Of Light And Darkness

Chapters

Chapter 1: Exile
A New Life Begins
Chapter 3: The Gate of Purity

Chapter 1: Exile

Of Light and Darkness

Chapter 1: Exile

There I lay, my whole body feeling completely sore, like my entire body was torn to shreds then put back together again. I try to open my eyes but all I see is black. I then try to listen for anything but do not hear a sound. I try to get up but have difficulty doing so. It is then I decide to just wait and try to figure out what I should do next.

Soon after I feel a warm and cold essence around my body that felt relaxing at first but then began to hurt. It felt like my entire body was on fire, but then the pain was focused on my ears. After a few seconds I could hear myself screaming and grunting at the irritation my ears where having. Then the agony was focused on my eyes, in which it felt like brands where being pressed onto my pupils. In the midst of the torment I heard a female voice “were almost finished”. I didn’t know if I should trust this person but something told me I could trust her, for now at least.

After a few more minutes, which felt like hours they were finally done and I opened my eyes and immediately dropped my jaw to the ground. I was standing in front of a white unicorn with wings and a mane that was green, purple, blue and pink. She also had a golden crown on her head with a violet gem in the center and a necklace with the same design as the crown. There beside her was another unicorn with wings. This one was dark blue and had a mane that looked like the night sky. She also had a black necklace with a crescent moon on it.

“Greetings” the white one said. I gasp at the fact that they can talk and I can understand what they are saying. She then lowers her head a little while saying in a sincere tone “I’m sorry that you had to endure such pain, but it seemed like you couldn’t hear or see anything when we found you so me and my sister decided to try and fix that with our magic. I am princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria and this is my sister Luna” Celestia explained then giving a little bow.

“We managed to restore your hearing but we only managed to fix one of your eyes” Luna said in an apologizing tone.

It was then I noticed that she was right, I could only see with my right eye while the other eye I could feel open but all I could see was black. “Great this is going to take a long time to get used to” I thought to myself having to move my head back and forth constantly to get an overview of where I was.

It was a sparkling white marble room with a lush red carpet on the floor and a huge window that had shown miles of the realm I now reside in. Out the window I could see a bright sun shining over a city made of ivory and had golden roofs at the top of each building.

“So may I ask what your name is good sir”? Celestia asked.

“I am Bartho Balchi” I said in a blank tone. “

So where do you come from”? Luna asked in a curious tone.

“I'm a human that has come from the holy realm of celestia which is coincidently named the same as you” I said looking at the white princess.

“So how did you get here”? Celestia asked.

My head began to ache as I recalled everything that happened prior to coming here. I thought about not saying anything but I figured that letting them know what happened was the only way they would even consider the idea of taking me home so I nodded in agreement.

It all started yesterday, I woke up with a scared look after dreaming of a shadowy dragon looking upon me with deadly intent. “Had another bad dream big brother”? My little brother Ramza asked as he popped his head from the top of our crystal bunk bed. I nodded and gave a groggy sigh then got out of bed to get ready for the day.

I get up an hour before everyone else dose to avoid any complications, since 99% of the people here are terrified of me. This is due to the reputation i have, here I’m known as the Red Reaper. Which is most likely because every time I get back from a mission my hands are still covered in the blood of those I killed which for some reason, I can never remember killing. Every time I engaged the enemy I would black out at the first sight of blood or a burst of negative emotions such as sadness, anger or stress and when I came back to reality I would find all of my enemies dead and my body covered in a coat of red. I never really understood why this happened, and always had a hard time washing the liquid death off my body.

After freshening up I have a nice breakfast with my little brother. I then walk down to the throne room of one of the rulers of celesita, the god of all good dragons, Bahamut. I enter and kneel in respect to my king who was looking down at me with his right eye which was a cat eye with a deep blue, and the other being a frosty indigo.

“Cornelius will be giving you your next assignment” the dragon said in a gentle yet wise voice. An angel with gray wings and cloak then entered the room from one of the side doors of the throne room.

“Thank you my lord” said the gray angel as he approached me. “Now Bartho, you have shown us a great deal of strength and loyalty over the years that you have been with us, and now the council thinks it’s time that you ascended into a celestial, a being of true majesty” Cornelius said in a rather happy tone.

My face which was normally emotionless lit up with joy and I even feel a tear go down my face.

“Now before you may ascend you must prove to us that you are worthy of the powers of the heavens that the gods bestow upon us”. “There are a group of dragon cultists using a mysterious orb to summon Tyranus, the dragon of pestilence from his sleep”. “If you destroy the orb and stop the cultists from summoning Tyranus we will let you ascend”. There was a moment of silence until he decided to continue. “However, if you fail this there will be dire punishment” he said in a serious tone. “Now are you ready for such a task”? He finally asked.

“I am” I said without any hesitation.

“Excellent” he said with a pleased smile on his face.

“Then get ready for the task at hand, Cornelius shall teleport you to your destination in one hour” Bahamat stated in what seem to give off a sad and disappointed vibe.

I then gave my lord Bahamat a quick bow then left to prepare for my objective.

“You worry about the boy too much my lord; he will do just fine” Cornelius said trying to put the dragon at ease.

“I hope your right; then again you have been my advisor for many years now so I don’t doubt your judgment Cornelius” said the dragon in a more positive tone.

I head straight to my room to grab the provisions I will need for the trip. I get some artifacts, potions, rations, and clothing and put in my bag of backpack sized bag of holding, which holds 20 times more than a normal book bag and fits everything with ease.

I then went to say goodbye to my little brother who had a sour attitude, which he normally did every time I left for a mission, since he didn’t like to see me go out and risk my life like I do. I told him “I’ll be back soon” giving him a sincere smile.

He then went and opened his chest containing all of his prize possessions and came back to me with a glowing jar. “This jar contains a couple of lunarflies, I want you to have it big brother so you can always have light in darkness”.

I gave my brother a hug and said “thank you Ramza, I will treasure them always”. I put the jar in my bag of holding and began to make my way to the library where Cornelius was awaiting me.

Cornelius was drawing out a circle and writing the coordinates to my destination as I entered. I walked up to say hello and the gray angel jumped up a bit in surprise. “You’re a little early” Cornelius said in a surprised voice.

“Yes, I am eager for my test” I stated in my normal emotionless tone.

“Well I’m almost done, give me a minute and I’ll be ready” he said in an impressed manner. After a few minutes of waiting the circle was done and began to give a white glow. I stepped in the center of the circle and he started to cast the spell. I could then feel my body being pulled through the circle and felt like I was being stretched a little. Moments later the whole room lit up and I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear a voice tell me something. “Good luck” stated the voice which I knew to be Cornelius.

