It has been three whole damn hours since I entered this bloody forest. Three hours since I entered the physical embodiment of danger itself. Every minute I've spent in here, I've kept my guard and senses up much higher than normal. I could feel the malicious intent of whatever was lurking in the shadows. This place is completely unnatural to me, so I have no idea what to expect of what to see.
"Well I bloody will now." I mutter to myself as I hear screaming coming from my right side. I run. I run as fast as I can to those who need my help, dodging and weaving every tree that got in my way.
It takes me only a couple of minutes to reach where I wanted. When I got there, I found three, multicoloured girls, younger than myself being surrounded by a bunch of wolves made of wood, probably around twenty. And the weirder part was that each girl had a muzzle, a tail and hooves for feet. One of them even had wings whereas the other had a horn and the last one had neither. The fuck?! I think to myself, completely confused by what I'm seeing. However, I quickly shake my thoughts away as I see the wolves of wood creeping closer and closer to the children.
"Don't just stand gawking you idiot! Save them!!" Yells a mature, male voice coming from everywhere around me, but no one else heard it, otherwise they'd be looking around like I am. Telepathy maybe? Screw it, whatever. That voice is right, I must save them and some of those wolf things are about ready to pounce.
Not on my watch.
"GET DOWN!!" I yell furiously. I can see the three girls are looking to find where my voice came from but at the same time a wolf leapt into the air to attack. I do the same, I jumped forward so very far from my original position it amazed me. Drawing my sword from the sheathe, the metal surface of the blade revealed in the little light that was revealed, making it shimmer beautifully. That wasn't the only light that shined however, I didn't notice it at all but from a viewer's perspective...the gold of my eyes were glowing.
I quickly swipe my katana towards the wild creature, the blade connecting with its wooden neck. Without hesitation and without resistance on the blade, my sword cleaves through the beast's neck like butter, leaving its head to roll on the floor lifeless with sap pouring out of the fatal injury. This is a very sharp blade.
Feeling a little pissed off at the moment, I walk back into the front of the children's vision, the wolves cautious of my movements. Placing my right foot forward a couple of steps, I crouch down slightly and put myself into a stance I am very familiar with through one of my favourite mangas. Rurouni Kenshin. Sliding my right hand across the flat of my blade all the way to the tip, I look to my opponents with fierceness in my eyes. "You will not hurt these kids. You can try all you want but you will die by my blade unless you retreat now. This is my only warning to you." I said.
I wasn't joking when I said that that'd be my only warning to them, however I forgot o realise that I was fighting against wolves. Wolves are known for their ferocity and large numbers, but most of all....their pride. Their pride would never allow them to back down from a fight for their prey. The constant snarling and barking at me meant just that.
The snarling soon grew to howling and the bodies of the wolves of wood began to glow a sickly green. My eyes widen as all of the bodies exploded into sticks, large and small, and then collide with one another. Soon enough the sticks formed limbs, and from the limbs created a body. The body of the largest wolf ever seen.
"Ohhhhhhh shhhhhhhit." I mutter quietly as the large wolf roars right in front of my face. The sheer force of the roar sent not not me, but the tree girls tumbling across the floor and into a tree and bushes. As luck would have it, I got the tree, back first too. Any adrenaline I had before had been depleted and replaced with pain and fear in ten seconds flat.
"Do not be afraid Alexander." Said the same voice from before, the calmness of it unnerved me. As he spoke, time began to slow down to a complete stop. Before I could even blink, I wasn't standing in the forest anymore but in an open sky with an invisible floor, no ceiling and clouds floating freely around me. I was a little scared since I'm afraid of heights but that doesn't concern me right now.
"Who are you? Show yourself." I asked, looking around for whoever has been talking to me.
"Over here." Says the voice from before, coming from behind me. Quickly twisting my body around, I see a middle-aged man wearing the same kind of clothing I am, except they were completely white. Well, I wouldn't say man exactly as he sported a tail, hooves, wings and a horn all together. His fur was deep brown in colour and his hair and tail were crimson red with orange highlights running through them, giving it the appearance of fire."Who I am isn't important at this moment. However, beating that Alpha Timberwolf is."
"So that thing's called a Timberwolf? Actually, here's a better question; how the bloody oath am I supposed to beat that thing?! I've never had sword before, neither have I ever been in a real fight before! And how do you know my name?!"
That is true, but I chose you for a reason. You have all the qualifications necessary to be the Samurai of legend who will protect this world. Besides, I know all the manga you have read, especially the ones where swords and katana were involved. You may not know it but all the sword techniques you have seen by reading have actually been engraved into your subconscious mind. Use that knowledge to beat the Alpha Timberwolf."
Grunting in frustration, I look away from the mysterious man to contemplate what he has said to me. After a minute or so I look back to him and say "Alright, I'm going to trust you on this mister, but I damn well expect at least a few questions of mine answered when next we meet. Deal?"
"Deal. Now go." he says lastly, waving a hand and just like that I'm back in the world of reality. The timberwolf still in front if me with killer intent in its eyes. I have to beat this thing?! As much as I hate it, I have no choice at this point.
If I'm going to best this guy I'll need not only a really strong attack, but an extremely fast one so that it can't fight back. Only one move like that can come to my mind at this point, but is it even possible for a swordsman newbie like me?
"You know the technique, you've read it many times. I can awaken the sleeping power within you to use it. Said the mysterious man once again, his calm tone bringing myself to calmness. I steady myself and my breathing, making sure I'm composed enough for this all or nothing attack. My eyes begin to glow even brighter and my katana slowly becomes encased in a soft, blue flame. "Now strike!"
"Beccata di Rondine*!" I yell. The attack is just as I remember seeing the character do it: my arm thrusts towards my target, comes back and repeats in the span of milliseconds. Each thrust forward gains the Alpha a new stab wound and with each stab, flames pour out, completely covering the wolf in blue fire.
I eventually stop my attack after a few moments due to my inexperience. My entire arm, all the way up to my left pectoral writhes in pain from overexertion. What the man said was true; he did give me the power to use Yamamoto's technique, however I was stupid to not remind myself of the backlash. Oh well, the timberwolf is beaten, but not only is it beaten, it's dead. I look over the charred and lifeless wooden body of the Alpha wolf and kneel down beside it. All I can feel is sorrow, I have taken the lives of many creatures today, and I am nowhere near proud of what I've done.
"I'm sorry, I truly am but I could not allow you to harm those children. The least I can do for you now is to pray for your safe journey into the next world." I said softly, placing my hand on the head of the wolf. I know I cannot be forgiven for my actions quickly, so I'll do my best to amend them as of now. I mutter a quick prayer asking for the lives of all the wolves to be safe for their next lives as well as forgiveness from God.
After finishing my prayer, I look behind me and see each of the girls standing there with incredulous looks on their faces. "Are you girls okay?" I ask as I stand back up.
The white coated girl comes forward and responds first. "Yeah, we're fine. Thanks a lot mister..."
"Alex. My name is Alex." I finish, giving a small smile. "What're you three doing here? I may not be from around here but even I can tell this forest is dangerous." I asked them.
"Well...we were tryin' to get our cutiemarks in potion brewing thanks to Scootaloo's idea. We were on our way to our friend Zecora's place to get her help with it but then them timberwolves attacked us and well...you know the rest." Said the yellow one with a bow in her hair. Her voice reminded me of a Texan accent, or somewhere from the west.
"That. Was so. Awesome!" Glees the orange, winged girl. I'm utterly confused by her logic of how that was awesome, my jaw is even hanging and my head is tilted to the side.
"Are you right in the head or something? How was that awesome?" I asked her with slight annoyance
"Because you were so cool when you took care of the giant timberwolf with your sword. You were all like 'Get down!', and then you were like 'Beccata di whatever-you-said'. You didn't even break a sweat against it. It must've been so-"
"I'm going to stop you right there young miss because you're forgetting the fact that I just killed them. I have committed one of the gravest sins of all: the sin of taking a life."
"Yeah but they're feral and ruthless creatures, why're you so upset?"
At this point, I was really getting annoyed at that ignorance of hers. I'm so pissed at her that I grab her by the collar of her shirt and drag her face to face with me. "Because they were alive, just like you and I. Even a timberwolf like that is just a body after death and the dead deserve respect. I will not allow you to talk badly about it as if I was some kind of hero." The stone cold stare I give the orange one, undoubtedly the one named Scootaloo, completely stops her in her tracks. I noticed that even her breathing had stopped under the influence of my gaze. It wasn't until I broke eye contact and let go of her that she began breathing once more. I let go of her shirt and start walking away from them. "I'm sorry, I'm just not very happy at this moment. Let's just get you kids home." I did not receive any arguments nor any words at all. Only silence.
But something was bugging me. Call it what you will; instict, intuition or just a gut feeling, but I could feel something hammering at my mind like an alarm bell of danger about to go off.
"Alex, behind you!" screamed my mystery man, and just as he said his words, I felt that dangerous feeling getting stronger and stronger coming from behind my back. Quick as lightning, I turn around to see....the floating head of the first timberwolf I struck down. My eyes just widen whereas the girls screamed their little lungs out. I see it coming towards me at a very fast pace, so I braced for impact by raising my left arm to defend myself, despite how much pain it was already in.
