Brave New World: Fallen.

Ethan lay in bed face up. It had been three days since his return. Celestia and Luna had been overbearing and overprotective as they always had been. Well on the contrary, overprotective Celestia was new. But that’s a story for another time. He wasn’t objecting to being slightly pampered. Especially since in the thousand or so years he’d been gone pony kind had gotten closer to the technology he had back home. They’re not quite at computers yet but they’re getting there.

Ethan regretted not learning engineering. No he had to go study library sciences. At least he had something named after him here. the white system. He took the dewey decimal system from his world and named it after himself. the ponies just ran with it. They thought it was a neat way to organize books. He had gone into the library yesterday and found that they still used it in fact.

Ethan sat up and scooted over to the edge of the bed. He sorely missed the mornings before his thousand years in stone. He had someone to hold then.

But that was in the past. Everyone he knew then is long dead. There were exceptions of course. He got off the bed, walked over to the window and opened the curtains. The night sky was beautiful. Luna and Celestia had to explain that they controlled the sun and the moon now. It also came as a shock that Luna also controlled the stars. Ethan thought it might be best if he kept the fact that there were some starts trillions of times bigger than the sun to himself.

Ethan closed the curtains with a sigh and flopped down on the bed. He needed sleep. As much as he wanted to stay up all night, he needed to be well rested for his armor fitting. Ethan closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

Ethan sat up with a shout, dried tears clear on his features. It was that dream again. There was fire, brimstone, Bright Eyes being burned alive, everyone from his past lives there calling out to him. They hated him for leaving them to rot and burn. But he knew he had no choice in the matter. Something else took him away. Something that he had no control over.

Ethan needed to go for a walk. He got up and opened the door-- “Ow! Sorry sir, I just don’t know what--” The pony began to speak but stopped when she noticed Ethan on the floor, just staring at her. Not yelling, not berating, not complaining. This was a new reaction. One that Ditzy ‘Derpy Hooves’ Doo was not familiar with. “A-Are you alright sir?” She asked concerned for her wellbeing as well as the creature that just tripped over her.

“Those eyes....” Ethan said softly.

“Yeah they’re all messed up...You can go ahead and make fun of them now, I’m used to it…” Derpy said, taking Ethan’s observation the wrong way.

Ethan on the other hand was appalled that anyone could make fun of those eyes. The eyes that ponies used to belong to his beloved. “Oh! Ummm...sorry...I didn't mean to come off like that I mean...Your eyes just remind me of someone that...Someone that was very important to me…” Ethan trailed off as he once again was lost in those beautiful golden eyes.

Derpy was both shocked and confused by his response. Her eyes reminded him of someone else. Someone that he didn't make fun of for having messed up eyes. Someone that from what she heard about this creature, wasn't around anymore. Derpy suddenly perked up, remembering something she completely forgot. “Oh! I have a package for you! It sorta just appeared in my mailbag so I thought I’d get it to you right away!” Derpy then stuck her head in the bag hanging from her neck and fished out a small box that she handed to Ethan with her teeth.

Ethan snapped out of his stupor and took the box. “Thanks miss…?”

“My name’s Ditzy Doo! But most ponies call me Derpy, on account of my clumsiness,” Derpy said, holding out a hoof as if offering a handshake. The gesture must have been fairly new as ponies looked at him funny when he did it. Before he was a statue. Ethan reciprocated the gesture and gave her hoof a firm shake.

“My name is Ethan White. Human. The only one in Equestria,” Ethan introduced himself, and threw in for good measure, “Also Equestria’s first knight if the history books don’t mention that fact,”

“Actually they do! Or well...used to!” Derpy said, “After the nightmare Moon incident Celestia had most of the history books rewritten to leave out anything about her sister or past conflicts. Ever since then, being a knight has only been an honorary title,”

“Well how do you know about me then?” Ethan asked, curious as to why anything would be allowed to escape Celestia’s watchful eyes.

“Well this one family a reaaaaaally long time ago was allowed by the princesses to keep a series of books about everything that was redacted from the history books. And well ummm...you got your own book....and I have that book...but it wasn't my family that got the book. Some old mare from Hoofington gave me the book when I delivered her mail. She said that It would be better if I have it,”

“Wait a second, if you knew about me because of the book, why did you barely react when you realized it was me that tripped over you? Sorry about that by the way,”

“It’s fine, and that’s probably because ever since discord was freed, there isn't much that--!” Derpy didn't finish her sentence before she noticed Ethan was gone, and the package was now on the floor. She looked around cautiously in search of Ethan. The hunt was on for her new friend.

The door to the throne room slammed open. “HE GOT OUT?!?!?!” Ethan shouted at Celestia who had been listening to a smaller purple alicorn. But that was not what concerned Ethan at that moment.

An obviously irritated Ethan began to stomp up to the throne when the smaller alicorn faced him and took a defensive pose, flaring up her magic, yet Ethan was undeterred. Just as she was about to let loose a spell, Celestia stopped her. “Twilight, no. Ethan is a friend. Now tell me Ethan, who got out?”

“You know damn well as I do that you can’t lie to me Celestia. You know who,” Ethan spoke the name as if it was the most vile thing he’d ever heard. “Discord,”

Unfortunately for Celestia, Twilight took this opportunity to speak up.”Oh that’s old news! discord’s been free for a couple of years now, we basically reformed him!”

The lights in the room suddenly dimmed as the room grew colder. Twilight looked around for the source of the entity that did this. A magical force was at work here. Twilight noticed Celestia’s eyes were widened in abject horror. She followed Celestia’s gaze to Ethan.

Ethan had a look of pure unbridled rage etched onto his face. But that wasn't the only thing about him that was different. The bottom of his duster was waving around as if in the middle of a great wind, and a dark energy began to seep from the walls in the dimmed hall, as if from the shadows themselves. The energy began to engulf Ethan starting from his legs.

Ethan was hunched over as if in great pain, and all the occupants of the room could do was watch, guard and princess alike. The black energy made its way up Ethan’s legs, his torso, down his arms, until it had fully covered Ethan. To the untrained eye of the guards and Twilight sparkle, Ethan had just become a creature made of ink and shadow as a black liquid substance began to drip off of Ethan.

Ethan was in immense pain. All he could feel was the energy driving itself into him like thousands of knives stabbing him everywhere at once. And the rage. Pure hate and fury washed over him as he no longer felt pain, but a gnawing thrashing hunger. A hunger for revenge.

Just as the blackness began to bubble and grow, a shout came from outside the open throne room doors.

“Ethan! Where are you Ethan?! You left without a goodbye hug!” Almost as if scared of the owner of the voice, the blackness instantaneously disappeared and the room lit up once more. Ethan fell over with a thump, now unconscious as Derpy walked into the room. “There you are Ethan! Why are you on the floor? Did you trip over somepony else?” It was then that Derpy noticed the mysterious yellow puddles underneath the guards in the room, and the looks of fear, shock, horror, and even mixes of all three as everyone in the room (Save the unconscious man in the center) gained both a new fear and respect for Derpy that day.

“Gosh I knew Ethan’s sort of a new species but come on guys! Don’t be so scared! He wouldn't hurt a fly!”