Piercing Eyesby Draco S BronyChapters1. It was a dark and stormy night… (unedited)2. doubled the fun has indeed been... (unedited)3. The Feels!!! (unedited)4. Psychosomatics! (unedited)5. hey there pretty filly... (unedited)6. One hell of a gentlecolt... (unedited)7. Yay! (unedited)8. Stranger Danger! (unedited)9. Look deep into my eyes... (unedited)10. Aliens... (unedited)11. The Gang's All Here (unedited)12. Dude, That's So Metta...(unedited)1. It was a dark and stormy night… (unedited)It was a bright sunny day… weren't expecting that were you? Anyway, this story begins with a house, the location of the house isn't important, and in the house lived a family of four. There was the father who had a well-paying corporate job, the mother who had a job as a well-known physician. A daughter who was the oldest at 21 who was a famous designer. And the son, a slim fellow at 6’-4”, with orange eyes (though some would argue that they were red) and a high, lighter pitch, voice, who looked rather scrawny, yet he could bench 170. He had short brown hair and commonly wore casual clothes, he was Caucasian, had fair skin, and no blemishes, his name was David. Do to his family’s wealth he could always afford trendy clothes, but he preferred to stay away from anything designer. He went to a public school, much to his parent’s chagrin, where he wasn't very popular, in fact, he only had one friend, James. He was a tan fellow with blond hair at 5’-11”, lounging on the couch, warring much the same thing as James considering James commonly bought him clothes when they were hanging out at the mall. Many who saw this thought him to be homosexual, in actuality, he just thought he could be nice to his friend considering he was so wealthy. David was a rather simple kid he went through school with a C-/B+ average and never got into trouble, or at least, none he couldn't handle… But now, tomorrow was graduation day. He was going to turn 19 the day before, making him one of the oldest in his class. He hadn't had a big party, he had invited James over to hang out, which included: playing video games, watching anime, and of course the most important of all, watching a show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. He and James were Avid “Bronies” as it were, (fans of the for-mentioned show) and greatly enjoyed watching it together. Though for James, its effect was tainted a bit by David who would mumble under his breath as he analyzed the characters, He didn’t nit-pick or anything he was just liked to profile the characters. He always treated the show a bit more “real” than most, he would observe the characters as if they were real and try to understand them, while making theories about how each one would act in real life. No one except him and James new, but he was secretly a genius, he actively hid this from others because he didn't want to be treated “special”, he had actually already taken college classes at the same time he was going through high school. He didn't have a degree but only because of the vast amount of classes he took, he didn't stay in one major (or one degree course for that matter) for very long. He spread himself out to learn all he could, however, he did have one thing he stayed interested in at all times: psychology. He was so skilled at reading people that he could tell almost all of your physical features by your voice, speech patterns, and grammar, even if he was only reading a textual message sent in a chat room or via IM. He could also read body language and facial expressions as good as any expert. He would observe the ponies and make mental notes, easy with an eidetic (photographic) memory, and try and discern what emotions they felt, or what they were thinking, then build ideas and theories on pony psychology. As they were winding down for the day, preparing for tomorrow, they fell into a pleasant conversation. “So… What now?” said James. “What do you mean?” said David cocking his brow while lying on the opposite couch. “You know damn well what I mean!” said James, pointing an accusatory finger at David having noticed David’s smirk, he then proceeded to plaster a large smile on his face. He was as bad as a certain white unicorn when it came to noticing details… “Right… Well you'll probably go to college, I'll finally decide on a degree and then we find a way to combine our talents and make a profitable business, and if we can't do that… We'll do fine on our own” he said in a monotone voice, almost as if he was disappointed with it… “You got this all figured out don't you smart ass?” James said in mock anger. David smiled looking almost hope full “well, there is one unknown variable…” he said low enough that only he could hear it “Wellp! Time for me to head home… see you tomorrow buddy!” he said, getting up and heading for the door. “We'll see.” He said, waving behind him. “What?” said James, not having heard him clearly. “Never mind.” he said, waving a dismissive hand. With that, James shrugged before turning and leaving David stayed laying on the couch for a few minutes before getting up and heading to his room. He opened his door and walked in only to immediately tern, close, and lock the door with an advanced security system, one of the few things he splurged on. He walked over to his desk, an antique his father got him, it was an old desk with a square mirror on it, like some sort of masculine vanity. He slid the holder out of place under his desk, causing the mirror to slide down and reveal a cork board covered in scraps of paper, which, when put together correctly, made what appeared to be some form of a large archaic magic circle. He stared at it for a long period of time, before roaring with a seething rage, and grabbing the side of the former mirror holder bringing said circle to his face. “Why?!” he shouted at the image, not receiving a reply “why did I make you?!” He stared at it again before storming to his bed and sitting down heavily with his arms crossed. “I can remember everything I have ever done, from infancy to now. So… why can't I remember you!?” he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. He had been waking up in the morning each day for the past month, and each day there was a new page added. He had compared the line thickness and pencil angle used to draw the picture (hand writing) to many others in the police database that he had easily hacked into. It wasn't until he had tested his own hand writing that he realized that he was the one making them. He had done much studying but had found nothing on the strange circle. It frustrated him greatly, but… it also kind of excited him, he felt like this circle was some sort of key, perhaps, the key to his escape. He had planned out his life thoroughly, he even had six back-up plans, but even then he didn't like any of them. He always felt as though he was meant for something greater (cliché I know) and maybe, just maybe, this circle could help. Just then he heard what sounded like wind, but it was strange, it sounded… distorted, like it wasn't natural… All of a sudden, he felt something deep inside of him well up, he put a hand to his chest, his heart felt like it was beating with the force of a jack hammer. He then looked to the circle, his eyes widening as he regained the memories he had been searching for. He remembered now, he had done this for a reason, he was reaching out to… no… he wasn't the one reaching out… something… Inside of him was trying to connect to something… to something like itself… something that could not easily be found here… it felt the same as what was on the inside… it wanted to be with its own… where it belonged… He hadn't even realized he had been approaching the circle till it came alight with black and red smoke. He raised his hand towards it emotions swirling inside of him: Fear, shock, confusion, wonder, and most of all, hope. There was a bright flash and then… nothing… all that remained, was the circle, and a scorch mark on the floor… Author's Note Sorry If it doesn't read too well. Again, I need an editor before I can seriously start producing chapters. 2. doubled the fun has indeed been... (unedited)David woke up in what appeared to be the woods, his head hurt, and his body felt strange. He sat up and looked around, he couldn't see anything except trees and foliage in every direction. He then noticed something gray just barely poking out at the bottom of his field of vision. He lifted his hand to touch it, but when he did, he noticed it wasn't a hand... … … … A hoof? He looked at the hoof, now sitting in front of him for a few moments, before turning to look at the rest of his new body. He was a gray stallion with a strong, slim, build. He had a black, medium length, mane, with red highlights and his bangs covering his right eye, all of it styled like one would expect from a gentleman (gentlecolt?) His tail was the same color scheme and he could only assume, was styled the same way, seeing as how he had no knowledge of pony tail-styles. All four hooves were present and accounted for. He also had what appeared to be a tribal style cutie mark of an Ouroboros wrapped around a yin-yang on his flank. His thoughts stopped for a moment before repeating the last one. Cutie mark… at this his eyes shot open with realization. Wait, a cutie mark? But that means… … Most people would have screamed… they would have ran around freaking out about how they had changed, about how they were in a new body, or a new world for that matter. They would have ran, and stumbled, and eventually either died, or done something stupid… Instead, he laughed… he laughed, and laughed, and laughed. It wasn't a laugh of madness, nor one used for covering up pain, no, this laugh was wondrous. Joy, elation, and pure unadulterated happiness, as though all of his dreams had come true! THAT, is what this laugh was! There was also, however, something wrong, something dark, or sinister. Like what you might find in a laugh one might expect from an evil mastermind whose plan had just worked flawlessly. He knew exactly where he was, and his body trembled with excitement. He ended his laughter and got up onto all four hooves before trotting as though this was how he had naturally walked all his life, he figured it had to do with some form of passive magic. He proceeded to canter over to a puddle before leaning over to look at his reflection so that he could see his facial features. He had a narrow snout like that of Soarin from the Wonderbolts, his eyes were red, resembling princess Celestia’s in shape. Though, his pupils were more narrow and reptilian than one might consider normal. “Ouroboros” he said, beginning to analyze the picture now on his flank “A dragon or serpent who comes around and bites its own tale, it appears to be gripping the yin-yang with its front and back legs, it has wings making it a western, it also appears to have red eyes. I don’t appear to have wings, but I do have a horn, so I guess that means I'm a unicorn… also-” He stopped when he realized something he hadn't before… “My voice changed…” he said thinking aloud, though he didn't seem too surprised, he then began to sing a common vocal warm up “Doe, Ray, Me, Fa, So, La, Tee, Doe… hmm, interesting…” he said, putting a hoof to his chin in thought before adopting a large grin “I sound just like Sebastian… Ha!” he was ecstatic at the thought of sounding like his favorite anime character. After some thought he decided on what to do next and looked straight ahead. at this point he had donned a face he was used to using when dealing with anyone other than James back on earth, essentially his eyes looked closed but were actually open just enough for him to see, as well as a large (some might say creepy) smile. “Alright now to find-” he was cut off as searing pain shot through his head, he fell to the ground writhing in pain, only able to make small noises due to the amount of agony he felt. As the pain ended he got back up. “What was that?” he said, shaking his head so as to clear his mind. After a few seconds of thought, his eyes widened before he closed them again and smiled wickedly. “Oh, this is going to be even better than I thought…” Author's Note still no editor, but because Necro Fox asked for it, I put out another chapter. I know there are some mistakes and that it doesn't quite read correctly, but till I get an editor (or the time to do it myself) it's staying that way. P.S. will be posting several chapters today so as to better introduce the main character, and introduce the main six. 3. The Feels!!! (unedited)David had proceeded to scout the area until he had found the place he was looking for. “Ponyville” he said looking at the Welcome to Ponyville sign that was right outside the small town. He had seen Canterlot up on a nearby mountain so he knew Ponyville would be there somewhere. He giggled like a schoolgirl (schoolfilly?) and proceeded to skip right into town. As he skipped he got some odd looks from the other ponies, but he didn't care, he was in the land of his dreams, and nothing could ruin this moment. Just then he saw a pink pony zip bye, apparently trying to stay out of his sight. For most it would have worked, but because of his memory and extreme attention to details, it did not. She was a pink pony with no wings or horn, making her an earth pony. She had a poofy, magenta, mane and tale, as well as bright, sky blue, eyes. Her cutie mark was a picture of 3 balloons 2 blue ones and yellow one between them. He smiled, already knowing who she was, and what would happen next. He sat there thinking of what he wanted to do, he smiled deviously, deciding to have some fun with her. He saw her approaching from behind so he readied himself for what was to come. As she launched herself at him, he spun so that he was facing her. Rearing up on his hind legs, he brought his front hooves under hers, grabbing her sides. He lifted her up and twirled her through the air, like a princess, using the momentum from her leap “Alas, it has been too long my love! Long have I waited to see your beautiful face once more!” he said, in his best dramatic voice. “And I have missed you my love! It has been hard these many years without you by my side.” She responded as he set her down, apparently deciding to play along. “What a cruel mistress fate must be to have made us children of rival families.” He said, draping a hoof over his forehead dramatically. “Indeed, what I wouldn't do to change our lineage so that we may stay together” she said hugging him close and letting a tear fall. Oh she’s good… “But now we must rejoice! For I have discovered a way to finally bring us together!” he said, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “For truth? We can finally be as we have wished for so long?” she said sitting on her haunches and bringing her for hooves to her chest, a bright hopeful look upon her face. “Yes, your father has agreed to meet with me on the subject. He even gave me a peace offering.” He replied. “Oh? What is it?” she said looking at him questioningly “It was-” He cut himself off, coughing furiously before collapsing into her hooves. “My love!” she held him close to her chest and pushed his mane out of his eyes (despite the fact that she couldn't see his eyes) noticing the blood on his lips. Oh, he’s good… “What has happened to you?” “The peace offering, it was a wine sample, it must have been poisoned.” He said, convulsing slightly while breathing shallowly. “No! This cannot be!” she said, sad tears streaming down her face. “I’m afraid it is my love, all I ask now, is that you hold me close until I pass.” He said, bringing a hoof to her face to wipe away her tears. “Of course my love.” She said, doing as asked. She held him close to her until his hoof which had been resting on her face fell limply to the ground. She raised her head to the air while yelling a dramatic “nooo!” before collapsing over him. She hadn't noticed but they had drawn a massive crowd. As she finished her last bit the crowd erupted with applause. Some were even in tears from the performance, while others just stood there slack jawed. She and David got up and bowed, before running off laughing at their own antics. “Hahaha-hooo… that was wonderful Pinkie Pie!” said David, addressing the pink pony. He had noticed that despite his thin look he was rather tall compared to most ponies. Maybe even taller than…HIM. “I know! You were great too though.” Said Pinkie Pie, bumping against him in a playful manner. “Indeed! I can't wait for your party.” He said, placing a hoof on her shoulder “However, I must regrettably ask that you hold off for a time being. Until I am done setting some other events in motion. Is that alright?” “Sure!” said Pinkie pie, a cheery smile on her face. ”How much time you need?” “Oh, don't worry, you'll know when I'm ready. Anyway, good bye miss Pinkamena Diane pie.” He said, as he began to walk a separate direction. “Ok, bye!” she said, stopping to wave a hoof before continuing on her way. Just then, she stopped and realized something she hadn't before. “How did he know my name?” Author's Note Sorry this didn't come out sooner like I said it would. But, like I said in the comments, I had to fix some small, story related things, first. There are probably still more of the same grammar issues and such, but those will be fixed when I have this, and the upcoming chapters, edited. 4. Psychosomatics! (unedited)Twilight It was midday and in a building made from a hollowed out tree, an alicorn and her assistant were busy at work. “Spike! I need that book on transfiguration!” said the lavender alicorn mare, shouting for her assistant, who was up a floor. A small, reptilian form came running down the stairs on his two small legs carrying a large tome in his stubby little claws. He had light green eyes, belly scales, spines, and ear fins, while the rest of his body was purple. “Here twilight, is this it?” he asked, holding up the tome so as to present it to the mare. She was a lavender mare with a cobalt blue mane and tail that were so straight, you’d think she had ironed them each 20 times. She also had a stripe in them that was split in two, one side dark purple, the other pink. Her eyes were the same color purple as the stripe in her hair, and her cutie mark was a pink, six pointed star surrounded by six smaller, white, six pointed stars. “Yes, thank you spike” she said, enveloping the tome in a magical aura, the same color as the one around her horn, and bringing it over for further study. After about thirty minutes she threw the book behind her adding it to the large pile that had accumulated there. “Celestia damn it all! This doesn’t have it either!” for months Twilight Sparkle had been looking for knowledge on changeling magic. From books on shape change, to books on strange and rare creatures. But she couldn't seem to find anything on changelings, other than what their true forms looked like, as well as that they were able to transform into any sentient creature as well as produce a substance similar to what butterflies use to make Chrysalises (only much more durable) at a whim. All of this she already knew from firsthand experience… “Hello? Is anyone here?” in her stupor, she hadn't even noticed someone come in. She immediately became defensive towards this random stranger who had decided to barge into her home. “Excuse me sir, but what are you doing in my house?” she said somewhat threateningly, as she turned around to see the intruder. She was surprised to see a large, somewhat intimidating stallion standing in front of her. However it only strengthened her belief that this was some sort of burglar, or thief. “House? I was made to believe this was the town library?” He said seeming slightly frightened of her. She mentally face hoofed at her own stupidity. Of course he would barge in, this was technically a public library, and he didn't technically need permission to enter… “No, I'm sorry, you're right. This is a public library. Still, every pony from around here knows that I live here, and usually has the decency to knock… so you must be from out of town.” she said, remembering a certain pink pony, as well as a rather sporty Pegasus, who commonly crashed in for a visit. Sometimes literally… “Correct! I'll be staying here for a while, so I was wondering if you had any books on physics or psychiatry.” He said, regaining his confident posture and smile. At first she was expecting the tall stallion to be looking for porn mags or workout manuals (She had gotten a surprising number of ponies looking for the former in the past) due to his larger than average build. Her jaw nearly hit the floor when she heard him mention such advanced subjects “Is there a problem miss?” he said tilting his head with a confused look. This seemed to snap her out of her shocked state. “Oh! Um, no… just a sec” she said stammering while trying, and failing, to hide her surprise. She promptly headed up stairs to retrieve some books that fell under his specified categories. Little did she know, she was playing right into his hooves… David He was happy that his plan had gone off without a hitch so far but now was the tricky part. After all it is easy to manipulate someone with words, it is much harder to manipulate what someone sees. He looked over and saw spike staring up at him in awe. He laughed internally at the young dragon. If he only knew… “Hello young one, what’s your name?” He said, snapping spike out of his stupor. “Oh! I’m Spike! I help out around the library.” He said, holding out a clawed hand. “A pleasure to meet you Sir Spike, night of the fare pony so rare.” Said David, taking spikes claw with his hoof and giving it a firm shake. Spike was put off by the strange title, but he just shrugged it off as a strange new pony in this, just as strange town. As he ended the shake, He nonchalantly waved his hoof in front of spikes face. It looked like someone casually bringing their hoof down from a normal shake, if a bit awkwardly, and jerky. But upon closer inspection one might have seen the small black particles that came off of his hoof and flew right into spike’s nose… Spike reeled back before letting loos a large “achoo!” as he sneezed green flames from his snout. “Are you ok there buddy?” said David, patting him on the back as he went into a coughing fit. “Y-yeah, I think so.” He said recovering from his fit. “I’m just glad I didn’t try to hold it in, otherwise I might have blown my brain out my ears.” This made David burst out laughing, followed by spike soon after. “Thanks, most ponies don’t usually laugh at my jokes.” “A shame, that one was good! And besides, I most certainly am not most ponies.” At first spike was confused by that statement, but after a while he again, just shrugged it off and continued with his duties. “Ok, I found the books!” came Twilight’s voice as she came down the stairs. “Ah, Wonderful!” said David, siting on his haunches and clasping his hooves together. “What did you find?” “Well, I found two college books, one for physics and one for psychology, as well as an interesting book called Attribution and Other Psychology Theories.” She said, displaying them all on what appeared to be a coffee table. “Oh my, I do apologies but it seems I have already read these.” That was technically true, then again, so is everything else he’s said so far. He had read human versions of these books. And while the titles were different the covers looked almost exactly the same, aside from the added pony elements. “Oh! I'm sorry, did you want me to bring you something else or-” she was cut off by him waving a hoof in dismissal. “No no, that’s quite alright. I have to be going any way.” He said as he turned to the door. “Good bye Spike, and you too miss Twilight Sparkle.” with that he took his leave. As he left twilight realized what he had said and made to go after him only to exit the library and see him nowhere to be found. Seeing as he had disappeared, she went back inside in a confused huff. Author's Note Thats it for today, maybe some more tomorrow. 5. hey there pretty filly... (unedited)After leaving Twilight’s house, David had proceeded thru Ponyville, he thought up plan, after plan, after plan. Until deciding on 0ne plan that had 34 contingencies… he’s a very careful man, or rather, stallion. After deciding on his plan, he started heading for carousel boutique. But before he could make it he heard yelling coming from behind him, it sounded like it was coming from the sky as well, and whatever it was it was getting closer. Again deducing the circumstances, and again deciding to have fun with it, he spun around to see a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tale headed straight for him. She had read eyes and a cutie-mark of a rainbow lightning bolt coming out of a cloud. He held out his for hooves and side stepped a bit catching her and spinning so as to absorb the momentum. After he spun six times, he stopped himself and took stock of his situation. He was holding the Pegasus bridal stile while standing on his hind legs. This would have been impossible for any normal pony, but as previously stated he’s not a normal pony. A large smile spread across his face as he realized what kind of opportunity lay before him. “In fact one could say I'm… one Hell of a pony…” he "sqeed" with fan-girlish delight once more. He had always been good at mimicking Grell, but he could never pull off Sebastian. Now that his voice was Sebastian… Oh the Possibilities… While he was day dreaming the rainbow maned Pegasus started coming back from the dizziness that was a direct result from the spinning, as well as her previous tumble through the air. “W-What happened” she said, shaking her head in an attempt to clear the stars. “Morning angel, I just thought I’d catch you as you fell out of heaven” he said, in a playful manner. “What’s an angel? And Where’s Heaven?” she said still a bit dazed. He mentally face hoofed. Of course they don’t know what heaven is… New world, new culture… “Never mind. So how are you doing today beautiful?” “W-we… I-I… Um… Who… Huh?” she stammered while blushing furiously. Bingo… “Sorry, I saw you falling from the sky and I thought: Well, got nothing better to do today. Might as well save that pretty filly.” This was rewarded with more stammers and blushing. Oh man, this is too easy… Just then she apparently decided to notice how she was being carried. Prompting her to yell and fidget attempting to free herself from his grasp. Deciding to oblige her, he promptly dropped her on the ground. She scrambled to her hooves before getting into a defensive stance. “What did you do to me?!” she yelled, apparently very distressed by her supposed captor’s presence. “Nothing” he answered simply while sitting on his haunches. “Horse Apples! Then why were you filly-napping me?!” she yelled not backing off in the slightest. “I wasn't.” he said while inspecting a hoof as if he had just gotten a fresh hooficure. This only seemed to make her angrier. “Then who are you?! Tell me!” she said while pointing an accusatory hoof. “Listen gorgeous, it’s your choice whether you want to believe me or not. But I would like to point out that no filly-napper would bring their filly-nappee through a public place.” As she looked around she realized he was telling the truth. They were just outside the market district and while not in the center of everything, they were still visible to other ponies meaning he couldn't have been sneaking around. “Alright, I guess your clear.” just then she realized something Wait, gorgeous? At this, she blushed furiously. “Well, now that that’s settled I’ll be taking my leave… So long cutie!” He said, waving a hoof as he turned to walk a separate path. At this the mare stammered again, clearly embarrassed by the compliment. As he walked away from the flustered mare he turned his head to look at her as he was turning a corner. “Oh! Rainbow dash! Tell Gilda high for me!” he yelled, before turning the corner completely. Rainbow Dash immediately took to the skies to chase him. But even though he had just turned the corner, she couldn't find him, no matter how hard she tried. Author's Note I'd like to dedicate this chapter to all things smooth... 6. One hell of a gentlecolt... (unedited)Rarity She had had a grueling day of work. Three orders of dresses, a tux, and some special event outfits. It was all very tiring. She removed her rose colored glasses, revealing her ice blue eyes and eyeliner. She was a white, unicorn, mare with an elegantly styled curly purple mane and tale, and her cutie mark was three blue diamonds. She heaved a sigh of relief, glad that her day of work had come to an end. Just then she heard the bell from her front door, signifying that it had been opened. She grunted with annoyance before fixing herself to look proper and donning a large smile and heading out front. “Welcome to carousel boutique, where everything is chique, unique, and ma-” she cut herself off as she saw the near herculean stallion standing before her. His body was slender but not like a twig. He was muscular but not overly so. And everything about him, from the way he carried himself, to the way his main and tail were styled, practically screamed gentle-colt. “Magnifique!” “Excuse me?” said the stallion a look of confusion on his face “Oh! My apologies my name is-” “Rarity” he finished “the famous designer who has become well-known amongst those in the fashion industry. Yes, I know.” He took her hoof in his and bowed a bit giving it a gentle kiss. “Enchanté” She silently squeed with girlish enthusiasm. He knows my name! “So, what can I help you with Mister-” she stopped prompting him to give his name… He didn’t. “Oh, I was just passing bye when I saw your exquisite designs!” He said, lifting a piece of a dress to observe the detailed stitching. “This is expert craftsmanship! How much does this sell for?” “Oh it goes for about 80 bits for a standard dress. The most expensive one I've ever made was worth around 500 bits.” she said with a smile happy to see him take an interest in her work. She didn't see it but he had glanced over at a magazine cover from the ones she kept in the lobby for her waiting customers. On it was a fairly extravagant dress that was labeled: ~Dress of the year worth 5000 bits!