down and put a hand on their backs. “Look girls, I’m sorry, I think your both pretty and all, but I just don’t think I could handle anymore marefriends, if you two want to get in a relationship, you need to put yourselves out there, don’t be afraid, just be confident in yourselves and show any stallion that catches your eye that you are great, I know you can do it.”

The two smiled at Charles. “You really think so?” Limestone asked.

“I know so, and be sure to write to Pinkie and let her know if you two ever manage to land yourselves a stallion so she can tell me when I get back from my journey, I know you two will find that special somepony, your both fine mares.”

“Thanks Charles, I guess you’re right, we do need to try harder to get a special somepony.” Marble responded.

“You two take care of yourselves now, and good luck, not that you’ll need it.” Charles said with a wink.

The two blushed a little. The families finally parted ways and the ponies from Ponyville got on the train for home.

Upon arrival, Fluttershy and Rainbow left for home after saying goodnight, it was getting late and the sun had set a while ago. Luna’s night was beautiful, a crescent moon hung in the sky as the stars shined brightly. Charles, his new wives and Spike made their way through Ponyville to their new home Celestia got them. They soon arrived at their new home to be, it was a large two story house. The six gawked at it for a while before deciding to go in finally and look inside. “Come on girls, what are we wating for, let’s check it out.” Charles said as he took the first steps toward it.

Upon entry, Owlowicious was the first to greet them as he flew up to Charles, Charles held out his arm for Owlowicious to land on. “Hey there little buddy, good to see you here.”

Twilight came up to him. “Did Celestia get our pets here too?”

That was soon answered as Rarity’s cat Opal Essence came sauntering in looking as casual as ever. Winona, Applejack’s dog, came running in excitedly wagging her tail. Gummy just came walking in with the same odd look in his eyes. The girls each greeted their pet.

“Oh, Opal wopal, it’s so good to see you, what do you think of our new home?” Rarity asked her cat. Opal simply responded with a meow. “I thought so, I like it too.”

At the back of the house was an open kitchen, with an island in the center. The living room had two good sized couches and a table in front of them, to the left from the entrance was a staircase leading to the second floor. To the right was a door to another room. Twilight took Spike over to look at it. “Wow Spike, look at this, this must be your room. What do you think?”

Spike was smiling big, it was a big room with a big bed just for him. “Whoa, AWESOME, I get my own room and bed, I’m definitely going to like this place.”

Pinkie then called out. “Come one girls, let’s check out the upstairs.” Pinkie made her way to the stairs with Rarity, Twilight, Applejack, Charles and Spike following.

At the top of the stairs, another open area greeted them, it was like a second living room with couches and chairs. Behind that was a wall of windows with a glass door that led out to a balcony. Just before reaching the open area of the second living room was a door on the left and one on the right. While Rarity and Pinkie examined the second living room, Twilight and Applejack went to the room on the right, it was a large bathroom with white tiles, a large tub and a stand up shower with a glass door, and three sinks in front of a large mirror.

Rarity practically swooned when she saw it. Applejack was the one to comment. “Well I’ll be, the princess really went all out fer us on this place.”

Pinkie agreed. “I’ll say, and we haven’t even seen our bedroom yet.” The girls and two boys finally went to the other room and got a look inside. It was very spacious with a large walk in closet and a large bed big enough for all five of them to sleep in.

Charles was the one to comment. “Ok, this is just too much. I can’t believe she went through so much trouble for us like this. This place is too nice.”

Rarity disagreed. “Nonsense darling, I’d say it’s perfect, besides there are quite a few of us living here now aren’t there?”

Charles conceded. “You got a point there.”

Twilight then spoke up. “She just wants to make sure we’re well taken care of. I think it was very nice of her to do this.”

“I’m not saying it wasn’t nice, believe me, I’m grateful for this, I just never thought I’d get to live in such a nice place.” Charles said.

Spike soon gave out a yawn that got every ponies attention. “*YAWN* Is it bed time yet, I’m pretty tired now, and I’d like to try out my new bed.” He said with a tired smile.

Twilight smiled at him as she rolled her eyes. “All right sleepy head, let’s get you tucked in.” She lifted him up with her magic and placed him on her back. She went back downstairs and to Spike’s new room. Twilight walked in, used her magic to remove the covers and gently placed him in bed and tucked him in. “Good night Spike, sweet dreams.” Twilight then quietly left the room and went back upstairs to rejoin her new husband and herdmates.

She walked in just in time to hear the start of some music coming from the room. She saw Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie lying near the edge of the bed as Charles started up on a song. She climbed onto the bed with the others and watched Charles.

(Sexy And I Know It, LMFAO)

Charles danced around seductively and slowly stripped as he went about the song, he gave his wives a special private show before crawling into bed with them to show them a wonderful night of love and passion, his little dance number really lit a fire in the mares that night.

Author's Note

Now I can probably guess what your all thinking about that last song, well I just had to go there so deal with it, anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for all the likes and favorites, BROHOOF/)

Chapter 33

On the night after the ponies returned to Ponyville from the wedding, Black Cloud left from the train station and flew through town towards the Everfree forest. Black Cloud soon came to the entrance and made his way in. He flew on for a while looking for something, it didn’t take him long to find it as he soon came to a clearing with a campfire glowing with an inviting warmth. In front of the fire was a Pegasus mare, Black Cloud’s destination. “Pure Valkyrie, it is good to see you again.”

“Black cloud, it’s always nice to see you too.” The Pegasus greeted with a smile. The two nuzzled each other lovingly. What was odd about her was that her wings were slightly larger than a normal Pegasus. Her coat was white and her main and tail was gold with silver streaks, as was her wingtips. Her cutie mark was an arcane rune with an alchemy mortar and a pestel. She was wearing a druid style dress with a hood that had runes on it. Off to the side was a pair of saddle bags and some armor lying next to them.

The armor was a chest plate and a pair of lower foreleg bracers and light chainmail coverings for the wings. The two broke their embrace as Black Cloud Spoke. “Pure, please tell me you will come with me to town tomorrow morning, comrade Charles will be leaving then and I would very much like you to meet him.”

Pure seemed a little hesitant. “You mean this human you keep talking about? I don’t know, what if he and your other friends don’t like me?”

“Dey will like you, you are wonderful mare, I just don’t like you staying in forest by yourself like this.”

She gave him a playful smirk. “Black Cloud, you know I can take care of myself.”

“Yes, I know, you are of the Valkyrie race. But even so, I still worry for you, won’t you please finally come to town with me so you can meet my friends?”

Pure Valkyrie finally conceded. “*Sigh* All right Black Cloud, I’ll come with you, I’m still nervous though.”

“Don’t be, you will be welcome with open forelegs, trust me. I will stay with you tonight so we can go together, yes?”

Pure smiled. “All right, thanks Black.” The two then snuggled up together and lay down to rest for the night.
The next morning:

The sun was just now barely rising over Equstria. Black Cloud awoke with a yawn next to Pure. “*Yawn* Good morning Pure, are you ready to go meet friends?”

Pure awoke as well with a yawn. “*Yawn* As ready as I’ll ever be I guess.”

Black Cloud stood up. “Pure, I promise my friends will like you, then you won’t have to be living in forest anymore, you may even be able to join town royal guard with me.”

Pure stood up and made her way over to her armor and placed them in her saddle bags. She stood a little taller than Black Cloud. Once her bags were secure, she readied herself to fly with Black. “Ok, let’s go.” The two took to the air and headed out of the forest for Ponyville.

Black Cloud led Pure to the south side of town just in time to see all the guards and the girls gather around to say goodbye to Charles. He was wearing his all black outfit and had his staff on his back. He also had a black back pack on that was most likely full of supplies with a sleeping bag on it. They landed and trotted up. Pure froze a moment. Black Cloud saw this and came up beside her and placed a hoof on her back as best he could since she was a little taller than him. “Pure, it is all right, I promise friends will like you, come on, before he has to go.”

Pure looked to Black Cloud as he smiled. “Ok, just stay close ok?”

“Of course.” Black Cloud led Pure over. “Comrades, is good to see you this morning!” He called out, the group all turned to face him.

“Hey black Cloud, glad you could make it to see me off.” Charles greeted with a smile as he walked up to Black. The two shared a hoof/fist bump. Charles then noticed the mare with him. “And who is this lovely mare with you?”

Pure shied away with a blush at Charles’s compliment, she tried to hide her face with her hood. “Comrade Charles, dis is my marefriend Pure Valkyrie, she is of race of pegasai known as Valkyries. She is very shy and has been living in Everfree for three years now.”

Dusk Fang came forward to comment. “Three years in the forest, wow, you must be a strong fighter to live in that place for so long.”

“Um, h-h-hello, it’s…..v-very nice t-to m-meet you.” Pure said.

Twilight then came to greet her. “Well hello there, I’m Twilight Sparkle, welcome to Ponyville.

“Th-thank you.”

Black Cloud went into her story. “Pure was exiled from home because of her unusual size and wings, she found her way here to Everfree. She found me in forest one day while I was injured after a mission I was on a long time ago that didn’t go so well. She nursed me back to health and things just went from there, so we are together.

“Black Cloud, there you are!” A happy sounding voice called out. A unicorn mare with a white mane and tail and a navy blue coat came running up to him. Her cutie mark was of a white sheet of paper with a paint brush on it.

“White Paint, you made it!” Black Cloud happily called back, the two embraced in a hug.

Once they broke, the new unicorn, White Paint, noticed Pure. “Oh, hello, you must be Pure Valkyrie, I’m white Paint, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

“Oh, uh, hello, Um. So……you’re White Paint?” Pure asked.

White answered with a smile. “I did just say that didn’t I?”

“Pure, White Paint is originally from Manehatten, she moved here because she thought it was boring there. I know I told you about her, and her about you. You are ok with this yes?” Black Cloud asked.

“Y-yes,……I remember, it’s…..nice to f-finally meet you.” Pure said nervously.

White stepped up closer to her. “Wow, Black Cloud wasn’t kidding when he said you’d be tall. I mean that in a good way of course.”

Charles finally stepped forward. “Black Cloud, is this mare another mare friend of yours.” He asked with a smile.

“She is, and I feel very lucky to have these two as my mare friends.”

“Hey look, Celestia is coming.” Rainbow Dash pointed out. Celestia was indeed on approach in her glden carriadge, as was luna in her dark carriage with Night Shine with her, and there was another alicorn flying with them. The carriages touched down and the princesses and Night Shine got off. The ponies all bowed. Pure was a little afraid, especially of the new alicorn that appeared, he looked very intimidating.

Once the ponies were back up, Celestia gave her greeting. “Good morning my little ponies.”

Fluttershy found the courage to speak up. “Princess, what are you doing here? Not that we’re not happy to see you.”

Celestia smiled as she responded. “We came to see Charles off of course.”

Luna came up next to her sister with Night Shine, the other came up on Celestia’s other side. “We wished to see him off, also, Apex here was finally compelled to come meet the human every pony has been talking about.” Luna informed as she gestured to the new alicorn. “He is our general of our forces.

He stood about as tall as Celestia. Apex had a black coat with red tribal markings, the markings covered his entire body, the ones on his head looked like a skull while the rest of them just covered his body in a circuit pattern. At the center of his forehead was a spade. His mane and tail were spikey and black with silver streaks. His cutie mark was a winged tribal skull surrounded by five stars. His eyes were two different colors, his left eye was a metallic light blue while his right eye was metallic red.

He was wearing a long black officers great coat and a black beret with a patch on the front of it. This new comer had a very serious look on his face, even Charles was a little intimidated by him. “General Apex, long time no see.” Carbon spoke up.

Apex looked at Carbon as he approached. “Carbon, good to see you, I trust your keeping to your duties?”

Carbon gave a salute. “Yes sir, I’ve been doing my best as a guard here.”

“Good to hear.” He never smiled as he spoke. He then looked to Charles. “So you’re the one every pony is talking about huh.”

“Uh, yes sir.” Charles simply answered. Apex walked up to him and circled him around a bit. He stood back in front of Charles.

“Not bad, you certainly seem like a capable warrior. And given what I’ve heard, I suppose you can handle yourself in a fight.”

Charles lost all his fear of this stallion before him as he spoke. “With all do respect sir, I AM capable, I can handle myself just fine.”

“So I’ve heard, I’ll be keeping an eye on you, as I understand, you’re supposed to go find some new power we haven’t heard of, correct?”

Charles spoke casually now, but still showed respect for this officer, since he was a general, he was Charles’s superior officer. “Yes sir, I am to go and find these things called the elements of life. They reside somewhere in the southern parts of Equestria.”

“Just watch yourself out there, the southern areas without any towns are more dangerous than the everfree forest, even we don’t know what you can expect to find out there, Celestia is against any pony going there because of the dangers. But she seems to have confidence in you that you can do this, so I will trust her judgement.”

Charles gave a salute. “Thank you sir, I won’t let you or any pony down.”

Apex then turned to Night Shine. “And as for you Night Shine, I am well aware of your situation, I still say it’s a bad idea to have you around after what you did, but again, the princesses seem to believe your good now. Just in case, I’ll be keeping an eye on you as well.”

Night Shine smiled at this. “Fine by me.” She said dreamily. Luna giggled.

Luna then put on a mock pout. “What about me Apex, If you’ll remember, I was Nightmare Moon at one time. Haven’t you been keeping an eye on me too?”

Apex rolled his eyes. “Princess Luna, it has been a long time since that incident, I have seen no signs of you turning back into Nightmare Moon, I have no reason to suspect you for anything bad, therefore, no reason for me to watch you.”

“Awe.” Luna gave a fake sad smile. But was still having fun with this.

Celestia chuckled too. “So Apex, I don’t suppose I could interest you to join me for dinner with my sister and Nightshine, just the four of us?”

“Sorry your majesty, but with this threat you mentioned looming, I need to make sure the troops are in top physical condition and all weapons are ready to go.”

“Surely you can take a little break this afternoon?”

“*Sigh* Fine, one dinner, then I need to get back to my duties.”

The three alicorn mares smiled at this while mentally, they were celebrating in their minds at finally getting a date with Apex. “Thank you Apex, I just know we’ll have a wonderful time.” Celestia informed.

Charles then addressed every pony there. “Well every pony, it’s about time for me to head out.”

“Awweee.” This cry of disappointment came from Charles’s wives. “Do you really have to go now?” Pinkie asked.

Charles answered with a smile as he looked over his four mares. “I’m afraid so, but look at it this way, the sooner I leave, the sooner I can come back to you all. I’ll try to make this trip as fast as possible and come home real quick.”

The newly married herd gathered for a group hug and Charles gave each of his wives a kiss. He said his goodbyes to Rainbow and Fluttershy too as he simply hugged them.

Charles walked up to Lightning Thrash. “Well captain, this is it, I’ll try to be back on duty as soon as I can sir.” He gave a salute.

Lightning returned it. “Understood, you take care of yourself out there, that’s an order.”

“Yes sir.” They dropped their salute and Charles went to the princesses. “your majesties, thank you for coming to see me off, I’ll be sure to be back soon with the elements of life so I will be ready to do my part to defend this land when the time comes.”

Celestia and Luna smiled at him. “Thank you Charles, we know you will succeed in your quest.” Celestia informed.

“Indeed, I shall watch over you in your dreams Charles.” Luna said with a smile.

“Thank you, just….try not to come into one of my dreams if I happen to be dreaming about……um….you know….being with my wives.” Charles blushed a little.

Luna blushed a little too. “Of-of course not.” Celestia and Night Shine laughed.

“Anyway, now that goodbyes are out of the way, it’s time for me to fly, I’ll see you all later, and I’ll be thinking of all of you.” Charles said as he looked over all his friends, the guards, the princesses, and the six mares who changed his life. He flew up above their heads and looked back down at them. “I’ll be back before you know it. You all take care now, I’ll miss you all!” He gave a wave as he finally flew off to begin his journey.

Author's Note

Hey guys, sorry for the short chapter, but this was just meant to introduce a few new OC’s as well as get Charles started on his journey, I just wasn’t sure where to go from there, but I do have other great things planned so don’t worry. There’s plenty more to come and Charles is sure to have one heck of an adventure. Apex is an OC submitted by Jman796, Pure Valkyrie was submitted by ebyer5, and White Paint was submitted by Wise2Fox. All on Fimfiction.

Chapter 34

AN: Fair warning to my readers, this chapter and another I have coming up will be similar to one another as they will both involve two OC’s Carbon and Stunner getting married and do something to deal with what happened to them in the past. This was a request from Jman796 who submitted those two OC’s. He has also been a big help to me in making my fic all it can be.

It’s been about a month now since Charles left on his journey to find the elements of life. Carbon was at the Train station waiting for an old squad mate of his to come, Mobius. They were part of a squad known as the Night Stalker unit. Mobius lost his parents at the age of 5 to a group of bandits and was taken in by the buffalo tribe near Appleoosa. The chief raised him as his own, at the age of 17, Chief Thunderhooves told Mobius what had happened to his biological family. Shortly after, Mobius joined the royal guard and, after four years, joined the Night Stalker unit where he met
Carbon.

They became friends soon and have been good friends ever since. The train soon pulled up as Carbon waited with a smile on his face, his wedding was coming up and he sent a letter to Mobius who was on vacation to spend time with his adopted family. Carbon wanted Mobius, or as he is also known by his indian name as Sky Viper, to be one of his best stallions for his wedding. The train came to a stop, let out a burst of steam from the front and the train car doors opened. Mobius stepped out and was happily greeted by Carbon.

“Mobius, so good to see you again, it’s been far too long.” Carbon walked up and Gave Mobius a hug.

Mobius was a Pegasus with light brown eyes, a dark grey coat, a spikey black mane and tail with yellow streaks and had a winged dagger for a cutie mark. He had three feathers on the right side of his mane with a black tip, white in the middle and red at the base of them. He had an accent similar to the buffalo (Indian). “Carbon, so good to see you too. Congratulations on getting married.

“Thanks.” They broke the embrace. “So how’s your family doing?”

“They’re doing fine, in fact, I brought someone along to meet you.”

A little buffalo girl emerged from the train, she had a light brown coat with darker brown hair, she had a white headband with a red zig zag pattern running through it and also had three feathers sticking out of it. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you.” The little buffalo girl greeted.

Carbon came up to her. “Well hello there, you must be Little Strong Heart, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

Mobius came up next to Little Strong Heart and stood next to her. “When she heard I was coming to Ponyville to meet you, she got excited and practically begged me to take her with me, she said she was curious about other pony towns and also said something about having some friends here.” Mobius explained.

Little Strong Heart spoke up. “Sky Viper, don’t you remember that incident I told you about, when our tribe had a problem when the ponies of Appleoosa planted that orchard, some ponies from this town had come and managed to help us work things out.”

“Right, I remember. And they live here right?”

“Right, that’s why I wanted to come, I was hoping to get a chance to see them again.”

Carbon smiled. “Well then, let’s get going. I’ll show you around, and just so you know, I got Apex and Lightning Thrash to be my other best stallions.” They started to walk as they talked and left the train station.

Mobius was surprised by Carbon’s statement. “You managed to get that stiff to be your best stallion, HAH, I would just love to see him in a tux, but who’s Lightning Thrash?”

Carbon face hooved. “OH right, sorry, I forget to tell you, Lightning Thrash is the captain of the royal guard here in Ponyville.”

“I see, and what about this human creature we’ve been hearing about, I understand he’s part of the guard here, correct?”

“He is, but you won’t get to meet him I’m afraid, he had to leave on a mission about a month ago.”

Little Strong Heart was disappointed at this. “Awwe, I was looking forward to seeing this human thing.”

Carbon looked over to Strong Heart. “Charles isn’t a thing Little Strong Heart, he’s a human, and he is a very good one at that. He’s strong, he a skilled fighter, he’s really nice, not much of a funny side to him though. By that I mean he knows how to take a joke, just not make them, heh heh.” Carbon laughed at his own joke a little.

“Little Strong Heart?” A voice sounded from just above the trio.

They all looked up to see Rainbow Dash hovering just above their heads. Little Strong Heart smiled big upon seeing her. “Rainbow Dash!” She galloped away a little as Dash came in for a landing.

Dash smiled big upon seeing her. “Hey Little Strong Heart, what are you doing here? Good to see you again.”

“You too, I’m here with my big brother, he’s going to be the best stallion for a friend of his.”

Dash gave a quizzical look. “You have a brother?”

“Come on, I’ll introduce you.” Little Strong Heart led Dash over to the two stallions. “Rainbow Dash, this is Sky Viper, my big brother.”

Mobius said his greeting. “Hey Rainbow, good to see you again.”

“Oh, hey Mobius, how’s it going?”

Little Strong Heart was surprised by this. “You two know each other?”

Mobius began to explain. “We used to be together, but because of the dangers of the job I had, we had a mutual break up.” He then faced Dash. “We’re still friends though right?”

“Sure, we’re cool.” She said with a smile.

“So how are you doing Dash?”

“I’m getting married, that’s how good I’m doing.”

Mobius turned to Carbon. “So this is the mare you’re marrying Carbon?”

Carbon and Dash started laughing. “HA HA ha ha, no silly, I’m marrying a mare by the name of Octavia, she’s a real classy mare.”

Dash laughed too. “HA ha, as if, Carbon is fine and all, but he’s just not my type. I’m marrying the captain of the royal guard here in Ponyville, his name is Lighting Thrash.”

Mobius furrowed his brow as he looked at Carbon. “Well how was I supposed to know, you never told me who you were marrying.”

Carbon managed to stop his laughter. “Sorry Mobius, guess I forgot to mention it, come on, I’ll show you two around.”

Dash stopped her laughter too. “Carbon, you don’t mind if I tag along do you, me and Little Strong Heart have some catching up to do.”

Mobius made a suggestion. “Actually Dash, why don’t you show her around yourself, if you want.”

Rainbow Dash smiled at the idea. “Perfect, what do ya say Strong Heart, you want me to show you around?”

Little Strong Heart had a big smile on her face. “Sure, I’d like to see the others too.”

“Of course, come on, I’ll show you around and we’ll meet up with the others.” Rainbow Dash then happily led Strong Heart away to see Ponyville.

Two days later:

Carbon’s wedding was all set now, it was being held in the Canterlot gardens and would be starting in two hours. Carbon decided to pay a visit to the Canterlot grave yard and pay a visit to his old squad mates. Carbon slowly made his way through the grave yard as his vision seemed to become distorted the closer he drew to the graves of his old squad.

Flash back:

Carbon and his squad were part of the Guardian force. Call sign, Vampire Four, his unit was known as the Night Stalker unit. The unit consisted of six ponies, counting Carbon.

Name: Biological name: Mobius
Indian name: Sky Viper
Rank: Sergeant First Class
Race: Pegasus
Eye Color: Light brown
Coat: Dark grey
Mane: Spiky Black with yellow streaks
Specialty: Air assault, recon, tracker
Mark: Winged dagger
Armor: Light armor in Tiger Stripe pattern, olive drab bandana, vest
Weapon: Parrying dagger, tomahawk

Name: Snow [KIA]
Rank: 2nd. Lt
Race: Unicorn
Eye Color: Blue
Coat: White
Mane: Short cut gray
Specialty: 2nd in command
Mark: Crescent moon
Armor: Light armor in Ghostex Camo with special holsters for knives, tomahawks, shurikins, etc (Nightstalker trademark)
Weapon: Ballistic knives
Notable features: The quietest member of the unit, originally from the Frozen North
Bio [CLASSIFIED]

Name: Bạch Ngọc (Onyx in Vietnamese) [KIA]
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Race: Unicorn
Eye Color: Ice blue
Coat: Grey
Mane: Black
Specialty: Medic
Mark: Medic Cross
Armor: Light armor in Ghostex Camo with special holsters for knives, tomahawks, shurikins, etc (Nightstalker trademark)
Weapon: Shurikens
Notable features: Very smart, bullied as a colt but overcame it unlike Black Heart, originally from Vietmane
Bio: [Classified]

Name: Mlazni Potok (Jet Stream in Sebian)[KIA]
Rank: Sergeant 1st Class
Race: Pegasus
Eye Color: Blue
Coat: Grey
Mane: Black with tips
Specialty: Sniper
Mark: None, covered by scales
Armor: Ghillie suit
Weapon: High powered crossbow with variable zoom scope
Notable features: From Serbneiga
Bio: [Classified]

Name: Jalatē Sitārā (Burning Star in Hindi)[KIA]
Rank: Master Sergeant
Race: Earth
Eye Color: Brown
Coat: Dark Brown
Mane: Long black
Specialty: Combat engineer
Mark: Chakra Wheel
Armor: Light armor in Ghostex Camo with special holsters for knives, tomahawks, shurikins, etc (Nightstalker trademark)
Weapon: Chakram (throwing disks)
Notable features: The only member of the team from Neignpon, speaks with an Indian (from India) accent
Bio: [Classified]

The unit was deployed to Saddle Arabia on a stallion hunt for a wanted and dangerous terrorist hiding in the mountains. This terrorist was not only linked to detonating a bomb in Appleoosa and killed 50 ponies and cost the EOD operator his leg, but an assassination attempt on both Celestia and the Saddle Arabian ruler.

The mission was running smoothly, capture/kill the terrorist with the Saddle Arabian National Army acting as support, until the terrorist led Guardian and the SANA into an ambush. A mine would wipe out the SANA and left Guardian disoriented where they were captured as POW. As part of the torture, Carbon and surviving teammate Mobius were forced to watch as their team was tortured, slaughtered, and butchered. Carbon and Mobius were rescued 2 months later by Pheonix Unit. As punishment for their resistance and defiance. Carbon's eyes were destroyed and has lacerations on most of his body, Mobius had his wings and a majority of the bones in his body broken.

End Flashback:

Carbon’s vision soon returned to him as the flashback faded. He had apparently fallen down on his belly as the vision took hold as he had to pick himself back up. He looked at the graves of his fallen comrades. A single tear ran down his cheek as he hung his head. “I’m so sorry guys, I should have been better, I could have saved you somehow. Now because of me, you’re all dead.”

A voice rang out. “It’s not your fault.”

This got Carbon’s attention. He looked up and couldn’t believe his eyes, the ghostly apparitions of his squad stood before him over their graves. “It…..It can’t be…..Snow, Onyx, Burning, Jet Stream. It can’t be, wh-what’s going on here.”

Snow spoke first. “Carbon, it wasn’t your fault, what happened was something none of us could have seen coming.”

Jetstream agreed. “You shouldn’t blame yourself.”

Carbon was still having trouble accepting what he was seeing as he spoke. “But…..I.

Onyx then spoke as well. “Carbon, we don’t blame you for what happened, and you shouldn’t either.”

Carbon argued. “But I was in charge of the mission, I planned the whole thing that lead to your deaths, how am I supposed to not feel responsible!”

Burning Star came in. “Because you couldn’t have known about the trap we got caught in, none of us could
have seen it coming, you need to stop blaming yourself for what happened.”

Carbon sat on his haunches, lowered his head, and closed his eyes as a few more tears escaped. “I’m so sorry guys, I never meant for this to happen.”

Jet Stream spoke. “We know, that’s why we don’t blame you, it wasn’t your fault.”

Carbon looked back up with a sad smile. “Thanks guys, I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I guess it’s time I finally let go of the past then.”

Snow responded. “Yes, it is, you are getting married after all.”

“So you need to stop living in the past and look to the future.” Onyx added. “We’re glad to see you moving on with your life, so get out there and live it.”

Carbon stood up, wiped the tears from his eyes and gave a smile. “Your right, it is time I stopped living in the past, thanks guys, I appreciate this, I do miss you all though, but now I know that I can move on and forget what
happened. Thank you.” They all gave Carbon one last smile before fading away. “Goodbye my friends.” Carbon said quietly as he turned around and walked out of the graveyard.

“I can’t believe I’m in a dress again.” Vinyl complained as she was with Octavia and the two other mares that would be acting as Octavia’s brides maids.

“But you look so wonderful in it.” Rarity said. She was one of the other’s that were acting as Octavia’s bride’s maids.

“You should know me by now Rarity, I don’t do dresses, I’m only doing this cause Octy asked me to be here, I’m willing to put up with this for her sake.”

Octavia looked to Vinyl. “And I thank you for it Vinyl, I know you hate dressing up, but this is my wedding, and I wanted my best friends to be here for me.”

Vinyl just smiled. “Don’t worry about it, I’m honored to be one of your best mares.”

“Oh, I’m so nervous, are you sure you want me here too Octavia.” Fluttershy asked nervously.

Ocavia gave a smile to her as well. “Fluttershy, I can think of no other to be here for me than you, you’ll do fine, all you have to do is stand there next to me, all eyes are really going to be on me and Carbon anyway.”

“Well, ok, thank you for asking me to do this.”

Meanwhile, with Carbon and his best stallions, Lightning and Mobius couldn’t help but snicker with each other as they saw the serious Apex in a tux. “Tch, I never thought I’d see the day.” Lightning Thrash said. “The general of the Equestrian military wearing a tuxedo.”

Apex brought a hoof up to his neck and fiddled with the bow tie he had on as he tried to adjust it. “Don’t get used to it boys, I’m only doing this cause Carbon asked. He’s a good soldier and I have respect for him.”

Mobius was trying to hide his laughter as well. “Mpf, sorry sir, it’s just that with how serious you tend to be, it’s a little amusing to see you like this.”

Apex narrowed his eyes at Mobius. “Whatever, well it may not be the last time, with the way things have been going with me and the princesses………I don’t know.”

Carbon picked up on this. “What do you mean sir?”

Apex looked at Carbon. “No need for sir here at the moment, I’m off duty so no need to be using ranks, second, what I mean is that I am honored Celestia and Luna have an affinity for me, so……well…..”

Carbon gave a sly smile. “Apex……are you blushing?”

“Of course not!” He immediately defended.

Lightning then posed another question. “What about Night Shine sir….uh…Apex?”

“She seems nice too, but I’m still wary around her after what happened. But if Luna says she can be trusted, I suppose I can trust her judgment.”

Carbon broke up the conversation. “All right fellas, I think that’s enough chatter, it’s time for my wedding, so let’s go take our places, and Apex, thanks for coming and doing this.”

“Don’t mention it Carbon.” The four stallions made their way out of their room and to the Canterlot garden.

It was a beautiful spring day as the sun shone down. There was a white archway with vines and white flowers decorating it to mark the entrance of the isle. A podium was set up on a white stage with another even bigger archway with more white flowers. The rest of the main six, as well as Little Strong Heart, a few of the Royal guards from Ponyville, Black Cloud, Stunner, Dusk Fang, and Dawn Fang were present for the wedding. Even the two princesses and Night Shine were there. The other guards stayed behind so Ponyville wouldn’t be unprotected.

Carbon stood at the altar with his best Stallions at his side. He was smiling so big at the moment. He turned and saw Octavia begin her march down the isle with her maids behind her. She was wearing a long flowing white dress with a veil over her face. The other three were wearing white dresses as well but weren’t as long as Octavia’s.

Octavia took her place by Carbon’s side as she smiled brightly. He returned the smile as well. They both turned to the podium where an earth pony wearing a black robe and a white scarf like thing. (Ok so I don’t know what those things priests wear are called, sue me.) He had a grey coat and a white mane and tail. He looked over the podium and at the ponies before him as he began.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join two hearts in the journey that is life, they have shone their love to be true, their bond to be strong, their commitment to be unquestionable. Today, we are here to witness the binding of these two souls in life and love. If there be a soul here that feels these two should not be joined, speak now or forever be silent.” A moment passed and no one spoke. “Then by the power vested in me by our beloved princess Celestia, I hereby announce you husband and wife, you may kiss the bride.”

Carbon turned to face Octavia and lifted her veil. He leaned in and the two shared their kiss as a new couple. The ponies all cheered at the scene. The two looked back at the crowd with smiles. They began their walk back down the isle together.

At the reception, the party was in full swing as the ponies present were enjoying themselves. The newlyweds were chatting it up with the girls first. The two princesses and Night Shine made their way over to the group. “Hello my little ponies.” Celestia greeted.

They turned and bowed before them. “Greeting your majesties, I am honored you could grace our wedding with your presence.” Carbon said.

Celestia smiled. “It is always a joyous day when two hearts find each other as you two have.”

“We are pleased to be here to see such an event.” Luna stated.

Apex soon approached the group, he came up next to Celestia as he spoke. “Carbon, congratulations on your wedding, I just know you two are going to be happy together.”

Carbon responded. “Thank you Apex, I couldn’t be happier.”

As soon as the three alicorn mares noticed him, they started blushing a little. Celestia was the first to comment after composing herself. “Hello Apex, my but you look handsome in that tux.”

Apex looked to Celestia as he responded. “Don’t get used to it your majesty, I prefer clothing that isn’t so…..constricting.”

Rarity chimed in at this. “Oh dear, is your tux a little tight.”

Apex looked down at the fashionista. “A little.”

“Well you should have come to me for a tuxedo my dear, I would have gotten the measurements and such spot on. Perhaps if you’d like, I could make a new one for you sometime for special occasions.”

“That won’t be necessary miss Rarity. I don’t plan on wearing another any time soon.”

Luna gave a mock pout. “Oh, but you look so good in it, you never know when you want to look your best.” Night Shine giggled at Luna.

“Heh heh, yes, you never know when you might discover that special somepony…..or three.”
Apex just rolled his eyes.

“I just wish Charles could have been here for this.” Carbon said.

“Me too, I miss my hubby wubby.” Pinkie stated, feeling a little sad that Charles wasn’t here.

“Me too, I sure do miss him.” Applejack followed up.

“It just doesn’t feel the same without him around.” Rarity pouted.

“I miss him too.” Twilight stated.

Celestia gave a sad smile at the four. “I think it’s safe to assume we all miss him, but we must remember that he is on an important mission and will return in time. We must have faith in him and hope for his safe return.”

“Yeah, what she said, Charles is a tough guy, he can take care of himself. Just you wait, he’ll be back before we know it.” Rainbow Dash declared.

“So Octavia, where will you two be having your honeymoon?” Fluttershy asked.

“We are going to Las Pegasus, I hear it’s splendid this time of year. I just know we’ll have a good time.” Octavia answered happily.

“Why couldn’t we have gone on a honeymoon with our hubby?” Pinkie complained.

Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack gathered around her to comfort her. “Oh Pinky, I know you miss him, we all do, but we have to remember that he left to get something so he can better protect us.” Twilight said as they hugged her.

“That’s right sugar cube, we just have ta try and be patient and wait fer him to come back to us.” Applejack followed up.

“I just hope he comes back in time to be here for our little surprise on the way.” Rarity pointed out.

The party soon wound down and it was now time for Octavia and Carbon to head off on their honeymoon. “Farewell friends, we’ll see you in a month.” Ocavia called as she and Carbon boarded the carriage ready to be pulled by four pegasus guards to sweep them off to Las Pegasus.

“So long fellas, I’ll be back on duty when I get back.” Carbon called out as well. They took their seat in the carriage and waved goodbye as it took off into the air and to the start of a new life for the two.

Author's Note

Ok, so I realize this may not be some of my best work, but I'll try to make it up to you all with something going on with Charles in the next Chapter. Jman, if you feel I may have misportrayed Apex in this, I apologize, I just felt like throwing out what I did with him in this chapter. I'll be sure to keep him serious in future chapters. Thank you all for liking my story so much.

Chapter 35

It has been two weeks since Charles left Ponyville, his home, in search of the elements of life. The back pack he carried was enchanted by Twilight to carry more than what it seemed it could hold. He had plenty of bits on him too that he saved up from his job as a guard in case he came across a town and needed to restock on supplies. So far, he still had plenty, and Rarity was, of course, the one to give him her tent so he would have a place to sleep outdoors. It was morning and Charles stirred from his sleep as he sat up from his sleeping bag. “*Yawn* I really need to show Rarity my gratitude for letting me use this tent.” It was a two story tent with a balcony. Charles was making use of the second floor.

He slept in just his underwear that night. He got up, pulled out his black clothes from the bag and got dressed. Rolled up his sleeping bag, and made his way outside the tent. Another thing Charles was grateful for about the tent was how easy it was to set up and take down. Just a pull of the string and it shrank down into a small cube that fit right in his palm. “Gotta love magic, it makes things so simple.” He stuffed it in his bag and found a tree to lean against so he could have breakfast.

Charles found himself in a kind of swamp. He managed to find a good mass of land to rest on and set up camp for the night. Charles pulled out an apple pie, courtesy of Applejack, wrapped in tinfoil. He removed the foil and dug in. “I sure do miss the girls, just as I’m sure they miss me. all the more reason to get this done as soon as possible.” With breakfast finished, he reached back into the bag and pulled out his staff. He was about to stand up when the tree he was leaning on suddenly moved a little. “WHOA!” He quickly got up, grabbed his bag and stepped away from it.

He looked up at the tree as it seemed to move about and cause the ground around him to shake. He looked up further and saw a mass that seemed to go to either side. He saw branches and leaves at the top but the tree was sticking out like a bulge. He followed the mass to the side and saw it connected to another tree that seemed be moving. The first tree lifted up off the ground and actually folded in and extended back out to another section of ground, it came down with a loud thud. “What the hell?” Charles asked in wonder. “What is this thing?” Charles decided to get a bird’s eye view of what this thing could possibly be.

Charles turned and flew up into the air. As he did, he heard another thud, the other tree was still in place but he could make out a third and fourth tree behind the first two he saw. As he flew higher and higher, the trees started to take on a strange but familiar shape. At one end of the mass was what appeared to be a hoarse like head with yellow glowing eye sockets and a snout with nostrils. Charles finally got high and far enough to see what it was he was looking at. “HOLY SHIT!”

What he saw was a big surprise. It was a gigantic horse made of nature. Its entire body was made of wood with trees on its back. Charles’s shout attracted the things attention as its head turned and looked right at him. It let out a monstrous whiney. Charles had to cover his ears from the sheer volume. Once he could remove his hands from his head, he looked back at it and saw it turning towards him. “That can’t be good.” The tree hoarse reared up and slammed its forelegs back down. A series of vines erupted from the ground and were coming right for him. “Oh crap!” Charles flew up as fast as he could, but the vines were faster, one of them grabbed his leg and started pulling him back down.

Charles grabbed his staff from off his back, formed his swords, and sliced at the vine holding him. It was too late to stop another vine wrapping around his waist. He sliced at that only for two more to grab him by his other leg and another by his right arm. “Come on, give up already!” He slashed and sliced at the vines as they brought him closwer to the waiting jaws of this massive tree hoarse.

Then, a thought came to him. “Celestia, I’m stupid.” He remembered his magic training with Twilight and decided to use a teleport. He focused his magic and teleported himself out of the vines the thing made. He teleported a good distance away from the thing and saw as it searched around for him. The hoarse spotted him right away but Charles must have been too far away for the thing to keep interest. It just gave out another loud whiney, turned, and started walking off. “Geeze, what was that thing, and what was that all about? Must have been a territorial thing.”

Charles turned and prepared to fly off, but stopped in his tracks. “You have got to be kidding me.” there were more of them scattered about the swamp. “Just what in the name of Celestia are these things anyway? Does she even know about them? *Sigh* Whatever, guess I should stick to the high ground and fly above the clouds for a bit.” Charles flew straight up and above the clouds to continue on.

The days went on as Charles continued his long trek southward. He came across a town or two and took the opportunity to restock. Despite the fact that he was pretty much famous for being the only human in Equestria, the ponies of the town he came too were a little wary of him. He just conducted business with a smile as he bought a few supplies such as food. One town he came too was where he ran into a bit of trouble.

“HEY, monkey!” A stallion’s voice called out as Charles was trying to conduct business with a mare at a stall. The town he was in had cobble stone streets and stone houses.

Charles turned around to face his caller. “Excuse me?” The stallion was a white coated Pegasus with a yellow mane and tail. His cutie mark was of a lightning bolt. He and five other stallions with him were wearing the armor of the royal guard. They each had a sword. Two were earth ponies and the other three were also pegasai.

“You heard me, what’s the matter, monkey can’t hear good?” The stallion snickered which got his entourage to laugh as well.

“Great, one of those, and they’re with the royal guard. Must be this town’s branch.” Charles thought to himself. “Listen, I don’t want any trouble, I just need to get some food here and I’ll be on my way.”

“So you’re that human every pony has been talking about huh? Just what are you doing here anyway, shouldn’t you be at Ponyville. I’m sure the princesses miss having their pet monkey so close.” The ponies there snickered again. The other ponies that were around seemed afraid of this one.

“Go ahead and say what you want, it doesn’t bother me, I’ve gotten used to being insulted.”

“Gee, I wonder why, is it because you’re a freak?”

Charles just turned around and addressed the mare. “I’m sorry miss, so how much for the fruit?”

“HEY, I’m talking to you, you better look at me when I’m talking to you.”

Charles merely glanced over his shoulder, he looked back at the mare. “I’m sorry miss, please excuse me.”
Charles turned to face the pony.

“That’s better, now you just forget about getting yourself some food cause me and the boys here are itching to teach you not to show up where you’re not wanted.”

“And just why does my presence here bother you so much?”

“Cause you’re a freak, that’s why.” The pony sneered.

“Then let me get what I need and I will leave.”

“I don’t think so. By order of the guard of Hoofington, you are under arrest for disturbing the peace.” He pulled out his sword, the others followed.

Charles glared at him. “You don’t want to do that, I’m on a mission in the name of the princesses, if you impede my progress, you will be punished by most likely losing your position. I suggest you be smart here and let me be.”

“HAH, yeah right. You’re coming with me monkey.”

Charles walked away from the stand out to the middle of the street. He brought out his staff and took a combat stance with his left side prominent. “This is your last warning. Stand down now.”

The guards charged at him with their swords raised. Three took the lead and thrust their swords at Charles. He parried by spinning his staff and throwing off their trajectory. Two of the pegasai jumped up and brought their swords down. Charles jumped back and dodged. He quickly swung his staff down and knocked one out, then swung his staff to the side and got the other in the side of the head, sending him flying off to the side.

The two earth ponies charged again at Charles, one swung his sword to the side, Charles blocked with his staff. The other swung his sword at Charles. Charles quickly brought down the other end and forced the sword to the ground, he quickly brought his staff back and smacked the stallion on the head, knocking him out. The last three tried for an all-out attack. Charles jumped up and flew into the air. He raised his staff up over his head and brought it down as he fell to the ground. His strike created a shockwave with sent the three flying in the air. Charles used his magic to grab the two grunts in mid-air and slammed them into the ground, knocking them out.

Once the leader hit the ground, Charles ran up to him while he was on his back and pointed one end of his staff at the stallion. “I warned you, I am on official royal business, and you have impeded on it. I don’t have the time to go back to the castle and tell her about this, so count yourself lucky you have time before you have to face her wraith for your actions.”

Once the crowd around saw The guard defeated, they cheered. Charles looked around in confusion at this. It didn’t take him long to figure it out. The fear the ponies around displayed when these guards showed up, the cheering at his defeat, it was clear now. “You’ve been abusing your power haven’t you?”

“You can’t prove anything.” He sneered.

“Maybe not, but I don’t need to, my word will be enough.”

“Yeah right, what connections could you possibly have.”

“Still don’t believe me huh, well since you asked.” Charles removed his staff from the guard and stood. “First, I have pledged my loyalty to the princesses, Celestia and Luna. Second, I saved princess Luna from being fried by a dragon on Nightmare Night. Third, I have a good friendship going with captain Shining armor. Fourht, I am recently married to four of the three elements of harmony, one of them being Twilight Sparkle. As I’m sure your aware, she is not only the little sister of captain Shining armor, but also the personal student of princess Celestia herself. And I am very close friends with the other two bearers of the elements of harmony. OH, and let’s not forget that I’m in the royal guard too.”

Charles paused to let it all sink in. The stallion there just looked shocked.

Charles then spoke in a mocking tone. “Gosh, I hope I didn’t miss anything. Oh well, you might as well kiss your job goodbye, once I tell her majesties about this, you’re sure to lose your job. But just to make sure.” Charles turned and looked at the crowd around him. “Citizens of Hoofington, I ask you, has this guard been abusing his power to get what he wants out of you all?”

“YES!” They all cheered out.

“Thank you, I promise princess Celestia and Luna will hear of this and a new and better selection of guards will replace them!” Charles looked back down at the guard. “Yep, definitely out of a job, you have a nice day now.” Charles turned and started back for the stand to make the purchase he came to make.

The stallion grew angry at this, he got up and raised his sword. “RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!” He screamed as he flew at Charles.

Charles’s eyes simply shifted to the side. “Quick-decision!” Charles ducked and the stallion flew right into a metal pole holding a street sign.

CLANG!

He fell to the ground unconscious.

Charles stood back up and returned to the mare. “Terribly sorry about the interruption, now how much for the fruit?”

“Oh I couldn’t possibly charge you after what you just did, it’s on me, no charge.” She said with a smile.

“Now miss, I insist, you have a business to run and I don’t want to be responsible for you coming up short in profits, so how much.”

“Very well. 30 bits please.”

Charles paid the mare, gathered his fruit, packed it in his bag and made his way to the post office. “I may not be able to tell the princesses directly, but I can at least send them a letter letting them know what happened. While I’m at it, I might as well send one to my friends and family too.”

A few days later, the guards of Hoofington were indeed fired and arrested and new guards were put in their place.

Back in Ponyville:

Derpy came to the home of Rarity, Applejack, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Spike. “Mail call!” Derpy called out.

Twilight answered the door. “Hello Derpy, how are you doing?” Twilight greeted.

“Fine thanks, I have a letter for you, Spike, and the girls here.” Derpy reached into her saddle bag and pulled out an envelope.

Twilight took the letter from Derpy with her magic. “Thanks Derpy.”

“You’re welcome, I got more mail to deliver so I’ll see you later.” Derpy then turned and flew off.

Twilight closed the door and walked to the center of the living room. “Girls, Spike, we got a letter!” Rarity and Spike came out from the kitchen while Pinkie and Applejack came down from upstairs.

“Who’s it from Twilgiht?” Pinkie asked excitedly.

“I don’t know yet.” Twilight opened the letter and took it out to read. “It’s from Charles!” She happily cried out.

“Charles! The girls and Spike all squished together to look at it.

“Um….a little room…please?” Twilight asked as she was being squished. The others backed off again.

“Sorry Twi, it’s just nice ta hear from him after so long.” Applejack said.

“So what does it say Twilight?” Spike asked happily, eager to hear what Charles has to say.

Twilight began reading the letter out loud.

To my beloved wives and little dragon brother.

Charles here, I just thought I would drop you a line while I was in Hoofington, ran into a bit of trouble but nothing I couldn’t handle. I just wanted to let you all know that I miss you all so much, and I’ll be sure to come back home as soon as I can once I find the elements of life. I’ll be sure to make up for my absence to you four greatly. I hope things are going well between Spike and Sweetie Belle as well. I love you all and I miss you so much. Really hope to come home soon.

Charles

“Well that was sure nice of him.” Applejack commented.

Spike cocked an eyebrow. “What did he mean by ‘make it up to you four greatly’?”

Twilight looked at Spike to answer. “Nothing you need to worry about.” She giggled at the thought, as did the other three, they knew perfectly well what he meant by that.

“I wonder what kind of trouble he ran into in Hoofington?” Rarity asked.

Pinkie waved her hoof in the air to answer. “OOH OOH, I know! I’ll bet he made a stop in a swamp, ran into a giant hoarse tree creature that tried to eat him, got away, reached Hoofington and met up with the guards there who were super mean and racist and tried to arrest him just because he was a human. Not to mention they were abusing their power as a guard against the citizens of the town, but Charles beat them up and sent word to Celestia and Luna!”

The three mares and dragon stared at her blankly for a moment. Applejack finally broke the silence. “And how do you figure that Pinkie?”

“Just a hunch.” She simply answered with a smile.

Twilight smiled. “You know Pinkie, at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were right.” This got the others to laugh.

Back with Charles:

After flying most of the day, Charles came across a large mountain, now he could easily fly around or over it, but he spotted a large opening down below. His wings were starting to get tired, and he figured trudging into the unknown would be a good adventure. “Oh boy, I’m probably going to regret this. But what the hay, might as well see what this cave might be hiding, if it turns out to be a dead end, I’ll just come back out.” Charles made his way down to the ground and landed just in front of the large cave opening. He peered in cautiously first before walking in. “Luna’s moon, it’s dark in here.” He commented.

Charles decided to cast an illumination spell. He held out his palm as he walked in and formed a white glowing orb of magic to light the way. After taking a few steps, a swarm of bats suddenly flew out, surprising him. “GAH! Jeeze, what the hell? Stupid bats.” He just continued on his way into the cave.

The cave did indeed seem to be a tunnel instead since he had yet to reach a dead end. After a while of walking, he just let the orb of light he made hover around him. “I just hope I don’t get lost down here, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.” He thought to himself. After walking for a long time, he finally came to a very vast and massive cavern.
Charles brightened the light orb so he could see but even that wasn’t enough to light up the whole area. “Wow, how big is this place? I just hope there’s a way through.”

