//-------------------------------------------------------// Dark Conquest -by Dark Colt Sabata- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 How much time has passed since he woke up chained down on this cell? Who knows, it's not like it matters to him anyway. He laid face down on the cold, hard prison ground, the feeling around his wrists and ankles becoming numb long ago. Hoofsteps echoed throughout the area, slowly getting closer to the chained creature. He didn’t cared who came to him, he just wanted to remain here to starve to death. But they forced him to eat whenever he refused the meals given to him, so he couldn’t have even that. He tried to find other ways to end his suffering, but by experience he knew he couldn’t kill himself no matter how hard he hit his head against the wall or floor. There were the chains on his wrist, but they cannot reach his neck nor he can pull against them strong enough to cause a mortal wound on them. In the end he had given up, just like he had given up on his life and everything else. The hoofsteps became louder as a blue colored light slowly headed towards his cell. He didn’t respond in any way, the light illuminating the cell slightly as the hoofsteps stopped close to him. He had hopes that someone had come to finally put him out of his misery, but he knew that wouldn’t be the case. And judging by the light, it has to be the one that doesn’t visit a lot. “Stand up.” A feminine voice orders him followed by the sound of his cell and his bindings being unlocked. He didn’t comply with her request though, unable to summon the energy to lift himself up and barely feeling the chains being detached from him. However, he felt himself lighter and next thing he knew he was dropped in a light blue blur. Adjusting his sight he saw the small horned unicorn with clear short mane and tail, crown and her necklace dark as the night. Strange enough, she was smaller than him and yet was strong enough to carry him just fine. At first it was intriguing, but quickly he lost interest and just accepted it. Light shone upon him as the horned unicorn pony kept walking. His thin figure visible, bone slightly showing on his stomach, wind brushes against his spiked back onyx hair. The only clothing he’s visibly wearing his a torn black jeans and dirty shoes. He heard voices all around him, but he paid them no mind. It’s not like they had anything meaningful to say, being a stranger in this place after all. The voices became distant until they couldn't be heard anymore, the pony carrying him had been silent this entire trip, his mind drifted away until he felt the pony working her magic again to pick him up and drop him in the velvet carpet. “I’ve brought him here.” The blue one spoke and left with a silent nod. He remained still on the floor, granted it was slightly more comfortable than the prison one, but he didn’t seemed to pay mind to that. If he remembered correctly this was the first time since he got here that he was moved to another location, as far as he could remember anyway. He heard again the sound of hoofsteps, with little energy he lifted his head to look around him. The velvet carpet adorned the entire floor of the room, the walls painted a light violet with some regal decorations, a pile of what looked like pillows had been placed near the fireplace that was lit on, bookshelves decorated around and a stand to read books on. Glancing at the open entrance of the balcony he saw that it was still daylight. The hoofsteps stopped as he tried to glance back at the source of them. It was the big sister, the only one who bothered to talk to him while he was in prison. She always threw him off, with her multicolored mane always waving as if it had a mind of it’s own, her taintless white coat, her expressionless purple eyes, her radiant wings, he couldn’t place how or why, but he never had a good feeling about the big sister. Funny enough, only she and the little sister are winged unicorns while the others aren’t. What’s funnier is that the big sister is the only one who treats him like a person, yet there’s this strong feeling of wrongness that he can’t shape no matter how much he stared at her kind smile. And despite that he didn’t felt like that with the little sister, who treats him the opposite way her older sister did. She knelt down to meet him face to face, she looked sad, why is she being sad? It probably is because she pitied him, like the few persons he used to know. It didn’t made sense that she was actually concerned about a thing like him. “Matt, please get up, I can’t stand looking at you like that.” She responded with a saddened voice. She can’t stand his sight, he always expects that he was told that or something similar. She was the only pony who called him by name, a name useless for a thing like he was. Sighing the young man pressed both hands against the floor, weakly getting up as he shifted the weight on his legs. He tumbled and almost fell over were it not for her catching him with her side. “I’m sorry I couldn’t free you earlier, I had such a hard time convincing Luna to let you go.” She reached back and nuzzles Matt’s cheek, but he didn’t gave any reaction “Everything will be alright, I have some great news.” The big sister led him to the pile of pillows, leaning on her as they continued and she gently set him down in a pillow with a momentary spark of her horn. Matt crossed his legs and stared back at her as she took a seat in another pillow. Staring at her with his face lacking any expressive features and without even the tiniest trace of light on his eyes. “Now,” She started after clearing her throat “I have talked to my personal student