When the light faded I was in front of a cave that was on the edge of what seemed to be a rotting mountain. I took a few deep breaths and ventured in the cave. It smelled of rotten flesh and throw up. After almost vomiting myself I saw a group of cultists all in black and orange robes circling around a blood covered alter with a glowing orb floating in the middle.

Then without warning a blade cut across my back and I began to bleed profusely. As I turned around to notice the guard in bronze amour and a big steel sword I blacked out. When I came to I noticed everyone around me dead in a pool of blood. The room smelling three times worse than it did when I entered. Some had big gaping holes in their torso, some where decapitated, and some had their limbs torn from their sockets.

I walked around and noticed the orb was shattered, scattered into a thousand pieces. A few minutes later I notice parts of the ceiling falling down as the cave was on the verge of collapse.

A gray light then floats in front of me and materializes into Cornelius. “Hold on boy” he shouted as he grabbed my hand and began to glow again. The light grew brighter and brighter till I could no longer see.

Soon after the light began to fade and we were in my lord’s throne room again. I walk a little closer to my king and knell in respect. Cornelius walks behind me and gives me a small round of applause with a big smile on his face. “Excellent work my boy, you have done well in stopping Tyranus from waking up from his slumber. I would say you pass, wouldn’t you agree my lord?”

“NO” was the only response the dragon god had given.

Both I and Cornelius both had very shocked faces. “But my lord he did what you asked of him I don’t understand the pro-”.

“SILENCE” shouted the great dragon interrupting the gray angel’s argument. “Bartho, you may have stopped that cursed beast from rising, but you have also slaughtered the lives of many innocent people, including the prisoners.”

Finally I decided to speak on my own behalf. “My lord please forgive me, I blacked out an-.”

“I SAID SILENCE” the god shouted, this time it was so loud I could no longer hear myself talk. “Bartho Balchi, as punishment for your crime of murder and the failure of your ascension trial, I hereby sentence you to exile.” This time he spoke to me in my head. “I hereby strip you of your power and title of crusader and expel you from this realm.” As Bahamat was saying this I felt like my body was being ripped and I was consumed by a burning light. The last thing I saw was a tear running down my lord’s face which was looking down, almost touching the ground.

“Now I’m here” I say finishing my story. “So, how long was I out for?” I asked.

“Well you were out cold for two days, and you were in a very unstable condition when we found you” answered Luna.

“Ok, this is really bugging me and I want to know, how the hell I can talk to you two. In my realm we don’t have talking unicorns” I asked once again.

“Well that’s because you a pony yourself” Celestia answered.

“That can’t be right I’m a human, not some little horse” I respond. She then points her horn to a mirror around her size and with her magic floats the mirror to me. I just stare at myself in shock, I’m now a pony with a jet-black coat and mane, my right eye is a pure white while my left eye was a pitch black and i had the yin-yang symbol on both sides of my rump. My irises shrink to the size of fruit flies and I scream at the top of my lungs. ‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”.

A New Life Begins

Of Light and Darkness

Chapter 2: A New Life Begins

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH-” my screaming is interrupted by a pressure around my heart and I cringe in pain. With a panicked look on my face, I try to focus my energy to my front right hoof, hoping for an aura to appear. After a minute of trying nothing happened. Now another realization dawned on me, not only did I go from being a human to a pony, but my chi was sealed and I couldn’t tap into it. I begin to pound one of my hoofs on the ground in anger, “Dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!!!

“What’s wrong”? Celestia asked in concern.

“My chi is sealed, that’s what’s wrong” I replied.

“Chi”? Luna asked with curiosity

“Chi is the energy of the spirit; it’s a hidden power that all living creatures possess. However, it’s a very difficult energy to control and takes years of training to be able to use it properly”. I answer

“That’s very interesting; do you have a book about the subject with you”? Cesestia asked.

“I do, but it’s in my bag and I don’t know where that is” I responded.

“Well we did found a strange bag beside you that looked empty-” Celestia said before I interrupted.

“That’s my bag all right, mind if I have it back”?

“Of course, Silver Shield” Celsestia called and a white pegasus guard with a serious expression on his face walked into the room.

“Yes, your majesty”?

“Bring that empty bag we found a few days ago here please”

“Yes, your majesty” was all he said, then immediately bolted out of the room. After waiting a few minutes he returned with my bag which changed from one book bag to two smaller saddle bags.

I put a hoof to my face and give out a huge sigh, then walk up to my bags hoping everything is still there. I then open my bags which seem empty at first, but then I say in a whispering tone “sanas (open)” and two small black violet portals appear in the bags. I then stick my head into each portal to find that everything is still here and in check, my bag was just separated into two sections. I then take out a scroll the size of my new body with my teeth and throw it on the ground only to notice that celestia has an intrigued look on her face and Luna has a very surprised one.

“What”? I say only to be responded by silence.

“How in Equestria did you do that”? Luna asked, ending the awkward silence.

“I’m guessing you two have never seen a bag of holding”? I say in an agitated tone, they both simply nod. I sigh in annoyance at how many things I have had to explain today and continued. “It’s a special container that expands the bag 20 fold while making it as if you’re carrying an empty bag”. “The language I spoke is called celestial by the way, the language of the heavens” I answer to avoid getting asked another question.

“Do you have a spare bag on you we could study”? Celestia asks as she approaches the bag to get a closer look.

“This is my only bag, so that’s a no” I answer closing the bag in Celestia’s face making it look empty again. “I can however, buy another bag to bring to you if you can bring me back to my realm.”

“Very well, we will discover a way to get you home and the new knowledge you gave us. In the mean time you shall live in Ponyville as a new resident until we can figure out a way to send you back. When you get back you will send us items from your realm for us to study. Is that a deal”? Celestia finished while extending her front right hoof for a shake.

“Deal” I agree as I extend out my front left hoof and I shake. “But let me warn you, chi is very dangerous to the body if not done properly and can even lead to death. So use it with caution and don’t strain your body” I state in a very serious tone.

Celestia nods and gives me a bright smile and calls in her guards again, this time to request a ride for me on her chariot. The guards nod and leave to get my transportation prepared.

Luna begins walking towards the door and tells her sister “I’m going back to bed”

Celestia goes to her sister, gives her a nod and tells her good night. Luna then leaves the room and heads back to her quarters.

Then a few moments later a guard enters the room and informs us that the chariot is ready and we leave the room with a quick teleportation spell. In a few seconds we were in at a large stone runway with a gold chariot with two armored pegasus in the front.