~ From that, as well as from the prices of other products he had seen on the way there, he was able to figure out a rough estimate of how something’s worth was calculated here. “Nonsense!” He Exclaimed. ”these are worth at least 2000 maybe more!” She blushed furiously at his compliment “Yes well… That’s just the kind of mare I am.” He chuckled at that. “Yes, I suppose so. I expect no less from the element of generosity. If I ever have any fashion needs in the future I know who to call. So long then!” he said saluting before exiting through the door. “Au revoir!" she said waving a forehoof. As he left, she threw the same hoof over her forehead with a great, dramatic, sigh, before falling onto one of her sofas. I think I'm in love! As she lay there, fantasizing about this new mystery stallion, she realized what he had said. “How does he know about the elements?” Author's Note let out your inner Gentleman. 7. Yay! (unedited)David Four down, two to go! David thought to himself as he walked down the street. On his way to his next destination he found an injured squirrel. This ought to help me with my task. He thought as he reached down, carefully picking up the injured squirrel so as not to further damage the poor creature. It seemed to be unconscious at first, a theory quickly proven wrong when it sprang to life, biting down hard on his foreleg. He winced a bit but he knew he'd be fine. He came to a cottage on top of a small hill, right next to what he assumed was the Everfree forest. It appeared to be built into the side of the hill itself, much like a hobbit hole, but he knew better. He came up and knocked on the door, immediately followed by some crashing sounds from inside. He would have attempted not to scare the poor mare he was soon to meet, but knowing her, it was inevitable. So instead he opted to attempt to seem as nonthreatening as possible. The door opened to reveal, a butter yellow Pegasus, with a pink mane and tail, each one being very long with her tail even dragging on the floor. Like the pink one, she had sky blue eyes. Her cutie mark was three pink and blue butterflies, arranged in a similar pattern as The White one’s.As she came out, she leaned her head forward slightly so as to hide her face using her mane. “U-um h-hello?” She said, emitting enough adorableness to give a human a heart attack. “Can I help you?” “Yes, you see I found this little guy injured on the road, and It was my understanding that you were the best one for the job” he said, making his voice as soft as possible. This had the desired effect of calming her nerves. She seemed to loosen up a bit at his soft demeanor and his care for the small creature. Some might think he was just helping to get in close to her, but he did honestly care for the injured squirrel, he would have aided it whether it helped his objective or not. However, he wasn't foolish enough not to seize an opportunity when one was presented to him. “Oh! Please, bring him inside.” She said, backing up so as to let him pass with the injured creature. He stepped inside and looked around it looks just like it did in the show! He thought looking at the many bird houses and mouse holes, as well as many other homes that appeared to be for the sole purpose of housing small creatures. “Please set him hear.” She said, gesturing to a small cushion in a basket that had been placed off to the side. He did as he was told, carefully placing the squirrel in the basket. He took the chance to get a better look at the small rodent. It appeared to be a Pteromyini (flying squirrel), and from what he could see it had not received any major damage from whatever had injured him. “Oh dive bomb, this is the third time in the last two weeks. You're lucky this nice stallion was there to help you.” She said. He smiled lightly, enjoying the sight of the Pegasus in full “Mother” mode. He took the opportunity to relax into a more natural state. She may not trust him much since they just met, but he could tell he left enough of a good impression that if he stopped being so soft, she would still remain reasonably relaxed around him. “T-thank you for bringing him here” she said, stammering a bit now that she was more aware of his presence “He’s always crashing into trees, or landing on branches wrong.” “My pleasure!” he said still keeping his voice somewhat soft so as not to frighten her... ... Many people believe those with an eidetic memory, due to their usually advanced intelligence, will not make simple mistakes. This is not entirely true. Sure, if you ask them a question they have herd before and know the answer to they can answer almost immediately. Ask them a math question and as long as they know the proper function they can work it out in mere seconds. However, they must see, hear, smell, taste, feel, or think something beforehand (hoof?) in order to remember something. In other words they need something to remember in order to remember it. But if they don’t think of the mistake before it’s made, then they can’t remember to keep it from happening. For example, David remembered that he had been bitten by the squirrel. He did not, however, think of how the Pegasus might react if she saw said injury, and therefore, thought nothing of it when he raised his hoof up to make a “No Biggy” type gesture… … … … Shit… “Oh no! What happened to your hoof!” she said as she grabbed said hoof to examine the wound closer. “Oh, it’s nothing, he just got me when I was picking him up is all.” He said, sitting on his haunches and rubbing the back of his neck with the other hoof. I can't believe I made such a stupid mistake… “It’s not nothing! He shouldn't have bitten you! You were just trying to help!” she said, having obviously figured out that it was a squirrel bite do to her advanced knowledge of animals. “He felt threatened, I would have been surprised if he hadn't bitten me.” He said trying to defend the resting creature. “Yeah but…”she started, but was cut off. “I'm serious, it’s fine… Now can I please have my hoof back miss?” He said, gesturing to the hoof that she had brought to her chest in a subconscious attempt to cover and protect the wound. Likely a result of her motherly nature. She gave a small *eep!* as she threw her hooves in the air releasing his hoof and spinning around to hide her now furiously blushing face. “Well, since he’s safe, I’d better be going” he said getting up and making his way to the door. As he was leaving, he cocked his head back so she could hear the next part better. “See you soon Fluttershy.” With that he stepped outside and closed the door only to hear another, if slightly louder, *eep!* before going on his way. Author's Note I edited this while half asleep... then I had to do it again because I clicked the wrong button... 8. Stranger Danger! (unedited)Twilight Twilight had been pacing back and forth in the center of her living room for nearly two hours since the mysterious pony had left. Leaving spike to lean back and relax from his chores off to the side. “How did he know my name?” said Twilight, throwing one for hoof into the air in exasperation, while continuing her uneasy pace. “Maybe he herd of you. You are Celestia’s personal student.” Said spike, eating some gems that he had kept stashed for times like this. “Well, I suppose you’re right, but it feels like there’s more to this spike.” Said twilight, unable to get rid of the strange feeling that kept tingling up and down her spine. They then heard a knocking at their door. “I wonder who that could be?” said twilight, as she reached the door. The door opened to reveal rarity, standing as if she was emanating some godly light and was the most perfect being in the universe, which to spike, she was. “Oh, Twilight, you’ll never believe what just happened, I just met the. Most. Perfect. Stallion. EVER!” she said as she walked in, her words instantly snapping Spike out of the love sick daze he had been in moments before. “What!?” He yelled, only to cover his mouth a few seconds after. “Is there a problem Spike?” said rarity, a slight twinge to her voice of some kind, as well as a questioning look on her face. “N-no, not at all!” he said hurriedly, trying to recover from his outburst in an attempt to keep his feelings for his crush from being known. “Oh... Good! Then where shall I start?!” she said in excitement, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “Oh! I know, Twilight he was gorgeous! He looked so big, and strong, and his main and tail would only be fitting for a gentle colt!” By this time rarity and twilight had moved to the sofa, and spike had run off only to come back carrying some tea. As Twilight listened to the to the description, she got more and more worried that Rarity was talking about who she thought she was talking about. “Rarity, was this stallion grey, and did he have a dragon and yin-yang as his cutie mark?” Rarity was shocked that Twilight already knew of this stallion, she sat there stunned for a bit before gaining an expression of confusion. “Why, yes Twilight. How did you know?” With her fears confirmed, the tingling in Twilight's spine increased “He came here too… did...did he say anything... strange?” she said, stammering as her fear increased in Anticipation of her friends answer. “Well actually darling,” said Rarity, dawning a somewhat worried look “that was one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you about him… you see, he knew about the elements.” Immediately, the tingling sensation in Twilight’s spine spiked. “How?! The only record of our actions as the elements are in Canterlot, on the windows in the great hall! Only nobles are allowed through there, and even then, only a few actually take the time to go through and look!” Spike, having figured out who they were talking about, and slightly miffed due to Rarity’s attraction to him, decided to play devil’s advocate in an attempt to help his new friend. “He might have connections to Canterlot nobility.” “Well, I guess that’s true but-” Twilight started, but was cut off again as the door burst open to reveal a certain cyan Pegasus. “Twilight! We need to talk!” Said Rainbow Dash, hovering above her two friends with an angry expression on her face. “What is it rainbow dash?” Said Twilight, worried that she might have done something to make her friend upset. “A stallion.” Said Rainbow Dash, her scowl deepening with her words. Twilight sighed with relief before perking up at what her friend had said, the tingling sensation increased. “Stallion?” “Oh my Rainbow Dash, I never saw you as the type to have colt problems…” Rarity quipped, putting on a sly grin as she teased her tomboyish friend. “What?! No! I don’t-” as she was about to finish her statement, his face flashed through her mind, her heart beat increased and she blushed furiously as her voice got a bit quieter. “- like him that much…” The two friends below her were floored, Rainbow dash had never expressed interest in ANY stallion before, now they were really curious who this pony was. “A-anyway-” said Rainbow Dash stammering as she shook her head, attempting to clear the image of the stallion from her thoughts. “-this guy was suuuper sketchy, like, he was able to catch me from a high speed fall, stand on his hind legs like it’s nothing, and he knew about Gilda!” When rainbow dash finished twilight was pretty sure she knew who she was talking about “Grey, black and red mane and tale, dragon cutie mark?” “Well… Yeah, how’d you know?” Said the Pegasus, dawning a similar expression of confusion to the one rarity had had before. “He’s come in contact with both of us so far.” Said Twilight, a concern written all over her her face. “Oh... w-well what do we know so far?” said Rainbow dash, a bit embarrassed that she wasn’t the first one to bring him up. “Not much, however-” Twilight started, but was cut off yet again by a knock on the door “What now?” she then proceeded to walk over to the door and open it, revealing a butter yellow Pegasus trying to hide behind her long pink mane. “Oh! Fluttershy, what can I help you with?” The Pegasus peaked out from her main to see her lavender friend standing there and relaxed a little, “Oh, um, hello Twilight, I was wondering if, maybe, I could talk to you about something?” “Sure Fluttershy, whatever you need.” Twilight said ushering her friend in. Fluttershy started to head in but stopped when she saw her two other friends gathered. “O-oh, a-am I interrupting something?” “Oh! No Fluttershy, we were just talking about this strange new pony who came to town today.” Twilight said in a reassuring tone, exhaustion clear in her voice. Fluttershy perked up at the mention of a strange pony. “Oh! You too?” Twilight halted in her tracks as she whipped her head back around to look at Fluttershy. “What?!” “O-oh, well, There was a stallion who helped Dive bomb, one of my squirrels, after he had injured himself. At first he seemed pretty nice and, um, I guess, kind of handsome, but, just before he left, he told me ‘see you soon Fluttershy.’ And well, I hadn’t gotten to it yet but, I never told him my name.” said Fluttershy, now hiding behind her mane, embarrassed by all the attention she was getting from all her friends. especially at the "handsome" part. Twilight gave a deep sigh before speaking. “Yep that sounds like him, but what are the chances that we would all-” she was again interrupted by a knock on the door. “By Celestia’s majestically. flowing. MANE!" finishing her outburst, she walked back over to the door and opened it to find a bouncy, bubbly, pink, pony with a huge grin outside. “Oh! Hey twilight! You’ll never guess-” she started only for twilight to return the interrupting favor. “-that you met a new stallion whose grey, has a red and black mane and tale, is tall and attractive, has a dragon cutie mark, and who seems a bit odd and mysterious...” she finished with a deadpan look. Pinky pie stood there slack jawed for a few seconds before squinting at twilight and saying “ooh, you’re good.” After that, twilight moved aside for Pinky to bounce her way in before every one settled on to one of the seats in the living room. “Alright Pinky pie, tell us what happened.” Twilight said, with a serious yet tired expression. Ready to learn something knew but eager to get this over with. “Okie-Dokie-Lokie! So, I was walking around greeting every one this morning when my Pinky senses told me there was a new pony in town. So, I immediately took off in search of the new pony so I could give him a big ‘Welcome to pony-vill!’ hoof shake. When I found him, I tried to come up behind him all sneaky like, but when I went to surprise him he spun around and caught me, like he knew I was there! And then we twirled arooound, and we pretended to be in looove, and he pretended to diiie, and I pretended I was saaad, and then we booowed, and then we ran away laughing, it was SO MUCH FUN! And then, as if he read my mind! he said I had to wait if I wanted to throw him a party, and I said ok, and then he went one way, and I went another! Oh and before he left, the craziest thing happened! He waved and said good bye! but when he said it, he knew my name! And that’s what happened.” Pinky finished her story with a large smile. While everyone else had a confused and/or skeptical face. Rainbow dash was the first to speak up. “Wait, so that was you two! I had seen some sort of crowed braking up in the town square, when I went down to check it out, I heard some sort of amazing performance happened, but I didn’t know who had done it? If this guy can draw a crowd as big as the one I saw then he has some serious skill!” Rarity spoke next. “Indeed! One of my regulars who sometimes come in to gossip, said that it was absolutely fabulous! I must say Pinky, I had no idea you were so good at acting.” “Of course! I’ve had several parties for foals where I had to be a clown. In order to be a clown, you have to know how to act!” Pinky responded, ending with a serious face and dramatic pose. Rarity and Fluttershy clopped their hooves a bit before spike had decided to point out a detail that he found quite annoying for some reason. "wait, are we just going tocompletely bypass that every one of you has called this guy attractive in some way since arriving here?" Every one developed a deep blush and averted their gaze before twilight spoke up. “Alright girls! Back on topic! Pinky pie, you said he knew your name?” Spike noticed her blatant attempt to change the subject, but gave up in favor of the new subject at hand. At this point, Spike was a bit skeptical of his new friend but he was still trying to reason this out with the hope that he could clear his new friend's name. “So? Didn’t Pinky pie travel around entertaining ponies before coming here? What if he’s another guy who saw one of her shows, like cheese sandwich?” Pinky pie developed a bit of a concerned expression before replying. “No Spiky, I mean he knew my full name, Pinkamina Diane Pie. Only you guys and my family know about that.” Spike opened his mouth to reply but shut it once he realized there was no way to explain it without it being an extreme coincidence. He didn’t want to believe it, but the only male friend he had made, besides Big Mac, was starting to look a little to suspicious. He only hoped there was some form of logical explanation for this that would be more convincing than the argument he had provided so far. Once the conversation had become decidedly over, Twilight suggested everyone should retell their encounter with the stallion so that things can be put in order and every one caught up to speed. After that was done they decided to go through the details. “Alright girls,” said twilight, “this is what we’ve got, he met Pinky pie and put on a show so he isn’t trying to hide himself. He then met up with me and asked for books on psychology and physics, so he is likely very intelligent. After that, He saved rainbow dash-” she was then, cut off by said Pegasus. “Hey! He didn’t save me! I was perfectly fine on my own!” she said, clearly distraught with the idea of any one saving her when she could have easily pulled herself out of that fall… right? “Alright Rainbow dash, whatever you say.” Said twilight rolling her eyes a bit and giving an amused smile, Rarity and Pinky pie joining twilight’s teasing with looks of their own. Rainbow dash just crossed her fore hooves with a huff before looking away, likely an attempt to hide her blush… it failed. “Any way,” Continued twilight, “he conveniently caught Rainbow dash before demonstrating above average balance, and hoof-eye coordination. He was able to carry you with ease on his hind legs, so he is likely very strong as well. Also, he knew you had some sort of relation to Gilda, so he likely has some info on our personal lives, this may include family members, friends, and employment.” Rarity perked up at that last bit, and decided to add her two bits. “Oh, definitely. He not only knew about my reputation in the fashion industry, he was also able to accurately gauge the worth of my work at a glance. He clearly has knowledge not only about our work but also enough of an understanding of our chosen careers that he would be able to easily tell if one of us were lying in relation to our chosen source of income, and maybe even be able to obtain information on us based on what we do and how we do it.” she said, a shiver running down every ones spine at the prospect, twilight being reminded of the tingling sensation down hers’ that hadn’t gone away yet. “Right, we need to be careful to keep our families out of danger. However, we can take care of that after this meeting. So next was Rarity’s shop where he revealed that he had knowledge of the elements. Then to Fluttershy’s to drop off an injured squirrel. That’s the last he was seen” “I bet that plot hole hurt that squirrel on purpose just to get close to Fluttershy!” said rainbow dash. Every one turning a bit green at the thought of someone purposefully harming one of Fluttershy’s cute little critters. “Oh, um, actually Rainbow dash, I examined Dive bomb’s injuries after he left and I didn’t see any differences between this one, and the ones he’s gotten in the past. So, in all likely hood, he just injured himself doing the same thing he usually does.” Fluttershy said, trying to stay out of sight behind her mane. Every one gave a sigh of relief. “Well at least he’s not some sadistic ruffian who beets up on poor, defenseless, animals.” Said Rarity putting everyone’s thought’s into words. After this everyone shared a moment of silence thinking about something they could have missed. After a few minutes of this, Pinky pie finally spoke up. “Hey, if he knows where we all live, then was him meeting all of us really a coincidence?” Every one froze at this, all eyes going wide with realization. “Oh my gosh Pinky, your right! If he knew where we lived and wasn’t trying to avoid us, then that means he was purposely seeking us out!” said twilight, the tingling sensation returning with a vengeance. “That’s right! Plus, if we follow the details of each of our stories, he was always headed straight for the next house, he just so happened to meet Pinky pie and rainbow dash on his way!” said Rarity, further increasing the rising sense of panic in the room. “A-actually, b-b-based on how well h-he knows e-each of us, h-he p-p-p-probably k-knew he would run into Pinky and r-rainbow dash along the w-way.” Said Fluttershy, shaking uncontrollably with fear. At this point, the amount of collective force the hearts of everyone in the room was producing, would have been enough to crush a small home... and its shed. A force that was nearly doubled with Pinky's next question. “H-hey, um g-g-girls, w-where’s a-apple j-j-jack?” Everyone in the room stopped... They stopped breathing, thinking, living, everything, it all just... stopped. Only for everyone to spring into action as they all rushed for the door, as soon as everyone was out, twilight took the lead turning her head so her friends could hear her. “Rainbow dash I need you to fly ahead, you’re the fastest one here and can go there and back by the time were half way there. But don’t leave until I’m done speaking to everyone.” “There and back?! No way! I can take this guy myself!” said rainbow dash, flying up beside Twilight before pounding one hoof into the other, ready to beat the feathers off of whoever would dare hurt one of her friends. “No rainbow dash! You said it yourself, He is in excellent physical condition, especially for a unicorn! He has likely had some form of combat training, and we also don’t know how powerful his magic is! It would be best if you go see what’s happening then come back and report so we can be ready for what might be in store!” she said, trying to yell over the wind as it whipped by. Rainbow dash grunted out a “Fine” before settling back into the position above the group she had been flying in before. At her confirmation, Twilight continued with her plan. “Alright, he will likely have already made contact with Applejack by the time we get there! Should that be the case, when we arrive, I’m going to be teleporting us in, I will know where to teleport when rainbow dash reports back! When that’s done, I will be laying a barrier around apple jack! When that happens, Pinky pie I need you to distract him! You too rainbow dash!” both gave a nod of confirmation before she continued. “Rarity, while he’s distracted, I’m going to fill Applejack in as best I can! This is of course under the assumption that Applejack hasn’t been incapacitated! While that’s happening, I need you to start hitting him with spells! Anything will work so long as it’s strong enough to ware down his defenses!” rarity gave a nod of confirmation as well before twilight turned back, this time directing her attention to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I want you to remain a good distance from the fight and if at all possible get in front of him and use the stare! If we can do that we should be able to stop him in his tracks, and be able to capture him! Got it?!” Fluttershy, with the most adorable determined face any one has ever seen, gave her own nod before Twilight turned her attention back to the front. “If Applejack is safe, I’ll have her join the fight with her lasso and her physical strength! However, should she be incapacitated, we will have to continue on without her! I will try to use stun spells and offensive magic, but I have far more of the former versus the latter! And if Applejack should be in a… well… more severe state, I will have to teleport me and her out in order to get her to the hospital!” everyone went quiet for a bit, hoping that that last possibility didn’t come to pass. It stayed like this for a bit before twilight broke the silence one last time. “Everypony ready!?” with every one giving a loud “Yes!” she shouted the words “Move out!” before everyone prepared to do their job. She hadn't realized it, but In her hurry, Twilight had missed two very small but important details, the first was the tingling sensation down her spine decreasing the further away she got from the library. The second was an errant leaf sitting on one of her bookshelves steadily losing it's black and red glow... Author's Note Hey there every one! I was Finally able to get the chapter done! Also, I now have an editor! I didn't want to make you guys wait so I posted this unedited, but once it has been edited, I will switch them out. 9. Look deep into my eyes... (unedited)David David stood there at the entrance to the large farm, a sign above his head held the symbol of a golden apple as it swayed in a slight breeze. He dropped the leaf he had been holding next to his ear before proceeding down the path. It seems I have company incoming. he thought. Oh well, I should get done with time to spare. As he approached the farm house, he noticed a thumping sound coming from deeper in the orchard. After a quick turn of the head he discovered the culprit to be a rather large, red, stallion bucking away at a large apple tree. Oh, Bic Mac! He examined the stallion for a second before a large smile graced his face. Yes, I’m bigger! Now I just need to see whether I’m larger than HIM. While He was distracted by his monologue, Big Mac had turned to see David giving a small hoof pump of victory before making his way over. When David saw this he straightened up and prepared to meet the stallion. “Hello sir,” He said waving a hoof, “Might you be the one in charge of this fine establishment?” Big Mac simply gave a slight shake of his head and an “Ehnope” in response, slightly put off by the sight of a stallion larger than himself. “Ah, I see, then where might that pony be?” David said, His friendly expression never changing. The large stallion simply nodded in the direction of a barn located slightly behind the main farm house. “Thank you kind sir” Said David, giving a small bow. “I shall be on my way.” With that, David turned and made his way to the barn. Leaving the quiet stallion to his work and few errant thoughts, one of them being: He seems nice. The Barn As David entered the barn he caught sight of a rather muscular, orange, mare. She was staking crates of what appeared to be apples while remaining completely oblivious to his presence. Not wanting to starrtle the poor mare, he brought his hoof to his muzzle while clearing his throat. “Hey Mac, can you come here for a sec? I could use some help with-” The mare started in her thick southern accent, thinking the one behind her to be her brother before turning to see the one actually waiting there in the door way. She was surprised by the large stallion at first, as well as slightly enamored by his physique, until he bowed to her and broke the silence “Hello miss, I have heard that the best apples in Equestria reside right here at sweat apple acres. I promised myself that, should I ever get the chance, I would try some for myself. Seeing as how I’m here now, it seems I will not have to break that promise.” She was surprised by his politeness, and figured him to be one of those posh types her friend Rarity might like. She was, however, excited at his interest in her family’s apples. “Never had our apples?! Well shoot, that just t’aint right.” She said as the stallion approached. She turned to the crates to grab an apple for the stallion to try, but immediately stopped when she saw one of the above crates begin to tip. She flinched knowing she couldn’t get out in time, and just sat there with her eyes closed prepared for the worst. Strangely