For those who are familiar with the town of Ponyville, they would immediately know that it did not consist of buildings floating on chunks of land, some of them spinning around crazily, and torrents of long-legged rabbits and ballet dancing bulls roaming about. What was at least somewhat normal was seeing six ponies adorned with the Elements of Harmony rushing up to the source of this chaos, Discord. Twilight Sparkle and her friends have managed to remember the true meaning of their friendship and roles, and were determined to stop Discord and return Equestria into its normal state of harmony. Discord thought their second attempt to use the Elements was a bit boring, but arrogantly just stood there and gave the mares the chance they needed. By the time he realized his mistake, it was too late as the multispectral beam had hit him. It was at this point his mind went into overdrive.
“These ponies are more formidable than I thought. It’s sad that I thought it was pretty funny they wanted to try their precious Elements again; still do too. But I can’t let them get away with this. I just need one spark…”, Discord thought to himself.
Discord already felt his legs and tail encased in stone, and the spell was rapidly rising up his body. His hands also look petrified, but his chaotic powers were still present enough for just one move. “Come on; just one spark”, he mumbled under his breath. As the petrification reached his head, his chaotic powers answered the moment Discord was completely trapped in stone. His lion paw fingers snapped…
and not one pony noticed.
Chapter 1
It has been four days since the defeat of Discord, and all life has returned to normal in Ponyville. The Apple family returned to tending their apple fields. Fluttershy was comforting the animals affected by Discord’s chaos. Twilight Sparkle was rearranging her library. Rainbow Dash was back to her lazy and stunt flying routines. Pinkie Pie was just as happy as ever making ponies smile and helping run Sugar Cube Corner. Finally, Rarity was simply going about her day in making new fashions, and help repair and maintain suits and dresses for other ponies. However, it’s what was happening outside the town’s limits that would be changing that very soon.
Deep in the Everfree Forest, thunderstorms were known to be created over the trees by themselves, but were still an uncommon-to-rare occurrence. This day was one such occurrence, but the oddest thing about this storm was that there was no rain falling from it. It was just a conglomeration of black clouds spiralling in place, and spouting out at least ten lightning bolts per second. The lightning was steadily getting worse, until it all suddenly stopped. Five seconds later, one single, outlandishly large lightning bolt arced straight down to the ground, striking with so much force that it caused the grass and trees inside a one hundred foot radius to be blown away into the surrounding forest. When the lightning bolt finally disappeared, a jet black pegasus pony with long black-bordered blue hair in both its mane and tail laid unconscious in the middle of the scorched ground. Its breathing was ragged, but regular as its eyes fluttered open. The first sensation it felt was pain all over its body. It felt like every part of its body was trying to regain feeling, only it hurt more than ten times as much. After waiting for the pain to die down, it slowly sat up on its haunches as it spoke in a middle-pitched voice similar to some young stallions from Ponyville.
“W-what? Where am I? Why do I hurt so much,” he said to himself.
Slowly looking around, he realized that he no idea where he was, just before he realized that he doesn’t even know who he is. As the pain continued to subside, he got up onto all four legs by instinct, and slowly started to learn on how to move. Continuing to talk to himself as he tried to move around, it helped calm him down from his previous slightly panicked state. Looking at himself didn’t help much with that matter though.
“Let’s see: it looks like I’m covered in light black fur, I have four legs with hooves (though I can’t see them as they look like they’re covered in fur also), I have wings between my back and shoulders (they look pretty big too), my hair… or mane seems to keep getting in my eyes, and my tail is just barely touching the ground. Ugh; I really wish I knew who I am, and if I looked this way my whole life,” he said as he inspected his body.
It was this point where he could smell what seemed to be water coming from his left. Having enough strength and courage to begin trotting, he moved out of the scorched clearing to find the source of the water. He came across a small lake, where it was surrounded by trees, but had let enough sunlight in to see reflections in the water clearly. As he stepped to the edge of the water and looked down, he could see that his face was somewhat small and looked to be a balance of masculine and feminine features, but with an edge to the feminine look. With that, his round royal blue eyes took in as he turned his head every which way to see how he looked in different angles. He also noticed that he was wearing a silver dogtag, with four small rounded stones of onyx on each corner and one in the center of an eight-armed compass star. The backside of it looked abrasive and uneven, as if half of the dogtag was missing. His attention focused on his reflection, he never noticed what was coming up behind him.
