The Element Knights of Harmony

Chapters

Twilight's Party
The Strange Unicorn
Questions asked

Twilight's Party

Chapter 1

The sun was setting over the Everfree Forest as Twilight Sparkle started her journey back towards Ponyville from The Castle of the Two Sisters and the legendary Tree of Harmony. She went to this sacred place every day since defeating the Sirens in the world beyond the mirror.

As she walked she remembered the last time she had been at the Tree with all her friends, barely two weeks before, during that terrible fight with the dark centaur, Lord Tirek. She still couldn’t believe that, after causing her friends to be imprisoned and enabling Tirek to take their special talents, Discord ultimately saved the day.

“I guess Princess Celestia charging us with reforming him worked out after all”, Twilight mused, remembering the stress she and her friends had gone through attempting to reform the spirit of disharmony.

Thinking about Discord and the trouble he managed to bring into their lives, from turning Sweet Apple Acres into an outdoor ice rink, to making it impossible for Twilight to spend the day with Cadence at the Star Swirl the Bearded Exhibit, reminded Twilight of Discord’s biggest act of mischief: his betrayal of his friends in helping Tirek drain all the magic, strength, and flight out of the ponies of Equestria.

Ultimately though, when Tirek showed his true colors and betrayed Discord by siphoning his chaos magic Discord revealed that he truly did care for his pony friends more than causing havoc for others. Discord gave Twilight the necklace originally given to him by Tirek, which enabled her, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity to unlock the chest of harmony. Doing so allowed Twilight and her five friends to release the Rainbow Power and defeat Tirek, banishing him back to Tartarus where he still remained.

“Hopefully, what with Tirek being imprisoned, life can get back to normal”, thought Twilight. “Well, as normal as life can be, what with me being the official Princess of Friendship and my friends being the Advisors of Friendship.”

As Twilight continued her journey back through the Everfree Forest, she heard a twig snap nearby, causing her to jump slightly. Looking around she realized she couldn’t see much of anything. Figuring it must have been a rabbit or something small like that, Twilight looked up and saw that Celestia must have lowered the sun since she could see Lunas’ moon floating in the sky.

“Heh, heh, heh. I didn’t realize it was that late. I should probably get going”, chuckled Twilight as she quickened her pace. “No matter how many times I come in here I still get creeped out by this place”, Twilight said, looking around at the low hanging leaves and gnarled roots that made the Everfree Forest so intimidating to ponykind. “Maybe I could mention putting in lights along the path between Ponyville and the castle to Princess Celestia the next time we’re in Canterlot”.

Twilight’s return trip brought her to the statue of Nightmare Moon, where the fillies and colts of Ponyville left their offering of candy every Nightmare Night. Surprisingly she saw Zecora the zebra standing there looking up at the statue.

“Oh, hello Zecora. What are you doing here?” Twilight asked.

“Hello Twilight, I am simply enjoying this very warm and lovely night”, said Zecora in her own strange way of speaking. “On calm evenings when the moon is high, I come to this place to remember the story of the mare in the sky”.

“Oh, that’s wonderful that you are so interested in history. You know I am something of a history buff myself”, Twilight boasted, remembering all the hours she had spent in the Canterlot library reading the old dusty scrolls that were written back before Discord’s imprisonment.

“Yes, I was aware that you are quite the studious mare”, Zecora rhymed. Looking up, the zebra spotted something approaching.

“Well it would appear that a few of your friends are near” Zecora said, pointing up at the sky.

Twilight followed her hoof and saw a cyan mare with a rainbow mane come zipping down out of the sky.

“Oh hello Rainbow, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked Rainbow once the latter touched down on the ground.

“Looking for you, Twilight,” Rainbow stated. “You were gone so long we started to get worried that something had happened to you.”

“What do you mean, ‘we’?” Twilight asked. But Rainbow was already digging around in the saddlebag she had brought with her, which Twilight just now noticed.

“Aha, here it is!” Rainbow exclaimed, completely ignoring her alicorn friend’s question. She reached in and grabbed a flashlight with her hoof and pointing it into the sky shined a light in the shape of her cutie mark, a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt coming down, into the sky.

After a few seconds other beams of light displaying Twilight’s other friends’ cutie marks appeared in the sky indicating that they had seen Rainbow’s message that she had found Twilight. In a few minutes, the rest of Twilight’s friends came bursting into the meadow each carrying her own pony signal flashlight.

“Twilight, where have you been?” asked Rarity, her curled purple mane billowing as she ran up. “We’ve been looking for you for positively ages!”

“I’m sorry everypony”, Twilight said. “I was at the Tree of Harmony and I guess I lost track of time. I didn’t mean to make you have to all come out and search for me.”

“Well, Twilight’ I reckon we should probably be gettin’ back home”, stated Applejack. “I’m sure yer plum tuckered out after your ordeal on the other side of that strange mirror. After all it’s been only three days since ya came back.”

“I know, I mean we haven’t had a party with you to celebrate you coming back in like five days”, said Pinkie, bouncing around like her usual self.

“You do know I was still over there five days ago, right Pinkie?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow at her pink friend.

“Well duh. I had a Pre ‘Twilight coming back after defeating the Sirens in the weird mirror place’ party while you were still gone” stated Pinkie.

“Alright, well let’s head home then”, said Twilight. Turning to face Zecora she said, “It was a real treat seeing you again Zecora, Next time you come to Ponyville you should stop by and I can show you the library at the tree-palace. Princess Celestia has sent over hundreds of scrolls on all kinds of subjects.”

“To thank you for a wonderful offer I shall bring my bread made of apple nut”, Zecora said. “Until that time, I shall most likely be in my hut.” With that the zebra walked off into the forest in the direction of her abode leaving Twilight surrounded by her six dear friends.

“Um, Twilight?” asked Fluttershy, her pale green eyes darting everywhere as if afraid something might jump out and attack them. “Do you think we might be able to head home now? The forest is no place for ponies at night.”

