The Outlawby Dave from financesChaptersA Father's Final TaskConundrums and RecollectionsA Criminal Turned WizardThe House's HandA Nice Stroll to the OrchardPaternal ProblemaA Father's Final Task"Well that's me done", said a well dressed man at the opposite end of the poker table. John couldn't help but smirk as his last opponent went bust. "It's been real nice playin with you gentlemen", John said to the group around the table as he started to shovel his new found wealth into his pockets, "But it'd be about the time the Misses starts ta worry." He whistled for his horse as he left the bar, but as he mounted, someone started shooting towards him, probably a participant of the poker game, Crazy bastard! Are you really gonna do this? He unholstered his pistol just late enough to have a police officer apprehend the drunkard. It seems I can't go a weak without a gun going off somewhere around me... John couldn't help but sigh as he reached the outskirts of his farm. He pulled in next to the house and dismounted. "How much did ya lose this time?" "As a matter of fact, I won $300." "Good, now you only owe me $250." "All right, all right. Now come here beautiful." Abigail embraced him as they exchanged a short kiss. "Where's the boy?" "He's in the barn." "I'll go check on him." John gave a last kiss to his wife before walking to the barn. John walked into the barn as Jack was carving some wood. "Hay Jack." "Hay pa." "You need help with that?" "Umm, no sir; I got it." He is always so well mannered. "Looks like you have. Know you're real good with them tools." "Thank you pa." John takes a seat on a barrel next to his son. "We'll make this land real nice some day. me and your mother'll do our part. By the time your turn come, Hell, this could be the nicest farm in the county." John places a cigar in his mouth. "May be pa." John lights the cigar and waves the match out. "Just gotta learn ta shoot straight or you'll get eaten by some anima-." "Very funny pa!" Jack suddenly remembers the time where he almost died trying to take a grizzly on by himself. "Thank you son." John takes a long puff from the cigar. "Soon, it'll be quail season. We should have some fun then" Jack turns to his father. "Is there anything you don't like shootin pa?" "Well ah haven'e met tha thing yet; soon as I do I'll letcha know. You can even put in one of them books you read." "Hhya, maby I'll do that. The Day John Marston Stops Shootin" "Now, ah an't no literary man, but, I don't think that'll sell, people shootin in them things." "I think you may be right there pa." "So uh, you ever hear talk about them machines that can make a man fly?" "Well sure pa, everybody knows about that. Ya know they're gonna be bringin one of them things around the country next year for a demonstration? One of them machines can turn men into angels." "One of them machines can turn men into angels." John imagines what it would be like to fly. "JOHN! COME HERE!" John gets off of the barrel, a slight look of urgency on his face. Jack follows him outside. "JOHN! COME HERE, QUICK!" Uncle was shouting to him from outside the barn, looking through his spyglass. When they reach him, he points into the distance and motions the spyglass to John. "Take a look at that." John looks through the spyglass, and a troubled look appears on his face. "Jack. Go into the house an lock all the doors. Whatever happens, don't come outside, ya hear me?! Whatever happens!" "Okay." Jack says to his father, a look between confusion and fear on his face, then he starts making for the house. "Comere son." John says back to his son. He then hugs him, and Jack returns the embrace. Whatever happens, you keep the doors locked and your mother inside. Promise me son. Promise me!" "Who is it pa?" Jack leaves the hug. "It's just some old friends, me en Uncle'll take care of it. Now you go inside and you keep the doors and the windows locked!" "I hear ya." "THEN RUN!" Jack dashes for the house "Yaa, run boy." Uncle says in agreement. "Well old man, looks like things is about to get settled once and for all." "So it seems." John and Uncle both make a run for cover, preparing for the incoming U.S. soldiers. "Best get that gun ready old man." They both open fire on the mounted troops, who oblige with a hale of lead. Bullets wiz past as John downs soldier after soldier. After about ten minutes, they have cleared the first wave of soldiers. They both scan the new battlefield, reassuring themselves that it's safe. They both then make a run for the house. Uncle takes cover behind the porch while John barges through the door, to come face-to-face wit his wife. "What are we gonna do now?" Then Jack comes running to the door with a gun. "What's wrong? What's happened?" "Now stay inside ya hear, like I said. There'll be more commin." John goes back outside and takes a position on the porch. Jack follows him, but then Abigail grabs him on the shoulder and gives him that mom look that says "Be safe." As the second wave charges in, they all open fire. John kills more people than he'd care to count, and Jack is holding himself together, despite this being only his second time being in a shoot-out. Uncle is just trying to compensate for his drunkenness. As the fight drags on John glances at Uncle to see him grasping a bloody spot on his chest. "I think Uncle got hit!" Jack runs over to Uncle, who is leaning on a wooden post. "Uncle! Are you all right?" "Damnit, I'm hit." John continues shooting until the second attack is over. "Hang in there Uncle! I'm gonna get you outa here safe!" "There an't time John, I an't gonna make it off this porch anyhow. You take Jack and Abig- take them and- don't worry about me, just get em out of here." Uncle then slumps down, and passes into the beyond. Jack grabs him. "No Uncle please! Oh my God, they killed him!" "Come on son, there an;t nothing we can do for him now." John heads back into the house. "We're leavin the farm. I'll go watch from the silo; you two head to the barn and get the horses ready." "John!" "I'll meet you there." They all head outside, but then stop a moment to mourn over Uncle. As they run towards the barn, more soldiers start charging in. They start fighting their way to the barn,gunning down any soldiers that get too near. When they finally reach the barn John helps his wife and son mount a horse. "Now listen, Jack, darlin, get on this horse, get out of here, and find a place to hide." "You're commin with us pa." "I'll catch up. You keep riding and don't look back, and don't be worried about me, ya hear? Now get goin." "You stay out of trouble John." "An't no trouble Abigail." John grabs his wife's hand. "An't no trouble" He kisses her one last time. "I love you." "I love you." "NOW GO, GIT!" John slaps the horse, which bolts out the door. John takes a moment to recollect, and compose himself, and he starts walking towards the barn's front door. He opens it a crack to pear outside. He see's a group of army soldiers training their guns on the door. John steps back and takes a moment for a deep breath. He readies himself to open the door, and pushes. walking into what might as well be a firing squad. He stops, then he reaches for his gun, pulling it out and letting loose a few shots before the soldiers finally start shooting. Explosions of pain go off all over John's body, then they stop shooting. John takes a few big coughs, blood gushing from his mouth. He lifts his gun up sideways and drops it. He takes a few labored breaths, and falls to his knees. "It's okay John, let go, you've done all you can." John continues his meager grasp on life, coughing and breathing painfully. "There's no shame in letting go now, John, you have done everything you could have possibly done." Johns breaths a few more time, and falls backwards, fallowing the beckoning voice... I know it's probably really bad of me to copy the exact ending of Red Dead Redemption, and I feel as if I didn't do it justice. I really felt that it would be necessary to put it in, as it provides a basis for John's character in my story. I thought this would also help people that have never played Red Dead Redemption. Thank you for reading! Conundrums and RecollectionsThe last thing John saw was a flash of light, then he passed into the dark, endless, void... But, he suddenly found himself waking up. He was laying on his back in the middle of a field dotted with a few trees. Is this heaven? Have I died? John suddenly feels a large, stabbing pains in his chest, he moves an arm to feel for the problem, then he feels blood welling up from him. He tries to stay concise for as long as he can, even though he can't seem to move anything other than an arm. He waves one in front of his face, to find a flat stump where his hand should be. He doesn't even try to figure out this new conundrum, as he is started to doze off from loss of blood. He finally losses his grip on conciseness, and begins the bodies final attempt at maintaining life. Princess Luna was racing to her sisters bed chamber; she had urgent news as she had detected a strange power enter their world. When she reached the door, she barged through. "Sister, I have felt-" "I sensed it to. A new alicorn, yes?" Luna nods in confirmation. "I'll go investigate myself; tell the guards or anypony wishing my audience that I am in the middle of some magic." Celestia then jumps off her balcony, and flies towards the alicorn power signature. She had reached the outskirts of Everfree when she reached the mediate location of the power source. She began her descent when she spotted her on the ground. Why is she not moving? She finally reached the alicorn, and almost froze from surprise when she noticed a rather large pool of blood and strange wounds on the alicorn's body.It had a brown pelt short-cut, black mane, and numerous scars on its face. It was also fully clothed: with a hat, vest, undershirt, and some sort of strange leather sash with metal nodules in it, with a metal and wood object jutting outwards from the back, and some strange, blue pants, a leather belt with and more metal nodules, a small container on one end with a strange piece of shaped metal in it, a rope, knife, and a strange stick with a piece of string coming out of the other side of the belt. The strangest thing though, was that she was actually a he; all of the alicorns in Equestria are (or were) female. She dismissed these thoughts, she could think about those later. Right now, she had to make sure he would get medical attention. She levitated him on her back, and flew of in the direction of Ponyville, the location of the nearest hospital. 