“Look at this, boys. A little pony has lost their way.”
The pony quickly looked behind him to see three dragons around six to seven feet tall standing on their hind legs. The lead dragon had red scales and amber eyes, while the other two were green and dark gray respectfully with green eyes for both of them. They quickly surrounded the pony since he was caught off guard. The pony wasn’t panicking, but he did feel the malicious intent emanating from these dragons.
“Maybe we should help him find his way home,” the green dragon said.
“Help him? I’d say leave him here for the manticores to eat him,” the gray dragon said.
“I’ve got a better idea, guys,” the red dragon stated.
Without any further warning, Red tailwhipped the pony as hard as he could, sending the pony flying across the lake, skipping on the water twice before crashing into a tree. Hurt but not feeling anything broken, the pony slowly stood up on his feet again. The moment he saw the dragons flying after him, he attempted to run away.
“Where do you think you’re going,” Gray taunted as he intercepted the pony.
The pony attempted to run in another direction only to be cut off again.
“Surprise,” Green said before trying to swipe his claws.
The pony ducked in time, panic setting in and adrenaline pumping, while trying to run away again. Red cut him off, but let out a jet of flame instead of taunting the pony. The pony barely jumped out of the way, only being slightly singed from the heat.
“Nowhere to run, pony,” Red said.
“Why are you doing this? Why are you attacking me,” the pony asked in desperation.
“Because we have nothing better to do,” Green said.
“And you were in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Gray said.
“Please… just leave me alone,” the pony begged.
Red punched the pony in response, sending him flying into a set of bushes a few feet away.
“Leave me alone,” the pony begged again, but with his voice sounding darker.
“I think not. After your princess had her little favorite ponies force my father out of his cave last year, I’ve been aching for some payback, and you just volunteered,” Red stated while walking up to the pony.
Just as Red was about to swipe his claws across his target, his paw was suddenly blown back by a lightning bolt that didn’t come from the sky. As he clutched his paw in pain, he looked at the pony who was getting up again, but was now covered in cackling electricity, and his eyes were glowing blue.
“I said… Leave. Me. ALONE!”
At that moment, all three dragons were blown into the sky by a shockwave that electrocuted them as well. Before they could react, the pony blasted up into the air at a speed more than fast enough to cause a sonic rainboom filled with black clouds and lightning. His resulting speed caused his body to be enveloped in bright blue light with it trailing about fifty feet behind him. The dragons attempted to pursue, but the pony attacked first, ramming them each into the sides while showing no signs of slowing down. With the dragons being a bit resilient to attacks, they manage to recover and attempt to counterattack the pony with their flames while flying as fast as they can. Unfortunately for them, the pony was still too fast for them to land even a glancing hit, while the pony continued to ram them at supersonic speed. All this time, another large thunderstorm began forming out of nowhere, and was growing bigger by the second.
In the meantime in Ponyville, the pony residents were going about their lives and being merry, until a storm-filled sonic rainboom shockwave passed over the town, shaking the ground beneath them and giving off a sound louder and fiercer than the ones Rainbow Dash usually makes. As the ponies start to panic, they also hear the quieter booms in the distance over the Everfree Forest starting to get louder. Rainbow Dash, who was napping on a cloud before she was woken up by the rainboom, was the first to see the rapidly growing thunder cloud starting to move their way, while what looked to be a shining blue star was streaking all over the sky, and was hitting three dots that were growing bigger and spewing fire. Before she could say anything, she heard Twilight yelling to the crowd of panicking and scared-stiff ponies to return to their homes immediately. She knew as well as Rainbow that whatever that was in the distance was coming fast. It didn’t take long for a dragon to swoop in over her head. As the dragon passed by, it was sheer luck that Rainbow was able to notice the panicked look on his face.
