A Pony from Nowhere

Chapters

Morn
Honesty and Loyalty
The Cave: Part One
The Cave: Part Two
Calm before the Storm

Morn

Author's Note

This is my second story! The first one went somewhere I didn't want it to go, so I deleted it. I hope this one will be much better!

Constructive criticism welcome! Rage comments - nope.

Morn

There was a great summer day in Ponyville. It was sunny afternoon - the time when most of the ponies were relaxing or having their meals. Colts and fillies have already left school for home, where their parents were waiting for them to hear about today's experiences.

Twilight Sparkle, a lavender alicorn, was having great time reading books outside her new castle. She liked being outside it because it was too hot inside as crystals heated from the sun.
Suddenly a dragon walked outside the castle and headed to Twilight Sparkle, holding a letter in his hands. He quickly made his way to Twilight and greeted her.

"Hello, Twi! Here's a letter for you. It's from Princess Celestia," he said. Twilight grabbed the letter with her magic and opened it.

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

In a few days I am coming to Ponyville. You, as a new princess, know how stressful being a princess is. I hope you won't mind some company. I need to relax a little, and talk to my favorite student and friend.
And, if you don't mind, ask Zecora to make me a potion which removes headaches. I couldn't contact her directly.
Yours, Celestia

As soon as Twilight finished the reading, she turned to Spike.

"Spike, write the answer," she said and Spike pulled out a blank piece of paper and a quill out of nowhere. "Dear Princess Celestia, I am glad I can help you. I will talk to Zecora is she can make you that potion. And I am also glad you'll come to visit us! Your former student and a friend, Twilight Sparkle. Got it, Spike?"

"Yeah, got it!" he answered, sending the letter to the Princess.

Half an hour later Twilight was at the edge of Everfree Forest. She knew the forest was dangerous, but the path to Zecora's hut was safe enough to travel on yourself without getting into any serious trouble.

She slowly entered it and trotted to the hut. Twilight rarely visited Everfree Forest, so even now it sends shivers down her spine. The Everfree forest is one of the uncontrollable places in Equestria. It is filled with dangerous plants and creatures. Twilight knew it and tried not to walk too far from the main path. No one have heard about anypony getting out of the forest once they've lost.

On a half way through the forest, Twilight heard a groan coming from the bushes on the right. Twilight stopped and looked there. She feared if any of dangerous creatures are going to attack her, so she prepared for worse. Then she heard groaning again and a faint whisper. Now Twilight realised it was a pony. She slowly made her way to bushes and past them. She gasped as she saw a stallion lying there on the grass. He was trying to stand up but without any success. He fell once again, groaned, and stopped moving. Twilight trotted to him to look closely. The stallion was tall but skinny. It seemed he wasn't having any good meals for weeks. Twilight noticed that the stallion was a blank flank unicorn, had a light gray coat and a pitch-black mane and tail. He also had strange legs, but Twilight couldn't find out what are they because it was too dark. She grabbed him with her magic and galloped back to her castle. The stallion was still breathing and Twilight hoped to save him, whatever the cost.

Five minutes later Twilight had the stallion lying on pillows in the throne room. She didn't know how to wake him up. He seemed to lose his conscious because of starvation. Twilight decided to make a magic transfer as nothing else can help a pony who is at the edge of life and death. Twilight brought her horn closer to stallion's one. She gasped, losing her focus when she finally noticed stallion's legs. They were no ordinary legs but mechanical ones. She stared at them for a second then turned back to transferring her magic to the stallion. Purple glow wrapped both horns and pulsed with every time Twilight gave the stallion part of her magical power. It continued for five minutes when suddenly Twilight felt weakness. She fell, breaking the connection, but that was enough - the stallion was waking up.
He sat, groaned, and rubbed his head with his right hoof.

"Oh... Where am I?" he said. He turned around to face Twilight and jumped in place. "Who are you?"

"I am Twilight Sparkle. And who are you? What is your name? Why do you have mechanical legs?"

"Not so many questions at once! My head hurts, damn... Well... There is only one answer to all of your questions. I don't remember. I do not remember how I ended up in that forest... But I am glad you helped me. I owe you my life," the stallion said with a weak smile.

"That is what anypony must do to those who are in trouble," Twilight said. "That is the main rule of friendship - always help those who are in need."

"What is friendship?" the stallion asked. Twilight stared at him, agape.

"You... You don't know what is friendship?" she asked in a surprised voice, lowering her ears.

"No, I don't."

"Well, I guess I have to teach you friendship, then. Do you agree to study it?"

"I agree. I can't remember anything, even the place where I am now. Maybe your lessons will help me remember..." the stallion answered, frowning.

Twilight smiled and told him to follow. The stallion stood up, revealing that he was a head taller than Twilight. His mechanical legs were proportional to his body, so he semed to be as tall as he would be with natural legs.
The two slowly made their way through the castle while Twilight was talking about it and Equestria in general. She told him about Ponyville, Canterlot and the Everfree Forest. The stallion listened carefully, trying not to miss any bit of information he could receive.
They made their way upstairs to see a long corridor full of different doors.
The two stopped at the nearest big crystal door. Twilight opened it to reveal a big room. It had another door, much smaller and painted white. The room itself had a big bed made of crystal, a wooden table with a chair of same material near the large window, an exit to the balcony, and a big fireplace. The floor of the room was covered with blue soft carpet.

