A Blind Eyeby Doctah WAAweeChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 10Chapter 9Chapter 1Ponyvillie wasn't the biggest town in Equestria, but it sure wasn't the smallest. It was just right, big enough to have the hustle and bustle of a legitimate town, but small enough so that everypony knew each other. Though, its small stature doesn't mean that the quaint little town is...stable would make it seem that the town is unsafe, drab would be a better word to describe what Ponyvillie is not, but the word 'drab' seems so...drab. Let's just say that Ponyvillie has its fair share of excitement. Falling into the category of said excitement would be as follows: An immortal tyrannical batman wannabe released from her 1000 year time-out for being a bad little filly, voracious, yet adorable flying parasites (aptly named Parasprites) that consume inorganic matter, showboating mares who claim that they can slay the very constellations themselves, said constellation (but a tad on the young side), a certain purple unicorn who took her lessons on friendship a bit too seriously, a stallion who is, as three very well known fillies put it, 'strangely obsessed with tubs of jelly', and many, many more... 'oddities'. But, none of these things could have prepared them for the being that would grace their 'quaint' little town. It all started with a field trip, and a little brown colt... Button Mash couldn't wait for school today, his love of video games would have to fall to the wayside today (though not by much, he always carried his portable, and a copy of 'Megamare BattleRunes 6: Magic Beast Gregar.') because he and his fellow classmates would be graced with the opportunity of a lifetime. A field trip to the Crystal Empire. "BYE MOM, I'm going to school now!" He said in his nasally excited voice. But before he could move his tiny little hooves with the speed that could rival a certain rainbow pegasus, his mothers stern voice called out. "Button, did you remember to comb your mane?" Button always forgot to comb his mane, always. He didn't know why, he always remembered to put on his hat, but never comb what was underneath it. "Moooooooom!" Button whined. "No arguments, do you want me to comb it myself?" She questions. Button groaned and trudged to the bathroom. He got a comb and started to brush the tangles out of his mane. After a few grunts, he got his two tone orange mane in order. He reached for his saddlebags and, once again, tried to 'go fast, go really fast', but again his mother stopped him. "Aren't we forgetting something?" the beige mare said, smiling down at her son. Button lifted his head up and kissed his mother on the cheek, "love you mommy" he said with a smile. She returned the favor on his cheek "love you too Button" she giggled. Button smiled at started running out the door. The mare watched her son run off with a sad little smile. "Always in a hurry...just like his father..." the mare pushed those sad thoughts out of her head and went towards the kitchen. "Yeah gotta go fast!" Buttons yelled as he poured everything he had into 'going fast'. His class was going to meet up at the train station, though he has been a little cautious of trains ever since his toy train suddenly burst into flames for no apparent reason (blame Discord). "Gotta go REAL fast!" The train station was coming into view, and he could already see his classmates grouped together. . . Just to slam into a familiar purple dragon. "OWW!" They both seem to say the same time. They both fell backwards and started rubbing thier heads. "What in Celestia's name hit me..." Spike grumbled out in pain. He opened his eyes to see Button groaning, and also rubbing his noggin. "Button Mash, what the hay are you running for?" Spike said with a bit of anger. Dragons are tough when it comes to physical hardiness, but it still hurt like an applebucker to get slammed into by the little brown colt. "Sorry Spike" Button said, with a slightly pained tone "I excited because were going on a field trip today to the Crystal Empire. I guess I was a little too excited..." "It's alright" Spike said while he stood up and brushed himself off, "this is probably the most exciting thing to happen to me this week..." Spike lamented. "What's wrong?" Button asked, slightly worried over his friend. Most of the young colts were as thick as thieves. The EXTREME overabundance of mares meant that they had to be, colts had to stick together. A lone colt would be eaten alive by the fillies in school, most of them are nice... Especially Sweetie Belle in Buttons opinion. But still, there weren't many colts. Two for every eight fillies, and even that might be an overestimation. "Twilight...she messed up...bad. That's all I know." "...How bad?" Button asked. Deep down he didn't want to know the answer, but his youthful curiosity got the better of him. "Remember when she went crazy and put a 'want it, need it' spell on her doll?" Button nods, shivering as he remembered the utter chaos that happened that day, he almost got trampled. The little doll SHOT LASERS at ponies. "Multiply that by 9000..." Spike said. ""WHAT 9000!? That can't be right!" Button exclaimed in shock. Spike only nodded. "Yeah, that bad...I'm getting some groceries right now, I don't think shes eaten in a week." "Wow...I really wish I could help Spike, but I but to go." "See ya...It's been good talking to you Button" "No prob!" Button runs off to the train station to join up with his friends. Spike watches his friend run towards the train station. A sliver of envy passes through him as he does. He was about the same age as Button, but he didn't have to deal half of the things he had to. What Spike didn't tell Button was who he was getting groceries for. Twilight was in such bad shape that Rarity needed to let him stay at her house until Twilight got her act together. A bittersweet situation, if there ever was one. Papers, books, and trashed littered the house of the once meticulously organized mare. Twilight's mane was disheveled, dirty, unkempt, and a horror to look at. Rarity would have an heart attack if she saw Twilights less-then-tidy appearance. She relentlessly searched through every book that she could get her magic on. And when she didn't find any relevant information, she threw the book to the side...violently. What was she looking for, you ask? It would be better if we start from the beginning. About three weeks ago, princess Celestia entrusted Twilight with one of the BIGGEST secrets in Equestrian history... The existence of aliens. Now, Twilight wasn't that surprised. Heck, she became an alien herself in order to stop Sunset Shimmer from using the Element of Magic for her own nefarious purposes. But what she gasped at was the fact that they were these beings that were able to slice planets in half, go into the depths of space, and many, many more feats that left her scared, in awe, and curious... So very, very curious. The names of these being were 'Humans' and, Celestia entrusted her with yet another doozy. A spell to watch these amazing creatures. As it turns out. Most Equestrian advances in technology, AND in magic have been thanks to watching these 'humans'. What Celestia gave Twilight was a simple viewing spell (simple being a relative term) but soon viewing wasn't enough for Twilight. Her, along with Spike, and her friends saw many wonders when viewing the different types of humans. . . And, many atrocities. They all learned the hard way that humans were omnivores. But the most surprising occurrence that happened that day is that Fluttershy took it the BEST. Turns out she deals with carnivores all the time. Regardless, She still got a little spooked (come on, it's Fluttershy). One human wearing a red spandex suit caught Rainbow Dash's attention. He could run so fast that everypony thought that she had a crush on the alien (though, Twilight couldn't blame her. She personally found humans attractive. . .due to her experience in the 'other' Equestria). And one chef that used ONLY his legs in a fight caught Raritys. Though...seeing them wasn't enough for her. She wanted to mingle, she wanted to actually talk to one of these amazing creatures... And that's when it went all wrong. As she combs through the books, she knows that it is a completely futile effort. Partly for the fact that she didn't know what to look for... Now, you might be wondering why she would go off the deep end so much just to make a portal to another reality. But the fact is, she isn't going off the deep end for that. She succeeded in creating a portal...but maintaining it was a different story. A gurgled cough was heard from Twilights room. What was in that bed was a bandaged, bloody bipedal creature. . . He was barely alive. Twilight knew that the basic healing magic (and basic as in, first aid) would NOT be enough to help. Not even the magically infused gauze would be of help for long. She looked at the dying human in her bed, tears once again spilling from her eyes. "Please...i'm sorry...stay with me." She whispered as she ran a hoof through the humans mane. He opened his eyes, and Twilight feared that he would go into a further state of shock. . . "Oh sweet Celestia..." She uttered in horror. The humans eyes were the milkiest white she had ever seen. The entire time the human was in her 'care' his eyes were closed. But now... She knew he was blind. She even ran a magical scan just to see if the white color was just a natural occurrence. . . It wasn't. Now, Twilight's entire adult, and most of her child, life had revolved around her ability to read. Books were a passion to her, and without eyesight... Still, there were other ways to absorb knowledge. But without the ability to physically read, it would be a death sentence for Twilight... And the guilt of knowing that her actions might have caused pain, not just a pain that could be fixed with a bed and some medicine... But pain that lasts FOREVER, tantamount to death, sent her down. She barreled towards the bathroom, and vomited into her toilet. She knew that she couldn't do this alone. She knew this three days ago, but this sudden revelation cemented her utter incompetence in this situation. She needed help, and now. The smell of the Bengali Butternut Squash was wafting through the kitchen. Buttons mom was reading 'Romea and Julio' the classic tale enraptured her. Brought her out to a trh- *Knock* *Knock* *Knock* She was suddenly taking away from her world of romance when the door sounded. 'Who could it be?' she thought as she walked towards the door. When she opened it...she was almost knocked back in her surprise. She bowed. "G-good evening Princess Twilight!" she said out of respect. When she came back up, she noticed Twilights less than regal appearance. She was about to ask her what happened to her, until she spoke up. "Please...I need your help." Chapter 2Twilight had to give the beige mare that she so desperately searched for some credit. When confronted with a potentially mortally wounded alien, she didn't run away screaming, nor did she hide behind anything. She just adopted a shocked expression, and gasped. "My word...what is it?" "He." Twilight corrected. Love Tap looked at Twilight with some confusion, "excuse me?" "He's male." "...I see. He looks like one of those characters in one of Button's video games." Love went over to the human, and slowly took off the blanket that cloaked his body. The mare gasped as she looked at the bloody bandages that wrapped the poor man. "I changed them everyday..." Twilight whispered. She felt so helpless. "How long has he been here?" Love Tap questioned. "Three days." "Why did you ask for help now?" "...Because, I can't just go to Ponyvillie hospital with an alien...and, this is my fault. If he were to get hurt in the resulting confusion of revealing him to the public...I wouldn't be able to forgive myself." 'I'm already having a hard time with that now...' The beige nurse arched her brow in confusion, "did you say that it's your fault Princess-" "Please...call me Twilight." she corrected her...again. "Oh, alright." 'I don't think I deserve to be called a princess after this..." "So, why did you say that it's your fault?" Twilight bowed her head in shame. "I..." She told her about the mirror spell, the humans, and her insatiable curiosity for the aliens. Every second used to explain the story sent Twilight's ability to talk down a slippery slope. Said slope being drenched with her tears. "I-I ripped an innocent being from his world, and a-almost killed him! The reason why I asked for your help now..." She sniffled, and used her magic to gently open his eyes. Revealing the white, milky color that caused Twilight so much grief... Well, more grief then she already had. "I need to know...did I...cause this?" Twilight whispered. Love Tap looked at Twilight, then to the human, and then to Twilight again. "You...think that you caused his blindness?" Love asked in surprise. "Ummm....yes?" Twilight answered, feeling slightly stupid. Stupidity wasn't her 'forte'. "Dear, this type of blindness is hereditary, at least in ponies. It is referred to as 'Snowdrop Syndrome'." she giggled a little, "If you caused his blindness, we wouldn't have known until the dear woke up..." Twilight shivered as she played that nasty scenario in her head. What scared her is that she didn't know how he would react...at all. In fact, she didn't know ANYTHING about this human. He could be like that one human she saw that could turn green and destroy entire planets with just one clap. Or that one in the red and blue spandex suit that could blow away galaxy's just by SNEEZING. Or those 'humans' that could turn blonde, and BLOW UP PLANETS WITH GIANT ENERGY BEAMS AND SCREAMING! THE POSSIBILITIES WERE ENDLESS!... She was getting ahead of herself, something she excels at, but the fact still remained that she knew nothing about this human. But, she would have to give him the benefit of the doubt. She caused this mess, and his pain. The least she could do is hope to form some kind of friendship with the human...and hope that her world doesn't become galactic dust. As Twilight busied herself by mentally debating, and thinking about the potential danger that this humans hypothetical reactions would present, Love Tap was busy actually doing something useful. She replaced all of the humans bandages, noticing all the muscle on his body in the process. She grew worried that his reaction to being in a completely new world would be...unpleasant. Also, she had a hard time coming to terms with the situation at hand...whatever those things were. Twilight Sparkle, a princess, supposed leader and role model, brought an unknown, innocent, but possibility deadly alien to their world. Moreover, she entrusted HER with this. She didn't know if she should be flattered, or fearful. But, those thoughts would have to be cast to the wayside, it was time for the most important part of this humans healing... "Twilight?" Love Tap asked. The mare in question shook her head, derailed from her train of thought. "Yes?" "This is where it gets...tricky." the nurse said with a bit of hesitation. Love Tap dug into her saddle bags and fished out a tiny bottle filled with a clear liquid. "What is that?" Twilight asked. Once again her curiosity resurfaced. This mare never learns. "...Phoenix Tears." was Love Tap's response, "the contents of this little bottle can heal any known wound in Equestria. We'll need this to make sure that he doesn't...succumb to his internal wounds, I counted 29." Twilight filched at the severity of the humans wounds. But, where has she heard phoenix tears being used as a healing agent before? "What's the catch?" Twilight asked. She was a very smart cookie. Though, recent events would argue otherwise. "When applied to the skin, Phoenix Tears create a sensation of pain tantamount to having that same wound cauterized. When ingested...I think you can fill in the blanks." This was just not this humans week. "I...understand." Twilights horn started glowing, she went to the humans side, and tapped his head with her glowing horn. The glow never subsided, and she braced herself. "I'm ready..." Love Tap looked at her in shock, "dear, you do realize that you will have to be hospitalized if you go through with this?" "Yes...just do it." "This will be pain unlike anything you have ever felt. Are...are you sure that you want to subject yourself to this?" Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. "All his pain...all of this...is because I couldn't see the consequences of my actions. I never thought of the possibility of the portal being too strong for me, I didn't think of the possibilities of creating a black hole and destroying Equestria, I didn't think of ripping an innocent being from his world and almost destroying him. I didn't think of anything beyond the excitement of meeting a new race, learning new things, gaining new friends...I only thought of myself, and during the past week, while I was caring for this human...I learned that you have to think of everypony before making possibly world changing decisions." She trotted over to the human who was lying on her bed. He had a dark, shaggy mane that reached just below his shoulders. His skin was a shade of light brown, almost chocolate in color. She ran a hoof through his mane and smiled. "And also...I learned that you have to take responsibility for your failures. This human is here, and in pain because of me...and if I can make his stay here just the least bit painful...as Celestia as my witness, I will make sure he does." She looked over to Love Tap with a face filled with steely determination. "Besides, I've dealt with an immortal goddess, an incarnation of pure chaos. an Ursa Minor, and a tyrannical Shadow Lord...what's a little bottle going to do?" Love Tap was very moved by the princesses bravery. The speech she made revealing her own failures gave her an immense amount of respect for her. Twilight knew when she messed up, and when to take responsibility. 'Celestia sure knows how to choose them.' "Okay...but before we go about this, we have to move him to a place that I can care for him." Love Tap sighed. "You do realize that, when we do this...there is no going back." Twilight nodded. Her horn shone a brighter shade of lavender, and in a flash of light, they teleported to where Love Tap thought would be the best place to relocate him...her home. After they got him settled, they proceeded. But before they did, Twilight wrote a letter. "Don't worry, this letter will explain the situation to the paramedics when you call them...I'm going to need something to bite on." Love Tap brought out a clear, chewy, gummy like blob. "Had this when I birthed Button, they didn't have any pain meds in stock that day...though, what your about to feel is about 100 times worse than that." Twilight flinched, and shivered. She had to give respect to somepony who gave birth without medicine... Sweet Celestia, what has she gotten herself into? The nurse popped the cork off the vial filled with phoenix tears. She gave a look to Twilight, who only nodded...with a gulp. Love Tap opened the humans mouth, and fed him the bottle of tears... 'Well, Button always wanted a bigger brother.' Button was bouncing towards his house as he waived to everypony in town. Today was such a FUN day! First, his class got a tour of the castle. THEN they got to meet Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. Button got to go to the Crystal Joystick and play the newest games, which include: Super Mareio Kart 7. Megamare Zero 4. Super Prince Peach Pie (try saying that five times fast). Mareio got rescued this time, what a twist! And, many more amazing new releases. He also got to have milkshakes with Sweetie Belle... Though that didn't go very well. At least he found a Bit. Now...why was there a hospital carriage pulling away from his house? "Weird..." Button continued to skip to his house. He opened the door and threw his saddle bags to the floor. "MOM! I'M HOME!" He screamed in his nasal, excited voice. "Oh, hello Button!" Love Tap said as she descended down the stairs. Button ran over to his mom and gave her a big hug. "I can't wait to tell you about my day!" Love returned the hug and giggled, "well, I can't wait to hear it...but, I'd like to have our new friend be around to hear. He's upstairs." Button was curious...who was this new friend?... And did he like video games? Chapter 3Six years. It's been six years since Love Tap has had a taste of alcohol. Six long, sober, and happy years. She gave It up around the time she got pregnant with Button... But now, Love Tap was nursing a fairy old bottle of Sweet Apple Acres hard cider. She's had this bottle in reserve for a VERY long time, she was quite the party mare when she was young. Fast forward nine years. The stress of this situation finally got her to call up Mrs. Booze. Twilight had the foresight to put a soundproofing spell around the house when she poured the phoenix tears down the aliens throat, she also relocated herself to another room in the house. The reaction to that action was... Immediate. One second it was still and silent in the house. A metaphorical calm before the storm if there ever was one, because the second the tears were down the aliens throat, Twilight was screaming in agony. Crying and writhing on the ground... But that wasn't even the worst part. What drove Love Tap to the bottle wasn't her screams of agony. No, her profession makes her deal with patients screaming in agony almost on a regular basis. Thank Celestia that she mostly dealt with either sick foals or the occasional accident... It's when Twilight started to beg Love Tap to end her life was what broke her from her years of sobriety. 'Please...end me! Make the p-pain...stop...please.' Love Tap took a big gulp of her hard cider after remembering that...and many more of Twilight's desperate pleas to end her pain...permanently. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to shake the memories away... She wouldn't be able to count on the cider when she fell asleep...her nightmares would be prolific tonight... Especially the last few moments of Twilight's pain... when she started giggling... then laughing maniacally... while crying. Love Tap called the paramedics... after locking herself in her room to wait out Twilight's episode. She didn't know what a meat bicycle was, and she certainly didn't want to be Twilight's new one. Thank Celestia she didn't go out to the town in that state... And that was another swig. That really didn't help her stress levels, though she handled it better than the average mare. One; because she personally knew and worked with the ponies in the emergency response unit, two; because her job made her (downright forced her) take stress management sessions (though, being a mother would be the biggest cause for those classes), three; Twilight's letter, and finally, the fact that she dealt with crazy ponies before. She didn't bother to read the letter, it was meant for the paramedics who would care for Twilight....and she had a feeling that the less she knew about all the ripples that this event sent out, the better she could sleep at night. After the medics took her away, sweating bullets due to the sudden pressure of the entire situation. Love Tap brought out her booze and started drowning her troubles in the drink she gave up long ago... The first swig almost made her cough it back up again. She didn't have the stomach for the stuff that she had before Button was born, and it was coming back to bite her... 'Button...' That reminded her. Soon enough, Button would come back from his field trip. He would most likely want to tell his entire day to her, paraphrasing, like only the imagination of an eight year old can. At least she had something to look forward to. Which reminded her of another topic...an 'alien' one at that. 'How long has it been since the poor dear has eaten anything?' She thought to herself as she put her bottle away and trotted, with the slightest difficultly, to the kitchen to prepare at least something edible for the alien, which reminded her of yet another topic... She didn't even know what the alien ate. She couldn't assume that he ate flowers, hay, and grass. So, she settled on, even in the extreme diversity of her world, a universal food. Bread, and water... Lots of it. So with that in mind, she got some bread and water. She put some jam to the side just in case the...'human', as Twilight called it, was able to digest that... Stairs are annoying. In her, slightly buzzed, state of mind, she was having a slightly difficult time going up to the second floor. Drinking almost half a bottle of hard cider before tending to an alien might've not been the best idea. She had to thank her luck that phoenix tears also act like a relaxant...after the whole 'unbearable pain' aspect of the liquid had passed. She wished that Twilight would have the same effect done on her...but it was the human who physically took the tears, not Twilight. Love Tap suddenly felt her body grow heavy, she was right in front of the door leading to where the human was resting. She was nervous, she never interacted with this...being when it was actually conscious. Her hoof was centimeters away from the door, but she couldn't bring herself to open it. Too many things were going through her head, too many questions for her to keep track of... With an audible gulp, she slowly closed the gap between her hoof and the door. As soon as her hoof touched the handle, something stopped her from opening the door, something...audible. "Are you...going to stand there all day, or are you going...to come in?" The voice was male, raspy and tired, but definitely male. It was quite, low, and controlled. The voice made Love Tap gasp. 'He...he's been awake all this time?' A coughing fit drove her out of her shock induced stupor as she slowly opened the door and carefully trotted her way into the room. When she did, she finally got a look at the humans face when it actually displaced emotion. He was holding...what she believed to be 'hands' to his mouth. He was currently sitting up on the bed he was resting on, his back was bend towards his hands as he coughed violently. Love Tap immediately, but cautiously, made her way over to the human. She placed the tray that held the food on the nightstand next to his bed. "I brought some water and bread, can you eat any of this?" His coughing subsided, and he slowly brought his hand next to the bread on his left. He put his hand on the bread, and carefully moved his hand until he felt the glass of water. He picked it up and slowly began to drink. After he was done with the water, he put the glass down and took the bread from its tray. He slowly began to bite and chew the savory loaf. The speed he was going at suggested he was savoring every last bite. He must have smelled the jam, because the remaining pieces of bread were coated with some of the delicious spread. With the help of Love Tap of course. She was right, he was blind. "Thank you...I don't know how long...I've been unconscious, but it must've been a long time for me to be starving like this...I apologize if I've become a burden to you." Love Tap was shocked at his 'apology'. Everything...all of this that stemmed from Twilight's borderline narcissistic curiosity, her pain...Twilight's pain, and her loss of sobriety was completely out of his control. But, he still puts the blame on himself? Even though he was ignorant of the full situation...it still baffled her. "Dear...this isn't your fault in the slightest! If anypony is in a position to apologize, it would be me..." He sighed. "Figured as much..." he said quietly as a single cough escaped him. Love Tap was confused at the uttering of this sentence, "ummm, figured what, dear?" she asked. "I knew you weren't human...that you had to be some sort of quadruped-." he was cut short by another cough, "excuse me, your...use of the term 'anypony' confirmed my theory..." Love Tap grew tense. "How...did you know I wasn't human?" Love Tap asked. She didn't know whether to be impressed, or cautious. She knew a couple of blind ponies, and all of them needed help round the clock, even to do the simplest tasks... Of course, those ponies weren't blind since birth like the human in front of her, at least, she assumed that. "A lot of things clued me in to your... well there isn't a word for it, or if there is, I don't know it. So I'll just make one up...Nonhumanness...we'll go with that.... but I don't want to bore you with the details." "Umm..." The human coughed, "Yes?" "Could you please tell me how you were able to deduce that I wasn't human? I mean... if its not a bother to you." Love Tap, despite her earlier hesitation to confront this alien, was actually curious to know how a mind, pony or no, adapts to life without eyesight, since birth. The other senses must've been extremely amplified to compensate for the lack of sight. Alien or no, he was going to live here... for a while. So she wanted to get to know him better. "Really?" The human said with a confused tilt of his head. Love Tap only nodded. "Well, when you came in, the sound your hooves made when they came into the room did not sound like you came in with two legs, so that's where the quadruped theory came from." He coughed a couple of times more before Love Tap brought out a cough drop that she always had handy, being a nurse gave her some quirky habits. He took the cough drop, uttered a quiet 'thank you', and put it in his mouth. Love Tap was very impressed at how the alien was able to find out that, and she voiced her feelings with a bit of awe. "Wow...that's amazing!" She said with a smile. The human smiled back...but then he frowned, as if remembering something. "I also heard those screams...it's really hard to stay asleep when you hear screams of agony... what happened?" Love Tap frowned, remembering Twilight's...reaction. "Oh dear...in your current state of health, I think it's best that know... I'll tell you if you want, but-" Her sentence was cut off by another round of violent coughing. This time he spit out a trace amount of blood, Love Tap knew this would happen... She knew that they didn't use enough tears to heal him completely. Heck, she only used enough tears to guarantee his survival, bare minimum. That was the problem with phoenix tears, they could heal any wound, sure, but their universal use is dampened by their extremely painful side affects... If enough tears are used, the pain would be so great that the patient would risk a heart attack from sensory overload, no pain medicine in the history of Equestria has been strong enough to numb the pain of phoenix tears. Diluting it in water didn't work either. Twilight's alicorn state wasn't just for show, the amount of pain she received could have easily caused a cardiac infarction in regular ponies. Of course, Love Tap knew this, via Twilight. But even the mighty Princess Celestia couldn't take eight ounces... Eight ounces. And that...is saying a lot. Because Twilight only took the pain of 3 ounces of tears, and she...broke. After his initial coughing fit, Love Tap rubbed his back all the while, he laid down on the bed and sighed. "Well...that certainly was unpleasant." He said with a rasp. He tried to clear his throat, but that just set of another coughing fit, much smaller than the previous though. "Dear...I'm so sorry your in this state, I...I'll get you some medicine." She said as she started to move away, slightly ashamed of herself for thinking that this ill being could pose a threat. The human, between bloodied coughs and rasps, chuckled, "If you keep calling me dear; then I'm gonna have to call you honey...Honey." he only got a confused look from Love Tap... Not that he could see it, of course. "Oh...my names not honey, though she is a very nice mare, and an excellent nurse." The human just gave her a bewildered look. "...That was a joke..." He deadpanned. "It...it was?" "...Yes...yes it was...what...what is your name?" "Oh! How rude of me, my name is Love Tap...may I ask what yours is?" "...Your...name is two words....put together?" "Yes...is...that odd in your culture?" "But...names are supposed to have an implicit meaning behind them...the combination of two words though..." He trialed off as he shook his head in utter disbelief, "I just...I...I don't even-" A short, but violent cough broke him out of his confusion. Some blood got on the blankets. "Sorry..." He said as he plopped back onto the bed. "I'll...get you some medicine dear...please get some rest." She closed the door and made her way to the bathroom, forgetting to ask about the humans name. She felt ashamed really, that she thought of this human as a dangerous wild card. Even though it was a justifiable suspicion. She still felt bad for thinking that. When she was conversing with him, she knew that this human was genuine. At least, that's what she got after talking to him. Though, every time he coughed, she felt her heart wrench. She knew that it would take a while for him to heal, even with the literal 'second wind' the tears gave him. It would take weeks for him to fully heal from his wounds... Weeks they didn't have. The stress was momentarily forgotten because of the interesting conversation with the alien... But now it all came back at full force. She had more things going through her mind to count. How the other princesses would react, how ponyvillie would react, how Twilight's friends would react... How Button would react... Button... Button! 