The Tale of the Bladechaser

some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them

- William Shakespeare

Another usual day in the life if Ted Visconti, usual life, usual school, usual everything. The young man wore a simple white t-shirt and blue jeans, his shoes a plain looking pair of Nikes or some athletic brand. He often thought that his being named after a crusader in their family tree was nothing more than a cruel joke. He dealt with a wide range of problems from school, particularly bullying. Just a few short hours ago he was suspended for fighting a bully for picking on his friend Alex. Also given he grabbed a stick from nearby and beat the living tar out of the bully, but still!

Alex was a friend of his and liked some little kids show. To each their own afterall. Ted couldn't care less save for the times his friend would just rant for hours on end. He was definitely thankful as he kept quiet about the reason why he was being bullied, though his parents were not so much thrilled as enraged. The boy was taught how to fight to defend himself afterall, not start fights with other kids. As it was he was both suspended AND grounded despite being about 17.

"Just another year and I can get certified as an electrician or something and move out.. Just gotta wait.."

Ted got up and moved to a small rack he had in his room, gingerly taking a sword from it. He was already the captain of the fencing team and was already rather good with other swords. After a while he started collecting them, mostly props but some of the gifts from his family were sturdy blades. One in particular, given to him by his grandfather, was an Italian styled bastard sword. It was odd how a particular sword could feel so right in one's hand, truly being an extension of the user. Slowly, savoring the moment, he drew the sword from the sheath. The blade was long and tough, yet slender to keep it light for quick strikes. He gave it a quick twirl, practicing a few techniques from his team with the larger blade. He made a habit of using heavier and more clumsy blades to practice the more precise motions he would use with his actual competing blade, making him improve much faster and competing at a higher level.

As he made the final flourish of his practice he heard a loud crash outside, ignoring his grounding and heading outside with his long black coat which trailed down near his ankles. As he got close the form seemed rather strange to say the least, a strange mixmatch of various creatures. Far as he could tell it was what he thought as a chimera, never having seen such a creature in his life. As it stirred and got up Ted raised his sword, ready to defend himself should it attack. Somehow though, what it did next surprised him more.

"Oh my word! Who ever thought traveling between dimensions could be so draining!"

Ted steeled himself, raising the sword till it's tip poked lightly at the draconequus' throat.

"Who- WHAT are you?! From what I can tell you're some sort of chimera, but they're just a myth, much less ones that can talk?!"

The strange creature looked the man over critically, letting Ted get a better look at it's body. It seemed to have a strange serpant-like body, though it seemed to be covered with fur mostly. The head seemed equine with two very different horns on his head, a strangely long fang, He had a small goat beard as well as the right arm of a lion, the left claw of an eagle, the right leg of a lizard, and the left leg of a goat. The two different styled wings also added to the boy's uncertainty.

"Hmm, I think you'll do just fine. As for what and who I am I am Discord, entity of CHAOS!"

As he spoke the last line the clouds seemed to turn pink and a dark rain come down. At first the boy suspected the curse of raining blood, though a quick taste test confirmed it was something much sweeter and unexpected: chocolate milk. Something about this seemed to tickle at his memory, maybe something his friend Alex mentioned before?

"The hell..."

Discord waved him off.

"As for WHAT I am I'm called a draconequus, though it seems such an unyieldy word don't you? Anyway, for once in my VERY long life I am doing something for a purpose other than just causing chaos. You're going to come with me, you're going to help me, and you will probably have one hell of a time!"

The youth was not as eager as the strange creature, moving his sword once more to reiterate his distrust.

"Last I checked, I have a sword to your throat, chimera."

Discord scowled at the retort, particularly now that the boy was purposely disregarding his species just to spite him.

"As much as I hate to admit it, a world needs you. Not this one particularly, but the one I hail from."

Discord gained a very rare moment of lucidity, being completely serious as he pushed the blade away with his eagle talon.

"Where I come from, different forces fight one another to keep balance. Good and evil, harmony and Chaos. Particularly harmony and chaos! However something has... arisen that threatens that balance. Princess Celestia have... an agreement to keep balance. As it would seem though a third player has joined in and I just LOVE even numbers so I'm also bringing in a new player, you."

Celestia? now that he DEFINITELY recognized.

"Wait? Celestia? You're from that My little Pony show right?"

Discord simply raised a brow.

"What?"

"Some kid's TV show though it gets a older crowd. It's all but taken over the internet."

"Internet? TV show"

Discord seemed even more perplexed and unamused than usual, Ted heaving a sigh and relenting.

"Just, just come inside.."

Once inside Ted got his laptop and showed Discord some of the videos online (after calming him down about seeing moving pictures in a world with no magic) and explained. This only seemed to make Discord worry, and if Ted knew mor of the show he would know that was sure to mean terrible things since he normally laughed at trouble.

"I believe that may be a symptom of what I was speaking of. Not the nerdy old fanboys, but the show itself. Our world is projecting itself into this one on a mental wavelength, giving our world and it's events to this one through dreams. This may be worse than I thought.. We'll have to leave, NOW."

The draconequus grabbed the young man and his blade, gathering his chaos energy to send them back to where he came from: the Everfree Forest in Equestria, year 1003 of the Celestial Sister's reign and one year after the coronation of Twilight Sparkle.

Ted landed hard on his side, grabbing for his sword again and drawing it madly.

"Discord take me back RIGHT NOW or I'll-"

He spun around, noting the creature was gone before groaning out to himself.

"- end you..."

He looked around for any sign of where he was, a good many of the plants foreign to him despite his summmer of survival training with his uncle. It seemed nothing like what he saw at home.

"Must really be far away from home.. Will need to find out where I am and-"

Ted's thoughts were cut off as he heard a low growling behind him, drawing his blade to see something he would not have expected to see in his life...

Discord teleported into the throne room, now tastefully redecorated to accomodate the third Princess. Running down the right side of the long hall was painted bright to represent the sun and it's radiance. The left side where Princess Luna sat was much darker with bright magic lights floating about to give the image of night and the brilliant stars it held. The center seemed to meld the two, creating a deep auburn of Twilight and showing the third princess balancing the two normally opposing elements. The purple alicorn was surrounded by her five all too familiar friends.

"Discord, did you find someone who could help us?"

The draconequus huffed a bit, back to being his unpredictable self once again.

"Well yes and no. He can and might be what we are looking for. Though right now he is leagues away from being any help."

The white alicorn spoke out.

"We have no time for games Discord! You know as well as we do that the fate of Equestria hangs in the balance! With the mirror portal sealed we had to rely on you to bring us outside help. Are you telling me that your reformation has been fruitless when we most needed your abilities?"

The threat seemed to not phase the draconequus, scoffing at the attempt at intimidation.

"You forget Princess that the elements are back with the Tree of Harmony, and last I checked you're not having too much luck with those pesky little keys are you?"

Luna seemed ready to pounce though Twilight raised her hoof, having dealt with the draconequus first hand while first reforming him.

"You're in just as much danger as the rest of us Discord. Just speak plainly and we may all get out of this ok."

Discord rolled his eyes and relented.

"The man I found is strong willed, quite brave and seems to know how to wave a sharp stick around. The place I went to wasn't too populated with warriors, just dont ask me for miracles."

"Where is he then?"

Twilight grew curious, wondering if their savior was invisible before Discord spoke again.

"Seems he fell out of my grip while I was teleporting back. When I said he was 'leagues' away, I meant in distance. The kid is about 10 miles that way."

Discord pointed out the window, his finger pointed right at an ominous collection of trees those present knew all too well.

"The Everfree Forest!!"

Wooden wolves, TIMBER WOLVES! Literal timberwolves! The man could barely believe it himself.

'Oh why did I ask for a longsword instead of a machete?!'

Ted berated himself for not seeing the need for a hacking tool, figuring he could just hold off till later. Still, the longsword would work well enough for not, though the straight blade was hardly meant for chopping through wood. He focused himself on the timber wolf closest to him and slashed out, seeming to break the thing into pieces.

"Ha! Finally I get a break today!"

His victory was short lived as the Timberwolf reassembled itself looking rather angry, the young man groaning out and running once more.

"Why do I even open my mouth?!"

Suddenly his chest seemed to feel like it was on fire, clutching it while keeping himself moving.

"Shit! I dont need this right now! I cant do this right now!"

He had hit a dead end, turning back to see the Timberwolves surrounding him as he was backed against a rock face. It provided a decent strategic position for a last stand, placing his back against the wall to prevent a sneak attack. Soon the Alpha wolf walked forward, pouncing forward along with the rest of the pack as a sword was raised to defend against the blow....