about your situation Matt, and I think it would be for the best that you go move in with her in Ponyville.” She paused, receiving no answer from Matt “She just moved in there herself a few weeks ago, but she has made a lot of progress with the magic of friendship already, I think you should learn along with her.” With that Matt looked down and gazed away from her. Just perfect, another pony that spews out quotes from self-help books, and princess sun ass here is sending him to live with said pony. Looking back, the cell is looking much better now. “Sorry for leaving you like this Matt, but I have duties to attend,” She got up and closed in on him to nuzzle his neck “I’ll prepare the carriage in the meantime, I’ll send Luna to see you off in my place.” She finally went off with a smile and closed the door behind her. Now that he thought about it, she didn’t mention anything about him staying on her study or anything. Typical, she probably has intended for her so called student to document anything that Matt tells about humans. As if he would say shit about the shithole he came from, specially anything about himself. With nothing better to do, he stood up and scanned the bookshelves for anything worth reading. A brown book catches his eye titled ‘History of Equestria vol. 1’, it certainly beats sitting around without anything to do like a statue. Taking the book and sitting back down on the pillow, he started to read the book. “Once upon a ti- Goddamnit…” He read the first line of the book before groaning. This might get worse than Earth. Eventually hearing the door being knocked and opened, Matt looked up and saw the younger sister Luna entering the room. She didn’t looked at him with disgust and hate anymore, but she didn’t looked at him like her older sister did, which was something he was grateful for. Instead she stared with her own neutral expression. “The carriage is ready.” It was all she said before earning a nod from Matt and got up. Putting the book down, he followed her this time. Neither of them talking and Matt falling behind at times, eventually catching up again. He heard ponies whispering to eachother, he didn’t cared though. They can talk all they want, it stopped being a bother for him long ago when he was on Earth. Next thing he knew, they both reached the gardens. Looking around the multiple bushes and decorations, he spotted a serpentine-like statue a bit far away. He knew this guy, making a mental note to never get close to him. Also raising his bad feeling of Celestia. Spotting Luna near the carriage, he walked towards it. The vehicle looked regal enough to be considered one of the sisters’, four pegasus guards were attached to the carriage bearing expressions that almost rival Matt’s. “Everything is set to go,” Luna said walking besides him. Matt gave no response as he got on the carriage, it was big enough for a human like he is. Problem is that he didn’t seem to note anything resembling rails or something that he can hang on to. He sighed and held on to his knees as he waited for the takeoff. “Before you leave though,” Luna got close as he looked back at her “Matt, I apologize for treating you like a savage beast.” “...Right.” Matt buries his face on his knees. Luna figured that it’s the most that she’ll get from him and with a nod to the guards they took off into the skies. With the apology delivered to him she turned way back to the castle. She doesn’t want to doubt her sister, but there’s a feeling in her gut that she cannot shake whenever she thought of her sister’s plan. Matt was no ordinary gloomy guy, she knew better. But maybe Twilight Sparkle can save Matt just like she saved her, maybe this time it won’t be too late. Yes, she needs to have faith in Twilight and her friends, surely they are able to complete this task. After all, they are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. But why does she still feel so terribly uneasy? //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 Matt broke out of his inner thoughts as he noticed that the carriage had stopped in front of a tree with a door and windows in the middle of what seemed a countryside town. For him the flight sure was short, either that or time flies when you disconnect your mind for a moment. He hopped off the carriage as another pony opened the door and approached him. She was purple colored just like her eyes, her mane dark blue with a pink streak that he swore she sprayed that on and a purple star with five smaller stars surrounding it tattoo on her butt. He was curious about those tattoos that ponies had on their butts, but his curiosity didn’t last long. He heard the carriage moving again and assumed that the guards left to return to their posts. The pony before him seems hesitant to talk or keep moving towards him, but soon enough she took some more steps before stopping again. “Um… hi there.” She started extending a hoof “My name’s Twilight Sparkle, I’m the princess’ student, nice to meet you.” She flashed him a nervous smile and waited with her hoof stretched out. Matt didn’t gave her any kind of response and instead walked past her, entering her home. Looking at him with a raised brow, Twilight followed him inside closing the door behind her. The inside of the tree wasn’t anything beyond that he expected, except maybe for the much more bookshelves that were here compared to her elder sister’s personal study. There was basic furniture, but it was smaller compared to the usual furniture. Setting his gaze on a ladder leaned against one of the bookshelves, he noticed a reptilian shape that was the size of what he assumed was a child. He was purple colored like the pony was, but his