“They will take you to Ponyville, where you will meet my student Twilight Sparkle. She will show you around town and help you get acquainted” the white alicorn explained and I just nodded in agreement. “I would go with you; however I have a very busy day today being the ruler and all”.

I climb into the chariot which is surprisingly comfy with a nice and fluffy purple seat. The princess nods and my two escorts take off at a pretty fast pace. After around 20 minutes of waiting for the ride to end I hear a loud roar in the distance. I ask the guards “where did that come from”?

“From the Everfree forest if I’m not mistaken” one of the guards state.

Getting the urge for some thrill and a way to relieve all the stress I got today I ask. “Would you mind taking me to said forest? Or at least take me to the entrance”.

“No, the princess ordered that we drop you at her student’s home. We won’t disobey our orders”

I then open my bag of holding and pull out another bag. This bag contains my traveler’s money pouch, which converts all of your money to the currency of the realm you reside in. I open my money bag and drop 200 glowing circles which turn into coins with a sun on one side and a moon on the other. “There are 100 of your currency for each of you if you drop me off at the forest. If your princess finds out I will take the blame for all of this, since my life can’t get any worse than it already is.”

They look at each other for a moment, then decide to change course for the Everfree forest. After a few more minutes we finally land in front of the forest. I get off the chariot, give them a nod, and begin to walk into the forest.

After walking for what seemed like hours I heard the roar again and my ears rang for a few moments. Once the ringing stopped I shook my head and opened my bag again and pulled out my mage hand rings. These rings give you two more magical hands that can go through or touch solid objects and can stretch up to 50ft. When I press my hoofs against the rings they glow blue and grow wide enough for the rings to slip on comfortably.

I then close my bags and begin to walk more cautiously, deeper into the woods. After a few more minutes of walking I notice an opening and see a clearing of dead trees. In the middle of the clearing I notice a black and blue hydra with three heads. I carefully open my bag, so the hydra doesn’t notice me and pull out my monster encyclopedia.

With a quick look at the table of contents I turn to hydra and look for the species that have matching markings. I find a match “Black Sea hydra, carriers of the black death, the disease that almost caused the extinction of Europe. This hydra lives in large bodies of salt water. What’s an aquatic monster doing in a forest”?

I then notice its staring at something with hungry eyes and open mouths. I turn to look and notice a pegasus with a yellow coat and pink mane holding a white ball of fluff. The pegasus was frozen and shaking in terror as the hydra was getting closer and closer to its morsel.

With quick thinking I see two nearby trees, one on my left and the other on my right and figure that without my chi flowing the rings would probably last only one minute at most. Then I say in a whispering tone “Maina(activate)” and the rings then begin to glow blue and two hands appear from the gems. I sigh in relief that my items still work and extend the magic hands to the two trees. I then walk backwards stretching the blue arms, making myself a living slingshot. I then jump and extend my back right leg ready for one hell of a kick and I start flying towards the hydra at a super fast velocity.

With my speed I miss the first hydra head but hit the second one, which was a just a few inches away from its snack. The impact sent ripples down the face and a few teeth fell out of its mouth. I then got my magic hands to grab the back of the face and shove it the ground, using it as a break to prevent myself from crashing into anything.

Once I came to a complete stop I noticed that the head was stuck, giving me the perfect moment to get the pony to safety. I pick her up with my mage hands and gallop as fast as I could to the entrance of the opening. The hydra retaliated with a stream of black smoke that came from the mouth of the other two heads. I put her in front of me and shielded her with my back which then started to feel numb. I continued to book it to the entrance of the opening and put her down after reaching it. “Stay here” I said to her and she just nodded still shaking from what just happened.

I then remember a technique my teacher taught me if my chi was being blocked and I was in a dire situation. Even though it was suppose to be a last resort I decided to use it anyway. I sit cross legged and begin to meditate, immediately my chest felt like it was being inflated like a balloon. Then it felt like my chest got ripped open and I felt a burning rush of power flow in my body and decided to focus it on the easiest part of the body, the eyes. Slowly, the power slithered to my face then being condensed to my eyes making black flames emit from each of them.

With the chi in my eyes I could now see the beast’s pressure points and all of its vital spots. Realizing I couldn’t use any lethal blows without chi flowing to my hoofs I decide I could at least knock him out for a few days. The hydra, finally managing to pull its head out of the ground began charging me with a roar of anger. I run towards him ready to end this. The hydra opened each of its mouths and had one head go to my left, one to the right, and the last one in front of me. I jumped about 10ft into the air avoiding each head and grabbed the hydra by the base of the neck with my hands and began hitting pressure points through out his body. I hit around his kidney, the middle of his spine, and the side of the stomach. “Dim Mak: Sleeping Blossom” I yelled and the hydra collapsed on the ground. The violet blue hands then sunk back into the rings and the gems stopped glowing.

I then walked up to the pegasus who now had a look of concern and gasped “are you okay”?

I then realize my eyes were bleeding and I found it more and more difficult to keep my eyes open. I close them and responded “I am”. I then reopen them after remembering that the hydra carries the Black Death and checked the pony in front of me to see if she was infected. I circled around her and found that she had no black spots anywhere. I close my eyes again to avoid pushing them anymore so I won’t go blind in both eyes.

Then, remembering my numb back I take off my bags and whisper “sanas (open)” and the portals appear again. Realizing I can’t apply the medicine I have for this due to the fact that I can’t grab anything and I can’t open my eyes right now I ask the pegasus next to me. “Ok, I need you to stick your head through these portals and find a glass bottle that is glowing yellow and orange”.

She went to the small portals and hesitated, fearing what may lurk inside. Then, remembering what I did for her, she stuck her head in one of the portals and was struck with awe as she saw a void that looked like the night sky. In the nightly void were hundreds of different scrolls, books, bottles, clothing, and trinkets. After looking for a few moments she remembered what she needed to do and thought of the bottle she needed. In that instant everything vanished from the void except for a bottle that was glowing orange and yellow. She picked it up with her teeth and stuck her head out of the portal, still amazed by it all.

“Did you get the vial?”

“Ye yes…… I did” she responded sounding, really nervous and scared.

“Good, now I need you to open the bottle and pour the contents on my back”

“”Oh……ok” she answered and opened the top of the bottle her teeth and picked it up with her hoofs. She then poured the liquid on my back and steam started to form on my back and I no longer felt numb.

“Ok, we need to leave and get back to civilization. I only managed to knock out the hydra for a few days so he will get back up eventually and he will not be happy about it. I need you to put my bags on my back then lead me to….. Ponyville I think it was called”.

“Oh, well I can carry your bags for you… if that’s all right” she stated still a little nervous.

