Tales of Equestriaby GamekiddChaptersChapter 1: Waking up to a DreamChapter 2: The Alicorn, The Changeling, and a StickChapter 2+1: Leeeeerooooy Nnnnjenkinnns!Chapter 4: Arrival and Deep Cryptic StuffChapter 5: A Rude Awakening and a New NameChapter 6: Learning the Basics/Training is MagicChapter 7: Meanwhile...Other Stuff HappensChapter 8: Legends of Harmony and LightActually 9: A Prankster Princess, and a New FriendChapter 10: A Rough Night, aka Training is Magic Part TwoTitle/ProlougeChapter 1: Waking up to a Dream PART 1: BIRTH Chapter 1: Waking up to a Dream Alright, where do I even start? I guess an introduction would work. My name is Danny, I'm your average dude with ADHD, and a case of "Paying attention to everything but what was important nine times outta ten" as well as usually being "Out of it", Although I guess it IS kinda hard to be "Average" with ADHD. Ah well! But all this mostly changed on that fateful day when everything was turned upside down, changed, shaken well, and then turned right side up again. This started one dull day when after feeling uncharacteristically sleepy(Not the kinda "Out of It" sleepy like I usually was, but the "Suddenly a nap sounds really good right about now" kinda sleepy) I took an unscheduled nap the woods near where I lived (Cliche am I right?) and started having strange dreams of stained glass platforms and a strange voiceless voice saying something about "Being the hero that was needed" and other strange cryptic things. After being given a strange glowing orb of some sort, I woke up and attempted to wrap my head around the strangeness of it all, I got up and picked up my trusty walking stick (A random sturdy branch I had found, good for whacking stuff and it even had a sharp end for jabbing) and was about to head home when something caught my eye. There, not a few feet away in the side of a large hill, behind some bushes (for effect?) was a small cave that seemed to be calling my name. I stood there for awhile at war with my self. Should I give in to my naturally curious nature and take a quick peek or ignore it? Ha! Like that was really an option for me! I live to explore. I am forever wandering off to look at something and this was no exception. I immediately crawled into the opening and poked around. Suddenly, the ground in front of me gave way and I found myself tumbling through empty space. I must have blacked out at one point as I found myself waking up to find that I had been dumped into what seemed a mountainous area, I slowly got up and found myself, for the second time today, shaking the cobwebs out of my head. I was reaching up to rub a tender spot, when suddenly I noticed my hands were replaced by...were these hooves!? I looked around in a growing panic trying to find something with which to see myself in. My frantic gaze fell on a small pool of what I guessed to be rain water. I quickly scrambled over and peered at its calm reflective surface. The face that stared back at me was...bizarre. What stared back was an equine-like face with large eyes and a small snout. The strange new features didn't end there! I now also had a horn that stuck out of a messy (Somethings never change I guess.) red mane that had streaks of orange. My coat was kinda pale-yellow while my new tail was a deep sky-blue. And did I mention the wings? The wings had to be one of the more freaky new additions to my anatomy, they were medium sized and the same color as my coat. Needless to say, I kinda freaked a bit. But I didn't get much time to freak because suddenly my new ears perked up (A weird sensation for one who was not used to it.) at a noise behind me. I realized that I suddenly wasn't exactly alone anymore. Chapter 2: The Alicorn, The Changeling, and a Stick Chapter 2: The Alicorn, The Changeling, and a Stick I turned around slowly at the sudden noise and looked up. Creeping up on me from a higher ledge, was what was easily the creepiest looking critter I've ever seen. It looked like a cross between a bug with a pair of wicked sharp fangs, and an equine. And...were those holes in its legs? I also noticed what appeared to be some feathers stuck almost fashionably in its "mane" behind one of its strange ears, but I didn't think that was important. It jumped down from the ledge and began to circle me, speaking with a strange raspy voice that only boosted its creepiness. "Well well well" It hissed rather menacingly, "What do we have here? A poor lost pony, and an alicorn at that!". I did NOT like its tone nor the way it said that! I frantically looked around for an escape route, sadly there wasn't one. All I found was my sturdy branch that was laying on the ground not to far away that had somehow made the strange and sudden journey with me. I decided that seeing as this PROBABLY wasn't going to end well, that stick was my best and only means of defending myself. I started to inch over to it while attempting to distract it with random chatter. "What in the world ARE you?" I asked trying to sound brave, "I'm going to be the one that drags your body back to the hive!" It hissed back, "Our Queen would be most pleased with you as a trophy! But the question is, where are all your little pony friends?" I took a minute to conjure up an answer, I was soooo close to the stick, and I needed another moment to contemplate how in the world I was supposed to pick the stupid thing up! "There...um...close." I said trying to sound confident but failing horribly at it. "Well, your loss!" It said suddenly, "Times up pony, your mine!" It suddenly charged and pounced at me. Thinking quickly, I picked up the stick in my mouth (UGH! It tasted like dirt and sweat from earlier!) and swung with all the force I could muster. A rather satisfying "THUD" was heard the weighty branch connected with the creature, effectively stopping it mid pounce and grounding the thing. I backed away from its still form rather shocked that I actually hit it. I slowly inched back up to it and poked it with the stick to see if it was alive and HOLEY SWISS CHEESE IT WAS STILL ALIVE! (Albeit with a MASSIVE headache most likely) It slowly picked itself up and shook its self off, then hissed at me "Ugh! You got lucky this time! I must go inform HER about you!" With that, it (possibly a female judging from the pitch of her raspy/hissy voice) started up its wings and took off. Feeling rather cocky at that moment, I yelled after it "Yeah! Fly away coward!" Unwise? Probably. But I was feeling rather good suddenly forgetting my present predicament. I suddenly spotted a feather where I had downed the thing. It was one of the more pretty ones that she/it had stuck in its "mane". The feather was pure white, somewhat sparkly, and rather large, larger than my own wing feathers, and seemed to almost glow. I decided to take it as a souvenir. (*) After resting for a second or two, I decided it would be wise to get moving. Fortunately, there seemed only one direction to go in currently, eliminating the possibility of me getting lost (More than I already was anyhoo). The cave that SHOULD have been behind me wasn't there anymore. So, picking up my trusty stick, I struck off in search of...someone, ANYONE who could help me. After several minutes of walking (Trotting?) I began picking up random noises. Curious yet cautious, I followed the sounds until I could make out what they were. Soon, the noises turned into sounds, that turned into sounds of a scuffle of some sort. I slowed and peeked around a corner. There, taking place in a large crater-like area, was a MASSIVE battle. There were THOUSANDS of those bug-like critters attacking a group of ponies with an...alicorn? The alicorn that was fighting back ferociously with a large glowing sword and...was that magic? was pure white like the feather that I had found, her long literally flowing mane shimmered in several different bright colors. They were fighting valiantly, but they were heavily outnumbered, and looked like they were reaching their limits. I stood there trying to decide what to do. I couldn't just LEAVE them here! 1. I couldn't stand NOT helping, and 2. A ton of these insect things were blocking the way out. "ugh, I can't fight these guys!" I thought, frantically trying to come up with some sort of plan, "There are entirely to many and all i have is this stick." I was looking around, trying to take it all in. When suddenly my gaze fell on a rather large one that stood apart from the swarm and seemed to be giving orders. "Brilliant!" I thought coming up with a good and REALLY dumb plan. "If I can somehow knock that dude out, the rest would most likely run off without anybody to receive orders from!" I picked up my stick and started sneaking over to him. Praying that I wouldn't get myself killed in the process. *Danny gained a new Title! "Newbie Warrior" - A newbie to this whole "Combat" thing, A title given to one who has somehow survived his first battle. Chapter 2+1: Leeeeerooooy Nnnnjenkinnns! Chapter 2+1: Leeeeeroooooy nnnnjenkinnns! Slowly creeping up on it, I psyched myself up and braced for what was sure to be an ordeal. However stealth wasn't my strong point. I was almost within striking distance when I accidentally kicked a pebble. The creature quickly turned toward me and gave me a rather intimidating hiss, and I am rather embarrassed to to admit that I jumped a few feet. After giving me a quick look, the thing merely grinned and said "What do we have here? a little lost colt? Run along home boy! Before I get hungry!" I tried to raise my stick and come up with a brave and witty retort, but it ended up being more of a "squeak and cower behind stick" causing the monstrous bug-thing to laugh. "Well well well" It said attention now totally on me, "Trying to be brave are we? If you think you can take on a Changeling elite, then I suppose I COULD use the snack!" With that it took an offensive position and began circling me. I tried to swallow my growing unease and got ready to defend myself. It soon charged at me, I swung at it like last time hoping that it would fall for the same trick. Wrong! It expertly and swiftly dodged my swing and whirled around to deliver a powerful kick, which I took the brunt of, sending me flying. "OOF!" I yelled in pain as I landed on the ground. I tried to get up and pick up my stick that had skittered away, but the Changeling sent it over the edge with a swift kick of its perforated hoof. "Well" It said sounding bored "That was an...amusing attempt. But I'm done playing with you boy!" With that, his horn started glowing a bright sickly green color. Well, this was about to end rather badly and anti-climatically! I was defenseless and was most likely about to get blasted into oblivion. Suddenly, right as the thing fired its spell, a strange feeling and a weird power shot through me and my horn started glowing a bright blue color. A sword materialized directly in-front of me and blocked the blast. I merely stared wide-eyed at it for a good second. "Well well well" said the Changeling, "It seems things just got a little more interesting!" With that it began to circle me again. Wielding my new sword (Which strangely felt second nature to me despite not actually knowing what I was doing) I decided to be the aggressor this time and charged him. I dashed up and swung my magic-made weapon, barely missing that time. "Well" the Changeling hissed almost sounding impressed, "You have quite a bit of fight in you for a young colt. But I grow tired of toying with you, have at you!" With that, it started fighting back. I could barely keep up with its movements. The only way I was keeping up, was a strange instinct that kept kicking in. Guiding my movements as if I had done this many times before. (Which I found weird...but not worth questioning at the time.) The struggle got the attention of Princess Celestia, still fighting away in the bottom of the crater. She sensed the disturbance and looked up to see a large Changeling fighting a young stallion wielding a small spell sword. Thinking quickly, she charged a spell, took aim, and fired a laser of magic which sailed over the heads of the mass swarm of Changelings to strike home. The stupid thing was about to kill me! I was beginning to tire and the dumb bug thing didn't show any signs of slowing down whatsoever. "Alright!" It said rather annoyed, "I've had enough of this game, it's time I end this foolishness!" It ran up to me and was about to strike me down. When all of a sudden, a bright magical blast nailed it! It fell to the ground and with a screech of pure rage it burst into a black cloud of smokey dust. All the Changelings stopped for a moment, then suddenly decided that without a leader they weren't so brave. They all started scrambling away, I guessed back to their hive. "EVERYPONY! FALL BACK!" The white alicorn yelled, she look directly at me and gestured for me to follow. I decided that this was probably a good idea and quickly made my way down and followed them. After running for who knows how long, we finally stopped for a quick rest and patch up. I collapsed on the ground breathing heavily. I looked up to see the alicorn, though wounded and quite drained, walking around checking all her troops and making sure that they were still in one piece. I stood up as she approached me. Now that I was able to get a closer look, I was able to tell that she was indeed somebody (errr some "pony" I guessed is what you say here after overhearing some of the chatter) very important. "I wish to thank you for your help young stallion." she said sounding very regal, "We would not have escaped that predicament with our lives if you hadn't shown up when you did." ...Flattering considering all I did was pull a stupid stunt and almost get killed in the process. "I do not know your name." she said, I told her my name not quite knowing how to act around royalty. "Danny, What a strange name." she said curiously, "I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. You don't seem to be from around here, perhaps you could tell me a little about yourself on the way back to my castle." Without waiting for an answer, she turned and gave the orders to move out. Castles? Princesses? Magical weapons? This day was quickly getting weirder and weirder. Finding myself caught up in the excitement, and figuring that I didn't have to much choice in the matter. (Hey! I was following a majestic, mythical creature to a real live castle!) I fell in line, following everypony else. Chapter 4: Arrival and Deep Cryptic Stuff Chapter 4: Arrival and Deep Cryptic Stuff After what seemed like hours and hours of walking, we finally exited the mountain range. We were met with a rather impressive view of what appeared to be a town with a large castle (Or was it a rather large castle with a town in it?). Several guards gave an exhausted sigh of relief. Even the princess sagged slightly with relief. Judging from what she told me on the way here and the reactions of everybody, I guessed this was Canterlot. And after another half an hour of walking, we were staring up at the huge gates. After a quick exchange between the gate guards and Celestia, we were quickly ushered through the gate and into the town. The town itself looked even bigger in person and was definitely "upper-crust". Several ritzy looking ponies were staring our strange procession exchanging looks of worry. Celestia must have noticed this, as she quickly