though, it never came. She opened her eyes and looked up surprised to find this new stallion holding them in place with little to no effort at all. She was astonished at his strength, not expecting such a feet to be possible from anything less than a body builder, and especially not from a unicorn. She sat there staring in awe before her cheeks gained a tinge of red when she realized she had a really good view of his chest, stomach, and legs. She watched as the muscles rippled ever so slightly under his coat flexing with the slight strain the crate was providing. It was only when he looked down at her that she noticed she was staring and averted her gaze. Though, she did notice the slight trickle of something down her back leg however… “Are you alright milady?” He said, pushing the crate back into place “Uh… Er… Yeah, thanks stranger.” She said, holding out a hoof which he graciously took before giving a simple “Don’t mention it.” She was still a bit awestruck by the large stallion so she wasn’t focused enough to give him her usual hoof shake, but after a bit more staring and her again averting her gaze, she then perked up when she remembered what she was doing as well as the fact that she hadn’t given him her name. “Oh! Uh… By the way… The names Apple Jack!” she said, a large smile gracing her features as she sat on her haunches and scratched the back of her head with her remaining hoof. He smiled as well and nodded before replying. “Well it’s very nice to meet you miss Apple Jack! Now, back to the topic at hand…” They broke the shake as he finished his statement, Apple Jack once again turning around to grab an apple, this time being careful not to disturb the higher crates. When she had her prize, she turned back to the stallion hoofing him a large red apple. “Here you go partner, one apple straight from sweet apple acres. Consider it thanks for saving me back there.” He took the apple and nodded with a “thanks” before taking the apple into his hoof and bringing it to his muzzle for the first bite. As his teeth sank in and the apple juices met his tongue, his eyes widened (well not really, but you get the idea) in wonder at the magnificent flavor produced by this apple, a flavor he would never be able to find back on earth. “Apple Jack, these apples are amazing!” he said, before taking another bite. “Awe shucks, they aint that special.” She replied, her blush returning with a vengeance as she began to scratch her head again in embarrassment. “No, Apple Jack, you don’t understand-” He said, grabbing her forelegs and bringing her face to his, there muzzles mere centimeters apart “-your apples are-” he got a bit closer and opened his eyes looking deep into hers. “Amazing.” … … … He had expected many things to happen at this point. He expected her to do the same as Rainbow Dash and get flustered. He expected her to push him away and try to shrug it off. Hell, he even thought there was a chance that she might try to lean in for a kiss, one that he would turn away from and play off as if it didn’t happen. He did not, however, expect her to fall to the ground in a rather uncharacteristic blood curdling scream. After she fell, she backed away as fast as she could in her prone position, never looking away from him, even after she hit the wall. She stared on in some unseen horror, confusing David to no end. After he went over what happened again in his head he realized what had caused her such duress. My eyes… He brought his eyes back to their almost closed state, to which Apple Jack immediately responded by averting her gaze and curling into a fetal position. David was about to try and salvage the situation when he was interrupted by a flash of magic. When his vision cleared, he saw twilight standing there with a barrier around apple jack and herself. He knew that it was time for him to pull out (don’t make it dirty you sickos) but was distracted when he got hit over the head by a flying Pegasus. He looked around and took note of all of their positions before figuring out what was going on. “Oh-my Ms. Sparkle, very well done, I must say I’m quite impressed with this plan you’ve come up with.” Rainbow Dash began to do fly by attacks that did little more than give him small bruises at most, “Knowing that I am a unicorn and can’t fly, you have used rainbow dash to out maneuver me and limit my movements.” He easily dodged the remainder of her attacks before he noticed her gaining some distance, he looked behind him with just enough time to side step the concentrated blast of confetti from the pink pony’s party canon. “Then, because it is impossible to fully understand Pinky’s ability to seemingly ignore the laws of physics, you are using her to support rainbow dash in drawing my attention by both confusing me and giving me a target that’s near impossible to hit.” At this point he was dodging some rubber throwing chickens as well as the occasional frying pan “Rarity will try to cause as much damage as she can while the other two make sure I can’t hit her.” He then began dodging the occasional magic bolt that was fired in his direction all the while dodging everything else coming his way. All of the ponies present were flabbergasted that he was not only dodging everything but doing it easily, he looked more like he was dancing then fighting “You will make sure Apple Jack is ok before taking action yourself, and Fluttershy-” He stopped as he saw Fluttershy, her eyes were focused solely on him and he felt her power begin to take hold. At first he was going to let himself lose, but he noticed that as his feelings began to be overwhelmed with guilt as he felt immense disappointment radiate off of Fluttershy, something began to push back. He felt his eyes try to force themselves open, all the while, he did his best to keep that from happening, for should she see his eyes, she would likely be scarred for life. At this point every pony had stopped, confident they had won, only to become extremely worried when a red and black mist began to rise off of his body as a very solemn expression took over his features, something Fluttershy had yet to notice. “Fluttershy, stop.” He said, all the playfulness in his voice gone, becoming very dark and frightening. “No, you hurt my friend!” She said, yelling as best she could with her meek voice, her stare intensifying, prompting him to try harder to keep his eyes closed. “Fluttershy, please, you need to stop now! Besides, I didn’t hurt Apple Jack, she’s just incapacitated.” He said, talking a bit faster as he became more frantic to free himself. “That’s still inexcusable! Whatever you did clearly had a negative effect on her, now what do you have to say for yourself!” She said, not letting up in the slightest. At this point he was desperate, so he did the only thing he could do. In one swift movement, he brought up his right foreleg and “punched” the inside of the other effectively dislocating it, causing him to drop onto his face, giving a loud grunt of pain. This broke Fluttershy’s concentration causing her to flinch at the scene before her only to look on in surprise, along with every pony else, as he stood back up and reset the joint back into its socket. They all sat there staring at the hunched over stallion before he suddenly turned to twilight anger clear on his face. “Twilight Sparkle! What in Celestia’s name do you think you’re doing!?” He said, every pony still too scared or confused to move. “W-what do you-” she started, but was cut off as he again began to unleash his vocal rage. “Do you have any idea what you could have done, what could have happened because of you!?” As he spoke, he began to get closer to her and her downed friend. When she noted this she immediately strengthened her barrier to maximum power. He responded by blasting it with a shot of magic destroying it instantly while he continued walking, not even putting a stutter in his step. “You know full well that ‘The Stare’ Is NEVER supposed to be used on another sentient creature! And yet you had her do it anyway!” At this point, he had her on retreat trying her best to distance herself from him without looking away from him. “B-but it was our only chance, a-and I didn’t think it would affect you that-” She hit the barn wall and stopped, he closed the distance easily forcing to look up at the most terrifying face she had seen since Celestia when she was angry. “If that had been used on a lesser pony, they could have quite possibly lost their mind and been reduced to rocking back and forth in the corner of a padded cell saying ‘I’m sorry’ over and over again for the rest of their life. And even thought that didn’t happen to me, if I hadn’t done what I did, Fluttershy, your friend, would be in just as bad of a position, if not worse, than Apple Jack.” He stayed there looking down on the cowering pony for just a few more seconds before turning away and heading back to the center of the group he saw that they were all in rather bad shape after exerting themselves so much, even Pinky pie was sagging a bit. He gave a deep sigh before looking around to the gathered ponies. “Well, I can’t say this is my ideal way to leave you all, but I guess it can’t be helped.” It was just then that Twilight realized what he was saying and began to sprint towards him. With one last “Ta-ta!” A black and red pool of darkness seemed to erupt out of the floor, and just before twilight could reach him, he stepped in and disappeared. Author's Note Hope you all enjoy! 10. Aliens... (unedited)Twilight Twilight and the others reached the library 30 minutes after leaving the orchard, twilight went inside, her friends slowly following after, as she called out for spike. He came rushing down the stairs, excitement clear on his face, before stopping a worried expression taking over his features at the sight of the down trodden faces of every pony present. Unsure what to do, he decided his best option was to go assist his snow white princess any way she needed. Twilight turned to Apple Jack, said mare being the last to enter. “Are you sure you’re alright Apple Jack?” She said, clearly concerned for her friend. “I told y’all I’m fine twilight, I just… *sigh* I don’t want to talk about it right now.” The orange mare said, her body almost sagging at the exhaustion from the previous events. Twilight wasn’t convinced, after all, it wasn’t very often she saw Apple Jack this tired. But she knew how stubborn her friend could be and decided to leave her alone for now. Looking around, she saw that every other pony (and dragon) in the room had found a spot and settled down, she was racking her brain trying to come up with what to say before Spike, who was currently brushing Rarity’s mane, per her request, spoke up. “So… what happened? Judging by your looks I’m guessing it didn’t go too well.” He said, his concern giving way to curiosity when he saw no one had been seriously injured. “Didn’t go to well?! He kicked our flanks!” Said Rainbow Dash. Clearly upset by their apparent defeat. “I hate to say it, but Rainbow Dash is right. We couldn’t land a single hit on him, and it’s evident that he is quite strong, after all, he blew through your barrier like it was nothing.” Said Rarity, gesturing to Twilight with a hoof. “Not just the barrier, remember how he got out of the stair?” said Pinky Pie, her hair having darkened and lost much of its volume. “Indeed!” Said Rarity, “What sort of barbarian dislocates his own leg just to escape?!” “It m-must have r-really h-hurt.” Said Fluttershy, slightly shaken from the disturbing memory. “Well, there’s no point sulking,” Said Twilight, determination clear on her face. “Right now we need to learn from our failures and move on. Spike, take a letter!” As Spike pulled out his scroll and quill, he suddenly belched out a letter which twilight quickly caught in her magic before unrolling it and reading aloud. “Dear Twilight Sparkle, I have something urgent to talk to you and the other elements about. Pleas Board the next train to Canterlot as soon as possible, the guards will be expecting you… Oh my gosh, this is perfect! We can go to Canterlot and tell the Princess directly about this strange stallion! I’m sure she’ll know what to do! Come on girls!” With a nod from those in the room they all stood and ran to the train station. Canterlot Palace Celestia put the letter down and immediately informed her guards to prepare to receive the elements. She didn’t know what they wanted to talk about, but it sounded urgent. She had been confused by the lack of a signature, but she knew how distracted her student could get. As she waited, she also sent for her sister who arrived a few minutes later. Luna had been taking her turn for lunch, the result of a special schedule they had set up upon Luna’s return, making it so that they would each go to breakfast, then court, where they would listen to the concerns and petitions of their citizens for a few hours, then, when the time came, Celestia would take her lunch turn, followed by Luna on Celestia’s return, after she returned they would each continue until it was time to close court for the day, have dinner, and go to bed. This made it possible to have at least one princess in court at all times. The court was open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Exceptions were, of course, made for emergencies. “What is it sister? Is something wrong?” Asked Luna, confused by her sudden summoning. She even still had some crumbs on her muzzle. “I apologize for cutting your meal short, but it seems the elements have something important to speak to us about. They’ll be arriving shortly.” Celestia replied, suppressing a giggle at Luna’s messy face. The two sat and waited for a few minutes, during witch Luna cleaned the crumbs of her face, before a guard walked in to inform them of the elements arrival, the princess bid him let them in before being greeted by the site of her loving student. “Princess Celestia! It’s so good to see you.” Said Twilight, rushing to embrace her teacher, who had already stood in anticipation of this. “It is good to see you too Twilight.” Said Celestia gladly accepting the small hug. “So,” Said Twilight, a curious expression on her face. “What did you need to talk to us about?” This time, it was Celestia’s turn to be confused. “What do you mean? It was my understanding that you needed to talk to us.” At Celestia’s words Twilight’s confusion grew, along with a new feeling of dread. “B-but your letter.” “Twilight, I never sent a letter. It was I who received one from you.” Celestia levitated the letter and brought it before her. “What?!” Said Twilight, she immediately took the letter in her magic and began to read aloud. “Dear Princess Celestia, I humbly request an audience at your earliest convenience, the elements and I have very urgent business to discuss with you. We will be aboard the next train to Canterlot and should arrive within the hour… Princess I didn’t wright this!” The princess put a hoof to her chin in thought. “But… if you didn’t wright this… and neither I nor Luna wrote to you… then…” Suddenly, the castle began to shake before the shaking faded just as quickly as it had come. “Wowy-zowy, what was that?” Said Pinky Pie, picking herself off the floor after her brief fit of vibration caused by the shaking. After every pony was done looking to each other in confusion, all eyes turned to Celestia who had a look of fear plastered across her face. “No… no, how can this be?!” “W-what is it princess?” Twilight had never seen her teacher this frightened before. Celestia’s managed to calm herself before sitting down and massaging her temple. “After Luna’s banishment, many ponies thought me weak enough to be defeated without my sister’s assistance. I found myself defending myself from would-be assassins on a near daily basis. After the 42nd attempt on my life, I grew tired of the small fights so I put up a barrier I believed no pony could possibly could get through, it consisted of 20 layers all compressed together to make one solid and near impenetrable barrier.” “I don’t think I like the sound of ‘believed’ and ‘near’.” Said Rainbow Dash. “Correct Ms. Dash, there have been a few who have found a way to slip through the barrier, but they have never gotten very far. Whoever just passed through however, has just destroyed it with a single attack and walked through the front door.” Sweat was visible upon Celestia’s face, the only being she knew of (who was still alive) strong enough to outright break the barrier was discord and he didn’t need to when he could easily slip through unnoticed with his chaos magic. Which he had done several times since his reformation to pull pranks. Every pony’s eyes went wide at this new information, surprised that anyone had enough power to go through one of Celestia’s barriers. Once they all got over the shock, they all got into a battle stance ready to face whoever came through the front door. David As I came in the door I noticed that the princesses and elements were all staring at the front door looking ready to kill the next thing to come through. ‘Seriously? What idiot walks in the front door? Sure I walked through the main gate but that’s only because I knew I would be fine until the throne room.’ As He sat there observing the situation a brilliant idea came to mind. ‘This will be difficult. I’m going to have to channel all of my inner pinkie for this…’ Throne Room Pinky pie had been at the back of the group when they had gotten into position, so it was there she had decided to stay. She was more than ready for whatever big, bad, bully of a beast may come through those two giant doors. Her and her party cannon that is. *crunch munch crunch munch*“So, what are we waiting for?” said a hushed voice beside her. “We’re waiting for you to come through the big doors, duh.” she replied, not even sparing a glance at this new pony. “Ah, I see.” *sluuuuuurp* “You think I’ll come through any time soon?” “How should I know, you’re the one coming through the door.” “Ah yes, quite right.” *nom nom nom* “Cupcake?” Pinky’s eyes widened with excitement “Oh my gosh, YES!” As she turned to receive said cupcake, she screamed, smacking the hoof that had been holding the small confection in the process. Rainbow dash, having enough of the antics of the two ponies at the back of the group, turned to berate the goof balls. “Would you two stop messing around?! We are supposed to be ready for-” Confused by the commotion, and their friend’s abrupt stop, every pony present turned to see what was going on only to have their faces shift to match the shocked expression of their rainbow mained friend… absolute shock. What they saw before them was pinky siting on her rump eyes wide as she stared at none other than the very stallion who had been causing them so much grief, sitting on a lawn chair eating a bag of popcorn and sipping a soda, a cupcake splattered on the ground being the only thing separating the two. He had taken a second to stop and rub his hoof due to the pain of pinky slapping it in shock. “Ms. Pie, that was quite rude…” he said before finally looking away from the pink mare to the rest of the assembled ponies. “… Guten Tag!” This seemed to brake the ponies from their shock all of the elements immediately taking action, getting into position and ready to fight. The stallion never flinched, and his smile never wavered. Before anything could happen the princesses came up behind the ponies Celestia walking up beside her pupal and resting a hoof on her withers. Once the tension had been defused, she looked to the new addition before speaking to her student, never taking her eyes off the new face. ”Twilight, who is he?” “He showed up today out of nowhere, he knows pinkie’s full name, he knew mine and Fluttershy’s names without us telling him, he knows about rainbows friendship with Gilda, and he knows about the elements. Not only that, he attacked Applejack!” When her student was finished, she cleared her throat and, in an even, neutral tone, began to speak. “Tell me sir, is what she said true?” “For the most part.” “And should I assume you are also the one who sent the letters?” “Mm-hm.” “And I assume you are the intruder who has broken into my castle and destroyed my barrier.” “The one and only.” “So… tell us sir, who do we have the honor of receiving in our home?” “I’m afraid the who will have to wait a bit. But I believe you’ll find the what far more interesting.” “Oh?” “Indeed, after all it’s not every day you meet an alien.” Author's Note sorry this took so long guys, but hopefully I wont hit a lull like that again during the coarse of the story. I had some shit going on, along with the broken computer and stuff. time to start work on the next chapter! 11. The Gang's All Here (unedited)Canterlot Palace “Hahuhahahahehehehe”*gasp*”HAHAhahahaha…” Rainbow dash had been going on like this for a full minute, every pony else was either looking at her or still looking at the stallion with looks of shock on their faces. It wasn’t until the end of a third minute that the laughing Pegasus finally ended her cackling. “Hehehe-aaahhh… that’s rich, you honestly expect us to believe your some visitor from outer space? That has got to be the FUNIEST thing I have ever heard.” The stallion gave a small chuckle in response before speaking up. “Of course not Dashy. When I say ‘alien’ that doesn’t necessarily mean extraterrestrial.” This only seemed to confuse her. “Extraterr-what now?” He gestured to Twilight turning Dash and a few other’s attention to her. Understanding what this meant she gained an annoyed expression before explaining. “If something is extraterrestrial, it means it’s from outer space.” “So he’s saying he’s not from space?” inquired the cyan mare. “Indeed Ms. Dash, the term ‘alien’ simply refers to something that is in an environment it is not accustomed to. I could just be a pony from outside Equestria for all you know.” It was at this point Luna decided to speak up. “But you’re not, are you.” She said, more of a statement than a question. “What do you mean Luna?” Celestia said, looking to her sister. “His aura, it is strange, not right.” Said Luna, her discerning gaze never leaving him. Rainbow dash sighed from her spot above the group before throwing up her hooves in exasperation. “Why can’t anyone speak equish around here?!” Luna sighed before looking to the rest of his group. “As the princess of the night it is our-my duty to protect the dreams of all of our little ponies. This gives us-me a deeper connection the spirit of others since… I have to connect to their spirits in order to see their dreams. Over the years I have developed the ability to see the aura produced by those around me. Each one a different color or shape, but all-in-all they always had the same general feel to them. Even Sambra when we faced him was normal, more potent sure, corrupted by dark magic definitely, but still it had that same feeling. Him though… He is different.” At this point she turned back to the mysterious stallion, her face making it very clear that she did not believe this was “a good kind of different.” The stallion chuckled again before addressing his audience with a fake pout. “Oh princess! You wound me! Or at least you would have, if you were wrong.” Twilight blanched at his words. “So you are from space?!” He chuckled again (that was really starting to annoy her) before speaking. “Oh no, I can assure you I have not come from the stars. But to say I’m otherworldly would not be incorrect.” Celestia sighed. “He’s almost as bad as Starswirl…” she mumbled, shaking her head. “Why thank you.” He said teasingly. “Enough games, explain yourself!” said Luna, finally losing her temper. He smiled. “Oh come now, it can’t be that difficult to figure out. Try thinking about it using the plains of existence as a reference point, these being time and space. I came from another world so me traveling here through space makes sense. However, I have already said this is incorrect. So what about time? Sure, I would be out of place and an alien in a time that was not my own, but if I was from another time, I would still be of this world. So neither one works by themselves, and even together it doesn’t make sense because, again, even if I’m from another point in time and space, that still means I would have to be from somewhere in this universe, and since I’m not from anywhere else in the universe, and I’m not from here…” He trailed off, gesturing to twilight in hopes she might be able to finish the explanation. The purple mare took on a contemplative expression before speaking. “Well… that would mean that you’d have to be from another universe, but the universe makes up everything in this reality, so in order to be from another universe, you’d also have to be from… another… reality-” Her eyes widened when she realized what he was saying. Pinky Pie decided to speak up at this point, a broad smile on her face. “Oh, I get it! You’re from a different dimension that’s similar to the one Twilight went to except it’s not parallel to ours anditsfilledwithwarandcrimeandotherbadstuffandyouhavethisthingthatletsyouseewhatwevebeenuptoandwehaveareallybigfanbase-” she was cut off by a hoof placed in her mouth by twilight. “Pinky, I don’t know half of what you said, but I KNOW there is no possible way that any of that could be anywhere near-” Only for her to be cut off as well. “Correct.” He stated matter of factly. Twilight whipped her head around, a baffled expression on her face. “Wha?” “It’s just as I said, pinky pie is absolutely, 100%, without a doubt… correct” Her eye twitched again as she turned to pinky who looked really happy at her apparent victory. “YAY... what did I get correct?” Everyone present, baring the stallion, Pinky Pie, and Princess Celestia, face hoofed. Twilight managed to get over her exasperation rather quickly but could still feel her developing head ache quite well “So you’re from the same mirror dimension as Sunset Shimmer?” “You really must learn to listen to your friends better Twilight, pinky already answered that question.” He said giving twilight a look of faux disappointment. She went to reply before suddenly she was interrupted by some wicked laughter, everyone was confused for a second before the stallion spoke up “Ah, Discord, you’re late.” Everyone looked to the stallion, once again shocked by the knowledge he seemed to possess. Discord took this moment to materialize himself next to the group still chuckling slightly. “Hehe… oh man, he’s got you girls wrapped around his hooves.” Celestia stepped toward Discord a look of confusion on her face. “Discord? What are you doing here, I thought we agreed that it would be best if you don’t show yourself in front of the public?” “I invited him.” The stallion replied for him. “What do you mean you invited him?! Most ponies don’t know discord is free, and besides that, we have yet to develop a way to contact discord in the first place!” said twilight. She swore this pony was going to give her an aneurism. “I mean what I said Twilight, cause a little mayhem and it’s a simple matter to summon the being of chaos.” “THAT- is a really good point…” said twilight, slightly blushing in embarrassment for not having thought of that herself. “But that doesn’t explain how you knew about him!” “In due time Twilight, although again, pinky already answered that.” He said turning to the front door expectantly. She growled again before noticing where he was looking. “What is he up to now?” she said mostly to herself. She jumped when she herd discord, who was lounging lazily in the air behind her, reply to her comment. “Well, if I had to guess, I’d say he’s waiting for the last guests to arrive.” Every pony having heard this looked to discord in confusion before turning to the door. After a minute or two of waiting, what sounded like frantic hoof steps galloping down the hall could be heard from the door. It got louder and louder before eventually the door burst open revealing two very unexpected ponies. “Cadence? Shining armor?! What are you two doing here? I thought you were in the Chrystal empire.” said twilight unsure whether she was more exited or confused. Shining armor stepped forward before replying. “We got a message stating that the princesses had urgent information for us in Canterlot, we used that 'magic circle' thing, they included to teleport halfway, then, after getting most of the way here, we teleported to the castle entrance before running here as fast as possible. So, what did you need to talk to us about princesses?” Before anyone could reply the stallion cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “I’d like to point out that never in my letter did I say it was from the princesses.” This caused everyone to look to him in shock, except discord who was just floating there chuckling. “Well, now that everyone’s here, I believe it’s about time I introduce myself.” This made everyone present, baring cadence and shining who were moving to sit next to the rest of the group, look to him expectantly wondering if he really was finally going to reveal his true identity. Somehow he had materialized an old, wooden, podium out of nowhere which he sat behind, resting his fore hooves on it before clearing his throat and taking on a very solemn expression. “Hello… my name… is David Alexanders… and I’m an Alien.” No one knew how, and apparently no one cared, but somehow