seems to be a bit much clearer, from this angle all he could see was his green spines and his fat and short tail. “Spike!” The pony called as the reptile child jumped in surprise “Our guest is here!” He regained his balance and carefully climbed down the ladder. Now that he has turned to him, the child had emerald green eyes and a clear green underbelly. Though he seems to be getting chubby. “Spike, this is our new resident Matt,” The pony walked besides him “The princess said he didn’t spoke a lot, so try to get along.” With that the child nodded as Twilight now went to his side. “Matt, this is my number one assistant Spike, he’s a baby dragon.” “...You have a dragon… as an assistant…” Matt finally spoke, unnerving the both of them. “Um… yeah, you see I hatched him when he was an egg-” “You have a fucking dragon for assistant, a child dragon no less.” Matt’s gaze shows a small hidden fire behind them, it sent them a shiver down their spines as they began to embrace eachother instinctively. “A dragon!” Matt raised his voice which started to sound raspy “A fucking firebreathing dragon, yet all you made him good for is for housework like if he was a maid. All that’s left is a frilly dress to have it all fucking complete!” He sighed and grabbed the bridge of his nose. He didn’t knew why that bothered him so much, though it’s not like the ponies had been kind to him when he first woke up in Canterlot. But he still cared deep within him like an idiot, it will be the weakness that will be the end of him one day. He snapped back to reality barely seeing Spike’s tail disappearing upstairs and hearing a door closing. Matt felt a small pain on his chest, but he ignored it. Twilight gave him a disapproving stare. “Why did you do that?” She asked. “Fuck if I know.” He shrugged. “You know well what you did!” “I told enough to you Star ass.” “No you didn’t and my name is Twilight!” “Tell it to somebody who gives a fuck Star ass.” With that Matt left Twilight with her jaw hanging open, he leaned against a nearby wall and crossed his arms. Groaning Twilight searched on a pile of what seems to be unopened scrolls and took a few with her along with a quill as well as some ink. She had set them all in the desk in the middle of the room, opened one of the scrolls and dipped the tip of the quill in the ink, she can not be serious. And yet she was, as he had assumed she started to ask questions about his world and his personal life, of course he refused to answer every single question she asked, soon enough earning an irritated groan from her. Among 30 or so minutes later, Matt has refused every single question that Twilight had asked him. No matter what angle she had used, he utterly refused to tell even a small word about the subjects about his home world she had brought up. In the end she ended up with her face down on the desk with a messy mane and a still blank scroll. “Correct me if I’m wrong,” Matt spoke after a few minutes of silence, making Twilight jump while giving an excited gasp that was cut short by a stop hand sign from him “But shouldn’t you be checking on your slave that possibly had cried himself to sleep?” “The one you initially scared off by being a jerk?” Twilight remarked back, but as usual Matt hasn’t moved an inch and kept staring at him “Don’t look at me like that! It creeps me out.” “Haven’t you even gave him even a tiny bit of thought?” “N-No, but-” “Whatever work you have assigned or something can wait, comforting him comes first.” Twilight kept staring at him, not ever expecting what Matt has just said judging by what little time she met him. She lifted herself off the desk after calming herself down, looking at the stairs that led to her bedroom back at Matt. “You’re right, I’m gonna make sure Spike is alright. But I’m still not forgiving you for it.” “Whatever.” “Don’t go anywhere.” “Bite me.” Rolling her eyes she went upstairs and entered her bedroom. Now that he was on his own he stared at the wooden floor as he began to think yet again. ‘Help me...’ That… was a voice, the voice of a mature woman. He snapped back up and looked around where it might have came from, is he possibly hearing things? He thought he was crazy before, this would seal the deal. ‘Help… I can’t hold on...’ There it is again, strange thing is that he could swear the voice sounds familiar somehow. Seeing as Star Ass won’t be coming down anytime soon and considering that he isn’t fond of ponies as they weren’t fond of him either, following the voice sounds better to him. Checking his surroundings once again, Matt went for the door once he was done. Quickly opening it and slamming it shut as he walked away. He had assumed it was the middle of the afternoon as he walked through the streets of the small town with no idea of where he should go to the voice. Once again his mind had started to think. He didn’t knew why he was going to help someone who he never met before who can possibly be dangerous, he thought he knew better after what happened back home to never help strangers. Whatever, anything to get away from these ponies is always something Matt can go behind of. Speaking of said ponies, a lot of them seem to already had ran away and hide inside their homes. The few who stayed remained hidden nearby thinking that the young human would be dumb enough to not notice, not that it mattered to him as he payed no mind and continued walking away. A few minutes of walking had him on the outskirts of the town, which is a good progress to him. Matt continued through a small bridge and onwards, spotting the start of a dark forest that went farther than it seemed. He was conflicted about going in at first, but reminding