Just in time too. The timberwolf head opened its jaws widely and bit down with extreme force, completely penetrating my flesh and leaving deep bite marks. I quickly punch its side with my right hand and it disintegrates into the sticks that it was made from.
"Son of a bitch that hurts!" I grunted angrily. Well, to be fair that was the last thing I was expecting to happen. It's all because I let my guard down, I should've known better. After all: new world, new rules.
"Are you okay?!" Asked the yellow girl, scared for my health.
"Do I look okay to you?" I barked back, gripping my wound tightly. It won't stop the bleeding, but hopefully it'll slow it down.
"We have to get y'all to a hospital. Now!"
"True but why the hurry? It was just a bite." I said. It was just a bite wasn't it? Or did it....oh God, please tell me 'no'.
"Timberwolves have poisonous fangs. The moment they bite you, you have about two hours until...until you die." She explained with sadness and despair, hot tears streaming down her face.
"Heh, trying to take me down with you were you? Clever bastard." I muttered to myself, looking at the sticks that were once the timberwolf who bit me. "Well, let's get out of this forest. I have no intention of dying, so let's get you girls home first and then find a hospital."
The four of us have been walking for nearly ten minutes by now and bloody hell I'm in pain. I think that poison has different stages of effects because first I couldn't breathe well, like I was having one of my past asthma attacks, and now every step I take makes my body feel like it's on fire. This pain is excruciating, and I can't take any more.
I fall to my knees with a loud 'thud', my arm still bleeding and the actual wound I believe, has become infectious, given the exposure to the air. My eyesight is becoming hazy, I'm guessing that can only be from the blood loss, even I can tell that I've lost much. Bue even with these eyes of mine I can see those little kids coming towards my body, bent on helping me up. It's painful, but I can feel each of my arms being slumped onto one of the girls, my left arm being shouldered by the pretty girl in the dress and the other by that tomboyish chick. It wasn't before long that my luke-warm blood began to trickle ever so delicately down the white girl's dress.
It wasn't for a couple of minutes until I could find the words to speak. "I'm sorry...because of my carelessness, your beautiful dress is sullied with my blood. Please forgive me." I apologised to the child on my left.
"No, don't talk. Save your strength mister, we're gonna get you to a hospital real soon." She said. True to her word, we exited the forest of death and I could just barely see a big, red cross a fair ways away.
"Apple Bloom!" Yelled an older, maturer female voice. I couldn't see who it was, my head had grown way too heavy for me to keep it up but she sounded exactly like the girl I've met, same southern accent.
"Sis! Help us please!" Cried the bow-wearing girl. So that was her name, Apple Bloom. Hmm, it sounds familiar but...where have I heard it before.
"What happened? Are you hurt?" Questioned the older one, anger and worry in her voice.
"No, I'm fine...but he-"
"AB, what happened to him?! He's bleeding!"
"We were trying to get our cutiemarks in potion brewing, so we went to Zecora's. But a pack of timberwolves ambushed us. We were about to be eaten by them when this feller showed up. He k-killed all the timberwolves with his sword before they could even touch us... But one of them survived an' bit him, he's been poisoned!" Cried Apple Bloom, the tears from before returning twofold. Slowly, I bring myself up to my feet and make my way to Apple Bloom's elder sister.
The other sibling, from what I heard, was lecturing the petite girl about responsiblity and how I'm injured because of their idea. Neither of them saw me coming nor heard me until I grabbed the stranger's shirt, not even remotely tight thanks to my situation. I haphazardly look at her with weak eyes and arms and say to her: "I don't know...who you are, but I...must not...I cannot die here." I said before finally losing consciousness, the darkness becoming welcoming to my eyes.
"Please miss Applejack, he's going to die if we don't get him help!"
"Alright, let's get 'im to the hospital. But y'all have some explaining to do afterwards." Said the older Apple sternly, eliciting quickened nods from the the three children. Ah just pray that we aren't too late. they all thought in synchronisation, and like that, with my body heaved over her shoulder, I was rushed to the hospital.
Author's Note
* - Lit. Peck of the Swallow or Swallow's Beak
Hope you all like this new story. I'm going to try my best doing two stories at once but don't worry, I think I can handle it. Well that's all, see ya!
I have been awake since 4am. Not really much of a surprise since I naturally wake up before six these days. Ever since I moved house, I've had to wake up earlier if I want to get to school on time. It's a bit rough but let me have a shower, a cup of coffee and I'm golden. Unfortunately for me, I had to leave in a hurry, so both were out of the equation.
"This better be fucking worth it Terra." I said to my spiritual companion, tired and exhausted from five hours of nonstop walking. Thank God for all that hiking I did in year 10.
"It will Alexander, please trust me on this."
"I thought I said to stop calling me by my full name, I told you I don't like it. Just call me Alex like everyone else does." I said, agitated by being called my full name. It sounds way too formal, so I don't like it.
"Forgive me young master." He apologised, but only made it worse by those words.
"You're fuckin' pushing it buddy." I glared daggers at my sword and he knew it too. Oh well, I can't stay mad at this guy, I may only have known him for a day but I can tell he's a nice bloke. I don't know why, I know I can trust him.
"Alex, we're here." Said Terra in a stern tone. As I look up, I see the wide open gates to the grand city built upon the side of this mountain.
I'm confused though. There are no guards at the gates and I just walked on through. It is so easy to get into this city and yet two princesses live here according to Terra. So why is the security so lax? I have a sword by my side, I'm wearing completely different clothes to everybody else here, I'm not at all like these 'ponies' and yet, I was allowed to just walk in. Did I not mention I have a fucking sword on my side?
As I walk through the city, I can see the many stares I'm getting, it's like they've never seen a human before. I seriously can't be the only human here right? I look back at the civilians that're looking at me and the moment I do, they visibly flinch. I doing know whether it's out of nerves or disgust, or it's my new eyes or my sword but that's just plain rude either way. I still don't understand how these people are ponies. Ponies are supposed to have four hooves and walk on said hooves, not have two hands, the body of a human and pretty much everything I see in them but you know what? What-fucking-ever. I'm probably just sleeping and/or something was off in those lamb chops I had last night.
"Halt!" Beckoned a low voice in front of me. In my daydreaming, I didn't notice that I was right in front of the gates to the castle, and in front of me are two burly guards wearing gold armour that are looking right at me, holding their spears out near my face to stop me from advancing.
"Who goes there?" Asks the brown guard on my right. I almost open my mouth to reply, but I thought of something. If this is just a dream and I'm high as fuck, I may as well get into character.
"Be calm gentlemen, I am but a weary traveler who seeks aid from the princesses." I said to the guards, sounding like Himura. Yet again, another thing I got from reading Rurouni Kenshin. Ahh, God bless anime and manga.
"What reason do you have to meet with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna stranger?" Asked the white guard on my left side.
Keeping in character and responding politely, I replied, "All I seek are answers to a few questions that they can hopefully provide. Nothing more."
"While carrying a weapon?" Asked the same guard, pushing his spear closer to my throat. Now I'm starting to get scared, but panicking doesn't do anything for me, so I try and stay calm.
"Do not worry. I have no reason to use my blade unless I'm given one. Plus, if you look closely, my blade is on my right side. If I had any reason to use it, it would be on my left." I said to them matter of factly.
As I see their eyes scan my body and my arm, my heavily bandaged arm that's currently inside my kimono being used as a sling for my injury. They look to each other and have a silent conversation amongst themselves.
"If I am anything, I am a man of my word. I swear to you right now, I would never wish to harm either of your princesses. Only a fool would do that, and I'm no fool." I said, breaking their contact with each other and drawing it back to myself.
They look to each other again, not saying a word. It's not for a minute or so until the left man, stallion rather, looks back at me and lifts his spear away. "Follow me, I will take you to the throne room. You are to never leave my sight, do nothing and touch nothing. Are we clear?" He asked me.
"Does a kookaburra laugh?" I see their confused faces and all I can think of is them about to ask me what the fuck a kookaburra was, so I answer for them. "The answer is yes." I said.
"You're very strange." He says as he pushes open the castle gates with me following close behind.
"Trust me mate, you have no idea how weird I can be." I said, and finally, the gates to the castle opened and I walked through.
I'm one step closer to getting my answers.
~~~~~=====~~~~~
The walk to the throne room was a long one indefinitely, but well worth the wait. As I walked through the castle, I couldn't help but admire the architecture that has been put into this place. I feel like I'm living through the Celtic times. While I was looking absentmindedly, I had failed to notice that the guard had not only stopped, but he was looking at me directly, so I accidentally walked into him. He said that we had arrived but he needed to tell the princesses of my actual being here. I told him that I understood and he left another stallion outside the doors to “look after” me while he was talking with the princesses.
It's taking for-fucking-ever! The guy went in nearly half an hour ago and he hasn't come back yet. Because I'm so bored, I decide to check out Tengoku to see if there are any damages to the blade itself. I nearly got my bloody head chopped off for simply unsheathing a little bit of it. There's a fucking spear head in my face right now!!
"Bloody hell man, will you get that bloody spear out of my face?! I'm just checking my sword for any damages, I'm not going to use it on anybody." I can tell by the way he pulls the spear away from me that he's adamant about it. But at least I'm trusted enough to check for damages. "Fuck's sake." I mumble under my breath, quiet enough for him not to hear me, mind you.