The dragons realized their mistake far too late to hopefully correct it. They were now on the run from what they thought was an easy target. At first, it didn’t seem like they were flying in a set direction, but now they were determined to head to the closest settlement. That being Ponyville, they hoped to use the town as cover and, hopefully, a means to escape. Meanwhile, the pony, in a blind rage, decided that he wanted to end this now. Using a complex maneuver, he struck all three dragons from behind, causing them to fall into the middle of Town Square. The storm quickly caught up with him, spiralling overhead, as the pony slammed down to the ground, his four feet creating a boom of thunder resonating through the town. In a final fit of rage, the pony reared back while breathing deeply, his wings extended up and covered in lightning arcs, before slamming down again and letting out a massive roar. At the same time, more than thirty bolts of lightning slammed down around the dragons, surrounding them each while not actually striking them. It was at that point where the red dragon finally yelled their defeat.
“We’re SORRY, OKAY!? Please, we didn’t mean to attack you like that. We were stupid, and we just want to go home. PLEASE; WE’RE VERY SORRY,” Red begged at the top of his lungs.
To their luck, the lightning bolts died off, and the pony was standing there with his eyes still glowing, but the electricity no longer arcing.
“Then please leave me alone,” the pony stated in his still dark voice.
The dragons immediately nodded and flew off as quickly as they could. All of the ponies watching through their windows then focused on the pony standing alone. Rainbow Dash, hiding behind a cloud, watched the pony as the dragons flew off and the storm dissipated. She may have been one of the bravest ponies in Ponyville, but she knew when and when not to get involved in certain situations, and this pony was no joke. She carefully flew down and landed behind him while other ponies started coming out of their homes. The pony at the center of attention started breathing heavily as his eyes started to fade and flicker. After attempting to step forward in support, he collapsed on the ground. It was then when a flash lit up on his flank.
Author's Note
This is my first attempt in writing after years of burnout. I also had the idea of this story floating around in my head ever since I watched Season 2 of MLP: Friendship is Magic. I have read a couple of stories where it seem my main character either looks similar to them, or has the same ability as they do. I wish to state that I mean no infringement on their work, and that my character design similarities are just coincidence. In any case, my idea did call for this to be a long story, so we'll see if I can find my drive for writing again.
I used this as inspiration, as well as background music, for the fight scene against the dragons:
Music would start when the red dragon says "Nowhere to run, pony." Drop occurs the moment the pony blasts up into the air just after creating the shockwave.
Chapter 2
Rainbow Dash was the first pony to recover from witnessing the situation. She flew over to the collapsed pony’s body to make sure he was alright. After checking his breathing, it sounded to her that he just passed out from exhaustion. It was then she noticed his cutie-mark, which had just appeared the moment he collapsed. It was two blue lightning bolts crossed over each other like an ‘X’, somewhat reminding her of her own cutie-mark. Twilight managed to recover from her shock soon after, and started to help everypony else snap out of it.
“Listen up, everypony. I need you all to return to what you were all doing before this happened. Everything will be fine now,” Twilight stated to the crowd.
Mayor Mare, knowing Twilight and her friends were capable of handling this now, also insisted that everypony would let them be. As soon as the Mayor was gone, Twilight had Spike write an emergency letter to Princess Celestia, respectfully requesting her presence at once. As Spike ran off, the girls saw the mysterious pony up close.
“The poor thing,” Rarity said. “He looks like he was bullied by those mean dragons before arriving here.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Rainbow Dash said. “Look at these bruises. I don’t think those dragons were holding back.”
“But he did a super-duper job in scaring them off,” Pinkie Pie said in her usual happy tone.
“Well it sure wasn’t from his looks, sugarcube,” Applejack replied. “Has anypony else noticed that he looks kind of mare-ish for a stallion?”
“Umm, you don’t suppose that’s why those d-dragons attacked him, do you,” Fluttershy asked.