As he walked more, a blue glow caught his attention up ahead. It got brighter and brighter as he approached. Another amazing sight met his eyes. There was a vast body of water in the cave giving off the glow. “Man, I had no idea Equestria had so much stuff to see, too bad the really cool stuff is hidden away like this.” The water moved like an ocean, Charles couldn’t see the other side and there was no way around the water. “Guess I’m going to have to fly over, but how vast is this thing, I would have thought I’d reach the other side of the mountain by now.”

Charles was about to take off and try to fly over, but the water before him started to move more violently. The water splashed as it was being displaced by something massive in the water. Charles saw a large shadow moving about. “Oh great, what now?”

A massive creature of stone surfaced up from the water and came up to the ground. It was a bit off from where Charles was to the side. But it was so huge, Charles could feel each stomp the creature made. “Great, another creature, I just hope this one isn’t territorial like that hoarse plant thing I ran across. Wait a minute.” Charles suddenly had a thought. “I’m such an idiot, I completely forgot about my necklace that let’s me talk to the wild life, maybe I can talk to this thing and see if it can help me get across, or at least tell me how far it is to the other side.” Charles got down on one knee as he took his bag off and set it down.

He dug around a bit till he found his green necklace with the leaves and vine wrapped around the roughly cut green glowing jewel. “Here we go, now let’s see if he’s friendly.” Charles placed his necklace on and made his way over to the creature. As he approached he saw this stone turtle like creature could easily stomp on him without any effort. Once he got close enough for comfort, he called out to it. “Excuse me, hello?”

The thing shifted its head and looked to Charles. It’s eyes had the same blue glow as the water. “TRESSPASSER!” The thing bellowed.

Charles tried to defend. “NO NO, I’m not a trespasser, I was just passing through, I swear I’m not here for you territory!”

“BE GONE!” The thing stomped, casing the ground to shake.

Charles flew up off the ground and tried again. “I swear I’m not here for you territory, please, I just need a little help.”

Something seemed to catch the creatures attention as it seemed to settle down a little. “How do you speak my language trespasser?”

It wasn’t much, but it was a start, Charles hoped this was the chance he needed to try and ask this thing for help. “I have this necklace, it is magic and allows me to hear the voices of the animals and other life forms. Please believe me, I’m not here for you territory, I just need some help.”

The massive stone turtle turned its entire body to face Charles. “Why are you here then?”

“I guess you could say I got lost, can you help me please, I just need to know how far across it is to the other side of the water.”

“Too far for you to fly, the mountain ocean is vast.”

“But how can that be, I came in through an opening in the mountain side and have been walking for hours, by my calculations, I should have reached the other side by now. How can there be an ocean here?”

“You are in a world far different from your own creature, this realm under the mountain is magic, it is home to beings such as myself.”

Charles finally landed, feeling confident he convinced the thing he wasn’t a danger. “Great, so is there any way I can get across? It would take me too long to go back the way I came. I’m on a mission for my princesses, Celestia and Luna and it is important that I keep straight.”

“You are a disciple of the sun and moon goddesses?”

This seemed to confuse Charles. “You know of Celestia and Luna?”

“All beings from ancient times since before the princesses know of them, they are what saved the world from great dangers many times over.”

“I see, so you were around so many centuries ago. Amazing.”

“If you are a disciple of the princesses, prove yourself.”

“Excuse me?”

“Show me a sign that you serve them.”

“A sign, I don’t have a sign, unless the badge of the royal guard counts.” Charles set his bag down again and pulled out his officers badge. He held it out for the thing to see.

The creature stomped closer and lowered its head. It turned its head so one eye was looking at it. “You bear their sign, you speak the truth.”

“I’m glad we got that settled.”

“I shall aid you disciple of the goddesses, climb on my back and I shall carry you across.”

Charles was very pleased to hear this. He placed his badge back in his bag and flew back up. “Thank you for your assistance, I really appreciate it.” He flew on to the creatures back and sat down. It turned towards the water, walked in and started swimming along To Charles’s surprise, it was moving quite fast. Despite everything he had seen so far, he still found it impossible that a giant stone creature could not only swim in water like this thing was, but also do it at a good speed. The wind blew past Charles’s face as he rode on the things back.

“Well, this is turning into an interesting adventure, I just hope I reach the other side of the mountain soon, I can’t stay down here too long.”

Author's Note

And here we have another chapter. I know it probably wasn't much, but these are just small adventures rolled into one chapter, this is something I'll be doing till Charles reaches the elements of life. Just so you know, the next chapter will be Stunner's wedding, then another chapter with Charles, then another chapter for LIghting thrash's wedding, and finally, Charles reaches the elements of life. Or to save time, I'll put the two other weddings in one chapter but have them take place at different times. because I'm eager to get to the elements of life as I'm sure you all are. I just had a thought and would like to get feed back from my readers, would it be too much if Charles got an Ursa major for a pet. Picture it.

As the citizens of Ponyville enjoy a peaceful day, it is all interrupted when the ground begins to shake.
Twilight: WHAT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA IS GOING ON!

Rarity: I don't know!

Applejack: Every pony outside!

They all rush out and see a giant ursa major storming towards the town.

Rarity: EVERY PONY FOR HERSELF!

The ursa suddenly comes screeching to a halt on the edge of town. A familiar voice calls out.

Charles: HEY GIRLS! Look what followed me home, I don't suppose you all have a problem of me keeping him do you?

They all just stare in fear and confusion.

So what do you think, too much or what?

Chapter 36

Stunner was at the train station as he waited for an old friend of his, it was a few days after Carbon’s wedding and his own was just two days away as well. The pony he was waiting for was his older brothers old CO Zippo. Stunner had invited him to be one of his best stallions for his wedding. Stunner couldn’t help but reminisce about the past as he waited, about how close he and his brother Pyro were. They were as close as two brothers could be.

Stunner was pulled out of his thoughts as the train soon pulled up with a whistle. It let out steam and came to a stop. The doors opened and the stallion Stunner was waiting for emerged. Zippo was a unicorn with gold eyes, a deep red coat, and a blonde mane and tail. His mane was cut high and tight. Upon seeing Stunner, Zippo spoke first. “Stunner, good to see you again, my how you’ve grown.”

Stunner greeted back with a smile. “Thanks, it’s good to see you too.”

“Congratulations on getting married, your brother would be proud of you.”

“I know, I’m very excited about it, I just wish he could be with us.” Stunner’s mood seemed to drop at the mention of his brother.

Zippo did what he could to cheer him up. “Hey now, come on, we’re talking about you getting married. No getting sad now, Pyro would want you to be happy.”

Stunner gave a small smile as he responded. “Yeah, your right. Come on, I’ll show you around town.”

As they left the station, Zippo started up a conversation. “So I understand there’s a bat pony serving as a guard here in Ponyville, correct?”

“Yes there is, he’s been doing a very good job. His name is Black cloud.”

“The citizens haven’t been giving him trouble because of what he is have they?”

“No, they learned their lesson after that one incident some time ago when Echo was here. Most of them are still wary around Black cloud, but they aren’t as disrespectful as before. Especially the element bearers. They have been nice to him.”

“It’s just too bad Echo nearly had to die just for them to learn that lesson.”

A few years back, there was another bat pony serving in the royal guard at Ponyville. His name was echo. Back then, bat ponies were mostly feared and hated because of their appearance. Most found it creepy while others found it scary. A Pegasus by the name of Thunderlane was the worst of them. He and some of his friends wanted to pick a fight with him while he was at Sugar Cube Corner on a date with a mare willing to give him a chance. During the fight, Thunderlane took Pinkie hostage and tried to use her as a shield. Also, Echo had been badly injured.

Echo managed to use a special technique that affects the mind greatly but, if used too long, can have dire consequences on the user. He saved Pinkie Pie that day, but nearly lost his life in the process.

“So it’s safe to say there haven’t been any incidents like that since then?” Zippo asked.

“Yes, just the usual stuff going on around here.”

“And what about this human I’ve heard about, is he around?” Zippo asked with great interest.

“Afraid not, he left some time ago on a mission for the princesses. No telling when he’ll be back. I hope it’s soon though, he’s all right for a non-pony.” Stunner joked with the last line.

So Stunner gave Zippo the tour of Ponyville and showed him around as they talked.

Two days later:

It was a few hours till Stunner would have his wedding, it was to be held among the trees of White Tail Wood. Before that though, Stunner wanted to pay a visit to his older brother’s grave in the Ponyville cemetery. He made his way past a few graves as he thought about the past, his brother, and all they had been through. A chill of sorrow ran throughout his body as he drew closer to his brother’s grave. Memories of the day he lost his brother flooded his mind.

Flash back:

Pyro's story begins 3 months after the capture of Guardian. Pyro and his team is tasked with: 1) rescue any survivors/recover the bodies of the operators from Guardian. 2) Wipe out any terrorists remaining in the mountain. As they infiltrated the cave system, the team encounters a force of 170. The team successfully neutralized all threats, however Pyro was wounded by a spear and was slowly bleeding out. After locating and securing the survivors, the mission took a nasty turn: enemy forces were closing in on the team's position. Pyro, who was slowing the rest of the team down because of his injuries, stayed behind to cover the team's extraction. He holds off wave after wave of hostiles until he slowly got overrun. He then used a Phoenix Unit trademark spell with what little magic he had left, an anti-capture spell named Self Destruct. This spell causes the users to fall asleep before becoming a living bomb. In this case, he wiped out the remaining terrorists and collapsed the cave system on itself. For his act of valor, Pyro was posthumously awarded Equestria's and Saddle Arabia's highest award for valor.

End Flashback:

Stunner now found himself standing at his brother’s grave with tears in his eyes as he grieved. He simply closed his eyes and hung his head. “Pyro, thank you for risking yourself like that, I just wish there was some other way for all of us to escape.”

“Stunner.” An all too familiar voice called out to him.

Stunner lifted his head and was surprised to see something he never thought he’d see again. “Pyro, it can’t be, what’s going on here?”

His brother now stood before him, a unicorn with light blue eyes, a Russian red camo coat, and an ash grey mane and tail with a red stripe running through the center. “Hey there little brother, long time no see.”

“Pyro…..but….you….you’re….”

“I’m glad to see you too bro.” Pyro cut him off.

“How is this possible?”

“Don’t ask me, I’m just as clueless as you are. But while I’m here, I just want to say how proud I am of you. You’ve really grown up, and now you’re getting married to a wonderful mare.”

Stunner forgot the confusing situation of how he was conversing with his dead brother. He just gave a
smile. “Thanks Pyro, I just wish you could be with me when it happens.”

“Come on Stunner, I’ll always be with you, you just won’t see me. As long as you never forget me, I’ll always be by your side, no matter what.”

“Thanks big brother, I could never forget you, and thank you for everything you did for me in life.”

“Hey, don’t mention it, now you better get going, you got a wedding to get to. Just remember, I’ll always be there for you.”

With a last smile, Stunner turns around as his brother fades out and makes his way out of the cemetery and to his wedding.

At the place for the wedding, the royal guards of Ponyville were all gathered, as were the many friends of the ponies there that were getting married. Stunner had Zippo and Storm Chaser acting as his best stallions. Fluttershy had Pinkie, Twilight, and Rarity acting as her bride’s maids. Stunner stood waiting at the altar as Fluttershy began her walk down the isle to the podium. The one conducting the ceremony and marrying them was the same pony that married Carbon and Octavia.

Fluttershy wore a long light green dress with a veil and a few green leaves around her forehead. She had a big smile and was blushing a little as she made her way to take her place next to the stallion she loved. Once she was now standing by Stunner, they turned to face the pastor and he began the ceremony.

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness another bonding of two souls in life and love. Their love is undeniable, their commitment is unquestionable, their dedication is unstoppable. They have chosen to continue down the path of life as one, we here have gathered to give them our blessings and wish them only the best in their new lives together. If there be one here who feels these two should not be wed, speak now or forever be silent.” A moment of silence passed. “Then by the power vested in me by our beloved princesses, Celestia and Luna, I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss.”

The two turned to face each other. Stunner lifted her veil and gazed into her eyes for a moment. Fluttershy just smiled. They moved in closer to one another and shared their first kiss as a newlywed couple. The group present cheered in joy at the union. Even a few of the animals that were there to see the animal loving mare get married chirped and chittered in approval and congratulations.

After the kiss, Fluttershy was blushing more as she looked around at her pony and animal friends all cheering. The two walked down the isle together as a couple now that they were married.

The reception was in full swing. The party was going great as all the ponies talked amongst themselves, ate, and had a good time. Vinyl was working to provide music for the party. A nice wooden stage was set up with speakers and a dance floor in front of the stage. Vinyl was on her mix table making the music.

Vinyl’s voice was heard through the speakers. “All right every pony, I think it’s about time the newlyweds have their first dance together as a married couple, what do you say?” The crowd sounded off in agreement. “Will Stunner and Fluttershy please report to the dance floor, I have a song just for this occasion.”

Stunner looked into Fluttershy’s eyes. “What do you say Fluttershy, may I have this dance.”

“Oh, um, ok….sure.” Fluttershy answered in her usual timid voice. Stunner escorted her onto the dance floor. They wrapped their hooves around each other as the music began.

Once the song was over, Stunner and Fluttershy once again received a round of applause.
The party soon wound down and Fluttershy and Stunner made their way to a waiting carriage to take them away on their honeymoon in Cape Colt. They said their goodbyes and waved as they entered the carriage. The pegasai pulling the carriage took off and flew them away.

Back with Charles, Jumping back ahead two months since his departure:

It had been hours since the massive stone turtle like creature offered Charles a ride across the vast body of glowing water. It was also very clear as he could see pretty far down into it, but still couldn’t see the bottom. As the turtle swam, he also saw a few masses of land along the way with a few glowing plants growing. “Wow, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see plants growing down here, but glowing plants?”

“Are you really so surprised to see such a thing creature?” The turtle asked.

“Well yeah, it’s not every day I see glowing plants……in fact, I’ve never seen glowing plants before, and you can call me Charles, not creature please.”

“As you wish.”

“So are there others like you or what, a while ago, I had a run in with this giant horse like tree creature that attacked me. I figured it was because I was in its territory or something.”

“You speak of the tree stompers, it most likely was, they are protective of their territory, as I and my kind are.”

Charles got on all fours to look down at the head of the turtle. “So there are others like you around here?”

“No, I live here alone, our kind are not very sociable, we prefer to keep to ourselves.”

“I see. If I may, can I ask you a question?”

“You may.”

“Have you ever heard of the elements of life?”

“I have, it is the power to control the forces of nature. Why do you ask, are you seeking them?”

Charles sat back down and crossed his legs. “I am, I was warned by the previous king and queen of Equestria that a great danger is coming to Equestria, the elements of life can be used to help defend the country. So I’m on a mission to recover them and gain their power that I might defend my new home.”

“So you got to meet with the old king and queen, fascinating. But what do you mean by new home, has Equestria not been your home all along?”

“I’m surprised with your knowledge you would know that humans don’t exist here, I’m the only one of my kind in Equestria, I arrived here kind of by accident. And it was the best accident that could have happened to me.”

“I see, so you come from another world.”

“Exactly, now back on topic. All I know is that I’m supposed to head south to find a temple that the Elements of life reside in, but I have no idea where this temple is or how far it is. I don’t suppose you could tell me.”

“I do. The temple you seek lies near the very edge of the southern borders of Equestria. You need only keep heading straight once you find your way out of the mountain. There is where you will find what you seek. It will not be much further from the mountain exit, only a week’s flight till you reach it.”

“Thank you for all your help. I’m glad I don’t have much further to go. How much further till we reach the other side of this ocean by the way?”

“You are lucky to have found your way down here, this mountain is like a shortcut to the southern borders of Equestria, if you had gone any way else, it would take you much longer to get to your destination. We will reach the other side in a day’s time.”

Charles was surprised by this. “A DAY, you must be joking. That long?”

“Indeed, as I said, the mountain ocean is vast. You may as well get some rest desciple of the goddesses.”

“Perfect, just perfect. Oh well, might as well take your advice. Thanks again for your help.” Charles decided to go ahead and try to get some sleep so he would be well rested for when he reaches the other side. “We’ve been going for hours and it’ll still be a whole day before we reach the other side. He wasn’t kidding when he said it would be too far for me to fly, no way I would have been able to make it.” Charles laid down and placed his bag under his head to rest.

Jump back a month after Stunner and Fluttershy got married, back in Ponyville:

Carbon and Octavia returned to Ponyville from their honeymoon. The two decided to first stop in to see Lightning Thrash to let him know they were back. They managed to run into him during his rounds near the center of Town. “Lightning Thrash, sir, we’re back.”

“Carbon, good to see you, hello Octavia, welcome back. So I take it you two had a good time during your honeymoon?”

“We did, thank you for asking.” Octavia responded.

“And you’ll never guess what, Octavia is pregnant, I’m going to be a father!”

Lightning’s smile grew bigger then. “Congratulations you two.”

“It gets better…..twins, she’s having twins!”

“HA HA, you old dog, congratulations! Do you know what gender they are?”

Octavia smiled big as she answered. “Not yet, it’s too early to tell. We’ll just have to wait a while before we can find out.”

“I see, I’m very happy for you two. Carbon, welcome back to the force, why don’t you take a couple days off before coming back?”

“Captain, I’ve been off for a whole month, I’m fine to come back to work tomorrow.” Carbon offered.

“All right, you can report in for duty tomorrow at your regular time. I’d better get back to my rounds now, I’ll see you two later. Oh, and by the way, you two got back just in time for my wedding. I’ll be having my wedding soon, Stunner and Fluttershy will be back for it in time as well.”

A few days later, Stunner and Fluttershy did indeed return after their honeymoon. They made their way to the town hall first to let the other guards know they were back. The captain was expecting them as he had the guards gathered together to give them a welcome.

Captain Lightning Thrash was at the front of the group. “Welcome back stunner, Fluttershy, how was your honey moon?”

“Hello captain. It was wonderful. Thanks for meeting us.”

“No problem, glad to have you back.”

“Captain, fellas, I have big news.” Stunner just looked at them. The only one with a straight muzzle was Shadow
Fang. “Fluttershy is pregnant with twins, we’re going to be parents.”

“You too, HAH, congratulations stunner!” Carbon called out.

Stunner was a little confused by this statement. “What do you mean ‘you too’?”

“During mine and Octavia’s honeymoon, she got pregnant, I’m going to be a dad of twins as well.”

Stunner’s smile returned. “That’s great, congratulations Carbon.”

“Thanks. This is someday huh, so many new lives coming into this world among friends.”

Fluttershy finally spoke up. “I know, I’m a little nervous though, I don’t know how to be a mom.”

Stunner turned to face Fluttershy and took her hoof into his. “Fluttershy, you’ll do fine. Just be your usual caring wonderful self and you’ll make a wonderful mother.”

Fluttershy blushed at the compliment with a smile. “You really think so?”

“I know so.” Stunner gave Fluttershy a reassuring kiss on the lips.

Three days later and it was now time for Lighting Thrash’s wedding. Storm Chaser, Carbon, and Stunner were acting as the best stallions for Lightning Thrash while Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie acted as Rainbow Dash’s bride’s maids and Twilight, Octavia, and Vinyl were Derpy’s. This time, the wedding was being held at the Ponyville chapel.
Lightning Thrash Stood at the podium for the wedding. The same pastor stood at the altar to perform the ceremony.

Lightning watched as Derpy and Dash made their way down the isle to meet him. Both wearing beautiful white dresses with their maids right behind them. Once they reached the podium, Derpy stood on Lightning Thrash’s left and Dash on his right. They smiled at each other, then turned to face the pastor.

“And so, we find ourselves here today to join these three hearts in life and love. Clearly, they share a strong bond to want to join together in herdship and walk the path of life as one. We can only marvel at such commitment these three have for one another. Their love is unquestionable, their love undeniable, and their commitment is unbreakable. Should there be one among you that feel these three should not be joined, speak now or forever be silent.” A moment of silence passed. “Then by the power vested in me by our beloved princesses, Celestia and Luna, I hereby pronounce you herd, you may kiss.”

Lighting first turned to Derpy and kissed her lovingly, then turned to Dash and did the same. The crowd cheered for the newly wed as a few tears of joy were shed by Pinkie and Fluttershy. The three walked back down the isle as a herd feeling great joy.

As per usual, the reception was a splendid time as ponies partied and enjoyed their time celebrating the wedding. Once the reception was done, Lightning, Rainbow Dash, and Derpy Hooves said their goodbyes to their friends and made their way to a carriage to be on their way for their honeymoon in Manehatten. So many lives have been joined together while Charles was absent. Because of this, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity were really starting to miss their husband as time went on, but all they could do was wait for his safe return and hope he comes home soon.

Author's Note

AN: OK, So I just wanted to get the weddings out of the way with this chapter, they were requests from the ones who submitted the OC’s that got married. And as for the mention of the other bat pony, that was a reference to a story by Jman796. The story is called Letters From A Thousand Miles Away. It’s a good read so far and I suggest you take a look. So now, with the weddings out of the way, we can finally get back to the action. NEX TIME ON THE ANGEL OF EQUESTRIA, Charles finally reaches the temple that holds the elements of life and must pass a test to prove he is worthy of wielding them. Will he succeed, or will he fail? Stay tuned to find out.

(Yeah, I know it’s clear on whether or not he succeeds, I’m just trying to go for dramatics here……..DON’T JUDGE ME!)

Chapter 37

Charles had finally made it out of the mountain and made his way south from there. Just like the stone turtle said, Charles had managed to find a large stone structure with a dome roof. He could see holes in the roof of the structure with vines and plants growing all over the building. “This must be it, finally, I can’t wait to get these things so I can get home and see my family and friends again. Charles made his way to the entrance of the temple. It wasn’t all that impressive, the doorway was long gone so Charles just walked in. the area inside was indeed large, the floor was stone and the holes in the roof allowed the sun to shine in providing light so Charles could see. There was a body of water, like a river, circling the room.

He made his way near the center of the massive room where he saw some depictions in the floor. There were five pedestals in a circle surrounding the depictions. They were of the five elements of nature with strange symbols just underneath them. Charles looked back up and straight ahead where he saw something he didn’t expect at the back of the room. Five weapons resting on five other pedestals, only thicker and wider to hold each one. He cocked an eyebrow at this. He moved closer to get a better look.

From where he was he could make out some characters on each of them. One weapon was a three bladed scythe. The shaft was 7ft. long, the top blade was 4ft. long, the middle was 3ft. and the bottom was 2ft. long. All three blades appeared to be made of obsidian. At the base of each blade was a Japanese symbol for earth in red markings.

Another weapon was a Szabla style sword measuring 3ft. from the tip to the hand guard. The blade itself was curved slightly, colored silver, and had the symbol for wind in the same language in light blue.

The next one Charles saw was a massive two handed sword measuring in at 7ft from tip to hand guard and 2 Ft wide. The blade was black and had cracks of molten rock in it. On the had guard was the symbol for fire in gold.

The next he saw was a dual set of nunchackus measuring in at 1ft per section colored silver and held together by black arcs of lightning. At the base of each were the symbol for lightning.

The last weapon was a 6ft. long staff made of ice with a white steel piece at the center with the symbol for water on one side and ice on the other in royal blue.

Charles marveled at the weapons before him. “Whoa, these are the elements of life? I certainly wasn’t expecting this, but how am I supposed to make use of all five of them? Great, well, I came here to find them, and find them I did. Maybe they combine into one somehow.” Charles began his approach to the weapons. He reached out to grab the staff first, but suddenly, they all started sparking with their respective elements. Charles quickly retracted his hand and backed off from them. The glow they emitted was getting too bright and Charles had to shield his eyes.

Once the light faded, Charles removed his hands from his eyes and was once again surprised at what he was seeing. “Whoa, what the…..” Standing before him now were five alicorns.

From left to right the first he noticed had black eyes, a white coat, a flaming mane and tail made of fire, had the enlightened character on his flank, the symbol for fire on his forehead just below his horn, and the number 4 on his chest. All in black. He was wearing chainmail armor with a chestplate, greaves, and a hood. “I am Flashpoint.” The alicorn introduced himself.

The next had brown eyes, a white coat, a long brown mane and tail that seemed to constantly have dirt and rocks rolling off him as they hung low. He had holes in his hooves, one on each, the same mark on his flank as the first, had the character for earth on his forehead, and the number 3 printed on his chest. He was wearing the same kind of armor as the first. “I am Dust.”

The third had icy blue eyes, a white coat, and his mane and tail were silver and had sparks of electricity running through them. A few sparks were also seen once in a while going off around his body. He had the same symbol as the others on his flank, the symbol for lightning and the number 5 on his chest. This one’s armor was the same as well. “I am Voltage.”

The fourth had solid sea green eyes, also a white coat, and his mane and tail flowed like the princesses but looked like it was made of water as it moved. This one also had the same symbol for enlightened on its flank, the symbols for water, ice, and steam running down its forehead and the number 2 on its chest. This one also shared the same armor as the others. “I am Tidal Wave.” This one had a female voice.

Finally, the last had the same armor and mark on its flank. It had a white coat, silver eyes, a long grey mane and tail with silver streaks, the symbol for wind on its forehead, and the number 1 on its chest. “And I am Aeros.” This one also spoke with a female voice.

The one who introduced herself as Tidal Wave stepped forward. “We are the enlightened five, representatives of the elements of life. Who are you to come here seeking such power?”

Charles was stunned, these five alicorns that appeared out of nowhere, standing just as tall as the princesses were all looking right at him. “Uh…….”

The one identified as Flash point stepped forward. “Ooh, never seen anything like this before, what do you think it is?”

Dust came up with Flash point. “I do not know, such a creature has never been seen in this world before.”

The one called Voltage then spoke. “Can it speak? It looks like some kind of monkey with wings.”

“Who cares what it is, I say we have some fun with it, we haven’t had anything to do in centuries.” Flashpoint spoke as he eyed Charles.

Aeros then spoke. “Flash, whatever this thing is, it was able to awaken us, it must be intelligent and hold some power within it to do so.”

Dust then spoke to address Charles. “Tell us creature, can you speak?”

Charles was finally able to get over his initial shock as he began his introduction. “Um, hello there, my name is Charles, my species is known as human.”

Tidal wave then came in. “So it can speak. Tell us, why have you come here…..human?”

“I came here seeking the power of the elements of life, there is a great threat coming to Equestria, I have come here at the request of both the old king and queen, as well as Princess Celestia and Luna to find such power that I may help to defend the land from whatever this threat is.”

Voltage chimed in. “HA HAH, did you hear that, this could be the chance we’ve been waiting for to finally get out of here, we might also get to see some action.”

Flashpoint agreed. “All right, I say we take this opportunity and get out of here.”

Dust cut in. “Hold on, have you forgotten, as much as I would like to no longer be stuck here like the rest of you, we cannot simply ally ourselves with this creature.”

Aeros then came in. “Yes, how do we know he speaks the truth. And besides, whether he speaks the truth or not, he must prove himself worthy of our power. We must give him the test.”

Charles tried to defend himself. “I do speak the truth, I swore my loyalty to Celestia and Luna, if you are supposed to be guardians, then lend me your strength so I can defend my new home from whatever this danger is.”

“I’m sorry, but we must see if you can handle our power first before we join you.” Tidal Wave pointed out.

“Come forward human, I wish to see something in your mind.” Aeros practically commanded.

“My mind, what do you mean?” Charles asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“I want to make sure you speak the truth of what you say about serving the sun and moon goddesses. Fear not, I will not look at anything private that you do not wish me to see.”

Charles stepped closer to Aeros. She lowered her head and placed the tip of her horn on Charles’s forehead. A kind of wind emitted from her horn as she began her spell. Charles felt a cool breeze cover his entire form and felt Aeros enter his mind. After about a minute, Aeros cancelled her spell and pulled back. “So, you are from another world and have seen much hardship. However, you found a new home in Equestria and made a better life for yourself. You speak the truth about serving the princesses.”

“I told you.”

Dust cut in. “That does not change the fact that you must first pass our test to make sure you can handle our power. You must fight each of us in one on one combat to prove your worth.”

Flashpoint interjected. “Oh come on, I’m bored here, what if he fails, who knows how long it will be before someone else comes along. Can’t we just assume he can do it and get out of here?”

Voltage agreed. “Yeah, there’s nothing to do here but sit around.”

Aeros interjected. “Enough! We cannot simply join him just because we are……bored here. He must prove himself worthy of our power, if he passes, then we will join him and we can leave here.”

“Fine.” Flashpoint and Voltage agreed.

“I accept, if it means getting the power to protect my home, then so be it, I will not fail, I can’t fail, there is just too much riding on this.” Charles stated.

“All right then, I’m up first, I’ve been itching for some action for ages.” Flashpoint said as he stepped forward. “All right, Charles was it, don’t think I’ll go easy on you just cause I want you to win so we can leave this place.”

Charles removed his backpack, got his staff out and formed his twin swords. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, it would be an insult if you held back.”

Flashpoint summoned the massive sword Charles saw earlier with the black blade and molten cracks. It seemed to be wrapped in flames as it floated next to Flashpoint. “I hope you can make this interesting for me.” Flash then lunged forward with his sword raised. Charles crossed his swords overhead to block. The sword came down with such force, Charles was forced to one knee and a small crater formed around him. Charles strained as he tried to push up. He managed to start standing as he pushed.

Eventualy, he managed to force the sword up as he uncrossed his swords. He went for a horizontal strike but Flash blocked it. Charles swung with his other sword and Flash managed to push Charles’s firs sword and block the other. He forced Charles’s sword to the ground and took a swipe. Charles ducked and jumped back a bit. Charles charged forth and went for a double strike. Flash blocked with his sword. Their blades now locked, they looked at each other in the eye. Flash grew a grin. His body started glowing red. Not sure what this could mean, but not taking any chances, Charles quickly jumped back and away from Flashpoint.

Just as he did, a large fiery explosion went off, Charles was in mid jump when it hit and sent Charles hurtling in the air. He managed to use his wings to recover in the air. He was stunned for a second and looked at what happened. It was just in time to see Flash flying at him with his sword at the ready. Charles managed to use his swords to block a side strike, but the force sent him back again. Flashpoint came again, Charles countered and swung, but Flashpoint countered himself. They flew around in the air trading blow for blow and counter for counter as they flew.

The other enlightened five just watched. “COME ON HUMAN, YOU CAN DO IT!” Voltage cheered. The others looked at him in confusion. “What?”

Flash heard this and was a little surprised that Voltage was cheering for the human and not him, he turned his head to look at Voltage on the ground. “HEY, WHO’S SIDE ARE YOU ON!?”Charles took this opportunity to land a blow. He forced the sword out of the way and landed a strike with his left sword with a down strike, catching Flash in the neck. “GAH!” Flash cried out. He backed up a little and raised a hoof to his injury. A bit of fire was eminating from the cut. “Not bad.” He complimented.

They went right back to countering and trading blows as they flew about. At one point, they had their blades locked again. Flash pushed with all his might and forced Charles back, his horn began to burn and he fired a stream of flames. Charles quickly flew out of the way and now had a stream of fire following him. Flashpoint tried to get a beat on him as he hovered in place. Charles was just flying in circles looking for an opportunity to strike. He was then struck with an idea. He formed his staff and stopped in place, he started twirling his staff and created a wind like when he fought that dragon, he was able to push back the stream of flames a bit but wasn’t sure what to do then. He got the same idea as before. He let the fire draw closer and dove down to the ground with his swords acting like a drill.

“Ah geeze, did I fry him already?” Flashpoint asked.

“Clever using Flash’s fire as a cover like that.” Dust complimented quietly to the others.

“Great, well that was a disappointment.” Flashpoint said as he came in for a landing. “Guess we’ll have to…”

Before he could finish, Charles suddenly popped out of the ground behind Flashpoint, Flash only had a second to look behind him to see Charles’s Swords swipe at his neck.

“Good work human.” Flash said before turning into pure fire. The fire became a stream as it flew to one of the pedestals at the center of the room where it formed a ball of fire with a ring around it.

“Well done Charles.” Complimented Aeros.

Charles looked a little confused. “What just happened.”

Tidalwave informed. “Whenever you beat one of us, we will take on a pure form of the element we represent and take a place at the pedestals there. Once all five of us have been defeated, you must step into the center and our power will flow into you, bonding us to you.”

“I see, so who’s next?”

Dust stepped forward. “I am. I will not be so easily defeated.”

“All right then, round two.” Charles readied himself as Dust summoned the scythe he saw earlier.

Charles made the first move. He jumped up and brought his swords down, Dust used the shaft of his scythe to block. Dust flung his weapon up to push Charles back. Dust took a swipe with his scythe, nearly catching Charles in the stomach. Dust took swipe after swipe, as Charles blocked and dodged. Charles was having trouble finding an opening to take a swing. Without warning, once he took a step back, he fell over. “Whoa!” Dust took Charles’s spill to swing down for a vertical strike. Charles blocked it with his swords and got back up. He noticed the ground where he stepped turned to sand.

Charles managed to get back up and continue parrying, he was still on the defense as he was being pushed back. Another step back and Charles fell back again. Dust went for another strike and Charles was just barely able to block it. “What’s going on here?” He got no answer. “All right, fine.”

Charles managed to finally make an opening and took to the air. “You think your safe in the air?” Dust reared up and fired a ball of mud from the hole in his front left hoof. Charles saw it coming and used his sword to slice at it. As soon as he did, it exploded. The force sent him flying backwards. “GAH!” He started falling but managed to recover. “What the hell!” Dust stomped his hooves on the ground, they seemed to meld with it and large bulges started to form .

Soon, giant stone hands erupted from the ground and started reaching out for him in the air. Charles flew frantically and slicing at them as they grabbed for him. They just kept coming. One shot up from the ground and came up behind him. It grabbed him and held tight. “AAHHHH!” Charles screamed in pain as it started squeezing him. Charles tried to think of a way out. He began to try and focus his magic. In a white flash, Charles teleported out of the grasp of the stone hand. He reappeared off to the side of Dust away from him as he was on the ground panting. Dust wasted no time. He pulled his hooves up out of the ground and began firing a volley of mud bombs at Charles.

He saw it coming and quickly put up a white barrier to shield himself as he held up his arms in front of his face as he held his swords backhanded. The mud bombs made contact with his shield and exploded. Charles waited for a break in the assault to make a move. In one quick movement, he dismissed his shield, jumped up into the air just in time to avoid a few of the bombs, and dove at Dust as fast as he could with one sword ready to strike. Dust saw him coming. He blocked one of Charles’s swords with his scythe, but Charles managed to use his other sword to impale Dust in the chest, at the same time, Dust formed a rock spike that caught Charles on the side and scrapped him, leaving a small gash with a bit of blood coming out. “Bravo, you are more skilled than I gave you credit for Charles.”

Charles pulled back his sword and backed up from dust, he fell to his knees as he clutched to his injury. Dust’s body soon turned into a group of rocks that spread out into a small bubble, they regrouped and flew to the area with the pedestals and formed a single perfectly round rock with a few cracks in it and a few pebbles circling around it.
Charles looked back at his injury, it wasn’t too bad, but it ripped his black shirt. The two battles had left him a little tired, but he had three more to go. He had to keep going. “All right, who’s next?” Charles declared as he stood up and faced the remaining three alicorns.

“Looks like I’m up.” Voltage said as he stepped forward and summoned the pairs of nunchakus in a flash of electricity, the aura around them seemed wild as it sparked and surged. “You may be fast, but no way you can keep up with me, and though I’m hoping you win like the rest of us so we can get out of this place, I won’t be holding back.”

Charles readied himself. “All right Voltage, round three, bring it on.”

“That’s what I like to hear. If you win, we’ll get along just great.” Voltage made the first move, he began spinning and swiping his nunchackus like crazy and really fast. Charles was barely able to keep up as he managed to block and dodge the attacks that were coming at him. Unfortunately, Voltage managed to land a hit on Charles side. He recoiled and that gave Voltage the chance to begin an unrelenting assault. Charles got hit repeatedly and in quick succession in the face, on the side and in the arms. The last strike Voltage landed was a straight swing up with his weapon, landing a hit just under his jaw.

Charles was sent flying backwards and landed on his back and rolled a bit. His swords lay just in front of him. He coughed a bit and spat out a bit of blood. He pushed himself back up and looked at Voltage just standing there. “Come on Human, get up, I’m not about to strike you while your down. You want our help, earn it, prove to us you can handle what we have.”

Charles pushed himself up and picked up his swords. He took on a ready stance. Voltage charged, Charles swiped his left sword down, creating a crescent wave of white energy flying at voltage. This caught him off guard, but was able to side step it. “Now that’s more like it, let’s see how you handle a little lightning.” He said with a smile. His horn began to spark and surge with electricity. Charles quickly put up a shield to protect himself.

A large bolt of lightning shot forth from Voltage. Charles strained to keep his shield up. Voltage ceased the bolt and charged. Charles charged forth as well. Voltage took a swipe with one nunchacku and Charles dodged left, Voltage took a horrizantal strike and Charles ducked, Charles used his right sword to swing diagonal and Voltage side stepped it. Voltage then went for a swing with his left nunchacku, Charles used his right sword and allowed the arc lightning holding the two together around his sword. Charles flung it back and managed to get it out of Voltages magic grasp. Charles swung his left sword down and Voltage jumped back. He managed to use his magic to call the nunchaku he lost back to him.

Charles saw Voltage charging up his horn again. It was then he had an idea. It probably wouldn’t work, given the fact its lightning from an alicorn, but still. Charles reformed his staff and quickly stuck one end in the ground just as Voltage launched a bolt of lightning. Charles quickly released his staff and, just like he had hoped, the lightning was drawn to his staff and went into the ground. “HAH, it worked.” Charles cheered.

“Clever, you found a way around my lightning.” Charles took his staff back up. The two charged at each other again, Charles kept his staff as is. Charles was able to defend from Voltage’s attacks with his staff and was able to start making some head way. during the encounter, Voltage swung his left nunchacku and Charles let it wrap around his staff. Voltage swung the other and Charles let that wrap around his staff as well. Charles managed to fling both away and began an assault on his own once Voltage no longer had his weapons. Charles swung and spun his staff quickly and repeatedly, landing blows on Voltage’s head and chest. Eventually, Charles finally knocked Voltage down and had him on the ground panting.

“Well…..done….go ahead…..and finish …..it.” Voltage said with a smile.

Charles formed his swords and made the killing blow by driving one sword into Voltage’s neck. Voltages body exploded into electricity as a mass, then surged forth and formed an orb of pure lightning with a sparking circle around it at the pedestals. Charles was now breathing heavily as he was feeling a bit more tired and sore from the hits he endured. “Huh…..huh…..ok……who’s next?”

“Guess I’m up now.” Tidal wave came forth, her horn lit up with a blue color and the aura around it moved like water. The staff of ice appeared. “You are doing very well so far, but don’t get cocky, arrogance can lead to defeat.”

“Don’t worry about that, I’m not the arrogant sort.” Charles smirked. Still breathing a little heavy.

Tidal Wave smiled. “Good, now let’s see how you fare against me.” This one took hold of the staff with her forelegs and stood up on her hind legs. She twirled it around to show off a little and readied herself for a fight. Charles readied his swords. Tidal Wave whipped the staff and the front end suddenly turned into water. The water whip was coming right at him. He figured slicing it wouldn’t do any good, so he formed his shield again. It was a bit more of a strain for him when the water whip made contact, he was starting to get low on his magic reserves.

Charles quickly dropped his shield and took to the air. Tidal Wave ceased her assault and followed suit. She began firing globs of water at Charles. They exploded in mid-air and created a smoke screen of steam. The heat was scorching as Charles could feel it whenever one exploded near him. He began flying backwards and used his energy crescent blades to slice up the water blobs before they got close but a few got past them. A few kept exploding close but not enough to hurt him.

He aimed for Tidal wave with a few strikes but she was able to easily dodge them as she flew. She tried using the water whip to grab him as they flew. Charles managed to slice it before it touched him but it didn’t stop it. He had to keep slicing and swinging to keep it at bay. Eventually, it grabbed his leg and Tidal Wave whipped him down, slamming him to the ground hard, creating a small crater around him. Charles groaned in pain. “Oooohhh.” He managed to push himself up, but with a little difficulty.

Tidal Wave came to a landing in front of the crater. She still held the staff in her foreleg , but was standing on her other three. “Come now, are you giving up already? A shame.”

Charles looked up at her and glared. “I’ll give up when I’m good and dead.” Charles quickly took a swipe at her and managed to nick her in the leg. He was standing tall now.

“Ooh, someone found their second wind.”

“I’m not about…..to give up…..on those….I love. Too much….depends on me……succeeding.” He panted out.

“That is most admirable, but you still need to beat all five of us.” Charles went for it. He started swinging his swords madly at Tidal Wave, but she managed to block each of his strikes. He was pushing her back though, as if he were in a fit of rage, Charles continued. Tidal Wave was starting to feel as though he would break through her defenses. She quickly jumped back and fired a water blob at the ground in front of Charles. The explosion created a massive smoke screen of steam. The explosion caused Charles to back step some, and now the heat was making him start to sweat.

He looked around for any sign of Tidal wave. He saw a silhouette in the steam, he took a swipe with his left sord but hit nothing, the shadow was gone. “You’re cause may be noble, but as we said, you must prove yourself to us before you can wield our power.” Tidal Wave said as she was nowhere to be seen.

Charles looked and couldn’t find her anywhere. A ball of water hit him in the back and exploded into steam. “GAH!” Charles lurched forward at the impact. He quickly turned around and saw nothing. Another hit from his right. The steam burned his skin and caused him pain. “GAAAAHHHH!” He quickly regained his stance and swiped his right sword at where it came from, but again hit nothing. “Where are you? Quit hiding like a coward!”

“A coward am I, this is merely a tactic. Perhaps you are not the warrior we thought you were if you are calling me a coward for imploying such a maneuver.”

Charles was hit again from the other side on his mid-section on his left. “AHH! DAMNIT!” “Calm down! Think, you can’t see her, she’s using this smoke screen as a cover. If you can’t see her, maybe you can hear her.” Charles calmed himself down, he took a deep breath in and exhaled. He closed his eyes and opened his senses. “Where are you?” He calmly asked himself. He listened for hoof steps. For anything. He heard something on his right, he quickly moved and jabbed both swords forward. He was met with the sound of his swords piercing a metal chest piece. He opened his eyes and the steam cleared away.

He saw tidal Wave standing there smiling at him. “Well done, you won.” Her whole body turned to water and flowed to the pedestals, an orb of water with a ring around it floated above another pedestal. Charles eyed the pedestals, he fell to his knees as he breathed heavily, using his left sword to keep him up. He then looked over to Aeros.

“Well done, you have shown great determination and skill. You have beaten four of us, now only I remain. Defeat me, and we shall give you our power."

Charles stood up and pointed his left sword at her. “Lets…..get this…..over with. I have…..a family….waiting for me.”

“Then for your sake, and theirs, I hope you can win. Though given how tired you seem, it may not be likely.”

“I will……win. I have to……failure…….is not an option.”

“Very well then. Let us finish this.” Aeros summoned her sword, it was the curved sword Charles saw earlier. Before Charles could make a move, Aeros made the first. She held the sword out pointing at Charles, she began twirling it around and managed to create a whirlwind.

It shot forth at Charles and he was soon enveloped by wind. “Whoa WHOA!” Charles found himself at the center of a tornado. Blades of air started circling around him. He was having trouble getting his bearings and trying to correct himself, but the wind was too violent. The blades started slicing at him, cutting his clothes and leaving gashes across his arms and legs and a few on his sides. After a while, the wind stopped and Charles fell to the ground with a loud thud.

He was covered in cuts that were bleeding a bit. “Well, ready to give up yet?”

At this point, Charles’s black coat and clothes were shredded and his body was covered in bleeding cuts. Charles started weakly as he tried to get up. “Not…..a……CHANCE!” On the last word, he launched forward and started swinging his swords wildly at Aeros. She blocked and dodged his swings. She managesd to start countering back but Charles was able to still block her attacks as well. Their blades locked and Aeros pushed Charles back. She swiped her sword and made a blade of air fly at Charles. He managed to avoid it just enough to where it caught him on his left arm. “GAH!”

She sent another his way and Charles manages to duck and avoid it. Another came at him and Charles used his magic shield to try and block it. Unfortunatly, his magic was weak now, the blade smashed right through his shield and it just threw it off course, catching Charles in his right arm. “AH, Jeeze!” Charles tried sending a series of his own energy slashes at Aeros, she manages to dodge or block them. She started twirling her sword again to create the whirlwind. Charles couldn’t lose, he figured if he went through that whirlwind again, it could be the end of him. He channeled all the strength he had.

He spread his wings, put his swords tip to tip in front of him, sped off as fast as he could, his body glowing white. He flew through the air as the wind came at him. Charles quickly began his spinning forming his own wind. He clashed with the wind from Aeros and pushed with all his might. He was slowly gaining ground. “GGRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” With a loud cry, he gave one final push and forced his way through the wind and made it to Aeros. His swords pierced her armor and through her chest.

The wind had stopped. Charles looked up at Aeros as she smiled at him. “Well done, you have proven yourself worthy.” She exploded into wind which threw Charles back. The wind blew over Charles and took its place as an orb of wind with a ring. Charles rolled over with a grunt. “Ugh.” He looked at the pedestals and saw all five had the elements there. He smiled weakly. He pushed himself up and limped over to them. Each step was a struggle, every inch only meant more pain for him. His cuts were bleeding, his body was sore and exhausted. His energy was spent. He got closer and closer.

He started to feel light headed as he got closer to the circle. “No….I……have to…..get there. Every pony……is counting…..on me. I…..have…….to…….make…….it.” Charles collapsed just outside the circle, unconscious, his life slowly ebbing away.

“Ah dang it. He’s dying. What now?” Flashpoint asked.

“We can’t just let him die, he won the test fair and square.” Voltage spoke.

“Agreed, he has proven himself and defeated each of us in combat.” Dust agreed.

“If his body is dying, he will need a new one.” Tidal Wave suggested.

“Very well, we shall use our power and grant him new life.” Aeros chimed in.

The rings around each of the orbs came to life as they moved. The lighting ring grabbed Charles’s left arm. The fire grabbed his right. The earth grabbed his left leg while the water grabbed his right. The wind grabbed him by his mid-section and they each lifted him up and placed him in the center. Once there, the rings returned and the orbs began to glow with their colors. The orbs then started to lift up and swirl around Charles’s form. They picked up speed as they spun around. Soon, they streamed into him and lit his body up in a bright white glow.

Charles stirred from his sleep, a feeling of grogginess over swept him as he opened his eyes. “Ooohh, what hit me. Wait……how come I don’t feel pain. I was beaten pretty bad earlier.” Charles pushed himself up from the ground and moved to place his hand on his head, as he did, something black came into his view. He stopped. “What the?” He found he was able to move it around. “What…..is that……mine?” Charles had a hoof instead of a hand. “YAAAHHHHH!” Charles screamed as he waved it up and down as if that would do any good while he stood up. He flailed his arms around as he fell backwards and landed on the ground. “OOf, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ONT HERE!?” Charles looked at his arms and saw two limbs covered in black fur with hooves at the end. “What in the name of Celestia is going on here?!”

He rolled over and tried to stand on his legs, but was wobbly and fell back down on his belly. “Whoa! What happened to me?” Charles picked himself back up and finally decided to take a good look at himself. “Ok, calm down, just asses what’s going on here.” He looked himself up and down. “Ok, black fur, hooves….” He looked to his side and saw he still had his wings and they were still black. “I still have my wings, thank Celestia.” Charles then raised his new hoof and felt his forehead. “What is this? I have a horn too?” Charles had a horn sticking out of his head. “Have I been turned into an alicorn?”

“You have.” A female voice rang out.

“Who’s there!?” Charles cried out as he tried to stand, only to fall back down, not used to his new four legs.

“Aeros, that’s who.” The voice spoke out.

“Aeros, where are you?”

“Look on your back.” Dust’s voice came out. Charles complied and looked on his back. He saw his staff resing on his back but it was different. There were five small crystal orbs imbedded in it along the middle, each giving off a glow similar to the five elements. He was able to grasp the staff with his foreleg and held it in front of him.

“Um, hello?”

“Hey, you’re awake, great.” Flashpoint’s voice was heard.

“Ok, what the buck is going on here?”

Tidal Wave’s voice answered. “Your body was dying, we had to do something. And did you really just say buck?”

“Yes I did, but never mind that, what happened to me?”

Dust answered again. “As Tidal Wave said, your body was dying, we had to do something, so we gave you a new one, we made you an alicorn like us.”

“Is this a problem?” Aeros asked.