"Well, it is the guest room. I think you can live here because you have nowhere else to go. And I think you shouldn't go outside. I don't think anypony will be welcome to somepony who looks... Strange. No offense."

"None taken," the stallion smiled and nodded. "Thanks for welcoming, Twilight Sparkle. See you tomorrow, then. I need to sleep a little, I think." the stallion yawned and rubbed his eyes. "It seems I hadn't had a good sleep in quite a while."

"Get yourself comfortable, mister. See you tomorrow!" Twilight said and went to her own bedroom, which was near the guest room.
She felt herself tired as well. She never did anything like magic transfer, so now she needs some rest.
Her bedroom was larger than the guest room. It had a big bed, bookshelves with lots of books on the right wall, a painting of her and her friends, a big window and a big table nearby with inkwells, paper, and quills. There was also a fireplace, much bigger than one in the guest room. There was a door to Spike's room. The door was opened, but the dragon wasn't inside. It was about 16 o'clock, so he was somewhere in Ponyville, perhaps with Rarity.
Twilight decided to take a shower first. She was all sweaty, so lying in the bed in such condition won't be good. The alicorn walked to another door and opened it, revealing a big bathroom. It had a big round bath, a shower cabin and a toilet. Twilight went inside shower cabin and turned the shower on. The water ran, washing away sweat and dirt. Twilight liked showering because it made her feel refreshed. She grabbed a shampoo with her magic and brought it to her. She poured some of it on her mane and began to rub it in her mane with her hooves. Then she washed it all away. She turned the shower off and took her towel and dried herself.
Twilight yawned, went back to her room and jumped on her bed. She closed the curtains with her magic, making the room much darker.
She was thinking about the stallion she saved. He looked familiar, but she didn't know where she could have seen anypony like him. Slowly she drifted to a quite, peaceful dream.

Next Morning

The stallion woke up early in the morning. He yawned and stretched and got up from his bed. He decided to take a shower and went to a small white door. Behind it he saw a small bath, a shower cabin and a toilet. The stallion slowly walked into the cabin and turned on the shower. He was thinking about himself - he couldn't remember who is he or where is he. Sure he remembered events of the previous day, but he felt like he missed something. That lavender alicorn, Twilight Sparkle, seemed familiar to him. He has certainly seen somepony like her, but he couldn't remember.
With a warm water, he washed away bad thoughts and dirt which covered his body. Did it matter much to the stallion that he couldn't remember anything? Not so much. He was thinking about new knowledge. Maybe it was good that he had amnesia? He didn't know.

Finishing his showering, he dried himself with a towel and went back to his room. He found a certain pony in there.

"Oh, hi," Twilight said, turning to the stallion with a plate of food. "I've brought some food if you want to eat. There are some hay fries, a chamomile sandwich, and a fresh glass of apple juice. I'd like to talk to you after you finish eating if you don't mind."

"No, I don't mind at all. Thank you for the meal. I think I am a little hungry," the stallion said, grabbing the plate with his magic. Twilight looked at his glowing horn with a surprised look. She was about to say something, but it didn't come. She decided to wait until the stallion finished eating.
Five minutes later the stallion ate everything Twilight gave him.

"Thank you, it is really delicious," he said, smiling.

"Don't mention it," the alicorn replied with a slight blush. She never though anypony would like her cooking. "Now, can you talk?"

"Sure, why not? I am ready," the stallion said with a smile.

"Well, your horn's glow is strange. It is bright red. I haven't seen anypony with so many differences in appearance than you. Usually, unicorn's glow's color matches their coat's or mane's ones. In your case, it's not."

"Is it really red?" the stallion said in a surprised voice. He grabbed a pillow with his magic and looked at his horn. The glow was indeed bright red. "Wow..."

"I don't know how it is scientifically possible. I should really take a note about this..." Twilight said, rubbing her chin with her right hoof. "Well, to the next question. You remind me of somepony, but I don't know who. Any ideas?"

"Well, you are familiar to me as well," the stallion answered. "But I can't remember. Can you please list most important pony's names?"

"Yes. Well, there are not so many ponies to talk about. Do names 'Celestia' and 'Luna' seem familiar to you?"

"All I know is that they are Royal Sisters. Princess of the Sun and Princes of the Night. Who's next?"

"Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane, Chancellor Puddinghead?"

"Nothing."

"Queen Chrysalis, King Sombra?"

"First name tells me nothing, but the second one... It seems familiar. Can you remind me who is 'King Sombra' you're talking about?"

"He was the previous ruler of Crystal Empire. Enslaver, I must say. The only true evil pony I know."

"Hm... I think we should stop here. Can you please give me books about King Sombra?"

"Why not? You can always borrow one from the Royal Library in Canterlot or from my own personal library here. It's in my bedroom."

