Flight of Destiny

by Pink_Flash

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Dark, Human, Princess Luna, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Rainbow Dash, Comedy, Other, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 40194

A former military pilot in his late forties discovers what it's like to be regressed into a foal.

A former military pilot, who is now a stunt pilot dreams to be in the Blue Angels. Heading home from a rather average air show. Follow Miles as he is regressed into a foal. He attempts to battle mental regression as everypony else wants to adopt him!

Will he accept his new life, fight it... or reject this reality, and substitute his own?

WARNING: Strong language ahead. Words of naughtiness, yes.

Published 2015-05-20 00:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2021-08-25 04:07:17 UTC

Chapter 01: Airplane of Destiny

Well, hello there. My name is Miles Fox. This is the Foxah show! The game show where... Nah. I'm just a pilot. A stunt pilot! I'm 48 years old. 5' 11" 250 pounds. Yeah... I'm a little overweight... Neat black hair, green eyes. I'm flying home to Maine. I performed with my company team in Ontario Canada. I'm flying my Breechcraft Baron G58 Twin Engine plane.

It's funny. Most people never get to experience the majesty that is... flight. Watching clouds... and the landscape pass by. It's truly beautiful. Up here... I feel amazing... free... safe... as if nothing could ever hurt me.

"Bangor Airnav ATC to Flight B.G. Five Eight, we have a severe thunderstorm in your path. Over."

"This is flight B.G Five Eight, acknowledge all. Over." Damn... Uhhh... it's not too late to take back that last statement... right...?

'Alright... so... I got to keep an eye out for this storm. The skies are for the most part clear, so it shouldn't be hard to find...'

Miles watches his surroundings. Growing confused... 'I don't see anything... nothing but the occasional lazy cloud. Maybe I should reconfirm that weather warning.' "Bangor Airnav ATC, this is Flight B.G. Five Eight. Skies are clear, my coordinates are -81 longitude, 49 latitude at 15,000 feet. Please relay storm coordinates, over."

"Flight B.G. Five Eight, this is Bangor Airnav ATC. Storm... 56, ... 14,000..."

I blink. 'What...? ATC is cutting out so much! 14,000? That the altitude?' "Bangor Airnav ATC, this is Flight B.G. Five Eight. I did not copy. Over." Suddenly... and scary enough... it was naught but static. "Bangor Airnav ATC, this is Flight B.G. Five Eight. Please respond, I did not copy, over." An eerie silence fills the cabin of the plane. 'Well... this can't be good.' I scan the skies. 'Ah, who am I kidding? The skies are clear for as far as I can see.'

Soon... an uneasiness falls on me. A strange sensation enveloping me. A cramp soon forms in my right bicep. At first... it's just uncomfortable. 'Maybe flying for too long?' But soon... it gets worse. It doesn't really hurt... but... it starts affecting my entire arm. "What the...?" My arm begins to actually seize up. I grunt, and use my left hand to rub it. To try to massage my muscles. "What's wrong with me?" Suddenly... my eyes go wide as a jolt of pain shoots through my abdomen. "Ugh...!" My abdomen seizes up suddenly, forcing me to fall out of my chair.

'What... what's happening?! Am I having a seizure?!' I groan in pain, as the plane's nose begins to slowly point down... the plane beginning to descend. The sudden shift causes me to slide down towards the tail end of the plane. "Shit! ACK!" I grab at a passenger seat as I slide passed it. My hand moves into view as I grab it. My eyes widen... pink fur covering my hand. "What the fuck?!" I shake my head. "I can't concern myself with that right now... my... plane...!" I begin to crawl towards the pilot's seat. I can feel tons of pressure... all around me... pushing inward.

The plane is now taking a dangerous angle... the beginning stages of a nose dive. "Why wasn't I wearing my belt?! I'm an idiot!" I grunt in frustration as I pull myself towards the second set of seats, right behind the pilot's seat. "I... can do this...!" Summoning what's left of my strength, which isn't much... considering half of my body is now seizing up on me. I grab hold of the back of the pilot's seat. I reach... "Come on...!" My pink finger touching the auto-pilot switch.

"Almost... got it..." I lunge forward, pressing the button. "I got it!"

The plane suddenly jerks. The auto-Pilot pulling up. The jerking motion sends me flying into the ceiling of the plane, and slam down into the aisle between the seats. I hit my head.... hard. I flop over onto my side, my vision beginning to get blurry. I look over at my pink arm... 'My fingers... are they... receding...?' I peer over at the pilot's seat... watching the auto-pilot function... the last thing I see before everything goes dark... is the tiller moving gently...

Suddenly... I'm back in Ontario. I'm flying my company's stunt bi-plane. A black twin wing single engine plane. My friends, and fellow team members call my plane "Mustang" for some reason... I just call it "Black Betty", after that kickass song.

I blink, looking around my plane. "Hah! Phew... it was all a... weird dream." I look down at my hands. My beautiful hands as I steer my plane using the tiller. I never again will take my beautiful opposable thumbs for granted. Scanning the cockpit of my plane, I notice a laptop? We... never put devices like this in our cockpits... that thing would fly all around my cockpit while upside down, doing Aileron rolls, and all the like. Wait, it's in a video chat with my Team Manager!

"Oh man, boss. I just had the weirdest dream. I dreamed I was flying my Baron, and I got turned into a little... furry creature. It was so weird..." I laugh. "Anyway, Boss. What maneuver we doing?"

I wait for a few seconds, and look to the laptop. "Boss?"

I hear my boss respond. "D'aaaawwwww! Isn't he so precious? The little man is tooooo cute!"

I blink a few times. "B-boss?" My eyes widen at my voice... it's high pitched, and... the dreaded word... cute... "No! No no no no no!" I look down at my hands again... my hands are gone... in their place are the pink hooves... "NO! Why?!"

Suddenly, the plane tilts forward viciously. I lean forward to grab the tiller, but my clunky hooves just fumble with it, and bump it forward, causing the plane to jerk downward... going into spiraling nose dive. Panic spreads through me. My eyes widening, and tears instantly forming as my plane descends.

"Please no! NOOOOO!"

As my plane nears the ground... acceptance begins to creep into my heart... knowing I'm about to die... But as I look at the ground... this... dark blue majestic creature stands there. Four hooves... wings... and a horn! It's a pegasus, and a unicorn at the same time... there's a word for that... what was it..?

The creature just... stood there... smiling with absolute confidence... not wavering in the slightest as my plane careened towards her. She just stood there... regal... and beautiful. My plane was drawing near... her horn begins to glow as the distance closed in... 10 meters... 7 meters... 4... There's a bright flash of light... it's so bright... that I had to cover my eyes. When I removed my hands... er... these stumpy things... there wasn't anything, but dark all around me. Except... for... her... standing before me... I get a better look...

She towers over me... I feel so... small... I cringe before her... shying away... I don't even know why... I've never been one for shyness... But... her warm gentle smile makes me suddenly feel safe... looking her over some more, she has this... odd moon... I dunno, tattoo? Near her hind legs. She also has this oddly flowing hair, and tail. That seem to be in the wind... even when there's no wind.

"Hello, little one." She says in a regal kind voice as she approaches me. "No more bad dreams, now. Only pleasant ones, understood?" She smiles at me, winks... then her horn glows as she kneels next to me.

"I..." My eyes are wide. Unsure of myself, and what's going on... "W...who are you?"

"Shhhh..." She shushes me... then she brings her horn to my forehead. Suddenly... I see nothing but white.

The white clears as fast as it came. I find myself in a bedroom. I quickly look down at myself, am I human again? Nope... so much for pleasant dreams.

"Oh, my little foal." Says a feminine voice.

I turn to see another four legged creature. This one is a pegasus, and no where near as tall as the first one. This one is colored a soft pink. Very close to the color my stumpy arms are. She also has a white tail, and hair. She has emerald eyes.

"Uh... who're you?" I ask. She only laughs as she walks over to me.

"Oh, you're so silly. I'm your mommy." She says as she kneels down, and nuzzles me.

"Uh... What?" I squeek. I then feel myself being picked up by the scruff of my neck. The action makes my limbs sort of... pull to my body... I feel strange hair sensation between my legs... The odd pink creature carries me over to the bed... she lays me down on it. Looking back... I see the hair sensation was my... tail? I have a tail?! It's... soft pink, with white highlights. Same pink as my stubby arms...

"I know you're not feeling well, so mommy's gonna nurse you back to health." She smiles warmly at me. She then hops up into the bed with me. I feel as if I should leave... but... my body won't move!

Using her wing, the pink creature pulls me to her... then she nuzzles me. "Ohhh, my little pony..."

Pony? Is that what she is? She seems to have the characteristics.

"Hush now, quiet now..." I hear the pink pony begin to sing. She's singing a... a lullaby? 'Seriously? As if that'd work...'

"It's time to lay your sleepy head..."

I give a great big yawn as my eyes begin to droop. 'I stand corrected...'

"Hush now, quiet now. It's time to go to bed..."

Before I knew it, I was fast asleep, the pink pony claiming to be my mother nuzzling me. How do I know she's nuzzling me, If I'm asleep? It's a dream! Don't question it!

There's nothing but darkness... comforted darkness... I feel safe, and... happy...?

I begin to hear humming. Not... like organic humming... mechanical. I soon place the sound of my Baron's engines.

My eyes flutter open. The scene of my plane's cabin greeting my eyes. "Ugh..." My head is throbbing. I gingerly rub my head... and soon find blood...

"Oh, well isn't that fan-fucking-tastic!" I squeek out in my high pitched voice. I wince in irritation at it. I set my hoof down, with a soft 'clop' on the floor of my plane. Then it hits me...My eyes snap wide open. "HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN FLYING?!" I quickly get to my hooved hand... arms... these!

My limbs shake... as I try to find my center of balance. I can't seem to stand straight up, my body just defaults to this... four legged posture... I really hope I can ignore that dream entirely... I'm just gonna play the denial card for now...

I begin walking towards the pilot's seat. Begin is the keyword, since there was no middle or ending. Unless you count kissing the floor. In other words... I lost my balance and FELL! Ugh... Ok, forget walking. I crawl along the floor to the pilot's seat. The seat is much bigger than before... confirming that I am indeed very small now. "Uh huh... because I needed this on top of eeeeverything else." Sighing, I look at the gauges. 'Oh shit! I have like... 10% fuel left! I've been out for hours!' I look over the navigation devices... all of which appear to be... confused beyond recognition. 'Not a one can tell me where I am! It just keeps getting better, and better! Please tell me the radio works...'

I activate the radio. It turns on with a auditory static sound. 'YES! Thank you! Thank anything. Karma, God, freaking Leprechauns! I don't care!'

Wincing at my voice as I begin to speak into the radio.

"Bangor Airnav ATC, this is flight B.G. Five Eight, please respond. Over." Smiling to myself, Nothing else is going to go wrong. I'm safe...

2 minutes pass... and nothing. Uh oh...

"Bangor Airnav ATC..." Worry filling my new childish voice. "This is flight B.G. Five Eight, I have an emergency situation, please advise, over." ATC always flocks to the coms when you mention an emergency. Though, I wonder if it's because they care, or just want to avoid lawsuits. Either way, I WILL have someone responding very soon.

Another two minutes... 'What the hell is ATC doing?!'

I begin to panic. "Damn it ATC!" I didn't mean to actually say that on the radio. I stop and try to calm down. "Bangor Airnav ATC, I need a response, immediately!" Nothing.

I peer out the windows. I see land below me. Cities... buildings... There's one fairly large city nearby. There has to be an airport with an ATC! Hope filling me, I switch from the specific Airnav frequency, to all channels. I take a deep breath, and let it out.

"Flight B.G. Five Eight to all channels, I have an emergency situation, please respond, over."

I hold my breath. 'Please, oh PLEASE cosmic forces of the universe... let some ATC respond!'

"Hello?" A feminine voice responds. "An awfully complicated spell for foal."

'Foal? Ah... well... at least I got an answer.' "This is flight B.G. Five Eight, who am I speaking to? Over."

"Uhhh... My name is Twilight Sparkle. Um... Over?"

I sigh. No com etiquette what so ever. At least she tried. Wait, why am I worried about etiquette?! I'm close to no fuel! "Flight E.G Five Eight to Twilight Sparkle. My aircraft is dangerously low on fuel. I need direction to the nearest landing strip A.S.A.P! Over!"

"Why do you keep saying Flight E.G Five Eight? Is that your name?" Twilight Sparkle questions.

I can't help... but face palm. Face...stub? Didn't that pony in my dream... call ME a pony? ...Face hoof...?

"That's my aerial code. It identifies my aircraft."

"What's... an aircraft?" Twilight Sparkle questions... again...

'This... can't... be happening.' "Never mind that! I need a landing strip. An airport." I peer down at the gauge... I'm... almost out of fuel... "And I need it pronto!"

"Uhhh... I'm not... sure what a landing strip is." Twilight Sparkle informs.

'I'm doomed.' "Twilight... where are we?" If she can tell me where we are... I can use my GPS to find an airport myself!

"Oh! We're in Equestria. Specifically Ponyville."

"... Come again?" I ask in disbelief that I just heard a location I've never heard of. I begin to type Equestria, and Ponyville into my GPS. Hoping against hope that this... place... is within some obscure country that I've never heard of because I lack the motivation to study world geology.

"Oh. It's a nice little village. Very pretty and peaceful. ... Where are you? I'm having trouble detecting which direction your telepathic messages are coming from. It seems like it's coming from the sky... but you're a unicorn. How can you be in the sky?"

Unicorn? Telepathic messages? "Are you talking about my radio signals? That's electronically based. I'm not a unicorn, I'm a human." 'Here we are, making small talk about anatomically confusing topics, while I run out of fuel, crash, and burn to death. Great use of my limited time.' I peer down at my GPS, having finished typing into it... apparently hooves aren't the easiest appendages to type with. Who'd have thought? Unfortunately, to my dismay, there appears to be no information on Ponyville.

Fuck.

"Twilight?" I inquire.

"Yes?" She responds.

"How are funerals prepared in this place?"

"Excuse me?" Twilight asks, concern evident in her voice. "Why?"

"I'm about... ehhhh... 95 percent sure I'm about to die." The engines die. "Correction. 100 percent."

Twilight sounds fairly alarmed now. "Ok. Explain to me what's going on."

"I've already-" I begin, but Twilight cuts me off.

"No! Explain everything. Talk to me as if I know nothing."

I blink. "Um..." I shake my head. The plane... just... gliding... a little village dead ahead... with a forest, and a mountain near it. "I'm in a flying machine..." I close my eyes. Trying to keep panic down. Pulling my thoughts together. "The machine is powered by a liquid known as gasoline... my machine has just used the remainder of it's gasoline... Without said gasoline, my machine is in rapid descent. Soon it will crash... almost guaranteed to have me perish in the crash."

"Ok." Twilight responds. "Do you see any landmarks from the sky?" Twilight eagerly inquires. "If you can give me a couple of landmarks, I might be able to triangulate your position in the sky."

Peering over my guages, I see that at least my altitude is still functioning. "I'm currently at 5,000 feet." Peering out the window, like before, I see the mountain, forest, and the village. "I can see a mountain... there's a village near it... with a forest near that." Without the aid of my GPS, I can't tell which way is North.

"Good! That's Ponyville. Which direction is the mountain in comparison to Ponyville?"

'Without knowing which way is North... how do I explain this?!' I freeze... 'H-how...?'

"Hello?" Twilight calls. "Please answer!"

"I... I don't know which way is north!" I don't think I've ever sounded more like a child than I did just then. Scared... panicked. At this moment... I realize something... something very... very bad... wind. Wind is pushing the plane. The plane is beginning to turn towards the mountain. I'm beginning to feel like some cosmic being out there is laughing as it messes with me. But this time... I got it.

I hop into the pilot's seat... I say hop... but it's more like struggle into it. I then pull the belt around me. I wrap my hooves around the tiller.

"I don't know your name... but we're going to find you, and help you. I promise! I'm gonna get my friend, fastest flier in Ponyville, she's gonna find you! Don't worry!"

I pull on the tiller... the mountain drawing near... I... can't... I can't budge it! My physical body is too weak...

"T... Twilight...?"

"Yes?" She is also panting, like she's running.

"Never mind..." With a sad hang of my head. I close my eyes.

"Little foal! D... don't stop talking...!"

SMASH!

The plane's wing hits the rounded surface of the mountain first. Pushing the plane further from direct impact. As the nose
touches down, it crushes inward, then bounces off the surface. My tiller comes free of it's socket, hitting me in the
face... for the second time this day, I get knocked out...

Author's Note

Oh goodness! I sure hope Miles will be ok. Maybe he's better off. Going from an overweight middle aged man to a cute innocent foal. Assuming he doesn't DIE HORRIBLY!

Well... you know... he probably won't die. Anyone fooled? No? Damn...

Chapter 02: Crash... of Destiny?

Darkness... What can I say about it? Inside the darkness... I don't have to worry about anything... I barely think at all... I sometimes wonder if it'd just be better to stay here... to not wake up... no worries... no responsibility... I don't have to stay in touch with friends... eat... or drink... it's just the darkness... no pain... no fear... no suffering... just the darkness...

My first sense to come alive is sound. The first thing I hear is crackling. Not the kind of crackling you'd hear from stepping on dead leaves... it's... fire. My next sense is smell... confirming the fire... Then touch... I can feel myself upside down, my hooves dangling above my head. I wish I could say the next thing I felt was something pleasant... that'd be an absolute lie. It seems all of my nerves came alive at the sametime. The amount of pain... indescribable. Pain just... coming from all regions of my body all at the sametime. If it were a pleasant feeling, I'd say it'd be inspiring how much the body can feel, and from so many different places. To make matters worse... on top of the pain, I'm freezing cold. Shivering... which just makes my supposive injuries all the worse. I felt like screaming... the agony of it... but I can't... my body won't respond...

I know I need to open my eyes... I don't want to... they feel like anchors are attached to them anyway. It'd be so much easier to just... let go. It's ok... no one is expecting me back anyway... just go back to the darkness... that was better...
But... somewhere deep inside me... buried beneath the pain... the will to live. The desire to breath, the will to go on, the burning passion to fly! I'm going to be a Blue Angel, damn it! A Blue Angel wouldn't give up!

My eyes flutter open. Sunlight pouring in through the shattered windows of my cabin. My vision is blurry... I can see enough to tell that I'm strapped into my pilot's seat... the entire plane ended up upside down. My right arm won't respond at all... I fumble with my belt with my left arm. It's not as simple as pressing the button on my belt... my hand being replaced with this soft pink hoof. Luckyily, or unluckily, my hoof is small enough to press the release for the belt. At which point gravity does it's job. I flop onto the floor. Well, I say floor, but it's really the ceiling of my airplane. Upon hitting the 'floor', I scream in agony. Having found my voice as my high pitched wail cuts through the silent sky. After a few seconds... that pass as if minutes... I gasp, holding onto my arm. There definitely is something wrong with my arm...

Having been distracted by my pain... I now notice I'm laying in a small puddle of some kind of liquid. I bring my hoof up to my face... it's blood. A lot of blood. A lot of MY blood. I've lost a lot of blood... that's why I'm so cold... With my good arm, I begin to pull myself out of the wreckage. Pushing glass aside so I don't add to my injuries... of which I don't have a full grasp of. I really don't know how hurt I really am.

As I pull myself from the wreckage that was once my airplane, I notice where the fire is. It seems one of my engines are on fire. I'm so cold... I, against better judgment, pull myself towards it. Just dragging myself over. Gritting my teeth in pain. Then flop down next to it. The warmth... oh the warmth... feels so good... 'I'm... just gonna rest a moment...' I tell myself. Sleep overwhelms me. I really had no chance of resisting it. My broken, and battered body... the pure exhaustion.

I sleep dreamless sleep. No blue pony... no pink one claiming to be my mother... and no boss calling me precious. Just darkness. That darkness teasing me with no pain, or suffering... I don't need you... I don't need your mercy...

I don't know how much time passed by the time I wake up again. The fire had died down significantly, but I'm warm. I can see a little clearer now. Allowing me to actually survey my surroundings. I don't think I wanted to see it... my Baron... my beautiful marvel of science... the plane that I worked so hard for... in pieces all around me... I spent years risking my life for this plane... doing aerial shows for blood thirsty crowds that only wanted see the pilots crash... gone... I gulp, holding back tears as I look at a piece of my plane. 'I'm alive because of you... your final gift to me...' Tears escape my eyes. Looking down, my tears landing on the metal I'm holding. Seeing my reflection for the first time in the hunk of metal. A small pink and white pony boy. Large emerald green eyes, my mane seems to be half pink, and half white. I seem to be much smaller than the ponies I saw in my dream. My voice seems to be much higher pitched as well. 'Am I a child...?' Examining closer... I have a serious head injury. Not to mention what ever other injuries my body has. I also have my own blood soaked into my fur, from having fallen in a puddle of it. I peer over to my right arm. It's still there thankfully... I try to move it... I can move my hoof a little bit, but the appendage itself seems to be derelict. With what medical knowledge I know from the military, I deduce that it's dislocated. 'This is gonna be fun...' I think to myself with oozing sarcasm.

I begin to drag myself towards a few trees. Using my hind hooves to help move myself forward. I find a particularly barky Black Cherry tree. I'm not 100% that it's a Black Cherry tree... but it looks like one, so I'm calling it that. I wrench a piece of bark free of it's trunk. Then sigh as I look it over. 'This should suffice...' I begin dragging myself back over where the fire is. I want to stay warm while I do this... I sit up on my rump as I reach the fire. I place the piece of bark in my mouth. My ears automatically flatten against my head as I whimper... knowing what was coming next. I pause, and take a deep breath as I move my good hoof over to my right one. Taking hold of my right hoof. I psych myself up. Panting a few times and lift my right hoof up rapidly. With a loud 'POP' my shoulder is relocated. The pain if this act is immense. I scream out in agony, and fall to my side. I pant more, and whimper. Tears forming at my eyes.

I lay there... whimpering, and crying... I haven't actually cried in years... After a few minutes... the pain dies down. I continue to the lay there, and begin staring into the sky. The sun seems to be directly overhead. So I guess it's about noon. How long was I out? Hours? A whole day? I don't know how long I lay there for... but eventually, my belly complains. I turn my head, looking into a random direction. Looking for a path... someway to go. It looks like there is some kind of old path. It doesn't look very beaten... but it might lead me to help.

I roll onto my belly, then begin climbing to my hooves. My right arm hurts... but it's responsive for the most part. I wobble and shake a little as I f ind my center of balance. I feel like a new born standing for the first time... that's not too far from the truth. I begin to walk. I watch my hooves for the first few steps. Thinking that if I watch them, that I'll somehow not trip. It's not that hard though. For the first time, I smile. I'm... not actually that bad off. Maybe it's the head injury... sure my body aches... but my right arm wasn't broken... I can walk, and I have a lead out of here!

Sigh. Why do the fates hate me? It's at that moment I hear a sound... a small 'snap' sound. That really cliche movie horror 'snap'. The one you immediate identify as a twig having been stepped on. I immediately whirl around towards the sound. Lurking in the brush is this... log...? Is a log really stalking me? Head injury for the win... I smile and giggle at it. A log... stalking me? How silly. My smile fades instantly as the 'log' begins to stand up. My ears droop as my eyes widen.

Standing before me is a strange combination of wood... and a wolf. I can only gulp as the creature takes a step out of the brush it was hiding in. For a moment, I freeze up. I suddenly hear my old drill sargeant's voice ringing in the back of my mind. "Don't just stand there, you slack jawed pigmy marmoset!" My eyes widen as the creature lifts a heavy paw and swipes at me. I snap out of my stupor, and duck under it. Then scramble back towards the plane. Rushing through the area. The wolf hot on my tail. 'The cockpit! It's too small for him to fit through the window!' I rush back towards the plane.