“Well I……” Charles stopped, he thought about it for a while. “Well, I.....I don’t know, I guess this is ok, I never really was human, I’m not sure what I could call myself before. But now…..”

“Yes?” Flashpoint asked.

“You know what……THIS IS PERFECT! Sure it will take some getting used to, but now I can actually feel like I truly belong. Despite how my new family liked me for who I was, I still never really felt like I fit in, but now, HA HA…….wait…..my family, and my friends. Oh boy, this is going to take some explaining to do on how I changed species.”

“So you are ok with this?” Asked Dust.

Charles smiled down at his staff. “I am, thank you guys. This is wonderful, but I’m still going to need to get used to walking on all fours, and holding things with these hooves.”

Tidal wave spoke up. “If you wish to get a better look at yourself, you can use the ice staff to create an ice mirror. Just summon it with your mind and the staff you hold will become it.”

“Ok, sure.” Charles closed his eyes and thought of the staff. Sure enough, his staff changed to the ice staff. “Nice, now what?”

“Just think of creating a reflective wall of ice.”

Charles used his magic to hold up the staff and used it to do so, he slammed one end to the ground and a wall of ice emerged. “Cool. All right, let’s get a good look at me.” Charles placed the staff back on his back and walked up to the ice wall, he was a little wobbly as he did. “Whoa.” His entire coat was black, he had a white mane and tail. His mane came down over his forehead a little with his horn sticking out of it. He turned to his side to reveal a mark on his flank, it was the same mark the enlightened five had on their flanks, but his was in red. “Nice mark. Ok, now I just need to get walking down, not too hard so far. Then again, I am really anxious to get home, I can always fly there……AH, but it’s still too far. I’ll have to go on hoof still when my wings get tired.”

Voltage’s voice then came in. “No worries, my power can help with that. With my speed in flight, you’ll be home in no time.”

“Really?” Charles asked excitedly.

“Sure, just switch to the nunchackus and my lighting power will be yours.”

Charles then used his mind to call them forth and the ice staff switched to the pair of nunchackus on his back. “Cool, so now what?”

“Just let the lightning surge through your body and fill up your wings.”

Before doing so, Charles found his bag and managed to place it on his back with his magic without moving. Charles then spread out his wings and they began to spark with electricity, his whole body began to spark as well. “All right, here goes.” Charles shot up into the air almost in an instant, he managed to shoot through one of the holes in the roof and was now high up in the sky. “WOW, HA HA, this is great. Ok, now to head for home.” Charles managed to create a sonic boom instantly as he took off and headed back north for home.

“WOOOOOOOOOO, THIS IS INCREDIBLE!” He cheered as he sped through the air. If you were to look up at the right time as he passed, you would only see a white line of energy suddenly appear for a second then vanish. “Wait till the girls get a load of me now! WOO HOOO!”

Author's Note

The weapons and the alicorns for the elements of life are courtesy of Jman796. Brohoof!

Chapter 38

Charles flew through the air at such a speed, he was sure to get home within a few hours if not sooner. He decided to take this opportunity to converse with the enlightened five. “So guys, does this mean you all are a part of me now or what?”

“You could say that.” Flashpoint answered.

“We have fused with you and are now a part of you, however, we can present ourselves in spiritual form if you should like us to reveal ourselves.” Dust explained.

“Well that will be helpful, every pony will start thinking I’m crazy if I start talking to voices in my head that only I can hear.” Charles mused. “But what about when I want some privacy, you know, like when I’m with my wives and such?”

“Fear not, we can take up residence in the gems within your staff, then while we are in there, we can still communicate with you as long as you are making contact with it, but while you are not, we cannot speak with you normally.” Aeros explained.

“That’s good to know. So you five have been stuck in that temple for a long time huh, sorry to hear that.”

“Tell me about it.” Voltage agreed. “Ever since we were created at the same time as the elements of harmony, we’ve been stuck in that temple for ages with nothing to do. Our power just wasn’t needed. So we just sat around with nothing to do but talk and practice our fighting with one another in the ethereal plain.”

“Ethereal plane?” Charles asked.

“It is a plain of existence only spirits can access.” Aeros explained.

“Thanks for coming along when you did, finally we can see the world.” Flashpoint said.

“We are most grateful that we can finally get out of there.” Tidal Wave expressed.

“Hey, don’t mention it, I’m glad I could help. I don’t suppose you all could somehow help me figure out how to use your powers with the weapons could you?”

Dust answered. “Of course we can, that is part of our role, to act as the teachers for the one who finds us and passes our test to control our power.”

“That can wait for later, as I recall, you have some things to take care of once we reach this home of yours.” Aeros pointed out.

“Yeah, like telling everypony you know that you changed and explain it to them.” Voltage pointed out.

“All right then…..Hey, there it ……..goes…..Whoa whoa slow down!” Charles spotted Ponyville but passed right by it. He managed to stop in mid-air and flapped his wings regular to fly at normal speed. “There it is, home sweet home, Ponyville.” Charles smiled as he looked down at his home. “Ok, now how am I going to explain to the girls about this?”

“Just tell them. Simple right?” Flash asked.

“*Sigh* I guess.” Charles flew over the town, managing not to draw attention to himself. He soon came to his home and came to a landing. “Well, here goes nothing.” Charles knocked on the door. When he did, he heard a dog barking. He knew exactly who that was.

The door opened and Spike was the one to answer. Winona ran out once Spike opened it. “Hello….whoa, an alicorn, hello there, can I help you?”

Winona sniffed around Charles a bit and barked happily at him. Charles smiled down at the dog first. “Hey there Winona, good to see you.” He then turned to Spike. “Hello Spike, guess who’s back.”

Spike looked confused and nervous. “Do I…….know you?”

“Spike, who’s at the door?” Twilight’s voice called.

She soon came up and saw the alicorn petting Winona as she wagged her tail happily. “I don’t know, but he seems to know my name.”

Twilight looked at Charles. “Can I help you sir?”

In his new form, Charles was about the same size as Big Macintosh. Charles felt a little sad that she didn’t recognize him right away, but he knew it was probably something that was sure to happen since he was no longer what he was before. “Um……hey Twilight, I’m back, it’s me…….Charles.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes a bit. “Excuse me?”

Winona barked happily as if to confirm this.

“Twi, what’s goin on?” Applejack’s voice came in. All four of the mares were now together as they looked at the alicorn before them. “Who’s this feller?”
Charles began to try and explain. “Ok, I know this may sound hard to believe, but it’s me, your husband, Charles.”

“Charles, you must be joking.” Rarity stated.

“No really, it’s me.”

Twilight stepped closer and looked deep into his eyes. “Charles, is it really you?”

“It is…..um……surprise….heh heh.” He gave a sheepish smile.

Pinkie exploded with happiness. “CHARLES!” She jumped up and wrapped him in a big hug around his neck. “Oh Charles, we missed you so much!” She then planted a big kiss on his lips. Charles happily returned it.

“Charles, is that really you?” Applejack asked.

Once Pinkie stopped her kiss, Charles was now free to answer. “It is Applejack, and I have a LOT to tell you all, one of them being how it is I look like this now.”

“Pinkie, How do you know that’s Charles, what if it’s just some alicorn trying to pass himself off as Charles?” Rarity asked.

“Why would an alicorn do that, and what is an alicorn doing here, where did he come from?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie answered. “I know its Charles because my Pinkie sense told me.”

“Yer pinkie sense?” Applejack questioned.

“Yep, ever since we got married, I got a pinkie sense that tells me whenever Charles is near. My heart starts racing, my knees get weak, and I start panting heavily for a bit. That’s how I know this is him. You all know my pinkie sense is never wrong.”

Charles looked at Pinkie with a smile. “You have a pinkie sense just for me?”

“Yep.”

That was all the others needed as they jumped him and forced him to the ground in a kissing fit, more than thrilled he was home.

Once they all settled down and had a seat around the couch, Charles finally had a chance to tell them all what happened. He was also happily greeted by his mare’s other pets, Opal Essence, Gummy, and Owlicious. He also had a chance to give Spike a hello hug. “…….so they fused with me and now here I am. And that’s how I got to be like this. So all in all, my mission was a success.”

“That’s wonderful Charles, can we see them?” Twilight asked.

“Sure.” Charles brought up his staff and showed it to the girls. The gems glowed and the alicorns appeared in the room for them all to see.

“Greetings, we are the enlightened five, a pleasure to meet you.” Aeros greeted.

“Girls, meet my new friends, Aeros, Tidal Wave, Flashpoint, Voltage, and Dust. They are also going to be my instructors on how to use the elements of life.”

“It’s nice to meet ya’ll.” Applejack greeted.

“Likewise, you have no idea how good it feels finally be able to meet others.” Flash pointed out.

“Wow, this is so fascinating. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

“A pleasure.” Dust said with a bow.

“I am Rarity, nice to meet you all.”

“I’m Applejack, howdy.”

“Oh my gosh, new friends, I love new friends, it’s so nice to meet new friends……HEY, you know what this calls for?”

“A party?” Charles answered.

Pinkie looked at Charles. “How’d you know?”

“Lucky guess. But Pinkie, even though it would be nice to throw them a party, I don’t think they’d be able to enjoy it like us since their just spirits.”

“Awe, that’s too bad. We should still have a party anyway, one to celebrate Charles’s return and transformation!”

Twilight then cut in. “Pinkie, I think we should hold off on that till we tell the princesses about what has happened.”

“Oh, ok.” Pinkie saddened a little at this news.

“So Charles, are you really ok with bein what you are now, not that it matters to us.” Applejack asked.

“Of course I am, I’m perfectly fine with this, I just need to get used to it is all. You all saw how wobbly I was on these legs.” Charles pointed out as he held up his forelegs.

“That’s true, you do need a bit of practice.” Rarity pointed out.

“Spike?” Charles called.

“Yeah?”

“Would you be so kind as to send a letter to the princesses informing them that I’ve returned and was successful in my mission please.”

“Sure thing, no problem.” Spike answered happily.

The enlightened five then disappeared back into the staff.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it.” Twilight responded. She opened the door and both princesses were there. “Celestia, Luna, welcome, come in.” Twilight gave a bow before allowing them entrance.

“Thank you Twilight.” Celestia said as she entered. Once the princesses were in, the others gave a bow as well.

Charles tried to bow in his new pony form but slipped and fell on his belly. “OOF, ow.”

The princesses looked at him curiously. “Twilight, who is this, and where is Charles?” Luna asked.

Twilight began. “Your majesties, this is Charles, he found the elements of life and they changed him into an alicorn.”

The princesses then looked back at Charles as he stood back up. “Hello your majesties, I have returned and, as you can see, gone through a bit of a transformation.”

“Charles, are you all right, I’m sure we could probably find a way to turn you back if you want.” Celestia pointed out with concern.

“No need princess, I’m fine with this, I’m actually glad this happened, it’s just going to take some getting used to being like this is all. As to how this happened…well.” Charles once again went through the explanation and allowed them to meet the spirits he now had with him.

Once the explanation and introductions were complete, the princesses gave their congratulations to Charles on his success and left. The princesses offered to let his friends know about what happened but Charles wanted to tell them himself. “Well, now to go out and let the others know about this, this is going to be a long day of explanation.”

Rarity cut in before he could leave. “Charles dear, before you go, we do have a bit of news to share with you.”
Charles brought his attention to Rarity. “Yes, what is it?”

Pinkie and Rarity stood next to each other. Pinkie delivered the news. “Me and Rarity are pregnant, we’re going to have babies!”

Charles’s face grew a huge grin at this news. “Really…..you mean…..I….I’m going to be a dad?”

“Indeed dear, isn’t it wonderful?” Rarity asked.

“Ahah, no way, you two are really pregnant, I’m going to be a dad? HA HAH, I don’t believe it! So then that night after our wedding…..?” The two simply nodded. “This is great, so you two are like what, three months in now?”

“Yep.” Pinkie chirped happily.

“I thought you two looked a little more pudgy than before, I didn’t want to say anything cause I didn’t want to insult you but now I know why, this is great!” Charles then had a thought. “Wait, I was human when it happened, does that mean…..I mean….?”

The girls knew what he was trying to ask. Applejack put his fears to rest. “Don’t worry partner, their perfectly healthy ponies.”

“Whew, that’s good, do you know what race they are, earth pony, Pegasus, unicorn,……” He shifted his eyes from side to side. “Alicorn?”

Rarity answered. “We don’t know yet. It’s still too early to tell.”

Pinkie started squeeling. “Oooh, this is so exciting, we’re going to be mothers! And Charles came home in time to see the delivery when they get here.”

“Wow, I’m going to be a dad, I guess I should have expected this at some point. This is wonderful. I can’t wait to tell the others. Girls, I promise tonight is going to be special for you all. For now, let’s go spread the word that I’m back, that is if you all feel up for it.”

“Of course we are.” Twilight answered. “It’ll probably be easier to convince them about you being you if we come along.”

Charles smiled. “All right then, let’s go, It’ll be good walking practice.”

Three months later, Human world, Location: Classified:

Jonathan made his way to the science department of the facility and entered the large lab where the scientists were hard at work. He approached the lead scientist of the team. “Max, is the portal ready yet, have all tests been run?”
The scientist, Max, answered with certainty. “Yes sir, the four man team is ready. Once the portal turns on, the team will pass through, and use the newly developed inter-dimensional communicators we developed to confirm they passed through safely. Once there, they will scout the place they’re in for a day and call us back the next day to inform us of their findings. Then we can begin preparations to send the army through.”

“Good, that subject may have thought he could escape, but he is too valuable to us. We will get him back. Make a note I’ll be joining the team.”

Max grew nervous at this. “WHAT?! But sir, it could be dangerous, we don’t know what this other world is like!”

“So, I’ll be traveling with soldiers, besides, I’ve wielded a gun before, If the team runs into the subject, I want to be there to give him my greetings. Get everything ready, we’ll leave in one hour.”

“Y-yes sir.”

One hour later, Jonathan now stood with a four man team, all in metal bionic suits with helmets and orange visors with high tech looking rifles, each with a large back pack full of supplies. The group stood before a large metal rectangular frame with a base and a ramp leading up to the frame. Jonathan put two fingers to the side of his head and spoke. “All right, we are ready to go, activate the portal.”

“Yes sir.” A voice on the other end responded. A series of lights came on along the frame, a tear in the fabric of reality started to form and copy the shape of the frame. The soldiers and Jonathan Stood before a white whirling vortex, the doorway to an unknown world to find their target.

“All right men, let’s go.” Jonathan gave the order, leading the way to the portal. He was the first to step in, the others followed. They found themselves tumbling through the vortex.

Eventually, they came out and emerged in a grassy field. Jonathan picked himself up and stood tall. “Report, is everyone ok?” Each soldier sounded off confirming their status. Jonathan took off his back pack and kneeled down. He pressed a button on the side to open it. The top slid open and Jonathan pulled out a small communication device. He held it in front and spoke. “This is exploration team. Breach is successful, travel through is possible without injury. We will begin exploration of the land and report our findings tomorrow. Over and out.”

“Confirmed Sir.” Another voice sounded.

The communicator let out a beep as it shut off. “All right, commander, give me a readout of the area.”

One of the soldiers stood in front of Jonathan and held out another device with a screen. “The long range scanner is picking up multiple readings of life forms a few miles ahead, most likely a town.” The soldier offered in a gruff voice.

“Well then, let’s go say hi to the natives and see if they know anything about who we are looking for. Be on your guard, no telling what these life forms are capable of.” Jonathan took the lead as he headed in the direction of the town.

Back with Charles:

Charles was out enjoying the day with his wives as they strolled through the town. He had gotten used to his new alicorn form by now. Twilight and Applejack were looking a little pudgy as well now. They were nearing the west side of Town as they walked and talked. Charles happened to look ahead and saw something that stopped him in his tracks. “No, it can’t be.”

Applejack asked first. “What, what’s wrong sugar cube?”

The girls followed his gaze as they saw the soldiers approaching the edge of town. Charles narrowed his eyes. “Girls, you stay here.” Before the girls could respond, Charles brought his staff off his back and formed his twin swords, then charged off for them.

The soldiers saw Charles coming. They took up a defensive formation and aimed their guns at him, Jonathan stopped all this as he yelled out. “WHOA WHOA, HOLD UP! We come in peace!”

Charles stopped just in front of Jonathan with his left sword at his throat. “YOU! Who are you, and how did you get here?!”

Jonathan raised his hands in a defensive way. “Easy there friend, we come in piece.”

Charles responded with a glare. “Yeah right, your kind isn’t welcome here, I don’t know how you got here, but I suggest you go back where you came from.” Because of the helmet, Charles couldn’t tell it was Jonathan in the mech suit.

Jonathan cocked an eyebrow under his visor. “Hold on, I know that voice, but it can’t be?”

Charles seemed to recognize that voice as well. “I know that voice, but that’s impossible, you can’t be here.”

Jonathan started arrogantly. “Well well, I don’t suppose you were a human like being with wings and magic were you, always on the run from the military, trying to hide so you couldn’t be used as a tool?”

Charles’s eyes narrowed more and glared at the human before him. “You, it can’t be, how did you get here!?”

“HAH, it is you, the subject I’ve always enjoyed hunting. My but you’ve changed, what happened, couldn’t make it as a human so you turned into a mutant hoarse instead?”

Charles spoke through gritted teeth. “I’ll have you know I’m a pony now, and ponies are the dominant species here. Far better creatures than humans, they were much more accepting of me for who I was rather than what I was. I’m proud to call myself one of them.”

“I see, so ponies here are in charge, and what’s with the wings and horn if I may ask?”

“I’m an alicorn now, a creature blessed with flight and magic, rare but not unheard of. Any other questions before I lop off your head?”

“Ooh, so violent, do you really want to do that? Killing me wont’ do anything for you, and we all know how you hate killing unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

“It’ll make me feel better knowing your rotting in hell.”

“Now subject, let’s be-“

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Charles shouted. “I have a name now, my name is Charles, and you will do well to remember it.”

“Very well….Charles, perhaps we can have a nice sit down and chat.”

After Jonathan said this, two of the soldiers acted. One on Jonathan’s immediate right quickly wrapped an arm around his neck and pointed his gun at his head. The one on Jonathans left pointed a gun at one of the soldiers. Charles backed up a bit in surprise with his swords at the ready.

The soldier pointing the gun at one of the others spoke with a female voice. “All right, drop your weapons, put them on the ground and back up.”

The one holding Jonathan spoke in a male voice. “Do it, or I’ll shoot him!”

Charles just looked confused now. The two other soldiers complied, they set their weapons down and started backing away to the sides and made their way around the two that held Jonathan Hostage. “Hmph, I should have known you two would try something like this.”

“Shut up you, we are done with you, do what we say and you may live through this.” The male that had Jonathan in a head lock said.

The female kept her gun trained on the other two soldiers. “I want you all to get out of here now, leave or I shoot him.” The soldiers just looked at each other and ran off to where they came from.

The man that had Jonathan in a head lock took his gun and threw him to the ground. “You too, get out of here and don’t come back.”

Jonathan got up, dusted himself off and turned to them. “You two are making a big mistake, you know that.”

The female responded. “The mistake was listening to you, now get out of here.”

Jonathan just started backing up. “Fine, have it your way, but you’re going to regret this.” He then turned and just walked off.

Charles was still confused about what just happened. The two soldiers turned around as they removed their guns and threw them to the ground. Charles looked at the guns, then back at the soldiers. They pushed a small button on their wrists and their suits started to close in and shrink into a bracelet on their arms.

Once Charles could see their faces, he was filled with rage. “You.” He growled out. He quickly levitated the guns and sliced them up into pieces.

The two before him were wearing white lab coats. The female had a short black skirt, black flat heel shoes, a blue blouse and long black hair and glasses.

The male had short blond hair, was wearing blue jeans and a white shirt. “Hello son, long time no see.”

Charles leapt at them and placed both his swords at their necks. “YOU, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE!?”

The woman tried to speak. “Now Jason, just calm down.”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Charles pressed his face against the woman. “YOU HAVE NO RIGHT BEING HERE! Of all the people in the world, you two are the last ones I EVER wanted to see!”

By this time, Charles’s wives had come up. “Charles, what’s going on, they just helped didn’t they?” Twilight asked.

“Stay out of this Twilight, this is between me and them.” Charles kept his eyes on the woman.

The two humans eyed the unicorn for a moment. Applejack then came forward. “But who are they, if they just chased off them humans, don’t that mean they’re on our side?”

Rarity then came in. “Who were those humans anyway?”

Charles looked at Rarity as he explained. “That one human that was talking was Jonathan, he’s the one that was always trying to hunt me down back on earth.”

“And what about these two, who are they?” Pinkie asked.

“W-we’re his parents.” The male said. This caused the four to gasp.

Charles turned his glare on the male and walked up to him. “You have no right calling yourselves my parents, not after what you did to me. Do you have any idea what I have been through because of you two!? My life was a living hell because of you! I should chop your heads off right here and now!”

Twilight interjected. “Charles, you can’t be serious?”

“Oh I am serious Twilight, you know how much pain I went through because of them, so why shouldn’t I kill them?”

Twilight put a hoof to his shoulder. “Because they’re your parents.” She answered sweetly.

Charles looked down at her as he saw a sorrow full look. “Do you really think that’s a good enough reason for me to not just cut them up right here and now?”

“I know I do.” Applejack answered as she came up next to Charles on his other side. “They may not have been the best of parents, but they are still your kinfolk, and killin them aint gonna do no good to no pony.”

Rarity then came in. “Please Charles, if they went through the trouble to get here, then they must want to talk.”

Charles’s mother interjected. “She’s right, we just want to talk, please son, just hear us out.”

Charles glared at her. “DON’T……CALL ME….your son, you lost that right years ago!” His blades shook in his magical grasp as he struggled with the decision to kill them or not.

Twilight came in. “Please Charles, for us, don’t do it.”

Charles looked down at her with a frown. He glared back at his parents. “GRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH!” He brought his swords back and swiped one to the side sending an energy wave at a tree, slicing it in half. He pointed the tip of one of his swords at them. “One…..chance. That is all your getting, if you try anything funny, I won’t hesitate. Understand?” The two humans nodded. “We do this at my home. You better not try anything.” Charles tapped the handles of his swords together to reform his staff and placed it on his back, then turned and started walking for home.

The four mares turned to the two humans with glares. Twilight got in front of them and poked the female in the chest. “Don’t think that just because we talked him into sparing you we’re on your side.”

Twilight then started walking off. The two humans followed behind. Applejack came in as they started. “Charles told us all about how you two are responsible fer all the pain he went through, I’ve got half a mind ta buck ya’ll myself.”

Pinkie cut in as well. “Yeah, you two were nothing but a pair of meany mean pants to him.”

Rarity then followed up. “While I do agree with them, I am a lady and am not about to share my thoughts on how I feel for it would be considered rude.”

As the four mares and Charles escorted the two humans through town, the humans definitely attracted attention as the ponies stared at them. Not out of fear but curiosity since Charles had been the only human they had seen before until now. As it happened, captain Lightning Thrash came up to them with Dusk Fang and Dawn Fang. “Charles, who are these two, are they humans like you were?”

“Hello captain, yes they are, I’m escorting them to my house for a chat, there is a lot to explain right now but I need to speak with them first if that’s all right.”

“Um, sure, but who are they?”

Charles looked to the side and growled out the answer. “My so called parents.”

Lightning Thrash then looked over to the two humans. He then looked back to Charles. “Them, the ones who turned you into a science experiment as you put it?”

“Unfortunatley, yes. They found a way here with a few other humans, I’m afraid there may be trouble on the horizon, I will inform the princesses right away about this once I get home. If I may, I would like to request a pair of guards to come with me and keep an eye on them.”

“All right, no problem. Dusk Fang, Dawn Fang, you two go with Charles to keep an eye on our new guests.”

The two gave a salute. “Yes sir!” The two flew to the rear of the group. The two humans were startled when the two flew behind them and landed. They faced forward again as they continued on.

Charles’s father spoke up. “Um, if I may ask a question?”

“You may.” Rarity answered.

“How is it you can all talk, and what’s with the horns and wings?”

Twilight answered. “Simple, we’ve always been able to talk, Rarity and myself are unicorns, we can use magic through our horns. The ones with wings are pegasai, Charles mentioned how our kind only existed in fairy tales and stories, couldn’t you tell what we were?”

“I just wanted to make sure.”

Charles’s mother then came in. “And how do you all know our so-“ Charles glanced back at them before she could finish. She knew what that glare meant, she just looked sad. “I mean, how do you know him?”

Applejack answered. “We’re his wives.”

The two humans looked at her surprised. “Excuse me, his wives, all four of you?” The father asked.

“Indeed.” Rarity confirmed. “In this land, such a thing is normal, we all fell for Charles and married him.”

The mother then asked. “And what is this land called?”

Twilight answered. “Equestria, this country is ruled by two alicorn princesses. Princess Celestia and princess Luna, I imagine you’ll get to meet them, not that you deserve such an honor.”

As they walked, Charles was having a mental conversation with his teachers, the enlightened five. Aeros was the first to ask. “So those two are your parents?”

Charles responded back. “Biologicaly speaking, yes.”

Voltage then came in. “The ones that hurt you so bad?”

“Yes again. I can’t believe they’re here.”

Flash point then came in. “I say you should have gone with your instinct and cut em up good.”

“I’m wishing I had, but my wives managed to talk me out of it.”

Dust then came in. “I would have to agree with your wives, they may have done terrible things to you in the past, but they are still your parents.”

“Oh please, as far as I’m concerned, they gave up the right to call themselves my parents the day they betrayed me. They can just rot in the deepest pits of Tartarus for all I care.”

Tidal wave then had a thought. “And what of that human Jonathan, what about him?”

“As I said, he’s the one that hunted me all my life back on earth, the fact that he’s here now can’t be good, I got a feeling this threat I was warned about was him. The humans are coming to Equestria, and it won’t be pretty.”

Author's Note

And there you have it. The human, Jonathan, has come to Equestria, he is just a prelude of what is to come. More Humans will be on the way and Equestria will be in big trouble. I now send out a call to arms. Any OC's that can be considered OP are requested to aid in the battle that is to come. Please answer the call and send me your OC's through pm that they may aid in the fight, Charles may not be enough.

Chapter 39

Charles and the others soon reached his home. Charles opened the door with his magic and walked in, he was happily greeted by Winona as she barked and wagged her tail. Charles just ignored her as he walked in. The dog soon seemed less happy as she stopped wagging. “Hey Charles….is something wrong?” Spike asked as he saw the angered expression on his face.

The four mares and two humans walked in right behind him. Dusk and Dawn stayed at the front door and stood at either side. “I need a drink.” Charles announced.

Spike noticed the two humans. “Uhm, who are they?”

Charles didn’t answer. “Do you girls want anything while I’m in the kitchen?” He asked over his shoulder to his wives as they gathered around the table with the two humans.

“Would you be a dear and make some tea for me please.” Rarity asked.

“I’ll take a bottle of Apple cider.” Applejack gave her order.

“I’d like some tea as well if you please.” Twilight responded.

Pinkie then gave out her order. “Apple cider for me too.”

Charles then turned to Spike. “Spike, you want anything?”

“Just some apple juice for me thanks.” Spike responded.

“Dust, Dawn, you two want anything?”

“No thanks, I’m good.” Dawn answered.

“Me too, thanks anyway.” Dusk responded.

Charles started for the kitchen when he heard Rarity clear her throat. “AHEM, I believe your forgetting someone dear.”

Charles rolled his eyes and turned back around, he looked to the two humans. “Do you two want anything?”

Charles’s mother responded. “I suppose tea is good.”

Charles gave a snort then headed for the kitchen. He first used his magic to open the fridge and levitated out three bottles of apple cider and a bottle of apple juice. He sent the three bottles over to their respective requestors while he popped the lid off one and took a swig. He then began to make the tea as the ponies began a conversation with the two humans.

Rarity was the first to speak. “Well then, I suppose introductions are in order, despite the….*AHEM*…bad blood between you two and our husband, there is no need to forget formalities. I am Rarity, fashion designer of Ponyville.”

“I’m Applejack, I run a little apple farm called Sweet Apple Acres.”

“I’m Pinkie Pie, I work at Ponyville’s number one bakery called Sugarcube Corner.”

“And I’m Twilight Sparkle, I run Ponyville’s library.”

“Names Spike, I’m Twilight’s assistant and little brother.”

The two humans looked at Spike curiously, they had questions about that but it could wait. The male gave introductions next. “My name is Daniel, and this is my wife Carol. We came in hopes of finding our son Jason.”

Charles turned around from the stove as the tea kettle was warming up. “THAT ISN’T MY NAME ANYMORE! I thought I made it clear I gave up that name you gave me. My name is Charles now, NOT Jason.”

The two humans cringed as they clasped their hands together. “Charles, no need to shout.” Rarity scolded. Charles looked to Rarity, he gave another snort and turned back to the stove. “Sorry about him, as you can see, seeing you two has……upset him greatly.”

Applejack then came in with a glare. “That’s perfectly understandable considerin what ya’ll did ta him when he was just a youngin.”

Twilight then came in. “I can’t believe you two did such a thing to your own son, how could you?” She was also glaring at them.

Rarity continued to try and keep things civil. “Now girls, no need to be rude, let’s at least give them a chance to explain and talk.”

Charles soon came to the table they were gathered around with a tray of tea cups and the tea kettle. He took a seat between Rarity and Twilight, Pinkie was next to Twilight, followed by Spike. Applejack was next to Rarity. Charles set it at the center and poured a cup for those that asked for it. Charles just glanced at the two humans across from him as he poured the tea. He just kept quiet.

Daniel began. "It’s all right, we didn’t expect to be forgiven for what we did. We know it was wrong of us to put Ja…..I mean….Charles through what we did.”

Carol then started. “We at least wanted a chance to apologize and let you know how sorry we are about what we did. We know you most likely won’t forgive us…”

Charles cut in. “You got that right.”

Carol continued. “But we are truly sorry. We felt horrible for what we did to you, but we didn’t have a choice.”

Charles looked back at them. “Didn’t have a choice…..DIDN’T HAVE A CHOICE! THERE IS ALWAYS A CHOICE! YOU two CHOSE to turn me over to the government when you could have chosen not to. You COULD have chosen to do what you could to protect me but NO! Instead, you turned me over to the government and they turned me into a science experiment!”

Daniel tried to reason. “But we really didn’t have a choice. The experiment they were running wasn’t approved for human testing yet, they wanted to expedite it but didn’t want to risk losing soldiers if something were to happen. If a soldier had died during the experiment, his death would be missed. Jonathan said that if we didn’t let them use you, they would make it impossible for us to live our lives. We had to do it.”

“So that’s it, you think that just because you point out Jonathan is the one truly responsible that I’ll forget my anger at you and just let it go? FAT CHANCE! You still turned me over to him and it was your research that led to the experiment they wanted to attempt on me! Now because of you two, I ended up living life on the run seen as nothing more than a monster in the eyes of humanity!”

“Charles, if we hadn’t, all three of us would have been out on the street, we were only thinking of you, if it had succeeded, then you would be able to have a normal life.” Carol tried to point out.

“And look how well that turned out. No matter how you spin it, the fact is that you betrayed me and turned me into a freak. Well now I have a better life for myself here, if you thought you could come here, apologize, and talk me into going back home with you, forget it. I have a great life here, I’ve got a family and friends here who care about me.”

“Charles, if you come home with us, I’m sure we can find a way to turn you back to normal.” Daniel offered.

Charles’s glared intensified. “Are you saying there’s something wrong with me being a pony?”

“Well, you’re just not you anymore.”

“SO WHAT, I’m glad I’m like this, I fit in much better here than I did back on earth! These ponies were accepting of me despite the fact I was a different species from their own, so accepting that I married four of them, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Carol then came in with a question. “Well, how did you end up like this in the first place?”

“I found some magical artifacts that turned me into what I am now. Anymore questions? NO, good, cause I believe you’ve said all you can. So why don’t you go back to Jonathan and go home so I never have to see you again.”

“What? Charles we can’t go back, we’ll be tried for treason and executed!” Daniel pointed out.

Charles smirked. “Good, that’ll save me the trouble of doing it myself. Now get out of my house!”

“Charles, you can’t be serious?” Twilight asked with a worried tone.

“Now hold on there sugar cube, don’t ya think that’s a might harsh?” Applejack interjected.

Charles looked over each of his wives and saw them all with worried expressions. “What? Don’t tell me your on their side!”

Pinkie answered. “Of course not, we just think that’s just too mean.”

Rarity then came in. “Especially for someone like you, I never thought you would suggest such a thing.”

Charles couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Haven’t you all been listening? Did you not hear all we said? How can you think I’m being too harsh after what THEY put me through!”

Twilight put a hoof on his side to get his attention. “Charles….look at them.”

Charles looked at his parents and saw his mother was about to cry as his father did his best to comfort them.

His anger seemed to subside a little. Applejack came in again. “Think about it partner, they your parents and yer practically sentencing them to death with what we heard. Do ya really want ta do that ta them?”

Charles closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. “Gggrrrrrrrrrr.” He did his best to hold back a shout. He stood up and just started stomping his hooves in anger as he walked around to the other side of the table. “GR GR GR!”

Rarity came up to him. “Charles, calm down, take a deep breath and exhale.”

Charles did so, he repeated the process a few times.

“Feeling better?”

“FINE, you two can stay here for now, I need a walk to clear my head and think about this. Dusk, Dawn, keep a close eye on them for me thanks.”

“No problem Charles.” Dawn responded.

Charles left the house and made his way through town.

After a few minutes of walking, he spotted Lightning Thrash leading Shadow Fang, Carbon, Storm Chaser, and Stunner with the three other humans that came through in chains. Their bionic suits deactivated. Charles smirked as he saw them walking. He came up to the captain. “Hello Captain, I see you caught the other humans, sorry I didn’t tell you which way they went when I ran into you.”

Lightning smiled as he answered. “That’s all right private, we found them anyway, since they were unarmed, it was easy to capture them. I imagine Celestia will want a word with these three as well.”

“Private huh, what, couldn’t get a rank better that a lowly private, I thought you were Mr. tough guy.” Jonathan taunted.

Charles looked at Jonathan, then back to captain Lightning Thrash. “Sir, may I have permission to ruff him up a bit, I owe him a little pay back for the years he’s tormented me.”

Lightning Thrash smirked. “Be my guest, just don’t ruff him up too much, we may need him to talk.”

Charles smirked back. “No promises. Take off his chains, I’d like him to try and fight back.” The guards complied and took the other two humans off to the side.

“This should be interesting.” Shadow Fang commented. Charles stood up on his hind legs and took his staff off his back. He changed it to the ice staff.

“I’m going to enjoy this.”

Jonathan took a fighting stance with his left side prominent. “Now Charles, this is hardly fair, you’re a pony and I’m a human, do you really think you can fight?”

“Man, you are so stupid, have you forgotten where you are, this land is magical, it has talking magical ponies, and I have been a pony long enough to figure out how to move and such. Plus, I got some new toys as you can see.” Charles pointed one end of his ice staff at Jonathan.

“Fine, let’s see how well you fight as a- WHOA! OOF!”

Charles used the water whip to grab onto Jonathan’s leg and pulled back, causing him to fall on his back. The surrounding guards laughed. “100 Bits says puny human will last 3 minutes.” Shadow fang whispered to carbon.

“HAH, only three, I say two at least.” Carbon offered back.

“Deal.” The two shook on their little bet.

Charles was on three legs as he held the ice staff over one shoulder. “Come on Jonathan, I thought you were supposed to be the best of the best, I guess you’re not so tuff without an army behind you are you?”

Jonathan picked himself up. “You have no idea what you’re getting into.”

“Tough talk Jonny boy, let’s see what you can do. Bring it on.” Charles got back up on his hind legs.

Jonathan charged forth and went for a jump kick, Charles used his water whip to grip Jonathan’s leg and slammed him to the ground. “Come on Jonathan, that was too easy.” Charles taunted.

Jonathan got back up and ran up to Charles. He started throwing Punches and tried kicking as Charles easily avoided and blocked them with his staff. Jonathan went for a straight punch, Charles dodged left. Jonathan went for a sweep kick and Charles just jumped right over him and smacked him in the back of the head as Charles flew over Jonathan. The hit caused him to fall forward and on his belly. “HAH, nice try, but you’ll have to be better than that.”

Jonathan got back up and got in another ready stance. Charles readied his staff. The two circled around. Charles swung his staff to the side and flung a blob of water at Jonathan, Jonathan couldn’t move in time and the water hit him right in the face. He was surprised by the searing pain he felt as the steam water burned his skin. “AAAAAHHHHHH!” He screamed in agony as he fell to his knees.

“HAH, pay up Shadow Fang.” Carbon exclaimed. Shadow just grumbled as he dug a few bits out of his pouch.
Charles walked up to Jonathan and had one end become very sharp. He pointed it right at Jonathan. “Well, Jonathan, any last words before I kill you.”

Jonathan became worried now. “You-you can’t do that, you hate killing remember? Besides, what if this princess of yours wants to speak with me?”

“We have the two other soldiers you came here with, plus my ex parents, so I doubt you will be missed.” Charles used the blunt end to smack Jonathan in the side of the head, sending him to the ground.

Jonathan started crawling backwards in fear. “Now Charles, let’s talk about this, I was just following orders. I actually didn’t want to be doing this, really!”

“Yeah right, not so much fun being on the receiving end is it. I’m going to enjoy killing you.” Charles slowly raised his staff with the sharp end pointing right at Jonathan.

“NO, please, DON’T”

Lightning Thrash called out. “CHARLES, THAT’S ENOUGH!”

“RRAAAAAHHHHH!” *SHINK*

After a moment, Jonathan opened his eyes and saw the sharp end embedded just inches away from his face in the ground. Jonathan followed it with his eyes as it rose up. He looked up at Charles with a smirk. “Gotcha. I promise you, that if you do get sentenced to death for bringing war here, I will be the one to gladly end your life. But I do have one question, why not just leave now and let me be. I am no longer what I was before, I’m a normal alicorn, so there will be nothing for you to study from the body I had, it is long gone.”

Jonathan glared. “That may be, but the ones with magic can be studied, I already reported my findings to the people on the other side, they are very interested in the beings here and how they have magic. So now, no matter what, they will come here and capture the creatures of this world to study them and find a way to enhance our own military might. Like it or not…..” Jonathan smiled. “War is coming to your peaceful little land. So I suggest you prepare for it. We sent out stealth probes to map out the land. As we speak, they’re out there now, scanning the entire country and sending images back to the base. Once the scan is complete, we can send troops to any part of this world we want.”

Charles glared at Jonathan. “You bastard.”

“Since I sent the report of our findings, the big man decided that this place was a great opportunity. It’ll take a little longer to get everything ready than what was planned just for you, but soon, a large invasion force will come here and appear in all parts of this little country of yours. You can’t protect them all Charles. And just think, this is all…..thanks….to you.”

Charles’s eyes widened. “No….this is my fault.”

“HA HA HA HA, AH HA HA HA!” *SMACK*

“That is enough out of you human thing!” Shadow Fang punched Jonathan and knocked him out.

Charles stood stock still as the realization struck him. “This is my fault, if I hadn’t come here, they wouldn’t have found this place and they wouldn’t be coming here. This is my fault.”

Lightning Thrash came up to him. “Charles, look at me, this is not your fault, there is no way you could have known all this was going to happen. You said it yourself that you winding up here was an accident. You have nothing to be sorry for.”

Charles gave a sigh. “*Sigh* Your right captain, what we need to do now is start preparing and alert the princesses, though I’m afraid the weapons we have here won’t do much good against what they have. But we have to at least try. I’ll go home and have Spike send a message to Celestia.” Charles headed for home.

Upon his arrival, he spotted the whole reason he went out in the first place. He galred at his parents a bit first, then softened his look. “Listen you two, I have no problem with you staying but don’t think this means I’ve forgiven you, it’s just that something else major has come up. So you two are welcome to stay if my wives are ok with it.”

Charles’s parents looked at him with confusion. “But what about going home?” Carol asked.

“I am home, as for you two, I’m afraid going back to earth is out of the question.”

Twilight came up to Charles. “Charles, what is it? What’s going on?”

“War is coming to Equestria courtesy of the humans of earth. Spike, I need you to send a letter to the princesses asking them to come here right away, I’ll inform them of the situation once they get here." Spike quickly wrote out a letter making sure to emphasize the seriousness of the situation. “I just hope we can find a way to gather the strength for this fight that is to come.”

Author's Note

AN: And there you have it, the humans are not just after Charles anymore, but now all of Equestria in a bid to gain more power. A massive human army will be on the way soon. In the next Chapter, the submitted OP OC’s will be revealed. Thank you all for reading this, I’m glad you all enjoy it.

Chapter 40

Deep within the everfree forest, two humans hid themselves in the old castle of the pony sisters where Twilight and friends first found the elements of harmony. These humans were no ordinary humans. They were meta-humans, much like what Charles was. One stood at 5’11”, had a thin build with light skin, had black hair and eyes, and wore a black hoodie with black jeans. He paced back and forth in front of his other human friend. “I don’t believe it, we finally find the archangel and he changed form. How did he do that? Any ideas Harold?” He stopped his pacing and looked to his friend Harold.

Harold stood at 5’9”, had scruffy black hair, electric blue eyes, a thin build, and a large scar over his chest that looked like a lightning bolt. He wore a faux leather jacket and blue jeans. “How do we know for sure that was him Michael?”

Michael stepped closer. “Because that ass hole Jonathan confirmed it, he said something about the creature he loved to hunt down or something, that had to be him!”

“Ok so what now?”

Michael took a step back. “Well, I guess since we found him, we should continue with our original plan, join up with him and kick some military ass for what they did to us. I’m sure he would like that.”

“So why are we hiding out in a forest like this then huh?” Harold asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, we needed a place to think about what we learned. Since the military found him, they’re sure to come here in full force and try to capture him regardless of him being some winged horse with a horn.”

“I think that was called an alicorn.” Harold offered.

Michael gave a flat look. “Does it matter what he is now? What I’m curious about though is why those two soldiers suddenly turned on Jonathan and the other two soldiers?”

“I’ll admit that was weird, but we can figure that out later. By the way, I think that idea you had for me to hide in the electronics of the bio suit while you hid in the soldiers own shadow was a great idea. We got to this strange world full of talking horses and found the archangel.”

“Thanks, now come on, let’s get a move on and try to talk with him, we’re burning daylight here.”

“Right.” On that word, Harold’s form changed, his entire body started glowing electric blue and the scar on his chest changed to yellow and was also glowing.

Michael’s entire form changed as well to a black silhouette with a purple mist emitting from his eyes. They both flew up into the air and flew off over the forest to the town of Ponyville.

Upon their approach, they decided to drop their meta-human forms to seem less threatening and came to a landing just outside the town. They started making their walk through town and were already getting looks. Many of the ponies were afraid this time and most of them just ran in fear or hid in their houses. Word through town had spread about the other humans that came and the ponies were scared of humans now. “So how do we find the archangel? All we know is that he’s an alicorn now.” Michael asked.

“I know, let’s start blowing shit up. That’ll get his attention.” Harold offered.

Michael glared at him. “Are you mental, we want to make friends with this guy, not enemies. If we start blowing up things in a town he’s living in, he’ll try to kick our asses.”

“Good point.”

“Let’s just try to be friendly with these ponies and see if they’ll tell us anything.” Michael approached a blue coated mare with a white and blue mane and tail that seemed frozen in fear. Michael spoke as nicely as possible. “Excuse me miss, we aren’t here to hurt anyone, we’re looking for a friend of ours, he’s an alicorn, black fur white mane and tail. Do you know where he is?”

The mare just shivered. “Uh, uhm….you aren’t like those other humans that came are you?”

“No, we are nothing like them, can you please tell us where this pegacorn is?”

“Alicorn.” Harold corrected.

Michael ignored the comment. The mare seemed to calm down a bit. “Well….um, he lives in a big house near the center of town, how do you know him?”

“We came from the same world as him, we want to help is all.”

“Really, well ok, just head that way and you’ll find it.” The mare pointed the two in the direction they needed to go and headed off.

“Thanks for the assistance.” Harold called after walking past the mare.

After a bit of walking, Harold and Michael suddenly found themselves surrounded by some of the guards that seemed to just pop out of nowhere. Storm Chaser landed on their left with his sword at the ready. Carbon stood in front of them with a few of his knives floating around him pointed straight at them. Shadow Fang stood on his hind legs with his swords at the ready on their left, while Lightning Thrash appeared behind them. “Hold it right there you two!” Lightning proclaimed. “You humans have some nerve. You’re under arrest.”

“What’s the charge officer?” Harold asked jokingly.

“Dude, now is not the time for jokes.” Michael scolded. Michael then turned to the Pegasus in armor. “Sir, we are not here to cause trouble, we came here looking for someone. I swear we aren’t here to start a fight.”

“Of course we are, just not with you guys.” Harold cut in.

“In case you didn’t know, humans aren’t exactly welcome here.” A new voice sounded behind the two. All ponies turned to see Charles walking up to them. Charles levitated his staff up and formed his fire sword. “You got a lot of nerve showing your faces here humans. You better start explaining what you’re doing here or I’ll tear you apart.”

“There you are, we’ve been looking all over for you man!” Harold called out like he was greeting an old friend. “Finally we get to meet the archangel.”

Charles cocked an eyebrow. “Excuse me? My name is Charles, and who are you? If you were looking for me, then you must be with the military from earth.” Charles raised his fire sword as it burned. “I hope you have good health insurance, cause you’re going to need it when I’m done with you.”

Michael interjected as he waved his hands up. “Whoa whoa, easy there fella, you got it all wrong, we aren’t with the military!”

“A likely story.” Charles didn’t believe them. He swung his sword down at them. They both dove to the sides in opposite directions and stood up. Charles turned to Michael first. “Hold still and I’ll make it quick.”

“Don’t we even get a trial first?” Harold asked with a smirk.

“You want a trial, fine! You have been charged with being humans and trespassing, the jury finds you guilty as charged and are hereby sentenced to death, how’s that?”

“What, no lawyer?”

Charles spread his wings and leapt into the air and came down with a downward strike of his sword.

Harold changed to his elemental form and zipped out of the way. The strike to the ground made a firey explosion. “WHOA! That was close.”

Michael changed too. “DUDE calm down, we just want to talk!”

Charles looked at the two curiously. “What the buck? So what, you’re the military’s secret weapon of human soldier’s?! So I guess they did manage to make super soldiers, great. Well don’t think I can’t kill you!” Charles swung his sword horizontally and shot a wave of fire at the two. They jumped up and avoided the blast.

“We aren’t with the military!” Michael argued. “Look at us! We’re meta humans like you are….or were!”

Charles paused a moment. “Meta humans? What are you talking about?”

“We were experimented on like you were, we were injected with nano bots just like you, and just like you, they gave us powers. I swear we aren’t working with the military, we are victims of them just like you are.”

Charles glared at them. “Do you really expect me to believe that?”

Harold continued. “Did you really think you would be the only one to be experimented on? The military wanted more test subjects after you. You were the first and we were the last. We were orphans when the military got their grubby hands on us. They injected us with nano bots to try and recreate what happened with you. Instead, we got different powers. We used our new abilities to escape and have been on the run ever since as well.”

Charles raised an eyebrow. “OK, so how do you know about me, and what’s with this archangel stuff?”

The two dropped their transformations as Michael answered. “That was how the soldiers and scientists referred to you as. When we were at that base, we over heard them talking about you from time to time and called you the archangel. Years later after our escape, we overheard two soldiers who were looking for us talk about how the archangel had escaped and somehow transported to another world. We had to see for ourselves and hope maybe we could live in this world too away from the military, but at the same time help you beat their sorry asses for what they did to us and teach them not to bother us again. So here we are.”

“And you two want to help me?” Charles asked.

“Yeah, we want to team up since were the same….or were the same since you’re not….what you were before.” Harold threw in.

“….”

“What he means is that we were looking for you because we want to help fight off the military when they get here and also we were surprised to find out you were turned into….a horse thing.”

“Alicorn!” Both Charles and Harold shouted.

“WHATEVER, look, the other point here is that we are also curious as to how you ended up like this. So what do you say, you believe us or what?”

Charles turned to Lightning Thrash. “Captain, what do you want to do with them, I think I believe them, but you’re the one in charge here, so what are your orders?”

Lightning Thrash thought for a moment. “Hmmmm, well I don’t know much about what they were talking about, but if you think we can trust them, then I’ll let you deal with them.”

“Understood sir.” Charles turned back to the two. “All right you two, I’ll believe you for now, but if I find out this is some trick, I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

“Good luck with that.” Harold shot. THUNK! “OW! What was that for?!” Harold asked as he looked at Michael who just knocked him in the back of the head.

“For being a smart ass.”

Charles rolled his eyes at them. “All right you two clowns, follow me, we’re going to my house to talk about this further, the rulers of this land will be arriving shortly to discuss this imminent attack from the humans on Equestria.”