"Thank you. Now, can you introduce me to your friends?" the stallion asked.

"I... I don't know. I don't think it is a good idea to introduce you now... No offense!"

"None taken, " the stallion answered seriously. "I fully understand why you don't want to introduce me right now. But I will be glad if you do."

An hour later a meeting was held in Twilight's Castle's throne room. Everypony was gathered there, including the stallion.

"So, here's the stallion I found in the woods. He can't remember anything about himself, so don't ask him. Do anypony here know him?" Twilight asked. Everypony else replied with a "No".

"Howdy stallion," Applejack said. "How should we call ya? Don't ya have a name?"

"I don't," the stallion replied, frowning. "However, you can call me Morn, I think."

"How could you come up with such a bad name?" Rarity asked. Everyone but the stallion looked at her.

"It's okay, everypony. I don't know any standards for names, so it's perhaps bad. I've heard of name 'Morn' somewhere, so I think it would fit me."

"Okay... Now, do anypony else have questions?" Twilight asked. Everypony shook their heads. "Well, I think the meeting is over. Morn, come with me."

"...so, why did you decided to have such a name? I haven't heard of anypony having such a short name. To me, it sounds very... Different. Does it have a meaning I don't know?" Twilight asked with a raised brow.

"It doesn't have any meanings. I don't know how I came up with the name. Any better ideas?"

"Well... I don't know. Sorry, but you're... Gray. And a blank flank. Sorry, I can't think of a name which would fit you and not be offensive."

"It's okay. You don't have to be sorry," Morn replied with a smile. "I'm not the pony who can be offended by the truth."

"I'm glad to hear that," Twilight said, answering the smile. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Well, can you tell me more about Ponyville and it's ponies?"

"Sure! Ponyville is the plays where all kinds of ponies live together. You can find earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi. Now even an alicorn," Twilight laughed a little. "Everypony is welcome in Ponyville. Only that matters is if you can be a good friend. And I don't even know why am I the Princess of Friendship when we have Pinkie Pie! Oh, she is the friendliest pony I've ever seen! I don't know anypony who's not a friend of Pinkie!" Twilight smiled. "There isn't much about Ponyville besides it's ponies to talk about, though."

"Thank you for telling me," Morn smiled. "Now I know I'm in good hooves. Can you please lend me Equestria's Book of History? I would like to study it. I don't think there's anypony who doesn't know it's country's history."

"Well, in fact, I am the only one who studied it pretty hard. You can find this book in my library. Good luck in studying!" Twilight said and Morn went to her bedroom to look for the book. He found it under "E" section of the library and went back to his room to read it.

Honesty and Loyalty

Morn was reading Equestria's Book of History in his room. He closed the curtains, leaving the room in almost complete darkness. Yet, he was able to see and read. For an unknown reason, the darkness made him much more relaxed than a bright sun outside the castle.

The stallion lied on his comfortable bed reading the book. It was very interesting for him to discover new things about Equestria Twilight hasn't told him yet. According to the inscription on the cover, this book was self-written. Whenever something important happens, it would be written in the book just moments after. It was really interesting book Twilight borrowed from Canterlot Library when she lived in Canterlot. There are known five exemplars of self-written Equestria's Book of History. Two of them are still in the Canterlot Library, another one with Twilight, yet another one with Cadence at the Crystal Empire's Royal Library. The last one was secretly kept elsewhere. All of those books were made by the famous magician - Starswirl the Bearded. But it is unknown, or rather, forgotten, how many books did he make.

Morn was reading the book when something caught his eye. The last page was glowing with green. The stallion stared at it and slowly opened that page. He gasped in surprise - something was being written there. Morn has already known that the book will only write something when something important is happening or will happen in the future. The page itself was a little greenish and contained red letters and a picture of a shadowy figure.

The inscription said:

On the longest night, the red moon will rise and the long-forgotten foe will resurrect again to take over Equestria. He will not be alone then - he will be assisted by a powerful pony. The pony of a pure soul and heart shall be possessed by the dark magic and aid in foe's arrival. He shall spread terror and nightmares along with the foe. Yet that pony is not an ally. Everything can be changed if the right pony will do the right things.

'Better tell Twilight,' Morn thought and quickly got up from his bed and walked out of his room, holding the book in his magical grasp. He walked to her bedroom's door and knocked three times. The door cracked open, revealing a certain sleepy baby dragon.

"Morn? What are you doing here?"

"I have some important news to tell Twilight Sparkle. Is she there? It is urgent," Morn asked with wide eyes.

"*yawn* Nah, she went to Zecora five minutes ago. She'll return in an hour, I think," Spike answered. "Need anything else?"

"No, thank you, just inform me when she comes back. It is really something serious happening. And do you know when the longest night will occur?"

"In two weeks or so, why?"

"I-It's nothing. *Gulp* Well, I'll wait for Twilight then," the stallion replied with a worried expression.

Morn spent an hour walking circles in his room. Suddenly somepony knocked on the door. The stallion walked to the door and opened it to see Twilight Sparkle with a worried look on her face.