'Oh...buck* how will Button react to this!? He's coming from his field trip soon! This is not good...*' Everything else was hard to take in sure...but Button was always her top priority. No exceptions. She got the medicine, a yellow potion, made by zebras, called 'Saradomin Brew'. Though she would have to be careful, it would temporarily weaken the recipient after the initial healing effect.... and it had a very disgusting smell. 'Why does zebra medicine *always** have a catch?*' She trotted back into the room where the human was resting. He still was awake though. When she got close enough, he turned his head to the side . She popped open the bottle containing the brew, and as soon as she did, the humans face contorted into one of disgust. "What is that horrid smell?" He said. almost choking on his words. "It's your medicine, dear. I'm sorry that it smells a little... harsh." "Smells like someone milked a skunk and put it in a bottle, am I right?" "What's a skunk?" The human just stared at her for a second, he sighed. "...Nevermind...please tell me that it tastes better than it smells." "I'm afraid not dear, though I have to warn you, you'll feel a little weak after drinking it...and this isn't the last time you'll be drinking it...sorry." He almost vomited twice because of the horrible taste. "Dear...you were right about me having somepony living with me, he's my son, Button. He coming soon and-" "Mom! I'm home!" "...Buck....pardon my language." "So, mom, what's he like?" Button asked as he and his mother ascended the stairs. Luckily for Love Tap, the alcohol passed through her system and she had no trouble going up them this time. "He's umm....different dear. I have to warn you...he's fragile." "Are you bringing work home, mom?" Button asked. Love Tap giggled, "no Button, he...certainly isn't from Ponyvillie hospital." Love Tap slowly opened the door to reveal the human, he was 'looking' towards the door with a blank expression, his eyes half-lidded, and his breathing steady. Button's eyes widened as he took a step back to take in the foreign face. "...Mom..." "Yes, Button?" "Is...is that an alien?" "Ummm...yes Button. It's rude to stare at ponies, so stop." "But... he's-" "Button, don't be smart with me, I know that he isn't a pony." "...Sorry mom." Button slowly approached the weak and helpless (he really is) human who is just lying there. "H-hello, my name is Button Mash... but you can call me Button." He didn't answer. "Are you alright?" Button asked, some of his earlier hesitance forgotten, "mom said that your weak... did you get hurt?" He didn't answer. "Umm... mom? I think he's sleeping." True to his statement. A small snore was heard from the sleeping human. "The brew must have put him under." Love Tap said. Button cringed at the mention of the Brew. "Ewww! You mean that icky yellow stuff that you give me when I'm sick?" Button stuck his tongue out and made a very loud 'blargamaflarg' sound. "Uhh-what...oh...must've dozed off." Button's overreaction caused the alien to wake up. Love Tap gave Button a stern glare. To which he cringed at. "Sorry for waking you...I'm Button Mash, what's-" A deep inhale interrupted Button Mash's sentence. The human sighed and looked at Button with a dumb, loopy smile. "I can smell you... you smell like strawberries." He said while swaying back and forth. "Umm... yeah? I had a strawberry smoothie today-" "I like strawberries..." Before he could respond to that, the human started slowly bringing his hand toward Button. It was shaking a lot, and he was panting. He was having a really hard time just bringing his hand out. "Teach me all your secrets...strawberry... pony." After he said that, his hand dropped, and he fell asleep. His hand and head were touching the ground. "That... was weird." Button said as he slowly backed away the human. Love Tap came towards him and positioned his body on the bed correctly. "Strawberries..." He muttered in his sleep. "I'll get you some strawberries when you wake up dear...Celestia knows you deserve them." Love Tap whispered as she ran a hoof through his hair and tucked him in. She didn't take into account that his alien body would react differently to the Saradomin Brew. "Is... he sick?" Button asked. Love Tap sighed. Button was completely unaware of what this being went through... it wasn't going to be pretty when she had to tell either the human, or Button... She was really going to get this humans name. "Yes Button, I think we should leave him to sleep for now..." She looked at the time, 3:30. "Want to order out today Button?" Chapter 4Red. That was the only color that could describe Spike's eyes. Red from the tears shed when he found out Twilight was in critical condition, red from the tears he shed when he cried in the ambiance of a pitying Rarity. Red when he ran towards the hospital as fast as his little legs could take him. Red when he barged into the hospital and managed to choke out the name 'Twilight' to the receptionist. Red... When he saw Twilight strapped into a bed, unconscious, disheveled, ruined... Guilt. The emotion he felt, above all others, when he attacked himself for Twilight's state. He knew that she went off the deep end, and he was the only dragon that could bring her back from herself. But he was too weak to stay... When Twilight would scream and sob at nothing, the same words over and over... 'Why...why can't I find anything!?' When she threw her books at random, with the force to shatter bone... Luckily, dragon scales are the toughest organic defense known to ponykind, only second to diamond in toughness. When the book hit him, he cowered. He ran towards Rarity's, bloody and bruised, to plead to her... He lied. Making sure to hide his pain, he said that Twilight got an extremely important project from the Princess, and she is sending all her time on it. The mirror to other worlds was part of it, and Twilight got into 'that state' again. Rarity didn't even question his logic. Spike was a very trustworthy dragon in her mind, and she gladly accepted him into her home... Weak. He should have fought through the pain, he should have stayed true to himself, his dragon code. But the moment the books started flying, he ran with his tail between his legs. He could have prevented this, he could have told Celestia the truth, he could have told Rarity the truth.... But he was afraid. Afraid of what would happen to Twilight if he did, afraid that she would have to leave if this got out, afraid that they would have to be separated... Reaping. The seeds of deception he wove were fully grown, the seeds of fear and insecurity, the seeds of abandonment... Harvest. *Knock* *Knock* The sound of hoof smacking oak was heard by the, slightly less than conscious, human. He groaned in his bed, the after effects of the 'Saradomin Brew' rescinded long ago in his sleep, and his wounds were under control... He just liked to sleep in. "Dear, are you awake?" the gentle voice of Love Tap was heard through the door. The human slowly sat up on the bed as he was ripped away from the blissful hold of sleep. "I am now Miss Tap..." He groggily said as a yawn escaped his mouth, cringing at the horrible smell, to him, his breath and body released. Love Tap opened the door a walked in the room with a slightly sheepish expression... Not that he could see it of course. "I'm sorry I woke you dear, and please, call me Tap. I still have some years of youth in me... by the way, I never got your name." The human cracked his back and yawned, mindful to cover his mouth so his offending oder would not go on Love Tap, "my name is...uhhh", he racked his brain for a second to try to remember his name. Brian? No... Alex? Nope, not that either. Sir Hammerlock? That just sounded silly. "Hmmm... sorry, drawing up a blank when it comes to my name... drawing up a blank when it comes to a lot of things actually." "Oh no... you have amnesia." Love Tap wasn't surprised. This alien should have been dead three times over from all the damage his body has taken. Any other unforeseen complications from this moment on could easily be seen as the best case scenario. "That I do... but hey, the only things I remember are smells, tastes, sounds, and how things feel. Though I do want to know who I am and where I came from... I'm not going to have a vision anytime soon." "Don't worry, it just takes time for these things to come back, don't lose hope now!" She exclaimed. Love Tap put a hoof on his hand to try to comfort the human... "...Come on, you don't get it?" Love Tap's face swapped from dire concern, to utter confusion. "Uhhh...get what dear?" "Come on, I'm not going to have a vision anytime soon?" "Oh... Oh! A vision!" she giggled a little, "I get it now!" "Ba dum pssh..." The human half-heartedly sounded out. Pinkie Pie turn her head in the direction of Love Tap's house, stopping in the middle of mixing cake batter. This caught Mrs. Cake's attention, who was getting a pre-chilled bottle of baby milk from the fridge. "Pinkie, are you all right?" said Mrs. Cake in concern. Pinkie doesn't usually stop in the middle of mixing cake unless her Pinkie sense goes off. But this time... nothing. Pinkie continued to stare at the wall, like she didn't even hear Mrs. Cake address her. After a couple of seconds, her perpetual smile once again shined brightly on her face. She continued to mix the cake, this time she started humming a sick rock tune to herself while doing it. "Oh, nothing Mrs. Cake. Someone made a joke... that's all." "...Don't you mean 'somepony'?" the blue mare asked. "No, no I don't. What gave you that idea?" Pinkie asked in her usual peppy tone. "Uh... I. I don't- I should go." Mrs. cake blurted out before walking out of the room. "Kay, bye!" Pinkie was all alone in the room, mixing todays order. She burst into giggles every now and then. "Vision." another giggle snort, "genius." "MOM!" A familiar nasal voice called out. Gaining the attention of both the human and Love Tap. "Is that your son?" asked the human. "Yes, he is." Love Tap answered, "Yes Button?" she addressed her son in a slightly louder volume. "You made pancakes!?" he asked excitedly. The human could hear him bouncing on a chair in happiness. "Yes Button, but wait until I'm there..." she turned to the human "do you want to sit on the table with us?" "Umm, are you sure? Big scary alien sitting down to have pancakes with a family?" "Oh hush now, your not scary, and I had a talk with Button before I came here, he's okay with it. In fact, he really wants to meet you." she chuckled, "Youth, want to talk with aliens at the drop of a hat, but practically have to be force fed broccoli." The human sniffed the air for a second before sighing "pancakes smell good..." Love Tap turned around to confirm something. Yep, the doors were closed. "Next your gonna be telling me what they're made of..." she said quietly to herself. Quite to her, at least. "Lets see...1 1/4 of a cup of flour, 1 1/4 of a cup of buttermilk, 1/4 of a cup of granulated sugar, a teaspoon of baking powder, a teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 of a cup of cooking oil..." he sniffed the air again "...and a pinch of salt." Love Tap... was completely baffled. Not only did he tell her what she used for her pancakes... he told her how much of each ingredient she used to make them. "Ah-I... ah-. H-How did you..." "Years of practice." He said, chuckling a little bit at Love Tap's reaction. "MOM?" Button's overwhelmingly nasal voice called out. "Oh. We should probably get you ready to go downstairs... are you alright with me bathing you dear?" The human, caught off guard from her question, started blushing like a ripe tomato. 'Uh- ah I... think I can bath myself." He stuttered out. "Are you sure dear? I really don't want you to slip and get hurt." "Yes... I'm good." "At least let me guide you to the bathroom." "Okay... by the way, what am I wearing? It feels... loose." "A standard hospital gown, I keep some in handy." "For what?" "Oh, you know. Just in case an alien needs to be nursed back to health." The human snorted, "Oh ha ha. Someone's got a funny bone." She giggled, "I still got some in me. Anyway, the reason I have spare hospital gowns is because of a... botched cupcake fiasco. Hospitalized so many ponies that they had to use houses when the hospital was filled. So, I've had those there for a long while." "...Your saying that a bad batch of cupcakes hospitalized half a town of ponies?" "A little bit more than half." Love Tap corrected. "...Was the pony who made the cupcakes arrested or something?" "No... why would she?" "...Never mind." Love Tap guided the human to the bathroom, he was really good at maneuvering by himself. After they reached the bathroom, Love Tap let him bathe himself. He had a little trouble with the actual height of the shower, but width wise, he was just fine... "Love Tap, do you have a toothbrush I can use?" The human asked after he exited the shower. His breath was still abysmal. "I already set one up dear. On the sink, left side. Put it in the cup to the right when your done." He felt around the sink, homing in on the smell of toothpaste as he grabbed on to the brush and started brushing. Two minutes later, he was done with the brush, and put it in the cup. Were both Buttons and Love Tap's brush were also. "Thank you Tap." He said in thanks. He sniffed the air to catch the scent of wood and metal, and it was very close to the scent of Love Tap. "What is that your holding Tap?" He asked her. "It's a cane that my husband won in a poker game with a minotaur." She answered. The cane had a handle that could easily fit a human hand. It had a sleek, oak body that metal engravings spiraling it. It was a very well crafted and beautiful cane... Not that he could see it of course. Paper. If any word could describe the week that Celestia has had, it would be paper. Mountains and mountains of documents that she needed to read over, sign, roll up, send away, die a little inside, and repeat. She considered stabbing herself in the hoof just to brake the monotony. The doors of her private room was knocked on, braking the sun princess out of her paper induced trance. "Your Highness... we have a letter for you. It's from your student, princess Twilight." Above the sheer elation Celestia had from finally being freed from her stack of papers, momentarily or otherwise, there was a strong feeling of curiosity. Twilight would always send her letters via dragonfyre, and they would always just suddenly pop into her field of vision. But a message sent by guard... Something was going down, her gut was almost always right (barring a certain wedding). "Come in." She said. The twin doors opened to reveal a vanilla guard. He bowed, gave Celestia the letter, and returned to his post. The sun princess carefully unrolled the letter and began reading... ... "Guards!" There was an unwritten rule in the palace, that stood strong throughout the millennia. If princess Celestia ever uses her Royal Canterlot Voice... It gets real. An entire platoon of guards amass at her door in a matter of seconds. "Prepare a chariot to head towards ponyvillie, wake my sister, and tell her to get her battle armor on. At once!" "Yes, ma'am!" the unified shout of the guards sounded throughout the castle. "36, 37, 38, 39!" Button's excited voice was counting. What was he counting? The number of pancakes that the human stuffed into his mouth and ate. Turns out being critically wounded and bedridden for a month makes people voraciously hungry. "Button, don't you have to go to school?" Love Tap asked her son. He and the alien really hit if off. "I know mom, but let me see him get to fifty! This only happens once in a lifetime!" She rolled her eyes and smiled at her sons antics, she knew that the alien was hungry, but not this extent. "48, 49, 50! You are the best pancake eating alien of all time!" He screamed out. The alien was too busy chugging down three ponies worth of orange juice to acknowledge Button's praise. "Pah!" the alien sounded as he was finished drinking the orange juice, "Thank you man, though, you should really get to school." Button was already getting his saddle bags ready. "Bye mom! Bye cool alien dude! When I get back, I'm going to teach you how to play video games, whether you can see them or not!" Button ran out of the house and towards his school. Eagerly counting down the seconds until he could get to teach an alien, an alien how to play video games.. "Alright, see you around!" the human laughed, "I don't think you got it but, you have a fun time now!" Chapter 5"Oh buck!" The humans ears were assaulted by the frantic screams of Love Tap, it was completely and utterly unexpected, like when you remember that you forgot your phone at school halfway back home. "I forgot to tell Button that you're supposed to be a secret!" This was slightly more serious than a misplaced phone. Love Tap was going at speeds that could easily rip the doors off their hinges, trying to catch up to Button to stop his blabbermouth. She could see it now: "Oh hello schoolmates ages 10 to 12 that I associate with on a regular basis!" said Button Mash as he walked into his classroom. "Hello totally believe due to the fact we are so trustworthy of anypony because of our young age 12 year old colt!" announced the classroom. "I have recently acquired an extraterrestrial in my home! Even though this is a completely ridiculous and unsupported statement coming from an imaginative 12 year old, you will also believe me because you are also 12 year olds with very active imaginations, and also no sense of danger!" "Tally Ho! To Button's house! School is canceled for the day!" Exclaimed Cheerilee. ...She might have been exaggerating just a tiny bit. But, before she could make a mad dash to her son. A hand gently touched her shoulder. "It's alright Love Tap, let them come." Love Tap was genuinely surprised at this. "But...but your not even at full health yet! Best case scenario; we have a bunch of hyperactive foals running around you constantly asking questions and bringing other foals to see you. Worst case scenario; you get sent to the moon!" The human visibly flinched at her statement. A look of utter confusion on his face as he processed Love Tap's panicked analyzation. "That seems... a bit drastic, don't you think?" Love Tap was trying to calm herself by taking deep breaths. The past days events were finally wearing her down. She needed a vacation, or something to calm her down. "I... I need a drink." Love Tap said as she went toward the kitchen. "A... drink of what?" asked the human. "Hard apple cider. Calms the nerves right down." she said as she rummages through her cabinets to find the one bottle of cider that she has stored over the years. "Horseapples, almost out..." she already took a trip to the bottle already, and there was only half of the bottle left. The cider wasn't the strongest drink out there, takes one bottle of the stuff to get her legitimately drunk. But, ponies don't drink the cider for the alcohol, they drink it for the heavenly taste. "Whoa...that's strong." His nose crinkled as his heightened sense of smell took in what technically was his first encounter with alcohol. "It's not that strong, I really don't know much about alcohol, but this bottle could get me tipsy back in the day, but never under the table." "...What?" "...Nothing. Is the smell too much for you?" "No, it's alright. Though I-" His ears perked as he turned his head towards the entrance. His eyes narrowed as he stood up and slowly walked towards the window. "Something's coming..." He whispered as his eyes closed. "What?" Love Tap asked. The sounds of guards marching around the castle could be heard. Celestia was silently waiting for her sister to come around. Celestia could sense the magic signature that proceeded a teleportation. She turned to the spot where the magic was originating from, silently waiting. A bright light flashed as the lunar princess materialized in front of her sister. The two rulers of Equestria, day and night, seen as the most powerful ponies in existence. Second only to Faust herself... "Sister... is it true? After all these years, a human has finally been spotted?" she asks, her face hopeful and fearful at the same time. "Yes sister. But, we cannot mince words... she has already mobilized her forces." Luna's mane crackled with energy as she snorted in righteous anger. Her mane darkened slightly as her teeth slowly started to grow a pair of fangs. "Control yourself Luna." Celestia calmly said, that sentence though held a pressure that would have knocked a regular pony unconscious. Luna realized that she was letting herself go, and promptly returned to her original form. "Our apologies sister." said Luna, unintentionally slipping into the royal we. "We shall save it for the fight." Celestial nodded as she shifted in her armor. Red Sun, as she came to call it, forged in the heart of a Magnetar Neutron Star by her hooves. It could easily be the best armor in Equestria, it multiplied her power 100 fold, and turned her once flowing rainbow mane into it's flaming equivalent. The armor had a natural shine to it that almost blinded anypony foolish enough to stare at it for a prolonged period of time. Rivaling Celestia's Red Sun armor was Luna's Blue Moon. Forged in the infinite gravity of a black hole's singularity, it offers the same enhancements as Celestial's armor, with some key differences. Luna's armor, at her whim, can lock anything that she desires inside a different dimension for a short time, like she herself was a black hole. Her armor also absorbed any and all light that dared come too close. Celestia's armor, on the other side of the spectrum, can transport her into another physical plain for a short time, transforming her into a phoenix like incarnation of herself. "We never thought we would see the day we would wear this armor again..." Luna said with a sad tone in her voice. "I concur sister... but we have to take up arms once again, for the safety of all Equestria..." "You know as well as I do what happens when we dawn this armor." Luna started, finally slipping out of the royal we, "something precious is always lost... father, mother, the residents of Sunny town... them." "I know Luna... I know. But we must not let what happened in the past happen again, we must break the bad omens that surround these sets of armor." The sun princess turned her head and addressed the guard that was closest to them. "Yes, your majesty?" "I want the castle locked down and Canterlot secure, we don't know if she will take advantage of our absence and send a group here, understand?." "Yes your majesty...permission to ask a question?" "Permission granted." "Will you be with any guards while on your journey to Ponyvillie?" "No, my little pony... we do not want any distractions while in this armor. I do not want the loss of any of my ponies today." "...Yes, your majesty" the guard said as he bowed and went on to carry his orders. "...I still do not understand the logic behind letting stallions become members of the guard." Luna added when the guard was out of hearing range. "Lots of things has changed during your banishment, my dear sister. A stallion does not solely belong in the kitchen or the home anymore." "What's coming?" Love Tap asked as she followed the human to the window. "It... it sounds like... bouncing." Sure enough, the signature sound of Pinkie Pie's bounce walk finally made itself known to Love Tap's ears. "Oh dear..." She knew that it would prove futile to try to keep a secret from Pinkie Pie, everypony in town knew her her 'Pinkie Sense' and how it could seemingly predict the future... 'Buck it.' Love Tap didn't even try to detain Pinkie, she just opened the door and waited for her to bounce in like a self-propelling icy ball. "Come on in Pink-" Her sentence was interrupted as a pink blur zipped passed her. Comically spinning her around in place, when she stopped; her eyes were spinning, and birds magically appeared over her head. "Hi! My names Pinkie Pie! Do-" --The following line of text is a test of the emergency Pinkie Pie tangent alarm system, if this was an actual occurrence, you would have to sit there and try to decipher the run on sentence that contained no spacing in the words of said sentence to illustrate the speed at which Pinkie is talking. Although this method is somewhat accurate, it is difficult to read and may cause involuntary eye strain. Good day.-- "-and then they did a barrel roll! Not the not that starfox does, because that's an ailerons roll! Do you know what 'Tax Exemption' is?" Pinkie finished her 4 minute barrage of questions. To which the human visibly shuddered at. "The- what? Oh...ummm...what?" "I asked 'do you like parties'?" "...Yes?" "One's with balloons?" "...Balloon party?" Techno music suddenly started blasting as the room suddenly became the biggest party Love Tap's house has ever seen. Ponies popped into existence as they were dancing to the beat of the song. "Disco lights! Disco lights!" Love Tap and the human were completely and utterly surprised by the sudden party bomb, the human flinched and recoiled back at the sudden increase in volume, smells, and other changes that he could pick up. Being blind for a lifetime meant that he developed extremely powerful senses. One of them including sonar. Imagine the surprise that a man who basically sees through hearing and smell receives when the sound suddenly increases from 'quiet household' to: Youtube Video It isn't a nice experience. Everypony was oblivious to the human on the ground, holding his ears as he tried to calm himself after the initial shock of...well Pinkie. "So, how do you like your surprise party!?" Pinkie screamed as she was bouncing in the air. Giggling like a mad mare. "Oh, I'm surprised alright!" the human said, or screamed, because of the volume. "Yay!" Pinkie said happily as she hugged the human, snuggling into his chest "I'm glad you like it!" That hug seemed to calm him down an iota. He returned the hug of the crazy, physics defying, pure sugar smelling mare. "Wanna dance!?" Pinkie asked the befuddled human. "Wait, what about the other-" She took that as a yes. Pinkie dragged the human to the epicenter of the pony dance floor, she started moving and dancing with the human in her hooves. He couldn't even. He just couldn't even. "What the buck is that!?" screamed a familiar tomboyish voice. "How did we get here!?" screamed a random stallion in the back. Everypony knew that answer for that, he must've been new here. "Human!" screamed a turquois unicorn. "Hey everypony! This is..." Pinkie turned to the human "what's your name?" "...I can't remember." "Okay! Pretty weird name. Okay everypony, this here is 'I can't remember' and he's new to ponyvillie! Even though he looks different, we can't judge a book by its cover! Isn't that right, Zecora?" The group of confused ponies turned to the mare in question, who was sipping a cup of tea next to a very disheveled Love Tap. "Although it was a surprise when I appeared here." she took another sip of her tea, "Pinkie is right, we have nothing to fear." she pointed to the human, more specifically, his eyes "look, his eyes are as white as the stripes on my back. So there is no reason to attack." she tossed a look to Rainbow Dash, who shrunk back into the crowd slowly. "It would go against the lessons of love and friendship we have been taught. For you see, he cannot." Everypony looked at the human in surprise as they confirmed Zecora's rhyme speak. His eyes were a milky white that almost glowed in the access light of the room. "Your blind!?" Pinkie gasped as she looked at the human in question. "Yes." "Wow! That's a new one! Most of these stories usually have some long haired white guy as the protagonist! Not being racist, though." "...I'll take your word for it-" The room suddenly became dead silent as the human violently lurched his head toward the ceiling, and Pinkie's puffy mane suddenly became flat and lifeless. "Oh no..." Pinkie fearfully whispered, "Flat mane...that means something really, really, really bad is going to happen." "...Buzzing." the human whispered as he started walking towards the front door of Love Tap's home. as soon as he was outside, he stared out towards the horizon with his useless eyes. The ponies followed the alien to the entrance, trying to find what he was 'staring' at. "Buzzing? Now, I ain't calling you a liar, stranger, but ah don't hear...any..." from inside the crowd of ponies, an orange mare with a golden blonde mane addressed the human, but her sentence was derailed by the horrible sight that was starting to form. The sky slowly started to turn black, not all at once though. It was like a sweeping wave of darkness slowly devouring the sky as the buzzing sound started to become more prominent in the ears of the partygoers... "What are those?" asked the human. The ponies shook in fear as the buzzing sound became louder and louder, and the black wave started to completely turn the sky black. The human could feel the warmth of the sun escape his body as it was blotted out. "C-c...changlings!" The crowd screamed as they began to panic. Trying their best to reach their homes before the changelings attacked... It would be a futile afford though, because the changeling only focus... Was the human. And they were hungry... Chapter 6"This is escalating very quickly..." Pinkie said. The human had to agree on that. A conversation between him and Love Tap about alcohol, whatever that is, started off the day. Then this mare came in and spawned some sort of celebration in less than 4 seconds... Then these 'changeling' things appeared. With mouths that smell like blood and, to top it off, these insect things growl like rabid animals. "Oh my, a swarm of changelings appear, and the whole town is panicking in fear." Zecora calmly walked next to the human as the residents of the town ran around like headless chickens as the swarm descended towards the town. The only ones that kept a cool head consisted of a familiar rainbow pegasus, Zecora, the human, and Pinkie Pie. Her mane regained its original poofiness. Love Tap was unconscious and asleep on the couch, the day's events too much for her. "100,000..." the human said as he 'looked' into the sky. The group looked towards him in surprise. "Surely you jest, otherworldly guest. The sky is blotted black, too many to keep track. Although knowledge on you I lack, of this I am sure is a fact." "Nope, he's being cereal!" Pinkie said as her tail twitched violently. The human didn't pay her any attention. The swarm took all of his attention. The chaos, the sense of primal hunger that emanates from this raging swarm of insect like creatures. The rapid wing beat, the intense labored breathing, and the constantly changing sounds of the town, made his ears twitch... The screams of the ponies as they ran, frantic and erratic hoofsteps, sounds of doors violently slamming against the frames of houses... Slam! Slam! Slam! The scent of foreign blood and saliva coursing through his nose. His heightened olfactory perception picking up so many ambient scents... The adrenalin given off by the horrified ponies, the adrenalin of the hungry, ferocious, changelings, the dirt scuffed up by the mass panic of the town. The scents of the different variety of ponies that ran to and fro... Oranges. Lavender. Apples. Mint. Cake... Fear. The ponies smelled of this. The changeling however: a completely different story. Dirt. Death. Rotting pus... Hunger. He could tell by these "Changelings" breathing patterns that they haven't eaten in a very long time. That hunger, the primal desire to survive, that deep lust for the next meal that will determine whether you live or die. Telegraphed to him by the erratic patterns of their breathing. A wobbly flight path, the wing beats faltering every now and then... All of that primal want, directed at him. If given the chance, the changelings would rip into his body, chew and devour everything that constituted his physical being... ... Pinkie Pie started shivering, her 'doozy' prediction making itself known to the group. The human paid no attention to this action however, he stood perfectly still as the changeling ocean raged in the sky. "Oh boy... this is a doozy alright." She said as she looked over to the human. His eyes were covered by the length of his hair... Something inside him changed. The atmosphere around the human suddenly birthed an astounding pressure. Something just happened, and nopony dared to speak, lest they rouse the wrath of this invisible force at play. Rainbow Dash didn't even have the mental constitution to stay airborne, she dropped to the ground, barely able to react in time to land on all four of her legs. Pinkie's mane drooped as her mood was visibly changed because of this force. Zecora shifted on her hooves and took a deep, shaky breath. The human, ever so slowly, started walking back to the house. The group followed in him when he did this, even Rainbow Dash. She was headstrong; not stupid. But when Rainbow Dash turned, she spotted a rouge changeling barreling towards the group, but more specifically, the human. "Look out!" she screamed, Rainbow took flight and started barreling towards the human to knock that changeling into next week, even though she only knew the alien for about 5 minutes, she wouldn't stand idle as a handicapped being, pony or otherwise, got hurt. Her flight proved to be in vain as the black blob was already too close for her to intervene, the artificially dark sky gave the rouge changeling more than enough cover to gain some time before she spotted it. Rainbow decided, that if she couldn't stop the changeling, she could at least rip the thing off him as soon as possible. The human never showed any sign of acknowledging the offending projectile heading straight for him. When the changeling was in range... He tilted his head to the side to dodge the changeling that was flying towards him. The changeling did something that no pony, not even Pinkie, could have predicted... It promptly slammed into the ground, bouncing a couple times before finally settling next to the house, completely unconscious. He continued walking. Crash! The sound of another changeling falling through a roof of a random house assaulted groups ears. Thud! Another changeling dropped, falling straight into the ground. Crash! An innocent cabbage stand was destroyed as a changeling fell into the stand at terminal velocity. The sounds of multiple changelings hitting the ground and other buildings could be heard as the human slowly walked towards the house... "...What's happening out there?" A southern accent said from inside the house. "Applejack...your still here? I though you peeled out like everypony else." Rainbow asked the orange mare as she looked over to Love Tap's unconscious form on the couch. "Someone had to look over Tap here, she's plum tuckered after all this... confusion." Applejack looks over to Pinkie, who seemingly ignores her look. The human kept walking towards Love Tap, not stopping for anything. Applejack felt the same pressure that the group faced outside, and promptly got out of his way. Without saying a word, he picked up Love and started to go upstairs. The sounds of changelings raining down on the town are not lost to his ears. He went towards the room that had a similar scent to the mare, and promptly put her on the bed. "..." He didn't say a word as he tucked her into the bed. She snuggled into the covers and breathed a sigh of relief. As he moved towards the bedroom door to descend down the stairs, a change in Love Tap's breathing pattern alerted him to her awakening. The loud thumps made on the roof by the Changelings, ironically, dropping like flies turned her from her much needed sleep. "W...who's there?" Love Tap groggily stated as she slowly picked herself up from the bed. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves and looked over to the humans direction. The man turned his body to meet Love Taps gaze. He gave her a small smile before turning and moving towards the doorway. "Wait..." Love Tap's voice stopped him in his tracks. He turned around and addressed her. "Tap, you need some sleep, please go back to bed." "I have something for you in my closet...winter was scheduled for next week, so I made you a robe..." The man, following Love Tap's directions, opened the closet, picked up a box, and fished out the robe Love Tap made. The robe consisted of a soft, but strong, cloth with white cotton sleeve ends. The robe had length, to accommodate his bipedal stature. Simplicity is a big theme in this robe, Love Tap knew that looks didn't matter to him in the slightest. He also felt a pair of underwear next to the box, and promptly put them on. They sensually caressed his boys like the hug of a loving mother. The undergarments fit perfectly. He put the robe on his back, clicking together the neck clasp that he found by feeling around the collar of the robe. "Thank you, Tap. A lot of these "changelings," as you call them, are attacking the town... they're after me." "W-why?" the tired mare asked in horror. "I don't know, but I do know that your son is in danger." "W-what? M-more than everypony else?" "Yes, he has my smell on him. But don't worry..." A vast pressure flooded Love Tap's mind as she suddenly slipped into unconsciousness. Her body fell to the bed, gently guided by the human's hand. When the man tucked her in, he stood up and walked out of the room and preceded down the stairs. The ponies only looked at him as he walked towards the exit. He opened the door leading outside. Changelings were still dropping like rocks all over the town, he closed the door and continued on towards the center of town... Click. "What... in tarnation just happened?" Applejack asked. "I don't know...but those panties, sexy as hell." Pinkie said. The group just looked at her with bewildered expressions. *Thump!* "Ahhh!" a colt screamed a little as he cowered under his desk. The schoolhouse doors locked and barricaded with pieces of wood, desks, and many other things. "Now kids, please. I know you're scared but please, try to stay calm." Cheerilee shakily said as she huddled up with the many kids in her classroom. The sounds of tearful sniffles was overwhelmed by the constant- *Thump!* The tears grew in quantity on the kids faces as another changeling slammed into the roof of the schoolhouse. Cheerilee forbade the class of looking outside. The bodies of changelings strewn about on the floor didn't do well for a developing child's mind. She almost threw up when she saw the mass of starved changelings on the floor, green internal fluid caking the floor. Some of them fell on the white wooden fence that surrounded the school... The fence looked like it had nausea. "Mrs. Cheerilee?" a quiet, squeaky voice sounded from Cheerilee's left side. Breaking her out of her morbid thought process. "Yes, Sweetie Belle?" "Why are changelings dropping on our school?" she asked. "I...I don't know dear-" *Thump!* Another changeling dropped on the roof of the schoolhouse... But this one sounded a little bit different from the others. *Creak...* The roof creaked a couple seconds after the loud thump sounded. *Creak...* Another creak sounded...and one after that one. The sounds moved towards one of the barricaded windows of the school. The entire classroom huddled together in fear as the slow creaking sound advanced to the blocked window. One of the schoolkids made a squeak of his own as the creaking got weaker in sound... The creaking stopped. Every child in the class, including Cheerilee, stared at the window in fear... "Whew...I-" *Crack!* The sound of shattering glass cut the schoolkid's relieved exhale short. The class yelled in fright as a guttural scream of pain escaped from the changeling that destroyed the glass window. "Feed..." *Wham!* The sound of a hoof smashing against the wooden barricade frightened the children even more. "Children, move behind me." Cheerilee said as the barricade started to move, the sounds of the changeling slamming its hoof on the flimsy wooden barricade made the children huddle even closer together. Cheerilee gulped as she stood at the ready, fishing an unused 2x4 from the supply closet in the room and bracing herself for battle. The sounds of wood failing started to signal the breaking point of the wood, tiny slits of sunlight illuminating the room as the wood started to give way... The smashing stopped. Cheerilee was biting the 2x4 so hard, she could have sworn she broke a tooth. She stared at the window for a second, hoping that the changeling either gave up, or...succumbed. *Crash!* A starved changeling runs through the remnants, stumbling on the ground as splinters and green ooze flew everywhere. Some ooze got on Cheeriliee's face. The changling...had a hulking mass. The muscles that hid deep in it's chitin was compensated by the severely depraved and starved appearance. It's entire body riddled with small holes that either spurted green ooze, or had glass, wood, or a combination of the two, in them. The changeling looked at Cheerilee with a primal, cannibalistic, rage. It had a good three feet over Cheerilee. "Feed..." Cheerilee takes action and swings her 2x4 and manages to get the sickly looking changeling in the face. It stumbles, but it doesn't seem to phased by the hit. *Screeeeeeaaaaaaaa!* The changeling let loose a high pitched screech that mercilessly ripped through the eardrums of the class and the school teacher. So great was the pain caused by this sound that Cheerilee dropped her 2x4 and screamed in agony, as well as the rest of the class. The changeling saw its opportunity. With almost the last remnants of its strength, the changeling rushed forward, gripped Cheerilees neck with its mouth, and hurled her to the side like she was yesterdays newspaper. The children, who tried to hold as many tears as they could for the sake of Cheerilee, screamed and cried as they watched their beloved teacher crash through the closet door. Her body laid still as various cleaning items cascaded down the shelves onto her unconscious body. The changeling slowly shuffles towards the group of ponies huddled in the corner of the room, the changeling sifts its view to the children... But more specifically, Button Mash.. "Human..." The changeling bore its solid light blue eyes into the scared brown colt's gold ones. The changeling opened its mouth as the swiss-like horn on the top of its head glowed a sickly green. "Feed us..." But as soon as the changeling tried to siphon its food from Button's young body, an apple struck the side of the changeling hulk's head. "Leave em' alone, ya big palooka!" A voice said from near afar. The changeling looked back to see Applebloom, with copious amounts of apples to her left and right. Another apple made its way towards the changeling's horn with pinpoint accuracy. The throw lodged the apple on the tip of the changelings horn, making it slightly less intimidating. "Not so tough...now." Applebloom said as the changeling... Smiled. Its holey horn again glowed that sickly green color...the apple on the changeling's horn started losing its color and wilting before Applebloom's eyes. When the apple was nothing more than a dull gray shriveled up husk, the changeling tilted its head to the side, The once plump and delicious apple fell to the ground like a leaf in fall. Some of the changeling's wounds healed slightly as its smile widened... The monster's horn glowed slightly as Button Mash suddenly rose into the air, too fast for any of his friends to hold him in place. The pegasi in the class tried to move, tried to help, tried to do anything. But fear froze them in place... A ten year old colt was about to get the life sucked out of him in front of their eyes... "Somepony...help me." Button whispered as fear took his voice... The wind blew into the schoolhouse through the gaping hole the changeling barged in from. An overwhelming pressure was felt by the changeling...the same pressure that caused it to fall from the sky in the first place, reared its ugly head for the second time. The changeling's magical hold on the brown colt faltered as the behemoth lost consciousness for the second time, the changeling landed on the ground with an audible thud. Button soon felt himself falling to the ground as the magic suspending him vanished. But before he could land on the ground, he felt himself being stopped prematurely by something. "You...okay?" said a familiar voice from above him, he looked up to see... "Mr. Alien Dude!?" Button exclaimed in surprise. The human somehow got into the school and caught Button Mash as soon the changeling lost consciousness. One arm holding up Button, and the other arm gripping the cane Love Tap gave him. "Yeah...Mr. Alien Dude. You kids alright?" he asked the other children in the group, who looked at the red clad human in surprise. "Yeah...we-we're alright. But, Mrs. Cheerilee..." one of the children said as she shakily pointed a hoof to the ruined supply closet. *Thump!* The children flinched as another changeling fell near the school. "Alien Dude? What happened to the changelings...why are they falling?" Button asked. "It seems that they had... "A change of pace." Youtube Video Chapter 7"Sweet creation..." Said Celestia and Luna simultaneously. the game When the two royal sisters made it to ponyvillie via flight. They mentally and physically prepared for the fight of the century. The only fight that would have topped this one would be the fight against Discord... And the one they had with each other. "Who...?" Imagine the surprise in store for them when they reached the town. Instead of a raging swarm of black buzzing fury, they only saw a raging mess of black and green. From their bird's eye view, they saw the massive amounts of changelings riddling the town. Caved in roof tops, broken fences, craters marking where the changelings crashed. They descended to the ground, mindful not to step in any green goo that tainted it. When they landed, they got a close up view of the carnage that occurred... "Tia." Celestia turned her attention from the downed changelings to her sister, "Yes Luna?" "You're coming to the same conclusion as I am about these changelings, correct?" Celestia sighed, "I'm afraid so. These changelings are nothing but civilians...possibly rogues." "So, it couldn't of been Chrysalis's forces. Even if this was an act of desperation, she would've been much more organized. "Which begs the question...who is responsible for the anti teleportation ward cast on the town?" Luna questioned. "It must have been a high ranking officer of her army that she either ordered here...or defected from her army." Celestia looked over to the broken and bruised changelings that littered the street. They all looked cold and lifeless to the untrained eye. But with a quick scan of surrounding area showed that the changelings proved to be tough enough to survive whatever hell they went through. "That aside...who could have done this? Your faithful student is...indisposed at the moment, and none of the other elements are this powerful..." Celestia looked over to her sister. Nothing needed to be said, they both knew what the other's thoughts were. "It could have been the human that Twilight summoned..." Luna suggested. "It could be...but one of us must assure the safety of our ponies while the other addresses this human.." "You tend to your student Tia...I must see this human for myself." "No sister...I am more versed in the art of restoration then you are. If my gut correct, then this carnage is the work of the human that Twilight...found." Luna thought it over for a second before nodding in understanding. She spread her wings and took to the skies. The sun monarch's horn glowed a bright golden hue as she closed her eyes and focused. 'I don't know how powerful you are human...but I hope I don't come too late.' "Ummm...thanks mister, for saving us and...all." Sweetie Belle said from the back row of the class. The children had copious amounts of gratitude for the human because he saved them, but that feeling balanced out the fear that they had for something so different. "I know! Isn't he awesome!?" Button Mash yelled in that high pitched nasal voice, "he was all like "Buck Norris Stare!" and that ugly black thing was all like-" he put his hoof on his forehead dramatically "he's too awesome! THUD!" His...accepting attitude helped to bring some of the children into looking at him in a more "childlike admiration" sort of light. It helped that the human smiled in hearing the colt's possibly ego stroking ranting. "That's nice and all Button...but could you do me a favor." He asked in a weak voice. "Yeah!" He flinched "could you...lower the volume a little? My hearing is kinda sensitive." His voice barely made it to Button's ears. "Oh...ok. Are you alright?" Button asked in concern as he put his ear to his chest... "Oh gal! You're burning up! Your heart is..." "Don...don't worry I-" The cane he used to hold himself up trembled in his shaking hands. He fell to one knee, holding Button close to him as he fell to the ground. "Mister!? What's wrong with you!?" Button yelled, his voice laced with fear and confusion, "please, tell me what's wrong!" Button tried to keep his body from crashing down by pushing up. But his honorable act would be for naught, as the human's mass far surpassed Button's. Some of the colts and fillies in the class stepped up and ran over to Button's side. Using their combined strength to gently bring the human down, and roll him over on his back. "Umm...what's wrong with him?" Sweetie asked as the kids circled the human, concern and confusion etched on their faces. They noticed that he shook occasionally. Beads of sweat trickled down his face as his breathing quickened. "Is...is he sick?" ask a random pony in the group. Button distinctly remembered asking the same question the first time he saw the human face-to-face. "He's umm....different dear. I have to warn you...he's fragile." He also remembered his mother warning him of the aliens fragile state. When he first saw the alien he babbled something about strawberries and fell unconscious right there. "Yeah, mommy said he was sick when I asked." The kids looked at him in surprise. "Your mommy had an alien in her house?" asked many of the school kids at once. "It surprised me too." Button turned his attention to the alien's robes... Darker than usual spots littered the beautiful robe that Button's mother made for him. "Maybe we should take off this robe thingy he has on." Button suggested, "I remember he had bandages on the last time I saw him." The class hesitated a little with the idea of actually touching the alien being, but they agreed with Button on that subject. He could be hurt, and that robe hid the true severity of his wounds... "Where's the first aid kit? Maybe we could help him a little?" Button asked. "We know where it is!" Said three very familiar voices. They belonged to none other than the CMC. The three fillies barreled to the supply closet, where Chreeliee began to regain her consciousness. "Don't worry Chreeliee, we'll help you in a second!" "Mergerbur...merfurburdur..." was Cheerilee's response. The fillies all knew by heart where the first aid kit was...they've had many encounters with it before due to their "crusading." Applebloom was put in charge of carrying the kit (it was her turn). They double-timed it to where the alien rested, giddy at the prospect of getting cutie marks in nursing. "We got the first aid kit!" The three fillies said at once. Well Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo said, Applebloom had her mouth full. "Great! Now we can take this off and-" Button's sentence was interrupted by an "excuse me" from a filly from the back of the room. She had an orange coat, pasta white mane, and her cutie mark was a bowl of Spaghetti. "Yes, Spaghetti?" "Are we going to probe him?" she asked. The whole class cringed in disgust. "NO! We're not going to probe him!" the whole class shouted. "Kay den." Spaghetti put a dull pencil that she had next to her back in her saddlebags. Button, and some of the less squeamish classmates, began to slowly open the robes that hid his body from the group... Tears and screaming filled the class as they saw the true extent of the alien's wounds. Some ran away to vomit in the bathroom, some fainted right on the spot, spot cried out for their parents. The bandages that wrapped around his chest, shoulders, and left arm had solid black stains under them. Some injuries didn't even have the luxury of being wrapped with any form of protective wrapping... They drained a sickly greenish fluid, the pus clearly indicating an infection has occurred. multiple of these wounds surrounded his body. Red streaking surrounded the wounds, the skin around the wound looked dry and drained of fluid, his elbows and armpits looked somewhat inflated. None of the ponies could look at the disgusting injuries that plagued the human. They knew that they had to help the...being that saved their lives. "I...we still need to help him! does anypony know how to...help!?" "I...I think we need to clean the wounds first, and take off the bandages, right?" suggested Sweetie Belle. "Theirs an instruction booklet in the kit, maybe that will help?" Button asked as he looked at the kit's contents. They were all labeled. "Okay, I found the instruction booklet....got it!" Apply direct pressure on the area to stop bleeding, using a clean cloth. "They're too many areas! I need like...10 hooves to get them all!" Button said. "Only like five of them are bleeding! Let's clean the one's that aren't!" Sweetie Belle observed. The little ponies hurried towards the windows to retrieve the drapes that hung from there. "Are you sure these are clean?" Scootaloo asked. "Don't worry. If my sister has taught me anything, it's how to keep things clean." Sweetie Belle said the group. They took the drapes and carefully ripped them into five sections. 'Sorry Cheerilee.' They all thought. Button and the CMC added up to only four, so one wound was left unattended. "We need one more!" Button yelled to his classmates. One tiny pegasus, Featherweight, slowly came up to the human. "I-I can help..." "Good!" They gave him a piece of cloth and pointed him to a wound. "What's next?" Scootaloo asked. Clean the area with warm running water. "We have to move him to the bathroom!!" Button instructed. "But that's too far away! You saw how many of us it took to keep him from falling. He's too big!" Sweetie said. "There's a water fountain right outside the classroom..." said one of their classmates. "Can anypony levitate stuff?" Button asked to the class. A blue hoof shot up from the group, the same one that said there was a water fountain nearby. "I..I can try..." "Please do!" The filly ran to the exit and started up the fountain, trying to get as much water as she could into her magic grasp. She struggled, but she managed to get a decent blob of water going on. She carefully walked back into the room... Only to stumble and fall as she tripped over a pink hoof. "Watch where you're going, blank flank." "Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, what are you doing!? We need all the hooves we can get here!" Button said to the two resident bullies in the corner. "She tripped over me! I'm not touching that thing! He's probably the reason why that changeling attacked us in the first place! I don't need some blank flank telling me what to do!" The pretentious pink pony said to the brown colt. Silver Spoon nodded in agreement. "But...but that's just stupid! How do you know that it's his fault? You haven't even seen him till right now!" Button knew that this wouldn't end well. No single pony stood up to diamond tiara and Silver Spoon, it always had to be a group effort. The CMC had it down pat because they had experience with the tyrants of the classroom...but even they had a few emotional scars from them. "We don't want to sully our perfectly hooficured hooves on some bloody, pus-ridden, troll. What if we get sick, blank flank? What if all of you get sick from that alien? What if you get some weird, incurable, alien disease? "Don't you think, you fatherless idiot?" Silence. All of the class's eyes opened wide, their mouths opened like fish out of water. Button lost his ability to speak as he sat there. He knew what they were going to say would hurt, but... "Are yah kidding me!?" an angry southern voice screamed out. Hard hoof steps accompanied the equally loud voice. The source of the anger was none other than Applebloom. She stormed towards both of the fillies in a rage. Silver Spoon exhibited some fear, but Diamond Tiara's face remained fearless. "Well, if it isn't 1/3 of the blank flank trio. You know what they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the- oh wait! You don't have a tree! Your little hillbilly hoedown had two less mud-pits this year?" "I have had it up to here with your horse manure!" The class gasped at Applebloom's choice of words. "Your mouth is just as clean as your gene-poo-" Diamonds witty comeback was given the hoof, compliments of the back of Applebloom's. Again, the children gasped. Though, in their minds, they were cheering Applebloom on. "That thing ya'll are referring to saved our hides! Are ya'll really insulting ponies families when somepony is dying right in front of us!? Not only that, ya'll refuse to even help him! Are you that low!?" A trickle of blood ran down Diamonds muzzle as she stared at Applebloom in shock. "You..you just-" She stopped and flinched when she raised her hoof again. "Ah don't want tah hear none of it! Get yer pompous, fancy speaking, yellow bellied, frou frou, ungrateful, little flanks tah helping. Or I'll buck you two so hard that all your daddy's money won't be able to fix yah face!" She turned around and bucked a desk so hard that it went flying across the room, when it finally hit the wall, it burst into pieces. "Now git!" "Now now young pony. Commendable as your actions may be, violence and name calling won't help in this situation." The class all looked over to the opening the changeling made to see... "Princess Celestia!?" the whole class yelled out in confusion. "Yes, my young little ponies." she walked into the room and looked over to the five young ones putting pressure on the humans wounds, "your bravery and quick action are commendable. I will make sure that your friend and teacher get proper medical attention." She turned her attention to the unconscious changeling, and eyed the insect with disgust, "as for the leader of this little invasion...I will make sure swift justice will be dealt." She turned back to the human, "stand back please." her horn glowed a bright golden yellow. The humans body was engulfed in a golden glow identical to the glow on Celestia's horn. The grubby and blackened bindings that covered his body quickly unwrapped as the sickly green pus dispersed from his form. The red streaking around his body slow started to vanish, and his skin began to regain its color. Celestia was sweating profusely as the extreme amounts of magic that she expelled to its toll on her. When she stopped, the only thing that could be seen on the humans body were tiny cuts and abrasions. Celestia's glow engulfed the first aid kit next to Button. Antibiotic ointment and gauze started to be administered and wrap around the humans leftover wounds. When she was done, she promptly collapsed on all fours, panting and sweating as the class circled around her in worry. "Are...are you alright princess?" Asked the majority of the classroom. "Yes...I'm quite alright my ponies. Just a little winded." The same filly that tried to get some water offered a little cup of water to the tired Princess. She took the cup in her magical grasp and slowly drank it. "Thank you." "Your welcome princess..." the blue filly said. Button wanted to comment on the fact that they had cups all along, but he held his tongue. "So...whats going to happen to the alien?" Button asked in concern. "He will be brought to Canterlot for immediate medical treatment." Celestia said as she took a piece of scroll paper out of her armor and started writing on the piece of paper with her magic. After about one minute of writing, she rolled the scroll up and sent it to the castle, "Guards will be here to assisted us soon, but in the meantime..." With flash of her horn, the big changeling had chains around his person. "Is your teacher alright?" the princess asked. "Mer-ger-bur...mer-fur-ber-durr-ber-dur..." "She's just a little rattled...the changling threw her into the supply closet when she tried to protect us..." "And look what it did to mah apple..." Applebloon said as she showed Celestia what was left of the apple the changeling sucked dry. Her eyes widened as she looked at the apple's gray, shriveled, form. "How did this happen?" "The changelin' was going tah do somethin' nasty tah Button. But ah stopped the thing before it could by chucking mah lunch at it. Ah got the varmint- ummm...changeling in the horn, but the it...sucked the apple dry." Celestia couldn't believe what she was hearing, the changeling was about to... "Thank you for this information dear Applebloom, this will help immensely in the investigation I will personally lead to find out why these changelings attacked. "Now...I want the two little ponies in the corner to come here, right this instant." Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon shakily made there way to the princess. "Y-Yes?" "Don't think that your antagonizing behavior has gone unnoticed by me, I have gotten several letters from my student telling me about these "cutie mark crusaders" and their strife with you two. I, personally, will talk to both your parents about your behavior. Is that clear?" "Yes..." "And Applebloom, I know that everypony has a breaking point. But that does not excuse the fact that you hit her. I will talk to your sister and guardians about this, is that clear?" "Yes Princess Celestia..." "Good. Now, that aside, I want you all to know that your actions in trying to help this human, which is what they are called, saved his life." 'And not a second to spare...' She smiled to the group. "It fills me with great pride that you little one's could cast aside the difference of species and work together to save this human. You will all...except some." She looked at Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon who were on the verge of crying " be given the Equestrian Excellence Award." The children gasped in surprise. "You've all earned it." The sound of chariots and armored hooves landing caught the attention of the class and Princess Celestia. "Looks like the guards are here." Chapter 8Rain and thunder. The sounds of heavy rainfall and the occasional thundering in the distance leaked into the room from the thunderstorm outside. Canterlot was due for a rainstorm that day, moved aside because of the nobles bickering and protest to this day. Now, there was no avoiding it. The storm drenched the city and some frantic ponies outside with a nonstop downpour of water. The ponies outside who didn't take heed to check the weather schedule handed out by the Canterlot weather committee covered their head with what they could find. A three day old newspaper on the side of the road. A walker-by who was lucky enough to be passing by a store that sold umbrellas. Their own wings. But many of the ponies in this once busy and bustling city were enjoying a nice day inside with either their families, or a good book. Nice, warm, and dry. One of the many who enjoyed the constant sound of falling rain rested comfortably in a hospital bed. Though conscious, he was not. IVs and other tubes ran into his body, giving him substance and medicine at a constant pace. "...uhhh..." The occupant of the hospital room stirred from his slumber. Dazed and tired. He could not see his surroundings like regular ponies. He was as far away from that word as physically possible. He heard the calming sound of rain outside of his room, he smelled the sterile scent of the clean gauze surrounding his body. He knew he was in a hospital bed, past experiences attested to that. To his right he caught the scent of...strawberries. Strawberries and plastic. He reached out to the scent and grabbed a hold of a tiny plastic cup, with a ridiculously large handle. The inside of the cup didn't exactly smell like strawberries, another dominating smell...vanilla. It was a plastic cup filled with vanilla ice cream, was his guess. He felt around the tray, and soon enough, he found a spoon... From some odd reason, there was a loop of cloth around the tip of the handle. 'Wait...hooves. The loop of cloth around the spoon and the overly large handle is for hooves,. They put the loop on and tighten it so that they can use utensils...smart.' That little spoon and cup reminded him of a larger than life fact...he wasn't in his world anymore. He was in the land of magical talking ponies, completely different from his own world... 'This ice cream is *delicious!***' He attacked the the medium sized cup of ice cream with vigor. Pleasantly savoring the strawberries that were cut into halves and added to the delicious dessert. Strawberries were always his favorite fruit, seconded only to bananas. As he scraped the last remains of ice cream from the bottom of the cup, he noticed the distinct smell of...apples. Apples were his third favorite type of fruit. He reached out slowly, as to not tip the apple scented food off the tray in case of a surprise contact. His hand made contact with another ridiculously sized handle. 'Apple juice.' he guessed. He brought* the cup to his lips and tilted it. He was right... 'Sorry bananas, looks like you've been replaced.' The apple juice that he drank was the sweetest, refreshing, and downright best cup of apple juice he has ever had. It blew bananas out of the water, and into the moon the cup was so good.... "Gak! Ugh!" The cup of apple juice was so good that he wanted to down it as quick as he could, leading a tiny stream of apple juice straight up his left nostril. He coughed a little before using a finger to cover his right nostril and blowing the apple juice out with one sharp exhale. "Still better than bananas..." he said as he, slowly, finished the rest of the apple juice. He felt movement in his bed not his own, starting from his right foot, soon after that he heard a little groan. The voice and the smell were familiar. "Hello, Button. Had a nice nap?" He asked with a smile on his face. He knew that Button was there the moment he woke up... But a man has got to eat, and he was starving. 