An Explosive Journey

Canterlot Castle - Always so quiet, so peaceful. Though the guards were decked out in serious heavy armor, and also equipped with spears, there was almost absolutely no reason for them to be there on duty, save for when it was actually needed, so here they were, just in case. Though most thought that this was just another boring day at the castle, with nothing much to do except for stand on guard for nearly 12 hours straight (yes, they take shifts), there were a couple that knew better. Standing just outside of Celestia and Luna's throne room, both Altemir and Garland felt that something was off...

Royal Guard Altemir, Outside Throne Room

'It's a little too quiet today for it to be normal, even if it's a little boring.' I sigh, probably the twentieth time already, even though it's not even three hours into our shift.

"Keep a sharp mind, Altemir, something's up; I feel a disturbance." This pony, always so philosophical.

"I guess you could say that we both feel there is something on the way, but what could it be?"

Not one second after I finish the question, there's a flash, which usually means that a unicorn, or something that can perform magic, has teleported; but nopony's magic is strong enough to get this close to the throne room. The only pony that I know of would be Twilight, but that isn't who's here this time. Both Garland and I are shocked at the mint green pony, but then we see that she isn't alone. Some unknown creature is with her. Probably forced her to take it here. For all we know, it could be here to try and take on the Princesses.

It sees us, puts its arms up, and opens its mouth. Both Garland and I know better, and charge at it. No sooner than this, the creature jumps away from the pony, and looks at us head on, in a stance that just screams 'come at me, bro.'

"So, it's a fight you want, huh? Well then, I shall fulfill your death wish."

The creature stays in its stance, and we get ready to charge at it, spears at the ready. Running towards it, the beast doesn't even flinch; instead, as we get within reach of the beast, it moves slightly to the left, and with one swift motion breaks both our spears in half, and they both fly down the hallway.

Of all the times to not be a unicorn, it had to be today... Garland runs towards the beast again, though without a spear. He then gets up on his hind legs with ease, and tries to fight it with hoof-to-hoof combat. This doesn't prove to be effective though. Every hit that Garland tries to land, is successfully countered with a counter-hit and leg, err arm, I guess, block. Not wanting this fight to continue on forever, I jump back into the foray; the creature, very surprisingly, is able to hold the both of us off. I look back for a quick second to the mint green unicorn, who is currently standing at a safe distance, with wide eyes. This proves to be a dumb move on my part, as the creature then uses the momentum from on of Garland's punches to throw him into me. We're both knocked out...

Celestia, Throne Room

I was just about to return to my throne with a good book to pass the day along, when I hear a sound that I haven't heard in ages - the Royal Guard's spears being unsheathed. This catches my attention, as well as my curiosity. The guards haven't had a need to use their spears in, well, centuries. A fight has broken out with two of my best guards, and it sounds as if there is only one that they are fighting with. The charging and evading continues for a couple minutes, until one of the times that the guards charge at the threat, their spears are broken. The spears fly down the hallway, and then to my surprise, only one of the guards initiate hoof combat. They say that curiosity killed the cat, but for some reason, I feel compelled to open the door a crack, and check out what is going on within my palace. To my surprise, it is a creature that I have only seen since Discord's 'experiments', and he, by the looks of it, is able to hold off two of my best guards in hoof combat. I quietly step out the door, and instantly get spotted by Lyra, one of Twilight's classmates from her classes in Canterlot, though she doesn't say anything.

The fight goes on for a while longer; studying how the creature is fighting, it seems that he doesn't really want to hurt the guards, which is suggested by his defensive counters, and use of momentum from other attacks. Speaking of which, both of the guards have been knocked out, by having one thrown into the other; looks like he really didn't want to fight from the beginning.

I then walk towards the creature, and he looks up at me, then down to the guards. A single tear drops down his face, and then he speaks, not in his own language, but surprisingly, in Equestrian.

"Though I didn't want it to come to violence, the guards left me no choice; I couldn't have ended the fight without knocking them both unconcious, and I doubt there won't be any legal repercussions for assaulting a royal guard, even if it was in defense due to being unprovoked. I guess everything here isn't just sunshine and cupcakes."