himself that he has nothing to lose he entered it anyways. The sun doesn’t seem to be as strong as it was before, meaning that it was later in the afternoon, or could deduce that seeing as there was nothing on him to check the hour with. A barely noticeable breeze passed by him, which reminded him that he was shirtless and the sisters haven’t bothered to even suggest that he takes a bath, though it hasn't been too bad if he was the only one to have noticed it. There was no other sound other than his feet stepping on the grass as he kept walking, he wasn’t exactly sure where he was going in this strange forest with barely any sunlight comes through, but somehow he had a feeling where to go to that mysterious voice. So far nothing seemed to have appeared to him, like wild animals and such. He should have seen a squirrel by now, but there was nothing but a cliff, a line of awfully dark trees and a river. But Matt dismissed those thoughts as quickly as they’ve come, maybe he could live out here once he had rescued whoever was asking for help. There was no way that he’s going to follow Sun Ass’ orders or of anyone at all. Looking back at where he was going he saw a rather old bridge that led to some kind of ruins, below the bridge was covered by a thick fog even at this time of the day. The bottom can’t be seen, meaning that it could be a long way down if he was careless. Taking a deep breath he continued to walk the bridge carefully, trying to not put too much weight on his legs or the wood would break and fall down. Most of the time he was holding on the rope part of the bridge and eventually he had crossed to the other side without any obstacle, which really unnerved the young man. Life wasn’t screwing him over for once, something is wrong here. Before him laid the gates to the ruins of what he thought was an old building, it could fall apart at any moment. At first he had hesitated to go inside, Matt thought that whoever was in there she wasn’t worth this dangerous trip for. Plus said person would forget about him as soon as he rescued her, even if he did befriend her or anything she would end up betraying him and abandoning him like before. ‘H-He...lp...’ This time he definitely heard the voice coming from the ruins. “...Goddamn my kindness.” He said after giving a sigh. He walked towards the gates and pushing them open. Inside he found himself in some sort of wide open hall with broken windows, a strange device sat on the middle of the room with six radial shafts that gives the impression that something that was placed on them were gone now, the rig was overgrown with vines and moss as well. Walking past by it he continued to walk deeper into the ruins, leading him to the highest tower of the ruins. The sun has gotten down a bit since he got out to this rescue trip, he slowed down as he was getting tired of walking so much. Beads of sweat getting visible the more he went up the stairs of the tower and the ache of his feet. Once reaching the end of the stairs, he knelt down and took a moment to catch his breath. This chamber looks like a smaller version of the entrance hall, only that all that was forwards was a small set of dias and a wall of broken windows. The voice seemed to come from here, but there was no one nor nothing here. Figures, he was led on once again, he always fell for the same trick over and over again. He scoffed and turned back to leave angered until he heard her again. ‘I’m here… don’t leave me here...’ “I freaking should though,” Matt muttered and turned back feeling a bit cold “Where are you?” ‘Right here… come closer...’ He heard her voice coming from the place where the big broken windows were beyond the dias. He walked up there and all he found was some midnight blue crystal shards scattered on the floor, the crystals were emitting a dark blue smoke that huddled together and grew bigger. Matt stared in silent and amazement, unsure of what to think or say about this. He expected some kind of trap or stab in the back as was his usual luck, but not this. Immediately he was reminded that he was in a world of magical xenophobic, racist ponies, logic be damned. ‘Finally,’ The voice spoke again from the dark smoke ‘You’re here, my new host!’ Matt barely had any time to react as the smoke lunged at him. It was already too late, the smoke disappeared under his skin as he tried to swat it away frantically. His body felt pain as if it was melting, he screamed as loud as he could as the smoke disappeared into his body. His skin darkened as he continue screaming to the skies, midnight blue colored swirling energy surrounded him in a dome shape. The ruins shook with the enormous power being released, streams of energy shooting out all around him. Matt felt his mind being scrambled away, feeling so much pain that he thought that he was being ripped apart in every way possible. The stream and dome of energy disappeared as Matt fell on his knees, soon falling to the floor. The last thing he heard was the voice’s laughter and cursed her as much as he could before falling into unconsciousness. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 He ran, the young man had no idea where he is nor what to make heads or tails out of this place, but he kept running. He had no memory of how he got here, but he needed to get out as soon as possible. The sound of his footsteps and his panting being the only things he can listen right now as it echoed with every step, everything else was deathly silent. He was the only living thing in this place of madness and indescribable chaos. He stopped as he was running out of breath, he had no idea how long he was running. It could have been minutes or hours, but there was no sure way for him to know. Looking around he had found what seemed to be a door with an exit sign above it, he wanted to believe that he had found a way out, but a part of him remained skeptical. Nevertheless, this time he walked instead of running to the door, turning the handle to open it and finally getting out of this place. Or so he believed. He could make what was outside this time, but it wasn’t how he had expected it. The sky had turned dark gray, the city that he had appeared into looked like it was it was built by rich persons, lots of their buildings are flying and remaining in the middle of the air. He appeared to be in a piece of those buildings, but there was something else. A large shadow, just like the buildings, remained in mid air. It was too far away, he couldn’t make the details of the shadow, but it gives off an aura of despair and dread. It made him feel uneasy, but in the corner of his eye he spotted a purple blob. Focusing his gaze over where it is, the man saw something else. It looked like a purple pony, with a horn and a star tattoo on both sides of her flanks. His eyes grew wide as he remembered now, it was Starbutt, as he’d like to call her. But she seems different, her eyes are sharp and she has wings too like Sunbutt does. She squatted and jumped flapping her wings, flying at a huge speed towards the shadow looming over the city. Suddenly one of the buildings moved and flew to her direction, she was unable to stop in time as it collided with her and crashed into another building. “Owch! That’ll hurt like a bitch tomorrow.” He said out loud visibly cringing at that attack. She flew out of that collision seemingly okay, but not soon after the shadow shot multiple dark purple blast at her which she blocked in time with a barrier and dodged the next few as she kept moving towards the unknown figure. “Things aren’t looking good.” “It can’t be helped,” A voice spoke at his side that has startled him “She cannot handle this alone, but she still accepted this task my sister gave her.” Looking at his side was the little sister, Moonbutt. She didn’t even looked at him, her eyes remaining on the battle unfolding before them. The purple alicorn was closing in on the figure until it shot a point blank blast that had threw her to the ground, her cuts and injuries noticeable, especially on the trail of blood that is coming from her forehead. “Looks like she’s in deep shit.” He commented as he saw her tilting her head up and rose her head high to scream something he was unable to hear from this distance. “If she gives up now, Equestria is doomed.” Luna spoke again as she turned to him with hopeful eyes “But maybe you can do something young Matt.” “Wait, me?!” Matt’s eyes grew wide as he took a step back “What can a piece of shit like me do any good in here?!” “If I borrow you my power, you can change this. You can help Twilight where she most needs it, I know you can do it.” Matt kept quiet as he saw the purple alicorn being thrown off and plummeting to the streets, managing to flap her wings in time to give her a soft landing. She remained to catch her breath as the blood kept dripping down. He thought about this for a moment, on one hand he can finally do something good. He would be recognized as a hero, loved my thousands, legends to be told about this victory against this enigmatic titan, all the glory would be his only with the victory of this battle. But on the other hand… “So, can I really make a difference here?” Matt asked looking at Luna again. “Of course you can, just take my power and become the mystical Lunar Warrior.” Luna extended a hoof towards him as she finished. However, he could have sworn that her eyes became silts like a reptile and her colors became cyan. Instead of taking her hoof, Matt felt some deep anger awaken. He rolled his hand into a fist, arched it back and moved it towards Luna’s face as hard as he could. Once he felt his fist collide with her face, the scene around them cracked and broke into pieces as did the smaller alicorn. Matt felt nothing at his feet anymore as he plunged into the dark abyss below, his consciousness slipping away from him once again. The next thing he knew he woke up face first into grass, his body still feeling injured. Remembering the dark smoke that lunged at him and disappeared into his skin, figuring that maybe that was the reason why he was in pain. “That… little…” He muttered as he attempted to get himself up. However, his arms won’t stop shaking as he slowly rose to stand up with way more difficulty than usual. He leaned against a nearby tree once he had set a knee on the ground, groaning while his entire body screamed at him, nearly falling to the tree. ‘You’re stubborn, I’ll give you that.’ The voice that he was searching for spoke from his mind. “Y-You…” Matt barely got up on his feet, limping towards a little light that he can see just ahead of him “What did you… do to me?” ‘I thought I could use you as a host and take my revenge, but it seems that either I’m not strong enough to take complete control over your fragile mind or something else.’ “So you fucking tricked me? Fucking figures…” He suppressed a groan as he continued limping, supporting himself against the trees besides him. ‘It may seem so at first, but and I aren’t so different Matt.’ “Let me guess, you read my mind or something did you?” ‘Yes, yes I did.’ “Whatever… j-just leave me be…” ‘That won’t be possible, now that I have fused with your body we cannot be separated unless you’re struck with the Elements of Harmony.’ “The same ones… that stoned Discord?” His breath picked up speed, his heart pounding on his chest and ears. The light ahead grew orange colored signifying that dusk was setting in and was also able to make out some outlines from the light. ‘You can be funny when you wish to,’ The voice chuckled ‘And yes, the elements found new bearers to protect Celestia’s throne.’ “Listen here… I hate this world and the ones living on it, so we’re not the same and I’m not gonna help you overthrow her or some shit like that. End of story.” Soon enough he finally got out into the light and nearly collapsed again when he didn’t find anything else to lean against, standing still as his knees haven’t stopped shaking. The sun has almost completely set in and continued to limp back to the only place he knew near here, Ponyville. Despite his mental protests he didn’t see much of another choice but to go back and hopefully get to rest to see if he can recover after a dark spirit of some sorts had made herself home inside of him, something is wrong with the way he thought of it. ‘Very well, but what shall you do now? Ask the element bearers to separate us?’ “That’s… a start…” He replied despite that he is feeling more tired as he went on. ‘That would be a good idea, if you knew who they were, which I do.’ Matt stopped and fell to his knees once again, a gust of wind brushed above him and heard something crash behind him. Taking a moment to catch his breath he was able to mutter a reply. “Just who… the fuck… are you?” ‘You know who Discord is, yet you don’t know who am I? Ignorant boy.’ Once he rested a few moment he turned around to find some ponies behind him, one of them being an orange colored one with blonde hair and a stetson hat, the other is a cyan colored pegasus with a technicolor hair and tail. The two of them turned to Matt, giving him an angry glare as they approached him and tried to crawl away from them. Suppressing more groans and trying to ignore the aching sensations again. ‘I am the mare in the moon, the mare of darkness born from Princess Luna and the one true ruler of Equestria, Nightmare Moon.’ With the ponies charging at him and the revelation that he was just told, there was only one word that could perfectly describe his thoughts of the current situation. “Fuck…” Author's Note Yes I know, it's easy to guess what I'm referencing at the beggining, but maybe it'll come into play in the future. Sorry for taking so long, it isn't too easy for me, but I try. Hopefully I won't take too long next time. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4 “STOOOOOOOOOP!” A familiar voice screamed, making the two ponies stop right in front of him. Matt blinked watching the ponies look at his left, curiosity getting the better of him he followed their gaze. Twilight was galloping to them, distress on her visible even from this far. Once she got close enough she stopped to catch her breath. “Thank Celestia you came Twilight, give us a hoof in kick this thing all the way back to the forest where it came.” The cyan one spoke in a ruff and bloated tone. “I have a… name you know.” Matt replied giving a displeased glare. “It talks?” The orange one spoke on a southern accent, receiving a rolling of eyes from the young exhausted human. “Yes he does,” Twilight answered before Matt could, glancing at him annoyed “And he is in big trouble.” “I’m not… fucking five… you know.” Matt groaned. “My goodness, what happened to you? Why did you wander into the Everfree Forest?” Twilight examined him, noticing the scrapes and some scratches on him. Meanwhile, the other two ponies stared at each other unsure of what to do. “Uh… Twilight-” The technicolored one spoke again, being cut off by Twilight not long after. “Oh sorry,” Twilight glanced at the ponies “Matt, these are my friends Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Girls, this is Matt, Princess Celestia tasked me to learn the magic of friendship with him.” Matt was about to make one of his usual remarks, but a tug on his chest had prevented him to do so. Whenever he tried to take a jab at the ponies he was stopped before he could say a word. ‘It’s not wise to get them on their bad side, unless you want to be sealed away in stone or be banished away for a thousand years.’ Nightmare Moon finally spoke after being silent ‘Look, I know you don’t wish to befriend my subjects, but you need to play along for the time being.’ “I see where you’re going, fine, I’ll lay low for now.” He responded mentally to her as he took a breath, trying his hardest to look at the two ponies looking at him in awkward silence without any kind of spite. “Nice to meet you.” He finally replied flatly. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and Applejack looked back at Twilight, no one said a word while Matt tried to get up on his feet only for his muscles to give away again. “Here.” Twilight leaned below his belly and carried him up on her back with an extra help of her magic despite being pretty heavy for her. She struggled in her magic to keep Matt on her back without being crushed under his weight “Oof, sorry to cut this short girls, but it’s getting pretty late. We’ll talk later.” “See ya later sugarcube.” Applejack waved at Twilight bearing a nervous smile, Rainbow Dash stared at the direction of the Everfree Forest. Her narrowed eyes not moving away from there. “I don’t trust this.” Dash muttered. “Yeah, me neither.” Applejack’s smile wavered as soon as Twilight was out of sight “Let’s keep an eye out fer now, Twi seems to have this under control.” “Oh sure, she totally has this under control. Nevermind how he was able to slip away under her nose, she’s got this.” Dash turned to her, flapping her wings to take off before giving out a yawn. “Rainbow.” “Fine fine, I’ll stay