'That reminds me, I gotta see if they can-' "M-mister Alien?" the tiny, quivering voice of Button asked as he looked up to see the human lost in thought. The colts question derailing his train of thought, he focused his head to Button's general direction. Still giving him a smile as warm as the room they were in. "Yes, it's me Button. Do you know any other tall bi-whoa!" His sentence was cut off when Button lunged at him and slammed into his chest with a tackle hug. He knew he was going to do that. The sudden depression in his bed meant that he put his hoof on it, hard. The sudden change in the rooms air meant that Button had moved suddenly, and the quivering voice meant that he was on the verge of tears. He spread his arms out and took the, surprisingly strong, hug that Button gave him. He winced in slight pain. He started bawling into the humans chest, hugging him as if he was going to vanish into thin air. His bandages were getting soaked in the boys tears. He was confused, he only met this little pony for a short few hours. Granted, their friendship flourished when they met officially, him not being under the influence of some horribly tasting medical concoction, it still didn't explain to him why... A sniff of the air made it clear that Button has been here for quite some time. His scent is everywhere in the room. "Button, are you alright? How long have you been here?" Button tried to answer his question between his nasal sounding sobs, but his answer was interrupted by constant inhales of breath. "Button, please, calm down. I can barely understand a word your saying." he rubbed the back of his head, that was missing its trademark hat, and held him there for about 10 minutes for his sobs to go down. When they did, he took several deep breaths. Still hugging onto the human, but with a marginally less powerful grip. "I...*sniff* I've been here for about three days." he finally said. "...Three days? I've been out for three days?" the human replies in shock. He knew his fever was bad, but it didn't feel like being worthy of a three day resting period. 'Why would they even let him...' "Y-yeah. A-after you saved us from the changeling..." Button told him everything that happened after he fainted. When he reached the part about his injuries, the humans face grew an expression of shock. Button barely held his breakfast down when he remembered it, so he only told him that they were...green. But that was enough for him to guess how bad his wounds were. "I...I didn't know my injuries were that bad..." "It...it was scary. Most of the class..." Button didn't know if he should tell him about how the class reacted to his...wounds. He didn't want to hurt his feelings. That, and he didn't want to relive that day. The times he did he got queasy when he remembered how bad his wounds were, and it made him want to throw up, "never mind. You'd be better off if you didn't hear it..." "I...I understand. I don't want you remembering anything you don't want to. Is there anything you can tell me though?" "Celestia came and saved you with her magic. It was amazing, she cleared up your...green in like 5 seconds!" Button practically yelled. His loud nasal voice coming back at full strength. Which caused the hearing sensitive human to cringe slightly. "Oh...sorry, am I too loud?" Button asked in a quieter voice. "No, it's alright. It's not like I'm overly sensitive to the tiniest little sounds, that would pretty annoying. Though if you could lower the volume a little, I'd grateful." "Okay." Button said with a smile. "...You can come in now." The human said, much to Button's confusion. The door leading to the alien's room opened, revealing two royal guards. The one on the left had a white horn on his head, a Unicorn. The one on the right had white wings on his sides, a Pegasus. "I told you he could hear us, you're buying lunch today." said the royal guard on the right. "But, we were standing completely still...how'd you..." "I heard your heart beat and breathing, that answer your question?" The guards didn't say anything. The one on the right just smirked at his companion, and a roll of the eyes was his response. "Oh, and before you go back to whatever you were doing, could you get us some food. I'm starving here." the alien said. "We'll you heard the..." "Man." "You heard the man, get him some food!" Righty said to lefty. "Me!? Why do I have to do it?" "Not it." "What!? Wait you-...*sigh* fine." He could hear the guards hoof steps as he walked down the hospital hall. "Fricken' aliens..." "I heard that." He could hear his hoof steps get faster. All three of them laughed. "He's got your number, Bronze!" "Shut up!" And another round of laughter. The alien turned his attention to the only window in the room. "How long has it been raining?" "The rain started at 12 last night and is scheduled to stop at about... 12 A.M. "Spoiled nobles wanted to push it off forever. Don't have a sense for tradition like most ponies." "Tradition?" the alien asked. "Oh, can I tell him sir?" Button asked the guard. The guard laughed. "Kid, you don't have to call me sir, that's my dad's title. Just call me Silver." "Oh, okay." He turned to the human and began his explanation, "Most of the other cities in Equestria need rain for their crops and stuff, so they get scheduled rain. But Canterlot, being a city mostly run by unicorns, doesn't need rain to nurture what little plants they have. Most of the plants in the city are in the castle gardens, and are catered round the clock by gardeners hoof-picked by the princesses themselves. "Some of the population of Canterlot moved here from other cities in Equestria, and they missed the rain that would come down. So, they signed a petition to have at least one day where it would rain in Canterlot. Even though most of the nobles downright hated the idea, Celestia, one of our rulers, thought it was a nice change in the schedule. So, once a year, Canterlot has a "Rainy Day." It's basically a city wide day off, even for the princesses." The human had many questions after Button's little lecture. But the guard named Silver beat him to the punch. "That's right, kid. I'm impressed, how'd you know all this?" he asked. "Had to study for a history test last week, got a B+!" He decided to leave the majority of his questions for later, because he caught the scent of something delicious coming closer to their location . "Food." The alien said. Silver and Button sniffed the air. "Wow...that's one good nose you got there. I can't smell anything." "Me neither." "Years of practice. I can you what it is, but I'll keep it a surprise." He arched his brow in thought, and asked something. "Hey Button." "Yes?" "You and Silver said that the weather is "scheduled", what do you mean by that?" Both ponies sported a confused look. "You...don't have weather control in your world?" The human snorted. "No, our weather is...pretty hectic." "Soups on." the guard in charge of getting food said as he came into the room with an assortment of food in him magical grasp. "Care to tell me how hectic this weather is?" Silver asked. The guard called Bronze swiveled his ears to the human in interest. "What weather?" he asked his colleague. "Pull up a seat, and have a drink." he smiled, "this one's going to be...a shocker." *** Cold, uncomfortable, scared. These words could best describe the feeling that the giant changeling felt in the small interrogation room deep in the bowels of the castle. But what scared him the most is the completely unreadable expression on the face of the only other being in the room. Celestia. She had a stack of paper on the table in front of her, it was about six inches tall. Celestia inhaled, and slowly exhaled. Usually the sound of rain would calm the nerves of most ponies, but it had the opposite effect on Celestia. For the rain reminded her of a very annoying fact. It should be her day off. One of the few days she had completely to herself, to relax, to unwind, to decompress, to have genuine fun, had to be spent with this changeling, and doing a mountain of paperwork. And on a more major note, this changeling led an invasion to Ponyville that hurt her ponies, and destroyed thousands of Bits in homes and work. And she made sure she was forthright about her state of mind. "I'm not happy, changeling." she stated with her eyes closed. She pointed a quill that she brought with her straight to the changeling. With her tone of voice, it felt like that quill could suddenly shoot down the table and stab it in the heart. If bugs could sweat... "Not. Happy." she said, emphasizing both words. "Not only did you lead an invasion to my personal student's town of residence, with starved and dying changelings I might add, you had the audacity-" she levitated the dead, gray apple that Applebloom showed her. The shriveled husk was placed inside a magically sealed plastic bag for preservation, "-to try to use ancient, forbidden, black magic to steal the life force of an 8 year old foal." Inhale...exhale. "I must say, I haven't been this angry in well over 300 years, and the last pony who angered me this much..." she opened her eyes and gave the changeling a smile so cold that it made the emptiness of space feel like a hot summers day. "...Is dead." she said with an almost happy tone. The changeling knew that no pony can live that long, and it would be obvious that the pony that angered her would have felt the hand of time long ago...but, the changeling didn't know how the pony died. And that wasn't a question he would be asking her anytime soon... But that same question would haunt the changeling for the rest of its life. "But, I am not the only one you have angered. " she looked behind the magically one way glass that separated the interrogation room and the outside hallway, "my sister has also been awakened from her slumber in order to deal with this...situation. "Now, you must know of my sisters 1000 year banishment. This means she has a more...traditional way of gaining information." She deactivated the one-way enchantment on the window... To reveal Princess Luna magically holding a large, metal, spike. She breathed on it, and brought a black cloth, with her cutie mark on the lower left corner, up to the black spike, witch also had her cutie mark in the center of it, and started polishing it. She moved one eye over to the changeling and smiled... She had fangs. The enchantment was reactivated, and Luna disappeared behind a wall of black. Celestia turned her attention to the changeling, who visibly shook in fear. She flashed that cold smile of hers and whispered to the changeling. "You don't want to know where that goes." She trotted to the chair opposite the changeling, and sat down. "Now, the choice is yours... do you want to do it the easy way, and give your complete cooperation? Or..." She deactivated the glass and reveal her sister again... Who was now completely in her Nightmare Moon form. She stared at the changeling, with a psychotic, borderline demonic, smile. Her fangs glistening in the darkness, and her spike lazily floated on her right side... The spike pointed to him. "Do you want to do it the fun way....because I have one of those spikes too..." She came almost face-to-face with the terrified changeling. The changelings massive size did nothing to help it, even though it had the size advantage... "And you don't want to know where that one goes either." Ant, meet boot. *** "So...the island is constantly being struck by lightning..like, all the time?" Button said in surprise, his eyes wide and his ears hugging his head. "Yes, all the time." "But how..." "I don't know." The human heard the distant sounds of metal hooves striking the tile floor...the ruffling of feathers was so light that he barely heard it. "Someone's coming, they've got wings and armored hooves...it might be another guard to relieve you two." The two guard ponies said their good-byes and returned to their stations outside the door... Though, as the pony came closer, he notice several things about the mysterious pony. The time in which each hoof lands on the floor suggests that this ponies is a tall one. He didn't have a base value, so he couldn't be sure. The ruffling of wings suggested that said wings had to be much bigger than, say, the guard named Silver. The smell...fresh soap and shampoo. As if the pony recently had taken a bath. The smell of lilacs suggested that this pony was female. ... This pony was far different than any of the others he has met. He senses it, her power, it radiates outward. It felt like the sun was bearing down on him. He heard the guards go rigid as the pony came closer to the room. "At ease, gentleponies." he hears a motherly, almost melodic, voice say to the guard. He could have heard their muscles relax. They moved aside and opened the door for the pony. "P-princess Celestia!" the human hears Button say as he feels him move on his lap. Most likely a respectful bow or greeting. "What are you doing here?" "Greetings my little pony. I have come to talk to the human. I'm sorry, but this is...not information that should be heard by the young. I must ask you to leave. "You can come back when we're done, alright?" "Yes, princess." Button gives the human one last hug before coming down off the bed and leaving the room. "So, you're this 'Princess Celestia' I've been hearing about." the human says as he leans back in his bed, "I can't really bow at the moment, so you'll have to forgive me." "Pleasantries like that aren't needed here. You risked your health to save the lives of my subjects, I would like to consider you a friend, if you let me." The man put a hand on his chin. "Hmm, you're the kindest royal figure I've ever met, you completely blew my assumptions out of the water." "How so?" "I thought you were going to try to execute me." Celestia almost reeled back in response to that, "why would you think I would do such a thing?" "Your name. It reminds me of the...royalty back in my world. They seem to care more about money and material objects over actual human lives." "I know my fair share of those..." Celestia responded. "So, forgive my frankness, but why are you here? I don't think the ruler of an entire nation would just come for idle conversation with an extraterrestrial." Celestia sighed, she prepared herself a long story. "Yes...I have come to tell you something of utmost importance..." "Let me guess, humans were on this planet before?" "Hmm... care to tell me how you figured that out?" inside, Celestia was somewhat suprised, and impressed that this human could have deduced that. "Easy. When those changeling beings invaded the town. I apparently had a giant bulls-eye on my forehead. I could sense their desire for my flesh, anyone could." "It wasn't your flesh that they wanted..." "Hmm...then, can you enlighten me as to the history of my race here? But, before you do..." He brought his attention to the window. "A "Rainy Day"...I wish we had that in the navy." Chapter 10Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 9(Rain is optional.) Three hours... It has been three agonizing hours since the princess started talking to the alien. Button has been sitting in front of the door, staring at a wall for the last three hours. When Button tried to talk to the guards stationed with him, figuring that they would have something, anything, interesting to say... They just ignored him! They just stood there! Choking out his attempts of friendly conversation with dead silence! The only thing that made noise, other than the bored colt, was the sound of the pouring rain outside... And the wall clock. With its infernal tick-tock noise. *Tick.* *Tock.* *Tick.* *Tock.* "Are they done yet?" Button asks as he waits outside the room. "..." The guards don't answer him. At this point he didn't care anymore. *Tick.* *Tock.* *Tick.* *Tock.* "This is boring!" Button whines, "Wait, my video games!...That I left in the room..." He slams his head against the floor and groans loudly. *Tick.* *Tock.* *Tick.* *Tock.* "I know! Lets play "conversation!" I talk to you, and you talk back! Simple!" The guards didn't even move. His eyes twitched. "Dah!" He slams his head on the floor, again, and groans loudly, again. *Tick.* *Tock.* *Tick.* *Tock.* Button tapped his head on the wall to the rhythm of the wall clock in sheer boredom. his eyes wide and twitching in sync with the clock. *Tick.* *Twitch!* *Tock.* *Twitch!* *Tick.* *Twitch!* *Tock.* *Twitch!* "You've left me no choice..." Button whispers. He sat down, took a deep breath... And started singing. "And I~ will always love you~ and I~..." Button's nasal singing drowned out the clock, and infested the entire hallway. He heard his mom listening to the song awhile back, and it's been stuck in his head since. He skipped right to the hook, not remembering the rest. "And I~ will always love you~! And I~-" Button's mouth suddenly turned into a zipper and zipped closed. He turned to Bronze, his horn glowed a light brown. And for the third time that day, he slammed his head on the floor. He didn't groan, for obvious reasons. *Click* The group's attention shifted to the hospital door. The guards moved out the way to see a golden aura surround the door. The door opened and Princess Celestia walked out with a neutral expression on her face. "YAY!" You could almost see a cloud of dust comically shaped as the excited colt hang in the air where he used to be. Celestia watched the innocent colt practically fly into the room where the alien rested. Remembering the fuss and tears he shed when the doctors refused to let him stay with the alien. *** "But- but he doesn't know any of you! What if he wakes up and he gets scared!?" The doctors* were having none of it. "Little colt, you're lucky you, or your classmates didn't catch something from the aliens injuries. We don't know if prolonged exposure to him leads to any negative affect to ponies. We're quarantining it until- " "Him!" The doctor stopped her lecture in surprise of the young colts outburst, "excuse me?" she asked. "**He* is not an it!*" "His gender doesn't matter at this point! You *are not** going to-*" "Excuse me." said a new voice, the doctor recognized the voice immediately. She disregarded the irritating colt for a second and looked being him to see... "P-princess Celestia!?" the doctor stammered out in confusion. She bowed so low that her position could be misinterpreted as something else entirely, "may I ask why you are here?" The princess smiled, "I am here to see that the human is well and stable. I commend you for the concern of the health of your fellow pony, but look behind you." The doctor looked behind her to see Button sitting next to the door that housed the alien, forbidden to enter by the two guards on duty, with a look of extreme concern. Completely disregarding his favorite passtime/obsession of playing with his JoyBoy at any given opportunity. "I've been alive for more than 3000 years, seen all the wonders of this world and yet..." Celestia slowly inhaled, then exhaled, "the sight of that little colt, so concerned for an alien being he met less than two days ago, brings a tear to my eye." The doctor looked back to Celestia for conformation and, true to her words, a single tear trickled down the sun monarchs face as she watched the colt eye the door in concern. "You have my confirmation that he will not be harmed if he stays with the human. Do you think you could let him in?" "What about his mother?" "I have sent a scroll to her explaining the situation. She too believes that the young colt known as Button Mash should be allowed to stay. So, can I have your confirmation?" The doctor really didn't have a say in the matter. Even though her tone of voice suggested that she had the option to say yes or no... Who in their right mind would say no to Princess Celestia? *** Celestia stood in the hallway with her eyes closed. Listening to the rains constant pitter-patter outside. She took another deep intake of breath, before letting the air in her lungs out steadily. 'I've been doing that alot...' She wanted nothing more than to just stand there and let the, now, calming sound of the rain take her away to a land of silent content. The sound of rain held a special place in her heart as the one thing that could calm her down no matter how angry, how distraught, or how stressed the day has made her. But the one day she could experience the calming sound, her schedule flanked her from all sides. The guards, all of them, knew how much their princesses cherished this day. They knew that this silence, how short the duration, was the only time of relaxation for her. *Poof* A tiny scroll magically manifested itself in front of the tired monarch, a tiny frown stained her muzzle as she took the scroll in her magical grip and opened it. Her tiny frown soon inverted into one of the first genuine smiles she has made that day as she read the short, but sweet, contents of the scroll. Dear Princess Celestia/ Princess Luna, Due to the unfortunate events that has transpired during Canterlot's "Rainy Day" the weather team has been informed, by an anonymous source, that both of you were forced to work during this. Therefore, in keeping with the tradition of the "Rainy Day", the downpour will be extended another 24 hours. A General Service Scroll has been sent to all homes in Canterlot informing them of the extension. Best wishes from the Canterlot Weather Team. If Celestia wasn't in the company of two guards, she would've jumped for joy after reading this scroll. She felt like a school filly that just found out school had to be canceled for the day. But, she let herself draw out a happy sigh. She teleported the tiny scroll into her private collection in her quarters. She turned to the guards with a smile "The doctors say that the human will be ready to leave the hospital at the end of the week. The "Rainy Day" has been extended for another day. When your shift is over, you can return to your families and enjoy your day off." The guards couldn't help but break formation and smile as they heard the news. "Yes Princess." She turned and made her way to exit the hospital, she could have teleported... But, the rains song could never be rushed. What was the harm in walking to the entrance of the hospital... Very slowly? *** He could hear the excited gallop of Button as he made his way into the room. He could feel the once calm air inside the room rapidly moving in the wake of the little colt's excitement. He could hear the sound of his hooves hitting the wooden chair as the boy climbed his way towards his bed. The same depression that he felt near his right leg when he woke up came again. But this time, the feeling felt slightly stronger, as if the colt suddenly gained weight. He could practically feel the warmth of Button's smile as he grinned at him. He made some space on his right side by moving his arm some, making a space that Button immediately occupied. A strange fabric brushing up against both his arm and his side as the little brown colt got comfortable. "So, how was it?" Button asked, looking up to the man with a smile. The passage of time made things slightly darker, preventing Button from seeing the aliens face. The man turned his head to the boy and smiled. "We had a very nice talk about the history of both our worlds, your princess is very nice Button. I wish we had a royal figure like her back in our world." He said in response to Button's question. "How...how are they like?" "Picture Nightmare Moon, with none of the magical power, but with 100 times the cruelty." Button gulped. "They don't rule over anything per say. They're just nobles who cannot be touched, no matter what they do." 'Well...one of them was touched. I couldn't stop laughing when I got that report. You know how to make things interesting, Straw-hat.' "Like that jerk Prince Blue Blood?" Button knew what happened at the gala from Sweetie Belle, it turns out a big mouth runs in the family. The man chuckled a little, though to Button the laugh sounded a little strange. "Yes, he came up in our little talk. He has the attitude of one of them, but that's about it." "Oh...so all you talked about was your worlds?" "Yes, we did..." "Well, you had a better time then me!" "How so?" "I sat there for three hours, 20 minutes, and 37 seconds!" The man filched. "Sorry..." Button said before putting his face in the man's right side in exasperation. "...That's very precise." "Whe fudda cluck..." Button's muffled voice responded. "You...had a clock?" "Yahhh." "What about the guards? Didn't they talk to you?" "Day turd eta stachews..." "...They turned into statues?" "Yoaah." "Button, that's starting to tickle." "Sori." he said, into his side again. He rolled to the right so that his back was flat on the bed, and sighed. "So...they turned into statues?" "They didn't talk, they didn't respond, they just stood there like a couple of Weeping Willows!" Button said, actually keeping his high pitched nasal voice in check. "Weeping what?" "It's a refrence-wait..." Button looked at his eyes for a second, "would they..." he stored that question inside his mind for another day. "Nevermind..." Button groaned, "that was horrible." Button didn't say anything after that. They lied there and heard the rain outside. The alien soon fell into a blissful slee- "This is boring!" And he's awake... "*Snort* what?" "What?" Button asked. "...Nothing." He let out a yawn and covered his mouth with his left hand. "This rain is pretty relaxing." "Yeah, I do my best when it's raining outside." "Your best at what?" "Video games of course! It's like I fall into a third dimension, where nothing matters but me and the screen. No distractions, just...do." The man could barely hold in his laughter. Tiny snickers leaking out of his mouth every now and then "...That sounded really cheesy, didn't it?" Button snickered a little as he recalled what he said. "Third dimension?" The alien says as he finally let out his laughter. Button followed soon followed after. After their laughter died out, lasting for a good two minutes, Button opened the bag. The man felt Button's movement, and heard that clicking noise of a button being pulled open. "What's in the bag?" The alien curiously asked. "It's my JoyBoy! I figured I would own up to that promise I gave you before I left school, remember?" The human thought for a second, before remembering the last words he heard from the colt before... "Yeah, I remember you talking about it but..." "Yeah?" "What are "video games?"" "...What?" "I don't think we have video games in our worl-" "Wha-!" he began, but caught himself before he became too loud, "you...don't have video games in your world?" "No...is that bad?" "Bad?...Bad? That's horrible!" Button wailed, tears starting to form on his eyes, "what kind of cruel world do you live in?" "Button, a-are you crying-" His sentence is interrupted by a tearful hug from the emotional unstable colt. "It's okay...It's okay. I'm here for you..." "...Uhhh...okay." Button let go and wiped some tears from his face before taking out his JoyBoy "your in good hooves mister, don't you worry." "I'll take you word for it..." He turned the JoyBoy on. "What was that?" the human asked. The noise he heard didn't sound like anything he has ever heard before in his life. The noise sounded...artificial. "That's the sound the JoyBoy makes when you turn it on. Neat huh?" Button said excitedly as one of his favorite games booted up. Then music unlike any he has heard before started playing after a short time of silence. "What...is that...?" "That, my alien friend, is Megamare BattleRunes 6: Magic Beast Gregar. In my opinion, the best in the series." The alien couldn't even form words. The music that passed through his ears was so... "Wow..." "I know right? Megamare always has the best music." The alien actually felt a tinge of disappointment when the music ended. But new, amazing sounds, started to reach his ears as Button started the game. "I'm gonna start a new game, practically did everything already..." "So, how does this work?" "Well, there are button's on the side, and you press them with your hooves." "But Button..." "Yeah?" "...I can't see the screen..." "Oh...never really thought this through..." Button's ears hugged his skull as he slumped. "It's alright Button..." "But...you won't be able to play." "All these new sounds and experiences are good enough for me Button...I've been like this all of my life, you take what you can get." And so, Button introduced the alien to the wonderful world of video games. He explained the story line, the background characters, everything he could possibly remember. And that day, the alien learned a valuable lesson... Button gets extremely emotional when it comes to video games. "Button...shouldn't you save before you fight this "Blastmare?" You only have ten life left." Button scoffed, "this is the first boss in the game, I perfect run her all the time. I don't need to save." And so Button, with ten life left, started battling the crazy pyro known as Blastmare. Button memorized her pattern long ago, she would always move three times, then attack. He was doing fairly well, countering everyone of her moves- *Crash!* A very loud thundering sound from outside made Button jump in surprise. Since all his attention was on the game, his reaction was explosive... He threw the JoyBoy in the air. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" Button saw that Blastmare was preparing a row of fire balls coming from the left, and he wasn't in the right place to dodge it. Button caught the the JoyBoy and quickly realized that he didn't have time to dodge the incoming fireballs... But luckily, he stocked up on "Reflects" and had one on him. He pressed the A button and a yellow shield with a green cross in the middle appeared. When the fireballs hit, a purple shock-wave of energy shot out of the shield and hit Blastmare for 60 points of damage... She only had 50 left. "Victory!" He happily said as the winning music played, "you have lost Blastmare! Now those poor teachers won't have to-" Button payed so much attention to actually playing the game, that he didn't notice the little light on the top of the JoyBoy blinking red. For the entire time he had been defeating the forces of evil, he didn't notice one crucial fact... He forgot to replace the batteries. The screen suddenly turned black as Button gloated about the defeat of the first boss. The alien heard the sudden stop of sound, and knew something was off... He put his fingers in his ears...but it didn't help much. "...Feel the- what!? Wait! No! Nooooooooooooooo! I forgot to change the batteries!" And he started crying his eyes out. "Why does mom always have to get the cheap knock off batteries!?" The alien felt his right side be commandeered, again, by an emotionally distraught Button... His entire right side was drenched in tears in a matter of seconds. The guards outside opened the door in utter confusion. "Nuh ah haa tah stut ah oval agaah! Whiy~!?" Button's pitiful display was muffled by the aliens right side. He was getting uncomfortably warm on that side, plus Button's constant movement tickled him mercilessly. The guards just slowly closed the door. Leaving the alien to his tear drenched fate. "Button?" "Yahh!?" "Didn't I tell you to save?" "Yahh!" "And what didn't you do?" "Sahv!" "And why are you crying so much?" "Bicuh ah dedet pahk ah spuh puh ah badais!" "We can ask the nice guards to see if they can find some batteries, alright?" he patted the boy on the head a couple of times in an attempt to calm him down. "Oka..." was Button's muffled response. After Button calmed down, they asked the guards if they could find some batteries. Luckily the hospital had battery powered toys for the younger patients. So getting four batteries for Button's JoyBoy wasn't a hassle... The alien also asked for a new hospital gown, the one he had one had Button's tears all over it. "Sorry..." "It's alright Button." *** Celestia looked at her bedside window. The conversation she had with the human that she found out was named "Fugitora" stirred up some pretty old memories she thought she moved on from. A tear left her eye as she looked over to the plastic bag that held the gray, lifeless remains of the apple that she showed to the changeling... She couldn't part with the apple. Like a leech that attached itself to its victim, this apple stayed with her, tormented her, reminded her of her failure. She could do nothing to stop it, the human didn't know the extent of the gratitude that she had for him. Saving that little foal from being...leeched from. She, for the second time in her life, failed to protect what her held dear from the evil of that magic. The magic that turned things grey... The magic that turned them all grey. The rain poured on, both outside...and inside the castle. *** "Button, I'm getting pretty tired." The alien said as he yawned for what felt like the fifteenth time today. "Yeah..." Button yawned as he saved the game and put the JoyBoy away. He took off his saddle bags, that were slightly wet with tears, and dropped them on the floor, "me too..." The alien closed his eyes, laying back in the bed and letting the rain's sweet lullaby drift him into sleep. Button didn't even move from his place next to him, he just got comfortable and sighed. "Good night Button..." "Good night...mister?" "Yes?' "I feel pretty stupid for not asking you earlier but...what's your name?" The man patted Button on the head and brought him closer to his body. "The name's Fujitora, but...you can call me Issho." "Isesho? That's a pretty weird name...sorry if I didn't say it right." "When I told Celestia my name, she butchered it too." "How'd she say it?" Issho snickered before he said "Figiteri." They both shared a laugh before calming down "Well good night..." "Good night...Iessho." He said his name wrong, again. But he didn't mind.