“It’s fine, they don’t weigh that much and-“

“But, your back is still healing from that injury. I insist on carrying them for you. Oh, I’m so sorry I interrupted you.” She interjected

I gave a huge sigh, “whatever, if you don’t mind, then I don’t care. I still need you to guide me since I can’t see at the moment”.

“Oh, of course I’m sorry. Oh, I’m sorry I forgot to introduce myself, I’m Fluttershy, and this is my bunny, Angel”. I then felt a nudge indicating that he was indeed there. “Um, could I ask for your name? If that’s ok”.

I honestly didn’t want to bother with such an annoying question twice in one day, but something told me that I should. “I’m Bartho Balchi” I answer, not feeling agitated anymore for some reason. “Well we should head out now”

She then put one of her wings on my back to make sure I wouldn’t walk off in a random direction and started walking. The wing on my back felt heavenly; never in my life did I feel something so soft. It felt like I had a blanket made from the comfiest cloud in the world on my back. “Your wings feel so soothing” I say, the words slipping my mind and forming into words. “GOD DAMMIT, what’s wrong with you, your complimenting a damn pony. Sigh, I need to pull myself together” I say in my mind. The wing on my back then starts felling warmer and it now felt like I was next to a fireplace. My face started to burn up and I felt like I had a fever. “Great now I’m blushing” I thought and there was nothing but awkward silence the rest of the way back.

After around ten minutes I hear galloping from in front of us. It gets louder and louder until it comes to a stop. “Fluttershy, are you okay?” one of them ask.

“Oh, yes, I am its all thanks to this colt here. He saved me from a hydra that attacked me when I went in the forest to go look for Angel”.

“I thank ya kindly for saving our friend like that, we appreciate it. So, mind if we ask what yer name is stranger”? Another one of them asked in what seemed to be a southern accent.

“I have no obligation to give out such information” I respond in ticked off manner.

“I know what it is; your name is Bartho Balchi from a world that has the same as our princess Celestia.” another one said in a very hyper tone.

“How did you figure that out”? Another one asked in a tomboyish voice.

“I read chapter one silly” the energetic voice answered. There is a moment of silence; everyone is probably just as dumbfounded as I am.

“Hey Fluttershy, why do you have one of your wings on his back?” one of them asks, ending the moment of silence.

“Oh, well he said that he couldn’t see and his eyes where bleeding when he trotted over to me, so I’m helping him until his sight gets better.”

“I could probably fix him right up, no problem” one of the voices state

“Ok, before we do anymore talking can someone please take me out of this forest and into any kind of shelter?” I demanded

“I’m going to have to agree with our new friend here. This place is getting rather dark and windy and I don’t want dirt and debris ruining my hair” one of them says in an elegant voice.

I then begin to hear them trotting away from me until I hear. “Well are you coming or not?” the tomboyish voice asks.

“I’m still blind” I say, rather annoyed by all this.

I then feel a rope go around my neck “there ya go partner” one of the voices said. Although I felt like a cow, at least I would finally be able to soon relax after this long and grueling day.

After a few more minutes of being pulled by a rope and walking we arrive at a house in which I hear the door open. We all enter and one of the voices asks “ok are you ready? This won’t take long and won’t hurt either”

I simply nod and seconds later I feel a burning sensation in my eyes that stung a little, like a little alcohol just got dropped in my eyes. After a few moments I open my eyes and am greeted with six ponies. A cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, a purple unicorn with a purple mane with a few stripes of pink, a pink pony with a puffy mane that had a darker pink to it, an orange pony with a straw yellow mane and a cowboy hat, a white unicorn with a purple mane, and Fluttershy.

“Ok, now let’s see if it worked. I just need you to close one eye and raise you hoof when you see mine raised and then do the same with the other” the purple unicorn said.

“Sure” was the only thing I say in response. I then close my left eye and raise my hoof when she dose. I then close my right eye and only see pitch black still.

“I guess it didn’t work for you left eye. You mind if I try something else”?

I just nodded, then she closed her eyes and her horn started to glow purple, then my left eye started to glow purple as well. Then it started to glow black and shortly after the unicorn’s horn was giving off the same black color.

She then opened her eyes and was in a pitch black void with no else there. She got up and starting walking around, trying to find a way out. “Hello, anypony there?” she asked, her voice echoing for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly the room lit up with a white orb floating above and left twilight in surprise. She looked back for a second then back and in front of her was a huge black wall that had what seemed like faces, which all looked like they were in pain. Pouring out of the mouths and eyes of the wall was a red and black liquid. There were also silver chains covering the wall and being held in place by a huge silver lock in the center.

“Twili-“ she suddenly heard a voice which she found to be coming from behind the wall. She walked to the wall cautiously, with spec sized pupils. “Twiligh-“ said the voice as she got closer. As she approached she noticed a small brown door with a golden doorknob and keyhole. “Twilight” the voice called again. She sat there shaking and pondering if she should see what was behind the door. She thought about running away but her curiosity got the better of her and she slowly approached the door and looked through the keyhole with one of her eyes.

She looked through the keyhole and saw nothing but pitch black. “Twilight” the voice called again and four eyes suddenly stared back at her. The two eyes on the monster’s left where a glowing yellow while, the ones on the monster’s right where a bright red. “TWILIGHT” the voiced shouted as he slowly started to get closer to her. The purple unicorn wanted to run but those terrifying eyes paralyzed every muscle in her body. The four eyes kept getting closer and closer while constantly yelling “TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT!!!! TWILIGHT!!!!!.”

“TWILIGHT” said a familiar voice. She was now sitting in fear in Fluttershy’s house, surrounded by a group of concerned friends. “Are you alright darling? You look like you just saw a ghost” the white unicorn asked with worry.

She shook her head back and forth a few times and got back into reality. “I’m sorry I couldn’t fix your left eye. I’ll try and find a solution for you” she said with a smile she put on to try to pull out what she just saw out of her mind.

After a few moments the purple unicorn began introducing me to everyone. The pink pony was a party thrower named Pinkie Pie. The orange pony was a farmer named Apple Jack. The white unicorn was a fashion designer named Rarity. The blue Pegasus named Rainbow Dash was supposedly the fastest flyer in Equestria.

Just as the purple unicorn was about to introduce herself Fluttershy’s front door swung open and a purple and green dragon waltzed right in. “Spike, couldn’t you knock first”?

“Twilight, there you are, I’ve been running all over the place looking for you. Celestia sent you a letter about some new resident to Ponyville” Spike held out the scroll panting and sweating from running around town. Twilight lifted the scroll with her magic and started to read it.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I have sent out this letter to inform you that a resident will be moving to Ponyville. I humbly request that he stay with you or one of your friends in order to keep a close watch on him. I have sent him on my chariot and he will be arriving at your library in twenty minutes by the time you receive this letter. Please be careful around him and treat him with kindness.
Sincerely, Celestia

She finished and then went wide eyed. “Wait, why did we find you in the Everfree forest and not in town”?