addressed them and reassured them that the threat had dealt with. After that, we made our way up to the castle. I was in deep thought still trying to process everything that had and still was happening, when I suddenly bumped into the dude directly in front of me. Mumbling an apology, I looked up to see the grand epicness of the structure that was the castle. Needless to say, I sat there and gawked at it for at LEAST a good minute or so. It was the biggest and grandest thing I had ever seen! I couldn't find enough adjectives to describe how majestic it looked. And then there was the inside! Walking in, Large sprawling halls greeted you. Each lined with paintings and regal looking decor. I took a few minutes to take it all in. "Do you like it?" Celestia suddenly asked me with the slightest grin on her face. I realized I probably looked like a child. Slightly embarrassed, l sheepishly replied "Y-yeah! I mean, yes your highness." Celestia nodded "Good, now I realize you must have many questions you want answered. However, it has been a long day, and there are matters that I must attend to. I will have some of my servants show you a room and tend to your wounds, as well as give you something to eat. We will discuss your questions as well as other matters tomorrow." While I REALLY wanted and needed some answers, I couldn't blame her. She sounded completely exhausted. And frankly, so was I. After nodding my agreement, she turned around and addressed some ponies who I guessed were part of the staff here. After directing them to show me to a room and to tend to my needs. She turned back to me, nodded to me, then walked off. Soon after being shown a place to sleep. I was visited by what I guessed was a physician who tended to my various wounds using magic. (Magic healing spells...they WORK!) Afterwords, I was served some food. At first glance, they appeared to be normal sandwiches. But closer inspection revealed that not only lettuce, but grass and dandelions were sticking out between slices of bread. After awhile of contemplation, I realized that this is what actual ponies would eat. So, swallowing my hesitation, and figuring that despite it being made with...well...grass, it couldn't possibly be THAT bad. I braved up and took a bite. And to my surprise, it didn't taste half bad! A few tasty "Vegetarian" sandwiches later. I noticed that the sun went down. I feeling rather sleepy, I decided that it was time to call it a day. I settled into the bed, and despite the fact that my new wings and horn kept getting in the way (Seriously! How did they sleep like this?) I quickly fell into a deep sleep. Another strange dream. Like last time, I was standing on a large stained glass looking platform. But this time, I wasn't alone. Standing before me, were six beings wearing white hoods. They were definitely pony, and were varying sizes ranging from average pony height, to about the size of the young foals I had seen in town. One of the smaller ones stepped forward and spoke. "So, you are the new chosen hero?" It said "You definitely appear to be hero material, but you have a lot to learn before you can truly be named a hero!" Then the others started stepping up and speaking in turn. "A hero must have strength! So that he or she can fight those that oppose the light!" "But being a hero isn't all about fighting. A true hero must have wisdom, as well as a clear mind." "A true hero must also be pure and strong of heart. Willing to help those around him, even if they don't deserve it." "A hero must be honorable. Doing what is right and just, and showing mercy even to those that don't deserve it." "A real hero has the courage to face even the deepest darkness." "But what is a hero without friends? A hero does not rely on just his or her own strength alone. He or she must have harmony as well as friends if he or she wishes to succeed!" "These are things that you must keep in mind young hero. Your path is long and dangerous, but if you follow your heart, you will rise victorious!" Well, that was...deep! I was about to ask what they were talking about, when suddenly the very air itself seemed to ripple. "Somepony is trying to peer into you dream" one of the ponies said, "Looks like we're out of time, remember our words hero. We will meet again" Before I could do anything, the entire dream melted away and other dreams took its place. Chapter 5: A Rude Awakening and a New Name Chapter 5: A Rude Awakening and a New Name "Oh for goodness sakes boy! Wake up!" A strange and rather loud voice dragged me from my deep sleep. "Huh? Wha? Who's there?" I asked groggily. I tried to get up, but my brain was still asleep (As usual). I had forgotten the fact that I now had four legs instead of two, thus resulting in me more or less flopping off the bed and onto the floor. I got up and shook myself in an attempt to fully wake up. My eyes fell to my hooves and I remembered that I was now a pony. I looked around for a mirror, and found an adequate one by the corner. I peered into it and "admired" myself for a second. Trying to remember everything that happened, while simultaneously trying to wake up (I was NOT a morning pers...err pony now I guess). I was just wondering if coffee existed here, when my reflection began grinning mischievously at me. I blinked and leaned forward to take a closer look, thinking my eyes were playing tricks. When suddenly it jumped out at me! "Boo!" It yelled popping out of the mirror. I stumbled backwards and tripped over my own hooves, sending me crashing to the floor. My evil-looking doppelganger fell to the ground laughing, "HAHAHA! Oh dear! You should have seen the look on your face. Absolutely PRICELESS!" I got up, my heart still beating several miles a minute. "Who are you?" I asked what appeared to be myself. The mirror being stood up, and with a poof of smoke, turned into what ended up being the strangest being I ever met. He looked like a dragon of some sort with mismatched body parts and crazy pair of eyes. "Well my pony friend, I am the ruler of chaos Discord. And you must be that new pony, Danny was it? Yes, that's right, I all about you boy! You must be quite startled to suddenly change species like that. Oh we're going to have so much fun!" I was about to ask what kind of "Fun" he was talking about and what a "Ruler of chaos" was, when he continued talking. "Oh but enough about that, don't you have something to attend to? A breakfast with that royal stick-in-the-mud Celestia? I suggest you get going Danny! They're fixing to talk about you!" And with that, before I could ask what the HEY he was going on about, he dissipated in another puff of smoke. I cleared my head, and remembered that I was indeed supposed to to be getting some info from Celestia about whats going on. With that, I stepped out of the bedroom into the main hallway, and started looking for the dining room (Or whatever it was called in a fancy place like this) A nearby maid must have noticed how lost I looked and pointed me in the right direction. Throwing a quick "Thanks" over my shoulder, I dashed down the hallway. I soon I trotted up to a pair of doors that led to the dinning hall. As I got closer, I could hear two voices having some sort of discussion. Figuring it was rude to just barge in, I decided to wait outside for a bit. Soon however, my curiosity began to get the better of me and I quietly inched over to the doors and took a quick peek through the crack. Sitting at the end of a long table was Celestia sipping something from a cup while talking to what appeared to be another younger alicorn. This one had dark blue fur with a lighter shaded mane and tail, and on her flank was a picture of a moon (No, I wasn't staring!). "But sister!" The younger one that was apparently Celestia's younger sister said indignantly, "I'm not a defenseless filly! I could have helped!" Celestia merely shook her head and answered, "No Luna, I did not wish to put you in danger." She took a sip of what I was going to guess was either tea or coffee, "Besides, if something happened to me, you must be here to take my place." Luna sighed and began speaking again, "Very well, but I still don't trust this stallion you brought here. I tried to peer into his dreams, but something kept blocking me. And you know full well we can't be too careful with all the Changelings roaming around!" I realized she was talking about me, and that she must have been the one that disrupted that strange dream. "He isn't a problem dear sister." Celestia answered, "As a matter of fact, I believe he is an answer." I leaned closer to the door in an attempt to hear more clearly, when I abruptly learned a couple of fun fact about these doors. That one, they weren't completely closed. And two, that they were easy to open. The doors suddenly opened and promptly dumped me on the floor. "Speaking of which" Celestia said smiling and taking another sip from her cup, "Here he is now!". I got up and dusted myself off trying NOT to look like I had just been busted for eavesdropping. Celestia gestured for me to take a seat near her and Luna, which I gladly did. "Danny, this is my dear sister and ruler of the night, Princess Luna." Celestia said introducing me to Luna. She then smiled mysteriously and said "But you probably already figured most of that out by now. And by the way, eavesdropping is considered quite rude here. Next time, at least pick a better spot to eavesdrop from." "Err right, sorry." I said embarrassed and slightly surprised. Luna just shot me a suspicious look, I realized this incident probably wasn't earning any trust points with Luna. But before I could give it anymore thought, a line of servants came from the kitchen and served us breakfast. After a rather large breakfast that consisted of assorted fruits, salads, and baked goods. Luna excused herself with the excuse that she had "Somethings to attend to". Shooting me one last suspicious glance, she quickly exited. Celestia rose from her seat and gestured for me to follow her. We soon arrived at a large study of sorts. And after getting settled, Celestia began explaining where I was and what was going on. Apparently, things were getting out of "hoof" so to speak. Monsters were on the rise, Changelings were getting bolder and bolder, and strange things were happening everywhere. She then told me about a prophecy about a great and powerful darkness that woke every thousand years and tried to consume all of Equestria. And that a hero would appear to challenge that darkness. "And now we come to the reason why your here." Celestia said "I believe that you might be the hero that the legend speaks of. Please, on behalf of all of Equestria, will you help us?" Ok, my mind was officially blown to bits and thoroughly confused and confounded. I didn't know about the whole "Hero" thing, or even how much help I would be, but I figured I should at the very least try and help. Besides, this place was too cool! I didn't want to go back home just yet. "Alright" I said, "I don't know about being some "Hero" but ill help however I can!" Celestia seemed secretly relieved. "Wonderful" She said, "Now then, you will need a new "Pony" name." A new name? I guessed it made sense seeing as "Danny" wasn't exactly a normal name around here. Celestia then suggested the name "Blade Edge". After careful consideration, I gladly accepted the new name.* "Excellent" Celestia said, "From now on, you shall be called "Blade Edge"." She then rose and said "Come, there is much for you to learn if you are to be any help to anypony.". And with that, she led me out into the hallway. (* Danny has gained a new Title - "Blade Edge": A new name, a new face, a new world. A Title given to one who has been named anew. Special Note: This title changes the name of the character. From now on, everyone will refer to this character as this name.) Chapter 6: Learning the Basics/Training is Magic Chapter 6: Learning the Basics/Training is Magic After trotting down several hallways, we stopped in front of a massive pair of doors. Sounds of explosions and various scuffles could be heard coming from behind them. "This is our training area." Celestia said, "While normally, I would have left your teaching and training to experienced teachers. Time is of the essence, so I believe it would be best if I taught you directly." With that, she opened the doors. The training area was MASSIVE! Completely open to the sky, it had several random objects and equipment scattered around. Large bookshelves that lined a far wall held handy books containing moves, skills, and spells. Neatly organized containers and shelves held several different types of weapons. "Woooow!" I said in wonder, my brain quickly taking it all in. Celestia walked over to a bookcase and levitated out a book. "First off" She said opening the book, "You will need to learn the most basic of spells, levitation and general interaction with objects using magic." I trotted over and took a peek at the book, inside was contained a simple yet complex description on "Magical interaction with objects". Celestia set the book down and began teaching me about the powerful yet delicate art of magic. After about an hour or two of tapping into magic (Purposely this time!), I finally got the hang of lifting and moving objects around with magic. After getting used to using magic, I found that learning basic combat and healing spells, wasn't as hard nor as complex as it looked. Next came something totally unrelated to magic, something that was to prove the second most painful and the hardest thing I would ever attempt...flying. Celestia made the whole deal seem and sound easy! "Just try to get off the ground" Celestia told me. I got off the ground just fine, it was the "Staying that way" that was the problem. When I first attempted to get some air time, I gave my wings too strong a thrust and ended up lifting myself on my back. The next couple attempts landed me on either my rump, or my face. Finally, Celestia must have figured that some assistance might be helpful, and she called a few pegasi over to try and keep me from hurting myself. At this point, several other ponies had stopped doing whatever they were doing and were watching us, a few trying to stifle laughter at my sad failures, a few actually cheering me on. Several more failed flying attempts later, Celestia used her magic on my wings and basically put them on auto-pilot, flying me around until I got a feel for it. Finally, I was able to fly around on my own without crashing into something. Several cheers (And I noticed a few small bags of coins) were passed around. Celestia merely smiled and congratulated me on a job well done (Although whether from the fact she was proud of me, or from the fact that I had somehow managed to run into nearly every object in the training area was to be debated.). Then Celestia walked over to a weapon stand and chose two practice blades. "Here" She said, tossing me one which I barely caught in a sheathe of telekinetic magic, "You've learned the basics quickly, but you will need more than levitation and flight to protect yourself and others." She walked over to a large open spot and took a defensive stance. "Now then, let's test your skills. Try and hit me." I now began wondering what it was I had gotten myself into. I trotted over to her and levitated my weapon up. "So...I just swing, right?" I asked not quite sure about hitting