Chapter 1Ponyvillie wasn't the biggest town in Equestria, but it sure wasn't the smallest. It was just right, big enough to have the hustle and bustle of a legitimate town, but small enough so that everypony knew each other. Though, its small stature doesn't mean that the quaint little town is...stable would make it seem that the town is unsafe, drab would be a better word to describe what Ponyvillie is not, but the word 'drab' seems so...drab. Let's just say that Ponyvillie has its fair share of excitement. Falling into the category of said excitement would be as follows: An immortal tyrannical batman wannabe released from her 1000 year time-out for being a bad little filly, voracious, yet adorable flying parasites (aptly named Parasprites) that consume inorganic matter, showboating mares who claim that they can slay the very constellations themselves, said constellation (but a tad on the young side), a certain purple unicorn who took her lessons on friendship a bit too seriously, a stallion who is, as three very well known fillies put it, 'strangely obsessed with tubs of jelly', and many, many more... 'oddities'. But, none of these things could have prepared them for the being that would grace their 'quaint' little town. It all started with a field trip, and a little brown colt... Button Mash couldn't wait for school today, his love of video games would have to fall to the wayside today (though not by much, he always carried his portable, and a copy of 'Megamare BattleRunes 6: Magic Beast Gregar.') because he and his fellow classmates would be graced with the opportunity of a lifetime. A field trip to the Crystal Empire. "BYE MOM, I'm going to school now!" He said in his nasally excited voice. But before he could move his tiny little hooves with the speed that could rival a certain rainbow pegasus, his mothers stern voice called out. "Button, did you remember to comb your mane?" Button always forgot to comb his mane, always. He didn't know why, he always remembered to put on his hat, but never comb what was underneath it. "Moooooooom!" Button whined. "No arguments, do you want me to comb it myself?" She questions. Button groaned and trudged to the bathroom. He got a comb and started to brush the tangles out of his mane. After a few grunts, he got his two tone orange mane in order. He reached for his saddlebags and, once again, tried to 'go fast, go really fast', but again his mother stopped him. "Aren't we forgetting something?" the beige mare said, smiling down at her son. Button lifted his head up and kissed his mother on the cheek, "love you mommy" he said with a smile. She returned the favor on his cheek "love you too Button" she giggled. Button smiled at started running out the door. The mare watched her son run off with a sad little smile. "Always in a hurry...just like his father..." the mare pushed those sad thoughts out of her head and went towards the kitchen. "Yeah gotta go fast!" Buttons yelled as he poured everything he had into 'going fast'. His class was going to meet up at the train station, though he has been a little cautious of trains ever since his toy train suddenly burst into flames for no apparent reason (blame Discord). "Gotta go REAL fast!" The train station was coming into view, and he could already see his classmates grouped together. . . Just to slam into a familiar purple dragon. "OWW!" They both seem to say the same time. They both fell backwards and started rubbing thier heads. "What in Celestia's name hit me..." Spike grumbled out in pain. He opened his eyes to see Button groaning, and also rubbing his noggin. "Button Mash, what the hay are you running for?" Spike said with a bit of anger. Dragons are tough when it comes to physical hardiness, but it still hurt like an applebucker to get slammed into by the little brown colt. "Sorry Spike" Button said, with a slightly pained tone "I excited because were going on a field trip today to the Crystal Empire. I guess I was a little too excited..." "It's alright" Spike said while he stood up and brushed himself off, "this is probably the most exciting thing to happen to me this week..." Spike lamented. "What's wrong?" Button asked, slightly worried over his friend. Most of the young colts were as thick as thieves. The EXTREME overabundance of mares meant that they had to be, colts had to stick together. A lone colt would be eaten alive by the fillies in school, most of them are nice... Especially Sweetie Belle in Buttons opinion. But still, there weren't many colts. Two for every eight fillies, and even that might be an overestimation. "Twilight...she messed up...bad. That's all I know." "...How bad?" Button asked. Deep down he didn't want to know the answer, but his youthful curiosity got the better of him. "Remember when she went crazy and put a 'want it, need it' spell on her doll?" Button nods, shivering as he remembered the utter chaos that happened that day, he almost got trampled. The little doll SHOT LASERS at ponies. "Multiply that by 9000..." Spike said. ""WHAT 9000!? That can't be right!" Button exclaimed in shock. Spike only nodded. "Yeah, that bad...I'm getting some groceries right now, I don't think shes eaten in a week." "Wow...I really wish I could help Spike, but I but to go." "See ya...It's been good talking to you Button" "No prob!" Button runs off to the train station to join up with his friends. Spike watches his friend run towards the train station. A sliver of envy passes through him as he does. He was about the same age as Button, but he didn't have to deal half of the things he had to. What Spike didn't tell Button was who he was getting groceries for. Twilight was in such bad shape that Rarity needed to let him stay at her house until Twilight got her act together. A bittersweet situation, if there ever was one. Papers, books, and trashed littered the house of the once meticulously organized mare. Twilight's mane was disheveled, dirty, unkempt, and a horror to look at. Rarity would have an heart attack if she saw Twilights less-then-tidy appearance. She relentlessly searched through every book that she could get her magic on. And when she didn't find any relevant information, she threw the book to the side...violently. What was she looking for, you ask? It would be better if we start from the beginning. About three weeks ago, princess Celestia entrusted Twilight with one of the BIGGEST secrets in Equestrian history... The existence of aliens. Now, Twilight wasn't that surprised. Heck, she became an alien herself in order to stop Sunset Shimmer from using the Element of Magic for her own nefarious purposes. But what she gasped at was the fact that they were these beings that were able to slice planets in half, go into the depths of space, and many, many more feats that left her scared, in awe, and curious... So very, very curious. The names of these being were 'Humans' and, Celestia entrusted her with yet another doozy. A spell to watch these amazing creatures. As it turns out. Most Equestrian advances in technology, AND in magic have been thanks to watching these 'humans'. What Celestia gave Twilight was a simple viewing spell (simple being a relative term) but soon viewing wasn't enough for Twilight. Her, along with Spike, and her friends saw many wonders when viewing the different types of humans. . . And, many atrocities. They all learned the hard way that humans were omnivores. But the most surprising occurrence that happened that day is that Fluttershy took it the BEST. Turns out she deals with carnivores all the time. Regardless, She still got a little spooked (come on, it's Fluttershy). One human wearing a red spandex suit caught Rainbow Dash's attention. He could run so fast that everypony thought that she had a crush on the alien (though, Twilight couldn't blame her. She personally found humans attractive. . .due to her experience in the 'other' Equestria). And one chef that used ONLY his legs in a fight caught Raritys. Though...seeing them wasn't enough for her. She wanted to mingle, she wanted to actually talk to one of these amazing creatures... And that's when it went all wrong. As she combs through the books, she knows that it is a completely futile effort. Partly for the fact that she didn't know what to look for... Now, you might be wondering why she would go off the deep end so much just to make a portal to another reality. But the fact is, she isn't going off the deep end for that. She succeeded in creating a portal...but maintaining it was a different story. A gurgled cough was heard from Twilights room. What was in that bed was a bandaged, bloody bipedal creature. . . He was barely alive. Twilight knew that the basic healing magic (and basic as in, first aid) would NOT be enough to help. Not even the magically infused gauze would be of help for long. She looked at the dying human in her bed, tears once again spilling from her eyes. "Please...i'm sorry...stay with me." She whispered as she ran a hoof through the humans mane. He opened his eyes, and Twilight feared that he would go into a further state of shock. . . "Oh sweet Celestia..." She uttered in horror. The humans eyes were the milkiest white she had ever seen. The entire time the human was in her 'care' his eyes were closed. But now... She knew he was blind. She even ran a magical scan just to see if the white color was just a natural occurrence. . . It wasn't. Now, Twilight's entire adult, and most of her child, life had revolved around her ability to read. Books were a passion to her, and without eyesight... Still, there were other ways to absorb knowledge. But without the ability to physically read, it would be a death sentence for Twilight... And the guilt of knowing that her actions might have caused pain, not just a pain that could be fixed with a bed and some medicine... But pain that lasts FOREVER, tantamount to death, sent her down. She barreled towards the bathroom, and vomited into her toilet. She knew that she couldn't do this alone. She knew this three days ago, but this sudden revelation cemented her utter incompetence in this situation. She needed help, and now. The smell of the Bengali Butternut Squash was wafting through the kitchen. Buttons mom was reading 'Romea and Julio' the classic tale enraptured her. Brought her out to a trh- *Knock* *Knock* *Knock* She was suddenly taking away from her world of romance when the door sounded. 'Who could it be?' she thought as she walked towards the door. When she opened it...she was almost knocked back in her surprise. She bowed. "G-good evening Princess Twilight!" she said out of respect. When she came back up, she noticed Twilights less than regal appearance. She was about to ask her what happened to her, until she spoke up. "Please...I need your help."
Chapter 2Twilight had to give the beige mare that she so desperately searched for some credit. When confronted with a potentially mortally wounded alien, she didn't run away screaming, nor did she hide behind anything. She just adopted a shocked expression, and gasped. "My word...what is it?" "He." Twilight corrected. Love Tap looked at Twilight with some confusion, "excuse me?" "He's male." "...I see. He looks like one of those characters in one of Button's video games." Love went over to the human, and slowly took off the blanket that cloaked his body. The mare gasped as she looked at the bloody bandages that wrapped the poor man. "I changed them everyday..." Twilight whispered. She felt so helpless. "How long has he been here?" Love Tap questioned. "Three days." "Why did you ask for help now?" "...Because, I can't just go to Ponyvillie hospital with an alien...and, this is my fault. If he were to get hurt in the resulting confusion of revealing him to the public...I wouldn't be able to forgive myself." 'I'm already having a hard time with that now...' The beige nurse arched her brow in confusion, "did you say that it's your fault Princess-" "Please...call me Twilight." she corrected her...again. "Oh, alright." 'I don't think I deserve to be called a princess after this..." "So, why did you say that it's your fault?" Twilight bowed her head in shame. "I..." She told her about the mirror spell, the humans, and her insatiable curiosity for the aliens. Every second used to explain the story sent Twilight's ability to talk down a slippery slope. Said slope being drenched with her tears. "I-I ripped an innocent being from his world, and a-almost killed him! The reason why I asked for your help now..." She sniffled, and used her magic to gently open his eyes. Revealing the white, milky color that caused Twilight so much grief... Well, more grief then she already had. "I need to know...did I...cause this?" Twilight whispered. Love Tap looked at Twilight, then to the human, and then to Twilight again. "You...think that you caused his blindness?" Love asked in surprise. "Ummm....yes?" Twilight answered, feeling slightly stupid. Stupidity wasn't her 'forte'. "Dear, this type of blindness is hereditary, at least in ponies. It is referred to as 'Snowdrop Syndrome'." she giggled a little, "If you caused his blindness, we wouldn't have known until the dear woke up..." Twilight shivered as she played that nasty scenario in her head. What scared her is that she didn't know how he would react...at all. In fact, she didn't know ANYTHING about this human. He could be like that one human she saw that could turn green and destroy entire planets with just one clap. Or that one in the red and blue spandex suit that could blow away galaxy's just by SNEEZING. Or those 'humans' that could turn blonde, and BLOW UP PLANETS WITH GIANT ENERGY BEAMS AND SCREAMING! THE POSSIBILITIES WERE ENDLESS!... She was getting ahead of herself, something she excels at, but the fact still remained that she knew nothing about this human. But, she would have to give him the benefit of the doubt. She caused this mess, and his pain. The least she could do is hope to form some kind of friendship with the human...and hope that her world doesn't become galactic dust. As Twilight busied herself by mentally debating, and thinking about the potential danger that this humans hypothetical reactions would present, Love Tap was busy actually doing something useful. She replaced all of the humans bandages, noticing all the muscle on his body in the process. She grew worried that his reaction to being in a completely new world would be...unpleasant. Also, she had a hard time coming to terms with the situation at hand...whatever those things were. Twilight Sparkle, a princess, supposed leader and role model, brought an unknown, innocent, but possibility deadly alien to their world. Moreover, she entrusted HER with this. She didn't know if she should be flattered, or fearful. But, those thoughts would have to be cast to the wayside, it was time for the most important part of this humans healing... "Twilight?" Love Tap asked. The mare in question shook her head, derailed from her train of thought. "Yes?" "This is where it gets...tricky." the nurse said with a bit of hesitation. Love Tap dug into her saddle bags and fished out a tiny bottle filled with a clear liquid. "What is that?" Twilight asked. Once again her curiosity resurfaced. This mare never learns. "...Phoenix Tears." was Love Tap's response, "the contents of this little bottle can heal any known wound in Equestria. We'll need this to make sure that he doesn't...succumb to his internal wounds, I counted 29." Twilight filched at the severity of the humans wounds. But, where has she heard phoenix tears being used as a healing agent before? "What's the catch?" Twilight asked. She was a very smart cookie. Though, recent events would argue otherwise. "When applied to the skin, Phoenix Tears create a sensation of pain tantamount to having that same wound cauterized. When ingested...I think you can fill in the blanks." This was just not this humans week. "I...understand." Twilights horn started glowing, she went to the humans side, and tapped his head with her glowing horn. The glow never subsided, and she braced herself. "I'm ready..." Love Tap looked at her in shock, "dear, you do realize that you will have to be hospitalized if you go through with this?" "Yes...just do it." "This will be pain unlike anything you have ever felt. Are...are you sure that you want to subject yourself to this?" Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. "All his pain...all of this...is because I couldn't see the consequences of my actions. I never thought of the possibility of the portal being too strong for me, I didn't think of the possibilities of creating a black hole and destroying Equestria, I didn't think of ripping an innocent being from his world and almost destroying him. I didn't think of anything beyond the excitement of meeting a new race, learning new things, gaining new friends...I only thought of myself, and during the past week, while I was caring for this human...I learned that you have to think of everypony before making possibly world changing decisions." She trotted over to the human who was lying on her bed. He had a dark, shaggy mane that reached just below his shoulders. His skin was a shade of light brown, almost chocolate in color. She ran a hoof through his mane and smiled. "And also...I learned that you have to take responsibility for your failures. This human is here, and in pain because of me...and if I can make his stay here just the least bit painful...as Celestia as my witness, I will make sure he does." She looked over to Love Tap with a face filled with steely determination. "Besides, I've dealt with an immortal goddess, an incarnation of pure chaos. an Ursa Minor, and a tyrannical Shadow Lord...what's a little bottle going to do?" Love Tap was very moved by the princesses bravery. The speech she made revealing her own failures gave her an immense amount of respect for her. Twilight knew when she messed up, and when to take responsibility. 'Celestia sure knows how to choose them.' "Okay...but before we go about this, we have to move him to a place that I can care for him." Love Tap sighed. "You do realize that, when we do this...there is no going back." Twilight nodded. Her horn shone a brighter shade of lavender, and in a flash of light, they teleported to where Love Tap thought would be the best place to relocate him...her home. After they got him settled, they proceeded. But before they did, Twilight wrote a letter. "Don't worry, this letter will explain the situation to the paramedics when you call them...I'm going to need something to bite on." Love Tap brought out a clear, chewy, gummy like blob. "Had this when I birthed Button, they didn't have any pain meds in stock that day...though, what your about to feel is about 100 times worse than that." Twilight flinched, and shivered. She had to give respect to somepony who gave birth without medicine... Sweet Celestia, what has she gotten herself into? The nurse popped the cork off the vial filled with phoenix tears. She gave a look to Twilight, who only nodded...with a gulp. Love Tap opened the humans mouth, and fed him the bottle of tears... 'Well, Button always wanted a bigger brother.' Button was bouncing towards his house as he waived to everypony in town. Today was such a FUN day! First, his class got a tour of the castle. THEN they got to meet Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. Button got to go to the Crystal Joystick and play the newest games, which include: Super Mareio Kart 7. Megamare Zero 4. Super Prince Peach Pie (try saying that five times fast). Mareio got rescued this time, what a twist! And, many more amazing new releases. He also got to have milkshakes with Sweetie Belle... Though that didn't go very well. At least he found a Bit. Now...why was there a hospital carriage pulling away from his house? "Weird..." Button continued to skip to his house. He opened the door and threw his saddle bags to the floor. "MOM! I'M HOME!" He screamed in his nasal, excited voice. "Oh, hello Button!" Love Tap said as she descended down the stairs. Button ran over to his mom and gave her a big hug. "I can't wait to tell you about my day!" Love returned the hug and giggled, "well, I can't wait to hear it...but, I'd like to have our new friend be around to hear. He's upstairs." Button was curious...who was this new friend?... And did he like video games?
Chapter 3Six years. It's been six years since Love Tap has had a taste of alcohol. Six long, sober, and happy years. She gave It up around the time she got pregnant with Button... But now, Love Tap was nursing a fairy old bottle of Sweet Apple Acres hard cider. She's had this bottle in reserve for a VERY long time, she was quite the party mare when she was young. Fast forward nine years. The stress of this situation finally got her to call up Mrs. Booze. Twilight had the foresight to put a soundproofing spell around the house when she poured the phoenix tears down the aliens throat, she also relocated herself to another room in the house. The reaction to that action was... Immediate. One second it was still and silent in the house. A metaphorical calm before the storm if there ever was one, because the second the tears were down the aliens throat, Twilight was screaming in agony. Crying and writhing on the ground... But that wasn't even the worst part. What drove Love Tap to the bottle wasn't her screams of agony. No, her profession makes her deal with patients screaming in agony almost on a regular basis. Thank Celestia that she mostly dealt with either sick foals or the occasional accident... It's when Twilight started to beg Love Tap to end her life was what broke her from her years of sobriety. 'Please...end me! Make the p-pain...stop...please.' Love Tap took a big gulp of her hard cider after remembering that...and many more of Twilight's desperate pleas to end her pain...permanently. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to shake the memories away... She wouldn't be able to count on the cider when she fell asleep...her nightmares would be prolific tonight... Especially the last few moments of Twilight's pain... when she started giggling... then laughing maniacally... while crying. Love Tap called the paramedics... after locking herself in her room to wait out Twilight's episode. She didn't know what a meat bicycle was, and she certainly didn't want to be Twilight's new one. Thank Celestia she didn't go out to the town in that state... And that was another swig. That really didn't help her stress levels, though she handled it better than the average mare. One; because she personally knew and worked with the ponies in the emergency response unit, two; because her job made her (downright forced her) take stress management sessions (though, being a mother would be the biggest cause for those classes), three; Twilight's letter, and finally, the fact that she dealt with crazy ponies before. She didn't bother to read the letter, it was meant for the paramedics who would care for Twilight....and she had a feeling that the less she knew about all the ripples that this event sent out, the better she could sleep at night. After the medics took her away, sweating bullets due to the sudden pressure of the entire situation. Love Tap brought out her booze and started drowning her troubles in the drink she gave up long ago... The first swig almost made her cough it back up again. She didn't have the stomach for the stuff that she had before Button was born, and it was coming back to bite her... 'Button...' That reminded her. Soon enough, Button would come back from his field trip. He would most likely want to tell his entire day to her, paraphrasing, like only the imagination of an eight year old can. At least she had something to look forward to. Which reminded her of another topic...an 'alien' one at that. 'How long has it been since the poor dear has eaten anything?' She thought to herself as she put her bottle away and trotted, with the slightest difficultly, to the kitchen to prepare at least something edible for the alien, which reminded her of yet another topic... She didn't even know what the alien ate. She couldn't assume that he ate flowers, hay, and grass. So, she settled on, even in the extreme diversity of her world, a universal food. Bread, and water... Lots of it. So with that in mind, she got some bread and water. She put some jam to the side just in case the...'human', as Twilight called it, was able to digest that... Stairs are annoying. In her, slightly buzzed, state of mind, she was having a slightly difficult time going up to the second floor. Drinking almost half a bottle of hard cider before tending to an alien might've not been the best idea. She had to thank her luck that phoenix tears also act like a relaxant...after the whole 'unbearable pain' aspect of the liquid had passed. She wished that Twilight would have the same effect done on her...but it was the human who physically took the tears, not Twilight. Love Tap suddenly felt her body grow heavy, she was right in front of the door leading to where the human was resting. She was nervous, she never interacted with this...being when it was actually conscious. Her hoof was centimeters away from the door, but she couldn't bring herself to open it. Too many things were going through her head, too many questions for her to keep track of... With an audible gulp, she slowly closed the gap between her hoof and the door. As soon as her hoof touched the handle, something stopped her from opening the door, something...audible. "Are you...going to stand there all day, or are you going...to come in?" The voice was male, raspy and tired, but definitely male. It was quite, low, and controlled. The voice made Love Tap gasp. 'He...he's been awake all this time?' A coughing fit drove her out of her shock induced stupor as she slowly opened the door and carefully trotted her way into the room. When she did, she finally got a look at the humans face when it actually displaced emotion. He was holding...what she believed to be 'hands' to his mouth. He was currently sitting up on the bed he was resting on, his back was bend towards his hands as he coughed violently. Love Tap immediately, but cautiously, made her way over to the human. She placed the tray that held the food on the nightstand next to his bed. "I brought some water and bread, can you eat any of this?" His coughing subsided, and he slowly brought his hand next to the bread on his left. He put his hand on the bread, and carefully moved his hand until he felt the glass of water. He picked it up and slowly began to drink. After he was done with the water, he put the glass down and took the bread from its tray. He slowly began to bite and chew the savory loaf. The speed he was going at suggested he was savoring every last bite. He must have smelled the jam, because the remaining pieces of bread were coated with some of the delicious spread. With the help of Love Tap of course. She was right, he was blind. "Thank you...I don't know how long...I've been unconscious, but it must've been a long time for me to be starving like this...I apologize if I've become a burden to you." Love Tap was shocked at his 'apology'. Everything...all of this that stemmed from Twilight's borderline narcissistic curiosity, her pain...Twilight's pain, and her loss of sobriety was completely out of his control. But, he still puts the blame on himself? Even though he was ignorant of the full situation...it still baffled her. "Dear...this isn't your fault in the slightest! If anypony is in a position to apologize, it would be me..." He sighed. "Figured as much..." he said quietly as a single cough escaped him. Love Tap was confused at the uttering of this sentence, "ummm, figured what, dear?" she asked. "I knew you weren't human...that you had to be some sort of quadruped-." he was cut short by another cough, "excuse me, your...use of the term 'anypony' confirmed my theory..." Love Tap grew tense. "How...did you know I wasn't human?" Love Tap asked. She didn't know whether to be impressed, or cautious. She knew a couple of blind ponies, and all of them needed help round the clock, even to do the simplest tasks... Of course, those ponies weren't blind since birth like the human in front of her, at least, she assumed that. "A lot of things clued me in to your... well there isn't a word for it, or if there is, I don't know it. So I'll just make one up...Nonhumanness...we'll go with that.... but I don't want to bore you with the details." "Umm..." The human coughed, "Yes?" "Could you please tell me how you were able to deduce that I wasn't human? I mean... if its not a bother to you." Love Tap, despite her earlier hesitation to confront this alien, was actually curious to know how a mind, pony or no, adapts to life without eyesight, since birth. The other senses must've been extremely amplified to compensate for the lack of sight. Alien or no, he was going to live here... for a while. So she wanted to get to know him better. "Really?" The human said with a confused tilt of his head. Love Tap only nodded. "Well, when you came in, the sound your hooves made when they came into the room did not sound like you came in with two legs, so that's where the quadruped theory came from." He coughed a couple of times more before Love Tap brought out a cough drop that she always had handy, being a nurse gave her some quirky habits. He took the cough drop, uttered a quiet 'thank you', and put it in his mouth. Love Tap was very impressed at how the alien was able to find out that, and she voiced her feelings with a bit of awe. "Wow...that's amazing!" She said with a smile. The human smiled back...but then he frowned, as if remembering something. "I also heard those screams...it's really hard to stay asleep when you hear screams of agony... what happened?" Love Tap frowned, remembering Twilight's...reaction. "Oh dear...in your current state of health, I think it's best that know... I'll tell you if you want, but-" Her sentence was cut off by another round of violent coughing. This time he spit out a trace amount of blood, Love Tap knew this would happen... She knew that they didn't use enough tears to heal him completely. Heck, she only used enough tears to guarantee his survival, bare minimum. That was the problem with phoenix tears, they could heal any wound, sure, but their universal use is dampened by their extremely painful side affects... If enough tears are used, the pain would be so great that the patient would risk a heart attack from sensory overload, no pain medicine in the history of Equestria has been strong enough to numb the pain of phoenix tears. Diluting it in water didn't work either. Twilight's alicorn state wasn't just for show, the amount of pain she received could have easily caused a cardiac infarction in regular ponies. Of course, Love Tap knew this, via Twilight. But even the mighty Princess Celestia couldn't take eight ounces... Eight ounces. And that...is saying a lot. Because Twilight only took the pain of 3 ounces of tears, and she...broke. After his initial coughing fit, Love Tap rubbed his back all the while, he laid down on the bed and sighed. "Well...that certainly was unpleasant." He said with a rasp. He tried to clear his throat, but that just set of another coughing fit, much smaller than the previous though. "Dear...I'm so sorry your in this state, I...I'll get you some medicine." She said as she started to move away, slightly ashamed of herself for thinking that this ill being could pose a threat. The human, between bloodied coughs and rasps, chuckled, "If you keep calling me dear; then I'm gonna have to call you honey...Honey." he only got a confused look from Love Tap... Not that he could see it, of course. "Oh...my names not honey, though she is a very nice mare, and an excellent nurse." The human just gave her a bewildered look. "...That was a joke..." He deadpanned. "It...it was?" "...Yes...yes it was...what...what is your name?" "Oh! How rude of me, my name is Love Tap...may I ask what yours is?" "...Your...name is two words....put together?" "Yes...is...that odd in your culture?" "But...names are supposed to have an implicit meaning behind them...the combination of two words though..." He trialed off as he shook his head in utter disbelief, "I just...I...I don't even-" A short, but violent cough broke him out of his confusion. Some blood got on the blankets. "Sorry..." He said as he plopped back onto the bed. "I'll...get you some medicine dear...please get some rest." She closed the door and made her way to the bathroom, forgetting to ask about the humans name. She felt ashamed really, that she thought of this human as a dangerous wild card. Even though it was a justifiable suspicion. She still felt bad for thinking that. When she was conversing with him, she knew that this human was genuine. At least, that's what she got after talking to him. Though, every time he coughed, she felt her heart wrench. She knew that it would take a while for him to heal, even with the literal 'second wind' the tears gave him. It would take weeks for him to fully heal from his wounds... Weeks they didn't have. The stress was momentarily forgotten because of the interesting conversation with the alien... But now it all came back at full force. She had more things going through her mind to count. How the other princesses would react, how ponyvillie would react, how Twilight's friends would react... How Button would react... Button... Button! 'Oh...buck* how will Button react to this!? He's coming from his field trip soon! This is not good...*' Everything else was hard to take in sure...but Button was always her top priority. No exceptions. She got the medicine, a yellow potion, made by zebras, called 'Saradomin Brew'. Though she would have to be careful, it would temporarily weaken the recipient after the initial healing effect.... and it had a very disgusting smell. 'Why does zebra medicine *always** have a catch?*' She trotted back into the room where the human was resting. He still was awake though. When she got close enough, he turned his head to the side . She popped open the bottle containing the brew, and as soon as she did, the humans face contorted into one of disgust. "What is that horrid smell?" He said. almost choking on his words. "It's your medicine, dear. I'm sorry that it smells a little... harsh." "Smells like someone milked a skunk and put it in a bottle, am I right?" "What's a skunk?" The human just stared at her for a second, he sighed. "...Nevermind...please tell me that it tastes better than it smells." "I'm afraid not dear, though I have to warn you, you'll feel a little weak after drinking it...and this isn't the last time you'll be drinking it...sorry." He almost vomited twice because of the horrible taste. "Dear...you were right about me having somepony living with me, he's my son, Button. He coming soon and-" "Mom! I'm home!" "...Buck....pardon my language." "So, mom, what's he like?" Button asked as he and his mother ascended the stairs. Luckily for Love Tap, the alcohol passed through her system and she had no trouble going up them this time. "He's umm....different dear. I have to warn you...he's fragile." "Are you bringing work home, mom?" Button asked. Love Tap giggled, "no Button, he...certainly isn't from Ponyvillie hospital." Love Tap slowly opened the door to reveal the human, he was 'looking' towards the door with a blank expression, his eyes half-lidded, and his breathing steady. Button's eyes widened as he took a step back to take in the foreign face. "...Mom..." "Yes, Button?" "Is...is that an alien?" "Ummm...yes Button. It's rude to stare at ponies, so stop." "But... he's-" "Button, don't be smart with me, I know that he isn't a pony." "...Sorry mom." Button slowly approached the weak and helpless (he really is) human who is just lying there. "H-hello, my name is Button Mash... but you can call me Button." He didn't answer. "Are you alright?" Button asked, some of his earlier hesitance forgotten, "mom said that your weak... did you get hurt?" He didn't answer. "Umm... mom? I think he's sleeping." True to his statement. A small snore was heard from the sleeping human. "The brew must have put him under." Love Tap said. Button cringed at the mention of the Brew. "Ewww! You mean that icky yellow stuff that you give me when I'm sick?" Button stuck his tongue out and made a very loud 'blargamaflarg' sound. "Uhh-what...oh...must've dozed off." Button's overreaction caused the alien to wake up. Love Tap gave Button a stern glare. To which he cringed at. "Sorry for waking you...I'm Button Mash, what's-" A deep inhale interrupted Button Mash's sentence. The human sighed and looked at Button with a dumb, loopy smile. "I can smell you... you smell like strawberries." He said while swaying back and forth. "Umm... yeah? I had a strawberry smoothie today-" "I like strawberries..." Before he could respond to that, the human started slowly bringing his hand toward Button. It was shaking a lot, and he was panting. He was having a really hard time just bringing his hand out. "Teach me all your secrets...strawberry... pony." After he said that, his hand dropped, and he fell asleep. His hand and head were touching the ground. "That... was weird." Button said as he slowly backed away the human. Love Tap came towards him and positioned his body on the bed correctly. "Strawberries..." He muttered in his sleep. "I'll get you some strawberries when you wake up dear...Celestia knows you deserve them." Love Tap whispered as she ran a hoof through his hair and tucked him in. She didn't take into account that his alien body would react differently to the Saradomin Brew. "Is... he sick?" Button asked. Love Tap sighed. Button was completely unaware of what this being went through... it wasn't going to be pretty when she had to tell either the human, or Button... She was really going to get this humans name. "Yes Button, I think we should leave him to sleep for now..." She looked at the time, 3:30. "Want to order out today Button?"