“I’m sure we can get some answers from him after he wakes up,” Twilight said, levitating over a makeshift stretcher. “In the meantime, let’s get him over to the library so he can rest before the Princess gets here.”
All the other girls nodded as Twilight gently levitated the pony’s body onto the stretcher, where she and Rarity held them both in their magical grasps as they all headed toward Twilight’s home. As they arrived, Spike mentioned that he just sent out the letter, but there has been no word yet. Just then, he belched out a green flame, producing a royal sealed scroll which he promptly opened.
“My Faithful Student,
I already know of the situation at hand, and I have already started making preparations to meet up with you at the library. I’m sure you will have everything ready for my arrival. Please note that I wish to keep the contents of this meeting between ourselves and your friends.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia,” Spike reading the letter out loud.
As the unicorns helped the pony into the guest room, the others helped clean up the main room before the Princess’s arrival. It fortunately didn’t take long, as a flash of light just outside the front door had signaled Princess Celestia’s arrival. Twilight immediately opened the door to let her in as everypony else bowed in her presence.
“Greetings, everypony. It is wonderful to see you all again,” Princess Celestia said warmly, beckoning them all to stand back up.
“It’s our pleasure, Princess. Thank you for seeing us on such short notice,” Twilight said.
“It’s no trouble, my faithful student. I’m quite curious to learn about this new pony myself. I do hope he will answer our questions without feeling threatened,” Celestia said.
“Yeah, about that…,” Rainbow started before explaining what she saw.
Darkness. There was darkness everywhere. He could feel the pressure in his ears, the heat on his fur, and smell the smoke in the air. It was all overwhelming and choking him as he started to see a dark red glow in front of him. As the glow got brighter, it began to take shape. However, before any shape could be recognized, a bright red and orange flash exploded and engulfed him. There was pain, and yet there wasn’t.
The pony snapped awake, sitting up in a bed and panting aloud. It was just a dream, though it felt so real. Calming down a bit as he filled his lungs with fresh clean air, he lays back down on the bed to further relax as he slowly takes in the room around him. He sees books on shelves built into the walls everywhere, suggesting that he was in a library of some sort. He also notices a few lamps, dressers, floor pillows, and a full size mirror. Slowly getting out of bed after pulling the sheet off of him, he walks to the mirror, curious to see what he looks like in the better reflection.
As he looks at himself, he notices that his mane is actually mainly black with a thick blue stripe running through it. He also noticed that his bangs have been trimmed up a little bit so they would still hang over his right eye, without them curling up, or blocking his view. The back of it is mainly untouched, but it has been all tied together into a ponytail hanging over his right shoulder by a black hair cord, with the ends up front and decorated with onyx, sapphire, and pearl beads. He could also see the bruises on his body, though both the bruises and the pain have been reduced significantly. As he turned to see his sides, he could see an unusual mark on his flank partially hidden under his wing. A quick look on his other side reveals the same thing. Before he could contemplate what was going on, he heard voices coming from the other side of the closed door. As he walked towards it, the door slowly opened to reveal Twilight and Celestia.
“Hello, my little pony,” Celestia greeted. “Please don’t be alarmed as I wish no harm to you. My name is Princess Celestia, and this is my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. What is your name?”
The pony was almost intimidated by the tall and regal appearance of the Princess, but had regained composure in a moment.
“I… I don’t have a name,” the pony answered, still visibly tense.
“You don’t have a name,” Twilight asked. “Do you remember where you came from?”
“No,” the pony answered.
“Your parents,” Twilight asked again. The pony just shook his head again.
“Twilight, it seems our friend here happens to have some form of amnesia. We must try to see what he does know, if that is okay with you,” Celestia said, directing the last part to the new pony.
“Uhh… Yeah, I suppose I’d be okay with that,” the pony answered.
“Okay, your highness,” Twilight said, before redirecting her attention back to the pony. “Can you tell us where you are?”
“I’d say I’m in a library, though I don’t know of many libraries with guest bedrooms,” the pony answered.