her. "Yes, don't worry about hurting me or being hurt right now. Just focus on attacking me." With that, I took my sword and swung at her with all the force my magic would let me. She easily blocked it. I swung again and again, each time either getting blocked or dodged. Suddenly, that weird gut feeling kicked in, like when I was fighting that Changeling. I swung at Celestia again, except this time when she lifted her sword to block, I quickly whirled the sword around and dealt an actual blow to her chest area, effectively surprising her AND myself. I was worried that I had hurt her, but she quickly shrugged it off. "Well, that was quite unexpected!" she said looking at me carefully. "Sorry" I apologized, "I don't know how I did that!" Celestia waved away the apology, "It would seem, that you have some skills that you don't know about. Let us stop for the day, there is some books that I would like you to study." With that, she returned the practice blades and led me out. I was bored out of my little equine mind. Celestia had taken me to an expansive library and had given me several different books. Some of them were basic spell books, while others were things like "The History of Ponies" and the like. I sighed and rested my head on the desk. "Studying hard I see!" I jumped and whirled around at the sudden noise, I came face to face to old looking unicorn. He had a gray mane with grayish fur, he wore a jumpsuit and carried a mop. He spoke again, "Or are you hardly studying?" He chucked to himself. "Who are you?" I asked him. "Me?" he answered, " Nopony important, however I might also be a pony that can help you." He walked over to the stack of books and looked through them, whistling as he levatated one of the bigger books up and flipped through it quickly. "My my my." He started, "The dear Princess is a wise ruler and a wonderful teacher, but she obviously isn't used to teaching young colts that wish to be heroes." He looked at me and shook his head. Putting down the huge history book, he beckoned for me to follow him. "Book study is useful" he said leading me deeper, "But it seems that Celestia has forgotten that not all ponies like to study books all day, unlike her cute young pupil Twilight." "Who?" I asked rather confused. The old janitor looked back at me and said, "Princess Twilight Sparkle, she will be among the first of many things that you will learn about." He stopped in front of a small table and placed a book on it. The book was fair sized and had a gold unicorn on it. "Here" he said "Read this, its much briefer, more exciting, and has quite a few important things you must know." I read the title, "The Legend of the Elements of Harmony". I then opened it and started reading. Chapter 7: Meanwhile...Other Stuff Happens Chapter 7: Meanwhile...Other Stuff Happens While Blade was gaining some key knowledge about this new world. Destiny was quickly setting up the rest of the "Stage", and guiding the rest of the "Actors" to their places. A mare smiled to herself as she rolled down the long hallways of the castle. Her new inventions, the Automatic Hoof Skates, were working perfectly! No more long walks down these stupidly long halls! Her name was Cinnamon Sugar, named for her cinnamon colored coat and white mane that had a single cinnamon colored stripe. She was an adventurous, spirited inventor that was also a personal assistant to the Princesses. She would have rather been down in the labs, working on some project. But, Celestia had called for her specifically so she really didn't have a choice in the matter. She sped toward the throne room, wondering what Celestia could possibly want. "I hope it has nothing to do with Prince Blueblood." She thought to herself remembering the little "Accident" she had with some hot tea last week. Prince Blueblood had really ticked her off, and she "Accidentally" dumped a whole pot of steaming tea all over him. Totally not her fault! A small giggle escaped as she remembered his expression as he jumped up and ran off in pain. Not long afterwards, she was folding her skates back into her horseshoes with a small *click* and walking into the throne room. She trotted up to Celestia and gave her a small bow. Celestia nodded and said "Good evening Cinnamon, how are you doing?" Cinnamon looked up and said "Look, if this has anything to do with Blueblood. All I have to say is that he started it!" Celestia smiled gently and said "I know he can be a bit...insufferable at times. But that's not what I called you here for." Cinnamon blushed for a moment and said "Oh, sorry". She straightened up and then with a more formal tone said, "What do you require your highness?" Celestia then proceeded to tell her about their new arrival. "His name is Blade Edge" She said, "He is quite new here and needs somepony to guide him around. I ask that you would keep an eye on him, help him get used to how things work here." Cinnamon thought for a moment, then decided that she really didn't have much of a choice. Besides, what harm could come from showing some new pony around? She quickly agreed. "Excellent" Celestia said, "Then tomorrow morning, I would like you to join us for breakfast. Afterwards, I would like you to show him around town." Cinnamon nodded, "As you wish your majesty." and with another small bow, she left the throne room. Wondering what this new arrival was like. "Oh man! this was going to be SO AWESOME!" The lightning yellow pegasus thought to himself as he stood atop a large puffy cloud, holding his favorite Cloudboard. His name was Spark Gale, a speed happy pegasus that loved "Cloudboarding". It was a rather new pegasi sport that was kinda like mixing snowboarding with free-falling. Instead of snow however, clouds were boarded on. Spark put on his "Cool" goggles and hopped on his board and launched himself quickly the cloudy "slope". "HA HAAAA YEAAAAH!" He shouted with pure joy as he rushed through the white cottony course. He launched himself off a bump in the cloud and had caught quite a bit of air. When halfway through a trick, a loud buzzing sound coming from his saddle bags suddenly caught him off guard, sending him crashing snout first into a puffy bank. Getting up and dusting himself off, he grumbled as he looked toward the enormous weather factory in the distance. "Ugh! Why now?" he thought to himself, "Can't they wait a little while longer?". He gave himself a shake, packed up his cloudboard, and grudgingly took off toward the large cloud structure that was the factory. The Weather Factory wasn't really one single large building. Really it comprised of several different buildings that were each built for specific purposes. Spark Gale worked in the Cloud Control Department, a job the quite frankly bored him to tears. He landed in the C.C.D's lobby and and was greeted by his superior Cloudkicker who was tapping her hoof in annoyance. He shot her a smile and said, "Hey gorgeous! Miss me?". Cloudkicker just rolled her eyes, "You were supposed to be back from your job in Ponyville, like, HOURS ago!" she said with an annoyed tone. Spark Gale just shrugged and said, "Sorry Cloudkicker, I lost track of time.". "In other words," Cloudkicker said letting out a sigh, "Goofing off again. Its no wonder you failed the Wonderbolts try-outs." "I can't help it!" Spark said, "Wonderbolt training was boring, and those clouds just BEG to be rode on!". Cloudkicker just shook her head and said "Well guess what hot-shot, your headed to Canterlot. And I'M going with you to make sure you do your job this time!" Spark opened his mouth to protest when Cloudkicker cut him off, "Its not my fault you tend to blow off your job alot. Your as bad if not worse than Rainbow Dash!" Spark clamped his mouth shut. Man, why was she always on his case? At least Rainbow doesn't have a nagging supervisor breathing down HER neck every few seconds! Just because he decided a little fun on the job occasionally (Ok, maybe most of the time.), doesn't necessarily mean that this was necessary! Oh well, at least he was going to Canterlot. There were tons of cute mares there. heh heh heh! [Deep within the mountains] A Changeling was propelling herself weakly through the air, grumbling about how horrid her day was so far. She absolutely HATED her position in the hive. She wasn't a Worker, Soldier, or even a Scout. She would have loved being a worker, or even a scout! But no, she was a lowly Messenger, she HAD to be a messenger. The lowest job possible. Her job was to make sure their queen was well informed on every single happening in and outside the hive. And she was also the one that had to deal with her majesty, Queen Crysalis's bad moods when she gave her bad news...like now. On top of that, her head hurt from where that strange stallion hit her with that rather solid branch, and she ALSO lost her most prized possession, a single pure-white feather that fell from Princess Celestia herself. She paused at the sudden realization that she was feeling all the things. Feeling! She shouldn't be having these feelings or thoughts at all! After going through the process that turns one into a Changeling, she shouldn't have anything to feel with, she had no "Heart". Yet, every now and then she would have a flash of an emotion or feeling. No wonder she was at the bottom of the hive, she was a freak among freaks! She landed at the entrance, psyched herself up, and made her way to the "Throne" chamber. "Good day, my queen" the Changeling said bowing. Queen Crysallis rose from her seat and walked over to the Messenger, her face a deep scowl. "About time you got back" She said, "Tell me, did they successfully capture Celestia?" The Changeling fidgeted for a second, and opened her mouth to reply, but Crysallis cut her off. "No of course you didn't!" She snapped, now snout to snout with the trembling Changeling. "Your all just a bunch of incompetent worms!" Crysallis paused and took notice of her Messenger's wound. "And how, pray tell, did you receive that?" She asked pointing at the bump on the Changeling's head."I r-ran into a y-young alicorn stallion, my liege." the Changeling said fearfully. Crysallis reared back and was about to launch into a full blown rage, but paused for a minute. Suddenly, seizing the frightened Changeling and pulling her close, Crysallis asked her in a demanding voice "Tell me! What did he look like?" The Changeling, now really scared at her new mood swing, answered "Well, he was kinda strange, he had this messy orangey-red mane and.." Crysallis let her go and started pacing around, looking thoughtful. "He has appeared, just like he said." she thought aloud. The Messenger slightly tilted her head in confusion. "I'm sorry my liege, who?" she said. Not giving her an answer, Crysallis quickly snapped out of whatever had come over her and issued an order. "Get me my commanders!" she said, "If you want something done right, you have to stab ponies in the back!" Chapter 8: Legends of Harmony and Light Chapter 8: Legends of Harmony and Light After a few hours of studying "The Legend of the Elements of Harmony". I began to understand a few more things. Seeing that I had finished reading. The old unicorn stood up and replaced the legend book. "Now then," he said turning to me, "Now that you have the solid foundation of the past, its time to build up to the present, and maybe take a peek at the future." He began pacing, "Tell me, how much has she told you about the "Legend of Light and Darkness"? I blinked, thinking for a second, then remembered that Celestia mentioned a "Legend" of some kind. I proceeded to tell him what Celestia told me. The janitor stroked the stubble on his chin thoughtfully, then said, "Well, that's all you really need to know currently. After you gain a bit more knowledge, we'll discuss the rest." "Oh, I was really hoping you would just go ahead and tell him!" A familiarly strange voice seemed to echo from everywhere at once. I jumped slightly, while the unicorn janitor merely grinned mysteriously. "Ah, Discord, I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to come out of hiding my old 'Friend'." Suddenly, my shadow jumped up and took the form of the mish-mashed dragon creature. "Daddy?" said a strange young feminine voice that appeared to come from a small decorative vase, "Can I come out now?" Discord smiled and snapped his paw. Instantly, the vase turned into a strange little filly. She was a weird light pinky-purple color, and wore a strange propeller hat that seemed to never slow down. She turned to me and smiled. "Hi!" she said, "I'm Screwball! You must be that new pony human that Daddy was talking about." Before I could come up with a reply, she quickly trotted up to me, planted herself infront of me, and began starring straight into my eyes. I opened my mouth to say something, when the whole world suddenly began flipping out. I felt like I had suddenly stumbled into a roller coaster, and all I could see was those twisting, glowing irises. I tried to look away from those unsettling eyes, but my body wouldn't function at all. Eventually world stopped spinning and I regained control over my bodily functions. I slowly became aware of the fact that I was now on the ground, starring up at Screwball's cute yet slightly crazy grin. She turned around and walked over to Discord, and after whispering something in his ear, she ran off. I shook my head and muttered "What happened?" Discord gave a little chuckle, "Well well well! It's rare that my precious little doll actually finds someone interesting enough to put them through the 'Test'. And a pony no less!" Discord stroked his beard thoughtfully and said "Well now, guess I'd better keep an eye on you Danny. Or is it Blade Edge now? You intrigue me boy, we'll see just how well you turn out. But for now," He said floating up and looking around, "I best be going, Celestia is going to be back any second now. And your 'Teacher' there might want to make himself scarce...or uninteresting at least!" With that, for the second time today, Discord have a little bow before vanishing in a puff of smoke. "He's right, I can already sense her coming. We shall talk more later." He turned to leave, but I quickly stopped him. "Wait, I didn't even get your name mister?" The mysterious unicorn chuckled to himself and answered, "Just call me "Gramps", all you young "Whippersnappers" do, and I find it a rather pleasant nickname." He then turned away and trotted off to attend to whatever business he had. As soon as he turned a corner, Princess Celestia's calm, regal form strode up to me. "Hello Blade, I trust your studies went well?" I simply nodded yes, "Very well, I believe you've earned a break. I'm giving you permission to wander the castle at your leisure. I advise you to talk to any and every pony you meet here, so that you might learn more about this place. And possibly make a few friends." After she informed me about a few "Off-limits" areas, she gracefully made her exit, leaving me to my own devices. I exited the library and figured that I might as well wander around. I began slowly meandering down the hallways, poking my head into doors to see what room lay beyond them (Knocking before entering if they were closed of course. It would have been rude not to!). I trotted up to a pair of blue doors and knocked on them. However, this time a received a reply. "About time!" said a rather huffy stallion's voice, "You may enter.". Feeling rather confused, I opened the door and was greeted by the sight of a rather snooty looking unicorn stallion and was given my very first mundane task that I would later call a "Quest". "Ugh, the service gets slower and slower around here." He said curtly. I opened my mouth to say I wasn't one of the staff, when he cut me off. "I'm starving, go and get me a sandwich." he then gestured for me to leave. "B-but!" I tried to protest. "What? Are you so incompetent, that you can't understand a simple instruction from a superior?" He said curtly, slightly annoying me with his tone. "The kitchen shouldn't be that hard to find, for even one as lowly as you. Its just down the hall.". I sighed slightly exasperated and trotted off down the hall in the direction he directed. I opened the door to the kitchen to find it bustling with several ponies and yet another kind of strange, sentient creature. He was a four-legged mish-mash beast that had a bird-like body and head. Its front-legs were talons, while its hind-legs were what appeared to be the paws of a lion. It took me about three seconds to identify it as a griffon. He wore a chief's hat and was busy cooking something over a stove. "Uh, excuse me sir?" I spoke up, not wanting to distract him if he was doing something important. He turned around and looked at me. Smiling and stroking a curly mustache, he answered with a friendly, "Ahhhh. Bonjour! Welcome to the kitchen newcomer. I am Chief Pierre! Celestia told me zat some new face would show itself around here.". I introduced myself and told him what that stallion wanted. He frowned for a minute and said, "Zat Prince Blueblood iz an infuriating one no? Don't worry friend! I know exactly what he wants." The griffon turned to a counter and picked up a plate with a sandwich on it. "E're," He said giving me the plate, "Zis is what ze prince ordered! Try to ignore his 'ow do you say? 