1 week later, Ponyville hospital John made the slow, hazy approach back to conciseness as his vision faded in. He found himself looking at what seemed to be a pure, white horse with a flowing, multicolored mane, and a horn on its head. Closer inspection showed that it also had wings. "Am I dead?" he asked. "No, we were able to pull all of those metal fragments out of you and stop the bleeding, you've also been connected to an I.V. because you were unconscious." she answers. He has an accent similar to the Apple Family, just a bit more gruff. "Then why is there a, horned, winged horse speaking to me?" he says with a hint of humor in his voice. "First of all, we're ponies, second of all; aren't you a horned, winged pony speaking to me?" "Now that's just crazy, last I checked I was a-" as John spoke, he lifted a hand to his face, to notice that it was, in fact, a hoof. To his credit he didn't freak out at this revalation. "-human." "What is this human you speak of?" Celestia asked, quite confused. "Nothing, just something I'm sure ah was; unless, of course, I'm not just having a bad dream." He stated, quite confused himself. "So you're saying you were not originally a pony, or more specifically, an alicorn?" Why am I so accepting of his belief that he was not a pony? "Alicorn?" "The winged, horned pony; an example being you and me. We are the rarest variant. There are also: only winged ones, pegasi, only horned ones, unicorns, and plane ones, earth ponies. They make up the population of Equestria. "So, I, a human, a two legged animal with hands and arms instead of front legs and hoofs, somehow woke up in a land with talking ponies, as one of said ponies." I'm drunk again, aren't I? "If you aren't crazy, yes. By the way: who are you?" "John Marston, and who are you?" "Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria." Odd name. "Pardon me mam, I was not aware ah was speakin to royalty. So if I an't crazy, then how did I get here?" John asks, still not convinced if he is crazy or not. "No, I was going to ask you the same." 'sigh' "How long was I out?" "A week; you still need three days until you're fully recovered. In the meantime I would like to perform a memory scan; the mind is considered a very private thing so I was going to ask you first. The scan should clear up some answers." Well, this puts me in a predicament. I'm willing to share some things, but I'd rather hide certain points of my past. This might also be the only way to find out how I got here. "All right, but don't go anywhere beyond a year ago, okay?" "That's fine; if you would just lean towards me slightly." "Just prepare yourself, there are some things I've seen that I would rather forget." John then leaned in slightly, and she touched her horn to his forehead. There was a flash of light, and they both went into a deep trance. Celestia found herself looking through John's eyes; he was on a train, hearing in on conversations of fellow passengers. She had to take a moment to overcome the shock that said passengers were strange bipedal creatures. So, he's not crazy... She skipped ahead to a place where John was at the entrance of a fort. He spoke threats to a man inside, then she felt an explosion of pain, as John got shot. Her vision faded back in at a shack, John was speaking to what was apparently a woman. She skipped ahead further. John was fighting outlaws in a canyon, accompanied by three law officers. She continued to skim through John's memories. She saw how he aided a swindler and treasure hunter, when he aided the woman from before with her ranch. She saw him kill, time after time, not feeling a large amount of remorse for each robbed life. She saw him assault the fort from before, accompanied by a rag-tag team of assembled allies. She saw him follow his target to another country. How he both hindered and aided a rebellion, how he brought down a dictator. She saw him aid people throughout his journeys, though hesitant at times. She saw his efforts in bringing down a criminal, how he eventually made him jump to his death. All of these grim events were stemmed by his meeting up with his family. He loved them dearly. He worked in supporting his farm, how he saved his son from a bear. She eventually got to when he made his stand against the soldiers to protect his family. She saw him walk directly into death, so as to secure safety for his family. John, through all of this, was watching all of this as well. His departure of his world was simple; he had died... Celestia ended the memory spell. She took a moment to collect her thoughts. A dead man was given another chance at walking with the living. Who has the power to make this possible? John, on the other hand, was just trying to convince himself that none of this actually happened, but everything seemed to familiar to just brush away like that. I'm dead. I'm dead. why am I here? I'm not dead then, I'm just crazy. Abigail, forgive me. Jack, be strong. No, it wasn't real, none of that never happened. Celestia finally broke the silence. "No matter what ever happened in your previous life, a very powerful being has seen you fit at a second chance at life, a chance at redemption, so it seems. I won't get in your way too much unless you do something to deem doing so necessary." John took in the full amount of what he had been provided with, all of the crimes and deeds he had done. He could start new. This didn't feel right, though. He had had a loving family, one that he died to protect. He is should be dead, and starting over when one once had a family isn't easy. Getting a roof over my head should be a good start. "Okay. I don't want tah be too much of a burden or anything, but do you know of a place I can stay soon as ah get out of here?" "I'm sure someone in Ponyville should have extra lodging, in the meantime, I'm going to have a pupal of mine, Twilight Sparkle, inform you of our culture, and ask you of yours." "Fair 'nuff." I should be lucky for anything I get, seeing as I turned up in their world. Another world! This just blows everything out of the water, even those flying machines. "I'll leave you to your rest for now, the spell took longer than expected, and I must be off." With that, she left John to a sleepless, thought filled night. A Criminal Turned WizardJohn Marston finally found sleep that night. A sleep riddled with troubling images. He couldn't shake the feeling that he abandoned his family. He kept imagining Edgar Ross assaulting his wife and son. His dreams eventually calmed down, and he found himself riding with his son... He eventually woke to the light of the sunrise. I better get the cattle to pasture. As he tried to get up, reality hit him right in the gut. He was still in the hospital, still a pony, and still away from his family. He took another look at his hoofs. He stares at them for a long time, pondering his options in this new world. He tries to get out of the bed, but A large amount of pain occurs in his chest. Suddenly, he hears the door to his room being opened. "Hi there! I'm Twilight Sparkle." Greets a purple unicorn as she enters the room. "Celestia already explained your-" She pauses for a moment and lifts a hoof to her chin. "predicament. She's told me to help you on establishing a job and housing and answer any questions you might have. She was also hoping you would be willing to elaborate on your past life." John lets out a sigh. "Okay, first off, miss Sparkle: would you mind bringing a mirror over. Ah don't realleh know what ah even look like." "Sure, no problem." Twilight's horn starts to glow, and the mirror on the other side of the room gets covered in a glow similar to the one from Twilight's horn starts to wheel itself over. John shook his head to see if this was actually happening. It was. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised. Talking ponies have already blasted apart any sense of what can't happen I had. I'm even one myself. As the mirror wheeled in front of the bed, John got a good look at his new self. He frowned deeply as he scanned himself. He had kept the same basic appearance, just "pony-fied." He also had a horn jutting out from his forehead. He let out another sigh, not taking his situation very well. Twilight gives him an understanding look. "Hay now, chin up. I can see how a change such as this would be quite stressful, but you just need to keep looking forward." Twilight takes on a hopeful smile. She's right, I won't make the situation better by just wallowing about in self pity. John takes a moment to v=collect himself before speaking. "What do you thinks going to happen?" "I don't know; that's the thing about events, the only ones we can be sure of are ones that already happened." "Amen" "Why don't we just start out with what you did back in your world so we can find a suiting job for you." "Ah'm gonna be completely honest with you now. I was a criminal before my gang abandoned me, then I got settled down with my wife and started a farm. I stole and vandalized, ruined people's lives, and I killed." He didn't know why he felt like sharing this, but he felt it had been forming a rock in his chest and it felt great to have it removed. Twilight sighed. "Don't worry, that's all in the past. You obviously regret what you did, and you even tried to leave that life as you started a farm. Plus, Celestia seems to trust you, and she's the wisest pony in the Equestria, so her word is enough for me. Speaking of farms, after you get out of here, you should stop by Sweat Apple Acres, it's the local apple farm, and one of my friends work there." Twilight became a bit wary of him after his testimony, but she could see good in those dark-brown eyes. "Sounds good enough to me miss Sparkle." John was taken aback by how well Twilight thought of him after he confessed his past. "Just call me Twilight." That simple phrase hits John like a train as he recalls how Bonnie rescued him when he was shot, in an unfamiliar land. Twilight notices the momentary shock John was in. "You all right?" "Yes, I'm fine." John assures her. "It's just the wound." He lies. "It'll probably hurt every now and then, that wound is nothing like anyone here has seen before." "That's because guns caused it, and I'm guessing you don't have them here." A world with talking ponies and no guns, that's quite the change. "Guns?" Twilight asks, quite puzzled. "Do you see those metal objects on the table?" "You mean the two strangely shaped ones?" "Yes, those are guns." John confirms. "What do they do?" "A gun causes am explosion from black powder that is inside of a cartridge, those brass things. The explosion launches the bullet, the lead tip on the front, into the target." John explains. "So they launch the projectile into the victim?" She asks. "Yes; a gun shot has been the death of many people. The bullet has to be pulled out, but the wound gets infected a lot, and doctors would have to amputate a limb if that's what got hit." Twilight gets a bit nauseous at this, which John can see. "So how about that magic?" John asks, changing the subject. Twilight brightens up a good bit at this question. "You didn't have magic? Well, magic is the ability to manipulate the world around us that is gifted to unicorns and alicorns due to the special energies located in a horn." "I just want ta know how you did that thing where you moved the mirror." "That would actually be the best thing to start with. Telekinesis is the first magic learn how to use. What you do is you focus on an object as hard as you can, then you will it to move where you want it to. You should practice on something small at first, then as you get the hang of it, you move on to larger and heavier objects. I have a practice set if you want to borrow it. I also have plenty of books on the matter." She seemed giddy when she spoke. "I would be mighty appreciative if you were to lend me this practice set, but I'm not much for readin." John says, a bit excited over the aspect of actually using magic. "I'll be right back then. Hello nurse Redheart." Twilight replies. "Hi there Twilight."As she leaves, a white mare with a red mane and a nurses outfit enters the room carrying a tray. "You're looking well." The nurse says to John. John nods in response She pulls up another tray and unfolds the legs on the bottom, and puts on the bed with the other tray on top. The tray has a few apples, a glass of juice, and a loaf of bread. "Thank you mam." "No problem, now eat up now; you've only been able get anything in your system through the IV, so you haven't eaten anything for the past week." John decides not to ask what an IV is, and just starts to eat after the nurse leaves. After taking a few bites of apple he stares at the glass of juice for a moment, then at his hooves. "sigh" He finishes eating without attempting to solve the thirst problem. About ten minutes of further contemplating about his current situation, Twilight enters the room with a set of bags over her back. "I'm back." She greats as she magics a few books and a box out of the bags. "I brought some books anyway just in case you change your mind." She laid the books on the bedside table and opened the box. It had an assortment different sized balls and a few small hoops. "You should start with trying to lift one." She floats the smallest ball over to John. "Lets try this then." John says as he gets adorns a mask of concentration. He focuses on the ball, then imagines it moving upward. His horn glows a silvery color, and the ball wobbles a little, but doesn't leave the table. John realizes that he is sweating a little. "That's very good for a first try, all you have to do now is practice." Just then, a green flame materialized out of no where, and it turned into a scroll. Twilight read the scroll then sighed. "I have to get back, just keep practicing and you should get the hang the of it." And with that, she exits the room. John takes a long look at the ball on bed. He pictures the ball floating upwards in his head again, filling the room with a silvery glow. The ball miraculously floats into the air. He yells out in triumph, causing gravity to take control of the ball once more. John repeats this process, eventually being able to move the ball around, as opposed to just floating it up. He takes a look at the table, and looks at the other balls. He magics one over, but it is significantly harder to move than the others. He looks at it, reading a label that says five pounds. He practices with this heavier ball, and eventually is able to move it with ease. John notices that his mouth is dry after lifting the next ball. He smiles as he lifts the glass of juice and drinks from it, downing the whole glass after a single gulp. John practicing his magic. Two other times the nurse came in with some food, for diner and lunch. He is eventually able to lift two at a time. At about eight, John starts to feel extremely tired. He is breathing heavily and covered in sweat from the stain of using magic. He gives up practicing any further, and starts to drift off to sleep. Without something to draw his attention, his mind goes back to pondering what he's going to do in this world. Sleep eventually finds him, and he dreams of flying. I finally finished! I would like to thank YouTube's large collection of music that I listened to while writigng this. I would also like to thank you for reading. I apologies for the monotony of these unexciting chapters. The House's HandMeanwhile- Canterlot Garden A dark figure materializes at the entrance. It has no form, just a dark silhouette. The figure moves through the garden, as if it is taking a simple stroll reminiscing of times long gone. It stops at the statue of Discord, the Harbinger of Chaos. A dark tendril creeps off of the figure, and starts to wrap around Discord, eventually engulfing him in darkness. The darkness recedes back into the figure, revealing a restored Discord. "Your insolence has cost me yet another victory." Echos the figure. Discord falls to his knees, and bows before the figure. "F-forgive m-me Lord Anordos. I w-will not f-fail you a-again. J-j-just g-give me another ch-chance." Murmurs Discord, his voice wavering with every word. "Enough!" Booms the figure. "This is not about bringing down the Sun and Moon Sisters! My opposite has played his hand, and I don't intend to fold. He has summoned forth a Harbinger of his own, so we are a bit stressed for time. You must go to the Griffon Kingdom, and plant the seeds of war. Do this, and you shall be forgiven for your failure." Commands the figure. "Y-yes my L-lord. I sh-shall carry out your orders." Whimpers Discord. "Then I will be off." And with that, the figure dissipates into nothing, leaving Discord cowering in a ball. He composes himself after a few minutes, and flies for the Griffon Kingdom. A Nice Stroll to the OrchardThe morning greeted John with the gentle glow of the Sun. He took a few moments to fully wake himself, then he noticed Twilight and another pony with a yellow coat and a pink mane, which she looked like she was trying to hide behind. "Good morning. I see you were practicing. You were really conked out when I came in about an hour ago, magic can do that to you." "Sorry to keep you waiting." he says. Who the hell is she? "No problem, I was just talking with Fluttershy here." She explains. "So, why is she here?" "I asked to make a special tea that dulls pain. She lives on the edge of Everfree Forest, so she has access to lots of herbs."She then motions to a steaming cup on the bed-side table. "Well, thank you mam." John says as he starts to magic the cup to him. Fluttershy just looks down and mutters something inaudible. "She all right?" 'Sigh' " She's just really shy, even around people she knows sometimes." "Don't worry miss Fluttershy, ah don't bite." Fluttershy straitens up a little bit, but she what she says is still inaudible. John downs the tea in a few gulps. He then tries to get out of the bed again, fighting through the slightly reduced pain. Twilight starts to worry. "You really shouldn't get out. The doctor said you need to stay in bed for another day." "I've been through worse. Don't worry." 