Chapters Hello! who might you be? I'm Shaun, you may be wondering how a Human got into Equestria,
sit down and I'll tell you my Story...
Well, that's not good... my opponent had just played his PlanesWalker, Elspeth, Sun's Champion , proceeded to place a loyalty token on her, and placed three 1/1 soldier tokens on the field. "Turn" my Father said simply. I untap my lands, draw a card, and look at my hand Sluimgar's command, Rakshasa's Disdain, Inkwell Leviathan and Accumulated Knowledge, a good hand, but it could be better, Dutiful Return, or Grave Strength would be a welcome sight. I tap four Islands and five Swamps to pay for Inkwell Leviathan and put it on the battlefield, followed up with me tapping my last three Islands, my Dismal Backwater, and my last Swamp to play Sluimgar's Command
"Send Elspeth to the graveyard, and I inflict three damage to your Banisher Priest , killing it." Good, I got my Gurmag Angler back.
"Turn", that simple word can make or break a game.
he untaps his lands and draws a card, the Dad tapped five Plains to play Loxodon Partisan and taps my Gurmag Angler , thanks Court Street Denizen . "I attack with three of my five 2/2 Soldiers, my Denizen, my Kinsbail Skirmisher and I'll tap my Mother Of Runes to give my Denizen Protection from Black." well, Crap. "Er, Block the Kinsbail with my Returned Phalanx ,
and block a soldier with Quarsi Sadist and another with Typhoid Rats ." how I * Hate** pre-made decks, oh well, Four damage isn't so bad, I still have three health* "I tap Three plains for Mighty Leap and Mortal's Ardor and place them on my Denizen."
I make a face and he lets out a hearty laugh. "oh Buddy, good job, you did well. what say we call it a night?" he says "fine, goodnight" i say, giving him a hug, he is still my dad after all.
I go upstairs, lay down in my room, and go to sleep.
In Equestria...
"uuuughhhh." Ouch, my head... wait, why does it feel like I'm laying on Mud and Grass? I open my eyes before recoiling. AH! the Sun's too bright! I man up before opening my eyes again and looking around, squinting because my eyes still hadn't adjusted yet. I see a figure laying on the ground in what looks like recolored versions of the wizard's clothes from Ni No Kuni. I look at myself, only to see the same clothes, only much larger to fit my tall but thin frame. I shake the figure before realizing he's my cousin, Nicholas. "Nick! WAKE UP " "uh what? I want the pancake waffles." what? (Message to my cousin. lig dreh ni kos faazrot)
"Oh, hi Shaun."
"Hi Nick, do you know where we are?"
"My guess, a Forest or Swamp."
I face palm, "Clearly, I mean Where are we?"
"I know that's what you meant, and I don't know."
I look around, finding the surrounding area looking familiar...
"Nick, call me crazy, but remember how I told you I was a Brony?"
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with-"
"I think we're in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic."
my cousin raises his eyebrow.
"I'm being serious Nick." Okay, I admit that statement was a longshot, but come on, we were in the Everfree forest!
"Okay, I'll go with you on this, assuming this is real and I'm not dreaming, how do you know we are in a T.V. Show?!"
I pinch my cousin. "Now you know it's real, and I can prove we are in 'a T.V. Show.'" I jump up and grab a low branch, climb up and pull Nick up with me before looking around. "look at that mountain and tell me what you see." his eyes widen as he says: "a city, hanging off the edge of the mountain..."
"uh huh, that's Canterlot, oh and FYI, every city name is a horse pun."
"Okay mister Brony, where do we go from here?"
I roll my eyes "Well if i remember my map correctly..."
Nick snickers at that "we go northwest."
"How do we know which way is north then?"
"there isn't a forest that is this remotely close to Canterlot. and judging from our view of said city I would say Canterlot is north of us. so I figure that northwest is toward Canterlot and to the left."
"let's go then."
"Hold on Nick. what I don't know is when in the Timeline we showed up, we could be in a time before the first episode, or after the newest one. we need to be cautious. let's take inventory, considering our clothes have changed I doubt we don't have some equipment."