'Antics'." I nodded, levitated the plate of food, and made my exit. Actually 9: A Prankster Princess, and a New Friend Chapter 9: A Prankster Princess, and a New Friend With the sandwich in hoof, I went back to Prince Blueblood's room. "Here ya go dude! One sandwich as ordered!" I said giving him the plate. "FINALLY!" He said disdainfully, "I was beginning to think it would NEVER get here!". He took a bite, then suddenly spat it back out with a disgusted look on his face. "Ugh" he said disgusted, "There's still a crust on this! Take it back and have him make me another one!". "What!?" I said getting a bit mad, "It's just a dumb crust! Nothing wrong with eating a crust!". Blueblood glared at me and said, "Hmph! I'd hardly expect a SERVANT to understand! And you should know it's not good to talk back to your superiors. Now go!". With a huff, I made my exit with the partly eaten sandwich. I was so busy stewing in my anger, that I smacked right into Luna on accident. I fell over with a startled yell, sending the sandwich flying. Luna quickly caught it with her magic and looked down at me. "Well, fancy running into you here!" She said suspiciously, "And what are you doing lurking around like this? And what are you doing with this sandwich?". I quickly got up and bowed awkwardly. "Oh, uh, sorry Princess Luna! I was just doing something for this dude named Blueblood and he kinda made me ma-". She cut me off with a wave of her hoof. Suddenly getting a mischievous gleam in her eyes, she said "Blueblood thou sayst? Tell me, did he refuse this wonderful delicacy? I nodded, "Yeah, pretty much! All because it has a dumb crust on it." Luna shook her head, "Ah, tis a shame, how about a bargain? You give us this tasty sandwich, and let us deal with the prince. How does that sound?" I had to admit, she struck a hard bargain...Not really. "Sounds like a deal that I can get behind! Alright, here, what are you gonna do anyway?" Luna smiled and winked, "Oh, nothing of consequence! We thank thy noble services." She started to trot off when I remembered that I was going to apologize to her for earlier. "Uh, Luna?" I said hesitatingly, she turned around to look at me. "Uh, sorry about eavesdropping earlier. I didn't mean to interrupt anything." Luna smiled, "Tis nothing to worry about noble Blade! We are sorry for casting a suspicious eye over you! You make a terrible spy anyways." With that, she turned the corner and trotted off, humming happily to herself. I turned around and started meadering down the hall. But before I got too far, I heard a maniacal laugh, followed by a loud girly scream coming from Prince Blueblood's room. I quickly reversed direction and dashed toward Blueblood's room. "Ayeeeeee!!!!" Blueblood screamed rather girlishly as he ran past me. I stared at him, confused for a second, when suddenly some large...thing came barreling around the corner. "OH WOAH!" I yelled as I backpedaled. The 'Thing', was a large nasty looking...sandwich? I paused for a moment to stare at the thing, which then roared at me. It's breath smelled faintly of...was that mayonnaise? It began circling me like a predator. Great, I was about to be attacked by a rouge mutant sandwich. Wonderful! I summoned my spell-blade and took a defensive stance like I had been taught. After circling me a few times, the thing took a charge at me. I hopped quickly to the side and took a swing at it's mutant yet slightly delicious looking body connecting solidly. The thing shrieked and hopped back now quite angered. I followed up by charging it and delivering a solid strike to its...face...I think. Sending the rogue culinary concoction flying back with surprising force. "Ha! How's THAT?" I cheered. The beast got up, staggered for a second, then charged me again. I hopped to the side once more. But instead of swinging at it, I sent a blast of magical energy at it. It burst into a bright glow, then dropped to the ground. A normal sandwich once more. I grinned, another victory underneath my...whatever ponies had to put victories underneath*. I let my spell-blade disappear and I suddenly heard laughing. I whirled around to see Luna leaning against the wall laughing her head off. "AHAHAHA! Ahhh! thou shouldst have seen thy faces! And did thou hear Blueblood's scream? Hahaha!* We haven't laughed so hard in ages!". Well, glad SOMEPONY was having a good time! "Wait, that thing...YOU made that thing?" I said shocked. Luna nodded, "Yes, tis a simple mutation spell. It wouldn't have actually hurt anypony, it was just an animated object. But still, It gave Blueblood a scare!" She continued laughing. "That thing attacked me!" I said. "Yeah, thou put on quite a show! But thy battle skills are quite lacking, and thy hoof work leaves much to be desired." Luna said rather bluntly, "You need to work on your speed and reflexes. And pick up your hooves! You'll never win anything if your lazy in combat!". She then seemed to think for a moment. "Hmm, we think you might need some special training. Tonight, you shall join us and our comrades in the training area!" With that, she trotted off. Not even giving me a chance to refuse. "Guess my evening's all planned out then!" I said to myself. I trotted the other way, glad that at least she seemed to have forgiven me for the time being. (Blade received the title "Sandwich Slayer" Description: You've successfully slain a culinary nightmare! A title given for heroism in the face of deliciousness. Luna received the title "Prank Puller" Description: The master of pranks. You love messing with other ponies. A title for the one who loves the art of "trolling". ) Chapter 10: A Rough Night, aka Training is Magic Part Two Chapter 10: The Night is Rough aka Training is Magic Part Two I wandered around the castle, poking my snout in every possible place, and talking to anyone I came across. Eventually, the sun went down and I began making my way to the training room as Luna told me to. I trotted up to the door, and realized there wasn't a sound to be heard from inside unlike earlier. I carefully opened the door and looked around. Due to it being night time, it was nearly pitch black save from the bright crescent moon hanging overhead and a few dim lamp posts scattered about. I took a few steps forward into the room and began looking for Luna. "Hello?" I called out, "Is anypony there?". I suddenly had a strange feeling like I was being watched. I walked to the center of the room where there was a single lamp lit, and suddenly I felt something 'woosh' behind me and I whirled around to see...absolutely nothing. I backed up into the pole and looked around warily. "Ello guvna! You look tense there love, are you quite alright?" said a strongly accented feminine voice from behind me. I whirled around to see what appeared to be a dark purple coated mare. Except she had quite a few distinctly different features. First of all, her pupils were slitted not unlike a cat's or a dragon's. Next, she had a pair of sharp fangs peeking out of her admittedly cute smile. She also bore strange bat-like wings on her back as well. She stood there smiling at me, standing not three feet from me. I jumped back and yelled a bit in surprise, falling over in the process. Yeah, not exactly one of my finer moments! The pony/bat thing started laughing, "Ahhhhahaha! Your quite the laugh mate!" She said, turning her head to call out into the darkness. "Ay! Silver Tip! Come check this pony out mate! He's a real hoot this one!". Before I could make a move, another bat-pony emerged seemingly melting out of the blackness of the night. This one was a brown furred, stockily built stallion. He looked at me for a moment then smirked, "I'll be he won't last a minute with us!" he said smugly. The mare shot him a smirk "Yea? I don't think he'll last long either. But we'll just see about that won't we mate?". I jumped up and began to slowly back up, "Alright, let's not do anything hasty now! I didn't mean to wander in here, I was just told-" I suddenly backed into something rather solid. I turned around to see a large rather evil looking bat-pony wearing full armor and an eye-patch staring at me. I jumped back and hoped this dude wouldn't instantly turn my story into a 'pulp' fiction! He glared at me for a moment then spoke in a deep voice, "So, are you the little runt that Mistress Luna told us about?". I blinked, rather nervous and slightly scared of this rather lethal looking bat-pony. He began to tap his hoof, as more bat-ponies trotted up, surrounding me. "Well? I'm waiting for your answer runt!", I took a deep breath and opened my mouth, "Please don't hurt me?". Dead silence echoed though the room for a good minute. Then suddenly they all burst out laughing, a couple falling to the ground and rolling around laughing up a storm. I suddenly felt like I had just walked into a huge joke everyone was in on it, except for me. The armored one with the eye-patch stepped forward and threw an arm around me, "You should have seen the look on your face! For a moment, I thought you were going to wet yourself newbie! Hahahaha!". Yeah...hilarious..."W-wha?" I asked with the utmost intelligence in my confusion and slight embarrassment. He gave a slight bow and spoke in a friendlier tone, "Your Blade Edge, correct? Let me properly introduce myself. I'm Shadow Claw, commander of the Lunar Guard." He said gesturing to the gathered bat-ponies, who were still giggling and chuckling at me. "I hope you'll forgive us, we have a bit of an image to uphold. And we love to mess with ponies a bit as well." he said smiling. Wow, what do you know? These guys weren't as bad as I thought! I relaxed and bit and laughed, "Alright, I admit it. You had me goin there for a minute! But I was just letting you have your fun. I wasn't actually SCARED or anything dumb like that!" I said confidence returning. A few guards just chuckled at that little display. Shadow Claw adjusted some scary looking blades on his hooves and said "Hmm, I see. You have guts, just not the skill or strength to back it up! Lady Luna? What do you think?" he said looking past me into the darkness behind me. A giggle floated out of the blackness and Luna landed in the lit area smiling, "Indeed, he is quite amusing. I don't think we have ever laughed so hard as we have! Hahaha!". After some introductions, most of the gathered ponies went back to what they were doing. Shadow Claw went over to the weapon rack and picked out a basic short-sword. "Alright newbie...let's see what you know. Mistress Luna?" He gave her a look. She smiled and took a sword of her own, tossing me one as well. "Woah, woah woah!" I said backing up not liking where this was going. Shadow Claw chuckled and shot a grin at me, "Oh come on now my boy! Your eventually going to have to face more than just one opponent! Don't worry, we'll take it easy on you...but you'll never learn if your just given it! Now, hold up your sword and defend yourself." Title/ProlougeTales of Equestria Written by Gamekidd Prologue: Between a Couple of Mountains and a Couple Thousand Changelings For her highness Princess Celestia and a handful of royal guards, this day was NOT going to be "Perfect" in the slightest! The day started out ok, nothing more than an investigation into some reports of Changelings spotted on and around the large mountain range near Canterlot. Thinking that they were probably just some stragglers, Celestia had decided to take a small regiment of guards with her to help "Sort" things out. However, things took a turn for the worse after they spotted (And in a moment of recklessness on Celestia's part) chased a few Changelings into a large crater-like area deep within the mountains, where the noble ruler and her guards were suddenly ambushed by hundereds of the insect-like creatures! They were now fighting for their lives, Celestia's vast arsenal of magic spells, as well as her high amount of skill in combat tempered by thousands of years of practice, were one of the only things keeping them from being COMPLETELY overrun by Changelings. However, they were quickly reaching their limits. There was only so many enemies that even a powerful being like herself, even backed by some of her most elite guards, could handle. She was beginning to tire. Celestia began running down their list of options and outcomes. Seeing as the Changelings weren't going for killing blows, merely toying with them and wearing them down, she guessed that their goals weren't to outright kill them, but to capture them. For what she could only guess but she figured that it wasn't for a nice chat and a cup of tea. Her options came down to two things. 1. Surrender and most likely be taken prisoner, a path which would probably end with SOMEPONY taking over Equestria. or 2. Keep fighting and pray for a miracle. Either one sounded like a horrid option, but she decided that "Going out fighting" was the greater of two evils. Throwing a quick prayer for help to the winds of fate, she levitated her weapon of choice, a large golden blade made of pure magical energy, and prepared herself for another wave of Changelings. Little did Celestia know, that prayer was already being answered. That these Changelings were just one of several clues that a battle between light and darkness that was soon to take place. That an old prophecy was once again about to come to pass. That an epic adventure of epic proportions was about to take place. It was time for the fates to find and call upon another courageous legendary...ish...y hero!