low for now. But I’m gonna give him a good old beatdown if he does anything funny.” She finally took off into the night sky ready to hit the hay. “What were you thinking?! Don’t you know that the Everfree Forest is the most dangerous place to go to?!” Twilight scolded the young man, pacing in front of him while he sat on a couch nearby since the time they arrived back at the library. Matt didn’t dared to budge much less talk, mainly because his body still stung by forcefully being fused with an evil smoke monster that now lives in his head that seems to be eerily quiet ever since he was being attacked by Twilight’s friends. “Are you even listening to me?!” Twilight stomped a hoof breaking Matt out of his toughts. “Excuse me if I’m not in the mood to listen to your nagging, let’s roll you off a cliff and have me rant at your ear while you’re injured to see if you like it.” He spat giving her a glare. Twilight opened her mouth about to give a response, but none had come to her. She stopped pacing and looked back at him after giving a sigh. “Is that what happened?” “Yeah,” Matt softened his gaze reclining back in the couch “Too bad it lacked any rocks to kill me on the way down.” Twilight flinched at hearing this, in all of her life she couldn’t think of anyone that wished for their own death and to meet someone like that made her uneasy. “I’m going to write a list of chores for you tomorrow before going to bed, from now on you won’t be going out without supervision.” Twilight turned her back to him heading up the stairs leading to her room. Matt didn’t acknowledged her orders, with having chores to do while injured was bad enough. Scoffing as he curled up on the couch despite his body’s protests and how small he was in it “I’m going to sleep in here and that’s final.” He called out to her closing his eyes to sleep shortly after, or at least attempting to. ‘That certainly is a way to lay low if I do say so myself.’ Nightmare’s voice rang through his head once Twilight was out of sight. ‘Cut the crap, just how long do I need to be in this state to go find a way out of this damn world?’ He mentally replied back. ‘Not long really, if I am correct by tomorrow you will be able to stand up and walk normally.’ ‘I better be, I don’t want to stay here for long.’ ‘And then what? What do you plan to do? Return to your homeworld which you hate and hates you back? Do you even know how you’re gonna do that?’ The young human didn’t had an answer to that. ‘Remember that we are now fused, I know quite a bit about you. But I can help you escape this world.’ “...I’m listening.” The next morning a familiar smell filled Matt’s nostrils, opening his eyes and got up with more ease compared to last night like Nightmare said. Sure, some pain is still present but it’s bearable now. Tracking the smell of cooking he found himself to be in the kitchen, a familiar dragon working on the stove. “The fu-” “Oh,” Spike turned to Matt, the frilly apron that the dragon is wearing now apparent “Um, morning Matt, I’m making breakfast.” He hesitated to say a word and turned his back on the human scared of staring at him for long. Matt remained quiet until he took a breath, looking down at the small table he sat down on the floor and crossed his legs “Give me just milk and eggs Spike.” “Got it!” Twilight soon joined Matt sitting down on one of the pony sized seats, she wore a saddlebag with a scroll sticking out. “I see that you’re all up.” She smiled as Spike served the breakfast on the table. Spike already is digging on his plate of gems that Matt didn’t bother to look at exactly what gems he was eating, while Twilight has fried hay. “That’s all you’re eating Matt?” Twilight asked eyeing Matt’s fried eggs. “Just tell me what the first task is Hera.” “Okay…” She trailed off confused by his answer, bringing herself back to topic with a cough and taking the scroll on her saddlebag to open it. Author's Note With that ends the Introduction Arc, the next couple of chapters will be something I call the Accusation Arc. I decided to add this arc to call out and build up the mane six's bitchness factor of the show, if that's not your cup of tea you're not forced to stay and read. I won't be doing the episodes in chronological order though, but I will be mixing some of them with some made up events. Next time the first chapter of the Accusation Arc, Dragonshy. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5 “You’re kidding me.” Matt looked in discomfort at the address that Twilight had written down on a scroll. “No, I’m completely sure this is the place.” Spike had his eyes glued at the location they had arrived in. The location was nothing short of a typical rich residence located as the only distinguishable landmark in this plain field. Now being more properly clothed on his upper body with an old brown colored curtain belonging to Twilight, Matt urged the young dragon to go ahead of him to the mansion. He followed him after receiving a nod in return, walking past the hedge mazes, statues, fountains and a lot of other expensive stuff laid all around in the courtyard. Joining up his companion, who was ringing the bell, Matt didn’t had to wait long for the stallion of the household to open the door. Just looking at his moneybag cutie mark was enough to make the human wince for a split second. “Oh you’re here,” The stallion greeted them politely to Matt’s surprise “You’re the ones from the letter yesterday.” Letter? Figures Starbutt would tell him in advance that they were coming, and to think this was just the first task. “Yup, we come from behalf of Princess Celestia’s star pupil.” Matt groaned internally at the remark, noticing that