An Angel Among Ponies

Chapters

Fallen Angel
First Rule of Fight Club
Introductons
Smoke and Mirrors
A Royal Pain
Trust Issues
An Angel and the Moon

Fallen Angel

Well, how do I start off this little side story of mine. Ah I know; let me be the first on congratulating you on finding the story I never wanted anyone to see. If you sought out this story because you saw my other adventures that I’ve written then no introductions are necessary. However, if you just randomly found this story out of pure dumb luck then let me take a moment to give you a rundown.

My name is Grant Walker. I’m sixteen years old. My interests include: reading, hanging out with my friends....

…And working with an organization called the Clergy in an attempt to put a stop to the Angels and Demons that created humans to fight for them.

I may have gotten ahead of myself there for a moment. Allow me to explain. In the beginning God created Angels and Demons. Heaven and Hell are very real places. God also created something like an anchor that would hold together the two planes of existence. That place was our world. The three worlds are connected by a thin dimensional bridge. Beyond that bridge is a strange material that we in the Clergy call the Rift. The Rift is actually what created all three worlds to begin with. Angels and Demons are all born with the ability to manipulate this material in some way or another.

At first there was peace between the Angels and Demons and our world was something like a little paradise for them. Then war broke out somehow, no text can agree on how it started or by whom, but we know that it started; which is evident from us still fighting in that very war even today. The war lasted an incredibly long time and eventually both Angels and Demons were on the verge of extinction. They agreed to a ceasefire and decided to make a middleman to fight for them; that middleman being humanity. The Angel and Demon capable of creating life (which is normally impossible, unless you count unicellular, but I don’t.) worked on creating a large army to continue on with the fight for them.

The reason humans never seem to be in a state of peace for more than two seconds is because we’re constantly being forced into a conflict for the Angels and Demons to make bets on. And sometimes it’s because humans just want to fight humans but it’s mostly the first thing. Anyway, getting back on track humanity fought for a while and eventually a few of us learned that we could manipulate the Rift too. However, only a very small percentage of us can as compared to the entire population of Angels and Demons.

Our saving grace is that we breed at a much faster rate than they do which means the number of humans that can manipulate the Rift just about balances out with the Angel and Demon population. The first few humans started the rebellion against the Angels and Demons and became the organization that is now known as the Clergy. Currently there are about ten million members of the Clergy all with varying ages and level of expertise.

You may be asking where God went in the story. No one really knows, some say he was killed, while others say he just disappeared. I personally don’t care. I’m not one to worry about the specifics of history when the fate of my entire species is in danger. The other question you may be asking is how a sixteen year old kid fits into all of this.

Again, if you’re already familiar with my other adventures then you know the answer to this all too well. To those of you that aren’t, I give you my life in a nutshell. Ever since I was a kid I always thought there was something wrong with me. I was right of course and when I was eight I experienced my first Angel encounter. The whole thing ended tragically and I learned that I was half Angel. When I was twelve I was sent to the Clergy Academy, a secret school located in Germany to train my ability to manipulate the Rift. I progressed at an astonishing rate and graduated from my class as the valedictorian.

I was told to patrol London in case of any Angel or Demon attack or any other thing that could possibly go wrong. I was also given the occasional mission from the Clergy every now and then. My first mission was rather uneventful, all I had to do was, sneak into a large office building full of Demons, steal some important information, and find a way to kill all the Demons. My second mission for the Clergy is what made a real difference in my life. I had to find a seal that held an unknown entity in it and prevent it from falling into the hands of a rogue group of humans that were bent on using the being inside of the seal to take over the world. At the end of the mission my Angelic half went out of control and most of the rogue humans wound up dead.

Most of my time after that was spent finding a way to control my Angel half. I succeeded of course and now I have to find a way to help humanity win the war against the Angels and Demons once and for all, which is where this particular story begins.

Everything started out normal enough. I was looking for a way into Heaven to see if I could find out the Angels’ plan to wipe out humanity so I could counter it, and that’s when things got weird.

“What the hell is Michael planning?!” I screamed at the Angel in front of me as we fell through the dimensional bridge between Heaven and Earth.

The Angel looked at me with the blank, glowing eyes that all Angels have. His marble-like, light emitting features seemed even brighter in the strange void.

“The Leader’s plans are not for your ears.” The Angel answered in a hollow tone.

‘Figures, the one time I actually want one of the higher ranked Angels to be near me and I’m stuck dealing with a drone.’ I thought bitterly.

Michael has his army set up so that all low ranking members are nothing more than brainwashed pawns by using his abilities on them. If they prove themselves worthy, then they can get their freewill back and help him with his strategies. At that point the payoff is so good that most just accept the offer. That and the other option is death makes the deal a little more tempting. I had learned all of this from my last trip into Heaven. I had narrowly escaped thanks to the help of an Angel named Ezekiel who is now dead for helping me.

The trip gave me a little appreciation of Angel society and changed my priorities. I no longer had to kill every single Angel, just the ones in charge. That being said this was still a war and if I had to kill a young Angel that had gotten swept up in the propaganda against humanity and was now little more than a living weapon, then so be it.

I was thoroughly pissed at my impromptu guide for being so useless, and launched into action. I brought myself over him and hit him with an expertly crafted ax kick, using the Rift to give my muscle mass a proficient boost as my black combat boot came into contact with the Angel’s face. He fell onto one of the walls of the dimensional gap and regained his footing quicker than I had thought he would. He sprung up from the wall and caught me in a high speed tackle. He gripped at my torso with the power of a steel vice and I grinned as he did so.

“Well, well, well, looks like this dog knows a few tricks.” And just like that I broke free from the Angel’s grasp and smashed my fist into the Angel’s abdomen. “Too bad for you you’re still hopelessly outmatched.”

Then the Angel did something I had never seen before. It brought out a strange vial that it had concealed from me somehow and drank the viscous, green liquid that was inside of it. All of a sudden the light that was surrounding him became much brighter and the energy he was pulling in nearly tripled. I didn’t have time to be surprised as he tackled me again and slammed me into the wall of the dimensional gap. The wall felt strangely like Jell-O as my face slid down it, but I’d have to save that nice little piece of information for later.

I increased the amount of Rift that I was drawing into my limbs and broke free again. The Angel was stunned for a moment and I used that as an opportunity to charge him. I launched myself off the dimensional wall opposite the Angel and rotated my body a few times before delivering a devastating kick that sent him into the dimensional wall. In an instant my vision was filled with an eerie red light and the next thing I knew I could feel the dimensional wall give way causing me to fall directly into the Rift.

I had to act fast; unlike the gap between the three worlds the Rift doesn’t have air in it. Okay technically it does but it’s not breathable when it’s in the form of the Rift. The incredible force of the swirling mass was pulling me in every direction at once which made what I was doing a little harder. I calmed my racing thoughts down and a moment later a white aura surrounded me and when it died down I was in my Angel form. When I’m in this form I don’t need oxygen so I could finally stop holding my breath. I tried to force myself to move in a particular direction but I was at the Rift’s mercy. The irony of the situation hit me at that moment. The thing that had saved my life countless times in the past may very well be the instrument of my death. My muscles relaxed and a strange sense of tranquility washed over me as I accepted whatever fate the Rift was going to give me.

“Hey Mom, set a place at the table for me, looks like I’ll be home for dinner.” I said slowly before I lost consciousness.

Twilight was in the middle of studying different forms of transformation magic when the sky suddenly turned dark. This was strange to her because it was still the middle of the day and the weather team wasn’t scheduled to make a storm for at least a week. The purple unicorn walked over to her window to see something that shocked her. A faint black figure was falling out of the sky and was headed straight toward the Everfree Forest. And as the figure disappeared from sight below the canopy of trees, the sky returned to its normal color.

“Oh no, somepony might be hurt!” Twilight cried. But the woods were too dangerous for her to go in by herself. She would need help. Twilight was bathed in a purple light and vanished from the library in pursuit of her friends.

My mind started back up again and I still wasn’t sure if I was alive or dead.

‘Nice going there, jackass.’ Said a surly voice in my head. And just like that I knew I was alive.
“Glad to see you’re okay too, Gabriel.” I replied, opening my eyes to see that I was in a strange, marshy area in the middle of a dark forest.

Gabriel is the name of the manifestation of the Angel half of me. He sprang into existence after years of feeding off of my negative emotions and exposure to other Angels. We had a little spat concerning who would have control of my body. We eventually came to an agreement and we normally get along, kind of.

‘You should’ve taken that fight more seriously; otherwise we wouldn’t be in this mess right now.” He chastised.

“What are you talking about? We’re alive, and we seem to be back home, albeit in a strange place.”

‘You can be so daft sometimes. We’re nowhere near home, take a look around.’

I did as I was told and noticed that Gabriel was right, at first glance the forest looked like any other would back home. Then I noticed some strange, otherworldly plants poking out of the ground every now and then.

“Looks like we’ve fallen into another universe, or something.” I stated calmly, noticing a strange taste in the air, it was almost sweet and full of some sort of energy.

‘How can you be so calm in a situation like this?!’ Gabriel hissed at me in my thoughts ‘We’re who knows how far away from home and, we don’t even have the foggiest idea on how or if we can return.’

“For one thing we’re alive that’s what’s really important. Two, if we got into this world then I’m sure we can get back. All we need is time, and maybe the people here will know of a way to get us back.” I reasoned, with a grin on my face.
Then I heard a loud, guttural growl coming from the murky pond behind me. In a matter of moments a large figure was looming over me.