“Sure Fluttershy, I want to have a chance to reorganize the scrolls that Celestia sent me while I was away before turning in for the night” Twilight said. “Ooh, I have a wonderful idea, why don’t you girls help me? We can have an ‘organize the library’ sleepover!”

“Yeah, no offense Twilight, but that sounds like the exact opposite of wonderful” Rainbow stated as they started their journey back towards Ponyville. “Unless you have an original manuscript of ‘Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Statue’ in the library, I’m gonna have to pass”.

After a bit, the six friends had finally made it to the outskirts of Ponyville. As they walked down the main road towards Twilight’s palace, she still felt a little awkward about how big the palace was. Looming over everything in the whole town the palace almost reached as high as Rainbow’s house.

“I know that nopony thinks I’m showing off, but I kind of wish the palace was just a little smaller” Twilight said to their friends as they passed Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie didn’t leave the group to go inside, but Twilight didn’t find that strange at all.

Ever since she had come back from the world of Canterlot High her friends had been spending every night in the castle with her. Indeed she had not slept alone in the castle since it sprang up after the battle with Tirek.

“I personally think it isn’t big enough, my dear” said Rarity. “You are a princess after all and you should have an abode to match your title. It would be nicer if it wasn’t so drafty I’ll admit, but as far as castles go it is quite quaint.”

In time the six friends finally reached the castle. Twilight remembered first seeing the palace. With its several different platforms it reminded her of the Ponyville library. While it was very similar in shape and size to the library that had been her home for the past four years, she felt it was a little too cold and detached from the rest of Ponyville.

“So, what do you girls want to do tonight?” Twilight asked, using her magic to open up the large front doors. “Ooh, we could have hooficures. We might even manage to persuade Spike to make us some of his delicious nachos” She looked around for her little dragon friend. “I wonder where he is? Did he decide to go to bed?” Twilight started to head up the grand staircase that led to the upper floors of the palace.

“Sure, sounds great. I think I saw him in the library ‘fore we left to go look for ya” Applejack said, heading towards off to the left towards the doors that led to the library section of the castle.

“He really is the number one assistant a pony could ask for” said Twilight, using her magic to open the doors to the library.

Inside the library was dark, with no lights to indicate where the little dragon was. “Spike? Where are you?” called Twilight.

Twilight’s eyes snapped shut as light from somewhere above her assailed them. Accustomed as her eyes were to walking around in the night outside, the light that shined was enough to blind her, even though it was just a normal room light. When Twilight’s eyes adjusted and she could see again, her mouth dropped open.

There in the center of the library were some of the ponies that she cared for most in all of Equestria. There was her former mentor and the ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia, along with her sister Princess Luna. Also there was her brother Shining Armor and her sister-in-law/old foalsitter, Princess Cadence and there, standing in the middle, with a smile that betrayed him as the mastermind behind this gathering, stood her oldest and dearest friend, Spike.

“What are all of you doing here?” Twilight asked once she stopped smiling enough to speak.

“They’re here to party with us, silly” said Pinkie, as Twilight and her friends entered the library. “I mentioned that we haven’t had a party with you since you went through the mirror.”

Twilight finally reached the other ponies that had been waiting for her. The first one she reached was Cadence.

“Cadence, it’s so great to see you!” Twilight said, dropping down to the floor as Cadence did the same.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake. Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” they both said, as they went through their usual greeting Cadence taught Twilight back when the two were younger.

“It’s great to see you again Twily” said Shining Armor, as he embraced his younger sister. “I haven’t seen you since the Equestria Games closing ceremonies.”

Once Twilight had finished hugging her older brother she turned to Celestia. “Hello princess, I’m so glad to see you again. Both of you.” she said bowing to both Celestia and Luna.

“It is always a pleasure to see our subjects in an informal setting.” Luna said. “Especially ones to whom we owe so much.”

“It’s so wonderful to see you all, but why are you here?” Twilight asked.

“It is thanks to Spike and Pinkie Pie that we all came to this impromptu party” said Celestia. “Spike had noticed how you seemed to lose yourself in your memories ever since you came back from the other realm.”

“So he mentioned it to me and I figured the best way to help was to throw a party!” said Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie, you always think the solution is a party,” said Rainbow Dash. “and you’re usually right.”

Twilight had a wonderful time visiting with all the important ponies in her life. Over the course of the evening she finally shared what happened when she went through the mirror for the second time. Everyone was surprised to hear that there were copies of ponies in this other world. Celestia in particular was very interested in everything that concerned Sunset Shimmer and how she seemed to be faring in this other world.

“I’m glad that she is doing so well over there” Celestia said after Twilight mentioned that it had been Sunset Shimmer who broke the Sirens’ spell, finally accepting friendship into her heart. “Although I do wish that she had come back to Equestria so I could see her one last time.”

Rarity was, unsurprisingly, very interested in the fashions of the inhabitants of the other world. “So you’re saying they have multiple clothes to wear on any day of the week?” she asked when Twilight finally reached the climax of her story with the Battle of the Bands. “I do hope you remember what some of these fashions look like so that I might try to emulate some of them.”

“I think so. One of the major things I noticed was that everyone had some kind of pattern on their clothing that was similar to a cutie mark” Twilight said. “I’ll come over tomorrow and try to help you make some clothes like what I saw.”

Eventually though the party started to wind down and everypony decided to turn in for the night. There was plenty of room so Twilight suggested everypony just stay there for the night, but Cadence and Shining Armor had to be back in the Crystal Empire the next day to open the new stadium that was completed after the Equestria Games.

Princesses Luna and Celestia had to make preparations for the upcoming Summer Sun Celebration and were meeting with several dignitaries in the morning.

“We’re really sorry Twilight”, said Cadence as she and Shining Armor got ready to leave. “But we should definitely get together soon and spend a lot more time together.” Cadence embraced her sister-in-law and squeezed tightly. “We should get together every other week and share stories.”

“Sounds great” Twilight said now embracing her brother. “Do you want to get together next week?” After Twilight and Cadence made plans to meet in the salon in the Crystal Empire, Cadence and Shining Armor left for the train station.