some old metal folding chares had materialized out of nowhere as well, and each of those assembled had been placed in one in a semicircle around the podium. Everyone present looked up to him and gave a murmur of “Hi David.” Before this ridiculousness could go on. Twilight stood up, knocking over her chair in the proses, and yelled “that’s it!” before firing a spell at the podium, blasting it to splinters, When the dust settled, so to speak, David was standing there with a face that could freeze fire, a fact everyone but twilight seemed to notice. “If you don’t get serious and give us a straight answer, I’ll-” She was cut off by David whose happy tone was gone, replaced by one that perfectly matched his new expression. “You’ll what?” he said, the question clearly being rhetorical. “You’ll hurt me? Arrest me? Kill me?” everyone flinched at the “k” word, not used to such a thing being brought up commonly. “Twilight you don’t have the resolve to attack me, let alone the power or strength to succeed even if you did. Your week Twilight, all of you element bearers are.” He turned to the rest of the group, nearly brushing his nose across twilight’s own since she had moved forward in her outburst, and he had done the same each second after since he started talking, only stopping once he was a few millimeters away from her face. “You have survived up to now based on pure luck! If you were ever to face an enemy who knew your weakness your lives would be over before you know it.” Finally rainbow dash had had enough of the insults. “That’s it! Nobody calls me week! And nobody insults MY FRIENDS!” she flew faster than most ponies possibly could, headed straight for the fool who would dare talk bad about those she cared about. Just before she made contact, h swept his body to the left to where his body was perpendicular with hers. She zipped passed him at high speed and was going to try and put some distance between him and herself but before she could even get a foot away, she felt something grab her tail. She gave a yelp as she was pulled backwards, the force of having her tail yanked on causing pain to shoot up her spine. She felt herself elevate a bit as she watched the world flip before being slammed back-first onto the marble floor knocking the wind out of her. As she struggled trying to catch her breath and reorient herself, she felt a hoof rest on her collar bone followed by the tip being pressed against her throat. No one could believe what they saw. In the span of only a few seconds, rainbow had charged this strange new pony who was apparently named David, only for him to dodge her and catch her tail with his BARE HOOF in an impressive display of strength and reflexes which should be near IMOSSIBLE, before flinging her over his shoulder, slamming her on the ground in the process, before quickly sliding his hoof into place on her throat. Before anyone could process what had just happened David spoke up. “I could kill you right now rainbow dash, just a little pressure, just enough to crush your wind pipe and you’d sit here squirming under me until finally you’d suffocate from lack of oxygen. Or, if I wanted to make your death painful, I could collapse your ribs, crushing your heart and lungs under the weight of my hooves. So many choices…” at this point he removed his hoof from her throat. Twilight took this opportunity to teleport to rainbow dash before teleporting out again with her. Rainbow dash was on the ground coughing while all other ponies looked to the stallion in either horror or anger. Even discord looked displeased. Shining armor stepped forward this time, his face locked into neutral expression with a clear undertone of hatred. “I don’t know who you think you are, but what you just did was assault, not to mention you threatened her life, I suggest you leave now before I’m forced to take action.” David chuckled before pointing a hoof at rainbow dash “if you arrest me you’ll have to arrest her too, I may have used excessive force, but she attacked first, I was merely defending myself.” Shining ground his teeth in agitation, mostly because he knew that this “David” character was right, he couldn’t go after one without going after the other. It was against his oath as a guard. They all stood there in silence, all eyes on the pony who had caused so much trouble, none of the looks he was getting were good. After a minute or two of this David gave out a deep sigh before scratching the back of his head. “Well, this isn’t going as good as I had hoped.” “How good did you expect this to go?! First you attack applejack, then you hurt Rainbow dash! What were you expecting?” said twilight, snapping at him with as much anger as she could muster. He sighed again before replying “thanks for bringing that up twilight, I really need to take care of that.” She looked confused for a second before her look shifted to that of surprise, along with the faces of a few others present as once again he seemed to just walk into a shadow. He looked as if he was walking down a flight of stairs with his front half sinking into what was originally his own shadow before being followed by his rear. Once he was all the way threw, the large blob of dark space that was his shadow shrank smaller and smaller until it disappeared all together everyone was wondering where he had gone when they suddenly heard applejack scream. All eyes turned to find him coming out of her shadow. Before anyone could react to try to protect the farm pony from this dangerous stallion he swiftly collapsed his front hooves, brought them in front of him, and went into a deep bow in front of the orange farm pony. Everyone sat there confused while applejack, who was far from over her first encounter with the stallion, looked like she was afraid he might kill her any moment. They just sat there in silence for a few seconds slowly apple jack calmed down little by little only to flinch a bit once he began to speak. “Applejack, owner of Sweet Apple Acers, and bearer of the element of honesty… I’m sorry.” This threw everyone for a loop, of all the things he could have done none of them expected this. “I was not aware of my ability when I first met you, if I had known showing my eyes to you would do that to you I never would have done It.” his tone remained neutral throughout his apology leaving applejack and everyone quiet. It was silent for a few seconds before applejack gave her response. “I-I…I accept your apology.” All her friends and Luna looked to her in surprise, while Celestia had a curious look on her face and discord just looked entertained. “I don’t completely trust you, but I can tell your being honest, so I accept.” David stood up with a small smile on his face. “I AM upset about you harming rainbow dash though, based on what happened back at the barn I’m fairly certain you could have stopped her in a much safer way than you did.” He sighed again “you’re right, I could have-” He turned to said blue Pegasus, “-and I am sorry for hurting you, but what happened just now is proof enough that I’m right. All’s it takes is an enemy taking out ONE of you and that leaves the power of the element useless, and as things stand, that wouldn’t be a difficult task.” He shifted his attention to Celestia “I understand you want to let them live normal care free lives, but the fact of the matter is that these six mares ARE your most powerful, and reliable, defense against any threat to Equestria. Defensive measures MUST be taken.” Rainbow dash huffed before commenting. “Please, like we need some stuffy military types watching our every move.” To everyone’s, except David’s, surprise twilight was the one to speak up. “No Dash, as much as I hate to say it, he’s right. He took you down like you were nothing, not to mention what happened in the barn. And that’s ONE guy, what if we faced an army of ponies that were JUST as strong and skilled as him? What if an enemy were able to infiltrate Ponyville and get one of us alone… I don’t know what I would do if I lost any of you girls.” Tears welled in her eyes threatening to spill over as she sat there sniffling trying to push the thought of a world without one of her friends from her mind. She was in this state for only a few seconds before she felt the warmth of another body pressed against her followed shortly by another, and another, and another. By the time she looked up to see what was going on she found that she was surrounded on all sides by her teary eyed friends hugging her in a warm embrace. “Don’t you worry sugar cube,” said apple jack. “We aint going anywhere.” The flood gates finally broke as twilight began to cry feeling lucky to have friends like them. Discord watched the touching moment while pointing down his throat making gagging noises, Luna had a few tears of her own, Celestia had a serene proud smile, but she had noticed something no one else had, as she watched she had taken a moment to glance to her left where “David” had taken up position after appearing behind applejack, what she saw made her curious. There was David as he had been before but his face had changed from his hard determination back to a smile, but this one was not the confident happy one he had had when he first got here. This one was small, content, but beyond that it seemed almost… melancholy, it had a deep sadness to it and, from what she could tell, a bit of envy. She gained a thoughtful look before giving a small nod resolving something within her before looking back to her student and her friends with her previous smile. The hug session continued for a few minutes before all the girls calmed down and separated giving each other meaningful looks as they did. As everything finished calming down David cleared his throat to get every ones attention before speaking up. “So now that that’s all cleared up, I think it’s about time we get down to business, for starters, my unexplained knowledge…” Author's Note again sorry for the amount of time it took to get this out, for a long time, I couldn't find the flash-drive that this was on, as well as other crap IRL. any way, here you go, let's hope luck is on my side in the future so this doesn't happen again. 12. Dude, That's So Metta...(unedited)Canterlot Palace David spent the next hour or so explaining to the gathered ponies how they were little more than a work of fiction in his world, needless to say they were… skeptical. “So, let me get this straight” said twilight “where you come from, thousands of people watch us through a piece of technology called a ‘tell-o-vision’ as we live out our lives and go on adventures, but it’s all a work of fiction?” She had a deep frown telling me how little she believed the story, as well as how much she approved of the idea of her and her friends having their lives watched. “It’s absolutely true, it didn't show anything indecent, but I do know about you all, most of your immediate family, the threats to Equestria, the princesses, your pets, the crusaders, I can name a good portion of the apple family… I may even be able to tell you about some things you yourselves don’t know~” David said, mischief clear in his voice, especially for the last sentence. Celestia spoke up quickly “such as?” David smiled “the river serpent Rarity gave her tail to when you girls first met? His name is Steven Magnet, he is a good friend of Ponyville’s resident donkey, Cranky Doodle.” “WHAT?!” Pinky seemed quite surprised by this fact based on her sheer volume. After her friends recovered from her shout, they all took on surprised expressions as well. “Indeed, I hadn’t seen it coming either” Said David “of course if you don’t believe me you can go ask one of them yourselves, after we’re done here of course.” “Anything else? That hardly proves your words. This information could be acquired simply by speaking to either of the two parties mentioned.” Said Luna still very suspicious. “Oh? Then how about this? I can tell you exactly how each of you were corrupted by discord, down to the smallest detail.” This made everyone’s eyes widen, Discord’s especially, who, while being decidedly embarrassed, was even more so exceedingly furious. “No way! We haven’t even tolled each OTHER that, how could YOU possibly know?” This time it was Rainbow Dash who spoke. “I couldn’t, not unless I’m telling the truth, or at the very least, something close to it.” David said with a grin. “shall I tell you?” All of them went quiet, deep in thought as most of them tried to decide if they wanted to relive one of the worst blunders their friendship had ever faced. A certain draconequus hoping the answer would be no. After a few minutes of silent deliberation, Apple Jack decided to step forward. “do it.” The others looked like they wanted to say something but she turned to answer their concerns before they could voice them. “We need to know for sure whether what he’s saying is true, besides, I’m sure we would’a told each other eventually, but we’ve definitely put it off longer than we should’a, this’ll just speed things along some…” she wore a sad smile when she was finished, clearly not looking forward to this any more than any of the others. Twilight smiled back at her friend as she stepped forward and rest her hoof on the farm mare’s shoulder, she looked back to David with a look of determination. “we’re ready.” The others present, barring Discord, nodded in agreement. “Very well~” He proceeded to tell all about the events that led to Discord’s second defeat and subsequent imprisonment. As he told the story, the girls could be seen with shame clear on their face, having forsaken their friends for even a second was the greatest mistake they could have ever made in their eyes. However, every time one of the friends started to feel down, the other element bearers would come to support them. All their friends received this treatment, except perhaps the one who needed it most… As David finished his story, all of the girls came together in a quick embrace, feeling an even greater bond then they had before. As they embraced, he caught site of the being of chaos fading out of the room from the back of the group, a look of depression he recognized all too well being the last he saw of him. ‘they have so much to learn…’he thought before coughing into his hoof to gain their attention. “glad to see you’re all chummy but am I correct in assuming that you all believe me now?” “For now,” twilight said with a glare. “but what does that mean for us? Are we just supposed to accept that we’re the product of somebody else’s imagination?” “Oh, heavens no” answered David “the very fact that I have made it to this dimension PROOVES that this is reality.” Those gathered looked confused, including the princesses. “Here, let’s think of it this way, Twilight, what is the current belief regarding multidimensional theory?” “Well, it mostly consists of the thought that for every action we perform or decision we make, a myriad of dimensions are born that are the representations of the different possible outcomes of those events.” She said knowledgably. “Precisely, we have a similar theory, however we also have may variations of the theory including one that includes the realm of imagination.” Again, confused looks. David rolled his eyes “Basically it alters the theory slightly to include works of fiction and other such imaginary worlds. Saying that by merely having a thought, letting your imagination run wild, a world can be born. The more you think about it, the more it comes to life. There’s also another version of this theory that says that any time we imagine something it’s not actually an original idea, it’s the result of two realities passing close to each other and influencing each other just slightly.” He looked to them all hopefully, but, despite their minor understanding, they were all still quite lost. He sighed “long story short, whether this world is the result of someone else’s imagination, or if your world, or rather, some version of your world, influenced ours in the form of a tv show, it doesn’t mean that this isn’t reality, no matter how your world, or even mine, came into existence, they are still our worlds, our lives to live…” Pinky pie was the first to speak “huh, I never thought of it like that…” she, and everyone else sat there with thoughtful expressions before eventually David broke the silence. “Yes well, now that we’ve got the philosophical questions out of the way, we can get to the main event.” He clopped his front hooves and rubbed them against each other in anticipation. “You mean that wasn’t it?” said rainbow dash “Not in the slightest” he said chuckling. “surly you all are wondering how I got here, and what my plans are, are you not?” “Well yes, but we didn’t think you would give us that information willingly.” Said Rarity. “As opposed to unwillingly?~” David said teasingly. Rarity blushed and began fumbling with her words “oh, um, that’s not what I meant I can assure you…” “Why Rarity, if you wanted to tie me up and punish me, you could have just asked~” He chided Her lips locked themselves shut as her normally pearlescent white fur turned bright red, along with the faces of a few others in the room, princes Celestia included. “what? What is wrong with you all?” said Luna, a confused look on her face. “It’s one of those ‘modern concepts’ Luna, I’ll tell you about it later…” Celestia’s color brightened as she alleviated her sisters curiosity, however temporary. She was certainly not looking forward to that conversation. She turned to David with a cough before returning to the stern look she had been holding during most of this confrontation. “well, since you claim to be SO forthcoming, what exactly ARE your plans?” David held up his hoof “Ah ah, not so fast princess. I have some other things to go over first, such as this!” He said as he pulled out a piece of animal hide. The element bearers looked disgusted while the princesses just looked curious. “What’s that?” said Luna “Animal hide” he said with a smile, Luna was unamused. “Yes, but what KIND of animal hide? And for what purpose?” “I’m so glad you asked!” He said before holding it up to be viewed by everyone. “this is 100%, genuine dragon leather.” “Where in Equestria did you get that?” said twilight. “Royal vault.” He answered simply. “So you broke into the royal vault and stole an extremely valuable material at risk of being arrested the moment you showed it to us… why?” Celestia wasn’t amused either evidently. “What’s one or two rare materials when you get to learn a lost magic right?” he said as he pulled out a corked jar with a glowing green fire in it. “Hey! That’s mine!” said spike, pointing to the glass container. “What a very astute observation spike.” Said David with a light chuckle as he swirld the jar around, this causing the flames inside to dance about hypnotically. “Well at least we know how he hijacked our letter system now” said Celestia, seeming almost more curios or impressed than angry. “I’m sorry, did you say lost magic?!” said Twilight, her curiosity bleeding through her suspicion. “Indeed, specifically, a technique for making a magic contract.” He said as he lifted the bottle and hide in his magic. “I’m going to need a small donation from two of you, a scale and tear from spike, and a feather from Celestia.” “And why should we go along with this?” said the solar monarch. “oh relax Celestia, this won’t affect any of you, this contract will serve as a bonding experience between myself and those who are in this room. No one will come to any harm… besides more than a small prick.” He emphasized this point by using his magic to lightly tug on one of her feathers. Not hard enough to hurt her or remove the feather, but enough to be uncomfortable and get the point across. “as for the technical reasons, I need items imbued with natural magic to serv as components in making the contract. What has more magic than an alicorn?” he said with a grin. “yeah, well, good luck getting a tear out of me! I’ll have you know I’m a hardened warrior! There isn’t anything you could do to make me-OUCH!” Spike was cut off as he had a small scale on the back of his head plucked off by David’s magic. He held the back of his head as a single tear rolled down his cheek only to be caught by the mystery pony as well. “two down one to go.” David uncorked the bottle and held the scale over the flames that were now lapping hat the entrance to the container. It began to burn before quickly being engulfed and turned to ash and funneled inside, followed quickly by the tear that he dropped in before swishing the mixture around in the bottle causing everything to melt into a green liquid with a warm glow to it that seemed to swirl inside the bottle. Everyone oohed and aahed before eventually Rainbow dash spoke up. “whoa, what is it?” “liquid dragons fire, one of the best magical liquids that can be synthesized in existence, at least, as far as I’m aware” he said before turning to Celestia. “Well, what do you say? Just like a regular contract, it doesn’t take effect unless all parties involved, agree. So if you don’t like the contract you can just not sign it and that’ll be the end of it.” She hummed in thought for a second, looked at the already gathered materials, at him, then at her wing. With a heavy sigh, she pulled a feather from her wing and gave it to him. “there better not be any funny business, I’ve read millions of contracts over my thousands of years of life, don’t think you’ll be able to slip something past.” “I understand princess.” With that he took the feather made sure the tip was an adequate shape, dipped it in the liquid dragon fire, and began to wright. It took him a few minutes to finish drafting the contract onto the leather, but when he was done he held it up for the princess to look at, as she read it he began to speak. “I, Dark Façade, swear that there is one thing that I will never tell anyone in this room. What that thing is is for those present to figure out. Is it my birth day? My blood type? Who knows? Those present are allowed to make a guess at any time in my presence and I am required to honestly tell them if they are correct or not. This may seem like a strange yet simple game, but I promise you if you can figure it out, it will reveal any plans that I have made up to the point that the guess is made. And even if it doesn’t it will give you the means to find out what they are if you don’t know already.” Celestia finished reading the same time he finished speaking. “Celestia is the only one who needs to sign, as long as you all attest that you agree to my little game in the presence of the contract, everyone present will be included.” She frowned “Dark Façade?” He nodded “Yes, David does standout a bit in your world so I figured I should come up with something more appropriate, I would like to take the moment to request that everyone present call me by this name from now on. Also, Don’t worry, I can assure you the contract will still be valid.” She turned to everyone else to see what they think. After more silent deliberation, they all nodded at her. With a deep sigh to steel her nerves, she signed the contract. There was a bright flash as the contract flew into the air floating for a second before bursting into green flames along with the quill leaving nothing left. After a few seconds of confused silence Twilight spoke up. “Whaaat just happened?” “The contract was completed. Now I must follow the rules of the game lest I be executed.” He said with a smile. “Executed?” said Luna “surely you jest.” “No I’m quite serious. If I fail to follow the rules of the game, I shall burst into flames just like the contract and die an excruciatingly painful death” the smile never left his face, as he spoke, seemingly as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Everyone looked horrified, even the princesses looked taken aback. Luna was the first to recover however and spoke up. “what could possess you to put your life in such danger over a mere game?!” He chuckled “It’s true I formatted the contract like the rules of a game, but that was to keep things fun for you all, I did this because I do take this contract deadly serious, pardon the pun. If I can’t manage to follow this contract, then I don’t deserve to live, at least in my opinion.” All present were mortified that some one actually existed that put so little value in their own life, it took everyone a minute or two to readjust themselves, but after they had, twilight managed to push the words out that the atmosphere had tried to keep inside of her. “so… are we allowed to guess now?” everyone present looked at her in exasperation. “what?! We don’t know for sure that he’s telling the truth, and this could be our only chance to find out what he’s really up to!” “Yes, you are allowed to guess, if you want, I’ll even use your first guess to demonstrate the abilities of the contract.” Said David. This made her even more worried, but she pushed through. “Is it your plans?” He stood there for a second, intentionally refusing to answer, nothing happening at first, but before long, slowly, smoke began rising from the bottom of his hooves, shortly after, his hooves burst into green flames, he crumpled over in pain as smoke began pouring from his mouth with a green glow coming from the back of his throat, everyone watched on in horror until he finally looked up and choked out the word “no”. with that the flames died away and he was left to recover for a second before eventually standing back up and dusting himself off. “The contract clearly states that should you guess correctly I will end up telling you my plans one way or another, so that can’t be it. Now, with that settled let’s proceed to how I got here shall we? There’s also a few other details I’d like to cover.” Some of those present looked like they were debating whether they wanted to proceed after everything that had happened but they soldiered on regardless. “what details specifically?” said Twilight. “Well first of all, the world I come from has zero magic, none whatsoever.” Everyone looked flabbergasted, they couldn’t even imagine such a world, but none the less he continued. “with this in mind, I’m sure you may be wondering how I had the power to get here, as well as how I acquired knowledge of lost magic despite only just recently entering your reality.” He got several nods and looks of curiosity. “well, first, how I got here.” He explained the events leading up to his dimensional jump, how his latent magic essentially pulled him to their world dropping him on his face in the woods. Most of the ponies were fascinated with his story but twilight looked like she wanted to ask something, but Dark beet her to it. “and before you ask, no, I don’t know where my latent magic came from, I have a few theories, but for all intents and purposes, it shouldn’t have been possible.” She closed her mouth a bit perplexed at not knowing what caused this phenomenon but decided to leave it for another time. “as for my unexplained knowledge, as it turns out, your world is surrounded with more than just a dimensional barrier, something that surrounds all dimensions, sort of like a cell wall if you will, anyway, as it turns out, you all also have a magical field that has been infused with the fabric of your reality, and since, in passing through the dimensional barrier I also essentially tore through your reality, from what I can tell, I have had a millennia of lost history and knowledge essentially shoved into my head. I know some magic that has been lost to time as well as magic that has never been discovered. I have newfound knowledge that no one else knows, and before you ask Twilight, I will be sure to share this knowledge with you all over time so you can be sure you won’t miss out on anything” the afore mentioned mare closed her mouth and squeed in excitement at the thought of learning something nopony else had before. “That is quite interesting but now that that’s out of the way, I’m still wondering just what you plan to do from here on out.” Celestia was still eying him up with distrust. “Oh not much, I’ll train an army, find and free nightmare moon, subjugate the changelings, save Equestria, start a family, raise some kids, advance the world into a new era, and whatever else that comes up. How does that sound?” Celestia looked at him as if he were crazy, a look mirrored by most of the others, as well as a few looks of disbelief. He started laughing. “you should see the looks on all your faces! my word, can no one here take a joke?” they maintained their expressions, most having thoughts along the lines of ‘Who makes a joke like that?!’ “Celestia, if you want to know my plans, you’ll have to play the game just like the others~” she frowned but resigned herself to trying to figure it out for herself seeing as she didn’t have the option of interrogation… yet. “Now if you’ll follow me twilight, we can start discussing magical theory and I can tell you about some of those new and olden magics.” She looked apprehensive about following him, but before she could even make a decision, he stopped and held up a hoof. Celestia noticed his rigid stance and grew immediately concerned. “what is it? Is something wrong?” Dark turned his head to look over his shoulder at those behind him, with a deep frown on his face, he simply answered “Intruders, lots of them…” Author's Note Enjoy the update, I got another one coming...