The timberwolf leaps at me... but as it does, I trip! Falling on my face, the timberwolf overshoots me. Tumbling on the ground. Confused, it looks around as I run passed it. It growls and gets back to it's paws and gives chase once again... but it's too late. I slip into the window of the cockpit. The wolf stuffs his head into the window trying to get at me... I move to the other side of the cockpit, the other window is busted as well. I easily slip through the other side. As I slip out of the cockpit, I trip on something. Looking down, I see it's the panel from one of my plane's wings that pivots. I get an idea.

The wolf pulls it's head free of the cockpit's window. It leaps up onto the plane, seeing me down on the ground. It then leaps down at me. However, I leap down on the plane's panel, like a seesaw, the other end rises up, and smacks the wolf in the face, causing it to slam into the hard ground, making it whimper.

I know that won't keep the wolf down for long... I grab hold of the panel and drag it down the length of the plane. As I do, the ground beneath me slowly elevates. I notice a part of the ground that is even with the top, or rather bottom, of the plane. Looking to the side, I see a boulder. With the plane on my left, and the boulder on my right. Sizing the boulder, it looks roughly 100 pounds. Not too big. I stuff one end of the plane's panel under the boulder, then the other end off the edge of the plane. Then rush back down towards the wolf. Who is back on his feet.

The wolf snarls angrily. Angered by the fact it was tricked. I spin around and rush back up the elevated slope. Hoping it follows me precisely. At the top of the slope, I pause for a split second. I fear that if I run along the panel too soon, the wolf will skip to the panel, and catch me! The wolf leaps at me as I pause, but I begin moving down the panel as it jumps. It grunts in frustration and begins chasing me. I run to the end of the panel, then turn to it.

The wolf seems to have a smirk as it slowly approaches me. Thinking it has me cornered. As the wolf moves along the panel... our combined weight on the panel... begins to shift the boulder. The wolf licks it's lips... suddenly, the boulder slips off the panel. The wolf's eyes bug out as it's suddenly launched like a catapult! Sure... because I was standing on the end of the panel that was hanging off the side of the plane, I ended up falling, and hitting the ground. It hurt... but the wolf got it harder... he ended up landing on the part of the plane that is on FIRE.

Now... I know I'm in a new realm... but if it's anything like my old one... wood plus fire equals BAD. After I hit the ground, I rub my head... the wound on my head throbbing. I then look up to see the wolf rolling around, trying to put the fire out. Now's my chance! I quickly get up and start running towards the pathway I saw earlier. As I run... I can hear the wolf whine pathetically... it's whine really weak sounding.

I stop running. Turning back to the wolf, I grit my teeth. I was in the military...! Why do I care about this creature? Shaking my head, I run back to it. I begin kicking dirt on it. To smother the fire. I manage to smother the bigger portions of the fire with the dirt, and use my hooves to put out the smaller bits. I then look the creature over. I'm not really a veterinarian... so I'm not sure how to tell if this creature is stil alive or not... but it is making movements. Good enough for me.

I turn to leave. Having shown mercy on the poor wolf. However... as I move to the pathway... another one of those wolves is blocking my path. "Crud..." I look back to the plane. I can use the cockpit trick again. But this time, since the first wolf jumped on top, I can go down through the fuselage, and exit through one of the- Suddenly, the wolf that was on fire... it limps passed me. "W...what...?" The wolf takes a threatening pose... but not at me... at the other wolf...?

The second wolf tries moving around the first one. But the first wolf just keeps moving between me, and the second wolf. The second wolf tries to rush me, but the first just tackles it! I blink and watch the event unfold... the two wolves roll around biting, and scratching. It quickly becomes apparent that the one protecting me is losing... the burns must've taken a major toll on it. I look around. Finding a loose pipe from my plane. Taking hold of it, I run up and THWACK the opposing wolf! It yelps in pain. It turns to me, growling. But my guardian leaps on it again, biting it remorselessly in the back of the neck. "Get 'im Guardian!" I yell. I ready the pipe to strike again. Going to help the thusly dubbed wolf 'Guardian'.

I crack the opposing wolf a good 3 more times. After a few more minutes, the opposing wolf lay defeated... possibly even dead... Guardian then looks at me. I gently put the pipe down, showing I have no intention of fighting him... or her... Guardian approaches me. I smile up at him or her. "Thank you..." Guardian then... nuzzles me...?

I pant a few times. The whole ordeal just... taking it's toll. "Phew..." I smile up at the wolf. "I'm glad to have a friend..." The wolf licks my cheek, and I giggle at it.

I sadly don't have time to enjoy the affection. I see eyes... 3 sets of eyes stalking in the darkness. One by one... 3 more timberwolves begin to emerge from the darkness. My eye twitches... as Guardian, alarmed, spins around growling. Guardian seems to do the same math I did... Guardian turns to me, and picks me up by the scruff of the neck with his/her mouth. It surprisingly doesn't hurt... Suddenly, things become blurry as Guardian flees with me in his/her mouth. The trees are nothing but blurred images as Guardian carries me at a high speed. I notice movement to our right. "Guardian! Look out!" Guardian deftly dodges one of the other wolves that made a lunge at us. Guardian expertly weaves in and out through trees. Trying to lose the other wolves... but it's going to be a nearly impossible task. With me covered in blood... how does one in my condition lose wolves? Guardian rushes through bushes, up and over logs... and even crawls through a hollow one, trying to lose the other timberwolves. As Guardian leaps through a tree that is close to falling over... a timberwolf comes from the brush. Far too fast for Guardian to react! The timberwolf slams into Guardian, a defeaning 'CRACK' sound... the type of sound you hear when you break a tree branch... I go tumbling across the ground, and slide to a stop.

I shake my head, and look up. Seeing the timberwolf that took Guardian down... he's... huge... roughly 2.5 times bigger than Guardian. I scramble to my hooves and start backing away from it. Looking to Guardian... I see him/her shakily getting to his/her feet. I then look back up at the timberwolf who's growling... and snarling... doing the various things wolves do when they think something in front of them looks delicious. I look behind me... there's an opening out of the forest... I look back to the timberwolf... the idea of running comes to mind.

I... can't... I can't run... I can't leave Guardian... A few tears form at my eyes. I grit my teeth. "YOU WON'T WIN!" I scream at the big wolf. The big wolf blinks in surprise, seeing such a tiny morsel just yell at it... it seems rather amused. However, Guardian sees it as an opening. Guardian leaps on the big wolf's back, and bites into it's neck. The big wolf cries out in pain, but easily throws the severely injured Guardian off. Guardian hits the ground with a whine. The big wolf starts clawing at Guardian. Beating on the defenseless wolf.

I watch in horror... 'The big wolf is killing Guardian... then it'll come for me... what do I do?!' Shaking my head. I take a deep breath... I suddenly remember the tree. The tree Guardian was jumping over just before that big wolf showed up... It's ready to fall over... my eyes widen. I then rush over to the tree. 'If I can knock it over...!' I put my forehooves on it... and push. "Come on...!" I slam my weight against it several times... but only succeed in hurting myself. "No!" I keep trying... repeatedly throwing myself against the tree. WIth no success... "It... it can't end like this!" I can only hear Guardian whimpering, and crying out as the big wolf mercilessly beats on him/her.

I begin to sob as I hit the tree over and over again... the tree doesn't budge... After giving it one final slam... I slouch against the tree... unable to make it budge. "I'm... I'm sorry..." Tears are streaming down my face. My ears droop... as I sob onto the tree. My only friend out here is about to die... and there is nothing I can do about it...

There's movement behind me. Spinning around... it seems one of the other wolves finally caught up. It lunges at me. "Eep!" My eyes go wide, I manage to move to the side, avoiding the wolf. The wolf hits the tree. It shakes violently. I watch, my eyes widen. 'That's it!' I look over to Guardian. Guardian looks like he/she is still alive... 'I... I can do this!' I dash away from the new timberwolf. "Ok ugly... come get the yummy pony." I turn to it as it's stalking me... moving towards me. Guardian's pained cries getting quieter... Only motivates me! "Om noms, right here!" I yell at the wolf as I back into a bush. Vanishing from sight. As I disappear into the bush, I immediately rush behind a tree. The wolf thinking I'm in the bush swings it's hefty claws into it. Tearing it to pieces, only to be baffled when I'm not there. 'You're going down!' I think as I then make a mad dash towards the tree that is almost falling over. I gather as much speed as I can as I jump at it. I wrap my hooves around the base of the trunk, clinging to it.

The wolf notices my movement, and spins towards me. By the time it does, I'm already clinging to the tree. "Come and get me, you ugly bastard!" I yell at it. The wolf growls. Frustrated by how long I've managed to stay away from it. It runs at me, leaps into the air... as it leaps... I let go of the tree's trunk. I fall to the ground as the wolf hits the tree trunk head first. There's a series of loud cracks. The wolf lands next to me with a hard 'THUD'. I look up in time to see the tree give away. It tips over... 'YES YES YES YES!' The tree lands with a thunderous force. A pained... scream like yelp pierces the air.

I look over to the wolf next to me. It doesn't seem to be moving... unconscious, or likely dead. I move around it. "Guardian?!" I rush towards Guardian. I see the tree did in fact land on the big timberwolf... but only it's hind quarters. It's even still conscious! It can't get at us though... trapped under the tree like it is. I look to Guardian. He/she is just... in terrible shape. "Guardian...?" The wolf stirs a little. Opening it's eyes, it looks at me. "We... we gotta go... the others will be here soon..." I tell Guardian as if the creature could understand me... it might even be able to, for all I know.

I can only cringe as Guardian slowly gets to his/her feet... using only 3 feet... the fourth seems to be too injured... With every step... Guardian whines, or whimpers in pain... I lead Guardian towards the clearing. As we step out of the forest... we notice... it's not a clearing, so much as it's... a cliff... Looking down... it's roughly 150 to 200 foot drop. We definitely can't go this way... But there's hope... I can see a town in the distance... one of the towns I saw from my plane.

That hope is quickly dashed... the remaining two timberwolves arrive... Guardian, like before, immediately turns to them. Growling angrily... but... his/her legs give out... and he/she falls to the ground. I watch, shocked that Guardian finally went down. He/she had done so much... I forgot that he/she is still just an organism. This time... I move in front of Guardian. Looking down solemnly at the wolf. "You did your best..." I turn to the two wolves. Standing tall before them, defiant, and courageous.

I do one last analysis of my surroundings... 'One of the trees has a dangling vine... If I can squeeze passed the wolves... and get to it... I can pull myself to safety. From there... after I buy myself time, I can try to think of a way to save Guardian too...' I nod, believing it to be a good plan. I take off running to the left, running along the side of the cliff. Hoping that if I give them a wide enough radius, I can get passed them... sadly for me... the wolves, with everything that's been going on, are hyper alert. They react immediately... I don't have time to even take 3 steps. Their anger, and ferocity gets the better of them... As the wolf tackles me... I quickly realize that they greatly over estimated how much I weigh. It put way too much force into it's tackle... we both go spiraling over the side of the cliff.

Guardian scrambles to grab me... but... he/she was just... mere inches off... I can feel the wolf's fangs sink into my shoulder. It wanted my neck, but the spiraling effect sort of threw off it's precision. I look over... the cliff wall speeding by us... The ground is quickly getting closer. As we fall in mid air, the wolf lets go of my shoulder. I guess it wanted a better bite than that... 'I want my death as painless as possible, thanks.' I manage to pull my hindhooves up, and shove the wolf away... I really didn't mean to... but I shoved it into the cliff wall. The wolf skids off it a few times. A few outstretched rocks slamming into it. I wince as it shrieks in pain... and finally... the wolf slams into a ledge that was stretched out from the wall. Wood shattering... I look away... Too painful to watch.

'It was a good run... I almost made it.' I smile solemnly. I close my eyes... so I don't have to see the ground coming. 'Never did get to meet the mare in my dreams... if she was even real... Always thought I'd survive a plane crash... I sure hope Guardian is going to be ok...' I relax... ready for the impact... but something catches me. I quickly open my eyes. I'm about 70 feet from the ground. I look around. Nothing seems to be above, or below me... I then look behind me... I see two pink feathered wings... and... they're attached to me?! 'W-when did I get wings?! Were they there the whole time?!' "Heh... heh!" I smile big. Gliding through the air... My wings are just unfurled. And gliding. 'I can only guess it was some pegasus instinct...' I smile big. "This... is AWESOME!" I giggle like a foal as the wind blows through my mane. I close my eyes, and take a big deep breath. "This is amazing!" The sense of euphoria is so overwhelming... that I temporarily forget about Guardian. The sense of glee within me... I knew I liked to fly, but this is just... better than sex!

I blink. "Guardian!" By the time I remember Guardian, I'm about 40 feet from the ground. "H-how do you turn this thing?! There's no tiller!" I frown. "To turn a plane... the pivoting panels on the wings cause the plane to tilt side to side. Must be the same science." I try rocking my body back and forth, to get myself to turn... but sadly... it seems feathered wings are different than giant metal ones... I promtly spin out. "NO NO NO NO NO!" I begin to plummet. "WAAAAAAAH!" My hooves flail in the air... and slam into the ground...

It's at this exact moment that I make an important discovery... the ground... is hard... very hard.

Author's Note

I still feel that a lot of terms should have remained ambiguous... since the character doesn't know the terms... but I incorporated more pony terms to try and get the MLP relation that chapter 01 was missing.

Chapter 03: Friend of Destiny

Stepping off the train, I make my way to the luggage area. My name is Dark Wind. I'm of average height. Dark blue color coat. My mane is dark blue, with a streak of dark green. I'm an earth pony. Well, for the most part. 'You see, from an early age, I've had a fascination with machinery. Ever since I was 8 years old, building simple machines using pulleys, all the way to electrical engineering. By age 16, I had perfected mechanical wings. With help from a unicorn friend named Twilight Autumn, I was able to create wings that can fly! Twilight Autumn . His mentor knows a friend who knows Twilight Sparkle. Apparently this friend shares information with Autumn Twilight's mentor, allowing Autumn to learn some fairly good spells. One of which is capable of decreasing the weight of the metal I use in my inventions without sacrificing toughness. Today, I'm arriving in Ponyville to meet with Twilight Autumn. Apparently he has a new spell that can enchant my forge. Said something about making my forge immune to heat itself, allowing the forge to burn at a heat much higher than the forge can actually withstand.

After a good 8 years tinkering with machinery since I was 8, I discovered the secrets to creating mechanical wings. I wanted a way to apply my ideas to an actual pony... I wanted to be able to combine machinery with an organism... to enable said organism to do things they normally can't. Such as allowing an earth pony to fly. To soar through the air as majestically as a pegasus, or an alicorn. At the age of 18, I attended medical school. With 6 years of medical school under my belt... I'm technically Dr. Wind. However, I despise this name. It always draws attention away from my true ambitions. Science. At the age of 23, I completed my project... I successfully created a harmony between pony, and machine. I was able to create artificial nerves... and attach them... to myself. I won't lie... it was painful... there was lots of trial and error... I even created a nifty gadget that straps to my forehoof. It tells me the current state of my wings. I've worked a whole year just tinkering the bugs out of them... and they're still not perfect yet. Sadly... my bio-engineering hasn't been seen as a... how do I say... neighborly past time. I've made enemies... ponies outright slandering me for what I did... telling me that I'm offsetting a balance... but they don't understand... What I'm doing... can't possibly be wrong. The work I'm doing here... could create prosthetics! Allow Earth ponies, and unicorns to fly indefinitely! Sure enough, there are bugs to be worked out, but that's why I'm doing it, and nopony else. I understand my work, and I alone know what needs to be done to perfect it.' I'm pulled from my thoughts as the train comes to a stop. Ponies begin to file off the train. With my saddlebag, I head off.

I shift my glasses, adjusting their position on my muzzle as I step off the train. 'Oh right.... I didn't mention I wear glasses.' I make my way from the station's platform. 'Ok. Now off to Autumn's home.' I begin walking down the road. Heading towards Autumn Twilight's. Walking towards me on the other side of the road... is Princess Twilight Sparkle! "Oh wow!" I stop immediately. I blink a few times. "Um... Princess?" I stop near her. She seems to be carrying a saddlebag as well.

"Hm?" Twilight Sparkle stops next to me. She smiles. "Oh, hello."

"I was... hoping I could ask you a question..." I ask. I can't help but feel... nervous. She's famous after all.

"Of course." Twilight's welcoming smile doesn't falter, even for a second. I can't imagine how many ponies just... stop her on the street like this... and I can't help but feel like I just add to it... but I can't help myself. She's beautiful, smart, and talented. I just... have to try... to ask her...

"C..." I blush and look away. I try to find the right words... but... it... minutes pass by... and I'm just standing there looking away... maybe... just coming out with it is the best approach... I look back to her... shifting my glasses as they glimmer in the sunlight. "Can... I have your... autograph?"

Twilight Sparkle giggles. "Sure. I can do that." She hovers a parchment, an ink well, and a feather. "I had just picked up some supplies, you see." She smiles. Twilight Sparkle puts some ink on her hoof, and puts a hoof print on the parchment. "Silly me, what's your name?"

"Right right. My name is Dark Wind." I smile. Not actually expecting Princess Twilight Sparkle to know my name.

"Ohhhh! I've heard of you. Aren't you the one who grafted mechanical wings to your back?" I nod and smile. "I've always found it fascinating... no matter how much we research... there's always amazing amounts more to be learned. So many different venues we can look into." Twilight Sparkle writes on the parchment. "Aaaaand there we go. It was a pleasure..." There's a sudden voice. To Twilight Sparkle, it sounded like it was all around her. Like a telepathic message... but to me... I heard it in my mind.

"Flight B.G. Five Eight to all channels, I have an emergency situation, please respond, over."

It sounds like a foal... Well, maybe not exactly a foal... a young child. I can't tell if it's a colt, or a filly. "M-Miss Sparkle? Did you hear that too?" I look over to Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes are closed. Concentrating. "Miss Sparkle?" I blink a few times as I wait for a response. But I don't get one. I decide to try responding to the voice in my mind. 'Um, hello? How can I help? I'm a skilled engineer, and Miss Sparkle is a powerful unicorn.' The next thing I hear in my mind is...

"This is flight B.G. Five Eight, who am I speaking to? Over."

'Oh good!' I smile to myself. 'You can hear me. My name is Dark Wind. Please state the nature of your emergency.' I adjust my glasses. 'I'll be able to help you easier that way.'

After a few moments, the voice seems to respond. The response however... is disheartening. "Flight E.G Five Eight to Twilight Sparkle. My aircraft is dangerously low on fuel. I need direction to the nearest landing strip A.S.A.P! Over!"

'Air... craft...? The base definition of craft is to build with one's hooves. Air... is well... the air. For lack of a better definition. Combined... is an aircraft something that's been built with hooves, but is related to the air at the same time?' My eyes widen at a sudden realization. 'Wait a moment... my wings... they count as... aircraft... they are related to the air, because they allow flight... and I built them with my own hooves. Did this child... somehow create an aircraft?'

"That's my aerial code. It identifies my aircraft."

'It's apparent that this child is having a conversation. Since the child has directly named Princess Twilight Sparkle, I can only assume that's who this child is speaking with.'

"Never mind that! I need a landing strip. An airport." There's a short pause. "And I need it pronto!"

'Landing strip... Considering he's talked about his emergency involving his aircraft... I can safely assume landing is relevant to aerial terms. Landing, as in no longer flying. Touching down on ground.' I shift my glasses. 'A strip of landing. A long patch of land...' I looks to Princess Twilight Sparkle. "Miss Sparkle, ask the child how much land they need." I get no response... she's concentrating on her communication with the child.

"Twilight... where are we?" How young is this pony? The child obviously lives in Ponyville, but the child doesn't know where they are?' I look down at the ground. I notice my wing control on my forehoof blinking. "Hm?" I raise my hoof and stare at it. Apparently, I'm picking up some kind of signal. 'What's this...? It seems to be coming from the south...' I look to the south... but I don't see anything. 'Whatever this is... it's powerful... It's almost unheard of for telepathic messages to reach this kind of distance...'

My metallic wings unfurl. 'Ok... this child is in danger. No more waiting.' I take flight, heading towards the source of the signal. 'Mental note: Tweak my wing control band to tell me how far a detected signal is from me.'

"Come again?" The child's voice rings in my mind. The child sounds stunned about something. It's like a cosmic guessing game when you listen to only one side of the conversation, then guess what the topic is. 'It'd be spectacular if I could hear what Princess Twilight Sparkle is saying back to the child.' I peer around as I fly. I don't see hide nor hair of this foal.

"Are you talking about my radio signals? That's electronically based. I'm not a unicorn, I'm a human." An inquisitive expression overtakes my face. 'Wait... the child isn't a pony? It's a hoomahn?' I pause, processing this. 'I've never encountered a hoomahn... fascinating! Perhaps I'll learn something new from it... It would explain how this child is able to talk to Princess Twilight Sparkle... and invent an aircraft at such a young age.'

"Twilight?" I'm still airborn... still flying south. 'I think I've covered a couple of miles so far... and still no sign of the child. Just how far is this kid?' Though, the child is speaking. I listen closely. Perhaps if I pay attention, they might drop more hints on where they are.

"How are funerals prepared in this place?" I blink. 'Uhhhh... that's an alarming thing to ask.' I pick up speed. Flying faster. I fly for a couple more minutes. Still no sign of the child! I stop in the air, hovering in place as i pant some. "Where?!" I ask out loud, frustrated.

"I'm about... ehhhh... 95 percent sure I'm about to die." There's a small pause. "Correction. 100 percent." Celestia no! What do I do?! I can't find the child... I don't even know what's going on! How do I help when all the information I have is a one sided conversation, no way to communicate, and clear skies for miles?!

"I've already-" 'The child just stopped... Are they ok?!' I begin flying again. Going faster than before. "Come on kid...! Talk!" I frantically look in all directions. Still nothing! How can the signal come from this direction... and I find nothing?! If this is a hoax... I swear to Celestia...

"Um..." There's a pause. "I'm in a flying machine..." There's another pause. "The machine is powered by a liquid known as gasoline... my machine has just used the remainder of it's gasoline... Without said gasoline, my machine is in rapid descent. Soon it will crash... almost guaranteed to have me perish in the crash." I quickly set aside the idea that it's a hoax. 'The child's voice sounds too panicked, and frightened to be a hoax. 'This is real...' I slow down. 'Come on... think Dark Wind! A child's life is at stake!' I close my eyes. Thinking... my eyes shoot open with a realization after about 5 minutes. 'I was looking at my view level... this flying machine... could it have passed overhead?!' I look at my control band. The signal is coming from the north now. 'Damn!' I grit my teeth. 'The child went right by me! I had no idea!' I look skyward. Trying to spot this so called... flying machine.

"I'm currently at 5,000 feet." There's a short pause. "I can see a mountain... there's a village near it... with a forest near that." '5,000 feet?! No wonder I didn't see the child... I'm flying 100 feet tops!' I turn around and begin flying back the way I came. Scanning the sky above me. 'Damn it, Dark Wind! The kid could've passed me at anytime...! There's no telling how much distance is between us!'

There's an extended period of silence. All I hear is wind rushing by me as I rush to the north. 'This is bad... there's no telling how far ahead the kid is now...' Then the child's voice rings in my mind. "I... I don't know which way is north!" It doesn't really surprise me that the child doesn't know which way is north. Children often don't know that sort of thing. Though, it doesn't help to slow me down.

Again... there's a period of silence. A little shorter than the previous one. "T-Twilight...?" There's... a certain calm... too calm... I don't like it... "Never mind..." A chill... runs up my spine. The despair in the child's voice... just feels wrong. It shouldn't be there... It just motivates me to move faster. To try harder!

It feels like hours... maybe it's just my exhaustion... but it feels like hours by the time I get back to the outskirts of Ponyville. Ugh... I'm out of shape. I can see Rainbow Dash zipping around. Probably practicing stunts or something.