I manage to get the whole blade out (without some guy's spear being pointed at me), and I look at it with a very keen eye to see even the smallest crack. It may have been sharp enough to cut that Timberwolf's head clean off, but I still need to make sure. I can't go and break my new friend on the second day I met him.
"The Princesses will see you now." He said flatly, like he didn't even care. With a nod, I stand up and sheathe my blade. I still can't believe I'm saying that, my blade. It's so weird to say it, weirder to actually have it in reality.
Anyway. The grand doors to the throne room open with a giant swing and large creaking noises, as if they haven't been opened in ages. The place looks amazing, it's just what I'd expect for a castle throne room. Stained glass windows, polished floor tiles, everything, even a red carpet. A red carpet that stretched to the very far end of the room/hall.
"Greetings friend." I hear from in front of me, but from a high place. I look up and I can feel myself beginning to flush with heat. Two large women are sitting high upon the thrones and they are beautiful as all hell.
The lady on my left is pure white with her hair and tail cascading like a waterfall with four different colours; two shades of blue, one green and one a light pink with a slimming yellow gown that I can only assume was made of the finest silk. The other lady on my right, was essentially the polar opposite of the first lady. Her fur was so dark blue in colour, I initially mistook it for being black. Her hair and tail the same as her skin was, too, flowing like a river, only solid blue, black and white dots, it looked exactly like the night sky back in the countryside. The dress she wore contrasted her skin by being a sky blue colour, also made of silk. Both of them wore golden and silver regalia, respectively. The both of them look fancy as shit and I must say, as a teenager, dem knockers tho. Seriously, they were huge, unnaturally huge. Sure, the blue lady's was smaller in comparison but they were still fairly big.
"I am Princess Celestia, ruler of the sun and day and co-ruler of Equestria. This is my little sister, Princess Luna, ruler of the moon and night. She rules alongside myself."
"G-G'day. I'm sorry but I just have to ask, are you two really over a thousand years old? Because two lovely sheilas like yourselves can't be a day over twenty, at most." I blurt out nervously and I see their eyes widen. Prooooobably not the best thing to say when there's two guards right in front of them with spears at the ready. Fuck my mouth.
"W-well, thank you for those words, but it is true, we and our have lived for little over a millennia now." Said Princess Celestia, her cheeks producing a small tinge of pink. "What is this ‘sheila’ you speak of?" She asks me.
"Oh sorry, sheila is a slang word used in my country to call a woman or a lady. So in the context just then I called you two, 'two lovely ladies'." I replied, slowly getting over my previous embarrassment.
"Oh, well, we thank thou for the flattery. We're honestly suprised our guards allowed thou entrance with a weapon. Would thou carest to explain thyself?" Says Princess Luna, looking directly at the katana on my side. I want to ask her to not speak in bloody Shakespearean as it really annoys me, but she's the princess, so I might hold my tongue for a bit on that matter.
"I have no reason to act unless I'm given one, that is what I told your guardsmen. Until you or anyone else provokes me into using my sword, it will stay by my side. Sheathed." They seem to ease up a bit after showing I'm not gonna use my sword on any of them. It suddenly dawns on me that I forgot something very important. "Oh bugger! I completely forgot, I never gave you my name. My name is Alexander Roy Stephen Aiden Brown, but just call me Alex." I say giving a courteous bow. Like a cartoon, I just hear a gong and I look up to see everybody's jaws literally on the ground.
"Thou hast five names?" Says Princess Luna incredulously, baffled by how long my name is.
"Ehh, I don't get either. Normally, people have just one middle name, but I was given three. I've found it a little annoying actually, but I tell ya, the looks on people's faces when I say my full name never gets old." I replied, a cheeky grin adorning my face.
"I can imagine. Now, on to business." Like a bullet, that cheery smile on Celestia's face became demanding and serious, like it was just a façade. It was kinda scary. "Yesterday, I received a message from my personal protégé in Ponyville. She had described to me a rescue as well as an attack that ended in a killing. It was told that you had conjured a blue flame of sorts that killed an Aplha Timberwolf." Both of the guards eyes opening wide upon hearing this news and they instinctively gripped their weapons tighter. "By Equestrian law, killing anything, be it in self defence or not, is a pushiment deserving of death to the one who committed the act." She said with a stone cold voice.
Wait, what? I'm on death row for saving three kids?!
"Whoawhoaheyhey! Hold it right there bitch!" I yell, getting pissed at this injustice. "You're forgetting one thing here: I'm not from your world! I'm not under your laws nor do I even know them! And those kids were in danger, are you saying that I shouldn't have helped them? Just let them die by those timberwolves and let their families grieve? Where's the justice in that?!"
A loud crash emanates in the hall from a guard striking his spear end into the ground. "That's enough out of you! How dare you raise your voice in the princesses' presence, you should already be hanged for your crimes as it is!" He barks at me, even his friend's a little intimidated by it, but with my anger clouding my mind, I'm not phased by his outburst.
"Enough!" Commanded Princess Celestia, her tone breaking through to the both of us and we stop glaring at each other and instead look to the angered princess. "Lieutenant Steel Wing, you are dismissed for the week. We will talk soon." She said calmly, no tone of remorse.
"But-" He started but stopped when he realised he had no power in the matter. He turned and bowed to his leader, his honour stained because of me. "Yes Princess. Excuse me." He said, before turning to the doors and began to leave.
"Lieutenant." I mumbled as the guard walked by me, his hooves stopping in their tracks, but he didn't turn his face towards mine. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry for offending you and the princesses, I-."
"You've done enough." He snarled at me, cutting my apology early.
Luna sighed deeply. "Forgive our comrade, he has been amongst our gaurd for more than fifteen years, he's extremely loyal to us both and dost not take lightly to those who disrespect us." She explained as she dismissed the other guard from the room. She knew that I wanted to talk to them alone.
"Listen, if you could, can you not punish him? What he said was right, I shouldn't have raised my voice. It was my fuck up." I said, feeling guilty about my mistake.
Celestia was almost shocked by my request for the lieutenant. "That's very kind of you to own up to your mistakes and ask this for somepony, of whom whom you don't even know."
"It's human nature. We fuck up and we learn from our mistakes, big and small. You don't mind if I sit down, do you?" I said to the royal sisters before taking a seat on the red carpet underneath me and moving my katana so it rests on my shoulder.
(Like this.)
"Not at all. Very well Alexander, we won't punish the lieutenant as per your request." Said Celestia, kindly accepting my wish.
"Cheers you two." I said just seconds before a blinding light fills the room momentarily.
After the light disperses, I look to see what caused it and it's a....scroll? A scroll just randomly appeared and is now being held up by nothing but a yellow glow in front of Celestia, who's horn is currently glowing in that same yellow. Alright, I know Terra said this place had magic, but it's still fuckin' weird.
Princess Celestia looked back to me after sending the scroll to, I think, somebody else. "Forgive me young one, my student sent a letter concerning you, your disappearance and the threat you could possess to my little ponies." She said.
"Ah no worries mate, I have no right to stop you from writing to her. Preeetty sure I could be sent to jail if I did so anyway." I say jokingly, eliciting a giggle from both my watchers. "It's understandable actually. I did just leave like that without telling them anything about myself, plus like that letter she sent to you before, I also took out those timberwolves. So her unease is justified."
"You're very polite and understanding, aren't you?" Said Princess Luna.
"Well that's because I was raised that way ma'am. Now." In the span of a second, I go from happy to deadly serious, like I'm extremely angry. Of which I am. "Tell me about this destiny I'm supposed to be a part of. I want to know why I've been taken away from my world, and more importantly, my family and friends. It had better be good too, because if you think timberwolves are dangerous, you've never met a pissed-off human before." I said threateningly, poking an inch of my blade out from the guard with my thumb.
"Alright." Celestia said, admitting defeat as she lowered her head. "I will tell you of the prophecy that has been foretold, the prophecy of ‘The samurai of the elements’."
~~~~~Twilight's POV~~~~~
Why can't trains be faster?!
That is one of the many questions that're cycling across my mind. Others including; how could this happen? Why is this happening? Why is that Alex character with the princesses? And most importantly, are the princesses okay? Honestly, this is the first time since meeting Pinkie Pie that my mind is at a blank. However, a tactitian always has a plan, even if it's made up on the spot.
"Right girls, here's the plan: if the princesses are in any sort of danger, even if it's them, we need to help and put down this ‘Alex’ if need be. For all we know, he could've taken over all of Canterlot, so we need to go in strategically and easily." I explained to my friends, all of them listening intently on my plan. Well, with Pinkie as an exception of course.
"Screw that Twi, you just said that the princesses and probably all of Canterlot are in danger of this guy. 'Go hard or go home', that's my motto." Yelled Rainbow Dash, folding her arms in an attempt to look 'tough and cool' as she put it.
"Your point is, Rainbow?" I asked her with disbelief, raising my eyebrow.
"His arm's hurt isn't it? All I have to do is fly in, jump him, twist his arm, make him surrender and we win. Ain't no thing." Said Rainbow in signature cocky tone.