We do a quick search of our belts and the tiny backpacks we have. I find My Black/Blue Magic deck, A Steel Dagger, a Map and a compass.
I look over to see Nick has the same gear. the difference being he has his Dragon Deck. "Okay, now we can go."
We set off toward the northeast, before coming across a large river. I see Nick starting to walk down toward the water. "Wait!" It's too late, a large purple serpent rose out of the water, and Nick scrambles out of said water and draws his dagger. I stop him from drawing his weapon
completely before saying to the serpent: "We are but lonely Travelers searching for passage across this river, we ask your help to cross."
"Oh of course!" the Serpent said in a snobbish tone "I always let the most polite travelers pass! Especially since those Six Ponies from a year ago!"
we cross the river before I bade farewell to the serpent. We walk deeper into the forest before i say "Nick, I think I know where in the timeline we are, probably right in the middle of season Four, lets keep going and I can make a more detailed guess."
we continue further before reaching the edge of the forest under the cover of Night, I see a couple lights and what look like European style versions of Skyrim's buildings and a giant crystal tree. Well, at least I know this is after Tirek. "Nick, This is after season four, I say we move to the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters and make camp there."
"Sure, why not?"
Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters - Hours later
We made it to the castle without incident and began to use some of the leftover cloth the Mane Six used to restore the
castle as blankets, we grabbed some wood on the way and started a fire with the bow drill method, making the bow out of a stick and a strip of spare cloth.
I check my Watch, I'm relieved that It made it with me, It's cycling through the Days of the week and the day of the month is going completely haywire, but for some reason the time is working. 5:48 it reads, I can get it working better later, right now I need to focus on letting the ponies know we're harmless, Twilight is going to want to study us extensively, Rainbow is going to get right up in my face, Flutters is probably going to panic, AJ is going to be somewhat agreeable, Rarity is going to go fangirl over our fashion choices and Pinkie is going to do what Pinkie wants to do. silence has been common since we got here and Nick is already asleep, I'm keeping watch and keeping the fire stoked. The Sun is coming up and I hear something Are the ponies here already?! , "Psst, Nick!"
"Ugh, what?"
"Ssh! you hear that?"
we both listen and hear voices...
"Nick, get up, slowly, quietly. get your knife and I'll snuff the fire,
He get's up and draws his blade as I put some dirt on the fire, putting it out. I draw my dagger and we sneak out of the small tower
room we made camp in, making our way down to the Entry Hall and/or Throne room. Come on girls! those Magic-less Creatures are around here somewhere! Crap! Twilight knows we're here! Nick's face is screaming that when he put two and two together he came to the same conclusion. I motion for him to follow me and we make it into the Throne room, I look around the corner to see the Mane Six there looking for something...
"Girls! there's a strange, but weak magical essence lining up with the spell, Maybe they're new creatures!"
Strange Magic... My Cards! I reach for my deck and grab Sluimgar's Command, Three Swamps and two Islands before Nick asked
"Why do you need those?" I smirk and run out from behind my corner.
Time slowed down as I ran toward them. Lets hope this works! I yelled the first thing that came to mind. "For Narnia! "
Granted I could have said something better, but nonetheless that's what I yelled, all eyes turned to me as I rushed toward Twilight. She was charging her horn in what was undoubtably a stun spell. I toss my lands on the ground and there is a flash, I have no time to look at what has appeared as I throw Sluimgar's Command to the ground in front of me.
Everyone in the room, including me, were suprised by what happend next.
Energy erupted from the card, taking the form of a bubble around me. The stun spell hit the bubble before dissipating, the shield collapsed into a sea of power without form, the energy collected into my hands and I saw Rainbow was charging me "I'll save ya Twilight!" She said. I threw my hands forward Kame-Hame-Ha style and a powerful beam of energy erupted from them toward the rainbow maned Pegasus. the Pony was blasted back and crashed into the wall of the castle, leaving a pony-shaped indentation in said wall.
Needless to say, everyone was stunned by this display of power,
and I was exhausted.
I collapsed, the last thing i heard was "I surrender!"
Really Nick?
???-Later
Why is everything so dark? Am I dead? No, I'm not dead, everything hurts though.
"Good morning Sleeping Beauty."