I hover in the air. Looking around. "Ok..." I close my eyes, and begin to think. "If the aircraft is airborn... and no longer capable of maintaining it's path... it would fall prey to the elements... thusly wind. If the child was heading north at the time... and the current wind conditions... it would drift east." I pause, processing this information. I then shift my glasses. They glimmer in the sunlight as I deduce more. "If I take into account gliding... from 5,000 feet." I look into the sky. "He lost power about 16 minutes after he said he could see the village." I look to Ponyville. My eyes lighten. "The kid had to..." I look to the mountain. "... The mountain..." I don't like the idea of a child crashing into a mountain... which means I should get there now, to help the child. I take off, full speed towards the mountain. I call out. "Rainbow Dash! The mountain! Quick!"
As I approach the mountain... smoke comes into view. 'That's... not good...' I hover in place over the area the smoke is coming from. There... seems to be large hunks of metal... but not just hunks of metal... they seems to be shaped. Specifically shaped. Constructed even. "This would definitely classify as craft. This is no doubt the aircraft that the child was speaking of..."

"Hey egghead." Rainbow Dash arrives. I sigh. I've always hated that name. "So good to see you. How's life, flying biz good? Oh yeah, and put the fire out!" I nearly yell as I point to it. Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes. "Calm down, Mr. Crabby Pants. I got this." She flies up and grabs a nearby cloud. She takes it over to the fire and makes it rain on the fire. After which she let's the cloud go. "So... what is all this?" She asks as she lands near the nose of the plane. Not that she knows what that is.

"I'm... not entirely certain." I float down and land next to Rainbow Dash. "It seems to be a mechanical construct meant for aerial travel... But... I don't... recognize any of these parts." I tilt my head as I look at a few parts. "It's... amazing... how many different ways one can achieve a single goal." I peer at my wings.

"We're getting distracted. Wasn't there a child, or something? Twilight said something about a child." Rainbow Dash notes. My eyes widen. "Damn! Curse you scientific discovery... thou hath betrayed me!" Forgetting about the craft for now... I turn my attention to finding the child.

Peering around, I hear Rainbow Dash call out. "Kid! Hey kid!" I shake my head as I look over the wreckage of this... 'aircraft'. It's actually rather roomy on the inside... and seats? 'Hmmm... they are pointing in a specific direction. With one in the very front. They are all above me though... and upside down. Obviously this construct is upside down'. I move inside the construct. Being careful to avoid jagged edges of metal. I peer around inside the construct. 'I don't see anypony...' Hearing a small 'splish' sound... I stepped in something. Bringing my hoof to my face I peer at it. 'Blood...' I frown. 'This could be bad... if the child isn't here... that could mean the child is ok... but it could also mean timberwolves got to the kid...' I shake my head. 'No... the blood would be much worse, and splattered everywhere. The child left on it's own accord.' I look closer to the floor. Er... ceiling. 'A... hoofprint. A bloody one... but a hoofprint. Didn't the child say they weren't a pony? Possible head trauma leading them to believe they are hoomahn?' I shake my head. There are more important things to worry about than possible injuries. Such as finding the child! Scanning the inside a little further... I find a few feathers. A soft pink color. "Hmmmm..." I pick one up. "A filly..." I tilt my head. "Why would a pegasus need a flying machine?" I peer at the multiple seats. "Hmmm... who would understand aerodynamics better than a pegasus... Maybe this pegasus uses this machine to transport passengers...?" I examine a seat. "Who is this pegasus transporting? Dinosaurs? These seats are much bigger than the average pony." I ponder this for a moment. "Something doesn't add up..."

I exit the construct. 'Now that I know what I'm looking for... it'll be a little easier to find.' I peer into the dirt. Looking for signs of movement... hoofprints... scuffles... dirt irregularities, feathers, anything!

"Hey! Mr. Wind. Why don't you actually help me look, instead of studying your rocks, or whatever you do!" Rainbow Dash calls. I facehoof. "Miss Dash... Just..." I sigh. Shaking my head, I continue my search. Leading from the construct... there seems to be marks indicating something was dragged. 'I don't see paw prints, or hoofprints either. I can surmise that the child dragged itself.' I follow the marks over to a large cone shaped hunk of metal. The hunk of metal looks like it has a fan inside it. That was the piece of metal that was on fire... due to Miss Dash's rain fall... any markings in the dirt around it there might've been... are gone now.

"Mr. Wind!" Rainbow Dash calls out. "I found something. Looks like something was burned." I move over to Rainbow Dash. Peering what she's found over. "Hmmmm... you're right." I look closer. It's not the burn marks that I find interesting... hoofprints. Same size as the bloody one inside the construct! "Good job Rainbow!" It's not just a single print either... the hoofprints continue on. I begin to follow... but soon after... I find more prints." Oh no... Timberwolves."

Rainbow Dash grits her teeth. "Where?! I'll crush em!" She rears up on her hind hooves and punches at the air. "Not here... it seems they were chasing the child." I tell her. Something interesting comes to light as I follow the prints. There's no blood. The wolves would easily outrun a single child. Have the child torn apart in seconds. But nothing... Suddenly... the hoofprints fade away. I stop.

"What's the matter?" Rainbow Dash asks. "We just have to follow the prints now, right?" I shake my head. "The hoofprints faded away... Something odd though... the timberwolf tracks keep going... "Be on guard." I state as I head into the forest. Following the tracks. As I move, I look left and right. Keeping an eye out for tracks, disturbed brush. Things of that nature. I follow the tracks for a good quarter of a mile. I find an overturned tree... it has... unbelievably... a living timberwolf trapped underneath it, unconscious as well. "Well..." I begin to investigate the surrounding area. Lots of timberwolf tracks. They seem... disorientated. Confused even.

"The tracks keep going this way." Rainbow Dash points towards an opening to the forest. I spot a few hoofprints matching the child's... 'Just who is this kid...? This is no normal child. Able to outwit, and survive an entire pack by itself.' I turn to Rainbow Dash and head out of the opening. Coming to a cliff edge. The tracks are... frantic here. A scuffle definitely took place here. Again... no blood. I clearly see hoofprints. "Where did the kid go...?" I examine the tracks closer. I can see hoofprints leading away from the cliff's edge... but stop abruptly. 'The tracks don't lead back into the forest... there's only one other way to go.' I move towards the ledge. I was about to start pondering where to go from here... but I spot a pink figure down at the base of the cliff. The same pink as the feathers! My eyes widen, and without a second thought, without any hesitation, I leap off the cliff.

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash calls after me. "Where ya goin?" She then spots what I did. "Wait... is that...?!" She takes off after me. "Little filly!" I call out as I get closer. There's no movement... 'Please be ok...' I then land near the child. I quickly approach the child. "Hey... She's not moving... oh no..." I kneel down to the child and examine their body. With medical knowledge, I'm capable of noticing several severe injuries. "This is bad..." My voice shakes. "Multiple fractures..." I look over the child some more. "Damage to the spine... severe head trauma. Multiple head trauma even..." I frown. "Broken ribs... possible punctured lung. She's not gonna make it... She'll be gone in minutes..."

Rainbow seems to be thoughtful for a few moments, the nods. She gets a determined expression as she unfurls her wings. A pressure wave seems to emit from her. The grass swaying from it as if worshipping Rainbow. "Then there's no time to wait." I blink. "Rainbow..." She has no medical knowledge! "We need to get medical personnel here." I tell her sternly. "You said it yourself. We only have minutes. We don't have time to wait for them!" Rainbow Dash retorts quickly. I grit my teeth. "F.. fine. Keep her spine as straight as possible!" I carefully lift the child into Rainbow's hooves.

Rainbow Dash nods. She looks into the sky. The sun seems to focus on her... the light shining off her as she reers up, and takes off into the sky. A strong gust of wings nearly knocks Dark Wind over. "Go Dash..." I look to the sky, watching her quickly fade into the distance. "Go..."

Meanwhile...

A certain yellow pegasus mare with a pink mane stands outside her home. She takes a deep breath. "Ahhhh. You smell that fresh air, Angel?" She blinks. "Angel?" She looks around, but then notices A familiar rainbow jet stream approaching. "Oh! It's Rainbow." Angel hops up with a pair of pilot's goggles on, and rope. "Angel? What have you got there?" Angel ties himself to a tree. "Silly. What are you-" Her eyes go wide as giant gust of wind blows passed her. Her mane is pulled backwards into an odd shape as leaves trail the gust. The familiar rainbow jet stream left in it's wake. "Oh my..." Angel laughs from the tree.

"I have to go faster...!" Rainbow Dash grits her teeth, a mach cone forming around her as she pushes for speed. She blasts through ponyville. Knocking plants down, ripping panels, and window shutters off of homes. She begins to slow down as the hospital comes into view in the distance. Arriving only mere seconds later. She lands several feet from the hospital door and rushes in. "Somepony! HELP! This filly is dying!" She calls to any, and everypony. The receptionist looks up. "Goodness!" She stands up. "What happened?" Rainbow shakes her head. "I don't know. A pony told me she has multiple fractures, and... and head trauma." The receptionist takes one good look. "Oh my... quickly! This way!" She quickly rushes down the hall, with Rainbow following quickly. The receptionist pulls a doctor towards Rainbow. "Doctor Pulse!"

"What's all this commotion..." He's a rather tall pony. Maybe a bit shorter than Princess Luna. He's a tan color, and blonde mane. Sapphire blue eyes. His cutie mark is two paddles from a defibrillator. He's wearing a white doctor's coat with a stethoscope. General doctor feel to him. He gets one look at the little pink child. "Oh my... We must not dilly dally! Quickly, nurse. Call Doctor Summers, and Doctor Autumn to the surgery room, immediately!"

The receptionist nods. "Right away!" She rushes back towards the front.

"Rainbow, follow me quick!" He practically sprints further down the hall, his white coat fluttering behind him as he moves. Moving to a large double doored room. He holds the door open for Rainbow Dash. Rainbow heads in and carries the child to the table in the middle of the room. As this happens, a voice comes over the intercom. "Paging Dr. Summers, and Dr. Autumn. Code blue, room 27. STAT."

Dr. Pulse starts by checking the child's breathing. "Hmmm.." He puts an ear the child's chest. On the right side of the child's chest. "Hmmmm..." Then moves to the other side. "Is she going to be ok...?" Rainbow Dash asks, worriedly.

Dr. Pulse raises a hoof to shush Rainbow Dash. "First... she... is a he." He pauses. "He has a collapsed lung." Soon after, two new ponies enter the room. One is a mare. Snow white coat, with an icy blue mane. She's of average size. She has a thermometer as her cutie mark. Like Doctor Pulse, she's wearing a white doctor's coat. She's a unicorn with Sapphire blue eyes. To the left of her, is standing an average sized pegasus. He's a dark grey, and dark yellow colored stallion. His cutie mark is two crossed syringes. He's wearing a coat as well, and glasses. His eyes are a golden color.

"What do we got?" The pegasus stallion asks. "Autumn. We have a collapsed lung." Dr. Pulse tells the pegasus. Dr. Autumn nods. "Chest tube. I'm on it." He turns and heads to a distinct area of the room. The unicorn mare nods. "Ok ponies, prep for surgery." A moment later, a white earth pony mare walks in. "Doctors. I'm here to assist." She nods. She's wearing a little white hat with a red plus sign on the front. Usual cliche hat. Dr. Pulse nods to the nurse that just arrived. "Standard surgery equipment."

Meanwhile... outside of the hospital. Me, Dark Wind, I finally arrive. I brush by the doors and move to the receptionist. Huffing, and puffing. Having flown as fast as I could. "Pink... child... hurt really bad... where?!" The receptionist blinks. "Oh um... I'll have to page-" I cut her off. "Don't give me that stalling nonsense, I SAID WHERE?!" I stomp my hooves on her desk. Her eyes go wide. "R-room 27..."

I pay her no more attention, and head straight down the hall. With a single goal in mind, I ignore all else, and move straight to room 27. Pushing passed the double doors, I find a scene of doctors... all working in sync. At this point... they've got a chest tube in the child's left chest cavity. A breathing apparatus as well. They seem to be about ready to perform more surgery. My guess, from having seen the child's condition, is to remove bone fragments that were shattered as to prevent more lung puncturing. The tan earth pony looks up. "Who let a civilian in here?" "I'm no civilian." I tell the doctor as I approach. Opening my saddlebag, I hand over my medical license. The doctor looks it over. "Dr. Wind." He looks up at me. "Don't you work for Luna in her research team in Canterlot?" "I'm actually a freelance researcher. A third party, if you will. I've worked with Princess Luna's team before, but not directly for her." I smile. The doctor seems to mull it over. "Prep for surgery. I'm down a doctor." I don't argue, and head to the sinks to wash up, and prepare to work.

The nurse move to Dr. Pulse. "Just like that?" She whispers. "Just going to let him come in, and work? Don't you know what he does? That abomination on his back..." Dr. Pulse grunts as he prepares the area on the child's body where the first incision is to be made. "That pony is capable of creating synthetic nerves, and get them to work in sync with mechanical parts. I find that valuable. Seeing as a child's life is on the line." He pauses. "Now enough of your bias. Let's save a life." The nurse blinks. "Y... your right. I'm sorry." She steps aside as I walk back to the table.

Dr. Pulse advises me. "As I'm sure you're aware, there are bone fragments that'll need to be removed due to shattering, or they'll be a puncture risk. We simply can't afford having both lungs punctured."

I nod as I begin. I take mental note. I'm beginning surgery... as Dr. Pulse monitors the child's breathing. Dr. Summers, the mare unicorn is cleaning the child's head wound. While Dr. Autumn cleans the nasty bite marks on the child's hind quarters.

I... sort of zone... becoming incredibly focused. I lose track of time. Everything seems to be going well. At some point, a heart rate monitor had been brought in. I was too focused on picking shards of bone out of the cavity... synthetic material may have to be used to replace it... Then I hear the doctor.

"Something's wrong..." Dr. Pulse stares at the heart rate monitor. "His heart rate!" I look over at Dr. Pulse. "Shit...!" I quickly examine the areas I've been working in. "Nothing... I didn't make a mistake." I grit my teeth. 'What happened?! His right lung is fine! I can see it expanding, and contracting just fine!' The heart rate monitor shows the child's heart rate is increasing.

Rainbow Dash steps forward. "W... what happened?" Dr. Pulse looks to the nurse. "Get her out of here." The nurse moves to Rainbow Dash. "Come with me, please. Miss Dash..." She begins to lead Rainbow Dash out. "N-no..." Rainbow Dash looks to the table. "Come on kid...!" The two leave the room.

I stare at the child's lung. 'What did I do wrong?!' I look at the heart rate monitor. His vitals are dropping alarmingly fast, while his heart rate is increasing. I freeze up. 'E... everything was going so well... he was gonna make it... we had turned it around!'

"A shot of adrenaline." Dr. Autumn states as he moves to a medicine cabinet. He Retrieves a syringe, and a bottle. Then heads back to the table, and prepares the syringe. Dr. Pulse nods. "Do it. It'll buy us time to figure out what went wrong." He looks to me. "Dr. Wind?" I give him no response. All I can do... is try to wrap my mind around it. 'I didn't do anything wrong... I was perfect. No cuts on the lung...'

Dr. Summers moves around the table. "I'll take over the surgery position." She says calmly as he gently moves me out of the way. "I'll check his work." Dr. Autumn applies the adrenaline. Dr. Pulse watches the heart rate monitor. "Come on... bounce back kid..." There are no changes... the child's vitals continue to plummet. "Damn it!" He grits his teeth. "There has to be another wound. Something else..." He begins examining the child further.

Everypony could feel it... the impending... It never helps. Knowing ahead of time what was coming. Never does. It always hurts when they hear that... horrible sound. The sound of a flatline. I can only stare at the heart rate monitor at it does just that... flatline. A tear forming in my eye. I felt like I could save him... that it'd be me who could... My eyes fall on the tube in his chest. My eyes widen. "WAIT! Tension pneumonthorax! Quick! Release the pressure on the chest tube!" Dr. Summers removes a valve in the tubing. "We need to jump start his heart!"

"Will the defibrillator work?" The nurse asks, she seems ready to go move it into place. Dr. Pulse shakes his head. "That's why you're the intern. The defibrillator... works for correcting irregular heart rhythms. The problem here, is he doesn't have one to correct."

Dr. Autumn returns to the medicine cabinet. "We need vasopressin." He states as he pulls a new syringe, and a different bottle. Moving back towards the child, he injects the new syringe. Dr. Summers watches in anticipation. "Come on..." Dr. Pulse's expression saddens as the injection does nothing. "He's... gone..." He closes his eyes.

Dr. Summers looks to Dr. Pulse. "No...!" She looks back to the child. "It's not fair... h... he didn't even have long enough to call a life!" Her face grows determined. "Electrical impulses in the heart signal for it to contract. We need compressions!"

I look on in silence. Even I know that the child's ribs are too far gone to do compressions. I don't want to say it though... Dr. Pulse looks at Dr. Summers. "We can't do compressions... His ribs are shattered, they can't handle compressions." Dr. Summers shakes her head. "I still have to try!" Tears form in her eyes. "Magic! I'll do compressions with magic!" A white aura matching her coat forms at her horn.

Dr. Pulse sighs. "There's a reason we don't use magic in here, Dr. Summers. You should know that." Dr. Summers does know it she knows magic is connected to emotions and that when emotions run high... magic runs rampant... but... she can't stop. Blue energy begins to draw from everywhere in the room. Pulling towards her horn. Her eyes begin to glow white. Dr. Pulse blinks in alarm. "Summers! Stop!" He moves to grab her, but a sudden forceful gust of wind knocks everypony down except her, and the child's body. Dr. Pulse looks up from the floor. Dr. Summers' eyes are pure white with energy. White electrical energy rushing all around her. "Everypony get down!" Dr. Pulse yells. "She's having a magical surge! Everypony stay down!"

A mere second later... a loud snap sound erupts. It sounds like a bolt of electricity slamming into a sheet of metal. At least the ponies in the room could hear that, because they couldn't see anything due to a very bright flash created by, presumably, the magical surge. As if the loud snap sound, and the bright flash weren't enough, a pressure wave emits too! Just our luck, it's strong enough to throw everypony against the wall. Followed by equipment! Luckily, the heart rate monitor wasn't thrown. Maybe it was inside the 'eye of the storm' if you will. Though, smaller bits of equipment, like the defibrillator get thrown against the wall. It was by Celestia's grace nopony got smashed in the face with it.

Luckily for me, Dark Wind, my metal wings take the brunt of the force. Protecting me from getting hurt too much. Unfortunately, the other doctors all appear to be immobilized. Which becomes apparent after the flash dies down, and fades. Dr. Pulse is on the floor with the wind knocked out of him. Probably only conscious due to his earth pony nature. Dr. Summers is unconscious where she was standing. Dr. Autumn seems to have been knocked out. I then notice... the child... His wounds... all healed... even where the surgery was taking place.

I rush to the boy's side. I can see ribs. They aren't shattered anymore. I run my hoof along the boy's ribs to confirm they've been reconstructed by the magical surge. I peer over at the unconscious form of Dr. Summers. Was it a magical surge after all...? I shake my head and put my ear to the child's chest. No heartbeat... but with his ribs reconstructed, I can attempt chest compressions to simulate the heart's pumping! I waste no time in doing so. Beginning chest compressions. "Come on kid... you've made it this far... you might as well start breathing too!"

After a good 6 compressions... the child's eyes snap open and gasps. I jump back in surprise as the kid quickly sits up panting. I watch in awe as the boy looks at me. "Can... I have a glass of water...?" He asks me. I can only blink in shock. Not actually having expected the compressions to work. Then the boy lies down again, and closes his eyes. 'NO NO NO NO!" I rush to him, snapping out of my shock. "Don't go back to sleep!" Too late... "Damn it..." I watch as the boy begins to suck on his hoof as he sleeps. "Um..." I watch his chest rise and fall... "Just sleeping..." I put my ear to his chest, the heart rate monitor, I now realize, is beeping calmly. "We... did it..."

I step away giggling nervously and falling on my rump, the relief spreading through me. "We... did it..." I repeat. After a few moments of rest, I stand up and head over to an intercom that is conveniently in the room. I hit the button. "Can we get some help in room 27 please."

Author's Note

I find it entirely interesting that the spellchecker insists that I spelled "compressions" incorrectly. It also says I spelled the words "prosthetics", and "Vasopressin" incorrectly. Love it.

This chapter took a distinct amount of time longer than I was originally gunning for. I blame media. Seriously, distracting me with all it's goodies. Shame on media! :P

Chapter 04: Hospitalroom of destiny

"Pink..." A soft feminine voice... "Pink Flash..." The voice is warm... and caring. 'Who... who is Pink Flash?' I wonder to myself. The feminine voice giggles. "Why you, of course." I open my eyes halfway... that's all I could manage. My vision is blurry. I can see a pink figure standing over me. I can tell I'm laying in a pink bed. "Hey there." The voice speaks to me. I close my eyes again. Causing the voice to giggle again. "Come on now, wakie wakie." I rest for a moment longer, before prying my eyes open again.

I look up at the pink figure. My eyes beginning to clear up. It's that pink pony that thinks she's my mother. From one of my dreams. Making me question if this is reality, or not. "You gave Mommy quite the scare." She nuzzles me softly. "I heard all about what happened." I look up at her again. 'My dreams are connected to my psyche. It's no wonder she knows about what happened... she's not even real...' I think to myself.

"Not real? You're such a cutie. Of course I'm real. Has it really been so long that I've been away?" She giggles. "It's ok. Mommy's cancelled the rest of her business trip. I'll be home with you soon." She picks me up into her hooves and hugs me. 'Yup... this is definitely a dream. She can read my thoughts, and she's 'not' here already?'

"My my. When did my little colt get so smart? That's why I said you need to wakie wakie."

Suddenly... My eyes flutter open. To a bright white hospital room. My vision, blurry at first, begins to focus on my surroundings. The subtle beeping of a heart rate monitor gives off my location. That is to say, a hospital. The dark gray and yellow pegasus pony wearing a white labcoat gives it off too. He has this... doctor feel to him. I've explored sight and sound, the next is taste. Which is to say, a desert. A few experimental clicks of my tongue against the roof of my mouth... a testament to how thirsty I am. It does however, alert the doctor.

"Well well!" he says enthusiastically as he looks at me. "So happy to see you finally awake, sleepyhead." He smiles at me and approaches. "How are you feeling?" I frown as I explore my dry mouth. "Thirsty... really thirsty." I cringe at my high and... dare I say... cute voice.

The doctor chuckles. "I would imagine so." He turns and heads over to a conveniently placed water jug. You know those plastic containers that you have to put on it's base upside down. The doc takes a foam cup and pours water into it. I marvel how easily the cup stays in his hoof, despite him not having fingers. He brings the cup to me, and I take it in my own hooves. I find myself marveling that I can do the same. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. It's a world of magical talking ponies after all.

I waste no more time thinking about it, I guzzle the water right down. Best... water... ever. I give off a resounding "Aaaaaaaahhhhh..." sigh of relief. "May I have another?" I ask the doctor with a sheepish grin.

The doc chuckles. "Certainly." He takes the foam cup from me and heads back to the water jug. "You're quite polite for a colt your age. I've had colts your age demand lollipops from me." He chuckles again as he pours a second cup of water. 'I really am not sure what this doc will think if I were to tell him my story. They might think I'm straight up crazy. Even worse, they might think it's due to my head injury.' I then tenderly rub my head where the injury was... expecting it to hurt at least a little. But nothing. "Huh?" I blink as I put more pressure on the area.

The doc smiles. "You have a special friend to thank for that. Dr. Summers healed you entirely." He brings the cup of water to me. "First real case of magical healing I've ever seen. Absolutely astounding."