‘What was that you were saying about people helping us?’

“Come on, you know you wanted a good fight, and this thing looks like a good warm-up.”

Twilight and her friends were standing at the edge of the Everfree Forest with her friends by her side.

“Does everypony know the plan?” Twilight asked nervously.

“For the tenth time yes!” Rainbow Dash huffed, hovering impatiently.

“Umm… Twilight,” Fluttershy said nervously. “…maybe I, I should stay here?” She suggested backing away a little.

“You can’t, I think I saw somepony fall from the sky and if that’s true then they might be hurt.” Twilight said, worried.

“Oh, if somepony’s hurt then we must go, we simply must!” Fluttershy said with renewed energy.

“Yeah, and when they’re all better I can throw them a huge PARTY!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, bouncing up and down with her usual bubbly personality.

All of a sudden the six ponies were thrown off guard by a large roar emanating from the forest followed closely by.

“Come get some, Scaly!”

“Looks like somepony’s in trouble!” Applejack said in her southern drawl.

“Come on Girls! It looks like we don’t have a moment to lose!” Twilight exclaimed as they all rushed into the forest to help whoever was in danger.

First Rule of Fight Club

Waking up in a new world is a strange experience. Waking up in a new world and immediately finding a two story tall, multi-headed lizard creature? That’s strange too, but I’m used to everything in existence wanting to kill me so it wasn’t all that bad. Don’t get me wrong this was a bad situation. It could even make it into my top ten of worst things I’ve woken up to. And even though I’ve fought countless times before I always get a knot of apprehension that ties up my stomach like a Christmas bow.

The thing’s four heads roared in unison at me in a symphony of feral hunger. While I recount my fight with this creature I’ll give you the basics of my brand of fighting style. Rule 1: even if you’re terrified never let your enemy know. Was I scared of this thing? The short answer is, yes, yes I was scared. The long answer is that it was a giant snake-thing with four sets of teeth from another world. If I wasn’t scared then I’d be completely insane. Which I might be anyway I’m not entirely sure.

My fear didn’t stop me from putting on a brave face though. I drew the Rift into a point at my right hand and formed my sword, a three and a half foot long blade of polished steel with a golden handle that has a hilt guard that looks like a pair of outstretched wings. I did a quick flourish and yelled, “Bring it on, Scaly!” as I charged the beast. I leapt into the air and brought my sword down in a deadly arc towards the monsters head. It swung one of its necks at me and sent me flying toward a tree.

I flipped in midair and stabbed my sword into the trunk to help brace myself. Which brings me to rule 2: gauge your opponent’s strength to know what you’re dealing with. What seemed like a reckless charge was actually my way of
seeing what I was looking at in terms of speed and strength.

After I managed to get my teeth to stop gritting I had gleaned some useful information. The creature was stronger than me in terms of brute force, but I was much faster than it. I pried myself from the tree and dropped into my fighting stance.

‘Hey Grant.’

‘What is it Gabriel?’

‘Is it just me or does this thing almost seem … cartoonish?’ Gabriel said with a curious tone. I took the best look of the thing that I could manage while I dodged the thing’s snapping jaws.

‘By God you’re right!’ I thought back to him. ‘It does look like a cartoon! It even has eyebrows! Why didn’t we notice this sooner?’

‘I’m guessing you didn’t notice because you were busy trying to survive. I didn’t notice because I was thinking some less than choice thoughts about you.’

I rolled my eyes and returned my full attention to the fight. Which brings me to rule 3: examine your opponent thoroughly and find any weaknesses. And, rule 4: anything goes. I watched the thing’s heads and saw that either one of the heads moved or all of them did, and the heads seemed to have limited movement. An inkling of a plan started to form in my head and I waited for one of the heads to lunge at me and jumped on it.

The creature tried to shake me off but I held fast and slid down the thing’s neck shouting, “Yabba-dabba- doo!” as I did. I landed with a dull thud onto the thing’s back and with a swift slice of the sword, cut off one of its heads. A large spurt of blood erupted from the wound and splashed onto me a little.

The creature started to flail wildly and knocked me onto the ground before I could brace myself. I quickly picked myself up into my fighting stance before the thing could catch me off-guard. The creature stared at me with a quiet rage in its eyes. It was obviously angry that I had decapitated it, sort of. But it was also wary of the thing that it had thought would be an easy meal. We squared off against each other for a few moments, waiting for the other to make a move.

Until, a loud gasp broke the tension and the creature turned its attention to the source and lashed out at it with one of its heads. The creature’s body blocked my view of whatever it was but I could hear the feminine sounding screams and knew I had to help. “Buggeration,” I muttered as I ran to intercept the attack.

Twilight and her friends ran through the forest as fast as they could, the sounds of the fight growing louder with each passing moment. “Why would somepony try to fight a hydra?” Fluttershy asked, breaking Twilight’s concentration.

In the distance they heard a voice exclaim, “Yabba-dabba-doo!”

“I don’t know, but whoever it is, he seems to be enjoying himself.” Twilight replied.

“That’s just crazy.” Applejack said.

“I agree, enjoying something as vulgar as fighting, it’s just uncouth.” Rarity added.

“I think this guy has guts.” Rainbow Dash interjected.

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said. “Hydras aren’t something to take lightly, whoever’s fighting it probably doesn’t realize the danger they’re in.”

“Oh come on, we do stuff that’s more dangerous than fight hydras all the time.”

“Yes, but we have each other. Not to mention the help of magic, and when all else fails we have the Elements of Harmony.”

“Whatever, I still think he has guts.”

“Let’s just focus on helping whoever’s in trouble, alright?” Twilight sighed. The girls silently agreed and in a few moments they reached the source of the sounds. Directly in front of them was the hydra. Only, one of its heads had been cut off. The girls gasped at the sight of this and the hydra turned around to face them.

The hydra lashed out at them and all of them screamed at the top of their lungs. They heard the hydra’s mouth close down on something and opened their eyes which they had forced shut. What they saw confused and amazed them. A strange creature had blocked the attack with its own body. The hydra’s mouth was embedded into its back and looked at the girls with a pained smile. The creature was unlike anything they had ever seen before. It stood up on two legs and was taller than any of them. The only hair they could see on it was on the top of its head and that was short and a dark, chestnut color. It wore a strange, black outfit with a white crest on the left hand corner of the chest. And something that stuck out to them was its eyes. They were a glittering, silver color that almost seemed like liquid metal.

“Well, multi-colored horses, certainly wasn’t what I was expecting to deal with today. Run along now, this is no place for you.” With that the creature took a strange item it held in what should have been its right fore-leg and stuck it in the hydra’s neck.

The hydra released its grip on the creature and roared in pain. Then, the creature ran around the hydra to turn its attention away from the girls.

“Did that thing just talk?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I think it did.” Twilight replied. “Fluttershy, do you know what it is?”

“I’ve never seen anything like it. I hope he’s not too hurt though, he looked like he got a nasty wound.”

“Whatever it or he is,” Rarity said. “His outfit is exquisite.”

“Is now really the time t’be talkin’ about fashion. Applejack snapped. “We should try t’help ‘im.”

“Umm, Applejack,” Rainbow Dash said.

“What?”

“I don’t think he needs any help.” The girls focused on the fight and saw the creature throw the object it had used to stab the hydra. This distracted the hydra long enough for the creature to reach its midsection. Then the object suddenly reappeared with the creature and it proceeded to hack and slash at the hydra’s chest. After a few slashes the hydra went limp. The object disappeared from the creature’s grip and it collapsed as well.

Fluttershy rushed to its side and rolled it onto its back to examine the wound it had taken. “I was afraid this would happen.” She said, after a moment.

“What is it, Fluttershy?”

“The venom from the hydra is attacking his nervous system. At first, I thought it wasn’t affecting him because he seemed fine. Now I see we have to get to work on him fast or he might die. Twilight, can you teleport all of us back to your cottage?”

“No, at the most I could get five of us.”

“Then, take you, him, and me to my cottage. The rest of you meet us there as soon as you can.”

Twilight nodded and in a few moments they disappeared in a bright, white flash, while the others ran as fast as they could to make it to Fluttershy’s cottage.

I have to say that I never imagined dying for the sake of six little horses. I always thought that I’d die during my last fight with Michael. I mean, how was I supposed to know that the thing had venom? It was as big as a house for Christ’s sake! What could possibly be, so dangerous that something that big would need venom to protect itself from it? On second thought, I don’t wanna know.

I’m just kidding. I didn’t die. After I let the Rift exit my body the venom kicked in and knocked me unconscious. After that, I had a dream of sorts. I was sitting on a bench that overlooked the Thames. It was the dead of night and the only other person in sight was the girl sitting next to me. The glow from the streetlight caused shadows to play across her soft features. She had long, blonde hair that was tied up with a black ribbon. Her eyes were a deep blue that almost looked purple. She wore an outfit like my own, the uniform of the Clergy with the cross mixed with a compass rose on the left breast, only hers was more designed for the female form.

“Hard to believe this is our third date, isn’t it, Grant?” She said.

“You can say that again.” I replied, a huge grin on my face.

“That’s a good look for you,” She said with a half-smile. “Much better than that scowl you always had before.”

“It’s all thanks to you. You make me feel… at ease and happy. I’m glad you’re here with me. I actually got you something.” I said, pulling out a small object from inside of my outfit.