"Screw you Nick."
Nick let out a hearty laugh at that "That line right there is priceless!"
"Ugh "
"Be quiet in there!"
I slowly open my eyes, something i learned from arriving here, and look around, I'm in a cell with a window and a door with bars like you see in the movies. There are two Pegasus guards outside, their Golden armor shining in what I guess is daylight from what I can see from the pile of hay that is my bed. there is a bucket, which I don't want to know what is for, and what looks like a sink.
I sit up and take inventory. No Dagger, Deck, map or Compass...
Where's my watch?!
I look at my arm and find my electric watch is gone, I start to panic before Nick whispers to me, "Your watch is whats holding your... Cape, for lack of a better term, to your back." I look and find where once was a button is the metal buckle of my watch. "Clever boy."
I hear the gate open up and look toward the sound, a Red Armored Pegasus is standing there. So there are ranks in the royal guard! "Come with me. the Princesses want to talk to you." I stand and hear a loud noise, I look down to see chains holding my feet together.
Me and Nick trudge out of the room and I get a better glimpse of the hallway, The ceiling is low for me and Nick but for the Ponies it's about the right height. there are grates above me and I see hooves shuffling back and forth above us. We walk along the hallway and I notice that every so often the cells have some Ponies in them, they stare at us and I try my best to ignore them. I guess the show is not quite accurate.
We make it to what I guess is Canterlot Castle and walk through the large golden gates to the throne room, and I see a room full of ponies, all in seats. the room is silent as I look around, up on an elevated platform are the four Princesses.
Twilight, the youngest Alicorn, has a light purple coat and dark purple mane, with pink stripe running through it, her eye color is deep purple.
Cadence is a Bubblegum pink Alicorn with a Pink/Purple/Yellow mane and tail, her eye color is crystal blue.
Luna, Princess of the Night, is named fittingly, her coat was a color that I can only describe as a Very deep blue, much like a blue that you would find just after twilight ended. her mane flowing like It was in an Invisible breeze, The color being like her coat but with twinkling stars every so often.
Celestia, the Eldest, Has a snow white coat and a flowing mane like Luna's, only colored differently, striped pink, Green, and sky blue.
her eye color is a cross between Ruby Red and Bubblegum Pink.
During my initial glance I caught sight of the Mane Six, sitting to my left. Rainbow's left wing was in a cast, but otherwise she looked fine, and all the ponies in the room, save the Princesses, looked at me with either curiosity or fear. If looks could kill, the look Rainbow dash was giving me would brutally murder me. I'm thrown onto one knee before being held there by the Guards.
"These beasts assaulted the Elements of Harmony!" our red armored friend yelled, all but the princesses and the Mane Six gasped before yelling out for punishment.
"Silence" Celestia said simply.
The room grew quiet instantly. I took a moment to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the control Celestia had over this crowd.
the room still had murmurings of some of the more wealthy looking nobles, but otherwise all eyes and ears in the room turned to Celestia.
"My fellow Ponies, Twilight Sparkle tells me these Creatures can speak, I would like to hear their side to this."
There were murmuring of dissaproval from the wealthier nobles, but no one spoke up against this. I shook the guard off of me and stood up, at full height I could look Celestia in the eye, Nick stood a head shorter than me. I look at Nick and say "Ov zey" in Dovazhul before looking to the Ponies in the room. "Do you want the long version, or short version?" Celestia smiles at that. "Long."
I tell her the story of Atlantis, changing it just a bit so It would be compatible with the history of this world. I look around as I reach the part where Atlantis is destroyed.
"Wait," Twilight says "-What does this have to do with you?" I glare at her. "I was getting to that."
"We escaped the destruction of the Island, and sailed for forty Days and Nights, The lack of sound was maddening-"
"There Princess, he is mad, he said it himself!"
I turn toward the voice, undoubtably Blueblood, and bare my teeth in the most menacing face I could manage.
"You know, there is legends that human teeth are covered in a poison that is incurable, even by magic."
that shut him up. I turn toward the other nobles and announce in my loudest voice possible, "Anyone else want to interrupt me!? "
No one answered, my anger issues proved handy at times. "As I was saying, we traveled for forty Days and Nights, using the Stars for guidence." Luna seemed to grow more proud at that.