I take the cup as I process this information. I drink this cup a little more slowly than the first one. Once again, talking magical ponies. When will this stuff stop surprising me? As I sip on my water, I hear a knock at my hospital room door. The good doc turns to answer it. I take a look around to examine my surroundings a little more closely. Noticing a stepping stool near a door I can only assume is a bathroom.

"Ah, Dr. Pulse." The doctor who was talking to me greets the new doctor. I lean a little over the edge of my bed to eavesdrop. "So... Pink Flash's case worker is on her way? What about his parents?" There's a pause. I guess I can't hear Dr. Pulse. "Nothing at all? That's terrible..." Another pause. "Ok. I'll make myself scarce." He then turns back towards me. I quickly sit back. Not wanting him to know I heard. I merely smile up at him innocently.

"Ok, Pink." He starts. "A friend of mine is coming to say hello. I have to get going though, ok? Other patients to see." He smiles warmly. I'm about to protest, perhaps get more info from him about what he was discussing with Dr. Pulse... but he cuts me off. "I know what it's like to not know anypony here. I promise I'll be back soon, ok? In the meantime..." He trots over to a TV that is hanging from the ceiling... wait, how long has that been there? He flicks on the TV.

I really only intended to glance at it, and then continue pressing this doctor for information... however... the bright colors... the... strange characters of this TV show are immediately attention grabbing. "Ohhhh..." I tilt my head some as the oddly proportioned animal characters move about. It just steals my attention. Before I know it, I'm sucked in. Giggling at their antics.

The doctor smiles and watches me for a moment. Thinking I'm adorable no doubt. Even though last I saw myself, I was broken, battered and bloody. I have no idea what I look like now. The good doc lets himself out as I watch this strangely interesting children's show.

I don't even realize it. How much time has passed. "Hey..." A soft voice cuts into my trance. "Hey honey." The voice giggles as I'm completely unresponsive. Too transfixed by the show. She moves to the TV and turns it off. "I'm sorry sweetie, but you and I need to talk."

I blink a few times as I look around. I'm saved! I look at the mare in front of me. She's a unicorn who is dark gray, with a brown mane and glasses. She smiles at me warmly. The type of smile that is sympathetic. Like she has something bad to tell you. "Pink Flash..."

I raise my eyebrows. That's the name my dream mom gave me. "H...how..." The mare giggles. "How do I know your name? You talk in your sleep. I hear it's adorable." I blush. "My name is Marry Weather. Most foals just call me Miss Weathers. So you can call me that, if you like."

I sort of... just stare at her. Making it kind of awkward. She clears her throat. "The doctors are thinking of keeping you here today. They want to keep an eye on you for a little while longer. Make sure everything is ok." I nod. Seems logical to me. "But tomorrow... some friends of mine are gonna let you stay with them, ok?" I think critically on this. 'I'm a little pony... in this pony society. I have no parents here...' My eyes widen. "A foster home..."

Miss Weathers blinks. "It's ok." She puts her hooves up. "I know that sounds terrible... but these ponies are wonderful. They'll take great care of you until we kind find your mommy and daddy, ok?"

"I have the strange feeling that's not going to happen." I respond. She gives me an inquizitive expression. "Why not, sweetie?" I frown. 'Damn my mouth!' I pause before speaking. "I haven't seen her for a very long time. I don't have a 'daddy'."

Her expression turns solemn. "Oh my... you poor thing..." She then smiles to me. "Don't you worry, I'll make everything right! You can count on auntie Weathers!" I give her a deadpan expression. 'Auntie Weathers? Give me a break... Ok. I don't like the idea of what she's prancing on about... Here's the plan... play along for now... I'll slip out under cover of darkness tonight. These ponies are all magical, if I find the most magical one, and convince it I'm actually human, I might get out of here. For now, smile and nod.' I give the most awkward smile, and nod to Miss Weathers.

Just mere moments later, a nurse arrives. "Marry Weather, Young Pink Flash here has a yummy lunch ready for him. " She is pushing a metal cart with a tray. Marry Weather looks to the nurse. "Of course! Gotta fill that belly." She smiles, then heads for the door. "I have a few calls to make, I'll be back soon, ok Pink Flash?." she smiles as I nod. With that, she leaves.

The nurse telekinetically hovers the tray onto the bed. I peer over the food... "I brought you some carrots, a dandelion sandwich, and a small salad. Most foals don't care for the salad, so I don't expect you to eat it." She smiles after telling me all this. I wasn't much of a veggie eater, but I can't very well tell her that. She'd look at me funny. On top of that, what's with the flowers? I can't imagine them tasting all that fantastic...

The nurse watches my expression as I think. Seeing me 'curl my nose' at the sandwhich. "What's wrong? Don't like dandelions?" I ponder to myself about whether or not I should try it. The nurse giggles, then I look up at her. "You eat at least half of everything here, I'll make sure there are some hay fries with your dinner tonight. Also, I can get you some dessert." I involuntarily perk up at the word 'dessert'. Which makes her giggle again. "You look like an ice cream type of foal."

I blink a few times, blush, and nod softly. I do like ice cream... can she really tell just by talking to me...? Or is it that pretty much EVERYPONY loves ice cream? "I like Vanilla, and peanuts as a topping." The nurse giggles again. "Not many foals pick vanilla. Ok, I'll get you some vanilla ice cream with some peanuts, if you promise to eat half of everything, ok?"

It's odd. Of course I planned to act the part, so I can lower suspicion, but it was too easy to act the part. It's like I didn't need to draw inspiration from anywhere to do it. 'Damn it! This body better not be influencing me. I don't need that on top of eeeeeeeverything else. I mean, was surviving an airplane crash and a drop that was approximately 70 feet not enough? Guh! Lame.'

The nurse just stares at me as I ponder. To her, I probably look like I'm mulling the deal over. When from my perspective I've already accepted. I blink a few times. "Oh... um. Yes. I would like that." I smile sheepishly. The nurse smiles warmly, then heads out. "I'll be right back with your dessert." I wave to her, and smile. Then my smile fades as she disappears. I cross my hooves as I consider things. 'Judging from how thirsty I was... I hazard a guess that I was unconscious at least 3 days. Assuming there are no variables on mental change in, or out of consciousness... my mental state has changed dramatically in a relatively short amount of time. I'd prefer to begin seeking assistance immediately, however these doctor types are going to diagnose something unrelated. Psychosis, concussive related mental disorder, or something else head related. '

I sigh as I look at the food. My belly rumbles, complaining. I take hold of the carrot. I examine it... as if it were some sort of alien vegetable. 'I mean... who knows how different this vegetable is compared to what I had on Earth.' I nibble on the carrot. "Huh..." I stare at it awkwardly. It tastes... different. Better. As if there were flavors there that my human tongue could never taste. I... kind of felt like Cookie Monster as I ate it. That is to say, a little too fast.

There's a giggle at the door. "Hungry?" I look to the door. "Huh?" I ask as I see a cyan colored mare standing there. She has purple eyes, and a rainbow pattern mane and tail. She's a pegasus. She's got wings, like me. "Oh... Hello." I greet her. I tilt my head cutely. Well, cute unbeknownst to me. "Have we met?" Rainbow Dash enters the room. "Well, sort of. We met while you were... sleeping."

I stare at her while I process that sentence. Analyzing what she said, and how she said it. 'We met while I was sleeping? Hmmm... I've heard that phrase before. In a movie I think. But they said 'unconscious'. The context was that the phrase speaker was the one who found the unconscious one. I think this pony is using a softer word because of my appearance.' After my personal thought process, I smile to the rainbow pony. "Oh, I get it. You found me."

Rainbow Dash smiles. "Well, I helped find you. Dr. Wind actually found you." I frown. 'So close...' Rainbow's frown fades a little. "I was the one who took you here. Who else but the fastest flyer in Equestria?"

'Ok. My last analysis was wrong... maybe I can redeem myself. They used the fastest flyer in Equestria to transport me... normally precision, and care is required to transport somepony in trouble. Either these ponies are incompetent... or I was gravely injured...' I lower my eyes at the idea of being gravely injured. 'I obviously can't ask her that... that would probably cause an uncomfortable situation. I also... might not even want to know...'

It's Rainbow's turn to tilt her head. "Something wrong?" She takes a few steps forward. I raise my eyes. "Oh n-no! I'm fine." I force a smile. A sympathetic, maybe even a pitying smile crosses Rainbow's face. I get the idea that she understands that I'm feeling concerned... but for the wrong reason.

"You have nothing to worry about, little guy. If anyone can find your mommy, and daddy..." She kneels down so that we're eye level. "It's me." She looks like she's about to continue talking, but somepony else walked in. Wait, did I say somepony?

The nurse! She's back with ice cream. "I'm back, little Pink. Did you try that sandwich?" She looks at Rainbow. "Miss Dash?" Rainbow Dash stands up, and looks to the Nurse. "Nurse Redheart, hi there." She smiles sheepishly.

"He's not to have visitors yet, you know that Miss Dash." She gets a stern expression. Rainbow's sheepish smile doesn't falter. "I-I know... but I had to see him." She turns back to me. "I promise... I'll find them." She then turns and leaves. I frown as I watch her leave. 'I hope she doesn't set her heart on it too much... There's nothing to find...'

The nurse walks over. "I see you started on one of the carrots. You didn't even touch the sandwich." I frown. "I was distracted by Miss Dash." I don't actually know what her name is, but Nurse Redheart called her that... sooooo...

Nurse Redheart watches me for a moment. "A likely story." She smiles. "You can still get this dessert, you know." I look at the sandwich. I ponder if my taste has changed in quality, or quantity. 'The carrot tasted better... but is it because I can taste more flavors than before... or just taste differently? It stands to reason... if I can simply taste more flavors... then flowers wouldn't taste good at all... but if I taste differently... then that might explain why these ponies insist on me eating it.'

The Nurse continues to smile, nodding expectantly. No doubt thinking that I'm just some child contemplating if I should behave or not, rather than a child contemplating the physics of taste. I peer down at the sandwich and pick it up. The nurse watches me. It's as if she gets off on watching children behave. I involuntarily slow down... slowly bringing the sandwich to my mouth. As if prolonging the inevitable bite would somehow prevent it. Soon enough, my teeth sink into the sandwich. I gauge the nurse's reaction as I begin to chew the bite. To my everlasting surprise... it's actually really good. "Huh..." I blink a few times as I swallow the bite. It's like a salad. Sweet like a cucumber with a hint of lemon. The nurse smiles as she watches me eat the sandwich.

The nurse giggles and slides the bowl of ice cream to me as I finish the sandwich. "You're such a cutie. You earned this. Now, if you need anything, hit that button next to your bed, ok sweetie?" She stands up as I take a bite of ice cream. She then heads to the TV. "I'll turn on your show, ok?" My eyes widen. I try to tell her no, but my mouth is full! She turns the TV on... and then I'm lost to the show.

The rest of the day went by relatively uneventfully. A doctor named Dark Wind came to visit me after lunch. He only got in because of his doctor privileges. He couldn't stay long. I wasn't to have visitors until tomorrow.By the time it was 7... the nurse arrived to tell me it was time to get ready for bed. Bed...? At freaking 7?! What is this hospital, a freaking internment camp? Oh wait... I'm like 5 now... right. That is a thing.

"Awww come on! Why 7?" I ask as the nurse leads me to a bathroom. She has pajamas for me and everything! She opens the door and I step inside. "Ok. So P.J.s then bed?" I look up at the nurse. She looks down at me. "Oh no, you're not getting out of... your bath." I blink. "Huh?" I then spot it... a bathtub full of water. "Oh no..." I take a step back, but I feel the nurse place her hoof on my back. "Now, I know most foals don't like taking baths. I can get you some toys if you like." I blink and shake my head. "I uhhh... that's ok..." I look to the tub and frown. It's not so much bathing that I have a problem with... I can almost guarantee she's gonna wash me herself... how embarrassing...

"Ok little colt. In we go." She lifts me up, and sets me down into the tub. The water is warm, and welcoming. The nurse nods as she looks down at me. "Ok. You stay put, I'll go get you a few toys, ok?" I frown. "No, that's ok-" She's already gone. It doesn't take her long to get back. She's carrying toys... some boats, and mostly aquatic related toys. A pony in a scuba outfit, some cute looking sea monsters. Things like that. The nurse plops a boat into the water, and gives it a gentle push. Sending it gliding through the water to me. She giggles as she puts the other toys in the water too. I gently push the boat back to her. But she doesn't push it back. She walks around the tub... with soap. "I-I can wash myself..."

The nurse smiles. "I'm sure you could, but just let me handle it. You play with your toys." She begins to scrub my mane. I sigh in defeat and stare down into the water. Perhaps I can use this time to think things over. It is embarrassing... but at least the nurse seems happy. Maybe she's the motherly type?

Soon after, she has me out of the tub and drying me off. "Are you ok, Pink? You hardly played with your toys." She askes me. "Oh... uh..." I start. "Just got a lot on my mind is all..." The nurse pauses for a second. "Thinking about your Mommy? Don't you worry... we'll find her. Ok?" She smiles. Of course, that's not what is on my mind... but it'll work for now. So I just nod. We then head out into the hospital room again. Where the pajamas are waiting. She helps me into bed. "Now, do you have any bed wetting problems, sweetie?" My ears perk up. "Oh... um no." I smile.

The nurse gauges my reaction. "It's perfectly normal for a colt your age to have bed wetting problems. I can get you a pull-up, and nopony will say anything about it, ok?" I blush. "I-I promise, I don't have bed wetting problems!" The nurse watches for a moment. "You sure you don't want one, just in case?" I nod my head quickly. "Ok then... but if you have any problems, come see me, ok sweetie?" She smiles. "Sleep tight little one." She leaves a crack in the door, letting some light in as she leaves. "Phew..." I sigh in relief.

'Now we play the waiting game... I have to wait until everypony goes to sleep... did I say everypony again? These ponies are getting to me...' I shake my head. 'Once they're all asleep... or gone... or whatever... I can make my escape. Should I go by window...?' I look to the window. 'I'm gonna need to push something over to it so I can get high enough to open it.' I look around the room. There seems to be a stepping stool. Probably meant for foals to climb into the bed. It shall serve me greatly. Greatly indeed.

Hours pass by. My eyes are drooping. My head slumping as sleep tries to take me. 'Need... coffee...' Yawning wide, I shake my head a few times. 'C'mon Pink... er... Miles. I'm too tired to remember my own name...' I look over the edge of the bed. I lie on my belly, and slip down the side of the bed backwards, so I land on my hind hooves. Hoping I don't make too much sound.

I move slowly... I don't want my hooves to make to much noise on the tiled floor. I had come up with the idea of rifling through the drawers to find some notepads and tape. Tape the notepads to the bottoms of my hooves to cancel the sound of my hooves. Since I'm not going through the hall though, it'd be more trouble than it was worth. I'll be gone before I make good use of them.

With that thought, I decide on quietly making my way to the stepping stool I noticed earlier. I pick it up and carefully carry it towards the window. 'With a little work, I'll be able to climb to the window sill.' With that thought too, I place it ever so gently... I feel like I'm some kind of psychopath trying to sneak into somepony's home or something. I step up the stepping stool and climb up onto the window sill. 'Huh. I figured that would've been a little tougher.' I shrug. Leaving that one up to a lucky break.

It's not a complicated lock in any sense of the word. Just pull on a small lever and it's open. Kind of like a lock you'd find in a school. Well... in a low security school anyway. I pop open the lock, then push the window open. A soft breeze blows past me. Taking a deep breath of fresh air and then looking down, I notice it's a small drop. Paranoia creeps up on me, so I decide to glide down to avoid any... shall I say... disasters. Gliding down to the ground... is actually enjoyable. That small moment was the most peaceful and serene three and a half seconds I've ever experienced.

I audibly sigh in disappointment as my hooves touch ground. I look back to the window, briefly considering attempting to get back up there just so I could do it again. 'Alas... T'is not in the schedule.' I shake my head and look around. Several buildings arranged in an odd manner. 'What an odd society. I can't make heads or tails of what these buildings are.' I begin trotting towards a hill. 'High ground. Get a better view of what I'm dealing with here.'

As I reach the top, I find a full view of the town. 'Hmmm... there's a rather large tree in the middle of town. I can use that as a landmark. From there, I can find buildings of authority. I'd wager the more magical ponies would be in positions of power.' I nod to nopony in particular. 'Step one: Large tree.' I begin making my way to the tree.

Luckily for me, there seems to be next to nopony out here. It's almost a pleasant trot. I end up following a pathway that seems to be used for walking rather than being used for larger purpose. Such as cars. 'Wait... do they have cars?' I ponder this as I near the large tree. 'Plenty of carriages and wagons, but no cars.'

As I move around a corner, I almost walk smack into one of the adult ponies. I have to physically cover my mouth as to not audibly 'Eep!' in surprise. I dive into a nearby bush. Only to hear "What was that noise?". I lie down in the bushes and peer out from below them. The adult seems to be a black stallion. He's wearing some kind of funky medieval armor. All darker palettes. "Huh. I guess it's nothing." The stallion says as he continues on his way.

I give a silent "phew". 'Close call'. I begin tip toeing towards the large tree. 'Tip toeing? What's it called with hooves? Tip hoofing? Tip clopping? Tip... Uh... I got nothin.' I stare up at the large tree. 'I made it. Ok. Now that I'm here... I can begin looking for buildings of authority.' I suddenly spot a sign. 'Hm? A sign?' I peer over the sign in front of me. 'Library?' I give the tree another once over. 'This... is single handedly the weirdest location I've ever seen for a library, and I've played Dungeons And Dragons'.

Moving to the library's door, I make the shocking discovery that it's locked. 'Great. Good time to not know how to pick a lock. I wouldn't happen to be lucky enough to find a key under the welcome mat, would I?' I peer down. 'No welcome mat. Jee. How welcoming! I'm insulted.' I think to myself sarcastically. 'Alright... let's think about this.' Putting my hoof to my mouth in thought, I look around. Noticing a nearby home. It has a carrot garden with a tiny wooden fence around it. 'Hmmmm... The fence could be used as a ladder to get to a window. Get in there, get some relevant books, and get out.' Nodding in approval of this idea, I pick up the fence.

Just as I thought, the fence works like a charm. Before I know it, I'm up on the first floor window edge. Well, it's more like floor 1.5. The window is overlooking the first floor. To my delight, the inhabitant or inhabitants don't lock this window. 'Perhaps they figure nopony can get up here.' I stop and blink. Then I look at my wings. 'Wait a minute... some of the ponies here can fly... so why is this window...?' I shake my head. 'No matter.' I push the window open. 'Oh! I get to glide again!' I grin and gleefully glide down to the floor. 'Like a swan... or a monster truck. If it were majestic.' I then look around. 'Kind of dark.'

I head over to the sections of books. 'Exactly what do I look for? I suppose an encyclopedia would work... suppose it could tell me geographical information. Information about ponies might be useful too. Though I need information about leaders and top magical ponies. Would an encyclopedia have current leaders? I suppose it would if it's been printed recently.' I sigh as I peruse the books. 'What even are these? The breakdown of quantum singularity manipulation through telekinesis? The theory of magically induced gradual momentum? The Theory of Singularity Expansion? I understand some of these terms... but I didn't think telekinesis existed.' I stop walking for a moment. 'I keep forgetting there's talking, flying, and spell casting ponies everywhere.' I sigh again. Then begin searching once again while yawning.

'Jackpot. How the Princesses will bring Everlasting Harmony. If this can tell me anything about these... Princesses... I might be in business.' I take the book down. I set it on the floor, then lie down. With my eyes beginning to droop, I begin reading the book.

"With guidance from sources of vast knowledge and wisdom comes venues of research that were never accessible before. I am confident that with the experiences Princess Celestia and Princess Luna bring to the table, coupled with the new fresh mind of Princess Twilight Sparkle that we will discover the complexity that is lasting peace." WHAP! My face drops into the book as I fall asleep.

Author's Note

Worse place to fall asleep there Pinkie Miles. The long wait is finally over. My internet was gone since September... and I still technically don't have internet. I found a little workaround though. So I should be able to get back to updating on a more regular basis! Yay!

Chapter 05: Princess of Destiny

I dreamed of her again... That kind, gentle, and caring pink mare. The one who keeps telling me she's my mother... If only I could believe that.

"Time to wake up... Come on little filly... wake up." My eyes flitter open. First thing I see is the ceiling of a bedroom... with two faces looking down at me. "W... whuh?" One of the faces is a purple mare. She has a pink stripe in her mane. The other is of a purple and green lizard thing. "Ohhhh... um... hi..." I grin sheepishly.

The purple mare smiles down at me warmly. "How did you get in here?" She then gets an inquizitive expression.

"Oh... um... the window above the first floor is unlocked." I wasn't sure what else to say.

The purple mare shakes her head. "Rainbow must've left it unlocked again." She sighs. After a moment, she looks at me. "That's ok. I don't mind fillies and colts coming to find some good literature." She giggles some. "Though you should mind the open hours." She smiles. "What's your name little filly? I'll help you get home. Your parents must be worried."

Ok. This is the point I need to say something clever. "I dunno." Smooth.

The purple mare blinks. "You... don't know?" She frowns while watching me.

"Yeah. I haven't seen them since I fell asleep." I smile big.

The purple mare deadpans at me. "Ok... where do you live?"

"80173 Maple Drive." I respond as if it's the most truthful thing in the world.

"Maple Drive? I... don't think I've heard of that road." She stares at me. "Are you telling me a fib?"

"Um... uhhhh... the idea of a fib..." There's a sudden knock at the front door. 'Saved...'

The purple mare looks at me again. "Don't go anywhere filly. I'll be right back." She turns to leave. I get a look at her.She has wings. So she's like that blue pony In one of my dreams. Star-like tattoo. Do they all have tattoos? Well, The purple lizard stares at me.

I hop out of the bed at the lizard moves to me. "Twilight said not to go anywhere." He crosses his arms in front of him.

"Twilight?" I look at the lizard. "You... don't mean Twilight Sparkle, do you?" Remembering the name of the pony I talked to over the radio.

"Boy, are you uninformed or what?" He laughs.

'You have no idea lizard.' I think to myself with a deadpan as the lizard laughs at me. "Done?" I ask after a few more moments.

"I'm sorry." He giggles a bit more. "Yes. That is THE Twilight Sparkle.

I think for a moment. 'If she is the one I talked to over the radio... then I might be able to convince her that I'm not actually a pony. That book spoke of her as a Princess too. I may Incidentally be exactly where I need to be...

"You ok?" The lizard askes me.With a slightly concerned expression.

"Oh... um... I'm ok. Just fine." I smile sheepishly. "I would very much like to speak with Miss Sparkle."

The lizard nods. "I say just wait then." He pauses. "I'm Spike by the way. What's your name?"

"Miles..." I tell him while watching the doorway. The lizard named Spike looks like he's going to say something else when Twilight returns. She does NOT look happy. Miss Weathers walks in behind her. "Aww snap..." I say quietly while looking at Miss Weathers.

"That was very naughty, litte colt." Miss Weathers trots to me and takes me by the hoof. I look to Twilight. "Help... me...!"

Twilight shakes her head. "She's right. You shouldn't have snuck out. That was very bad."

"You don't understand...!" Miss Weathers is leading me out of the library. "Listen to me! I need a landing strip! I AM FLIGHT B.G. FIVE EIGHT!"

Twilight Sparkle's eyes widen as I disappear around the corner. "W-wait!" She rushes to meet us. "How do you know that?" Miss Weathers stops. I brush myself off a bit.

"It identifies my airplane. It's my aerial code." I pause. "Who do you think you were talking to up there?" Twilight just stares at me.

"But... you're not a unicorn. How were you sending telepathic messages?" It's my turn to look confused.

"What? I wasn't using magic. I was sending radiowaves from my plane. It's electronically based." I say kind of smugly. 'Wait, didn't I already tell her this?'