“A snow globe of the London Eye,” She said with wide eyes.

“I know it’s your favorite thing in the city so I got you something that had an image of it, and I thought you’d like this the best.” I said nervously.

“This has got to be the cheesiest thing I’ve ever seen… and I couldn’t love it more.”

A smile broke out on my face and I couldn’t stop myself from saying, “And I love you.”

“Did you just say you love me?”

“No I didn’t,” I replied frantically, waving my hands in front of my body.

“You did! You said you love me! Admit it.”

“Fine,” I said with a heavy sigh. “I said that I loved you, and I meant it.”

“Good because I love you too.” She said, bringing her lips to meet my own in a passionate kiss. I wish that that dream had lasted forever, but it dissolved a few moments later. Leaving me waking up with only one word escaping my mouth,

“Sophie.” I reached my left hand out to rub the black ribbon tied to my wrist.

Introductons

“What’s a Sophie?” A mysterious voice asked me.

Why is it that every time I’d like a moment to myself something always happens to make it come to a screeching halt. I should stop myself before I begin to ramble. My initial reaction to this voice was a tad extreme. I threw the covers off of me and pointed my sword at the source of the noise. My second reaction: garble flarble. My mind went completely blank when I saw what I was threatening: a pink horse with curly pink hair and enormous blue eyes. I didn’t have enough time to articulate any thoughts as I was almost immediately rendered immobile. A strange pink light surrounded me and no matter how hard I struggled I couldn’t free myself.

“Relax, we only want to talk.” I was able turn my head to see five other horses each a different color. One actually had rainbow colored hair. Right down to indigo, the most obscure of the seven colors of the light spectrum. There I go rambling again I really need to focus. The one that had spoken seemed to be a purple one with the same colored light surrounding a horn on her head. It took me a lot of getting my head on straight but I was able to sort myself enough to make a somewhat witty retort.

“Right because I should listen to the thing that’s restraining me.” Okay a not so very witty retort.

“If you calm down I’ll put you down.”

“No thanks. I’ll get myself out.”

“That won’t happen. I’ve tweaked this spell so that it will adjust its strength to match the output of the one caught in it.”

“Thanks for the tidbit. I’m going to prove you wrong now.” I concentrated for a moment and used the Rift to cause my muscles to go limp. My entire body slumped and the horses gave me a confused look. I ignored then and noticed that the field was slowly adjusting to my new level of strength. When it was done I used the Rift to increase my strength. The field shuddered and broke as I struggled out, unable to adjust to my new level of strength fast enough. I deftly landed on the floor and shot the horses a playful grin.

“Well, now that I’m in a position of superiority I’ll answer your questions, after you answer mine.”

“Fine, what do you want to know?” The purple one asked, rubbing the horn on her head with one of her hooves.

“First, I’d like to… wait, weren’t there six of you?”

“You’re right, where’s Fluttershy?” The white one said after scanning the room for a moment.

I started to look for the missing horse and eventually found her underneath the bed. I was impressed that she was able to make it there without me noticing. That feeling disappeared as soon as I saw the look on her face. She looked absolutely terrified; it was almost like she expected me to eat her or something.

‘Oh man, I feel like I just kicked a puppy, a sentient, pink haired puppy.’

‘And for some reason I feel like you’ve earned a lot of hatred from a large group of adult males.’ Gabriel replied.

I let out a short sigh and allowed my sword to dissipate and stretched my hand toward the horse. “Hey,
Fluttershy was it? I’m sorry if I scared you. I overreacted there, but everything’s fine now.” The look on her face softened and she tilted her head slightly, causing her hair to cover an eye.

“Its okay, is your back alright?”

“Please, I’ve had worse and could still run a marathon. In fact I can fix this right now.” She wiggled her way from underneath the bed and gave me a confused look.

“How do you plan on doing that? I used everything I know to help the healing process.”

“Everything you know and everything I know are two completely different things.” I replied with the best grin I had.

I slipped the bandages off of my body and concentrated on the wound. As soon as I did I could feel my cells start to slowly divide. As always I made sure I was careful to avoid accidentally making the cells divide too quickly which could give me cancer. It hasn’t happened yet and that’s how I’d like to keep it. After a few minutes the wounds were healed with only a small trace left behind. I looked at the six ponies, with the same open mouth expression on their faces.

“How did you do that?” The one with the rainbow hair asked.

“I believe it was my turn to ask the questions. The first thing I’d like to know is: where is my shirt?”

“I have it right here.” The white one answered, using a similar glow that the purple one had to bring it over to me. “Although the hydra did quite a number on it, if you like I could fix it for you.”

“That won’t be necessary,” I said slipping on my uniform. “I doubt you have what I need to fix it anyway.”

“Oh, I was only trying to help, Darling.”

“Thank you, but at this point I’ll need some new clothing for however long I’ll be staying. Which could be anywhere from a few days to the remainder of my life.”

“How do you not know how long you’ll be staying?” The pink one asked.

“I’ll get to that when I answer your questions. For now, allow me to introduce myself. I am Grant Walker and it’s a pleasure to meet all of you, even though the circumstances have been a bit strange.” I said with a slight bow for dramatic effect.

“Hi, I’m Twilight Sparkle, librarian for the town of Ponyville and personal student of Princess Celestia.”

“I’m Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria and future member of the Wonderbolts.” The rainbow haired one said with a tight loop.

“I am Rarity, and if its clothing you need then, I insist that you allow me to design you some new ones. I would love to have a model with such a striking form as yours.”

“Ahm, Applejack thanks for what ya did back in the forest. Ah thought I was a goner.”

“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! Wow I thought you were going to be a big mean meanie pants when you pointed that sword at me. But when you got Fluttershy oh that’s the yellow Pegasus over there but you knew that already out from under the bed you were really nice. And…”

“Ah think he gets the point Sugarcube.” Applejack said, placing a hoof firmly into Pinkie Pie’s motor-mouth.

It was at that moment that I reacted with the utmost respect towards the information I was just given. I started to laugh my arse off. “Those are some of the most ridiculous names I have ever heard. I… I need a moment.” I said, taking a second or two to straighten up. “I’m sorry I don’t normally do that.”

“What makes our names so funny to ya?”

“A few reasons, nothing you need to worry about. Anyway, you’ve answered most of my questions. The country is named…*snort* Equestria, the town we’re in is Ponyville and I’m obviously the only member of my species that you’ve met.”

“That’s correct. You’re a lot more perceptive than I had thought you’d be.” Twilight said with a slight grin.

“Well I have to…” All of a sudden Pinkie Pie made an ear-shattering gasping noise and in a cloud of dust she was suddenly gone. “What just happened there?”

“Don’t worry, that was just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.” Twilight said with a knowing smile.

“She’s planning me a surprise party isn’t she?”

“How the hay did you figure that out?”

“Simple, each of you has a marking on your sides. That couldn’t be a coincidence seeing as none of you have any other markings on your bodies. So the mark has to symbolize something important about each of you. Pinkie Pie’s mark is of three balloons. That could mean she likes to decorate for parties, throw parties, or just enjoys parties in general. Add all that up with the sporadic behavior we just witnessed and the fact that you seem to be hiding something and that seems to be the best explanation.”

“Ah don’t know what just happened, but mah head hurts a little.”

“I have to say that I’m impressed. Do you have any other questions?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, could I see a mirror?” Rarity gave me a small hand mirror and what I saw was a little odd. “Sweet Jesus! I look like the offspring of one of those Japanese cartoons and Disney!”

“What’s wrong, Grant?”

“Where I’m from I don’t normally look like this. My shape and coloration is still the same but that’s about it. Just ask your questions before my mind… I like a moo cow!”

“Are you okay?”

“Sorry my brain just, never mind, just ask your questions.”

“Um okay, where are you from?”

“Another universe I suppose.”

“Other universes exist! This is a groundbreaking discovery!” Twilight squealed. “What’s it like there? Do ponies exist there? What’s your magic like? What about technology?”

“Come again?”

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Applejack said. “She gets a little excitable ‘bout things like this. But I’d like to know what ya are exactly?”

“That’s a fun one to answer.” I said with a slight grin. “As far as occupations go you could say I’m a soldier and student. I could also say I’m a sixteen year old boy. But my species is half Human and half Angel.”

`“Angel? That’s the name of my bunny! Are you half bunny? Oh do you have a tail? Do you like carrots?” Fluttershy asked, getting in my face and forgetting the last part of her name.

“What just happened to Fluttershy? “

“Fluttershy really loves animals. I’m surprised you didn’t figure that out Mr. Perceptive.” Rainbow Dash laughed.
“Huh, I thought the butterflies meant she was an Entomologist or something but the animal lover makes sense too. And no I am not half bunny. Angel is the name of a species where I’m from.”

“So you’re not related to Angel Bunny?”

“No, but I still like carrots.” I said hoping to make her feel better.

“Excuse me,” Twilight said. “You keep saying you’re only half of one species, but as far as I can tell your structure seems to be of one cohesive whole.”

“That’s correct. Right now I’m in my Human form. The Angel part of my body I keep under wraps but I can let it out at any time I want.”

‘Grant why are you being so open with these ponies?’

‘You remember that position of superiority I said I have?’

‘Yeah’

‘My actual position is so ambiguous that a mouse could squeeze me out if it wanted to. So instead of lying I’ll tell them what they want to know, unless I don’t want to. But for now they seem to have magic and some of that magic could help us get back home, so i won't lie. Our only other option would be for us to reverse the process of drawing the Rift into our body and instead draw ourselves into the Rift, which would be dangerous, incredibly stupid, and most likely impossible.’