Chapter 1: Waking up to a Dream PART 1: BIRTH Chapter 1: Waking up to a Dream Alright, where do I even start? I guess an introduction would work. My name is Danny, I'm your average dude with ADHD, and a case of "Paying attention to everything but what was important nine times outta ten" as well as usually being "Out of it", Although I guess it IS kinda hard to be "Average" with ADHD. Ah well! But all this mostly changed on that fateful day when everything was turned upside down, changed, shaken well, and then turned right side up again. This started one dull day when after feeling uncharacteristically sleepy(Not the kinda "Out of It" sleepy like I usually was, but the "Suddenly a nap sounds really good right about now" kinda sleepy) I took an unscheduled nap the woods near where I lived (Cliche am I right?) and started having strange dreams of stained glass platforms and a strange voiceless voice saying something about "Being the hero that was needed" and other strange cryptic things. After being given a strange glowing orb of some sort, I woke up and attempted to wrap my head around the strangeness of it all, I got up and picked up my trusty walking stick (A random sturdy branch I had found, good for whacking stuff and it even had a sharp end for jabbing) and was about to head home when something caught my eye. There, not a few feet away in the side of a large hill, behind some bushes (for effect?) was a small cave that seemed to be calling my name. I stood there for awhile at war with my self. Should I give in to my naturally curious nature and take a quick peek or ignore it? Ha! Like that was really an option for me! I live to explore. I am forever wandering off to look at something and this was no exception. I immediately crawled into the opening and poked around. Suddenly, the ground in front of me gave way and I found myself tumbling through empty space. I must have blacked out at one point as I found myself waking up to find that I had been dumped into what seemed a mountainous area, I slowly got up and found myself, for the second time today, shaking the cobwebs out of my head. I was reaching up to rub a tender spot, when suddenly I noticed my hands were replaced by...were these hooves!? I looked around in a growing panic trying to find something with which to see myself in. My frantic gaze fell on a small pool of what I guessed to be rain water. I quickly scrambled over and peered at its calm reflective surface. The face that stared back at me was...bizarre. What stared back was an equine-like face with large eyes and a small snout. The strange new features didn't end there! I now also had a horn that stuck out of a messy (Somethings never change I guess.) red mane that had streaks of orange. My coat was kinda pale-yellow while my new tail was a deep sky-blue. And did I mention the wings? The wings had to be one of the more freaky new additions to my anatomy, they were medium sized and the same color as my coat. Needless to say, I kinda freaked a bit. But I didn't get much time to freak because suddenly my new ears perked up (A weird sensation for one who was not used to it.) at a noise behind me. I realized that I suddenly wasn't exactly alone anymore.
Chapter 2: The Alicorn, The Changeling, and a Stick Chapter 2: The Alicorn, The Changeling, and a Stick I turned around slowly at the sudden noise and looked up. Creeping up on me from a higher ledge, was what was easily the creepiest looking critter I've ever seen. It looked like a cross between a bug with a pair of wicked sharp fangs, and an equine. And...were those holes in its legs? I also noticed what appeared to be some feathers stuck almost fashionably in its "mane" behind one of its strange ears, but I didn't think that was important. It jumped down from the ledge and began to circle me, speaking with a strange raspy voice that only boosted its creepiness. "Well well well" It hissed rather menacingly, "What do we have here? A poor lost pony, and an alicorn at that!". I did NOT like its tone nor the way it said that! I frantically looked around for an escape route, sadly there wasn't one. All I found was my sturdy branch that was laying on the ground not to far away that had somehow made the strange and sudden journey with me. I decided that seeing as this PROBABLY wasn't going to end well, that stick was my best and only means of defending myself. I started to inch over to it while attempting to distract it with random chatter. "What in the world ARE you?" I asked trying to sound brave, "I'm going to be the one that drags your body back to the hive!" It hissed back, "Our Queen would be most pleased with you as a trophy! But the question is, where are all your little pony friends?" I took a minute to conjure up an answer, I was soooo close to the stick, and I needed another moment to contemplate how in the world I was supposed to pick the stupid thing up! "There...um...close." I said trying to sound confident but failing horribly at it. "Well, your loss!" It said suddenly, "Times up pony, your mine!" It suddenly charged and pounced at me. Thinking quickly, I picked up the stick in my mouth (UGH! It tasted like dirt and sweat from earlier!) and swung with all the force I could muster. A rather satisfying "THUD" was heard the weighty branch connected with the creature, effectively stopping it mid pounce and grounding the thing. I backed away from its still form rather shocked that I actually hit it. I slowly inched back up to it and poked it with the stick to see if it was alive and HOLEY SWISS CHEESE IT WAS STILL ALIVE! (Albeit with a MASSIVE headache most likely) It slowly picked itself up and shook its self off, then hissed at me "Ugh! You got lucky this time! I must go inform HER about you!" With that, it (possibly a female judging from the pitch of her raspy/hissy voice) started up its wings and took off. Feeling rather cocky at that moment, I yelled after it "Yeah! Fly away coward!" Unwise? Probably. But I was feeling rather good suddenly forgetting my present predicament. I suddenly spotted a feather where I had downed the thing. It was one of the more pretty ones that she/it had stuck in its "mane". The feather was pure white, somewhat sparkly, and rather large, larger than my own wing feathers, and seemed to almost glow. I decided to take it as a souvenir. (*) After resting for a second or two, I decided it would be wise to get moving. Fortunately, there seemed only one direction to go in currently, eliminating the possibility of me getting lost (More than I already was anyhoo). The cave that SHOULD have been behind me wasn't there anymore. So, picking up my trusty stick, I struck off in search of...someone, ANYONE who could help me. After several minutes of walking (Trotting?) I began picking up random noises. Curious yet cautious, I followed the sounds until I could make out what they were. Soon, the noises turned into sounds, that turned into sounds of a scuffle of some sort. I slowed and peeked around a corner. There, taking place in a large crater-like area, was a MASSIVE battle. There were THOUSANDS of those bug-like critters attacking a group of ponies with an...alicorn? The alicorn that was fighting back ferociously with a large glowing sword and...was that magic? was pure white like the feather that I had found, her long literally flowing mane shimmered in several different bright colors. They were fighting valiantly, but they were heavily outnumbered, and looked like they were reaching their limits. I stood there trying to decide what to do. I couldn't just LEAVE them here! 1. I couldn't stand NOT helping, and 2. A ton of these insect things were blocking the way out. "ugh, I can't fight these guys!" I thought, frantically trying to come up with some sort of plan, "There are entirely to many and all i have is this stick." I was looking around, trying to take it all in. When suddenly my gaze fell on a rather large one that stood apart from the swarm and seemed to be giving orders. "Brilliant!" I thought coming up with a good and REALLY dumb plan. "If I can somehow knock that dude out, the rest would most likely run off without anybody to receive orders from!" I picked up my stick and started sneaking over to him. Praying that I wouldn't get myself killed in the process. *Danny gained a new Title! "Newbie Warrior" - A newbie to this whole "Combat" thing, A title given to one who has somehow survived his first battle.
Chapter 2+1: Leeeeerooooy Nnnnjenkinnns! Chapter 2+1: Leeeeeroooooy nnnnjenkinnns! Slowly creeping up on it, I psyched myself up and braced for what was sure to be an ordeal. However stealth wasn't my strong point. I was almost within striking distance when I accidentally kicked a pebble. The creature quickly turned toward me and gave me a rather intimidating hiss, and I am rather embarrassed to to admit that I jumped a few feet. After giving me a quick look, the thing merely grinned and said "What do we have here? a little lost colt? Run along home boy! Before I get hungry!" I tried to raise my stick and come up with a brave and witty retort, but it ended up being more of a "squeak and cower behind stick" causing the monstrous bug-thing to laugh. "Well well well" It said attention now totally on me, "Trying to be brave are we? If you think you can take on a Changeling elite, then I suppose I COULD use the snack!" With that it took an offensive position and began circling me. I tried to swallow my growing unease and got ready to defend myself. It soon charged at me, I swung at it like last time hoping that it would fall for the same trick. Wrong! It expertly and swiftly dodged my swing and whirled around to deliver a powerful kick, which I took the brunt of, sending me flying. "OOF!" I yelled in pain as I landed on the ground. I tried to get up and pick up my stick that had skittered away, but the Changeling sent it over the edge with a swift kick of its perforated hoof. "Well" It said sounding bored "That was an...amusing attempt. But I'm done playing with you boy!" With that, his horn started glowing a bright sickly green color. Well, this was about to end rather badly and anti-climatically! I was defenseless and was most likely about to get blasted into oblivion. Suddenly, right as the thing fired its spell, a strange feeling and a weird power shot through me and my horn started glowing a bright blue color. A sword materialized directly in-front of me and blocked the blast. I merely stared wide-eyed at it for a good second. "Well well well" said the Changeling, "It seems things just got a little more interesting!" With that it began to circle me again. Wielding my new sword (Which strangely felt second nature to me despite not actually knowing what I was doing) I decided to be the aggressor this time and charged him. I dashed up and swung my magic-made weapon, barely missing that time. "Well" the Changeling hissed almost sounding impressed, "You have quite a bit of fight in you for a young colt. But I grow tired of toying with you, have at you!" With that, it started fighting back. I could barely keep up with its movements. The only way I was keeping up, was a strange instinct that kept kicking in. Guiding my movements as if I had done this many times before. (Which I found weird...but not worth questioning at the time.) The struggle got the attention of Princess Celestia, still fighting away in the bottom of the crater. She sensed the disturbance and looked up to see a large Changeling fighting a young stallion wielding a small spell sword. Thinking quickly, she charged a spell, took aim, and fired a laser of magic which sailed over the heads of the mass swarm of Changelings to strike home. The stupid thing was about to kill me! I was beginning to tire and the dumb bug thing didn't show any signs of slowing down whatsoever. "Alright!" It said rather annoyed, "I've had enough of this game, it's time I end this foolishness!" It ran up to me and was about to strike me down. When all of a sudden, a bright magical blast nailed it! It fell to the ground and with a screech of pure rage it burst into a black cloud of smokey dust. All the Changelings stopped for a moment, then suddenly decided that without a leader they weren't so brave. They all started scrambling away, I guessed back to their hive. "EVERYPONY! FALL BACK!" The white alicorn yelled, she look directly at me and gestured for me to follow. I decided that this was probably a good idea and quickly made my way down and followed them. After running for who knows how long, we finally stopped for a quick rest and patch up. I collapsed on the ground breathing heavily. I looked up to see the alicorn, though wounded and quite drained, walking around checking all her troops and making sure that they were still in one piece. I stood up as she approached me. Now that I was able to get a closer look, I was able to tell that she was indeed somebody (errr some "pony" I guessed is what you say here after overhearing some of the chatter) very important. "I wish to thank you for your help young stallion." she said sounding very regal, "We would not have escaped that predicament with our lives if you hadn't shown up when you did." ...Flattering considering all I did was pull a stupid stunt and almost get killed in the process. "I do not know your name." she said, I told her my name not quite knowing how to act around royalty. "Danny, What a strange name." she said curiously, "I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria. You don't seem to be from around here, perhaps you could tell me a little about yourself on the way back to my castle." Without waiting for an answer, she turned and gave the orders to move out. Castles? Princesses? Magical weapons? This day was quickly getting weirder and weirder. Finding myself caught up in the excitement, and figuring that I didn't have to much choice in the matter. (Hey! I was following a majestic, mythical creature to a real live castle!) I fell in line, following everypony else.