"Twilight... I need your help... I'm not from here and I don't know how I got here. I know you can feel it. " I tell her.

"That I cannot say... but one thing is for certain, little colt. Nothing but mystery surrounds you." Twilight responds.

"I'm a human. Named Miles. I come from earth. I don't know how I got here. I was on a simple flight home when I turned into this little pony here." My face is perfectly serious. "I managed to survive a planecrash, a pack of wolves, and drop from approximately 70 feet. Perhaps you can come to the same conclusion that I'm out of the ordinary."

Twilight Sparkle seems to think about it. "Well... I admit. I've seen the human world. You also seem to have a vocabulary far beyond what is expected of a colt your age."

Miss Weathers blinks. "Princess... You cannot possibly be entertaining this. Granted, Pink Flash is very intelligent. I see that just by watching him. He should be nurtured, and encouraged to explore his imagination in a healthier way. I suggest the school for gifted ponies in Canterlot."

Twilight nods. " I will personally look into this matter. Conduct an investigation of my own." She smiles down at me. "If you truly are human... I will help you."

Miss Weathers blinks. "P... Princess... He's a little colt who's obvious gone through a very terrifying experience. He's creating this imaginary situation to cope with what he experienced."

Twilight shakes her head. "I don't think it's as simple as that. He used telepathy to speak to me. I experienced that." She looks to Miss Weathers. "There's no way he could. He's a pegasus." She shakes her head again and looks to me. "No. There's more to this colt than meets the eye." She looks down at me. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this. For now, I need you to go back with Miss Weathers."

"Ugh... she's gonna talk to me about how it's all in my imagination."

Twilight giggles. "Most assuredly. If you are what you say you are, I will help you."

I nod. "Got it. Thank you, Princess." Twilight Sparkle nods as I turn to Miss Weathers. "I'm sorry. I'm ready to go back."

Miss Weathers sighs. "Well... if it's one thing we learned today... you are fit as a fiddle." She smiles. She begins leading me out of the library. "A lot of ponies are going to be happy to know that you're ok. You scared a lot of ponies silly!"

"Yeah... I'm real sorry about that." Maaaaaybe a little bit of a white lie there. Just sort of the whole... 'say what I think she wants to hear' situation.

Miss Weathers smiles down at me. "I'm certain everypony will accept your apology." It isn't long until the hospital is in view. I sort of scowl. She just seems to read my mind and giggles. "Now now. Don't be like that. It's only going to be a quick checkup to make sure you didn't hurt yourself. No staying in bed all day for you." I sigh as we enter the doors.

I hear several ponies talk to me. Saying things like "You scared us!" and "That was very naughty!". I really couldn't care less what they had to say. I was already lost in thought about my next escape. A part of me says I should just play along until Twilight comes through for me. At the same time though, these ponies are getting to me. It's getting easier and easier to play the part of this little innocent colt. Of course, I'm not a psychologist or anything, but I do believe my psyche has been affected by all this. What's really strange, is that it's not been affected the way you think it would. As in, Post Traumatic Stress. No... I feel... happy. No weight baring down on me. Like a child.

I snap out of my thoughts when a doctor speaks to me. "Say ahh". I look up at the doctor and smile. "Oh! Sure. Ahhhhhh!" I open my mouth for the doctor. He uses a popscicle stick to check around in my mouth. Well, it's obviously not a popscicle stick. There's no doubt a medical name for it, but seeing as I'm not a doctor, I have no idea. I just watch as the doctor pony... who's name tag reads "Dr. Pulse" does various check ups. Blood pressure, ear check, eye check, and various other checks. He begins speaking with Miss Weathers.

"He is fine. A healthy happy colt. Uhh... He might need glasses though."

"Might?" Miss Weathers questions. "Seems like something we need to be sure on, Doctor."

The doctor nods a bit. "I see some discoloration in his eyes. Might be a side effect of Dr. Summers'... uh... procedure."

I raise an eyebrow at this. A little surprised they were willing to talk about this stuff in front of me. Do they just not care about a little colt's feelings? Maybe they don't think I understand what it is they are talking about.

"Sounds like I should see an optometrist." I say rather casually. Then begin swinging my hind hooves back and forth off the side of the examination table.

The doctor looks at me. "How... old are you?" The doctor askes. Perhaps not believing I just said that.

"This many." I hold my hoof up. 'Heh. It'll take them years to figure this out.'

The doc just stares at me for a moment. Then smiles. His earlier conclusion of me being a genius going back to me being a child. "Silly colt. You aren't 1. I'd place you more at... 4." He smiles again.

'4? I'd have given myself at least 5, but you're the doctor I guess.'

The doc looks to Miss Weathers. "I'll schedule him in for the optometrist. Until then... I suggest we have him meet his..." He looks at me, then leans in to Miss Weathers and whispers something.

'Drat. He caught on that I know everything he's talking about.' I lean forward. Instinctually raising an ear to listen in. I end up leaning forward too much and slip right off the examination table. I let out a girly "Eep!"

The doc actually casually moves a hoof catching me. I look up at him. He winks down at me, then sets me on the floor. I mumble out a thanks which makes the doctor chuckle some.

"Well. With that out of the way. We need to head to the town hall." Miss Weathers smiles down at me.

'The town hall? Ohhhhh... yes... my earlier deduction of a foster home coming to fruition. Come to think of it... since it's something I don't want... should I use a positive word like fruition for it? Maybe... uhhh... nega... neganition? I'll... work on that.' Miss Weathers begins to lead me out of the hospital. 'Somepony... save me...'

As Miss Weathers leads me through the street, various ponies say hello to me. I manage to overhear several of them speaking. Finally confirming my suspicions. Though, a few of them don't seem to really understand the difference between a foster home, and adoption. 'Wait... is that what's really going on? Adoption?!' I shake my head. Clearing it. 'It's far too early for that. I'm thinking they're just putting me in a temporary home.' As I finish that thought, we arrive at the town hall. How do I know it's the town hall? It's strange. When you see a town hall... you just know. It just looks different than all the other buildings.

Inside looks as official as you'd think. White walls. Brown borders. Paintings of various important ponies. Miss Weathers and I head into another room. It's a very big one. With a stage of sorts at the far back of the room. It looks like one of the big rooms you'd see in movies where big shots hold press conferences. The room is filled with ponies. A tall skinny stallion. Yellow and orange. A round plump teal and... reddish I guess? A gray mare, a white and blue mare. A mint green mare, tan purple and pink mare. Brown and tan mare who has a heart and baby bottle for a cutie mark. On stage at a podium is a tan and gray mare.

"Good morning everypony." The gray and tan pony starts. "We all know why we're here. You are all here because you either have an existing family, or are interested in starting one. We're here to determine which of you lucky families will get to take little Pink Flash into their home." There are some happy and excited murmers in the crowd. I find it odd that THIS many ponies are willing to take in an 'orphan'. 'Where I'm from, orphans fill the orphanages. People would rather have their own kids than to give an unfortunate child a life.'

"Mr. and Mrs. Cake. I know you have two little ones around his age. I think it'd be a perfect setting for him. Some normalcy in his life. Two loving parents, and two other foals to play with. I understand that two of your own are already a hoof full, so I understand if you decide against it."

Mr. Cake stands. "We wouldn't be here if we couldn't take him in." He looks at me. "From what I've heard, he's a polite and sweet little colt. We'd be happy to take him in."

'Awww. I'm flattered.' I outwardly giggle.

"Now just a minute." The blue maned white mare stands. Wearing some kind of shades. "Nothing is decided. Octi and I think we deserve some consideration too. If his parents aren't found..." She looks at me. "Which I sincerely hope they are." Then looks back to the gray maned pony. "We could adopt him! Mr. and Mrs. Cake are wonderful parents. That is in no way in question, but they already have the miracle of child birth. We don't have that. We all also know how difficult it is to find any foal in need of adoption."

'Well. I guess that answers one of my questions.' I ponder to myself as I watch these ponies practically bicker amongst themselves. 'You know. If this wasn't about me, it'd be almost amusing.'

The gray maned pony nods in contemplation. "I see your point Vinyl. If I recall correctly, Lyra and Bon Bon are in the same boat." The mint green pony stands.

"We are. So I'd just like to say we shouldn't be counted out either."

The brown haired pony with the heart and baby bottle cutie mark stands. "I think my mate and I should be considered more so." She smiles. "My cutie mark shows I'm one heck of a mother. I already have one foal of my own for which Pink Flash could play with. Not to mention, my mate is a pegasus as well. My mate could teach little Pink anything he wants to know and more about flying."

"How dare you bring race into this!" The white and blue mare angrily speaks up.

The brown mare blinks. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend. I was just saying Pink could-"

The mint green pony speaks up again. "I agree with Vinyl! Low blow!"

"Um... M-might I be... um... considered too? If... that's ok.." All eyes turn to a yellow pegasus with a pink mane.

"Fluttershy?" The gray maned pony askes. "Who is your mate?"

Fluttershy seems to freeze up for a moment. "Um... I...don't... have one..."

"Fluttershy... we're considering family units. We want as much normalcy for little Pink as possible."

"Oh... ok..." She seems about ready to cry.

'Ouch.' I think to myself. 'Poor Fluttershy. If I hadn't guessed...I'd say she actually had her heart set on me. Poor girl.' I ponder for a moment as I continue to watch the shennanigans. I look back to Fluttershy now and then. Seeing her visually upset. 'Did she want me to stay with her that bad? She doesn't even know me...' I nod to myself. "HEY!"

All eyes turn on me. Even Fluttershy, who perks up. "I think you should consider Fluttershy." There's murmers. "I don't know if what I think matters... but there you have it."

The gray maned pony watches me for a moment. "..." She then smiles. "Alright then. We'll consider Fluttershy too." The little mare is practically beaming.

'I don't know exactly what her motives are, but there's my good deed for the day.' I smile to myself. Feeling good for some weird reason. 'Come to think of it, I don't even know why I did that.'

The gray maned pony picks up some papers. "Ok everypony. All who want to foster Pink Flash, please pick up a registration form. Fill them out, and hoof them back before you leave. I'll call each of you by the hour to inform you who has been chosen." She smiles. "In the meantime, Marry Weather?"

Miss Weathers next to me perks up. "Yes Mayor?"

"Please take Pink Flash out for some lunch and Ice Cream."

"Yes Mayor." Miss Weathers smiles. "Come along little Pink. I'm certain they have vanilla."

"Awesome!" I smile big. 'Nurse... you've betrayed me...!' I follow Miss Weathers out. 'Fluttershy will most certainly not be chosen. Did... I actually do a bad thing by giving her false hope?'

[2 hours later]

Ring ring... ring ring... ring-

???:Hello?

???: Rrrrraaaainbow~

Rainbow Dash: Elaina? What's up?

Elaina: Guess who's coming to stay with us?

Rainbow Dash: No way...!

Author's Note

Terribly sorry for the short length. I always like to make sure my chapters are at least 5,000 words. I also try to make sure there's some kind of action in each chapter. Like a fight... or the sneaky sneaky action of chapter 04. It's just... you all have been waiting so long for this chapter. I will do my best to get the next chapter out faster, and with some action! I know... what I say probably doesn't mean much at this point. It's just writer's block... I couldn't figure out how to connect last chapter to the next plot point, you know? I know what the beginning is, and the end. The middle though is giving me a middle finger. >_<

Chapter 06: Party of Destiny

"Mmmmmm! Yummy!" I lick my ice cream cone. I had already eaten the peanuts off the top. Those little morsels got devoured. I don't really know why, but I love peanuts. "So. Where are we going, Miss Weathers?" I ask her without even really looking anywhere but the cone. It's really the only thing that deserves my attention at this exact moment. Damn you foalish tendencies!

Miss Weathers giggles. "We are heading to see some friends of mine. They've agreed to let you stay with them until we find your parents."

'As if I didn't already know this.' "Are they nice?" I ask after licking my cone. 'Poor ponies...'

"Oh yes. I think you'll have lots of fun. They even have a foal about your age to play with." She smiles down at me. Which I see in the corner of my eye.

'Do I... actually feel bad for these ponies? They expect to take care of me for an unknown amount of time... here I am, gonna take off on them.' I sigh outwardly.

"Something wrong?" Miss Weathers askes. "Not enough peanuts?" She giggles.

"Yeah... not enough peanuts." I give her a white lie. Too lost in my own thoughts to make up something better. 'No cold feet. This is for my own good. I have to...' I try to think of what I'll actually be doing to them by leaving. 'Break their hearts?' I shrug. Lack of anything better.

I lick my muzzle as I finish off the cone. Munching the remainder of which I was holding. I even lick off my hoof some of the ice cream that melted on to it. Next thing I know, Miss Weathers is knocking on a door in front of us. 'I guess we made it.'

"You excited?" Miss Weathers askes me.

"Well... I can sort of think of it like a sleep over. With... somepony I don't know." I respond.

"Don't worry. I hear Elaina's foal is into video games. Do you like video games?" Miss Weathers smiles.

"Well... I can't say that I don't... wonder what kind of games..."

The door to the building, which is a blue and brown 2 story house, opens up. Revealing the brown maned, tan coat mare. The one with the heart and baby bottle.

The mare looks down at me. "Oh Pink. I'm so glad you're here." She then looks to Miss Weathers. "Please, won't you both come in?"

Miss Weathers smiles again. She waits for me to walk in before walking in behind me. "What a lovely home." The house has blue walls with white borders. Potted plants. Pictures on the wall. A flight of stairs to my left. Then the faint cry of a young, but upset, pony yelling. "Stupid game! I told my character to do an uppercut, not a hurricane kick!" These sounds make Elaina laugh.

Elaina smiles down at me. "It's so good to meet you, Pink Flash." I give her a smile.

"Yeah. I like meeting new ponies." I then look up the stairs as I hear an older stallion's voice coming from what sounds like speakers. "You lose." Followed by an angry colt. "I'll show you lose! I'll get my main character!"

Elaina giggles. "I take it you like video games. Why don't you go upstairs and introduce yourself to Button Mash? I have some things to talk to Miss Weathers about. Then I'll call you down when it's time for lunch, ok sweetie?" She smiles warmly. A very motherly smile.

"Alright." I smile up at her. Then I stare at the stairs. "Ohhh... boy. I haven't tried going up stairs yet...' I approach the stairs. Then gulp as I begin climbing the stairs. Very slowly... and one step at a time.

As I reach the 5th step. "Awwwww." Elaina giggles. "Do you need some help sweetie?"

I blush. "N-no! I got it! I"ll get to the top." I look up. Seeing I'm about eight steps from the top.

Elaina giggles again. "I better help him before he falls." She trots up the steps, then picks me up in her hoof. Like scoops me up. Which only serves to make me blush more as she carries me to the top. "Just call if you wanna come down stairs, ok sweetie?" I nod as she sets me down.

I get the feeling that was fulfilling for her. 'Something to do with her cutie mark maybe?' I watch her trot back downstairs before continuing towards the sounds of the video game. 2 doors later, I find a door open. Peering inside is a little brown colt with golden eyes and a propeller hat.

"Um... hello." I say awkwardly.

"Yeah... just... a minute..." The colt is focused. A rather hectic looking match is going on screen. It looks like a 2D fighting game. Very old. I'd say 90s. This stallion wearing a black martial arts gi, dark tan coat and wild spiky mane. Looks kind of evil. That character is on the right. Making me believe Button is playing that character. While his opponent is a tall pony. Like the blue mare in my dream. But this pony on the game doesn't have wings or a horn. The tall pony is wearing a tattered red tuxeod. Dark blonde coat, wild white hair. The two characters are teleporting, doing fireballs. One of them shout out "Genocide cutter!" With a strong japanese accent. Wait... does Japan actually exist here?

Soon after, the tall pony goes down with a resounding "You win!" from the stallion voice I heard earlier. The little brown colt turns to me. Then he blinks. "Oh... um... who're you?" He askes raising an eyebrow. I also think I see him blushing a little.

'Do I tell him my pony name, or my actual name? Eh... I'll give him my pony name. I'll be out of here by tonight anyway.' I smile to the colt. "I'm Pink Flash. A colt who is going to stay with you and your mom tonight."

"What?! You're a colt?!" He whips away from me. Looking back to the screen. That's an interesting reaction.

'Oh I get it. Wait... ... is he... attracted to me? Or at least was?' I shake my head. 'Poor guy. I'll fix this awkwardness.' I sit down next to Button. "Hey. Wanna play?"

Button looks at me with a devious smirk. "You? You want to play me?" He seems to have trouble keeping in giggles. "Ok. Grab a controller and prepare to cry like a filly!"

I deadpan. 'I take it that's some kind of wisecrack about my color.' I grab the controller. "I hope not all colts can cry like a filly... for your sake." I hit start on the controller. 'I wanted to say "I hope you don't play as bad as a certain item colored the same as you." but I don't want to make the kid cry.'

The stallion announcer calls out. "Player 2 has joined. Choose your character!" I begin cycling through the characters. 'I think there's a game like this on Earth. If the controls are similar... I may actually stand a chance.' I look at Button as he hurries up and waits. Seeing as he isn't selecting a character. He must've noticed my curiousity.

"I'm in single player mode right now." Button explains. "When player two joins the tournament I'm in, the game puts player two as my next opponent in the lineup. My character was already selected at the beginning of the tournament. Which is why I'm waiting on you." He then sighs. "Hurry up filly!"

I deadpan again. 'He's gonna eat defeat.' I look back to the screen and spot a character that looks vaguely familiar. He's a pony with gray fur and a white mane. He's wearing a red trenchcoat. He's got a large broadsword on his back with two handguns. I select him. Then it askes which style. I select Trickster. The announcer askes. "Which groove would you like?" I select EX1. 'If this guy is who I think he is... I wish his brother were in the game too.'

"Ohhhh. Picking him. He's a tricky character to play." Button tells me. "If you manage to win the tournament with him, you unlock his brother."

'Helloooooo motivation! Er... more motivation.' After I select EX1. The screen moves to the loading screen. 'Button looks like he is visibly excited. Huh... that thought sounded creepier than I intended.' I shake my head as the screen shows up. Button's character stomps the ground saying something in Japanese. "Koi!" But my character speaks English. "This party is gettin' crazy! Let's rock."

'Ok... If I remember correctly... hitting the combination down down and then X... is my character's teleport. It should teleport above my opponent's head. I then hit down forward square for his dive kick. However... if I hit square a second time, it'll be sort of an axe handle attack. Making my opponent hit the ground. If I hit forward down forward then triangle, and keep tapping triangle... I can pop him off the ground and into a combo!'

The announcer states. "Round 1". Then yells "FIGHT!" Button's character does a fireball! My move works perfectly. I teleport above him just as I planned. My axe handle, my pop up attack. All of it goes off without a hitch. I follow up the pop up attack with a launcher into the air. At which point I hit square, triangle, triangle, circle. Then down forward circle. 'I can't believe it! The controls are exactly the same! You're gonna eat it kid!' I grin deviously as I continue. Activating a hyper combo and delivering the knock out.

With a resounding "K.O!" from the announcer, Button has a look of shock. His jaw hitting the floor. I look to him and blow on my hoof, then my hoof on my chest arrogantly. "And that... is how you do it."

Button squints at me. "That was a fluke! I didn't think you actually knew how to play! I'm not gonna go easy this time!"

"Round 2." The announcer starts. "FIGHT!" I bite my tongue gently as I focus. 'Let's see if he falls for it again...' As the letters disappear, I hit the combination to teleport into the axe handle. Button doesn't fall for it! In fact, he counters me! He used a dragon punch to knock me out of my axe handle! 'Craaaaap! Ok...! Dive kick from the aerial recovery!'

Button teleports out of the way, then activates a hyper combo. Catching me as I near the ground from my dive kick! 'No! He countered me again!'

My character gets to his hooves. 'Ok. If I hit forward and circle... my character will use his broadsword to thrust forward. Then I can hit down backwards triangle to use his revolver technique. If it hits, it'll pop my opponent like the axe handle. Then I can hit circle then launcher for another aerial combo!' I squint in determination. "You won't get a perfect on me!"

I hit forward circle, to begin my combo. Button blocks the broadsword thrust! Leaving me wide open. 'No!' Button hits my character with a 3 hit combo before launching my character into the air. Hitting me with another 3 hit combo into a hurricane kick. Ending it with a hyper combo. "K.O!" I stare in disbelief. "Hyper combo finish! PERFECT!"

Button laughs as my eye twitches. "Momentum is in my favor!" He grins at me. "Filly!"

I nod a few times. "Ok. Third round. Game on." I take a deep breath. Calming myself as much as I can so I can think clearly. Button getting a perfect on me really made me flustered. Only to be humiliated by him calling me a filly. 'I'll show him...' I squint at the screen as the announcer comes on.

"Round three! FIGHT!" Immediately when I can, I teleport. Like the first two rounds. Button reads this and uppercuts. I however don't use the axe handle. While using my character, and in the air. You can hold down and tap circle repeatedly. Which makes my character use his two pistols and shoot downwards. Allowing me to interrupt Button's uppercut. I grin, then use helm breaker. When in the air, I can just hit the x button to use helmer breaker. Which puts his character on the ground.

Once his character is on the ground, I hold down and forward then press circle. Which uses my characters guns again to pop Button's character off the ground. I then chain my character into the X button which begins a combo. After the x button. I use down backwards triangle for my character's revolver technique. I chain into circle, then launcher. I perform an aerial combo afterwards. Ending it with the down forward circle from the air down to the ground. The second my character touches ground I activate my character's hyper combo.

My character yells out. "Gotchya now!" He begins shooting Button's character repeatedly. Ending it with a mega shot after saying. "Jackpot."

Button grunts in annoyance. "Spamming that teleport!" Button fires a fireball. Then immediately teleports behind me. He times it perfectly. The second I block the fireball, he sweeps my character. Tripping me and then launching me into the air. 'Crap!' He performs a 4 hit aerial combo. Then uses hurricane kick. Finally chaining into his hyper combo. 'I can't take too many hits like that! His character takes more damage than mine, but his deals more damage. He can take me out in 2 or 3 combos. Well, 1 or 2 now. I need to play it smart. I need to trick him.' My eyes widen. 'I got this... I got this...'

I back up. I hold down and press the square button. Which causes my character to shoot one of his pistols at a downward angle. His character is too far back for it to hit him... but I don't want it to hit him... I'm baiting him. 'Come on... make a mistake...' I fire again.

Button uses a fireball. 'There it is!' I teleport. Above his character. After teleporting, I hold the block button. Expecting him to uppercut. Which he does. I aerial block the uppercut. 'All mine...' As Button's character reaches the ground after his uppercut, I hold down and hit square, and triangle. Followed by tapping circle.

My character shoots Button's character, then hits him with my sword. Followed by million stab. Which stabs Button's character at an extremely fast pace. I then activate my character's ultimate.

My character yells out. "Don't close your eyes!" My character moves at blinding speed. My character moves from the side of the screen, to the other 4 times. Each time he does he slashes Button's character. Finally, the camera focuses on my characters face. My character says. "Now for the finish!" My character dives at Button's character and impales Button's character on my sword. Then throws Button's character to the side of the screen before saying. "And that's... how you do it."

I frown. Button's character survives with a milimeter of health bar left! 'Damn it! If I had gone with an aerial combo into the ultimate, then I would've won right there!' I sigh outwardly. 'I just didn't want to do anything too flashy and just finish him!' I shake my head. 'It's ok... I can take him... it's like one or two more hits, then he's done.'

I press down forward, then X. It causes an energy-esque blade to travel the length of the ground towards my opponent. Button teleports through it. Seeing his teleport, I press down backward triangle. Using my character's revolver technique. Button manages to time it perfectly, and uppercut me out of the revolver. "WHAT?!" My eyes bug out.

Button giggles and super jumps to meet me in the air. He aerial combos me. Hitting me a good 7 times before slamming me down into the ground. He drops to the ground and walks me into the corner. Blocking me there.