Chapter 4Red. That was the only color that could describe Spike's eyes. Red from the tears shed when he found out Twilight was in critical condition, red from the tears he shed when he cried in the ambiance of a pitying Rarity. Red when he ran towards the hospital as fast as his little legs could take him. Red when he barged into the hospital and managed to choke out the name 'Twilight' to the receptionist. Red... When he saw Twilight strapped into a bed, unconscious, disheveled, ruined... Guilt. The emotion he felt, above all others, when he attacked himself for Twilight's state. He knew that she went off the deep end, and he was the only dragon that could bring her back from herself. But he was too weak to stay... When Twilight would scream and sob at nothing, the same words over and over... 'Why...why can't I find anything!?' When she threw her books at random, with the force to shatter bone... Luckily, dragon scales are the toughest organic defense known to ponykind, only second to diamond in toughness. When the book hit him, he cowered. He ran towards Rarity's, bloody and bruised, to plead to her... He lied. Making sure to hide his pain, he said that Twilight got an extremely important project from the Princess, and she is sending all her time on it. The mirror to other worlds was part of it, and Twilight got into 'that state' again. Rarity didn't even question his logic. Spike was a very trustworthy dragon in her mind, and she gladly accepted him into her home... Weak. He should have fought through the pain, he should have stayed true to himself, his dragon code. But the moment the books started flying, he ran with his tail between his legs. He could have prevented this, he could have told Celestia the truth, he could have told Rarity the truth.... But he was afraid. Afraid of what would happen to Twilight if he did, afraid that she would have to leave if this got out, afraid that they would have to be separated... Reaping. The seeds of deception he wove were fully grown, the seeds of fear and insecurity, the seeds of abandonment... Harvest. *Knock* *Knock* The sound of hoof smacking oak was heard by the, slightly less than conscious, human. He groaned in his bed, the after effects of the 'Saradomin Brew' rescinded long ago in his sleep, and his wounds were under control... He just liked to sleep in. "Dear, are you awake?" the gentle voice of Love Tap was heard through the door. The human slowly sat up on the bed as he was ripped away from the blissful hold of sleep. "I am now Miss Tap..." He groggily said as a yawn escaped his mouth, cringing at the horrible smell, to him, his breath and body released. Love Tap opened the door a walked in the room with a slightly sheepish expression... Not that he could see it of course. "I'm sorry I woke you dear, and please, call me Tap. I still have some years of youth in me... by the way, I never got your name." The human cracked his back and yawned, mindful to cover his mouth so his offending oder would not go on Love Tap, "my name is...uhhh", he racked his brain for a second to try to remember his name. Brian? No... Alex? Nope, not that either. Sir Hammerlock? That just sounded silly. "Hmmm... sorry, drawing up a blank when it comes to my name... drawing up a blank when it comes to a lot of things actually." "Oh no... you have amnesia." Love Tap wasn't surprised. This alien should have been dead three times over from all the damage his body has taken. Any other unforeseen complications from this moment on could easily be seen as the best case scenario. "That I do... but hey, the only things I remember are smells, tastes, sounds, and how things feel. Though I do want to know who I am and where I came from... I'm not going to have a vision anytime soon." "Don't worry, it just takes time for these things to come back, don't lose hope now!" She exclaimed. Love Tap put a hoof on his hand to try to comfort the human... "...Come on, you don't get it?" Love Tap's face swapped from dire concern, to utter confusion. "Uhhh...get what dear?" "Come on, I'm not going to have a vision anytime soon?" "Oh... Oh! A vision!" she giggled a little, "I get it now!" "Ba dum pssh..." The human half-heartedly sounded out. Pinkie Pie turn her head in the direction of Love Tap's house, stopping in the middle of mixing cake batter. This caught Mrs. Cake's attention, who was getting a pre-chilled bottle of baby milk from the fridge. "Pinkie, are you all right?" said Mrs. Cake in concern. Pinkie doesn't usually stop in the middle of mixing cake unless her Pinkie sense goes off. But this time... nothing. Pinkie continued to stare at the wall, like she didn't even hear Mrs. Cake address her. After a couple of seconds, her perpetual smile once again shined brightly on her face. She continued to mix the cake, this time she started humming a sick rock tune to herself while doing it. "Oh, nothing Mrs. Cake. Someone made a joke... that's all." "...Don't you mean 'somepony'?" the blue mare asked. "No, no I don't. What gave you that idea?" Pinkie asked in her usual peppy tone. "Uh... I. I don't- I should go." Mrs. cake blurted out before walking out of the room. "Kay, bye!" Pinkie was all alone in the room, mixing todays order. She burst into giggles every now and then. "Vision." another giggle snort, "genius." "MOM!" A familiar nasal voice called out. Gaining the attention of both the human and Love Tap. "Is that your son?" asked the human. "Yes, he is." Love Tap answered, "Yes Button?" she addressed her son in a slightly louder volume. "You made pancakes!?" he asked excitedly. The human could hear him bouncing on a chair in happiness. "Yes Button, but wait until I'm there..." she turned to the human "do you want to sit on the table with us?" "Umm, are you sure? Big scary alien sitting down to have pancakes with a family?" "Oh hush now, your not scary, and I had a talk with Button before I came here, he's okay with it. In fact, he really wants to meet you." she chuckled, "Youth, want to talk with aliens at the drop of a hat, but practically have to be force fed broccoli." The human sniffed the air for a second before sighing "pancakes smell good..." Love Tap turned around to confirm something. Yep, the doors were closed. "Next your gonna be telling me what they're made of..." she said quietly to herself. Quite to her, at least. "Lets see...1 1/4 of a cup of flour, 1 1/4 of a cup of buttermilk, 1/4 of a cup of granulated sugar, a teaspoon of baking powder, a teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 of a cup of cooking oil..." he sniffed the air again "...and a pinch of salt." Love Tap... was completely baffled. Not only did he tell her what she used for her pancakes... he told her how much of each ingredient she used to make them. "Ah-I... ah-. H-How did you..." "Years of practice." He said, chuckling a little bit at Love Tap's reaction. "MOM?" Button's overwhelmingly nasal voice called out. "Oh. We should probably get you ready to go downstairs... are you alright with me bathing you dear?" The human, caught off guard from her question, started blushing like a ripe tomato. 'Uh- ah I... think I can bath myself." He stuttered out. "Are you sure dear? I really don't want you to slip and get hurt." "Yes... I'm good." "At least let me guide you to the bathroom." "Okay... by the way, what am I wearing? It feels... loose." "A standard hospital gown, I keep some in handy." "For what?" "Oh, you know. Just in case an alien needs to be nursed back to health." The human snorted, "Oh ha ha. Someone's got a funny bone." She giggled, "I still got some in me. Anyway, the reason I have spare hospital gowns is because of a... botched cupcake fiasco. Hospitalized so many ponies that they had to use houses when the hospital was filled. So, I've had those there for a long while." "...Your saying that a bad batch of cupcakes hospitalized half a town of ponies?" "A little bit more than half." Love Tap corrected. "...Was the pony who made the cupcakes arrested or something?" "No... why would she?" "...Never mind." Love Tap guided the human to the bathroom, he was really good at maneuvering by himself. After they reached the bathroom, Love Tap let him bathe himself. He had a little trouble with the actual height of the shower, but width wise, he was just fine... "Love Tap, do you have a toothbrush I can use?" The human asked after he exited the shower. His breath was still abysmal. "I already set one up dear. On the sink, left side. Put it in the cup to the right when your done." He felt around the sink, homing in on the smell of toothpaste as he grabbed on to the brush and started brushing. Two minutes later, he was done with the brush, and put it in the cup. Were both Buttons and Love Tap's brush were also. "Thank you Tap." He said in thanks. He sniffed the air to catch the scent of wood and metal, and it was very close to the scent of Love Tap. "What is that your holding Tap?" He asked her. "It's a cane that my husband won in a poker game with a minotaur." She answered. The cane had a handle that could easily fit a human hand. It had a sleek, oak body that metal engravings spiraling it. It was a very well crafted and beautiful cane... Not that he could see it of course. Paper. If any word could describe the week that Celestia has had, it would be paper. Mountains and mountains of documents that she needed to read over, sign, roll up, send away, die a little inside, and repeat. She considered stabbing herself in the hoof just to brake the monotony. The doors of her private room was knocked on, braking the sun princess out of her paper induced trance. "Your Highness... we have a letter for you. It's from your student, princess Twilight." Above the sheer elation Celestia had from finally being freed from her stack of papers, momentarily or otherwise, there was a strong feeling of curiosity. Twilight would always send her letters via dragonfyre, and they would always just suddenly pop into her field of vision. But a message sent by guard... Something was going down, her gut was almost always right (barring a certain wedding). "Come in." She said. The twin doors opened to reveal a vanilla guard. He bowed, gave Celestia the letter, and returned to his post. The sun princess carefully unrolled the letter and began reading... ... "Guards!" There was an unwritten rule in the palace, that stood strong throughout the millennia. If princess Celestia ever uses her Royal Canterlot Voice... It gets real. An entire platoon of guards amass at her door in a matter of seconds. "Prepare a chariot to head towards ponyvillie, wake my sister, and tell her to get her battle armor on. At once!" "Yes, ma'am!" the unified shout of the guards sounded throughout the castle. "36, 37, 38, 39!" Button's excited voice was counting. What was he counting? The number of pancakes that the human stuffed into his mouth and ate. Turns out being critically wounded and bedridden for a month makes people voraciously hungry. "Button, don't you have to go to school?" Love Tap asked her son. He and the alien really hit if off. "I know mom, but let me see him get to fifty! This only happens once in a lifetime!" She rolled her eyes and smiled at her sons antics, she knew that the alien was hungry, but not this extent. "48, 49, 50! You are the best pancake eating alien of all time!" He screamed out. The alien was too busy chugging down three ponies worth of orange juice to acknowledge Button's praise. "Pah!" the alien sounded as he was finished drinking the orange juice, "Thank you man, though, you should really get to school." Button was already getting his saddle bags ready. "Bye mom! Bye cool alien dude! When I get back, I'm going to teach you how to play video games, whether you can see them or not!" Button ran out of the house and towards his school. Eagerly counting down the seconds until he could get to teach an alien, an alien how to play video games.. "Alright, see you around!" the human laughed, "I don't think you got it but, you have a fun time now!"
Chapter 5"Oh buck!" The humans ears were assaulted by the frantic screams of Love Tap, it was completely and utterly unexpected, like when you remember that you forgot your phone at school halfway back home. "I forgot to tell Button that you're supposed to be a secret!" This was slightly more serious than a misplaced phone. Love Tap was going at speeds that could easily rip the doors off their hinges, trying to catch up to Button to stop his blabbermouth. She could see it now: "Oh hello schoolmates ages 10 to 12 that I associate with on a regular basis!" said Button Mash as he walked into his classroom. "Hello totally believe due to the fact we are so trustworthy of anypony because of our young age 12 year old colt!" announced the classroom. "I have recently acquired an extraterrestrial in my home! Even though this is a completely ridiculous and unsupported statement coming from an imaginative 12 year old, you will also believe me because you are also 12 year olds with very active imaginations, and also no sense of danger!" "Tally Ho! To Button's house! School is canceled for the day!" Exclaimed Cheerilee. ...She might have been exaggerating just a tiny bit. But, before she could make a mad dash to her son. A hand gently touched her shoulder. "It's alright Love Tap, let them come." Love Tap was genuinely surprised at this. "But...but your not even at full health yet! Best case scenario; we have a bunch of hyperactive foals running around you constantly asking questions and bringing other foals to see you. Worst case scenario; you get sent to the moon!" The human visibly flinched at her statement. A look of utter confusion on his face as he processed Love Tap's panicked analyzation. "That seems... a bit drastic, don't you think?" Love Tap was trying to calm herself by taking deep breaths. The past days events were finally wearing her down. She needed a vacation, or something to calm her down. "I... I need a drink." Love Tap said as she went toward the kitchen. "A... drink of what?" asked the human. "Hard apple cider. Calms the nerves right down." she said as she rummages through her cabinets to find the one bottle of cider that she has stored over the years. "Horseapples, almost out..." she already took a trip to the bottle already, and there was only half of the bottle left. The cider wasn't the strongest drink out there, takes one bottle of the stuff to get her legitimately drunk. But, ponies don't drink the cider for the alcohol, they drink it for the heavenly taste. "Whoa...that's strong." His nose crinkled as his heightened sense of smell took in what technically was his first encounter with alcohol. "It's not that strong, I really don't know much about alcohol, but this bottle could get me tipsy back in the day, but never under the table." "...What?" "...Nothing. Is the smell too much for you?" "No, it's alright. Though I-" His ears perked as he turned his head towards the entrance. His eyes narrowed as he stood up and slowly walked towards the window. "Something's coming..." He whispered as his eyes closed. "What?" Love Tap asked. The sounds of guards marching around the castle could be heard. Celestia was silently waiting for her sister to come around. Celestia could sense the magic signature that proceeded a teleportation. She turned to the spot where the magic was originating from, silently waiting. A bright light flashed as the lunar princess materialized in front of her sister. The two rulers of Equestria, day and night, seen as the most powerful ponies in existence. Second only to Faust herself... "Sister... is it true? After all these years, a human has finally been spotted?" she asks, her face hopeful and fearful at the same time. "Yes sister. But, we cannot mince words... she has already mobilized her forces." Luna's mane crackled with energy as she snorted in righteous anger. Her mane darkened slightly as her teeth slowly started to grow a pair of fangs. "Control yourself Luna." Celestia calmly said, that sentence though held a pressure that would have knocked a regular pony unconscious. Luna realized that she was letting herself go, and promptly returned to her original form. "Our apologies sister." said Luna, unintentionally slipping into the royal we. "We shall save it for the fight." Celestial nodded as she shifted in her armor. Red Sun, as she came to call it, forged in the heart of a Magnetar Neutron Star by her hooves. It could easily be the best armor in Equestria, it multiplied her power 100 fold, and turned her once flowing rainbow mane into it's flaming equivalent. The armor had a natural shine to it that almost blinded anypony foolish enough to stare at it for a prolonged period of time. Rivaling Celestia's Red Sun armor was Luna's Blue Moon. Forged in the infinite gravity of a black hole's singularity, it offers the same enhancements as Celestial's armor, with some key differences. Luna's armor, at her whim, can lock anything that she desires inside a different dimension for a short time, like she herself was a black hole. Her armor also absorbed any and all light that dared come too close. Celestia's armor, on the other side of the spectrum, can transport her into another physical plain for a short time, transforming her into a phoenix like incarnation of herself. "We never thought we would see the day we would wear this armor again..." Luna said with a sad tone in her voice. "I concur sister... but we have to take up arms once again, for the safety of all Equestria..." "You know as well as I do what happens when we dawn this armor." Luna started, finally slipping out of the royal we, "something precious is always lost... father, mother, the residents of Sunny town... them." "I know Luna... I know. But we must not let what happened in the past happen again, we must break the bad omens that surround these sets of armor." The sun princess turned her head and addressed the guard that was closest to them. "Yes, your majesty?" "I want the castle locked down and Canterlot secure, we don't know if she will take advantage of our absence and send a group here, understand?." "Yes your majesty...permission to ask a question?" "Permission granted." "Will you be with any guards while on your journey to Ponyvillie?" "No, my little pony... we do not want any distractions while in this armor. I do not want the loss of any of my ponies today." "...Yes, your majesty" the guard said as he bowed and went on to carry his orders. "...I still do not understand the logic behind letting stallions become members of the guard." Luna added when the guard was out of hearing range. "Lots of things has changed during your banishment, my dear sister. A stallion does not solely belong in the kitchen or the home anymore." "What's coming?" Love Tap asked as she followed the human to the window. "It... it sounds like... bouncing." Sure enough, the signature sound of Pinkie Pie's bounce walk finally made itself known to Love Tap's ears. "Oh dear..." She knew that it would prove futile to try to keep a secret from Pinkie Pie, everypony in town knew her her 'Pinkie Sense' and how it could seemingly predict the future... 'Buck it.' Love Tap didn't even try to detain Pinkie, she just opened the door and waited for her to bounce in like a self-propelling icy ball. "Come on in Pink-" Her sentence was interrupted as a pink blur zipped passed her. Comically spinning her around in place, when she stopped; her eyes were spinning, and birds magically appeared over her head. "Hi! My names Pinkie Pie! Do-" --The following line of text is a test of the emergency Pinkie Pie tangent alarm system, if this was an actual occurrence, you would have to sit there and try to decipher the run on sentence that contained no spacing in the words of said sentence to illustrate the speed at which Pinkie is talking. Although this method is somewhat accurate, it is difficult to read and may cause involuntary eye strain. Good day.-- "-and then they did a barrel roll! Not the not that starfox does, because that's an ailerons roll! Do you know what 'Tax Exemption' is?" Pinkie finished her 4 minute barrage of questions. To which the human visibly shuddered at. "The- what? Oh...ummm...what?" "I asked 'do you like parties'?" "...Yes?" "One's with balloons?" "...Balloon party?" Techno music suddenly started blasting as the room suddenly became the biggest party Love Tap's house has ever seen. Ponies popped into existence as they were dancing to the beat of the song. "Disco lights! Disco lights!" Love Tap and the human were completely and utterly surprised by the sudden party bomb, the human flinched and recoiled back at the sudden increase in volume, smells, and other changes that he could pick up. Being blind for a lifetime meant that he developed extremely powerful senses. One of them including sonar. Imagine the surprise that a man who basically sees through hearing and smell receives when the sound suddenly increases from 'quiet household' to: Youtube Video It isn't a nice experience. Everypony was oblivious to the human on the ground, holding his ears as he tried to calm himself after the initial shock of...well Pinkie. "So, how do you like your surprise party!?" Pinkie screamed as she was bouncing in the air. Giggling like a mad mare. "Oh, I'm surprised alright!" the human said, or screamed, because of the volume. "Yay!" Pinkie said happily as she hugged the human, snuggling into his chest "I'm glad you like it!" That hug seemed to calm him down an iota. He returned the hug of the crazy, physics defying, pure sugar smelling mare. "Wanna dance!?" Pinkie asked the befuddled human. "Wait, what about the other-" She took that as a yes. Pinkie dragged the human to the epicenter of the pony dance floor, she started moving and dancing with the human in her hooves. He couldn't even. He just couldn't even. "What the buck is that!?" screamed a familiar tomboyish voice. "How did we get here!?" screamed a random stallion in the back. Everypony knew that answer for that, he must've been new here. "Human!" screamed a turquois unicorn. "Hey everypony! This is..." Pinkie turned to the human "what's your name?" "...I can't remember." "Okay! Pretty weird name. Okay everypony, this here is 'I can't remember' and he's new to ponyvillie! Even though he looks different, we can't judge a book by its cover! Isn't that right, Zecora?" The group of confused ponies turned to the mare in question, who was sipping a cup of tea next to a very disheveled Love Tap. "Although it was a surprise when I appeared here." she took another sip of her tea, "Pinkie is right, we have nothing to fear." she pointed to the human, more specifically, his eyes "look, his eyes are as white as the stripes on my back. So there is no reason to attack." she tossed a look to Rainbow Dash, who shrunk back into the crowd slowly. "It would go against the lessons of love and friendship we have been taught. For you see, he cannot." Everypony looked at the human in surprise as they confirmed Zecora's rhyme speak. His eyes were a milky white that almost glowed in the access light of the room. "Your blind!?" Pinkie gasped as she looked at the human in question. "Yes." "Wow! That's a new one! Most of these stories usually have some long haired white guy as the protagonist! Not being racist, though." "...I'll take your word for it-" The room suddenly became dead silent as the human violently lurched his head toward the ceiling, and Pinkie's puffy mane suddenly became flat and lifeless. "Oh no..." Pinkie fearfully whispered, "Flat mane...that means something really, really, really bad is going to happen." "...Buzzing." the human whispered as he started walking towards the front door of Love Tap's home. as soon as he was outside, he stared out towards the horizon with his useless eyes. The ponies followed the alien to the entrance, trying to find what he was 'staring' at. "Buzzing? Now, I ain't calling you a liar, stranger, but ah don't hear...any..." from inside the crowd of ponies, an orange mare with a golden blonde mane addressed the human, but her sentence was derailed by the horrible sight that was starting to form. The sky slowly started to turn black, not all at once though. It was like a sweeping wave of darkness slowly devouring the sky as the buzzing sound started to become more prominent in the ears of the partygoers... "What are those?" asked the human. The ponies shook in fear as the buzzing sound became louder and louder, and the black wave started to completely turn the sky black. The human could feel the warmth of the sun escape his body as it was blotted out. "C-c...changlings!" The crowd screamed as they began to panic. Trying their best to reach their homes before the changelings attacked... It would be a futile afford though, because the changeling only focus... Was the human. And they were hungry...