Rarity scoffed at Rainbow's brashness. "Rainbow Dash, we can settle this diplomatically as well. There is no need for such brutality, but of course, you don't know the meanings of the words 'subtlety' and 'diplomacy', do you?" She said with a snarky tone of voice.
"Stop it you two, we need to work together on this, and Rainbow, Rarity's right. From what I've gathered, it's very possible that his left arm is his dominant arm. Disabling that is a costly mistake should he go about his daily life. We don't want you to cause him to be unable to use his arm ever again." Rainbow just huffs at me and looks out the window with a sour look on her face. I sighed and just decided to continue with the plan in my head. "If this...colt can take down an Alpha timberwolf then he's no pushover. If anything, he may be as strong as Discord. We need to be careful in dealing with him, who knows what else he could do." I said to my friends with finality and they nod back at me in confirmation.
The train whistle blows an almighty 'toot' as we quickly approach the station of Canterlot. Hold on princess, we're coming to help you...
~~~~~My POV~~~~~
"You're joking..." I said, shocked at the story they just told me. From my shock, came more anger than ever before. "That's absolute bullshit! You expect me to believe that load of crap?!" I screamed at the princess who had walked to a stained glass window in her explanation of my being here.
"Believe what you will Alexander, but this is the truth. This is your destiny." Said Celestia with a sad tone of voice, but I felt like she was just putting on a face of sympathy. She didn't mean it at all.
I yelled furiously to the royal sisters, showing them my favourite finger. "Well destiny and Equestria can go fuck itself! I'm not supposed to be in your world fixing your mess! I'm supposed to be at school, studying my little ass off for my mid-semester exams, finishing my assignments and hanging out with my friends!" With my rage at its peak, I walk closer and closer to the princess, my hand looming dangerously over my katana. "So this is what's gonna happen: you're gonna do whatever airy fairy magic you can, and you will send me home!"
"We are sorry young man, we truly are, but this is reality. You cannot go home until the battle's end." Apologised princess Luna who was still in her throne. She sat like she was deep in thought, but at least I could tell she was sincere in her words, unlike her sister.
It can't be, I refuse that is reality. I refuse to believe that that load of dog shit is my destiny! Only God decides my fate, not somebody like her, so why should I believe even for a second of what she says?!
But.... What else is there to believe at this point? I'm on a completely different world, my looks have changed and I now have a sword embedded with a real spirit. At this point, I have reasons both to believe her, and not to believe her. What do I do?
I'm looking at the polished ground, and I see my reflection in the tiles, and all I see are the emotions I'm feeling: pain and confusion.
"Do you know when does this prophecy say the battle ends?" I asked Celestia who had returned to her throne in my self-thought.
"We do not know." Said Luna as she and her sister shared a look of nervousness.
"Well what about what this so called 'darkness' is?" I asked again, surely they should know at least something about what they're facing in the future.
"We...do not know that either." Celestia admitted hesitantly, making an attempt to not upset me again.
But, it didn't work. I'm pissed, very pissed.
"Oh well you're great big fucking bundles of information aren't you?! A thousand years old and you can't even fucking tell me what I should do when I've taken away from everything I've-" My rage was immediately silenced out when the sound of the doors behind us blasting open rang through the hall.
Both the princesses look ahead but I didn't get the chance, as the moment before I could even turn around, I was pressed to the ground and put into an armlock with my left arm being locked and it hurts like a bitch! The pain is so unbearable that I'm about to cry.
"Owowowowow!! Uncle! Uncle!" I scream.
"No way buddy! What did you do to the Princesses?!" Barks a raspy voice above me, who I can only guess is the one twisting my arm. I twist my head a bit, look up and see a rainbow haired and blue furred girl with an athletic figure and attire above me.
"Nothing!" I said truthfully, but apparently, it didn't sit well with the girl on top of me.
"Wrong answer!!" She yelled before twisting my arm further behind my back until an audible 'pop' was heard in the room. All I can do is scream from the burning pain.
"Rainbow Scarlet Dashery!" Boomed a very loud voice coming from the thrones, it was Princess Luna. How in the bloody hell she got her voice to reach such a volume, I have no idea. All I know is that if I am right in front of her when she does it again, I'm going to have no head afterwards. "Let. Him. Go." She said in a very deathly threatening tone, with just as threatening eyes.
At once, I feel my restraints being undone and the girl gets off of me and my arm. It's not broken, but I still can't feel my left arm whatsoever unless I touch it myself.
"Art thou alright, Alex?" Asked Luna in a calm and worried tone. Here I thought I had attitude problems.
"Well since that bitch just dislocated my already busted arm," I said with emphasis on the part of my arm, looking directly at the girl who caused my injury. "I can only wiggle my fingers at best."
I can see how worried the two princesses are when they look at my arm and I can agree with them. My entire shoulder is swollen, and my forearm looks like it's done a full 360 turn. Nodding between themselves, I see their horns lighting up in golden and blue colours, I don't know what to expect until they cast their 'spell'. In a matter of minutes, my arm pops back into place without any pain, the swollen area and my forearm are all healed. Not only that, I can feel that my muscles have been healed too. I can use my left arm to it's fullest again.
I rotate my arm to get a feel for it, stretching it to see if it was just like always, clenching my hand into a fist and unclenching it, even throwing a few jabs just for good measure. Everything's in order, my arm is just fine. Now that that's all well and good, I want to extract a little bit of revenge. I walk towards the rainbow bitch who twisted my arm just a moment ago and stare golden daggers at her.
"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I get a free hit on you." I say with a growling tone, showing how serious I am.
"What?! Why!?" She screams in anger and confusion.
"Y'all did twist his arm fer no proper reason. Ya just zipped in here and jumped on 'im." Said a very familiar voice. I look to see the same lady who was outside the forest with the children, same Stetson hat and accent.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Applejack has a point dear. What you did to him was uncalled for, even if we thought something had happened." Said the sleek woman next to her. They looked like exact opposites: a hard working country, farm girl, and an urban supermodel. Again, giant knockers. What is with this world and women having unbelievable breast sizes?! Well, at least three of the other women have normal sized ones.
But, back at the situation at hand. I look again to the rainbow girl with anger and expectancy in my eyes. Even if she doesn't say yes, I'll still hit her anyway, she deserves it.
"Fine." Barely even a second after she accepts, I gripped her shoulders tightly, dragged them down, and slammed my knee into the bottom of her diaphragm. Having a paramedic for a mum and a nurse-in-training for a brother tends to improve your knowledge on the body's anatomy, especially where the weakest and most sensitive points are. The choked scream I hear from her shows that it hurt more than I expected it to. The girl falls to her knees resting a hand on the spot where I hit her, struggling to breathe.
"Compared to my injury, you got off easy. Don't piss me off again." I get up and look to the yellow girl who seems the most worried about her friend. I tapped her on the shoulder, and she looks back at me with fear in her eyes. "Get her a bucket, she may need it." I said to her before I walk away towards the grand doors.
"Where are you going?" I hear one of them ask. I didn't care who was asking, I just kept walking.
"The kitchen, I haven't had anything to eat all day. I walked from your town to this place." I explained flatly as I finally reached the doors.
"You walked here?! But that's a five hour journey!" Yelled one of the women, amazed at how I made such a trip on my own.
"I'll do anything to find a way home. You ponies better do well to remember that." And that's all I left them with before I left to go make myself some lunch.
----====----
The kitchen in this place is bloody enormous, but then again, that was kind of expected since I'm in a fuckin' castle. Seriously, this is the kind of kitchen I'd expect Heston Blumenthal to cook in, just minus the science equipment. The people (ponies, whatever) inside were a bit off with having a complete stranger with a sword inside their kitchen, but once I explained that I was going to make myself some lunch to eat, they kind of eased up a bit. Some said that they could've simply made it for me instead, but I responded to them with, "No offence, but I like to make my own food. I don't want to cause any of you any trouble."
Now let's see, what do I need? Potatoes, yeast, flour, fish and most importantly, beer. Gotta have beer when you're making beer-battered fish and chips. Before cooking, I wash my hands thouroughly and grab a tea towel and flung it over my shoulder. A little habit I picked up from mum.
The cooking itself is really easy; cut up the fish and potatoes into reasonable pieces, dry the fish, cover in flour, dip in beer-yeast mixture, fry off for five minutes (separately) and you're done. The potatoes were more technical as I learned how to cook thrice-cooked chips from, you guessed it, Heston. I love that man, he's the mad hatter of the cooking industry.
"I'm pinching these for a bit, don't judge me." I said to the chefs as I walked with a plate full of fish and chips in my left hand, and a salt shaker and vinegar bottle in my right after I cleaned up my station.
Rule number one of the kitchen; clean up after yourself. Rule number two being if you're not doing anything, get the hell out of the kitchen. Which I am doing so, and making my way through the halls in search for a table or something to sit down at. Thank God I'm lucky, because the very first room I walked into was, what I was assuming, the dining hall.
A dining hall with the princesses and the same six girls who came in and wanted to break my arm.... Great, so much for eating lunch in peace.
"What is that? It smells delicious." Asked Celestia, smelling the aroma of my food.
"Beer batter fish and chips, what else?" I replied back with wonder and sarcasm. Do they not even know the smell of cooked fish? I mean, it's not that hard to discern.