“Rulers?” the two questioned as Charles lead them away.

“Yes, this land is called Equestria and is ruled by two alicorn princesses, princess Celestia and Princess Luna. You two better remember to show them respect when they get here.” “Geeze, I sure hope no one else shows up, my house is going to be a bit crowded now.”

The three soon reached Charles’s house. Before going any further, he stopped and turned to face the two humans. “Now listen, before we go in, I want to lay down a few rules. First of all, there are mares and a kid dragon in the house so no swearing. In case you didn’t know, there isn’t exactly any swears in Equestria and I want to keep it that way, so keep the language clean, understand?”

“HAH, that’s a good one! No swearing.” Harold laughed.

Charles glared at him.

“I don’t think he’s kidding Harold.” Michael pointed out.

“Really, no swearing?” Harold asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“No swearing.” Charles repeated.

“Fine.” Harold slumped. Then something else crossed his mind. “Hold on, did you say a kid dragon?”

“Yes I did, dragons exist in this world too and this particular dragon is my little brother in law, so again, watch the language.”

Michael cut in. “And how did you get a kid dragon for a little brother?”

“Long story short, one of the mares I marred has an adopted kid dragon for a little brother.” Charles continued. “Second, if you two insult my mares, you’ll get a good bucking, one word against my wives and you’ll never be able to reproduce again, got it.”

The two looked at him a little confused. Michael broke their silence. “Um, Charles was it? What do you mean by your mares?”

“I’m married to four mares, you got a problem with that?” Charles glared at them.

“Wait, you can have more than one wife here?” Harold asked.

“Yes, and I have four wonderful mares as my wives.”

“Um….did you…..marry them before or after you changed into an alicorn?” Harold asked.

“Before. I can guess what you’re thinking so let me help you out. These ponies accepted me for who I was instead of what I was. They didn’t care what I was and showed me friendship when no one else would. Me and the four I married fell for me and I them, so now I’m married to them. These ponies live, think and act like humans, but better. They aren’t as judgmental. And I’m on the way of being a dad. Any more questions or can we move on?”

“Nope, I’m good.” Harold answered.

“Nothing else from me.” Michael added.

“Good.” Charles led them to his house.

Charles used his magic to open the door and walked in. He was greeted by Winona as she happily ran up to him with her tail wagging. “Hey Winona.” Owlowicious flew over and Charles held up a forleg for him to land on. “Hey Owlowicious, how are you doing?”

“Who.” Was his only response. Owlowicious flew off somewhere.

Charles turned to the couch where his wives and parents still sat.

“Welcome back Charles, did you fine the mayor and talked to her about setting up a place for your parents?” Twilight asked.

“I got a little side tracked.” Charles responded. The two new beings walked in and every pony stared.

“Charles, who are they?” Rarity asked.

“I didn’t get their names really.” Charles stepped aside for the two humans to step in more. “You two mind introducing yourselves?”

“Not at all.” Michael responded. “I’m…..wait a minute.” He stopped upon seeing the other two humans. “YOU! What are you two doing here?! Michael asked with rage. Harold glared at the other two humans as well.

“I can’t believe our luck, looks like we get some payback!” Harold said with an evil grin.

Charles’s parents cringed. “Wait, who are you?” Charles’s dad asked.

Every pony looked on in worry. Charles quickly stepped in front of the two with his wind sword out in front of them. “HOLD IT you two!” He commanded.

“What are you doing, those two are the ones responsible for the whole thing we went through, why are you defending them?” Harold asked.

Charles gritted his teeth as he answered. “Because their my parents.”

Harold’s jaw dropped and Michael just stared. “Your parents….as in your mother and father?” Michael questioned.

“Sadly yes.”

“And you don’t want us to kill them?” Harold asked.

Charles glared at him. “HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL, IT WAS BECAUSE OF THEM I WENT THROUGH THE HELL I DID!”

“Then why are you protecting them?!” Michael asked, unable to believe the logic here.

“They are my responsibility, not yours, I decide if they live or die, not you. Besides, killing them is pretty much pointless, what happened happened, killing them won’t change the past.”

Michael gave a sigh. “I suppose your right.”

Charles brought his sword back and turned it back to a staff. “Now then, introductions. Names please.”

Michael started. “I’m Michael Blakk.”

Harold then introduced himself. “Harold Evans.”

The mares in the room as well as Daniel and Carol were still confused as to what was going on. Charles began to explain. “Girls, Carol, Daniel. These two say they were experimented on like me and got powers too. They want to help in the fight against the army that is to come.” Charles then looked around and noticed a lacking of a certain little dragon child. “Twilight, where’s Spike?”

“*Yawn* What’s a dragon gotta do to get some sleep around here?” Spike asked as he rubbed his eyes from the door of his room.

Charles walked over to him. “Spike, it’s practically the middle of the day.” He pointed out with a smile.

“So, that’s usually the best time for naps.” He then noticed the two new humans. “Who are they?”

Charles looked back at Michael and Harold over his shoulder. “Back up I guess.”

“So does this mean they’re staying here too?”

“No Spike, and neither are my parents, we don’t have the room remember, that’s why I was on my way to the mayor’s earlier to speak with her about finding a house for them, now we need another for these two if they want to stay.”

Spike gave a relieved sigh. “*Whew* That’s good.”

“Michael, that dragon is talking.” Harold pointed out.

“I can see that, I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised given everything else we’ve seen.” Michael pointed out. He then got Charles’s attention. “So Charles, about your transformation, I’m just curious about what happened.”

“*Sigh* Fine, take a seat and I’ll explain.” Charles walked over to the two as they sat down and went through his explanation all over again.

“….And that’s what happened.”

Harold began with a bit of an impressed look. “Cool. So you have these weapons that can manipulate the elements?”

“I do.”

“That is so bad a...” Harold was cut off by a glare from Charles. “I mean, cool.”

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go to the mayor and speak with her about setting up lodgings for you all.”
Charles got up and headed for the door. Upon opening it, he spotted the princesses on approach in their carriages, Discord was riding along with Celestia. “Or not. Every pony…..and human outside, the princesses have arrived.” Everyone got up and headed out the door.

Charles then noticed a blue dragon following them as well, it was about as big as Celestia in size. The dragon had dark blue scales and a white belly. The membrane of his wings were white as well with white claws at the tips of his wing joints.

They all came to a landing in front of the group of ponies and dragon. The humans stood behind the ponies as they lined up and bowed before the princesses. Charles was bowing when he looked back and noticed the humans weren’t bowing. “Bow you idiots, these are the princesses.”

Michael was quick to do so, followed by Charles’s parents. Harold finally clued in and bowed as well.

“Rise my little ponies.” Celestia said. “Greetings Charles, and hello to you all as well.”

“Hello princess.” Twilight greeted. “It’s always a pleasure.”

“WHOA, what the hell is THAT thing?” Harold asked pointing at Discord.

“Excuse me, thing? How rude.” Discord huffed.

Charles turned to Harold. “His name is Discord, he’s known as the god of chaos and is a friend of mine, I’ll thank you not to insult him.”

“But what is he?” Harold asked again.

“I happen to be a draconaquis.” Discord answered.

Harold raised an eyebrow. “A what now?”

“It can wait for later, we have more pressing matters to discuss.” Charles pointed out. He then turned to the princesses. “Forgive them your highness, these humans here are new, they snuck in through a portal the military from my world created to get here.”

“I see, and who are they?” Luna questioned.

Charles indicated to the two meta humans. “These two are Harold and Michael, they say they were experimented on like I was back on earth and gained powers. I have seen they do indeed possess some abilities, but I don’t know the full extent yet. They say they wish to help with the imminent attack the military from earth will launch now that they found me here.”

“And what of the other two humans?” Celestia asked.

Charles growled out. “They’re my mother and father.”

The royal sisters cocked an eyebrow. “I see, and what is their purpose here?”

“They came here to find me and try to apologize, hoping I would come home with them or something, but that isn’t going to happen. But now, they need a place to stay. I was about to head out and speak with the mayor about that. If I may princess, who is the dragon with you?”

The dragon in question stepped forward with a smile and introduced himself. “The name’s Frost Wing, my father, Iron Scales, sent me over as an ambassador to discuss preparations for this big threat that was coming, after the princesses received your letter about this attack that is to come, I offered my help. My breath can freeze an enemy solid, I can also change my size to a full grown dragon and freeze time for my enemies and allow my allies to move about freely. It takes a lot out of me though.”

Charles continued. “Princess, I regret to inform you that, because of three humans now in custody here, the military from earth isn’t just after me, but all of Equestria now. They want to make all the ponies out of guinea pigs and study the magic they possess. And I’m afraid that with their superior technology and weaponry, we may not stand a chance. Even with my new powers.”

“Perhaps I could be of some help.” A low raspy voice sounded off behind the princesses. Every pony looked behind just in time to see a black cloud of smoke form and appear, the smoke cleared and there stood a pony in a black tattered cloak. Only his muzzle…..or what is left of it could be seen along with his hooves. This pony had pieces of flesh hanging off the bone that was showing on some of his muzzle and legs. He was holding a large scythe that was seething with a black aura.

“Good heavens, what in Equestria?” Rarity questioned.

“Greetings, I am Ghoul. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He bowed to the princesses.

Celestia gave a light glare. “What are you, you reek of death.”

“I am a necromancer your highness, I realize my appearance is less than…..pleasing.”

“I’ll say.” Applejack shot.

Ghoul continued. “But I can assure you that my intentions are good, I was aware of this imminent threat much like the old ones, the timberwolf and manticore kings.”

“Oh man, I think I’m gonna hurl.” Harold pointed out.

“And why should we accept help from such a foul creature like you, you dabble in dark magics being a necromancer.” Luna pointed out.

“True, but my power will be of use to you, I promise I only wish to help. I have an army at the ready, and they will do what they can to help under my command.”

“What sort of army?” Celestia questioned.

“Why, the army of the undead of course.”

“No, I cannot accept help from such a foul creature.” Celestia said sternly.

Charles cut in. “Princess, if I may. This Ghoul here may be some of the help we need, an undead army may come in handy, I don’t like it any more than you but we’ll need all the help we can get.”

Discord cut in. “He may be right Celestia, if the human army is as strong as Charles says, we will need more help than what we have.”

Celestia turned to her sister. “Sister, what is your opinion?”

“While this creature seems foul, I must concede to the logic here, if he has an army, we would be fools not to make use of it to help us in this fight that is to come.”

Celestia turned to Ghoul. “Very well, we will accept your aid.”

“Excellent, you won’t be disappointed your majesties.”

Charles cut in. “I still think we’ll need more help, even with an army of dragons, manitcores and timberwolves, this just might not be enough.”

“Then it’s a good thing I had the foresight to plan ahead.” Discord stated.

“What do you mean Discord?” Luna questioned.

“Simple, I scouted out a few other dimensions to find a few ponies that may have strong powers to help out. I figured Charles could be our ambassador to these other dimensions and speak with them to see if they’d be willing to help out.”

“Other dimensions, you can travel between dimensions?” Frost Wing questioned.

“Well I am a god of chaos after all. So what do you say Charles, shall we go recruiting?” Discord asked Charles.

Charles cocked an eyebrow. “What makes you think these other warriors will risk their lives for another dimension?”

“Well we won’t know unless we try now won’t we?”

“I suppose you have a good point. But only if it’s ok with the princesses, this is serious buisness here.”

Celestia gave a nod. “As you said, we will need all the help we can get, go with Discord and see about recruiting these other warriors for our cause.”

Charles gave a bow. “As you wish princess. Me and Discord will be back shortly with more warriors to help in the cause.”

“In the meantime, we shall speak with the mayor for you and discuss housing for your human guests.” Luna pointed out.

Charles turned to his wives. “Girls, I’ll be back shortly with help. Hopefully this won’t take too long.”

“Do be careful dear.” Rarity said as she planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Come back soon partner.” Applejack did the same.

“I know you’ll come back with more help and then we can throw a big party to welcome them as a thank you for agreeing to come here!” Pinkie cheered as she hugged Charels.

“Be careful, jumping from universes might be dangerous.” Twilight shared as she and Charles shared a quick kiss.

“Don’t worry girls, I’ll be fine, I’ll have Discord with me.” Charles walked up to Discord. “All right buddy, let’s do this. Time to recruit.”

“You got it, hold on tight.” In a brilliant flash, they vanished.

Author's Note

Next chapter, OC’s part 2. The dimensional call to arms. A few more OC’s that were submitted will be recruited and added to the fight. Thank you all for your support.

Chapter 41

Discord and Charles reappeared in a new dimension. It still looked like Ponyvill though. Charles turned to Discord, only to find a brown coated unicorn stallion with a black mane and tail and yellow eyes with red pupils and a cutie mark of a planet. “Um, who are you?” Charles asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“It’s me Charles, Discord, I had to disguise myself because the Discord in this dimension is still evil and imprisoned in stone. If any pony saw me as I really am, that will make things difficult for us.”

“Oh, ok. So who are we here to get?”

Discord made a clipboard with a piece of paper on it appear in front of him. “Hmmm, aha, the pony warrior in this world is named Nightshade. From what I gathered, he is a different breed of pony that the Discord of this world wiped out ages ago. He’s known as a shadow walker. Fair warning, he’s married to the Twilight of this world and has a child.” Discord made the clipboard Dissapear.

“So where do we find him?” Discord simply pointed a hoof to a large two story white house with a black roof. “Oh. All right then, I just hope we can get him to help us out.”

“Now Charles, you’ll have to do all the talking at first, I just know if I say something, Nightshade will see through my disguise.”

“All right then.” The two walked right up to the house and Charles knocked on one of a pair of wooden doors.

The door opened to reveal a purple and green dragon. It was Spike of all things. “Hello, what can I do for you?” He asked.

Charles was unsure how to approach this. “Um, hello. I’m looking for Nightshade, is he in at the moment?”

“Sure, come on in.” Spike stepped aside to let the two in. He lead them to the middle of the room where there was a large red velvet couch and red carpets on the floor. A small pony with a black coat, dark blue mane and tail with a pink streak going through them, a pair of curved horns and bat like wings came running into the room.

“Uncle Spike, who is it?” The little pony asked.

Charles looked at the little pony curiously as he looked back. “Not sure, they didn’t give names Shadow Knight.”

Charles started. “Sorry, I’m Charles and this is……um……” Charles had a little trouble coming up with a name for Discord. “Sparky.” Charles said the first name that came to him.

Spike cocked an eyebrow at Charles. “Charles, that’s an odd name. Nightshade, Twilight, we have guests!” Spike called to a room off to the side.

Two more ponies trotted in. Charles immediately recognized Twilight. The other had a blue coat, a dark blue mane and tail, bat like wings and a pair of horns curved back like the little pony. His eyes were a light blue and his irisis were slitted.

Twilight was the first to speak. “Hello there, Oh my, an alicorn!” Twilight said with surprise upon laying eyes on Charles.

“Hello, my name is Charles and this is my friend Sparky.” Charles greeted.

The larger pony with the bat wings spoke. “Well hello there, I’m Nightshade, what can I do for you?”

Charles thought for a moment wondering how he would go about this. When nothing came to mind, he figured he might as well come out and say what he wanted. “Ok, I know this may sound strange but I have an unusual request. You see, I’m from another dimension. An alternate Equestria if you will. I came here looking for ponies that can fight because my Equestria is in great peril and we don’t have the strength to fight it. I came here hoping to see if I could talk you into helping me in this fight to come.”

The four ponies just stared at Charles uncomfortably for a while. Nightshade finally broke the silence. “Um, excuse me? Did you say you’re from an alternate reality?”

“Yes I did, I know it may be hard to believe but that is the case. I could really use your help as my friend here who came here before me informed me that you would be a great fighter to help.”

Twilight burst out with questions. “You’re from another world, that is so amazing, what’s it like? How did you get here? How did your friend get here? Is there….”

Nightshade put a hoof on her to silence her. “Easy Twilight, I realize this may be exciting for you, but this sounds a little hard to believe for me.” He then turned his attention to the alicorn and unicorn. “Now answer me this. IF this is true, why should I risk myself for another world, and how do I know you’re telling the truth?”

Charles thought for a moment. He turned to Discord and pulled him back to whisper to him. “Discord, I think the only way we’ll convince them that I’m telling the truth is if you tell them who you are. If the discord in this world is supposed to be in stone, they may believe you’re from another world.”

Discord whispered back. “I suppose your right. Very well.” The two turned back. Discord turned himself back to his original form.

Twilight and Spike cringed in fear. “Discord!” Twilight called out. Spike quickly grabbed Shadow Knight and carried him back.

Nightshade narrowed his eyes. “YOU! I thought I took care of you before! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!”

Charles stepped in between the two. “Calm down, I know the discord in this world is bad, but this discord is from my dimension and he’s good.”

“Good? GOOD? There is NOTHING good about him! He brings nothing but destruction and anarchy wherever he goes!”

Discord raised his hands up in defense. “Easy now, I swear I’m not here to cause trouble.”

“Yeah right, like I’m going to believe that! I knew I should have killed you when I had the chance.” Nightshade was about to lunge at Discord when Twilight put a hoof to his shoulder to stop him.

“Nightshade, wait, I think he’s telling the truth!”

Nightshade looked to Twilight with surprise. “WHAT? You can’t be serious! He’s Discord, the god of chaos and an evil creature!”

Twilight continued. “Nightshade, think about it. If Discord had escaped his stone prison, we would have gotten a message from the princess, but we haven’t. Plus, why would discord come here after you nearly killed him? I think he would be too afraid of you to do that after how you scared him.”

Nightshade glared fiercely at Discord. “I suppose you have a point. All right, I guess I believe you. Still, why should I help you and risk myself for another world?”

Charles answered. “Because there is another Twilight in my world.”

That seemed to strike a chord with him as his glare disappeared momentarily. It then just turned to a frown. “Another Twilight you say?”

“Yes, she and her friends, along with all of Equestria in my realm will be in terrible danger unless me and Discord find strong warriors like yourself to come and help us. I’ll understand if you say no, but I ask you to please come and help us.”

Night shade raised a hoof in thought. “I don’t know.”

Twilight put a hoof to his shoulder again with a smile. “Nightshade, I think you should go.”

“What, why?”

Spike then spoke up. “Twilight, you can’t be serious!”

Twilight explained. “Nightshade, we’re talking about Equestria here. If this threat their facing is enough for Discord and this alicorn to travel between dimensions to find help, then it must be serious. You are a strong pony, and I think it would be wrong to just ignore some pony who is asking you for help when they desperately need it.”

Charles Spoke again. “Nightshade, I promise you I will do everything in my power to make sure you get home alive and safe if you come. We really need your help.”

Nightshade thought for a moment with his head lowered. “All right, I’ll help. How long will I be gone?”

Discord answered. “Once the fight is over, I can bring you back to this moment in time as if you never left. As for how long in our world, I don’t really know.”

Shadow Knight separated himself from Spike and ran up to his father. “Dad, does this mean you’re going away?” He asked sadly.

Nightshade picked up his son in a hug. “Don’t worry Shadow Night, I promise to be back soon. You’ll see me again, I’ll be back before you know it.” He said with a smile.

“Ok dad, please be safe.”

Nightshade placed his son back down. Twilight walked up to him and gave him a hug and a kiss. “Come back safe Nightshade, we’ll be waiting for you.”

It was weird for Charles to see Twilight kissing another Stallion, but he had to remind himself that this Twilight wasn’t his. Night shade looked to the two. “All right, I’m ready to go.”

Discord spoke up. “Good, you’ll be glad to know that you won’t be the only warrior we are rectruiting so you won’t be alone in this fight, we already have strong fighters at the ready. But it won’t be enough. I’ll send you on to our world with a message. You will appear in Canterlot castle, be sure to present the message to the princesses and they will provide you with lodgings.” Discord made a scroll appear in front of Nightshade.

“All right then, anything else I should know about this world, I am curious as to what I’m getting myself into.” Nightshade asked.

Charles elected to inform him. “One thing you should probably be aware of is that the Twilight in my world, as well as Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack are married to me. As for the threat, that will be explained either by the princesses or me once me and Discord finish our recruitment. Thank you for your help.”

Nightshade gave a bow. In a flash from Discord, Nightshade was gone, sent to the world Charles and Discord came from.

Twilight chimed in with confusion. “I’m married to you?”

Without answering, Charles just said goodbye. “Bye Twilight, take care of yourself.” Discord and Charles then vanished, on to the next world.

Discord and Charles reappeared in another world. They found Themselves in a hallway in the Castle of Canterlot. Charles turned to Discord. “So where are we now?”

Discord was in his own form. “This world, I am good so I don’t have to worry about hiding myself. In this world, we are here to recruit a team. The elements of harmony as well as a few other ponies. The leader of the team here is named Steel Mane, he’s an alicorn too. From what I understand, he was a robot at one point but was made a real pony by the elements of harmony. While he was a robot, he made these battle suits for his team to fight off an army or robots that were sent by a single human from an earth of this universe.”

“Great, another reason to hate humans. I just hope they’ll be willing to help. A team with high tech suits huh, that could come in handy. But that means Fluttershy will be in the team, I don’t think I want to force her into killing, I don’t think she’d like that.”

“We don’t really have much of a choice, lets just speak with the princesses here and see if we can get them to help.” Charles and Discord made their way through the castle. Charles got odd looks since he was new.

They soon reached the throne room and found Celestia and Luna sitting on their thrones. Discord took care of greetings. “Hello princesses, good to see you.” He first acted like he belonged.

Celestia responded. “Hello Discord, always a pleasure, who is your friend here?”

“This is Charles, he is a good friend of mine. However, I must confess, I am not the discord of this world.”

Celestia and Luna seemed confused at first. Luna then chimed in. “So you are a discord from another world I take it.”

Discord continued. “You do not seem surprised as I thought you would.”

Celestia responded. “Given the fact you are a god of chaos, it is not that difficult to believe you are capable of traveling between dimensions. You had best not be here to cause trouble for our world.”

Discord raised his lion paw. “I swear your majesties, I am not here to cause trouble, I am however here to request assistance.”

“With what praytell?” Luna asked.

“Charles, would you mind explaining?” Discord asked.

Charles stepped forward and gave a bow. “Greetings your majesties. I am sorry to bother you but as Discord stated, we have come here seeking help. The world me and Discord came from are in great peril. We are seeking aid in other worlds as the world we come from does not have the strength to stand up against a great threat that is coming. Discord said that the element bearers, as well as a few other ponies here have defended your Equestria from a great threat. I was hoping, with your permission, that they could come to my world and help us in our time of need. I will understand if you say no. But I ask that you at least consider my request.”

“And what is this great threat your world is facing if I may ask?” Celestia proposed the question.

“Humans.” Is all Charles said.

“Humans?” Luna asked.

“Yes your majesty. Humans. From what Discord told me, I understand your world came under threat of one, and he had an army of robots. My world is about to face an army of humans with highly advanced weaponry. That is why we are here, to see if you would be willing to let your heroes come with us and help.”

“I do not know, this sounds very serious. While I do feel sorry for your plight, I do not think it would be wise for us to risk sending our own guardians to another world to fight a battle that is not theirs.” Luna pointed out.

Celestia seemed to disagree. “Luna, who are we to turn them away. It sounds they are in desperate need of help, especially if they are going from their universe to others to find help.” Celestia then turned to the two. “We will allow them to come, but it is up to them to agree to come. We will send word for them to come here and talk with you. It will take some time. Can you wait?”

Charles gave a bow. “Yes your majesty, and thank you.”

Celestia gave a smile. “You are welcome.”

Sometime later, the team of heroes were gathered in the throne room. The bearers of the elements of harmony as well as three other ponies. One was a unicorn with a light blue coat and a white and silver mane and tail, she had a crescent moon and a wand for a cutie mark.

Another was an alicorn like Charles. He had a black coat, mane and tail. The mane and tail had a brown streak running through it. He also had a large metal hammer on his back and a grey cloud with three gears under it as a cutie mark.

The other pony was a Pegasus, he too had a black coat and two shades of red for his mane and tail. His eyes appeared cybernetic in nature with a bit of metal running down to the end of his nose. He had a chain and a curved blade wrapped around one of his forelegs.

Finally, the third new pony was another alicorn. He had a silver coat, a light blue mane and tail that glowed and flowed on their own. His hooves were also of a light blue color. His cutie mark was of a light blue shield with a winged heart on it. One other feature he noticed they all shared was a metallic necklace they wore around their necks.

The six girls gave their introductions which were then followed by the others. The light blue unicorn went first. “My name is Trixie. A pleasure.”

The Pegasus started a little nervously. “Um, my name is Cameron. Hello.”

The black alicorn then introduced himself. “My name is Nightshade Smoke.”

Finally, the other alicorn. “And my name is Steele Mane, a pleasure.”

Charles gave his introduction. “Very nice to meet you all, my name is Charles.”

Celestia interjected. “Everypony, these two came here from another dimension.” Celestia went into explaining a little about why Charles and Discord were here while they filled them in on the more detailed bits.

Charles finished. “And that is why we are here. I am hoping you all will agree to come to our world and help us in this fight.”

Steele Mane spoke first. “Well, that is an interesting thing. Another dimension you say? Well, I wouldn’t mind helping out, but it is up to all of us, if we all don’t agree, we won’t be going. We work as a team. So we will have to vote on it. Every pony, what do you say, shall we go and help this alicorn or not?”

Twilight was first to voice her opinion. “I think we should go, if we can help, why not. We know how bad humans can be so I say we go.” She gave a determined nod.

“I agree with Twi and Steele Mane, I think we should help out and do what we can, it don’t seem right that they should face somethin so terrible on their own.” Applejack chimed in.

“Me too, besides, that means I get to meet another me and we could host an amazing welcome to another universe party!” Pinkie cheered.

“While I think another Pinkie Pie might be too much, I still think we should help out too. Besides, I wouldn’t mind getting to see some action again, it’s been so long since we gave that first human the boot.” Rainbow chimed in.

Rarity then came in. “I would have to agree as well, I would be more than happy to show those scoundrels a thing or two after hearing this.”

Fluttershy then came in. “I don’t know, I want to help too, but it sounds like we’d have to actually kill some pony. I don’t know if I can do it.”

Steele Mane came up to speak with her. “Fluttershy, if you want to come with us, you won’t have to fight if you don’t want to, there may be other things these humans have that you could shoot at that aren’t alive.”

Fluttershy looked unsure. “Well, ok. I’ll come and help however I can.” She gave a smile.

Trixie then came in. “I think so as well. While it sounds dangerous, we should be able to handle it with Steele Mane’s amazing suits he made us when he first came here.”

Cameron voiced his opinions. “I want to help as well, I don’t think anypony should stand alone against danger.”

Finally, Nightshade Smoke gave his opinion. “I agree as well. Looks like its unanimous. We will come with you two to your dimension and help out in this fight.”

Charles gave his thanks. “Thank you all, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your offer.”

Discord then cut in. “All right every pony. I will zap you to our world in Canterlot castle and give you a note to show to the princesses there. You will be provided with lodgings and such. Also, once the fight is done, I will be able to send you all back here to this point in time as if you never left. Are you all ready?”

They all gave a nod. “We are.” Steele Mane stated.

Celestia spoke to the group. “Good luck my little ponies, be careful and watch out for one another.”

Twilight responded. “Don’t worry princess, We’ll be just fine.”

Discord made a scroll appear in front of Steele Mane. He took it in his mouth and the group disappeared in a flash.

Charles gave one more bow to Celestia and Luna. “Thank you for allowing them to come and help us. I will do everything I can to ensure their safety.” Discord then made them both vanish to move on to the next world.

Once again, Charles and Discord were in canterlot Castle in the next universe. “Um, Discord, are you sure we’re in another univers?”

“Of course I am, why?”

“Because we’re still in Canterlot castle.”

“Because we need to speak with the princesses here as well about getting the team that resides in this dimension. They are the element bearers again but they have one addition to their group. Another alicorn who is the seventh element. Thanks to him, they have greater power and will prove most valuable in our fight.”

“All right then, let’s get this over with and repeat ourselves.”

Charles and Discord four the princesses of this other universe. It all looked the same as the other they were in. Charles and Discord once again went through the explanation of how they were from another world and needed help against the human threat. Celestia and Luna agreed to let them take the element bearers if they agreed to come along. Celestia sent word and the six plus one soon arrived.

The new alicorn with the group had a white coat, a black mane and tail, and a three pronged crown with a heart on it as a cutie mark. Upon introductions, his name was revealed as Heart Wing.

“So that is what is going on. And I hope you all will be willing to help. Keep in mind that you will be running into your versions from my world as well as another. So will you help us?” Charles asked the group.

Heart Wing responded. “Well, this is all very interesting. Another universe, alternate versions of us?”

Charles cut in there. “Well, not of you Heart wing, you don’t exist in the world I come from, but neither do some of the other ponies that have agreed to help.”

Twilight got excited. “Oh my gosh, this is amazing, a chance to see another universe, another me!? The things we could do.”

Applejack cut in. “Easy there sugar cube, don’t get too excited.”

Charles then asked. “So will you help?”

Heart wing answered first. “Sure thing, I’d be more than happy to lend a hoof.”

The others agreed as well. Discord went through his speil again and gave them a scroll and sent them on their way. After wards, Charles and Discord disappeared and moved on to the next world.

The next stop, they found themselves in Ponyville again. Discord was in his pony form. He made the clipboard appear again and scanned it. “Ok, in this world, we are looking for a pony by the name of Solar Runner. Oh, this is interesting.”

Charles looked at Discord with a cocked eyebrow. “What?”

“Scratch that pony part, he’s actually a changling, I forgot that part.”

“A changling?” Charles remembered hearing about Changlings. “Hold on, aren’t changlings bad or something?”

"In this world too yes, but there is one changling who is good and wants to live a normal life. But no pony in Ponyville knows he’s a changling, and he is kept under close observation by the royal guard here.”

“Ok so lets find him and see if he’ll help.” Discord led the way. Charles got the most looks from ponies but he was used to it by now. He figured Alicorns were rare in this universe as well.

They soon came to a house and knocked on the door. An earth pony stallion with an ocean blue coat and a blood red on black mane and tail answered the door. His cutie mark was of a shield on a hear in front of two crossed swords. “Yes, how can I…..wow, an alicorn, that’s new. Uh sorry, can I help you with something?” The pony asked nicely.

Charles answered. “Is your name Solar Runner?”

“Yes?” Solar answered carefully.

“Then I hope you can help us. May we come in?”

“I don’t think so, I don’t even know you?”

Discord cut in. “We know you’re a changling.” He stated flatly.

Solar Runner seemed to panic a little as he spoke in a whisper. “WHAT!? How did you know that?” He quickly looked around for any sign of a pony. He then dragged the two in and closed the door behind them. “All right, who are you and how did you know I’m a changling?” He asked angrily as he glared at them.

Charles started. “Whoa, easy, we aren’t here to cause trouble.”

“Look you two, I don’t know who you are, but I have a good life going for me here, you better not be here to mess it up.”

“We’re not, I swear, we just came here because we know you have a unique talent as a changling. My name is Charles and this is Discord.”

Solar raised a brow. “Discord, as in the god of chaos? Yeah right, that guy was sealed in stone a long time ago.”

Discord revealed his true form. “Ta daa!”

“WHOA, DISCORD!” Solar then dropped his pony disguise and managed to call up black tentacles from under neath him. “I don’t know how good I will be at beating you, but don’t think I won’t try!”

Charles cut in. “Calm down, we aren’t here for a fight, we came here to ask for your help.” Charles went into his explanation again. He was starting to get tired of having to say the same stuff over and over again. “So that is why we are here, to ask for your help in this fight. So will you help, we’ll understand if you say no.”

“Geeze, another universe? Wow. Well, I don’t know, I don’t want to get in trouble for being gone, if I suddenly just up and vanish, I could be in trouble with the princesses when I return.”

Discord put his mind at ease. “Don’t worry, I can bring you back to this moment in time as if you never left, simple. So what do you say?”

Solar went into thought. “Hmmm, a chance to get my hooves dirty huh.” He grew a wicked grin. “All right, count me in. I love a good fight. So what next?”

“Next, I send you back to our world with a scroll for you to present to the princesses. It’s probably best you’re in your pony disguise first when you get there.”

“All right then.” Solar Runner went back into his pony disguise and Discord did the same with the others. Once gone, Discord and Charles moved on to another world.

They arrived in the next world, but this time, instead of Ponyville or Canterlot, they were in the middle of a large field. Charles looked around and was disgusted with what he saw. Dead bodies all around. The remnance of a great battle that took place. The bodies were a mix of anthro ponies and anthro griffons. The weapons that were lying around seemed rather high tech. “Oh, sweet Celestia, what is this place?” Charles asked in disgust.

Discord, who was in his regular form, answered. “In this universe, there are anthro beings. Creatures that have human like characteristics such as hands and walk on two legs. Plus the technology here is a little more advanced as you can see from the weapons.”

“Ugh, so this universe knows war? Great, so who are we here to get next?”

Discord reproduced his clipboard again and eyed it. “Let’s see, here we go. His name is Ajax Mcriot. He’s an arms dealer and weapon scavenger.”

“An arms dealer? As in someone who sells weapons?”

“Yep.”

Charles hung his head. “Great, I don’t like him already. But what can he do that’s so special?”

“He is familiar with weapons and is capable of pulling out any kind of weapon he wants from the coat he wears. ANY….KIND!”

“*Sigh* Fine, let’s find this guy and move on. How many more do we have to find?”

“This is the last one. I hope all we have gathered will be enough.”

“Me too, so how do we find this Ajax character?”

No sooner had he asked that then he heard a voice from behind. “Hold it right there, turn around slowly and I won’t blow your brains out.”

Charles rolled his eyes. He and Discord did so. Once fully turned, they were confronted with an anthro scotish black wolf creature with completely black eyes with white irisis, wearing a soft cap, a grey raincoat, a Kevlar vest, an d a duffle bag strung on his back. He was pointing a long, high tech looking rifle with a rectangular barrel. “What the heck are you two, never seen the likes of you before.” This creature asked.

Charles began. My name is Charles, I’m an alicorn, and this is Discord, he’s a draconaquis.”

“Hmph, funny looking thing, never heard of ya. What are you doing here, I claim this are for the weapons so get lost.”

Charles tried to talk with him. “Easy there fella, we’re not here for the weapons, we’re looking for someone.”

“Oh yeah, who?”

“We’re looking for Ajax Mcriot. Do you know him?”

“Depends, what do you want him for?”

“We just want to talk with him and ask for his help is all.”

“What kind of help?”

Charles just sighed. “*Sigh* Are you Ajax?”

“Lucky guess, now what do you want?”

“Like I said, we need your help. Me and my friend Discord here come from another universe that is being threatened, we need all the help we can get so we came here looking for you.”

The wolf man lowered his rifle a bit. “Really? Well if you’re looking for weapons, you’ve come to the right dimension. What can I get you?”

“You, we were hoping you would come with us to help us fight off this threat that is coming.”

Ajax just laughed. “HAH, yeah right, why should I stick my neck out for a world I don’t even live in. Sorry pal, but you’re barking up the wrong tree, I only look out for myself.” He paused a moment. “Unless you can make it worth my while.”

“Just when I thought this guy couldn’t get any worse, I hate people…..ponies….wolf men….whatever he is….that are only out for themselves.” “Fine, what would it take to get you to help us and come with us?”

“What else? Money of course. If you got the dough, I got the ammo. That’s my motto, pretty catchy right?”

Charles facehooved. He recollected himself. “How much will it cost?” He asked dryly.

“Let’s see. Personal life on the line, crossing dimensions, fighting in a war, I’d say…..one million bits.”

“WHAT?! A million!?”

“Hey, you asked. Besides, I’ll be risking my life here.”

“Ugh, fine, just come with us and we can work out an arrangement with our princess to pay you.”

Ajax Put his rifle away in his coat. “No can do, money up front or no deal.”

“But I don’t have that kind of money on me.”

“Well then I guess you don’t get my help.”

“Grrrr.” Charles gritted his teeth.

Discord stepped in to try and help. “Charles, let me try and talk with him.” Discord cleared his throat. “My good sir, we are unable to pay you for your services, but perhaps we can make other arrangements.”

One of Ajax’s ear twitched. “Yeah, like what?”

“Well, seeing as you’re a weapons dealer, that means you have an interest in weapons, correct?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Well, from what Charles here has told me about these humans that are threatening our land, they have some impressive weaponry you may be interested in. Help us in our fight, and you can keep whatever weapons you find on the battle field.”

Charles tried to object. “What? Oh no. No way he’s getting his grubby paws on that technology just to bring it here to sell, this world looks like it has enough problems as it is. No way I’m letting him have such advanced weaponry just to sell to the highest bidder here.”

Discord tried to reason with him. “Charles, try to be reasonable, we need help, this one could be of great help in our cause.”

“Forget it, I think we have enough fighters as it is now, so forget it, let’s just head home and leave.”

Ajax stepped in. “Hold on there friend. Did you say high tech weaponry?”

Charles glared at Ajax. “Yes I did, but I’m not about to let you get to it.”

Discord tried again. “Charles, think about it, he could be very helpful in our fight.”

Ajax interjected. “You know, if these weapons are as impressive as you make them out to be, then perhaps I would be willing to lend a hand. What do you say?”

“Charles, we need all the help we can get.” Discord pointed out.

Charles gave a huff as he turned his head to the side. “Fine! But once this is over, I’ll be very glad to never have to see you again.”

Ajax then asked. “Just what is your problem pal?”

Charles turned to face him again. “I don’t like your kind. Those who are out for themselves, always looking to make a quick buck, and worst of all, you sell weapons. I didn’t like you the moment Discord told me you were a weapons dealer and five minutes talking with you just made me dislike you more. So that is what my problem is with you.”

Ajax just gave a toothy smile showing off his sharp teeth. “Rules of life kid, it’s a tough world out there.”

“Whatever, let’s just go.” Since this was the last one on the list, Discord teleported himself and Charles with Ajax back to their world in Canterlot. The warriors from other worlds, as well as warriors from Charles old and new home had gathered, war will soon be upon this peaceful world.

Author's Note

OK so, the OC’s. First off, Nightshade, Steele Mane, and Heart Wing are OC’s from stories of my own. Nightshade Smoke and Cameron were OC’s submitted for the story with Steele mane in it.

Michael and Harold were submitted by Thantos’s Scribe

Frost wing was submitted by Appolyon602

Ajax Mcriot was submitted by Wise2Fox

Ghoul: I kind of forgot who it was that submitted Ghoul

Solar Runner was submitted by Cold Runner.

Soon, the great war of Equestria will begin. Let us hope the troops that have been rallied will be enough to fight off the human menace. LET THEM HEAR OUR HOOFS STOMP IN DEFIANCE OF EVIL, LET THEM COWER BEFORE OUR MIGHTY NEIGHS! NO EVIL MILITARY HUMAN SHALL TAKE A PONY WITHOUT GETTING TARTARUS FIRST! TOGETHER WE STAND, TOGETHER WE FALL! FOR THE GLORY OF EQUESTRIA!

To those who submitted OC’s but did not get used, I apologize as I got so many submissions and I wanted to use my own in this. Thank you anyway, and thank you all who support me and my stories. I appreciate it.

Chapter 42

Charles, Discord, and their new ally, Ajax Mcriot, all reappeared back at Canterlot in the ball room to find a curious and surprising sight. Not only did they see the warriors they gathered together, but there was a third set of the bearers of the elements of harmony. Charles figured the third group was from this world, and saw three Pinkie Pies running around putting up decorations while the others watched in amusement, amazement, or plain puzzlement. “Great, now there’s three of them.” One of the Rainbow Dash’s commented.

Charles spoke to make himself known. “Um, excuse me, what is going on here?”

“CHARLES!” One of the Pinkie’s cried out. “Glad to see you back!” She then rushed over and hugged him with a kiss. This one was definitely the Pinkie he married.

“Hi Pinkie, what are you and the others doing here?” Charles asked.

“What else, putting together a ‘Welcome to our universe party’ with my two other selves to welcome them and the others here.” She said with a smile.

The two other pinkies then came over to greet him. “So this is the Charles you told us about, he’s the one that brought us here.” This Pinkie had a metal necklace around her neck.

“So are you two a couple?” The other Pinkie asked.

The first Pinkie answered. “Nope, married, he’s a great stallion. He’s a lot of fun, knows some great music, and is really nice.”

Charles cut in. “Pinkie.”

“Yes?” All three responded.

“Um, my Pinkie…..should you really be doing this in your condition. You know, being pregnant and all?”
The Pinkie Charles was married to responded. “Don’t worry Charles, I’m being careful.”

“All right, if you say so. But I do have another question?”

“Yes?” Charles’s Pinkie responded.

“How did you know they were here?” Charles asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Just a hunch.” Pinkie said with a big grin.

Charles just smiled. “Figures, you are just full of surprises aren’t you?” He asked.

“Yep.” The three Pinkies responded.

“And you brought the others here too didn’t you?” Charles asked his Pinkie again.

“Of course I did, I didn’t want to be the only one to meet alternate versions of myself, I thought they might like to see this too.” Charles’s Pinkie cheered.

“Pinkie in stereo, don’t think I’ll get used to this.” The Applejack with a metal necklace responded.

“Tell me about it, this is weird enough as it is seein myself like this.” Another Applejack responded.

“Well I think it’s cool, I like what I’m seeing.” One of the Rainbow Dash’s said.

“It sure is.” Another Rainbow Dash answered.

“Hey, I just had a great idea, let’s see which of us is the fastest. One of us will earn the title of the fastest flyer in any dimension.” The third presented an idea.

“All right!” The other two agreed. “Let’s go meet outside and talk about the race.” One of them said. The three were about to fly off when Charles cut in.

“HOLD IT!” Charles shouted. This got every pony’s attention. With all eyes on him, he was now free to speak. “Look, I understand this is either exciting or strange to you all, but before you all go wandering off, we need a way to discern one of you from the other. Will all the element bearers please come before me.” The girls all were starting to gather together but had some trouble figuring out who was from where, except for the girls with the high tech looking necklaces.

“Um….how do we tell which of us is the ponies we came with?” one of the Fluttershys asked.

Charles answered. “Well….I know, will the other ponies that came here please stand to one side and form a line, then face forward.” Steel Mane, Heart Wing and Charles himself stood in the lineup with the other two at either of his sides. “Now, will the other element bearers or ponies, line up with the one you share a dimension with.” The girls all lined up easily enough. “Ok, now we need a way to discern my group from Heart Wing’s.”

Heart Wing spoke up. “I have a way. How about my group wear out elements of harmony while we’re here?”

Charles looked at Heart Wing on his left. “Good idea, did you bring them?”

Heart Wing smiled. “Yes I did.” Heart Wing used his magic to open one of the two saddle bags he was carrying and levitated out seven gold necklaces with jewels in them. The elements of harmony from Heart’s world. He put his own on first which was a whit jewel shaped like the crown on his flank with a black jewel shaped like a heart on it. He passed the other necklaces on to his group. “There we go.”

Charles smiled. “Perfect. Now then, Pinkies, you may resume your party preparations.”

The three Pinkies gave a salute and continued on. With that now out of the way, each of the element bearers went on to talk with each of their alternate univers selves. The three Rainbow Dashs went off to have their race. The three Raritys were no doubt talking about fashion, the Applejacks discussing farming and such, the three Fluttershys just looked at each other or looked around quietly, and the three Twilights no doubt discussing magic and such.

Nightshade, the shadow walker, approached the three curiously. “Um, excuse me.” He said to get their attention.

The three Twilight’s looked at him and eyes went wide. “Wow, what are you?” The Twilight with the harmony necklace asked. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound rude, but I’ve never seen a pony like you before.”

“Me neither. We don’t have ponies like you in our world.” The Twilight with the metal necklace said.

“Ok, this is a little too weird for me.” Nightshade said with a raised eyebrow.

“How so?” The Twilight with no necklace asked.

“Well, it’s just that in the universe I come from, I’m married to you…..or rather a Twilight….or….ugh, I don’t know how to say it.”

The Twilight with no necklace tried to complete what he seemed to be trying to say. “Are you saying you’re married to the Twilight in your world?”

“Yes, thank you!” He said exasperatedly. “It’s a little weird to not only be seeing three of you, but that none of you know who I am.”

Charles walked up to the three Twilights with Nightsade. “Your not alone in that my friend. Well, partly because my Twilight is here, but seeing two others is a little odd for me as well.”

Nightshade seemed a little downtrodden. “I wonder how my Twilight and our son is doing right now?” He wondered quietly to himself.

Charles looked down sadly at him. “Hey, don’t worry. Like Discord said, he can get you back to them like you never left, while it may feel like a long time for you, it will most likely only have been a few seconds for them.”

“Yeah, but that’s for THEM, what about me?”

Charles looked a little guilty now. “Oh, right. Sorry about that.”

Nightshade shook his head. “Its fine. I just hope we can get this fight over with quickly so I can go home.”

With that said, Nightshade let the three Twilights ask him all kinds of questions about him and such.

After a while, the princesses showed up in the ball room. Only Luna was aware of the other alternate universe versions of the element bearers and went to inform her sister of the fact. Luna was confused when she saw them at first but they each presented her the scrolls Discord gave them. She then went off to find Celestia. This was going to be interesting.

Celestia walked in with Luna behind her. She was very surprised to see triplets of the ponies she cared for, especially three Twilights. “Goodness, you weren’t kidding were you Luna.”

All ponies heard and saw the princesses enter, they all gathered before the two and bowed, except for Ajax. He just stood there with his arms crossed at the back of the group. “Greetings your highness.” The three Twilights said together.

Celestia raised a hoof with a confused look. “Um…..hello….Twilight. Um, which one of you is from this world?”

The Twilight without a necklace answered. “That would be me princess. I’m sure this is a little confusing for you.”

Celestia gave a smile. “Maybe a little. I take it all these ponies here are the warriors Charles and Discord found?”

Charles stepped forward with Discord at his side. “It is your majesty. The other element bearers that are here are fighters as well. Discord said they have the ability to fight. So they agreed to come here and help us with our problem. As did the other ponies here.” Charles then went on with introductions with the other ponies that Celestia was not familiar with.

After the introductions were don, Celestia made an observation. “And where is…..or are……the other Rainbow Dashs?”

Rarity, the one that came with Steel Mane, answered. “They went to go race one another and see which of them was the fastest.”

The Rarity that came with Heart Wing followed up. “That will most likely end in a tie, given the fact they are the same.”

The three Rainbow Dashs soon came back panting. Rainbow Dash with a harmony necklace spoke first. “Man…..that was…..some race.”

The Rainbow with the metal necklace followed up. “I’ll say…..you two are fast.”

The rainbow from the current world they were in responded. “What did you…..expect, we are the same. So much….for fastest….in any dimension.”

The party to welcome every pony the thee Pinkie’s got together was soon underway. Charles found his way to meet with Heart wing and Steele Mane. “Excuse me you two.”

“Yes?” Heart Wing answered.

“I just wanted to say thank you again for agreeing to come here and help us with our problem.” Charles said to the two.

Steele Mane responded. “You are welcome. Though I am curious as to when this attack is to come from these humans you speak of. Do you know when that will be?”

Charles thought for a moment. “Ponyfeathers, I didn’t think to ask…..him…for that information.”

“Him who?” Nightsade asked as he walked up to them. Charles turned to his side to see Nightshade standing there.

Charles answered Nightshade’s question. “The human that came here with two others and works with the humans that are threatening this world. He’s locked up in Ponyville Prison right now.”

Heart Wing made a suggestion. “Then I guess you should ask him so we know how long we have to prepare for this fight.”

Charles smiled at heart Wing. “Right you are. Once this party is over, I’ll head back there and see if I can ask him.”

Steele Mane then cocked an eyebrow. “Why would you need permission to speak with this human? You are high up in the chain of command of the royal guard aren’t you?”

Charles shook his head. “No, I’m just a private. While I could be something higher up, I’m more of a follower than a leader.”

“CHARLES, you gotta come here quick!” A Pinkie, most likely Charles’s Pinkie, called out.

Charles excused himself from the three. “Yes Pinkie, what is it?”

“Charles, would you mind performing a song for everypony, I told the others here about how amazing your music is and they would like to hear you play. PLEASE!” Pinkie pleaded.

Charles gave a smile to Pinkie. “All right, I think I got a good song for this party. Though, I may need that music mixing table for it like what Vinyl has.”

“She’s right over there silly.” Pinkie pointed to the back of the ball room where Vinyl was working on her table and playing the music.

“Huh, how did I miss that?” He asked more to himself. “Well all right then.” Charles made his way over to Vinyl and told her he wanted to use her table to perform.

“Sure thing dude, can’t wait to hear what you got in store this time.”

