A Step Forward *EDIT*

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This is a work of total fiction, made entirely for entertainment purposes. No money is gained from the production of this prose.

A multitude of bulb flashes went off in the Princesses faces. There was a loud chatter, and nothing distinguishable could be made out. It was pure chaos on the Canterlot Castle front lawn. Princesses Luna, Celestia and Twilight simply stood by, waiting for the news ponies to finally calm down. The cacophony generated by the newsponies was deafening and the Princesses were becoming very agitated at the lack of silence and decorum.

"SILENCE!" Cried Luna, in her Royal Canterlot Voice. She wasn't using it as much nowadays, but still more often than Celestia. Her cry, however, did it's job. The reporters were now silenced, and very frightened. Some had even fallen to their bellies and cowered in fear.

Huffing in exasperation, Luna lowered her voice. "That is much better."

Twilight stepped forward.

"Now, we will be taking questions, but we need you to calm down. Is that understood?" She questioned. There was a wave of nods that ran through the crowd. "Now then, first question?"

Immediately, dozens of hooves went straight up into the air. There were choruses of "Princess!" calling from the crowd. They didn't get too rowdy this time, no doubt they were scared into submission by Luna's loud declaration. Scanning the crowd, Celestia pointed out a grey colored pegasus stallion with a fedora hat.

"Yes, you." The crowd quieted down and the stallion stepped forward.

"Quick Quill, Equestria Daily." He announced. "What can you tell us about the creature?" Quick Quill asked.

"As you know, the creature is male. He is six-foot-three inches tall, and has gold hair. He is bipedal, and seems to be some evolutionary offshoot of the Great Apes. He has also been horrifically abused. He has scars all over his back, from beatings that Happy Thoughts inflicted and healed over time after time. He is intelligent and understands Equestrian language, but cannot speak due to a poorly healed throat injury, possibly inflicted by Happy Thoughts in order to secure his fame without the Creature calling the authorities. While having identical languages, it seems that our alphabets are very different, so our communication with the creature has been limited to drawings. So far, we've established that, through unknown means, he was transported to Equestria and was soon captured by Happy Thoughts."

There was more chatter amongst the newsponies, all eager to ask about the creature.

"Yes, you there." Called Twilight. She called on a Earth Pony mare.

"Bold Script, The Manehattan Times. Sources say that after escaping from his bonds, this creature led Happy Thoughts on a chase where he ultimately killed him by repeatedly smashing his into the ground with a steel rod. What are you planning on doing about this?" Asked Bold Script.

All three Princesses shared a look. The newsponies were not going to like this.

"At the moment, nothing." Responded Twilight. Immediately, there were roars of anger and disapproval from the crowd of ponies. "SILENCE!" This time, it was Twilight who used the Royal Canterlot Voice. "Precedents have been set for this kind of behavior. Remember Sheetrock?"

Sheetrock was an Earth Pony stallion who went out to study rock formations in the desert. There he was abducted and enslaved by Diamond Dogs, who used him for labor and beat him for their own amusement. While transporting him and other slaves through Equestria, Sheetrock managed to get loose and kill his captives. Because the crime occurred on Equestrian soil, Sheetrock was brought in and questioned. After discovering that instead of running away and getting help, Sheetrock chose to stay and murder his captors in cold blood, he was brought up on murder charges. It took the Jury five minutes to acquit.

"Or how about Gold Shield?" Asked Twilight.

Gold Shield was a Unicorn mare in the Canterlot Police Department. She was trapped in an abusive marriage for years before she got the courage to leave her violent husband. Unfortunately, he couldn't take a hint. The bastard followed her, intimidated everyone close to her and would repeatedly harass her. One day, he got bold and managed to trap her in her apartment for forty-eight horrific hours of torture and rape. Managing to get free, Gold Shield found him drunk and passed out on her bed. She set him fire. She too was acquitted.

"This creature suffered nearly a year of torture and humiliation, not just at the hooves of Happy Thoughts, but all of Equestria! How many ponies saw him, sad and suffering and nopony did anything to help!? By Equestrian law he is not responsible for his actions, and he doesn't need an irate public trying to guilt him for them!" Twilight huffed.

The crowd was silenced. Nopony said anything about Twilight's outburst but several ponies did look pensive. One Pegasus mare stuck her hoof up.