“So girls, what do you want to do now?” Twilight asked.

“How ‘bout we take a look at some of those scrolls y’all mentioned earlier”, said Applejack.

“Ok, they’re all over there in that pile” Twilight stated pointing. The others looked and saw the pile that Twilight was pointing at arranged in a pyramid like pile.

“That’s all? We can do that in ten seconds flat” said Rainbow Dash. Flying over and picking up the top scroll of the pile. “Let’s see, ‘An Examination of Friendship in The Lord of the Mares’ by J.R.R Stallion. Should this go under A or E, Twilight?”

“It goes under E, Rainbow Dash. Ignore the letters ‘I’ or ‘A’ and you also ignore the word ‘The’ when sorting alphabetically” Twilight said.

“Okey-Dokey let’s get this ‘organizing Twilight’s library’ party started” said Pinkie Pie grabbing the closest scroll, which was at the bottom of the pile.

CRASH. All the scrolls tumbled down on top of Pinkie.

“You really should be more careful dear” said Rarity after Twilight levitated Pinkie out of the pile of scrolls. “You’re lucky that it was scrolls and not books.”

Pinkie spit out the scroll that she had in her mouth, “Ha-ha, sorry.”

“It’s a’ight sugarcube. Just be more careful…and make sure to grab from the top” Applejack said, as Pinkie reached for another scroll.

As the sorting began in earnest, Spike came in with his Ponyville-famous Dragon-Jewel Nachos. When he put them down he announced that he was going to bed and told his pony friends goodnight. Everyone but Twilight responded to his farewell, but Spike didn’t mind. He was used to Twilight ignoring him when it came to books; sometimes she would forget to even eat or drink if she was absorbed in a good novel. Finally, after much sorting and resorting (and breaks for nachos), the sorting was completed.

“Thanks so much, girls, for your help” said Twilight. “But right now I think we should all go to bed”

As the ponies trudged up the main stairs to the bedrooms that had been created for them when the Chest of Harmony sank into the remains of Twilight’s library they chatted about some of the books they had seen while sorting.

“I can’t believe ya got that ‘Report on the phenomena of the Zap Apples’ by my great auntie Apple Jam” Applejack said as they reached the bedrooms.

There were three bedrooms on each side of the hall. Each door had a mark on it that was the same as the cutie marks of one of the ex-bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Fluttershy’s three butterflies was the first on the left, with Rainbow Dash’s lightning bolt next to it. Applejack’s apple-marked room was at the far end. Twilight’s, Rarity’s and Pinkie’s were on the other side.

“Good night everypony” said Fluttershy opening her door and stepping inside. Everyone said the same to each other and walked into their rooms.

As the six friends fell asleep, the clouds above the castle suddenly cleared. A giant circle of the sky seemed to just disappear, leaving behind a black void. Inside the blackness a light started to shine. It shone brighter and brighter until a ball of fire hurtled toward the ground. When it hit the flames died out leaving a unicorn with red hair and an orange, red, and yellow mane lying on the ground in front of the doors of Twilight’s crystal tree palace. After the ball of fire had flown through, the dimensional hole through which the red pony had rocketed out, closed up leaving no evidence of its existence, save for the pony that would change the future of Equestria.

Author's Note

Hello

This is my first fan fiction story submitted ever. Please give me helpful criticism (i.e. formatting, grammar, or anything else). Thanks for reading.

The Strange Unicorn

Chapter 2

Twilight awoke the next morning to banging on her bedroom door. Sitting up, with her mane all tangled and in serious need of a brushing, she asked “Who’s there? It’s not even 10:00 yet.”

Her door burst open and in rushed Rainbow Dash looking extremely flustered.
“Twilight,” Rainbow said “I was headed home to get ready for this morning’s weather and I came across something strange on the steps outside!” Reaching down she grabbed Twilight’s sheets and flipped them down then grabbed her friends hoof and started to drag her out of bed.

“What was weird? You seeing the sun rise because IT’S 7:30!” Twilight roared, yanking the covers back up, covering her head and trying to go back to sleep. Twilight never was an early riser when the occasion didn’t call for it.

“No,” Rainbow stated, addressing the lump that was Twilight. “I always get up this early. Why do you think I take naps in the middle of the day? Anyway, I was heading out and I saw something on the steps of the castle, so I flew over to check it out. It was a unicorn, Twilight”

Rainbow again tried to get her friend up and moving, this time with a little more success. At least now Twilight wasn’t throwing the covers back over her head and grumbling about how annoying she found ponies that always woke up early. She was finally up and out of bed walking towards her mirror as she levitated a brush through her hair.

“What’s so weird about a unicorn on the steps? He probably wanted to ask me something, or look around at the castle,” Twilight said looking at Rainbow through her mirror. “I told everypony at the celebration that they could come here any time and explore”

“I know you did Twilight,” said Rainbow now trying to push Twilight through the door into the hall. “But he wasn’t moving. I got worried and so I dragged him inside. He’s lying on the benches in the entryway right now. Fluttershy is trying to wake him up but when I came up here she hadn’t yet succeeded”

“Well, while I’m glad you are so calm in stressful situations, I do have a couple of questions for you,” Twilight said. Rainbow Dash was now pushing her along the hallway towards the stairs. “First, why didn’t you take him to the hospital, they would probably be better equipped to help this strange unicorn?”

“Derpy was heading home after her night weather shift and saw me trying to carry him inside,” Rainbow was now saying. “She helped me carry him in and told me of something strange that happened over the castle last night. Some kind of void opened up over the castle and then a ball of fire flew out of it, and then the hole just sort of disappeared”

Rainbow started to push Twilight over the stairs. “What was your second question?” she asked.

“Would you please stop pushing me?” Twilight cried, causing her other friends to look up at the two of them. “Oh, sorry girls” she said sheepishly.