“GREAT, just start whenever you’re ready.” Pinkie Pie cheered. “HEY EVERY PONY! CHALRES IS GOING TO PERFORM A SONG FOR US!” She yelled out to get every pony’s attention.

Charles then lit up his horn with his white aura and fed it into Vinyl’s machine. The music started and Charles started off by tapping his front right hoof on the ground to the beat, then started singing when it came time for the lyrics. He also used his magic to create lighting effects to go with the music.

Charles jumped around at certain points of the song when it called for it, as did the pinkies and some of the other ponies there. They jumped right along with Charles. Every pony had a blast. “I must say, I’ve never heard music like that before.” Trixie commented.

“WHOO doggy, that was one humdinger of a musical number.” Applejack with her element of harmony commented.

“I’ll say. That was a splendid bit of music.” Rarity with the metal necklace said.

Charles gave a smile and a bow. “I’m glad you all enjoyed it.” The party continued and Charles made his way over to the princesses.

He found Celestia and Luna near the dessert table with Luna eyeing the large chocolate cake. “Excuse me princesses.” Charles spoke to get their attention.

Celestia responded. “Yes Charles, what is it?”

“I was wondering if I could have your permission to interrogate Jonathan in Ponyville prison.” Charles asked.

The princesses gave him a curious look. Luna responded first. “What for, is something wrong?”

“It’s just that we need to know how long we have until the humans come here so we can know how long we have to get ready. I think Jonathan can tell us this.”

Celestia was a little concerned about Charles’s request. Given the history between the two, she was afraid Charles may do something drastic. “I’m not sure that is a good idea Charles. While you make a good point, I don’t think you should be the one to ask him.”

Charles persisted. “Your majesty, I understand if you think I may do something unpleasant, but he doesn’t deserve mercy. However, if you let me, I will not object to you having some pony with me to make sure I don’t get out of line while I speak with him. We need to know this.”

Celestia was still a little hesitant, but Charles had given her a way to make sure he was kept in line. She smiled at his thinking, he didn’t want to get out of line either and wanted some pony there to make sure of it. “Very well, I will ask Apex to accompany you back to Ponyville and be with you when you question Jonathan.”

Charles gave a bow. “Thank you princess, I appreciate this.”

Later on, after the party died down, it was now time to head home, the ponies and wolf man would stay in the castle while they were here. Celestia sent word for Apex to meet Charles and the others at the train station and go with them back to Ponyville.

Upon arrival, Twilight stopped Charles before he could make his way to the prison and saw his four wives looking at him a little worried. “Charles?” Twilight called to him.

“What is it Twilight?” Charles asked.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to control yourself around Jonathan?” Twilight asked.

“We all know how angry he makes you just from looking at him.” Rarity pointed out.

“You sure you can handle yerself?” Applejack questioned.

Charles gave them a smile. “Don’t worry girls, that’s why Apex is here.” Charles motioned and glanced at the tall, intimidating form of Apex as he looked at them with a stone face. Charles was a little intimidated by this figure, despite the fact they were on the same team. But that is why he was glad Apex was here. If Charles couldn’t control himself if he got into a rage, Apex could control him. Charles looked back to his girls. “I promise everything will be fine.”

“Ok, just don’t do anything rash.” Pinkie said with a smile.

Charles gave a simple nod and went on to the prison with Apex behind him. “So you really think this Jonathan will tell us anything?” Apex asked.

“I don’t know, but if he doesn’t, I’m sure we can find some way to loosen his tongue right?” Charles pointed out.

Apex actually smirked. “Right.”

Along the way, Charles heard a familiar voice. “Charles.” It was dust.

Charles began thinking to himself to communicate with the alicorns in his head. “Yes, what is it?”

“Charles, there is something you should know. With my power, you can create walls of solid stone to surround the town for protection.” Dust pointed out.

“Really, that’s good to know. Thank you for letting me know Dust.”

Aeros then came in. “There is something else you should be made aware of that you can do with our power.”

“What, I do need to know what all I’m capable of with all of you.” Charles questioned.

Voltage answered. “You’ll be able to set elemental traps with our power as well. Sand traps or rock spikes with Dust’s power, an explosion of electricity with mine, a blast of fire and explosion with Flashpoints, an icy freezing trap with Tidal Wave’s, and a powerful tornado trap with Aeros’s.”

Aeros then spoke. “We will provide you with the information on how to perform and plant these traps to help, we were planning on teaching them to you much later, but it seems they will be more useful now and in the near future.”

“I see, thank you guys, I appreciate it.”

Apex took notice of Charles being rather quiet. “You all right there private? You seem rather distracted.” He asked.

Charles looked to Apex as he answered. “I’m fine sir, just having a talk with my friends in my head.”

“Ah yes, these alicorns that live in your mind, the enlightened five I believe you call them correct?”

“Yes sir. That is right.”

“Charles!” A male voice called out. It stopped Charles in his tracks.

Charles recognized it. He rolled his eyes at the sound. “Oh great.” Apex stopped as well. Charles turned and saw his parents walking up to him. “What do you want?”

Daniel, Charles’s father, answered. “We…..just wanted to thank you for letting us be here.”

Charles glared at them. “Don’t thank me. If it were up to me, you’d be ten feet in the ground by now. You SHOULD be thanking my wives for talking me into sparing you. Though I suppose killing you wouldn’t change anything. So it’s thanks to them you’re here and alive. Don’t think that means I’ve changed my mind how I feel about you though.”

Charles’s mother, Carol, then spoke. “I see, Charles, please understand. We really are sorry about what happened. We really would like it if we could be a family again.”

Charles looked to the side in thought. After a moment, he faced back and spoke. “I trust the princesses made arrangements for you two to have a house in town?”

Daniel answered. “Yes, she spoke with the mayor and said there were a few houses we could choose from.”

Carol continued from there. “The princesses and mayor gave us and those two others a place four us to stay.”

“Then you should be sure to thank them as well. Frankly, if you’re stuck here, I’d rather you be as far away from me as possible. You should also consider letting yourselves be turned into ponies so you can live here a little more easily.” Charles said with a scowl.

“Ponies?” The two asked in unison. “But why?” Daniel asked.

Charles rolled his eyes, thinking they should already know this. “For one, in case you didn’t know, ponies are herbavores, as in no meat in the diet. If you two turn into ponies, you’ll have to eat like them so you won’t die from lack of the vitamins needed from meat.” Charles could have suggested they do what he did and find the proteins in other non-meat foods, but he figured he’d leave that part out.

They looked hesitant at this. “I don’t know, would it be difficult to adjust to a new form?” Daniel asked. “I mean, do we really have to?”

Charles growled at them. “Do you want to live here or not?” He asked angrily.

Carol responded. “Well, we don’t really have much of a choice do we? I guess so.”

Charles smirked. “Fine then. I suppose I can do that for you now just to get it over with.”

“Really?” Charles’s dad asked.

Without answering, Charles went through some of the spells he learned from the books in Twilight’s library and found a transmogrification spell. He focused his magic in his horn and cast his spell over his parents. Their bodies began to glow the same white as Charles’s magic. In a flash, his mother and father changed. Two new ponies lay on the ground groaning.

“Oh, that felt odd.” A unicorn stallion with a blue coat and a black mane and tail said. He tried to stand up on his new four legs only to stumble a bit and fall down. “WHOA!”

Charles snickered a bit at his father’s trouble.

“Dear, are you ok?” The unicorn mare next to the stallion said. She had a light pink coat and a blond mane and tail. Her legs wobbled a bit as well as she tried to stand. “Oh my.”

“There, your ponies, be thankful I made you unicorns so you can handle things a little easier, get used to it and good luck, I have other matters to attend to.” Charles said as he turned and left his new pony parents to fend for themselves. He then turned to Apex. “Sir, my apologies for getting sidetracked like that.”

Apex just looked at Charles with a straight face. “It’s all right private, we aren’t on a schedule.”

The two finally reached the prison. It was a large stone, square shaped building, only one story tall. It seemed like an ordinary compound for criminals. There was a chain link fence surrounding the area and a few unicorn and earth pony guards patrolling the area and a few Pegasus guards flying around overhead. Right now, the prison was home to a few criminals Charles helped catch in the past for minor crimes such as theft or assault. But nothing was more interesting than the three humans it now housed.

Apex did most of the talking to the guards to get them in and arranged for a talk with Jonathan. One of the guards there led the two to a fairly large room with a single table. It wasn’t long before Jonathan was brought in with chains and shackles on his wrists and ankles. He was accompanied by two unicorn guards. There was a darker patch of skin on Jonathan’s face where Charles struck him with that steam bomb from earlier. “Well, well, well, look who it is. Never thought I’d get a visit from you.” Jonathan mused.

Charles could already feel his blood boil just from looking at this despicable human. “Save the pleasantries human, you’re here to talk, not make idle conversation.” Apex said.

“And who are you?” Jonathan questioned.

“My name is Apex. I am Equestria’s military general. Charles is here to ask you a few questions. You better answer or you’ll have me to deal with.”

“I’m so scared.” Jonathan said with sarcasm.

“You better be you rotten pile of…..” Charles started through gritted teeth, then stopped himself and took a deep breath. Charles glared at Jonathan as he sat down.

“And what could you possibly have to ask me?” Jonathan said.

Charles started calmly. “We need to know how many troops will be on the way, and how long until they decide to cross over in this world.”

“What makes you think I’ll tell you anything?” Jonathan asked with an uninterested look.

Apex answered. “One, you are in our custody as a war criminal. Two, refusal to cooperate gives me the authority to carry out your execution. Three, if you cooperate, you’ll get to live. How’s that?”

Even Jonathan was feeling intimidated by Apex. “Well…..you make a compelling argument there. I don’t know how many troops will be coming through. I can only estimate how long it will take before they get here though.”

“Then tell us.” Charles said with a glare.

“Well, given the size of this country and the time it would take to get an army ready to invade, I’d say you have about a year before they get here.”

Charles’s ears fell back and his eyes half lided. “Great, I was hoping this could be over BEFORE any of my kids were born. I don’t want them to be born in a country about to go to war.”

“You have kids on the way?” Jonathan asked with a raised eyebrow.

Charles glared at Jonathan again. “That is none of your business. Consider yourself lucky your still alive.”

Jonathan smirked. “Really, and why is that?”

Charles’s glare intensified. He levitated his staff off his back and formed his wind sword, then quickly floated it over and held it to Jonathan’s neck. “How about the fact I could have killed you when I first saw your sorry face! And don’t forget that scar on your face I gave you in that one on one we had! I could have killed you then too.”

“CHARLES, STAND DOWN!” Apex called.

Charles gave a side glance at Apex, then back to Jonathan who was now looking scared. Despite who he was, eve he had to admit he was pretty much helpless in this situation. Jonathan was sweating.

Charles pulled his sword back and turned it back to his staff, then placed it back on his back. “Yes sir.” He said to Apex.

Apex then looked to Jonathan. “Thank you for your cooperation, I’ll be sure to inform the princesses of this, perhaps they’ll reduce your sentence from life in prison to about forty years or so.”

“Gee thanks.” Jonathan responded with sarcasm.

Apex and Charles then turned and made their way out of the prison. “One year to get ready for this invasion, just great.” Charles mused. “The warriors we brought won’t be too happy either I imagine, being from their home for a year. Guess we’ll have to do what we can to make them more comfortable.”

Chapter 43

Charles and Apex had just stepped out of the prison where Jonathan was held. “One year, one year until those…..monsters show up. This is just great.” Charles grumbled out loud as he and Apex were walking away from the prison.

“Something wrong private?” Apex asked.

Charles looked up to Apex. “Nothing sir, it’s just this has me a little upset, war is coming here.”

Apex cocked an eyebrow at this. “So, you make it sound like this is the first time Equestiria has dealt with a war.”

It was Charles’s turn to look confused. “Excuse me sir?”

“Did you think I got my title for merely having ideas about war and ideas on how to protect ourselves. I’ve served Equestria and helped protect it by commanding it’s armies in wars for a long time. War is not new to our land.” Apex explained.

“I see, it’s just…..well....”

Apex continued. “And what about the soldiers you’ve been working with, how do you think they got so good at what they do? Some of them are former soldiers of the Equestrian military. They have seen war before private.”

Charles was a little stunned by this. “Oh, I never thought, this land just seemed so peaceful to me before.”

“How do you think it got peaceful in the first place. While we may not be at war right now, we still have to be wary of those that surround our borders. We were in a war with the griffons a long time ago and fought them to a standstill and got them to surrender and managed to secure peace with them. Then there is the incident that Carbon was in. He and a group of others were hunting a dangerous terrorist in Saddle Arabia. War is not new to Equestria Charles.”

“Understood sir. I never imagined.”

“It’s all right.”

After Apex had finished his explanation, a unicorn stallion came up to him. “General Apex, sir!” He greeted as he gave a salute. This unicorn had a green and white mane and tail, a cream colored coat, gold eyes, and for a cutie mark, had a green and white fireball shaped like a heart.

Apex looked down at the unicorn curiously. “Petty officer Lief Fireheart? What are you doing here?”

“Sir, I heard about what was going on, I was hoping to offer my assistance in the battle to come. I want to defend Equestria just as much as any other soldier, please let me help.”

Apex kept his curious Look. Charles looked between the two and spoke up. “General Apex sir, who is this?”

Apex looked back to Charles. “Private Charles, this is petty officer Lief Fireheart, a unicorn who specializes in fire based magic, he is a very capable warrior, he has a rare weapon like those twins in the Ponyville guard, an enchanted sword.”

Charles looked to the unicorn. He gave a salute. “A pleasure to meet you Lief Fireheart.”

Lief saluted back. “A pleasure to meet you too, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Charles smirked. “Who hasn’t?” The two shared a small laugh at Charles’s joke.

Apex interrupted. “Glad to see you two getting along already. If you wish to help in the fight to come, I see no reason not to let you in. You will be allowed on the battle field when the time comes, fair warning though, Charles told me these humans have advanced weaponry, chances are you won’t come back alive from this.”

“That is the case with all wars sir.” Lief responded.

“Very good then. Return to your post back in Canterlot, I’ll send for you when we need you.”

Lief gave a salute. “Thank you sir, I won’t let you down.” Lief turned and walked off.

“Yet another pony to help in the effort.” Charles mused.

“I’ll be going back to Canterlot myself and let the princesses know about what we learned from that human. Take care private.” Apex said before leaving.

Charles gave a salute. “Yes sir, you too.”

Apex saluted back and flew off.

Charles was now left with his thoughts. “Great, one year and Equestria will be facing a foe most likely more deadly than anything they’ve ever faced. I just hope the warriors we gathered will be enough. War……..why did it have to be war…….why did they have to come looking for me? Why couldn’t they just leave me alone and let me find happiness?”

“Charles, are you all right?” Tidal Wave asked from inside Charles’s mind. “I sense a great deal of stress beginning to build within you, perhaps you need to do something to relax.” She suggested.

Charles just looked straight ahead as he began to walk. “I’m fine, I feel like I just need to blow off some steam.” He responded. Charles did feel some emotions beginning to build, it was a bitter sadness. He just sadly walked through town and looked around. He didn’t want to go home yet, not in his current state, he feared one of his wives or Spike might accidentally say something to set him off. Charles walked about town looking at all the ponies, going about their business, happy as can be. He happened to look inside a house he was passing by and saw a family just sitting down getting ready to eat dinner. Charles looked on a bit as the family was unaware of him. After a moment, he continued on.

He saw an elderly couple looking at each other longingly as they walked. He continued on to the park. Charles walked on and crossed over the bridge. He saw a young couple in a boat paddling along down the river, enjoying each other’s company. After watching them for a moment, he continued on into the park. He came to a bench and sat down. “This war that’s coming……..it is my fault. That bastard Jonathan came here looking for me, instead…..” Charles looked up and saw a few children playing around and laughing. He looked over and saw a mother and child enjoying a picnic. “War……..why?” Was all he could think.

Charles felt a new emotion as he thought of everything that happened that one day Jonathan showed up. It wasn’t just him showing up that got to Charles, but his parents showing up as well, and now this threat of war coming in one year. Charles got up in a huff and walked off. “This isn’t fair, I need some way to blow off all this steam building up.” Charles walked on through the town.

Eventually, he came to a spot that was rocky and had hardly any plant life. It was the same area where those diamond dogs were. Charles knew after his last encounter with them, they were long gone now. He stayed out of the cave and just looked around first. “This area will do. I think I know the perfect way to do this.” Charles floated his staff off his back and summoned his three bladed scyth.

Charles swung the scythe up in his telekinesis , the earth symbol beginning to glow as Charles began to activate it’s magic, and back down, slamming the blades into the ground. A glow emitted from the point of impact and light shot forth, zig zagging as it moved along the ground and breaking into multiple branches. The lines stopped and cylinders shot up from the ground. Charles combined his own magic with his new earth magic to do what he wanted. The cylinders took on a bipedal form with hands, feet, and glowing yellow eyes. Charles combined his earth magic with his alicorn magic and used a come to life spell to creat these things.

“All right, lets go.” Charles said before the multiple rock creatures charged at him. Charles slashed down at one, cutting it in half, then another along the waist. He charged at two more and swiped with the scythe, slicing two more in half. One tried to lob a rock at him but he saw it coming and sliced it in mid air. “Come on you rock monsters, I made you better than that!” Charles yelled.

Charles bucked at one coming up from behind him. He reared up and slammed his hooves on two more. One charged at Charles from the side, he jumped up to avoid it and slammed down on it. “Is that the best you got, come on then!” He yelled at them in anger.

The monsters regrouped and came back together. Together, they all charged at him. Charles glared at them. He spread out his wings, readied his scythe, and charged headlong into them. Charles used his magic to move and swipe the scythe so fast, it couldn’t be seen except for a few flashes for when the blades happen to catch the light from the setting sun. He proved to be too quick for the rocky monsters as they seemed to stand still for Charles. Finally, he reached the back of the crowd, Charles just stood there with his eyes closed. He opened them and all the rock monsters fell to dust and rubble. He looked back and glared at the piles. “GGRRRRRR! NOT ENOUGH!” He growled out.

He turned his attention to a cliff face. He did the same as last time, though the white light moved to the cliff face and split into just two. It moved up the cliff, shaping the face of a large section out to look like one giant rock creature like the others Charles made. It took almost a minute for the light trail to finally intersect at a point. Yellow glowing eyes appeared on the form. It stepped forth with a rumble as it separated itself from the mountain. “COME ON YOU ROCK HEADED GIANT! I NEED THIS, GIVE ME EVERY THING YOU GOT!” He yelled at it.

In response, the creature roared back loudly. Charles stood his ground against the beast he created. The rock giant moved faster than you would think. It tried to punch Charles into the ground where he stood, but Charles jumped back. He focused his magic and fired a large orb of pure magic at the giant. It contacted the beast’s left arm after it brought it back up, the impact erupted in a huge explosion that kicked up dust and sent small rocks flying about. One small rock made contact against charles’s head. “AH! Buck!” He cursed in Equestrian at the pain. He raised a hoof to the injury and brought it down. “Just a little blood.” He said. Charles’s thoughts were interrupted when the beast roared again.

“Not done yet huh, fine by me, I got plenty more anger to vent.” He flew straight at the monster with his scythe at the ready. The beast had managed to reform its left arm and swiped at Charles with his right. Charles flew up to avoid it and took a swipe at the creature’s chest. He made contact and left a sizeable slash across the thing’s chest. The best stepped back and roared, as if it were in pain. “COME ON, I KNOW YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT!” He yelled.

The beast managed to keep itself standing. The large scar closed up and the rock giant glared at its maker. The creature reared its right arm back, Charles readied his scythe. The arm came down in front of Charles instead of at him, plunging into the ground. Charles may have made this thing, but he used a come to life spell to give it a mind of its own so it could think for itself in combat. Charles didn’t know what it was doing. Suddenly, the ground erupted in dirt gysers, shooting up from under Charles. It was so surprising, Charles failed to shield himself from one and it struck him directly from underneath.

It sent him flying up and backwards. He crashed to the ground, losing his magic grip on his weapon. He groaned a little in pain. Charles recollected his weapon and looked at the beast just in time to see a giant rock flying at him. Charles flew up just in time as the rock came to a landing. But was surprised again to see another sailing at him. He didn’t have time to react, the rock hit him dead on and crushed him under it on the ground. “GAH!” Charles was now trapped. The rock beast came walking up to him ready to deal the finishing blow. “GRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” Charles yelled out in anger, he struggled to lift the rock off of him.

He slowly managed to start lifting it up, as the weight lessened, Charles was able to lift it easier until finally lifting it up completely. He then tossed it back at the rock beast as he lay on the ground, smashing it against the beasts head. The head was shattered as well. Charles took this opportunity to summon all the power he could and fired a large massive beam from his horn. It struck the beast and caused it to explode completely, sending dust and debris to scatter about. A few more rocks struck Charles and caused more scratches on his black coat. “GAH! BUCKING…..AH!” He winced in pain from the impacts.

Charles shielded his eyes with his forelegs from the dust that swirled about. Once the dust finally settled, he tried to stand, his attempt was met with pain from his back left leg. “AH! AHA!” He collapsed again to the ground. “Great, now I have a broken leg!” He groused to himself. “What else could go wrong?” He couldn’t help but feel more angry at this. “What is wrong with me? First I’m responsible for bringing these humans here, my parents end up showing up, war is on its way because of me, now I end up breaking my leg.” His anger continued to build as these thoughts haunted his mind. “Its not fair, why is this happening…….IT’S NOT FAIR! GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Charles yelled with so much emotion as he raised his head to the sky’s, tears started forming in his eyes as well. A great sadness was taking hold to join in his anger. “It’s not fair, I just wanted a peaceful happy life, is that too much to ask for?! It’s not FAIR!”

“Charles, are you okay?” A familiar voice called out to him. Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash had come to the area. “What happened here, what was all that noise?” Twilight asked in worry.

It was then the mares noticed his condition, his black coat had patches of brown from the dirt, his body was covered in a few scars and there was a little blood trickling down the side of his face from his first injury. “What in tarnation…..what happened to ya Charles?” Applejack asked.

“Dude, what were you doing?” Rainbow then asked.

Charles looked at them all with sadness. He turned away, unable to look at his wives and two friends. “Just go away, leave me alone, I don’t want you to see me like this.”

“Charles, what’s wrong, why are you so upset?” Fluttershy asked sweetly. The six mares drew closer to Charles as he answered.

“Everything, that’s what. I just feel so angry and upset at the same time. I……I don’t know what to do. I thought if I came out here to try and vent……….but it didn’t work.”

“You look like you were in quite the fight, who were you fighting?” Rarity questioned.

“Does it matter, I was being stupid again and now I ended up hurting myself as you can see." Charles tried to stand again, only to colaps from the pain from his leg. “GAH!”

“CHARLES!” All six called out. They rushed over to him.

“Charles, don’t move, where does it hurt?” Twilight asked frantic.

“What is wrong Charles, why are you so upset?” Pinkie then asked with worry.

“Everything’s wrong okay!” He finally said in a bit of anger as he looked to his friends. “That rotten human Jonathan is here, my lousy good for nothing parents show up out of nowhere, and now because of me, humans are bringing war to Equestria!” His voice softened as he looked away again. “And it’s all my fault. Because of me, humans, with their advanced weaponry, are coming and Equestria may not survive it. I’m so sorry every pony. Maybe it would have been better if I never showed up at all.”

“Don’t say that!” Twilight expressed. “You didn’t bring war to Equestria, the humans did, they’re the ones that decided to come after you, they’re the ones who want to come here and invade, not because of you.”

“But they never would have found this place if it wasn’t for me.” Charles argued. “Face it girls, no matter how you spin it, this is all my fault. Now the best I can do is just fight them off with the help I brought. I’m also starting to think that may have been a mistake too, I took them away from their homes to help in our problem, and there’s a chance they won’t survive either. The Equestria’s I brought them from may be put in danger if they fall here.”

“Charles, no pony blames you for all this.” Fluttershy pointed out.

“Yeah, you’re a great pony Charles, you’re strong, brave, and you know how to party.” Pinkie pointed out.

“Not to mention all the times you helped Equestria with other problems like securing peace with the manticores and timberwolves.” Rainbow Dash also pointed out.

Twilight used a foreleg to turn Charles’s head to face her. “Charles, look at me.” Charles’s eyes met with Twilight’s, he just looked at her sadly. “No pony blames you for this, you shouldn’t blame yourself either, this isn’t your fault. You coming here was a great thing, you must realize this. There are so many other things that happened that would have ended in disaster if you hadn’t come along.”

Charles narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, like what?” He asked bitterly.

“Like what happened with the diamond dogs.” Twilight pointed out. “No way the guards would have stood a chance against that giant one you fought and beat.”

“And the dragon in the Everfree forest.” Applejack also added. “That monster would have been a real problem fer us too.”

“And let’s not forget the incident with that alicorn that Luna is friends with.” Rainbow pointed out as she hovered above every pony. “She was messed up in the head and was going to try and take over, if you hadn’t come along and messed up the plans she had, she would have succeeded.”

Applejack gave a smirk. “Face it Charles, you comin here was a blessing. Sure we got other problems comin because of it, but we don’t blame you for them. And we got so many good things out of it too, not just a hero.”

“But a wonderful caring husband too.” Rarity said.

“And a family, one that’s going to get bigger soon.” Pinkie Pie added as she rubbed her belly carrying a baby.

Charles allowed himself a small smile at the thought of being a dad. He gave a defeated sigh. “*Sigh* All right, you win. I shouldn’t blame myself for all the bad things coming. All I can do is my best to protect this world from the dangers that are threatening it.”

“Glad you came to your senses.” Twilight said with a smile. “But still, what happened to you anyway? You still didn’t answer that one.”

“Yes dear, what were you doing out here that got you so banged up?” Rarity questioned.

Charles’s smile faded. “I was just feeling so angry at everything that was going on, I felt the need to vent. So I came out here to do just that so no pony could get hurt. I had the idea to combine my earth magic with my regular magic and created a few rock creatures to fight so I could try to blow off some steam. I used my earth magic to create the forms, then used a come to life spell on them so they could fight.”

“No way, you made living rock creatures? That sounds awesome!” Rainbow Dash said with a flip.

“You did what?!” Twilight asked with surprise. “You purposely created creatures to fight?” Twilight was seeming a little upset by this point. “I can’t believe you PURPOSELY put yourself in danger like that, what were you thinking?”

Before Charles could answer, Applejack put a hoof on Twilight’s back to try and calm her down. “Easy there sugar cube. Like he said, he needed to vent all this anger he’d been feelin. Still, I agree that wasn’t very bright.” She said as she looked to Charles.

Charles actually cringed a little under Applejack’s gaze. He recollected himself and continued. “Those rock things I made were no match for me, I was able to fight them off easy, so I made one giant one instead. I fought the thing and……that’s how I got in my current state.” He finished in a low tone.

Twilight facehooved with a groan. “Ugh, why didn’t you just come to us to talk, that would have been so much easier and less dangerous.”

“I…….I was afraid that if you all said something to set me off, I might………..I don’t know, do something I would regret. I just couldn’t face you in my state of mind.” He paused a moment. “Once again, I was being a moron wasn’t I?”

“Maybe a little.” Pinkie answered.

“Come on, let’s get you to the hospital to get you cleaned up.” Rarity said. Applejack and Pinkie took his sides to help him up while Rarity used her magic to hold Charles’s broken leg in place while they walked. Twilight used her own magic to help lessen the pain for Charles’s leg.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy followed along. “So girls, what were you doing out here anyway?” Charles asked as he limped along.

Applejack started the explanation. “We got worried about ya when ya didn’t come home fer a while.”

“So we went looking for you to try and find you.” Rarity stated.

“While we did, we came across Rainbow and Fluttershy and asked them to help.” Pinkie added in.

“While we were all looking, we started hearing some strange sounds coming from outside Ponyville, so we went to investigate and came here.” Twilight finished.

“And that’s how we found you.” Rainbow added.

“And here I thought I was supposed to be the one taking care of all of you.” Charles said to his wives.

“Darling, we’re a family, we take care of each other, remember?” Rarity asked.

“Sorry, guess I’m still new to this family thing. I was so used to just looking out for myself, no one to look out for me. Then I find myself a family, and I want to protect you all so much. So I thought I would have to look out for myself AND my family. I still haven’t gotten used to the idea of some pony looking out for me as well.”

“It’s all right sugar cube, you’ll get used to it. Just give it time and try ta remember that ya got us now.” Applejack stated.

With all this talk, Charles took notice that his anger and sadness he was feeling earlier had gone. He was actually feeling a little happy. Still in pain, but happy none the less. He limped on with his wives and two friends through Ponyville to the hospital feeling a little better. “Family looks out for one another…….maybe…….maybe I should give my parents a second chance. They did go through the trouble to try and find me and risked their lives doing it. If they want me back in their lives though, they’re going to have to really work for it.”

Chapter 44

It had been a day since Charles was brought to the hospital by his wives, he was now resting in bed after his incident with the stone monsters he made to vent his rage. He now had his leg in a cast and sling as he lay on the bed. It was around midday when he received visitors. His two wives, Applejack and Rarity, and the three fillies he now called sisters came in.

“CHARLES!” The three fillies cried as they ran up to him, “Hey there big bro.” Scootaloo spoke first, looking up at Charles.

Charles smiled down at the three fillies. “Hey you three, what are you doing here?” He asked.

“When we heard what happened, we just had ta come see ya.” Apple Bloom expressed with a bit of worry.

“Yeah, I was being a bit of an idiot there. Sorry if I worried you three too.” Charles offered another warm smile. “But as you can see, I’m just fine, just a bit of a broken leg. No biggie.”

“What exactly were you doing again?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Charles looked to Applejack first. “What did you tell the girls?”

“We just told em that ya had a bit of an accident is all.” Applejack informed.

Rarity came up to Charles on his other side and whispered in his ear. “We figured it would be best to leave out the part about you creating stone creatures and fighting them. Please don’t say anything.”

Charles gave a simple nod in response. He turned back to the three fillies. “Nothing really, I just got a little careless in practicing with my abilities is all.”

The three fillies gave a sigh of relief. “Well, as long as yer ok. Please be more careful.” Apple Bloom said with smile.

Charles couldn’t help but smile a bit more. He was being told to be careful by a filly, and a Cutie Mark Crusader no less. “Don’t worry Apple Bloom, I’ll be more careful in the future.”

Twilight and Pinkie Pie soon entered the room as well. “Hey there Charles, how are you doing today?” Twilight asked with a smile.

Charles greeted back with a wave of his hoof. “Hey you two, I’m doing ok. Thanks for coming to visit.”

“Well of course we came silly, we just want to make sure our hubby wubby is still healthy.” Pinkie said with a grin.

Charles felt warm inside, knowing his wives cared so much about him. “Thanks for visiting girls.” They all sat and chatted for a bit before it was time for them to go.They all said their goodbyes to Charles as they left.

Red Heart, the nurse tending to Charles, soon entered the room with lunch for him. “Hello Charles, how is that leg of yours doing today?” She asked happily.

“Fine, thanks. Man, I am starving, what’s for lunch?” He asked as he hungrily eyed the tray Red Heart was wheeling over to him.

She placed the tray over his lap and presented him with his food. “A delicious garden salad sandwhich with a side of jello and some apple juice.”

Charles gave a grateful smile to Red Heart. “Thanks, it looks great.”

“You’re welcome, I’ll be back later to take your tray when you’re done.” She stated as she began to leave the room.

A couple hours later, Charles soon got another visitor. “Good day Charles, how’s that leg of yours?” Captain Lighting Thrash asked as he walked in.

Charles was a little startled by his captain’s sudden entrance. “Captain!” He nearly jumped in his bed. Charles gave a hasty salute to his superior officer. “Sir, it’s good to see you sir.”

Lightning couldn’t help but laugh. “Take it easy there soldier, you’re off duty right now, no need for formalities.” He said with a smile.

Charles relaxed and dropped his salute. “Sorry, you just surprised me is all.”

“I came by because I wanted a full report of what happened yesterday, your wives and friends didn’t exactly let me get a full report from you when they brought you into town.”

“Sorry about that sir. Anyway, that ruckus outside of town was my fault. I was just feeling so angry with everything that had happened. Hearing about this war coming was the last straw. I just couldn’t control myself, I just felt so guilty that the whole thing is my fault.”

“And why do you feel that Charles?” Lightning asked.

Charles gave a sigh as he had gone through this in his head so many times. “First of all, Jonathan, that human that we have locked up here in Ponyville prison, is the one that found me in an attempt to bring me back to earth for those damn military experiments to create super soldiers, he followed me here. Obviously, the military now has something that can send people here. He found me and now war is coming. If I had never come here, they wouldn’t have found this place, now they want to turn all the ponies into guinea pigs to learn what they can about magic and further their own agenda.”

Lightning Thrash took a few steps closer to Charles. “Charles, this isn’t your fault, no pony blames you, nor could they even if they wanted to.”

Charles hung his head a little as he gazed at his lap. “I know sir, my girls already talked to me about it. I shouldn’t blame myself for this, it was all an accident that I ended up here. But at the same time…..” Charles lifted his head with a smile. “Despite all the bad things that have happened so far, I’m still grateful I ended up here, I’ve found happiness, something I never really got a chance to experience back on earth.”

The pegasus captain smiled. “Glad to hear it, now about what all that noise was yesterday?”

Charles resumed. “Right, sorry…..anyway, I found a secluded area outside Ponyville and combined my earth magic with my alicorn magic and used a come to life spell to create these rock creatures to fight to try and vent all the rage I felt building up inside me. After dealing with them, I created a giant one and fought that. That is how I got in my current state.” Charles finished his report.

“I see, well be a little more careful next time private.”

“I will captain, I promise. I already got a scolding from my wives about my recklessness.”

“Good, now before I go, there is another pony here who wishes to meet with you.” The captain informed.

Charles looked at the captain in confusion. “Really, who?”

Without missing a beat, Lightning turned his head to the doorway that lead to Charles’s room and princess Celestia strolled in as graceful as ever. “Hello Charles, it is good to see you again.”

Lighting gave a bow. Charles bowed his head. “Hello princess, good to see you too, it is an honor that you would visit me.”

Lightning Thrash rose from his bow as Celestia gave a warm smile. “Tell me, how is your leg doing?” She asked.

“Not bad, the doctor says I’ll be out in about two weeks.”

“That is good to hear. But what were you doing that caused this?” Celestia asked with concern.

Charles gave another sigh before retelling the incident. By the time he was done, Celestia had a blank expression on her face. “So that’s what happened your majesty.” Charles stated at the end of his tale.

“I see, interesting…..I am glad your okay but do….”

Charles cut her off. “Be careful in the future, I know.” He stated with boredom in his voice. He flinched upon realizing what he just did. “Uh, I mean, oh jeeze, sorry for cutting you off like that princess, its just I’ve already been told that so many times today.”

Celestia let out a light chuckle. “It’s quite all right Charles, that just means there are ponies who care about you.”

Charles smiled at the princess. “I know, and I am grateful for it. By the way, did Apex already tell you what we found out from Jonathan?”

Celestia’s smiled dissapeared, only to be replaced with a frown. “He did, it seems we have much preparing to do for this war with the humans when they get here.”

“I’m sorry your highness, but don’t worry, hopefully, the warriors me and Discord gathered will prove to be more than enough to handle this fight that is coming. Plus, I have learned a bit more of my elemental powers that may prove useful now.”

Celestia cocked an eyebrow in interest. “Oh, like what?”

“Dust, the alicorn of earth in my head, has informed me that I will be able to create massive stone walls around the cities of Equestria as protection. It might not be much, but it will help to protect the citizens, I won’t do it without your consent though.”

Celestia looked in thought. It was a minute before she finally spoke. “Charles, I think that would be a fine idea. Once you are all better, I will send word to all the cities of this. As long as it won’t be too taxing on you, I would appreciate it if you provided the fortifications of the cities, starting with Ponyville.”

Charles gave a bow of his head. “Yes princess, I will do just that.”

Celestia gave a smile. “Thank you Charles, and my thanks to the enlightened five as well.” She gave a bow with her head.

Charles returned the smile. “They say you are most welcome.”

“I’m afraid I must take my leave now, I wish you well Charles.” Celestia then turned and left Charles with his captain.

Lighting Thrash turned to Charles once Celestia was gone. “Well Charles, It’s time for me to get going too, you take it easy now.” Lighting then took his leave as well, leaving Charles alone with his thoughts.

Those thoughts were soon interupted by a pair of unicorns walking in. A stallion of a dark blue coat and black mane and tail, and a mare with a light pink coat and a blond mane and tail walked carefully in. Neither had a cutie mark. Daniel, the stallion started. “Hello so….Charles.” Daniel stated, still careful as to not call him son since that always seemed to enrage Charles the last time he did.

“We heard about what happened, we were worried so we thought we’d come by and see how you were. I hope that’s allright.” Carol said carefully.

Charles gave a light glare at them, but a thought soon echoed in his mind. “Family looks out for one another.” Rarity’s words rang in his head. His glare softened, he had decided to try and give them a second chance after all the trouble they went through just to find him.

“Listen you two, after some thought, I figured I’d give you a second chance. You want us to be a famiy again? You want me back in your lives?”

“Of course we do.” Daniel stated without hesitation. “We felt so terrible for what we did to you. We just had to do something to make it up to you, but first we had to find you.”

“Charles, we risked our lives doing what we did to come here. When we heard the military found a way to follow you to another world, we just had to take the chance. Please, we miss our son, and we feel so terrible about what we did to you.” Carol stated looking like she was on the verge of tears.

Charles’s look softened even more upons seeing his now ponified mother ready to cry. “What is wrong with me, why do I care she’s sad? She and him ruined my whole life. I may have resolved to give them a second chance, but why do I care about her looking like that?” Charles thought to himself. He just stared at them for a long time in thought.

Soon, Carol just broke down in tears and cried as she recalled the past and how her and her husband drove their son away. She sat down on her haunches as she spoke in between sobs. “Please…..please forgive us….we feel so horrible…...I just want my baby boy back…...please….”

Daniel carefully placed a hoof around his wife’s back to try and comfort her. “It’ll be all right dear, please try to calm down.” He spoke softly.

That was the last straw for Charles, he let out a heavy sigh. “Look, I had already resolved to give you two another chance, though I’m not sure what all we could do together. In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m all grown up and have a life of my own. Plus, you two are going to have to work really hard to earn my trust back after what you did.”

Carol’s sobbing started to die down, she looked up at Charles with teary eyes. “*sniff* Really, you’ll give us another chance?”

“So we can be a family again?” Daniel asked.

“I’m still not sure I’m ready to say ‘family’, but I am giving you a chance to make up for what you did.” Charles warned.

The two gave weak but grateful smiles. “Thank you, does this mean we can call you son again?” Carol asked with hope.

Charles looked to the side in thought as he crossed his forelegs. He was in thought for a minute before he turned back to them to give an answer. He sighed first with his eyes closed. “Fine, you can call me your son again, just don’t do something stupid to mess up this chance I’m giving you.”

They’re smiles grew wider at Charles’s answer. They wanted to rush over to him and hug their son, but figured with the way things were, he would probably just get mad at them. They settled with just sending grateful smiles to him. “Thank you, we promise to be better parents this time.” Daniel said.

Charles gave a snort through his nose, still unsure if this was a good idea. “We’ll see.”

XXX

Two weeks passed for Charles and was now out of the hospital, his leg was all better and Celestia had already sent word throughout Equestria that Charles would be visiting each town to erect large stone walls to act as protection for the towns. Thanks to his lighting powers to increase his flight speed, he was able to make the trip from town to town in practically no time at all. He had erected massive thick stone walls around each town that were five stories high and ten feet thick, and left archway’s around them for ponies to come and go out of the towns the walls surrounded. The walls looked like they were built expertly and the stone walls were smooth.

Even though Charles was able to travel from town to town quickly, there were a lot of cities to go to and it took him almost all day to erect the stone walls around each city. The only city he didn’t have to visit to do so was Cloudsdale since it was a cloud city that resided safely in the sky. Charles finally returned to Ponyville and flew over the walls at normal speed feeling tired. He landed in front of his house that had a recent addition made to it. A new room on the second floor to act as the nursery for when his babies came along. With so many kids on the way, they may need a new and bigger house entirely.

Charles was too tired at the time to think about that, it was still somewhat early in the afternoon and his wives were still at their jobs. Charles trudged in with his head hanging down. He was happily greeted by the four pets belonging to his wives…..well, happily greeted by Owlowicious and Winona, a casual greeting by Opal Essence, and a simple stare from gummy who was on the table in front of the living room couch. Charles gave Winona a pleasant petting along her head and back and greeted Owlowicious with a stroke on his chest.

Charles walked over to the couch and slumped down. “Boy what a day, I had no idea that would take so much out of me.” He said to himself. “Then again, that was a lot of work. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“You did a fine job with the walls Charles.” Dust said from Charles’s mind.

“Yeah, those walls will provide great protection for the towns. No way that human army will get through.” Flash point stated.

“I hope you’re right guys. No way I’m going to let anything happen to the ponies of this world, I’ll do whatever I can to keep every single one of them safe. Those humans won’t lay a single greedy hand on them as long as I’m alive.”

As if sensing Charles’s mood being down, Winona came up to him and licked his face panting happily.

Charles couldn’t help but smile and petted her on the head. “Thanks Winona, you’re such a good dog.” Winona barked happily in response with her tail wagging. After that, Charles got himself comfortable on the couch and let himself fall asleep for a nap.

Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Spike and Twilight Sparkle were all walking together on their way home. “Garsh, look at them walls, Charles did one heck of a job puttin them up.” Applejack commented.

“I’ll say, they’re so tall.” Rarity added in.

“Did he really need to make them so big?” Pinkie asked.

“I guess he just wants to make sure we can be as secure as possible before this war starts.” Twilight pointed out. “He really cares and wants to make sure we’ll be safe.”

“Yeah, yer right. I can understand that.” Applejack said with a smile.

“I think it’s kind of cool.” Spike commented. “A little creepy, but still.”

The four mares and dragon soon arrived at their house and walked in. Their ears were greeted with the sound of a snoring alicorn on the couch with Opal Essence curled up next to him, purring contentedly. They couldn’t help but smile at the scene. “Oh, would you look at that. Our poor hubby must have been exhausted after putting up walls around the towns all day.” Rarity pointed out.

“Should we wake him, it is almost dinner time.” Pinkie asked.

“I reckon so, wouldn’t want him ta miss out.” Applejack stated.

Twilight opted to walk up to him and gently nudged Charles with a hoof. She spoke softly to wake him. “Charles, wake up, it’s almost time for dinner.”

It was enough to stir Charles from his sleep. He gave out a yawn and his eyes fluttered open to see a purple angel before him. “Hey Twilight, what time is it?”

“It’s about five in the afternoon, what time did you get back?”

Opal gave a stretch before jumping down from the couch while Charles stretched his legs as well before answering. “I think it was around three when I got back.” He sat up on the couch and saw his other wives and little dragon brother smiling at him. “Hey girls, hey Spike, so how was every pony’s day?”

Pinkie Pie answered happily. “Oh you know, same old same old, nothing new really.”

“I see. So, how about you all relax while I get dinner started. How does some nice vegetable soup sound?” Charles offered.

“That sounds lovely dear, thank you. I am a might pekish.” Rarity said.

“Sounds good to me.” Pinkie chirped happily.

“I can help make it.” Spike offered.

Charles smiled at Spike. “Thank you Spike, I appreciate that.” Charles and Spike then made their way into the kitchen while the four mares sat around and chatted.

XXX

The next day, Charles was back on duty as a guard. He was patrolling the streets next to his bat pony friend, Black Cloud. Charles had informed him about what had happened two weeks ago as well. “So you made stone soldiers to fight against to vent rage?” He asked.

“Yeah, and in the process, I hurt my leg, which is why I was in the hospital.”

“My apologies for not visiting comrade Charles.” Black stated.

Charles gave a reassuring smile. “Hey, don’t worry about it, no big deal.”

Black Cloud then shared a thought. “So this means you now have way of creating a stone army to help in war that is to come, yes?”

“I…..” Charles paused, he never thought about it before, but he had just stumbled on creating an army of his own made of rock soldiers. “Sweet Celestia, YOUR RIGHT!” He exclaimed, startling Cloud. “Sorry.” He gave a sheepish smile. “But I never thought about it before, this is great. Wait, if I can do that with stone, maybe I can do that with the other elements? This is definitely something to look into. Black Cloud my friend, you are a genius.”

Black Cloud smiled in return. “Thank you comrade. I am glad to help.”

Charles now had something to test out, but it would have to be away from towns in order to reduce the risk of some pony bystander getting hurt in case something goes wrong. “If this works, then no pony guards will have to risk their lives in this war to come.”

Chapter 45

Many months went by since the day Charles and Discord brought other ponies into their world from others to help with the upcoming war with humans. They had come to Ponyville a few times for visits and it had caused a bit of confusion for some ponies involving the element bearers from the different worlds. The three Rainbow Dashs kept trying to outdo one another in various competitions. The other two Applejacks had come to the original Applejack’s farm, Sweet Apple Acres, and there was a bit of confusion there as well. The others didn’t have any problems much with their other universe selves, though Sweetie Belle had some with three Raritys around her. Not much though since her Rarity was pregnant. Today however was about to change that.

The time had finally come for Rarity and Pinkie Pie to have their foals. Charles was in a bit of a panic when the news came they were ready to deliver because he had no idea what to do. Luckily, Twilight did, she managed to calm him down and talked him into helping the two to the hospital. Applejack, Twilight, Spike, and the CMC were in the waiting room while Charles was with Pinkie and Rarity who were in labor.

It was shortly after the delivery now and Charles and the rest of his family were in the room with Pinkie and Rarity with their new babies. Charles was still in a bit of shock with the full realization that he was now a father. Rarity had given birth to a single unicorn filly. Her mane and tail were a raven black and her coat was a pure white. Her eyes were brown like Charles’s eyes. Pinkie had given birth to twins, one was an earth pony, and the other was a Pegasus. The earth pony was a colt with a light brown coat, a dark brown mane and tail, and blue eyes like his mother. One could say his coat was like chocolate and his man/tail was like dark chocolate.

The Pegasus filly had a light pink coat, a white mane and tail, and green eyes. The others gathered around Rarity, Pinkie, and Charles to get a good look at the new baby ponies as their mothers held them tenderly smiling down at them. “Oh, they’re so cute.” Twilight commented.

“I’ll say, that one has yer eyes Rarity.” Applejack commented.

“So does the earth pony baby.” Spike pointed out.

“Neat, I have a new baby cousin.” Sweetie Belle said.

“Yes dear, it does. I know you two will get along smashingly.” Rarity said as she smiled at her little sister.

“They’re just so cute, I can’t believe I’m a mother now.” Pinkie said as she smiled at her babies and nuzzled them gently.

Rarity turned to Charles who sat between her and Pinkie. “Charles, would you like to hold your new daughter?”

Charles didn’t respond, his eyes kept shifting slightly as he gazed upon the foal Rarity had given birth to, then slowly looked to the twins Pinkie held. He looked back again to Rartiy and the baby.

“Charles, are you all right?” Twilight asked as she noticed the look in his eyes.

“I can’t believe it.” He said quietly.

“What was that sugar cube?” Applejack asked as she looked at Charles curiously.

“I’m…..I’m a dad now.” He said.

“Charles?” Rarity tried again.

It finally worked this time. He looked to Rartiy. “Huh?” Was all he said.

“I asked if you would like to hold your daughter for a moment.” Rarity stated with a smile.

“I….well I…that is…um……” Charles stuttered.

“What’s wrong Charles? You don’t look so good.” Pinkie asked.

Charles turned to her and answered. “It’s just….I can’t believe I’m a father now. I….I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know how to be a father. What if I mess up? What if I can’t do this? What if…..”

“Charles calm down, you’ll do fine.” Twilight cut him off with a smile. “You’re not alone in this you know. You have all of us to help.”

“That’s right darlin, we’re all in this together remember. We’ll always be around ta help ya figure things out.” Applejack stated.

“Charles, all you have to do is just love them and help take care of them. You’ll do fine, I just know you’ll make a fantastic dad.” Rarity said.

“Besides, it’s not like you have much of a choice now.” Twilight stated.

Charles smiled at their words. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s just….I never pictured myself as a father figure. And now, here I am with three kids here.”

“And a few more on the way remember?” Pinkie stated.

Charles looked over to Pinkie with a smile. “Yeah, I remember.”

Rarity got his attention again. “So, would you like to hold your daughter?”

Charles got closer to Rarity with a smile as he looked down at his daughter, she in turn looked up at him with new eyes, carefully looking at him. “Sure, I would love to.” He answered with a smile. Rarity carefully hooved over the baby and he took her gently into his forelegs. “Hey there little lady, I’m your new dad. I promise to do my best for you and take care of you.”