"Hi Morn, Spike said you wanted to see me at once. What is it?" she asked.

"Just look here!" the stallion answered, opening the book on the last page. It was blank.

"Um... It's nothing in there."

"This cannot be... I saw an inscription there just an hour ago! It couldn't vanish into thin air!" Morn said, staring at the blank page with disbelief. "I... I... It was definitely something written there! I swear it was!"

"Calm down Morn," Twilight said. "Maybe you're just a little exhausted? I think you haven't fully healed yet."

"But I..." Morn coughed. "I think I need some fresh air," the stallion muttered and went to his balcony. He opened the door and took a step out of his room, feeling the wind blowing through his mane. It felt very good and relaxing. He just stood there, facing the wind as it blowed. Finally, Morn got back inside and closed the door to find himself in complete darkness.

"Um... Morn? What's with the light?"

"I feel myself comfortable in the dark, I think. It helps me relax," he answered, making his way to his bed. "It doesn't matter to me much as I can see clearly in the darkness."

"Well, that's interesting. But can you please turn the lights on or open the curtains? It's really dark I can't see my hooves."

Second later a click could be heard as the room filled with soft white light. Twilight blinked few times, adjusting to the brightness.

"Your ability to see in the dark can be useful, Morn. You are an entirely different pony..." she said, turning to the stallion with a smile. "Now, are you ready to take your first friendship lessons?"

"I am."

Twilight and Morn were walking their way to the Sweet Apple Acres, where orange earth pony Applejack lived. To hide Morn's mechanical legs, he had to put on a large black cape. Sure it was suspicious, but no one dared to stare at the pony hidden beneath the cape. The two've got some strange looks, but not as much as it was expected.

"Now, I must tell you what is friendship. The definition of this word is 'connection between thinking creatures, cemented with loyalty, honesty, kindness, generosity and laughter, and is not always happens to blood related creatures.'" lavender alicorn said. "So, Morn, today I'm going to introduce you to my friend Applejack. Sure you two met before, but it was a meeting of all six of us and you. Now you'll get to know her better and closer," Twilight said to Morn. "Well, she is the Element of Honesty. Have you read about the Elements of Harmony yet?"

"Sure I have," the stallion replied. "So, is Applejack going to teach me... Honesty?"

"Yes, she is. And I think I can see her bucking some trees over there," Twilight answered, pointing her hoof to the right, where many apple trees could be seen. A certain orange blond-maned mare was there, bucking apple trees. Twilight and Morn entered the Sweet Apple Acres and went directly to Applejack. Noticing them, she waved her foreleg at them. She approached the two with a smile.

"Howdy, you two," she greeted. "Morn, did ya come here to learn honesty?"

"I did, and I am ready to learn," the stallion replied with a warm smile.

"Well, then there's the first question. What do ya know 'bout honesty?"

"It's talking only truth to others, I think," Morn said, rubbing his chin with his right iron hoof.

"Well, yer right, but it is more than that. First of all ya should not lie to yerself. If you lie to yerself, ya can nerev be honest towards others. Oh, and ya should not trust anypony suspicious. Being honest means speaking truth, but talking truth to everypony can't be good at times. Somepony may get angry, or scared, or confused. Ya must know where ya tell truth and where ya tell part of the truth. Got it?"

"Yes. Well, I think I understood," the stallion answered. "Oh, and would you mind if I'll test my legs with applebucking?"

"Sure ya can, sugarcube," Applejack said with a smile. Morn took off his cape and went to a nearby apple tree, full of big, certainly delicious, apples. He bucked it, almost breaking the tree into two parts with a sound of a large crack.

"I think I must learn to controll my legs better, " the stallion said, looking at the tree he nearly broke. "Sure I can walk pretty fast, but adjusting force can be essential at times. Sorry for a tree, Applejack."

"Nah, that's fine. Yer welcome here if you want to test yer legs more," orange earth pony replied with a smile. "Just don't ya forget the lesson."

Morn nodded, putting on his cape and went with Twilight back to the Castle of Friendship.

Twilight and Morn were back in the Castle of Friendship. They were sitting in the guest room, enjoying their tea they were drinking.

"Well, how did you like Applejack?" Twilight asked, sipping her tea.

"Well, I like her. It's hard to be honest all the time, and she is great for being the most honest pony," the stallion smiled and took a sip as well. "And I like her hardworking nature. Helping her family with the farm is great deal. All those apple trees look wonderful and have healthy, big apples! So, what's next I'm going to learn?"

"Well, most of us six are busy, but I think you should learn loyalty from Rainbow Dash," Twilight replied.

"That would be great. And isn't the cyan pegasus with spectra mane Rainbow Dash? She has a quite memorable appearance."

"Yes, you're right. And she'll be here any time now," Twilight answered when suddenly someone got in the room through the window with a loud crash. It was a certain cyan, spectra maned pegasus.

"Oh, I've made quite a mess here. Was practicing my last stunt and it was AMAZING!" she said, lifting herself from the floor. The two stared at her, both covered in tea. "Whoops, sorry."