As Twilight started walking down the steps she looked at her friends. Rarity seemed to be the only one wearing pajamas and somehow her main looked perfectly styled with not a hair out of place. Twilight made a note to ask her how she always seemed to keep her hair in perfect condition. Pinkie Pie seemed as tired as Twilight was, her usually poufy mane seeming to have lost some of its puffiness. Applejack looked completely awake and alert.

I guess that makes sense, what with her having to wake up at the crack of dawn every morning to perform her chores at Sweet Apple Acres Twilight thought. Fluttershy was bending over the stallion unicorn attempting to wake him up. Spike was nowhere to be seen, but Twilight heard clattering coming from direction of the kitchen and assumed he was in there getting breakfast ready.

When Twilight reached the bottom of the stairs she walked over and examined this strange unicorn. He had a red coat similar in shade to Applejack’s brother Big Macintosh and an orange, red, and yellow mane. The end of his mane and tail closest to his body was in an orange hue which faded into red further down. Yellow was by far the most color on this unicorn’s mane, and looking closer Twilight could see a small line of blue along the very tip. It looked like his mane and tail were made of fire.

When Twilight got up closer she noticed something else. This unicorn looked to be a full grown stallion but with one thing missing. This unicorn didn’t have a cutie mark.

The oldest ponies that she knew of that didn’t have symbols that represented their special talent were the self-called ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ composed of Rarity’s and Applejack’s sisters Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, with Rainbow’s honorary sister Scootaloo rounding out the trio.

At this point Spike walked out into the main foyer carrying a tray with six cups on it and a pot of fresh brewed cider.

“Oh, good morning Twilight, I can’t believe you are up this early,” Twilight glared at him. “I brought you guys some hot cider to enjoy while I make breakfast. How is he?” Spike said, putting the tray down on a table nearby.

“He still hasn’t woken up and I don’t know why,” said Fluttershy as the others walked over and poured themselves some of the cider. “I’m starting to get worried. I mean I’ve never seen a pony in a coma before,” Rainbow came over with a mug of hot cider for her which she accepted gratefully.

“Maybe we should take ‘im to Ponyville hospital,” said Applejack. “I’m pretty sure it ain’t good for ponies to go so long without havin’ anythin’ ta drink”

“Ok I suppose we could try moving him,” Twilight sighed, looking at the unicorn. “Well if we’re going to take him there we should probably do sooner rather than later” Twilight’s horn started to glow the color of raspberries as she levitated the stallion up.

All at once several things happened. Spike came in announcing that he was finished making breakfast, which happened to be hay pancakes and oatmeal with apple slices, and as soon as Twilight’s magic started to lift the stallion up, a savage wind started to blow through the entire room.

“What in tarnation is goin’ on Twilight?” Applejack yelled over the sound of the wind.

“I’m not sure,” yelled back Twilight. “Wind magic is completely different from levitation magic”

“Well whatever you do, do it fast” cried Rainbow, barely able to stay in one spot due to the hurricane force winds. Fluttershy was being blown all over the place.

Twilight cut the magic and set the stallion back down on the bench and as suddenly as it started the wind stopped.

“Well,” said Rarity, her mane all tangled up and looking like she had let the Cakes twins style it. “Clearly something doesn’t want us to move him”

“But that freaky wind didn’t pop out of nowhere when Derpy and I brought him inside”

“Maybe it’s because I was using magic to lift him,” Twilight observed “Applejack, you and Rainbow try picking him up. We should all gather around him and hold on tight in case that wind picks up again”

As the six friends (Spike had decided that breakfast could wait a little and went to go keep it warm) converged on the unicorn, his eyes suddenly shot open. The ponies all jumped back huddled together and clung to each other in case the wind picked up again.

“What in the name of Áed happened?” the strange unicorn said. He had piercing green eyes that seemed to flash as he took in everything around him. Twilight approached him.

“My name’s Twilight Sparkle. You’re in Ponyville. What’s your name? What do you remember?”

“I remember that sword piercing my chest and, the next thing I know, I woke up here,” said the unicorn placing a hoof on his chest as if to feel for a stab wound. “My name is Ben. Did you say Ponyville? Where is that?”

“It’s in the land of Equestria,” said Rainbow. “Where are you from?”

“Not here” said Ben. “I guess I’m from a far-away land, a land so far it’s not in this dimension”

“We’ve got a dimensional traveler ourselves,” said Rarity. “Our good friend, Twilight here; why she has just returned from a world where the inhabitants walk on two legs and pick things up with… what are they called Twilight?”

“Hands,” Twilight said. “It’s populated by what are called humans. Is that what you were where you come from?”

“Yes, but I’ve traveled through so many worlds that it doesn’t seem strange to me to walk on all fours” Ben said, standing up and moving around. Indeed it seemed he mastered walking with four legs almost instantly, however as soon as he took five steps he groaned and started to fall. Rainbow swooped down to steady him.

“We should probably get you to Ponyville General Hospital” said Twilight, walking over and using magic to open the main doors.

“There’s magic here?” Ben asked. Rainbow lifted him up and flew towards the open door.

“Of course, magic exists here silly. Without it the princesses wouldn’t be able to raise the sun and moon?” said Pinkie, bouncing along with the others as they headed out the doors.

As the friends walked down out of the palace Ben was able to finally look around at this strange world he had landed in. He noticed that there seemed to be only three species of equines populating this world. On the ground were unicorns and regular horses, going about their daily business. He noticed that the unicorns’ magical auras’ seemed to be the same color as the color of their eyes. Ben heard movement above him and looking up he saw multiple groups of pegasi fly around and bust through several clouds that were overhead.

Strange Ben thought. It seems as though the inhabitants of this world are tasked with controlling and maintaining everything. I wonder why this purple unicorn is the only one that has wings as well.

“Is it normal for ponies to be in control of everything around here?” Ben asked, wanting to know as much as he can about this world.

“Of course it is,” said Rainbow Dash. “The only place that’s different is the Everfree Forest. The weather, creatures, and trees all look after themselves. It’s actually kind of weird”

Several minutes later the little group arrived at Ponyville General Hospital and headed in. Once inside Twilight signed in and went over to sit with her friends who had gone straight to the waiting area.