"we landed here, so we traveled inland, carefully avoiding any contact with you ponies, we set up camp in the castle and before long those five," I said gesturing the Mane Five. "-And you," I said pointing at Twilight "-showed up at the Castle, so we defended our home, temporary as it was." Fluttershy was clearly upset she invaded our camp, but that was a good thing, it meant i had her in the palm of my hand.
At least me and Nick didn't have to worry about any Tree of Harmony super weapons.
"The rest, you could say, is History."
The Princesses murmured among themselves for a moment. "We have come to a decision, these- What are you?" asked Luna.
"Humans."
"-Humans are guiltless of any crime and are to stay in Canterlot for integration into Equestrian society." Luna finished.
the Trial, for lack of a better word, finished and me and Nick were escorted to some of the guest rooms in the Castle, our chains were taken off and one of the guards stated to stay in there till another guard would come collect us.
Canterlot Guest Room - Later that Night
I have to admit, The view from that room was breath taking, it looked over the Equestrian Great Plains, I was sitting at the desk, Playing a casual game of Magic with Nick, and getting absolutely wrecked, his dragon deck is over powered. My mind is wandering while Nick is trying to figure out how to deal with my most powerful card, we were given our decks back after getting sent to our room. I had discovered that a
hardcover book and a quill had been left in my room, so I decided to turn it into my journal. I Look to the door and see our Red armored friend gesturing for Nick.
I speak to my cousin In Dovazhul to insure only he understands what i'm saying.
"un usnutiid los soven." He smiles and responds with "Do Rahlo" and leaves with the guard.
Chapter 2: Dreams and Mysteries
The door closed behind him and I decided that I should try to get some sleep, hopefully I can chat with Luna on a personal level.
The Dream Realm
I fade into a jet black void, standing on what feel's like the smoothest of glass. 'is this the Dream Realm? '
"Yes Traveler, 'tis the Realm of Dreams."
I spin 180 degrees to see Princess Luna standing behind me. "Ah, Princess Luna, what a pleasant suprise." I say calmly.
"Tell me," I say "Why is this place so, Empty?" Luna smiles "'Tis your dream, you tell us." I close my eyes for a moment and when they open I see a table in front of me, one that wasn't there before. a simple chair sits in front of me and a stool in front of Luna. on the table are some of my favorite Sushi rolls, Soy Sauce, and so on. I sit down and beckon Luna to sit as well, she looks at me somewhat strangely as I grab some chopsticks and put some California rolls on my plate. "Ask what you will" I say simply, dipping a California roll in some soy sauce.
"Thou art a Carnivore?" she asks.
I finish chewing my bite (for lack of a better term) before saying "Omnivore, and I don't eat Ponies."
she visibly relaxes at that "Pegasi are as well, though the only meat they can eat is Fish."
"is Fluttershy a vegan?" i ask, if Pegasi are Omnivores like me, I should be able to order what a Pegasus would order and have it not look out of place. "We do not know," she replies "-you will have to ask."
I look up "you look to be at least half Pegasus, help yourself." She raises her hoof in refusal.
I swallow my bite and say "lets get down to business then" I blink and the food is gone, replaced by a paper detailing some modifications that I wanted for my clothes. I slide the paper over to Luna, "If you could get these to Rarity that would be just perfect." she nods "So," She says, leveling her gaze "-We know thou hast lied to us and our sister, tell us the truth."
I grin "How about this, I'll tell you the truth, If you beat me in single combat."
She raises her eyebrow, "Deal..." she says slowly
I blink, the table is covered in weapons, a Glock 18 loaded with blanks, a combat knife/Brass knuckles combo, some earplugs,
and NonLeathalByChoice's armor. I don the armor, attach the Glock's holster to my belt, sheath the knife and put the earplugs in.
