Ultraman

Chapter 1: Different

Opening for story: Doa Eiyuu

He had no idea how long he was out of it, it could have been minutes, hours, and days even. Upon his awakening, his eyes examined the canopy of moss entangled trees, they grey sky in the center. Rubbing his eyes he examined his surroundings. Lush folia, moss that hung from tree branches, and a somewhat grey sky overhead. He shook his head and stood up, his body somewhat sore from that strange phenomena. The air was thick with humidity, and gnats attacked his ears in no time.

"What the, where the hell am I?" He stood up and wiped the water from his hands, his shoes somewhat wet from the humidity that clung to the grass. It looked like the kind of forest you'd see in a medieval fantasy movie. Thick green forest, a grey, hazy sky, but the air was heavy, hot and moist.

Suddenly, he felt something prick his back. He turned around to see a horse, or pony due to its small size, holding the iron lance like a human would. He was clad in gold armor, with a blue plume on top of his helmet, exact to the ancient Greeks warrior style. His expression was what shocked him the most, not only was he angry, but it showed. He did not have his ears back and head raised like a normal horse would, his brows were furrowed and his nostrils were widened, a mixture of both a horse and human.

"Stay where you are." he commanded, poking Cory in the gut. He stumbled back with his hands up, at loss for words. Did that pony just speak to him in perfect English?

From the sky descended several more of these ponies, or in this case "Soldiers" carrying a gold and silver clad chariot of some sort that lacked wheels. How they were able to land it was a mystery, but he watched as they slowed down their flight speed, the chariot illuminating with a white aura before settling on the dampened grasses. Stepping out of the chariot was a larger, and leaner, her mane was flowing by itself, and looked like the colors of the rainbow. Her coat was whiter than snow, and behind the Tiara she wore on her head was an Ivory unicorn horn. There was another mare whose coat was a night blue, a crescent moon adorned her flank. She was a tad smaller than her white counterpart, her eyes were a dark green, almost blue color. Her mane also flowed like the others, but it too like her coat was a dark blue. Both were an absolute sight. They looked exactly like the Pegasi he had seen in children’s books years ago and in medieval lore, like they were taken right from some old fairy tales. The larger white one approached him with a blank expression, but he could see it in her eyes that it was question time.

Another soldier stood in front of the human, holding the same type of lance the one behind him wielded. His glare was solid stone, his eyes were bloodshot in self perpetuated anger, its only purpose to make him all the more intimidating. Cory raised his hands to the sky even higher, careful not to move even when the larger, ivory mare inspected him. She used her magic to levitate his shirt up.

"What’s the deal?" he shouted. Her expression hardened briefly, but soon returned to one of peace when she took a deep breath, "Do you have any sort of wand?"

"Wand?" He repeated, "Of course I... No, I do not have one."

She stepped closer to him, nearly eye to eye, "Do you practice any sort of sorcery, witchcraft, do you know of any warlocks?"

"Warlocks... But those aren't..." he froze up when he felt the cold tip of a spear poke his back.

"You answer the Princess when she asks you a question." The soldier demanded.

He swallowed despite the fact his mouth had gone bone dry, "No... But they aren't real."

The Night blue Mare stepped down from their carriage, "Does thou take us for fools!? To deny the existence of blatantly real beings is a cause for great suspicion."

The white mare laid a hoof on her sister’s shoulder, "You are telling me the truth. Are there any magical humans in your world?"

Cory was confused, how did she know about humanity? "No, there aren't any wizards or witches, they're just legend."

The two sisters looked at each other in surprise. The darker one was first to look back to him, "Would thou please come with us?" Cory nodded, even if they were going to kill him it would be a far quicker death than starving out in the wilderness.

XXXXX

The next morning in Ponyville at the golden oaks library, Twilight trotted back and forth, the kitchen rug becoming flat and matted by her constant pacing. She had received a letter the night before about Cory, or “visitor” as he was labeled and how he would be staying in Ponyville with a few ponies to get him acquainted with life in Equestria. "Spike, Spike!" she called, having grown a tad annoyed with her assistants sluggish pace.