The little baby smiled at him and reached up to him with her little forelegs. Charles brought his muzzle closer to her. She grabbed hold of his nose and smiled bigger, making goo goo noises. Charles laughed at her. “Awe, aren’t you a curious one.” He cooed.

After a minute, Rarity finally asked. “So what shall we name her?”

“How about crystal?” Charles suggested.

Rarity agreed with that. “That sounds like a lovely name Charles.” She turned to the others. “What do you all think?”

“I think it sound beautiful.” Twilight agreed.

“Yeah, that sounds great.” Spike sounded off. The rest followed with agreement as well.

“Then Crystal it is.” Charles said. He gazed back down at the little filly in his forelegs. “Welcome to the world Crystal.”

The little foal giggled as if to agree with her name. Charles gave the baby back to Rarity. Pinkie then got his attention. “Charles, don’t forget about your other daughter and son.”

Charles turned to Pinkie with a smile. “Of course not.” He got closer to Pinkie and Charles managed to take them both gently and held them in each of his forelegs. “Hey there you two. Welcome to the world. I’m your dad and I promise to take good care of you.” He said to the two foals as they gazed up at him.

“So what shall we call these two?” Pinkie asked happily.

“Let’s see…..I think it should be something sweet sounding since they came from such a sweet pony.” Charles commented. “Let’s see….for the colt, I think…….Chocolate Chip. Since he’s pretty much the same color as chocolate.”

“Ooh, I like the sound of that. It sounds so sweet. I like it.” Pinkie agreed happily. The others sounded off as well.

“Now as for the filly, I’m thinking……Cherry Vanilla, because her colors remind me of a cherry vanilla sundae.” Charles stated.

“That sounds real sweet.” Scootaloo said with a smile.

“I like it too.” Apple Bloom sounded off.

“Same here.” Sweetie Belle chimed in.

Charles smiled at every pony in the room. “Then Cherry Vanilla it is.” Charles looked back down at the foals in his forelegs. “Hello there Chocolate chip, Cherry Vanilla, I just know you two are going to do great in this world.” Charles sat there and held the two for a while as they just talked a bit. Charles gave the babies back to Pinkie and just sat there between Rarity and Pinkie.

“Charles, there is something I forgot to tell you that you should know.” Twilight said.

Charles looked to Twilight to hear her out. “Yeah, what’s that?”

“You see….Unicorns tend to have a kind of psychic link with their children.”

Charles looked at her curiously. Psychic link? You mean that you can read your children’s thoughts?”

“Not to that extent. What I mean is that you’ll be able to detect what their feeling.” Twilight informed. “That way, it’ll be a little easier to figure out what they want when they get upset.”

“I’ll be able to? You mean, I’ll be able to sense their emotions?” Charles asked.

“Indeed darling. I will be able to sense what Crystal is feeling like you will, but not with the twins Pinkie had. But you’ll be able too with all your children.” Rarity stated.

Charles turned to Rarity. “Is this a permanent thing?” He asked.

“Yes dear, it is.” Rarity answered. “Are you ok with this?” She asked with concern.

“Well it’s not like I have much of a choice from what I understand. But….yeah.” He smiled. “I think I like this idea. It would be easier to help calm them down when they start crying and are upset about something. I think I can live with this.”

“Glad ta hear it partner.” Applejack stated.

“Yeah, it’ll be a big help to me and Applejack since we’re not unicorns.” Pinkie stated.

Later in the day after the family was excused from the hospital, they went to see the rest of their friends and introduced them to the new additions to their family. Rarity had Crystal in a stroller with Charles pushing her along with his magic, along with Chocolate Chip and Cherry Vanilla in a two seat stroller. Charles walked along with the two strollers on either side of him smiling the whole time, their mother’s next to them with the rest of the family on either side.

Crystal’s stroller was purple while Cherry and Chocolate’s stroller was pink on one side and brown on the other. The strollers were a gift from Lightning Thrash as a congratulations on the new family, they weren’t that color when they were given to the mares, but Twilight figured it would be nice if the strollers matched their respective mother. So she used a spell to change the colors of the strollers. Cherry Vanilla and Chocolate Chip giggled happily as Pinkie talked to them and made funny sounds while Crystal was smiling while her mother talked to her. Mainly, Rarity was just voicing her plans to raise Crystal into a proper lady, but Crystal didn’t mind since she didn’t really understand. She was just glad to have her mother nearby.

The family came to the park to enjoy the rest of the day and sit a spell. They sat in a circle with the babies at the center to let them explore a bit under supervision. “Hoo wee, I can’t wait fer my youngin ta come out. I get so tired just walkin around.” Applejack stated as she plopped down feeling tired.

“Tell me about it, I can barely get any work done.” Twilight agreed. “Thanks again for all your help during this time Spike, I really appreciate it.” Twilight said as she smiled at Spike.

“I’m glad to help Twilight, you know that.” Spike responded.

Applejack then turned to Charles. “And Charles, I really appreciate ya takin my place at the farm ta help with the harvestin since I couldn’t.”

Charles smiled at Applejack. “Hey, anything for my mares.”

Crystal had crawled over to her father with a smile and stuck her little forelegs out. “Ah ah.” She said as she reached out.
Charles smiled at her as he realized she wanted him to hold her. “Awe look, she wants her daddy.” Rarity cooed.

Charles smiled at the little filly. “Oh, does Crystal want daddy to hold her?” Charles cooed. He picked her up and hugged her gently. “You are so cute, I just know you’ll grow up beautiful like your mother.”

Soon, the twins had crawled over as well and looked a little sad. Charles saw this and got his first taste of the psychic link Twilight and Rarity were talking about. He could sense an emotion of what was perhaps jealousy. “I think they’re jealous.” He pointed out.

“I think your right. Look at them.” Sweetie Belle pointed out. The little twins had their forelegs outstretched to Charles as well. Charles smiled at the two and managed to pick them up as well in his other foreleg. He held them close and all three hugged him.

The four mares smiled at the scene. “Aint that sweet, they look so cute together.” Applejack commented.

Charles set them down again after a moment and just watched them. It wasn’t long before Rainbow Dash swooped in while Fluttershy hovered in close behind and landed near the group. “Hey girls, glad to see you two out of the hospital. OH, are those the new babies?” Rainbow Dash asked excitedly.

Fluttershy smiled as she looked at the three little ponies. “Awe, they’re so cute. What are their names?” She cooed.

Scootaloo took care of introductions. “Hey Rainbow Dash. This is Chocolate Chip, Cherry Vanilla, and Crystal.”

“What wonderful names.” Fluttershy commented.

“Eh, you should have asked me to pick names, I would have come up with something awesome.” Rainbow commented with a wave of a hoof.

“Excuse me, but I’m the one that came up with the names and every pony else thought they were nice.” Charles stated.

Rainbow gave a sheepish smile as Charles and Rarity glared at her. “Uh, sorry. You know, forget I said that, those names sound really nice, heh heh.”

“I should think so, Crystal sounds so elegant for a mare’s name, don’t you think?” Rarity asked.

“Of course it does.” Rainbow quickly agreed.

Charles rolled his eyes.

The three little ponies crawled over to the two newcomers. Chocolate was between his sisters with Cherry on his left and Crystal on his right. The three looked at the two in curiosity.

Fluttershy smiled down at them. “Hello there little ones, I’m Fluttershy, it’s very nice to meet you.” She said as she got down on the ground and gave them a gentle smile.

Cherry Vanilla decided to be the brave one and approached the cream colored Pegasus. She thought the mane looked tasty and put some of it in her mouth. “Oh my.” Fluttershy commented.

“No no Cherry, we don’t eat hair.” Pinkie said as she made her way over and picked Cherry up. “Now Cherry, this is Fluttershy, she’s a friend, and we don’t eat other friend’s manes, in fact, we don’t eat mane’s at all, ok?” Cherry just giggled and hugged her mommy. Pinkie smiled big as she hugged back. “Sorry about that Fluttershy.”

“Oh, that’s ok, no harm done. She was just curious is all.” Fluttershy brushed the little incident aside.

Chocolate decided to be brave next and crawled closer to Rainbow Dash. Dash looked down with a light smile. “Hey there, names Rainbow Dash.” Chocolate just looked at her, Dash just looked back. This lasted a good few seconds before dash felt something pull her tail. “HEY!” She exclaimed as she looked back behind her and saw Crystal tugging at her tail with her mouth.

“Crystal no, get that out of your mouth, you don’t know where it’s been.” Rarity said as she quickly trotted over and picked up her baby.

Rainbow seemed to take offense to that. “Excuse me? I do take showers you know.”

“I know, but when was the last time you took one?” Rarity asked.

“Um….about a week ago?” Dash guessed.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “That is exactly what I’m talking about, you should take one every day. Not once every week.” Crystal reached her forelegs out to Dash making baby sounds. Rarity looked to her child.

“What with her?” Dash asked.

Charles answered. “She likes your mane, I think she wants you to hold her.”

“How do you know that?” Dash asked.

“She’s a baby, babies like bright colors, and your mane and tail are full of them. You’re going to be popular with the babies Dash.” Charles said with a smile. “You would make a great baby sitter, all you have to do is be nearby and the kids won’t want to leave.” He joked.

“Hah hah, very funny.” Dash stated with a smirk. The rest soon joined in the laughter as well.

As it died down, Charles’s expression fell a bit as he frowned and hung his head. Fluttershy saw this first. “Charles, what’s wrong?” She asked gently.

The others looked to him too and saw his expression. “Is somethin wrong sugar cube?” Applejack then asked.

Charles gave a sigh before responding. “I’m just sorry our kids are being brought into a world on the verge of a war. They should have come to this world during a time of peace, not when we’re getting ready for a battle.”

Twilight came up to him and looked him in the eye. “Charles, this is something that couldn’t be helped. I don’t like it either, but we didn’t really have much of a choice. Everything will be fine, I promise.” She tried to assure Charles.

Charles looked back at Twilight as he responded. “I hope your right Twilight.” He smiled again. “You all better believe I’ll do everything in my power to keep you all safe and unharmed. As long as I live, I’ll do what I can to make sure not a single pony is taken by those rotten humans that are coming, and not a single pony will get hurt either.”

“That’s the spirit Charles, and don’t forget, you’re not alone in this.” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“Yeah, don’t forget all those other ponies and those two humans that are here to help.” Pinkie pointed out.

Charles turned to Pinkie. “I haven’t forgotten. I know they’ll do their best, just as I will too.”

“That is all any pony can ask of you Charles.” Twilight stated with a smile.

Charles smiled back, then to all the ponies around him. “Thanks girls, I’m so lucky to have you all.”

XXX

Much time passed since the day Pinkie and Rarity gave birth to their kids. Twilight and Applejack had their kids two months later. Twilight had given birth to a unicorn filly. The filly had a light blue coat with a dark purple mane and tail with a single white stripe through them, and purple eyes. She was named Starbeam.

Applejack had an earth pony colt. He had a red coat, a blond mane and tail and yellow eyes. He was named Applesauce. It was Charles’s idea, he liked the thought of Applejack’s kid keeping to an apple themed name since the rest of her family had names that referred to apples or apple treats. Some time had passed since all four mares gave birth to their children and Charles had gotten used to the whole ‘being a father’ thing as well as getting used to the psychic link he had with his kids.

Spike was a big help as well when it came to helping take care of the children. The three fillies known as the cutie mark crusaders wanted to try and get their cutie marks in babysitting but none of the mares that were the mothers would allow it, neither would Charles. They were turned away politely and the three were disappointed.

Some more good news came in the time span that passed. Scootaloo was finally up and flying thanks to Rainbow Dash’s coaching. Scootaloo couldn’t be happier now that she could get up in the air and fly around like her hero and mentor. Charles gave his congratulations as well to his adopted little sister.

The ponies of Ponyville didn’t like the walls Charles erected at first but soon got used to it. Because of them though, it took a little longer for the morning light to reach some homes and some of the ponies weren’t really happy about it while others were just fine with it.

The day Charles dreaded finally came. He was out on his regular patrol of the town near the west side coming to the edge and walked out the large archway there when he saw something he had hoped he would never see. Ten armed and armored humans were on approach escorting one human in a grey suit with a black tie. Charles grew angrey at the sight. “So, you finally arrived.” Charles readied his staff and summoned his large fire sword. He charged forth, ready to rip into them mercilessly already. “YOU LOUSY HUMANS!” He screamed as he charged.

The humans readied their high tech looking rifles. “HALT!” The suited man screamed. “WE WISH TO TALK!”

This surprised Charles enough to actually stop in his tracks with his large flaming sword mere inches away from taking off the suited humans head. “You lousy human scum, HOW DARE YOU COME HERE AND BRING WAR TO THIS PEACFUL LAND!” Charles yelled. “What makes you think I will listen to ANYTHING you say?”

The suited human was a little intimidated. He was a stout figure with a balding head. He held a cigar in his teeth. He took it out with his right hand and spoke. “From the reports, I understand you are the one we once had in our facility, yes?”

“Yeah, what of it?” Charles asked as he glared at them.

The suited man smiled. “Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Barnaby. I’m the one in charge of the facility you were held in and tested on.”

Charles’s glare intensified. “That isn’t exactly helping you.”

“I didn’t think it would. Just hear me out. We can have this go peacefully. There really is no need for bloodshed and war.”

Charles raised an eyebrow at the statement. He carefully pulled his sword back with his magic but kept it at the ready. “What are you talking about, aren’t you here to capture the ponies of this world so you can study them and learn how to replicate the magic they possess?”

“That all depends on you.” Barnaby stated with a smirk.

“What do you mean it depends on me?” Charles asked.

“Look, I’m a reasonable man. I see no need to go through so much hassle when the answer to all this is simple. You care about this world don’t you?”

“Yeah, I do, so what? This world was far more accepting of me than you humans on earth. These ponies liked me for who I am and not what I am. They became my friends, and now, thanks to them, I have a family.”

Barnaby clasped his hands together still holding his smoking cigar. “How sweet, and you want to protect that family don’t you?”

“Of course I do, just get to the point human, I’m running out of patience and am more than ready to take your head.” Charles said through gritted teeth.

Barnaby gave him a flat look. He then plastered on a smile before continuing. “My point is this. We want a creature of great power from this world we can study and learn to duplicate their abilities for the soldiers on earth. Just one.” He emphasized as he held up one finger. “If you agree to come back to earth with me so my team of scientists can study your body, then we will leave peacefully and war will never have to happen. So what do you say, come with us and we leave peacefully, or are we going to have a war on our hands you can’t possibly hope to win and so many innocent ponies you care about will get killed or captured for study?”

Charles froze there, his mind abuzz. “This could end peacefully? I just have to go with them?” He asked himself.

Dust, the alicorn of the earth spoke within his mind. “Charles, you can’t possibly be considering this?”

Tidal wave, the alicorn of water, agreed “Charles, are you really willing to leave your family to keep them safe?”

Flashpoint, the alicorn of fire threw in his voice. “I can’t believe your hesitating! Take his head already and end it!”

Charles looked at Barnaby. “What will happen to me if I go?”

Auroa, the alicorn of the wind spoke. “Please tell me you aren’t serious, they are going to take you away from your family, your friends, your home. Do you really think it is a good idea to go with them?”

Charles ignored the voices in his head. “Well? If I agree to go with you, what will happen to me?”

The stout man smiled as he placed his cigar in his mouth, inhaled, then exhaled a puff of smoke. “Well, we’ll have to disable your brain, turning you into a vegetable so we can study you, then dispose of your body. I know it doesn’t sound pleasant, but it’s the best way.”

“Can’t you do it without disabling my brain and killing me?”

“Sorry no. That’s how it is. All that brain activity will just get in the way of our studying.” Barnaby simply stated.

Charles lowered his sword more and hung his head. “I see.” He lifted his head up a bit again and looked at the human before him. “Unfortunately, it isn’t my call.”

Barnaby cocked an eyebrow at this. “Excuse me?”

“I answer to my princesses, if you want to work out a peaceful deal, you need to talk to them, it will be up to them if I go or not.”

“I see, very well then. I can wait. Send word to your princesses that I wish to meet with them to discuss this. I can wait, I am a patient man after all. Boys, lets head back to camp for now.” The soldiers lowered their weapons and followed the human back the way they came.

Charles glared at the humans as they left. His sword became enveloped in his mystic wind, turning it back to his red staff with the five gems in it. He turned and headed back into town towards the library where Twilight and Spike were working to get Spike to send a letter to Celestia. “So that’s it. If I go with them, then that’s it. I’ll never see them again. But…..at least I’ll know their safe. I guess I can go with that.” Charles stated to himself as he walked.

“You are such an idiot, you know that?” Voltage said to Charles.

“How do you figure that?” Charles said out loud.

Tidal wave answered. “You are willing to give up everything you have gained here so easily.”

“This isn’t up for discussion. If it means every pony here will be safe, then so be it! I just can’t bare the thought of this war leading to the possibility of me losing some pony I care about.” Charles stated.

“You’re going to lose them anyway if that is what happens. The best option is to let this war happen and defend your home. In case you forgot, they’re practically our family too since we are a part of you.” Dust exclaimed.

“Yeah, but it’s still my body. And besides, it’s not really my choice anyway, it’s Celestia and Luna that will decide, and I’m going to do what I can to make sure they make the choice for me to go with them. But I won’t tell them the whole thing just yet. They’ll find out at the meeting with Barnaby.” Charles stated to the alicorns.

Charles soon reached the library and explained to Twilight and Spike about his encounter today, leaving out the part about him going with the humans to keep this war from happening. Needless to say, they were very worried, but Spike wrote down a letter Charles dictated and sent it to Celestia.

It didn’t take long for her to respond and send a letter back, stating she was on her way with Luna. Within an hour and a half from Charles’s first meeting with the humans, Charles was now leading celestia and Luna who had a contingent of ten guards with them, all unicorns, to the humans.

They soon found the camp the humans had set up almost a mile away from Ponyville. They had what looked like metal huts set up in neat rows with one at the end of it. The armed humans took up position and readied themselves for a fight. Celestia stepped forward to address them. “We are here to see your commander, let us pass.” She said sternly.

The humans lowered their weapons. One of the humans in front spoke to another. “Go inform Barnaby he has guests.”

“Yes sir.” The human that was addressed said and gave a salute before running for the metal hut at the end of the rows.

Barnaby approached the group with a smile. “Greetings your majesties. I am right in assuming you’re the princesses my friend Charles here mentioned yes?”

Charles glared at him. “I am not your friend.”

Luna put a hoof on Chalres’s shoulder to calm him. She looked to Barnaby and spoke. “We are, I am princess Luna and this is my older sister princess Celestia.”

Barnaby gave a mock bow. “A pleasure, my name is Barnaby. Thank you for coming.”

Celestia then spoke. “Why are you here Barnaby?” She asked sternly with a frown.

“Didn’t Charles tell you? We merely seek for a way to strengthen our forces on earth to better protect ourselves from invaders or trouble makers, that is all.”

“At the expense of lives.” Charles pointed out.

“Charles, please try to control yourself.” Luna said as she looked pleadingly at him.

Charles looked back, he simply nodded and faced forward again.

“Now then, Charles here says that you are willing to go without bringing war to our world. Why is that, what is it you want?” Celestia asked.

“Simple, let us take Charles back to earth so we can study him and learn about his powers. The whole magic and flying thing would be very useful to our soldiers.” Barnaby pointed out.

“And tell me, what would become of him if you do?” Luna asked.

“What, he didn’t tell you?” Barnaby asked with mock surprise.

“He did not.” Celestia responded.

“I guess I need to explain it again. We will have to disable his brain so we can study his body. After that, we just dispose of him and that will be it. Once his brain is disabled, there is no restoring it and he would just be a vegetable for the rest of his life. It would be pointless keeping him alive in such a state, he’d be pretty much dead anyway.”

Celestia and Luna were shocked to hear this.

Charles then spoke. “I am willing to accept those terms princess Celestia and Luna.”

The two princesses turned to him still with shocked expressions. “You….you are?” Luna finally asked.

“I am.” Charles answered. “If that means that no pony has to die here, then so be it. I am willing to make such a sacrifice.”

“Charles, what about your family, you can’t just leave them.” Celestia stated.

“As long as I know they’re safe, I don’t care what happens to me.” Charles stated. “Please princess, agree to this and let me go with them.”

“Charles, you are too important to us to just let you go like this, you have done so much for us, fought for us, protected us from great dangers, and did so much to keep peace here in Equestria.” Luna stated. “I think it is high time you are repaid for all you have done and have some pony else fight for you.”

Celestia smiled. “Charles, you have a family who cares for you, who loves you, you cannot simply leave them behind and have them grieve for you. Let us defend you for once.” She then turned to face Barnaby. “Barnaby, the answer is no, if you want to take Charles from this world, you will have to do so by force. He is a hero to us and a wonderful pony. We are not about to let him go without a fight.”

Charles tried to protest. “But your majesty…”

Luna cut him off. “Do you doubt the strength of the ponies you had gathered? Did you forget the whole reason they are here? If this does not happen, then they will have left their world and spent a year here for nothing. Does that sound fair Charles?”

“Well….no….I guess not.” Charles hung his head.

“Charles, you must stay here so you can better protect those you care about. If you leave, who will protect the ones you love, who will protect your children?” Celestia asked with a smile.

“I….I didn’t……think about that.”

“I didn’t think so.” Celestia stated. She faced Barnaby again. “You have our answer human, what will you do?”

Barnaby frowned. “Very well then your highness, just remember, you brought this on yourself.” Barnaby took out a small disc like object from the inside of his grey suit and pushed a yellow button. In just a second, the space around him seemed to warp and he vanished. The ten armed humans there readied their weapons. Charles saw this and quickly put up a shield around himself and the princesses. The unicorn guards did the same for themselves. They moved as the shields were up and placed themselves in front of Charles and the princesses.

The humans opened fire with their weapons, firing fast moving bullets from their guns. The magic shields held against the fire. Charles took advantage of the unicorns holding off the barrage of bullets and turned his staff into his pair of lighting nunchuks with the black lighting holding the things together. He held them in his forelegs and started spinning them rapidly, creating a magnetic field that started stopping the bullets in midflight.

Once the humans stopped firing out of confusion, Charles charged forth and moved so fast with his lighting speed granted to him from his lightning nunchuks, he made quick work of the small number of soldiers, shocking them to death with each strike.
Once the area was clear, the unicorn guards relaxed and dropped their shields. “Fine work Charles, thank you for dealing with them.” Celestia stated.

Charles turned his nunchuks back to his staff and floated it onto his back as he approached the princesses. “I’m sorry princess, you were right, I shouldn’t have been so willing to just give up my life like that.”

Luna gave Charles a smile. “It is fine Charles. We thank you for protecting us like you just did.”

“Looks like I’ll have a lot of protecting to do. Thankfully, I won’t be doing it alone. The war is about to start.”

Author's Note

“It’s about time we got to this part, I thought this war would never come.” I’m sure that is what you all were thinking, well here it is. The next Chapter, the war comes and Charles and all the other OC’s that answered the call will be put to the test. Get ready my readers, I’m hoping I can make this a fic you’ll be talking about for ages. (Not likely, but hopefully I can make it seem epic enough for you all to enjoy.) Thank you all for supporting this fic. And before I forget, I am not accepting OC submissions. I have still been getting them. Sorry if I don’t use all the OC’s that were submitted, but there was just too many. Enjoy my friends.

Chapter 46

The day had finally come, the humans Charles despised so much had found their way to Equestria and was ready to wage war. Charles nearly exhausted himself in one day to get everything ready to make sure Ponyville would be well protected. He added runes to the wall that surrounded the city that provided a large magic dome shield to protect the town. He also started constructing his elemental golems. He now had an army of his own made of the five elements. The earth golems stood like humans and had hands, yellow glowing eyes but no mouth. The fire golems were a similar shape but looked like they were made of magma. The wind golems were of pure wind with no feet but instead a cone in place of legs. The lightning golems pure electrical forms were a bit more sleek then that of the rock and fire golems, they had legs as well. Finally, the water golems appeared to have a snake like tail to slither across the ground and had light blue glowing eyes, their entire form made of water.

Not only did Charles have these golems ready to fight and defend Ponyville, but a few dragons, along with a horde of manticores and Timberwolves stood ready. The dragons were spread out across Equestria to help in the defense of the other towns as well. Each one wore metal scale armor covering most of their bodies. The metal was solid steel and forged with dragon fire which made it all the more potent for protection. Iron Scales, the king of the dragons, offered to have some special armor made for Charles. It was a well known fact dragons made strong armor. Charles took him up on his offer and now had new armor for himself that covered his entire form from head to hoof. It was silver colored and the helmet was shaped to look like that of a dragon’s head. The snout of the dragon helmet came over Charles’s own and the eyes rested just above his.

The two meta humans, Michael and Harold, volunteered to help with the defense of Ponyville also. The rest of the warriors that Charles had gathered from other dimensions and those from this world that offered to help were sent to other towns to protect. Charles was now wearing his new armor as he said his peace to his family before heading out. Harold and Michael were waiting outside his home. “Well, this is it. Now you girls stay inside and don’t come out no matter what. I don’t want anything happening you all.”
“Don’t worry Charles, we’ll be fine, it’s you were all worried about.” Twilight stated.

“Just be careful out there sugar cube, don’t do nothin reckless.” Applejack stated.

“We will be waiting for your safe return dear.” Rarity said with a smile.

“Please come back safe Charles.” Pinkie said with a sad smile.

“Don’t worry girls, I will.” Charles then looked down at his children being cradled by their mothers. “Hey kids, don’t you worry now, daddy will be back as soon as he can, he just has to chase away some bad things to make sure you all stay safe. Be good for your mothers now.” Charles gave them each a kiss on the forehead. He then turned to Spike. “Spike, while I’m gone, you’re in charge around here, you are the dragon of the house so it’s up to you to make sure every pony stays safe.”

“You can count on me Charles, I’ll keep every pony safe.”

Charles then took Spike in a hug. “Take care little brother. I’ll see you soon.”

Spike hugged back. “You too Charles.”

They broke their hug and Charles started heading for the door. “Charles, wait!” Pinkie suddenly called out. She set her twins on the couch and started walking towards him.

Charles stopped, turned his side and looked at Pinkie. “Yes Pinkie, what is it?”

Pinkie looked nervous. But then why wouldn’t she, war had come to Equestria. A war that may very well take away another pony she loved from her. “Um, do…..you really have to go?”

Charles looked at her in confusion at first, then smiled. He approached her and looked her in the eyes. “Pinkie Pie, I cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, I’ll come back. No force in Equestria or anywhere will keep me from my promise. You mean too much to me to just not come back.”

Pinkie gave a small smile. “Thank you Charles, that means a lot to me.”

Charles gave Pinkie a peck on the cheek. “I’ll see you later, be safe every pony.” Charles then turned and headed out the door to join the two meta humans.

“Took you long enough.” Harold stated.

Charles gave a light glare. “Hey, this is my family, I’ll take as long as I need to say what I want to them before going off to a war.”

“He has every right to Harold, we may be strong, but those humans have great numbers and powerful weapons.” Michael stated.

“Don’t tell me you doubt we can win this Michael?” Charles asked. “Look at the army we have amassed. We got dragons hovering just over the town ready to fight, hordes of manticores and immortal timberwolves circling the town, and not to mention those golems I made. Failure is not an option here. We WILL win this, we have to. I’m not about to let those monsters have their way with the ponies that accepted me and took me in when I had nothing.”

“All right Charles, we get it, we have to believe we can win and do everything we can to win.” Harold said.

As they headed for the south side of town where the human army was approaching, Charles ran into his fellow guards and captain. “Charles.” Captain Lightning Thrash greeted. “Good luck out there private, you show those humans that we ponies are stronger than we look.”

Charles saluted. “Yes sir, I won’t let a single one into this town. I’m sorry you can’t join me on the battle field, but their weapons would take you all out easily.”

“It is fine comrade, we understand. You do not wish us harm so we stay here in town and try to take out any humans that may get past you and the barrier you place over town.” Black Cloud stated.

“Hmpf, I still say I could tear them apart easily in my wolf form.” Shadow Fang stated.

Lightning turned to Shadow Fang. “If you went out there, you’ll have to be in your wolf form for too long. If that were to happen, you may go completely insane and just lose it. It’s better you stay out of this fight Shadow Fang.”

Shadow Fang just turned his head with a frown. “I wish you the best of luck Charles.” Stunner said with a smile.

“Kick some flank out there.” Dusk Fang declared.

“Show em who’s boss.” Dawn Fang followed up.

“We’ll all be rooting for you Charles.” Fuse stated.

“Guys, I’m not fighting alone you know?” Charles said with a smile. “I got these two to help as well.” He motioned to Michael and Harold.

Carbon stepped forward. “We’re counting on you two to keep this town safe as well. We thank you for your help.”

Harold gave a thumbs up. “No worries, we got this. Those humans won’t know what hit em.”

“You can count on us Lt Carbon.” Michael said with a nod.

With that, the three continued on their way. They soon reached the southern gate of Ponyville and stepped out to see the swarms of Timberwolves and manticores at the ready with a few dragons spread out among them and Charles’s elemental golems. Charles had on his green crystal Necklace so he could understand the wolves and manticores. As Charles made his way to the front of the group with Harold and Michael, he felt he should say something to them. “Guys, I want to thank you again for your help. I really appreciate it.”

Harold gave a smile. “Hey, no worries. This place is our home now, these ponies have been real nice to us. So it only seems right to make this our new home.”

Michael then shared his thoughts. “I have to agree, I can see why you like it here so much. They never judged us on what we are, like how things were on earth. They just accepted us. So I feel it’s only right we make this place our home and do everything we can to defend it.”

Charles gave a smile at the comment. “After this war is over, I could turn you guys into ponies if you want, it would make living here a little easier, what with meat being rather scarce here.”

“Really, sounds good to me. I suppose if I were a pony, I wouldn’t have such a craving for meat.” Harold stated.

“I suppose I’d be ok with it too, so I think we’ll take you up on that offer. Once this war is over, you go ahead and use your magic to change us.” Michael said.

They finally stood at the front of the army ready to fight. Charles took a few steps forward and flew up a bit to look them over. He spoke loudly so they all could hear him. “Well, this is it! I thank you all for coming here and agreeing to fight by my side like this, it means so much to me that you are all willing to help like this! I just know that with all of us standing together like this, we will win this fight and drive these invaders from our home!”

This was met with growls and howls and roars of approval. The golems stood silent. Charles had managed to imbue them with just enough inttelegence to where they could tell friend from foe and fight on their own or as a group on the field. Charles came back down to his original spot between Michael and Harold. He got into a conversation with the enlightened five. “The day has finally come, I wish to thank you guys for everything you’ve done for me. I’ll admit it’s been kind of weird having you five in my head, but I got used to it over time. I am grateful for all you have taught me and the power you have given me.”

“And we’re grateful for you showing up and defeating us so we could finally get out of that crumbling place you found us in.” Flash point said.

“Yeah, we’re glad we were finally able to get out of there, we never thought we’d get to know what it’s like to be part of a family like what you have.” Voltage stated.

“We are glad to have met you Charles. You are very lucky to have the life you do now.” Aeros said with a smile.

“Thanks, I really appreciate you all.” Charles said to them.

“You seem to talk as if you doubt we can achieve victory this day, am I wrong?” Tidal wave asked.

“Yes, you are. I can’t doubt that we can win, I have to believe it. Too much is at stake here.” Charles stated confidently.

“We are pleased to hear that.” Dust said. “There is something we need to inform you of though. Once this fight is over, we will leave you.”

“Oh?” “Wait, WHAT?!” Charles said out loud.

Harold looked to Charles. “What?”

“Uh, nothing. I’m talking to my friends in my head.” Charles answered. Harold accepted the answer and continued to look out to the field, waiting for the humans. Charles resumed his internal discussion. “What do you mean you’ll leave me?”

Aeros explained. “Our role was three parts. One, to act as the guardians of the elements of life. Two, to test those seeking our power and see if they are worthy of it. Three, once the test is passed, we then instruct the being who passes the test in the ways of how to effectively wield our power. We have taught you all we can on how to wield our streangth.”

“Thus, once this fight is over, we shall depart from this world and take our place in the eternal heard.” Dust explained.

“But…..that’s it then? You’ll just up and leave? After everything we’ve been through?” Charles asked, starting to feel a little sad at this news.

“Not without saying our goodbyes ya idiot.” Voltage said with a smirk.

“Hey, our time here is coming to an end. We’ve done all we were supposed to do here.” Flashpoint explained. “We will forever be grateful to you for sharing your life with us and we certainly won’t forget you. But this is how it is. You can’t go around the rest of your life with us in your head.” He said with a snicker.

Charles sighed. “I see, well then. I guess there’s really nothing I can do about it. I am going to miss you guys when you go. So, let’s do this together. One last hurrah, right?”

“Right!” The five responded together.

A sound was heard rising over the hill a ways away. Marching, and the sound of treadmills rolling something big and heavy was heard approaching. An army of humans in black metal suits came marching up over the hill accompanied by large black metal tanks with hexagon shaped barrels. At least two thousand humans and fifty or so tanks rolled in. “This is it Everyone, get ready!” Charles called out. He was about to give the signal to charge when another sound was heard. Loud thumping noises, like giant footsteps and the whirring of machinery.

Something large came up and stood at the back of the human army. Charles and the two humans looked on. “You have GOT to be KIDDING ME!” Charles said.

Giant, metal robot mechs now stood before the army. “When the hell did they get THOSE?” Harold asked.

“Don’t worry, we can handle those, and I bet the dragons can too. They’re practically the same size.” Michael pointed out. It was true, the giant metal mechs were almost as tall as a dragon standing up on its hind legs. There were twenty of the mechs standing at the back.

“All right then. Let’s hope my traps work. Time to trigger them.” Charles stated. He brought his staff in front of him with his magic and held it vertically before him. The five gems on his staff began to glow. The first of many of his traps went off. An explosion of fire erupted from under one tank and melted it down in almost an instant.

The humans near that tank were vaporized instantly, those a little further away got burned and their suits heated up to unbearable tempatures. The electronics in the suits couldn’t take the heat and short circuited, either electrocuting the wearer or just exploding. The humans that did not get affected panicked, wondering what just happened.

Before they realized it, more explosions followed. One tank was impaled from underneath by a large ice spike shooting up from the ground with smaller ice spikes forming around it, impaling nearby soldiers. Another rune caused a fast acting sink hole, sucking down a tank and more nearby soldiers into the earth. The lighting traps were an explosion of electricity, exploding the tank and electrocuting any nearby soldiers to death. The wind traps summoned massive tornados, sending other tanks and any unfortunate souls close enough flying and getting sliced up by wind blades.

“HAH HAH, look at that, this battle hasn’t even started and already they’re taking heavy casualties.” Harold said with a smile. “Nice work Chalres.”

Nearly half the tanks were destroyed by Charles’s traps. “HOLD YOUR GROUND, MOVE FORWARD!” The commanding officer of the army shouted. The humans did as ordered and charged forth.

“Time to get to work. FOR EQUESTRIA, AND FOR THE PRINCESSES! CHARGE!” Charles shouted. With that, Harold and Michael went into their super forms and flew forward. Charles charged forth in the air and the rest of the army followed suit.

Manehatten, the metropolitan city of Equestria was surrounded by a large stone wall Charles had erected. It didn’t affect the ponies lives much. The wall did stop at a shoreline as Manehatten was at the edge of an ocean. Two lone figures stood on the east side of the town just outside the wall, waiting for the human army to come. They didn’t have to wait long as the sound of marching and the whirring of machines was heard approaching. Ajax Mcriot and Ghoul were stationed there as the guardians of the city. Ajax felt a little uneasy being paired with an undead like creature.

Ghoul, the cloaked, scythe wielding necromancer pony stood firm with a smile. “This is going to be fun.” He stated.

The humans came into view with their tanks and large metal robots. “HOLD!” The commanding officer ordered who stood at the front of the army riding on a tank. “You, where is your army? We were told to expect a fight.”

Ghoul kept his smirk. “You humans are pathetic. Turn back now and go home so you can live your lives, or you can stay here and face your death!” He proclaimed.

There was a dead silence for a moment. Then a round of laughter erupted from the humans that heard the statement. “HA HA HA, OH YEAH, YOU AND WHAT ARMY?”

Ajax leand down and whispered to Ghoul. “That is a good question. Where is your army that your so proud of Ghoul? Shouldn’t they be here by now?”

Ghoul turned to Ajax and whispered back with his smirk. “They already are here.” He said. He faced forward again, stood up on his hind legs and raised his scythe, laughing manically. “AH HA HA HA HA HA! AH HA HA HA HA!” Ghoul thrust his scythe into the ground. Cracks spread out quckly from his scythe and across the earth. Soon, the cracks covered a large portion of the field they stood in. The laughing from the humans ceased as a rumble began to rise.

A single bony hoof thrust up from the earth and pulled out the skeletal form of a unicorn pony. More soon followed, unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. All skeletons. Not just ponies burst out of the ground, but the skeletal remains of manticores, minataurs, gryphons, and even large dragon skeletons came up out of the ground.

The humans watched in shock and horror as an army of undead skeletons came up. Thousands upon thousands of them stood before the human army. “Wh-what the hell are those?!” One soldier asked.

“SCREW THIS! I DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR THIS SHIT!” Another soldier shouted.

“St-STAY YOUR GROUND!” The commanding officer tried to order without stuttering. “ANY DESERTERS WILL BE SHOT!”

“What the hell man? WHAT THE HELL?” Another soldier was on the brink of panic.

“CHARGE MY ARMY OF THE UNDEAD, LEAVE NONE ALIVE!” Ghould ordered. Like a wave, the skeletons ran forth while the dragon skeletons managed to somehow fly up into the air.

“All right then, let’s see what kind of damage I can do.” Ajax said as he pulled out a large, silver, high tech looking sniper rifle. He took aim through the scope and took a shot. He managed to blow the heads off four soldiers in a row before the undead army reached them. “HAH, that’s four for me.” Ajax stated with a smile.

Phillydelphia. Another metropolitan city surrounded by the large stone walls Charles erected for protection. The ponies that were sent to protect it were Steele mane’s group. The bearers of the elements of harmony, Steele mane himself, Trixie, Nightshade Smoke, and Cameron. They now stood at the ready to fight to defend the town from any harm. “All right every pony, this should be no trouble. Our suits shields will keep any enemy projectiles from hitting us. These humans may have powerful weapons, but not as advanced as the suits we have. Just get out there and don’t let a single one into the city. Understood?” Steele Mane stated.

“Understood.” They all said in unison.

“Right, We won’t let a single one of those filthy humans past these walls.” Trixie stated confidently.

“I’m gonna smash them up good with my hammer.” Nightshade Smoke said.

“All right everypony, activate your suits.” Twilight proclaimed. Everypony pushed the button on their metal necklaces. Their bodies were then covered in silver suits with colors lining the hooves and wingtips for the ponies with wings that matched their color scheme. Steele Mane’s suit had light blue lining his hooves and wings. Pinkie had pink, Twilight had purple, Rarity had royal blue, Rainbow Dash had sky blue, Fluttershy had yellow, Applejack had orange, Trixie had blue, Cameron had red, and Nightshade Smoke had brown. Each suit had a visor that acted as a targeting system. The suits also had built in trackers and a communication system so the group could communicate with one another.

A human army began their approach of the city as Steele Mane and his team were ready for a fight. “All right then, let’s do this.” Rainbow Declared.

“Those meanies are going to pay for threating Equestria.” Pinkie said.

“I do despise violence, but we did agree to this, I will see this to the end and do my best.” Rarity said.

“Oh my, I don’t know if I’m ready for this.” Fluttershy said meekly.

Steele Mane heard her and walked up to her. “Fluttershy, I realize you don’t like the idea of killing. So how about this, you just focus on those large robots like what you did when you shot the eyes of those giant gorilla bots to try and disable their sight, then you can just try to shoot out the humans guns. Does that sound good? That way, you won’t have to worry about killing.”

Fluttershy gave a weak smile. “Oh, ok, I guess I can do that.”

Steele Mane smiled back. “Good, why don’t you take up position on the top of the wall behind us and start firing when we start fighting.”

“Ok, thanks Steele.” Fluttershy said before flying up to the wall for her job as sniper.

Twilight came up next to Steele. “Thank you Steele Mane.” She said with a smile.

Steele looked back at her. “For what?”

“For making sure Fluttershy is as comfortable as she can be in this fight. I don’t like this whole thing either, but we agreed to fight and help here.” Twilight stated.

“Don’t worry about it Twilight, let’s just do our best and drive these humans away.” Steele said with a smile.

Las Pegasus. The other group of the element bearers were sent to defend this tourist attraction city. “All right girls, this is it. I know we can do this with the power we have. We are the guardians of harmony after all.” Heart Wing stated with a smile.

“You got that right.” Rainbow Dash declared.

Heart Wing was wearing his saddle bag and took out seven sets of armor. Chest plates and helmets for each of them. One that was white with black lining had a hole in the helmet for Heart Wing’s horn and holes for his wings on the side.

One was purple with dark purple lining it and a hole in the helmet for Twilight’s horn. Another for Rarity that was white with purple lining it. Applejack’s was orange with yellow lining. Pinkie’s was pink with dark pink lining it. Rainbow Dash’s was sky blue with dark blue lining hers. And Fluttershy’s was yellow with light pink lining her armor. Once each one had on their armor, those without wings gained a pair, and those without horns had one growing on their head.

“All right, now for the final touch.” Heart Wing stated as he then levitated out the elements of harmony from his bag. He levitated them to their respective owner. They each put on their element over their armor. In a beautiful spectacle of lights, the ponies were transformed.

They each stood as tall as Celestia, except for Heart who was a little taller now and all looked like natural alicorns. Each of their manes flowed as Celestia’s and Luna’s did. Their helmets now replaced with tiaras and Heart Wing had a crown. On their chest pieces, their cutie marks were proudly displayed on their chests. “Them varmints don’t stand a chance against us now.” Applejack stated.

“We shall be victorious this day.” Rarity proclaimed.

Just as she said that, the human army was heard on approach. “All right every pony, let’s do this.” Heart Wing said as they all got ready for a fight.

Hoofington, a simple town similar to Ponyville in appearance. Three figures stood to defend the little town. Nightshade, the shadow walker pony. Frost Wing, the son of Iron Scales and the dragon that breaths ice. And Solar Runner, the changling. Each stood ready to fight for the defense of the small town of Hoofington. “Heh heh, this is going to be good.” Solar Runner stated with a smile.

Nightshade looked at him with an unsure glance. He could see a somewhat sadistic smile on the changling’s face. “Solar Runner, you’re kind of creeping me out here.” He stated.

“Relax Nightshade, he’s just eager to get this started.” Frost Wing said with a comforting Smile. He was currently in his shrunken down size. “We need to do everything we can to keep the ponies of this town safe. So no holding back. Got it?”

“No holding back huh, then I guess I should get ready.” Nightshade said.

Frost Wing was a little confused at his statement, as was Solar Runner as they both looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. Nightshade took a few steps forward, then closed his eyes. A shadow formed underneath him. He looked as if he was struggling with something as he began to grunt. Suddenly, the shadow under him closed up into a dome, surrounding Nightshade. Black and purple could be seen swirling around violently around the dome. Then it shot up into a dark pillar all the way up to the sky. Nightshades scream was heard coming from the pillar, but it started to sound like it was getting deeper. After a moment, the pillar shrank back to the dome and dissipated.

A new figure now stood where Nightshade was. He stood a little taller than Celestia, was all black, and his mane and tail moved like fire. His eyes shot open and revealed glowing red eyes with black slitted irises. “There we go, much better.” The new figure stated.

“Whoa, Nightshade? Is that you?” Frost asked.

The form looked back at Frost with a smile. “Yep, it’s me, I’m ready for the fight now. How about you?” Nightshade questioned.

Frost Wing smirked. “All right then, guess I should be ready too.” With that, he then made himself grow larger into the size of a full grown dragon. “There we go. Now I think we’re ready.”

Ready or not, a human army was seen on the approach. “Looks like we’ll have to be, here they come.” Solar stated with a smile. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

Author's Note

All right, this chapter was just meant to set the stage. After this, each chapter will cover each battle in full. I hope you all enjoy and I make this live up to your expectations. I’ve strung you all along long enough so I PROMISE the next chapter will be when the battle is finally under way staring with Charles, Michael and Harold.

Chapter 47

Charles charged forth with his army of Equestrians and elemental golems at the human army that stood before him. He first changed his staff to his three bladed earth scythe and took to the air. While the humans were busy trying to fend off his army, Charles began his assault on a group of the humans below him. He held his scythe in his magical aura and swung it, sending dirt bombs to the ground below. Upon impact, the bombs exploded like a shrapnel bomb, sending chunks of sharp rocks in all directions. The rocks tor through the human’s armor like nothing, leaving them looking like swiss cheese.

The humans that survived took aim at Charles and fired at him. Charles flew about, dodging and weaving, avoiding fire and swinging his scythe to send more bombs to the ground. While Charles did this, down on the ground on another part of the battle field, the humans were having trouble with the manticores, timberwolves, and elemental golems. “What the hell are these things, the lion beasts are the only ones that seem to stay down!” One soldier cried out before a timberwolf leapt at him and bit inot his armored neck. He cried out in pain as the teeth managed to pierce his armor and more wolves swarmed him.

“How do we stop these thing?!” Another soldier cried out in panic as he fired sparaticly at the wolves. His bullets did no good; the wolves acted as if they didn’t even feel the shots. An earth golem came up behind him without his knowing, raised his left hand and shaped it into a mace, then smashed it down on the human, crushing him to death. The man didn’t even have a chance to scream.

Some of the fire golems slammed their hands into the earth as they kneeled down. They created pillars of lava that erupted from the ground under packs of humans that weren’t under attack by any other creatures on their side, while others fired fireballs at the crowd. Bullets just passed right through them with no harm done to their form. Wind golems created tornadoes to pick up and toss other soldiers, making them easy targets for the fireballs from the fire golems. Water golems snaked through, creating ice spears with their arms, slashing and stabbing all humans they came across. The earth golems simply marched through the human numbers, smashing and crushing all they could.

The lightning golems acted as the fire golems did and fired bolts of lightning at the humans. Any unfortunate soul to get hit by the bolts were fried instantly. The manticores tore through the ranks as they clawed, bit, and stung their way through. Any human that survived getting stung by a manticore was left in agonizing pain from the venom they had.

The dragons soared over the battle field, breathing out streams of flames on the army while others contended with the massive robotic men the humans brought with them. A dragon flew right at one of the metal giants just as it was raising its arm. The dragon clawed at the metal monster’s frame, leaving large gashes. The robot tried to grab the dragon by the waits to toss it off, but the dragon roared and spewed out a turrrent of flames, heating up and melting the head. That was where the pilot of the robot was. The dragon’s flame was so intense, it melted the metal to liquid.

Michael went into his meta-human state, turning completely black with just his eyes looking dark purple with mists of violet emitting from them. He summoned a scythe with a black handle and flew up into the air. He took position above a group of soldiers and pointed the end of his scythe at them. He created a large black and purple sphere at the tip, then sent it flying at the soldiers. They tried to fire at it but the orb just absorbed their shots. It made a low rumbling sound as it flew at them. Upon impacting the ground and engulfing a few soldiers that were on the spot the sphere hit, it exploded and pretty much erased the victims from existence. Michael fired multiple spheres at the army for a bit. This power he used was known as void magic. After a few more shots of his sphere, he called out another attack. “VOID OF OBLIVION!” He fired a small black orb to hover over another large group of soldiers. The orb quickly grew and started sucking up everything nearby like a black hole. The soldiers screamed as they were sucked into the dark orb to never be seen again.

After a bit, he dismissed the black hole and switched to a new power he called void trail. He dismissed his scythe and pointed his hands with his pointer and middle fingers forward. Black energy blades similar to an axe blade formed at his fingertips. Michael flew into the fray and started slashing at the soldiers. They tried to shoot him but he moved too swiftly and dodged while slashing at them. Every soldier he sliced seemed to just disappear with a fading scream. He made a diagonal slice at one with his left then made a horizontal slice with his right on another soldier to his side. He quickly turned and slashed at another soldier behind him.
After Michael changed, Harold did the same. His clothes disappeared and his entire body turned electric blue with the lightning bolt scar on his chest glowing yellow. He had on a pair of blue fighting gloves on his hands. Harold saw Michael use some of his moves and just smirked. “Tch, show off!” He called playfully as he began his work. He took to the air and taunted the soldiers. “Yo, mecha heads! Over here!” He called.

“Engage the target!” A soldier cried out. The soldiers opened fire upon Harold.