"That's nothing," Twilight said while drying herself with a towel she teleported from her bathroom. "So, are you ready to teach our stallion what is like being loyal?"

"Oh yeah I am! So, Morn, are YOU ready?"

"Just give me a second," he said while cleaning the mess with his magic. "Done! Well, I'm ready."

"So, the first question is if you know what is loyalty, Morn."

"Never leave your friends in trouble?"

"Never ever leave your friends," Rainbow Dash corrected. "No matter what, you should be with your friends. It doesn't mean you must annoy them or be with them all the time, it means you must never leave a friend. No matter how little the problem seems to be, your friends will always need your support. Don't you think that answer "It's your problem" is a bad answer? You should always be there for your friends, no matter what."

"Yeah, I got it. I shall never leave my friends if I will have any."

"Wait, aren't we your friends?" Twilight asked.

"Until I get to know all aspects of friendship, I don't know if you are or you're not."

"Well, that sounds reasonable enough for me," Rainbow Dash said, looking at the stallion. "Anyway, I must continue to train, so excuse me!"

Rainbow Dash flew out of the room through a broken window.

"Twilight?"

"Yes?"

"What should we do with the window?"

"It's not a big deal, it will grow back by dusk," she replied, standing up. "Anyway, I have some royal busyness to deal with, so the rest of the day is yours. If you'll decide to go outside, tell Spike or leave a note. Don't forget to mention the place where you'll be going, okay?"

"I will, Princess." Morn replied with a smile and sat at the table, opening Equestria's Book of History to continue reading where he stopped. Still, the last page couldn't get off his mind.

Author's Note

Well, there aren't many views on my story, but I shall continue it no matter how many readers I'll have. And I was very busy recently, so I couldn't upload this chapter on Friday.
Feel free to leave a critique!

The Cave: Part One

The next day. 9:00

Morn was sitting on his bed, already awoken. He looked through the window, which indeed grew back from shattered pieces. He has never seen self-growing crystals.
The stallion stood up and walked to the bathroom, where he cleaned his teeth and washed himself in the shower. He thought that his legs would be rusty if he keeps showering, but his legs were as new as if they never touched the water. It seemed that his legs were not just mechanical, but a little bit of magical. Finishing his showering, Morn heard someone knocking his room's door. Morn dried himself and went to the door, opened it and saw Twilight Sparkle.

"Good morning, Morn!" she said, smiling. "Would you mind if I look at your legs? I want to know how they work or where they were made."

"I don't mind at all. Maybe you'll find something out," the stallion replied.

"Well, then you should lie on your bed and don't move until I allow you to," Twilight said and Morn went to his bed and got on it. Twilight came closer and carefully took one of his hind legs, raising it up a little. She noticed a small white button on the back of the leg and pushed it. Part of the leg dropped, revealing wires. There were four wires: two green, one red and one gray. Nothing was written on them. Twilight picked up the cover of the leg and looked at it's inside. A small inscription was written in the center: 'Made in Crystal Empire'.

"Morn, are you a crystal pony?"

"No, why?" Morn answered, surprised. Why would he be a crystal pony?

"It is written that your legs were made in Crystal Empire. Yet I have no idea where exactly they were produced. Nopony is making artificial limbs there. Unless your legs were made earlier," Twilight cleared her throat. "Recently I visited Crystal Empire and found Sombra's personal room in the basement of the castle. Some documents there said that there was an order to produce about fifteen different prostheses for Sombra. I don't think they were made for him to use, as he had all his limbs with him. The document also mentioned a cave near the Empire, but I haven't found it yet. Do you think we should go to Crystal Empire to investigate?"

"Well, if it will somehow help me to know myself better, then I think we should go there," Morn replied, frowning. "And... When exactly my legs were produced?"

"According to the documents, about a thousand years ago. I am surprised that your legs aren't rusty or damaged. I think they are made of enchanted metal, yet I can't sense anything magical in your legs. It's just a big blur, so I'm uncertain if they are magical or not. We better go and find out," Twilight said and looked at Morn's long horn. "Well, but before we go there, I want to know how well you know battle magic. I have a big training ground for it in my castle, we should go there."

Morn nodded and they walked through the halls and downstairs to the training ground. It was hidden underground the castle and that area was pretty huge. The stallion looked around and saw many columns, supporting the ceiling, which was pretty high, many training dummies, lots of different bladed weapons: swords, katanas, battle axes, halberds, and sabers. It was also a little dark.

"This place looks... Amazing," the stallion said in awe. "So, you train here, Twilight?"

"Well, not so often, but yes, I do," she answered, walking along Morn. "So, shall we start the training?"

"I'm ready."

"Then let's get to the center of the area," Twilight said and headed to the center of the area, Morn followed her. They stopped.

"So, Morn, what spells do you know?" Twilight asked, eager to hear his answer. The stallion he brought to the castle was mysterious and she wanted to know everything about him.

Morn closed his eyes and tried to remember. Suddenly his brain was filled with all kind of battle spells. The stallion thought that his head's going to blow up because of the amount of information rushing in his mind.