The girl with a lavender coat looked at me. "Fish? You eat meat?" She asked, but what weirded me out more was the fact that she didn't even seem phased by it. She even looked intrigued.
"Are you fucking kidding me? You thought I didn't with teeth like these?" I asked back, showing my (slightly sharper than normal) canine teeth. Half of them looked at me with fear, whereas the other three looked at me rather normally. "Look, I'm not going eat you alright? Just give me some beef, pork and chicken on a daily basis, and you'll have no problems from me." I said as I looked at the three that were afraid of my teeth.
"I didn't really expect you to. I mean, dragons and griffons eat meat almost all the time, it's a normal dietary need for those races. You aren't very different from them."
"Except for the much smaller teeth..." Said the Canary yellow female in a quiet voice. I could just barely hear her words, that's how quiet she was.
I took a seat at the end of the table, which by the way, is fucking enormous! It's seriously about as long as a cricket strip. I just need some wickets, a bat and a ball and we could actually have some fun in this place. But that fun thought was dulled out when a new, annoying voice entered the room.
"Auntie, why're there peasants at our table?! This is outrageous!" Yelled a sudden, male voice. I look at where it came from and I see a blonde haired and white furred man with a white tuxedo. He looks at all of us with anger in his eyes. But more importantly, peasant? He's calling me a peasant?
Bitch gon' get shot.
"They're here because we invited them nephew." Said Celestia while I continue eating my fish and chips. It was a blatant lie, so I quickly swallow my mouthful of food and bring her up on what she said.
"Technically you didn't, but I'm trying to eat here mate, so do me a favour and bugger off." I said as I swallowed my mouthful of fish
"How dare you! I am a prince and I demand respect from little pieces of filth like you." He yelled to me as he pulled me out of my chair and pushed me onto the ground. Seriously, what the fuck is this guy's problem?
"Well excuse me señor douchebag for being hungry. Surely you can accept that from somebody who knows more than you ever will because of your peanut sized brain." I said angrily as I get up right in his face. From the table, I could hear a snort of repressed laughter undoubtedly from my insult to this arsehole.
The guy pushes me back again, this time as a provocation. "That's enough, I challenge you to fisticuffs you uncivilised brute!" He said as he brought both of his fists up and moved them around in circles while making little bounces on his feet.
"Fisticuffs? Seriously?" I asked him, surely he was joking. He wouldn't stand a chance in hell against me.
"Come on, put 'em up." He said, still rotating his fists in the air. I decide play along and put myself into a guarding stance. I see the jerky prince come to wards me in hopes of trying to hit me. He honestly thinks I'm gonna play his game? Dumbass.
He creeps closer, closer, closer and closer until he's at the perfect distance for me. I fake a straight to keep him on his guard but at the same time, I raise my left leg very quickly and see it collide with my real target: his nads. As the hit registered, his voice reached a height I didn't know was possible and the face he makes is just bloody priceless as his body falls like a sack of bricks. Like any other guy, his hands go straight down to hold the golden jewels and he's starting to cry from the pain. I kneel down and place my hand on the back of his head.
"Never said I accepted your challenge dickhead. Now, how about you go to the hospital and order a big bag of dicks so that you can eat them you girly shit." I said before smashing his face into the marble floor beneath us, rendering him unconscious. "Next time, don't pick a fight with a blue belt in karate." I said as I wiped the dust off my hakama from being pushed to the ground.
Aww crap. I just realised, Celestia called him 'nephew'..... I just assaulted royalty. If memory serves me well, the punishment for even touching royalty the wrong way, is death. Well fuck, I guess it's the chopping block for me now for sure. I prepare myself to be tackled to ground, hung from my feet, anything dastardly (never thought I'd ever use that word) and cruel...but it didn't come. I turn around and I instantly receive not just a hug, but also a face full of boobs too. Very big boobs. The blush on my face immediately appears and I can just tell it has no intentions of not going redder by the second.
"Aah! Tits!" I yelled, pointing at the jugs as I broke free. I let my eyes travel up to see who’s chest I was just in, and it was the fancy white woman who was the opposite to the cowgirl.
"Sweet Celestia you make me horny." She said with lust in her voice and eyes as she tried to pull me in for another smothering session.
"Is that what you kids use my name for nowadays?" Celestia said, completely confused at how her name was being used.
"Always, get with the times princess." Said the athlete who pinned me earlier, Rainbow Dashery or whatever.
"Hey uh, babe, listen. That was a...nice hug...but could you please at least warn me next time you do it?" I said embarrassed and confused at what just happened. I just hit a guy and the next minute my face is swimming in boobs. Cannot tell if I did good or bad today, however the perverted part of my mind just screamed 'yes'.
~~~~~~~~~
The next few hours were spent discussing housing a food for me, since I have neither right now. I said to Celestia that I couldn't give a fuck who I stay with as long as I get a bed, food and a roof over my head. They all flinched at my language, but dilligaf? No, I don't gaf (For all the non-Australians, dilligaf means "does it look like I give a fuck"). After a while, it became clear to me that the only ones that could've taken me were the six girls in front of me.
"So I'm gonna be staying with miss bitch over here?" I asked, looking at the blue girl with rainbow hair. She looked back at me too, staring daggers into my own.
"No. For the meantime, you can stay at my place until and if, you find a place of your own." Explained the purple girl, who I was told was the protege of Celestia.
"You make it sound like I'm gonna be leeching off of you forever." I said, swapping my eyes from the athlete to the nerd. She immediately looked shocked at my rebuttal.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you." She said, lowering her head in shame, but I raised my hand to show it wasn't anything offensive. After all, I grew up in Australia, where you strangers mates and your mates a word I'd rather not use.
"Don't worry about it, it's fine. Just don't expect me to be grateful to you guys. I'm only staying until I find a way home, and then I'm fucking out of here. Speaking of, I'm fucking out of here." I said as I turned around and intended to walk away and out of the castle.
"Alexander." Celestia said, gaining my attention. I turned to her and I see a sad expression on her face. "We are truly sorry that we can't help you return to your own world. If we knew of a way, we truly would tell you in a heartbeat." She said to me.
"Listen, I won't ever accept what you said as my destiny, but you've done what you can and I am thankful that you've tried. Just promise me you'll continue trying to find a way for me to go home." I asked, I know it sounded unreasonable to ask a ruler to do something like that, but I need to get home. She nodded to tell me she would, and this, I feel like I can trust her on that. "Well, see ya." I said as I wave goodbye.
"Where ist thou going?" Asked Luna, suddenly stopping me from leaving.
"Uhh, the train station?" I said back, as if it wasn't obvious to her how I was going back.
"Oh no, you'll be taking chariots back." She said back to me. She had my interest, but now she has my attention. Now, I'm both very interested in these 'chariots'.
"Chariots? How very Roman of you." I said, laughing at my own little joke. But seriously? Chariots? Last I checked, trains were about three or four times faster.
It takes a bit a walk to actually get there, but when we did, I was greeted with the sight of a giant balcony with two men standing there strapping belts and chains to their waists. After putting their belts on, they strapped the ends to two bars on either side of them, which was part of some kind of open-ended chair with large cushions and gems around its borders.
"Uhh, what is that?" I asked to nobody in particular, pointing at the thing in front of me.
"A chariot? You know, the ones you fly in?" Said the athletic girl like it was basic knowledge. 'Fly', the one word I dread. I widen my eyes as I noticed that both men have wings on their backs. They weren't fucking joking, they're gonna fly in the piece of crap!!
"Nopenopenopenononononononono! I am not going in that thing!" I say with as much speed as I can muster.
"Why not? It's perfectly safe." Said Celestia's student without any concern.
"Fuck you 'it's safe'! There's no seatbelts, bracers or anything on that thing. Like fuck I'm going into that with you nutjobs!" I said, beginning to shout again. I've done a lot of shouting today.
"But why? These gentlecolts are trained to fly through even blizzards." Said the student to me once more.
"I have acrophobia okay?!" I yelled with a worried tone, rubbing the side of my arm in nervousness.
"What does the circus have to do with this?" Asked Rainbow Dash. Wait, she's seriously asking that question? Bitch, are you seriously that fucking stupid?
"No Rainbow. ‘Acrophobia’, he has a fear of heights."
"Fear of heights?! What a wuss!" Said Rainbow as she began to laugh at me and my fear. So, justly, I look at her and show her my favourite finger.
"Fuck you too, bitch. Us humans weren't blessed with wings like you guys."
"Humans? I thought they were only a myth." Asked the purple with genuine interest.
"We're getting off topic here! I am not flying in that thing! I'm going to the train station, fuck all y'all, bye bye."I yelled before walking, bordering running, away.
"I am so sorry about this sirs." Apologised the purple mare to the guards who were still standing on the balcony.
"No worries Twilight Sparkle, we've met a few ponies who're the same as that lad." Explained the left guard, not phased by my outburst as he unstrapped himself.
"Yeah, but a little less colorful with their words." Said the other one with truthful, playful tone.
"Come on girls, let's go to the station." Said the protégé.
"Aww come on, I wanted to race the guards." Whined Rainbow.
"That's enough outta you Scarlet." Teased the western cowgirl as she walked after her friends. Groaning in annoyance, Rainbow flew after the group as well.