1. It was a dark and stormy night… (unedited)It was a bright sunny day… weren't expecting that were you? Anyway, this story begins with a house, the location of the house isn't important, and in the house lived a family of four. There was the father who had a well-paying corporate job, the mother who had a job as a well-known physician. A daughter who was the oldest at 21 who was a famous designer. And the son, a slim fellow at 6’-4”, with orange eyes (though some would argue that they were red) and a high, lighter pitch, voice, who looked rather scrawny, yet he could bench 170. He had short brown hair and commonly wore casual clothes, he was Caucasian, had fair skin, and no blemishes, his name was David. Do to his family’s wealth he could always afford trendy clothes, but he preferred to stay away from anything designer. He went to a public school, much to his parent’s chagrin, where he wasn't very popular, in fact, he only had one friend, James. He was a tan fellow with blond hair at 5’-11”, lounging on the couch, warring much the same thing as James considering James commonly bought him clothes when they were hanging out at the mall. Many who saw this thought him to be homosexual, in actuality, he just thought he could be nice to his friend considering he was so wealthy. David was a rather simple kid he went through school with a C-/B+ average and never got into trouble, or at least, none he couldn't handle… But now, tomorrow was graduation day. He was going to turn 19 the day before, making him one of the oldest in his class. He hadn't had a big party, he had invited James over to hang out, which included: playing video games, watching anime, and of course the most important of all, watching a show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. He and James were Avid “Bronies” as it were, (fans of the for-mentioned show) and greatly enjoyed watching it together. Though for James, its effect was tainted a bit by David who would mumble under his breath as he analyzed the characters, He didn’t nit-pick or anything he was just liked to profile the characters. He always treated the show a bit more “real” than most, he would observe the characters as if they were real and try to understand them, while making theories about how each one would act in real life. No one except him and James new, but he was secretly a genius, he actively hid this from others because he didn't want to be treated “special”, he had actually already taken college classes at the same time he was going through high school. He didn't have a degree but only because of the vast amount of classes he took, he didn't stay in one major (or one degree course for that matter) for very long. He spread himself out to learn all he could, however, he did have one thing he stayed interested in at all times: psychology. He was so skilled at reading people that he could tell almost all of your physical features by your voice, speech patterns, and grammar, even if he was only reading a textual message sent in a chat room or via IM. He could also read body language and facial expressions as good as any expert. He would observe the ponies and make mental notes, easy with an eidetic (photographic) memory, and try and discern what emotions they felt, or what they were thinking, then build ideas and theories on pony psychology. As they were winding down for the day, preparing for tomorrow, they fell into a pleasant conversation. “So… What now?” said James. “What do you mean?” said David cocking his brow while lying on the opposite couch. “You know damn well what I mean!” said James, pointing an accusatory finger at David having noticed David’s smirk, he then proceeded to plaster a large smile on his face. He was as bad as a certain white unicorn when it came to noticing details… “Right… Well you'll probably go to college, I'll finally decide on a degree and then we find a way to combine our talents and make a profitable business, and if we can't do that… We'll do fine on our own” he said in a monotone voice, almost as if he was disappointed with it… “You got this all figured out don't you smart ass?” James said in mock anger. David smiled looking almost hope full “well, there is one unknown variable…” he said low enough that only he could hear it “Wellp! Time for me to head home… see you tomorrow buddy!” he said, getting up and heading for the door. “We'll see.” He said, waving behind him. “What?” said James, not having heard him clearly. “Never mind.” he said, waving a dismissive hand. With that, James shrugged before turning and leaving David stayed laying on the couch for a few minutes before getting up and heading to his room. He opened his door and walked in only to immediately tern, close, and lock the door with an advanced security system, one of the few things he splurged on. He walked over to his desk, an antique his father got him, it was an old desk with a square mirror on it, like some sort of masculine vanity. He slid the holder out of place under his desk, causing the mirror to slide down and reveal a cork board covered in scraps of paper, which, when put together correctly, made what appeared to be some form of a large archaic magic circle. He stared at it for a long period of time, before roaring with a seething rage, and grabbing the side of the former mirror holder bringing said circle to his face. “Why?!” he shouted at the image, not receiving a reply “why did I make you?!” He stared at it again before storming to his bed and sitting down heavily with his arms crossed. “I can remember everything I have ever done, from infancy to now. So… why can't I remember you!?” he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. He had been waking up in the morning each day for the past month, and each day there was a new page added. He had compared the line thickness and pencil angle used to draw the picture (hand writing) to many others in the police database that he had easily hacked into. It wasn't until he had tested his own hand writing that he realized that he was the one making them. He had done much studying but had found nothing on the strange circle. It frustrated him greatly, but… it also kind of excited him, he felt like this circle was some sort of key, perhaps, the key to his escape. He had planned out his life thoroughly, he even had six back-up plans, but even then he didn't like any of them. He always felt as though he was meant for something greater (cliché I know) and maybe, just maybe, this circle could help. Just then he heard what sounded like wind, but it was strange, it sounded… distorted, like it wasn't natural… All of a sudden, he felt something deep inside of him well up, he put a hand to his chest, his heart felt like it was beating with the force of a jack hammer. He then looked to the circle, his eyes widening as he regained the memories he had been searching for. He remembered now, he had done this for a reason, he was reaching out to… no… he wasn't the one reaching out… something… Inside of him was trying to connect to something… to something like itself… something that could not easily be found here… it felt the same as what was on the inside… it wanted to be with its own… where it belonged… He hadn't even realized he had been approaching the circle till it came alight with black and red smoke. He raised his hand towards it emotions swirling inside of him: Fear, shock, confusion, wonder, and most of all, hope. There was a bright flash and then… nothing… all that remained, was the circle, and a scorch mark on the floor… Author's Note Sorry If it doesn't read too well. Again, I need an editor before I can seriously start producing chapters.
2. doubled the fun has indeed been... (unedited)David woke up in what appeared to be the woods, his head hurt, and his body felt strange. He sat up and looked around, he couldn't see anything except trees and foliage in every direction. He then noticed something gray just barely poking out at the bottom of his field of vision. He lifted his hand to touch it, but when he did, he noticed it wasn't a hand... … … … A hoof? He looked at the hoof, now sitting in front of him for a few moments, before turning to look at the rest of his new body. He was a gray stallion with a strong, slim, build. He had a black, medium length, mane, with red highlights and his bangs covering his right eye, all of it styled like one would expect from a gentleman (gentlecolt?) His tail was the same color scheme and he could only assume, was styled the same way, seeing as how he had no knowledge of pony tail-styles. All four hooves were present and accounted for. He also had what appeared to be a tribal style cutie mark of an Ouroboros wrapped around a yin-yang on his flank. His thoughts stopped for a moment before repeating the last one. Cutie mark… at this his eyes shot open with realization. Wait, a cutie mark? But that means… … Most people would have screamed… they would have ran around freaking out about how they had changed, about how they were in a new body, or a new world for that matter. They would have ran, and stumbled, and eventually either died, or done something stupid… Instead, he laughed… he laughed, and laughed, and laughed. It wasn't a laugh of madness, nor one used for covering up pain, no, this laugh was wondrous. Joy, elation, and pure unadulterated happiness, as though all of his dreams had come true! THAT, is what this laugh was! There was also, however, something wrong, something dark, or sinister. Like what you might find in a laugh one might expect from an evil mastermind whose plan had just worked flawlessly. He knew exactly where he was, and his body trembled with excitement. He ended his laughter and got up onto all four hooves before trotting as though this was how he had naturally walked all his life, he figured it had to do with some form of passive magic. He proceeded to canter over to a puddle before leaning over to look at his reflection so that he could see his facial features. He had a narrow snout like that of Soarin from the Wonderbolts, his eyes were red, resembling princess Celestia’s in shape. Though, his pupils were more narrow and reptilian than one might consider normal. “Ouroboros” he said, beginning to analyze the picture now on his flank “A dragon or serpent who comes around and bites its own tale, it appears to be gripping the yin-yang with its front and back legs, it has wings making it a western, it also appears to have red eyes. I don’t appear to have wings, but I do have a horn, so I guess that means I'm a unicorn… also-” He stopped when he realized something he hadn't before… “My voice changed…” he said thinking aloud, though he didn't seem too surprised, he then began to sing a common vocal warm up “Doe, Ray, Me, Fa, So, La, Tee, Doe… hmm, interesting…” he said, putting a hoof to his chin in thought before adopting a large grin “I sound just like Sebastian… Ha!” he was ecstatic at the thought of sounding like his favorite anime character. After some thought he decided on what to do next and looked straight ahead. at this point he had donned a face he was used to using when dealing with anyone other than James back on earth, essentially his eyes looked closed but were actually open just enough for him to see, as well as a large (some might say creepy) smile. “Alright now to find-” he was cut off as searing pain shot through his head, he fell to the ground writhing in pain, only able to make small noises due to the amount of agony he felt. As the pain ended he got back up. “What was that?” he said, shaking his head so as to clear his mind. After a few seconds of thought, his eyes widened before he closed them again and smiled wickedly. “Oh, this is going to be even better than I thought…” Author's Note still no editor, but because Necro Fox asked for it, I put out another chapter. I know there are some mistakes and that it doesn't quite read correctly, but till I get an editor (or the time to do it myself) it's staying that way. P.S. will be posting several chapters today so as to better introduce the main character, and introduce the main six.
3. The Feels!!! (unedited)David had proceeded to scout the area until he had found the place he was looking for. “Ponyville” he said looking at the Welcome to Ponyville sign that was right outside the small town. He had seen Canterlot up on a nearby mountain so he knew Ponyville would be there somewhere. He giggled like a schoolgirl (schoolfilly?) and proceeded to skip right into town. As he skipped he got some odd looks from the other ponies, but he didn't care, he was in the land of his dreams, and nothing could ruin this moment. Just then he saw a pink pony zip bye, apparently trying to stay out of his sight. For most it would have worked, but because of his memory and extreme attention to details, it did not. She was a pink pony with no wings or horn, making her an earth pony. She had a poofy, magenta, mane and tale, as well as bright, sky blue, eyes. Her cutie mark was a picture of 3 balloons 2 blue ones and yellow one between them. He smiled, already knowing who she was, and what would happen next. He sat there thinking of what he wanted to do, he smiled deviously, deciding to have some fun with her. He saw her approaching from behind so he readied himself for what was to come. As she launched herself at him, he spun so that he was facing her. Rearing up on his hind legs, he brought his front hooves under hers, grabbing her sides. He lifted her up and twirled her through the air, like a princess, using the momentum from her leap “Alas, it has been too long my love! Long have I waited to see your beautiful face once more!” he said, in his best dramatic voice. “And I have missed you my love! It has been hard these many years without you by my side.” She responded as he set her down, apparently deciding to play along. “What a cruel mistress fate must be to have made us children of rival families.” He said, draping a hoof over his forehead dramatically. “Indeed, what I wouldn't do to change our lineage so that we may stay together” she said hugging him close and letting a tear fall. Oh she’s good… “But now we must rejoice! For I have discovered a way to finally bring us together!” he said, placing a hoof on her shoulder. “For truth? We can finally be as we have wished for so long?” she said sitting on her haunches and bringing her for hooves to her chest, a bright hopeful look upon her face. “Yes, your father has agreed to meet with me on the subject. He even gave me a peace offering.” He replied. “Oh? What is it?” she said looking at him questioningly “It was-” He cut himself off, coughing furiously before collapsing into her hooves. “My love!” she held him close to her chest and pushed his mane out of his eyes (despite the fact that she couldn't see his eyes) noticing the blood on his lips. Oh, he’s good… “What has happened to you?” “The peace offering, it was a wine sample, it must have been poisoned.” He said, convulsing slightly while breathing shallowly. “No! This cannot be!” she said, sad tears streaming down her face. “I’m afraid it is my love, all I ask now, is that you hold me close until I pass.” He said, bringing a hoof to her face to wipe away her tears. “Of course my love.” She said, doing as asked. She held him close to her until his hoof which had been resting on her face fell limply to the ground. She raised her head to the air while yelling a dramatic “nooo!” before collapsing over him. She hadn't noticed but they had drawn a massive crowd. As she finished her last bit the crowd erupted with applause. Some were even in tears from the performance, while others just stood there slack jawed. She and David got up and bowed, before running off laughing at their own antics. “Hahaha-hooo… that was wonderful Pinkie Pie!” said David, addressing the pink pony. He had noticed that despite his thin look he was rather tall compared to most ponies. Maybe even taller than…HIM. “I know! You were great too though.” Said Pinkie Pie, bumping against him in a playful manner. “Indeed! I can't wait for your party.” He said, placing a hoof on her shoulder “However, I must regrettably ask that you hold off for a time being. Until I am done setting some other events in motion. Is that alright?” “Sure!” said Pinkie pie, a cheery smile on her face. ”How much time you need?” “Oh, don't worry, you'll know when I'm ready. Anyway, good bye miss Pinkamena Diane pie.” He said, as he began to walk a separate direction. “Ok, bye!” she said, stopping to wave a hoof before continuing on her way. Just then, she stopped and realized something she hadn't before. “How did he know my name?” Author's Note Sorry this didn't come out sooner like I said it would. But, like I said in the comments, I had to fix some small, story related things, first. There are probably still more of the same grammar issues and such, but those will be fixed when I have this, and the upcoming chapters, edited.
4. Psychosomatics! (unedited)Twilight It was midday and in a building made from a hollowed out tree, an alicorn and her assistant were busy at work. “Spike! I need that book on transfiguration!” said the lavender alicorn mare, shouting for her assistant, who was up a floor. A small, reptilian form came running down the stairs on his two small legs carrying a large tome in his stubby little claws. He had light green eyes, belly scales, spines, and ear fins, while the rest of his body was purple. “Here twilight, is this it?” he asked, holding up the tome so as to present it to the mare. She was a lavender mare with a cobalt blue mane and tail that were so straight, you’d think she had ironed them each 20 times. She also had a stripe in them that was split in two, one side dark purple, the other pink. Her eyes were the same color purple as the stripe in her hair, and her cutie mark was a pink, six pointed star surrounded by six smaller, white, six pointed stars. “Yes, thank you spike” she said, enveloping the tome in a magical aura, the same color as the one around her horn, and bringing it over for further study. After about thirty minutes she threw the book behind her adding it to the large pile that had accumulated there. “Celestia damn it all! This doesn’t have it either!” for months Twilight Sparkle had been looking for knowledge on changeling magic. From books on shape change, to books on strange and rare creatures. But she couldn't seem to find anything on changelings, other than what their true forms looked like, as well as that they were able to transform into any sentient creature as well as produce a substance similar to what butterflies use to make Chrysalises (only much more durable) at a whim. All of this she already knew from firsthand experience… “Hello? Is anyone here?” in her stupor, she hadn't even noticed someone come in. She immediately became defensive towards this random stranger who had decided to barge into her home. “Excuse me sir, but what are you doing in my house?” she said somewhat threateningly, as she turned around to see the intruder. She was surprised to see a large, somewhat intimidating stallion standing in front of her. However it only strengthened her belief that this was some sort of burglar, or thief. “House? I was made to believe this was the town library?” He said seeming slightly frightened of her. She mentally face hoofed at her own stupidity. Of course he would barge in, this was technically a public library, and he didn't technically need permission to enter… “No, I'm sorry, you're right. This is a public library. Still, every pony from around here knows that I live here, and usually has the decency to knock… so you must be from out of town.” she said, remembering a certain pink pony, as well as a rather sporty Pegasus, who commonly crashed in for a visit. Sometimes literally… “Correct! I'll be staying here for a while, so I was wondering if you had any books on physics or psychiatry.” He said, regaining his confident posture and smile. At first she was expecting the tall stallion to be looking for porn mags or workout manuals (She had gotten a surprising number of ponies looking for the former in the past) due to his larger than average build. Her jaw nearly hit the floor when she heard him mention such advanced subjects “Is there a problem miss?” he said tilting his head with a confused look. This seemed to snap her out of her shocked state. “Oh! Um, no… just a sec” she said stammering while trying, and failing, to hide her surprise. She promptly headed up stairs to retrieve some books that fell under his specified categories. Little did she know, she was playing right into his hooves… David He was happy that his plan had gone off without a hitch so far but now was the tricky part. After all it is easy to manipulate someone with words, it is much harder to manipulate what someone sees. He looked over and saw spike staring up at him in awe. He laughed internally at the young dragon. If he only knew… “Hello young one, what’s your name?” He said, snapping spike out of his stupor. “Oh! I’m Spike! I help out around the library.” He said, holding out a clawed hand. “A pleasure to meet you Sir Spike, night of the fare pony so rare.” Said David, taking spikes claw with his hoof and giving it a firm shake. Spike was put off by the strange title, but he just shrugged it off as a strange new pony in this, just as strange town. As he ended the shake, He nonchalantly waved his hoof in front of spikes face. It looked like someone casually bringing their hoof down from a normal shake, if a bit awkwardly, and jerky. But upon closer inspection one might have seen the small black particles that came off of his hoof and flew right into spike’s nose… Spike reeled back before letting loos a large “achoo!” as he sneezed green flames from his snout. “Are you ok there buddy?” said David, patting him on the back as he went into a coughing fit. “Y-yeah, I think so.” He said recovering from his fit. “I’m just glad I didn’t try to hold it in, otherwise I might have blown my brain out my ears.” This made David burst out laughing, followed by spike soon after. “Thanks, most ponies don’t usually laugh at my jokes.” “A shame, that one was good! And besides, I most certainly am not most ponies.” At first spike was confused by that statement, but after a while he again, just shrugged it off and continued with his duties. “Ok, I found the books!” came Twilight’s voice as she came down the stairs. “Ah, Wonderful!” said David, siting on his haunches and clasping his hooves together. “What did you find?” “Well, I found two college books, one for physics and one for psychology, as well as an interesting book called Attribution and Other Psychology Theories.” She said, displaying them all on what appeared to be a coffee table. “Oh my, I do apologies but it seems I have already read these.” That was technically true, then again, so is everything else he’s said so far. He had read human versions of these books. And while the titles were different the covers looked almost exactly the same, aside from the added pony elements. “Oh! I'm sorry, did you want me to bring you something else or-” she was cut off by him waving a hoof in dismissal. “No no, that’s quite alright. I have to be going any way.” He said as he turned to the door. “Good bye Spike, and you too miss Twilight Sparkle.” with that he took his leave. As he left twilight realized what he had said and made to go after him only to exit the library and see him nowhere to be found. Seeing as he had disappeared, she went back inside in a confused huff. Author's Note Thats it for today, maybe some more tomorrow.
5. hey there pretty filly... (unedited)After leaving Twilight’s house, David had proceeded thru Ponyville, he thought up plan, after plan, after plan. Until deciding on 0ne plan that had 34 contingencies… he’s a very careful man, or rather, stallion. After deciding on his plan, he started heading for carousel boutique. But before he could make it he heard yelling coming from behind him, it sounded like it was coming from the sky as well, and whatever it was it was getting closer. Again deducing the circumstances, and again deciding to have fun with it, he spun around to see a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane and tale headed straight for him. She had read eyes and a cutie-mark of a rainbow lightning bolt coming out of a cloud. He held out his for hooves and side stepped a bit catching her and spinning so as to absorb the momentum. After he spun six times, he stopped himself and took stock of his situation. He was holding the Pegasus bridal stile while standing on his hind legs. This would have been impossible for any normal pony, but as previously stated he’s not a normal pony. A large smile spread across his face as he realized what kind of opportunity lay before him. “In fact one could say I'm… one Hell of a pony…” he "sqeed" with fan-girlish delight once more. He had always been good at mimicking Grell, but he could never pull off Sebastian. Now that his voice was Sebastian… Oh the Possibilities… While he was day dreaming the rainbow maned Pegasus started coming back from the dizziness that was a direct result from the spinning, as well as her previous tumble through the air. “W-What happened” she said, shaking her head in an attempt to clear the stars. “Morning angel, I just thought I’d catch you as you fell out of heaven” he said, in a playful manner. “What’s an angel? And Where’s Heaven?” she said still a bit dazed. He mentally face hoofed. Of course they don’t know what heaven is… New world, new culture… “Never mind. So how are you doing today beautiful?” “W-we… I-I… Um… Who… Huh?” she stammered while blushing furiously. Bingo… “Sorry, I saw you falling from the sky and I thought: Well, got nothing better to do today. Might as well save that pretty filly.” This was rewarded with more stammers and blushing. Oh man, this is too easy… Just then she apparently decided to notice how she was being carried. Prompting her to yell and fidget attempting to free herself from his grasp. Deciding to oblige her, he promptly dropped her on the ground. She scrambled to her hooves before getting into a defensive stance. “What did you do to me?!” she yelled, apparently very distressed by her supposed captor’s presence. “Nothing” he answered simply while sitting on his haunches. “Horse Apples! Then why were you filly-napping me?!” she yelled not backing off in the slightest. “I wasn't.” he said while inspecting a hoof as if he had just gotten a fresh hooficure. This only seemed to make her angrier. “Then who are you?! Tell me!” she said while pointing an accusatory hoof. “Listen gorgeous, it’s your choice whether you want to believe me or not. But I would like to point out that no filly-napper would bring their filly-nappee through a public place.” As she looked around she realized he was telling the truth. They were just outside the market district and while not in the center of everything, they were still visible to other ponies meaning he couldn't have been sneaking around. “Alright, I guess your clear.” just then she realized something Wait, gorgeous? At this, she blushed furiously. “Well, now that that’s settled I’ll be taking my leave… So long cutie!” He said, waving a hoof as he turned to walk a separate path. At this the mare stammered again, clearly embarrassed by the compliment. As he walked away from the flustered mare he turned his head to look at her as he was turning a corner. “Oh! Rainbow dash! Tell Gilda high for me!” he yelled, before turning the corner completely. Rainbow Dash immediately took to the skies to chase him. But even though he had just turned the corner, she couldn't find him, no matter how hard she tried. Author's Note I'd like to dedicate this chapter to all things smooth...
