Delicate Hooves

by fishii10

Rating: everyone
Tags: Rarity, Romance, Slice of Life, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 2772

Game Changer, a Ponyville newbie with a kind demeanour and a dark secret, meets the one and only Element of Generosity herself.

Things to note:

This is essentially a rewrite of what existed of Sequins and Sequels. I posted the story to /r/MLPLounge, hoping for some input, and I've made a number of changes, including planned plot sequences.
If you didn't enjoy this fic, please explain why in a private message or otherwise! Thank you.

Manehattan-born Game Changer has just moved to Ponyville and is relieved to finally have some independence after his earlier life in a shabby Manehattan apartment with his family and two sisters. One thing he never left behind was a certain memory - he might have forgotten it, but it remains in the pits of his mind. Wherever he walks, those hooves will follow.
But now, in Ponyville, it's time for a new start. Maybe he'll see an old face...or a new one. Maybe he'll catch a legendary face - maybe that of the Element of Generosity herself...

Published 2014-04-28 21:40:04 UTC
Last updated 2014-05-01 15:32:28 UTC

0 - Prologue

”Whoa…can someone tell me where I am? I’m hot…” the young foal moaned. He’d just been thrown onto what seemed like a dentist’s chair. The feeling of intrusion that came with such an experience was ten times greater here. The colt had no idea of his location, or even who he was. In the heat of the moment he’d lost all memory.

“Guys…anyone? Gimme an answer!” At only four or five years of age – he himself wasn’t even sure which right now – Game was an impatient and angry colt. His nature as kind and welcoming, albeit upbeat to the point of annoyance, incredibly frustrated just about everyone he knew. This led him to feel very isolated.

He definitely had enough fury inside him to fight anyone he saw as an enemy, but he chose not to for fear of the consequences. Those had been outlined to him far too many times, and he pictured anyone with the lack of brains to defy the boundaries as futile. It wouldn’t work. Besides, what satisfaction was there in that anyway? Would it make one appear stronger than the enforcers of such rules?

Anyone who could defy an Equestrian Royal Guard was exactly that. Nightmare Moon was more than some playground bully – if she were to defy Equestrian authority, the lives of all Equestrians would be locked into the prison of darkness Nightmare Moon plotted to hail as an eternal night. Forever. Just as she'd attempted about nine hundred and eighty-one years ago. And the scientists in this very laboratory sought to turn the tables by strengthening earth ponies in a way that was supposedly cheaper and more powerful than training alone.

“What’s the hold-up? Anyone? Anyone?! I want out! What’re you planning? Take me hooooome!”

…

“Close your eyes, and think.”

Within a second, one color remained in the colt’s mind – a strange, shifting burgundy. A moment later, even that mystery had vanished. He’d turned from a curious, furious mess of memory to complete nothingness in an unthinkably short amount of time.

A few minutes later, faint and muffled noises floated through Game’s half-conscious mind – there they’d remain on waking.

“Stop what you’re doing! This whole thing’s a farce!” These cries followed a door slamming against the wall, opened with overwhelming force.

“Excuse me? What makes you say such a thing? I wholeheartedly believe that this trial is foolproof, cheap and a revolution for the Royal Guards of the future! It may save us much more complicated processes in the near future!” This voice seemed fairly pompous and maybe a little too self-convinced.

“False, false and false! I can’t let you go on! By all means, if you’d like to do the honors of terminating this poor young stallion, I’ll let you, but I won’t let you present this as evidence! It’s all lies, damned lies and statistics!”

“Hmph.” The haughty voice seemed to see reason in the oppressor’s argument. “I suppose I did twist the tale slightly. But if this colt joins the Guard in future, perhaps our Princess might see the light! I’ll have my victory then. My intentions are only for the good of Equestria. Now, please leave and allow me to finish my work.”

“What a waste of a life…I can’t see this colt living a straightforward life! The foal won’t know his own strength…” The activist seemed to sigh, feeling as though he’d forgotten to say something. “I suppose royal decree isn’t enough to stop some people.” The slow, solemn hoofsteps of the mare echoed through the room.

“…what was that, madam? Never mind. I’ll carry on. Besides, we’re nearly done anyway.

Now where were we...Game Changer?”

1 - Futility

It was the night of the Summer Sun Celebration. It seemed as though Ponyville was all too quiet on this celebratory night – with reason. “Guess I chose a good time to move in, huh,” Game muttered to himself, noting the collective hoard of voices audible from somewhere in the middle of town. He whipped off his saddlebags, which slammed to the floor and sagged under the force. Game couldn’t help but sigh at this; he was notorious back home in Manehattan for being one of the clumsiest ponies around. He just didn’t know his own strength.