I'm standing right there. I'm right at the edge of the station platform, and the train is going to arrive any minute now. And when it does get here, all it will take for me is one small step, and then all of this stupid destiny bullshit will end and I'll be home with my family.
"You know you need money and a ticket to get on the train." Said a voice behind me, I knew who it was, and I wasn't happy to hear it. "You weren't planning on jumping on without paying, were you?" Asked Celestia's student.
"Jumping, yes. Getting on the train, not really." I said with a defeated tone.
"Well it's a mighty good thing we stopped y'all then huh?"
"Good thing for you maybe." I whisper glumly as I see the train rocking up to the platform, ready to drop off and get more passengers. We board it not even two minutes after the purple girl buys me my ticket, and it's not even two minutes before I fall into the darkness of sleep. God knows I need it after walking for five hours.
~~~~3rd person POV~~~~
Celestia stood staring at the train station through her window. She easily see the train pull up and the six ponies and one human board onto it. She looked on, a strong expression on her face.
"You felt it too sister?" Asked Luna as she came next to her.
"Indeed Luna. His potential for power is very vast, maybe even unlimited." She said, her voice sounding both in fear and amazement at the power hidden within the human. "That boy is possible to be stronger than me, and he doesn't even realise it yet. If he turns on either of us, even I do not know who would win should learn know how to harness that power."
"There is something more to it. While you felt his power, we felt what is hidden, deep down in his heart." Said Luna as she looked down at the moving train herself.
"And what would that be?" Asked Celestia as she looked at her sister.
"Darkness." She said simply as she looked Celestia dead in the eyes. "A darkness that is similar to my own. However it's not jealousy like mine was, but anger. He is a very angry boy."
"So, not only is his his good side extremely powerful, but his dark side as well. We must make sure he will do as we say." Celestia snaps her fingers and after only a second, a black coated and navy blue maned stallion with yellow slitted eyes and fangs appeared out of the shadows of the thrones. "Lieutenant Colonel Silent Hoof, you are ordered to observe and record what the human does everyday and report back to us each night. If anything abnormal occurs that could threaten the citizen's safety, alert us at once." She said with the sternest tone and most serious eyes anyone could muster in the world.
"Yes my princesses." He said obediently. And like that, the shadows consumed him once more and he disappeared, ready for his mission.
"The world is going to change Luna, now that he's here." Said Celestia to her sister, noticing she was leaving her side.
"Yes, but for good or worse is the question." She said as she walked out and into the halls of the castle.
~~~~~My POV~~~~~
The train whistle blows with an almighty noise. It's so loud it instantly wakes me up from my slumber instantaneously.
"Stop making that bloody noise!!" I yell at the train, annoyed and startled at it waking me up from my much needed sleep. The pink and fluffy girl, who's name I found out is Pinkie Pie, giggled at my annoyance.
"Silly Ally, trains aren't for sleeping on. Well, actually they can but that's only if somepony is extremely tired which makes sense since you left early and you probably didn't get too much sleep so you could go see the princess where we thought you were evil and about to attack them-" She said with no intention of stopping, not even for a breath. She kept on rambling and rambling on and on.
"How, in God's merciful name, do you tolerate her?" I ask to the purple girl, Twilight Sparkle, with my hands rubbing my temples in attempt to ease the headache I have.
"Everypony else has just grown accustomed to it over the years and I've learned to just simply ignore her for the most part." She said bluntly, shrugging her shoulders.
"Well good for you. Are we there yet?" I asked releasing a heavy yawn.
"We're heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere" Said Pinkie Pie, elongating the 'here' part to impossible lengths. Seriously, how has she held it this long with collapsing from lack of oxygen? "Now!" She yelled happily just as the train's whistle blew once more, signalling the impending arrival of the next station. "Welcome to Ponyville Ally!" Said Pinkie with the same amount of joy, flailing her arms around the place with confetti somehow coming out of her sleeves.
"Joy." I say unamused.
Chapter 2 - First Greetings
The inside of Ponyville's local hospital was generally quite relaxed and quiet. But when a patient with Timberwolf bite marks, mass amounts of blood loss and has lost all consciousness comes in, the whole area becomes as loud as a rampaging elephant and as fast as cheetah.
"Get him into the ICU now, priority one!" Yelled a tall stallion with light brown fur wearing white trench coat with a black shirt and trousers to a smaller woman in a nurse's outfit. "Get 50mL of morphine and the multi-species antidote for Timberwolf poisoning on the double! It's a race against time to save this young colt's life."
In a portable bed laid the prone body of said patient, a young colt who wasn't exactly a pony. The bed beginning to fill and soak with the blood from his arm wounds and on his face was an oxygen mask to hopefully lengthen his short, ragged breathing. Without any questions, the doctors and nurses wheeled the patient away into the emergency wing of the hospital.
"Sis...h-he's gon' be alright, right?" Cried a weak Apple Bloom, gripping on her elder sister's bloody shirt as if she would lose her too.
Applejack sighed heavily and stroked a hand through Apple Bloom's red hair. "Ah honestly don't know sugarcube, only time will tell." She said sadly. The mood between the two sisters was soon ruined by an elongated groan from behind them.
"Would somepony mind telling us what the hay is going on? And who was that guy? He looked like us but he certainly wasn't no pony." Whined a blue furred woman. Her eyes were a deep magenta and her scraggly hair and tail were filled with the colours of the rainbow. Her clothes sporting a black tank top shirt with matching demon shorts. Sprouting from her back were two, arm-length, blue wings. Wings that she was using to hover above the ground.
Next to the floating girl were four others, all girls as well. The oldest looking one wore a silk gown and a couple of bracelets, her curvy hair and tail were a deep shade of indigo contrasting her ocean blue eyes and snow white fur. On the left of her was a rather shy, yellow furred girl in demeanour. The long, wavy pink hair covering half of her saddened face and a tail of the same degree to match. Her clothing comprised of a long yellow sweater jumper that went down to her knees. Next to her was essentially her polar opposite: this girl was as hyper as a five-year-old who had their first cup of coffee. Her bubbly rosy hair and tail looked reminiscent to an Afro with bed hair and her clothes comprised of the same clothes Apple Bloom was wearing; blue overalls and a yellow shirt.
Right beside the flying tomboy however, was a another woman who had purple fur, a horn sprouting from her forehead and clothes similar to a school uniform: a short-sleeved shirt with a waistcoat, tie and a purple skirt. Looking to the flyer, she said, "Calm down Rainbow Dash, we all have questions that we want answered but I definitely can agree with you. He had the body structure of one of us but his body had barely any hair on it, his face was flat and he had no hooves. What exactly is he? Hmmm, maybe one of my books might have something. Maybe he's part of a completely new race to Equestria! I need to study him and then tell Princess Celestia about him and I'll be rewarded and-" her studious rant was interrupted by Applejack's hand forcibly closing her lips shut.
"Twahlight, calm down." She said bemusedly. "Alright you three, care to explain what happened in full detail? And Ah swear, if y'all lie to us, it won't be pretty." Said Applejack with a very stern tone, and being the Element of Honesty, she could tell when they were lying and that she was completely serious.
The three little fillies debated amongst each other, pointing fingers at who should go first. In favour of 2:1, Scootaloo went first. She was the one who came up with the idea of going to Zecora's in the first place. "We were trying to find out our cutiemarks again today after school, and I got the idea of potion brewing. So we all figured we should go to Zecora's and get her help with it since none of us actually knew how to make a potion. We were just about there when a pack of timberwolves showed up and surrounded us, we thought we were goners....but then he showed up. He just jumped out of the bushes and protected us by k-killing a timberwolf that pounced at us." She said shakily from the last sentence, the word 'kill' infiltrated and filled her tiny mind with explicit, bloody detailed images. Her orange body shivered from the thought.
"He killed a timberwolf?!" Yelled all the mares, all except the yellow mare who began to cry. The word 'kill' was a taboo to her among her friends, and now that she had heard herself that an animal, the creatures she loved most, was killed...it broke her heart. Twilight moved close to Fluttershy and embraced her lovingly, like an older sister. After a moment she looked back to the fillies and said "But that's impossible, timberwolves can't be killed, they just explode into sticks and even then they aren't truly dead. So how'd he do it?" She asked.
Scootaloo still looked uneasy, so Apple Bloom decided to take the reigns this time. "We don't know. He just cut its head off with his sword and it died, technically. After he did, he walked in front of us and said that he wouldn't let the rest o' the timberwolves hurt us and that'd they die by his blade if they tried unless they retreated."
"He was giving the timberwolves a chance to escape? Why?"
Apple Bloom just shrugged. "I dunno but them timberwolves didn't listen and transformed into one monster-sized timberwolf. It roared at us and blew us all away into some bushes but that guy flew into a tree. Next thing we know, his eyes were glowing and his sword was covered in blue fire. He said somethin' but I can't remember what he said."
"Beccata di Rondine." Answered Sweetie Belle
"Thanks." Said her friend, recieving a curt nod in response. "Anyway, after he said that, his arm was moving so fast Ah could barely see it and the sword in his hand just kept hitting the giant timberwolf again and again until it was completely covered in the same blue fire. We saw him stop his attack but it seemed like he was in pain after using it because he was grippin' his arm mighty tightly. After that, he walked up to the big ol' timberwolf's burnt body and apologised to it."