"Yes?"

"Noteworthy, The Fillydelphia Post. How is the creature now?" She asked.

Smiling, Luna fielded this one.

"The creature has been doing much better thanks to a balanced diet and exercise. He has even consented to medical treatment and is scheduled for surgery in the coming days. We will be doing out best to restore his former appearance by removing him of the scars that were unjustly inflicted on him. We will also be fixing his throat so that we may finally communicate with him."

"Do you believe this creature may become more violent in the future? Extenuating circumstances or not, we don't know what he is. For all we know by keeping him alive we could be dooming ourselves in the future." Called out a random pony. They didn't step out from the crowd, so no one knew who said it.

"He has done nothing thus far to indicate a threat to Equestria. All we can do now is help him and offer him our friendship." Said Twilight.

The worn out basketball ricocheted quickly off the backboard and into the hands of a young boy. Laughing, the twelve year old took the ball and dribbled it up the dirt court and went in for a lay up. The boy cheered as the ball went in the basket. He turned a gave a smug look to the much taller man down the court. He stood, shaking his head.

The man was an American soldier. He was tall, standing at six-foot-three, and was in excellent physical condition. He wore camouflage pants and beige boots, and had on a black tank top. His once light skin had tanned in the Afghani desert, and his blond hair was cut short in the traditional American soldier buzzcut. Laughing, he looked up at the boy with his brilliant blue eyes.

"You're killing me Atash." He said. "What's the score now, six to eighteen?" He asked.

"You make it too easy, Askar!" The boy, Atash, couldn't pronounce William, so he simply referred to him as Askar, which was Pashto for Soldier. William had taken the boy under his wing. Being a marine in the desert was boring the majority of the time. He was assigned to guard a small town that was a possible target for an insurrectionist group. So far there wasn't even a whisper of activity, so the majority of his time was pent patrolling. After a while, when he wasn't on duty, he made his way to a small park in the town, amusing himself with various games or just training his body by practicing parkour over the playground. Atash was the only one brave enough to approach him.

They had formed an unlikely friendship. They played games and various sports, and slowly the people become a little more accepting of the military presence in their town. William taught the boy English and how to read and write. It was almost like having a little brother.

"Making it too easy!? Oh, it is on little boy!" William lifted the ball, but before he could start to dribble, a loud explosion rang through the air. Dashing forward, William grabbed Atash and charged for the nearest building by the court.

Everyone was running for cover, there were screams and the sound of gunfire very close by. Setting Atash down, he reached over and grabbed his gear which rested against the wall. He lifted his M16A4 and inspected it for damage. Immediately, he started attaching the rest of his weapons to his body.

"Atash, listen to me. I need you to go inside, and stay in there until we come get you. Do you understand? Wait for someone wearing this uniform!" He tugged on his gear.

"B-but mama!" He cried.

"She'll be fine! I promise you, I'll do everything I can to protect everyone, but I need you to stay here! No running off! Okay!" He demanded. Crying, the boy nodded.

"Okay." William handed Atash over to an elderly woman who was corralling people into the building.

William lifted his weapon and turned the corner, walking right into the firefight.

Williams eyes snapped open. They quickly adjusted to the bright white room. Why was everything so white around here?

The ponies had given him a suite. It had a large bed, king sized, a small kitchen and a master bathroom. It even had a grand piano! After demonstrating skills on the piano and guitar various other instruments, they gave him a large room to allow for creative release. He quickly used his new found freedom to try and communicate with the ponies. He had success with drawings. Even though he could understand them and answer yes and no questions, he had trouble with broader issues. He used drawings to try and communicate complex topics.

He had asked them, in the form of a short comic strip, if they could help remove his scars. He wasn't too hopeful, but when they came back with a positive response, he was ecstatic. His heavily scarred back was always itching or going numb, it was simply an uncomfortable state to be in. The fact that he didn't have to keep them was exhilarating.

For now, he was just going to get started on breakfast.

Author's Note

I'm thinking about changing the the name to The Equestrian Adventure.

The whole Coolest Nerd thing is a reference to William's particular skill set and how he was inspired by comics and stuff. He isn't going to "nerd out" much, if at all. Don't get me wrong, he's a nerd/geek like all of us, but it won't show too much.

What do you guys think?