"Twilight, I think I know too much about it," he said and coughed. "It seems someone trained me."

"Well, then show that training dummy," - Twilight pointed to the right - "Who is the boss!"

Morn turned to the right and felt the magic flowing through him. He concentrated it in his horn, ready to release. On the floor, right under the stallion, a big red circle formed, then a circle a little smaller. Then strange symbols of unknown language formed between the two circles. Another small circle appeared inside of the second circle and four beams appeared, pointing at the center of circles.

Morn concentrated all his magical energy inside his horn, pointed it to the dummy and released the magic. A large explosion was heard and Morn was thrown against one of the pillars by the blast wave. However, he wasn't hurt and hee stood up.

"Morn! Are you okay?" Twilight ran to him with a worried look on her face. "That was..."

"Do not worry, I'm fine."

"It's not the case," Twilight said. "You are using extremely powerful, forbidden dark magic. You could have killed yourself!"

"I don't feel myself any different," Morn replied, confused by alicorn's words. Dark magic? "Whatever it was, I felt it... Natural."

"Natural? Dark magic can't be natural!" Twilight almost yelled. "I know only one pony who could say those words without hesitation or fear. And that's..."

"Sombra," Morn finished and silence fell. No one of them spoke for two minutes. Morn broke the silence. "I think it is now essential to find that cave Sombra's documents were about, don't you think?"

"You're right Morn, let's get to the Crystal Empire."

Two hours later they were near the Crystal Empire. The day was fine, no cloud in the sky. It was pretty warm, despite it was north, so neither Morn nor Twilight had to wear any special clothes. Their furs warmed them enough to stay out of the Crystal Empire.

They were already searching for the cave for twenty minutes, but without any success. Documents gave no clue to the location of the cave.

"Hey Twilight, I think I found something!" Morn said loud, getting Twilight's attention. She quickly trotted to the stallion and looked down to see the entrance to the cave. It was sure pretty dark in there, and Twilight could feel the evil in there. She shivered but made her way down there with the stallion. He took off his hood and looked around.

"Nothing suspicious here. But I can sense something's not right," he said in a complete darkness. Twilight lit her horn to see, as she had no night vision. The crystals in cave reflected her light, making the place much less sinister.

"Well, I hope we won't get into any trouble there..." Twilight whispered to herself.

Oh, she was not right.

Author's Note

Sorry for quite a short chapter, but I'm really busy. I promise you I'll give you big chapter next time!

The Cave: Part Two

Twilight and Morn were inside the cave, looking for any signs of anything interesting. The cave was pretty big as their hoofsteps echoed through it. The light from two horns reflected from the crystals, making the cave less dark and less sinister.

The two were already searching for half an hour and still haven't found anything. Suddenly Twilight noticed two big gray wooden doors which were opposite to each other.

"Morn, there are two doors," she said, pointing at them.

"Well, where should we go then? Right or left?"

"I think we should split up, you go to the right door, I go to the left one."

"Alright," Morn replied and the two went to their doors. Twilight looked at her door. It was indeed big, even big enough for somepony taller than Morn to pass through. There were also strange symbols and words, which meaning Twilight didn't know.
She slowly opened the door with her magic and saw a long corridor. She turned to Morn, who opened his door as well and now was standing in front of it, looking inside.

"Morn, I think I found the way in!" Twilight said. She expected Morn to reply, but she didn't hear anything. "Morn?"

Twilight turned around, Morn was still staring at something behind his door. Twilight slowly walked to him and stopped in two meters before Morn. Shivers went down her spine when she sensed something was wrong.

"Morn?" she called again. The stallion turned his head and Twilight gasped, taking a few steps back. Stallion's eyes were glowing bright green and had purple smoky trails flowing from the corners of his eyes.

"No..." Twilight whispered, looking in Morn's eyes. His face was emotionless, radiating fear. "M-Morn?"

The stallion took a step towards Twilight.

"Greetings, Twilight Sparkle," he said in low, deep voice. "Welcome to my cave, where your fears and horrors come true!" he laughed maniacally.

"S-Sombra?!" she shook and took a few steps back. "It is impossible, you are shattered to pieces! You are not real! You are an illusion!"

"Oh, am I an illusion? Then how can I be inside your friend?" Morn-Sombra asked in a sinister voice. "Do I have to remind you who I am?"

Twilight tried to teleport out of the cave, but she couldn't feel her magic. Her horn stopped glowing and cave become less bright, but know the crystals were glowing bright green.
Twilight took another few steps back while Morn-Sombra took a few forward. The alicorn took another step when she didn't find the surface under her right hind leg. She looked back and noticed that the corridor behind opened door disappeared, revealing a deep, dark pit.

"I am King Sombra, and you are in my domain!" he growled. "You shall pay for what you've done to me. All of you will!" the stallion laughed maniacally.

"S-Stop, Morn! Wake up, you are not Sombra!" Twilight yelled and tears started appearing in her eyes. "It doesn't have to end like this!"