Chapter 4: Arrival and Deep Cryptic Stuff Chapter 4: Arrival and Deep Cryptic Stuff After what seemed like hours and hours of walking, we finally exited the mountain range. We were met with a rather impressive view of what appeared to be a town with a large castle (Or was it a rather large castle with a town in it?). Several guards gave an exhausted sigh of relief. Even the princess sagged slightly with relief. Judging from what she told me on the way here and the reactions of everybody, I guessed this was Canterlot. And after another half an hour of walking, we were staring up at the huge gates. After a quick exchange between the gate guards and Celestia, we were quickly ushered through the gate and into the town. The town itself looked even bigger in person and was definitely "upper-crust". Several ritzy looking ponies were staring our strange procession exchanging looks of worry. Celestia must have noticed this, as she quickly addressed them and reassured them that the threat had dealt with. After that, we made our way up to the castle. I was in deep thought still trying to process everything that had and still was happening, when I suddenly bumped into the dude directly in front of me. Mumbling an apology, I looked up to see the grand epicness of the structure that was the castle. Needless to say, I sat there and gawked at it for at LEAST a good minute or so. It was the biggest and grandest thing I had ever seen! I couldn't find enough adjectives to describe how majestic it looked. And then there was the inside! Walking in, Large sprawling halls greeted you. Each lined with paintings and regal looking decor. I took a few minutes to take it all in. "Do you like it?" Celestia suddenly asked me with the slightest grin on her face. I realized I probably looked like a child. Slightly embarrassed, l sheepishly replied "Y-yeah! I mean, yes your highness." Celestia nodded "Good, now I realize you must have many questions you want answered. However, it has been a long day, and there are matters that I must attend to. I will have some of my servants show you a room and tend to your wounds, as well as give you something to eat. We will discuss your questions as well as other matters tomorrow." While I REALLY wanted and needed some answers, I couldn't blame her. She sounded completely exhausted. And frankly, so was I. After nodding my agreement, she turned around and addressed some ponies who I guessed were part of the staff here. After directing them to show me to a room and to tend to my needs. She turned back to me, nodded to me, then walked off. Soon after being shown a place to sleep. I was visited by what I guessed was a physician who tended to my various wounds using magic. (Magic healing spells...they WORK!) Afterwords, I was served some food. At first glance, they appeared to be normal sandwiches. But closer inspection revealed that not only lettuce, but grass and dandelions were sticking out between slices of bread. After awhile of contemplation, I realized that this is what actual ponies would eat. So, swallowing my hesitation, and figuring that despite it being made with...well...grass, it couldn't possibly be THAT bad. I braved up and took a bite. And to my surprise, it didn't taste half bad! A few tasty "Vegetarian" sandwiches later. I noticed that the sun went down. I feeling rather sleepy, I decided that it was time to call it a day. I settled into the bed, and despite the fact that my new wings and horn kept getting in the way (Seriously! How did they sleep like this?) I quickly fell into a deep sleep. Another strange dream. Like last time, I was standing on a large stained glass looking platform. But this time, I wasn't alone. Standing before me, were six beings wearing white hoods. They were definitely pony, and were varying sizes ranging from average pony height, to about the size of the young foals I had seen in town. One of the smaller ones stepped forward and spoke. "So, you are the new chosen hero?" It said "You definitely appear to be hero material, but you have a lot to learn before you can truly be named a hero!" Then the others started stepping up and speaking in turn. "A hero must have strength! So that he or she can fight those that oppose the light!" "But being a hero isn't all about fighting. A true hero must have wisdom, as well as a clear mind." "A true hero must also be pure and strong of heart. Willing to help those around him, even if they don't deserve it." "A hero must be honorable. Doing what is right and just, and showing mercy even to those that don't deserve it." "A real hero has the courage to face even the deepest darkness." "But what is a hero without friends? A hero does not rely on just his or her own strength alone. He or she must have harmony as well as friends if he or she wishes to succeed!" "These are things that you must keep in mind young hero. Your path is long and dangerous, but if you follow your heart, you will rise victorious!" Well, that was...deep! I was about to ask what they were talking about, when suddenly the very air itself seemed to ripple. "Somepony is trying to peer into you dream" one of the ponies said, "Looks like we're out of time, remember our words hero. We will meet again" Before I could do anything, the entire dream melted away and other dreams took its place.
Chapter 5: A Rude Awakening and a New Name Chapter 5: A Rude Awakening and a New Name "Oh for goodness sakes boy! Wake up!" A strange and rather loud voice dragged me from my deep sleep. "Huh? Wha? Who's there?" I asked groggily. I tried to get up, but my brain was still asleep (As usual). I had forgotten the fact that I now had four legs instead of two, thus resulting in me more or less flopping off the bed and onto the floor. I got up and shook myself in an attempt to fully wake up. My eyes fell to my hooves and I remembered that I was now a pony. I looked around for a mirror, and found an adequate one by the corner. I peered into it and "admired" myself for a second. Trying to remember everything that happened, while simultaneously trying to wake up (I was NOT a morning pers...err pony now I guess). I was just wondering if coffee existed here, when my reflection began grinning mischievously at me. I blinked and leaned forward to take a closer look, thinking my eyes were playing tricks. When suddenly it jumped out at me! "Boo!" It yelled popping out of the mirror. I stumbled backwards and tripped over my own hooves, sending me crashing to the floor. My evil-looking doppelganger fell to the ground laughing, "HAHAHA! Oh dear! You should have seen the look on your face. Absolutely PRICELESS!" I got up, my heart still beating several miles a minute. "Who are you?" I asked what appeared to be myself. The mirror being stood up, and with a poof of smoke, turned into what ended up being the strangest being I ever met. He looked like a dragon of some sort with mismatched body parts and crazy pair of eyes. "Well my pony friend, I am the ruler of chaos Discord. And you must be that new pony, Danny was it? Yes, that's right, I all about you boy! You must be quite startled to suddenly change species like that. Oh we're going to have so much fun!" I was about to ask what kind of "Fun" he was talking about and what a "Ruler of chaos" was, when he continued talking. "Oh but enough about that, don't you have something to attend to? A breakfast with that royal stick-in-the-mud Celestia? I suggest you get going Danny! They're fixing to talk about you!" And with that, before I could ask what the HEY he was going on about, he dissipated in another puff of smoke. I cleared my head, and remembered that I was indeed supposed to to be getting some info from Celestia about whats going on. With that, I stepped out of the bedroom into the main hallway, and started looking for the dining room (Or whatever it was called in a fancy place like this) A nearby maid must have noticed how lost I looked and pointed me in the right direction. Throwing a quick "Thanks" over my shoulder, I dashed down the hallway. I soon I trotted up to a pair of doors that led to the dinning hall. As I got closer, I could hear two voices having some sort of discussion. Figuring it was rude to just barge in, I decided to wait outside for a bit. Soon however, my curiosity began to get the better of me and I quietly inched over to the doors and took a quick peek through the crack. Sitting at the end of a long table was Celestia sipping something from a cup while talking to what appeared to be another younger alicorn. This one had dark blue fur with a lighter shaded mane and tail, and on her flank was a picture of a moon (No, I wasn't staring!). "But sister!" The younger one that was apparently Celestia's younger sister said indignantly, "I'm not a defenseless filly! I could have helped!" Celestia merely shook her head and answered, "No Luna, I did not wish to put you in danger." She took a sip of what I was going to guess was either tea or coffee, "Besides, if something happened to me, you must be here to take my place." Luna sighed and began speaking again, "Very well, but I still don't trust this stallion you brought here. I tried to peer into his dreams, but something kept blocking me. And you know full well we can't be too careful with all the Changelings roaming around!" I realized she was talking about me, and that she must have been the one that disrupted that strange dream. "He isn't a problem dear sister." Celestia answered, "As a matter of fact, I believe he is an answer." I leaned closer to the door in an attempt to hear more clearly, when I abruptly learned a couple of fun fact about these doors. That one, they weren't completely closed. And two, that they were easy to open. The doors suddenly opened and promptly dumped me on the floor. "Speaking of which" Celestia said smiling and taking another sip from her cup, "Here he is now!". I got up and dusted myself off trying NOT to look like I had just been busted for eavesdropping. Celestia gestured for me to take a seat near her and Luna, which I gladly did. "Danny, this is my dear sister and ruler of the night, Princess Luna." Celestia said introducing me to Luna. She then smiled mysteriously and said "But you probably already figured most of that out by now. And by the way, eavesdropping is considered quite rude here. Next time, at least pick a better spot to eavesdrop from." "Err right, sorry." I said embarrassed and slightly surprised. Luna just shot me a suspicious look, I realized this incident probably wasn't earning any trust points with Luna. But before I could give it anymore thought, a line of servants came from the kitchen and served us breakfast. After a rather large breakfast that consisted of assorted fruits, salads, and baked goods. Luna excused herself with the excuse that she had "Somethings to attend to". Shooting me one last suspicious glance, she quickly exited. Celestia rose from her seat and gestured for me to follow her. We soon arrived at a large study of sorts. And after getting settled, Celestia began explaining where I was and what was going on. Apparently, things were getting out of "hoof" so to speak. Monsters were on the rise, Changelings were getting bolder and bolder, and strange things were happening everywhere. She then told me about a prophecy about a great and powerful darkness that woke every thousand years and tried to consume all of Equestria. And that a hero would appear to challenge that darkness. "And now we come to the reason why your here." Celestia said "I believe that you might be the hero that the legend speaks of. Please, on behalf of all of Equestria, will you help us?" Ok, my mind was officially blown to bits and thoroughly confused and confounded. I didn't know about the whole "Hero" thing, or even how much help I would be, but I figured I should at the very least try and help. Besides, this place was too cool! I didn't want to go back home just yet. "Alright" I said, "I don't know about being some "Hero" but ill help however I can!" Celestia seemed secretly relieved. "Wonderful" She said, "Now then, you will need a new "Pony" name." A new name? I guessed it made sense seeing as "Danny" wasn't exactly a normal name around here. Celestia then suggested the name "Blade Edge". After careful consideration, I gladly accepted the new name.* "Excellent" Celestia said, "From now on, you shall be called "Blade Edge"." She then rose and said "Come, there is much for you to learn if you are to be any help to anypony.". And with that, she led me out into the hallway. (* Danny has gained a new Title - "Blade Edge": A new name, a new face, a new world. A Title given to one who has been named anew. Special Note: This title changes the name of the character. From now on, everyone will refer to this character as this name.)
Chapter 6: Learning the Basics/Training is Magic Chapter 6: Learning the Basics/Training is Magic After trotting down several hallways, we stopped in front of a massive pair of doors. Sounds of explosions and various scuffles could be heard coming from behind them. "This is our training area." Celestia said, "While normally, I would have left your teaching and training to experienced teachers. Time is of the essence, so I believe it would be best if I taught you directly." With that, she opened the doors. The training area was MASSIVE! Completely open to the sky, it had several random objects and equipment scattered around. Large bookshelves that lined a far wall held handy books containing moves, skills, and spells. Neatly organized containers and shelves held several different types of weapons. "Woooow!" I said in wonder, my brain quickly taking it all in. Celestia walked over to a bookcase and levitated out a book. "First off" She said opening the book, "You will need to learn the most basic of spells, levitation and general interaction with objects using magic." I trotted over and took a peek at the book, inside was contained a simple yet complex description on "Magical interaction with objects". Celestia set the book down and began teaching me about the powerful yet delicate art of magic. After about an hour or two of tapping into magic (Purposely this time!), I finally got the hang of lifting and moving objects around with magic. After getting used to using magic, I found that learning basic combat and healing spells, wasn't as hard nor as complex as it looked. Next came something totally unrelated to magic, something that was to prove the second most painful and the hardest thing I would ever attempt...flying. Celestia made the whole deal seem and sound easy! "Just try to get off the ground" Celestia told me. I got off the ground just fine, it was the "Staying that way" that was the problem. When I first attempted to get some air time, I gave my wings too strong a thrust and ended up lifting myself on my back. The next couple attempts landed me on either my rump, or my face. Finally, Celestia must have figured that some assistance might be helpful, and she called a few pegasi over to try and keep me from hurting myself. At this point, several other ponies had stopped doing whatever they were doing and were watching us, a few trying to stifle laughter at my sad failures, a few actually cheering me on. Several more failed flying attempts later, Celestia used her magic on my wings and basically put them on auto-pilot, flying me around until I got a feel for it. Finally, I was able to fly around on my own without crashing into something. Several cheers (And I noticed a few small bags of coins) were passed around. Celestia merely smiled and congratulated me on a job well done (Although whether from the fact she was proud of me, or from the fact that I had somehow managed to run into nearly every object in the training area was to be debated.). Then Celestia walked over to a weapon stand and chose two practice blades. "Here" She said, tossing me one which I barely caught in a sheathe of telekinetic magic, "You've learned the basics quickly, but you will need more than levitation and flight to protect yourself and others." She walked over to a large open spot and took a defensive stance. "Now then, let's test your skills. Try and hit me." I now began wondering what it was I had gotten myself into. I trotted over to her and levitated my weapon up. "So...I just swing, right?" I asked not quite sure about hitting her. "Yes, don't worry about hurting me or being hurt right now. Just focus on attacking me." With that, I took my sword and swung at her with all the force my magic would let me. She easily blocked it. I swung again and again, each time either getting blocked or dodged. Suddenly, that weird gut feeling kicked in, like when I was fighting that Changeling. I swung at Celestia again, except this time when she lifted her sword to block, I quickly whirled the sword around and dealt an actual blow to her chest area, effectively surprising her AND myself. I was worried that I had hurt her, but she quickly shrugged it off. "Well, that was quite unexpected!" she said looking at me carefully. "Sorry" I apologized, "I don't know how I did that!" Celestia waved away the apology, "It would seem, that you have some skills that you don't know about. Let us stop for the day, there is some books that I would like you to study." With that, she returned the practice blades and led me out. I was bored out of my little equine mind. Celestia had taken me to an expansive library and had given me several different books. Some of them were basic spell books, while others were things like "The History of Ponies" and the like. I sighed and rested my head on the desk. "Studying hard I see!" I jumped and whirled around at the sudden noise, I came face to face to old looking unicorn. He had a gray mane with grayish fur, he wore a jumpsuit and carried a mop. He spoke again, "Or are you hardly studying?" He chucked to himself. "Who are you?" I asked him. "Me?" he answered, " Nopony important, however I might also be a pony that can help you." He walked over to the stack of books and looked through them, whistling as he levatated one of the bigger books up and flipped through it quickly. "My my my." He started, "The dear Princess is a wise ruler and a wonderful teacher, but she obviously isn't used to teaching young colts that wish to be heroes." He looked at me and shook his head. Putting down the huge history book, he beckoned for me to follow him. "Book study is useful" he said leading me deeper, "But it seems that Celestia has forgotten that not all ponies like to study books all day, unlike her cute young pupil Twilight." "Who?" I asked rather confused. The old janitor looked back at me and said, "Princess Twilight Sparkle, she will be among the first of many things that you will learn about." He stopped in front of a small table and placed a book on it. The book was fair sized and had a gold unicorn on it. "Here" he said "Read this, its much briefer, more exciting, and has quite a few important things you must know." I read the title, "The Legend of the Elements of Harmony". I then opened it and started reading.