The waiting area had around thirty chairs and every few chairs was an end table that had several different magazines and newspapers on them. The walls were painted an eggshell color with a beige wallpaper strip that ran around the length of the room

“It will be about ten to fifteen minutes before they can see us” she said as she dropped down into a seat at the end of the room closest to the door leading into the hospital.

A question had been forming in Ben’s mind and he asked it now. “Why are you helping me? We don’t know each other; I don’t even know your names. What is it that makes you want to help a stranger in a strange land?”

“Well as ta who we are; I’m Applejack. That there is Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy,” she said pointing at the two pegasi. “Over here is Rarity and Pinkie Pie; and right here is the princess of friendship, Twilight Sparkle” Twilight blushed at the use of her formal title.

“As to why we are helping you, we couldn’t just leave a poor defenseless unicorn outside and unconscious,” said Rarity. “What sort of friends would we be if we did that?”

“Ooh, I know, I know” said Pinkie Pie. “Ummm… Friends who aren’t friends”

Ben looked at her incredulously and the others just laughed at his reaction.

“That’s just Pinkie Pie. She does what she wants” said Twilight as a white earth pony with a red-cross cutie mark came out.

“Twilight Sparkle,” she called “The doctor will see you now”

The little group all got up and aided Ben into the examination room. It was in the same color as the waiting room but instead of a beige strip it had apples all along the wall in a strip. The doctor was already in the room waiting for them.

“Well now what seems to be the problem?” he asked. He was a middle-aged earth pony with a yellow coat and a green mane. He had a cutie mark of two needles crossing each other.

As the group recounted the strange events that had started with the hole over the castle, Ben tried to put together everything that had happened before that. The last thing he could remember was that horrible battlefield and lunging in front of that sword, then pain and a feeling of being compressed and the next thing he knew he was on that bench with these six ponies standing over him. When the doctor asked him if there was anything to add, he lied.

“No, I can’t remember anything before that”. Ben figured it would be best not to scare his new friends and risk causing a panic.

“Well as to his state of weakness I would say it’s probably just exhaustion,” the doctor said. “His lack of a cutie mark on the other hand, most likely comes from the fact that he was not born in this world and so never had to learn what his special talent was”

“What do you think we should do?” asked Twilight.

“Maybe the best thing for him is to learn a bit about the history of Equestria,” the doctor said. “That might help him fit in a bit and give his body time to recharge its energy”

“Ok thanks again doc” Applejack said as they prepared to leave.

“Anytime. Oh, by the way Applejack, Apple Bloom has her checkup next Wednesday to get her booster shots,” said the doctor. “I wasn’t sure if she had told you”

“She did, but thanks for remindin’ me doc” Applejack said waving a hoof in farewell.

On the way back to the castle Ben was able to start walking on his own. He still staggered a bit, but at least he didn’t fall down.

When they finally reached the castle Twilight had already thought of twenty books that would help Ben in learning Equestrian history.

“First we’ll start with the founding of Equestria by Chancellor Puddinghead, Princess Platinum, and Commander Hurricane,” Twilight said as the two entered the library and books started to levitate off the shelf and stack themselves onto a table. “Then we’ll move onto the fall of the Crystal Empire and next we’ll cover Discord’s reign and the finding of the Elements of Harmony by the Regal Pony Sisters, Celestia and Luna. Finally we’ll cover the rise, banishment, and return of Nightmare Moon, the return of Discord and his reformation and the defeat of Tirek. I have personally seen those last eight pieces of history”

As the hours ticked by, Ben absorbed as much as he could about the history of this land. He was surprised to learn that the royal line of Equestria was passed down the mare side and as a result all females of the royal line were Alicorns, powerful flying unicorns with a type of magic that only they could control.

At three o’clock they stopped for the day and decided to go on a walk. As they walked Twilight quizzed Ben on all that she had taught him. He got every question correct.

“That’s very impressive Ben,” Twilight said as they entered Ponyville Park. “It’s so much easier to teach you than it is to teach Rainbow Dash. When she was trying out for the Wonderbolts Reserves, all the answers she gave for my quiz I gave were related to food”

Suddenly the quiet of the park was broken by three separate shouts of “LOOK OUT!” as the troublemakers known as the Cutie-Mark-Crusaders came flying through the air on a zip-line.

Twilight used her magic to freeze Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo in mid-air just before they slammed into Twilight and Ben.

“Oh, hiya Twilight,” said Apple Bloom who was somehow hanging upside down. “Thanks for stoppin’ us before we slammed into y’all”

“It’s no problem girls, but I thought you already tried getting a zip-lining cutie mark” twilight said, using her magic to unclip the three young fillies and set them on the ground.

“We did, but we didn’t try a ‘delivery system by zip-lining’ cutie mark before” said Scootaloo pointing to the packages that had landed in the pond when the three of them lost their grip on the line.

“Who’s your friend Twilight?” asked Sweetie Belle. “Are you two on a date?” All three of the fillies giggled at this.

“No,” said Twilight. “He’s a new friend and I’ve been teaching him history”

“Oh yeah,” Scootaloo said. “You’re already in a relationship with that Pegasus named Flash Sentry, aren’t you?”

“Who told you about that?” demanded Twilight. “I’ll bet it was Rainbow Dash”

“Nope,” said Apple Bloom. “It was Pinkie Pie. She seemed to think it was funny”

“Anyway,” Twilight said, wanting to get the topic off her love life. “This stallion just arrived in Equestria today and he’s asked me to teach him about the history of our country. Ben,” she said, addressing the stallion. “These three are Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle. They’re the younger sisters of Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity”

“Hello you three,” Ben said, looking at the three young fillies. They were each one of the three kinds Ben had seen around town.

Scootaloo was the orange Pegasus with a purple mane and small wings. Ben wondered if she was even able to fly. Apple Bloom was a little Earth pony who had a red tail and mane tied up with a large red bow. Sweetie Belle was the young white unicorn with a pink and purple mane and green eyes.