"I have full control of him now. You can do nothing," Morn-Sombra grinned. He stood on his hind legs, now much taller than Twilight. "Hail... To the king!" he laughed and pushed Twilight, making her fall in the pit.

A while before Morn was looking at his door, which revealed a red brick wall with strange inscriptions. Suddenly he heard a faint "No" from behind and turned around. Twilight had her eyes glowing green and with smoky purple trails coming from the corners of her eyes.

"Twilight?"

"S-Sombra?" she answered, taking a few steps back.

"Twilight, are you okay? I am not Sombra, I am Morn. Wake up!" Morn slowly took a step forward while Twilight took another few back. Suddenly she stumbled and fell into the room she opened before. Morn quickly used his magic to catch her in mid-air and bring her back. Her eyes were normal again, but she was not. She shivered and sobbed, lying on the floor.

"Twilight?"

"Go away Sombra!"

"Twilight! Come to your senses!" Morn yelled and slapped her face with his right hoof. He tried to do it the soft way, but Twilight's head jerked.

She shook her head and looked at Morn with watering eyes. Suddenly she jumped on him and hugged him.

"M-Morn..." she sobbed. "I am so glad that *sniff* you are you...*sniff*"

"Shh, it's alright, Twilight," Morn replied, embarrassed by the situation. He was never hugged before, especially by a mare. "You will not get hurt. I am here, I will protect you."

"Th-Thanks...*sniff* I think we must get *sniff* out of here."

Three hours later the two were back at the castle. Twilight locked herself in her room and hadn't come out for dinner. Morn was really worried about her. He didn't know what she has seen in the cave.
Morn decided to find Spike and talk to him. At least he was the one who was with Twilight for a long time. The dragon was in the kitchen, preparing dinner for the two.

"Spike?"

"Yeah, Morn?"

"Twilight hasn't come out of here room yet. Is she alright?"

"I... I don't know. She hasn't allowed me to enter, and I am worried too. She hasn't even come for dinner!"

"Maybe we should inform Princess Celestia about that?"

"Maybe. She is already in Ponyville, she came here on a vacation. I've never thought Princesses have vacations," Spike rubbed his chin.

"Spike, do you know where she lives?"

"It's Market Street 5. Do you think you can convince Princess Celestia to come here?"

"I don't think she would hesitate if she'll know who is in danger."

Princess Celestia was sitting in her house, sipping a tea. She always wanted to live at least for some time in Ponyville. Royal Busyness has kept her busy for a thousand years, and now Princess Luna could replace her. Celestia decided to live in Ponyville because she would often visit her former student, with whom she had a lot of to talk about, and of course because Ponyville was much more quite than Canterlot with it's high-rank ponies.

Suddenly the Princess heard three knocks coming from outside her door. She walked to it and opened it with her magic. A big stallion, almost as big as the Princess, stood before her. It was Morn.

"Hello, Princess Celestia. I am sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but Twilight Sparkle is in trouble."

Without hesitation, Celestia nodded and went with the stallion. She noticed he wore a cape, which hid his legs. The two trotted to Twilight's Castle and went inside, heading to Twilight's bedroom. They stopped right before it.

"Well, Princess, Twilight had seen something very terrifying. She hasn't come out yet, and I think she will go insane if we won't get to her."

"Is it related to Sombra?"

"Yes, it is, why?"

"I sense his return," Princess Celestia said, frowning. "Somehow he's still alive, and he's up to something really evil. By the way, I didn't get your name."

"It's Morn," the stallion answered, taking off his cape and revealing his mechanical legs to Princess of the Sun. She looked at them in surprise but turned away. She didn't know how Morn got to be like that, but she didn't want to talk to him about it, at least not now.
Celestia knocked the door. No one opened it. Then Celestia ripped the door off the place and walked in the room. Twilight was lying on a messy bed, covering her head with pillows. Celestia walked to her and poked her on the shoulder. Twilight shivered and turned to the Princess. Twilight's eyes widened.

"Princess Celestia?!"

"Hello, Twilight Sparkle. I know you had something terrifying happened, but can you tell us? You will feel better."

Twilight slowly sat on her bed. Her look was just awful: her mane and tail were a big mess, her eyes were red due to lots of crying. She told Celestia and Morn everything that happened to her.

"It's alright, Twilight. It was just an illusion. Remember, Sombra is the master of them," Celestia warmly smiled. "You are going to be alright. Thanks to Morn, you are still with us. Don't forget that friends won't leave you, no matter how hard it will be."

"I-I think s-so," Twilight was shaky but tried to smile.

"Sombra can't do anything to you. At least while you have friends like him," Celestia nodded to Morn.

"Actually, I'm just learning the magic of friendship. I didn't know anything about it a few days ago," the stallion replied.

"Then you're the first Twilight's student?" Celestia asked and both he and Twilight nodded. "Well, then take a good care of her," Celestia turned to Twilight. "I appreciate your work with him. Would you tell me about him later?"

"Sure, Princess," Twilight replied, smiling. "Well, I think I need to eat something. Morn, Spike made meals for us, right?"