Chapter 7: Meanwhile...Other Stuff Happens Chapter 7: Meanwhile...Other Stuff Happens While Blade was gaining some key knowledge about this new world. Destiny was quickly setting up the rest of the "Stage", and guiding the rest of the "Actors" to their places. A mare smiled to herself as she rolled down the long hallways of the castle. Her new inventions, the Automatic Hoof Skates, were working perfectly! No more long walks down these stupidly long halls! Her name was Cinnamon Sugar, named for her cinnamon colored coat and white mane that had a single cinnamon colored stripe. She was an adventurous, spirited inventor that was also a personal assistant to the Princesses. She would have rather been down in the labs, working on some project. But, Celestia had called for her specifically so she really didn't have a choice in the matter. She sped toward the throne room, wondering what Celestia could possibly want. "I hope it has nothing to do with Prince Blueblood." She thought to herself remembering the little "Accident" she had with some hot tea last week. Prince Blueblood had really ticked her off, and she "Accidentally" dumped a whole pot of steaming tea all over him. Totally not her fault! A small giggle escaped as she remembered his expression as he jumped up and ran off in pain. Not long afterwards, she was folding her skates back into her horseshoes with a small *click* and walking into the throne room. She trotted up to Celestia and gave her a small bow. Celestia nodded and said "Good evening Cinnamon, how are you doing?" Cinnamon looked up and said "Look, if this has anything to do with Blueblood. All I have to say is that he started it!" Celestia smiled gently and said "I know he can be a bit...insufferable at times. But that's not what I called you here for." Cinnamon blushed for a moment and said "Oh, sorry". She straightened up and then with a more formal tone said, "What do you require your highness?" Celestia then proceeded to tell her about their new arrival. "His name is Blade Edge" She said, "He is quite new here and needs somepony to guide him around. I ask that you would keep an eye on him, help him get used to how things work here." Cinnamon thought for a moment, then decided that she really didn't have much of a choice. Besides, what harm could come from showing some new pony around? She quickly agreed. "Excellent" Celestia said, "Then tomorrow morning, I would like you to join us for breakfast. Afterwards, I would like you to show him around town." Cinnamon nodded, "As you wish your majesty." and with another small bow, she left the throne room. Wondering what this new arrival was like. "Oh man! this was going to be SO AWESOME!" The lightning yellow pegasus thought to himself as he stood atop a large puffy cloud, holding his favorite Cloudboard. His name was Spark Gale, a speed happy pegasus that loved "Cloudboarding". It was a rather new pegasi sport that was kinda like mixing snowboarding with free-falling. Instead of snow however, clouds were boarded on. Spark put on his "Cool" goggles and hopped on his board and launched himself quickly the cloudy "slope". "HA HAAAA YEAAAAH!" He shouted with pure joy as he rushed through the white cottony course. He launched himself off a bump in the cloud and had caught quite a bit of air. When halfway through a trick, a loud buzzing sound coming from his saddle bags suddenly caught him off guard, sending him crashing snout first into a puffy bank. Getting up and dusting himself off, he grumbled as he looked toward the enormous weather factory in the distance. "Ugh! Why now?" he thought to himself, "Can't they wait a little while longer?". He gave himself a shake, packed up his cloudboard, and grudgingly took off toward the large cloud structure that was the factory. The Weather Factory wasn't really one single large building. Really it comprised of several different buildings that were each built for specific purposes. Spark Gale worked in the Cloud Control Department, a job the quite frankly bored him to tears. He landed in the C.C.D's lobby and and was greeted by his superior Cloudkicker who was tapping her hoof in annoyance. He shot her a smile and said, "Hey gorgeous! Miss me?". Cloudkicker just rolled her eyes, "You were supposed to be back from your job in Ponyville, like, HOURS ago!" she said with an annoyed tone. Spark Gale just shrugged and said, "Sorry Cloudkicker, I lost track of time.". "In other words," Cloudkicker said letting out a sigh, "Goofing off again. Its no wonder you failed the Wonderbolts try-outs." "I can't help it!" Spark said, "Wonderbolt training was boring, and those clouds just BEG to be rode on!". Cloudkicker just shook her head and said "Well guess what hot-shot, your headed to Canterlot. And I'M going with you to make sure you do your job this time!" Spark opened his mouth to protest when Cloudkicker cut him off, "Its not my fault you tend to blow off your job alot. Your as bad if not worse than Rainbow Dash!" Spark clamped his mouth shut. Man, why was she always on his case? At least Rainbow doesn't have a nagging supervisor breathing down HER neck every few seconds! Just because he decided a little fun on the job occasionally (Ok, maybe most of the time.), doesn't necessarily mean that this was necessary! Oh well, at least he was going to Canterlot. There were tons of cute mares there. heh heh heh! [Deep within the mountains] A Changeling was propelling herself weakly through the air, grumbling about how horrid her day was so far. She absolutely HATED her position in the hive. She wasn't a Worker, Soldier, or even a Scout. She would have loved being a worker, or even a scout! But no, she was a lowly Messenger, she HAD to be a messenger. The lowest job possible. Her job was to make sure their queen was well informed on every single happening in and outside the hive. And she was also the one that had to deal with her majesty, Queen Crysalis's bad moods when she gave her bad news...like now. On top of that, her head hurt from where that strange stallion hit her with that rather solid branch, and she ALSO lost her most prized possession, a single pure-white feather that fell from Princess Celestia herself. She paused at the sudden realization that she was feeling all the things. Feeling! She shouldn't be having these feelings or thoughts at all! After going through the process that turns one into a Changeling, she shouldn't have anything to feel with, she had no "Heart". Yet, every now and then she would have a flash of an emotion or feeling. No wonder she was at the bottom of the hive, she was a freak among freaks! She landed at the entrance, psyched herself up, and made her way to the "Throne" chamber. "Good day, my queen" the Changeling said bowing. Queen Crysallis rose from her seat and walked over to the Messenger, her face a deep scowl. "About time you got back" She said, "Tell me, did they successfully capture Celestia?" The Changeling fidgeted for a second, and opened her mouth to reply, but Crysallis cut her off. "No of course you didn't!" She snapped, now snout to snout with the trembling Changeling. "Your all just a bunch of incompetent worms!" Crysallis paused and took notice of her Messenger's wound. "And how, pray tell, did you receive that?" She asked pointing at the bump on the Changeling's head."I r-ran into a y-young alicorn stallion, my liege." the Changeling said fearfully. Crysallis reared back and was about to launch into a full blown rage, but paused for a minute. Suddenly, seizing the frightened Changeling and pulling her close, Crysallis asked her in a demanding voice "Tell me! What did he look like?" The Changeling, now really scared at her new mood swing, answered "Well, he was kinda strange, he had this messy orangey-red mane and.." Crysallis let her go and started pacing around, looking thoughtful. "He has appeared, just like he said." she thought aloud. The Messenger slightly tilted her head in confusion. "I'm sorry my liege, who?" she said. Not giving her an answer, Crysallis quickly snapped out of whatever had come over her and issued an order. "Get me my commanders!" she said, "If you want something done right, you have to stab ponies in the back!"
Chapter 8: Legends of Harmony and Light Chapter 8: Legends of Harmony and Light After a few hours of studying "The Legend of the Elements of Harmony". I began to understand a few more things. Seeing that I had finished reading. The old unicorn stood up and replaced the legend book. "Now then," he said turning to me, "Now that you have the solid foundation of the past, its time to build up to the present, and maybe take a peek at the future." He began pacing, "Tell me, how much has she told you about the "Legend of Light and Darkness"? I blinked, thinking for a second, then remembered that Celestia mentioned a "Legend" of some kind. I proceeded to tell him what Celestia told me. The janitor stroked the stubble on his chin thoughtfully, then said, "Well, that's all you really need to know currently. After you gain a bit more knowledge, we'll discuss the rest." "Oh, I was really hoping you would just go ahead and tell him!" A familiarly strange voice seemed to echo from everywhere at once. I jumped slightly, while the unicorn janitor merely grinned mysteriously. "Ah, Discord, I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to come out of hiding my old 'Friend'." Suddenly, my shadow jumped up and took the form of the mish-mashed dragon creature. "Daddy?" said a strange young feminine voice that appeared to come from a small decorative vase, "Can I come out now?" Discord smiled and snapped his paw. Instantly, the vase turned into a strange little filly. She was a weird light pinky-purple color, and wore a strange propeller hat that seemed to never slow down. She turned to me and smiled. "Hi!" she said, "I'm Screwball! You must be that new pony human that Daddy was talking about." Before I could come up with a reply, she quickly trotted up to me, planted herself infront of me, and began starring straight into my eyes. I opened my mouth to say something, when the whole world suddenly began flipping out. I felt like I had suddenly stumbled into a roller coaster, and all I could see was those twisting, glowing irises. I tried to look away from those unsettling eyes, but my body wouldn't function at all. Eventually world stopped spinning and I regained control over my bodily functions. I slowly became aware of the fact that I was now on the ground, starring up at Screwball's cute yet slightly crazy grin. She turned around and walked over to Discord, and after whispering something in his ear, she ran off. I shook my head and muttered "What happened?" Discord gave a little chuckle, "Well well well! It's rare that my precious little doll actually finds someone interesting enough to put them through the 'Test'. And a pony no less!" Discord stroked his beard thoughtfully and said "Well now, guess I'd better keep an eye on you Danny. Or is it Blade Edge now? You intrigue me boy, we'll see just how well you turn out. But for now," He said floating up and looking around, "I best be going, Celestia is going to be back any second now. And your 'Teacher' there might want to make himself scarce...or uninteresting at least!" With that, for the second time today, Discord have a little bow before vanishing in a puff of smoke. "He's right, I can already sense her coming. We shall talk more later." He turned to leave, but I quickly stopped him. "Wait, I didn't even get your name mister?" The mysterious unicorn chuckled to himself and answered, "Just call me "Gramps", all you young "Whippersnappers" do, and I find it a rather pleasant nickname." He then turned away and trotted off to attend to whatever business he had. As soon as he turned a corner, Princess Celestia's calm, regal form strode up to me. "Hello Blade, I trust your studies went well?" I simply nodded yes, "Very well, I believe you've earned a break. I'm giving you permission to wander the castle at your leisure. I advise you to talk to any and every pony you meet here, so that you might learn more about this place. And possibly make a few friends." After she informed me about a few "Off-limits" areas, she gracefully made her exit, leaving me to my own devices. I exited the library and figured that I might as well wander around. I began slowly meandering down the hallways, poking my head into doors to see what room lay beyond them (Knocking before entering if they were closed of course. It would have been rude not to!). I trotted up to a pair of blue doors and knocked on them. However, this time a received a reply. "About time!" said a rather huffy stallion's voice, "You may enter.". Feeling rather confused, I opened the door and was greeted by the sight of a rather snooty looking unicorn stallion and was given my very first mundane task that I would later call a "Quest". "Ugh, the service gets slower and slower around here." He said curtly. I opened my mouth to say I wasn't one of the staff, when he cut me off. "I'm starving, go and get me a sandwich." he then gestured for me to leave. "B-but!" I tried to protest. "What? Are you so incompetent, that you can't understand a simple instruction from a superior?" He said curtly, slightly annoying me with his tone. "The kitchen shouldn't be that hard to find, for even one as lowly as you. Its just down the hall.". I sighed slightly exasperated and trotted off down the hall in the direction he directed. I opened the door to the kitchen to find it bustling with several ponies and yet another kind of strange, sentient creature. He was a four-legged mish-mash beast that had a bird-like body and head. Its front-legs were talons, while its hind-legs were what appeared to be the paws of a lion. It took me about three seconds to identify it as a griffon. He wore a chief's hat and was busy cooking something over a stove. "Uh, excuse me sir?" I spoke up, not wanting to distract him if he was doing something important. He turned around and looked at me. Smiling and stroking a curly mustache, he answered with a friendly, "Ahhhh. Bonjour! Welcome to the kitchen newcomer. I am Chief Pierre! Celestia told me zat some new face would show itself around here.". I introduced myself and told him what that stallion wanted. He frowned for a minute and said, "Zat Prince Blueblood iz an infuriating one no? Don't worry friend! I know exactly what he wants." The griffon turned to a counter and picked up a plate with a sandwich on it. "E're," He said giving me the plate, "Zis is what ze prince ordered! Try to ignore his 'ow do you say? 'Antics'." I nodded, levitated the plate of food, and made my exit.