'Simple. I'll attack low!' The moment my character gets up. Button activates his ultimate. "NO! CHEATER!" I cry out as my character is grabbed. The screen goes black as dozens of hit sparks go off. 'Please survive...!' The screen goes back to normal with Button's character having his back turned to the screen. A strange foreign symbol on his back. The announcer yells. "K.O! Hyper combo finish!

"WOOHOO!" Button tosses his controller into the air. "I'm the king!" He starts dancing.

I stare at the screen. Dumbfounded. 'D... did a child just beat me...?' I feel my eyes watering up. Feeling the urge to cry. 'Noooo... no no... Don't cry. Don't you do it...!' I talk to myself in third person as if it would help.

Button notices I haven't budged at all. He looks at me. "Pink?" He tilts his head. "What's wrong?"

I turn away and wipe my eyes. "N-nothin'! I'm fine. Who're you picking next?" I turn back to the screen.

"Are you... crying?" Button looks at me. "You are..." He frowns. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. It was uh... just some teasing." He smiles at me.

"It's fine." I smile back. "I just... sort of took it personally. I wanted to win that, to prove myself is all."

"Hey. You did very well. Much better than every other pony I've played at this. We're the best in Ponyville!"

I'm about to retort when we hear Elaina's voice. "My little ponies!" Elaina calls to us in asing song voice. "Come down here please. We're going out."

I can't help but notice the impeccable timing. Match is over, she calls to us. It's like she knows... "Coming mom!" Button calls back. He turns the console and TV off before heading down.

I frown. "Awwww..." I stare at the TV for a few seconds. Then get up and follow after Button. As I head towards the stairs, I hear hoofsteps heading up the stairs. I find Elaina at the top waiting for me with open hooves.

"I'll help you down sweetie." She smiles down at me. I mumble a thanks as I move to her. She picks me up and heads down the stairs. She sets me down. "There we go." I blush as I look to the door. "You're adorable when you blush." She giggles. "I thought it'd be better if we went to Sugarcube Corner instead of having lunch here."

"Alright!" Button calls as he heads to the door. "Getting a rainbow cupcake!" He waits for Elaina. Button is trotting in place. Practically bouncing up and down as Elaina giggles and opens the door.

"Come along, Pink." She says as she looks to me. I follow behind her. "Where did Miss Weathers go?" I ask Elaina. "Miss Weathers is going to meet us at Sugarcube Corner." Elaina responds.

We begin moving out. Heading into town. As we walk, I scan my environment. Looking for methods and routes of escape. How I will get from Elaina's house to the forest. 'To my dismay, her house is actually a decent distance from the forest.' That's when I notice something out of place. 'Where are the guards? There was a guard near the library the night of my escape. Now there are no guards at all.'

I don't have long to ponder this as Elaina pushes open the door to Sugarcube Corner. It's pitch black inside. "Why is it so dark?" I ask as I squint and peer inside. Elaina giggles. "I suppose we'll just have to find the light." She tells me as I take a cautious step inside. To anypony else, I probably look cute. When in reality my mind has gone into alert mode. My old drill sargeant telling me. "A soldier who isn't on guard is a dead soldier! Tell me, maggot! Do you like to breath?!" I have to admit there might be a little post traumatic stress in there.

'Huh. Now that I think about it... how did he never pop a blood vessel?' My eyes are beginning to adjust to the darkness. I could swear I saw movement... figures beginning to emerge from the darkness. Well... they weren't exactly emerging... I'm just slowly being able to see them.

The lights suddenly flick on. "MY EYES!" I cry out as a crowd of ponies jump out. "SURPRISE!" I'm temporarily blinded by the sudden light. 'Wait... how did I notice ponies jumping out?' Even my mind stops for a second. 'Uhhh... elite senses honed by the military?Good enough.'

A pink pony with a poofy pink mane walks up to me. Bright blue eyes. 3 balloons as her horse tattoo. 'Why call it a horse tattoo? I already know it's a cutie mark. How I know it is, I don't know... nopony has explained that to me yet...'

"Welcome to Ponyville Pink Flash! I am SUPER excited that you're here!' She hugs me. "I always welcome everypony to Ponyville with a super special welcome to Ponyville surprise party! Were you surprised? You certainly looked surprised!" She smiles big.

"Uhhh... sure. I was super surprised..." I smile awkwardly. 'Just smile and wave...'

The pink pony giggles. "I'm really glad! I'm Pinkie Pie. I threw this extra special party just for you! Make sure you have lots of fun! Play some games, have some yummy treats, and play with some of the other foals here!"

"Uhhh yes. Thank you." I continue my awkward smile. 'Kill me now...'

Pinkie Pie's smile doesn't faulter even for a second. "Now. You should go introduce yourself to the other foals. I'll be getting the games ready!" Before I can even say anything, she nudges me towards one of the corners in the room. Where other children are.

"Hi!" A mostly white pegasus filly talks to me. She has a very light tint of blue to her. Almost like a cloud. "I'm Cotton Cloudy." She smiles.

"Pink Flash..." I stare at her. Studying her. 'Hm... she's a little bigger than I am. Maybe older? I doubt she'll notice she's bigger than me.'

Cotton Cloudy giggles. "You're shorter than me." I deadpan. "You excited for the games too?" She smiles. "I hear there will be prizes for each game we win! The grown ups even said they put together group games where we can form teams and stuff!"

"Fascinating..." I say with a bored expression. 'It does sound kind of fun... what adult doesn't want to cut loose and be a kid again once in a while...?' As I ponder this, several other foals approach.

"Kind of a filly color for a colt, don't you think?" A pale magenta filly with light violet mane tells me. A second filly laughs. The second one is mostly gray with light blue frame glasses.

I look to the one that spoke."It's not really my call what color I am." I speak to the filly with a poker face.

She giggles. "Perhaps you'd like a mane clip? Silver, do we have any extra dresses for the filly?"

I stare for a few moments. "Actually... in 1918, pink was a color for boys. The general consensus is that pink was more pronounced and strong. For boys. While blue was decided to be delicate, dainty, and prettier for girls."

"W...what?" The magenta filly stares at me. "What are you talking about?"

"What I'm saying is that what colors are, and what they represent is defined by society. In 1918, 98 years ago mind you, pink was a color for colts rather than fillies. As society changes and evolves, so can the definitions that society holds. A colt being pink doesn't make that colt any less of a colt than the next non-pink colt. Biologically speaking, a pink colt carries no difference than any other colt."

"Why doesn't your mom dye you then?" The magenta filly squints at me. I feel like she doesn't quite understand the conversation. This question she asked seems kind of... illogical to ask after hearing what I just said. Leading me to believe she doesn't understand much of what I'm saying.

"Dying my color to a more societally acceptable color would be accepting some form of shame. I have no shame. Nor should I. My color doesn't represent who I am. It doesn't speak of me as a whole, it doesn't change my aspirations, goals, and desires. It doesn't affect the way I think, talk, or act. In short. Nothing is wrong with me. So nothing needs to be changed." The filly just stares at me. "I think the conversation is over. Let's go see if the games are ready." I trot away. Leaving the fillies there.

I arrive at what Pinkie Pie has affectionately labelled as the kiddie corner. Seriously. With a sign. Says "Kiddie Corner" on it. It has games like pin the tail on the grump. The poster is some kind of really grumpy donkey. A cranky looking donkey with a terrible obvious wig and bored expression. Other games include tic tac toe, Twister, and... is that a pinata?! It's a pinata of Nightmare Moon with a big dopey grin on it's face. Very cartoonish.

Pinkie Pie smiles down at me. "SO! Which game would you like to play first?" She awaits my answer eagerly. I stare at the various games this pink party pony has set up. I smile up at Pinkie Pie. "How about pin the tail on the grump?"

"Excellent choice!" Pinkie Pie holds up a blindfold. "Who ever gets closest will get a prize!" She giggles. "All foals to the Kiddie Corner!" I look around as Cotton Cloudy, the other two I was talking to earlier, Button Mash, and 3 other fillies show up. One of the three is an earth pony. Yellow coat, red mane. She has an oversized pink bow in her mane. Amber eyes. The second filly is white with a violet and pink mane unicorn. Green eyes. The third is an orange coat, violet mane pegasus with purple eyes.

We each take turns pinning the tail on the grump. I got really close. Didn't win though. The white unicorn named "Sweetie Belle" won. We begin moving to the next game. I guess we're playing tic tac toe in a sort of tournament style. Each of us are going to play against the others. Everyone plays everyone once. Who ever wins the most wins a big prize. But we're all going to get a small prize for each win. I win this. I beat everypony I face against except Sweetie Belle. Again... 'Damn that kid! Smarter than me?! Guh!' I did win the tournament though. So I'm getting a big prize and 5 small prizes. So go me.

Next up is the pinata! I've always loved those as a kid. NowI get to love them again! "I kind of feel dirty. Like... One of those creeps who join in on a kid's game just to hang out with children with less... than innocent intentions." Pinkie Pie lines up the pinata. "Ok little Pink Flash, you're first!" I'm quickly blindfolded and given a wiffle bat. 'I feel like I might be getting some form of special treatment.' I just shrug. I picture the pinata in my mind's eye. Then I swing for the pinata's face. I hear the satisfying crack of the wiffle bat against the pinata. The other foals begin cheering. Hooves moving rapidly. I can hear the candy spilling out hitting the floor. 'I nailed it! Right in the kisser!' I pull up the blindfold only to find I knocked one of it's legs off. To which I deadpan. 'I was WAY off!'

I jump into the fray. Grabbing some of the candy too. I suddenly stop. 'What am I doing?' I put the candy down. Stepping away from the candy. Then dropping the wiffle bat. "S... somepony else's turn." I put the blindfold down next to the bat and make my way away from the Kiddie Corner.

"Pink?" Pinkie Pie tilts her head. "Is something wrong?" The foals are all still preoccupied with the candy. Pinkie Pie follows after me as I move to the entrance way of the shop. A whole lot of ponies are just standing about talking. I can see Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Dr. Wind is here too.

I stop at the entrance way, then turn to Pinkie Pie. That's when I notice Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and Dr. Wind all followed me. "Ummm...?" I tilt my head.

Twilight giggles. "Popular foal." Pinkie Pie speaks up. "Hang on everypony. I think Pink Flash is upset about something." Pinkie Pie has a concerned expression.

"What? No. I'm not upset. Why would I be upset?" I ask Pinkie Pie as I look up at her.

"Cuz you left at the good part! The candy just started spilling out and you left! Only foal I've ever seen do that is a sad foal." Rainbow Dash frowns. She seems concerned. Not for me per se. More concerned than just concerned... maybe even... guilty.

"Ohhhh! I can't do it!"Rainbow Dash suddenly exclaims. She moves to me and hugs me. Then smiles down at me. "We found her." I raise an eyebrow. "Your mother. We found her." I blink. Going wide eyed as Rainbow Dash hugs me. "She'll be here tomorrow morning. We were going to surprise you... but you... just look so sad."

"Wait... my mom? You found my mom?"I ask in disbelief. 'I wasn't aware there was a mother to find... I'm from Earth. How can I have a mother here?' I stare up at all the ponies smiling down at me. All of them expecting to see a happy foal exclaiming his happiness and all I can think is. 'Shit.'

Author's Note

I actually enjoy what I've done here. I was originally going to leave it at "How can I have a mother here?" but added the last bit on impulse. I think it makes for a better way to end the chapter. I know EXACTLY how I'm going to start the next chapter
To those who are patiently waiting (Impatiently even), I thank you. I know these are coming out morbidly slowly. Not having internet makes me have to play the same things over and over again... and watch the same things over and over again. It REALLY kills motivation. While this is true, I refuse to let this die. I have such wonderful ideas for this and I don't want the effort to go to waste.

Seeing ponies enjoy my work helps though. The idea that anypony enjoys my weird stuff at all helps motivation tremendously, and I thank everypony for it.

Chapter 07: Night of Destiny

I stare at the ceiling in the dakrness. Lying in the bed Elaina had set up for me. Button Mash sleeps quietly in his bed to my left. 'How is it possible...? I have a mother here? I'm not from here...'

Sighing, I slide out of bed. I kick the pajamas that Elaina gave me off and head to the window. 'I don't know what's going on here, but I'm not sticking around to find out. Who ever this pony claiming to be my mother is could be anypony. Some depraved and twisted pony looking to molest me or something. NO! I'm not ordering that from the menu thank you very much.' I prop myself up on the window sill. Looking down at the lock, I notice it's locked and childproofed. 'Any chance she heard I ran away from the hospital?' My ears droop as I sigh. 'Doing this the hard way. Hard object through the window? Not yet... let's see if I can pop the childproofing or not.'

I peer around the room. Deciding quickly that I won't find anything that'll help me in here, I move to the hallway and begin making my way to the stairs. My ears droop as I look down them. 'Certainly, I can glide down them... Hmmm... maybe I don't need to break out from the second floor window.'

I touch down at the base of the stairs after gliding down. Noting the rug under my hooves, I smile. 'Being too motherly. Putting rugs to protect her foal. It'll work against her this time. As it will keep my hooves quiet while I leap up to unlock the front door.'

Smirking to myself, the door opens up easily enough. Takes only a couple of leaps to unlock it and open it. I'm about to exit when...

"Pink?" The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I quickly whirl around to come face to face with Button Mash. "B-Button?!" I blink a few times. 'How did I NOT notice he wasn't in his bed?!' I grin sheepishly. "H-hi! What're you doing up?"

Button cocks an eyebrow. "Getting water." He then squints. "What're YOU doing up?"

"Ok... I'll be straight with you." My expression gets serious. "Who ever the pony they found to be my mother... isn't my mother. I don't know who that pony is. So I'm getting out of here before I'm handed over to the drooling psycho that's attempting to claim some foal she doesn't know."

Button listens to my explanation intently. "Rainbow Dash is the pony who found your mom. She's an element of harmony... so I believe her." I'm about to protest when I spot him taking a deep breath.

"No! No no no no!" I exclaim But alas, my protests fall upon deaf ears.

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" I cringe at the colt calling to his mother. A few seconds later, there's a thump sound. "BUTTON?! What's wrong?!" I hear Elaina call.

"PINK'S RUNNING AWAAAAAAAAY!"

'Eeyup. Time to go!' The last thing I notice, are lights turning on from down the hall on the first floor. Probably where Elaina sleeps. I turn and rush out the door. Galloping down the street. Only to hear Elaina call after me. "Pink! Sweetie come back!"

Of course, I don't go back. The whole idea is to get away so I can figure this all out. I think the best place for me to go now is my plane. Granted, I think that is the first place somepony like guards would look. Possibly even Rainbow Dash or Dark Wind might look there. If Rainbow Dash decides to join the search...I'm pretty much screwed. Then again, she'd probably join the search after she's awoken. She might not wake up for quite some time. All I'd need is roughly 2 hours to get there and back. The mountain isn't THAT far away.'

Shortly after, I reach the edge of the forest I saw from the sky. 'Wish I had made a mental note of that from the sky. I'd be able to determine how much forest I'd have to sift through to get to the other side.' Sighing. I step into the forest. Hearing Elaina call my name again. 'What's the point of calling out the name of the pony you're trying to call... if they are actively ignoring you? It's not gonna make a difference.' I stop in place. 'I take that back. It actually does make a difference. The pony you're calling to, upon hearing you, would know that you care enough to search for them. They may actually change their mind and come back.'

Nodding to myself for no reason I begin trotting along. 'Did I just have a debate with myself? What psychosis was that called again?' Shaking my head, I continue into the forest.

Roughly 20 minutes later, I stop upon noticing a light.I crouch down behind some plants, then peer over them. Seeing a hut, I sigh. It's not a guard or something. Curious, I do squint while looking into the window of the hut. Finding a black and white pony hard at work doing... what looks like witchcraft. 'I'm not judging. You do your thing pony weirdo.'

Sensing something wrong, Zecora peers into the darkness as Pink Flash trots away. "It would appear something is amiss... why is a child walking in this abyss?"

I look back. Noticing the pony following. "Damn it. I should've known better!" I begin to move faster.

"Child wait!" I don't look back. "This is not great..." She speaks louder. "Where is your destination?! Within this forest lies dangerous vegetation!" She calls after me as she steps out from her hut. By this point, I get a clear sight of her. She's wearing a black saddlebag. She has dark cyan eyes and is wearing some weird golden jewelry. Tribal-esque in appearance.

I roll my eyes as I look to the zebra following me from over my withers. 'Oh great. The weirdo is coming.' I scoff. "Hey! Pretend you never saw me." I yell back at her. "Also, ignore anypony else looking for me." Of course, I know she won't listen to me. What else am I to say at this interval? 'Hey. I'm a human, help me get home'? Like that'll work.

"Please do not go little foal. The only things you will find out here are not your goal!" The zebra responds. She picks up the pace to try and catch up to me.

I also pick up the pace. 'Why is she rhyming? I thought it was a coincidence at first, but she seems to doing it every time. Let's see how she likes human military tactics.' I veer off the path and into the dense brush.

"Little one! Don't stray from the path! You will surely face this forest's wrath!" Her voice seems more alarmed than before.

'Forest's wrath? What, does it have dangerous animals like poison dart frogs? Pfff. I'm trained for this sort of thing. Even if I find new creatures, I can handle it.' As I gallop through the brush, I grab a large leaf. I believe it's called Large Monstera Philodendron Bohemian. 'Though, in this case, I'd have to say it isn't Bohemian.' I chuckle lightly to myself as I slide to a stop next to a plant and cover myself with the large leaf. Taking a camouflaged hiding spot.

I sit next to the plant. Patting myself on the back. 'Heh. Perhaps I should just wait here for a couple of hours. Wait for the heat to die down. This was genius.' I look up to see an unamused zebra staring down on me. "...Parlay?" She grabs me. "Noooooo!" Flailing my tiny hooves about as she begins to trot back towards the entrance of the forest. 'How?! How did she find me?!'

"Little foals like you should not be in this place. You could vanish without a trace!" The zebra rhymes yet again. 'I would find that annoying, but I'm just morbidly fascinated with how she does it.' My ears perk up. As sounds that shouldn't be come to my attention. "HEY! Weirdo lady! Listen!"

The zebra sighs. "I see not why you've come here-" She ducks just in time as a massive paw cleaves it's way through several trees and even a small segment of her mohawk. The zebra leaps to the side, still holding me as two trees topple over next to us. "Something is near! What it is is unclear!"

Peering up, all I see are two large glowing eyes in the darkness. I did see a paw though. It seems large wild cats inhabit this forest.

The zebra puts me down behind her. Her facial expression changing to a very serious one. "Flee from this place, child. I will stop this beast of the wild." I cock an eyebrow as I look her up and down. "Right. You and your army." I move to her side. As I move forward, the beast almost seems to mimic my movements. Stepping forward in sync with me.

It's paw moves into the light followed by his thick as a tree trunk leg. It's chest is next, it's like a wall of muscle and fur. It's razor sharp teeth... it's claws that could tear a rhinoceros apart in a single swipe of it's paw. 'Ok. This should be fine... I'm tiny in comparison to it. I just need to move into thicker wooded areas.' The creature continues to move into the light. Revealing it's horns. 'Ok. That's weird. Shouldn't pose any more trouble though.' Then it's wings. 'Uhhhh...' Finally, it's scorpion tail. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" My eyes widen, my ears drooping as I step back.

"That little one, is a manticore." She sighs. "Dealing with it will be quite a chore." Without looking at me she continues. "Run home now little colt. Off with you now, quick as a bolt!"

Taking note that she didn't seem to mind me cussing. Then again, there's something a little more serious than naughty words to worry about.

I close my eyes. For a few seconds, I listen to my heart racing. I take a deep breath. 'This thing may have a scorpion's tail and horns... but it is essentially a really big cat. It won't attack right away... it will assess us first to see if we're a threat. During this stage, I should remain standing. Take only slow deliberate movements. I can't turn away from it or crouch. It'll see me as prey if I do so.'

I open my eyes. Seeing the towering creature. The zebra looks apprehensive. Glancing around, I make note of several large trees and some rocks. I look back to the large beast. Making my way slowly towards the trees.

"Child! Why are you still here?! Why are you not free and clear?!" The zebra gets a frantic expression. Figuring I'm in a state of shock or something, she begins to dig something from her saddle bag.

As Zecora removes a vial from her saddle bag, I lower myself closer to the ground while remaining on my hooves. This seems to provoke the creature into attacking me.

The towering creature swings it's mighty paw. Just as it does, Zecora tosses the contents of the vial out. A fine dark red powder that sparkles in the moonlight. The powder gets in the behemoth's eyes causing it to roar in pain and snap it's eyes closed allowing me to leap to the left of the tree. The creature's paw cleaves the tree in two causing it's upper half to fall onto the creature's head.

Zecora watches in mixed horror and hope as the creature falls to the ground. Meanwhile, I scavenge for a sharp rock and turn to the beast. 'Judging from the size of the creature and the tree... creature being 10 feet long... it stood roughly 7 feet. I'd estimate right around the1,000 pound mark. That tree was about 10 feet tall. It'd be about 200 pounds. However, not all of that weight is going to coming down on it's head as the monster was well over half the tree's length in height. I'd guess about 40 pounds of force just clunked it on the head.' I scratch my chin with my hoof. "Should've gotten a bigger tree."

Zecora looks at me. "Child... you did that with intention?" She shakes her head. "This whole plight leaves me with apprehension..."

"I'm going to leave now. I suggest you do the same." I say as I begin walking past the creature. "That hit won't keep it down very long." The tree rolls off the manticore. I sigh while my ears droop. "The proverbial mic drop." I turn to the manticore as it climbs to it's paws.The creature's ears swivel as it listens. I squint in confusion. 'It's eyes... they're bloody. What was in that powder?! Glass?!' Zecora is very calm at this point. Motionless. No doubt not making sound as to not draw the monster's attention. 'This will not do. It can smell us. I can handle this thing... I've already displayed that I can. I doubt very much she can. She already used her powder... stuff... on it. What else could she possibly do?' I look down at the rock I grabbed earlier. I had intended to use it to try and break a bone in it's leg... but it was unconscious. I had hoped to be out of here by the time it woke up.

I sigh. 'Ok. I'll draw it's attention to me so the weirdo can get out of here.' I look to said weirdo. 'Hopefully she won't be the heroic type and try to rescue me. She'll only get herself killed.' Looking back to the monster. 'It's now or never.' I hurl the rock at the monster's head. A satisfying 'thonk' is heard as the rock makes a connection with the beast.

Zecora face hoofs. "CHILD! I had this under control! I had blocked it's senses you silly foal!"

"Wait... you can do that?" I ask as the manticore turns to me. "Shit..." The beast takes a deep breath and roars in my face. Sheer terror rushes through me. "Nope." I turn and run. 'I'm doing EXACTLY what not to do in this situation! DAMN IT!' I frantically look around. 'Got it!' There's an overhead log. This one looks to be roughly 30" in diameter. That should stop it in it's tracks! Especially since it can't see!

I grin to myself and head for the log. It's suspended in the air via a boulder on one side and another tree. So I just run under it.

I slide to a on the other side of the log and look back. Grinning mischievously as I watch the manticore head straight into the log... and through it... "WHAT?!" My eyes bug out wide as the manticore is barely phased by the log. Splinters and moss flying in every direction as the manticore bares down on me. "With my last breath, I CURSE TERMITES!" I close my eyes and wait for piercing painful death. However, I'm suddenly grabbed a pulled aside. Then I'm set down.

I open my eyes and look up. Standing in front of me is a unicorn. A dark gray stallion. He has spiky dark brown mane and tail with a violet jagged streak down the center. Light blue eyes. He has golden symbols just above his left foreleg's knee. His cutie mark Light blue crescent moon, gray circle in the crook with a dark purple four-point star, white triangles surrounding the mark like sun rays. He looks down at me. "Hide or run away. I don't care which."