'grunt' It was a bit awkward moving around on four legs, but John eventually got his way out of the bed, all the while with a disapproving glare from Twilight. When he tried to walk around though, he tripped over his own hooves. Twilight couldn't help but giggle, and Fluttershy had a very worried look. "A-are you all right?" She asks. "Yes I'll be fine." Growls John, biting back his anger. Damn these legs. He continued his war with gravity and loss of basic motor function while Twilight and Fluttershy just stared at him in an awkward manner. After falling down several times, John was able to stand up straight. "So, where to?" John says to break the silence. Twilight shakes her head to regain focus. "Oh, um, you aren't supposed to be out of bed anyway, so I guess we could just go outside..." "Sounds good 'nuff miss Sparkle." Aahh, Hell; there's still the expenses to take care of. John pauses for a moment to think on how to take care of the hospital bill. "Ummm, miss Sparkle, you wouldn't happen to have some money I could borrow would ya? I could work it off soon as ah could." He says as he magics his stuff to him. "Oh, you mean the bill, don't you? Princess Celestia already took care of it. Don't worry about it." "I don't think I could figure out a way to thank you all enough then." Twilight puts on a serious face. "I said don't worry about it. All right?" "Well, okay. It just don't seem right taking all these favors." "You sound a LOT like Applejack." "Speaking of, ah might as well go talk to her about a job." And with that, John slowly exits the room with Twilight holding the telekinesis practice set in a magical grip and Fluttershy behind him. "He seems nice." Fluttershy mutters. Twilight nods in agreement "He sure does." When they reached the lobby, the pony at the registration desks stops John. "Excuse me sir, you're not supposed to be out of bed." Just as John is about to retort, Twilight says, "Don't worry, he's fine." "If the you say so Twilight." The clerk replies. "Come on" She motions towards Fluttershy and John. As they walk outside, John feels the pain dulling enough to the point of a small bruise. "I must thank ya again for the tea miss Fluttershy. Now I need to do something about these two lumps I feel on either side of me. He'll ignore them for now, probably something to do with having four legs. While the're walking Fluttershy asks a quetstion "What kind of animals did you have in your world?" It was barely audible, but John heard nonetheless. "Well, we had all kahns oh animals. Just depends where ya live. We had bears an elk in the northern forests. Squirrels where there was trees. Armadillos, vultures, an coyotes in the deserts and grasslands. Song birds, wolves, an deer had a tendincy ta be jus 'bout everywhere. In this one area, we had these great buffalo roaming the plains, but I worry for am sidering they're being hunted tah near extinction. Other 'en that, ah don't think I could give the world justice siderin ah was in a small part oh it." "What hunts the buffalo?" Fluttershy asks with a hint of worry in her voice. "We do. It's a darn shame, but we don't even eat them. No wonder the Indians are so zealous o'er protecting the herds." After hearing this, Twilight and Fluttershy both stop, and stare at John. "What? Yes, we eat meat, ah don't plan on continueing that since of the current form some higher power has seen to manifest me in. And on the hunting the buffalo part; my race was very detached from nature. We consider animals completely different from, even lower than, us. I spose technology'll that to ya." The two girls still appeared apprehensive, but that was enough to continue the, albeit awkward, walk. When they reached the top of a hill the path goes over, they were grassed with a view of Sweet Apple Acres; a small house with a barn and a massive expanse of trees behind them, stretching for as far as the eye could see. "Here we are" Twilight says. Applejack was applebucking when they found her. They watched for a moment, John in a bit of aw at the method of harvesting apples. "We would just pick apples. I must say I find kicking the tree and having the apples fall down to be quite impressive." Applejack stopped to see where the voice came from. "Well, we try our best." She says while turning. "Hello Applejack, my friend here was wanting to inquire on getting a job on your farm." Twilight says. "Well, ah reckon an extra hoof could go a far way considerin it's harvest seaso-" She stops as she looks at John, all the color rushing from her face. She stares for a few moments before muttering, "Pappy?" I am terribly sorry for the delay. This is also not equivalent to the three weeks worth I put into it, so I apologies for that. My biggest weakness is how to go about writing all of the space in between major plot points, or what I call the "waffle." Also, I am incredibly new to writing in general, so don't hesitate to critique me. Also, expect no constant rate in updates and length. Paternal Problema "Scuse me?" John asks, rather confused. "Is it really you pappy?" "I have know adea what your talkin 'bout miss. Ah was just wonderin if I could get a job workin here." "You're alive!" She yells, now ecstatic. "Ah can't believe it's really you. After all this time. Don't worry, me and Big Mac have kept the farm runnin smoothly. You should see Applebloom; she's gotten so big." "Now miss, ah'm tellin ya, I am NOT you father." Applejack just ignores him, continuing her rambling. After a few minutes of Applejack's misguided celebration, and a few ignored assurances that he is not her father by John, he gave up seeing as how he is just was royally stumped on how to bring the two farmers to their senses, as they were rather convinced he was their dad. Twilight then buts in and starts motioning to Fluttershy."Hey, Fluttershy, would you mind showing John around town?" "Okay," she said in a barely audible tone. "I'm going to explain things to AJ and Big Mac. That all right with you John?" "Yah," he mutters as he walks away backwards, almost tripping over his own hooves. His mind was rather unsettled and he was glad Twilight decided to intervene at that point as he had no idea what he was supposed to do. "Applejack, explain to me what's going on please." "Well, Twi, my pa's finally come home after disappearing so long ago. Now tell me why he's lying to us." And with that, Applejack's demeanor went from ecstatic to dead serious. "That's because he's not." Twilight then lifts a hoof to her chin and contemplation her next words. "What exactly happened to your parents, I haven't asked any of the other girls because I didn't want to pry." "Well even if ya did ya still wouldn't know, Ah haven't told anybody and Ah don't intend tah. Just know he disappeared and now he's back." She punctuates her last words by spitting at the ground. "He even sounds, looks, and, gosh darn it Twi, he even dresses like my father!" "Look Applejack, despite all of that supposed evidence, I sincerely doubt John is you father. He was just found passed out in the Everfree forest a few days ago on the brink of death." Twilight then pauses to think again, contemplating whether or not Applejack should know the whole story. "Well, it makes more sense to show my hand than to keep them close close to my chest." "And also, AJ, he's from a different plane of existence. He wasn't originally a pony. He DIED in his old world. The wounds he received that "did the dead" were put just below immediately fatal levels when his conciseness was scent to our world." After hearing what Applejack sincerely wanted for Twilight to be speaking utter nonsense, but her sixth sense for truth was pointing that everything she said was true. She felt tears forming in her eyes as she spoke responded, "Well Twi, I don't have a clue why, but Ah believe ya. Ah'm sorry for making a mess out'a this." She closed her eyes to flush out the tears. "I've just really missed my pappy is all. I became overwhelmed when Ah saw someone so like him." "I'm sorry Applejack, I have no idea what is feels like to not be able to be with one's parents, but I understand that seeing someone like your father must have triggered something deep down." Twilight then trots over to her friend and places a hoof on her shoulder. "If you ever have the need to let something of of your chest, just let me know." Applejack wipes the tears from her eyes with a hoof, then says, "Well Twi, I thank ya for the offer, but I don't feel too inclined to share right now." She takes a deep breath, then continues to speak. "You can tell John he's got a job here if he wants it,. A bed too, if that's the case. I feel I need tah apologies." Twilight smile in response to Applejack's proposal. "Thanks AJ, I'll be sure to tell him." Back in Ponyville "And this is the, uh, the Carousel Boutique. R-rarity lives th-there." Fluttershy squeaks to John as they walk through Ponyville. "And over t-to th-the left is the town hall." Fluttershy says as she motions with her front-left hoof. John only partly listened to Fluttershy though, as he scanned the area, his head on a swivel, watching the pedestrians and mentally noting areas of low visibility, while ignoring the stares he received due to his odd attire. He hadn't dropped the habit of being tactically obsessed over his surroundings ever since he was in Dutch's gang, but this was a habit he was glad for, even though he probably won't be needing any time soon. John then lurches forward in pain. "Oh! Are you, uh, okay?" "Yah, I'm fine, just feels like I've got a really bad cramp on my sides." He spits through clenched teeth. "Could you help me get my shirt off?" "Oh, uh, sure." John directs Fluttershy to bite on to the back of his vest while he strains fit his front legs out. "C'mon!" He tries to use some magic, but to no avail. After a few more seconds of pulling, they two hear a loud ripping noise then, "FWOOSH!" "Ah!" Fluttershy screams as she is knocked back by the sudden extension of a massive set of dark brown wings. John, being caught off guard, by the sudden reveal of extra appendages is left staring from side to side, mouth agape. He calms down a bit and regains his composure, then checks the area to make sure nobody noticed what just transpired. "Well, I'll be darned." The Princess did mention something 'bout wings. He flaps them a few times, getting the full feel of the new addition to his body. They felt absolutely alien to him, but here he is, boasting a set of wings. As I said: I'm back.