"I'm coming I'm coming," The small purple dragon mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"There you are," She trotted over to him, "Seems you've been up late."

"Well, not really. That letter I burped up gave me a wicked stomach ache." He grimaced. He fell back and sighed, head throbbing from the lack of his sleep.

"So it seems." She broke from her pacing and levitated her satchel onto her back, "The visitor is coming to Ponyville today."

He sat up from laying on his back, "And we are the ones to give him a warm welcome, right?"

She placed a few food items in one side of her satchel before zipping it shut, "Not quite, a few mares who volunteered for community service accepted that job."

"Why's he staying with them?" he scratched his head in confusion, "You're her student, don't you think it would make more sense if this visitor stayed with you?"

"I understand Spike, I thought the same thing too. But I am needed at the Crystal Empire with Cadance. Plus with it being Apple buck season, fall weather coming, and Rarity's boutique making a lot of business, it’s just better if he stays with someone else gets him acquainted. They all know he'll be in town and can help out the volunteers if needed."

He slumped down onto the floor, "I guess that makes sense." He yawned and stretched his arms.

Twilight giggled and levitated him onto her back, he yawned once more and fell asleep. She trotted out into the early morning rays of sun. The mornings here were always peaceful. She loved the smell of dew in the late summer, the warm yet not overbearing sun always sent barrages of positivity in the townsfolk, despite a few occasions such as the temporary reign of Discord. Nonetheless, she was always able to wake up and marvel at the earth's beauty.

XXXXX

"Lyra!"

A mint green unicorn froze up when another mare screamed her name, she fell onto her back, her light brown colored hoof becoming stuck to the floor. The other pony, whose hair was both a dark navy blue on one side and pick on the other, trotted over to her dazed friend. "What did I tell you about sneaking into the kitchen? And what’s that on your hoof?"

"Aheh, um," Lyra sat up from the floor, pulling her hoof free from the hardened candy mixture, "Lets just say i got a little too impatient this time."

"Lyra! Because you had to go and put your dirty little hoof in there the candy batter is ruined!" She pressed her nose against her roommate.

Lyra winced and looked to her right, "Sorry Bonny..."

Bon Bon sighed and put a hoof to her forehead. She grabbed some money from her drawer and put her satchel onto her back, "I'm gonna go get some more ingredients. And next time Lyra, just wait..."

Lyra saluted her friend with her candy coated hoof, "Got it!" She glanced at it before happily licking away. After cleaning herself up, she too exited her home and trotted down the streets, growing more and more curious about what her friend Sapphire was up to that day.
Her eyes were closed, her breaths slow, yet focused. The smell of the incense wafted into her nostrils as she relaxed every muscle from her head all the way down to her flanks. With her mind clear, she could sense that she was almost there, at last she could accomplish what she so longed to do. Her mind was slipping away into a state of subconscious, dipping into a mental realm, almost a dimension that few ponies had ventured into. She was going to finally experience an out of body experience and...

"Hey Sapphire!"

Her eyes snapped open as she squeaked in surprise, turning her head to see Lyra smiling at her from the doorway. Sapphire groaned, "I was so close..."

"Close to what?" Lyra asked, her head tilting to the side.

"Nothing." Sapphire stood on all fours. "I at least wanted to get some decent meditation in before I head off to Canterlot this afternoon."

"Oh yeah!" Lyra's eyes brightened up, "I remember now. With the Elements of harmony busy and with Twilight and Cadence at the Crystal Empire there's no one else to help get this new pony settled here. Where did she say he came from again?"

"She didn't really say," Sapphire adjusted her bow, "She just said he was a, visitor." She lowered the paper with her magic.

"Hm,” Lyra sat back on her haunches, "I wonder if he's a griffon! Or maybe a Zebra?"

"Or maybe a human." Sapphire joked, rolling her eyes and smirking.

"Hey! We've already talked about this!" Lyra pouted, her face flushing red.

Sapphire giggled, "I was only kidding Lyra, but at times you're a bit too into your cryptozoology."

"This is coming from the meditator."