He then turns to the manticore. "You! Attack a defenseless child?! Flee or die! Please pick the latter." The manticore roars at the unicorn and begins charging at him. The unicorn scoffs and begins charging at the manticore. "RAAAAAAAH!" As the two draw closer, the unicorn's horn glows. A spot of energy appears in front of him. It moves with him as the unicorn charges. The spot elongates into a thin rectangle... almost like a sword.

The two meet... the unicorns eyes widen in surprise as the manticore runs past him. The unicorn slides to a stop. With a bewildered expression that says 'Did he just ignore me?!'

The manticore is going for me! 'The manticore doesn't see the unicorn as prey so he ignored the unicorn!'

The energy blade the unicorn made reshapes into a thin rope-esque shape. He then turns and whips the energy rope at the manticore. A loud "CRACK" sound emits as it wraps around the manticore's leg. The energy rope pulls tight and the manticore actually face-plants. 'Holy shit! Who is that unicorn? Why is he here? More importantly, why am I still here?!'

"KID! Why the hell are you still here?!" He yells at me from the other side of the manticore. Causing me to blink a few times, I turn and begin to gallop away. 'Ok. He seems um... capable... I'll let him handle that. I'll just get to my plane. Hopefully Elaina doesn't come into the forest...

A few moments later, I begin to pant. Having run the whole way. I slow to a brisk walk. To catch my breath. "Heh. One good thing, I have a lot more stamina than I used to." I smile to myself. I suddenly stop. My ears perking up and swiveling. Hearing a sound that brings dread. It gets louder and louder. Thump-thump thump-thump. Trees getting knocked aside. I turn to see the manticore barreling down the path towards me. Bleeding profusely.

I stare in horror. 'If... it's coming after me now... he must've... killed the other two...' Realization dawns on me. Tears well up in my eyes. 'And I just... left them...' The manticore is getting closer. 'I left two innocents behind... what kind of soldier am I...?' My wings unfurl slowly. A burning rage building within. The tears slide down my cheeks.

I look up at the charging manticore. Ferocity in my eyes. The monster slams it's paws down on me. However, without intentionally doing so, I use my wings to blast out from under it's paw. There's an intense clap of sound that sends a pressure wave outward from me that is forceful enough to actually cause the manticore to stumble back. I take off down the path. My wings fluttering rapidly keeping me moving at an intense speed. I move so fast there's only the wind that I can hear.

I come to a stop a moment later. Looking around, I grab a stick from the ground. It's roughly 2 inches in diameter and 2 and a half feet long. I then look back to the manticore who I can barely see. I hold the stick in my mouth, then begin running at the manticore again. Fluttering my wings again... I pick up speed rapidly. I don't hear the loud clap this time... but it takes me a second to reach the manticore again. I then leap and make my wings go rigid. Causing me to begin to glide. Then, while gliding at the intense speed, I take the stick and throw it like a spear.

The momentum I'm traveling at carries the stick like a bullet. The stick turned projectile strikes the manticore in the abdomen. It doesn't just strike him... it pierces him. It penetrates all the way to impale and keeps going.

A look of shock spreads upon the manticore's face as I glide to a landing and slide to a stop roughly 50 feet past the manticore.

There's a dramatic pause. For a whole minute I can't focus. I finally take a deep breath. Then turn to the manticore. The manticore is staring at me in disbelief. Bleeding much worse than it was before.

"Uh oh..." I blink. "No no no no! Stay snapped!" My eyes widen suddenly as the manticore runs off into the darkness yelping in pain. I just stare into the darkness. "That... was unexpected..."

Staring into the darkness. I ponder to myself. 'I saw it bleeding profusely... but I didn't notice blood on it's paws.' Realization dawns on me. 'Did I just attack a manticore running away from something or somepony? Did they survive?!" I smile big at the prospect that the two I left behind may be alive. 'I want to check on them... but if I meet with them, they'll make me go back to Elaina's." I take a moment to think. 'Maybe... if I wait in the bushes and spy on them as t hey follow the path...? No. That won't work. The weird zebra lady tracked me easily. It's best to push on.' I frown. Looking back towards where I last saw them sadly. Then begin following the path again.

An idea comes to mind. "I should take some feathers... and place them on an alternate trail. Get them to think I went in a different direction." I smile to myself. "Clever..." I look to my wing and pluck a feather. "OUCH! SHIT! That hurts!" I look at my wing. "Am... I bleeding?!" I wince. "FUCK! It's throbbing! Who'd have thought feathers were THIS sensitive?!" I frown and let the feather drop. "Ok. New plan. I'm NOT plucking anymore feathers. That shit hurts."

Forgetting about that idea, I continue along the path. It's not even 5 more minutes before I exit the forest. Peering up the mountain, I think to myself. 'I'll have to take a different path down when I finish with my plane.' I sigh while looking up at the mountain. "I have a ways to go..." I begin climbing.

The climb is spooky. Random animal noises. Insects. Not to mention it's difficult to keep going. So tired... fighting to keep my eyes open...

'Despite how spooky it is... it is rather peaceful too. You wouldn't guess all that crazy shit back there actually happened.' It isn't too much longer before I reach my destination. Immediately recognizing the area as I step onto the plane crash site.

I stare at my poor sweet Baron... my once beautiful aircraft... reduced to scrap. I sadly step into the fuselage. My ears drooping. I rummage around in the various items tossed about from the crash. Looking for the med-kit. Instead, however, I find a letter. "Hm? It's from Jeff... my team manager." I open the letter and begin to read it. "No fucking way... I was accepted for review by the Blue Angels?!" I begin to hyper ventilate. "NO WAY! oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" I suddenly stop. "Wait a minute... There's an age cap on the Blue Angels. That's why I never..." I furrow my brow. Then rub my fore head. "This doesn't make sense... I'm too old to get into the Blue Angels... why would they...?"

I put the letter away and begin looking for the med-kit again. The letter in the back of my mind. Something isn't right about it... Soon after, I find my med-kit. I grab an emergency blanket, and my old pilot's coat. My coat is roughed up pretty bad... but it still is in one piece. As I begin to leave the fuselage, I notice the puddle of blood. I scowl at it, then leave. Having decided I should head down the mountain a different path... I decide I should head into the patch of woods on the mountain Guardian and I ran into before.

The woods here aren't any less spooky than Everfree. Knowing that creature live up here as much as they do in Everfree. 'OH! I have a great idea! I should glide off the cliff! That'll be so much fun!' I grin excitedly as I trot through the patch of woods. That's when I notice the tree. The tree I had knocked down to save Guardian. That large timber wolf is still there... it doesn't look like it's alive anymore. Giving the wolf a wide berth, I make my way towards the cliff... the one I originally fell from.

The cliff seems to go into abyss, like it goes on forever. Second thoughts about gliding down begin to creep into my head. 'I know it doesn't go forever. It's even pretty clear down there. Not many trees to hit... and it's not like it'll be that dark when I get down there...' Peering over the edge, the darkness, as if threatening me, is very unwelcoming. My heart hammering in my chest. 'This isn't me... this is the foal part being scared. Not me...' Steeling my resolve for a moment with my eyes closed. My wings unfurl as I step off the cliff.

I kind of feel like a dog who's stuck his head out the window of a moving car. My cheeks flapping in the wind. I almost immediately panic. Opening my eyes makes me feel better. Not that it allows me much more control than before.

I have to steel my resolve again. To try and calm myself down mid-glide to focus on how I should alter my trajectory in order to land safely. Taking a deep breath I notice I'm on the ground.

Blinking, I look around. "H-how...?" I see trees around me. Looming high above me. Kind of spooky... "How the hell did I get down here?!" I gasp and cover my mouth with my hooves. 'I can't be too loud... or I'll be discovered!'

Shaking my head. I decide to ignore what just happened. 'I can just... go ahead and file that right under the same psychosis of talking to myself.' I nod. 'Good plan.'

Moving through the forest. Walking in from a different direction I believe I can avoid any pony tailing me. Then I'll find a cave and lay low. 'Maybe after a day or two... I'll find Twilight and ask if she's found anything...' I suddenly stop. Eyes going wide. "SHIT! What do I eat?! Do I eat berries and nuts... or do I eat what horses eat?!" I whip my hooves to my mouth. 'Damn it! Quiet you idiot!'

There's a loud screeching. Whipping around, I look for it. To no avail. All I see is darkness. The silhouettes of trees, rocks and shadows. The loud screech again... it's closer. More defined. Something is off about it though. It has a slight reverberation in it's call. Like it's mechanical. From a speaker even.

'Some other creature that this forest has to offer. I'll crush it like I did the others.' I begin scanning the area. Looking for the source of the sounds. It sounds like a screech from a bird... so I begin with the sky.

A different sound is heard this time. Like metal striking against something very hard followed by a "Twang". Filling to finish this triplex of sounds is a familiar voice calling out to me. "Kid! Run!"

I look up in time to hear and see a tree falling over... towards me. My eyes widen. The tree is roughly 10 feet tall and 18 inches in diameter. Numbers immediately fill my head. 'That thing weighs at least 1,000 pounds... it will definitely kill me.' "I'm out."

I turn to begin running. However, there is... some large black mass in front of me. "What... the..." It gets taller and taller. Black wings unfurl from it's silhouette. It moves closer. It's some kind of bird creature. Like a really big raven... with metal feathers. It screeches that metallic bird call into my face. Making me scream in terror.

I turn away from it. My eyes bulge out. Having forgotten about the tree in the advent of the weirdo bird thing.

All I can see... is the tree. The tree encompassing the entirety of my vision. Within the blink of an eye... Rainbow Dash appears. The space under the tree was vacant and then Rainbow Dash was there. I didn't even have time to process her flying in. She was just suddenly there. "R... Rainbow?!"

"Pink! RUN NOW!" I just not and without another word I turn away from her. Only to be met with the bird thing standing behind me still. It raises a clawed hand... clawed claw...? This weird appendage that birds have with claws on the end.

I flap my wings has hard as I can. Creating lots of thrust as I gallop by it. That loud snap I heard earlier reoccurs. In the corner of my eye, I see the weirdo bird thing get tossed into the brush. Breaking the sound barrier creates a lot of air pressure. It doesn't surprise me it got flung like a rag doll.

I lose my grip on my blanket, med-kit and coat. I don't even have time to look back at them, I'm moving too fast. I have to watch out for trees, rocks and other obstacles. Though, I do give an inward sigh. There goes the last bits of my identity.

The trees whip by me. Rocks and other debris. I understand how fast I'm travelling... what I don't understand is how I'm capable of keeping up with it. I can see everything as it reaches me. I'm able to avoid it. Dodge it. Jump over it or weave in and around things. I was never capable of keeping up with things like this before. This is... intense... I should be dead... I can't be doing this...

"THIS IS AWESOOOOOOOOME! WOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!" A giant grin on my face as I easily weave between trees as if I were moving at a casual rate. "YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!" Leaping over logs, rushing past animals, through bushes and gliding after jumps with a lot of air. Even that root that'd normally trip you in a terrible horror movie doesn't get me.

I blast past two ponies. That unicorn and the zebra from before! 'Good to see they're ok. Where am I going?' I just giggle. 'I don't care! THIS IS AWESOME!' I blast by the manticore that tried to kill me earlier. I stick my tongue out at it as I blast past it. Giggling to myself. 'Imagine if he caught just that moment of me sticking my tongue out at him?' I begin to laugh as I leap over a log and keep right on going. There's a sudden flash of light. Pasting a silhouette of me on the trees. "Huh?!" I glance around rapidly. Not taking me eyes off the trees for long. 'I don't remember breaking the sound barrier creating light... stay sharp.' I keep moving for a while longer. Keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Nothing happens.

I come up on a cliff wall. 'I've had my fun. Time to lay low.' I run along the wall, finding a cave a short time later. I slow down to a trot. Using my wings like a parachute on a dragster.

Panting, I trot up to the cave. 'It's got potential. I'll find some debris to make myself comfortable and warm... wait out the night. If the first night is anything to go by... I'll fall asleep really quickly if I'm not careful.' I not to nopony in particular and begin collecting some of those large leaves I used earlier to hide from Zecora. 'I wish I could make a fire... stay warm easier,' I pick up some more leaves. 'but it'd draw too much attention to me.' I sigh and drag what I've found to the entrance of the cave. The entrance looks to be about 5 feet tall. 4 feet wide. It doesn't look big enough for anything too dangerous to be in here. I also highly doubt any of those wooden wolves would live in here. It'd be too damp. 'I hope that's how they work..."

I put the leaves onto the ground. Then gaze into the darkness of the cave. 'I know I should look inside... make sure nothing is going to come out and rip me into tiny pink chunks...' I frown. My ears drooping. 'It's really spooky in there... I'll throw a rock. If nothing comes out... there's nothing in there... right...?'

"NYUH!" I throw a rock into the cave. "Clack-clack clackity clack splosh". 'Oh good. There's water in there.' I listen carefully for movement. "Hmmm... nothing. Seems clear..." I lie down on the leaves. 'Tomorrow... I need to visit Twilight. See what she's found. I doubt she'll be happy about me running off again. Will she even help me now? Will she send me to this psycho claiming to be my mother? No... surely she'll have found information about where I came from. Then it'll be a simple explanation that the crazy mare isn't my mother. Hey! Maybe i won't have to sleep out here once I tell Twilight.' I smile as I lie back and stare into the night sky. Watching the stars. 'Yeah... I bet she'll let me stay with her until I can get home.' My eyes droop. 'Home...'

Author's Note

I'm sorry about how long it took... I tried to make a deadline for this chapter and I failed miserably. My sincere apologies. I won't be setting deadlines anymore. I can't fulfill them.

Plenty of action in this one though. Heh heh... >_<

Chapter 08: Perspective of Destiny

May 25th. Signature Arcane Magic.

My brother Arcane Power and I have been assigned to Ponyville. I'm not exactly sure why. Briefing says we're to keep an eye on a colt from Manehatten. 5 years old. His parents lost him to a magical anomoly a week ago. At first, we thought it was a stray teleport spell or something of the like. The Manehatten Royal Guard combed the city for the child. The colt popped up in Ponyville. Several hundred miles away. How'd he get there? Not to mention, the child's personality doesn't match the profile of the missing colt.

Medical evaluation states that he definitely is the colt. His DNA matches with his parents. The doctor who examined him believes he's suffered psychologically as well. They were going to do a psyche evaluation next, but the foal actually broke out and ran away. I guess that's why we're here. To keep an eye on him.

May 26th. Signature Arcane Magic

He was found today at the library. Celestia knows why he went there. I suppose I could understand wanting some books if he were an egghead or something, but a book about the Princesses of all things? Something is strange about this colt.

They had a party for him too. A good old fashioned Pinkie Pie welcome. He seemed like any other foal at the party, at least for a while. He eventually exited Sugarcube Corner. He seemed very sad or at least upset about something. Rainbow Dash asserted that she had found his parents... I figured it'd cheer the foal right up... however, it only seemed to exacerbate his delimma. What're you hiding kid?

May 27th. Signature Arcane Magic

He did it again! I can't believe it! He did it again! During the night, Pink Flash ran from his temporary home. I was contacted by Princess Twilight Sparkle to go into Everfree Forest to retrieve the foal. What kind of foal goes into the Everfree Forest WILLINGLY?! Every foal I know of steers clear of the forest. Except the Cutie Mark Crusader incident. Read the incident report for that. Apparently all the crazy foals live in Ponyville.

Addendum. We later caught up with the foal's parents. They had found him. We took an incident report. Praise Celestia the foal wasn't harmed despite reports that both a cockatrice and a Manticore were in the area.

Everfree Forest. Dusk. Dusklight stands on the path inside Everfree Forest. The tall grey stallion seems to be searching for something. His spiky dark brown mane and tail swishing about as he peers into the tree tops and the bushes. The violet stripe in his mane seems to change shape as his mane flutters in the wind and from movement. His light blue eyes scanning his environment for the object of his desire.

He begins trotting down the path. Scanning for said object. He's looking for something bright and beautiful. Something he can memorize. Dusk has eyes for a beautiful mare in Ponyville. She and him have been dating for a little while... and her birthday is coming up. He wants to find something within this dark and dreadful forest that remains bright and beautiful despite it's surroundings. Then, he's going to paint his mare's portrait with this object to show that the object reminds him of her. She's the bright and beautiful object in his dark dreadful forest.

Hours later. The sky is dark. The forest darker. Dusk is using a spell to light the area around him so he can look. He's about to give up when he notices a glint of pink. "Hm?" His light shines off a flower... Dusk trots to it. "A... Nitingale...?" It's a beautiful pink rose. Dusk sits next to the little pink rose. "How... did you manage to survive out here?" He smiles. Dusk decides he's going to pick the flower and give it to his sweetheart.

As the stallion embraces the flower with his magic. A thought occurs to him. 'A flower... surviving out here on it's own... against this hostile environment with vegetation growing all around it and taking up any nutrients... but still prospers? Picking this flower... would just kill it... it'd wither away in a few days and that'd be it...' Dusk's horn stops glowing. Deciding not to pick it after all. "Keep on keeping on little flower." Dusk grins a little. Then transfers some of his magic to the little flower to give it a boost. "Our little secret." Besides, all Dusk needed was some inspiration. Now he knows what he's going to paint. A portrait of his marefriend with the nitingale in her mane. That would definitely work.

Dusklight begins making his way out of the forest. Glancing back once as he trots. Stealing one more glance at the beautiful nitingale. Sun shining down on it from the parted leaves above it. Somehow the seed of the rose finding the perfect spot within this dark place. The perfect spot to bloom and create envy of all the plants around it. Assuming of course plants are capable of feeling envy. Dusk knows he'd be envious of the rose if he were a dirty weed growing near it.

As Dusklight nears the exit of the forest, he begins hearing voices. From the stories he's heard about the mane 6, it doesn't surprise Dusklight to hear voices. He's heard about a zebra living in the Everfree Forest. He's also heard about foals who visit her now and again. However, what he hears next isn't so welcoming. A loud and terrifying roar. "A manticore!" Dusklight tenses up. A spark of magic emits from his horn. Spreading across his body. A thin layer of magic covering his body as he breaks into a sprint.

Trees whip by his face as he gallops through the wooded area. The tall gray stallion bursts through the brush. Finding a zebra mare chasing after a large manticore which is attacking a small pink foal. Dusklight's eyes narrow in determination. His horn glows as he jumps over a boulder. In mid-air, Dusklight casts teleport. With a loud snap and flash of light, Dusklight disappears into thin air. Reappearing no more than a second later touching ground next to the pink foal. Dusklight scoops the foal up and allows his momentum from his sprinting to carry them both out of the manticore's attack range.

Dusklight turns to face the manticore. Studying the manticore for a second. Then he looks down to the pink foal. "Hide or run away. I don't care which." After which, he looks back to the manticore. "You! Attack a defenseless child?! Flee or die! Please pick the latter!" The manticore roars at the unicorn, then begins charging at him. The unicorn frowns. Then scoffs as light blue magic envelops his horn. Dusklight breaks into a sprint, kicking up dust with each step.

With every step he takes, the magic elongates into a long thin rectangle. Forming a blade upon his horn. As the two draw close to each other, the blade detaches from his horn and begins to hover next to him as he sprints. "RAAAAAAAH!" The two meet at last, only to leave a bewildered Dusklight as the manticore ignores him. Running past Dusklight towards the pink foal. 'Did I just get ignored?!' The sword immediately reforms into a long thin rope-esque shape. Dusklight then spins and cracks the newly formed energy weapon at the manticore. Snagging it's foot. Causing the giant creature to face plant into the ground.

"KID! Why the hell are you still here?!" This seems to finally get across to the foal. The foal spins around and gallops off. Dusklight watches the little colt for a second or two before turning to the manticore. The disgruntled manticore is approaching Dusklight. Angry with the stallion for having lost it's prey.
Dusk begins approaching the manticore. His eyes beginning to change color. His sclera turning green. His irises turning red. Purple mist beginning to emit from his eyes. Dusklight's expression turns to anger as he stands tall and confident. "FLEE!" He screams at the manticore. His voice booming. The ground shaking from the manticore's perspective. Causing sheer terror to spread across the manticore's face. Forcing it to turn and flee from Dusklight.

With the manticore fleeing from Dusklight, Dusk takes a deep breath. Closing his eyes. Mere seconds later, the purple mist flowing from his eyes fades away. He then opens his eyes to find they've returned to normal. "Now... to catch up with that foal. Figure out what the tyke is doing out here." He begins trotting along. Deciding quickly to break into a light jog. Who knows how far the kid got. Dusk is too focused with where he's going, looking for the foal. He doesn't notice the manticore tracking him. Still angry at him for losing it's pray and unsure why it ran away in fear. It's found it's courage and wants revenge...

Several hundred feet later. A little pink feather is found. Dusk grasps it in his magic. Bringing it to his face to examine it. It's only one feather. It's a little bloody... Dusk doubts the foal was attacked, otherwise there'd be more feathers. A branch probably caused this feather to fall out. Got snagged or something. Which probably means he went into the denser part of the forest to avoid the manticore.

Just as Dusklight lets go of the feather, Dusklight hears a noise behind him. Brush movement. Not thinking much of it, he casually turns to look. Finding the manticore in mid-attack! Making a split second decision to defend himself, Dusklight's body changes color. Becoming light blue and transparent. However, his spell isn't complete by the time the manticore's claws collide with him. Knocking out of the spell casting stance.

The hit sends Dusklight spiraling through the air, due to the magical armor he placed upon himself earlier, he takes minimal damage. His horn glows again and with a bright flash of white and blue light, wings made of pure blue energy form at his sides. The wings unfurl, allowing him to regain an upright position. Thinking quickly, the stallion goes straight up into the air. Traveling 88 feet per second. Once in the air. He takes a second to organize his thoughts before plummeting back towards the ground. However, he actively avoids the manticore to prevent the manticore from hitting him. Within 10 feet of the ground, the stallion uses teleport. Carrying his momentum with him, he teleports over the manticore's head. With no drop in momentum, the stallion slams hooves first into the manticore's head. The crack of the collision could be heard for a mile, a small pressure wave emitting upon impact, dropping the giant beast instantly.

The gigantic beast hits the ground and rolls away. It's eyes wide in shock while staring at Dusk. The beast is completely baffled by the unicorn. Dusk frowns. The manticore is still standing. The manticore looks crazed. "Fine. I'll have to put you down!" Dusk's eyes narrow as he focuses his magic. Light blue magic forming at his horn. Dusk sits onto his haunches, then brings his hooves up in front of him. He puts his hooves together. "Here goes." He then moves both hooves to his right side. The blue magic transferring from his horn to his hooves. "Kaaaaaaaaa..." The magic doubles in size within his hooves. The magic glowing even brighter. "Meeeeeeeeee..."

It's at this point, the manticore seems to 'nope' it out of there. It flees in terror from the stallion. Running off in the direction of wence the little pink colt went. Dusk blinks in surprise. 'H-hey! Wait! Where are you going?!" The unicorn stallion grunts in frustration. Dispelling his magic and giving chase to the manticore. Dusklight loses sight of the beast, the beast too fast for Dusklight. "I've got to move faster! He's obviously chasing the foal again... damn it..." The stallion begins to huff and puff. "I gotta teleport... but... I don't know where he's going.. I could end up teleporting into a tree..."Mere seconds after, there's a loud bang sound. As if a a gun was fired. The manticore appears from the brush running away from the direction the foal went, bleeding profusely. "Huh?" Dusklight stops and watches the manticore, confused as to what it's doing. There's a large wound upon it's abdomen. "I didn't do that..." Dusklight looks in the direction of the foal as the manticore flees. "Kid's got spunk..." He watches the forest for a moment before turning to head back. "I'll get Zecora, she knows this forest too well..."

Earlier...