“This is also my home,” Twilight stated. “This room is helpful in case I have guests staying here.”
“I see,” the pony said. “I suppose that makes sense.”
“Can you tell us the first thing you remember,” Celestia asked.
“I remember waking up in a forest, I think. The area I was in had scorched ground and what looked to be blown back trees. It was all around me, and I was in the center of it. When I tried to think about where I was, I realized that I couldn’t remember where I was at, or even who I was for that matter. Right now, I have learned that I am something called a pony, but I somehow think that there’s another name for those who have wings.”
“Yes, you are correct,” Celestia stated. “You are what we call a Pegasus, while Twilight here happens to be a Unicorn. There are also ponies who have neither wings, nor horns, and we call them Earth ponies.”
“Well, I remember that I supposedly smelled water in one direction. When I found it, I looked at my reflection to see what I look like… when…,” the pony said, tensing up as he remembered the encounter.
“I know it is a hard memory, but can you please tell us about the dragons,” Celestia asked.
The pony didn’t answer at first as he closed his eyes in pain, his breathing becoming more rapid.
“I was scared, but I thought that they may be friendly,” the pony said shakingly. “Only they weren’t at all. I just wanted to get away. I wanted them to leave me alone. But they wouldn’t. They hit me. I just wanted them to stop.”
Celestia enveloped the pony in a hug as his eyes were leaking tears, his body was shaking, and his wings were slightly unfurled and crackling electricity. The Princess held him warmly as he cried under her wing, letting the tension melt away from his body. Twilight stood there with a sad look waiting for the Princess to let him go, so she could give him one of her own. The same thing went with other girls, who at that time had entered the room. After a minute, the pony calmed down enough to where Celestia stepped back to let the others embrace him. Everypony else all hugged him at once, with Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy being the first to reach him. The pony figured that Celestia was giving him a shoulder to cry on, but was confused as to why these other ponies would give him a hug, when neither they nor he know who he is.
“Why,” the pony tried to ask.
“Because you’re our new friend, silly,” Pinkie Pie stated, as if she knew what he was about to ask.
“But-,” the pony again started.
“Ah ah. No ‘buts’, darling,” Rarity interrupted. “If anypony needs a friend right now, it’s you.”
Everypony continued to hug him as he finally relaxed his body, some more tears leaking out of his eyes. After a moment, they let him go so he could compose himself.
“Thank you,” the pony stated. “I only hope that I don’t disappoint you.”
“Nonsense, darling,” Rarity answered.
“Yeah. You’re a way more awesome pony compared to those stupid dragons,” Rainbow Dash stated.
“Darn tootin,” Applejack agreed.
“Well, it seems that everything is now in good hooves here,” Celestia stated. “I would like our new friend to join me and my sister up in Canterlot within a few days to help him learn about Equestria. Until then, there is the remaining business of giving him a new name. I’m sure he would greatly appreciate it.”
“Ooh! Ooh! I know. How about Night Light,” Pinkie suggested.
“Night Light!? How about Lightning Speed,” Rainbow suggested.
“Starfall Darkfyre,” Twilight suggested.
“An unusual, but quite excellent suggestion, Twilight,” Celestia said. “What do you think, dear friend.”
The pony thought for a moment before making his decision.
“I actually like Twilight’s suggestion the most. Starfall Darkfyre it is,” the newly named Starfall answered.
“Wonderful,” Celestia said. “I’ll have Twilight send me word when you feel you are ready to come to Canterlot. In the meantime, feel free to learn all about Ponyville with your new friends.”
“Thank you, your highness,” Starfall said while bowing to the Princess.
“You are very welcome, Starfall,” Celestia replied back while beginning to glow. “I will see you all again soon.”
With that, Celestia had teleported back to Canterlot. Starfall had a feeling that he was in for a long set of days, but it all seemed to looking up. For now, that is perfectly fine with him.
Author's Note
For those wanting to know what Starfall's cutie-mark looks like, see my Author's picture. I'm sure the other ponies have questions for him, but those can wait until next chapter. Thanks for reading.