"Well I... Never mind." Sapphire gave up, her comment would have only turned the situation ugly. She sat up from her pillow and gestured for Lyra to follow her. Lyra trotted by her side through town as they made their way to the train station.

"You'll be nice to him right?" Lyra asked, her eyes narrowing just a tad.

"Maybe, we'll see. It’s already a burden sharing my space with you and Ditsy half the time." She chuckled.

Lyra turned her head away and rolled her eyes, "I'll take that as a no."

XXXXX

Cory stood with Celestia at the station, two guards on each side of him. Their expressions were solid stone, along with that their armor clad bodies were motionless even as they occasionally glanced over at him. Their ruler wasn't making any of it easier. In fact, she seemed a bit annoyed that whomever they were meeting was late. Even though it’s only been one minute.

"We are a tad early." She murmured, "Perhaps I should let it slide."

"So, uh," Cory stood awkwardly between the two guards, "You guys do this for a living?" He asked lamely. As he predicted, he got no response from either asides from a grunt in annoyance. It was after all a stupid question.

After another minute passed, that’s when he saw them, two mares walking along the dirt path at a fast pace. One wore a red bow in her sea blue mane. It had a horn on its forehead just like Celestia and the guards. The other, a unicorn mare with a two tone mint green mane, and yellow, golden eyes. Her coat was a minty green color, much different in contrast to the almost grey one of the previous mare.

"I'll be damned..." He remembered the dream he had before he awoke in this world, "It’s them, but, but how?"

The two of them bowed to Celestia, "Thank you two for coming here. Your help is much appreciated. Something strange has certainly fallen upon us, and, with the Crystal Empire in need of Twilight's assistance and my own, I have left it to you to help our visitor." She stepped to the side, "Please come forth and..."

"Incoming!" Shouted a somewhat nasally voice. Coming in hot was a gray Pegasus mare, her blonde mane flowing in the wind. She tried to brace herself for her clumsy impact, only to crash and slide on her bottom, coming to a sliding stop next to Sapphire. Her eyes went crossed as she smiled at Celestia.

Celestia returned the expression, "Well, it seems you three are here after all." She finally stepped aside, reveling the human that stood behind her, "Please come forth."

When they locked eyes with him, the shock Cory had felt earlier was now mutual, "He's a..." Sapphire's jaw was agape in disbelief.

"A human!" Lyra's eyes were wide with excitement, "She tackled the human and sat back on his lap, but soon hopped off as a guard thrust his lance towards her.

"Keep your distance from him until the Princess allows it." The guard demanded, retracting his weapon.

"You three are aware of why you're here, correct?" Celestia asked.

Derpy bounced up and down like an eager child, "I know, you wanted us to watch the visitor right?"

"Right you are Ditsy, not only do i want you to watch him, I want you to also get him acquainted with his new..." She paused for a moment, "Residence. For the time being that is."

Sapphire raised her left brow, "So, we're babysitting?"

"Excuse me?" Cory snapped. He felt the cold tip of a lance poke his back he raised his arms back up, but not without rolling his eyes. Even though the guard wouldn't dare impale him without Celestia's consent, Cory figured that it'd be best to stay on her kinder side to ensure his survival.

Sapphire turned her nose to the air away from Cory. He could tell they were going to get along “great”. As Celestia and her guards made their way towards the Princess' carriage, the white mare stopped and beckoned for Cory to come closer. Cory looked back at the three mares before he walked to Celestia.

Her face hardened a tad, her eyes looking into his as if she was scanning them for the least bit of deceit. "I have one more question for you. Will you answer it honestly?"

He nodded, "Yes I will Princess Celestia."

"In your realm, do you have any legends that include bipedal Titans?"

"Yes we do, but they're mainly fairy tales for children."

"Mhm," Celestia bit her lip, "Thank you. Enjoy your stay here."

"Well that was, weird." He thought to himself.

"Hey biped, still with us?" Sapphire asked, her voice growing impatient. Her friend Lyra nudged her shoulder, "Remember what Celestia asked? Hospitality!"