‘Just like everything else we do.’

‘Good point’

“Grant, what exactly happens when you let out your Angel half?”

“Hmm, oh yes my Angel half. Well my skin takes on a marble like quality to it, my body gets a certain glow to it, I sprout large wings, and my strength grows exponentially.”

“You grow wings!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Does that mean you can fly?”

“Yes I can. When I feel like it.”

“Wait, when you were fightin’ the hydra, ya could’ve gotten even stronger?”

“Yes, I just didn’t see the need. I only use my Angel form as a sort of last resort. A sort of, in case of emergency break psyche kind of thing.” This garnered a few looks but none of them seemed to know how to respond.

All of a sudden Pinkie Pie returned to the room with an odd look on her face. “Pinkie Pie, what are you doing here? Isn’t there something important you have to do?” Twilight asked.

“I was going to, but when I got to town I noticed that everypony was acting weird. So I checked it out and saw that Trixie’s back.”

“Ugh not Trixie,” Twilight groaned. “Come on girls. Let’s go see what she’s doing back in town.”

“I’ll come too.” I said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’d be bored out of my mind just sitting here. Besides, I want to know what this Trixie character is like to earn such a reaction from all of you.”

Smoke and Mirrors

The group of ponies and I continued to walk into town, giving me a chance to see all the animals that Fluttershy kept. There had to be at least one of every animal. All of them were running or flying as if this were an everyday occurrence.

‘How does Fluttershy afford all of this?’ Gabriel asked.

‘I don’t know. How does my hair seem to defy gravity now? Seriously this place is a Newtonian nightmare.’

‘Are you still on about that? So you look different now. It’s not that big a deal.’

‘You know I just feel like complaining.’

“Grant, would you mind explaining how you’re able to heal yourself so quickly now?” Twilight asked.

“Sure, but first can you tell me why we’re walking instead of running if this Trixie is such a threat?”

“She’s not a threat per se…”

“She’s an annoying showpony who says she’s better than everypony else.” Rainbow Dash interjected.

“Didn’t you tell me you were the best flier in Equestria just a second ago?”'

“I might brag a little but when I do I don’t put other ponies down when I do.”'

“Uh oh,” I said while rubbing the side of my head.

“Is there some sort of problem?” Fluttershy whispered.

“Yeah, where I’m from I always tend to have problems with people like that. If she’s that bad I might have to be careful so I don’t do something stupid.”

“You mean like getting in an argument?”

“I was thinking something more along the lines of her face getting acquainted with the dirt.”

“Do you solve all yer problems by fightin’?”

“No, I can be diplomatic if I want to be.”

“Then please be on your best behavior,” Twilight scolded. “We don’t want you to get into any trouble.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. Seeing as you answered my question I’ll answer yours. My power is a little odd to describe. I’m able to use the substance that was used to create my and maybe even all universes.”

“That’s incredible!” Twilight exclaimed.

“It does sound very impressive.” Rarity added.

“Well, it does have its limitations. I can only use it for so long and I can only use so much of it at a time. Also, where I’m from there are two types that can use this power, Physical and Elemental. I’m a Physical type which means I can use the substance to improve my physical aspects: strength, speed, healing. Anything involving my body’s natural processes I can control. I can also create the sword you saw.”

“That’s very interesting, what can Elementals do?”

“Their powers are similar to your magic. Are there any other questions?”

“Ah got one. You said you were a soldier, if yer still sixteen how’s that possible?”

“Where I’m from there’s a war going on between Humans, Demons, and Angels. In order to fight them my kind trains people to use this ability I told you about. We even trainkids at times.”

“That’s horrible! Using children to fight in a war is just ghastly!”

“Everyone is given a choice to leave at any point. No one is forced to fight. We only train the children at first. After that they’re only put into active duty when they reach adulthood.”

“Does that mean you don’t actually fight?”

“Oh no, I’ve been active for almost two years now.”

“But you just said…”

“I’m a special case. I requested to fight.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I have my reasons.”

“That doesn’t answer the question.” Rainbow Dash huffed.

“Look the reason I do what I do is a touchy subject, so please respect my privacy.”

“Still, a war between Angels and Humans must be hard on you.”

“Not really, my Angel father has never been a part of my life.” The rest of the trip was spent in silence. I put on my best happy face but it was difficult after having brought up my father. I tried to focus on something that doesn’t completely piss me off which helped a little. Once we got into town a pony walking down the street noticed us. His eyes grew wide and he looked absolutely terrified.

“Aaah, a monster,” he screamed before running into town. A few ponies looked out and had the exact same reaction. Now, I’ve been called some horrible things in my time. And I’ve had people do terrible things to me because they didn’t like me. But there’s something about being insulted by a talking pony that just hits you in the right place.

“Don’t worry about them. We’ll explain everything to them later.” Twilight said with a hoof on my side (probably trying to reach my shoulder) in an attempt to comfort me.

“Wait, calling someone a monster and running away aren’t signs of affection here?” I asked with a smile. I think they could tell that I was hurt but they dropped it. When we got to the town square the crowd was pushing away from us and calling me a monster all the while. And that’s when I first got a good look at Trixie. She was standing on some sort of foldout stage with a banner that had her face on it. She had a silver mane with purple eyes and a light blue coat. She was wearing a purple cape and wizard’s hat with star designs on them.

“Citizens of Ponyville, I the Great and Powerful Trixie will defeat this monster that you all seem to fear and save you all.” The crowd instantly turned their attention towards me as I gave my best confused look.

“What, are you talking about me? Honestly why has everyone been calling me a monster? Is it the hair? Because, I’ve tried and it doesn’t want to stay down.” Most of the crowd was confused by this; a few were still scared while others laughed a little.

“Yes, the Great and Powerful Trixie is referring to you. Now prepare to be slain.”

“Quick question,” I said raising my hand.

“What is it?”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why am I being slain?”

“You are a monster that is terrorizing these ponies, that’s why.”

“Oh, I can see how walking could considered terrifying. I’m sorry if I caused any trouble, now if you excuse me I’ll just keep going and leave you to your own devices.” I turned my back and started to go back towards Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Stop right there!” Trixie called getting off of her stage.

“What did I do now?” I asked, keeping my cheery attitude.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie isn’t done with you yet!”

“Why not, you told me that my walking through town was scaring the ponies in town, I apologized and was ready to leave. What’s the problem now?”

“Well, I,” Trixie stuttered trying to come up with a reasonable response.

“You still want to fight me?” I offered.

“Yes! You might be trying to trick the Great and powerful Trixie, but it won’t work. You want this town to trust you so you can strike at the right moment! The Great and Powerful Trixie will stop you before that happens!”

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“Of course, since my time away from this hole the Great and Powerful Trixie has learned to overcome many vicious creatures. A miserable specimen such as you doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Wow and all I’ve done is beat a hydra.” Trixie and the crowd looked worried for a moment but the showpony recovered fairly quickly.

“Ha, you are trying to unnerve the Great and Powerful Trixie with false accomplishments.

“He did too beat a hydra!” Rainbow Dash boomed over the crowd.

“Not to mention saved our lives!” Rarity added.

“Yeah, he’s not a monster he’s a hero!” Pinkie Pie finished. The crowd looked to the ponies that had spoken up and the others and started asking them if this was true. They nodded and most of the fear in the crowd seemed to go away. Apparently they had some sort of reputation around the town.

“Well, if that’s all then I have some business to attend to.” I stated, walking past Trixie and back towards the girls.

“That was impressive.” Twilight said.

“Yeah, how’d you manage to get the crowd on your side like that?” Pinkie Pie said with a giggle. At that moment she took on the form of a certain blonde haired girl. The image died as quickly as it had appeared and left me confused.

“Umm, Grant? Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost or something.” Rainbow Dash asked.

“What was that?”

“I asked if you were okay.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just zoned out there for a second.”

“Does that happen often?” Rarity asked.

“I don’t think…” I replied, pretending to zone out again.

“Grant, are you…”

“Yes, I’m fine. So, where are we headed to now?”

“I think we should head to my place. There are a few tests that I want to run on you.”

“Um, I’m starting to get an “I need an adult” feeling.”

Twilight seemed to be taken aback by my statement. “I… I didn’t mean it… that would be wrong!” She stammered, her cheeks turning a very nice shade of red.

“Relax,” I said with a laugh, “I know you don’t mean to do anything sketchy to me. If you did I would’ve been missing more than my shirt when I woke up. Besides if there’s free candy at your place you can do whatever you want to me.”

None of them seemed to get the joke. Actually, Pinkie Pie zipped over to a nearby tree and pulled a bag of candy out of it. She threw half of it to me, keeping the other half for herself.

“There you go. I always keep a few stashes of candy around, just in case of candy emergencies.” She stated as if it were just an everyday occurrence.

“Pinkie, why would you…” Twilight started.

“Let it go, Twi. Out of all the emergencies she’s prepared for, a candy one makes the most sense, for Pinkie anyway” Rainbow Dash said

I started to laugh a little as I bit into a piece of caramel. “Well, I said candy would give you free reign on whatever tests you had, so let’s go.”

Twilight managed to regain her composure and led me to a large tree. She stopped in front of it and opened the door. The girls followed in after her. I went in last, having to duck in as I did. I had half-expected to see elves running around making cookies, but instead the inside of the tree was filled to the brim with shelves of books.