This feeling soon diminished, and Game Changer instead felt a huge freedom in his heavy, hurting shoulders. It reminded him of his sanctuary out here in Ponyville, away from the tiresome bustle that was his family’s apartment in Manehattan. He reminisced with relief and gratitude – gratitude that they had finally let him go and take on Equestria on his own.

The first thing that his mind cast back to was his older sister, Ribbon Twirl. She had left two years before Game, with little direction. He felt that she was a lot like her peers as a person, but she didn’t seem as strong as he felt he was when in a tricky situation. Ribbon certainly hadn’t thrown herself into things willingly – education seemed to have failed her, or vice versa. One thing she did pour all her passion into, however, was dance. She’d made it to relative fame as a reserve lead for Hinny of the Hills, thanks to her natural vocal talent.

Game Changer certainly didn’t revere her weakness of mind, in both emotional and decisional senses. It made her a tricky person. Perhaps not worthy of her heritage as a unicorn. But her job seemed to make her a talking point, and she was pretty close to him at home, so he liked her despite the lack of respect.

The next thing that instantly swarmed into his mind, just as a hoard of wasps would, was his younger sister. She seemed to be a living memory of Game Changer himself as a child, at least before his peers’ opinions sunk in – manic, and often rather stubborn. At times he thought she was two different people at once. A short and stumpy pegasus filly, with no end of energy – that was Inkling. Inkling took pride in her fairly terrible art, once having drawn Game a fairly shabby recreation of two of the Wonderbolts for his birthday. He saw it as fairly sweet, but didn’t pay much attention to it.

Inkling had potential in Game’s eyes. Maybe if she was a little older, she might eventually see past her stubborn side and burst into Equestria, free of her family, with a verve like no other pony…maybe a little too close to Pinkie Pie. He couldn’t stand either filly sometimes, but part of him wanted to see Inkling and Ribbon Twirl again.

The bustle from outside derailed Game’s train of thought, but he didn’t sigh. If he weren’t busy, he would have gone, despite the fact that he didn’t really see the flimflam surrounding the monarchy as something important to him. As a colt, Game read many books, and one of those was the tale of the two sisters, Celestia and Luna. The date on which Nightmare Moon was sealed away was one of those few useless things that had lingered with him, especially during school. However, in the curriculum, the event had been dismissed as the events of a fairytale would’ve been. He’d often get the date confused, but now, for some reason, it sat clearly in his mind. Somewhere around the middle of the year – on the longest day…

“…of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal!” Twilight Sparkle gasped, her hooves stiffening at the thought of eternal night. Twilight was to stand between day and night in a few years to come, though this was unbeknown to her. That said, she would stand between the two sisters tomorrow – the Summer Solstice, the celebration of the victor.

Back on the outskirts of Ponyville, in a much more humble home than Twilight’s library, Game Changer thought about the tale. I guess technically it could work...if Celestia represents the sun, then there’s nobody to represent the moon…I suppose it’s a bit tyrannical of Celestia to do such a thing, if she did…no wonder – it’s gotta have been censored! I never thought I’d see scandal like this in a place like Canterlot…something’s seriously up, and I hope someone’s noticed…

I suppose I could get word out...but it's not like anyone here knows I exist yet. No rep, not reputable. Huh. I hope someone else in Ponyville’s left that façade behind. I just wish I could do something… As these thoughts crushed the rest of Game Changer’s mental space, he became increasingly guilty - even though it wasn’t really his fault he couldn’t do much. “Damn,” he cursed aloud, stomping to ease the frustration out physically.

Crack. Game looked to the floor below him, forgetting his own strength in his frustration. The stallion never wanted to be a sitting duck – he’d always dreamed of defending ponies, or fighting in some huge war, which seemed unlikely given the climate right now. Hell-bent on change, Game would feed this desire by playing games. He found solace in that – especially a certain courtroom series. By creating links in evidence, Game managed to root out the true culprit in a number of cases, and in doing so, he’d earned his cutie mark, a gamepad representative of his ability to direct others to happiness and to take control of a situation.

He’d often wondered about himself – what made him feel certain emotions and do certain things. He was aware of his own nature as a shy pony, despite his humble faith in his own abilities. As a colt, Game was fairly angry and vengeful on those who wouldn’t accept him, but his assumption that nobody would accept him had made him shy around just about anyone. Despite this, he tried to be welcoming, and his true side would unmask itself with only the closest friends in perfectly natural moments. Unfortunately, right now he had nobody like that.

Game’s mind rested on that notion for a second, hoping that a friend might help him bare the truth…but he remembered that he’d only been in Ponyville for a few hours. Only six of those precious gems of time remained until what would soon be the Summer Sun Snuff-Out. The sun’s flames would be flattened by Nightmare Moon in a matter of hours...

2 - Curiosity (IN PROGRESS)

The moon stood over Ponyville with imperial grace, casting its reflection of the Sun’s light down onto all of Equestria. Only Game Changer and Twilight Sparkle knew the threat it would pose - within minutes, Luna would break free of her prison inside the moon and be possessed by her darker side. Equestria would pay the price for its blindness – rather, ignorance.