"Whatever," she snorted, keeping quiet on their way back to Ponyville. As they walked through the town, ponies looked at Cory with suspicion, worry, and some with fear. He didn't blame them at all really, from what he could gather most have never seen one quite like him, and save for a few, most were fairly small compared to the equines back at home.

"Boy, you seem pretty popular!" Ditsy smiled, looking up at him with her wall eyes stare.

"Not the kind of attention I wanted." He said nonchalant.

"Well, you dos tick out like a sore thumb." Sapphire added, "Not only are you freakishly tall, but you're also, well, bald everywhere."

His face grew red, "Boy, you know how to make a guy feel welcome."

"You could say that, that is, if you were welcome." Lyra bumped his side and gave him a more reassuring look. Her smile faded when she saw the uncertainty in his eyes.

"You ok mister?" Disty asked, her eyes going crossed again, "Does someone need me to hug them?" She bounced up and down.

Sapphire shook her head, "Let him alone Derpy, its going to take more than that to get this weight off his shoulders."

"Hey! It’s Ditsy! Not Derpy!" She huffed, her eyes cork screwing in frustration.

They came to a large, almost medieval style house. A garden of various spice plants and flowers surrounded the housed perimeter asides from the entrance where a large wooden door stood. Sapphire used her magic to unlock the door, stepping followed by the two other mares and the human who had to almost duck down when he entered. Disty trotted up the stairs into her room, coming down not even a minute later with an empty satchel and blue mail man cap.

"Well, I gotta deliver mail today. By Cory!" She gave him a hug, much to his surprise and discomfort. She was surprisingly warm to him, which, he thought, could be related to her obvious mental illness which showed through her nasally voice and skewed eyes. She let go of him and trotted away from the house happily humming to herself. For such a troubled looking mare she seemed so, happy, even in the presence of an alien such as Cory. Lyra also trotted by his side with a small basket in her mouth. She giggled and placed it down, smiling at him and nudging his side, "I'll just be outside, and I think it'd be best to talk Sapphire for a bit."

Either Cory gave her a funny look or she could read minds, "She's not that bad once you get to know her." Without saying another word, she too exited the house and tended to her spice garden, collecting mint leaves and pruning off dead growth.

He sighed and walked to where Sapphire sat on her pillow, flipping through the pages of her book. She seemed very absorbed into what she was reading, her eyes danced across the pages of the book. She glanced up at him with her eyes and then back down at the book. He sat down instead, growing rather impatient with her sour attitude. The other two mares had been kind to him, the grey one named Ditsy Do especially.

She lowered her book just enough to peer at him just above the pages, "Is it normal for your kind to just stare at others?"

His brows furrowed, "You don't like me at all, don't you?"

"Not that I don't like you. I'm like this to everyone." She giggled.

"So, plainly you're a bitch?"

She nodded, "You could say that."

"What good will acting that way do?"

She closed her book, shooting him a cold glare, "Another thing about me, I don't have to explain myself to you at all. I am who I am, got it?"

Cory smirked, "Is that so?" In a way, her snooty attitude reminded him of his sister whenever they argued. "You remind me of someone."

He expected a response by the line of "Should I care?" But he actually perked her interest. "And who would that be?" she asked from behind her book.

"Well, my sister..."

Music insert: Ryu and Serizawa (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-x1sXh5bJM)

She stopped half way through flipping her page, lowering the book just too where he could see her eyes. He could sense she wanted him to continue, "Before I came here, or, wherever the hell this place is, I was living alone with her."

This time she closed her book and set it aside, "Just you two?"

He nodded, "Yes. For two years. I and she were best friends since the day she was born."

"Oh," was all she could say, "Um, I guess being here is even harder for you now, with her not here."

"Heh," he chuckled nervously, "Well, she wasn't there either when I left. At least not anymore." He held his head lower.

Sapphire felt the strings in her heart being plucked, her body began to well up with guilt for having treated him horribly. She shrugged most of it off, but she had to admit his past did sound a tad tragic.

"I'm sorry... I didn't..." She stopped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. He gave her a small reassuring smile. She returned one of her own, but it was more or less a smirk.

She took a deep breath, "My names Sapphire, last name Libra."