“Wow, you have quite the collection of books Twilight.”

“Thanks,” Twilight said with a giggle, “it comes with living in the town library.”

“Once we’re done with these tests I might have to browse through your classic literature section.”

“You’re a fan of the classics?” Twilight asked, seemingly surprised.

“Comes with having a Literature professor for a step-father,” I replied. “What did you think I just ran around, slashing things with my sword for fun?”

“Hey Twilight,” a purple lizard said, coming down the stairs on the other side of the room, “what’s going…” he stopped talking as soon as he saw me. “Twilight what did you bring home?”

“This is Grant Walker. He’s the one I saw fall into the Everfree Forest. Grant, this is, Spike, he’s my number one assistant and a baby dragon.”

“He’s a dragon? Does that mean he can breathe fire?”

“Yup, and I can do a bunch of other cool stuff too.”

“I have to say, Spike you seem to be taking my existence pretty well. Most of the others out there looked at me like I was some kind of monster, and the rest called me a monster.”

“Nah, I wouldn’t call you a monster. You seem like an alright guy to me.”

“So do you. So Twilight, when are we gonna start those tests of yours?”

“Just follow me and we can start immediately.” Twilight replied, leading me down into the basement.

A Royal Pain

Twilight had led me to some sort of basement with all sorts of strange equipment. What surprised me was that the place was a mess. Twilight had struck me as the obsessive type that wouldn’t allow a mess to exist in her presence. I looked around to get a better look at everything. There was equipment for just about every field of science. There were multiple telescopes, beakers, test tubes, and several tall devices that looked like they belonged in a science fiction movie from the 50’s.

“Twilight, have you been trying to reanimate any dead bodies lately?”

“No,” she replied with a roll of her eyes, “I’m not some sort of mad scientist from an old horror story. Honestly, is every other thing that comes out of your mouth a smart alecky comment?”

“Every other thing? If that’s true then I have to work harder. I must be losing my edge.” The others found my statement funny, but Twilight failed to see the humor as she shook her head.

“Would you just follow me to these machines so we can get started? She said leading me towards the large machines in the back of the room.

She asked me to take off my shirt and placed all sorts of electrodes around my body. Then she placed a strange helmet on my head that made me start thinking about “Back to the Future” for some reason. She turned over to the machines and they started with a deep hum and some sheets of paper started to spill out. Twilight picked up the sheets of paper with her magic and closely examined them.

“If these readings are accurate then your body is fairly complex and you share a lot of organ systems that we do.”

“What were you expecting to find, some sort of magical golden fairy dust?”

“No, I was expecting your body to have some sort of anomaly due to your abilities, but I guess I was wr… hold on what’s this?” She stated, staring at a particular piece of paper.

“What is it Twi?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Is something wrong?”

“I think the brain scanner is broken.” Said, opening a panel on one of the machines.

‘Uh oh,’ I thought.

“What’s wrong with it?” Applejack asked.

“The machine is saying that Grant has two sets of brainwaves, but that couldn’t possibly be true.”

“Actually Twilight,” I said, causing everyone to look at me, “it is possible. I have another person in my head.”

“Are you saying you’re schizophrenic? Because if you are, you’d still only have one brainwave pattern,” Twilight explained.

“No, I’m not schizophrenic. I mean that my Angel half has his own separate personality. He’s always with me and we talk on a regular basis. Wow, I just realized how insane that sounds.”

“So you have two active personalities? That’s completely unheard of!” Twilight exclaimed.

“That is seriously freaky.” Rainbow Dash blurted out.

“Rainbow Dash, that is very rude to say about, Grant.” Rarity scolded.

“It’s fine Rarity,” I said with a slight smile. “I understand how weird it is, that’s why I don’t go around advertising the fact that I have a voice in my head constantly talking to me.”

‘They’re taking this pretty well.’ Gabriel said. ‘Well, they haven’t called you crazy or tried to throw you in an asylum at least.’

‘As ever you are the shining beacon of hope in my life.’ I shot back.

“Can we talk to your other personality?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Huh?” Everyone said simultaneously.

“Can we talk to your other personality?” She repeated. “I think it might be fun to get to know the other you.”

“I don’t know if I can.” I replied. “I’ve never given Gabriel full control of my body before.”

“This really has been an eventful day.” Twilight said, trying to change the subject. “I’ll just write a letter to Princess Celestia and then we can discuss living arrangements for you, Grant. Spike, take a letter…”

After that Twilight had Spike write a letter recounting the events of the day. I had her leave out a few details like my being half Angel, and my second personality. I figured it would be easier to explain in person… err, face to face rather, if I chose to explain them at all. Spike fixed a gold seal on the parchment, and blew a pale green flame on it causing it to disappear. Just as we were about to start talking about where I was going to stay for the duration of my stay in Equestria, Spike belched out more green flames and a letter dropped onto the floor. All it said was,

To my faithful student Twilight,

I would like to meet this strange being that you have found. You, your friends, and the being in question should meet me on the outer limits of Ponyville as soon as possible.

We did as the letter said and walked to the outskirts of town. To the left was a large open field that went on into the horizon, to the right was a large wooded area, and to our front was the road out of town. I had gotten a bad feeling about the letter and was taking stock of my surroundings in case things took a turn for the worst. I had gathered the Rift into my eyes to increase the distance I could see, to check when the princess would arrive.

“I wonder why the princess would take time out of her busy schedule to see Grant.” Rarity wondered aloud.

“The discovery of parallel worlds and new life is extremely important,” Twilight reasoned, “but it does feel a little odd that she would ask us to meet her here. She could’ve just asked us to come to the castle, or meet us in the library.”

“Is there anything I should know about the princess?” I asked, “Certain traits, or abilities?”

“She’s a white alicorn, which means she has traits from all three types of ponies. She’s a little taller than you, is one of the most powerful magic users in all of Equestria, and is in charge of making the sun rise every day.” Twilight explained.

‘Yeesh, do you think she does enough?’ Gabriel said.

‘Will you stop chattering for a moment? I’m trying to think. Ok, if she has traits from all three types of ponies here then she can obviously fly and do magic. But what traits would she get from a regular pony?’

‘Well, maybe they have stronger bodies or something?’ Gabriel offered.

‘That makes sense, and if she’s one of the most powerful magic users in Equestria and can make the sun rise…’

‘Anyone stupid enough to mouth off to her would end up extra crispy.’

Then a white ball of energy appeared in front of us, blinding us for a moment. When the light died down, a tall, white pony with flowing, multicolored hair was standing in front of us. And the look on her face was less than friendly.

“I’m glad you were able to get here quickly.” Celestia said in a cold tone.

“Um, yeah, no problem,” Twilight stuttered, “this is, Grant. He’s the being that I mentioned in my letter.”

“I see,” she replied, her tone unwavering, “so you killed a hydra, can heal your wounds, and claim to be a soldier from another world.”

“Well, yeah.” I said, unsure of what to say. This is kind of humiliating to admit, but I was somewhat intimidated by this pony.

“In that case, I’m afraid you have to die.”

“What?” the girls and Spike cried.

“Why would you want to kill, Grant?” Twilight asked. “He saved our lives.”

“Twilight, it’s fine.” I said kneeling in front of Celestia.

“How can you say that?”

“I’m a soldier. I have to face the possibility of death every day. If this is how it has to be, then so be it.”

“That’s very noble of you.” Celestia stated.

Then she raised her horn and placed it over my heart about to kill me, but I moved in a flash, grabbing her horn and lifted myself onto her back. Then I pulled her head back by her horn and formed my sword. I was just about to slit her throat when she teleported again. I managed to land on my feet, and craned my neck looking for her. I heard a *whoosh* and saw a large fireball heading toward me from above. I rolled away but was knocked back from the small explosion it caused.
I looked up and saw Celestia flying a few hundred yards away from me. “What happened to accepting death?” She boomed.

“Sorry, but I have a policy against dying without a fight.”

“Very well, if that’s the way you want it.”

Celestia started throwing more fireballs at me. I gathered the Rift into my legs and ran as fast as I could to dodge them. Despite all my efforts the fire kept getting closer to me. I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere if I didn’t use my Angel abilities. I stopped and unzipped my uniform. If Celestia seemed confused by my actions then she didn’t show it because she continued her assault.

I threw off the shirt of my uniform and concentrated on my Angel form. A ball of light formed around me and absorbed the oncoming fireballs. The ball of light intensified as my mind merged with Gabriel’s. The light disappeared and I stood with my wings outstretched and sword in hand, with a subtle glow surrounding me.

“What is this?” Celestia asked, wary. I kicked off of the ground and raced toward Celestia. I brought my sword up in a wicked arc and she blocked it with her horn.

“This is my way of leveling the playing field.” I said with a wide grin on my face and some distortion in my voice. We clashed a few more times and Celestia’s horn was bathed in a golden light.

“You’ll need to do more than fly to beat me.” Celestia said, using her magic to push me away.

“I think I’ll be fine.”

I charged forward and Celestia threw more fire at me. I did my best to dodge them but one took me in the wing. I started to careen towards the ground, spinning like an old fighter plane. At the last second I stretched my wings out to allow me to glide and avoid crashing. I corrected my path and brought myself back up to my original altitude. I had Gabriel concentrate on the Rift, while I charged at Celestia. She kept trying to hit me with fire balls but I dodged them all.