“I’m very glad to meet you all” Ben said turning to each of them in turn. When he turned to Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, whom he had acknowledged first, gasped.

“You don’t have a cutie mark!” exclaimed Scootaloo. “I thought everypony in the world got cutie marks eventually at some point in their life”

“I’m sure they do, but you see”, Ben said. “I’m from a place where they don’t have cutie marks and so I've never had one.”

“Where are ya from?” asked Apple Bloom. “I ain’t never heard of a place with no cutie marks.”

Twilight, feeling that the presence of other worlds shouldn’t become common knowledge, interceded before anything was said about it.

“Why don’t you three take him around town and show him more of Ponyville,” Twilight suggested. “Maybe take him to Sugar cube Corner or maybe The Hay Burger.”

“That sounds like a great idea, Twilight,” said Scootaloo. Suddenly her eyes light up and she got a huge grin on her face. “But how about we go and explore the Everfree Forest. Our sisters said we can’t go in there unless we’re with an adult, but if Ben here comes with us then they can’t get mad.”

The other two crusaders agreed with their friend and, before Twilight could stop them, they grabbed Ben by the hooves and tore off in the direction of the forest.

“Wait, my little ponies”, Twilight yelled after them. “It’s dangerous in the forest.”

But it was too late, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, along with their ‘chaperone’ had already left the park with a giant cloud of dust behind them.

As the three fillies ran through town they told Ben about their group.

“We try everything we can think of ta make our cutie marks appear,” said Apple Bloom. “We’ve tried zip linein’, scuba divin’, cupcake eatin’ and just ‘bout everthin’ in between”

As the crusaders regaled Ben with some of their more noteworthy attempts to make their special mark appear the group approached the edge of town and the edge of the Everfree Forest.

“Well, we’re here,” said Sweetie Belle. “For some reason our sisters don’t let us go in very far into the forest, even during the day. They seem to think we might get in trouble and cause Ponyville to be destroyed”

“It may have something to do with the fact that the last time we went into the forest alone we caused Twilight and one of Fluttershy’s chickens to be frozen in stone by a cockatrice” said Scootaloo sheepishly.

“What other kinds of creatures live in these woods?” asked Ben as they walked under the first few trees.

“There are Timber Wolves, which are exactly like they sound, that is wolves made out of wood, sea serpents, dragons, ursa majors, hydras. Basically all kinds of monsters,” Sweetie Belle said. “Thankfully they’re usually only active at night, so as long as we’re out of here by sundown, we should be okay”

“So, where are we going anyway?” asked Scootaloo. “Do we want to go try and find that mirror pond that Pinkie told us about, or maybe go see Zecora?”

“How ‘bout the Castle of the Two Sisters” Apple Bloom suggested. “We ain’t never been there.” Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both agreed and headed off towards the ancient abode of Celestia and Luna.

After about ten minutes of walking, Ben and the three fillies arrived at the bridge that led to the castle. Once they reached the other side they paused and looked at the castle. Both the main doors were gone and a large portion of the castle roof had collapsed in over the 1000 years since Celestia’s and Luna’s battle. With Ben in the lead, the four ponies entered the castle.

They spent over an hour exploring every corner of the castle as they could. The first place they looked in was the throne room and then into the kitchens. Finally they looked at the library. This was the only place that had remained somewhat protected. As such, Ben found several books about the history of Equestria and sat reading for another hour while the three fillies explored, hoping to get their castle-exploring cutie marks.

When Ben finished reading about Star-Swirled the Bearded’s defeat and banishing of the three Sirens he looked up and noticed that the sun was starting to dip below the horizon.

“Alright you three,” he called. “I think it’s about time we got back. It’s almost nightfall”

Ben heard three young fillies groan and acknowledge him. As Ben walked out of the library he saw the three young ponies come down the hall towards him. They were completely covered in dust and cobwebs. Their flanks were still blank.

“We didn’t get it for castle-exploring either” said Sweetie Belle dejectedly.

“I’m sorry,” Ben said as they walked out of the castle and towards the bridge. “Perhaps you might-“

Suddenly a giant shadow fell over them and a deafening roar, like the roar of a lion, sounded from the direction of the sky.

Looking up Ben was startled to see a large shape drop out of the sky and land in front of them. Ben stood protectively in front of the three young ponies.

“What is that thing!” exclaimed Apple Bloom. Ben recognized it immediately. It was a gargoyle.

The gargoyle had greyish skin with foot long claws. From its head four large horns protruded towards its wings. The wingspan was over six feet in length with a horn protruding from the crease of each its wings. As Ben watched it opened its mouth six inches and let out a booming roar even louder than the first. Spit flew out and landed on the ground where it immediately started sizzling.

Ben instinctively let out a yell and charged the monster. The gargoyle hit him with a powerful back sweep of its claws and he went falling over the cliff. With a thud Ben landed on the ravine floor in front of the Tree of Harmony. On the edge of the cliff, the gargoyle turned and advanced towards the three terrified fillies who were screaming in terror as the monster approached them with saliva dripping from its mouth.

Ben heard the Crusaders screams and he felt something awaken inside him. As he rose to his feet he felt power surging through his body; power he had not felt since arriving on the steps of Twilight’s castle earlier that day. With a sudden explosion Ben was surrounded by a ball of fire similar to the one in which he had arrived. The orb lifted out of the ravine and flew to stand between the terrified fillies and the gargoyle. The three young ponies looked on in first terror then wonder as the orb dissipated to reveal Ben standing with fire crackling at his hoofs and from his horn. The gargoyle stopped its advance, it had not expected to be challenged after knocking this unicorn into the ravine.

“You shall not harm my friends or anyone else EVER AGAIN! Go back to the darkness from whence you came” Ben said in a loud booming voice. Suddenly a ball of fire erupted from Ben’s horn and struck the gargoyle.