"Cory, Cory Nash." They exchanged hand, or, hoof shakes. Immediately she went back to her book as if the whole thing never happened, "So, now you know my name. Don't think that automatically means we are friends."

He laughed, I didn't think so." he stood up and left, "When your heads out of your you know what, feel free to talk to me."

"As far as you’re concerned it'll be always up there." She chuckled, ignoring him from then on.

XXXXX

"Do you really think he's returned?"

"It is hard to say Luna, a human has not existed in Equestria for almost a Millenia." Celestia flipped through the pages of her book, "Mother of me, I know this is the book, where, just where is the end of the prophecy!?"

Luna stood by her side, eyes also glued to the book, "You’re truly resorting to those dusty old books? This could have been a freak phenomenon. The most we should do is keep an eye on him, at least until we can confirm he is not like the others."

"Here it is," Celestia sighed in relief. "Wait, what is happening?" The lettering on the page began to morph into a variety of symbols, a different language unknown to modern ponies. Both of them could read exactly what it was, and what they read made their blood run cold.

"Devil... Mephisto..." Celestia said in absolute terror. The books pages began to flip rapidly back and forth, each page now had the same words hastily written in ink. The book finally closed and the candles in the room blew out. Celestia used her magic to relight them, cold sweat running down her back as she spastically looked around the room.

"He has returned... Devil Mephisto."

XXXXX

Cory placed the pan on the burner as Lyra used her magic to cut up the mint leaves. All the while, Cory stared at the string instrument that adorned each side of her flank.

"Those markings on your hips, are they some sort of tattoo?" he asked, wiping his hands dry with a dish towel.

"These" She gestured to her bottom, "Nope! They're as permanent as can be. They're called cutie marks."

"Cutie Marks?" He raised a brow, somewhat bemused by the childish name.

"Well in a sense they signify our special talents." Added Sapphire, filling up small water glasses for the table.

"Special talents... So, is yours playing the harp?"

"It’s a Lyre, but yes it is." She smiled at him with excitement in her eyes, "Perhaps I can show you after dinner, I'm a great player."

Sapphire overturned a large casket, "That may have to wait, looks like we are out of Apples."

"Well, I can go get some." The human volunteered. It was not a big deal, and since they were giving him a place to stay the least he could do was do them a small favor.

"Sure, make yourself useful." Sapphire chuckled, giving him a wink, "The market is just down the street. The person running it is awfully friendly, so she'll give you far less trouble than I have."

"Oh happy day." He joked. He took the small coins Lyra gave him and set out into the streets. The Twilight was in full swing, the first stars of the evening were showing just above the crimson sunset. Some of the ponies stared at him with suspicion, whilst some even scooped up their children and took them back inside their homes. Not once in his life did he feel so out of place. It as one thing going to the rougher sides of town back home and being stared at, but this was whole different look. Like he was a convicted felon who was walking free. Finally he came to the market and saw a blonde manned, orange colored pony. She wore a large brown Stetson hat with a band in her ponytail like mane. On her flanks were three red apples. Signifying that the crop she was selling was her passion, just like the Lyre was Lyra's. She wore a somewhat hesitant look on her face as he approached her stand.

She shook her head as soon as she realized she was staring blankly at him, "Why, uh, hello there partner. What can I get fer' yah?" She gave him a sheepish smile.

"Well, a bushel of apples is all I need."

She nodded and used a pair of tongs to pick a dozen apples into a basket, "So yer the foreigner that Celestia told us about."

He cocked and eyebrow, "She told you too?"

"Well a friend of mine who's a student of hers gave us a heads up." She placed the last one in the bushel. "There yah go hun."

"You're not that afraid of me?" He asked, a tad perplexed.

Well, yer not harmin anyone, and Celestia gave us a heads up that you ain't here to cause harm. On top of that, yer buyin my crop and helpin support me and mah family. So you're a-ok in mah book." She nudged his shoulder. "The names Apple Jack.' She held out her hoof, "Yours?"

"Cory Nash." He shook her hoof, a smile forming amongst his features. He noticed that a few Ponies have been watching him converse with Apple Jack. They whispered amongst each other,

"Thanks," He smiled, relieved that he was at least trusted by someone outside of Sapphire, Lyra and Ditsy.