I stand there and think about what has happened within the last ten minutes, and then I motion for both Lyra and the creature to come in to the throne room. Lyra looks as if she doesn't know what to do, and the creature that she brought with her just looked forward, probably thinking that I'm actually going to pass judgement on him for defending himself against an unprovoked attack. The silence in the room is stifling, none of us knowing where to begin. Finally, after a couple of minutes of pure, agonizing silence, the creature then comes up closer to me in my throne, kneels down, and starts to speak.

"Celestia," How did he know my name? Wait, never mind, it doesn't really matter right now. "I would like to apologize for my conduct earlier when dealing with the situation about the guards," he takes a moment to collect his thoughts, thinking he's walking on eggshells… "but they could also learn to be a little bit less prejudice." I retract that earlier statement... "I don't know if you know of my race, or it's past, but I have come here to ask something of you. I wish to become a citizen of this fine country." A little good diplomacy never hurt anypony, I might as well grant him citizenship.

"I may grant you citizenship of Equestria, though the mentioning of your race's past does intrigue me."

"If you would like to know, then I think it would be better if you read my mind and my memories, as I don't feel that I can talk about them without stammering or rambling on."

"How do you know that I can do that kind of magic?"

"I didn't, I just simply made an assumption that you can, seeing you are probably one of the most powerful magic users in all of Equestria."

I think about what he has just said for a minute or two, before coming upon a conclusion.

"Alright, let us venture into your mind then."

Nova, Throne Room, 2:23pm, unknown date

"Alright, let us venture into your mind then." Is she serious? She's really going to check out my memories and stuff? I don't know whether to think 'Oh cool, she's gonna see into my mind', or to fear for my life. I am so confused right now.

Suddenly, Celestia's horn started glowing, and then both her and I are surrounded in a white aura of magic. We stay floating a foot or two off of the ground for a few seconds, and then the aura dissipates. I don't know whether she's done already, or if she's just started. I then hear something very surprising within my mind...

'No, I haven't even started sifting through your memories yet.' Wait, she can hear my thoughts?

'Yes, I can hear you thinking. Now, let us begin.' Wait, before that, I have something to say. Try to keep an open mind the entire time, my life isn't exactly sugar coated goodness.

'I shall keep that in mind. Now, let us begin.'

With that, Celestia begins to sift through my memories; everything, from birth, to this moment. There's even some memories brought up that I thought have been forgotten. My third birthday, I receive a set of toy cars. Then there's the one time that my only sister gets into a car accident, with me in the back seat. She doesn't make it. I sit there in front of Celestia, as tears start to roll down my cheeks. The next memory that catches her eye, is the day that my mom and dad had gotten into a bad fight. They thought that I couldn't hear them, but I did. That is also the day that he had left my mother and I.

Next up was when I had just graduated high school; There I sit at my computer desk, and begin to search for jobs. I land on a company that's just starting out, and they needed people on their security division. I apply by changing their homepage, and replace it with my resume. They hired me within minutes. This didn't seem to bother Celestia, as I notice that she hasn't made any movements to show that she is surprised by anything.

Then, the moment I feared came up, the day that one of my few friends had introduced me to My Little Pony. Celestia seemed very interested in this, and dug through what I had seen of the show, my thoughts on it, the numerous songs that have been inspired by the show that I had listened to, everything. This was the most agonizing part of the whole ordeal. After she was done going through that, she then moved on to my mundane life. The day that my dad showed up in the neighborhood while I was on my way home, my boss firing me, and so on. What also seemed to catch her interest, was when I picked up producing music. She saw my first failed attempts, and the bunch of days where I slowly got better, and finally, when I got noticed by one of the managers for Club MIA. Then came the fateful time that I had been transported to Equestria. Celestia looked somewhat surprised when she saw how I had come here, but then was even more surprised, as she found out how I learned to read and, possibly, write Equestrian. She also made note of the strange surge I felt as I arrived.

Feeling she has had enough, Celestia then left my mind. I felt a wave of relief from that, though I still felt uneasy, as she just sat there, on her throne, staring at me with a blank expression. She then began to speak.