“I bribed the guards into taking me there”

Twilight’s face started to go red with rage “what did you do that for? Why couldn’t you follow Celestia’s orders? What in Equestria made you want to do something so stupid”?

“I was bored”

The purple mare then started to grind her teeth in fury. “YOU, BRIBED THE GUARDS CAUSE YOU WHERE BORED? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU”?

“What’s wrong with me? Have you looked in a mirror? You all have problems”. “You’re a royal kiss ass” I say to twilight, I then look at Rainbow Dash “you’re an arrogant narcissist”. “You’re a prima donna” I say to Rarity, I shift to Pinkie Pie “you’re an insane psycho”. “Your a southern belle” I state towards Apple Jack, “a tool” I say to spike, I point to Fluttershy “and finally we have a little pansy”.

They all just stand there with a mix of anger and sadness. I then started to trot towards the door until Fluttershy landed in front of me. “How dare you”

“What?” I reply

“How dare you insult my friends, nopony insults my friends. Now I want you to apologize to them right now”.

“Yeah, can you get out of my way? Cause there is no way I’m doing something so stupid”

Fluttershy then started to stare at me with anger. I’ve looked at dragons right in the eye, but that doesn’t even come close to this stare. It was giving me a feel of dread and terror to my very core and it felt like I was about to piss my pants, if I had any on right now. After a few more seconds I gave in to that dreaded gaze. “I’m sorry” I said in a quiet and sour tone.

She intensified the glare and in doing so caused me to feel more fear. “Ok, I’m sorry ok, I’m sorry Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, Spike, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. I’m sorry” I said in a more loud and sincere tone. The stare stopped and she then started to smile at me. “Oh god, I hope I never have to deal with her again” I think in my mind.

I then started to make my way for the door again until I was interrupted by Twilight. “Wait, where are you going?” she asked

“I’m going to find a nice resort and sleep. Is that a problem?” I answer

“Well, yes, the princess ordered that you stay with one of us during your stay here so we can keep an eye on you.” Twilight responded

I thought about making a run for it but I did not want to deal with that frightening stare again so I just sat on my rump in defeat. “Ok, so who is willing to take a jerk like me into your abode” I ask.

The six mares all sit and ponder about my point.

“He can’t live with me, I live in a cloud home and thank Celestia for that” said Rainbow Dash.

“I wouldn’t want to live with someone arrogant anyway” I say to Dash.

She pushes me to the ground and opens the front door. “I’m going home to get some sleep, I’ll see all of you later” she states in a slightly ticked vibe. She trots out the door and then starts to fly to her home.

“uuumm, Bartho can live with me, if that’s ok” Fluttershy stated.

“Are you sure Fluttershy? There’s room at the library for him” Twilight offered.

“Oh, yes I don’t mind, he did save my life after all”.

“Well if you’re okay with it then I guess we leave it to you” Twilight said.

GASP “oh my gosh if you’re going to be living with Fluttershy then I’m going to need to prepare a welcome to Ponyville party. I’ll see all of you next chapter” Pinkie Pie said with her hyper voice and she ran back home in a blinding speed.

“Y’all better not make Fluttershy cry ya hear? If I find out ya made her cry ill kick yer face in to next Tuesday” Applejack warned as she made her way out the door.

“Well I wish you luck, I know I couldn’t handle such a ruffian in my boutique” Rarity stated as she trotted out the door.

Twilight looked at Fluttershy, giving her an (are you sure about this) kind of face, Fluttershy just smiled and nodded. Twilight nodded back and walked towards the door with spike close behind. Once they were out the door Twilight closed the door with her magic and went home.

“Oh great, I’m stuck with the pony that’s got me by the neck, o joy” I say to myself. I then grab my bags and go towards the door.

“Where are you going? If you don’t mind me asking” Fluttershy wonders.

“I’m just going to get some air; I’m not going to run away”

“Mind if I come with you, if it’s not too much trouble”

“Sure, whatever” I answer and I open the door and head outside while Fluttershy follows close behind me. I walk to the middle of a grassy meadow, open my bags and find the jar my brother gave me and open it. Out of the jar appear two illuminating butterflies that each glow a pure white.

Fluttershy is looking at them in awe with a big grin on her face. “What are they called” she asks

“They are called moonlight butterflies or lunar flies for short. They are native only to my realm”.

“Oh, well they are beautiful, but why are they only native in your world, if you don’t mind me asking”?

“Well you see in my realm its always night, and they thrive off the night and can’t handle sunlight, thus the name”

We both continued talking to each other, talking about what we did for a living, wonders about the other's world, the interesting wild life and plants each of our worlds offered, and I even explained chi and how it worked. I talked to her mostly to avoid that gaze; afraid if I didn’t she would use it again. However, a small part of me was enjoying the chit chat we were having and I felt a little happy inside.

In the midst of our talking one butterfly landed on my face and the other on Fluttershy’s. The butterfly on my face changed from a pure white glow to a black and white glow while the one on Fluttershy got a pink, blue, and yellow glow. Fluttershy looked in amazement at the now much more colorful butterflies.

“How did they do that?” Fluttershy asks.

“They change color based on the colors your chi resonates. They do this in order to help attract a lover”.

“That’s incredible”

I just nod. We continue to talking, loosing track of time until I start to feel sleepy. I give a big yawn and get the jar, I open it and the two butterflies go back into the jar. “Well, I’m going to bed, what about you?” I ask with no response. I see Fluttershy already asleep and I decide to pick her up and put her on my back. I then go into her house looking around for the master bedroom and put her in her bed. I then look around, going upstairs to find a guest bed, I put my bags next to the bed and I fall into the bed and immediately hit the hay.

Right outside of Fluttershy’s cottage on top of a big gray cloud sits a gray pegasus with a gray mane with two hammers crossed to form a X as his cutie mark. He sits idly until a black smoke forms behind him. The gray stallion turns around and bows his head as the black smoke dissipates. Out of the smoke steps a six foot dragon that has a mix of black, white, red, green, and blue scales all over her body.

“Did everything go as planned?” the dragon asked.

“No your majesty, Bartho was able to knock the hydra out. It won’t be able to wake up again for at least 3 days” the gray pony answered.

“Very well, then I suppose we must resort to a more quite approach”. She breathes a puff of smoke and it forms into a dark orb and a bag. “I need you to put this orb at the base of the river and pour the contents of the bag on that horse Bartho is living with”.