A Father's Final Task"Well that's me done", said a well dressed man at the opposite end of the poker table. John couldn't help but smirk as his last opponent went bust. "It's been real nice playin with you gentlemen", John said to the group around the table as he started to shovel his new found wealth into his pockets, "But it'd be about the time the Misses starts ta worry." He whistled for his horse as he left the bar, but as he mounted, someone started shooting towards him, probably a participant of the poker game, Crazy bastard! Are you really gonna do this? He unholstered his pistol just late enough to have a police officer apprehend the drunkard. It seems I can't go a weak without a gun going off somewhere around me... John couldn't help but sigh as he reached the outskirts of his farm. He pulled in next to the house and dismounted. "How much did ya lose this time?" "As a matter of fact, I won $300." "Good, now you only owe me $250." "All right, all right. Now come here beautiful." Abigail embraced him as they exchanged a short kiss. "Where's the boy?" "He's in the barn." "I'll go check on him." John gave a last kiss to his wife before walking to the barn. John walked into the barn as Jack was carving some wood. "Hay Jack." "Hay pa." "You need help with that?" "Umm, no sir; I got it." He is always so well mannered. "Looks like you have. Know you're real good with them tools." "Thank you pa." John takes a seat on a barrel next to his son. "We'll make this land real nice some day. me and your mother'll do our part. By the time your turn come, Hell, this could be the nicest farm in the county." John places a cigar in his mouth. "May be pa." John lights the cigar and waves the match out. "Just gotta learn ta shoot straight or you'll get eaten by some anima-." "Very funny pa!" Jack suddenly remembers the time where he almost died trying to take a grizzly on by himself. "Thank you son." John takes a long puff from the cigar. "Soon, it'll be quail season. We should have some fun then" Jack turns to his father. "Is there anything you don't like shootin pa?" "Well ah haven'e met tha thing yet; soon as I do I'll letcha know. You can even put in one of them books you read." "Hhya, maby I'll do that. The Day John Marston Stops Shootin" "Now, ah an't no literary man, but, I don't think that'll sell, people shootin in them things." "I think you may be right there pa." "So uh, you ever hear talk about them machines that can make a man fly?" "Well sure pa, everybody knows about that. Ya know they're gonna be bringin one of them things around the country next year for a demonstration? One of them machines can turn men into angels." "One of them machines can turn men into angels." John imagines what it would be like to fly. "JOHN! COME HERE!" John gets off of the barrel, a slight look of urgency on his face. Jack follows him outside. "JOHN! COME HERE, QUICK!" Uncle was shouting to him from outside the barn, looking through his spyglass. When they reach him, he points into the distance and motions the spyglass to John. "Take a look at that." John looks through the spyglass, and a troubled look appears on his face. "Jack. Go into the house an lock all the doors. Whatever happens, don't come outside, ya hear me?! Whatever happens!" "Okay." Jack says to his father, a look between confusion and fear on his face, then he starts making for the house. "Comere son." John says back to his son. He then hugs him, and Jack returns the embrace. Whatever happens, you keep the doors locked and your mother inside. Promise me son. Promise me!" "Who is it pa?" Jack leaves the hug. "It's just some old friends, me en Uncle'll take care of it. Now you go inside and you keep the doors and the windows locked!" "I hear ya." "THEN RUN!" Jack dashes for the house "Yaa, run boy." Uncle says in agreement. "Well old man, looks like things is about to get settled once and for all." "So it seems." John and Uncle both make a run for cover, preparing for the incoming U.S. soldiers. "Best get that gun ready old man." They both open fire on the mounted troops, who oblige with a hale of lead. Bullets wiz past as John downs soldier after soldier. After about ten minutes, they have cleared the first wave of soldiers. They both scan the new battlefield, reassuring themselves that it's safe. They both then make a run for the house. Uncle takes cover behind the porch while John barges through the door, to come face-to-face wit his wife. "What are we gonna do now?" Then Jack comes running to the door with a gun. "What's wrong? What's happened?" "Now stay inside ya hear, like I said. There'll be more commin." John goes back outside and takes a position on the porch. Jack follows him, but then Abigail grabs him on the shoulder and gives him that mom look that says "Be safe." As the second wave charges in, they all open fire. John kills more people than he'd care to count, and Jack is holding himself together, despite this being only his second time being in a shoot-out. Uncle is just trying to compensate for his drunkenness. As the fight drags on John glances at Uncle to see him grasping a bloody spot on his chest. "I think Uncle got hit!" Jack runs over to Uncle, who is leaning on a wooden post. "Uncle! Are you all right?" "Damnit, I'm hit." John continues shooting until the second attack is over. "Hang in there Uncle! I'm gonna get you outa here safe!" "There an't time John, I an't gonna make it off this porch anyhow. You take Jack and Abig- take them and- don't worry about me, just get em out of here." Uncle then slumps down, and passes into the beyond. Jack grabs him. "No Uncle please! Oh my God, they killed him!" "Come on son, there an;t nothing we can do for him now." John heads back into the house. "We're leavin the farm. I'll go watch from the silo; you two head to the barn and get the horses ready." "John!" "I'll meet you there." They all head outside, but then stop a moment to mourn over Uncle. As they run towards the barn, more soldiers start charging in. They start fighting their way to the barn,gunning down any soldiers that get too near. When they finally reach the barn John helps his wife and son mount a horse. "Now listen, Jack, darlin, get on this horse, get out of here, and find a place to hide." "You're commin with us pa." "I'll catch up. You keep riding and don't look back, and don't be worried about me, ya hear? Now get goin." "You stay out of trouble John." "An't no trouble Abigail." John grabs his wife's hand. "An't no trouble" He kisses her one last time. "I love you." "I love you." "NOW GO, GIT!" John slaps the horse, which bolts out the door. John takes a moment to recollect, and compose himself, and he starts walking towards the barn's front door. He opens it a crack to pear outside. He see's a group of army soldiers training their guns on the door. John steps back and takes a moment for a deep breath. He readies himself to open the door, and pushes. walking into what might as well be a firing squad. He stops, then he reaches for his gun, pulling it out and letting loose a few shots before the soldiers finally start shooting. Explosions of pain go off all over John's body, then they stop shooting. John takes a few big coughs, blood gushing from his mouth. He lifts his gun up sideways and drops it. He takes a few labored breaths, and falls to his knees. "It's okay John, let go, you've done all you can." John continues his meager grasp on life, coughing and breathing painfully. "There's no shame in letting go now, John, you have done everything you could have possibly done." Johns breaths a few more time, and falls backwards, fallowing the beckoning voice... I know it's probably really bad of me to copy the exact ending of Red Dead Redemption, and I feel as if I didn't do it justice. I really felt that it would be necessary to put it in, as it provides a basis for John's character in my story. I thought this would also help people that have never played Red Dead Redemption. Thank you for reading!
Conundrums and RecollectionsThe last thing John saw was a flash of light, then he passed into the dark, endless, void... But, he suddenly found himself waking up. He was laying on his back in the middle of a field dotted with a few trees. Is this heaven? Have I died? John suddenly feels a large, stabbing pains in his chest, he moves an arm to feel for the problem, then he feels blood welling up from him. He tries to stay concise for as long as he can, even though he can't seem to move anything other than an arm. He waves one in front of his face, to find a flat stump where his hand should be. He doesn't even try to figure out this new conundrum, as he is started to doze off from loss of blood. He finally losses his grip on conciseness, and begins the bodies final attempt at maintaining life. Princess Luna was racing to her sisters bed chamber; she had urgent news as she had detected a strange power enter their world. When she reached the door, she barged through. "Sister, I have felt-" "I sensed it to. A new alicorn, yes?" Luna nods in confirmation. "I'll go investigate myself; tell the guards or anypony wishing my audience that I am in the middle of some magic." Celestia then jumps off her balcony, and flies towards the alicorn power signature. She had reached the outskirts of Everfree when she reached the mediate location of the power source. She began her descent when she spotted her on the ground. Why is she not moving? She finally reached the alicorn, and almost froze from surprise when she noticed a rather large pool of blood and strange wounds on the alicorn's body.It had a brown pelt short-cut, black mane, and numerous scars on its face. It was also fully clothed: with a hat, vest, undershirt, and some sort of strange leather sash with metal nodules in it, with a metal and wood object jutting outwards from the back, and some strange, blue pants, a leather belt with and more metal nodules, a small container on one end with a strange piece of shaped metal in it, a rope, knife, and a strange stick with a piece of string coming out of the other side of the belt. The strangest thing though, was that she was actually a he; all of the alicorns in Equestria are (or were) female. She dismissed these thoughts, she could think about those later. Right now, she had to make sure he would get medical attention. She levitated him on her back, and flew of in the direction of Ponyville, the location of the nearest hospital. 