Chapter 6"This is escalating very quickly..." Pinkie said. The human had to agree on that. A conversation between him and Love Tap about alcohol, whatever that is, started off the day. Then this mare came in and spawned some sort of celebration in less than 4 seconds... Then these 'changeling' things appeared. With mouths that smell like blood and, to top it off, these insect things growl like rabid animals. "Oh my, a swarm of changelings appear, and the whole town is panicking in fear." Zecora calmly walked next to the human as the residents of the town ran around like headless chickens as the swarm descended towards the town. The only ones that kept a cool head consisted of a familiar rainbow pegasus, Zecora, the human, and Pinkie Pie. Her mane regained its original poofiness. Love Tap was unconscious and asleep on the couch, the day's events too much for her. "100,000..." the human said as he 'looked' into the sky. The group looked towards him in surprise. "Surely you jest, otherworldly guest. The sky is blotted black, too many to keep track. Although knowledge on you I lack, of this I am sure is a fact." "Nope, he's being cereal!" Pinkie said as her tail twitched violently. The human didn't pay her any attention. The swarm took all of his attention. The chaos, the sense of primal hunger that emanates from this raging swarm of insect like creatures. The rapid wing beat, the intense labored breathing, and the constantly changing sounds of the town, made his ears twitch... The screams of the ponies as they ran, frantic and erratic hoofsteps, sounds of doors violently slamming against the frames of houses... Slam! Slam! Slam! The scent of foreign blood and saliva coursing through his nose. His heightened olfactory perception picking up so many ambient scents... The adrenalin given off by the horrified ponies, the adrenalin of the hungry, ferocious, changelings, the dirt scuffed up by the mass panic of the town. The scents of the different variety of ponies that ran to and fro... Oranges. Lavender. Apples. Mint. Cake... Fear. The ponies smelled of this. The changeling however: a completely different story. Dirt. Death. Rotting pus... Hunger. He could tell by these "Changelings" breathing patterns that they haven't eaten in a very long time. That hunger, the primal desire to survive, that deep lust for the next meal that will determine whether you live or die. Telegraphed to him by the erratic patterns of their breathing. A wobbly flight path, the wing beats faltering every now and then... All of that primal want, directed at him. If given the chance, the changelings would rip into his body, chew and devour everything that constituted his physical being... ... Pinkie Pie started shivering, her 'doozy' prediction making itself known to the group. The human paid no attention to this action however, he stood perfectly still as the changeling ocean raged in the sky. "Oh boy... this is a doozy alright." She said as she looked over to the human. His eyes were covered by the length of his hair... Something inside him changed. The atmosphere around the human suddenly birthed an astounding pressure. Something just happened, and nopony dared to speak, lest they rouse the wrath of this invisible force at play. Rainbow Dash didn't even have the mental constitution to stay airborne, she dropped to the ground, barely able to react in time to land on all four of her legs. Pinkie's mane drooped as her mood was visibly changed because of this force. Zecora shifted on her hooves and took a deep, shaky breath. The human, ever so slowly, started walking back to the house. The group followed in him when he did this, even Rainbow Dash. She was headstrong; not stupid. But when Rainbow Dash turned, she spotted a rouge changeling barreling towards the group, but more specifically, the human. "Look out!" she screamed, Rainbow took flight and started barreling towards the human to knock that changeling into next week, even though she only knew the alien for about 5 minutes, she wouldn't stand idle as a handicapped being, pony or otherwise, got hurt. Her flight proved to be in vain as the black blob was already too close for her to intervene, the artificially dark sky gave the rouge changeling more than enough cover to gain some time before she spotted it. Rainbow decided, that if she couldn't stop the changeling, she could at least rip the thing off him as soon as possible. The human never showed any sign of acknowledging the offending projectile heading straight for him. When the changeling was in range... He tilted his head to the side to dodge the changeling that was flying towards him. The changeling did something that no pony, not even Pinkie, could have predicted... It promptly slammed into the ground, bouncing a couple times before finally settling next to the house, completely unconscious. He continued walking. Crash! The sound of another changeling falling through a roof of a random house assaulted groups ears. Thud! Another changeling dropped, falling straight into the ground. Crash! An innocent cabbage stand was destroyed as a changeling fell into the stand at terminal velocity. The sounds of multiple changelings hitting the ground and other buildings could be heard as the human slowly walked towards the house... "...What's happening out there?" A southern accent said from inside the house. "Applejack...your still here? I though you peeled out like everypony else." Rainbow asked the orange mare as she looked over to Love Tap's unconscious form on the couch. "Someone had to look over Tap here, she's plum tuckered after all this... confusion." Applejack looks over to Pinkie, who seemingly ignores her look. The human kept walking towards Love Tap, not stopping for anything. Applejack felt the same pressure that the group faced outside, and promptly got out of his way. Without saying a word, he picked up Love and started to go upstairs. The sounds of changelings raining down on the town are not lost to his ears. He went towards the room that had a similar scent to the mare, and promptly put her on the bed. "..." He didn't say a word as he tucked her into the bed. She snuggled into the covers and breathed a sigh of relief. As he moved towards the bedroom door to descend down the stairs, a change in Love Tap's breathing pattern alerted him to her awakening. The loud thumps made on the roof by the Changelings, ironically, dropping like flies turned her from her much needed sleep. "W...who's there?" Love Tap groggily stated as she slowly picked herself up from the bed. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves and looked over to the humans direction. The man turned his body to meet Love Taps gaze. He gave her a small smile before turning and moving towards the doorway. "Wait..." Love Tap's voice stopped him in his tracks. He turned around and addressed her. "Tap, you need some sleep, please go back to bed." "I have something for you in my closet...winter was scheduled for next week, so I made you a robe..." The man, following Love Tap's directions, opened the closet, picked up a box, and fished out the robe Love Tap made. The robe consisted of a soft, but strong, cloth with white cotton sleeve ends. The robe had length, to accommodate his bipedal stature. Simplicity is a big theme in this robe, Love Tap knew that looks didn't matter to him in the slightest. He also felt a pair of underwear next to the box, and promptly put them on. They sensually caressed his boys like the hug of a loving mother. The undergarments fit perfectly. He put the robe on his back, clicking together the neck clasp that he found by feeling around the collar of the robe. "Thank you, Tap. A lot of these "changelings," as you call them, are attacking the town... they're after me." "W-why?" the tired mare asked in horror. "I don't know, but I do know that your son is in danger." "W-what? M-more than everypony else?" "Yes, he has my smell on him. But don't worry..." A vast pressure flooded Love Tap's mind as she suddenly slipped into unconsciousness. Her body fell to the bed, gently guided by the human's hand. When the man tucked her in, he stood up and walked out of the room and preceded down the stairs. The ponies only looked at him as he walked towards the exit. He opened the door leading outside. Changelings were still dropping like rocks all over the town, he closed the door and continued on towards the center of town... Click. "What... in tarnation just happened?" Applejack asked. "I don't know...but those panties, sexy as hell." Pinkie said. The group just looked at her with bewildered expressions. *Thump!* "Ahhh!" a colt screamed a little as he cowered under his desk. The schoolhouse doors locked and barricaded with pieces of wood, desks, and many other things. "Now kids, please. I know you're scared but please, try to stay calm." Cheerilee shakily said as she huddled up with the many kids in her classroom. The sounds of tearful sniffles was overwhelmed by the constant- *Thump!* The tears grew in quantity on the kids faces as another changeling slammed into the roof of the schoolhouse. Cheerilee forbade the class of looking outside. The bodies of changelings strewn about on the floor didn't do well for a developing child's mind. She almost threw up when she saw the mass of starved changelings on the floor, green internal fluid caking the floor. Some of them fell on the white wooden fence that surrounded the school... The fence looked like it had nausea. "Mrs. Cheerilee?" a quiet, squeaky voice sounded from Cheerilee's left side. Breaking her out of her morbid thought process. "Yes, Sweetie Belle?" "Why are changelings dropping on our school?" she asked. "I...I don't know dear-" *Thump!* Another changeling dropped on the roof of the schoolhouse... But this one sounded a little bit different from the others. *Creak...* The roof creaked a couple seconds after the loud thump sounded. *Creak...* Another creak sounded...and one after that one. The sounds moved towards one of the barricaded windows of the school. The entire classroom huddled together in fear as the slow creaking sound advanced to the blocked window. One of the schoolkids made a squeak of his own as the creaking got weaker in sound... The creaking stopped. Every child in the class, including Cheerilee, stared at the window in fear... "Whew...I-" *Crack!* The sound of shattering glass cut the schoolkid's relieved exhale short. The class yelled in fright as a guttural scream of pain escaped from the changeling that destroyed the glass window. "Feed..." *Wham!* The sound of a hoof smashing against the wooden barricade frightened the children even more. "Children, move behind me." Cheerilee said as the barricade started to move, the sounds of the changeling slamming its hoof on the flimsy wooden barricade made the children huddle even closer together. Cheerilee gulped as she stood at the ready, fishing an unused 2x4 from the supply closet in the room and bracing herself for battle. The sounds of wood failing started to signal the breaking point of the wood, tiny slits of sunlight illuminating the room as the wood started to give way... The smashing stopped. Cheerilee was biting the 2x4 so hard, she could have sworn she broke a tooth. She stared at the window for a second, hoping that the changeling either gave up, or...succumbed. *Crash!* A starved changeling runs through the remnants, stumbling on the ground as splinters and green ooze flew everywhere. Some ooze got on Cheeriliee's face. The changling...had a hulking mass. The muscles that hid deep in it's chitin was compensated by the severely depraved and starved appearance. It's entire body riddled with small holes that either spurted green ooze, or had glass, wood, or a combination of the two, in them. The changeling looked at Cheerilee with a primal, cannibalistic, rage. It had a good three feet over Cheerilee. "Feed..." Cheerilee takes action and swings her 2x4 and manages to get the sickly looking changeling in the face. It stumbles, but it doesn't seem to phased by the hit. *Screeeeeeaaaaaaaa!* The changeling let loose a high pitched screech that mercilessly ripped through the eardrums of the class and the school teacher. So great was the pain caused by this sound that Cheerilee dropped her 2x4 and screamed in agony, as well as the rest of the class. The changeling saw its opportunity. With almost the last remnants of its strength, the changeling rushed forward, gripped Cheerilees neck with its mouth, and hurled her to the side like she was yesterdays newspaper. The children, who tried to hold as many tears as they could for the sake of Cheerilee, screamed and cried as they watched their beloved teacher crash through the closet door. Her body laid still as various cleaning items cascaded down the shelves onto her unconscious body. The changeling slowly shuffles towards the group of ponies huddled in the corner of the room, the changeling sifts its view to the children... But more specifically, Button Mash.. "Human..." The changeling bore its solid light blue eyes into the scared brown colt's gold ones. The changeling opened its mouth as the swiss-like horn on the top of its head glowed a sickly green. "Feed us..." But as soon as the changeling tried to siphon its food from Button's young body, an apple struck the side of the changeling hulk's head. "Leave em' alone, ya big palooka!" A voice said from near afar. The changeling looked back to see Applebloom, with copious amounts of apples to her left and right. Another apple made its way towards the changeling's horn with pinpoint accuracy. The throw lodged the apple on the tip of the changelings horn, making it slightly less intimidating. "Not so tough...now." Applebloom said as the changeling... Smiled. Its holey horn again glowed that sickly green color...the apple on the changeling's horn started losing its color and wilting before Applebloom's eyes. When the apple was nothing more than a dull gray shriveled up husk, the changeling tilted its head to the side, The once plump and delicious apple fell to the ground like a leaf in fall. Some of the changeling's wounds healed slightly as its smile widened... The monster's horn glowed slightly as Button Mash suddenly rose into the air, too fast for any of his friends to hold him in place. The pegasi in the class tried to move, tried to help, tried to do anything. But fear froze them in place... A ten year old colt was about to get the life sucked out of him in front of their eyes... "Somepony...help me." Button whispered as fear took his voice... The wind blew into the schoolhouse through the gaping hole the changeling barged in from. An overwhelming pressure was felt by the changeling...the same pressure that caused it to fall from the sky in the first place, reared its ugly head for the second time. The changeling's magical hold on the brown colt faltered as the behemoth lost consciousness for the second time, the changeling landed on the ground with an audible thud. Button soon felt himself falling to the ground as the magic suspending him vanished. But before he could land on the ground, he felt himself being stopped prematurely by something. "You...okay?" said a familiar voice from above him, he looked up to see... "Mr. Alien Dude!?" Button exclaimed in surprise. The human somehow got into the school and caught Button Mash as soon the changeling lost consciousness. One arm holding up Button, and the other arm gripping the cane Love Tap gave him. "Yeah...Mr. Alien Dude. You kids alright?" he asked the other children in the group, who looked at the red clad human in surprise. "Yeah...we-we're alright. But, Mrs. Cheerilee..." one of the children said as she shakily pointed a hoof to the ruined supply closet. *Thump!* The children flinched as another changeling fell near the school. "Alien Dude? What happened to the changelings...why are they falling?" Button asked. "It seems that they had... "A change of pace." Youtube Video
Chapter 7"Sweet creation..." Said Celestia and Luna simultaneously. the game When the two royal sisters made it to ponyvillie via flight. They mentally and physically prepared for the fight of the century. The only fight that would have topped this one would be the fight against Discord... And the one they had with each other. "Who...?" Imagine the surprise in store for them when they reached the town. Instead of a raging swarm of black buzzing fury, they only saw a raging mess of black and green. From their bird's eye view, they saw the massive amounts of changelings riddling the town. Caved in roof tops, broken fences, craters marking where the changelings crashed. They descended to the ground, mindful not to step in any green goo that tainted it. When they landed, they got a close up view of the carnage that occurred... "Tia." Celestia turned her attention from the downed changelings to her sister, "Yes Luna?" "You're coming to the same conclusion as I am about these changelings, correct?" Celestia sighed, "I'm afraid so. These changelings are nothing but civilians...possibly rogues." "So, it couldn't of been Chrysalis's forces. Even if this was an act of desperation, she would've been much more organized. "Which begs the question...who is responsible for the anti teleportation ward cast on the town?" Luna questioned. "It must have been a high ranking officer of her army that she either ordered here...or defected from her army." Celestia looked over to the broken and bruised changelings that littered the street. They all looked cold and lifeless to the untrained eye. But with a quick scan of surrounding area showed that the changelings proved to be tough enough to survive whatever hell they went through. "That aside...who could have done this? Your faithful student is...indisposed at the moment, and none of the other elements are this powerful..." Celestia looked over to her sister. Nothing needed to be said, they both knew what the other's thoughts were. "It could have been the human that Twilight summoned..." Luna suggested. "It could be...but one of us must assure the safety of our ponies while the other addresses this human.." "You tend to your student Tia...I must see this human for myself." "No sister...I am more versed in the art of restoration then you are. If my gut correct, then this carnage is the work of the human that Twilight...found." Luna thought it over for a second before nodding in understanding. She spread her wings and took to the skies. The sun monarch's horn glowed a bright golden hue as she closed her eyes and focused. 'I don't know how powerful you are human...but I hope I don't come too late.' "Ummm...thanks mister, for saving us and...all." Sweetie Belle said from the back row of the class. The children had copious amounts of gratitude for the human because he saved them, but that feeling balanced out the fear that they had for something so different. "I know! Isn't he awesome!?" Button Mash yelled in that high pitched nasal voice, "he was all like "Buck Norris Stare!" and that ugly black thing was all like-" he put his hoof on his forehead dramatically "he's too awesome! THUD!" His...accepting attitude helped to bring some of the children into looking at him in a more "childlike admiration" sort of light. It helped that the human smiled in hearing the colt's possibly ego stroking ranting. "That's nice and all Button...but could you do me a favor." He asked in a weak voice. "Yeah!" He flinched "could you...lower the volume a little? My hearing is kinda sensitive." His voice barely made it to Button's ears. "Oh...ok. Are you alright?" Button asked in concern as he put his ear to his chest... "Oh gal! You're burning up! Your heart is..." "Don...don't worry I-" The cane he used to hold himself up trembled in his shaking hands. He fell to one knee, holding Button close to him as he fell to the ground. "Mister!? What's wrong with you!?" Button yelled, his voice laced with fear and confusion, "please, tell me what's wrong!" Button tried to keep his body from crashing down by pushing up. But his honorable act would be for naught, as the human's mass far surpassed Button's. Some of the colts and fillies in the class stepped up and ran over to Button's side. Using their combined strength to gently bring the human down, and roll him over on his back. "Umm...what's wrong with him?" Sweetie asked as the kids circled the human, concern and confusion etched on their faces. They noticed that he shook occasionally. Beads of sweat trickled down his face as his breathing quickened. "Is...is he sick?" ask a random pony in the group. Button distinctly remembered asking the same question the first time he saw the human face-to-face. "He's umm....different dear. I have to warn you...he's fragile." He also remembered his mother warning him of the aliens fragile state. When he first saw the alien he babbled something about strawberries and fell unconscious right there. "Yeah, mommy said he was sick when I asked." The kids looked at him in surprise. "Your mommy had an alien in her house?" asked many of the school kids at once. "It surprised me too." Button turned his attention to the alien's robes... Darker than usual spots littered the beautiful robe that Button's mother made for him. "Maybe we should take off this robe thingy he has on." Button suggested, "I remember he had bandages on the last time I saw him." The class hesitated a little with the idea of actually touching the alien being, but they agreed with Button on that subject. He could be hurt, and that robe hid the true severity of his wounds... "Where's the first aid kit? Maybe we could help him a little?" Button asked. "We know where it is!" Said three very familiar voices. They belonged to none other than the CMC. The three fillies barreled to the supply closet, where Chreeliee began to regain her consciousness. "Don't worry Chreeliee, we'll help you in a second!" "Mergerbur...merfurburdur..." was Cheerilee's response. The fillies all knew by heart where the first aid kit was...they've had many encounters with it before due to their "crusading." Applebloom was put in charge of carrying the kit (it was her turn). They double-timed it to where the alien rested, giddy at the prospect of getting cutie marks in nursing. "We got the first aid kit!" The three fillies said at once. Well Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo said, Applebloom had her mouth full. "Great! Now we can take this off and-" Button's sentence was interrupted by an "excuse me" from a filly from the back of the room. She had an orange coat, pasta white mane, and her cutie mark was a bowl of Spaghetti. "Yes, Spaghetti?" "Are we going to probe him?" she asked. The whole class cringed in disgust. "NO! We're not going to probe him!" the whole class shouted. "Kay den." Spaghetti put a dull pencil that she had next to her back in her saddlebags. Button, and some of the less squeamish classmates, began to slowly open the robes that hid his body from the group... Tears and screaming filled the class as they saw the true extent of the alien's wounds. Some ran away to vomit in the bathroom, some fainted right on the spot, spot cried out for their parents. The bandages that wrapped around his chest, shoulders, and left arm had solid black stains under them. Some injuries didn't even have the luxury of being wrapped with any form of protective wrapping... They drained a sickly greenish fluid, the pus clearly indicating an infection has occurred. multiple of these wounds surrounded his body. Red streaking surrounded the wounds, the skin around the wound looked dry and drained of fluid, his elbows and armpits looked somewhat inflated. None of the ponies could look at the disgusting injuries that plagued the human. They knew that they had to help the...being that saved their lives. "I...we still need to help him! does anypony know how to...help!?" "I...I think we need to clean the wounds first, and take off the bandages, right?" suggested Sweetie Belle. "Theirs an instruction booklet in the kit, maybe that will help?" Button asked as he looked at the kit's contents. They were all labeled. "Okay, I found the instruction booklet....got it!" Apply direct pressure on the area to stop bleeding, using a clean cloth. "They're too many areas! I need like...10 hooves to get them all!" Button said. "Only like five of them are bleeding! Let's clean the one's that aren't!" Sweetie Belle observed. The little ponies hurried towards the windows to retrieve the drapes that hung from there. "Are you sure these are clean?" Scootaloo asked. "Don't worry. If my sister has taught me anything, it's how to keep things clean." Sweetie Belle said the group. They took the drapes and carefully ripped them into five sections. 'Sorry Cheerilee.' They all thought. Button and the CMC added up to only four, so one wound was left unattended. "We need one more!" Button yelled to his classmates. One tiny pegasus, Featherweight, slowly came up to the human. "I-I can help..." "Good!" They gave him a piece of cloth and pointed him to a wound. "What's next?" Scootaloo asked. Clean the area with warm running water. "We have to move him to the bathroom!!" Button instructed. "But that's too far away! You saw how many of us it took to keep him from falling. He's too big!" Sweetie said. "There's a water fountain right outside the classroom..." said one of their classmates. "Can anypony levitate stuff?" Button asked to the class. A blue hoof shot up from the group, the same one that said there was a water fountain nearby. "I..I can try..." "Please do!" The filly ran to the exit and started up the fountain, trying to get as much water as she could into her magic grasp. She struggled, but she managed to get a decent blob of water going on. She carefully walked back into the room... Only to stumble and fall as she tripped over a pink hoof. "Watch where you're going, blank flank." "Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, what are you doing!? We need all the hooves we can get here!" Button said to the two resident bullies in the corner. "She tripped over me! I'm not touching that thing! He's probably the reason why that changeling attacked us in the first place! I don't need some blank flank telling me what to do!" The pretentious pink pony said to the brown colt. Silver Spoon nodded in agreement. "But...but that's just stupid! How do you know that it's his fault? You haven't even seen him till right now!" Button knew that this wouldn't end well. No single pony stood up to diamond tiara and Silver Spoon, it always had to be a group effort. The CMC had it down pat because they had experience with the tyrants of the classroom...but even they had a few emotional scars from them. "We don't want to sully our perfectly hooficured hooves on some bloody, pus-ridden, troll. What if we get sick, blank flank? What if all of you get sick from that alien? What if you get some weird, incurable, alien disease? "Don't you think, you fatherless idiot?" Silence. All of the class's eyes opened wide, their mouths opened like fish out of water. Button lost his ability to speak as he sat there. He knew what they were going to say would hurt, but... "Are yah kidding me!?" an angry southern voice screamed out. Hard hoof steps accompanied the equally loud voice. The source of the anger was none other than Applebloom. She stormed towards both of the fillies in a rage. Silver Spoon exhibited some fear, but Diamond Tiara's face remained fearless. "Well, if it isn't 1/3 of the blank flank trio. You know what they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the- oh wait! You don't have a tree! Your little hillbilly hoedown had two less mud-pits this year?" "I have had it up to here with your horse manure!" The class gasped at Applebloom's choice of words. "Your mouth is just as clean as your gene-poo-" Diamonds witty comeback was given the hoof, compliments of the back of Applebloom's. Again, the children gasped. Though, in their minds, they were cheering Applebloom on. "That thing ya'll are referring to saved our hides! Are ya'll really insulting ponies families when somepony is dying right in front of us!? Not only that, ya'll refuse to even help him! Are you that low!?" A trickle of blood ran down Diamonds muzzle as she stared at Applebloom in shock. "You..you just-" She stopped and flinched when she raised her hoof again. "Ah don't want tah hear none of it! Get yer pompous, fancy speaking, yellow bellied, frou frou, ungrateful, little flanks tah helping. Or I'll buck you two so hard that all your daddy's money won't be able to fix yah face!" She turned around and bucked a desk so hard that it went flying across the room, when it finally hit the wall, it burst into pieces. "Now git!" "Now now young pony. Commendable as your actions may be, violence and name calling won't help in this situation." The class all looked over to the opening the changeling made to see... "Princess Celestia!?" the whole class yelled out in confusion. "Yes, my young little ponies." she walked into the room and looked over to the five young ones putting pressure on the humans wounds, "your bravery and quick action are commendable. I will make sure that your friend and teacher get proper medical attention." She turned her attention to the unconscious changeling, and eyed the insect with disgust, "as for the leader of this little invasion...I will make sure swift justice will be dealt." She turned back to the human, "stand back please." her horn glowed a bright golden yellow. The humans body was engulfed in a golden glow identical to the glow on Celestia's horn. The grubby and blackened bindings that covered his body quickly unwrapped as the sickly green pus dispersed from his form. The red streaking around his body slow started to vanish, and his skin began to regain its color. Celestia was sweating profusely as the extreme amounts of magic that she expelled to its toll on her. When she stopped, the only thing that could be seen on the humans body were tiny cuts and abrasions. Celestia's glow engulfed the first aid kit next to Button. Antibiotic ointment and gauze started to be administered and wrap around the humans leftover wounds. When she was done, she promptly collapsed on all fours, panting and sweating as the class circled around her in worry. "Are...are you alright princess?" Asked the majority of the classroom. "Yes...I'm quite alright my ponies. Just a little winded." The same filly that tried to get some water offered a little cup of water to the tired Princess. She took the cup in her magical grasp and slowly drank it. "Thank you." "Your welcome princess..." the blue filly said. Button wanted to comment on the fact that they had cups all along, but he held his tongue. "So...whats going to happen to the alien?" Button asked in concern. "He will be brought to Canterlot for immediate medical treatment." Celestia said as she took a piece of scroll paper out of her armor and started writing on the piece of paper with her magic. After about one minute of writing, she rolled the scroll up and sent it to the castle, "Guards will be here to assisted us soon, but in the meantime..." With flash of her horn, the big changeling had chains around his person. "Is your teacher alright?" the princess asked. "Mer-ger-bur...mer-fur-ber-durr-ber-dur..." "She's just a little rattled...the changling threw her into the supply closet when she tried to protect us..." "And look what it did to mah apple..." Applebloon said as she showed Celestia what was left of the apple the changeling sucked dry. Her eyes widened as she looked at the apple's gray, shriveled, form. "How did this happen?" "The changelin' was going tah do somethin' nasty tah Button. But ah stopped the thing before it could by chucking mah lunch at it. Ah got the varmint- ummm...changeling in the horn, but the it...sucked the apple dry." Celestia couldn't believe what she was hearing, the changeling was about to... "Thank you for this information dear Applebloom, this will help immensely in the investigation I will personally lead to find out why these changelings attacked. "Now...I want the two little ponies in the corner to come here, right this instant." Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon shakily made there way to the princess. "Y-Yes?" "Don't think that your antagonizing behavior has gone unnoticed by me, I have gotten several letters from my student telling me about these "cutie mark crusaders" and their strife with you two. I, personally, will talk to both your parents about your behavior. Is that clear?" "Yes..." "And Applebloom, I know that everypony has a breaking point. But that does not excuse the fact that you hit her. I will talk to your sister and guardians about this, is that clear?" "Yes Princess Celestia..." "Good. Now, that aside, I want you all to know that your actions in trying to help this human, which is what they are called, saved his life." 'And not a second to spare...' She smiled to the group. "It fills me with great pride that you little one's could cast aside the difference of species and work together to save this human. You will all...except some." She looked at Diamond Tiara and Silver spoon who were on the verge of crying " be given the Equestrian Excellence Award." The children gasped in surprise. "You've all earned it." The sound of chariots and armored hooves landing caught the attention of the class and Princess Celestia. "Looks like the guards are here."