"Begin." she says simply
I run forward Like a madman. 'Please, for all that is good and holy, let her pull a Twilight! ' her horn glows and there is a flash
'Yes! '
I do a 180 on my heel and see Luna rushing me, horn lowered in a position to gore me. I lift the pistol and pull the trigger.
the gun literally roars to life. the sound stuns Luna and she slows down, I sidestep and give a wide sweep with my knife, giving her a long cut down her side. her horn lights up and the cut seals itself. "We Will get the Truth!" she yells. she starts firing magic bolts wildly, I duck and one just barely clears my head.
I blink and there is a small brick wall about two feet high in front of me, I duck behind it and blind fire toward Luna. I blink and now there are some military grade smoke grenades in front of me. i pull the pin on one and chuck it toward Luna. "Thou Shalt pay for Blinding Me, Cur! "
I vault over the wall and rush Luna. 'Lets hope this Works! ' I plunge the knife into her neck and blood runs down my hand. the crimson substance drips and disappears before it hits the ground. I pull the knife out and take a step back and the body crumbles, a blank look in those open eyes. I blink...
and the body is still there.
I sit up, a bead of seat rolling down my face. 'what is wrong with me?! and more importantly, how come I could imagine that so * vividly?*' The door bursts open and there stands Luna, looking infuriated. my cards are on the table and my knife is still with the guards, I'm defenseless. My eyes dart from left to right, looking for a way out of this " Thou Shalt Tell Us The Truth!**" she yells in the royal Canterlot voice.
She lifts me with her magic, immobilizing all but my mouth "Nick! Help! " I try to struggle but it is no use, I'm stuck. "Tell Us!" she yells in her normal voice. Nick runs in and is shocked by the scene "Nick! Your De-" i tried to finish but Luna sealed my mouth with her magic. Nick reaches for his deck and grabs four forests, Phytoburst, and Ainok Guide. he throws Ainok Guide on the ground and it forms a creature that looked lake a human who lost his head and replaced it with a goat head. he then plays Phytoburst on it, Turning it into a 7/7 Creature. Nick points to Luna and the Ainok tackles her like he was in the NFL, releasing me from her grasp. I drop and land flat on my face "Thanks Nick." I say as Celestia walks in.
"Luna, did you really expect that to work?"
Luna groans at that "Never before have we died in one of my subjects Dreams before."
Celestia looks at me, surprised. "How did this happen?" she says in a curious tone. I tell the story of my dream, every detail.
"Then I woke up." I finished.
Celestia carefully considered these facts before coming to a decision. "Luna, you should not have lost your cool, A deal is a deal, he was victorious and thus he may keep his secrets. Shaun, Luna was too forward, she was supposed to persuade you, but again, A deal is a deal. you were victorious so we will not push the matter."
"You two get some rest," Celestia says "-Tomorrow we reveal you to Equestria."
The princesses leave the room and I look at my watch. 4:00 Am. well, I'm not sleeping tonight. "Nick, get some sleep, I'm not going to get any more tonight."
'6:00 Am and the sun is rising, I've got to hand it to Celestia for being precise with her timing. ' I have been wandering the halls of Canterlot Castle for some time now, I have visited most of the public areas and spent a few hours in the library reading up on some of the history while i waited for the sun to rise. It turns out they have copies of most works of literature in this universe, including the Daring Do books, and they are an almost carbon copy of the Indiana Jones movies. they even have their own version of the Ark of the Covenant!
I'm currently in the library, reading Daring Do and the Ring Of Destiny . It's a good book, but nowhere close to my favorite. I close the book, I suppose it's time to wake up Nick. I get up and walk back to the shelf where I found the book and put it back in it's place with its brothers and sisters. I walk toward the door and notice a certain purple Alicorn entering the library. I decide to shadow her and see what she does.
I appear to wander the Library not far, occasionally picking up a book to appear I'm just browsing, keeping just close enough that I can see and hear Twilight, but far enough that it's not suspicious. I begin to hum 'It's The End Of The World As We Know it (And I feel Fine)' as I find A book to read, 'The Elements of Harmony, A Refrence Guide' Yes, i recognized it. I pretend to read while checking on Twilight every so often.
Twilight levitates a book off the shelf and walks over to the table I'm sitting at, open's said book, and begin's to read. I look at the title.