"Don't mention it, have a goodnight hun." She began to close her stand for the night, pulling a tarp over the fruit and disposing the ones that had grew bad during the day. He waved and turned around, walking on the dirt road back to his residence. However, just as the house was in seeing distance, he heard a laugh, like the giggle of a teenage girl. He turned around the see if it was Apple Jack, however, all he saw was a now empty street, most ponies having turned in for the evening. His eyes finally caught something, a girl. A young human girl, one that was...

"Sarah?" He asked in disbelief. He dropped the bushel of apples as his eyes grew in shock. It was her, Sarah, right down the street from him. She giggled and ran from him, turning around to see if he was in pursuit. He called out to her once again as he chased through the streets, towards the outskirts of the town. She laughed the whole time, glancing back and smiling when she saw him not far behind.

"Sarah?" Where are you going?" He began to grow winded, they finally came to the mouth of the forest he was previously in, the large Ever free forest.

Music insert: Disappear (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MERfJZ6C8hY)

"Sarah?" He asked, he was beginning to grow unsure of what her intentions were. She turned away and ran into the forest, calling his name for the first time. For some reason, hearing his name being called by her enticed him enough to give chase once again. He soon regretted this as he was soon encompassed by the thick foliage of the woods. The canopy blocked most of the remaining twilight sun, making the forest floor dark and ominous.

"Sarah?" He called out once more, fear welling up inside him. He began questioning whether or not he had really seen his sister, or if that was even her. And no some sort of, well, who knew. He was confused and scared now that he was lost in the forest. But what made it worse was the deep, guttural growl that came from behind him. He slowly turned around him, his eyes growing in fear as he saw the face of a lion, a large, devil horned lion whose carnivorous breath filled the human's nostrils. The Lion like creature lunged at him, barring its teeth and lashing out with his claws.

The human screamed and barely managed to dodge the beast whose body was now in full sight. On its back were two back like wings, and where a tail should her was a large, carapace clad scorpion tail. He remembered the beast from the mythology books he studied few years back as a Manticore. This thing however was twice the size of a normal lion, and far more powerful with potent venom and great strength. The thing was about to strike once more as the human backed away nearly paralyzed in fear. But from above, what looked like another star shined bright in the sky for a few moments, blinding both human and beast. The Manticore shook its head and allowed its eyes to adjust to the blinding light before reeling back and pouncing towards Cory.

Music insert: Encounter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVK8IZJs86c)
Right when the Manticore was about to strike him, suddenly, the blinding light screamed down towards the earth, crashing down onto the manticore in a quick explosion, the creatures life was ended so quickly it could not even cry out in pain before its death. Cory uncovered his eyes to see just what it was that killed the forest hunter, his eyes growing in shock as he saw, a large, silver fore arm. On the side of it’s was a silver and yellow wrist blade, the fist however was buried into the earth. As he worked his eyes along the large arm, it connected to a large titan, his body clad in silver and dark grey armor. All except for deep crimson V shaped light on its chest. Its eyes were large and bugged out slight from its head that had a type of crest that extended to the back, followed by elongated armor on the back that protected the nap of its neck. Its face was silver and featureless, asides from a solid mouth piece that stayed motionless. It slowly pulled its fist from the earth, standing to its full height of one hundred fifty five feet. It stared towards the horizon, its eyes glowing with a pure, white light. It slowly turned its head to face the human who stood in awe.

"This... This can't be real..." But the terror, the pain in his joints, the smells of the forest, and the shock from the impact were all real. At least, it felt so. As the giant’s image faded, so did the crater on the forest floor. All of it, his sister, the manticore, even the giant were all an illusion. He stood up, this time finding the exit to the forest was much easier now that his mind was at ease. What was he seeing, did it mean something? Was he truly just seeing things, or was there meaning to it all. What was the meaning of him being in this strange world?

At that moment, everything Cory ever knew completely crumbled. The reality that he held dear to him his whole life disappeared. And a whole new one was presented to him.