“Nice try boys, over here!” He taunted again after moving out of the way of the gunfire. Harold moved so fast it was practically instantaneous. “Nope, over here! Come on, is that the best you can do?” He said as he moved around avoiding enemy fire. He then appeared behind one soldier at the back of the group. He tapped the guy on the shoulder “Hey.” He said with a friendly tone. The soldier jumped and quickly turned around. “Man, you guys aren’t very good at this are you?” He then turned to pure electricity and quickly entered the suit of one of them, causing the armor to short circuit. Harold jumped from one suit to another rapidly, draining them of their power. He emerged from the last soldier at the front of the group and hovered above them. “That was refreshing, now for the coup de grace.” He held out his hand and created an electric orb. Harold gave it a toss and it started growing in size as it approached the army. “EAT THIS YA GOONS!” Harold cried out. A massive electrical explosion erupted and killed every soldier within the vicinity.

Harold then turned his attention to one of the giant robots trying to fight off a dragon. He sped over instantly and flew up to the dragon. “Yo buddy, let me handle this one!” Just as the dragon swiped a claw across the metal giants chest, leaving three gashes in its metal frame. The dragon backed off and went to fight in another part of the battle field. “Time for my favorite move.” The robot’s head turned to him and tried to swipe at him but Harold dove down just in time to avoid it. “HAH, Too slow bro!” He called up from the ground. Harold then started running at sonic speeds around the robot, building up a massive static charge. The robot tried to shoot Harold, but he was moving too fast. Harold fired a small bolt at the center of the circle he was running around between the robots legs. After that, a thin bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and went straight through the robot. Harold ran off from the bot and waited a moment. “And…..BOOM!” Right when he said that, the robot exploded. “I love doing that.”

Charles had switched to his ice staff and fired a few shots of steam bombs into the crowds, creating a burning smokescreen for him. He dove in as the humans stumbled about, trying to see where they were going and find their target. Charles had switched to his curved wind sword and moved silently through the mist, catching his enemies off guard and slicing them up or stabbing them. One soldier turned around just in time to see him as he brought his gun with him in the turn. Charles stopped the gun with a foreleg and glared at the human in the eyes. He thrust his sword right through the humans gut and let him fall to the ground dead. He flipped up and landed just behind another soldier and sliced off his head and continued with his killing spree in the cover of the steam.

Charles was about to strike at another enemy when suddenly a green fireball came out of nowhere and incinerated the human before Charles could get to him. The human screamed in pain as he fell to the ground burning. Charles was surprised at first and looked to where the fireball came from. “Lief Fireheart reporting for duty.” Lief said as he gave a salute.

“Leif? What are you doing here?” Charles asked as he stabbed his sword backwards at a soldier behind him without even looking.

“I’m here to help of course.” Lief stated as he fired another fire ball at an enemy from his horn.

Charles gave a smile. “All right then, I just hope you’ll be able to defend yourself.”

“No worries Charles, I can handle myself just fine.” Lief then went off to help out in the fight.

Lief Fireheart charged forth at a group of enemies and started firing off fireballs from his horn, creating large explosions that incinerated his targets. Fire put up a magic shield around himself to block the bullets from the human’s weapons as he ran. Fire stopped at one point where he was surrounded and created a fire shield to replace his magic one. He focused his fire and expanded the shield to engulf the soldiers around him. They screamed in pain as the fire made their metal suits too hot and burned them alive.

As the battle waged, a group of ten human soldiers managed to break away from the fighting with one of the humans leading them, his suit was white instead of the usual black and had a blue visor. “Come on, let’s move.” The human ordered. “Our sources say the alicorn creature known as Charles has a family here. If we can get to them, we can force him to surrender.” The human commander said. They made their way up to the forcefield Charles had put up and walked into it. The field was meant to keep out stray attacks from hitting the town, but not keep out living beings. The ponies near the gate panicked and ran away as they saw the humans enter their town.

The humans ignored the ponies and kept going. “NOT SO FAST SCUM!” A voice boomed out. It was enough to make the humans stop in their tracks. Lightning Thrash flew down from above and landed in front of the group. “Just where do you think you’re going?” he asked as he glared at them.

The humans took up a defensive stance and lined up, pointing their guns at Lightning. “Out of the way creature, you are not our target!” The lead human proclaimed.

“You want by, you must fight.” Another deep voice sounded from the side. Shadow Fang emerged from an ally way to the side of the humans.

“No humans will get by us.” Another voice proclaimed. Black Cloud swooped down from the sky with Dusk Fang and Dawn Fang.

“You really think you can just trot in here and not expect a fight?” Dawn Fang asked.

“You are sadly mistaken.” Dusk Fang said.

The rest of the guards soon emerged and had the humans surrounded.

“As if Ponyville wouldn’t be protected.” Carbon stated as he held his knives in his aura around himself.

“Don’t think we’re easy just because we’re ponies.” Storm Chaser stated as he brought his large sword from off his back with his left foreleg.

“Captain.” Shadow fang called.

“Yes?” Lightning responded.

“Two minutes.” Is all Shadow Fang said.

Lightning looked at Shadow Fang curiously. “Are you sure?” He asked.

“No sweat, I’ll tear them apart easy.” Shadow responded.

“All right, just try to remember to change back once you’re done. And be careful not to endanger any civilians or homes.”

“Will be like taking candy from baby.” Shadow fang took a few steps forward. The bodark symbol on Shadow’s shoulder began to glow red. Shadow’s eyes started to do the same. His form grew in size, his white fur started to change from short and white to wiry and black. His hooves changed and grew into massive claws. His snout slowly grew and narrowed, his teeth began becoming sharp and long. The human soldiers watched in horror as this bulky stallion changed from a pony into a monstrous large wolf beast. Shadow’s armor had changed in size with him.

“What the hell is that?” one soldier asked.

“Stand your ground, don’t move!” The commanding officer tried to order without showing fear. It was evident though in his eyes and he was obviously sweating in fear. “What the hell is that thing, some kind of were wolf? I thought this place was all lollipops and gumdrops from the reports we got about this world. If something like that exists here, what other nightmares do they have? And I thought those wooden wolves and dragons were bad enough, but this?”

Once Shadow finished his transformation, he stood on his hind legs, showed off his claws as he held them out to his sides with his palms facing upwards and let out a loud ferocious roar. The humans were shaking visibly now as they seemed to start lowering their weapons. “W-what is that thing?” One soldier asked.

“Stand your ground! It’s just another strange creature from this world, it can bleed just like the rest of them! FIRE!” The commander ordered. The soldiers opened fire just as Shadow leapt at them with his jaws open. The bullets ricocheted off Shadow’s armor, one nicked him in the cheek, but it didn’t’ faze him. He dove into the crowd of humans and managed to stomp on two of them. He swiped his left claw at three soldiers in front of him and slashed through their armor, leaving massive bloody scars on their chests and sending them flying backwards into a cart that was left out.

When Shadow landed, the commander had jumped and rolled to the left while three others were knocked in the same direction, four more were thrown to the other side. “FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!” The commander called out. The three soldiers with him picked up their guns and opened fire.

Shadow used the armor on his arm to shield himself. He growled out. “GRRR, you’ll have to do better than that fool.” He snarled out before lunging at them.

As the fight went on, little to the guard’s knowledge, another team of soldiers had snuck in and up to them, hiding behind the houses around the area. “Whoa, what the hell is that?” one of them asked having watched the transformation.

“Never mind, let’s move, we’re on a mission here.” The commander of the squad said. He continued to lead his squad through the town to their destination. A large two story house came into view near the center of town. “All right, there’s the target. We are to capture and contain the ponies in there and take them hostage. MOVE!”

“YES SIR!” The squad of ten responded and charged at the house.

Charles was using his lightning nunchucks to create devastating lightning explosions on the battle field to take care of groups of human soldiers. He had just launched another attack when something got his attention. An echoing crying sound….no…not one voice crying, but…..five, five infant voices crying out in fear in his head. “What, my babies!” He cried out. “NO!” He gritted his teeth in anger. “THOSE LOUSY HUMANS GOT THROUGH!” Charles quickly swapped his weapon into his staff and flew off as fast as he could back to Ponyville. He passed through the barrier he set up and over the walls. He passed over the scene where the guards were. Charles didn’t notice the bloody scene of dead soldiers Shadow Fang killed.

Shadow was back in his pony form by the time Charles flew over. The guards saw him fly overhead only for a second heading for home. “Oh no, something’s wrong.” Lightning said. “Everypony to Charles’s house now!” He ordered. They all galloped off and followed him.

Charles soon came on approach to his house. He stopped and landed in front of it to see a terrible sight. Four of the soldiers held Charles’s wives in a head lock with rifles pointed at their heads. The babies were locked up in a small cage crying. Another soldier held Spike in a head lock as well. “Well well, look who it is.” The commander said. He was holding Pinkie Pie in a head lock with his right arm while pointing a small hand gun at Pinkie’s head with his left hand. “How did you know we were here freak?” The commander asked.

Charles glared at them with gritted teeth. “You lousy scumbags, threatening innocent lives and babies? LET THEM GO! OR I SWEAR I’LL RIP YOU INTO A MILLION PIECES!”

The guards soon caught up to Charles and stood behind him. “BLASTED, where did they come from?” Fuse asked. The guards all got their weapons at the ready.

Charles got his staff and formed his buster flame sword. “LET THEM GO! NOW!”

“Ah ah ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. One spark from that horn of yours, and my men will shoot these ponies your so fond of. Drop your weapons or else!”

Charles was seething with anger, but he knew he couldn’t do anything or his wives and little brother would get shot. His weapon shook in his magic grasp. “You…..you cowards….threating innocent lives and hiding behind them like shields? Your nothing but a bunch of weak useless cowards!”

The commander pointed his pistol up in the air. “I won’t say it again. drop your weapons and tell your army to back off.”

“Don’t do it Charles, they’ll just kill us anyway!” Twilight called out.

“Don’t worry about us sugar cube, just do what ya can ta stop them!” Applejack called out too.

“Charles, you can’t give up! Don’t let them win!” Rarity said.

“Quiet mule.” The soldier holding Rarity ordered.

“Don’t you dare call her a mule you bastard!” Charles yelled out.

The soldier pressed the barrel of his gun up against Rarity’s head. Charles recoiled a bit at the sight.

“Captain, what do we do?” Carbon asked.

Carbon was glaring at the humans as well. “It looks like we don’t have much of a choice. Throw down your weapons!” The captain ordered.

“WHAT?!” Charles exclaimed. “You can’t be serious sir!”

“I am serious private, drop your weapon. We can’t let any harm come to them.” Lighting said.

“I know that! This is my family we’re talking about! But we have to do something!” Charles argued.

“And what do you propose we do? If we make one move, they’ll kill your family!”

“Charles!” Pinkie called out. Charles turned to face her. “Please Charles, you have to live, don’t let them win!”

“Shut up, you.” The commander ordered. He then tossed her to the ground and kicked her.

“HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE!” Charles called out.

“Pinkie!” The girls called out.

“Let her….go….you creep.” Spike said as he uselessly struggled to break free of his holder.

The commander pointed the gun right at the back of Pinkie’s head. “Drop your weapons now or I kill her!” The commander ordered.

“You lousy piece of….I’LL KILL YOU IF YOU HURT HER!” Charles yelled out.

The commander quickly pointed his gun at Charles and fired.

“GAH!” Charles’s eyes widened in pain. The bullet struck him in the right side of his chest.

“CHARLES!” The girls and Spike called out.

“Gh…tch…you…rotten…” Charles struggled out as he dropped to the ground, his weapon falling from his aura. Charles closed his eyes with his teeth clenched as he hung his head. He looked up with his left eye open and glared at the human. “You…you’re nothing but a….a coward….you….bastard…” He struggled out.

“CHARLES!” Pinkie called out. She quickly stood up and ran for him.

“Pinkie no!” Rarity called out.

“Pinkie, stop!” Twilight also called.

A shot rang out through the town over the roar of battle that could be heard outside Ponyville. Charles looked up in shock with both eyes just in time to see a blank stare in Pinkie’s eyes as she seemed to slowly fall to the ground. With a thud, she came to a landing. Silence fell over the area. “No.” Spike said quietly to break the silence.

“Pinkie pie.” Twilight said as tears started to form in her eyes.

“It can’t be.” Rarity said with her eyes in the same condition.

“P….Pinkie Pie?” Charles said quietly as he looked at her form lying on the ground motionless. “No….Pinkie Pie….it can’t be….” Charles had completely forgotten his pain as he looked on.

“Stupid pony should have known to stay where she was.” The commander said. “Now, as I was saying, go order your army to surrender or I kill the rest of your family.”

“No….Pinkie….it can’t be….” Charles said again.

“Ch….ch…Charles…” Pinkie said weakly.

“Pinkie Pie?” Charles said. “Pinkie Pie, please tell me you’re ok.” Charles struggled to get up and walked over to her.

“Ch…Charles…..”

Charles reached her and got down on the ground again. “I’m here Pinkie.” Charles looked her over and saw where she was shot. Right in her back at the base of her neck near the center was a hole with blood coming out. “Come on Pinks, you gotta make it. You have daughters to take care of, remember?” He said sadly as tears started to form. He carefully took her in his hooves and turned her over to look her in the eyes. “We’re a family after all. We have kids to look after.” He said through a smile.

Pinkie weakly looked up at Charles with tears in her eyes and a smile. “Charles….you came back….you kept your Pinkie promise.”

Charles was now openly crying. “Of course I did, no pony breaks a pinkie promise, remember? It’s your rule after all.”

“Charles?” Pinkie said weakly.

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad I met you….I’m so glad I got to know love again.”

“Hey….come on now….don’t talk like that…you’ll be fine….you’ll see.” Charles said, keeping his smile through his tears.

“Thank you for everything Charles, I’m glad I met another pony who could bring smiles to the world like I do.” Her eyes slowly started to close.

“Pinkie….Pinkie come on…don’t close your eyes…Pinkie?” No response. “Pinkie? Come on….wake up…PINKIE PIE!”

The three mares and Spike all started crying as Pinkie lay in Charles’s forelegs motionless. The guards lowered their heads in respect, some shedding tears.

“OH boo hoo, get over it. If you don’t want to lose another, then do as I say!” The commander ordered.

Charles hugged Pinkie’s head as he cried and sobbed. “Pinkie….Pinkie please…..this can’t be happening…”

“HEY, are you deaf, I said get out there and order your army to surrender or I’ll kill these ponies and dragon!”

“No….” Charles answered.

The commander cocked an eyebrow. “No?”

Charles gently set Pinkie down as he stood up fully, keeping his head down in a way his mane covered his eyes. “That’s right, I said no. I’m not going to surrender to the likes of you.” He flared out his wings as his head looked up, showing a fierce glare with tears and gritted teeth. “YOU HEAR MEEEEE! I WILL NOT SURRENDER TO YOU!” His eyes started to glow pure white. The ground began to shake, the wind picked up, storm clouds rolled in.

Inside his mind, Charles heard the enlightened five speak as one. “Charles, we give you our last gift, the power of the elements of life combined!”

Charles lowered his head, a pillar of bright white light shot up from him as he cried out in a roar. “GGRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” There was a blinding explosion of magic that erupted from Charles, causing fierce winds to pick up.

Author's Note

FINALLY, I finally got this written out and got it together for you all. Sorry it took so long, but here you go. I hope the wait was worth it. Hope you liked it.

Chapter 48

As the battle in front of Ponyville began, so too did the battles in front of the other cities. Canterlot had only one defender though, Apex. Though Canterlot was positioned on a mountain, it was not unreachable by the military. They marched up the trail leading to the city to take the town by force with their massive numbers, tanks, and giant robots. Apex stood before the gates of Canterlot to face the army head on, on his own. There was an open enough area in front of Canterlot for a fight. Apex just had to make one move and it would all be over.

The army came to a halt fifty feet away from where Apex stood. He looked out at the army with a stoic expression. “You there, where is your army?” The commander of the force asked.

Apex didn’t respond.

The commander tried again. “I said, where is your army? Is this a surrender?”

“Pathetic creatures.” Apex said.

This time, the commander was speechless.

“I won’t let a single one of you filthy things past this gate. Leave now and go back to your world, or face my wrath.”

The commander was enraged by this. “You dare mock me? I HAVE THOUSANDS OF MEN AT MY COMMAND WITH WEAPONS FAR SUPIRIOR TO WHAT YOU HAVE! Do you really think you can beat us on your own?! This is an INSULT!”

Apex spread out his wings. This caused the soldiers to flinch a bit. “I will destroy you all in one move.” Is all he said.

“What was that?!” The commander asked.

Apex took to the air and began to make his way over the soldiers.

“FIRE, OPEN FIRE!” The commander ordered. The soldiers did so, as well as the tanks and giant robots firing rockets.

Apex used his magic to create a shield around himself for protection. The bullets bounced off, the shots from the tanks and robots did hit and explode, but did no damage, Apex’s magic shield was too much for the soldiers. Once Apex made it to the center of the army, he hovered there a moment, closed his eyes for a couple seconds, then they shot open, reveling his irises had changed. Three swirls now surrounded his irises. He said one word. “Push.” The ground under where he hovered began to move, as if a great force was causing the earth to upturn and move. The soldiers began to panic as a huge wave of dirt and rocks began to rise and spread out. The tanks were upturned from the force and the robots were knocked over and buried completely. The army cried out in fear as they became buried by a massive wave of rocks and dirt.

By the time it was over, not a single soldier, tank, or robot was seen, all buried under the dirt. Apex flew back to the gate to Canterlot and stopped a moment. He looked back over his shoulder at the damage he had caused. Fifty feet away was where the upturned earth stopped. “Pathetic.” Then something caught his eye. Off in the distance in the direction of Ponyville, a large pillar of light was seen rising from the town. Apex could swear he heard a voice yelling out. “What is that?” He asked.

Manehatten:

After Ajax had taken a few pot shots with his sniper, he was starting to get bored just being in the back. “That’s it, I’m getting into the thick of it, this is boring.” He stated. He tucked his sniper rifle back into his coat and pulled out a pair of laser pistols.

Ghoul looked at him with a smirk. “Why bother, my army can handle things just fine here.”

“But that’s boring, I want to get in on the action. Don’t tell me you’re afraid to get your hooves dirty…er…dirtier.”

“Of course not, I know how to fight, I just don’t see the need when my army can take care of this themselves.” Ghoul responded.

“Your loss then, I’m getting in there.”

Ghoul gave a shrug. “As you wish, have fun.”

Ajax smirked, making sure to show off his sharp teeth. “You know it. YAAAAAHHHHHH!” He yelled out as he charged into the fray. He started off by firing his pistols into the army as he ran in. Once he reached the edge of the battle between the undead and the humans, he leapt over a few while taking more shots and killing a few soldiers. He fired with one pistol in one direction, then switched pistols and fired in another. He then pointed both forward and fired a few more shots. He started running through the ranks, killing any soldier that wasn’t being slaughtered by an undead creature.

After a bit of running, he leapt up further, spinning his body and rapidly firing his guns straight down into a crowd of soldiers. They all cried out in pain as the rain of lasers struck them. Ajax came to a landing and slid a couple feet in a kneeling position. He stood back up and continued to fire. “HA HAH, now this is more like it!” He exclaimed. He noticed one of the giant robots get slammed into by one of the dragon skeletons and it started ripping into the robot. Another dragon skeleton slammed into the back of the robot and was doing the same, clawing at it and breathing fire on it.

The dragon on the front of the robot sunk it’s jaws into the robot’s right arm and ripped it off. The other dragon chomped down on the head and ripped that off too. “Nice work boys!” Ajax yelled. The dragons pushed off from the bot and went on to fight others. “All right then, let’s see if I can take one of those suckers down.” He put his guns back in his coat and pulled out a large bazooka sized cannon he held with two hands. The barrel was six inches wide and the whole thing was silver. He placed the weapon up on his shoulder with his hand on the trigger, a simple button on the side.

He pressed it down and small orbs of energy began to gather inside the barrel. A white glow began to form from inside the barrel of the weapon that grew brighter with each passing second. “And….FIRE!” The weapon released a powerful blast of energy that tore through the ranks of the soldiers and up to one of the massive robots. Upon impact, a massive explosion erupted that completely obliterated the surrounding area. The recoil from the shot sent Ajax sliding back three feet.

A scar was left on the land that followed the path of the blast. “BOOYA, bullseye!” He declared. Ajax then quickly placed his weapon back in his coat and pulled out another large gun that he had to hold with two hands. This one wasn’t as big, it looked similar to a Vulcan gun but had one barrel and looked as advanced as his other weaponry. “Time to do some mowing.” He said as he held down the trigger which was similar to any other gun. The weapon fired a rapid, almost continuous stream of red energy bullets that tore through the soldiers. Ajax rotated himself around as he fired. While some of his shots hit the undead creatures, it didn’t matter as they just reformed and continued fighting.

After a while of fighting, Ghoul gave a smirk. “He does seem to be having fun. I suppose I could get in on the action as well, besides, I think now would be a good time to increase my army.” With that, he charged forth himself with his scythe at the ready. He too did the same as Ajax and leapt into the fray, swinging his scythe down and managing to slice a soldier in half down the middle as he fell.
He swung horizontally and sliced another soldier through the midsection, he sliced in the opposite direction, catching another soldier in his wake. One soldier managed to come up to him and fired his weapon at Ghoul. The soldier kept his firing a good ten seconds out of fear. Ghoul was slouching as he took the shots. Once the soldier stopped, he looked even more scared as Ghoul just laughed and raised his head. “He he ha ha ha, FOOLISH CREATURE, YOU CANNOT KILL ME!”

“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!” The soldier screamed out before Ghoul sliced him in half.

“Time to enlarge my forces.” Ghoul stated. He then looked to be in concentration. A moment passed before he started to emit a green gas from his body. The gas spread out across the battle field, encompassing the ground like a mist. Soon, all the dead human soldiers that weren’t in pieces began to rise with moans and empty expressions. “RISE MY ARMY, RISE AND KILL, AH HA HA HA HA!”

“WHAT THE HELL? HE’S TURNING OUR DEAD AGAINST US!” One soldier yelled out.

“WHAT IS HE?! GAH!” Another soldier said before Ghoul sliced him down from the shoulder.

“Do you see? Do you see now?! You cannot stop Ghoul!” Ghoul yelled out with glee.

Ajax was very unnerved at what he saw. “Man, this pony is insane. I’m sure glad he’s on our side.”

“Don’t just stand there, FIGHT!” Ghoul said to Ajax with a smile.

Before they both continued, something caught their eye in the distance. A large pillar of light was shooting up into the sky and parting clouds.

Phillydelphia:

Steele Mane and his group stood at the ready with their weapons out. Fluttershy was positioned on the top of the wall just behind everypony with her weapon out. A long, rectangular barrel divided into three sections, one smaller than the next that stuck out from the right side of her suit.

Pinkie Pie had a large bazooka with a six inch wide barrel. Rainbow Dash had a weapon similar in shape, but had a light green cone in place of a barrel with a pair of antennae on the top of it with two light blue disks on each and red orbs at the top. Electricity was running between them.

Trixie had a pair of weapons, similar in shape to what Fluttershy had but were divided into two sections. Applejack had out a pair of metal tentacles with electricity surging through them. Rarity had a pair of flat rectangular disk launchers divided into two sections. Twilight had a pair of small cannon looking weapons sticking out from her shoulders.

Steel mane had a pair of weapons that were about the same size as Rainbow Dash’s weapons, but had a red orb at the ends of both with light blue disks behind them, the weapons stuck out of Steel’s side. Nightshade Smoke had a large metal hammer at the ready. He gave it a pound and a small amount of electricity surged from the hammer into the ground.

Cameron had a curved blade with a chain wrapped around his left foreleg. Each of the suits provided a pair of energy wings for those that did not have wings. A pair of metal rods with disk like joints were spread out. The energy wings looked solid but see through. Twilight’s were purple, Pinkie’s were pink, Rarity’s were a royal blue, Applejack’s were yellow, and Trixie’s were light blue.

Originally, Twilight’s weapons were a pair of electro-magnetic pulse guns that would shut down any electronic devices that were hit by it. However, since the ponies were fighting humans instead of robots, Steele Mane had to make changes. “Now remember Twilight, your weapons still fire electricity, but it won’t be electro-magnetic pulses. They’ll be like what Rainbow Dash’s weapon fires but smaller. They will still be lethal though.” Steele Mane explained.

Twilight gave a nod. “Got it. Okay everypony, let’s do this!” She exclaimed.

“Cameron, get your stealth suit ready. You’ll be undetectable by the humans with it on, so you should have no trouble sneaking around the battle field.” Steele said to Cameron.

“Got it Steele.” Cameron said with a smile and nod.

The army of humans came to a stop and eyed the team of nine ponies. The commander of the army stepped forward. “Is this some kind of joke? They send nine ponies to defend this town against us?” He asked. Just after he did, a swarm of dragons flew overhead from behind the ponies, some landed behind them with thuds and gave out roars, while others kept in the air. “You were saying?” Rarity said.

The humans at the front of the group cringed. The commander did his best to keep his composure. “Well….so what…your dragons are no match for our robots! Your just a bunch of ponies!”

Nightshade Smoke pounded his hammer in the ground, creating cracks. “Watch your tone filth, we ponies are tougher than you think!”

“Yeah, what he said.” Rainbow Dash agreed as she hovered above the group. “We’re gonna kick your sorry flanks and send you crying home to mommy.”

Trixie then took center stage. “You creatures don’t stand a chance, you face the GREAT AND POWERFUUUULLLL…..”

“Oh great, here we go again.” Dash said with a roll of her eyes.

“TEAM STEELE!” Trixie said with a flourish of her hooves and shot a few blasts from her guns straight up into the air for fireworks. The team looked at her curiously. Trixie got down on all fours. “What?” Is all she asked.

“Well….that’s certainly an improvement from your usual introduction.” Rarity pointed out.

“But of course, Trixie…..I mean, I have learned my lesson, and I am glad to have friends now. But enough talk, we have an army to chase away.”

“Agreed.” Twilight stated.

“If there is nothing else, I say we get started.” Steele stated. “ATTACK!” He called out. The dragons and ponies flew off towards the army to begin their assault.

Cameron made himself invisible with his suit and made his way through the ranks as he struck out with his weapon. Cameron swung his blade above his head and hurled it at a soldier. The tip of his blade struck the soldier right in the chest. Cameron gave a yank and the blade came back to him. No soldier saw what had killed the man. “What the hell was that? How did he die? GAH!” One soldier asked before Cameron stabbed him in the back. Cameron continued with his stealth attacks as the others worked. He would either strike directly with his blade or toss it at others from a distance.

Nightshade Smoke charged into the fray, swinging his hammer like a mad stallion with his magic. Each swing sent a surge of electricity through his target as it sent them flying. He reared up and slammed his hammer down on one soldier that tried to shoot him. Thanks to the built in shields their suits had, not a single bullet could touch the ponies. Nightshade swung his hammer left sending three more soldiers flying. A large blast struck his shield. It caused him to flinch, but was left unharmed. Smoke turned to face the direction the blast came from and saw one of the tanks.

“All right then, you’re next.” Nightshade Smoke said. He ran forth, swinging his hammer left and right at every soldier he passed. As he ran at the tank, it tried firing a few shots at him, but it didn’t slow him down at all thanks to the shield his suit provided. He kept running full speed until he was within a few feet of the tank. He then spread his wings and jumped into the air with his hammer raised. “RAAAHHHHH!” He yelled as he slammed the hammer down on the tank with great force, causing it to scrunch in and bend at the point of impact. A large amount ofelectricity surged from Nightshade Smoke’s hammer which caused the tank to eventually explode. With that done, Nightshade Smoke took it upon himself to take care of the rest of the tanks.

Trixie flew around over head as her twin guns fired off white bursts of energy in rapid succession. The section of the guns doing the firing recoiled with each shot and quickly went back into place. She let loose in crowds of enemies as she swooped down and rolled, doing tricks as she fired off her guns. She bobbed and weaved with grace as she flew about, firing away and avoiding fire.

Rainbow Dash zipped about, shooting off her, as she called it, her ‘Zap cannon’ . Her weapon was basically a lightning gun as it fired off large bolts of pure electricity that looked like lightning. It caused a large explosion of electricity with each hit. She flew low to the ground at great speed, blasting away at every target she could. Normally, she would be having a blast with this since she had fun before in the last fight she and her friends took part in. It was up against a bunch of robots anyway. This time though, she didn’t smile. She kept a stern concentrated look which wasn’t normal for her. This was serious. This time, she was actually taking lives.

Rarity was doing about the same as Rainbow Dash as she too flew around firing off her weapon. It shot out purple energy disks with six curved blades that spun around as they flew through the air. Whenever the disks made contact and stuck to a target, they would cause a small explosion. Rarity was also looking determined as she went about, shooting every soldier she came across.

Even Pinkie Pie, who could usually find fun in anything, wasn’t having fun. But she knew this was something that had to be done, for Equestria’s sake. She galloped around the battle field with her bazooka which fired off large pink balls of energy that caused massive explosions on impact. She even managed to take out a tank or two with it.

Applejack was using her electro-tentacles like lasso’s as she roped soldiers and shocked them to death or tossed them into the air. She whipped one in a sweeping motion to knock a few soldiers on their backs. Then used her other tentacle to slam down on them and sent volts of electricity surging through them. Applejack moved on to another group and whipped and cracked her electro-tentacles about.

Fluttershy was doing a fine job as sniper as she took out the eye’s of one of the giant robots in the back just before a dragon divebombed it and shot a ball of fire at it, causing the robot to explode. “Oh my goodness.” She expressed as she saw it happen. She shook her head and went right back to it, taking out the eyes of the giant robots and trying to shoot out the enemies guns from their hands. She was succeeding at that as well.

Twilight’s twin guns fired small bolts of electricity like Dash’s thunder cannon but was smaller in shots. It was still lethal though, as each hit she made sent a soldier flying back, penetrating their armor and sending them flying back. She too was flying around over head as she fired off at each enemy, looking very determined.

Steele Mane flew about along the ground as he fired his heat rays about. His lasers cut right through the soldiers as he made his way through. He stopped at one point, pointed both his lasers to a point just above him, and fired a continuous beam from them. The two beams met at a point just above Steele Mane’s back and started to form a ball of red energy. Steele flung the ball of concentrated energy forward. It sailed along the ground, completely vaporizing any soldiers it hit. The ball continued on till it hit a tank and caused an explosion. Steele Mane went right back to flying and shooting after that and took out a few other tanks as well as he did.

All the while, not a single one of them said anything. No taunt, no joke, just fighting. After a while of fighting, Pinkie’s sense went off. A single tear fell from her eye and she felt cold. “Guys, something’s wrong, my pinkie sense is going off but I don’t know what it means.” Then, something caught each of their attention. They all paused when they saw a huge pillar of light shoot up into the sky from far away.

“That’s where Ponyville is.” Twilight pointed out through their communication system.

“What on Equis?” Rarity asked.

“What the hay is going on over there?” Rainbow then asked.

“We can’t worry about that now, we have an army we’re fighting, remember?” Steele said to his team. “We just have to hope everything is all right there.”

Pinkie continued. “I don’t know guys, I got a very bad feeling something terrible just happened.”

“We’ll have to figure it out later Pinkie. For now, focus on the fight.” Nightshade Smoke said to her.

Pinkie continued on with the fight, trying her best to ignore the cold feeling she had in her heart.

Heart Wing and his team stood before Las Pegasus in their alicorn forms, ready and waiting to begin their fight. To help with the fight, a large number of dragons stood behind the group and were ready. The army of humans made their approach and came to a halt upon seeing the seven alicorns and hoard of dragons. “This is it girls! No matter what, we can’t let them through!” He announced.

“Don’t you worry none partner, they aint settin one hoof….er...foot…past this here wall.” Applejack declared.

“Quit right, they don’t stand a chance against us and our dragon friends.” Rarity stated.

“We’ll show those meanies not to hurt others.” Pinkie Pie followed up.

“Together, ATTACK!” Heart Wing Called out. The six mares and stallion charged forth into the fray. The dragons let out roars then took to the air and followed behind.

Applejack was the first to open with an attack. She leaped into the air and came crashing down with her front hooves. The ground shook and thousands of large apple trees sprang up from the ground. The apples started shooting off of the trees and let off explosions upon impact in the ranks of the humans. “YEEHAW! I never get tired o’ that.” Each time an apple fired off, another grew instantly to take the previous ones place and fired off again. As the trees acted as artillery for the group, Applejack then created a golden glowing rope with her horn and made a lasso.

She twirled it around above her head and flung it at a group of humans, lassoing them and swinging them about. She then tossed them and went on to use her magic to fire out energy apple shaped blasts of her own about.

Rarity used her magic to summon up gemstones from the earth and fired them off like projectiles. The gems were so sharp and moved at such speed, they went right through each target and into another soldier unfortunate enough to be standing behind the first. Rarity was summoning and firing a multitude of gems in rapid succession, it was like she had multiple machine guns with her.

Rainbow Dash was making use of her speed as she simply flew through the ranks, barging into soldiers and sending them flying. She was moving so fast, she passed by the first bunch she sent flying before they hit the ground while sending another group of soldiers into the air by ramming into them. After a few passes, she flew up and started flying in a large circle. She eventually created a large tornado that looked rainbow colored because of her color scheme. She moved it along the lines of troops near the back as it picked them and a few tanks up and tossed them about. The tanks were left upside down or exploded upon falling to the ground.

Pinkie Pie flew about with her alicorn powered party cannon. It had grown a bit in size and was firing off colorful energy blasts at the giant robots in the back. Each shot decimated one of them in an instant as each shot let off a huge explosion that sent glowing confetti flying about. Upon landing or making contact with a soldier, they exploded too. Pinkie also switched to firing these colorful energy confetti from her horn as well.

Fluttershy was using her magic to create swarms of magical yellow butterflies that flew and spread out quickly. Each one created a large explosion upon striking a soldier. They were seekers and swarmed the enemies. She then turned her attention on any other tanks that were still left and used her magic to summon a few large butterflies half the size of the tanks. They flew at the tanks fast and created massive blasts to destroy them.

Twilight was using her magic to use the elements to her advantage. She was summoning lightning strikes, fire blasts, making the earth shake and throwing large boulders at crowds, summoning water to wash some of them away, and creating tornadoes herself to blow away the troops. She also resorted to using simple magic bolts to shoot at the soldiers and create explosions.

Heart Wing flew over-head and fired a continuous white beam of magic. A second after his pass over, a string of explosions followed that decimated the troops in the area. He fired one magic orb after another to deal with the group of soldiers he took on. All the while, the dragons let loose with streams of flames or fire blasts into the army and fought with the giant robots as well.

A few minutes of fighting, the army’s numbers had severely dwindled. Heart Wing decided it was time to finish this. “Girls, time to end this!” He called out. “I say we bring out the big guns and put an end to these humans!”

“Ah yeah, time to bring it on!” Dash cheered.

“You got it Heart!” Twilight called back.

The team got back together and charged through the ranks, blasting and barreling through the enemies. “Form up! We call upon the god of harmony!” Heart Wing yelled out. With that, they each started to glow a pure color matching their coats. They stopped, turned into orbs of light and shot up into the air, circling around. High in the sky, the orbs came together at a point where the clouds were and parted as a bright light started to glow. A new alicorn appeared from the glow with a pure white coat, shimmering flowing gold mane and tail, gold armor on it’s head, chest, hooves and wings and the cutie mark of each of the bearers of the elements of harmony on it’s chest piece with Heart Wing’s at the center.

It’s eyes were constantly changing color to that of each of the seven ponies that called this alicorn forth. “We are the god of harmony!” The alicorn declared with multiple voices. “Dragons, fall back!” It ordered. The dragons looked to this new alicorn curiously but did as told. They all flew back and hovered above the city. The army of humans…..or what was left of them….were in awe at this new being. “Foolish creatures, now you will pay for your crimes against this world and bringing chaos to this peaceful land!” The god of harmony declared as he lit up his horn with a golden aura. Magic strings of energy flowed from the horn to a point just above it where a golden orb of magic started to form and grow.

“FIRE! FIRE! ON THAT THING!” The commander….or…newly appointed commander as of a few minutes ago…ordered. The humans opened fire but nothing did any good. The bullets bounced off a magic shield the god of harmony had around it.
The magic orb kept growing and growing till it was about two miles wide. The god of harmony raised his head, then let the orb fall. It was a kind of slow pace and the army tried to run upon seeing the orb approach, but it was no good. The orb soon hit the ground and an explosion the likes of which had never been seen erupted and shook the ground, upturning earth and decimating the area. After the dust settled a few minutes later, not a trace of the human army was left. His task complete, the god of harmony began to glow a pure white, he split into seven colorful orbs that reformed into the element bearers.

“That….was…….AWESOME!” Dash declared.

“Well done girls.” Heart Wing said to his friends.

Dash walked up to Heart Wing and nuzzled him. “You did great Heart. You looked so handsome out there.”

Heart nuzzled back. “Thanks Dash. But….if you tell Scootaloo about this, try to leave out the gory parts, I don’t want you giving our new daughter nightmares.”

Dash pulled back and gave a fake look of disgust. “What, you think I want to scar her on purpose?”

Heart smirked. “Ok, fine, I should know you better than that.”

Pinkie then let out a gasp. “*Gasp* Oh no.” She said with a look of worry. A single tear fell from her eye and she felt a cold sadness in her heart.

“Pinkie, what is it?” Twilight asked as she walked up to her. The others looked at her in concern.

“Girls, I just got a bad feeling something terrible just happened.” Pinkie said sadly.

“What? What is it Pinkie dear?” Rarity asked.

“I…I don’t know, I’ve never had a feeling like this before. It’s so….sad and…scary.” Pinkie answered.

It was then that off in the distance, a large pillar of light was seen shooting up into the sky.

“What in tarnation is that?” Applejack asked.

“I don’t know. Do you think it has something to do with what set off Pinkie’s Pinkie sense?” Heart Wing asked.

Hoofington was being protected by Nightshade, the shadow walker, who was currently in his transformed state. He stood as tall as Celestia herself, his coat mane and tail were black. His mane and tail moved like it was fire. His eyes were red with his pitch black irises. His two horns on his head had grown slightly longer than they were before. The others were Solar Runner, who was a changling currently not hiding in his changeling form, and Frost Wing, the blue dragon of ice, who had taken on his full size and was as big as any dragon. There was an army of dragons just behind them as well, ready to set the battle field ablaze. One of the armored dragons approached Frost Wing. “Sire, what is the plan for these weaklings?” He asked.

“We’ll start off with the scorched earth attack.” Frost stated with a grin.

Nightshade and Solar looked up at him. “Scorched what now?” Solar asked.

Frost looked down at them to explain. “It’s a simple attack, you’ll see once we start.” He faced forward again and looked over the human army that stood before him. “All right dragons! On my signal!” He called out. “Ready!” The dragons reared up their heads. “Aim!” They opened their jaws wide. “FIRE!” The dragons then let loose with a barrage of fire bombs at the enemy ranks. Firey explosion after firey explosion rocked the field and it was practically nothing but flames that could be seen as the larger part of the force was incinerated. The screams of the humans burning could be heard.

Solar Runner was impressed. “Wow, nice way to thin out the enemy, but that leaves less action for us.”

Nightshade was impressed as well, but not as much as Solar. The dragons soon ceased their blazing assault. “All right, move in and wipe the rest out!” Frost ordered. The dragons took to the air without missing a beat and soared over what was left of the human army. Frost Wing soon took off too with Nightshade and Solar close behind.

Frost Wing did as his fellow dragons did and let loose with his ice breath upon the humans, freezing them solid in ice. Frost turned his attention to one of the giant robot mechs the humans brought along and flew right at it. The thing raised an arm and started firing missiles at Frost, but he dodged them swiftly and expertly. He slammed into the thing and breathed out his icy breath. It froze the mechanisms of the thing to where it could no longer function. Frost then tore into it and took it apart. He moved on to other targets like other giant bots or tanks or taking out a few humans as he went along.

Solar Runner smiled wickedly as he made use of his changling magic to summon numerous shadowy tentacles from under him to tear into the humans. He was using his magic to produce a shield around himself as well for protection. His tentacles pierced a few soldiers and tossed them about like rag dolls. Solar whipped his tentacles around and slashed and tore the humans apart. “HA, come on you hairless apes, is that all you got!?” He yelled with a grin.

Nightshade made full use of his shadow magic. He had four shadow tentacles sprouting from the base of his neck at the ready. He started off by flying about, summoning and shooting off these shadow orbs into the crowd. He summoned four that appeared around him and went off, only for another to take it’s place. Each shadow orb expanded in an explosion of blackness upon crashing into the ground. He fired a string of them as he flew. Nightshade then had his four tentacles become flat, but still kept their pointy look. He made the ends connect to a point in front of his head as he lowered it.

The things then started spinning and rotating like a drill. Nightshade plowed through the ranks with his makeshift drill. It tore apart any soldier unfortunate enough to get hit by it. He zoomed through the troops a few more times before changing tactics. He stopped and came to a landing. Nightshade summoned a shadow underneath him that sprang out into a multitude of shadow tentacles. They spread out and pierced and slammed into the humans. Nightshade wasn’t about to let up for even a second.

The battle waged on for a good while before dying down and the last of the soldiers were either burned to a crisp, frozen solid, or pieced by a shadow tentacle from Nightshade or Solar Runner. Once the battle ended, the three gathered back together and the dragons met up with them. “Good work men, a job well done.” Frost said to his dragons. He then turned to Nightshade and Solar. “You two did a fine job too, nice work out there.”

Solar smiled. “Thanks, that was actually kind of fun.”

Nightshade cocked an eyebrow. “Fun? Whatever. At least it’s over now. Let’s just hope that’s it and we can go home, I can’t wait to see my family again.”

Just after he said that, a large pillar of light was seen shooting up off in the distance. “What in Equestria?” Solar asked.
“What is that?” Frost asked.

Shade looked on as well with worry. “I don’t know, but I got a bad feeling about this.”

Author's Note

Finally got this done. Again, sorry it took so long. Hope you like it.

Chapter 49

Charles was roaring with rage over Pinkie Pie. Powerful magic surged from him and shot up into the sky as a pillar of light that could be seen from all over Equestria, his eyes glowing pure white. He raised his head as his entire form started to glow. He soon turned into a point of light and shot up into the air with the pillar. Once he reached the peak, energy exploded outward across the sky that covered the entire country. The humans in Ponyville that held Charles’s family hostage were frozen. The battle outside seemed to come to a standstill. Both sides had stopped. The golems merely froze in place while the sentient creatures stared.

The orb of light shot down and crashed into the ground, leaving a small crater. The light faded and a new being emerged from the light. It stood on two hoofed legs with arms and hands. This new being wore silver glowing armor with the same symbol that Charles had for a cutie mark, the Japanese symbol for enlightenment. In his left hand, he held a five foot long spear with a blade one foot long and three inches wide. At its base were two more blades sticking out to the side six inches long and one inch wide. The creature itself had black fur and a white mane and tail, his facial features similar to that of a pony. It did indeed look like Charles. But now, he had two sets of wings with the same armor along the tops. Each wing had something swirling around it.

On the top right dust and pebbles swirled around it, the bottom right had water. The top left had fire swirling around it while the bottom left had lighting surging around it. Charles’s horn had wind swirling around it. His eyes were still glowing pure white. He took a small step forward and outside of town, the golems sprang back to life and resumed their attack. Not sure what to make of the situation, the other creatures followed as well. It was a surprise to the human army as they barely understood what just happened and started falling faster than before.

It was only a matter of time before they were wiped out by the elemental golems, timberwolve, manticores, dragons, the unicorn Lief Fireheart, and the dragons. “Release them.” Charles spoke almost calmly, yet at the same time, his rage was felt. He also seemed to speak with multiple voices.

“Charles….is….is that you?” Twilight asked as she looked in awe at the four winged alicorn anthromorph. The others were in awe as well.

The humans holding the three mares, baby ponies, and little dragon were frozen.

“What in the name of the princesses?” The guard captain asked. He and the other guards present were left in awe as well.

“Release my family…..now.” He said again. The humans holding the mares and dragon slowly released their grip and let the mares and Spike go. “The babies.” He ordered. Two of the humans next to the cage holding the infants opened the cage and stepped away, allowing the mares to gather their young.

“It is Charles, but…what happened to him?” Applejack asked.

Charles glanced at his wives.

“Charles…..darling, that is you isn’t it?” Rarity asked.

“Yes.” Was his only response. He then glared at the humans. “Run.” He told them. At first, the humans took a few steps backwards, then turned and ran in fear. Charles’s spear began to spark with electricity. He took off into the sky like a shot. He looked down and watched as they ran. He raised his spear and swiped it down, sending a large bolt of lightning at the group. It struck, caused an explosion and a dome of energy that grew and killed them instantly, they didn’t even have time to scream. After that, Charles roared out in rage. He turned to where the battle before Ponyville was taking place and took off like a shot. Almost instantly, he was there, hovering over the battle.

He looked down and called out. “ALL FORCES FALL BACK!”

“What the hell? Who or what is that?” Michael asked.

“What in the world?” Harold also asked.

“Is that……Charles?” Leif asked.

“FALL BACK NOW!” He ordered again.

The golems obeyed right away. The others were reluctant at first but did as they were told. Charles’s eyes seemed to burn more as magic began to flow from his eyes and waved to the sides. Charles’s look intensified more and roared out as he bagan to spin his spear over his head. Energy surged from his spear as the five elements soon formed around him in intersecting rings. He quickly stopped his spinning and swung his spear down. This caused the rings to separate and shoot upwards. They turned into long massive serpent like dragons that roared upon appearance over Charles. One made out of solid stone, one made of pure electricity, one made of blazing flames, one made of flowing water, one made of violent winds. They looked down at the army that started dropping their weapons in fear and began to flee.

Charles raised his spear again and swung it down. That was the signal for the dragons to dive down and strike. They flew down and began to devastate the rest of the entire army. The fire dragon set them ablaze in massive flames that incinerated them in a second. The lightning dragon shot massive bolt after massive bolt from its mouth that made small explosions, turning enemies to dust. The earth dragon merged with the land and caused the ground to either open up and swallow some of the humans or create large spike rocks to shoot out of the ground to impale them. The water dragon flooded the area and swept up large numbers of the humans into large waves and bodies of water it made, using the power of water to crush them. The wind dragon swept them up in massive gale force winds and used wind blades to cut them to pieces. With the dragons, it only took a mere ten minutes to wipe out what was left of the forces. Charles was careful to keep at least one human alive. The current commander of the army.

Charles found the commander and came to a landing just in time to hear a groan come from the human. “Ooooohhhh.” Charles kneeled down and grabbed the human to pick him up and looked him in the eyes. Once the human laid eyes on Charles, he started shaking in fear. “W-w-what do you want? Who are you?” He asked.

“I am the guardian of this world, protector of these creatures, wielder of the elements of life. You and your kind brought war to this peaceful world. I have allowed you to live to deliver a message to your superiors. Let them know of the power I have displayed this day, and the number of lives I took. If they should ever decide to come here again, I will wipe them out just as easily and come to earth to kill your boss. Go, go and tell them what you have witnessed this day.” Charles dropped the human to the ground.

The human nodded and pressed a few buttons on his wrist, in a flash, he teleported out. Charles’s eyes stopped glowing and returned to normal. He turned and flew back to Ponyville. Once he arrived back to the front of his house, he saw his other wives holding their babies, and Pinkie’s. Spike also stood with them as they all were gathered around Pinkie’s motionless form, crying. Rarity was the first to notice him on approach as she turned to face him. “Charles!” She cried as she ran over to him. “Charles, she’s not moving.”

Charles looked at Rarity with a melancholy expression, then looked over the others. He released Rarity and went to join them. “Charles…..she…..she…” Twilight started but couldn’t finish.

Charles placed a hand on her back. He looked down at Pinkie and supported her head. “Pinkie Pie.”

Pinkie Pie was floating about in a white void, her eyes closed. Soon, they fluttered open. “Ooohh, huh…..wh…..where am I?” She asked as she looked around. “Am I….floating?” Soon, a structure of gold came into view with pillars. She floated into the structure and hovered above a golden floor with depictions of the sun and different phases of the moon. Her hooves touched the ground. She looked around with confusion. “Hello? Is anypony there?” She asked with worry.

“Hey there Pinkie Pie.” A voice greeted.

“Hello? Whos there, where are you?” She asked as she looked around more frantically.

“What? After all this time you don’t recognize my voice?” The mysterious voice asked. It was then a unicorn stallion appeared before her. He had a Russian red cameo coat, and an ash grey mane and tail with red edges.

Pinkie’s eyes widened as she gazed at the pony in front of her. “P….Pyro? But….you….you’re….”

She couldn’t finish her sentence, but the stallion could. “Dead? Yep, I am.”

“But then, how are you here? Wait…..where is here?” She asked.

“This is the realm of the eternal herd Pinkie.” Pyro informed.

“It….is? Then…..then I….I’m….dead?” Pinkie started to hang her head.