"Your not going to find anything about Atlantis in there" I say simply She looks away from her book "And why not?" she says in an annoyed tone. "Well, If you, meaning ponies as a whole, have never seen Humans, then how do you expect to know anything of our culture?" she tries to respond, but doesn't have a good answer. "Furthermore, what did you say in the Castle? 'Those Magic-less creatures' so you wouldn't even be able to understand our culture and technology." This left her speechless "The library never has all the answers." I finish. I close the book I'm pretending to read and put it away before leaving.
11:57: Podium for Summer Sun Celebration
We are hiding behind a curtain while Celestia introduces us to Equestria "You ready for this Nick?" I say to my cousin whom is wearing an empty expression "Ready as I'll ever be." he states simply. Honestly I feel the same, this is make or break. the guards gave us our weapons back and then some. they gave me and Nick some 'Minotaur Weapons' they gave Nick a Kriegsmesser , so you could call him spoiled. I picked up a Skyrim style War Axe, swung it around a bit, and walked away.
back to the present, we are about to go out. I decide to sing a song under my breath to calm my nerves.
"Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world. she took the midnight train going anywhere. just a City boy, born and raised in south detroit, he took the midnight train going anywhere... " I hum the rest, before i hear our cue. I grab my cousin's shoulders and look him in the eye. "Lets do this." i say simply.
"Give me this mountain..." i say under my breath. we step out onto the stage, heads held high. every step feels like a thousand miles.
"they will introduce themselves and then this will open up to questions. they," Celestia says gesturing to me and my cousin
"-Will dictate how that will work." Celestia steps off the podium and we take her place. "raise your hoof if you have a question and we will
answer as best we can, one question per pony" everyone raises their hooves, and i facepalm. 'this will take a while ' "your question?" i ask pointing to a pony right in front.
"are you related to minotaurs?"
"no," i say in monotone "-we are part of a separate species called Humans"
"you" i say to another pony
"do you eat ponies?" he asks, fear evident in his voice.
"again, no, we don't eat ponies, but we are omnivores"
80 percent of the hooves drop.
'... ponies are idiots. '
3:30: Summer Sun Celebration Podium
I walk back out off the podium and back behind the curtain while Nick follows me, much more talkative than before.
"Ponies are nice." he states "and stupid." I add, some of those questions were ones they could answer with a bit of thinking. 'I guess having others take care of them for so long much have eaten away at their intelligence, save a select few ' i think looking at The Princesses..
Celestia closes the meeting and the ponies slowly filter out of the room, save the nobles whom stick around to chat with each other.
I start my way toward the kitchens, a sandwich and a glass of water would do me good. Me and Nick are walking through an empty hallway and there is a blinding flash, we look up and there stands a Creature With mismatched parts, He spoke with John de Lancie's voice. "ha ha ha! Hello Nicholas!"he teleports behind Nick. I'm annoyed, I hoped i could introduce Discord formally, but i suppose he Is the Spirit of Chaos. "I'm in not mood for your tricks Discord." I say simply, he teleports to me
"I hoped for more cooperative toys" he says disapointed
'wait... ' "Are you the one who brought us here?" I ask,
"oh, aren't you a smart one, lets test that, shall we?" he teleports four gemstones into his paw, an emerald, a diamond, a ruby and a pearl. each with a Strange Mark "Make sense of these riddles and then bring me the gems, then I might just reward you.
"what dies when it drinks, and grows when it eats "
"What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees Up, up, up it goes,
And yet never grows. "
"Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters. "
"Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail never clinking "
Discord teleports away, his ghostly voice ringing through the halls: "Ha Ha Ha!"
Me and Nick stood there, confused. "Shaun, what was that?"
"That," I said "-was Discord, spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. trust me on this, there are some things that you just don't question in this world." all I know is that he gave me some riddles.
I shake my head "he said if I figured out those Riddles, he would reward us, lets start with the most simple one, what has roots as nobody see's, yet grows taller than the highest trees, up, up, up it goes, yet never grows."
we make it to the kitchens and I look around 'ah, the pantry. ' i walk in and find some cans of tuna, mayonnaise, relish and tabasco sauce.