the stallion rolling his eyes shortly after hearing that. “Yes, I was informed of that too. You came here to babysit my daughter.” “Of course Mister Rich.” The stallion nodded and lead them over to the living room despite the hints of doubt apparent on his face. The sofa looks expensive and there didn’t seem to be much as the red carpet along with other relics that the human didn’t gave the slightest bit of care to look at them for more than a second. Something unusual, to him at least, was that there is a plasma television in there. It seems that this town was a bit old fashioned, which made sense seeing as Ponyville itself is situated in the countryside. Sitting both of them in the sofa, Rich took a seat on chair nearby. The stallion seems hesitant to speak his mind while Spike looked worried and fidgeted for a moment. “So, um…” Rich started before taking another second to continue “My daughter is a… special case. I have hired a lot of babysitters before, even babysitters from overseas. But none of them were able to handle her and didn’t took long for them to quit.” Spike grew visibly scared, but Matt remained unfazed even after thee revelation of this Z-class troublemaker kid “I have no idea how you intend to do it, but I would appreciate it if you would be able to do this.” “Consider it done, but I would like some formal clothes made for me as payment.” Matt replied, breaking Spike out of whatever train of thought he had and earning a relieved sigh from Mr. Rich. “Thank Celestia, I’ll be running errands and I’ll be back around midday. There’s a few notes for you two on the fridge on what needs to be done and what to cook. I’ll be seeing you until then.” He got up and went out the door almost too quick for a normal trot, Matt could even swear he hear faint cheering from outside. While Spike stood there staring at the door like a dumbfuck, his companion felt something brushing on his legs. Looking down he saw the pink menace pacing around him as if she was a shark, the accessory on her head giving a clear giveaway to who she was. “Wow,” Diamond stopped to look up to meet his eyes with a devious smirk despite how tall he was for him “I didn’t realize that I would get a pet monkey as ugly as this, daddy gets me some weird and useless stuff at times.” Her voice draws Spike’s attention to her, however the young human remains unaffected by her remarks and stared back at her blankly as she kept talking. In little to no time, he knelt down holding and pulling harshly one of her ears with his index finger and thumb. Diamond flailed and screamed in his grasp, unable to escape no matter how much he tried. “Whoa dude, put her down!” Spike pleaded him, but he was ignored as Matt leaned to her ear. “Alright cunt face, this is how it’s gonna go down in here.” He said firmly and coldly, shocking the spoiled filly at how he used such language and force that not even babysitters from Saddle Arabia, who were more strict than the ponies from different cities, used on her “Your father had put me in charge of babysitting you until he came back at midday. I’ve also been told of all the other babysitters you drove insane, but I don’t tolerate your little silver tongue shit when I am here.” She wanted to say something back to him, anything to put this monkey and the lizard in their place. But something told him to keep quiet or something worse will happen to her, might be the ear he’s pulling that is making her whimper. “There is only one rule as long as I’m here, one simple little rule that you must remember even if I do not ever come back, and it’s this.” His eyes slowly trailed to meet hers, glaring at the filly with a fury that can be compared to Tartarus itself as his voice now sounds like he’s about to lose his mind “Do not ever…” He pauses between the sentences as he finishes it subtle scowl “Fuck with me…” He let go of her ear, landing on her rump as the little dragon remained frozen to what just happened. Diamond let the tears flow unable to hold them back any longer. Little did she know that there was a smell that reached both human and dragon, that and the carpet she sat upon suddenly start to feel humid. “Well, somebody made a mess here.” Matt spoke up again with a sudden, and disturbing, cheerfulness accompanied by a big grin “Little miss cunt face needs a bath, I’ll go help with that.” He scooped her up in his arms, the filly didn’t bother to struggle as she sobbed on her hooves. “Spike,” He called to the little dragon who stared at him despite being overwhelmed by fear, wondering about his sudden mood swings “I’m going to clean her up, can you be a bro and take care of the carpet in the meantime?” Spike nodded at him slowly in response as the young human returned with a smile with his eyes closed “Good, also check on that chore list if you have time. I’m not gonna have you do them all by yourself.” He left without another word with Diamond in his arms, Spike now deep down feeling sorry for being stuck with him. He heard a lot of mean stuff that the spoiled filly had done and said, but he feared that he’d do something far worse than she ever did. Or maybe not, that’s a possibility as well. He would have to tell this to Twilight later, for now there was work to be done. Hopefully nothing will make Matt angry during his time in Ponyville. Or anyone... Author's Note Fun fact, there's only three or so chapters left of this story, not counting the alternate ending. Also, I would like to get a sequel from the main ending, the alternate one won't have one since the sequel idea for that one is dumber, to me at least. Anywho, let's see what other crap I come up with and if I take another 6 months to write it.