“At once your highness” he grabbed the bag and orb and put it in his saddle bags and got ready to take off.

“Oh and Gray Hammer” the dragon said. Gray Hammer paused and looked back at the dragon. “Continue you’re spying in celestia, the information you have given us so far has been most helpful”. He nodded and jumped off the cloud and flew towards the forest to begin his just order.

The multi colored dragon began laughing like a lunatic for a few moments before getting back her composure. She then breathed another cloud of smoke and vanished into thin air.

Chapter 3: The Gate of Purity

[center]Of Light and Darkness

Chapter 3: The Gate of Purity[/center]

I wake up in a dark void, barely able to see myself. My eyes go wide, knowing the inevitable horror that will soon occur. I curl up, close my eyes, and cover my ears, in anticipation. Then, I hear a scream and it forces my eyes open. I stand up noticing the room was now pure white. The room was so laminated that I couldn’t even see my own shadow, but at least I could see my surroundings. I begin to walk in a random direction, wondering if there’s a way out.

After a few moments of walking I see a black liquid starting to bubble from the floor. I sprint as fast as I can from the gunk, but more gushes out in front of me and I turn in another direction, however more spews in front of me. I continue trying to run until it eventually surrounds me, trapping me like a cornered mouse. The puddles form into what looks like humans and walk up to me like an armada of zombies.

“You killed us” one of them says.

“You murdered us all” another one states.

“You don’t deserve to live”

“Nobody cares about you”

They continued to insult me as they drew closer and closer. All I could do was stand there, paralyzed with fear. One of them touched me on my shoulder and instantly a vision popped into my head. The vision was of a man getting a hole punched into his stomach from a single jab. Another without arms bit me on the neck and another vision came. This one was of a woman getting her arms pulled from her sockets and then getting beaten to death by them.

Continuously, more of the human-like creatures came up to me and I kept getting visions of people dying in brutal ways. I started to scream in agony at the top of my lungs as more and more visions of torture came into my mind. The people then formed into a huge puddle under me then shot hands from the puddle and started to drag me down into the darkness.

“Hush, now, quiet now,
It's time to lay your sleepy head,
Hush now, quiet now,
It's time to go to bed,
Drifting off to sleep,
Leave exciting day behind you,
Drifting off to sleep,
Let the joy of daylight find you.”

As I hear the song, a bright light appears from the sky, burning away the puddle of darkness. The light then brightens, forcing me to close my eyes. When the light dims I open them only to see I’m on top of a grassy hill, surrounded by flowers and a large cherry blossom tree behind me. At the bottom of the hill I see someone starting to walk up the hill. I try to make out who it is but before I can, I wake up.

I sit up, hoping that I was home but sigh as I see I’m still a pony living in a cottage at the edge of the forest. I then jump up a little when I notice Fluttershy is sitting on the floor with her head and front legs sleeping on the edge of my bed. I get out of bed and gently lift up the yellow Pegasus and put her on the bed. I lift the blanket with my hoofs and cover her with it. Then I pause for a moment and look at my hoofs with twitching eyes. I ponder how in god’s name I’m able to pick stuff up like I have hands for a few moments then brush it off.

I then reach into my bag and pull out my Ever Clean Rag that my teacher gave me while traveling through Prontera. This piece of cloth will never get dirty and lets you clean almost anything with a single wipe. I then start cleaning the house out of courtesy to repay the hospitality. As I clean the house, animals start to help me and I give them a “you don’t have to help” kind of look but they still continue to do so. I just sigh and continue cleaning for another two hours. After I was finished I went into the kitchen to find something to eat but only found flowers and hay. I face hoof myself and think about cooking one of the animals here but decide not to. They helped me clean her house so I wouldn’t really feel right doing that.

Instead I go outside and see a town close by. Thinking maybe I could get something to eat there, however I put that out of me head immediately since I don’t really want to get to know anyone. So I figure I could just find something in the Everfree Forest. I walk in and begin trying to find something to eat. I walk down the trail, making sure to avoid the field where that hydra was sleeping. Eventually I come across a river with glass clear water. I get some sticks and some wood from some nearby trees and get out some flint and tinder from my bag. I start a small fire and go to the river to find some salmon. I slowly position my right front hoof as close to the river as possible, observing the salmon in order to predict Its movement. Then, with a swift strike I pull the salmon out of the river, he flings to the side and starts trying to flop back into the river. I grab one of the sticks and stab it in his mouth and through his tail. I then put my catch over a fire. I do this three more times and wait for the four fish to cook.

Once the fish are brown and crispy I eat them one by one. After finishing my breakfast I notice the river was starting to show a shade of black flowing down it. I grab a bottle of holy water and pour a little in the river and it sizzles and boils as if a piece of hot iron was thrown into it. I put my stuff in my bag and begin to run up the river to find out who is responsible for this.

The river gets darker as I run further upstream. I soon make it to the base of the river where I see a pentagram in the center. I open my bags and pull out a silver crucifix, another bottle of holy water, and a tome of celestial chants. I open by book, dowse my cross with holy water, and begin saying a chant in celestial. As I do the pentagram disappears and the river water stops flowing.

After two hours of prayer I finish the chant, get the crucifix and impale it in the middle of the dry river to keep the dark water from flowing again. I climb up out of the now dry river, and grab my bag so that i may leave the woods. But as soon as I stat to walk back a bright flash pops in front of me. when the light fades Twilight Sparkle is standing in front of me.

“Can I help you?” I asked

“Yes, you can start by explaining why the river is dried up” she responded.

“This river has been cursed and tainted and will need to be kept in check until I can find a way to fix this”.

“Curse? There is no such thing as curses”.

“ Uh yes there is and if it weren’t for that cross over there everyone would be suffering a very painful death”

Twilight noticed the silver cross and tried removing it with her magic, but she couldn’t even budge it. She then slid down to where the cross was and tried pulling it out with her teeth but once again she could not remove it.

“You know that only those that can speak celestial can remove that” I said

She then glared at me, with a face of pure rage and anger. “Then get down here and pull it out then” she said with great fury.

I facehoof and sigh in annoyance at how stubborn this mare is. “For the last time the river is tainted and cursed” I say in an agitated tone.

“There is no such thing as CURSES, now get down here and pull this thing out, NOW!!!”

I sigh again and go back to the center of the river. “Well, two hours of work, all for nothing” I say to myself. I grip the cross, whisper “nasuna(unlock)”, it immediately glows white and I pull it out with ease. The boulder then starts cracking and the ground slightly shakes. We both run out of the water basin and a geyser of water shoots out of the ground and the river starts flowing again. I get small vial from my bag and put some water in it, then take a close look and notice that the water is crystal clear again.