I grab those ingredients, and walk out to the sinks, wash my hands, grab a bowl and a fork and get to work making sandwiches.
me and nick sit at a table munching on tuna sandwiches while I try to figure out those riddles. "A mountain! that's the answer to Discord's riddle!" I turn toward one of the maids, "what is the tallest mountain in Equestria?" she looks at me, surprised "C-Canterlot mountain."
"Thanks." I throw the last of the Tuna in my mouth and make a dash for the door.
I stand at the trail head of the mountain. 'a simple day hike, nothing too difficult... I hope. ' the overall height of the mountain from Canterlot rivals Flat Iron in the Superstition mountains, the foot of which is where I grew up. so I was familiar with that kind of terrain.
the problem is, the ascent is steep, much steeper than what i'm used to, but if I want what whatever discord has, then i need to climb that mountain.
I step forward, eager for answers. "Wait up!" I look behind me. Nick is there, this time with the Mane Six. I face palm and say simply: "Nick, you know that our prismatic friend behind you does not like me, right?" I lift my head and Rainbow is right in my face. I feel my heart stop for half a second before i get over the fact Rainbow startled me.
"Yeah, but Miss Pegacorn here..."
"yeah buster! I hate you and when my wi-" I grab her snout and forcibly shut her mouth "shut it, I'm talking here." ah, it feels good to be physically stronger than most creatures for once.
"You were saying?"
"Miss Pegacorn-"
"Alicorn" I shoot twilight a look that screams: shut it or your going to end up like skittles here.
"miss Alicorn -" nick says with a hint of irritation in his voice. "-let little miss sugar high here loose on me till i spilled the beans on where you ran off to."
I turn toward Pinkie "Just call them Chimmycherrychangas." i say casually, every jaw except me and pinkie's drops.
"Thanks Mister human!" she says before producing a Chimmycherrychanga out of nowhere.
"Okay, clearly introductions are in order. I'm Shaun and this is Nick, you are?" I already know their names, but cant hurt to get Nick introduced.
"Twilight Sparkle"
"I'm Applejack!"
"I'm Rarity, you really must let me study your clothing, it looks fabulous!"
"I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie says in between bites.
"I'm Fluttershy." "I'm sorry?" I legit couldn't hear her.
"Fluttershy." she somehow says more quietly than before.
I roll my eyes and look to Twilight. "She's Fluttershy" I nod
I look down at rainbow dash and ask a simple question, "you going to be civil now?" she glares at me but gives as much a nod as she can with me clamping her jaw shut. I get the message and release her snout.
"I'm Rainbow Dash, Wonderbolt and part of the Friendship Council, just think of a way to be more awesome than me"
"I can think of two things. numero Uno-" i lift my hands and wiggle my fingers "-hands. two, I blasted you into a wall
causing you to lose your ability to fly.
"touché"
I look to the Mane Six, "I'm climbing this mountain, follow me if you want, but if you do, you'll be playing by my rules."
I turn around and start walking toward the peak, i hear the shuffling of a pair of feet and the clip clopping of twenty four hooves.
I breath out, irritated because the ponies are following us. 'nothing that can be helped. '
We reach the top of the mountain, there were a few mountain streams along he way where we could get some rest, but that's beside the point, it has been a few hours and the sun is on the horizon. we are all battered and bruised by the climb, but we're here.
I look around and realize the Gem isn't here, it's unwise to travel down the mountain at this hour, "we're 'pant' making camp 'pant' here tonight" everyone collapses but there are cries of celebration, I look closer and notice there are some pine trees around, but the mountain top is mostly barren. I walk over to one and hear the familiar sound of pine needles crunching under my feet. 'are these bull pine? finally, something familiar. '
"Hey! everyone, get over here!" everyone slowly gets up as I unclip my cape. I collect some pine needles and put my cape over them, making a cushion. as soon as everyone gets here I grab a flat piece of wood, a strait stick and my knife. I cut a notch in the flat piece of wood and I look to Nick, "hey Nick, AJ, Rainbow, would you three go get some firewood? Nick, you should know what i'm looking for."
they leave and I sheath my knife, I go grab some rocks and make an area free of pine needles, then I make a ring of rocks. I put some dry pine needles in the center of the ring and get my makeshift board. I take my strait sick and begin to drill it into the notch on th board. faster and faster I go until it begins to smoke, I Gingerly lift the board and place the little ember into the pile of pine needles, then carefully blow into the pile till it begins to burn.