When I was almost on top of Celestia, Gabriel gave me the signal and we sent a bolt of lightning straight at Celestia’s back. She was taken off guard and took the full force of the attack. Before she could fully recover I slashed at one of her wings, causing her to crash.

While she was falling, she caught me in some magic field and landed on top of me. The sheer pain of the fall was enough to bring me out of my Angel form, and I wasn’t sure if anything was broken or not. Celestia picked me up with her magic and glared at me for the longest time. When she finally did speak it sent a chill down my spine.

“You’ve tricked me, grabbed my horn, and struck me. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“The aristocrats,” I croaked.

“Well then, you’ve just made my decision easier to make.”

“Princess no!” Twilight cried, snapping out of her shock.

“Yeah, you shouldn’t hurt Grant, he saved our lives.” Applejack agreed.

“So, you think Grant deserves to live?” All the girls nodded at once and the look on Celestia’s face softened. “I agree,”

Trust Issues

“I agree.” Celestia said with a cheerful smile. At the same time the aura around me shifted a little, causing the pain in my body to ebb away. Celestia put me down once she was done healing me and herself.

“Wha?” Twilight gaped. It was pretty obvious that something in her head had overheated. “But… you said that you wanted to kill Grant.”

“I have to agree.” I said, rubbing out a few kinks. “Not that I’m complaining or anything, but why am I still alive?”

‘Grant you might want to be careful. I can’t get a good read on this Celestia.’ Gabriel added.

‘I know, but if she really did want to kill us then we’d be dead by now. She wants something, and if we can provide it then we might be able to get back home.’

“I’m sorry,” Celestia said, interrupting my train of thought. “I didn’t mean to hurt you that badly. I just sort of overreacted when you slashed my wing like that.”

“You didn’t mean to hurt me that badly? Those fireballs nearly scorched my arse. Not to mention what you did to my spine”

“I had a feeling you’d be able to dodge them. You were able to defeat a hydra after all. As for your spine, as I said I was still a little miffed about the wing you slashed.” Celestia said with a faint smirk.

“So what was all this about yer Highness?” Applejack asked. “If ya didn’t wanna hurt Grant, then what do ya want?”

“You’re right, I should explain myself. I’ve had to call upon you girls to save Equestria several times now, and I’ve had my reasons for doing this. But, when Discord returned I was angry at myself for my inability to help you. It seems these thousand years of peace have softened me. I attacked Grant the way I did to see if he’d be a good sparring partner for me. With his help I might be able to defend my country better.” Celestia proclaimed.

“Princess Celestia, I had no idea you felt that way.” Twilight said, seeming disappointed in herself.

“If I might interrupt,” I said with as little tact as possible to get Celestia’s attention. “Look, I may not know too much about you or how this world works. But from what I’ve been told, you already have a lot on your plate. You have to run this entire nation and make sure that the sun rises on schedule, and now you want to handle security for your entire country. It seems like you’re trying to burn yourself out, and since you control the sun, burning out is the last thing you should do.”

“Then what do you suggest I should do? Do you want me to just sit back and let others put themselves in harm’s way?” Celestia spat at me.

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” I answered bluntly. “Just because you’re in charge of Equestria doesn’t mean you should do everything yourself. You’re the leader that means you have to make hard choices sometimes. What you can do is find the best people for the job and trust they can handle the situation. And luckily, I happen to be one of the best people to stop whatever trouble that comes my way.”

“What are you saying?” Celestia asked, arching an eyebrow.

“I’m offering to help you defend your beloved country. All I ask is that you help me find a way back to my home. And I’ll still spar with you. You could make me a lot stronger.”

Celestia’s expression softened and she gave me a gracious smile. “I’ll accept your proposal. But I have a question.”

“What is it?” I asked, having a good feeling what she was going to say.

“What if I’m unable to find a way for you to return to your own world?”

“I’ll be working on a way for me to return as well. But if worst comes to worst, then I’ll just have to get used to life here.” I answered with a shrug.

“Very well, just remember that you have to do whatever I say.”

“Of course.”

“And as long you are my guest here you will be given financial compensation for your services.”

“So I’m being paid to hit things? Heh, it’s almost like I never left home.” I said wistfully.

“I’m glad this arrangement meets your satisfaction. Now, would you mind answering some of my questions?”

“Go right ahead, I’m on your payroll after all.”

“Not here, Twilight, can you take us back to your home?”

“Of course, Princess.” Twilight said.

It took us a few minutes but we were finally able to make it to Twilight’s treehouse. A few of the ponies around town caught a glimpse of Celestia and bowed with reverence. Once inside, we all made ourselves comfortable. I sat between Twilight and Applejack on the couch and we all made a circle around Celestia. Everything had been quiet until Celestia decided to break the silence.

“Twilight’s letter failed to mention a few things about you so could you please tell me everything?”

“No problem. I’ll start from the beginning. I’m a half-Human half-Angel that belongs to a group called the Clergy. My job is to complete any mission given to me and to eliminate any Angel or Demon that I come across. There are other jobs in the Clergy as well. One of the most important ones is making sure that regular people don’t discover the truth behind Angels and Demons.”

“Why would they do that?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Don’t they deserve to know the truth?”

“It’s not that simple. If everyone knew the truth, then there would be a huge panic. Millions could potentially die. We have enough troubles in the Clergy without having to deal with the collapse of civilization too.”

“How do you know that would happen?” Fluttershy asked. “Maybe you should trust them?”

“Imagine if you found out that everything you had ever been told was a lie.” I said sternly. “Imagine if you learned that the only reason that you exist was to be a pawn in a war between two entities. What do you think you would do in that situation?” Everyone in the room fell silent at that and started to look down, seeming uncomfortable.

“Girls,” Celestia said, shattering the silence. “I know honesty is a part of the elements, but Grant is from a different world. We have to respect those differences. Now, the letter mentioned that you were able to alter your physical abilities, but it didn’t mention that you were able to use magic like that.”

“You didn’t tell us about that either.” Twilight said with a stern look and a poke to the side. “Did you lie to us?”

“Of course I didn’t lie to you. Gabriel’s the one who’s the Elemental user.” I answered with a smarmy grin.

“Who’s Gabriel?” Celestia asked.

“It’s the name he’s given to his Angel half,” Twilight clarified, “and that’s not a good excuse considering he’s technically the same person as you.”

‘I am not the same as you.” Gabriel huffed. ‘I’m not nearly as thickheaded.’

‘I know, but it was an honest mistake. If she ever got to know you then she’d be singing a different tune. And by the way, I am not thickheaded you brooding bastard.’

“I’m sorry Twilight, but that’s not how Gabriel and I feel about it. We see ourselves as two separate beings that just so happen to share one physical presence.” I answered.

“That is seriously confusing.” Rainbow Dash groaned, dragging a hoof across her face.

“It is a difficult living arrangement to be sure, but we’ve gotten used to it. Gabriel may be a bit of a cranky arse, but he’s family.” I replied with a shrug.

“That still doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell us about his abilities.” Twilight said.

“I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I said that it slipped my mind?” I asked with the most sympathetic expression I could muster. Given the look Twilight was giving me she didn’t find any humor in what I said.

“No, I wouldn’t.” She replied.

“Fine, the only reason that I didn’t tell you about Gabriel’s abilities is to have an ace in the hole in case things got out of hand, and they sort of did.”

“Do you not trust us or something?” Rainbow Dash asked, shooting me a glare.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you all or anything, I’ve just learned that I should be prepared for anything. It’s all part of my job.”

“You were prepared fer somethin’ like fightin’ the princess?” Applejack asked with an arched eyebrow.

“That’s nothing; I have to make several riot plans every time the World Cup rolls around.”

“What the hay is the “World Cup”?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“It’s a Football tournament that dozens of countries around my world compete in, although, you probably know the sport as Hoof-ball.” I said the last part as a joke and let out a small chuckle.

“Why in the world would people in your world riot over something like Hoof-ball?” Rarity asked with an arched eyebrow.

I had to stop myself from slapping my forehead. I swear these horse puns are going to drive me to drink. “Yeah, any explanation I could give you would basically boil down to, ‘people are crazy’.”

“That seems like a gross overgeneralization on your part.” Twilight stated.

“What do you want from me? I’m a Soldier not a Sociologist.” I replied with a shrug. “Even if I was I’m pretty sure you’d be the only one interested in a long diatribe about this particular aspect of human behavior.” I looked around the room and the rest of the girls nodded at this statement. “Still, I think we should get back to the topic at hand. Celestia, do you have any more questions for me?”

“I can’t think of anything, girls, what about you?

“Ooh, I have one!” Pinkie exclaimed. “I still want to know what a Sophie is. I asked you earlier but instead of answering me you pointed your weapon in my face. Is your weapon a Sophie because that’s a weird name for a weapon?”

“I’m curious about that as well darling,” Rarity added. Although, judging by the ribbon you were rubbing when you said that, I’m willing to bet that Sophie is the name of a lady friend of yours.” She finished, shooting me a knowing look. I felt myself Blanche for a moment, and I subconsciously reached for the ribbon. I quickly corrected myself and put on my most devious of smirks.

“I guess you could call her that, but there’s not much to tell.” I lied with a shrug.

“Now come on Sugarcube you can tell us anything ya like.” Applejack said with a comforting smile.