6. One hell of a gentlecolt... (unedited)Rarity She had had a grueling day of work. Three orders of dresses, a tux, and some special event outfits. It was all very tiring. She removed her rose colored glasses, revealing her ice blue eyes and eyeliner. She was a white, unicorn, mare with an elegantly styled curly purple mane and tale, and her cutie mark was three blue diamonds. She heaved a sigh of relief, glad that her day of work had come to an end. Just then she heard the bell from her front door, signifying that it had been opened. She grunted with annoyance before fixing herself to look proper and donning a large smile and heading out front. “Welcome to carousel boutique, where everything is chique, unique, and ma-” she cut herself off as she saw the near herculean stallion standing before her. His body was slender but not like a twig. He was muscular but not overly so. And everything about him, from the way he carried himself, to the way his main and tail were styled, practically screamed gentle-colt. “Magnifique!” “Excuse me?” said the stallion a look of confusion on his face “Oh! My apologies my name is-” “Rarity” he finished “the famous designer who has become well-known amongst those in the fashion industry. Yes, I know.” He took her hoof in his and bowed a bit giving it a gentle kiss. “Enchanté” She silently squeed with girlish enthusiasm. He knows my name! “So, what can I help you with Mister-” she stopped prompting him to give his name… He didn’t. “Oh, I was just passing bye when I saw your exquisite designs!” He said, lifting a piece of a dress to observe the detailed stitching. “This is expert craftsmanship! How much does this sell for?” “Oh it goes for about 80 bits for a standard dress. The most expensive one I've ever made was worth around 500 bits.” she said with a smile happy to see him take an interest in her work. She didn't see it but he had glanced over at a magazine cover from the ones she kept in the lobby for her waiting customers. On it was a fairly extravagant dress that was labeled: ~Dress of the year worth 5000 bits!~ From that, as well as from the prices of other products he had seen on the way there, he was able to figure out a rough estimate of how something’s worth was calculated here. “Nonsense!” He Exclaimed. ”these are worth at least 2000 maybe more!” She blushed furiously at his compliment “Yes well… That’s just the kind of mare I am.” He chuckled at that. “Yes, I suppose so. I expect no less from the element of generosity. If I ever have any fashion needs in the future I know who to call. So long then!” he said saluting before exiting through the door. “Au revoir!" she said waving a forehoof. As he left, she threw the same hoof over her forehead with a great, dramatic, sigh, before falling onto one of her sofas. I think I'm in love! As she lay there, fantasizing about this new mystery stallion, she realized what he had said. “How does he know about the elements?” Author's Note let out your inner Gentleman.
7. Yay! (unedited)David Four down, two to go! David thought to himself as he walked down the street. On his way to his next destination he found an injured squirrel. This ought to help me with my task. He thought as he reached down, carefully picking up the injured squirrel so as not to further damage the poor creature. It seemed to be unconscious at first, a theory quickly proven wrong when it sprang to life, biting down hard on his foreleg. He winced a bit but he knew he'd be fine. He came to a cottage on top of a small hill, right next to what he assumed was the Everfree forest. It appeared to be built into the side of the hill itself, much like a hobbit hole, but he knew better. He came up and knocked on the door, immediately followed by some crashing sounds from inside. He would have attempted not to scare the poor mare he was soon to meet, but knowing her, it was inevitable. So instead he opted to attempt to seem as nonthreatening as possible. The door opened to reveal, a butter yellow Pegasus, with a pink mane and tail, each one being very long with her tail even dragging on the floor. Like the pink one, she had sky blue eyes. Her cutie mark was three pink and blue butterflies, arranged in a similar pattern as The White one’s.As she came out, she leaned her head forward slightly so as to hide her face using her mane. “U-um h-hello?” She said, emitting enough adorableness to give a human a heart attack. “Can I help you?” “Yes, you see I found this little guy injured on the road, and It was my understanding that you were the best one for the job” he said, making his voice as soft as possible. This had the desired effect of calming her nerves. She seemed to loosen up a bit at his soft demeanor and his care for the small creature. Some might think he was just helping to get in close to her, but he did honestly care for the injured squirrel, he would have aided it whether it helped his objective or not. However, he wasn't foolish enough not to seize an opportunity when one was presented to him. “Oh! Please, bring him inside.” She said, backing up so as to let him pass with the injured creature. He stepped inside and looked around it looks just like it did in the show! He thought looking at the many bird houses and mouse holes, as well as many other homes that appeared to be for the sole purpose of housing small creatures. “Please set him hear.” She said, gesturing to a small cushion in a basket that had been placed off to the side. He did as he was told, carefully placing the squirrel in the basket. He took the chance to get a better look at the small rodent. It appeared to be a Pteromyini (flying squirrel), and from what he could see it had not received any major damage from whatever had injured him. “Oh dive bomb, this is the third time in the last two weeks. You're lucky this nice stallion was there to help you.” She said. He smiled lightly, enjoying the sight of the Pegasus in full “Mother” mode. He took the opportunity to relax into a more natural state. She may not trust him much since they just met, but he could tell he left enough of a good impression that if he stopped being so soft, she would still remain reasonably relaxed around him. “T-thank you for bringing him here” she said, stammering a bit now that she was more aware of his presence “He’s always crashing into trees, or landing on branches wrong.” “My pleasure!” he said still keeping his voice somewhat soft so as not to frighten her... ... Many people believe those with an eidetic memory, due to their usually advanced intelligence, will not make simple mistakes. This is not entirely true. Sure, if you ask them a question they have herd before and know the answer to they can answer almost immediately. Ask them a math question and as long as they know the proper function they can work it out in mere seconds. However, they must see, hear, smell, taste, feel, or think something beforehand (hoof?) in order to remember something. In other words they need something to remember in order to remember it. But if they don’t think of the mistake before it’s made, then they can’t remember to keep it from happening. For example, David remembered that he had been bitten by the squirrel. He did not, however, think of how the Pegasus might react if she saw said injury, and therefore, thought nothing of it when he raised his hoof up to make a “No Biggy” type gesture… … … … Shit… “Oh no! What happened to your hoof!” she said as she grabbed said hoof to examine the wound closer. “Oh, it’s nothing, he just got me when I was picking him up is all.” He said, sitting on his haunches and rubbing the back of his neck with the other hoof. I can't believe I made such a stupid mistake… “It’s not nothing! He shouldn't have bitten you! You were just trying to help!” she said, having obviously figured out that it was a squirrel bite do to her advanced knowledge of animals. “He felt threatened, I would have been surprised if he hadn't bitten me.” He said trying to defend the resting creature. “Yeah but…”she started, but was cut off. “I'm serious, it’s fine… Now can I please have my hoof back miss?” He said, gesturing to the hoof that she had brought to her chest in a subconscious attempt to cover and protect the wound. Likely a result of her motherly nature. She gave a small *eep!* as she threw her hooves in the air releasing his hoof and spinning around to hide her now furiously blushing face. “Well, since he’s safe, I’d better be going” he said getting up and making his way to the door. As he was leaving, he cocked his head back so she could hear the next part better. “See you soon Fluttershy.” With that he stepped outside and closed the door only to hear another, if slightly louder, *eep!* before going on his way. Author's Note I edited this while half asleep... then I had to do it again because I clicked the wrong button...
8. Stranger Danger! (unedited)Twilight Twilight had been pacing back and forth in the center of her living room for nearly two hours since the mysterious pony had left. Leaving spike to lean back and relax from his chores off to the side. “How did he know my name?” said Twilight, throwing one for hoof into the air in exasperation, while continuing her uneasy pace. “Maybe he herd of you. You are Celestia’s personal student.” Said spike, eating some gems that he had kept stashed for times like this. “Well, I suppose you’re right, but it feels like there’s more to this spike.” Said twilight, unable to get rid of the strange feeling that kept tingling up and down her spine. They then heard a knocking at their door. “I wonder who that could be?” said twilight, as she reached the door. The door opened to reveal rarity, standing as if she was emanating some godly light and was the most perfect being in the universe, which to spike, she was. “Oh, Twilight, you’ll never believe what just happened, I just met the. Most. Perfect. Stallion. EVER!” she said as she walked in, her words instantly snapping Spike out of the love sick daze he had been in moments before. “What!?” He yelled, only to cover his mouth a few seconds after. “Is there a problem Spike?” said rarity, a slight twinge to her voice of some kind, as well as a questioning look on her face. “N-no, not at all!” he said hurriedly, trying to recover from his outburst in an attempt to keep his feelings for his crush from being known. “Oh... Good! Then where shall I start?!” she said in excitement, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “Oh! I know, Twilight he was gorgeous! He looked so big, and strong, and his main and tail would only be fitting for a gentle colt!” By this time rarity and twilight had moved to the sofa, and spike had run off only to come back carrying some tea. As Twilight listened to the to the description, she got more and more worried that Rarity was talking about who she thought she was talking about. “Rarity, was this stallion grey, and did he have a dragon and yin-yang as his cutie mark?” Rarity was shocked that Twilight already knew of this stallion, she sat there stunned for a bit before gaining an expression of confusion. “Why, yes Twilight. How did you know?” With her fears confirmed, the tingling in Twilight's spine increased “He came here too… did...did he say anything... strange?” she said, stammering as her fear increased in Anticipation of her friends answer. “Well actually darling,” said Rarity, dawning a somewhat worried look “that was one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you about him… you see, he knew about the elements.” Immediately, the tingling sensation in Twilight’s spine spiked. “How?! The only record of our actions as the elements are in Canterlot, on the windows in the great hall! Only nobles are allowed through there, and even then, only a few actually take the time to go through and look!” Spike, having figured out who they were talking about, and slightly miffed due to Rarity’s attraction to him, decided to play devil’s advocate in an attempt to help his new friend. “He might have connections to Canterlot nobility.” “Well, I guess that’s true but-” Twilight started, but was cut off again as the door burst open to reveal a certain cyan Pegasus. “Twilight! We need to talk!” Said Rainbow Dash, hovering above her two friends with an angry expression on her face. “What is it rainbow dash?” Said Twilight, worried that she might have done something to make her friend upset. “A stallion.” Said Rainbow Dash, her scowl deepening with her words. Twilight sighed with relief before perking up at what her friend had said, the tingling sensation increased. “Stallion?” “Oh my Rainbow Dash, I never saw you as the type to have colt problems…” Rarity quipped, putting on a sly grin as she teased her tomboyish friend. “What?! No! I don’t-” as she was about to finish her statement, his face flashed through her mind, her heart beat increased and she blushed furiously as her voice got a bit quieter. “- like him that much…” The two friends below her were floored, Rainbow dash had never expressed interest in ANY stallion before, now they were really curious who this pony was. “A-anyway-” said Rainbow Dash stammering as she shook her head, attempting to clear the image of the stallion from her thoughts. “-this guy was suuuper sketchy, like, he was able to catch me from a high speed fall, stand on his hind legs like it’s nothing, and he knew about Gilda!” When rainbow dash finished twilight was pretty sure she knew who she was talking about “Grey, black and red mane and tale, dragon cutie mark?” “Well… Yeah, how’d you know?” Said the Pegasus, dawning a similar expression of confusion to the one rarity had had before. “He’s come in contact with both of us so far.” Said Twilight, a concern written all over her her face. “Oh... w-well what do we know so far?” said Rainbow dash, a bit embarrassed that she wasn’t the first one to bring him up. “Not much, however-” Twilight started, but was cut off yet again by a knock on the door “What now?” she then proceeded to walk over to the door and open it, revealing a butter yellow Pegasus trying to hide behind her long pink mane. “Oh! Fluttershy, what can I help you with?” The Pegasus peaked out from her main to see her lavender friend standing there and relaxed a little, “Oh, um, hello Twilight, I was wondering if, maybe, I could talk to you about something?” “Sure Fluttershy, whatever you need.” Twilight said ushering her friend in. Fluttershy started to head in but stopped when she saw her two other friends gathered. “O-oh, a-am I interrupting something?” “Oh! No Fluttershy, we were just talking about this strange new pony who came to town today.” Twilight said in a reassuring tone, exhaustion clear in her voice. Fluttershy perked up at the mention of a strange pony. “Oh! You too?” Twilight halted in her tracks as she whipped her head back around to look at Fluttershy. “What?!” “O-oh, well, There was a stallion who helped Dive bomb, one of my squirrels, after he had injured himself. At first he seemed pretty nice and, um, I guess, kind of handsome, but, just before he left, he told me ‘see you soon Fluttershy.’ And well, I hadn’t gotten to it yet but, I never told him my name.” said Fluttershy, now hiding behind her mane, embarrassed by all the attention she was getting from all her friends. especially at the "handsome" part. Twilight gave a deep sigh before speaking. “Yep that sounds like him, but what are the chances that we would all-” she was again interrupted by a knock on the door. “By Celestia’s majestically. flowing. MANE!" finishing her outburst, she walked back over to the door and opened it to find a bouncy, bubbly, pink, pony with a huge grin outside. “Oh! Hey twilight! You’ll never guess-” she started only for twilight to return the interrupting favor. “-that you met a new stallion whose grey, has a red and black mane and tale, is tall and attractive, has a dragon cutie mark, and who seems a bit odd and mysterious...” she finished with a deadpan look. Pinky pie stood there slack jawed for a few seconds before squinting at twilight and saying “ooh, you’re good.” After that, twilight moved aside for Pinky to bounce her way in before every one settled on to one of the seats in the living room. “Alright Pinky pie, tell us what happened.” Twilight said, with a serious yet tired expression. Ready to learn something knew but eager to get this over with. “Okie-Dokie-Lokie! So, I was walking around greeting every one this morning when my Pinky senses told me there was a new pony in town. So, I immediately took off in search of the new pony so I could give him a big ‘Welcome to pony-vill!’ hoof shake. When I found him, I tried to come up behind him all sneaky like, but when I went to surprise him he spun around and caught me, like he knew I was there! And then we twirled arooound, and we pretended to be in looove, and he pretended to diiie, and I pretended I was saaad, and then we booowed, and then we ran away laughing, it was SO MUCH FUN! And then, as if he read my mind! he said I had to wait if I wanted to throw him a party, and I said ok, and then he went one way, and I went another! Oh and before he left, the craziest thing happened! He waved and said good bye! but when he said it, he knew my name! And that’s what happened.” Pinky finished her story with a large smile. While everyone else had a confused and/or skeptical face. Rainbow dash was the first to speak up. “Wait, so that was you two! I had seen some sort of crowed braking up in the town square, when I went down to check it out, I heard some sort of amazing performance happened, but I didn’t know who had done it? If this guy can draw a crowd as big as the one I saw then he has some serious skill!” Rarity spoke next. “Indeed! One of my regulars who sometimes come in to gossip, said that it was absolutely fabulous! I must say Pinky, I had no idea you were so good at acting.” “Of course! I’ve had several parties for foals where I had to be a clown. In order to be a clown, you have to know how to act!” Pinky responded, ending with a serious face and dramatic pose. Rarity and Fluttershy clopped their hooves a bit before spike had decided to point out a detail that he found quite annoying for some reason. "wait, are we just going tocompletely bypass that every one of you has called this guy attractive in some way since arriving here?" Every one developed a deep blush and averted their gaze before twilight spoke up. “Alright girls! Back on topic! Pinky pie, you said he knew your name?” Spike noticed her blatant attempt to change the subject, but gave up in favor of the new subject at hand. At this point, Spike was a bit skeptical of his new friend but he was still trying to reason this out with the hope that he could clear his new friend's name. “So? Didn’t Pinky pie travel around entertaining ponies before coming here? What if he’s another guy who saw one of her shows, like cheese sandwich?” Pinky pie developed a bit of a concerned expression before replying. “No Spiky, I mean he knew my full name, Pinkamina Diane Pie. Only you guys and my family know about that.” Spike opened his mouth to reply but shut it once he realized there was no way to explain it without it being an extreme coincidence. He didn’t want to believe it, but the only male friend he had made, besides Big Mac, was starting to look a little to suspicious. He only hoped there was some form of logical explanation for this that would be more convincing than the argument he had provided so far. Once the conversation had become decidedly over, Twilight suggested everyone should retell their encounter with the stallion so that things can be put in order and every one caught up to speed. After that was done they decided to go through the details. “Alright girls,” said twilight, “this is what we’ve got, he met Pinky pie and put on a show so he isn’t trying to hide himself. He then met up with me and asked for books on psychology and physics, so he is likely very intelligent. After that, He saved rainbow dash-” she was then, cut off by said Pegasus. “Hey! He didn’t save me! I was perfectly fine on my own!” she said, clearly distraught with the idea of any one saving her when she could have easily pulled herself out of that fall… right? “Alright Rainbow dash, whatever you say.” Said twilight rolling her eyes a bit and giving an amused smile, Rarity and Pinky pie joining twilight’s teasing with looks of their own. Rainbow dash just crossed her fore hooves with a huff before looking away, likely an attempt to hide her blush… it failed. “Any way,” Continued twilight, “he conveniently caught Rainbow dash before demonstrating above average balance, and hoof-eye coordination. He was able to carry you with ease on his hind legs, so he is likely very strong as well. Also, he knew you had some sort of relation to Gilda, so he likely has some info on our personal lives, this may include family members, friends, and employment.” Rarity perked up at that last bit, and decided to add her two bits. “Oh, definitely. He not only knew about my reputation in the fashion industry, he was also able to accurately gauge the worth of my work at a glance. He clearly has knowledge not only about our work but also enough of an understanding of our chosen careers that he would be able to easily tell if one of us were lying in relation to our chosen source of income, and maybe even be able to obtain information on us based on what we do and how we do it.” she said, a shiver running down every ones spine at the prospect, twilight being reminded of the tingling sensation down hers’ that hadn’t gone away yet. “Right, we need to be careful to keep our families out of danger. However, we can take care of that after this meeting. So next was Rarity’s shop where he revealed that he had knowledge of the elements. Then to Fluttershy’s to drop off an injured squirrel. That’s the last he was seen” “I bet that plot hole hurt that squirrel on purpose just to get close to Fluttershy!” said rainbow dash. Every one turning a bit green at the thought of someone purposefully harming one of Fluttershy’s cute little critters. “Oh, um, actually Rainbow dash, I examined Dive bomb’s injuries after he left and I didn’t see any differences between this one, and the ones he’s gotten in the past. So, in all likely hood, he just injured himself doing the same thing he usually does.” Fluttershy said, trying to stay out of sight behind her mane. Every one gave a sigh of relief. “Well at least he’s not some sadistic ruffian who beets up on poor, defenseless, animals.” Said Rarity putting everyone’s thought’s into words. After this everyone shared a moment of silence thinking about something they could have missed. After a few minutes of this, Pinky pie finally spoke up. “Hey, if he knows where we all live, then was him meeting all of us really a coincidence?” Every one froze at this, all eyes going wide with realization. “Oh my gosh Pinky, your right! If he knew where we lived and wasn’t trying to avoid us, then that means he was purposely seeking us out!” said twilight, the tingling sensation returning with a vengeance. “That’s right! Plus, if we follow the details of each of our stories, he was always headed straight for the next house, he just so happened to meet Pinky pie and rainbow dash on his way!” said Rarity, further increasing the rising sense of panic in the room. “A-actually, b-b-based on how well h-he knows e-each of us, h-he p-p-p-probably k-knew he would run into Pinky and r-rainbow dash along the w-way.” Said Fluttershy, shaking uncontrollably with fear. At this point, the amount of collective force the hearts of everyone in the room was producing, would have been enough to crush a small home... and its shed. A force that was nearly doubled with Pinky's next question. “H-hey, um g-g-girls, w-where’s a-apple j-j-jack?” Everyone in the room stopped... They stopped breathing, thinking, living, everything, it all just... stopped. Only for everyone to spring into action as they all rushed for the door, as soon as everyone was out, twilight took the lead turning her head so her friends could hear her. “Rainbow dash I need you to fly ahead, you’re the fastest one here and can go there and back by the time were half way there. But don’t leave until I’m done speaking to everyone.” “There and back?! No way! I can take this guy myself!” said rainbow dash, flying up beside Twilight before pounding one hoof into the other, ready to beat the feathers off of whoever would dare hurt one of her friends. “No rainbow dash! You said it yourself, He is in excellent physical condition, especially for a unicorn! He has likely had some form of combat training, and we also don’t know how powerful his magic is! It would be best if you go see what’s happening then come back and report so we can be ready for what might be in store!” she said, trying to yell over the wind as it whipped by. Rainbow dash grunted out a “Fine” before settling back into the position above the group she had been flying in before. At her confirmation, Twilight continued with her plan. “Alright, he will likely have already made contact with Applejack by the time we get there! Should that be the case, when we arrive, I’m going to be teleporting us in, I will know where to teleport when rainbow dash reports back! When that’s done, I will be laying a barrier around apple jack! When that happens, Pinky pie I need you to distract him! You too rainbow dash!” both gave a nod of confirmation before she continued. “Rarity, while he’s distracted, I’m going to fill Applejack in as best I can! This is of course under the assumption that Applejack hasn’t been incapacitated! While that’s happening, I need you to start hitting him with spells! Anything will work so long as it’s strong enough to ware down his defenses!” rarity gave a nod of confirmation as well before twilight turned back, this time directing her attention to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I want you to remain a good distance from the fight and if at all possible get in front of him and use the stare! If we can do that we should be able to stop him in his tracks, and be able to capture him! Got it?!” Fluttershy, with the most adorable determined face any one has ever seen, gave her own nod before Twilight turned her attention back to the front. “If Applejack is safe, I’ll have her join the fight with her lasso and her physical strength! However, should she be incapacitated, we will have to continue on without her! I will try to use stun spells and offensive magic, but I have far more of the former versus the latter! And if Applejack should be in a… well… more severe state, I will have to teleport me and her out in order to get her to the hospital!” everyone went quiet for a bit, hoping that that last possibility didn’t come to pass. It stayed like this for a bit before twilight broke the silence one last time. “Everypony ready!?” with every one giving a loud “Yes!” she shouted the words “Move out!” before everyone prepared to do their job. She hadn't realized it, but In her hurry, Twilight had missed two very small but important details, the first was the tingling sensation down her spine decreasing the further away she got from the library. The second was an errant leaf sitting on one of her bookshelves steadily losing it's black and red glow... Author's Note Hey there every one! I was Finally able to get the chapter done! Also, I now have an editor! I didn't want to make you guys wait so I posted this unedited, but once it has been edited, I will switch them out.