Actually 9: A Prankster Princess, and a New Friend Chapter 9: A Prankster Princess, and a New Friend With the sandwich in hoof, I went back to Prince Blueblood's room. "Here ya go dude! One sandwich as ordered!" I said giving him the plate. "FINALLY!" He said disdainfully, "I was beginning to think it would NEVER get here!". He took a bite, then suddenly spat it back out with a disgusted look on his face. "Ugh" he said disgusted, "There's still a crust on this! Take it back and have him make me another one!". "What!?" I said getting a bit mad, "It's just a dumb crust! Nothing wrong with eating a crust!". Blueblood glared at me and said, "Hmph! I'd hardly expect a SERVANT to understand! And you should know it's not good to talk back to your superiors. Now go!". With a huff, I made my exit with the partly eaten sandwich. I was so busy stewing in my anger, that I smacked right into Luna on accident. I fell over with a startled yell, sending the sandwich flying. Luna quickly caught it with her magic and looked down at me. "Well, fancy running into you here!" She said suspiciously, "And what are you doing lurking around like this? And what are you doing with this sandwich?". I quickly got up and bowed awkwardly. "Oh, uh, sorry Princess Luna! I was just doing something for this dude named Blueblood and he kinda made me ma-". She cut me off with a wave of her hoof. Suddenly getting a mischievous gleam in her eyes, she said "Blueblood thou sayst? Tell me, did he refuse this wonderful delicacy? I nodded, "Yeah, pretty much! All because it has a dumb crust on it." Luna shook her head, "Ah, tis a shame, how about a bargain? You give us this tasty sandwich, and let us deal with the prince. How does that sound?" I had to admit, she struck a hard bargain...Not really. "Sounds like a deal that I can get behind! Alright, here, what are you gonna do anyway?" Luna smiled and winked, "Oh, nothing of consequence! We thank thy noble services." She started to trot off when I remembered that I was going to apologize to her for earlier. "Uh, Luna?" I said hesitatingly, she turned around to look at me. "Uh, sorry about eavesdropping earlier. I didn't mean to interrupt anything." Luna smiled, "Tis nothing to worry about noble Blade! We are sorry for casting a suspicious eye over you! You make a terrible spy anyways." With that, she turned the corner and trotted off, humming happily to herself. I turned around and started meadering down the hall. But before I got too far, I heard a maniacal laugh, followed by a loud girly scream coming from Prince Blueblood's room. I quickly reversed direction and dashed toward Blueblood's room. "Ayeeeeee!!!!" Blueblood screamed rather girlishly as he ran past me. I stared at him, confused for a second, when suddenly some large...thing came barreling around the corner. "OH WOAH!" I yelled as I backpedaled. The 'Thing', was a large nasty looking...sandwich? I paused for a moment to stare at the thing, which then roared at me. It's breath smelled faintly of...was that mayonnaise? It began circling me like a predator. Great, I was about to be attacked by a rouge mutant sandwich. Wonderful! I summoned my spell-blade and took a defensive stance like I had been taught. After circling me a few times, the thing took a charge at me. I hopped quickly to the side and took a swing at it's mutant yet slightly delicious looking body connecting solidly. The thing shrieked and hopped back now quite angered. I followed up by charging it and delivering a solid strike to its...face...I think. Sending the rogue culinary concoction flying back with surprising force. "Ha! How's THAT?" I cheered. The beast got up, staggered for a second, then charged me again. I hopped to the side once more. But instead of swinging at it, I sent a blast of magical energy at it. It burst into a bright glow, then dropped to the ground. A normal sandwich once more. I grinned, another victory underneath my...whatever ponies had to put victories underneath*. I let my spell-blade disappear and I suddenly heard laughing. I whirled around to see Luna leaning against the wall laughing her head off. "AHAHAHA! Ahhh! thou shouldst have seen thy faces! And did thou hear Blueblood's scream? Hahaha!* We haven't laughed so hard in ages!". Well, glad SOMEPONY was having a good time! "Wait, that thing...YOU made that thing?" I said shocked. Luna nodded, "Yes, tis a simple mutation spell. It wouldn't have actually hurt anypony, it was just an animated object. But still, It gave Blueblood a scare!" She continued laughing. "That thing attacked me!" I said. "Yeah, thou put on quite a show! But thy battle skills are quite lacking, and thy hoof work leaves much to be desired." Luna said rather bluntly, "You need to work on your speed and reflexes. And pick up your hooves! You'll never win anything if your lazy in combat!". She then seemed to think for a moment. "Hmm, we think you might need some special training. Tonight, you shall join us and our comrades in the training area!" With that, she trotted off. Not even giving me a chance to refuse. "Guess my evening's all planned out then!" I said to myself. I trotted the other way, glad that at least she seemed to have forgiven me for the time being. (Blade received the title "Sandwich Slayer" Description: You've successfully slain a culinary nightmare! A title given for heroism in the face of deliciousness. Luna received the title "Prank Puller" Description: The master of pranks. You love messing with other ponies. A title for the one who loves the art of "trolling". )
Chapter 10: A Rough Night, aka Training is Magic Part Two Chapter 10: The Night is Rough aka Training is Magic Part Two I wandered around the castle, poking my snout in every possible place, and talking to anyone I came across. Eventually, the sun went down and I began making my way to the training room as Luna told me to. I trotted up to the door, and realized there wasn't a sound to be heard from inside unlike earlier. I carefully opened the door and looked around. Due to it being night time, it was nearly pitch black save from the bright crescent moon hanging overhead and a few dim lamp posts scattered about. I took a few steps forward into the room and began looking for Luna. "Hello?" I called out, "Is anypony there?". I suddenly had a strange feeling like I was being watched. I walked to the center of the room where there was a single lamp lit, and suddenly I felt something 'woosh' behind me and I whirled around to see...absolutely nothing. I backed up into the pole and looked around warily. "Ello guvna! You look tense there love, are you quite alright?" said a strongly accented feminine voice from behind me. I whirled around to see what appeared to be a dark purple coated mare. Except she had quite a few distinctly different features. First of all, her pupils were slitted not unlike a cat's or a dragon's. Next, she had a pair of sharp fangs peeking out of her admittedly cute smile. She also bore strange bat-like wings on her back as well. She stood there smiling at me, standing not three feet from me. I jumped back and yelled a bit in surprise, falling over in the process. Yeah, not exactly one of my finer moments! The pony/bat thing started laughing, "Ahhhhahaha! Your quite the laugh mate!" She said, turning her head to call out into the darkness. "Ay! Silver Tip! Come check this pony out mate! He's a real hoot this one!". Before I could make a move, another bat-pony emerged seemingly melting out of the blackness of the night. This one was a brown furred, stockily built stallion. He looked at me for a moment then smirked, "I'll be he won't last a minute with us!" he said smugly. The mare shot him a smirk "Yea? I don't think he'll last long either. But we'll just see about that won't we mate?". I jumped up and began to slowly back up, "Alright, let's not do anything hasty now! I didn't mean to wander in here, I was just told-" I suddenly backed into something rather solid. I turned around to see a large rather evil looking bat-pony wearing full armor and an eye-patch staring at me. I jumped back and hoped this dude wouldn't instantly turn my story into a 'pulp' fiction! He glared at me for a moment then spoke in a deep voice, "So, are you the little runt that Mistress Luna told us about?". I blinked, rather nervous and slightly scared of this rather lethal looking bat-pony. He began to tap his hoof, as more bat-ponies trotted up, surrounding me. "Well? I'm waiting for your answer runt!", I took a deep breath and opened my mouth, "Please don't hurt me?". Dead silence echoed though the room for a good minute. Then suddenly they all burst out laughing, a couple falling to the ground and rolling around laughing up a storm. I suddenly felt like I had just walked into a huge joke everyone was in on it, except for me. The armored one with the eye-patch stepped forward and threw an arm around me, "You should have seen the look on your face! For a moment, I thought you were going to wet yourself newbie! Hahahaha!". Yeah...hilarious..."W-wha?" I asked with the utmost intelligence in my confusion and slight embarrassment. He gave a slight bow and spoke in a friendlier tone, "Your Blade Edge, correct? Let me properly introduce myself. I'm Shadow Claw, commander of the Lunar Guard." He said gesturing to the gathered bat-ponies, who were still giggling and chuckling at me. "I hope you'll forgive us, we have a bit of an image to uphold. And we love to mess with ponies a bit as well." he said smiling. Wow, what do you know? These guys weren't as bad as I thought! I relaxed and bit and laughed, "Alright, I admit it. You had me goin there for a minute! But I was just letting you have your fun. I wasn't actually SCARED or anything dumb like that!" I said confidence returning. A few guards just chuckled at that little display. Shadow Claw adjusted some scary looking blades on his hooves and said "Hmm, I see. You have guts, just not the skill or strength to back it up! Lady Luna? What do you think?" he said looking past me into the darkness behind me. A giggle floated out of the blackness and Luna landed in the lit area smiling, "Indeed, he is quite amusing. I don't think we have ever laughed so hard as we have! Hahaha!". After some introductions, most of the gathered ponies went back to what they were doing. Shadow Claw went over to the weapon rack and picked out a basic short-sword. "Alright newbie...let's see what you know. Mistress Luna?" He gave her a look. She smiled and took a sword of her own, tossing me one as well. "Woah, woah woah!" I said backing up not liking where this was going. Shadow Claw chuckled and shot a grin at me, "Oh come on now my boy! Your eventually going to have to face more than just one opponent! Don't worry, we'll take it easy on you...but you'll never learn if your just given it! Now, hold up your sword and defend yourself."
Title/ProlougeTales of Equestria Written by Gamekidd Prologue: Between a Couple of Mountains and a Couple Thousand Changelings For her highness Princess Celestia and a handful of royal guards, this day was NOT going to be "Perfect" in the slightest! The day started out ok, nothing more than an investigation into some reports of Changelings spotted on and around the large mountain range near Canterlot. Thinking that they were probably just some stragglers, Celestia had decided to take a small regiment of guards with her to help "Sort" things out. However, things took a turn for the worse after they spotted (And in a moment of recklessness on Celestia's part) chased a few Changelings into a large crater-like area deep within the mountains, where the noble ruler and her guards were suddenly ambushed by hundereds of the insect-like creatures! They were now fighting for their lives, Celestia's vast arsenal of magic spells, as well as her high amount of skill in combat tempered by thousands of years of practice, were one of the only things keeping them from being COMPLETELY overrun by Changelings. However, they were quickly reaching their limits. There was only so many enemies that even a powerful being like herself, even backed by some of her most elite guards, could handle. She was beginning to tire. Celestia began running down their list of options and outcomes. Seeing as the Changelings weren't going for killing blows, merely toying with them and wearing them down, she guessed that their goals weren't to outright kill them, but to capture them. For what she could only guess but she figured that it wasn't for a nice chat and a cup of tea. Her options came down to two things. 1. Surrender and most likely be taken prisoner, a path which would probably end with SOMEPONY taking over Equestria. or 2. Keep fighting and pray for a miracle. Either one sounded like a horrid option, but she decided that "Going out fighting" was the greater of two evils. Throwing a quick prayer for help to the winds of fate, she levitated her weapon of choice, a large golden blade made of pure magical energy, and prepared herself for another wave of Changelings. Little did Celestia know, that prayer was already being answered. That these Changelings were just one of several clues that a battle between light and darkness that was soon to take place. That an old prophecy was once again about to come to pass. That an epic adventure of epic proportions was about to take place. It was time for the fates to find and call upon another courageous legendary...ish...y hero!