“Well if you insist.” I said, my smirk intensifying. “I guess the story starts the same as any other: boy meets girl, boy makes a few passes at girl, boy takes girl home, and then there’s some moaning, some exclamations to a deity, statements of disbelief that it’s fitting, and finally like any good story there’s a satisfying climax followed by the falling action. The falling action in this case being cuddles.” I looked around the room and saw that all of the girls were blushing a deep crimson while trying to avoid eye contact with me, all except Pinkie Pie and Celestia that is. The former who still had her trademark smile, and the latter was trying to hold back snickers.

“What? Who doesn’t like cuddling?” I asked, throwing up my arms. That set Celestia off and she started to guffaw while the girls finally worked up the nerve to glare at us.

“Did you have to share something so personal?” Twilight asked her glare solely on me.

“Hey, I did try to warn you.” I replied, my arms now held up defensively. “Now, can we please move on, I have a question of my own.”

Twilight took a deep breath and her glare softened. “Fine what do you want to know?”

“Where am I going to stay? Now that I’m on your payroll am I going back to your castle, Celestia?”

Celestia stopped laughing and returned to her more motherly gaze. “No, I have to explain your situation to my sister and the council. So, for now I recommend that you stay with Twilight here. I’m sure she’d like to study you and your abilities some more.”

“You’re right Princess, I would.” She said with a grin before she narrowed her eyes at me again. “But, I need you to promise that you’ll be on your best behavior, and stop trying to drive me crazy!”

“But… but, you look so cute when that little vein in your forehead starts to bulge out.” I argued with a whimper.

“Grant,” Twilight growled and gave me a look that told me this wasn’t up for discussion.

“Fine, I’ll be a good little boy from now on.” I said with an overdramatic sigh and shoulder slump. The others started to laugh at our little exchange and Pinkie started to bounce up and down in her seat with barely contained enthusiasm.

“Great! Since we have all of this stuff figured how about we get a treat from Sugarcube Corner?!” Pinkie asked with an enthusiastic squeal. My stomach decided to throw in its two cents rather loudly at the mention of food. Everyone in the room looked at me and giggled at the noises I was making.

“You know, that sounds like a good idea. I haven’t eaten all day.” I said, rubbing the back of my head.

“Yay! Then let’s get going! Ooh, Princess, would you like to come with us?” Pinkie asked, giving Celestia big, pleading eyes.

“I suppose Canterlot could survive a little longer without me.”

Twilight Pov:

I followed the girls, Princess, and Grant towards Sugarcube Corner while carrying Spike on my back. He was talking about all of the gem encrusted cupcakes he was going to eat. I wasn’t paying much attention to him, my focus was on the strange young man walking next to Princess Celestia and talking to her with a carefree grin on his face. I had no idea what to make of Grant, or even if we could trust him. I know I wasn’t the only one who had these doubts. I caught Rainbow Dash eyeing him warily a few times, probably because he had scared Fluttershy. Rainbow is very protective of her. I felt like I should talk to Celestia about these doubts, although, she did seem to trust Grant almost immediately for some reason.

I was pulled out of my train of thought when we reached the bakery. Pinkie looked back at Grant with an even toothier grin than usual and stepped away from the door. “Come on Granty-Wanty if you want your treats you’ve got to open the door.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice! I’m so hungry I could eat that hydra!” Grant exclaimed with a goofy smile. As soon as Grant opened the door he was greeted by an explosion of confetti and a large group of ponies yelling “Surprise.” Grant looked confused for a second and his stance made him appear like he was ready for a fight. But, he was back to normal (or as normal as Grant could be) and stepped inside.

“Well, isn’t this nice. Not too long ago you were all calling me a monster, and now you’re throwing a little party just for me.” Grant said his voice bereft of tone.

Mayor Mare stepped up with a sheepish look on her face and drew little circles on the floor. “Yes well, on behalf of the town of Ponyville I would like to offer you a heartfelt apology, Mr. Walker.”

Grant continued trying bore holes into the mayor with his eyes before he started to grin. “No worries, it’s all water under the bridge now. Besides,” Grant started, his expression darkening while he pushed his face into the mayor’s, “I’m about to prove that I really am a monster.” As soon as I heard this I started up a spell that would hopefully incapacitate Grant.

“R-really,” the mayor squeaked out.

“Yup,” Grant said, standing up to his full height, “A PARTY MONSTER!” Grant exclaimed. “Now, D.J. hit that music so we can start this thing right!” As soon as he said that the mood lightened and the sound of electronic music and excited cheers filled the room. With his little performance finished, Grant rushed to the snack table to eat for the first time that day. Pinkie was right behind him, probably planning on introducing him to the entire town while he stuffed his face. I let out a deep sigh and allowed the glow around my horn to disappear.

The party continued on for a while and at first I mingled with a few acquaintances until I noticed Princess Celestia. She was by herself with a smile on her face while standing at one side of the room with a generous amount of cake and a cup of punch in her magical grasp. I followed her line of sight and saw she was looking at Grant while he was playing with a group of foals. Even from where I was standing I could tell they were pestering him about things and were trying to climb all over him. Grant took it in stride and just let the foals do what they wanted. I couldn’t help but chuckle as he allowed himself to fall over when one particularly enthusiastic colt tackled him. The other foals around him took this as an opportunity to pile on top of the Human. I shook my head; I couldn’t let myself be distracted. This was the perfect time to tell Celestia about my feelings toward Grant. Not like that! I quickly made it to Celestia and got her attention.

“Um, Princess, could I talk to you about something?” I asked her, nervous for some reason.

“Of course Twilight, you know you can tell me anything.”

“It’s just that, I have no idea if I can trust Grant or not.” I admitted.

“Really, why is that?” She asked, arching an eyebrow.

“I mean the first time I saw him he was standing over me while a hydra was embedded in his back. And do you know what he was doing?”

“I can’t say that I do.”

“He was smiling. I mean, I could tell that he was forcing the smile, but given the situation it was amazing that he was standing, let alone smiling. Then, he collapsed after he defeated the hydra and Fluttershy and I gave him the necessary anti-venom. When he recovered the first thing he did was point his sword at Pinkie Pie. Then, he noticed that he had scared Fluttershy so he calmed her down and gave her reassurances. And of course he doesn’t seem to take anything seriously and he seems to live to drive me crazy. And, he’s taking being stranded on another world strangely well. Doesn’t that strike you as odd? What if he really is dangerous? If he really does plan to do anything to us, I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop him.” I finished, tears forming at the corners of my eyes.

“Now, now, Twilight; there’s no need to work yourself up like this.” Celestia said wrapping a wing around my barrel. “Grant seems to be many things, but needlessly violent isn’t one of them. If you are truly worried about what Grant’s intentions are then feel free to keep an eye on him. I however believe that Grant sincere in his desire to help us. And that his eccentric behavior is his way of adjusting. Give him a chance Twilight, he may just surprise you.”

“Okay Princess, I’ll try.”

Eventually the party ended and I led Grant back to the library and he let out a loud groan as he walked inside. “Ugh, I think I ate too many cupcakes.” He said cradling his stomach.

“How many did you eat?” I asked with a sense of morbid curiosity.”

“That depends, how many are in a baker’s dozen?”

“Thirteen,” I replied warily.

“Then two of those, and a few muffins, and a ton of chips, and a whole lotta punch.” He replied matter of factly. I couldn’t resist the urge to face-hoof at that.

“Please don’t vomit on the floor. I’m the one who has to clean it.” Spike groaned.

“Don’t worry; I’ll be right as rain in no time.” Then Grant let out a long yawn and stretched for a moment. “I’ll crash on the couch if that’s not a problem with you two.”

“Okay, I’ll go get you a blanket and pillow.” I said while I went upstairs to help get Grant ready for bed. I gave him the blanket and pillow and he gave me a grateful little smile.

“Thanks Twilight,” He said before yawning again. “I’ll see you in the A.M.”

“Alright Grant, goodnight,” I replied, hoping that Celestia was right about Grant.

An Angel and the Moon

I was staring up at the ceiling of Twilight’s library home, unable to fall asleep. I wasn’t really trying that hard anyway. I was just lying on the couch and thinking about everything that had led up to the situation I was in, which basically meant my entire life. Physics may not have been my best subject but I had read enough science-fiction to know about the Multi-verse Theory. And considering I was already in one alternate universe, I was inclined to believe that there were an infinite number of others out there. That would mean that the odds of me getting home were astronomical, to put it mildly. Even if Celestia or I did find a way to send me back, how long would it take, days, months, years? And what if when I got back the war was already over? What if Angels or Demons won while I was away? Would I try to create a resistance with some sort of broken remnant of humanity? Would there even be any humans left? Or would humanity actually win? I wasn’t so arrogant to actually believe that I would be the only hope for humanity to win. I may be one of the most powerful members of the Clergy, but in the end I’m just one soldier. And I may have devoted most of my life to training and fighting, but there were members that had much more experience than me. I let out a sigh and called out to Gabriel.

‘Hey Gabriel, you awake?’

‘Yeah, I can’t sleep either.’

‘I just wanted to say, I’m sorry.’

‘What for?’

‘You know exactly what!’ I snapped at him. ‘If I had just taken that angel seriously then we wouldn’t be here! But no, I had to be an overconfident jackass and toy with the bastard! It’s my fault that we’re here. It’s my fault that we may never see home again!’ I internally screamed at him, feeling myself shake in anger on the couch.