"First he gives them mercy and then he apologises for killing it? What's up with this guy, is he nuts or somethin'? And what's up with this blue fire they said he had?" Questioned a befuddled Applejack looking to her mare friends for any sort of answer.
"M-maybe he didn't want to fight them at all?" Said a quiet voice from the back of the group. Looking back, only to see Fluttershy with her face free from her past tears. Once all eyes were on her though, she shrunk away, attempting at hiding behind Twilight. "W-what I m-mean is that...e-even though he had a weapon and hurt those poor creatures, m-maybe he truly didn't want to do it. Why else would he apologise or give them a chance to leave?" She stuttered, creeping away from peering eyes more and more.
Rainbow just shot her old friend a look that said ‘you're not serious are you?’. "You're kidding right Flutters? Whoever or whatever that guy is, he killed those timberwolves. He's dangerous. He's probably some kind of spy from another country outside of Equestria." She said, cracking her furry knuckles.
"Y'all think everypony who you don't know is a spy Dash." Said an exasperated Applejack rolling her eyes. The elder Apple's words almost caused a brawl with Rainbow Dash within the confines of the hospital. Almost. All because the bubbly pink mare appeared in between the two to-be-fighters in a the blink of an eye surprising yet not surprising everybody in the room.
"Ooh, I'm so excited! A completely new pony who isn't a pony has arrived and get to throw him, or her, is it a him? I'm pretty sure it's a him by the way the body looked and by what Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle told us but maybe mares of his race have the same bodies? Either way, I get to throw it a 'WelcometoPonyvillethanksforsavingthecrusadersandsorryforgettingpoisonedalongtheway' party!!" She yelled happily, somehow managing all that in one breath, shooting streamers and confetti out of nowhere from her body.
"But Pinkie Pie, what if he..err, she-it doesn't like parties?" Said the purple mare.
"Doesn't like parties?! Never!"
"Hang on, Apple Bloom, did that thing ever give you its name?"
"Mmhmm, he said his name was Alex."
"His name is ‘Alex’? Now we know that that thing is definitely not a pony, because I've looked through all the history books and every census of Equestrian history and there has never been a name such as ‘Alex’. So it begs the most important question, who and what is he?"
Under the many machines trying to preserve my lifeless body, my mind and soul were elsewhere entirely. Deep within the farthest reaches of my being lied a vast landscape consisting of open skies and ever cumulative clouds of different sizes and shapes. In the middle of this outlandish landscape were two figures: myself, looking as fresh as an Apple in the market and my new mystery friend. I stare him down slightly so he doesn't notice until he opened his mouth and spoke first.
"I must say, I didn't expect to see you here this quickly." he said amused to a slight degree.
I ease my tension, I don't know why but while this guy is a complete stranger, I feel easy around him like I would with my friends. "Well I'm kind of poisoned at the moment and I need to sleep it off, or at least that's what the nurse said. I must say though, even though she isn't exactly human, that's one hot nurse." I jokingly said to him, to which we both shared a bit of a giggle.
"I can testify to that. So, I suppose you have questions for me?"
"No shit. Alright, first question: who the hell are you? Second question: where the bloody hell are we?"
"My creator and former master gave me the name Tengoku Terra." he said giving a small bow as he introduced himself. I thought that was possibly the strangest name I've ever heard aside from that redhead kid's name, one name is Japanese and the other is Latin.
Cocking my head slightly to my right, I fold my arms and ask: "Your name is 'Heaven Earth'?"
My spiritual friend simply nodded. "Correct, I am also the spirit of the blade you wield. As for where we are, this place is your inner world. An endless area where only we can converse together. I was even surprised by the form of your inner world, an open sky with no walls, no ceiling and no restrictions. Just like an aloof cloud." he said looking around, but he still smirked at me.
"Well I do enjoy my freedom just like anybody else, and clouds have more freedom than anything in the entire world. It's also quite ironic how I'm afraid of heights and yet here I am." I said, embarrassingly rubbing my neck.
"Valid point Alexander."
"Thank you, but we are getting off topic. Back in the forest, you said that you chose me to save the world. What does that even mean? What do I have to save an entire world for? I'm only sixteen, I should be in school with all of my friends and chilling at home with my mum and brother. Why have I been taken away from my families?!" I yelled sadly at him, tears beginning to brim in my eyes. I'm way too confused, I just want to know what's going on and why. Tengoku just looked away like he was ashamed of something and didn't say a word to me.
After a minute, he looked back at me, dead straight into my eyes. "I'm afraid I cannot answer that question. For the answer to that, you must seek out the sister princesses of this land. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." said Tengoku.
"Okay, but still, why did you choose me? What qualities do I possess like you said?"
"Like the zodiac sign of the ox, you are honest, patient, strong willed, a natural leader, cautious and your sense of justice is second to none. And like your spirit of the wolf, you are strong, quick, value friends and family above yourself, you're loyal, passionate and devoted. It is for these qualities that I have chosen you as the protector of this world and as my new master." Making a slow b-line towards me, Terra just began explaining his mystic things to me. I say mystic because no one has ever known this much about me, I didn't even know the things he just said until now. Next thing I know, he gets down on both of his knee and bows to me.
"Woahwoahwoahwoah! Back up. Master?" I asked confused.
"Yes, you are the second master of the blade of legend, and I was created to help and serve whoever wielded me."
I'm just baffled by this guy. First he helps me beat those wooden wolves and now he's calling me his master. All I can do is just scratch my head as I process this info. "Look, Tengoku, I'm not going to be your master, but I will be your friend, if that counts. Stuff like 'master' isn't me, I'm not cut out for it."
I thought I gave the most stupid answer in the world because all Terra just did was laugh. He didn't stop laughing for at least two minutes, I really must've said something stupid. "Ahh, there's another reason why I chose you Alexander. Your humility. You never see yourself as anyone higher, you just see yourself as yourself and nothing more. I'm glad I made the right choice."
"I can't guarantee that completely man. Now, where exactly are those two you mentioned? Those Celestia and Luna chicks?"
"Do you know that castle you saw upon your awakening?"
I put the pieces together and when they joined, I give my best 'are you kidding me?' face. "Really? They live there?"
"Yes."
"Why the hell would you build a castle on the side of a bloody mountain? Seriously, a few blocks of C4 and the whole place will fall to the ground." I said, giving off a few chuckles as to how stupid that plan was. Even my friend joined in. "Okay, another question. Well, two actually but they tie together. Where am I physically? Everyone I've seen so far look human but they aren't entirely, so where am I?" I asked.
"You are on the continent of Equestria, in a small country town called Ponyville I believe. You're a long way from home, I'm afraid. This world is inhabited by ponies, but there are also other races of ponies which are called pegasi and unicorns, like those two girls you saved today."
"We saved today. I could never have done that without your help man, I would've just been flailing the sword angrily without any actual skill. So if this place is inhabited by pegasi and unicorns, then what about that other girl who had neither and you who has both?"
"The race of ponies who have neither wings nor horns are called earth ponies and while it may seem a disadvantage for them, compared to unicorns who can use magic and pegasi who can fly and control the weather, earth ponies are more physically strong and have a strong connection to the earth itself. That is why it is common for earth ponies to be farmers and such. My race however, is extremely rare. I'm of a race of ponies called 'Alicorns', we are a mixture of all three pony races. The magic of a unicorn, the strength of an earth pony and the flight and agility of a pegasus. Everypony in my race are royalty. However, one can also become an alicorn and thus, royalty through a series of trials, and if he or she is worthy at the end of it all, then they are granted with all the aspects and abilities of an alicorn."
"Huh, sweet." Feels like being back at school again, only about magic and pony-human hybrids.
School...how I miss that place. For five years I dreaded that place, I didn't like school, only the people. The one place where I could see all my friends in one place. I hope everybody's okay. Heh, I bet they're running around like headless chooks right now.
"This is also a curse, being an alicorn." My sad daydreaming was instantly cut off and I looked to Terra, only to see his face looking even sadder than my own. "We alicorns, along with our strength and dexterity, are granted with immortality. We can never die. Celestia and Luna are the same as I, they too are alicorns and have lived for over a thousand years. I cannot begin to imagine how much pain they have gone through these many years because of their immortality. I am only a spirit, I cannot walk among mortals like yourself."
Immortality? That truly exists? My mind is racing just from trying to process this massive hurdle of knowledge. For a long time as a kid, I thought that the idea of living forever was awesome and amazing..but as I grew up, I figured out what it truly meant to be immortal: to sacrifice anything, everything and everybody you've ever know. Why someone would have that forced unto them since birth, I have no idea.
I struggle to find a response to the alicorn, but I find my words after scruff ing my hair. "To grow old, to live and see your friends and family make families of their own so that you can make memories with them for all the years to come. That's my viewpoint on living, and neither you nor those two princesses were given that option. I am so sorry you all had to live through that pain."
"Thank you Alex, you have made this old stallion feel at ease. Now, I would suggest you to get some sleep, we have to awake early if we wish to get to Canterlot."
I slowly nod to my new friend, and I let sleep take over both my mind and body, and let me say, that was the best sleep I've had in years. But there's one last thing I have to do before I truly fall asleep, I have one last message to give.