'Clack-clack clack-clack clack-clack clack-clack' The Manehatten Express travels to Ponyville. Urgent news of her son having been found had this pink pegasus mare on the first train she could get. The mare is smiling happily, wearing a light pink business attire. White blouse, light pink long tailed blazer. Her mane and tail are wavy pink, bright emerald green eyes. She received word that her son is staying with a mare named Elaina in Ponyville. The train is due to arrive in a couple of hours, which she is very thankful for. She begins to ponder, should she wake her colt when she gets there? Should she rent a room and see him in the morning? Can she even wait that long? She hasn't seen her sweet little colt in a whole week... far too long for a worried mother.

"Grace." The pink mare blinks and looks around. "Princess Celestia?" Calls the pink mare to nopony else in the train car. "Yes Grace Flash. I am speaking to you telepathically. You must hurry. Your foal is in grave danger." Grace's emerald green eyes widen. "He is in Everfree forest. A mysterious creature is stalking him..." Grace looks at her luggage, then looks around. Unsure for a moment of what to do. "Princess... I... I can't lose him again..." Her eyes well up. Celestia responds. "Then you know what to do." Grace stands up from her seat, she lets her blazer drop to the seat. Being a racer on the professional circuit, she moves to the door of the train car and opens it. The sudden burst of air rushing past her making her blouse and mane flutter wildly in the wind. Adrenaline rushes through her as she steps out onto the entry way of the car and looks up.

A loud bang erupts from the entryway as the Pink mare takes off, the force of her take off leaving dents in the entryway, breaking the sound barrier as she does. Traveling at 767 miles per hour over the distance of 200 miles, she arrives in Ponyville in 16 minutes. Due to her fitness and stamina, she's not even tired. As Grace nears the Everfree Forest, a voice speaks to her. A deep confident masculine voice. "Hun. There are others in the forest looking for Pink." Grace smiles. "We can always count on others, can't we?" She speaks to nopony in general, it seems the voice will hear her somehow. "There's a hut on the eastern treeline. It belongs to a resident of the area named Zecora. There's a trail near that hut that Pink traversed. You can meet up with several others who are already looking. One of the elements of Harmony are currently on the scene. If what I've found out is correct, she saved our son's life and is looking to do it again." Grace smiles. "I get the chance to meet Rainbow Dash, huh?" She swoops down to the hut, spotting the cyan colored mare mere seconds later, and it seems Rainbow Dash isn't alone.

Grace lands down next to Rainbow Dash and her accomplice, Dark Wind. Rainbow looks to Grace. "Grace! I'm so glad you got here! We need stronger flyers. No offense Dark." Dark Wind shrugs and smirks. "Upgrades are being tested." Rainbow continues. "Dark picked up a telepathic message from an individual named Dusklight about Pink's location. We need to sweep towards the north as quickly as we can. Dark, try to keep up as much as you can and keep us informed by any messages you pick up." Dark Wind is about to speak but both Grace and Rainbow take off into the sky. He sighs and adjusts his glasses. "Fine." He then flies after them.

Several minutes later, Dark Wind calls out. "Hang on! I'm picking up something!" Grace and Rainbow both slow down to allow Dark Wind to catch up. Grace looks to Dark Wind. "Anything? Something about my sweet little foal?" Dark Wind shakes his head. 'No. It's... garbled mess. It's like... static with generated noise mixed in but it's also a pattern. Possibly an encrypted message... but I've never heard of encrypted telepathic messages before." He pauses. "It's not very far though." He begins scanning the trees, looking for where the signal is coming from. A shimmering blur emerges from the branches of one of the trees and takes flight through the forest. "There!" Dark Wind points it out. The three of them take flight, pursuing the shimmering object.

The shimmering object isn't moving particularly fast, and seems to take the shape of a large bird. Grace ponders if the bird is just a bird hit with a stray magical spell. However, things become a little more ominous as little Pink Flash comes into view. Catching a glimpse of the little foal between trees. Luckily, he's a bright color, easier to spot in the darkness. The flying object gives a loud screech. It clearly sounds hostile, it's call reverberating with an odd 'twang'. Pink is looking around, clearly scared. Grace's eyes flick back to the flying creature which dives down towards Pink.

Rainbow Dash is the first to act. She calls out "Kid! RUN!" Just as the creature flies past a very large tree with a clear 'SHUNK'. The tree begins to topple over. Pink's eyes widen as his mouth gapes open as he sizes the tree up. He connects the dots and spins around to flee, but the flying creature reveals itself. Towering over the little pink foal, blocking his route of escape. Black body and clear avian features. The moonlight shining off it's metallic body. The strange metallic bird steps closer to pink as it's wings spread out into brilliant shining plummage. It's beak shaped like a toucan's with sharp teeth, clearly visible as it screeches in the poor foal's face making him panic and scream.

The little foal turns away from the metallic avian to flee only to come face to face with the giant tree falling straight onto him. There's a cyan colored blur followed by a strong gust of wind. Rainbow Dash appears under the tree, stopping it from crushing the poor foal. She grunts as she struggles to hold the giant tree. "PINK! RUN NOW!" The little foal turns to the bird, his wings flaring.

The raven-esque monster raises a claw, Grace loses it. Grace takes off, instantly breaking the sound barrier. As she reaches her foal and the bird monster, Pink also takes off. Grace slams her hoof into the side of the monster's head, transferring all the kinetic energy from her to the avian creature. The creature is sent straight through a tree, hits the ground, and keeps going for another solid 100 feet. Grace then steps onto the ground and takes a deep breath. Looking into the direction the creature disappeared into. "Wrong foal. Definitely the wrong mother."

Dark Wind stares. "What... was that?!" Rainbow smirks. "Grace has the unique ability to transfer her kinetic energy to another pony or object. Effectively forcing anything she wants to shatter the sound barrier." She looks into the direction Pink ran in. "Is that what you did with Pink? So he could get away?" Grace looks at Rainbow, then smiles big. "Nope!" She laughs and begins jumping around. "My baby foal did that on his own! My baby's first sound barrier break! I'm so proud!" Dark Wind deadpans. "That's all fine and dandy... but... where did he go?" Grace suddenly stops her song and dance. "Oh..."

Meanwhile...

A dark blue stallion is walking through the forest. Wearing a white dress shirt and black tie with a brown trenchcoat. His eyes are sapphire blue, his mane and tail white as snow. His cutie mark is a yellow question mark outlined in red. The question mark broken in half with the top piece perpendicular with the lower. He's trotting through the forest with purpose, seeming to know exactly where he's going. He looks down at a pink feather he found earlier. "I've found you this time..." He shakes his head. "I won't let you down again... son." He trots past a set of hoofprints, almost not even needing to look at them to know who they belong to and where they're going.

With his special talents leading him exactly where he needs to go... he comes across a cave. With a very young pink foal sleeping on a makeshift bed. The stallion relaxes for a moment, smiling. He trots to the young foal, slipping his jacket off. He removes the leaves the foal was using as a blanket, then picks the foal up, wrapping the foal in his jacket and holding him to his chest. "I'll never let anything happen to you again." The little foal nuzzles his chest within his slumber. The stallion's horn glows gently as he sends a telepathic message.

10 minutes later, 3 ponies arrive. Grace Flash, Dark Wind and Rainbow Dash. Touching down from the sky. Merely a minute later, Dusklight and Zecora arrive followed by a whole battalion of guards. One by one, ponies arrive. Octavia and Vinyl. Bon Bon and Lyra. Fluttershy. Applejack and Big Macintosh. Twilight Sparkle, Thunderlane, Bulk Biceps, Caramel, Dr. Whooves and Derpy, and more.

Grace moves to the white stallion holding the foal. Nuzzling and kissing him. "Good job hun." The stallions kisses her back and looks to the everypony else. "You all came to search the forest for my son?" He smiles. "Never met such a caring bunch."

Author's Note

I know it's been far too long. If anypony wants to know, I'll explain why, but other than that I won't make excuses. I will only say... I hope you didn't expect this to die.

Chapter 09: Mother of Destiny

Consciousness slowly returns to me. So warm… such soft leaves… this big Monstera Philodendron Bohemian leaf I found is cozy and this pillow is to die for! ...Pillow?

My eyes snap open, sitting up very quickly once it dawns on me that I should be alarmed. The sight of a pink room greets my eyes. “Whaaaaaaat…?” Looking around quickly to find a toy box, a white rug, Wonderbolts posters and some posters of what looks to be some form of pony racing team called “Flash Tactics”. “How…?” I shake my head as I try to wrap my mind around it. I took every precaution I could to not be found and ran for what felt like hours from civilization! How did they track me? How did they find me? How did they get to me without waking me and how did they transport me back to civilization so damn fast?!

It feels like the walls are closing in on me, my breathing getting heavier, mind swimming with so many questions and scenarios of how that could’ve played out if it were a predator. How did my training fail me?! Moving one of my hooves to the other, I steady my shaking. Closing my eyes, I try to calm myself down with a few deep breaths. ‘Ok Pink. Calm down… So they got the jump on you in your old age. It’s not a big deal. You can handle this.’ After my little pep talk, I open my eyes to the room again. The really girly pink greeting my eyes, filled with renewed determination.

The door to the room I’m in seems to be built with someone of my size in mind, it’s not as big as other doors, it’s not terribly thick either, and easy to listen through. Upon listening through the door, a male voice becomes clear. His voice sounds calm and casual. ‘Whoever this is, sounds like they are not alert. Good. All I have to do is put my training to good use and get to that princess and get some answers!’ I put my soft pink hoof onto the door as softly as I can and push gently and quietly.

“Hun. Pink is awake.” I hear that male’s voice floating through the air and stinging my ears.

“HOW!?” I swear if glass were in front of me, it’d have broken with that exclamation. Before I can really do anything else, a pink face appears at the ajar door with a big grin. “Wuah!” The surprise of a sudden face causes me to leap back involuntarily. “Hey! This may be a different world but I’m sure heart attacks still exist!” All I can manage to do is turn to flee with wide eyes and sheer terror on my face as a pink mare swoops into the room and scoops me up in her hooves nuzzling me.

“Oh Pink! Mommy missed you so much!” She kisses me on the forehead and cheeks while I squirm and attempt an ill fated escape. Putting my tiny hooves on her muzzle and cheek and pushing in an attempt to get away but her being an adult makes it quite easy for her to assault me with cuddles and kisses.

“Noooooo!” With a few giggles, the mare puts me down. The smiling mare motions to the door. “Come on, sweetie. Breakfast is waiting.” Concern crosses my face as the mare steps out of the room. I peer into the hallway, finding tan wallpaper and wooden floors. It seems my attempt to flee was ill fated from the start. There’s no way I would’ve been able to sneak out with hardwood floors and hooves. A closer examination of the walls reveal something even more concerning… photos. As most families have, family photos are on the wall. Photos of the pink mare and a snow white stallion with dark blue mane and tail and bright green eyes. The couple are holding a tiny pink foal between them. White and pink mane and big curious green eyes. ‘That’s… horrible…’ I feel my ears involuntarily droop as I tear my eyes away from the photo. ‘These… parents had their foal taken from them.’ My eyes land upon the two in the kitchen down the hall. They’re sitting at the table having coffee and what looks like pancakes. ‘They already went through losing their foal once… and now they have to suffer that pain again…’ I sigh as I look back up at the photo. Their smiling faces showing a happiness that they’ll likely never have again. ‘They’ll never have closure… it’s truly the worst thing that can happen to a parent. Losing their child and never knowing what happened to them and these two have to do it a second time.’ I examine the foal in the image a moment longer. ‘I don’t know who you are but I can never replace you for these two, no matter how much I look like you. What I can do though… is find out who took you and ruined our lives.’

“Pink sweetie, are you coming? Your pancakes are going to get soggy. I made them up just the way you like.” The mare calls from the kitchen.

“I’m… coming.” I give the image one last glance before trotting down the hall to the kitchen. As I enter the kitchen, I see the dark blue stallion watching me rather intensely. It makes me sort of uncomfortable as I move to the seat I imagine is mine, but as I reach it, the pink mare scoops me up making me emit a squeak sound. The mare in turn giggles as she sets me down in the seat. The chair is a little high for me but I’m certain I could’ve done it on my own.

There’s a moment of silence as I fumble with the silverware to begin eating. The father of this foal watching me very closely. It’s actually very unsettling. I feel my eyes wander over and steal glances of the stallion, it’s like a wave of pressure bearing down on me and drowning me. I don’t understand, I’ve gone through this kind of stuff during boot camp. Drill instructors staring me down and breaking the weaker recruits, so why does this guy bother me so much?

The white stallion eases up after another moment. Apparently satisfied having freaked me out a little. “Let’s start with the obvious.” The stallion suddenly says. “You plan on running away again.”

Given my track record, I suppose it’s not too hard to come to that conclusion. I don’t say anything though, I’m getting the idea that he’s analyzing me or something.

“What about the not so obvious then?” The stallion continues. “What are you planning on doing after that? You can’t fly yet, you’re just now learning about the town. Where will you get food? Where will you get shelter and sleep?” He pauses. “Why do you even want to run? You have all that here and two parents who love and adore you, why would you throw that away?”

All I can do is stare at the stallion as I process his questions. ‘Do I tell them? Do I tell them their son isn’t really their son? Their pride and joy they just got back is a fake? Do I tell them I’m a human from an entirely different world? Allow them to think I’m insane and hospitalize me or something?’

My eyes light up as I taste the pancakes, the delectable flavor cascading like a fountain of deliciousness! It’s so crazy good that I almost forget that I’m being interrogated.

“Mmmmmm!” I involuntarily take a deep breath, putting my hooves to my mouth as if I’m afraid the flavors will spill out unless I stop it. The chair I’m sitting in squeaks audibly as I flip back against the backrest, throwing my hooves up above my head and letting them rest on top of my head. “Sooooooo gooooooood!”

Seeing me swooning over the mare’s cooking seems to make the stallion ease up. His expression softens and a small smile crossing his muzzle. While it’s true some of these childish antics seem to come about by their own accord, maybe they can be used to my advantage. The stallion seems satisfied now and content to eat his breakfast instead of playing 20 questions.

I could’ve sworn that after breakfast, the stallion known as ‘Mystery Flash” would’ve continued his interrogation, instead, he gave me a hug and went about on his way. It definitely seems like he was certain I wasn’t his son… until I swooned over that pancake. Like I said, my advantage.

I actually expected to be left to my own devices for the moment, but I guess it makes sense they’d keep an eye on me. The pink mare called “Grace Flash” stayed with me, took me outside.

The rather short pink mare with lavender eyes has a great big smile, clearly excited for some reason, leads me outside. “Something I’ve been waiting to do ever since you were born.” There’s a bounce in her step and glee in her voice. It’s fairly obvious what it is, she wants to teach me to fly. Before coming to this strange and colorful place and you told me these tiny wings could lift these creatures off the ground, I’d have told you that you were crazy. After what I’ve seen though, I’m a believer.

“Ok sweetie, I’d like you to watch my wings closely. Get an idea of how your wings should act in mid flight, ok?” The mare begins to unfold her wings and move them in various waves to simulate how they would act in mid flight.

This information is worthless to me. It is kind of interesting, as it is flight and that is sort of my thing but it’s not like I’ll be keeping these wings or anything. As such, I sort of tune the mare out. Not to disrespect the mare or anything, but I have other things I could be thinking about.

That’s when I spot her, that purple unicorn. Princess Twilight! I can’t believe my luck! The mare is just out on a stroll or something, trotting along. I have to talk to her!

I look back to the pink mare. She will likely attempt to stop me, but back in the forest I was running well faster than the speed of sound. There’s no way she would be able to catch me.

With that last thought, I turn and bolt off towards Twilight Sparkle with zero warning, leaving only a startled pink mare behind. Like before, I easily break the sound barrier as I run along the ground, using my wings to increase my speed exponentially.

The world whips by me in a blur, the purple mare looks at me, surprise and… fear crossing her face. As I get closer, I realize I’ve made a mistake, that mare isn’t Twilight Sparkle.

I don’t get much farther, however, I feel hooves wrap around my midsection and lift me off the ground. “What?!” I yell out in surprise as the Grace Flash soars up into the air with me in her hooves, nuzzling me. “Oh my gosh oh my gosh! My little colt broke his first sound barrier! I’m so proud!” She begins kissing my forehead and cheek repeatedly.

I’m far too shocked to react right away. Not only did she catch me, she caught me easily! I begin to squirm in her hooves. “Stoooooop!” The pink mare relents for a moment, giving me a moment to look down at the ground to see the purple mare staring at us. I let my hoof dangle with a frown. “Twilight…” I mumble.

Grace Flash giggles a few times, nuzzling me again. “No sweetie, Twilight lives in Ponyville. We live in Fillydelphia, remember?” My eyes widen as the pink mare tries to turn me around to look at me. The mare ends up cradling me in her hooves, my back in her hooves as I look up at her, her expression is clearly showing concern.

“Would you like to go see Princess Twilight?” A small smile crosses her muzzle but she is clearly still concerned. I give the mare a small nod which makes the mare’s smile get a little bigger. “Ok sweetie, but before we go ask daddy, let’s have a little fun, ok?”

Oh boy… What is this mare’s idea of fun? I swear, if she whips out a copy of Chutes and Ladders I’m escaping right now. Before I could ponder it much more, she shoots straight up into the sky, getting a squeak of surprise from me and making me shut my eyes tight.

When I open my eyes, the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. Up above the clouds, blue sky as far as I can see with the sun shining down. I can see through the clouds at various spots. The sun’s beams give the clouds a light golden hue, it’s a picture perfect sight and I’ll never forget it.

We float there for a long moment, Grace can tell the sight has stolen my breath, she allows me to appreciate the beauty with a smile on her face. I’ve seen this sight a million times through the window of a cockpit but never this vibrant. Never this… clear.

“Here comes the best part, sweetie.” She smiles down at me as she begins to gently glide. I begin to feel the wind in my fur and mane. I almost instinctively unfurl my wings. Which elicits a giggle from Grace. “Hang on just a second, Cotton Ball.” She moves me to her side. “Climb up onto my back, sweetie.” I think I get where she’s going with this, so I comply. Stepping up from her arm onto her back. Turning to face the same way Grace is, I unfurl my wings, not needing to be told what to do next.

This also gets a giggle from Grace, taking it as eagerness on my part. “Ok, Pink. Get ready, catch the wind, get a feel for it, feel how it makes contact with your wings. Remember what I showed you on the ground, position your wings and let them catch that wind.”

Oops… maybe I should have paid attention. Of course, I have glided before, so I’m luckily able to just open my wings and catch the wind. I feel my hooves leave Grace’s back and pull them to my body, this feeling like a natural position.

“That’s my colt.” Grace looks at me. “I’m so proud of you.” I look back at her, I can’t help but feel joy and love swell in my heart. I know now that without a doubt she is this colt’s mother and that stallion is his father, I just wish the real Pink was here to experience this instead of me. Don’t get me wrong, this is absolutely amazing and I never really had parents, so all this is incredible but still… none of it is mine. It should’ve been the real Pink here...

It seems I was lost in my thoughts a little too long, I feel a tickling on my chin. Finding that Grace used her wing to tickle my chin and get my attention. I look at her. “I said, how do you feel, silly?” She gives a giggle before I answer. “This is amazing! I’ve never seen the sky like this before!”

It looks like Grace is about to say something else when I get the urge to try flying. Yes, I’m gliding, but I get this need, this overwhelming desire to actually fly! I begin to wiggle my wings, get a feel for how to flap them and I begin to destabilize.

Grace looks alarmed and puts a hoof out under my belly to stop me from just straight plummeting out of the sky. “No no no, Pink. You’re not ready for that yet. Just glide with me, Cotton Ball.” She smiles. “This is your first time up here, just enjoy it. Let the wind carry you.”

Of course, it’s not really my first time up here at all. I’ve seen the sky from every angle… but this… this is like seeing it for the first time. The wind in my face and my mane, even the sky just looks brighter and more vibrant. I must say, there’s a special kind of sensation to feel the wind rushing past my wings. When I’m not terrified for my life, it’s soothing, like I’m meant to be up here.

It’s a liberating feeling. The wind and air rushing past me, flowing over and under the feathers of my wings, a coolness enveloping them like water.

Before I know it, my hooves make contact with the ground, snapping me out of my trance-like state of mind. Grace giggles as my head whirls around looking at my environment. “I see you enjoyed getting your first real taste of the sky. Maybe next time we can try to actually fly.” My heart jumps a bit. “Can we?!” I say with a little too much enthusiasm, which prompts another giggle from the pink mare. “I wouldn’t dream of keeping you out of the sky.” She pulls me close to her, hugging me softly.

The pink mare holds the hug for a good 15 seconds at least. I get the sense she has missed me… er, well… Pink Flash anyway… Grace steps back and smiles down at me, a tear in her eye. “Let’s go talk to daddy. See if we can set up an appointment to see the Princess.” She begins to lead me back towards their home.

My heart breaks for them. She is so happy to have her son back… I wish I didn’t have to break her heart again… the father though… he seems suspicious of me. Maybe I can convince him I’m not really his son and maybe he’ll help me.

Grace and I find Mystery sitting at the table still. Though, this time he has a bunch of papers and folders in front of him. He has what looks like an unlit cigarette in his mouth as he reads papers.

“Huuuuun.” Grace starts. “Cotton Ball has a question for you.” She looks down at me with a smile. Mystery sets the paper down and turns to look at me.

“Wait, I’m confused. Is my name Pink Flash or Cotton Ball?” I tilt my head. It really doesn’t matter what this foal’s name is… but it just sort of… came out. My question nets me a giggle from the pink mare and a smile from the stallion. Seems to have lightened his mood.

“Your name is Pink Flash and Cotton Ball is a nickname.” The stallion tells me. “Though, I suspect that was an impulse question.”

“Uhhh yeah…” I’m happy my fur is pink, might’ve blushed a little at how easily he read me. “Can we maybe… visit with Princess Twilight?” I let out a small ‘eep’ sound as blue magic surrounds me and lifts me off the floor. I begin to float up to come eye level with the stallion.

The stallion’s eyes harshly study me, cold and calculating. I begin to feel nervous and feel my ears drooping involuntarily. I can’t believe it, I didn’t budge against my drill sergeant's angry stare, but this stallion is a whole different level of intensity. Maybe it’s the bigger more expressive eyes? I feel myself shrinking away as much as I can and breaking eye contact.

Then, just like that, he chuckles. My ears perk up as I look back to him. His face softens with a smile. “Tell you what” The stallion starts. “Based on your track record and your general distant attitude, I can tell you’re gonna make a run for it again.” I gulp. “You stay put tonight, stay in bed where we know where you are and tomorrow, we’ll take you to see Princess Twilight.”

I jump on that. “Deal!” A big smile crosses my face. I get a nice warm bed, food and plenty of rest and I still get to see Twilight!

“Pink, look at me.” He tells me, I do look back at him. “I don’t know what tells you that you can’t trust us, but believe me when I tell you, we love you. We only want what’s best for you. We’ll take you to see Twilight, to show you that you don’t need to be afraid of us, you can let your guard down.” My ears droop, feeling guilty. Clearly I’ve been making them worry, especially with what they must’ve heard from everypony else.

“I’m sorry…” I tell him and I’m not too sure why… What do I have to be sorry about? Why… Why do I feel this way? Why do I feel like a child being scolded? Sure, I physically am a child being scolded… but why do I feel that way?

The stallion’s magic floats me to him as he wraps his hooves around me, hugging me tight. “I love you, Pink. I wouldn’t have stopped looking for you, ever.” He kisses the top of my head. “Now scat, brat. Daddy’s got work to do.” He lets his magic go and releases me. I hop down to the floor, then look back to see his smiling face which just makes me smile. I walk away thinking Pink sure is a lucky kid.

Author's Note

A very very long time... hoo boy... Depression is a heck of a rough time... but with any luck, I'm back.