"I now see why you have told me to keep an open mind, though you do not seem threatening to the general population. I shall grant you citizenship within Ponyville." Seriously, this pony is a goddess... Oh, wait, she quite literally is one... hehe.

"Thank you so much Celestia, though there is one concern left: housing. I don't want to be leeching off of somepony."

At this comment, Lyra decided it time to jump back into the conversation. "No really Nova, it's fine, you can stay at my place. You did help me out after all. I won't be bothered if you stayed with me."

"Lyra, although I would accept your gracious offer, I can not accept it. No offense, but your house is quite small, I don't know if it would work out."

This time it was Celestia's turn to butt into the conversational tennis that was taking place. "I am sorry to interrupt, but there are a couple of things that I must talk with Nova about, before he leaves for Ponyville. Lyra, I would like to speak with him alone, if it's alright with you." To this, Lyra nodded, and then teleported back to her home.

"Now then, Nova, where to begin..." Crap, nothing good ever comes out of the situation if the one that is in control of the situation trails off like that.

"I guess this would be about that feeling I got when I first arrived here, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. You see, what you felt, was your body's realization that you can in fact, use magic. Your magic however, is different than most; your magic is powerful; and it feels familiar, as if you contain a spark. It is an element that enables the use of world-altering magic. Some ponies used to call it Chaos Magic, though it is actually True Magic. The magic that unicorns use on a daily basis is fairly limited in terms of power; granted that there are some powerful magic users, it still pales in comparison to true magic. Keep a disciplined mind when working with it, or things might go out of control very fast."

I walk up to Celestia's throne, and give her a quick hug. [come on, who wouldn't?] "Thank you Celestia, for giving me a chance, even though I kinda did beat up your two best guards. Oh, speaking of which, I think it would be best if you let them know that I'm not hostile. I don't want to be attacked if I decide to come visit again."

"I will do that. Now then, I will teleport you back to Lyra's, so you can get things unpacked and get acquainted with some of Ponyville's residents. Off you go Nova."

"See you later Celestia." And with that, Celestia's horn started glowing, and then I was transported back to Lyra's home. This time however, it didn't look all dark and gloomy.

Lyra, home

'That whole ordeal at the castle was just way too much for me to handle. Sure, I thought about the guards not taking a liking to Nova, but I didn't think that they would just attack him on sight. Then there's the fact that the princess was just standing there halfway through the fight, not doing anything. She could have broken up the fight in a matter of seconds, but she didn't. For whatever reason, she just stood there, as if she were studying Nova and his fighting style. Oh well, at least I now have someone staying with me, instead of this place feeling so lonely and empty all the time. Guess I should clean up a bit before Celestia sends Nova back here.'

With that, Lyra had begun to clean her entire home. Starting with the kitchen, she swept the wooden floor, washed all of the counters, and made sure all of the dishes were put away. Next was the common room; opening the curtains was blinding at first, but then the light showed the enormous amount of dust that had settled all over the room, prompting her to dust almost everything. Ten minutes later, and the whole room was completely dust free. The last thing on the list to clean up was the master bedroom and guest room; the guest room didn't need much cleaning, just a bit of dusting. The master bedroom however, was a different story - books everywhere, plates, bowls, cups just randomly deposited around the room. Nova was right, this place pretty much screamed 'pony in depression.' Not wanting to dwell on things, Lyra quickly got all of the dishes into the kitchen, and into the sink full of warm soapy water.

The bed sheets were changed while the dishes were being soaked in the water, and then it was off to go wash the remaining dishes. The cleaning was done in roughly 20 minutes, and no sooner than she had put the last dish away, Nova teleported into the common room.

Lyra walks over to where Nova is, and this time it is him that gives her a hug.

"Hey, I'd like to apologize about what happened at the castle. I should have probably just asked to send a letter to Celestia first, before showing up at the castle."

"It's fine, everything worked out anyway."

"I know it's probably still pretty early, but I'm kind of exhausted. I think I'm going to go off to bed. *yawn* Good night Lyra."

"Have a good rest Nova." I chuckle at his sleepy state. True, it would be tiring for someone to come to a completely new world and go through what he just did. *yawn* Great, now I'm tired. Heh, guess it wouldn't hurt to go to bed early today. What's the worst that could happen?