I look over to Twilight who is giving me a big ‘I was right’ kind of smirk. I sweep it off with an annoyed grunt and begin trotting my way out of this forest with twilight close behind. Twilight then began giving me a long lecture on how curses where illogical, then she started giving scientific explanations to supernatural phenomenon and by god it was boring as all hell.

In a desperate attempt to stop this sleep inducing yapping I interrupt her and ask “how did you find me”?

“I put a tracking spell on your bag before I left and I’m glad I did. Fluttershy is worried sick about you since you didn’t even leave a note letting her know where you ran of to.”

I stop and give a very shocked and confused glance at Twilight and ask “Why”?

“Well, me and my friends are supposed to be watching you during your stay here so I cast a tracking spell on a-“

“No, I mean why does she care?”

“Well of course she’s concerned that’s normal”

“Being concerned with me will only get you killed, so fuck off.”

Twilight stared at me gritting her teeth and smoke coming out of her fur. I walk past her giving her a mocking smirk and she starts screaming at me. “YOU BUCKING JERK WE ARE ONLY TRYING TO HEL-“

She stops yelling for some odd reason so I look back to see a giant scorpion tail impaled in her stomach. Then out of the bush comes a manticore with a black liquid coming out of his mouth and eyes with fly sized pupils. I charge at the manticore who tries to swipe at me with his claws. I jump to avoid the claws and land on the back of his head. I use it as a platform and jump again, this time to get to the tail. I hug his tail and pull using my forelegs and put my back legs together and push down on his tail. In moments the end of the tail rips off and the manticore roars in pain.

While the manticore is cringing in agony and seeing twilight’s life hanging by a thread, I open the bag and put the tail in. I then put my back legs in my bag and pull them out one second later. My back legs now each have a boot of force: a light brown leather boot with gray and squishy sole that lets you release a burst of power that you can use to deal massive damage to a enemy or to get one hell of a jump. The boots then glow and change into light brown leather bracers and gray, squishy horseshoes. I immediately grab my bags, pick up Twilight with my front legs, jump a few inches off the air and shouted “RUGA(force) DIMAS(five)”. Upon landing I was instantly flung into the air with the velocity of like which you would get if an elephant fell on the other side of a see-saw.

While in the air I see the same town I was supposed to go to before I bribed the guards. After half a minute I landed in the center of a plaza that had a huge assortment of stalls. As I landed everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me with shock and surprise. It was dead silence until I asked “Which way to the hospital?”

“It’s a couple blocks down that way on you right” one of the stall merchants replied pointing in a direction.

I simply nodded and put twilight on my back, running as fast as new legs would let me, arriving at the hospital moments later. I slam open the double doors and rush to the front desk where a white earth pony with a pink mane was sorting though some files. I slam my front hoofs on the desk to get her attention and she immediately saw twilight on my back and ran to get a doctor and a stretcher. Swiftly afterwards she came through a pair of doors and puts Twilight on a stretcher.

She then rushes her through the doors and I follow close behind. “What happened?” the nurse asks.

“Manticore sting” is all I reply with.

After a few moments of running we put Twilight in one of the empty rooms, put her on one of the beds and I left the room so I wouldn’t get in the way. After thirteen minuets of waiting the nurse comes out of the room. “Will she be ok?” I ask.

“Yes, as long as she gets an antidote she’ll be just fine” she says with a smile. The nurse then trots away to the hospital’s medicine cabinet and I just wait outside, leaning against Twilight’s door. After a few minutes of waiting I see the nurse running back with a panicked look.

“What happened?” I ask

“Somepony destroyed all of our medicine”

“Why don’t you make more?”

“We get our medicine shipped in from Canterlot, and the next shipment doesn’t arrive for another two weeks.”

I begin thinking through different options until I’m left with only one. Thanking god I had taken the manticore tail with me I pull it out of my bag and go back into Twilight’s room. The nurse followed me with a stunned look on her face. I make an opening on the top of the blood bag attached to her and start to meditate. After meditating I grab the tail and stab it in one of my forelegs. The nurse’s face grew whiter than I thought possible. With the hospital mare too shocked to speak I began forcing my chi to flow again and redirecting it to where I stung myself with the tail.

“Oh powers of life and redemption, I call upon you to bring peace once again.” I chant, getting a small aura around my body. “Gate of Salvation open, Purity” the aura then goes into my blood stream, as it does i begin to feel as if my blood just turned into lava as I grind my teeth to stop myself from screaming in pain. The chi gives my veins a black glow and cleans my blood of the venom, turning it into a harmless steam. While I’m still bleeding I put my foreleg over the blood pack and let the blood drop in.

As my blood drops in it starts to create black flame that mixes with the blood and slowly goes down the tube and into Twilight. The purple mare’s veins begin to glow black and steam starts to emit from her body, evaporating the venom. After a few seconds her veins stop glowing and the steam stops exiting her fur. I then put my foreleg back on the ground and the wound closes almost instantly. I immediately chant “close” and the chi in my body stops flowing, although the pain still continues.

The pain now begins to intensify after forcing it out of my body. With no more will to keep the pain in check I begin to scream in torment and my body starts to get really hot, making me feel like I’m in the middle of a desert in summer. The nurse picks me up, places me on a bed and hooks me up to a heart monitor. After a few moments she returns with an ice pack and puts it on my head, but it instantly melts, the nurse runs out of the room again and I blackout.

Twilight slowly opens her eyes and sits up, looking at her surroundings and notices nurse Red Heart injecting a vaccine into a patient. “Nurse Red Heart?” Twilight asked, getting the nurse’s attention.

“Twilight, thank Celestia your awake”

“What am I doing at the hospital?”

“Well, you got stung by a manticore.”

All the memories came back to Twilight like a cart of bricks, the last thing being hit in the chest by a scorpion like tail. She looks at her torso but there was no bandages or wound to be seen “How long was I out?”

“A couple hours”

Twilight’s eyes grow wide with shock “but, I don’t feel any pain and there isn’t even a wound”

“I’m just as shocked as you are.”

“How is this even possible, I’ve never heard of any spells that could heal somepony to this degree.”

“Well..” as the nurse explains what happened, Twilight’s face goes from one of shock, to one of fascination after the story settles in.

Twilight then looks over at the other patient and notice it’s Bartho, asleep with a look of pain on his face. “Is he going to be okay?”

“I don’t know, we’ve never dealt with something like this before. But from what we can tell, it seems his blood is decaying and his organs will soon follow” Nurse Red Heart said with a sigh and her face looking at the ground.