Nick and the ponies get back, Nicks arms are full of wood and the two ponies are carrying wood on their backs.
"Perfect! thanks guys." I slowly pile wood on the fire till it gets to a comfortable size.
9:30. Top of Canterlot Mountain
I lay down on my makeshift bed, The full moon having taken it's place in the sky long ago. I stare at the stars, 'Luna did one heck of a job tonight. I wonder how my siblings are doing? Lauren is probably having a blast. ' I try to find Orion, while I managed to find the big dipper and subsiquently the north star, I just cannot find Orion.
The rest of the crew is sleeping soundly, having fallen asleep about an hour or so ago. 'Why am I here? Disney, I need some quotes. '
I delve into the depths of my Disney knowlege. 'Who knows, our Lord works in mysterious ways. -Frollo, the hunchback of Notré dame.
Speaking of our Lord, what i wouldn't give for my scriptures right now. I could use some spiritual supliment right about now. '
I lay there, Staring at the sky for an unknowable amount of time.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
I jump up and spin on my heel, I reach into my pocket and pull Sluimgar's Command, drop the Lands for it and draw my knife.
"Of coarse, truly you wouldn't have reason to fear me..."
the wind whips up so strong for a moment that the fire goes out, leaving me with nothing but the full moons light. i look left and right, but there is nothing there.
"Yet."
to be completely honest i'm terrified, but he doesn't need to know that. "Show yourself!"
"'tsk tsk tsk' I can taste your fear. I can see right through your facade"
I gulp and grit my teeth.
"But i suppose I've said enough. you Will meet me soon enough."
he fire re-lit itself and I find myself alone. I collect my Lands and put my cards away. I sheath my knife and sit down by the fire. to me, time seems to slip away, I can't say whether or not i slept that night, but nontheless, the sun rose and with it arose the posse.
I throw on my cape and start snuffing the fire...
until i hear a loud screech.
"Shaun, what was that?"
I grab the stick i use for stirring the fire and rummage through the ashes, i find a mess of Yellow, Orange and Scarlet feathers. I use my stick to roll the pile out of the fire pit and realize its a Phoenix.
I pick up the bird and let it perch on my arm. "This must be what made that screech." The Phoenix begins to preen its feathers and something drops out from under its wing. I kneel down to pick it up.
Its an Emerald.
"So that's where that went! you picked it up!" i say looking at the Phoenix. the large bird chirps happily before nuzzling my cheek, I look to the group in front of me "it seems to like me, what should i call it?"
We all think for a moment before I have an Idea, and I could swear a light bulb appeared over my head for a moment.
"Ignis."
"Ignis?" everyone asks simultainously.
"It means 'Fire' in Latin." Nick's face turns to one of understanding as all the others turn to extreme confusion. 'Right, different world... '
it means 'Fire' in a different human language." now everyone's face turns to turn to faces of understanding. "now we have to think about how to get down, and carrying this... Fluttershy, is Ignis male or female?"
"male..."
I roll my eyes and look to Twiight. "Male"
"-guy down the mountain." Ignis fly's off my arm and over to Nick, grabs nicks shoulders, and fly's around like Nick wasn't there.
'Right, Phoenix's have super strength. '
"As entertaining as that is, I think it may be a good idea to put Nick down before he gets sick."
"Screw You Shaun! " I chuckle as Ignis puts Nick down not so gently...
then I break into roaring laughter.
I walk over to Nick and help him up as the Mane Six stare at me in disbelief as I calm down.
"How could you be so mean to your friend, Shaun?" Twilight asks me with a shocked expression.
"One, Nick and I aren't friends, we're cousins. two, we torment each other constantly, this is nothing new." Nick glares at me "okay, the bird is new, but the tormenting isn't." Twiligt drops the subject but she clearly still doesn't like what i did to Nick.
Ignis picks up Rarity before flying toward canterlot.
I watch Ignis till he dips down over the cliffside. "Lets go then."