1 week later, Ponyville hospital John made the slow, hazy approach back to conciseness as his vision faded in. He found himself looking at what seemed to be a pure, white horse with a flowing, multicolored mane, and a horn on its head. Closer inspection showed that it also had wings. "Am I dead?" he asked. "No, we were able to pull all of those metal fragments out of you and stop the bleeding, you've also been connected to an I.V. because you were unconscious." she answers. He has an accent similar to the Apple Family, just a bit more gruff. "Then why is there a, horned, winged horse speaking to me?" he says with a hint of humor in his voice. "First of all, we're ponies, second of all; aren't you a horned, winged pony speaking to me?" "Now that's just crazy, last I checked I was a-" as John spoke, he lifted a hand to his face, to notice that it was, in fact, a hoof. To his credit he didn't freak out at this revalation. "-human." "What is this human you speak of?" Celestia asked, quite confused. "Nothing, just something I'm sure ah was; unless, of course, I'm not just having a bad dream." He stated, quite confused himself. "So you're saying you were not originally a pony, or more specifically, an alicorn?" Why am I so accepting of his belief that he was not a pony? "Alicorn?" "The winged, horned pony; an example being you and me. We are the rarest variant. There are also: only winged ones, pegasi, only horned ones, unicorns, and plane ones, earth ponies. They make up the population of Equestria. "So, I, a human, a two legged animal with hands and arms instead of front legs and hoofs, somehow woke up in a land with talking ponies, as one of said ponies." I'm drunk again, aren't I? "If you aren't crazy, yes. By the way: who are you?" "John Marston, and who are you?" "Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria." Odd name. "Pardon me mam, I was not aware ah was speakin to royalty. So if I an't crazy, then how did I get here?" John asks, still not convinced if he is crazy or not. "No, I was going to ask you the same." 'sigh' "How long was I out?" "A week; you still need three days until you're fully recovered. In the meantime I would like to perform a memory scan; the mind is considered a very private thing so I was going to ask you first. The scan should clear up some answers." Well, this puts me in a predicament. I'm willing to share some things, but I'd rather hide certain points of my past. This might also be the only way to find out how I got here. "All right, but don't go anywhere beyond a year ago, okay?" "That's fine; if you would just lean towards me slightly." "Just prepare yourself, there are some things I've seen that I would rather forget." John then leaned in slightly, and she touched her horn to his forehead. There was a flash of light, and they both went into a deep trance. Celestia found herself looking through John's eyes; he was on a train, hearing in on conversations of fellow passengers. She had to take a moment to overcome the shock that said passengers were strange bipedal creatures. So, he's not crazy... She skipped ahead to a place where John was at the entrance of a fort. He spoke threats to a man inside, then she felt an explosion of pain, as John got shot. Her vision faded back in at a shack, John was speaking to what was apparently a woman. She skipped ahead further. John was fighting outlaws in a canyon, accompanied by three law officers. She continued to skim through John's memories. She saw how he aided a swindler and treasure hunter, when he aided the woman from before with her ranch. She saw him kill, time after time, not feeling a large amount of remorse for each robbed life. She saw him assault the fort from before, accompanied by a rag-tag team of assembled allies. She saw him follow his target to another country. How he both hindered and aided a rebellion, how he brought down a dictator. She saw him aid people throughout his journeys, though hesitant at times. She saw his efforts in bringing down a criminal, how he eventually made him jump to his death. All of these grim events were stemmed by his meeting up with his family. He loved them dearly. He worked in supporting his farm, how he saved his son from a bear. She eventually got to when he made his stand against the soldiers to protect his family. She saw him walk directly into death, so as to secure safety for his family. John, through all of this, was watching all of this as well. His departure of his world was simple; he had died... Celestia ended the memory spell. She took a moment to collect her thoughts. A dead man was given another chance at walking with the living. Who has the power to make this possible? John, on the other hand, was just trying to convince himself that none of this actually happened, but everything seemed to familiar to just brush away like that. I'm dead. I'm dead. why am I here? I'm not dead then, I'm just crazy. Abigail, forgive me. Jack, be strong. No, it wasn't real, none of that never happened. Celestia finally broke the silence. "No matter what ever happened in your previous life, a very powerful being has seen you fit at a second chance at life, a chance at redemption, so it seems. I won't get in your way too much unless you do something to deem doing so necessary." John took in the full amount of what he had been provided with, all of the crimes and deeds he had done. He could start new. This didn't feel right, though. He had had a loving family, one that he died to protect. He is should be dead, and starting over when one once had a family isn't easy. Getting a roof over my head should be a good start. "Okay. I don't want tah be too much of a burden or anything, but do you know of a place I can stay soon as ah get out of here?" "I'm sure someone in Ponyville should have extra lodging, in the meantime, I'm going to have a pupal of mine, Twilight Sparkle, inform you of our culture, and ask you of yours." "Fair 'nuff." I should be lucky for anything I get, seeing as I turned up in their world. Another world! This just blows everything out of the water, even those flying machines. "I'll leave you to your rest for now, the spell took longer than expected, and I must be off." With that, she left John to a sleepless, thought filled night.
A Criminal Turned WizardJohn Marston finally found sleep that night. A sleep riddled with troubling images. He couldn't shake the feeling that he abandoned his family. He kept imagining Edgar Ross assaulting his wife and son. His dreams eventually calmed down, and he found himself riding with his son... He eventually woke to the light of the sunrise. I better get the cattle to pasture. As he tried to get up, reality hit him right in the gut. He was still in the hospital, still a pony, and still away from his family. He took another look at his hoofs. He stares at them for a long time, pondering his options in this new world. He tries to get out of the bed, but A large amount of pain occurs in his chest. Suddenly, he hears the door to his room being opened. "Hi there! I'm Twilight Sparkle." Greets a purple unicorn as she enters the room. "Celestia already explained your-" She pauses for a moment and lifts a hoof to her chin. "predicament. She's told me to help you on establishing a job and housing and answer any questions you might have. She was also hoping you would be willing to elaborate on your past life." John lets out a sigh. "Okay, first off, miss Sparkle: would you mind bringing a mirror over. Ah don't realleh know what ah even look like." "Sure, no problem." Twilight's horn starts to glow, and the mirror on the other side of the room gets covered in a glow similar to the one from Twilight's horn starts to wheel itself over. John shook his head to see if this was actually happening. It was. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised. Talking ponies have already blasted apart any sense of what can't happen I had. I'm even one myself. As the mirror wheeled in front of the bed, John got a good look at his new self. He frowned deeply as he scanned himself. He had kept the same basic appearance, just "pony-fied." He also had a horn jutting out from his forehead. He let out another sigh, not taking his situation very well. Twilight gives him an understanding look. "Hay now, chin up. I can see how a change such as this would be quite stressful, but you just need to keep looking forward." Twilight takes on a hopeful smile. She's right, I won't make the situation better by just wallowing about in self pity. John takes a moment to v=collect himself before speaking. "What do you thinks going to happen?" "I don't know; that's the thing about events, the only ones we can be sure of are ones that already happened." "Amen" "Why don't we just start out with what you did back in your world so we can find a suiting job for you." "Ah'm gonna be completely honest with you now. I was a criminal before my gang abandoned me, then I got settled down with my wife and started a farm. I stole and vandalized, ruined people's lives, and I killed." He didn't know why he felt like sharing this, but he felt it had been forming a rock in his chest and it felt great to have it removed. Twilight sighed. "Don't worry, that's all in the past. You obviously regret what you did, and you even tried to leave that life as you started a farm. Plus, Celestia seems to trust you, and she's the wisest pony in the Equestria, so her word is enough for me. Speaking of farms, after you get out of here, you should stop by Sweat Apple Acres, it's the local apple farm, and one of my friends work there." Twilight became a bit wary of him after his testimony, but she could see good in those dark-brown eyes. "Sounds good enough to me miss Sparkle." John was taken aback by how well Twilight thought of him after he confessed his past. "Just call me Twilight." That simple phrase hits John like a train as he recalls how Bonnie rescued him when he was shot, in an unfamiliar land. Twilight notices the momentary shock John was in. "You all right?" "Yes, I'm fine." John assures her. "It's just the wound." He lies. "It'll probably hurt every now and then, that wound is nothing like anyone here has seen before." "That's because guns caused it, and I'm guessing you don't have them here." A world with talking ponies and no guns, that's quite the change. "Guns?" Twilight asks, quite puzzled. "Do you see those metal objects on the table?" "You mean the two strangely shaped ones?" "Yes, those are guns." John confirms. "What do they do?" "A gun causes am explosion from black powder that is inside of a cartridge, those brass things. The explosion launches the bullet, the lead tip on the front, into the target." John explains. "So they launch the projectile into the victim?" She asks. "Yes; a gun shot has been the death of many people. The bullet has to be pulled out, but the wound gets infected a lot, and doctors would have to amputate a limb if that's what got hit." Twilight gets a bit nauseous at this, which John can see. "So how about that magic?" John asks, changing the subject. Twilight brightens up a good bit at this question. "You didn't have magic? Well, magic is the ability to manipulate the world around us that is gifted to unicorns and alicorns due to the special energies located in a horn." "I just want ta know how you did that thing where you moved the mirror." "That would actually be the best thing to start with. Telekinesis is the first magic learn how to use. What you do is you focus on an object as hard as you can, then you will it to move where you want it to. You should practice on something small at first, then as you get the hang of it, you move on to larger and heavier objects. I have a practice set if you want to borrow it. I also have plenty of books on the matter." She seemed giddy when she spoke. "I would be mighty appreciative if you were to lend me this practice set, but I'm not much for readin." John says, a bit excited over the aspect of actually using magic. "I'll be right back then. Hello nurse Redheart." Twilight replies. "Hi there Twilight."As she leaves, a white mare with a red mane and a nurses outfit enters the room carrying a tray. "You're looking well." The nurse says to John. John nods in response She pulls up another tray and unfolds the legs on the bottom, and puts on the bed with the other tray on top. The tray has a few apples, a glass of juice, and a loaf of bread. "Thank you mam." "No problem, now eat up now; you've only been able get anything in your system through the IV, so you haven't eaten anything for the past week." John decides not to ask what an IV is, and just starts to eat after the nurse leaves. After taking a few bites of apple he stares at the glass of juice for a moment, then at his hooves. "sigh" He finishes eating without attempting to solve the thirst problem. About ten minutes of further contemplating about his current situation, Twilight enters the room with a set of bags over her back. "I'm back." She greats as she magics a few books and a box out of the bags. "I brought some books anyway just in case you change your mind." She laid the books on the bedside table and opened the box. It had an assortment different sized balls and a few small hoops. "You should start with trying to lift one." She floats the smallest ball over to John. "Lets try this then." John says as he gets adorns a mask of concentration. He focuses on the ball, then imagines it moving upward. His horn glows a silvery color, and the ball wobbles a little, but doesn't leave the table. John realizes that he is sweating a little. "That's very good for a first try, all you have to do now is practice." Just then, a green flame materialized out of no where, and it turned into a scroll. Twilight read the scroll then sighed. "I have to get back, just keep practicing and you should get the hang the of it." And with that, she exits the room. John takes a long look at the ball on bed. He pictures the ball floating upwards in his head again, filling the room with a silvery glow. The ball miraculously floats into the air. He yells out in triumph, causing gravity to take control of the ball once more. John repeats this process, eventually being able to move the ball around, as opposed to just floating it up. He takes a look at the table, and looks at the other balls. He magics one over, but it is significantly harder to move than the others. He looks at it, reading a label that says five pounds. He practices with this heavier ball, and eventually is able to move it with ease. John notices that his mouth is dry after lifting the next ball. He smiles as he lifts the glass of juice and drinks from it, downing the whole glass after a single gulp. John practicing his magic. Two other times the nurse came in with some food, for diner and lunch. He is eventually able to lift two at a time. At about eight, John starts to feel extremely tired. He is breathing heavily and covered in sweat from the stain of using magic. He gives up practicing any further, and starts to drift off to sleep. Without something to draw his attention, his mind goes back to pondering what he's going to do in this world. Sleep eventually finds him, and he dreams of flying. I finally finished! I would like to thank YouTube's large collection of music that I listened to while writigng this. I would also like to thank you for reading. I apologies for the monotony of these unexciting chapters.
The House's HandMeanwhile- Canterlot Garden A dark figure materializes at the entrance. It has no form, just a dark silhouette. The figure moves through the garden, as if it is taking a simple stroll reminiscing of times long gone. It stops at the statue of Discord, the Harbinger of Chaos. A dark tendril creeps off of the figure, and starts to wrap around Discord, eventually engulfing him in darkness. The darkness recedes back into the figure, revealing a restored Discord. "Your insolence has cost me yet another victory." Echos the figure. Discord falls to his knees, and bows before the figure. "F-forgive m-me Lord Anordos. I w-will not f-fail you a-again. J-j-just g-give me another ch-chance." Murmurs Discord, his voice wavering with every word. "Enough!" Booms the figure. "This is not about bringing down the Sun and Moon Sisters! My opposite has played his hand, and I don't intend to fold. He has summoned forth a Harbinger of his own, so we are a bit stressed for time. You must go to the Griffon Kingdom, and plant the seeds of war. Do this, and you shall be forgiven for your failure." Commands the figure. "Y-yes my L-lord. I sh-shall carry out your orders." Whimpers Discord. "Then I will be off." And with that, the figure dissipates into nothing, leaving Discord cowering in a ball. He composes himself after a few minutes, and flies for the Griffon Kingdom.
A Nice Stroll to the OrchardThe morning greeted John with the gentle glow of the Sun. He took a few moments to fully wake himself, then he noticed Twilight and another pony with a yellow coat and a pink mane, which she looked like she was trying to hide behind. "Good morning. I see you were practicing. You were really conked out when I came in about an hour ago, magic can do that to you." "Sorry to keep you waiting." he says. Who the hell is she? "No problem, I was just talking with Fluttershy here." She explains. "So, why is she here?" "I asked to make a special tea that dulls pain. She lives on the edge of Everfree Forest, so she has access to lots of herbs."She then motions to a steaming cup on the bed-side table. "Well, thank you mam." John says as he starts to magic the cup to him. Fluttershy just looks down and mutters something inaudible. "She all right?" 'Sigh' " She's just really shy, even around people she knows sometimes." "Don't worry miss Fluttershy, ah don't bite." Fluttershy straitens up a little bit, but she what she says is still inaudible. John downs the tea in a few gulps. He then tries to get out of the bed again, fighting through the slightly reduced pain. Twilight starts to worry. "You really shouldn't get out. The doctor said you need to stay in bed for another day." "I've been through worse. Don't worry." 