Game Changer’s futility shrunk away, replaced by interest. “I guess even if I can’t do anything to help, I may as well go and watch, I suppose.” With a flick of his mane, he locked the door and left. The door slam shook the roof slightly, provoking a thin strand of hay to float down off the edge. It landed in Game’s hair, but the stallion decided to ignore it.

The feeling of the ground under his hooves was a fairly new sensation for Game. He’d never had reason to go to Ponyville before, besides his ex-girlfriend. This thought took him back to her.

Sassaflash was a pegasus mare who Game remembered treasuring closely. She was quiet, and elegantly so. Despite her often lazy nature, Game reveled in her beauty and benevolence. Game also enjoyed the skill she exerted in games, which seemed to match his in certain fields. As she grew, she found herself more knowledgeable of her own ways, and found that she didn’t seem to know how to love after all.

Game was rueful upon her departure, but they remained friends until she moved to Cloudsdale about a month later. Having previously chased a few other fillies in his naivety when he was younger, Game had learned not to spend ages pitying himself alone. Instead, he vowed to become stronger as a person, and if by some slim chance it’d take him somewhere else, he’d never make a mistake like he had before again.

You’re losing sight of what’s important, Game! Get to the Celebration, and fast! Game hammered his hooves into the sandy ground, bursting forward and trying his best to keep breathing deeply. The Town Hall was clad in flags and long banners, as Game could make out from afar. I’ve gotta move now…I just hope that it’s not gonna be too late…

A couple of minutes later, Game burst through the door, reclaiming his breath and trying not to let his head hang. Taking a position behind Carrot Top, Game stared stonily through the shouts and whoops of the crowd, noting only two things; the worried gaze of Twilight Sparkle, who seemed to him to be the only one aware of the crisis, and, following this gaze, the presence of Sassaflash.

The crusted side of the moon formed the shape of a unicorn’s head – albeit with a rather long horn, leading Game to assume that this was of an alicorn…the legendary Mare in the Moon herself. As he shifted his field of view back into the town hall, the crowds cheered riotously as a spotlight swung its way up to a balcony. This was accompanied by the tune of Fluttershy’s bird quintet – a rather unfitting tune for the mystery and danger about to unravel.

Now, his eyes followed the spotlight, noting the pretty unicorn standing just beside its ray. I’m sure I saw this pony somewhere before…maybe in Manehattan? She looked fairly new there…maybe a tourist or something…I should keep an eye out for her – A thick wall of jeopardy landed before Game’s train of thought, causing it to crash. All that remained was pure traumatization and trepidation, as the tallest pony he’d ever seen before took center stage.

The entire crowd – except Spike, that is – stared, bug eyed, at the vengeful shade of a past royalty that stood before them. Game’s eyes, however, were a flinty façade for his inner compound of emotions. Excitement, fear, vengeance, even pity…culminating in exactly what he was doing now – staring. The same futility he felt before all this happened sunk in once more, and he could do but one thing – help others escape.

Now was no time to note his own strength, as he grabbed a couple of mares, shouting “Sorry, no time to explain! Let’s get somewhere else!” After hoisting them onto his back with a quick glance to check, he sprinted away from the chaos ensuing in the town hall. He had no idea of Nightmare Moon’s capabilities, but he didn’t feel he had anything strong enough to tackle her alone. With haste, Game dismissed this futile thought and continued to tear across the grass.

“Want to stay round mine for the night, just to be safe?...don’t worry, I’m not implying anything,” Game laughed diffidently. …wait a second, the night’s gonna last forever! Never knew it could be this easy…wait, I’m not meant to be implying anything… The two mares accepted, and Game picked up the pace.

Soon, the trio reached Game’s house. Nightmare Moon’s storm raged on outside, cracking at the most unsuspecting moments and leaving all three ponies fearful. Game pulled out a couple of old, ragged blankets his mother had insisted he should bring with him, and laid them down as carefully as he could. “So which one of you guys wants to sleep in m – uh, I mean, where I’d normally sleep?” The stallion couldn’t get over his own mistakes, and on that night they definitely seemed plentiful. The two mares eventually decided who would take Game’s bed, and the three of them did their best to get to sleep, the nightmare of the Mare in the Moon still lingering like a wisp of blue mist in their heads.

"And once Pinkie and Rarity were saved, whoosh... Me and Fluttershy loop-de-loop around and WHAM! Caught you right in the nick of time." Rainbow Dash smirked, admiring her handiwork in the possible disaster that the six plucky ponies had evaded through trust and – more importantly – honesty. This newly-formed team of six friends would control the fate of Equestria by proving themselves in a series of trials, earning them the right to defy the vengeful queen of the night using the Elements of Harmony.