Chapter 8Rain and thunder. The sounds of heavy rainfall and the occasional thundering in the distance leaked into the room from the thunderstorm outside. Canterlot was due for a rainstorm that day, moved aside because of the nobles bickering and protest to this day. Now, there was no avoiding it. The storm drenched the city and some frantic ponies outside with a nonstop downpour of water. The ponies outside who didn't take heed to check the weather schedule handed out by the Canterlot weather committee covered their head with what they could find. A three day old newspaper on the side of the road. A walker-by who was lucky enough to be passing by a store that sold umbrellas. Their own wings. But many of the ponies in this once busy and bustling city were enjoying a nice day inside with either their families, or a good book. Nice, warm, and dry. One of the many who enjoyed the constant sound of falling rain rested comfortably in a hospital bed. Though conscious, he was not. IVs and other tubes ran into his body, giving him substance and medicine at a constant pace. "...uhhh..." The occupant of the hospital room stirred from his slumber. Dazed and tired. He could not see his surroundings like regular ponies. He was as far away from that word as physically possible. He heard the calming sound of rain outside of his room, he smelled the sterile scent of the clean gauze surrounding his body. He knew he was in a hospital bed, past experiences attested to that. To his right he caught the scent of...strawberries. Strawberries and plastic. He reached out to the scent and grabbed a hold of a tiny plastic cup, with a ridiculously large handle. The inside of the cup didn't exactly smell like strawberries, another dominating smell...vanilla. It was a plastic cup filled with vanilla ice cream, was his guess. He felt around the tray, and soon enough, he found a spoon... From some odd reason, there was a loop of cloth around the tip of the handle. 'Wait...hooves. The loop of cloth around the spoon and the overly large handle is for hooves,. They put the loop on and tighten it so that they can use utensils...smart.' That little spoon and cup reminded him of a larger than life fact...he wasn't in his world anymore. He was in the land of magical talking ponies, completely different from his own world... 'This ice cream is *delicious!***' He attacked the the medium sized cup of ice cream with vigor. Pleasantly savoring the strawberries that were cut into halves and added to the delicious dessert. Strawberries were always his favorite fruit, seconded only to bananas. As he scraped the last remains of ice cream from the bottom of the cup, he noticed the distinct smell of...apples. Apples were his third favorite type of fruit. He reached out slowly, as to not tip the apple scented food off the tray in case of a surprise contact. His hand made contact with another ridiculously sized handle. 'Apple juice.' he guessed. He brought* the cup to his lips and tilted it. He was right... 'Sorry bananas, looks like you've been replaced.' The apple juice that he drank was the sweetest, refreshing, and downright best cup of apple juice he has ever had. It blew bananas out of the water, and into the moon the cup was so good.... "Gak! Ugh!" The cup of apple juice was so good that he wanted to down it as quick as he could, leading a tiny stream of apple juice straight up his left nostril. He coughed a little before using a finger to cover his right nostril and blowing the apple juice out with one sharp exhale. "Still better than bananas..." he said as he, slowly, finished the rest of the apple juice. He felt movement in his bed not his own, starting from his right foot, soon after that he heard a little groan. The voice and the smell were familiar. "Hello, Button. Had a nice nap?" He asked with a smile on his face. He knew that Button was there the moment he woke up... But a man has got to eat, and he was starving. 'That reminds me, I gotta see if they can-' "M-mister Alien?" the tiny, quivering voice of Button asked as he looked up to see the human lost in thought. The colts question derailing his train of thought, he focused his head to Button's general direction. Still giving him a smile as warm as the room they were in. "Yes, it's me Button. Do you know any other tall bi-whoa!" His sentence was cut off when Button lunged at him and slammed into his chest with a tackle hug. He knew he was going to do that. The sudden depression in his bed meant that he put his hoof on it, hard. The sudden change in the rooms air meant that Button had moved suddenly, and the quivering voice meant that he was on the verge of tears. He spread his arms out and took the, surprisingly strong, hug that Button gave him. He winced in slight pain. He started bawling into the humans chest, hugging him as if he was going to vanish into thin air. His bandages were getting soaked in the boys tears. He was confused, he only met this little pony for a short few hours. Granted, their friendship flourished when they met officially, him not being under the influence of some horribly tasting medical concoction, it still didn't explain to him why... A sniff of the air made it clear that Button has been here for quite some time. His scent is everywhere in the room. "Button, are you alright? How long have you been here?" Button tried to answer his question between his nasal sounding sobs, but his answer was interrupted by constant inhales of breath. "Button, please, calm down. I can barely understand a word your saying." he rubbed the back of his head, that was missing its trademark hat, and held him there for about 10 minutes for his sobs to go down. When they did, he took several deep breaths. Still hugging onto the human, but with a marginally less powerful grip. "I...*sniff* I've been here for about three days." he finally said. "...Three days? I've been out for three days?" the human replies in shock. He knew his fever was bad, but it didn't feel like being worthy of a three day resting period. 'Why would they even let him...' "Y-yeah. A-after you saved us from the changeling..." Button told him everything that happened after he fainted. When he reached the part about his injuries, the humans face grew an expression of shock. Button barely held his breakfast down when he remembered it, so he only told him that they were...green. But that was enough for him to guess how bad his wounds were. "I...I didn't know my injuries were that bad..." "It...it was scary. Most of the class..." Button didn't know if he should tell him about how the class reacted to his...wounds. He didn't want to hurt his feelings. That, and he didn't want to relive that day. The times he did he got queasy when he remembered how bad his wounds were, and it made him want to throw up, "never mind. You'd be better off if you didn't hear it..." "I...I understand. I don't want you remembering anything you don't want to. Is there anything you can tell me though?" "Celestia came and saved you with her magic. It was amazing, she cleared up your...green in like 5 seconds!" Button practically yelled. His loud nasal voice coming back at full strength. Which caused the hearing sensitive human to cringe slightly. "Oh...sorry, am I too loud?" Button asked in a quieter voice. "No, it's alright. It's not like I'm overly sensitive to the tiniest little sounds, that would pretty annoying. Though if you could lower the volume a little, I'd grateful." "Okay." Button said with a smile. "...You can come in now." The human said, much to Button's confusion. The door leading to the alien's room opened, revealing two royal guards. The one on the left had a white horn on his head, a Unicorn. The one on the right had white wings on his sides, a Pegasus. "I told you he could hear us, you're buying lunch today." said the royal guard on the right. "But, we were standing completely still...how'd you..." "I heard your heart beat and breathing, that answer your question?" The guards didn't say anything. The one on the right just smirked at his companion, and a roll of the eyes was his response. "Oh, and before you go back to whatever you were doing, could you get us some food. I'm starving here." the alien said. "We'll you heard the..." "Man." "You heard the man, get him some food!" Righty said to lefty. "Me!? Why do I have to do it?" "Not it." "What!? Wait you-...*sigh* fine." He could hear the guards hoof steps as he walked down the hospital hall. "Fricken' aliens..." "I heard that." He could hear his hoof steps get faster. All three of them laughed. "He's got your number, Bronze!" "Shut up!" And another round of laughter. The alien turned his attention to the only window in the room. "How long has it been raining?" "The rain started at 12 last night and is scheduled to stop at about... 12 A.M. "Spoiled nobles wanted to push it off forever. Don't have a sense for tradition like most ponies." "Tradition?" the alien asked. "Oh, can I tell him sir?" Button asked the guard. The guard laughed. "Kid, you don't have to call me sir, that's my dad's title. Just call me Silver." "Oh, okay." He turned to the human and began his explanation, "Most of the other cities in Equestria need rain for their crops and stuff, so they get scheduled rain. But Canterlot, being a city mostly run by unicorns, doesn't need rain to nurture what little plants they have. Most of the plants in the city are in the castle gardens, and are catered round the clock by gardeners hoof-picked by the princesses themselves. "Some of the population of Canterlot moved here from other cities in Equestria, and they missed the rain that would come down. So, they signed a petition to have at least one day where it would rain in Canterlot. Even though most of the nobles downright hated the idea, Celestia, one of our rulers, thought it was a nice change in the schedule. So, once a year, Canterlot has a "Rainy Day." It's basically a city wide day off, even for the princesses." The human had many questions after Button's little lecture. But the guard named Silver beat him to the punch. "That's right, kid. I'm impressed, how'd you know all this?" he asked. "Had to study for a history test last week, got a B+!" He decided to leave the majority of his questions for later, because he caught the scent of something delicious coming closer to their location . "Food." The alien said. Silver and Button sniffed the air. "Wow...that's one good nose you got there. I can't smell anything." "Me neither." "Years of practice. I can you what it is, but I'll keep it a surprise." He arched his brow in thought, and asked something. "Hey Button." "Yes?" "You and Silver said that the weather is "scheduled", what do you mean by that?" Both ponies sported a confused look. "You...don't have weather control in your world?" The human snorted. "No, our weather is...pretty hectic." "Soups on." the guard in charge of getting food said as he came into the room with an assortment of food in him magical grasp. "Care to tell me how hectic this weather is?" Silver asked. The guard called Bronze swiveled his ears to the human in interest. "What weather?" he asked his colleague. "Pull up a seat, and have a drink." he smiled, "this one's going to be...a shocker." *** Cold, uncomfortable, scared. These words could best describe the feeling that the giant changeling felt in the small interrogation room deep in the bowels of the castle. But what scared him the most is the completely unreadable expression on the face of the only other being in the room. Celestia. She had a stack of paper on the table in front of her, it was about six inches tall. Celestia inhaled, and slowly exhaled. Usually the sound of rain would calm the nerves of most ponies, but it had the opposite effect on Celestia. For the rain reminded her of a very annoying fact. It should be her day off. One of the few days she had completely to herself, to relax, to unwind, to decompress, to have genuine fun, had to be spent with this changeling, and doing a mountain of paperwork. And on a more major note, this changeling led an invasion to Ponyville that hurt her ponies, and destroyed thousands of Bits in homes and work. And she made sure she was forthright about her state of mind. "I'm not happy, changeling." she stated with her eyes closed. She pointed a quill that she brought with her straight to the changeling. With her tone of voice, it felt like that quill could suddenly shoot down the table and stab it in the heart. If bugs could sweat... "Not. Happy." she said, emphasizing both words. "Not only did you lead an invasion to my personal student's town of residence, with starved and dying changelings I might add, you had the audacity-" she levitated the dead, gray apple that Applebloom showed her. The shriveled husk was placed inside a magically sealed plastic bag for preservation, "-to try to use ancient, forbidden, black magic to steal the life force of an 8 year old foal." Inhale...exhale. "I must say, I haven't been this angry in well over 300 years, and the last pony who angered me this much..." she opened her eyes and gave the changeling a smile so cold that it made the emptiness of space feel like a hot summers day. "...Is dead." she said with an almost happy tone. The changeling knew that no pony can live that long, and it would be obvious that the pony that angered her would have felt the hand of time long ago...but, the changeling didn't know how the pony died. And that wasn't a question he would be asking her anytime soon... But that same question would haunt the changeling for the rest of its life. "But, I am not the only one you have angered. " she looked behind the magically one way glass that separated the interrogation room and the outside hallway, "my sister has also been awakened from her slumber in order to deal with this...situation. "Now, you must know of my sisters 1000 year banishment. This means she has a more...traditional way of gaining information." She deactivated the one-way enchantment on the window... To reveal Princess Luna magically holding a large, metal, spike. She breathed on it, and brought a black cloth, with her cutie mark on the lower left corner, up to the black spike, witch also had her cutie mark in the center of it, and started polishing it. She moved one eye over to the changeling and smiled... She had fangs. The enchantment was reactivated, and Luna disappeared behind a wall of black. Celestia turned her attention to the changeling, who visibly shook in fear. She flashed that cold smile of hers and whispered to the changeling. "You don't want to know where that goes." She trotted to the chair opposite the changeling, and sat down. "Now, the choice is yours... do you want to do it the easy way, and give your complete cooperation? Or..." She deactivated the glass and reveal her sister again... Who was now completely in her Nightmare Moon form. She stared at the changeling, with a psychotic, borderline demonic, smile. Her fangs glistening in the darkness, and her spike lazily floated on her right side... The spike pointed to him. "Do you want to do it the fun way....because I have one of those spikes too..." She came almost face-to-face with the terrified changeling. The changelings massive size did nothing to help it, even though it had the size advantage... "And you don't want to know where that one goes either." Ant, meet boot. *** "So...the island is constantly being struck by lightning..like, all the time?" Button said in surprise, his eyes wide and his ears hugging his head. "Yes, all the time." "But how..." "I don't know." The human heard the distant sounds of metal hooves striking the tile floor...the ruffling of feathers was so light that he barely heard it. "Someone's coming, they've got wings and armored hooves...it might be another guard to relieve you two." The two guard ponies said their good-byes and returned to their stations outside the door... Though, as the pony came closer, he notice several things about the mysterious pony. The time in which each hoof lands on the floor suggests that this ponies is a tall one. He didn't have a base value, so he couldn't be sure. The ruffling of wings suggested that said wings had to be much bigger than, say, the guard named Silver. The smell...fresh soap and shampoo. As if the pony recently had taken a bath. The smell of lilacs suggested that this pony was female. ... This pony was far different than any of the others he has met. He senses it, her power, it radiates outward. It felt like the sun was bearing down on him. He heard the guards go rigid as the pony came closer to the room. "At ease, gentleponies." he hears a motherly, almost melodic, voice say to the guard. He could have heard their muscles relax. They moved aside and opened the door for the pony. "P-princess Celestia!" the human hears Button say as he feels him move on his lap. Most likely a respectful bow or greeting. "What are you doing here?" "Greetings my little pony. I have come to talk to the human. I'm sorry, but this is...not information that should be heard by the young. I must ask you to leave. "You can come back when we're done, alright?" "Yes, princess." Button gives the human one last hug before coming down off the bed and leaving the room. "So, you're this 'Princess Celestia' I've been hearing about." the human says as he leans back in his bed, "I can't really bow at the moment, so you'll have to forgive me." "Pleasantries like that aren't needed here. You risked your health to save the lives of my subjects, I would like to consider you a friend, if you let me." The man put a hand on his chin. "Hmm, you're the kindest royal figure I've ever met, you completely blew my assumptions out of the water." "How so?" "I thought you were going to try to execute me." Celestia almost reeled back in response to that, "why would you think I would do such a thing?" "Your name. It reminds me of the...royalty back in my world. They seem to care more about money and material objects over actual human lives." "I know my fair share of those..." Celestia responded. "So, forgive my frankness, but why are you here? I don't think the ruler of an entire nation would just come for idle conversation with an extraterrestrial." Celestia sighed, she prepared herself a long story. "Yes...I have come to tell you something of utmost importance..." "Let me guess, humans were on this planet before?" "Hmm... care to tell me how you figured that out?" inside, Celestia was somewhat suprised, and impressed that this human could have deduced that. "Easy. When those changeling beings invaded the town. I apparently had a giant bulls-eye on my forehead. I could sense their desire for my flesh, anyone could." "It wasn't your flesh that they wanted..." "Hmm...then, can you enlighten me as to the history of my race here? But, before you do..." He brought his attention to the window. "A "Rainy Day"...I wish we had that in the navy."
Chapter 9(Rain is optional.) Three hours... It has been three agonizing hours since the princess started talking to the alien. Button has been sitting in front of the door, staring at a wall for the last three hours. When Button tried to talk to the guards stationed with him, figuring that they would have something, anything, interesting to say... They just ignored him! They just stood there! Choking out his attempts of friendly conversation with dead silence! The only thing that made noise, other than the bored colt, was the sound of the pouring rain outside... And the wall clock. With its infernal tick-tock noise. *Tick.* *Tock.* *Tick.* *Tock.* "Are they done yet?" Button asks as he waits outside the room. "..." The guards don't answer him. At this point he didn't care anymore. *Tick.* *Tock.* *Tick.* *Tock.* "This is boring!" Button whines, "Wait, my video games!...That I left in the room..." He slams his head against the floor and groans loudly. *Tick.* *Tock.* *Tick.* *Tock.* "I know! Lets play "conversation!" I talk to you, and you talk back! Simple!" The guards didn't even move. His eyes twitched. "Dah!" He slams his head on the floor, again, and groans loudly, again. *Tick.* *Tock.* *Tick.* *Tock.* Button tapped his head on the wall to the rhythm of the wall clock in sheer boredom. his eyes wide and twitching in sync with the clock. *Tick.* *Twitch!* *Tock.* *Twitch!* *Tick.* *Twitch!* *Tock.* *Twitch!* "You've left me no choice..." Button whispers. He sat down, took a deep breath... And started singing. "And I~ will always love you~ and I~..." Button's nasal singing drowned out the clock, and infested the entire hallway. He heard his mom listening to the song awhile back, and it's been stuck in his head since. He skipped right to the hook, not remembering the rest. "And I~ will always love you~! And I~-" Button's mouth suddenly turned into a zipper and zipped closed. He turned to Bronze, his horn glowed a light brown. And for the third time that day, he slammed his head on the floor. He didn't groan, for obvious reasons. *Click* The group's attention shifted to the hospital door. The guards moved out the way to see a golden aura surround the door. The door opened and Princess Celestia walked out with a neutral expression on her face. "YAY!" You could almost see a cloud of dust comically shaped as the excited colt hang in the air where he used to be. Celestia watched the innocent colt practically fly into the room where the alien rested. Remembering the fuss and tears he shed when the doctors refused to let him stay with the alien. *** "But- but he doesn't know any of you! What if he wakes up and he gets scared!?" The doctors* were having none of it. "Little colt, you're lucky you, or your classmates didn't catch something from the aliens injuries. We don't know if prolonged exposure to him leads to any negative affect to ponies. We're quarantining it until- " "Him!" The doctor stopped her lecture in surprise of the young colts outburst, "excuse me?" she asked. "**He* is not an it!*" "His gender doesn't matter at this point! You *are not** going to-*" "Excuse me." said a new voice, the doctor recognized the voice immediately. She disregarded the irritating colt for a second and looked being him to see... "P-princess Celestia!?" the doctor stammered out in confusion. She bowed so low that her position could be misinterpreted as something else entirely, "may I ask why you are here?" The princess smiled, "I am here to see that the human is well and stable. I commend you for the concern of the health of your fellow pony, but look behind you." The doctor looked behind her to see Button sitting next to the door that housed the alien, forbidden to enter by the two guards on duty, with a look of extreme concern. Completely disregarding his favorite passtime/obsession of playing with his JoyBoy at any given opportunity. "I've been alive for more than 3000 years, seen all the wonders of this world and yet..." Celestia slowly inhaled, then exhaled, "the sight of that little colt, so concerned for an alien being he met less than two days ago, brings a tear to my eye." The doctor looked back to Celestia for conformation and, true to her words, a single tear trickled down the sun monarchs face as she watched the colt eye the door in concern. "You have my confirmation that he will not be harmed if he stays with the human. Do you think you could let him in?" "What about his mother?" "I have sent a scroll to her explaining the situation. She too believes that the young colt known as Button Mash should be allowed to stay. So, can I have your confirmation?" The doctor really didn't have a say in the matter. Even though her tone of voice suggested that she had the option to say yes or no... Who in their right mind would say no to Princess Celestia? *** Celestia stood in the hallway with her eyes closed. Listening to the rains constant pitter-patter outside. She took another deep intake of breath, before letting the air in her lungs out steadily. 'I've been doing that alot...' She wanted nothing more than to just stand there and let the, now, calming sound of the rain take her away to a land of silent content. The sound of rain held a special place in her heart as the one thing that could calm her down no matter how angry, how distraught, or how stressed the day has made her. But the one day she could experience the calming sound, her schedule flanked her from all sides. The guards, all of them, knew how much their princesses cherished this day. They knew that this silence, how short the duration, was the only time of relaxation for her. *Poof* A tiny scroll magically manifested itself in front of the tired monarch, a tiny frown stained her muzzle as she took the scroll in her magical grip and opened it. Her tiny frown soon inverted into one of the first genuine smiles she has made that day as she read the short, but sweet, contents of the scroll. Dear Princess Celestia/ Princess Luna, Due to the unfortunate events that has transpired during Canterlot's "Rainy Day" the weather team has been informed, by an anonymous source, that both of you were forced to work during this. Therefore, in keeping with the tradition of the "Rainy Day", the downpour will be extended another 24 hours. A General Service Scroll has been sent to all homes in Canterlot informing them of the extension. Best wishes from the Canterlot Weather Team. If Celestia wasn't in the company of two guards, she would've jumped for joy after reading this scroll. She felt like a school filly that just found out school had to be canceled for the day. But, she let herself draw out a happy sigh. She teleported the tiny scroll into her private collection in her quarters. She turned to the guards with a smile "The doctors say that the human will be ready to leave the hospital at the end of the week. The "Rainy Day" has been extended for another day. When your shift is over, you can return to your families and enjoy your day off." The guards couldn't help but break formation and smile as they heard the news. "Yes Princess." She turned and made her way to exit the hospital, she could have teleported... But, the rains song could never be rushed. What was the harm in walking to the entrance of the hospital... Very slowly? *** He could hear the excited gallop of Button as he made his way into the room. He could feel the once calm air inside the room rapidly moving in the wake of the little colt's excitement. He could hear the sound of his hooves hitting the wooden chair as the boy climbed his way towards his bed. The same depression that he felt near his right leg when he woke up came again. But this time, the feeling felt slightly stronger, as if the colt suddenly gained weight. He could practically feel the warmth of Button's smile as he grinned at him. He made some space on his right side by moving his arm some, making a space that Button immediately occupied. A strange fabric brushing up against both his arm and his side as the little brown colt got comfortable. "So, how was it?" Button asked, looking up to the man with a smile. The passage of time made things slightly darker, preventing Button from seeing the aliens face. The man turned his head to the boy and smiled. "We had a very nice talk about the history of both our worlds, your princess is very nice Button. I wish we had a royal figure like her back in our world." He said in response to Button's question. "How...how are they like?" "Picture Nightmare Moon, with none of the magical power, but with 100 times the cruelty." Button gulped. "They don't rule over anything per say. They're just nobles who cannot be touched, no matter what they do." 'Well...one of them was touched. I couldn't stop laughing when I got that report. You know how to make things interesting, Straw-hat.' "Like that jerk Prince Blue Blood?" Button knew what happened at the gala from Sweetie Belle, it turns out a big mouth runs in the family. The man chuckled a little, though to Button the laugh sounded a little strange. "Yes, he came up in our little talk. He has the attitude of one of them, but that's about it." "Oh...so all you talked about was your worlds?" "Yes, we did..." "Well, you had a better time then me!" "How so?" "I sat there for three hours, 20 minutes, and 37 seconds!" The man filched. "Sorry..." Button said before putting his face in the man's right side in exasperation. "...That's very precise." "Whe fudda cluck..." Button's muffled voice responded. "You...had a clock?" "Yahhh." "What about the guards? Didn't they talk to you?" "Day turd eta stachews..." "...They turned into statues?" "Yoaah." "Button, that's starting to tickle." "Sori." he said, into his side again. He rolled to the right so that his back was flat on the bed, and sighed. "So...they turned into statues?" "They didn't talk, they didn't respond, they just stood there like a couple of Weeping Willows!" Button said, actually keeping his high pitched nasal voice in check. "Weeping what?" "It's a refrence-wait..." Button looked at his eyes for a second, "would they..." he stored that question inside his mind for another day. "Nevermind..." Button groaned, "that was horrible." Button didn't say anything after that. They lied there and heard the rain outside. The alien soon fell into a blissful slee- "This is boring!" And he's awake... "*Snort* what?" "What?" Button asked. "...Nothing." He let out a yawn and covered his mouth with his left hand. "This rain is pretty relaxing." "Yeah, I do my best when it's raining outside." "Your best at what?" "Video games of course! It's like I fall into a third dimension, where nothing matters but me and the screen. No distractions, just...do." The man could barely hold in his laughter. Tiny snickers leaking out of his mouth every now and then "...That sounded really cheesy, didn't it?" Button snickered a little as he recalled what he said. "Third dimension?" The alien says as he finally let out his laughter. Button followed soon followed after. After their laughter died out, lasting for a good two minutes, Button opened the bag. The man felt Button's movement, and heard that clicking noise of a button being pulled open. "What's in the bag?" The alien curiously asked. "It's my JoyBoy! I figured I would own up to that promise I gave you before I left school, remember?" The human thought for a second, before remembering the last words he heard from the colt before... "Yeah, I remember you talking about it but..." "Yeah?" "What are "video games?"" "...What?" "I don't think we have video games in our worl-" "Wha-!" he began, but caught himself before he became too loud, "you...don't have video games in your world?" "No...is that bad?" "Bad?...Bad? That's horrible!" Button wailed, tears starting to form on his eyes, "what kind of cruel world do you live in?" "Button, a-are you crying-" His sentence is interrupted by a tearful hug from the emotional unstable colt. "It's okay...It's okay. I'm here for you..." "...Uhhh...okay." Button let go and wiped some tears from his face before taking out his JoyBoy "your in good hooves mister, don't you worry." "I'll take you word for it..." He turned the JoyBoy on. "What was that?" the human asked. The noise he heard didn't sound like anything he has ever heard before in his life. The noise sounded...artificial. "That's the sound the JoyBoy makes when you turn it on. Neat huh?" Button said excitedly as one of his favorite games booted up. Then music unlike any he has heard before started playing after a short time of silence. "What...is that...?" "That, my alien friend, is Megamare BattleRunes 6: Magic Beast Gregar. In my opinion, the best in the series." The alien couldn't even form words. The music that passed through his ears was so... "Wow..." "I know right? Megamare always has the best music." The alien actually felt a tinge of disappointment when the music ended. But new, amazing sounds, started to reach his ears as Button started the game. "I'm gonna start a new game, practically did everything already..." "So, how does this work?" "Well, there are button's on the side, and you press them with your hooves." "But Button..." "Yeah?" "...I can't see the screen..." "Oh...never really thought this through..." Button's ears hugged his skull as he slumped. "It's alright Button..." "But...you won't be able to play." "All these new sounds and experiences are good enough for me Button...I've been like this all of my life, you take what you can get." And so, Button introduced the alien to the wonderful world of video games. He explained the story line, the background characters, everything he could possibly remember. And that day, the alien learned a valuable lesson... Button gets extremely emotional when it comes to video games. "Button...shouldn't you save before you fight this "Blastmare?" You only have ten life left." Button scoffed, "this is the first boss in the game, I perfect run her all the time. I don't need to save." And so Button, with ten life left, started battling the crazy pyro known as Blastmare. Button memorized her pattern long ago, she would always move three times, then attack. He was doing fairly well, countering everyone of her moves- *Crash!* A very loud thundering sound from outside made Button jump in surprise. Since all his attention was on the game, his reaction was explosive... He threw the JoyBoy in the air. "No, no, no, no, no, no!" Button saw that Blastmare was preparing a row of fire balls coming from the left, and he wasn't in the right place to dodge it. Button caught the the JoyBoy and quickly realized that he didn't have time to dodge the incoming fireballs... But luckily, he stocked up on "Reflects" and had one on him. He pressed the A button and a yellow shield with a green cross in the middle appeared. When the fireballs hit, a purple shock-wave of energy shot out of the shield and hit Blastmare for 60 points of damage... She only had 50 left. "Victory!" He happily said as the winning music played, "you have lost Blastmare! Now those poor teachers won't have to-" Button payed so much attention to actually playing the game, that he didn't notice the little light on the top of the JoyBoy blinking red. For the entire time he had been defeating the forces of evil, he didn't notice one crucial fact... He forgot to replace the batteries. The screen suddenly turned black as Button gloated about the defeat of the first boss. The alien heard the sudden stop of sound, and knew something was off... He put his fingers in his ears...but it didn't help much. "...Feel the- what!? Wait! No! Nooooooooooooooo! I forgot to change the batteries!" And he started crying his eyes out. "Why does mom always have to get the cheap knock off batteries!?" The alien felt his right side be commandeered, again, by an emotionally distraught Button... His entire right side was drenched in tears in a matter of seconds. The guards outside opened the door in utter confusion. "Nuh ah haa tah stut ah oval agaah! Whiy~!?" Button's pitiful display was muffled by the aliens right side. He was getting uncomfortably warm on that side, plus Button's constant movement tickled him mercilessly. The guards just slowly closed the door. Leaving the alien to his tear drenched fate. "Button?" "Yahh!?" "Didn't I tell you to save?" "Yahh!" "And what didn't you do?" "Sahv!" "And why are you crying so much?" "Bicuh ah dedet pahk ah spuh puh ah badais!" "We can ask the nice guards to see if they can find some batteries, alright?" he patted the boy on the head a couple of times in an attempt to calm him down. "Oka..." was Button's muffled response. After Button calmed down, they asked the guards if they could find some batteries. Luckily the hospital had battery powered toys for the younger patients. So getting four batteries for Button's JoyBoy wasn't a hassle... The alien also asked for a new hospital gown, the one he had one had Button's tears all over it. "Sorry..." "It's alright Button." *** Celestia looked at her bedside window. The conversation she had with the human that she found out was named "Fugitora" stirred up some pretty old memories she thought she moved on from. A tear left her eye as she looked over to the plastic bag that held the gray, lifeless remains of the apple that she showed to the changeling... She couldn't part with the apple. Like a leech that attached itself to its victim, this apple stayed with her, tormented her, reminded her of her failure. She could do nothing to stop it, the human didn't know the extent of the gratitude that she had for him. Saving that little foal from being...leeched from. She, for the second time in her life, failed to protect what her held dear from the evil of that magic. The magic that turned things grey... The magic that turned them all grey. The rain poured on, both outside...and inside the castle. *** "Button, I'm getting pretty tired." The alien said as he yawned for what felt like the fifteenth time today. "Yeah..." Button yawned as he saved the game and put the JoyBoy away. He took off his saddle bags, that were slightly wet with tears, and dropped them on the floor, "me too..." The alien closed his eyes, laying back in the bed and letting the rain's sweet lullaby drift him into sleep. Button didn't even move from his place next to him, he just got comfortable and sighed. "Good night Button..." "Good night...mister?" "Yes?' "I feel pretty stupid for not asking you earlier but...what's your name?" The man patted Button on the head and brought him closer to his body. "The name's Fujitora, but...you can call me Issho." "Isesho? That's a pretty weird name...sorry if I didn't say it right." "When I told Celestia my name, she butchered it too." "How'd she say it?" Issho snickered before he said "Figiteri." They both shared a laugh before calming down "Well good night..." "Good night...Iessho." He said his name wrong, again. But he didn't mind.