“Well….” Pyro started.

“Not yet my little pony.” A new feminine voice echoed out. In a brilliant flash, the king and queen appeared before them.

Pinkie Pie was frozen in awe. It took her a moment to finally speak. “Wh….who are you?”

“I am Cosma.” The queen said as she raised a hoof to her chest. When she spoke, her lips did not move.

“I am Solaris. We are the former king and queen of Equestria.” Solaris informed.

“I….I don’t understand, what’s going on here?” Pinkie asked.

Cosma took a few steps forward. “Dearest Pinkie Pie, element of laughter, you met with a terrible fate.”

Solaris took a few steps. “One that should not have happened.

Pyro took to Pinkie’s side. “Pinkie, you died on Equis. But you have a family, and a new husband. One that really loves you and cares about you. I’m glad you were able to move on after my death and find a special somepony…..er….human…or…..” He stopped and laughed. “You know what I mean. The point is, there is a loving family waiting for you.”

“But, you just said I died. How can I go back to them if I’m dead?” Pinkie asked looking confused.

Solaris began to explain. “Pinkie Pie, we rule over the course of life and death. And while it is forbidden for us to interfere in the natural order of things such as that…” He stopped to let Cosma continue.

“Your death came by means not of this world, thus we can interfere and give you back your life.” Cosma said with a smile.

“So….I get to go back then?” She asked with a smile appearing.

“You do.” Pyro said as he stood before her. “You are a wonderful pony Pinkie Pie, you don’t deserve such a fate do die like this. Besides, you’re a mother and wife now. You’re part of a heard that loves you, as well as have so many friends that need you. Go to them Pinkie, they need you.”

Pinkie was smiling now, but with tears in her eyes. “Thank you Pyro.”

“Don’t thank me, thank them.” He motioned to the king and queen. “They’re the ones sending you back. I just get to say hello to you one more time, then goodbye, since I never got to say it before.”

“Pyro….” Pinkie said.

“Take care of yourself Pinkie, never stop smiling.” Pyro leaned in for a kiss. Pinkie leaned in as well and the two shared a kiss. As they did, Pinkie’s world slowly faded to white.

Back in Ponyville. Charles, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Spike wept for Pinkie Pie as she lay lifeless n Charles’s arms. “Pinkie Pie.” Charles said in his normal voice. “Please…..please come back.” He said as he cried.

Unbeknownst to them, the wound on Pinkie’s back began to heal. The bullet that penetrated her back seemed to be pushed out and the hole it left closed up. Pinkie’s eyes slowly opened. “mmhmm, uh.” She looked around a bit at first, then looked up at the one holding her. “Ch…charles?”

Everypony’s head shot up. “P……Pinkie Pie?” Charles asked in confusion as he looked down at Pinkie. “Pinkie….you’re alive? But…..How?”

“PINKIE PIE!” Three of the girls and Spike cried out in joy as a group hug was initiated.

The guards looked on, most in shock. “But, how is possible? Was sure she was dead.” Black Cloud asked.

“Pinkie Pie, your all right!” Rarity said.

“We thought you were a goner.” Twilight stated.

“How are ya still alive?” Applejack asked.

“Oh girls, it’s so good to see you again.” Pinkie stated.

“Ah, ah.” Chocolate chip said from Twilight’s back.

“My babies.” Pinkie said as she was given her twins to hold. “Moma missed you two, I’m so glad you’re okay.” She nuzzled her twins. She then Noticed Charles as he had a smile on his face with tears. “Charles? What happened to you? You look…..different.” Pinkie noticed the hands and the fact he could stand on two legs.

“It doesn’t matter Pinkie, what matters is that you’re okay. What I want to know is how.” Charles said.

“You might not believe me if I told you.” She said.

“Does it really matter?” Spike asked. “She’s alive, she’s okay now. She’s back with us and that should really be all we care about right?”

Twilight smiled through her tears at Spike. “You’re right Spike, we can worry about the how and why later. Right now, let’s just enjoy the moment.”

With the human threat dealt with and peace restored, there was nothing left to do but celebrate the victory. After Pinkie Pie gave an explanation of what happened and Charles explained to Pinkie Pie of his transformation, the enlightened five said their goodbyes and left the world of the living to take their place among the eternal herd. Charles would be able to call upon the power he was given anytime he would need it. He had reverted back to his alicorn pony form as well. Each Pinkie Pie from the different dimensions organized a big victory party for everypony that helped in the war.

Celestia stood on a balcony with her sister before a large crowd of ponies to give a speech. “Everypony, today is a day of celebration. We have faced a terrible threat. A threat that would have destroyed our world and taken away the harmony we cherish. However, thanks to the many brave warriors we have with us today, not a single pony life was lost.” The crowd cheered.

Luna continued. “We owe these brave souls much for their sacrifice and bravery. Let us not forget what they have done this day. But we must also not forget the one who led these warriors and brought them to us in our time of need. The one who now bears a new power we can use should such a threat arise again. The one who bears the elements of life, Charles.”

Charles stepped forward to join the princesses on the balcony as the crowd cheered. “Thank you everypony, but I didn’t do this alone. It was thanks to the bravery of the ponies, these two humans, dragon, and…wolf man…thing….” Charles motioned to the ponies he and Discord gathered behind him along with the others. “That we were victorious. They each fought bravely to defend a city from the humans that came here. I owe this world much. I was originally a human as well, but because of the powers I had, was seen as an outcast, a monster. By luck, fate, or whatever you want to call it, I found my way here where I found acceptance.”

“I found a new life for myself and made new wonderful friends. Four of them are now my wives. I have a wonderful family now. And I have found a home here in equestria. A home I will gladly defend to my last breath. I owe you all much, you owe me nothing. Thank you.” Charles walked back as the crowd cheered.

A little later on, a party was set up in the ball room of the castle. Many ponies were in attendance, as was all those that fought. Pinkie Pie….all three Pinkie Pies, weren’t about to leave without having a big party to celebrate and thank everyone for their efforts.

Ajax was leaning against a table near the punch bowl with Ghoul. “So Ghoul, how many humans did you manage to kill?” He asked.

Ghoul raised a hoof in though.”Hmm, not sure, I think I lost count after the one hundred fiftieth.” He stated.

“HAH, yeah, I kinda lost count after the two hundredth.” Ajax laughed.

“I’d say we did a good job everypony.” Steel mane stated as he was hanging out with his friends from his dimension.

“I’m just glad it’s over.” Fluttershy stated.

“Me too, it was horrid.” Rarity said.

“HOO wee, them varmints didn’t stand a chance against us when we went alicorn on em.” Applejack from Heart Wing’s group declared. She was with her friends.

“I’ll say, we took them out in no time at all.” Rainbow declared.

“All right girls, calm down.” Heart Wing said. “Let’s not forget, we still were taking lives. That isn’t exactly something to be proud of.”

“Yeah, your right.” Rainbow agreed. “It was just cool to be using that power like that though.” Rainbow nuzzled Heart Wing.

“All right, I think it’s just about ready to go.” Vinyl Scratch said after making some adjustments to her mixing board.

“Great, thanks Vinyl.” Charles said with a smile.

“Anytime dude, you know I like when you perform.” Vinyl held out her hoof for a hoof bump.

Charles returned it. “I know. So you ready to help with this one?” He asked Vinyl.

“You bet. That’s quit a song you got picked out. That spell you used to help me learn the words worked too.”

“Great, let’s get this started.” Charles walked to the center of the stage in the ball room and spoke through the microphone. “All right everypony, before I begin my performance, I’d first like to send a thank you again to all of you that helped. I really appreciate you all coming here to help us with this fight we had and will forever be grateful to you. This number me and Vinyl Scratch are about to do is dedicated to all of you. I hope you like it.” Charles used his magic to manipulate Vinyl’s mixing board and began the song.

(Toby Mac, Unstoppable)

Once it was over, everypony cheered for the song. “Thank you, thank you very much.” Vinyl said as she bowed.

“All right, for this next number….DISCORD!” Charles called out. In a flash, Discord appeared on stage with clones of himself, each holding an instrument and a different punk rocker look. The real discord wearking a black jacket, sunglasses, and blue jeans.

“Hello everypony! Discord is in the house!” Discord declared.

“You ready to start the next one?” He asked.

Discord looked back at his clones. “Ready boys?” He asked with a smile.

“Ready!” They answered back.

“Lets kick it!” Discord declared and they started on another song.

(Disturbed, Indistructable)

Once again, the performance was met with cheers. “Good work Discord. You really know how to play.” Charles said.

“Thanks, your pretty good yourself.” Discord said back.

“All right, for this next number, Vinyl and Discord are both going to be playing.”

“Let’s do this!” Vinyl declared.

“I agree, let’s rock this place!” Discord said as he made a guitar appear in front of him and took hold of it.

“I’m sure you’re all going to like this one since you like my other songs.” Charles started off with a kind of speech and the music kicked in.

(Wretches and Kings (Clean) by Linkin Park.)

The crowd really got into it when Charles got the part about waving your hooves into the air and jumped around with his talk of jumping back and forth and side to side. Even Celestia and Luna were dancing a little.

The party lasted a good long while and soon it was time to go. Charles gave one final thank you to each group or individual as they left or Discord sent them home to their own dimension. When it came to Ajax, he started to object. “Wait, hold on a minute.” He said.

“Yes, what is it?” Discord asked.

“Something wrong Ajax?” Charles asked.

He took a moment before responding. “Look Charles, we may have gotten off on the wrong paw here when we first met. I’m not really such a bad guy. It’s just…..”

Charles looked at him curiously. “What?”

“Look, as you saw, the world I came from is really messed up. I just want a peaceful life as a weapons dealer. I’m grateful for you letting me have the weapons the humans left behind….but….I was wondering if I could stay here and open a weapons shop.”

“You must be joking.” Charles said.

“Now just hear me out. Look, this world seems so much nicer than the one I came from. If you let me stay, I promise not to be selling any of the high tech weapons I picked up and stick to selling spears, swords, and crossbows. I am a good weapon smith after all. Gotta know how to make a product your selling. Let me stay, and I won’t sell the advanced weaponry until you say it’s all right.”

Charles thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I think this would really be more up to the princesses since they’re the ones in charge.”

“Charles, Ajax risked his life for us in the war we had.” Luna pointed out. “He came here to help us and help us he did. I think he has earned the right to live here.”

Celestia continued. “As long as he keeps the advanced human weaponry to himself, I see no problem with letting him stay.” She finished with a smile.

“There you have it. Both princesses approve.” Discord said.

“Very well then, welcome to Equestria Ajax.” Charles said.

“Thanks, I really appreciate this.” Ajax stated.

“I suppose it is time for me to go as well then.” Ghoul stated as he approached.

“Ghoul, you are more than welcome to stay if you like.” Celestia said. “You helped save Equestria as well. You have earned my respect.”

“Sorry your majesty, but I prefer my life of solitude, besides, I doubt my appearance and powers would be well met by your subjects. I bid you adieu.” Black smoke emerged from under his cloak and started to swirl around him. Once it completely covered him, it started to fade and Ghoul was gone.

“I’ll say this much, guy sure knows how to make an exit.” Ajax said.

“Agreed.” Discord said.

After all was said and done, one last matter needed to be attended to before all could relax. Jonathan and the two humans he came with now stood before Celestia and Luna in the throne room with Charles and Discord standing on the side, both glaring at them. “Before we begin, I ask for the names of the two others.” Celestia asked with a stern expression.

“My name is Benjamin.” The human on Jonathan’s right said.

“I am Keith.” The human on Jonathan’s left said.

“Very well, Benjamin, Keith, Jonathan, you are charged with bringing war to this world. I will give you a chance to defend yourselves.” Celestia said.

“I suggest you make your words count.” Luna said.

“What’s to say? We came here looking for him…” Jonathan said as he glanced over at Charles, Charles glared back. “And instead, find a world of magical ponies and princesses. A child’s fantasy world really. Wasn’t my decision to start the war in the first place if you must know.”

“Regardless, you had a part to play in it. You are just as guilty as the humans that attacked here with their armies.” Celestia pointed out.

“Fine, I’m guilty. What’s the punishment then? Execution? Life in prison?” Jonathan asked.

“You are to be sent home, back where you came from to never return.” Luna said.

“WHAT?!” Charles asked angrily. “Princess, you can’t be serious?!” He asked as he stood before them. “He’s evil, nasty, he hunted me for most of my life remember? Just let me execute him and be done with it.”

“No.” Celestia said.

“Why not?” Charles asked.

“Yes princess, I’m curious as to your choice as well.” Discord said.

“There is no point in killing him. He cannot do us any harm. He is defeated and weak, as are his companions.” Luna informed. “He is weak and helpless, he cannot do anything to us and would be pointless in killing him.”

Jonathan looked at the princesses surprised. “Just like that? You’re letting me go?”

“We are creatures of peace, no war.” Celestia said.

“Coulda fooled me with the army of dragons and other strange creatures.” Jonathan stated.

“Those creatures were gathered together in defense of you humans. We do not go looking for war, but we will fight to defend ourselves.” Celestia pointed out sternly.

“You will be sent home to your world. But if you should ever come here again somehow, we will let Charles do as he wishes with you.” Luna said.

Charles smirked. “Do come back and visit again Jonathan.”

“Discord, would be so kind?” Celestia asked.

“As you wish, your majesty.” Discord said. He stood before the three humans and gave a snap with his eagle claws. In a flash, the humans vanished and were on their way back to earth.

Five years have passed now and peace has reigned throughout Equestria. Twilight has proven herself worthy of the title of princess and made an alicorn by Celestia, thus making her family, by extension, royalty as well. The two meta humans, Michael and Harold, were made into ponies by Charles once things were settled. They ended up being alicorns as well and got jobs in the royal guard of Ponyville too.

Charles’s relationship with his mother and father was starting to improve more as time went on. Eventually, they had patched things up and started to get along like a real family. Carol took on a job assisting Rarity in her boutique while Daniel took on a position of helping the Apple Family on the farm.

The cutie mark crusaders eventually found their special talents and earned their cutie marks. As an added bonus, Scootaloo finally got off the ground and was able to fly on her own thanks to Rainbow Dash’s help. Scootaloo’s cutie mark was of a feather on fire since she was getting good at doing areal stunts. Apple Bloom’s cutie mark was earned as she discovered her special talent with construction and such. Hers was of an apple with a gear sticking out of it. And Sweetie Belle got her cutie mark after finally accepting the fact she had a great singing voice. Her cutie mark was of a bell with a musical note.

There was now a new branch of Cutie mark crusaders formed by none other than Charles’s kids. Today was a busy afternoon for them as they were at home working on their homework, they were five years old now and going through school. Chocolate Chip, Cherry Vanilla, Crystal, Starbeam, and Applesauce all sat at the living room table of their home trying to get through the school work they had.

“Psst, Starbeam, what’s the answer to number seven?” Chocolate Chip asked as he sat next to Starbeam.

“I can’t tell you, it would deprive you of the chance to learn.” Starbeam said.

“Oh come on, please sis, this is hard.” Chocolate complained.

“Not if you put your mind to it.” Crystal said from across the table.

“I have to agree with Chocolate, this stuff is hard.” Cherry agreed. She sat on Chocolate’s other side.

“Will ya’ll relax, just try ta get through it. The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can start our cutie mark crusading. Aunt Scootaloo, aunt Sweetie Belle, and aunt Apple Bloom said they’d help us out with that today.” Applesauce pointed out.

“Well said Applesauce. I’m almost done, once I am, I can help the rest of you.” Starbeam said.

“Egghead.” Chocolate said.

“Hey, I am not an egghead.” Starbeam shot back.

“Are too.” Chocolate said back with a smirk.

“Am not!” Starbeam said with anger.

“Egghead egghead.” Cherry chimed in.

“Uh, such behavior, you three are acting like foals.” Crystal said.

“Sorry ta break it to ya sis, but we kinda are foals.” Applesauce pointed out.

“Well that doesn’t mean we have to act like it.” Crystal stated as she flipped her mane.

“I am not an egghead!” Starbeam yelled.

“Hey now, what’s going on here?” Charles asked as he entered the house.

“DADDY!” The kids cried out. They ran over and gave him a group hug.

“Daddy, Chocolate and Cherry are calling me an egghead.” Starbeam said.

“That’s because you are one.” Chocolate said.

“Am not!” Starbeam argued back

“Are too.” Cherry said.

“All right knock it off you three.” Charles said. “Now look, you shouldn’t be arguing like this, your family, and family is important.” Charles said. “You four go back to work on your homework while I have a talk with Starbeam.”

“Okay.” Four of them said in unison. They made their way back to the table while Starbeam stayed with Charles.

“Starbeam, follow me upstairs so we can talk please.” Charles asked.

“Okay daddy.”

Once they were upstairs, Charles looked down at his little daughter. “Now Starbeam, let me ask you something. Why do you think Chocolate and Cherry were calling you an egghead?”

“Um……to be mean?” Starbeam offered.

“Maybe, but if they wanted to be mean, they could have called you something else, so why egghead?” Charles asked.

“Well…..I don’t know.”

“Let me try a different question. Why do you think the insult ‘egghead’ is used against smart ponies?”

“Because…..that pony reads a lot?” Starbeam offered.

“Good, there you go. Now, you like to read a lot, right?”

“Mmhmm.”

“And because of that, you’re smart, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Then look at it this way. Think of the term egghead as a compliment. If somepony starts calling you egghead, it means they recognize the fact you like to read a lot and is smart. So whenever soomepony calls you egghead, take it as a compliment instead of an insult.”

“Hey, you’re right dad.” Starbeam said with a smile. “Thanks dad, that really helps.” She proceeded to hug Charles.

“You’re welcome Starbeam.” Charles said as he hugged back. “Now go downstairs and finish up your homework.”

“Okay.” Starbeam headed back down and rejoined her siblings.

Charles smiled as he watched his little daughter trot off.

“Starbeam, I’m sorry for calling you egghead, I’m just getting tired of this homework.” Chocolate said.

“Yeah, me too. I’m sorry for making fun of you.” Cherry added.

Starbeam smiled at her brother and sister. “It’s all right, I’ll help you figure it out. Okay?”

“Great, thanks sis.” Chocolate said.

“Yeah, it is nice having a smart sister.” Cherry added.

“Now then, it’s not as hard as you may think, it’s actually pretty simple if you think about it, you were probably thinking too hard and it just seemed complicated.” Starbeam began.

The End.

Author's Note

And there you have it, the finale of my longest fic yet. I’d like to thank you all for supporting this fic and all the likes and faves. I really appreciate it. I got more stuff in the works as you may know. If you like this, check out the rest of my fics if you haven’t already. Thank you again. Also, I would have posted the music videos, but for some reason, the 'add youtube video' function thing wasn't working, so I just typed the name of the artist and song.

Chapter 1

The Angel of Equestria
Chapter 1

“There’s nowhere left for you to run, subject! Give up now!” A man in a suit called through a megaphone to another man that was cornered on a cliff.

“WHY, SO YOU CAN TAKE ME BACK TO YOUR FACILITY AND TURN ME INTO A GUINEA PIG FOR WAR EXPERIMENTS, FORGET IT, I WILL NOT BE A TOOL FOR KILLING!” Said the human on the cliff. He was standing at 5” 9’, he had short black hair, brown eyes, was wearing a long black leather trench coat, a black short sleeved shirt, black jeans, and black shoes. What was different from him, was he had a pair of black wings on his back. He also had a five foot long red pole with yellow on the ends strapped to his back as well.

The man in the suit had an army surrounding the winged human. Soldiers all had guns trained on him, ready to fire if their prey tried anything. There were also helicopters hovering around with guns all trained on the cornered human. “There’s nowhere left you can hide, give up now and make this easy for yourself!” the man in the suit called out through his megaphone. He had a smirk on his face as he felt victory for finally cornering his prey after years of trying to hunt him down.

“I’ll never let you take me, I am NOT… a TOOL… for WAR!” The winged human emphasized greatly. He couldn’t fly away with his wings or the helicopters would shoot him down, no matter what, he wasn’t about to turn his fury on the humans that had him trapped either, he hated killing. He always tried to find another solution out without killing before he resorted to it. Right now, it seemed he had little choice. Then, an idea struck him, he was about to do something he had never tried before. He focused all his magic within him and built it up. He was going to try and teleport away from the scene. He took a stance with his knees bent and his arms at a ninety degree angle, he clenched his teeth and closed his eyes.

“What are you doing?!” The man with the megaphone asked. The other soldiers lowered their weapons in wonder as the winged human started to glow white. The glow got brighter and brighter until his entire body was encased in a white orb of light. Then, in a brilliant flash, he vanished. The man in the suit grew angry upon seeing his prey gone. “WHAT, WHERE DID HE GO?!” He called over to a scientist. “YOU, get over there and analyze the area, I want to know what happened!”

The scientist in a white lab coat grabbed a square metal box with a cylindrical object attached to it by a coiled cord. “Right away sir.” The scientist replied. He ran over to where the winged human was and turned on his device and started scanning the area. The suited man paced back and forth angrily, keeping his eyes on the scientist. After a few moments, the scientist returned.

“Well, what did you find out?” The suited man asked.

The scientist was hesitant to give his answer. “Well, sir….um…..I…..couldn’t find anything. There’s no trace of anything there, it’s like he was never here.”

The suited man grew angrier at this answer. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT’S LIKE HE WASN’T EVEN THERE?!”

The scientist recoiled and tried to shield himself with his hands. “J-Just like I said sir, there’s no trace of him anywhere, whatever he did, we have no way of knowing what he did or where he went……he’s gone sir.”

The suited man threw the megaphone to the ground in anger. “DAMMIT! WE ALMOST HAD HIM THIS TIME! Are you sure there is no way to track him?”

The scientist was again hesitant to respond. “I’m sorry sir, but he’s gone, we have no way of tracking him.”

The suited man then turned and slammed the door of his black van in anger. “SHIT!”

*****

The winged human found himself falling through a tunnel of light colors, like a rainbow, they swirled around him as he sailed through. The colors soon coalesced into a white color and he found himself meeting a hard surface. He was so exhausted from his teleport that he couldn’t move and was losing consciousness. The last thing he saw was a pair of gold shoes standing before him. His vision was blurry so it wasn’t clear. Just like that, he was out.

Light met his eyes as he slowly opened them, it was so bright, it took him a moment for his eyes to adjust, he blinked a few times to try and help them along. He tried to move his hands to push himself up but found them bound by metal shackles to his wrists. “What the hell?” He said to himself. “Great, looks like I’m someone else’s prisoner now.” He said with annoyance. He pushed himself up and sat on his legs. He noticed his staff was missing as well. He observed his surroundings and found himself in a stone cell. Three walls of black stone surrounded him with a barred window in front of him where the light that woke him came from. He looked behind him and saw that in place of a fourth wall, was more bars and a cell door. He faced forward again and just sat there, waiting for whatever fate was in store for him.

Soon, he heard someone approach the cell, he didn’t bother to turn around, he just kept his eyes on the window as the sound of what could be hoofs on stone approach. “Do the guards ride on horses in here, weird.” He thought to himself.

When the sound stopped, a gruff voice sounded. “The prisoner is awake, alert the princesses.” The guard on the horse then left.

“Princesses huh, great, I’m in some diarchy society, but why the princesses, why not the king or queen.” He pushed those thoughts aside for now, as he figured he would get answers soon enough.

He didn’t have to wait long, as the sound of hoofs on stone soon was heard again approaching his cell. This time, it sounded like there was four. The sound stopped in front of his cell and the sound of a cell door creaking open sounded. He didn’t bother to turn around to meet the gaze of the princesses. An elegant, soft voice spoke up to him. “Can you speak creature?” the voice asked.

The human responded. “Creature huh, that’s a new one, yes I can speak, I’m not an idiot.” He spoke with a bit of annoyance in his voice.

One of the guards spoke out. “You will show the princess proper respect prisoner.”

“Guard, that is enough. I will handle this.” The elegant voice sounded. “What are you exactly?”

“What do YOU think I am?” He asked sarcastically.

Another feminine voice spoke up, this one sounded younger than the first. “We are not sure what to make of you, that is why we asked you what you are.”

“Lady, even I’m not sure what I am.” He responded back.

“How can you not know what you are? That makes no sense.” The younger voice responded back.

“Because you all consider me an outcast, something that isn’t the same as you, DUH!” He said with a bit more annoyance.

The older voice spoke with more authority now. “Listen here, I am getting tired of this, you will tell me what you are, right now!”

The human finally decided to stand up. “Look, I don’t know how much clearer I can-“ He cut himself off after he turned and saw what was standing before him. First, there were two ponies with white coats wearing gold armor on their heads, hooves, and body, holding spears with their forelegs. Between them, two other ponies, but they were taller than the guards. One had a midnight blue coat with wings and a horn, its mane and tail moved about on their own and looked as if they were made out of the night sky itself as they sparkled with stardust. It wore a black crown on its head just above where its horn was, a black necklace with the picture of a crescent moon on it, and it had silver shoes on its hooves. It seemed to stand as tall as he was.

The other had wings and a horn as well. It had a pearl white coat, its mane and tail also seemed to move about on its own and was colored like a rainbow, but the colors were more subdued. It also wore a golden crown with a purple gem, a gold yolk with another purple gem at its center, and had on gold shoes on its hooves.

The human was stunned at what he was looking at, creatures that were supposed to be myth now stood before his very eyes. His jaw hung open as he gawked at the two alicorns before him. “I…..I……wh-what?” was all he said.

The younger one spoke. “Are you all right? You look ill.”

“You…..your…alicorns.” He finally said.

The midnight blue alicorn spoke again. “Yes, we already know what we are, the question we are trying to find out is what YOU are.”

The human finally decided to answer the question he was presented with. “Um, human…..I’m a human….sort of.”

The two alicorns looked at each other with confusion, they turned their attention back to the human, the older one asked with an eyebrow raised. “What do you mean…sort of?”

“Well……um.” He was still in shock at seeing creatures that were supposed to be myth, but he was pretty much their prisoner, his magic was still gone after the teleport he attempted. “I could be considered human, but there are two things about me that make me not human.”

The older alicorn asked. “And what would those be?”

To emphasise, he spread his black wings out and pointed to his left one with a thumb. “These, for one, humans don’t have wings.”

The other alicorn then asked. “And what is the other thing.”

“I am capable of performing magic, it’s because of those two things that I am labeled a monster in the eyes of other humans. So…..if I may ask, are you real, or am I dreaming this?”

The younger alicorn answered. “I can assure you that you are not dreaming, why would you think you are?”

“Well, because where I come from, creatures like you don’t exist, your just myths, I’m sure you can understand my confusion earlier.”

The older one gave a slight chuckle and a smile. “Hm, I think I understand, you thought we were of your own species, which is why you were sounding so confusing to us earlier. We have never seen a creature like you before either. Which brings up my next question, where are you from?”

“I’m guessing that, given the circumstances, I am no longer on my own planet, I come from a planet called earth, I don’t suppose you’ve heard of it?”

The older alicorn answered. “I have not. Perhaps we can continue this talk under more…..comfortable conditions. Guard, remove his shackles please.”

The guard on her right responded. “Yes your majesty.” The guard approached the human with a key and undid the shackles on his wrists.

The human rubbed his left wrist with his right hand once his bonds were free. “Sister, are you sure this is a good idea, he could still be a threat. What about that mention of magic he made?” The younger alicorn whispered to her elder.

“It is allright little sister, I do not sense any malice within him, if he does possess magic, it is very weak within him, almost gone for the moment. I believe he will behave himself.” The older one whispered back.

“I hope your right.” The younger sister said.

The alicorns turned their attention back to their guest who had switched wrist rubbing. “Come, follow us to my chamber, we will talk more there.” Said the elder alicorn.

The human stopped rubbing his wrist and responded. “Of course ….your majesty.” He gave a quick bow.

Celestia and Luna smiled at a sudden show of respect. The two alicorns led the human out of the prison with the two guards trailing behind, keeping a close eye on the human. When he started following the princesses, he noticed they both had some kind of marking on their flanks, the younger one had a black splotch with a crescent moon on it. The elder had a picture of the sun on her flank. “Huh, I wonder what those markings are?” As he walked through the castle, he admired the décor, there were stain glass windows lining the walls, letting in sunlight and coloring it in beautiful shades and hues. The group travelled up a few flights of stairs and long hallways until finally, they came to a pair of large double doors with engravings of the sun. There were two unicorns at the door with the same armor on.

They gave a quick bow and lit up their horns, the doors opened as they were surrounded by the same color of aura as the unicorn guards had on their horns. The human took notice of this. “So they have magic here too.” The guards that followed were dismissed and the human followed the two princesses in to the room. The door closed behind him as he entered.

The princesses made their way to the center of the room and sat on cushions on the floor. “Sit, come and join us.” Bade the white alicorn as she pointed to a cushion on the floor in front of her. The human walked in and sat on the pillow with his legs crossed. “Now then, why don’t we get introductions out of the way. My name is Celestia, and this is my younger sister, Luna.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you human.” Luna said.

“Thank you your majesty.” Was all the human said.

The three sat in silence for a moment, before Celestia grew a confused look then finally asked. “And what is your name human, I would like to know.”

The human looked away to avoid eye contact. “Well, you see, I don’t have a name really.”

The princesses looked at each other in confusion. They looked back at the human and Luna asked. “How can you not have a name? Every pony has a name. Do humans not have names for one another?”

The human looked back at the princesses. “We do have names, it’s just that……I haven't used the name I had in so long, I forgot it. And because of my situation, I never needed one anyway.”

Celestia began. “Does it have something to do with what you mentioned earlier about being considered an outcast?”

“Yeah, it does, if I ever had a name, I don’t remember what it was because no one ever called me by it in years.”

“What about your parents? Don’t they ever call you by your name?”

The human looked away again. “I……I’d really rather not talk about that, if you don’t mind.”

Celestia and Luna took on a look of pity as they realized they may have come across a touchy subject for the human. “Our apologies, we will not discuss such things then.” Luna apologized. “But then, if you do not have a name, then what are we supposed to call you?”

“Since we do not know about human names, why not give yourself one so we have something to call you?” Celestia suggested.

The human looked to the side in thought as he contemplated Celestia’s words. “Hmmm, well, I do remember hearing this one name I liked the sound of.”

“And what name would that be?” Celestia asked with a smile.

“Charles, from now on, you may call me Charles.”

“I like the sound of that name, I’ve never heard one like it, but it sounds nice.” Luna said.

“Very well then, Charles, now on to other matters. How exactly did you get here?”

“Well, as I said, I am capable of performing magic, I tried to use my magic for something I have never attempted before, a teleportation. Me ending up here was a fluke really. Since I’ve never teleported myself before, I wasn’t sure how to do it properly, or how much magic I would need for it. I just gathered as much of my energy as I could and ZAP, next thing I know, I wake up in a stone cell speaking with creatures that are supposed to be myth…..no offense.” He quickly added.

Celestia and Luna chuckled. “None taken.” Said Celestia.

“Same here.” Added Luna.

“Well, now that you’re here, what do you intend to do, do you wish to find a way back home?” Celestia asked.

“Actually, your majesties, I’d rather stay here, if it is all right with you that is. I am a capable warrior and I would be willing to offer my strength to you should you have the need for it.”

Luna then chimed in with a worried expression. “Do you not wish to return to your friends and family.”

Charles then looked solemn at that. He turned away again. “There’s nothing for me back on earth.” Was all he said.

“Are you sure about that?” Celestia asked.

Charles then looked back with a bit of a glare. “Don’t you remember what I said earlier, I’m considered an outcast on earth, I’m always chased away by others or spat on or insulted or anything else you can imagine that would drive someone away, despite the fact that I never did anything to hurt anyone at all, I’m not welcome there.” His gaze then softened. “I’m sorry, it’s just that, if your behavior towards me is any indication of what your subjects are like, then I may have an easier time to fit in here then I did on earth, despite my outlandish appearance.”

“I understand, and I am sorry for the way you were treated.” Celestia offered.

“You have nothing to apologize for, that’s just how most humans are. If I may ask a question of my own your majesty?”

Celestia smiled at Charles. “You may refer to me as Celestia, and yes, you may ask a question.”

“Well, I was just wondering where the king and queen are of the land, by the way, what is the name of this place anyway?”

“First, the land you find yourself in is the country of Equestria, the planet is known as Equis. As for our parents, they retired a long time ago and left us in charge. So I’m afraid you won’t get to meet them.” Celestia answered.

“I see, and as for my request to stay here?”

“Before I make that decision, I do have one more question for you.”

“Of course your maje- I mean, celestia.”

“What sort of diet do you have, what foods do humans eat?”

Charles was a little hesitant about that as he was afraid as how the princesses would react to his answer. “Humans are…….omnivorous beings, meaning we eat a diet of fruits and vegetables, as well as…….meat.” Clestia and Luna recoiled a little at the answer. “But I don’t eat meat!” Charles quickly added. “I respect life too much, humans can be strictly vegetarian as long as they can get something with protein and such for their bodies. I stick to a vegetarian diet, so as long as there is no hay, grass, or flowers in it, I can eat what you can eat.”

“While the meat eating is not that much of an issue, we thank you for your honesty Charles.” Luna stated.

“Indeed, since you have been honest with us in our questioning and given us no reason to think you have ill intentions toward our subjects, we will allow you to stay in our fair country."

Charles grew curious about what Luna said. "Why is the meat eating not an issue?"

"We have dealings with other beings that are carnivorous such as gryphons." Celestia informed.

Charles cocked an eyebrow. "There are gryphons here too?" He questioned.

"Indeed." Celestia said with a smile.

“I see, well thank you princess Luna, princess Celestia.” Charles then got up and rested on his right knee, straitening his righ arm with a fist to the ground while resting his left arm on his left leg that now rested at a ninety degree angle. “I, Charles, do herby pledge my loyalty to princess Luna and princess Celestia of Equestria. My strength is your strength, my weapon is yours to command. I swear that I will serve under and protect the crown and all those who serve under it, I will give my life, should it be called for, to protect the innocent. This I swear.”

Celestia and Luna had never heard of such a pledge of loyalty before, they weren’t sure what to make of it. Celestia finally found words. “Well……that was……interesting. I had no idea you would be willing to commit so suddenly, nor have we ever heard such a touching and moving pledge. I thank you for showing us such.”

“Indeed, that was a most admirable pledge, do all humans make pledges like that?” Luna asked.

“I just thought it sounded appropriate.” Charles then sat back in his original position.

“Well then Charles, since you wish to serve under us, I will need you to be well versed in how our society works, since we have plenty of guards here, I don’t think we need a soldier here. I believe that the best place to station you would be at a little town called Ponyville, there aren’t that many guards there, and I can put you up with a pony who I know will be most capable of helping you learn our ways. You will be staying with her, she is a personal student of mine named Twilight Sparkle. She is very knowledgable and would be more than thrilled to get to know you and learn about you and your kind.”

Luna then chimed in. “And since you wish to serve as one of our guards, you will be receiving a salary as well. But before you go, I would like to see how good you are in a fight, I am curious about that stick you had, what was it?”

Charles answered. “It’s called a bo staff, It is my main choice of weapon because it isn’t deadly, I hate killing, I only do that as a last resort, and as such, my staff has an ability that I’ve never had to use in a combat situation yet, thankfully.”

“And what ability is that?” Celestia asked.

“Perhaps a demonstration is in order, if you’d like, I’d be honored to give you an example of what I am capable of, and I can show you what this other ability is.”

“Very well, we shall head off to retrieve your staff and head to the training grounds for this demonstration. I am most eager to see your skills.” Said Celestia. So the two princesses led Charles out of the room to retrieve his weapon so he might give them a sample of what kind of abilities he has as a worrior.

Author's Note

I just couldn't wait to share this idea of a story with you all. Yes, I know (not another human in Equestrian story.) Like there isn't enough of those around. but I just thought I'd try my hand at it and see how it goes. For those following Sins of The Father, I will continue to update it, I will be alternating between updating that and this story. So no worries, it is not done yet. /) Don't forget to leave comments below and let me know what you think of it.

Chapter 8

Charles was in the hospital for two days to recover, in those two days, Twilight came by and stayed with him to teach him about Equestria and its society. She taught him about all the different creatures that exist, the different towns, which Charles thought it odd that some of the names of the town were strangely similar to the cities on earth, and about relationships. Charles also thought it odd that they did the whole herdship thing. Appearantly, because of there being more mares in Ponyville than stallions, or in a few other towns, it was perfectly acceptable for a stallion to have more than one mare friend.

It was also an interesting talk when money came up. Twilight thought it weird that humans used rectangular green paper with numbers for money and he thought it weird that the ponies used gold coins for currency. Twilight was intrigued that gold was considered very valuable on earth. During his time in the hospital, he also always had a visit from the other ponies he saved. On the second day of his hospitalization, Rarity came by with a new set of clothes for him. Since she thought his original clothing was rather dashing, she was inspired to make him something similar for him so as to keep up his taste in clothes.

Charles’s original coat was ripped up bad from the timberwolfs, but Rarity was able to repair it. The new set of clothes she made for him was a red over coat with a grey T-shirt and dark blue jeans with a new pair of black shoes. She, of course, remembered to make holes in the back of the shirt and jacket for his wings to fit through. Once Charles was free from the hospital, he tried on his new duds and was quite pleased with them. “Well Charles, what do you think of your new clothes?” Rarity asked after he put them on.

“They…fit great, um, thank you….Rarity.” Charles was still having a bit of trouble understanding the fact that these ponies were genuinely being nice to him and helping him.

“You’re welcome darling, I’m glad you like it.” Rarity said with a prideful smile.
Charles then turned to Twilight. “So where’s my staff at?”

“It’s still in its twin sword form, the captain is holding on to it for you, you can swing by and get whenever you want. I can take you there if you want?” Twilight informed with another smile.

“That won’t be necessary, I can find the office from the sky.”

“Ok, well, I can at least take your old clothes back to the library if you want?”

“Fine, I don’t have anything to carry them in anyway, so thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” The three then made their way out of the hospital.

Upon exiting, they were met with the site of Shadow Fang walking past with Black Cloud following him. Shadow Fang stopped and looked at Charles. “So, you are finally out of hospital. For one who is supposed to be tuff, you sure take long time to heal. Tell me, are all humans weak like you?”

Charles glared at Shadow. “I’ll have you know that I am the strongest human alive.”

“Is so, then I weep for humans. Please excuse.” Shadow fang then walked off.

Once he was out of ear shot, Charles spoke. “Sheesh, what’s his problem, you two aren’t friends with HIM are you?”

“Not even Pinkie Pie is friends with him.” Twilight Stated.

“And she’s friends with every pony.” Rarity added.

“Your different.” Charles and the two mares looked at Black Cloud who, apparently, didn’t leave with Shadow Fang. He had a smile on his face.

“Excuse me?” Charles said as he looked at Black cloud.

Black Cloud spoke again. “You’re different like me.” He then just flew off to catch up to Shadow Fang.

“OK, and what is up with that one?” Charles asked the mares as he pointed a finger at Black Cloud as he flew off.

Twilight informed. “Black Cloud is a thestral, a bat pony. Not a lot of the citizens here are fond of him. He just seems to creep every pony out.”

Rarity then chimed in. “He seems to have quite the affinity for fire, and, from what it looks like, he may be looking up to you.”

Charles gave Rarity a confused look. “Why?”

Twilight took a guess. “Maybe because you both are a different species.”

“Whatever, look, I should get going, I want to get my weapon back.”

Twilight then stopped him before he flew off. “Charles, before you go, I wanted to ask you something.”

He turned to Twilight. “Yeah?”

“I told the others about the music you shared with me and Fluttershy and they would like to hear some of your music too, if you don’t mind that is.”

“I really would like to hear this music Twilight has been raving about. Would it be too much trouble to ask you to perform a song for all of us?” Rarity asked as she batted her eye lashes.

“I….guess I could do that, sure, just not today, let me see if the captain wants me to start my duties.” Charles answered.

“Great, I’ll meet you back at the library later then. See you, and thanks for agreeing to play for my friends.” Twilight smiled big and made for her home.

“I can’t wait to hear this music you play darling. See you later.” Rarity said before trotting off.
Charles then took to the air, flapping his wings, and flew above Ponyville, he scanned the town from high above to spot town hall, once he located it, he took off for it and landed just in front. He made his way in and to captain Thrash’s office. “Captain Lightning Thrash, sir.” Charles said to get his attention.

“Charles, good to see you out and about, I trust you’re feeling better then?” Thrash said.

“Yes sir, I came to retrieve my weapons and see if you needed me on duty today, since I was late reporting in when I was supposed to.” Charles saw his two swords leaning in a corner near the door.

“Of course, go ahead and take them, and no, I won’t be needing you today, you did just get out of the hospital after all didn’t you?”

Charles picked up his swords, put the ends together and turned them back into his staff. “I did sir, but I feel fine. I can work today if you need me.” He then put his staff back on his back.

“Eager to get to work huh, well I say you still need another day to relax, take the day and do whatever. You can report in tomorrow.”

Charles wasn’t sure what he could do today, most of the time back on earth, all he did was just try to survive. But now, here he is in a world that is actually accepting of him and he doesn’t have to be on the run all the time. What was he going to do with his day off, it was still early in the morning. “Uh, yes sir, thank you.” Charles then turned and left. Upon exiting the building, he took to the skies and flew to Twilight’s place.

Along the way, he remembered something he saw when Twilight was leading him around town, a Pegasus was pushing a cloud. He remembered Twilight telling him that Pegasus ponies are capable of moving clouds, and because of this can control the weather. He figured that if they can move clouds around like they were solid, maybe he could stand on one too. “Might as well give it a shot.” He flew up to a stray cloud and eyed it carefully first. He came closer and decided to see if his hand would go through it or not.

He brought his left hand forward, hovered it over the cloud, then brought it up and slammed it down. To his surprise, the cloud burst with a poof. “WHOA, didn’t expect that, maybe I should try a softer touch if I want to see if I can actually stand on it.” He found another cloud and used his right hand again, this time he just placed it on the cloud. This time, the cloud felt solid but soft at the same time. “Huh, ok, so I can touch them, guess that means I can sit on them too.” He then positioned himself above the cloud and gently lowered himself on it. Again to his surprise, he was actually standing on it. “HAH, how about that.” He exclaimed in delight.

Charles tested it further by jumping up and down. “What do ya know, never thought I’d see the day I’d be walking on clouds.” He stopped jumping and sat down with his legs crossed. He felt the cloud over with his hands. “This is kinda nice. This thing is so soft.” Feeling such comfort, he then laid down with his wings spread out, stretched out his legs and jut looked up at the blue sky. “Maybe this place isn’t so bad after all, the more I think about it, the more I realize I can’t find anything wrong here. MOST of the ponies are nice, I haven’t been made fun of, except for Lt Shadow Fang, no one has tried to beat me or chase me away or anything. Can I really be happy here, have I really found a place where I can finally relax?”

Charles actually had time to himself to think. It was then he remembered what those six ponies said to him.

Fluttershy then chimed in. “Charles, if you don’t mind me saying, maybe it’s time you let go of the past and forget about what happened….if that’s all right.”

Pinkie agreed. “Yeah, it was your parents that did all that mean stuff to you, not others.”

Rarity then chimed in. “From what we can understand about what you said, it was your parents that did what they did to you, no pony else is responsible.”

Rainbow then spoke up. “Yeah, just forget those jerks and move on.”

Pinkie spoke again. “We Pinkie promise.” Then all together they chanted. “Cross our hearts and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in our eye.” As they said this, they made an x over their hearts, flapped their forelegs like wings, then placed a hoof over one of their eyes.

Charles just looked at them with a raised eyebrow. Pinkie explained. “That was a Pinkie Promise.”

Rarity added. “And no pony breaks a Pinkie promise.”

“So no matter what, if you need us for anything, we’ll be there for you.” Rainbow said with a smile.

“They practically made a vow to me to be there for me. What they said, they’re right, it was all my parents fault.” Charles said to himself. “My parents, it is all their fault, it’s their fault I ended up like this, it’s their fault I became an outcast and feared by others.” Charles said as he started to scowl. He then sat up. “Maybe it is time I let go of the past. Maybe it is time I just forget about them and try to move on with my life. I don’t know if I can though, all I’ve ever done is just try to survive and run. So what do I do in a world where I don’t have to worry about running and there are actually others willing to help me? I guess I should just try and put my trust in others, mainly in those six who made such a promise to me.” With his mind made up, he left the cloud and headed to Twilight’s.

He landed in front of the door and opened it to step in. “Twilight, you here?!” He called out.

“Hey Charles, welcome back.” Twilight said as she came down from her room.

“Twilight, there’s…….something I want to talk to you about.” Charles said carefully.

“Of course Charles, you can talk to me about anything, remember that promise me and my friends made to you?”

“Yeah, I remember, which is what I want to talk to you about.” He began to form the words in his head before speaking. “Look, I thought about what you and the others said and…….well…….I guess I am willing to TRY and put my trust in you all and come to you if I need help with anything.”

“Really…..you are….that’s great Charles, I promise you won’t be disappointed.” She said with an even bigger smile.

“Now look, don’t go thinking this makes us friends, I’m still unsure about this whole friendship thing, so for now, this is where we stand, if I need anything, I can count on you, but we are not friends……yet. You and the others were right when you said I need to let go of the past and move on, but it isn’t easy for me since I pretty much held on to it for so long. So for now, that’s all I can offer.”

Twilight kept her smile. “That’s fine Charles, but believe it or not, helping others is what friends do. You may not want to admit it yet, but we are friends.”

“Then believe what you want, but I’m not changing my mind about this, at least not yet.”

“I can wait.”

“Say, where’s Spike at by the way?” He asked when he didn’t see Spike around the library.

“He’s out helping Rarity with collecting gems, she has a spell that helps her locate deposits of gemstones. I swear, that dragon has such a cute little crush on her.” Twilight informed.

“Does…..she like him back?” He asked with intrigue.

“No, she knows he has a crush on her but he’s too young to be in a relationship, it’s just a silly little crush.” Twilight giggled a little.

“I see.”

Charles then wasn’t sure what to say from here, after a an awkward moment for him, Twilight broke the silence. “OH, before I forget, I got you a dresser while you were in the hospital and put it in your room. Your old clothes are sitting on top of it with your badge.”

“You got me a dresser?” Charles asked in a bit of shock. “When am I going to learn, these ponies just keep up with all this kindness, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprise she did that for me.” “Thank you Twilight.” Was all he could say.

“You’re welcome, you’re going to need one if Rarity is going to make you some clothing. By the way, since you have the day free, what are you going to do?”

“I….don’t know, I’ve never really had such free time before, what is there to do around here?” He asked.

“Why don’t you just take a walk around town and get to know the place better?” Twilight suggested.

“I guess I could do that, I’ll just grab my badge just in case.” Charles then went to his room, upon entering, he saw a wooden dresser against the wall opposite his bed with his old clothes sitting on top and his shoes next to it on the floor. His badge was sitting next to his folded jacket, shirt, and pants. He grabbed it, put it in his pocket, and headed out after saying good bye to Twilight.

Charles wandered around town aimlessly, as he did, he noticed something different around him. First was that no pony was looking at him strangely, but rather with smiles, like they were happy to see him. “Must be because of how I saved those six ponies. I guess they must be used to me already.” Another thing he started to notice were some of the mares he crossed seemed to be admiring him as well. They looked at him in such a way he could swear they were thinking ‘my isn’t he handsome’ or something like that. “Ok, that’s a little weird, I don’t know what to make of that. Still, if I do manage to get over my inner demons, I may want to try and finally settle down with some girl, or in this case, some mare, some of these maress are quite pretty.”

As he continued on, he heard a familiar voice call out to him. “CHARLES!”

He turned around and saw Spike running towards him with a look of sheer panic plastered on his face. “Spike?”

Spike ran up to him and tried to talk but was panting heavily in a panic. “Charles……dogs…..rarity…..trouble!” he said between breaths.

“Woa there Spike, slow down, take a minute to catch your breath and then tell me what has you so panicked.”

Spike simply nodded and took a minute to catch his breath.

Once Charles saw Spike had stopped panting, he asked. “Now tell me, what has you so panicked?”

Spike began. “Rarity and me were out collecting gems when these creepy guys showed up calling themselves the diamond dogs, they took Rarity and ran off.”

“Diamond dogs?” Charles asked curiously, then thought about the different species he learned about from Twilight, diamond dogs were canine like bi-pedal creatures who were greedy for gems. It was then that he remembered Twilight mentioning earlier that Rarity knew a spell for finding gems. He put two and two together and figured it out. “Where did they take here?” Charles asked with authority.

“I’ll show you, come on.” Spike then led the way to the location Rarity was taken.

“So much for my day off.”

Author's Note

It's about time I'm getting to some action, I have dragged this out for too long with hardly any action in this story, so in the next chapter, things are going to heat up. Pinkie promise. :pinkiehappy: