The Tale of the Bladechaser

Princess Twilight wasted no time heading outside with the rest of her friends, Discord in tow thanks to Fluttershy's legendary stare. Despite what he would say, Discord always seemed to succumb to it. As they left Celestia came out and looked to her former student.

"Are you sure you dont want a contingent of guards? The Everfree is a dangerous place to roam!"

Twilight seemed rather more confident than the others, smirking as she turned to the familiar yellow pegasus.

"Dont't worry Princess Celestia, we have Fluttershy with us. I'm sure we can handle any monsters on the way there." Without another word they teleported off, the white alicorn's brow furrowing.

"It's not the monsters that worry me.."

Ted ducked and dove under the pack, slashing above him as he rolled to the side. The wolves soon charged back at him with their splintered fangs ready, Ted retreating back to give him more time to parry the lunges of the ravenous wooden mutts. Each deflection and parry brought about a stronger pain in his chest.

'Focus, concentrate! Stop fighting for a second and you're dead!'

As he was distracted he felt a sharp pain in his left arm as a Timberwolf bit into him, giving the wolf a swift smack to the head with the pommel of his sword. Another wolf bit into his leg befre the blade came down and impaled the head. Ted quickly worked the teeth out of his leg before moving again. He was wearing out, slowly but surely with each second and swing seeming to make his body weaker. He was already bleeding from the wounds, not to mention what he might have been infected with from the bite. There was a cruel logic now: the more time passed by, the more useless Ted would be. He had to end this fight now. He raised his sword once more and charged at the timberwolves once more, nearly roaring out in rage as he and the Timberwolves felt they would soon clash arms once more. What happened next was surprisingly not a rain of splinters and steel as the young man expected.

"Henrietta! I am so surprised at you! You know well enough not to hurt others young lady!"

As Ted turned he saw a yellow pegasus scolding the timberwolves.

Wait a sec.. A YELLOW PEGASUS! THAT COULD TALK?!?! He was starting to consider this a bad case of food poisoning as the wolves still cowered in front of the shy pegasus.

"Now you go right back to your mommy and tell her what you've done!"

The timberwolves left with their tails literally between their legs, Ted falling to his knees in relief.

"Thanks, not sure how long I could have- YOU!!"

As the mares and the familiar Discord emerged from the brush the draconequus found a familiar sword pointed at his throat again, glancing at it like it was old hat.

"As much as I KNOW you missed me, you should  really mix up your greetings a bit."

"Take me back, NOW."

He was soon yanked back by a rope, the orange pony tying him up surprisingly quick without any fingers. She stepped forward and spoke in a familiar southern droll.

"Listen sugarcube, we ain't here ta hurt you. Quite the contrary in fact. We were here figurin' you're the savior of Equestria. How about a bit a slack?"

Ted seemed unamused and raised an eyebrow.

"First you have a chimera barge into my house and teleport me to another universe, now you expect me to save it? Thanks, but no thanks."

A cyan pegasus was soon in his face, gripping his shirt  roughly.

"And why the buck not?! Way I see i we just saved your hide from those timberwolves. What could you possibly hold against us?"

This didn't even take Ted a second to consider.

"That freak crashed into my back yard, bent the laws of physics, teleports me to GOD KNOWS WHERE, gets me attacked by those fucking wood puppets, and NOW you think is a good time to ask me for help?"

Rainbow chuckled nervously and backed off, the yellow pegasus wrapping some long vines around his wounded arm and leg with her teeth. It seemed to stop the bleeding well enough. As she did the purple alicorn stepped forward and looked the young man in the eye.

"Listen, I understand we're asking for a lot. You were brought here against your will and dropped into danger. For that I apologize. However, Equestria has faced a threat like no other we have ever seen. With the elements back in the tree of harmony we need help to protect ourselves. Without your help, Equestria could be brought into a new era of darkness!"

As much as Ted was tempted to tell her to buzz off, he couldn't help but feel this swell of courage inside of him. Finally, something worthwhile, somewhere he could do some good. He swung his sword around and cut the rope, getting into a kneeling position with his sword held on his side with the tip to the ground, much akin to knights back during the time of his namesake. He started to get a feeling his name was more than just a misnomer.

"Well then, what gentleman would I be if I refused?"

As soon as he said that a stream of confetti seemed to burst out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie pulling her pattented party cannon out of her mane like it was nothing.. As he looked on perplexed he felt a rather cute white unicorn move up to his side to offer support for his arm.

"Don't worry about her dear, she tends to do random things like that."

"I take it everyone here is able to defy the laws of nature?"

The different mares and Discord looked to each other nervously save Applejack who could be seen as the only normal pony in Ted's eyes. This point they had a unicorn, and alicorn Princess, a pink maned wonder who pulled a cannon out of her head, a pony that could tie knots with hooves, two pegusi, and a weird random scattering of animal parts capable of making it rain chocolate milk. Not surprisingly, Applejack responded.

"Two yes by our standards.Not sure you you'll take flying pegusi and magic."

Discord scoffed and smiled.