Twilight got out of her hospital bed, and walked to Bartho. She then started to concentrate and her horn started to glow purple.

“What are you doing?” the nurse asked.

“He saved my life, now I'm going to try and return the favor.”

“But you just recovered from a severe injury, you might strain yourself.”

“I……don’t……CARE” the room was then flooded with a lavender light that surrounded Bartho’s body. The light then started to gain a taint of black, becoming a darkness soon after. Swiftly after, the black aura detonated, slamming Twilight and Red Heart into a wall and shattering the room’s window into hundreds of pieces.

I wake up; my body still a little sore, (around the equivalent of doing pushups for two hours straight) I looked around, soon remembering why I was in a hospital and noticed Twilight looking at me with a big smile and tears running down her face. “So, looks like you live to see another day” I said plainly.

Twilight jumped on my bed and gave me a big hug and to me whispered “thank you”.

I got up, stood on two legs, grabbed Twilight, pried her off me, and dropped her onto the floor. “Okay, enough of that sentimental crap, I only saved you because, even though your annoying as all hell, you’ve committed nothing that deserves death, and killing innocent people is something I scorn more than anything else. So I ask that you refrain from touching me.”

“Sorry” she responded with a sheepish grin.

The hospital room opened and the nurse entered with a cheerful mood. “I see you’re awake, just let us do a few tests and you’ll be good to go”.

I nod and ask “how long was I out?”

“It’s quite amazing actually; you were only out for around thirty minutes. Even though your blood was starting to decay” the nurse replied.

“Huh, I guess opening one of the gates while my chi is still sealed will do that.”

“What’s chi?” Twilight asked.

I found that my bag was on the floor on the left side of my bed so I picked it up, opened it, pulled out an ancient faded brown book and a pair of green lensed glasses, and threw them both on the ground in front of the purple unicorn.

She instantly picked up the book with a big grin on her face and started to read. “Hmmmmm… I’ve never seen writing like this. I don’t know how I’m supposed to read this.”

I face hoof and sigh in annoyance “Put on the glasses you moron”.

“I don’t know how that will help but ok” she levitates the glasses onto her face and her jaw immediately drops to the floor.

“I’m guessing you’ve never seen emerald glasses have you?”

She puts her jaw back up and simply shakes her head

“It basically lets you read any known mortal language. It’s a must have for the work I did back home.”

She then jumps and skips around the room like a teenager that just got her first car. “Can I borrow these? There are so many books that I have that I can’t read because there in different languages.”

“No, this book only”

She stops bouncing around and starts looking at the floor. “Okay”

I pulled out my bag of money and pulled out another bag containing five-hundred bits and lay it on one of the side tables.

The nurse went to pick up the bag of bits and her eyes widened at the amount. “This much isn’t necessary; it was only going to be around one-hundred and fifty bits.”

“It’s fine, I probably have enough money to buy one fourth of your country.”

“Are you sure?”

“I don’t really care for it, so take it”

The nurse nodded and picked up the bag of money. “Thank you very much” she said with a kick to her step.

“So can I leave?”

“Well, you could, but I advise you stay here for another day. Just to be on the safe side”

“No, I don’t think so.” I then get out of the hospital bed and put my bag on my back.

“Where are you going?” Twilight asked me

“Now that that everything is taken care of and you have something that will keep you from bothering me for a while, I’m getting a train ticket out of this town.”

“Oh no you’re not, the princess ordered me and my friends to watch over you during your stay here. So you’re coming with me, unless you want to be here for the rest of your life.” She stated with an impish grin.

“Damn”

As me and Twilight exited the hospital and began walking toward her house which she explained to me was a hollowed out tree in the middle of town and served as the local library I was in a state of disbelief. The town was filled with so many different colorful ponies, all going about their business, and some even greeting us. It made me feel like I was in one of Salvador Dali’s paintings.

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked, with concern

“Too Many COLORS!!!!!”

“You’re not used to seeing this many colo-”

“NO, I feel like I just drank three bottles of fucking SKOOMA”

“What’s skooma?”

“….You don’t want to know”

“Well, we're here.”

I break out from my color shock, forgetting we were still walking and noticed a huge tree in the middle of town. “So you live in a hallow tree?”

She nods in response. “This also serves as Ponyville’s library.”

“Nerd indeed”

“Well are you coming in or not?”

*Sigh* “better than being out here I suppose.”

As we walked in we were greeted by Spike, who was dusting off a shelf of books. “Hey Twilight” he said in a chipper tone. But his mood went south when he saw me. He gave me a sour look and went back to his work.

“Spike, that’s no way to treat a guest.”

“I honestly don’t care, in fact that’s the look everyone gives me back home.”

“But why, no pony deserves to be treated that way.”

“Because back home, after every mission, I always returned with the blood of the enemies I killed, dripping from my hands. That’s why they called me the Red Reaper. They think that simply touching my hands would cause them to implode, and they are right to believe that” I state with grief and barely able to keep myself from crying.

The purple mare grabbed one of my fore hoofs with her own two. “Well I think they are wrong” she said with a sad tone. “these hoofs saved my life from a manticore sting and its these hoofs that saved the life of one of my closest friends from a hydra. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for ponies you never met; I think someone as selfless as you could never be a murderer” She finished with tears flowing down and face her looking at the floor.

I put one of my fore hoofs on her chin, lift up her face, and gaze into those eyes of arcane lavender. “Stop crying ok? You’re a lot cuter when you’re not crying.”

She stopped crying, her face instantly turned a beet red, and she turned her head away, too embarrassed to look at me.

“What the HELL, what is wrong with me, your supposed not to care about anyone. Wait, am I….. No of course I’m not, then why am I being so sentimental.” I think to myself, now trying to think this through logically. “Ah hah, emotional after burn, since my chi is sealed and I forced it out of my body like I’m breaking a dam and chi is supposed to flow like a river. Also, since chi is an emotional energy it must also be messing with my emotions.” I conclude in my head, relieving a huge mound of stress.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked

“Yeah, but I could use a shower right now.” I respond while trying to change the subject. “You do have one right?”

“Of course, second door up the stairs.”

I give a nod and head towards the door.

“While you’re doing that I’ll send a note to Fluttershy letting her know where you are” Twilight said with a positive attitude. “I’ll probably also start reading that book you gave me”

“Whatever” was the only response I gave before heading into the bathroom to take a shower.

Twilight picked up a piece of paper and a quill pen and wrote a small message to the yellow Pegasus. After she finished she rolled it up and sent it in a flash of light. She then picked up the tome Bartho gave her and opened the first page. Immediately remembering she didn’t know the language she put the green glasses on her face and began reading.