"He did. And I think you need to tell him that you're okay. He is worried about you, Twilight."

"Yes, I feel a lot better, thank you," Twilight said and she went to the kitchen with Morn to eat while Celestia smiled at them and went back to her house, feeling that everything will be okay.

Calm before the Storm

Author's Note

It's recommended to read "FIENDship is Magic Issue 1" before reading this chapter.
By the way, I want to say three words:
Peace, Labor, May!

Calm before the Storm

The next day.

Morn woke up early, feeling himself awful. All his body ached. He felt himself like he was beaten up by a bunch of diamond dogs repeatedly.

"Oh damn..." the stallion complained, groaning. "My everything..."

Morn slowly stood up from his bed and felt himself dizzy. He immediately fell back in his bed, holding his head with his hooves. He didn't know why he felt himself that bad. Maybe it was the cave? Or the spell he casted in the training area? He wasn't sure and decided to call Twilight.

"Twilight!" he yelled and groaned as loud his loud voice made his head hurt more. A few seconds later Twilight opened the door to Morn's room and saw him.

"Morn? Are you alright?" she asked with a worried look on her face.

"No..." he groaned again. "Not at all. What is happening to me?"

"Well, there is one way to find out. Lie still," Twilight answered and walked to Morn. She brought her lavender horn near his gray one and casted a diagnosis spell. She frowned and took a step back.

"It seems you used too much magic when you made that explosion yesterday in the training area," she said. "Actually, there is a definition of what happened to you. It's magic overstrain. It happens to a unicorn at least once. There are various reasons, such as using too much magic or using powerful magic or not using it at all. Well, if you don't use it at all you will get overpowered and with a single spell you cast you can cause damage to anyone and especially to yourself. A sudden magical outburst has a bad influence on a unicorn," Twilight frowned. "I don't know what exactly happened to you. Dark magic is a mystery to me. I don't know if you tried a powerful dark spell or a weak one, which got overpowered with your extra magical energy."

"And what should I do to prevent it?"

"Well, some unicorns use their magic to borrow heavy things. It's like weightlifting
for us," Twilight chuckled. "It helps us to spend extra energy."

"And how can I know what energy is extra?"

"You will feel yourself too relaxed by the end of the day if you hadn't used magic a lot," the alicorn replied. "Well, when I was a filly I had a large magical outburst, which resulted in my cutie mark. The next day I felt myself much worse than you, but I never had any outbursts after that."

"And what should I do now?" the stallion asked and groaned once more.

"Well, now you'll have to stay in bed for a day. You will feel better tomorrow. Just make sure you won't use your magic now, as it is completely wasted in an outburst."

"For a day?" the stallion asked with wide eyes. "It will be very boring."

"Well, we can talk about anything. I have some time before I have to deal with some royal stuff."

"Oh, right. And I think, you want to know something from me?"

"I think yes. What did you see when you opened your door in the cave?" Twilight asked and shivered.

"Well, when I opened it I felt myself very strange," Morn frowned. "But I can't describe that. The only thing that I saw were red bricks with strange, glowing inscriptions."

"And what did you see in my door?"

"A deep pit, nothing else. I think the walls of the pit were covered with blood, but I'm not sure and I don't want to know," the stallion shivered. "I am glad I've catched you."

"You... Didn't you hear anything strange? Didn't feel anything unnatural?" Twilight looked at the stallion. "Nothing?"

"The only thing I felt is that the cave was filled with negative emotions: fear, hate, anger. I think the cave tried to give me those feelings, and that's why I felt strange. However, for some reason it couldn't. It gave them to you instead, making you see what you've seen," Morn stopped for a moment and looked at Twilight. "And is your greatest fear to lose me, for me to turn into Sombra?"

"It's just... I've never taught anyone about friendship. I fear that I may fail, that you will be a complete opposite to what I'm trying to make you be..."

"I understand. I fear the very same thing. I don't want myself to become ruthless, evil and merciless as Sombra did."

"How do you know Sombra wasn't the one who he is?" Twilight asked in a surprised voice.

"I sense it. Nopony is bad without a reason. Tell me, was Sombra turned to the Darkness?"

"Kind of. Sombra was almost alone, as children in Crystal Empire found him strange and never wanted to play with him. He also suffered from the Crystal Heart, which protects the Empire. He had the only friend, but the worst of him took over and he became what he's now. It's really sad," Twilight lowered her head with a sad expression on her face. "I wish we didn't kill him, but show him that the world is not as he thought it is."

"And that's why you want me to see it?"

"Yes," Twilight nodded. "I don't want you to become like Sombra. I want to show you that there is good in our world."

"I appreciate that. First, you saved my life," Morn smiled. "Then you told me the truth about the world. I see that if you are strange, you may not have friends. But lots of other ponies don't mind if you look different."

"It is natural to be friendly to anyone, regardless of how they look," Twilight smiled back. "Well, I think I have to go now. If you'll need anything, call Spike."

"Good luck, Princess!" Morn said and Twilight walked out of his room, closing the door behind her.