"Speaking of which.."

After a second Ted doubled over in pain, the pain starting anew again this time spreading through his body. Rarity was the first to respond.

"Twilight, DO SOMETHING!"

The purple alicorn was panicked and remembered something important, Ted's world was probably not fillled with magic like Equestria. He would be getting burned by the sheer amount of energy in the air around them.

"He's not from our world, he may not even be able to survive here. We have only once choice, but-"

Ted lurched forward and gripped her leg, Twilight looking down in shock.

"Do it! Whatever it is I don't care. Just do it."

Twilight shook her head.

"But it would mean that you might-"

"JUST DO IT!"

Twilight charged her horn and aimed it at Ted, blacking out just as she cast the spell.

Ted groaned as he started to come to, looking around as he soon found himself in a simple bedroom with a soft bed. He looked around and notices the intricate wood walls and shelves, many covered in books with an occasional picture. All of them had Twilight's face though so he figured he was sleeping in the Princess's home. Castle was ruled right out, more likely a cottage from the wood. He slowly got up on his feet only to stumble forward, catching himself with his hooves.

Wait, what?!

He looked down and saw two deep blue hooves where his hands should be. He also struggled to stand upright and walked to the mirror. What he swa next startled him a great deal. He was no longer a human but some blue pegasus pony, remnants of his torn clothing still covering his body. Even his favorite jacket had a huge rip in the back where his wings likely grew out. He took them off as delicately as he could in his new form, which was to say quite clumsily and falling over multiple times. Once he got everything off he looked around realizing he was in the nude. He hurriedly poked his head out to see one of the mane 6 in the hall, Pinkie Pie no less.

"Listen, I need to get some clothes. Mine are kinda... ruined."

At this Pinkie merely giggled an laughed.

"Oh silly! Most ponies don't wear clothes! Just come on out!"

The now blue pegasus blushed deeply.

"I don't know, just feels so.. weird!"

Pinkie didn't hesitate to yank him out just as the others were coming out of the adjacent room, the now stallion Ted quickly tried to cover where he expected his private parts to be.

"Listen I am SO sorry, I'll try and find some clothes to put on right.."

As he got a better bearing of his surroundings he saw every one of them was in the nude, slowly relaxing himself as he looked around.

"Uhh, take it nudity is ok here right? God this place is weird.." He went back slowly took the first few steps down the stairs to the main foor, tripping over his second set of hooves and tumbling down. He was far from used to his new body and he needed time to get used to it.

"Ah screw it!"

Ted lifted himself upright, feeling a sharp pain in his back from the unnatural pony position but didn't care. He was walking like he did before dammit! He made his way and saw a baby dragon cooking some pancakes with his fire breath. At this point nothing seemed to surprise him anymore.

"One question: Good dragon, or bad dragon?"

Spike turned around and thought for a moment, wondering what this pony's problem was.

"Uhh, good dragon."

"Right..."

Ted took a stack and chowed down, feeling better with some food in him. Soon enough everyone had breakfast and bet up in the main room of the library to formally introduce themselves save Discord who he already knew well enough.

"It's nice to meet you all formally. I'm Theobald Visconti the Second, but please just call me Ted."

Rainbow dash looked to the side and muttered.

"Weird name.."

Ted raised an eyebrow.

"Ya, and your names sound like they came from a cartoon for me. Lets call it even. But what I want to know is why I'm here."

Twilight sighed and composed herself.

"About a month ago we received some strange reports from the crystal empire and their investigation into the revival of King Sombra. It had been ongoing for quite some time but something new had come up. From what they could tell, Sombra should have only been a partial mental construct, barely able to exist in out world, much less have the presence he did. After more research we discovered some of the texts that he used to gain power. None of them had any information about surviving beyond the body. We believe there is something else at work, something not of this world. About a few weeks ago two guards in Canterlot collapsed. When they woke up in the hospital they reported seeing some apparition. The were unable to even touch it, though it touched them. They said images of war and bloodshed passed through their minds, at least what we could make out. Their mind were completely gone. They became utterly insane. They spoke of great battles won by creatures and weapons we have never even imagined here in Equestria. We believe the impact of this apparition is responsible for the revival of Sombra when the Crystal Empire re-appeared. When we got a description from the guards of what they saw I recognized one thing that was familiar to me, from my own experience going through the Dimension Mirror in the Crystal Palace. Humans. Sadly the portal is sealed for another month and this is an urgent matter so I had Discord teleport to the nearest human dimension. You're purpose here is two fold: Help us identify what this being is, and help us to destroy it."

Twilight passed over a sketch made from the guard's recollections, Ted recognizing the elements of the picture all too clearly.

"My world can never be said to be one of peace. We preach it but the truth is war is eternal, at least in my universe. This is an image of a soldier. From what I can tell it is from the most recent Gulf War in the Middle East. There is also bits of other areas. Vietnam, Korea, Europe, they are all related to wars that took place within the last century. Of course there's finally this."

Blade placed his hoof on the large mushroom cloud, lingering as the room seemed to fill with a sense of foreboding.