A massive pillar of fire erupted around the gargoyle, completely incinerating it and leaving nothing but ash. After the pillar disappeared the three fillies got their first good look at the stallion who had saved their lives. They were shocked to see a pair of wings had sprouted from his back right behind his shoulders. Ben had become an Alicorn. The fillies then noticed his flank and saw an image appear there. It looked like a flame with three tongues at the top, his cutie mark.

“Whoa,” said Scootaloo. “Are you two seeing what I’m seeing?” the other two nodded, completely lost for words. Ben turned and looked at them.

“Are you three hurt?” He asked. When they shook their heads he smiled and said, “I’m glad” He then fell over unconscious.

Author's Note

Well, here's my second chapter. if you read this please, please, please give me feedback. Even if it's negative. if you like something please let me know as well.

Questions asked

Chapter 3

Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were coming out of Sugarcube Corner having been invited to one of Pinkie Pie’s party-for-no-reason parties when suddenly the earth shook as if a thunder of dragons were approaching. After the tremors stopped, Applejack shakily got to her feet.

“What the hay was that?” she said. “It felt like my uncle Braestar Apple snoring!”

Suddenly a tremendous pillar of flame roared into the air. It appeared to be coming from the direction of the Everfree Forest. Their other friends came out to see what had happened.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy squeaked. “I hope there isn’t an adult dragon invading Equestria again.”

“I don’t think so Fluttershy,” said Twilight “Rarity, do you feel anything strange, like a tingle at the base of your horn?”

“You know Twilight, now that you mention it, yes. How did you know?” Rarity asked, looking up at her horn and then back at her friend.

“Whenever powerful magic is used, unicorns in the nearby vicinity feel a magic pulse. It happened when Celestia banished Nightmare Moon and when we defeated Tirek. I first read about it in one of Starswirl the Bearded’s research notes.”

“What do you think might be causing it?” asked Rainbow gliding down to the ground. “We haven’t heard about anything wrong since the Sirens”

“Whatever it is, it’s obviously coming from the forest,” Twilight thought for a moment. “I just remembered that unicorn stallion, Ben, is at the Castle of the Two Sisters with…” she trailed off nervously.

“Who?” asked Applejack.

“Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo” Twilight said sheepishly.

“WHAT?” cried Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all at once.

“I’m really sorry,” Twilight stammered. “I was going to tell you but then…”

The three elder sisters didn’t stay to listen. Rainbow Dash flew off as fast as she could without breaking into her signature move. Applejack was close behind; years of working on a farm bucking apples had given her a strength and endurance matched in Ponyville only by her brother, Big Macintosh and the Pegasus Bulk Biceps.

Rarity was the last one to disappear, being neither as strong nor as fast as the other two, but she had a large amount of nervous energy gained from frantically working to the last minute on her dresses for years. Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy followed their three friends at a somewhat slower pace. After about ten minutes the six friends finally reached the boundary between Ponyville and the forest.

“Girls wait,” cried Twilight as Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity started to plunge into the dark forest. “I can teleport us all to the castle instantaneously”

“We don’t have time,” said Rainbow, looking back at her friend. “We have to get there right now.” She started to fly into the forest when she was yanked backwards by Twilight’s magic grabbing ahold of her tail.

“That’s what ‘instantaneously’ means, Rainbow,” said Twilight. She released her hold on the polychromatic tail and her friends all gathered around her. “Now, it will feel a little weird at first but we’ll be there before you can say ‘Celestia canned candied crab apples’.”

“Oooh,” Pinkie Pie said. “I love a good tongue twister. Celestia canned candied crab apples. Celestia canned candied crab apples. Celestia canned candied crab apples. Celestia canned candied crab apples. Celestia canned candied crab apples.”

Twilight, ignoring her pink friend, closed her eyes and began to concentrate. As her horn started to glow with a raspberry color, sparks erupted from the tip. Suddenly there was a bright flash and the six mares disappeared from the street.

For a split second, Pinkie Pie felt like she was going to have a twitchy-tail attack, that strange sensation she sometimes felt when something nearby was about to fall. For Rainbow Dash the teleportation felt like being squeezed against her own cone of air that would form whenever she was about to break through the sound barrier into a Sonic Rainboom. Applejack had the distinct memory of when she had been a filly and had been at the bottom of a dog pile with her brother and older cousins. Rarity, being a unicorn, didn’t feel anything weird having learned teleportation several weeks before. Fluttershy was frankly too terrified to really notice what sensation she felt.

True to Twilight’s word, the next instant the six friends were standing at the rope bridge that led to the Castle of the Two Sisters. The posts were all that remained of the bridge that had once spanned the gorge. Looking across the chasm they could just make out three shapes standing in a huddle in the darkness near the empty doorway into the castle.

“Apple Bloom!” yelled Applejack. The three shapes lifted their heads and looked in their direction. “Are you three alright?”

“Help us Applejack,” came the reply in Apple Bloom’s country drawl. “We can’t get back across the gorge since the rope bridge fell”

“Hang on,” yelled Rainbow Dash. “Me and Fluttershy will be right over and then we’ll bring you back over”. Grabbing her friend she started heading over to the chasm. This proved to be rather difficult given that Fluttershy was still cowering on the ground with her head behind her hooves and didn’t want to move.

“Is it just you three?” asked Rarity.

“No, Ben is here but he’s unconscious,” came Scootaloo’s response. “Also, there’s something different about him”

Rainbow Dash, having given up trying to drag Fluttershy, flew off towards the three fillies. When she landed she noticed first the pile of ash that had formally been the gargoyle that had attacked the Crusaders. Looking at the ponies in question she finally got a good look at Ben. Her mouth opened slightly in surprise when she saw his cutie mark and then positively dropped when she saw the pair of red wings sprouting from his back.

“Girls!” Rainbow yelled. “Get over here!”

Twilight’s horn shimmered and a purple aura enveloped the rest of her friends and levitated them over. As soon as they touched down on the other side of the gorge, Rarity and Applejack ran over and embraced their sisters. They both started prodding at the young fillies checking for bruises and broken bones, causing groans of embarrassment to rise from the two fillies. Scootaloo watched on with a look of amusement at her friends’ predicament. A look that then disappeared as Rainbow approached her, scooped her up in her wings, and started doing the same action to her.