"Nurse Redheart!" Yelled a panicked Apple Bloom as she saw the trusted nurse. This mare was equally as tall as Applejack, standing at around six or seven hoofs tall with a white coat of fur and a light pink mane and tail. Her clothes were a standard dull white nurse's outfit and a small cap with the Red Cross emblem. "How is he? Is he gon' be okay? He didn't die, did he?" She asked hurriedly and scared, scared for not only her life but also her savior's.
The nurse just looked down and smiled warmly. "It's okay Apple Bloom, he's perfectly fine. His life is not in danger." She said joyously, but her face soon turned stone cold as she knelt down the little filly. "There is something I need to confirm with you though."
"Y-yes?" Said the nervous Apple, scared she was in trouble again.
"How long did it take you all to get out of the Everfree forest and how long he had been walking since the bite?" She asked.
Scootaloo chirped in after finally getting over her uneasiness. "About fifteen minutes at most to get out and he was walking for the whole time until the last minute or two. Why?"
Redheart's eyes widened to dinner plates for the slightest of moments before they were closed shut. "He's really strong willed if he can make fifteen minutes being poisoned by a timberwolf." She said, standing up tall once more.
"Why's that Nurse Redheart? Is something wrong?"
"Over the years, we've gotten quite a few incidents like this were ponies have gotten bitten by a timberwolf and we've found out that the poison shows in three different stages after the initial bite." Seeing a nod from Twilight and her friends, she continues her lecture, even the children who never pay attention did so. "The first stage is shortness of breath, the second is paralysation of the muscles where even twitching your fingers causes extreme pain, and the final stage is paralysation of the internal organs. Meaning as soon as one enters the third stage, they have approximately four minutes until their lungs and heart fail and they die. All this occurs in the span of two hours."
"That's fantastic knowledge for my studies but what does that have to do with that mysterious being?" Inquired the knowledgeable unicorn.
"The second stage begins only five minutes after the bite."
"Y-y-you mean that, he was in that much pain and yet he was walking around like nothing was wrong?!" Stammered a crying Sweetie Belle.
"Like I said, he has a strong will if he can pull off a feat like that. He must've not wanted you to worry about himself. If there was anything that could've pushed him through that torture, it was the will to live."
"That's right." Gasped Applejack, bringing her orange hand to her chin. "When Ah saw 'im wit' Apple Bloom and her friends, he grabbed me and said that he couldn't die. That musta been his will to live or somethin'."
The nurse nodded her head and agreed with the farm pony. "Now, the young colt is sleeping off the poison, so it'll be a while before he can be discharged. He should be awake in the morning though, you may come back and see him then." As the hoofsteps to the exit began to ring through the hall, the cream mare suddenly remembered an important detail. "Oh yes! I forgot. The colt left message for you all after the treatment." The walking immediately stopped and everypony's faces turned back to the medical mare. "He said, Do not blame those children for what's happened today. It's my own fault that I've turned out like this. So whoever those kids' families are, don't be too harsh on them, they're only young. And kids, don't worry about me. Stubborness runs in my genes and something like this won't keep me down. Who the hell do you think I am?"
And so, after smiling delightfully and thanking the nurse, everypony went back to their respective homes, but none got much sleep. They were all too caught up wondering about the mysterious being. Who was he? Where'd he come from? Why'd he save Apple Bloom and her friends? Is he dangerous or not? These questions plagued the minds of all of them, but none more so than Twilight Sparkle.
She indulged, nay, she revelled in her studies. It is her belief that she had to know everything that the world had to offer and then some. Now that an entirely new being has arrived in Equestria, she absolutely needed to know everything about him and where he was from. It was very hard to get her to leave the hospital. She kept on wailing "But what if he wakes up? I need to research him!". It took the strength of both Rainbow Dash and Applejack to literally drag her out of the hospital, it was actually quite funny how she acted like such a petulant child despite her usual maturity.
Finally, after many hours of tossing and turning in a reluctant sleep, morning came. The rays of the sun casting a gentle warmth over the people of Equestria, signalling a brand new day to feel refreshed and ready. Well, for most anyway. Everypony that went to the hospital in retrospect of seeing the new being from the day before, had dark rings under their eyes. Even Rarity, and while she couldn't really care about a mysterious pony who killed timberwolves all on his own, he saved her little sister. That's all that reasoned her to want to thank him and find out about him.
"Hey nurse Redheart. We're here to see the feller from yesterday, is he awake?" Beamed a happy but sleepy Apple Bloom, thanking Celestia it was the weekend and not a school day.
The pristine-white mare looked away from the group and adorned a sad look on her face. "About that, he's missing." She admitted.
"Missing?!" Yelled everypony in full synchronisation. At once, they all ran to the room that held, or once held their mystery friend, led by nurse Redheart (as none of them knew where he was being kept). Their journey reached them to the far west corner of the second floor and their eyes baffled them. What they saw was the nearby window open wide with the sheets of the patient's beds tied to one corner of said bed leading all the way outside the window, falling down to the ground. It was like a prison escape move.
"Spike, take a letter." Said a determined and stern Twilight Sparkle to her foalhood friend. Not even giving a word of reply, the young drake pulled a quill and parchment out of nowhere, ready to record his sister's words.
Dear Princess Celestia, as I have told you from my last letter, Apple Bloom and her friends, the Cutiemark Crusaders were wandering across the Everfree Forest and came across a new, mysterious being to Equestria that went by the name of ‘Alex’. This morning, when we came to the hospital to check up on him and learn about him, he was gone.
It appears that in the early hours of the morning, he had climbed out of his window and run away. Taking into account that this being had defeated and killed not only one timberwolf but a large, alpha timberwolf, which is capable of running Ponyville to the ground alone, we have deemed him dangerous and a very possible threat to Equestria. With this new information of his disappearance, we have no idea what his intentions are nor where he was heading, it is very possible of my statement becoming a reality.
I hope this information serves you well, and alert me of his whereabouts immediately when you have found him and my we, the Elements of Harmony will deal with him. Please be careful.
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.
Andjust like that, Spike the dragon rolled up the paper, tied a red ribbon on it and in a plume of emerald fire, sent its ashes to Canterlot where it would be restored and read by the princess.
"I just hope he's alright."
"Why're you worrying about him Red?" Inquired Rainbow, hovering next to her.
"Because he's still severely injured. The poison should have left his body just fine during the night but his body would still be in pain and needs more rest, especially his left arm." The white-dressed mare suddenly gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.
"What's wrong with his arm?" Asked Rarity, arching her eyebrow at the other white mare. "Miss Redheart, is there something you aren't telling us?"
Sighing in defeat, Nurse Redheart sat down at the bedside chair and put her hands in her mane, looking down at the ground and away from prying eyes. "I didn't want to tell you because it was shocking even to myself. His left arm, all the way from his wrist to his left pectoral and shoulder, his muscles and ligaments have stretched out to their maximum limit. If that technique he used was the cause of it then if he had used it for even three seconds longer," by now, tears had welled up and began to stain her cheeks without stopping. "all his muscles and ligaments would have been ripped apart. He would never have been able to use his left arm again. In all of my years as a nurse, this is the worst thing I've seen done to a colt so young, he's probably only as old as you girls, if not younger."
"S-so you mean, because he protected us, he will never be able to use his arm ever again?" Cried a saddened Apple Bloom, her friends distraught from the same guilt. But before any of their elders could comfort or ease them, Spike belched loudly and exuded a puff of smoke which reformed into a scroll. The princess had replied.
Twilight grabbed the scroll and began to read from it, clearing her throat in the process. "I thank you Twilight for bringing this information to my attention, however I'm sorry to say that it is un-needed. I say this because..." her words trailed off as what she read shocked and feared her, her eyes shrinking to pins.
"Because what? What's wrong dear, what did the princess say?" Asked a distressed Rarity, concerned why her friend just suddenly stopped reading.
"Because the young colt you speak of is with my sister and I right now."
Meanwhile, in the throne room of Canterlot Castle, the Royal Sisters were sitting right next to each other with slightly playful expressions and down on the ground sitting cross-legged was me, a happy-go-lucky look adorning my facial features too.
The larger, cream white woman on my left, looked back to me after sending a scroll, I think, to somebody else. "Forgive me young one, my student sent a letter concerning you, your disappearance and the threat you could possess to my little ponies." She told me.
"Nah it's alright, I have no right to stop you from writing to her. Preeetty sure I could be sent to jail if I did so anyway." I say jokingly, eliciting a giggle from both my watchers. "It's understandable actually. I did just leave like that without telling them anything about myself, plus like that letter she sent to you before, I also took out those timberwolves. So her unease is justified."
"You're very polite and understanding, aren't you?" Said the woman on my right, who I could only hazard a guess was Princess Luna. If her royal blue coat, navy blue dress and flowing night-like mane was anything to go by.
"Well that's because I was raised that way ma'am. Now," in the span of a second, I go from happy to deadly serious, like I'm extremely angry. "tell me about this destiny I'm supposed to be a part of. I want to know why I've been taken away from my world, and more importantly, my family and friends. It had better be good too, because if you think timberwolves are dangerous, you've never met a pissed-off human before." I said threateningly, poking an inch of my blade out from the guard with my thumb.