"That is a nuclear bomb, capable of wiping entire cities off of the map. Every living thing the dust touches suffers horribly due to nuclear fallout. The fact all of these events means that either the apparition took part in each of these events, or it is the culmination of all of that hatred and madness. All of the victims of senseless killing seeking vengeance on the world for their suffering. Now I pose this question to you: What would happen to any sane person when faced with so much destruction and death?"

Discord entered the room, a strangely somber and neutral expression on his face.

"Madness, insanity."

Ted nodded, looking back to the others.

"While Discord is the embodiment of chaos, he is far from insane. Some of the most sane people I know wish for less order and to gain more freedom. There is both good and evil within the forces of chaos and harmony. Harmony: order, justice, restriction. Chaos: anarchy, freedom, liberation. Madness however is an entirely different thing. They would see the world burn while laughing. That is what you face. The only good news here is that I have seen those horrors myself and have stayed sane. This madness incarnate is from the same world as myself, so there is a better chance I can fight it. Though I cannot fight anything like I am now. I need to train, learn how to fight in this body. I need to know everything I can about being in this form."

The new pegasus was about to ask for help from the girls but was soon interrupted by a loud scream from outside. Immediately they ran toward the source, finding a dead pony on the ground with a bloody indent in their skull. She was dressed in a gaudy pink coat with stockings ended by a set of horseshoes and well pedicured hooves. As every pony looked at the body, Ted looked to the windows and rooftops, eyes narrowing as he saw a pony move out of sight. He had no real background in detective work, but his keen eye and mind more than made up for his lack of firsthand experience.

"Everyone stay back! We need to keep the crime scene clear. Someone call 911!"

The ponies looked at him like he was mad, the pegasus rolling his eyes and saying more simply.

"Someone get help!"

They all seemed to immediately get the message as two fetched a pair of guards and brought them by, seeing the Pegasus already examining the body despite everypony else's chagrin. Even the guard felt his stomach growing upset seeing the body.

"It's just another suicide or something. Nothing to worry about."

Ted whipped his head around to the guard and scowled.

"Just another suicide?! Either you are just lousy at your job you you dont bother, more likely a bit of both! Anyone with half a brain cell could tell this was a murder."

The guard got right in the new Pegasus's face, ready to scold him like he did anyone else who spoke back to him.

"Oh really smart pony?! Why don't YOU go ahead and investigate this? Show me just how smart you are!"

Ted didn't waste a moment and surveyed the scene, only spending a minute before starting.

"Victim is in her mid 30s, unhappily married and likely a participant in multiple affairs, carried a rolling luggage bag as evidence of the uneven water marks on her stockings. Earrings are sparkling yet the outside of her wedding ring is dirty, showing how she does not even care for it. Inside is clean, most likely taking it on and off between visits being it's only source of polishing. Scuffs on her hooves suggest she fought back against her attacker as well as the bruises going up her legs. Struck once i the head with the murder weapon roughly an inch and a half in diameter, most likely a crowbar from the pattern of the strike. She was already dead for a while before she was thrown out the window, hence the lack of bleeding from the wounds caused by the shards of glass.  Is that all or do you want me to humiliate you further?"

Despite the situation many of the ponies seemed impressed, the guard more shocked he discovered all that so quickly. He scoffed and turned.

"Alright smartpony! Show me an order from the princess putting you on this case and I'll be more than happy to hand it over. Unless you have a bucking good relation to one, you're not laying a hoof on this investigation. That means I get the final say on what happened here!"

Twilight coughed to get the guard's attention, the stallion almost seizing up and kneeling once he realized who it was.

"P-Princess Twilight! I apologize for you having to see this. I swear I will do everything in my power to find the cause."

Twilight looked him over critically, contemplating for a minute before shaking her head.

"No, you wont."

The guard raised his head confused, wondering just what she meant.

"You nearly dismissed this as a suicide on the spot without even looking over the scene. My friend here has the right idea and will be heading the investigation under my supervision."

The guard sighed in resignation and nodded.

"Very well princess Twilight. I'll get started registering your friend as a consulting detective and set his name for the file. Just need your name and I'll handle the rest."

Ted thought on this for a moment, knowing his real name would only make the ponies more curious than they were already, deciding on one that he thought fitted him well.

"Bladechaser."

The guard nodded and headed off, Twilight looking to him and letting out a sigh.

"Listen, just do what you can with this for now. I'll contact Celestia and get a specialist from Canterlot here to take over."

"That wont be necessary Twilight."

The alicorn looked at the blue pegasus confused.

"Wait, you are new to being a pony. You said yourself you needed to train first."

A wide smirk came over the now anointed Bladechaser, eyes never leaving the scene of the murder.

"What I need more is a warm up, a challenge for me to overcome in this form. My mind is just as it was before and this wont be too difficult on the body. For now just have Celestia promote more order to stem the madness. It will help weaken it's impact on Equestria while we prepare. I wont lie to you though, this will certainly get worse before it gets better."