9. Look deep into my eyes... (unedited)David David stood there at the entrance to the large farm, a sign above his head held the symbol of a golden apple as it swayed in a slight breeze. He dropped the leaf he had been holding next to his ear before proceeding down the path. It seems I have company incoming. he thought. Oh well, I should get done with time to spare. As he approached the farm house, he noticed a thumping sound coming from deeper in the orchard. After a quick turn of the head he discovered the culprit to be a rather large, red, stallion bucking away at a large apple tree. Oh, Bic Mac! He examined the stallion for a second before a large smile graced his face. Yes, I’m bigger! Now I just need to see whether I’m larger than HIM. While He was distracted by his monologue, Big Mac had turned to see David giving a small hoof pump of victory before making his way over. When David saw this he straightened up and prepared to meet the stallion. “Hello sir,” He said waving a hoof, “Might you be the one in charge of this fine establishment?” Big Mac simply gave a slight shake of his head and an “Ehnope” in response, slightly put off by the sight of a stallion larger than himself. “Ah, I see, then where might that pony be?” David said, His friendly expression never changing. The large stallion simply nodded in the direction of a barn located slightly behind the main farm house. “Thank you kind sir” Said David, giving a small bow. “I shall be on my way.” With that, David turned and made his way to the barn. Leaving the quiet stallion to his work and few errant thoughts, one of them being: He seems nice. The Barn As David entered the barn he caught sight of a rather muscular, orange, mare. She was staking crates of what appeared to be apples while remaining completely oblivious to his presence. Not wanting to starrtle the poor mare, he brought his hoof to his muzzle while clearing his throat. “Hey Mac, can you come here for a sec? I could use some help with-” The mare started in her thick southern accent, thinking the one behind her to be her brother before turning to see the one actually waiting there in the door way. She was surprised by the large stallion at first, as well as slightly enamored by his physique, until he bowed to her and broke the silence “Hello miss, I have heard that the best apples in Equestria reside right here at sweat apple acres. I promised myself that, should I ever get the chance, I would try some for myself. Seeing as how I’m here now, it seems I will not have to break that promise.” She was surprised by his politeness, and figured him to be one of those posh types her friend Rarity might like. She was, however, excited at his interest in her family’s apples. “Never had our apples?! Well shoot, that just t’aint right.” She said as the stallion approached. She turned to the crates to grab an apple for the stallion to try, but immediately stopped when she saw one of the above crates begin to tip. She flinched knowing she couldn’t get out in time, and just sat there with her eyes closed prepared for the worst. Strangely though, it never came. She opened her eyes and looked up surprised to find this new stallion holding them in place with little to no effort at all. She was astonished at his strength, not expecting such a feet to be possible from anything less than a body builder, and especially not from a unicorn. She sat there staring in awe before her cheeks gained a tinge of red when she realized she had a really good view of his chest, stomach, and legs. She watched as the muscles rippled ever so slightly under his coat flexing with the slight strain the crate was providing. It was only when he looked down at her that she noticed she was staring and averted her gaze. Though, she did notice the slight trickle of something down her back leg however… “Are you alright milady?” He said, pushing the crate back into place “Uh… Er… Yeah, thanks stranger.” She said, holding out a hoof which he graciously took before giving a simple “Don’t mention it.” She was still a bit awestruck by the large stallion so she wasn’t focused enough to give him her usual hoof shake, but after a bit more staring and her again averting her gaze, she then perked up when she remembered what she was doing as well as the fact that she hadn’t given him her name. “Oh! Uh… By the way… The names Apple Jack!” she said, a large smile gracing her features as she sat on her haunches and scratched the back of her head with her remaining hoof. He smiled as well and nodded before replying. “Well it’s very nice to meet you miss Apple Jack! Now, back to the topic at hand…” They broke the shake as he finished his statement, Apple Jack once again turning around to grab an apple, this time being careful not to disturb the higher crates. When she had her prize, she turned back to the stallion hoofing him a large red apple. “Here you go partner, one apple straight from sweet apple acres. Consider it thanks for saving me back there.” He took the apple and nodded with a “thanks” before taking the apple into his hoof and bringing it to his muzzle for the first bite. As his teeth sank in and the apple juices met his tongue, his eyes widened (well not really, but you get the idea) in wonder at the magnificent flavor produced by this apple, a flavor he would never be able to find back on earth. “Apple Jack, these apples are amazing!” he said, before taking another bite. “Awe shucks, they aint that special.” She replied, her blush returning with a vengeance as she began to scratch her head again in embarrassment. “No, Apple Jack, you don’t understand-” He said, grabbing her forelegs and bringing her face to his, there muzzles mere centimeters apart “-your apples are-” he got a bit closer and opened his eyes looking deep into hers. “Amazing.” … … … He had expected many things to happen at this point. He expected her to do the same as Rainbow Dash and get flustered. He expected her to push him away and try to shrug it off. Hell, he even thought there was a chance that she might try to lean in for a kiss, one that he would turn away from and play off as if it didn’t happen. He did not, however, expect her to fall to the ground in a rather uncharacteristic blood curdling scream. After she fell, she backed away as fast as she could in her prone position, never looking away from him, even after she hit the wall. She stared on in some unseen horror, confusing David to no end. After he went over what happened again in his head he realized what had caused her such duress. My eyes… He brought his eyes back to their almost closed state, to which Apple Jack immediately responded by averting her gaze and curling into a fetal position. David was about to try and salvage the situation when he was interrupted by a flash of magic. When his vision cleared, he saw twilight standing there with a barrier around apple jack and herself. He knew that it was time for him to pull out (don’t make it dirty you sickos) but was distracted when he got hit over the head by a flying Pegasus. He looked around and took note of all of their positions before figuring out what was going on. “Oh-my Ms. Sparkle, very well done, I must say I’m quite impressed with this plan you’ve come up with.” Rainbow Dash began to do fly by attacks that did little more than give him small bruises at most, “Knowing that I am a unicorn and can’t fly, you have used rainbow dash to out maneuver me and limit my movements.” He easily dodged the remainder of her attacks before he noticed her gaining some distance, he looked behind him with just enough time to side step the concentrated blast of confetti from the pink pony’s party canon. “Then, because it is impossible to fully understand Pinky’s ability to seemingly ignore the laws of physics, you are using her to support rainbow dash in drawing my attention by both confusing me and giving me a target that’s near impossible to hit.” At this point he was dodging some rubber throwing chickens as well as the occasional frying pan “Rarity will try to cause as much damage as she can while the other two make sure I can’t hit her.” He then began dodging the occasional magic bolt that was fired in his direction all the while dodging everything else coming his way. All of the ponies present were flabbergasted that he was not only dodging everything but doing it easily, he looked more like he was dancing then fighting “You will make sure Apple Jack is ok before taking action yourself, and Fluttershy-” He stopped as he saw Fluttershy, her eyes were focused solely on him and he felt her power begin to take hold. At first he was going to let himself lose, but he noticed that as his feelings began to be overwhelmed with guilt as he felt immense disappointment radiate off of Fluttershy, something began to push back. He felt his eyes try to force themselves open, all the while, he did his best to keep that from happening, for should she see his eyes, she would likely be scarred for life. At this point every pony had stopped, confident they had won, only to become extremely worried when a red and black mist began to rise off of his body as a very solemn expression took over his features, something Fluttershy had yet to notice. “Fluttershy, stop.” He said, all the playfulness in his voice gone, becoming very dark and frightening. “No, you hurt my friend!” She said, yelling as best she could with her meek voice, her stare intensifying, prompting him to try harder to keep his eyes closed. “Fluttershy, please, you need to stop now! Besides, I didn’t hurt Apple Jack, she’s just incapacitated.” He said, talking a bit faster as he became more frantic to free himself. “That’s still inexcusable! Whatever you did clearly had a negative effect on her, now what do you have to say for yourself!” She said, not letting up in the slightest. At this point he was desperate, so he did the only thing he could do. In one swift movement, he brought up his right foreleg and “punched” the inside of the other effectively dislocating it, causing him to drop onto his face, giving a loud grunt of pain. This broke Fluttershy’s concentration causing her to flinch at the scene before her only to look on in surprise, along with every pony else, as he stood back up and reset the joint back into its socket. They all sat there staring at the hunched over stallion before he suddenly turned to twilight anger clear on his face. “Twilight Sparkle! What in Celestia’s name do you think you’re doing!?” He said, every pony still too scared or confused to move. “W-what do you-” she started, but was cut off as he again began to unleash his vocal rage. “Do you have any idea what you could have done, what could have happened because of you!?” As he spoke, he began to get closer to her and her downed friend. When she noted this she immediately strengthened her barrier to maximum power. He responded by blasting it with a shot of magic destroying it instantly while he continued walking, not even putting a stutter in his step. “You know full well that ‘The Stare’ Is NEVER supposed to be used on another sentient creature! And yet you had her do it anyway!” At this point, he had her on retreat trying her best to distance herself from him without looking away from him. “B-but it was our only chance, a-and I didn’t think it would affect you that-” She hit the barn wall and stopped, he closed the distance easily forcing to look up at the most terrifying face she had seen since Celestia when she was angry. “If that had been used on a lesser pony, they could have quite possibly lost their mind and been reduced to rocking back and forth in the corner of a padded cell saying ‘I’m sorry’ over and over again for the rest of their life. And even thought that didn’t happen to me, if I hadn’t done what I did, Fluttershy, your friend, would be in just as bad of a position, if not worse, than Apple Jack.” He stayed there looking down on the cowering pony for just a few more seconds before turning away and heading back to the center of the group he saw that they were all in rather bad shape after exerting themselves so much, even Pinky pie was sagging a bit. He gave a deep sigh before looking around to the gathered ponies. “Well, I can’t say this is my ideal way to leave you all, but I guess it can’t be helped.” It was just then that Twilight realized what he was saying and began to sprint towards him. With one last “Ta-ta!” A black and red pool of darkness seemed to erupt out of the floor, and just before twilight could reach him, he stepped in and disappeared. Author's Note Hope you all enjoy!
10. Aliens... (unedited)Twilight Twilight and the others reached the library 30 minutes after leaving the orchard, twilight went inside, her friends slowly following after, as she called out for spike. He came rushing down the stairs, excitement clear on his face, before stopping a worried expression taking over his features at the sight of the down trodden faces of every pony present. Unsure what to do, he decided his best option was to go assist his snow white princess any way she needed. Twilight turned to Apple Jack, said mare being the last to enter. “Are you sure you’re alright Apple Jack?” She said, clearly concerned for her friend. “I told y’all I’m fine twilight, I just… *sigh* I don’t want to talk about it right now.” The orange mare said, her body almost sagging at the exhaustion from the previous events. Twilight wasn’t convinced, after all, it wasn’t very often she saw Apple Jack this tired. But she knew how stubborn her friend could be and decided to leave her alone for now. Looking around, she saw that every other pony (and dragon) in the room had found a spot and settled down, she was racking her brain trying to come up with what to say before Spike, who was currently brushing Rarity’s mane, per her request, spoke up. “So… what happened? Judging by your looks I’m guessing it didn’t go too well.” He said, his concern giving way to curiosity when he saw no one had been seriously injured. “Didn’t go to well?! He kicked our flanks!” Said Rainbow Dash. Clearly upset by their apparent defeat. “I hate to say it, but Rainbow Dash is right. We couldn’t land a single hit on him, and it’s evident that he is quite strong, after all, he blew through your barrier like it was nothing.” Said Rarity, gesturing to Twilight with a hoof. “Not just the barrier, remember how he got out of the stair?” said Pinky Pie, her hair having darkened and lost much of its volume. “Indeed!” Said Rarity, “What sort of barbarian dislocates his own leg just to escape?!” “It m-must have r-really h-hurt.” Said Fluttershy, slightly shaken from the disturbing memory. “Well, there’s no point sulking,” Said Twilight, determination clear on her face. “Right now we need to learn from our failures and move on. Spike, take a letter!” As Spike pulled out his scroll and quill, he suddenly belched out a letter which twilight quickly caught in her magic before unrolling it and reading aloud. “Dear Twilight Sparkle, I have something urgent to talk to you and the other elements about. Pleas Board the next train to Canterlot as soon as possible, the guards will be expecting you… Oh my gosh, this is perfect! We can go to Canterlot and tell the Princess directly about this strange stallion! I’m sure she’ll know what to do! Come on girls!” With a nod from those in the room they all stood and ran to the train station. Canterlot Palace Celestia put the letter down and immediately informed her guards to prepare to receive the elements. She didn’t know what they wanted to talk about, but it sounded urgent. She had been confused by the lack of a signature, but she knew how distracted her student could get. As she waited, she also sent for her sister who arrived a few minutes later. Luna had been taking her turn for lunch, the result of a special schedule they had set up upon Luna’s return, making it so that they would each go to breakfast, then court, where they would listen to the concerns and petitions of their citizens for a few hours, then, when the time came, Celestia would take her lunch turn, followed by Luna on Celestia’s return, after she returned they would each continue until it was time to close court for the day, have dinner, and go to bed. This made it possible to have at least one princess in court at all times. The court was open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Exceptions were, of course, made for emergencies. “What is it sister? Is something wrong?” Asked Luna, confused by her sudden summoning. She even still had some crumbs on her muzzle. “I apologize for cutting your meal short, but it seems the elements have something important to speak to us about. They’ll be arriving shortly.” Celestia replied, suppressing a giggle at Luna’s messy face. The two sat and waited for a few minutes, during witch Luna cleaned the crumbs of her face, before a guard walked in to inform them of the elements arrival, the princess bid him let them in before being greeted by the site of her loving student. “Princess Celestia! It’s so good to see you.” Said Twilight, rushing to embrace her teacher, who had already stood in anticipation of this. “It is good to see you too Twilight.” Said Celestia gladly accepting the small hug. “So,” Said Twilight, a curious expression on her face. “What did you need to talk to us about?” This time, it was Celestia’s turn to be confused. “What do you mean? It was my understanding that you needed to talk to us.” At Celestia’s words Twilight’s confusion grew, along with a new feeling of dread. “B-but your letter.” “Twilight, I never sent a letter. It was I who received one from you.” Celestia levitated the letter and brought it before her. “What?!” Said Twilight, she immediately took the letter in her magic and began to read aloud. “Dear Princess Celestia, I humbly request an audience at your earliest convenience, the elements and I have very urgent business to discuss with you. We will be aboard the next train to Canterlot and should arrive within the hour… Princess I didn’t wright this!” The princess put a hoof to her chin in thought. “But… if you didn’t wright this… and neither I nor Luna wrote to you… then…” Suddenly, the castle began to shake before the shaking faded just as quickly as it had come. “Wowy-zowy, what was that?” Said Pinky Pie, picking herself off the floor after her brief fit of vibration caused by the shaking. After every pony was done looking to each other in confusion, all eyes turned to Celestia who had a look of fear plastered across her face. “No… no, how can this be?!” “W-what is it princess?” Twilight had never seen her teacher this frightened before. Celestia’s managed to calm herself before sitting down and massaging her temple. “After Luna’s banishment, many ponies thought me weak enough to be defeated without my sister’s assistance. I found myself defending myself from would-be assassins on a near daily basis. After the 42nd attempt on my life, I grew tired of the small fights so I put up a barrier I believed no pony could possibly could get through, it consisted of 20 layers all compressed together to make one solid and near impenetrable barrier.” “I don’t think I like the sound of ‘believed’ and ‘near’.” Said Rainbow Dash. “Correct Ms. Dash, there have been a few who have found a way to slip through the barrier, but they have never gotten very far. Whoever just passed through however, has just destroyed it with a single attack and walked through the front door.” Sweat was visible upon Celestia’s face, the only being she knew of (who was still alive) strong enough to outright break the barrier was discord and he didn’t need to when he could easily slip through unnoticed with his chaos magic. Which he had done several times since his reformation to pull pranks. Every pony’s eyes went wide at this new information, surprised that anyone had enough power to go through one of Celestia’s barriers. Once they all got over the shock, they all got into a battle stance ready to face whoever came through the front door. David As I came in the door I noticed that the princesses and elements were all staring at the front door looking ready to kill the next thing to come through. ‘Seriously? What idiot walks in the front door? Sure I walked through the main gate but that’s only because I knew I would be fine until the throne room.’ As He sat there observing the situation a brilliant idea came to mind. ‘This will be difficult. I’m going to have to channel all of my inner pinkie for this…’ Throne Room Pinky pie had been at the back of the group when they had gotten into position, so it was there she had decided to stay. She was more than ready for whatever big, bad, bully of a beast may come through those two giant doors. Her and her party cannon that is. *crunch munch crunch munch*“So, what are we waiting for?” said a hushed voice beside her. “We’re waiting for you to come through the big doors, duh.” she replied, not even sparing a glance at this new pony. “Ah, I see.” *sluuuuuurp* “You think I’ll come through any time soon?” “How should I know, you’re the one coming through the door.” “Ah yes, quite right.” *nom nom nom* “Cupcake?” Pinky’s eyes widened with excitement “Oh my gosh, YES!” As she turned to receive said cupcake, she screamed, smacking the hoof that had been holding the small confection in the process. Rainbow dash, having enough of the antics of the two ponies at the back of the group, turned to berate the goof balls. “Would you two stop messing around?! We are supposed to be ready for-” Confused by the commotion, and their friend’s abrupt stop, every pony present turned to see what was going on only to have their faces shift to match the shocked expression of their rainbow mained friend… absolute shock. What they saw before them was pinky siting on her rump eyes wide as she stared at none other than the very stallion who had been causing them so much grief, sitting on a lawn chair eating a bag of popcorn and sipping a soda, a cupcake splattered on the ground being the only thing separating the two. He had taken a second to stop and rub his hoof due to the pain of pinky slapping it in shock. “Ms. Pie, that was quite rude…” he said before finally looking away from the pink mare to the rest of the assembled ponies. “… Guten Tag!” This seemed to brake the ponies from their shock all of the elements immediately taking action, getting into position and ready to fight. The stallion never flinched, and his smile never wavered. Before anything could happen the princesses came up behind the ponies Celestia walking up beside her pupal and resting a hoof on her withers. Once the tension had been defused, she looked to the new addition before speaking to her student, never taking her eyes off the new face. ”Twilight, who is he?” “He showed up today out of nowhere, he knows pinkie’s full name, he knew mine and Fluttershy’s names without us telling him, he knows about rainbows friendship with Gilda, and he knows about the elements. Not only that, he attacked Applejack!” When her student was finished, she cleared her throat and, in an even, neutral tone, began to speak. “Tell me sir, is what she said true?” “For the most part.” “And should I assume you are also the one who sent the letters?” “Mm-hm.” “And I assume you are the intruder who has broken into my castle and destroyed my barrier.” “The one and only.” “So… tell us sir, who do we have the honor of receiving in our home?” “I’m afraid the who will have to wait a bit. But I believe you’ll find the what far more interesting.” “Oh?” “Indeed, after all it’s not every day you meet an alien.” Author's Note sorry this took so long guys, but hopefully I wont hit a lull like that again during the coarse of the story. I had some shit going on, along with the broken computer and stuff. time to start work on the next chapter!