‘Grant, don’t do this to yourself. You always try to find a way to blame yourself for your problems, even when it couldn’t possibly be your fault!’ Gabriel shot back, his normally even “voice” rising. ‘If you want to play the blame game then I’m just as much at fault. I didn’t say anything while you toyed with that grunt. I thought the same thing as you. We could take it easy with him; he wasn’t anything that we hadn’t already fought dozens of times before. Besides Grant, you had no idea that you would be able to break through like that.’

‘And ignorance makes it any less my fault? If I had just merged with you and used my sword that grunt wouldn’t have lasted a minute, and we wouldn’t be in the mess we are now.’

‘We’ve been over this, Grant. Sometimes the only thing we can do is to simply put one foot in front of the other. We can deal with this as we need to. We could always think of this as a vacation. We’ve never had one of those, and lord knows we could use one.’

That actually got a chuckle out of me. ‘Alright ya crafty bastard, I can play tourist on holiday.’ I told him, my mood lightening. ‘Still, I don’t think I’m going to get any sleep tonight. How’s about we get a start on reading Equestrian literature?’ I asked, getting up off the couch.

I’m sure if Gabriel had control of our eyes he would’ve rolled them. ‘Sounds fine Grant, just try not to make too much of a mess.’

‘I make no promises.’ I told the angel in my head.

I crept along the library. I wasn’t wearing my boots so I was easily able to avoid making any sound. Then again, I could probably be stealthy even if I was wearing shoes made out of cymbals and bicycle horns. I used my abilities to improve my night-vision and scanned the shelves until I found what I was looking for. I pulled out a book with the title, The Rise of the Nightmare. Just by looking at the book it looked like it was their version of a Shakespearian play. Considering my love for the Immortal Bard I had a good feeling about this. I looked along the shelves again and pulled out a few history books. Two of them detailed the history of Equestria and the world, and the other detailed the history of literature and art in Equestria. I then snuck around the study area, pulled out some paper, ink, and quills, and set all of my materials on the large desk. I noticed the candle and quickly lit it. I cracked my knuckles and opened my first history book.

Now, you might be wondering why I needed the history books and writing materials. Well, I mentioned that my step-father was a literature professor. Well, he was the one who taught me how to read. He also taught me how to analyze what I’m reading. And in order to do this I needed to understand the history behind the work and where the artistic scene was at the time. Yeah, it’s nerdy, but I think it’s fun. I finished all of the history books after a while. I’m guessing it was a few hours. I don’t know; I tend to lose track of time when I’m reading. I think I was halfway through the play when I just sort of blacked out.

I woke up on the couch of a familiar living room. I looked around at the sparsely decorated room and recognized it as my home back in Colorado before I went off to the Clergy Academy. For some reason I felt strangely aware that I was in a dream. I got up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen. I knelt down at a familiar spot and ran my hand along the tile, recalling something that had happened here.

“It looks so much cleaner than when I left it.” I said to no one in a neutral tone.

“Greetings young Walker,” a voice from behind me called out. “We hath been waiting for thee to enter our realm.”

I turned around and saw a navy blue alicorn with a dark mane that shined like the night sky. And standing next to her was Gabriel. He looked strikingly similar to me, minus the glowing skin, wings, and his eyes didn’t have pupils or irises, adding to his statue-like appearance. I would’ve been surprised except the history books, and the play I read mentioned an alicorn named Luna being able to enter dreams. I gave her my best grin and stood, noting that I was a little taller than the alicorn.

“Good tidings milady. Thou must be Princess Luna. Thou art far more comely than we were led to think.” I told her, kneeling before her, taking one of her hooves with my hand, and gave it a kiss. Luna flushed at this while Gabriel rolled his eyes, which looks really weird when he does it I might add.

“We thank thee for thy praise, Sir Grant. We did not expect thee to be versed in the old ways. Also, thine other half told us that thou were a ‘braying jackass’ were his words. But we find that report to be a lie.”

“My dear lady, where we are from one must always strive to learn proper manners and speech.”

Luna gave me an approving nod and continued. “We art sorry for intruding upon thy mind; we simply wished to see if our sister’s claims of an interesting new being were true.”

“Well, we hath always tried to be interesting at the least. Though we would think of other words to call ourselves by, wouldn’t we Gabriel?”

“Could you please stop talking like that? She was able to understand me fine so you can knock off the old English.” Gabriel stated.

“You know as well as I do that the correct term for the dialect is Elizabethan or early modern English. Old English is the dialect that Beowulf or even The Canterbury Tales was written in. If you want to learn the difference I could always speak in the little bit I know.” I answered smugly. Gabriel just glared at me. Our little exchange caused Luna to laugh.

“You two behave more like brothers rather than two halves of the same whole,” She said between snickers. “Art you two always like this?”

Gabriel and I exchanged a look for a moment and we shrugged simultaneously.

“More or less,” I answered, “though we do agree with each other every once and a while.”

“We art glad to hear it, now we must be off. There are many more dreams that we must check upon. Farewell, young Walkers, we hope to see thee again, but hopefully it will be face to face next time.”

“I hope so too,” I replied with a smile. “Oh, but before you go,” I said as I walked over to Luna and wrapped my arms around her chest to give her a tight hug.

I could feel Luna’s already warm fur heat up a little bit and she seemed at a loss for words. “Young Walker, why art thou doing this?”

I pulled away from her and gave her a big grin.

“Just something I promised I’d do. Just to let you know, if you ever want to talk with someone, I could be there for you. I may not seem it, but I’m not that bad of a listener.”

“Well, thank thee young Walker, we shall keep that in mind.” Luna said still seeming a little confused, but the small smile on her face seemed to show that she appreciated the sentiment.

She said goodbye one more time and she disappeared in a flash of light similar to the one that Celestia left in. As soon as she was gone I could feel the lucid nature of the dream was slipping away. This could mean that I was waking up, or I was returning to whatever machinations that my unconscious mind could cook up for me. I honestly hoped it was the former. I really don’t like my dreams. Especially if it was going to be similar to what I had dreamed after I passed out from the hydra venom.

Twilight’s POV:

I woke up early in the morning the same as I always do. Though the slight morning fog I usually have was nowhere to be found. My mind was racing at blinding speeds due to the person that had decided to sleep on my couch. I was still hesitant about trusting Grant completely, but I didn’t quite know why. I mean, he willingly shielded my friends and me from a hydra using his own body. Maybe it was how he reacted when he’d heard Pinkie’s voice, or maybe it was his attitude in general? He seemed to enjoy being smarmy and sarcastic and at the same time he seemed to like hiding things. Then again, maybe I was being too paranoid? Grant was a stranger here, and had next to no idea about our world and culture. And he was only sixteen. Maybe he was just scared? I was sure that if I gave him the benefit of the doubt and help him adjust, that we could help each other learn a lot about our respective worlds.

With that in mind I hopped down from my bed with a smile on my face and went about trying to find a way to help Grant acclimate being in Equestria. I glanced down at Spike and saw that he was still happily snoring away. I giggled a little as I thought that he was probably dreaming about Rarity in some capacity. I did my best to creep quietly to the bathroom so I could freshen up for the day. Once I was done with my shower I went downstairs to grab a quick breakfast and maybe do some studying to see if I could help Grant. I had never heard of a spell that could breach the veil between worlds, but this library has held some surprising information before, so I was hopeful.

After my shower I crept downstairs and saw something surprising when I looked over at my study area. Slumped over my desk asleep was Grant. I walked over to him as quietly as I could and saw that it looked like he had fallen asleep while reading last night. I sighed as I noticed that a candle he had been using was now nothing more than hard wax on the candle holder. I was just about to wake him up when I noticed that he was covering a pile of parchment with his head, and it looked like he had written something on them.

Overcome by curiosity, I gently removed the papers from underneath Grant’s head and looked over them. The first few pieces of parchment seemed to just be notes for a few history books that he had read. I was impressed Grant was very thorough and noted the most important parts of Equestrian history. The next set of notes related to the history of literature in Equestria. I wasn’t that surprised about this, he did say that he was interested in classic literature. The next set of notes is what really surprised me; it was an analysis of a classic play that talked about the story of Nightmare Moon. I pored over his analysis, hoping I could gleam something about his inner thoughts.

The Rise of the Nightmare is very similar to plays written by Shakespeare back home. The main character is Princess Luna, younger sister to Celestia. The play goes into great detail about her sadness about her subjects sleeping during her nights, and how she gets no visitors during Night Court which makes her feel like she’s not doing enough to help her sister. This sadness eventually gives way to jealousy, and in the end she becomes corrupted by these emotions and turns into Nightmare Moon. The theme of this play definitely seems to be innocence lost. Luna starts out as an innocent and slightly naïve character before overcoming to corruption and temptation. There aren’t too many characters in this play, the only real reoccurring characters are Luna and Celestia, with the occasional guard, servant or noble-pony. Luna is a very tragic character, though Celestia seems to be more of a metaphor for a conscience rather than an actual character. She seems a little too perfect in this for my tastes. Throughout the play, Celestia will always tell Luna that they both have their place, and that she is just as important as her even if she doesn’t realize it.

(Note to self: if I ever come across Luna, give her a hug. She seems like she could use it.)

I found myself letting out a sigh. The analysis, while interesting, didn’t really reveal anything about Grant that I didn’t already know, except maybe for the hug part. I then walked over to Grant and attempted to wake him up.

I kept a healthy distance from him (not wanting a repeat of the last time we woke him up) and softly said, “Grant, I think you should wake up.”

Grant’s eyes then shot open at the mention of his name. I then braced myself for whatever he was about to do.