'grunt' It was a bit awkward moving around on four legs, but John eventually got his way out of the bed, all the while with a disapproving glare from Twilight. When he tried to walk around though, he tripped over his own hooves. Twilight couldn't help but giggle, and Fluttershy had a very worried look. "A-are you all right?" She asks. "Yes I'll be fine." Growls John, biting back his anger. Damn these legs. He continued his war with gravity and loss of basic motor function while Twilight and Fluttershy just stared at him in an awkward manner. After falling down several times, John was able to stand up straight. "So, where to?" John says to break the silence. Twilight shakes her head to regain focus. "Oh, um, you aren't supposed to be out of bed anyway, so I guess we could just go outside..." "Sounds good 'nuff miss Sparkle." Aahh, Hell; there's still the expenses to take care of. John pauses for a moment to think on how to take care of the hospital bill. "Ummm, miss Sparkle, you wouldn't happen to have some money I could borrow would ya? I could work it off soon as ah could." He says as he magics his stuff to him. "Oh, you mean the bill, don't you? Princess Celestia already took care of it. Don't worry about it." "I don't think I could figure out a way to thank you all enough then." Twilight puts on a serious face. "I said don't worry about it. All right?" "Well, okay. It just don't seem right taking all these favors." "You sound a LOT like Applejack." "Speaking of, ah might as well go talk to her about a job." And with that, John slowly exits the room with Twilight holding the telekinesis practice set in a magical grip and Fluttershy behind him. "He seems nice." Fluttershy mutters. Twilight nods in agreement "He sure does." When they reached the lobby, the pony at the registration desks stops John. "Excuse me sir, you're not supposed to be out of bed." Just as John is about to retort, Twilight says, "Don't worry, he's fine." "If the you say so Twilight." The clerk replies. "Come on" She motions towards Fluttershy and John. As they walk outside, John feels the pain dulling enough to the point of a small bruise. "I must thank ya again for the tea miss Fluttershy. Now I need to do something about these two lumps I feel on either side of me. He'll ignore them for now, probably something to do with having four legs. While the're walking Fluttershy asks a quetstion "What kind of animals did you have in your world?" It was barely audible, but John heard nonetheless. "Well, we had all kahns oh animals. Just depends where ya live. We had bears an elk in the northern forests. Squirrels where there was trees. Armadillos, vultures, an coyotes in the deserts and grasslands. Song birds, wolves, an deer had a tendincy ta be jus 'bout everywhere. In this one area, we had these great buffalo roaming the plains, but I worry for am sidering they're being hunted tah near extinction. Other 'en that, ah don't think I could give the world justice siderin ah was in a small part oh it." "What hunts the buffalo?" Fluttershy asks with a hint of worry in her voice. "We do. It's a darn shame, but we don't even eat them. No wonder the Indians are so zealous o'er protecting the herds." After hearing this, Twilight and Fluttershy both stop, and stare at John. "What? Yes, we eat meat, ah don't plan on continueing that since of the current form some higher power has seen to manifest me in. And on the hunting the buffalo part; my race was very detached from nature. We consider animals completely different from, even lower than, us. I spose technology'll that to ya." The two girls still appeared apprehensive, but that was enough to continue the, albeit awkward, walk. When they reached the top of a hill the path goes over, they were grassed with a view of Sweet Apple Acres; a small house with a barn and a massive expanse of trees behind them, stretching for as far as the eye could see. "Here we are" Twilight says. Applejack was applebucking when they found her. They watched for a moment, John in a bit of aw at the method of harvesting apples. "We would just pick apples. I must say I find kicking the tree and having the apples fall down to be quite impressive." Applejack stopped to see where the voice came from. "Well, we try our best." She says while turning. "Hello Applejack, my friend here was wanting to inquire on getting a job on your farm." Twilight says. "Well, ah reckon an extra hoof could go a far way considerin it's harvest seaso-" She stops as she looks at John, all the color rushing from her face. She stares for a few moments before muttering, "Pappy?" I am terribly sorry for the delay. This is also not equivalent to the three weeks worth I put into it, so I apologies for that. My biggest weakness is how to go about writing all of the space in between major plot points, or what I call the "waffle." Also, I am incredibly new to writing in general, so don't hesitate to critique me. Also, expect no constant rate in updates and length.
Paternal Problema "Scuse me?" John asks, rather confused. "Is it really you pappy?" "I have know adea what your talkin 'bout miss. Ah was just wonderin if I could get a job workin here." "You're alive!" She yells, now ecstatic. "Ah can't believe it's really you. After all this time. Don't worry, me and Big Mac have kept the farm runnin smoothly. You should see Applebloom; she's gotten so big." "Now miss, ah'm tellin ya, I am NOT you father." Applejack just ignores him, continuing her rambling. After a few minutes of Applejack's misguided celebration, and a few ignored assurances that he is not her father by John, he gave up seeing as how he is just was royally stumped on how to bring the two farmers to their senses, as they were rather convinced he was their dad. Twilight then buts in and starts motioning to Fluttershy."Hey, Fluttershy, would you mind showing John around town?" "Okay," she said in a barely audible tone. "I'm going to explain things to AJ and Big Mac. That all right with you John?" "Yah," he mutters as he walks away backwards, almost tripping over his own hooves. His mind was rather unsettled and he was glad Twilight decided to intervene at that point as he had no idea what he was supposed to do. "Applejack, explain to me what's going on please." "Well, Twi, my pa's finally come home after disappearing so long ago. Now tell me why he's lying to us." And with that, Applejack's demeanor went from ecstatic to dead serious. "That's because he's not." Twilight then lifts a hoof to her chin and contemplation her next words. "What exactly happened to your parents, I haven't asked any of the other girls because I didn't want to pry." "Well even if ya did ya still wouldn't know, Ah haven't told anybody and Ah don't intend tah. Just know he disappeared and now he's back." She punctuates her last words by spitting at the ground. "He even sounds, looks, and, gosh darn it Twi, he even dresses like my father!" "Look Applejack, despite all of that supposed evidence, I sincerely doubt John is you father. He was just found passed out in the Everfree forest a few days ago on the brink of death." Twilight then pauses to think again, contemplating whether or not Applejack should know the whole story. "Well, it makes more sense to show my hand than to keep them close close to my chest." "And also, AJ, he's from a different plane of existence. He wasn't originally a pony. He DIED in his old world. The wounds he received that "did the dead" were put just below immediately fatal levels when his conciseness was scent to our world." After hearing what Applejack sincerely wanted for Twilight to be speaking utter nonsense, but her sixth sense for truth was pointing that everything she said was true. She felt tears forming in her eyes as she spoke responded, "Well Twi, I don't have a clue why, but Ah believe ya. Ah'm sorry for making a mess out'a this." She closed her eyes to flush out the tears. "I've just really missed my pappy is all. I became overwhelmed when Ah saw someone so like him." "I'm sorry Applejack, I have no idea what is feels like to not be able to be with one's parents, but I understand that seeing someone like your father must have triggered something deep down." Twilight then trots over to her friend and places a hoof on her shoulder. "If you ever have the need to let something of of your chest, just let me know." Applejack wipes the tears from her eyes with a hoof, then says, "Well Twi, I thank ya for the offer, but I don't feel too inclined to share right now." She takes a deep breath, then continues to speak. "You can tell John he's got a job here if he wants it,. A bed too, if that's the case. I feel I need tah apologies." Twilight smile in response to Applejack's proposal. "Thanks AJ, I'll be sure to tell him." Back in Ponyville "And this is the, uh, the Carousel Boutique. R-rarity lives th-there." Fluttershy squeaks to John as they walk through Ponyville. "And over t-to th-the left is the town hall." Fluttershy says as she motions with her front-left hoof. John only partly listened to Fluttershy though, as he scanned the area, his head on a swivel, watching the pedestrians and mentally noting areas of low visibility, while ignoring the stares he received due to his odd attire. He hadn't dropped the habit of being tactically obsessed over his surroundings ever since he was in Dutch's gang, but this was a habit he was glad for, even though he probably won't be needing any time soon. John then lurches forward in pain. "Oh! Are you, uh, okay?" "Yah, I'm fine, just feels like I've got a really bad cramp on my sides." He spits through clenched teeth. "Could you help me get my shirt off?" "Oh, uh, sure." John directs Fluttershy to bite on to the back of his vest while he strains fit his front legs out. "C'mon!" He tries to use some magic, but to no avail. After a few more seconds of pulling, they two hear a loud ripping noise then, "FWOOSH!" "Ah!" Fluttershy screams as she is knocked back by the sudden extension of a massive set of dark brown wings. John, being caught off guard, by the sudden reveal of extra appendages is left staring from side to side, mouth agape. He calms down a bit and regains his composure, then checks the area to make sure nobody noticed what just transpired. "Well, I'll be darned." The Princess did mention something 'bout wings. He flaps them a few times, getting the full feel of the new addition to his body. They felt absolutely alien to him, but here he is, boasting a set of wings. As I said: I'm back.