11. The Gang's All Here (unedited)Canterlot Palace “Hahuhahahahehehehe”*gasp*”HAHAhahahaha…” Rainbow dash had been going on like this for a full minute, every pony else was either looking at her or still looking at the stallion with looks of shock on their faces. It wasn’t until the end of a third minute that the laughing Pegasus finally ended her cackling. “Hehehe-aaahhh… that’s rich, you honestly expect us to believe your some visitor from outer space? That has got to be the FUNIEST thing I have ever heard.” The stallion gave a small chuckle in response before speaking up. “Of course not Dashy. When I say ‘alien’ that doesn’t necessarily mean extraterrestrial.” This only seemed to confuse her. “Extraterr-what now?” He gestured to Twilight turning Dash and a few other’s attention to her. Understanding what this meant she gained an annoyed expression before explaining. “If something is extraterrestrial, it means it’s from outer space.” “So he’s saying he’s not from space?” inquired the cyan mare. “Indeed Ms. Dash, the term ‘alien’ simply refers to something that is in an environment it is not accustomed to. I could just be a pony from outside Equestria for all you know.” It was at this point Luna decided to speak up. “But you’re not, are you.” She said, more of a statement than a question. “What do you mean Luna?” Celestia said, looking to her sister. “His aura, it is strange, not right.” Said Luna, her discerning gaze never leaving him. Rainbow dash sighed from her spot above the group before throwing up her hooves in exasperation. “Why can’t anyone speak equish around here?!” Luna sighed before looking to the rest of his group. “As the princess of the night it is our-my duty to protect the dreams of all of our little ponies. This gives us-me a deeper connection the spirit of others since… I have to connect to their spirits in order to see their dreams. Over the years I have developed the ability to see the aura produced by those around me. Each one a different color or shape, but all-in-all they always had the same general feel to them. Even Sambra when we faced him was normal, more potent sure, corrupted by dark magic definitely, but still it had that same feeling. Him though… He is different.” At this point she turned back to the mysterious stallion, her face making it very clear that she did not believe this was “a good kind of different.” The stallion chuckled again before addressing his audience with a fake pout. “Oh princess! You wound me! Or at least you would have, if you were wrong.” Twilight blanched at his words. “So you are from space?!” He chuckled again (that was really starting to annoy her) before speaking. “Oh no, I can assure you I have not come from the stars. But to say I’m otherworldly would not be incorrect.” Celestia sighed. “He’s almost as bad as Starswirl…” she mumbled, shaking her head. “Why thank you.” He said teasingly. “Enough games, explain yourself!” said Luna, finally losing her temper. He smiled. “Oh come now, it can’t be that difficult to figure out. Try thinking about it using the plains of existence as a reference point, these being time and space. I came from another world so me traveling here through space makes sense. However, I have already said this is incorrect. So what about time? Sure, I would be out of place and an alien in a time that was not my own, but if I was from another time, I would still be of this world. So neither one works by themselves, and even together it doesn’t make sense because, again, even if I’m from another point in time and space, that still means I would have to be from somewhere in this universe, and since I’m not from anywhere else in the universe, and I’m not from here…” He trailed off, gesturing to twilight in hopes she might be able to finish the explanation. The purple mare took on a contemplative expression before speaking. “Well… that would mean that you’d have to be from another universe, but the universe makes up everything in this reality, so in order to be from another universe, you’d also have to be from… another… reality-” Her eyes widened when she realized what he was saying. Pinky Pie decided to speak up at this point, a broad smile on her face. “Oh, I get it! You’re from a different dimension that’s similar to the one Twilight went to except it’s not parallel to ours anditsfilledwithwarandcrimeandotherbadstuffandyouhavethisthingthatletsyouseewhatwevebeenuptoandwehaveareallybigfanbase-” she was cut off by a hoof placed in her mouth by twilight. “Pinky, I don’t know half of what you said, but I KNOW there is no possible way that any of that could be anywhere near-” Only for her to be cut off as well. “Correct.” He stated matter of factly. Twilight whipped her head around, a baffled expression on her face. “Wha?” “It’s just as I said, pinky pie is absolutely, 100%, without a doubt… correct” Her eye twitched again as she turned to pinky who looked really happy at her apparent victory. “YAY... what did I get correct?” Everyone present, baring the stallion, Pinky Pie, and Princess Celestia, face hoofed. Twilight managed to get over her exasperation rather quickly but could still feel her developing head ache quite well “So you’re from the same mirror dimension as Sunset Shimmer?” “You really must learn to listen to your friends better Twilight, pinky already answered that question.” He said giving twilight a look of faux disappointment. She went to reply before suddenly she was interrupted by some wicked laughter, everyone was confused for a second before the stallion spoke up “Ah, Discord, you’re late.” Everyone looked to the stallion, once again shocked by the knowledge he seemed to possess. Discord took this moment to materialize himself next to the group still chuckling slightly. “Hehe… oh man, he’s got you girls wrapped around his hooves.” Celestia stepped toward Discord a look of confusion on her face. “Discord? What are you doing here, I thought we agreed that it would be best if you don’t show yourself in front of the public?” “I invited him.” The stallion replied for him. “What do you mean you invited him?! Most ponies don’t know discord is free, and besides that, we have yet to develop a way to contact discord in the first place!” said twilight. She swore this pony was going to give her an aneurism. “I mean what I said Twilight, cause a little mayhem and it’s a simple matter to summon the being of chaos.” “THAT- is a really good point…” said twilight, slightly blushing in embarrassment for not having thought of that herself. “But that doesn’t explain how you knew about him!” “In due time Twilight, although again, pinky already answered that.” He said turning to the front door expectantly. She growled again before noticing where he was looking. “What is he up to now?” she said mostly to herself. She jumped when she herd discord, who was lounging lazily in the air behind her, reply to her comment. “Well, if I had to guess, I’d say he’s waiting for the last guests to arrive.” Every pony having heard this looked to discord in confusion before turning to the door. After a minute or two of waiting, what sounded like frantic hoof steps galloping down the hall could be heard from the door. It got louder and louder before eventually the door burst open revealing two very unexpected ponies. “Cadence? Shining armor?! What are you two doing here? I thought you were in the Chrystal empire.” said twilight unsure whether she was more exited or confused. Shining armor stepped forward before replying. “We got a message stating that the princesses had urgent information for us in Canterlot, we used that 'magic circle' thing, they included to teleport halfway, then, after getting most of the way here, we teleported to the castle entrance before running here as fast as possible. So, what did you need to talk to us about princesses?” Before anyone could reply the stallion cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “I’d like to point out that never in my letter did I say it was from the princesses.” This caused everyone to look to him in shock, except discord who was just floating there chuckling. “Well, now that everyone’s here, I believe it’s about time I introduce myself.” This made everyone present, baring cadence and shining who were moving to sit next to the rest of the group, look to him expectantly wondering if he really was finally going to reveal his true identity. Somehow he had materialized an old, wooden, podium out of nowhere which he sat behind, resting his fore hooves on it before clearing his throat and taking on a very solemn expression. “Hello… my name… is David Alexanders… and I’m an Alien.” No one knew how, and apparently no one cared, but somehow some old metal folding chares had materialized out of nowhere as well, and each of those assembled had been placed in one in a semicircle around the podium. Everyone present looked up to him and gave a murmur of “Hi David.” Before this ridiculousness could go on. Twilight stood up, knocking over her chair in the proses, and yelled “that’s it!” before firing a spell at the podium, blasting it to splinters, When the dust settled, so to speak, David was standing there with a face that could freeze fire, a fact everyone but twilight seemed to notice. “If you don’t get serious and give us a straight answer, I’ll-” She was cut off by David whose happy tone was gone, replaced by one that perfectly matched his new expression. “You’ll what?” he said, the question clearly being rhetorical. “You’ll hurt me? Arrest me? Kill me?” everyone flinched at the “k” word, not used to such a thing being brought up commonly. “Twilight you don’t have the resolve to attack me, let alone the power or strength to succeed even if you did. Your week Twilight, all of you element bearers are.” He turned to the rest of the group, nearly brushing his nose across twilight’s own since she had moved forward in her outburst, and he had done the same each second after since he started talking, only stopping once he was a few millimeters away from her face. “You have survived up to now based on pure luck! If you were ever to face an enemy who knew your weakness your lives would be over before you know it.” Finally rainbow dash had had enough of the insults. “That’s it! Nobody calls me week! And nobody insults MY FRIENDS!” she flew faster than most ponies possibly could, headed straight for the fool who would dare talk bad about those she cared about. Just before she made contact, h swept his body to the left to where his body was perpendicular with hers. She zipped passed him at high speed and was going to try and put some distance between him and herself but before she could even get a foot away, she felt something grab her tail. She gave a yelp as she was pulled backwards, the force of having her tail yanked on causing pain to shoot up her spine. She felt herself elevate a bit as she watched the world flip before being slammed back-first onto the marble floor knocking the wind out of her. As she struggled trying to catch her breath and reorient herself, she felt a hoof rest on her collar bone followed by the tip being pressed against her throat. No one could believe what they saw. In the span of only a few seconds, rainbow had charged this strange new pony who was apparently named David, only for him to dodge her and catch her tail with his BARE HOOF in an impressive display of strength and reflexes which should be near IMOSSIBLE, before flinging her over his shoulder, slamming her on the ground in the process, before quickly sliding his hoof into place on her throat. Before anyone could process what had just happened David spoke up. “I could kill you right now rainbow dash, just a little pressure, just enough to crush your wind pipe and you’d sit here squirming under me until finally you’d suffocate from lack of oxygen. Or, if I wanted to make your death painful, I could collapse your ribs, crushing your heart and lungs under the weight of my hooves. So many choices…” at this point he removed his hoof from her throat. Twilight took this opportunity to teleport to rainbow dash before teleporting out again with her. Rainbow dash was on the ground coughing while all other ponies looked to the stallion in either horror or anger. Even discord looked displeased. Shining armor stepped forward this time, his face locked into neutral expression with a clear undertone of hatred. “I don’t know who you think you are, but what you just did was assault, not to mention you threatened her life, I suggest you leave now before I’m forced to take action.” David chuckled before pointing a hoof at rainbow dash “if you arrest me you’ll have to arrest her too, I may have used excessive force, but she attacked first, I was merely defending myself.” Shining ground his teeth in agitation, mostly because he knew that this “David” character was right, he couldn’t go after one without going after the other. It was against his oath as a guard. They all stood there in silence, all eyes on the pony who had caused so much trouble, none of the looks he was getting were good. After a minute or two of this David gave out a deep sigh before scratching the back of his head. “Well, this isn’t going as good as I had hoped.” “How good did you expect this to go?! First you attack applejack, then you hurt Rainbow dash! What were you expecting?” said twilight, snapping at him with as much anger as she could muster. He sighed again before replying “thanks for bringing that up twilight, I really need to take care of that.” She looked confused for a second before her look shifted to that of surprise, along with the faces of a few others present as once again he seemed to just walk into a shadow. He looked as if he was walking down a flight of stairs with his front half sinking into what was originally his own shadow before being followed by his rear. Once he was all the way threw, the large blob of dark space that was his shadow shrank smaller and smaller until it disappeared all together everyone was wondering where he had gone when they suddenly heard applejack scream. All eyes turned to find him coming out of her shadow. Before anyone could react to try to protect the farm pony from this dangerous stallion he swiftly collapsed his front hooves, brought them in front of him, and went into a deep bow in front of the orange farm pony. Everyone sat there confused while applejack, who was far from over her first encounter with the stallion, looked like she was afraid he might kill her any moment. They just sat there in silence for a few seconds slowly apple jack calmed down little by little only to flinch a bit once he began to speak. “Applejack, owner of Sweet Apple Acers, and bearer of the element of honesty… I’m sorry.” This threw everyone for a loop, of all the things he could have done none of them expected this. “I was not aware of my ability when I first met you, if I had known showing my eyes to you would do that to you I never would have done It.” his tone remained neutral throughout his apology leaving applejack and everyone quiet. It was silent for a few seconds before applejack gave her response. “I-I…I accept your apology.” All her friends and Luna looked to her in surprise, while Celestia had a curious look on her face and discord just looked entertained. “I don’t completely trust you, but I can tell your being honest, so I accept.” David stood up with a small smile on his face. “I AM upset about you harming rainbow dash though, based on what happened back at the barn I’m fairly certain you could have stopped her in a much safer way than you did.” He sighed again “you’re right, I could have-” He turned to said blue Pegasus, “-and I am sorry for hurting you, but what happened just now is proof enough that I’m right. All’s it takes is an enemy taking out ONE of you and that leaves the power of the element useless, and as things stand, that wouldn’t be a difficult task.” He shifted his attention to Celestia “I understand you want to let them live normal care free lives, but the fact of the matter is that these six mares ARE your most powerful, and reliable, defense against any threat to Equestria. Defensive measures MUST be taken.” Rainbow dash huffed before commenting. “Please, like we need some stuffy military types watching our every move.” To everyone’s, except David’s, surprise twilight was the one to speak up. “No Dash, as much as I hate to say it, he’s right. He took you down like you were nothing, not to mention what happened in the barn. And that’s ONE guy, what if we faced an army of ponies that were JUST as strong and skilled as him? What if an enemy were able to infiltrate Ponyville and get one of us alone… I don’t know what I would do if I lost any of you girls.” Tears welled in her eyes threatening to spill over as she sat there sniffling trying to push the thought of a world without one of her friends from her mind. She was in this state for only a few seconds before she felt the warmth of another body pressed against her followed shortly by another, and another, and another. By the time she looked up to see what was going on she found that she was surrounded on all sides by her teary eyed friends hugging her in a warm embrace. “Don’t you worry sugar cube,” said apple jack. “We aint going anywhere.” The flood gates finally broke as twilight began to cry feeling lucky to have friends like them. Discord watched the touching moment while pointing down his throat making gagging noises, Luna had a few tears of her own, Celestia had a serene proud smile, but she had noticed something no one else had, as she watched she had taken a moment to glance to her left where “David” had taken up position after appearing behind applejack, what she saw made her curious. There was David as he had been before but his face had changed from his hard determination back to a smile, but this one was not the confident happy one he had had when he first got here. This one was small, content, but beyond that it seemed almost… melancholy, it had a deep sadness to it and, from what she could tell, a bit of envy. She gained a thoughtful look before giving a small nod resolving something within her before looking back to her student and her friends with her previous smile. The hug session continued for a few minutes before all the girls calmed down and separated giving each other meaningful looks as they did. As everything finished calming down David cleared his throat to get every ones attention before speaking up. “So now that that’s all cleared up, I think it’s about time we get down to business, for starters, my unexplained knowledge…” Author's Note again sorry for the amount of time it took to get this out, for a long time, I couldn't find the flash-drive that this was on, as well as other crap IRL. any way, here you go, let's hope luck is on my side in the future so this doesn't happen again.
12. Dude, That's So Metta...(unedited)Canterlot Palace David spent the next hour or so explaining to the gathered ponies how they were little more than a work of fiction in his world, needless to say they were… skeptical. “So, let me get this straight” said twilight “where you come from, thousands of people watch us through a piece of technology called a ‘tell-o-vision’ as we live out our lives and go on adventures, but it’s all a work of fiction?” She had a deep frown telling me how little she believed the story, as well as how much she approved of the idea of her and her friends having their lives watched. “It’s absolutely true, it didn't show anything indecent, but I do know about you all, most of your immediate family, the threats to Equestria, the princesses, your pets, the crusaders, I can name a good portion of the apple family… I may even be able to tell you about some things you yourselves don’t know~” David said, mischief clear in his voice, especially for the last sentence. Celestia spoke up quickly “such as?” David smiled “the river serpent Rarity gave her tail to when you girls first met? His name is Steven Magnet, he is a good friend of Ponyville’s resident donkey, Cranky Doodle.” “WHAT?!” Pinky seemed quite surprised by this fact based on her sheer volume. After her friends recovered from her shout, they all took on surprised expressions as well. “Indeed, I hadn’t seen it coming either” Said David “of course if you don’t believe me you can go ask one of them yourselves, after we’re done here of course.” “Anything else? That hardly proves your words. This information could be acquired simply by speaking to either of the two parties mentioned.” Said Luna still very suspicious. “Oh? Then how about this? I can tell you exactly how each of you were corrupted by discord, down to the smallest detail.” This made everyone’s eyes widen, Discord’s especially, who, while being decidedly embarrassed, was even more so exceedingly furious. “No way! We haven’t even tolled each OTHER that, how could YOU possibly know?” This time it was Rainbow Dash who spoke. “I couldn’t, not unless I’m telling the truth, or at the very least, something close to it.” David said with a grin. “shall I tell you?” All of them went quiet, deep in thought as most of them tried to decide if they wanted to relive one of the worst blunders their friendship had ever faced. A certain draconequus hoping the answer would be no. After a few minutes of silent deliberation, Apple Jack decided to step forward. “do it.” The others looked like they wanted to say something but she turned to answer their concerns before they could voice them. “We need to know for sure whether what he’s saying is true, besides, I’m sure we would’a told each other eventually, but we’ve definitely put it off longer than we should’a, this’ll just speed things along some…” she wore a sad smile when she was finished, clearly not looking forward to this any more than any of the others. Twilight smiled back at her friend as she stepped forward and rest her hoof on the farm mare’s shoulder, she looked back to David with a look of determination. “we’re ready.” The others present, barring Discord, nodded in agreement. “Very well~” He proceeded to tell all about the events that led to Discord’s second defeat and subsequent imprisonment. As he told the story, the girls could be seen with shame clear on their face, having forsaken their friends for even a second was the greatest mistake they could have ever made in their eyes. However, every time one of the friends started to feel down, the other element bearers would come to support them. All their friends received this treatment, except perhaps the one who needed it most… As David finished his story, all of the girls came together in a quick embrace, feeling an even greater bond then they had before. As they embraced, he caught site of the being of chaos fading out of the room from the back of the group, a look of depression he recognized all too well being the last he saw of him. ‘they have so much to learn…’he thought before coughing into his hoof to gain their attention. “glad to see you’re all chummy but am I correct in assuming that you all believe me now?” “For now,” twilight said with a glare. “but what does that mean for us? Are we just supposed to accept that we’re the product of somebody else’s imagination?” “Oh, heavens no” answered David “the very fact that I have made it to this dimension PROOVES that this is reality.” Those gathered looked confused, including the princesses. “Here, let’s think of it this way, Twilight, what is the current belief regarding multidimensional theory?” “Well, it mostly consists of the thought that for every action we perform or decision we make, a myriad of dimensions are born that are the representations of the different possible outcomes of those events.” She said knowledgably. “Precisely, we have a similar theory, however we also have may variations of the theory including one that includes the realm of imagination.” Again, confused looks. David rolled his eyes “Basically it alters the theory slightly to include works of fiction and other such imaginary worlds. Saying that by merely having a thought, letting your imagination run wild, a world can be born. The more you think about it, the more it comes to life. There’s also another version of this theory that says that any time we imagine something it’s not actually an original idea, it’s the result of two realities passing close to each other and influencing each other just slightly.” He looked to them all hopefully, but, despite their minor understanding, they were all still quite lost. He sighed “long story short, whether this world is the result of someone else’s imagination, or if your world, or rather, some version of your world, influenced ours in the form of a tv show, it doesn’t mean that this isn’t reality, no matter how your world, or even mine, came into existence, they are still our worlds, our lives to live…” Pinky pie was the first to speak “huh, I never thought of it like that…” she, and everyone else sat there with thoughtful expressions before eventually David broke the silence. “Yes well, now that we’ve got the philosophical questions out of the way, we can get to the main event.” He clopped his front hooves and rubbed them against each other in anticipation. “You mean that wasn’t it?” said rainbow dash “Not in the slightest” he said chuckling. “surly you all are wondering how I got here, and what my plans are, are you not?” “Well yes, but we didn’t think you would give us that information willingly.” Said Rarity. “As opposed to unwillingly?~” David said teasingly. Rarity blushed and began fumbling with her words “oh, um, that’s not what I meant I can assure you…” “Why Rarity, if you wanted to tie me up and punish me, you could have just asked~” He chided Her lips locked themselves shut as her normally pearlescent white fur turned bright red, along with the faces of a few others in the room, princes Celestia included. “what? What is wrong with you all?” said Luna, a confused look on her face. “It’s one of those ‘modern concepts’ Luna, I’ll tell you about it later…” Celestia’s color brightened as she alleviated her sisters curiosity, however temporary. She was certainly not looking forward to that conversation. She turned to David with a cough before returning to the stern look she had been holding during most of this confrontation. “well, since you claim to be SO forthcoming, what exactly ARE your plans?” David held up his hoof “Ah ah, not so fast princess. I have some other things to go over first, such as this!” He said as he pulled out a piece of animal hide. The element bearers looked disgusted while the princesses just looked curious. “What’s that?” said Luna “Animal hide” he said with a smile, Luna was unamused. “Yes, but what KIND of animal hide? And for what purpose?” “I’m so glad you asked!” He said before holding it up to be viewed by everyone. “this is 100%, genuine dragon leather.” “Where in Equestria did you get that?” said twilight. “Royal vault.” He answered simply. “So you broke into the royal vault and stole an extremely valuable material at risk of being arrested the moment you showed it to us… why?” Celestia wasn’t amused either evidently. “What’s one or two rare materials when you get to learn a lost magic right?” he said as he pulled out a corked jar with a glowing green fire in it. “Hey! That’s mine!” said spike, pointing to the glass container. “What a very astute observation spike.” Said David with a light chuckle as he swirld the jar around, this causing the flames inside to dance about hypnotically. “Well at least we know how he hijacked our letter system now” said Celestia, seeming almost more curios or impressed than angry. “I’m sorry, did you say lost magic?!” said Twilight, her curiosity bleeding through her suspicion. “Indeed, specifically, a technique for making a magic contract.” He said as he lifted the bottle and hide in his magic. “I’m going to need a small donation from two of you, a scale and tear from spike, and a feather from Celestia.” “And why should we go along with this?” said the solar monarch. “oh relax Celestia, this won’t affect any of you, this contract will serve as a bonding experience between myself and those who are in this room. No one will come to any harm… besides more than a small prick.” He emphasized this point by using his magic to lightly tug on one of her feathers. Not hard enough to hurt her or remove the feather, but enough to be uncomfortable and get the point across. “as for the technical reasons, I need items imbued with natural magic to serv as components in making the contract. What has more magic than an alicorn?” he said with a grin. “yeah, well, good luck getting a tear out of me! I’ll have you know I’m a hardened warrior! There isn’t anything you could do to make me-OUCH!” Spike was cut off as he had a small scale on the back of his head plucked off by David’s magic. He held the back of his head as a single tear rolled down his cheek only to be caught by the mystery pony as well. “two down one to go.” David uncorked the bottle and held the scale over the flames that were now lapping hat the entrance to the container. It began to burn before quickly being engulfed and turned to ash and funneled inside, followed quickly by the tear that he dropped in before swishing the mixture around in the bottle causing everything to melt into a green liquid with a warm glow to it that seemed to swirl inside the bottle. Everyone oohed and aahed before eventually Rainbow dash spoke up. “whoa, what is it?” “liquid dragons fire, one of the best magical liquids that can be synthesized in existence, at least, as far as I’m aware” he said before turning to Celestia. “Well, what do you say? Just like a regular contract, it doesn’t take effect unless all parties involved, agree. So if you don’t like the contract you can just not sign it and that’ll be the end of it.” She hummed in thought for a second, looked at the already gathered materials, at him, then at her wing. With a heavy sigh, she pulled a feather from her wing and gave it to him. “there better not be any funny business, I’ve read millions of contracts over my thousands of years of life, don’t think you’ll be able to slip something past.” “I understand princess.” With that he took the feather made sure the tip was an adequate shape, dipped it in the liquid dragon fire, and began to wright. It took him a few minutes to finish drafting the contract onto the leather, but when he was done he held it up for the princess to look at, as she read it he began to speak. “I, Dark Façade, swear that there is one thing that I will never tell anyone in this room. What that thing is is for those present to figure out. Is it my birth day? My blood type? Who knows? Those present are allowed to make a guess at any time in my presence and I am required to honestly tell them if they are correct or not. This may seem like a strange yet simple game, but I promise you if you can figure it out, it will reveal any plans that I have made up to the point that the guess is made. And even if it doesn’t it will give you the means to find out what they are if you don’t know already.” Celestia finished reading the same time he finished speaking. “Celestia is the only one who needs to sign, as long as you all attest that you agree to my little game in the presence of the contract, everyone present will be included.” She frowned “Dark Façade?” He nodded “Yes, David does standout a bit in your world so I figured I should come up with something more appropriate, I would like to take the moment to request that everyone present call me by this name from now on. Also, Don’t worry, I can assure you the contract will still be valid.” She turned to everyone else to see what they think. After more silent deliberation, they all nodded at her. With a deep sigh to steel her nerves, she signed the contract. There was a bright flash as the contract flew into the air floating for a second before bursting into green flames along with the quill leaving nothing left. After a few seconds of confused silence Twilight spoke up. “Whaaat just happened?” “The contract was completed. Now I must follow the rules of the game lest I be executed.” He said with a smile. “Executed?” said Luna “surely you jest.” “No I’m quite serious. If I fail to follow the rules of the game, I shall burst into flames just like the contract and die an excruciatingly painful death” the smile never left his face, as he spoke, seemingly as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Everyone looked horrified, even the princesses looked taken aback. Luna was the first to recover however and spoke up. “what could possess you to put your life in such danger over a mere game?!” He chuckled “It’s true I formatted the contract like the rules of a game, but that was to keep things fun for you all, I did this because I do take this contract deadly serious, pardon the pun. If I can’t manage to follow this contract, then I don’t deserve to live, at least in my opinion.” All present were mortified that some one actually existed that put so little value in their own life, it took everyone a minute or two to readjust themselves, but after they had, twilight managed to push the words out that the atmosphere had tried to keep inside of her. “so… are we allowed to guess now?” everyone present looked at her in exasperation. “what?! We don’t know for sure that he’s telling the truth, and this could be our only chance to find out what he’s really up to!” “Yes, you are allowed to guess, if you want, I’ll even use your first guess to demonstrate the abilities of the contract.” Said David. This made her even more worried, but she pushed through. “Is it your plans?” He stood there for a second, intentionally refusing to answer, nothing happening at first, but before long, slowly, smoke began rising from the bottom of his hooves, shortly after, his hooves burst into green flames, he crumpled over in pain as smoke began pouring from his mouth with a green glow coming from the back of his throat, everyone watched on in horror until he finally looked up and choked out the word “no”. with that the flames died away and he was left to recover for a second before eventually standing back up and dusting himself off. “The contract clearly states that should you guess correctly I will end up telling you my plans one way or another, so that can’t be it. Now, with that settled let’s proceed to how I got here shall we? There’s also a few other details I’d like to cover.” Some of those present looked like they were debating whether they wanted to proceed after everything that had happened but they soldiered on regardless. “what details specifically?” said Twilight. “Well first of all, the world I come from has zero magic, none whatsoever.” Everyone looked flabbergasted, they couldn’t even imagine such a world, but none the less he continued. “with this in mind, I’m sure you may be wondering how I had the power to get here, as well as how I acquired knowledge of lost magic despite only just recently entering your reality.” He got several nods and looks of curiosity. “well, first, how I got here.” He explained the events leading up to his dimensional jump, how his latent magic essentially pulled him to their world dropping him on his face in the woods. Most of the ponies were fascinated with his story but twilight looked like she wanted to ask something, but Dark beet her to it. “and before you ask, no, I don’t know where my latent magic came from, I have a few theories, but for all intents and purposes, it shouldn’t have been possible.” She closed her mouth a bit perplexed at not knowing what caused this phenomenon but decided to leave it for another time. “as for my unexplained knowledge, as it turns out, your world is surrounded with more than just a dimensional barrier, something that surrounds all dimensions, sort of like a cell wall if you will, anyway, as it turns out, you all also have a magical field that has been infused with the fabric of your reality, and since, in passing through the dimensional barrier I also essentially tore through your reality, from what I can tell, I have had a millennia of lost history and knowledge essentially shoved into my head. I know some magic that has been lost to time as well as magic that has never been discovered. I have newfound knowledge that no one else knows, and before you ask Twilight, I will be sure to share this knowledge with you all over time so you can be sure you won’t miss out on anything” the afore mentioned mare closed her mouth and squeed in excitement at the thought of learning something nopony else had before. “That is quite interesting but now that that’s out of the way, I’m still wondering just what you plan to do from here on out.” Celestia was still eying him up with distrust. “Oh not much, I’ll train an army, find and free nightmare moon, subjugate the changelings, save Equestria, start a family, raise some kids, advance the world into a new era, and whatever else that comes up. How does that sound?” Celestia looked at him as if he were crazy, a look mirrored by most of the others, as well as a few looks of disbelief. He started laughing. “you should see the looks on all your faces! my word, can no one here take a joke?” they maintained their expressions, most having thoughts along the lines of ‘Who makes a joke like that?!’ “Celestia, if you want to know my plans, you’ll have to play the game just like the others~” she frowned but resigned herself to trying to figure it out for herself seeing as she didn’t have the option of interrogation… yet. “Now if you’ll follow me twilight, we can start discussing magical theory and I can tell you about some of those new and olden magics.” She looked apprehensive about following him, but before she could even make a decision, he stopped and held up a hoof. Celestia noticed his rigid stance and grew immediately concerned. “what is it? Is something wrong?” Dark turned his head to look over his shoulder at those behind him, with a deep frown on his face, he simply answered “Intruders, lots of them…” Author's Note Enjoy the update, I got another one coming...