While this was going on, Twilight started to examine Ben’s wings and cutie mark. Suddenly Ben’s eyes began to move under their eyelids. His eyelids scrunched and he then opened his eyes. Seeing something bending over him, he instantly sat up and prepared to defend himself, but upon seeing it was the alicorn princess, he relaxed. He looked around and saw that the other five ponies that he had first met were all looking at him. His eyes finally fell upon the three fillies that he had traveled to this castle with. Suddenly his memory came back to him, the castle library, the gargoyle, being knocked into the gorge when he tried to defend the fillies, hearing them scream in terror, and finally him utterly incinerating the beast.

“They’re fine now, but I can guarantee you Sweetie Bell, at least, won’t be doing any crusading for at least two weeks,” said Rarity turning to Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “What do you two think?”

“Ya got tha’ right, Rarity,” said Applejack, looking down at her sister. “I can guarantee tha’ this young’un will be going between the schoolhouse and the farm, and nowhere else”

The three fillies looked down at their hooves, long pouts on each of their faces. No crusading for two weeks? How could their sisters be so mean? The six mares and one stallion laughed at the fillies’ dejection.

After they had stopped chuckling, Twilight asked, “What happened? All we saw was that huge pillar of fire blast into the sky.”

“That was me, I think” Ben said. “We were on our way back and suddenly a shadow flew overhead and then a gargoyle landed in front of us. I charged at it but it easily knocked me aside.”

“After that, the creature turned and started coming at us and we screamed,” continued Sweetie Belle. “Then, Ben appeared and told it to go away, but it wouldn’t. He just rose up out of the ravine and landed between us and the monster”.

“So, Ben launched a fire ball at the gargoyle and as soon as it hit tha’ thing it erupted into flames. I’m assuming that’s what y’all saw and caused ya to come runnin’,” Apple Bloom now took up the narrative. “As soon as tha’ thing was nothin’ but ash, Ben turned and we saw that he had gotten his cutie mark and had sprouted wings. He asked if we were hurt and then collapsed”.

“What the hay is a gargoyle anyway?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“It’s a large brutish creature that would develop a stone-like layer on its skin if it didn’t move for a while. During the day they would stay still but as soon as the sun went down it would move around and feed,” said Twilight. “But gargoyles have been extinct in Equestria for centuries. The last den was hunted down and eradicated over five hundred years ago”

“But Twilight darling, if that’s true, then where did this one come from?” asked Rarity.

“I don’t know,” Twilight said. She thought back to all she knew of the creatures. She had done research on them as part of an extinct flora and fauna report back when she was in Canterlot. The gargoyle was in the same genus as wendigos, and that alone gave her cause for concern, wendigos fed off the disharmony of others and altered the weather around them, but gargoyles didn’t feed off any negative emotion or cause any to appear. Twilight simply couldn’t remember why the gargoyles had been hunted to extinction.

“You know, maybe Celestia knows something about it. She was the one who ordered the extermination of gargoyles. I’m interested to find out why they were eradicated”

“Well,” said Ben, standing up and glancing behind them at the castle. “If you’re going to send a letter, shouldn’t we head back to Ponyville? I think it has a better chance of sending mail then this old decrepit castle” Ben’s wings suddenly vanished with a flash.

“Your wings!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “What happened to them?”

“I’m not sure,” Twilight said turning and looking hard at Ben. “I think I should ask about you as well. There are just too many questions about this whole business. To answer your question about the letter, I just need Spike to send a letter to the princess”

“Well, let’s get out of here then,” Ben said shivering. “This place kinda creeps me out.”

“It creeps me out too,” murmered Fluttershy. “Then again most everything does”

As the ten ponies walked back to Ponyville, Ben thought about the symbol that had appeared after he attacked the gargoyle. He was aware of what it meant, but he was puzzled over why it had appeared at that time.

It can’t be just a coincidence that the Mark of Fire would appear after I had used fire magic. The mark used to only appear when another conduit of divinity was nearby. Does that mean that the gargoyle was somehow connected to my world? If so, then I need to leave this land as soon as possible. I will not allow this world, unburdened by evil, fall prey to the Darkness because of me.

“Oh, Spike,” Twilight voice cut through Ben’s thoughts. “There you are. I need you to send a letter to Princess Celestia ASAP.”

Ben looked up and saw that they had reached the edge of the forest. He saw the little purple dragon come running up. When the miniature dragon reached them he stopped and gasped for breath.

“Twilight,” Spike panted. “There’s no need to send a letter. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are waiting for you at the castle. They said that something strange has happened!”

Twilight looked surprised and a little worried that Celestia and Luna would both decide to visit. She wondered if it had anything to do with Ben’s appearance or the gargoyle coming out of nowhere.

“Let’s hurry and get back there” Twilight said, enveloping Spike in her magic and placing him on her back.

With that she took off at full gallop, the others right behind her. A couple of minutes later, they all arrived at the Castle of Friendship and Twilight lit her horn and the doors swung open. There in the center hall stood the immortal Royal Sisters, rulers of Equestria for over 1000 years.

“It is good to see you all again,” said Princess Celestia, coming forward to get a better look at her former protégé and her friends. “I truly wish it were for a better reason than this, but unfortunately it isn’t. The reason my sister and I have come is that we have learned that a great evil is about to descend on our world and we need you six to help us in defending our home.”

Celestia then noticed Ben and a look of surprise came across her face when she saw the mark on his flank.

“It can’t be,” whispered Celestia. Then gathering herself, she said in a clear voice, “Hail, Knight of Áed”. Then to the surprise of those gathered she bent her legs and bowed low to Ben.

Author's Note

Well, Chapter 3 has been finished. I'm still writing these Author Notes on the off chance that someone will comment on this story. I've already got most of chapter four planned out and will be starting to write it in the next couple of days. For those of you that do read this story I want to say: Thank you and Happy Holidays.